ã€ŠRaising a Fox Spirit in My Homeã€‹


 Chapter 1

    Chapter 1

    <h4>Chapter 1: Human Origin Gold Pill</h4>

    T/N: Human Origin Gold Pill/Core. I guess I should start this by exining some cultivation basics.

    RenYuan JinDan ÈËÔª½ðµ¤ ¨C Human Origin Gold Core or Pill: I¡¯m sure most of you are familiar with Gold Core or JinDan (½ðµ¤). So you¡¯re either thinking this is the same thing or some sort of special Gold Core. Well it is and it¡¯s not. It¡¯s a pill in this story. See the footer for more details.

    ¡°Sorry, you¡¯re a nice person, but we¡¯re truly not suited to each other...¡±

    ¡°Screw! Another nice guy card!*¡± An extremely intoxicated Li Yundong mumbled to himself, ¡°Your mother, she even used that kind of obsolete excuse to dodge the great me!¡±

    Thinking back to this morning¡¯s confession by the school building, Li Yundong could not help but feel gloomy and miserable, ¡°Am I supposed to be this tragic? What the heck is twenty-one nice guy cards in a single year of university?¡±

    ¡°Your mother, what¡¯s the big deal? One day, the great me will find a girl that¡¯s prettier than all of them!¡±

    Ding Dong. The elevator door opened. Li Yundong staggered unsteadily out of the elevator and arrived at the door of his rented apartment before drunkenly taking out his keys.

    His parents divorced when he was still young. His father left the nation and found a tall busty foreigner to share a free and unfettered happy life with. His mother was not willing to fall behind; she also found a foreigner and moved to Europe long ago to enjoy her decandent life style. Only he was left behind in this nation receiving bits of ¡¯emergency relief fund¡¯ from both sides.

    Without any familial attention, Li Yundong had cked since his senior year in high school. With these circumstances, he obviously did not get epted into a good university. Tiannan City University was already the best university that he could get into, but it only qualified as a second or third rate university domestically.

    However, even though this university was only second or third rate, its art division was quite famous. It has even produced a number of celebrities. The school could be called and where beauties gathered like clouds. For the virgin Li Yundong, it was more than his eyes could take. The only pity was that ording to the scientific theory of opposite genders attract, thend where beauties gathered like clouds was often also the ce where handsome guys were numerous like drops of rain.

    While Li Yundong was not ugly, he was not handsome either.

    Moreover, in this era, men needed to be either handsome or strange. For those who had average forgettable features, my apologies, if the nice guy cards didn¡¯t end up with you guys then where else would they end up?

    Li Yundong had his own pride and the girls he pursued were all ssroom belle or campus belle grade beauties. Thus in a single year, he received twenty-one nice guy cards, fighting on despite continual setbacks, suffering continual defeat despite fighting on. He was already regarded as an object of ridicule on campus.

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    Simply thinking of the mocking faces of those busybodies, especially their ridiculing eyes that saw him as the toad trying to eat swan meat**, Li Yundong became full of resentment, enough that he gritted his teeth.

    ¡°Bastards!¡± Li Yundong roared, throwing up both arms while still standing in front of his doorway.

    Clink.

    His keys fell onto the floor.

    Li Yundong squinted his eyes and bent down only to find there was a foxdog*** with a full body of crimson fur lying by his doorway. A bunch of blood stains could be seen on its hind leg, indicating it had been injured.

    This foxdog turned its head around to lick at its wound with great effort even as it pitifully stared at Li Yundong.

    Its expressive gaze immediately moved Li Yundong, he picked up the foxdog without hesitation, ¡°Your owner doesn¡¯t want you anymore? How pitiful. Sigh. I¡¯m also the same. My mom and dad don¡¯t want me anymore. People look down on me. They turn their backs to me. Are you like me? Don¡¯t worry. Don¡¯t be sad. I¡¯ll look after you from now on. I won¡¯t turn my back to you!¡±

    He entered the door. Inside was the living room, which led directly to the balcony. Between the two was a french window, protected by a thin screen to keep bugs out.

    A ss coffee table was ced in the middle of the living room. Under that coffee table, there was a carpet. On top, there was a PS2. Beside the game console were a pile of game disks and a cup of half finished cold water.

    A muddleheaded Li Yundong brought the little fox into his home but he could no longer support his drunken body. With a wobble of his head, he dropped onto the carpet just beside the coffee table. Soon after, loud snores could be heard.

    The little fox he was hugging to his chest started to tremble. Eventually its body calmed down. A pair of eye became brighter and brighter under the clear cold light of the moon. It used its sharp nose to poke at Li Yundong¡¯s chin, testing if he were truly asleep.

    After a couple attempts, the little fox discovered Li Yundong was less likely to wake up than a dead pig. So it curled its entire body into a ball and started to emit faint azure radiance. This azure radiance acted like countless threads of light. They seeped into Li Yundong¡¯s body before slowlying back out. These gossamer threads of azure had be crimson in the process. Then these crimson thread would roam their way back into the little fox¡¯s body before emerging again with their color reverting to azure once more.

    The little fox repeated this cycle a couple times, retrieving yang qi from Li Yundong¡¯s body. Its vitality improved visibly and the wound on its w also stopped bleeding. Suddenly, with a push, it jumped off of Li Yundong¡¯s chest. Looping around once on the spot, it suddenly became a girl who wore a crimson dress.

    This girl appeared approximately fifteen or sixteen years old. Her height was about 165 cm. Her eyes were bright and beautiful, full of life and spirit. Her ck pupils seemed like they could glow with light, giving off a feeling of wit and refinement.

    She carefully looked around the room, before letting out a breath and patting her chest. She quietly spoke to herself, ¡°That was really close, I almost died just now. My master worked hard to help me steal this Human Origin Gold Pill. If I died before using it, wouldn¡¯t that be an injustice the size of heaven?¡±

    The little fox sized up Li Yundong before tilting her head. Looking at this man who held her while spouting drunken talk, without knowing why she felt slightly emotional. ¡®This guy¡¯s circumstances are actually quite simr to my own.¡¯

    The little fox gave a sigh before standing up. She wanted to leave this ce.

    However, she suddenly had second thoughts. Her enemies were pressing in and they were going to chase her to death. Her own injuries had not yet healed. If she left now and was discovered, what would she do?

    ¡°I might as well consume this Human Origin Gold Pill right now!¡± The little fox took out a pill that waspletely golden in color and approximately the size of a pinky¡¯s fingernail. She held it in the middle of her palm as if respecting a supreme treasure.

    The moment she took out the Gold Pill, the entire room was brightly lit with golden light.

    The little fox had encountered relentless pursuers that would not let her catch her breath just after stealing the Gold Pill, thus she had no opportunity to consume and refine it.

    Just as the little fox thought of her misfortune, she suddenly saw, out of the corner of her eye, two streaks of azure light sh once. Her entire body tensed as her looked over in fright.

    ¡°I¡¯m done for. Finished. How did they chase all the way over here?¡± the little fox¡¯s face paled as she panicked.

    Why did these guys linger like deceased souls that refused to disperse? No matter where she ran, they could always follow.

    The little fox¡¯s thoughts were fast like lightning, but she could feel two strong presences closing in on her and she was also panicking. Suddenly, her eyes fell upon Li Yundong who was beside her. She immediately thought, ¡®Perhaps the Human Origin Gold Pill is emitting medicinal power and that is what keeps drawing my pursuers.¡¯

    The little fox reacted extremely quickly. She swiftly pounced beside Li Yundong. Her hand pressed down on his cheeks forcing his mouth open and then she threw the Gold Pill in. After that, she quickly transformed into a little fox, and hid on his chest.

    The little fox¡¯s scheme could only be considered perfect. She threw the Human Origin Gold Pill in Li Yundong¡¯s mouth because she wanted to use Li Yundong¡¯s virgin yang qi.

    Virgin yang qi is the purest yang qi of this world. It is the purest portion of the body¡¯s original yang essence qi, normally hidden in the HuiYin acupoint. Only when stimted by yin qi unique to females would this virgin yang qi leave the HuiYin acupoint.

    This virgin yang qi has many uses¡ªone of which just happens to be the ability to conceal certain presences, for example: extreme yin qi, polluted qi, and even the unique spiritual qi associated with immortal pills and divine artifacts.

    The little fox threw the Human Origin Gold Pill in Li Yundong¡¯s mouth without worrying that he would consume it because: first, the Gold Pill was not chocte and would not melt; second, Li Yundong was clearly in an extremely drunk condition. People in this condition would not swallow objects that were in their mouths unless water was involved.

    Li Yundong¡¯s virgin yang qi would not only cover the immortal qi of the Gold Pill, it would also concealed the little fox¡¯s yin qi. This could be considered shooting two bird with one stone.

    As expected just as the little fox jumped onto Li Yundong¡¯s chest, the two azure lights approaching from outside the window suddenly stopped. Two shadowy figures appeared on the balcony. Their forms were graceful. Based on their slender and elegant silhouettes, the two could vaguely be identified as two women.

    ¡°Strange, howe it suddenly disappeared?¡± one of the women said softly, her voice clear and slightly cold.

    ¡°Big sis Zi Yuan, did we maybe chase the wrong target?¡± asked a rather lively innocent voice.

    ¡°Completely impossible!¡± refuted the pure and cold woman.

    ¡°Then, I¡¯ll go in and check. We chased up until this home before the trail suddenly disappeared!¡± said the lively sounding girl.

    Listening to the exchange between the two people outside, at first the fox was quite proud of her sudden inspiration. Her fox tail rose up in pride. But once she heard the younger girl nned on busting in to check, she was so scared her entire body shrunk into a ball, shivering violently, too frightened to even breathe.

    However, the other clear and cold voice softly scolded, ¡°Don¡¯t be willful, how can a cultivator intrude upon the mortals of the mundane world?¡±

    The lively sounding girl retorted, ¡°But if we go back like this, how will we exin ourselves?¡±

    For a time, both women on the balcony were silent.

    The little fox was filled with rm and fear and her mind was aplete mess. She prayed incessantly, ¡°Grandpa Heavens, please let them leave quickly. No matter what, they must note in. I am kowtowing to you guys.¡±

    Just as she prayed with all her heart, suddenly Li Yundong moaned. His dry mouth and tongue made him want to swallow reflexively. But there was a Human Origin Gold Pill in his mouth, how could he possibly swallow that?

    The round Gold Pill rolled down into his esophagus and the blockage cause his face to scrunch up in pain. Half asleep, Li Yundong barely managed to prop himself up and felt around for the something on the coffee table with great effort.

    The little fox¡¯s eyes were opened so wide they were practically round. She watched as Li Yundong¡¯s hand found the half empty cup of water. Gulp gulp gulp. He guzzled several mouthfuls. And that water along with the Human Origin Gold Pill went down his throat...

    ~~~

    In this book, the ÈËÔª½ðµ¤ or Human Origin Gold Pill should be a medicinal pill from external alchemy rather than a condensed core from internal alchemy (a.k.a. Cultivation). But you guys might want some background information anyways. Eastern mythology has always been a mess, especially for Westerns (or at least Canadian like me) who all know Zeus and Odin but who the heck is the Jade Emperor, nevertheless that doesn¡¯t prevent it from being cool.

    There are actually several ways of forming your Gold Core. The process of cultivation is actually also known as internal alchemy in contrast to external alchemy. Where pills of immortality or at least health supplements are concocted by external alchemy, internal alchemy (cultivation) refines your body and concocts a Gold Core/JinDan as part of the route to immortality. Your body includes your meridians and your acupoints, bones, marrow, blood, mortal body, and so on. The process mostly involves breathing or circting ¡®qi¡¯ as in gas or air, usually spiritual qi (spiritual gas/air).

    Now there are three paths to cultivate and get that Gold Core:

    1) The best method as in the top tier route for those blessed beings born under auspicious signs with divine brilliance, we have TianYuan DaDan (ÌìÔª´óµ¤) or Heaven Origin Grand Core. It is achieved byprehending heaven and manifesting one¡¯s full potential by matching your desires with the will of heaven. Basically it¡¯s esoteric stuff not meant for mere mortals toprehend.

    2) The worst method as in the bottom tier route for those who are rich and famous and possess secr power but no real talent, we have DiYuan ShenDan (µØÔªÉñµ¤) or Earth Origin Spirit Core. It is achieved by mass refinement of pills and other products of external alchemy. Creating miracles from dust.

    3) The middling method as in the middle tier route for those lucky enough to be suited to it and actually possess a proper manual, we have RenYuan JinDan ( ÈËÔª½ðµ¤) or Human Origin Gold Core. It is achieved by dual cultivation between male and female, the union between the duality that is yin and yang.

    Now this is all background. Since this is a story, not actual eastern mythology, there is a chance the human origin gold core/pill is something else entirely (a product of external alchemy).

    *good guy card ·¢ºÃÈË¿¨ ¨C receiving a good guy card: this basicallyes down to being rejected while beingbeled a ¡®nice guy¡¯. ¡®Bad boys get all the girls and nice guys get screwed over.¡¯ This is a type ofmon sense in Chinese writing. Of course the main character isn¡¯t affected since he¡¯s got main character aura.

    ** toad eating swan mean ¨C someone reaching above their position especially an ugly guy and a beautiful girl.

    *** It¡¯s some type of spitz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spitz, probably a Japanese Spitz. Basically the main character mistook a fox for a dog that looks like a fox. It probably didn¡¯t help that he¡¯s drunk.

 Chapter 2

    Chapter 2

    <h4>Chapter 2</h4>

    The little fox watched as Li Yundong consumed the Human Origin Gold Pill. She was speechless. She was screaming inside as if losing her mind, ¡°What kind of coincidence is this? You didn¡¯t swallow earlier orter, yet you just had to swallow now! Howe grandpa heavens doesn¡¯t choke you to death!¡±

    She wanted to stop him, but she did not dare move even the slightest bit due to fear of being discovered. Because just outside the window, there were two ruthless characters well known throughout the cultivation world.

    After Li Yundong gulped down several mouthfuls of water, his throat immediately felt much better. A pleased smile appeared appeared on his face. Completely carefree, he fell asleep once more.

    The two women outside the window heard the sounds from inside the room. After a while, the woman with a cold voice said, ¡°Forget it. It doesn¡¯t seem to be here. Let¡¯s return first. That fox spirit can¡¯t escape from the palm of our hands anyways.¡±

    The lively sounding girl let out a soft sigh. ¡°It¡¯s just that letting it end like this, it¡¯s so disappointing.¡±

    With those words, the two women transformed into two streaks of azure light and rapidly took their leave.

    Even though the little fox wanted to blow up on the inside, she forcefully suppressed her impulses and stayed on Li Yundong¡¯s chest motionless.

    After ten minutes or so, the two streaks of azure light returned to the balcony. Momentster, the slightly cold sounding women leaked a sigh. ¡°It seemed it really isn¡¯t here. Let¡¯s leave.¡±

    Her voice contained an inexpressible sense of disappointment. The two women once again transformed into two streaks of azure light and left.

    Only at this point did the little fox jump off of Li Yundong¡¯s chest. With a single swirl, she transformed into human form. Baring her fangs and brandishing her ws, she threw herself at Li Yundong, hysterically shouting, ¡°You bastard, return my Human Origin Gold Pill!¡±

    However, after she pinched at Li Yundong for a while, a sudden force repelled her away. Her body was flipped over to the side.

    The little fox stared with teary eyes at Li Yundong as a bout of rainbow light gradually shined forth from his body. She felt aggrieved and heartbroken, and sad at being wronged.

    She knew, this was the Human Origin Gold Pill dissolving in Li Yundong¡¯s body. The medicinal power had started to take effect. It was affecting Li Yundong¡¯s meridians and his flesh.

    Thinking of all the difficulties she had endured in order to steal the Human Origin Gold Pill, her original n had been to use the pill to advance directly from a three tailed fox to a six tailed fox. Never would she have thought that through a series of coincidences, everything ended up benefiting this guy!

    Watching the miraculous light flow on Li Yundong¡¯s body, the little fox¡¯s lips pouted more and more. Tears welled up around the rim of her eyes. ¡®I hid here and there carrying this immortal pill, but didn¡¯t even have time to absorb even the slightest medicinal power! And now, after so much hard work and living in fear for so long, all her hard work ended up benefiting this guy!¡¯

    The more the little fox thought about it, the more wronged she felt. This time, everything¡¯s already ruined. She isn¡¯t even afraid of attracting the two pursuers anymore. She could only cry to express her inconsble heartbreak. It was like raindrops on a pear blossom, like tears fallen from an apple rose.*

    The cries of the little fox were resounding, but steel and concrete sealed the apartment like a cage, not even the slightest sound leaked outside. Unexpectedly, the two terrifying pursuer did not reappear.

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    The little fox cried for a while. The volume of her wailing gradually decreased, but her sobbing would not stop. Her stomach released a series of growls.

    She was hungry.

    Come to think of it, having been pursued the entire way, she had not slept for several days. The luxury of a meal had been even less of a consideration.

    People are iron and food is steel.** Demons need to eat too!

    The little fox hatefully red at Li Yundong. If this guy did not eat the Human Origin Gold Pill, she would eat him up right now!

    The little fox wiped her tears and blew her nose. Her eyes, which had turnedpletely red from crying, started to look around the room, searching for signs of food.

    One searchter, the little fox focused on the cup sitting atop the coffee table. She picked up the cup and took a look, only to find that all the water had disappeared. Li Yundong drank all of it until not a drop remained!

    The little fox fumed with bitterness. She smashed the cup at Li Yundong. A puff of qi was released from Li Yundong¡¯s body in response, repelling the cup to the side.

    Seeing this, the little fox knew it represented all the medicinal power had been dissolved. The qi in Li Yundong¡¯s body was now extremely vigorous. She could not help but start crying once more.

    After crying for a bit, the little fox truly could not withstand her hunger. Using her nose to sniff around the room, she searched for food all over the ce. Even as she searched, sheined of her misery to herself, ¡°Master ispletely right. These mortals are bad, each worse than the other. I just met this one and he ate my Gold Pill!¡±

    Everyone says dogs have a good sense of smell. Foxes are not any worse inparison.

    Even though the refrigerator door was tightly closed, the little fox was able to find the kitchen based on smell.

    The little fox had lived deep in the mountains since infancy, cultivating in the Fox Zen Sect. She had never visited the mundane world and only knew a little of secr things. In fact, she did not know what a refrigerator was.

    The little fox mulled over the unfamiliar object for a bit. She carefully attempted to open the refrigerator door. Light appeared in front of her and inside the refrigerator, she saw various kinds of food.

    Despite the little fox not knowing why the refrigerator would light up after she pulled open the door, the current her did not care enough to consider this matter. She also did not care to deal with her sorrow and heartbreak. With one final sob, she began to gorge herself.

    Li Yundong swallowed the Human Origin Gold Pill. The medicinal power of this Gold Pill ravaged the insides of his body. From his meridian to his flesh, it could be called a mortal shedding bone exchanging*** transformation.

    This was equivalent to those wuxia novel scenarios where a senior monk who achieved dao uses Marrow Washing Scripture and Tendon Exchanging Scripture to help a guy wash his marrow and exchange his tendons.

    Once the little fox had finished eating, she returned to Li Yundong¡¯s side and sat in lotus position in front of him. Her grudged filled eyes were fixed upon him.

    Because Li Yundong lived by himself since the second year of senior middle school****, his character iszy and undisciplined, thus his build is slightly chubby. As the medicinal power of the Human Origin Gold Pill circtes in his body, the little fox could clearly see with her naked eye Li Yundong¡¯s muscles rapidly shaking.

    This was especially true of the tendons and blood vessels under his skin. Their movement was like countless mice rushing forth and fro inside his body, making his skin move like waves, rising and falling continuously.

    The little fox knew this was the behavior associated with medicinal power ring up to the limit. This kind of medicinal power would not only wash marrow and rece tendons, it would even replenish the body¡¯s vital energy deficiencies.

    Li Yundong¡¯s presence flourished. The virgin yang qi inside his body was stimted by the Gold Pill medicinal energy. Slowly, it left the HuiYin acupoint causing a tall tent to slowly form between his legs.

    The little fox¡¯s heart waspletely filled with unvoiced grudge as she grumbled toin to herself, thinking the past could not be changed. At that time, her gaze suddenly fell upon the little tent on Li Yundong¡¯s lower body. She was dazed for a moment. Then an idea sprouted violently in her mind.

    ¡®This guy ate my Human Origin Gold Pill. Why can¡¯t I wait for the medicinal power to take effect, then slowly teach the guy to cultivate? Once he sessfully builds his foundation, I can steal yang to supplement yin, suck him dry, and absorb all his cultivation for myself.¡¯

    ¡®Isn¡¯t this even more useful than me consuming the Human Origin Gold Pill directly?¡¯

    Thinking such thoughts, the little fox could not help but beam with joy. Her fox tail even started to wag.

    At this time, Li Yundong was at the most crucial step of absorbing the medicinal power. After her realization, the little fox changed her perspective. She voluntarily helped Li Yundong stand guard.

    What she did not expect was that once the medicinal power circted, it would continue for three days.

    Several tens of hourster, the little fox could not endure the wait. Taking into ount all those days of living in fear, she could not endure it any more. So her body leaned over and she fell asleep at Li Yundong¡¯s side.

    Just as the little fox unwittingly slipped into slumber, the rainbow lights on Li Yundong¡¯s body slowly disappeared. He dazedly got up from the carpet. His hand rubbed at his aching head, which seemed like it wanted to split in two, before he attempted to brace himself.

    This attempt ended up with his hand on something warm and soft. Li Yundong was immediately distracted. He tilted his head and look down.

    With a single nce, a droning sound went off in Li Yundong¡¯s head as if something exploded.

    At his side, there was a girl. Her hair was done up in twin braided tails, pure ck in color. Her eyebrow were straight out of a painting. Her mouth was delicate with ruby lips. Her eyshes were long and thick; they fluttered and trembled. Her eyes were tightly closed, as if dreaming of something bad. Her body was fully curled up.

    And Li Yundong¡¯s hand hadnded on the girl¡¯s chest. The girl did not wake up. Not only that, on the contrary, she wrapped her arms around his and spoke up in her dreams, ¡°Master, Chan-er knows her wrongs. Chan-er shouldn¡¯t have left the mountain without permission. Don¡¯t punish Chan-er.¡±

    ¡°This!¡±

    ¡°This, this, what¡¯s this supposed to be?¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s mind waspletely nk. His entire person seemed to have turned to stone, frozen on the spot without any signs of movement. Sweat broke out all over his body.

    ¡®Howe there¡¯s a girl this beautiful beside me?¡¯

    Li Yundong used all his might to recall what happened before he fell asleep. But the alcohol he consumed would only allow him to remember his confession towards a beauty at school and the subsequent rejection. Afterward, he ran to a roadside shop and got really drunk. He could not remember anything from after that.

    He could not even remember how he had made it back home.

    Is it possible that this beauty brought him back?

    Li Yundong could not help but look down and carefully assess the girl beside him.

    The girl wore a dress cut in ancient fashion woven from what seems to be silk or possibly wild silk. However, the girl¡¯s skin was exquisite, even finer than the sleek fabric of the dress. Her skin was white like snow. Her height could not be estimated because she was all curled up. Nevertheless, based on the feeling transmitted from his hand, a softness that could not be contained by a single palm, she had an excellent figure.

    ¡°Since when did I ever encounter this kind of luck with women?¡± Li Yundong¡¯s head was a mess. His male instincts did not want to pull away from the girl¡¯s softness. He even wanted to explore the girl¡¯s secrets a little more. However, a sudden ring from his cellphone, allowed him to guiltily withdraw his hand from the girl¡¯s chest.

    The instant Li Yundong pressed the button to connect the call, a voice came through, ¡°Li Yundong! Do you know that you¡¯ve skipped ss for three days! Do you want credits this term? Do you want to graduate?¡±

    Li Yundong was dazed, ¡°Is, is this ss president?¡±

    ¡°Nonsense! Who else could it be?¡± The voice on the phone abruptly rose another octave.

    Li Yundong¡¯s head of full of fog. Did he perhaps get drunk for three whole days?

    He smiled in an embarrassed manner and carefully asked, ¡°This, ss president, what¡¯s the date today?¡±

    ¡°Today is May 23! Did you be an idiot?¡± The voice in the phone was distinctly brought under control. But this just meant another storm was brewing.

    Li Yundong turned his head around and looked at the clock beside the living room television. He was surprised to find he truly did sleep for three days.

    ¡°Got it. Got it. I¡¯lle to school right away!¡± Li Yundong disconnected his cellphone without dy.

    He rushed to the bathroom in a fluster to brush and wash up. His clothing that smelled like alcohol was also chaotically reced with a set of blue casuals. Like that, he hurriedly took his leave.

    Hastily making his way to school without stop, Li Yundong found himself full of questions. ¡®Who is that beauty in my home? Why is she at my home? I didn¡¯tmit some act that was violent and illegal, right?¡¯

    After Li Yundong left, the little fox who was alone in his apartment flipped over in her sleep and suddenly woke up.

    Her eyes opened to find the roompletely empty.

    This shock scared her so much that her entireplexion turned pale. ¡®The guy who ate my Human Origin Gold Pill, he didn¡¯t ran away, did he?¡¯

    The little fox¡¯s limbs were ice cold. If that guy escaped, then her entire n would just turn out to be wishful thinking.

    She quickly touched the carpet to find it still warm. That meant he had not gone far, so she calmed down a bit inside. Sniffing at the air, her mood dramatically improved, ¡®his scent was still here!¡¯

    With that in mind, the little fox got up with a swish and started to pursue Li Yundong by his scent.

    ~~~

    *Àæ»¨´øÓê,º£ÌÄÂäÀá ¨C the literal trantion is raindrops on a pear blossom, Malus spectabilis weeping: Malus spectabilis is a type of Chinese crabapple tree shrub thing that is mostly cultivated for its aesthetic value, basically beautiful flowers. Oh and it¡¯s considered a type of japanese rose, This phrase is basically used to describe a crying beautiful woman who is beautiful when crying.

    **ÈËÊÇÌú£¬·¹ÊÇ¸Ö ¨C the literal trantion is human is iron, food is steel: There¡¯s various way to interpret this but the end meaning is basically food is important. It is part of or perhaps a short version of ÈËÊÇÌú£¬·¹ÊÇ¸Ö£¬Ò»¶Ù²»³Ô·³µÃ»Å. 1) Iron (Gan) and Steel (Tie)e together to form Steel (GanTei) the word couple. So humans and food belong together. 2) If you take the cut off part into consideration, human is iron but rice is stronger than human, it is steel, having no rice is bad. 3) Human is iron but after eating rice, he bes steel. Obviously our fox spirit is not human but ren can also mean person or people.

    *** I just did this in LOTS: ¡°Tuo Tai Huan Gu ÍÑÌ¥»»¹Ç ¨C shedding of one¡¯s mortal body and exchanging of bones: basically it is a vast improvement. In daoism, it is part of the process to be xian. To be reborn as an immortal or superior mortal.¡±

    **** Chinese School System. In Canada, we have secondary school (9-12). In America, there¡¯s high school (9-12). The Chinese use little (xiao), middle (zhong), big (da), where big is college/university. Midde consists of 3 years of junior middle school (zhongxue) and another 3 years of senior middle school (gaozhong: literally tall middle).

    Foxes are quite evil aren¡¯t they?

 Chapter 3

    Chapter 3

    <h4>Chapter 3: Hair Standing Up in Anger</h4>

    When Li Yundong arrived at university, it happened to be 8:30 more or less. He just entered the campus, whereupon he noticed a schoolgirl wearing thick ck-rimmed sses hugging a stack of books to her chest standing by the school building not too far away. Her gaze swept back and forth searching the surroundings.

    The schoolgirl saw him. She immediately walked towards him with haste and said in an overbearing manner, ¡°Li Yundong, you skipped ss for three days without reason. Do you know what happened in these three days? The educationmittee just happened to be carrying out inspections. And they just happened to inspect our ss. Your cutting ss made use lose ss honor points!¡±

    The girlshed out with her words and Li Yundong could only grimace and listen. In his opinion, this issue was not all that. ¡®Still thinking of ss honor points! Do you think you¡¯re still attending senior middle school?¡±

    The schoolgirl gained enthusiasm as she talked. On the other hand, Li Yundong increasingly wanted to roll his eyes as he listened. But there was nothing he could do, this girl was named Sun Li from Tiannan University¡¯s Chinese department and she was a famous honor student. She received a special grade schrship after her freshmen year and even got an interview with the mayor.

    Li Yundong had vaguely heard that during senior middle school, Sun Li ranked top three city wide every year. Unfortunately, she failed to perform during her university entrance exams and only scored enough to qualify for second rate universities.

    Originally a first rate university was willing to make an exception and admit her. However, she had a temper. She said something like not eating the scraps thrown by others* and resolutely chose to enter Tiannan University, this second rate school right after.

    Sun Li¡¯s personality was very valiant, a ssical Sichuan chili pepper disposition. She had a pretty oval face with properly matched features, but she always wore ck-rimmed ¡°Bibi Chou¡±** style sses. Not only that, she even wore an outdated headband that went out of fashion who knows how long ago.

    Li Yundong suddenly thought, if this girl removed her sses and headband, what would she look like?

    ¡®s, no matter what she looked like, she wouldn¡¯t be prettier than the girl I just saw in my apartment!¡¯

    Once Li Yundong thought of the mysterious girl in his apartment, he could not stop various thoughts from appearing in his head.

    ¡®Who the heck is that girl? Oi, this is bad. I left her alone in my home, she won¡¯t starting throwing things, right?¡¯

    ¡®Urk, a girl that beautiful, shouldn¡¯t be a thief, right?¡¯

    ¡®Ah, if even a girl that beautiful steals things... then I-I¡¯ll just admit defeat!¡¯

    Li Yundong¡¯s thought wandered far into the distance. One moment, he wonders about the girl¡¯s identity. Another moment, he¡¯ll ponder whether his drunk self and that girl experience some type of rtionship. His mind was like a pot of boiling congee***.

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    Sun Li kept speaking for a bit by herself, only to discover Li Yundong¡¯s attention had wandered off to destinations unknown. She promptly smashed one of the books she carried at Li Yundong¡¯s chest in anger.

    ¡°Hey!¡±

    Nothing happened before she smacked him. But now that she smacked him, the Gold Pill essential qi in Li Yundong¡¯s body responded automatically. The little fox as a real living person had been forcefully repelled an entire meter, what chance did a single book have?

    Pah!

    The book held in Sun Li¡¯s hands rebound outwards. Sun Li was also jolted such that the rest of the books fell scattered across the ground with a crash.

    ¡°Ahh!¡± Sun Li saw her books fall onto the ground. She wasted no time on scold Li Yundong and hurriedly crouched down to gather the books instead.

    Li Yundong had no idea of the changes that urred to himself. He simply assumed Sun Li had not held the books properly, which resulted in this mess. He inwardly harrumphed, ¡®This is divine retribution, right? With a personality this forceful, who will be willing to marry you in future?¡¯

    Despite cursing at her maliciously on the inside, he still crouched down to help Sun Li pick up books.

    Li Yundong picked up two psychology books before standing up and handing those to Sun Li.

    Sun Li on the other hand thought that Li Yundong had purposely jolted her so that her book would fall. She red at him intensely, ¡°How can you have no refinement as a person?

    Li Yundong became indignant. ¡°What are you talking about? I have no refinement? If I had no refinement, I would have stomped on your books while they were on the ground. Didn¡¯t I just help you pick them up?¡±

    Sun Li¡¯s eyebrows almost became vertical. She even reverted to her local dialect. ¡°You think you¡¯re a¡¯ ancestor¡¯s que!**** You just try it!¡±

    Li Yundong was so angry that he was seeing gold stars with his eyes. He felt terrible like something was blocking his chest. His face was red and his neck was bulging as he red at Sun Li. He could only breathe coarsely.

    Sun Li saw his extremely red eyes so bloodshot that blood seemed like it could explode out at any moment. This appearance was quite terrifying. Yet she refused to back down even a single step and traded res with Li Yundong.

    The two of them were ring at each other when they heard a voice from the side, ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t that our school¡¯s confession emperor?¡±

    Li Yundong turned his head around and saw two schoolgirls standing in front of him. Their faces were full of mockery as they looked at him.

    Li Yundong¡¯s whole face suddenly became red, because one of the girls was the beauty he confessed to three days ago. She was the campus belle named Zhou Qin.

    Zhou Qin had an excellent figure, white skin, and her good looks could be rated as one in ten thousand. She wore a light yellow casual wear and its fabric flowed beautifully through the air, appearing both youthful and fashionable. She looked at Li Yundong without any enthusiasm on her face, like that confession three days ago never happened; only in the deepest depth of her eyes could a sliver of disdain and dismissal be detected.

    At her side was a girl named Ding Nan. This was the schoolgirl who just mocked Li Yundong.

    Ding Nan saw Li Yundong did not want to respond. She said with a loudugh, ¡°Hey, I¡¯m speaking to you. Don¡¯t you know that you¡¯re famous now? The video of your confession from a few days ago is ranked number one for click count on the student forums.

    Upon hearing that, Li Yundong was shocked and angry, embarrassed and annoyed. ¡°What did you say? Who recorded it?¡±

    With those words, Li Yundong fixed infuriated rage eyes on Zhou Qin. ¡°You actually did something like that? Something that despicable?¡±

    Zhou Qin¡¯s expression did not change. She merely nced at Li Yundong with her still insipid expression, not bothering to defend herself as if she could not be bothered to justify herself to him.

    Ding Nan who stood on the side spoke up, ¡°Hey, what are you being vicious for? If you have the ability, go be vicious at young master He! That video was taken by me. What do you want to do? You have the guts to confess but no guts to let other people watch? A toad that wants to eat swan meat. You should pee yourself a puddle and look at your own reflection. Just based on yours look, even if you spent money, no one would apany you! From now on, don¡¯t bother our Zhou Qin. Do you understand?¡±

    Even y figurines contains some degree of fire. Let alone Li Yundong, who had his marrow washed and tendons exchanged by the Gold Pill, had vigorous blood and qi to an inconceivable degree throughout his entire body.

    A lot of blood and qi made it easier for a person to get angry. If a person got angry easily, then often even trivial matters would berge conflicts, let alone this kind of humiliation.

    Li Yundong felt a flow of hot qi travel from his abdomen straight up to his chest, where it boiled and stirred for a bit. Soon after, a pop sounded out as if a blockage on his chest had been broken through and the hot qi charged straight for his head!

    Li Yundong¡¯s hair stood straight up as this portion of qi reached the top of his head.

    His eyes were opened so wide that they almost split open. The blood vessels in his eyes bulged. The qi in his chest boiled and roiled like furious lightning before charging into his mouth where it surged out, ¡°Say it again if you dare!¡±

    No matter how rampant Ding Nan was or how unperturbed Zhou Qin was, they were simple girls. When the Gold Pill transformed Li Yundong gets angry, his eyes were like lightning and his presence like a tiger. Even a strong robust man would be scared to the point of shivering, let alone a couple weak schoolgirls?

    Ding Nan and Zhou Qin were so intimidated that they backed up a step in sync. Fear appeared in Ding Nan¡¯s eyes. Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes also contained fear but at the same time she was also surprised but that surprise quickly turned to shame inspired rage.

    Zhou Qin secretly tightened her grip on Ding Nan¡¯s hand. Ding Nan turned her head and nced at her before seemingly understanding something.

    ¡°Hey, what are you trying to do? This is the campus!¡± Ding Nan shouted out loudly, ¡°Everyonee here. There¡¯s someone trying to kill people!¡±

    It was the time just preceding morning sses, there were many students on campus. Hearing this shout, many students gathered over surrounding them.

    Upon seeing so many people, Ding Nan¡¯s courage revitalized. With her hand on her hip, she sneered, ¡°Come on, weren¡¯t you really savage? What are you tightening that fist for? Do you want to hit me? Come on. Hit here. If you don¡¯t dare hit me then you¡¯re not a man! Hmph. Based on your looks, even if you confessed to all the women in the world, none of them would like you!¡±

    Li Yundong was truly enraged. He took big steps forward. Raising his fist high, he punched toward Ding Nan.

    Ding Nan let out a terrified scream. Pulling Zhou Qin, she shrunk backward.

    She and Zhou Qin were the same. They were both beautiful girls and there naturally many protectors of beauties on campus.

    The boys who normally admired these two girls would naturally step up.

    ¡°Hey, little tramp, what do you think you¡¯re doing-¡± a tall and sturdy guy ced himself in Li Yundong¡¯s way. This was the representative of the university¡¯s physical education department, Wu Hui. His appearance was simr to Wu Jilong*****, thus the infatuated schoolgirls would call him Little Wu Jilong.

    Wu Hui had always doggedly pursued campus belle Zhou Qin. With such as good chance to perform in front of him, how could he not step up?

    The moment he finished speaking, Li Yundong who was half a head shorter than him used one hand to catch his cor and forcibly lifted him into the air.

    ¡°What am I doing? I¡¯m doing your mom!¡± Li Yundong¡¯s violent rage scared all the students silly, especially the strength he demonstrated by lifting the 180cm tall physical education representative with a single arm.

    ¡°Crap, it¡¯s Schwarzenegger!¡± some of the boys hissed.

    Wu Hui being lifted up in the air by his cor could not breathe. His face had turned a purple red. He barely squeezed out, ¡°Le-let go!¡±

    Li Yundong loosed a grin. Originally, his slightly chubby face seemed a bit schrly, but now his face seemed malevolent. ¡°Very well, I¡¯ll let go!¡±

    With those words, Li Yundong was about to use his full strength to throw Wu Hui, when a surprised female voice broke out from the crowd. It sounded full of delight. ¡°You¡¯re over here!¡±

    This voice was like the most beautiful sound that stood out alone, and yet it was also like a wind-chime that apanied the wind. There was an inexpressible sharpness and beauty that made anyone who heard it instinctively look towards its source. Who could sound so wonderful just by speaking?

    Li Yundong also turned his head around. His eye opened wide in surprise. His hair, which was standing straight up, also drooped back down.

    This girl was the one who showed up beside him after he woke up from his drinking session.

    This girl wore a red dress cut in ancient fashion, just like those costumes seen in period dramas. When normal girls wore those, they would possess an undefinable awkwardness. But this girl possessed an unclear ssical charm, like a beauty that walked out of a painting.

    The girl had a beautiful oval face. Her eyes were lovely with a natural foxy charm. Her ck pupils were vibrant. They almost glowed from within and attracted attention with every motion, so beautiful that they dazzled. Her lips were the perfect red and her teeth pearly white. With one sweet smile, all the surrounding boys were deeply infatuated.

    ~~~

    *²»Ê³àµÀ´Ö®Ê³ Bu Shi Jie Lai Zhi Shi ¨C This is a proverb based on a story. It was a year when good was scarce, an arrogant rich merchant on the road threw food on the ground and told a starving person to eat. The merchant probably wanted to express his superiority. The starving person had pride so he said he wouldn¡¯t eat àµÀ´Ö®Ê³. Later the guy starved the death. The Chinese like people with tough bones, so there¡¯s two interpretations of the tale. The good is that the guy has the pride a man should have. The bad is that the guy died because he was too prideful.

    ** Bibi Chou ¨C a Chinese singer that likes to wear thick ck framed sses.

    *** congee ¨C rice porridge.

    **** ÏÈÈËµÎ°å°å or ÏÈÈË°å°å ¨C ancestor¡¯s que: Most ces in China, if there¡¯s someone that no one can do anything to, then that person is called can ancestor, because elders are respected in China, even if your ancestor does something wrong, there¡¯s nothing you can do to them. In Sicuan province, the expression is reced by ancestor¡¯s que, since you can¡¯t do anything to those either. For example, so kid goes home and refuses to do their homework no matter what, his parents might call him an ancestor¡¯s que.

    ***** Wu Ji Long ¨C Nichs ¡°Nicky¡± Wu is a singer/actor. You can google him.

 Chapter 4

    Chapter 4

    <h4>Chapter 4: Quench that Heat</h4>

    Li Yundong stared distractedly at the little fox who was not far away . All his anger faded away and he unwittingly released Wu Hui, idiotically saying, ¡°You, you...¡±

    Li Yundong never imagined that the girl would chase him to his campus, his imagination uncontrobly ran wild, ¡®Why did shee? Did something really happen between us? Did shee to get back at me? Or... I-I-What should I do?¡¯

    The little fox chased all the way to school . Now that she had found Li Yundong who was a moving Human Origin Gold Pill in her eyes, she could not suppress her happiness . However, she quickly realized her mistake and became vignte .

    ¡®Not good . I can¡¯t let my joy overwhelm my deliberation . If I identally slip up and let him catch onto my intentions, then my chance of sess will take a turn for the worse!¡±

    The little fox thought of the things her master once taught her while she was in the mountain . ¡°If you want him to stop suspecting your suspicious origins, then you only need one stratagem and then you¡¯ll be sessful every time!¡±

    And that stratagem is to pretend to be pitiful .

    The little fox forcefully endured the impulse to rush up andtch onto Li Yundong . Instead, she walked with tiny step with a face full of unspoken grievance . She stopped in front of Li Yundong . Herrge glittery eyes stared at him . These expressive eyes could even melt an Arhat cast of copper .

    Wu Hui who was on the side stared at the girl in front of him . He was screaming nonstop on the inside, ¡®There¡¯s actually a girl this beautiful! There¡¯s actually a girl this beautiful!¡±

    The little fox¡¯s beauty had a destructive power towards all males . For the past thousand or so years, no one had ever heard of a mortal able to resist the seduction of a fox spirit .

    King Jie of Xia, King Zhou of Shang, and King You of Zhou, all of them without exceptions were ensnared by the fox spirits, Mei Xi, Da Ji, and Bao Si .

    Ancient monarchs could not resist, how could inexperienced university students do better?

    Wu Hui seemed to havepletely forgotten his recent loss . He loudly proimed to the little fox, ¡°Beautifuldy, this guy isn¡¯t a good person . A moment ago, he was going to...¡±

    Li Yundong did not even look Wu Hui . His hand pressed down on Wu Hui¡¯s head and sent him falling on his butt . ¡°Get lost!¡±

    The surrounding students watched Li Yundong and the little fox as if they were watching a show, discussing in whisper what the rtionship between the two might be .

    ¡°I think, it must be Li Yundong who did something bad to the beautiful girl . ¡±

    ¡°Fellow brother, I¡¯ll support you if you step up . Li Yundong looks like he has a guilty conscience!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll support your freaking lungs . Are you guys blind? That beauty is top-notch no matter who she¡¯spared with . Even Fan Bingbing*pared to her is ugly . How can she like Li Yundong?¡±

    ¡°Screw . You¡¯re the one who¡¯s blind! Didn¡¯t you hear what I said? Li Yundong did something bad to her!¡±

    ¡°Hooey, What does being blind have to do with hearing what you said? What kind of logic is that?¡±

    ¡°Stop arguing already, watch the show!¡±

    These people discussed excitedly, and all of them conjectured that this girl hade to cause trouble for Li Yundong . Furthermore, they thought Li Yundong must have done something to this beauty that he should be ashamed of .

    But what happened next made the entire audience fall over in surprise .

    The little fox used her fingertips to gently grip at Li Yundong¡¯s sleeve, swaying back and forth . She let her head droop low and softly said, ¡°Why did you leave just like that?¡±

    Li Yundong was also anxious and scared on the inside . When he hear what the little fox said, his brain blue screened** . He had difficulty reacting . ¡°Huh?¡±

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    The little fox raised her head, and pitifully looked at Li Yundong, ¡°You don¡¯t want me anymore?¡±

    Before, the little fox was too quiet so not everyone heard . This time, they heard what she said loud and clear .

    ¡°Impossible! Paying out instead of getting paid? This is a mistake, right?¡±

    Everyone raised amotion .

    The male students instantly became like animals in mating seasons . Their eyes were bloodshot as they red at Li Yundong . If the brat, Li Yundong, opened his mouth and said no, they would scream out, ¡°I want you . I want you . Beauty, I want you!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s head was full of glue . His IQ suffered a serious drop . He could only stare at the little foxpletely speechless .

    Tears started to well up in the little fox¡¯s eyes, adding to her allure . Just as she was about to cry, Li Yundong managed to regain his wits, ¡°Okay okay . Don¡¯t cry . Don¡¯t cry . If there¡¯s something you want to say, we can discuss it back home . ¡±

    On the side, Ding Nan whose eyes were so wide they were round stared in disbelief . She could not help but step closer and say to the little fox, ¡°Hey, you know this guy is-¡±

    The little fox¡¯s hand gave Ding Nan¡¯s head a push, imitating Li Yundong¡¯s treatment of Wu Hui, without even looking at the girl . ¡°Get lost!¡±

    Ding Nan tumbled into a roll . While her looks were not as good as Zhou Qin, she was still a department belle grade beauty . Since when had she ever suffered such humiliation?

    She sat on the ground, nkly looking at the little fox and Li Yundong . For a time, she could not regain her wits .

    Sun Li on the other hand seemed much calmer . She coldly said, ¡°I say, are you guys filming a Chiung Yao*** drama? If you are, please switch to another location . This is a school!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled at Sun Li . It could not be helped . She was the ss monitor . Even though she was not a high ranking in the system, but little authority is still authority .

    His credits this term were held in the hands of this little hot pepper! If you wanted to say the ss monitor had a lot of authority, you¡¯d be wrong, but you could not say the ss monitor only had a little authority either . Taking the daily roll call was her responsibility . If that little hot pepper decides to avenge private wrongs using her position, his efforts this entire term would be wasted .

    Li Yundong did not know how he should interact with the little fox, but with a girl this beautiful chasing after him, he was feeling greatly refreshed on the inside . He gave a dry cough before speaking to the little fox, ¡°You can return home first and wait for me . We¡¯ll talk after I get back . ¡±

    With those words, pretending not to be affected by her sensual sexuality, he headed toward the school building .

    Upon arriving in therge ssroom, just as he sat down, a sweet fragrance tickled at his senses . The little fox acting like a bullied young wife had followed behind him . She sat down by his side .

    Even though Li Yundong acted as if he were unaffected in front of crowd, in the depth of his heart, he deeply desired the little fox to follow him in . At this moment, he was shocked and overjoyed . ¡°Why did you follow me in?¡±

    The little fox had assumed Li Yundong wanted her to leave, so her tears fell with a pitter-patter . ¡°Please don¡¯t drive me away . ¡±

    Looking at her, Li Yundong¡¯s heart wanted to melt . ¡°Oi, no one is trying to drive you away!¡±

    The little fox raised her head, and she anxiously looked at Li Yundong . ¡°Really?¡±

    Li Yundong nodded solemnly . ¡°Of course!¡±

    The little fox immediately broke out in a smile . Her eyes became like crescent moons . ¡°Chan-er is truly happy!¡±

    Li Yundong asked curiously, ¡°Chan-er?¡±

    The little fox beamed with joy . She pointed to her nose and said, ¡°Su Chan, is is the name my master gave me . ¡±

    Li Yundong asked inquisitively, ¡°Your master?¡±

    Su Chan became nervous on the inside . Pretending to be naive, she simply answered, ¡°Yup!¡±

    Luckily, Li Yundong did not continue to ask . He smiled at the little fox and said, ¡°I am called Li Yundong . ¡±

    This exchange between the two of them in the ears of those students sitting nearby was enough to make them grimace . The emotions between the two seemed awfully desperate a moment ago, but apparently they did not even know each other¡¯s names!

    Some other students were full of unexined grief and rage . How can this kind of top-tier beauty be interested in our university¡¯s biggest loser, the confession emperor? What part of their appearance was inferior to his? What part of their figure was inferior to his? What part of their talent was inferior to his? What part of their background was inferior to his? What the heck does this beauty like about him? Is there any fairness in this world? Is there anyw of thend?

    The little fox Su Chan finally achieved the first step of her n . She sessfully found a way to stay at that fellow¡¯s side .

    Now for the step two of her n, to capture this man .

    Su Chan thought, ¡®That year, master also said, in order to capture a man¡¯s heart, first you must fulfil his every desire . ¡¯

    ¡®But what was fulfil every desire supposed to be? He-he didn¡¯t bring up any requests . What fulfil? What desire?¡¯

    Quickly, the little fox realized, ¡°Woot, I¡¯m so dumb . If he doesn¡¯t bring anything up, can¡¯t I just ask?¡±

    So the little fox with a fawning smile asked, ¡°Yundong, are you cold?¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s call of ¡°Yundong¡± almost made Li Yundong¡¯s bone go soft . He stared at Su Chan with a strange expression on his face .

    The little fox timidly looked at Li Yundong, ¡°You don¡¯t like me calling you that way?¡±

    Li Yundong swept his gaze around his surround only to find all the male students looking at him in jealousy and disdain . His male vanity received enormous satisfaction . ¡°I like you calling me that way . ¡±

    Su Chan once again beamed brightly . ¡°Yundong, are you cold?¡±

    Li Yundong snickered on the inside . ¡®Tiannan was a southern city . Right now it was the end of May . You¡¯re asking me if I¡¯m cold?¡¯

    He casually answered, ¡°I¡¯m not cold . ¡±

    The male students sitting behind Li Yundong all shuddered . They could not stand Su Chan¡¯s voice, which could make the bones of men go soft . They mumbled to themselves, ¡°I, your father, am almost cold enough to die thanks to the two of you!¡±

    Su Chan naturally would not care about the sour grapes of those male students . She originally wanted Li Yundong to say he was cold, and then she could snuggle up to him to help him warm up . However, this fellow was cold . So her eyes spun around in thought before she said, ¡°Then, are you hot?¡±

    Li Yundong did not know whether tough or cry . This ssroom had air conditioning, how could it be hot? ¡°I¡¯m not hot either . ¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s lips almost formed a pout . She grumbled in her heart, ¡®You¡¯re not cold and you¡¯re not hot . Then what the heck do you want?¡¯

    However, Su Chan¡¯s personality was unyielding, dogged in spite of setbacks, soft on the outside and firm on the inside . Otherwise, she would not have braved countless difficulties to steal the Human Origin Gold Pill . She asked once more, ¡°Then, are you hungry?¡±

    Hearing her question, Li Yundong¡¯s stomach growled . His flesh and bones had been ravaged by the Human Origin Gold Pill for three days . His stomach had long since emptied . Previously, he was always upied by various matter so he did not notice his hunger . Now that Su Chan mentioned it, his stomach immediately responded .

    With his belly rumbling like thunder, acting as irrefutable evidence, Li Yundong honestly nodded his head and said, ¡°I¡¯m really hungry!¡±

    Su Chan was overjoyed, ¡°Then I¡¯ll go buy some food for you to eat, okay?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled with gratitude . He really was not used to having a beauty so close to him . Rather embarrassed, he replied self-consciously, ¡°Okay then . ¡±

    Su Chan finally found an opportunity to perform . ted at the good new, she immediately ran out of the ssroom .

    Li Yundong watched her departing figure . His shout failed to stop her, ¡°Hey! I didn¡¯t give you money yet!¡±

    Su Chan ran out of the ssroom . She attracted the gazes of who knew how many boys along the way . Followed by infatuated gazes and sigh, she charged out of the campus .

    Having left the campus, Su Chan looked left and right . Suddenly, she found she did not know where to buy food .

    Anyhow, this kind of obvious problem could not stop her . She wrinkled her nose and found the scent of meat in the air . Next, she followed the smell toward its source .

    There really was a marketce by Tiannan University . The little fox simply followed the scent of food and soon enough she found her way there .

    Even though the little fox had never visited a marketce in the mundane world, she at least heard of them .

    With a beaming smile, she ran to the meat stall . Just as she was going to buy a few jin**** of meat, she suddenly remembered, ¡®Fish brings phlegm, meat brings heat (internal heat)***** . This kind of thing will increase one¡¯s internal heat!¡±

    Li Yundong swallowed the Human Origin Gold Pill, his blood and vital qi were vigorous to the extreme, already past the limit of an ordinary mortal . Thus his internal heat was also enormous .

    Eating meat for him would bring harm without any benefit .

    The little fox waspletely focused on currying favor with Li Yundong . She actually forgot to consider the matter from an ordinary person¡¯s perspective .

    Do mortal eat raw pork?

    Luckily, Su Chan considered the issue from a cultivator¡¯s point of view and did not end up buying raw pork . Otherwise Li Yundong would have probably ended up looking at two jin of meat not knowing whether tough or cry .

    With that idea in mind, Su Chan left the meat stall and moved to the vegetable stand . She pondered what to buy . ¡®Since that fellow can¡¯t eat anything hot (internal heat), then he should eat something cool (internal heat)!¡±

    Fish brings phlegm; meat brings heat (internal heat); radishes and bok choy bring peace and quiet (internal heat)!

    Su Chan inspected the vegetable stand . She picked a plump carrot, and she was about to pick a bunch of bok choy . But after giving it some thought, she concluded, ¡®I don¡¯t eat raw bok choy . That fellow probably doesn¡¯t eat raw bok choy too, right?¡¯

    Thus Su Chan put the bok choy back down . Looking left and right, she picked a cucumber that was both long and thick, secretly proud that she remember a passage from the food therapy ssics, ¡®Cucumber is cold (internal heat) in nature, refreshing in vor, it can quench thirst, wipe out vexation and lower internal heat!¡¯

    ¡®It can fill your stomach and reduce internal heat . You can even eat it raw! Ha, I¡¯m brilliant!¡¯

    The little fox was filled with pride . A little bit more and she would wag her tail .

    The owner of the vegetable stand was a middle-aged aunty . Her face was fierce with muscle, and she was staring at the little fox . In her mind, she eximed, ¡®My god, how can there be such a beautiful maiden! To be this foxy and charming! If a man gets together with her, won¡¯t he be drained dry?¡¯

    She observed as all the men in the area looked at Su Chan . It was a scene reminiscent of cats smelling the scent of fish . They were all drooling as if they wanted to eat up the little fox in a single bite .

    ¡®Hmph! Coquettish fox!¡¯

    The vegetable stand owner coldly harrumphed . Turning around, she found her own husband was acting the same way .

    She instantly exploded in rage . Reaching out, she grabbed her husband¡¯s ear and said, ¡°Do you want me to call them over so that you can have a good look, mmm?¡±

    That uncle was apparently a henpecked husband . He was suddenly all apologetic smiles and no longer dared to look . Though asionally he peeked out of the corner of his eyes .

    The vegetable selling aunty grumbled andined to herself indirectly cursing at a certain someone . She looked at Su Chan picking out a carrot, followed by a cucumber . Su Chan¡¯s figure started retreating into the distance .

    The aunty was fuming inside and she felt something was not quite right . However, Su Chan¡¯s absolute beauty had entangled her thoughts so she was not able to react .

    When Su Chan had already departed, the aunty realized what happened . She heavily smacked her leg and cursed, ¡°That little hussy! That damn fox spirit! She didn¡¯t pay!¡±

    After Su Chan left, Li Yundong sat on his seat . His thoughts were full of Su Chan¡¯s every expression . Evidently, the little fox spirit had alreadyid im to his heart and soul .

    Right up until someone poked him in the back, did he finally wake up from his delusions . ¡°Huh, what is it?¡±

    The teacher on the lectern was ck in the face as he said, ¡°Student Li Yundong, pleasee up here and repeat what I just said . ¡±

    Li Yundong forced himself to walk up to the lectern . He opened his mouth but remained speechless . A moment ago, he hadn¡¯t paid attention because his head was full of the little fox . How could he know what the teacher said?

    The teacher of ancient Chinese literary history was a bald middle-aged man . When he saw Li Yundong open his mouth without speaking, he blew up . Using his abilities as a veteran professor, he scolded Li Yundong until Li Yundong almost could not raise his head .

    Just as the Chinese teacher finished his scolding and was preparing to let Li Yundong return to his seat, Su Chan charged into the room .

    Li Yundong watched as Su Chan charged in and found him with a single nce . Her eyes lit up, and she ran onto the lectern without a care . He suddenly had an inauspicious premonition .

    Unfortunately, before he could say anything, Su Chan proudly raised her left hand as if she were presenting treasure . Her crisp voice rang out like silver bells and said, ¡°I bought this carrot for you; I¡¯ve even washed it! Hurry up and eat!¡±

    With those words, without waiting for any reply, a carrot was stuffed into Li Yundong¡¯s hand .

    The Chinese teacher was extremely angry inside . His face was gloomy . The surrounding temperature immediately dropped .

    The students in the ssroom were dumbstruck .

    Li Yundong¡¯s back suddenly started to sweat . The corners of his eyes twitched . He tried nonstop to signal Su Chan with his eyes .

    Su Chan blinked her eyes . She looked past Li Yundong and saw the bald Chinese teacher . She smiled sweetly and gave him a wave . Then she said to Li Yundong, ¡°Eat, why aren¡¯t you eating? Maybe you don¡¯t like carrots?¡±

    ¡°No worries, I have other stuff too!¡± said Su Chan as she raised her right hand . What followed was an amazing line that would be recorded into the history of Tiannan university .

    ¡°These days, you... mmm... your heat might be a bit big... thus, I bought this cucumber to help you quench that heat!******¡±

    With those words, the little fox proudly raised her right hand, which was holding a veryrge and very thick... cucumber!

    In that instant, the entire ssroom went silent .

    Li Yundong had tears flowing down his cheeks .

 Chapter 5

    Chapter 5

    <h4>Chapter 5: Fleecing Me?</h4>

    Li Yundong¡¯s expression was truly vivid . He could not face his teacher and ssmates who were suffering from breakdown . Like his butt was on fire, he grabbed the little fast and ran .

    The little fox was still unclear about the situation . Dragged along by Li Yundong, she asked in puzzlement, ¡°What is it?¡±

    Pulling the little fox along, Li Yundong only managed to escape two steps outside the ssroom, before the entire ss exploded into uproariousughter .

    Thisughter caused Li Yundong¡¯s face to burn with embarrassment . He was so ashamed that if there were a crack on the ground, he would immediately jump in .

    It was the end . He could no longer attend this ss, staying would just continue to disgrace himself .

    Li Yundong stomped his feet . Dragging the little fox, he decided to run home despite it being ss time .

    On the way, Li Yundong pulled the little fox along and ran with all his might . No matter how dumb she might be, the little fox had noticed something was wrong .

    Once the two reentered Li Yundong¡¯s apartment, the little fox once again lowered her head, timidly giving Li Yundong a nce . She softly asked, ¡°Did I say something wrong?¡±

    Li Yundong wanted to cry but he had no tears, ¡°What do you think?¡±

    The little fox pouted her lips, like a victim wronged . ¡°This one* did not say anything wrong... cucumbers is cold (internal heat) in nature, refreshing in vor, and it lower internal heat!¡±

    Li Yundong wanted to blow up . He seized the cucumber that the little fox was still holding in her hand and started cursing, ¡°Lowers heat! The great me lowers heat, my ass! I can cucumber stab you to death in one blow, believe me!¡±

    The little fox was frightened by Li Yundong . She looked up at him with her beautiful teary eyes, but quickly lowered her head again . Her tears fell with a pitter-patter . She could not help thinking, ¡°Master was right sure enough . The people outside of our mountain are savage and violent . They shout beat and kill at the slightest provocation . This fellow is especially hateful . Hmph, when I deceive you into sessfully building your foundation, I¡¯ll drain you dry!¡±

    ¡°Okay okay, stop crying already . If you keep crying, you¡¯ll be a little calico cat!**¡± Li Yundon attempted a very clich¨¦ line . He wanted to reach out and help the little fox wipe her tears . However, the little fox¡¯s supremely beautiful and yet pitiful appearance caused his heart to tremble . His hand raised midway beforeing to a stop .

    The little fox detected that Li Yundong¡¯s anger had already vanished . So she daringly raised her head and asked, ¡°You don¡¯t me me anymore?¡±

    The corners of Li Yundong¡¯s mouth twitched and he forced himself to answer with a smile, ¡°I don¡¯t me you!¡±

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    ¡®Where the heck did this girle from to be so innocent and pure?

    ¡®Nowadays, where would you find a girl like this? She¡¯s national treasure grade!

    ¡®Based on her speech habits, she seems to be from the mountains? A countryside maiden? Man, in what countryside do maidens grow up this pretty?¡¯

    However, no matter what he thought about, there was a vexing issue that he could not avoid .

    Li Yundong loosed a long sigh . He grabbed his head and pulled on his hair as he paced back and forth in the living room . ¡°Oi, what can I do? How can I go to ss tomorrow? If I go to ss tomorrow, won¡¯t theyugh me to death?¡±

    The little fox lifted her head and scrunched her nose . She waved her fist and assumed a fierce demeanor . ¡°Who dares tough at you? I¡¯ll help you beat him up!¡±

    Li Yundong sized up Su Chan . Even though this girl could not be considered short, her wait was thin, her butt perky, and her limbs were thin . She looked like a maiden without enough strength to truss a chicken .

    He broke out inughter, ¡°You?¡±

    For better or worse, Su Chan was still a three tailed fox demon . Her magic was equivalent to cultivator of Divine Ability realm . While she could notpare to the experts of the variousrge cultivation sects hidden beneath the mundane world, butpared to ordinary mortals, she was an unimaginably strong existence .

    Hearing the belittlement in Li Yundong¡¯s voice, Su Chan angrily said, ¡°You¡¯re looking down on me?¡±

    Li Yundong saw that the girl was truly a bit angry . He suppressed the urge tough and said, ¡°Of course not . The cucumber you bought could scare a lot of people . Did you not see all those students and teachers who were scared silly when you entered the ssroom? Who would dare offend you?¡±

    Su Chan flew into a rage out of humiliation . She snatched back the cucumber in Li Yundong¡¯s hand and stabbed it towards him, ¡°I¡¯ll poke you to death . I dare you go say it again!¡±

    Li Yundong turned around and ran,ughing merrily . Su Chan chased from behind unwilling to let up . The two of them joked and fought . Li Yundong was chased into the bedroom . He hid at the foot of the bed . He waved his hands andughingly said, ¡°Heroine have mercy . Heroine have mercy . This little one knows his wrongs . ¡±

    Su Chan bit her lips, aiming the cucumber at Li Yundong¡¯s body, she stabbed forth . With this stab, the cucumber snapped in two with a ¡®pah¡¯ sound .

    Li Yundong reacted quickly and in one motion caught the section that was snapped off in his hand . With a smile, he retaliated by prodding at Su Chan . ¡°He he, wasn¡¯t that foolish? It broke, didn¡¯t it? I dare you to stab me again!¡±

    Su Chan received two blows to her lower waist from Li Yundong . That was her most ticklish ce, so she immediately broke out intoughter . As sheughed, she counterattacked, ¡°Very well . You even dared to retaliate . Today, this heroine will represent heaven and mete out justice!¡±

    The little fox was innately naughty . Once she started joking with Li Yundong, she could not stop . Only when Li Yundong¡¯s cucumber prodded the softest part of her chest, did she return to her senses and release a shriek . She hugged at her chest and red at Li Yundong without saying a word .

    Li Yundong also realized that he prodded the wrong ce . With a self-depreciating smile, he also did not know what he should say . For a time, the two of them just stared at each other .

    Li Yundong was secretly regretful . He was too rash . What if he scared off this one in a million beauty? That would truly be discouraging .

    The little fox was secretly pondering why she had been joking and ying with this fellow . She was even slightly happy . And howe this fellow did not seem as hateful as before?

    ¡®This can¡¯t go on . This fellow ate the Human Origin Gold Pill . His yang qi was super strong . What if he¡¯s affected by my yin qi? If he suddenly bes passionate before building his foundation and propositions me, what will I do?

    ¡®Wouldn¡¯t my n be ruined?

    ¡®This can¡¯t go on . From now on, I need to distance myself from him . I have to wait until he make progress on his cultivation . ¡¯

    Thinking those thoughts, Su Chan¡¯s smile gradually disappeared . She considered for a moment before putting down the cucumber in her hands and said, ¡°I-I have nowhere to go, but still, you can¡¯t bully me like this...¡±

    This line caused Li Yundong¡¯s sympathy to well up . The way he looked at Su Chan also became soft and full of warmth . He stood up and let out a dry cough . Even though he had nothing to say, he would find something . ¡°What about you? Are you hungry?¡±

    As soon as those words were said, Su Chan¡¯s stomach started growling .

    The little fox¡¯s cheeks reddened, and she nodded her head . While on the inside, she thought, ¡®No kidding, I guarded you for three days . How can I not be hungry? I didn¡¯t even have time to eat . I even bought food for you in order to make a good impression . To think you don¡¯t appreciate my kindness . You really make me mad!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Hungry? No problem . It just happens that I¡¯m hungry too . I¡¯ll make something to eat!¡±

    The little fox was a little bbergasted . ¡°You know how to cook?¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s parents left him while he was still a child . His personality may bezy, but in order to survive, he had grasped a set of decent cooking skills . He proudly pulled his sleeves and said, ¡°Hmph, I¡¯ll let you witness my abilities!¡±

    With those words, he left the bedroom and walked to kitchen . He pulled open the refrigerator and was instantly struck dumb .

    The inside of the refrigerator was a disaster zone . It was as if a hurricane had blown through . Everything edible had been cleared out . Even the bottle of fermented bean curd was not spared .

    ¡®I¡¯ve been robbed?¡¯ Li Yundong subconsciously thought .

    The little fox saw Li Yundong open the refrigerator only to freeze . She suddenly remember she had eaten everything inside . Her face suddenly felt hot . With shame written on her face, she tiptoed close inch by inch and said in a mosquito-like voice, ¡°I-I ate it...¡±

    Li Yundong sucked in a breath of cold air . He unwittingly wanted to say, ¡®Are you the reincarnation of someone who starved to death? There were two Orleans Roast Chicken, three bottles of coconut milk, a bag of cakes, four bags of bread, three boxes of jello, half a watermelon, and a bottle of fermented bean curd . You ate all of that? How are you not dead from overeating?

    Li Yundong looked at the little fox¡¯s pitiful appearance . He managed to hold back his words . Releasing a sigh, he said, ¡°Even the cleverest housewife cannot cook without rice . There¡¯s no ingredients at home . No matter how good I am, I can¡¯t make anything like this . Let¡¯s go buy some ingredients . ¡±

    The little fox saw that he was not going to pursue the issue . She hurriedly nodded and obediently followed behind Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong peered back at her, and curiously asked, ¡°You¡¯re not going to wait at home?¡±

    The little fox shook her head like a rattle . Her hand grabbed onto the lower hem of Li Yundong¡¯s top, as if she were afraid Li Yundong would throw her her away . She said sounding miserable, ¡°I¡¯ll go with you . ¡±

    Li Yundong looked at her appearance and said with a smile, ¡°Okay . But could you not act like this . It looks like I mistreat you or something . ¡±

    The little fox finally stopped worrying . She lifted her head and gave a sweet smile .

    The two left the apartment . They walked for only seven or eight minutes before arrive at the nearby marketce .

    Just as they entered, Li Yundong saw the vegetable selling aunty charge at him in an overbearing manner .

    ¡°You little fox spirit! You hussy! You owe this olddy money, and you dare bring this pretty boy ande back?¡± While still some distance apart, the vegetable selling aunty started cursing at them loudly .

    Seeing the aunty act like an old shrew, Li Yundong frowned and soundlessly moved in front of the little fox and said, ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Can¡¯t we discuss it peacefully?¡±

    The vegetable stand owner pointed at Su Chan and said, ¡°A while ago she bought my vegetable, but she left without paying! This little slut is already doing bad things at a young age, how much worse will she be in the future?¡±

    Li Yundong was angry inside . He red at the vegetable stand owner and said, ¡°How much money does she owe? I¡¯ll pay it . ¡±

    The vegetable stand owner noticed that Li Yundong, despite his ordinary looks, had a pair of frighteningly bright eyes . A simple nce from him was like the sharp end of a de, enough to make her heart quiver . She did not meet his eyes .

    She originally wanted to make peace and fix the situation . After all, friendliness was a necessity if you wanted to make money in the business . However, she just happened to see the little fox hiding behind Li Yundong looking miserable . All the men were looking at her practically drooling . The aunty could not help but get angry again .

    The vegetable stand owner abruptly remembered, back when she was pregnant, her own husband once cheated on her due to the seduction of a coquettish fox . If she did not have misgivings due to her child, she might have gotten divorced right away .

    Although this happened long ago, the vegetable stand owner could not forget . The sight of any beautiful women is enough to incite her temper .

    Hearing that Li Yundong was willing to pay up, with a spin of her eyes, she held out her palm and demanded, ¡°One hundred kuai***!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled in anger, ¡°A cucumber and a carrot for one hundred kuai? Did you gild your cucumber with gold? Or perhaps your carrot has silver studs?¡±

    The vegetable stand owner¡¯s eyes bulged and she said, ¡°What? She stole from me, so there¡¯s a ten times penalty . ¡±

    Li Yundong replied sounding furious, ¡°Even with a ten times penalty, it shouldn¡¯t be one hundred! A carrot and a cucumber cost ten kuai? That¡¯s daylight robbery!¡±

    The vegetable stand owner noticed that more and more bystanders were gathering . She grew apprehensive inside, but soon, her son charged over aggressively, holding a sharp vegetable knife in his hands . He viciously asked, ¡°Mom, who¡¯s stirring up trouble?¡±

    ~~~

    *ÈË¼Ò ¨C multiple meanings: In this case, it¡¯s a cute or sexy or full of grievance way for girls to refer to themselves in third person . It is the same as I/me, but as a pronoun ÈË¼Ò is closer to ¡®one¡¯ or ¡®people¡¯ . Simr but less cutesy than when Japanese girl refer to themselves in third person .

    ** be a calico cat ¨C in a simr vein to be a flower, basically flowers and flower cats (I substituted with calico cat) have patterns and they¡¯re cute things girls are oftenpared to . Crying might create a pattern on someone¡¯s face . So if a cute girl cries a lot, she can be a flower or calico cat .

    *** kuai ¨C Chinese Yuan/a piece: in this case it is colloquial for yuan . In many dialects such as Shanghai dialect, kuai is used in ce of yuan in a casual setting, for example shopping . The price tags will be written with yuan but the salesperson would say kuai .

 Chapter 6

    Chapter 6

    <h4>Chapter 6: Why Are You So Nice to Me?</h4>

    The vegetable stand owner regained her courage once more .

    Since her husband cheated on her when she was pregnant, after her son was born, she transfer all her love and attention to her child, doting on him in a hundred ways . Therefore, her child was arrogant from a young age, not good at studying, and only knew how to fight and y with women . If someone is even the tiniest bit disagreeable, he would start a fight .

    The anger in Li Yundong¡¯s chest was building up . His eyes grew more radiant . He was about to attack at any time, when someone behind him pulled him back .

    Li Yundong looked back to find the little fox shaking her head . She said, ¡°Let¡¯s let it go . ¡±

    The little fox did not want to raise amotion . She needed to avoid the miniscule possibility of her being forced to act and attracting enemies here . In that case, even if she cried, it would be toote .

    Li Yundong forcefully suppressed his anger . Taking out a hundred yuan bill, he threw it over and coldly said, ¡°Take the money, but take care because your guilt might not be let you sleep at night!¡±

    The vegetable stand owner¡¯s son Er Lu looked at Su Chan with his eyes full of lust and amazement . When he heard what Li Yundong said, he immediately acted up . Taking a step forward, his fierce re revealing his savage nature, he said, ¡°What did you say? Punk, do you want to die?¡±

    The anger that was in Li Yundong¡¯s chest charged up into his head and could no longer be controlled . He took a step forward . One of his hands reached for the Er Lu¡¯s knife holding hand . Applying a bit of strength, he seized the knife from his opponent . His other hand grabbed the guy and forcibly lifted him into the air before throwing him onto the surface of the vegetable stand . Targeting between the guy¡¯s legs, he thrust the knife .

    With a loud thung sound, the rusty iron knife was stabbed over three inches deep into the cement surface by Li Yundong!

    Li Yundong¡¯s face revealed an ominous intent . He said fiercely, ¡°Who is it that wants to die?¡±

    Er Lu was scared silly by Li Yundong . His mouth was open but no sound came out .

    Li Yundong coldly harrumphed and departed more together with the little fox . Only after Li Yundong was more than three meters away did Er Lu regain his wits and check to find that he was unhurt . He flew into a rage due to humiliation . Jumping down from the stand, he casually tried to pull out the iron knife Li Yundong stuck into the cement .

    However, no matter how he pulled, the iron knife seemed to have grown roots in the stand and would not move at all!

    Er Lu was so enraged, he did not carefully consider the situation . He picked up another knife from a nearby vegetable stand, preparing to charge Li Yundong .

    The vegetable stand owner saw everything clearly on the side . She felt starting a knife fight for the sake of a hundred yuan was not worth it, so she hurriedly stopped her son by catching him in a hug .

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    Er Lu was hugged by his power, so he went with the flow . Nevertheless, he continued making foul-mouthed remarks . When Li Yundong and Su Chan finished their shopping and left the marketce, he once again remember the life that was stuck in the vegetable stand .

    Er Lu observed the knife from many different angles . He tried to pull out the knife many times . No matter what he did, the knife would note out . Eventually he used too much strength and the de of the knife snapped .

    Er Lu cursed in anger . He threw the handle of the broken de into the distance . His eyes fixed on the section of the knife de stuck in the stand . His gaze flickered and fluctuated with sinister light .

    The shoppers and shopkeepers also crowded around to take a look at the iron knife that was stuck in the cement b . They clicked in wonder and eximed, ¡°Oh my, how much strength is needed to stick it in that far?¡±

    Er Lu shouted at them in rage, ¡°What are you looking at? The great me can do it too!¡±

    With those words, he stabbed the cement b with the knife in his hand . With a dong sound, his knife only managed to chisel a white mark . The de was unable to endure and snapped in two .

    The crowdughed uproariously . Er Lu tensed his neck in anger . He resentfully said, ¡°Keepughing! If youugh, the great me will let you try my knife!¡±

    Only then did the crowd scatter .

    On the way back, Li Yundong was still seething in anger . He said, ¡°Your mother . Have they ever seen real money? They actually dared to fleece me! They even threatened me! When a tiger isn¡¯t showing its prowess, do you assume that I¡¯m Hello Kitty?*¡±

    Su Chan curiously asked, ¡°What is Hello Kitty?¡±

    Li Yundong looked at her lovable appearance, and a lot of his anger disappeared . ¡°It¡¯s a cat . I¡¯ll buy one for you in the future!¡±

    Su Chan stuck out her little red tongue and said, ¡°Why would I want a cat? And cats are everywhere, aren¡¯t they? Why would you pay?¡±**

    Li Yundong listened to her na?ve and adorable words . He broke out inugh . His low spirits from earlier vanished entirely . ¡°Yes yes, next time I¡¯ll pick up a Hello Kitty from somewhere and gift that to you . ¡±

    Su Chan noticed that he was no longer angry . She alsoughed and said, ¡°Back there, it was my fault . I did not pay when shopping . I¡¯m sorry...¡±

    Li Yundong waved it off without a care, ¡°No problem . Everyone is forgetful once in a while! It¡¯s very normal . ¡±

    On the inside, he thought, ¡®It can¡¯t be that this girl doesn¡¯t have any money, right? I need to find an opportunity to put some money on her . These days, you can¡¯t go anywhere without carrying money . ¡±

    Upon reaching home, Li Yundong checked his ingredients . He bought half a jin of meat, one whole Crucian carp, a jin of tomatoes, a jin of eggs, and a head of bok choy . Paired with the cucumber Su Chan bought, he prepared to make two dishes and one soup: cucumber-meat stir fry, tomatoes fried with eggs, and bok choy fish soup .

    The little fox stayed in the kitchen watching as Li Yundong skillfully cut the vegetables, stir fried the ingredients, flipped the food through the air, and adjusted the vor . Her eyes were full of admiration . ¡°You¡¯re really great . You can even cook . It smells really delicious!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s vanity was very satisfied . ¡°Is that so? It¡¯s even more delicious if you eat! These dishes are only home styled simple dishes . Some other time, I¡¯ll prepare something good and make you a banquet!¡±

    The little fox¡¯s eye became shiny . ¡°For real?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled as he moved the food from the wok into dining ware . ¡°More real than pearls . ¡±

    The little fox watched as Li Yundong prepared the dishes . Their delicious scents assailed her nostrils . She immediately desired to eat!

    She lived and cultivated in the mountains since a young age . Her diet basically consisted of raw meat and poultry . Where had she ever seen this kind of food? Her appetite was so stimted that she was almost drooling .

    When Li Yundong finally finished cooking all the dishes . Everything was ced on the table . One of them sat on the low sofa, while the other sat on the carpet in lotus position .

    The little fox held her chopsticks and endured her hunger . She nced at Li Yundong and asked, ¡°Can we eat yet?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and nodded . The little fox became a whirlwind and swept past all the food on the table . That image truly resembled the reincarnation of a ghost, which starved to death and had not eaten for eight hundred years .

    Li Yundong started out with a warm smile on his face but as he watched, the color of the face changed . ¡°Hey! Aren¡¯t you too fierce? Leave a bit for me . Screw . If you eat all of it, what will I eat!¡±

    By the time he finished speaking, another portion disappeared . Li Yundong sucked in a breath of cold air . This girl was not at all considerate of him .

    Li Yundong knew that if he continued acting as a gentlemen, tonight he would go hungry . He also stopped being polite . Thus began a bitter struggle over food . The two shed with saber lights and sword shadows, scrambling back and forth for food .

    In just ten minutes, a pot of rice and a couple dishes were swept empty .

    The little fox finished thest piece of meat to find there was nothing left to eat . She looked greatly disappointed . She stared at the tiny bit of sauce still remaining at the bottom of one of the tes as if she wanted to continue eating . So she lifted up the te and licked it clean .

    After she licked the te clean, her eyes swept across the room . Only now did she find Li Yundong watching her smiling without an actual smile .

    Su Chan¡¯s face reddened . She bashfully put done the te . Using the back of her hand, she wiped away the overflowing oil from the corner of her mouth . ¡°It was too delicious . ¡±

    Li Yundon felt great pride . Despite not eating his fill, his heart was full of warmth . He attained the sense of aplishment . With augh he said, ¡°Delicious is good . From now on, I¡¯ll cook for you everyday!¡±

    ¡°Everyday?¡± asked the little fox . Her eyes were gleaming as she looked at Li Yundong in delight and gratitude .

    ¡°Is it strange? If I don¡¯t cook, who will cook? You?¡± Li Yundong looked at the oil stuck near the little fox¡¯s mouth . He casually took out a paper towel and wiped the corners of Su Chan¡¯s mouth . His actions filled with warmth and gentleness .

    The little fox was lost in thought for a moment . She nkly looked at Li Yundong and could not help but ask, ¡°Why are you so nice to me?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled . In his mind, he said, ¡®Why are you following me? Do you know that from childhood till now, you¡¯re the only girl who liked me of her own ord . ¡¯ But his mouth actually said, ¡°Was no one nice to you before?¡±

    The little fox was silent for a time . With a lonely expression on her face, she slowly shook her head .

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°From childhood till now, there weren¡¯t many people who were nice to me either . There was no one to take care of me . So, I¡¯ve always wanted to find someone that could be nice to me and I would be nice to her as well...¡±

    The little fox raised her head and looked at Li Yundong . She softly asked, ¡°You¡¯re not going to ask where I came from? Or who I am?¡±

    Li Yundong considered a moment and replied, ¡°If there¡¯s a time when you want to talk about it, you¡¯ll naturally tell me . ¡±

    The little fox¡¯s eyes flickered with unexpected gratitude . She lowered her head and stood up . ¡°I want rest . Where do I sleep?¡±

    Li Yundong pointed to his bedroom . ¡°You can sleep in my bed . I will sleep outside . ¡±

    Even though it was daytime, the two stayed in their respective rooms . Oneid on the bed looking pensive . The other rested his head on his arms, his eyes looking toward the sky .

    ¡®Unknowingly, a little beauty moved into my home . I wonder what will happen in future,¡¯ Li Yundong muttered in his mind .

    He actually did want to know more about Su Chan¡¯s identity . However, he was afraid the little beauty would run away if he asked too intensely . From birth till now, this was the first time he was this close and this intimate with a girl that beautiful . Her breathtaking beauty was like a vivid dream . Li Yundong feared he would wake up .

    ¡®If this were truly a dream then let me continue dreaming, eternally without waking up . ¡¯

    Li Yundong thought this as he closed his eyes, a smile still on his lips .

    Seek out spring, a crown of apricot blossoms in the wind, which youth treads a path with romance fulfilled,

    Boys and girls who live upon this world, have any of you stopped yearning for love and that your hearts be full?

    The little fox rested on the bed, hugging a pillow to her chest . Her body curled up into a ball . She mumbled to herself, ¡°Master, the world outside is really scary indeed . However, it is notpletely full of bad people . This fellow is pretty good to me . It¡¯s just that... I have to steal his yang . After all whose fault is it that he ate my Human Origin Gold Pill?***¡±

    ¡°But why is it that every time I think about doing that, my heart feels guilty and ufortable?¡±

    The little fox was a bit annoyed as she rolled back and forth on the bed . She covered her ears with the pillow, enacting a good impersonation of an ostrich as she started to hypnotize herself, ¡°He stole my Human Origin Gold Pill . He stole my Human Origin Gold Pill...¡±

    Repeating herself several dozen times, the little fox gradually felt her conscience clear up . She should definitely drain dry that fellow who stole her Human Origin Gold Pill .

    Having convinced herself of that point, the little fox felt more at ease . With eyes full of craftiness, she released a slyugh, fu fu fu . ****

    ~~~

    * ÀÏ»¢²»°lÍþ£¬Äã®”ÎÒÊÇ²¡Øˆ ¨C when a tiger isn¡¯t menacing, do you assume it¡¯s a sick cat? ¨C it¡¯s a Hello Kitty version of this proverb . Basically when a mighty figure has not acted for a long time, people tend to think they¡¯ve lost their ability . If a tiger does not act up, some idiots might assume it is sick or lost its teeth, but in truth, it¡¯s still dangerous, it¡¯s just resting .

    ** I¡¯ve lived in China and traveled to dozens of little cities . We have wild squirrels and rabbits here in North America . Chinese cities have cats . Cats everywhere . And sometimes you can find kittens that have been left alone if you want to adopt . They give off quiet meows all night long trying to call their mother .

    *** Whose fault? Your fault! Sorry, I shouldn¡¯t put a note like that . The original Chinese phrase is ¡®Who let him eat my Human Origin Gold Pill¡¯, basically it¡¯s a way of distancing yourself from me . ¡°Who let the Trump be president?¡± said the Republican voter .

    **** Originally, it was a gegeugh, which is equivalent to the Japanese fufuugh . Unfortunately, I was not able to incorporate it in a way that preserved the flow, so I reced it with a ¡®slyugh¡¯ . Actually I added on fu fu fu at the end after rereading . I try to stick close to the authors original intention and structure as much as possible so long as it does not disrupt the flow too much .

 Chapter 7

    Chapter 7

    <h4>Chapter 7: The Little Fox Flips Out</h4>

    The next day, Li Yundong prepared to go to ss with the courage of a martyr . He did not expect that the little fox, upon hearing he was going out, charged out of the bedroom and grabbed hem of Li Yundong¡¯s shirt . ¡°I want to go too . ¡±

    Li Yundong did not know whether tough or cry . ¡°My little grand aunt, I finally gathered enough courage to go to ss . If you go as well and get seen by people, won¡¯t I getughed to death? Hurry up and let go . If you need this up, I won¡¯t even have the courage to go to ss today . *

    Su Chan puffed her cheeks and angrily said, ¡°If someone dares tough at you, I¡¯ll teach them a lesson!¡±

    Li Yundong was both vexed and amused . He patted Su Chan¡¯s head . ¡°Be a good girl and wait at home . When I get back from ss, I¡¯ll bring you something good to eat . Hmm? Your braids didn¡¯t get messy at all despite sleeping?¡±

    Su Chan tilted her head, avoiding Li Yundong¡¯s hand . She kept a death grip on the corner of Li Yundong¡¯s shirt . ¡°No . I only want to go with you . ¡±

    Actually, even Su Chan was not clear on why she wanted to follow this fellow no matter what . Perhaps, it was because in this unfamiliar mundane world, the only person she was familiar with was this fellow who ate her Human Origin Gold Pill .

    Extremelycking a sense of security, the little fox refused to let go no matter what . She kept shaking her head no matter how Li Yundong persuaded her .

    Li Yundong felt helpless . After letting loose a long sigh, he shouted out like a hoodlum, ¡°Fine . Your mother! Who cares what other people think! Picking up my own girl... cough... Walking my own path, letting other have no girl... cough cough, letting others have no path to walk! Right . Let¡¯s set off . To the gallows!¡±

    On the way to university, Li Yundong saw many couples along the way heading from their off-campus housing to university . The girls were like little birds relying on people; the guys acted like they were treasuring fragrance and jade . Of course, asionally there were guys who were like little bird relying on people too .

    Li Yundong also wanted Su Chan to lean on his arm too . He wanted to hold onto her waist in turn . However, he was afraid to expose his inner lecher, which might scare off the littledy .

    Li Yundong looked back at Su Chan incessantly the entire way . She tightly followed behind him, walking where he walked, her hand still gently attached to the corner of Li Yundong¡¯s shirt, like a child who refused to grow up .

    Watching her disy, Li Yundongughed out involuntarily .

    Enter the university¡¯s gate, Li Yundong and the little fox immediately attracted a lot of attention . The male students looked toward the little fox with eyes full of amazement . asionally, they looked at the ordinary looking Li Yundong with faces full of envy . In their hearts, all of them cursed, ¡®How can this kind of beauty be with that kind of fellow? How is that fellow better than me? Hateful! Shameful! Despicable!¡¯

    The female students only briefly nced at the little fox . In their hearts, they were also cursing, ¡®That little fox, that fox hussy, even though she already looks so sexy, she¡¯s still showing off!¡¯

    However, the gazes of those girls fell more often on Li Yundong with hearts full of curiousity .

    In what manner is this man exceptional enough to attract the attention of such a beauty?

    In the past, there was a phrase . To judge a man¡¯s ability, look at his rivals and enemies; To judge a man¡¯s character, look at his friends .

    However, in truth, women are more willing to believe: to judge a man¡¯s ability and character, look at the woman by his side .

    The ability of the man if reflected in the level of the woman beside him .

    But in what way is this fellow¡¯s ability exceptional?

    Formerly, they only heard that this fellow was the confession emperor . In a single year, he received twenty-one nice guy cards . This was an unprecedented record in Tiannan University¡¯s history .

    If he were truly excellent, how did he receive twenty-one nice guy cards in a row?

    The female students could not figure it out no matter how they spected . They were aloof creatures, so they would go up and investigate this matter . Of course, the more important reason they stayed away was due to the little fox at Li Yundong¡¯s side .

    The little fox wore a red dress cut in ancient fashion, as if she were a beauty that walked right out of a period drama . However, her clothes seemed to fit her in a way that everyone felt appropriate, as if she was supposed to wear this kind of clothes, ssical yet morous .

    Walking through the campus, Li Yundong finally encountered the thing he dreaded the most .

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    ¡°Ha, isn¡¯t that the cucumber emperor from yesterday¡¯s ss?¡± These were students from yesterday¡¯s ss who recognized Su Chan and Li Yundong . They startedughing uproariously .

    Even Li Yundong whose face could be called as thick as a wall on the average day, could not help but feel fiery hot as if he had a fever . He simply tensed his neck and ignored everyone . In his heart, he harrumphed with all his might, ¡®Don¡¯t you guys actually want to be me who enjoys this kind of luck with women?¡¯

    The surrounding students did not understand what they were talking about, so they inquisitively asked around . Those students who normally did not have anything better to do patiently exined to the rest, as a result everyone quickly understood, ¡°Oh . So he¡¯s the guy ranked number one clicks from the student forums, the cucumber emperor?¡±

    ¡®Your mother, howe it¡¯s the student forum again?¡¯ Li Yundong thought frantically on the inside .

    ¡°Hey, Li Yundong, is the cucumber delicious? Did it lower your heat?¡± a male student shouted out . The surrounding crowd howled withughter . The most annoying part was that the female studentsughed louder than the male ones .

    ¡°Ha ha, cucumbers can lower heat . That¡¯s truly a nice fantasy!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to die ofughter . To think cucumbers can lower heat . In the future, if the great me heats up, a couple cucumbers and I¡¯ll be OK!¡±

    Li Yundong listened to these voices . The corners of his eyes twitched, ¡°Your mother, calm, I need to stay calm! They¡¯re just jealous of me, definitely!¡±

    If it were justughter, then it would have been fine . However, these farm animals** acted as if they were watching a show while buying soy sauce*** and followed Li Yundong and Su Chan teasing them the entire way .

    When they reached the school building, there were actually threeyers on the inside and threeyers on the outside surrounding them . Li Yundong was bursting with anger . ¡°Screw . Do these guys know when to stop?¡±

    However, he could not do anything to them, so he could only grit his teeth and bear it .

    Su Chan who was on the side saw Li Yundong¡¯s predicament . Her eyes spun and she recalled another bit of wisdom from her master, ¡°If you want a man to forever remember you and appreciate you, then at the time when he needs help the most, you can step up and shield him from wind and rain . ¡±

    Thus, Su Chan flipped out .

    An incensed Su Chan with her hands on her hips charged to the front of the male student who wasughing the loudest . She sized him up .

    The male student was not very tall . His appearance was rather handsome . A pair of elegant eyes**** attracted the fondness of many girls . When he saw Su Chan heading toward him, he had assumed his fortunate encounter with the opposite sex hade . He promptly disyed what he thought was his best smile .

    However, once the little fox finished sizing him up, she grabbed his wrist and started to check his pulse . After checking his pulse for a bit, she grabbed his cheeks with one hand andmanded, ¡°Open your mouth!¡±

    The male student, with no idea what was going on, opened his mouth subconsciously .

    The little fox gave it a nce . Then with a chilling smile, her words hit him over the head, ¡°Yourplexion is moss white . Your tongue is abnormally red . Your pulse is weak and thin . Your eye sockets are sunken and darker than normal . Your eyes are dull . Your lips are pale . While your hair is glossy and bright, your eyebrows are sparse despite your youth . Do you know why?¡±

    This male student was rendered stupid by the little fox¡¯s spiel . He idiotically asked, ¡°W-Why?¡±

    The little fox answered in a loud voice, ¡°This means you have enormous deficiency in kidney yin . ¡±

    This male student suddenly felt the little fox¡¯s words were not so friendly . With his facepletely red, he asked, ¡°What deficiency in kidney yin? What does that mean? What nonsense are you bbering?¡±

    The little fox made a loudspeaker by cupping her hands in front of her mouth and said, ¡°It means that your kidney is deficient! Kidney deficiency! Do you understand?¡±

    ¡°Whaa!¡±

    Those words were to fierce . The crowd became noisy, collectively exploding into conversation .

    The focus of the audience moved from Li Yundong to that guy with the kidney deficiency . Their gazes made his face turn a purplish red .

    That male student felt all of his blood go to his head . His head felt dizzy, as if he were going to faint . Stuttering and stammering, he said in a hoarse voice, ¡°You¡¯re ndering me! Y-you¡¯re the one that¡¯s kidney deficient! I¡¯m young and vigorous, how can I have kidney deficiency?¡±

    The little fox sneered and said, ¡°Young and vigorous? Have you heard that those who drown in the river all know how to swim and those who fall off horses are all heroic men?***** You rely on your youth to engage in excessive debauchery . Did you have sex with a woman yesterday? And you performed the act many times, right?¡±

    Sex! Performed many times!

    Each phrase was fiercer than thest .

    The crowd collectively exploded like nuke . Their gazes toward the kidney deficient student gained some degree of shock and admiration .

    The kidney deficient guy did indeed engage in sex with his girlfriend and he found release multiple times . Having his activities urately deduced by the little fox, his heart clenched and he had difficulty breathing . With a roll of his eyes, he actually fainted .

    ¡°Hauu! Emergency! There¡¯s an emergency!¡±

    The soy sauce* party started an uproar . They wanted to get closer and get a clearer picture . However, Su Chan with her hands on her hips gave a loud shout, ¡°Everyone stand still!¡±

    When everyone heard, they all stood still .

    The little fox crouched down and pushed the kidney deficient guy¡¯s Renzhong acupoint . A momentter, the kidney deficient guy slowly woke back up .

    Su Chan stood up . Then her eyes swept across the crowd, finding a tall and sturdy male student who wore long pants and long sleeves . She quickly headed towards him .

    This male student saw Su Chan walking toward him . His heart started beating violently, not because he foresaw a fortunate encounter with the opposite sex, but rather out of fear . He was afraid this little beauty would diagnose a kidney deficiency for him too . Then he would not want to live anymore .

    Su Chan walked to the front of this male student and told him, ¡°Stretch out your hand . ¡±

    This male student rushed to hide both his hands behind his back . His face full of terror as he replied, ¡°No!¡±

    Su Chan said, ¡°Then open your mouth instead!¡±

    The male student hastily closed his mouth tight as if he wished he could use thread and needle to close up his mouth surgically . His head shook like a rattle .

    Su Chan gave a cold smile and said, ¡°Do you really think I have no way to deal with you?¡±

    With those words, she reached out and twisted the guy by his shoulder, turning him around forcefully so that his back was facing her .

    The little fox found where the second lumbar vertebrae stuck out on the guy¡¯s back . Using her thumb, she pressed down on the position 1 . 5 inches beside his Mingmen acupoint****** . She loudly asked, ¡°Does it hurt?¡±

    This male student thought to himself, ¡®Even if it hurt, I wouldn¡¯t dare to tell you . Moreover, it doesn¡¯t hurt! The most important part is that I don¡¯t bloody know whether or not it should hurt!¡¯

    Thus, he stubbornly decided that he would not answer no matter what, as if he were a martyr dying for the cause .

    However, a single sentence from Su Chan made him change his mind .

    Su Chan said, ¡°You¡¯re not going to answer, right? Then don¡¯t me me if I give you a random diagnosis!¡±

    The male student was astonished . He hurried opened his mouth and said, ¡°It hurts . It hurts a lot!¡±

    Su Chan thought to herself, ¡®I pushed your kidney acupoint and you said it hurts . Do you think I¡¯m an idiot?¡¯

    The little fox was furious, ¡°Tell the truth!¡±

    That guy immediately replied, ¡°It doesn¡¯t hurt . It doesn¡¯t hurt!¡±

    The little fox testily stated, ¡°Does it hurt or not?¡±

    That male student feeling as if he had been wronged replied, ¡°It didn¡¯t hurt a while ago but now it hurts from you pressing it . ¡±

    Su Chan gave a gold snort and loosened the pressure slightly, ¡°How about now?¡±

    The male student had been tormented by Su Chan enough to cooperate . He honestly replied, ¡°It doesn¡¯t hurt, but there¡¯s a slight soreness and pressure . ¡±

    Su Chan proceeded to test several other acupoints on the body, asking how he felt . Finally, she said, ¡°You aren¡¯t sleeping welltely . You feel dizzy and sometimes you experience tinnitus******* . Your waist hurts, you¡¯re afraid of the cold and your extremities tend to be cold . Are these your symptoms?¡±

    The male student opened his mouth wide, ¡°H-How did you know?¡±

    Quickly, he trembled for a bit . Then he looked towards the little fox as if begging for mercy . ¡°I-I don¡¯t have deficiency of kidney yin, right?¡±

    The little foxed snorted, ¡°Of course not . You have deficiency of kidney yang . It could also be called kidney deficiency!¡±

    As expected, it¡¯s still kidney deficiency! The crowd gave a sorrowful sigh .

    The yang deficient guy with a face full of tragic unyielding will shouted out, ¡°I don¡¯t have a girlfriend . I-I¡¯m still a virgin . How can I have kidney deficiency!¡±

    The little fox sneered and said, ¡°Who told you virgins can¡¯t be deficient in kidney yang? You definitely stay up all night on a constant basis . Flipping day and night . This causes a shortage of yang qi in your body . Even though you¡¯re tall and sturdy, your face is pale white like a girl!¡±

    Yang deficient guy was scold by the little fox to the point of breakdown . The surrounding soy sauce party members exploded like a helium bomb, especially since they just saw a big sturdy man get handled by the soft and delicate looking little fox as if he were a littlemb . They were iparibly dumbstruck .

    The little fox ce her hand on her waist, pointed at the yang deficient guy and said, ¡°From now on you need to sleep on a normal daily schedule . On a normal day, you can also eat kidney-qi-tonifying pills . ¡±

    Then she pointed to the kidney deficient guy who was still in a daze on the ground staring at the sky and said, ¡°You, from now on, you need to engage in less intercourse . You can also follow ¡°New Comption of Materia Medica¡± and use sheep lung and winter melon soup to nourish your body . If you patiently take care of yourself, then you can naturally make aplete recovery . ¡±

    Once she was done, the little fox raised her head and looked at the soy sauce party members . She loudly said, ¡°Now, is there anyone who doubts cucumber is cold in nature, refreshing of taste, and can lower internal heat? If you don¡¯t believe me, you can step up!¡±

    The crowd was awed . They all stepped back .

    Who would dare doubt!

    This grand aunt could diagnose a kidney deficiency for you and then how would you keep living on this campus?

    The little fox had her hands on her waist . Since no one dared to respond, she coldly snorted and said, ¡°If you¡¯re ignorant then don¡¯t speak nonsense . In ¡®Everyday Materia Medica¡¯, it is recorded that cucumbers can deal with heat in the chest, dry mouth, and burn wounds . In ¡®Diannan Materia Medica¡¯, it is recorded that cucumbers can solve spasms and heat poisons, and clear out thirst and vexation . In ¡®Truth Seeking Materia Medica¡¯, it is recorded that cucumbers are cold and refreshing, with the ability to rid heat and promote the cirction of water!

    ¡°All medical books state that cucumbers are cold and refreshing with the ability to pacify heat . You people are unlearned and ipetent, using your own ignorance as a source of amusement . I¡¯m ashamed for you guys!¡± the little fox criticized in a loud voice . She scolded the surrounding students so harshly that each of them were shame-faced and speechless .

    Among them, there were some that felt the little fox looked young and could not be more than fifteen or sixteen years of age, how did she know so much?

    The little fox saw the doubt in the crowd¡¯s eyes . She ran back to Li Yundong at once . Holding onto his arm, she giggled and said, ¡°Yundong, just now was I right or wrong?¡±

    Li Yundong had long since nked out . He stared nked unable to regain his wits . When the little fox shook him arm, and made signals at him with her eyes, he finally managed to respond, ¡°Ah, Ah! You werepletely right! Mmm, very right!¡±

    The little fox smiled like a flower . She was like a little bird relying on someone . Where did the girl who valiantly reprimanded everyone with hands on hips go? She giggled and said, ¡°This is all thanks to you teaching me well!¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± The crowd grew noisy once more . Their doubtful gazes fell upon Li Yundong .

    ¡®Li Yundong knew traditional Chinese medicine? It doesn¡¯t look like it? Perhaps, he is hiding his abilities without showing anyone?

    ¡®Mmm, that was a possibility . Otherwise, how could an amazing little beauty follow him? En, en, it¡¯s very possible!¡¯

    While the crowd was still skeptical, they did not try to pick a quarrel . What if they get marked as kidney deficient by the little fox?******** Is that not like carrying thentern to find thetrine, to find shit? What man can endure? Even if they exclude the men, what woman could endure!

    The little fox noticed that the crowd was still watching, while whispering in each other¡¯s ears . She once again straighten her back and left Li Yundong¡¯s side . With her hands on her hips, she loudly said, ¡°What are you still standing here for? If you¡¯re not convinced, you can step up . If you¡¯re convinced then hurry up and leave . Or perhaps, you want me to give you guys more check ups?¡±

    The crowd buzzed and immediately scattered like birds and beasts .

    Only the yang deficient guy and the yin deficient guy were left behind along with bunch of their friends .

    The yin deficient guy was lifeless for along time . Suddenly he jumped up and hysterically shrieked, ¡°The great me does not want to live anymore . The great me is going to Foxconn!*********¡±

    He mored for while, but none of the people around him responded . He could not help but look back and angrily state, ¡°Hey, why aren¡¯t you guys stopping me?¡±

    These guysughed loudly, ¡°Why would we stop you? If you want to seek die, then go!¡±

    The yin deficient guy furiously roared, ¡°If the great me is dying then I¡¯m dragging you guys along!¡±

    When he finished speaking, someone pointed at the yang deficient guy and the yin deficient guy and said, ¡°You two, one is yang deficient and the other is yin deficient . If you two engage in rtions . Yin and Yang canpliment each other . From then on, there will be no deficit . Wouldn¡¯t that be wonderful? It¡¯ll be a legend passed far and wide at Tiannan university!¡±

    With those words, everyone present regardless of male or female startedughing so hard they swayed back and forth . Theyughed so hard that they nearly died .

    ~~~

    *little grand aunt ¨C basically my ancestor, my master, someone of the higher generation . Just like ancestor que from a while ago, this is someone that the speaker can do nothing about . E . g . ¡°My little grand aunt, please spare me . I really need to finish my homework,¡± said the university student who was pestered to go shopping by his domineering sister .

    ** Shengkou ¨C beast of burden: used as an insult in china for people who follow their instincts like animals, so generally dumb people,zy people, lechers, and generally people you don¡¯t like, they getbeled Shengkou . Chusheng is pretty much the same thing .

    *** buying soy sauce ¨C it¡¯s none of their business; just passing by: From my understanding (didn¡¯t research so it¡¯s vague), there was this news program doing a live interview about this huge issue and then they interview this guy who showed up, expecting some opinion . But the guy had no idea of what¡¯s going on, because he was just there to buy soy sauce . So he held up his soy sauce and said, I¡¯m just here to buy soy sauce (dajiangyou, lit: hit the soy sauce) .

    **** Taohua Yan ¨C Peach Flower Eyes: Basically eyes the shape of peace flower petals or something like that . They¡¯re like phoenix eyes but less extreme .

    ***** Basically people tend to overestimate their own abilities . Someone who is overconfident in their swimming or riding ability tends to get themselves killed doing those abilities . Amateur can survive by being careful .

    ****** Also known as the life gate acupoint . I¡¯m never going to trante the English names of these acupoints, while I may trante certain well known meridians . If you want to find out more, you can always google . Earlier we also had a Renzhong or something acupoint, it¡¯s basically that depression above your lip and it¡¯s supposed to help regain consciousness .

    *******It is a medical condition where you hear ringing in your ears or in your head when there is no real ringing .

    ******** Should have exined this earlier but kidney deficiency is like impotence . Shameful for men .

    ********* Foxconn is apany in China known for overworking their employees... to death . A bit exaggerated but they do have inhuman work schedules and conditions .

 Chapter 8

    Chapter 8

    <h4>Chapter 8: ssroom Massage</h4>

    T/N: Today, I wasted time on TCM again . This is Raising a Fox Spirit in My Home 8 . Please help with errors, especially typos . ¨C Incarneous .

    Today was another lecture ss . Li Yundong brought the little fox along and sat down on thest row . Then he asked, ¡°You know traditional Chinese medicine?¡±

    When the little fox sat down down, it was very strange . She had always sat cross-legged in the past . Su Chan blinked her eyes and said, ¡°Of course I know . We all know . ¡±

    Li Yundong heard the little fox¡¯s vague reply and thought that the little fox indicated that everyone living in the mountain knew Chinese medicine . Who would have thought the little fox was actually talking about cultivators .

    The little fox had a sudden idea . She thought that it was a good opportunity to guide him into cultivation . Thus she said, ¡°Of ten daoists, nine are doctors . Sun Simiao was not only an immortal that achieved dao, he was also one of the great experts of the Xinglin world (medical world)* . If you look at Peng Zu, Ge Xuan, Zuo Ci, or Ge Hong, they are all immortals who achieved dao, and all of them are experts in the art of healing . ¡±

    Li Yundong was astounded . Heughed and said, ¡°I know Sun Simiao was an expert of the Xinglin world . He wrote the ¡®Prescriptions Worth a Thousand in Gold¡± after all . But a dao achieving immortal? Where did you hear that?¡±

    The little fox said, ¡°My master!¡±

    Li Yundong burst intoughter, ¡°Your master also deals in faith and superstition?¡±

    The little fox puffed up her cheeks and angrily said, ¡°You¡¯re not allowed to say bad things about my master!¡±

    Li Yundong raised both his hands . Suppressing his smile, he said, ¡°Okay . Okay . I won¡¯t say anything . ¡±

    The little fox got angry quickly but she calmed down just as fast . With herrge round eyes, she stared at Li Yundong a little nervously and asked, ¡°Do you want to learn or not? I¡¯ll teach you . ¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and waved his hand, ¡°Learn medicine? Forget it . I can¡¯t memorize that kind of thing . ¡±

    The little fox audaciously said, ¡°I¡¯m talking about dao!¡±

    Li Yundong stopped smiling and looked at Su Chan with a strange expression,¡±Do you mean like you? Let me go already . I¡¯m living well . Practice daoism? I don¡¯t want to give up my secr life to be a daoist priest . ¡±

    Li Yundong thought to himself, ¡®I still want to push you down . If I be a daoist priest, then what push down?¡¯

    The little fox failed her persuasion attempt . With a heart of resentment, she thought, ¡®Idiot . Learning dao is not some daoist priesthood, but rather dao as in the dao of xiuzhen** . ¡¯

    T/N: I was half tempted to rece all of that acupoint stuff with, ¡°The little fox mobilized Li Yundong¡¯s qi up from the dantian along the governing meridian located at his back all the way to the Baihui acupoint before turning around . Then she led the qi into the conception meridian, which led straight back to the dantian along the front of his body . ¡±

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    However, the little fox could not say those things out loud . If she did, Li Yundong might be vignt . Therefore it was better to move slowly .

    Soon, the teacher walked into the ssroom . His teacher¡¯s pointer hit a school desk several times to signal the start of ss .

    Li Yundong sat in the back row, listening with half his attention .

    Su Chan sat at his side, sizing him up from time to time . In her heart, she secretly eximed, ¡®This fellow really lives in plenty without appreciating it . If a cultivator consumed the Human Origin Gold Pill, they would definitely find a secluded corner to undergo closed door cultivation for three, five, or seven years, in order to convert all of the Gold Pill¡¯s medicinal energies for their own use .

    ¡®This senseless fellow, he actually lets the Gold Pill transform his physique without any questions or concerns . He just lets the abundant essence, qi and blood in his body waste away on daily consumption, without knowing to use cultivation techniques to convert that essense, qi and blood into primordial yang essential qi*** .

    ¡®If he were willing to cultivate with me, then foundation building in one year, divine ability in two years, there¡¯s even a chance of indestructible gold body in three years!¡¯

    The little fox gave a dejected sigh in her heart . ¡®That bastard . How could everything benefit this fellow who can¡¯t tell good from bad? Truly hateful! Pearls in the dark!****¡¯

    Aftermenting internally for a while, the little fox suddenly thought, ¡®This can¡¯t go on . Everyday that he refuses to learn is a day wasting the essence, blood and primordial yang in his body . Once the medicinal energy gradually wanes, even if he builds his foundation, the effectiveness of me draining his yang to cultivate would greatly reduce . ¡¯

    What could she do?

    The little fox received a sudden inspiration . With a voice like msses she said, ¡°Yundong, let you give you a massage, alright?¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s bones went soft upon hearing her voice, like there were a hundred paws scratching at his heart . With a strange expression on his face, he looked at Su Chan . Pointing at the teacher on the lectern, he said, ¡°I¡¯m in ss, it¡¯s not a good time?¡±

    Su Chan did not wait for him to agree . She stood up and walked to the back and started to give Li Yundong a massage .

    The moment Su Chan¡¯s delicate white hands pressed down on the Baihui acupoint on top of his head, Li Yundong immediately felt like there was something hot bubbling forth from his abdomen straight up to the top of his head . Then this hot energy was like the purest cream anointing his head***** as it spread rapidly to his four limbs . He was sofortable that his entire body rxed, releasing all tension as if he were soaked in hot water . Thisfortable feeling made him close his eyes and never want to open them again .

    In the human body, the Baihui acupoint was the one most able to stimte yang qi . Many experts in acupuncture would often use a single single on the Baihui acupoint when a patient is failing, for the sake of provoking yang qi to save the patient¡¯s life .

    In the movie ¡°The Message¡±, when the traitor tortured the old man with acupuncture to the point he was near death, the final needle was inserted on the top of his head, and that was the Baihui acupoint .

    This final needle forced out all the vital energy in the old man¡¯s body so he quickly revived .

    Su Chan used her finger to massage the Baihui acupoint on top of Li Yundong¡¯s head . Next, she separated her hand so that her thumbs remained on the Baihui acupoint, gently vibrating . Then, the middle fingers of the two hands were pressed against the Shenting acupoint located on top of Li Yundong¡¯s forehead . Her little finger pressed against his temples, gently kneading .

    Shenting acupoint was the vital acupoint of a person¡¯s forehead . The qi of the governing meridian would pass through this acupoint . However, this acupoint was firm due to its position on the forehead, thus the rtively strong middle finger was needed in order to bring out any effect .

    On the contrary, the temples were soft, thus the softest and weakest pinky was used instead .

    This position made the two hands seem like two tridents that were stuck together . Thus in the cultivation world, this technique was called ¡°Tri-pronged Blossom¡±

    In cultivation, there was a saying: three blossoms congregate on top . Three blossoms****** are also called three splendors******, thus it could also be said that three splendors congregate on top . While these three splendors as exined by cultivation books since ancient times are difficult to understand, deeply profound and fantastical withoutpare, but exined in the simplestyman terms: the three splendors are essence, qi, and blood!

    The little fox used the tri-pronged blossom to search for his most quintessential primordial yang, in other words, the three splendors, essence, qi, and blood!

    The primordial qi of Li Yundong¡¯s entire body was mobilized by the little fox . Starting from the lower dantian, through the Huiyin, past the gangmen, along the spine, the qi passed then through three points on the governing meridian, Weilu, Jiaji, and Yuzhen . Next, the qi arrived on top of the head at the Baihui . Then it was distributed into two parts along the ears and cheeks to pass through Yingxiang and Quiqiao, finally connecting to the conception meridian . From there, qi traveled down the middle of the chest and abdomen back into the dantian .

    This was equivalent to circting a microcosmo in cultivation . Li Yundong was simply just undergoing passive cultivation under ignorance . Even though there is a distinction between the effects of passive and active cultivation, thefortable sensation generated by heat passing through the body¡¯s meridians was more or less the same .

    Why can so many cultivator practice asceticism?

    This was because when cultivators circte a microcosmo or macrocosmo, the primordial yang essential qi will flow through the body¡¯s meridians . In particr, when passing through the Huiyin acupoint, there is an iparably intense stimtion .

    This kind of stimtion is absolutelyparable to lovemaking, sometimes it is even superior!

    Li Yundong experienced this kind of sensation for the first time . He only felt that there was an indescribably pleasure rippling through his body . At first, it was like a little burbling stream, but it quickly transformed into a boiling sea . As time went on, this sensation advanced into a vast ocean, that immersed him!

    His entire being floated on an ocean of warmth, without a speck of difort, without a spot of unhappiness, even the hair on his head and the fine hairs on his his skin were saturated with cheer .

    Li Yundong only felt that this pleasure surged and gathered at his chest . He wanted to shout or scream to vent his pleasure .

    The surrounding students upon seeing this scene were wide-eyed without exception . They grit their teeth in envy of Li Yundong .

    They have seen ostentatious, but they have never seen something this ostentatious!

    He actually asked a little beauty to give him a massage during ss .

    Screw . Where was heaven¡¯sw? Where was the humanity? Look at him with that face full of pleasure . It truly makes people want to go up and step on it a couple times .

    At this time, the teacher teaching Marxist and Leninist philosophy noticed . His face became ck like a pot bottom . Just the day before, he heard a Chinese ancient literature teacher say that there was a student in the Chinese department, Sophomore ss 3 who was unbridled . That fellow actually yed around with a beauty during his ss!

    Having seen Li Yundong today, this teacher felt that fellow was truly unbridled . He actually dared to publicly allow the beauty at his side to give him a massage .

    The bastard, did he think this is the entertainment district? Did he think he was thendowner and big boss .

    He had seen unbridled but he had never seen this unbridled .

    The Marxism-Leninism teacher was so offended that he practically crushed the chalk in his hand into dust . Gritting his teeth, he walked off the lectern .

    He had almost reached Li Yundong¡¯s side, when Su Chan who was giving Li Yundong a massage looked toward him .

    Su Chan smiled faintly at the Marxism-Leninism teacher . Putting her hand near her lips, she made a shushing motion, which was followed by a charming wink at the teacher .

    The Marxism-Leninism teacher was petrified .

    This teacher was named Liu . He was only twenty-four or five of age . Upon finishing his master¡¯s degree, he choose to stay at the university as a lecturer . Being so young and full of vigor, the sight of the little fox¡ªthis kind of gorgeous beauty¡ªdirecting such an attractive smile at him, his brain stopped working . For a time, he froze on the spot not knowing what to do .

    He wanted to disrupt these two unruly fellows . Yet, he could not harden his heart against this little beauty¡¯s desire . Who let her be such a exquisite beauty? If you were male then you would obey .

    However, if he did not disrupt them, there were more than a hundred people watching him . How will he teach ss in the future?

    Teacher Liu could not advance or retreat . He stood on the spot, ck in the face, not knowing what to do with his hands and feet . A pained expression appeared on his face .

    The entire ss looked at the teacher¡¯s state and then looked at Li Yundong who was enjoying himself with his eyes closed . They were shocked yet amused . They wanted tough yet they did not dare tough . So they all held it in .

    When the little fox finally removed her fingers from Li Yundong¡¯s body, she gave Li Yundong a final pat to the top of his head, sending the final portion of primordial yang back into his meridians .

    Li Yundong¡¯s entire body shook . He released a deep contented sigh and said, ¡°Nice . Super nice!¡±

    Under normal circumstances, this sound would not attract anyone¡¯s notice . Unfortunately, the entire ssroom was absolutely silent . Li Yundong had just experience a microcosmo . The qi in his body was vigorous and there was a lot of air in his lungs . Therefore, his words echoed out like the gong of a bell, iparably resonant . Everyone in the ssroom heard him loud and clear .

    After Li Yundong expressed his sentiments, he noticed the abnormal state of his surroundings . Opening his eyes, he was almost scared off his seat .

    ¡°This, this!¡± Li Yundong gaped wide-eyed, stuttering and stammering . He finally whimpered, ¡°Teacher Liu, what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Wahahahaha!¡± the students in the ssroom could no longer resist, they beat their chests and stomped their feet,ughing hysterically .

    Teacher Liu¡¯s face twisted during theughter . Once theughter in the ssroom quieted down, he finally gnashed his teeth and spoke one word at a time, ¡°Have . You . Niced . Enough?¡±

    Hearing that question, the surrounding students broke out inughter once more .

    Li Yundong reluctantly managed to smile . His smile was uglier than a cry, ¡°Enough . It is enough!¡±

    Teacher Liu pointed to the ssroom door and said, ¡°Then get lost! I do not wee students like you!¡±

    Li Yundong wanted to speak but had no words . For a time, he was speechless . Su Chan who wanted to fix the issue stood up and was going to speak, but Li Yundong stopped her and said, ¡°Okay, I am leaving now . ¡±

    Li Yundong ignominiously fled the ssroom under a deluge of wildughter . Afterward, Su Chan spoke up full of indignation, ¡°Why are you afraid of him? I can help you teach him a lesson!¡±

    Li Yundong had a face full of tears, ¡°I¡¯m finished . This time, it¡¯s impossible not to be infamous . ¡±

    Su Chan drew up her sleeves and tugged at Li Yundong . ¡°Let¡¯s go . I¡¯ll help you teach him a lesson . ¡±

    Li Yundong hastily stopped her . He red at her, wanting to explode, yet he suddenly remembered the tenderness of Su Chan giving him a massage . ¡®This girl was doing it for me, wasn¡¯t she?¡¯

    His anger dissipated at once . This situation could not be med on her . If someone had to be med then it was himself!

    Li Yundong¡¯s head drooped down, crestfallen . ¡°Forget it . I can¡¯t go to ss, so let¡¯s go home . This situation can¡¯t be allowed to escte, otherwise I¡¯ll be expelled for sure . ¡±

    ~~~

    * Xinglin world ¨C wulin world is for martial arts and xinglin world is for doctors and herbalists .

    ** xiuzhen ¨C cultivation to be an immortal, whereas xiuxian is cultivation as an immortal, xiuwu is cultivation of martial arts .

    *** essential qi ¨C also known as zhen qi: You definitely have seen it in xianxia . Zhen means real, true, genuine that kind of thing . And qi is qi .

    **** pearls in the dark ¨C like pearls before swine, cuz no one can see those pearls if they¡¯re in the dark .

    ***** anoint head with pure cream ¨C buddhist thing that means to be bestowed with enlightenment and it just happens to associate with the top of your head so the author put it here .

    ****** blossom and splendor are both ¡®hua¡¯ in Chinese

 Chapter 9

    Chapter 9

    <h4>Chapter 9: sh Once More</h4>

    Su Chan nced at Li Yundong feeling very puzzled, ¡°What¡¯s so good about going to this learning hall? From what I can tell, the schrs are very mean!¡±

    Li Yundong looked at Su Chan with a expression as if he were about to break down . ¡°Learning hall? Schrs? Lady, you¡¯re so ¡®out¡¯ that there are no bounds! Did you just get transported from ancient times?¡±

    Su Chan blinked her eyes and asked, ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Li Yundong was rendered speechless and had nothing to say for a time . After a while, he let out a sorrowful and discouraged sigh, ¡°Forget it . You don¡¯t understand . If I get expelled by the university, I won¡¯t be able to get financial support from my parents . ¡±

    Su Chan softly said from his side, ¡°Then, did I do something wrong just now and make trouble for you?¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head, ¡°No, you didn¡¯t do anything wrong . I was the one that was wrong . ¡±

    Li Yundong took a deep breath, then let it all out, as if releasing all the built-up irritation in his chest at once . He was an innately optimistic guy, so he quickly managed to adjust his mood . He smiled at Su Chan and said, ¡°I¡¯ll bring you on a tour of my school . ¡±

    It was a little past ten, which happened to be ss time . Li Yundong did not want to return right way . Thus, he brought the little fox to LinYin Lane for a walk .

    Even though, he could not hold hands with the little fox, but mottled sunlight on his shoulders and an exquisite beauty at his side, the faint fragrance of of a young maiden and the fresh scent of grass and leaves, was this not a desirable experience full of wonder?

    Along the way, Li Yundong and the little fox met quite a few students . These students without exception turned their heads and looked, admiring the pure and innocent yet somehow alluring beauty of the little fox . This type of gaze gave Li Yundong a sense of satisfaction .

    ¡°Your learning hall, ah, your university is really big!¡± praised Su Chan as she curiously inspected the surroundings .

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°This is just an average university . If it were a national ss university, then the campus would be much bigger!¡±

    Su Chan admiringly said, ¡°Really? I want to go take a look someday . ¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°You seemed to like active and lively ces . ¡±

    Su Chan thought for a bit then vaguely stated, ¡°Perhaps . It might be because in the past, I stayed in the mountain for too long . Sometimes for many years, I wouldn¡¯t see a single person . ¡±

    Li Yundong opened his mouse . Just as he was about to speak, a voice was transmitted from within the grove of trees, ¡°Zhou Qin, I truly really like you . For you, I am willing to do anything . ¡±

    ¡°En?¡± Li Yundong had a sudden realization .

    ¡®A confession? Ha! In the past, when I was confessing, you had someone take a video and put it online to humiliate me . Today, times change . What goes aroundes around . ¡¯

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    Li Yundong cheered up inside . Bringing his index finger to his lips, he said, ¡°Shh! Let¡¯s go take a look . ¡±

    The little fox inherently liked to have fun . Watching Li Yundong¡¯s actions, her sense of fun was awakened . Smiling so wide that she had no nose or eyes, she also theatrically put a finger to her lips and made a shushing sound .

    The two shared a nce and smiles appeared on their faces .

    Due to the lush greenery of the groove and the fact the guy confessing stood in a pavilion not too far from them, there just happened to be a patch of short undergrowth that served to hide them . Li Yundong and Su Chan crouched behind the undergrowth and listened with their ears perked up .

    ¡°Zhao Yujian, we¡¯re truly not suited...¡± This was Zhou Qin¡¯s voice, pleasant to hear yet saturated with a bone-deep indifference .

    ¡°But Zhou Qin, give me a chance . What about me is unsuited? I¡¯ll work hard to improve,¡± implored Zhao Yujian .

    ¡°Hey . I say, how the heck are you so annoying? Where the heck do you match up to our Zhou Qin?¡± With the interjection of this voice, Li Yundong¡¯s eyebrows twitched . ¡®Mmm? This is Ding Nan?¡¯

    Li Yundong poked his head out from the undergrowth and looked toward the pavilion .

    He saw Zhou Qin with her back facing him . She wore a light greenced blouse with medium length sleeves . Her jet-ck hair hung straight behind her like a waterfall draped down her shoulders . Below her waist, she wore a light brown long skirt withce borders .

    She stood in the traditional pavilion with flying eaves and bucket arches* . Wind blew in short bursts, causing her skirt to dance . In that instant, the girl had the grace and beauty of a immortal fairy, possessing a preeminent atmosphere .

    Su Chan had also metZhou Qin before, but at the time she focused all her attention on Li Yundong . As a result, she did not pay attention to Zhou Qin . Now that she looked, she could not help but exim, ¡°How pretty!¡±

    At Zhou Qin¡¯s side was Ding Nan who stoodteral to Li Yundong . She wore a white sleeveless sports shirt, with a cute ¡®Hello Kitty¡¯ picture on her chest . She also wore a pair of denim shorts, which not only put her long slender legs on disy but also outlined the arc of her perky butt .

    Even though Li Yundong strongly disliked Ding Nan, but at this moment he had to admit, that woman had a youthful beauty tinged with sexiness . She truly deserved her title of department belle of the foreignnguage department .

    Ding Nan¡¯s style was cute, but her words were not cute at all . In fact, they were very harsh and venomous .

    ¡°Ha, a while ago there was a toad named Li Yundong who wanted to eat swan meat . Now, you also showed up . I say, aren¡¯t our male ssmates really annoying? Could it be that they never once looked into the mirror their entire lives? Howe each and every one of them overestimate their own ability?¡± Ding Nan¡¯s word made Li Yundong, this bystander, knit his brows .

    Su Chan responded in a grander manner by sticking out her tongue . She said quietly, ¡°What a harsh woman . She even dragged you into her lecture too . ¡±

    Li Yundong smiled at her faintly, indicating they should continue listening .

    Li Yundong¡¯s gaze moved from Zhou Qin and Ding Nan to Zhao Yujian, who stood inside the pavilion . This guy was about 183cm tall with a robust body . His handsome appearance strikingly resembled Takuya Kimura .

    Li Yundong recognized him . This guy was the president of the Taekwando society . He even won first ce in the city-wide Taekwando University Competition . He was publicly known as one of the campus princes** of the school . The number of girls that had written love letters to him was no less than thirty .

    ¡®Heh, I didn¡¯t think even Zhao Yujian would be rejected by Zhou Qin...¡¯

    Li Yundong was astronished inside . Zhou Qin this girl had a secretive identity . ording to rumors, her family background was very profound . More importantly, she was a paragon of virtue and learning, on top of the fact her appearance, figure, and personality were all top ss . Other than a sense of detachment that made people¡¯s hair stand on end, she had no faults or shorings .

    What kind of man would this kind of woman go after in future? Even Zhao Yujian was rejected .

    Zhao Yujian seemed like he could not believe Ding Nan cursed him out so cruelly . His entire body shook, while his lips trembled . Pointing at Ding Nan, he spoke vibrating with anger, ¡°You... you!¡±

    Ding Nan coldly snorted and said, ¡°You you you . You what you? If I were you, I would find a ce to hole up rather than making a fool of myself here!¡±

    Zhou Qin patted Ding Nan¡¯s hand from the side, and softly said, ¡°Xiao Nan***, forget it, don¡¯t say any more . ¡±

    After she finished speaking, Zhou Qin said to Zhao Yujian, ¡°Zhao Yujian, don¡¯t chase after me any more, it really is impossible for us . ¡±

    Zhao Yujian had a face like dead ash . He stood in the middle of the pavilion like a statue, nkly watching as Zhou Qin and Ding Nan left together .

    Zhao Yujian looked at Zhou Qin¡¯s back and suddenly shouted, ¡°Zhou Qin, you will regret this!¡±

    Zhou Qin did not look back . Her feet did not slow or stop even the tiniest bit, as if she had not heard what Zhao Yujian said just now .

    Ding Nan on the other hand turned back to nce at him . She sneered and then gave him the middle finger .

    Zhao Yujian¡¯s handsome face instantly became incredibly warped . He charged forward one step before forcibly stopping on the spot . Like an enraged lion, he paced back and forth in the pavilion . After a long time with extremely cold eyes, he angrily left .

    After Zhao Yujian left, Li Yundong and Su Chan finally hopped out of the grove . Li Yundong sighed internally, ¡®When this kind of thing happens to myself, I did not feel anything . But now that I¡¯ve watched someone else get rejected, it¡¯s truly miserable . I truly respect the me who suffered defeat despite fighting on, and kept fighting on despite suffering defeat . ¡¯

    Having witness this kind of tragedy, Li Yundong had no mood to tour with Su Chan . He thought for a moment and said, ¡°Time to leave . Let¡¯s go home . I¡¯ll cook something delicious for you . ¡±

    Su Chan beamed in joy the moment she heard . Drool almost leaked out and her head nodded like a bird pecking rice .

    Li Yundongughed . ¡°Let¡¯s go . First we need to buy ingredients . ¡±

    He turned to look toward Su Chan, ¡°Will you help me?¡±

    Su Chan replied as if experiencing difficulty, ¡°But, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll make trouble for you . ¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and shook his hand . From his pocket, he took out at least more than ten red bills . Not allowing any protest, he stuffed the money into Su Chan¡¯s hand .

    How could Su Chan know that Li Yundong was using this method to stuff some money on her . He wanted her to have some money to protect herself . Otherwise, how could buying groceries require so much money? Were they eating the Manchu Han imperial feast?

    Su Chan looked at the money in her hand . She blinked her eyes at a loss . She did not know in the least how much stuff the money in her hands could buy . She simply looked at Li Yundong and made an affirmative sound . Then she tightly held the money in her palm .

    The two left the school gate and went to the nearby marketce .

    Li Yundong brought Su Chan to a butcher shop . Then he instructed her, ¡°You can tell him that you want to buy one jin of streaky pork*** and a piece of leg bone .

    Su Chan crisply followed Li Yundong¡¯s instructions and repeated his request . The butcher nced at the little fox several times stunned . Then he especially picked out several pieces of excellent streaky pork and leg bone for Su Chan .

    Su Chan epted the stic bag and was about to turn around and leave, but Li Yundong grabbed her and pulled her to a stop . ¡°Oi oi, give him the money . ¡±

    Su Chan stuck out her tongue . She apologetically made an impish face toward the butcher . ¡°I forgot . ¡±

    With those words, she tried to pass over all the money that she tightly held in her hand .

    The butcher was given a fright, ¡°I can¡¯t ept this much!¡±

    Li Yundong did not know whether tough or cry . He could only take out a single bill from the little fox¡¯s hand and gave it to the butcher . Then he epted back the change .

    Li Yundong proceeded to stuff the change into the little fox¡¯s other hand and said, ¡°Buying ingredients does not need that much money . A single bill is enough to buy a bunch of ingredients . Of course, if you want to eat at a restaurant, that¡¯s another matter . A single bill is not enough . ¡±

    The little fox blinked her eyes . ¡°Is the taste in the restaurant delicious? How is itpared to you?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°That¡¯s difficult to say . Each has its merits . I also have some specialties that I haven¡¯t made yet . ¡±

    As he smiled and spoke with the little fox, he headed toward the vegetable stands .

    After walking a few steps, Li Yundong discovered the vegetable stand owner who fleeced a hundred kuai from himst time was staring at him .

    This was truly a meeting between enemies where both sides had eyes burning with hatred . Li Yundong was not someone particrly broad-minded . He naturally stared right back .

    The vegetable stand owner rolled her eyes at him ordingly . There was no tax on rolling your eyes in any case .

    While Li Yundong did not have much prospect, but deep down inside, he was actually very proud . Luckily, thisrge marketce had more than one vegetable stand . Otherwise, even if Li Yundong died of hunger, he would still not buy this aunty¡¯s vegetables .

    After buying vegetables at another stand, the two carryingrge and small bags of ingredients prepared to return home .

    Not long after leaving the marketce, while walking on the street, Li Yundong suddenly saw the man who shed with him a day ago, Er Lu, standing not far away with a gloomy face looking at him .

    Er Lu viciously red at Li Yundong, then his gazended on Su Chan once more . His eyes were full of greed and lust .

    He turned to the side and spoke lowly to the young man beside him with dyed blonde hair and full denim attire .

    This young man nodded and looked at Su Chan . His face revealed a sinister and lewd smile . He nodded and said, ¡°En . Top quality . Top quality indeed! You have good tastes, kid . ¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s expression instantly became bad . Without making a sound, he drew closer to Su Chan . Then he quickly checked behind him to find there were actually five people, all of whom carried newspapers that seemed to be hiding long hard objects inside .

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart sunk . He knew it was almost impossible for today to end peacefully . He recognized the blonde young man . He was called Xie Fei . This guy just happened to be a junior student of their university¡¯s economic department . He was an infamous gangster that loved to fight and take liberties with women . His reputation was extremely bad .

    Li Yundong switched all the ingredients into one hand and caught Su Chan¡¯s wrist with his other hand . He whispered, ¡°In a bit, we¡¯ll run together . ¡±

    Su Chan nked out . She as a cultivator never considered these gangsters to be a threat . Thus she did not know what was going on and simply let out an ¡®ah¡¯ sound of confusion . ¡°Why do we need to run?¡±

    Li Yundong was so annoyed that he almostughed out loud . Internally, he thought, ¡®Nonsense . They have seven people . If we don¡¯t run, are we supposed to let them to hit us?¡¯

    Li Yundong did not know that he had been remodeled by the Human Origin Gold Pill . As such, he did not imagine himself as a strong fighter like Jet Li or Donnie Yen .

    Su Chan¡¯s voice was heard by Xie Fei . Xie Fei immediately broke out inughter . ¡°Beauty, why would you run? We won¡¯t do anything to you . You just need to eat a meal with us, that¡¯s all . ¡±

    ¡°Eat, your mother!¡± Li Yundong suddenly sprung into action . He threw his grocery bags towards his enemy . Tightly holding Su Chan¡¯s hand, he loudly shouted, ¡°Let¡¯s run!¡±

    ~~~

    *Flying eaves ¨C Ever seen Chinese temples with their upturned eaves? Those . Bucket arches are a system of bracketed columns and beams, google it for images if you can¡¯t imagine it .

    **Ð£²Ý ¨C literally school grass: Just as campus belle is known as lit . school flower, campus prince is known as school grass . It refers to the most handsome man or men on campus .

    *** Ð¡éª Xiao Nan ¨C This is a nick name for Ding Nan . In China, a nickname is often formed for close people, younger than yourself by using xiao (which means small) . For example, If your name is Min Ke, then someone older than you would call you Xiao Ke (Young/Little Ke) . Of course, if someone¡¯s younger than you, they might call you Lao Ke (Old Ke) . This is a unisex nickname, that can use xiao plus either the surname or the given name .

    **** Pork Belly thatyers meat and fat used often in Asian cuisine .

 Chapter 10

    Chapter 10

    <h4>Chapter 10: History¡¯s Strongest Parkour</h4>

    Li Yundong¡¯s sudden defiance caught Xie Fei and Er Lu unprepared . They did not expect Li Yundong to actually dare to defy them of his own initiative .

    Xie Fei blocked the bag of groceries flying at him, only to receive a kick from Li Yundong . He flew two meters away . Holding his chest, he could onlyid on the ground unable to breath .

    Er Lu stood at the side . His eyes glinted ominously . From behind his back, he actually retrieved an extra long watermelon knife and hacked toward Li Yundong .

    Tiannan city had boomed economically in the past few years . The living standards of the city was rapidly catching up to second tier cities . However, the valiant personalities of the local residents and their habits had not changed muchparatively . A single conflict could result in a fist fight, or even the pulling of knives . Something like this was amon urance .

    On rather remote and not very developed streets, there were often gangsters armed with metal pipes and watermelon knives fighting each other . Some of the stronger andrger gangs were beyond the police¡¯s ability to deal with .

    Er Lu and Xie Fei were members of such a gang . They were used to being unopposed . Er Lu casually carried a knife and when attacking he had no restraint . Every attack would see blood .

    Er Lu¡¯s knife attacked from a tricky and vicious angle . He aimed for the arm Li Yundong used to hold onto Su Chan .

    Even though Li Yundong consumed the Gold Pill, he was only equivalent to a Zhang Wuji who just learned Nine Yang Divine Manual . He knew no techniques . He had a entire body full of Gold Pill energy but did not know how to use it .

    If this knife attack seeded, regardless of the Gold Pill energy, he would still have his tendons cut and bones broken .

    This knife attack instantly caused cold sweat to envelop Li Yundong¡¯s entire body . Right when he was overwhelmed by terror, he saw Su Chan turn and kick out from under her dress . Er Lu was sent flying .

    Su Chan had just kicked Er Lu flying yet there were three more gangsters charging at them from the front . The five gangsters from the back also retrieved their weapons one by one from within their newspapers . Without exception, they all carried shiny watermelon knives .

    Li Yundong did pause to think . He simply dragged Su Chan and ran .

    Su Chan wanted to charge back . She looked as if she were baring fangs and brandishing ws . ¡°Let me go . Let me go teach these bastards a lesson . ¡±

    Li Yundong cursed, ¡°Are you insane? They have that many people, and they have knives!¡±

    Li Yundong had a body full of Gold Pill energy . Only in terms of strength, he was no worse than the little fox . He hugged the little fox to his chest and with giving any time for refusal, he picked her up bridal style and ran towards the school .

    ¡°Catch him! Chop that man to death . Don¡¯t kill the girl!¡± Xie Fei painfully and hoarsely managed to shout while holding his chest .

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    The little fox was held tightly by Li Yundong, but she continued to struggle, ¡°Let me go . Let me go beat up those bastards!¡±

    These hoodlums chasing from behind heard Su Chan¡¯s statement . Anger boiled and they held their knives tightly . Their faces were malevolent and they gnashed their teeth . ¡®We¡¯ll see who beats up who!¡¯

    Despite hugging Su Chan close to his chest, Li Yundong felt like he was holding air . The unexpected conflict made his mind and his body tense . The blood in his body seemed to burn intensely and ignite .

    As he ran, he calmly observed his surroundings .

    This straight street had shops on both sides . In front there were three aggressive gangsters and in the back, there were five pursuers .

    Li Yundong instantly made his decision . He quickly charged toward a pan-fried bun shop that was in front and to the right .

    The three gangsters who were blocking the street rapidly arrived . Just as they were about to hack at Li Yundong, they saw him borrow therge momentum of his charge to tread several steps on the wall . His entire person seemed like a roof hopping wall vaulting expert . In a blink of an eye, he went from being in front of the gangsters to being behind them by detouring above .

    By the time the gangsters turned to look, Li Yundong had alreadynded back on the ground and even carrying an entire person, he was getting away at a rapid pace .

    ¡°What are you hesitating about?¡± Xie Fei rubbed at his chest . He grimace as he stood up . ¡°Chase!¡±

    These gangsters gave a shout and disorderly chased in Li Yundong¡¯s direction .

    This street could not be considered wide or thin . It mostly contained restaurants and snack shops aimed at students . It was now almost time for morning sses to end, so it was a busy time when many students were present .

    These students only saw Li Yundong carrying Su Chan running as fast as a galloping horse dodging all obstacles in the way . He was extremely nimble . His performance truly resembled the parkour seen in movies .

    Except those traceurs usually wore very light equipment for parkour, not like Li Yundong who was carrying a person and yet still very vigorous and very nimble .

    Some students gasped in admiration . They wanted to take out their cellphones and record, but by the time they took out their cellphones, they would find Li Yundong was almost twenty meters away leaving only his departing back .

    Only then would his gangster pursuers show up like a gale . Waving their watermelon knives, they would curse wildly and chase at the same time .

    Li Yundong carried Su Chan and ran for a while . He glimpsed out of his peripheral vision that the gate of Tiannan university was already not far from them . Li Yundong had an idea . Hugging Su Chan, he headed toward the school .

    ¡®These bastards would not dare to chase into the university, right?¡¯

    Just as Li Yundong arrived at the school gate, he started to regret a bit .

    This was the time when school let out . Many student who did not want to eat at the school cafeteria would leave the school to eat at nearby restaurants .

    Li Yundong could tell at a nce that the students had already formed a crowd with people pouring out of the gate like a wave . He was carrying the little fox and his speed was extremely fast . Moreover, there was Er Lu and them chasing from behind . Slowing down or turning around now was not a viable option .

    Li Yundong out of panic and anger roared, ¡°Out of the way!¡±

    With his shout, all the studentsing out of the gate nced toward him . Some recognized him and sneered on the inside, ¡®You¡¯re just a sophomore . What are you so rampant about?¡¯ Some did not recognize him and those simply chose to ignore him .

    Sun Li stood in the crowd curiously staring at Li Yundong . Seeing his nervous expression and the fact he was carrying Su Chan while running toward her, she was just about to ask what was going on when she saw the ten gangsters following behind Li Yundong . She immediately wanted to dodge to the side out of fear .

    However, it was already toote to dogde . Li Yundong¡¯s momentum was extremely strong . If he crashed into Sun Li, perhaps the girl would shoot out and probably end up with strained muscles and broken bones .

    Li Yundong was aware of this point . Gritting his teeth, he pushed hard with his foot and his entire person actually somersaulted . He flipped over the top of Sun Li¡¯s head andnded past her .

    All students at entire school gate immediately burst into uproar . To carry a person and somersault over a 165cm tall girl, was this guy really human?

    Sun Li just felt a gust of wind st into her, followed by a ck shadow that flew by her eyes . By the time she returned to her sense, ayer of cold sweat had appeared on her back out of fear .

    At this time, Xie Fei, Er Lu and them had already arrived . They had already chased until their eyes were red . Completely disregarding the fact they were in front of a university, Xie Fei shouted, ¡°Get out of the great me¡¯s way!¡±

    These students noticed the knives in their hands with a single nce, a path was cleared in an instant .

    Li Yundong turn his head to take a look, only to see these guy actually dared to chase into the campus . He immediately cursed out loud . Not daring to stop, he continued heading toward the inner campus at a sprint .

    His sprint caused many of the teachers and students to raise their eyebrows . When those teachers and students saw the gangsters chasing from behind, all of them without exception were shocked pale, each and every person started to shout .

    Li Yundong had never encounter this kind of deadly pursuit . His panicked fleeing caused him to run into a dead end beside the boy¡¯s dormitory .

    Li Yundong suddenly had a back full of cold sweat . Looking back, he saw those people had all gained a temper from chasing him . Their eyes were all blood red . If he were caught, then they would chop him into meat paste for sure .

    Turning to the front, thoughts flew like lightning in his mind . Without knowing why, he suddenly looked toward a balcony of the dormitory and the corner of the wall . An idea appeared in his head .

    The instant this idea appeared, Li Yundong sped up once more, heading towards the dead end at a sprint .

    At this time, Ding Nan and Zhou Qin just happened toe out from the girl¡¯s dormitory on the other side . They saw Li Yundong sprinting like the wind toward the wall corner in a single nce .

    Ding Nan was astonished andughed in spite of herself . ¡°Does that fellow want to crash into the wall and suicide?¡±

    Before Zhou Qin had a chance to reply, she saw Li Yundong at the moment before he was about to crash into the wall, abruptly stomp the ground with one leg . He forcibly raised his body up by a stretch . His other leg stomped on one wall of the corner .

    With this stomp, the blood of Li Yundong¡¯s entire body suddenly seemed to converge on his leg . His muscles suddenly contracted . His legpressed like a spring, then the pressure was released .

    This stomp contained possibly a thousand jin of strength more or less! A piece of the wall was pushed in .

    Whoosh!

    Li Yundong¡¯s body violently raised itself upward by another stretch . He hurtled toward the other wall of the dead end, which was where the balcony was .

    The distance between the walls was only slightly more than a meter . Li Yundong¡¯s foot stomped on the balcony wall . His leg once again exerting strength .

    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

    Li Yundong¡¯s body was like a firecracker . Exploding upwards as he leapt left and right . His body was light and nimble like a jumping money . His legs were strong like a pouncing tiger . Several jumps along the way with only a few breaths of effort, Li Yundong leapt to the fourth floor rooftop .

    The students who were beside the dormitory were shocked into a daze . Their eyeballs bulged out so much they nearly fell out of their sockets .

    Only after Li Yundong with Su Chan in his arms jumped all the way up to the rooftop did they return to their senses . They were so excited that they were beside themselves .

    ¡°Grass*! What did I just see? Screw*! That¡¯s too bullshit! Is that guy really human?¡±

    ¡°No kidding . Did you record it?¡±

    ¡°What record? I was too shocked . Who would think to record?¡±

    ¡°Haww, that¡¯s a pity . If we recorded it and put it online, then it would be super popr . Chop my hand off if I¡¯m wrong!¡±

    Zhou Qin and Ding Nan were also stupified . Ding Nan stupidly said, ¡°How is that possible? It¡¯s too exaggerated right?¡±

    Zhou Qin¡¯s eye shed with an unusual glint . Looking at Li Yundong¡¯s back, her eyes contained shock and astonishment .

    At this moment, Xie Fei and Er Lu arrived . They could only stare as Li Yundong leapt to the rooftop like a cheetah while carrying Su Chan . They were shocked pale .

    Xie Fei¡¯s underling was gasping for breath from the chase . He said to Xie Fei, ¡°Bro Fei, this lousy bastard is too good at running . He¡¯s like a monkey . How will we chase him?¡±

    Xie Fei red at him in a bad mood, ¡°Shut up!¡±

    After he finished speaking, he turn to look at Er Lu with uncharitable eyes . ¡°This guy is difficult to deal with . Why didn¡¯t you say so earlier?¡±

    Er Lu¡¯splexion became unsightly . ¡°I didn¡¯t think he¡¯d be this difficult to deal with . ¡±

    Xie Fei twitched his lip corner . He saw the teachers and guards of the university who were currently running toward them . Turning his head, he shouted at his subordinates, ¡°Put away your knives . Do you think showing them off is going to impress anyone? Do you want to go to the police station?¡±

    With those words, he hatefully nced at Li Yundong and Su Chan who were on the rooftop . ¡°I don¡¯t believe he can escape for a lifetime . ¡±

    However, he did not realize that the guy he was chasing could carry a living person and jump up to the fourth floor rooftop . If this person actually learned some fighting techniques, what would happen?

    ~~~

 Chapter 11

    Chapter 11

    <h4>Chapter 11: Sowing Discord</h4>

    T/N: If only people could understand each other .

    Li Yundong, with the little fox in his arms, nced down . Seeing Xie Fei, Er Lu, and the rest depart in anger, he finally released his breath and put down the little fox .

    The little fox grumbled from the bottom of her heart, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you let me go teach those guys a lesson?¡±

    Li Yundong did not know whether tough or cry, ¡°A little girl like you beating people up, what kind of talk is that? Did you watch too much ¡®My Sassy Girl¡¯*?¡±

    Internally, he was thinking, ¡®I can¡¯t go on like this . I need to find a way to learn some fighting techniques . ¡¯

    Li Yundong all of the sudden recalled his unexpected burst of strength . He actually carried a person and still managed to run like that . Moreover, he leapt up to the fourth floor!

    No matter how Li Yundong thought about it, it seemed miraculous . He secretly thought, ¡®Did I suddenly bring out my hidden potential? In the past, I heard that in some dangerous situations, the human body can demonstrate enormous strength . Even a normally fragile unhealthy girl can lift a car . Perhaps he was also like that?¡¯

    Li Yundong contemted the issue and felt it should be like that . Otherwise, there was no exnation .

    The little fox felt that Li Yundong had consume the Human Origin Gold Pill . What happened a while ago was nothing unusual . She even grumbled that Li Yundong did not let her teach those bad guys a lesson, brooding internally .

    The little fox puffed her cheeks and remained annoyed for a while, but suddenly she let out a startled exmation, ¡°Aiya! The money!¡±

    Li Yundong looked toward the little fox . Only now did he discover that her hands were empty . She timidly looked at Li Yundong . ¡°I lost the money you gave me . ¡±

    Li Yundong felt pain in his heart . He asked, ¡°How did you lose it?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember,¡± the little fox replied while timidly looking at Li Yundong and using her hand to pull on Li Yundong¡¯s shirt, ¡°You won¡¯t get mad, right?¡±

    Starting from junior high**, Li Yundong received quite a bit of living expenses from his parents . Plus he was not a big spender . So he managed to save quite up a bit of money in these years .

    A thousand or so to him could not be counted as a lot, but neither could it be counted as a little .

    And most importantly, this money was not earned by Li Yundong himself, thus he did not treasure it .

    Looking at how the little fox was, Li Yundong could not bring himself to be angry . He sighed and smiled faintly . In a very naturally manner, he rubbed the little fox¡¯s hair . ¡°You probably lost it at the beginning of the chase . Forget it . It¡¯s not important so long as you¡¯re fine . ¡±

    The little fox had no concept of money . Seeing that Li Yundong did not seem to care, she cared even less . Thus she gave simply let out an ¡®oh¡¯ and that was it .

    By this time, there was a chaotic mess by the dormitory building . Many students had brought out their cellphones to record Li Yundong and Su Chan who were on the roof . Some utterly heartless students felt the previous stunt was not exciting and wanted to watch some more . They started to shout, ¡°Jump down . Jump down!¡±

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    Li Yundong was fuming inside . This bunch of farm animals, they were all the type to take joy in other people¡¯s cmities and fear that the world was not chaotic enough .

    Especially those super farm animals from Li Yundong¡¯s former dorm . Seeing the guy on the rooftop was actually their former dorm mate, they individually started chatting up pretty girls in their vicinity, saying with a face of pride, ¡°That guy¡¯s my dorm mate!¡±

    Some pretty girls did not believe them . One of them replied with a face of disdain, ¡°I¡¯m supposed to believe you because you said so? I might as well say that I¡¯m his girlfriend . ¡±

    Having seen the little fox who was beside Li Yundong, the boyughed out loud and said, ¡°Just you? As if! That girl beside him, even a hundred you could notpare!¡±

    It is readily apparent, the boy who said those words suffered from an obviously drop in IQ and EQ . The pretty girl under hearing those words had her feathers ruffled . She immediately became snide, ¡°What do you mean? Did you take the wrong medicine or forget your medicine? If you took the wrong medicine, go to the hospital and fix your prescription . If you forgot your medicine, get lost and go take your medicine . In any case, stop acting like a nut over here!¡±

    The guy retracted his head . He was scared now . He muttered quietly to himself, ¡°It¡¯s the truth . What are you so fierce for!¡±

    The pretty girl asked angrily, ¡°What did you just say?¡±

    While there was a quarrel on this side, on the other side the teachers, students and guards were rushing over . From far away, they already shouted, ¡°What is going on? What happened?¡±

    Wu Hui who had been in the crowd since the beginning immediately stepped forward . He replied while intent on adding fuel to the fire, ¡°Director Qian . It¡¯s great that you¡¯re here . If you did note, it would be a great big mess . ¡±

    Director Qian is the university¡¯s discipline director . He was a middle aged man who possessed an unkind face . His head had sparse hair in the style of middle management . ording to the distribution of his hair, the east side was severely reinforcing the west side .

    ¡°Ah, Xiao Wu***...¡± Director Qian¡¯s face immediately warmed up quite a bit upon seeing Wu Hui . He stylishly toss his middle management hair . ¡°What actually happened here?¡±

    There was a previous conflict between Wu Hui and Li Yundong . In addition, his father had a decent rtionship with Director Qian . Seeing the chance, Wu Hui hurriedly tried to pile on further misfortune . He said, ¡°Director Qian, just now Li Yundong and some gangsters were fighting in the school . Even knives were brought out . I believe all the students here can verify this . ¡±

    This one statement was extremely sinister . In a single move, it determined the nature of Li Yundong¡¯s involvement . He was regted to a rule breaker that was guilty of ¡®fighting with some gangsters in the school¡¯ .

    On the side, Sun Li who had chased the crowd over here immediately raised her beautiful brows upon hearing Wu Hui¡¯s nder, ¡°Wu Hui, what nonsense are you spouting! It was obviously the local hoodlum chasing Li Yundong with knives trying to chop him . Li Yundong ran to the school but they would not give up! What do you mean he was fighting with the gangsters? What fight? Where¡¯s the fight? How could I didn¡¯t see it?¡±

    The surrounding students who had witness what had happened all yelled, ¡°That¡¯s right . It¡¯s was like that . We didn¡¯t see any fight!¡±

    Wu Hui¡¯splexion changed . He walked to Sun Li¡¯s side and said to her quietly, ¡°Sun Li, you haven¡¯t made a mistake right? You also dislike that fellow, don¡¯t you? You need to understand the situation before speaking!¡±

    Wu Hui spoke the final phrase in a strange tone, evidently carrying overtones of threat .

    Sun Li had a sneer on her face . She backed up a step like she despised being on the same side as Wu Hui, ¡°It¡¯s true I don¡¯t like that fellow . However, I hate using the kind of people who seek public revenge for their own private conflicts . ¡±

    Wu Hui¡¯splexion became worse . He said incensed, ¡°Sun Li . Who are you talking about? Who seeks public revenge for their own conflicts?¡±

    Sun Li coldly said, ¡°Whoever it is should be clear on their own identity!¡±

    Wu Hui¡¯splexion once again worsened into extreme gloom . On the side, Director Qian interrupted impatiently, ¡°What really happened? Xiao Wu, you just arrived . You might not have seen everything clearly . That¡¯s possible too . I don¡¯t me you . However, if the situation is really as Xiao Wu said, then we Tiannan University will show no tolerance!¡±

    Director Qian was cunning and crafty . He easily extricated Wu Hui cleanly from his previous argument and he used his authority to indicate toward the students whose side he was actually learning toward .

    On the side, Ding Nan watched on with indifference . Her eyes spun once and she spoke in a low voice to Zhou Qin, ¡°Zhou Qin, that loathsome fellow is really rampant . He think finding a coquettish fox makes him extraordinary . Why don¡¯t you...¡±

    Zhou Qin ndly nced at her . After some thought, she slowly shook her head, ¡°Forget it . Where it is possible, one should spare others . Moreover, he never really offended me . You on the other hand, weren¡¯t there some problems between the two of you . ¡±

    Ding Nan was indignant inside, ¡®Wasn¡¯t it because of you that I have some problems with him?¡¯

    Ding Nan¡¯s face revealed an embarrassed smile and said, ¡°I¡¯m just saying . You¡¯re really forgiving, how could Ipare?¡±

    Zhou Qin smiled for a bit and walked toward Director Qian .

    Ding Nan looked at Zhou Qin¡¯s back . Her eyes shed with discontent . Internally, she was gnashing her teeth . ¡®You¡¯re a **** and yet you want to pretend otherwise! You avoid all the bad things in the world, leaving them to me . All the good things end up with you . I never get a piece . Hmph! Zhou Qin! Zhou Qin!¡¯

    How could Zhou Qin know the gaze from behind her was so full of bitter resentment . She arrived beside Director Qian and softly said, ¡°Director Qian, I more or less know what went on here . ¡±

    Director Qian turned to look . Upon seeing Zhou Qin standing before him, his gloomy face immediately changed into a face full of smiles as if he were standing before his boss . The only thing hecked was a wagging tail .

    ¡°Aiya . Finally, there¡¯s someone who can exin clearly . Zhou Qin, you came right when we needed you . What really happened? Please tell us!¡± Director Qian treated Zhou Qin much more cordiallypared to Wu Hui . The reason was simple . Zhou Qin¡¯s background was much greater than Wu Hui¡¯s .

    Zhou Qin had a faint smile on her face . She seemed to have the elegant poise of a girl from a wealthy family, but in truth, she gave off a sense of distance as if she were a thousand miles away . ¡°Director Qian, the event happened pretty much as ssmate Sun Li described . That is what I saw and any other students in school can act as a witness . ¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that right?¡± Zhou Qin raised her head and looked around .

    All the guys were captivated by Zhou Qin and they collectively yelled out, ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±

    With this, the entire fiasco was set in stone . Director Qian gave his verdict on the spot, ¡°So it was like that . Okay . I understand . Then, where is this Li Yundong?¡±

    The male dormitory had stairs connecting directly to the rooftop . Contrary to Li Yundong¡¯s expectations, the door for these stairs was not locked .

    Li Yundong and Su Chan quickly came down from the stairs . The space around the dormitory was overcrowded with students . Director Qian was surrounded by so many students that he was sweating nonstop .

    Upon seeing Li Yundong, Director Qian was clearly shocked into a daze by Su Chan who stood by his side . Not only him, all the students were also dazed . The mor around the dormitory died down swiftly .

    Zhou Qin who was beside Director Qian frowned and quietly said, ¡°Director Qian, this is Li Yundong . You can ask him about today¡¯s event . ¡±

    Director Qian seemed to wake up from a dream . Giving aplicated nce at Su Chan who stood beside Li Yundong like a little bird relying on someone, Director Qian headed toward Li Yundong . He inquired about the details and the process of the event . Then he told Li Yundong to submit a report to the disciplinary office tomorrow .

    Finally, before he left, he gave Li Yundong another nce, secretly shaking his head . ¡®How is this guy¡¯s girlfriend pretty to that degree? What¡¯s so good about him?¡¯

    After Director Qian left, Li Yundong walked to the front of Sun Li . He smiled and said, ¡°ss monitor, at the crucial moment, it¡¯s you who upholds justice . ¡±

    Sun Li asked slightly surprised, ¡°You managed to hear? Even though you were that far away, you still managed to hear?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Of course . The resounding sound of justice, it would be hard to miss even if I didn¡¯t want to hear . ¡±

    The corner of Sun Li¡¯s lips slightly upturned into a smile . However, her expression rapidly became stern . ¡°I simply judge matters as they are . Recently, you¡¯ve left ss early several times in a row . Do you really not want your credits? If you keep this up, even if no onees after you, you yourself won¡¯t be able to graduate!¡±

    Li Yundong did not truly take this issue to heart . Internally, he muttered to himself, ¡®These years, people with master degrees are everywhere, university students are asmon as dogs . ***** What use does this kind of lousy university degree have? There¡¯s more than a hundred university studentspeting for a job to move manure . These year, university students... hmph, hmph!¡¯

    If it were not for his agreement with the two parents that abandoned him, Li Yundong would not bother to attend this rotten university .

    Despite thinking these thoughts, Li Yundong¡¯s actual actions consisted of politely smiling at Sun Li . ¡°In the end, it is ss monitor who cares for me . Today, you helped me a lot . Let me invite you out to a meal . ¡±

    Sun Li blushed slightly . She looked to the side where Zhou Qin along with Ding Nan were departing . She angrily said, ¡°What are you bbering about . Who want to bother with you . Go die! You¡¯ve got such as beautiful girl beside you and you still want to womanize?¡±

    Li Yundong felt slightly awkward . He gave a nce to Su Chan who was by his side . He was not trying to flirt with Sun Li on purpose . Even though this Sichuan little hot pepper had an excellent figure, Li Yundong currently focused all his thought on Su Chan .

    However, he had a bad habit . When speaking with girls, he could not help but use flowerynguage . If he could tease the girls and make them blush, then he would be happy .

    If it were a handsome guy, perhaps flowerynguage would make pretty girls blush and their hearts speed up . But Li Yundong could only get girls to roll their eyes at him .

    Li Yundong saw that Su Chan was only sizing up the not so distant Zhou Qin with bright eyes and a face full of curiosity . She did not seem to notice his conversation with Sun Li . Only then did Li Yundong rx and let out the breath he was holding . Secretly, he raised his vignce .

    ¡®What the heck am I doing? How can I say those things without rhyme or reason? If I wanted to say those things, I should say it to Su Chan!¡¯

    Sun Li noticed where Su Chan was looking . She continued, ¡°If you want to thank someone, then thank Zhou Qin . She was the one that helped you rify how the event progressed, letting youe out fine . Otherwise, hmph, hmph, you can imagine for yourself!¡±

    Li Yundong was a bit surprised, ¡°Zhou Qin? Her?¡±

    Sun Li raised her brows, ¡°Otherwise, what did you think would happen?¡±

    Li Yundong looked at Zhou Qin¡¯s departing back and nodded . ¡°This is truly rare . This ice queen actually knows how to speak fairly . ¡±

    Sun Li snorted, ¡°Your words are really not conscientious . She defended you and now you¡¯re talking about her behind her back . Still not going over to thank her?¡±

    Li Yundong looked at Sun Li . He jokingly said, ¡°Yes,dy ss monitor . Once you graduate, you must surely apply for preschool education . Otherwise, it would be a waste of talent!¡±

    Sun Li replied without any good mood, ¡°Go thank Zhou Qin . Why are you still chatting with me? You just confessed to her and now she¡¯s turned around and helped you . Hmph . Hmph . Maybe at your darkest hour, there¡¯s hope at the end of tunnel?¡±

    Li Yundong burst out inughter . He was just about to release a flirtatious reply, ¡®I haven¡¯t confessed to you before, why are you helping me?¡¯

    However, just as this reply reached his mouth, Li Yundong forcibly swallowed it back down .

    Sun Li rolled her eyes at Li Yundong, as if she knew what he was about to say . Without any cheer, she said, ¡°ssmate Li Yundong, I must remind you, in the future, please don¡¯t behave so frivolous in front of your girlfriend . ¡±

    Once she finished speaking, Sun Li turned around . Her jet-ck hair bounced vibrantly and her graceful seductive figure headed in the direction of the school building at a walk .

    Li Yundong stood on the spot slightly stunned . Internally, he thought, ¡°I¡¯m frivolous? It can¡¯t be, right?¡±

    His gaze turned toward Su Chan only to find her eyes fixed on Zhou Qin, shining bright, faintly giving off a sense of excitement and zeal .

    Li Yundong also looked toward Zhou Qin not understanding what was going on . ¡®What¡¯s with this girl? Why is she like a cat that smelled fish? Oh no . She couldn¡¯t be a lesbian, could she?¡±

    Li Yundong looked over at Zhou Qin with his eyes full of puzzlement . At this moment, Zhou Qin just happened to be standing in front of the dormitory preparing to enter . She turned around and looked over . The gazes of the two met .

    Li Yundong nodded toward Zhou Qin to indicate his gratitude . Zhou Qin¡¯s expression was detached and did not show any reaction . Her gaze toward Li Yundong simply lost some of its disdain and gained a bit more curiousity .

    At this time, Li Yundong did not notice the person behind him . Wu Hui who wanted to sow discord was using gloomy eyes to re at him . Only after a long while, did he coldly snort and turn to leave .

    ~~~

    *My Sassy Girl ¨C That¡¯s its English name . It¡¯s a Korean show apparently . In Chinese, it¡¯s my Barbarian Girlfriend, so you can probably guess what it¡¯s like .

    **junior high ¨C junior middle school in China: That¡¯s equivalent to grade 7-9 . Then there¡¯s grade 10-12 . Plus he¡¯s in his sophomore year of university . A bit more than 7 years of savings .

    *** Same as before, xiao as in little/young is a nickname for someone close and younger . Xiao Wu would be the nickname for Wu Hui

    **** I don¡¯t know . It was censored in the original . I assume it¡¯s b**** or something .

    ***** This is a meme: Originally, it makes fun of DnD, saying how epic characters can be found anywhere, and liches were asmon as dogs . Epic = master degree Lich = university student . Or maybe I¡¯m wrong, if I am, please tell me .

 Chapter 12

    Chapter 12

    <h4>Chapter 12: Kill Five of Them</h4>

    T/N: This is a horrible joke, but it reveals the gap between humans and animals .

    Waiting until Zhou Qin entered the dormitory, Li Yundong turned around . To the little fox, he said, ¡°Hey, she¡¯s gone . What are you still looking at?¡±

    Su Chan let out a light sigh and delightedly praised, ¡°Well proportioned flesh and bones . Thick eyebrows and straight nose . A full forehead . The breadth of her eyes and the space in between are of equal proportions . Her philtrum is wide, deep and also long . Her temples are soft . Narrow waist and wide hides . She possesses ample spirit and vigor . She truly is a pure yin great beauty that is one in ten thousand . Great cultivation furnace . A truly great cultivation furnace . ¡±

    Li Yundong was shocked . He subconsciously moved to check Su Chan¡¯s forehead, ¡°Are you going crazy? What are you muttering about? What great cultivation furnace?¡±

    Su Chan stopped staring and said, ¡°I¡¯mplimenting her . ¡±

    Li Yundong spoke with a strange expression on his face, ¡°You¡¯replimenting her? Saying someone is a great cultivation furnace is apliment? Hey, don¡¯t think that I¡¯m an idiot . I still understand the meaning of cultivation furnace at least a little, okay? I¡¯ve watched Huang Yi¡¯s ¡®Lethal Weapons Of Love And Passion¡¯, alright?¡±

    Su Chan blinked her eyes and said, ¡°You know? Then that¡¯s great . ¡±

    The little fox pulled Li Yundong out of the crowd . She looked left and right checking the surrounding . Then with a crafty glow in her gaze, she quietly said, ¡°Yundong, you must pursue her! We can¡¯t miss out on this kind of great cultivation furnace .

    In the eyes of the little fox, a pure yin virgin beauty cultivation furnace like Zhou Qin, the pure yin in her body can be considered some of the rarely found pure yin in this world . And the powerful and vigorous Gold Pill essence currently in Li Yundong¡¯s body is some of the rarely found pure yang in this world . If the twobine, then yin and yang would interweave, definitely granting Li Yundong great benefits .

    Li Yundong at this time did not seem like someone who would cultivate of his own initiative . The little fox also did not dare to exin without being forced . Thus she could only think some of way to help Li Yundong increase the primordial yang cultivation in his body .

    Plucking yin to supplement yang was without a doubt a great method .

    However, the little fox was wrong in that she always used the thought patterns of a cultivator to evaluate the thoughts of a normal person .

    Upon hearing the little fox¡¯s words, Li Yundong almost didn¡¯t trip and fall to his death . The expression on his face was frozen . His eyes gazed strangely at Su Chan . For a long time, he was rendered speechless .

    ¡®What did this girl mean to say? Did she just instigate me to pursue Zhou Qin?

    ¡®Is she testing me? Or is shecking inmon sense?

    ¡®Or perhaps, in her heart, she does not take me seriously? Otherwise how could she instigate me to pursue other women?¡¯

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart was full of depression . As if he had just ate wax, without a sound, he started heading back .

    The little fox saw Li Yundong¡¯s action . She was rather curious . While following behind him docilely, she muttered inside, ¡®Did I say something wrong again? I didn¡¯t say anything wrong . That girl is a pure yin beauty, a one-in-ten-thousand cultivation furnace . If a practitioner of dual cultivation saw her, they would definitely fight over her .

    ¡®Perhaps, he doesn¡¯t like her? Impossible . That girl is really beautiful . Didn¡¯t master say that all men were lecherous?¡¯

    The little fox had a head full of doubts . She blindly followed behind Li Yundong while thinking random thoughts in her head .

    Li Yundong was also letting his imagination run wild along the way . The two with their incongruous thought patterns continued guessing what the other one thought . This trip was very oppressive and depressing .

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    After leaving the school gate, Li Yundong finally remember . He smack his leg and cursed out loud, ¡°Your mother! Those contemptible bastards made me throw away the ingredients! What will we eat tonight!¡±

    The little fox saw that Li Yundong finally started talking . She let out a breath of relief on the inside, as if a ten thousand jin boulder had disappeared . ¡°Then is it okay to go buy some more?¡±

    Li Yundong gave a cold smile . ¡°Go back to that marketce? Forget it . I¡¯m not going back there this entire lifetime . ¡±

    Even though the little fox thought differently from a normal person thus making her seem innocent and foolish,cking inmon sense, but she was definitely not stupid . She realized that the cause of the entire incident was apparently herself .

    Su Chan pulled on the hem of Li Yundong¡¯s shirt with an expression full of guilt . ¡°I¡¯m sorry . I caused you a lot of trouble...¡± With those words, she raised her head . Widening her alreadyrge eyes, she pitifully stared at Li Yundong and said, ¡°Go ahead and scold me . ¡±

    Even if Li Yundong were angry, there was no way he could take it out on a beautiful girl looking miserable . He sighed internally . ¡®Don¡¯t be silly . How could I be willing to scold you?¡¯

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go . Today, we won¡¯t eat at home . I¡¯ll take you to McDonald¡¯s . ¡±

    The little fox said surprised, ¡°McDonalds? What is McDonalds?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s just fast food . Simple and convenient food . ¡±

    The little fox asked, ¡°Then, is it delicious?¡±

    Li Yundong thought for a bit and replied, ¡°It¡¯s okay I guess . You¡¯ll know after you eat . ¡±

    The nearest McDonald¡¯s to Tiannan University was pretty close . It was only ten minutes by walking .

    Li Yundong brought the little fox and headed toward the McDonald¡¯s . It was noon . The sun was round like a te . Its white light shined down on the ground causing hot steam to raise in patches .

    The little fox followed closely behind Li Yundong, curiously evaluating her surroundings . The city¡¯s tall buildings and endless traffic was a stark contrast to the deep mountains and old forests where she used to cultivate .

    The little fox dragged Li Yundong along all the way asking about this and that . To her, everything was fresh and new . She always had a smile of pleasant surprise on her face .

    This smile made Li Yundong who remained under the zing sun feel refreshed andfortable . The slight doubts and unhappiness of before were quickly toss to the back of his mind .

    The two talked andughed the entire way, walking to the door of McDonald¡¯s .

    At this McDonald¡¯s, there was a bench by the door . On the bench sat a clown dressed as Ronald McDonald . Li Yundong and Su Chan had just reached the door and was about to open it when this Ronald McDonald clown gave a strange shout and jumped out from the side . In his hands, he was even holding a human sized mouse in a the box toy .

    Su Chan was startled and subconsciously punched out .

    The poor Ronald McDonald fell on his back . The human sized toy he held also fell onto the floor . The mouse popped in and out of the box .

    Li Yundong was shocked . He hurried over to help the person up . As he supported the clown, he said, ¡°Hey, are you okay?¡±

    Before Li Yundong supported the person, he did not know . After he supported the person, he felt an extremely soft sensation . This Ronald Mcdonald with a rather petite build moaned, ¡°It hurts...¡±

    ¡®Hmm? A girl?¡¯

    Li Yundong felt more apologetic on the inside . He raised his head and helplessly nced at Su Chan . ¡°What are you waiting for? Apologize . ¡±

    Su Chan gave a big pout . ¡°Who let her suddenly scare me like that?¡±

    The McDonald girl took off the fake nose on her face . She rubbed her reddened nose and sullenly said, ¡°I¡¯m fine . I¡¯m used to it . A couple more time and I won¡¯t need a fake nose anymore to pretend to be Ronald McDonald . ¡±

    Li Yundong chuckled and said, ¡°You¡¯re really tolerant . Howe this McDonald hired a girl like you to act as Ronald? On a hot day like this, you¡¯re out here wearing so much, can you take it?¡±

    The girl wore heavy face paint on her face . She lightly smiled and said, ¡°Gotta earn money! Okay . I¡¯m fine . You can go in . Remember order a bit more to eat, okay?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Of course . How about I buy a portion for you? It¡¯s our wrong after all . ¡±

    The girl waved her hand, ¡°No need . Thank you . ¡±

    Li Yundong saw that the girl was truly fine, so he stood up . He walked to Su Chan¡¯s side and gave her a profound look . He let out a sigh .

    Su Chan lowered her head until it was really low . She was like a little kid who did something wrong . Her head would raise from time to time to peek at Li Yundong .

    She felt as if she were greatly wronged . Even though it was clearly someone else¡¯s wrong, in the end, it was as if she did something wrong . She had practically made more mistakes here in the mundane world than she did in ten years of living in the mountain .

    ¡°Forget it . Let¡¯s go eat . ¡± Li Yundong did not say any more . He only patted Su Chan¡¯s head .

    The two walked into the McDonald¡¯s . The inside was overcrowded . The little fox¡¯s fresh yet alluring, ssical yet sensual appearance and attire immediately attracted everyone¡¯s attention .

    The men greedily sized up Su Chan . They used an admiring yet jealous gaze to look at Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong chose a seat near the children area to sit down . He said to the little fox, ¡°Wait for me here . ¡± With those words, he got up and walked to the counter to buy two set meals and two ice cream cones .

    Li Yundong carried the trays and walked to the front of the little fox . He passed her an ice cream cone and said with a smile, ¡°Try this . ¡±

    The little fox curiously epted the ice cream cone . Stretching out her small bright red tongue, she carefully gave it a lick . She immediately beamed with delight, ¡°How sweet!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Of course, the original ingredients for McDonald¡¯s ice cream cones are shipped from another country . It¡¯s much tastier than KFC¡¯s ice cream cone . ¡±

    The little fox licked at the ice cream incessantly . She had no attention to spare for Li Yundong¡¯s words .

    Li Yundong watched Su Chan¡¯s little tongue lick at the ice cream . She looked lovely, innocent and cute . This scene made him wish he could hug her to his chest and dote on her a lot .

    Especially the way her soft and tender lips and bright red tongue contrasted vividly with the white of the ice cream, especially the way Su Chan gently suck and slowly licked at the ice cream, these scenes suddenly awakened Li Yundong¡¯s perversion and made him think of certain obscene censored imagery .

    Li Yundong could not resist revealing a sinful smile . In a small voice, he muttered, ¡°If there were a time she licks... like she licks this ice cream... then even dying under that tree peony and bing a ghost would be considered an aplishment . ¡±

    The little fox heard Li Yundong muttering quietly . She just happened to feel that simply licking the ice cream was satisfying enough . So she opened her mouth and put the cone in . Snap! She bit down on the half that was in her mouth, then started to chew . At the same time, she asked in a muffled voice, ¡°What did you say?¡±

    Li Yundong saw her actions and could not help but feel a bit of pain in his balls . Subconsciously, he squeezed his legs together . Then with a face full of righteousness he said, ¡°Nothing! Let¡¯s eat!¡±

    The little fox nced at Li Yundong baffled . She mumbled to herself, ¡°What a strange fellow . ¡±

    Li Yundong roll his eyes all the way around on the inside . ¡®I think you¡¯re the stranger one!¡¯

    Su Chan heartily finished her ice cream zone, ending up with ice cream around her mouth . Li Yundong watched in a good mood and amused . He passed her a napkin and said, ¡°Wipe yourself . ¡±

    Su Can epted the napkin slightly at a loss, not knowing what he meant . ¡°What is it?¡±

    Li Yundong could not resist . He picked up a napkin and stood up halfway to helped the little fox wipe clean the ice cream stuck around her mouth .

    Su Chan watched Li Yundong . As she allowed him to wipe her clean, she chuckled and said, ¡°You like really silly like this!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°I look silly? I think you¡¯re the sillier one . Silly like a little wild cat . ¡±

    Su Chan gave a humph . ¡°I am not silly . I am a fox... we¡¯re the smartest everywhere . Even my master praises me . ¡±

    The little fox in a moment of talkativeness nearly slipped up and revealed her origin . After she finished speaking, grinned and stuck out her tongue internally .

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°You¡¯re smart? Alright then, I¡¯ll ask you a question . There are seven birds on a tree . A gun was used to shoot one off the tree . How many bird are left on the tree?¡±

    The little fox replied slightly offended, ¡°You actually used such a simple question to test me . Do you want to make me mad? Of course there are six left!¡±

    Li Yundongughed out loud . ¡°Fool . Not a single one is left . The one that was killed fell down but the other ones were scared away . ¡±

    The little fox was bbergasted . Her eyes were really opened really wide . How could she know there were people in the mundane world idle to the point of being a pain in the ass and these people would fiddle around and create some mind twisting questions that could trick people relentlessly?

    She was unwilling to give in and biting her lips, she said, ¡°That doesn¡¯t count . Give me another one . ¡±

    Li Yundong thought to himself if he told these kinds of old fashioned jokes to other people, they would hold him in contempt . Only when he told these jokes to this silly girl, would she apparently get excited . He said, ¡°Then I¡¯ll ask you again . There are seven birds on the tree . One of them was shot down using a gun, how many birds are left?¡±

    The little fox was even more angry . She answered, ¡°You¡¯re asking the same question twice? Even if you¡¯re looking down on me, you can¡¯t be like this . Of course there are none left!¡±

    Li Yundongughed loudly, ¡°Fool . There¡¯s one left! The one under the tree . ¡±

    The little fox pped the table and stood up . She angrily said, ¡°You¡¯re cheating . You clearly asked how many bird were left on the tree in the beginning . ¡±

    Li Yundong replied all smiles, ¡°But just now, I asked how many birds are left . Of course it would include the dead bird!¡±

    The little fox stared nkly . ¡°That works too?¡±

    Li Yundong saw that she was acting foolish, so he smiled and said, ¡°Then do you know how this bird died?¡±

    The little fox was suddenly indignant . She wanted to open her mouth and curse . ¡®Even if you look down on people, you can¡¯t act like this . Just now didn¡¯t you say it was killed by a gun?¡±

    However, she remember what she learned before, so her anger abruptly vanished . She weakly asked, ¡°How-how did it die?¡±

    Li Yundong saw her reaction and broke out inughter . ¡°You fool . Of course, it died from stupidity . ¡±

    The little fox was dumbstruck . After being dazed for a long while, she vacantly asked, ¡°Clearly it was killed by the gun . Why did it die of stupidity?¡±

    After she spoke, the crowd who had perked up their ears and had been listening to the exchange between Li Yundong and Su Chan the entire time could not help butugh . Every one of them burst intoughter .

    Li Yundong looked at her silly expression and could not help but reach out and pinch her nose . He said, ¡°Didn¡¯t you, a silly bird, die of stupidity?¡±

    Su Chan cried out ¡®aiya¡¯ and pped away Li Yundong¡¯s hand . She sat down puffing in anger . ¡°I¡¯m going to ignore you . You¡¯re bully me . I¡¯m not a silly bird!¡±

    Li Yundong snickered nonstop . Hisughter made Su Chan a bit angry due to humiliation .

    At this time, the girl dressed as Ronald McDonald also came . She walked to the children area and started ying with the kids . The girl carried an apple basket on her arm . In a loud voice, she asked the thirteen children in the children area, ¡°I have eight apples here . But there are thirteen of you kids . What should we do?¡±

    Both McDonald¡¯s and KFC had this kind of activity . The girl actually wanted the children to learn from Kong Rong and the pears . The ones who did not get an apple would naturally get an appleter .

    Unfortunately, Su Chan who had been made fun of by Li Yundong could not help herself . She could not ept the conclusion that she was a silly bird . So she wanted to prove herself .

    Su Chan stood up with a whoosh and said in a loud voice, ¡°I know how to split them!¡±

    The girl curiously looked over at Su Chan and very cooperatively asked, ¡°How should we split them?¡±

    Su Chan said, ¡°Kill Five of Them . ¡±

    After she finished speaking, the entire restaurant went silent . Not a single voice could be heard .

    ~~~

    * Kong Rong and the pears ¨C a ssic story with a moral where Kong Rong picked the smaller pears leaving the bigger ones to his older brothers . It is used to teach young kids about courtesy .

 Chapter 13

    Chapter 13

    <h4>Chapter 13: Please Spare Me</h4>

    T/N: Okay, first some rifications about yesterday¡¯s chapter . In English, we sometimes call women, chicks . In Chinese, women are sometimes birds, which you probably could have guessed from the little bird relying on people adverb use that keeps showing up .

    Next up is the case of KFC and McDonald¡¯s in China . If you¡¯re not interested, skip down to the chapter . I have not researched this but it¡¯s something I¡¯ve heard in the form of gossip from friends in China . Not sure of uracy . KFC used to be the thing, the earliest and most liked fast food in China . Then along came McD and the others but KFC had a head start . Unfortunately, KFC decided to try and cater to the locals so its menu incorporated Chinese tastes . That turned out to be a huge misstep in its marketing strategy . If you cater to local tastes in North America, they¡¯ll be happy about it, but in China, that depends on whether you were originally Chinese . They like their foreign stuff to be more expensive and more foreign . Anyhow, that made the locals think it¡¯s not genuine foreign fast food, so KFC lost poprity . McD won by sticking to its traditional tactics . Some Chinese people feel McD is more foreign than KFC, hence better as you can see with the ice cream . Whether or not the ice cream is really made from foreign ingredients isn¡¯t that important . Honestly, if KFC tried to turn into a middle ss restaurant like Pizza Hut instead of Chinese styled fast food, they would have had more sess . Sadly, Pizza Hut in China is superior to 90% of our family restaurants over here . Oh well .

    After Su Chan finished speaking, Li Yundong fell off of his chair with a thump . Heughed so hard that he almost died . The face of the girl ying the role of Ronald McDonald froze as if it had turned to stone . Sheughed dryly a couple times .

    There was a short silence inside the McDonald¡¯s, then uproariousughter suddenly burst out .

    Su Chan looked left and right at a loss . She realized she said the wrong thing once more . So she sat down with her face full of grievance . Internally, she mutter to herself, ¡®I didn¡¯t say anything wrong . In the cultivation world, if there¡¯s this kind of situation with thirteen people fighting over eight magical treasures, wouldn¡¯t they kill off five of them first?¡¯

    She sat on her seat, beingughed at so hard that she didn¡¯t even know where to ce her hands* . Her lips were so pouted that you could hang an ornament on it . Her eyes glittered with tears . Her head hung low like a young wife who had suffered more than her fill of bullying .

    Li Yundongugh for a good while . As he rubbed at his aching belly, he smiled and said, ¡°Hurry and eat . Don¡¯t say any more . The more you say, the more mistakes you make . ¡±

    Su Chan made an aggrieved ¡®ah¡¯ sound and transformed her sorrow into appetite . She fiercely started taking her anger on her hamburger, devouring it in only two or three bites .

    Li Yundong waited until she finished her food, then he pulled Su Chan along and left the McDonald¡¯s .

    The two walked along a big street . Along the way, every time Li Yundong recalled what happened earlier, he could not help butugh so hard that his body sway to and fro . Su Chan kept her head down and followed behind Li Yudong . Her face blushed a deep red .

    When they reached home, Su Chan suddenly stopped in ce . She raised her head . Her eyes glimmered full of teardrops . ¡°Am I actually really stupid?¡±

    Li Yundong received a frightful shock . ¡®This girl is tragic . Those mind twisters actually made her start doubting her own intelligence . ¡¯

    Li Yundong realized that heughed too much, evidently he had hurt the girl¡¯s self-esteem . He hurriedly consoled her, ¡°You¡¯re not dumb . It¡¯s just these questions are too tricky . They¡¯re originally made for ying jokes . You¡¯re really smart . Truly . ¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes were hazy with tears . ¡°You¡¯re lying . ¡±

    Li Yundong hurried to swear an oath, ¡°If I¡¯m lying to you then let lightning strike five times!¡±

    Upon hearing Li Yundong¡¯s oath, Su Chan immediately believed him . In the cultivation world, there¡¯s nothing mightier than letting lightning strike down five times . She sniffled a bit and wiped at her tears . ¡°Okay, I believe you . ¡±

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    Li Yundong immediately released a sigh of relief, ¡°That¡¯s right . Our family¡¯s Su Chan is both beautiful and smart . She¡¯s practically the embodiment of beauty and intellect . How could she be stupid?¡±

    Su Chan turned her grief into happiness and said, ¡°Who belongs to your family? Stinky shameless fellow!¡±

    Su Chan revealed a bashfulness that seemed both displeased and delighted . Her behavior made Li Yundong¡¯s heart beat with eagerness . For a time, he stared at that supremely beautiful face somewhat infatuated .

    Su Chan also looked at Li Yundong with ardent eyes . Not knowing why, she also seemed a bit besotted .

    The two stared at each other . A haze of ambiguity that caused hearts to titite rippled through the air, a little ticklish, a little warm .

    A strong impulse suddenly welled up inside Li Yundong to embrace the girl, to kiss her lightly, to kiss her more, to dote on her, and to love her, but he did not dare . He feared that the girl before him was a majestic and sublime bubble . If he reached out, she would pop and disappear, never to be seen again .

    Su Chan stared at Li Yundong fixedly, inching closer bit by bit . The unique fragrance of a girl¡¯s body slowly filtered into his senses, as if a secret scent was drifting in the surroundings, causing Li Yundong¡¯s mouth and tongue to dry .

    Li Yundong felt like something inside his heart was beginning to stir, awaiting something might happen, and moreover desiring to do something now .

    Just as the moment he was preparing to put his thoughts into action was at hand, Su Chan whose breath was like orchids, looked at him with her enormous eyes that were bright and shining . She asked, ¡°Can I ask you a question?¡±

    Li Yundong used all his strength to swallow a mouthful of saliva . His heart beat like a drum . He stammered out his answer, ¡°What do you want to ask?¡±

    Su Chan blinked her eyes . ¡°So in the end, why did that bird die of stupidity?¡±

    Li Yundong was speechless . ¡°...¡±

    Su Chan watched bbergasted as a silent and speechless Li Yundong turned around and started banging his head against the wall . She asked, ¡°What happened to you?¡±

    On the inside, Li Yundong had tears all over his face . ¡°Nothing . ¡±

    There were no afternoon sses today . Li Yundong stayed in the living room staring nkly into space, thinking everything that happened in thest few days . The little fox would stay at his side and pester him continuously for the enlightenment about ¡°why that bird died of stupidity¡± without epting anypromise .

    This situation continued until the evening . Li Yundongid down on the furry carpet . His head rested on his hands . He closed his eyes and engaged in thought . ¡®Today¡¯s event was truly scary but luckily there was no mishap . Why was I suddenly so strong? Strong enough that I could actually climb to the fourth floor?

    ¡®If this were before, I would not even dare to imagine doing something like that!

    ¡®Could it be that the presence of a beauty stimted all of my potential?

    ¡®En, this is possible, after all, there is no viable exnation!

    ¡®I can¡¯t go on like this . I need to learn some fighting skills . Otherwise, I¡¯ll definitely be chased around by people in the future . ¡¯

    Li Yundong understood very clearly in his mind . It did not matter for his past self but now that a cmity in the form of Su Chan this cause-the-fall-of-a-nation grade beauty was by his side, so long as he did not have the ability to protect himself, he would definitely suffer .

    Thinking of this, Li Yundong felt that he should go to the Taekwando society .

    ¡®Taekwando should be a decent choice . Even though Tiannan University had many societies, the Taekwando society was the only society of the striking technique type . Furthermore, due to the presence of Zhao Yujian this super school prince, beauties gather in this society like clouds . It can be said that the collection of beauties there will gradually enchant any watcher¡¯s eyes .

    ¡®Moreover, Taekwando was easy to earn . It also looked nice . At that time, Su Chan would also support me, right?¡¯

    As various thoughts went through his head, Li Yundong flipped over preparing to go to sleep . However, his face suddenly felt a little itchy as if it were touching something hairy or furry .

    Li Yundong opened his eyes to take a peek . He suddenly received a frightful shock .

    He could see Su Chan crouched in front of him . Three thousand ck threads hung like a waterfall . She was hugging a pillow and in the darkness of night, here pair of extremely ck eyes seemed abstruse like gemstones .

    Li Yundong spoke in startlement, ¡°What are you doing here? Howe I didn¡¯t hear youing?¡±

    The little fox giggled . She blinked her eyes and asked, ¡°Yundong, I still don¡¯t understand, why did that bird die of stupidity?¡±

    Li Yundong sighed in sorrow . He grabbed the pillow at his side and used it to cover up his face . ¡°Please spare me!¡±

    ...

    The next day, Li Yundong woke up with tworgeck circles around his eyes . The little fox Su Chan had pestered him all night with her question . No matter what kind of exnation Li Yundong gave, the little fox remained discontented and desired more satisfactory answer .

    ¡°How painful . I really want to sleep...¡± Li Yundong hugged his pillow and rolled around on the carpet .

    The little fox Su Chan on the other hand had changed her clothes early in the morning . She even sat on the bed and cultivated, circting two microcosmos . Then with unimpeded spirit and bnced qi, she walked out of the bedroom .

    She squatted down in front of Li Yundong and asked in puzzlement, ¡°What happened to you? Don¡¯t you need to go to the learning hall today?¡±

    Li Yundong moaned . He corrected Su Chan, ¡°It¡¯s go to school, not go to the learning hall . Do you know what era this is? And you¡¯re still saying learning hall!¡±

    Su Chan made an affirmative sound . She took a careful look at the dark circles under Li Yundong¡¯s eyes . ¡°You didn¡¯t rest wellst night?¡±

    Li Yundong ousted himself into sitting position in one go . He pretended to be nonchnt . ¡°What are you talking about? I am full of vigor and energy, lively and spirited . I can beat a tiger if I go to the mountains and capture a dragon if I go to the sea!¡±

    Su Chan covered her mouth and chuckled . ¡°Your mouth stinks . ¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s face fell at once . He walked to the bathroom to clean up .

    After messing around for a good while, the two left the apartment .

    Li Yundong had just entered the school gate when he discovered a lot of people pointing at him, as if he had a flower on his face .

    Li Yundong rubbed at his cheek and asked, ¡°What¡¯s with me?¡±

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong seriously and answered, ¡°Your eye sockets are sunken . Your be is ckened...¡±

    Before she had finished speaking, Li Yundong interrupted her and said, ¡°Screw! My be is ckened, am I going to die?¡±

    Su Chan said, ¡°When the heart and the kidney are not circting properly this happens . It¡¯s highly unlikely that you¡¯ll die . ¡±

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes .

    This morning was another lecture ss . Li Yundong brought the little fox along with him and sat in the back roll just like before . During this ss, there were guys and girls looking back constantly . This time, their gazes fell more often on Li Yundong as opposed to the little fox, Su Chan .

    Li Yundong could faintly pick out from their their whispers phrases like ¡°free run emperor¡±, ¡°leaping on roofs and vaulting over walls¡±, ¡°bullshit¡± and so on .

    There were even people secretly discussing the ck circles under his eyes, ¡°he was definitely going at it too much¡±, ¡°immoderate desires¡±, and other such phrases could be heard nonstop .

    Toward these discussion, Li Yundong did not possess too much awareness, because he felt he was too tired and so sleepy that he wanted to die .

    The parkour from yesterday caused him to consume arge amount of physical power . Even though he absorbed the Gold Pill energy, but before he transforms the Gold Pill primordial yang into his own primordial qi** and then sessfully achieves indestructible gold body, his physical body would still experience fatigue and feel weariness .

    After a while, Li Yundong groggily slipped into sleep on his seat .

    The little fox Su Chan saw that he fell asleep so she acted on her own initiative and stood up . Walking behind the back row, she once again exhibited the tri-prong blossom technique to help Li Yundong circte his qi through massage .

    This kind of microcosmo qi cirction method was exceptional for alleviating the body¡¯s weariness . Su Chan¡¯s five fingers danced, repeatedly massaging and gently kneading the Tianzhu, Chengling, Fengchi, Yuzhen, and various other acupoints on Li Yundong¡¯s head .

    Her warm and gentle caring demeanor caused the eyes of every surrounding guy who took a look to go red without exception . Their hearts were resentful to the point of gnashing their teeth . ¡®Us brothers are still single . This bachelor for eight lifetimes actually shows off like this . How hateful!¡±

    This time, Su Chan had already finished her massage by the time Li Yundong woke up from his dreams . He also did not emit any moaning sounds that gave people chills .

    All the way until ss let out, the little fox stayed peacefully at Li Yundong¡¯s side . She also did not create any trouble . Apparently, yesterday¡¯s event really affected her .

    After school, Li Yundong walked toward the Taekwando society . The little fox also followed docilely at his side .

    The Taekwando society was on the second floor of the multimedia building, on the west side of the university .

    Upon entering the building, Li Yundong saw a bunch of copper signs hung by the doorway, one of which read ¡°Tiannan City Taekwando Association, Tiannan University Society¡± .

    In the past when Li Yundong was still a freshman, there used to be a karate society . However, unfortunately, it was struck down by the Taekwando society president, Zhao Yujian . Since then, it was forced to disband .

    School prince Zhao Yujian rose to fame in that one battle, possessing countless fans in Tiannan University .

    Li Yundong had stayed at Tiannan University for almost two years, but he had never been here . After entering the building, he looked around . The first floor belonged to the music society . The sound of music could be faintly heard from the various music rooms . The pretty girls who came and went were mostly beauties from the art department . Each of them had graceful figures and picturesque features .

    If it were under normal circumstances, perhaps Li Yundong would stand by the doorway drooling uncontrobly and then get looked down upon by the beauties .

    But now that he had a cmity ss little fox by his side, Li Yundong truly did not have any regard for these beauties, each of whom he would have considered top ss in the past .

    This could only be described as a type of nouveau riche mentality .

    When these beauties who wereing and going saw Su Chan by Li Yundong¡¯s side, their eyes all revealed intense shock and amazement without exception . And when they sized up Li Yundong, their gazes were full of inquisitiveness and perplexity .

    ¡®Why is there a beautiful woman like this following after an ordinary looking guy who did not possess any special charisma like that?¡¯

 Chapter 14

    Chapter 14

    <h4>Chapter 14: One Strong Punch</h4>

    T/N: As always look for mistakes?

    Li Yundong climbed up to the second floor under all kinds of gazes . Upon arriving on the second floor, various shouting sounds could be heard, probably originating from the shout required during practice .

    Taekwondo and karate were simr on this point . They paid particr attention to gaining the upper hand through a show of strength . They particrly like to release intense shouts that give off a feeling of great force, serving to intimidate their opponents .

    Li Yundong followed the sound to find the Taekwondo Society on the right side of the second floor .

    The moment he entered, he saw a taekwondo logo wearing a white dobok performing a high side kick hung by the doorway . A round faced beauty came forward to wee him . She spoke very cordially, ¡°Greetings fellow ssmate, you are...¡±

    As she spoke she suddenly covered her mouth and let out a startled exmation, ¡°Ah! You¡¯re Li Yundong?¡±

    Li Yundong nced at her bbergasted, ¡°You recognize me?¡±

    The round faced girl smiled and said, ¡°Who at Tiannan University doesn¡¯t recognize you these days? You¡¯re the confession emperor who turned around and suddenly transformed into parkour emperor . ¡±

    This girl was very good at acting familiar on her own . She prodded Li Yundong with her elbow and said with a smile, ¡°Hey, give me your signature, alright?¡±

    Li Yundongughed out involuntarily, ¡°Me? What signature could I go? No way . Aren¡¯t you making fun of me?¡±

    The round faced beauty replied without epting excuses, ¡°Right now, your videos are stickied to the highlights section of the student forum . In the future, you¡¯ll definitely be popr . That day, I saw you jump up to the fourth floor from the first floor carrying a beauty in your arms . That¡¯s practically more awesome than Jackie Chan . I was dumbstruck from watching . I only regret that I didn¡¯t record it!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s eye corners twitched . Internally, he thought, ¡°Grassssss . Really? Stickied highlight your mother! These idle to the point of butt-hurt fellow are sure senseless enough!¡¯

    This girl pestered Li Yundong for a good while . Seeing he was determined not to give his signature, the girl could only retrieve an application form from the reception desk and pass it to Li Yundong . ¡°Then you¡¯re here to sign up for the Taekwondo Society, right? How about you fill out a form first?¡±

    With those words, she turned her gaze to Su Chan . Her eyes contained both astonishment and jealousy . She secretly mumbled to herself, ¡®She is actually that pretty . No wonder Li Yundong is so fierce when holding her . ¡¯

    The round faced girl looked toward Su Chan and her attitude was clearly less genialpared to before . She said, ¡°Beauty, do you want to sign up too?¡±

    Su Chan up until now was still unclear on what the heck was taekwondo . She looked toward Li Yundong as if she were consulting his opinion .

    Li Yundong thought for a bit and said, ¡°You can follow me to take a look . If you also want to learn then it¡¯s not toote to apply . ¡±

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    When Li Yundong was filling in the application form, the round faced girl¡¯s eyes spun and then she took out another application form . She said, ¡°Please fill out this one as well, we keep records in duplicate . ¡±

    When Li Yundong handed over thepleted forms, he saw the round faced girl smile proudly . ¡°See? Didn¡¯t I end up getting the signature I wanted?¡±

    ¡°This is your first signature right? Ha, when you¡¯re popr in the future, I¡¯ll be rich!¡± the round faced girlughed merrily, ¡°I am your number one fan yo . ¡±*

    Li Yundong watched as she merrily waved the form in her hand . It did indeed have his signature on it . Li Yundong shook his head andughed in spite of himself . He cupped his hands in salute and said, ¡°As you wish . You¡¯re really quite something! You have convinced me . ¡±**

    The round faced beauty smiled and said, ¡°Do you want to directly pay the two hundred in application fee, or do you want to check it out first and learn with the society for a month before deciding?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Is there a difference between the two?¡±

    The round faced beauty said, ¡°The first choice lets you directly be a member . You can participate in the society¡¯s activities at any time . If your results are good, the society will rmend you to participate in variouspetition . As for the second choice, you can practice with us for a month . During this period, we won¡¯t ask for any fees, but you have to rent a dobok for youself . If you find that you aren¡¯t interested after a month, you can freely leave the society . ¡±

    Li Yundong nodded his head . In his head, he thought that he was notcking this money anyway, thus he took out two hundred kuai from his pocket . ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll just pay first . ¡±

    After handing over the money, the round faced beauty guided Li Yundong from the front desk to the main hall with a smile . She told a male student who wore a dobok with a red belt around his waist, ¡°This is our newly joined member, Li Yundong . ¡±

    The male student was tall with a well-built physique . However, his face was full of pimples, simr to a deep fried ball of dough .

    When he saw Li Yundong enter, his gaze just happened to fall on Su Chan first . His eye became full of shock and astonishment . When the round faced beauty repeated herself twice in a row, he finally regained his wits . He nced at Li Yundong with an enormous amount of jealousy and hostility .

    ¡°You¡¯re the new junior?¡± the pimpled man released a puff of air from his nose . He stood in front of LI Yundong, arrogantly sizing him up . His eyes full of provocation and contempt .

    Li Yundong inwardly frowned . He was very dissatisfied with this kind of gaze and tone of voice . However, for the sake of learning fighting technique, he would endure . ¡°Yes, I am . Senior, please look after me . ¡±

    The pimpled man swept his gaze over Li Yundong and said, ¡°Follow me . ¡±

    He brought Li Yundong and Su Chan to a corner of the main hall . There were various kinds of equipment here . Most were exercise equipment but there was also some testing equipment .

    The pimpled man¡¯s eyes were always fixed on Su Chan . Only when Su Chan rolled her eyes at him in an exaggerated manner did he greedily withdraw his gaze . Looking toward Li Yundong, he dered full of hostility and unting, ¡°This machine is for testing your strength . I will hit it first to demonstrate how it¡¯s done . ¡±

    At this time, there were quite a few girls in the main hall either drinking water by the drinking fountain or buying drinks from the refrigerated vending machine . They all looked in Li Yundong¡¯s direction with faces full of disdain .

    They were all clear that new members of the society did not need this kind of test . However, this pimpled man as it happens wanted to show off to the girl beside Li Yundong, so he brought him over to the strength testing machine in order to unting his superiority .

    And the most unreasonable part was that many of the other guys in the main hall also rushed over . Each and everyone of them eager to have a try, wanting to show off in front of the little fox .

    This kind of childish action made many of the female students dissatisfied . What made them even more dissatisfied was that these guys used to be particrly attentive to them and now these guys practically treated them like air!

    ¡®If this can be tolerated, then what can¡¯t be tolerated?¡¯

    Therefore, these girls chose to watch with indifference from the side . Internally, they cursed incessantly, ¡°Little vixen, troublesome fox, fox spirit!¡±

    The pimpled man stretched his neck then kneaded his wrist . He stood in bow step stand*** and took a deep breath . A heavy fist strike hit the receiving panel for strength testing .

    After a series of beeping sounds, screen of the testing machine showed a number: 289 lb .

    The surroundings immediately became noisy and sounds indicating admiration could be heard .

    ¡°Screw . He¡¯s really strong . Bro Zeng¡¯s fist strength increased again!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right . Last time it was only 256 lb!¡±

    ¡°This is almost 140 kg of force in a single punch! Scary . Too scary . If you get hit by that, you¡¯ll definitely die!¡±

    The surrounding male students all started discussing .

    The pimpled man turned toward Li Yundong immensely proud of himself and said, ¡°Come, it¡¯s your turn to try Of course, don¡¯tpare with me . My results are only possible with a lot of training . If you can hit 200 bl with a single punch then that¡¯s already not bad . ¡±

    Li Yundong was heavily dissatisfied inside . He really wished he could punch this guy in the face . With so many people watching, he could not refuse to use the testing machine . Like so, he had been sort of put on the spot .

    In particr, the fact that the eyes of all the male students reflected their low evaluation of his ability and their disregard made Li Yundong feel dissatisfied to the extreme .

    Even the sympathetic female audience on the side did not seem optimistic about his performance .

    Only Su Chan stood on the side and incited Li Yundong by saying, ¡°Beat him down, Yundong . You can win against him for sure . ¡±

    When he heard Su Chan¡¯s words, Li Yundong¡¯s heart felt warm . In the end, it was ssmate Su Chan who was supportive when it counts .

    Li Yundong also imitated the pimpled man by stretching his neck, kneading his wrists, and taking a bow step stance . He inhaled deeply and then holding that breath, he heavily struck out with his fist .

    As Li Yundong swung his fist, he suddenly felt a warmth flow from his abdomen and charge upwards . The same kind of feel where his entire body was filled with strength appeared once more just like when he was doing parkour .

    This warmth was boiling like a flooding river . It rapidly moved from Li Yundong¡¯s body to his arm, his wrist, and finally to his fist!

    With a huge bang sound, the screen of the strength testing machine abruptly showed a new number: 513 lb .

    ¡°Sss...¡± The surrounding guys immediately sucked in a breath of cold air . Their eyeballs almost fell out of their eye sockets because their eyes were opened really wide . ¡°513 bl . Even Tyson only punches 498 bl! How is this possible?¡±

    The surrounding girls all cried out in surprise and they also said, ¡°That¡¯s impossible right? Did the machine break?¡±

    The pimpled man sucked in a breath of cold air . His eyes were opened extremely wide . He said, ¡°The machine must have malfunctioned! How is this possible!¡±

    Not only the pimpled man, even Li Yundong looked at the number shown on the machine at a loss . He looked at his fist once more . He himself did not believe he could hit such as high number .

    Only the little fox stood only the side as if this were the right and proper result . Internally, she wasughing at the crowd . ¡®A bunch of backward fellows who back experience . Yundong¡¯s body has been remodel led by the Gold Pill . Even though the Gold Pill still hasn¡¯t revealed its true strength, but a single punch from Yundong should have already surpassed every normal person in this world .

    ¡®Hmph . Hmph . The Human Origin Gold Pill is known as the earthbound immortal pill . How could its results not be spectacr?¡¯

    The little fox was immensely proud of herself, as if she were the one in the spotlight just now .

    The pimpled man stared at Li Yundong with a pair of dead fish eyes for a while, sizing up his figure repeatedly . Then he shook his head viciously . Turning around toward the round faced girl, he said, ¡°Feng Na, please make a note . The strength testing machine is broken . Get someone to fix it tomorrow . ¡±

    Feng Na made an affirmative sound . Disdain shed in her eyes . She openly said to Li Yundong, ¡°As your number one fan, I support you . It¡¯s definitely not that machine that broke!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled at her .

    The face of pimpled man on the side sank just like that, ¡°Feng Na, what are you saying?¡±

    Feng Na nced at him out of the corner of her eye and said, ¡°When it¡¯s you, there¡¯s no problem with the results . When it¡¯s someone else, there has to be a problem . What kind of situation is that? Don¡¯t you know that he¡¯s the fierce guy who did parkour carrying a person yesterday?¡±

    Once she finished speaking, the surrounding students immediately broke into sounds of admiration and surprise, leading to spirited discussion .

    ¡°Screw! He¡¯s the parkour bro? You can¡¯t tell by looking!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right . This bro has foolish chubby face . You really can¡¯t tell!¡±

    ¡°Someone like him can parkour? Then even I be an action celebrity!¡±

    ¡°I say, you bunch of losers . Just because you¡¯re useless, don¡¯t assume that other people are useless like you . If you have the ability, you can go try out sprinting while carrying a living person . ¡±

    Opposite genders attract . Girls will always take the side of the more attractive guy and help him out .

    ¡°That¡¯s right . Didn¡¯t you learn the phrase ¡®not to judge a book by its cover¡¯ when you were young?¡±

    Li Yundong listened to them argue nonstop . He felt very awkward inside . This kind of thing should bring a secret sense of satisfaction, but why did his whole body feel uneasy instead?

    The pimpled man¡¯splexion grew progressively worse . He grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder and pressed down . ¡°You go try it again . I don¡¯t believe that your result just now is anything but a malfunction . ¡±

    Li Yundong was very annoyed . In one motion, he pped the man¡¯s hand off his shoulder and said in anger, ¡°I am here to learn taekwondo . I am not here to hit the machine!¡±

    Li Yundong consumed the human origin Old Pill . Since then the essense, qi and blood in his body had flourished . When he red with his eyes, his gaze was like lightning . His originally chubby face in turn possessed a loftiness that could not be ignored . This made the eyes of some of the girls in the surrounding light up as they secretly nodded to themselves . ¡®This fellow really does have some manliness . The fact that the little vixen likes him isn¡¯t without reason . ¡¯

    Upon receiving Li Yundong¡¯s re, the pimpled man subconsciously took a step back . However, he quickly became enraged instead . He resentfully nced at Li Yundong and heavily snorted from his nose . ¡°Let¡¯s go then . Follow me to the dojo . ¡±

    While he led the way, he was secretly sneering inside, ¡®In a bit, we¡¯ll see how I devastate you . ¡¯

    At this time, Li Yundong already had some thoughts of leaving . However, thinking of the two hundred kuai fee he already paid, he chose to endure and follow the pimpled man into the dojo .

    ~~~

    * To be honest, there¡¯s a bunch of funny, ya, yo, en, ge ge, shishi, keke, etc . sound effects that are simply left out to make the entire work more westernized . I felt this girl had character and this yo sound effect was simr to the yo sound in English so I left it in . If this were a japanese trantion, all the sound effects would remain as they were, so it¡¯s not too out of line .

    **Technically, it¡¯s closer to I admire you than you¡¯ve convinced me... but I admire you in English is a bit like flirting and this is more of a manly/siblingrade your aplishments have earned my admiration type thing . But ¡°Your actions have earned my admiration¡± is too formal, so we¡¯vepromised .

    *** As far as I can tell, bow step stance is simr to the pose made during calf stretches . It is also known as the bow and arrow stance, used in eastern martial arts .

 Chapter 15

    Chapter 15

    <h4>Chapter 15: Sent Flying with a Kick</h4>

    T/N: By the way, if you haven¡¯t guess, a dobok is to taekwondo what a gi is to karate or judo .

    The surrounding men and women astutely perceived that there was already a grudge between Li Yundong and the pimpled man . Perhaps, in the near future, there would be a good show to watch .

    People of this nation loved hubbub . It was in their nature .

    Upon noticing a possible spectacle, even those who had already changed their clothes in preparation to leave were unwilling to depart . Instead, they returned and followed everyone else to the dojo . Whereupon, everyone either sat or stood in the surroundings .

    Li Yundong entered the dojo, only to realize that this was actually arge ssroom that had been remodeled for its current purpose . In the middle of the wall facing them, there hung the national gs of two countries . Below those gs was a symbolic little gold man performing a taekwondo high side kick . And further down were three banners, ck on white: Courtesy and Integrity; Perseverance and Self-Control; Indomitable Spirit!*

    This dojo was slightlyrger than 200 square meters, making it extremely spacious . The ground was covered with impact mats . White lines were used to mark out distinct area . There were people undergoing contact sparring in those area . In the surroundings, there were quite a few society members in white doboks sitting cross-legged .

    The little fox followed Li Yundong . Her curious gaze investigated in all directions without pause . However, when her attention fell upon the students who werepeting, an intense disappointment and disdain showed up in her eyes .

    ¡®This is the fighting technique that Li Yundong wanted to learn? It can¡¯t be? Can this kind of flowery fist and fancy footwork even be used to fight?¡¯

    The little fox had an urge to immediately drag Li Yundong away then teach him herself . However, when she raise her head and took a look at Li Yundong who was full of motivation with a face full of excitement, she could not bear to dampen his enthusiasm . So she could only pull a long face and follow at his side .

    The moment Li Yundong and them entered the dojo, the chaotic crowd that followed them attracted everyone¡¯s attention . Numerous gazes gathered upon them .

    Li Yundong had sharp eyes . With a single look he could a male student with a ck belt around his waist currently teaching students in thergest area situated in the center . That person was the man who confessed to Zhou Qin earlier, Zhou Yujian .

    Zhao Yujian had sweat on his forehead . His graceful body stood like jade . His arms were muscr and dexterous . His waist was slim . His features were masculine yet pretty . Most of the girls in the area were at his side with infatuated eyes, having been captivated by him head over heels . Even Li Yundong could not help secretly sigh to himself feeling slightly sour . ¡®It¡¯s definitely a waste that this guy doesn¡¯t star in movies . ¡¯

    However, the thing that astonished Li Yundong a lot was what he saw when he swept his gaze to another area . He actually discovered Zhou Qin and Ding Nan also wearing doboks sitting in the dojo looking toward him .

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes met with Zhou Qin¡¯s . Both were somewhat surprised . Li Yundong faintly nodded toward Zhou Qin in order to express his gratitude for her helpst time . Zhou Qin remained expressionless . She only nced at him once more before withdrawing her gaze .

    Unexpectedly, it was Ding Nan who sized up Li Yundong full of interest . Unfortunately, Li Yundong vehemently detested this harsh girl in his heart . He only nced at her once before looking elsewhere .

    The pimpled man led Li Yundong to an area . With his hands holding his belt, he spoke disregarding etiquette, ¡°As a newly joined member, today you will be taught by me . Do you have any objections?¡±

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    Li Yundong said, ¡°I have an objection . You seem to be biased against me . I don¡¯t want you as my instructor . ¡±

    The pimpled man snorted, ¡°Biased? Then do you have any proof that my opinion of you is wrong? Didn¡¯t youe here to learn taekwondo? Around here, I am number two . The fact I¡¯m teaching you personally is your good fortune . ¡±

    Li Yundong was a proud person . How could he endure someone speaking to him like that . He smiled coldly and turned to leave .

    The pimpled man loudly jeered at him from behind, ¡°Hmph, I knew you would run . As expected, it is your specialty! Don¡¯t think that a bit of talent in escaping is anything impressive . That kind of thing, if you want to make it sound cool, you can call it parkour, otherwise, if you want to make it sound less cool, it¡¯s called fleeing . ¡±

    These words caused a stir in the surrounding students . They looked at the pimpled man with even more disdain and contempt .

    Moreover, not only was Li Yundong explosively angry inside, even Su Chan was mad .

    ¡°If you don¡¯t teach him a lesson, then I¡¯ll do it!¡± Su Chan said to Li Yundong while revealing a rarely seen angry expression .

    Li Yundong pulled Su Chan to a stop . Su Chan turned her head and red . ¡°What are you doing? Let go . How can you endure this kind of humiliation? I¡¯ll look down on you!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes were unwavering fixed on the pimpled man . His face was gloomy . Putting Su Chan behind his back, he said, ¡°This is an issue between men . Women shouldn¡¯t get involved . ¡±

    These words caused the surrounding men to erupt in cheers . The pimpled man mockingly pped his hands and said, ¡°Well spoken . Well spoken indeed . Come . Let the two of us men have a spar . ¡±

    Li Yundong walked over . He sneered and said, ¡°How do you want to spar . I¡¯ll apany you . ¡±

    At this time, if you were human, then you would realize that a conflict was about to erupt . The surrounding students who had been practicing, stopped their practice . All of them looked over, even Zhao Yujian ended his activity and turned his gaze over here .

    Zhou Yujian originally was somewhat intent to go up and stop the fight . However, when he saw Su Chan by Li Yundong¡¯s side, he was shocked . This girl was not inferior to Zhou Qin in good looks . Her seemingly angry seemingly happy appearance whenpared to the stern and cold Zhou Qin possess a additional difficult-to-describe charm .

    How did a beauty like this end up following a guy like that?

    Zhao Yujian felt upset inside . He subconsciously looked toward Zhou Qin . And with a nce, he saw Zhou Qin observing Li Yundong with curiosity and interest .

    mes of jealousy ignited fiercely within Zhao Yujian . He sneered internally . Crossing his arms across his chest . He prepared to sit and watch the pimpled man shame Li Yundong .

    He had an excellent understanding of the pimpled man¡¯s strength . Even though this man was a red belt, but that wasst years test results . This year, his strength had already reached junior ck belt**, which was not that far off from his own ck belt .

    That fellow was born with naturally high strength . Even empty handed, he could defeat quite a few hoodlums and gangsters, let alone a slightly chubby geek*** .

    The pimpled man waved at one of the students on the side, requesting a cushioned guard meant for chest protection, which he then threw to Li Yundong . He said, ¡°Since you want to learn taekwondo, then I¡¯ll let you first experience the true might of the spinning side kick**** . ¡±

    The students on the side were secretly rmed . They were starting to worry for Li Yundong .

    The spinning side kick was the pimpled man¡¯s trump card . Its power was an incredible one thousand plus pounds . A normal person holding a cushioned guard would be sent flying by a single kick .

    The pimpled man evidently did not possess any good intentions in giving Li Yundong the cushioned guard right away .

    Li Yundong put the cushioned guard across his chest with a sneer on his face . In his opinion, even if he got sent flying with a kick, it was better than being a coward . Other than that, he had no other ns .

    Little did Li Yundong imagine that his current condition just happened to conform to the realm of ¡°heart and will as one, will and spirit as one, spirit and qi as one, qi and strength as one; heart, will, spirit, qi, and strength, all five were united¡± . This just happened to be the best state for manifesting the body¡¯splete strength .

    On the other side, the pimpled man stretched his neck and kneaded his wrists, hopping with small steps repeatedly . Once his body was warmed up, he made a beckoning gesture with his finger at Li Yundong and said, ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t you ready yet?¡±

    Li Yundong grit his teeth and said ¡°I¡¯m ready . ¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± the pimpled man took a deep breath . He spun his body . His weight came together with the force of his muscles to explode with power . Then the torque and speed of his spin was added on . The spinning side kick burst forth and struck the cushioned guard on Li Yundong¡¯s chest in an instant with a a loud bang .

    Li Yundong held the cushioned guard with both hands . There was some distance between it and his chest . The pimpled man¡¯s kicknded on the cushion and caused it to cave inward .

    However, when his foot followed through and made contact with Li Yundong¡¯s body, Li Yundong¡¯s entire body retaliated with a flow of formidable power . With a fierce jolt, the pimpled man was instantly sent flying just like that .

    The little fox who was at the sideughed out loud . In the past when Li Yundong had just consumed the Human Origin Gold Pill, wasn¡¯t she also sent flying?

    The surrounding crowd gaped without exception . They all watched bbergasted at what just happened . They absolutely never imagined that the one to fly out would be the pimpled man .

    ¡°Zeng Qing, what are you doing?¡± Zhao Yujian who was watching the match from the side loudly reprimanded as he frowned .

    Zeng Qing climbed up from the ground . The current him already could not stop halfway . Once your ride a tiger, it¡¯s hard to get off . His entire face reddened and he red at Zhao Yujian and said, ¡°My foot just happened to slip!¡±

    Zhao Yujian merely sneered, choosing not to expose Zeng Qing .

    Zeng Qing walked until he was in front of Li Yundong . He spoke furious from the shame, ¡°Why are you holding the cushioned guard like that?¡±

    Li Yundong coldly rebuted, ¡°Then how should I hold it?¡±

    Zeng Qing snatched the cushioned guard and held it across his chest, loudly stating, ¡°You hold it like this . The body should not resist forcefully, otherwise it¡¯s easy to get hurt!¡±

    Feng Nuo***** said in a peculiar voice, ¡°But it seems the one getting injured isn¡¯t the person holding the cushioned guard ne!¡±

    Zeng Qing¡¯s face became red and his neck unsightly . He ferociously gave Feng Nuo a re . Then he shouted to Yun Dong, ¡°Give me a kick . I¡¯ll demonstrate how to properly hold the cushioned guard . ¡±

    Even though that was what he said, he was actually gnashing his teeth on in the inside, ¡®Just wait, a tooth for a tooh . You¡¯ll soon know the taste of being sent flying by recoil . ¡¯

    This kind of thing, where the person holding the cushioned guard used the power of the rebound to push back the kick, can easily injure the ankle of the kicker . Zeng Qing was lucky just now that he was not truly injured . However, he was now plotting to savagely injure Li Yundong . On the instant, Li Yundong¡¯s kick strikes, he would tilt the cushioned guard . ¡®Hmph! Hmph!¡¯

    Li Yundong expressionlessly walked until he was in front of Zeng Qin and said, ¡°Then I can start now?¡±

    Zeng Qin stood in a bow step stance, facing Li Yundong halfterally . He held the cushioned guard in front of his body . The members who understood his intentions by watching secretly held Zeng Qing¡¯s behavior in contempt .

    Even those who did not understand Zeng Qing¡¯s intentions know that Zeng Qing¡¯ legs were very strong . When using the bow step stance, even if someone wanted to kick the cushioned guard, without a couple hundred jin of strength, there was no way to budge him in the least .

    Li Yundong¡¯s gaze simply focused on the thick cushioned guard in front of Zeng Qin¡¯s chest . Then imitating Zeng Qin¡¯s motions, he spun and, whoosh, performed a spinning side kick . His kick hit the cushioned guard with a bang!

    Zeng Qing had not been able to react at all . His entire person once again flew through the air . This time, even though he flew while holding the cushioned guard, he still flew farther than three meters and slid along the ground for quite some distance further, until he finally hit the wall and stopped . He held his arm and moaned nonstop .

    Li Yundong was somewhat surprised himself . He finally somewhat understood . It seemed a little something had certainly happened to him . At very least, his strength was greater than before by who know how many folds . Otherwise, how could he send a red belt expert flying with a single kick?

    The surrounding students broke into an uproar . They stared at Li Yundong in inexplicable shock . What they saw a moment ago was too frightening . This fellow with the slightly chubby face sent Zeng Qing flying for several meters with a single kick .

    ¡°Just now, did that kick have one ton of force?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t know . But it¡¯s possible . That¡¯s too scary . Even Zeng Qing with his weight of 160 jin plus his bow step stance was sent flying that far!¡±

    ¡°Heh, Bro Zeng was sent flying two times in a row . Does this count as flying in pairs******?¡±

    ¡°Ha! Brothers, you guy are hrious . ¡±

    The students whispered in each other¡¯s ears . The little fox on the side saw that Li Yundong managed to repay his resentment . She cleared off her resentment as well due to Li Yundong . She had long since been unsatisfied with thesebat techniques heavily inclined toward showmanship . Thus, she grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s arm and said, ¡°Yundong, let¡¯s go . What can you even learn here? It¡¯s all flowery fists and fancy footwork . Impressive to look at but ultimately useless . ¡±

    Su Chan spoke out that undeniable fact . Those students around them who were wholehearted devoted to taekwondo immediately turned their head and red .

    Zhao Yujian who was telling the students to bring Zeng Qing to the school infirmary also turned his head around . A sneer appeared on his face . Even his handsome features gave off a sense of malevolence . ¡°Very good! So you actually came to challenge our dojo!¡±

    ~~~

    *These are the five ts of TKD

    **In taekwondo, the belt before ck belt has various names, but its appearance is always a belt that has both red and ck color, though the actual pattern may vary . In Chinese, it is called a red ck belt . In English, it can be called a ck strip belt, a senior red belt, a junior ck belt... etc . You get the idea .

    ***Õ¬ÄÐ zhainan ¨C something like a NEET or a hikikomori, but since this is China, it¡¯s more likely online games than anime or whatnot .

    **** ·­Éí²àÌß You tell me, I don¡¯t know and not even youtube helped (wasted 30 minutes of my time watching TKD and sumo wrestlers and wu shu plus mma though) . I don¡¯t study martial arts in Chinese . The first part means flip and the second part means side kick... so does that mean backwards side kick? Spinning side kick? Turning side kick? Spinning back kick? Someone studying taekwondo from a Chinese instructor could probably tell you .

    ***** Previously, this was Feng Na . However, this is now Feng Nuo, where Nuo means elegant for a girl . I was reading Overgod Ascension and the MC is currently in a Western continent so a lot of names are western . So the brain processed this name as western too . Nuo and Na are written as the same Chinese character . It¡¯s just in western names like Katrina or Nunnally it¡¯s na and in eastern names like Feng Nuo or Li something Nuo or Wu Nuo something, it¡¯s Nuo . Changes will be made to the previous chapter soon . As a side note, Feng Nuo likes to put useless sounds (for cuteness?) at the end of her sentences .

    ******Ë«·É shangfei ¨C lit . flying in pairs: it¡¯s also ng for threesome . Though I¡¯m not sure if I should have tranted this . It¡¯s a bit too base . But it¡¯s probably one of the way Chinese youths fight against government censorship .

 Chapter 16

    Chapter 16

    <h4>Chapter 16: Only Overwhelming Strength is Invincible</h4>

    T/N: I got stuck on the kicks . I had no idea how to properly trante them and still don¡¯t, but I¡¯ve made do with what knowledge I could find on the . Wuxia action scenes aren¡¯t my thing . There are only so many ways to say you punched and kicked each other . Xianxia ones are easier .

    ¡°What did you just say?¡± Zhao Yujian¡¯s eyes actually looked toward Li Yundong rather than Su Chan, the one who provoked everyone¡¯s anger just now .

    Li Yundong never imagined that he would encounter this much difficulty from simply attempting to learn taekwondo . He looked at Su Chan feeling helpless, and then he looked at the Zhao Yujian, who was parting the crowd and walking toward him with a malevolent expression on his face, feeling even more helpless .

    Su Chan slightly raised her head . That delicate yet morous face was full of pride and disdain, as if what she just said was the an acknowledge truth that was epted worldwide .

    Li Yundong felt his head start to hurt . This girl really was a moving bundle of trouble! From the moment he met her, trouble would find him constantly!

    However, he did not know that since ancient times no person who kept a fox spirit by their side had ever met with a good ending .

    The history books clearly recorded that Xia Jie, Shang Zhou, Zhou You, the mostmon point between those three was not their inability or tyranny, but rather that they had a country-destroying fox spirit by their side...

    Even though Li Yundong did not know the little beauty by his side was literally a fox spirit, but he did know that since ancient times, trouble would emerge alongside women . Furthermore, the more beautiful the woman, the greater the trouble, these two things had a directly proportional rtionship .

    Li Yundong sighed, ¡°I just want to learn taekwondo, that¡¯s all... is there any need to go this far?¡±

    Zhao Yujian smiled coldly . Walking until he was in front of Li Yundong, he said, ¡°You have already dishonored taekwondo, therefore you must apologize!¡±

    Before Li Yundong could speak up, Su Chan took the opportunity to respond first, ¡°Did I say something wrong? If you guys aren¡¯t of flowery fists and fancy footwork, then what are you? Yundong could take care of you guys with just one hand!¡±

    ¡®Grasss! Is it the nature of women to be unreasonable?¡¯ Li Yundong almost jumped in and covered up Su Chan¡¯s month .

    Zhao Yujian became so angry he stated tough . Tilting his head back, he startedughing loudly . His finger pointed to the sparring area, ¡°I will wait for you there!¡±

    With those words, he headed over in a rage .

    The students also walked him go, individually clearing out a path . They had various expressions . Some of them were angry . Some were hoping for more chaos . Some were calmly ying the role of bystander (buying soy sauce) .

    Su Chan patted Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder and gave him encouragement, ¡°It¡¯s okay . Didn¡¯t you sent that guy just now flying with one kick?¡±

    Li Yundong stated aggrieved, ¡°That was not realbat! Zhao Yujian is the city champion . I¡¯ve never trained even a single day before . You don¡¯t really think that I can beat him, right?¡±

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    Su Chan jolted to a stop . She thought, ¡®That¡¯s right . Even though Li Yundong has the Gold Pill energy protecting him, but if he only gets hit and doesn¡¯t retaliate, that won¡¯t work out either . ¡±

    However, her eyes spun cunningly and she conveniently thought up impable solution . ¡°I¡¯ll tell you a good method, that will let you win for sure . ¡±

    Li Yundong was somewhat curious so he moved his head closer . ¡°What is it?¡±

    Su Chan said, ¡°When he punches, you attack his fist . When he kicks, you attack his leg . ¡±

    When Li Yundong heard, he did not know whether tough or cry . ¡®Your mother . What kind of good method is this? What in mama¡¯s name will let you win . ¡¯

    Zhao Yujian stood in an area that was a bit wider than five meters . His hands held his ck belt . He sneered, ¡°Done talking? If I don¡¯t beat you until you apologize wholeheartedly, my name is not Zhao!¡±

    Li Yundong is a reasonable donkey, his personality was stubborn . He was amenable to negotiation but unyielding against force . If Zhao Yujian had reasoned with him, then there was a seventy to eighty percent chance that he would have apologize in Su Chan¡¯s ce . However, this fellow wanted to teach him a lesson with his fists, therefore there was no longer any room for discussion .

    ¡®You, Zhao Yujian, are very strong, but I am not incapable!

    ¡®Even if I lose this fight, I will not lose my pride! I¡¯m going all out!¡¯

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyebrows rose . He hardened his resolve and walked over withrge strides .

    The two arrived at the sparring area . All the students followed over and surrounded the white lines marking the sides . As before, some stood and some sat . Even Zhou Qin and Ding Nan who were always above the usual hubbub of the school stood up and gazed at the sparring area with an intensity in their eyes .

    ¡°Who do you think will win?¡± Ding Nan could not resist asking Zhou Qin who was by her side .

    Zhou Qin asked back, ¡°What do you think?¡±

    Ding Nan thought for a bit and answered, ¡°Even though I feel Zhao Yujian is very hypocritical as a person and he¡¯s rather troublesome . However, I still think his chances are better . After all, his title of the city champion is rightly earned . ¡±

    Zhou Qin faintly smiled, ¡°Do you dare to bet?¡±

    Ding Nan chuckled and said, ¡°What do you want to bet?¡±

    Zhou Qin gazed at the sparring area and casually said, ¡°My handbag, didn¡¯t you really like it?¡±

    Ding Nan¡¯s eyes lit up . ¡°Your Limited edition ¡¯09 autumn LV handbag? Okay, let¡¯s bet! I bet on Zhao Yujian winning!¡±

    Zhou Qin smiled faintly and said, ¡°I¡¯ll bet that Li Yundong will win . ¡±

    Ding Nan looked at Zhou Qin quite baffled . ¡°Why are you so sure that fellow will win?¡±

    Zhou Qin casually answered, ¡°Intuition . ¡±

    Ding Nanughed . ¡°I don¡¯t believe that your intuition is urate every time . ¡±

    Zhou Qin simply smiled and looked toward the sparring area as if looking upon faint clouds or a light breeze .

    At this time, Zhao Yujian was already flexing up his joints by the sparring area . He did not underestimate his opponent in the least . On the contrary, he was very cautiously evaluating the opponent across from his .

    His prudent attitude made the surrounding students feel a little ufortable inside . The gazes they directed toward Li Yundong also became tinted with sympathy .

    ¡®This fellow will definitely get taught a very cruel lesson . ¡¯

    Only Su Chan used her hands to form a speaker and shouted out without a care, ¡°Li Yundong, do your best! You can win for sure!¡±

    Li Yundong turned his head and forced a smile . Then he turned his head back to search inside of himself for that full body warm feeling he experienced when he performed that strong punch and again those two times when he sent Zeng Qing flying . However, when he searched for it on purpose, that kind of feeling did not appear, like Duan Yu¡¯s Six Meridian Divine Sword*, sometimes working sometimes not .

    Before Li Yundong found the right feeling, Zhao Yujian had already shown up with icy eyes . ¡°Are you prepared yet?¡±

    Li Yundong was forced beyond hisfort zone, he braced himself and said, ¡°I¡¯m ready . ¡±

    Since this already escted past giving face, Zhao Yujian could not be bothered with mere formalities like bowing to each other . His feet were constantly on the move using small hops, weaving around Li Yundong¡¯s side .

    Zhao Yujian lived up to his title of city champion . His steps were quick and nimble . His upper body swayed back and worth testing his opponent . His legs were like the des of scissors crossing each other continuously, each movement containing vigorous force . And yet also like a switchde ready to spring open at any time .

    The students on the side were dazzled simply by watching Zhao Yujian¡¯s footwork . Some of the more infatuated girls outright covered their mouths and starting eximing, ¡°Butterfly step! It¡¯s the butterfly step!¡±

    Li Yundong watched as Zhao Yujian rapidly weaved around in his vicinity . Even though he practically had no truebat experience, he still understood the most basic principles ofbat . He turned along with his opponent . No matter what, one should not expose their back to their opponent, allowing them ess to their waist or back .

    The two circled each other for a while on the sparring field . Zhao Yujian started to lose his patience . No longer testing his opponent, he suddenly cross stepped and lifted his right leg . With a pow sound, he performed a mid roundhouse kick aimed at Li Yundong¡¯s waist .

    Zhao Yujian¡¯s kick was exceedingly fast . The fabric of his pants broke through the air with a whip like sound . Practically before Li Yundong could react, he felt a pain in his waist having received a kick .

    Li Yundong felt the pain at his waist . He remembered the method Su Chan taught him . With a low roar, his fist smashed toward Zhao Yujian¡¯s leg .

    However, Zhao Yujian¡¯s footwork was startlingly fast . The moment the kick connected, the foot immediately retracted . The other foot lifted and with a pow solidly hit Li Yundong¡¯s waist and abdomen on the other side .

    Li Yundong had just received a kick so he subconsciously tried to block with his hand . However, as he tried to block, a kick came in from the other side .

    Zhao Yujian¡¯s legs were fast like whips and swift like the wind . They trashed at Li Yundong¡¯s waist and abdomen over and over again, creating a series of pow sounds that made the bystanders who heard feel their blood run cold .

    Ding Nan looked toward Zhou Qin pleased with herself and said, ¡°It seems I¡¯m going to get a new baggie!¡±

    Zhou Qin did not even bat an eyelid . She said, ¡°The victor is the one whoughsst . ¡±

    At this time, Li Yundong suddenly turned around seemingly trying to escape, and Zhao Yujian who was behind him simplyughed coldly . Zhao Yujian quickly pursued . With a swoosh, the heel of his foot was lifted above his head . A harsh ax kick chopped smashed down from above toward the back of Li Yundong¡¯s head .

    Whoosh . The surrounded students abruptly stood up in fright . ¡®If this blownded, then at very least it would cause a concussion . Did Zhao Yujain go insane? Li Yundong isn¡¯t wearing protective equipment . Did he n tomit murder?¡¯

    Li Yundong seemed to sense the situation behind him . He spun around and his punch horizontally smashed through the air toward Zhao Yujian¡¯s calf .

    He still remembered Su Chan¡¯s reminder, ¡®When he punches, you attack his fist . When he kicks, you attack his leg . ¡¯

    If someone proficient inbat heard those words, they wouldugh until their bellies hurt . It was aplete joke . However, Li Yundong had no other method . He had a body enhanced with Gold Pill energy yet he did not know how to use it . This could be considered turning to any doctor when critically ill .

    Zhao Yujian coldly snorted . His ax kick suddenly changed direction, forcibly turning around . With a pow sound, the kicknded on Li Yundong¡¯s neck, causing Li Yundong to stumble .

    This turning kick was extremely stunning . The surrounding students all cried out in astonishment, ¡°Swallow Drop!¡±

    If Li Yundong did not have the power of the Gold Pill protecting his body, this blow might have caused problems with his neck .

    At this time, Zhao Yujian was about to quit while he was ahead . This entire matter would stop here . Unfortunately, Zhao Yujian unwittingly looked toward Zhou Qin and saw that Zhou Qin¡¯s gaze was directed at Li Yundong . Zhou Qin who normally watched everything like faint clouds and a light breeze actually appeared to have slightly knit her elegant brows, as if she were concerned for Li Yundong .

    Zhao Yujian felt something inside his head explode with a droning sound . In his heart, he wanted nothing more than to kick that fellow to death .

    He clenched his teeth and a malevolent glint shed in his eyes . With quick steps he dashed forward . His entire body suddenly soared through the air, performing a flying roundhouse kick . Taking aim at Li Yundong¡¯s chest, he unleashed the kick .

    This technique could be considered the technique with the most force in taekwondo . It practically converged all of the entire body¡¯s strength and weight in one foot . If someone got hit by this kick, they would receive more than 1000 jin of force .

    Li Yundong had his body kicked askew by Zhao Yujian¡¯s previous attack . He knew that his skills were far inferiorpared to his opponent . In any case, he had not received any real damage, so he might as well admit his loss .

    However, Zhao Yujian actually continued his assault in an overbearing manner . Li Yundong¡¯s chest immediately overflowed with fiery anger .

    ¡®Even man made of y contained some proportion of me, beside how could you pursue so fiercely despite having the advantage?¡¯

    This heat started from the abdomen and abruptly flowed throughout the entire body . Like the steam in a pressure cooker, it blew outward from the top of Li Yundong¡¯s head, making each and every strand of his hair suddenly stand up!

    In this instant, Li Yundong could clearly see Zhao Yujian¡¯s soaring movement, as if he were performing a slow motion movie scene .

    Zhao Yujian¡¯s flying roundhouse kick slowly moved through the air . In response, Li Yundong lowered his body and smashed at the bottom of his opponent¡¯s foot with a heavy punch .

    Bang! Zhao Yujian¡¯s body flew more than a meter backward, heavilynding on the ground . He clutched at his lower leg and released a heartrending howl of pain .

    All the students on site were dumbstruck and stupefied** . They never imagined that Zhao Yujian who held the absolute advantage earlier would suddenly suffer crushing defeat .

    In particr, when their gazes fell on Li Yundong, Li Yundong¡¯s upright hair was slowly falling back down . This kind of strange phenomenon overwhelmed them with even greater shock .

    While everyone else was shocked, Su Chan quickly ran to Zhao Yujian¡¯s side . Her finger rapidly pressed on several acupoints on his lower leg and his body, helping him slightly numb the pain .

    Before Zhao Yujian had a chance to ovee his pain and smile at Su Chan in gratitude, he saw Su Chan stand up and walk to Li Yundong¡¯s side . She swayed her head back and forth and said, ¡°Of all the martial arts of the world, only overwhelming strength is invincible . ¡±

    ~~~

    *This is from Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, the super ssic wuxia .

    ** This used to be two idioms: petrified/dumb like a wooden chicken (dumbstruck) and wide eyed and tongue tied (stupefied/bbergasted) ... would you like to read about wooden chickens? I do have an official policy for how to deal with idioms so you might see wooden chicken in future if it¡¯s part of a joke but it doesn¡¯t add to the story here . Nearly didn¡¯t make the footer either .

 Chapter 17

    Chapter 17

    <h4>Chapter 17: A Bit of Pain in My Balls (Part 1/2)</h4>

    T/N: This chapter is over 5000 words (Qidian chapters are 2500-3000, RFSH normally has 3500-4000), plus it has really awkward Chinese run-on grammar where they cram a ton of adjective uses into a single sentence . So I¡¯ll finish it tomorrow . You gets get 1 . 5 chapters for today instead and another 1 . 5 tomorrow, not a bad deal .

    T/N2: So I changed my ** footer system to have numbers to make it easier to find them using the ctrl+F function . It was rather inconvenient before . I actually considered hyperlinking them together but the formatting gets messed up fast if I start posting things in HTML . Maybe I¡¯ll experiment with it in the future and see what works . Google docs isn¡¯t verypatible with WordPress so I post directly from notepad .

    Su Chan¡¯s words were too good at attracting resentment, especially from those students truly devoted to taekwondo . However, they all looked at Su Chan brave enough to be angry but not brave enough to speak . They were not afraid of the delicate seeming girl . They were afraid of Li Yundong who could Zhao Yujian and his midair attack flying with a single punch .

    On the other hand, there were some male students who disapproved of Zhao Yujian¡¯s attitude and they discussed amongst themselves quietly, ¡°I only heard ¡®Of all the martial arts in the world, no defense was unbreakable, only swiftness was invincible¡¯, where did ¡®only overwhelming strength is invincible¡¯e from?¡±

    Another male student scoffed and said, ¡°You see . Ignorant and inexperienced, ain¡¯t ya? You must not get out much . Haven¡¯t you seen countryman* Jet Li¡¯s ¡®Fist of Legend¡¯?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve watched ¡®Fist of Legend¡¯, what about it?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t countryman Jet Li say this? If you want to learn to fight, first you need to learn to endure hits . Otherwise, even though you hit the other person many times, the other guy is just fine . When the other guy hits you once, you¡¯re already defeated . There is truth in those words . You see? Zhao Yujian kicked Li Yundong many times, Li Yundong is just fine . But Li Yundong punched back once, even though he only hit the bottom of Zhao Yujian¡¯s foot, Zhao Yujian couldn¡¯t endure . Even though part of his victory is based on the art of taking hits, but his strength is no joke . I¡¯m starting to believe that he really did punch more than 500 pounds in his strength test . And it wasn¡¯t a malfunction of the machine!¡±

    ¡°Hmm . That makes sense . But isn¡¯t that a bit exaggerated? Tyson only punches 490 pounds . It¡¯s impossible for Li Yundong punch heavier than Tyson, right?¡±

    ¡°This-this...¡±

    On one side, they were discussing in whispers . On the other side, Ding Nan looked at the sparring arena stupefied . After a long time with a face full of sorrow, she quietly cursed, ¡°Zhao Yujian really is ame duck*2 . Truly useless!¡±

    Zhou Qin knelt on the ground, her upper body was perfectly straight . Her arms were ced on her legs . Even when Li Yundong¡¯s punch sent Zhao Yujian flying, she merely straightened her waist the tiniest bit and widened her eyes slightly . Her eyes revealed a difference, the rest of body did not engage in any extraneous action, only revealing the bearing and unperturbed manner of a girl from a rich family .

    Zhou Qin slightly inclined her head and looked at Ding Qin in askance . Deep within her indifferent gaze hid a lofty arrogance, ¡°My things are not so easily won . Ding Nan, we have been together for so many years, have you not figured that out yet?¡±

    Ding Nan¡¯s expression froze . She smiled embarrassed and said, ¡°Isn¡¯t it just that I¡¯ve been yearning for that baggie for too long...¡±

    Zhou Qin fixed her gaze on Ding Nan for a long time . Only when Ding Nan was starting to feel scared on the inside, she finally spoke, ¡°You can have my bag tomorrow . ¡±

    Ding Nan was startled, ¡°Why are you giving it to me? I didn¡¯t win, ya know?¡±

    Zhou Qin turned her head back no longer looking at her, ¡°You do not want it? That is fine...¡±

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    Before Zhou Qin even finished speaking, Ding Nan said, ¡°I want it, I want it! A five figure limited edition baggie . Only an idiot wouldn¡¯t want it!¡±

    Zhou Qin looked at the sparring area . She nodded and extended her hand toward Ding Nan, ¡°Cellphone . ¡±

    Ding Nan immediately got up, her face all smiles . ¡°Wait for me a bit . My cellphone is in the locker . ¡±

    With those words, she stood up and walked toward the changing room .

    The moment she turned around and had her back to Zhou Qin, the smile on her face disappeared . In its ce was a teeth gnashing expression of humiliation and anger . Only when she arrived in the changing room did Ding Nan dare to clench her fist and repeated pantrge breaths in anger .

    A whileter, she returned from the changing room having retrieved Zhou Qin¡¯s cellphone . She returned to Zhou Qin¡¯s side with her a smile on her face once more . She passed the cellphone over .

    Zhou Qin epted the cellphone . The first thing she did was call for an ambnce from the hospital, exining the current situation .

    As she made her call, Zhou Qin¡¯s gaze never left Li Yundong . This person who had just demonstrated incredible might just stood there seemingly at a loss . He had neither the joy of having just defeated a strong foe or the terror of hurting or possibly crippling his opponent .

    Zhou Qin distinctly perceived that this man was like someone who had just suddenly charged into unfamiliar territory . He was a lone wanderer whose heart was filled with bewilderment and unfamiliarity .

    He silently stood there while those in the surrounding were jealous, respectful, resentful, angry, admiring as they gazed upon him . However, he simply lowered his head and looked down at his fist as if he could not believe how much strength he possessed .

    Zhou Qin silently smiled . This average looking guy was not as shallow and ipetent as she imagined .

    ...

    Having received the news, Director Qian charged into the taekwondo society with his brows beaded with sweat . His narrow-minded gaze swiftly swept the room, finally stopping on Li Yundong . He quickly walked toward him .

    ¡°It¡¯s you again!¡± Director Qian almost jumped up . ¡®This fellow is too good at getting into trouble . In just two days, he managed to cause tworge disturbances . If it were someone else, they might not cause such a disturbance their entire lives . ¡¯

    Li Yundong saw Director Qian and returned from his distracted and vacant state . His heart missed a beat and he thought to himself, ¡°Ah crud . This gue demon*3 got summoned again!¡±

    As the head of the Disciplinary Department, Director Qian could be said to have ultimate power over students, especially rule breakers like Li Yundong . If Li Yundong fell into his hands, and he really wanted to deal with Li Yundong, not even expulsion would be considered an excessive option .

    Director Qian wiped the sweat on his brow and squeezed his way through the crowd of students to Zhao Yujian¡¯s side . essing his condition, the director secretlyin about his bitter lot . ¡®In just one week, there will be an exchange between Tiannan University and Mayan Technocracy¡¯s Bincifaneya Private University*4 . These students actually created this kind of mess, isn¡¯t this basically making trouble especially for me?

    ¡®Most importantly, at that time Zhao Yujian was scheduled to perform a program during the exchange as the representative of the school¡¯s Taekwondo Society . This was Tiannan University¡¯s most presentable program . Now that Zhao Yujian was injured like this, wasn¡¯t this like a p on the face?¡¯

    Director Qian¡¯s entire face turned ck like the entire nation had its power cut . *5 He sprung up and walked until he stood in front of Li Yundong . He roared, ¡°What did you do? You¡¯re all ssmates, why did you attack so harshly! Don¡¯t you know proposer etiquette and how to hold back? Do you know that you¡¯ve vited the school rules? I can expul you!¡±

    Li Yundong was originally very nervous . When he heard those words, he became angry instead, ¡°What do you mean I attacked harshly? When Zhao Yujian attacked harshly, all these people were watching . Howe he didn¡¯t hold back on me?¡±

    Director Qian exploded with anger . ¡®A student dared to talk back to him? How could this be allowed? Where is the consideration for the face of the school leaders? Where was the authority of the official? Even if the uncle can ensure, the aunt cannot endure!*6¡¯

    ¡°Who saw it . Step up and talk!¡± Director Qian ced his hands on his waist and roared .

    These words had overly strong undertones . All the surrounding students looked at each other . Among them, even though there were those that disapproved of Zhao Yujian¡¯s shamelessness, but none of them were willing to offend the disciplinary director on Li Yundong¡¯s behalf .

    They still wanted to study at this school . Offending the disciplinary direction was more disastrous than offending the headmaster .

    These people all took a step back . However, there were some students who could not stand injustice and step forward . This made Li Yundong feel truly moved . ¡®In this world, there really were good people . The heavens have eyes!¡¯

    But really quickly, these students pointed at Li Yundong and said something that made Li Yundong almost spit out blood, ¡°I can act as a witness, he was the one who started the conflict!¡±

    Li Yundong was really depressed . ¡®Grassss! Where did I start what conflict!¡¯ When he thought of that, he could not resist turning his head and ncing at the little fox who was hiding behind him with a gaze full of hidden bitterness .

    All this trouble was this girl¡¯s fault!

    Upon receiving Li Yundong¡¯s nce, Su Chan suddenly felt guilty inside . She thought ¡®a true man has the courage to ept the consequences of his actions¡¯*7 . She could not help but stand out with her hands on her waist and roar, ¡°I was the one who said it . What of it? If there are any usations direct them at me! Do I need to climb a mountain of des, or sink into a cauldron of boiling oil? Come on, tell me . I, Su Chan, will not even blink an eye, otherwise I am not a hero...¡±

    Li Yundong was both angry and amused . He dragged Su Chan behind him and harshly smacked her head . ¡°You want to act like a hero? Stay silent!¡±

    Su Chan hugged her head and made an affirmative sound . She obediently held onto the hem of Li Yundong¡¯s shirt, not saying a single word .

    Even though Director Qian had seen Su Chan in the past, but that was a mere glimpse of her graceful figure . Now that he carefully looked at her, his eyes were unable to move away, his drool almost leaked out . ¡°You¡¯re from what department what year? Howe I¡¯ve never seen you before?¡±

    Li Yundong saw that Director Qian¡¯s eyes were practically green with fixation . He silently moved forward a step, shielding Su Chan from the front, and said, ¡°She is my girlfriend . She isn¡¯t a student of this school . ¡±

    Director Qian heard the unpleasant sound of the word girlfriend, plus his view of Su Chan had been blocked by Li Yundong, so he could not help but feel annoying and angry . ¡°Someone who isn¡¯t from this school and you daree here to misbehave?¡±

    Li Yundong forcibly suppressed his anger, ¡°Who ruled that students not from this school could not enter? Furthermore, today¡¯s disturbance had nothing to do with us misbehaving, but rather someone else disliked me on sight and kept on provoking me . ¡±

    Director Qian blew up in anger, ¡°Who provoked you? Who can act as your witness?¡±

    ¡°Me...¡± a voiced sounded out from the side . Zhou Qin slowly walked over .

    Director Qian took a look and immediately felt an enormous headacheing in . ¡®Howe this little grand aunt is everywhere?¡¯

    Director Qian¡¯splexion immediately changed . The speed of his face changing was enough to make Sichuan opera performers feel inferior enough to die . *8 ¡°Aiya . Zhou Qin, when did you join the taekwondo society?¡±

    Zhou Qin faintly smiled, ¡°I¡¯ve been a member for more than a year . It¡¯s just that I rarely attend, that¡¯s all . ¡±

    Director Qian smiled insipidly . ¡°Today¡¯s matter, you also... saw all of it?¡±

    Zhou Qin nodded and unhurriedly narrated the entire progression of events . Then she swept her gaze over Li Yundong and said, ¡°Basically it was like that . I believe Director Qian will handle this matter impartially, right?¡±

    Director Qian¡¯s heart was full of hate like the endless flowing of river water . ¡®Why did Zhou Qin pretend this little bastard every time? Last time could be counted as a coincidence . What about this time?

    ¡®It can¡¯t be that Zhou Qin took a fancy to this fellow, right?¡¯

    Director Qin gave himself a scare . He twisted his head around and sized up Li Yundong .

    When he did not carefully size up Li Yundong it was fine, but now that he took a careful look, Director Qian sucked in a breath of air . The resentment in his heart grew was like the flooding of Yellow River,pletely out of control .

    ¡®What¡¯s so good about this fellow? Why did he have a beauty of a thousand charms acting like a little bird relying on him? Why did even Zhou Qin that super beauty act as if she had feeling for him?¡¯

    Director Qian had a heart full of indignation . He roared internally, ¡®he isn¡¯t even as handsome as me . Why would those two beauties take a fancy to him, and not to me?¡¯

    Being a rtively sessful middle aged public figure, who for a long time could not satisfy his heart¡¯s desire because he acted cold on the outside despite being passionate on the inside, he naturally had a strong desire for women, especially beautiful women, and this was a desire that was continuously growing stronger .

    Director Qian watched Zhou Qin¡¯s departing back . He hatefully nced at Li Yundong and shouted, ¡°Follow me back to the disciplinary department!¡± Then he attempted to flirtatiously brush his fingers through his middle management hairstyle . He said to the little fox, ¡°And you, youe too!¡±

    The little fox followed behind Li Yundong, timidly grasping at his fingers .

    Li Yundong looked back to see the little fox silent mouth a word at him, ¡°Sorry . ¡±

    Li Yundong smiled . He indulgently reached out and squeezed the little fox¡¯s nose . The little fox giggled happily and raised her own hand to knocked away Li Yundong¡¯s .

    ... (to be continued)

    ~~~

    *1 Í¬Ñ§ tongxue ¨C ssmate/student: In Chinese ng, sometimes you refer to other people as ssmate even if you don¡¯t know them . I kind of understand how to use it but not really . It expresses some degree ofmonality between you and the person mentioned . It sets the ambiance, letting you know it¡¯s a bit of a joking tone . My co-workers when I worked in China for a while sometimes called me tongxue, often as a part of a joke .

    *2 fubuqi de adou ¨C it¡¯s a reference to A Dou, which is the childhood name of Liu Shan, a inept emperor who was thest of his dynasty . Hopeless case . Useless person . Milksop . Something along lines . Person who could not be helped/supported . Disappointing person . Let down .

    *3 This refers to a person who causes trouble for whoever they meet (mostly you) .

    *4 Ah yes, M Country . You have just entered an alternate universe different from the alternate history of Chinese RFSH, where secret supernatural intervention prevented the fall of the Mayan Empire or something like that . It went through a bunch of historical revolutions and stands approximately where Mexico and the US are now . Bincifaneya is Pennsy... everything is vague for now, there will be more details in future . Why Mayans? They¡¯re the traditional modern cultivation viins . Either controlling the Americans from the background like in that one work or like in Tempest of the Ster War where they¡¯re another rival civilization originating from Earth, or they control the underworld .

    *5 face turned ck in Chinese means to look unwell and the part after that is a joke .

    *6 Basically another version of ¡°If this can be endured then what cannot be endured?¡±

    *7 Which is pretty ironic considering she¡¯s neither a man or a human .

    *8 In Sichuan opera, actors wore manyyers of colored face masks and took them offyer byyer to show changes in expression throughout the show . Being ck in the face in Sichuan opera is very literal . This Director Qian is so good at changing faces (expressions) that he¡¯d make these guys feel inferior enough to die .

 Chapter 17.2

    Chapter 17.2

    <h4>Chapter 17: Just a Little Pain in the Balls (Part 2/2)</h4>

    T/N: Here¡¯s part 2 . Noment section because this will be merged with part 1 in the future .

    Due to Zhou Qin¡¯s interference, Director Qian did not dare to brazenly expel or punish Li Yundong . However, he still dared to bring Li Yundong to his office and give him a lecture . Otherwise if it gets out that a single phrase from Zhou Qin could defuse him, where would the prestige of the disciplinary director go? Where is the authority of the official?

    Upon entering the office of the disciplinary director, Director Qian starting raising his voice to roar, thoroughly disciplining Li Yundong with a torrent of abuse .

    There were no other people around and Li Yundong himself was in some ways in the wrong as well, thus he was very resolute, putting forth a submissive posture, as if to say ¡®mister disciplinary director, so long as you don¡¯t expel me, you say whatever you want!¡±

    After threatening Li Yundong with expulsion multiple times, Director Qian fiercely red at him . ¡°In cases like yours, our disciplinary department and the school service department would meet and discuss in order to determine whether or not to expel you! In the next few day, you better not make trouble . Otherwise, you¡¯re dead! Nobody will be able to save you!¡±

    After he finished talking, he red at Li Yundong again . ¡°You get out first . I will talk with... what¡¯s your name again?¡±

    Su Chan was very curious . Why did this man want to talk to her? She openly replied, ¡°My name is Su Chan . ¡±

    Director Qian nodded, ¡°Su Chan, you stay behind . I have something to talk to you about . ¡±

    Li Yundong was very surprised on the inside . However, he did not think much of it . As a social outcast*9, he was used to being low key . He was also very afraid of being expelled from school .

    Li Yundong left the office only to receive a fright . He found the corridor as full of people, mostly members of the Taekwondo Society .

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    These people saw that Li Yundong hade out . Their faces were full of excitement and curiosity as they asked about this and that . Li Yundong cursed in his heart, ¡°This bunch of busybodies, are they so idle that their balls hurt*10?

    Director Qian waited until Li Yundong left the room . Then his strict demeanor changed into an amiable expression . He prepared tea and poured water . In a very friendly manner, he started making small talk with Su Chan .

    Su Chan blinked her eyes and looked at Director Qian thinking, ¡®What does this old man want to do? He¡¯s super slow, wasting time, and not getting to the point, how hateful . If I weren¡¯t afraid of causing trouble for Li Yundong, I wouldpletely ignore him!¡¯

    Director Qian talked about this and that for a while . Finally he reached the main topic . He said, ¡°Su Chan . Looking at your appearance, you shouldn¡¯t be that old, right? En . You should still be young and can¡¯t see a person¡¯s true nature . So it¡¯s not surprising...¡±

    Su Chan was like a nk piece of paper in terms of the ways of the mundane world . However, she was not an idiot . She very keenly perceived what Director Qian wanted to say . She sounded him out by asking, ¡°Then what you do mean?¡±

    Director Qian with an earnest expression started lecturing, ¡°Man, when they are young, are full of youthful vigor . This can be understood . However, a girl like you when choosing her boyfriend should consider more aspects . You are young and beautiful, what you should consider more like professional sess, as in mature and responsible men...¡±

    With a hint this evident, if Su Chan could not understand what he meant, then she was a true retard .

    Su Chan exploded with anger inside . ¡®This old man actually wanted to put him hands on me! He must be really tired of living!¡¯

    In truth, Director Qian had his mind clouded by lust . After all, the little fox¡¯s beauty was far too destructive . A normal man would have his IQ cut in half upon seeing her . Director Qian arrogantly thought to himself, ¡®This little beauty had a 70 or 80% chance of liking mature and responsible men, and speaking of mature and responsible men, if it weren¡¯t him, Director Qian, who else could it be?¡¯

    Thinking of such, Director Qian once again attempted to flirtatiouslyb over his middle management hair . His heart was full of the brilliant light of his wild fantasies .

    Su Chan foribly suppressed her anger . She silently blinked her eyes, pretending to be innocent and unaffected . ¡°Oh . I understand . I will go back and think about it . ¡±

    Director Qian¡¯s entire face lit up . He stretched out his hand to pat Su Chan on the shoulder . ¡°Not bad . Not bad . This child can be taught . ¡±

    Su Chan twisted her body and dodged Director Qian¡¯s perverted hand . Her fairy-like body caused Director Qian¡¯s heart to feel ticklish inside .

    Director Qian endured the desire in his heart and pretended to be dignified . He opened the office door, sending off Su Chan . Not looking at Li Yundong on purpose, he only looked at Su Chan enthusiastically . ¡°Su Chan, You are a good kid . I believe you will be able to tell the difference between good and bad, right?¡±

    Li Yundong who stood on the side was secretly bewildered . His gaze swept between the two .

    Su Chan did not reply to Director Qian¡¯s words . She simply ran until she stood in front of Li Yundong . Grabbing his hand in one swift motion, she said, ¡°Yudong, can I ask you a question?¡±

    Li Yundong said, ¡°Ask!¡±

    Su Chan put on a puzzled face and asked, ¡°If there¡¯s someone saying bad things behind your back, what would you do?¡±

    Li Yundong gave a start . ¡°Say bad things about me? Screw, who¡¯s saying bad things about me!¡± As he spoke, his eyes nced over to Director Qian . ¡®It can¡¯t be this guy was saying bad things about me? Keeping Su Chan behind to say bad things about? This would be too insincere right?¡¯

    Su Chan shook Li Yundong¡¯s hand and said, ¡°I¡¯m only asking what if!¡±

    Li Yundong spoke very resolutely, ¡°If there¡¯s someone talking bad things about me behind my back, I¡¯ll smack him good!¡±

    When he finished talking, Director Qian who was listening by the side secretly felt his face worsen . He could faintly feel an inauspicious premonition .

    Su Chan continued to ask, ¡°And what if that someone also wants to dig your wall corner*11 and steal your girl?¡±

    Li Yundong immediately became furious . That kind of thing is something that no man could endure!

    He angrily said, ¡°I would kick his balls so hard that they explode!¡±

    Su Chan nodded enthusiastically . With a beaming smile on her face, she asked, ¡°Let me help you kick him, okay?¡±

    Li Yundong immediately replied without thought, ¡°Okay!¡±

    The moment he spoke, he saw Su Chan turn around and perform a beautiful ball-buster kick, urately smashing into Director Qian¡¯s crotch .

    How could Director Qian predict that Su Chan would turn on him just like that? His face became a purplish red . His legs clenched together . His hands grasped at his crotch . Without making a sound, hey down on the ground .

    The surrounding students broke out in hubbub . Some of the male ssmates could not helped but bring their legs together upon seeing Director Qian¡¯s pained and twitching appearance . They felt as if their balls were in pain .

    Li Yundong was frozen on the spot stupefied . He stammered a question, ¡°Su Chan, what are you doing?¡±

    Su Chan proudly raised her chin and said, ¡°Kicking his balls so hard that they explode!¡±

    The corners of Li Yundong¡¯s mouth twitched and he had no words to say .

    Su Chan lowered her head giving off a pitiful impression as she asked, ¡°Did I do something wrong again?¡±

    Li Yundong looked at Director Qian lying on the ground . The man¡¯s opened mouth was sucking in air as if his life depended on it . Li Yundong gave a forcedugh and replied, ¡°N-no . ¡±

    Su Chan immediately raised her head and said, ¡°Then why is your face like that?¡±

    Li Yundong thought to himself, ¡®My little grand aunt, you really aren¡¯t afraid that I¡¯ll get expelled are you? The disciplinary direction, ai, you directly knocked him down! Grasss! This time I¡¯ll really get expelled!¡¯

    Li Yundong turned his head around and looked at Su Chan . He forcibly squeezed out a smile, but it looked worse than a crying face, ¡°It¡¯s nothing . Just a little pain in the balls . ¡±

    ~~~

    *9 This is zhainan again . Which again is something between otaku and hikikomori, though mostly associated with online games .

    *10 The Chinese variant of pain in the butt . But in this case, it¡¯s more like those people are so idle that they enjoy doing random things to make their balls hurt (got nothing better to do) .

    *11 dig someone¡¯s wall corner: This means to steal human resources from them .

 Chapter 18

    Chapter 18

    <h4>Chapter 18: Close Yet Far</h4>

    The pitiful Director Qian was kicked in the important bits by Su Chan . Luckily, SU Chan did not use much strength in this kick, otherwise Director Qian¡¯s balls would really have to explode .

    Li Yundong watched as Director Qiany on the ground like a bug struggling and wiggling . Sweat broke out all over his body . The students who were on the side fell into a hubbub, causing all the nearby teachers toe over . Those teacher upon seeing the situation, were immediately gobsmacked .

    ¡®What student would dare to hit a teacher? How could this be allow?¡¯

    Li Yundong knew that he was on the very edge of expulsion . He was hit by a sudden inspiration . Putting on a solemn face and a stern posture, he said to Su Chan, ¡°Are you insane? How could you hit a teacher?¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s face showed a stunned expression . She felt wronged inside . ¡®You¡¯re the one who told me to kick . ¡¯ Her lips protruded into a pout . She just about to start whining when she saw Li Yundong use all his strength to signal to her with his eyes .

    Su Chan was not stupid . She somewhat understood inside . Thus with big puffed up cheeks, she remained quiet .

    Li Yundong saw that the girl finally stopped spouting shocking statements . He finally breathed out in relief . Kneeling down, he said to the director, ¡°Director Qian, I believe this is a misunderstanding . What do you think?¡±

    Director Qian was full of resentment in his heart . How could he know that the girl would suddenly turn on him and execute such a fierce attack . Unfortunately, he was unwilling to spread this event around . If Su Chan decided to publicize everything he said earlier, the people around here were not stupid, everyone would understand what he wanted to do .

    ¡®In that case, how can I keep staying at this school?¡¯

    So Director Qian bit down . His eyes were bulging outward as they red at Li Yundong, full of bitter resentment . After a long while, he managed to squeeze out from his cheeks, ¡°Mis-misunderstanding . This is a misunderstanding . ¡±

    Li Yundong secretly released a breath he had been holding . Turning his head, he said to Su Chan, ¡°Su Chan, why haven¡¯t you apologized?¡±

    Su Chan pulled a mischievous face at Li Yundong and Director Qian . Without apologizing, she turn around and ran away .

    Li Yundong froze in surprise . He was anxious inside, but he could only apologetically smile at Director Qian and say, ¡°Director Qian, how about I escort you to the hospital for a check up?¡±

    Director Qian gnashed his teeth and said, ¡°No need... ge-get lost!¡±

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    Thest word was forcibly pushed out from between his teeth . Li Yundong acted as if he received amnesty upon hearing this and hurriedly escaped by fleeing ignominiously .

    He sprinted all the way and managed to catch up with Su Chan outside of the school . He reached out to catch the girl¡¯s hand . However, the girl shook him off . She turned around and angrily said, ¡°Why do you want me to apologize to him? Clearly it was him that was in the wrong!¡±

    Li Yundong sighed and said, ¡°That¡¯s right . Of course it¡¯s that old pervert that¡¯s in the wrong . He dared to dig my wall corner . I wish I could castrate that old man . ¡±

    With Su Chan¡¯s childlike temperament, anger turned to happiness . She said, ¡°Good idea! But if you really think that then why do you want me to apologize?¡±

    Li Yundong reached out and pinched at Su Chan¡¯s cheeks in exasperation . ¡°I don¡¯t know what to do with you . If I get expelled, then I won¡¯t have any money! Where would I go to get money? In order to feed a hungry cat*1 like you, do you think it¡¯s easy?¡±

    Su Chan shouted out in surprised . She reached out a smacked away the hand Li Yundong used to pinch her cheeks . She replied very seriously, ¡°So long as you have arms and legs . What can¡¯t you do? If you really have no money, then in the worst case we can go beg for good together!¡±

    Li Yundong startedughing loudly . Internally he was deeply moved . ¡®These years, what beautiful girl did not worship money? Wearing gold and silver was the norm, an entire wardrobe consisting of famous brands is an absolute necessity . Arge house and a sports car, if you didn¡¯t have these, each and every one of them would race to bid adieu .

    ¡®Where would you an spectacr beauty like Su Chan who could seriously say to someone as useless as me, if you have no money, then we can go beg for food together?¡¯

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart was very badly moved . He reached out once more to pinch at the girl¡¯s cheeks . ¡°You talk as if I¡¯m already broke! But at that time if we really need to beg for food, then I¡¯ll be a male beggar and you¡¯ll be a female beggar . We¡¯ll be a pair of beggars who begs their way through Jianghu . *2¡±

    Su Chan giggled . She twisted her body and dodged Li Yundong¡¯s evil clutches . Even as sheughed, she spoke in a displeased tone, ¡°Shameless . Who is a pair of beggars with you? I¡¯ve only heard of a pair of thieves . I¡¯ve never heard of a pair of beggars! Be ashamed! You really have no prospects!¡±

    Li Yundong pretended to be mad and said, ¡°Very well! You even dare to mock me! Excellent . Let me show you my moves . Observe, my milk snatching dragon w!¡±

    Su Chan saw Li Yundong with a deranged face in addition to bared teeth and brandished ws, so she shrieked, turned around, and ran . As she ran, she left behind a trail ofughter like the ringing of silver bells .

    Li Yundong exerted himself and chased from behind . The two youths chased and ran, frolicking all the way . The sound of their y caused all those they passed by to nce at them without exception .

    For this moment, Su Chan forgot her intention to drain this man dry . Li Yundong also forgot the threat of expulsion hanging above his head . They enjoyed themselves without a care .

    The beginning of summer, the month of May, sunlight streamed like spring water . Amongst the mottled shade from trees on the road, there were two lively figures . A figure was able to stun the entire world . A figure was able to soothe the passage of years .

    ...

    The two yed and fought . They bought some food at a nearby supermarket and finally returned home .

    Li Yundong carried a bag of ingredients . He took off his shoes and said to Su Chan, ¡°You take a rest . I¡¯ll go cook food . ¡±

    Su Chan nodded . She listlessly sat on the living room carpet . Her bright and witty eyes spun around in her eye sockets .

    After a while, nking sound could be heard in the kitchen indicating food was being made . Su Chan could not help but think about the delicious food Li Yundong made for herst time . Not only did her saliva overflow, her heart was full of expectation, but there was also a bit of guilt . ¡®I eat his food, live in his ce, wear his clothes, and in the end, will drain him dry . It seems a bit like I haven¡¯t done right by this fellow?¡¯

    Su Chan thought for a bit . ¡®Let¡¯s check in on him . ¡¯

    She stood up and tip toed to the kitchen . She saw Li Yundong in an apron cutting meat .

    Su Chanughed up her sleeve as she moved behind Li Yundong . Just as she prepared to give him a fright, she heard a loud shout from Li Yundong who had just suddenly turned around while brandished his knife . Su Chan was the one given a fright instead . Her heart jumped up to her throat .

    Su Chan screamed from fight, and reflexively punched out, solidlynding a blow on Li Yundong¡¯s belly .

    Li Yundong had the Gold Pill protecting his body . This punch from Su Chan was more like a tickle . Heughed so hard he held his stomach and rocked back and forth .

    Su Chan knew that she had been had by Li Yundong . She hit him once in annoyance and said, ¡°How did you know that I was behind you?¡±

    Li Yundong suppressed hisughter and said, ¡°Don¡¯t you know that your body has a nice scent? When you stood behind me, I could smell already smell it . ¡±

    Fox spirits innately possess an alluring unique fragrance . Everyone beside them would smell it vivdly but they themselves would not be able to smell it at all .

    Su Chan blinked her eyes . She raised her arm and sniffed at it . With a puzzled face, she said, ¡°I can¡¯t smell anything . ¡±

    Li Yundong was immensely proud of himself as he said, ¡°I am born in the year of the old! He he . Just now, you wanted to scare me but failed, right?¡±

    Su Chan had a indignant expression as she stubbornly said, ¡°Who wants to scare you? This one was simply looking at you work . I wanted to show appreciation . Who knew you would so cruelly respond to my good intentions! I¡¯m going to ignore you . Me angry . ¡±

    Once she finished speaking, Su Chan held her hands behind her back and walked away looking back three times for every step . The expression on her face practically wrote out, ¡®Hurry up and ask me to stay . ¡¯

    Li Yundong thought it was a funny scene . He forcibly resisted the urge to open his mouth and turned around to continue cutting the meat .

    Su Chan walked to the doorway only to find Li Yundong had not asked her to stay behind . She was both angry and annoyed . With bared fangs, she pulled a mischievous face at Li Yundong¡¯s back .

    However, even though she bared her teeth and brandished her ws for a good while, Li Yundong kept his back to her and could not see . Su Chan started to lose interest . She mumbled to herself that she wanted to leave, but at the same time, she filled with unwillingness . Her eyes spun once and suddenly she released a mournful scream as if she were stabbed, ¡°Ahhh!¡±

    Li Yundong thought something had happened to Su Chan . He was so shaken up that his entire body shivered . The trajectory of his knife bent and he cut his own fingers . However, he did not feel a thing . He simplyunched himself toward Su Chan . Staring at Su Chan with widened eyes, he checked on her body from top to bottom . ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    Su Chan was immensely proud of herself as sheughed and said, ¡°I finally scared you...¡±

    Before she finished speaking, she discovered Li Yundong¡¯s still bleeding finger . Widening her eyes, she shrieked, ¡°Ah! You¡¯re bleeding!¡±

    Li Yundong only now noticed that his finger was bleeding . He put his bleeding finger into his mouth and sucked a couple times . His other hand lovingly rubbed at Su Chan¡¯s head . He smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s nothing . I thought something happened to you . You scared me . ¡±

    Su Chan had a very apologetic expression on her face . She caught Li Yundong¡¯s wounded finger; pouting her bright red lips, blew on it .

    Li Yundong looked upon the beauty in front of him . He felt her ck hair pooled like a waterfall, her red lips were like cherries, her teeth were white like pearls, and her breath fragrant like orchids . Truly, every part of her was perfect . His heart shook and he subconsciously lowered his head intending to kiss Su Chan¡¯s delicate ruby lips .

    Su Chan noticed Li Yundong drawing near . She did not understand what that meant . She lifted her head . As a result, both their heads ended up heavily crashing against each other . Both of them eximed ¡®ouch¡¯ at the same time and both of them crouched down on the ground .

    Li Yundong held his chin with his heart beating wildly . He did not dare to look at Su Chan . Su Chan held her forehead . At this time, she already understand that a moment ago that man wanted to kiss her . She also could not help but feel her heart beat like a drum . Her expression was a little unnatural .

    Li Yundong stood up . He forced himself to be calm and drily coughed once . ¡°I¡¯ll cook . You wait in the living room for me . If you¡¯re bored, you can watch some TV . ¡±

    With those words, not even ncing at Su Chan, he quick went to the living room and turned on the sma screen TV on the television wall .

    Su Chan lowered her head and followed behind Li Yundong¡¯s back . Her hands gasped at her clothes . Her head was held very low .

    The atmosphere between the two remained awkward . Li Yundong scratched at his hair and said, ¡°I¡¯ll go cook . ¡± After saying these words, he left the living room as if escaping .

    Su Chan knelt on the carpet . She peeked at Li Yundong as he left the living room . Only then did she feel like letting out a sigh of relief, as if she could not breathe when that man was in front of her .

    Su Chan could not help but smile bitterly . ¡®This is bad . As expected, he really did start propositioning me . But in his current condition, if he seed, the only result will be death by exhaustion*3 . Not only would that waste the Human Origin Gold Pill, it would also cost a life . What would I do?¡¯

    The little fox felt jittery inside . She tweaked at her ears and scratched at her cheeks for a while . Thinking this and that for a while, she still could note up with a solution . In the end, she could only say to herself, ¡®I can¡¯t let him go on like this . A little distance must be kept between us . ¡¯

    ~~~

    *1 big eater

    *2 This is a movie reference to Bonnie and Clyde, which turns into ¡®pair of thieves¡¯ in Chinese, which parallels ¡®pair of beggars .

    *3 Exhaustion as in excessive ejaction .

 Chapter 19

    Chapter 19

    <h4>Chapter 19: The Gold Pill Awakens</h4>

    T/N: A bunch of information on real life cultivation/traditional medicine .

    Just as the little fox was feeling vexed, the television near her side happened to be showing ¡°The Storm of WW2¡± . *1 A dignified and solemn voice said, ¡°Common Era 1941, Hitlerunched World War II, Germany attacked Pnd...¡±

    Su Chan gave a start . She widened her eyes and looked toward the television, surprised and curious, as if she could not understand why there a person¡¯s voiceing out of the television .

    She inquisitively moved close until she was right in front of the television, investigating it by touching and tapping .

    Beforeing down from her secluded mountain, she had heard of various things of the mundane world from her master, including metal carriages that could run, flying machines that could fly, but she had never before seen a television .

    Su Chan yed around with the television for a while . She could not discover any profound mechanism, so her interest waned . She could not resist getting lost in thought about herself and Li Yundong .

    Just as she was deep in thought, a tank suddenly appeared on the television screen slowly raising its cannon . The barrel of this cannon slowly lifted upwards . Then with a bang sound, it fired!

    The little fox received a scare . Incensed, her fist struck toward the television .

    There was a bam sound, which Li Yundong heard from inside the kitchen . He rushed out to take a look and instantly petrified by what he saw .

    The television on the wall had fallen down and broken into two parts . The ce where the two split was actually still giving off sparks with a electric buzzing sound .

    Li Yundong was speechless . He stupidly said, ¡°Wha-what happened here?¡±

    Su Chan pointed at the television in a rage and said, ¡°There¡¯s someone inside there that scared me!¡±

    Li Yundong almost fainted . His face looked like he did not know whether tough or cry . ¡°This is a television, my little grand aunt! It can¡¯t be that you don¡¯t know what a television is, right?¡±

    Su Chan replied with a nk expression, ¡°I don¡¯t know...¡±

    Li Yundong felt so depressed that he wanted to vomit three liters of blood . Internally, he was furiously cursing, ¡®This damn girl is pretending not to know . Isn¡¯t it just a kiss? She doesn¡¯t need to retaliate like this, right? This is just great! This television was at least five thousand big ones*2, now it¡¯s gone up in smoke!¡¯

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    Su Chan saw that Li Yundong was ck in the face*2 . She cautiously asked, ¡°Are you angry?¡±

    Li Yundong looked at her timid expression like a child who did something wrong . Despite the thousand mes of anger raging in his chest, the ten thousand types of unhappiness he felt, how could he release even a word in anger? He could only force a smile and say, ¡°N-no . ¡±

    Li Yundong dragged the broken television outside of his apartment in a very gloomy mood . He would throw it away when he went downstairs . Then he would find some time to buy an identical television . Otherwise, if thendlord saw, it would be a pain to deal with!*3

    Having something like this ur caused the meal to be rather gloomy . While the little fox still thoughtlessly ate without a care, Li Yundong paused many times between bites as if he were eating wax .

    The little fox saw Li Yundong¡¯s demeanor . No matter how stupid she was, she knew she had done something wrong . Due to her guilt, the little fox moved to the bedroom very early and hid inside .

    After Li Yundong cleaned the room, he let himself topple onto the carpet . His eyes looked toward the light hanging from the ceiling . He gazed into the distance lost in thought . Li Yundong thought what happened today on the inside .

    Recalling that he sent Zeng Qing flying with a kick and Zhao Yujian flying with a punch, Li Yundong felt as if he were in a dream . If it were before, this was something that Li Yundong could not even imagine .

    After thest couple days, Li Yundong already realized that he had experienced some kind of change . This is definitely not some kind of hidden potential or limit break, what kind of person can force out their hidden potential or break their limits all the time?

    Li Yundong knew that the topmandos of this world could use their thumb and their index finger to explosively exert about 1000kg of force, and crush a thumb sized piece of ice .

    However, that required control over one¡¯s own adrenaline and was almost a form of unleashing one¡¯s hidden potential to perform a feat that was impossible for normal people .

    But this was something that burns one¡¯s life force and potential in exchange . If someone uses this type of technique too many times, there was even a chance that they could die .

    Li Yundong thought about all the impossible things he had been doing these days . If all of these were based on burning hidden potential, then he would probably be dead by now .

    However, he was still living vigorously . That meant, he had definitely discovered something . His own body had undergone some sort of change . Unfortunately, he did not know what this change was .

    Nevertheless, Li Yundong was certain, this kind of change was a good thing .

    Li Yundongy on the carpet . For a time, he was overwhelmed with emotion . His body was eager to move as if he were overflowing with strength that he wished he could exert somewhere .

    The more he thought, the more excited Li Yundong became . With a whoosh, he bounced upright and punched toward the air .

    Bam! With this punch, it seemed all of Li Yundong blood vessels and meridians opened at once and hot blood began to flow .

    Li Yundong simply felt that his entire person seemed to be on fire . A mysterious strength seemed to expand continuously like fermenting dough, filling every blood vessel in his body, every muscle, and every strand of hair!

    Li Yundong stood in bow step stance . And waved his fist with a pow sound . As he waved his fist, his hair suddenly rose and stood straight up!

    However, Li Yundong concentrated all his attention on experiencing this sensation of strength, so he did not notice this unusual condition .

    On the contrary, the little fox hiding in the bedroom heard the movement from outside . She stealthily pulled her door open a crack and saw Li Yundong¡¯s condition at a nce . She was immediately delighted . ¡®This is great . He finally discovered the Gold Pill energy in his body, right?¡¯

    When she saw the hair on Li Yundong¡¯s head stand up, the smile on her face practically radiated with happiness, like she just saw a crop that was growing beautifully .

    The little fox knew that this was a sign of the body¡¯s blood and qi flourishing to the extreme . Simr to an opened air hole on a pressure cooker, the body¡¯s extreme yang and hard qi would be expelled from the Baihui acupoint at the top of one¡¯s head .

    In all the daoist schools that the little fox hade into contact with, daoist cultivators believe that the human body has three great quintessences, individually named essense, qi, and blood . The human body also has three Dantians, respectively, the lower dantian in the abdomen, the middle dantain at the heart, and the upper dantian in the brain . *4

    The lower dantian holds the essence . The middle dantian holds qi . And the upper dantian holds spirit . Daoist cultivators believe that as blood flows, the essence and qi of the lower and the middle dantians would be brought together with blood to the upper dantian, where upon the ¡®three blossoms congregate on top¡¯, also known as the ¡®three splendor congregate on top¡¯ .

    This process, in which essence, qi, and blood are congregated at the top of the head and then refined into spirit, ismonly called the cultivation of a microcosmic orbit or a microcosmo .

    When Su Chan used the tri-pronged blossom technique to massage the three important acupoints on Li Yundong¡¯s head, she was basically helping Li Yundong passively cultivate the microcosmic orbit .

    However, no matter what you do, active participation is always more effective than passive experience .

    Even though Li Yundong was simply waving his fist, but this type of reflexive ring of the entire body¡¯s blood flow would cause the three splendors to congregate on top, secretlyplying with the cultivation of a microcosmic orbit .

    The little fox secretlyughed . She knew that, only when the three splendors were all gathered at the top of the head, would they be cultivated into spirit .

    This spirit did not refer to supernatural creatures but rather spirit as in mental energy . It could be considered a cultivator¡¯s most profound type of primordial energy, also known as ¡®spiritual sense¡¯ .

    Once Li Yundong cultivated the ¡®three blossom congregate on top¡¯ to a certain realm, then he would obtain spirit, which would grant him internal vision, allowing him to see his own organs and meridians . Like that, Li Yundong would have the ability to start cultivating the next level, which is the macrocosmic oribt, ¡®five qi to the origin¡¯ .

    Only Li Yundongpletes ¡®three blossom congregate on top¡¯ and ¡®five qi to the origin¡¯, then Li Yundong could start officially building his foundation, bing a true cultivator .

    Once Li Yundong builds his foundation, the little fox would be able to steal yang to supplement yin!

    The little fox could not resist beaming with joy at this thought . However, after she was happy for a while, she suddenly recalled how nice Li Yundong was to her . For a time, not knowing why, her heart faintly could not endure, as if something made her panic and choke .

    Su Chan hurriedly repeated a mantra to herself, performing self-hypnosis, ¡®He stole my Human Origin Gold Pill . He stole my Human Origin Gold Pill . ¡¯

    After reciting her mantra several tens of times, her heart finally started feeling better .

    How could Li Yundong know what this little fox Su Chan thought in her heart? He currently felt so existed that he trembled . This type of unprecedented strength made him feel as if he were expanding, burning, and even exploding .

    Li Yundong thought back to his fight with Zhao Yujian . Zhao Yujian performed various kinds of kicks . He suddenly wanted to imitate that one high kick Zhao Yujian used before .

    This notion had just appeared in his head when the blood and qi of his entire body starting to the heel of his right leg, stimting his leg muscles to extend and contract . At that instant, the muscles of his entire leg was set into motion and stretched .

    He pushed off with the tip of his toe . His leg kicked upward with a pow . Using a iparably proper posture, he performed a high kick .

    This kick, even if a ninth dan ck belt taekwondo grandmaster came, he would still not be able to find any fault with it .

    Li Yundong was both excited and overjoyed . In the past, he could not even do the splits, let alone kick from bottom of his foot to the top of his head .

    At this time, Li Yundong got the mistaken perception that there was nothing that he could not do .

    He raised his head and saw the hanging light above . Without thinking, he jumped up with a swoosh and unleashed a flying kick . The tip of his toe hit the two meter high hanging light with a single blow . With a bang, his kick had the light swing around .

    Li Yundong was merely acting on impulse, wanting to see if he could really kick something so high up, but he never imagined he would really reach it!

    This kind of satisfaction, sense of achievement and excitement mixed together, causing Li Yundong to pump his fists in exultation and shout, ¡°Yes!¡±

    But not long after his shout, Li Yundong heard a creaking sound from above . He raised his head to take a look, only to see the hanging light sway once and then fall down at him with a bang .

    Li Yundong received a solid hit . He hugged the hanging light and screamed miserably, as he fell onto his back .

    The little fox who was by the doorughed so hard she could not catch her breath . Li Yundong held his head and sat up . He red at the little fox . As a result, the little foxughed even harder .

    Su Chan¡¯sughter caused Li Yundong¡¯s face to flush red . He pretended to be an evil monster and pounced at Su Chan . Su Chan released a startledugh and mmed the bedroom door shut with a bang .

    Li Yundong rubbed at his forehead and nose in front of the door . He resentfully walked to the carpet . He took a look at the hanging light by his foot and the nced up at therge hole in his ceiling . He could only smile bitterly . ¡°This is just great . Truly, blessings nevere in pairs and misfortune does note singly*5 . The TV broke and this hanging light broke too . Could it be that today¡¯s an unlucky day for my finances?¡±

    ~~~

    *1 ¶þÕ½·çÔÆ: I think it¡¯s a Chinese documentary on the second world war . Either not famous enough or too biased to have reached the internationalmunity . Probably the former since I couldn¡¯t find it in Chinese, or it¡¯s really old . The only other option was a game .

    *2 ck in the face means to look unwell or upset .

    *3 The normal custom in China is for thendlord to rent furniture along with the home .

    *4 You might not know this, but it is true . There are three dantians and dantians are acupoints, in theory you could cultivate using other acupoints, but the dantians are the one most suited . Especially the lower dantian, which is often treated as the only dantian . This work is closer to cultivator in the real world than most novels you read .

    *5 Pretty self-exnatory . If it weren¡¯t for the first part, I would have used ¡®When it rains it pours . ¡±

 Chapter 20

    Chapter 20

    <h4>Chapter 20: Mistake, Big Mistake</h4>

    On the second day, Li Yundong was preparing to go to school . His hands carried the broken television and hanging light . He could not help but shake his head and sigh, ¡°A single night almost wrecked the building . This can¡¯t go on!¡±

    Su Chan who followed behind him stuck out her tongue but did not speak .

    After Li Yundong threw away the garbage, he brought Su Chan along to eat breakfast and then the two walked toward the school .

    Just as he walked into the school, Li Yudong unhappily discovered that there were even more people pointing at him and Su Chan .

    ¡°Hey, did you see? That¡¯s the Li Yundong that defeated Zhao Yujian yesterday!¡±

    ¡°Screw . He doesn¡¯t look like a martial artist! Did Zhao Yujian trip and fall down?¡±

    ¡°Screw you . Can a fall cause aminuted fracture? Let¡¯s see you fall and get aminuted fracture!¡±

    ¡°What? I don¡¯t have the ability to perform that kind of special ss falling techniques!¡±

    Ever since Li Yundong consumed the Human Origin Gold Pill, his hearing had be very acute . He could hear all the whispered conversations around him . He was startled inwardly, ¡®Zhao Yujian got aminuted fracture? Is it really that exaggerated?¡¯

    He turned toward Su Chan and said, ¡°That guy I punched from yesterday, his lower leg suffered aminuted fracture . What do you think? Maybe I should go visit the hospital and take a look?¡±

    Su Chan was not innately cold-hearted . It was simply the nature of the cultivation world where the strong preyed on the weak . There has never been a strong expert who defeated his weak opponent, only to hypocritically run over to ask if the opponent is okay .

    She snorted and raised her head . She said, ¡°His skills werecking and he was so rampant and tyrannical . Serves him right!¡±

    Li Yundong thought about it and then nodded, ¡°If he weren¡¯t so overly aggressive yesterday, he would not have ended up like this . ¡±

    After the two had this conversation, they walked into the ssroom . Just as the reached the back row to sit down, ss monitor Sun Li walked over with a cold smile on her face .

    ¡°Li Yundong, you aren¡¯t doing too bad these days . You¡¯re a famous figure now . ¡± Sun Li said as she smiled coldly .

    Li Yundong realized that she did note with good intentions, so he asked very innocently, ¡°How did I trouble you this time?¡±

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    When Sun Li saw him put on his innocent face, she was so resentful her teeth were itching to bite him . ¡°You¡¯ve be too good at creating problems! First, you broke one of Zeng Qing¡¯s ribs . Then you followed up by fracturing Zhao Yujian¡¯s leg . Finally, you kicked Director Qian . Next time, will you go hit the headmaster?¡±

    Li Yundong became a bit angry inside due to the very blunt tone in which Sun Li hurled questions at him . His neck tensed and he said, ¡°It wasn¡¯t me who started the conflict! They were the ones looking for trouble . If you don¡¯t believe me, you can go ask . Should I have justy there letting them hit me? Would that have been more reasonable?¡±

    Sun Li almost choked on Li Yundong¡¯s response, nearly unable to regain her wits, but She managed to bite down and asked, ¡°Then what about Director Qian?¡±

    Li Yundong almost blurted out that Director Qian wanted to dig the corner of his wall, but then he thought for a moment and endured . After all, if he publicized what happened, then it was equivalent to burning the bridge with Director Qian . Nothing good coulde from that .

    Li Yundong sighed and said, ¡°That was just a misunderstanding . Director Qian isn¡¯t even intending to pursue . Why would the honorable you need so much rectitude in his ce?¡±

    Sun Li was so offended that she stood right up . Pointing her finger at Li Yundong, she angrily said, ¡°He doesn¡¯t intend to pursue? Hmph, I¡¯ll tell you,st night, Director Qian called the headmaster and said he wanted to expel you . You¡¯re on your own!¡±

    Li Yundong was badly surprised . ¡°What? How do you know?¡±

    Sun Li coldly snorted and said, ¡°How do I know? In the entire school, you¡¯re probably the only one that doesn¡¯t know! It¡¯s amazing how you¡¯re still so at ease . ¡±

    Once she finished speaking, she turned and left . Her ponytail bouncing behind her .

    Li Yundong sat on his seat staring nkly for a while . His mood was extreme gloom and irritation . He was not even aware in the slightest that the teacher had entered and started ss .

    Only when a girl sat down beside him and nudged at him did he regain his wits .

    Li Yundong took a nce . The person was actually Feng Nuo from the Taekwondo Society who had gotten a signature from him earlier .

    Li Yundong feeling ufortable, so he sneered and said, ¡°Have you alsoe to look for trouble?¡±

    Feng Nuo was surprised . She asked in puzzlement, ¡°Who¡¯s trying to trouble you?¡±

    Only now did Li Yundong understand that he vented his anger on the wrong person . With an apologetic expression on his face, he said, ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s my mistake . What did you need me for?¡±

    Feng Nuo sighed and looked at Li Yundong with a serious expression, ¡°Being a student of Tiannan University, I believe you know about the exchange in seven days with the Mayan Bincifaneya University, right?¡±

    Li Yundong tilted his head and thought for a bit before saying, ¡°I think I heard of it . So what?¡±

    Feng Nuo sighed once more . With a face full of hidden bitterness, she looked at Li Yundong . Her stare made Li Yundong feel ufortable inside . ¡°Hey, Give it to me straight . Don¡¯t look at me like that . You¡¯re making it look like I did something to you . ¡±

    Feng Nuo gave a nce to Su Chan who sat beside Li Yundong . Then she woefully said, ¡°Ai, you already have such a great beauty . Of course, you won¡¯t fancy someone like me . ¡±

    Su Chan blinked herrge eyes and looked at them . Suddenly she threw in her opinion, ¡°Your forehead is full . While your philtrum is not long, it is plenty wide . Your hair is fine ck and your eyebrows are thick . Your eyes clearly possess spirit . Even though notparable to the virgin beauty profound yin furnace I sawst time, but you could also be considered a first-rate cultivation furnace . If you copte with Li Yundong, I won¡¯t oppose . ¡±

    Copte!

    The impact of Su Chan¡¯s words was too strong .

    When Su Chan blurted out those words, Feng Nuo waspletely disconcerted . Her eyes nked out . Li Yundong was also dumbstruck . A male student in the row in front of those, feel off his seat with a boom . With an exaggerated expression, he looked at Li Yundong and gave him a thumbs up . ¡°Bro, where did you find this kind of top notch girl! Too awesome!¡±

    The corner of Li Yundong¡¯s mouth twitched . He forced augh . Toward Feng Nuo, he said, ¡°This girl had no boundaries when speaking . Just pretend you didn¡¯t hear anything . ¡±

    After he said that, he turned his head and red at Su Chan . ¡°You, shut up! Stop spouting nonsense!¡±

    Su Chan replied unconvinced, ¡°Where did I spout nonsense!¡± As she spoke, she pointed at Feng Nuo and said, ¡°Isn¡¯t she a first-rate cultivation furnace?¡±

    Li Yundong exploded in anger . He had just wanted to ask how the heck she was a fire-rate cultivation furnace, but he nced around the ssroom out of the corner of his eyes, only to find his ssmates were all staring at him speechless, as if he were some kind of flower thief that specialized in ¡®cultivation furnaces¡¯ .

    These gazes were enough to make Li Yundong¡¯s face flush red . He wished he could find a crack and crawl into it . Unfortunately, Su Chan had not finished speaking . This girl continued speaking in a serious manner toward Li Yundong, ¡°Look at the roots of her brows, they are closely spaced without distancing themselves at all . This is evidently a pure virgin body...¡±

    Pure virgin body!

    The surrounding students could not help but exim in admiration . The way they looked at Feng Nuo also changed .

    Li Yundong hurriedly rushed over and blocked off Su Chan¡¯s mouth . He wished he could use thread and needle to seal her mouth off . Lowering his voice, he angrily said, ¡°If you keep talking, I¡¯ll spank you when we get back!¡±

    Su Chan struggled to speak through Li Yundong¡¯s hand in a muffled voice, ¡°Even if you spank me, I¡¯ll still say it!¡±

    Li Yundong was so angry he started tough . ¡°Then I won¡¯t cook for you . You can go hungry for two days!¡±

    Su Chan instantly became docile and stopped struggling . She only looked at Li Yundong pitifully with tears in her eyes, epitomizing the allure of a tearful beauty . ¡°You don¡¯t like Chan-er anymore? Why would you want to starve Chan-er for two days?¡±

    A male student on the side saw Su Chan¡¯s pitiful appearance . He stepped forward without hesitation . ¡°I like you . I¡¯ll make food for you to eat!¡±

    Li Yundong kicked the back of that student¡¯s chair enraged . Without any good humor, he stated, ¡°Get lost!¡±

    After he spoke, he turned around and said to Su Chan, ¡°You, behave . Don¡¯t talk . I¡¯ll definitely like you . Do you understand?¡±

    Su Chan made an affirmative sound feeling aggreived . Then she lowered her head and sat down in her seat . However, she persisted in evaluating Feng Nuo using her peripheral vision . That expression seemed to state, ¡®She really is a super virgin cultivation furnace . I didn¡¯t say anything wrong!¡¯

    Feng Nuo sat at Li Yundong¡¯s side . Her face was so red that it looked like blood woulde out . She didn¡¯t know where to put her hands . If it weren¡¯t for the fact there was something important she needed Li Yundong for, she would have escaped in a panic long ago .

    Li Yundong also looked at Feng Nuo in astonishment . She still had not run away yet . Heughed dryly a few times . Then he spoke apologetically, ¡°Don¡¯t mind her . She¡¯s just like that . What did you need me for?¡±

    Feng Nuo raised her head . Her face was blushing red and she red at Li Yundong . ¡°This is all your fault!¡±

    Li Yundong felt wronged inside . He asked, ¡°My fault? What is?¡±

    Feng Nuo from childhood till now had never been treated as Su Chan treated her just now . She had a belly full of anger and she vented it all on Li Yundong . ¡°If it weren¡¯t for your great deed, why would Ie find you?¡±

    ¡®Your great deed?¡¯

    ¡®What is it? Did she get pregnant?¡¯

    The male students were all resentful to the point of gnashing their teeth and hitting their chests . ¡®You bastard . You already have such a beautiful girl . How could you make a move on Feng Nuo, this big sister from third year . This kind of frivolity is worthy of heaven¡¯s wrath and people¡¯s hate, lightning crashing down from the sky as punishment!¡¯

    The surrounding students became noisy . Their ears were all perked up and their souls of gossip were fiercely ignited .

    Li Yundong cried out that he was wronged by the heavens, ¡°I only met you yesterday . What did I do to you?¡±

    Feng Nuo saw that he refused to admit his wrongs . She became anxious . In a loud voice, she said, ¡°Did you forget what you did yesterday?¡±

    Boom!

    Everyone¡¯s gazes changed once more . This time, he advanced from a heartless yboy to the heights of Chen Shimei . *1

    The male students¡¯ tears streamed down their cheeks . Their collective grudge strengthened once more . ¡®You did not know her yesterday, and today you secretly got her pregnant? Screw . Does such an urate shooting technique even exist?¡¯

    The female students all looked at Feng Nuo with faces full of sympathy . In their hearts, they sighed, ¡®This big sister is truly unfortunate . How could she take a fancy to a fellow like Li Yundong . Then there¡¯s that little beauty whose allure wasparable to a fox spirit . Were both of them blind? Why would they fancy that fellow? That fellow has no money and no ability . If you wanted to lower your standards, at least pick someone a bit more handsome!

    ¡®Now you¡¯ve done it . You¡¯re pregnant with that fellow¡¯s child, right? You need an abortion, right? That brat doesn¡¯t look like someone capable of taking responsibility . He doesn¡¯t have money . Hmph . Hmph . Now you¡¯ve realized that you¡¯re going to have a hard time, right?¡¯

    However, those more experienced girls were faintly aware that something did not seem right . How could someone get pregnant on the second day?

    Nevertheless, the show they were currently watching was very exciting . They were not willing to put too much thought into it . So all of they turned around and watched the back row . In such arge ssroom, there was actually not a single person looking toward the ckboard .

    The pitiful young teacher who was lecturing about China¡¯s Modern Literature stood on the lectern . His face was ck like a pot bottom . If he wanted to lecture, there was not a single person in the ssroom listening . How could he lecture? If he wanted to exploded, all the students in the ssroom were misbehaving . Discipline does not work when applied on the crowd .

    The teacher stood on the lectern . No matter what he did, it would be difficult . He could not help but feel sorrow from the bottom of his heart, tears flowed down his cheeks, and he sighed and hemmed and hawed . ¡°These years, public morals are degenerating each passing day . People today can not longer bepared with the past . ¡±

    The teacher sobbed in his heart . A great grudge formed like the fires of hell burning intensely . ¡®Most despicable are the three fellows in the back row . Even if you wanted to put on a good show . Your mother, you could at least be louder! The great me standing on this lectern can¡¯t hear you clearly . ¡¯

    ~~~

    *1 Chen Shimei ¨C the full saying is ³ÂÊÀÃÀ²»ÈÏÆÞ, which means the guy named Chen Shimei denies/betrays the wife, and he¡¯s used as aparison .

 Chapter 21

    Chapter 21

    <h4>Chapter 21: The More You Touch, The cker It Gets</h4>

    All the students in the ssroom plus the teacher were so excited that they seemed like they were on stimnts . Their eyes nced back and forth between Li Yundong and Feng Nuo .

    Unfortunately, a little earlier, Feng Nuo had been provoked by Su Chan, her thoughts were a bit chaotic . Plus Li Yundong refused to admit his wrongs . She was already in a bad mood . As if there were no people around, she loudly said, ¡°How could you be like this? Don¡¯t you have a sense of responsibility? Yesterday, you made a big mess . Today, do you think you can pretend that nothing¡¯s happened just because you left?¡±

    ¡®Made a big mess!¡¯

    The ssroom went into a hubbub .

    The pure male students had all widened their eyes as they looked at Feng Nuo . They eximed in admiration, ¡°How fierce! How bold! Truly someone worthy of being our senior!¡±

    As for those innocent and na?ve female students, they covered their mouths and red at Li Yundong, ¡°Too over the top . Too heartless . How could this fellow be like this!¡±

    Those not so pure male students exchanged meaningful eye gestures with each other . Theyughed a vulgarugh that only men could understand . The lecherous sound of thisughter could make celebrities from the ind nation jealous .

    Some of the more rotten women*1 were even more fierce . They directly started chattering and discussing with each other, ¡°A battle between dragon and pheonix? 3P? Or possibly, could it be... yaoi or yuri?¡±

    At this time, no matter how dumb Li Yundong might actually be, he had sensed something was wrong . He looked at the various gazes he received from the surrounding . He moaned mournfully and ced his face into his palms . ¡°I say . Beauty, look around you . Don¡¯t you think there¡¯s something wrong with what you¡¯re saying?¡±

    Feng Nuo looked left and right . She finally regained her wits . The color of her face escted, bing even more red . She prudently said, ¡°Then let¡¯s stop for now . We¡¯ll discuss this somewhere else . ¡±

    This time, the ssmates in the ssroom were unwilling to ept . They rose as a mob . ¡°Don¡¯t go somewhere else . This ce is pretty good!¡±

    ¡°Senior sis, in front of the public, you can expose the true face of this Chen Shimei! Senior sis, we support you!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, senior sis . We want the truth!¡±

    While there was amotion on this side . Suddenly a distinctly resounding voice shouted out, ¡°Give us pictures! Give us photos!¡±

    Everyone turned around to take a look when they heard this voice, only to see the teacher standing on the lectern shouting himself hoarse . The students below the lectern were silent for a bit . They used meaningful gazes to look at the teacher .

    This teacher did not get stage fright . He arranged his clothes and spoke in a unruffled manner, ¡°No picture, no real facts, isn¡¯t that right?¡±

    The students suddenly realized something . They all started loudly shouting, ¡°We want pictures, we want facts!¡±

    There was even a senseless person who shouted, ¡°We want seed!¡±

    When this voice surfaced, all the students in the ssroomughed until they were unsteady on the feet . The teacher directly stopped holding ss . He alsoughed until he crouched on the lectern, very much enjoying the show .

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    Li Yundong wanted to vomit three liters of blood . There was so much ate in his heart!

    ¡®This bunch of wretches are afraid that the world isn¡¯t chaotic enough! This dog-spawned diploma mill . How could even a teacher¡ªhis mother¡ªdecide not to be serious . This is truly a case of subordinates imitating their superior¡¯s vices . *2¡¯

    Li Yundong pulled Feng Nuo and escaped outside the ssroom as if he were running for his life . The little fox Su Chan obediently followed from behind .

    Feng Nuo¡¯s entire person was dragged along by Li Yundongpletely bewildered, like a wooden puppet . The ssroom behind them was like a boiling pot of rice porridge, chaotic to the point of explosion, with a moring din .

    Just as they left the ssroom, the wind in the hallway blew on Feng Nuo causing her to shudder and only then did her mind clear . She shook off Li Yundong¡¯s hand and angrily said, ¡°Why are you pulling me!¡±

    Li Yundong also angrily responded, ¡°Do you think I want to pull you? Think about what you said inside the ssroom . What was that supposed to be?¡±

    Feng Nuo recollected what she said inside the ssroom . Internally, she already knew they were inappropriate, but for the sake of argument, she refused to admit defeat . ¡°Wasn¡¯t that because I was angered by the beauty next to you?¡±

    Su Chan noticed that the me of battle had fallen on her head . She puffed up her cheeks and said, ¡°I haven¡¯t said anything wrong, right?¡±

    Li Yundung saw that the two beauties intended to be diametrically opposed . His head immediately hurt like someone was fighting inside . He hurriedly tried to smooth over the issue . ¡°Enough . Enough . Now is not the time to pursue this issue . Senior ssmate Feng Nuo, you and I had no grudge before and we have no grudge now . Really, what do you need me for? What is so important?¡±

    Feng Nuo angrily said, ¡°You punched Zhao Yujian into a hospital bed and he can¡¯t get off . In seven das, what will the Taekwondo Society do? His program was the highlight of our university¡¯s performance .

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly and said, ¡°What does that have to do with me? Can¡¯t you just find someone else to rece him?¡±

    Feng Nuoughed satirically, ¡°Find someone to rece him? The only person with enough qualification and ability to rece him was Zeng Qing, who has also been injured by you to the point of being unable to get out of bed . What recement is there?¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes were staring into the distance . ¡°It can¡¯t be . Then what will we do?¡±

    Feng Nuo put one hand on her waist and demonstrated a big teapot pose using the other . ¡°What will we do? What else can we do? Obviously the person who caused the problem will take responsibility!¡±

    Li Yundong dazed said, ¡°The person who caused the problem?¡±

    He understood in a sh . He jumped up and said, ¡°You want me to rece Zhao Yujian to attend the exchange?¡±

    Feng Nuo¡¯s expression seemed to say this child can be taught . ¡°That¡¯s right . That¡¯s right . Just like that!¡±

    Li Yundong loudly stated, ¡°No way! I don¡¯t know taekwondo!¡±

    Feng Nuo saw that he wanted to run away . She hastily grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s arm . ¡°You already defeated Zhao Yujian . You¡¯ve surely done martial arts before . There¡¯s no reason that you can¡¯t rece him, right?¡±

    Li Yundong gave a bitter smile and said, ¡°If I trained in martial arts before, I wouldn¡¯t have been suppressed so badly by Zhao Yujian, right? That was a coincidence¡ªcoincidence, you know . Ai . Hurry up and let go . Think of what it will look like to other!¡±

    Feng Nuo tightened her grip even more . ¡°I refuse to let go! You need to agree to help first! This is a problem that you yourself caused . Are you really not going to take responsibility?¡±

    Li Yundong was so anxious that his back was soaked with sweat . In the hallway, all the students and teachers passing by were staring at them . He suddenly pointed in a random direction and shouted, ¡°Screw! Look there! It¡¯s a ne!¡±

    Feng Nuo gave a cold smile and said, ¡°Do you think this kind of childish trick can fool me?¡±

    A bitter smile upied Li Yundong¡¯s face . ¡°I really don¡¯t know taekwondo . If you make me the recement, for me to lose face is only a small matter . But if the school loses face, then it¡¯s a big matter .

    Feng Nuo was startled . Her hand subconsciously loosened from Li Yundong¡¯s arm . ¡°You really don¡¯t know?¡±

    Li Yundong with a face full of sincerely stated, ¡°Yesterday, I really wanted to go to the Taekwondo Society to learn taekwondo . However, I didn¡¯t think I would get such a heated wee, leading to those events . I also didn¡¯t want that to happen! In the end, is it right for you to drive me like a duck onto a perch?¡±*3

    Feng Nuo seriously looked at Li Yundong, trying to determine the authenticity of his words . After a long time, she said with a resentful face, ¡°You win for now! I¡¯ll let you go . However, don¡¯t feel too proud, this is not the end . ¡±

    Li Yundong bowed both with his hands in front and again with his hands at his sides . ¡°Please, little grand aunt, stop tormenting me . Look for yourself!¡±

    With those words, Li Yundong pointed to the window of the ssroom .

    Feng Nuo turned her head for a look and she started in fright!

    Woah! There were densely packed heads lined up behind the window! Some of those faces were so pressed up against the window that they were deformed .

    Feng Nuo sucked in a breath of cold air . She red at Li Yundong, calmed herself, and walked into the ssroom .

    The moment she entered, those people who were piled up against the window turned toward her in a coordinated manner .

    Feng Nuo drily coughed once . She bend her waist and bowed in apology . ¡°I disturbed everyone and caused everyone inconvenience . For this, I express my sincere apologies . ¡±

    The students inside the ssroom simultaneously replied with an affirmative sound, ¡°Oh...¡±

    Feng Nuo saw that everyone had a strange glint in their eyes . She then proceeded to exin . ¡°Actually, I came to find Li Yundong for the exchange with the Mayan university . Everyone must not think too much on it . There really isn¡¯t anything between me and him . ¡±

    Li Yundong stood by the doorway with his face in his palm, not knowing whether tough or cry . ¡®Is there really a negative corrtion between external beauty and intelligence? Su Chan is impossibly beautiful and she talks about mystifying nonsense all day long . Let¡¯s not count her . Then what about this girl? You exin my ass . This kind of thing, the more you exin, the less people will believe . ¡¯

    Feng Nuo saw the heavy doubt in everyone¡¯s eyes . She could not help but anxiously say, ¡°There really isn¡¯t anything between us . We just met yesterday!¡±

    When Li Yundong heard, he felt like going insane . He wished he could drag Feng Nuo outside and give her a spanking .

    In the ssroom, a type of expression that indicated they understood in the wrong wrong appeared in everyone¡¯s face . ¡°Oh!¡±

    Feng Nuo found that the more she exined, the more this bunch doubted her . She became truly anxious . ¡°What do I need to say to make you guys believe!¡±

    Immediately, a student scream out, ¡°No picture, no fact!¡±

    Then this bunch of male and female farm animals started shouting, ¡°We want pictures and we want facts . We want seeds and we want links!¡±*4

    ¡°Screw . There¡¯s no saving this school . They¡¯re all a bunch of sex-addled bastards! This is a straight outbeling an honest girl as a slut!¡± Li Yundong almost broke down . He charged into the ssroom dragged Feng Nuo out like he was dragging a farm animal .

    Li Yundong cursed soundly, ¡°Are you a pig? Exin, my ass! Are your brains made of glue? If this kind of thing can be clearly exined, then this world will henceforth be happy and peaceful!¡±

    Feng Nuo felt both anxiety and grievance . Even tears were about to fall out . ¡°There really wasn¡¯t anything between us originally!¡±

    Li Yundong pped forehead and moaned . ¡°My god... someonee save me . How did I meet such an idiotic woman!¡±

    Feng Nuo was offended . ¡°You think I¡¯m an idiot? You¡¯re the real idiot!¡±

    Li Yundong red and angrily said, ¡°Aren¡¯t you stupid? I heard that women with big chests are brainless, but I think you¡¯re t chested and brainless . Did all the fat that should have been in your breasts somehow get into your skull?¡±

    Feng Nuo was mad beyond measure . She was not Princess Taiping . *5 She had a cup size of C . If someone said she was big breasted and brainless, then she¡¯d let that go . At least she¡¯d have a chest . However, having been described as t chested and brainless, how could a girl endure?

    Feng Nuo stuck out her chest and angrily said, ¡°Which eye of yours thinks my chest is t!¡±

    Li Yundong wanted to say something in retort, but he saw the window and doorway squeezed full of people . Each and every one of their eyes revealed passion and frenzy, as if they wished that Feng Nuo and he would fight right here and now . Only then would they have watched to their heart¡¯s content .

    Li Yundong waved his hand, ¡°I¡¯m not going to say any more . In any case, the great me¡¯s IQ is starting to drop down along with you!¡±

    With those words, he beckoned to Su Chan who had long agoughed to the point of crouching on the floor . ¡°Hey, terrible girl, get up . It¡¯s time to go! Laugh,ugh your head!*6 Still staying around, aren¡¯t you afraid of losing face?¡±

    Su Chan wiped away some tears . She gently rubbed at her belly that still hurt from all herughing . Then she started to pursued Li Yundong .

    The only one left was Feng Nuo who stood on the spot gnashing her teeth for a while, right up until a female student arrived at her side . That female student softly said, ¡°Nuo Nuo, this time, you were really tragic . Met your match, huh?¡±

    Feng Nuo only now regained her wits and red at the girl who just arived . Then she red at Li Yundong¡¯s departing back . She resentfully said, ¡°Shut up! This bastard . I won¡¯t let him be! The great me suffered great losses this time, so I will have great gains!¡±*7

    Feng Nuo was the third year finance department¡¯s department belle . Her own family background was already quite good . Even though she had always been treated as a beloved person, a pearl on the palm, but her personality was open and lively, without a single bit of arrogance . From childhood till now, everyone protected her . When had she ever suffered such a loss?

    In particr, the fact she was called t chested and brainless by a certain someone, in some ways, this was actually a grudge even worse than killing one¡¯s father, or stealing one¡¯s husband . It was a great grudge where the two cannot exist under the same sky .

    Feng Nuo gnashed her teeth for a while . She turned her head and looked, only to see the second year ss, which was outwardly cold and inwardly passionate, was actually impatiently staring at her, waiting to watch the fireworks . Feng Nuo exploded with anger . She turned around and left . As she walked, she silently cursed at Li Yundong .

    Mumbling to herself for a while, Feng Nuo seemed to suddenly remember something . She came to an abrupt stop . Staring at her best friend beside her side, she said, ¡°Cheng Cheng, is my chest really small?¡±

    This best friend named Cheng Cheng did not say anything . She simply thrust out her F cup chest and sighed .

    Feng Nuo immediately flipped out . Grasping her five fingers into a w, she roared to the sky, ¡°The great me will kill all the women under the sky with bigger breasts than me!¡±

    Cheng Cheng hugged at her chest with her face full of rm and said, ¡°Then wouldn¡¯t you be the only woman left under the sky?¡±

    Feng Nuo pounced toward her threateningly, ¡°What did you say? Are you looking to die? Come here . The great me will crush your breasts!¡±

    Cheng Chengughed out loud . She hugged her chest and ran . One in front and one following behind, the two fought and argued as they quickly disappeared down the hallway .

    ~~~

    *1 Yes, this is literally fujoshi . It¡¯s a loan word from japanese, directly using the kanji as chinese characters .

    *2 This literally trantes to if the upper beam is not straight, the lower beam will be crooked . Of course it¡¯s really a metaphor for government officials .

    *3 Ducks have webbed feet, so it¡¯s impossible for them to be on a perch . As an idiom, it means to force someone beyond their ability .

    *4 Seed and Links could be bodily fluid and hookups... alternatively, it¡¯s a website thing, torrents and hyperlinks .

    *5 Princess Taiping ¨C taiping can mean extremely t or peaceful . She was the princess of peace, who was renowned for her beauty (it¡¯s too long ago, no one knows her cup size) . Nowadays, her name is used to describe t-chestedness .

    *6 nigetou ¨C literally your head: It is used the same way as ¡®my ass¡¯ in English .

    *7 There¡¯s a bunch of idioms in Chinese that state suffering losses is good fortune . Basically, bad luck is a prelude to good luck . For in business, losing a bit, means bigger gainster on, like investment . There¡¯s a pun in there, which is eating hair, and there might be a part I don¡¯t get the reference for, but that¡¯s how it generally is .

    T/N: Ind Nation is that ce, which is approximately the same size as Italy or California, just east of China . Of course, that¡¯s just its nick name . Often used in order to avoid directly referring to Japan . I¡¯m recing everything with alternate history in this novel, so its official name here will probably be Moon Nation or something .

 Chapter 22

    Chapter 22

    <h4>Chapter 22: Oh Brain Damaged One, No Medicine Can Cure Thee Verily</h4>

    T/N: Please look for mistakes as always . Kung fu = skill .

    Because third year finance department did not have ss this morning, Feng Nuo and her best friend Cheng Cheng joked around for a while before heading back to the ssroom for self-study .

    Feng Nuo sat on her own seat . She thought back to her conversation with Li Yundong earlier today . The more she thought about it, the more gloomy she became . The more she thought about it, the more she blushed in shame . She pulled her book closer and made like an ostrich, burying her head in her book pile . Then she started screaming out loud in pique . ¡°So embarrassing! From now on, I¡¯ll be too embarrassing to meet people!¡±

    Not long after, a male student sat down by Feng Nuo¡¯s side . This thick and sturdy junior student with two especially thick arms spoke to Feng Nuo with a fawning smile on his face, ¡°Nuo Nuo, What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Feng Nuo lifted her head to see the man who usually would not leave her alone smiling at her . She rolled her eyes in irritation . ¡°Zhou Yu, hurry up and get lost . Can¡¯t you see the great me is in a bad mood? The great me currently does not want to see you!¡±

    Zhou Yu nked for a moment . Unhappiness shed in his eyes, but he maintained the smile on his face and said, ¡°Nuo Nuo, who¡¯s troubling you? Tell me, and I¡¯ll help you cut him down to size!¡±

    Feng Nuo made a shooing gesture at him in annoyance . ¡°Shoo, shoo, shoo! The great me is on my period, all right? Now hurry up and get lost! You¡¯re not leaving? Fine, I¡¯m leaving!¡±

    Once she finished speaking, she packed up all her books in a rush, and charged out of the ssroom like a whirlwind . Her nimble movements were nothing like a girl on her period .

    Zhou Yu remained dazed on his seat, yet to regain his wits . He turned his head to face Feng Nuo¡¯s best friend, Cheng Cheng, and said, ¡°Screw . Did she eat the wrong medicine today?¡±

    Cheng Cheng giggled and her eyes spun in thought . ¡°What do you think?¡± Her fingers came together in money gesture as if rubbing bills together .

    Zhou Yu chuckled and said, ¡°Dear big sis*1, you will get your due . Tell me what the heck is going on?¡±

    Cheng Cheng poke at Zhou Yu and said, ¡°I want two VIP tickets for Golden Years!¡±

    A hesitant expression showed on Zhou Yu¡¯s face . Upon seeing this, Cheng Cheng immediately started packing up her bags . Zhou Yu hurriedly stopped her . ¡°Okay okay! Two tickets is it? No problem! Now hurry up and tell me what¡¯s going on!¡±

    Cheng Cheng agreed and told Zhou Yu what happened a while ago when Feng Nuo met with arge setback in the hands of Li Yundong . Zhou Yu immediately jumped a meter high upon hearing what happened . Flexing his wrists and pulling up his sleeves, he charged out of the ssroom .

    Feng Nuo was waiting at the doorway for Cheng Cheng toe out . She red with widened eyes at Cheng Cheng and asked, ¡°What did you say to Zhou Yu? Why is he charging out like his butt¡¯s on fire?¡±

    Cheng Cheng proudly responded, ¡°What do you think I said?¡±

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    Feng Nuo pondered for a second before answering, ¡°You told him what happened between me and Li Yundong?¡±

    Cheng Cheng snapped her finger . ¡°Bingo . In exchange for a pair of Golden Years VIP tickets, yo . ¡±

    Feng Nuo was so mad that she started tough . ¡°Are you insane? Zhou Yu is a martial artist . He trains the Iron Wire Fist! His kung fu is not inferior to Zhao Yujian at all!¡±*2

    Cheng Cheng gave a shortugh, ¡°Even Zhao Yujian was beaten into a half cripple by Li Yundong with a single punch . Are you still afraid that your little can¡¯t beat him?¡±

    Feng Nuo was mad now . She reached out and grabbed Cheng Cheng¡¯s chest . ¡°What did you just say? What little lover? Are you looking to die? You hateful big breasted girl, the great me will crush your breasts!¡±

    Cheng Cheng guarded her chest andughed heartily . ¡°Okay okay! You¡¯re afraid that Zhou Yu will suffer a loss instead . You really can¡¯t tell . Normally you¡¯re always arctic cold to him but in truth your heart is passionate like fire!¡±

    Feng Nuo jokingly berated, ¡°You little floozy, you¡¯re getting more and more out of hand! I don¡¯t care if those two stinky guys died! Hopefully, those two will take each other down so they won¡¯t annoy me anymore!¡±

    The twoughed and joked together . Cheng Cheng patted her chest . She panted as she said, ¡°You should be concerned about yourself first . As the artsmittee member of the student union, how will you make up for Zhao Yujian¡¯s absence this time?¡±

    The moment they started discussing this, Feng Nuo¡¯s mood took a turn for the worse . She looked miserable . ¡°That¡¯s right . What should I do?¡±

    Cheng Cheng was very quick-witted . She supplied ideas from the side, ¡°That¡¯s right . I heard we have junior among second years the named Zhou Qin . She is also our university¡¯s number one campus belle . Her background is also amazing . Furthermore, I heard a while ago, Li Yundong confessed to this campus belle . If you go ask her, and let her go ask Li Yundong, maybe that¡¯ll work?¡±

    Feng Nuo rolled her eyes . ¡°What kind of rotten idea is that? I, this olddy, couldn¡¯t settle the issue . *3 What can a silly little girl do?¡±

    Cheng Cheng mockingly said, ¡°Forget it . You¡¯re just older than her by a single grade, all right? Stop pretending to be a middle-aged but still attractive woman!¡±

    Feng Nuo exploded, ¡°Are you tired of living? You dare to take apart my stage!*4 The great me already said, I won¡¯t beg anyone else, so I won¡¯t go beg anyone else!¡±

    Cheng Cheng raised both her hands in surrender . ¡°Okay okay . I won¡¯t say anything anymore! Just onest thing . Even if you don¡¯t beg Zhou Qin, that¡¯s fine . But aren¡¯t you afraid that if Li Yundong and Zhou Yu fight, there really will be some kind of unexpected ident?¡±

    Feng Nuo heard what Cheng Cheng said and her expression immediately turned severe . ¡°Let¡¯s go . We need to hurry and take a look!¡±

    Li Yundong had long since escaped from the ssroom . He was really too embarrassed to go back, but he had no idea where he should go . Thus, he could only bring Su Chan along and wander around the school .

    As they wandered, Li Yundong pondered on various issues . As he thought of Director Qian wanting to expel him, he became frustrated to the point of desperately wanting to tweak his ears and scratch his cheeks .

    They wandered around randomly, eventually arriving at the school gate . Just as they left the school gate, they heard a loud voice booming through the air, ¡°Li Yundong, stop right there!¡±

    Starting some time ago, Zhou Yu had persistently sought out Li Yundong¡¯s location . However, after finding out the whereabouts of Li Yundong¡¯s ss, he did not see the fellow in the ssroom . He could only leave and continue his search by asking around .

    Luckily, Li Yundong was truly a well-known man of the moment . There were many students that could recognize him, especially considering the unforgettable impression left on people by the little fox who was like Li Yundong¡¯s shadow . Thus there were quite a number of students who pointed the way, then Zhou Yu simply followed these direction in his pursuit .

    Li Yundong paused . He turned around and took a look, only to see a 190cm or so tall male student walking toward him inrge strides .

    The moment, the male student arrived in front of Li Yundong, he reached with his fingers like hooks and tried to grab Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder .

    Zhou Yu¡¯s grab was meant to be an initial show of strength . So long as he seeds, he could easily exert control over Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder .

    Even though Li Yundong possessed Gold Pill energy, he practically had no realbat experience . How could he know the trick behind this technique?

    However, the little fox Su Chan possessed discerning eyes . The man in front of them did note with good intentions . She immediately reached out and smacked aside Zhou Yu¡¯s hand with a pow . Then she red menacingly at Zhou Yu . ¡°What are you trying to do?¡±

    Zhou Yu caught a glimpse of Su Chan and suddenly his eyes almost became vacant . He nearly lost his ability to speak . He had just wanted to say something when he remembered the intimate rtionship between Su Chan and Li Yundong . Jealousy violently reared its ugly head in his heart .

    Zhou Yu ignored Su Chan . He only stared at Li Yundong and said, ¡°Hey, what did you do to Feng Nuo today?¡±

    ¡°Feng Nuo?¡± Hearing this name, Li Yundong¡¯s head felt like it would explode . He groaned mournfully and said, ¡°If I say I never freaking did anything to her, do you believe me?¡±

    Zhou Yu saw that Su Chan was still tightly restraining his arm . Internally, he was sneering . ¡®This guy had a 80 or 90% chance of being the second generation of a nouveau riche . He only knows how to use money to deceive little girls! He already has this prettydy beside him and he dares to trouble Feng Nuo . Hateful bastard, the great me will sort you out today!¡¯

    Zhou Yu coldly said, ¡°You didn¡¯t do anything? Then how did Feng Nuo be furious like that?¡±

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes . ¡°She herself was acting brainless . She said a bunch of thoughtless things . How could that be med on me?¡±

    When Zhou Yu heard Li Yudong¡¯s reply, he seethed in anger . ¡°Very well . You heartless fellow, after performing your shameful deed, you actually med it on the girl . You are not a man . If you dare, step forward and have a duel with the great me!¡±

    When Li Yundong heard what Zhou Yu said, he held his belly and startedughing aloud . Heughed for a long time . Only when Zhou Yu could not stand it anymore and had started to act did Li Yundong stop . He forcibly suppressed hisughter and said to Zhou Yu, ¡°ssmate, you can walk straight fifty meters from here . Then take a right turn and go another one hundred meters . Next, get on the 533 bus . Get off at the Municipal People¡¯s Hospital . Finally, I rmend you go to the psychiatry department and get your brain checked . ¡±

    Zhou Yu erupted in anger . His clenched his fists tightly . ¡°What did you say!¡± After he finished speaking, his fist smashed toward Li Yundong .

    This punch was both swift and fierce . Li Yundong started in fright . However, he saw Su Chan with immensely fast reflexes move her hand to defend, stopping the attack on the side .

    Zhou Yu was blocked by Su Chan two times in a row . He was secretly bing vignt . He knew this girl had a 80 to 90% chance of being a martial artist . Moreover, her block caused his arm to hurt, so her skill was possibly even above his own!*5

    Zhou Yu did not want to conflict with Su Chan, whose beauty was enough to move anyone¡¯s heart . He could only direct his attack toward Li Yundong . He spoke in an incensed manner, ¡°Are you still a man? You only know how to hide behind a girl!¡±

    Su Chan was offended by Zhou Yu¡¯s words . She loudly said, ¡°Hey! What kind of bullshit are you spouting? Yudong isn¡¯t afraid of you . For trash like you, I only need one hand to defeat ten . Yundong could do even better!¡±

    No matter how good Zhou Yu¡¯s temper was, it could not withstand this . He scowled and red at Su Chan . ¡°What did you say?¡±

    Su Chan made a mischievous face at him, ¡°I said, for trash like you, I can easily use one hand to defeat at least ten!¡±

    Zhou Yu screamed, ¡°Shut up!¡±

    Su Chan screamed back, ¡°You shut up first!¡±

    Li Yundong turned his head and said angrily, ¡°You please shut up for me! Haven¡¯t you caused enough trouble for me already?¡±

    Su Chan started with fright . Her threatening manner from earlierpletely vanished . She obediently hid behind Li Yundong¡¯s back, without saying a word, just like a deferential young wife .

    Li Yundong turned his head back and said to Zhou Yu, ¡°Did you know, for people like you, there is a phrase from the ¡®Compendium of Medical Herb¡¯ that describes you perfectly?¡±

    Zhou Yu fixed his eyes on Li Yundong and asked, ¡°What phrase?¡±

    Li Yundong sneered and said, ¡°Already brain damaged one, no medicine can cure thee verily!¡±

    Once Su Chan heard, she burst into uproariousughter .

    Having been ridiculed, Zhou Yu was about to fly into a rage out of humiliation . Just as he was about to attack, suddenly a burst of loud verbal abuse could be heard .

    He turned to take a look, only to see arge group of gangsters quickly heading toward them . From their waist, they took out a bunch of steel rods and spanners . As they ran, they roared, ¡°Little bastard . Stay still! The great me is going to kill you!¡±

    Li Yundong could clearly tell that these people could not be anyone else . They were the ones that had chased him all the way into the university: Xie Fei, Er Lu and their fellow gangsters!

    Zhou Yu jumped in fright . Even though he was a martial artist, but he could not handle all these people . Moreover, these guys had weapons! In any case, these guys were clearly not after him . They were after the other fellow, Li Yundong!

    Zhou Yu rushed to jump out of the way . He took joy in Li Yundong¡¯s misfortune and waited to see a good show . ¡°Stupid bitch, you better run . I won¡¯tugh at you!¡±

    Li Yundong heard and his rage built up violently . This time, he did not turn around and escape .

    He recalled how he sted out more tan 500 bl of force with a single punch, sent Zeng Qing flying with a single kick, and broke Zhao Yujian¡¯s lower leg with a single punch . He also remembered the incredible strength he felt inside his body when he experimented in his living roomst night . That kind of violently hot power surged within his blood roaring passionately!

    Li Yundong¡¯s blood quickly came to a boil . There was a primordial beast charging within his meridians and blood vessels . The pupils of his eyes shrunk . The strength of his entire body seemed to increase explosively . Blood flowed as if pumped forcefully by a motor to his thigh . Then from his thigh to his lower leg . His lower leg gave strength to his muscles and tendons . His entire person rose up . One leg performed ¡®golden pheasant stands on one leg¡¯, while his other leg struck out like a battle-ax!*6

    This was a ssicalbat technique that practically appeared in every style and every school, the tornado kick .

    ~~~

    *1 this is like onee-sama or more likely anego or aneue

    *2 Iron Wire Fist is a sub-style of Hung Ga (The style used by the guy in Kung Fu Hustle with all the metal rings), which is in turn a subset of Shaolin style . In tribute to Kung Fu Hustle, I¡¯m tranting gongfu when said by Feng Nuo as ¡®kung fu¡¯ instead of skill . ¡®His skill is not inferior to Zhao Yujian at all!¡¯

    *3 Feng Nuo has always been saying [I, this old woman / This old woman] to emphasize her greatness and seniority when cursing or joking . In the past, it¡¯s always been [the great me], which is a gender neutral term . In truth, for men [I, your grandfather] / [I, your father] / [I, this old man] / etc . = [the great me] and for women [I, your mother] / [I, this olddy] / [I, your aunt] / etc . = [the great me] .

    *4 to take apart sb¡¯s stage: the original text had the Chinese idiom ¡®to take apart sb¡¯s stage¡¯, which is very simr to pulling the rug out from under sb¡¯s feet or cutting the floor from under them, but the way it¡¯s aplished is through either words or actions . There is no requirement of outdoing someone .

    *5 I wanted to say kung fu here instead of skill but in the end, I decided kung fu will only show up inside quotation marks . Another trantion for kung fu when used on cultivator is ¡®cultivation¡¯ after all .

    *6 ¡®golden pheasant stands on one leg¡¯ is a Tai Chi stance, where you stand stably... on one leg . Yes, that¡¯s all .

 Chapter 23

    Chapter 23

    <h4>Chapter 23: Say It Again If You Dare</h4>

    T/N: While I¡¯m proficient in casual Chinese, I¡¯ve never learned martial arts in Chinese, so today, I finally figured out that he was talking about a spin kick rather than a tornado kick . Honestly, Tornado kick? Hurricane kick? Those were originally various spin kicks tranted for coolness factor and poprized by street fighters and other games .

    Feng Nuo and Cheng Cheng also made their way by asked around for Li Yundong¡¯s location . When they arrived at the school gate, it just happened to be break time between lessons . There were many students out for fresh air in the school building directly facing the school gate . There were also some students who were going to the department store just outside the school for snacks . The entire ce was bustling with activity .

    Cheng Cheng¡¯s eyes were sharp . She nudged Feng Nuo who was beside her and pointed to a ce not far away . ¡°Ai, look who that is . ¡±

    Feng Nuo¡¯s gaze followed Cheng Cheng directions andnded upon Zhou Qin and Ding Nan, each of whom held a parasol, as they headed out of the school .

    Of the two girls, one wore fashionable attire that was sexy and in good taste, the other wore simple clothing that seemed youthful and pretty . They truly were like a moving piece of scenery . They attracted gazes from the surroundings wherever they walked .

    Even though Feng Nuo was a beauty, but in terms of appearance and demeanor, she was far fromparable to Zhou Qin . She said in a considerably sour tone, ¡°Why look at her?¡±

    Cheng Cheng spoke as if there was something she really could not understand, ¡°Normally, beautiful girls mostly like to find a not so pretty girl to hang out with . Why does Zhou Qin like to hang out with Ding Nan, this kind of top-notch beauty?¡±

    Feng Nuo sighed and said, ¡°A beauty like Zhou Qin does not require any green leaves to act as her foil . *1 Only a poor broken flower withered willow like me would require a girl like you to give prominence to my beauty!*2¡±

    As Feng Nuo spoke melodramatically, she posed exaggeratedly in a pitiable manner . Cheng Cheng burst out inughter .

    The two were just joking with each other, when they suddenly heard moring from the school gate .

    Cheng Cheng looked toward the sound . She instantly jump up and eximed, ¡°Li Yundong!¡±

    Feng Nuo nced over and also received a scare . She saw a bunch of gangsters armed with steel rods charging toward Li Yundong .

    Feng Nuo immediately screamed aloud, ¡°Li Yundong, run away quick!¡±

    However, just after her scream, she saw Li Yundong choosing not to run . Not only that, on the contrary, he rushed the gangsters head on . His entire person was like a windmill . One leg stayed on the ground while his other leg waved around like a battle ax . His spin kick knocked down the gangster furthest in front .

    In ssicalbat, acknowledged by the masses: The fists are like two doors, all else is based on kicking feet . *3

    Duringbat, legs will always be longer than arms!

    Li Yundong swept his leg through the air, ruthlessly hitting one of the gangsters . Before that fellow¡¯s steel rod even had a chance to touch LI Yundong, he was sent shooting outwards like a sandbag .

    That was the effect of ¡®one inch longer is one inch stronger¡¯ .

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    After sending that one gangster flying, Li Yundong had no intention of stopping . His entire person was like a spinning top . With each rotation, he performed a spin kick . With each kick, a person would be sent flying without fail!

    The surrounding students who were already frightened into a daze could only hear the whooshing of the wind caused by Li Yundong¡¯s kicks . This sound made their hairs stand on end . If they closed their eyes, they could even mistake this sound for a strong man swinging an ax with all his strength .

    Feng Nuo and Cheng Cheng were both stunned by what they saw . Cheng Cheng pulled on Feng Nuo¡¯s arm, ¡°Hey, are you sure they aren¡¯t shooting a kung fu film?¡±

    These days, the gangsters together with Xie Fei had been looking for a chance to cause trouble for Li Yundong . Today, they finally found their chance, but they did not predict that Li Yundong, this fellow, would suddenly be violent like this, as if he had taken drugs .

    Li Yundong executed several spin kicks in a row . These kicks made the gangsters tremble with fear . Some of them closed in from the sides, but did not dare to attack . They repeated peeked at their fallenrades moaning on the ground . Some of them were full of regret inside . ¡®If I knew this fellow was so difficult to deal with, I would have brought a de!¡¯

    Xie Fei stomped his feet in anger . ¡°What are you hesitating for? Attack! We have more people . There¡¯s no need to fear them!¡±

    The gangsters who had surrounded Li Yundong from all directions, front, back, left, and right, let out a roar . They waved their steel rods and charged .

    Li Yundong let out a sneer . Unintentionally, an image of the leg techniques Zhao Yujian used during their duel surfaced in his mind . Whereupon, he advanced rapidly, raised his foot high, such that the bottom of his foot was above his head, and then mmed his foot down like an ax .

    Feng Nuo eximed, ¡°Dropping Ax Kick!¡±

    Just after she spoke, she saw a gangster get smashed so hard that he was thrown onto the ground, despite defending with his arms in front of his head .

    Li Yundong smashed over one person . The gangsters on all sides had already closed in on him . He immediately turned around . His feet took small quick steps to exhibit lightning fast movement . His two feet moved like a butterfly flitting between flowers . Bam . Bam . Bam . Bam . A series of stifled impact sounds could be heard . The crowd could not even distinguish which leg Li Yundong used to kick whom . They could only see a number of gangsters already on the ground, moaning in pain .

    Cheng Cheng was stunned from watching . ¡°I think I recognize this move . Isn¡¯t this Zhao Yujian¡¯s ultimate technique, the butterfly flitting flower double flying kick?*4¡±

    Feng Nuo had a shocked expression on her face . ¡°This bastard was pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger earlier! He¡¯s this good and he dares say that he doesn¡¯t know taekwondo!¡±

    Zhou Qin and Ding Nan were currently also standing not far away . The two of them were renderedpletely speechlss . Ding Nan stupidly said, ¡°Str-strong!¡±

    While Zhou Qin did not say anything, but her widened eyes already expressed her astonishment .

    Last time, when Li Yundong fought Zhao Yujian, Zhou Qin had clearly observed that the Li Yundong¡¯s fighting skills were still clumsy and awkward . There had been no way for him to dodge Zhao Yujian¡¯s aggressive assault . He was only able to defeat Zhao Yujian due to his overwhelming brute force .

    However, with the passing of only one day, Li Yundong had suddenly be skillful atbat . Every kick was elegant and at ease yet firm and ferocious . Every technique was performed freely and naturally . Compared to Zhao Yujian who had been immersed in martial arts for many years, Li Yundong looked stronger by far!

    ¡°How is this possible?¡± Zhou Qin was secretly astonished . ¡°He clearly did not know any taekwondo a day ago!¡±

    Even though taekwondo was truly as the little fox said, possessing enormous innate ws¡ªlots of weakness and defect, making it difficult to use in realbat¡ªbut this kind ofbat technique was very beautiful to watch . Furthermore, if someone learned it in order to cope with hoodlums and gangsters, there was absolutely no problem .

    Taekwondo could be used for self-defense and its technique was beautiful to look at . It was only because of these reasons, plus the fact it could temper the body, that Zhou Qin would learn taekwondo .

    In her eyes, Zhao Yujian was already considered a pretty good expert . However, from what she just saw, if Zhao Yujian and Li Yundong dueled again, perhaps Zhao Yujian would not evenst a single blow!

    Xie Fei was dumbstruck as he looked at hispanions rolling on the ground moaning in pain . He looked at Li Yundong with widened eyes . Even if you beat him to death, he would not believe that the guy he chased until desperate like a cornered dog and forced to climb a wall would be this violent!

    ¡°W-Who the heck are you? State your name!¡± Xie Fei wanted to retreat inside, but he still had to say something to keep up appearances .

    Li Yundong smiled coldly and said, ¡°What does my name have to do with you?¡±

    Xie Fei sneered and said, ¡°Good . Very good . I see that you don¡¯t intend to stay around here anymore!¡±

    Li Yundong thought to himself that he already beat down this many people anyways, so beating up one more was not a big deal . He gave a cold smile . Just as he prepared to advance, he heard a shout from behind .

    ¡°Mud grass horse!*5 If you move, the great me will ughter her!¡± roared Er Lu . Unnoticed, he had somehow circled around behind Su Chan¡¯s back . Then he had suddenly used his arm to restrain her neck .

    Li Yundong turned around and took a look . Anger erupted inside of him . A vigorous heat charged up from the center of his chest . A pop could be distinctly heard from there, as if a cork had been removed from a bottle .

    This heat surged straight from Li Yundong¡¯s chest to the top of his head . Every strand of his hair abruptly stood on end . His eyes were so intense they nearly popped out . His entire person appeared like a raging beast . He roared in anger, ¡°If you touch a single strand of her hair . The great me will separate you into eight pieces!¡±

    Li Yundong exhibited a terrifying presence . The surrounding students were aghast without exception . They only felt that the person in front of them was like a fierce tiger standing on two feet, capable of eating humans at any time .

    Er Lu felt his heart beat in rm and his body shudder . He subconsciously wanted to turn around and run away . However, he reminded himself that he had a hostage, calming himself down . He smiled coldly . ¡°The great me will hurt her . What can you do!¡±

    Xie Fei saw that the tides had turned . He burst intoughter and said, ¡°Er Lu, good job . In a bit, we¡¯ll bring this chick back and us brother will really enjoy ourselves!¡±

    Li Yundong was so angry he was going insane . He was just about to advance when he saw Su Chan suddenly elbow Er Lu in the sr plexus . Er Lu¡¯s body bent over in pain . Su Chan immediately followed up with a high kick . The tip of her toes reached about the height of her shoulder . This kicknded on Er Lu¡¯s forehead, sending him rolling in a terrible state .

    Su Chan¡¯s technique was neat and efficient, so fast that it was too much for the eye to take in . The crowd still had not managed to react, yet they saw Su Chan defeat the gangster behind her back in a nk of an eye .

    The people in the surroundings eximed in admiration . ¡°Screw . That move was too cool!¡±

    ¡°These two are both martial artists, right? They¡¯re all so awesome, one after another!¡±

    ¡°Are they shooting a movie? Where¡¯s the camera? Where¡¯s the director?¡±

    Li Yundong hurried to Su Chan¡¯s side . He nervously asked, ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    Su Chan sweetly smiled . ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡±

    After she said that, she turned around and kicked Er Lu who was lying on the ground twice . Her kicks were aimed at his vitals without fail . ¡°You actually dared to get fresh with me . You¡¯re looking to die!¡±

    The male ssmates in the vicinity saw this and all of them felt chills inside . They could not help but clench their legs together .

    In particr, Zhou Yu who hade to cause trouble, upon seeing Su Chan¡¯s gazend near him, he subconsciously tried to avoid her gaze . Internally, he felt balls-hurt!*6

    Li Yundong hurriedly stopped Su Chan . ¡°Enough . Enough . You¡¯ll cause problems if you keep kicking . Then won¡¯t I end up paying medical fees?¡±

    Li Yundong finished speaking . He turned his head and looked, only to find Xie Fei trying to sneak away and escape . He instantly exploded in anger . He pursue at once and caught the fellow with a head of golden hair . He maliciously said, ¡°What did you say just now?¡±

    Xie Fei had been caught by Li Yundong . He did not dare attack, so he could only tense his neck and shout, ¡°You dare to attack me? Do you know who I am?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled in anger . He pped the punk . ¡°The great me doesn¡¯t care who you are! Your mother, what the heck did you just say? Say it again for the great me!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s p had caused one of Xie Fei¡¯s teeth to fly out . He roared loudly, ¡°You dare to hit me . You¡¯re dead for sure . You¡¯re dead for sure!¡±

    Li Yundong was angry to the extreme . A series of cracks . Left, left, right, right, four ps were delivered to Xie Fei¡¯s face, filling his mouth with blood . A number of teeth fell out at once . After Li Yundong finished dealing blow, he lifted Xie Fei and said, ¡°What did you just say? Say it again, if you dare .

    Xie Fei¡¯s mouth was filled with blood . He could only shout indistinctly, ¡°Good, good! Your attack is excellent . Keep it up until I die, if you dare . Otherwise, the great me will not let you rest . ¡±

    The essence, qi, and blood in Li Yundong¡¯s entire body were already ring to the limit . This state could be considered ¡®three splendor congregate on top¡¯, which just happened to be the time when one¡¯s boldness is at its peak . He was also infuriated . When he heard what Xie Fei said, his anger rose from his heart, and viciousness was birthed from daring . His hand pressed down on the top of Xie Fei¡¯s head . A malevolent smile appeared on his face as he spoke with murderous intent, ¡°You want to die? That¡¯s simple . ¡±

    With those words, he nned on twisting Xie Fei¡¯s neck until it broke .

    Li Yundong currently had his back to the crowd . The no one in the surroundings could see his face full of malevolence and desire to kill . They still thought he was trying to scare Xie Fie . However, Xie Fei could clearly see the viciousness and murderous intentions in Li Yundong¡¯s eyes . This scared him so badly that his entire body shook!

    He was too familiar with this kind of eyes . These eyes definitely reflected heartfelt desire to murder . This kind of gaze only shows up when a person decides tomit murder .

    Xie Fei was scared . He was truly scared . ¡®No matter what background I have, no matter who is supporting me, all of that required me to survive this day! This fellow, he definitely wanted to kill me for real!¡¯

    He could only feel Li Yundong¡¯s hand press down on the top of his head . ck as if even the sky above his head had been covered . There was only the darkness of death¡¯s descent in front of him .

    Xie Fei was scared out of his wits, so scared that he suffered from urinary and fecal incontinence . He started screaming sharply, ¡°Don¡¯t . Don¡¯t kill me! I was wrong! I was wrong! Please let me off!¡±

    Li Yundong stopped his hand . His eyes were fixed unwaveringly on Xie Fie . ¡°You know you¡¯re wrong?¡±

    Xie Fie glimpsed Li Yundong¡¯s electric gaze and his heart shuddered . He lowered his head and said, ¡°I know I was in the wrong . Please let me go this time . I absolutely will not dare toe again . ¡±

    Li Yundong was not a ruthless person . His rage came quickly, but it also went quickly . He loosened his hand at once and stood back up . He gave Xie Fie a kick and said, ¡°Take your them with you . Get lost!¡±

    Xie Fei did not dare to even look at Li Yundong . He onlypliantly lent a hand to his subordinates who were moaning on the ground in pain, while his other hand held onto his face . He was prepared to leave .

    Li Yundong looked at their departing backs . He suddenly shouted, ¡°Hey!¡±

    Xie Fei heard his voice and his entire body shuddered . His turned his head around while trembling, his eye deeply hid his feeling of sense of shame, ¡°Is-is there anything else?¡±

    Li Yundong took out all the money he had on him, which came to a bit more than five hundred kuai, and threw it over . ¡°I only have this much on me . Bring them to see the doctor . ¡±

    Xie Fei looked at the stack of bills that fell at his feet . He clenched his teeth and crouched down to pick it up . He said quietly, ¡°Thank you . ¡±

    After he finished speaking, he brought along his subordinates and hobbled away .

    ~~~

    *1 green leaf: Girls are green leaves and flowers . Of course the beauty of flowers be more beautiful when paired with green leaves . It shows off how special and colorful they are inparison . Obviously, there are more leaves than flowers .

    *2 broken flower withered willow: a fallen woman . A woman who fell from grace or was defeated in some way .

    *3 È­¾­ÖÐÓÐÔÆ£ºÈ­ÊÇÁ½ÉÈÃÅ,È«Æ¾½ÅÌßÈË ¨C lit . In ssical Fist there are clouds: fists are two doors, all is based on kicks by the feet: What that means is Acknowledged by many ssical styles, the hands are for defending, offense will depend on kicks .

    *4 I have no idea how to trante this poetically... it should probably be ¡®Taekwondo butterfly kick¡¯ but that wouldck the fanciness and cool factor this move is supposed to have .

    *5 Yes, it¡¯s the infamous mud grass horse (caoni ma), which sounds exactly the same as screw your mom (cao ni ma), making it a real swear, on a higher level than the various forms of ¡®your mother¡¯, which is only implicit and does not include any actual swear words . Due to Chinese river crab (he xie) or rather censoring a . k . a . Harmony (he xie), real swears cannot be used resulting in things like ¡®Grass¡¯ . This in turn gave rise to the 10 divine animals, of which River Crab (censorship) and Mud Grass Horse are two . Now if you really want to learn more about this issue, wait until Omni-Magician is tranted, then you¡¯ll encounter all of the divine animals in the Divine Church of Iron (Swords)Man... that¡¯s where I learned about them .

    *6 balls-hurt: Like pain in the balls seen in the earlier chapter . It¡¯s different from butt-hurt . Your butt isn¡¯t as important as your balls after all . If your butt hurts, you¡¯re justining . If your balls hurt, you been hit in the vitals . Of course, this only applies to male characters .

 Chapter 24

    Chapter 24

    <h4>Chapter 24: The Consequences of Offending a Beauty</h4>

    After watching Xie Fei and his men leave, Li Yundong turned around to find Zhou Yu, who hade to make trouble for him earlier, standing there in a daze . Li Yundong sneered and said, ¡°Did you want to have a duel with me? How about we have a go right now?¡±

    Having observed Li Yundong¡¯s ability, Zhou Yu felt uncertain of his chances of victory . He put on a bold face and said, ¡°You just finished a fight . Even if I win, it would have been due to an unfair advantage . ¡±

    Li Yundong was so angry that he startedughing, ¡°Are you an old granny?¡±

    He turned to face Su Chan and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go . Your mother . Today was a day of meeting crazies . ¡±

    Su Chan made an affirmative sound . She was just about to follow Li Yundong and leave, when they heard someone shout in a loud voice, ¡°Li Yundong, wait up!¡±

    Li Yundong looked back only to find Feng Nuo running toward him . His head felt like it would explode the moment he saw the girl . ¡°I say, grand aunt, what is it that you want now?¡±

    Although Feng Nuo just saw Li Yundong demonstrate incredible martial prowess, she was not afraid of him . She grabbed Li Yundong by the arm and shouted as if she had caught a thief, ¡°You dared to say that you did not know taekwondo! You were lying to me before!¡±

    Li Yundong was immediately at a loss for words . He said with a bitter smile, ¡°If I tell you that I just learned taekwondo yesterday . Will you believe me?¡±

    Feng Nuo replied, ¡°If I tell you that I don¡¯t believe you . Will you believe me?¡±

    Li Yundong begged with his waist bowed and his hands sped before him, ¡°I say, can you please let me off?¡±

    Feng Nuo also begged with her waist bowed and her hands sped before her, ¡°I say, you should just perform an act of kindness . In honor of my position as your number one fan, please agree to help!¡±

    Li Yundong did not know whether tough or cry, ¡°Then I henceforth dere you an idol . I am your number one fan, so please stop hounding me from now on!¡±

    Feng Nuo could not help but get mad . ¡°Li Yundong, no matter how you look at it . Zhao Yujian was injured by you . You need to take responsibility and you have a duty to resolve this matter! Unless you are no longer a member of this university, otherwise, I won¡¯t stoping after you!¡±

    Li Yundong raised his head and made a self-deprecating joke, ¡°In the near future, I really won¡¯t be a member of this university anymore!¡±

    Feng Nuo was shocked, ¡°What do you mean? You¡¯re going to transfer schools?¡±

    Li Yundong chuckled and said as if he were smashing an already cracked jar*1, ¡°Somebody wants to expel me!¡±

    Feng Nuo angrily said, ¡°Who? At this time, what brainless idiot wants to do that? If they want to expel you, they should wait until after the exchange!¡±

    Feng Nuo had just finished speaking, when she heard Cheng Cheng cough twice dryly from the side . Only then did Feng Nuo realize her slip of the tongue . She could onlyugh dryly a couple times toward Li Yundong who had a numb expression on his face . ¡°Who is it that wants to expel you? I have some influence in the student union . I can help you plea for leniency!¡±

    <small>Advertisement</small>

    Li Yundong looked around at the ever growing crowd around them, he lowered his voice and said, ¡°Director Qian . ¡±

    Feng Nuo made an oh sound and her face was full of realization . ¡°I understand . I will help you plea for leniency! However, you have to first promise, if I manage to help you through this, you have to help me out and be the recement!¡±

    Li Yundong thought for a bit . This transaction looked rather worthwhile . He sighed and said, ¡°But I really don¡¯t know taekwondo! What can I perform? It¡¯s not like I can perform body nk boulder break, right?¡±*2

    Zhou Yu who was on the side was waiting for a chance to speak up . He ridiculed, ¡°You only know how to put on this kind of unconventional performance!¡±

    Li Yundong was indignant; his eyebrows immediately furrowed . ¡°You¡¯re conventional? Come over here and spar with me!¡±

    Feng Nuo angrily bellowed at Zhou Yu, ¡°Get lost for me . There¡¯s no need for your input here!¡±

    Zhou Yu was forced back a step by Feng Nuo¡¯s bellow . He resentfully said, ¡°It is only due to you that I am not teaching this punk a lesson . ¡±

    Li Yundong fixed his eyes on Zhou Yu . He viciously thought inside, ¡®You¡¯ll see how I cut you down to size when I get the chance . ¡¯

    Feng Nuo said to Li Yundong, ¡°Hey, do you agree or not? Be more resolute . Give me a straight answer!¡±

    Li Yundong had been pestered till he was somewhat annoyance, ¡°Okay already . If you can help me solve that issue, I¡¯ll agree!¡±

    As he spoke, he pulled on Su Chan and turned to leave .

    Feng Nuo was so happy that the tips of her eyebrows rose in joy . She further asked, ¡°Then what program will you be performing? Brick break? nk kick? Or something else?¡±

    Li Yundong did not even look back . He impatiently waved his hand and said, ¡°It¡¯s up to you . You choose!¡±

    Feng Nuo saw that Li Yundong had left . She proudly turned to Cheng Cheng and snapped her fingers . ¡°It¡¯s settled . Like I said, there¡¯s nothing that can¡¯t be aplished once I get involved . ¡±

    Cheng Cheng was not as cheerful . She repeatedly signaled at Feng Nuo using her eyes . Feng Nuo followed her gaze and looked around . She only saw the students in the surrounding gaze at her strangely .

    Cheng Cheng sighed . ¡°You¡¯re finished . Tonight, the thread about you pursuing Li Yundong in reverse will be the hottest item on the school forums . Even if you try to exin, it won¡¯t work out . ¡±

    Feng Nuo was rendered speechless . She flew into a rage out of humiliation and said, ¡°This is all that bastard¡¯s fault! Hateful . I¡¯m so mad!¡±

    Afterward, she said to Cheng Cheng, ¡°That¡¯s right . Do you have the program registration form on you?¡±

    Cheng Cheng dug through her handbag and replied, ¡°It¡¯s here . What about it?¡±

    Feng Nuo gnashed her teeth and said, ¡°Register Li Yundong on the form!¡±

    Cheng Cheng paused . ¡°What if you can¡¯t solve the issue on Director Qian¡¯s side?¡±

    Feng Nuo snorted coldly and said, ¡°If I get involved, are there still any issue that can¡¯t be solved? Write it down . Write it down now, then submit the form to the school!¡±

    Cheng Cheng made an affirmative sound, ¡°What should I put down as his program?¡±

    Feng Nuo snorted . ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear what he said?¡±

    Cheng Cheng waspletely lost . ¡°Did he say anything before?¡±

    ¡°Body nk boulder break!¡± Feng Nuo said with augh, her face full of bad intentions . ¡°Isn¡¯t that what he personally said?¡±

    Cheng Cheng was dumbstruck . She stupidly said, ¡°Che-chest nk boulder break? What era is this? We¡¯re still going to perform that?¡±

    Feng Nuo red at her, ¡°Are you going to write or not?¡±

    Cheng Cheng had no other choice so she could only write it down . She imagined the scene of Li Yundong performing chest nk boulder break during the exchange between two universities of different nations, and she couldn¡¯t help but shudder .

    How could Li Yundong know that he had been plotted against by Feng Nuo . He had brought Su Chan along and returned home . After a long while, his roused anger finally calmed down bit by bit .

    The little fox Su Chan had followed quietly by his side the entire way . Her gaze had been fixed on Li Yundong¡¯s face, observing his emotions . She had been afraid that she would say something else wrong and anger him once more .

    Quite some timeter, Su Chan saw that despite his still displeased expression, all the anger in Li Yundong¡¯s eyes had already dispersed . Only then did she speak up, ¡°Yundong, don¡¯t be mad anymore . ¡±

    Li Yundong gave her a nce . He snorted . He thought to himself, ¡®If it weren¡¯t for this girl always saying and doing strange things, how could there be so much trouble?¡¯

    Su Chan found that Li Yundong was not talking . She used her hand to shake Li Yundong¡¯s arm . She spoke coquettishly, ¡°Aiya . Don¡¯t be angry! At worst, this one will never speak again, all right?¡±

    Li Yundong peeked at her out of the corner of his eyes and thought, ¡®How could I bear allowing you to do that?¡¯

    Su Chan saw that Li Yundong still was not talking . She puffed up her cheeks and her eyes spun around . She thought of something and tested it out by asking, ¡°Then, if I kiss you once, you can¡¯t be angry anymore, okay?¡±

    These words forced Li Yundong¡¯s sky-high anger to transform into calmly flowing water, dissipating in an instant . His heart was moved, but he was too embarrassed to immediately ept . He could only make an ambiguous affirmative sound .

    Su Chan nted a kiss on Li Yundong¡¯s face . Her movement was lightning fast and her kiss was like a dragonfly gently touching water . The sensation of those soft lips making contact with his cheek almost made Li Yundong¡¯s bones go soft .

    After her kiss, Su Chan held Li Yundong¡¯s hand and said, ¡°You¡¯re still ignoring me, mmm? What are you thinking about?¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s face was no longer taut . He ran his hand along where Su Chan kissed his cheek . With a feeling of helplessness, he said, ¡°I am wondering, what street would be better for earning money once we¡¯re forced to be beggars?¡±

    Su Chan burst out inughter . She held her belly andughed so loudly that she copse on the carpet . ¡°You really have no prospects . Why would you think about this kind of thing?¡±

    Li Yundong snorted and said, ¡°A prodigal girl like you, how could you understand the difficulties of everyday life? Come over here, let¡¯s do some ounting . Look, the TV broke, so we have buy a new one and that alone is five or six thousand, right? The hanging light needed to be reced, that¡¯s also a couple hundred, right? Before, due to the fight, that was a couple hundred in medical fees . Just thesees to almost seven thousand, right? As for Zhao Yujian, even though he was the one who started the incident, but I estimate that there¡¯s a 80 or 90% chance that I¡¯ll have to pay the medical fees . I don¡¯t know how much that will be...¡±

    He was calcting the debt, when he glimpsed Su Chan looking at him anxiously . Her face was full of worries . Herrge watery eyes shining in a way that was moving and pitiable enough to melt Li Yundong in his entirety .

    Su Chan spoke in a trembling voice, ¡°You wouldn¡¯t turn your back on me, right?¡±

    Her voice was mournful, pitiable, and sweet, enough to move even a man made of iron .

    When Li Yundong saw Su Chan, his heart was filled with regret . ¡®Did I go insane? With a foolish girl like this, what kind of ounting could I do? A girl like this should be doted on and loved . If I calcte this kind of debt with her, what kind of man am I?

    ¡®Shouldn¡¯t a man protect against wind and rain, blocking out all the bitterness and difficulties, so that only the sweetness and happiness of life is left for his beloved?¡¯

    Upon thinking this, Li Yundong could not help but feel endlessly gant on the inside . He reached out and squeezed Su Chan¡¯s delicate yet upright nose . ¡°Foolish girl, how could I turn my back on you!¡±

    Su Chan made an ¡®eya¡¯ sound and moved to avoid Li Yundong¡¯s hand . She asked, ¡°Then, is it because you don¡¯t have money?¡±

    Li Yundong decided never to mention money issues to Su Chan again . He chuckled and said, ¡°How could that be? I still have quite a bit of money . You don¡¯t need to worry!¡±

    Since childhood, his mother and father had given him quite a bit of money . He also did not have a habit of spending money extravagently, so all that money had been saved up . At this time, he had somewhere around a hundred thousand yuan . Even if the amount needed to pay the debt he just calcted was taken out, there would still be enough to make ends meet .

    As for Su Chan, she was original a little demon that did not eat the food ofmon mortals . How could she know the difficulty of earning money in the secr world . Upon hearing what Li Yundong said, she ended up believing him and stopped worrying, breaking out into a smile . ¡°You¡¯re evil . Always trying to scare me!¡±

    Li Yundong saw her smiling like a flower . He felt warmth in his heart, as if he would know no fear even when the sky falls down . He pretended to put on a displeased face and said, ¡°Then from now on, will you do as you¡¯re told?

    Su Chan nodded like a chicken pecking at rice . ¡°Chan-er will definitely do as she¡¯s told . ¡±

    When Li Yundong saw her obedient manner, he suddenly had a idea . He dryly coughed once and proceeded to speak most seriously, ¡°Very good . Now, kiss me once and I will believe you!¡±

    Su Chan giggled and said, ¡°Wasn¡¯t there already a kiss?¡±

    Li Yundong could not help but lick his lips andugh . ¡°Then, one more kiss!¡±

    Su Chan jumped up and ran into the bedroomughing . With a bang, the door shut . ¡°No! Absolutely not!¡±

    Li Yundong chased to the doorway only to be shut out . Disappointed, he drooped his head and looked at the living room carpet . Then he looked at the tightly shut door of the bedroom . He could not help but give a bitter smile . ¡°Is it possible that from now on, I¡¯m destined to be an entrance hall officer?*3¡±

    The little fox Su Chan leaned against the door . She thought about what Li Yundong said before and could not help but feel disconcerted . ¡®Aiya, this again . It can¡¯t go on like this! But everytime I want to put on a mean face and open up some distance between us, I can¡¯t make myself mean . ¡¯

    Su Chan¡¯s heart was perturbed for a while . She felt a growing annoyance . She grabbed her hair and crouched down, muttering to herself, ¡°What should I do now . Hateful!¡±

    How could Su Chan know that yin and yang attracted each other as per the nature of all things . She herself was a fox that had be a demon, and foxes were of supreme yin under heaven . Whereas Li Yundong consumed the Human Origin Gold Pill and thus could be considered supreme yang under heaven .

    Even if a normal man and a normal woman lived together, familiarity would breed fondness, let alone the two of them who were supreme yin and supreme yang . By how many times did the mutual attraction between them exceed the norm?

    Su Chan crouched on the ground, having stared nkly for a while . Suddenly, she heard Li Yundong call her name from the other side of the door .

    Su Chan started in fright . She stood up in an instant and repliedpletely flustered, ¡°What is it?¡±

    Li Yundong stood by the doorway and asked with a stutter, ¡°Today, that fellow, he... didn¡¯t manage to hurt you, did he?¡±

    Su Chan snorted, ¡°Just them? I can face off against a hundred without any problem . You don¡¯t need to worry!¡±

    Li Yundong remained silent for a while, then he said, ¡°Su Chan, next time, don¡¯t do these dangerous things yourself, understand? If something happens, you have me . ¡±

    Su Chan reflexively wanted to refute . However, without knowing why, her words were swallowed back down after reaching her mouth . She faintly felt a warmth in her heart . ¡°Yeah, I got it . ¡±

    Li Yundong responded, ¡°En . Then, I¡¯m going to sleep for a while . There¡¯s still ss in the afternoon . ¡±

    Su Chan leaned on the door and listened to Li Yundong¡¯s footsteps grow distant . She could not help but think of Li Yundong¡¯s reaction to herself being held hostage, that enraged expression and his upright hair .

    The little fox¡¯s perturbed heart slowly melted . The smile on her face slowly became warm . A pair ofrge bright eyes shed with an mysterious light . Even the little fox herself could not exin clearly the feeling she currently felt .

    However, this kind of feeling: it was sweet; it was warm; it made a person¡¯s inner heart throb .

    ~~~

 Chapter 25

    Chapter 25

    <h4>Chapter 25: Massage is Also Cultivation</h4>

    Li Yundong used the ingredients he boughtst time to make two dishes and a soup . Then he called the little fox over to eat .

    Even though it was not the first time the little fox ate Li Yundong¡¯s cooking, but she still ate ravenously . And what made Li Yundong really not know whether tough or cry was the girl¡¯s reaction when he wanted to get grab some more food, the girl actually bared her teeth at him!

    ¡°Screw, how are you still hoarding food at your age?¡± Li Yundong jokingly scolded .

    After the girl finished eating, she gave a satisfied burp . She nced at Li Yundong very apologetically and said, ¡°It¡¯s was too good!¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head and said with a smile, ¡°It looks like next time, I¡¯ll need to cook enough for four . A portion for two really isn¡¯t enough! I frankly didn¡¯t get to eat anything!¡±

    The little fox blushed, and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry . I took your portion and ate it...¡±

    Li Yundong waved it off . ¡°It¡¯s fine so long as you¡¯re full . ¡±

    The little fox lowered her head feeling shy and awkward . ¡°Actually, I¡¯m only about 30% full . ¡±

    Li Yundong fell on his butt . He stared at the little fox with a terrified expression . He picked up the empty rice pot that had been ced bottom up and showed it to the little fox . ¡°Four bowls of rice, you alone ate three of them . Are you a pig?¡±

    The little fox¡¯s lips stuck up really high into a big pout . ¡°But I really am hunngrryy!¡±

    Li Yundong did not know whether tough or cry . ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you¡¯re still growing . ¡±

    The little fox proudly thrust out her chest . ¡°This one already finished growing!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes fell upon Su Chan¡¯s perky chest . He could not resist swallowing a mouthful of saliva .

    Su Chan¡¯s personality was innocent and unaffected, in other words somewhat naturally slow . Her personality was in some ways like a child, but her figure was extremely perfect . Her height was approximately 165cm and her figure was exquisite, a thin waist, long legs, and excellent proportions from head to toe with practically no discernible w . Her body was in no way like a child¡¯s .

    She wore Li Yundong¡¯s sweatshirt . Even though these clothes were a bit loose, but her breasts still emerged as significant bulges . By Li Yundong¡¯s reckoning, they were at least D cups . Furthermore, the little fox apparently did not have a habit of wearing bras . The two bumps, which were faintly discernible on her chest, practically drove people mad .

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    Li Yundongughed wryly . He did not dare to look for long, for fear of giving in to his impulses and performing certain acts driven by his more bestial instincts .

    ¡°I¡¯ll go wash the dishes . ¡± Li Yundong stood up and clean away all the bowls and dishes on the coffee table .

    Li Yundong walked into the kitchen . He lowered his head and washed the dishes . In his head, he was recalling Su Chan¡¯s alluring appearance . For a time, he felt as if hot blood charged into his head, and his nose felt wet .

    He reflexively wiped at his nose with his hand, suddenly finding that he had a nosebleed!

    ¡°Screw, it can¡¯t be?¡± Li Yundong eximed in surprised, ¡°I can¡¯t be that useless right? Something as exaggerated as an actual nosebleed?¡±

    Su Chan heard a noise, so she walked over to take a look . She found Li Yundong with his head tilted back . Bright red nose blood ran down his neck and chest .

    ¡°You¡¯re bleeding?¡± Su Chan asked startled . She hurried over .

    Li Yundong saw Su Chaning in . He immediately turned around in embarrassment . Internally, he was almost contemting suicide . ¡®If I let this girl know that I daydreamed about her and ended up with a nosebleed, then wouldn¡¯t sheugh me to death?¡¯

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing . It¡¯s nothing!¡± Li Yundong used his hand to ward off Su Chan, not wanting to let her get close .

    On the other hand, Su Chan simply grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s arm . She gently patted the back of Li Yundong¡¯s neck, then patted the top of his head . She giggled and said, ¡°It¡¯s fine now . You can your head . ¡±

    Li Yundong experimentally lowered his head . As expected, he had recovered . He looked over at Su Chan very surprised, ¡°You cured me just by patting me twice? How is it so amazing?¡±

    Su Chan smiled and said, ¡°That¡¯s right . My master taught me . ¡±

    Li Yundong praised, ¡°Your master really is a capable person . ¡±

    Immediately after, Li Yundong thought of something . He hurriedly exined, ¡°These days, the weather is stuck on dry heat . That¡¯s why I have a nosebleed . Don¡¯t over think it!¡±

    The little fox replied all smiles, ¡°It¡¯s fine . I know . I know everything!¡±

    Internally, Li Yundong wanted to cry but had no tears . ¡®Ah? She understands everything? This is bad . My image is done for!¡¯

    The little fox was actually thinking inside, ¡®Li Yundong having a nosebleed now is not a good thing . ¡¯

    People will have nosebleeds under several conditions . The first condition is that the nose cavity has experience blunt force trauma, so the capiries have ruptured . The second condition involves intense changes in temperature between cold and hot, when pores meet sudden heat, they would expand and rupture . The third condition is that the body¡¯s qi is unable to control the blood .

    Li Yundong should be of the third condition .

    Blood and qi . Blood and qi . Qi is themander of blood, leading the blood in one¡¯s body . Only when a person¡¯s qi is sufficient would their blood flow quickly, allowing the necessary nutrients to be carried by the blood to every corner of the body .

    If the person¡¯s qi is not sufficient, then it would cause the blood to flow slowly, whereupon the blood vessels and other tissues would start clogging, causing a plethora of health problems .

    The blood vessels in the human nose are the weakest blood vessels in the human body . The moment a problem with the body¡¯s qi appears, it would often be reflected upon these blood vessels .

    The reason Li Yundong would suffer from nosebleed is because the qi in his body is too vigorous . Moreover, the previous incident, when his anger pushed to hair upright, caused agitation to the qi of Li Yundong¡¯s entire body . From then on, the qi drove all the blood in his body to flow rapidly, much like a speeding train that is unable to control its momentum . As a result, this caused his nose blood to overflow .

    Therefore, when the little fox saw Li Yundong having a nosebleed, she found it to be a very normal urrence, but it also indicated that the qi in Li Yundong¡¯s body was chaotic, thus it could not control the blood flow, which was why he had a nosebleed .

    Su Chan waited until Li Yundong finished the chores and sat down . Then she came to his side and asked in a lovable coquettish manner, ¡°Let me give you a massage, all right?¡±

    Li Yundong was delighted . His gloominess from before was tossed beyond the horizon . He thought, ¡®After eating a meal with a beauty, there¡¯s actually also this kind of perk . This is truly the life of a divine immortal . Lovers are enviable but immortals are not!¡¯

    Li Yundong wanted to sit down on the sofa, but Su Chan asked him to sit cross-legged on the carpet . She stood behind Li Yundong¡¯s back and gently gave him a massage .

    However, this time Su Chan did not use the ¡®tri-pronged blossom¡¯ teique . This was because the three blossoms congregate on top was originally the state when a person¡¯s essence, qi, and blood were most vigorous . At that time, a person is easily angered and annoyed . The imposing presence disyed during the state of anger pushing hair upright is based on this principle .

    Right now, Li Yundong¡¯s qi was chaotic throughout his body . His blood flowed quickly . He was currently hot-tempered and impatient . If the state of three blossoms congregate on top were added onto that, Li Yundong would probably leak from from his seven apertures*1 .

    Therefore Su Chan secretly circted the supreme yin qi in her body, then she pped down the palm of her hand toward the Baihui acupoint on Li Yundong¡¯s head, and started to gently knead, thirty-two rotations clockwise and thirty-two rotations counterclockwise .

    The Baihui acupoint is first among all acupoint . It is the topmost acupoint in the entire body, like the air vent on top of a pressure cooker . When this acupoint is stimted, all the other acupoints of the body would resonate, hence allowing an effect like pulling one hair to move the entire body .

    Su Chan injected her own body¡¯s yin qi through Li Yundong¡¯s Baihui acupoint into his body, much like Buddhism¡¯s anointing one¡¯s head with the purest cream, allowing his even now excited and surging qi and blood to slowly calm down .

    Li Yundong only felt what seemed like pure spring water pour through the top of his head and make its way down his body . Strands of chilly qi permeated every blood vessel, every strand of hair . Under the influence of this pleasant sensation, he could not resist letting out a long groan .

    ¡°Toofortable...¡± Li Yundong sighed .

    Su Chan scolded him with a rarely seen solemn face, ¡°No talking allowed!¡±

    Li Yundong immediately shut his mouth . He did not speak . He closed his eyes to enjoy the experience .

    After Su Chan kneaded the Baihui acupoint, she rubbed her palms together, warming them up, and then she sped the palm of her hands against Li Yundong¡¯s ears . Her palms pressed in, covering Li Yundong¡¯s two ears . After holding them for a while, her palms abruptly pulled away .

    With this pull, Li Yundong just felt that his ears went pop, as if the pent-up qi in his body had been pulled loose . A cool qi rose directly from his lower abdomen and entered his brain, causing his entire body to advance in the direction of unimpeded spirit and bnced qi . He felt keen and alert .

    Li Yundong was quite curious inside, he was also full of admiration . He did not know why Su Chan knew so many massage techniques, moreover every single technique produced instant effects¡ªit was extremely miraculous .

    He wanted to ask but he was also afraid that asking would make Su Chan unhappy . He ended up with a strange expression on his face . His pupils continuously flicked upwards .

    The little fox seemed to have guess what Li Yundong thought inside, so she said, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you about itter . For now, don¡¯t ask and don¡¯t think about it . Close your eyes and rest . Let your mind be nk . Don¡¯t think about anything . ¡±

    Li Yundong nodded and closed his eyes, allowing Su Chan fully demonstrate her massage skills .

    Su Chan¡¯s jade hands flew back and forth: on the top of Li Yundong¡¯s head, on his shoulders, on his back, all kinds of important acupoints were pressed or patted, rubbed or kneaded . The pressure exerted by her arms was sometimesrge sometimes small .

    When the pressure wasrge, Li Yundong experienced a type of satisfaction that fell upon him endlessly like water from a waterfall . There was no pain, instead there was a immensely enjoyable feeling of release, as if he were drinking fine wine . This feeling of rejuvenation made him want to shout out .

    When the pressure was small, Li Yundong felt like he was soaking in a hotspring . This warmth was cozy, as if he were drinking fine tea . This feeling offort made him want to moan .

    In the cultivation world, this technique was a middle level massage technique named ¡®butterfly plucking flower field¡¯ .

    While the name is romantic, but its actual meaning was simply a butterfly gently plucking pollen from a flower, that kind of sudden push, a single contact and departure . This can circte the masseur¡¯s origin qi, and also, at the same time drive the cirction of the other party¡¯s blood .

    Not long after, Li Yundong was lost infort that henguidly feel asleep .

    When Li Yundong fell asleep, Su Chan came to a stop . One of her hands was pressed on the Baihui acupoint at the top of Li Yundong¡¯s head . She herself motionlessly watched Li Yundong, observing the qi and blood flow within his body .

    At this time, all the essence, qi, and blood in Li Yundong¡¯s body had been circted by Su Chan¡¯s massage technique, such that it was involuntarily circting a microcosmic orbit . While this method of cultivation looked very easy and natural, after all, who did not know how to sleep?

    But in truth, this kind of cultivation was the most dangerous .

    Due to the fact qi and blood did not have any awareness, before meridians of the body werepletely unblocked, their cirction would be random and chaotic . Like water flowing on messy wastnd, a single slip can cause qi and blood to flow from one meridian to another, from one acupoint to another, causing a true disaster in the form of a devastating flood .

    This is also known as the most terrifying thing in cultivation, qi deviation .

    Only people who have undergone cultivation and unblocked their own meridians, turning wastnd into a series of rivers, the qi and blood of these people would circte on their own following the already established river banks . At that time, cultivation will no longer require an outside observer to protect against missteps .

    The reason why cultivation is difficult like stepping into the sky is actually because it is very difficult for cultivators to find someone that they can absolutely trust, pairing off into daopanions for dual cultivation .

    And if a person finds a daopanion and undergoes dual cultivation, then their cultivation would only need half the work to bring about twice the effect .

    Li Yundong¡¯s current state was like this . He had the Human Origin Gold Pill to serve as his umtion and groundwork . He also had the little fox Su Chan at his side soundlessly guiding him along, if his current circumstance was made known to other other cultivators struggling bitterly on the road of cultivation, each and every one of them would be so jealous that their teeth would shatter from how hard they bit down .

    Every time the qi and blood in Li Yundong¡¯s body showed signs of disruption and instability, Su Chan would use her other hand to press down on the acupoint in front of that particr qi flow . Then, the qi in Li Yundong¡¯s body would seem to gain awareness and flow ording to Su Chan¡¯s directions .

    Like this, the microcosmic orbit was circted sixteen time . Afterward, Li Yundong slowly woke up . He let out a long breath of air . The qi in his mouth was like a straight sword as it flew outward .

    He sighed, ¡°If I get massaged like this everyday, then I really will be like a divine immortal!¡±

    At his side, the moment Su Chan heard, her eyes lit up, she hurried asked, ¡°Then, from now on, I¡¯ll give you a massage everything, all right?¡±

    ~~~

    *1 In Chinese medicine, the seven apertures are 2 eyes, 2 ears, 2 nostrils, and 1 mouth .

 Chapter 26

    Chapter 26

    <h4>Chapter 26: In Order to Cultivate, One Must First Be Resolved</h4>

    T/N: I don¡¯t like Li Yundong because he¡¯s too worldly . On the other hand, he seems like a real person with real prejudices as opposed to your usual xianxia cutout .

    Li Yundong heard what Su Chan said . He was both startled and delighted . He spoke in a rather minced manner, ¡°This is not really appropriate, right?¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s head nodded like a rattle-drum . ¡°It¡¯s fine . It¡¯s fine . ¡±

    Li Yundong attentively sized up Su Chan . He noticed that after the massaged, the girl¡¯s face was red, and there was a thinyer of sweat on the tip of her nose and her forehead, as if she were rather tired .

    Li Yundong felt both apologetic and thankful . ¡°Let¡¯s talk about itter . Look at you, you must be tired . You¡¯ve worked up quite a sweat . ¡±

    ¡°Sweat?¡± Su Chan used the back of her hand to wipe at her forehead . Taking a look, sheughed and said, ¡°This is the sweat that has been forced out by the body¡¯s qi cirction . It¡¯s not because I¡¯m tired . ¡±

    ¡°The body¡¯s qi cirction?¡± Li Yundong suddenly recalled the previous incident when Su Chan easily took down Er Down . He asked, ¡°Su Chan, how do you know these things? Did you master teach you?¡±

    Su Chan nodded with a face full of pride and said, ¡°That¡¯s obvious . My master is really powerful!¡±

    Li Yundong asked, ¡°Then your traditional medicine and massage technique, those were also taught by your teacher?¡±

    Su Chan pondered for a bit . She thought to herself, ¡®What my master taught me was cultivation . However, medicine is used to convey dao . Dao is expressed in medicine . Putting it your way isn¡¯t wrong either . ¡¯

    Thus, Su Chan nodded . ¡°That¡¯s right . ¡±

    Li Yundong praised, ¡°Your master really is a remarkable person . ¡±

    When the little fox heard Li Yundong praise her master, she beamed with delight . ¡°Of course . My master is super beautiful!¡±

    Li Yundong asked curiously, ¡°Your master is prettier than you?¡±

    Su Chan smiled so happily that her eyes became lines . ¡°My master is a hundred times more beautiful than me . ¡±

    Li Yundong burst intoughter, ¡°More beautiful than you by a hundred times? That¡¯s impossible! In this world, how could a woman that beautiful exist . I don¡¯t believe it . ¡±

    The little fox red and eimed, ¡°It¡¯s true!¡±

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    Li Yundong squeezed the little fox¡¯s nose with a doting and indulgent expression on his face . ¡°In my eyes, the most beautiful woman in this world can only be you . ¡±

    The little fox lowered her head in embarrassment . ¡°How can that be . I¡¯m rather ugly...¡±

    Li Yundong angrily said, ¡°Who said that?¡±

    Su Chan pouted her lips . ¡°My master said that!¡±

    Li Yundong was startled . He broke out in involuntaryughter . ¡°It can¡¯t be? That¡¯s surely your master being jealous of you! That¡¯s why she said you look ugly!¡±

    From the moment she was born, the little fox Su Chan cultivated in the mountains . Before meeting Li Yundong, the number of people she met could be counted on her two hands with room to spare . How could she tell apart this world¡¯s beauty and ugliness?

    Since childhood, Su Chan had never heard anyone praise her beauty, thus she never felt that she was beautiful . On the other hand, her master had warned her many times not to show off her appearance, and struck multiple blows against Su Chan¡¯s confidence in her appearance . Only through this did Su Chane to think that she was not beautiful, and thus causing her worries of Li Yundong turning his back on her .

    Having suddenly heard Li Yundong say bad things about her master, Su Chan reflexively retorted, ¡°Nonsense, my master would not do that to me! She is the number one good person under the heavens . ¡±

    Li Yundong deliberately put on a displeased expression and asked, ¡°Then what about me?¡±

    Su Chan stammered in embarrassment and apology, ¡°You are the number two good person to me under the heavens . ¡±

    Li Yundong had a disappointed expression . ¡°Only number two?¡±

    Su Chan stuck out her tongue . Then, acting as if her master were beside her, she spoke quietly as though she weremitting a crime, ¡°Hey, I¡¯ll secretly tell you . My master is actually really mean to me, even though I know she¡¯s doing it for my own good . If you try a bit harder, perhaps you can surpass my master and be the number one good person to me!¡±

    Li Yundong found what Su Chan had said really amusing . He burst out inughter . Grabbing Su Chan, he dragged her to dressing table in the bathroom . Then he pointed to Su Chan¡¯s face in the mirror and said, ¡°Look at yourself . ¡±

    Su Chan wash her face and brushed her teeth here every day . Of course she had seen her own face . She blinked and said, ¡°I see myself, so what?¡±

    Li Yundong spoke with a smile from his position next to Su Chan¡¯s face, ¡°Look at yourself: a charming oval face, a pair of watery elegant eyes, brilliantly red cherry lips, and a body of tender snow white skin . How many women dream of having an appearance and figure like yours . Even with stic surgery, they will not be able topare to your beauty . Those movies stars whenpared to you, they will feel so ashamed that they¡¯d want to die . ¡±

    Su Chan had been praised by Li Yundong to the point where her heart beat like a flighty deer, her face blushed, and she gazed at her reflection in the mirror in a stupor . She subconsciously felt that she did indeed possess a tiny bit of beauty .

    ¡°Am I really that beautiful?¡± Su Chan murmured .

    Li Yundong gazed deeply at Su Chan, ¡°Of couse, that¡¯s why I said in the world, it¡¯s impossible for there to be someone a hundred times more beautiful than you . Your master must be jealous of your beauty . ¡±

    Su Chan was still unwilling to heard anything bad about her master fro Li Yundong . She pouted and said, ¡°That¡¯s wrong . My master is a true great beauty . In the future, when you meet her, you will know . ¡±

    Li Yundong only smiled . He did not refute what Su Chan said .

    After Su Chan finished speaking, she suddenly understood the true meaning of warning her master repeatedly gave her while she was still cultivating in the mountain, ¡®If one day should she journey through the mundane world, then she must not show off her appearance ostentatiously . ¡¯

    Since ancient times, great beauty disastrous beauty would attract the envy of the heavens . The little fox obviously understood the meaning of this phrase . She suddenly understood the great pains taken by her master in passing this phrase to her . Her master was afraid that she wold encounter evil cultivators with sinister intentions who would covet her beauty .

    Thinking of this, Su Chan suddenly missed the kindness of her master . For a time, her eyes brimmed with tears .

    At her side, Li Yundong watched not knowing what to do with his limbs . ¡°Hey hey, you were just fine; why are you crying now?¡±

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong tearfully and said, ¡°I miss master . ¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s entire body shook . Looking at Su Chan, for a long time, he had nothing to say . His eyes were filled with pain and indecision . After a long time, he bit down and let out a breath of air . ¡°Then, you should go back and see her...¡±

    Su Chan was rmed . She grabbed Li Yundong and asked, ¡°You don¡¯t want me anymore?¡±

    Li Yundong nked out for a bit . ¡°Wasn¡¯t it you that wanted to leave?¡±

    Su Chan wiped away her tears and angrily said, ¡°Who wants to leave?¡± Internally she thought, ¡®I haven¡¯t stolen yang toplement yin yet!¡¯

    Li Yundong¡¯s sorrow turned to joy . He smiled and said, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you missed your master?¡±

    Su Chan made a mischievous face . ¡°I was only saying . ¡±

    When Li Yundong saw the somehow angry yet somehow happy appearance of the little fox, his heart truly loved her to the extreme . He suddenly thought of something . Letting out a breath of air, he said, ¡°Right now, you know that you¡¯re a great beauty, right?¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s mood was as mercurial as the weather in April, overcast skies could clear up in a blink of an eye . She giggled and said, ¡°If you say so, then that¡¯s how it is!¡±

    Li Yundong stupidly stared at Su Chan . He sighed and said, ¡°A beautiful girl like you, in the future, there will definitely be lots and lots of men pursuing you . If, I¡¯m just saying if, there is a day when you no longer want to be with me, then you must tell me ahead of time!¡±

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong strangely . ¡°Why would I no longer what to be with you?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled wryly, ¡°I¡¯m not handsome . I don¡¯t have money . I also don¡¯t have rich parents . ¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s expression became stranger . ¡°What does this have to do with me no longer wanting to be with you?¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s smile became even more bitter . ¡°Aren¡¯t the girl nowadays all like that?¡±

    Su Chan was very resolute in saying, ¡°That¡¯s because they have eyes but cannot see! In my opinion, you are the best person in the world!¡±

    Li Yundong upon hearing these word, suddenly felt an impulse to cry . There was a soreness in his heart . He was overwhelmed by emotions . He forced himself to smile, ¡°How did I be the best? Did I surpass your master that fast?¡±

    Su Chan stuck out her tongue . ¡°The food you make is much more delicious than the food my master makes!¡±

    Li Yundong burst outughing, but there was still an anxiousness in his heart . He could not help but ask, ¡°You really won¡¯t leave me?¡±

    Li Yundong fixedly started at the girl¡¯s eyes, wanting to see her true feelings through her eyes .

    Su Chan fixedly stared at Li Yundong . She said with her smiling face like a flower, ¡°I¡¯m actually worried that you¡¯d leave me . But actually, you started worrying instead . ¡±

    Li Yundong asked, ¡°Why would I leave you?¡±

    Su Chan sighed . She timidly looked at Li Yundong . ¡°I caused you a lot of trouble . I¡¯m really afraid that you¡¯ll think I¡¯m just a bundle of problem and decide to throw me away . ¡±

    Li Yundong started tough . He sighed and patted Su Chan¡¯s head, ¡°A girl like you, even if you poke a hole through the sky, there won¡¯t be anyone with the heart to me you . ¡±

    Su Chan heard these words andughed in response . ¡°Then you¡¯re saying, you won¡¯t me me?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t me you!¡± Li Yundong said with a smile .

    Su Chan wrapped around Li Yundong¡¯s arm and rocked it back and forth, beaming in delight . ¡°I knew you were the best!¡±

    Li Yundong simply felt a warmness in his heart . He looked at Su Chan, like he saw the world¡¯s most precious treasure . In his mind, he thought, ¡®In this modern world, girls like her are pracitically extinct . Li Yundong, oh, Li Yundong, you need to cherish her properly, otherwise five strikes of lightning will descend from heaven to punish you!¡¯

    To love a girl, one should strive for her sake!

    Li Yundong suddenly felt he should not continue living in such a haphazard manner . He should strive to earn money, and find a way to stand above his peers, for Su Chan¡¯s sake, and moreover, for his own sake .

    ¡®Su Chan . I definitely won¡¯t let you down!¡¯ Li Yundong thought with resolution firm enough to cut through steel . *1 ¡®I will surely be an outstanding individual, and prove that you made the right choice . ¡¯

    Even though Li Yundong did not know the real reason why Su Chan wanted to stay by his side, but this beautiful misunderstanding helped Li Yundong make his decision, and be set in his resolve .

    Once a person had resolve, the essence, qi, and spirit of their entire body would change .

    Su Chan simply felt an incredibly heroic presence radiate outward from Li Yundong¡¯s body in an instant . The light in his eyes glowed brightly . His pupils were distant and contained hidden depth . Su Chan had only seen this type of presence on her martial uncle . This was a type of loftiness that indicated a confidence to achieve victory over all creation .

    Among cultivator, due to a glut of knowledge on the frightening might of heaven and earth, therefore all cultivators tended to hold an extreme respect for heaven and earth . However, this was not beneficial for cultivation .

    Cultivator focused on ¡®changing fate and recing heaven¡¯ . Ge Hong*2 of the Pill Cauldron School believe that ¡®man can conquer nature¡¯ . A person must have a loftiness to achieve victory over heaven and earth, to achieve victory over all creation . This was the optimum state for cultivation .

    And the current Li Yundong was in such a state .

    Resolve, resolve, once a person finds their resolve, the origin qi inside their body would automatically circte, causing them to release a distinct and extraordinary presence .

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong in a daze . She had a sudden thought, ¡®If Li Yundong could truly cultivate, based on his current condition, plus assistance from the Human Origin Gold Pill, in the future wouldn¡¯t there be a new rarely-found super expert making his appearance in the cultivation world?¡¯

    When this notion appeared in her head, Su Chan nked out . She hurriedly repeated to herself, ¡®No way . No way . Like that wouldn¡¯t my Human Origin Gold Pill be wasted?

    ¡®However... if the Human Origin Gold Pill were given to Li Yundong, it no longer felt as unbearable as before...¡¯

    Su Chan keenly felt the change in her own heart . As of that moment, she was gue by uncertainty .

    ~~~

    *1 Õ¶¶¤½ØÌú ¨C lit . cut nails and slice steel: fig . (speak/vow/decide/etc . ) with powerful unhesitating resolve

    *2 Jin dynasty Daoist (real life cultivator) and alchemist

 Chapter 27

    Chapter 27

    <h4>Chapter 27: Cultivation Starts With Massage!</h4>

    T/N: I¡¯m not fully happy with this chapter. Some of the wording was difficult and left me unsatisfied. But, there¡¯s no more time before I have to leave so...

    Li Yundong did not know what Su Chan was thinking inside. As he looked at the beautiful, lovable, cute and adorable girl before his eyes, there was an inexpressible fondness and adoration in his heart. Recalled her diligent disy when giving him a message, an idea formed in Li Yundong¡¯s head. He said, ¡°Su Chan, how about I give you a massage too?¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s words allowed Su Chan to temporarily break away from her uncertainty. She looked at Li Yundong in confusion, ¡°I don¡¯t need a message though?¡±

    Li Yundong said with a smile, ¡°Your massage technique is too amazing. Just consider it as you teaching me!¡±

    This was one of the rare times when Li Yundong wanted to learn from her. The little fox thought for a bit before she said with a nod, ¡°All right then. However, you don¡¯t know how to circte qi!¡±

    Li Yundong said in puzzlement, ¡°Massage requires circting qi? Doesn¡¯t massage only require knowledge of the right positions and acupoints and the right hand technique to work?¡±

    Su Chan burst out intoughter, ¡°That¡¯s the lowest level of massage. In ¡®Yellow Emperor¡¯s Internal Canon¡¯, it is mentioned that massage is a type of technique used to clear and activate the meridians and coterals.*1 Without understanding the proper way to circte qi in the body, it bes impossible to achieve the effect of treating disease and alleviating pain through massage. Without knowing how to circte one¡¯s own qi in order to guide and adjust the other person¡¯s qi, it bes impossible to achieve the effect of cultivation and refinement of qi...¡±

    Li Yundong listened up until here. He curiously asked, ¡°Cultivation and refinement of qi? Is it that mystical?¡±

    The smile on the little fox¡¯s face stiffened. Vignce secretly surfaced in her heart. ¡®That was dangerous. I almost exposed my identity.¡±

    She hurriedly changed the topic. Holding her hand in a certain form, she said to Li Yundong, ¡°Do you remember the massage I gave you before?¡±

    Li Yundong nodded and praised, ¡°Of course I remember. If you start giving out massages, then all the masseurs in the world will be forced to retire.¡±

    Su Chan said, ¡°The very first time, the technique on you is called the tri-pronged blossom.¡±

    After she said that, Su Chan pressed on several acupoints on the top of Li Yundong¡¯s head. Then she demonstrated and exined her hand form.

    After Li Yundong had managed an excellent likeness to her form, he smiled and said, ¡°Should I try it now?¡±

    Su Chan said in annoyance, ¡°Do you really think it¡¯s that easy? Now, close your eyes. Try to feel the flow of qi inside your body.¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°You make it sound like learning qigong!¡±*2 However, he still did as she asked.

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    Unfortunately, after closing his eyes, he still could not feel the flow of qi inside his body.

    Su Chan asked, ¡°Can you feel it?¡±

    Li Yundong opened his eyes and shook his head.

    Su Chan used her hand to cover up Li Yundong¡¯s eyes. She said, ¡°Close your eyes. Try again!¡± As she spoke, she put her hand on Li Yundong¡¯s lower abdomen and used yin qi to stimte the yang qi inside his body.

    His lower abdomen was extremely close to hisher region. When Su Chan¡¯s hand pressed down, Li Yundong did indeed feel a burst of heat or rather hot qi surge directly upward from hi lower abdomen. However, this heat also made his little buddy down there rapidly stand to attention.

    Li Yundong bitterly smiled and said, ¡°I think I can feel it...¡±

    It was currently daytime. Su Chan could naturally see at a nce the little tent that had formed down there. For a time, her heart beat like drum. She forced herself to pretend to be calm and said, ¡°You must use your thoughts and slowly guide that hot qi toward your hand.¡±

    Li Yundong closed his eyes and tried to guide that burst of hot qi toward his hand. However, no matter what he thought, no matter how intensely he thought, this hot qi continued to circle inside his chest, showing no signs of heading toward his hand.

    Li Yundong helplessly said, ¡°It¡¯s not use. I can¡¯t guide it over.¡±

    Su Chan considered the problem. She secretly mumbled to herself, ¡®Master once said, cultivation has nine greater realms. The first three realms of Mortal Body, Qi Refinement, and Spirit Condensation are the very basics. They are also the basic realms that everyone in this world could cultivate. Li Yundong has the assistance of the Human Origin Gold Pill, allowing him to directly break through the what a normal person would need several years or possibly ten and several years of cultivation to achieve, the Mortal Body realm.

    ¡®The qi in Li Yundong¡¯s body was vigorous to an unthinkable degree. Normally, if he were willing to cultivate, then the realm of Qi Refinement would also be quickly broken through, allowing him to enter the third realm of Spirit Condensation.

    ¡®Furthermore, based on the presence and resolution Li Yundong demonstrated earlier, passing through the Spirit Condensation stage also would not pose a challenge.

    ¡®Once he breaks through the Spirit Condensation stage, this step would signify that Li Yundong had officially transformed from an ordinary mortal into a true cultivator, stepping into the fourth realm of Foundation Establishment.

    ¡®Foundation Establishment is an extremely difficult dividing line to cross. It separates people into two types: one type is the ordinary mortal and the other type is the cultivating immortal. Since ancient times, there had been countless cultivators who had fallen to this barrier, unable to cross over, doomed to vanish in the river of time.

    ¡®Could Li Yundong sessfully take that step? He had the assistance of the Human Origin Gold Pill. There should be no problems, right? If he steps over, what level of aplishments will he achieve?¡¯

    Su Chan¡¯s gaze remained fixed on Li Yundong, a myriad of thoughts in her mind.

    Li Yundong waited for Su Chan to reply for a while, only to find she did not reply. So he opened his eyes and asked puzzled, ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    Su Chan as if waking up from a dream said, ¡°Rx your body, only think about the position of your finger. The qi in your body will naturally flow over.¡±

    Li Yundong was astonished. ¡°That amazing?¡±

    He skeptically closed his eyes and tried to think about his fingertips. However, after he thought for a while, he found the qi in his body still had not moved. Somewhat frustrated, he opened his eyes and said, ¡°It still doesn¡¯t work.¡±

    Su Chan patiently exined, ¡°You have too many distracting thoughts. You need to imagine that you are the only person in the world. Nothing else exists. I do not exist either.¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°With a great and wonderful smelling beauty like you by my side, even if I close my eyes, it¡¯s impossible not to notice your existence.¡±

    Su Chan was displeased. She furrowed her brows and said, ¡°Do you really want to learn?¡±

    Li Yundong realized that Su Chan was unhappy. He quickly put on a serious expression. ¡°I want to learn!¡±

    After saying so, he closed his eyes and once more tried to guide the qi in his body. As he tried, he listened to Su Chan¡¯s soft voice by his ear, ¡°Breath deeply. Empty your thoughts. Think of nothing.¡±

    Li Yundong inhaled deeply. This breath made his entire body feelfortable, as if his whole person was soaking in a gentle hot spring. This kind of feeling was intangible and mysterious, possessing miraculous feeling that could not be described.

    He subconsciously thought about his fingertips. Instantly, a burst of warm qi inside his body moved toward his fingertips.

    Li Yundong was overjoyed. He opened his eyes and shouted, ¡°I can feel it! I can feel it!¡±

    His face showed an insanely excited expression. ¡°Qi really did go to my fingertips!¡±

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong like she did not know whether tough or cry. She smacked Li Yundong on the top of his head. ¡°Close your eyes. Only this much aplishment and you¡¯re already beside yourself with joy. Keep experiencing this sensation, until you can freely move this qi. The qi should flow where you want the qi to flow.¡±

    Li Yundongughed. He closed his eyes and moved the qi in his body back and forth like achild having found an interesting toy. Like he were a general directing an army, never growing tired of the sensation.

    Su Chan noticed the cheerful expression on Li Yundong¡¯s face. The qi in his body would move back and forth. She hurriedly stopped him and said, ¡°Enough already. If you can control it then that¡¯s enough.¡±

    Li Yundong opened his eyes and asked, ¡°Su Chan, did you also practice this?¡±

    Su Chan smiled and said, ¡°Of course!¡±

    Li Yundong asked, ¡°How long did you practice before you could control the qi in your body freely?¡±

    Su Chan thought for a moment. She very proudly said, ¡°Approximately five days more or less.¡±

    Li Yundongughed heartily. He said immensely proud of himself, ¡°I managed in less than five minutes. Doesn¡¯t that mean I¡¯m a genius?¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s face fell in an instant. She angrily though in her mind, ¡®Isn¡¯t that because you stole my Human Origin Gold Pill? Otherwise, even if you practice for five years, you still might not get it.¡¯

    Su Chan was unhappy inside. She pulled an exaggerated grimace on Li Yundong and angrily said, ¡°What are you proud about. Now that you know how to circte qi, you can try out the massage technique I taught you!¡±

    When Li Yundong saw that Su Chan¡¯s mood flipped after than a book, he started in fright. He thought, ¡®Howe she suddenly became hostile? Did I say something wrong?¡¯

    Once Su Chan sat down cross-legged, Li Yundong pressed down on Su Chan¡¯s Baihui acupoint, Shenting acupoint, and her temples ording to the Tri-pronged Blossom technique Su Chan taught him.

    Li Yundong stood behind Su Chan. He noticed that even though Su Chan sat cross-legged, her posture made her thin waist even more apparent. Her butt was round and full bodied. Li Yundong¡¯s gaze moved upward and discovered thin and soft virgin down on the girl¡¯s neck. Her neck was slender and long, appearing proud and noble like a swan. Under the sunlighting through the balcony, Su Chan seemed as perfect as a statue carved from white marble.

    Li Yundong looked at her in a daze. For a time, he forgot to move. Su Chan noticed that he was not moving. She turned around and took a look, asking in puzzlement, ¡°What happened? Why are you dazed?¡±

    Li Yundong praised, ¡°You truly are beautiful.¡±

    There are no girls in this world who do not love being praised. Su Chan naturally was not an exception. Her previous unhappiness disappeared like smoke. She smiled sweetly. Her eyes as she looked back were rippling autumn water.*3

    Even though Su Chan¡¯s beauty was startling, but the current Li Yundong did not have a single speck of evil desire. He treated her like a supremely rare treasure. He massaged her gently, afraid that she would crumble if he used a little more strength.

    Su Chan closed her eyes and said, ¡°Circte your qi into your fingertips.¡±

    Li Yundong nodded. He also closed his eyes and circted his qi into his fingertips.

    His own body was that of a virgin. His primordial yang was the purest, when added to the medicinal power of the Human Origin Gold Pill, the strength, the pureness, and the thickness of his primordial yang was rare in this world.

    Li Yundong used this kind of primordial yang qi to pressed down on the little fox¡¯s Baihui, Shenting, and temples. This immediately stimted the yin qi from the little fox¡¯s pure yin body to leave the acupoints.

    Yin and yang were originally attracted to each other. This wasparable to heavenly thunder attracting earthy mes.*4

    Su Chan¡¯s entire body shook. Her whole body wasfortable in a difficult to exin way. Her face quickly flushed.

    While Li Yundong did not experience a sensation as intense as what Su Chan experienced, he still felt his fingertips go slightly numb from the yin qi transmitted from Su Chan¡¯s body. Quickly, this yin qi flowed along his fingertips and entered his body. Light, thin, and weak, much like a strand of hair, the yin qi tickled at Li Yundong¡¯s body, distracting his mind.

    Like that, Li Yundong¡¯s mental state fell into disarray. No matter how he tried, he could not maintain the cirction of qi at his fingertips. He opened his eyes and took a look, only to find Su Chan with her entire face crimson, breathing heavily through her nose. Her rosy cherry lips gently trembled. She was like an alluring fruit tempting Li Yundong to take a bite.

    Something exploded in Li Yundong¡¯s mind with a bang. He subconsciously moved closer. He kissed Su Chan on her lips.

    When Su Chan was kissed by Li Yundong, her entire body shook. Her eyelidsnguidly opened a crack. Her eyes were enticing and soft like silk, glowing with amorous feelings.

    Foxes were originally one of the rarescivious creatures in this world. Not only could they easily make others fall in love, they themselves also easily fell in love. In addition, the two were of supreme yin and of supreme yang respectively. How could they possibly not be attracted to each other?

    Su Chan was kissed to the point of moaning. Her body limply fell backward. But as her body fell, it came into contact with a burning hot hard object.

    Su Chan instantly regained her wits with a start, and jumped up with a scream. She used both hands to push away Li Yundong, flustered. ¡°No. No. Not like this.¡±

    After being pushed by Su Chan, Li Yundong fell into a seated position on the carpet. He spoke with his face full of regret, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I-I could not stop myself... don¡¯t get mad. I-I won¡¯t ever do it again.¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s face was flushed very red. She looked at Li Yundong in a daze. After a while, she abruptly jumped up and shed her way to the bedroom. The door closed with a bang. She buried her head like an ostrich into the nkets.

    Li Yundong looked at the tightly shut door of the bedroom. Subconsciously, his hand touched his lips, like her scent still remained, he reflected on that soul shaking kiss. For a time, he stayed in an unwitting daze.

    ~~~

    *1 What are meridians and coterals? If meridians are the cultivation channel equivalent to your major veins and arteries then coterals are pretty much everything else, such as minor arteries veins and capiries... basically branches off of the meridians.

    http://.shen-nong/eng/treatment/acupuncture_coterals.html

    *2 qigong is a type of deep breathing exercise, basically the same as cultivation, taking in qi and breathing out qi. The microcosmic orbit and macrocosmic orbit are all parts of qigong. The purpose of qigong is to circte the qi in your body and make you healthy. It is an important part of many internal martial arts as opposed to more physical external martial arts.

    *3 Limpid autumn water I¡¯ve heard, but rippling autumn water, not so much. Apparently it¡¯s the luminous/amorous eyes of a girl/woman. Because it¡¯s moving rather than staying still.

    *4 When lightning strikes, there¡¯s fire, right?

 Chapter 28

    Chapter 28

    <h4>Chapter 28</h4>

    The two remained separated by a single door . Each lost in their thoughts . Each feeling apprehensive . Each feeling overwhelmed with emotion .

    At around two in the afternoon, Li Yundong got to his feet and called out to the person inside the bedroom, ¡°I¡¯m going to ss . ¡±

    He was uncertain if Su Chan, who he had given a scare to earlier, woulde out of the room .

    However, against Li Yundong¡¯s expectations, almost the instant after he called, the door opened . A beautiful girl delicate as a flower and refined like jade slowly walked out . Her face was flushed red and her head was hung very low . She walked to Li Yundong¡¯s side and reached out to pull on the sleeve of Li Yundong¡¯s shirt .

    Internally, Li Yundong let out a sigh of relief . He broke out into a smile . ¡°I thought you wouldn¡¯te out . ¡±

    Su Chan raised her head, her gaze drifting and she murmured, ¡°This kind of thing can¡¯t happen again . ¡±

    Li Yundong smiled in embarrassment and said, ¡°It won¡¯t happen . I promise it won¡¯t . Let¡¯s go . I¡¯m going to bete . As he spoke, he strode toward the elevator .

    Su Chan followed behind Li Yundong . Internally, she kept cursing herself for being useless . ¡®Before, didn¡¯t I decide to firmly teach him a lesson? To make sure he doesn¡¯t get any ideas? But why is it that when I saw him, my heart softened? If this keeps up, sooner orter, we¡¯ll end up doing it too early . His primordial yang body will be broken and not only will the Human Origin Gold Pill be wasted, my own primordial yin body would also break . That really would be giving away the bride and losing the army too!¡±*1

    Su Chan followed behind Li Yundong . Her face full of anxiety and indecision .

    How could Li Yundong know that the little fox was thinking of these things? He rushed all the way to school . Just as he entered the school build, he saw two people exiting the ssroom in a rage . As they walked, they spoke to each other .

    ¡°Nuo Nuo, calm down already . ¡± The speaker was Cheng Cheng .

    The round-faced beauty Feng Nuo walked as she replied seething in rage, ¡°That lecherous old man . He actually dared to hit on me . I really want to kick him down here! I¡¯m really d Li Yundong kicked him back then . He deserved it . ¡±

    Cheng Cheng had sharp eyes . She pointed at Li Yundong and said, ¡°Ai . Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Caoes!¡±*2

    Feng Nuo immediately ran toward Li Yundong . ¡°Hey, I finally found you!¡±

    Upon seeing her, Li Yundong felt like his head was about to explode . He smiled bitterly and said, ¡°Grand aunt, what do you want now? Did you already help me solve the expulsion problem?¡±

    Feng Nuo snorted and said, ¡°Not yet . However, it¡¯ll be solved soon . ¡±

    Cheng Cheng who stood on the side interjected and blurted out, ¡°For your sake, Feng Nuo let go of her pride and went to beg Director Qian . But that molester old man actually wanted Nuo Nuo to sleep with him!¡±

    Feng Nuo knit her brows and red at Cheng Cheng, ¡°Even if you don¡¯t talk, no one thinks that you¡¯re a mute!¡±*3

    Cheng Cheng had a wronged expression on her face as she muttered, ¡°Aren¡¯t I just concerned that your good deeds will go noticed?¡±

    Upon hearing this, Li Yundong frowned and said angrily, ¡°That fellow really doesn¡¯t learn his lesson!¡±

    After he said that, he turned his head to nce at Su Chan . ¡°Last time, you should have kicked him a bit harder!¡±

    Su Chan heard and raised her eyebrows, ¡°Okay . I¡¯ll go kick him again right now . ¡±

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    Li Yundong, Feng Nuo, and Cheng Cheng all started with fright .

    Li Yundong hurriedly pulled Su Chan to a stop . ¡°Forget it . It was just an expression . Don¡¯t take it serious . If you really injured him with your kick . None of us will get away!¡±

    Feng Nuo sighed and spoke with extreme grievance, ¡°These years, human trashe out on top, good guys end up bullied . Where are the morals of society? Don¡¯t worry . This matter, I¡¯ll definitely take care of it for you . I will definitely carry through my promise to you . ¡±

    Li Yundong nodded at her . He smiled and said, ¡°Then I¡¯ll be troubling you . ¡±

    Feng Nuo took along Cheng Cheng and swiftly took her leave . Cheng Cheng asked from beside her, ¡°Nuo Nuo, what will you do now?¡±

    Feng Nuo frowned and thought for a while . She said, ¡°I have a solution . ¡±

    Cheng Cheng¡¯s eyes lit up . ¡°What kind of solution?¡±

    Feng Nuo said, ¡°Let¡¯s ask Zhou Qin!¡±

    Cheng Cheng had a disdainful look on her face . ¡°Tsk, didn¡¯t you say you would definitely not ask her for help?¡±

    Feng Nuo looked upward and jokingly said, ¡°Hmph, that was then and this is now . ¡±

    Li Yundong watched at Feng Nuo and Cheng Cheng leave . He said to Su Chan, ¡°That girl is actually quite chivalrous . ¡±

    How could Li Yundong know that the real reason Feng Nuo worked so hard to help him settle this issue was because she wanted to see him make a fool of himself at the exchange by performing chest nk boulder break!

    Su Chan nodded her head and added her own opinion, ¡°En . Truly a decent first-rate cultivation furnace!¡±

    Li Yundong nced at Su Chan feeling really gloomy . ¡°Can you stop calling every girl you see a good cultivation furnace already?¡±

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong in puzzlement . She said, ¡°Why? Every woman under the heavens is a cultivation furnace!¡±

    After she said this, the surrounding immediately fell into silence .

    The ssmates around them all stared at Su Chan and Li Yundong using gazes full of utter astonishment .

    Li Yundong nearly broke down at this . He wanted to cry but had no tears . ¡®This girl is pretty normal at home . Howe every time she leaves home, she ends up saying something weird?¡¯

    Li Yundong¡¯s face felt like it was feverishly burning . He pulled Su Chan along and ran into the school building . He could heard a cacophony of strangeughter behind him .

    After finally entering the ssroom and sitting down in thest row, Sun Li found him . She stared distractedly with a strange expression on her face, as if remember what happened this morning . She suppressed herughter and walked until she stood in front of Li Yundong . She said, ¡°Yo . Great love saint, why are youing to ss personally?¡±

    Her smiling expression made Li Yundong¡¯s face burned in embarrassment . He forced himself past his shame and replied, ¡°How can I note? I¡¯m going to get expelled soon . ¡±

    Upon mentioning this matter, Sun Li¡¯s face also fell . She looked at Li Yundong and sighed . ¡°Oh you . You¡¯re to good at causing trouble!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled wryly . ¡°It¡¯s always trouble that finds me . How can someone low-profile like me voluntarily cause trouble?¡±

    Sun Li cast a nce at Su Chan, who was by Li Yundong¡¯s side and said meaningfully, ¡°With a great beauty like that by your side, I¡¯m afraid it¡¯ll be difficult even if you want to maintain a low profile . ¡±

    Li Yundong twitched his nose, sniffing at the air . ¡°Howe I can smell something sour? Eh? It seems to being from you!¡±*4

    Sun Li stomped her foot and angrily said, ¡°Li Yundong . Don¡¯t look for my help . You¡¯re on your own!¡± After she spoke, she turned and left .

    Li Yundong watched Sun Li leave . He smiled wryly and shook his head . A male student in the row in front of his turned around . With a serious expression on his face, he asked, ¡°Li Yundong, you¡¯re going to get expelled?¡±

    Li Yundong gave him a nce . He only felt this student was unfamiliar . Even though they have been ssmates for a year, today was the first time they talked . Hezily replied, ¡°Yeah . ¡±

    The male student spoke with a surprised expression on his face, ¡°Then what will you do?¡±

    Li Yundong sneered and said, ¡°Heaven wants to rain . Mother wants to remarry . What can you do? What wille, wille! Even if this ce does not want me, there will naturally be a ce for me somewhere else . If no ce wants me, then I¡¯ll travel somewhere else . ¡±

    These words made the surrounding students burst out intoughter . A simrly unfamiliar female student turned around and said, ¡°You can¡¯t . Someone as entertaining as you shouldn¡¯t get expelled like this . ¡±

    Li Yundong was so depressed he wanted to vomit blood . These fellows apparently thought of him as a clown, here to provide for everyone¡¯s amusement .

    He rolled his eyes and stopped paying attention to these senseless fellows .

    The surrounding ssmates upon noticing his bad mood also chose not to strike up a conversation . They lowered their heads and started chatting with each other .

    Slowly, the time for ss approached . Therge ssroom became packed with people . There were only a few open seats left, which were beside Su Chan .

    Su Chan was too beautiful . Moreover, she was too valiant . The guys did not dare sit nearby . The girls also did not dare sit nearby, fearing they would be green leaves to contrast Su Chan¡¯s flower .

    When Zhou Qin and Ding Nan leisurely walked into the ssroom, they stared nkly . They did not think that there would be so many people today . Their eyes swept around the ssroom directly ending upon Li Yundong .

    ¡°Hello, please let me through . ¡± Zhou Qin¡¯s voice was extraordinarily gentle . When Li Yundong nced toward her, there was a hint of a smile on the corners of her lips .

    This stunned the surrounding students for a moment . Zhou Qin was famous for not speaking or smiling easily . Howe she spoke so warmly and smiled at that fellow today?

    ¡®Wasn¡¯t it said Li Yundong confessed to Zhou Qin and Zhou Qin rejected? Could it be that Zhou Qin took a fancy to this fellow?*5 It can¡¯t be, right?¡¯

    Li Yundong currently had the little fox Su Chan . He could be considered fully content in his achievements . It really did seem like he regarded all the beauties in the world as fleeting clouds . He stood up and gave a slight smile . He nodded and indicated that she could pass .

    Zhou Qin looked Li Yundong in the eye . She found, to her surprise, the eyes of this man were amazingly pure, without a trace of the hair-raising lust and possessive desires seen in the eyes of other men .

    She had never before seen this kind of pure gaze in the eyes of any other man around here . It was as if he were looking at actual grass, flowers, and trees by the street, or looking at bird and clouds in the sky!

    Zhou Qin was somewhat captivated for a time, right up until Ding Nan gently pushed her from behind . Then she seemed to wake up from a dream . She lowered her head . Her hair like a waterfall flowed down and covered half of her face .

    Li Yundong could still see through the gaps between that ck waterfall a sliver of blushing skin .

    When Zhou Qin and Ding Nan sat down . The disturbance caused by these two top-notch beauties slowly died down and disappeared . However, not long after, a male student also walked over . He frowned and looked at the already filled seats surrounding Zhou Qin . His gaze swept past Su Chan¡¯s beautiful face and finally came to a rest on Li Yundong .

    ¡°Hey, ssmate . Change seats with me!¡± This male student very impolitely shouted at Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong was currently agitated and his thought were in turmoil over the possibility of expulsion . When he heard someone speak like that, he raised his head and took a look, only to find a guy with a handsome face, a tall figure, and a full set of brand-name attire . The surrounding female students were infatuated as they looked at him . They secretly whispered to each other, ¡°Take a look . Take a look . That¡¯s Liu Chuan! He really is cool and handsome!¡±

    ¡°I heard his family has a ton of money . A second generation plutocrat!¡±*6

    ¡°Ai . He¡¯s handsome and he¡¯s got money . He really is a rare treasure . Whoever manages to catch him will gain huge benefits!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s also really great on the basketball teach . He¡¯s got a nickname of Liu Chuan Feng Jr . ¡±

    Li Yundong heard these words . In his mind, he sneered . ¡®Please . Not every guy named Liu is Liu Chuang Feng . They could also be Liumang (hoodlum)!¡¯*7

    Li Yundong had the intention of ying with Liu Chuan . He purposely pretended to point at Li Chuan with a pleasantly surprised expression on his face . ¡°Ah! Ah! Aren¡¯t you that person? Hey, you really look like an action celebrity! Let me think... which celebrity was it?¡±

    Li Chuan was secretly delighted . He put on a humble expression and said, ¡°I really don¡¯t . ¡±

    The surrounding students noticed Li Yundong seemedpletely serious . They all took at look at Liu Chuan¡¯s face out of curiosity, wondering which celebrity he resembled .

    Receiving all that attention, Liu Chuan straightened his back and stood proudly straight in response, a look of intelligence and refinement appearing on his face .

    Li Yundong secretlyughed to himself . He pped his head and shouted out, ¡°Aiya, I remember now . You look like big sis Wu Tenn (Ran Asakawa)!¡±*8

    When those words were said, Liu Chuan¡¯s proud smile suddenly froze . The surrounding students howled withughter .

    It really is an ¡®action¡¯ celebrity!

    Ding Nan, who had been drinking milk tea, spit all her milk tea on the ground with a ¡®pfft¡¯ . Sheughed so hard that she swayed back and forth . Zhou Qin turn away and secretlyughed into her hand .

    Liu Chuan eyes shed with anger . However, for the sake of maintaining his image in front of the beauties, he managed to keep up his smile . It was just that his smile was rather awkward and insipid as if it were covered by ayer of cement .

    ¡°Fellow ssmate, did you hear what I said to you earlier?¡± Liu Chuan coughed drily .

    Li Yundong pretended not to understand . ¡°What did you say? I didn¡¯t hear . ¡±

    Liu Chuan pointed at Li Yundong¡¯s seat and said, ¡°I¡¯m going to switch seats with you . ¡±

    Li Yundong asked back, ¡°Why should I switch seats with you?¡±

    Liu Chuan smiled coldly . He took out an Armani wallet from his Armani pants, and took out severalrge bills from within . He waved them in front of Li Yundong¡¯s eye . ¡°Take it!¡±

    Li Yundong return his disrespect in kind and casually epted the money . Then he sat back down on his seat . He winked at Su Chan who waspletely oblivious to why everyone wasughing earlier . ¡°Aiya . Someone impatiently came over here to gift me with money . Truly a rare urrence!¡±

    Liu Chuan saw that Li Yundong epted the money but did not have any intentions of vacating the seat . His face was white in anger . ¡°Hey, you took the money, not get out of the way!¡±

    Li Yundong turned around and looked at him in confusion, ¡°What? Didn¡¯t you want to gift me with money?¡±

    Li Chuan was so angry that he felt dizzy . ¡°I gave you money so that you would vacate that seat! You took my money so you should give me that seat!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Did you ever say that? I never said I would give you my seat now, did I?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and waved the bills in his hand before Liu Chuan¡¯s eyes . ¡°Hey, how about this? I give you money and you hurry up and disappeared from my sight . How about it?¡±

    Liu Chuan angrily said, ¡°This is my money!¡±

    Li Yundong said, ¡°But you gave it to me!¡±

    Liu Chuan was just about to explode . ¡°That is the money I gave you for your seat!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°But I never agree to give you my seat!¡±

    Liu Chuan was so frustrated by Li Yundong that he felt faint . He struggled to take big breaths . His chest violently moved up and down . He gnashed his teeth and said, ¡°Good . Good! I don¡¯t want this money . You can keep this money . That way you can buy a funeral casket!¡±

    Li Yundong returned his disrespect in kind, ¡°Good . I¡¯ll buy one just for you!¡±

    Liu Chuan was so angry his body trembled . He clenched his fists tightly . He unwaveringly stared at Li Yundong for a while . ¡°Are you looking to die?¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s red back, his eyes shing like lightning . ¡°Say that one more time! I will immediately let you know which one of us is looking to die!¡±

    ~~~

    *1 Primordial yin/yang body is basically virgin body | giving away the bride and losing the army too is an idiom that means to suffer double losses after trying to trick the enemy .

    *2 Chinese version of speak of the devil . Using the general Cao Cao as the reference .

    *3 You talk too much .

    *4 In Chinese, sour refer to jealousy or soreness (of heart)... Someone makes a girl jealous then an expression would be spill the vinegar . A girl who tends to be jealous would be called a vinegar vat .

    *5 literally, Zhou Qin wants to eat turn around grass? Which basically means going after someone she already rejected .

    *6 second generation rich person . I wasn¡¯t sure whether to use magnate or plutocrat but based on the society of China, plutocrat is quite urate .

    *7 Rukawa Kaede from m Dunk the anime . Also the guy¡¯s name is Liu, Rukawa Kaede¡¯s name Chinese starts with Liu and the Chinese word for hoodlum gangster pervert etc . also starts with Liu (Liumang), though it¡¯s a different characters .

    *8 Ran Asakawa is a Japanese porn star .

 Chapter 29

    Chapter 29

    <h4>Chapter 29: Qi Deviation</h4>

    Li Yundong¡¯s re was like a punch on Liu Chuan¡¯s chest, making his chest ache dully . Liu Chuan was shocked inside . He looked at Li Yundong in disbelief .

    He turned around . The gloomy feeling stuck at his chest would not disperse . He gritted his teeth and took out all the money in his wallet and waved it in front of the male student who sat behind Zhou Qin . ¡°I want to buy your seat . You willing or not?¡±

    This male student took a look at the brightly colored bills, which probably amounted to several thousand . This is the so-called money can move people¡¯s heart . *1 He hurriedly grabbed the bills and said to Liu Chuan with a fawning face, ¡°Boss, from now on, I¡¯ll follow you!¡±

    Liu Chuan remained indifferent . He shook his hand at the student, indicating he should quickly go away . Liu Chuan waited until the student left, then he swaggered his way into the seat with clever and refined look in his eyes, as he aplished something extraordinary .

    He did not notice that Zhou Qin and Ding Nan, who sat one row forward, swept their gazes over him and deeply hidden in their eyes was a sense of ridicule and disdain .

    Ding Nan secretly muttered in disappointment, ¡®In the past, I still felt this young master Liu Chuan had both money and a sunny personality . His disposition was passable too, making him a decent candidate as a boyfriend . Now if I look again, his entire person really reeks of nouveau riche . Not only is his disposition bad, he happens to be stupid enough to make one¡¯s hackles raise . On the other hand, today the normally low-key Li Yundong is making himself worthy of reevaluation . ¡¯

    Ding Nan used her elbow to nudge Zhou Qin . She experimentally said in a low voice, ¡°Ai, young master Liu really has a lot of money! Should we add or subtract points from his score?¡±

    Zhou Qin smiled, declining toment . She indifferently cast a nce at Ding Nan¡ªthat meaningful gaze seemed like it had seen through every thought hidden in Ding Nan¡¯s head .

    Ding Nan smiled, embarrassed . ¡°Why are you looking at me like that?¡±

    Zhou Qin said, ¡°It¡¯s nothing . Get ready for ss . The teacher ising . ¡±

    At this time, Liu Chuan, who was behind them, leaning closer as if trying to make a good impression . He said with a smile on his face, ¡°Qin Qin, Three days from now, there¡¯s going to be a party at my ce, how about you and Nan Nane together?¡±

    Zhou Qin turned around . Her posture and gaze seemed to give the impression of a thousand miles of distance and displeasure . ¡°Do we know each other that well?¡±

    These words choked up Liu Chuan to the point hisplexion started to turn purple . He forcibly smiled and said, ¡°Qin Qin... don¡¯t be like this . Whatever the case, we¡¯re friend!¡±

    Zhou Qin¡¯s gaze became colder and more displeased . She signaled Ding Nan out of the corner of her eye . Ding Nan immediately understand; with a sneer, she took over and sad, ¡°I say Mr . Liu, our Zhou Qin rejected your invitation in such an obvious manner and you still can¡¯t tell . Do you really need it said in a more offensive manner before you¡¯re satisfied? Ai, as a person, one needs to give face to one¡¯s self, don¡¯t go seeking out self-debasement!¡±

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    Li Yundong on the side heard and secretly thought to himself, ¡®Ding Nan, this girl is really pretty, but her mouth bring her cmity sooner orter . She¡¯s too harsh! However, for the purpose of abusing this retard Liu Chuan, it is quite satisfying!¡±

    Zhou Qin did not wait for Ding Nan to finish before she turned her head back around, leaving Liu Chuan with an freezing cold impression of the back of her head .

    Liu Chuan tightened his fists . His fingernails almost stabbed into his flesh . The smile on his face was extremely ugly, but he not willing to be rejected like this . He could only try again in a roundabout way through Ding Nan instead . ¡°Nan Nan, then will you go?¡±

    Ding Nan nced at Liu Chuan . She smiled and said, ¡°Zhou Qin isn¡¯t going, why would I go?¡±

    The corners Liu Chuan¡¯s eyes twitched . He suppressed his temper andughed along and said, ¡°This time, I invited several famous celebrities, including Jiang Liren, Shen Yu, Cheng Weidong, and the person who sings rock and roll really well Dongfang You . If you guys don¡¯t go, it¡¯ll be a real loss . ¡±

    When Ding Nan heard, she was secretly speechless . She was actually a little tempted . She turned around and looked at Liu Chuan in astonishment . ¡°Not bad . Those are all tier one celebrities . ¡±

    After saying that, she gave Zhou Qin a nce and asked quietly, ¡°Are you going?¡±

    Zhou Qin¡¯s red lips slightly parted, spitting out two words, ¡°Not going . ¡±

    Ding Nan helplessly shrugged her shoulders at Liu Chuan . ¡°It¡¯s no use! You can have fun with those celebrities by yourself . ¡±

    Liu Chuan was exploding with anger inside . Hisplexion abruptly worsened . He looked at Zhou Qin and Ding Nan¡¯s backs with enough resentment to gnash his teeth and cursing at them continuously to vent, ¡®Lousy bitch, why are you pretending to be pure! Sooner orter, I¡¯ll strip you naked and let¡¯s see how pure you¡¯ll manage to be then!¡±

    Just as Liu Chuan was venting inside, he felt someone¡¯s gaze evaluating him up . He turned around only to see Su Chan sizing him up .

    Liu Chuan lustfully stared at Su Chan¡¯s face . Internally, he eximed in astonishment . ¡®A girl this pretty? Howe I never saw her before?¡¯

    He was just about to pose in what he thought was the coolest manner and smile while striking up a conversation with Su Chan, when he suddenly heard Su Chan speak, ¡°Your be is ck . There are deep circles around your eyes . Your philtrum is narrow and shallow . You have engrossed excessively in femalepany, right?¡±

    The smile on Liu Chuan¡¯s face froze . He was so angry, his entire body trembled . A series of softughter from the surroundings make him even more angry .

    Li Yundong endured his urge tough and gave Su Chan a pull . ¡°Don¡¯t talk . If you have nothing to do then go to sleep!¡±

    The rage in Liu Chuan¡¯s eyes grew stronger . His gaze became more bitter as he savagely red at Li Yundong¡¯s back . He thought while gnashing his teeth, ¡®A bastard like you dares to be so rampant . I¡¯ll put you in your ce sooner orter .

    In a blink of eye, he thought of a n . The corners of his lips revealed a sinister smile . He snorted twice and fell back into his seat, finally choosing not to strike up conversation with anyone else .

    This ss was about social psychology . While the teacher lectured well, the little fox became drowsy from listening instead . She simply copsed into her seat, hid her head and fell asleep without a care .

    On the other side, Zhou Qin who was listening to ss, suddenly stood up . With her waist bent, she passed by Li Yundong¡¯s side, heading toward the washroom .

    The little fox drowsily allowed Zhou Qin past . Her entire body curled up onto her seat and continued sleeping soundly .

    On the other side, Li Yundong listened to the lecture and also ended up feeling stuffy and bred . He turned his head to look at the little fox who was soundly asleep beside him, gentle breathing sounds came from her nose, and her ears softly twitch, making her seem exceedingly cute .

    Heughed involuntarily . Unwittingly, he recalled the qi cirction method the little fox taught him earlier . He found it novel and interesting . Closing his eyes, he started circting his qi .

    However, he did not know, this kind of qi cirction was extreme dangerous . If you are not careful, it is easy to experience qi deviation . Last time, the little fox was watching over him, thus he could sessfully finish his qi cirction . If at this time, someone by his side startled him, he would immediately experience an unthinkable cmity .

    The little fox Su Chan just happened to be sleeping at this time . Li Yundong did not know the frightening dangers involved . So he started cultivating in ignorance .

    Just when his qi reached the Shanzhong acupoint in his chest, Zhou Qin suddenly returned . She wanted to pass by from Li Yundong¡¯s side, thus she softly said to him, ¡°Li Yundong, please let me through . ¡±

    However, Li Yundong was currently circting a microcosmic orbit . How could he hear what she was saying . Naturally, he did not move .

    Zhou Qin knit her brows . She was unwilling to forcibly squeeze by Li Yundong¡¯s side . So she could only reach out and pat his shoulder .

    This pat almost caused a fatal disaster .

    Li Yundong¡¯s entire body shook . The qi in his chest unexpectedly scattered and surged throughout his body like a wild horse that had shaken off its reins .

    In cultivation, this was the dreaded qi deviation . In a mild case, there might be paralysis or insanity, and in a severe case, death .

    Li Yundong¡¯s entire body shook . The qi in his body frantically surged . His all his meridians bulged . His entire body seemed like it would explode .

    Zhou Qin discovered his abnormality . She could not help but get closer and once again pat Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder . ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    With this pat, Li Yundong abruptly raised his head . His eyelids parted to reveal a pair of iparable bloody red eyes where every blood vessel had burst, like a demon, terrifying in appearance . *2

    Zhou Qin was so scared, her legs went limp . She tripped and ended up sitting on the floor in front of Li Yundong .

    Despite experiencing qi deviation, Li Yundong still had not lost all his senses . He barely managed to control the explosive qi inside his body, and painfully said to Zhou Qin in a low voice, ¡°Hurry up and get out of the way . ¡±

    Zhou Qin did not understand what happened to Li Yundong in order for him to be like this . She was somewhat scared silly . She could only sit on the ground nkly scaring at Li Yundong, unable to react .

    Li Yundong was close to losing control . He cried out in a hoarse and pained voice, ¡°Hurry up and get out of the way . Get lost!¡±

    Zhou Qin finally reacted . She hastily got out of the way .

    Li Yundong stood up . He currently felt like he was a burning fire ball . He only wanted to find a faucet to rinse himself in water . However, Liu Chuan who saw this situation .

    Liu Chuan felt this was a really good chance to y ¡®hero saving the maiden¡¯ . He hurriedly stood up . His hand smacked toward Li Yundong¡¯s head . He cursed, ¡°Bastard, how could you be so rude to a beauty . Where are your manners?¡±

    This smack just happened to hit the Baihui acupoint at the back of Li Yundong¡¯s head . The all the qi in Li Yundong¡¯s body seemed to receive guidance and charged toward his head in a frantic tide .

    Li Yundong could no longer maintain control . He let out a fierce roar like a wild animal . His entire face became purplish red . His veins bulged, as if they could explode at any time .

    Most frightening of all, his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth were all slowly leaking blood!

    The first sign of qi deviation is disorderly qi . Next would be blood leaking from the seven apertures . *3 And finally the qi of the entire would would wreck havok until the Gaohuang acupoint . That would mean the person is finished,pletely beyond saving, even if a universal gold immortal descended, it would still be impossible .

    When Liu Chuan saw Li Yundong¡¯s terrifying appearance, he took a step back in fright . However, he felt he should not back away . ¡®It was not as if this fellow would dare to kill me, right?¡¯

    Liu Chuan stuck out his chest and sneered, ¡°What are you being fierce for? Come at me if you dare!¡±

    The ominous glint in Li Yundong¡¯s eyes became brighter . Right now He wanted to find the most unpleasant person to vent on . He did not have the ability to consider the consequences at all .

    At this time, the teacher and students were all staring at Li Yundong in ineffable shock . The teacher forgot about lecturing, the calk in his hand fell to the ground with a tter .

    They watched as Li Yundong pounced toward Liu Chuan like a tiger, forcibly lifting him up with with one hand .

    Then Li Yundong jumped past three rows in a single leap from the back while carrying a living person . In one go, he lifted Liu Chuan against the wall, while his other formed a fist . With a nasty grin on his face, he punched toward Liu Chuan .

    If this blownded, Liu Chuan would be meat paste in an instant .

    Fortunately, the little fox Su Chan abruptly woke up and cried out in rm, ¡°Stop!¡±

    ~~~

    *1 The full idiom is aparison . Wine can redden people¡¯s faces, Money and silk can move people¡¯s hearts . There used to be a story behind it and it didn¡¯t mean what it means now . But as the world became more modern, this is basically... plutocracy .

    *2 Western demon . Ä§¹í . This is a DnD devil or a Supernatural Demon or a Buffy the Vampire yer Demon from Hell . Basically a western demon . Whereas a Ä§ cultivator would be a devil cultivator, who cultivates evil techniques .

 Chapter 30

    Chapter 30

    <h4>Chapter 30: To Profit from Disaster</h4>

    T/N: TCM again...

    The sound of Su Chan¡¯s cry was like an icy clear spring flowing into a vast scorching sun . Li Yundong instantly recovered a sliver of consciousness . A single notion shed through his sea of consciousness . ¡®If I kill the person in front of me, then I¡¯ll never again get to see Su Chan!¡¯

    After this notion appeared, Li Yundong forcibly changed the direction of his fist . With a bang, it smashed down beside Liu Chuan¡¯s head .

    When this punchnded, everyone in the ssroom felt as though someone exerted themselves and smashed the wall using arge sledgehammer, causing even the floor to shake .

    When Li Yundong retrieved his fist, those students with keener eyes immediately sucked in a breath of cold air . A fist-shaped hole had been forcefully smashed into the wall!

    Li Yundong threw Liu Chuan to the side . He noticed Su Chan rush toward him, but he was afraid that he would not be able to control himself, hurting Su Chan as a result, thus he yelled, ¡°Don¡¯te over!¡±

    Then he charged out of the ssroom as losing his mind .

    Su Chan was both startled and anxious . Under the circumstances, she could not be bothered with anything else . With a single leap, she directly leapt from the back of the ssroom directly to the front . Her entire person moved lightly and gracefully, like a swallow skimming water . Everyone in the surrounding broke out intomotion .

    ¡°It can¡¯t be? Is that qinggong?¡±*1

    ¡°Damn, did I see wrong?¡±

    As Su Chan pursued Li Yundong in charging out of the ssroom, the students left behind started discussing spiritedly . They were extraordinarily rowdy, only Zhou Qin nkly stood on her spot . She seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly pursued Su Chan¡¯s departed figure inrge strides .

    Luckily, Li Yundong did not go far . He only charged into the washroom not far from ss .

    There happened to be a student in the washroom who was doing number two . Hearing themotion outside, he opened his stall out of curiosity and fear to take a look . Consequently, he saw a man with blood all over his face standing by the sink, frantically smashing the marble counter top with his fists and his head . The resulting booming sounds were like drum beats .

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    This student was so scared that he pulled up his pants and ran away without even wiping his butt .

    Zhou Qin pursued Li Yundong to the men¡¯s washroom and came to a stop outside the door . She wanted to go inside, but in the end, she was a girl . She was too embarrassed to go into the men¡¯s bathroom because she was rtively thin-skinned .

    However, she heard Li Yundong¡¯s pained moansing from the inside the washroom and felt anxious to the point where she did not know what to do . Just as she was going round in circles, a male student holding up his pants charged out of the washroom .

    Zhou Qin immediately caught that student, ¡°ssmate, what¡¯s going on inside?¡±

    This male student only remembered he did not wipe his butt after he pulled up his pants . He was already in a very gloomy mood . Now that a female student blocked his way, the gloom in his heart could no longer be expressed in words . He shook off Zhou Qin¡¯s hand in annoyance and shouted, ¡°If you want to know, then go inside . Won¡¯t you know then?¡±

    With those words, he ran away in a sh .

    Zhou Qin furrowed her brows . She stomped her feet . Biting down on her teeth hard, she charged into men¡¯s washroom .

    When Zhou Qin entered the men¡¯s washroom, she just happened to see Li Yundong with his face covered with blood . The clothes on his upper body were soaked red by blood . He looked like the angry green green, Hulk . His fists smashed in front of him, shattering the mirror into a multitude of pieces . Then they smashed down, the marble counter top was immediately smashed apart .

    Zhou Qin was so shocked her beautiful countenance grew pale . Her mind went nk . ¡®Was he still human? How could a human be that strong?¡¯

    Su Chan had been on the side all along calmly observing Li Yundong¡¯s actions . Seeing an opportunity, she charged forward . She smacked the back of Li Yundong¡¯s neck . This caused Li Yundong¡¯s entire body to stiffen . Then he twisted around and ferociously punched behind himself with a whoosh sound .

    The ferocity of this punch was such that even though Zhou Qin was still three or four meters away, she could still feel the fierce wind caused by the punch hit her in the face, even causing her beautiful hair to flutter!

    Su Chan¡¯s body was like a snake, twisting around to Li Yundong¡¯s other side in an instant . She pull out a single strand of her hair with one of her hands and then stabbed it beside Li Yundong¡¯s ear .

    The hair was like an acupuncture needle . It was stably inserted into the Tianzhu acupoint beside Li Yundong¡¯s ear .

    Li Yundong¡¯s body shook . In the end, he copsed limply, having fainted .

    Su Chan let out a sigh of relief . She ced Li Yundong onto her back . Only then did she turn to look coldly at Zhou Qin who stood dumbstruck on the side . She said, ¡°If you dare divulge even half a word about what you saw here . Even if you are ten thousand li away, I¡¯ll still find a way to take your life . ¡±

    When the little fox, who was normally cute and naive, said these icy cold words, there was a truly terrifying murderous intent . However, for better or worse, Zhou Qin was the daughter of an influential family . How could she back down to threats so easily?

    She regained her wits and raised her eyebrows . Just as she wanted to say something, she saw Su Chan carry Li Yundong and jump out of the window .

    Zhou Qin was spooked out of her mind in surprise . She let out a scream, ¡°Ahhh!!¡±

    This was the fifth floor!

    She quickly rushed to the window and looked out, only to see the little fox with Li Yundong on her backpletely unharmed and taking her leave like parting wind .

    Zhou Qin stood dazed in front of the window . She did not even notice the male students entering the washroom behind her . She nkly watched Su Chan and Li Yundong¡¯s departing figures, her eyes fluctuating with emotion .

    Her body faintly trembled . Did she she tremble out of astonishment or fear or panic? Or perhaps her body shook from a buried sense of excitement and enthusiasm concealed in the depth of her soul .

    ¡®Li Yundong, who are you really?¡¯

    Su Chan carried Li Yundong and arrived back home at immense speeds . Even though she looked calm on the surface, but she was abnormally nervous on the inside . Full of remorse, she kept ming herself, ¡®Why did she not warn Li Yundong against cultivating in a public ce?¡¯

    She carefully observed Li Yundong¡¯splexion and used her hand to take his pulse . She also checked the direction and movement of Li Yundong¡¯s qi .

    At this time, the qi in Li Yundong¡¯s body could either charge upwards and attack the four major critical acupoints, Baihui, Shanting, Tianchong, and Chengling, turning Li Yundong into an retard, or it could charge downwards and attack the minor yin kidney meridian and major yang dder meridian of his feet, causing paralysis of his lower body such that Li Yundong would not be able to get out of bed .

    As Su Chan gazed upon Li Yundong¡¯s current appearance, her heart ached more than she could bear . She found the bathroom and randomly grabbed a couple clean towels to wipe the bloodstains from Li Yundong¡¯s face . Then she pressed a hand on the Huigai acupoint on Li Yundong¡¯s chest . Her other hand pressed down on the Qihai acupoint

    The little fox had heard her master once say, ¡®Huigai acupoint is located exactly in the middle of where the two lungs meet, above the heart and below the throat . When qi heads upward, it must pass through this acupoint, thus it could be said to be like an important strategic location, an indispensable bottleneck location along the body¡¯s meridians . ¡¯

    When a person bes angry, they can feel a hot qi surge toward the top of their head . This qi originates in the Qihai acupoint . It charges past the Huigai, through the Shengting and finally arrives at the Baihui acupoint . This qi will charge up and disrupt the usual qi cirction, which is why people tend to be irrational when angry .

    Some people possessed good control of their temperament by cultivating their moral character . These people could forcibly suppress their anger, and this just happened to depend on the strategic checkpoint known as the Huagai acupoint .

    By pressing down on these two acupoints, Su Chan practically blocked the path of the vigorous qi in Li Yundong¡¯s body preventing it from going up or down . A flow of supreme yin qi was slowly released from Su Chan¡¯s palm into Li Yundong¡¯s body . The moment this qi came into contact with Li Yundong¡¯s it¡ªsupreme yin qi and virgin primordial yang qi¡ªfire and water merged together . In an instant, the surging qi in Li Yundong¡¯s body calmed down . *2

    Li Yundong¡¯s pained expression became peaceful . The bulging blood vessels all over his body calmed down . The qi in his body circted by itself .

    Su Chan loosed a sigh of relief . She continued monitoring Li Yundong closely, observing his condition .

    Li Yundong had just returned from the doorstep of death . The explosive qi in his body was now like a tamed flood, once again flowing in each of his meridians .

    After this qi circted four or five microcosmicos on its own, Su Chan was very astonished to find the qi in Li Yundong¡¯s body actually began to circte along the meridians and acupoints of the microcosmic orbit automatically, without needing deliberate guidance from someone else . It was as though that violent burst of qi a while ago forcefully broadened and deepened the meridians of Li Yundong¡¯s body .

    This is just like a mighty flood surging through wilderness, forcefully carving out a deep and broad riverbed, then it involuntarily flowed along this riverbed and turned docile instead .

    Su Chan was startled, she muttered to herself, ¡®This fellow can¡¯t be this lucky, right? Even though it was qi deviation, he was still able to profit from disaster?¡¯

    For normal people cultivating qi, if they want to strengthen the qi in their body, they need to spend who know how much effort and endure countless hardships . Broadening and deepening one¡¯s meridians was something that could only be encountered by chance and not sought out . Mere hard work was not enough, it could not be achieved through fortunate encounter .

    However, Li Yundong¡¯s case was ridiculous, something that a normal cultivator would bitterly pray for without ever getting, he managed to achieve by ident .

    Su Chan suddenly felt a bit jealous . She pretended to poke Li Yundong¡¯s nose and said, displeased, ¡°You¡¯re ridiculous . To think you would have this kind of stupid luck! Let¡¯s see what you¡¯ll do next time you get qi deviation! Hmph . I¡¯m not going to watch over you anymore . If you have the ability, keep circting microcosmos without making a single mistake!¡±

    With those words, she stood up and wanted to leave . However, after taking two steps, she found she could not put down her worries . Because right now, the qi in Li Yundong¡¯s body was fixing his damaged meridians, if a single mistake were made, then Li Yundong would be consigned to eternal damnation, even Su Chan could not save him again .

    Su Chan thought for a bit . She returned . Pouting her mouth, she said, ¡°Fine . I¡¯m not worried about you . I¡¯m worried that you¡¯ll waste my Human Origin Gold Pill . Reckless fellow, don¡¯t misunderstand me!¡±

    After she finished speaking, Su Chan muttered to herself, ¡®Truly a reckless fellow, to actually cultivate in public . Isn¡¯t that the same as looking to die? And you almost involved me too!¡¯

    Even though she said those things, Su Chan gazed upon Li Yundong with eyes full of concern . She monitored Li Yundong¡¯s condition without blinking once, for fear of even the slightest possibility of something going wrong .

    Once Li Yundong¡¯s qi underwent the microcosmic orbit thirty-six times, a faint rainbow colored light suddenly welled up from inside his body, as if he were wrapped by sunset clouds .

    Su Chan started, ¡°Gold Pill spirit qi?¡±

    Her eyes were full of envy . This manifestation of rainbow light meant that the medicinal power of the Human Origin Gold Pill had beenpletely absorbed . The Human Origin Gold Pill would soonplete its final effects and remodeling .

    When that ispleted, Li Yundong¡¯s essence, qi, and blood would be several times more vigorous than their previous already vigorous state . The strength and power of his body would also increase multiple times!

    Su Chan watched for a while full of envy and admiration . Gradually, she curb her emotions . She could not help but say with a sigh, ¡°Master was not wrong in the least . Some people have good fortune that is truly beyondpare...¡±

    After Su Chan said those words with a sigh, she began guarding Li Yundong wholeheartedly . However, she did not imagine that this time, she would be watching over Li Yundong for two days and two nights .

    ~~~

    *1 qinggong has no standard trantion . You might have seen it as ¡®body lightening technique¡¯, ¡®art of flight¡¯, buoyancy, ¡®body technique¡¯, ¡®movement technique¡¯, ¡®lightening technique¡¯, floating technique, levitation art, etc . Basically it¡¯s a skill that makes you lighter, thus allowing you to move after and over surfaces you normally couldn¡¯t . For example, running over water... jumping across the canyon while running your way through the air... standing on a branch without it bending, that kind of mystic eastern stuff .

    *2 It was censored... not sure what it¡¯s supposed to be but I think it¡¯s fire and water melding?

 Chapter 31

    Chapter 31

    <h4>Chapter 31: Shedding Mortal Body and Exchanging Bones</h4>

    T/N: Well... daily chapters should be back . I originally wanted to do more but I kept getting tired and distracted... and wasting time trying to find a English name of a Sutra that apparently doesn¡¯t exist! ... well it does exist but has no English name .

    By the time Li Yundong slowly woke up, it was alreadyte at night of the second day . Li Yundong rubbed at his eyes and sat up, finding Su Chan copsed at his side . Her current posture seemed no different from the first time he saw her .

    Li Yundong gazed upon Su Chan¡¯s innocent sleeping appearance, and smiled . He could not resist reaching the impulse to reach out and stroke the girl¡¯s soft and smooth, powder white cheeks . But halfway there, he stopped, afraid that he would awaken her from her sweet dreams .

    Li Yundong stared at Su Chan for a good while before his gaze finally fell on the blood soaked towel on the side . Only now did he remember what happened before .

    Scenes of what urred during his qi deviation appeared vividly in his mind .

    Li Yundong rubbed at his nose, eyes, and mouth with his hand, only for his hand to remain clean without any sign of blood . He released a sigh of relief . With lingering fear in his heart he eximed, ¡°That was really scary . I didn¡¯t expect that someone would pat me while I was circting qi . They almost patted me to death . ¡±

    Li Yundong recalled his berserking state that almost killed someone . He involuntarily shuddered, ¡°If it weren¡¯t for Su Chan, I might already be dead!¡±

    But as he thought of this, anxiousness and bewilderment appeared in his heart . Why did he experience such an extreme reaction to cultivating qi? Howe he had never heard of such an effect in other practitioners of qigong?*1

    Moreover, how did he achieve the exaggerated result of leaking blood from seven apertures despite cultivating for only a single day?

    Even if Li Yundong were dumber, he would still be able to faintly realize that these events were bizarre and exaggerated to the degree where they could not be exined . His gaze focused on Su Chan . He thought to himself, ¡®Could it be that these changes of mine were all brought about by her?¡¯

    Li Yundong stared vacantly for a while . Wanting to ask some questions of Su Chan, he pushed her shoulder . However, the girl groggily groaned, her eyes opening just a crack, as she mumbled, ¡°Yundong, you¡¯re awake? En . It¡¯s good if you¡¯re fine . I-I¡¯m so tired!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled . He threw his questions to the back of his head . ¡°If you¡¯re tired then you should go sleep in the bedroom . ¡±

    The little fox wriggled her body . She could not even open her eyes . ¡°No way . Too tired . You carry me in . ¡±

    Li Yundong lifted the little fox in his arms, feeling she was light as air . Su Chan¡¯s arms and legstched onto Li Yundong like an octopus . Her head gently rubbed against Li Yundong¡¯s chest, and cute snores were released from her nose .

    ¡®This girl!¡¯

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    Li Yundongughed soundlessly . He settled Su Chan on the bed only to have the girl hug his arm tightly . Her gauzy garment were slightly disarrayed . A glimpse of iparably tantalizing bare flesh peeked out from under the hem of her shirt, and an indistinct sweet fragrance seemed to drift secretively about the shadowy and muted bedroom, provoking Li Yundong¡¯s heart to stir .

    Li Yundong stood by the bed, nkly staring at Su Chan, spellbound for a time .

    Li Yundong nced at the bedroom¡¯s glow-in-the-dark rm clock and found that it was only 10PM, the best time for nightlife . In the past, at this time, he would either be ying MMORPGs or PKing on battl .

    But now, all the lights in his home were off and not a whisper could be heard .

    Since Su Chan moved into his home, Li Yundong found that his life style hadpletely changed . The Li Yundong who once had a passion for gaming suddenly found himself disinterested, without any desire to y . All his attention was focused on this beauty with an unclear identity and a mysterious origin .

    Just as Li Yundong was thinking this, he saw the little fox flip over, lying on her side in the bed, curled into a ball . She hugged the nket tightly to her chest and her perky butt rounded out¡ªher posture extremely seductive .

    Li Yundong did not dare continue watching . He turned on the air conditioner for Su Chan, then he quietly left the room . For a time, he stayed in the living room, staring into space . Finally he also lethargically fell asleep .

    The next day, when Li Yundong woke up and got out of bed, he sleepily felt for his cellphone, and checked the time . He abruptly got up with a swoosh . It was already 10:00! Morning sses were already half over!

    Li Yundong hurridly charged into the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face . The moment he opened the door, he saw Su Chan standing in front of the dressing table with a dazed expression on her face . One of her hands grasped her messy hair and her other hand tapped in front of her mouth, as she yawned continuously .

    The little fox wore Li Yundong¡¯s pajamas, which fit loosely . As Su Chan yawned, Li Yundong could see the girl¡¯s pale abdomen peeking out from the gap between her clothes . This alluring sight caused one to feel dazzled and stunned .

    Li Yundong was a bit dazed for a time . The questions he originally intended to ask Su Chan were also forgotten beyond the ninth heaven . He only stared at Su Chan vacantly . And Su Chan turned her head around to look at Li Yundong . Just as she intended to greet him, she suddenly discovered a problem . With a whoosh, she jumped to Li Yundong¡¯s side . With widened eyes, she attentively took a measure of his face .

    Being stared at by Su Chan, Li Yundong felt self-conscious . He involuntarily touched his face, ¡°Is there something wrong with me?¡±

    Su Chanughed out loud . She pulled a confused Li Yundong in front of the mirror . Pointing toward his face, she said, ¡°Hurry up and take a look!¡±

    Li Yundong looked at his reflection in the mirror and asked at a loss, ¡°What about me?¡±

    Su Chan smiled so widely that her eyes became crescents, ¡°Don¡¯t you think that your face got skinnier?

    Li Yundong was stunned . He carefully inspected himself once more . Sure enough, his face was skinnier all around . He could not resist reaching for his chubby belly . He found his belly was also a lot thinner .

    Li Yundong was surprised and delighted, ¡°I lost weight?¡±

    Su Chan beamed with joy, she nodded heavily . ¡°En! En!¡±

    Li Yundongughed and shamelessly showed off his good looks to his reflection . ¡°After losing weight, I¡¯m actually really handsome!¡±

    Su Chan pulled a mischievous face and said in displeasure, ¡°Isn¡¯t this because of me?¡±

    Li Yundong was surprised . Internally he thought, what does me losing weight have to do with you?

    However, Li Yundong recalled the events that urred after meeting this girl . He was practically chased around or caught in fights every day . With that much exercise, it would be strange if he did not lose weight .

    Thinking those thoughts, Li Yundong did not know whether tough or cry . He thought, ¡®Girl, you actually dared to take credit and demand praise . ¡¯

    However, seeing Su Chan happy also made him happy .

    The purest joy between man and woman, was it not just like this? Taking joy in your joy . Finding sorrow in your sadness .

    However, Su Chan did not think like this . In her opinion, it was due to her Human Origin Gold Pill remodeling Li Yundong¡¯s body . Then she used her Tri-pronged Blossom massage technique to help Li Yundong unblock his meridians and passively cultivate by circting the microcosmic orbit . Moreover, the previous qi deviation incident carved out and widened the meridians of Li Yundong¡¯s body, causing the blood and qi flow of those meridians to wash away the built-up filth of his body . Only due to these factors did Li Yundong thin down .

    This is also why since ancient times, all daoist cultivators and immortals were sage-like with thin bodies . Never had there been a cultivator that was obese, with fat cheeks and a big belly .

    In terms of medicine, people be fat due to blockages in their meridians . Once the meridians were cleared, people would naturally thin down .

    And every single cultivator possessed unobstructed meridians . Even if they wanted to, they would not be able to be fat .

    However, now that the Human Origin Gold Pill had remodeled his body, it would change every single day . Even if the difference could not be seen in a single day, but in three, four, or five to six days, there would be an obvious transformation .

    Originally, Li Yundong had a slightly chubby face . Now, the outline of his cheekbones could already be seen . His chin was also appeared slightly sharp .

    Once a person bes thin, their essense, qi and spirit would be apparent . Li Yundong inspected his reflection in the mirror, quite like he was clicking his tongue, he eximed in amazement, ¡°I almost forgot what my thin self looked like in the past . ¡±

    Su Chan beamed in joy as she looked upon Li Yundong, seemingly happy that Li Yundong was happy . In truth, she was secretly delighted in a different sense . ¡®He¡¯s thinned down . That means Li Yundong has already entered the tail end of the middle stage of the second realm, Qi Refinement .

    ¡®The second realm, Qi Refinement had three stages . The initial stage required Raise Essence, Solidify Origin, and Unblock Meridians, these three tasks . And Li Yundong who had assistance from the Human Origin Gold Pill, naturally did not have a problem, sessfully satisfying these requirements .

    ¡®Now in the middle stage of Qi Refinement, he needed to Widen Meridians, Condense Qi, and Achieve Facility, these three tasks .

    ¡®Li Yundong experienced qi deviation earlier, identallypleting the hardest task Widen Meridian . The next step in cultivation required that he learn how to condense the vast qi in his body into a single lump . Every single motion will contain or potentially contain a thousand jin of strength . Then he needed to learn how to circte his qi with facility and use that in actualbat . His qi shoulde with a beckon and leave with a wave, not like his previous handling, which resembled the unstable Six Meridians Divine Sword, sometimes working sometimes not .

    This moment just happened to be early morning, when everything was awakening, the time of youthful energy . The morning sun shone through the window upon Li Yundong¡¯s face, making it appear as if ayer of gold dust had been sprayed over his face . The energy of his entire person seemed to flourish . Even his hair radiated with a forceful heroic aura!

    For a time, the little fox was somewhat dazed by the sight . An involuntary eagerness appeared in her heart . ¡®Shakyamuni*2 wrote in the twenty-seventh chapter of ¡°Vajra Heart Dhara Sutra¡±*3, men have seven treasures in their body and women have five detriments . Men cultivate easily and women cultivate with difficulty . This phrase truly wasn¡¯t wrong!

    ¡®Li Yundong being a man with seven treasure, upon attaining the assistance of the Human Origin Gold Pill, he immediately surpassed a vast majority of the mortals in the world . In a few days, he progressed a thousand miles a day and broke through the first realm, entering the middle stage of the second realm .

    ¡®If she attained the human origin gold pill, then probably with her five detriments body, if she wanted to refine the Gold Pill medicinal power, she could need to undergo secluded cultivation for a month!¡¯*4

    The little fox could not help but feel a bit aggrieved . But she quickly realized that the faster this fellow cultivates, then the closer she would be to stealing yang to supplement yin .

    Once she thought of this, Su Chan wavered and became agitated inside .

    Li Yundong looked at the mirror for a long time . Right up until he himself felt that he was narcissistic to a hair-raising degree, he finally turned around and smilingly looked at Su Chan . Making a pose, he said, ¡°How about it Do you think I can be a movie star?¡±

    Su Chan asked in confusion, ¡°A movie star?¡±

    Li Yundong shook his hand . ¡°Forget it . It¡¯s nothing . Today is the weekend . I¡¯ll take you out to y!¡±

    Su Chan heard and was happy up to the tip of her brows . Her smile made her eyes into crescents . ¡°Okay okay! Where will you take me to y?¡±

    Before Li Yundong had a chance to think of a ce, he heard his phone ring . He ran to the living room and answered his cellphone, only to hear Sun Li¡¯s voice on the other end . ¡°Li Yundong, have I now be your personal secretary?¡±

    Li Yundongughingly replied, ¡°I can¡¯t afford to hire a poprdy secretary like you!¡±

    Sun Li angrily said, ¡°Get lost! Today is the dress rehearsal for the university¡¯s exchange meeting . Everyone else is here, only you are missing! Senior Feng Nuo of the Student Union is pressuring me to hand you over . You do as you see fit!¡±

    Li Yundong said in an exaggerated voice, ¡°It can¡¯t be? Isn¡¯t today Saturday?¡±

    Sun Liughed in anger, ¡°Li Yundong, it looks like you really should go see the doctor . You haven¡¯t recovered from going off the deep end in the ssst time, or that¡¯s how it seems . Today is Monday!¡±

    Li Yundong was stunned . He immediately nced at the disyed time on his cellphone, beforeughing bitterly . Did he fall asleep for two days again?

    ¡°Time is passing by too quickly . Hey, ss monitor, can you ask Feng Nuo, did she solve my issue? If she hasn¡¯t solved my issue, I¡¯m not going!¡± Li Yundong said .

    Sun Li replied in a bad mood, ¡°Youe and ask her yourself . I don¡¯t feel like dealing with your issues . ¡±

    After she finished speaking, she hung up her phone .

    ~~~

    *qigong Basically real life breathing technique and cirction of qi, that kind of mysticism . There are people who actually teach it in real life, though whether it is a form of self-hypnotism or is truly effective would be up for debate .

    *2 ÊÍåÈÄ¦Äá ¨C Shakyamuni: Gautama Buddha, also known as Siddh¨¡rtha Gautama, Shakyamuni Buddha, or simply the Buddha, after the title of Buddha, was an ascetic and sage, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded .

    *3 ½ð¸ÕÐÄ×Ü³ÖÂÛ ¨C It took me hours to research and find out what this one is... it¡¯s a apocrypha that is supposedly by Buddha . Also known as Diamond Arhat Lecture or something like that... in any case, I¡¯ve taken the Chinese name and tranted the title as best as I could .

    *4 Pretty sure this is her misunderstanding causing situational blindness . If Li Yundong did not experience Qi Deviation, he¡¯d need way longer . But she¡¯s blinded by his good fortune and her bad luck .

 Chapter 32

    Chapter 32

    <h4>Chapter 32: Who Is That Handsome Guy?</h4>

    Li Yundong listened to the unable to connect sounding from his cellphone, and he could only smile bitterly as he looked toward Su Chan . ¡°Look like we won¡¯t be going out to y!¡±

    Su Chan made a brokenhearted expression . *1 She angrily said, ¡°Hateful!¡±

    Li Yundong reached out to pinch at the little fox¡¯s cheek with a smile . ¡°You¡¯re delightful . No one will ever get sick of looking at you!¡±

    The little fox giggled and dodged out of the way . ¡°Smooth talker!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go . ¡±

    At this time, in the auditorium of Tiannan University, Feng Nuo was speaking to Zhou Qin in a quiet voice, ¡°Zhou Qin, great beauty Zhou Qin, this senior sister is begging you to help out . Please give me face!¡±

    Zhou Qin was currently watching the art department students rehearse a group dance onstage . She stopped her conversation with Ding Nan and turned around . With an indifferent expression, she said, ¡°Senior is too polite . What is it that requires my assistance?¡±

    Feng Nuo noticed that while Zhou Qin spoke politely, her expression gave the impression of coldness like ice and frost and distance like a thousand miles, sure enough resembling how she was described in the rumors . Feng Nuo secretly clenched her teeth and exined Li Yundong¡¯s situation to Zhou Qin . Then she held her palms together in plea, assuming a pitiful air . ¡°Look . I¡¯m currently so anxious that my hair is almost going white . If Li Yundong gets expelled, our Taekwondo Society will be finished this time . For better or worse, you also count as a member of the Taekwondo Society, you can¡¯t just stand by and watch the Taekwondo Society¡¯s misfortune . ¡±

    When Zhou Qin heard of Li Yundong¡¯s situation, she showed a rarely seenpse in demeanor . While there was not a single hint of expression on her face, her gaze seemed distracted as if lost in thought, like she was remembering something .

    On the side, Feng Nuo was somewhat unable to bear with Zhou Qin¡¯s attitude . She forced a smile and said, ¡°If it is inconvenient for you, then I¡¯ll just leave . ¡±

    Zhou Qin noticed that Feng Nuo was about to leave and suddenly asked, ¡°You¡¯re saying that Li Yundong¡¯s situation that he is going to be expelled?¡±

    Feng Nuo started in fright when Zhou Qin spoke up after seeming to suddenly regain her wits . She turned around and let out a sigh . ¡°That¡¯s right . He offended Director Qian . Did you not know?¡±

    Zhou Qinposed herself and gave a slight nod, ¡°Yes, I know . I will go talk with Director Qian right now . ¡±

    Feng Nuo did not think that Zhou Qin would help out so easily . She was overjoyed at the unexpected good new and said with a smile, ¡°That¡¯s wonderful . Thank you very much!¡±

    Zhou Qin faintly smiled and then turned her head to look for Director Qian .

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    Feng Nuo realized that Zhou Qin had no intention to say anymore, so she also took her leave, heading toward a corner of the rehearsal ground . Halfway there, Cheng Cheng walked over and asked, ¡°Ay, how did it go?¡±

    Feng Nuo proudly made a victory sign, ¡°When this olddy personally gets involved, a single me as good as two!¡±*2

    Cheng Cheng smiled and said, ¡°As good as two olddies then?¡±

    Feng Nuo jokingly scolded, ¡°Stop spouting rubbish! But you know, I found that Zhou Qin did not seem as indifferent and unreasonable as imagined . She agreed right after I asked her . Is it possible that she seems cold on the surface but is actually passionate inside?¡±

    Cheng Cheng smiled and said, ¡°Perhaps she has feeling for a certain someone?¡±

    Hearing that, not knowing why, Feng Nuo¡¯s heart felt slightly ufortable . Just as she wanted to say something, she heard a cute voice speak up from beside her, ¡°Aiya, I say, Feng Nuo, so mamy people are waiting right now . Is that Li Yundong of yoursing or not? The host is pressuring us to hurry up . If he doesn¡¯t show up, we will just have to move our program before yours, you know?¡±

    Feng Nuo turned her head to take a look, only to see a sexily dressed girl with heavy makeup . As that girl used a powder brush to fix up her makeup, she spoke to Feng Nuo in a sarcastic tone .

    Feng Nuo smiled . She replied, ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to . It¡¯s that the top brass of the school regards you highly . They want you to be the highlight of the show . Therefore, you just have to keep on waiting!¡±

    This girl¡¯s name was Zhuang Hui . She happened to be in the same ss as Feng Nuo . However, she was very difficult to deal with . Ever since the two of them entered the school, they were sworn enemies . No matter what the issue, they would always conflict . Even for the exchange meeting performances, they were trying to undermine each other .

    Zhuang Hui since a young age was good at singing and dancing . Even though she was not a student of the art department, but during the freshmen talent show, she stunned the entire Tiannan University with her beautiful peacock dance . Since then, whenever there was a dance program, they would definitely involve her .

    These two, Feng Nuo and Zuang Hui, for the sake ofpeting for the highlight spot, fought openly and covertly for a long time . In the end, Zhuang Hui won out . But even victorious, she did not want to let up on Feng Nuo . Whenever she had a chance, she would find some way to exasperate Feng Nuo .

    Zhuang Hui used her powder brush to careful touch up her brows . Without looking at Feng Nuo, she continued to use a caustic tone and said, ¡°I really don¡¯t know what¡¯s so good about that Li Yundong you mentioned . You¡¯re anxiously cing your hopes on him, but what¡¯s he doing? Isn¡¯t he basically ignoring you? Sigh . Feng Nuo, oh Feng Nuo . You should at least pick someone slightly better . I know that Li Yundong, he looks like a good for nothing . If you want stature, he doesn¡¯t have great stature . If you want looks, he doesn¡¯t have good looks . Sigh . Your tastes are too special!¡±

    Feng Nuo heard and her face became ashen . She sneered, ¡°You can¡¯t judge a person by their appearance . Could it be that you don¡¯t even know this phrase?¡±

    Zhuang Hui put down her powder brush . Picking up lipstick, she applied it to her lips and pursed them . Then she checked herself in her mirror, still not looking at Feng Nuo at all, as she said, ¡°Yes . Of course I know that . But what can that fellow do? Can he sing or dance? Can he speak or joke? Sigh . What era do you think we¡¯re living in? What good is violence? Among your programs, Zhao Yujian, the only person whose performance is worth watching, can¡¯t perform . ¡±

    Her speech suddenly stopped there . She turned around and spoke to the dancing partner at her side, a male student with a handsome face, ¡°Ay, I suddenly remembered, wasn¡¯t Li Yundong the one who messed up Zhao Yujian?¡±

    This male student wore makeup on his face as well . When he smiled, he overflowed with charm . Using a peculiar voice, he said, ¡°It seems so!¡±

    Zhuang Huiughed so hard so rocked back and forth . ¡°Feng Nuo, oh Feng Nuo . I admire you more and more . You actually invited the guy who trashed Zhao Yujian to take his ce . You really are something! What will Zhao Yujian think? Sigh . Poor Zhao Yujian, if he knew, I¡¯m afraid his heart would blow up out of anger! The guy for better or worse is a school prince . *3 You, on the other hand, found a weed . This is so funny, I¡¯mughing to death . ¡±

    When Zhuang Hui talked about Zhao Yujian¡¯s heart, her voice would make people¡¯s hairs stand on end . What she said after that was purely pping Feng Nuo¡¯s face . Feng Nuo was so angry, her entire body shook . She gnashed her teeth, full of desire to p Zhuang Hui .

    Cheng Cheng, who was next to them, realized that the situation was not looking good . She hurriedly pulled Feng Nuo aside . ¡°Nuo Nuo, calm down . Don¡¯t argue with this kind of petty person . ¡±

    Zhuang Hui finally finished touching up her makeup . She gave Feng Nuo a nce seemingly in provocation . ¡°What? Do you want to hit me? Come try it . Don¡¯t think just because you learned some pdash kung fu, you¡¯re now all that . We live in a society withws . Attacking people is a crime!¡±

    After Zhuang Hui finished speaking, she thrust forward her chest revealing the valley between her bountiful breasts . Turning to the beautiful male dancing partner at her side, she said, ¡°Let¡¯s go . We¡¯ll go rehearse . It doesn¡¯t look like the leading role, these guys are waiting for, wille today . ¡±

    ¡°This loathsome bitch is bullying people intolerably!¡± Feng Nuo roared in a quiet voice .

    Cheng Cheng also had a scowl on her face . ¡°That¡¯s right . I hope she¡¯ll trip and fallter and crush those fake breasts of her!¡±

    Feng Nuo gave Cheng Cheng a nce, ¡°How do you think her breasts are fake?¡±

    Cheng Cheng tsked and said, ¡°Last year, she was still only B cup and today she¡¯s E cup . Do you really think her breasts are all fermenting dough?¡±

    Feng Nuo nked for a bit . ¡°She was B cup before? Howe I never noticed?¡±

    Cheng Cheng thrust out her F cup breasts and sighed as if feeling sorry for herself . ¡°Do all small chested people think that everyone else is small chested? Sigh, well it¡¯s no wonder . Those of inadequate chest size simply can¡¯t understand our feelings of superiority gazing down upon all creation . ¡±

    Feng Nuo brandished her hand threateningly and grabbed toward Cheng Cheng¡¯s chest . ¡°If I don¡¯t crush those boobs of yours today, I¡¯ll take on your surname!¡±

    The two were just messing around when suddenly music started ying inside the auditorium . A bunch of girls wearing red short-sleeved tasseled dresses started singing and dancing alongside the music .

    Even though Zhuang Hui possessed a vicious tongue, her dancing skills were truly superb . Among a bunch of art department students, she actually took the position of lead dancer . Her figure was originally tall and slender . When she dances, her posture and movements were graceful and refine, like a flying swallow . Furthermore, her eyes were very adept at expressing emotions while she danced, allowing her to quickly bring the audience into the artistic ambiance of the dance .

    At this time, everyone inside the auditorium watched the stage unable to move their eyes away . The teacher who were watching from their seats nodded to themselves inwardly .

    Despite being Zhuang Hui¡¯s sworn enemy, Feng Nuo had to admit Zhuang Hui¡¯s dance skills were truly great . She managed to capture everyone¡¯s attention in an instant .

    Zhuang Hui¡¯s dance narrated the story of a merchant¡¯s daughter who journeyed with her father on the Silk Road . Along the way, she met a prince of the sand kingdom, whereupon a touching love story unfolded between the two .

    As this dance reached its climax, the support dancers all withdrew left and right allowing Zhuang Hui and her dance partner to take center stage and perform a brilliant dance duet .

    However, just at this time, a girl came in through auditorium entrance .

    After this girl entered, those who sat nearby felt someone pass by their side . They subconsciously turned back and took a nce . And with this nce, their eyes were no longer able move away, as if attracted by a ma .

    This girl was Su Chan . No matter where she went, her good looks made her the focal point of everyone¡¯s attention . She was like a huge ma, firmly attracting the gazes of all the male students who were originally watching the stage .

    When she finally made it just below the stage, she turned around and put her hands near her mouth positioning them like a loudspeaker . ¡°You¡¯re so slow! Hurry up!¡±

    Her voice was loud and clear, even suppressing the music for a time . Both the performers on the stage and the teachers on the judging panel frowned to themselves .

    Zhuang Hui who was leading the dance nced over, and received an immense shock . ¡®There was actually a girl this pretty! In the entire Tiannan city, in terms of pure look, perhaps Zhou Qin was the only one that couldpare . I definitely can¡¯tpare . ¡¯

    With that sudden shock, even her dance steps became slightly chaotic . Luckily, her dance partner reacted quickly and took over the lead . Moreover, the teachers on the judging panel did not notice because their attention had been stolen away by Su Chan .

    Once the little fox finished shouting, a voice could be heard from the entrance . ¡°I¡¯ming . I¡¯ming . Don¡¯t rush me . I was buying a milk tea for you . Do you think it¡¯s easy for me?¡± With those word, a young man came through the entrance . Everyone collectively look over .

    When this young man first entered, no one thought much about it . They only felt that the man¡¯s eye were bright and sharp . Even separated by twenty or thirty meter, a single nce from him felt electric . Every single person could feel the sharpness of his gaze .

    When he came closer, everyone found that this young man had thick eyebrows and big eyes, his face was masculine, and his eyes were bright and full of life, like a pair of torches .

    For a time, everyone just gazed upon this man somewhat dumbstruck . They felt this man had an indescribable presence about him .

    In terms of pure appearance, this man was not as handsome as the good-looking man leading the dance on stage . However, his entire body radiated with masculine aura, full of vitality and an overwhelming heroic air .

    This type of masculine presence formed from the purest primordial yang was most stunning for women, because women naturally possess yin bodies . As yin and yang mutually attracted, women with slightly weaker presences would immediately be drawn in by Li Yundong¡¯s aura .

    This young man was naturally Li Yundong .

    On the way here, there were some girl who covered their mouths and eximed in shock as they watched at his departing back . Each and every one of them wondered about his name and his identity .

    ¡°Who was that guy? He¡¯s really handsome . I¡¯ve never seen him before!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right . I¡¯ve never seen such a handsome guy before! He¡¯s so masculine! So manly!¡±

    ¡°Huh? Isn¡¯t he Li Yundong!¡±

    ¡°Li Yundong? The heavenly king of confession? The great emperor of parkour? It can¡¯t be . Don¡¯t scare me! I saw his photos before, alright! He¡¯s quite chubby, alright!¡±

    ¡°Impossible . How can this be Li Yundong? Unless he got stic surgery! Even if he got stic surgery, I saw him just three days ago . The stitches don¡¯t go away that quickly!¡±

    ¡°Then who is he?¡±

    ~~~

    *1 The author inserted a pun here . Usually this idiom is written with depressed as the first character but the author wrote it with drooping ears as the first character because Su Chan is a fox spirit... So... if she had fox ears, they would have been drooping down .

    *2 She means olddy in the sense of seniority . Basically I, your mother ... the female version of I, your father... and of course, it can also be read as I, this olddy .

    *3 School prince . In Chinese, this is written as school grass inparison to school flower (campus belle) and this is used to contrast with weed . Simrly, girls as flowers are contrasted with less beautiful girls, who are leaves .

 Chapter 33

    Chapter 33

    <h4>Chapter 33: Have Eyes But Cannot See</h4>

    T/N: Man, I cringe at some of the face pping and face giving that happens sometimes in Chinese novels.

    After these girls came into contact with Li Yundong¡¯s pure yang qi, when they turned back to look at the handsome man dancing on stage, they somehow felt he was so feminine that it made them feel disgust and the urge to vomit.

    Even Zhuang Hui who was dancing on stage could not resist having her gaze be firmly captivated at first sight. She was more stunned than when she first saw Su Chan. ¡®Who is this man?¡¯

    Since ancient times, the more beautiful a woman was, the stronger the yin qi of her body, and the easier it is for her to be attracted to a man with vigorous yang qi. The opposite is also true. The more heroic, outstanding or indomitable a man was, the stronger the yang qi of his body, and the easier it is for him to be attracted to a woman with vigorous yin qi.

    The so-called beautiful women love heroes and heroes love beautiful women, is actually due to this principle.

    When the little fox first appeared, the handsome male dancer seemed to forget how to dance just a little bit. When Li Yundong first appeared, Zhuang Hui who was dancing onstage began to repeatedly make mistakes. These two were stiff like zombies on the dance floor.

    The little fox stood below the stage. She epted the milk tea that Li Yundong passed her and took a sip. Then she asked, ¡°What are they doing?¡±

    Li Yundong replied with a smile, ¡°They¡¯re dancing of course. Can¡¯t you tell?¡±

    The little fox opened her eyes really wide, and with astonishment written all over her face, she loudly eximed, ¡°What? They aren¡¯t being possessed?*1¡±

    Those words were too great at face pping. Zhuang Hui heard them clearly. Her foot slipped and with a bang, she fell horizontally onto the floor. At this point, she reflexively tried to catch herself with her hand, in order to save her fake breasts from being forcibly broken by the fall. In the end, a cracking sound could be heard from her wrist, and her entire person was instantly ¡®oh noes¡¯.

    The students and the teachers of the judging panel in the audience were suddenly in an uproar.

    Feng Nuo was overjoyed to the point of swaying back and forth. ¡°That was a really great fall! Howe her fake breasts didn¡¯t break!¡±

    Cheng Cheng angrily said, ¡°Hey, you stole my line!¡±

    Feng Nuopletely ignored Cheng Cheng, She directly ran up onto the stage and faked an extremely concerned look. ¡°Aiya, what happened? What happened? Where did you fall down? Aiya, if you hurt your hand now, how will you dance? Wouldn¡¯t that be a waste of all the effort you¡¯ve put into practice and rehearsal?¡±

    Zhuang Hui¡¯s face was flushed purple and red. She was full of anger and hate. Tears were even starting to well up in her eyes.

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    One teacher, who could not stand to keep watching, stood up. He pointed at Su Chan¡¯s back and angrily said, ¡°Student over there. Where did youe from? Why are you intentionally causing trouble. Go away. You are not wee here!¡±

    The little fox Su Chan turned around and said in an aggrieved tone, ¡°I didn¡¯t want this to happen either.¡±

    Her appearance was such that no one could resist loving her. That sanctimonious teacher immediately softened his stance. He dry coughed once and his expression changed as quickly as flipping the page. ¡°So it¡¯s like that. In that case, it should be a misunderstanding. You need to pay attention to your volume. Try not to be too loud.¡±

    The surrounding students and teachers heard, and they could help but deeply hold this teacher in contempt. ¡®Possessing sexuality,cking humanity!¡±

    Li Yudong did not know of the grudge between Zhuang Hui and Feng Nuo. Seeing Feng Nuo so anxious, he turned to Su Chan and said, ¡°Look at you. Every time you open your mouth, you cause trouble. Just great. Now what will we do?¡±

    Su Chan puffed up her cheeks and said, ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll go fix her up.¡±

    With those words, she moved onto the stage with a single small jump. She walked over and reached for Zhuang Hui¡¯s arm.

    Zhuang Hui, having made such arge fool of herself in public, hated Su Chan to death. She hid her arm from Su Chan. Her tears flowed freely even as she roared in anger, ¡°I don¡¯t want your help!¡±

    Su Chan turned back around and looked at Li Yundong helplessly. Having no other option, Li Yundong also jumped onto the stage with a whoosh, movements were crisp and clean, his posture gave an impression of elegance and power. It made the eyes of those in the surrounding light up.

    Li Yundong smiled at Zhuang Hui in a friendly manner. ¡°ssmate, just now the speaker did not intend to offend the listener. It was purely an ident, so please don¡¯t take offense. Let this girl take a look. She is very skillful.¡±

    Zhuang Hui saw that Li Yundong was smiling at her. Her heart was so tense that it seemed like it stopped beating. Even the intense pain of her wrist was forgotten as she distractedly nodded her head.

    At this time, Su Chan reached forth and grabbed for Zhuang Hui¡¯s arm and hand. She felt around and said, ¡°It¡¯s not a problem, the wrist is simply dislocated.¡±

    With those words, she put strength into her two hands and snapped the wrist back into ce.

    Only now did Zhuang Hui seem to wake up from a dream, the pain causing her to scream.

    Su Chan put down Zhuang Hui¡¯s hand and said, ¡°Okay! It¡¯s all better now!¡±

    Zhuang Hui tested out her wrist by moving it around. In both surprise and delight, she yelled out, ¡°My wrist is fine now!¡±

    The female support dancers all close in and curiously inspected Zhuang Hui¡¯s hand. They also regarded Su Chan with respectful gazes, but often, they were inspecting Li Yundong who stood close by.

    Zhuang Hui¡¯s hand had been treated. However, she did not intend to thank Su Chan. In her mind, her hand was only injured because of what Su Chan said. Rather than that, she wanted to take this opportunity to befriend this handsome guy in front of her.

    Zhuang Hui was very beautiful. She had big eyes, willowy eyebrows, and when she smiled sweetly, she was quite charming. ¡°What¡¯s your name, handsome? Howe I¡¯ve never seen you around before?¡±

    Nearby, Feng Nuo was thinking to herself, ¡®This flirtatious floozy is using this chance to entice and seduce. She has no shame! But, howe that handsome guy looks a little familiar? Wait... isn¡¯t the beauty standing beside him? It can¡¯t be... he¡¯s Li Yundong?¡¯

    Li Yundong smiled at Zhuang Hui and said, ¡°My name is Li Yundong. Pleased to meet you.¡±

    Zhuang Hui suddenly widened her eyes. Her expression was brilliant. She looked like she had seen a ghost. The corners of her eyes twitched and she said in an embarrassed manner, ¡°You.. your name is Li Yudong?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Recement guaranteed if not authentic.¡±

    Zhuang Hui loudly blurted out, ¡°Impossible. Weren¡¯t you really fat?¡±

    Li Yundong secretly frowned to himself. His gaze became less friendly. ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard the idiom: three days without seeing a man, he can be a better person?¡±

    Zhuang Hui secretly regretted saying such dumb words, causing the attitude of the handsome guy in front of her to instantly be cold.

    Li Yundong turned around and said to Feng Nuo, ¡°I say, senior, did you manage to solve my issue?¡±

    Before Feng Nuo even had a chance to respond, she heard an angry voicee from under the stage. It was Director Qian.

    ¡°Li Yundong? What are you doing up there? Come down. Get down here right now. Don¡¯t dy the rehearsal. Hostility could clearly be seen on Director Qian¡¯s face. He had already decided to expel Li Yundong. Otherwise, if Li Yundong stayed, that was practically a ticking time bomb. Who knows when Li Yundong would publicize the incident where he tried to seduce Su Chan.

    Even if that incident would not affect his position and status, in the field of education, who did not cherish their reputation? Who did not fear being pointed at and ridiculed behind their back?

    At this time, Zhou Qin made her entrance. With a slight smile, she said, ¡°Director Qian, may I discuss something with you?¡±

    Director Qian turned his head and took a nce. A smile as brilliant as a chrysanthemum blossomed on his face. ¡°Hey. It¡¯s Zhou Qin. What is it? You can ask me anything.¡±

    Zhou Qin asked, ¡°I heard you wanted to expel Li Yundong?¡±

    The smile on Director Qian¡¯s face abruptly stiffened. ¡°How did you know?¡±

    Zhou Qin smiled but did not answer. Instead she said, ¡°Could you ce give me face and not expel him?¡±

    Director Qian started cursing indignantly in head. ¡®What¡¯s so good about this Li Yundong? Howe so many beautiful women were take with him? Zhou Qin was famous for being cold, both on the outside and on the inside. And yet, once and again, she helped Li Yundong! Could it be that she really did fall for Li Yundong?¡¯

    Director Qian¡¯s expression became overcast. He remained silent unwilling to reply.

    Zhou Qin secretly frowned to herself. She originally thought Director Qian would agree immediately. She did not think the old man would actually start putting on airs.

    Zhou Qin¡¯s patience reached its limit so she asked, ¡°Director Qian, allow me to presumptuously ask whether or not there exists some sort of conflict between you and Li Yundong.¡±

    When Director Qian heard, he immediately responded with righteous words and said, ¡°Of course not! Do you think I¡¯m the kind of person that would use his position to avenge private wrongs? No, I simply feel that this student is far too unsightly. Look, in just a few days, he¡¯s already caused so many incidents. Moreover, he always brings a girl who is not one of our students and parades around ostentatiously. He is an extremely negative influence on our school!¡±

    The corner of Zhou Qin¡¯s lips curved up. Her smile seemed quite cold. ¡°Then even if you want to expel him, you should at least wait until after the exchange, right? At this time, he is acting as Zhao Yujian¡¯s recement. As the bigger person, you should not lower yourself to deal with this petty matter.¡±

    Director Qian sized up Zhou Qin, then he suddenly smile, ¡°That¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll give you face and let him be until the end of the exchange meeting! However, my stance is clear. This kind of troublemaker, I will definitely kick them out!¡±

    Once he finished speaking, he turned around and left.

    Zhou Qin was furious inside. However, her upbringing was excellent and not a bit of her feelings could be seen on her face. Ding Nan, on the other hand, spat with a pshaw and sneered, ¡°What a bastard. Just now, his eyes when he looked at you practically wanted to eat you up!¡±

    Zhou Qin twitched her mouth, without saying another word. She simply nodded at Feng Nuo in the distance.

    Feng Nuo was delighted. She also nodded toward Zhou Qin expressing her gratitude.

    Zhou Qin, havingpleted the task entrusted to her by Feng Nuo, turned around intending to leave. She was annoyed to the point of agitation. Ding Nan unexpectedly spoke up beside her, ¡°You aren¡¯t going to watch the next program?¡±

    Zhou Qin frowned. ¡°No.¡±

    Ding Nan smiled and winked, ¡°Feng Nuo spent that much effort convincing him to substitute. Aren¡¯t you curious what kind of program Li Yundong will perform?¡±

    Zhou Qin stopped walking. In the end, she turned around. With her arms crossed over her chest, she frowned and said, ¡°I¡¯ll watch for a just a minute.¡±

    Ding Nan smiled, but on the inside, she looked down on Zhou Qin and thought, ¡®hypocrite!¡¯

    On the stage, Feng Nuo firmly patted Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°You¡¯re in luck. The issue has been solved. It¡¯s time for you to carry out your part of the deal!¡±

    Li Yundong was quite unequivocal. He said to Su Chan, ¡°Listen, wait for me down there.¡±

    Su Chan nodded obediently and jumped down from the stage. She sipped her milk tea, and as she waved hand, she said to Li Yundong, ¡°Add oil!*2¡±

    Li Yundong smiled at her. This smile looked very resplendent and sunny, causing the hearts of the girls in the surroundings to beat faster.

    Then Li Yundong turned to face Feng Nuo and asked, ¡°What should I do?¡±

    Feng Nuo said to Li Yundong, ¡°It¡¯ll be easy. First act out some sparring with your teammates, then you need to do a special act, and that¡¯s all.¡±

    Li Yundong nodded and said, ¡°Not a problem!¡±

    ~~~

    *1 Ìø´óÉñ basically spirit mediums will channel either dead people or deities in a very active way... that can involve jumping around and even whips for driving off evil spirits. Here¡¯s an example: https://youtu.be/oie643Lf58g?t=10m5s

    *2 ¼ÓÓÍ ¨C add oil: it is a Chinese way of cheering... you can take it to mean ¡®try harder¡¯ or ¡®pedal to the metal¡¯... add more gasoline or oil to speed up the car or turn up the heat. In any case, it¡¯s like fighto? fighting? In Japanese.

 Chapter 34

    Chapter 34

    Chapter 34: Chest nk Boulder Break

    T/N: Remember this chest nk boulder break thing is very real. In fact, Russian and North Korean Special Forces still do it. You basically put a rock b on a guy¡¯s chest. The guy is held up by his head and feet (in the extreme version) or he¡¯s held up in a less straining manner. And then another guy swings a huge hammer and breaks the rock on his chest/abdomen.

    The person sparring with Li Yundong was a fourth year senior of the Physical Education department. His physique was herculean. In the Taekwondo Society, he was only third to Zhao Yujian and Zeng Qing.

    Li Yundong could easily perceive rejection and hostility on his face. Obviously, this fellow did not want to partner with him.

    However, Li Yundong¡¯s previous performance at the Taekwondo Society had already intimidated him. Furthermore, this was for the sake of the Taekwondo Society¡¯s reputation, he could only brace himself and do his best.

    While Li Yundong had not trained seriously in Taekwondo for even a day, his body had already been remodeled by the Human Origin Gold Pill. Simr to Zhang Wuji¡¯s state after practicing the Nine Yang Divine Skill and the Heaven and Earth Great Shift, the martial arts of this world did not present any obstacle or mystery for him.*1 Just by casually fiddling around, while there may be some disparity in how he exerted his strength, there were definitely no discrepancies that could be detected by an observer.

    Li Yundong and the fourth year senior bowed to each other, then they each took a stance and started sparring.

    This type of sparring was actually a type of partner drill. While the spectators in the audience watched excitedly, in reality, neither of the two participants had even suffered a scratch.

    It was just that each and every one of Li Yundong¡¯s movements contained great power, especially when punching. The wind from his fist made whooshing sounds. The senior who was sparring with Li Yundong was secretly scared witless. He was afraid that if he were careless and let a punchnd, then he would be forced to keep Zhao Yujianpany in the hospital!

    ¡®Damn it. This kid is a monster!¡¯ the senior cursed to himself, ¡®Just two days ago, he was like a newbie who never practiced taekwondo. Now, his every move looked more wless than the coach!¡¯

    As they say, ¡®when an expert shows his skill, you¡¯ll know if he¡¯s the real deal.¡¯

    When Li Yundong showed his skills, that vast strength and majestic energy contained in every single punch and kick definitely could not be faked. The students and teachers who were watching the rehearsal in the auditorium all nodded to themselves.

    The eyes of the girls among them lit up. Some of the girls sourly gazed upon Su Chan, harboring resentment in their hearts. Why did they not discover Li Yundong, the hidden gem, back then? And now, everything ended up benefiting this vixen as a result.

    Zhuang Hui watched the valiant and heroic Li Yundong spar with his partner from the backstage. During the spar, Li Yundong would let out loud shouts, his majestic masculine voice resonating like roaring thunder. The sound of every shout would cause her heart to skip a beat.

    Zhuang Hui involuntarily turned her head to nce at her dancing partner who she used to find incredibly handsome. She felt great regret. ¡®Why did her dancing partner seem so unbearably effeminate now? Truly, whenparing goods, junk deserves to get thrown away, and whenparing people, trash deserves to die! Why did I use such unequivocalnguage earlier? Feng Nuo only needs to say a few negative things about me in front of Li Yundong, then I will stand no chance at all.¡¯

    However, Zhuang Hui was also a proud girl. She thought, ¡®If I have no chance then that¡¯s that. What¡¯s the big deal? There are tons of handsome guys and awesome men in this world!¡¯

    Even though Zhuang Hui thought like that, there was a tightness in her heart that was difficult to bear, for a time her eyes brimmed with tears.

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    When Li Yundong and his senior finished their spar, apuse resounded throughout the entire auditorium.

    After Li Yundong had a chance to stretch his limbs, the meridians of his entire body limbered up in response, making his entire person look increasingly more spirited andpelling. His qi was stable and his spirit calm. Conversely, his sparring partner, the senior, had his hands and feet tied from excessive caution, and ended up exhausting himself as a result.

    ¡°Truly, you can¡¯t judge people by their appearance.¡± Ding Nan secretly shook her head from her position in the audience. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that fellow to be an actual expert with such deeply hidden skills!¡±

    Zhou Qin finished watching the performance. Suppressing the excitement and curiosity boiling deep in her heart, she spoke in an indifferent tone, ¡°Let¡¯s leave.¡±

    Ding Nan said, ¡°Ay, there¡¯s still more toe!¡±

    When she finished speaking, a female host stepped forward holding a microphone. As she pped, she said to Li Yundong with a smile, ¡°That was great. Really great. You are surely a martial artist, right?¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head, ¡°I¡¯m not.¡±

    The female host shot him a rather surprised nce. She concluded he was being modest, so she simply smiled and looked toward the program schedule. Suddenly an odd expression appeared on her face. ¡°Next, ssmate Li Yundong will present to us a very special, very traditional program.¡±

    Li Yundong gave a start. He turned to look at Feng Nuo and said, ¡°Howe there¡¯s more?¡±

    Feng Nuo was feeling slightly guilty on the inside. However, the moment she thought of how she lost face in front of Li Yundong, she bit down and forced herself to say, ¡°Of course, if it were only the bit before, who would want to watch?¡±

    Li Yundong thought about it and decided to himself, ¡®That¡¯s right. When he watched shows on TV, were there any performances thatcked chopping through tiles or kicking through wood nks?¡±

    At this time, Li Yundong only felt an inexhaustible energy flowing throughout his entire body. He also wanted to see if he could chop through tiles or rather how many tiles he could chop though. So he very bluntly said, ¡°Fine, what wille wille. Who¡¯s afraid of whom!¡±

    The female host¡¯s expression became more interesting. She looked at Li Yundong with both admiration and amusement. ¡°Alright. In that case, allow us to wee this traditional program brought to us by ssmate Li Yundong: chest nk boulder break!¡±

    The moment she finished saying those words, Su Chan who was drink milk tea at the time went ¡®pfft¡¯ and choked. Some milk tea even sprayed out of her nose.

    Li Yundong was pressing down on his foot to perform a thigh stretch. When he heard those words, he toppled over, his buttnding on the ground. An embarrassed and frustrated expression appeared on his face.*2 He shouted out, ¡°What? Can you repeat that?¡±

    All the students and teacher on and off the stage were all dumbstruck. A momentter, the entire auditorium resonated withughter.

    Zhuang Hui who was secretly dispirited at the time heard and could not help but burst out intoughter, turning sorrow into joy. Zhou Qin, who had turned turn in preparation to leave, paused in her stride. The corners of her mouth twitched. She hid her mouth with her hand as if trying to suppress herughter, causing her back to shake and convulse.

    Li Yundong raised his head to look at the host, ¡°Did you read that wrong?¡±

    The host blinked her eyes and replied with an innocent expression on her face, ¡°I didn¡¯t. If you don¡¯t believe me, you can look for yourself!¡±

    Li Yundong epted the program schedule and took a look. As expected, the final program turned out to be his special program, chest nk boulder break!

    ¡°This must be a mistake!¡± Li Yundong did not know whether tough or cry. He turned his head and nced toward Feng Nuo, only to see her and Cheng Cheng, the two of them, hugging their sides andughing their head off.

    Li Yundong knew what was going on. ¡®God dang! This girl actually got me! Very well. You¡¯ll get yours!¡±

    Li Yundong grabbed the program schedule and made his way to Feng Nuo. He shook the schedule wildly and shouted, ¡°What the heck is this supposed to be?¡±

    Feng Nuo suppressed herughter. Straightening her stance she said, ¡°What do you mean? Isn¡¯t this something you asked for?¡±

    Li Yundong said bbergasted, ¡°Something I asked for?¡±

    Feng Nuo said, ¡°I asked you what you would perform. You said chest nk boulder break!¡±

    After she finished speaking, she turned to Cheng Cheng and asked, ¡°Hey, that¡¯s what he said, right?¡±

    Cheng Cheng rubbed her belly, forcibly resisting the urge tough. She did not even dare to look at Li Yundong¡¯s face. She was afraid if she saw Li Yundong¡¯s exciting expression, she would injure her sides fromughing too hard. ¡°Of course. Of course. I can act as the witness.¡±

    Li Yundong was so mad, to the point it felt like his soul was leaving his body.*3

    ¡®Aren¡¯t they treating me like a fool to y around with?¡¯

    ¡°Hey! Do you think I¡¯m a retard?¡± Li Yundong angrily said, ¡°What year do you think it is? Are there still people who perform chest nk boulder break these days?¡±

    After saying those words, everyone on and off the stage, all the members of the bystander sect once again startingughing uproariously.*4

    Feng Nuo said in a dead serious manner, ¡°Do not forget our agreement! I helped you settle your issue. Now you must help me settle mine.¡±

    Li Yundong was hopping mad, ¡°Even so, you can¡¯t mess with me like this!¡±

    Feng Nuo spoke with an expression full of awe-inspiring righteousness, ¡°Who is messing with you? Don¡¯t you know chest nk boulder break is our nation¡¯s¡ªour people¡¯s¡ªspecial traditional performance and cultural heritage? For our exchange meeting with Bincifaneya University, in my opinion, this kind of interesting and cultural performance passed down from our ancestors is the best possible choice!¡±

    The corners of Li Yundong¡¯s eyes twitched. His heart was full of grievance. He turned to nce at Su Chan, hoping to find backup, only to see the girl had alreadyughed herself into a crouch. She repeatedly rubbed at her cheeks, which were rather sore from excessiveughter.

    ¡®That girl, has she no conscience?¡¯ Li Yundong cursed to himself.

    ¡°Fine. What wille wille!¡± said Li Yundong who had firmed his resolve. He had an air of someone unafraid of the mortal winds or tests of rain and cold. However, his next words quickly exposed his unease, ¡°But I never agreed to perform with a big rock on my chest!¡±

    Feng Nuo saw that Li Yundong wanted to shamelessly escape, so she bluntly said, ¡°Okay. In any case, I¡¯m just swinging the hammer. Whether you perform with a rock b on your chest or perform with just the hammer, you can take your pick!¡±

    The students in the audience, who wished the world to be more interesting and more chaotic, nearlyughed themselves to death. Li Yundong only felt so depressed that he wanted to vomit blood. He was starting to regret treating this senior rudely back then in the ssroom. ¡®Damn it, who said only women and petty folk were difficult to keep? Was itrade Confucius? Great Confucius, this one worships you! Your words are wise, too freaking wise!¡¯

    Women must not be offended, especially beautiful women!

    Li Yundong learned a very profound lesson from this event. He decided to surrender. ¡°Okay. You win! I will perform with a rock b on my chest!¡±

    Feng Nuo had a prideful look on her face. ¡°That¡¯s for the best!¡±

    Li Yundong steeled his heart. He shouted, ¡°Bring out the metal hammer! I don¡¯t believe you really prepared a metal hammer!¡±

    Feng Nuoughed once and said to Cheng Cheng, ¡°Go bring out that fellow!¡±

    Cheng Cheng had one hand on her belly and her other hand rubbed at her cheek. She lightly jogged to the backstage. Then using both hands, she dragged arge metal hammer and walked over with a series of banging sounds.

    Everyone saw Cheng Cheng return with a giant metal hammer and they immediately copsed inughter.

    In the audience, Zhou Qin who had up until now resisted the urge tough was nearing her limit. From the corner of her tightly pursed lips, a ¡®pfft¡¯ sound asionally slipped through. At her side, Ding Nan had long sinceughed herself silly. Sometimes, she would pound on her seat. Other times, she would use her fingers to whistle. She looked super high.

    Li Yundong stared dumbstruck at the metal hammer Cheng Cheng dragged out. He shouted out in rm, ¡°Damn. Aren¡¯t you too harsh? Which construction site did you steal that hammer from? How is it so big?¡±

    On the stage, Feng Nuoughed herself into a crouch. ¡°Nonsense, I especially went to a hardware store to buy this.¡±

    Li Yundong raised his thumb. ¡°Good! Very good! Super duper good! Then where¡¯s the rock? I don¡¯t believe you can buy that too!¡±

    Feng Nuo forcibly repressed herughter and snapped her finger at Cheng Cheng. ¡°Why would I need to buy that? There¡¯s rocks everywhere. You can casually find one!¡±

    Li Yundong listened skeptically. He thought, ¡®Where would you find suchrge rock bs that you can casually take? But this girl has shown that she had definitely came prepared. Just in case she really drags out arge rock b, can I endure it?¡¯

    Having thought that, Li Yundong could not help but smile apologetically at Feng Nuo. ¡°I say, senior sis. If something can¡¯t be found when looking up, it can be found by looking down.*5 There¡¯s no need to be ruthless, right? If this rock b is too big and too heavy, I won¡¯t be able to lift it!¡±

    Feng Nuo put on a benevolent expression as if bringing salvation to the world through greatpassion and great sorrow. ¡°Fear not. I especially helped you prepare a small one!¡±

    Having said such, Cheng Cheng ran out from the backstage. Everyone¡¯s gaze gathered on her hand, only to see discover her hands were empty, she was not carrying anything at all. Just when everyone was baffled and puzzled, they saw Cheng Cheng ran to Li Yundong¡¯s side. Forcibly repressing herughter, she stuffed something into Li Yundong¡¯s hand and said, ¡°There you go. The rock is here!¡±

    Li Yundong looked at the rock he just got and immediately wanted to vomit three liters of blood. He raised the rock in his hand and said loudly, ¡°Dear senior sister, if you want me to perform chest nk boulder break, I¡¯m fine with that. For better or worse, you should get ahold of a proper rock b! Okay, if you really can¡¯t get a proper rock b, that¡¯s fine too, but for better or worse, you can still scrounge up something more appropriate, even a stone b from the sewer will do! Okay, if you can¡¯t even get that, I can still endure. So long as you get some bricks, that¡¯s fine too. And now, you didn¡¯t even manage to get some bricks, you got me a single river stone. What¡¯s your intention here?¡±

    After those words were said, the entire auditorium, regardless of whether they were a student or teacher,ughed so hard that they nearly went to the afterlife. Zhou Qin, who had managed to suppress herughter up to this point, finally could not resist anymore. She burst intoughter, her figure swaying delightfully.

    ~~~

    *1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Wuji

    *2 ‡åface

    *3 Ò»·ðÉýÌì£¬¶þ·ð³öÇÏ¨C lit. one Buddha ascending and two Buddhas departing: So all three of these Buddhas die. These Buddhas are a reference to soul. Humans have 7 parts to their soul... 3 hun and 4 po. The 3 Buddha refer to the 3 hun. So angry his 3 hun fled his body. It¡¯s an odd reference. There is a simr expression that is one Buddha dying, two Buddha born... it mean the person is so bad, they die and are born again.

    *4 swaying back and forth is the chinese expression. I¡¯m half tempted to putughing their asses off.

    *5 basically even if people aren¡¯t little when you¡¯re arrogant, they are willing if you bow down.

 Chapter 35

    Chapter 35

    Chapter 35: epting a Challenge in Public

    T/N: https://youtu.be/NWpkNWvadcs?t=66 https://youtu.be/NWpkNWvadcs?t=2600 there you go, a real chest nk boulder break.

    By this time, everyone could tell that Feng Nuo was making fun of Li Yundong. Even though they did not know what had happened between the two of them, but they had to admit, the farce just now was veryedic and delightful. It made everyoneugh until they were low on air.

    Some of the teachers who disapproved of Li Yundong¡¯s behaviour also could not help but wipe away their tears even as theyughed and said, ¡°Alright. Alright. Whatever you guys were going to perform, perform it normally, don¡¯t mess around. Messing around like this will not be tolerated at the exchange meeting.¡±

    Feng Nuo also knew to quit while she was ahead. She turned to the teachers and let out a sillyugh, ¡°I was just joking with my junior!¡±

    Li Yundong did not know whether tough or cry. ¡°You call this joking?¡¯

    Feng Nuo pulled a mischievous face at him. ¡°Whose fault is it that you offended me?¡±

    Li Yundong felt helpless. He could only put his palms together and say, ¡°Benefactor, this one has eyes, but could not see. The great you should just forgive the lowly me!¡±

    Feng Nuo also returned his greeting in a dead earnest tone, ¡°May the lord Buddha preserve us! Buddha once said, ¡®the sea of bitterness has no bounds, turn your head to see the shore.¡¯ That you have decided to turn your head, we must really thank Heaven and Earth. All the gods and Buddhas above are likely shedding tears of emotion!¡±

    The two of them exchanged words before looking each other in the eye. Then they both broke downughing.

    Even though Li Yundong had made a fool of himself and lowered his head onstage due to this farce, a lot of the girls in the auditorium gazed upon Li Yundong with even brighter eyes.

    Who does not like a handsome man with a sunny disposition, who also happened to be funny?

    Some girls secretly whispered to each other.

    ¡°Sigh. If only I had such an amusing boyfriend!¡±

    ¡°Dream on. Didn¡¯t you say you didn¡¯t like game addicts?¡±

    ¡°For a game addict as amusing as this, then I would still consider it!¡±

    ¡°Tch. You¡¯re a bitch who likes to judge people by their appearance. You¡¯re just saying that because he¡¯s pretty handsome!¡±

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    ¡°Sigh. Handsomeness suits my desire true, yet charm also suits my desire too!¡±

    ¡°Ptooey! Did you not look at the beauty that is with the guy? Look at her! Aren¡¯t you worried about feeling inferior?¡±

    How could Li Yundong know that these girls were privately discussing him? He looked at Feng Nuo and said, ¡°Hey, let¡¯s be serious here. Is there anything else that you need me to perform? If there is nothing else, I¡¯ll be leaving first!¡±

    Feng Nuo saw that Li Yundong was turning around and preparing to leave. She hurriedly grabbed onto him and said, ¡°Hey, hey! You still need to perform chopping roof tiles and kicking wood nks!¡±

    Li Yundong let out a sigh. ¡°If it¡¯s good fortune then you don¡¯t need to run. If it¡¯s misfortune then you can¡¯t get away anyways! What else do you need? Hurry up and tell me in one go. I won¡¯t reject it, alright?¡±

    Feng Nuo smiled and said, ¡°There¡¯s no more. It¡¯s just this. Did you think you needed to challenge the Shaolin 18 brassmen gauntlet?¡±*1

    Li Yundongughed it off, ¡°18 brassmen? You really know how to joke. Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ll go to the Shaolin temple and invite someone over? Even if you want to, can you really get them toe?¡±

    Feng Nuo smiled faintly and said, ¡°Oh? You¡¯re serious then? You really want to challenge the 18 brassmen?¡±

    Li Yundong saw the foreboding look in her eyes. He thought, ¡®If these crazy girls actually managed to invite 18 bronzemen like the ones in the movie ¡®God of Cookery¡¯, and they indiscriminately smashed him with folding chairs and mops, he wouldn¡¯t be able to take it either!¡¯*2

    Li Yundong hurriedly said, ¡°Okay. Okay. You win, alright? I¡¯m afraid of you already!¡±

    Feng Nuo was immensely proud of herself, ¡°It¡¯s good that you¡¯re aware.¡±

    Soon after, Cheng Cheng led a bunch of people carrying tiles from the backstage. They piled up the tiles one piece at time on the stage.

    Everyone could clearly hear the sound of tiles colliding against each other. They secretly whispered to each other, ¡°These tiles seem real. Will this be fine?¡±

    Li Yundong had never chopped through roof tiles before. He was somewhat apprehensive on the inside as well. He subconsciously walked to the edge of the stage. Kneeling down, he asked Su Chan who was by the stage, ¡°Sigh. Will I be fine?¡±

    Su Chan waved her hand unconcerned, ¡°No problem. This is just a trifle!¡±

    In truth, Li Yundong was just asking casually, but when he heard Su Chan¡¯s response, his heart was filled to the brim, as if he had grown a bit stronger.

    He stood up and took a deep breath. His body also seemed to grow a bit bigger. He walked to the front of the stack of roof piles and practiced a couple swings of his fist.

    On the side, Feng Nuo knew this matter was no joke. She appeared nervous and could not resist asking, ¡°Sigh. Will you be fine? If you can¡¯t do it, I can find someone else. It¡¯s not a problem. Don¡¯t overdo it and hurt yourself.¡±

    Li Yundong turned around and smiled at her. ¡°It¡¯s fine. No worries!¡±

    Li Yundong thought, ¡®When I suffered qi deviation, I even shattered the incredibly tough marble sink. There¡¯s no reason for me to fail in breaking a couple roof tiles, right?¡¯

    Feng Nuo was still a bit worried. She spoke up once more, ¡°Remember, when punching, you have to keep your fist straight. You need to be resolute and unfaltering!¡±

    Li Yundong did not speak again. He gathered his concentration and just as he was about to smash his fist down, a voice interrupted from the side, ¡°What kind of skill does breaking roof tiles demonstrate? Something like that won¡¯t excite the audience. Why don¡¯t you spar with me instead?¡±

    Li Yundong turned his head, only to see two people standing there¡ªZhou Yu, the guy who was trying to pick a fight with him at the school gate, and another young man of medium build, dressed in a navy blue short sleeved Tang suit and a pair of tough soled cloth shoes.*3

    Feng Nuo knit her brows, ¡°Zhou Yu, what are you doing?¡±

    Zhou Yu gave her a nce and waved his hand, ¡°Nuo Nuo, this is none of your business. Get out of the way.¡±

    Li Yundong noticed both of neers had their eyes on him. Clearly, he was their target. He frowned to himself and got out of his stance. With a grave expression, he asked, ¡°What do you guys want?¡±

    Zhou Yu pointed to the young man by his side and said, ¡°This is my senior brother, the fifth generation heir of the Guangdong Lin family Iron Wire Fist, Lin Fei!¡±

    Lin Fei was not particrly tall. He was only around 170 cm. His skin was dark and he possessed the characteristic appearance of Cantonese people. However, his arms were very thick, especially his forearms, which were not covered by the fabric of his sleeves. The muscles of his arms were like a bunch of steel bars, intimidating to look at.

    From the moment this young man saw Li Yundong, his gaze unwaveringly locked on without blinking even once, like a wild beast that had locked onto its prey.

    Lin Fei¡¯s gaze was almost like a physical force. In response to that stare, Li Yundong¡¯s hairs almost stood on end. Subconsciously, all of Li Yundong¡¯s pores opened and Gold Pill internal qi started to rapidly circte, automatically protecting his body.

    Once his qi started to circte, Li Yundong¡¯s entire ambiance instantly changed!

    A while ago, everyone in the auditorium on and off the stage felt that Li Yundong¡¯s body radiated a mighty aura, but this aura only felt masculine and cheerful, not at all overbearing.

    However, the current Li Yundong who stood before them had his brows tightly knit. When his electric gaze met with that of Lin Fei, the air around him seemed to ignite, zing with unseen pressure.

    This was the purest primordial yang qi in this world!

    In the audience, Su Chan could not help but praise Li Yundong in her heart. ¡®Perhaps Li Yundong has exceptionally good fortune on the path of cultivation, his luck was astonishing. His personality was soft on the outside and firm on the inside. When dealing with others, he was mild like flowing water, but he has his own conviction defining Heaven and Earth. If he meets a powerful enemy, he would neither be discouraged nor show cowardice, instead he would step forth and face his enemy!

    With this kind of personality, in addition to his pure primordial yang qi, his path of cultivation would naturally be half the work for twice the effect, sessful in every endeavor.

    Feng Nuo could keenly detect the scent of conflict in the air. She sneered and said, ¡°Zhou Yu, you¡¯re really capable, aren¡¯t you? Howe I never noticed before? After you found you couldn¡¯t defeat Li Yundong, you actually invited your senior brother to help out!¡±

    Zhou Yu sneered, ¡°Me? Can¡¯t beat him?¡±

    Having seen Li Yundong achieve victory against many opponents by himself at the school gate, Zhou Yu had been intimidated by Li Yundong¡¯s imposing presence back then, so he did not dare to start a fight. Afterward, he found himself feeling more sullen whenever he thought about it. He ended up telling his senior brother about this matter, and his senior brother Lin Fei immediately pointed out, ¡°You must defeat this person. Otherwise your mental state will break because of him and your martial arts will never be able to improve again!¡±

    Zhou Yu was bbergasted. Due to this, he came up with the idea of defeating Li Yundong in public. He also wanted to take this chance to ruthlessly humiliate Li Yundong. He and his senior brother Lin Fei secretly deliberated and exchanged pointers taking Li Yundong¡¯s unnaturally big strength into ount. Only because they managed to create a strategy for dealing with Li Yundong, did they decide to challenge Li Yundong at the dress rehearsal.

    Zhou Yu pointed to Lin Fei and said, ¡°I only invited my senior brother to act as the witness.¡±

    The vice-chancellor, who had always been offstage, serving as a member of the judging panel for the rehearsal, suddenly interrupted angry and appalled, ¡°What are you doing? Do you think the school is a martial arts dojo? If you want to fight, then fight elsewhere. This is a school!¡±

    Zhou Yu turned around and spoke to the vice-chancellor frankly with assurance, ¡°Chancellor Ke, since our exchange with the Bincifaneya University is for promoting our nation¡¯s culture, and promoting Tiannan University¡¯s culture, then why is the Taekwondo Society allowed to perform and not us?¡±

    Chancellor Ke stomped his foot in anger. ¡°Nonsense. Preposterous. Do you think the exchange meeting is for fun and games! The Taekwondo Society is an official club registered at the school. Are you an official club?¡±

    On the side, Director Qian who had acted as a detached bystander suddenly had an idea. He leaned closer and said, ¡°Chancellor Ke, our school really does have a Wushu Society.¡±

    Chancellor Ke¡¯s expression stiffened as if someone had pped him in the face. He turned his head around with gazed upon Director Qian unkindly. ¡°Oh? Howe I don¡¯t know?¡±

    Even though Director Qian was only the disciplinary director, he was not afraid of the school¡¯s deputy leader. He simply smiled and said, ¡°That Wushu Society was established by the students and could be considered an unofficial club. A year ago, it was registered officially with the school, but due to bad management, it waster disbanded.¡±

    Cancellor Ke turned his head back and said, ¡°It is still not allowed. A friendly exchange between two universities should remain within the guidelines of a friendly exchange. Fighting back and forth is inappropriate. What if someone gets injured? Who will take responsibility?¡±

    Zhou Yu hurriedly said, ¡°Chancellor Ke, our actions can be considered meeting friends through martial arts. We can control our attacks. There definitely won¡¯t be a problem! If there is a problem, I am willing to withdraw from the school of my own ord!¡±

    What Zhou Yu originally wanted was to prove himself stronger than the recently popr Li Yundong in front of a crowd. That was why he had no intention of hurting or crippling Li Yundong. He simply wanted to win in an ostentatious manner.

    Chancellor Kepletely enraged nned on refusing. On the side, Director Qian heard Zhou Yu¡¯s words and his eyes lit up. A very devious n appeared in his head. He spoke advocating Zhou Yu¡¯s n. ¡°Chancellor Ke, what student Zhou Yu said does have some reason. Think about it. A sparringpetition between Taekwondo and Wushu, if we announced that, it would sound much more interesting. Furthermore, they¡¯re all grown up and practitioners of martial arts. I¡¯m sure both of them will take care to hold back appropriately.¡±

    Chancellor Ke fixed his gaze on Director Qian. ¡°It sounds nice, but if there¡¯s a problem. Will it be your responsibility or will it be my responsibility?¡±

    Director Qian faintly smiled, and said like a wily old fox, ¡°What are you worrying about? Isn¡¯t deputy mayor Zhouing on that day? He¡¯s been put in charge of education. So long as he¡¯s there, what would you need to take responsibility for? Even if the sky falls, aren¡¯t there taller people to pick up the burden? Moreover, I don¡¯t think there will be any problem. On the other hand, if the higher-ups appreciate our performance, you could also receive some benefit, no?¡±

    Chancellor Ke thought of something. He looked toward Director Qian with a profound and meaningful gaze.

    Then he turned around and looked back at Zhou Yu, ¡°Can you give me your word?¡±

    Zhou Yu was overjoyed when he saw that Chancellor Ke seemed close to agreeing. ording to his n, if the chancellor did not agree to his n, he was prepared to exchange blows with Li Yundong here and now. However, if the chancellor agreed, then that was better. He wanted to make Li Yundong lose face in front of the entire school.

    Zhou Yu smiled like a petty man who had just achieved his n. ¡°Of course I can give my word, Chancellor Ke!¡± He turned around and looked toward Li Yundong, ¡°I believe my junior and I are simply meeting friends through martial arts. Isn¡¯t that right, Li Yundong?¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s gaze was solely fixed on Lin Fei, without even ncing at Zhou Yu who had been doing this and that, he calmly said, ¡°Let your senior brother challenge me, you are not my opponent. Since we are meeting friends through martial arts in front of our foreign friends, we should at least have two evenly matchedpetitors to make the show interesting. If the spar is finished in two or three blow, wouldn¡¯t we be making fools of ourselves in front of our foreign friends?¡±

    These words were tantamount to a p, whichnded heavily on Zhou Yu¡¯s face.

    ¡°Ha!¡±ughed Feng Nuo from the side, who had been really annoyed up until now.

    ~~~

    *1 18 Brassmen of Shaolin ¨C they are from Jin Yong¡¯s novels. You challenge them for training.

    *2 18 Brassmen of Shaolin ¨C slightly different from the challenge, they are 18 brass looking monks in the movie God of Cookery, which is a cringy corny HK film with the silliest plot and special effects https://youtu.be/l8_Mk3-sZsQ?t=4473

    *3 Tang suit ¨C a style of traditional Chinese clothing from Tang.

 Chapter 36

    Chapter 36

    Chapter 36 The Little Fox Is Going to Cook

    Li Yundong¡¯s personality was that of a typical donkey, stubborn . You could coax him into doing something, but never force him into anything . If others talked to him nicely, he would surely reciprocate in the same manner, but if anyone dared to rub him the wrong way, he would make them suffer a hundred times more .

    When Zhou Yu tried to repel him with his repulsive acts, Li Yundong would be a hundred times more repulsive than Zhou Yu!

    Li Yundong¡¯s words made Zhou Yu feel like he had swallowed a fly, however, he deliberately managed a smile and replied . ¡°Oh? My boy Li Yundong is quite confident in himself...¡±

    He was about to continue, but Huang Yifei broke in . ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll take it from here!¡±

    Zhou Yu was astonished . ¡°Senior brother, you...¡±

    Huang Yifei firmly fixed his eyes on Li Yundong and had not taken his eyes off him for a single second . He feared that Li Yundong might jump into a ferocious attack when he let down his guard for a split second .

    Huang Yifei used to fight for money in underground clubs . Killing desires ran in his blood and never did he respect royalty or integrity . He himself would always stab others in the back while they still trusted him .

    Therefore, ording to his own philosophy of life, he was imagining that this formidable adversary in front of him might act first and ferociously .

    Huang Yifei still stared at Li Yundong while he was speaking to Zhou Yu . ¡°You can¡¯t match him in martial arts, and you won¡¯t do your best in a battle with him . ¡±

    Zhou Yu looked a little awkward . However, he shortly considered and nodded . Then, he turned around to speak to the university president . ¡°Mr . Ke, look, to make the battle safer, my senior apprentice brother has offered to fight in my ce . He¡¯s a lot stronger than me in martial arts and knows when to stop or act . You can rest assured that the battle will go on well!¡±

    President Ke was an old-school schr and had not realized that, in abat battle, the stronger both sides were, the greater the injuries would be . Instead, if only one of them was strong, then, the stronger one would naturally control the pace of the battle and then ended it in peace .

    Nevertheless, if both sides were too strong, then neither of them would risk being snuck up on when he was holding back . If that happened, their entire life¡¯s kung fu would go to waste! Thus, two capable experts in a battle could not afford holding back even a little; finally, as a consequence of this kind of intense face-off, it was highly likely that one of them would end up seriously injured!

    How many close apprentices had injured their brothers in duels in the history of Chinese martial arts!

    Difference in profession made one feel worlds apart . Mr . Ke didn¡¯t understand this and neither did the other teachers . The little fox, Su Chan, actually knew about it, however he had fought with other marital artist before and was fine . Furthermore, even if he wasn¡¯t up to the challenge, the Gold Pill in his body would ensure that there was no way he could get hurt . Therefore, she did not worry about him at all .

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    Even though the girls like Feng Na and Zhou Qin had taken Taekwondo sses before, what they had learned was just some gimmicks and they had no idea of this . They had never known what realbat was like . In the end, everyone in the auditorium except Su Chan hadn¡¯t noticed that something had gone wrong!

    However, unaware of the facts as he might be, Mr . Ke had his own way of dealing with things . He snorted, flung his sleeves, and then left with a single word word, ¡°Nonsense!¡±

    It was indeed a short sentence, but it contained quite a lot of meanings . His attitude seemed to be positive, nevertheless, if things did go wrong in the end, he could refer to his ambiguous words right now . ¡°I¡¯ve told you that it¡¯s all nonsense . I said no, clearly . ¡±

    Director Qian spat the word ¡°old fox¡± as President Ke turned and walked away . Then, he turned around and put on a smile . ¡°Well, since Mr . Ke has agreed, you guys should go back and prepare yourselves . The martial arts seminar is drawing near, we should prepare ourselves and don¡¯t let the foreigners look down on us!¡±

    Huang Yifei had been on guard against Li Yundong all this time, while Li Yundong put his entire trust in Huang Yifei . Moreover, his aura had been much stronger than Huang Yifei¡¯s, hence he hadn¡¯t kept his guard up . Instead, when he turned around to face Director Qian, he couldn¡¯t help but think that this disgusting man¡¯s smile was actually evil!

    The students on campus were mostly simple-minded and wouldn¡¯t know the word games those people had been ying . Instead, they couldn¡¯t get enough of the fun . Their faces were glowing and they whispered to each other . ¡°Hey, it¡¯s going to be fun!¡±

    ¡°Who do you think will win?¡±

    ¡°Why bother asking? Of course, Li Yundong¡¯s going to win!¡±

    On the contrary, Zhou Qin and Ding Nan saw the strangeness of the situation . One of them grew up in an official¡¯s family and clearly knew about the evil side of humanity; the other was born smart and discerning .

    Ding Nan said to Zhou Qin, ¡°Why do I get the feeling that Director Qian is up to no good?¡±

    Zhou Qin knit her two ck brows together and remained silent . A supposedly hrious drama turned out to be a horror thriller in the end and she found it rather hard to believe .

    ¡°Let¡¯s go . ¡± Zhou Qin turned around and replied feebly .

    Ding Nan was surprised to hear that . ¡°Aren¡¯t you worried?¡±

    However, in reply, Zhou Qin just turned around and left, leaving Ding Nan alone . Ding Nan pursed her lips and scoffed in her heart . ¡°Don¡¯t you worry that you might get heat rashes when bundling yourself up all day?¡±

    Since they had agreed on the date of the battle, Huang Yifei and Zhou Yu found it unnecessary to stay here any longer and left . When the two had left, Feng Na and the other girls that had a thing for Li Yundong all swarmed near him with loud and cheerful wishes . ¡°Li Yundong, keep it up! We¡¯re here for you!¡±

    Feng Na darted a sorrowful nce over to Li Yundong . ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it¡¯s all my fault . ¡±

    Li Yundong chuckled . ¡°That¡¯s not true . A man can¡¯t be too famous and a pig can¡¯t be too fat . An attractive man like me will surely stir things up for no reason wherever I go . ¡±

    His arrogant statement made all girls presentugh .

    Not far away stood Zhuang Hui who red at Li Yundong and felt sick at heart . In the end, she stamped out of the auditorium .

    On the way home, Li Yundong¡¯s eyes fell on Su Chan . All of a sudden, he asked, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you stop me earlier?¡±

    Su Chan asked in reply, ¡°Stop you from what?¡±

    Li Yundong sighed, ¡°Stop me from fighting Zhou Yu¡¯s Shi Xiong, of course . Do you really think that an amateur like me can beat a guy like him?¡±

    Su Chan paid no heed to his concerns . ¡°Of course you can!¡±

    In fact, Li Yundong really wanted to ask her why he was constantly in trouble and why he had changed so much since she had entered his life .

    However, although on the tip of his tongue, Li Yundong still managed to bite his lip . He thought about it and decided to bring up the question after the seminar . What will be will be .

    ¡°Forget it, maybe another time . ¡± Li Yundong said to himself in his heart .

    Although they had finished the dress rehearsal, they still needed to go to ss . Many people heard that Li Yundong would be having a friendly contest with some guy in the seminar and swarmed near Li Yundong while asking him all kinds of things, leaving Li Yundong restless .

    When sses finally ended, Li Yundong grabbed the little fox¡¯s hand and darted out of the ssroom .

    ¡°What would you like to eat today?¡± Only when they returned home, could Li Yundong feel trulyfortable and quiet in his heart .

    It was exclusive to just Su Chan and him and not essible to anyone else . There would be no other man who leered at Su Chan .

    Su Chan wrapped her arms around Li Yundong¡¯s while grinning . ¡°I¡¯ll love anything you cook!¡±

    Li Yundong pinched the top of Su Chan¡¯s nose lovingly . ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll cook a lot of junk food and let you gain a lot of weight!¡±

    Su Chan asked, still grinning . ¡°What is junk food?¡±

    Li Yundong thought for a second and replied . ¡°It¡¯s mostly like the fried food we ate at McDonald¡¯s, that¡¯s junk food . ¡±

    Su Chan immediately pouted her lips high in the air . ¡°Hmph, I thought you¡¯re a good man . Who knew you would feed me with junk food!¡±

    Li Yundong chuckled . ¡°Guess who enjoyed the meal the whole time? How dare you me it on me!¡±

    Su Chan reacted in a spoiled manner . ¡°No, no, you fed me junk food, and I¡¯m angry!¡±

    Li Yundong thought for a little while, rolled up his sleeves, and said, ¡°Ok, old fellow today will cook a real feast for you! Wait for me at home while I go shop for groceries!¡±

    Upon hearing that Li Yundong was going to make a feast, Su Chan¡¯s saliva almost filled the floor . The usual meal was quite delicious so how would a feast taste?

    The little fox grinned from ear to ear, wrapped around Li Yundong¡¯s arms, andined in a spoiled way . ¡°Don¡¯t leave me alone! I¡¯m going with you!¡±

    While looking at the little girl tugging at his arms, Li Yundong¡¯s heart beat faster . ¡°Su Chan and I are getting closer and closer, but are we considered ¡°living together¡± in this way? What¡¯s the rtionship between her and me?¡±

    The two went out for groceries at the market and returned home with a armfuls of bags . Li Yundong put on an apron and was in full swing of his cooking, while Su Chan stared at him with nothing to do .

    The little fox did want to help, but really she wasn¡¯t able to . When Li Yundong asked her to fetch soy sauce, she returned with vinegar; Li Yundong wanted sugar, and she handed him a sack of salt .

    Li Yundong found her both funny and annoying, and had to lovingly scold her . ¡°You, little princess, really don¡¯t know anything about cooking!¡±

    Su Chan pouted her lips so high that you could hang a bottle of soy sauce on them . Again, she argued in a spoiled way . ¡°How would I know about that!¡±

    Li Yundong could not help, but have tofort Su Chan instead . ¡°Alright, take a seat, my little princess . ¡±

    Su Chan felt useless as she actually couldn¡¯t help him at all! She fiddled with the corner of her clothes while dragging herself out of the kitchen . At the door, she pouted again and announced . ¡°I¡¯ll go away then!¡±

    Li Yundong was busy chopping vegetables and waved his hand without so much as a nce . ¡°Alright, you can go ahead and take some rest . ¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s attitude made Su Chan bitter, however, while sitting on the sofa in the living room, she couldn¡¯t help recalling the memories after she met Li Yundong .

    She had been living in his house,pletely relying on him . This boy took good care of her, and to make her happy, he was actually cooking by the fire .

    She, on the other hand, wanted to deceive him and consume all of his energy when he had achieved the Foundation Establishment .

    Was that too much?

    The more Su Chan considered this, the more guilty she felt . Finally, she thought that maybe she could do something to make up for her acts . However, she could not give herself to him, nor could she gift Li Yundong with some treasure because she would definitely be exposed!

    In the end, an idea shed through Su Chan¡¯s mind . ¡°Why can¡¯t I learn to cook and make a meal for him?¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m so smart, and I suppose I can surely cook some delicious food, right?¡±

    But what to cook?

    Su Chan thought about this for a while and thought of the fish they had bought at the market . She had an idea! When she used to cultivate with her master, they ate fish, and now, she could still manage to remember how... to cook fish!

    Upon thinking of this, Su Chan ran into the kitchen again while grinning ear to ear . She tugged at Li Yundong¡¯s arms again, saying, ¡°Yundong, Yundong!¡±

    Li Yundong was still chopping vegetables and upon hearing her murmur yfully, he almost cut himself . He could only put down the knife and turned back to say, ¡°Your Highness, what¡¯s up now?¡±

 Chapter 37

    Chapter 37

    Chapter 37 An Upstart!

    Su Chan tugged at Li Yundong¡¯s hands while saying, ¡°Yundong, how about I cook a dish for you?¡±

    ¡°Howe you suddenly want to cook?¡± asked Li Yundong in surprise .

    Su Chan again used a spoiled voice that made the listener¡¯s heart melt . ¡°I just want to so please let me do it!¡±

    Li Yundong asked jokingly, ¡°What? Are you finally feeling guilty seeing me bustle around the kitchen?¡±

    Since Li Yundong had been so considerate, Su Chan immediately nodded her head like a chicken pecking rice with her watery eyes wide open, full of expectation .

    Li Yundong stuck his head near Su Chan¡¯s and suggested jokingly . ¡°If you really feel guilty about it, you could just kiss me . Forget about cooking, it¡¯s full of smoke here . I¡¯m afraid it¡¯ll damage your skin!¡±

    Su Chan still clung to Li Yundong, flinging his hands back and forth . ¡°No, no, I want to cook!¡±

    Li Yundong asked helplessly, ¡°Alright, stop it . What do you want to cook? Fried rice with eggs? Fried eggs with rice? Or fried eggs with eggs? Or you don¡¯t want to cook fried rice with rice, do you?¡±

    Su Chan pouted and retorted . ¡°Go away, you can cook fried rice with eggs . ¡±

    Li Yundong grinned in reply . ¡°This dish doesn¡¯t require a lot of skill, so you can learn easily!¡±

    Su Chan felt a little grumpy . ¡°I can cook so don¡¯t you look down on me!¡±

    After seeing the little girl getting upset, Li Yundong had tofort her . ¡°Fine, you can cook! What are you going to make?¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s rage soon turned to joy . ¡°I¡¯ll cook braised crucian!¡±

    Li Yundong was a little astonished . ¡°Wow, it looks like I¡¯ve underestimated you! You can cook braised crucian?¡±

    The little fox nodded in pride as if she had already cooked the most delicious food in the world . ¡°Yes, you have . You shouldn¡¯t have looked down on me!¡±

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    Li Yundongughed and was expecting quite a show . He just stood there and watched Su Chan take out the processed crucian from the fridge while saying, ¡°Ok, show me what you¡¯ve got, chef!¡±

    Su Chan rolled up her sleeves . ¡°Just you wait and see!¡±

    Upon finishing her words, she lifted up the knife and furrowed her brows in concentration . With her hands in the air, she shouted as if in the face of an evil foe and chopped toward the middle of the crucian on the cutting board .

    ng! The fish was vertically cut into two pieces .

    After witnessing this, Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry . ¡°Who would chop fish like this? Is she going to cook fish nuggets?¡±

    Li Yundong put his palm on his forehead and joked . ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s not every day you see someone chop a crucian like that!¡±

    Su Chan turned around to make a face . ¡°Quiet, my hand shook just now!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled dryly . ¡°Alright, it shook a little . Don¡¯t let it shake again!¡±

    Su Chan wielded the chopping knife in her hand and threatened menacingly . ¡°Say that again!¡±

    Li Yundong put up both hands . ¡°I¡¯ll be quiet!¡±

    Su Chan felt satisfied at his surrender and snorted . ¡°Good . ¡±

    Then, she waved the tip of the knife above the cut fish and chopped again .

    However, this time, the cut was lengthwise . She cut the fish lengthwise .

    This kind of cutting skill seemed torture to Li Yundong, who ground his teeth and was about to scold the chef, however, suddenly, the cutting board below the fish fell to the ground . She had broken it into two pieces!

    ¡°Yikes!¡± Li Yundong gasped and picked up the board from the ground . He gave Su Chan a thumbs up . ¡°Dear swordswoman, nice cut!¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s cheeks grew pink . ¡°You made me nervous, so I chopped too hard . ¡±

    Li Yundong stepped back to the kitchen door . ¡°Can I watch you from here?¡±

    Su Chan had been trying hard to remember thest time she cooked fish with her master . Additionally, she just made a fool of herself so she was feeling a little nervous and murmured, ¡°Keep quiet!¡±

    Li Yundong could only shut his mouth and watch Su Chan circle around the stove like a headless fly, at a loss as to what to do . Finally, he had to break the awkward silence . ¡°Stop circling around! I¡¯m getting a little dizzy!¡±

    Su Chan retorted angrily . ¡°Where do you hide the salt?¡±

    Li Yundong forced a smile . ¡°It¡¯s on the rack to your right! No, that¡¯s pepper, and that¡¯s chili powder . Can¡¯t you tell white from red? Are you color-blind? Come on, is it so hard to find salt?¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t take it anymore and decided to fetch the salt for her .

    While taking the salt shaker from him, Su Chan felt a little embarrassed by Li Yundong¡¯s coaching all the time . She pouted and turned back to try to push him away . She put both hands in front of his chest and pushed him backwards until he was out of the kitchen . Then, she ordered . ¡°Stand here, don¡¯te forward!¡±

    Then, she stomped into the kitchen; however, feeling it was not enough, she stormed out of the kitchen again with her hands on her hips . ¡°And no talking!¡±

    Li Yundong shook his headughing . ¡°She really has high self-esteem . ¡±

    While leaning at the door, he only saw Su Chan wander around the kitchen for a while, and then she started to scratch her head while rummaging around everywhere .

    After a long while, Su Chan couldn¡¯t take it anymore and dashed out of the kitchen, stomping hard on the ground . ¡°Hello? Are you going to stand there and watch me suffer?¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry . ¡°You told me to shut up!¡±

    Su Chan retorted . ¡°Now you can talk!¡±

    Li Yundong tried hard not tough his head off and asked, ¡°Ok, what do you need?¡±

    Su Chan blushed and asked sheepishly, ¡°How do you make a fire?¡±

    Li Yundong burst intoughter and reached out to rub Su Chan¡¯s head; Su Chan screamed and jumped backward . She covered the top of her head and gave a grimace . ¡°Get off me!¡±

    Li Yundong grabbed Su Chan¡¯s hand and led her in front of the stove . He switched on the burners and pointed to the burning mes . ¡°See that? Do you know how to make a fire now?¡±

    Su Chan widened her eyes as she stared at the burner¡¯s blue me . She was both intrigued and surprised . She didn¡¯t really know how a fire was made out of nothing .

    When she finally collected herself, she saw Li Yundong was grinning beside her . Thinking that he might be making fun of her, she blushed and again, pushed him out of the kitchen . This time, he was directly dispatched into the living room . She shouted . ¡°Wait here and no entering until I¡¯m done!¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head whileughing and then saw Su Chan storm back into the kitchen . With a bang, Su Chan mmed the door close .

    While sitting idle on the couch in the living room, he wanted to flick on the TV, only to find that there wasn¡¯t one . He had thrown away his broken TV and had yet to buy a new one .

    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯ll buy one tonight as I need to hurry . Imagine if thendy sees this!¡± Li Yundong said to himself .

    Inside the kitchen, after making sure the door was really closed, she approached the switched-on burner out of curiosity . She waved at the me and then it swooshed onto her palm .

    After fiddling with the me for a while, Su Chan soon grew bored . ¡°I thought it was powerful, but no . It is nothing like Samadhi True Fire!¡±

    Su Chan crushed the burning me in her hand and went back to her braised crucian .

    However, what she didn¡¯t notice was that the burner was still on, and the gas was filling the kitchen without a sound...

    At the same time, Li Yundong was outside and not aware of the danger . He was about to lie down on the carpet to get some rest when he heard a knock . He got up to get the door .

    ¡°Who is it?¡± Li Yundong murmured to himself . He almost had no friends in school and hadn¡¯t lived a single day in the dorm . Practically no ssmate knew where he lived . ¡°Who would want to see him at this time?¡±

    Li Yundong looked through the peephole and almost immediately fainted .

    Outside the door was a fat woman wearing an impatient and cunning look . It was thendy!

    ¡°Speak of the devil!¡± Li Yundong nced over the empty TV bench and then looked up at the big hole in the ceiling . He couldn¡¯t help breaking out in a cold sweat .

    He nned to pretend that he was not in, however, through the peephole, he saw that thendy was taking out a string of keys!

    Li Yundong had to give up and unwillingly opened the door .

    Thendy screamed at the top of her voice upon seeing who answered the door . ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled dryly . ¡°Aunt He, I¡¯m Li Yundong!¡±

    Thendy was even more dumbfounded . She looked at Li Yundong from head to toe and whispered in her heart . ¡°He looks quite good after he lost some weight, but he¡¯s still poorly dressed!¡±

    She stood by the door and fanned herself with her hand, saying, ¡°I thought you weren¡¯t home! Why didn¡¯t you pick up my calls? I¡¯ve called you a million times!¡±

    Li Yundong went back to the living room to check his phone . As expected, he had several missed calls!

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m sorry . I went to a rehearsal today . ¡± Li Yundong didn¡¯t want to let her in, therefore, he didn¡¯t take out a pair of slippers for her . He just asked from the living room, ¡°Why did you want to see me today?¡±

    However, she walked in herself . ¡°Your contract will expire in 10 days . I came to check the house and collect the rent while showing the apartment to someone else . ¡±

    As soon as she finished, another voice rose outside the door . It was a coy woman¡¯s voice . ¡°Yuck, I hate you . What¡¯s good about this ce? Why do we have to live here? Don¡¯t you have your own property?¡±

    Then a man¡¯s voice could be heard . ¡°This ce is away from the city and very quiet!¡±

    ¡°Liar! You just don¡¯t want your wife to know about me!¡±

    ¡°You know that we¡¯re getting divorced! You¡¯re the one I love, you know that!¡±

    ¡°Humph, men are all liars . Do you think that I don¡¯t know how many mistresses you have out there?¡±

    The man and the woman talked as they approached the door . Li Yundong shot a nce and saw the woman in a cream miniskirt with two bare sexy legs . She was heavily covered in make up and looked pretty, however, it might be another story when she removed the makeup .

    The woman entered in high heels that clicked on the floor . At the first sight of Li Yundong in the living room, her eyes lit up and she murmured to herself . ¡°This boy is cute! Very handsome and charming!¡±

    A man walked in behind her . He was a few centimeters shorter than his femalepanion, d in an unbearably tacky print shirt . He was wearing sunsses and had unfastened the first few buttons of his shirt . Wearing a thumb-thick gold ne and a bulging fanny pack, he struck people as a genuine upstart from head to toe .

 Chapter 38

    Chapter 38

    Chapter 38 Hiding a Girl in Your Room

    The man was immediately shaken by Li Yundong the moment he entered the room . He harbored a strong sense of inferiority toward Li Yundong¡¯s masculinity . He darted a look at his woman and immediately felt jealous!

    He found that his woman¡¯s cruising and curious gaze had been sweeping over Li Yundong . She was nearly like the White Bone Spirit who had spotted Tang Sanzang; she almost wanted to swallow him alive!

    The man got angry . He deliberately approached the woman and wrapped his arms around her waist . Looking at the surroundings in a condescending way, he started to put on airs . ¡°This apartment is a littleme . It¡¯s very shabby!¡±

    Thendy obviously had already targeted this potential customer and was expecting a huge rent from him so she smiled apologetically . ¡°Well, Mr . Zheng, you can¡¯t say something like that! I¡¯ve just furnished this apartmentst year . Look at the carpet, it cost me more than 5,000 yuan . Li Yundong, why haven¡¯t you kept it well? Look how shabby it is now! I must deduct this from your deposit!¡±

    Li Yundong looked down at the carpet and started to curse in his heart . ¡°The carpet is in perfect condition! You faultfinder!¡±

    However, until now, thendy failed to notice the most important difference in the house . Instead, she turned her smiling face to the upstart . ¡°Mr . Zheng, this area of the city is quiet, and the apartment gets a lot of sunlight all year round . It¡¯s really worth the price . ¡±

    As she was about to continue, Li Yundong broke in . ¡°Aunt He, I never said that I was moving out...¡±

    She immediately turned about and looked up and down at Li Yundong with a pair of condescending eyes . She murmured in her heart . ¡°You poor little student, your lease onlysts two months and you dare to bargain? You pay rent for only a month at a time . How can youpare to this mister? His lease willst two years and he¡¯ll pay all the rent now!¡±

    Thendy had to reply in a sarcastic tone . ¡°Is that so? I should tell you, Li Yundong . I¡¯ve raised the rent much higher than before . I can¡¯t let you live here with that kind of rent! And I¡¯ll collect the rent every half year...¡±

    Li Yundong interrupted resolutely . ¡°No problem! I¡¯ll pay my rent!¡±

    She was gagged, her righteous statements were at the tip of her tongue . Profit-driven as she might be, she still couldn¡¯t openly have a falling out with Li Yundong . Feeling helpless, she had to turn to the upstart, Mr . Zheng, for help .

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    The short Mr . Zheng went up to Li Yundong and took out a pack of premium cigarettes from his pocket . He offered one cigarette to thetter . ¡°Want one?¡±

    Li Yundong waved his hand and smiled as a courtesy . ¡°No, thanks . I don¡¯t smoke . ¡±

    Mr . Zheng snorted . ¡°Is there ever really a man in this world that doesn¡¯t smoke?¡±

    Afterward, he brought the cigarette to his lips and lit it . Then, he started to preach like an earnest teacher . ¡°Let me tell you this, young man . A man has to smoke . You¡¯re still young and away from society so you don¡¯t know, but when you grow up, you¡¯ll know how useful this little cigarette is!¡±

    Li Yundong furrowed his brows while he listened, and he quietly moved away from the upstart . He was signaling with his posture: I don¡¯t want to talk to you .

    Nevertheless, the upstart really didn¡¯t like Li Yundong and decided to brag more . As Li Yundong stepped back, he went forward . He took a draw, puffed a ring of smoke, and then continued to show off . ¡°Cigarettes can¡¯t reallypare with cigars . Last time I bought a box of cigars, it was in Colombia and they tasted really good...¡±

    Li Yundong had a gentle manner and didn¡¯t mind all the boasting from this upstart . However, the hotdy that came with this upstart felt different . She was kind of attracted to Li Yundong and hated the way her man behaved . She came to Li Yundong¡¯s rescue by interrupting the man beside her . ¡°Stop, will you die if you don¡¯t show off or something?¡±

    Hearing that, the upstart remained calm and chuckled . He waved at the woman . ¡°Come here!¡±

    The woman was really reluctant to go to his side . She stole a nce over at Li Yundong and suddenly felt disgust at the idea of standing beside such a tacky parvenu .

    She swayed her hips and dragged herself toward him . The man wrapped his arms around her waist and immediately started to unt his femalepanion . ¡°She¡¯s Lili, do you know who she is?¡±

    The woman named Lili subconsciously nced at Li Yundong . For whatever reason, she blushed . She then tried to escape from the man while she snapped . ¡°Get off me! They¡¯re watching us!¡±

    Mr . Zheng chuckled again and grabbed her into his arms . He stood on his tiptoes, trying to kiss her on the lips as if there were no others around .

    Li Yundong watched how hard he had to try to stand on his tiptoes and then have to exim in his heart that this fellow was really brazen . It was as if he had acquired the Imprable Defense skill .

    Thedy pinched the man and pushed him away . She was a bit irritated . ¡°I¡¯m mad!¡±

    Mr . Zheng let her go and turned to take a long drag on his cigarette . He then started to boast on his own . ¡°Lili took second ce in our Tiannan city¡¯s beauty contest, she was a real undergraduate when she went to school!¡±

    Li Yundong sneered in his heart . ¡°So what? In the end, she¡¯s with a bum like you!¡±

    Thinking of that, Li Yundong nced at the woman . At that time, she was looking at him as well . The two shortly exchanged a nce and looked away .

    With Su Chan, Li Yundong didn¡¯t bear any desire for other women anymore . Therefore, his eyes weren¡¯t weing and instead bore flickering disapproval in his eyes since she was kind of a gold digger .

    Women were all sensitive . As a mistress, they would only act more sensitive . Naturally, the woman became dazed after exchanging a nce with Li Yundong and nearly froze on the spot .

    However, the man beside her didn¡¯t notice her embarrassment . He kept on boasting about Lili¡¯s beauty to Li Yundong and almost spat saliva onto thetter¡¯s face . ¡°Hell, I guess you don¡¯t know how excited I was to meet Lili! I was like Dong Yong who saw the seven fairies . I was immediately ogling! My advice for you, young man, is to work hard and make money . In an age like this, what woman will like you if you don¡¯t have money, right?¡±

    Although impatient in his heart, Li Yundong still smiled as a courtesy . ¡°Yes, exactly . ¡±

    Just as Mr . Zheng was about to continue, the door of the kitchen mmed open . It was Su Chan who opened the door . Her gaze curiously swept the living room they stood in, and then winked at Li Yundong, saying, ¡°Yundong, are we having visitors?¡±

    The boasting Mr . Zheng¡¯s eyes widened the moment he saw Su Chan . Moreover, he didn¡¯t even realize the cigarette had fallen from his lips and onto the carpet . He fixed his eyes upon Su Chan and looked so greedy that he might swallow Su Chan alive on the spot!

    The mistress, Lili, was also shocked when she first saw Su Chan . She felt both shocked and bad about herself . This girl was not only beautiful on the outside, but the inside as well .

    Unlike her profit-seeking dirty one, she saw a pure and delicate soul through the girl¡¯s eyes .

    Thendy felt both shocked and jealous at the sight of Su Chan . She was shocked that Li Yundong actually hid such a beautiful girl in his apartment, and she was jealous because the girl was stunningly pretty .

    ¡°A girl that looks like that is no different from a fox spirit . No one can resist her!¡± Thendy eximed in her heart .

    She tried to figure out why a poor student had such a beautiful girl at his home by turning her eyes to Li Yundong, looking at him up and down .

    It was after a while that Mr . Zheng finally collected himself . He thought of his previous boasting about Lili and was so embarrassed that his face turned deep red . He then stuttered something that no one understood .

    On the other hand, thendy darted to pick up the fallen cigarette butt from the carpet . Just as she was about to say something, she saw the empty TV bench out of the corner of her eye . Her bloated figure froze at that moment .

    Li Yundong cried in his heart . ¡°Not good!¡± He covered his eyes at once .

    Thendy let out a scream that had to be over 200 decibels and made everyone in the room grimace in pain .

    She pointed to the TV bench and shrieked . ¡°Where¡¯s my TV!¡±

    Li Yundong hurried to smile apologetically . ¡°Aunt He, let me exin . A few days ago, I identally broke the TV, but don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll rece it with a brand new one!¡±

    Thendy stood with her hands on her hips with salivaing out of her mouth . ¡°You¡¯d better rece it tomorrow with the same one as before . I¡¯ll check it myself!¡±

    Unjustifiable as his position was, Li Yundong didn¡¯t argue and only nodded several times . ¡°Yes, I know . ¡±

    Discovering the TV missing, thendy then looked up and down in the entire apartment to check for other problems . In the end, she raised her head and let out another scream over 200 decibels . ¡°The chandelier! Where¡¯s my chandelier?¡±

    Li Yundong forced a smile and said, ¡°Well, the chandelier fell off from the ceiling as well . Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll fix this and make it just like before!¡±

    Her b was shaking from the anger she held . ¡°You have to move out!¡±

    Finally, Mr . Zheng spotted a great chance to embarrass Li Yundong . He immediately followed thendy . ¡°I¡¯ll rent this house and pay the rent right now!¡±

    He unzipped his fanny pack and revealed a wad of cash .

    Lili couldn¡¯t take it anymore . She frowned while saying, ¡°I don¡¯t want to live here . ¡± She then stormed out of the door .

    Su Chan was at loss as to what happened . She asked Li Yundong in confusion . ¡°What happened?¡±

    Li Yundong feared that she might blurt out something inappropriate again . He waved at her and said, ¡°Get back to your business and let me handle it!¡±

    The parvenu witnessed Li Yundong¡¯s attitude toward Su Chan, and then saw the excruciatingly beautiful girl meekly returned to the kitchen . Thinking of his runaway girlfriend, he cried in his heart . ¡°Why is there such a big difference between women? And why is there an even bigger difference between us men when we¡¯re with the samedies?¡±

 Chapter 39

    Chapter 39

    Chapter 39 What Kind of Treasure Weapon Is this?

    ¡°Wait, Lili! Wait for me!¡± He looked back in the direction of the kitchen and seemed to try to look through the wall to see Su Chan, however, he had to reluctantly go after Lili .

    Thendy was dazed . She used to expect a huge amount of rent from this potential customer and now they were gone!

    ¡°It¡¯s lucky that I know how things work and didn¡¯t fall out with this boypletely!¡± Sheforted herself in her heart and darted a look at Li Yundong .

    That being said, her previous words were still not too friendly and, at that moment, she failed to utter her following sentence . She could only put on a cold face and swept the entire room with her gaze .

    However, Li Yundong was quick to say something to smooth things over . ¡°Aunt He, look, it was just an ident . I¡¯ve lived here for nearly a year, and I haven¡¯t been behind in rent or utility bills, right? Please, don¡¯t take it to heart . I¡¯ll pay a rent you wanted, is that okay with you?¡±

    Thendy was both helpless and ted in her heart, murmuring, ¡°If that¡¯s so, let me think about it . ¡±

    Li Yundong thought his apology might work and hurriedly added, ¡°Aunt He, I promise, I won¡¯t do a thing to your house anymore . ¡±

    She snorted and was about to reply . Suddenly, at that moment, she smelled gas out of nowhere . Sniffing, she was about to ask, but suddenly an explosion went off . Something seemed to have exploded in the kitchen and it shattered all windows of the bedroom and living room .

    Thendy flopped onto the ground, eyes widened . She was at a loss as to what happened .

    Li Yundong dashed toward the kitchen and shouted . ¡°Su Chan!¡±

    The moment he reached the kitchen door, he found only the frame remained . Peering inside, he saw Su Chan standing in the same spot in the kitchen with her back to him . He couldn¡¯t see how she was at that moment .

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    Li Yundong felt a tremendous amount of fear creeping into him . Ignoring the broken pieces of ss, he covered his head and dashed to Su Chan . He grabbed her on the shoulder and turned her over . He shouted in both shock and fear . ¡°Are you OK? Have you hurt yourself?¡±

    Her face was ck but she didn¡¯t look injured . She was simply mindlessly staring into the air .

    Li Yundong felt scared out of his wits . He couldn¡¯t imagine how he would be if something should have happened to Su Chan!

    ¡°Talk to me, Su Chan! You¡¯re scaring me!¡± Li Yundong pinched Su Chan in the area below her nose and growled in fear .

    Then, Su Chan shivered and suddenly widened her eyes, screaming . ¡°What kind of treasure weapon is this? It scared me!¡±

    Li Yundong thought he must have heard her wrong . He asked in doubt, ¡°Wh-what did you say?¡±

    Su Chan pointed at the broken stove and put on a hostile and vignt face . ¡°Just now, I tried to light it and it exploded! It startled me! Is it a Burning Sun Talisman or Exploding Thunder Talisman from Maoshan Sect?¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry . ¡°It turns out she sparked the gas, but what are those talismans she talks about? Has she watched too much TV?¡±

    Li Yundong looked Su Chan over from head to toe and was still worried . ¡°Are you really okay?¡±

    Su Chan let out a proud sound and replied with confidence . ¡°How is this little thing going to hurt me?¡±

    After making sure it was only the kitchen that was bombed and checking that Su Chan was fine, he finally felt relieved . However, upon noticing that the little girl was still babbling, he couldn¡¯t help but flick his finger on her forehead . ¡°Are you still talking nonsense and ying cool?¡±

    The moment he finished his words, thendy appeared at the door with widened eyes .

    The kitchen in front of her waspletely wrecked and too horrible to look at . The windows were sent flying away and the stove was crushed into a big hollow hole . The fridge, the walls, everything around was ckened .

    She flopped to the ground again and started to growl in an extremely depressing tone . ¡°Dear Lord, these two little brats . Look at what they¡¯ve done to my house! What am I supposed to do?¡±

    Su Chan nced at thendy and turned to Li Yundong for help . ¡°What happened to her? Did someone in her family die?¡±

    Su Chan pointed to thendy and directly snapped . ¡°Hey, what are you crying for? This is not your house!¡±

    Hearing this, thendy¡¯s b shook and she started to raise hell . ¡°Not my house? What? Is it your house? Look at the mess you¡¯ve made! What are you going to do? Can you pay me?¡±

    Hearing that, the little fox turned her face toward Li Yundong . With an air of uncertainty, she asked, ¡°Is this really her house?¡±

    Li Yundong poked at her forehead lovingly . ¡°You moron! Stand behind me and keep your mouth shut! No speaking!¡±

    The little fox finally realized that she had gotten into trouble again . ¡°Wait, why did I say I had gotten into trouble again? How many times have I gotten into trouble?¡±

    Su Chan lowered her head and was fiddling with the corner of her shirt . She was feeling uneasy as she raised her head to see the bombed kitchen . However, at that time, she still felt a little wronged . ¡°Why do you me it on me? There are treasure weapons here and I can¡¯t dodge it!¡±

    Standing behind Li Yundong, the little fox trembled and didn¡¯t dare to speak as if she had been a housewife who had done something wrong .

    Thendy cried as if her entire family had died . Li Yundong walked to her and wore an apologetic face . ¡°Aunt He, this is an ident . We don¡¯t know how the kitchen blew up yet, but I do believe it has something to do with us . I¡¯ll be responsible for this, I¡¯ll pay for the broken TV, chandelier, other appliances, and fix the damage to the house as well . ¡±

    Hearing this, thendy stopped her high-pitched shrieking and held back her tears immediately . ¡°You¡¯ll be responsible? Alright, let¡¯s make this clear first . I will no longer let you rent my apartment . You might blow up my entireplex if you continue to live here!¡±

    Li Yundong considered for a moment and decided that it really was impossible to live here . Thus, he nodded determinedly . ¡°Okay, but Aunt He, can you give a few days, like seven days, so that I can find my next apartment?¡±

    Thendy cursed in her heart . ¡°You little bastard, you scared away my big customer and ruined my house . Do you really think you can get away like that?¡±

    Thus she just sneered . ¡°Seven days? You wish . Move out today!¡±

    Li Yundong was both shocked and angry . ¡°Today? How is that possible? I¡¯ve got so many pieces of luggage!¡±

    Thendy just snorted . ¡°That¡¯s not my business . I don¡¯t want to see you in my house anymore! Move out now, or I¡¯ll ask someone to throw your stuff out!¡±

    Although he was at fault, he couldn¡¯t take it anymore . Gentle-mannered as he might be, he involuntarily raised his tone . ¡°Don¡¯t go too far!¡±

    With her hands on her hips, she pointed to the damaged room . ¡°I went too far? Look at the house! Am I the one who went too far? Don¡¯t try to argue with me, move out now! And, you still need to pay for the damages . Otherwise, I¡¯ll call the police and send you behind bars!¡±

    Li Yundong was more than angry after hearing those words . Su Chan couldn¡¯t bear it anymore and decided to say something, however, she found Li Yundong was staring at her and then jumped . Immediately, she drew back her head and murmured something inaudible .

    The fact that Su Chan seemed to go without an ID card troubled Li Yundong . What if she got involved? What trouble would she get into if she was involved with the police? Thus, he had to suppress his anger and said, ¡°Aunt He, please give me a few days . How am I supposed to find a ce to live immediately?¡±

    Thendy was determined to drive this nasty guy away so she just sneered in reply . ¡°There are a lot of hotels outside the school so what do you even mean you can¡¯t find a ce to sleep? Get moving, pack up your stuff, and get lost!¡±

    Li Yundong took a deep breath and still tried to argue for himself . ¡°Please, just one day is enough . I¡¯ll definitely move out tomorrow! How am I supposed to find a ce with luggage and a little girl?¡±

    Thendy snapped at his argument . ¡°Have you no shame? A little brat that keeps a girl at home? Why don¡¯t look at yourself? Do you have the money? Go look at yourself in the mirror! Nasty thing! Pay me and get lost, or I¡¯ll call the police right now!¡±

    Li Yundong was offended at that moment . With the fury in his heart, he involuntarily raised his fist and crackled his knuckles, as if he wanted to punch thendy into a meat pie .

    Thendy was terrified and darted out of the kitchen, since Li Yundong appeared as if he could kill people right now . She flopped onto the hallway . ¡°Help! Help! This brat ruined my house and is now trying to kill me! Look at me! Where¡¯s the justice of the world?¡±

    Then, the whole neighborhood, the residents of the upper and lower floors all went out to watch the fun . They crowded around in the hallway and pointed fingers at Li Yundong and Su Chan .

    Su Chan was both angry and upset . She felt angry because this woman could be so aggressive and unreasonable . She was upset because she got Li Yundong into big trouble this time .

    Li Yundong remained motionless in the same spot . He was breathing hard and all colors shed over his face . He nearly lost control of his emotions .

    After a while, he finally held back the hostility in his eyes . He took a deep breath and smiled dryly . ¡°Su Chan!¡±

    Su Chan replied in a low voice . ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Wait for me here!¡± Li Yundong then walked into the bedroom and returned with a bankbook in his hand . He said ndly to thendy . ¡°I¡¯ll withdraw some money . Tell me how much do you want, but don¡¯t go too far or I¡¯ll make you suffer even if I have to end up behind bars!¡±

    Looking at the desperate Li Yundong, she was a little intimidated . However, considering the audience around her, she was brave again . She thought for a moment and then stretched out her fingers . ¡°50 thousand yuan!¡±

    Hearing that, Li Yundong was so furious that he nearly went up and lifted up the chubbyndy . ¡°Are you mad? If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll throw you off the balcony right now . I¡¯ll burn the money you want so that you can use it while you¡¯re in hell!¡±

 Chapter 40

    Chapter 40

    Chapter 40 Don¡¯t Judge a Man in His Young Age

    Li Yundong¡¯s words left everyone present shocked . They all tried to persuade him . ¡°Young man, keep your cool, keep calm!¡±

    ¡°Madam, don¡¯t you think you charge too much? It¡¯s just a kitchen, the renovation would cost a few thousand yuan at most . Even if you count the appliances, the total amount would be just more than 10 thousand yuan!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right . He¡¯s still in school . How can he have so much money?¡±

    ¡°I thought so too!¡±

    Thendy was paralyzed with fear of Li Yundong and her voice cracked . ¡°What are you trying to do? Get off me, we can talk!¡±

    Li Yundong sneered and said, ¡°Think before you talk with me . How much do you really want?¡±

    Thendy considered in her heart . ¡°The damages he did to the house, the TV, the chandelier, the renovation of the rooftop and the kitchen would cost more than 20,000 yuan . Maybe a student can¡¯t have that much money, but if I ask for more and make him, I might get into bigger trouble . ¡±

    Thendy gritted her teeth and blurt out . ¡°I want 20,000 yuan and that¡¯s my final offer!¡±

    Li Yundong considered the amount eptable and didn¡¯t want to make a scene either . Thus, he let go of thendy and said, ¡°Alright, wait for me, I¡¯ll go get the money!¡±

    Finishing his words, Li Yundong went back into the apartment and said to the restless Su Chan, ¡°Wait for me . I¡¯ll be back soon . ¡±

    Su Chan opened her mouth and seemed to want to say something, however, she managed to bite her tongue . In the end, she only said in a fearful tone . ¡°You muste back soon . ¡±

    Li Yundong nodded to her and went out with his bank card .

    The people in the hallway who got a glimpse of Su Chan were all stunned by Su Chan¡¯s beauty . The men all wanted to get a look inside the house and at the same time tried to pretend it was unintentional .

    Su Chan became restless from all the gazes . She hid in her bedroom and mmed the door shut .

    The moment she hid behind the door, regret crept upon her . Her fingers were twisted together and she thought to herself in tears . ¡°Why am I upset?¡±

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    ¡°Am I going to leave this ce forever?¡± Su Chan swept the whole room . The night shended upon the mortal world was spent here . Subconsciously, she was not only attached to Li Yundong, but also to the house that she lived in .

    The thought that she wouldn¡¯t live her any more made it hard for her to breathe .

    She waited in her room for quite a long while . Seeing that Li Yundong still hadn¡¯te back, she became impatient and opened the door to see if Li Yundong had returned .

    However, the moment she walked out of the room, she heard people in the hallway whisper . ¡°Look, here she is . Wow, what a beauty!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, such a beauty is genuinely a fox-spirit-turned girl . No man can resist her . ¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t keep that kind of girl, otherwise, you¡¯ll be in trouble all day! Didn¡¯t you hear about the femme fatale?¡±

    The people that said such words were mostly women . They were jealous of Su Chan¡¯s gorgeous face and hence said a lot of harsh words about her . On the other hand, all the men wanted the little fox so much that they turned a deaf ear to the so-called femme fatale thing .

    However, they still put on a calm face and followed the women¡¯s words . ¡°Indeed, too attractive . I don¡¯t want her . Imagine if she cheats on you!¡±

    Su Chan stood in the living room and became nervous by their words . She even started to get goose bumps . ¡°Has Li Yundong dumped me here? Did he get mad at me because I got him into trouble?¡±

    Thinking of that, the little fox could not sit tight anymore . She looked very worried .

    To the most unattractive women in the world, what they hated most were morous coquettes who seduced their men . Though the little fox didn¡¯t actually seduce anyone, thendy still got angry at the sight of Su Chan . She was mad at Su Chan¡¯s young age, beautiful face, voluptuous body, and the temptation she gave off from head to toe .

    Thendy nced sideways at Su Chan and sneered . ¡°Don¡¯t expect him toe back . If I were a man, I wouldn¡¯t bring you either! Look at you, anyone would think you¡¯re trouble!¡± 666

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes became watery with tears . She snapped at thendy . ¡°Li Yundong isn¡¯t like that!¡±

    The fat woman snorted . ¡°Oh really? Even if he isn¡¯t now, he¡¯ll be someday! Youngdy, why don¡¯t you try to seduce a rich guy instead of this poor student? Do you enjoy it very much?¡±

    Su Chan was shaking from anger . If it wasn¡¯t for Li Yundong¡¯s sake, she would immediately wipe out the fatty .

    In the end, the little fox had to wipe off her tears and murmured to herself . ¡°Yundong won¡¯t dump me, he won¡¯t dump me...¡±

    However, the more she thought about it, the more reasonable those people¡¯s words seemed . She was not helpful to him at all . The only thing she was good at, her cultivation, didn¡¯t work at all in this world . Moreover, when she tried to cook a meal for Li Yundong, she put him in this undesirable situation .

    The more the little fox thought, the more desperate she became . She felt so very alone and afraid as she waited in the living room . She was as helpless as a lost sheep .

    Thendy kept saying harsh things against Su Chan, who clenched her fists and tried hard to hold back her tears . Nevertheless, every time her tears were about to fall, the little fox would sniffle and raise her head . She seemed to try to prove something .

    When the little fox was about to surrender, Li Yundong finally came back with a packet in his hand . He waved the packet in front of thendy . ¡°I¡¯ll go get a pen and a piece of paper, we¡¯ll make it official . ¡±

    Then, Li Yundong went to the bedroom looking for a pen and a piece of paper .

    Following him, the little fox entered the room as well . As soon as they were behind the door, Su Chan dived at Li Yundong and cried out loud .

    Li Yundong was in a hurry tofort her . He wiped off the tears streaming down the little fox¡¯s face as he asked, ¡°What happened? Why are you crying?¡±

    Choked with emotion, the little fox had to sob out, ¡°They said you don¡¯t want me...¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s face darkened . ¡°That¡¯s too much . They can say things about me, but they can¡¯t say such things to you! I can¡¯t stand it anymore!¡±

    He was about to go out to argue with those people in the hallway but was stopped by the little fox .

    She wiped the tears off her face . She wept and sniffled . ¡°I¡¯m not good at anything . I can¡¯t talk well and I can¡¯t do things well . I can¡¯t do anything for you . All I do is get you into trouble and make you suffer . ¡±

    Then, she raised her moist eyes toward Li Yundong . ¡°Do you hate me?¡±

    While looking into Su Chan¡¯s gaze, Li Yundong¡¯s eyes softened . He wiped off the pearl-like tears on the little girl¡¯s rosy cheeks and asked in reply . ¡°I¡¯m not tall or handsome . I didn¡¯te from a rich family or seed in anything . I can¡¯t buy you good food or beautiful clothes, I can¡¯t probably buy an apartment for you in the future, not to mention a fancy car . Do you hate me for that?¡±

    Su Chan stared at Li Yundong and shook her head . ¡°No, that¡¯s not true . You¡¯re the best man I¡¯ve ever met . Why would I hate you?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and pinched the little girl¡¯s small, delicate nose . ¡°Then I won¡¯t leave you either! That¡¯s for sure . ¡±

    Lingering in Li Yundong¡¯s gaze, Su Chan¡¯s eyes started to light up . However, there was still a trace of a tear around the corner of her lips . She asked, not sure if it was true . ¡°Really?¡±

    Li Yundong patted the little girl¡¯s head and said gently, ¡°Really! If you really want to go, I won¡¯t stop you . Otherwise, even if you punch a hole in the sky, I won¡¯t let go of you!¡±

    Su Chan smiled through the tears and looked like a blossoming flower, but her tears kept running down her face like beads off a broken thread . She threw herself into Li Yundong¡¯s arms and burst into tears again .

    Li Yundong smiled wryly and patted her back . ¡°Aw, what¡¯s the matter? Crying again?¡±

    Su Chan wriggled in his arms and said in a spoiled way . ¡°I don¡¯t know, I just feel like it . ¡±

    Li Yundong stroked the little fox¡¯s backbone and smiled . ¡°Alright, don¡¯t cry . I need to write an agreement . Pack your things now, we¡¯ll leave here . ¡±

    Su Chan raised her head from Li Yundong¡¯s arms, wide-eyed in doubt . ¡°Then where will we go?¡±

    Li Yundong grinned and replied . ¡°It¡¯s such a big world, where can¡¯t we go? Why stay here and take all the insults?¡±

    Su Chan nodded heavily . ¡°You¡¯re right! I¡¯ll help you pack!¡±

    After making sure Su Chan was fine, Li Yundong walked out through the bedroom door .

    The moment he appeared, he received many meaningful eyes, as if they had shared an intimate moment in such a short time period .

    Li Yundong sneered in his heart and ignored their gazes . In the living room, he wrote down the number thendy agreed on and threw the agreement to her . ¡°Please check for yourself . Sign it if you don¡¯t have any other problem . I¡¯ll give you the money and we¡¯ll leave now!¡±

    She took the piece of paper and looked over it a few times . Then, she patted her thighs . ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be straightforward as well! Give me a pen!¡±

    While watching thendy sign the agreement, Li Yundong handed her the money . Then, he went back to pack his things . Finally, they carried their luggage and left the apartment where he lived for almost a year under everyone¡¯sbined gazes .

    Before Li Yundong stepped out of the building, thendy at the top of the stairs sneered and said, ¡°Li Yundong, at the end of the day, you still lived in my apartment for almost a year so I¡¯ll tell you one thing . Study hard and don¡¯t even think about keeping a mistress at such a young age . That¡¯s for the rich, you can¡¯t afford it!¡±

    A female tenant that felt sympathy for Li Yundong added, ¡°Madam, that¡¯s too much . How do you know that they aren¡¯t a consensual couple?¡±

    Since she had already taken thepensation, thendy felt brave and snickered while saying, ¡°With him? A poor guy who doesn¡¯t owe much money? He¡¯s lucky that he can take care of himself . How can he afford a woman? I¡¯ll tell you this, that girl will run off with another guy!¡±

    Hearing this, Su Chan felt something explode in her mind . She uncontrobly shouted to thendy . ¡°Li Yundong is the nicest person to me in the entire world . He¡¯ll be a big hero someday! I won¡¯t leave him!¡±

    The people present were stunned by her words . Then, they all burst intoughers . ¡°A hero? She kills me!¡±

    ¡°Oh my God, my stomach!¡±

    Thendy was shaking withughter and then she wiped off tears around the corner of her eyes . ¡°It¡¯s true that anyone can talk the talk, but don¡¯t say stuff like a big hero again . It¡¯s too funny! What age are we living in? Big hero? Sister, when you¡¯ve met a really rich guy, you¡¯ll know how foolish you are now! Oh my stomach!¡±

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t fight back her tears . She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth . At that moment, she almost wanted to punch thendy in the face, but was stopped by a warm hand on her shoulder .

    Su Chan turned around only to see Li Yundong¡¯s gentle smile . ¡°You fool, why do you take their words to heart?¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s tears sttered onto the ground . ¡°But you are really the nicest person to me!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and replied . ¡°Well, isn¡¯t that what I¡¯m supposed to do?¡±

    After hearing Li Yundong¡¯sforting words, Su Chan cried louder . ¡°I believe one day you¡¯ll be a big hero . I just know it!¡±

    Li Yundong still wore a gentle smile . The warm andforting smile seemed to be able to tolerate everything the little girl did . ¡°Yes, I will . If you want me to be a big hero, then I¡¯ll try hard to be one!¡±

    Su Chan raised her head and looked at the boy through tears . Suddenly, she felt a strong urge in her heart: I must train him to be a top-notch master hero . I¡¯ll make those snobs watch!

    Having made up her mind, Su Chan wiped her tears and held Li Yundong¡¯s hands . She shot a cold nce at the people who watched them . ¡°Let¡¯s go . ¡±

    Li Yundong turned back to look at all those people . Most of them took pleasure in their misfortune . The men grew more jealous at the sight of them leaving because the beautiful Su Chan still stayed beside Li Yundong even when he was met with misfortune .

    Li Yundong darted a final look at thendy and smiled coldly . ¡°I don¡¯t believe that I can¡¯t amount to anything . Let¡¯s wait and see!¡±

    The people in the hallway watched them leave by the stairs and started to whisper to each other . All kinds of rudements could be heard from them, while only an old man sighed and murmured, ¡°Ah, don¡¯t judge a man in his young age . ¡± Though it was said in a low voice, everyone heard it clearly .

    All of the sudden, everyone quieted down . They all thought of the cold faces on the young couple¡¯s faces when they left . At that time, they somehow felt chills run down their spines .

 Chapter 41

    Chapter 41

    Chapter 41 Worse Than an Animal!

    Li Yundong left the apartment with Su Chan . The two of them stood on the roadside alone, with pieces of luggage . They looked quite miserable . Su Chan looked Li Yundong with wide-eyes . ¡°Where do we sleep tonight?¡±

    Li Yundong considered this and replied . ¡°We¡¯ll stay in a hotel near the school and find an apartment tomorrow . ¡±

    ¡°Oh . ¡± Su Chan nodded and caught up with Li Yundong . After a while, she raised her head again . ¡°Don¡¯t you have sses tomorrow?¡±

    Li Yundong sighed . ¡°sses? Well, tomorrow I have a self-study session and some less important sses so I¡¯ll skip them . I need to find a ce to live first!¡±

    Su Chan nodded again and fell silent .

    The pair entered a hotel with their luggage . Li Yundong passed his ID card to the receptionist .

    The female receptionist looked at Li Yundong in amazement and shot another stunned look at Su Chan . She eximed in her heart . ¡°They¡¯re a perfect match . It¡¯s just that the girl is a bit too pretty . Is she a movie star?¡±

    The receptionist checked his ID card and turned her eyes back onto Li Yundong . She said in an unsure tone . ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I need your personal ID card . ¡±

    Li Yundong smiled . ¡°That is my ID card, I¡¯ve lost some weight . ¡±

    The clerk¡¯s eyes widened . She looked at the ID card again and then eyed Li Yundong up and down . She could definitely say that the chubby boy on the ID card was nowhere near handsome or charming . The boy¡¯s eyes in the photo looked quite darkened . Looking at the boy in front of her now, his eyes were shining brightly and his body was surrounded with energy .

    The receptionist checked a few more times and then signed them in . ¡°How long will you be staying?¡±

    Li Yundong answered . ¡°One night . ¡±

    ¡°Single or double?¡± added the receptionist .

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    Li Yundong cast a look at Su Chan, thinking that this girl really didn¡¯t know anything . She was simply staring at Li Yundong with a wide-eyed gaze . For a second, Li Yundong even pictured that if he had sold her out, the girl would still be counting money for him .

    Deep down, Li Yundong actually wanted to sleep in a single bed with the little girl, however, after a second thought, he decided not to . After all, they still had plenty of time in the future . If she found out that he was taking advantage of her, that would be disastrous .

    ¡°We¡¯ll need a double,¡± answered Li Yundong, who decided to behave .

    The clerk snorted in her heart . ¡°Bring a girl to a hotel and sleep in a double? Can¡¯t you book a single?¡±

    She handed the ID card and room card to Li Yundong, saying, ¡°Room 205, insert the card to power up . ¡±

    Li Yundong entered the room with the little fox . He tossed the luggage onto the ground and dived onto the bed . He sighed . ¡°Well, tonight I¡¯ll be homeless . ¡±

    Su Chan also threw herself onto the bed . She sniffed andined . ¡°This doesn¡¯t smell as before . ¡±

    Li Yundong found her funny and cute . He rose up to pinch the little fox¡¯s nose . ¡°Idiot, they change the sheets here every day, how can you smell anything like before?¡±

    Su Chan chuckled and grabbed a pillow to throw it at Li Yundong . ¡°I hate you, stay away from me . Why are you always pinching my nose? I hate it!¡±

    Li Yundong grinned and said, ¡°You don¡¯t want me to pinch you? Okay, then I¡¯ll tickle you!¡±

    Then, he tickled the little fox¡¯s waist and armpits .

    The little fox didn¡¯t dodge . She just wriggled and fluttered whileughing the whole time .

    These two, one teenager and one innocent girl, were both young and forgiving . Though they had wronged before, now, they simply put that behind themselves after a round of pillow fighting .

    They had yed for quite a while on the bed . Finally, they crashed onto the bed while being out of breath and staring at each other .

    ¡°Alright, we¡¯re now officially counting on each other!¡± Li Yundong smiled and reached out to brush away a strand of hair on Su Chan¡¯s forehead .

    Though Li Yundong sounded miserable, in Su Chan¡¯s eyes, the words sounded warm and sweet . She grasped Li Yundong¡¯s arms tightly and said in a cute way, ¡°Yes, from now on, I won¡¯t get you into trouble anymore . I¡¯ll shut up whenever you want to me, and I won¡¯t do anything you forbid . I¡¯ll listen to you! You can¡¯t dump me, starve me, or leave me alone!¡±

    Li Yundong recalled that when he finally returned to their previous apartment, how the little fox wept . She must have been scared when she was alone .

    Li Yundong felt tender for her and stroked her head . ¡°Yes, I won¡¯t leave you, scare you, or dump you . You can say whatever you want, and do whatever you want . I won¡¯t stop you . ¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes were wide open . ¡°Why? I was always getting you into trouble . Even when I tried to help you, I...¡± In the middle of the sentence, the little girl lowered her head .

    Li Yundong drew her chin up with his fingers . He looked into her eyes and said, ¡°Compared with your looks, I like your honesty and innocence more . I like the way you act and how cute you are . So, I don¡¯t want you to be a weak yes-man . If that were the case, you won¡¯t be cute in my eyes...¡±

    Li Yundong put on a serious face on purpose and said, ¡°If you¡¯re not cute, I won¡¯t like you anymore!¡±

    While she was listening, her eyes became full of tears, but she felt warm in the heart . Afterward, she pouted and darted a bitter look at Li Yundong . ¡°Why are you so nice to me?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and pinched her nose . ¡°We¡¯re counting on each other now . If I don¡¯t treat you well, who am I going to love?¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s tears started to stter onto the ground . She dived into Li Yundong¡¯s arms and patted his chest . ¡°You¡¯re the worst! I hate you! Why are you so kind to me?¡±

    Li Yundong forced a smile . ¡°Am I wrong to treat you well? Ah, stop, I think you might squeeze my lungs out of me . ¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know that when she heard those hateful words from thendy and others, the little fox made up her mind to train Li Yundong to be a hidden master . However, when she considered this again, she felt a little regretful .

    After all, in that way, she would never have a chance to obtain the Human Origin Gold Pill .

    One must know that a Human Origin Gold Pill was nowhere near themon traditional medicine such as Six vor Rehmanni .

    In the Gezao Sect, an external alchemy school sect in the south, it was considered a magical elixir that consisted of the Qi of heaven and earth, and essence from sun and moon!

    The external elixir school sect Gezao Sect was good at refining all kinds of pills . Among them, the most famous ones were Heaven Origin Gold Pill, Earth Origin Gold Pill, and Human Origin Gold Pill .

    Amid the cultivation sects went a saying: There was no true elixir apart from the three gold pills!

    One could say that the three pills really were magical!

    The refinement of Heaven Origin Gold Pill had been lost since the middle Ming dynasty, even inside Mount Hezao, Mount Longhu, and Mount Maoshan . Apart from Liu Bowen in the early Ming dynasty, no one had refined it during the following 500 years .

    Though rumor had it that there was still an Earth Origin Gold Pill inside Mount Hezao, however, except Lyu Chongyang in 1949, no one of the Gezao Sect in Mount Hezao had cultivated to be an Earth Immortal and ascended to the heaven with the help of Earth Origin Gold Pill .

    Therefore, out of the three pills, only the Human Origin Gold Pill existed in the world . The others were only real in far¨Cfetched fairy tales .

    This gold pill could enable the most mediocre cultivators to rise to the rank of individual cultivator with just one dose .

    All the cultivation sects had scrambled for the elixir and nearly one hundred people had died because of it!

    The little fox only managed to escape when her master drew away those horrifying rivals . Otherwise, with her cultivation, she would have been crushed into pieces and ended up in the eternal mes of hell .

    It would be a lie to say that the little fox didn¡¯t regret giving up such a powerful pill . Nevertheless, just when she was about to change her mind, Li Yundong¡¯s wordspletely melted her .

    She found that she could never harden her heart against the boy anymore .

    The little fox wept and sobbed . She soon drifted off to sleep right in Li Yundong¡¯s arms .

    Li Yundong was stunned and pushed the little girl¡¯s shoulder . ¡°Hey, don¡¯t sleep here . You¡¯ll catch a cold . Sleep under your nket!¡±

    The little fox hummed and wriggled while murmuring sleepily, ¡°It¡¯s nice . I feel warm this way . ¡±

    Then she curled up her entire body in Li Yundong¡¯s arms .

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know what to do . ¡°Hey, how am I going to sleep this way?¡±

    The little fox didn¡¯t answer . She just switched her head to face in another direction . Then, she wriggled again to find a morefortable position and resumed her soft snore .

    Li Yundong felt the little girl¡¯s voluptuous curves and the soft feel of her body . He eximed in his heart . ¡°For crying out loud, do you think I am the virtuous Liuxia Hui? You¡¯re not afraid that I might do something to you?¡±

    After taking the Human Origin Gold Pill, Li Yundong became more energetic than ever . Furthermore, he was now holding a beauty in his arms . He could feel her soft body and smell her sweet aroma . Under such circumstances, even Liuxia Hui couldn¡¯t hold back himself, not to mention a young, energetic ordinary guy like him .

    While Li Yundong was having a war in his mind, a joke that described this kind of situation urred to him .

    It went like this: A girl and a boy slept on the same bed . The girl drew a line on the bed and said, ¡°If you cross the line, you¡¯re an animal!¡±

    In order not to be considered an animal, the boy struggled until the next dawn . However, the next morning, the girl still pped him in the face . The boy cried out . ¡°I didn¡¯t cross the line!¡±

    The girl said, ¡°Then you¡¯re worse than an animal!¡±

    William Shakespeare once wrote in ¡°Hamlet¡± that: To be, or not to be, that is the question .

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes were fixed on the little fox, while he was murmuring, ¡°Animal, or worse than an animal, that is the question!¡±

    With a beauty in his arms, Li Yundong dug deep into an engaged philosophy conversation with himself .

 Chapter 42

    Chapter 42

    Chapter 42 Cultivate While It¡¯s Still Early

    The next morning, when she rose up and stretched her arms, Su Chan opened her eyes, only to see Li Yundong dozing . His head was falling slowly, and when it hit the pillow, he suddenly raised his head and became alert again .

    Seeing Su Chan, Li Yundong said in a tired tone with dark circles under his eyes, ¡°Bless you! You finally woke up! Get off right now, I¡¯m feeling stiff . ¡±

    Su Chan scrambled up at once and gave him a back massage in a ttering way . ¡°Poor you . When will we go find our next apartment?¡±

    Li Yundong waved his hands and fell to the bed . He covered his head with a pillow . ¡°No . I have to sleep even if the sky is falling down . ¡±

    As soon as he finished, he started to snore .

    Su Chuan was puzzled and murmured to herself, ¡°Generally speaking, he has swallowed the Human Origin Golden Pill, even if he didn¡¯t sleepst night, he wouldn¡¯t be that tired . ¡±

    However, how would she know that Li Yundong was practically fighting his inner desire all night long? All of his energy had gathered at one ce andsted for one night, who could take that?

    Su Chan tilted her head in confusion . After a while of thinking, she finally gave up and went to the bathroom to wash .

    After washing herself up, the little girl knelt at the bedside and gazed at Li Yundong for 15 boring minutes . Finally, she couldn¡¯t take it anymore and pushed Li Yundong . ¡°Alright, that¡¯s enough . Wake up and find the next apartment . We¡¯ll go to find our new home!¡±

    Li Yundong howled . ¡°Oh my God, I just fell asleep . Let me sleep a little more . ¡±

    Su Chan didn¡¯t give up and pushed Li Yundong as if he had been a floating boat at sea . ¡°No way, how long will it take?¡±

    Li Yundong grunted . ¡°Just a little more . ¡±

    Su Chanined . ¡°No, rise and shine!¡± Then, she pinched Li Yundong¡¯s nose and chuckled .

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    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t take it anymore . He rose up and covered his head with both hands . He was feeling heavy-headed . ¡°Do you want to see me die? You poor wretch!¡±

    Su Chan clung to Li Yundong¡¯s nose and said, ¡°It¡¯s now between 5 a . m . and 7 a . m and the sun rises and sunshine shines brightly onto the ground . It¡¯s the best time to gather spiritual Qi from heaven and earth and you¡¯re still sleeping!¡±

    Since she had decided to train Li Yundong, she became conscientious about keeping track of his cultivation .

    Nevertheless, how would Li Yundong know about her big master n? All he wanted to do now was sleep . Thus, he murmured something, ¡°What heaven earth Qi... how about ying and yang Qi?¡±

    The little fox blushed and pped Li Yundong . ¡°Get up!¡±

    However, Li Yundong was snoring like a pig right now . How would he get up?

    She felt helpless but came up with a good idea . She plucked a finger-long hair and inserted her energy into it . Swoosh! The hair straightened like a needle .

    Then, she stabbed him in the Baihui aperture!

    Located at the vertex of the head, it contained yang energy and can raise Qi . With that stab, Li Yundong let out a howl and jumped from the bed . He covered his head with both hands while ring at Su Chan . ¡°Do you want to kill me?¡±

    Su Chan grinned and tugged at Li Yundong¡¯s hands . ¡°I¡¯m sorry . You finally woke up!¡±

    In the movie ¡°The Message¡±, Gu Xiaomeng had nearly been tortured to death by Mr . Six . Then, when she was stabbed in the Baihui aperture, she immediately came back to life . Moreover, Li Yundong was just dozing off .

    After being stabbed in Baihui aperture, his Qi became active at once . He felt like he had taken some recreational drugs . Sleepy? Not at all .

    He wiped his hand across his face and found out that he wasn¡¯t drowsy at all . He had to say helplessly, ¡°Alright, for goodness¡¯ sake . I¡¯ll wash up and we¡¯ll go out!¡±

    However, Su Chan dragged him back . Instead, she opened the curtains and let the sunshine in . Then, she made Li Yundong sit cross-legged on the carpet . ¡°Sit down, I¡¯ll give you a massage . ¡±

    Thinking of Su Chan¡¯s massage, Li Yundong happily closed his eyes at once .

    Su Chan had given Li Yundong this kind of massage before, which was called ¡°Butterflies Gather Honey¡± .

    In Su Chan¡¯s eyes, the best time for Li Yundong¡¯s cultivation was ¡°the hours of the rat¡±, which was between 11 p . m . to 1 a . m .

    During this time, the yin energy started to vanish, while the yang energy began to grow . ording to the big and small cirction theory of the internal alchemy school sects, the hours of the rat was also called the winter solstice, the time when a fire should be ignited .

    Su Chan remembered clearly that in the cultivation ssics she used to recite, a sentence read, ¡°The hours of the rat is the beginning of yang energy . ¡±

    For cultivation beginners like Li Yundong, the hours of the rat, which was the winter solstice period, were very crucial .

    This was the most effective time period . Any ordinary cultivator who circted his Qi during these hours would find himself energetic through the entire following day . That was how the principle was applied in daily life .

    If he could acquire the active cultivating skill, then he would take his cultivation to a new level . He would reach a realm which was described in ¡°Elixir-Reverting Cirction Scripture¡± as ¡°No need to wait for the winter solstice when you finally have your own yang energy . ¡±

    That was to say that, he needed not to wait for the hours of the rat to cultivate . He, who had the purest yang energy inside him, could practice whenever he wanted and it would still be effective .

    Entering such a realm meant that he had basicallypleted his small cirction training, and was ready to explore the next big cirction practice .

    A human had the Eight Extraordinary Meridians . The small cirction was about the Ren Meridian and Du Meridian, while the big cirction was associated with the remaining Chong Meridian, Dai Meridian, Yin Linking Meridian, Yang Linking Meridian, Yin Heel Meridian, Yang Heel Meridian, and the Twelve Standard Meridians such as Shaoyin Kidney Channel of Foot .

    In other words, through refining the meridians, one could acquire the ¡°Qi-Condensing¡± skill that could enable him to collect Qi at will and the ¡°Active Cultivating¡± skill .

    Once he had the ¡°Meridian-Expanding¡±, ¡°Qi-Condensing¡±, and ¡°Active Cultivating¡± skills, he would advance from the middle ss of ¡°Qi-Refining¡± to a higher realm .

    Su Chan tried to activate Li Yundong¡¯s Qi by a massage . Though it was not during the hours of the rat, but rather the hours of the rabbit, it would still suffice as now yang energy was at its peak for the day .

    Li Yundong felt differently from thest time when he only felt the soothing on his skin and in his meridians .

    However, this time, Li Yundong felt his dantian was burning and his kidneys seemed to be boiling in a hot stew . Though he kept his eyes shut, he could still feel streaks of rays . Moreover, they were not sunshine reflected from the outside as they seemed to be spurting out from his eyes directly .

    Not only that, Li Yundong heard swooshes behind his ears as if winds were blowing . He also seemed to hear the screams of a vulture at the back of his head, and felt waves of energy surging to his head from his dantian . Every time they surged, he would sniff . He kept sniffing with this pattern .

    Li Yundong felt so good that he thought he might be in heaven, while Su Chuan was absorbed and didn¡¯t dare to rest once . She dashed quickly around Li Yundong¡¯s body and pointed at the major apertures on his chest, back, hands, and feet . Her fingers were swooshing in the air like butterflies amidst flowers . They were so quick that only their residual shadows could be seen .

    It was the time when the gold pill Qi rushed through Li Yundong¡¯s Ren Meridian and Du Meridian into other meridians .

    A small cirction came within a hair¡¯s breadth of a big cirction . Many Qi-cultivators just couldn¡¯t tackle the small gap . They could only insert Qi to the Ren Meridian and Du Meridian, but not other meridians like the Chong Meridian, Dai Meridian, and Shaoyin Kidney Channel of Foot . Therefore, all their lives, they were only considered as ¡°Qi masters¡± .

    With the massage and help of Li Yundong¡¯s peerless gold pill Qi, Su Chan wanted to make Li Yundong advance from the small cirction to big cirction training .

    However, just when Li Yundong¡¯s Qi gathered at the top of his head and was ready to rush into other meridians as if at the edge of a dam, they heard a knock on the door unexpectedly . Shortly after, a female voice rose up . ¡°Housekeeping!¡±

    The voice startled Su Chan and stopped her in the middle of the cultivation session . Then, without Su Chan¡¯s guidance, the Qi on top of Li Yundong¡¯s head stayed for a split second and immediately went back to where they came from without a trace .

    However, the Qi withdrawal process could also greatly stimte the body . Li Yundong shivered and let out a loud and long groan .

    To thedy at the door, it sounded like a man¡¯s groan during the climax of a lovemaking session between a man and a woman .

    The attendant blushed at once and cursed in a low voice . ¡°How shameless! It¡¯s so early in the morning!¡± Then, she switched to another room and knocked at the door . ¡°Housekeeping . ¡±

    How would Su Chan know about such things? She just pouted and was upset that the cultivation session was interrupted and failed in the end . Sheined in her heart . ¡°If it¡¯s in the hours of the rat, first, we won¡¯t be interrupted; second, his activated Qi will be stronger and pure, thus it¡¯ll take less time to break through!¡±

    Thinking of that, Su Chan couldn¡¯t help but recall one thing her master had said . ¡°Cultivate while it¡¯s still early!¡±

    It wasn¡¯t only in one¡¯s early age, but also early in the day .

    Morning hours was the best time of the day! What a wise sentence was that!

    Li Yundong collected himself and gave a long sigh . ¡°Ah, if we really can¡¯t make money, we won¡¯t starve with your massage skills!¡±

    Su Chan jokingly cursed . ¡°Lame! Hurry up, we need to find the next apartment!¡±

    Su Chan had finally discovered how painful being homeless was .

    If a cultivator wanted to go through the ranks smoothly, he must have five things: ways, money, partner,nds, and weapons!

    Right now, Li Yundong not only had the help from Human Origin Gold Pill, but also her . Ways referred to the fundamental cultivation methods, which was not a problem; as for money, at present, Li Yundong seemed to have enough for the both of them; Partner, Li Yundong and she were kind of partners right now, thus, that was a yes; Weapons referred to treasure weapons, which was used during battles among cultivators . A cultivator without treasure weapons was like a soldier without arms .

    Atst,nds referred to the ce where a cultivator dwelled, which was the biggest problem they were about to tackle .

    How would a cultivator proceed if they were without a good practicing ce?

    Li Yundong was more than happy to get rid of Su Chan¡¯s nagging, moreover, he felt refreshed now . Thus, he simply waved his hand . ¡°Ok, let¡¯s go to find our next apartment!¡±

 Chapter 43

    Chapter 43

    Chapter 43 Here We Are Again

    To Li Yundong, he simply wanted to find an apartment near the school through some renting agency, after all, where couldn¡¯t you live?

    However, Su Chan didn¡¯t think so . The little fox thought nds¡± was a crucial factor in one¡¯s cultivation . First, the house must face south, second, there must be a window in the eastern direction, providing fresh air and a good view, and thest and the most important, the apartment must be located up high!

    ¡°Why do we have to live on higher floors?¡± asked Li Yundong as he walked out a renting agency with Su Chan . ¡°I used to live on the seventh floor, and I thought it was too high! What if the elevator breaks down someday? We¡¯ll die climbing the stairs!¡±

    Su Chan was supposed to exin them all to Li Yundong, but she was afraid that she would reveal her identity . In the end, she simply said, ¡°Don¡¯t you think that living on higher floors gives you a good view and better mood?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled . ¡°Indeed . Alright, if you want to live on higher floors, we¡¯ll find an apartment on higher floors . ¡±

    Su Chan nodded while murmuring in her heart . ¡°Tsk, don¡¯t you know that all cultivators live deep inside the mountains? They¡¯d either live on top of the mountains or at the halfway mark of them . What kind of cultivator would live at lower areas?¡±

    ¡°This ce is rather poor in terms of the environment and the air is foul . This would decrease the effectiveness of one¡¯s cultivation!¡± Su Chanined in secret, that being said, she saw it impossible to drag Li Yundong into the depths of a mountain to cultivate . If that really happened, Li Yundong might probably have a mental breakdown .

    It wasn¡¯t that easy to find a house on higher floors . Li Yundong had asked a few agencies with Su Chan, only to leave empty-handed . None of the houses were to Su Chan¡¯s liking and were therefore crossed out by her .

    At the same time, Li Yundong was still patient about her requirements . He didn¡¯t have too many conditions and as long as it satisfied the little girl, he was content

    At noon, the two came near a newly-builtplex named Xin¡¯an Garden . They were just eating hamburgers bought at McDonald¡¯s when Li Yundong heard a familiar voice . ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? I want to see Zheng Youming . Get him out here . I can¡¯t believe that he dares to avoid me!¡±

    Li Yundong turned his head and then felt amused . ¡°Well, isn¡¯t that the woman who was with upstart?¡±

    Li Yundong still remembered that Mr . Zheng tackily called her ¡°Lili¡± . He couldn¡¯t help snickering . ¡°Is that a universal name for all the mistresses on earth?¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t want to watch or make fun of her at all, however, the moment Su Chan spotted theplex, her eyes lit up at its good location . Then, when she saw the direction it faced, shepletely cheered up . She blurted out . ¡°This is good!¡±

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    ¡°Ah, Her Highness finally sees one she likes?¡± Li Yundong gave a wry smile . ¡°But this is a newplex, they¡¯re only selling at the moment! I can¡¯t really afford any of them!¡±

    During their conversation, the mistress named Lili turned around, only to see Li Yundong and Su Chan . She was dazed and subconsciously lowered her pitch in thetter part of her sentence .

    Lili took out a phone from her fancy handbag and said to the guard who tried to stop her, ¡°You won¡¯t let me in? Alright, I¡¯ll call him right now and you can see if you still work here after this!¡±

    The guard was simply doing his job . How could he afford to take such a risk? He was smiling apologetically and was about to exin once more when a loud voice rose . ¡°Ah, Lili, what brought you here?¡±

    Upon seeing Mr . Zheng who she called Zheng Youming, Lili immediately shouted . ¡°Where can I find you if not here?¡±

    A trace of annoyance escaped from his eyes, however, the moment he saw Li Yundong and that Su Chan was with him, lust consumed his eyes . He grinned widely andughed his way over to them . ¡°Well, here we are again!¡±

    Li Yundong forced a smile when he saw the upstart striding in his direction . ¡°Right, here we are again . ¡±

    Zheng Youming shook hands with Li Yundong in an overly friendly way, while staring at Su Chan the whole time . He seemed to want to swallow Su Chan alive with one bite .

    Then, he reached out for Su Chan¡¯s hands .

    In no way would Su Chan think highly of a profit-driven person like him, thus she simply drew back her hands, hid behind Li Yundong, and made a face .

    In most cases, her actions would be deemed extremely impolite, nevertheless, Su Chan looked beautiful and cute . Therefore, instead of getting angry, Zheng Youming found his heart was itching with desire .

    Ignoring his mistress, Zheng Youming warmly greeted Li Yundong . ¡°Young fe, what are you doing here? Looking for an apartment?¡±

    A trace of contempt and disdain could be detected in Zheng Youming¡¯s eyes while he spoke . Actually, he didn¡¯t believe that Li Yundong, who rented a house like the one from before, could afford an apartment here .

    Li Yundong had to smile it away . ¡°I¡¯m just passing by . Is thisplex yours?¡±

    Zheng Youming chortled and said smugly, ¡°Well, it¡¯s my business . May I show you around? I¡¯ll give you a discount! They say that we are strangers the first time, friends the second . I guess we¡¯re kind of friends, right?¡±

    Just as Li Yundong was going to answer, Su Chan¡¯s eyes lit up and she hurriedly broke in . ¡°How much is an apartment on the highest floor?¡±

    Upon hearing Su Chan¡¯s voice, Zheng Youming was both surprised and startled . He took a deep breath and replied . ¡°13 thousand yuan per square meter . Of course, for a prettydy like you, I¡¯ll give a discount! Only 10 thousand yuan per square meter! What do you think? You can¡¯t get such a discount elsewhere in the entire city! Very good deal! A real bargain!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled wryly secretly . ¡°Very well, 10 thousand yuan per square meter! I guess I can buy a bathroom then! And it would still be unfurnished!¡±

    Su Chan was upset about the price because she knew that Li Yundong only had about 80 thousand yuan in his bank ount after hepensated their previousndy . In no way could he afford an apartment here .

    Nevertheless, she really liked it here . Theplex had a good view and the air was fresh due to its suburban area location . More importantly, she was really satisfied with the direction the building faced and its height .

    Su Chan didn¡¯t want to give up and added, ¡°We can¡¯t afford one . Are they for rent?¡±

    ¡°For rent?¡± Zheng Youming¡¯s mouth widened and chortled at her question .

    Su Chan was a little annoyed and her face fell . She dragged Li Yundong by his arms . ¡°Yundong, let¡¯s go!¡±

    At the sight of this, Zheng Youming feared that he might never get a second chance to see her again . Thus, he had to stop them by shouting out loud . ¡°Wait, wait . I didn¡¯t say they aren¡¯t for rent!¡±

    Su Chan stopped . Arms still clinging to Li Yundong, Su Chan turned her face around . ¡°You¡¯re going to rent one to us? How much?¡±

    Zheng Youming considered this and said to himself . ¡°Thisdy is way too gorgeous . I must keep her around me, otherwise, I would regret it my entire life! I might as well lower the price . As long as she stays in myplex, I believe I¡¯ll finally steal her from that poor guy with my money!¡±

    Zheng Youming pictured a good future in his mind, and as if it had been all about charity, he raised one finger and said, ¡°I¡¯ll go with this price!¡±

    ¡°10 thousand yuan a month?¡± Li Yundong gasped .

    Zheng Youming looked smug . ¡°One thousand yuan! Young fe, we¡¯re destined to meet, aren¡¯t we? You can choose any apartment in thisplex and go to the sales center . Tell them that Zheng Youming has rented it to you for one thousand yuan a month!¡±

    Zheng Youming looked as happy as a m when he said that . He really was proud to be a rich guy .

    Though Li Yundong was deeply repelled by this man, Li Yundong found the price hard to ignore . Take his previous apartment as an example, a one-bedroom apartment with appliances rented for 1300 yuan a month .

    Li Yundong was still mulling it over, while Zheng Youming thought Li Yundong was worried about the furnishing . Hence, he put on a merciful look and waved his hand . ¡°Are you worrying about buying furniture or appliances? Don¡¯t be! I have a well-furnished apartment on the higher floors . It has everything in it . You can move in anytime!¡±

    At that time, Li Yundong suddenly raised his head . Anyone could smell a trace of conspiracy in this deal .

    ¡°Such a good bargain, he must be up to something!¡± Li Yundong reminded himself .

    Then, when he found that Zheng Youming eyed Su Chan from time to time, he knew everything . He secretly sneered and involuntarily clenched his fists .

    How did he dare try to steal my girl! Does he want to dig his own grave?

    Anger was brewing in Li Yundong¡¯s heart .

    The little fox was the only one who didn¡¯t notice Zheng Youming¡¯s evil n so she just excitedly tugged at Li Yundong¡¯s arms and said, ¡°Shall we take a look? Let¡¯s take a look!¡±

    When looking at Su Chan¡¯s face, Li Yundong found it hard to turn down her suggestion . On the one hand, he didn¡¯t want to stay here for another second, on the other hand, he really didn¡¯tt wish to upset her . Such a cute girl actually kept himpany on such a hot day to find an apartment . It wasn¡¯t that easy for her . What girl could do that nowadays?

    ¡°Ok . ¡± Li Yundong said helplessly, however, he was determined that he wouldn¡¯t let this upstart have the slightest chance to steal her away .

    Hearing that, Zheng Youming was excited and quickly ordered the guard . ¡°Hurry and take my good buddy to the sales center . ¡±

    Then, he realized that he had been ignoring his mistress, Lili .

    Lili came here today because she heard that Zheng Youming had another woman . She was originally here to make a scene, however, she saw right through him with the show he just put on .

    What an unfaithful and heartless man he was!

    After all, she had been with him for quite a while . Now, when he saw a new girl, he would actually totally ignore her!

    How heartless he was!

    When looking at Li Yundong and Su Chan, Lili suddenly admired them very much . She admired them for their pure rtionship . She was not envious, but full of well wishes . ¡°I really hope you can stay together forever and not let the material world contaminate you!¡±

    Then, Lili turned her eyes back to Zheng Youming and sneered . ¡°You still remember me? I thought you don¡¯t know who I was anymore!¡±

    Zheng Youming was obsessed with Su Chan right now . In his eyes, Lili was a bit of a loose woman, and who would want a loose woman?

    He was a little annoyed, however, Su Chan wasn¡¯t far away so he had to suppress his annoyance and answered, ¡°How could I forget about you! Why did youe here today?¡±

    Lili originally came to fight with him, but after what had happened, she abandoned all hope for this rtionship and wished she never got involved with such a man . Finally, she just looked around and said absentmindedly . ¡°Well, I missed you, so I thought I¡¯d swing by . I didn¡¯t know you had such a well-furnished apartmentplex . You haven¡¯t shown me around . I want a tour . ¡±

    Upon finishing her words, Lili stepped into theplex while following Li Yundong¡¯s path .

 Chapter 44

    Chapter 44

    Chapter 44 The Apartment Chips!

    After watching Lili walk in, Zheng Youming broke out in a cold sweat because he really did have another woman here!

    Li Yundong was surprised to find Zheng Youming¡¯s mistress catching up with him . He murmured something, but didn¡¯t pay too much attention to her .

    However, when he entered the sales center following the guard, he was in for a great show .

    A stylish woman was walking out of the Xin¡¯an Gardenplex and spotted Zheng Youming who was chasing after Lili . Moreover, she heard Zheng Youming was gasping . ¡°Lili, don¡¯t act like this . I¡¯m busy with work, don¡¯t you know that?¡±

    Lili sneered . ¡°Did I ask for yourpany, Mr . Zheng?¡±

    Zheng Youming wanted to talk back but saw his other mistress not far away . At that time, his legs shook .

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes widened when he saw thedy approaching lightning fast . Then, she stopped, pointed at Lili, and shouted to Zheng Youming . ¡°Who is she?¡±

    All color had left Zheng Youming¡¯s face, while the staff in the sales center tried to keep their eyes straight to cover their snickers .

    Lili squinted and asked, ¡°Who the hell are you?¡±

    Thedy seemed in a frenzy . ¡°I¡¯m his girlfriend!¡±

    Lili snickered . ¡°Well, I thought you were the real deal!¡±

    Thedy broke out . ¡°What are you? A shameless loose woman? How dare you to say stuff like that to me?¡±

    Lili felt as if she had been pped in the face . She involuntarily nced at Li Yundong, only to see the boy standing far away like they were some kind of disease .

    Lili¡¯s heart sank andughed bitterly . ¡°Right, I¡¯m a shameless loose woman, and you? A not so shameful loose woman?¡±

    ¡°Wow!¡± The staff and the customers in the sales center all gasped .

    Burn!

    Su Chan looked at the two tangled women and asked Li Yundong curiously, ¡°What happened to them? Why do they curse each other at first sight?¡±

    Li Yundong seemed to take pleasure from the situation Mr . Zheng was now in . He secretly snickered and whispered to Su Chan, ¡°The third meets the fourth!¡±

    Li Yundong rubbed his chin andughed in a heartless manner . ¡°But who is the third and who is the fourth is a question worth asking!¡±

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    Su Chan¡¯s eyshes shed . She had to ask in a puzzled manner . ¡°Third? Fourth? What¡¯s that mean?¡±

    In the face of Su Chan¡¯s innocence, Li Yundong had to heave a sigh . He stroked the little girl¡¯s head . ¡°An innocent girl like you these days really should be protected as a national treasure!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s that mean, really?¡± Su Chan was tugging at Li Yundong¡¯s arms . A nearby salesman¡¯s eyes popped at her cute expression .

    Lowering his voice, Li Yundong had to suppress his snicker . ¡°The third concubine meets the fourth concubine!¡±

    ¡°Oh . ¡± Su Chan replied, but she still couldn¡¯t understand . ¡°But why are they fighting?¡±

    Li Yundong rubbed the little girl¡¯s head . ¡°Don¡¯t ask, just watch the fun!¡±

    Su Chan protected her head with her hands and rolled her eyes at Li Yundong while sheined . ¡°Go away!¡±

    At the same time, the two mistresses got poised for a fierce fight .

    The newdy seemed to be losing to Lili, thus she stood with her legs nted and shouted to Zheng Youming . ¡°Youming, tell me, who is she!¡±

    Zheng Youming clearly wanted to slip away, and he didn¡¯t want to make a scene in front of Su Chan . He just grinned apologetically . ¡°Well, Mingming, she¡¯s Li Congli . I used to talk about her!¡±

    Li Congli couldn¡¯t help snickering . ¡°You used to call me Lili . Zheng Youming, I¡¯ve finally seen through you! That¡¯s alright . From now on, we¡¯ll walk our separate ways! But, I¡¯ll tell you now, you need to pay every penny I deserve! Otherwise, I¡¯ll tell the world what you¡¯ve done!¡± 666

    Upon seeing that Li Congli was retreating from the battlefield, Mingming started to chase . ¡°What are you showing off? Didn¡¯t you just have two abortions? What¡¯s there to show off? I¡¯ve got four for him, and I didn¡¯t unt it like you . Isn¡¯t that right, Youming?¡±

    Mingming leaned against Zheng Youming¡¯s shoulder, giving a smile that said she was better for him .

    Li Yundong was both disappointed at the two women and repelled by the shameless man . In the end, he could just curse in a low voice . ¡°Animal!¡±

    Surprisingly, the salespeople beside him all cursed unanimously in low voices . ¡°Animal!¡±

    Zheng Youming grew tired of it and had to pull Mingming off his shoulder . He darted a nce over Li Yundong, only to see Su Chan smile with contempt . Immediately, he shouted to one of the saleswomen as if he had been stamped in his tail . ¡°Miss Bai, what are you doing here? Shouldn¡¯t you be showing them around?¡±

    Miss Bai shivered at once and said to Li Yundong, ¡°Sir, please follow me . ¡±

    However, how could Li Yundong still be in the mood for an apartment tour? He turned around, ready to walk out of the door .

    Nevertheless, Miss Bai had to urge him . ¡°Sir, please help me . If you leave now, Mr . Zheng will dock my pay!¡±

    He was angry at her words, yet he didn¡¯t show it on the surface . Instead, he followed Miss Bai out of the sales center .

    The moment they left, Su Chan and him heard Zheng Youming¡¯s growl catching up with them from behind . ¡°Shut up! I¡¯ve had enough!¡±

    Mingming sounded dumbfounded as she retorted . ¡°Are you mad at me?¡±

    ¡°Yes, and I¡¯m going to hit you!¡±

    Then, ps and cries rang behind them .

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t refrain from asking Miss Bai, ¡°Is this how your boss treats women?¡±

    Miss Bai curled her lip and gave a scornful look . ¡°This is fine . Imagine two months ago, when three of them met, that was the real Mars Attacks! Every good-looking female staff member here has been harassed by him!¡±

    Li Yundong felt helpless . ¡°Can¡¯t anyone sue him?¡±

    Miss Bai just snorted . ¡°Sue him? How? Is there anything you can¡¯t buy these days?¡±

    Li Yundong felt sick at heart . ¡°It¡¯s terrible to hear those things! Why don¡¯t you quit? Why do you have to work here?¡±

    Miss Bai looked at Li Yundong up and down and shot an envious nce at Su Chan . ¡°You must be students, right?¡±

    Li Yundong nodded . ¡°Big Sis Bai, how do you know that?¡±

    Miss Bai chortled . ¡°Don¡¯t call me that . My name is Bai Xiaoyang, but you can call me Xiaoyang . Innocence like that doesn¡¯t belong to anyone, but students . It¡¯s hard to find jobs these days . So, when you haven¡¯t found your next employer, you¡¯d better deal with it . ¡±

    Li Yundong felt hard to breath as there seemed to be a rock trapped in his chest .

    Bai Xiaoyao drove Su Chan and him to the front of a 25-floor building on a sightseeing vehicle .

    Before the tour even began, Li Yundong had already decided not to rent here . The only problem was how to break it to Su Chan in a way that wouldn¡¯t upset her .

    On the 25th floor, Bai Xiaoyao opened the door and said to them, ¡°Come on in, I¡¯ll show you around . ¡±

    Before Li Yundong could even taking a step, Su Chan had already stormed in and scanned the entire room .

    Li Yundong smiled to Bai Xiaoyang . ¡°There¡¯s no need, we¡¯ll take a look ourselves . ¡±

    Bai Xiaoyao didn¡¯t insist . ¡°Okay, make yourselves at home . I¡¯ll be waiting in the living room . ¡±

    Li Yundong smiled at her, entered a bedroom, and whispered in Su Chan¡¯s ears . ¡°Su Chan, do you really want to live here?¡±

    Li Yundong had to admit that the apartment was fashionably furnished in a Western style, and it came with a full set of appliances . If it wasn¡¯t for the disgusting Zheng Youming, Li Yundong would have been d to live here .

    Su Chan was scrutinizing a wall . She sniffed and knit her brows . ¡°It smells funny!¡±

    Li Yundong drew near the wall . ¡°I don¡¯t smell anything . ¡±

    Su Chan shook her head, looking serious . ¡°No, something very strong!¡±

    While saying this, she stuck out a finger and poked at the wall .

    As a cultivator, the power she released through her finger shouldn¡¯t be underestimated . Suddenly, the wallpaper shattered and a dent appeared in the wall!

    Li Yundong was shocked because he thought she was performing the One Finger Skill . He widened his eyes . ¡°What the...? What are you doing? Is this the One Finger Skill?¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s brows were knitted . Rarely, she replied angrily . ¡°What skill? Look for yourself!¡±

    Su Chan was poking at the dent and then she waved at Li Yundong .

    He drew near and also poked inside . With just a little push, the wall started to ssh onto the floor as if it was made up by paste and mud .

    ¡°What is this?¡± Li Yundong¡¯s eyes almost popped out of his head . ¡°Can a house be jerry-built to this point?¡±

    Su Chan sneered . ¡°I can raze the house to the ground with one punch . How can people live here?¡±

    ¡°Oh my God! What are you doing?¡± Bai Xiaoyang ran in after hearing the noises they made . At the sight of the broken wall, she was scared out of her wits and screamed .

    Li Yundong turned around and scoffed . ¡°Is this your apartments¡¯ quality? I can even poke a hole on the wall?¡±

    Bai Xiaoyang looked desperate . ¡°You¡¯ll make me lose my job!¡±

    Li Yundong was furious . ¡°You can find another job, but this kind of house will make people lose their lives . Can they find another life? Where¡¯s your conscience?¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s overwhelming fury shook Bai Xiangyao at that moment, who couldn¡¯t help but think . ¡°Right, this kind of house will cause trouble someday! Why should I work for them any longer?¡±

    Her eyes shed, indicating the war she was having in her mind . Finally, she heaved a heavy sigh and shook her head . ¡°Since this is so, I¡¯ll tell you the truth . The entire Xin¡¯an Gardenplex is built like this . Other jerry-built houses are at least made from reinforced concrete, while ours are solely made out of cardboard and sand . Even I suspect it¡¯ll fall anytime!¡±

    Li Yundong was angry and shocked . ¡°How on earth did this happen? Can they build houses like that? How can people live here? No one supervises them?¡±

    Bai Xiaoyang sneered . ¡°How can people live? As long as it¡¯s sold! Who cares?¡±

    Li Yundong clenched his teeth in anger . ¡°How can Zheng Youming do such things? He¡¯s not afraid of karma?¡±

    Su Chan followed . ¡°God should take him!¡±

    ¡°Karma? Why do we need the police if karma is real?¡± Bai Xiaoyang heaved a sigh . ¡°Never mind, you two can leave now . I¡¯ll hand in my resignationter . You¡¯ve talked some sense to me and I really shouldn¡¯t be staying here anymore . And if you¡¯re looking for premium apartments, I can rmend aplex to you .

    ¡°Not far from here, there¡¯s a high-endplex in the New Hongshen District . It¡¯s situated well and their houses are well-built . You can trust them,¡± said Bai Xiaoyang .

    Still angry, he said to Bai Xiaoyang, ¡°Thank you, I¡¯ll take a tourter . ¡±

    The three of them left the building . Getting on the vehicle, Bai Xiaoyang asked behind the steering wheel, ¡°You don¡¯t want a ride?¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head . ¡°No thanks . We¡¯ll walk . I need some fresh air . ¡±

    Bai Xiaoyang looked at him onest time and sighed . ¡°Goodbye . ¡±

    After she had left, Li Yundong looked around to make sure no one was present . Then, he took Su Chan to a back corner of the building . He kicked at the corner, and as expected, the wall was immediately chipped away . Under the ster was cardboard and sand .

    Li Yundong¡¯s blood boiled . In a state of fury, he punched the wall . ¡°Bastard!¡±

    ¡°This piece of sh*t! Karma wille back to bite him one day!¡± Li Yundong howled hysterically .

    However, Su Chan was looking shocked beside him . She tugged at his arms . ¡°Hey, look at that!¡±

    He looked in the direction she pointed, only to see cracks running where he just hit . The cracks rippled across and grew several meters long in an instant .

    They looked at each other in terror .

    ¡°Is... is it going to copse? No way can one punch raze a building? You must be kidding me!¡± Li Yundong looked at his fist, stammering . ¡°I¡¯m no Ultraman!¡±

    However, on second thought, this was no ordinary building so anything could happen!

    Thinking of that, Li Yundong grabbed Su Chan¡¯s hands and shouted . ¡°Run!¡±

 Chapter 45

    Chapter 45

    Chapter 45 Karma Happens

    After running for a while, it suddenly urred to Li Yundong . ¡°Wait, this doesn¡¯t feel right . If I run at this time, wouldn¡¯t I be dering my sin to the public? Why should I run with a little girl for no reason? If it really copses, everyone would suspect me, right?¡±

    Thinking of that, Li Yundong dragged Su Chan¡¯s hands to slow them down .

    ¡°Slower, slower...¡± Li Yundong said to Su Chan in a lowered voice, ¡°Or everyone will know it¡¯s us . ¡±

    Su Chan was smart and understood immediately . She nodded obediently and clung to Li Yundong¡¯s arms, looking back from time to time .

    Li Yundong almost cried, he knocked the top of the little girl¡¯s head . ¡°Idiot! Can you act more shameful? You¡¯re simply wearing ¡®I did this¡¯ all over your face!¡±

    Su Chan covered her head and said pitifully, ¡°I just want to know when it¡¯ll fall down!¡±

    Li Yundong shed tears of anger . ¡°Are you looking forward to it?¡±

    Su Chan nodded repeatedly . ¡°Yes!¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but look back as well . On the surface, the building still stood firmly where it should be .

    Li Yundong murmured to himself, ¡°Such a tall building . What if it falls on me? How terrible that would be!¡±

    Thinking of that, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but pick up his pace again . As if being chased by ghosts, their pace turned from slow to quick . In the end, they were running like hell again .

    However, when they got close to the sales center, Li Yundong slowed down again and dragged Su Chan to his side .

    The two tried to walk past it in a seemingly calm manner, however, they saw the twodies were still fighting!

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    ¡°They¡¯re really hard-working!¡± Li Yundongmented in his heart .

    He saw Mingming¡¯s and Li Congli¡¯s clothes were all ragged, and their faces were ck and blue . Apparently, they had gone through a nasty physical fight .

    Zheng Youming wasn¡¯t any better either . His face was covered with scratches from nails, and his clothes also fell apart at the seams .

    Seeing Li Yundong and Su Chan leaving theplex, Zheng Youming immediately squeezed a smile, saying, ¡°Hey, my young fe, why leave so soon? What do you think? The house is really nice, right? And if you¡¯ve decided, you can...¡±

    Before he finished, Li Yundong interrupted with a chilling smile . ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve decided not to rent your house . ¡±

    Zheng Youming had been confident that they would definitely rent here, however, they actually turned him down!

    His smile froze . Embarrassed from anger, he raised his tone . ¡°Howe? Is the rent too high? Or is there anything else?¡±

    Li Yundong huffed . ¡°Well, we don¡¯t really think the house is nice enough...¡±

    Like a rabbit who had been stamped on its tail, Zheng Youming jumped and thumped his chest loudly . ¡°Ask around, my house is definitely well-built, they¡¯re the finest...¡±

    The moment he finished, a loud bang rang . Inside the Xin¡¯anplex, a 25-floor building cosped as if it was a controlled demolition .

    The loud noise almost made people¡¯s eyes pop out of their heads . Then, everything fell silent .

    Heavy smog rose upward and spread everywhere .

    Zheng Youming¡¯s expression was really funny . It felt as if he had been pped in the face during the best part of his speech .

    Zheng Yuoming was so shocked that Li Yundong even suspected that with just one more emotion push and this guy¡¯s eyeballs would practically flop onto the ground!

    Li Yundong was quick and dragged Su Chan in a seemingly panicking manner . They ran like hell and at the same time he shouted . ¡°The building copsed, the building copsed! Stay away!¡± He shouted as if he wanted everyone on earth to know about it .

    On their way out, they heard Zheng Youming howling hysterically behind them . ¡°No, it can¡¯t be!¡±

    The mistress Li Congli gave a piercingugh . ¡°Look at his falling house! Zheng Youming, this is called karma! Praise the Lord! ¡°Hahaha, what goes aroundes back around . Betterte than never! Zheng Youming, the time hase!¡±

    Li Yundong grabbed Su Chan¡¯s hands and ran away from the crime scene . Gradually, Li Congli¡¯s voice faded behind them .

    When the Xin¡¯anplex was out of sight, they stopped . They stared at each other, dazed . After quite a while, they both chuckled .

    Li Yundong felt his heart thumping as if he had done something extremely terrible . If he got caught because of this, he might be executed by shooting without even a trial! However, he was so secretly happy about it that his heart fluttered .

    So was Su Chan . She felt both shameful like a thief and as happy as m .

    At first, they were secretly snickering . Nevertheless, after a while, they couldn¡¯t hold it anymore and burst intoughter to the point that passersbys would nce sideways .

    Finally, after a while, Su Chan refrained fromughing and held Li Yundong¡¯s hands . She whispered in his ear, ¡°Youndong, would that get us into trouble?¡±

    Li Yundong suppressed hisugh as well and considered seriously . ¡°No, wasn¡¯t the building unupied? I¡¯m doing it for the people, for the justice of Heaven!¡±

    The little girl giggled . ¡°Right, that man is full of evil! Too much evil!¡±

    Li Yundong sped her hands firmly and said to himself . ¡°The evilest part was that he actually wanted to poach on my turf . Hmph, if you poach on my turf, I¡¯ll have to destroy your territory!¡±

    In the middle of that, Li Yudong felt that he had done something righteous and was feeling ted . He chortled and waved his hands like a general . ¡°Let¡¯s go, we¡¯ll keep looking for our next home! I¡¯ll raze them to the ground if I meet another trash house!¡±

    After gaining some distance away from the Xin¡¯anplex, they finally gave up holding back their pride in the heart or on the face and strode like righteous swordsmen . Their eyes brightened up as if they had done some marvelous thing .

    Especially when their four eyes met, they would let out snickers that only they could understand .

    Luckily, though Su Chan found none of the following apartments satisfying, they weren¡¯t as building built as Zheng Youming¡¯s .

    After a while, they headed over to the New Hongsheng District that Bai Xiaoyang had rmended .

    As soon as they arrived, Su Chan¡¯s eyes lit up because she saw a 20 story building that really stood out among the other buildings in theplex . The other buildings had only five floors, while this one was tall enough with a good view of its surroundings, and faced a good direction .

    Su Chan was eager to look inside and dragged Li Yundong toward the building, while Li Yundong had to mock her . ¡°You fool, we¡¯ll have to find a renting agency first . Without them, how can you tell if it¡¯s for rent or not?¡±

    In the middle of their conversation, Li Yundong entered an agency with Su Chan . After the inquiry, Li Yundong was shocked to find that these apartments were really pricy . They didn¡¯t have one-bedroom or two-bedroom apartments as they only had a three-bedroom apartment on the top floor . Moreover, Su Chan found itpletely satisfying . The only problem was the rent: It rents for 4,500 yuan a month!

    Li Yundong¡¯s jaw dropped and stammered in his heart . ¡°4... 4,500 a month? Is this some kind of robbery? That¡¯s all my relief money from my parents every month! And I should spend it all on an apartment? Wouldn¡¯t I be starving?¡±

    That being said, after a tour with an agent, Li Yundong found it really worth the price .

    The room was newly furnished and was equipped with all the appliances . They could basically move in anytime . Not only did Su Chan found it satisfying, but Li Yundong liked it too . Su Chan was satisfied at the direction it faced and itsyout, and Li Yundong liked the Chinese style furnishings .

    The agent was quick . Considering the fact that the two might fail to afford such a high rent, he added, ¡°If you think it¡¯s too expensive, you can settle down for now and find a roommateter . ¡±

    Li Yundong would rather not let others enter their intimate space, and Su Chan didn¡¯t want a third wheel in their cultivationnds either .

    Su Chan hid from the agent and wrapped her fingers around Li Yundong¡¯s hands . She begged in a low voice . ¡°Yundong, can we live here? I¡¯m begging you!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and patted the little girl¡¯s head . ¡°Don¡¯t worry, as long as you wish, I¡¯ll pick moon in the sky for you . We¡¯ll live here if you really like it here!¡±

    Li Yundong calcted in his heart . ¡°I¡¯ll pay almost 30,000 yuan at one time for rent and deposit . Then, I still have 45,000 yuan, which could support us for a while . Besides, it¡¯s soon summer vacation and I can take some part-time job . And with the money from dad and mom, I should be able to support the two of us . ¡±

    After seeing Li Yundong agree, Su Chan was ted and hugged Li Yundong tightly . She was grinning from ear to ear . ¡°Awesome! You¡¯re really awesome!¡±

    Upon feeling the tenderness and sticity of the little girl¡¯s chest, he suppressed his desires and pointed to his cheek . ¡°Come on, give me a kiss!¡±

    Su Chan peeked at the agent in the adjacent room and was reluctant . ¡°No, there¡¯s someone around . ¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t expect her to kiss him for real . He chortled . ¡°Alright, kiss me when there¡¯s no one!¡±

    Su Chan giggled and gave a coy look . She blushed and turned around to leave . On her way out, her pigtails swayed in the air and sheined . ¡°Go away!¡±

    Li Yundong was feeling hot from Su Chan¡¯s tempting eyes . He suddenly thought that he should be getting a ce in the Guinness Book for not having been an animalst night!

    Having putting down the deposit, they happily returned to the hotel near the school to fetch their luggage .

    On their way out, Su Chan skipped in front, while Li Yundong in the back noticed a girl in a pink dress in theplex garden¡¯s pavilion . She was watching him .

    Li Yundong looked at the girl . She was about 15 or 16 years old and had an ethereal aura beyond description . With her hair in a ponytail, she revealed her plump forehead . Her eyes were bright and from afar, no matter where she looked, Li Yundong could feel something solid against him at that ce on his body .

    When Li Yundong and the girl¡¯s eyes met, it was like two fast trucks crashing against each other . They shivered and quickly turned their heads away .

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help eximing in his heart . ¡°Why is there a girl with such piercing eyes? Who is she?¡±

    ¡°Yundong, the bus came!¡± Outside theplex, Su Chan was waving at Li Yundong . Then, he turned around and walked to the gate .

 Chapter 46

    Chapter 46

    Chapter 46 . Ascending for Cultivation

    The girl standing in the pavilion looked at Li Yundong¡¯s back in surprise, until someone stood silently behind her . She turned back and smiled, ¡°Sister Zi Yuan, you are here . ¡±

    The girl named Zi Yuan was about one inch taller than the girl in the pink dress . She looked gorgeous in a long purple skirt . The fluttering skirt made her look like a fairy in heaven .

    The two girls stood in the pavilion, just like the fairies who came down from paintings . Everyone who passed by would feel shock when looking at them .

    Zi Yuan¡¯s gaze looked less sharp than the girl in the pink-skirt girl and her eyes looked as if they were misted up . Her voice sounded cold, ¡°Well, Hong Ling, what are you looking at?¡±

    Hong Ling couldn¡¯t help turning to the direction in which Li Yundong had disappeared again . She said, ¡°It seems that I just met a cultivator . ¡±

    Zi Yuan calmly said, ¡°There are so many cultivators in the world . It isn¡¯t strange to meet one or two Outer Disciples here . ¡±

    Hong Ling shook her head and said, ¡°He looked like an Inner Disciple rather than an Outer Disciple . He looked at me across fifty or sixty meters, and his eyes were so sharp that I couldn¡¯t even look back!¡±

    Zi Yuan felt a little shocked . ¡°Oh? Although you are not that diligent, thanks to our master, you are a decent cultivator . Is there such an impressive figure in the small city of Tiannan?¡±

    Hong Ling said, ¡°Sister Zi Yuan, why are you always downying me?¡±

    While looking at Hong Ling, Zi Yuan showed a fond smile . ¡°I am going back to the sect, and you can continue to practice here, but with your temper and character, I am worried!¡±

    Hong Ling said back, ¡°Sister Zi Yuan! I¡¯m not a little girl anymore . I can take care of myself!¡±

    Zi Yuan smiled and said nothing while looking into the distance . They stood in the pavilion for a while until Hong Ling suddenly said, ¡°Sister Zi Yuan, let me send you off . ¡±

    Zi Yuan said, ¡°That¡¯s fine . I am leaving . You must remember not to disturb the worldly people . This is the rule that cannot be vited!¡±

    Hong Ling said impatiently, ¡°You have said it a thousand times!¡±

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    Zi Yuan shook her head and revealed a thoughtful look .

    Since she was young, Hong Ling was afraid of Zi Yuan . When she saw Zi Yuan fall silent, she tentatively asked, ¡°Sister Zi Yuan, what are you thinking?¡±

    Zi Yuan said, ¡°I am thinking about the whereabouts of the gold pill . ¡±

    Hong Ling blinked at her . ¡°Are you still thinking about the pill? Sister Zi Yuan, are you feeling something? Ha, what a rare reaction!¡±

    After hearing this, Zi Yuan didn¡¯t change her face as if she didn¡¯t hear her . She looked far away and whispered, ¡°Where is the gold pill?¡±

    ...

    Li Yundong and Su Chan moved into the new house that day . Su Chan looked at the spacious and bright new apartment while excitedly running from one room to another . She yed on the Simmons mattress while rolling about and then stretched her body out of the high balcony while shouting excitedly .

    ¡°Hey, be careful . Don¡¯t fall!¡± Li Yundong was scared when he saw Su Chan almost hanging on the railing of the balcony . He ran over and grabbed her waist .

    As a cultivator, Su Chan wasn¡¯t afraid of this . She giggled and turned around, excitedly pulling Li Yundong¡¯s arm and pointing in the distance like a cheerful little sparrow . She said, ¡°Yundong, Yundong, look . Look at the view!¡±

    When seeing the little girl¡¯s eyebrows almost flying, he smiled and tapped her on the nose before looking up .

    It was evening and the sun was going down while the moon was rising . The rosy clouds looked like red-colored ss and he found it to be very beautiful .

    By looking at it at once, Li Yundong suddenly felt that his eyes were widened and his heart was refreshed . A breath rushed into his heart from his lower abdomen, making him want to scream .

    Su Chan could tell that looking at the sky at such a high position had triggered the gold pill in his chest and caused his blood to stir and swell, thus creating the urge to scream .

    Many mountain climbers often felt excitement like ¡°I bare my breast toward the opening clouds, I strain my sight after watching the birds fly home . When shall I reach the top and hold all the mountains in a single nce?¡± and were about to roar when they climbed to the top of the mountain .

    Most of them were young people who were vigorous since their breath was strong and easily swayed by the Qi between heaven and earth, while the elderly wouldn¡¯t be attracted unless their bodies had been trained well . Otherwise, they would never be touched by the Qi of heaven and earth or feel the urge to shout .

    Su Chan remembered that her master once told her that people would have the urge to shout in three situations .

    The first scenario was when facing great scenery such as standing on the top of a mountain or facing a sea . People often had the urge to shout out because the Qi between heaven and earth was so powerful that it would attract all mortals who even had a little bit of Qi in their chest and made them shout .

    The second scenario was when people felt distressed, boredom, depression, grievances, pain, entanglement in their chests . In order to resolve the pain, people would shout or sigh . Otherwise, the emotion would make people sick if it existed in the human body for a long time .

    The third scenario was when people were refining Qi . At that time, they would have the most vigorous Qi in bodies and couldn¡¯t help screaming! During the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty when Wang Yangming, the great Confucian schr, practiced Qi in the military camp for one night, he suddenly he felt that his Qi had been refined and couldn¡¯t help screaming . His sounds were heard a few miles away, and everyone was shocked . They thought that there was a god in the military camp!

    At this time, Li Yundong was both a mortal who was tempted by heaven and earth and also a partial cultivator who was refining Qi .

    He felt that there was a breath in his chest that he had to let loose .

    As Li Yundong opened his mouth and was about to let out a long scream, Su Chan immediately hit the Huagai Acupoint on his chest .

    It was an essential point for the human body . As Su Chan hit it, she surpressed Li Yundong¡¯s impulse to shout as if a thousand people guarded a fortress .

    Su Chan secretly thought that if Li Yundong screamed out, the cultivators around would immediately hear him ande for them . At that time, they would be in big trouble or killed!

    There were many cultivators in the world who were in hidding . Sometimes, even if they lived next to each other, they might not be able to tell that who was a cultivator .

    Su Chan was born in the Fox Zen Sect and was proficient in the hiding technique . She could cover her Demon Aura, so she dared to follow Li Yundong everywhere .

    However, Li Yundong didn¡¯t understand . If he shouted out and was heard by cultivators, they would definitelye to check with curiosity . Once they arrived, they would surely notice the powerful gold pill in Li Yundong¡¯s body!

    Given that Li Yundong wasn¡¯t a full cultivator, even though he could beat ordinary people with the gold pill¡¯s power, he couldn¡¯t even bend a finger of an actual cultivator!

    At this time, Li Yundong was like a child walking in a downtown city with a golden rice bowl . It wasn¡¯t strange that everyone would covet the gold pill¡¯s Qi!

    Li Yundong¡¯s breath was forced to go down, and he felt ufortable in his chest . He thought it was because he was tired from all the activity from the day .

    He rubbed his chest and frowned .

    Seeing this, Su Chan immediately said, ¡°Do you need a massage?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it . You must be tired too . Forget it!¡±

    Su Chan thought for a moment . Since it was the time that yang qi was rising while the yin qi was falling, it wasn¡¯t the best time for him to refine Qi . They should wait until 12 am!

    Su Chan didn¡¯t insist . She rolled her eyes and said, ¡°What can I do for you? Boil water or cook?¡±

    Li Yundong trembled and said quickly, ¡°Dear, forget it . I will do it myself . What do you want to eat? I will make something for you!¡±

    Su Chan said shyly, ¡°Oh, how sorry I am! You are doing everything for me . ¡±

    Li Yundong said in a serious manner, ¡°If you do nothing, you are helping me!¡±

    Su Chan screamed, ¡°You!¡± After that, she rushed into the bedroom .

    Li Yundongughed and went to the kitchen . He rolled up his sleeves and was going to cook with the vegetables that they bought in the market .

    At six o¡¯clock in the evening, Li Yundong made three dishes and one soup . They sat in the spacious and bright kitchen while looking at each other and smiling .

    While looking at the beautiful little girl in front of him in their stylish and spacious new home, he felt unspeakable happiness and joy in his heart .

    ¡°Is this the feeling of home?¡± Li Yundong sighed . ¡°What a pity! This house doesn¡¯t even belong to me! When I have money, I will buy a house like this!¡±

    Su Chan nodded hard and said, ¡°You will be more and more powerful in the future . It¡¯s not a big deal!¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know she was talking about cultivation and thought she meant his ability to make money . Heughed and pushed the dish in front of him to the little fox .

    This was Li Yundong¡¯s specialty dish: the beer duck . It wasn¡¯t only delicious but also beautiful . Su Chan looked at it, drooling, but she was too embarrassed to eat it up, so she just took a piece of duck in her bowl .

    Li Yundong said, ¡°Eat more . Don¡¯t be courteous!¡±

    Su Chan shyly took another piece, and Li Yundong felt confused, ¡°Didn¡¯t this girl have a good appetite? Howe she suddenly became reserved? This isn¡¯t right!¡±

    Li Yundong again said, ¡°What are you doing? Are you afraid of getting fat? Eat more . Are they not delicious? Don¡¯t...¡±

    Before he finished talking, Su Chan put the bowl with only two pieces of duck in front of him and then pulled over therge bowl of beer duck to herself .

    She said with a shy look, ¡°Sorry and thank you!¡±

    ¡°Damn...¡± Li Yundong¡¯s face twitched and began robbing the beer duck in front of Su Chan, ¡°You! Give it back, or I¡¯ll kill you!¡±

    Su Chan covered the food with her hands like a pet protected its food . She yelled at Li Yundong, ¡°No, no, I would rather die!¡±

    After that, she took the bowl and turned over to swallow .

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Hey, eat slowly . It¡¯s very hot . Don¡¯t burn yourself!¡±

    Su Chan made a face at him and said, ¡°I won¡¯t give this up even if I get burnt! It¡¯s your fault for making it so delicious!¡±

    Their quarrel and theughs that followed echoed throughout their new home . The new moon squinted and looked at them as if it was envious of the excellent rtionship between them .

 Chapter 47

    Chapter 47

    Chapter 47 The Big Cirction

    It was midnight and Li Yundong, who didn¡¯t close his eyes for almost one day and one night because of the moving, still didn¡¯t feel exhaustion or drowsiness .

    On the contrary, he felt that there was an unknown force in the body that gave him an inexhaustible power . He stood on the balcony and passionately looked down at Tiannan City under the night sky .

    He felt that he should conquer something even though he had no idea what it would be .

    Like an ignorant newborn child facing this vast andplicated world, Li Yundong didn¡¯t know that he would achieve earth-shaking achievements in the future . He was like a caterpir struggling in the cocoon while waiting for his moment of emergence .

    ¡°Su Chan...¡± Li Yundong looked at the bustling urban night scene, and suddenly said with amazement, ¡°Can you tell me what I can do in the future?¡±

    Sitting with her legs crossed and her head resting on Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder, she looked at the stars in the sky and said, ¡°In the future? You can do anything . No matter what, you will be great in the future!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°How do you know? When I was driven away by thendy that day, I swore to myself that I have to be excellent in the future and let them admire me! However, after I calmed down, I realized that after so many years in school, I learned nothing . What a tragedy!¡±

    Su Chan looked up at Li Yundong with a squint . She thought, ¡°Even though you haven¡¯t cultivated a single day, you have more power than most of the world¡¯s cultivators . You are holding treasure while worried about future survival problems . What a joke!¡±

    In this world, was there something more remarkable than bing an immortal god by cultivating?

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    After receiving no response from Su Chan, Li Yundong didn¡¯t push . He smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯m justining, don¡¯t overthink it . I will work hard for you!¡±

    Hearing this, Su Chan felt so warm in her heart and smiled at Li Yundong . She looked at the time and stood up,ing behind Li Yundong and said, ¡°Yundong, can I massage you now?¡±

    At this time, Li Yundong had been able to figure out that Su Chan was definitely not an ordinary person . Considering her unusual massage technique, she was different from ordinary people .

    Since Su Chan appeared in his life, Li Yundong clearly felt that his life and body had changed, but he didn¡¯t reject these changes . Instead, he was enjoying them, so he didn¡¯t want to delve too deep .

    Whatever Su Chan asked him to do, he did because he was convinced that Su Chan wouldn¡¯t harm him .

    The little girl let Li Yundong sit cross-legged, facing the balcony to the east, and opened all the doors and windows of the room except the main entrance . She even tied up all the curtains .

    While looking at Su Chan who was busy working, he asked in a puzzlement, ¡°Su Chan, can I ask why I have to sit cross-legged every time you give me a message? I am like a qigong master who is refining Qi!¡±

    Su Chan said, ¡°You are actually refining Qi! Where else would the Qi in your bodye from? Think back in the ssroom, why did you suffer a Qi-deviancy? It was because you were being tempted and your Qi was running around . ¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head and said with a smile, ¡°I really can¡¯t imagine that such a beautiful little girl like you is still practicing qigong, but still, why do people have to meditate cross-legged when cultivating? Why not stand?¡±

    After Su Chan was ready, she stood in front of Li Yundong and pointed at Li Yundong¡¯s feet . She said, ¡°Legs take up half of the height of the human body or even more . The longer the legs, the more difficult it is for a human¡¯s Qi to reach the Yongquan Acupoint which is very important for Shaoyin Kidney Channel of Foot as well as Taiyang dder Channel of Foot . If Qi can¡¯t reach that spot, people are unable to cultivate the big cirction . ¡±

    ¡°When people sit cross-legged, their meridians will be stretched, which will stimte the blood qi in the meridians, and this position can shorten the distance from the legs to lower dantian in the lower abdomen and then from middle dantian in the heart to upper dantian in the brain . In addition, the posture is stable and protective which can stop Qi from releasing . ¡±

    Li Yundong suddenly understood and he said with admiration, ¡°I used to think that they sat cross-legged just because it was morefortable . That it was a habit and I tried it once . My thighs were numb and my calves were sore after awhile, so I gave up . After listening to you today, I realized that this was the reason to meditate cross-legged . Su Chan, I think that you are truly amazing . You are so beautiful and intelligent . It isn¡¯t easy! ¡±

    Su Chanughed as she heard this and she looked even more beautiful at night . Li Yundong was stunned and felt a desire in his lower abdomen .

    Su Chan quickly pressed his head and said, ¡°Close your eyes and raise your tongue to the pte . Clear your mind and don¡¯t think about anything!¡±

    Li Yundong did what she said . After a while, he felt that his waist was hot . The strange feeling he felt in the hotel returned again .

    Su Chan slowly massaged Li Yundong¡¯s acupoints for a while with one of her hands, and then she put both hands on Li Yundong¡¯s waist, activating the Qi of the gold pill inside Li Yundong with her energy .

    At this time, Li Yundong almost had no sense of consciousness . He felt confused and it was as if he was immersing himself in a hot spring and was being submerged in the hot, running water .

    The advantage of the Dual Cultivation was that one of them could be half awake and simply adapt to the Vital Essence flow .

    The human body was the most amazing and subtle existence in the world . Even the world¡¯s advanced scientific instruments couldn¡¯t explore all the subtleties of it and the advanced machines couldn¡¯tpare with the human body¡¯s own coordination and self-reaction .

    Only in cultivating this way in the purest natural reaction of the human body would the Qi be the purest . It wasparable to the innate Vital Essence brought by the mother .

    However, cultivation in such a situation made it easy to go mad . With apanion, people could be at ease and gained greater progress .

    Su Chan felt that Li Yundong¡¯s brain had slowly umted with arge amount of pure Qi of the gold pill, and at this time, the Baihui Acupoint at the top of Li Yundong¡¯s head slowly opened . A faint white mist, which was almost invisible, steamed up from his head .

    At this time, Su Chan knew Li Yundong hadpleted the umtion of Qi . As long as she took a tapped on the top of Li Yundong¡¯s head, this umted Vital Essence would immediately rush into his channels and forced him to break into the big cirction .

    Su Chan took a deep breath and exhaled a mouthful of air that looked like a white arrow . A faint cyan airflow rolled out of her palms before she patted the Baihui Acupoint at the top of Li Yundong¡¯s head!

    ¡°Boom!¡±

    Li Yundong trembled fiercely as it felt as if hot water was poured over him from head to toe . He felt his body and mind be at ease .

    Li Yundong¡¯s face flushed, and all his meridians bulged everywhere . The Qi over his head suddenly swelled and turned visible . At this time, it was as thick as a baby¡¯s little finger and became stable .

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong nervously . She knew that this was the so-called ¡°three flowers gathering top¡± which was described by the ancient practitioners . When he overcame this, Li Yundong would enter the big cirction .

    This steamsted for a minute or so . Suddenly Li Yundong trembled as if he was set to stand up and dance .

    Su Chan secretly said, ¡°After the gold pill developed the other six channels except for Ren Meridian and Du Meridian, it began to attack Li Yundong¡¯s twelve channels . She didn¡¯t know whether he could seed tonight . ¡±

    While she was worried, Li Yundong suddenly jumped up and shot out a roar! He did it so fast that even she couldn¡¯t stop him .

    The shouting sounded so clear and loud that it spread afar like rolling thunders or a tiger .

    Hong Ling, who also lived in Hongsheng Garden, suddenly woke up from meditation . She opened her eyes with some surprise, and secretly sneered and spected, ¡°Which cultivator will roar like this? He must be afraid of being unknown . What is he showing off?¡±

    After a while, Hong Ling discovered that the shouting had not weakened and, instead, became more and more deep, like a rushing river which would surge a bigger wave after every turn .

    ¡°Who is he? How impressive!¡± As a disciple from a famous sect, Hong Ling believed he must have been guided by a famous teacher, and he must be so talented that he could make a long roar .

    It wasn¡¯t until Hong Ling discovered that the long roar hadsted for five minutes without stopping and was bing even louder and louder, that she couldn¡¯t help changing her face, and quickly walked to the balcony, looking in the direction of the sound .

    Soon, Hong Ling became more and more shocked, because this shouting had been going on for ten minutes, and it sounded like mighty mountains or huge sea which was majestic and endless!

    Hong Ling felt so shocked that her scalp became numb . ¡°Wang Yangming¡¯s shouting onlysted for five minutes while this guy¡¯s shouting actually hassted ten minutes!! Who is this practitioner with such powerful Qi? Is he an obscure master, or the head of a sect who is secretly cultivating here?¡±

 Chapter 48

    Chapter 48

    Chapter 48 Shameless Cohabitation

    The endless howlingsted 11 minutes before it stopped .

    Hong Ling was so shocked that she wished to see the cultivator immediately!

    ¡°I didn¡¯t even know that there was such a predecessor who lives next to me!¡± Hong Ling said in her heart, ¡°I must have a visit someday!¡±

    However, another thought rushed into her mind, ¡°This predecessor seemed to have a great progress day in refining Qi that has disturbed the neighbors . It¡¯s hard to say if he will stay till tomorrow!¡±

    ¡°Well, I will go now!¡± Hong Ling made up her mind and took out a six-inch red silk ribbon from her waist . As she shook her hand, the red silk ribbon turned into a red light and flew out from the window .

    This red silk ribbon emitted faint fluorescent light which was hard to see at night . No one would recognize that the red silk ribbon floating in the air was a magic weapon!

    After the long shouting, Li Yundong felt refreshed and rxed, and he sighed, ¡°It¡¯s so cool...¡±

    When his voice just fell, he suddenly heard loud sounds from the street, ¡°Damn you . Shut up . It¡¯ste!¡±

    ¡°F*ck! Why haven¡¯t you died from this? Can you be more amazing after such a long scream?¡±

    ¡°Are you bragging? Why did you do that in the middle of the night?¡±

    Most of the people lived in the Hongsheng new districts were high-ranking white-cor elites who should have high self-cultivation qualities, but they could no longer stand Li Yundong¡¯s long and loud shouting!

    Considering the shouting hadsted for over ten minutes, and it was so loud, no one could bear it .

    Li Yundong was stunned and scared . He and Su Chan looked at each other before they quickly shut the doors, windows, and curtains, and then turned off the lights . They hid in the bedroom, listening to the sounds as if they were thieves .

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    ¡°Hey...¡± Su Chan suddenly smiled, and felt that it was really fun to be with Li Yundong .

    If someone in the cultivation world could make such a long scream, he would immediately be recognized as a powerful person . However, in the secr world, Li Yundong only caused overwhelming curses in the street!

    Li Yundong looked at Su Chan and smiled bitterly, ¡°Their screaming is longer than mine!¡±

    During the screaming, Hong Ling¡¯s magic weapon floated to a position less than five meters from Li Yundong¡¯s balcony .

    ording to her judgment, the shouting should be from here . As for which room it should be, Hong Ling didn¡¯t know .

    Frankly speaking, normal cultivators should keep windows open while refining Qi, but Hong Ling found all the windows were closed after she drove her magic weapon around several times .

    ¡°Maybe this predecessor doesn¡¯t want to be bothered . ¡± Hong Ling was very disappointed . She reluctantly drove the magic weapon to circle one more time before she left .

    She was very upset, but when she heard the various styles of street noise while standing on the balcony, she couldn¡¯t helpughing and shaking her head . ¡°They really have no idea about what just happened . It¡¯s incredible that they scold amazing shouting like this!¡±

    ¡°However which sect can have such a predecessor?¡± Hong Ling fell into deep thought while holding her chin .

    Li Yundong and Su Chan hid in the room for twenty minutes until all the sounds were gone . They opened the door of the bedroom and carefully poked their heads out .

    ¡°Oh my God! Finally!¡± Li Yundong wiped off his sweat . ¡°It was really impressive that they could swear at us for twenty minutes without repeating themselves!¡±

    Su Chan smiled . ¡°It was all your fault for making such a loud and long call . ¡±

    Li Yundong said with a sigh, ¡°It was out of my control . ¡±

    Speaking of this, he suddenly thought of something and asked Su Chan, ¡°What kind of massage technique do you have? How do I react like this after a massage? You made me like Ultraman!¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t expect that he could keep shouting for so long . He also felt confused .

    Su Chan said secretly, ¡°It¡¯s not a surprise . The Human Origin Gold Pill is known as the immortal pill and it is veritable . When you build your foundation, you will be even more amazing! However, with your current situation, you finally sessfully entered the big cirction!¡±

    Su Chan pulled Li Yundong into the living room and said with some excitement, ¡°Try to shoot a punch!¡±

    Li Yundong said very strangely, ¡°Here? Now?¡±

    Su Chan nodded . ¡°Yes . ¡±

    Li Yundong asked . ¡°Well, then where?¡±

    Su Chan said, ¡°Wherever you want!¡±

    Li Yundong nodded, but this time, he became smarter . He stood far away from all kinds of home appliances and furniture before he made a punch at the balcony .

    As his fist swung, a majestic airflow poured out and rumbled through the room .

    The windows a few meters away from the balcony broke and fell onto the ground . A few pieces of ss fell downstairs, and suddenly caused screams .

    Li Yundong was so shocked that he couldn¡¯t help looking at his hand . ¡°How is this possible? What is going on?¡±

    Su Chan felt so happy that her eyes had turned into crescent moons . She said in her mind, ¡°That¡¯s great . His big cirction has beenpleted . The Human Origin Gold Pill is overbearing . Li Yundong has made a lot of progress . If other practitioners know about it, they would envy him very much . ¡±

    By now, Li Yundong hadpleted three courses of ¡°Meridian-Expanding¡±, ¡°Qi-Condensing¡± and ¡°Active Cultivating¡±, and entered the advanced realm of Rank Two, Qi-Refining .

    As long as Li Yundongpleted the other three courses of ¡°Inner-Observation¡±, ¡°Observation-Thinking¡± and ¡°Lotus Seat¡±, he could break through Rank Two and enter the realm of Rank Three ¡°Soul Condensing¡±!

    After Li Yundongpleted the Soul Condensing, he would face the most important level of the cultivators: Foundation Establishment .

    As long as Li Yundong built a foundation, he would be a real cultivator!

    Su Chan thought more about this . ¡°When Li Yundong built his foundation, she would probably tell him about her identity at that time . ¡±

    At that time, they could travel together, go to the mountains and rivers to practice, and be an enviable couple!

    The little girl thought and looked at Li Yundong gently .

    Then she couldn¡¯t help feeling soft and fell down in Li Yundong¡¯s arms .

    Li Yundong was full of doubts, but when he found the little girl was falling toward him, he subconsciously reached out and caught the girl . The girl¡¯s body was light, and she became soft when she became enamored .

    Li Yundong had just seeded in breaking through the high-level realm of Refining Qi . At this time, he was full of yangqi and energy . Moreover, Su Chan had a pure yin body . When they touched each other, they could not help, but sigh .

    Li Yundong felt like his head was exploding . The beautiful beauty in his arms was like an abyss, pulling him in . He unconsciously bowed his head and kissed the little girl .

    Su Chan chuckled and twisted her body . She licked Li Yundong¡¯s lips with her tongue, and then quickly moved backward while giggling as if she had done a mischievous prank .

    The little fox seemed like a beating me, which set Li Yundong on fire . He smiled and bowed his head to chase her .

    They kissed for a while, and Su Chan grasped with her hands against Li Yundong¡¯s chest and whispered, ¡°Stop!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly and said, ¡°Are you serious? I am going to burn up . Do you know that?¡±

    Su Chan smiled, and her sultry fascination made Li Yundong want to immediately take off his clothes . When she saw Li Yundong gradually losing control, she immediately said nervously, ¡°Yundong, stop!!¡± ¡±

    Looking at her, Li Yundong suddenly felt like he was being poured with cold water . He sat up straight and said, ¡°Okay...¡±

    Seeing that he was unhappy, Su Chan came to kiss him and gave him a massage . She said, ¡°At least not now . ¡±

    Li Yundong knew there was a ¡®but¡¯ in her words, so he said with a fake unhappy look, ¡°Then when can we?¡±

    Su Chan was shy and ran into her bedroom . She turned around and said with a smile, ¡°I won¡¯t tell you! You can guess it yourself!¡±

    Li Yundong was tempted . He believed that this girl was meant to be a goblin who specialized in seducing men in the world . She was so attractive that she could set people on fire with only a look .

    ¡°Hey, this is probably a happy cohabitation life, right?¡± Li Yundong remembered some soap operas he had seen . He couldn¡¯t help, but sigh with satisfaction .

    ¡°Since then, the prince and the princess have started a shameless cohabitation . ¡± Li Yundong said with a low voice . He went to the balcony and looked at the broken window . He couldn¡¯t help, but smile . ¡°Well, I made trouble not long after moving in! I have to find someone to fix it tomorrow!¡±

    ¡°However, when can I have this little girl?¡± Li Yundong fell on the bed and sighed . He felt that he was really useless by only thinking about how to sleep with the little girl .

    At the same time, Su Chan held a pillow on the bed, rolling . She didn¡¯t think about the same thing Li Yundong thought . She was picturing the beautiful days that she and Li Yundong would travel around the world as a couple .

    Thinking of this, the little girl couldn¡¯t help giggling, and her eyes were full of embarrassment for a better future .

    They tossed and turned in their respective rooms and couldn¡¯t fall asleep until the middle of the night .

    On the second day, Li Yundong was awakened by the ringing of his cell phone . He picked it up and said impatiently, ¡°Hello? I¡¯m trying to sleep . How dare you interrupt my sleep!¡±

    ¡°Sleep? I think you should never get up again!¡± A very savage voice sounded .

 Chapter 49

    Chapter 49

    Chapter 49 A Warm Wee!

    Li Yundong blinked and answered, ¡°ss leader? Is there something wrong?¡±

    Sun Li said in anger, ¡°Do you think I want to call you? If it wasn¡¯t for the city leaders¡¯ inspection, I would never make the phone call!¡±

    Li Yundong made a yawn . ¡°The city leaders? Do they have that much free time? Why are theying to our school?¡±

    Sun Li said, ¡°There are two days before exchange day . The city leaders areing to inspect our progress . You must hurry back . They will do a roll call soon . If you don¡¯te, you will lose all credits for the course . If you feel okay with that, then don¡¯te . ¡±

    ¡°Really? So heartless?¡± Li Yundong bounced off the bed . ¡°I wille right away!¡±

    Then Li Yundong hung up the phone and rushed out of the bedroom when he saw Su Chaning out of her bedroom . She asked him with sleepy eyes, ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to school!¡± Li Yundong said and went into the bathroom . Su Chan followed him and shouted, ¡°Take me with you!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°You should stay at home . Today, the city leaders inspect our work and it is boring . What are you going to do?¡±

    Su Chan held Li Yundong¡¯s neck and said, ¡°No . You promised not to leave me!¡±

    Li Yundong blew his breath at Su Chan and smirked . ¡°I haven¡¯t brushed my teeth yet . My breath is stinky!¡±

    Su Chan yelled and turned to the door of the bathroom with her nose covered . She said, ¡°You are right, it is too stinky . Anyway, I will go with you!¡±

    Li Yundong pointed at another bathroom next to Su Chan¡¯s bedroom . ¡°Then go wash your face and hands and change clothes . We will go in ten minutes . ¡±

    Su Chan, even without makeup, looked beautiful . After brushing her teeth and washing her face, shebed her hair, and then she looked particrly attractive .

    Looking at the little girl with waterdrops on her face, Li Yundong felt that the morning sun shining on her swan-like white and slender neck turned her into a jade girl carved in white marble . She was so very pure and charming .

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    They left the apartment and took a taxi to the school .

    They arrived at Tiannan University and got out of the car . Li Yundong found a banner ¡°Wee city leaders in visiting our school for inspection and guidance¡± hanging over the school gates .

    Li Yundong curled his mouth and shook his head . He sneered, ¡°Typical officialnguage!¡±

    After paying for the taxi, Li Yundong ran to the ssroom with a little girl . Before they arrived at the teaching building, Li Yundong found a lot of people gathering in front . Most of them were girls who were wearing school uniforms and light makeup . They were quickly talking to each other .

    Sun Li saw Li Yundong and quickly stepped forward . She said in a low voice, ¡°You¡¯ve finallye . ¡±

    Li Yundong pointed at the crowd and asked, ¡°What are they doing?¡±

    Sun Li said with an unpleasant look, ¡°Don¡¯t mention it . I don¡¯t know whose idea it is . They asked us to dress up as ceremonial usherettes to wee the leaders . ¡±

    Li Yundongughed and said, ¡°What a genius!¡±

    Sun Li rolled her eyes and said, ¡°Don¡¯tugh! Be careful as there will retribution!¡±

    Li Yundong smirked, ¡°Anyway, they can¡¯t make me a ceremonial usherette . ¡±

    Sun Li shook her head . ¡°You are selfish! I am leaving, and I have a lot of work to do . Please be quiet today . If something goes wrong, no one can protect you . ¡±

    Li Yundong sighed . ¡°I don¡¯t want to make trouble . A cool man like me will bring trouble everywhere!¡±

    Sun Li snorted andughed . ¡°How brazen!¡±

    After Sun Li left, Feng Na came over . She nced at Li Yundong and ran over with a surprised look . ¡°You are here too? I have been looking for you for a long time . ¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and asked, ¡°Why are you looking for me?¡±

    This round-faced beauty sighed and said, ¡°I want you to visit Zhao Yujian . ¡±

    Li Yundong was stunned . He finally remembered that he hurt Zhao Yujian . He sighed inside, ¡°Ouch, I actually forgot this guy!¡±

    ¡°You want me to go and see him?¡± Li Yundong asked .

    Feng Na said, ¡°Yeah, although he started it, you hurt him after all . You should go see him . We will donate some money to help cover his visit . What do you think?¡±

    Li Yundong thought for a moment and promised her very simply, ¡°Well, how much do I have to pay?¡±

    Feng Na was surprised and happy . ¡°Do you agree?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled . ¡°Why don¡¯t I agree? Do I look like an undreasonable person? Zhao Yujian first provoked me . This is a fact . I hurt him . This is also a fact . Everyone has to pay for what they have done, right?¡±

    Feng Na appreciatively looked at Li Yundong, and couldn¡¯t help respecting this good boy . She smiled and said, ¡°I looked down upon you . I had prepared a lot of words to convince you . ¡±

    Li Yundong waved his hand . ¡°When shall we go? How much do I have pay?¡±

    Feng Na said, ¡°Since you agree, shall we go now? As for how much, that is your decision . You are the main donator!¡± Then Feng Na blinked at Li Yundong, andughed while gloating .

    Li Yundong touched the bank card in his pocket with a bitter smile and sighed with a deep breath . ¡°s, money! Money! Money is never enough!¡±

    Li Yundong said to Feng Na, ¡°By the way, the city leaders areing, aren¡¯t they? Why didn¡¯t they ask you to wee our guests?¡±

    Feng Na put one of her fingers to her mouth . ¡°Hush . Be quiet . I just escaped! What an idiotic decision! I heard that they also asked us to wee those Americans the day after tomorrow . In short skirts at the airport no less!¡±

    Li Yundong said with a surprised look, ¡°Are they serious? Is it necessary to act like we are weing the President of the United States of America?¡±

    Feng Na showed a disgusted looked . ¡°Yes . It should be a very good thing, but how can I just be so obedient?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and was about to speak when he heard a voiceing from the side . ¡°Hey, what are you two girls doing here? Why are you not wearing the school uniform? We still need two more girls!¡±

    They turned around and saw a middle-aged teacher shouting at them .

    Li Yundong sighed . ¡°Ok, we can¡¯t go anywhere now!¡±

    Feng Nained, ¡°It¡¯s all your fault . Are you satisfied? I am caught . ¡±

    The middle-aged teacher went to Li Yundong and nced at Su Chan next to him . He suddenly widened his eyes and almost drooled . He was shocked . ¡°Since when do we have such a beautiful female student in our school? How could I not know about her?¡±

    Feng Na, who was on his side, was too dissatisfied with the teacher whose gaze seemed to try to take off Su Chan¡¯s clothes . She coughed and said, ¡°Mr . Liu, we have some things to do . ¡±

    Teacher Liu came back to his senses, and coughed with a confident look . ¡°You can go if you have something to do, but this girl should stay . We need a girl to present a bouquet to the leaders and foreign friends . The girl is up to the standard . ¡±

    Li Yundong said bluntly, ¡°We will pass . Teacher Liu, she is not a student of our school . She is my girlfriend . ¡±

    Teacher Liu was stunned, disappointed, and annoyed . ¡°She is not a student of our school? Then why is she here?¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t stand the hypocrisy of the teacher . He sneered and said, ¡°Since when has Tiannan University became a closed university and didn¡¯t allow outsiders toe and go?¡±

    Teacher Liu angrily said, ¡°How dare you talk to a teacher like that! Who are you?¡±

    Li Yundong sneered . ¡°Chinesenguage sophomore Li Yundong . What? Do you want to expel me because I talked back? You are not the first teacher who wants to do this!¡±

    Teacher Liu was enraged and almost jumped up . ¡°Good, good!¡±

    Li Yundong snorted, ¡°What is good? If you have nothing else to say, I will leave first . ¡± He said and waved at Feng Na . ¡°Hey, will you go with us?¡±

    Feng Na opened her eyes widely . She didn¡¯t expect that Li Yundong dared to go against a teacher .

    ¡°You are too audacious!¡± Feng Na followed Li Yundong a while and looked back at Teacher Liu, who was still murmuring . She said, ¡°It was so impressive to watch you go against him . You are my idol!¡±

    Li Yundong sneered, ¡°I was already too kind for not beating him up for the way he was looking at Su Chan . He is unworthy of being a teacher!¡±

    Su Chan, who was next to him, asked, ¡°Would you like me to kick his eggs?¡±

    Li Yundong and Feng Na both felt cold at the same time . Li Yundong quickly stopped her and said, ¡°Stop it!¡±

    Su Chan held Li Yundong¡¯s hand and said, ¡°I want to help you vent this anger!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly . ¡°If you do that, I will have to pay for it!¡± Then he pinched her nose with his hand .

    Feng Na looked at Su Chan and Li Yundong . For some obscure reason, she suddenly felt upset . She said bitterly, ¡°You have a really good rtionship!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled modestly . ¡°It¡¯s alright . ¡±

    ¡°Na Na!¡± Suddenly they heard a voiceing behind them . Feng Na turned around and saw her best friend, Cheng Cheng .

    ¡°Cheng Cheng, have you slipped out as well?¡± Feng Na was both shocked and happy . She cheered while holding Cheng Cheng¡¯s hand .

    Cheng Cheng patted her plump breast and said, ¡°How could I not slip out? The silly folks actually asked us to sing some salutatory slogan!¡±

    Li Yundong and Feng Naughed at the same time .

    Li Yundongughed his head off . He raised a thumb and said, ¡°Whose idea was it? They are very talented in mixing both Chinese and western cultures . ¡±

    Feng Na smiled while shaking her head . ¡°Shall we sing ¡®Good Good Study, Day Day Up¡¯ ?¡±

    Then, they burst intoughter again .

 Chapter 50

    Chapter 50

    Chapter 50: There Must Be a Cause

    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Afterughing for a while, Cheng Cheng asked curiously .

    Feng Na said, ¡°We are going to see Zhao Yujian . Do you want toe?¡±

    Cheng Cheng said with a smile, ¡°Sure . I¡¯ll go anywhere but school!¡±

    Feng Na held her arm happily . ¡°Well, let¡¯s go!¡±

    Li Yundongughed . ¡°Go, go, go!¡±

    Whileughing, they walked toward the road beside the school . Su Chan pulled Li Yundong¡¯s sleeves and asked, ¡°Yundong, what are youughing at?¡±

    Li Yundong asked back, ¡°You didn¡¯t understand?¡±

    Su Chan shook her head . Li Yundong said, ¡°You don¡¯t understand English, do you?¡±

    Su Chan shook her head again . ¡°No, I don¡¯t . ¡±

    When Feng Na, who was walking in front, heard this, she couldn¡¯t help feeling a sense of superiority . She smiled and said, ¡°Isn¡¯t it impossible that you can¡¯t even understand simple English?¡±

    Su Chan asked back, ¡°Why do I have to understand English?¡±

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    Upon hearing this, the three college students looked at each other . After a while, Cheng Cheng gave a thumbs up to Su Chan and said, ¡°You are right! I don¡¯t expect that you not only have a good looking face, but also a wise brain . What a beautiful and smart woman!¡±

    Although Feng Na envied Su Chan, she was not a stingy woman . She alsoughed and gave Cheng Cheng a hit . ¡°You are too obsequious!¡±

    The four peopleughed while walking to the People¡¯s First Hospital where Zhao Yujian was hospitalized . After Li Yundong took out money from the bank, Feng Na bought the flowers, Cheng Cheng bought the fruit, and Su Chan took a bag of health products that Li Yundong bought in the city, they went to the ward .

    Zhao Yujian¡¯s family was so well-off that he lived in a single VIP ward . There were less people in the corridor than the ordinary wards, and there was no strong smell of disinfectant .

    After just walking to the door of the ward, Li Yundong suddenly heard Zhao Yujian pleading in the ward, ¡°Zhou Qin, don¡¯t be so heartless . I really like you . I believe we have a lot inmon . By the way, don¡¯t you like taekwondo? I have a trophy that I got in city levelpetition . I can give it to you, okay?¡±

    A woman¡¯s voice sounded in the ward . She was also pleading . ¡°Zhou Qin, our Yujian has suffered a lot these days . He couldn¡¯t stop thinking of you . Can you bepassionate for the sake of him being in such a poor state? You...¡±

    Another girl interrupted her before she finished speaking which sounded very familiar to Li Yundong . It was Ding Nan¡¯s voice . ¡°Auntie, do you think that love can be forced? Would you love someone just because you sympathize him? If that¡¯s the case then beggars should be the happiest people in the world . ¡±

    Ding Nan sounded as mean as ever, and even Li Yundong, who was outside the door, couldn¡¯t help, but frown .

    Zhao Yujian¡¯s mother was obviously stimted by Ding Nan¡¯s words, but she seemed to be afraid of someone and couldn¡¯t talk back . She just said in a low voice, ¡°Zhou Qin, I didn¡¯t mean that . I am saying...¡±

    Ding Nan interrupted her bluntly and said, ¡°What do you mean? Don¡¯t you want Zhou Qin to take care of Zhao Yujian as his girlfriend during this period? Please, how old is he? Don¡¯t be so naive!¡±

    Even Feng Na and Cheng Cheng outside the door could not stand her and became angry .

    ¡°This woman will suffer from her meanness one day!¡± Feng Na frowned and whispered .

    Cheng Cheng also nodded and said, ¡°I¡¯ve heard that Ding Nan was very rude, but I didn¡¯t expect that she could be so mean! She is outrageous!¡±

    Zhou Qin spoke at this time, ¡°Ding Nan, stop . Don¡¯t say any more . Auntie, Zhao Yujian needs more rest, so we will go . ¡±

    Zhou Qin then walked out of the ward without any hesitation .

    When she walked to the door, she was surprised to see Feng Na and others standing at the door . Zhou Qin slightly frowned . Obviously, she was unhappy about being heard by them . However, when Zhou Qin saw Li Yundong, her eyes suddenly lit up and stopped ring anymore .

    Ding Nan followed Zhou Qin out of the ward . She also felt pleasant as she saw Li Yundong . However, when she saw Feng Na and Su Chan, her face darkened . ¡°Hey, were you listening in on our conversation?¡±

    Feng Na was not a pusinimous person either . Although she was smiling, she talked back straightly, ¡°Was there anything worth listening to?¡±

    Ding Nan could hold her own in any argument . Her face changed and was about to speak when Zhou Qin stopped her . ¡°Nan Nan, let¡¯s go . Let them enter the room . ¡±

    Then, she left with Ding Nan .

    Looking at their figures, Cheng Cheng shook her head and said, ¡°These two people are bizarre . One is indifferent and as deep an abyss, and the other is as mean as a knife . ¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Forget them . Let¡¯s go in . ¡±

    Upon entering the door, Li Yundong saw Zhao Yujian¡¯s mother feeding Zhao Yujian some porridge . She said, ¡°Yujian, don¡¯t care for that kind of woman . You still have me . I will find you a better girl than her . Why do you like her so much? She is not that good except for a powerful father . ¡±

    The way she talked sounded like she was talking to a new baby, judging by which, everyone could tell that she must have spoiled her son .

    Zhao Yujian turned around impatiently, ¡°Take it away . I don¡¯t want to eat right now . I want Zhou Qin . I like her! You can go away . Don¡¯t bother me!¡±

    Zhao Yujian¡¯s mother was not angry . She put down the bowl and stroked her boy¡¯s chest . ¡°Fine . I¡¯ll stop . What¡¯s wrong with you? Let me help you . ¡±

    Feng Na and Cheng Cheng stood at the door and looked at each other . They had never seen such a big man being served by his mother like this . Even fragile girls like them had not experienced such treatment .

    For a time, the people at the door were all embarrassed and speechless .

    Zhao Yujian¡¯s mother saw them, smiled, and weed them, ¡°Are you visiting Yujian? Well, you are wee to join us . ¡±

    Then she took over the fruit and flower baskets from Feng Na and Cheng Cheng¡¯s hands, and then said to Su Chan, ¡°You can put them in the cab . ¡±

    However, before she finished speaking, Zhao Yujian suddenly pointed at Li Yundong with excitement and said, ¡°What are you doing here? Did youe tough at me? Haven¡¯t you been satisfied in hurting me like this?¡±

    Zhao Yujian¡¯s mother was stunned upon hearing this, but she quickly responded . She pointed at Li Yundong and said in anger, ¡°Was it you who hurt Yujian? How dare youe here! I will kill you!¡±

    Li Yundong frowned and blocked the woman with his arm . He had refined Qi and had greater power than a mortal . Although he didn¡¯t exert too much strength, the gold pill power had pushed Zhao Yujian¡¯s mother away .

    Zhao Yujian¡¯s mother was pushed down on the floor and suddenly cried out, ¡°Help! This little bastard hurt my son and wants to kill me this time . ¡±

    Li Yundong and Feng Na looked at each other . They didn¡¯t expect that Zhao Yujian actually had such a mother and for a time, they didn¡¯t know how to react .

    Feng Na said with patience, ¡°Auntie, we areing to visit Zhao Yujian . Li Yundong hurt Zhao Yujian by ident . He didn¡¯t mean to...¡±

    Before she finished her words, Zhao Yujian¡¯s mother wiped the snot and tears off her face and pointed at Feng Na, yelling, ¡°You bi*ch! Who are you? Why do you help him? Are you his lover? I have seen so many women like you . In my opinion, you hit Yujian just because you envied him . What a violent person! Am I correct?¡±

    Feng Na was stunned upon hearing this . She blushed and talked back, ¡°Auntie, it¡¯s not like that!¡±

    When Li Yundong became aware that this woman was unreasonable, he pulled Feng Na over and said, ¡°Auntie, I¡¯m sorry for what happened to Zhao Yujian . He provoked me and I had to fight back . Many people can testify including Feng Na . ¡±

    Zhao Yujian¡¯s mother jumped up and screamed, ¡°You are lying . The thief cries thief . My Yujian has been a good boy since childhood and he couldn¡¯t do what you said . Who can testify? Her? Of course she would defend you since she is with you . ¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t stand her and had bent out of shape . He said with anger, ¡°Auntie, no matter what, Zhao Yujian¡¯s calf fractured . I have to apologize . How much are the medical expenses? I will pay...¡±

    Zhao Yujian¡¯s mother spat on the ground and interrupted him . ¡°What? Do you want to pay? Can you afford it? My son¡¯s hair is worth more than you have, let alone the medical bill . Get out . We don¡¯t need your money . Out! Save your money for your coffin!¡±

    Feng Na and the others were astonished . They didn¡¯t expect that such a kind mother could turn so rude . She was a totally different person from the one who was here when Zhou Qin was at the scene .

    At this time, Zhou Qin suddenly appeared again at the door .

    Zhao Yujian¡¯s mother, who was still screaming, suddenly stopped and turned kind . She said quietly, ¡°Zhou Qin, why are you back?¡±

    Zhao Yujian, leaning against the hospital bed, had been staring at Li Yundong with a disgusted look . He was down in the dumps and confused . He didn¡¯t know why all the girls were interested in Li Yundong, including Zhou Qin, who was the one he liked .

    But when Zhou Qin appeared again at the door, Zhao Yujian was reinvigorated and sat up straight . He couldn¡¯t help crying out, ¡°Zhou Qin, you are...¡±

    Zhou Qin did not look at him, but said to Li Yundong, ¡°Can I speak to you privately?¡± She nodded at Feng Na and Cheng Cheng .

    Li Yundong was a bit stunned . Zhou Qin was helping him get out of this damned ce .

    Li Yundong quickly gave Su Chan a look and followed Zhou Qin in leaving the ward .

 Chapter 51

    Chapter 51

    Chapter 51 Mr . Liu¡¯s Revenge?

    Not far from the ward, Feng Na whispered, ¡°What an unreasonable mother . How dare she say that her son is a decent man . How could he be a nice man with this kind of mother?¡±

    Although the Zhao family didn¡¯t me Cheng Cheng, she was full of anger . ¡°What a waste of my kindness! I have seen through Zhao Yujian this time . He is just a baby who hasn¡¯t been weaned! How could I consider him an excellent boy . ¡±

    Then, Cheng Cheng patted Li Yundong¡¯s arm . ¡°Well done! Next time, teach him more lessons!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and didn¡¯t continue the conversation . He said to Zhou Qin, ¡°Thank you for today, or we would have suffered!¡±

    Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help looking at Li Yundong¡¯s face . She was so curious for she was wondering how he could change so much in such a short time .

    She smiled and said, ¡°Actually, I have something to ask you . ¡±

    Hearing this, Li Yundong was a little surprised . ¡°Oh? What can I do for you?¡±

    ¡°My birthday is in three days . Can youe?¡± Zhou Qin stared at Li Yundong . Even though her face remained calm, her clenched fist sold out her inner tension as this was the first time she asked a boy out .

    Feng Na and Cheng Cheng looked at each other and secretly thought, ¡°Did you hear that? Did Zhou Qin take the initiative to invite boys to attend her birthday party?¡±

    ¡°I heard that this girl was very proud! Does she feel ill today or take the wrong medicine? Didn¡¯t she reject Li Yundong¡¯s previous confession?¡±

    However, in the next moment, they became more shocked .

    Li Yundong was stunned and turned to look at Su Chan before he asked, ¡°Can I bring my girlfriend?¡±

    Hearing this, Cheng Cheng opened her eyes and secretly made a thumbs up . ¡°Speaking like this in front of the School Beauty of Tiannan University sounded like beating her face . How awesome!¡±

    Feng Na was shocked too, and she also felt upset .

    Hearing Li Yundong¡¯s question, Zhou Qin subconsciously turned to Su Chan, who looked so pure and delicate, revealing an attractive sense . She was so morous that women had to marvel .

    Zhou Qin did not feel angry as Cheng Cheng and Feng Na imagined . Instead, she smiled and said, ¡°Of course, you can!¡±

    After that, she smiled at Feng Na and Cheng Cheng and asked, ¡°Can both of youe?¡±

    Zhou Qin¡¯s nice behavior made Feng Na, and Cheng Cheng feel that she was a senior sister and they were junior sisters .

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    Feng Na smiled . ¡°Sure, my pleasure . ¡±

    Cheng Cheng was more timid and pointed at herself, ¡°Can I go too?¡±

    Zhou Qin nodded, ¡°Yes . ¡±

    Cheng Cheng said with a smile, ¡°Ok, thank you . ¡±

    ¡°Then I will wait for you at home three dayster . ¡± Zhou Qin smiled and left with Ding Nan .

    Zhou Qin¡¯s smile reminded Li Yundong, Feng Na and Cheng Cheng of the high-ranked people on TV . They were all wondering what kind of family background this girl had .

    The three people stood in the corridor for a while before they walked out of the building while talking about Zhou Qin¡¯s family .

    When they went downstairs, Cheng Cheng suddenly pped and thought, ¡°s! The damn woman will waste those flowers, fruits, and nutrients! Crap! She is really a bad woman that epted our gifts while scolding us!¡±

    Feng Na smiled and said, ¡°Forget it! We came here to visit the patient . Anyway, these things are gifts . As for who she will insult, we don¡¯t have to bother . Someday she will suffer from that . ¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°We just do what we have to do . As for others, let them be . ¡± .

    Feng Na sighed . ¡°You are right . You are my idol . ¡±

    Then, theyughed .

    Su Chan, who stood aside, frowned slightly and said, ¡°The Buddha said that the great practitioners should be clear about causality . I think since this happened, there must be some cause and effect . I am afraid it will not end well . ¡±

    Li Yundong, Feng Na, and Cheng Cheng understood every word she said, but they could not figure out the meaning of her words .

    Feng Na and Cheng Cheng stared at Su Chan with widened eyes . It seemed that they could not understand why such a beautiful little girl actually said such a discourse of Zen .

    Li Yundong had lived together with Su Chan for a long time and known her well . He also knew that she had a strange experience with her master in the mountains . He smiled and asked, ¡°What does this mean? Master, please exin to us . ¡±

    Su Chan nearly burst out, ¡°You don¡¯t know? The entire world of cultivation knows it!¡±

    Fortunately, she stopped and exined, ¡°It means that even powerful people can¡¯t escape causality . ¡±

    Li Yundong seemed to understand and said, ¡°I understand . For example, Zhao Yujian has such a mother who is so fond of him . Since he resembles her, he will never be a decent man . It¡¯s the reason why he suffered so . Is that what you mean?¡± ¡±

    Su Chan said, ¡°That¡¯s it . ¡±

    Cheng Chengughed and said to Li Yundong, ¡°Li Yundong, I didn¡¯t expect that your girlfriend is a small philosopher . ¡±

    Li Yundongughed and became happier than he was praised . He rubbed Su Chan¡¯s head . ¡°Don¡¯t praise her . She will bloat!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s loving eyes made Feng Na upset . She smiled and said, ¡°You should be careful . If you spoil her, it will be the cause of why you will be afraid of her after you marry her!¡±

    Then, they burst intoughter again .

    But none of them knew that Zhao Yujian was lying sideways in the ward . He held the sheet tightly with one hand and clenched his hand into a fist . His nails had deeply plunged into his flesh and he was unaware . His eyes were full of hatred and grievances and hepletely ignored the voice of his mother beside him .

    A seed of hatred slowly sprouted in his heart . At this moment, a stranger appeared at the door of Zhao Yujian¡¯s ward .

    ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t that the handsome boy Zhao Yujian? Why are you lying here?¡± A sardonic sound rang out of the ward .

    Zhao Yujian turned his head and saw Xie Fei looking at him with a smile . ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    Xie Fei smiled and walked in . ¡°Don¡¯t do that . I am here to see you, my buddy!¡±

    Zhao Yujian¡¯s mother nced at Xie Fei and frowned . She asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Xie Fei nodded to Zhao Yujian¡¯s mother . ¡°Auntie, I am Zhao Yujian¡¯s ssmate!¡±

    Zhao Yujian¡¯s mother smiled . ¡°Well, I will pour you a ss of water . ¡± She said and picked up the thermos bottle by the bed, but there was no water . She smiled at Xie Fei . ¡°I am going to get some water . Have a seat!¡±

    Xie Fei smiled and said, ¡°Auntie, thank you!¡±

    Zhao Yujian¡¯s mother smiled and said, ¡°You are more sensible than the people who just came . They were too underbred!¡± She then walked out of the room .

    Xie Fei squinted and saw Zhao Yujian¡¯s mother go out . He said, ¡°What happened to you?¡±

    Zhao Yujian had a good rtionship with Xie Fei since they both practiced Taekwondo . He also helped Xie Fei fight against his enemies a few times and got well paid . Therefore he told him about what happened previously . When talking about Li Yundong, Zhao Yujian screamed in an angry and depressed voice, ¡°I will avenge myself . I swear!¡±

    Xie Fei had held a grudge against Li Yundong . Hearing this, heughed, ¡°Good! You are very brave . I will help you!¡±

    Zhao Yujian shook his head . He gnashed his teeth and said, ¡°I have to do it by myself!¡±

    Xie Fei looked at Zhao Yujian with a strange look and sighed, ¡°Okay, brother, listen to me . You can¡¯t beat him one on one . That¡¯s too challenging! Unless...¡±

    Zhao Yujian said coldly, ¡°Unless what?¡±

    Xie Fei seemed to reminded of something and became murderous . He said, ¡°Unless, you have a gun!¡±

    ¡°A gun?¡± Zhao Yujian¡¯s cold gray eyes turned obsessed and crazy . ¡°Can you get a gun?¡±

    Xie Fei said coldly, ¡°I can¡¯t, but I know who can!¡±

    ...

    After Feng Na and Cheng Cheng left, Li Yundong and Su Chan returned to their new home .

    In the evening, Li Yundong made a hearty dinner . After dinner, he sat in the spacious and bright living room to meditate .

    For Li Yundong, practicing Qi had be a very obsessive thing, not only because it could increase his strength, but also because he could feel ultimate refreshment and pleasure in meditation .

    Since Li Yundong hadpleted his big cirction, his meridians had been wholly expanded . His breath could flow smoothly along the meridians . As long as there was no strong external interference, Li Yundong would not go mad .

    Therefore, Su Chan didn¡¯t have to worry . She only watched Li Yundong for an hour before she returned her room to watch TV .

    After she smashed a TV with one punch, Li Yundong specifically exined the electric appliance to her . Su Chan was shocked and became obsessed with watching TV, especially the soap operas on each TV station!

    Thisfortable lifested for two days, and the exchange day of Tiannan City finally came .

    Li Yundong put on his clothes and left with Su Chan very early .

    When they arrived at the school, it had already been lit up with banners and gs in both Chinese and English everywhere . The students in the school were dressed up, and their faces were filled with joy as they discussed the rareness of the event of Tiannan University .

    ¡°It¡¯s so beautiful!¡± Su Chan had been to Tiannan University a few times . When she saw the gs and various costumes at the school gate, she immediately apuded and said .

    Li Yundong smiled and was about to go in with Su Chan, but a voice suddenly came from beside them, ¡°Hey, who are you two?¡±

    Li Yundong turned around and saw a teacher at the school gate yelling at them . This teacher was the middle-aged teacher who wanted Su Chan to be the ceremonial usherette!

    Li Yundong frowned and said, ¡°Mr . Liu, you can¡¯t recognize me?¡±

    Mr . Liu went to Li Yundong . . He deliberately looked up and down a few tims and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry . There are so many people in this school that I don¡¯t remember you . ¡±

    Li Yundong said with patience, ¡°Mr . Liu, I am a student of this school, Li Yundong of the sophomore finance department . Please let me in . ¡±

    Mr . Liu stretched out and wore an official look . ¡°Oh? Show me your student ID card . ¡±

    Li Yundong was angry, but still took out his student ID card from his wallet, shaking it . ¡°Here, can I go in?¡± After that, he wanted to go inside with Su Chan .

    ¡°Wait!¡± The middle-aged teacher said slowly, ¡°You can go in, but she can¡¯t!¡±

    Li Yundong turned and said, ¡°Why she can¡¯t?¡±

    Mr . Liu rolled his eyes . ¡°There is an exchange meeting today, and no other personnel is allowed to enter or leave at will . ¡±

    Li Yundong said with anger, ¡°She is not someone else . She used to be able to enter . Why can¡¯t she enter today? Does she look like a bad person?¡±

    Mr . Liu sneered and dug at his ears with his hand . ¡°I don¡¯t know . Everyone looks decent, but who knows what they will do?¡±

    Li Yundong was furious and said loudly, ¡°What did you say? Say it again!¡±

    Mr . Liu was terrified by Li Yundong¡¯s eyes, and went back a few steps . The students around were all looking at them and the security guards at the school gate ran over .

    Mr . Liu was encouraged immediately and straightened his backbone . ¡°What are you going to do? Hit me?! How dare you?¡±

    Li Yundong was angry and closed his fists . Su Chan pulled his hand and shook her head . ¡°Forget it, I won¡¯t go . You go on your own . I will wait for you at the gate . Remember to pick me up . ¡±

    Even though Su Chan said this calmly, Li Yundong felt sorry for her and was enraged . He ground his teeth and said, ¡°Well, if you don¡¯t let her in, then I will not enter either!¡±

    Mr . Liu sneered, ¡°Please! A student like you who doesn¡¯t respect teachers is not that important . We don¡¯t need you, either . ¡±

    Li Yundongughed in anger, ¡°The fewer teachers like you we have, the happier we will be!¡±

    Then Li Yundong spat onto the ground and left with Su Chan .

 Chapter 52

    Chapter 52

    Chapter 52 I Want More!

    After living with Li Yundong for a long time, Su Chan had learned a lot and was no longer the reckless girl she was when she first arrived . She was anxious and sad . Looking at Li Yundong, she whispered, ¡°I made trouble for you again...¡±

    Li Yundong put his hand on Su Chan¡¯s shoulder, ¡°Stupid . It is not your problem . Teachers are bing more and more immoral!¡±

    Su Chan felt a little better, but her eyebrows were still full of gloom . ¡°But, but will you be dismissed?¡±

    Li Yundongughed happily . ¡°If they really want to dismiss me, let them . What is great about this third-rate university!¡±

    Su Chan was still very worried . ¡°You have promised apetition with someone . Do you remember? Isn¡¯t today the exchange day?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Whoever wants to go, let them go . I will pass! Besides, it¡¯s not me who didn¡¯t want to go . Someone stopped me, remember?¡±

    Su Chan did not speak, lowering her head, and gently walked with care .

    Seeing her worried face, Li Yundong became sorry and wished to immediately smooth out the sadness between the little girl¡¯s eyebrows .

    He reached out and held Su Chan¡¯s chin to lift it up . He deliberately revealed a naughty smile and said, ¡°Hey girl . What are you worrying about? Come on . Smile!¡±

    Then before Su Chan could react, he made a sad face . ¡°Don¡¯t want tough? Should Iugh for you?¡±

    Then he pointed at his dimples with his hands and grinned like a five or six year old .

    Su Chan, after all, was a little girl . Seeing this, she suddenlyughed out and said with a beautiful smile, ¡°Master, your face looks so ugly!¡±

    Li Yundong said with a fake angry face, ¡°I¡¯m ugly? You gave me a beautiful smile!¡±

    Su Chan smiled, and her beautiful face looked so charming . When Li Yundong saw her peach eyes that turned into the crescent moon, he felt touched and his heart beat crazily .

    Li Yundong secretly sighed . It was no wonder that in the ancient times, King You of Zhou tricked the marquess with beacon fires for Bao Si¡¯s smile¡ªa famous beauty in ancient China . There were few men who could keep their head clear in front of such a smile .

    ¡°Well, good smile . I¡¯m happy now, so...¡± Li Yundong had forgotten his unhappiness upon seeing her smile, so he waved his hand and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go out and have fun . ¡±

    As soon as the little girl heard this, she almostughed off her head . She quickly grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s arm, as if she was afraid that Li Yundong would leave her behind to y alone . ¡°Where? Where shall we go?¡±

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    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°I promised to take you to the amusement parkst time . Let¡¯s go to the amusement park!¡±

    Su Chan felt both happy and puzzled . ¡°Good, good! But what is an amusement park?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled . ¡°Why are you so happy if you don¡¯t know what an amusement park is? Stupid!¡±

    Su Chan pouted her mouth . ¡°Don¡¯t call me stupid . I am not stupid!¡±

    Li Yundongughed . Since she wore her hair in a bun today, he couldn¡¯t rub her head . Li Yundong reached out and squeezed her cheeks on both sides of her face . ¡°You are not stupid . You are just a fool!¡±

    Su Chan patted Li Yundong¡¯s hands and said, ¡°Hey!¡± After a while, she suddenly remembered something and asked, ¡°Does fool have a bad meaning?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Nonsense! I mean you are cute! You can¡¯t learn how to swear . ¡±

    Su Chan stuck out her tongue . ¡°Well, if you don¡¯t want me to learn it, I won¡¯t say it . ¡±

    While speaking, they stopped a taxi and went straight to the amusement park in Tiannan City .

    It was already at the end of May and approached Children¡¯s Day . The amusement park in Tiannan City was full of brightly colored balls and the lights .

    Before she entered the gates, Su Chan had been attracted by the lively scene in front of her . She looked around curiously and wanted to visit every shop while holding Li Yundong¡¯s hand .

    Li Yundong grabbed the little girl and said, ¡°Well, we wille and eatter . If I am full now, I may puke!¡±

    Su Chan asked inexplicably, ¡°Why will you puke?¡±

    Li Yundong said with a bad smile, ¡°You will know soon!¡±

    Since it was not Children¡¯s Day, there were not many people in the amusement park . Li Yundong only waited for a while before he bought two tickets, and then took Su Chan into the park .

    After entering the park, Li Yundong took Su Chan straight to the highest and most conspicuous ¡°space shuttle¡± in the park .

    Although there were not many people in the amusement park, the space shuttle was the main attraction . There were still many people here . They waited for half an hour before their turn .

    They sat on the space shuttle . Li Yundong hugged the safety rails in front of his chest and smirked at Su Chan . ¡°If you are afraid, you can shout!¡±

    Su Chan was sitting in the seat and the safety handrail that was buckled down pressed against her plump chest . The people around her looked at her as if they were expecting this girl¡¯s performance .

    Su Chan blinked, ¡°Why do I have to shout?¡±

    Li Yundong giggled and said, ¡°Because you will be afraid! You didn¡¯t hear other people yelling just now?¡±

    Su Chan nodded and said inwardly, ¡°These people were yelling while going up and down because they were afraid! How weak!¡±

    After Su Chan¡¯s face not change, Li Yundong secretly snickered in his heart . ¡°Hey, I will see if you will be scaredter!¡±

    Li Yundong had yed space shuttle before and knew how exciting it was . Ordinary men could not stand it, let alone a little girl like Su Chan .

    After they listened to announcer¡¯s speech who was in the control room, the space shuttle suddenly moved . The four rows of people in the front, rear, left and right were sent to the height of tens of meters in two or three seconds, and then fell quickly .

    The sudden rise and then weightlessness let Li Yundong feel like his heart had jumped up to his throat and was about toe out .

    Although he had refined Qi, unless he couldplete the eighth ranked ¡°Golden Body¡±, no matter how he cultivated, he could not break through the restrictions of the human body .

    What people could feel would be honestly reflected on the human¡¯s body, even though he was a great practitioner . They could not resist the desire no matter how strong they were .

    When the space shuttle fell crazily, these tourists were stunned and screaming like dying pigs .

    Even Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help screaming out .

    After itpletely stopped, Li Yundong, who was satisfied, looked at Su Chan, who was stunned while sitting in the seat . Li Yundong secretly snickered, ¡°She is scared!¡±

    Li Yundong reached out and waved in front of her . ¡°Hey? Wake up . It is over!¡±

    Su Chan said, ¡°What? It¡¯s over?¡±

    Her calm look made Li Yundong almost fall out of his seat . ¡°What do you mean? Haven¡¯t you been satisfied?¡±

    Su Chan said, ¡°I haven¡¯t reacted yet!¡±

    Li Yundong was depressed . ¡°What a slow reaction!¡±

    He was looking forward to hugging the little girl when she was afraid, but she was just fine!

    ¡°No, no!¡±

    Li Yundong was very reluctant and asked, ¡°Would you like to go again?¡±

    Su Chan had already left the seat . She thought for a while and walked back over to the seat and said, ¡°Okay!¡±

    Li Yundong quickly grabbed her and said, ¡°Wait . Go to the back of the line first!¡±

    They lined up again . Li Yundong was bent on making the little girl cry, and he told her how to enjoy the ride ceaselessly .

    But after another round, Su Chan was still stunned as if she had not known why this ride was stimting!

    Li Yundong was so depressed that he wanted to vomit blood . He didn¡¯t give up . He took Su Chan for another round . Fortunately, this time Su Chan began feeling a little bit . When she came down, she took Li Yundong¡¯s hand and kept saying, ¡°Hurry up . Come on, I want to go one more time!¡±

    Li Yundong faintly felt that there was something wrong, but he did not think much . He secretly murmured, ¡°How could I, a big man, be weaker than a little girl? Impossible, absolutely impossible!¡±

    ¡°Well, girl, I will apany you until I am dead!¡± Li Yundong pped his chest and made a decision that he would regret for the rest of his life .

    Su Chan had never rode this kind of ride . She used to hold the Lingtai and Dantian to protect her body . Naturally, it was impossible for her to feel any stimtion when she fell .

    After ying with it a few times and letting go of her Lingtai . She no longer stabilized her internal organs with her Qi . Suddenly, the strong weightlessness made Su Chan feel more and more excited .

    At this time, Li Yundong was embarrassed .

    Su Chan took Li Yundong to ride the space shuttle seven times . Li Yundong felt that his stomach had gone up to his throat and he would spit it out at any time .

    ¡°Hey, you are amazing!¡± Li Yundong forcibly pressed down the air in his chest and his face slightly paled . ¡°You are not afraid at all?¡±

    Su Chan had already been able to fly, so how could she be afraid of this? She blinked and said, ¡°Why would I be afraid?¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know the background of the little girl, but he was very reluctant . He ground his teeth and said, ¡°Okay, you won! I can¡¯t believe you are not afraid of the ride!¡±

    Then he took Su Chan¡¯s hand and went straight to the roller coaster .

    Since the roller coaster was far from the park¡¯s gates, there were fewer people who were lined up than the space shuttle . Li Yundong and Su Chan sat on the roller coaster as soon as they arrived .

    After Li Yundong buckled his seat belt, he said to Su Chan with a fierce look, ¡°Don¡¯t cryter!¡±

    Su Chan made a face at him and said, ¡°Let¡¯s see . You don¡¯t cry either!¡±

    As the roller coaster moved, Li Yundong felt that his breath began to struggle, and his temples suddenly jumped, especially when they were climbing up . Li Yundong felt that his own breath was involuntarily going to his brain, making him more nervous .

    Seeing this, Su Chan, who was next to him,ughed and said, ¡°Master, are you nervous?¡±

    Hearing this, Li Yundong was enraged . He forced himself to calm down and patted his chest . As he was about to talk, the roller coaster fell like a stone falling down a cliff .

    Suddenly, Li Yundong made a fierce cry while Su Chanughed and swayed .

    Getting off the roller coaster, Li Yundong finally steadied himself after taking a few steps . He only felt that his legs were soft like stepping on the clouds . He patted his chest andughed at himself, ¡°The retributiones on time...¡±

    Su Chan, who jumped off the roller coaster, felt that it was more exciting than the space shuttle . She pulled Li Yundong excitedly and screamed, ¡°Master, y with me again! I want more, I want more!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s face paled, but he had to unt his superiority, so he took a strong breath and said, ¡°Well, as long as you want, I will give you more!¡±

    The conversation was very unhealthy and fascinating . The male tourists next to him listened andughed while the female tourists turned around, smirking .

    Three roundster, Li Yundong covered his mouth, vomiting with a pale face, and walked like a drunken man . However, Su Chan was still alive and spirited .

    She pulled Li Yundong and begged him, ¡°y with me one more time, just one more time!¡±

    Li Yundong fell down on the ground and shook his head . ¡°You said thatst time . No! No! No!¡±

    She pushed Li Yundong . ¡°Please, I still want to y!¡±

    Li Yundong suddenly remembered a very old joke: what men loved to listen to was ¡®I want!¡¯; what men were afraid of listening to was ¡®I want more¡¯!

    They were so right!

 Chapter 53

    Chapter 53

    Chapter 53 Three in One!

    ¡°Yundong,e on . I want to ride it one more time!¡± Su Chan¡¯s voice sounded as sweet as sugar candy with honey, but Li Yundongid on thewn and could not stand up while shaking his head, no matter what she said .

    Seeing this, Su Chan had to take out her weapon . She said with a greasy voice, ¡°Master, I want more!¡±

    Li Yundong covered his face with his hand and cried out, ¡°I am done . I will die if we take it another time! I can¡¯t get up!¡±

    Seeing that Li Yundong really couldn¡¯t sit up, she stretched out to pull Li Yundong up . After Li Yundong sat up, she said, ¡°Get up . How can you do this? You said you would apany me to y . I haven¡¯t been satisfied yet . ¡±

    Li Yundong said to Su Chan with a painful face, ¡°My little girl, you have rode the space shuttle eight times, the roller coaster thirteen times, the big turntable twenty-one times, and the rapids adventure thirty-two times... I, I really can¡¯t afford it . From the morning to the afternoon, we haven¡¯t had lunch . Aren¡¯t you tired?¡±

    Su Chan would not give up . ¡°I am not tired at all!¡±

    Li Yundong screamed and fell heavily on the grass . ¡°I am tired! Since ancient times, there is only a tired cow and no over-cultivatednd!¡±

    Hearing out the mystery, Su Chanughed . She went to pat Li Yundong with reddish cheeks, ¡°Nonsense, what are you talking about?¡±

    Li Yundong held her waist with a smile . ¡°Chick,e over . We have yed so many rides, but we haven¡¯t sat on the grass yet!¡±

    Su Chanughed and jumped aside . ¡°Phew! Get up . If you don¡¯t want to y, let¡¯s go . I am starving!¡±

    Li Yundong fell on the grass with his arms and legs outstretched . He said shamelessly, ¡°No, I would rather die!¡±

    Su Chan bit her lip while blinking her eyes . She took a piece of grass and scratched Li Yundong¡¯s face . She smiled and said, ¡°Are you gonna get up or not?¡±

    Li Yundong acted like a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water and said, ¡°No . I am a man and I have to keep my word!¡±

    As they were ying on the grass, many people were attracted by the handsome boy and charming girl . Hearing the conversation between them, people allughed .

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    Su Chan felt helpless under their gazes . She dropped the grass and knelt beside Li Yundong and said, ¡°What will make you willing to get up?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled secretly in his heart, but his face looked calm and sincere . ¡°Look how you tortured me like this . You tell me how you¡¯re going to make up this up to me . ¡±

    The little girl looked at him and tentatively said, ¡°I will give you a massage?¡±

    Li Yundong categorically refused, ¡°No! That¡¯s not enough! Never . ¡±

    Su Chan pouted and said, ¡°Then I will carry you back!¡±

    Li Yundong was very surprised . ¡°Can you carry me back?¡±

    Su Chan said, ¡°Don¡¯t look down on me!¡±

    Li Yundong extended his hands and smiled, ¡°Well, today, you are carrying me back! I am so proud!¡±

    Su Chan didn¡¯t say anything . She took Li Yundong on her back and easily stood up .

    Li Yundong said in amazement, ¡°Oh, you made it? Good!¡± He wanted to make trouble for Su Chan, so he deliberately tried to push down .

    Li Yundong had refined Qi, and as his breath went down, he was heavier than a thousand pounds . Although Su Chan was also a cultivator, she could not withstand such mischief, so she immediately faltered .

    Su Chan walked to the side andughed loudly, ¡°Hey, don¡¯t move . I can¡¯t walk!¡±

    The surrounding tourists saw such a little girl actually carrying a big man like Li Yundong, and they allughed . Someone with their girlfriends pointed at Li Yundong and said, ¡°See, this is a pure man . She is a good wife . You should learn from her!¡±

    These girlfriends listened to this and pulled their men¡¯s ears . ¡°What? Get down and carry me!¡± They sounded so skillful and obviously, they had developed a habit .

    The men who had been in a rtionship for a long time had to carry their women . The girls all made faces to Su Chan when they passed by Li Yundong .

    ¡°Hey, they have passed us!¡± Li Yundong, as a big man, who was carried by a girl, shouted shamelessly .

    Su Chan also echoed, ¡°Don¡¯t make trouble . I am falling behind!¡±

    Li Yundongughed and stopped moving . He waved his hand as if he was handling troops, and said, ¡°Charge . If we fall behind, you will starve!¡±

    The tourists heard this and they could not help feeling cold . ¡°He is too shameless . Is she a child bride? He is deflowering!!¡±

    Hearing this, Su Chan suddenly felt anxious . She rushed forward and ran faster than the men carrying the women . A little girl carrying a big man astonished people along their way home .

    Su Chan ran very fast with Li Yundong on her back all the way . After a while, she left everyone behind them . Li Yundongughed and patted Su Chan¡¯s head . ¡°Okay, let me down . Or they will hit me!¡±

    Su Chan was a little child who loved ying games . She didn¡¯t know she had shocked people . She giggled, ¡°I won . I am the best!¡±

    Li Yundong pinched her nose gently . ¡°Well . You are the best! In order to reward you, I will buy you ice cream!¡±

    Su Chan smiled . ¡°Yeah, I want to eat the ice-cream cone I atest time!¡±

    Li Yundong said with a smile, ¡°Ok, wait for me here . I will be back soon . ¡±

    Su Chan hesitated, ¡°Ah? You are going alone?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Are you afraid that I will abandon you? The shop is just over there, stupid girl!¡±

    Li Yundong pointed at McDonald¡¯s which was not far away . Su Chan finally felt assured and waved to Li Yundong, ¡°Then hurry!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and left .

    Su Chan stood there, smiling sweetly . She looked at Li Yundong intently . Every day with this boy was always so happy and exciting . It would be painful to be without him for a second .

    The little fox was innocently standing at the exit of the park . Her beauty attracted the people around her . A man in a suit fell love with Su Chan at first nce and rushed to the flower shop next to the amusement park . He bought a bunch of flowers and came to Su Chan, holding the flowers in his hands . ¡°Beautifuldy, you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen . Can you ept my flowers?¡±

    The little girl received flowers from others for the first time . She looked at this man in puzzlement, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    The suited man immediately pulled out a business card and smiled . ¡°This is my business card . ¡±

    The little girl didn¡¯t look at it . She looked at the man in front of her and asked, ¡°I am asking you, who are you? Why do you give me this?¡±

    The suited man wore Versace and Vacheron Constantin and looked like a self-proimed elite who felt very good for himself . He touched his whole cor and wore a perfect smile . He said, ¡°Look at this, you will know who I am and what I am doing . ¡±

    The little girl nodded, took the business card and had a look . There were a few golden glittering characters on the business card: Rongwei International Financial Co . , Ltd . Chairman, and CEO . Hearing the little girl read his name and position word by word, Rong Guo felt that the eyes around him seemed full of praise and surprise . As the little girl read, he looked around and lifted his jaw . After she finished reading, he looked so proud as if he was saying, ¡°Come on . Come into my arms, little beauty!¡±

    Visitors aside were also watching the scene which had shown countless times in the real world: the contest between money and love .

    How many women in real life eventually abandoned love and chose bread? How many big-waisted tycoons showed their pride to people with money-oriented girls in their arms?

    Rong Guo had conquered many beautiful girls with his business cards and money . In his view, there was no woman in the world who couldn¡¯t be bought with money and fame!

    Therefore, his smile was so proud and iprehensible .

    However, Su Chan¡¯s words made his smile disappear .

    The little girl asked naively, ¡°What is a chairman?¡± Hearing this, the surrounding tourists allughed .

    Rong Guo¡¯s eyes twitched, and he said inwardly, ¡°Is this girl kidding me?¡±

    When he looked at Su Chan, he could tell that the girl wasn¡¯t pretending . He was very surprised, ¡°No way . Is there such a simple girl in the world? How rare! I must get her!¡±

    Rong Guo patiently exined to her what the chairman and CEO were . After that, Su Chan seemed to understand and said, ¡°Oh, you are both the boss and the shopkeeper! Hey, you should say it straightly!¡±

    Then she patted the shoulders of Rong Guo with her hand and said, ¡°Are you a trader? Good, you are both an owner and shopkeeper . You are very capable!¡±

    The surrounding tourists allughed .

    Rong Guo thought in anger, ¡°She called me a trader! Too terrible and too vulgar! How dare she humiliate me?¡±

    He was annoyed, but he could not show it on his face . He smiled in an ugly way, ¡°You, you can¡¯t say that . ¡±

    Rong Guo suppressed his anger and said, ¡°Mypany is a multinational financial investmentpany with billions of financial investments, which differs from an owner or a shopkeeper . ¡±

    Su Chan did not understand and asked, ¡°Oh? What do you do?¡±

    Rong Guo proudly showed off and said, ¡°Me? I didn¡¯t do anything . I rarely work in thepany...¡± He wanted to say that he rarely worked, but he was afraid that Su Chan would look down on him and felt that he was ipetent, so he hurried to add, ¡°Well, basically, I do gold investment, fund investment, or currency investment!¡±

    Su Chan looked surprised and said in a fantastic look, ¡°Can you do it all? Everything?¡±

    Rong Guo showed a sorrowful look as if he was seeking failure . ¡°Yes, there is nothing I can¡¯t do . I am swamped every day and make hundreds of thousand yuan in a second . ¡±

    Su Chan sighed, ¡°Ah? Then you are doing all the work of the owner, shopkeeper, and waiter? Three in one? Are you not tired?¡±

    The people aroundughed off their heads .

    Rong Guo was so depressed that he stared at Su Chan and said inwardly, ¡°Does this girl deliberately tease me?¡±

 Chapter 54

    Chapter 54

    Chapter 54 Holding Your Hand

    The gesture of Rong Guo enraged many people around him and after seeing him being humiliated, everyone became happy .

    Some peopleughed and said, ¡°What do you doing here if you make so much money in a second?¡±

    Then someone smiled and answered, ¡°To invest . He has multinational international financialpanies! In your opinion, who built the snack bars around the amusement park?¡±

    ¡°Oh, did such a big bosse here to invest in the snack bars?¡±

    ¡°Hey, haven¡¯t you heard? He does all the work of owner, shopkeeper, and waiter together! He must work hard!¡±

    ¡°Is this called the briefcasepany?¡±

    Rong Guo felt very depressed . He nced at the sneering crowd, and turned back to say to Su Chan, ¡°Youngdy, can I have your name?¡±

    ¡°She is Su Chan, my girlfriend . ¡± Li Yundong walked up with two cones in his hands and a smile on his face . ¡°What do you want?¡±

    Rong Guo looked back and saw a boy standing in front of him . He was wearing ordinary clothes, but looked very spirited and his eyes were bright . As soon as he saw him, Rong Guo was crushed .

    ¡°You, are you her boyfriend?¡± Rong Guo¡¯s face looked unnatural . He said and turned around to look at Su Chan . ¡°He is your boyfriend?¡±

    Su Chan took the sweet cone over and licked it . Then she smiled sweetly at Li Yundong and answered, ¡°No!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s face changed slightly . Rong Guoughed happily and said wildly, ¡°How could a beautiful girl like you love such a poor boy!¡±

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    When she heard these words, she was somewhat unhappy and looked at Rong Guo with a squint . She put the cone to Li Yundong¡¯s mouth and said sweetly, ¡°He is my master! Master, here, open your mouth!¡±

    Li Yundongughed and then became happy . He said excitedly, ¡°Well, my little girl behaves well today . I am thrilled! Let me have a taste . ¡±

    After that, he ate half of the sweet cone in one bite andughed slyly .

    Su Chan patted Li Yundong angrily, ¡°Hey, don¡¯t eat it all . I hate you!¡± Then she grabbed the ice cream in Li Yundong¡¯s hand and took a big bite for revenge .

    Su Chan¡¯s mouth was so small that she couldn¡¯t eat half of the ice cream as Li Yundong did . She took a bite and then the ice cream covered her mouth!

    Li Yundong pointed at Su Chan¡¯s face andughed, but after a short while, he felt the coolness of the ice cream hit his chest . He couldn¡¯t help gnashing his teeth .

    Seeing this, sheughed too, but she also felt cold since the ice cream was still in her mouth . She had to take a deep breath and made fun of Li Yundong, ¡°You deserved it!¡±

    Li Yundong felt that his chest was frozen . He rolled his eyes and was unable to speak .

    Seeing their fanny looks, people around them allughed, except Rong Guo, who stood there and didn¡¯t know how to react .

    For an ordinary person, he would leave .

    Rong Guo was proud . There was a luxury residential area near the amusement park and he was not here to y . He was on his way home . After he saw Su Chan, he was shocked by her beauty . He just wanted to get her phone number and hoped to ask her out some other day .

    However, he felt a high sense of crisis and inferiority over Li Yundong .

    Rong Guo knew that he was no longer young like the young man in front of him who looked handsome and heroic . The only things he could rely on and show off were his wealth and experience .

    Judging from his experience, there were no women who had no vanity in the world, so there was no woman he could not buy!

    Rong Guo sneered and took out the checkbook from his chest . He said to Su Chan, ¡°How much do you want?¡±

    Su Chan was trying to warm her mouth with her hand as she waved it in front of her mouth . When she heard Rong Guo, she swallowed the ice cream from her mouth . As a result, she felt very cold and jumped on the spot . She asked with difficulty, ¡°What? What did you say?¡± ¡±

    Rong Guo had met countless women, but no one was purer and more beautiful than her . He liked her more and more . So he took a pen and said, ¡°I said, how much money you want to break up with this boy?¡±

    Su Chan heard that this man actually wanted her to leave Li Yundong and suddenly became furious . She lifted her eyebrows and coldly said, ¡°Are you wealthy?¡±

    Rong Guo proudly said, ¡°Of course! I think everyone in this world has a price . As long as I can afford it, no one cannot be bought or sold!¡±

    The intimate feelings between Li Yundong and Su Chan looked adorable to the surrounding tourists . Even if some of them were envying them, they were also very self-aware . They were not willing to destroy the young couple, but when they heard Rong Guo¡¯s words, they were all angry and began yelling at him, ¡°What is so great about being rich?¡±

    ¡°Save your money for your coffin!¡±

    However, it seemed that Rong Guo didn¡¯t hear what they said . He took another look at Li Yundong and said, ¡°How much do you want for you to give her to me?¡±

    Hearing this, Li Yundong wanted to punch his face immediately .

    Su Chan knew that the Vital Essence of the gold pill inside Li Yundong¡¯s body was powerful and unbelievably vibrant, but his temperament wasn¡¯t done refining, so he was easily irritated and found it hit people .

    She did not want Li Yundong to cause trouble which would disturb their cultivation, so she stopped Li Yundong and shook her head gently .

    Then Su Chan said to Rong Guo, ¡°Let me ask you . How many mouths do you have?¡±

    Rong Guo said, ¡°One, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Su Chan asked again, ¡°How many feet do you have?¡±

    Rong Guo frowned . ¡°A pair . What are you trying to say?¡±

    Su Chan continued, ¡°How many bodies do you have?¡±

    Rong Guo said impatiently, ¡°There is only one of course!¡±

    Su Chan sneered, ¡°Since you know that you only have one mouth, a pair of feet, and one body, then you should know that even if you have more money, you can only eat a bowl of rice, wear a pair of shoes, and a suit of clothes! You can¡¯t have more cones, shoes, or clothes than us . ¡±

    Rong Guo¡¯s face turned red and argued, ¡°But things in the world have different values! I can wear high-end brands...¡± He pointed at Li Yundong and said, ¡°He can only wear cheap clothes!¡±

    Su Chan sneered again, ¡°Your high-end brand has more parts than Yundong¡¯s? Are there more sleeves? Or a few more buttons? I tell you, people in the world cannot be sorted ording to their wealth . There are only good people or evil people, beautiful people or ugly people!¡±

    Hearing this, people around all apuded!

    Some young men looked at Su Chan with wishful eyes and apuded hard . The elder men with their femalepanions sighed inwardly, ¡°Let alone her beautiful appearance, it is hard for people to retain a pure and noble spirit! I would rather give up twenty years to possess such a mate . ¡±

    Rong Guo¡¯s long-term outlook on life and value were seriously challenged . He was as angry as a cat with its tail being stepped on and said, ¡°What can you do with that kind of speech? Can it bring you an extravagant life? Can it pay you a mortgage for rent? I can shake the financial circle of Southeast Asia by stamping my feet, but this poor boy, what can he do?¡±

    Su Chanughed as if this was the most ridiculous joke she had heard in the world . In the eyes of a cultivator like her, everything in the world was less important than cultivation!

    No matter how powerful a person was, even if he achieved the status of an emperor, who could kill all the people in the world with amand, he had to follow God¡¯s wishes .

    The richest man cited Tao Zhugong, who spent all his money so he could enter Taoism and sought a healthy and long life .

    People with high positions enjoyed luxury life for decades . Once the dynasty changed, they would lose everything . After death, there was nothing, but one grave .

    All ancient heroes, no matter how great they were, eventually died .

    And the tycoons, no matter how rich or how smart they were, could never keep their wealth after death!

    A man could only be rich for so long¡ªthis was the curse for the rich! What was more, no matter how rich a man was, he could not escape from death!

    However, a cultivator could . They could live beyond life and death . In their eyes, power and wealth were just passing sights!

    ¡°In ancient times, how many people could control the trend; how many people were powerful and rich; how many people could stay alive forever?¡± Su Chanughed and couldn¡¯t help remembering her master¡¯s words .

    Su Chan stoppedughing, pointed at Li Yundong and said to Rong Guo, ¡°You must remember his name . He is Li Yundong, my soul mate . Although he is nobody at present, I promise you, in two years, his name must be famous in the world! At that time, he can do what you can do with little effort, but what he can do, you can never do!¡±

    Su Chan said so firmly that the people around them were all shocked . They couldn¡¯t help turning to Li Yundong and wonder why this girl could conclude that Li Yundong must have such a great future ahead of him .

    Rong Guo looked strange . He wanted tough at her, but the way she acted made him be unable to speak . He made a lot of effort and said, ¡°On what ground are you saying that?¡±

    Su Chan walked to Li Yundong and pulled up Li Yundong¡¯s hand . She smiled slightly, ¡°Because I will be with him!¡±

    Li Yundong looked at Su Chan with emotion and almost shed tears . He would be afraid of nothing since such a girl was apanying him, even if the sky fell . They smiled and held each other¡¯s hands tightly . They no longer looked at Rong Guo or the crowd and left shoulder by shoulder .

 Chapter 55

    Chapter 55

    Chapter 55 You Are Hairy!

    After they walked away, Li Yundong wiped his eyes and smiled . ¡°Su Chan, your words almost made me cry in public! You are really good at this!¡±

    Su Chan smiled and said, ¡°Am I?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Yes! Do you think I¡¯m not mature to cry because of this?¡±

    Su Chan climbed on Li Yundong¡¯s back and said with a smile, ¡°Why would I? If you are not mature, no man in the world is mature . ¡±

    Li Yundongughed happily . ¡°You want me to carry you back? Well, you made me very happy today . Come on, I am carrying you back today!¡±

    Su Chan rested her chin on Li Yundong¡¯s broad shoulder and giggled, ¡°Promise!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°You have already climbed up . Can I refuse? Do not talk nonsense; let us go home!¡±

    While they were outside, Tiannan University had already started to experience trouble .

    ¡°Where is Li Yundong?¡± Feng Na looked for Li Yundong backstage . ¡°There¡¯s only an hour let til we start! How can he not be here now?¡±

    Feng Na saw Sun Li, who was helping her ssmates put on makeup . She immediately grabbed her and said loudly, ¡°Where is Li Yundong?¡±

    Sun Li was stunned . ¡°Is he not here?¡±

    Feng Na looked like a madman . ¡°You are his ss leader . Are you asking me?¡±

    Sun Li said loudly, ¡°I called him today and he said he woulde!¡±

    As soon as Sun Li thought of Li Yundong, who was unruly, she could not help bing angry . She pulled a female ssmate to her and asked, ¡°Have you seen Li Yundong?¡±

    The female student shook her head . ¡°He is so mysterious so how can we know his whereabouts?¡±

    Sun Li asked a few students in session, and they all shook their heads and said they didn¡¯t know . Sun Li was anxious . ¡°How can he be missing for such an important thing?¡±

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    A girl passing by suddenly said, ¡°I saw Li Yundong this morning . ¡±

    Sun Li and Feng Na rejoiced, ¡°Where?¡±

    The girl said, ¡°At the school gate, with his girlfriend . He seemed to have a fight with a teacher...¡±

    Sun Li asked, ¡°And then?¡±

    The girl spread her hands . ¡°Then he left with his girlfriend . ¡±

    Feng Na rubbed her forehead with her hand and sighed, ¡°He won! If this guy was an emperor, he must be a stupid and self-indulgent ruler who loves beauties more than the country!¡±

    Sun Li said, ¡°Phew, he, an emperor? He has no sense of ss honor!¡±

    Feng Naughed . ¡°Since when is the emperor rted to ss honor?¡±

    Sun Li nced at Feng Na and passed her phone . ¡°This is your business . You call him yourself . ¡±

    Feng Na quickly smiled and said, ¡°Beauty, help me . He is also a student in your ss! Hurry up, maybe it is not toote!¡±

    Sun Li took back the phone and dialed the number . After waiting for a long time, there was still no one answering the phone . After several times, Sun Li was so angry that she just wanted to m the phone . ¡°Why does this bastard never answer his phone? Is it andline telephone? Why he can¡¯t he take it with him?¡±

    Feng Na covered her face and smiled bitterly . ¡°What can I do? I will die!¡±

    The two girls wereining about Li Yundong when a voice sounded .

    ¡°What are you doing here? What happened to Li Yundong?¡± Sun Li and Feng Na were all shocked when they heard this because it was a man¡¯s voice . They quickly turned around .

    Feng Na fixed her eyes and found it was teacher Liu, the teacher who caught themst time when they at the school gates . She said surprisingly, ¡°Mr . Liu, this is the area where the girls change clothes . How can youe in?¡±

    The girls who were changing clothes and wearing makeup in the background hurriedly put their clothes on . Some screamed in small voices, and some snorted, ¡°What an old rogue!¡±

    Mr . Liu wore a decent look as if he didn¡¯t look at the girls . However, his eyes could not help ncing at the girls who were in less clothes . He said, ¡°I am here to see how well you are prepared! Just now what were you talking about? What did Li Yundong do?¡±

    Feng Na was shocked and tentatively asked, ¡°Mr . Liu, Li Yundong didn¡¯t do anything . Did he offend you?¡±

    Mr . Liu was just nning to peek at the girls, but when he heard what Feng Na and Sun Li said about Li Yundong, it resonated in his heart and couldn¡¯t helpining .

    He said with an angry look, ¡°This student does not respect teachers or abide by the rules of the school! He always brings irrelevant people into the school, and insults his teacher in person! He is too awful, so I drove him out today!¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡± Feng Na listened and almost fell to the ground .

    ¡°I have nned this show for many days! I tried my best to make Li Yundong rece Zhao Yujian, and begged Zhou Qin to help Li Yundong solve his troubles with Director Qian . Now this damn teacher actually negated all my efforts with one sentence . ¡±

    Feng Na was frozen and was about to explode .

    Sun Li knew a little about Feng Na¡¯s mission . She quickly held Feng Na and said to Mr . Liu, ¡°Mr . Liu, Li Yundong is the main actor for the Taekwondo Club for this event . Without him, the show can¡¯t be carried out!¡±

    Mr . Liu was stunned and then became worried, but he refused to admit it . ¡°Why? Without butcher Zhang, we have to eat an unpeeled pig? We can¡¯t allow him to shame us on the stage . No one can rece him in all of Tiannan University?¡±

    Listening to this, Feng Na was irritated . ¡°Mr . Liu, do you know how long I have prepared for this program? Do you know that this program was required by President Ke? Do you know the deputy mayor has asked about it? Gong Zizhen also said we should exploit talents regardless of conventions . Even if Li Yundong made mistakes, he also has his skills . Without him, the program is screwed! Besides, a teacher should not criticize his students like this . ¡±

    Hearing Feng Na¡¯s words, Mr . Liu changed his face . His lips twisted and he threw his arms out in anger . ¡°Outrageous, outrageous!¡±

    When Mr . Liu drove Li Yundong out of the school, he never expected that Li Yundong would y such an important role at the performance tonight . He was so worried that he missed a stair and rolled down .

    The girls in the backstage locker roomughed happily, ¡°Nice!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s been looking at my chest since he came in . He deserved it!¡±

    Sun Li sighed, ¡°What did you do? If Li Yundong can¡¯te, you have offended a teacher!¡±

    After Feng Na said that, she also felt regret in her heart, but she wouldn¡¯t admit it . ¡°Can he dismiss me? Sun Li, call Li Yundong again! Hey, is he living in school?¡±

    Sun Li yelled while dialing her phone, ¡°He doesn¡¯t live in the dormitory . What¡¯s more, even if he used to live in the school, can he live in school anymore with such a charming girlfriend?¡±

    Feng Na asked again, ¡°Do you know where he lives?¡±

    Sun Li shook her head . ¡°He has always been a loner in our ss . No one knows where he lives . Hey, wait, he answered the phone!¡±

    Sun Li said loudly to the phone, ¡°Hey, hello, Li Yundong?¡±

    There was a pleasant voiceing from the phone, ¡°Yundong, someone is speaking to me here!¡±

    Then, Li Yundong¡¯s voice sounded from a long distance, ¡°You ask it who is it?¡±

    The girl giggled and asked again, ¡°Yundong asked me to ask who you are . ¡±

    Sun Li said in anger, ¡°I am Sun Li, his ssmate . You tell him to answer the phone, please . ¡±

    The girl became quiet . Sun Li and Feng Na looked at each other and then Feng Na said, ¡°Put it on speaker . I want to listen . ¡±

    As soon as Sun Li put it on speaker, water sounded from the phone . Then Li Yundong¡¯s loud voices were heard clearly, ¡°Hey, hello! I am taking a shower . What are you doing? Why are you holding the phone? Idiot, don¡¯te in . It should kept away from water!¡±

    Even though they were angry, Feng Na and Sun Li suddenly burst intoughter, and the girls who were dressing and changing clothes all surrounded them with interest .

    Su Chan said, ¡°Your ssmate is looking for you . Do you think I want toe in and see you taking a shower? Phew, ugly . You are hairy!¡±

    ¡°Hairy!!¡±

    The female¡¯s words came out of the phone, and the girls around the phone allughed .

    Li Yundong¡¯s surprised voice sounded through the phone . He said, ¡°Hey, howe there isughter from the phone? Oh my god, hurry out! Hey, give me the phone before leaving!¡±

    Feng Na and Sun Liughed their heads off until Li Yundong¡¯s voice sounded on the phone . Sun Li stoppedughing and roared to the phone, ¡°Hey, Li Yundong!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s voice sounded very depressed, ¡°It¡¯s you again, ss leader?¡±

    Sun Li said with anger, ¡°What do you mean? Don¡¯t you know that we have activities in our school tonight?¡±

    Li Yundong sighed, ¡°The exchange party for the students from America?¡±

    Feng Na couldn¡¯t help shouting at the phone, ¡°You still remember! Come to school now!¡±

    Li Yundong said casually, ¡°I wanted to go, but some people stopped me from entering the school!¡±

    Feng Na loudly said, ¡°You bastard, I just had a fight with Mr . Liu . If you don¡¯t want to have a fight with me, juste over!¡±

    Li Yundong said, ¡°Why did you have a fight with that teacher?¡±

    Sun Li couldn¡¯t help adding, ¡°That¡¯s all your fault . ¡±

    Li Yundong was very surprised . ¡°My fault?¡±

    Sun Li said, ¡°Feng Na knew that he has stopped you froming school, so she argued with him!¡±

    Li Yundong felt awe-inspired, ¡°I am grateful that you helped me! I will go to school as soon as I finish my shower!¡±

    Feng Na felt a little better, ¡°Why you have to be so clean?¡±

    Li Yundong shouted, ¡°I should at least wash off the soap!¡±

    Feng Naughed loudly, ¡°Keep your soap . Without it, you will look hairier!¡±

    After that, the girls aroundughed loudly . Only Li Yundong¡¯s angry voice came from the phone, ¡°Hey, what are you talking about? Hey, how did you hear the conversation between Su Chan and me? Hello, what are youughing at? Howe there are so many peopleughing? Hey, talk! Are you on speaker? Damn! You are all bad people . ¡±

    T/N: Friday¡¯s release might be dyed, but I am unsure . Just giving everyone a heads up of the possibility .

 Chapter 56

    Chapter 56

    Chapter 56 A Wonderful Performance

    Li Yundong and Su Chan had no time to eat at home and took a taxi straight to Tiannan University .

    It was as if God was going against Li Yundong as either a traffic jam or red lights ured frequently along the way . Feng Na and Sun Li were anxious like ants on a hot pan .

    ¡°What should I do? What should I do? The next program is his show and it ising up!¡± Feng Na was so nervous that her palms were covered with sweat . She lifted the curtain of the stage and looked out . The theatre was full of people and the school leaders and city leaders were sitting in the front row .

    ¡°Call him again!¡± Feng Na anxiously said .

    Sun Li also answered in a hurry, ¡°Already did, there was a traffic jam on the road!¡±

    Feng Na pulled her hair hard with both hands . ¡°Oh my God . Are you kidding me?¡±

    Cheng Cheng, who sneaked backstage,forted her and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry . He will definitely make it!¡±

    As soon as she finished speaking, the female teacher who was in charge of the overall arrangement of the programs came up, waving the program list and shouting, ¡°Hey, goes the Taekwondo Club¡¯s preparations for the program?¡±

    Feng Na, Sun Li, and Cheng Cheng looked at each other and honestly said, ¡°Teacher Ma, one of our actors has note yet . ¡±

    Hearing this, Teacher Ma was shocked . ¡°What? There are two minutes left and you don¡¯t have everyone? Are you kidding me? Who didn¡¯te? Which department and which year does he belong to? This is absolutely ridiculous!¡±

    Sun Li hurriedly exined, ¡°Teacher Ma, he is on his way . There is some traffic jam on the road!¡±

    Teacher Ma said, ¡°Is this an excuse? Today is the most important day since the school was founded . As a student of Tiannan University, he was able to be missing at this moment . This is ridiculous! What¡¯s his name?¡±

    Seeing that things wern¡¯t going well, Feng Na scanned around and suddenly found Zhuang Hui, who was gloating not far away . She had an idea and said, ¡°Teacher Ma, he will be here soon . Can you let the next program go first?¡±

    Teacher Ma swore for a while, knowing that verbal abuse could not solve the problem . She had to turn to Zhuang Hui and said, ¡°Zhuang Hui, the next program is yours . Hurry up and get ready for the stage!¡±

    Hearing this, Zhuang Hui was shocked and angry . ¡°Teacher Ma, our program is the finale!¡±

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    The veins stood out on Teacher Ma¡¯s neck suddenly and violently . ¡°What finale? Now the program is going to flop . Hurry up and don¡¯t talk nonsense! Or I can cancel your show as well . I¡¯ll let the host announce the end of the event! Everybody dies together, sound good? ¡±

    Zhuang Hui sighed and gave Feng Na a ferocious look . Feng Na turned away and pretended not to see .

    Zhuang Hui threw away the cosmetic case in her hand and said to her dancing partners around her, ¡°Get ready to go on stage!¡±

    Teacher Ma watched Zhuang Hui and her dancers . When the host announced the next event and there was no light on the stage, she said coldly, ¡°Your actor had better arrive at once, otherwise, hum...¡±

    After that, she left angrily .

    Sun Li and Feng Na looked at each other and thetter sighed, ¡°What can we do?¡±

    Sun Li clenched her fist and stamped her foot . ¡°This Li Yundong is such an asshole!¡±

    But at this moment, a voice suddenly sounded .

    ¡°Hey, hey, I worked so hard to get here, and you scold me behind my back!¡± Li Yundong stood at the backstage entrance and shouted .

    Sun Li and Feng Na turned around and immediately rushed over to punch and kick him . ¡°You bastard, idiot, you still remember toe?¡±

    At that time, other students of the Taekwondo Club who had been waiting nervously all cheered, even the seniors who didn¡¯t like Li Yundong were jubnt . They thought he was too high-profile and arrogant .

    ¡°Hurry . Change your clothes!¡± Feng Na took a taekwondo suit from the side and threw it at Li Yundong .

    Holding the taekwondo suit, Li Yundong was pushed into the changing room . He changed his clothes and adjusted his cor . When he looked at the color of his waist belt, he was surprised . ¡°A ck belt?¡±

    Feng Na said casually, ¡°Its Zhao Yujian¡¯s . I borrowed it!¡±

    Li Yundongughed . ¡°If he knows, he will probably be angry!¡±

    Sun Li said, ¡°I don¡¯t know whether or not he will be extremely angry, but I know we are enraged because of you!¡±

    Li Yundong said with a smile, ¡°I made it, didn¡¯t I?¡±

    Then he waved to Su Chan and motioned for her to find a seat to sit and wait for him .

    Su Chan smiled at him and sat in a corner quietly .

    At this time, Feng Na and the rest finally calmed down, quietly waiting for the show backstage, while some girls secretly looked at Li Yundong . They only felt that the boy seemed very masculine and handsome in the white and ck taekwondo suit and whispered in session .

    ¡°Ah, I heard that hairy men are very strong in that aspect...¡±

    ¡°Which aspect?¡±

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t y the fool . You will be punished . If you do that again...¡±

    ¡°Hee hee, look at him and you should know that he is very strong! The eyebrows, the eyes . Gee, he is going to eat someone! I don¡¯t know if his girlfriend can stand it?¡±

    ¡°You bi*ch, are you thinking of something indecent? If his girlfriend can¡¯t stand it, do you want to have a try? ¡±

    ¡°Bah! You do that! ¡±

    ¡°Hee hee, I would like to!¡± With this, the girls around all giggled .

    The girlsughed and made amotion, trying not to be heard by Li Yundong, but they didn¡¯t expect that Li Yundong had been sessful in refining Qi and had good hearing and vision . He could hear what they said clearly .

    Li Yundong was bewildered by these bold, unrestrained girls and his face was slightly burning . He murmured inside, ¡°I just kissed my little girl and did nothing else!¡±

    When he was muttering in his heart, Feng Na suddenly gave him a push and whispered, ¡°Hey, it¡¯s show time!¡±

    Li Yundong got frightened and trotted onto the stage from backstage .

    As soon as he got on stage, apuse, cheers, and whistles roared up, and the lights on the stage became colorful, which made it hard to open his eyes .

    When he finally adapted to the light, he opened his eyes and saw a dark area under the stage full of wriggling heads . In front of the stage sat a dozen foreigners with golden eyes, male and female, old and young . Presumably, they were teachers and students from the University of Pennsylvania who hade to Tiannan University tomunicate .

    Under so many eyes, Li Yundong was excited, but fortunately, he was no longer an ordinary otaku . Otherwise, he might have soft feet .

    Li Yundong took a deep breath and calmly stood in front of the taekwondo club members, bending over to the audience .

    The teachers and students under the stage looked at this handsome, masculine boy, while the foreigners from the University of Pennsylvania were also watching Li Yundong curiously, whispering to each other .

    All of a sudden, behind Li Yundong, a stick came toward his head, and he seemed unaware of it!

    The audience could see it clearly, and they all eximed .

    But just as the stick was about to hit Li Yundong on his head, he suddenly crouched down, turned his foot, twisted his body, and thumped his elbow back . He hit the attacker¡¯s waist and abdomen, dodging the stick and fighting back .

    ¡°Oh!¡± The audience immediately gasped admiration . When they were about to apud Li Yundong¡¯s response, suddenly the taekwondo club students around shouted loudly, picking up their sticks, and ran toward Li Yundong .

    At that time, the teachers and students under the stage felt a great stab of tension . In their view, the sticks wereing in all directions . How could he be able to hide or dodge?

    Li Yundong did not hide or dodge . He jumped and his legs split like tomahawks, and his arms swung like meteors . He yed ¡°foot knife¡±, ¡°front split¡±, ¡°side split¡±, ¡°rear suspension kick¡±, ¡°double foot kick¡± and ¡°air churning and whirling kick¡± . One taekwondo move after another move was disyed . The clicking sounds of wooden sticks breaking off came out continuously from the stage .

    The audience could only see the shadow of his two long legs in white trousers because they were moving so fast . They were almost overwhelmed . Every time they saw the white shadow sh, a wooden stick was kicked off . Li Yundong¡¯s legs were fast and fierce, and some people in the audience could not tell which leg Li Yundong had kicked!

    At that moment, everyone under the stage realized that this was a wonderful part of the program and they pped loudly and cheered . Each time Li Yundong broke a wooden stick, they cheered loudly .

    Until thest stick hit Li Yundong, he suddenly kicked the attacker¡¯s hand and the stick in his hand rolled into the air .

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t look at the rolling wooden stick in the air . He kicked the ground, and his body flew high as if he was walking in clouds . Then he kicked in the air and broke the rolling wooden stick with a loud noise!

    His kicking caused a good cheer from the audience . Zhou Yu and his senior brother Huang Yifei, who had been watching aside coldly, were touched .

    An amateur would consider this an excellent performance, but the expert would see the critical point . Li Yundong had beaten more than one enemy on the stage, and his skills with his legs were unrestrained and clean, full of strength, which drew cheers from the people . However, Zhou Yu and Huang Yifei watched with disdain the whole time .

    This kind of performance of kicking a wooden stick was arranged in advance . As long as one had the strength to break the wooden stick and had enough practice with their legs, anyone could aplish that .

    However, the kick that Li Yundong took in the air and broke the rolling stick was not easy!

    Before, the stick was held by a person . The stick was stressed, so it was easy to break when it was kicked . However, this rolling stick in the air had no stress, but Li Yundong broke it anyway!

    What a horrible explosive force!

    Zhou Yu and Huang Yifei looked at each other and their eyes filled with horror .

    ¡°Impossible!¡± Yu Zhou thought before he said, ¡°The stick must have been broken in advance and then put together with glue! Otherwise, kicking off a wooden stick that is rolling in the air with less than a meter length cannot be done even by our master!¡±

    Huang Yifei shook his head slowly . ¡°Not necessarily . I saw the strength of his kick and the sound of the broken wooden stick just now . It was not cheating . ¡±

    Zhou Yu¡¯s eyes were filled with worry . ¡°Senior brother, shall we not go up?¡±

    Huang Yifei smiled coldly and poked at the diamond ring on his arm . ¡°He has great strength, so what? Is a cow strong? When did you see a cow eat a wolf? Wait and see . I¡¯ll give him an internal injury and turn him into a basket case in three years! ¡±

    Zhou Yu calmed down and coldly looked at Li Yundong, who had attracted much attention on stage like a star .

    At that time, the teachers and students in the school auditorium were cheering loudly . The foreigners from across the Pacific Ocean were also shocked by Li Yundong¡¯s excellent performance . They stood up one by one, pping and whistling .

    Li Yundong stood on the stage, blinding lights and loud cheers flooded him . At this moment, he was the absolute star and theplete leading role here .

 Chapter 57

    Chapter 57

    Chapter 57 Trip Over in Volley!

    After the waves of cheering and pping faded away in the auditorium, the brightly dressed hostess stepped onto the stage .

    ¡°Distinguished guests, the top priority of tonight¡¯s gathering ising!¡± The hostess said fervidly, ¡°Huang Yifei from the martial arts club of Tiannan University and Li Yundong from the Taekwondo Club will bring us a real performance!¡±

    Then, she tranted it again in English . The foreigners in the audience got excited and cheered loudly one by one .

    The university students in the auditorium had only seen this kind of fighting in movies . They had never seen a real fight . Therefore, they also became excited and shouted . The atmosphere was more ardent than before!

    Teacher Ma, who was in charge of the program arrangement backstage, was secretly pleased . Fortunately, the program was put at the end of the day . Otherwise, if people watched singing and dancing after this, there would be no such effect .

    Although Zhuang Hui was unconvinced, she was very fond of Li Yundong, this masculine boy . Especially after she saw his performance in the background just now, she had starsing out from her eyes . At this time, as soon as she heard there would be a realbat performance, she was so excited that she pped her hands and cheered .

    Her dancing partners rolled their eyes one by one and shook their heads secretly: what an infatuated person!

    With the introduction by the hostess, Huang Yifei came up to the stage . He stepped forward and jumped onto the stage which was more than one meter high .

    It immediately attracted these foreigners who were curious about Chinese kung fu and they began to whistle loudly .

    A fair-haired foreigner pped in his seat and said to the girl who had long, blond hair beside him, ¡°Kris, didn¡¯t you say you are a Chinese expert? Do you know what kind of kung fu this person is practicing?¡±

    Although Kris had long wavy blond hair, her face was delicate and small that looked very much in line with the eastern aesthetic, especially her hollow eyes, Roman nose, and white skin like snow thatwere full of exotic sentiment, attracting many boys to look at her .

    Kris seemed to have gotten used to this kind of stare . She pped and said to herpanion, ¡°Tom, you are a fighter yourself . Why do you ask me? Are you testing me? All right, look! There is an iron ring on this man¡¯s arm! This shows that this man is practicing Iron Wire Fist! ¡±

    Tom asked, ¡°Iron Wire Fist? Never heard of it! ¡±

    Krisughed, ¡°You imed you were a fighting fan, but you took the gold belt of Pennsylvania State Fighting Contest for nothing! Iron Wire Fist is a popr boxing method in Guangdong, China . Do you know Hung Kuen?¡±

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    Tom eximed, ¡°Hung Kuen? The boxing method taught by teacher Zhao Zhiling? Oh my god, is he practicing Hung Kuen? God, why can¡¯t I have a chance to fight him?¡±

    The tailor shop owner who practiced Iron Wire Fist in the movie ¡°Kung Fu¡± was Zhao Zhiling, who was once as famous as Bruce Lee in the American martial arts circle . Zhao Zhiling taught Hung Kuen in the United States and had a wide reputation in the American martial arts circle .

    Kris knew that thepanion beside her was a senior fighting fan . He loved all kinds of fighting skills in the world . His favorite thing was to fight with people of all sorts of schools .

    People who came to China to attend the university exchange meeting didn¡¯t include him at first, but as soon as he heard the news that they were going to China, he mored toe because he wanted to see Chinese kung fu .

    Tiannan University didn¡¯t know about this, so it specially approved Li Yundong and Huang Yifei¡¯s actualbat performance on the stage .

    Kris shook her head and said, ¡°Iron Wire Fist is the highest-level skill of Hung Kuen . It is also known as the Three Treasures of Hung Kuen with the Gung Ji Fuk Fu Kuen and Tiger and Crane Double Form Set . You may not be his opponent . ¡±

    Tom shrugged his shoulders and said in disapproval, ¡°That is not necessarily . However, Kris, you really deserve to be a Chinese expert since you know so much about it . It¡¯s amazing! It¡¯s really nice to have a grandmother of Chinese ancestry!¡±

    Kris said nothing and looked at the stage . ¡°Tom, you are an expert, who do you think will win?¡±

    Tom answered without thinking, ¡°The one who practices Iron Wire Fist!¡±

    Kris¡¯s mouth slightly tilted . Apparently, Tom had the same spection as her . She asked, ¡°Why?¡±

    Tom said, ¡°Look at this guy who practices Iron Wire Fist . His back deltoid muscles are high and his arms are like steel bars . God, these are all muscles with terrible explosive force! Bruce Lee had these muscles all over his body! Besides, he still has a loop on his arm . If he hits people, it will definitely be hurt . ¡±

    Tom secretly pointed at Li Yundong again and continued, ¡°Look at the boy opposite him . Although he yed well before, except for thest kick, all the attacks were fancy kung fu, which was not useful . ¡± ¡°And this boy has no killing intent between his brows . Obviously, he has not experienced any actualbat . I think he will lose . ¡±

    Kris secretly agreed with Tom¡¯s judgment in her heart, but with a smile on her lips, she said, ¡°Maybe the Chinese have already arranged the oue of this match . Let¡¯s stop guessing . ¡±

    Tom grunted, ¡°You are the one who wanted to guess and to stop . As the president of the student union, you really have a huge privilege!¡±

    Hearing his muttering, Kris smiled and said nothing as she just stared at the stage .

    On the stage, Huang Yifei stood at attention the whole time he was up there . Then he lifted the left foot, bent his right knee, clenched his right hand, and put his left hand upward to his right chest and armpit . Then he pushed both of his hands to salute Li Yundong .

    This move was the ¡°starting position¡± in the Iron Wire Fist . The gesture of hands meant a courtesy and a start, while the gesture of leg represented bowing and paying homage . It seemed to be a polite and courteous move, but in fact, this move could both attack and defend which was one of the sharp movements of Hung Kuen .

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know the secrets of this move . When he saw Huang Yifei¡¯s courtesy, he also bowed to show his .

    However, as soon as Huang Yifei saw him bend over, suddenly his eyes opened and his right foot stamped . His body suddenly rose and kicked toward Li Yundong¡¯s head with his left foot .

    Because Li Yundong had experienced being ¡°ambushed¡± before, the audience thought this was another arranged show, so no one was worried . Instead, they apuded Huang Yifei¡¯s agility .

    Li Yundong had strong Qi inside his body, so once he heard the wind, he subconscious stepped backward and retreated .

    Huang Yifei knew that Li Yundong had impressive power, so he had to continue without mercy . He turned his hand and shot a ¡°ha¡± when his hands turned into fists . Then he immediately pushed them up straight to Li Yundong¡¯s chest and head .

    This was the ¡°Two Tigers Hide¡± of the Iron Wire Fist!

    With these two punchs from him, the iron ring on his forearm stirred with his shouting . It looked ferocious and fantastic!

    It could be said that Li Yundong had not practiced kong fu, even though he had the Qi of the gold pill in his body and had fought with gangsters with knifes before .

    But those gangsters were not practitioners . Li Yundong was almost a martial warrior at that time, so he beat them as if he was hitting dummies .

    Therefore, it waspletely different with Yi Huang .

    The first threat Li Yundong felt at this time was the strong killing intent from Huang Yifei, and his aggressive momentum . Compared with him, Zhao Yujian was as gentle as a virgin .

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know how to deal with such fierce moves, so he had to press his foot again, and his body shrank back .

    Huang Yifei¡¯s attack hit air, and he immediately withdrew his fist . He stepped forward and lifted his fists from his waist to the axi of his chest . Then, he turned his fists into palms like des and split off toward Li Yundong¡¯s shoulders . At the same time, he began to exhale and shouted ¡°ho . ¡±

    ¡°Double swords cut bridge!¡±

    Huang Yifei¡¯s shouting was so loud that even the apuse in the hall could not cover it up . People thought he was like pines when in peace and turned to a tiger when he took action . He really had the demeanor of a Martial Arts expert .

    These college students in the ivory tower had never seen such masters, and they were excited, shouting and cheering wildly . They didn¡¯t know that the fighting on stage was real .

    Tom was an insider and he naturally could see the difference . Huang Yifei¡¯s two moves frightened him . He repeatedly shouted . ¡°Good, good!¡±

    Zhou Qin, Feng Na, Zhuang Hui, and others who were very fond of Li Yundong involuntarily clenched their fists backstage, afraid of Li Yundong being hit by the hard punch of Huang Yifei .

    Su Chan, who had been absent-minded before, also couldn¡¯t help being alert . She thought Li Yundong could easily cope with such an opponent, but after she had a look at Huang Yifei, she knew that although this guy was not a cultivator, his fist hid soft strength in power . As long as Li Yundong was hit, the soft strength would rush into Li Yundong¡¯s body, destroying his meridians and internal organs and causing internal injuries .

    Cultivators were not invincible . If they were hit in a vital part by martial arts experts with fists before they had a Golden Body, they would be injured or die as everyone would .

    This principle was the same as a great martial arts expert would be killed when he was knocked on the back of the head with a brick by a woman who had no strength .

    Su Chan stared at the stage for a moment, then suddenly shouted, ¡°Yundong, strike back!¡±

    Li Yundong had been driven in a muddle by Huang Yifei and gradually back to the backstage . He could not help but say, ¡°How can I fight back?¡±

    Su Chan shouted, ¡°Use your Qi and go straight in to beat him!¡±

    Li Yundong was inspired and recalled the feeling that he practiced Qi with the help of Su Chan . At that time, his breath went up and down smoothly through his body .

    At that time, Huang Yifei had been chasing to beat Li Yundong for several moves . ¡°The old monk carries the burden¡±, ¡°Jinghong wing¡±, ¡°Left and right inches bridge¡±, ¡°Big immortal salute¡± and ¡°Qin Qiong offer the mace¡± had been yed and they were all the skills of hand-to-handbat . As long as Li Yundong was hit, he would suffer from internal injuries!

    Even though Li Yundong didn¡¯t know how to deal with these moves, he kept retreating . As long as he continued to retreat, Huang Yifei would not be able to hit him with any vicious moves .

    Huang Yifei had missed several moves and he became secretly anxious . He clearly heard Li Yundong and Su Chan¡¯s words and felt shocked . He did not dare to dy anymore . In his heart, he was thinking of how to force Li Yundong to fight with him .

    However, at this time, Li Yundong suddenly stood still . Seeing this, Huang Yifei was immediately overjoyed . He squared away and moved his two palms from top to his two ears . His palms were tilted downward and turned into fists, shooting a punch at Li Yundong with a roar from his mouth .

    His great roar sounded like a tiger¡¯s, coupling with the nging of the iron ring on his forearm . It was like a dragon singing in the distance!

    ¡°It¡¯s a good ¡®Roaring of the tiger and the dragon¡¯!¡± The Chinese expert Kris couldn¡¯t help brightening her eyes and sighing .

    Huang Yifei¡¯s move was breathtaking . Almost everyone didn¡¯t believe that Li Yundong could hold up against it and would definitely retreat .

    But at this moment, Li Yundong took a deep breath . His Qi rolled up from his lower dantian abdomen, through the middle dantian heart and arrived at the upper dantian brain . All his dantians were boiling and unobstructed!

    All the meridians in Li Yundong¡¯s body seemed to be activated at once and they were leaping and writhing . Li Yundong only felt like he had endless strength . Even if there were mountains and seas in front of him, he could take them down . He could behead themander¡¯s head among thousands of soldiers like taking things out of a bag!

    Boom!

    Li Yundong swung out one punch, and the Qi in his whole body swept up from his bicep, to his wrist, to his fist . There were three clear popping sounds, like firecrackers . Finally, the Qi formed a strong air flow and roared out of Li Yundong¡¯s fist, sting off Huang Yifei, who was more than one meter away from him .

    The Qi was sufficient and hot straight .

    Huang Yifei only felt a fierce airing to his face . He subconsciously blocked it with his fists and then he was knocked away .

    The auditorium, which was originally full of excitement, was suddenly silent .

 Chapter 58

    Chapter 58

    Chapter 58 An ident

    In term of skills, Li Yundong could not match Huang Yifei who had been an expert .

    However, even though Li Yundong only knew a little of taekwondo¡¯s showy tricks, he had the gold pill . He could make the simple ¡°ck tiger drawing out heart¡± powerful .

    He blew Huang Yifei away with a fist . All the people in the auditorium at that time were all shocked .

    ¡°How was that possible?¡± All the people had this idea in mind .

    Had he been sent flying? This was not a movie!

    After a brief silence, Huang Yifei stumbled up from the stage . He looked at Li Yundong in shock and fear, as if he couldn¡¯t believe what had just happened . His lips trembled and then he bowed to Li Yundong before he jumped off the stage and turned away .

    Zhou Yu caught up with a shocked face, lowered his voice, and asked, ¡°Senior brother, what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Huang Yifei¡¯s voice revealed his fear . The expert, who was ustomed to fighting in the underground ring, said tremblingly, ¡°We have met a master practitioner! Don¡¯t look back, hurry, we are not his rivals! ¡±

    Zhou Yu followed Huang Yifei out of the auditorium in bewilderment . He took Huang Yifei¡¯s arm and asked, ¡°Senior brother, what master? What are you talking about? I don¡¯t understand . Did you just get countered?¡±

    Huang Yifei turned around fiercely and grabbed Zhou Yu by the cor . His eyes were sharp and fierce . ¡°Shut up, I told you not to ask anymore . Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Huang Yifei dragged Zhou Yu out of the university . It was not until they got in the car that Huang Yifei finally felt relief . He turned his head and stared at his junior brother grimly . ¡°How did you get into trouble with a cultivator? And how dare you to drag me into it!¡±

    Zhou Yu was stunned and did not know what was going on . He argued in a loud voice, ¡°I told you, I don¡¯t know any cultivator! Senior brother, what¡¯s the matter with you?¡±

    Huang Yifei watched Zhou Yu carefully for a while . Seeing that he didn¡¯t seem to be lying, he turned around and started the car . He said coldly, ¡°Don¡¯t ask about it . He is one you can not provoke . You should keep away from him in the future!¡±

    While speaking, Huang Yifei took off the iron ring from his forearm . Zhou Yu found that after Huang Yifei blocked the attack with it a moment ago, his forearm was blue and purple!

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    Zhou Yu gasped . He knew how hard the iron ring was . He also knew how hard his elder brother¡¯s hands were . They were as strong as steel . With the iron ring, his arms should not be injured like this even if they were beaten with a hammer .

    Huang Yifei nced at the injury on his arm and shook his head at Zhou Yu . ¡°You drive . ¡±

    The two men changed positions . Zhou Yu drove the car and said stubbornly, ¡°Senior brother, are you going to just let it go? Did we shame our master? ¡±

    Huang Yifei said coldly, ¡°Stop talking and drive the car! I¡¯ll get revenge sooner orter, but we can¡¯t do it . We have to ask the master to go to Guangdong to invite someone! ¡±

    ¡°Who? Who can get revenge for us?¡± Zhou Yu asked, and then he saw his senior brother turn his head to look out of the window . He received no answer, so he could not ask any more questions .

    He didn¡¯t know the one in Huang Yifei¡¯s words didn¡¯t refer to martial arts experts, but a cultivator who specialized in the ¡°divine skill¡± .

    Huang Yifei and Zhou Yu left in a hurry like lost dogs, but the school hall was a mess . After a brief silence, the audience suddenly burst into a frenzy of boos, ¡°Fake! It¡¯s fake fighting!¡±

    How could they not boo? There was only one meter between them, and Huang Yifei was sted away?

    If they didn¡¯t cheat on it, there would be no fake matches in Chinese football!

    Tom, the foreigner in the audience, shouted loudly, ¡°Too ridiculous, the Chinese always practice fraud!¡±

    Fortunately, he said it in English . Otherwise, he would have to be beaten .

    Kris frowned and stretched out her hand to pull Tom . ¡°Hey, this is China . Be polite!¡±

    Tom disdained and said, ¡°I thought I could see a real kung fu show . This was a disgustingly fake show! It was gross . ¡±

    After that, Tom suddenly became excited and jumped onto the stage swiftly .

    Kris covered her eyes with her hand and looked like she could not bear to watch . The teacher beside her shouted at Tom loudly, but Tom turned a deaf ear .

    Kris moaned, ¡°God, who agreed that this idiot coulde to China with us?¡±

    Hearing the boos from the audience, Li Yundong was confused . At this time, a foreigner who was blond and 1 . 85 meters tall showed up . His action looked skillful, and Li Yundong knew that he was an expert .

    ¡°Another one?¡± Li Yundong frowned .

    The hostess on the stage who wanted to mediate the dispute was dumbfounded . She looked at the bruiser taking off his coat, revealing a muscr and robust body and didn¡¯t know how to go on .

    Tom hooked his hand toward the beautiful woman nearby . When she came over, he took over the microphone and spoke a big speech to Li Yundong in English .

    Li Yundong¡¯s English was terrible, so he could not understand what he said at such a fast speed . He stared at the hostess who turned to the nervous teachers under the stage . However, these teachers could not rush to drag Tom down .

    Therefore, when these teachers saw the hostess¡¯s eyes, they all turned around and pretended not to look at her .

    The hostess had no choice, but to take over the microphone and tranted to Li Yundong, ¡°He said his name is Tom Schelter, he loves fighting and wants to make friends with you by a fight . ¡±

    ¡°He wants to fight with me?¡± Li Yundong didn¡¯t know what to say because this was not in the n!

    Li Yundong¡¯s hesitation confirmed to Tom that he was cheating in the show . Tom could not help, but provoke him, ¡°Chinese, you are not capable when you cheated in the show . If you are really that powerful, beat me! I think your Chinese kung fu is all showy! ¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t understand what he said, but the beautiful hostess did . She suddenly sympathized and whispered to Li Yundong, ¡°He said he looked down upon you and our Chinese kung fu . Hey, it was a civil war just now, and it was not honorable to win . Now he is foreign . You have to win honor for our country . ¡±

    Before Li Yundong could say yes, the beautiful hostess had gone to the edge of the stage and bent down to the teacher who waved to her . They were saying something .

    After a while, the beautiful hostess came over and said in a low voice with a smile, ¡°Your political mission hase . The teacher said you could take up the challenge, but you could not hurt him for our foreign friends¡¯ sake . ¡±

    Hearing this, Li Yundong was furious . ¡°Can these officials only see the foreigners in their eyes? He can hurt me, but I can¡¯t hurt him?¡±

    Li Yundong remembered the performances of worshipping foreign things and fawning on foreign countries in the school . He felt sick . He inwardly sneered and made up his mind to teach this daredevil foreigner a lesson and embarrass the school leaders .

    Li Yundong nodded to the hostess beside him and replied, ¡°I know . ¡±

    The hostess whispered to Li Yundong, ¡°Come on! I support you!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled at her and then turned to Tom, who had been eager to try .

    Tom whispered to the hostess, nodded his head, then approached Li Yundong . He extended his fist as a token of respect .

    Li Yundong looked up at the foreigner in front of him and saw a defiant and disdainful face as if Tom could not wait to knock him down .

    The teachers in the audience regretted very much for putting a fighting contest at the end . It would be a bad result to have either of them hurt!

    The teachers were worried, but the students didn¡¯t care about this . They cried out one by one mindlessly . Those with strong patriotic feelings supported Li Yundong loudly while those who believed Li Yundong had cheated in the show supported Tom to reveal Li Yundong¡¯s true colors .

    Tom jumped in situ for a moment and looked at Li Yundong¡¯s standing position briefly . Li Yundong stood in situ with his eyes lowered . There was no stability in his legs which were like trees without roots . His hands were ced vertically in front of him, and his body was full of ws .

    Tom sneered and muttered, ¡°Chinese, I will show you what real fighting is!¡±

    Then he roared loudly and pressed down with his feet, rushing toward Li Yundong like a tiger!

    When Li Yundong saw Tom move, he suddenly opened his eyes . The sharpness in his eyes shed like lightning . He pushed his punch, and his fist flew at Tom .

    Tom had left the ground with both his feet and he was swooping down in the direction of Li Yundong . The distance from him to Li Yundong was farther than when Huang Yifei fought . Li Yundong¡¯s blow hit him violently in the chest and he flew sideways to the background .

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    The audience immediately fell in an uproar!

    This time, everyone saw clearly that Tom was running toward Li Yundong, with his body in the air and his feet off the ground . It was impossible for him to change his direction, but he still flew sideways!

    What did this mean?

    Did this mean that Li Yundong practiced Qigong?!

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that exaggerated?¡± Everyone on and off the stage was aghast except for Su Chan whoughed . She came to Tom, who fell to the ground, and looked curiously at the green-eyed foreigner .

    However, after she observed him for a while, her face suddenly changed . She immediately turned Tom over and felt his pulse with her hand and then she looked as white as paper!

    This guy¡¯s heart had stopped beating!

    He was killed by Li Yundong with one punch!

    Su Chan was shocked and frightened . She did not dare to imagine what their life would be like after Li Yundong killed him .

    ¡°Will he be arrested? What should I do?¡±

    Su Chan felt cold in her heart . After a little panic, she calmed down and was about to use magic to save the man when she saw a blond woman suddenly rush over backstage .

    Kris rushed to the background and saw Tom lying motionless on the ground with his eyes closed . Her heart thumped and rushed to feel his pulse . Then she suddenly turned pale . She looked up and shouted at Li Yundong who wasing, ¡°You killed him!¡±

    She said it in authentic Chinese, but her ent was a little strange .

    Li Yundong was also surprised . He quickly walked over to Tom and put his hand under Tom¡¯s nose . He was indeed not breathing!

    ¡°Did I kill him?¡± Li Yundong¡¯s mind exploded .

 Chapter 59

    Chapter 59

    Chapter 59 Cry and Beg to Be a Disciple

    The students backstage also became confused at this time and didn¡¯t know what to do .

    Kris thumped Tom¡¯s heart with her fist and did artificial respirations . Her forehead was covered in beads of sweat .

    Su Chan hadpletely calmed down at this moment . She came to Li Yundong, took his hand, and whispered, ¡°Yundong, ¡®Look for flowers with three fingers¡¯!¡±

    After holding Su Chan¡¯s hand, Li Yundong suddenly felt calm . It seemed that he could be fearless as long as the girl was around him .

    Li Yundong turned his head and whispered, ¡°Will it work?¡±

    Su Chan nodded affirmatively . ¡°Yes! I¡¯ll observe . You can do it!¡±

    Encouraged by Su Chan, Li Yundong calmed down . He approached Kris and said, ¡°Let me do it . ¡±

    Kris looked up, and immediately became enraged . She shouted, ¡°You are a murderer! What else do you want?¡±

    Li Yundong pointed at Tom . ¡°I can save him!¡±

    Kris was furious . ¡°He¡¯s not breathing . How can you save him?¡±

    Li Yundong looked at Kris and said firmly, ¡°You can¡¯t, but I can! Get out of the way! ¡±

    Seeing Li Yundong speaking as cool as a cucumber and his eyes were calm and confident, Kris was shocked by his look and got out of the way .

    Li Yundong helped Tom sit up and then he pressed Tom¡¯s Baihui, Shenting, and temple points ording to the methods Su Chan taught him .

    Li Yundong secretly urged the Qi in his body to his fingertips and it flowed inside . In no time, a faint white smoke rose above his head .

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    Some sensitive people pointed at Li Yundong¡¯s head and wanted to yell when the person next to him covered his mouth to stop him from disturbing Li Yundong .

    Kris didn¡¯t notice Li Yundong¡¯s unusual action at this moment . Her eyes were fixed on Tom .

    The reason why Tom¡¯s heart suddenly stopped beating was that Li Yundong¡¯s previous blow hit his heart, causing it to stop beating .

    Huang Yifei had blocked the attack with the iron ring and was still injured, so how could Tom survive?

    In the west, judging whether a person is dead or alive often depends on whether he is still breathing, has a heartbeat, pulse, or brain waves .

    However, in traditional Chinese medicine, under the condition that a person¡¯s body has not been damaged, there is only one criterion for judging whether a person is dead or alive . That is, whether he has Qi inside or not .

    After Li Yundong used the method of ¡°look for flowers with three fingers¡±, he found out immediately that Tom¡¯s breath was still strong inside his body . Li Yundong quickly enhanced his Qi and violently stimted Tom¡¯s primordial yang . His Qi was instantly pushed up .

    As soon as the Qi of the human body was mobilized, the breath would automatically drive the blood to run . When the blood ran to the heart, the impact of the blood would make the heart expand and then shrink automatically .

    Under these circumstances, Tom came to life at once .

    ¡°Hiss!¡± He opened his eyes fiercely and took a deep breath, clutching his chest and coughing .

    ¡°He¡¯s alive! He¡¯s alive!¡± The backstage was full of joy!

    The nervous people around Li Yundong suddenly exhaled a long breath . Su Chan patted her chest with a happy face .

    Feng Na and others also secretly wiped off cold sweat and looked at Li Yundong in admiration . The boy was as cool as a cucumber when facing death .

    Kris was also obviously relieved . She drew a cross in her chest, prayed, looked at Tom carefully, and shouted, ¡°You stupid fool, how are you now?¡±

    Tom, clutching his chest, coughed painfully, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with me?¡±

    Kris felt amused and angry at the same time . She looked at him and said, ¡°You were punched and flew away . Just now your heart stopped beating . He saved you!¡±

    As she said, Kris pointed at Li Yundong .

    Tom looked nk and he obviously didn¡¯t understand what had happened before . He shook his head like a rattle-drum and said in English, ¡°Impossible . I remember I hadn¡¯t been close to him yet . How did he beat knock me away?¡±

    Kris nced at Li Yundong with a look of inexplicable awe . She lowered her voice and said to Tom, ¡°You were still in mid-air, and he sent you flying . I mean, he beat you away a meter or two before you met him just like the man who practiced Iron Wire Fist! ¡±

    Tom¡¯s eyes got big and his head shook like a rattle-drum . ¡°Impossible, how is that possible?¡±

    Kris said, ¡°My grandmother told me that there were many amazing people in China . You should believe it and everyone saw it with their own eyes! Do you want to have anotherpetition with him?¡±

    Tom shook his head even more violently . He was wholly convinced by Li Yundong although he didn¡¯t understand what had happened . The fact was that Li Yundong was better and he had to admit it .

    He sat on the ground for a while, then suddenly recalled some Chinese martial arts films he had seen before . An idea urred to him . ¡°Could this be the so-called internal skill? Is this man really a great master?¡±

    The more Tom thought about it, the more he felt it possible . He suddenly turned over and knelt down toward Li Yundong . He shouted a Chinese sentence with American characteristics, ¡°Teacher!¡±

    Li Yundong was caught off guard and became stunned . ¡°What did he say? What is he talking about?¡±

    Kris exined in amusement, ¡°He is asking you to be his teacher!¡±

    Li Yundong also didn¡¯t know how to react . ¡°The foreign people are hrious! They had to be convinced by fighting . After that, they want to study from us . ¡±

    Li Yundong waved his hand . ¡°No, no, no, I¡¯m still young and I can not be his teacher . Moreover, we call it a master! When you learn Chinese well,e back to find me!¡±

    Li Yundong said a lot, but Tom could not understand a word . He just stared nkly . When he heard the word ¡°master¡±, he knew what that meant so he nodded hard and shouted, ¡°Master! Master!¡±

    The people around him saw him like this and immediately burst outughing .

    At this time, some school leaders had rushed to the backstage and shouted, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    When they saw Tom kneeling in front of Li Yundong, they thought that Li Yundong had used force to treat their foreign friend . They were just about to get angry when Kris smiled at them and exined, ¡°Tom wants to learn from him, but he doesn¡¯t agree . ¡±

    Hearing this, the school leaders immediately felt relieved and secretly gave Yundong Li an approving look . ¡°I thought something big had happened! Fortunately, everyone¡¯s ok . Good, this boy is a very credit to the school!¡±

    President Ke, who was in charge of tonight¡¯s events, put down the big stone in his heart and said to Li Yundong, ¡°Boy, you can ept this foreigner as an apprentice . In the future, when we talk about Tiannan City University, it will be a good story!¡±

    At that time all the teachers and students around responded with smiles .

    Li Yundong also hesitated, he didn¡¯t want to promise Tom . First, he didn¡¯t have anything to teach this foreigner . He learned from Su Chan . Second, he didn¡¯t know how to teach him!

    But at this time, not saying yes wasn¡¯t appropriate .

    Su Chan saw Li Yundong hesitating and was worried that he would promise to teach the foreigner . She couldn¡¯t help leaning over and whispering, ¡°Yundong, don¡¯t say yes!¡±

    Li Yundong asked in a low voice, ¡°Why?¡±

    Su Chan looked awestruck and said, ¡°How can the great treasure of our country be passed on to the barbarians?¡±

    Li Yundong was stunned, but soon realized that Su Chan was talking about the methods of massage and Qi training she had taught him before . Although he thought Su Chan sounded too outdated and conservative, she had a great influence on him . Since the little girl said so, Li Yundong had an idea .

    He said, ¡°I can¡¯t do this right now . If I do it casually, it¡¯s too outrageous and too undignified! I have to ask my master first . ¡±

    By this time, President Ke had known that Li Yundong was a great master that preferred a low profile . He could not help but ask, ¡°Who is your master?¡±

    Li Yundong deliberately put on a look of embarrassment and didn¡¯t say anything .

    President Ke was experienced and smart and immediately understood . He was no longer reluctant . He said to Kris, ¡°You heard him . I also think it also requires some more thought . After all, it is no small matter to ept a disciple in our country . ¡±

    Kris nodded, pulled Tom up, and said in English, ¡°Get up, he thinks your Chinese is too poor and won¡¯t ept you!¡±

    Tom stood up and shouted, ¡°I can learn; I will try my best to learn!¡± With that, he tried hard to correct his pronunciation with a ferocious face, but this time he still didn¡¯t enunciate it right .

    People around him saw his appearance and burst outughing .

    Before, Li Yundong only thought that this foreigner was arrogant . Now it seemed that he was a straightforward and lovely man . He waved his hand and smiled at Tom, ¡°When you can speak Chinese well, you cane back to me!¡±

    Hearing this, Kris suddenly gathered around him, winked at him, and said, ¡°I can speak Chinese, can you ept me as an apprentice?¡±

    Although she said this in a low voice, the people around them could hear it clearly . At that time, all kinds of eyes looked at Li Yundong .

    The girls spat to Kris . ¡°This foreign girl is really good at taking advantage of timing . ¡±

    The boys looked at Yundong Li admiringly and enviously . ¡°What good fortune has this guy gone through, and how can all the beautiful womene to him? This foreign girl is very hot!¡±

    Li Yundong was shocked by Kris¡¯s question and he found he had been pushed into a corner by Kris .

    Kris lookedcent, and inwardly said, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you would ept a disciple who could speak Chinese? Hm, how about that, you have to ept me this time . ¡±

    The Chinese took such things as epting disciples very seriously . Besides heaven, earth, emperor, and parents, teachers were the most honorable ones .

    However, foreigners didn¡¯t look at it this way . In their view, it wasmon to hire a tutor . Therefore, Kris could say that she wanted to be a student without any hesitation .

    Knowing that Kris had no sincerity at all and she just wanted to make fun of him, Li Yundong was a little unhappy . At least Tom really wanted to learn from him . He said, ¡°Our sect has a rule that we only take male students . ¡±

    After that, a roar ofughter sounded around them, and some boys apuded .

    Kris blushed with anger and shouted, ¡°You¡¯re sexist!¡±

 Chapter 60

    Chapter 60

    Chapter 60 Ni-hao, Da-sha-bi!

    Facing Kris, who had be angry from embarrassment, Li Yundong smiled, ¡°China has traditions since ancient times . Sometimes it may smack of sexism, but sometimes it is because kung fu is not suitable for women to learn . My kung fu is not very suitable for you coincidentally . ¡±

    Hearing this, Kris realized that Li Yundong¡¯s excuse was too strong to refute .

    She grew up with a silver spoon in her mouth . She was beautiful, tall, and sexy . She had been surrounded by boys everywhere . However, she didn¡¯t expect that she would be so mortified here that she nearly couldn¡¯t get off the stage .

    Kris couldn¡¯t stand this and secretly ground her teeth for a moment, stamping, before she turned around and marched off .

    At this time, the school leaders backstage also knew that nothing was wrong and that a likely tragedy had been turned into aedy, which was a great joy to everyone .

    When President Ke realized that the event was very sessful, he kindly said to Li Yundong, ¡°You should get on the stage and Mayor Luo will meet you . Don¡¯t embarrass our university!¡±

    Although Li Yundong didn¡¯t care that, he nodded politely .

    The school leaders felt satisfied and left, leaving the robust Tom, who was still clinging to Li Yundong .

    Tom had no idea what Kris and Li Yundong had said before . He just kept shouting at Li Yundong, ¡°Master, master!¡± Then there would be a long speech in English .

    Although Li Yundong¡¯s English was not very good, he knew that Tom was begging him to ept him as a disciple .

    Feng Na was good at English . She smiled and whispered to Li Yundong, ¡°This foreigner is asking you to teach him Chinese . He said that he would learn Chinese with you first and then kung fu . ¡±

    Li Yundongughed . ¡°He can really persevere . You tell him that I can¡¯t teach him too much Chinese since he doesn¡¯t have enough time here . ¡±

    Feng Na smiled and tranted his words to Tom . Tom was thrilled when he found a trantor for him nearby . He grabbed Feng Na¡¯s hand and rattled off for a long time .

    Feng Na couldn¡¯t stand the enthusiasm of the foreigner . She quickly pulled her hand away and quietly stepped back half a step . Then she tranted the words to Li Yundong, ¡°He said he would learn as much as he could, and he would study hard!¡±

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    Li Yundongughed . ¡°How can that be possible? How can anyone learn Chinese like this? Besides, he will return to the United States in a couple of days, and when he returns, he will forget the matter of learning from teachers . If he just learns kung fu these days, it will be useless . He will need a long time to learn, at least a few years!¡±

    As soon as Feng Na had finished tranting the words, Tom stared and shouted loudly in English .

    Li Yundong had no choice, but to look at Feng Na who smiled and said, ¡°He said that he would go back to apply for an international exchange chance ande to Tiannan University to study as long as you are willing to ept him as a disciple!¡±

    Feng Na tranted and patted Li Yundong on the shoulder with a smile, ¡°Well done, you have a big foreign fan! It seems that I was wise to choose you as my idol! I will be the senior sister of your fan club in the future!¡±

    Cheng Cheng immediately added, ¡°A handsome and smart leader and a beautiful and exquisite senior sister are a perfect match!¡±

    Feng Na¡¯s face turned red suddenly . She gave Cheng Cheng a look of shame and annoyance . ¡°What nonsense!¡±

    Li Yundong perceived the romantic meaning in her words and could not help giving Feng Na a look . Although Feng Na had a round face, she looked sweet . At this time, she was full of girlish charm .

    But at this time Li Yundong was falling in love with Su Chan, so after taking a look, his eyes naturally moved away, revealing no sign of being tempted .

    Feng Na was shy, but she had been carefully observing Li Yundong¡¯s expression and eyes . When she saw Li Yundong¡¯s eyes were pure without any romance, she was at a loss .

    Li Yundong seemed to be unaware of Feng Na¡¯s abnormality . Heughed . ¡°You tell Tom that as long as he learns Chinese well, I will consider it . ¡±

    He expected that the foreigner was just saying this on a whim, and it was impossible to be an exchange student from a first-ss university like the University of Pennsylvania to a third-ss university like Tiannan University .

    However, after listening to Feng Na¡¯s trantion, Tom¡¯s eyes suddenly brightened . He insisted that Li Yundong should teach him a Chinese sentence right now .

    Being harassed, Li Yundong felt impatient and irritable . He came up with an idea and smiled viciously . He said, ¡°Well, I¡¯ll teach you one sentence first . This sentence is what we Chinese say when greeting people . You listen up... ¡±

    The students around looked at Li Yundong and Tom curiously . Most of them were specting that Li Yundong might teach him such words as ¡°Hello¡± and ¡°Have you eaten?¡±

    Then Li Yundong said calmly, ¡°Here, this sentence is like this: Ni-hao (means hello)...¡±

    The students around immediately booed, ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I said! It¡¯s really not creative! ¡±

    ¡°Come on, give me some innovation!¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t seem to hear the gossip nearby . He still spoke the following three words with greatposure, ¡°Da-sha-bi (means big fool)!¡±

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    Immediately the background exploded with talk .

    ¡°Ni-hao, da-sha-bi?¡± The students backstage were shocked andughed, ¡°If someone greets people like this, they will be beaten . ¡±

    Although Tom faintly felt that theughter of the people around him was a bit odd, he was eager to learn from his teacher . He didn¡¯t expect that Li Yundong would make fun of him and teach him a swear word .

    When Tom saw the seriousness of Li Yundong, he learned it seriously and repeated, ¡°Ni-hao, da-sha-bi!¡±

    ¡°Haha!¡± Su Chan was the first one who couldn¡¯t helpughing . She turned to hide in a corner and beat her chest withughter .

    Feng Na and others around endured for a while and finally followed Su Chan¡¯s example . They fled one after another, hiding in a small corner andughed their heads off .

    As the initiator of this prank, Li Yundong heard Tom speak solemnly and almostughed out loud . However, he was professional at this and could stop himself fromughing . Instead, he pointed out Tom¡¯s incorrection of pronunciation with a serious face .

    Tom repeated the sentence several times . The more he spoke, the more fluent and excited he became . Atst, he said in a louder voice, ¡°Ni-hao, da-sha-bi!¡±

    The louder he shouted, the harder the students in the backstageughed . They were enjoying this very much .

    Tom was obviously a crazy person . Upon seeing how happy these people were, he also became extremely happy . He kept saying to Li Yundong, ¡°Ni-hao, da-sha-bi!¡±

    At first, Li Yundong didn¡¯t feel something wrong, but after listening for a while, he figured it out: ¡°Oh, is he scolding me?¡±

    Suddenly, he decided not to be polite . He nodded and smiled at Tom, ¡°Uh-huh, ni-hao, da-sha-bi!¡±

    The two men were greeting each other endlessly when a teacher burst in and shouted at Li Yundong and the students who were rolling on the groundughing backstage, ¡°What are you doing? Come onto the stage . The city leaders are waiting for you! ¡±

    The teacher was so anxious that he didn¡¯t pay any attention to his speech .

    As soon as the teacher left, Li Yundong waved his hand and shouted, ¡°Boys and girls, go ahead and meet the city leaders!¡±

    After hearing this, the students burst intoughter .

    Feng Na watched Li Yundong take the students to the stage with great force . At that time, she looked at Li Yundong¡¯s back and was a bit stunned . Cheng Cheng could not help poking her with her finger . ¡°Hey, take the initiative if you like him!¡±

    Feng Na blushed and retorted, ¡°Who likes him? He is younger than me . I like older and mature ones! ¡±

    Cheng Cheng scratched her cheek with her hand . ¡°Shame on you . You just now wished to eat Li Yundong with your eyes! Do you consider him the Tang Monk¡¯s flesh? Ha ha, I estimate that there were quite a few people here who wanted to eat him just now . Do you want to be the Spider Demon or the White Bone Demon? Pick one and do it quickly!¡±

    Feng Naughed and scolded her, ¡°Bah, what are you making up!¡±

    But when she finished speaking, she suddenly sighed with a sad face, ¡°However, no matter what demons, no one has eaten Tang Monk¡¯s flesh . ¡±

    Feng Na said and took one look at Su Chan who was hiding behind the curtain and secretly looking at the stage . She whispered with a bitter smile . ¡°He has such a beautiful girl beside him and they stay together all the time . How can he see me?¡±

    Hearing this, Cheng Cheng also felt disappointed . ¡°Well, people like you don¡¯t dare topete with her, not to mention me who is not that outstanding . It¡¯s not that we are ipetent, it¡¯s that the enemy is too strong!¡±

    Feng Na gave Cheng Cheng a curious look . ¡°Do you like him too?¡±

    Cheng Cheng casually said, ¡°Nonsense, how rare such boys are now . How can I not like him? However, Na Na, when he was performing on stage just now, I didn¡¯t think he was handsome . But when he beat Tom and then rescued him, he was so calm . At that time, he was so handsome! If he didn¡¯t have a girlfriend, I would be the first to chase him!¡±

    Feng Na jumped up and said, ¡°Well, you are such a bi*ch . You are interested in him, but in turn, you encouraged me to chase him!¡±

    Cheng Chengughed and retorted, ¡°You did the same thing as me, but refuse to admit . You are just acting . ¡±

    Theyughed for a while when Feng Na suddenly saw Zhuang Hui, who had finished her makeup backstage, was walking towards the stage . She immediately felt bored . ¡°Stop and forget it . Even if Li Yundong didn¡¯t have a girlfriend, thepetition would be too fierce . Zhuang Hui has been staring at this piece of Tang Monk¡¯s flesh! Moreover, I think Zhou Qin may have some thoughts about Li Yundong . ¡±

    Cheng Cheng nodded in agreement . Shemented, ¡°Oh my god, why is it so difficult to find a man? God, give me a man, I will bury him in the soil in spring, until autumn... ¡±

    Feng Na gave her a hard push . ¡°You will harvest a pile of bones in autumn, idiot! Don¡¯t be silly . Go to the stage!¡±

    The students who participated in the event packed the stage to the brim . At the front stood Tom with a face full ofughter . The foreign friend volunteered to participate and was almost killed by Li Yundong with his bare hands . Fortunately, the bad thing had turned into a good thing . He had be the most famous person here besides Li Yundong .

    Foreigners advocated personal heroism and were naturally pushy . Most of them were crazy . Tom stood on the stage, and his face was aglow with excitement . He was eager to try . If there weren¡¯t so many people around him, he would perform some kung fu of his own .

    When the city leaders came to him, they said a few words of sympathy and concern to him in Chinese . After listening to the trantion, Tom was suddenly inspired and responded in English .

    The trantor gave Tom a surprised look, then said to the leader beside him, ¡°Mayor Luo, Tom said he has just learned a Chinese sentence, a greeting, and he wants to show it to you . ¡±

    Upon hearing this, Mayor Luo was much relieved and put on more official airs . ¡°Well, let him say . Nowadays, more and more foreigners are learning Chinese now, which shows that our international image and international status are indeed constantly improving!¡±

    He was full of bureaucratic jargon, but Tom could not understand it . When he saw the trantor nod to him, he was immediately overjoyed . Then he earnestly, carefully, and vigorously shouted out the sentence Li Yundong had taught him, ¡°Ni-hao, da-sha-bi!¡±

    Immediately, officials next to the city leaders were mortified at that moment!

    The whole stage was silent...

 Chapter 61

    Chapter 61

    Chapter 61 A Sudden Sneak Attack

    Poor Mayor Luo eagerly listened to what Chinese Tom had learned . As a result, a greeting that was far more powerful than national abuse came out .

    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing he didn¡¯t greet my family!¡±

    His smile froze on his face, his eye twitching .

    The entourage and other school leaders next to him wanted tough, but they didn¡¯t dare to . They all put on tight faces and tried to be righteous and calm, but the corners of their mouths were twitching from time to time .

    The students around obviously could not control their faces as well as the leaders, and some of them couldn¡¯t helpughing on the spot . After that, they felt inappropriate and immediately turned their faces to poker faces . After a while, they couldn¡¯t help, but turn away to cover their mouths and secretly giggle .

    Li Yundong heard Tom scream like a wolf andughed his head off before he nearly fainted, but he was standing in the front row that was close to the city leaders . He had to use all his strength to control himself fromughing too much .

    Tom had no idea that Li Yundong had tricked him . Seeing that the people around him reacted strangely, he couldn¡¯t help feeling lost and said, ¡°What¡¯s wrong, did I say it wrong?¡±

    Then, he tried hard to pronounce it again .

    Hearing this, Mayor Luo was anxious . If he did this again, it would be ridiculous .

    Most people who became leaders were not slow to respond . He shook Tom¡¯s hand lightly and calmly . Then, he naturally said to the school leaders who kept wiping sweat beside him, ¡°It¡¯s said that once one is in a strangend, the first words he learns are swear words . Now it seems to make sense to me!¡±

    After that, he took the lead to burst outughing .

    After seeing his smile, everyone was relieved, took a deep breath, and burst outughing as well .

    Li Yundong waited until all the leaders left . When the party was over, he saw Krising with Tom in a rage .

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    He felt guilty, so he took Su Chan and said, ¡°Run fast, the foreigners areing to make trouble!¡±

    Tom¡¯s impressive greeting had amused Su Chan, and she even could not straighten her back fromughing so hard . When Li Yundong pulled her, she answered and wiped off the tearsing out of her eyes and ran after Li Yundong .

    At first, they had to hold back since they were in the auditorium and could not run fast, but when they approached the door of the auditorium, they sped up . As soon as they ran out of the hall, Li Yundong took Su Chan and ran at full speed .

    Kris shouted from behind them, ¡°Stop! Li Yundong, I have something to say! ¡±

    Li Yundongughed and turned to say, ¡°You stop . Save it for tomorrow!¡±

    Kris was enraged and she said to Tom, ¡°Tom, let¡¯s go and get them!¡±

    Tom was puzzled, ¡°Why? Why do we have to do that?¡±

    Kris sputtered, ¡°You idiot, he tricked you just now . Don¡¯t you know?¡±

    Tom felt confused and asked, ¡°How did he trick me?¡±

    Kris kicked Tom angrily . ¡°The sentence he taught you in Chinese was very bad . You just scolded the mayor of this city!¡±

    Tom immediately held his head, and said with a look of panic, ¡°Lord, I heard that this country is very centralized . I scolded the mayor . Will he send me to jail? Can¡¯t I go back?¡±

    Seeing this, Kris was angry and amused . ¡°You well-developed, but simple-minded idiot, hurry up and catch up with him . He should apologize!¡±

    Hearing this, Tom nodded hard, but then he became very depressed and said, ¡°What¡¯s the use of catching up with him? I can¡¯t beat him anyway . ¡±

    Kris roared, ¡°Do you only know to use force? Are you still living in the Middle Ages?¡±

    As she said this, she ran by herself, leaving behind only one sentence, ¡°It¡¯s up to you whether youe or not!¡±

    Tom had no choice, but to follow .

    Li Yundong and Su Chan ran out of the school . Theyughed wildly and their speed was not too fast . When they passed the school gate, Su Chanughed and asked, ¡°Where are we going now?¡±

    At this time, there were few pedestrians on the road . Only a man who lowered his head and kept his hands inside his pockets hurried toward them .

    Li Yundong pointed in the direction of the main road . ¡°We go this way...¡±

    Before he finished speaking, he suddenly saw the man passing by him take a bag of lime powder out from his pocket and throw the contents toward him .

    Li Yundong never expected that someone would attack him by such dirty means and was caught off guard . Although he closed his eyes subconsciously, some lime still got into his eyes . He screamed loudly, covering his eyes with one hand and pulling Su Chan with the other . He shouted, ¡°Su Chan, run!¡±

    Since Su Chan stood beside Li Yundong, and Li Yundong seemed to be the other party¡¯s main target, she was spared . Seeing Li Yundong suddenly be attacked, she was surprised and angry and refused to run .

    The man who threw lime juice at Li Yundong shouted, ¡°Attack!¡±

    As soon as he finished shouting, he saw Su Chan swiftly approach him and gently shoot a palm at his chest!

    She didn¡¯t seem use much strength, but after a ¡°pah¡±, the man felt as if the strength of his entire body had disappeared and his bones were fragile . He fell softly to the ground and could only exhale without inhaling .

    At this moment, the thugs arrived and showed their knives one after another before fiercely rushing toward them .

    When Su Chan saw the dangering, she held out a hand with a faint blue light flowing around her fingertips and quickly gave a wipe at Li Yundong¡¯s eyes . She shouted, ¡°Okay, you can open your eyes!¡±

    After she said that, she threw herself at the attackers .

    The lime in Li Yundong¡¯s eyes was taken away by Su Chan quietly by magic, but he still felt a stab of pain in his eyes . He tried to open his eyes, but his vision was blurred . He could only see the figure of Su Chan jumping . Shrieks and whines kepting from all around .

    Kris and Tom, who arrivedter, were stunned . Tom looked at Su Chan, who toppled one thug everytime she moved . He looked shocked and said, ¡°Jesus, do all Chinese know kung fu? How can this girl be so good at it?¡±

    He had a lot ofbat experience, and naturally knew now that this sneak attack spectacle could not have been arranged in advance . Although Su Chan¡¯s strike looked weak and her figure looked erratic like a ghost, as she touched a person with her hand, shrieks like a dying pig came .

    Kris also stared at her as if she couldn¡¯t believe what was happening .

    These thugs were invited by Xie Fei and had cost him a lot of money . They nned to scrap Li Yundong this very evening . Although Li Yundong was a real tough man, they never expected that the delicate little beauty beside him was a master .

    When Su Chan beat down the sixth man, the thugs were obviously scared . Their eyes showed a stab of fear and hesitation, and they began to stop .

    A thug close to Li Yundong gritted his teeth and chopped at him with a knife . He was full of wishful thinking: ¡°He had to at least hit Li Yundong once, then he would immediately flee . Only in this way could they report on their mission . ¡±

    At the same time, Li Yundong just recovered his eyesight . He watched the knifeing toward him and then caught it with his hand, holding the knife with his five fingers .

    The thug was horrified and seized the knife with force, but the de could not move under Li Yundong¡¯s fingers . It was as if it was not a hand but a big iron tong!

    Li Yundong was angry, so he forcibly pinched the de with his finger and broke it in half . Then he picked up the thug with one hand and hideously said, ¡°Tell me, who sent you!¡±

    This thug was frightened by Li Yundong . He had never seen such a man who could grab a knife with bare hands .

    His legs trembled and he answered, ¡°It¡¯s Xie Fei...¡±

    Li Yundongughed angrily, ¡°Well, it seems that he is holding a grudge! Okay, you go back and tell him that I ept him as an enemy . Let¡¯s wait and see if he will die first or I will die first! He¡¯d better not appear in Tiannan University otherwise, I will throw him down from the teaching building . I will do what I say!¡±

    Then, Li Yundong pped the thug¡¯s face, making him scream and spit out two teeth . The thug covered his mouth and began to flee, not daring to look back .

    Su Chan had knocked the thugs around her to the ground at this time . She kept in mind thew that a cultivator could not kill any secr people by magic . She just disabled them and injured these thugs¡¯ internal organs with her strength . After they went back, they would suffer severe internal injuries of various types within a year and could no longermit any evil .

    Li Yundong walked up to Su Chan without looking at the wailing thugs around her . He looked over at Su Chan and asked with concern, ¡°Are you all right?¡±

    Su Chan smiled, pointing at the thugs on the ground, and said with a smile as if she was asking for praise, ¡°How is that? I told you I was great . ¡±

    Li Yundongughed, but he quickly straightened his face, feigning anger and said, ¡°Never ever hit someone in the future!¡±

    Su Chan was expecting praise from Li Yundong . After hearing this, she pouted her lips . ¡°I hate you . You should praise me!¡±

    Li Yundong pinched the little girl¡¯s nose and said, ¡°No matter if someone else injures you or you injure someone else in the future, I will worry, understand? You should leave this kind of thing to me!¡±

    Su Chan felt warm and felt happy . She smiled and wiped the remaining lime powder off Li Yundong¡¯s face with her hands . ¡°You have be a big dirty cat!¡±

    Only then did Li Yundong remember that he still had lime powder on his face . He immediately cleaned his face with his clothes and scolded, ¡°This Xie Fei is really vicious . It¡¯s good that you were around, or I would have been turned into meat sauce today!¡±

    At this point, Li Yundong seemed to think of something . He said to Kris and Tom, who were stunned not too far away, ¡°You two saw it . They started it . Su Chan and I were defending ourselves . ¡±

    Tom and Kris both looked silly at this moment, and they could not react . They nodded subconsciously .

    After they watched Li Yundong take a taxi and leave with Su Chan, Tom shouted with shing eyes, ¡°I must learn from him . He is too awesome!¡±

    Kris gave him a grumpily look when she thought of another problem; she immediately stamped her feet angrily . ¡°That bastard always lies! Didn¡¯t he say that his kung fu was not suitable for women? Why is that girl so cool?¡±

    In Kris¡¯s view, Su Chan must have learned kung fu from Li Yundong . She didn¡¯t know that, in reality, Su Chan was Li Yundong¡¯s cultivation guide .

 Chapter 62

    Chapter 62

    Chapter 62 Popr Star of the Campus

    For the leaders and teachers of Tiannan University, today¡¯s events were aplete sess, except for the little disharmony...

    Although it waste at night, the school¡¯s leaders and teachers still held a meeting to summarize and discuss the performance and mistakes of the evening events .

    ¡°As I said, this student was a ck sheep and must be kicked out of school!¡±

    Director Qian pped his hand hard on the table, and his hat also fell due to this action, blocking one eye, which looked very funny .

    ¡°Think about it, he nearly killed someone at the party, and he taught foreigners swear words! It¡¯s embarrassing for the city leaders! ¡±

    What happened backstage could not be hidden from the teachers and they had known clearly about it . Director Qian seized the opportunity and made up his mind to pull out this eyesore!

    Although other teachers did not have any direct conflicts with Li Yundong, they also heard more or less of Li Yundong¡¯s recent deeds .

    For such a student, the teachers were disgusted from the bottom of their hearts, especially Mr . Liu, who had fought with Li Yundong before .

    Since he argued with Li Yundong at the school gate, he responded and said, ¡°I agree with Mr . Qian . Students like him will cause trouble sooner orter if he stays in our school! See what he has done over these past few days! He stirs up trouble all the time . ¡±

    The president of Tiannan University went abroad for an inspection and the vice president naturally took charge of all the school¡¯s affairs . President Ke pushed his reading sses, coughed, and said slowly, ¡°However, the exchange students at the University of Pennsylvania favor Li Yundong . ¡±

    Director Qian immediately said, ¡°President Ke, Li Yundong almost killed Tom with one punch and taught him to use dirty words . What impression could they hold? Others will think our school is full of such students! ¡±

    President Ke stopped talking . After a while, he said, ¡°But anyway, he has contributed a lot to tonight¡¯s events and was considered arguably the most popr person . If he is dismissed for no apparent reason, it would be seen as unreasonable . ¡±

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    President Ke still had a little affection for Li Yundong . If it weren¡¯t for Li Yundong, the party would have turned into a joke . Even if he were not affected, Tiannan University would inevitably be affected and impacted .

    Seeing President Ke speak for Li Yundong, Director Qian knew it would be difficult for him to expel Li Yundong . He was unwilling, but he could not say anything at this time . He just snorted and did not open his mouth again .

    President Ke nced at him and made concluding remarks for the discussion on this issue, ¡°Well, let¡¯s end it and move to the next issue . ¡±

    At the end of the schoolmittee meeting, Director Qian, who was walking in the back of the group, was held back by Mr . Liu . ¡°Director Qian, in fact, it is not difficult to remove the ck sheep . ¡±

    Director Qian was somewhat surprised and asked, ¡°Oh?¡±

    Mr . Liu smiled and said, ¡°The final exam ising soon . I have already inquired about it . This semester, the student has missed more than 40 sses so he cannot take the exams for several subjects . He can only take exams for the remaining two required courses . As long as he does not get credit for these two subjects, then...¡±

    Director Qian smiled clearly and said, ¡°In this way, we can talk him out?¡±

    The two teachers smiled and felt empathy for each other .

    Compared with some unscrupulous teachers, college students were much more straightforward .

    The school forum was almost down that night, with arge number of students logging onto the campus forum, posting and almost crushing the server .

    Cheng Cheng, who had taken a shower in the dormitory, sat in front of theputer and clicked on the campus Jianghu section of the campus forum . The first page waspletly covered in selfie videos of the school event tonight . The first highlighted post was about Li Yundong .

    Cheng Cheng shouted excitedly to Feng Na in the bathroom, ¡°Na Na,e and see! Come and see!¡±

    Seeing Cheng Cheng¡¯s excitement, the other roommates in the dormitory came to look at theputer . After a while, Feng Na also came out, revealing her white legs . She asked while drying her hair, ¡°What are you looking at? Why are you so excited?¡±

    After seeing the video, Feng Naughed . This was the very video of Li Yundong¡¯s performance at the event .

    ¡°Why are you looking at this? Haven¡¯t you seen it? It was taken with a mobile phone and is too unclear! ¡±

    Cheng Cheng looked back and smiled, ¡°How can they be the same? This is the third angle of view . Li Yundong is very handsome!¡±

    Feng Naughed . ¡°That¡¯s right . That¡¯s why I made a junior brother my idol . ¡±

    The roommates in the dormitory all startedughing and shouting, ¡°Well done, you had a n already . Na Na! Tell us quickly . How is it going?¡±

    Feng Na felt a stab of pain in her heart for no reason and looked gloomy . Seeing this, Cheng Cheng quickly changed the subject . ¡°Hey, look at thements . They are funny!¡±

    Only then did all the girls shift their focus . They gathered around theputer one by one to watch thements and read them out in a low voice .

    ¡°Damn, Tiannan University has talent . When did this happen?¡±

    ¡°What is called crouching tiger and hidden dragon? This is . He was so impressive . It was awesome!¡±

    ¡°As a student of Tiannan University, I am proud!¡±

    ¡°Awesome people are always keeping a low profile . ¡±

    ¡°Are you saying that Li Yundong is not low profile, so he is not awesome?¡±

    ¡°Oh~ He should be naked to do that!¡±

    ¡°The sixth floor is reasonable . I agree with you!¡±

    ¡°The sixth floor gets the point!¡±

    ¡°Well, ording to the theory of the sixth floor, Li Yundong is still an awesome person because he was not naked!¡±

    ¡°Five hundred years ago, Zhang Sanfeng a . k . a . Zhang Zhenren lived in the Wudang Mountains, while five hundred yearster Li Yundong, Li Zhenren lives in Tiannan City! Guys, if you are interested, please contact the disciple of Li Zhenren . Male student dormitory 406, the telephone number is 134***54657 . ¡±

    ¡°Fu*k, you idiot . They don¡¯t belong to the same sect!¡±

    ¡°You go away and don¡¯t mess up with us! All of you, I am the 49th generation sessor of Li Zhenren¡¯s family . I promise I¡¯m real! If you want to submit to the door, please contact the male dormitory 108 . Since I have lost my cell phone the day before yesterday and have not reissued my cell phone card so far, only the contact code is left . The secret code is: Long live God! ¡±

    ¡°What the f*ck . Li Zhenren¡¯s 49th generation sessor? Li Zhenren is less than 20 years old this year, so how can he have a 49th generation sessor? Are you from cell division or gene cloning? Long live God, how ridiculous!¡±

    The girls read thement one by one, and nearly burst intoughter . Cheng Chengughed until tears flowed down her face and fell on Feng Na . She gasped and said, ¡°No, my intestines are going to burst . ¡±

    Feng Na also smiled tearfully, ¡°These people are so funny!¡±

    Whileughing, the girls went back to their beds and logged on to theirputers one after another . In the Jianghu section of the school forum, they followed people to brag . In only one hour, Li Yundong¡¯s video had more than 1,000ments .

    When it exceeded 1,000, the students of Tiannan City University could not help eximing and sighing, ¡°This is definitely the most powerful post of Tiannan City University since it was founded . It can be called the first post of Tiannan University!¡±

    But the most impressive thing about this post was not the stunning quantity, but the fans¡¯ great attack power .

    Since Li Yundong¡¯s video was posted, many people had been saying that they cheated in the show with absolute certainty, ¡°How could there be a kind of kung fu that could hit people from a distance in the world? Is he, Li Yundong, practicing the dragon-strike or the Buddha¡¯s palm? In my opinion, this is another plot by a so-called Qigong master! ¡±

    But soon, these remarks were attacked by the students who watched the show that night . These bored students attacked the conspiracy theorists with all kinds of sharp, pungent, and vitriolguage .

    At first, these conspiracy theorists were able to argue based on reason and refute it harshly . However, as the war progressed, more and more students returned to the dormitory and logged onto the campuswork, and more and more people joined the fan groups of Li Yundong to attack anyone who spoke evil of Li Yundong crazily .

    Gradually, these conspiracy theorists began to lose, especially when it came to their families . They began to retreat one by one from the top post of the Tiannan University .

    When thements exceeded 2000, thest one called ¡®Love Forever¡¯ finally retreated . At that time, the fans felt lost since they had no enemy and no ce to drain all their energy .

    At this time, someone was so idle that they clicked open a post of the selection of the most popr male students on campus, which listed the school hunks of the universities in Tiannan City .

    As a result, all the people in the Jianghu section immediately switched to the gossip section and added more than 1,000ments under this post in an instant . Li Yundong was elected the No . 1 most popr student in Tiannan University with 95% of the votes . Zhao Yujian, the former school hunk, was not even nominated .

    But this is not the end, Cheng Cheng who wasn¡¯t satisfied, rolled her eyes, and secretly wrote another post, called ¡°Who is your most perfect male partner?¡±

    As a result, Li Yundong¡¯s numerous female fans once again put Li Yundong on the list, with an election rate of 97% .

    Cheng Cheng did not stop and added another post, ¡°Who is your most perfect female partner?¡±

    As Feng Na¡¯s best partner, Cheng Cheng, of course, voted for her sister, as well as her roommates, but this time the result was unexpected to the girls .

    ¡°Li Yundong¡¯s Secret Girlfriend¡± won the throne by an amazing number of votes, beating Zhou Qin, the school babe of Tiannan University, Feng Na, and others .

    ¡°Conspiracy, this is definitely a conspiracy!¡± Cheng Cheng was exasperated . ¡°This is the boys¡¯ revenge on us girls for supporting Li Yundong just now!¡±

    ¡°Sisters, we have to fight back! Can you allow the native school hunk of Tiannan University to be taken away by a girl of unknown origin?¡± Cheng Cheng cried out in several female students¡¯ QQ groups of Tiannan University . Immediately, the forum of Tiannan University boiled and a huge verbal battle began .

 Chapter 63

    Chapter 63

    Chapter 63 I Am Jealous

    Cheng Cheng was right . When the boys saw the previous post, they became jealous and couldn¡¯t help, but start thinking of the little beauty who was with Li Yundong and retaliated against the girls of Tiannan University .

    As the saying goes, there is no smoke without fire . The boys and girls immediately started a fierce attack because of this post . The girls kept enumerating the advantages of Yundong Li, such as ¡°fightable, humorous, funny, handsome, masculine in appearance, gentle, and considerate in treatment of girlfriends¡±, etc . In order to attack the shorings of the boys such as ¡°no sense of responsibility, no excuse, no ambition, no interest, barbarity, rudeness, and sissy¡± etc . ¡±

    Seeing this, the boys naturally didn¡¯t want to be outdone .

    They listed the advantages of Su Chan one by one: ¡°She is beautiful, but not arrogant or fragile, lovely, and generous . She is not as vulgar and disgusting as girls nowadays who always talk about money . The most important thing is she looks more beautiful in non-branded dresses than movie stars, which means she is simple and in living!¡±

    Nowadays, wars between men and women could never end . Womenined about no good men left in the world on various asions, and men repeatedlyin about women¡¯s vanity and philistinism!

    Who started this? The powerful, rich men who seduced women to be their lover or the beautiful, ambitious women who wanted to be wives without suffering?

    Which came first? The chicken or the egg?

    It was a problem worth considering .

    When it gradually came to sensitive social issues, everyone inevitably felt the weight of the topic . Some people begin to withdraw from the debate and meditate slowly . The heat of the gossip forum had obviously slowed down .

    But at this time, suddenly aizen called ¡°I am an otaku, and I don¡¯t give a damn about you¡± wrote ament under the post ¡°Who is your most perfect female partner?¡± He said, ¡°Damn, who wrote this post? Does he want to live or not? Does he dare to have sexual fantasies over my Su Chan?¡±

    Thisment suddenly stirred up a thousand waves, and almost at the same time, hundreds of studentsmented on this message to swear at him, 99% of which were male .

    After a while, this ID added some words and made the forum explode, ¡°Motherfucker, you guys are really crazy . I am Li Yundong and Su Chan is my girlfriend! I will beat whoever dares to have dirty thoughts of her!¡±

    Li Yundong?

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    It was Li Yundong!

    Li Yundong was online!!

    The news spread throughout the forum and the various QQ groups on campus . The students who were already bored felt reinvigorated . Some students who had previously went to bed were awakened and re-entered the school forum .

    Many of them questioned the identity of this ID and asked, ¡°How can you prove that you are Li Yundong? I can say that I am Li Yunxi!¡±

    Li Yundong was surfing the Inte at his new home with aptop at this time . After he came back, he took a shower and practiced for a while . He was bored and wanted to sleep, but too many things happened tonight that he couldn¡¯t sleep . He tried to talk to Su Chan about why she knew kung fu, but he didn¡¯t know how to start .

    Li Yundong was in a dilemma when he started theputer and looked at the school forum out of boredom .

    Before Su Chan appeared in his life, he was a frequent visitor to this forum, but he was a standard otaku at that time who was not famous in the school so he could not cause any attention .

    But now it was different . His casualment on the forum immediately caused an uproar .

    ¡°How can I prove that I am Li Yundong?¡± Li Yundong looked at this reply and couldn¡¯t help, butugh .

    ¡°You tell me how I can prove it!¡± Li Yundong replied .

    Immediately a boringment in the forum followed, ¡°Tell us the three measurements of your chest, waist, and hips!¡±

    And then some people took it seriously and suggested, ¡°It¡¯s very simple . Tell us your phone number, and then we can verify it by calling you! If you are Li Yundong or not, it will be known . ¡±

    Li Yundong felt amused and replied, ¡°How do you know that you are talking to me? Can you recognize my voice?¡±

    The fact that he didn¡¯t try to get out of it made most of the people on the Inte began to believe that this ID was Li Yundong . They couldn¡¯t help providing strange ideas . One ID called ¡°Sun Mulberry¡± said, ¡°I am Li Yundong¡¯s ssmate . I will know his voice . ¡±

    Someone immediately agreed and elected the person whose ID called ¡°Sun Mulberry¡± to call Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong was swayed by these people and posted his mobile phone number on the Inte impulsively .

    As soon as he posted it, a phone call came in . Li Yundong answered and said, ¡°Hello? Who is it?¡±

    A girl excitedly said, ¡°Lily, it is really Li Yundong!¡±

    A girl¡¯s voice sounded familiar and came from the phone . ¡°Is it really? No, let me speak to him!¡±

    Since a mobile phone had the function of storing a phone number, although Sun Li had contacted Li Yundong several times before, she didn¡¯t remember Li Yundong¡¯s number . Just now, she was on the forum looking for fun . At this time, as soon as she knew the number really belonged to Li Yundong, she suddenly took the phone and shouted, ¡°Hey, hello? Li Yundong, is that you?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly . ¡°My ss leader, howe you are everywhere?¡±

    Sun Liughed . ¡°Li Yundong, congrattions, you are famous . You have be the most popr student in our school!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°What? Who wants this? Hurry, do you know the moderator of the campus forum or not? Please ask him to delete the post of my girlfriend . It is annoying!¡±

    Sun Li said strangely, ¡°Hey, as soon as you be famous, you dare to order me around! You have changed . Do you know that?¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know how to react . ¡°My good ss leader, do me a favor, please!¡±

    Sun Li smiled and said, ¡°I can¡¯t help you . You should pray for yourself!¡±

    After that, she hung up .

    While Sun Li and Li Yundong were talking on the phone, her roommates had sent the message to confirm that this number belonged to Li Yundong .

    ¡°It really is Li Yundong, I just talked to him!¡±

    ¡°Haha,e on, students . If you want to listen to Li Yundong¡¯s maic voice, please quickly dial this number or his mobile phone will be too busyter!¡±

    Just as one might expect, the second Li Yundong hung up, an unknown number dialed in . Li Yundong answered it and a sweet and pleasant northeastern ent came out, ¡°Is this Li Yundong? Oh, big brother . Oh, it¡¯s really you! Oops, you are so busy tonight . Tell you what? I am worshiping you now . What? You don¡¯t believe me? My words are true indeed . I mean it! Hey, are you listening? Hello?¡±

    Li Yundong hung up the phone with a strange face and muttered, ¡°What a bother!¡±

    However, just as he hung up the phone, another number dialed in . Li Yundong answered it and this time it was a woman who sounded like Zhang Fei (a famous muscr male character) . She said in a Shaanxi dialect, ¡°Oh my god . Are you really Li Yundong?¡±

    Li Yundong was scared by her voice and trembled, immediately hanging up the phone .

    But he just pressed the button, the phone rang again!

    Li Yundong was furious . He turned the phone off immediately and threw it aside .

    Meanwhile, the school forum had exploded . People who got through the phone bragged in the forum while the ones who failed sighed .

    While looking at the crazily refreshed posts on the forum, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing . ¡°They really are extremely bored!¡±

    Su Chan came out of the bathroom after her shower . She was wearing one of Li Yundong¡¯s shirts and was naked underneath . She was wearing Li Yundong¡¯srge pajama bottoms and her crystal feet were revealed to be in sandals .

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter with you? Who did you talk to?¡± Seeing Li Yundong sitting alone at his desk and sulking, Su Chan smiled and sat next to Li Yundong .

    Looking at this perfect girl in front of him, Li Yundong was enraged, ¡°Someone is admiring you and I am jealous!¡±

    Su Chan giggled and suddenly kissed Li Yundong¡¯s face . She took his arm and said, ¡°Master, I belong to you and only you . No one can take me from you!¡±

    Li Yundong deliberately showed a look of doubt and asked, ¡°Really?¡±

    Su Chan smiled and her eyes turned into crescent moons . Her sweet smiles melted Li Yundong . She said, ¡°Yes, my master!¡±

    Li Yundong was very satisfied . He smiled and hugged the little girl with a smile . ¡°That¡¯s good . Let me check on you . Come over, I will check your body!¡±

    Su Chan giggled, stood up, and ran into her bedroom . Then she stretched out her head and made a face at Li Yundong . ¡°No, no! You will do bad things . ¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s previous unhappiness had disappeared instantly . He said eagerly like the wolf who was disguised as the grandmother and rushed toward Su Chan, ¡°I will eat you up today!¡±

    Su Chan screamed and mmed the door shut . Laughter that sounded like a silver bell came through the door .

    While the young couple wasughing and joking, the school¡¯s forum was finally smashed by the excited students . The server waspletely down, and the students had to turn off theputer and return to reality from the virtual world .

    Holding her chin with one hand, Zhou Qin looked at the downloaded video of Li Yundong over and over again . She had a soft smile on her face which was motionless on weekdays .

    ¡°He wille to my party tomorrow . I am looking forward to it!¡±

    However, when Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes fell on the forum page that had been dead, her two nice eyebrows immediately squatted together .

    ¡°Who is the mysterious girl with Li Yundong?¡± Zhou Qin sighed sadly .

    ¡°Previously she could get anything she wanted . When she finally favored a boy, he belonged to someone else . Could she get him again?¡±

    Zhou Qin was lost in thought .

    At this time, no one would know that Zhao Yujian was sitting in his bed and staring at theputer . The screen of theputer showed the forum page of Tiannan University, and his face was dull . A hint of terrible light condensed in his eyes .

 Chapter 64

    Chapter 64

    Chapter 64 Vow to Learn from You as a Disciple

    When Li Yundong and Su Chan came to school the next day, he found that no matter where he went, there would be someone paying attention to him as they kept pointing and whispering .

    As he entered the ssroom, the students who were chatting became quiet, and then turned to Li Yundong .

    The ss leader, Sun Li, could not help pointing at Li Yundong and shouted, ¡°Haha, the big star has arrived!¡±

    The ssmates boiled, and they surrounded Li Yundong, handing a notebook or paper to him . ¡°Big star, hurry and sign your name!¡±

    ¡°Li Zhenren, ept me as a disciple, hehe! Of course, before that, sign first!¡±

    Li Yundong was shocked . He didn¡¯t expect that, over one night, the students were still so excited . He waved his hand and bragged, ¡°Hey, I always stress that I want to keep a low profile, but you have to give me flowers and smiles . I¡¯m ttered!!¡±

    The ssmatesughed, and Sun Li pointed at Li Yundong and loudly said, ¡°Hey, he is proud . ssmates, what should we do?¡±

    The ssmates were anxious to stir up trouble andughed . ¡°Take off his shirt and pants and throw out his shoes!¡±

    Seeing this, Li Yundong was in a hurry to run . He turned around and saw the students who attended the international university exchange meeting, such as Kris and Tom,e over .

    Compared with the students who were enthusiastic in the ssroom, Li Yundong was even more afraid of facing these foreigners . In any case, he had made fun of them and humiliated them . It was ultimately not right .

    ¡°Brothers and sisters...¡± Li Yundong quickly turned back and asked for mercy . ¡°Listen to me! I will definitely sign for you, but now the foreigners areing and we can¡¯t let them see our awkward behaviors . We are on the same team . Please be reasonable . ¡±

    The students shouted in agreement, and some unconstrained girls secretly looked at Li Yundong, whileughing . ¡°We can wait!¡±

    It was only after that did Li Yundong sit down in his seat . He took a long breath . Su Chan, who was at his side, was puzzled and asked, ¡°Why do they want your signature?¡±

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    Li Yundong thought for a moment and said, ¡°Well, some people think that if you are a star, or you have the potential of being a star, they will ask for your signature . When you are famous, they can show it off to others or sell it for money . ¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes lit up . ¡°Can your signature be sold for money?¡±

    Li Yundong said, ¡°If I be a big star in the future, of course, it can be sold . ¡±

    Su Chan smiled . ¡°Then I want your signature, too!¡±

    Li Yundong saw her cute face and could not help smiling . ¡°For what?¡±

    Su Chanughed and said, ¡°I want as many of your signatures as possible, and I will be a rich woman in the future!¡±

    Li Yundong rubbed her head in a doting way . ¡°Idiot, the few the better! Moreover, my signature is worthless!¡±

    Su Chan pouted her mouth, and suddenly felt bored . ¡°Is that so?¡±

    Li Yundong was irritated by her cuteness and couldn¡¯t help whispering in her ear, ¡°If you want, I will sign only for you . Then the signature will be worth a lot!¡±

    Su Chan became happy and asked, ¡°Really?¡±

    Li Yundong refrained from smiling and added, ¡°It can¡¯t be more real! But, do you have paper or a notebook for that?¡±

    Su Chan always apanied Li Yundong to school with empty hands, so she had nothing . She suddenly showed a distressed look . ¡°I don¡¯t have it so what should I do?¡±

    Li Yundong whispered in Su Chan¡¯s ear, ¡°I can sign on your body...¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s breath cause Su Chan to feel the urge to itch, and her body was soft . She giggled, ¡°Phew, you should feel shame!¡±

    As Li Yundong had be more and more intimate with Su Chan, he dared to say more and more dirty words, and he became bolder . When he was going to tease the little girl again, someone sat next to him .

    Li Yundong turned his head and saw that Kris looked at him with enthusiasm . Then a few people sat in the back row . Tom¡¯s head stretched out and said to Li Yundong, ¡°Master!¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head and sighed, ¡°You two are really patient . You are going back to the United States in two days so why do you bother? It is better to leave a good impression of yourself! There are many scenic spots in Tiannan University that you should go and see . Ok?¡±

    Tom listened to Li Yundong speaking Chinese nkly . He couldn¡¯t understand any of it, but thest word . So he quickly nodded his head like a rattle drum to express his existence . ¡°OK, OK!¡±

    Li Yundong was amused by Tom andughed when Kris, who was next to him, turned her head and shouted at Tom, ¡°Shut up!¡±

    Tom was stunned and frightened . He said to Kris, ¡°Kris, how did I offend you?¡±

    Kris said, ¡°This guy is trying to get rid of us . He dislikes us!¡±

    Tom suddenly looked sad and hurt, and said to Li Yundong, ¡°Master, you have greatly hurt my heart . I am sincere and very solemn . I really want to learn from you as a disciple!¡±

    Unfortunately, Li Yundong could not understand a word of his sincere confession . After Kris tranted it for him, Li Yundong thought about it and said, ¡°Since you feel that you are sincere, then I will sincerely tell you that if you can learn Chinese and settle in China, I will teach you . Otherwise, it is absolutely impossible!¡±

    The reason why Kris came to Li Yundong today, firstly, was that they were international exchange students and they had to listen to a course of Tiannan University . Secondly, when she returned to her ce of residencest night, she thought about it for a long time and she was very unwilling to leave like this as she had never been treated like this since she was young .

    Bing a disciple was not important . She had to win credit for herself .

    <strong>***Editor Note: There was several paragraphs of nation bashing between Kris and Li Yundong and the trantor didn¡¯t feelfortable tranting it so it has been omitted out of respect for the trantor . Just know a few lines of argument were here that made Kris mad . ***</strong>

    The rest of the exchange students of the University of Pennsylvania who knew Chinese heard what was said and became angry and immediately said to Kris, ¡°Kris, forget it . Don¡¯t be pushy . Maybe he has such rules . ¡±

    ¡°Yes, Kris, I heard that the Chinese take this seriously . ¡±

    As a Chinese expert in the university who was also studying the Chinesenguage and literature as well as ancient Chinese history, Kris enjoyed the reputation of ¡°Venus with wisdom and beauty¡± . How could she not understand what they were talking about?

    She took a deep breath and her anger subsided, but her eyes faintly showed a stubborn look . She lowered her voice and said, ¡°I won¡¯t give up . You will ept me as an apprentice sooner orter . Of course, with him!¡±

    Kris pointed to Tom who was sitting in the back row .

    Li Yundong thought that this foreign girl was really like a Hunan girl as they often were impatient and dominant! She did it anyway even though she knew it was impossible .

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Well, let¡¯s go and see! I am very curious . What are you going to do to make me your teacher . ¡±

    Tom wanted to learn from him because he really loved all kinds of fighting techniques in the world, especially when he saw Li Yundong kick people in the air . He was like addicts who saw drugs and couldn¡¯t give up such an opportunity .

    However, Kris was just kidding when she said she wanted to be a disciple before . But now, the joke was going to be reality because the foreign girl had her temper raised .

    Li Yundong stopped talking to the foreigners . He looked around when he saw Zhou Qin and Ding Nan entering the ssroom .

    Ding Nan saw Li Yundong at a nce and gently touched Zhou Qin with her elbow, looking in the direction of Li Yundong .

    Zhou Qin also saw Li Yundong . Her eyes became gentle, and she nodded slightly to Li Yundong as a greeting .

    If someone else did this, it was normal, but for Zhou Qin, it was a remarkable thing .

    In the ssroom, people who knew this cool girl felt so surprised that their mouths dropped open . ¡°Zhou Qin actually took the initiative to say hello to people?¡±

    ¡°She also admires Li Yundong?¡±

    ¡°I heard that she was going to hold a birthday party today . Are you invited?¡±

    ¡°No, but the ss leader, Sun Li, is invited . I heard that most of the invited people are handsome or beautiful . ¡±

    ¡°Oh, I really want to see what her birthday party is like . ¡±

    During the whispers of the ssmates, the teacher came in, and everyone slowly calmed down .

    When the ss was over at noon, Li Yundong quickly pulled Su Chan out of the ssroom because there was one more lesson in the afternoon and since they didn¡¯t have time return to their home to have lunch, they had to rush to the cafeteria .

    As soon as they entered the cafeteria, all the people suddenly looked at them .

    One was the favorite student of Tiannan University, and the other was the most perfect girlfriend recognized by the boys of Tiannan University . How could such a couple not attract attention?

    Although Su Chan was generous, under so many people¡¯s gazes, she also felt ufortable . She stretched out to pull Li Yundong¡¯s sleeves and said, ¡°Why are they looking at me?¡±

    Li Yundong said, ¡°You are too beautiful, so they have to look at you . ¡±

    Su Chan suddenly smiled, ¡°Really?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and answered, ¡°I lied!¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s face darkened, ¡°I hate you!¡±

    Then they bought food in the cafeteria and sat down . No one approached them . It was not because they didn¡¯t want to, but Li Yundong and Su Chan looked unapproachable .

    Seeing that there was no one near him for five meters or so, Li Yundong suddenly felt lonely . He sighed, ¡°This is the feeling of being a star!¡±

    When his voice just fell, he heard a girl next to him smile . She said, ¡°Li Yundong, you are so shameless!¡±

 Chapter 65

    Chapter 65

    Chapter 65 Can You Afford It?

    Hearing the voice, Li Yundong turned around and saw Feng Na smiling at him with a lunch box in her hands .

    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s you!¡± Li Yundong smiled .

    Feng Na was wearing a white short-sleeved gown and a pair of jeans that made her legs look long and straight . She was hot and youthful, full of vitality . Her sweet smile stunned Li Yundong for a while .

    ¡°What? Have you be arrogant after bing a famous student?¡± Feng Na said with a smile . She did not sit down immediately, but ridiculed Li Yundong .

    At the same time, Cheng Cheng, as her inseparable friend, also came over with her own dish . ¡°Are you putting on airs? No, you can¡¯t do that before you sign us up!¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t stop smiling . ¡°Did youe here to tease me? Have a seat or I will be a national sinner!¡±

    Feng Na giggled and sat opposite Li Yundong with Cheng Cheng . She asked with interest, ¡°Hey, was that really you on the forum yesterday?¡±

    Thinking of this, Li Yundong was angry . He didn¡¯t dare to turn on his mobile phone now!

    Li Yundong said angrily . ¡°Yes, it was me . ¡±

    Feng Na and Cheng Cheng suddenly burst intoughter loudly, and Feng Na said, ¡°Is that your mobile number?¡±

    Li Yundong, while eating, bowed his head and said, ¡°Of course!¡±

    Feng Na smiled and said, ¡°Are you insane to post your mobile phone number online . You¡¯re screwed . Prepare a new mobile phone card! Do you know how many girls want to give you a love letter and book a room with you now?¡±

    Li Yundong snorted, and the food almost spurted out of his nose . ¡°Are you serious? Are the girls now so unrestrained?¡±

    Feng Naughed and said nothing, but Cheng Cheng added, ¡°Hey, Li Yundong, power on your phone and see how many missed calls and text messages!¡±

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    Li Yundong was curious, too . He took the phone out of his pocket and pressed the power button . After only a while, his mobile phone began to scream wildly . He tried to press the button but it was useless . It kept ringing for five minutes as the message kepting!

    Feng Na and Cheng Cheng sighed involuntarily, ¡°What a famous man! I¡¯m envying you!¡±

    Li Yundong took out the battery of the mobile phone and threw it on the table . Then he said depressingly, ¡°You envy me? I can¡¯t use my mobile phone and wasted a card for no reason!¡±

    Feng Na blinked at Li Yundong and said, ¡°How does it feel of being a star in the school? How do you feel about being chased by people?¡±

    Li Yundong gave her a nk look . ¡°Do you want to know? Easy, you can get famous yourself . ¡±

    Feng Na sighed sadly as if no one had seen her beauty . ¡°I want to, but unfortunately, I¡¯m not qualified! I¡¯m not like sister Su Chan . Wherever she goes, she will get attention . ¡±

    Hearing them talking about her, Su Chan suddenly focused and her eyes smiled like crescent moons . ¡°Are you boasting about me? I like to hear people praise me . Keep talking; keep talking!¡±

    Feng Na and Cheng Cheng didn¡¯t really know Su Chan and were afraid that this beautiful girl was not easy, so they deliberately praised her . But to their surprise, the girl was nice and straightforward . She made Feng Na and Cheng Chengugh with only one sentence .

    Li Yundong also smiled and tapped her nose with his chopstick . ¡°What vanity!¡±

    Su Chan made a face toward Li Yundong .

    Although Feng Na was jealous of the intimate between Su Chan and Li Yundong, Su Chan¡¯s cuteness was universally epted . She gained Feng Na¡¯s favorable impression by one sentence so Feng Na couldn¡¯t help speak for her, ¡°You are wrong . Everyone has vanity in the world . ¡±

    Li Yundong used his chopsticks to point at himself, ¡°Except me!¡±

    Since Feng Na and Li Yundong had been familiar with each other, the former also knew that he was unceremonious . She said, ¡°Stop, no one in the world is not vain! So many people like you, are you are not happy at all? Have you ever smiled inwardly? When the girls shout ¡°Li Yundong, I love you¡±, are you not satisfied?¡±

    Li Yundong thought about it very seriously and said, ¡°You are right about the former one . I admit I am happy . If a girl confesses to me, I will be d, too, but I think you exaggerate!¡±

    As he said, Li Yundong squeezed the earlobe of the little girl who was next to him and smiled . ¡°Because I have her! Even if there are so many nice girls in the world, I only like her . ¡±

    Su Chan giggled and dodged Li Yundong¡¯s hand, pretending to beat him with her chopsticks . ¡°It itches, I hate you!¡±

    Although Su Chan said that she was annoyed, she was smiling with joy and her voice was filled with happiness . Cheng Cheng, who stood aside, looked at Feng Na and couldn¡¯t help, but sigh .

    Feng Na was flustered under Cheng Cheng¡¯s gaze and barely smiled, which was very unnatural . ¡°Li Yundong, you are really stingy . Your girlfriend has to wear boys¡¯ clothes . I saw her wearing a suit a few times . ¡±

    Li Yundong was stunned . Although he was always wearing clean clothes, he didn¡¯t pay attention to these things . He had never thought about buying clothes for Su Chan .

    Of course, the most important thing was that she never asked for it .

    Li Yundong turned his head and looked at the little girl beside him . She was wearing a pair of old sling pants of his . It seemed a little loose . And the casual shirt she wore made her look slim .

    Su Chan was eliminating the braised pork in the te with a spoon while squinting at Li Yundong, who was looking at her, ¡°What are you looking at?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°I want to buy you some new clothes today . What do you say?¡±

    Su Chan said very disapprovingly, ¡°There are clothes at home . Why do you want to buy more?¡±

    Li Yundongughed happily, ¡°Those are mine . You can¡¯t always wear my clothes . ¡±

    Hearing this, Su Chan immediately put down the spoon, stared at Li Yundong, and said pitifully, ¡°Do you dislike me and don¡¯t want me to wear your clothes?¡±

    Li Yundongughed and pinched her cheek . ¡°Stupid, how can a girl always wear boy¡¯s clothes!¡±

    Su Chan pushed away Li Yundong¡¯s hand and made a face to him . ¡°Why can¡¯t they? By the way, the food here is terrible . Yours is better!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Of course . The food here is for the public, but I only cook for you and me . ¡±

    Feng Na looked at Li Yundong with a surprise . ¡°You can cook?¡±

    Li Yundong was proud of himself . ¡°Yes, I¡¯m a chef!¡± and then he said to Su Chan, ¡°Girl, am I a chef?¡±

    Su Chan pouted and a few lovely folds appeared on her nose . ¡°You are an awful chef!¡±

    Feng Na and Cheng Cheng suddenlyughed, ¡°See, she doesn¡¯t agree with you!¡±

    Li Yundong did not expect Su Chan would go against him in public . He was angered and said, ¡°You greedy girl . Every time you monopolized the dishes and empty them! If they were not delicious, why did you take them all and leave not for me!¡±

    Su Chan said with contempt, ¡°If I say that it is delicious, what do you do if they want to have a taste? There is not enough for the two of us . There will be less if the four of us eat together!¡±

    Li Yundongughed his head off and he loved this little girl more . He squeezed her cheeks hard . ¡°Idiot, I will cook more then!¡±

    Seeing that Li Yundong was going to pinch her face, Su Chan was so scared and quickly covered her cheek and jumped back .

    At this time, a sudden scream came from behind, followed by the sound of an iron te falling .

    Li Yundong turned around and saw Zhuang Hui holding a dish with some soup on her . The te in another girl¡¯s hand had been knocked over with soup and water dripping off her skirt .

    The girl who was knocked over the dish looked down . When she found that her skirt had been stained, she suddenly screamed, ¡°Are you blind? Don¡¯t you have eyes?¡±

    Su Chan was shocked and apologized, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t see...¡±

    On the side, Feng Na saw that some soup had sshed on Su Chan, and she took the napkin from her tray and handed it to Li Yundong . Li Yundong took it and helped Su Chan wipe the broth on her arm and clothes . He also apologized, ¡°Sorry, it wasn¡¯t intentional . ¡±

    Zhuang Hui saw Li Yundong at a nce, and suddenly her eyes lit up . ¡°Li Yundong!¡±

    When the girl heard Li Yundong¡¯s name, her anger suddenly dissipated . She wiped the soup with her handkerchief and carefully looked at Li Yundong . ¡°You are Li Yundong?¡±

    Li Yundong nodded and said, ¡°I am sorry to have stained your clothes . ¡±

    The girl did not answer Li Yundong . She approached Zhuang Hui and whispered while looking at Su Chan, ¡°Is she your rival? Let¡¯s teach her a lesson!¡±

    Zhuang Hui wanted to discourage her . When she saw Su Chan, who stood there helplessly, she suddenly felt jealousy in her heart . ¡°This girl is really disgusting . Obviously, she did something wrong, but it seems that she is wronged! Li Yundong cannot be fooled by such a girl who is good at acting!¡±

    People with sophisticated minds can¡¯t help, but think that the whole world is veryplicated . Zhuang Hui¡¯s small mind couldn¡¯t be known by others .

    The girl beside her screamed at Su Chan, ¡°Do you know how much my clothes are?¡±

    Seeing this girl have a beautiful face and a good body shape, Li Yundong knew that she should be a student of the art department . But the mean way she spoke to Su Chan made Li Yundong think that she was a cook, an expert in Sichuan cuisine cook .

    When Li Yundong saw that Su Chan was being wronged, he pulled the girl behind him and frowned . ¡°Hey, we have apologized . ¡±

    Su Chan came out from Li Yundong¡¯s back and said weakly, ¡°I really didn¡¯t mean it . If you agree, I can help you clean it . ¡±

    The girlughed and looked disdainful . ¡°Clean it? Do you know what brand it is? Kristin Dior, Dior! Do you think it is as cheap as the one you wear?¡±

    How could Su Chan know what Dior was? She said with a nk face, ¡°How much is Dior? I canpensate you!¡±

    The girl sneered, ¡°Compensate me? Can you afford it? All your clothes together couldn¡¯t amount to a single thread of my dress!¡±

    Hearing this, Su Chan blushed . Li Yundong was even more furious . He widened his eyes and stared at them . ¡°What did you say?¡±

    Before Li Yundong became famous at the event, few people dared to look him in the eyes, let alone now that he was a school celebrity . Under this circumstances, he looked full of awe .

    Not only did the girl be weaker, but even Zhuang Hui, who had fun watching this, felt afraid and couldn¡¯t help, but pull her arm . ¡°It¡¯s okay, forget it . Let¡¯s go . ¡±

    The girl also took this opportunity . While cleaning the broth with her hand, she muttered and left .

 Chapter 66

    Chapter 66

    Chapter 66 What a Snob!

    Li Yundong and Su Chan could not finish their lunch after the conflict even though Feng Naforted them .

    ¡°Forget it, don¡¯t get angry at such people . I can tell she is snobbish from first nce!¡± Feng Na said with a smile . ¡°Look at her dress . The clothes are Dior¡¯s, the bag is LV, the shoes are Chanel . Her perfume is CK . They are all high-end brands . ¡±

    Li Yundong, who was sulking, was shocked and stared at Feng Na . ¡°How can you know so many famous brands?¡±

    Feng Na smiled a little bit awkwardly . She was very afraid that Li Yundong also regarded her as a snobbish woman . Cheng Cheng, who was listening to them felt something and immediately said, ¡°Li Yundong, do you really think that even if a woman is not snobbish and has no vanity, she doesn¡¯t want to be beautiful? Brand-name clothing is the favorite of any woman unless she is not a woman!¡±

    Her speech wavered Li Yundong very deeply . He nced at Su Chan next to him and shook his head . He hedged, ¡°Forget it . I am going back to the ssroom . ¡±

    He left with Su Chan, but turned around after a few steps, ¡°Oh, where is Zhou Qin holding her birthday party tonight?¡±

    Feng Na answered, ¡°7:30 in the evening at Shengyuan Hotel . ¡±

    Li Yundong was used being at home and didn¡¯t know what kind of hotel it was . He didn¡¯t bother to inquire . He responded and returned to the ssroom with Su Chan .

    When they entered the ssroom, there was still a period of time before ss and almost no one was in the ssroom . Only Li Yundong and Su Chan sat in thest row .

    Li Yundong kept thinking about what Feng Na had said before . Su Chan felt sleepy, and she kept yawning .

    Li Yundong suddenly asked, ¡°Su Chan, I am going to buy you a new suit today . What kind do you like?¡±

    Su Chan put her head under Li Yundong¡¯s arm, and said with a greasy voice, ¡°No need, I am sleepy, so let me sleep . ¡±

    Li Yundong had never had a girlfriend before, so he didn¡¯t know how to get along with the girl . Hearing this, he began to hesitate again . ¡°Seriously? Don¡¯t you need it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine . I like what I am wearing!¡± Su Chan narrowed her eyes and huddled like a kitten .

    Li Yundong remembered the set of traditional red clothes that Su Chan wore before . Su Chan was wearing it when he saw her for the first time, but he didn¡¯t know where it was now .

    Did she put it away?

    It was a pity that this set of long dress was too ornate, or it would be able to shock arge number of people . At that time, they couldn¡¯t look down upon Su Chan!

    When Li Yundong recalled that the little girl appeared at his side, wearing the water-red costume and shocked the school, he couldn¡¯t help, but reveal a smile .

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    He quietly looked at the sleepy Su Chan and didn¡¯t dare to move . He was afraid that he would wake up the girl that God gave him .

    Before ss began, people continued to enter the ssroom . Su Chan sat up with her eyes open . At this time, umonly, Zhou Qin entered the ssroom alone .

    She looked at Li Yundong, hesitated for a moment before she approached him . Then she nodded to Su Chan politely and before looking at Li Yundong and said, ¡°7:30 this evening, don¡¯t forget!¡±

    After that, she smiled at Li Yundong and cutely blinked her eyes .

    Zhou Qin had an almost perfect face . Her eyes were like stars, her eyebrows were bushy, and her facial features were like the beautifuldies in meticulous paintings . She wore a dark blue gown and a brown id skirt that looked elegant and dignified, revealing a generous atmosphere .

    Li Yundong was used to her indifferent style of speaking and was shocked suddenly when he saw this .

    Li Yundong only felt that the world in front of him was brightened at that moment . Zhou Qin¡¯s smile was that charming .

    She deserved to be called the campus beauty . Even if he had previously confessed to her and was rejected, he couldn¡¯t ignore her . What a beautiful girl!

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help nodding and said, ¡°7:30? I will starve to death by then . Do you have food in the hotel?¡±

    Zhou Qin was stunned and immediately understood that Li Yundong must not have participated in such a banquet before . He regarded this banquet as ordinary dinner .

    She smiled and said, ¡°You cane in advance, there will be something to eat . ¡±

    Li Yundongughed happily, ¡°Good, that is ok! Free food and drinks, I will definitely go!¡±

    Zhou Qin smiled and said, ¡°Deal!¡±

    Li Yundong nodded to her, and after seeing her leave, he regained his gaze and realized that Su Chan was sitting beside him .

    Li Yundong suddenly became very embarrassed . He already had Su Chan, how could he stare at Zhou Qin like this?

    He quickly gathered his mind and secretly said, ¡°I¡¯m not ky . It is because Zhou Qin is too beautiful!¡±

    In the afternoon, there was an English ss in arge ssroom . Kris and others exchange students didn¡¯t show up and Li Yundong was also happy to sleep peacefully .

    After school, Li Yundong waved his hand and took Su Chan straight to the Shengyuan Hotel by a taxi .

    When they arrived at the hotel, Li Yundong and Su Chan were stunned while looking at it through the gates .

    It was a six-star luxury hotel with a height of 58 floors . The only five-star hotel in Tiannan could notpare!

    The hotel was splendid with a pointy top and cubical body, like a giant crystal minaret . It was dark gold and had a solemn atmosphere .

    Su Chan looked at the hotel with widened eyes . Although she was a practitioner, she had never seen such a luxurious ce . There were four revolving doors and each of them had flower baskets in front of them . Li Yundong noticed that the flowers in the basket were all freshly picked flowers!

    ¡°Oh my god...¡± Li Yundong was shocked . He felt a bit restrained to enter such a luxurious ce, but fortunately, the hotel¡¯s waiters didn¡¯t look down upon them . They greeted Li Yundong and Su Chan respectfully, but they looked at Su Chan more than Li Yundong .

    The floor of Shengyuan Hotel was made of transparent ss . There was nearly half a meter of hollow space underneath with all kinds of exquisite stones . They felt like stepping on a cloud under the soft and elegant lights .

    ¡°It¡¯s really a luxury and dissipation ce!¡± Li Yundong secretly sighed . If Zhou Qin¡¯s birthday party were not held here, he would never have a chance to enter such a ce in his lifetime .

    Those who came here were all people of the upper ss . They were dressed in suits and their haircuts were clean and bright . The women around them were mostly in gorgeous and luxurious dresses .

    When these people passed through the lobby, they saw Li Yundong and Su Chan . They were attracted by the handsome and beautiful couple, but when they saw what they were wearing, they couldn¡¯t help mocking inwardly, ¡°What a waste of their appearance! How cheap their clothes are!¡±

    Li Yundong wanted to go straight to the hall where Zhou Qin was holding the banquet, but he was very embarrassed because he came too early, and there was no sign on the front of the lobby .

    ¡°Excuse me...¡± Li Yundong had to stop a waiter and asked, ¡°Where should we go to Zhou Qin¡¯s birthday party?¡±

    ¡°Zhou Qin?¡± The waiter was stunned and was about to shake his head .

    But the lobby manager next to him noticed them when they came in . Hearing this, he immediately came up and said, ¡°Do you mean Miss Zhou Qin? Hello, may I know who you are?¡±

    Li Yundong replied, ¡°I am her ssmate . ¡±

    The lobby manager said, ¡°Oh, please go up the third floor, turn right, and you will see it . ¡±

    Li Yundong politely nodded to the lobby manager and said, ¡°Thank you!¡±

    They took the elevator to the third floor . Li Yundong actually saw the wee sign with red and ck text right before the right turn . He smiled and said, ¡°Here it is, but it seems that we came too early . Is it just us two?¡±

    ¡°Is there still one more?¡± Su Chan pointed at a boy who was smoking at the door .

    Li Yundong smiled and went up with Su Chan and asked, ¡°Excuse me, is this the ce where Zhou Qin is holding her birthday party?¡±

    The boy was dressed in an Armani suit and looked handsome, but was quite gloomy . He was smoking with his back facing Li Yundong . Hearing the voice, he turned around and looked at Li Yundong . He was shocked . ¡°This boy was so handsome!¡±

    Although he was also a handsome guy, he was naturally narrow-minded . He hated people who looked more attractive than him, especially a masculine boy like Li Yundong .

    The boy¡¯s voice was full of hostility and asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°I am Zhou Qin¡¯s ssmate and she invited us to attend the dinner . ¡±

    When the boy heard it, he was angry and shocked . Zhou Qin¡¯s birthday dinner had always been arranged by her father . She rarely invited people . This boy was actually invited by Zhou Qin!

    The boy suddenly became jealous, and secretly snorted . Even though he found Li Yundong in regr clothes, he also knew that some people were doing things low-key . Since Zhou Qin personally invited this boy, he must be unique . Li Yundong looked extraordinary, and perhaps he had a strong background .

    But when he saw Su Chan, he suddenly froze .

    Su Chan¡¯s beauty shocked him greatly!

    When he saw Zhou Qin for the first time, he didn¡¯t believe that there were girls who were more beautiful than Zhou Qin in the world, but he saw one today!

    Although Su Chan and Zhou Qin belonged to different types, she was perfect . Her big eyes revealed a pure and innocent purity which were a fatal attraction to a man .

    Li Yundong saw the boy staring at Su Chan, and he was slightly unhappy, so he coughed .

    Hearing the cough, the boy recovered . He suddenly turned his head and stared at Li Yundong . He felt jealousy in his heart . ¡°How could a man like him have such a girlfriend? Why could he win the favor of Zhou Qin?¡±

    The more he thought, the more annoyed he felt . It seemed that there was a fire burning in his chest .

    However, he suddenly noticed that Su Chan¡¯s clothes were not just in, but she even wore men¡¯s clothes, and there was grease on them!

    ¡°Ha!¡± The boy almostughed and he suddenly estimated what kind of person Li Yundong was .

    ¡°You are Zhou Qin¡¯s ssmate?¡± The boy squinted at Li Yundong up and down .

    Li Yundong was angered at this gaze, and he couldn¡¯t help speaking in a low voice, ¡°Yes, if you don¡¯t believe me, you can call and ask!¡±

    The boy sneered, ¡°No need! Even if you really are, I won¡¯t let you in!¡±

    Li Yundong got angry, ¡°Why?¡±

    The boy pointed at Li Yundong . ¡°Look at what you wear? Do you think it is an outing? Do you think this is an ordinary banquet? Please, dress better and show a little respect to the owner here . OK?¡±

    After that, he turned to Su Chan . ¡°The woman with you is so shabby and you dare toe to such a party! Are you not ashamed? I am ashamed! Go, you . You can only cheat little girls . If you are poor, don¡¯t date beautiful women, get it? Get out; I don¡¯t have time to talk to you!¡±

    Li Yundong was almost mad . He wanted to beat him . Fortunately, Su Chan grabbed him and dragged him out of the hotel .

    Seeing Li Yundong being towed away by Su Chan, the boy smiled disdainfully .

    At this time, a girl came out of the banquet hall . She was tall and dressed in a sexy fashion skirt . It was Ding Nan . She didn¡¯t even attend the afternoon ss to help Zhou Qin prepare this banquet .

    ¡°Master He, who were you talking to?¡± Ding Nan nced at the corridor . At this time, Li Yundong¡¯s figure had disappeared into the elevator .

    The boy flicked the ash from the cigar, blowing a smoke ring at Ding Nan . He smiled flightily, ¡°Just two paupers, but you can rest assured . They have gone!¡±

    Ding Nan waved her hand and frowned slightly . ¡°Where did they came from? Oh, don¡¯t stand here, hurry up to help, my waist is going to break!¡±

    As soon as Li Yundong came out of the hotel, he got into a rage, ¡°Why are you holding me . I want to kill the snobbish bastard!¡±

    Seeing that Li Yundong was so angry, Su Chan was very ufortable . She took Li Yundong¡¯s hand and whispered, ¡°Master, is it me who caused trouble for you because I¡¯m too ugly?¡±

    Seeing Su Chan¡¯s look, Li Yundong calmed down andforted her, ¡°Nonsense, you are the most beautiful girl! He is blind . ¡±

    Su Chan knew that he was still angry, she smiled, and said, ¡°Then you go to the dinner party . I will not go in . I will wait for you here . ¡±

    Looking at Su Chan¡¯s sad face, Li Yundong said in a gentle voice, ¡°More nonsense, why don¡¯t you go in!¡±

    Su Chan smiled and said, ¡°Wasn¡¯t that person just saying that I am dressed very shabby? I think, if I don¡¯t go in, it will be fine, you can naturally go in . ¡±

    Hearing this, even though Li Yundong was an iron-casted man, he had to be softhearted .

    He only felt that the Qi was rushing to the top of his head . He was sad and distressed . He grabbed Su Chan tightly and said loudly, ¡°Nonsense! What a ridiculous party! We are out!¡±

    After that, Li Yundong thought of what Feng Na had said before, and the girl¡¯s disdainful look earlier today . Li Yundong was enraged . ¡°No, I want to dress you up as the most beautiful princess in the world and let them see!¡±

 Chapter 67

    Chapter 67

    Chapter 67 Fine Clothes Make the Woman

    Li Yundong, who was deeply enraged, stopped a taxi while heading home with Su Chan . He took a credit card and went straight to the most prosperousmercial pedestrian street in Tiannan .

    The pedestrian street was built by Tiannan City in the past two years, which cost a lot of effort . The car stopped at the intersection of the street since it could not go further, and Li Yundong got out of the car with Su Chan .

    While they were standing on the street, themercial atmosphere of the busy street was blowing around them . The sounds and music of the shops¡¯ advertisement were echoing . In contrast to these ordinary shops, there were long-lined top-level brand stores at the entrance of themercial street .

    Among them, international brands such as Gi, Prada, CK, LV, etc . were aligned, and Chanel still adhered to its tradition of ¡°I have to be in the best position of the street¡± was located at the most arresting location .

    Li Yundong was dazzled by these brand stores for a time . Su Chan was even more stunned . She had never been to such a ce, and the female natural factor of seeking beauty expanded rapidly in her body .

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes were getting brighter and brighter . She pulled Li Yundong¡¯s arm and said, ¡°Are you going to buy me some clothes here?¡±

    At this time, Li Yundong finally believed in what Feng Na said: there was absolutely no woman in the world who didn¡¯t love beauty or to dress in pretty clothes!

    When he saw these dazzling brand stores, he was a little worried since he was afraid that he didn¡¯t have enough money . However, when he saw Su Chan¡¯s excitement and expectation, the slightest hesitation in his heart was thrown into the wind .

    A woman grooms for her lover . If a man could not meet the requirement to make his woman look pretty, he was a total loser .

    Li Yundong waved his hand . ¡°Yes! Buy whatever you want, my little girl . I will pay for all!¡±

    After he said that, the people around them all turned to look at them . Li Yundong muttered, ¡°It feels good to be a local tyrant!¡±

    As Li Yundong waved his hand, Su Chan screamed feverishly and rushed into the Chanel store .

    Li Yundong smiled, shook his head, and entered the store after her .

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    Upon entering the door, the usher at the door bowed and saluted them, ¡°Hello, wee to the Chanel gship store . ¡± Then a shopping guide came over . She was not very beautiful, but looked tall and thin in a nice suit, which was very pleasing .

    ¡°Wee, what can I do for you?¡± The shopping guide said softly .

    Undeniably, Li Yundong had been an all out otaku who barely went shopping in the past . The only ce he would like to go was theputer market . He had no girlfriends, so he didn¡¯t know the secrets of shopping in the mall, especially for brand stores . So he said something that made him regret it very much afterward . ¡°I want to buy clothes for my girlfriend . We will take a look, do you have any rmendations?¡±

    ¡°You need a rmendation? OK! I like this kind of customer most!¡±

    The shopping guide was full of enthusiasm, her eyes shining as if she was looking at a sucker .

    Regrly, before they rmended products, they would carefully observe the customers and evaluate their purchasing power ording to their judgments, so as to rmend simr products .

    Otherwise, if they rmended things worth of hundreds of thousands of yuan to themon while hundreds of yuan to the rich, they were seeking death in such intense businesspetition .

    The shopping guide looked up and down at Li Yundong and found although this boy was dressed in cheap clothes that were in and ordinary, he looked outstanding and masculine as if he was wearing a brand-name suit . She said inwardly, ¡°Is he a low-key boy of some rich family?¡±

    As a shopping guide, she had a pair of sharp eyes . If she only judged people by their appearance and clothes, she was unqualified . She had to consider the purchasing power of the guests, not only from appearance, clothing, manners, talks, but sometimes the better reference was the female partner beside him...

    Although Chanel also sold men¡¯s clothing, it had been famous for women¡¯s clothing . Most of the customers were female and were apanied by male customers .

    The more beautiful the female customers around the male customers, the more generous the male customers would be when they paid the bill . It was an unstoppablew .

    Even if he was a mean person, when his beautiful femalepanion fawned because of pretty clothes, he often bit his teeth and pulled out his wallet .

    Therefore, when the shopping guide¡¯s gaze fell on Su Chan, her stunning gaze had escted Li Yundong¡¯s purchasing power by a few levels .

    In the opinion of the shopping guide, as he dared to bring such a beautiful femalepanion to the Chanel gship store, even if he was not a son of a big family, presumably he was somebody!

    If he was not a rich man, he would not dare to enter the store .

    Therefore, the shopping guide jumped to a conclusion: he was an upstart, a big upstart! She had to rip off him, or she would not achieve her sale target . She got lucky to meet such a customer .

    So she smiled like a flower and came to Su Chan intimately . She took her to the high-end goods area and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what kind of dress thisdy likes . ¡±

    If the customer were experienced, she would ask, ¡°What kind of type do you have here?¡±

    But Su Chan did not understand it at all . She felt that she liked all the clothes here and she had been dazzled, so she said, ¡°Every dress is fine . I think they are all beautiful!¡±

    Great, it looked like she had a good appetite .

    The smile on the shopping guide¡¯s face grew brighter . She took a strawberry-colored dress and said, ¡°This is the main product of our Chanel gship store during the summer . It uses silkce in the sleeve which is hollow in the middle with small round petals . It is refreshing and breathable, and fits the youngdy¡¯s cute temperament . Look at its cor, hem, and skirt . They are delicate hand-stitchedce edges...¡±

    Although the shopping guide spoke to Su Chan, she watched Li Yundong from time to time . She knew thew of shopping and sales for couples who were in pairs: men¡¯s preference was always more crucial than women¡¯s because men were the ones who paid the bill .

    Su Chan took this long skirt, and decided she liked it very much . She held it and delicately struck a pose, smiled, and said, ¡°How does it look?¡±

    Li Yundong sat on a sofa specially prepared for guests and waved his hand . ¡°Have a try, and you will know!¡±

    The guide elegantly pointed to the dressing room . ¡°You can put it on first, and see if you like it . If you don¡¯t, you can change it . ¡±

    Su Chan was thrilled, and she took the dress into the room with a smile . Not long after, she walked out wearing the strawberry-colored dress .

    ¡°Do I look beautiful?¡± Su Chan carried the corners of the skirt with her two hands, and proudly turned around in front of Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong felt his eyes brighten as the pure and lovely girl came toward him . The delicate skirt and pleatedce hem made Su Chan look cuter . Her skin looked like crystal in the warm strawberry color, tempting people to have a bite .

    ¡°Beautiful!¡± Li Yundong nodded hard, and secretly sighed, ¡°Although this girl is born to have a perfect body shape and looks good in any clothes, including my clothes, when she wears such a brand dress, she looks like a goddess!¡±

    It was true that fine clothes made the woman .

    Even though the guide had seen many customers trying on dresses, and sang a lot of praise because ofmercial politeness and courtesy which was often insincere, when she saw Su Chan at this time, she had to admire her sincerely . ¡°You are so beautiful . I have been working here for three years, and I have never seen a girl who looks better than you . If you go on to be a model, you will be a top model at the international level!¡±

    After that, Li Yundong wanted to pay the bill, but Su Chan nced around and found a pure white skirt when her eyes suddenly brightened . ¡°Can I try this too?¡±

    The guide smiled and answered, ¡°Of course . ¡±

    Li Yundong who just got up, sat down again .

    The shopping guide watched Su Chan enter the dress room and said to Li Yundong, ¡°What about her current dress?¡±

    Li Yundong liked the feeling of a next-door girl Su Chan gave off when wearing this dress . He said without hesitation, ¡°I will take it!¡±

    The shopping guide was happy . She knew when men decided to buy the first one, he would buy the second .

    When Su Chan put on the second set of clothes, the guide took the strawberry-colored dress from her, folded it, and put it on the counter .

    Su Chan was wearing a white nted shoulder skirt, and the white satin made her look fashionable and extravagant, especially the revealed shoulders as they made her sexy and charming .

    After all, she was a fox, who knew how to seduce a man by nature without being told . The little girl knew how to show the style and temper of clothes .

    Su Chan put her hands on her waist and twisted her body, one hand stroking her bare shoulders and throwing a wink at Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong suddenly felt a shock . His heart was swaying and his mouth felt dry . He secretly suppressed his impulses . He said inwardly, ¡°What a fascinating girl!¡±

    The shopping guide also looked at her in shock . She suddenly felt that she was embarrassed to stay here since this girl was like a fairy in the red dust, who was specialized to seduce men! Compared with Su Chan, the means that she used to hook men was as simple as a child in kindergarten while the former was at the doctoral level!

    ¡°How do I look?¡± Su Chan turned in a circle in front of Li Yundong, posing like a model . The skirt she was wearing, which was not long, waved, revealing the girl¡¯s white thigh . Li Yundong wanted to tear her dress apart so he could see what was underneath .

    He had been already stunned at this time . The only thing he could do was nod . ¡°Beautiful, very beautiful!¡±

    The guide on the side said hotly, ¡°So?¡±

    Li Yundong said without hesitation, ¡°We will buy this too!¡±

    The guide smiled happily .

    Li Yundong stood up at this moment, and muttered, ¡°Two sets should be enough . ¡±

    Seeing that they would likely going, Su Chan threw herself into his arms and pulled his arm . She said, ¡°I want to have a look at these clothes! I won¡¯t buy them, just look!¡±

    Li Yundong thought that if he didn¡¯t have to buy them, it would be okay to have a look!

    However, was there a cat in the world that didn¡¯t eat a fish after seeing it?

    No!

    Therefore, likewise, there was no beauty in the world that just looked and didn¡¯t buy clothes!

    So his position became one of tragedy...

 Chapter 68

    Chapter 68

    Chapter 68 You Can Try to Shout!

    This Chanel gship store was indeed decent, it didn¡¯t only have arge storefront, but also numerous styles of clothing for normal girls and white-cor women . It even had sexy and fashionable clothes .

    When Su Chan began to try on various styles of dresses, Li Yundong obviously felt that he was going to struggle .

    No matter what kind of clothes she wore, Su Chan could vividly disy the style and characteristics of this set of outfit perfectly . When she was wearing a cute dress, Su Chan was so lovely that Li Yundong couldn¡¯t wait to put this girl in his arms and love her . When she put on a business suit, she looked shrewd and capable .

    Especially when the little girl wore a sexy dress with her navel and shoulders revealing, Li Yundong felt that he was undergoing a test and was tortured with desire .

    Li Yundong liked every set of clothes the little girl had put on . Not only did women love to dress up and be beautiful, but men also enjoyed their own women being beautiful every day .

    In addition, some of the customers in the store who were buying clothes had turned their eyes to Su Chan, and they praised her ceaselessly .

    Naturally, Li Yundong said ¡°very good¡± and ¡°buy it¡± as Su Chan dressed up . When he collected himself, there had been dozens of bags on the counter .

    Li Yundong was shocked . He secretly sneaked a glimpse at the tags of the clothes on these shelves when the shopping guide was helping others and found that these clothes were all worth a few hundred yuan!

    ¡°God...¡± Li Yundong did the math in his heart, and noticed that it would cost him thousands of yuan!

    Li Yundong was secretly surprised, but when he saw the little girl who smiled like a flower and thought of what snobby people had said before, he suddenly made up his mind, ¡°It is not a big deal to buy them all! I can afford it!¡±

    When the little girl came out with another change of clothes, Li Yundong suddenly realized that she had been trying on casual clothes . Since they would attend Zhou Qin¡¯s birthday party, she needed a beautiful dress to surprise everyone!

    Li Yundong asked the shopping guide, ¡°Do you have any dresses to attend a grand asion? Take some to her . ¡±

    As soon as the shopping guide heard this, she was very excited . As a member of the clothing industry, she certainly knew that this kind of dress was a real profit . She endured the surprise and asked, ¡°Excuse me, what kind of a grand asion is it?¡±

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    Li Yundong said, ¡°A very important birthday party . ¡± He thought and was afraid that the costumes introduced by the guide were not shocking enough, so he added, ¡°Arge birthday party . ¡±

    Listening to Li Yundong¡¯s words, the shopping guide immediately understood . She narrowed her eyes andughed . While leading Su Chan to another area, she pointed to a model who was in a purple dress and said, ¡°How about this set?¡±

    Li Yundong fixed his eyes at it and was shocked .

    It was a very fascinating deep purple strapless silk dress . The hand-made skirts underneath were likeyers of clouds, which looked very luxurious .

    Li Yundong could not imagine what she would look like when Su Chan put on this elegant dress . He touched the long skirt with his hand and felt it was smooth and cold . He looked at the price of the long skirt which scared him: 13 thousand!

    ¡°Hiss!¡± Li Yundong took a deep breath . This dress was clearly overpriced .

    The guide immediately smiled and said, ¡°This luxurious purple dress is the current main product of our Chanel gship store . You can let her try it on first . It doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯t buy it . ¡±

    Li Yundong thought about it for a while . He nced at Su Chan and made up his mind . He said, ¡°Well, let her try it on first!¡±

    Su Chan could not remove her sight from the dress ever since she saw it, but she nced at the price and also felt shocked . She didn¡¯t dare to think more about it anymore until Li Yundong let her go have a try . She couldn¡¯t believe her ears . She was surprised and happy . ¡°Can I really try it?¡±

    Seeing that she became very excited, Li Yundong suddenly smiled and said, ¡°Go ahead!¡±

    He said inwardly, ¡°Today, I will disregard everything to satisfy my little girl . ¡±

    Su Chan smiled and took the clothes handed over by the shopping guide and rushed into the locker room . Li Yundong found that he had been waiting for so long that he felt thirsty . He stopped her and said, ¡°You try clothes here . I will go out and buy some drinks for you . ¡±

    At this time, the other female guests in the store who tried clothes on were envious and embarrassed while looking at Su Chan . They said to their male partners, ¡°Look at him who buys everything his girlfriend wants and knows to buy a drink for his girlfriend in case she is thirsty! You don¡¯t even want to buy me a single piece of clothes!¡±

    The malepanions were helpless and had to say, ¡°Well, what do you want? I will buy it for you!¡±

    Li Yundong went out and thought of the words that the woman had just said . He felt proud . It was not a bad thing to have vanity . ¡°The little girl has beautiful clothes, and I have the honor of being her boyfriend . ¡±

    At the entrance to themercial street was a series of shops . Besides clothing, purses, and shoes, there were some specialty stores of internationally renowned brands such as Psychic, Chow Tai Fook, and Swarovski .

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t expect that he had to walk a long way before he found a coco tea shop, and the line in front was very long!

    He didn¡¯t like carbonated drinks . He only drank milk tea, so he had to wait in line . After he bought two cups of milk tea and went back, forty minutes had passed!

    When he returned to the store, the guests who were looking at the clothes almost walked away .

    The receptionist smiled politely at him, and Li Yundong also smiled at her . Then he went straight to the locker room where Su Chan changed clothes .

    He came to the locker room and said, ¡°Hey, I bought you a drink!¡±

    No one answered in the locker room . Li Yundong thought that it was a bit strange there was a squeaky voiceing from inside the locker room, and the door was half open .

    Li Yundong suddenly thought of something . Since the little girl was changing clothes, if he sneaked a look, she would not be angry, would she?

    Li Yundong hesitated, ¡°We have a close rtionship and it doesn¡¯t matter to look at her for once!¡±

    He made up his mind and suddenly smiled . He opened the door of the locker room with the hand holding the cup and shouted, ¡°Surprise!¡±

    However, when he opened the door, he was indeed surprised!

    There was a girl about 160cm tall in the dressing room . She was naked from the waist up, holding a dress in her hand, and staring at Li Yundong nkly .

    The girl looked beautiful and sweet at a young age . She had a baby face, but her chest was indeed majestic .

    ¡°How is it not Su Chan?¡± Li Yundong was dumbfounded and his eyes fixed on the girl¡¯s upper body . He could not help squeezing the cup of milk tea in his hand unconsciously as he felt nervous and the milk tea sprayed on the girl¡¯s face and chest through the straw .

    This picture... was too evil!

    Li Yundong¡¯s head suddenly exploded . He recalled the porns that he had seen before . The pictures of all the actresses shed across Li Yundong¡¯s mind like a tidal wave .

    Li Yundong had never experienced such a thing in front of him so that he stood there, stunned . The girl in the locker room obviously had never had such an experience either . She stood there nkly and even forgot to put her clothes on .

    The two people stared at each other for a long time until Li Yundong gathered his wits . He said in a panic, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sorry, I didn¡¯t mean it!¡±

    After that, he wanted to reach out and tried to wipe the drink off the girl¡¯s face and chest with his sleeves .

    However, before he reached out, the girl suddenly uttered a scream which must have been over two hundred decibels, ¡°Ah!!!!¡±

    Li Yundong was scared and trembled . He took his hands back and covered his ears with the milk tea in his hands, grinning, which was ridiculous .

    The girl screamed and closed the door of the locker room with a m . After a while, she opened the door and rushed out angrily .

    ¡°You rogue, psycho!¡± The girl was filled with indignation as she continued to charge toward Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong felt embarrassed, so he kept retreating . When he retreated to the low sofa behind him, he fell down and hurriedly exined, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sorry, I didn¡¯t mean it!¡±

    ¡°Hey!¡± The girl spat and shouted . ¡°You say that you didn¡¯t mean it? I think you did it intentionally! You not only intentionally did it, but had nned it before you did it!¡±

    Li Yundong was a bit stunned . ¡°Hey, what n?¡±

    The girl pointed at Li Yundong and shouted, ¡°A boy like you, I know that you are a big pervert at first nce . You have been following me for a long time, right? You have been watching me at my doorstep . What do you want to do?¡±

    Li Yundong was confused . ¡°Hey, I think you got the wrong person . ¡±

    ¡°Phew, a wretched, shameless, despicable, sinister, dirty man like you, I will never forget!¡± The girl gnashed her teeth, speaking very fast, and every word she swore sounded clear and loud .

    Li Yundong felt ridiculous . ¡°Hey, are you a talk show actress? You must have got the wrong person! I thought my girlfriend was inside . That was why the misunderstanding happened!¡±

    The girl spat again . ¡°Hey, how can you, a dirty, wicked man have a girlfriend? You don¡¯t fool me . Do you think that I am so stupid?¡±

    Li Yundong felt depressed . He was a little angry and said, ¡°Hey, don¡¯t go too far . I really came with my girlfriend . She changed clothes in this locker room before I left, so I thought she was still in the room! Your locker room was not locked, so how could I know it wasn¡¯t her?¡±

    The girl suddenly became furious, and her chest jiggled . ¡°Are you ming me? You said you have a girlfriend . Who can prove that?¡±

    Li Yundong quickly pointed to the receptionist who wasughing next to him and said, ¡°She can testify!¡±

    The receptionist saw them all looking at her, and quickly stoppedughing . She just wanted to talk when the girl pointed at her and said, ¡°Hey, do you know who I am? Be careful and don¡¯t lie . Otherwise, I will make your store disappear!¡±

    The receptionist looked at her up and down, doubting her words, but she didn¡¯t show it on her face . She said politely in embarrassment, ¡°Miss, he really came with his girlfriend . The store¡¯s surveince video can prove that . ¡±

    Li Yundong suddenly felt relief . Oh my god, finally she couldn¡¯t consider him a voyeur . He almost became a rogue and psycho!

    But the girl was not happy . She said with anger, ¡°Your girlfriend must be ugly and disgusting . How can a man like you have a good girlfriend?¡±

    Li Yundong could tolerate others abuse toward him, but he could never allow others to swear Su Chan . He was furious and said, ¡°Bullshit, my girlfriend is a hundred times more beautiful than you!!¡±

    The girlughed happily . ¡°This is absolutely impossible . If she is beautiful, let me have a look!¡±

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 Chapter 69

    Chapter 69

    Chapter 69 A Diamond Will Bankrupt Him

    After the girl yelled provocatively, the side door of the store suddenly opened with a jingle sound .

    Li Yundong and the girl turned their heads and saw the shopping guidee in with a girl wearing a purple long skirt following . She was Su Chan .

    Su Chan¡¯s two sleek, white shoulders and white vicles were exposed, which looked very sexy . There was a sexy cleavage that made the shape of her chest look full and perfect .

    A crystal diamond ne hung on her white chest, which looked luxurious and extravagant .

    The waist part of the long skirt had a hand-stitched waistline, so the girl¡¯s slim waist looked very fair, and the close-fitting design made her good figure unobstructed .

    Li Yundong looked at Su Chan¡¯s perfect curves for a long time . When he looked down, he saw the lower part of the purple skirt under her feet pile up like clouds . She was like a fairy on a colorful cloud .

    Su Chan perfectly showed the sexy, dignified, and elegant characters of this purple dress . For a time, the store was silent, whether the receptionist who was seeing the fun, Li Yundong who was irritated, or the girl who was so irritated and noisy, all looked at Su Chan silently . They were shocked by her beauty .

    Li Yundong noticed that in addition to this purple dress, she also had her hair done .

    Su Chan¡¯s long, ck hair had been made into a bun, which perfectly echoed the noble character of this dress . Moreover, she was wearing a pair of ck open-toe high heels, which highlighted the girl¡¯s beauty and the fair shape of the body .

    Li Yundong was shocked and forgot to show off to the girl who had quarreled with him before . He said, ¡°You...¡±

    The shopping guide on the side quickly came over and apologized, ¡°I¡¯m sorry . We waited for you for a long time, but you didn¡¯te back . So I took thedy to try a pair of high-heeled shoes in the store next over . When we tried high-heeled shoes, the beauty salon next to it offered a free appointment for thedy, and they only asked for a promotional photo . Thedy agreed, so...¡±

    Li Yundong realized that the beautiful girl had caused a smallmotion, and the beauty salon wanted her to be a live advertisement . He pointed to the high heels and asked, ¡°What about this?¡±

    The shopping guide nced at Su Chan with envy and said, ¡°The owner of the shoe store wants thedy to be their spokesperson, so she gave her a pair of shoes for free...¡±

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    Li Yundong said with amazement . ¡°You promised them?¡±

    Su Chan said with a smile, ¡°No!¡±

    Li Yundong was more surprised . ¡°Then you didn¡¯t pay them?¡±

    The shopping guide next to him exined, ¡°It is notpletely free . The store owner only requested when someone asks about these shoes, thedy tells them about their store . Of course, if thedy is willing to be a spokesperson or a model, then shoes like these will be free in the future . ¡±

    Li Yundong pointed at the gem ne of Su Chan¡¯s chest . ¡°And this?¡±

    The guide exined, ¡°This is the essory that our store specialized for this dress . If you don¡¯t like it, you don¡¯t need to buy it . ¡±

    Li Yundong was shocked . They only wanted to buy a set of clothes, and Su Chan changed all of her clothes from head to toe .

    The girl who argued with Li Yundong was already shocked . She stared at Su Chan, as if she couldn¡¯t believe her eyes .

    ¡°Is there really such a beautiful woman in this world?¡± The girl herself was also a rare beauty . She had been proud of her own beauty from a young age . When she saw such a beautiful person, she couldn¡¯t help, but feel shocked!

    Su Chan¡¯s designer clothes and jewelry were not particrly beautiful . The key point was that she could not only easily control this set of noble and luxurious dresses, shoes and nes, but also gave them a new feeling with her own charm!

    A beautiful woman could show the characteristics and temperament of clothes and jewelry, was already a supermodel, and if she could improve these clothes with her charm, she was more than a model!

    Who was this woman? It seemed that she was the voyeur¡¯s girlfriend .

    No way . It was absolutely impossible!

    How could such a shameless man have a beautiful girlfriend like her?

    The girl shook her head and couldn¡¯t believe the facts in front of her .

    Su Chan saw Li Yundong staring at her, shook her hand in front of Li Yundong¡¯s face, and sighed, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? Don¡¯t you recognize your little girl?¡±

    Li Yundong tried to swallow his saliva and asked, ¡°You are so beautiful that I can¡¯t believe my eyes!¡±

    Su Chan blinked at him and giggled, ¡°I am pretty, but I¡¯m still your little girl!¡±

    Li Yundongughed, only then did he remember the girl who had quarreled with him before . He turned around, one hand holding Su Chan¡¯s waist, and then looked at her provocatively .

    The girl was very angry . She wished she could separate the two and get this pure, beautiful girl out of the ws of this satyr!

    ¡°It¡¯s too irritating . How can I, Shen Hui, be so humiliated!¡± Shen Hui was so angry . ¡°If things go like this, the humiliation I suffered will be in vain . No, it can¡¯t be . I can¡¯t let go of this big satyr so easily! Well, he must be a big satyr!¡±

    The shopping guide nced at Su Chan and turned to look at Li Yundong . Suddenly she said, ¡°Sir, since your girlfriend is so beautiful, do you want to buy a new suit too?¡±

    Li Yundong thought about it and knew she was right . It wouldn¡¯t be right if Su Chan looked like a fairy and he looked like a beggar .

    He thought about it and nodded . ¡°Do you have men¡¯s clothes here?¡±

    At this point, the shopping guide looked at Li Yundong as if he was a gold ingot that could walk . She smiled and said, ¡°The east side of the store is the men¡¯s clothes . Do you need me to help you pick one?¡±

    Li Yundong rarely bought clothes himself, and he was happy that someone would help him, so he nodded .

    After a while, the shopping guide picked a ck suit and handed it to Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong took it and went into the locker room to change . When he came out, everyone¡¯s eyes suddenly brightened .

    Li Yundong looked very masculine and handsome . In this suit, he seemed mature and prudent . When standing next to Su Chan, they looked like a perfect couple .

    Even the angry Shen Hui was shocked upon looking at him . She thought inwardly, ¡°He is quite handsome! No, even though he is wearing in a suit, he is still a brute!¡±

    Li Yundong looked at the mirror carefully, and Su Chan smiled . He said, ¡°Well, we look like a perfect match . You and I are meant to be!¡±

    Su Chan smiled proudly . ¡°Of course!¡±

    Then they looked at each other andughed together .

    The guide and receptionist couldn¡¯t help, but grin and looked at Su Chan with envy .

    Li Yundong said to the shopping guide, ¡°Well, how much is all this in total? Can I pay by card?¡± After that, he took out the bank card from his pocket, and muttered, ¡°My wallet will bleed . How much will they cost? 20,000 or more?

    The receptionist quickly calcted it and said with a smile, ¡°Sir, your total is 78,300...¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s hand trembled and almost dropped the bank card on the ground . ¡°How... how much?¡±

    The receptionist went on to say, ¡°It¡¯s 78,300, and we are giving you a discount so the total is 70,000 . ¡±

    Li Yundong took a deep breath . God . ¡°I have worked hard to save money for several years, and I am going to spend it all! There will be a fiscal deficit, and I will go bankrupt!¡±

    ¡°Are you kidding me?¡±

    Li Yundong was shocked and asked, ¡°That¡¯s too much . ¡±

    Shen Hui finally got a chance to ridicule Li Yundong . She sneered, ¡°Ha, only the ne is more than 50,000!¡±

    Hearing this, Li Yundong subconsciously didn¡¯t want to buy this ne when Shen Hui added, ¡°If you don¡¯t have the money, don¡¯te to such a ce . People like you can only buy cheap clothes!¡±

    Li Yundong was young and easy to anger . Hearing this, he suddenly became furious, and his face turned red . He yelled, ¡°Who told you that I couldn¡¯t afford it!¡±

    Then, he threw the card on the front desk, ¡°Use this card!¡±

    Su Chan pulled Li Yundong¡¯s hand and whispered, ¡°I don¡¯t want this ne . I really don¡¯t want it . If we buy it, we won¡¯t have any money . ¡±

    Although Su Chan sounded reasonable, Li Yundong saw that she was touching the ne on her neck carefully . He smiled and said, ¡°We have bought a horse, how can we not buy a saddle? We can afford it!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart was bleeding . A diamond would bankrupt him!!!

    ¡°I¡¯m so thankful that my card can overdraw, or I would be embarrassed today . ¡±

    Su Chan bit her lip and shook her head . ¡°No, if we have no money, we will live on the streets...¡±

    The unhappiness in Li Yundong¡¯s heart suddenly disappeared . Heughed and went to pat the head of the little girl when he saw the little girl¡¯s beautiful hair . If he touched it, it would be in a mess . He had to take back his hand and waved instead . He said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter . As a man, I will do anything for you . ¡±

    Hearing this, all the people in the store allughed .

    After Li Yundong paid with his card, he and Su Chan went out of the Chanel store with bags in their hands like generals who had won a battle .

 Chapter 70

    Chapter 70

    Chapter 70 Making an Entrance

    Li Yundong and Su Chan stopped a taxi . The driver nced at Su Chan from the rearview mirror and suddenly turned around to stare at her in shock . ¡°Oh my god, are you a movie star?¡±

    As a college student who didn¡¯t work, Li Yundong knew nothing about how difficult it was to make money, so he didn¡¯t care about the 70,000 yuan at all . After hearing the driver say this, he was so delighted that his every pore wasughing . He was one hundred times happier than when he was praised .

    ¡°Do not talk nonsense . Drive to Hongsheng New District!¡± Li Yundong proudly waved his hand .

    Until they left by taxi, the shopping guide at the door took back her gaze and sighed . ¡°s, if I had such a rich and handsome boyfriend, I would die happy . ¡±

    The receptionist on the side ambiguously smiled and said, ¡°What about a man who would die with you in bed?¡±

    The shopping guide smiled and said, ¡°Nowadays, it is easy to find a man who is willing to sleep with you . Men are all fickle! As long as you are beautiful, they will follow you! A man who will do anything for you is indeed rare!¡±

    The receptionist snorted said, ¡°If a man went broke for you, would you marry him?¡±

    The shopping guide raised an eyebrow and said without hesitation, ¡°Yes, I will . Why not? Do I look like a person with no conscience? I believe he will stage aeback!¡±

    The receptionist said, ¡°Are you willing to eat pickles, drink cold water, and live in a rented room without air conditioning in a smoky neighborhood every day? Will you go to work by bus and have to do a lot of housework after work every day?¡±

    Hearing this, the shopping guide was covered in goosebumps . ¡°Hey, is it so horrible?¡±

    The receptionist asked, ¡°If it was so horrible, would you marry him?¡±

    The shopping guide was silent, and her raised eyebrows gradually fell . Eventually, she showed a sad look .

    The two women looked at each other . When they were going toin about why a good man was so hard to find, suddenly, they heard Shen Hui who had been staying on the side say with hatred, ¡°What kind of man is good? I will expose his evil side sooner orter . ¡±

    After that, she rushed out in anger .

    Li Yundong originally wanted to take Su Chan directly to Shengyuan Hotel, but they had so many bags in their hands that it would be inappropriate . What would they look like if they wore dazzling clothes while holding various bags like migrant workers?

    Therefore, they returned home and threw the bags in their hands onto the sofa, and immediately rushed to Shengyuan Hotel .

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    Su Chan sat in the car and the driver in the front row acted the same as the former driver who kept peeking at her from the rearview mirror . Li Yundong was impatient, knocking on the front seat and said, ¡°Hey, look at the road . What if you have a car ident?¡±

    This driver had to return his gaze reluctantly .

    Su Chan pulled Li Yundong¡¯s arm andined, ¡°Yundong, I am starving!¡±

    Li Yundong looked at his watch and saw that it was almost eight o¡¯clock . It was alreadyte . He and Su Chan had spent nearly three hours outside, and even an iron man would be hungry .

    Li Yundong smiled at Su Chan, ¡°When we arrive at the party, you can eat whatever you want until you are full!¡±

    Su Chan was suddenly wild with joy and said, ¡°Really? You won¡¯t say that I overeat, will you?¡±

    Li Yundongughed happily, ¡°I didn¡¯t cook or pay for them . You can have as much as you want . ¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes became bright and the saliva almost flew out from her mouth .

    When they finally reached Shengyuan Hotel and got out of the car, the waiter who opened the door for them stared at Su Chan . Su Chan felt a little weird, so she took Li Yundong¡¯s hand and asked, ¡°What if they kick us out again?¡±

    Li Yundongughed, ¡°I want to see who can drive us out!¡±

    Then he walked inside with Su Chan . When they passed through the lobby, a foreigner who was dragging his suitcase and heading outside nced at Su Chan . His eyes suddenly got big as he continued to walk and kept turning around until he hit the ss door at the entrance . He had to squat while covering his nose .

    Li Yundong felt happy . ¡°You deserve it! Who allowed you to look at her?¡±

    Before he finishedining inwardly, several people around him collided with each other and caused a lot of trouble .

    Li Yundong looked around in a small manner and reached out to let the little girl take his arm . He said in a low voice, ¡°See? They are watching you!¡±

    Su Chan giggled, feeling both excited and afraid . ¡°I¡¯m nervous!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid . I¡¯m here with you! You will not be nervous when you see the food!¡±

    Hearing that she could have food soon, Su Chan¡¯s stomach rang suddenly . She pulled Li Yundong¡¯s arm and said, ¡°Come on, I¡¯m very hungry!¡±

    Li Yundong derided her, ¡°Once I talk about food, you get excited . Are you a pig?¡±

    They entered the elevator and when the elevator door closed, whispers sounded in the lobby .

    ¡°Which family do they belong to?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know . I have never seen them before!¡±

    ¡°Why do I feel that they look a little familiar?¡±

    ¡°I want to say, with this temperament and attitude, they look like the son and daughter of the Shen family!¡±

    ¡°Well, it is possible, it is very possible! Only the Shen family can raise such talents!¡±

    Just as Li Yundong and Su Chan were taking the elevator upstairs, at the corner of the dinner hall, Ding Nan was arguing with a boy, ¡°Young Master He, how could you drive out the guests invited by Zhou Qin?¡±

    Young Master He was the boy who had quarreled with Li Yundong at the door . He said with indifference, ¡°Who are you talking about? How can I not understand you?¡±

    Ding Nan said with anger, ¡°I¡¯m talking about the two beggars that you mentioned before . I have inquired the waiters on this floor! They are friends invited by Zhou Qin!¡±

    Young Master He curled his lip and said, ¡°Zhou Qin¡¯s vision is getting more and more vulgar . How could she y with these people and invite beggars to the dinner party? Is she not afraid to shame the Zhou family!¡±

    If this was the past, Ding Nan would agree with him very much, but in recent times, Li Yundong seemed to have changed into another person . The former Li Yundong was bleak and would disappear immediately when he was thrown in a crowd .

    But now Li Yundong was outstanding . No matter where he went, he could be the focus of everyone! How could they see him like they used to?

    ¡°You...¡± Ding Nan mmed her feet and was about to say something when Zhou Qin, who was nearby, came over with a smile on her face . ¡°What are you talking about here?¡±

    Ding Nan nced at Young Master He mercilessly, ¡°You ask him yourself!¡±

    Zhou Qin smiled and looked at Young Master He . She didn¡¯t speak, but her quiet eyes and smile could shock people .

    Young Master He felt ufortable under Zhou Qin¡¯s gaze, so he subconsciously avoided it and smiled . ¡°Qinqin, you look beautiful today!¡±

    Zhou Qin was wearing a red cheongsam today . Two white, long thighs were looming in the opening of the dress, which were extremely attractive . She held a transparent crystal cup as if she didn¡¯t hear the praise of Young Master He . She took a small sip and turned to Ding Nan . ¡°You tell me . ¡±

    While Zhou Qin and Young Master He talked, many graceful gentlemen came up to toast her from time to time, praising her beauty and temperament .

    Zhou Qin treated everyone politely andpatibly . Although she looked rxed, she was looking for something and her eyes seemed unfocused .

    Ding Nan snorted, ¡°Didn¡¯t you ask me why Li Yundong hasn¡¯te yet?¡±

    Upon hearing the name Li Yundong, Zhou Qin immediately became attentive, and her gaze condensed . ¡°Yeah . Why?¡±

    Ding Nan nced at Young Master He and said coldly, ¡°Are you sure that it is appropriate that I tell her?¡±

    Young Master He snorted, ¡°Hey, Zhou Qin, you should choose qualified people to be your friends! How could theye here dressed like farmers?¡±

    Zhou Qin¡¯s gaze gradually became cold . ¡°Did you drive him away?¡±

    Young Master He said coldly, ¡°I didn¡¯t drive him away . I just told him that he was such a poor boy and this ce was not the ce that people like him could enter so casually!¡±

    Zhou Qin¡¯s face darkened like water without any expression of anger or joy . Although she was only 19, her mind was as mature as a forty years old adult . She was just staring at Young Master He and said nothing for quite a while .

    This kind of gaze was just like ice . Under her eyesight, not only Young Master He, but also Ding Nan, who knew Zhou Qin best, felt creeped out .

    After a while, Zhou Qin suddenly smiled, and she snapped at a nearby waiter to get his attention .

    ¡°Is there anything I can do for you?¡± The waiter certainly knew that Zhou Qin was the protagonist today, so he spoke with respect .

    Zhou Qin pointed to the wine ss in Young Master He¡¯s hand and said, ¡°Collect the ss in his hand and then send him away . ¡±

    Young Master He was shocked and angry . ¡°Zhou Qin, are you crazy?¡±

    Ding Nan also widened her eyes, as if she couldn¡¯t believe her ears . She pulled the arm of Zhou Qin with a look of horror . ¡°Zhou Qin, you don¡¯t have to make things so troublesome! How will you exin this to Old Master He?¡±

    Zhou Qin sneered and nced at Ding Nan, who was scared, and took back her hand . Then Zhou Qin looked at Young Master He coldly . ¡°Did you hear what I said?¡±

    Young Master He and Zhou Qin were both born in bureaucratic families . He grew up with Zhou Qin . Their families were very close . When did Zhou Qin shame him in front of outsiders?

    He was shy and angry and his face turned purple . His hand holding the ss was shaking . ¡°Fine . Good! Zhou Qin, you dare to humiliate me for a dirty punk!¡±

    Zhou Qin said coldly, ¡°Whoever disrespects my friend is not respectful to me . Whoever disrespects me, they don¡¯t deserve my respect . Young master He, please leave! I will not see you off!¡±

    Young Master He subconsciously wanted to drop the cup, but Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes suddenly became sharp . ¡°You dare to try to drop the cup and stir up my birthday banquet?¡±

    Young Master He trembled, but he could not put down the hand holding the ss .

    Ding Nan quickly helped him and said, ¡°Young Master He, please, Zhou Qin is angry . When she...¡±

    Before she could finish, Zhou Qin said, ¡°Ding Nan, do you want to go with him?¡±

    Ding Nan suddenly stopped and looked at Young Master He helplessly .

    Young Master He¡¯s face turned from red to white . He emptied the ss in his hand and then threw it into the waiter¡¯s arms, who had been sweating and waiting nearby . He gnashed and said, ¡°Zhou Qin, you humiliate me because of a punk! I will remember that, but what I want to tell you is that a man like him will always be a low-ss person!¡±

    As soon as he finished speaking, a sudden crash was heard in the banquet hall .

    Ding Nan¡¯s heart trembled, ¡°Who did this? Who broke a cup at this time?¡±

    This sound attracted everyone¡¯s eyes to look toward its origin . A waiter was staring at the doorway while the tray in his hand unconsciously tilted little by little until the cups above slowly slipped down...

    ¡°Crash!¡± Another series of sounds of smashing ss sounded .

    The sound was extremely harsh in the banquet, but no one was paying attention to it . They were all staring at the doorway . For a time, the banquet hall was so silent that you could hear a pin drop .

 Chapter 71

    Chapter 71

    Chapter 71 A Perfect Counterattack

    Everyone looked at the door in shock . A handsome boy was standing there dressed in a fitted suit and looked imposing . Beside him, a girl was wearing a long strapless skirt that looked beautiful with noble temperament as well as gave off the vibe of being atmospheric and sexy, cute and pure . With such various characteristics, the girl suddenly stunned the audience!

    All the men in the hall were shocked, and their eyes were widely open no matter how gentle they used to be . They couldn¡¯t help forgetting themselves . The waiter who was pouring the wine spilled the wine with the male guest who did not feel it because his eyes were staring at Su Chan as if he couldn¡¯t wait to swallow the girl into his stomach .

    The women looked at Li Yundong with their eyes open and sighed . How rare such a handsome and masculine boy was! Who was he? Hey, if I were the female partner around him, it would be awesome!

    Under these gazes, Su Chan was a bit timid, and subconsciously tried to hide behind Li Yundong, who pinched her arm and whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid!¡±

    Su Chan whispered back, ¡°Their eyes are terrible... it¡¯s as if they are going to eat me . ¡±

    Li Yundong smiled . ¡°It¡¯s okay, don¡¯t worry!¡±

    Hearing Li Yundong¡¯s warm and persuasive words, Su Chan felt relieved and smiled at Li Yundong . At this time, the little fox seemed to have forgotten her true identity and even forgot her power as a cultivator . She appeared to be a delicate and powerless, noble and beautifuldy .

    Zhou Qin and Ding Nan were also staring at Su Chan . Zhou Qin¡¯s mind couldn¡¯t stop the resounding words that she subconsciously whispered out, ¡°Even I cannot help loving her upon seeing her . ¡±

    Ding Nan heard her when looked at Su Chan with straight eyes . She echoed, ¡°Yes...¡±

    During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, a bureaucrat married a woman named Li as his concubine . His wife, who was a county princess, heard it . She took a knife and nned to destroy the face of the concubine, but when she came to the concubine¡¯s home and saw the womanbing her hair on the mirror she saw that her appearance was so beautiful and her voice sounded so gentle that the angry wife suddenly felt soft . She threw away the sharp knife in her hand and held the concubine, leaving a famous saying that had been passed down through the ages: Even I cannot help loving her upon seeing her .

    The jealous wife felt soft when she saw a tender woman, not to mention those stinky men? Her beauty had gone beyond imagination .

    In the eyes of everyone, this girl now looked girlish since there was natural tenderness and purity in her eyes . When she grew up, she would be the most beautiful woman in the world .

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    Zhou Qin, who was supposed to be the glorious princess at this party, turned gloomy after Su Chan¡¯s appearance .

    Young Master He, who humiliated Li Yundong before, also widened his eyes . He couldn¡¯t believe his eyes . Zhou Qin nced at him and said faintly, ¡°Young Master He, if I were you, even if no one drove me away, I would not have stayed here anymore . Are you waiting for him to get revenge?¡±

    Young Master He was angry and ashamed . He said with an ugly face, ¡°Who the hell doe she think he is for him to dare toe and humiliate me?¡±

    He thought he was a bureaucratic child and ordinary people had to be respectful to him . They even didn¡¯t dare to raise their voices when talking to him, let alone take the initiative to challenge him .

    But he didn¡¯t expect that Li Yundong had never harbored bitter resentment because when he was humiliated, he would take revenge for himself on the spot . Li Yundong looked at the scene and saw Zhou Qin and Young Master He standing together . He immediately took Su Chan and walked over . He was going to get his revenge now .

    Young Master He watched as Li Yundong came over with Su Chan and became uneasy like a cat on hot bricks . He wanted to leave, but what he had said kept him from leaving .

    Li Yundong nodded at Zhou Qin with a smile, then turned his head and said to Young Master He, ¡°What do you want to say this time?¡±

    Young Master He suddenly blushed and was speechless .

    Li Yundong looked up and down at Young Master He before he pulled Su Chan to his side and said, ¡°The reason why Su Chan didn¡¯t dress up is that some people always judge people by appearance and clothes! It is not because she can¡¯t, but rather because she doesn¡¯t want to . Do you understand? Do you need me to trante it more bluntly?¡±

    In apetition between men, the heaviest blow didn¡¯t hurt the most . The strike in front of a beautiful girl, even if it were gentle, would be a huge humiliation .

    That was what Li Yundong was doing now . At this time, Young Master He¡¯s face turned as purple as a pig liver .

    Li Yundong made Young Master He speechless and he finally vented his anger . He turned to Zhou Qin and said apologetically, ¡°I am sorry, I am not referring to you . However, today, when Su Chan and I came here excitedly, I did not expect that I would encounter such a thing . It was really disappointing . The reason why I brought Su Chan back was to let some people know that he should not judge people that way . ¡±

    Young Master He was furious, pointed at Li Yundong, and said, ¡°You...¡±

    Zhou Qin coldly interrupted him, ¡°Young Master He, don¡¯t bring contempt upon yourself . This is what you asked for . What did I tell you before?¡±

    Young Master He nced at Li Yundong with a fierce and sinister look .

    Li Yundong had the gold pill in his body, and was incredibly lusty . Plus, he was young and proud . How could he take a person like Young Master He seriously?

    So he immediately stared back .

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyesight was so sharp that even the people who had been practicing martial arts couldn¡¯t stand it . How could a dude like Young Master He take it?

    Young Master He immediately evaded his gaze and took a step back in fear, but he quickly reacted . Finally, he looked at Zhou Qin with an ashamed and angry face and gritted his teeth before quickly leaving .

    Li Yundong nced at his back and smiled coldly before he turned around and said to Zhou Qin, ¡°I¡¯m sorry to have embarrassed you . I think I should not stay at the banquet anymore . ¡±

    Zhou Qin slightly frowned . When Ding Nan saw it, she smiled immediately, ¡°Li Yundong, that¡¯s not kind of you . Zhou Qin has offended Young Master He for you, how could you leave like this? Even if we are willing to let you go, see, the people here won¡¯t agree!¡±

    Li Yundong turned around to have a look at the people in this hall . The young men all nced at Su Chan, while the women and older men looked at him, itching toe up and talk with him .

    Li Yundong hesitated for a moment and was about to speak when he heard a familiar voiceing from the side .

    ¡°Li Yundong, you finally came!¡± Li Yundong turned his head and saw Feng Na and Cheng Cheng walking over with smiles .

    Seeing these two girls, Li Yundong suddenly smiled, ¡°Nice to see you . ¡±

    Feng Na and Zhou Qin nodded and then smiled . ¡°Not only us . Zhou Qin also invited Kris and her group . ¡±

    Then, Feng Na pointed to a corner of the hall where Li Yundong saw the foreigners of the University of Pennsylvania gathered together, drinking, and talking .

    Obviously, these foreigners had been used to amunicative reception, so they looked rxed, and from time to time, were able tough loudly .

    When Li Yundong looked at them, Kris, Tom, and others were also keenly aware of it and looked back . When their gazes made contact, Kris snorted and turned around, not looking at Li Yundong while Tom raised the ss of wine and paid respect to Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong secretlyughed in his heart . ¡°Still, Tom was kinder . Given this, Kris wanted to learn from him? It was a dream!¡±

    Zhou Qin found Li Yundong had no intention to leave at this time, so she stopped frowning and smiled at Li Yundong and said, ¡°Li Yundong, have a good time and take what you want at the main table . ¡±

    Then she nodded to Su Chan, who was next to Li Yundong before she left .

    Li Yundong looked at Zhou Qin elegantly leave, and secretly muttered, ¡°Why doesn¡¯t this girl look like an average person? She is like an older adult who has lived for decades! I can¡¯t see the real her at all! The person who marries such a woman will be taken too seriously . He must be the most unlucky person in the world .

    Feng Na went to Li Yundong and touched him with her elbow . She whispered, ¡°How is it? Do you know what a daughter of an eminent family looks like now?¡±

    Seeing Zhou Qin¡¯s freely walked among andmunicated with the guests, he could not help, but sigh, ¡°Yes, who is she exactly?¡±

    Feng Na whispered, ¡°I just inquired about it . I heard that she is the daughter of a deputy governor . ¡±

    Li Yundong was shocked . ¡°With such a deep background, why is she studying at our university?¡±

    Feng Na shrugged her shoulders . ¡°Who knows? Maybe the princess has her own n . ¡±

    Li Yundong suddenly recalled, ¡°In that way, the person I just offended must be a prince . ¡±

    Feng Naughed and said, ¡°Are you afraid?¡±

    Li Yundong alsoughed and said nothing . Su Chan pulled Li Yundong¡¯s sleeves and looked at him pitifully . ¡°Master, don¡¯t talk all the time, your little girl is hungry!¡±

    Li Yundong remembered that he and Su Chan had not had dinner yet . He pped his head . ¡°I have forgotten it!¡±

    He said to Feng Na with a smile . ¡°I will go to have something with Su Chan first . Let¡¯s talkter . ¡±

    Feng Na smiled and said, ¡°You haven¡¯t eaten yet? You didn¡¯t deliberately wait to eat a big dinner tonight, do you?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and gave her a thumbs up, ¡°You really know me!¡±

    Li Yundong and Su Chan went to the main table and saw that it was a rectangr dining table with a length of more than ten meters . It was filled with a variety of delicious dishes: cake desserts, chicken, duck, fish, stir-fried dishes, and delicious soup .

    Su Chan was dizzy and almost drooled . She reached out and took a roast chicken when Li Yundong quickly patted her hand . ¡°Stupid, take a te first, then take the food on your te with the mps next to it . ¡±

    Looking at the table full of food, Su Chan felt she was cheated, and said with disappointment, ¡°Don¡¯t you say that I can eat what I want?¡±

    Li Yundong could not help smiling . ¡°Idiot! What you put on your te will be yours and you can take as much as you want!¡±

    Su Chan reenergized with her two eyes shining . ¡°Really?¡±

    Li Yundong had already put a chicken leg on the te by that time and ate it while saying vaguely, ¡°No, I lied to you . These things are poisoned, you stand there and watch me eat!¡±

    Seeing Li Yundong¡¯s mouth full of oil, Su Chan was so angry and shouted, ¡°You¡¯re a big liar! I am pissed . How dare you eat by yourself!¡±

 Chapter 72

    Chapter 72

    Chapter 72 Smiles Belong to me

    Li Yundong and the little fox always frolicked like this . He stuffed his mouth with a lot of food whileughing and muttering, ¡°Crap, so many people are looking at me . Why did you say I was eating alone?¡±

    Su Chan reached out and grabbed a roast chicken . She took a bite when she heard Li Yundong say, ¡°Are you a pig? I told you to put them on the te . Look around, so many people are watching you . Don¡¯t you feel ashamed?¡±

    Su Chan was chewing the chest of the roast chicken . She rolled her eyes to look around . Sure enough, many people were staring at her .

    She blushed and put the roast chicken back on the table with a pout .

    Li Yundong almost fell over . He tried to swallow the food in his mouth and patted his chest . He said with a smile, ¡°Please, you have taken a bite . Would anyone like to eat it?¡±

    Su Chan was embarrassed since she didn¡¯t know whether to eat or not when Li Yundong picked the whole roast chicken onto his te with a serious face as if he was helping Su Chan . He said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter . I don¡¯t mind it!¡±

    At first, Su Chan really thought that Li Yundong was helping her . She was grateful to look at him with wet eyes just as the believers were watching the their savior . However, a momentter, when she found Li Yundong was eating while halfughing, she became gradually aware that something was wrong, but she just couldn¡¯t name it .

    When Li Yundong quickly ate up the chicken leg and threw the bone on one side of the te, Su Chan finally figured it out, so she waved her arms toward him and shouted, ¡°I hate you! You stole my food!¡±

    Li Yundongughed . He turned his back to Su Chan and kept her away with his ass, protecting the food and elerating the elimination of the food . ¡°You always took my food before, remember?¡±

    The boy and girl wereughing and joking around at the banquet which shocked the people around them who were all upper-ss people . They were still specting about who they were as they saw them having fun like kids .

    Feng Na covered her eyes with the hand andined to Cheng Cheng with a disappointed look . ¡°Don¡¯t tell people that I know them!¡±

    Cheng Cheng looked at them with envy and said, ¡°This is the true temperament a couple should have which is lovelier than those who are pretending! I am wondering how happy I would be if I had such a boyfriend!¡±

    Feng Na pointed at her and said with a smile, ¡°Are you crazy? It is true that love is blind!¡±

    Cheng Cheng looked at Feng Na with a strange look and asked, ¡°Na Na, if you had such a boyfriend, even if you can¡¯t marry him or have a child in the future, when you are no longer beautiful, when you are lonely, when you think of these happy bits and pieces with him, even if this happiness is superficial, ridiculous, childish, wouldn¡¯t you be tempted in your heart, andugh from deep within your heart?¡±

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    She turned around and looked at Su Chan and Li Yundong enviously and added, ¡°I don¡¯t believe that there is eternal love in this world, so I don¡¯t care if love can exist forever . I do care that it hade and I have enjoyed it . That is the true meaning of love . If you ever have had the most sincere love, even if it is short, you are much more happy than the couples who are strange bedfellows!

    Hearing Cheng Cheng¡¯s remarks, Feng Na was stunned on the spot . She smiled bitterly and said, ¡°There are so many mistresses in this world, all of whom are cultivated by your thinking!¡±

    Cheng Cheng lifted her head and proudly said, ¡°I don¡¯t worship money! So, I can straighten my spine and despise them!¡±

    Feng Na smiled while revealing a thoughtful look . She said faintly, ¡°But if one day, you lose that sincere feeling . When you recall it, how will you handle the pain and hurt?¡±

    Cheng Cheng said with a smile, ¡°How can people not die in the world; how can one¡¯s lovest forever? Sooner orter, it will disappear . Why do you care about when it will happen?¡±

    Feng Na smiled and said, ¡°Only today did I find out you are a love philosopher!¡±

    Cheng Cheng smiled with a sigh, ¡°I was inspired upon seeing them . ¡±

    Then, they both turned their eyes to Li Yundong and Su Chan invariably .

    Su Chan fought for the roast chicken against Li Yundong for a while and she was taken advantage of several times . She was angry and hungry and when she wanted to get another roast chicken, she was sad to find that there were no roast chicken on the table . It was the only one!

    In fact, the roast chicken on this banquet table was most likely a decoration, and there was one and only one . So were most of the dishes here . Only the starving people would take something to eat, and no one would be like Li Yundong and Su Chan, who were really eating them as dinner .

    Seeing no chicken on the table, Su Chan pouted, feeling that she had been badly bullied by Li Yundong, tears umted in her eyes .

    Li Yundongughed so hard that his bowels hurt . He quickly coaxed, ¡°Stupid girl, besides the roast chicken, there are many more delicious things than roast chicken! You can eat them with your te as much as you can . I will never tease you!¡±

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong suspiciously, as if she was going to possess all the food on the table to stop people from eating . ¡°Really?¡±

    Li Yundong extended his little finger . ¡°Sure . Deal?¡±

    Su Chan was puzzled, but she still extended her little finger as Li Yundong did . ¡°For what?¡±

    Li Yundong hooked Su Chan¡¯s little finger with his and said, ¡°Let¡¯s pinky wear!¡±

    After that, Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Okay, go eat!¡±

    Seeing that Li Yundong indeed stopped fighting against her, Su Chan suddenly smiled and let go of the matter that Li Yundong had bullied her . She giggled . ¡°You are so nice to spare so much food for me!¡±

    Looking at Su Chan cheering and rushing to the table, Li Yundong shook his head and said, ¡°How do you look like a five- or six-year-old child! This dress was a waste . I thought she could grow up!¡±

    Then he ate a little more roast chicken until he didn¡¯t felt hungry . He put down the te and wiped his mouth with a napkin located at the corner of the dining table .

    Just as he cleaned his mouth, Zhou Qin walked over and looked at him with a smile . ¡°Full?¡±

    Li Yundongughed and didn¡¯t feel embarrassed . ¡°Yes, you must be ashamed of me, I¡¯m sorry . ¡±

    Zhou Qin showed a look of appreciation in her eyes . ¡°It¡¯s good to show who you are and the heart of a child is the most valuable! The man who always has a dark face may not be a decent one . ¡±

    After Li Yundong confessed to Zhou Qin, he always felt that she was a cold person in his previous interactions with her . She liked to calcte and was difficult to get close to .

    However, Zhou Qin¡¯s remarks this time changed Li Yundong¡¯s impression . He smiled and said, ¡°Are you talking about yourself? You know, when you smile, you are ten thousand times more beautiful than when you keep a straight face!¡±

    Zhou Qin was stunned . There were too many people that had praised her beauty and she had grown tired of it, but she felt Li Yundong¡¯splement which sounded unlike praise was the best one she had heard .

    She nced at Li Yundong¡¯s face and her ears became slightly red . ¡°Really?¡±

    Even though Zhou Qin was not a simple person, she was still a 19-year-old girl . At this time, she was shy and blushing which shocked Li Yundong . He felt he was tempted .

    Zhou Qin tucked the strands behind her ear and pointed to the balcony next to the banquet hall . ¡°Do you mind if we have a conversation there?¡±

    Li Yundong nodded, ¡°Of course . ¡±

    They walked to the balcony, away from the hustle and bustle of the hall . Zhou Qin leaned against the railings leisurely without the coldness of the past that she used to keep people away . She smiled and said to Li Yundong, ¡°You said of course, but do you mean of course you mind, or of course you don¡¯t mind?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Of course I don¡¯t mind . Chatting with beautiful women like you should be a happy thing for a man . ¡±

    Zhou Qin slightly tilted her head and looked at Li Yundong¡¯s eyes carefully, as if she was trying to figure out if he told the truth . ¡°You have had a girlfriend like Su Chan . You can¡¯t have both of us . ¡±

    Li Yundong was amused . ¡°They are two different things . I have a girlfriend like Su Chan, but I can¡¯t cut my tongue and dig out my eyes . Besides, we¡¯re just talking . ¡±

    Zhou Qin smiled, and then suddenly fell into silence . After a while, for some unknown reason, she felt impulsive . Her ears were as red as blood, and she asked with courage, ¡°If I epted your confession to me thest time, would you still be with Su Chan?¡±

    Li Yundong looked at Zhou Qin with a rarely serious face . ¡°Can people step into the same river twice in their lifetime?¡±

    Zhou Qin¡¯s face became somewhat unnatural . At this moment, the girl¡¯s mind and camouge were crushed by Li Yundong .

    She tried to protect herself by smiling, but her heart felt sad which made her exhausted and stopped her from doing that .

    In the past, this was something she was very good at, but today, the trick was not working .

    Li Yundong looked at Zhou Qin and smiled . ¡°You are a very beautiful girl . You can find a better man than me, but I think you should smile more, really . ¡±

    Then, Li Yundong was going to leave .

    Looking at Li Yundong¡¯s back, Zhou Qin suddenly said, ¡°What if I only want tough at you?¡±

    This calm girl had lost her mind . Li Yundong turned back and took a deep look at her with pity and sorry in his eyes . ¡°It is not the smile that belongs to me . Mine is over there . ¡±

    Li Yundong pointed in the direction of the food table .

    Zhou Qin looked past Li Yundong¡¯s hand, and suddenly her face looked weird as if she tried not tough out even though she was failing . After trying so hard not to, she burst intoughter and turned her face .

    Li Yundong saw herugh and felt a little surprised in the heart . Then he turned back and said inwardly, ¡°What is Zhou Qinughing at?¡±

    As he turned his head, he was astonished!

    Su Chan was holding a te in her hand which was full of food as tall as half a person high . Every time she took a step, the food inside the te swayed as if it would fall down . The surrounding guests were all shocked and tried to avoid her, afraid of being implicated .

    Yet Su Chan seemed not aware of it . She held the te, keep looking around to find a table .

    How could this kind of banquet have dinner tables! Most of the people here would put the desserts on small tes and stand while eating!

    Su Chan looked for a while until a waiter passed by, pushing a dining trolley with a variety of drinks . She was overjoyed and mmed the te onto the dining trolley, and then naturally took over the trolley with a smile . ¡°Thank you, I was looking for it!¡±

    This waiter had never encountered such a thing! He was stunned and just stared, not knowing what to do!

    Zhou Qin on the balcony looked at Li Yundong rush to Su Chan anxiously, smile at the waiter while pulling the little girl aside and whispering something .

    Su Chan could not lift her head during Li Yundong¡¯s scolding, but her eyes were rolling, sticking to the dining trolley not far away . It seemed that she was afraid that others would take her food .

    Zhou Qin was really amused by Su Chan¡¯s funny expression . She finally couldn¡¯t helpughing heartily, but after a while, she suddenly stopped and the smile slowly became full of sadness .

    As she watched, Li Yundong was telling Su Chan about something, and finally, she iggled at Li Yundong tteringly . Her smile was pure and lovely .

    Zhou Qin knew that this was a smile that belonged only to Li Yundong . Even though her smile was bright and beautiful, it only belonged to herself .

 Chapter 73

    Chapter 73

    Chapter 73 The Highest Stage of Refining Qi

    It waste at night, Zhou Qin sat on the balcony, with an easel in front of her . Under the moonlight and the lights shining in the house, she was painting in a concentrated manner .

    When she got home, she took off the luxurious dress from the banquet and wore a casual gown at home . The long dress hung down to her waist and thighs, only covering her hips . Her long white legs were stacked with a paint tray on them .

    The girl was drawing a painting in which a boy and a girl were chasing two butterflies on the grass . In this painting, the butterflies were the foreground and the young boy and girl were the background . The picture was almost finished and Zhou Qin was tinkering with the left pigment .

    Zhou Qin preferred painting among so many specialties and talents of hers, because only when painting, she could be absorbed and forget all the unhappiness that has happened to her .

    But in this world, no painting could never be finished, unless the painter didn¡¯t want to .

    When Zhou Qin finished thest stroke, she seemed to return to the real world from another world . The massive sense of loss and emptiness suddenly struck her .

    She looked at the painting in front of her with a nk face, and couldn¡¯t help, but think of that unforgettable scene at the banquet .

    ¡°Why did I say it impulsively at that time?¡± Zhou Qin bit her red lips with her white teeth and frowned .

    Why was it?

    Was it because this boy was too good? Or because he was too unique?

    In terms of ability, Zhou Qin had met many men who were 100 times better than Li Yundong . At a young age, they had created a great foundation . In term of uniqueness, she also had seen special men who not only had personality, but were more talented than Li Yundong .

    But why was she so impulsive?

    Zhou Qin suddenly felt an upset . If she was not so impulsive, she would not have been rejected . If she was not rejected, she would not feel so humiliated .

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    Did he retaliate against her because of being refused by her before?

    Thinking of this, Zhou Qin thought it was possible since men were keen on face-saving .

    Was there any other reason besides this?

    Zhou Qin thought harder, but in addition to these problems that entangled her, there was another horrible problem: What kind of boy did she like?

    Was it because of the impulse of hormones in girls? Or something else?

    Zhou Qin became more annoyed and suddenly stood up, walking inside from the balcony . As soon as she entered the room, she saw a middle-aged man standing in the room, watching her quietly .

    ¡°Are you back?¡± Zhou Qin was a bit stunned, but she quickly said calmly, ¡°Have you finished?¡±

    The middle-aged man nodded and turned his eyes from his daughter to the painting, and then said with an appreciative look, ¡°The painting is good . ¡±

    Zhou Qin had already grabbed a paper cutter at this time . She removed the canvas and then tore it in half .

    The middle-aged man asked with surprise, ¡°Why did you tear it? Isn¡¯t a good painting? The butterflies were very expressive!¡±

    Zhou Qin said coldly, ¡°It is impossible for the butterflies to fly out of this frame even if they more vivid!¡±

    The middle-aged man smiled bitterly, ¡°Are you ming me? You should know better than me the benefits of the alliance with the He family . You are smart and sensible from an early age and should know that it is inevitable since you were born in such a rich family . I heard that you had driven away Young master He today . Hey, girl, I thought you were very mature, and I didn¡¯t expect that you would do such a childish thing . ¡±

    Zhou Qin looked up at the middle-aged man not far away as if she was seeing a stranger . She stopped talking, but threw the canvas in her hand out of the balcony .

    ...

    Almost at the same time, after Li Yundong returned home with Su Chan, he closed the door and looked at her speechlessly .

    Su Chan lowered her head and made a pout . From time to time, she tried to peek at Li Yundong .

    ¡°Okay, I won¡¯t do that again in the future...¡± Su Chan was unbearable under Li Yundong¡¯s staring . She grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s hand and said in a spoiled manner . ¡°It¡¯s your fault . You made me starve for so long!¡±

    Li Yundong felt helpless and said, ¡°How could you pile so much food on a te . What were you thinking? I can¡¯t understand . There was no one robbing you!¡±

    Su Chan immediately shouted, ¡°There was, you!¡±

    Li Yundong nced at her . ¡°Do you dare to talk back?¡±

    Su Chan immediately bowed her head and said in a low voice, ¡°I am telling the truth!¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help, but smile . ¡°Well, you became famous by dressing like a princess, but you acted like a starving ghost!¡±

    Seeing Li Yundong smile, Su Chan took the opportunity to echo, ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a princess . I want to be your girl!¡±

    Facing such a sly girl, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t stay angry . He pointed his finger at Su Chan¡¯s nose . ¡°You, you, you . I have nothing to say . You can¡¯t do it anymore, do you know that? It was shameful!¡±

    Su Chan wrinkled her nose and made a face . ¡°The pot calls the kettle ck!¡±

    Theyughed for a while and Li Yundong went to take a shower, changed into his pajamas, sat in the living room and enjoyed the cool air .

    The new living room and dining room were connected . There were a total of three balconies: one was next to the living room and one was next to the dining room . So when the windows on both sides of the balconies opened, the room was very airy, especially at night . The wind was blowing through the room, which was cool without turning on the air conditioner .

    Li Yundong took a shower and sat in the spacious living room . He felt the night wind and couldn¡¯t help, but cross his legs, sitting like Su Chan¡¯s previous posture and thinking of what happened today .

    ¡°I will be a card ve in the future...¡± Li Yundong remembered that he owed a lot of money to the bank now . He couldn¡¯t help, but smile . ¡°It seems that I have to find a job in the summer . Fortunately, final exams areing soon and after that, it will be vacation . It won¡¯t take long . ¡±

    Li Yundong was a very casual person . Su Chan had a mysterious origin, and so was her behavior . He could hold back not to ask, which had proved that . So this time, even though he had run into debt, he was not anxious about if he could pay off .

    But that was why he was very suitable for cultivation which needed him to calm down . People would be anxious and fretful if they owed so much money to a bank . How could they continue cultivation?

    Li Yundong felt nonchnt about it and entered the small cirction involuntarily . It had be his daily homework . Without being reminded by the little girl, Li Yundong would consciously proceed when he was at home .

    The running state of the small cirction could make people sleep easily . After a short while, Li Yundong fell asleep in a tired way, and the Qi in his body kept automatically flowing .

    After quite a while, Li Yundong suddenly woke up from his sleep . Just as he was going to open his eyes, he heard Su Chan¡¯s voice ringing in his ear, ¡°Don¡¯t open your eyes, continue running the Qi . Try to observe and feel it running in your internal organs . ¡±

    Li Yundong was puzzled, but he still maintained his absolute trust in Su Chan and immediately did what she said .

    He didn¡¯t know how to observe his own breath, but when he focused his attention on the flowing of the Qi in his body, he suddenly felt a wonderful realm and state .

    As if he was in a huge container and surrounded by a variety of rolling air masses, he could walk back and forth inside these air masses .

    The feeling was extremely mysterious . Li Yundong even felt that his body was empty as if he didn¡¯t exist and he was floating .

    He opened his eyes abruptly and said with surprise, ¡°What is going on?¡±

    Su Chan was scared by his sudden interruption of breath, and immediately checked the flow of Li Yundong¡¯s body . Fortunately, he had refined the Qi and nothing happened . If some other cultivators did this, they would have been immediately injured .

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t help, but get angry . ¡°Are you crazy? How could you suddenly speak in this way?¡±

    Li Yundong rarely saw Su Chan lose her temper, so he said embarrassedly, ¡°How should I talk?¡±

    Su Chan pointed at Li Yundong¡¯s dantian under the lower abdomen and said, ¡°Although the middle dantian is in charge of a human¡¯s Qi, there is much Qi hiding in the other parts of your body . One of the main containers is your lower dantian . Most of your breathes out from it and then flows to different meridians . You have to lead the Qi to return to dantian so that you can finish the cultivation before you speak . ¡± Su Chan said very seriously, and Li Yundong also nodded seriously . Although he had always been skeptical about refining Qi and associating these kinds of things with feudal superstitions in the depths of his heart .

    There were too many Qigong masters who used to swindle people in the past .

    However, since Su Chan taught him how to practice, Li Yundong followed and slowly found fun from it .

    Li Yundong answered, ¡°I know . I will pay attention to it . But I just felt that I disappeared . I only saw the air of different colors around . What happened? Was I having an illusion?¡± Li Yundong had both a worried and excited look on his face .

    Su Chan exined, ¡°This is the highest stage of refining Qi . Zhang Sanfeng once said that both martial arts and refining Qi processed essence into Qi, then Qi turned into spirit, and atst, spirit bes void .

    Li Yundong looked at her in amazement . ¡°Zhang Sanfeng said these kinds of words? What do the words mean?¡±

    Su Chan said, ¡°Processing essence to Qi is the main lesson of practicing Qi . It refers to turning the essence of your body into the Qi, then Qi into the spirit, spirit into the void, in which your spirit will transfer into Vital Essence . ¡±

    Li Yundong was confused, ¡°What is an essence, spirit, and Vital Essence? Are you ying too many online games, or reading more novels? Aren¡¯t they the same thing?¡±

    Su Chan was childish and impatient . Hearing this, she felt like she was going mad . She said with patience, ¡°Refining Qi is the process of turning essence into Qi . The colorful air you just saw is your internal organs after reaching the highest level . ¡±

    Li Yundong was taken aback . ¡°What, I saw my internal organs? But they are in different colors . ¡±

    Su Chan said, ¡°That¡¯s right . Zhang Zhongjing put forward in the ¡®The theory of diseases of the five internal organs¡¯ for the first time . He pointed out the belongings and colors of the five internal organs in the human body . The kidney is ck, the heart is red, the liver and galldder is green, the lungs are white, and the spleen is yellow . So the colorful air masses you see are your heart, liver, spleen, and lungs in your body!¡±

    Li Yundong was shocked . He looked at Su Chan nkly . The little girl in front of him could speak by the book as if she was very familiar with kind of things . She was a totally different person from the silly one at the banquet .

    ¡°How did her master teach her these things instead ofmon sense in daily life?¡± Li Yundong could not help raising such a thought, ¡°Can she be a disciple of a Buddhist or Taoist Sect?¡±

    Thinking of this, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help, but scream out, and his heart was tumbling . ¡°If he were right, the little girl would be a Buddhist nun or a Taoist nun . OMG, would I be a monk or a Daoists?¡±

 Chapter 74

    Chapter 74

    Chapter 74 Five Qi toward Origin

    After hearing Li Yundong¡¯s exmation, Su Chan asked inexplicably, ¡°Why are you yelling?¡±

    Li Yundongughed and put his hands together . ¡°Amitabha, I agree with you . It¡¯s an honor to meet you!¡±

    Su Chan chuckled and said, ¡°What are you talking about? Why do you act like a monk?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and tentatively asked, ¡°Don¡¯t youe from a Buddhist Sect?¡±

    Su Chan was stunned, subconsciously remembering that although her sect had a rtionship with Buddhism, and many of the spells and instruments she learned were from Buddhism, they did not belong to it, nor Taoism .

    Su Chan shook her head, ¡°Who told you I was a Buddhist disciple?¡±

    Li Yundong looked surprised . ¡°Or you are a Taoist disciple? Amitayus, this Taoist friend . It¡¯s nice to meet you . ¡±

    Su Chanughed . ¡°Stupid! I am not a Taoist!¡±

    Li Yundong was confused . ¡°Since you are not from a Buddhist nor a Taoist Sect, then you can marry into our family . ¡±

    Su Chan chuckled and his cheeks flushed . She retorted, ¡°Phew, you are really shameless . Who wants to marry you?¡±

    Li Yundong pulled her into his arms with a smile . ¡°Then what do you want to be?¡±

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    Su Chan and Li Yundong were getting more and more intimate, and they had cuddled for several times . She snuggled up to Li Yundong . She felt as soft as water, and very fragile . She smiled and said, ¡°My master, I only want to be your little girl, sound good?¡±

    Li Yundong became ecstatic and pointed to his cheek as he said, ¡°Come on, give me a kiss . ¡±

    The young boys and girls who fell in love were always happy to do this kind of thing . Su Chan kissed him on his cheek, but Li Yundong became pushy and pointed his finger at his lips and said, ¡°Here, you can¡¯t make fish of one and flesh of another . ¡±

    Su Chan was agitated by Li Yundong¡¯s fierce testosterone and became excited . She said with a wink, ¡°Master, do what l said . After that, I will give you the benefits!¡±

    Seeing Su Chan¡¯s charming and cute face, Li Yundong became so excited that he let go of his hand and said with a smile, ¡°Do what?¡±

    Su Chan stood up and asked Li Yundong to cross his legs again . She calmed down and said, ¡°Close your eyes and look at the internal organs of your body . ¡±

    Given the benefits that Su Chan would give him afterward, he did everything she said, but he was distracted at this time, thinking about the scene when he was intimate with Su Chan and could not enter the state of meditation in a short time .

    Seeing this, Su Chan groped his spine from the top down with her fingers .

    The spine of the human body and fishbone are very simr . After the fish is eaten, the fishbone left is a long strip with scattered fish bones on both sides . The space between two thorns is a depression in the human body . It is like a valley between two mountains . The earth¡¯s heart is where the essence of the human body converges, that also is where the blood and Qi converge . That is where the Lingtai point lies .

    Su Chan found his Lingtai point . She put her five fingers together like a chicken¡¯s beak and gently clicked on it .

    She had never had a partner of cultivation before . She learned all of this knowledge and skills from her master and books . She clearly remembered that her master once told her that Lingtai was a crucial acupoint . It was the main point of the back as the Huagai acupoint in the front chest . Many of the Outer Disciples of martial art often beat their backs gently with a self-made wooden hammer daily . They were hitting the Lingtai point .

    Li Yundong had all kinds of dirty pictures in his mind and was naturally impetuous . However, when Su Chan knocked at his Lingtai acupoint, he suddenly felt a shock as if a basin of cold water poured down his head . The boiling hot air in his lower abdomen was cooled down immediately .

    Li Yundong took a long breath . After the hot air was expelled, both his body and mind calmed down .

    Under these circumstances, Li Yundong quickly entered the state to see his internals . At this time, he had already achieved refining Qi . If someone guided him on how to see the interior of his body and how to meditate, sess would only be a matter of time .

    As Su Chan saw him loosen his eyebrows, close his eyes slightly, and breathe gently, she knew he had seeded . She said softly in his ear, ¡°You see the internal organs, now, try to lead the air of these internal organs to your head, which is also your upper dantian . ¡±

    Although Li Yundong had entered meditation, he could hear Su Chan clearly . When he tried to guide the air of his internal organs, he found the five different colors were like huge rocks that could not be pushed .

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help, but frown when Su Chan immediately noticed the difficulties he might encounter . She said softly, ¡°Don¡¯t deliberately mobilize the air of the five internal organs in your mind . First, try to arouse the primordial yang of your lower belly, and then guide it to slowly move around the organs so that the visceral air will naturally follow your primordial yang . When they start to move, you can mobilize primordial yang upward . ¡±

    Li Yundong did as Su Chan¡¯s words and mobilized a trace of the purest primordial yang in the lower abdomen . It slowly drifted in his body like a warm, thin hairline . When it approached the five colorful air masses, Li Yundong felt them begin to move . After a short while, there was a slight looseness toward Li Yundong¡¯s primordial yang .

    Li Yundong felt that they had mixed with his own primordial yang and followed the primordial yang to wherever he led, just as the generals freely instructed the soldiers!

    When Su Chan saw Li Yundong loosen his frown, she knew that he had already grasped the key and couldn¡¯t help smiling .

    Li Yundong learned from Su Chan about how to cultivate while Su Chan proved her previous learning with Li Yundong . In this process of verification, she had some new insights into what she had learned in the past .

    Dual Cultivation was not just about sex between men and women . It had a profound and vast meaning .

    Seeing Li Yundong¡¯s face turn white, red, ck, and green at intervals, she knew this was the performance of Li Yundong mobilizing the five colors of Qi to his head .

    What was ¡°Five Qi toward Origin¡±?

    Five Qi, as the name suggests, refers to the Qi in heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidney . It was not enough to cultivate the meridians for cultivators . Even if the meridians of a human were strong,pared with the Qi in the internal organs, it was nothing, but the external phase which was simr to rivers and the sea .

    Once cultivators practiced their own internal organs to the extreme, they could have not only have potent internal organs, but also the excellent external of the human body . Most importantly, the human body¡¯s Qi could be exhausted and it could not be recreated on their own while the Qi of internal organs could regenerate and store a lot of breath . They were called the Congenital Microcosmos .

    Origin had two meanings: one referred to the primordial yang¡¯s congenital traction to the Qi of the five internal organs . This was a passive meaning; the other meant that if cultivators wanted to cultivate with the Qi of the five internal organs, they had to gather it to the top of the head . This was an active meaning .

    What did the Qi of the human body¡¯s five internal organs head to? The essence . It was not only the primordial yang of the human body, but also indicated the most important part of human¡¯s upper body that they should cultivate with: the upper dantian, which was the brain .

    Su Chan fixed her eyes on the changing colors of Li Yundong¡¯s face nervously . She knew that if Li Yundong could send this breath back to the five internal organs, it would indicate that Li Yundong hadpleted the second highest level of cultivation: inward vision .

    Refining Qi was the most dangerous thing . It was like a child waving a hammer . If he did something wrong, the hammer would smash his head .

    But Li Yundong was not a child . He was a powerful man who could swing the hammer with ease .

    After the five colors changed nine cycles, they gradually recovered to normal and slowly returned to the body with the primordial yang .

    Su Chan was overjoyed . She knew that Li Yundong had sessfullypleted the homework of internal vision . He could carry out the next step of his homework . ¡°You can try to see the shape of the Qi inside the body, and what shape you can change it into . ¡±

    Hearing this, Li Yundong was puzzled . Was the Qi like Transformers and could be changed as he wanted?

    But when he tried to think about it, he was shocked . He seemed to be in the middle of a sea of clouds . The thickly piled clouds blocked the surrounding light like a big steamer .

    Li Yundong raised his hand and wanted to see his own hand, but found he had be a ball of void with no limbs, head, or body!

    Under this shock, Li Yundong was flustered with cold sweat on his forehead when he heard a long and distant voiceing from the direction of heaven . It was kind and gentle to the point that it could ease him, ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous, this is your microcosm as well as the world of your Lingtai . Try to watch it and see what you can imagine in this world . ¡±

    Observation-Thinking which was the basic skill of the cultivators to start the journal of cultivation, was the homework that could best test the talent and understanding of cultivators .

    It tested the ability and ideas of the cultivator to mobilize the breath, as well as the savvy and creativity of cultivation . The moreplicated things one could imagine, the more talented he was, and vice versa .

    Li Yundong gradually calmed down and fell into Observation-Thinking .

    Su Chan looked at him nervously without blinking her eyes . She knew that in addition to Foundation Establishment, this was the most important threshold for cultivators .

    Foundation Establishment divided people into mortals and cultivators, while Observation-Thinking divided those who wanted to cultivate into geniuses, averages, and idiots . Different ssifications determined the difference in their future cultivation .

    For this, Li Yundong¡¯s golden pill could not help him . The only thing that could determine his achievements and aplishments was his cultivation talent .

    ¡°What can he imagine?¡± Su Chan bit her lip and stared at Li Yundong .

 Chapter 75

    Chapter 75

    Chapter 75 A Born Talent

    Li Yundong carried out Observation-Thinking in his mind . The first person he thought of was the cute little girl next to him . As soon as he thought of Su Chan, the surrounding clouds began to flow slowly .

    He felt that his soul seemed to be drawn from the original location of the world . He was elevated to the top and looked down on the chaotic world wrapped in clouds .

    In this dark world, Li Yundong found the cloud masses under his feet gradually condensed and formed into a girl¡¯s shape . Her features became clear and lifelike, and Su Chan¡¯s figure showed up .

    This change made Li Yundong both shocked and delighted as if a strange and mysterious door opened to him .

    Like a child getting a new toy, he kept thinking about one thing to another and never got tired .

    He was having fun, but Su Chan was waiting anxiously .

    Li Yundong was ying with his new toy in his mind, but there was not even a little change in his appearance which made Su Chan uneasy, fearing that Li Yundong could not ovee this or get a good result .

    ¡°If Yundong can¡¯t figure anything, what should we do?¡± The little fox was thinking about the loss and couldn¡¯t help, but feel nervous . She thought for a while andforted herself . ¡°No, no . He is too smart to fail . ¡±

    She was hooked by her own lies . ¡°What if he can only think of something simple?¡±

    If so, wasn¡¯t that a waste of his gold pill?

    Su Chan felt annoyed . If he was not very talented, even though with the help of the gold pill, he couldn¡¯t be one of the best figures in the cultivation world like Immortal White Crane of the Fair One Sect, Almighty Lord of the Danyang Sect, Master Yuankong of the Chan Sect, as well as the once-in-100-years genius in her Fox Zen Sect, Mysterious ck Fox .

    She had a bee in her head . ¡°If he can¡¯t be an immortal like them, then he can be an individual cultivator, which is fine . But if he is not qualified to be an individual cultivator, what should we do? I swore to help him be a top master . How do I carry out my promise?¡±

    Thinking of this, she gradually revealed a decisive look after a while . ¡°If he can¡¯t be an individual cultivator, I will go to beg my master to help him open the Skyeye and see the future even though I will be med . ¡±

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    The little girl had considered everything while Li Yundong was ying joyfully . In a sh, he hade up with hundreds of things, especially when he thought about the distant mountains and rivers . The umted cloud and airflow formed majestic mountains and rivers that made Li Yundong excited as if he had be the creator of the heavens and earth . Under his own baton, he could have whatever he wanted, including mountains and rivers, stars, and the sun .

    ¡°Ha, do I be someone like the Buddha and immortal Hongjun, who created the world?¡± Li Yundong felt secretly happy . He yed to his heart¡¯s content and began to form the figure of the Buddha as he thought of it .

    However, when he did this, his mind began to rumble, like thunder turning over .

    These cloud masses did not form the appearance of the Buddha ording to Li Yundong¡¯s idea, but instead, they continued to rise and float, as if they were going to roll over Li Yundong¡¯s head .

    Li Yundong was shocked and immediately stopped thinking about the Buddha . As soon as he stopped, these tossing clouds immediately sank .

    Li Yundong secretly wondered, ¡°Why can¡¯t he think about the Buddha? Is it banned?¡±

    Li Yundong was right . Cultivators had two big taboos . One was to use spells on mortals, which would attract Divine Tribtion . Another taboo was to offend the gods while practicing .

    Li Yundong failed to form the Buddha . In fact, he stopped trying to imagine the Buddha . Instead, he turned to think of the Lotus Seat under the Buddha .

    ¡°Since I am not allowed to imagine the Buddha, I can imagine the Lotus Seat! Since ancient times, most of these Bodhisattvas are sitting on the Lotus Seats, right?¡± Li Yundong thought .

    As he thought, the clouds slowly condensed together . At first, it seemed very irregr . Li Yundong felt that these clouds were constantly trying to escape, which never happened before . So he had to concentrate and put all his energy into forming a Lotus Seat .

    As he tried, the thick clouds gradually formed the appearance of a Lotus Seat, with petals and lotus leaves appearing on edges . Li Yundong saw it work and suddenly rejoiced . He continued thinking, ¡°This Lotus Seat should not look empty, there must be lotus seeds!¡±

    As soon as he thought of it, the dark rolling clouds revealed a glimmer of light, like a little starlight dotting the Lotus Seat .

    Li Yundong looked at it and found the light looked just like a lotus seed . Heughed happily . ¡°Only one lotus seed is not enough . There should be more!¡±

    Then, on this Lotus Seat, more and more small bright spots showed up . The light of these lotus seeds gradually illuminated the dark world where Li Yundong stayed . Even the lotus petals around the seat became crystal clear and beautiful, like a lotusntern in the dark night .

    Li Yundong was satisfied with the Lotus Seat in front of his eyes . He reached out and tried to feel it .

    Although Li Yundong was just a vain soul at this time, as he just came up with the idea of reaching out, the lotus flower suddenly rolled over and closed, turning into a lotus bud that was waiting to blossom .

    Li Yundong was stunned and when he tried to retract his hand, the lotus flower in the bud suddenly bloomed . The radiance was blinding, and the petals were gorgeous, which made this little world shine brightly and dazzlingly!

    Li Yundong was shocked and surprised . When he wanted to reach out and touch it, the Lotus Seat returned to a lotus flower again . Heughed like an urchin while he yed with it nine consecutive times .

    When he tried the tenth time, the lotus banged fiercely, and the petals flew in the air like snowkes falling in the air . The lotus seeds flew out like meteors and generally flew into Li Yundong¡¯s body .

    Li Yundong¡¯s body was violently shocked . He opened his eyes and woke up from Observation-Thinking . He gasped and widened his eyes as if he could not believe what had just happened .

    Seeing him waking up, Su Chan was surprised and happy . She asked carefully, ¡°Yundong, what did you see?¡±

    Li Yundong gasped for a while and gradually calmed down . He looked confused and said, ¡°A lot of things...¡±

    Su Chan was amazed and said inwardly, ¡°Only by thinking of the simplest things can you finish Observation-Thinking easily . It means...¡±

    She couldn¡¯t help, but ask, ¡°What are they exactly?¡±

    Li Yundong told her briefly about the view he saw while in Observation-Thinking, including the birds, beasts, flowers, fish, mountains, rivers, and so on . And finally, he remembered something and added with a smile, ¡°Oh, I also thought of you . ¡±

    At first, hearing Li Yundong¡¯s words, Su Chan was a little worried . These things were the easiest things to think about because the mountains and rivers were vast and majestic, but most of them were inanimate objects, while birds, flowers, and beasts were all living things without spirituality, which could not test the talent and understanding of a cultivator .

    But when she heard Li Yundong say that he imaged her, she immediately asked, ¡°You thought of me? How did it look? Did it look like me?¡±

    People are the intelligent part of the universe and are born to be smart with different looks . It wasplicated to imagine a person vividly unless he was very talented .

    Li Yundong smiled proudly, ¡°Of course, very alike . It looked exactly like you!¡±

    Su Chan was suddenly overjoyed, and her worries were suddenly put down . She smiled and kissed Li Yundong ecstatically, ¡°Great . That¡¯s great!¡±

    Li Yundong also took the opportunity to hug the little girl and kissed her . ¡°Yes, am I amazing?¡±

    The little girl nodded like a rattle and smiled . ¡°You are awesome . You did better than I thought!¡±

    Li Yundong showed a smug smile . He suddenly thought of the strangeness when he imaged the Buddha and then told it to Su Chan .

    Su Chan had cold sweat upon hearing this and looked at Li Yundong with a look of horror . She said in a trembling voice, ¡°You... you dared to offend the Buddha? Are you crazy?¡±

    Observation-Thinking could signify how powerful and vivid a person¡¯s mental power and creativity were . The cultivator could imagine anything, but the gods .

    It was because cultivators must do Observation-Thinking within their own body and mind . Everyone had a soul there, which was their own god .

    But when cultivators thought of the gods, this meant that the spiritual power in their body was linked to the spiritual power that existed between heaven and earth . It not only could attract Tribtion Thunder, but could also lead the power of the gods into their own body . Once the spiritual power of the gods turned from a guest into a host, their own spirit would be obliterated .

    Li Yundong thought about the Buddha, and immediately attracted the thunder in his mind which almost smashed his spirit unknowingly . He had no idea that he had made a turn before the Gate of Hell .

    Su Chan¡¯s panicked face made Li Yundong puzzled . After she exined the reason with a pale look, although Li Yundong was still doubtful, he remembered it in his heart: Don¡¯t think about dangerous matters otherwise, he would go mad .

    Su Chan stared at Li Yundong with big eyes and said, ¡°You always tell me that fortune favors fools . I think you are the real fool and stupid!¡±

    Li Yundong pretended to be angered . ¡°Nonsense! Be careful with your words or I will spank you!¡±

    They talked andughed for a while until the previous fear slowly dissipated . Su Chan asked casually, ¡°In short, don¡¯t think about dangerous matters in the future . If there is nothing to think about, you can try a Lotus Seat . ¡±

    Imaging a Lotus Seat was thest test of the second round of refining Qi since it was the most difficult thing to imagine in Observation-Thinking .

    It was not onlyplicated, but also with sufficient spiritual power . Lotus lived in the dirt but weren¡¯t dirty . The petals were beautiful and dignified, and the lotus seeds were fresh and sweet, which could preserve people¡¯s health and be used in medicine .

    Lotus regenerated lotus seed, which also symbolized the cultivation process of cultivators .

    Starting cultivation as ordinary folks, ghosts, or beasts symbolized of growing in the dirt . Once one¡¯s cultivation was sessful, the Inner Pill cultivated inside their body corresponded to the lotus seed born in the Lotus Seat .

    Hearing Su Chan¡¯ words, Li Yundongughed . ¡°I have already imagined it nine times, but I failed the tenth time, and the Lotus Seat exploded, so I woke up . ¡±

    Hearing this, Su Chan suddenly widened her eyes and looked at Li Yundong as if he was a monster . She couldn¡¯t speak for a long time .

    Li Yundong reached out and waved his hand in front of her eyes . ¡°Hey, did I scare you?¡±

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong in shock and said nkly, ¡°You...you have imagined the Lotus Seat and you have done it nine times? You aren¡¯t making that up?¡±

    Li Yundong said with dissatisfaction, ¡°Who¡¯s making things up? How could you not believe me?¡± Then he described the process and the feelings of his Observation-Thinking .

    Only by then did Su Chan believe his words . She thought with amazement, ¡°I could only image a Lotus Seat once when I did Observation-Thinking for the first time . Had he done it nine times already? This phenomenon was called ¡®Nine-nine Lotus Seat¡¯ in Observation-Thinking, which was a supreme talent and gift! Could he be a five-hundred-year-old genius?¡±

 Chapter 76.1

    Chapter 76.1

    Chapter 76 Extraordinary (I)

    There were nine heavens in cultivation: the first was called ¡°Shaping¡± . Many martial arts cultivators who practiced with inner power or outer power, could strengthen their own bodies through various practice methods to achieve this realm .

    The second heaven was refining Qi . After martial arts, those who practiced with outer power and had reached the highest level would naturally turn to refine Qi, so would the inner power practicer, most of whom were able to reach the middle level of the second heaven: Active Cultivating Realm .

    But very few of them could be able to go further . They could not practice internal vision, and Observation-Thinking, not to mention the establishment of a Lotus Seat .

    Not only because they didn¡¯t have a partner or a teacher who could lead the way, but also because they had no method to practice .

    Method, wealth, partner, ce, and equipment .

    As the first one of the five necessary conditions for cultivation, the method had a valid position .

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    Li Yundong easily reached the highest level of the second heaven, which meant he had surpassed almost all the martial arts people in the world, and began to enter the third heaven which could make him extraordinary: the Soul Condensing Realm .

    Su Chan looked at the boy in front of her in shock as if it was the first time she knew her lover .

    The reason why she wanted to help Li Yundong be a great cultivator was mainly because she was touched by Li Yundong¡¯s true love for her . She felt that he was a straightforward person and was a material that could be made . But now, she found that the boy not only had first-ss temperament, but also a great talent!

    To be a great cultivator, one must have several prerequisites . The first was to have wonderful encounters; the second was to have a nice temperament, and the third was to be talented!

    Li Yundong actually had all of them .

    Su Chan looked at him iparably, and secretly sighed, ¡°This is really a genius that even God will marvel at!¡±

    Su Chan knew that although the Fox Zen Sect had a rtionship with Buddhism, and the Rock Fox Elder had learned from Master Baizhang[1]of the Tang Dynasty . However, most of the descendants cultivated with Taoist skills .

    In Taoist cultivation, inaction had been the most important concept .

    What was inaction? It meant for one to do what they want and never do something deliberately .

    Li Yundong had such a character, so he made a few turns on the death gate during cultivation, but was able toe back without any loss .

    If someone else did it, he would have died with no residue left .

    ¡°Is this the n of heaven?¡± Su Chan stared at Li Yundong nkly . ¡°Did God make me meet such a prodigy and let me help him?¡±

    The envy and worship in Su Chan¡¯s eyes made Li Yundong feel satisfied . Nothing would make a man more proud of himself than to let his favorite woman admire him .

    At this time, before Su Chan urged him, Li Yundong had had a strong interest in Refining Qi . He liked the feeling that Su Chan was watching him with astounded eyes .

    After a while, Su Chan, who was still in shock, returned to her room and couldn¡¯t sleep .

    Li Yundong sat in meditation on the floor of the living room for the whole night .

    The next morning, when the sun first rose and the light shined on Li Yundong, he immediately woke up from deep meditation .

    He sighed and spat out a long breath which was like a sharp arrow, shooting straight out the window . It maintained being condense until more than ten meters away from the window before turning into white air .

    Li Yundong stood up . He only felt that his eyes were abnormally bright . He stood on the balcony on the 20th floor, and could clearly see the scene of more than ten miles away, and identify the shop signs hundreds of meters away .

    Not only that, but he also discovered his ears had be sensitive as they were able to hear the voices of neighbors around him . Even the sound of making breakfast, he could hear it clearly .

    This change froze Li Yundong on the balcony, imagining that he had be a irvoyant .

    He was a little bit fascinated when he suddenly felt that someone was watching him . He turned around in the direction to have a look .

    As he turned around, his gaze happened to meet a girl¡¯s on a balcony next to his .

    Their eyes fixed on each other¡¯s, and then quickly moved away .

    The girl on the balcony was wearing a loose white casual wear, doing simple gymnastics . She looked very beautiful and had a good figure . Her eyes were crystal clear, which left a deep impression on Li Yundong . She was the girl he met at the entrance of themunity when he just moved in .

    Li Yundong did not know that he had reached the level where a normal person would never have been in a lifetime . He nced at the girl, not because the girl was watching him, but because he sensed her gaze so he turned around .

    He noticed in advance that a girl would look at him, so he turned his head so that the two people turned their heads at the same time and he looked at her in the eyes .

 Chapter 76.2

    Chapter 76.2

    Chapter 76 Be Extraordinary (II)

    Li Yundong considered it a coincidence, but he did not know that this was the realm of ¡°Soul Condensing¡± in the third heaven .

    Ordinary cultivators and a very few great martial artists could reach to this realm . They were not only savvy, but also could predict some certain things in advance .

    Shang Yunxiang, the master of Xingyi during the Republic of China, once told his disciples that they should never look at him when he slept, or he would wake up .

    A disciple, who did not believe it, looked at him once while he was asleep . Shang Yunxiang, who was sleeping, immediately woke up and shocked his disciple . From then on, he regarded his teacher as a god .

    This realm was very wonderful to the point that it couldn¡¯t be described in words . One had to feel it himself and only the people who reached this level could know the mystery .

    For thousands of years, there were very few people like Li Yundong who reached such a realm identally .

    The girl who looked at Li Yundong was Hong Ling . She saw Li Yundong at a nce, and naturally recognized that he was the one she met before .

    She suddenly found that the boy lived so close to the position where thest roar sounded .

    Not only that, Li Yundong¡¯s eyes on her were even sharper than thest time!

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    In just a few days, he had made such progress?

    Hong Ling couldn¡¯t help being stunned, and a horrifying idea appeared in her mind: could it be that the young man in front of her was the one who was powerful than Wang Yangming?

    When this thought came out, Hong Ling couldn¡¯t help, but be excited . She was shocked and scared . Which sect did this rising star belong to? He was really something!

    ¡°No, I have to pay a visit the next day!¡±

    Hong Ling made up her mind and when she turned her eyes to Li Yundong, he was no longer standing on the balcony .

    Li Yundong returned to the room and had breakfast with Su Chan . After that, they went to school . Just when they left the building, Hong Ling wasing out and heading to Li Yundong¡¯s home .

    After Hong Ling rang the doorbell, she found that there was no one in the apartment . She showed a disappointed look and turned away .

    Li Yundong and Su Chan arrived at the school . When they entered the ssroom, they saw Sun Li . When she saw Li Yundong, she was stunned .

    Li Yundong waved his hand in front of her eyes and said, ¡°Hey, don¡¯t you know me?¡±

    Sun Li nodded and stared at Li Yundong . ¡°A little bit! I feel that you look different today . It¡¯s almost as if you have changed into a different person!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled at Su Chan beside him . ¡°Have I changed?¡±

    Su Chan smiled and said, ¡°No, you are still my master even if you have changed!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled brightly . ¡°See, she guarantees that it¡¯s me!¡±

    Sun Li shook her head and derided them . ¡°I can¡¯t stand you two!¡±

    Li Yundong and Su Chan entered the ssroom and sat down in the back . Not long after, the students in the ssroom gradually increased .

    At this time, Ding Nan and Zhou Qin also entered the ssroom together . When the two beautiful girls came in, they seemed to light up the whole ssroom . When Zhou Qin scanned the students and saw Li Yundong sitting next to Su Chan, she became a little gloomy and went to sit down in the front row with Ding Nan .

    As for Zhou Qin¡¯s gaze, Li Yundong didn¡¯t feel much . He just took a look at her, nodded to her, and then continued talking to Su Chan .

    Recently, this pair always stayed together as if they hoped to be conjoined and never be separated for a moment .

    While Li Yundong and Su Chan were talking, the ssroom suddenly fell into silence .

    Li Yundong looked up at the door and was suddenly stunned .

    A young and handsome boy stood at the door, with a cast on one leg, a walking stick under one arm, and a bouquet of flowers in the other arm . It was Zhao Yujian .

    ¡°Why did hee?¡± The students in the ssroom were all surprised and whispered, ¡°He has been discharged so soon?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t he a junior student? Why did hee to our ss?¡±

    ¡°Do you even have to ask? He must havee to look for Zhou Qin! Don¡¯t you see the flowers in his hand?¡±

    Zhao Yujian looked around in the ssroom and quickly saw Zhou Qin . He suddenly had a happy face and a sh of enthusiasm in his eyes . He limped toward Zhou Qin and handed the flowers over . ¡°Zhou Qin, I bought it at the flower shop early this morning . There are a total of ny-nine roses and they are all the freshest that could be found . ¡±

    Zhou Qin sat in the seat as she neither stood up nor reached for the flowers . She looked at Zhao Yujian with a pitiful look and sighed slightly, ¡°Zhao Yujian, you are really too stubborn . This isn¡¯t good for either of us!¡±

    Zhao Yujian¡¯s smile grew stiff, and Ding Nan reached out to grab the flowers . She said loudly, ¡°Hey, you are too annoying . Can¡¯t you just keep quiet with suchme legs?¡±

    When Zhao Yujian heard her call him a cripple, he suddenly twitched and the previous smile on his face slowly disappeared . Instead, he looked extremely sinister and angry .

    At this time, a very dangerous feeling struck Li Yundong and he suddenly felt strange . He stood up, screaming, ¡°Don¡¯t!¡±

    Almost at the same time, Zhao Yujian shook the flowers in his hands . As the colorful petals fell, a ck modified Type 54 pistol was revealed .

    Seeing the pistol, Ding Nan grew scared, and her mind went nk . Even her hand that was stretched out was frozen in the air .

    Zhao Yujian held the pistol while staring at the face of Ding Nan with a smirk . When he was about to pull the trigger, he suddenly heard footsteps behind him .

    He turned around and raised his hand to shoot!

    ¡°Boom!¡±

    The terrible gunshot broke the silence of the university .

    Li Yundong only felt a chill run down spine . He burst into a sweat and felt cold all over his body . He was wondering: where did he get the gun?!

 Chapter 77.1

    Chapter 77.1

    <h4>Chapter 77 School Shooting (I)</h4>

    Where did Zhao Yujian get the gun?

    This problem was not very important at this time . The important thing was that this man had already pulled the trigger .

    At the moment when the gunshot sounded, the birds on the campus fluttered at the same time, making a variety of horrifying screeches .

    The campus was as quiet as a cemetery . Time seemed to stop moving, and the air seemed to solidify .

    The teacher holding a textbook had a bullet hole in his head . His eyes were wide open as he stumbled to the ground .

    A female college student who followed him had stopped moving, textbooks still in her arms . Her face had been sshed with hot blood!

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    The sophomore students of the Chinese Department looked at the bloody scene at the door in fear . They used to see such views many times in movies . At that time, they could have popcorn whilementing on the authenticity of the films .

    However, when the scenes in the movies actually happened in front of them, their brains went all nk .

    The only sounds found in the room were the gunshot, the rapid, worried breathing, and the hysterical roar of Zhao Yujian .

    ¡°Why? Why did you do this to me!¡± Zhao Yujian had gone crazy . No one knew if he meant when he pulled the trigger, when Zhou Qin once again refused him coldly, or when Ding Nan once again trampled on his dignity unceremoniously .

    ¡°Zhao, Zhao...¡± Ding Nan, who was glib at ordinary times, could not finish a sentence . She tried to call Zhao Yujian¡¯s name in order to persuade him not to hurt her .

    However, Ding Nan was aware that she should be the shield of Zhou Qin . Zhou Qin had taken her, a rural-born girl, into various high-ss ces and given her benefits because she could block the romantic pursuits that Zhou Qin did not want, as well as various attacks against Zhou Qin .

    Ding Nan knew very clearly that she was the one that Zhao Yujian wanted to kill!

    However, she also knew that no matter what she said, she could no longer persuade Zhao Yujian to turn back because he had already pulled the trigger .

    Human-beings were the strongest beings in the world, but they were also one of the most vulnerable . Both their physical and emotional states were frail .

    There was an evil voice that kept screaming in Ding Nan¡¯s heart, whining andining, ¡°I¡¯m going to die . I am dead! He shouldn¡¯t me me . It¡¯s all Zhou Qin¡¯s fault . She asked me to do it . ¡±

    Ding Nan wanted to shout, but her voice was caught in her throat . She opened her mouth and only the sound of babbling came out . She could notplete a word or sentence and they all sounded like a dying man¡¯s whining .

    Zhao Yujian¡¯s face was full of anger and malevolence . The girls who were familiar with this handsome boy looked at him in shock, as if they never knew him .

    In the past, he was such a sunny, handsome man who was like an angel, but now, he was so hideous and horrible not unlike a demon from hell!

    Zhao Yujian put the pistol against Ding Nan¡¯s forehead . His eyes were popping while he said, ¡°You are glib, aren¡¯t you? Keep talking!¡±

    Ding Nan¡¯s teeth struck against each other, and her tears flowed uncontrobly . She was still muttering and could not say aplete sentence .

    Upon seeing that Ding Nan, who was so mean and arrogant in the past, being so scared, Zhao Yujian felt extreme pleasure . The power from the pistol in his hand made him swell in hysterical madness .

    However, at this time, although Zhou Qin had been shocked, she was a celebrity who had seen the bigger world . She took a deep breath and said, ¡°Zhao Yujian, there is nothing we can¡¯t discuss . You don¡¯t need to do this . ¡± ¡±

    Hearing this, the students around her all looked at her in admiration and resentment .

    They admired Zhou Qin who dared to speak like this at this moment, but they also resented the harsh tone in which Zhou Qin spoke .

    Was this woman crazy? Did she want to make Zhao Yujian go on a killing spree?

    When they thought of Zhao Yujian¡¯s predecessor, Ma Jiajue, and the victims of the shootings in European and American campuses, they were all scared and sobbed quietly .

    The sounds of crying made Zhao Yujian more restless, and he shouted at these students, ¡°Shut up, be quiet!¡±

    After he shouted, the students in the ssroom were all stunned and quickly covered their mouths with their hands while shaking like a flock of sheep .

    At this time, the girl with a bloody face at the door finally slowly sat down, leaning against the door frame . Director Qian, who heard the gunshot from outside the corridor, thought that someone had set off firecrackers in the ssroom . He yelled before walking to the door, ¡°What are you doing? How can you set off firecrackers in the school!¡±

 Chapter 77.2

    Chapter 77.2

    Chapter 77 School Shooting (II)

    Behind him was his new ally, Mr . Liu . They were like a couple who came to the door of the ssroom, protruding their stomachs . Mr . Liu said arrogantly before looking at the situation in the ssroom, ¡°Hey, Who did it? What are you doing?¡±

    However, when they came to the door and saw the girl who was sitting on the ground with a dull face, they were suddenly scared by the blood of her face . The two looked down and then looked up when they saw a barrel of a gun pointed at them .

    Director Qian and Mr . Liu were so scared that their legs were trembling and they couldn¡¯t walk nor speak .

    After seeing teacherse in, Zhao Yujian sneered and pointed at them with the pistol, ¡°Come here!¡±

    Director Qian and Mr . Liu looked at each other and said hurriedly, ¡°Hey, he is talking to you . ¡±

    ¡°No, he is obviously talking to you . ¡±

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    ¡°I am the director of the Academic Affairs Office . I say he is talking to you, so you should go . ¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s because you are the director of the Academic Affairs Office that he must talk to you!¡±

    While watching them quarrel, Zhao Yujian became angrier . He raised his hand and just fired!

    ¡°Boom!¡±

    Another shot!

    Fortunately, Zhao Yujian didn¡¯t aim at anyone this time . The bullet actually passed between the heads of Director Qian and Mr . Liu .

    Both of them only felt a gust of wind go by their ears, like death passing by .

    Director Qian and Mr . Liu suddenly stopped pushing each other . They looked at each other and shouted simultaneously as they fled through the door, falling and climbing over each other, and even the girl, who was stunned by their feet, was ignored .

    Seeing this, Zhao Yujianughed wildly, but after a while, he saw a figure in the back who he was very familiar with .

    He suddenly stoppedughing, and his eyes became extremely sinister and resentful .

    In his opinion, everything can be med on this boy!

    He was the man who humiliated him in public and injured one of his legs so that he could not participate in the performance for the exchange students . All his honor had been taken away by this boy!

    Zhao Yujian felt that if he could have participated in the performance that day, Zhou Qin would have been impressed by his heroic posture on the stage and epted him!

    Poor people must have hatefulness . Zhao Yujian was poor, but his hatefulness was never directed toward himself . How could Li Yundong injure his calf if he hadn¡¯t carried out the deadly kick?

    What would happen next?

    Li Yundong stared at the scene in front of his eyes, and his mind was a mess . He did brawl with the gangsters, but fighting and killing people were two different things; fighting against people with knives and sticks versus one with a pistol were two different things as well!

    Su Chan had been waiting and watching when she suddenly noticed that Zhao Yujian¡¯s attention was concentrated on Li Yundong with murderous eyes . She immediately whispered to Li Yundong, ¡°Yundong, lead the Qi to Huiyin and then Lingtai . Protect Shenting and connect with Baihui!¡±

    Li Yundong heard Su Chan¡¯s voice and his body trembled a little . The trust and habits he had developed with Su Chan made him subconsciously start to move his Qi .

    The majestic Qi of the gold pill was transferred from Huiyin and then to Lingtai .

    When the Qi arrived at Lingtai, Li Yundong felt his brain suddenly became clear . His fear and shock gradually went away as everything in front of him seemed to settle down bit by bit .

    The saying ¡°holding Lingtai¡± of cultivators referred to keeping one¡¯s mine clear . On the other hand, it meant to lead Qi through Lingtai . As long as the acupoint was unimpeded, then people would feel refreshed andfortable .

    After Li Yundong led Qi through Lingtai acupoint and reached Shenting, he suddenly felt that his mind became more agile . Previously he was shocked and sluggish, and now these feeling had gone away . His brain began to run like a high-speed motor, calmly and confidentially .

    The Shenting acupoint was located in the center of the forehead . Sometimes when people were upset and unable to think, they would scratch their heads with their hands . When their fingers pressed the acupoint, they would stimte it, making people conscious and look and hear more clearly .

    When Li Yundong converged Qi in Baihui, it meant that he hadpleted a small cirction and a big cirction . All the Qi had been highly concentrated and mobilized . At this time, Li Yundong was surrounded by the Qi of the gold pill as if he had endless strength .

    In the morning, Li Yundong just broke through the primary level of the Soul Condensing realm of the third heavenly: agile ear, clear eye, and perception . At this time, he had the Qi all over his body and felt courageous enough that he could beat thousands of troops in front of him .

    Moreover, Li Yundong had a faint thought that Zhao Yujian couldn¡¯t kill him at this time!

    As soon as he thought of this, Li Yundong¡¯s eyes immediately became sharp and cold . His entire body, even his pores, were revealing an aggressive momentum!

 Chapter 78.1

    Chapter 78.1

    Chapter 78 The First Confrontation with Firearms (I)

    The two consecutive shots made Kris and the others who were in another ssroom suddenly stunned . The exchange students of American universities all stood up and mored since US gun control was not strict and almost every family had a gun . Many of them had fired a gun and some were even firearm-lovers, so they certainly knew what these two sounds were .

    ¡°God, did I hear it wrong?¡± Tom said with a shocked voice . ¡°Was that a gunshot? Did I actually hear gunshots in a country where guns are strictly forbidden?¡±

    Kris was only stunned for a moment before she asked, ¡°Where did the gunshotse from?¡±

    Tom was an expert who was very good at recognizing the direction of sounds . He said, ¡°It seems to be in the direction of my master . ¡±

    Although Li Yundong hadn¡¯t epted Tom as a disciple, Tom still stubbornly called Li Yundong ¡°master¡±, and every time he saw Li Yundong, he would call him so as if he didn¡¯t mind thest time when Li Yundong had made fun of him .

    Hearing Tom¡¯s words, Kris forgot she was in ss and ran out of the ssroom . Seeing this, Tom immediately followed her .

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    ¡°Kris, are you crazy?¡± Tom shouted . ¡°What are you going to do? Be a hero?¡±

    The ssroom where Kris was in and the ssroom that Li Yundong stayed in were separated by a teaching building . She ran as she shouted, ¡°I am going to see what¡¯s going on! Don¡¯t forget, I¡¯m a double-degree college student, besides Chinesenguage and literature, I am still a university student in the Department of Journalism . The closer I am to the scene, the closer I am to the Pulitzer Prize! It is the famous saying of Master Capa!¡±

    Tom muttered and scolded, ¡°Capa didn¡¯t say that, you crazy woman!¡±

    The two people soon came to the teaching building where the gunshots happened when most college students had not realized what was going on .

    Kris looked around before she whispered to Tom, ¡°These students haven¡¯t run yet, which means the shooter who fired hasn¡¯t left the room . ¡±

    Tom looked at her nervously . ¡°Hey, Kris, this is not a game nor a joke . You don¡¯t want to get us killed, do you?¡±

    Kris¡¯s grandmother was the daughter of an eminent family . When she was studying in the UK, she ignored her family¡¯s objection and married an unknown sailor in London . After the World War II broke out, they took a tanker to Pennsylvania, and finally settled down .

    After a hard start, they slowly developed into a family with considerable power and status in the local area .

    Kris was the youngest daughter of her parents . She had four older brothers and two sisters and grew up with her grandparents . She not only inherited her grandmother¡¯s Chinese ancestry, but also inherited her Chineseplex and had a strong interest in Chinese civilization . At the same time, she also inherited the unique spirit of adventure from her grandfather who was a British sailor .

    Kris looked back at Tom, her eyes sparkling with excitement and nervousness . She bowed slightly and said to Tom in a low voice, ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense, Tom . If you are not afraid to die, you can follow me or you can try to dial 911 . ¡±

    Tom could not help raising his voice, ¡°911? That¡¯s not the emergency call in this country! Do you think I know nothing about this country so you can just lie to me? The emergency call in this country is 110!¡±

    Kris said, ¡°Then call 110!¡±

    Tom shouted, ¡°I only have a domestic mobile phone . Do I dial back to call the police there to fly over here? God, it will cause World War III!¡±

    Kris giggled . ¡°Then shut up! I am going to capture my Pulitzer Prize for the news! The Phdelphia Daily is very interested in such news!¡±

    Then, she turned around and rushed inside . Two stepster, she turned her head again and added, ¡°By the way, I hope the gunman will shoot your master in the head!¡±

    Tom was shocked and grabbed Kris, ¡°Hey, you are joking, right?¡±

    Kris smiled slyly . ¡°You got me . I am joking!¡±

    Tom nced at her helplessly, and followed her upstairs .

    Kris worked her way to her destination slowly . The closer she approached Li Yundong¡¯s ss, the more resistance they encountered . More and more students knew what was happening in the ssroom and ran down the stairs, screaming, and shoving .

    ¡°Look!¡± Tom pulled Kris¡¯s arm and pointed at a girl sitting at the door of a ssroom .

    Only half of her body was showing, but the creepy thing was that there was a hand beside her which was motionless .

    Kris held her breath, approached the door of the ssroom, poked out her body, turned on the camera function of the phone, and reached out with the phone .

    She didn¡¯t know that her actions wouldpletely change the fate of both her and Tom .

    At this time, all the students in the ssroom were extremely freightened . No one dared to resist, and even the students who sat nearest to Zhao Yujian didn¡¯t dare move .

    Only Li Yundong was standing alone in the back row, raising his head and shoulders above others .

    When Zhao Yujian saw Li Yundong, he became furious while his fingers holding the gun were getting more and more forceful . When he could not bear his anger, he suddenly raised the gun toward Li Yundong and fired a shot!

    At this time, Li Yundong had been covered with the Qi . When Zhao Yujian raised his hand, Li Yundong felt a sharp and strong pain tingling near his head .

 Chapter 78.2

    Chapter 78.2

    Chapter 78 The First Confrontation with Firearms (II)

    Li Yundong immediately tilted his head, and almost the exact moment the gunshot sounded, his head leaned a little and the bullet flew past his ear.

    After seeing that the bullet didn¡¯t hit Li Yundong, Zhao Yujian was stunned and then shot again.

    This time, Li Yundong felt a sharp pain in his right chest, so as soon as the gunshot sounded, he immediately twisted to one side. It looked like one was pulling the trigger while the other was turning at the same time.

    Zhao Yujian¡¯s second shot missed again. This time his eyes were filled with deep doubt and puzzlement.

    Not only him, everyone here could not believe that someone was able to dodge bullets in this world unless they were making a film!

    Zhao Yujian only hesitated for less than two seconds before he quickly gritted his teeth and pulled the trigger continuously at Li Yundong.

    At this moment, Li Yundong felt a terrible dangering toward him. The Qi in his body raised to the maximum limit he could reach. He was boiling, and his muscles were intense and excited. The hair on his body was standing up and trying to extend outward like a radar that was searching for the direction of imminent danger.

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    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom!¡±

    Three consecutive shots!

    Every time Zhao Yujian pulled the trigger, Li Yundong moved his body from one gesture to another. He moved so fast that there seemed to be an afterimage.

    The students beside him were wide-eyed and looking at Li Yundong as if they didn¡¯t know this boy at all.

    Enthusiasts of Resident Evil 5 shed back to Boss Wells who could avoid bullets!

    Li Yundong evaded five shots in a row. This extremely incredible behavior gave the students in the ssroom a realization: the pistol in Zhao Yujian¡¯s hand only had one real bullet and the rest were nks!

    A student bravely stood up and rushed out, trying to escape.

    Zhao Yujian had missed all his shots. He was scared by Li Yundong and could not move. He nced at the pistol in his hand and subconsciously wanted to take out the magazine and have a look to see if they were nks!

    But when he noticed that there was a runner, he raised his hand and shot without thinking!

    With a booming sound, the student was shot in the back, and fell to the ground!

    The students in the ssroom suddenly eximed, and they knew that the bullets that Zhao Yujian had just shot atLi Yundong were not nks!

    Seeing they were not nks, Zhao Yujianughed wildly. He pointed at Li Yundong and pulled the trigger again.

    When Zhao Yujian turned his gun, Li Yundong immediately felt it and twisted swiftly. The bullet flew past his chest again.

    The bullet missed again!

    The ssroom fell into dead silence.

    All the students looked at Li Yundong with inexplicable shocked looks, as if the boy was an alien!

    Zhao Yujian trembled. He looked at Li Yundong who had been staring at him with two sharp eyes as if a hunter staring at their prey.

    ***

    ***

    It was at this moment that Zhao Yujian began to really worry. He seemed to see a devilughing at him!

    When he eliminated people with his gun as he liked, the pleasure of controlling the lives of others made him feel like a god!

    But now, Zhao Yujian fearfully noticed that the man in front of him was a ¡°God¡± that mortals could notpare with.

    At the door, Tom and Kris were bbergasted as they stared at the phone¡¯s screen as it was in camera mode, and their eyeballs almost came out of their sockets.

    Tom stuttered and said, ¡°Jesus Christ, how is this possible? Is he dodging the bullets? Is he filming the Matrix?¡±

    Kris was also shocked by Li Yundong¡¯s astonishing performance, but she responded faster than Tom. She said and pointed at the student who was hit at the door, ¡°Go and pull her out. Let¡¯s see if she is alive.¡±

    Tom gritted his teeth and crawled to the door of the ssroom. He carefully looked into the room and saw Zhao Yujian standing in the ssroom as he didn¡¯t seem to notice them at all. He reached out and slowly pulled the student and teacher who were shot at the door.

    He saw that teacher was hit in the head and shook his head before he used his fingers to test his pulse. ¡°This one is dead.¡±

    As he finished saying this, he tried the student¡¯s pulse and immediately said, ¡°This one is still alive!¡±

 Chapter 79.1

    Chapter 79.1

    Chapter 79 Two Choices! (I)

    Kris nervously looked at the ssroom while taking off her coat with only a milky German brand-name Diane¡¯s bra on her upper body . She handed her coat to Tom without moving away from the screen in fear of missing a second .

    Tom tore the coat into strips and then bound up the student . Although he was a trainer who had participated in variousrge-scalepetitions, he was still nervous and sweaty . After doing that, Tom had his hands covered with blood . He subconsciously wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand, which suddenly made him bloody .

    ¡°How is it? How is it now?¡± Tom treated the wounded in front of him and whispered to Kris .

    Kris shook her head nervously and turned her head . She nced at Tom and said, ¡°Call the police, hurry, idiot!¡±

    Tom responded, took out his phone from his pocket and was about to call when he suddenly heard Kris nervously say, ¡°Tom, stand up, be careful, something is going to happen!¡±

    Tom nervously looked at Kris¡¯s mobile phone screen . Zhao Yujian was still pointing his gun at Li Yundong, but he wasn¡¯t shooting anymore .

    The capacity of the modified type 54 pistol magazine was raised from eight to ten . Zhao Yujian shot twice at first and shot Li Yundong five consecutive times before . Then one bullet hit another student who wanted to escape . At this time, there were only two bullets in the magazine .

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    Li Yundong¡¯s skill was so strange that he didn¡¯t seem like a human being . Zhao Yujian did not dare to shoot at him again .

    Although he still had one more magazine, would Li Yundong give him a chance to change it? He was so fast and powerful .

    Zhao Yujian held his cane with one hand and pointed at Ding Nan¡¯s head with the other . The violence and madness on his face had turned into tension and fear at this point . A gunman suddenly turned into the weak .

    He nervously watched Li Yundong¡¯s movements and said loudly, ¡°If you dare move again, I will kill her!¡±

    Li Yundong was normally very calm and able to adapt himself to different circumstances, but in this situation, he was not so ambiguous . He smiled coldly and said, ¡°Are you threatening me?¡±

    Then, he came out from the back seat .

    Zhao Yujian was so nervous that he shouted hysterically . The gun had pressed a bloody print on the head of Ding Nan . ¡°If you move again, I will kill her!¡±

    Li Yundong no longer moved . He didn¡¯t want to see people whom he was familiar with falling into a pool of blood . ¡°Well, I won¡¯t move! But, Zhao Yujian, have you ever considered your mother when you did this? You are so self-centered, what will your mother think?¡±

    Zhao Yujian¡¯s face was twisted . Heughed wildly and began to whimper . He cried out, ¡°Can Ie back now? You can hide bullets, but can you make these dead peoplee back alive?¡±

    He was like a wounded beast, crying and shouting loudly . He nced at Li Yundong and Zhou Qin . ¡°Why, why did you push me like this! Why?¡±

    Zhou Qin suddenly said, ¡°Zhao Yujian, no one is trying to force you to do anything . You are pushing yourself . ¡±

    ¡°Shut up, shut up!!¡± Zhao Yujian yelled crazily and then turned the gun to Zhou Qin .

    Zhou Qin stared at Zhao Yujian as if she did not see the gun pointing at her head and only Ding Nan who was next to her felt her shuddering .

    ¡°You, stand up!¡± Zhao Yujian pointed at Zhou Qin and said desperately and resentfully .

    He couldn¡¯t kill Li Yundong, so he had to vent his anger on the two girls in front of him .

    Zhou Qin slowly stood up under the threat of Zhao Yujian who shouted at Li Yundong loudly, ¡°You get out slowly and don¡¯t make any sudden moves, or I will kill them!¡±

    Li Yundong raised his hands and stared at Zhao Yujian . He walked to the door little by little . Su Chan also followed him closely and whispered, ¡°Yundong, you attract his attention and I¡¯ll catch him . ¡±

    Li Yundong was shocked . How could he put Su Chan in danger?

    ¡°Don¡¯t do anything!¡± Li Yundong whispered and nced at Su Chan .

    When Zhao Yujian saw the two of them whispering, he suddenly became nervous and shouted, ¡°What are you talking about? Don¡¯t try to do anything, or I¡¯ll kill them!¡±

    Li Yundong immediately answered loudly, ¡°We are leaving . Don¡¯t kill them!¡±

    Zhao Yujian shouted, ¡°You, go downstairs and stand in a position where I can see you, otherwise, I will shoot them!¡±

    Li Yundong had to do what he said and walked out of the ssroom with Su Chan .

    As soon as he got out of the ssroom, Li Yundong was surrounded by Kris and Tom who had blood on his face . They were both looking at him nervously and in surprise .

    ¡°Why are you two here?¡± Li Yundong was stunned .

    Tom looked at Li Yundong with ecstasy and screamed .

    Kris looked up and down at Li Yundong with big eyes and grabbed him . ¡°How did you do it?¡±

    Li Yundong found the foreign girl in front of him was only wearing a bra on her chest and was scared . He asked instead of answering, pointing at Kris, ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    Remembering that she was almost naked, Kris realized what he meant . She pointed at the student who was injured on the ground and was about to ask Li Yundong when she heard a shout in the ssroom, ¡°Li Yundong, hurry downstairs until I can see you, otherwise, I will fire!¡±

    Li Yundong immediately turned his head and said to Kris, ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear?¡± After he finished, he hurried down the stairs with Su Chan . Kris looked at Tom and said, ¡°You wait here . ¡±

    Then, she chased after him with her mobile phone .

 Chapter 79.2

    Chapter 79.2

    Chapter 79 Two Choices! (II)

    Tom said loudly, ¡°Hey, I don¡¯t want to stay here . I have to follow my master . It¡¯s too dangerous here!¡±

    Then he also took off his coat and put it on the student who was shot . He hurriedly added, ¡°Hang on, the ambnce will be here soon . ¡±

    After that, regardless of whether the student understood or not, he turned around to chase Kris .

    Li Yundong went to the back of the teaching building and waved his hand at Zhao Yujian, who was standing in front of the window, indicating that he had alreadye down . ¡°Zhao Yujian, don¡¯t be impulsive!¡±

    Zhao Yujian saw that Li Yundong was already downstairs and breathed a sigh of relief . He pointed at Zhou Qin and Ding Nan with the gun and said, ¡°Stand up!¡±

    After Zhao Yujian had Ding Nan and Zhou Qin leave the ssroom with the gun pointed at them, he said coldly, ¡°Go upstairs!¡±

    Zhou Qin and Ding Nan looked at each other and their eyes were all full of panic and doubt .

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    Zhao Yujian held a cane in one hand and held the pistol with the other, forcing Zhou Qin and Ding Nan to go to the highest level, and then said, ¡°Go to the roof!¡±

    Zhou Qin frowned and said, ¡°The door is locked . ¡±

    Zhao Yujian growled, ¡°Impossible, the door on the roof is never locked!¡±

    Zhou Qin calmly said, ¡°Since Li Yundong climbed to the roof, the door has been locked . ¡± She pointed at the lock on the door .

    Zhao Yujian did not say anything . He raised his hand and shot at the lock . With a booming sound, the lock of the door fell to the ground .

    Both Zhou Qin and Ding Nan did not expect that Zhao Yujian would shoot at this time and suddenly became scared .

    Zhao Yujian said with anger, ¡°You can open the door now!¡±

    Ding Nan didn¡¯t dare to say a word, so she immediately opened the door and went to the roof of the teaching building .

    Zhou Qin looked at Zhao Yujian coldly and said, ¡°That modified type 54 pistol can hold up to ten bullets which means you only have one bullet left!¡±

    Zhao Yujian nced at her with anger in his eyes and pointed at Zhou Qin with his gun, ¡°Go! What do you want to say?¡±

    Zhou Qin walked and said, ¡°We have two people . You can only kill one of us . You¡¯d better think about it . You only have one shot!¡±

    Zhao Yujian sneered . ¡°Whom do you think I will hit first?¡±

    Zhou Qin answered faintly, ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I have to tell you that if I die, not only are you doomed, but your mother, your father, and all your family members will all be finished! They will live desperate lives and regreting to this world . They will even regret giving birth to you . ¡±

    Hearing this, Zhao Yujian violently trembled . He looked at Zhou Qin with fear in his eyes, and his teeth kept chattering . He said, ¡°You, you are so vicious . ¡±

    Zhou Qin looked at him coldly and said, ¡°I am not vicious, but the power behind me is too great . It is like a beast . When it is big enough, it will eat people . The more you hurt it, the more violently it rebounds . This is not something I can control . ¡±

    Although Ding Nan went to the rooftop first, she could still hear Zhou Qin¡¯s words clearly . She knew what Zhou Qin¡¯s implication was: You only have one bullet . Kill Ding Nan and don¡¯t kill me . Otherwise, my family will avenge me .

    Ding Nan was shocked, angry, afraid, and regretful . She was shocked by Zhou Qin¡¯s coldness and she hated that Zhou Qin could be so cold-blooded . She was afraid to die and regretted her vanity .

    If she were not greedy with vanity to y with Zhou Qin, she would not be Zhou Qin¡¯s scapegoat!

    Zhao Yujian looked at Zhou Qin desperately . He suddenly realized that he did not know the girl in front of him .

    In order to pursue Zhou Qin, Zhao Yujian spent a lot of time inquiring about her preferences . He thought he knew Zhou Qin very well and could bring happiness to her, so he became obsessed and refused to let go .

    But now, Zhao Yujian found that this girl was really terrible and he had never understood her!

    Until just now, Zhao Yujian still had hope in his heart . Maybe Zhou Qin would give in to him in the face of death . Even if she talked to him or smiled at him, it would be great!

    But now...

    ¡°Ha ha ha ha...¡± Zhao Yujian smiled desperately which made Zhou Qin feel creeped out . Ding Nan was scared to tears, standing still, and shaking bitterly .

    ¡°Both of you, go to the edge of the building!¡± Zhao Yujian pointed at the two girls with the gun .

    Ding Nan was shuddering . She had never stopped crying and could not move . However, Zhou Qin could still hold it . She went to Ding Nan and whispered, ¡°Let¡¯s go, don¡¯t give up . ¡±

    Hearing this, Ding Nan brightened her eyes like grabbing at a straw that could save her life . ¡°Did she say that because she wanted to confuse Zhao Yujian?¡± Ding Nan thought .

    The two girls stood on the edge of the roof, trembling with fear . At this time, a lot of people had gathered below . Many girls were covering their mouths and did not dare to take a breath while the boys looked pale, pointing at the roof .

    Kris was recording the scene upstairs, and anxiously said to Li Yundong, ¡°Hurry up and do something!¡±

    Li Yundong took a deep breath and said calmly, ¡°Be quiet . I will climb up to have a look!¡±

    While he was talking, Zhao Yujian had pointed his gun at the heads of Zhou Qin and Ding Nan and smiled sadly . ¡°I only have one bullet . This was originally prepared for me . Now, you two can make a choice: who will jump? If one jumps, I will spare the other one . ¡±

    Zhou Qin and Ding Nan looked at each other . They both saw fear, vignce and... a trace of cruelty in each other¡¯s eyes!

 Chapter 80

    Chapter 80

    Chapter 80 The Moment of Life and Death (I)

    Just as Zhao Yujian forced the two girls to make a choice, Li Yundong took a deep breath and rushed to the wall of the teaching building.

    Since the two girls stood on the other side of the teaching building, Zhao Yujian had to keep one or two meters away from the edge of the tform where he could not see Li Yundong.

    Every time Li Yundong took a step, the nearby students faintly seemed to see that the earth seemed to be swayed by him.

    Li Yundong could feel that every movement of his thighs was apanied by the boiling Qi in his body, which could help him toplete the sprint in the shortest amount of time. After stepping up to the wall, he jumped up fiercely and caught the window on the second floor.

    Nearby, the teachers and students who were on the lookout all held their breaths. The school leaders who came to the school in a hurry were even more panicked. They knew that such a terrible thing had happened in this school and they were undoubtedly responsible for that.

    The most chilling thing for them was that if either girl standing on the roof jumped off, they would have no chance of surviving.

    ¡°Who is the boy climbing up?¡± A teacher saw Li Yundong¡¯s agile movement and suddenly asked.

    ¡°What does he want to do?¡±

    ¡°It seems that he is going to save the girls.¡± Two teachers whispered.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mess things up. Tell him to get down!¡± President Ke yelled, ¡°Does he think he is a savior?¡±

    ¡°Hey! President Ke, keep your voice down. If the shooter hears you, he will kill the boy! Now that he has climbed to the third floor, it¡¯s toote to call him down!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s hope for the best!¡±

    As they spoke, Li Yundong had climbed up to the fourth floor quickly. He used both his hands and feet and rose as quick as a monkey which shocked the teachers and students on the ground.

    Every time Li Yundong went up one floor, some girls screamed in low voices.

    Kris and Tom were wide-eyed while looking at Li Yundong. Kris whispered, ¡°God, does he even regard himself as a human being?¡±

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    Tom looked nervously at Li Yundong and said, ¡°No, he obviously thinks of himself as Spider-Man.¡±

    Just as Li Yundong was approaching the top of the building, the situation on the roof suddenly changed.

    Zhao Yujian¡¯s words separated the two girls who were secretly feeling animosity toward each other. They looked at each other with mutual vignce.

    As the creator of this situation, Zhao Yujian could not help, butugh aloud. When he stopped feeling oppression and threat from Li Yundong, he regained the pleasure of mastering the lives of others.

    Zhao Yujian yelled crazily, ¡°Aren¡¯t the two of you best friends? Make a choice, who will die?¡±

    Zhou Qin frowned, bit her lip, and reached out to Ding Nan while Ding Nan immediately shouted nervously, ¡°Don¡¯te over!¡±

    Zhou Qin softly said, ¡°Ding Nan, you are a smart person. You should know that if I die, then you can¡¯t live. It will destroy both of us. If I survive, I will take good care of your family. They will live a life that they never thought of before...¡±

    Ding Nan looked at Zhou Qin, trembling with tears. She was also a charming girl who had a small face, a slender figure, white skin, and beautiful, soft features. When she was crying, even Zhao Yujian felt pity for her.

    However, Zhou Qin didn¡¯t change her face and stayed fixed on Ding Nan.

    Ding Nan had already gotten confused at this time. She didn¡¯t know how to make a choice. Even though she was tough and eloquent on weekdays, that couldn¡¯t change the reality that she was a girl who was under twenty years old.

    She wanted to die with Zhou Qin together, but Zhou Qin¡¯s words pierced her like swords. She didn¡¯t want to die, so she could do nothing, but cry.

    Zhao Yujian became anxious and screamed, ¡°What are you waiting for?!¡±

    Zhou Qin could not help being scared and stepped forward.

    Ding Nan immediately screamed, ¡°Don¡¯te over!¡± As she said this, she took a step back. Behind her was the air, so she lost her bnce on the edge of the roof and fell off!

    At this moment, the world in front of Ding Nan suddenly turned upside down. Zhou Qin¡¯s figure became further and further away. ¡°She looked sad and sorrowful when I fell.¡± Thought Ding Nan.

    But it was already toote.

    Ding Nan¡¯s heart seemed to stop beating. Her body suddenly felt a terrible sense of weightlessness like a tide hitting her and drowning her instantly!

    ¡°Am I going to die? Am I going to die?¡± Ding Nan¡¯s pupil suddenly shrank as she thought desperately. The colored world instantly turned gray.

    But just as she fell, Ding Nan suddenly felt a strong arm hug her.

    Chapter 80 The Moment of Life and Death (II)

    When Li Yundong climbed to the fourth floor, he suddenly saw a ck shadow falling above him. He had no time to think and immediately reached out, catching the ck shadow in his arms.

    He rolled in the air, adjusted his bnce, and mmed his feet on the ground like a falling meteor.

    The people downstairs eximed at seeing this.

    Kris and Tom both widely opened their eyes. ¡°Jesus Christ, is he okay?¡±

    Ding Nan thought that she was for sure going to die. She did not expect that someone could catch her mid-air andnd on the ground from the fourth floor without being hurt.

    Ding Nan stared at the boy in front of her who had big eyes and a straight nose. His lips werepressed and his eyebrows looked like two sharp swords.

    Wasn¡¯t this Li Yundong, the person she once humiliated?

    Why did he save her?

    Ding Nan, who had been shocked, had forgotten the most crucial question: how did he save her?

    The vast majority of people present here had generally ignored this point, and they all felt shocked and admiration for Li Yundong¡¯s courage to jump in the air to save someone.

    Ding Nan¡¯s gray world turned into a colorful one. She looked at Li Yundong slyly when she was filled with shame. She grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s arm and cried out.

    Li Yundong had no other thoughts going through his head when he saved her. He was determined at that time. But after that, he became somewhat helpless by the crying girl.

    He was about to speak something tofort her when suddenly heard people around him exim.

    Li Yundong looked up and saw Zhao Yujian point at Zhou Qin with the gun and stand on the edge of the rooftop.

    Zhao Yujian looked at the girl who could still keep calm under the gun. She was so beautiful and charming. He secretly thought, ¡°She must be a beauty like Baosi (a famous beauty in ancient China)[1]. It is a pity that I am not King You of Zhou who yed the princes for just a smile of her. In her heart, I am definitely a loser.¡±

    Zhao Yujian said with a smirk, ¡°You are really malicious to kill your best friend.¡±

    Zhou Qin slightly turned her head away. It seemed that she still had a little kindness in her heart and could not face this bloody fact. She looked very sad and said, ¡°I don¡¯t have friends, and she is not my friend.¡±

    Zhao Yujian was stunned by Zhou Qin¡¯s words. He gasped for a while and was about to talk when he suddenly heard someone shouting at him from the direction of the stairs of the roof. ¡°Zhao Yujian, calm down!¡±

    He turned his head and saw that the school leader, President Ke, and some others were watching him nervously.

    The school leaders who went to the rooftops were scared when they found the girl in front of Zhao Yujian was actually Zhou Qin!

    For they knew the background of this girl!

    If this girl died in the school, they would face a horrible storm.

    Thinking of this, these soft-legged school leaders struggled to step forward and shouted in a near pleading tone, ¡°Zhao Yujian, please calm down. Everything can be negotiated!¡±

    Seeing them approaching him, Zhao Yujian immediately pointed at them with the gun and shouted in horror, ¡°Stop, don¡¯te over!¡±

    Zhou Qin saw Zhao Yujian move his gun away from her and he was so close to her, she suddenly had a very bold idea!

    She rushed to him, grabbed the hand with the gun, and tussled with him.

    At the entrance of the rooftop, the school leaders quickly ran forward. Zhao Yujian saw them close and became very tense, so he pulled the trigger. With a booming sound, a teacher yelled and fell to the ground. The teachers around suddenly trembled. They all crawled on the ground and could not move.

    Zhou Qin became bold and tough. She sneered and said to Zhao Yujian, ¡°You have no bullets!¡±

    Zhao Yujian stared at Zhou Qin desperately andplicatedly. He did not know either to admire the courage of this girl who knew to resist at this critical juncture, or to praise her calmness.

    Zhao Yujian suddenly grinned and said, ¡°Then let¡¯s die together...¡±

    Then, he grabbed her, and jumped off without hesitation!

    The teachers on the rooftop looked at Zhou Qin¡¯s figure disappearing little by little and suddenly lost their minds. At this moment, they seemed to see that their future and pursuits of life had be fragmented pieces and their houses, cars, children, and wives were all doomed.

    Li Yundong saw two figures fall off the roof and his pupils suddenly shrank. He broke away from Ding Nan¡¯s cuddle and quickly rushed to one of the figures, catching it in his arms with both hands.

    At this time, the sun hung high in the air. The re of the sun made Li Yundong unable to distinguish the identities of these two figures and decided to just pick one of them.

    Li Yundong could catch Ding Nan because he had adjusted his center of gravity. His energetic and powerful thigh bones and muscles supported the momentum of their weight and gravity.

    How powerful his thighs and arms were!

    This huge impact suddenly crashed into Li Yundong¡¯s body this time. Even though he had be stronger with the help of the gold pill, his arm was dislocated in an instant. But fortunately, he fell to the ground which took off some force off of him.

    When Li Yundong fell to the ground, a muffled sound was heard at the same time This was the terrible sound of something hitting the hard concrete floor. The sshing blood caused a wave of screaming.

    Right away, people found that the person caught by Li Yundong was a girl with long ck hair and the one who fell on the ground, twitching and spitting blood... was Zhao Yujian.

    [1]Baosi: https://baike.baidu/item/%E8%A4%92%E5%A7%92/432391?fr=ddin

 Chapter 81.1

    Chapter 81.1

    Chapter 81 The Savior (I)

    Zhao Yujian was lying on the ground, staring at Zhou Qin, who was still in shock . His eyes were full of unwillingness and resentment . But as his eyes slowly closed, the world around him turned dark, and the exmations and noises around became buzzing, blurred, and unrecognizable .

    ¡°Am I still alive?¡± Zhou Qin stared at Li Yundong and tried to speak until she found her voice had be hoarse, and she could not say a word .

    At this time, Li Yundong had a forehead covered with sweat, teeth gritting, and his face looked horrible as if he was in tremendous pain .

    ¡°God, his arm is dislocated!¡± Seeing that Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder joint and elbow joint were swollen, Kris immediately pushed the crowd away and came to him .

    She squatted down and tried to check Li Yundong¡¯s injury when she was stopped by a girl who said fiercely, ¡°Back off!¡±

    Kris was stunned . When she figured out that the girl was Su Chan who had been with Li Yundong, she argued, ¡°He is hurt, let me have a look . I know a little medicine . ¡±

    Su Chan sneered and nced at the foreign girl who was wearing only one piece of underwear on her upper body . She showed disdain and scorn on her face and said, ¡°How can you know medicine?¡±

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    Kris was stunned and suddenly blushed . ¡°I just wanted to help . Why did she say that?¡±

    Kris retorted angrily, ¡°I have been trained professionally! Have you?¡±

    Su Chan didn¡¯t want to argue with her, but showed a terrible green light in her eyes as the beast showed her fangs .

    Kris was scared by Su Chan¡¯s eyes . When she recovered and was about to get angry, she suddenly saw Su Chan poke Li Yundong¡¯s chest with her figure while whispering to him, ¡°I need to correct your dislocated joints . Yundong, hold on!¡±

    Li Yundong was covered in sweat . He nodded to Su Chan with a forced smile .

    Su Chan squeezed the joint of Li Yundong¡¯s arm with her hand, then grabbed his arm with one hand and his forearm with the other . Suddenly, she twisted and pushed her hands . With a cracking sound, she immediately sent Li Yundong¡¯s dislocated forearm into the joint . Then she pushed Li Yundong¡¯s upper arm into the shoulder joint .

    After hearing the consecutive four cracking sounds from the joints, the surrounding students all felt creeped out . They sweated and grimaced as if their joints could feel the pain as well .

    But Li Yundong didn¡¯t make a sound even though his forehead had been wet, and he was clenching his teeth .

    The students around could not imagine how Li Yundong saved a person on the wall of the fourth floor and caught a girl who jumped off from the fifth floor with his bare hands, but when they saw that Li Yundong¡¯s arms were dislocated and he could endure the pain of the correction, they couldn¡¯t help, but admire him .

    ¡°This is a real man!¡± Some girls covered their mouths and looked at Li Yundong with inexplicable andplicated looks .

    Kris stared at Su Chan as she skillfully corrected Li Yundong¡¯s dislocated arm and whispered involuntarily, ¡°God, how many times has she done such a thing?¡±

    Tom shuddered . As a trainer, he knew that a person familiar with correcting the joints must be a person who was very familiar with disassembling said joints .

    ¡°The girl is as cute as a Barbie, but she is a terrible killer!¡± Tom whispered to Kris .

    Kris had forgotten to film at this time, but the cell phone in her hand was still recording .

    After Li Yundong took a few deep breaths, he found although he still felt a little pain, his arm seemed totally fine . He stood up and moved his arms when he saw Zhou Qin and Ding Nan looking at him in shock after he turned around .

    Li Yundong had no idea about the dialogue between Zhou Qin and Ding Nan on the roof, therefore, he didn¡¯t know that there was a huge rift between the girls who were inseparable in the past . He nodded to Zhou Qin and asked, ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    Zhou Qin looked at Li Yundong nkly as if she couldn¡¯t believe that she was still alive . She didn¡¯t quite know what to say, so she didn¡¯t answer Li Yundong¡¯s question for a while .

    Seeing that she did not respond, Li Yundong thought that Zhou Qin must be in shock, so he turned his head and said to Ding Nan, ¡°Are you alright?¡±

    Ding Nan was staring at Li Yundong, biting her lip . She didn¡¯t answer the question either, just like Zhou Qin .

    At this time, the teachers on the rooftop of the teaching building reacted . They rushed to the edge and looked down one by one . Seeing a figure in a pool of blood, President Ke suddenly felt his heartbeat vigorous and almost passed out . Fortunately, a teacher with sharp eyes pointed to Zhou Qin and said ecstatically, ¡°She is fine, Zhou Qin is fine! Look, she is still moving!¡±

    Hearing this, these teachers seemed toe back to life . They became vigorous again, no longer as soft as before . They rushed downstairs like a gust of wind, yelling, ¡°Get out of the way; get out of the way . ¡±

    President Ke and the others quickly came to Zhou Qin, and carefully looked the girl up and down . Confirming that she had only a little scratch, they immediately felt relieved .

    Anyway, this was a big blessing amidst all the misfortune!

    These teachers all surrounded Zhou Qin . As for Zhao Yujian, who was lying in a pool of blood, Ding Nan, who was still in shock, a dead teacher who was still in the ssroom and a wounded student who was waiting to be saved, no one cared .

    Kris looked at them with cold eyes, and scolded, ¡°Bureaucrat!¡±

    It was unexpected that no one heard her, but her filming with the mobile phone attracted the attention of Director Qian .

    The faculty director who was scared by Zhao Yujian before, stood arrogantly in front of the students, protruding his stomach as if he was the savior here .

    ¡°Hey, who allowed you to film this?¡± Director Qian pointed at Kris and said in anger .

    Kris was stunned and said loudly, ¡°I have the freedom of the press!¡±

    Director Qian sneered and grabbed the phone from her hand . ¡°Do you know where you are now? Do you think you are in the US?¡±

 Chapter 81.2

    Chapter 81.2

    Chapter 81 The Savior (II)

    Kris¡¯s mobile phone was taken away, so she became infuriated . She screamed and rushed to Director Qian, however, Director Qian knew that if the video on the mobile phone were transmitted, the school would be finished because the video would be spread all over the world!

    Director Qian quickly removed the memory card from the phone and then tossed the phone back to Kris . ¡°Here¡¯s the phone, but we have to check the video before we return the memory card to you!¡±

    Kris had worked very hard and risked her life to take that video and in the blink of an eye, her work was taken away . She was so angry, and when she was going to take it back, Tom stopped her .

    He was still very calm at this time . He shook his head at Kris, whispering, ¡°Kris, calm down . Don¡¯t sh with them at this time; solve it through official channels . ¡±

    Kris said bitterly, ¡°I willin about him!¡±

    When Director Qian heard that Kris wanted toin about him, heughed and shook his head as he walked to President Ke¡¯s side . He whispered to President Ke while pointing at Kris .

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    President Ke took a look at Kris, then praised Director Qian while patting his shoulder .

    Not far away, Kris and Tom watched this and became worried . They knew that they could not solve this problem through official channels . Kris gnashed her teeth and said, ¡°They are birds of the same feather!¡±

    Tom also shook his head . ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s go see my master . ¡±

    Kris snorted and turned to look at Li Yundong . By now, Li Yundong had no trouble with his hands . The swelling had gone down at the speed of deting a balloon .

    Kris had forgotten the quarrel and her unhappiness . She stared at Li Yundong¡¯s arm and could not help shouting, ¡°How is this possible! Just now your arm was like a balloon! How can it be fine now?¡±

    Su Chan turned around and looked at her . She lifted her chin and said proudly, ¡°I said you knew nothing about medicine . Are you convinced now?¡±

    Kris blushed, but she was a straightforward girl . ¡°I am convinced, but can you teach me?¡±

    Su Chan humphed and turned away . She said, ¡°I don¡¯t ept foreigners, and I also advise you not to try Yundong . He will never ept you as a disciple!¡±

    Kris felt puzzled and wronged . What dynasty did she belong to? How could she be as conservative as an older woman in her 100s?

    Kris grievously shouted, ¡°I am of Chinese descent . My grandmother is Chinese!¡±

    Li Yundong and Su Chan were both stunned and looked at each other . Li Yundong asked, ¡°Your grandma is Chinese?¡±

    Kris nodded . ¡°Yes, my grandmother is called Lin Guoying . She is from Hunan, China, and she is the one who taught me Chinese and Chinese culture . ¡±

    Although Li Yundong¡¯s attitude to Kris was not very friendly, it was much better than that of Su Chan . He smiled and said, ¡°No wonder you are so good at Chinese, but you have a little Hunan ent, which should be corrected . ¡±

    Kris shrugged her shoulders and didn¡¯t take this kind of thing seriously . ¡°Why should I correct it if you can understand it . There are 50 states in the United States, and I have never heard that any state of the other 49 has to learn Washington ents . ¡±

    Li Yundong smiled slightly . He didn¡¯t want to argue with Kris on this kind of problem . He turned his head and looked at Zhao Yujian, who was in a pool of blood, with sympathy andment in his eyes .

    In all fairness, in addition to his narrow-mindedness and extreme character, Zhao Yujian was very good in all aspects who was very attractive to the opposite sex . After he failed to pursue Zhou Qin, he chose to embark on one of the most extreme roads and achieved terrible self-destruction .

    He suddenly thought of when he went to the hospital to see Zhao Yujian . At that time, Su Chan said something to him, and now he couldn¡¯t help ,but whisper, ¡°The great practitioners should be clear about causality... . ¡±

    Su Chan listened to him clearly and said with a sigh, ¡°Yes, when I saw Zhao Yujian¡¯s mother who was biased and had spoiled him, I knew that they were doomed, and it wouldn¡¯t end well . Now, look at him . It actually happened...¡±

    Li Yundong had sessfully rescued some people who should have died and solved a catastrophe that might have became worse, however, he was full of sadness . Kris couldn¡¯t help, but ask, ¡°You are a savior today, but why are you not happy at all?¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head and sighed, ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a savior . If it were possible, I wish all these things would not have happened . ¡±

    Li Yundong said it seriously and his expression was sincere and straightforward . Kris couldn¡¯t help, but admire the boy¡¯s chest more . She said inwardly, ¡°Besides his amazing skills, he is masculine and kind . If such a boy studied at her university, the girls who wanted to ask him to go out on a date every week would line from Harrisburg to Washington!

    She recalled the person who made fun of Tom and ridiculed her and the one who dodged bullets in the ssroom . She became a little confused since she didn¡¯t know which one was the real Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong no longer spoke to Kris . He looked at the blood pool not far away and felt empty at that moment: the various reasons before had caused all the events that happened today, but what kind of future would it lead to??

    Buddhism talks about karma, Taoism values the causal circle . No one would know what kind of change of fate this tragedy had been brought to everyone here today .

 Chapter 82.1

    Chapter 82.1

    Chapter 82 He Is a Legend! (I)

    ording to the movies, the police always showed up at thest moment . This time, they didn¡¯t break from the stereotype and even came to the schoolter than the reporters .

    The arrival of the police and reporters made Tiannan University more chaotic and busy . The police pulled a warning line around the entire building and emptied the surrounding people . The schoolmittee held an emergency meeting to confirm how to blockade the area . After that, the teachers quickly took action and gatheared the students in the ss, severely warning them not to spread the matter around or talk about this anymore .

    Fortunately, Li Yundong had yed an unparalleled role as a savior in this incident . For this, even Director Qian, who saw Li Yundong as a thorn in his eyes, did not dare to criticize him .

    Although the press had received orders from the Propaganda Department to confirm that such news could not be released, there were still some curious reporters who asked the students in detail about the matter .

    Some of Li Yundong¡¯s ssmates were still in shock when they told the reporters what happened in the ssroom . Although each person told a different story, when they mentioned how Li Yundong dodged the bullets, they were all wide-eyed with excitement and fanaticism .

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    ¡°You mean Li Yundong could avoid bullets?¡± A reporter couldn¡¯t help, but reveal a strange look after listening to a boy¡¯s story .

    The boy nodded hard and looked like he saw Megatron attacking the Earth or Altman dominating the universe .

    The reporter couldn¡¯t help, butugh . He smiled before he realized it was rude, so he said to the student, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, you can continue . I, I just couldn¡¯t help it . ¡±

    The boy blushed and said loudly, ¡°You don¡¯t believe me!¡±

    The reporter tried to control hisughter and said, ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t believe you, but what you said makes people feel untrustworthy . ¡±

    The student felt infuriated as if the fact that the reporter did not trust Li Yundong¡¯s deeds was a great shame to him . ¡°I am telling the truth . If you don¡¯t believe me, you can ask someone else!¡±

    At this time, a girl passing by suddenly shouted, ¡°I can testify, I have seen it with my own eyes!¡±

    The reporter looked at them and barely stoppedughing . He said seriously, ¡°Listen, I have studied psychology . I know that sometimes people will have mental illness after suffering from major trauma . The disease is called Fantasy, which makes you arrange and fantasize what you saw in your own delusions, and believe that is true . ¡±

    He tried to exin, but the boy in front of him looked at him with very hostile eyes . Even the girl pulled his sleeve and said, ¡°He said that we have a mental illness . Don¡¯t talk to him . I think he is the sick one!¡±

    The boy nodded, stared at the reporter bitterly, and then turned to leave .

    Only the reporter stayed in the same ce .

    The tragedy did not deteriorate under Li Yundong¡¯s control, but the impact it brought to Tiannan University was still damaging . The schoolmittee immediately sent the casualtypensation to the families of the dead and injured and reached a privacy agreement with them .

    Although Li Yundong¡¯s performance in saving people was questioned, Zhou Qin spoke for him . He did not suffer too much interference and only made a confession during the police¡¯s inquiry and was quickly let go .

    One dayter, the exchange meeting between Tiannan University and the University of Pennsylvania was over with a very disappointing ending . Foreign friends from the United States, both teachers, and students, shook their heads to everything they saw here . The only thing that made the visit feel worthwhile was that they had seen a great person .

    For Li Yundong, the exchange students almost never stopped talking about him . Tom and Kris were discussing him every day: How did Li Yundong manage to do what he did?

    Unfortunately, Westerners were ustomed to using all the deep-rooted scientific theories in their brains to exin everything, so no matter how they tried to exin it, they felt that it wasn¡¯t quite right .

    ¡°When our protagonist caught an adult woman who fell from the fifth floor like the giant Antai, a tragedy finally came to an end . Throughout the whole thing, the horrifying skills of our protagonist made me feel curious again: how could he have such extraordinary power?¡±

    Kris sat in the cabin seat of the ne, facing her ownputer and typing with her fingers quickly . When she finished thest letter, she couldn¡¯t help, but breathe a sigh of relief and stared nkly at the article .

    At this time, a snap rang beside her . Kris turned her head and saw Tom squatting in the aisle and said, ¡°What can I do for you?¡±

    The girl next to Kris was very discreet and said to Tom, ¡°I am changing seats with you . ¡±

    Tom smiled at her . ¡°Oh, you are so sweet!¡±

    Kris smiled and watched Tom sit down beside her and said, ¡°Give me a cup of boiled water!¡±

    Tom smiled and pressed the service light to call the flight attendant . He passed the water to Kris and whispered, ¡°When I was a kid, my grandmother told me that there were some very mysterious people in the far east of the maind . They had unparalleled power, just like the half-human, half-god of Achilles and giant Antai, etc . in Western mythology . But their power came from unremitting spiritual practice, and the power of Western mythological heroes came from their divine blood...¡±

 Chapter 82.2

    Chapter 82.2

    Chapter 82 He Is a Legend! (II)

    When he said this, Tom turned his head and said to Kris, ¡°What are you writing? Your memoirs?¡±

    Kris stretched herself out, forming a sexy arc with her upper body . She said, ¡°This is a documentary report for the Phdelphia Daily . Unfortunately, the pictures I took with my mobile phone were detained by them, which greatly reduces the credibility of the story . Otherwise, I would have made a lot of money with this article!¡±

    Tomughed . ¡°Don¡¯t dream about that, Kris . If we didn¡¯t see it with our own eyes, would you believe that there were people in the world who could evade bullets? Even if you had a video, people would think it was edited!¡±

    Tom pointed at his eyes and ears, and said with sarcasm, ¡°People always believe in what they see with their own eyes, and they are not willing to believe in what they hear with their ears!¡±

    Kris showed a thoughtful look . She stared at the vast clouds outside the window of the ne . After a while, she turned her head and said to Tom, ¡°Do you believe it, Tom?¡±

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    Tom nodded hard . ¡°Of course, I believe in what I saw! He is a legend! After I go back, I am going to apply for a transfer to China and a visa application . I want to go there and learn from him . ¡±

    Upon seeing the obsession in Tom¡¯s eyes, Kris was absorbed in thought .

    Tom asked, ¡°Are youing, Kris? You are very interested in the magical things in thisnd, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Kris hesitated and answered with a sigh, ¡°I don¡¯t know, Tom . I have to ask my grandmother . ¡±

    Tom incited her and said, ¡°Don¡¯t hesitate, Kris . For your Pulitzer Prize for the news, for your yearning for Chinese culture, you shoulde! Do you remember what we have seen about that person after we came here? He kicked people from two or three meters away and knocked down more than a dozen gangsters armed with steel knives . He could avoid pistol bullets a few meters away and caught an adult woman who fell off the height of the five-story in the air with his hands . After that, he could also catch another adult woman with his bare hands . ¡±

    Tom said with an exaggerated face, ¡°God, even the craziest visionaries can¡¯t imagine such a thing!¡±

    His exaggerated tone got a boy sitting in the front row to turned around who said to him with a smile, ¡°Hey, Tom, you became a fanboy . ¡±

    A girl next to the boy also said with a smile, ¡°I am also a fan of him . Did you see how he corrected his arms after they were dislocated? I swear to God that he is definitely the most masculine man I have ever seen! If I could getid by him, I would be so excited! God, I am looking forward to his behavior in bed!¡±

    Westerners are bold in their sexuality and do not mind talking about their hobbies .

    The girl¡¯s words caused sneers to appear on the faces of the exchange students on the ne . The boy next to her teased and said, ¡°Louise, haven¡¯t you seen that he already has a girlfriend? And she is very beautiful!¡±

    Louise shrugged her shoulders and looked regretful . ¡°I saw her . If I didn¡¯t, I would have asked him out . ¡±

    Tom and the ssmates in the front row joked and said, ¡°Hey, don¡¯t cast eyes at my master!¡±

    His words attracted the surrounding students to tease him and said, ¡°Tom, do you really want to learn from this guy?¡±

    The smile on Tom¡¯s face disappeared . Instead, he looked serious and solemn . ¡°Of course, he is a legend . I want to follow him and learn from him!¡±

    The ssmatesughed . ¡°Like Luke Skywalker who learns from Obi-Wan?¡±

    Tom nodded hard . ¡°Yes, exactly! He is my Obi-Wan Kenobi!¡±

    The students around himughed happily . ¡°Maybe he won¡¯t ept you!¡±

    Thinking of when Li Yundong had teased him, Tom showed a look of sorrow and frustration . He muttered, ¡°I¡¯m not afraid . I know there is a saying in Chinese which is... what is it, Kris?¡±

    Tom tried his best to recall the Chinese sentence that Kris taught him when Kris couldn¡¯t help, but smile . ¡°Idiot, it¡¯s ¡®Faith moves mountains¡¯!¡±

    Tom opened his mouth, rolling his tongue to pronounce, ¡°Faith moves mountains?¡±

    Kris smirked and shook her head, holding her forehead . ¡°Tom, you have a long way to go to master Chinese!¡±

    Then, she turned her eyes to the vast sea of clouds outside the ne, ignoring Tom who was trying to pronounce it right .

    In the meantime, she seemed to have seen a world she had never seen before in the sea of thend that was China...

    ¡°He is a legend . I want him to be my teacher!¡± Tom¡¯s voice resounded in Kris¡¯s mind .

 Chapter 83.1

    Chapter 83.1

    Chapter 83 A Hero (I)

    While Kris and the others returned to the United States, Tiannan University slowly recovered its tranquility . Because of the severe blockade, there were no relevant things in newspapers, or even on the Inte .

    After the bloodstains in the doorway of the ssroom and downstairs of the teaching building were washed off, some students who passed through even began to believe that these things never happened at all .

    But in truth, they had happened . Zhao Yujian and the two people he shot could note back, and Li Yundong was well-known throughout the campus at this time . He had be an unparalleled figure of the moment .

    ¡°If you don¡¯t know Li Yundong, you are not a member of Tiannan University . ¡±

    Although the schoolmittee had shut down the school forum in order to suppress the scandal, they could not stop the students from talking about it . These college students were very energetic . Since they were unable to react on the forum, they talked about Li Yundong in private all the time .

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    It was too easy to google someone these days, and it became easier when the person happened to be their ssmate .

    Less than half a dayter, the gossip fellows had dug out everything about Li Yundong, but when the curious people found out the details, they were not only surprised, but also more curious!

    ¡°He has nothing special in the areas of background, life, and experiencepared to ours!¡± People cried out .

    He had no powerful family background, no mysterious master, no extraordinary talent or opportunities .

    From the information they had found, Li Yundong was no different from any college student in the world, but in what way did the man who looked ordinary and had an ordinary life suddenlyplete the gorgeous turn in his life?

    Sometimes, the more mysterious and incredible a person was, the more curious people would be, and the stronger their worship and awe .

    Li Yundong had no idea that he risen from an idol in Tiannan University to a hero .

    The next day when Kris and others left Tiannan City and the sun just rose, Li Yundong woke up from deep meditation and took a long breath .

    He opened his eyes and looked at the vast sky and bustling city outside the balcony, feeling with emotion .

    As a negligent otaku, after experiencing so many things, Li Yundong had a different view of life, especially when a young life fell and died miserably in front of his eyes . If he were still as calm as usual, he would be too relentless and cruel .

    Li Yundong, who witnessed the whole tragedy personally, for the first time, began to think about a profound question: what were the causes and effects?

    Even when he returned home, he thought about the problem during meditation . If Zhao Yujian¡¯s mother¡¯s unlimited indulgence and tolerance was the cause, and the final tragic death was the result, then what would be Li Yundong¡¯s cause and effect?

    While looking at the blue sky and the busy city streets below, he suddenly found that the sky was so vast and unbounded that if he could fly, he could go wherever he wanted . The sea was so immense that if he could breathe in it, he could go wherever he wanted .

    But people couldn¡¯t . They couldn¡¯t fly nor breathe in the sea, so they had to stay onnd, grounding themselves within a city and build streets for pedestrians and cars which were clearly separated and well organized .

    Li Yundong suddenly realized that: people could not fly nor breathe in water; a single human being was a frail life¡ªthat was the reason . So human beings established cities with strict orders andw, one after another . But aren¡¯t rules a kind of shackle/imprisonment?

    Li Yundong clenched his fists and felt a powerful force flowing in his body . He had thoroughly proved that he really had the power far beyond that of the ordinary people .

    This power was definitely rted to Su Chan!

    Thinking of this, Li Yundong could not helpughing bitterly . Previously he had questioned Su Chan, but the little girl blinked her eyes and refused to tell him the truth .

    ¡°Let¡¯s go . It is time for school!¡± Su Chan carried Li Yundong¡¯s schoolbag, shouting behind him . She was now more excited for school than Li Yundong .

    Looking at the time, Li Yundong stood up andughed, ¡°You want to go school at seven o¡¯clock?¡±

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong and was surprised . She went to Li Yundong and watched him carefully, then she suddenly asked, ¡°Have you been thinking about something recently?¡±

    Li Yundongughed and said, ¡°Isn¡¯t that nonsense? Can I not think after such a bad shooting incident?

    Su Chan shook her head and said, ¡°No, no, I mean, are you thinking about such philosophical questions such as the world, life, yourself and so on?¡±

 Chapter 83.2

    Chapter 83.2

    Chapter 83 A Hero (II)

    Li Yundong looked at Su Chan in astonishment . ¡°Are you a roundworm in my stomach? How could you know what I¡¯m thinking?¡±

    Su Chan giggled and answered, ¡°Bah, you¡¯re a roundworm . It¡¯s disgusting! Well, what have you thought about?

    Li Yundong looked at Su Chan very seriously and said slowly, word by word, ¡°Since you appeared, I got a very magical and unordinary power . Just now, I was wondering, since I am in such a mechanized cage, if my strength could break the order, and could I be special over all the people in the world?

    Li Yundongughed, bowing his head, and said, ¡°Am I arrogant?¡±

    Su Chan held Li Yundong¡¯s arm and said with a smiling face, ¡°My master, you are very modest . Don¡¯t you know that you are already beyond the other people?¡±

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    Li Yundong asked, ¡°Really? Based on?¡±

    Su Chan smiled and pointed at her small nose . ¡°Because you have me!¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± Li Yundong said with a long tone, ¡°Really? Tell me honestly, who on earth are you?¡±

    Su Chan once again turned aside and changed the subject, shaking Li Yundong¡¯s arm straight, ¡°Oh, don¡¯t bring up this again . I¡¯ll tell you when I can!¡±

    Li Yundong could not force her, so he said helplessly, ¡°Well, I won¡¯t ask anymore . I will wait for it . ¡±

    Su Chan secretly smiled and said inwardly, ¡°You have passed the primary realm of the third heavenly ¡°Soul Condensing¡± and began to practice the middle level of ¡°Seeking, Proving, and Enlightenment¡± . Most of the cultivators who entered this stage would be confused by their powerful strength . They have to find a suitable way for their good . ¡±

    There were thousands of paths of practice, and people could not have them all . So, at this time, cultivators had to make a choice like high school students, who were separated into science and art . They had to choose the most suitable path for themselves and determine the direction of their future practice: should they learn Chinese, or economics, orw?

    After entering this stage, Li Yundong began to carry out deep thinking while his restless, blundering temper also slowly changed, and his behavior became mature .

    After breakfast, they went to school . As soon as they entered the school, Li Yundong was surprised to see all his ssmates avoid him and Su Chan and made a path to the room when they saw them .

    Su Chan smiled and whispered to Li Yundong, ¡°You are a celebrity!¡±

    Li Yundongughed too . ¡°I¡¯d rather not be one . ¡±

    Su Chan looked at the many eyes of the students and could not help, but raise her chin high . It seemed that,pared to weing her like this, she felt happier to see these people wee Li Yundong .

    ¡°This is thepanion I chose! Sooner orter, he will drive the colorful beasts looking down at the world . The rose in the sky will be the carpet under his feet, and the Buddha of Heaven will make way for him!¡± Su Chan looked at Li Yundong with joy, and her chest had been filled with warmth . She felt excited, delightful, and a sense of achievement that made it difficult to speak .

    At first, she made up her mind to borrow Li Yundong as a tripod stove to collect Yang for Yin, but now she was doing her best to guide Li Yundong . Su Chan was also making the most important and magnificent turn in her life, just like Li Yundong .

    For the little fox, there was nothing more satisfying than watching the boy grow up little by little .

    Li Yundong was not ustomed to all this kinds of eye-catching etiquette, but if Kris and others were still here, they would certainly wee and apud with cheers for him as if they were weing the arrival of a hero .

    The easterners were restrained . After seeing Li Yundong, these college students gave way and looked at him with admiration and respect . It was the best they could do .

    However, there would always be exceptions . After Li Yundong and Su Chan sat down in the ssroom for a while, a head popped out behind the door, a girl nced around and immediatelyughed upon seeing Li Yundong .

    Feng Na turned to Cheng Cheng outside the ssroom and said, ¡°He¡¯s here!¡±

    They trotted over to Li Yundong with smiles and sat next to him . They did not speak, but stared at Li Yundong as if looking at some rare treasure .

    After Zhao Yujian¡¯s incident, Li Yundong¡¯s temperament had begun to change . In the past, he would have jumped and shouted loudly, but now he just looked at the two girls quietly and said nothing .

    After they stared at each other for a while, Feng Na suddenly sighed and said, ¡°He has changed . He is a hero who is a different person that...¡±

    In Feng Na¡¯s eyes, although Li Yundong still looked handsome, his ck eyes had be more profound . When he sat there quietly, he looked so calm as if he had experienced life and death, which was strange for her . It was something that didn¡¯t belong to the boys of this age .

    Feng Na stared at Li Yundong as she began to speak when she suddenly stopped, and the words she was going to use to make fun of Li Yundong got caught in her throat .

 Chapter 84.1

    Chapter 84.1

    Chapter 84 Pointing out the Sybus! (I)

    Fortunately, Li Yundong helped her out . He smiled and asked, ¡°What hero?¡±

    Seeing Feng Na¡¯s ears turn red, Cheng Cheng knew that she was in a panic and immediately handed him a notebook . She said with a smile, ¡°You are a hero now . Come on, sign it for us! I am now officially your second hardcore fan!¡±

    Li Yundong took the book, nced at it, and said with a smile, ¡°You want me to sign the economic textbook? That¡¯s not very sincere!¡±

    Cheng Cheng stuck out her tongue and said, ¡°I don¡¯t mind, just sign!¡±

    Li Yundong no longer refused . He smiled and picked up a pen . He opened the book and wrote his name on the title page . Feng Na, who watched Li Yundong¡¯s every move, suddenly felt that the boy was more mature and had be more of a stranger .

    When Li Yundong handed the textbook back to Cheng Cheng, Feng Na suddenly grabbed it, closed the textbook, and put it in front of Li Yundong¡¯s mouth . She said seriously, ¡°Li Yundong, what were you thinking when you saved those people?¡±

    Li Yundong could not helpughing . ¡°What else could I think about? Nothing!¡±

    Feng Na hit Li Yundong with the book and said with anger, ¡°As a hero of Tiannan University, how could you think of nothing? Try again!¡±

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    Although Li Yundong had experienced a lot and became mature, his temper didn¡¯t change . Seeing this, he deliberately straightened his face and said very seriously, ¡°At that moment, I thought of my country, the party, and the people...¡±

    Before he could finish, Feng Na and Cheng Cheng failed to remain cool and burst intoughter .

    Feng Na smiled and said to Li Yundong, ¡°Thank God, you are still the guy I am familiar with!¡±

    Li Yundong touched his cheek and asked, smiling, ¡°Did I change a lot?¡±

    Feng Na looked at Li Yundong very carefully . ¡°Since I first met you, you have changed a lot and very quickly! However, I still like the person you used to be . At that time, you were straightforward and humorous, ying by heart . ¡±

    Li Yundong was confused . ¡°Isn¡¯t that what I¡¯m doing?¡±

    They talked andughed until ss started, and Feng Na and Cheng Cheng did not want to leave . He curiously asked, ¡°You are not having going to ss today?¡±

    Feng Na knew that the ss was going to start and she should leave, but she felt that her feet didn¡¯t want to move .

    Cheng Cheng once again helped her and answered, ¡°It¡¯s the self-study ss, so we came to the sophomore ss to review the previous lesson!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Seriously? But I think you can be a reporter, Feng Na . You can consider this in the future!¡±

    When Feng Na heard this, her face showed a pleasant look . ¡°Really? Do you think so? I was really thinking about this!¡±

    Li Yundong looked at Feng Na very sincerely . He said earnestly, ¡°I am kidding, don¡¯t take it seriously!¡±

    Feng Na¡¯s face fell . ¡°Damn you . You are making fun of me!¡±

    Li Yundongughed happily . ¡°You yed me first . ¡±

    While they were talking, the ss bell rang and several students came into the ssroom .

    Ding Nan entered the room first . She stepped in with high heels and was still dressed fashionably and sexy while looking like nothing had happened to her . When she saw Li Yundong, she was stunned and then smiled and nodded at him .

    Cheng Cheng, sitting next to Li Yundong, hit Feng Na with her elbow and whispered, ¡°Well, you have one morepetitior!¡±

    Ding Nan didn¡¯te with Zhou Qin this time . Li Yundong could not help, but wonder . ¡°Where is Zhou Qin? Aren¡¯t she and Ding Nan inseparable?¡±

    As he thought this, Zhou Qin stepped into the ssroom not long after Ding Nan .

    This beautiful girl entered the ssroom with books in her hands . She searched the entire room for a vacant seat when she found Ding Nan¡¯s hostile and provocative eyes . She paused and then turned her eyes away as if nothing happened . However, when she saw Li Yundong, she showed aplex look and sat down in panic .

    The teacher of the history of ancient Chinese literature walked into the ssroom atst . He nced at the students in the ssroom and then said suddenly, ¡°The final exam ising and there are only a few sses left so let me outline the key points for everyone . ¡±

    The ssroom suddenly fell into an uproar!

    ¡°Wow, teacher, are you serious? The final exam? This is still in June, isn¡¯t there another month?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s too early . ¡±

    ¡°Teacher, give us the questions directly!¡±

    The teacher nced at the students, and said very harshly, ¡°There was a very serious violent incident and the schoolmittee decided to move the final exam up so its not at thetest in mid-June . So you should pay attention to every word I say from now on because it will decide your final grades and credits!¡±

    Then, the teacher asked, ¡°Is Li Yundong here?¡±

    Li Yundong had been a name that everyone in Tiannan University knew . Although the students of the whole ss had known that this boy was their ssmate, they were still excited and turned their heads to look at Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong raised a hand and said without hesitation, ¡°I am here, teacher . ¡±

    The teacher¡¯s surname was Ma and he was an old man with thick reading sses on his nose . He bowed his head slightly and looked at Li Yundong through the reading sses . He said slowly, ¡°How could a big hero sit in the back? Can you hear me clearly?¡±

    All the ssmates snickered .

    It was totally different than when he rediculed the students . Li Yundong felt his cheeks burning . He said, biting the bullet, ¡°I can hear you fine, teacher!¡±

    The teacher nodded and said, ¡°Good . If you fail the exam because you can¡¯t hear clearly, then you will be the first hero who is advised to quit Tiannan University because of poor grades and inadequate credits . ¡±

    Hearing this, Li Yundong could not help stuttering, ¡°Ah? No...¡±

 Chapter 84.2

    Chapter 84.2

    Chapter 84 Pointing out the Sybus! (II)

    After saying this, Sun Li, the ss leader in the front row, turned her head and said exasperatedly, ¡°Idiot, don¡¯t you know that you have missed more than 50 sses? There will be eight final exams for this semester and you can only take one, because you have been disqualified from the other seven! If you fail the exam, you will be deducted credits in all subjects for this semester . In that case, even if you can get all the credit for all subjects in the next two years, you can¡¯t graduate!¡±

    Li Yundong almost fainted . He stood still there and could not speak for a while .

    Upon seeing Li Yundong¡¯s appearance, all the people suddenlyughed . Some of them felt that the unattainable hero had entered the mortal world, and the illusory hero image had be real .

    ¡°Yeah, even though Superman is awesome, he wears his underwear on the outside! Lin Daiyu was free from vulgarity, but she also ate whole grains and had to pee! I own great strength, but I cannot leave this society! I have to buy a house, have to eat, have to get a car, and have to raise a girl with a bottomless pit for a stomach! I need money!¡± Li Yundong frowned, thinking in his heart .

    At this time, a boy in the front row turned his head and whispered, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, hero Li, I will give you the answers when we take the exam!¡±

    Li Yundong was much moved . ¡°You are my brother! By the way, what is your name?¡±

    The boy looked sorrowful . ¡°Are you kidding me? We have been ssmates for two years, and you don¡¯t know my name? Boss, are you too self-centered?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled with a blush and said, ¡°I am just very low-key!¡±

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    The boy fawned on him and said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, boss, my name is Zhang Qian . I will make sure that you can pass the exam, but can you teach me some Kung Fu?¡±

    Li Yundong was confused . ¡°Ah?¡±

    Seeing that the boy was so shameless, a girl immediately turned around and shouted, ¡°Zhang Qian, you are too disappointing, how can you take advantage of his perilous state? And, how can you know where we will take the exam? If you are assigned to the first floor, how can you pass the answers to the second floor?¡±

    Li Yundong nodded hard and added, ¡°Yeah, she is right!¡±

    The girl turned her face and smiled at Li Yundong . The rate at which she changed her facial features shocked him . She flirted with a smile and said, ¡°Handsome boy, if I sit next to you during the exam, I will definitely offer my paper without asking for a reward . ¡±

    Before she finished talking, another girl interrupted her with a weird voice, ¡°...and your body . ¡±

    The girl suddenly blushed and turned to hit her .

    All the nearby studentsughed happily .

    Li Yundong felt ridiculous and didn¡¯t know what to say .

    The teacher on the podium couldn¡¯t allow it anymore . He coughed and tapped the ckboard with an eraser, ¡°Hey, do you think you¡¯re in a si or something? Do you want to pass this subject or not?¡±

    These students had to sit still . They opened their textbooks, picked up a pen, looked at the teacher, and waited for him to start .

    Teacher Ma nodded and said with satisfaction, ¡°Rest assured, this time I will not make trouble for you . The key points are very simple and clear, so listen up!¡±

    Li Yundong also opened the textbook and waited for Teacher Ma¡¯s instruction .

    Feng Na whispered, ¡°Hey, have you missed that many sses?¡±

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes at her and said, ¡°Can you not mention that?¡±

    She looked at Li Yundong with a sigh, ¡°Maybe I will not be able to see you next semester . However, you can rest assured that I will miss you . ¡±

    Cheng Cheng added, ¡°And we will build you a monument somewhere in the school!¡±

    Feng Na grinned and said, ¡°Every year on this day, we will leave incense sticks . ¡±

    Cheng Cheng immediately said again, ¡°What else could you want? We will burn them for you!¡±

    Li Yundong angered . ¡°Hey, are you trying to be funny? Say one more word and I will throw you out!¡±

    Feng Na and Cheng Cheng looked at each other and smiled at the same time . Feng Naforted him and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the teacher said that review would be very simple which means the scope of the test will not be very wide, and it will be easy to pass . We believe that you can do it!¡±

    Li Yundong said, ¡°Sounds fair!¡±

    On the podium, Teacher Ma said, ¡°Everyone, please turn to the table of contents of your textbooks . ¡±

    The students looked at each other for a while . ¡°The table of contents? I have never seen somebody review this way!¡±

    Li Yundong opened the thick textbook and saw a lot of ck letters on it . He suddenly felt a headache . Fortunately, what the teacher said made him feel relieved, ¡°The Southern and Northern Dynasties... Please highlight it . ¡±

    Li Yundong made a mark on the line of the Southern and Northern Dynasties in the table of contents, and then he heard Teacher Ma say, ¡°The period of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, please highlight it as well . That¡¯s it!¡±

    The whole ss was suddenly shocked and excited .

    ¡°Wow, is that all? Just these two chapters?¡±

    ¡°Good, the content of this exam is very limited . It¡¯s easy to remember!¡±

    ¡°Yeah and there are not many key figures in this period and with the exception for the Seven Writers of the Chien-an Period and Tao Yuanming, there is nothing important!¡±

    ¡°We are so lucky to have such a narrow range of questions . The exam will be so easy to pass!¡± Li Yundong looked relieved . Feng Na pointed to him and smiled . ¡°Feel good now? It¡¯s only a little bit of content and you can easily remember them . ¡±

    After the students talked excitedly for a while, Teacher Ma said something in a slow voice and instantly shattered their hopes, ¡°The content you marked will not be questioned . The rest will be tested so let¡¯s call it a day . You should use the rest of your time to study...¡±

    After that, he took the textbook on the podium and left .

    The ssroom was dead silent and all the students were collectively petrified .

 Chapter 85.1

    Chapter 85.1

    Chapter 85 Impulsive Confession (I)

    ¡°OMG! The teacher is ying us!¡±

    ¡°How could he do this?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s too irresponsible! How could he finish in just two minutes?¡±

    ¡°Oh, at the very least, we know we don¡¯t have to prepare for the Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Five Dynasties and Ten States.¡±

    ¡°Honestly, I think he was fooling us. He is very likely to put them in the test!¡±

    ¡°Oh... what you said makes sense, this teacher is too slippery!¡±

    In the ssroom, the students were allining, and Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help getting angry, ¡°F*ck. He didn¡¯t want me to pass the exam at all.¡±

    Feng Na and Cheng Cheng looked at each other. Feng Na said very sympathetically, ¡°Be calm, at least you still have half a month to remember these things.¡±

    Li Yundong picked up the thick textbook and said angrily. ¡°It¡¯s too thick. I would rather recite the Kangxi Dictionary! At least it is much thinner than this textbook!¡±

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    Cheng Cheng said, ¡°Are you sure that you don¡¯t need me to burn something for you? As far as I know, there has been discounts for funeralstely!¡±

    Li Yundong threw the textbook at Cheng Cheng and said, ¡°Shut up!¡±

    Cheng Chengughed while avoiding the textbook.

    Su Chan, who had been silent for a while, looked at Li Yundong with a nk look. ¡°What are youughing at?¡±

    Li Yundong turned his head and looked at her with an ugly smile. ¡°Nothing!¡±

    Feng Na secretly stuck out her tongue and said to Li Yundong, ¡°Okay, we are leaving. You should work hard. There is still half a month, and maybe you can make it.¡±

    After that, she ran out of the ssroom with Cheng Cheng. Theirughter was echoing down the hall the minute they disappeared from sight.

    ¡°They are really cruel, too unsympathetic!¡± Li Yundong could not helpining.

    Su Chan took Li Yundong¡¯s arm and asked with her eyes blinking, ¡°What happened?¡±

    Li Yundong sighed and pointed at the book. ¡°The teacher made up his mind to fail me! How can I remember all the things in this thick book in two weeks?¡±

    Su Chan said confusedly, ¡°It is not difficult!¡±

    Li Yundong put his hand down and stared at Su Chan, ¡°Not difficult? Can you recite it? Show me.¡±

    Su Chan turned to the first page and swiftly nced at it for a few seconds, muttering. Then she closed the textbook and handed it to Li Yundong. ¡°I only saw the first page, listen.¡±

    Then, Su Chan began to recite it.

    At first, Li Yundong looked at Su Chan with a funny smile, waiting for her to be embarrassed, but after a while, when Su Chan finished the first three paragraphs without any mistakes and although she paused in the middle, Li Yundong was shocked.

    ¡°Are you kidding me? You have a beautiful face and a good memory! Are you a child prodigy?¡± Li Yundong pulled Su Chan into his arms and kissed her.

    ¡°Oh, unfortunately, I cannot bring you into the examination room when I take the exam. If I could, this would be too easy!¡± Li Yundong was happy until he could not help, but sigh.

    Su Chan chuckled. ¡°You can do it as well. Why don¡¯t you try?¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± Li Yundong shook his head with a smile. ¡°I can¡¯t. I couldn¡¯t do these things when I was a kid. I will get dizzy upon seeing so many words!¡±

    Su Chan pushed him, ¡°Just have a try!¡±

    Li Yundong could not stand Su Chan¡¯s begging, so he raised his hands. ¡°Ok, I will try it! You are so stubborn!¡±

    He opened the book and read a page in a low voice, trying to remember the contents of the book. After a while, he closed the book and suddenly found he had remembered what he saw before.

    Li Yundong was very happy. He quickly handed the textbook to Su Chan and turned to the page he read before. ¡°I will recite it and you can help me see if I am right.¡±

    Then, he began to recite it fluently without any pauses.

    After he recited all the content he had seen, Li Yundong looked at Su Chan with big eyes and asked, ¡°How am I doing?¡±

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong quietly and said nothing.

    Li Yundong was confused. ¡°Am I wrong?¡±

    Seeing Li Yundong get nervous, Su Chan smiled and threw herself at him to kiss him. ¡°You made no mistakes at all!¡±

    Li Yundong was overjoyed. ¡°Really?¡± He took the textbook and checked it. He had actually remembered it all!

    Li Yundongughed and looked proud. ¡°I am a genius!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s happiness affected Su Chan, and she also showed a happy smile.

    Li Yundong smiled for a while and suddenly thought of something. He asked, ¡°How could my memory suddenly be so good? Is it because I refined Qi?¡±

    Su Chan smiled. ¡°Of course!¡±

    Li Yundong asked inexplicably, ¡°Why?¡±

    Su Chan exined, ¡°Peng Zu (Jian Keng)[1] lived from the Xia Dynasty to the Zhou Dynasty which was more than 800 years in length. When he was 767 years old, he still looked young, and could speak and remember a lot of things because he was good at refining Qi...¡±

    Li Yundong was surprised and interrupted her, ¡°What? There are people in this world who can live more than eight hundred years?¡±

    Su Chan blinked her eyes and said, ¡°Is that strange? There are still people who can live forever!¡±

    Li Yundongughed happily. ¡°You have heard too many stories...¡±

    [1]https://baike.baidu/item/%E5%BD%AD%E7%A5%96/356366?fr=ddin

 Chapter 85.2

    Chapter 85.2

    Chapter 85 Impulsive Confession (II)

    He still wanted to make fun of Su Chan, but then he thought of the incredible power he had . His smile froze and his heart was tumbling as he looked at Su Chan in surprise .

    A shocking thought shed through Li Yundong¡¯s mind: This girl has a strange background, and the power of my body is very strange! Was there really such a thing as a god in this world?

    He felt incredulous and subconsciously wanted to ask the question when he heard a girl¡¯s voiceing from the side, ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    Li Yundong turned his head and saw that Ding Nan was looking at him with a smile, which was something Li Yundong never expected to see on this bitter girl¡¯s face, so he was stunned for a while .

    ¡°Do you need anything?¡± Li Yundong finally asked .

    Ding Nan smiled . She took a deep breath while twisting her hands nervously . She kept looking around with her eyes darting back and forth and said, ¡°Can... can I have a word with you in private?¡±

    Li Yundong looked at Ding Nan in puzzlement . After the teacher had finished his review, the students quickly left the ssroom and there were only a few people left .

    He pointed at Su Chan and said, ¡°She is my girlfriend . If you have something, you can say it here . ¡±

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    Ding Nan blushed, bit her lip, and looked at Li Yundong with a sorrowful look . ¡°I, I want to talk to you alone, can I?¡±

    Although Li Yundong didn¡¯t like Ding Nan very much, she was a rare beauty . She was very pretty and charming . At this time, she looked at him with hidden bitterness, and it was difficult for Li Yundong to say no .

    ¡°Fine...¡± Li Yundong turned his head and said to Su Chan, ¡°Wait for me here . ¡±

    Su Chan replied in a low voice, ¡°OK . ¡±

    When Li Yundong and Ding Nan walked out of the ssroom, Zhou Qin, who was still in the ssroom, looked at them with a slight frown . She hesitated for a while before she stood up and followed .

    Li Yundong and Ding Nan left the ssroom and went to the small grove downstairs . Li Yundong looked around and asked, ¡°No one is here, what do you want to tell me?¡±

    Ding Nan was not much shorter than Li Yundong . She looked at Li Yundong with a softer, more adoring gaze than before . Her cheeks had already burned red before she spoke .

    Li Yundong looked at her and did not say anything, either .

    Ding Nan, a girl who looked mature and fashionable in the past, was like an overwhelmed girl at this moment . Her cheeks were red and she stuttered, ¡°Thank you...¡±

    Li Yundong asked, ¡°Why are you thanking me?¡±

    Ding Nan raised her head and looked at Li Yundong . ¡°Thank you for saving me . ¡±

    Li Yundong smiled . ¡°You don¡¯t need to thank me . I think if other people could do it, they would save you like I did . ¡±

    Ding Nan slowly shook her head . ¡°No, it is not like this . In this world, I have seen many people who have it all, but I have never seen one that helps in a time of need, let alone saving people at such a critical moment, regardless of their own safety . ¡±

    Ding Nan looked up and stared at Li Yundong with a bold look . ¡°When I fell from the roof, I thought I was going to die, but when you caught me in the air, I had the feeling of being back in my father¡¯s arms, which were so warm and strong...¡±

    Ding Nan¡¯s eyes were somewhat blurred . She looked straight at Li Yundong and said, ¡°I just wanted to say thank you . ¡±

    Li Yundong felt very ufortable under Ding Nan¡¯s gaze . He smiled and said, ¡°You¡¯re wee . ¡±

    Seeing that Li Yundong wanted to leave, she hurriedly said, ¡°You don¡¯t like me, right? You think I am mean and unsympathetic, and that I have humiliated you, right?¡±

    Li Yundong was seen through by her, so he couldn¡¯t help, but be silent .

    Ding Nan wanted to exin . She took a step forward and said, ¡°In truth, I¡¯m not really like that...¡±

    Li Yundong smelled a seductive perfume from the girl¡¯s body that mixed well with the unique hormonal fragrance of the girl . He frowned and stepped back .

    His action tore apart Ding Nan¡¯s heart and shattered all her courage . She froze and her face became pale . She stared at the boy in front of her eyes, desperate and stunned .

    ¡°I know...¡± Ding Nan smiled . ¡°I have said what I came here to say . I, I will not bother you anymore . ¡±

    Seeing that the girl was hurt, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help, but feel some sympathy . When passing by Ding Nan, he couldn¡¯t help, but turn back and say, ¡°Actually, you don¡¯t need to spray perfume . It smells repulsive . I don¡¯t like it...¡±

    Ding Nan¡¯s eyes lit up, and her gray face resumed to be ruddy and vibrant . She grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s hand and said, ¡°You don¡¯t like it? Then I will not use it anymore . Since you don¡¯t like it, I will not use it . ¡±

    Li Yundong was scared and broke away from her hands . ¡°Ding Nan, in fact, you are a very cute girl who is beautiful with a great body . There will be many boys that will take a liking to you . You don¡¯t have to do anything for me . ¡±

    Ding Nan looked at Li Yundong like a frightened deer . She said in a trembling voice, ¡°What do you mean by this?¡±

    Li Yundong answered, ¡°It means nothing . ¡± After that, he turned and left .

    Ding Nan looked at Li Yundong¡¯s back and suddenly said loudly, ¡°Can I be friends with you?¡±

    Li Yundong turned his head and suddenly smiled . ¡°As long as you stop making people ufortable . ¡±

    Hearing this, Ding Nan gasped . She chased forward and shouted, ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to talk like this, but...¡±

    Before she finished talking, a girl¡¯s voice suddenly sounded . ¡°Nan Nan, what are you doing?¡±

    Li Yundong and Ding Nan turned to have a look when they saw Zhou Qin looking at them with a smile .

    Ding Nan suddenly became angry . She whispered to Li Yundong, ¡°Don¡¯t get close to her . She may be beautiful, but she is also a snake!¡±

    After that, Ding Nan red at Zhou Qin with resentment and quickly left .

 Chapter 86.1

    Chapter 86.1

    Chapter 86 Predestination (I)

    After Ding Nan¡¯s departure, Li Yundong looking at Zhou Qin in confusion .

    ¡°Since when did you stop being friends? Haven¡¯t you been through thick and thin together?¡±

    Zhou Qin looked at Ding Nan¡¯s retreating figure, and sighed . She said calmly, ¡°One can only see the truth in times of trouble . ¡±

    Li Yundong looked at Zhou Qin in confusion . ¡°What happened between you two?¡±

    Zhou Qin returned her gaze to him and lifted her long ck hair . She said with a slight smile, ¡°Nothing, time will heal all wounds . By the way, I haven¡¯t officially thanked you . ¡±

    Li Yundong smiled . ¡°It¡¯s nothing . In fact, when you and Zhao Yujian fell, I didn¡¯t know which one was you . I just caught the nearest one . ¡±

    Zhou Qin widened her eyes . ¡°Really? You¡¯re not lying to me, are you?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled casually . ¡°Why would I lie to you? It¡¯s God who chose for you to live, not me! So, you don¡¯t have to thank me . ¡±

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    Zhou Qin fixed her eyes on Li Yundong, said inwardly, ¡°Could it be that God chose him to save me?

    Zhou Qin carefully observed Li Yundong . She couldn¡¯t see a sliver of greed in his eyes . He neither envied the power behind her nor coveted her amazing appearance .

    When she invited Li Yundong to attend her birthday party, it was not only because she had a good impression of him, but also because she wanted to test him .

    Many people had vowed that they could resist all kinds of temptations . They looked honest and fair . Zhou Qin had always been scornful of this kind of people . She had seen too many people corrupted with power and desire because of her background .

    Whether a person could withstand such a test depended on if he had vanity, greed, or jealousy . Even if one had none of these thoughts, after they tasted the thrill of power and beauty, they could hardly control themselves .

    This was human nature, and it was weak, greedy, dark, and degrading .

    The precocious Zhou Qin saw human nature clearly and thoroughly, so when she got along with the opposite sex, she could clearly see the dark and hypocrisy side hidden within them .

    In her view, after seeing her beauty, men always wanted to have her . Once they knew the background behind her, they would be even crazier about her . They hankered for her and the power behind her .

    However, Li Yundong did not . Zhou Qin carefully observed the eyes of this boy more than once . Although she also saw admiration in his eyes, it was a pure appreciation of beauty without any greedy thoughts .

    There was only satisfaction in his eyes, indicating that he was indulging in love . Zhou Qin considered it superficial, but this boy had been immersed in such superficial happiness as if he had had the whole world .

    A man who was content would be happy .

    Zhou Qin suddenly sighed . ¡°You are such a strange person . If someone else saved me, he would have tried to build a rtionship with me and asked me to repay them . Don¡¯t you know that I have the power to change one¡¯s destiny?¡±

    Li Yundong internally disagreed with her, so he said calmly, ¡°What does your power have to do with me?¡±

    After that, he remembered that Su Chan might be getting anxious as she was still waiting in the ssroom, and said, ¡°Sorry, I am going to go eat...¡±

    Hearing this, Zhou Qin hurriedly stopped him and pleaded, ¡°Can you talk to me, just for a moment!¡±

    Li Yundong wanted to refuse, but he was born a soft-hearted person . Seeing Zhou Qin¡¯s worried face, he sighed and said, ¡°Well, let¡¯s talk . ¡±

    Zhou Qin slowly walked to Li Yundong and pointed to the small pavilion in the trees . ¡°Can we go there and talk a little?¡±

    Li Yundong walked to the small pavilion . He nced around and suddenly thought, ¡°Isn¡¯t this the ce where Su Chan and I saw Zhao Yujian¡¯s confession to Zhou Qin?¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help, but think of the that Su Chan said . He suddenly felt that everything in the world was just a cycle . For a time, Li Yundong fell deep in thought .

    Seeing Li Yundong standing outside the pavilion, Zhou Qin thought that he was unwilling toe in . She had never encountered such a situation before in regard of being rejected twice by one boy!

    Did he still care that she had rejected him before?

    Zhou Qin smiled helplessly . What a narrow-minded boy!

    Zhou Qin licked her lips and boldly reached out to grab Li Yundong¡¯s hand . She said gently, ¡°Why haven¡¯t youe in?¡±

    Zhou Qin had a sweet voice, and she sounded like a wife calling her husband . It was as if she had a magical power that made the man feel his heartbeat .

    Li Yundong was stunned, and then unconsciously went into the pavilion with Zhou Qin .

    Pulling Li Yundong into the pavilion, Zhou Qin let go of his hand, turned her back to Li Yundong, and taking a deep breath .

    Li Yundong saw that the girl¡¯s ears behind her waterfall-like hair were very red as if they were bleeding .

    Zhou Qin calmed down and smiled, ¡°Do you know that this was the first time I took the initiative to hold a boy¡¯s hand . ¡±

    Li Yundongughed . ¡°Your first time? Do you want me to take responsibility?¡±

    Zhou Qin blinked her dark eyes, looked at Li Yundong, and smiled, ¡°What responsibility do you want to take? If you had to take responsibility, will you take it?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled in embarrassment . He didn¡¯t answer, but secretly scolded himself, ¡°Why haven¡¯t I corrected my bad habit of flirting with pretty girls?¡±

    Zhou Qin saw that Li Yundong had be embarrassed and could not answer her . She smiled and didn¡¯t push him . She reached out and folded a vine that grown into the pavilion . While ying with it in her hand, she said, ¡°Both my father and grandfather are high-ranking officials . I can be considered one of the privileged children . Some people would call me a princess . ¡±

 Chapter 86.2

    Chapter 86.2

    Chapter 86 Predestination (II)

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°So, should I call you ¡®princess¡¯?¡±

    Zhou Qin looked at Li Yundong and smiled . ¡°You have a glib tongue that is very annoying, so why do I enjoy every word from you?¡±

    After saying that, Zhou Qin felt nervous and flushed as she was staring at Li Yundong while revealing her courage and wild nature .

    Li Yundong was embarrassed and did not know how to continue the topic . For a time, the two people both fell silent . Some muffled sounds passed from the other end of the pavilion and only the leaves were floating around them .

    Li Yundong coughed and changed the topic . ¡°With your identity and background, you should be able to go to a better university . You could choose any university across the country . ¡±

    Realizing that Li Yundong didn¡¯t want to continue the previous subject, Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help feeling a little gloomy . Then she said, ¡°Because I was born in such a family, my future has been set up since I was a girl . My father wanted me to go to the Department of Economics and Trade of Renmin University of China so I could take over his job in the future . ¡±

    ¡°You have to know that the country now attaches great importance to women¡¯s participation in politics, so if I follow my father¡¯s arrangement, I will have a bright future . However, I don¡¯t like to be controlled in such a way, so I used my father¡¯s authority, found the Board of Education, and revised the university forms that my father filled out for me . ¡±

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    She showed a rare naughty look to Li Yundong . ¡°I didn¡¯t want to apply for this school at the time, but I was afraid of being discovered, and the only thing I could think of was the local university . Then I came to this university, and... I got to know you . ¡±

    Zhou Qin looked at Li Yundong boldly . ¡°Is this a n by God?¡±

    Li Yundong was a little rapt when he heard this . He looked at Zhou Qin and noticed the quiet and dignified princess was actually full of youthful incitement and rebellion .

    In all fairness, if Li Yundong did not meet Su Chan, he would certainly be ttered and dly agreed . However, he couldn¡¯t help, but think that without Su Chan, he wouldn¡¯t have be so outstanding, and wouldn¡¯t be favored by Zhou Qin .

    It seemed that everything had been predestined .

    The cause and effect of this world were really amazing!

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Actually...¡±

    But before he finished his words, Zhou Qin pressed her finger anxiously against his mouth and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to say it . ¡±

    Zhou Qin was afraid that Li Yundong would refuse her as he did at the banquet, in that case, she would never be able to face the boy again .

    Li Yundong was stunned . His lips felt a little cool, and a trace of ripples ured in his heart .

    Zhou Qin fixed her eyes on Li Yundong and said, ¡°I told you this today, just because I want for you to know who I am . I just didn¡¯t want you to misunderstand me, and there is no other meaning . You don¡¯t have to think too much . ¡±

    Zhou Qin¡¯s sensitive and naive self-protection made Li Yundong amused . He smiled and said, ¡°I am listening . ¡±

    Zhou Qin breathed a sigh of relief and continued, ¡°I have often met a lot of boys who confessed to me since I studied here . Can you imagine that I met seventy-eight boys who confessed to me in a month? God, I was going crazy!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s face became a bit weird . ¡°What was my number?¡±

    Zhou Qin looked at Li Yundong regrettably and worriedly . ¡°Sorry, I have forgotten, probably 200 or something . ¡±

    Li Yundongughed and said, ¡°It¡¯s fine . I¡¯m just asking casually . If a beautiful girl like you had no men pouring their hearts out to you, that would be strange!¡±

    Zhou Qin looked at Li Yundong very seriously . She could tell that the boy didn¡¯t care about this at all . Her sorrowful mind had be somewhat tangled and depressed . ¡°He really doesn¡¯t care about me at all! I need to just let go of this!¡±

    Zhou Qin sighed as if she was feeling the entanglement of her heart or the things she had encountered before . ¡°Many people think that the privileged children like us must be very arrogant and overbearing, but in fact, the higher ranking the official, the more low-key their descendants . Of course, there are a few arrogant ones, but they usually have very miserable ends, so I couldn¡¯t use the power of my family to settle these things . I had to find a girl and make a deal with her . She helped me to block the boys who pursued me and, in return, I paid her the correspondingpensation . ¡±

    Li Yundong heard who Zhou Qin was talking about sensibly . ¡°You mean Ding Nan?¡±

    Zhou Qin nodded . ¡°Yes, she was born into poverty and yearned for high society and the rich life and I could give her brand-name clothing, precious decorations . She didn¡¯t have to sell her own body . I just needed her to help me stop the boys I didn¡¯t want to talk with, so I think I have done nothing wrong with this matter . We just took what we needed . ¡±

    Li Yundong nodded . ¡°I understand, but why are you exining this to me?¡±

    Zhou Qin looked at Li Yundong and said very seriously, ¡°I didn¡¯t want you to think that I was a beautiful snake . ¡±

    Li Yundong was silent for a while . He smiled slightly, ¡°Actually, you don¡¯t have to be so nervous . I have my own eyes, ears, and brain . I can think and judge for myself . ¡±

    Zhou Qin shook her head, ¡°No, the most terrible thing in the world isn¡¯t the bloody reality that you see with your own eyes, but the vicious rumors thate from the wind! Once you have a preconceived idea, then what I say won¡¯t help . ¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°What you said makes sense . Now I have an intuitive understanding of you . Can I go to eat now? I am starving!¡±

    Zhou Qin seriously watched Li Yundong for a while . She suddenly smiled . ¡°There is no ss in the afternoon . Where do you go to eat? I can buy you lunch topensate you for your time . ¡±

    Li Yundong hesitated and smiled . ¡°Okay, but Su Chan has to go with me . If she can¡¯t go, I won¡¯t go . ¡±

    Zhou Qin internally sighed and a faint feeling of depression shed through her eyes . She smiled and said, ¡°Of course, that¡¯s no problem . Without her, you should be wearing a bandage on both arms and then I would feel more guilty!¡±

    Li Yundongughed happily . ¡°Well then, where shall we go?¡±

    Zhou Qin smiled and said, ¡°You decide . ¡±

    Li Yundong waved his hand and said, ¡°Well, since you said this, then I will make the decision . I want to have something expensive!¡±

    In the past, Zhou Qin would be disgusted with the undisguised vulgarity that Li Yundong showed, but now she was full of curiosity and admiration for this boy and felt that was his true nature .

 Chapter 87.1

    Chapter 87.1

    Chapter 87 The Beautiful Twins (I)

    By the time Li Yundong returned to the ssroom, it was practically empty . The only one left was Su Chan who was sitting alone in the back row of the ssroom, with her back to him .

    Li Yundong tiptoed up to her when he heard Su Chan talk to herself with two paper people in her hands, ¡°You have to obey . If you are not obedient, your master will abandon you . ¡±

    Then Su Chan whispered in a barbarous voice, manipting another paper man, ¡°Chick, you can only have a good meal if you are obedient . Do you hear me?¡±

    After that, she changed into a soft voice and said, ¡°I¡¯ve been very obedient recently . Let me give my master a kiss!¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help, butugh loudly . ¡°Well,e over and kiss me!¡±

    Hearing Li Yundong¡¯s voice, Su Chan turned around in surprise . She suddenly beamed and rushed over to kiss him . ¡°You are back . I am starving!¡±

    Li Yundong pinched her nose affectionately, ¡°Are you? Hurry and kiss me . Then I will take you to have a big meal!¡±

    Su Chan got close to his face when she saw a girl standing at the door . She pulled him backand said, ¡°No, someone is watching!¡±

    Li Yundong turned back and smiled at Zhou Qin, indicating that he was sorry to keep her waiting .

    While looking at the two people¡¯s intimate exchange, Zhou Qin felt envious . She suddenly remembered that she had never known what it was like to fall in love . Just as she managed to gain the courage to pull Li Yundong¡¯s hand, her fingers felt like they had recieved an electric shock .

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    Zhou Qin gently stroked the fingers that touched Li Yundong¡¯s hand and looked at Su Chan with envy . She sighed inwardly, ¡°I really wonder what the passion between them feels like . When can this boy be so gentle to me?¡±

    Li Yundong said to Su Chan with a smile, ¡°What were you doing here just now?¡±

    Su Chan smiled and took out the two paper people she had folded . She pointed at a paper person with a smile on its face and said, ¡°This is me!¡± And she lifted the other paper man who was painted with nted eyebrows and a fierce look, and said, ¡°That is you!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Wow, it¡¯s so ugly! I will spank you, and you are not allowed to eat today!¡±

    Su Chan said beseechingly, ¡°Don¡¯t do that . I¡¯m not good at painting! You are too strict with me . I hate you!¡± Su Chan said, while secretly ncing at Zhou Qin . ¡°How about after we go home, I will allow you to kiss me privately?¡±

    Li Yundong got excited . He really liked this cute little girl . He deliberately teased her with a straight face . ¡°Nonsense, I can kiss you wherever I want . Why do we have to be at home?¡±

    Su Chan said softly, ¡°Well, as you wish . What a shame!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and asked casually, ¡°The two paper people look quite good, but where did you get the paper?¡±

    Then, he suddenly discovered that the paper people were covered with words!

    Li Yundong was shocked and felt that he was going to go crazy . ¡°No way . You folded them with my ss book?¡±

    Su Chan stuck out her tongue . ¡°I only took the two pages you memorized so it should be okay, right?¡±

    Li Yundong forced a smile and deliberately stared at Su Chan with a fierce look . ¡°I will punish you with a hundred kisses at home!¡±

    Su Chan became afraid and said with a pout, ¡°My mouth will be bloated!¡±

    Li Yundong flicked her head . ¡°You deserve it since you tore up my textbook! Let¡¯s go, don¡¯t keep Zhou Qin waiting . Today, she invites us to lunch!¡±

    Su Chan covered her head and grimaced at Li Yundong . Then she immediately rolled her eyes, and rushed to Li Yundong¡¯s back when he turned around, and said, ¡°I want you to carry me!¡±

    Li Yundong helplessly turned back . ¡°Stop, don¡¯t make trouble . She is watching us!¡±

    Su Chan giggled . ¡°If you agree non to kiss me one hundred times, I will stop making trouble!¡±

    Li Yundong pretended to be angry . ¡°No, one hundred times! But if you want me to carry you, we can do it at home!¡±

    Su Chan breathed in the ears of Li Yundong and smiled . ¡°In private?¡±

    Li Yundong was inspired, and he couldn¡¯t wait to practice with Su Chan . He smiled ambiguously . ¡°Well, in private!¡±

    Su Chan chuckled and said, ¡°Piggy carries his wife!¡±

    Li Yundong looked angry . ¡°Are you calling me a piggy?¡±

    The two people talked andughed while walking to the door of the ssroom . Zhou Qin wasn¡¯t feeling impatient . She looked at them with a smile, and couldn¡¯t help feeling envious .

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for making you watch this . ¡± Li Yundong smiled at Zhou Qin while rubbing Su Chan¡¯s head . ¡°She is too naughty . ¡±

    Zhou Qin smiled slightly . ¡°It¡¯s nothing . I really envy you . ¡±

    Su Chan looked at Zhou Qin seriously and said, ¡°I know you, you are the Xuanyin...¡±

    Before she could finish her words, she was smothered by Li Yundong, and couldn¡¯t finish the sentence of ¡°Xuanyin virgin tripod stove¡± .

    Li Yundong nced at Su Chan . ¡°Idiot, don¡¯t talk nonsense!¡±

    Su Chan pouted her mouth and answered, ¡°Fine . ¡±

    Zhou Qin blinked . Although she didn¡¯t know what Su Chan¡¯s words meant, she still said, in a friendly way, ¡°Hello . ¡±

    Su Chan also said hello back .

    Zhou Qin asked Li Yundong, ¡°Where shall we go to eat?¡±

    Li Yundong thought for a moment and said, ¡°How about near the school?¡±

    Zhou Qin smiled and said, ¡°How can that be possible? We should find a better ce since you are going to have a big meal . What delicious food can you find on the streets?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°I am an ordinary person . I am pleased to have roadside snacks . You should decide where to go, and I will follow you . Hey, don¡¯t eat too expensive food in case you can¡¯t afford it!¡±

    Zhou Qin grinned, ¡°Rest assured, there is no ce I can¡¯t afford!¡±

    Li Yundong said to Su Chan, ¡°See, she is a really wealthy person . ¡±

    Su Chan stuck out her tongue and whispered to Li Yundong . ¡°Pursue her; get her . Then you can have a ready-made virgin tripod stove and her money!¡±

    Li Yundong raised his hand and pped her butt . ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense!¡±

    Su Chan screamed as she grasped her butt with a red face . She felt wronged and ashamed and said, ¡°I just told the truth!¡±

 Chapter 87.2

    Chapter 87.2

    Chapter 87 The Beautiful Twins (II)

    They talked andughed while walking out of the campus . As they were walking past the teaching building, Li Yundong suddenly ran into a person .

    It happened to Xie Fei who used to have issues with Li Yundong .

    Xie Fei was smoking a cigarette while searching for beautiful women with his eyes . When he saw Li Yundong, he suddenly became scared and turned around to run .

    When Li Yundong saw him, he couldn¡¯t help feeling angry and shouted, ¡°Stop!¡±

    Li Yundong was going to chase him when he heard someone call his name from the door of the teaching building, ¡°Li Yundong?¡±

    He turned to have a look when he saw a pair of identical twin sisters dressed in the same clothes looking at him in surprise .

    Li Yundong asked, ¡°Who are you? Do I know you two?¡±

    The girl with a red bow on her head rubbed her nose with one hand and said with a smile, ¡°You have forgotten who I am already?¡±

    Li Yundong looked at the girl in confusion . ¡°You... you are...¡±

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    The girl with the red bow smiled . ¡°I met you two at the door of McDonald¡¯s!¡±

    Li Yundong remembered . ¡°Ah! You were the Uncle McDonald!¡±

    The girl giggled . ¡°Finally . ¡±

    Li Yundong turned his head toward Su Chan, pretended to be angry, and said, ¡°You punched her face when we met . Look at her! How could you beat such a beautiful girl? How rude!¡±

    Su Chan hid behind Li Yundong and retorted, ¡°I¡¯m sorry . I didn¡¯t mean it . She scared me!¡± Then, she popped out behind Li Yundong . ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡±

    Li Yundong turned to the girl with a red bow, smiled, and said ¡°Are you a student of Tiannan University? I have never seen you before . Are you working at McDonald¡¯s?¡±

    The girl smiled and said, ¡°You are a big hero . It is normal for you not to know us . Next time youe to McDonald¡¯s, find me, and I will give you a discount!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled at the other girl with a blue bow on her head . ¡°Is this your elder sister or younger sister?¡±

    The girl with the red bowughed . ¡°You tell me . ¡±

    Li Yundong looked up and down at the girl carefully . The girl with the blue bow was quiet while looking at him with a smile . Although she was shy, she looked more mature than the girl with the red bow .

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°She is your elder sister!¡±

    The girl with the red bow said in amazement, ¡°Impressive . How did you know that? Sometimes my father and mother mistake us!¡±

    Li Yundong pointed at the girl with the blue bow . ¡°When you asked me to guess, your sister nced at you patiently and fondly, which shows that she is taking care of you, right?¡±

    The girl with the red bow looked at Li Yundong in amazement . She gave a thumbs up and sighed, ¡°You are brilliant and deserve to be my idol!¡±

    After that, she took a notebook from her sister¡¯s hand and handed it to Li Yundong . She smiled and said, ¡°Could you sign for me, hero?¡±

    Li Yundongughed . ¡°I don¡¯t know your name . How can I sign for you?¡±

    The girl smiled and said, ¡°My name is Deng Yu and this is my sister, Deng Jiao . ¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and signed for them before he handed the book back . ¡°Are you in the same ss? Which ss are you in?¡±

    Deng Yu smiled and said, ¡°We are freshmen, and I am in the department of foreignnguages while my sister is in the Chinese department, the same department as you!¡±

    Li Yundong said, ¡°Well, I will find you if I go to McDonald¡¯s!¡±

    Deng Yu smiled and said, ¡°I am not sure if I will be at the same McDonald¡¯s in the future . Let¡¯s wait and see!¡±

    The two sisters left wearing a smile . Li Yundong had never seen such beautiful twins, so he couldn¡¯t help, but linger for a little longer . When he regained his senses, he found Su Chan looking at them with admiration .

    She said, ¡°Good tripod stoves...¡±

    Li Yundong squeezed her nose . ¡°Okay, stop! Don¡¯t say anything like that!¡±

    Su Chan screamed and pped Li Yundong on his hand .

    Zhou Qin watched the two of them with a smile . ¡°Can we go now, Premier Li?¡±

    ¡°Premier Li?¡± Li Yundong looked at Zhou Qin inexplicably .

    Zhou Qin grinned . ¡°You are busier than the Prime Minister, my hero!¡±

    Li Yundongughed and suddenly remembered Xie Fei, who ran away just now . He couldn¡¯t help, but snort . ¡°He got lucky! He should watch out next time I see him . ¡±

    Zhou Qin looked at Li Yundong and secretly memorized his words whileforting him, ¡°Better to make friends than to make enemies . ¡±

    Li Yundong was not a gentleman . He didn¡¯t retort, but internally disagreed . He smiled at Zhou Qin . ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s go out and have a big meal! I¡¯m hungry!¡±

    Su Chan also called out, ¡°Yeah, yeah, I am starving . I can eat a lot!¡±

    Li Yundong mocked her, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how much you eat as long as you don¡¯t stack the food on a te likest time!¡±

    Hearing this, Zhou Qin burst intoughter .

    When they walked to the door of the school, Li Yundong felt something and suddenly turned his head to look toward a corner of the teaching building .

    Su Chan knew him well since they had lived together for a while . She asked, ¡°What happened?¡±

    Li Yundong frowned . ¡°I don¡¯t know, it seems like someone is watching me . ¡±

    Zhou Qin smiled and said, ¡°You are a celebrity now . Isn¡¯t it normal for someone to look at you?¡±

    Li Yundong forced a smile and said nothing . He scanned the whole building for a while before he said, ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s go . ¡±

    After they walked past the school gate, a figure came out of a corner of the teaching building and watched them leave with a pair of sinful eyes .

 Chapter 88.1

    Chapter 88.1

    Chapter 88 Waiter, Three Pairs of Chopsticks! (I)

    Young Master He did not expect that his gaze would be noticed by Li Yundong .

    When Li Yundong turned his head and stared at where he was hiding, he had a feeling of being stared at by a beast . He was so scared that he immediately hid .

    He didn¡¯t know why he wanted to hide . He was only subconsciously afraid of Li Yundong¡¯s sharp gaze as if he had done something wrong .

    It was only after Li Yundong had left did Young Master He dare toe out and spit on the ground . He gnashed his teeth and swore, ¡°Motherfu*ker, he is not easy to deal with . How can he be so lucky? Fuck!¡±

    ¡°Young Master He!¡± A voice came from nearby .

    He turned his head and saw Xie Fei waving at him .

    He stared at Xie Fei and then waved at him . When Xie Fei approached, he pped his face and said, ¡°Why did you say my name? Don¡¯t you know that the police are still around? How dare you talk to me here . ¡±

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    Xie Fei¡¯s face hurt . He covered it and didn¡¯t dare make a sound . He just smiled and said, ¡°Young Master He, I want to borrow some money . Since the police are around so much, I can¡¯t...¡±

    Young Master He gave him another p . ¡°You son of b*tch . How dare you to call me out at such a dangerous moment! How could you be so shameless to ask for money? You are in big trouble now! I told you to kill him, but look at what you did instead! The gun wasn¡¯t for you to y with! Why didn¡¯t you just hire a professional to kill him? Why did you give it to Zhao Yujian? Dumbass . ¡±

    Xie Fei covered both his cheeks and said with a sad face, ¡°How could I know that Zhao Yujian wouldn¡¯t be able kill Li Yundong even if he had a gun? Young Master He, my dear brother, please help me . Things are really tense and more troublesome when a gun is involved . The police are watching me!¡±

    Young Master He stared at Xie Fei fiercely, and he couldn¡¯t help being angry . ¡°F*ck off . If you hadn¡¯t sworn that Li Yundong was your mortal enemy, I wouldn¡¯t have let you deal with him! Go the hell . I don¡¯t need useless people like you!¡±

    Xie Fei had no time to care about his face . He squatted in front of Young Master He, holding his leg, and pleaded, ¡°Young Master He, you are myst hope . You can¡¯t leave me to die...¡±

    Young Master He suddenly showed a murderous light in his eyes and said ferociously, ¡°Why would I help you? Do you want to drag me down with you? Do you know who my dad is? I can crush you with my little finger . Even if you are in jail, I can kill you before you open your mouth!¡±

    Xie Fei took another p on his face . ¡°My bad . I was talking nonsense . I don¡¯t mean that, Young Master He . I am saying if I am able to leave the city, it will save you a lot of trouble . You are an honorable man who shouldn¡¯t leave me to die because of my mistake, right?¡±

    Young Master He kicked Xie Fei, who fell over . ¡°F*ck you . How did you be a college student? You are neither a good student nor a capable thug . What can you do for me? Why haven¡¯t you died?¡±

    Xie Fei received another p and showed an creepy smile on his face . He said, ¡°Yes, yes, I am capable of nothing! Don¡¯t worry, as long as you give me some money, I promise to vanish . You will never see me again . ¡±

    Upon hearing that he still wants money, Young Master He suddenly wanted to shut him up forever . He fiercely stared at Xie Fei in silence .

    Xie Fei felt creept out by his gaze . He said tremblingly, ¡°Young Master He, you won¡¯t kill me, will you? I, I have friends who know what I have done for you, and there are also people around that have witnessed that I am with you . Don¡¯t be impulsive!¡±

    Young Master He was bound to do anything to a punk like Xie Fei, so he was so angry that heughed out loud as kicked him over . ¡°Fu*k . So that¡¯s why you called me to the school . You are keeping eyewitnesses . Fine, you win . 100,000 and remember to get lost as far as you can . If I see you again, there will be one less punk in Tiannan City and no one would notice!¡±

    Xie Fei suddenly got up and wished he had a tail to wag . He smiled and said, ¡°You can rest assured . I promise that you will never see me again!¡±

    Upon seeing Xie Fei¡¯scent face, Young Master He felt disgusted . He nced at Xie Fei and shouted, ¡°Get out of the way!¡± Then he took out a check and handed it over . ¡°You son of bi*tch . You haven¡¯t done anything well, but I still have to pay so much money! Be careful, it¡¯s not easy to take some much money . It might get you killed!¡±

    Xie Fei was ttered and said, ¡°Thank you . I know . ¡±

    Shaking his head, Young Master He waved at him impatiently . ¡°Get lost . Go! You are so annoying!¡±

    As he said this, he suddenly saw girls on the road not far away watching them while pointing at them . He turned to them and said out loud, ¡°What are you looking at? Are you shocked by my handsome face?¡±

    These girls were scared, screaming, as Young Master Heughed happily .

    ...

    Li Yundong and Su Chan were taken by Zhou Qin to a high-end Western restaurant located in the center of amercial office building in Beizha District in Tiannan City .

    It was called Biyaro French Western Restaurant and it was the most upscale western restaurant in Tiannan City . The doors were decorated Paris style, and at the entrance were neatly dressed waiters weing customers that were authentic foreigners . They looked proud and uptight while leading Li Yundong and others to the dining area .

    ¡°What would you like to eat?¡± Zhou Qin asked with a smile while skillfully attaching a napkin to her neckline, and then handed the menu to Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong looked at the rich French-style restaurant decorations and dishes before he smiled bitterly and said, ¡°I have never eaten authentic western food . I have no idea at all . You should choose the dishes and save me some dignity!¡±

    Zhou Qin smiled gently . ¡°French cuisine, like Chinese food, is one of the world¡¯s three major cuisines . The food here is very authentic . I ate itst time and it was very good . ¡± As she finished, she handed the menu to the waiter who was waiting respectfully instead of opening it . She said in fluent, native French, ¡°Let¡¯s follow the normal order of serving . ¡±

    The waiter looked at Zhou Qin with amazement . He also replied in French, ¡°Do you want a full set?¡±

    Zhou Qin nodded . ¡°Yes, and give us a bottle of Royal Kay . In addition, is your foie gras fresh? I only want it if its fresh, and the caviar I atest time was Ostra squid . Today I want Beluga squid!¡±

    The waiter widened his eyes . ¡°You want the fish roe of the Beluga squid? God, are you talking about the Caspian pearl?¡±

    Zhou Qin smiled elegantly at him . ¡°My French should be fairly decent, yes? I don¡¯t think I made a mistake!¡±

    The waiter knew that he had met a wealthy French-speaking guest, but the caviar dish would cost hundreds of thousands!

    He became more respectful and said, ¡°Your French is as fluent as a native! You look as beautiful and elegant as a Frenchdy . It is my pleasure to serve you . ¡±

 Chapter 88.2

    Chapter 88.2

    Chapter 88 Waiter, Three Pairs of Chopsticks! (II)

    Zhou Qin was used to being ttered and praised like this . With a particr amount of restraint and pride, she gave the waiter a one-hundred yuan tip . ¡°Thank you for yourpliment . My friends are already starving . ¡±

    The waiter took the tip and bent forward with elegance . Before leaving, he couldn¡¯t help, but look back at Zhou Qin and say inwardly, ¡°I have been in China for several years, and I have never seen such an elegant and nobledy! Is she a descendant of Chinese aristocracy? She must be!¡±

    While thinking of this, he noticed that Zhou Qin and Li Yundong were chatting . With his sharp eyes, he saw admiration and obsession for the boy in Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes, all of which indicated that this girl had fallen in love with the boy .

    ¡°God, why would such a beautiful and nobledy actually chase a man? Who is this man?¡±

    The waiter couldn¡¯t help, but look at Li Yundong again, as if he wanted to see his identity and status by his dress and mannerisms .

    However, while he was trying to do this, he ran into a person and almost fell . The waiter had to quickly apologize and left under the other¡¯s hostile eyes .

    Li Yundong looked at Zhou Qin and smiled . ¡°You can speak French? That¡¯s impressive!¡±

    Zhou Qin smiled slightly, ¡°My father once nned to send me to Paris, so he forced me to learn French . ¡±

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    Li Yundong said with a sigh, ¡°Hey, my English isn¡¯t that great, but you actually spoke so smoothly in French . I admire you!¡±

    Zhou Qin looked at Li Yundong with sincerity and said, ¡°There are many people in the world who can speak several foreignnguages, but you may be the only one who risked his life to save somebody that fell off a five story building . ¡±

    Even though Li Yundong thought her praise was suitable, he blushed . He smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s useless to praise me . I won¡¯t save you money today . ¡±

    Zhou Qin knew it was just a joke since Li Yundong hadn¡¯t ordered anything yet . She couldn¡¯t help bursting intoughter upon Li Yundong¡¯s humor and reactions .

    Su Chan, who had been looking around curiously, pulled Li Yundong¡¯s arm and said, ¡°Yundong, I have something to ask you . ¡±

    Li Yundong looked at Su Chan with some vignce and asked, ¡°What is it? If you want to make fun of me, don¡¯t ask!¡±

    Su Chan looked shy . ¡°Hey! I mean it . I¡¯m a good girl now!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Then, you can ask your question . ¡±

    Just as they spoke, the waiter returned with a dining cart . There were 13 dishes on the traditional menu of French cuisine, and the first one was a cold dish appetizer . The waiter served a te of foie gras, and then poured Li Yundong, Su Chan, and Zhou Qin a ss of Kay Royal Red Wine each .

    Zhou Qin smiled and picked up the wine ss in front of her . She tasted the smooth and refreshing red wine while watching Li Yundong and Su Chan¡¯s exchange .

    Su Chan pointed at the knife and fork on the table, and asked in puzzlement, ¡°Are we going to dissect something? Why do we have knifes and forks here?¡±

    ¡°Puff!¡± Zhou Qin suddenly spit out a mouthful of red wine .

    Fortunately, Li Yundong, who sat opposite of her, reacted quickly . He lifted the napkin in front of himself to shield his body .

    The waiter, who was pouring the wine, shivered and knocked over the wine ss . The wine was sprinkled on Zhou Qin¡¯s skirt .

    Li Yundong put down the napkin in lingering fear when Zhou Qin stood up in a hurry and cleaned her skirt under several people¡¯s strange looks .

    Li Yundong turned his head and looked at Su Chan with extremely helpless eyes . The little girl seemed to know that she must have said something wrong again . She lowered her head and curled up into the corner of the seat while looking at Li Yundong with a perturbed face .

    The waiter who overturned the wine looked at Su Chan and was stunned . He screamed inwardly, ¡°God, what a lovely girl! Her pitiful eyes can make any man die for her!¡±

    Due to his thoughts, he unconsciously tilted the bottle once again, and a lot of wine was spilt out .

    The dress became dirtier before Zhou Qin could make it clean, so she grew angry and said, ¡°Hey, do you want to flood the table?¡±

    The waiter suddenly reacted and hurriedly apologized . ¡°I¡¯m sorry . I¡¯m sorry!¡±

    Zhou Qin frowned and waved at him, ¡°Go! Go!¡±

    The waiter left with an awkward look after he apologized again and again and cleaned up the table .

    Li Yundong sighed at Su Chan and said, ¡°Please be careful of what you say . It might end up getting someone killed!¡±

    Su Chan retorted weakly, ¡°I¡¯m not wrong . How can I use the knife and fork to eat? I¡¯m not a barbarian!¡±

    Her voice was low, but the people around could hear it clearly . For a time, all kinds of eyes turned to look at them, which made Li Yundong embarrassed .

    However, Zhou Qin looked at Su Chan and suddenly smiled . She said, ¡°You are right . We are the descendants of Chinese civilization . We are civilized people . We should not eat with such barbaric things . ¡±

    Then, she snapped her fingers to call the waiter .

    Another waiter came over instead of the former one who had caused so much trouble as he didn¡¯t daree over .

    Zhou Qin smiled and said to the waiter, ¡°Please give us three pairs of chopsticks!¡±

    Upon hearing this, the waiter looked puzzled as if he could not believe his ears . He just looked at Zhou Qin with a nk look .

    Li Yundong suddenly found that Zhou Qin could be quite humorous . He could not help, but smile . ¡°Hey, this is fine, isn¡¯t it? This is a western restaurant . ¡±

    Zhou Qin blinked at Li Yundong and said jokingly . ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter . It should also be inclusive of our culture!¡±

    Li Yundongughed happily and quietly gave Zhou Qin a thumbs up . He smiled at the waiter who was still standing there, dumbfounded, ¡°Waiter, did you hear her? We need three pairs of chopsticks!¡±

 Chapter 89

    Chapter 89

    <h4>Feast?</h4>

    "B- but sir . . . This is a fine-dining restaurant . . . "

    The waiter looked so much like a kicked puppy that Li Yundong almost took pity on the guy . Almost . He shared a nce with Zhou Qin . The teasing glint in Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes brightened just a tad . Li Yundong suppressed augh . Who knew Zhou Qin had such a yful side hidden beneath that Ice Queen exterior? Pulling a prank at a fine-dining restaurant? Boy . This was going to make his day .

    Zhou Qin schooled her features and turned to the waiter who was practically squirming at that point . Everyone in the restaurant was now watching their table, but Zhou Qin didn¡¯t seem to care . Zhou Qin regarded the waiter for a moment, her eyes regal and unyielding . "Do I need to repeat myself?" Zhou Qin arched an eyebrow . "Three pairs of chopsticks . I know you have them . "

    Poor dude might need to file a im for his health insurance after all if that grimace on his face was anything to go by . The guy might even need stic surgery to undo the severe contortions that he had done to his own face .

    "My God... You¡¯re full of surprises, Zhou Qin . . . " Li Yundong said after the waiter left .

    Zhou Qin¡¯s only response was a smirk .

    Minutester, the waiter returned with, guess what, three pairs of chopsticks .

    "Fine dining with chopsticks," Li Yundong said, lifting his wine ss . "All the food connoisseurs out there are going to have a field day . "

    Zhou Qin smirked and lifted her own ss . "To a new era of Fusion cuisine . "

    Li Yundong chuckled and clinked his ss against Zhou Qin¡¯s .

    Yeah . This was going to be an interesting meal .

    ***

    The meal went on without any further mishaps, thank heavens . While he ate, Li Yundong found himself constantly scanning every corner of the restaurant for potential threats . He had no clue where this newfound need for heightened vignce and situational awareness came from, but he figured it was better to be safe than sorry . He supposed being forced to dodge bullets could do that to a guy . Not that there were actual threats in the restaurant . He did notice quite a few stares directed at their table, but none of them seemed malicious . A few condescending looks were tossed his way, no doubt because of the chopsticks, but that was it as far as malicious went . The rest of the stares were aimed at Su Chan and Zhou Qin, which, truth be told, held more admiration than malice . Funny how these clever folks hadpletely missed the fact that the twodies were using chopsticks too .

    Su Chan seemed awfully subdued after that moral lesson he had given her earlier . It wasn¡¯t his intention to make her feel bad or anything, but he had to at least try to rein in her tendency to say the wrong things during social situations . It did, however, made him wonder just what kind of things her master had been teaching her all these years? Was Cultivation the only thing she¡¯d been taught back in the mountains? And why wouldn¡¯t she tell him who she was and where she came from? It wasn¡¯t like he was asking her to tell him about the drug or anything . If she didn¡¯t want to tell him about the drug, then fine, he could live with that . For now .

    He just wanted to know at least something about her past . Maybe her parents? Her vige, hometown, or wherever it was that she stayed at back in the mountains . Was she ashamed of who she was? Was that why she refused to tell him about herself? Did she lead a deplorable past?

    Li Yundong stole a nce at Su Chan . Well, as far as he could tell, Su Chan had a good heart . She could¡¯ve killed those goons who¡¯d ambushed them the other night, but she didn¡¯t . She also seemed pretty concerned about Ding Nan and Zhou Qin¡¯s well-being yesterday . Hell, if she could see value and worth in the fat loser that was his past self, then she couldn¡¯t have been a bad person . Could a terrible person see past someone¡¯s hideous appearance to reach the goodness underneath?

    Li Yundong shook his head slightly . No . He didn¡¯t think so .

    Su Chan wasn¡¯t a bad person . She made a lot of mistakes and faux pas because she didn¡¯t know enough about the world outside of the mountains, not because she was inherently bad .

    Come to think of it . . .

    How did she get here? How did she end up in Tiannan City?

    Even now, she was still so clueless about the world, so it was obvious that she hadn¡¯t spent a lot of time outside the mountains before they met .

    Did she only get here the day she met him?

    The waiter¡¯s serving cart stopped beside their table . The waiter removed a te of something from the cart, then ced it at the center of their table . The dish looked like arge piece of ham with brown sauce drizzled all over it . Although Li Yundong would bet his entire bank ount (and overdraft) that it wasn¡¯t ham he was staring at .

    Zhou Qin grabbed her chopsticks, then picked up a slice of the meat . Much to his surprise, she ced the slice on his te instead of her own .

    "Try it," Zhou Qin said, smiling at him . This is called foie gras, one of French cuisine¡¯s signature dishes . "

    Li Yundong nodded and picked up his chopsticks . He didn¡¯t even try to pronounce the name of the dish lest he embarrass himself .

    One mishap was more than enough, thank you very much .

    Li Yundong picked up the slice and bit into half of it . The meat tasted surprisingly like beef, though, again, Li Yundong doubted that it was actually beef . If it were beef, they would¡¯ve called it steak or something instead of some gobbledygook . The meat¡¯s texture was soft and buttery . Smooth, too, as though the meat was melting the moment it touched his mouth .

    "It¡¯s actually goose liver," Zhou Qin exined, sipping her wine . Li Yundong nced up, then gave Zhou Qin a nod .

    Li Yundong brought his chopsticks to Su Chan¡¯s lips . "Wanna try?"

    Su Chan didn¡¯t even hesitate . She bit off the remaining half of the slice and chewed . Her face lit up instantly . "Not bad . . . " she said . "But I still prefer Yundong¡¯s cooking . "

    Zhou Qin lowered her flute . "You cook?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "Yeah . " He shrugged . "Nothing too fancy though . Just a couple of Chinese dishes and that¡¯s it . I¡¯m totally clueless when ites to French cuisine . But I guess that¡¯s pretty obvious by now . "

    Zhou Qin seemed impressed . "Wow . . . I mean, I know a lot of things, but cooking is . . . " Zhou Qin chuckled . "It¡¯s not something I¡¯d put on my resume any time soon . "

    Li Yundong was pretty sure that she didn¡¯t need a resume . Her name should do the trick just fine .

    Li Yundong bit into a piece of shellfish . "That might not be such a bad thing, you know," he said after swallowing . "All that smoke would take a toll on your skin if youdies spend too much time inside the kitchen . And also . . . "

    Li Yundong shot Su Chan a pointed look .

    Su Chan had the decency to blush, no doubt remembering the time where their entire kitchen got blown to kingdome when Su Chan tried to "cook . "

    "What? What is it?"

    Li Yundong turned away from Su Chan and saw Zhou Qin studying him curiously . Li Yundong chuckled and leaned against his chair . "Well, let¡¯s just say that my kitchen had seen better days before"¡ªLi Yundong jabbed a finger at a blushing Su Chan¡ª"this one stepped into it . "

    Su Chan giggled .

    Then, she stuck out her tongue at him and went back to her food .

    "Sounds like there¡¯s a story there," Zhou Qin remarked .

    Li Yundong smirked . "Oh, you have no idea . . . " he said, then went back to his meal .

    Zhou Qin took the hint and didn¡¯t ask again .

    The meal went on quietly for a while until they were interrupted by the waiter¡¯s approach . The waiter stopped beside Zhou Qin and spoke to her in a subdued tone . "I¡¯m sorry, miss, but a customer has already pre-ordered thest of our Beluga caviar today . "

    "Please let me speak to your manager," Zhou Qin said .

    "Zhou Qin . . . Is that really necessary?" Li Yundong asked when the waiter left to get the manager .

    Zhou Qin smiled at him . "Yes, it is . "

    "You know we can just switch to another dish, right? I¡¯m sure the other dishes taste just as good . "

    "But they won¡¯t be the best," Zhou Qin stated firmly . "You saved my life yesterday . It¡¯s only right that I repay you with the best . "

    So this was how the rich and wealthy do things, putting a price tag on literally everything . Somehow, he wasn¡¯t even surprised .

    What did surprise him though, was the fact that the manager was local .

    The manager stopped beside their table, then bowed at Zhou Qin .

    "How may I serve you, miss?"

    Li Yundong lowered his chopsticks and watched the exchange .

    "ording to your staff, thest of your Beluga caviar has been pre-ordered . "

    The manager smiled . "Yes indeed, miss . I¡¯m terribly sorry about that . Beluga roe is highly rare, and we only have a limited supply of it every month . Most of our regr customers know this, so they pre-ordered it . Would you like to switch your order to some of our other dishes, miss?"

    Instead of answering, Zhou Qin regarded the manager steadily .

    The poor guy was sweating bullets at this point .

    Li Yundong decided that it was time for him to step in .

    "Zhou Qin, it¡¯s really no big deal . We can just¡ª"

    "Cancel the previous order . " Zhou Qin took out a gold card from her purse and handed it to the manager .

    The manager nched the moment he saw the gold card .

    "Very well, miss . I¡¯ll make the necessary arrangements," said the manager, taking the gold card with both hands, and with reverence .

    "Also, please purchase a knee-length dress from the mall beside the restaurant," Zhou Qin said . "Your staff spilled wine onto my clothes earlier . "

    The manager apologized to Zhou Qin profusely before leaving their table .

    If Li Yundong did a facepalm right now, he would probably break his neck or punch a hole through his face . He honestly didn¡¯t know what to make of that power y . It was lost on him how the rich operate .

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Is that what you rich folks do all the time? sh a card, and people will scramble around to do your bidding?"

    Hell . I think I might need a break from all this . . . Li Yundong nced around for the bathroom .

    "The rich . The poor . We all have our own set of problems . . . "

    The loneliness he detected from Zhou Qin¡¯s voice made him do a double-take .

    "I, for one, envy you two . " Zhou Qin studied him and Su Chan with her gaze . "I hope you¡¯ll both stay with each other forever . "

    Su Chan chose that moment to insert herself into the conversation . "You bet! We¡¯re meant to be together, Yundong and I!"

    Li Yundong felt a tug in his arm . When he looked to the side, Su Chan was clinging on to him .

    Li Yundong smiled and pinched Su Chan¡¯s face . "Hey, hey . . . Let me go . "

    Su Chan pulled back suddenly and gave him a hurt look . "Are you tired of me already?"

    Li Yundongughed . "No, silly . I¡¯m just gonna head to the men¡¯s room for a bit . " He raised a brow . "Don¡¯t tell me you wanna tag along too?"

    "Eww . . . " Su Chan made a face at him . "Go on then . Shoo . Shoo . "

    Li Yundong shook his head in amusement . Then, he turned to Zhou Qin and gave her a nod . "Excuse me . I won¡¯t be long . "

    Li Yundong stood up and left their table .

    He wondered what he would see in the men¡¯s room . Gold-ted urinals?

    ***

    The rm bells sounded in Li Yundong¡¯s mind when he returned to their table a whileter . Su Chan and Zhou Qin were both staring nkly at each other, not to mention the strange air surrounding them . Oh shit . . . Don¡¯t tell me they got into a fight while I was away . . .

    Li Yundong sat down warily and eyed the two women for a moment . Then, he snapped his fingers a few times . "Hey . Hey . What¡¯s the matter with you two?"

    Zhou Qin sighed and shook her head slightly . "Oh . . . It¡¯s nothing . I just . . . " Zhou Qin sipped her wine . "I just realized that sometimes... Sometimes the things that you¡¯ve missed out on tend to be the most precious ones . "

    What the heck was that supposed to mean?

    He turned and shot Su Chan a re . "Hey . Did you say something silly again, hmm?"

    Su Chan looked utterly affronted . "You¡¯re so mean!" She smacked Li Yundong¡¯s arm . "Do I look like someone who says silly things?"

    Seriously? Was she f*cking kidding him right now?

    Li Yundong nodded . "Yes . Yes you do . "

    The huge pout on Su Chan¡¯s lips made him want to reach out and pinch it . Or kiss it .

    Su Chan smacked his arm again . "Meanie!"

    "Don¡¯t be too hard on her," Zhou Qin said . "She just told me some of the experiences you shared together . You¡¯re . . . " Zhou Qin trailed off .

    Li Yundong regarded Zhou Qin steadily and noted the faraway look in her eyes . Secondster, Zhou Qin shook her head and cleared her throat . Then, she held Li Yundong¡¯s gaze . "I mean, you treat her really well . "

    Li Yundong smiled at Zhou Qin, then turned to Su Chan .

    Realizing that it was a losing battle, Li Yundong reached out and pinched Su Chan¡¯s pouted lips, which earned him another smack on the hand . He made a few more attempts to tickle Su Chan, which ended up with Su Chan twisting around in her seat and giggling like a schoolgirl . Li Yundong released a wistful sigh and looked at Zhou Qin again .

    "How could I not?"

    For a brief moment, their table was silent except for the tapping of Su Chan¡¯s chopsticks against her te .

    d to see that at least one of them was in a mood to feast .

    Zhou Qin was still staring at him, no doubt waiting for him to borate .

    Li Yundong gave Zhou Qin a meaningful look .

    "Before I was like this," he said, gesturing at his face . "Everyone only saw me as a fat loser . "

    Zhou Qin opened her mouth to protest, but Li Yundong silenced her with a raise of his finger .

    "Don¡¯t bother denying it . " Li Yundong smirked . "I¡¯m not stupid . I know what everyone has been saying behind my back . And fat is definitely one of the kindestpared to all the other stuff they said about me . " Li Yundong nced at Su Chan . "She was the only person who thought of me as someone worth a damn . The only person . " Li Yundong turned back to Zhou Qin . "So yeah . I¡¯ll be damned if I don¡¯t treat her like a princess . "

    "Boo! You¡¯re all talk and no action . You¡¯re always so mean to me!" Su Chan grumbled .

    "Tsk! Stop talking back to me . "

    Li Yundong and Su Chan teased each other for a while until he noticed the tension in Zhou Qin bodynguage . She looked a little pale too .

    "Hey, Zhou Qin . Are you alright?"

    Before Zhou Qin could answer, a waiter came over and handed Zhou Qin a new dress . Zhou Qin took the dress and smiled at Li Yundong . Her smile seemed forced .

    "Excuse me," she said, standing up from her chair . "I¡¯m gonna go get changed . "

    Li Yundong nced at Zhou Qin¡¯s ruined skirt, then nodded . "Sure . But you better make it quick . Or else that glutton over there"¡ªLi Yundong pointed at Su Chan¡ª"will gobble up all the food and leave nothing for you . "

    Then, Li Yundong winked at Su Chan . "Twenty bowls of rice, remember?"

    Su Chan smacked and wed at Li Yundong¡¯s arms repeatedly . "I hate you! I hate you! Why do you always make fun of me!"

    Li Yundong chuckled . By the time he raised his head, Zhou Qin was already gone .

    A whileter, Li Yundong and Su Chan were staring at the twelve dishes that the waiter had just brought to their table . Zhou Qin was still nowhere to be seen .

    "Um... Yundong . . . " Su Chan whispered beside him . "These look kinda expensive . "

    Li Yundong stared at Su Chan in mild disbelief . Yeah? You only realize this now? That should¡¯ve been obvious from the moment they walked into this ce .

    "How much do you think all this cost?" Su Chan whispered again .

    He honestly wasn¡¯t even sure he wanted to know .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat, then studied the dishes on the table for a while . "Several thousand at least?"

    He heard a snorting from the table beside theirs . He turned and saw a waiter rolling his eyes at him .

    Li Yundong¡¯s cheek heated up .

    Su Chan tugged his sleeve . "Um . . . Yundong . . . What if . . . "

    Li Yundong turned and saw Su Chan ncing around the restaurant as though she was looking for someone .

    "What?" Li Yundong nudged her .

    Su Chan leaned towards him and said, "What if Zhou Qin decided to leave us here?"

    Li Yundong jumped slightly as though someone had shoved a porcupine up his ass . He nced at the washroom . Still no signs of Zhou Qin .

    Li Yundong forced a smile . "Nah . . . She wouldn¡¯t just leave us . . . " He hoped his voice at least sounded a little bit reassuring .

    Su Chan shot him a worried look . Okay . Maybe not .

    "But what if she did?" Su Chan asked . "What if we couldn¡¯t afford anything here?"

    Li Yundong smacked Su Chan¡¯s forehead . "Then I¡¯ll leave you here to wash dishes!"

    Su Chan looked at him like a hurt puppy . "H- ho- how could you?"

    Li Yundong chuckled and ruffled her hair . "No, silly . I wouldn¡¯t do that . Zhou Qin wouldn¡¯t do that either . . . "

    She damn well better not . I saved her life yesterday, for f*ck¡¯s sake . She wouldn¡¯t do that to me, right?

    "I¡¯m worried Yundong . . . I don¡¯t want you to get into trouble again . . . "

    "Nah . . . Don¡¯t worry about¡ª"

    "Yo, yo, yo! Look who we have here?"

    Li Yundong turned around at the familiar voice .

    Great . . . Just when I thought this day couldn¡¯t get any worse . . .

    Staring back at them was a good-looking man who had tried to "buy" his seat the other day ¡ª the noveau riche, Liu Chuan .

 Chapter 90

    Chapter 90

    <h4>A Rich Fool</h4>

    Before Li Yundong could say anything, Liu Chuan was right beside their table along with his entourage, which consisted of a bunch of good-looking men and women .

    "Well, well, well . . . What a coincidence!"

    Li Yundong decided that he didn¡¯t like the look on Liu Chuan¡¯s face .

    "Ooh . . . I see you¡¯ve ordered the full-course meal, eh? Whoa! Tsk, tsk! What¡¯s this?" Liu Chuan turned around to give his entourage a look . "Using chopsticks at a fine dining restaurant!" Liu Chuan guffawed . "Man . . . This is creativity on a whole new level!"

    Several giggles sounded .

    When Li Yundong lifted his gaze and appraised Liu Chuan¡¯s entourage, the giggles stopped immediately . Li Yundong smirked . Call him vain, but he was d he had that kind of effect on people these days; he could end a fight or a confrontation before it even began .

    Li Yundong returned his gaze to Liu Chuan, who was now entertaining one of his groupies with an attempt to pick up a shellfish with Zhou Qin¡¯s chopsticks . Looks like this guy hasn¡¯t learned his lessonst time .

    Li Yundong regarded Liu Chuan for a moment .

    I bet this is about revenge . . .

    Liu Chuan got humiliated the other day when Li Yundong had him pinned up against the wall with one hand . Li Yundong didn¡¯t remember much¡ªhe was in a Zouhuo Rumo state¡ªabout that incident, but he knew that Liu Chuan became the university¡¯sughing stock after that day . Apparently, Li Yundong¡¯s violent behavior had caused Liu Chuan to forget all about his potty training . Some said that Liu Chuan had peed himself while others mentioned that he had shitted himself . Li Yundong personally thought that it was both .

    Li Yundong did a quick scan across the restaurant . No signs of Zhou Qin yet .

    Too bad .

    Li Yundong had a feeling that this would be over very quickly if Zhou Qin were present .

    Li Yundong smirked . He wondered what would happen if he announced to the entire restaurant about Liu Chuan little "ident . " He was honestly surprised that his entourage hadn¡¯t heard about it already . Then again, maybe they did, just that Liu Chuan¡¯s big, fat, checkbook was too hard to say no to .

    Liu Chuan nted himself in Zhou Qin¡¯s chair . From the corner of his eyes, Li Yundong noticed Su Chan¡¯s scowl . Li Yundong patted Su Chan¡¯s knee under the table, then gave her a subtle head shake . No need to cause any trouble here . This should be handled with tact .

    Liu Chuan appeared to be studying the dishes on their table . "Not bad, not bad . . . You even knew what to order . I didn¡¯t know you have it in you . . . Hmm . . . the full thirteen courses . . . Oh, wait, wait, wait . Something isn¡¯t right . . . One course is missing!" Liu Chuan¡¯s face morphed into a smug look . He turned to the side and waved at someone in his entourage . "Hey, babe . Come here for sec . "

    A beautiful woman who wore heavy make-up strode over . "Um . . . Liu Chuan . . . Who are they? Are they your friends?"

    "Oh, he¡¯s my ssmate," Liu Chuan said offhandedly, pulling the woman into hisp .

    "Babe . . . " Liu Chuan gestured at the table . "There¡¯s a course missing on this table . Can you guess which one? I¡¯ll give you a big reward if you guess it right!"

    The rest of Liu Chuan¡¯s friends, which consisted of two men and two women, came over as well .

    Li Yundong chuckled and put down his chopsticks . Oh . . . Now I see where this is going . . . He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms in front of his chest . He believed he had just figured out the identity of the customer whose pre-order Zhou Qin had just canceled earlier . A small smile tugged at Li Yundong¡¯s lips as he watched Liu Chuan running the show . Or at least the guy thought he was running the show . This pathetic, attention-seeking drama queen had no idea that he was in for a huge surprise, and Li Yundong certainly had no ns on telling him . Why ruin all the fun?

    Beside their table, the two men and two women who came into the restaurant with Liu Chuan whispered among themselves . Li Yundong heard a few French terms being tossed around as they tried to guess the name of the missing dish . Despite the promise of a reward, the woman in Liu Chuan¡¯sp wasn¡¯t as enthusiastic about the guessing game as were her otherpanions . Instead, the woman kept sneaking nces at Su Chan . Li Yundong had to hold back his smirk every time he detected the look of insecurity on the woman¡¯s face .

    "So, babe? Can you guess what the missing dish is?"

    The woman tore her gaze away from Su Chan . "Aww . . . I really can¡¯t guess, baby . . . This is my first time trying out French cuisine! You know that! Why don¡¯t you . . . um..." The woman traced circles near the cor of Liu Chuan¡¯s shirt . "Why don¡¯t you teach me?" Her voice was so sickeningly sweet that it nearly made Li Yundong throw up .

    Liu Chuan¡¯s face was practically dripping smugness at this point . He waved his hand across the table .

    "Ladies and gentlemen, the missing dish is . . . wait for it . . . "

    Li Yundong suppressed the urge to roll his eyes . F*cking drama queen . Should I do a drum roll for you too?

    "The Beluga caviar!" Liu Chuan announced proudly . "It¡¯s one of French Cuisine¡¯s finest dishes . And also one of the most luxurious!"

    Silence spread across the table . Li Yundong smiled when he saw the look of recognition flitting across Su Chan¡¯s face . About time she figured it out . . .

    Liu Chuan hooked his finger under Miss Groupie¡¯s chin . "I brought you guys here today because I managed to pre-order this restaurant¡¯s Beluga caviar . This restaurant serves the freshest and the best Beluga caviar in the city . They only have a limited supply though . And the waiting list was so long that I actually had to wait for half a year!"

    Li Yundong detected movement beside him . He turned and saw Su Chan shift to the edge of her chair before leaning towards him .

    "Yundong . . . " she whispered . "Just now Zhou Qin canceled someone¡¯s order, right? Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s¡ª"

    Li Yundong grabbed Su Chan¡¯s knee under the table, then shook his head at her .

    Su Chan took the hint and stopped talking .

    Li Yundong brought his lips to her ear, trying hard not tough . "Let¡¯s just sit back and watch how this ys out, okay? No need to ruin their fun . "

    "Aww . . . I knew it! I knew you¡¯re the best, Brother Liu!" Miss Groupie said fawningly . "I¡¯ve heard about it from my friends . They used toin about how hard it was to order this restaurant¡¯s famous Beluga caviar . They tried a lot of times, but none of them even made it to the waiting list! Is there anything you can¡¯t do, Brother Liu?"

    Li Yundong sniggered inwardly . I bet I could list down a few . Maintaining dder and bowel control, for instance .

    "But wait, Brother Liu," Miss Groupie went on . "Why is there a grading system for caviars?"

    Piqued, Li Yundong sat up straighter and leaned forward a little . Good question . He was kind of curious about that too . Suddenly, the conversation stilled . Li Yundong studied Liu Chuan¡¯s face, waiting for him to answer . However, instead of looking smug, Liu Chuan looked downright ufortable .

    Holy shit . . . the guy doesn¡¯t know!

    Augh escaped Li Yundong¡¯s lips, which he quickly masked as a cough . Li Yundong reached for his flute and took a small sip of wine .

    "Brother Liu . . . Why don¡¯t we order the same dishes?" Miss Groupie said, no doubt giving Liu Chuan an out . Li Yundong set down his flute and pressed his lips together to smother his smile .

    What a fool . Rich, yes . But still a fool . A f*cking imbecile .

    "Do you know how much this full-course meal costs?" Liu Chuan said .

    No . Li Yundong didn¡¯t miss the smug look Liu Chuan had thrown his way before he asked that question .

    The fool just had to dig himself deeper into this . This was going to be fun to watch .

    "Well . . . I don¡¯t know, Brother Liu . . . " Miss Groupie said shyly . There was a brief pause, then she added, "Don¡¯t tell me you can¡¯t afford it, Brother Liu!"

    Liu Chuan snorted . "Some people might not be able to afford it . Not me . "

    Then, Liu Chuan pointed at the ham-like dish . "This foie gras alone costs several thousand yuan . All of these dishes cost around 24 thousand yuan! And much higher if we add in the Beluga caviar!"

    Li Yundong cringed inwardly .

    He felt a tug on his sleeve . Su Chan was looking at him worriedly .

    "This is too expensive . . . " she whispered . "We can¡¯t afford it . . . "

    Their table shook a little as Liu Chuan¡¯s guffawed .

    Guess there was no point in reminding Su Chan to keep her voice down now .

    "Oh my, my . . . You guys might have just made my day! Good God! This is probably the joke of the century!" Liu Chuan stoppedughing and pointed at Li Yundong . "You should know your ce, buddy . Don¡¯te to a ce like this if you¡¯re t out broke! What are you guys nning, eh? An eat-and-run?"

    Giggles and chortles ensued .

    Li Yundong smirked, but made noments . He nced to his side when he heard Su Chan¡¯s low growl . His princess honestly looked like she was about to do a number on Liu Chuan¡¯s nutsack . Li Yundong gripped Su Chan¡¯s hand under the table to prevent her from doing anything stupid .

    Su Chan red back at him, her eyes shing with anger .

    Li Yundong brought his lips closer to her ear . "Don¡¯t worry," he whispered . "I know what he¡¯s gonna do . "

    Su Chan gave him a questioning look .

    "Just let him talk," Li Yundong whispered . "Like I said, I know what¡¯s he¡¯s gonna do . And we¡¯ll be the ones having thestugh . I promise . " He gave Su Chan¡¯s hand a brief squeeze before letting go .

    Liu Chuan pped his thighs a few times as thest of hisughter subsided .

    "Damn, what a joke . A penniless dudeing into a restaurant like this," Liu Chuan said, swiping a stray tear from the corner of his eye . "You wouldn¡¯t be able to settle the debt even if you offer to wash dishes in this restaurant for years!"

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong again, her eyes shing dangerously .

    Li Yundong gave her a reassuring smile . "Just trust me," he mouthed the words to her .

    Just then, Liu Chuan raised his hand in the air and summoned the waiter .

    "Put the tab for this table on me," Liu Chuan told the waiter .

    The waiter seemed surprised at the request . "Everything, sir?"

    "Yes! Everything!" Liu Chuan said . "This is nothing after all . "

    The waiter studied Liu Chuan for a moment before leaving the table with a strange smile . Li Yundong flicked a nce at Su Chan, who now had a look of realization on her face . Li Yundong raised his brows and gave her a small shrug . See? I told you so .

    "Consider yourself lucky that you ran into me today," Liu Chuan said in a smug tone . "And also . . . about that thing between usst time . . . Let¡¯s just call it even, eh? But, here¡¯s some free advice . Know your ce, otherwise you¡¯re gonna run into trouble, like today . Eat at a ce that fits your status . And for God¡¯s sake, don¡¯t use chopsticks in a fine-dining restaurant . " Liu Chuan tilted his head slightly towards an upied table nearby . "You¡¯re gonna embarrass us in front of the Westerners . "

    Li Yundong just smiled and said nothing . He didn¡¯t even want to waste his breath on that moron; it wasn¡¯t worth the time and effort to give a shit about snobs like Liu Chuan . They could unt their status and money for all he cared, but take those material things away, and what are they? An empty shell with no notable qualities to speak of .

    The waiter stopped beside their table with the bill, then smiled at Liu Chuan . "That will be 132,500 yuan in total . Shall I charge the amount on your credit card, sir?"

    Liu Chuan¡¯s wide-eyed stare brought Li Yundong a surge of satisfaction . "H- h- how much?"

    The waiter¡¯s smile didn¡¯t waver . "That will be 132,500 yuan, sir . "

    Liu Chuan snatched the bill and gave it a quick nce . "132,500? What the¡ª You think I¡¯m an idiot?" He red at the waiter . "I¡¯m a regr here, so I know your menu . Together, these twelve dishes should only cost about 24 thousand!"

    "Oh, but there¡¯s another dish that hasn¡¯t been served up yet . "

    "Another dish? Stop joking around! What dish could cost more than 100 thousand?"

    "Why, the Beluga caviar, of course!"

    Oh, the look on the bastard¡¯s face!

    Li Yundong had to bite the insides of his cheek to stop himself fromughing .

    "Y- y- you o-ordered the caviar . . . " Liu Chuan said . "B- but how! I was on the waiting list for months! And you j- just walked in and . . . No! That¡¯s not possible! Could it be that you ordered it even earlier than I did?"

    Beside him, Su Chan burst into giggles .

    By some miracle, Li Yundong managed topose himself enough to answer Liu Chuan¡¯s question .

    "Nah . . . I didn¡¯t order it ahead of time," Li Yundong said offhandedly . "I just came in and ordered it straight from the menu . I mean... I didn¡¯t even know it¡¯s that expensive . I just thought it looked pretty cool and ordered it . "

    Not even the waiter could hold back hisughter at this point .

    Liu Chuan honestly looked like he was seconds away from vomiting blood .

    The waiter suddenly cleared his throat . "Sir, shall I charge it on your credit card?"

    Li Yundong did a quick scan of the restaurant, which had gonepletely silent . Everyone was staring at their table now: the other customers; the waitstaff; even Liu Chuan¡¯spanions .

    The silence stretched on for several seconds before Liu Chuan broke it with a huff . "Fine! I¡¯m a man of my word after all!"

    Miss Groupie was clearly relieved as she practically sagged against Liu Chuan¡¯s chest . "Aww . . . You¡¯re such a generous man, Brother Liu!"

    Li Yundong grinned, then pped his hands a few times . "Indeed, indeed!" he said, raising his flute . "A toast to this generous man!"

    A round ofughter permeated the restaurant . Even the waitstaff seemed to have forgotten their duties and had joined in their customers¡¯ mirth .

    Miss Groupie shrieked and nearly fell off Liu Chuan¡¯sp when Liu Chuan stood up abruptly .

    Li Yundong watched Liu Chuan storm off towards the table he had reserved . Liu Chuan¡¯s friends followed him to their table, though some of them honestly looked like they¡¯d rather be elsewhere . Li Yundong shook his head and lowered his flute .

    The waiter¡¯s serving cart stopped beside their table once again . Li Yundong thanked the waiter after he had ced a te containing a clump of dark, bead-like substance, which he now knew cost more than 100 thousand yuan . When he turned to Su Chan, he saw that her face was buried against her arms, which were folded on top of the table, her shoulders quivering violently withughter .

    Li Yundong reached over and poked her ribs a few times . Su Chan raised her head and revealed her face, which was flushed in the most adorable way imaginable .

    Li Yundong jerked his head towards another table not far away from theirs . Liu Chuan and his groupies had just settled into that table .

    "Keep watching," Li Yundong said conspiratorially . "Show¡¯s not over yet . "

    Li Yundong nced towards Liu Chuan¡¯s table .

    Oh, yeah . The show was definitely still on .

    ***

    A whileter, the show that Li Yundong had been waiting for finally came . The manager strode towards Liu Chuan¡¯s table with an apologetic look on his face . Li Yundong nced towards Su Chan to make sure she was watching . She was .

    "Excuse me, sir? Are you Mr . Liu Chuan?"

    Liu Chuan gave the manager an impatient look . "Yes, that¡¯s me . Why hasn¡¯t my Beluga caviar been served yet?"

    "I¡¯m sorry, Mr . Liu . But the Beluga caviar is no longer avable¡ª"

    "What is that supposed to mean?"

    "Um . . . You see, sir . . . The thing is¡ª"

    "I pre-ordered it months ago!"

    "Well . . . There has been a mistake, and the order was supposed to go to someone else¡ª"

    "What! That doesn¡¯t even make sense! I¡¯ve been on the waiting list for months! How could you just . . . " Liu Chuan took a deep breath . "Who? Who got the order?"

    The manager turned and pointed awkwardly towards Li Yundong¡¯s table . "They did, sir . "

    When Liu Chuan nced over, Li Yundong picked up his flute and saluted Liu Chuan with it .

    Liu Chuan was gaping at them like a fish .

    "How about this, sir . As a token of our apology for the mix-up, we shall serve you another one of our finest caviar dishes, the Osetra caviar . On the house . . . "

    Li Yundong wasn¡¯t even listening anymore . He lowered his flute and dissolved intoughter .

    Once hisughter subsided, he scooped a spoonful of Beluga caviar and then ced it on an empty te .

    "What a bunch of kind folks, aren¡¯t they?" Li Yundong said dryly, pushing the te towards Su Chan . "We couldn¡¯t afford any of these, sure . But now look at us!" He waved across their table . "We get to enjoy these luxury foods without having to pay a single cent all thanks to that generous man over there . Ah . . . My faith in humanity is restored . "

    Su Chan smothered herugh behind her hands .

    "You know, Su Chan . . . " Li Yundong said with a straight face .

    "Hmm?" Su Chan¡¯s face was still flushed after all thatughing earlier .

    "If given the choice between having more money and having more brain cells . I¡¯d go with thetter any day . "

    Su Chan giggled and ate a spoonful of caviar .

    "You see, people with brains would eventually find ways to umte wealth," Li Yundong went on . "Rich fools, on the other hand, would eventually go broke because they have no idea how to spend their money wisely . "

    "Mm-hmm! Mm-hmm!" Su Chan nodded, her cheeks puffed out adorably as she chewed .

    Li Yundong chuckled, then raised his index finger . "Moral of the story . . . "

    Su Chan was still chewing her food, but he knew he had her full attention .

    "Just like a knife, or a pair of chopsticks, money is just a tool . It¡¯s value depends on its user . In the hands of kind and intelligent people, it bes a powerful resource . In the hands of dumb people, however . . . " Li Yundong looked towards Liu Chuan¡¯s table pointedly . "It will just be a total waste . "

    Li Yundong returned his gaze to Su Chan . She had stopped chewing and was now looking at him with starry eyes . He recognized that look . She had given him that same look the other night when he told her about visualizing nine lotus thrones during Guanxiang .

    Li Yundong leaned back in his chair, then reyed his words .

    "Dang . . . " he said, then looked towards Su Chan with his brows raised . "When did I be so wise?"

    Seconds passed in silence .

    Then, the two of them burst intoughter .

 Chapter 91

    Chapter 91

    <h4>Never Ever Waste Food!</h4>

    A loud smack interrupted Li Yundong and Su Chan¡¯s enjoyment of their 100 thousand yuan dish . Li Yundong nced towards Liu Chuan¡¯s table .

    "This is outrageous!" Liu Chuan¡¯s table shook after his fist pounded into it . Liu Chuan was now up on his feet, pointing an usatory finger at the restaurant manager who mbered back a few steps .

    "Pl- please c- calm down, sir . . . Like I said, we will serve you and your friends another dish, and it will be on the house . . . "

    "Shut up!"

    The back of the manager¡¯s legs hit the edge of an unupied table after Liu Chuan shoved the poor guy¡¯s chest .

    Li Yundong frowned and lowered his spoon . He pushed his chair out slightly and shifted his legs so that his feet were no longer under the table . Seriously? This moron was going to start a fight here? In an upscale restaurant? Clearly, wealth wasn¡¯t an urate measure for ss and sophistication .

    "How dare you people cancel my order without my permission!" Liu Chuan roared .

    "Sir, please calm down . There will be a refund¡ª"

    "I don¡¯t give a f*ck about your refund . I want an exnation! I ordered it first . So howe they got the dish?" Liu Chuan jabbed a finger towards their table .

    Okay . Enough was enough . Time for him to intervene . The poor manager was probably going to end up with a ck eye if he didn¡¯t step in .

    Li Yundong moved to stand up, but then something he saw made him stop . Looks like there¡¯s no need for me to intervene after all . Li Yundong smirked and leaned back in his chair . Oh, this is gonna be fun to watch . . .

    The manager was still desperately trying to calm Liu Chuan down .

    " . . . Like I said, sir . We apologize . But due to certain unforeseen circumstances, we had no choice but to cancel your order . I assure you we¡ª"

    "Unforeseen circumstances?" Liu Chuan sneered . "Then how do you feel about having your restaurant shut down due to unforeseen circumstances as well?"

    The manager paled . "Sir, we truly meant no disrespect . But the other customer had been very insistent that¡ª"

    Liu Chuan released a derisive sneer . "Who?! Who has the balls to cancel my order . And I¡¯m gonna bet all my assets that it wasn¡¯t that penniless loser over there!" Liu Chuan jerked his chin towards Li Yundong .

    "I canceled your order," said a cold voice . "You got a problem with that?"

    Liu Chuan huffed out in anger, then turned around .

    "Of course I have a prob¡ª" Liu Chuan gasped . "Z- Zh- Zhou Qin? Wh- what are you doing here?"

    Li Yundong crossed his arms in front of his chest . God, seriously . The drama never ends with these rich people . It never does . . .

    Zhou Qin stopped right beside Liu Chuan¡¯s table, then leveled a cold gaze at Liu Chuan . Her LV purse hung from one elbow while arge shopping bag hung from the other .

    "I¡¯m treating my friends to lunch, of course," Zhou Qin said . "Why? You have a problem with that too?"

    Liu Chuan smiled fawningly . "O- of course not, Zhou Qin . Why would I have a problem with that? But you could¡¯ve just called me and let me know if you wanted to try the Beluga caviar . I¡¯ll let you have it . I mean, for old times¡¯ sake and all . . . "

    There was a subtle lift of Zhou Qin¡¯s chin .

    "Did you just say let me have it?" Zhou Qin smirked . "I¡¯m going to make one thing clear . The things that I want, I get . Nobody has to let me have it . "

    Okay . Thatment was pretty badass . Li Yundong could admit that much . Spoken like a true femme fatale . . .

    Li Yundong tried to picture in his head what Zhou Qin¡¯s future husband might look like . Whoever he was, he had to have some serious cojones to go toe to toe with Zhou Qin . Yeah . Serious cojones . Balls of steel, in fact . How else could the poor guy endure having his balls busted by Zhou Qin all day long?

    Liu Chuan was blushing to the tip of his ears at that point . Zhou Qin seemed like she was so done with the conversation . Indeed, she turned away from Liu Chuan and gave Li Yundong a smile .

    "Sorry to keep you guys waiting!" Zhou Qin said .

    "It¡¯s fine," Li Yundong said, though his eyes were focused on Liu Chuan¡¯s friends, who were now whispering among themselves .

    Li Yundong closed his eyes . When he felt the ball of heat in his lower abdomen, he willed his Qi towards his Shenting . The buzzing returned to his ears instantly .

    By the time Li Yundong re-opened his eyes, sounds of their whispers filled his ears .

    "God . . . Look at her . . . She¡¯s so gorgeous when she smiles . . . " a guy said .

    "I know right? She looked so cold just now that I almost thought she never smiles . . . " the second guy replied .

    "Tsk . You¡¯re wrong, brah . Women like her will only smile for people she likes . . . "

    Zhou Qin pulled out her chair and sat down . Li Yundong smiled at her and tuned out the voices from Liu Chuan¡¯s table .

    Ten minutester, Zhou Qin pushed her te away . "Um . . . Li Yundong . . . " she said in a low voice .

    Li Yundong nced at her . "Yeah? You alright?"

    "I¡¯m fine, I just . . . " Zhou Qin leaned forward . "Do you think we can eat somewhere else?"

    Li Yundong regarded Zhou Qin for a second and noted how ufortable she looked . Then, he flicked a nce towards Liu Chuan¡¯s table . Every upant at that table, including Liu Chuan, was staring at their table . I see...

    Li Yundong returned his gaze to Zhou Qin and studied her for a while .

    Did she mean switching to another table or . . . ?

    Li Yundong took stock of their table . Zhou Qin had barely touched her food and, truth be told, she looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here . Su Chan, on the other hand, was busy stuffing food into her mouth because she was being . . . well, Su Chan .

    So much for having a feast .

    Li Yundongid down his chopsticks on his te . "Here¡¯s an idea," he said . "Why don¡¯t I cook for all three of us?"

    Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes snapped to his . "Are you suggesting that . . . that we . . . go to your . . . ce?"

    Li Yundong shrugged . "The mood¡¯s ruined anyway," he said, jerking his chin towards Liu Chuan¡¯s table . "All thanks to those assholes . "

    Su Chan preferred his cooking anyway, so there was no point in staying . Plus, they wouldn¡¯t have to worry about wasting money since their food had already been paid for by rich idiot over there .

    "Are you serious?" The sparkle returned to Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes for the first time since her return from thedies room .

    Li Yundong smiled . "Yeah, I¡¯m serious . I mean, if you can stomach my lowly and humble cooking, then sure, I don¡¯t mind cooking for you . "

    Zhou Qin was already waving for the waiter . "Nonsense . I¡¯d be honored to try your cooking . " Zhou Qin smiled at Li Yundong, who was trying very hard not tough .

    "Actually . . . our food has already been paid for . "

    "Y- you took care of the bill?" Zhou Qin said .

    Li Yundong would¡¯ve felt offended by the look of disbelief on Zhou Qin¡¯s face if it weren¡¯t so funny, not to mentionpletely justified .

    "No . He did . " Li Yundong pointed towards Liu Chuan .

    "Oh . " Zhou Qin shot a quick nce towards Liu Chuan¡¯s table . "Thanks," she said, then turned away just as quickly .

    She probably didn¡¯t catch Liu Chuan¡¯s smile, which, if Li Yundong would venture a guess, was meant to be charming . Sadly, it only made Liu Chuan¡¯s face look like a case of stic surgery gone horribly wrong .

    Zhou Qin picked up her LV purse . "Shall we go then?" She looked at Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong eyed the remaining food on their table . "Not nning to get a takeaway box?"

    The corner of Zhou Qin¡¯s lips lifted slightly . "Don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea . It wouldn¡¯t taste as good if you keep it overnight . "

    That was when Li Yundong saw that sudden twinkle of mischief in Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes again . When Zhou Qin practically shouted her next words, Li Yundong immediately understood why .

    "Liu Chuan paid for our food, right? Why don¡¯t we just let them have the rest?"

    Amidst the buzzing in his ear, Li Yundong could make out the sound of someone spitting out their drink . (T/N: The buzzing is a result of Eryue; a Cultivation skill that enables long-range hearing; activated when Cultivator¡¯s Qi is at their Shenting) Li Yundong stole a nce at Liu Chuan¡¯s table, and zoomed in with his vision . Liu Chuan¡¯s groupie was desperately wiping the front of Liu Chuan¡¯s expensive-looking suit jacket with a napkin . Liu Chuan didn¡¯t even care; he was too busy ring at Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong shook his head, then turned back to his own table . When he did, what he saw nearly made him fall off his chair . Su Chan¡¯s mouth was stuffed with so much food that her face looked like a frigging chipmunk!

    When Miss Chipmunk reached for another piece of shellfish (despite her full mouth), Li Yundong smacked her forehead hard .

    "Mmmph!!!" Miss Chipmunk red at him indignantly . Some kind of dark sauce dribbled down from the corner of her mouth . Good Lord Almighty have mercy on my soul . . . Please . <strong>Please</strong> .

    A feminine giggled sounded . Li Yundong turned and saw Zhou Qin hiding her face behind her hand, her shoulders quivering violently . No words could describe how much Li Yundong wanted to kill himself right now . None . He almost wished Zhao Yujian would return from the dead and then put a bullet in his skull . At least he would be free of this torture .

    Li Yundong smacked Su Chan¡¯s forehead again .

    "Mmph!"

    More sauce escaped those massive chipmunk pouches .

    "Enough of that!" Li Yundong hissed . "Stop eating and let¡¯s get out of here already! God! You¡¯re such an embarrassment!"

    "Buuuhhh eeep wood bee a wuuuaishh eeeshh wee doon fuwineesh duh fooo . "

    Lord God Almighty . O Great Buddha . O my Lord Confucius . Or any other Shenxians who are kind enough to heed my plea . Kill me now . Release me from this torture . . . Li Yundong pressed his palms onto his eyes and sighed . Then, without further ado, he yanked Su Chan to her feet .

    "Wuuueefff! Shhteel not doon yeff!"

    Li Yundong smacked Su Chan¡¯s hand when she tried to reach for the remaining Beluga caviar .

    "Enough!" Li Yundong hissed .

    They were out of the restaurant in record time . Leaning against a streemp, Li Yundong banged his head against themppost a few times before letting out a long groan . Now that they were outside, the buzzing in his ears grew louder . Not loud enough, however, to muffle that annoying little voice at the back of his mind which was urging him to go kill himself . Li Yundong nced at Zhou Qin, who was¡ªthank God¡ª no longerughing her head off . As though sensing his eyes on her, Zhou Qin looked up at him and cleared her throat . "I¡¯ll go get us a cab," she said, her voice surprisingly aloof .

    When Zhou Qin left, Li Yundong turned to Su Chan, a reprimand already at the tip of his tongue . His words stilled when he saw Su Chan staring longingly into the restaurant through the ss window . Li Yundong followed her gaze; the waiter had already begun clearing up their table .

    Li Yundong sighed . "Should¡¯ve gotten that takeout box after all . . . "

    "What¡¯s a takeout box?" Su Chan asked without taking her eyes off the ss window .

    "It¡¯s a box that¡ª" Li Yundong sighed heavily . "Never mind . . . "

    The buzzing in his ears droned on as he and Su Chan observed the restaurant . The waiter was now pushing the serving cart away from their table . Surprisingly, the waiter stopped when he reached Liu Chuan¡¯s table . For some reason, the waiter seemed a bit stressed out . Wait . What¡¯s going on in there? When Li Yundong zoomed in his vision, he saw Liu Chuan saying something to the waiter . The waiter squirmed and kept pulling at his bowtie . Secondster, the restaurant¡¯s manager appeared from the back of the restaurant and was slowly approaching Liu Chuan¡¯s table .

    Piqued, Li Yundong focused his hearing on the soundsing from inside the restaurant . His telescopic vision now provided him with a blown up view of the manager¡¯s face as he approached Liu Chuan¡¯s table cautiously . The poor guy was sweating bullets . The waiter continued to squirm .

    The manager wiped his sweat off his brow when he stopped beside Liu Chuan¡¯s table . "Sir . . . The Beluga caviar has barely been touched . Would you like to . . . "

    There was a dull ck; Liu Chuan had practically mmed his flute against the linen covering his table . "Are you¡ª Are you shitting me right now! You¡¯re serving me leftovers from another table? How dare you!"

    The manager wiped his forehead again . "N- n- no . . . that isn¡¯t what I . . . "

    There was another voice . It was soft and barely audible . Li Yundong focused harder until the voice became audible . " . . . nothing wrong with that, Brother Liu . You said it yourself that this stuff is worth 100 thousand yuan! What a waste to just throw it away! Those guys barely tasted it! Plus, this stuff is in short supply, right? You had to wait for months just to order it! We can¡¯t let this opportunity go to waste, Brother Liu!"

    Li Yundong zoomed in on Liu Chuan¡¯s face . The guy looked conflicted now, like he was about to cave .

    Suddenly, Liu Chuan scowled . "You guys have it if you want! Like hell I¡¯m gonna eat someone else¡¯s leftovers like some kind of..." Liu Chuan¡¯s face twisted in distaste . "Some kind of beggar!"

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes . I¡¯m never gonna understand what goes on in that idiot¡¯s mind . . .

    "Come on . . . just take it, Brother Liu . . . "

    "Yeah . You paid for it . . . At least try some of it . . . "

    The cajoling and wheedling went on for about a minute before Liu Chuan caved . Liu Chuan waved at the manager impatiently . "Whatever . Serve it up then . " Liu Chuan red at the manager . "Don¡¯t ever cancel my order again . Have I made myself clear?"

    "Y-yes sir . . . " said the manager . Li Yundong heard a sigh before the manager indicated nodded at the waiter .

    The waiter lifted the te containing the caviar from the serving cart and begun lowering the te onto Liu Chuan¡¯s table . . . what the¡ª

    "Hey!" Li Yundong yelled when Su Chan shook her hand free from his tight grasp .

    He tried to make a grab for her . Yeah, tried . Somehow, Su Chan had managed to cover the distance between themppost and the restaurant¡¯s entrance in less than a second . Holy f*cking shit! Sh- she¡¯s fast! Knowing that it was pointless to chase after her, Li Yundong looked through the ss window into the restaurant, then zoomed in . Su Chan was already inside, and was charging towards Liu Chuan¡¯s table as though her life depended on it . Su Chan¡¯s rapid footsteps resounded in his ears . Then, he watched in horror as Su Chan yanked the te from the poor waiter¡¯s hand . The poor guy didn¡¯t stand a chance and nearly keeled over onto Liu Chuan¡¯s table . Su Chan activated Chipmunk mode and gobbled down the caviar in three seconds .

    Three seconds .

    She didn¡¯t even use a f*cking spoon .

    Su Chan licked her fingers and dumped the te onto the serving cart . At least she didn¡¯t lick the f*cking te . Thank the Universe for small favors, really . She turned and shot a sheepish look at everyone seated at Liu Chuan¡¯s table . "Sorry guys . . . I forgot to eat that just now . . . Well . Bye . . . "

    Secondster, Su Chan was out of the restaurant and standing beside him again . Li Yundong stared at her in disbelief . O Great Buddha . . . Am I in heaven now? Have I achieved nirvana? Surely I must be getting pretty close after all that torture I¡¯d been put through . . .

    Li Yundong¡¯s hearing was still focused on the soundsing from inside the restaurant, though he didn¡¯t even know the point in him doing that . The entire restaurant was so silent that it was as though nobody was even breathing .

    Li Yundong groaned into his hands, then looked up at Su Chan .

    She looked genuinely puzzled, and gosh darn it to hell, why did she have to look so f*cking adorable?

    "What¡¯s the matter, Yundong?" Su Chan asked quizzically .

    Li Yundong pointed at the restaurant . "Why did you do that just now?"

    Why? Why the f*ck indeed?

    "Oh . Master told me to never waste food . . . "

    Li Yundong just stared at her without answering .

    "Hey, guys! Our cab¡¯s here . I don¡¯t know your address so you have to¡ª what?"

    Li Yundong turned and saw Zhou Qin standing there looking at the both of them . Zhou Qin¡¯s phone was out .

    Li Yundong closed his eyes and released his Qi from his Shenting .

    When the buzzing disappeared, he opened his eyes .

    Zhou Qin¡¯s gaze was bouncing between him and Su Chan .

    "What? What did I miss?"

 Chapter 92

    Chapter 92

    <h4>A Fulfilling Meal</h4>

    "Good God! What on earth were you thinking! Why didn¡¯t you just tell me you wanted the rest of the food? I would¡¯ve asked for a takeaway box!"

    "B-but I did tell you! You didn¡¯t hear me because you were too busy dragging me out the door!"

    "I didn¡¯t hear you? See, here¡¯s the thing, princess . I couldn¡¯t hear you! Not with your mouth so full, Miss Chipmunk . "

    "Cheap monk? Ugh! How many times do I have to tell you that I¡¯m not a Buddhist monk! And you just called me cheap! How could you!"

    "You¡ª Argh! Never mind . . . "

    Zhou Qin pressed her lips together to stop herself fromughing . She had spent pretty much the entire cab ride to New Hongsheng District listening to those two bicker . And they were relentless, both of them, almost like they were a couple who had been married for years . Zhou Qin bit down on her bottom lip; the sharp pang in her chest was now impossible to ignore .

    A loud ding announced the elevator¡¯s arrival .

    Zhou Qin followed Li Yundong and Su Chan into the elevator .

    "But you can¡¯t just run back in and then gobble up the food that is about to be served to another table!" Li Yundong pressed the button for the 20th floor .

    "What choice do I have? I was already outside the restaurant because you dragged me out! Besides, what¡¯s wrong with going back in to finish our food?"

    "What¡¯s wrong with¡ª It¡¯s impolite! God, you just embarrassed all of us!"

    "Impolite? How could that be worse than wasting food? Hello? Don¡¯t you know that it¡¯s a bad habit to waste food? Food is a precious resource! There are a lot of people out there who are starvi¡ª"

    "Tsk! Don¡¯t talk back to me . " Li Yundong smacked Su Chan¡¯s forehead .

    Then, Su Chan burped . Loudly .

    Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t take it anymore . She mped her hands over her mouth, and her shoulders trembled withughter . She even had to lean her body against the metal wall of the elevator to support herself .

    Somehow, neither of those two seemed to have noticed the spectacle that Zhou Qin was making of herself .

    "Yes, fine . . . Wasting food is bad, I get that . But you could have asked the waiter politely for the food instead of just yanking the te straight out of his hand . And the way you ate . . . You have no table manners at all! How hard is it to grab a goddamned spoon!"

    Su Chan had a contrite expression now . Zhou Qin honestly thought the poor girl was about to burst into tears .

    Zhou Qin reined in herughter and studied Li Yundong closely to see his reaction .

    Li Yundong¡¯s response surprised Zhou Qin . He reached out and pinched Su Chan¡¯s cheek a few times . "I know you have a healthy appetite . But remember what I said about respecting other people, hmm? Table manners is a form of courtesy too . "

    Su Chan nodded obediently . "Oh . I¡¯m sorry . . . I won¡¯t do it again next time . . . "

    It baffled Zhou Qin how clueless Su Chan was and how tolerant Li Yundong was towards her . How could a girl in this modern age know so little about social decorum and polite behavior?

    It all seemed so strange . Su Chan was already in her teens . Well, at least she looked like a teenager . Yet, sometimes her behavior was like that of a three-year-old . Did nobody teach her anything when she was young? Was she an orphan?

    How did Li Yundong and Su Chan meet each other?

    The elevator arrived at the 20th floor . The three of them stepped into the corridor after the doors slid open . Li Yundong and Su Chan walked ahead . Zhou Qin followed behind them and watched their interaction without saying a word .

    "Did you at least enjoy the meal? I mean, out of all three of us, you¡¯re the one who ate the most . "

    "Hmm . . . I don¡¯t think I managed to savor the taste . . . "

    "Why¡¯s that?"

    "Because I ate too fast!"

    "Yeah? And you only realize that now?"

    "Hehehe . . . Oopsie?"

    They stopped right outside apartment 20A, and Li Yundong began shifting the grocery bags to one hand .

    "Need a hand with that?" Zhou Qin asked .

    Li Yundong turned around . "Sorry?"

    "With the bags, I mean . "

    Li Yundong smiled . "Nah . Don¡¯t worry . I got this . " He pulled out his keys from his pockets using his free hand .

    Zhou Qin suppressed a smile . Such a gentleman . . .

    Therge mahogany door creaked open, and the three of them stepped into the apartment .

    "Well . This is it . Our humble abode . " Li Yundong spread his arms out wide .

    "Nice," Zhou Qin remarked .

    Li Yundong chuckled . "I¡¯m sure our ce looks like a hovelpared to yours . "

    Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t disagree with that assessment more . The apartment was wide and spacious . There were four balconies in total, each of which had a sliding door and windows . When the windows were opened, the apartment would be airy and cool even during summer . Plus, she liked the decor, which filled the apartment with warmth . The ce looked lived-in, like an actual home .

    "No," Zhou Qin said, shaking her head . "This is a home . " She sighed . "My ce is a prison . Both literally and figuratively . "

    There was a long pause .

    "Uh . . . I think I get the figurative part . . . " Li Yundong said . "But why literally? I mean, your ce isn¡¯t surrounded by metal bars or anything, right?"

    Zhou Qin hid a smile behind her hand . "No . Of course not . It¡¯s just . . . Well . The security there is pretty tight . There are guards with guns stationed everywhere . " Zhou Qin shook her head . "It doesn¡¯t feel like a home at all . "

    Another stretched of silence ensued .

    "Anyway!" Zhou Qin smiled . "Your ce looks really nice . And I mean it . I like how spacious it is . And the decor is perfect . Like I said, this is what a real home should look like . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s lips curved into a smirk .

    Zhou Qin found that smirk dangerously attractive .

    "Well . Make yourself at home then," he said before turning around .

    Li Yundong disappeared into the kitchen for a minute . When he came out, he was no longer carrying the grocery bags .

    "Is this ce rented? Or did you buy it?" Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help but ask .

    Li Yundong looked at her as though she¡¯d grown two heads .

    Zhou Qin suppressed the sudden urge to blush .

    "Of course it¡¯s rented," Li Yundong said with a chuckle . "You must have had too much wine earlier if you think a penniless guy like me owns a property . "

    Zhou Qin didn¡¯t know how to respond to that, so she decided to go with a joke . "So . Li Yundong . What does it feel like to live under the same roof as a beauty?"

    Li Yundong put his hand beside his ear . "Sorry, what? Did you just say beauty? I think you meant pig . "

    There was a loud gasp .

    "Wha¡ª How could you! Meanie! Meanie! Meanie!" Su Chan smacked Li Yundong¡¯s arms endlessly . "Grr! You¡¯re the pig!"

    "Uh-huh . . . " Li Yundong dodged a few more of Su Chan¡¯s swipes . "I¡¯m not the one who eats like a pig . That¡¯s you, missy . So you¡¯re the pig . And since you ate so much at the restaurant earlier, I won¡¯t be cooking your portionter . "

    Su Chan stomped her foot . "You see? You see? He¡¯s always bullying me!"

    It took Zhou Qin a second to realize that Su Chan was talking to her .

    When Zhou Qin looked at Su Chan, she couldn¡¯t help but find the girl endearing . Even though Zhou Qin was harboring not-so-tonic feelings for Li Yundong, she couldn¡¯t bring herself to dislike Su Chan at all . That girl was just so... cute .

    Lovable .

    Zhou Qin smiled at Su Chan . "Oh, don¡¯t look at me . It isn¡¯t my ce to interfere with your private matters . "

    The huge pout on Su Chan¡¯s lips nearly made Zhou Qinugh . Gosh . Zhou Qin had never had to suppress herughter this much until she met these two . Life just seemed fuller and brighter around them . They were like a tornado or a whirlwind that blew away the dark and dreary clouds which defined her life .

    Still pouting, Su Chan plopped down onto the couch and picked up the TV remote from the coffee table . Then, she began switching channels randomly . Zhou QIn honestly thought the remote would snap in half at any time given how hard Su Chan was pressing it .

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Look at her . She¡¯s sulking now . "

    Su Chan turned and made a face at Li Yundong .

    "I won¡¯t take long," Li Yundong said . He had donned an apron now . "You can use myptop if you want?"

    Zhou Qin smiled and shook her head . "Don¡¯t worry about me . Go do your thing . I¡¯ll just look around your apartment, if that¡¯s okay with you?"

    "Sure . Go ahead!" Li Yundong yelled from inside the kitchen .

    Zhou Qin nced around the apartment . There were two bedrooms in total, and beside each bedroom was a bathroom . She nced towards the living room . Su Chan was still on the couch, sulking . The noise from the kitchen told her that Li Yundong had already begun whipping up their lunch . It shouldn¡¯t count as snooping if he gave me permission, right? Zhou Qin¡¯s legs were already moving towards one of the bedrooms as that thought ran through her mind .

    She stepped quietly into the bedroom, the one whose door was open . She knew the moment she entered that this was a guy¡¯s bedroom . But wait . . . That doesn¡¯t make sense . They¡¯re a couple aren¡¯t they? It shouldn¡¯t look like a guy¡¯s room at all . . . Zhou Qin surveyed the room, looking for a feminine touch . There were none . She didn¡¯t see any cosmetics lying around the nightstand . There wasn¡¯t even ab . Wait . . . there were two rooms! Could it be that they haven¡¯t slept with each other yet?

    That thought eased a tight knot inside Zhou Qin¡¯s heart .

    Zhou Qin padded over to the bed and sat down . She ran a hand gently across the sheets . Li Yundong¡¯s masculine scent wafted to her nose .

    Zhou Qin bit down on her bottom lips and stole a nce at the living room . Su Chan was curled up on the couch, staring at the TV . Li Yundong was nowhere to be seen, but the sounds from the kitchen left little room for doubt as to his whereabouts . Deep inside Zhou Qin¡¯s chest, a spark of boldness ignited . Slowly, her hand crept along the sheets until it reached Li Yundong¡¯s pillow . She then lifted the pillow to her nose and took a long sniff . God . . . his scent is so . . .

    Zhou Qin gasped and dropped the pillow as though it had burned her hands . Heat rose to her cheeks as she stared at the pillow in herp . Her body felt as though it were on fire, and there was an ufortable ache between her¡ª

    Zhou Qin grabbed the pillow and quickly put it back in its original ce .

    Ugh! What is wrong with you, Zhou Qin? What were you thinking!

    She had no idea what came over her just now . It was like someone had cast a spell on her, a spell which turned her into a shameless and wanton¡ª

    Zhou Qin stood up from the bed and backed away a few steps . She had to put some distance between herself and the bed before she did something stupid .

    She nced around the room, hoping to find something to distract her from her... issues .

    A bookshelf in the corner of the room caught her eye .

    Most of the books on the shelf were novels . She ran her index finger over the spines of the books, then removed one of them from the shelf . When she flipped through it, the book opened naturally to a bookmarked page .

    Zhou Qin had to suppress augh when she saw what Li Yundong had used as a bookmark . It was a CD titled, "Cohabitation with A Flight Attendant . "

    Granted, Su Chan didn¡¯t look like a flight attendance, but the resemnce in the circumstances was a bit amusing .

    Zhou Qin slid the CD back into the book and returned the book to the shelf . She spent another while in Li Yundong¡¯s room until she was creeped out by her own snooping .

    Su Chan was still watching TV when Zhou Qin came out of the bedroom . Instead of joining Su Chan in the living room, she headed to the kitchen . She opened the door slightly, then peaked into the kitchen through the narrow slit between the door and the door jamb . Li Yundong was slicing vegetables with what appeared to be impable knife skills . Not that she was qualified to make that assessment, but those even slices of greens seemed pretty amazing . When Li Yundong added the ingredients into the pan and started stir-frying (was it stir fry? She wasn¡¯t sure) them, Zhou Qin was once again struck by how attractive Li Yundong was .

    Especially the look in his eyes, which were filled with intensity . Those eyes held so much focus that they were like the lens of a magnifying ss under the sun, generating so much heat that she felt as though she was burning up . Was this not what she had been yearning for all this while? A simple life? She didn¡¯t have to be rich or wealthy . She didn¡¯t crave status, nor did she long to live in a big house . She just wanted a man who would love her, cherish her, cook her meals, and then cheer her up whenever she was down .

    She would give anything to have all that .

    Zhou Qin opened the door wider, then stepped into the kitchen . "Is there anything I can do to help?"

    Li Yundong looked at her briefly before turning back to the pan . "Nah . It¡¯s good . I¡¯ve got this . "

    "Let me help too! Let me help too!" Su Chan barreled into the kitchen .

    Li Yundong burst intoughter, which, again, Zhou Qin found to be endearing .

    Zhou Qin bit down on her bottom lip, hard .

    God, she was in trouble . Deep trouble . . .

    "Hey, you! Stop right there!" Li Yundong was pointing at Su Chan . "You¡¯re noting anywhere near this kitchen today . Nope . Nuh-uh . In fact, I¡¯m banning you from the kitchen forever . "

    "You are so meeeeaaannn! I just wanted to help! Hmmph!"

    Zhou Qinughed . "Why are you so against her being in the kitchen? She can¡¯t be that bad, right?"

    Li Yundong raised a brow . "Is causing a gas explosion bad enough?"

    Zhou Qin felt like she had to pick her jaw up from the floor .

    "Oh my God! A gas explosion?" Zhou Qin looked around the kitchen several times . "Then the repairman must have done a fantastic job . I mean, this doesn¡¯t look like a kitchen that had survived a gas explosion at all . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Oh, no . The explosion was back at our old ce . "

    "Your old ce?"

    Just how long had he and Su Chan been living together?

    "Oh yeah, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve told you yet, but we just moved here . In fact . . . " Li Yundong red at Su Chan . "We got kicked out of our old apartment because of the explosion . "

    Zhou Qin shook her head in disbelief . "But a gas explosion! What did she do?"

    Li Yundong seemed to consider her question for a moment . "Okay, well . It might have been caused by a faulty stove, I suppose . . . "

    Zhou Qin stole a nce at Su Chan, who was blushing to the tip of her ears .

    By the time Li Yundong was done exining the ins and outs of the explosion, Zhou Qin realized that she hadn¡¯t heard a single thing Li Yundong said . She cleared her throat . "I¡¯m d you guys made it out okay . I mean, you didn¡¯t get hurt, right?"

    "Nah, we didn¡¯t . But it was a close call though . That¡¯s why I¡¯m not allowing this one"¡ªLi Yundong pointed at Su Chan¡ª"near the kitchen anytime soon . "

    "But I just wanted to help . . . " Su Chan mumbled .

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Yeah? Trust me, you¡¯ll be of a much greater help outside the kitchen . "

    Zhou Qin pressed her lips together to suppress a smile . She then turned to Su Chan . "Why don¡¯t we both get out of Master Chef¡¯s hair and go hang out in the living room?"

    Su Chan was looking at Li Yundong with piteous eyes . "Was I really that bad?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "Nah . . . You¡¯re not bad . You just didn¡¯t know how things work in the kitchen, that¡¯s all . "

    Zhou Qin wondered if he was just sugar-coating it .

    "Anyhow! Shoo! Shoo! Off you go,dies! Go hang out in the living room . " Li Yundong waved his hand . "The food¡¯s gonna be done soon, anyway . "

    Zhou Qin left the kitchen with Su Chan, then shut the kitchen door behind her . They sat on opposite ends on the long couch, watching a soap opera that was ying on the TV . Neither of them had spoken a word to each other yet, though Zhou Qin could feel Su Chan¡¯s gaze boring holes into her body .

    Zhou Qin resisted the urge to squirm .

    Was she angry with her after all? Was she jealous that Li Yundong was friends with her?

    "Hehe . . . Can I address you as elder sister from now on?"

    Zhou Qin¡¯s head snapped to the side, her eyes wide with confusion . Elder sister? Why would she . . . ? Oh my God . . . Did she mean in the traditional sense? Like when the younger wife addresses the older wife as her elder sister . . . ?

    But would that be such a bad thing though? Since they would both be Li Yundong¡¯s...

    Heat rose to Zhou Qin¡¯s cheeks .

    Zhou Qin cleared her throat . "U-uh . . . Wha- I mean, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s . . . appropriate?"

    Zhou Qin had rarely lost herposure . But this . This was something else .

    "It¡¯s okay! It¡¯s totally believable that you¡¯re my elder sister!"

    Zhou Qin gaped at Su Chan . She honestly couldn¡¯t tell if Su Chan was being serious or just messing with her head . Neither options sounded ideal . Zhou Qin took a deep breath and cleared her throat again . "Do you... Do you have an elder sister?"

    "Well . . . sorta . . . "

    Okay . Now it definitely sounded like Su Chan was just messing with her . You either have a sister, or you don¡¯t . How could anyone "sorta" have a sister?

    The kitchen door opened before Zhou Qin could question any further .

    Su Chan leaped off the couch and pointed a finger at Li Yundong . "Lunchtime! Yayy!!!"

    "Nuh-uh . No lunch for you, you pig!"

    "Who are you calling a pig!" Su Chan stomped her foot .

    Li Yundong pinched Su Chan¡¯s nose . "You, of course! You¡¯re a pig . A chipmunk!"

    "I told you I am not a monk! And I¡¯m not cheeeapp!"

    Zhou Qin burst into giggles and rose from the couch as well .

    Li Yundong gestured towards the dining area .

    "Go grab a seat," he said to Zhou Qin . "I¡¯ll bring out the dishes . "

    Turning to Su Chan, he said, "And nope . Nothing for you . "

    Su Chan made a face at him . "Hmph! I¡¯ll just steal from your te, you meanie!"

    As it turned out, Li Yundong was only kidding about not giving Su Chan any food . Su Chan now had two bowls of rice in front of her, and she seemed to be making a quick work of those too . Zhou Qin was starting to believe the truth in Li Yundong¡¯s im about Su Chan finishing twenty bowls of rice .

    Zhou Qin gave Li Yundong a smile . "Wow . This smells amazing . I¡¯m impressed, Li Yundong . "

    "Nah . . . I bet this is nothingpared to those Michelin-star ces you often dine at . But thanks . I hope you enjoy it . "

    Zhou Qin picked up her bowl and chopsticks . "Bon appetit, then!"

    Zhou Qin tried the dish that she thought had the most amazing smell, some kind of duck meat .

    "Oh my Gosh! This is really good . . . What¡¯s it called?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "Stewed duck in beer . "

    Zhou Qin took another bite, then arched her brow . "I think this tastes much better than the stuff served at these Michelin-star restaurants that I allegedly frequented . "

    "Now, now, Zhou Qin . I¡¯m sure that¡¯s aplete exaggeration¡ª" Li Yundong suddenly stopped talking and was now gaping like a fish .

    Puzzled, Zhou Qin followed his gaze and nearly spat out the duck meat in her mouth . The te containing the stir-fried mixed vegetables¡ªwhich was still full about a minute ago¡ªwas now nearly three-quarters empty .

    And Su Chan, it seemed, was proving herself to be every bit a squirrel¡¯s namesake¡ªif those pouches on her cheeks were anything to go by .

    "Tsk! Su Chan! We have guests, for Buddha¡¯s sake . Guests! Where are your manners! Oh, wait! Don¡¯t answer that . " Li Yundong did a face palm . "I already know the answer . You have none . Bute on! At least leave some for others!"

    Li Yundong shook his head and turned to Zhou Qin . "Hey, you might wanna hurry up and start eating . That pig is gonna gobble up the rest if we don¡¯t hurry . "

    "Oh," Zhou Qin answered nkly . She was still busy trying to wrap her head around one very curious question¡ªhow could any woman eat that much food and still maintain that kind of figure?

    Zhou Qin shook herself out of her reverie and went back to her food .

    The rest of the meal went on in a rowdy and riotous fashion .

    The Food War . That was what Li Yundong called it . And apparently, it was an every-day urrence at Casa de Yundong .

    It was probably the most unpolished and unsophisticated meal she ever had, where table manners and dining etiquette were almost non-existent . But it was also the happiest and most delicious meal she ever had .

    It would¡¯ve been the most satisfying meal too, if she didn¡¯t have to fight tooth and nail for every bite .

 Chapter 93

    Chapter 93

    <h4>Interruption</h4>

    Su Chan felt a little bad . Just a little . That was why she had offered to clear up the dining table and do the dishes after lunch . Because she felt bad . Not because there might be a small chance she could eat the leftovers from the tes . Nope . Not because of that .

    Su Chan dried thest of the dishes and ced them into the cab . There were voices outside the kitchen, which meant that Yundong and Zhou Qin were still chatting in the living room . For some unfathomable reason, that thought brought a strange feeling to Su Chan¡¯s chest, as though something was squeezing her heart . She wondered what they would both be saying to each other when it was just the two of them¡ªbasically when Su Chan wasn¡¯t there to be the third wheel .

    Third wheel . What a strange term to use . It made the whole thing feel as though Yundong and Zhou Qin were having a torrid love affair with each other . Which, of course, wasn¡¯t the case . No idea why she even used that term . She must be getting a bit loopy after stuffing down all that food . Suddenly, her need to listen in to their conversation became dire . Curiosity gnawed at her chest, egging her on .

    Curiosity killed the cat, sure . Nobody said it would kill a fox .

    The door of the kitchen was still closed, so Su Chan leaned her back against it, then closed her eyes . The muffled voices from the living room turned into distinct words the moment her Qi reached her Shenting . Hah . The Ningshen phase . One of the most useful phases of Cultivation to pass for those who dabble in espionage, infiltration, or just good old eavesdropping .

    Through the closed door, Su Chan could now hear the words exchanged between Yundong and Zhou Qin as though she was right there beside them . Ninjas worldwide would be proud .

    " . . . How? How did you do it? I fell from, what, seven floors up? God . . . That¡¯s gotta be a . . . 20 . . . 30 meter fall? After that you just walked it off . . . "

    "Err . . . Well . . . I did some training . . . Like, joint and bone strengthening stuff . You know how the Karate masters could smash through concrete without cracking their bones? Or . . . you know how the Shaolin monks could crack ice blocks with their heads and stuff? Yeah . Kinda like those . "

    Bravo, Yundong! He had done a decent job in keeping things vague . For a moment there, Su Chan wondered if it would be better if she just came clean with him about the Renyuan Jindan . He was, after all, smart enough toe to the conclusion on his own that he¡¯d been given some kind of drug . Well, it wasn¡¯t a drug per se, but it was still pretty close .

    Su Chan sighed . Admittedly, she¡¯d been careless . She should¡¯ve prepared for the eventuality that he might figure things out on his own . She should¡¯ve seen thising a long time ago . Once he had reached the 4th dan of the Ningshen phase, Yundong¡¯s mind would start craving for ways to make sense of things, and he would start seeking answers . She knew this . She herself had experienced this before during the early stages of her own training . Unfortunately, she¡¯d been too caught up in Yundong¡¯s quick progress (and the fact that he was a genius) to prepare for it . And she¡¯d paid the price for her negligence this morning when Yundong nearly announced to the entire city that he thought he¡¯d been given a pill . Worse, they were on the balcony when that conversation took ce . The balcony, where even a mortal could easily hear them let alone a trained Cultivator with long-range hearing skills such as Eryue .

    Su Chan shuddered at that memory .

    What happened this morning was a wake-up call . She would have to be extremely careful from now on to ensure that something like that never happened again . The Cultivators in the city were probably on high alert already after Yundong¡¯s long roar the other night, one that she had failed (Argh! Stupid, stupid, stupid, Chan¡¯er!) to prevent . The cunning ones might¡¯ve even traced the source of the roar to their building already! What if Cultivators were actually staking out somewhere in the area, spying on them? If they spoke freely about things like what they¡¯d done on their balcony this morning, any Cultivator with long-range hearing could¡¯ve easily overheard them!

    Yundong would disagree with this, but discretion really wasn¡¯t his strong suit at all¡ªhe¡¯d nearly blurted it out a few times despite her warnings . Besides, he¡¯d always been a candid person, a man who spoke his mind and held nothing back . Keeping a secret this big would be too hard for him .

    Plus, it wasn¡¯t like there was a really good reason to tell him everything about the Jindan at this point . For one, hisck of knowledge hadn¡¯t hindered his training in any way . He¡¯d been making good progress so far even when he knew nothing of the Jindan¡¯s existence . Okay, sure, he might be dying to know the truth and that might affect his focus a teeny bit? But as far as she gathered, it just wasn¡¯t a risk worth taking . The people from the Zhengyi Taoist School were most likely still prowling the city in search of the Renyuan Jindan, so it would be unwise to leave everything to chance, which was exactly what she would be doing if she reveal everything to him and then relied on him to be discrete .

    Another wave of shudders coursed through Su Chan .

    What if the Zhengyi people knew spells to make people talk? What if they tried to extort the information from Yundong by threatening the lives of his friends?

    " . . . I¡¯m sorry about today . I was supposed to repay you with a meal, but . . . That didn¡¯t really turn out well, did it? You¡¯re the one who had to do all the work in the end . . . "

    "Nah . . . Don¡¯t worry about it . "

    "I guess I¡¯ll have to repay you some other way, then . . . "

    "Or not repay me at all . "

    Zhou Qin chuckled . "Nope . That¡¯s not negotiable . I¡¯m forever in your debt . "

    "Here¡¯s an idea of how you can repay me . "

    "Really? Do tell . "

    "You can repay me by . . . "

    "By . . . ?"

    "By stopping all this repaying nonsense and just be my friend . "

    Zhou Qinughed . "Very funny, Li Yundong . Very funny . "

    "Err . . . I suppose you could . . . I don¡¯t know, make yearly donations to charity groups?"

    Zhou Qinughed again . "Who says I haven¡¯t been doing that already?"

    Yundongughed . "How am I supposed to know? You¡¯re the one with the deep pockets here . You know I¡¯m still trying to wrap my head around how you folks operate . "

    There was a long silence . Su Chan wondered if she should step outside now .

    "Where¡¯s Su Chan?" Zhou Qin asked .

    "Oh . She offered to take care of the dishes . " Yundong chuckled . "I think she feels bad . "

    "She¡¯s . . . an interesting girl . "

    Yundong chuckled . "I¡¯ll be sure to tell her you said that . "

    Su Chan held her breath . Oh, no . . . Is she gonna start asking him questions about my origins? Please, don¡¯t . Please, please, please¡ª

    "I suppose I should get going, then . "

    Su Chan heard movement outside .

    Zhou Qin was probably standing up .

    Su Chan opened the door by a crack and peered outside . Zhou Qin was tidying up her bag, which had a really strange name . Ail Vee . Loowee Veetong . Yup . That was what Yundong had told her . Seriously . Ail Vee . Tee Vee . Mac Doo Nurls . And Hello Kee Dee for a cat? These mortals were so creative when it came to names .

    "You know it¡¯s still early," Yundong said . "You can stay for longer if you want . It won¡¯t be a problem . "

    Zhou Qin slung the straps of her bag onto her shoulder . Su Chan focused her eyes and zoomed in on Zhou Qin¡¯s face . Zhou Qin was frowning a bit now . Was she in pain?

    "Nah . I wouldn¡¯t want to get in the way of you and Su Chan¡¯s . . . alone time . " Zhou Qin was smiling again, though her smile seemed forced . "I mean, I¡¯d hate to cramp your style . "

    Hmm... Something about Zhou Qin seemed a little off...

    Yundongughed . "Okay, then . I¡¯ll see you in ss?"

    Zhou Qin¡¯s frown deepened, and she was biting her lip now . "Mm-hmm . . . " Zhou Qin moved away from the couch towards the door .

    Yundong followed .

    At the door, Zhou Qin picked up her shoes and put them on gracefully .

    Why did she look so sad?

    Was it because . . .

    Was it because Su Chan had eaten most of the food?

    Oh, no... What if Zhou Qin hated them and wanted nothing to do with them anymore? Then . . .

    Then Yundong would lose a valuable ally in his journey to greatness! Hey... now that she thought about it . . . Zhou Qin would make a great ally . She could support Yundong financially while Yundong focused on his Cultivation training . Yundong might not even have to go to school anymore since he would be financially secure with Zhou Qin¡¯s help! If he didn¡¯t have to go to school, then he could focus all his time and energy on Cultivation . Just imagine the progress he could make! And in return, maybe Yundong could teach Zhou Qin a bit about Cultivation? Would that be a good idea? Or would that be too risky? Su Chan was against Yundong taking disciples after all . But the financial advantages . . .

    The door of the apartment opened with a loud click . Zhou Qin was now standing at the doorway, facing Yundong .

    "Thank you for lunch today . I had an enjoyable meal . "

    "You¡¯re wee," Yundong said . "And you¡¯re wee here any time . "

    "Well then, I should . . . " Zhou Qin backed away a few steps .

    Oh no . . . she looked even sadder now . . . Say something, Yundong! Say something to cheer her up!

    "Bye then . Have a safe trip home . "

    Zhou Qin cleared her throat . "Bye . "

    The door mmed shut .

    No, no, no . . . This won¡¯t do . . .

    They were about to lose a valuable ally!

    Su Chan charged out of the kitchen .

    Yundong turned around abruptly and smiled . "Oh, there you are¡ª"

    Su Chan didn¡¯t wait for him to finish; she grabbed his arm and pulled him down so that she could whisper into his ear . "You should go and send her off . . . "

    "What? What do you mean send her off? I just did, didn¡¯t I?"

    Su Chan stomped her foot and shook her head . "No, no, no . . . I mean send her off properly! Walk her to the metal box and then send her off to the gates!"

    The hurt look on Yundong¡¯s expression puzzled Su Chan a little .

    Yundong cleared his throat . "First of all, that metal box is called an elevator . And second of all why are you constantly pushing me towards other wo¡ª" He suddenly stopped talking . The hurt look on his face seemed even more pronounced now . Why though? She was doing this for his own good! Having Zhou Qin¡¯s support could speed up journey towards greatness . Besides, weren¡¯t he and Zhou Qin friends? But Zhou Qin seemed pretty upset just now . Weren¡¯t friends supposed to cheer each other up when one of them was upset?

    "Okay, okay, fine . Elle Vador . I¡¯ll remember that . But you should hurry up and send her off properly . " Su Chan pushed Yundong towards the door . "And be sure to say nice things to her . Cheer her up a bit . "

    "Hey, what the hell is the matter with you tod¡ª"

    Su Chan yanked the door open and pushed him out .

    "Nothing¡¯s wrong with me . But you need to go to her now . " Su Chan waved her hand a few times . "She¡¯s going to leave the building if you don¡¯t hurry . "

    Yundong stared at her for a few moments . Suddenly, he smiled .

    Su Chan did a little cheer inwardly .

    "Okay, then . I¡¯ll go to her now . "

    Su Chan bobbed her head up and down, then gave him a few waves .

    "I¡¯m really going now, okay . I¡¯m going to send Zhou Qin off, say nice things to her, and then maybe . . . " Yundong smirked .

    Su Chan giggled . "Alright already! Just go now! Shoo! Shoo!" Su Chan shut the door and then leaned her back against it .

    Yes . That was the right move . Zhou Qin was an important ally . Yundong¡¯s friendship with Zhou Qin would greatly ease his path to greatness .

    Su Chan giggled again . Oh, how things had changed! At first, things between Yundong and Zhou Qin were strained to say the least . In fact, Su Chan was pretty sure that Zhou Qin didn¡¯t like Yundong very much at the beginning . But now look at them! They had just shared a wonderful meal with each other like they were old friends! Now that they had established some sort of rapport, Yundong should definitely strive to maintain their friendship . Or better yet, improve their friendship .

    Su Chan sighed and allowed herself to imagine what would happen if Yundong and Zhou Qin grew closer to each other . Perhaps they would have more conversations, or start spending more time with each other? They would probably start teasing each other too . Or maybe sharing a few hugs? And... Hey . . . Would they start kissing too? Yundong wouldn¡¯t do that right? He would only kiss Su Chan . Zhou Qin was just his friend, a good friend, but still just a friend . Right . Of course Yundong wouldn¡¯t kiss Zhou Qin . Friends don¡¯t kiss each other, after all .

    Besides, why would Yundong prefer Zhou Qin who was beautiful, elegant, and wealthy, over his Chan¡¯er who was a bit of a slob and a troublemaker, who always stole his food, who tended to say the wrong things at the wrong time, who was obedient most of the time . . . and . . . and . . .

    Tears slid down Su Chan¡¯s cheeks . Images shed in her mind, images featuring her life without Yundong .

    Of course Yundong would pick Zhou Qin . Of course . Zhou Qin was an elegant queen while Su Chan was nothing but a troublemaker . A cheap monk .

    Tears pattered against Su Chan¡¯s feet . Suddenly, her legs were moving on her own . She wasn¡¯t even sure what she was going to do when she yanked the door open and . . .

    Found Yundong standing right outside as though he¡¯d never left . He was smiling at her warmly, and the affection in those eyes was enough to turn her insides to mush .

    They stared at each other for what felt like ages . It was as though time had stopped and nothing else existed except for Yundong¡¯s beautiful smile . There he was, her Yundong, smiling at her as though she was his everything .

    Su Chan released her bottom lip from her between her teeth . The first sound that escaped her lips sounded like a deep wail as she pounced, wrapping her arms around his neck . "Yundong . . . I¡¯m sorry . . . I¡¯m sorry . . . I was wrong . . . I won¡¯t say stupid things anymore . I won¡¯t eat like a pig anymore . . . I¡¯ll stop being a cheap monk . . . I¡¯ll be a good girl . . . Please don¡¯t leave me . . . Please don¡¯t toss me away . . . "

    Yundong¡¯s gentle touches on her back soothed the tight knot in her chest . The arm wrapped around her waist felt like the touch of the evening sun, warm andforting . Yundong¡¯s gentle voice sounded beside her ear . "I already told you so many times that I¡¯ll never abandon you, silly . When will you start believing me, hmm?"

    Su Chan didn¡¯t answer . She was too busy sobbing . When Yundong started stroking hair, her knees almost gave out . She tightened her arm around his neck and held on for dear life .

    "Alright, alright . Stop crying now . People are gonna make fun of you if you keep crying like a baby in public . "

    Su Chan sniffed, then wiggled a few times against him . "C- carry me . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . A momentter, his arm slid downwards to the back of her knees . The temporary weightlessness was a weed feeling, as was the steady beating of Yundong¡¯s heart against her cheek .

    Somehow, it didn¡¯t surprise her at all how well their bodies fit together . The groove between the underside of his jaw and his vicle was just the right size so that her face fit snugly in the gap . So she did just that . She buried her face in that groove and inhaled his scent greedily, causing the heat to spread from her cheeks, down her neck, and to other parts of her body . The ache between her legs was starting to be noticeable .

    When her face left the warmth of his chest (not by choice), she realized that Yundong hadid her down on the couch . When did they even enter the apartment? She didn¡¯t even remember the door being opened . She squeezed her legs together and raised her head, finally allowing herself to stare into Yundong¡¯s eyes . The heat in his eyes lit a fire inside her core, and she felt as though she wouldbust right then and there if she didn¡¯t do something about this burning need to give herself to this man who she adored with all her heart .

    "Yundong . . . " Her voice came out in a husky lilt . Her hand, shaky yet certain, rose to his cheek in a gentle caress . "Kiss me . . . "

    Yundong¡¯s eyes darkened instantly, as though the heat in them had grown so intense that they charred everything inside . Su Chan¡¯s lips parted in a gasp the moment their lips met . Her gasps turned into moans the moment their tongues met in a tangle of passion . She spread her legs wider, and Yundong responded by sliding his own body through the space between her parted legs . The friction between their bodies felt heavenly, but it was not enough . She needed more . Much, much more .

    Emboldened by passion, Su Chan began to reciprocate . She matched the rhythm of his tongue . With every stroke of her tongue, her hips undted against his body to generate more friction . When one of Yundong¡¯s hands slid under her shirt to cup her breast, she thought she was seeing stars . A delicious flick of Yundong¡¯s thumb caused her eyes to roll to the back of her head, and she moaned . Loudly .

    But wait .

    No . . . No . . . We can¡¯t . . .

    Su Chan broke their kiss and pushed his hand away from her breast . The delicious contact ended, and her skin suddenly felt cold . Good . This was what she needed . "Stop . . . Yundong . . . " she rasped . "Stop . . . "

    Yundong¡¯s breaths caressed her ear . When he nipped her earlobe, she couldn¡¯t help but moan again . "I want you, Chan¡¯er . . . I want you so bad that it hurts . . . "

    Yundong traced the shell of her ear with his tongue . Su Chan moaned and arched her back . "Ah . . . Y- Yun . . . Dong . . . " Su Chan pressed her palms against his chest and tried to push him away . But she couldn¡¯t . She had no strength left . Her entire body was on fire and it was like the heat had melted her arms, rendering them useless .

    A loud and insistent rapping jolted them out of their lust-filled haze . They stared at each other for several seconds, their eyes wide and hazy with lust . The door . Someone was knocking on their door . Neither of them moved .

    The knock sounded again . This time, however, it returned the strength to Su Chan¡¯s arms . She shoved Yundong away and ran to the security of her bedroom . Yundong didn¡¯t try to stop her . She shut the door of her bedroom and leaned her back against it . Calm down, Chan¡¯er . Calm down . Su Chan took a deep breath and pulled out a strand of her hair . The hair became stiff like a needle the moment she pushed her Qi into it . She reached behind her back and jabbed the strand onto her Lingtai, an acupoint between her shoulder des . Calmness washed over her, and she could finally think again . Oh, God . . . That was close . She had nearly killed him . Before he passed the Zhuji phase, they could never ever have sex .

    Someone was still knocking on their door . Was Yundong going to answer the door at some point? Was . . . was he mad at her for rejecting him again? What if he asked her for the reason she rejected him? There was no way she could exin everything without revealing her secrets . Another knock sounded . Who could it be? Was it Zhou Qin? Did she forget something? Su Chan mobilized her Qi to her Shenting .

    The person was still knocking . Was Yundong nning to ignore them?

    "Alright, alright! I¡¯ming!" Yundong shouted . The rustling sound she heard meant that Yundong had moved away from the couch .

    "Goddamned cockblocker . . . " Yundong mumbled .

    What?

    Cock?

    Why was Yundong suddenly talking about chickens? Ooh! Was the person at the door supposed to deliver fresh chickens? Would they be having chicken for dinner tonight? That thought brought Su Chan a pleasant distraction .

    The door creaked open . Su Chan focused her hearing and listened to the conversation between Yundong and their visitor .

    Secondster, Su Chan felt her knees go weak .

    Oh God . . . Oh God . . . No . . . She¡¯s here . . .

    They found her .

 Chapter 94

    Chapter 94

    <h4>Shenxians?</h4>

    It was that girl, the same one he saw at the gazebo when he first moved into New Hongsheng District, the one who got scared out of her wits when their eyes met across their apartment blocks that morning . Now she was here at his door, looking all pretty while dressed in her high-school attire (red stockings with yellow stripes up to mid-calf, hair tied in a ponytail), staring at him like he was some creature from another . She didn¡¯t seem scared at all .

    "Can I help you?" Li Yundong tried to keep the annoyance out of his tone . As if that was even remotely possible after this chick had just pulled one of the greatest cockblocking stunts in existence . He would have stomped his foot if his manhood didn¡¯t feel like it was about to explode at any second .

    Instead of answering his damn question and stating her purpose, the girl began to appraise him intently, her eyes scanning his body from head to toe like he was some kind of science experiment . Which, of course, annoyed Li Yundong to no end .

    "Um . . . Excuse me? Who are you? And how can I help you?"

    The girl stopped her appraisal and stared hard at his face . Her eyes, however, held a hint of distaste, as though she thought he was some kind of vile creature .

    What the hell was the matter with this girl? She came knocking on someone¡¯s door for no other reason than to give them judgmental looks? Did she have a loose screw or something?

    "Hey, what are you¡ª"

    The girl kneeled, and then kowtowed . Literally .

    Before Li Yundong could bend down to pull her up, the girl was up on her feet . One of her hands was raised to the level of her chest with the palm turned sideways .

    "What on earth are you doin¡ª"

    "Peace in the Tao, my fellow friend and brother in the Tao . May you be blessed with longevity and boundless happiness . It is an honor to finally make your acquaintance . "

    Honestly, she might as well be speaking to him in anothernguage at this point . If this was some kind of weird sales pitch, then it wasn¡¯t working .

    "What? What is this? Who are you?"

    The girl maintained her hand posture and bent slightly at the knee as though she was doing a curtsy . "I am Ruan Hongling, a disciple of the venerable Zhenren Wang . May I know who your master is and which sect or school you belong to, my fellow brother in the Tao?"

    A loose screw . How about a hundred loose screws?

    Li Yundong frowned . "Listen, girl . I don¡¯t know what game you¡¯re ying here, or what kind of sales pitch this is . But you¡¯re young and you¡¯re clearly still in high school, so I¡¯m going to let this go . I suggest you leave now before I call the cops on¡ª"

    "Ah, I see . It seems I might not have made my origins clear enough . I mean no disrespect . Allow me to properly introduce myself then . " The girl did that curtsy thing again . "Hello there . I am Ruan Hongling, a 45th generation disciple of the venerable Zhenren Wang from the Linggong Sect of the Qingzong Zhengyi Taoist School . Our school is located at Mount Longhu in the south . " (T/N: Zhenren is an honorific and a title of respect used to address Cultivators or great Taoists)

    What the hell? Mount Longhu? Ching Chong Zheng Yi what?

    Li Yundong shook his head . "Look . I don¡¯t understand a single thing you just said . But right now, you¡¯re at my door . And I would appreciate it if you state the purpose you¡¯re here . " Li Yundong stepped forward so that his body was fully blocking the doorway . At the same time, he scanned the corridor with his eyes for threats .

    The girl seemed taken aback by his hostility; she took a huge step back, as though she was afraid of him .

    "So?" Li Yundong took another step forward . "Are you going to tell me why you¡¯re here?"

    The girl frowned and gave him a brief nod . "My apologies . It seems like I¡¯ve mistaken you for someone else . "

    Li Yundong looked at the girl for a while, then shook his head . He stepped back into the apartment and shut the door . "What the hell was that about?" he mumbled . What¡¯s with all those weird names? She dresses like a modern high school girl, but acts like someone from the ancient times . The way she acted kind of reminded him of Su Cha¡ª

    Li Yundong gasped and yanked the door open, but the girl was already gone . The empty corridor was all he saw . Could she be someone from Su Chan¡¯s past? A sister? A friend? It would certainly make sense if they were rted; the girl looked so pretty . Or could it be . . .

    All of a sudden, Li Yundong¡¯s spine tingled . Wait a minute . . . Those strange names . . . and she also mentioned Taoist School . . . Su Chan¡¯s warnings about his life being in danger flooded his mind . Was this about the drug? Was this what Su Chan was afraid of? That someone woulde looking for them?

    Li Yundong stepped back into the apartment and shut the door, making sure to lock it . He shot a nce towards Su Chan¡¯s room . Only one way to find out .

    ***

    Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States .

    "Bye Uncle Tom! Thanks for driving me . Send my regards to Aunt Cheryl!"

    "Will do! And you take care now, kiddo!"

    Kris waved at her personal driver, who waved back at her . "Drive safe!"

    Kris kept waving even as the car pulled away from the gates .

    When Uncle Tom¡¯s car was out of sight, Kris lowered her hand and walked through the gates towards the manor . She made her way across the hugewn, which was pristine and well-maintained . Near the manor, she was greeted by one of thewn¡¯s diligent maintainers .

    "Kris? Hey, you¡¯re back! How was the trip to China?"

    A wide smile lit up Kris¡¯s face . She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath . Fresh air . Heavenly . "The trip was fine, Uncle Andy . Thank you for asking! I still prefer the air here though . " Kris opened her eyes . "Is Gram home?"

    Uncle Andy gave her one of his cheerful smiles . "Oh yes, she is . She¡¯s at the usual ce . " Uncle Andy chuckled . "About time youe for a visit, Kris . She¡¯s been moping aroundtely . Never stopped talking about you . Kept asking if you¡¯d called or when you¡¯de for a visit . "

    Warmth flooded Kris¡¯s chest at those words . I miss you too, Gram . . .

    "Then I better go say hi . " Kris gave Uncle Andy another wave before making a beeline towards the back garden .

    The back garden was essentially a square that had been sectioned off from the rest of the manor¡¯s backyard with tall wooden fences . On the front side of the fence, there was a gate that led into the garden . Beside the gate sat a folding screen with a beautiful peacock painted on itscquered surface . With its colorful feathers fanned out, the peacock was eye-catching even from far away . Delicately carved rosewood panels bordered the wooden frames of the tall fence . Kris stopped in front of the gate and swung it open, her grin widening . Of all the ces in gram¡¯s manor, this was one ce she would never grow tired of . It was the most distinctive spot in the entire estate, one that showcased Gram¡¯s Chinese heritage .

    Through the gates, Kris jogged past a bunch of knick-knacks: several potted nts, mostly bonsai; an array of beautifully carved rocks arranged into miniature ravines and canyons; a Thangka; and several paintings of traditional Chinese women .

    Near the center of the square garden, Kris found what she was looking for: an area filled with twenty or so wooden poles that had been arranged to form a peach blossom pattern on the ground . The poles were slightly above a meter in height and had girths the size of a rice bowl .

    Affection surged through Kris when she saw her grandmother¡¯s figure leaping from pole to pole with the finesse and agility of someone in their early twenties . Some days, Kris still had a hard time believing that her grandmother was more than ny years old . Today was one of those days .

    Instead of making her presence known, Kris decided to watch her grandmother from the sidelines . Far be it from Kris to deny herself the chance to watch the Meihua Quan in action .

    Her grandmother leaped down from one of the poles at the end of the routine . Kris did a cheer and began pping her hands loudly .

    "You¡¯re amazing, Gram! I¡¯ve seen people in their twenties who couldn¡¯t even stand straight on one leg . Yet here you are, dancing around on a bunch of poles!"

    Her grandmother sauntered away from the poles and approached Kris . "Tut-tut, Kris . Didn¡¯t we agree to speak to each other in Mandarin when it¡¯s just the two of us?"

    Kris smiled sheepishly . "Oops . Sorry Gram . "

    Before Kris knew it, she was enveloped in a warm hug .

    "Wee back, my dear . "

    When they parted, Kris regarded her grandmother briefly . "You look great, Gram . " Understatement of the century . Her grandmother looked fantastic . Even though she was well into her nies, her grandmother looked like a middle-aged woman in theirte forties . Kris had lost count of the number of times where she was astounded by the sharpness and intensity in her grandmother¡¯s eyes . Those eyes held a level of focus and mental rity that no living person in their dotage should possess .

    "And you look genuinely baffled," her grandmother said, smoothing down her maroon Tang costume . One of her brows rose . "Bad trip to China?"

    "No . The trip was great . Fascinating, even," Kris said, shaking her head . She stared down at the ground . Her grandmother¡¯s green cotton shoes stared back at her .

    "Well? What is it then? What¡¯s gotten my precious granddaughter so confused?"

    Kris smiled and lifted her gaze . "It¡¯s just . . . Well, I¡¯ve always been meaning to ask..." Kris stared into her grandmother¡¯s eyes . "How do you do it?"

    "What do you mean?" The affectionate smile on her grandmother¡¯s face was infectious; Kris couldn¡¯t help but smile back .

    Kris pointed at the poles . "I couldn¡¯t even climb up one of those things . But you were up there kicking and punching and doing weird stances . . . "

    Her grandmotherughed . "Oh . It¡¯s just a matter of practice, that¡¯s all . It¡¯s no big deal . "

    Her incredulity must¡¯ve shown on her face because her grandmother released another round ofughter .

    "Come on, Gram! You must be joking! I don¡¯t think there are many people in the world in their nies who look like you . No, scratch that . You¡¯re probably the only ny-year-old in this world who looks like . . . " Kris gestured at her grandmother from head to toe . "Like you could still appear in the front cover of Vogue and not cause it to go bankrupt . "

    Her grandmotherughed again, but Kris wasn¡¯t done yet . "And Jesus, you just performed some fancy kung fu routine for, like, fifteen minutes on a bunch of wooden poles, yet you barely broke a sweat! That¡¯s just incredible!"

    Her grandmother patted her head a few times . "Oh, Krissy dear . Seems to me like you know a lot less about China than you think . " Her grandmother chuckled . "You see, dear, you¡¯re not supposed to sweat at all while performing the Meihua Quan¡¯s routine . Heavy sweating is a sign of ipetent Qi control . "

    Qi control?

    Kris was piqued . She¡¯d been wondering if that was how Li Yundong was able to send John flying without even touching him . That stuff he did back then seemed a lot like Qigong .

    "Umm...Gram?"

    "Yes, dear?"

    Her grandmother sounded amused .

    Kris cleared her throat . Here goes...

    "Do you think it¡¯s possible for humans to dodge bullets?"

    Her grandmotherughed . "How many times have I told you that movie scenes aren¡¯t urate depictions of actualbat?"

    Kris¡¯s cheeks burned . "It was a serious question, Gram . I didn¡¯t ask because of some movie . I asked because... because I was curious . . . So? Do you think it¡¯s possible?"

    Her grandmother gave her a funny look .

    "No, my dear . That¡¯s not possible . No human could dodge bullets no matter how well-trained they are . Human reflexes are too just slow to handle an assault from firearms . "

    "But that¡¯s not what I saw when I was in Tiannan City!" Kris blurted out .

    Her grandmother gave her a look of rm . "What? You were in a gunfight?!"

    Kris waved her hand a few times . "No . I wasn¡¯t . I just witnessed . . . Ugh . That¡¯s not the point . The point is that there was this guy who dodged the bullets fired from a handgun seven times in a row! I saw it with my own eyes . And you know what¡¯s crazy? The shots were fired at him from less than five meters away! That¡¯s practically point-nk range!"

    The shift in her grandmother¡¯s expression was obvious . "No . . . That¡¯s not possible . . . Unless . . . "

    Something stirred inside Kris¡¯s heart . For days, she had been puzzling over the matter . Now she was finally getting somewhere . "Unless what?"

    Her grandmother had a faraway look in her eyes, like she was searching her memory for something .

    "Gram?"

    "Unless the person is a Shenxian . . . or on the way to bing one . "

    Disappointment settled into the pit of Kris¡¯s stomach . She sighed . "Come on, Gram . Shenxians don¡¯t exist . "

    Her grandmother chuckled and shook her head wryly . "The universe is arge ce, Krissy dear . You never know what mysteries lie in it . " Her grandmother looked at her wryly . "Well, I suppose the matter is still a moot point . Even if Shenxians do exist, I don¡¯t suppose mere mortals like us could evenprehend the intricacies of their existence . So there¡¯s that . "

    The conversation stilled as her grandmother stared out into therge expanse of the backyard . asionally, the chirping of birds would break the silence .

    "Come," her grandmother said, turning around abruptly . "Let me share a story with you . "

    Wait . . . what?

    Kris was thrown into a daze, and by the time she came to her senses, her grandmother was already walking towards the gate .

    "Wait . . . Grams! You . . . you mean a story about your past?" Kris asked hopefully .

    Her grandmother paused at the gate . "Yes . Now are youing or what? I¡¯m in the mood for some tea . "

    Kris didn¡¯t need to be told twice . She ran to catch up to her grandmother, her nerve endings tingling with excitement . Wow . This was big . Really big . Kris knew that her grandmother had done some pretty heroic things in the past, but she didn¡¯t really know the details . Not that she hadn¡¯t tried to find out . Her grandmother refused to tell her anything no matter how hard she pleaded and begged . At one point, Kris just gave up, figuring that she would respect her grandmother¡¯s privacy . But now, her grandmother was offering to tell her bits and pieces about her past . Kris¡¯s inner Lois Lane was screaming in joy .

    They left the garden and decided to sit at one of the most rxing spots in the backyard¡ªa quaint patio table near the back of the manor .

    "I¡¯ll get the tea, Gram," Kris said once she pushed her grandmother down into a stool . "ck or oolong?"

    Her grandmother smiled . "Oolong please . "

    "Sit tight, Gram . I¡¯ll be right back . " Kris entered the house and went straight into the kitchen . The manor was a token of their family¡¯s sess, which was built through many trials and tribtions .

    When her grandparents first came to the United States, gangs reigned over thends . Even so, her grandmother refused to give in to subjugation . She rallied the local Chinesemunity and fought back . That was how their family had managed to put down roots in the United States . As such, her grandmother remained one of the most influential members in their family . Her grandmother¡¯s words held a lot of weight in any of their family¡¯s decisions .

    Kris returned to the patio table a whileter with a tray containing two steaming cups of oolong tea . After serving out the tea to her grandmother, Kris sat down across from her grandmother, ready to listen to the story her grandmother was about to share .

    "You know that I like traveling?" her grandmother said, setting down her teacup .

    Kris nodded, taking a sip from her own cup .

    "In 1922, I went to Mount Huangshan on a hiking trip . "

    "Alone?" Kris asked, putting down her cup .

    "Yes . Alone . And I ran into a bunch of bandits . " Her grandmother shook her head in disgust . "Those were bad men . Very bad men . Not only did they try to rob me, but they also tried to rape me . "

    "And let me guess, you kicked their asses with your awesome kung fu skills?"

    Her grandmother burst intoughter . "No! I was helpless! A damsel in distress! Back then, I was just your typical spoiled girl from a rich family . I didn¡¯t even know how to throw a punch . "

    "What?" Kris blinked a few times . "Ooh! I know . Some badass hero saved your life! Was he handsome?"

    "Someone did save my life, yes . But it was a she not a he . She was a Taoist priestess . " Her grandmother gave her a yful look . "You wouldn¡¯t even be born if it were a handsome man . "

    Kris chuckled . "I suppose that¡¯s a good thing . I¡¯m sure Grandpa would be heartbroken in the afterlife if he knew you were once swept off your feet by a man other than him . "

    Her grandmother smiled . "Anyway, the priestess fought off the bandits and saved my life . After that, we talked and she decided to teach me the Meihua Quan . "

    "What? Just like that?" Kris could barely contain her surprise . But that damned Li Yundong had refused to take her and John as disciples no matter how hard they begged! That infuriating, arrogant, and selfish little . . . ugh!

    "Yes, just like that . She knew I like to travel, but she thought it was unsafe for a young girl like me to travel alone without knowing how to defend herself if necessary . "

    Kris stared at her grandmother in awe . "Wow . . . That¡¯s . . . That¡¯s generous of her . . . " Unlike a certain someone who could dodge bullets and catch falling bodies .

    "Yes, she is . . . " Her grandmother had that faraway look in her eyes again . "But her generosity isn¡¯t why I¡¯m telling you this story . "

    Her grandmother¡¯s tone was serious now . Kris leaned forward in her seat . Her tea had gone cold, but she didn¡¯t care .

    "In my younger years, I¡¯ve barely scratched the surface of the Meihua Quan . I thought it was merely a self-defense system, and nothing more . "

    Kris could feel her own jaw going ck . "You mean it isn¡¯t?"

    "Well, it is, but that isn¡¯t all there is to it . It¡¯s only when I was older that I realize there¡¯s something . . . magical about the Meihua Quan . "

    Something clicked inside Kris¡¯s head . "Wait, are you saying that... You mean that¡¯s how you retained your youthful appearance and health? Because you¡¯ve been practicing the Meihua Quan?"

    Her grandmother¡¯s smile was cryptic . "I believe so, yes . " There was a pause . "Like I said, I think there¡¯s something special about the Meihua Quan . In fact, I highly suspect that the whole system was invented and passed down by a Shenxian . "

    Kris burst into chortles . "Oh,e on, Gram! That¡¯s ridiculous! How do you even know that?"

    Kris rubbed her thigh after her grandmother had pped it under the table .

    "It¡¯s not ridiculous if you take a look at the ancient history of China . Do you know the first emperor of the Song Dynasty?"

    Kris nodded . "Zhao Kuangyin, right? Also known as Emperor Taizu of Song!"

    There was an impressed look on her grandmother¡¯s face, and Kris¡¯s heart swelled a little at the sight .

    "Not bad, not bad . . . " Her grandmother nodded . "Anyway . Zhao Kuangyin started out as a foot soldier . He had a hobby, though . In his free time, he liked to travel around and challenge people to chess games . One day when he was passing by Mount Huashan, he heard from the locals about a famous man named Chen Tuan . He was intrigued, so he tracked down Chen Tuan to challenge him to a game of chess . Zhao Kuangyin lost the game in the end, but Chen Tuan saw something in him . Chen Tuan saw in Zhao Kuangyin the potential to be a ruler, so he taught Zhao Kuangyin a fighting system . Zhao Kuangyin became a formidable fighter after he picked up the martial art . He quickly gained recognition and rose through the ranks in the government . Eventually, he became the first emperor of the Song Dynasty!"

    Kris had been listening to everything her grandmother said with rapt attention until her grandmother suddenly gave her a teasing look, one that made her feel like squirming in her seat . "Why am I even exining these things to you, my dear? Shouldn¡¯t you already know this? Weren¡¯t you bragging to all your friends that you are . . . what was the term you used? China-savvy?"

    Kris¡¯s cheeks heated up . Suddenly, the teacup¡¯s handle seemed like the most interesting object in the universe .

    "Have you heard of Chen Tuan before, my dear?"

    Kris honestly wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she started steaming at the ears at this point . "N- no . . . "

    Her grandmotherughed . "Now, now . . . Don¡¯t look so embarrassed . I was just teasing . You do know a lot about China for a foreigner, but sometimes you have to see and experience things for yourself . "

    "So who is Chen Tuan really?"

    "Oh . He¡¯s a great Shenxian, just like the great Lu Dongbin!"

    Kris huffed . "But Gram! There¡¯s no proof that those historical figures really became Shenxians! Aren¡¯t these stories just legends and folklore? They are just anecdotes! Surely they don¡¯t count!"

    Her grandmother shook her head and gave her a meaningful look . "Listen, Krissy dear . . . Right now, you¡¯re in a lot of doubt, and I can understand that . It¡¯s because you haven¡¯t encountered a true Cultivator yet . If you are fortunate enough to encounter one, then I assure you that all your doubts will be gone . These individuals, those on the path to bing Shenxians, are highly extraordinary . The things they are capable of are out of this world . " Her grandmother chuckled . "I was like you too when I was young . Completely clueless . " She shook her head . "That Taoist priestess I met was actually a Cultivator, but back then, I thought she was only a martial artist . "

    Her grandmother¡¯s wistful expression brought a pang to Kris¡¯s chest . She reached out across the patio table to touch her grandmother¡¯s hand . Her grandmother raised her head and released a sigh . "If I knew where that priestess was right now, I¡¯d drop everything and be her disciple . I¡¯ll follow her guidance and be a Cultivator . "

    Kris withdrew her hand in shock . "B- but Grams . . . aren¡¯t you happy with your life? Why would you throw everything away to lead a difficult life like that?"

    Her grandmother just shook her head . "You¡¯re still young, so you don¡¯t yet realize how precious life is . Cultivation isn¡¯t just about gaining strength and powerful abilities . It¡¯s also about discovering the true meaning and nature of life . And most importantly, it can prevent you from aging!"

    Her grandmother¡¯s sharp eyes brought chills down Kris¡¯s spine .

    Was her grandmother right? Was Cultivation the key to immortality? Did Shenxians with extraordinary powers really exist? Was Li Yundong a Shenxian? Was that how he dodged those bullets?

    The touch of her grandmother¡¯s palm on her head jolted Kris out of her reverie . Her grandmother was looking at her with affection . "Krissy dear . . . If you ever have the good fortune to cross paths with a Cultivator, you must find a way to be his or her disciple . Otherwise, you¡¯ll end up like me, forced to watch my youth slip through my fingers like sand . And when your body is depleted of its youth, you¡¯ll be left with nothing other than regret . "

    The pressure on her head eased . Kris turned slightly in her seat . Her grandmother was slowly making her way back towards the manor .

    Kris¡¯s hands rose to touch her face .

    Immortality . Eternal youth . Were those things possible?

    Was Li Yundong able to give her those things?

 Chapter 95

    Chapter 95

    <h4>The Birds and the Bees</h4>

    Li Yundong stared at hisptop screen: about 2255000 search results for "Zhengyi" in 0 . 22 seconds .

    He clicked into the first article titled "Zhengyi Taoism . "

    Most of the article was about the history of this so-called Zhengyi Toaist School: Taoist movement in the Tang Dynasty; founded by Zhang Daoling, the first Celestial Master; canonized by Emperor Xuanzong .

    Something made Li Yundong stop scrolling .

    Wait...Mount Longhu? Didn¡¯t the girl mention that name just now? Li Yundong clicked on the term and was redirected to another page .

    Mount Longhu . Located in Jiangxi, China . One of the birthces of Taoism . Temples built on the mountainside . imed to be the spot where Zhao Daoling, the founder of Zhengyi Taoist school, united with the Tao . Where temple of the Zhengyi Taoist school was located . . . h h h .

    Okay . So this Zhengyi thingy seemed legit .

    Li Yundong stared at the screen for a moment . Then, he opened a new tab and typed "Linggong Sect, Zhenren Wang" into the search bar . He hit the enter key and then waited .

    112600 results in 0 . 53 seconds .

    He started clicking and scrolling .

    Surprisingly, none of the search results for "Zhenren Wang" had anything to do with Taoism . There wasn¡¯t even a single mention of Linggong Sect . Li Yundong shook his head . Maybe that girl is cuckoo after all . . . Li Yundong sighed and put hisptop on the cushion beside him . He stood up from the couch and nced towards Su Chan¡¯s room . The door was still closed . She had been in there ever since their heated, "I wanna rip your clothes off and take you to bed" make-out session, which ended fifteen minutes ago when that cuckoo cockblocker interrupted them . Shit . . . Maybe I pushed her too far . . . But dammit, she seemed so into it earlier! She kissed him back and then . . .

    And then she said no .

    Okay, yeah . This was his fault . He should¡¯ve kept it in his f*cking pants . He did promise himself that he would work hard and be a man worthy of her affections first before they . . .

    Don¡¯t even go there, you idiot .

    Li Yundong sighed and carded his hands through his hair . He padded over to Su Chan¡¯s room and knocked on the door . "Su Chan . . . Can we talk?"

    He waited .

    No answer .

    Maybe she needed some space?

    Of course she needs space, you moron . You touched her under her shirt!

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "Listen . Just now some weird girl came by . Said she was from some Zhengyi Taoist school or something . I just thought you should know . . . And um . . . I¡¯m sorry about earlier . "

    Okay . He apologized . He also told her about the girl . Great . Now what?

    Right . Space . Got it .

    Li Yundong went back to the living room and plopped down on the couch . Was it possible that the girl and Su Chan were rted? He turned that idea over in his mind for a moment . Nah . . . That doesn¡¯t make any sense . If she came here looking for Su Chan, why didn¡¯t she just ask for Su Chan straightaway? Instead, she had to spout all this Wuxia nonsense like some lunatic . But why couldn¡¯t he just forget about the encounter and let the whole thing go?

    Well, he knew why .

    The resemnce between that girl¡¯s behavior and Su Chan¡¯s behavior was too great to be a coincidence . Not to mention all that Taoism stuff the girl had spouted earlier .

    Li Yundong grabbed hisptop from the couch .

    On the search bar, he typed, "Taoist schools in China . "

    He clicked on the first link .

    In China, schools of Taoist thought and ideologies are geographically ssified . As such, any Taoist school in China is either a Northern or Southern school, but in general, the Southern schools are far more prominent than the Northern schools in terms of strength and influence . Schools and temples were established deep inside the mountains, chiefly Mount Gezao, Mount Maoshan, and Mount Longhu . All Northern schools are based in Mount Maoshan...

    Not exactly helpful, but Mount Longhu did pop up . Li Yundong scrolled down until something caught his attention . It was a heading . The Great Seal of the Three Mountains . The Greatest Taoist School in Existence . He scanned through the rest of the section, which consisted of long paragraphs explicating the history of the Zhengyi Taoist School . Apparently, the Zhengyi Taoist School represented the entire Southern school of Taoist thought in China . It was also the most powerful Taoist organization in the world .

    And that strange girl imed to be a disciple of this elusive school . . .

    Li Yundong¡¯s scalped tingled .

    What the heck is going on here?

    Things just kept getting weirder and weirder .

    He searched the entire article for the keywords "Zhenren Wang" and "Linggong Sect . "

    Nothing .

    Then, he switched to another tab and typed the same keywords into the search engine .

    Also nothing .

    Wait a minute . . .

    He closed the tab and opened a new one . This time, he did a search for "Taoist drugs" and "Taoist pills . " He clicked into several articles but found that most of them were about Traditional Chinese Medicine prescriptions meant for curing diseases and improving overall health . Nothing about super strength or Spidey senses . Of course not, you idiot . . . Everyone would have known about this drug by now if it were out there on the web . He tried again, but this time, he searched for "Taoist super potion," which ended up with a bunch of articles about some Wuxia novel .

    Li Yundong shut the lid of hisptop, then put the device aside . This was pointless . He couldn¡¯t find out anything on the web . He sighed andy down on the couch . He closed his eyes and tried to sort through his thoughts .

    It would be foolish to dismiss that strange girl just now as just some loony . It was the way she spoke; that was what bothered him the most . The speech pattern and lingo was old-fashioned and esoteric, like they came straight out of the page of an Wuxia novel . But that wasn¡¯t the main problem . The main problem was that Su Chan spoke in a simr way too .

    He heard a soft swish, like the rustling of a piece of cloth . He opened his eyes and sat up . He nced towards the sliding door leading to the balcony . The curtains were swaying gently in the afternoon breeze .

    Then there it was again, another swish . But this time, the sound came from inside his bedroom . He frowned . Did I leave the sliding door open this morning? He rose from the couch and padded into his room . The sliding door was closed; the curtains weren¡¯t even moving . Chills travelled down his spine . What the hell? He walked over to his bed and lifted the nket . He didn¡¯t find anything strange under the nket . He nced up at the ceiling . Also nothing . He sighed and unclenched his fists .

    Then, when he was rearranging the nket on his bed, he suddenly had a strange feeling that something was approaching him from behind . Wait . No . It wasn¡¯t just from behind, but from . . . all directions . He heard another swish, this time it was as if it came from right beside his ear . Li Yundong gasped and sprang to his feet, his heart pounding and his ears ringing . His did a quick scan of his room .

    Again, he didn¡¯t see anything out of the ordinary .

    Another swish . This time it came from the living room . Alright, what the f*ck? Enough is enough . . . Li Yundong moved his Qi to his Shenting, and then charged out of his bedroom, fully prepared for a fight .

    But there was nobody in the living room .

    Su Chan was still holed up inside her room, so it couldn¡¯t have been her as well . Li Yundong closed his eyes and tried to sort through the buzzing in his ears . He didn¡¯t hear that strange swishing sound again .

    Was it a bird?

    No . It couldn¡¯t have been a bird . That didn¡¯t sound like a bird at all . It sounded like someone waving a g or a piece of cloth .

    Minutester, he threw his hands into the air . "Argh . You know what? This is getting ridiculous," he mumbled, lying back down on the couch . All this nonsense was making him paranoid . He needed to just chill and calm his f*cking tits before he did something stupid like calling the cops because "there¡¯s some invisible person waving an invisible g inside my apartment . "

    After a while of staring nkly at the ceiling, he got up and pulled out his thick textbook from his backpack . He had asked for the tips from Zhou Qin earlier, so he might as well start studying for the finals now .

    ***

    Su Chan opened her door slowly and peeked out . The sun was already up, and the living room was bright since the curtain was open . Su Chan stepped out and shut her door quietly . She padded over to the bathroom but stopped just outside of it . She turned and looked towards Yundong¡¯s room . The door was open, as usual . Yundong never slept with his door closed, but that would have to change soon . They would have to be extra careful now that the people from the Zhengyi School hade knocking on their door .

    The Zhengyi School . Su Chan shuddered at the mere thought of that name . She stepped into the bathroom and began her morning routine . The glory days of most Taoist schools were over . That had been the case since the falls of the Ming and Qing Dynasties . Even so, it didn¡¯t mean these schools no longer existed, just that most of their members¡ªmaster Cultivators¡ªhad left their respective schools and ventured out into the world . Some of these Cultivators went to live in the mountains . Others chose to hide themselves in the mortal world . A while ago, when word of the Renyuan Jindan¡¯s existence got out, a lot of these Cultivators came out of hiding in order to hunt for it . Blood was spilled and lives were spent in this great war to gain possession of the Renyuan Jindan . She herself had nearly died at the hands of several master Cultivators the night she stole the Jindan . The only reason she was even alive was because Master had managed to distract them long enough for her to escape with the Jindan . Ruan Hongling and Zi Yuan were the two Cultivators sent by the Zhengyi Taoist School to hunt her down .

    And yesterday afternoon, one of them, Ruan Hongling, had knocked on their door .

    This was bad .

    How did they even find her here?

    It would make sense if it was their old apartment, since that was thest ce Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling had seen Su Chan . But here? Their new ce? How did they even know?

    Su Chan dried her face with a towel and studied her own reflection in the mirror . Thanks to the one thousand Xiao Zhoutians and Da Zhoutians she had spent the entire nightpleting, she looked refreshed and well-rested . She¡¯d been so freaked out by Ruan Hongling¡¯s arrival yesterday that she ended up spending the entire night Cultivating inside her room . She didn¡¯t evene out for dinner .

    Which was why her stomach sounded as though someone had ced a bunch of explosive talismans in it . She could use one of those Mac Doo Nurls breads right now . Even the not-so-tasty food from the restaurant at Yundong¡¯s school would do at this point .

    She got out of the bathroom and tip-toed towards Yundong¡¯s bedroom . She peeked around the edge of the doorjamb and frowned when she saw Yundong¡¯s empty bed . Is he up already? Neither of the bathrooms were upied, so he couldn¡¯t be in there . Su Chan went into the kitchen next, but she saw no signs of Yundong there as well . Had he gone out on his own? Su Chan leaned against the kitchen counter and began running through a list of scenarios that could exin Yundong¡¯s absence .

    Oh, no . . .

    Su Chan felt her knees go weak .

    Oh, God no . . .

    Su Chan pushed away from the counter and charged out of the kitchen . Had he been kidnapped by the Zhengyi people? Did they manage to figure out that he had consumed the Jindan? But how! Did Yundong tell them? Did they extort the information from him?

    Oh, no, no! This wasn¡¯t supposed to happen! They would absorb the Jindan, and then they would kill him! Su Chan dashed past the living room and reached for the front door .

    Then, she halted . Keys . She needed to get the keys . When she turned back around, she nearly jumped out of her skin .

    Yundong was there on the couch, fast asleep, his entire face covered by that thick book of his . Su Chan¡¯s knees buckled, and she sagged to the floor . He¡¯s safe . . . he¡¯s safe . . .

    Momentster, she crawled towards the couch and then sat beside the coffee table . She spent a while just watching him sleep . His deep and slow breathing suggested that he was still in deep sleep, which was a bit strange, since he was usually up by now . He must have stayed out here all night, reading his book...

    The Cultivators from the Zhengyi School were here . They were here, at their door . Their lives were in serious danger .

    What was she supposed to do now . . .

    Ugh! Enough, Chan¡¯er! Stop being so weak!

    Su Chan shook her head in disgust .

    Alright Chan¡¯er . . . First, look at the facts .

    Yes! Facts, facts, facts! Bring it on, facts!

    Hmm...The enemy had yet to attack them, nor had they made any threatening moves so far . Zi Yuan hadn¡¯t even shown herself yet, so there was a good chance that the Zhengyi School was still in the dark about the Jindan¡¯s whereabouts . Yes, that made sense . If they knew where the Jindan was, Zi Yuan would most certainly be all over it .

    Alright then . The Jindan¡¯s whereabouts was still secure . Phew .

    But why was Ruan Hongling here yesterday?

    Su Chan reyed the conversation between Yundong and Ruan Hongling yesterday . All Ruan Hongling did was introduce herself... And then she asked Yundong about his affiliation and who his master was . Ruan Hongling sounded curious about Yundong... Almost like she was trying to get to know him better . . .

    Hmm . . .

    The roar .

    Yundong¡¯s impressive roar must have piqued Ruan Hongling¡¯s curiosity, so she decided to drop by to pay Yundong a visit!

    So this might have nothing to do with the Jindan after all . Phew...

    But...

    Wasn¡¯t it just a matter of time before they got found out? Who knew what kind of tricks Ruan Hongling had up her sleeves . Spells? Magical objects? It was certainly possible to extort information with the right tools...

    Should they move to a new ce? Don¡¯t be silly, Chan¡¯er . What would that even aplish? It wasn¡¯t like Yundong could alter his facial appearance . Besides, suddenly moving away would just make them look even more suspicious .

    But how were they supposed to survive if their cover got blown? The Zhengyi School was a force to be reckoned with .

    The Zhuji phase . She had to help Yundong pass the Zhuji phase as quickly as possible . That was the only way they could survive this .

    Yundong groaned and began pushing the thick book away from his face . "Ugh... Wazz dizz . . . "

    Biting her lip, Su Chan leaned forward and ced her elbows on the table . Then, she rested her chin in her hands and watched Yundong closely . The book fell to the floor with a thud . Yundong shifted around a few times, then blinked his eyes open . He gasped loudly the moment he saw her .

    "Argh!!! Shit!"

    He fell off the couch andnded face-first on the floor .

    Su Chan giggled . She couldn¡¯t help it; he was just too cute .

    Yundong was up from the floor in a second, his hair sticking out in odd angles . "S- Su Chan?"

    Su Chan cracked a smile and waved at him . "Morning . . . Yundong . "

    "B- but . . . y- you¡¯re here . . . I thought . . . " Yundong stared at her as though he couldn¡¯t believe his eyes .

    Su Chan felt an urge to smooth out his messy hair, no matter how cute he looked right then .

    Yundong got up from the floor and sat down on the couch . He continued to stare at her .

    "So you . . . you¡¯re not... you¡¯re not mad at me anymore?" he asked tentatively .

    Su Chan frowned . Mad? Why would she be mad¡ª

    Images shed across her mind . Steamy images involving tangled bodies, and intertwining tongues, and . . .

    Su Chan¡¯s cheeks heated up .

    "Are you?" Yundong asked again .

    Su Chan shook her head .

    Yundongy back down on the couch and sighed . "Thank God . . . You were holed up in your room for the whole day yesterday . You didn¡¯t evene out for dinner . . . " He rubbed his hands over his face . "I was worried sick . . . "

    So was I . . . But for apletely different reason .

    "Look Su Chan . . . I¡¯m sorry . . . About yesterday I mean . . . Dammit . I got carried away again . And . . . you were right to push me away . . . It¡¯s too soon, and I know you aren¡¯t ready . . . Hell, I¡¯m probably not ready myself . Hey, you now what? If I do something like that again next time . . . just . . . just . . . " Yundong gestured wildly . "Just kick me in the nuts!"

    Su Chan burst intoughter, pping the tabletop as sheughed . When she was doneughing, she saw Yundong looking at her softly . Suddenly, he reached over and pinched her nose . She still didn¡¯t understand why he liked doing that .

    "Forgive me, princess?"

    There was really nothing to forgive, but Su Chan nodded nheless . "Mmm!"

    They stared at each other until Su Chan noticed the conflicted look on his face . He looked like he had something else to say to her .

    "What is it, Yundong?"

    Yundong sat up, then picked up the book from the floor .

    "Tell me," Su Chan prodded again .

    Yundong ced the book on the table and held her gaze . "Did you hear something strange yesterday?"

    "Like what?"

    Not that she would know . She¡¯d been performing Xiao Zhoutian and Da Zhoutian until dawn .

    "I mean strange noises . . . like . . . " Yundong gestured wildly again .

    Huh? What was he talking about?

    "Like . . . ?"

    Yundong stopped gesturing . "Like someone waving a g? Or a handkerchief? Or a shirt . . . Gah! You know what? Don¡¯t worry about it . It¡¯s silly . I must have imagined it¡ª"

    Su Chan¡¯s stomach growled loudly .

    They stared at each other in silence . Su Chan wondered if steam wasing off the top of her head now .

    Then, Yundongughed and stood up from the couch . "Come on! I¡¯ll take you out for breakfast! You must be starving after skipping dinnerst night . "

    Su Chan¡¯s stomach answered with another growl .

    One of these days, she was going to invent a medicine that cures hunger for good .

    ***

    "Hey!!! Li Yundong!!!"

    Li Yundong stopped just outside of the academic building . Turning to his left, he saw Feng Na waving at him .

    Li Yundong smiled and waved back . "Yo! Good morning!"

    Feng Na greeted Su Chan with a nod, then pulled out something from her bag . It was a DVD, which she quickly stuffed into Li Yundong¡¯s hand . "Keep this for me please?" she said anxiously .

    "Ooh . . . what¡¯s this, eh?" Li Yundong wiggled his brows . "Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s part of your porn stash?"

    Feng Na rolled her eyes . "No it¡¯s not¡ª"

    "Nana!!!! Seriously? Would it kill you to lend that disk to your own bestie?!"

    Li Yundong turned to his left again . This time, he saw Cheng Cheng running towards them at full speed .

    Secondster, Cheng Cheng pounced on Feng Na, throttling her and shaking her shoulders .

    Li Yundong could barely contain his amusement . Didn¡¯t know that these two are so into porn . . .

    "Come on! I only need it for two days! Is that too much to ask? I¡¯m your best friend, dammit!"

    Feng Na smiled at Cheng Cheng fawningly . "Look . . . I told you I¡¯ve already lent it to someone else . Why won¡¯t you believe me?"

    "Uh-huh . . . " Cheng Cheng eyed Feng Na skeptically .

    "Okay, look . . . Would it make you feel better if I tell you that I myself haven¡¯t had the chance to watch it yet?"

    "So, what, you lend the DVD to someone else before you watch it yourself?"

    Feng Na stomped her foot . "Yes! That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been telling you . . . "

    Cheng Cheng red at Feng Na for a moment . "Well . I . Don¡¯t . Believe . You . "

    Feng Na groaned . "Oh,e on!"

    "Alright, fine . Who? Who has the DVD now?"

    Li Yundong nearlyughed when Feng Na shot him a guilty look .

    "A fourth year senior..." Feng Na said .

    Li Yundong tried to secretly pass the DVD to Su Chan behind his back, but he was already toote; Cheng Cheng was staring right at the DVD .

    "You!" Cheng Cheng gasped, then pointed a finger at Li Yundong . "Don¡¯t tell me Li Yundong is this so-called fourth-year senior?!"

    "What! No!" Feng Na yelled . She had done a terrific job covering up her panic with an indignant expression, though Li Yundong honestly doubted she could keep up the charade for long .

    The next thing he knew, Cheng Cheng was staring at him again . "You!" Cheng Cheng wagged a finger in front of his face . "Be straight with me . What¡¯s this DVD you¡¯re holding?"

    Li Yundong nced at Feng Na who was giving him a pleading look .

    Fine . . . You owe me, Feng Na . . .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat and put on a straight face . Then, he leaned down and whispered into Cheng Cheng¡¯s ear: "Hey . . . This is the good stuff . But it¡¯s only a small part of my huge collection . "

    Cheng Cheng drew back in surprise, then burst intoughter . "What collection?"

    "Oh, well . . . I¡¯ve got the ones featuring the westerners . Those are pretty hard core . And if you¡¯re into the more oriental stuff, I¡¯ve got those featuring the Japanese too . So . Pick your vor . "

    Cheng Cheng was blushing to the tip of her ears now . Gotcha . . .

    "Feng Na didn¡¯t give me this," Li Yundong added . "It fell out of my textbook, you see . " Li Yundong waved the textbook in his hand . "I must¡¯ve used it as a bookmark while I was studyingst night . "

    He stole a nce at Feng Na, who was now giving him two thumbs up behind Cheng Cheng¡¯s back .

    "And I¡¯m pretty sure my...um... tastes in DVDs arepletely different than Feng Na¡¯s... Why would I be interested in borrowing her DVD anyway?" Li Yundong smirked . "I¡¯ll have you know that the stuff that I¡¯m into are¡ª"

    Cheng Cheng stomped her foot loudly, though her earlier bravado seemed to have evaporated¡ªprobably by the heat from her cheeks . "Y- you . . . shameless pervert!" Cheng Cheng smacked Li Yundong¡¯s upper arm, then turned to Feng Na . "And you! I know you¡¯re lying . And you¡¯ve really hurt my feelings! How could you not lend it to me first? Me! Your best friend! Hmph! You won¡¯t lend it to me, is that it? Fine! I¡¯ll just go look for it on my own! I know you¡¯re hiding it somewhere!"

    Then, all three of them watched Cheng Cheng storm off .

    Feng Na sighed in relief . "Oh God . . . Thank you for that . I guess I owe you one . . . "

    Li Yundong chuckled and flipped the DVD around a few times . "What¡¯s on this DVD anyway? Why are you acting so secretive about it?"

    Feng Na grinned . "Oh, just some chick flick . You won¡¯t like it . "

    "Oh? I¡¯ll have you know that my interests are broad . "

    Feng Na just raised her brows at him .

    Li Yundong smirked . "I tell you what . Why don¡¯t you lend me this DVD for a day or two . I¡¯ll check it out, then I¡¯ll let you know if it fits my taste? How about that?"

    "H-hey . . . y-you¡¯re double-crossing me?"

    "That¡¯s the deal . Take it or leave it . "

    They stared at each other for a moment . Then, Feng Na pounced for the DVD . Nice try . Li Yundong raised the DVD above his head,pletely out of Feng Na¡¯s reach . Feng Na started jumping around to grab the DVD . "Give it back! Give it back, you jerk! I¡¯ll start screaming if you don¡¯t give it back . "

    Li Yundong stepped back and hid the DVD behind his back . "Screaming you said? Well . That¡¯s a fantastic idea . How about I do it for you . " Li Yundong turned in the direction where Cheng Cheng had stormed off earlier . "Yo!! Cheng Cheng!!"

    Cheng Cheng stopped walking and turned around . "What do you want?" she hollered back .

    Li Yundong shot Feng Na a gleeful look . "Your choice," he said with a shrug .

    Feng Na released a low growl . "Fine, dammit! You win! One day! And then you give it back to me!"

    Li Yundong smiled triumphantly . "Deal . "

    Li Yundong hollered back at Cheng Cheng: "Oh, it¡¯s nothing!! Just wanted to say hi!! Have a good day!!!"

    Cheng Cheng justughed and kept walking .

    Feng Na threw her hands in the air . "Ugh! Me and my rotten luck . . . " she mumbled before storming off too .

    Li Yundong shared a nce with Su Chan, then stared down at the DVD in his hand . It was just a in DVD without anybels . What the heck was on this disc that could have those two girls so worked up? It couldn¡¯t be porn, could it?

    Whatever . He¡¯d know for sure once he got home . For now, it was time to head to ss .

    ***

    Hmm . . . Why was this ice cone shaking? Better yet, why was the entire Mac Doo Nurls restaurant shaking? Grrr! Couldn¡¯t a girl have a meal in peace without¡ª

    "Su Chan! Wake up, sleepyhead!"

    Su Chan jolted awake . ss was over, and the students were slowly filing out of the ssroom . Su Chan rubbed her eyes and wiggled against Yundong¡¯s shoulder .

    "What do you feel like having for lunch?" Yundong asked .

    Su Chan snuggled up to Yundong again . "Dunno . . . Anything I guess?"

    "So . Li Yundong . How about we have lunch together? My treat . "

    Hey . . . That voice . . . Su Chan was instantly awake . Zhou Qin!

    Ooh . . . So she wasn¡¯t mad at Yundong after all . Hehehe . That¡¯s perfect! Looks like I was worried for nothing . . .

    Su Chan nced sideways . Say yes, Yundong . . . Say yes . . . We need powerful allies . . .

    "Your treat again?" Yundong said . "You¡¯re starting to make me feel bad, you know . I don¡¯t want to take advantage of your kindness . Besides, we still have ss in the afternoon . I¡¯ll just grab something simple for lunch . "

    Zhou Qin arched an eyebrow . "Yesterday¡¯s meal doesn¡¯t count, all thanks to Liu Chuan . Besides, you were the one who did all the cooking, remember? I was supposed to repay you, but I didn¡¯t even do anything . "

    Much to Su Chan¡¯s surprise, Yundong startedughing . Then Zhou Qin joined in too . I wonder what¡¯s so funny . . . Suddenly, Su Chan felt her cheeks heating up . Are theyughing at . . . me? How mean! Hmph! What was she supposed to do back then anyway? She was hungry! And . . . and Master told her not to waste food . . . Su Chan picked up a pen and began doodling on the open page of Yundong¡¯s notebook . Yundong and Zhou Qin were stillughing . Hmph . Meanies! Su Chan filled the page with twin mountain peaks, the same ones she¡¯d seen on those Mac Doo Nurls boxes . She still couldn¡¯t tell if the symbol was meant as mountain peaks or an inverted 3 .

    "Speaking of Liu Chuan . . . I kinda feel bad for the guy," Yundong said . "He ended up having to pay for everything!"

    Su Chan stopped doodling . Wait . . . So they wereughing at that stupid rich man, not her? Oh .

    "Nah . . . Don¡¯t worry about him," Zhou Qin said . "He¡¯s rich . He can afford it . "

    All of a sudden, the door opened with a loud bang . Whispers filled the ssroom secondster .

    "Speak of the devil," Zhou Qin mumbled .

    Su Chan nced up from her doodles . Hey... it was him again, that silly rich man . And why was he carrying such a huge bouquet of roses? Su Chan frowned . Is he here to court someone? Su Chan surveyed the ssroom, then returned her gaze towards the man .

    The man was heading towards them . Ooh . . . I bet he¡¯s trying to court Zhou Qin! Well . Of course he was here to court Zhou Qin . Who wouldn¡¯t be drawn to such an ideal dinglu?

    Su Chan sneaked a nce at Zhou Qin, who was doing a valiant job hiding her disgust behind her aloof expression . Beside her, Su Chan could feel the trembling in Yundong¡¯s shoulder . When she nced sideways, Yundong appeared to be holding back hisughter .

    Liu Chuan was still walking towards them . Su Chan wondered what kind of game n the fool hade up with in order to ovee Zhou Qin¡¯s obvious disgust for him . Ha . What could that silly man do anyway? Buy two seats instead of one?

    Eh . . . Who cares . . . Zhou Qin would probably just reject his ass and then he would go home crying . . .

    Su Chan went back to her doodling . How she wished there were spells that could turn drawings of food into real food, because she was famished .

    "Yo! Liu Chuan!" Yundong said . "Are you going to pay for our lunch again today?"

    Ooh... That¡¯s right . Yundong managed to trick the fool into paying for our food yesterday...

    Food . How nice . Su Chan doodled a chicken drumstick . Then, she drew a little bowl with soup in it . After that, she added a few blobs of duck meat in the soup . That stewed duck dish was honestly one of the most delicious things she had ever tasted . She had never had something like that back in the mountains . Maybe she could ask Yundong for the recipe and¡ª

    What in the Tao?

    Something tickled her nose .

    Su Chan recoiled with a loud gasp .

    There it was, the red bouquet of Tao knows how many roses, shoved in front of her face . Liu Chuan was kneeling in front of their table staring back at her . Su Chan sneaked a nce at Yundong . Her beloved was no longer smiling now . He looked like he was about to punch someone in the face . Hmm . . . What was she supposed to do here? This imbecile clearly had intentions towards her .

    Should she . . . kick him in the gonads?

    After all, she did that when the sillyb-over man tried to hit on her, and it worked like a charm .

    The bouquet shook a little . For a moment there, Su Chan expected a gun to suddenly appear from the bouquet and start drilling holes into people¡¯s skulls .

    "Miss Su Chan! Your beauty is unparalleled and your innocence unmatched!"

    Okay . No guns, then .

    "You have bewitched me and captivated my heart . Please ept this bouquet of 999 roses as a token of my admiration!"

    How about I kick your gonads 999 times?

    Beside her, Yundong rose . "Liu Chuan . . . What the hell do you think you¡¯re doing, huh? She¡¯s my girlfriend . "

    "It¡¯s a free world," Liu Chuan said . "Everyone has the right to pursue love . "

    Uh-oh . . . Now Yundong looked like he was about to rip the idiot into shreds . Su Chan could feel the power of his Qi leaking out from his body . "Yundong . . . " Su Chan grabbed his wrist and held on as tightly as she could . However, he freed himself with an easy twist of his wrist .

    Ugh! Damned Jindan super strength .

    "I¡¯ve been tolerant with you, Liu Chuan . You can mock me all you want, but this! Coming after my girl? You¡¯ve crossed a line today, and I will personally make sure that you regret it . "

    Su Chan grabbed Yundong wrist a second time . Again, he broke free and began moving towards Liu Chuan . Fortunately, Zhou Qin got in front of Yundong just in time and blocked his path towards Liu Chuan .

    "Calm down," Zhou Qin whispered . "Look over there . "

    Zhou Qin pointed at a corner of the ssroom .

    Su Chan nced at the corner and frowned . A group of students stood in that corner with rectangr objects¡ªwhich looked kind of simr to Yundong¡¯s phone¡ªin their hands . What are they doing? For the life of her, Su Chan could never understand how these mortals operate .

    Yundong sidestepped Zhou Qin . "Oh! So you came prepared, huh? You son of a bitch!" Yundong cracked his fists a few times . "Have it your way then! I¡¯m going to beat up your sorry ass while they record everything on their phones . And then you can watch the rey back home!"

    Liu Chuan sprang to his feet and scrambled backwards . Su Chan could see the fear in his eyes .

    "B- beat me up?! Y- you¡¯re just bluffing! You wouldn¡¯t dare!"

    Yundong snarled and began to move in . Uh-oh . . . Su Chan got up from her seat and moved towards Yundong . She had to stop this . They had drawn too much attention to themselves already . Ruan Hongling was at their door yesterday, for Tao¡¯s sake!

    Yundong yanked Liu Chuan up from the floor by the cor . When Yundong cocked his fist back, Su Chan pounced and grabbed his arm . Yundong turned and looked at her quizzically . Su Chan gave him her most reassuring smile and said, "Let me handle this, beloved . "

    "You sure?"

    Su Chan nodded, then brought her lips to his ear . "Qi to Lingtai . That would help calm you down . "

    Yundong regarded her for a moment, then nodded . He released Liu Chuan¡¯s cor . "Hurry up and get rid of this retard, princess . I might lose my appetite after seeing his face for too long . "

    Su Chan held Yundong¡¯s hand, then traced soothing circles on the back of his palm before releasing his hand . She walked over towards Liu Chuan, who was adjusting his cor .

    When she got near, Liu Chuan smiled at her and raised the bouquet again . Okay . How should I handle this? Well, she would obviously need a non-violent approach to avoid drawing attention . Su Chan surveyed the ssroom again . A few students were watching them, which meant she had to do something without appearing like she did anything at all .

    A spell . She needed a spell . Also, it had to be the non-life-threatening kind, otherwise she would be viting one of the majormandments that all Cultivators should abide by .

    "Your beauty captivates me, Miss Su Chan . Please ept these flowers!"

    Su Chan looked at the flowers in front of her, then at Liu Chuan . An inconspicuous spell that wasn¡¯t life-threatening...

    Hmm...

    A hallucination spell it is, then...

    Su Chan stepped forward and took the flowers . Then, she pretended to admire the flowers . "Wow . . . So pretty!"

    "Ah . . . But their beauty pales inparison to yours, my dear Miss Su Chan!"

    Su Chan tried not to gag . And no, she did not miss the smug look Liu Chuan had given Yundong while he was dishing out that corny line .

    Fool . In a few seconds, he would look anything but smug .

    Su Chan grinned, then sniffed the flowers twice . "And it smells so good!" Su Chan lifted the bouquet and shoved it at Liu Chuan¡¯s face . "Here . You sniff it!"

    With her face now being obscured by the bouquet, Su Chan closed her eyes and muttered a quick incantation . In her mind, she visualized fifty hos flying out of the bouquet .

    "Hehe!! Don¡¯t you think they smell good?" Su Chan waved the bouquet in front of Liu Chuan¡¯s face .

    When she saw Liu Chuan¡¯s body grow as stiff as a pole, Su Chan knew that her spell had worked .

    "Hello?! I asked you a question," Su Chan said, shaking the bouquet again . "Are you deaf? Do they smell good or not?"

    Su Chan turned around and saw Zhou Qin mouthing some words to her: "What¡¯s wrong with him?"

    Su Chan just shrugged and turned back to Liu Chuan .

    "Oh . . . I guess the flowers don¡¯t smell good, then? Well . Then I don¡¯t want them!" She tossed the bouquet at Liu Chuan, who caught it with both arms . He stared at the bouquet for a moment or two, his lips trembling and his face as white as a sheet .

    Then he dropped the bouquet and ran for the door, waving his arms like a maniac .

    "Arrrrgggggghhhh!!! Bees!! Bees!!! Helpp!!! Heeeeeelllllpppp!"

    Goodbye, loser .

    If you guys enjoy this novel, feel free to support on patreon for advanced chapters and more releases!

 Chapter 96

    Chapter 96

    <h4>I Will Destroy You!</h4>

    Hehehe! That was fun! Of all the spells Su Chan knew, hallucination spells were definitely her favorite! She liked hallucination spells because of how versatile they were . There was so much room for imagination when casting hallucination spells . Like, the caster could literally generate any effect with them . Granted, hallucination spells weren¡¯t her strongest spells, since she was a fox sprit who was naturally gifted in seduction spells . But against a silly mortal like Liu Chuan, even a weak hallucination spell would do the trick .

    "WAAAAHHHH HAAAAHHHH . . . Helllpppp! Somebody helllp!!! GAAAHHHH! Get them away from me!!!" Liu Chuan mbered his way to the front of the ssroom and then¡ªSMACK¡ªran facefirst into the chalkboard, no doubt having mistaken it for the door .

    Su Chan giggled a few times .

    Behind her, Yundong chuckled . "What on earth is the matter with that cuckoo?"

    Su Chan feigned ignorance . "Eh . . . Who knows . . . Maybe he¡¯s allergic to flowers . "

    Zhou Qin chuckled . "What kind of idiot buys flowers knowing that he¡¯s allergic to them?"

    "The same kind who got tricked into paying other people¡¯s meals," Yundong said .

    Yundong and Zhou Qin were still talking to each other, but Su Chan was no longer paying attention to what they were saying . Did I use enough Qi for the spell? The spell¡¯s effect wouldn¡¯tst if she didn¡¯t . Then that silly man woulde bother Yundong again . Grrr . Su Chan moved her Qi to her Shenting and began sifting through the ambient noise . Secondster, she heard Liu Chuan¡¯s screams . Ah . . . So he¡¯s still in the building . . . He was still screaming as he ran . It had been, what, three minutes since she cast the spell? A good sign . Definitely a good sign . From the looks of it, the spell wouldst for a least fifteen minutes unless he got startled¡ªlike if someone suddenly punched him in the face, for instance .

    "Shall we go, then?" Zhou Qin said . "Seeing as we¡¯ve gotten rid of the annoying pest and all . "

    Yundongughed . "Good idea . Hey, why don¡¯t we just grab lunch at the cafeteria? I heard that the great Miss Zhou had yet to grace the cafeteria with her presence . Tsk, tsk! What would the cafeteria¡¯s staff think? They must be feeling so shitty right now thinking that you have deemed their ce unworthy of your presence . "

    "Says the one who doesn¡¯t even stay at the university dorms," Zhou Qin said dryly, "O Hero of Tiannan University . "

    Yundong burst intoughter . "Touche . "

    Su Chan¡¯s Eryue was still active as the three of them were leaving the ssroom . On the way out, she could make out some of the students¡¯ whispers amidst the buzzing in her ears . Out of curiosity, Su Chan focused on those voices .

    "God . . . He¡¯s so hot . . . Even the way heughs is sexy . . . "

    Hey . . . I know that voice . . .

    It was the girl who fell down on stage during the rehearsals . Back then, Yundong told her that those people were "dancing" on the stage . Truth be told, Su Chan still had trouble seeing it . No matter how she looked at them, those moves looked like they were taken from a bunch of shamanistic rituals . . .

    There was augh, a derisive one . "You¡¯re out of mind, Zhuang Hui . "

    Su Chan knew that voice too . It belonged to the same woman who¡¯d made fun of her clothes the other day at the school restaurant . Su Chan had identally knocked over the woman¡¯s tray that day, spilling soup and juice all over her Dee-Oh or Dee-Ooh clothes .

    "What? I was just telling the truth!" Zhuang Hui said . "Don¡¯t you find him hot?"

    There was a derisive snort . "Him? Please . Didn¡¯t you see what happen just now? He couldn¡¯t even settle his own problems! His woman had to step up and deal with the problem for him . I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re swooning over such a wuss . "

    Zhuang Hui sighed . "Looks like you¡¯ve been out of the loop for way too long, Ke Lu . That¡¯s because you haven¡¯t been to campus for the past few days . Do you even know who he is? He¡¯s the Hero of Tiannan University!"

    "Pfft! Don¡¯t even get me started on all that nonsense on the forum," Ke Lu said . "Dodging bullets? That¡¯s bullshit . This is real life, Zhuang Hui . Real life . Not some scene from an action movie . "

    Su Chan halted her steps halfway down the corridor . Then, she turned around and stormed back towards the door of the ssroom . Grrr . . . How dare she make fun of my Yundong! Su Chan already had the perfect idea for a nice little hallucination spell she would cast on that insolent, foul-mouthed swine . Let¡¯s see how you enjoy having your breasts shrink to the size of a grain of rice! Hah! Su Chan yanked the door open¡ª

    She was stopped by a hand on her shoulder .

    "What¡¯s wrong, princess? Did you forget something?" Yundong was back looking at her with concern .

    Su Chan nced into the ssroom through the open doorway . "That girl over there is making fun of you . " Su Chan jerked her chin towards Ke Lu .

    Neither Zhuang Hui nor Ke Lu seemed to have noticed them yet .

    Yundong was now saying something to her, but Su Chan wasn¡¯t listening to him at all; her attention was fully focused on Zhuang Hui and Ke Lu¡¯s conversation .

    " . . . A lot of people saw him dodge those bullets, you know! Even the foreigners swore by it!"

    "Right . And there are a lot of people who swore they¡¯d seen UFOs and the Loch Ness Monster, but that doesn¡¯t make UFOs or the Loch Ness Monster real! Wake up, Zhuang Hui!"

    "Say, Ke Lu, I really don¡¯t get it . What is it about him that rubs you the wrong way? Why do you hate him that much?"

    "He¡¯s just a gigolo," Ke Lu said snidely . "Just look at the way Zhou Qin was throwing herself at him like some kind of sugar mom . "

    Su Chan could feel Yundong tensing up beside her .

    Zhuang Hui looked affronted . "I won¡¯t speak to you anymore if you keep talking bad about him!"

    "Wait . . . You¡¯re not ending our friendship because him, are you? Him? That useless gigolo?"

    Su Chan growled . Alright, that¡¯s it! I¡¯ve had it with her! Time to show that foul-mouthed swine what the Fox Zen School¡¯s hallucination spells are made of! A strong grip wrapped around her arm before Su Chan could take a single step through the doorway .

    Su Chan turned sideways and saw Yundong staring at those two girls . "Remember what I said about ignoring shallow people?" Yundong said without taking his eyes off the two girls .

    Su Chan opened her mouth to protest, but Yundong cut her off again . "It¡¯s the quality of our actions that determines our worth . " Yundong released her arm and began walking away . "Let them talk . "

    Su Chan stole one final nce at the ssroom . Ke Lu¡¯s face was now as pale as a sheet . She looked as though she had just seen a ghost .

    ***

    Liu Chuan ran out of the academic building, his hands iling in the air to swat away a swarm of hos that only he could see . When he stumbled out of the campus gates, a man grabbed Liu Chuan by the shoulder and then delivered a harsh kick on his butt .

    Liu Chuan crashed headlong onto the concrete pavement and then rolled around a few times . "Help!!! Help!!! Get them off me!! Please!!"

    He Shao stared down at Liu Chuan, who was still rolling on the ground like some nutcase high on drugs . He Shao kicked Liu Chuan¡¯s butt with the tip of his dress shoes . "Hey! What the hell is the matter with you! Get your shit together!"

    Liu Chuan grabbed the fabric of He Shao¡¯s pants . "Bees!! Bees! There are so many of them!!!"

    He Shao growled and yanked Liu Chuan up by the cor before pping Liu Chuan¡¯s cheeks four times . "Snap out of it, you f*cking idiot! What bees? There aren¡¯t any bees around, you nutjob!" He Shao released Liu Chuan¡¯s cor and shoved him away . Liu Chuan stumbled and ended up falling t on his ass .

    Indeed, He Shao¡¯s ps had shocked Liu Chuan enough to break Su Chan¡¯s spell . Liu Chuan sat on the ground in a daze .

    Momentster, Liu Chuan reached up with a shaky hand and began patting his face . "No bumps . . . " Liu Chuan muttered . "No swelling . . . Hey! Hahaha! I¡¯m fine! Hahaha!"

    He Shao rubbed his temple a few times . "Why do I keep running into idiots these days," He Shao mumbled . "First Xie Fei, and now this f*cker?"

    He Shao bent down and yanked Liu Chuan up by the cor again . "Hey! What are you mumbling about, you numbskull! I asked you to teach that Li Yundong a lesson! Have you done it yet?"

    Liu Chuan¡¯s face paled at the mere mention of Li Yundong¡¯s name . He jumped up as though someone had shoved a durian up his ass . He Shao was, needless to say, not impressed by Liu Chuan¡¯s show of wimpiness . He Shao smacked Liu Chuan upside his head . "You f*cker! You failed me, didn¡¯t you? You f*cking failed me, just like that good-for-nothing Xie Fei!" He Shao raised his hand again to strike Liu Chuan but thetter threw his arms up just in time to shield himself from the blow .

    "Argh!!! He Shao! He Shao! I can exin! Please! Let me exin!"

    He Shao lowered his arm and adjusted his jacket . "Talk!"

    "Look, He Shao . . . I don¡¯t think Li Yundong is a guy you wanna mess with . . . Something¡¯s not normal about the guy, you know . It¡¯s like there¡¯s some supernatural stuff¡ª"

    He Shao smacked Liu Chuan¡¯s head again . "Super"¡ªSMACK¡ª"natural! Is that the best excuse you¡¯ve got? Huh?! That he¡¯s into some voodoo stuff?"

    "B-but it¡¯s true! Weird shit keeps happening around him!"

    "F*ck you and your nonsense! You can¡¯t even do one thing right! I just asked you to provoke him a little, and then force him to assault you . And you can¡¯t even aplish that simple task? F*cking useless piece of shit!"

    "H- He Shao . . . I don¡¯t think I¡¯m the right guy for the job . . . " Liu Chuan gave He Shao a fawning smile . "Wh- why don¡¯t you look for someone else . . . "

    He Shao re nearly made Liu Chuan melt into a puddle of Armani . "Find someone else," He Shao said, thenughed incredulously . "Find someone else! Oh, you¡¯ve gotta be shitting me . "

    The second part of He Shao¡¯s statement wasn¡¯t that far from the truth since Liu Chuan was pre-tty close to losing his bowel control at that point .

    "I- I¡¯m telling you that something¡¯s off about that guy, He Shao! Weird shit keeps happening to me every time I ran into him! It¡¯s like a curse or something!"

    "A curse . . . " He Shao stared at Liu Chuan incredulously . "You¡¯re losing your shit because you think he cursed you . . . " He Shao raised his hand to p Liu Chuan . "How about I beat you to death right here and now, huh! I bet that¡¯s scarier than a stupid curse!"

    Liu Chuan flinched back in fear . However, the blow never connected . He Shao¡¯s withdrew his hand at thest minute and pinched the bridge of his nose . Momentster, He Shao exhaled harshly through his nose and seized Liu Chuan¡¯s shoulders .

    "Listen to me, you moron," He Shao growled, shaking Liu Chuan¡¯s shoulders a few times . "Try again this afternoon . But this time, I¡¯ll be there watching . I guarantee you that he won¡¯t harm you as long as I¡¯m there . And if he does, I¡¯ll f*ck him up for good . "

    The colors returned to Liu Chuan¡¯s face . "Really? You have a way to deal with him?" Liu Chuan said tentatively . "B- but He Shao . . . Li Yundong isn¡¯t some guy you can just mess with . I swear there¡¯s something weird about him . "

    He Shao huffed out in frustration, then motioned with his hand . When Liu Chuan brought his ear closer, He Shao began speaking to him in whispers .

    When He Shao was done talking, Liu Chuan jumped away in fright . "H- He Shao . . . I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea . . . I mean, I just received an earful from my dad yesterday!"

    He Shao¡¯s eyes went wide in anger . "What? You saying you have a problem with my n?"

    "U- uh . . . I- it¡¯s nothing! I- I¡¯ll find a way . . . "

    ***

    Li Yundong stood up from thest row of the lecture hall after what felt like days¡ªor weeks¡ªof torturous boredom . If there was a way to transform boredom into cash, he was pretty sure would¡¯ve settled his bank debts by now . Li Yundong stretched his arms above his head, then nced down at Su Chan . His princess was still doodling on a page of his notepad . Upon a closer look, Li Yundong noticed a bunch of Mac Dee logos strewn all over the page . There were other things too, of course: French fries; cheeseburgers; several cones topped with at least twentyyers of ice-cream; chicken drumsticks; and huge bowls filled with soup and some strange-looking blobs .

    Thatst one looked suspiciously like his stewed duck in beer .

    Li Yundong chuckled and ruffled Su Chan¡¯s hair . "Ready to go home, princess?"

    Su Chan looked up from the page and nodded . "Mmm!"

    They packed up and left their row . At the first row, he suddenly stopped . Zhou Qin was standing there, smiling at them .

    "How about I give you guys a ride home?" Zhou Qin asked .

    Okay . It seemed like Zhou Qin had taken this repayment thing a tad too far .

    Li Yundong returned Zhou Qin¡¯s smile and waved his hand a few times . "Nah . . . It¡¯s okay . We don¡¯t live far . Besides, we don¡¯t want to trouble you . "

    Zhou Qin¡¯s smile widened . Li Yundong heard gasps somewhere behind him . And if he turned around, he¡¯d probably see a bunch of hanging jaws too .

    "Why are you still acting so formal with me," Zhou Qin said . "Aren¡¯t we friends?"

    Friends . With the enigmatic Miss Zhou, the Ice Queen of Tiannan University . They were friends now . Friends, as in "let¡¯s all hang out after ss and treat each other to meals" friends .

    Li Yundong was still trying to get used to that idea .

    A month ago, Zhou Qin wouldn¡¯t even look at him, let alone offer to give him a ride home . Then again, a month ago, he couldn¡¯t even climb out of bed without feeling like he¡¯d pulled about a hundred muscles . Now he was dodging bullets and climbing walls .

    Weird is the new normal .

    Li Yundong sighed . "Well . . . Okay then . . . Wait . You actually drive yourself around?" Admittedly, he had assumed that Zhou Qin would be chaperoned around town by a legion of drivers who had no doubt mastered the art of limousine driving . Seemed like this was another stereotype that he had to throw away .

    "Yes, I do . "

    "But I¡¯ve never seen your car . "

    "Oh . I don¡¯t usually park on campus . I don¡¯t want to draw attention, so . . . "

    "Wow . . . You¡¯re apletely different kind of rich from Liu Chuan . " Li Yundong gave her a thumbs up . "Low-key . I like that . "

    Zhou Qin blushed a little . "Is that apliment? If it is, then I¡¯ll dly ept . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Well, then consider yourselfplimented!"

    Su Chan tugged his arm a few times . "Yundong, Yundong . . . Can we go now? I¡¯m hungry . "

    Yeah . What else was new?

    ***

    Li Yundong stopped short when they reached the campus gates . "Hey . What¡¯s happening over there?"

    A huge crowd had gathered at the kerb not far away from the campus gates, and as far as he could tell, most of them were students . It seemed like the students had formed a circle around something .

    Li Yundong turned to his left, wanting to ask Zhou Qin if she knew what was going on . However, he was surprised by how pale her face seemed . Her posture seemed tense too .

    "Hey, Zhou Qin," he said . "You alright?"

    Zhou Qin shook her head slightly, then smiled . "I¡¯m fine . Let¡¯s go check it out . " Zhou Qin strode over towards the crowd without waiting for them to catch up .

    O . . . kay?

    Li Yundong took Su Chan¡¯s hand and followed Zhou Qin . As they neared the crowd, the crowd¡¯s whispers became clearer .

    "Wow . . . whose limo is this?"

    "I don¡¯t know . But damn, look at that! It¡¯s a Mercedes!"

    "So cool . . . Ooh! I think it¡¯s got scissor doors!"

    "Seriously . . . whose car is this . . . "

    "I bet it belongs to some rich guy . . . "

    "Yeah . . . maybe he¡¯s here to pick up his date . . . "

    Some of the students turned around as though sensing their approach . The students stepped away when they saw Zhou Qin . The crowd parted to reveal a dark and sleek limousine parked at the kerb .

    The sight of the limo made all three of them stop short . From the corner of his eye, Li Yundong saw Zhou Qin¡¯s shoulders sag with relief .

    "What, don¡¯t tell me that¡¯s your car?" Li Yundong asked even though he knew the answer already .

    Zhou Qin gave him an amused look . "No . I don¡¯t go for the showy models . "

    The crowd raved on about how awesome or cool the car was . Theirments made Li Yundong want to roll his eyes . Li Yundong studied the crowd, and when he did, he noticed a few familiar faces . Some of his ssmates were there . He even saw Zhuang Hui and her bitchy friend admiring the car beside it .

    When he turned to Su Chan, heughed out loud .

    Su Chan¡¯s head was tilted by ny degrees as she studied the car . "Yundong . . . Howe it¡¯s so long? And why didn¡¯t they put more wheels in the middle?"

    Li Yundong reached over and righted her head . "Do you like it?"

    Su Chan¡¯s nose scrunched up adorably . "Eww . . . It¡¯s so long . And it feels like it would snap in half if a reeeaally fat guy sit in the middle . "

    Li Yundong guffawed . Oh God . . . Only you, Su Chan . . . Only you would say something like that .

    "Hey, Su Chan . . . " Li Yundong said . "I¡¯ll work hard and earn enough money to buy you a nice car . "

    Su Chan looked at him like he was nuts . "What? Why would you want to waste money on garbage like that?" Su Chan lifted her chin proudly . "I assure you that your future mode of transport will be much cooler than that long thing over there . "

    Li Yundong chuckled and pinched Su Chan¡¯s cheek . "You really do have a lot of faith in me, don¡¯t you?"

    Su Chan looked at him as though he¡¯d just told her that fish live onnd . "Of course!" she said . "You¡¯re the greatest!"

    Before Li Yundong coulde up with a reply, he caught a glimpse of Zhou Qin¡¯s frown . She was staring at the limo intently . Did she know the owner?

    "What is it, Zhou Qin? You recognize that car?"

    "Liu Changhe . . . " Zhou Qin said .

    Li Yundong frowned . "Sorry who?"

    "He¡¯s a famous businessman in the city . " Zhou Qin suddenly looked at Li Yundong, her lips curving into a smirk . "And the father of your BFF, Liu Chuan . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s gaze snapped back towards the limo . As if on cue, the door of the limo slid open . Li Yundong shook his head . Great . . . Here we go again . Liu Chuan, dressed to the nines in a suit and a pair of shiny dress shoes, stepped out of the limo . Oh, how Li Yundong wanted to wipe that smug look off the bastard¡¯s face . Would the shockwaves generated from his punches work from this distance? Maybe he could try making Liu Chuan shit his Armani pants one more time .

    "Grrr . . . What an annoying man," Su Chan said . "I¡¯m going to get rid of him this time . "

    Li Yundong smirked . If Su Chan wanted to kick Liu Chuan in the nuts, he sure as well wouldn¡¯t try to stop her this time .

    "No . . . "

    Li Yundong turned . Zhou Qin was staring at Liu Chuan like she meant business .

    "Let me handle this . "

    ***

    Zhou Qin watched as Liu Chuan sauntered towards them as though he owned the ce . Zhou Qin had had her suspicions before, but now she had no doubt that this drama queen and diva wannabe was doing somebody else¡¯s bidding . Someone else was pulling the strings here, and the only way for her to find out who was by loosening Liu Chuan¡¯s tongue and getting him to spill his guts .

    Liu Chuan stopped before Su Chan and bowed slightly . "Oh, my beautiful Miss Su Chan . Would you make me the happiest man in the world by agreeing to go out on a date with me?"

    Zhou Qin resisted the urge to gag . She could feel Li Yundong trembling beside her, so she ced a reassuring hand on his arm . "Let me handle this," Zhou Qin mouthed the words to Li Yundong when their gazes locked . Su Chan looked like she was about to p Liu Chuan, but then Li Yundong took Su Chan¡¯s hand and pulled her to his side .

    "Your beauty captivates me, Miss Su Chan . There isn¡¯t a night since I met you that I could close my eyes without seeing your beautiful face in my mind . . . "

    Zhou Qin rolled her eyes . Enough is enough . . . She stepped forward and shielded Su Chan behind her .

    Zhou Qin smiled snidely, pouring every ounce of contempt she felt for Liu Chuan into that smile . "Looks like your persistence rivals your stupidity, Liu Chuan . You even brought out your dad¡¯s car . Not that I¡¯m surprised . That¡¯s all you¡¯re capable of, isn¡¯t it, Liu Chuan? Hiding behind your father¡¯s status and wealth?" Step one . Destroy the man¡¯s confidence . Judging from the blush on Liu Chuan¡¯s face, her taunt had found its mark . But she wasn¡¯t done yet . Not by a long shot .

    "You might not want to scratch it though," Zhou Qin said . "I don¡¯t think Mr . Liu would take it well if you do . I hear he has a thing for spanking . "

    The tremble Zhou Qin saw in Liu Chuan¡¯s hands brought a surge of satisfaction to her . "Zh- Zhou Qin! Wh- why do you always have to . . . to get in my way!"

    Zhou Qin arched her brow, a well-practiced move that would cause even the most confident man to waver in his beliefs . "Getting in your way?" Zhou Qin said, turning around to look at Su Chan .

    Interestingly, Su Chan was looking back at her with so much awe that Zhou Qin was starting to wonder if Su Chan had been serious yesterday when she said she wanted Zhou Qin as an elder sister . It certainly wouldn¡¯t be bad to have an adorable little sister like Su Chan .

    Zhou Qin gave Su Chan a smile . "Su Chan . . . "

    "Hmm?"

    Zhou Qin pointed a finger at Liu Chuan . "Are you interested in that man?"

    Su Chan shook her head a few times, her double braids swinging adorably .

    Zhou Qin raised a brow . "Not even a little?"

    Those braids swung around again .

    Zhou Qin turned around to face Liu Chuan again . "You see?" Zhou Qin smirked . "How am I getting in your way when the girl isn¡¯t even interested in you?"

    "Y- you . . . you!" Liu Chuan sputtered .

    Zhou Qin had to side-step a little to avoid getting Liu Chuan¡¯s spit all over her clothes .

    "I suggest you think things through before you act, Liu Chuan . Otherwise, you¡¯re just going to end up embarrassing yourself and your father . You don¡¯t want that, do you?"

    Liu Chuan didn¡¯t seem to be capable of speech at this point . Good, because Zhou Qin wasn¡¯t done yet .

    "What is it that you like say, Liu Chuan? That everyone should know their own ce? I suggest you take your own advice and stop lusting after a woman who is clearly out of your league!"

    The ashen look on Liu Chuan¡¯s face was the final confirmation Zhou Qin needed to know that she had utterly demolished Liu Chuan¡¯s bravado . Now it was time to get him to talk¡ª

    "I think you should know your ce, too, Miss Zhou . "

    Zhou Qin¡¯s body went taut instantly . That voice . . . It can¡¯t be . . .

    Zhou Qin looked past Liu Chuan¡¯s shoulder towards the limo . Another man had just stepped out of the limo and was now heading over towards them . Zhou Qin frowned slightly . Calm down, Zhou Qin . . . You can handle this . . .

    "What brings you here, He Shao?" Zhou Qin said, keeping her voice as cold as possible . I should¡¯ve known that he¡¯s the one behind this . . .

    "What I do here is none of your business, Zhou Qin," He Shao said, though he wasn¡¯t even looking at her . Instead, this vile man was staring at Li Yundong like he was just a piece of trash .

    Anger coursed through Zhou Qin, cold anger, which turned her voice into something colder than ice . "It is my business if you¡¯re interfering with my affairs . "

    He Shao finally tore his eyes away from Li Yundong . "Your affairs? I don¡¯t see how a guy trying to ask a girl out concerns you, Zhou Qin . . . " He Shao said . "Aren¡¯t you being a bit too controlling here?"

    "He Shao, seeing as our families have a good rtionship with each other, I¡¯m gonna give you one piece of advice . No evil deed goes unpunished . I¡¯d watch my six if I were you . "

    He Shao burst intoughter .

    Zhou Qin suddenly had a bad feeling in her stomach . "Well said! Well said! I don¡¯t have any advice to give you, Zhou Qin . So I will return the favor by telling you a simple fact . No matter how much you despise me, you are my fianc¨¦ . You are my woman . Mine! And nothing you do or say can change that!"

    Whispers and chatter erupted from the crowd, but Zhou Qin didn¡¯t care .

    Her eyes snapped towards the only person whose opinion she cared about .

    Li Yundong was staring back at her, his eyes guarded and unreadable .

    Ignoring the heat in her cheeks, Zhou Qin red at He Shao .

    "I would rather die than marry you, He Shao . "

    He Shao startedughing again, and Zhou Qin had to ball her fist tightly to prevent herself from pping that abominable man .

    "You¡¯d rather die than marry me . Is that so?" He Shao sneered . "Then who are you nning to marry? Him?" He Shao pointed at Li Yundong . Before Zhou Qin coulde up with a response, He Shao was already moving past her towards Li Yundong .

    "Listen up, you bum," He Shao said, once he had gotten in Li Yundong¡¯s face . "Zhou Qin is my woman . Mine! And if you touch her, I will destroy you!"

 Chapter 97.1

    Chapter 97.1

    <h4>Strength Beyond Wealth and Status</h4>

    Li Yundong met He Shao¡¯s stare head on . If this prick thought he could intimidate him by getting in his face, then the guy had another thinking . Guns Li Yundong had stared down . Bullets he had dodged . Threats of destruction from an obnoxious prick couldn¡¯t even hold a f*cking candle . If nothing else, He Shao¡¯s behavior amused Li Yundong .

    Honestly, the guy was like a tin can¡ªempty inside, but noisy as f*ck .

    "You¡¯ve crossed a line, He Shao," Zhou Qin said . "I¡¯m warning you . Back off . "

    He Shao¡¯s breath tickled Li Yundong¡¯s face as heughed . "So this is all you got, eh? Relying on Zhou Qin to get you out of trouble every time? You¡¯re a pathetic loser . A penniless gigolo . "

    Li Yundong smirked and shook his head . Say what you want about me . Bark like a dog for all I care .

    He Shao turned to Zhou Qin . "And you, Zhou Qin . Tsk, tsk . I never thought you would stoop to such a level . I mean, bing someone¡¯s sugar mom? Really?" He Shao snickered . "Are you that horny? You know . . . If you needed a good f*ck, you could¡¯ve just called . I bet I can outperform this wimp without even trying . "

    "He Shao, you¡ª" Zhou Qin gasped . "Don¡¯t touch me!"

    "Oh? I can¡¯t touch my own fianc¨¦?" He Shaoughed . "If you need . . . services, there are far better options than using that gigolo . " He Shao snickered, then nced pointedly at Li Yundong¡¯s waist . "Tsk . Tsk . Come on, Zhou Qin . Even the cheapest dildo in the market is better than that . "

    "Shut up, He Shao . . . Shut . Up . " Zhou Qin¡¯s voice had lost its usual aloofness .

    He Shao took a step towards Zhou Qin . "Or better yet . You can have me . I¡¯m avable to you anytime, babe . And you won¡¯t even have to pay a single cent . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s hand shot out and grabbed He Shao¡¯s arm before it could reach Zhou Qin¡¯s waist .

    Li Yundong realized that for all his big-talk, He Shao was surprisingly lightweight . All it took was a light shove from him and He Shao was already staggering backwards . Li Yundong smirked . Who¡¯s the wimp now, dipshit?

    Li Yundong stepped forward and shielded Su Chan and Zhou Qin with his body .

    "Watch your mouth," Li Yundong said coldly . "That¡¯s my friend you just insulted . "

    He Shao straightened his suit jacket with an angry scowl, then got in Li Yundong¡¯s face . He Shao grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s cor .

    "Touch me again," He Shao growled, "and I will destroy you . "

    Li Yundong pressed his thumb and index finger on He Shao¡¯s wrist, smirking at the grimace he saw on He Shao¡¯s face . Li Yundong pressed down harder until He Shao¡¯s grip loosened .

    Instead of letting go, Li Yundong kept his thumb and index finger on He Shao¡¯s wrist, then twisted He Shao¡¯s arm behind his back . He Shao groaned, then stumbled away when Li Yundong shoved him on the back .

    Li Yundong snorted . F*cking lightweight . . .

    He Shao regained his footing and shot a vicious re at Li Yundong . "You f*cker¡ª"

    "Enough!" Zhou Qin yelled . "Leave now¡ª"

    Li Yundong silenced her with a raise of his hand . He took a step towards he Shao . "Destroy me, you said?" Li Yundong said in a casual tone . "And how do you suppose you can do that when you couldn¡¯t even stand in front of me for more than five seconds without falling on your ass?"

    He Shao threw his head back andughed . "Oh, so you still haven¡¯t figured it out yet?" He Shao sneered . "I guess a clueless bum like you wouldn¡¯t know . " He Shao¡¯s eyes was filled with scorn when he snorted . "Fine . I¡¯ll exin to you how I can tear you to pieces . "

    He Shao got in his face again . "There are only two things you need if you want to rule over the world . One, wealth!"

    He Shao pointed at the limo . "I have all the money in the world," he said loudly . "And you! You¡¯re a penniless nobody who doesn¡¯t even have parents!"

    Okay . That stung . That really f*cking stung . Li Yundong took a calming breath through his nose . Walk away . . . just walk away . Keep a low profile, and don¡¯t cause any trouble . Too much exposure would risk his life . It would risk Su Chan¡¯s life too . Focus on what¡¯s important here . Just let it go, Li Yundong . You¡¯re better than him . You¡¯re better than him . . .

    Li Yundong exhaled through his nose slowly and turned around to face Su Chan and Zhou Qin . Su Chan was watching him carefully . Zhou Qin was ring at He Shao .

    "Come on," Li Yundong said, taking Su Chan¡¯s hand . "Time to go . Let¡¯s not let shallow people and their shallow thoughts get to us . "

    Li Yundong moved past He Shao, pulling Su Chan with him .

    He Shao blocked his way . "Hey! Where are do you think you¡¯re going, huh? I¡¯m not done talking to you yet . "

    Li Yundong kept walking, but stopped when he felt He Shao¡¯s palm on his sternum . It took every ounce of Li Yundong¡¯s will power not to grab that hand and break every single bone in it . Stay cool, Li Yundong . Stay cool .

    The pressure on his sternum was gone .

    He Shao held up two fingers . "Number two . Power . "

    Li Yundong could feel his own brows shooting up to his hairline at that arrogant deration . He wondered why God hadn¡¯t sent a bolt of lightning from the sky and roast this piece of trash already .

    He Shao snapped his fingers, then waved his hand a few times .

    Liu Chuan mbered over towards He Shao like a f*ckingpdog .

    Li Yundong shook his head in disgust . He wondered if Liu Chuan ever felt a bit too airy or ventted down there . After all, even the smallest pair of boxers in the market would feel a little loose on a man with balls the size of peanuts . Scratch that . Liu Chuan should just shop for panties from now on .

    "Yes? He Shao?" Liu Chuan asked .

    Instead of answering, He Shao pped Liu Chuan right across his cheek . Liu Chuan crashed to the ground and rolled a few times .

    Li Yundong stared at He Shao with wide eyes .

    Holy Mother of God . . . Who does this guy think he is?

    Li Yundong could feel the mes of ire raging in his chest, begging to be unleashed . How could anyone be capable of such atrocious behavior? This had gone far beyond bullying; this was f*cking tyranny .

    "The man I just pped is the son of a famous businessman," He Shao roared . "But so f*cking what!"

    Li Yundong shook his head .

    He Shao gestured his arms wildly . "I can do whatever I want with him and walk still away with it! I¡¯m untouchable!"

    Li Yundong nced at Zhou Qin, whose expression remained unreadable despite the circumstances .

    And at that moment, the final piece of the puzzle clicked inside Li Yundong¡¯s head . Finally, he got it . Now he understood the reason behind Zhou Qin¡¯s distrust of men and people in general . Being forced to marry a lowlife like He Shao would disillusion just about anyone .

    Then, another thought urred to Li Yundong .

    What if Zhou Qin didn¡¯t reject those men because she had anything against them or because she deemed them unworthy of her attention?

    Okay, well, maybe she did find some of those men unworthy, but what if that wasn¡¯t her only reason for rejecting them?

    What if she was trying to protect those guys from He Shao?

    In hindsight, it made sense .

    The moment Zhou Qin agreed to date a guy, she would literally be painting a huge target on his back .

    The poor dude would end up on He Shao¡¯s shit list, and there was nothing Zhou Qin could do to protect him from He Shao because, apparently, even Zhou Qin¡¯s family was big on the whole arranged marriage idea . Hell, it was probably Zhou Qin¡¯s father idea to begin with!

    In other words, whomever Zhou Qin agreed to date was pretty much screwed .

    Li Yundong cast a nce at He Shao .

    Well, he certainly wouldn¡¯t put it past that son of a bitch to have a guy murdered just for expressing romantic interest in Zhou Qin .

    What a f*cked up world to live in .

    How? How did Zhou Qin endure this shit for so many years?

    He Shao¡¯sughter pulled Li Yundong out of his thoughts .

    He Shao was now kicking at Liu Chuan, who was still sprawled on the ground . "You!" He Shao pointed down at Liu Chuan . "I just pped you . Do you have problem with that?"

    Li Yundong lowered his gaze to the ground . He studied Liu Chuan face, which was now flushed either due to shame or He Shao¡¯s strike . Probably both . Liu Chuan lookedpletely subdued and defeated . The guy didn¡¯t even dare raise his head .

    Secondster, Liu Chuan shook his head meekly .

    He Shao sneered, and once again, Li Yundong found himself staring at He Shao¡¯s smug expression .

    "You see that?" He Shao raised his brows . "Do you get it now?" He Shao threw his head back inughter .

    Whispers from the crowd drifted to Li Yundong¡¯s ears . Apparently, Liu Chuan¡¯s admirers¡ªwell, former admirers¡ªwere now mocking Liu Chuan¡¯s cowardice . Li Yundong also heard a couple of mentions about how the "Hero of Tiannan University" should step up and "teach that arrogant snob a lesson . "

    He Shao was now sauntering towards him like some pompous diva . "Money! Wealth! Status! Power!" He Shao punctuated those words with each step before finally stopping in front of him . "That is how I can destroy a nobody like you . " He Shao¡¯s lips twisted into an ugly smirk . "Starting with your love life . . . when I make your woman mine . " He Shao reached out with his filthy hands to touch Su Chan¡¯s face .

    Something inside Li Yundong snapped . People could mock him all they wanted, but nobody touches his Su Chan . Nobody .

    "You son of a bitch!!!!"

    Li Yundong moved forward with a speed that he didn¡¯t even know he possessed . He grabbed He Shao by his throat, and then hoisted the bastard off the ground with a powerful jerk of his arm . He Shao released a series of gagging sound from his throat, but Li Yundong ignored them . He stared hard into He Shao¡¯s eyes . "Touch my girlfriend again, and I will end you . "

    Li Yundong had never felt this much anger before . And every ounce of that anger was now being channeled into the fingers curled around He Shao¡¯s throat . He tightened his fingers, slowly squeezing the life out of this piece of trash .

    Li Yundong¡¯s ears rang . Through the ringing, he could hear voices¡ªtwo voices¡ªspeaking to him . The voices were muddled and distinct, like a cacophony of ovepping echoes . He couldn¡¯t make out the words .

    Suddenly, he felt a pricking sensation on his back, right between his shoulder des, like someone had poked a needle there .

    The ringing in his ears morphed into distinct words .

    " . . . Li Yundong, calm down . . . He¡¯s not worth it . "

    "Beloved . . . beloved . . . Don¡¯t let him get to you . He¡¯ll never have me, okay? Never . I¡¯m yours . Always . Let him go, beloved . Let him go . People are watching us..."

    A strange wave of calmness washed over Li Yundong .

    Zhou Qin and Su Chan were now standing on each side of him, pulling him back from God knows what he¡¯d been about to do . A wheezing sound caught his ear, and he realized that he was still holding He Shao in the air in a choke hold . He Shao¡¯s face had turned an unhealthy shade of scarlet .

    Another wave of anger swept through him at the sight of He Shao¡¯s face . How dare he try to touch Su Chan . How f*cking dare he! How dare he treat people like trash just because he was rich .

    Li Yundong unleased a loud roar, pouring every ounce of frustration into his voice .

    "Li Yundong!! Stop!! You¡¯re gonna kill him!" Zhou Qin¡¯s frantic voice sounded beside his ear . "He isn¡¯t worth it! Don¡¯t throw your life away because of him!"

    "Beloved... Come on... Just let him go, okay?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s roar diminished into a growl . Then, he hurled He Shao into the air .

    He Shao flew across the pavement and crashed into the limo .

    "Hey! My car! Watch the car . . . "

    Liu Chuan¡¯s voice was quickly drowned out by a chorus of cheers .

    "Yeahhh!!!! That¡¯s the way! Go, Hero of Tiannan University!"

    "Hell yeah!!! Kick his ass! Show the bastard who is boss!"

    Li Yundong felt another sharp prick on his back . It was the same spot, right between his shoulder des . Another wave of calmness flooded him, but this time, it came with something else¡ªmental rity . Li Yundong could feel his breathing evening out and the pounding on his temples subsiding . The next thing he knew, he was staring right into Su Chan¡¯s beautiful eyes . Su Chan¡¯s were hands cupping his face .

    "Shh... Shh . . . It¡¯s alright now, beloved . It¡¯s alright . "

    Li Yundong covered Su Chan¡¯s palm with his hand . "Did you do something? Why do I suddenly feel so . . . "

    Li Yundong struggled to find the right words .

    "Calm? Tranquil?" Su Chan said .

    "Yeah . Something like that . "

    "I stimted your Lingtai . "

    "Between my shoulder des . . . " Li Yundong sighed, then nodded . "Right . Thanks . "

    That would exin the pricking sensations he felt earlier . She must¡¯ve poked a needle into his back .

    "Li Yundong . . . "

    Zhou Qin¡¯s voice made him turn .

    "Let¡¯s just get out of here," Zhou Qin said, though her gaze was focused on He Shao, who was already up on his feet .

    "Mmm!" Su Chan bobbed her head a few times, then lowered her voice to a whisper . "We can¡¯t risk any more exposure . They might be watching . "

    Li Yundong had a pretty good idea which "they" Su Chan was referring to . Could that crazy Ruan Hongling girl be watching as well?

    Li Yundong nodded . "Alright . Let¡¯s get out of here . "

    "Where do you think you¡¯re going! I¡¯m not done with you yet!" He Shao yelled .

    Seriously? After I just tossed you into a car?

    "Just ignore him, Yundong . . . " Su Chan whispered beside him . "Don¡¯t risk your life because of a silly man like him . . . "

    Zhou Qin was already walking away .

    Li Yundong nodded, took Su Chan¡¯s hand, and turned around .

    Then, out of nowhere, another voice sounded, a voice that Li Yundong had never heard before in his life .

    "Children, children, children! What a bunch of annoying brats . Now get out of my way before I hurt your tiny asses . "

 Chapter 97.2

    Chapter 97.2

    <h4>Strength Beyond Wealth and Status</h4>

    Li Yundong swiveled around to identify the owner of that voice . He did the quick scan of the area, but he didn¡¯t see anyone other than the crowd, He Shao, and Liu Chuan .

    Liu Chuan was now standing beside He Shao, apparently to help keep He Shao upright .

    The voice sounded again .

    "I said out of my way, you punks!"

    All of a sudden, amotion broke out among the crowd . The students were now screaming in fear . Secondster, the crowd was forced apart when someone barreled through it and leaped onto the hood of the limo .

    It was an old man dressed in a dark, Wong Fei-hung style robe . The man had a strange beard, which looked like a mouse¡¯s whiskers . Li Yundong nced at Zhou Qin, who was staring at the scene with a frown .

    "You know him?" Li Yundong asked .

    Zhou Qin shook his head .

    The old man leaped down from the limo . "Out of my way, punks!" The old man pushed He Shao and Liu Chuan away . The guy seemed pretty strong for an old man, since He Shao and Liu Chuan nearly fell over after that shove .

    He Shao recovered first . "Hey! Watch it, old man! Which mental institute did you escape from, huh? Do you know who I am?"

    The old man tilted his head to one side and studied He Shao for a moment . "No idea who you are . And I don¡¯t care . "

    "Don¡¯t know who I am..." He Shao startedughing like he¡¯d just been told the funniest joke ever . "You have a death wish old man . "

    The old man sneered and stroked his whisker-like beard . "Tsk, tsk, tsk . Children these days . . . No respect for their elders at all . " The old man released a derisive chuckle . "Not even the Chief Executive of Hong Kong has the guts to speak to me with that kind of tone, let alone a nameless punk like you . Get out of my sight . Seeing your face puts me in a bad mood . "

    Whispers broke out among the crowd again .

    "Come on . Let¡¯s just go," Li Yundong said, turning around to leave .

    "Hey! You there! The guy with the two pretty chicks!"

    Li Yundong froze, then slowly turned back around . He gave Su Chan¡¯s hand a reassuring squeeze when he felt it tense inside his grip . Li Yundong lifted his gaze and stared ahead . The old man was looking right at him .

    "Yes?" Li Yundong said .

    The old man chuckled . "Well¡ª"

    "Hey! I wasn¡¯t done talking to you, old man!" He Shao reached for the old man¡¯s shoulder, but the old man grabbed He Shao¡¯s hand instead and twisted it into a gruesome joint lock . He Shao¡¯s knees hit the ground as he screamed .

    "Chin Na . . . " Su Chan whispered .

    Li Yundong nced at Su Chan, who was now watching the old man intently . She seemed to really know what she was looking at, which, of course, didn¡¯te as a surprise to Li Yundong anymore .

    Li Yundong himself had seen Chin Na in action through a video featuring a demo during the International Martial Arts Festival . From what he remembered, the martial art focuses exclusively on joint lock techniques .

    In another video, he saw a teenage girl bring a massive¡ªas big as Dave Bautista¡ªbodybuilder to his knees with just a twist of the poor guy¡¯s thumb .

    So yeah . Pretty badass stuff .

    He Shao¡¯s screams filled the area . Admittedly, hearing that bastard scream felt somewhat satisfying .

    The old man bend down and patted He Shao¡¯s cheeks a few times .

    "Didn¡¯t your parents teach you to respect your elders? Tsk, tsk, tsk..." said the old man . "Or do I have to do their job for them . "

    "Aaarrrrggghhhh!!!" He Shao¡¯s hand was twisted in the opposite direction .

    Li Yundong cringed . Shit... That has got to hurt like a bitch .

    "Argh, what a bother . Just get out of my sight, you pest . " The old man eased the pressure on He Shao¡¯s hand . "I have business with that man"¡ªhe pointed at Li Yundong¡ª"over there . And you¡¯re wasting my precious time . "

    Li Yundong tensed up .

    Business with me? But I don¡¯t even know you .

    "Oh! So that¡¯s how you wanna y it, old man! You¡¯ll regret touching me, you old fool! You¡¯re dead man walking I¡¯m telling you!" He Shao yelled . "You¡¯re dead meat!"

    The old man nced down at He Shao . "Oh . . . you annoying little pest . "

    The old man¡¯s strange robe billowed as though a breeze had blown around it . Li Yundong¡¯s scalp tingled . Something wasn¡¯t right with that picture . There was no breeze; the surrounding air waspletely still .

    Then, it happened .

    The old man gave the sleeves of his dark robe a quick and powerful flick . Air currents, strong and powerful ones, swirled around the old man like a mini cyclone . Li Yundong¡¯s instincts took over . He burst forward and shielded Su Chan and Zhou Qin with his body . Screams of terror blended together with the strange howling of the wind, enveloping them like a nket .

    Several secondster, it was over .

    Liu Chuan and He Shao dropped to the ground at least five meters away from where they had been, both trembling in fear .

    The old bastard had just thrown two grown men into the air with just a flick of his robe .

    Great . More X-men shit to deal with . Just f*cking great .

    Li Yundong surveyed the area . The students were all down on the ground with hands covering their heads . None of them were seriously hurt . He turned around . Su Chan was hiding behind his body, but her eyes showed no fear at all . Instead, she was eyeing the old man intently . Zhou Qin seemed terrified butposed .

    "Is he one of the people after us?" Li Yundong whispered to Su Chan . After what? The drug in his body? Su Chan?

    Su Chan kept her eyes on the old man . "I don¡¯t know . But it doesn¡¯t matter . We¡¯ve gotta get out of here . "

    He agreed . This old man was dangerous . He¡¯d never seen a move like that before .

    The old man was now smoothing down his robe and saying something to He Shao, but Li Yundong didn¡¯t care . He and Su Chan were already beside Zhou Qin, helping her to her feet .

    "Are you alright?" Li Yundong asked Zhou Qin .

    Zhou Qin nodded shakily .

    "Where¡¯s your car? We¡¯ve gotta go . Now . "

    "I parked in front of a restaurant near campus . "

    "Is it far?"

    Zhou Qin shook her head, but steadily this time . "Just a five-minute walk from here . Come on, follow me . "

    The three of them broke off into a sprint, heading in the opposite direction, away from the scene .

    Li Yundong had barely taken two steps when the old man¡¯s voice sounded behind him . "Hey . . . I didn¡¯t say you could leave, young man! We still have some unfinished business, you and I!"

    Li Yundong turned his head around but kept running . The old man was staring at them, but he wasn¡¯t chasing them .

    Li Yundong looked to the front again .

    "Don¡¯t stop," Li Yundong said firmly . "Just keep running . "

    "Stop! Or I¡¯ll kill this girl!"

    Li Yundong stopped short, then turned around slowly . Shit... The old man had a female student in a choke hold .

    Dammit to hell . . .

    Su Chan and Zhou Qin had stopped running as well .

    "Come back here," the old man said . "Like I said, you and I have unfinished business . "

    Li Yundong took a deep breath and mobilized his Qi to his Shenting . Eryue came to life in the form of the buzzing in his ears .

    "Zhou Qin," Li Yundong said . "Take Su Chan to your car and get out of here . Call the cops once you¡¯re inside your car . "

    "No! I¡¯m not leaving you!" Su Chan protested .

    "Don¡¯t argue with me, princess . " Li Yundong started walking back towards the old man . "Go . Now . "

    Li Yundong kept walking without looking back, though he knew from the sound footsteps behind him that the girls hadplied with his request . Then, the old man yelled again . "Now, now! I didn¡¯t say the two girls could leave!"

    Li Yundong stopped walking and cursed under his breath . He turned around . Su Chan and Zhou Qin had stopped running as well .

    "Your business is with me, not with them," Li Yundong said loudly .

    The old man chortled . "You think I¡¯m an idiot? They¡¯ll just call the police once they¡¯re out of here . " Then the old man turned to address the crowd . "You hear me, kids? None of you leave till I say you can!"

    Li Yundong muttered another curse, then shared a look with Su Chan . Su Chan gave him a slight nod .

    "Hey! Stop dallying ande over here! All three of you!"

    Li Yundong sorted through the buzzing in his ear for the sounds near the old man . He heard a whimper from the girl and the old man¡¯s breathing . Using his telescopic vision, he zoomed in, focusing on the old man¡¯s fingers around the girl¡¯s throat, where dark bruises had already formed . Li Yundong zoomed out . "Let the girl go first!"

    "No . You get over here first, or I¡¯ll crush her windpipe!"

    The girl whimpered again . Li Yundong clenched his jaw .

    "Zhou Qin . . . Whatever happens, I want you to stick close to Su Chan, okay?"

    "Okay . . . " Zhou Qin¡¯s reply was firm and steady .

    "Come on, girls . Let¡¯s head over there before shit happens," Li Yundong said .

    Right . Who was he even kidding . Shit had already happened .

    Li Yundong walked towards the old man, making sure to keep Su Chan and Zhou Qin behind him . When he was three feet away from the old man, he stopped and stared into the old man¡¯s eyes .

    "We¡¯re here," Li Yundong said . "Now let her go . "

    The old man uncurled his fingers around the girl¡¯s neck . The girl stumbled away and broke into a coughing fit . A few of her friends rushed over to support her .

    The old man smirked . "It¡¯s an honor to finally meet you, Li Yundong . "

    What the f*ck? The hair on the back of Li Yundong¡¯s neck stood on end . Clearly, someone had put the old man up to this . Was it Xie Fei again? Did Zhao Yujian¡¯s parents me Li Yundong for their son¡¯s demise? Did they hire this guy to avenge Zhao Yujian?

    Li Yundong mobilized his Qi to his leg and arm muscles . Like it or not, he had to prepare for the worst . This guy was clearly dangerous . And that strange robe of his . Li Yundong still hadn¡¯t figured out how it worked .

    "Who are you? And what do you want from me?" Li Yundong asked .

    The old man chuckled . "Now we¡¯re getting somewhere . "

    The old man stepped forward and performed a Bao Quan Li (T/N: A hand gesture used by Chinese martial artists when they greet each other; right fist pressed against left palm) .

    "A pleasure to meet you, Li Yundong . I¡¯m Lin Youfa from Foshan . "

    First Mount Longhu . Now Foshan . It was like he was running a f*cking travel agency around here .

    "What do you want from me?"

    Lin Youfa smirked . "You don¡¯t have to know what I want . You¡¯re going give it to me anyway . "

    Li Yundong tensed up . What¡¯s that supposed to mean? Is he after the drug?

    "Pardon me for doing this . . . " Lin Youfa said .

    Do what? What the hell was this guy¡¯s problem¡ª

    Lin Youfa¡¯s fist came flying to his face at the same time Zhou Qin screamed .

    Instincts took over . Li Yundong caught Lin Youfa¡¯s fist with his hand, but Lin Youfa managed to wrench his fist free before Li Yundong could follow up with a counterattack .

    Lin Youfaughed and began circling around him . "Nice reflexes . Not many people can catch a punch like you just did . "

    Li Yundong nced to his side . Su Chan was about six feet to his right, crouching in front of Zhou Qin . She must have reacted and pulled Zhou Qin away the moment she noticed Lin Youfa moving .

    Li Yundong wanted to smack himself for his own carelessness . He would¡¯ve been able to anticipate the punch before it was thrown if he had used Xianjue earlier . And of all the things he could¡¯ve done to stop the punch, he had chosen to catch it, which was a stupid thing to do since Lin Youfa was clearly a Chin Na master . One wrong move and Li Yundong would end up trapped in some deadly joint lock . Well, that won¡¯t happen again .

    Lin Youfa kept circling him as though he was looking for an opening tounch his next strike . Li Yundong began to take slow steps away from the crowd . From the looks of it, things could get ugly, so it would be best to lead Lin Youfa away from the crowd lest an innocent bystander got caught up in the fight . It didn¡¯t seem like Lin Youfa had noticed his n yet; he was still walking around Li Yundong in circles while Li Yundong gradually led them away from the crowd .

    "Why are you doing this?" Li Yundong said, making sure that his Qi was still at his Shenting . "There¡¯s no reason for us to fight . "

    "That¡¯s for me to decide," Lin Youfa said .

    "I don¡¯t want to fight you," Li Yundong said in a warning tone .

    Lin Youfaughed . "I¡¯m afraid you don¡¯t have a choice, boy . "

    So be it then .

    Li Yundong¡¯s Xianjue responded to his will and came alive in a burst of white light . A strange sensation washed over his body, and he knew instantly that he was in irvoyant mode . He fast-forwarded the vision in his head and he saw through Lin Youfa¡¯s next three attacks .

    So that¡¯s the robe¡¯s purpose . . . I see...

    Lin Youfa was still circling him when Li Yundong turned off Xianjue¡¯s irvoyant mode . Li Yundong stopped moving; he was already far enough from the crowd .

    "Last chance to back out," Li Yundong warned . "I don¡¯t want to hurt you . . . "

    Lin Youfa sneered . "Oh, it¡¯s still too early to tell who¡¯s gonna get hurt . "

    Lin Youfa charged forward and, just as Li Yundong anticipated, Lin Youfa¡¯s dark robed billowed around his body, causing the air to pick up speed . The purpose of the robe was to distract Lin Youfa¡¯s opponent with the air currents and also to conceal the direction of his kicks . A pretty decent trick, but it wouldn¡¯t matter; Li Yundong already knew which direction Lin Youfa¡¯s kick woulde from thanks to Xianjue .

    "Shadowless kick!!" Lin Youfa yelled .

    Li Yundong leaped to his left side .

    SWISH!

    The front kick missed his groin .

    Then, Li Yundong parried the follow-up punch with his left hand .

    Now he¡¯s gonna try to use Chin Na on me . . .

    Li Yundong ripped his arm away before Lin Youfa¡¯s fingers could close around his forearm, and then jumped backwards to put some distance between them .

    Silence reigned over the crowd as Lin Youfa stared at him in disbelief .

    "You¡¯ve lost," Li Yundong said coldly . "Now get lost . "

    Lin Youfa roared, then charged at him again . Li Yundong didn¡¯t even have to use Xianjue to parry and avoid the flurry of attacks that Lin Youfaunched at him . Those attacks were frenzied and uncalcted, which made them predictable .

    Li Yundong kept parrying and dodging Lin Youfa¡¯s frenzied strikes . At one point, he realized that Lin Youfa had forced him back towards the crowd . Shit . Was he nning to take a hostage now that he knew he was on the losing end? But what¡¯s the point? I literally gave him the chance to walk away just now .

    Li Yundong dodged another kick . The kick left an opening in Lin Youfa¡¯s defense, which Li Yundong decided to capitalize on .

    Li Yundong delivered his first punch of the fight .

    Much to Li Yundong¡¯s surprise, Lin Youfa blocked the punch with his forearms instead of dodging it . The force of the punch pushed Lin Youfa back a few feet .

    Lin Youfa¡¯s back crashed into the limo .

    "Hey! Watch the car!" Liu Chuan yelled from God knows where .

    Lin Youfa pushed away from the limo and pounced on Li Yundong again . Lin Youfa threw another punch, which Li Yundong parried with ease .

    Okay . Time to end this stupid fight .

    First, he had to disarm that robe . That tornado move earlier seemed pretty deadly if it could send two grown men into the air . Best if he didn¡¯t give Lin Youfa a chance to pull that shit again . But how? How do I disarm the robe?

    Suddenly, Li Yundong had an idea . He rxed his stance and held out his hands in front of him in a gesture of peace .

    "Come on, sir," Li Yundong said, making his voice as soothing as possible . "Why do we have to fight when we have no quarrels with each other? I don¡¯t even know you . "

    Li Yundong slowly approached Lin Youfa, keeping his hands out in front of him the whole time . That¡¯s it, old man . Use your Chin Na . Grab my hand . . .

    "Even if I did wrong you in some way," Li Yundong went on, "isn¡¯t it better if we talk things out ande to a peaceful resolution?"

    Li Yundong inched closer again .

    "Come on . . . What say we stop this violence, eh? We can go have a cup of tea . Or grab some beer . Whichever you prefer . My treat . "

    Li Yundong stopped walking, then reached out as if to offer Lin Youfa a handshake .

    Li Yundong focused his hearing on the sounds from Lin Youfa¡¯s feet . The moment Lin Youfa¡¯s feet moved, Li Yundong would be ready to act .

    That¡¯s it . . . that¡¯s it . . . Use your Chin Na . . .

    Lin Youfa¡¯s hand shot out .

    But Li Yundong flipped his palm over and grabbed the sleeve of Lin Youfa¡¯s robe moments before Lin Youfa could wrap his fingers around his wrist .

    Hah! Got you now, old man!

    Li Youfa stared back at him with wide, fearful eyes .

    Li Yundong yanked the fabric backwards with all his might, but Lin Youfa twisted his torso and leaped backwards at the same time . The sleeve was ripped off, but the robe was still on Lin Youfa .

    The n had failed .

    Li Yundong cursed and tossed the torn sleeve aside .

    The robe billowed again .

    SWISH!

    A strong gust of wind hit Li Yundong right in the face . Li Yundong hissed when he felt the stinging sensation in his eyes . Li Yundong covered his eyes with his hand and tried to get his Xianjue to work, but it was no use . The pain in his eyes was too distracting . He couldn¡¯t focus .

    Footsteps sounded in front of him . Li Yundong blinked his eyes desperately, but his vision remained a blur . Shit, shit, shit . . . Lin Youfa was probably going to attack and he couldn¡¯t see a f*cking thing .

    "Yundong!!!!" Su Chan¡¯s scream speared through his heart, throwing him into panic . Should I retreat? No . The old man would just keeping .

    Argh! To hell with keeping a low profile!

    Li Yundong made a split second decision . He mobilized his Qi as fast as he could, using it to connect his three Dantians together¡ªthe Bridging of the Three Gates .

    Please work . . . Please work . . .

    Li Yundong cocked his fist back and punched the air in front of him with all his strength .

 Chapter 98.1

    Chapter 98.1

    <h4>Man vs God</h4>

    Su Chan knew something was wrong the moment she saw Yundong flinch . What happened? What in Tao¡¯s name happened? Su Chan zoomed in with her eyes . Yundong¡¯s face was twisted in pain, and he kept blinking his eyes . Grr! That pesky old man must have done something to Yundong¡¯s eyes!

    Yundong¡¯s knees hit the ground .

    The old man was now moving, though he appeared to be limping .

    Yundong was still kneeling on the ground, doing nothing to defend himself .

    Xianjue, Yundong! Xianjue!

    With Xianjue, it was still possible for Yundong to dodge the old man¡¯s attacks even though he couldn¡¯t see . But why wasn¡¯t Yundong standing up to defend himself? Staying in a kneeling position would impair his mobility andpromise his defense .

    Argh! No use worrying about this now . I have to go help him!

    Su Chan sprang to her feet . But then she stopped . She turned back around . Zhou Qin was staring back at her grimly .

    "Go," Zhou Qin said with a nod . "Go help him, I¡¯ll be okay . I¡¯ll call the cops and go check on the others . " Zhou Qin jerked her chin towards the students who were cowering in fear near the long vehicle .

    Su Chan nodded and returned her gaze to the old man . Footsteps sounded behind her; Zhou Qin was already running towards the car . Su Chan wasn¡¯t sure who these "cops" were supposed to be, but she didn¡¯t care .

    Maybe they were the same men who wore those strange badges .

    The old man stopped moving . He crouched down . Blood spilled from the old man¡¯s mouth, and he broke into a coughing fit .

    For a moment there, Su Chan thought the old man had given up . But then the coughing stopped, and the old man rose to his feet again . Determination shed inside his eyes as he wiped the blood off the corner of his mouth with the sleeve of his robe .

    Then, the old man started limping towards Yundong again .

    "Yundong!!!!" Su Chan yelled . She tried to switch on her Xianjue¡¯s irvoyant mode, but cursed when she realized that the old man was out of her range . Only Yundong¡¯s Xianjue had that kind of insane range .

    Su Chan¡¯s legs moved, propelling her towards Yundong .

    She had barely taken two steps before something made her stop .

    Wait a minute... Is he...

    Yundong had let his hands drop limply to his sides . Su Chan zoomed in with her eyes, focusing on Yundong¡¯s face . He was no longer blinking . His eyes were closed, and there was a tranquil look on his face .

    The penny dropped when Su Chan noticed the state of Yundong¡¯s hair, which was standing upright .

    Oh, clever, clever Yundong...

    Su Chan zoomed out, her eyes darting around as she searched desperately for Zhou Qin¡¯s whereabouts .

    Yundong was bridging the Three Gates just like she¡¯d taught himst time . He knew that a frontal attack wasing, so he was trying to create distance . Forcing his opponent away to keep himself outside of his opponent¡¯s striking range . That way he wouldn¡¯t have to dodge or parry at all .

    Brilliant .

    Greatbat instincts .

    She found Zhou Qin secondster .

    Zhou Qin was beside the long vehicle, helping two girls to their feet .

    But that¡¯s in the direct line of¡ª

    Su Chan¡¯s gaze snapped towards Yundong .

    Yundong was now on his feet .

    She zoomed in .

    White steam rose from the top of his head

    Uh-oh . . . .

    Su Chan sprinted towards the car as fast as her legs could carry her . "Back away from the car!!!" Su Chan yelled at the top of her lungs .

    Zhou Qin, along with several other students near the car, froze .

    "Get away!!!" Su Chan waved her arms wildly .

    Su Chan reached the car in record time . She dove for Zhou Qin and grabbed her arm .

    Then, Su Chan scurried away from the car, dragging Zhou Qin with her . As they moved, Su Chan swiveled her head and looked towards Yundong . The old man had finally reached Yundong and was about tounch another Shadowless kick .

    Yundong cocked his fist back .

    "Down!" Su Chan yelled, pulling Zhou Qin to the ground .

    The moment they both hit the ground, the air in front of Yundong exploded in a soundless p . The old man did some weird acrobatic move at thest second¡ªhe twisted his body sideways while jumping backwards .

    WHOOSH!!!

    A powerful shockwave sted a straight path from Yundong towards the long car, hurling the old man away like a rag doll . A loud, metallic crunch sounded followed by the sound of ss shattering . The car skidded sideways, producing an ear-piercing screech whichsted for seconds on end .

    Then it was over . Silence fell .

    The smell of burnt rubber assaulted Su Chan¡¯s nose . She nced towards the ruined car . All of its windows were shattered, and the dent in the middle of its body was so great that the car appeared slightly bent lengthwise . Several dark lines marked the pavement, no doubt left behind by the car¡¯s rubber wheels when they were sliding across the concrete .

    "Stay down," Su Chan whispered to Zhou Qin .

    Su Chan climbed to her feet and sprinted towards Yundong .

    To her surprise, the old man was still standing even though he had been blown away by the shockwave earlier . His dark robe, however, was now torn apart with pieces of it still floating in the air .

    Su Chan¡¯s footsteps echoed as she ran . The moment she got close, Yundong stiffened and started backing away from her .

    "Who¡¯s there!" he said and got into a fighting stance .

    He still can¡¯t see...

    Su Chan immediately stopped running . "It¡¯s me, beloved . It¡¯s me . "

    Yundong¡¯s posture rxed . "S- Su Chan?"

    Su Chan closed the remaining distance between them . "Yes, I¡¯m here now, beloved . Let me see your eyes . "

    Yundong lowered himself to the floor with a loud groan .

    Su Chan crouched down and flipped open one of his eyelids .

    "The bastard went for my eyes . . . " Yundong grumbled . "I dunno what he did . But it hurt like hell . I think it¡¯s that robe of his . "

    "Rock dust . Sand," Su Chan said, lowering his eyelids . She made a sound of disapproval in her throat . "Must have sent it to your eyes with those air currents . Now hold still . Keep your eyes closed . "

    Su Chan adjusted her posture so that her hands were hidden behind Yundong¡¯s body, away from the crowd¡¯s view .

    Yundong tried to rub his eyes with his hands .

    "Tsk! Don¡¯t rub your eyes," Su Chan said, pping his hand . "Hands off!"

    Yundong let his hands drop .

    Su Chan shut her eyes and muttered an incantation for an extraction spell .

    "What? I didn¡¯t catch that . You were whispering something," Yundong said .

    A green glow appeared in Su Chan¡¯s hand .

    ¡¯¡¯Nothing," Su Chan said . "Just hold still . "

    Su Chan held her hand in front of Yundong¡¯s eyes .

    Yundong sighed . "Much better..."

    Secondster, Su Chan withdrew her hand .

    "Okay, you can open your eyes now . "

    Yundong¡¯sshes fluttered .

    "Why didn¡¯t you use Xianjue?" Su Chan asked .

    "Couldn¡¯t get it to work," Yundong said, blinking a few times . "Eyes hurt too much . "

    Oh... Right .

    "Can you see now?"

    "Yeah . " Yundong wiped a stray tear with his sleeve .

    "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

    "No . Just the eyes . But the pain is gone..." Yundong stared at her . "What did you do?"

    "It¡ª"

    The sound of maniacalughter stilled Su Chan¡¯s words . Slowly, she rose to her feet . "Up, Yundong . Quickly!" Su Chan held out her hand .

    Yundong slid his hand into hers and she pulled him up .

    "Damn it . I thought I had him for sure," Yundong said . "How the hell did I miss?"

    Uh... Hello? Maybe because you couldn¡¯t see?

    Su Chan bit back the snarky remark . Sheesh . All this stress must be getting to her .

    Su Chan cleared her throat . "He was thrown away by the shockwave, but he dodged at thest second, so he didn¡¯t take the full brunt of it . "

    The old man started pping his hands .

    "Wow . . . Wow!" the old man said, removing the rest of his tattered robe from his body . "I haven¡¯t had so much fun in years . Years! Hahahaha! Oh... This is going to be interesting!"

    "Hahahahaha! Can you imagine? After spending so many years engaging in boring duels with hacks who imed to be masters... And now, finally! Finally I found a worthy opponent!"

    "Crazy son of a... Hey... Why is he ripping his shirt off? What the hell is he up to?" Yundong said .

    The old man was now naked from the waist up . The way his ribcage was pushing out against his skin made him look like someone who hadn¡¯t eaten in weeks .

    Su Chan narrowed her eyes . "I don¡¯t know . . . "

    Su Chan scanned the area for the crowd .

    Zhou Qin had done a superb job getting the injured students away from the damaged car .

    Most of the students had already fled the scene while the old man was busy exchanging blows with Yundong . Those who remained were either unconscious or incapacitated somehow .

    "Holy shit . . . Is the old bastard still nning to fight in his condition?" Yundong said .

    Su Chan zoomed in on the old man¡¯s face .

    The old man was stillughing like a loony . He looked like he was enjoying himself .

    "Whoa, whoa, whoa . . . What¡¯s that thing in his hand?" Yundong whispered . "Did you see that?"

    Su Chan zoomed out of the old man¡¯s face and focused on his hands instead . She managed to catch a glimpse of a t, yellow object (a cloth? a piece of paper?) before the old man hid his hand behind his back . His other hand slid into the pocket of his pants as though to look for something .

    "I knew there¡¯s something special about you, boy! I knew it!" The old man unleashed another round ofughter . "Looks like that kid wasn¡¯t lying when he told me that an expert Cultivator lives in this city!"

    "Did he just... Shit! Su Chan!" Yundong hissed . "He mentioned Cultivator . He knows about us!"

    Su Chan narrowed her eyes . Kid? Which kid told him about Yundong?

    Was it Ruan Hongling?

    The timeline fit .

    Just yesterday, Ruan Hongling was at their door, speaking with Yundong . And one dayter, this old man appeared out of nowhere to have a dust-up with Yundong?

    But this man couldn¡¯t possibly be a Cultivator from the Zhengyi School . The Zhengyi School would never act so overtly, especially in a ce crawling with mortals . Well, there was only one way to find out for sure . They had to get this old man to talk¡ª

    Hey . . . what¡¯s that smell?

    Su Chan closed her eyes and sniffed the air a few times . Burning . Something was burning .

    "Umm . . . Su Chan? He just threw something away . . . " Yundong said . "It¡¯s a lighter . . . And he¡¯s holding some kind of yellow paper in his hand . . . "

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes shot open . A talisman!

    He¡¯s casting a spell!

    But what spell?

    "And... the paper¡¯s gone . Burnt into ashes . What kind of sick game is this lunatic ying?"

    "Hyaahhhhhh!!!!" The old man pped his chest .

    Yundong flinched .

    "Yundong . . . Move your Qi to your legs," Su Chan said . "Prepare to run . "

    "What! Run? Did you forget his threat earlier? He¡¯s gonna kill . . . "

    Su Chan didn¡¯t hear the rest of Yundong¡¯s sentence . She was already tuning her Eryue to focus on the soundsing from the old man¡¯s lips . Incantations . . . If it¡¯s a spell . . . It probably involves some kind of incantation . . . Come on,e on . . . Here we go!

    " . . . Maoshan Jida Zhen Shengong . Bada Yuanshuai Xian Shentong! Hearken to me, O Great Celestial Lord of the Three Realms! Come to me! Show me your power! I offer you my body as a vessel . . . "

    Su Chan¡¯s blood ran cold . No... No... It can¡¯t be...

    She took Yundong¡¯s hand and gave it a sharp tug .

    "Yundong, we have to go . Now!"

    Yundong didn¡¯t budge .

    "Yundong,e on!! We¡¯ve gotta move!"

    Yundong pointed a shaky finger at something in front of them .

    Su Chan lifted her gaze .

    The old man¡¯s body was now twitching and convulsing violently . The convulsions were apanied by a series of crunching sound, like the cracking of knuckles, only ten times louder . His skin bulged and contorted as though his muscles were expanding from within . His face began to warp and shift as though a bunch of creatures were trying to crawl out from within his skull but was held back by the sticyer of his skin . Spit and some kind of unknown fluid dripped to the ground . The old man¡¯s contorted mouth dropped open as he gurgled . More fluid spilled to the ground . Su Chan thought the fluid looked a lot like the contents of a person¡¯s stomach . A putrid smell filled the air a split secondter . The old man¡¯s mouth gaped wider as his teeth shifted and rearranged themselves inside his oral cavity . His jaw engorged and shrunk in an erratic rhythm .

    All of a sudden, the old man hunched over .

    The crunching stopped .

    When he rose to full height secondster, he was no longer an old man . Instead, standing before them was a six-foot-tall man with the build of a tough warrior .

 Chapter 98.2

    Chapter 98.2

    <h4>Man vs God</h4>

    X-men shit be damned . Dodging bullets be damned . irvoyant visions be damned . This? This was f*cking ult .

    Was he dreaming? Was this a nightmare? Li Yundong pinched his thigh hard . No . Not a dream . This shit was real .

    Ra¡¯s al Ghul over there had just transformed from a skinny old man into a young hunk who looked like he pumped iron for a living . F*ck .

    Li Yundong could feel a headacheing . But judging from those bulging muscles on Lin Youfa¡¯s new body, a headache was probably the least of Li Yundong¡¯s worries . He¡¯d be lucky if he still had a head by the end of all this .

    "What an honor, Zhenren Li! What a great honor indeed! Now allow me to properly introduce myself!" Lin Youfa cupped both hands in front of his chest and bowed slightly . "Lin Youfa of the Divine Fist School!

    "Who of the what? The Divine Fist School?"

    "That¡¯s right, Zhenren Li . The Divine Fist School was founded by the great Shenxian Huang! Today, we are based in Kowloon, Hong Kong! Surely you¡¯ve heard of us, Zhenren Li..."

    I¡¯ve heard jack squat .

    "Shenxian Huang? What the hell is this guy talking about?" Li Yundong nced at Su Chan, who looked dangerously pale .

    "Shenda..." Su Chan whispered .

    Great . More gobbledygook . Just what he needed .

    "Shenda? What Shend¡ª"

    "Look out!!!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes snapped to the front . A dark shadow appeared in front of his face, and Li Yundong raised his arms by instinct . He grunted when he felt a crushing pain in his forearms . Next thing he knew, the soles of his shoes were sliding against concrete as his body was thrown backwards by a strong force . He even had to lean his body forward to prevent himself from falling t on his back .

    "Yundong!!!"

    Su Chan¡¯s scream sounded as though it hade from quite some distance away .

    Just how far had he been thrown away?

    Li Yundong tried to lower his arms . Or had he lowered them already? He couldn¡¯t tell since he had lost feeling in both arms .

    Footsteps sounded ahead .

    When he opened his eyes, he realized that his arms had indeed been lowered and were now hanging limply¡ªuselessly¡ªby his sides .

    He hoped nothing was broken . Those medical bills were going to be a real bitch .

    Su Chan was suddenly beside him, examining his arms . It was weird as hell, watching someone touch you, yet not being able to feel the touch at all .

    "I can¡¯t feel them," Li Yundong said . "Can¡¯t feel my arms . "

    Su Chan looked into his eyes briefly before lowering her gaze back to his arms .

    "Nothing is broken," Su Chan said . "Just hold on . "

    Su Chan pulled out a long, ck needle out of nowhere¡ªseriously, where did she keep those things? And why was the needle ck? Sometimes he couldn¡¯t tell if it was a needle or a really stiff strand of hair .

    Su Chan poked the needle into a few spots on his arms and, momentster, he could feel his arms again . Maybe he didn¡¯t have to worry about those medical bills after all .

    More footsteps sounded ahead; Lin Youfa was approaching them slowly . The bastard was smiling .

    "Well, well, well! Very impressive, Zhenren Li! To be able to take the full brunt of that strike with just your arms? Tsk, tsk, tsk . " Lin Youfaughed . "How nice to be young!"

    Li Yundong took a step forward, shoving Su Chan behind his back as he did . He would rather die than let this bastard touch a single hair on Su Chan¡¯s pretty head .

    Su Chan tried to step out from behind him, but he held her back with him arms .

    "Yundong! Stop! Listen to me¡ª"

    Li Yundong mped a palm over Su Chan¡¯s mouth .

    Stall for time . Keep the guy talking .

    "What¡¯s so impressive about that?" Li Yundong said, his eyes scanning the area around them, assessing the situation . Zhou Qin and some of the injured students still lingered nearby . But they were further away from the car now . Many of them had actually sneaked off, but Lin Youfa didn¡¯t seem too concerned about that anymore .

    The bastard¡¯s main objective right now seemed to be beating the living daylights out of Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong zoomed in on Zhou Qin, who appeared to be speaking on the phone . When he sort through the buzzing in his ears, he realized then that Zhou Qin was calling the cops .

    Good . Now he just had to keep stalling until the cops arrived .

    "What¡¯s so impressive?" Lin Youfa raised a brow . "That strike could smash through fiftyyers of concrete . " Lin Youfa smirked . "Yet you took the hit like it was nothing . "

    Well, it wasn¡¯t nothing . It actually hurt like a bitch, at least during the moment of impact .

    "Yundong... mmph... mmph... mmph..."

    "Shh," Li Yundong said, then swiveled his head to look at Lin Youfa . Stall... Stall him...

    "You keep telling me your name, sir," Li Yundong said, keeping his gaze on Lin Youfa . "But it¡¯s funny cuz¡¯ it didn¡¯t ring any bells at all . And you seem to know a lot about me while I know nothing about you . Have we met before? How did you know me?"

    All of a sudden, Lin Youfa stopped walking . He tilted his head as if to ponder Li Yundong¡¯s words . Then, he stared at Li Yundong with narrowed eyes .

    Li Yundong used the hiatus to mobilize his Qi . Secondster, he managed to link his three Dantians together, once again bridging his Three Gates .

    "Well, you¡¯ve met my disciple Huang Yifei before . And you kicked his ass . " Lin Youfa chuckled . "That brat was foolish to challenge you . He was in way over his head, that boy . "

    "Mmph! Mmph!" Su Chan began pping and wing at Li Yundong¡¯s arm . Li Yundong shushed her again .

    "So you¡¯re Huang Yifei¡¯s master, huh?"

    Li Yundong moved his Qi to his Shenting and Lingtai . A wave of calmness and mental rity washed over him .

    Lin Youfaughed . "Why, yes . He¡¯s one of the naughty ones, I¡¯m afraid . You no doubt thought of him as just an annoying pest, Zhenren Li . I apologize on his behalf . "

    I don¡¯t want your f*cking apology . I want you to leave me the hell alone .

    Li Yundong put on his most charming¡ªhe hoped¡ªsmile . "Water under the bridge, sir . So . How about a truce?"

    Lin Youfa burst intoughter . "Very funny, Zhenren Li . But I¡¯m not here to talk about my stupid disciple . Now . Tell me, Zhenren Li . Which sect or school do you belong to? And who¡¯s your teacher?"

    Seriously? Again with this shit?

    "Mmph, mmph, mmph!" Su Chan kept struggling against him, and then¡ª

    Oww! She bit my hand! That little minx!

    Li Yundong shot Su Chan a warning look and mped his hand down on her mouth harder .

    "Which school?" Li Yundong pretended to think hard, then smirked . "Why, Tiannan University, of course! You¡¯re standing right in front of it . Want a nickel tour? I could give you one . "

    Lin Youfa¡¯s brows twitched a little . A momentter, he chuckled . "Looks like I¡¯m gonna have to force that information out of you, Zhenren Li . "

    Uh-oh . Shit had officially gotten real .

    Okay . First things first . He had to get Su Chan as far away from here as possible . This bastard packed a wallop . And judging from the fact that he had threatened to choke a girl to death earlier, he wasn¡¯t above hurting the members of the fairer sex . Honestly, what happened to chivalry these days?

    "I hope you don¡¯t hold back, Zhenren Li!" Lin Youfa began to make his way towards them, cracking his knuckles and rolling his neck around as he walked .

    "Hey, Su Chan..." Li Yundong whispered without taking his eyes off Lin Youfa . "You¡¯re pretty good atnding on your feet, right? I¡¯ve seen you perform those acrobatic tricks . Well, I think it¡¯s time you put those skills to good use . "

    "Mmph! Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!!"

    Li Yundong unmped his hand from Su Chan¡¯s mouth .

    "What¡ª"

    Li Yundong flung Su Chan away from him with all his strength .

    "Noooooooooo, Yuuuundddoooonnngg... . Aaaahhhhhh!"

    "Run! Get as far away from here as you can!!! Don¡¯te back!!!" Li Yundong yelled .

    Sounds of Lin Youfa¡¯sughter drifted to his ears .

    "Hahaha! Oh, the lengths you would go to in order to protect your woman! Hahaha! What an honorable man you are, Zhenren Li! This is perfect! This is absolutely perfect! The honorable ones always make the best warriors!" Lin Youfa marched towards Li Yundong resolutely . "Come! Zhenren Li! Let this be the hour we fight!"

    Li Yundong got into a fighting stance . Okay . Here we go... Xianjue!

    Heavy footsteps sounded in front of him .

    Err... What? Li Yundong focused harder . Come on,e on... Xianjue!

    Nothing .

    Shit . Shit . Shit .

    "Here Ie, Zhenren Li!"

    Oh... f*ck .

    SWISH! Li Yundong narrowly avoided the punch to his head, then quickly dodged the follow-up palm strike to his sternum . Li Yundongnded five feet away from Lin Youfa .

    His Xianjue had failed him . His most powerful weapon had just failed him . But how? It had worked perfectly during the beginning of the fight!

    Lin Youfa came at him again, this time with a quick roundhouse kick .

    "Hyahh!"

    SWISH!

    Li Yundong dropped to his knees just in time to dodge the kick . Then, he scrambled backwards to put more distance between himself and Lin Youfa . He wasn¡¯t stupid enough to try to block any one of this bastard¡¯s strikes again . Not after what the first block did to his arms .

    "Tsk, tsk, tsk! You¡¯re still holding back on me, Zhenren Li . " Lin Youfa shook his head with dissatisfaction . "You know it¡¯s a major disrespect to your opponent if you hold back in a fight..."

    I¡¯m not f*cking holding back, you moron! I¡¯m already balls deep here!

    He kept that thought to himself .

    Negotiating with this lunatic was pointless after all . Just like how asking for world peace was pointless .

    "Come on, dammit! Fight me, Zhenren Li!" Lin Youfa growled . "Fight me for real!"

    SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

    Thatst punch would¡¯ve taken his f*cking head off if he hadn¡¯t dodged it .

    Li Yundong backed away from Lin Youfa slowly . All of a sudden, he felt like he was his old self again: fat; aimless; useless; helpless .

    "You know you can¡¯t win fights by running, Zhenren Li," Lin Youfa said . "Why are you still holding back?"

    Li Yundong took a deep breath and exhaled slowly .

    "Ooh... Finally getting serious now, are you?"

    Li Yundong cocked his fist back and punched the air in front of him .

    CRACK!

    The shockwave sted its way towards Lin Youfa who quickly raised his arms to protect his torso . The shockwave rammed into Lin Youfa¡¯s forearms, causing him to slide back a few inches . Then... Nothing .

    The guy wasn¡¯t even scratched .

    "Now that¡¯s more like it, Zhenren Li . " Lin Youfa chuckled . "My turn!!!"

    Lin Youfa charged at him .

    He¡¯s fast!

    SWISH! SWISH! Li Yundong leaped back to avoid two sessive punches . He¡¯d seen that move before; Huang Yifei had used the same move against him during the performance night .

    Li Yundong unleashed two more shockwaves, which Lin Youfa dodged with ease .

    "Tsk, tsk, tsk..." Lin Youfa shook his head . "Do you actually think that the same trick will work against me more than once, Zhenren Li?"

    Li Yundong lowered his center of gravity and got into a defensive stance . He was running out of options now . He had already used up all his moves, yet he couldn¡¯t even touch Lin Youfa . He had got nothing else up his sleeves .

    He needed a n if he wanted to survive this . A weakness . He needed to find a weakness he could exploit .

    Li Yundong zoomed in on Lin Youfa¡¯s body to look for wounds . All he saw was huge muscles with bulging veins . How the f*ck did that happen? How did a scrawny old man turn into a frigging Dave Bautista lookalike? It was like Ra¡¯s al Ghul taking a dip into his Lazarus pit or something .

    Was it a drug? Some kind of super steroid?

    He did burn some kind weird-looking paper just now . Did he inhale something to juice himself up?

    Li Yundong zoomed out .

    Close-quartersbat was clearly not an option since it would put him at a serious disadvantage . Lin Youfa was a master martial artist who probably knew, like, a hundred fighting styles whereas Li Yundong had never even thrown a punch until a few weeks ago . Besides, Lin Youfa knew Chin Na .

    Dammit .

    This whole situation was seriously f*cked up .

    "Tsk! Clearly, you still think of me as an unworthy opponent," Lin Youfa said . "Looks like I¡¯m going to have to up my game . "

    Li Yundong nearly fell over .

    What the f*ck? This guy wasn¡¯t fighting in full strength yet?

    Lin Youfa broke off into a sprint .

    Just don¡¯t get hit . Just don¡¯t get hit .

    "Hyah!!"

    SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

    Li Yundong did the only thing he could think of to avoid those vicious blows¡ªretreat .

    "Nobody wins a fight by avoiding blows, Zhenren Li! Come on! Fight me!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s back hit something solid . The limo . He¡¯d been forced all the way back to the limo and he didn¡¯t even know it .

    Lin Youfa was barreling towards him, so Li Yundong pushed himself away from the car, forcing Lin Youfa to change direction . That managed to slow Lin Youfa down a little . A teeny little .

    "Tsk! Running around like a mouse," Lin Youfa said . "I really didn¡¯t expect you to be such a coward, Zhenren Li!!!"

    Li Yundong gasped in surprise when Lin Youfa suddenly leaped about 6 meters into the air . Shit! Li Yundong dove sideways .

    CRACK!! A tiny crater formed on the concrete pavement where Lin Youfa¡¯s elbow had smashed into it . Lin Youfa tried to pull out his elbow, which was now stuck in the concrete . Lin Youfa frowned after his first tug had failed to free his elbow from the crater .

    Now¡¯s my chance!

    Li Yundong scrambled to his feet and unleashed one of Zhao Yujian¡¯s signature kicks¡ªthe spinning hook kick .

    SMACK!

    Lin Youfa grunted as his head whipped to the side .

    Li Yundong followed up with two sessive roundhouse kicks, both of whichnded squarely on Lin Youfa¡¯s jaw .

    Lin Youfa managed to free his elbow from the pavement .

    Not wanting to give Lin Youfa a chance to recover, Li Yundong kicked Lin Youfa¡¯s chest with all his strength . The force of the push kick threw Lin Youfa backwards until his back smashed into the limo¡¯s passenger door .

    Li Yundong immediately followed up by pushing his feet off the ground in an explosive leap . His body hurtled forward¡ªtowards the limo¡ªand, while in the air, Li Yundong rotated his hip counterclockwise and bent his right leg at the knee .

    The flying knee strike .

    John had used this move on Li Yundong that night before Li Yundong blew him away with his shockwave . He just hoped that it would work .

    A split secondter, Li Yundong¡¯s right knee rammed into Lin Youfa¡¯s sternum . The force of the impact caused the passenger door to bend and the entire limo to skid several feet away .

    Did that finish him? Did I get him?

    Li Yundong studied Lin Youfa¡¯s face for a moment . Then, he started backing away from the limo, not because Lin Youfa was KO-ed, but because Lin Youfa was actually getting back up and he didn¡¯t want to stay too close to him .

    Lin Youfa pushed away from the car, rolling his neck and rotating his shoulders a few times . "Muay Thai . Taekwondo . Not bad, Zhenren Li . Not bad at all! A fighter who¡¯s well-versed in various fighting styles is unpredictable, hence formidable . "

    Well-versed? Would it be considered well-versed if he had only seen those techniques performed once?

    Lin Youfa snickered . "Though I suspect you¡¯re still not fighting me with everything you have . "

    Why did the f*cker keep saying that? Couldn¡¯t he see that Li Yundong was balls deep here?

    Holding back? Really? Was he kidding him with this shit?

    All of a sudden, Lin Youfa gave Li Yundong a look of amusement .

    That look sent chills down Li Yundong¡¯s spine .

    Li Yundong¡¯s scalp tingled .

    He tried to get his Xianjue to work again .

    Still nothing .

    "What¡¯s the matter, Zhenren Li? You look a bit stressed . "

    Li Yundong closed his eyes and moved his Qi to his Lingtai .

    "Here . How about"¡ªthere was loud crunching sound, like a piece of metal being ripped off¡ª"a little gift to calm you down?"

    Gift? What gif¡ª

    Li Yundong opened his eyes and saw the limousine¡¯s sliding door flying towards his face . Holy f*cking shit!

    Li Yundong punched the air in front of him . The resulting shockwave sted the metallic door away . Li Yundong pulled back his fist and felt his blood run cold .

    Lin Youfa was gone . What the hell? He was still beside the car earlier! Where the hell did he go?

    Li Yundong nced around desperately . Nothing . No signs of Lin Youfa .

    A shadow appeared under his feet . At that moment, Li Yundong didn¡¯t even think; he reacted by diving sideways .

    The ground trembled at the impact . A few girls shrieked not far away .

    Li Yundong climbed to his feet and saw Lin Youfa pulling his right foot out from a wok-sized crater on the ground . Cracks spread out radially from the crater¡¯s center . Note to self: this guy likes tounch his attacks from the air for maximal impact .

    Lin Youfa kicked a piece of broken concrete away from his feet . Then, with a loud roar, Lin Youfa burst forward again .

    SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

    "Argh!"

    Li Yundong messed up his timing when he tried to dodge thatst punch . The punch merely grazed his left shoulder, but the impact was enough to send him tumbling to the ground .

    Is it just me, or had his movements be much faster?

    The buzzing in his ears alerted Li Yundong to the whispers from the crowd, though he didn¡¯t have enough mental resources at the moment to iste those voices with his Eryue .

    Li Yundong rolled over with a grunt and slowly sat up . He felt something pressing against his left butt cheek . When he nced down, he realized that it was that chunk of (palm-sized) broken concrete that Lin Youfa had kicked away earlier .

    Li Yundong made a show of stumbling when he was trying to climb back to his feet . When he stumbled, he made sure that his right palm covered the concrete chunk . By the time he was up on his feet a second time, the concrete chunk was held securely inside his right fist .

    Distract him . Get him to talk . Let him brag .

    "Phew! That was pretty close, huh?" Li Yundong said, putting on a charming smile . "I mean, damn! You¡¯re fast! So much faster than before! Was that your top speed?"

    Lin Youfa smiled . "Attack me if you wanna find out . "

    Damn it!

    "Before we continue," Li Yundong said, raising his left index finger . "Just exin one more thing to me . "

    "What¡¯s that?"

    "That tornado thing you did with your robe . How does that actually work?"

    Using his Mingmu, Li Yundong zoomed in and magnified the view of Lin Youfa¡¯s face . The timing had to be perfect .

    Lin Youfa chuckled . "I¡¯m honored that a great Zhenren such as yourself would express an interest in one of my techniques . Well, you see¡ª"

    Now!

    Li Yundong flung the concrete as hard as he could towards Lin Youfa¡¯s head .

    However, Lin Youfa caught the concrete piece with his hand like it was nothing .

    Li Yundong could feel himself gaping now .

    Lin Youfa sighed and gave Li Yundong yet another look of amusement . "Tsk, tsk, tsk . Not yet, huh?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s jaw clicked shut . "Not yet what?"

    Lin Youfa snorted . "You¡¯re not desperate enough to fight me for real . "

    Li Yundong tensed slightly . Desperate? What did he mean by desperate? He channeled more Qi towards his Lingtai .

    Suddenly, there was a murderous glint in Lin Youfa¡¯s eyes . "Especially if you¡¯re resorting to such petty tricks . Who do you think I am! One of those lowly thugs you beat up, huh!" Lin Youfa crushed the chunk of concrete with his hand, letting the pieces fall to the ground . Lin Youfa shook his head . "What an insult!"

    His Xianjue wouldn¡¯t work . The shockwaves wouldn¡¯t work . Punches and kicks wouldn¡¯t work . What the hell was he supposed to do now? If he ran, the bastard would just chase after him . And truth be told, Li Yundong wasn¡¯t even sure he could outrun the bastard¡ªthe guy was frigging fast . Well, at least Su Chan was far away from here . Safe .

    Lin Youfa chuckled, though he didn¡¯t sound amused at all . He sounded... sardonic .

    "Looks like I¡¯ll have to take this to the next level," Lin Youfa said .

    How many f*cking levels was there?

    "Let¡¯s see," Lin Youfa went on . "I could just grab one of the students over there and kill them . That pretty girl who was on the phone earlier seems like a good candidate . She¡¯s your friend right? I bet you¡¯ll start getting serious the moment her life is in danger . "

    Anger red inside Li Yundong . "Leave them out of it! This is between us!"

    Lin Youfa smirked . "Ooh... I knew that would work . "

    "Don¡¯t you dare," Li Yundong growled . "Don¡¯t you fucking dare!"

    Li Yundong channeled his Qi towards his thighs and calves .

    "Hahaha! Wonderful, Zhenren Li! Wonderful! If you want to protect your friends... Then why don¡¯t you try stopping me!"

    Lin Youfa charged towards Zhou Qin . Screams of terror erupted .

    In a blink of an eye, Li Yundong was there to intercept Lin Youfa .

    SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! Li Yundong delivered three sessive kicks, which were easily blocked by Lin Youfa .

    Li Yundong raised his leg and feigned a roundhouse kick to Lin Youfa¡¯s face . When Lin Youfa raised his arm to block, Lin Yundong snapped his legs downwards and mmed his foot into Lin Youfa¡¯s knee cap .

    The impact took Lin Youfa by surprise, causing him to lower his hands and hunch over slightly .

    Li Yundong snapped his legs upwards again, delivering a roundhouse kick to Lin Youfa¡¯s face .

    Lin Youfa¡¯s head whipped to the side when Li Yundong¡¯s feet pped his left cheek .

    Lin Youfa stumbled a little, leaving his chest wide open .

    Li Yundong made a sharp twist of his body and then leaped, fully extending his right leg at thest moment . The sole of his foot mmed into Lin Youfa¡¯s sternum like one of Bruce Lee¡¯s famous side kicks .

    Lin Youfa straightened himself and smiled at Li Yundong .

    He didn¡¯t like that smile . It felt like the bastard was just toying with him . Then, a sick thought urred to Li Yundong¡ªmaybe he was just toying with him .

    Lin Youfa charged at him again with tremendous speed .

    Aim for the soft spots .

    Li Yundong dodged a punch, thenunched a front kick at Lin Youfa¡¯s groin . Lin Youfa blocked the kick with his arm and trapped Li Yundong¡¯s leg . Then, Lin Youfa swept Li Yundong¡¯s other leg out from under him, causing Li Yundong to fall the ground .

    Li Yundong rolled away just in time to avoid having his head stomped by Lin Youfa¡¯s foot . I¡¯ve gotta fight back, dammit! Li Yundong mbered to his feet but Lin Youfa¡¯s punch was already flying towards his face . Li Yundong titled his head sideways

    SWISH!

    The punch missed .

    Fight back!

    Li Yundong growled and grabbed Lin Youfa¡¯s extended arm before he could pull it back .

    Take this, you son of a bitch!

    Li Yundong yanked Lin Youfa¡¯s arms towards him, twisting his body around at the same time . When Li Yundong felt his hip crash into Lin Youfa¡¯s groin, Li Yundong bent his body at the waist, using his hips as a leverage to flip Lin Youfa¡¯s body over .

    Lin Youfa¡¯s body mmed to the ground .

    Li Yundong growled and aimed a downward punch to Lin Youfa¡¯s face .

    A sharp pain on his wrist stopped Li Yundong mid-punch .

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes grew wide . Uh-oh...

    Li Yundong screamed in pain, and when he nced down, he realized that his wrist had been twisted into a sick joint lock .

    "A Judo hip throw . Impressive . " Lin Youfa rose to his feet, then manipted Li Yundong¡¯s wrist joint again . Li Yundong screamed, then felt his knees hit the ground .

    Li Yundong gritted his teeth and tried to pull his wrist free . But all that did was cause him more pain . He screamed again .

    Lin Youfaughed . "I know you¡¯re strong, Zhenren Li . But brute force won¡¯t get you out of this joint lock . Pulling will only cause you more pain . This is the power of Chin Na!"

    Li Yundong screamed when Lin Youfa twisted his wrist into a new angle .

    The buzzing in his ears vanished, and his telescopic vision was deactivated . That was the moment Li Yundong knew that he had lost control of his Qi . The pain was just too great . The bridge connecting his Three Gates was gone too . His three Dantians were no longer linked by his Qi .

    He had lost the fight .

    The Hero of Tiannan University had just been defeated .

 Chapter 99

    Chapter 99

    <h4>Revtions</h4>

    Words can hurt . But sometimes, silence hurts even more .

    "Yundong..."

    That was the 17th time Su Chan had called his name without receiving a response . Or was it the 19th? She wasn¡¯t sure . She¡¯d lost count some time during their car ride home .

    Su Chan rose from the couch and padded over towards the sliding door, where Yundong stood with his back to her . He was staring out into the city, seemingly lost in thought .

    "Yundong..." Su Chan tugged the hem of his shirt . "W- Why aren¡¯t you speaking to me?" You know why, Chan¡¯er, she added silently .

    He¡¯d seen her powers now . He must think I¡¯m a monster... Just like everyone else does...

    After what felt like hours, Yundong released a sigh . "Chan¡¯er..." His eyes remained fixed on something beyond the balcony .

    Su Chan¡¯s grip on the hem of his shirt tightened . "Y- Yes?"

    "Tell me," he said, his voice t and emotionless . "Tell me everything . "

    Su Chan froze . Everything? Including the fact that she was a fox spirit?

    Su Chan let go of the hem of his shirt and took a step back .

    She bit down on her lip and stared at the floor . Could she do it? Could she reveal everything to him now? Secondster, she shook her head . He would probably hate her guts the moment he found out who (or what) she was . He would be revolted by the mere sight of her . He wouldn¡¯t want her around anymore .

    Demons . Fiends . Foul creatures . Spawns of evil . The depraved . Evil spirits .

    Those were just a few names associated with her kind .

    For decades, fox spirits were regarded as the embodiment of everything that Cultivators hated, all thanks to the Mystical Silver Fox, whose actions had besmirched the good name of the Fox Zen School . There wasn¡¯t a single Cultivator alive today who didn¡¯t loathe the Fox Zen School and anyone associated with it .

    Could Yundong really see past decades¡¯ worth of hatred and ept her for who she was? Could Yundong ovee the stigma surrounding her kind? What if the idea of having a fox spirit as a lover disgusted him so much that he got rid of her for good?

    And if she was no longer around...

    Who else would be there to watch over his training and help him pass the Zhuji phase?

    Who else would be there to watch his back and protect him from those hunting for the Renyuan Jindan?

    And speaking of the Renyuan Jindan...

    Yesterday, Yundong had already agreed to let her tell him about the Jindan in her own time . But it seemed like today¡¯s incident had triggered his need for answers again .

    Oh Tao... What was she supposed to do now? Well, she supposed she could just tell him about the Jindan but leave out the bit about her being a fox spirit? But what if Yundong identally let slip that he had consumed the Jindan...

    Just thinking about that made Su Chan sick to her stomach .

    Those Cultivators would never let him live . They would absorb the Jindan and then destroy his body until there was nothing left of him . Oh God... Before Yundong reached the Shentong¡ªor at least the Zhuji¡ªphase, he didn¡¯t stand a chance . Su Chan raised her head and stared at Yundong¡¯s back . At the end of the day, it all boiled down to one thing: could she trust Yundong to be discreet?

    "Yundong... Hehe..." Su Chan said, injecting a faux cheeriness into her tone . "You¡¯ve probably passed the 4th dan of the Ningshen phase by now . And if you work hard, it shouldn¡¯t be long before youplete the Zhuji phase as well... so... maybe until then..."

    Yundong turned away from the sliding door until he was facing her .

    "And how much longer would that take? Months?" He snorted . "Years?"

    Su Chan shuffled forward a step, then reached out to take his hand . When he flinched away from her touch, it felt as though someone had stabbed a knife through her heart . Su Chan swallowed . The lump in her throat was now impossible to ignore . She cleared her throat . "I told you yesterday, didn¡¯t I? I¡¯ll tell you everything when the time is right..."

    Yundong huffed and stormed past her . "Why? So I can keep walking around like an ignorant fool?"

    No! So you don¡¯t identally give yourself away and end up dead!

    Su Chan followed him into the living room . "I told you it¡¯s for your own safety¡ª"

    Yundong turned around abruptly, his eyes shing in anger . "Seriously, princess? Safety? After everything that happened just now, you¡¯re here talking to me about safety?"

    "But that¡¯s different! That was just Lin Youfa looking to regain the honor of his school after you defeated his disciple . That¡¯s not the kind of safety I was referring¡ª"

    "Oh, you have got to be shitting me . " Yundong threw his hands in the air and plopped down on the couch . He sat there with his elbows resting on his thighs and his face buried in his palms .

    Su Chan walked over to the couch and kneeled down in front of him .

    "Yundong... These people are dangerous . They have ways to¡ª"

    "Oh,e on! Don¡¯t you get it yet?!" Yundong growled into his palms .

    "Get what? I think you¡¯re the one who doesn¡¯t understand how serious this is!"

    Yundong¡¯s head suddenly shot up .

    "The game is up, princess!"

    The sharpness in Yundong¡¯s tone drew a gasp out of her . She stared into Yundong¡¯s eyes . The anger in them had been reced with a pleading look .

    "This whole charade is over," Yundong said . "It won¡¯t work anymore . It¡¯s not going to fool anybody . Not after what happened today . "

    Yundong broke their eye contact and rubbed a hand across his face . Weariness settled into his countenance . He sighed . "Whether we like it or not, our cover is blown . "

    Su Chan shifted around until she was sitting cross-legged on the floor .

    "C¡¯mon princess . Limos spinning in the air? Some dude generating shockwaves with a punch?" Yundong snorted . "Before we know it, we¡¯re on f*cking national TV . "

    Su Chan sniffed and swiped away a stray tear . This was all her fault . Yundong got into danger because of her . He¡¯d been so nice to her, and yet all she brought him was trouble .

    Su Chan sniffed again . "W- Would we really end up inside the talking box?"

    Seconds passed in silence . And then Yundongughed . A genuine and full-blownugh . What a beautiful sound . And Su Chan had never felt more relieved in her entire life .

    Su Chan sniffed again . "W- What?"

    Her cheeks were so warm that her tears would probably just evaporate from its surface .

    Yundong stoppedughing right then and lifted her chin up . "I don¡¯t know, but I think it¡¯s likely . "

    Su Chan turned her head left and stared at the TV for a moment . "B- But... How do we get in there?" She pointed at the TV . "There aren¡¯t any doors . "

    "Pfft... Hahaha . "

    Su Chan lowered her hand and stared down at herp .

    Yundong cleared his throat . "Well, that¡¯s not how it works . I¡¯ll exin it to you next time . "

    The fact that there would be a next time eased a tight knot inside Su Chan¡¯s chest .

    "Look, the point is..." Yundong said . "There¡¯s a good chance that everyone in the city¡ªhell, everyone in the country¡ªwill know about today¡¯s incident within the next few days . "

    Su Chan fiddled with her sleeve . "Does... Does everyone have one of those boxes in their homes?"

    "Yeah . That¡¯s pretty much true nowadays . " Yundong sighed . "God . I can even imagine the front page title already . The Hero of Tiannan University fights Shapeshifting Old Man . And those nosy students might even be posting about it on Weibo already... Sooner orter, everyone¡¯s gonna know, including the people who are after us . "

    Another stretch of silence passed .

    "Lin Youfa could be one of them," Yundong said momentster .

    Su Chan¡¯s gaze snapped up . "What?"

    Yundong sighed and shook his head . "He kept insisting that there¡¯s something special about me . "

    Fear speared through Su Chan¡¯s chest, taking away her ability to breath . Oh no...

    "A- And what did you tell him?"

    "I denied it, of course," Yundong said with a snort . "Told him I¡¯m just a university student . "

    Su Chan sighed in relief .

    Yundong looked into her eyes . "He didn¡¯t believe me though . Crazy bastard kept twisting my wrist around trying to force me to tell him . "

    Su Chan regarded Yundong carefully . So he didn¡¯t yield under pressure . Maybe he can keep secrets after all...

    "Did he...?" Su Chan cleared her throat . Damn, she really needed a ss of water . "Did he give you any indication that... that he knows?"

    Yundong considered her question for a moment, then held her gaze again .

    "No . He kept saying that he thinks there¡¯s something special about me, just that he didn¡¯t know what it is . He thinks it has something to do with the way I train . "

    So the possibility that Yundong had consumed the Renyuan Jindan never urred to Lin Youfa? That was a little odd . But admittedly, it was also a huge relief to hear . Su Chan hadn¡¯t thought Lin Youfa was one of the people hunting for the Renyuan Jindan . What Yundong had told her just confirmed her suspicions .

    "Chan¡¯er..."

    Su Chan shook herself out of her reverie . Only Master called her Chan¡¯er . But she had to admit that she liked it better when Yundong called her that . The previous time when he called her Chan¡¯er, they were...

    She hoped she hadn¡¯t started bleeding from her cheeks . And was it a little hot in here?

    "I know I¡¯ve promised to stop pushing you for answers . And I know you¡¯re just trying to protect me . You want me to be stronger first, I get all that," Yundong said . "But don¡¯t you think it would be better for me to know exactly what I¡¯m capable of so I don¡¯t end up doing things that would risk exposure?"

    Su Chan froze . She¡¯d never thought of it that way .

    Yundong shook his head . "And not just what I¡¯m capable of . I also need to know what you are capable of . Earlier, I removed you from the fight because¡ª"

    "You mean you tossed me," Su Chan snapped . "You tossed me away . Literally . "

    Yundong sighed . "I know . I¡¯m sorry . But that¡¯s exactly the point . I didn¡¯t know what you¡¯re capable of . I didn¡¯t know you could do all that"¡ªYundong did a couple of weird gestures with his hand¡ª"badass Cultivation stuff or whatever you call it . I was just trying to keep you safe . That guy was so dangerous and I didn¡¯t know if I could beat him . I panicked! And..." Yundong lowered his head . "I guess I wasn¡¯t sure if I could protect you . " Yundong lifted his head and gazed right into her eyes . "I don¡¯t know what I¡¯d do if I lose you, Chan¡¯er . I... I can¡¯t live without you . "

    Tears stung Su Chan¡¯s eyes as warmth flourished inside her chest . However, that mushy feeling was short-lived as fear and disappointment soon crept in . Will you still say that once you find out that I¡¯m a fox spirit? That I¡¯m a demon? Su Chan decided that she didn¡¯t even want to go there . It hurt too much .

    Yundong took a breath . "And of course, there¡¯s also the fact that our cover is blown . I need to be ready . I need to know who or what I¡¯m up against . Otherwise I¡¯ll just end up having my ass kicked like today..."

    Su Chan sighed . He¡¯s right . . . I¡¯ve been so blind .

    "Chan¡¯er..." Yundong cupped her cheeks . "I think it¡¯s time you tell me . "

    Su Chan nodded .

    "Okay . "

    ***

    They sat on the floor across from each other . Two pads and pensy on the coffee table between them .

    Su Chan broke the silence first . "Um... How much do you know?" she asked, pulling one of the pads towards her .

    Yundong took a pen and started fiddling with it . After a moment, he stopped fiddling and sighed .

    "I didn¡¯t use to belief in magic and all that woo-woo stuff... But now..." Yundong shook his head . "Now I think I do . I mean, after everything I¡¯ve seen and experienced... It¡¯s just..."

    Oh, Yundong... You¡¯ve barely scratched the surface...

    Yundong uncapped his pen and opened his pad to a nk page . He stared at her for a few seconds without writing anything down . Su Chan felt like squirming under his intense scrutiny . What was he going to ask first? Her past? Had he already begun to suspect that she was a demon? Momentster, Yundong scribbled down a few words and showed her the pad: Fly for me .

    "What?"

    He wrote something down again: Fly . I want to see you fly . Like... Like what you did earlier .

    Oh . That .

    Learning how to fly was the requirement to pass the fourth dan of the Shentong (fifth) phase of Cultivation .

    Yundong scribbled: Please? I just need to see it for myself .

    "O- Okay..." Su Chan stood up, then backed away a few steps from the coffee table . Their gazes locked, and Yundong gave her a nod . Su Chan closed her eyes and took a deep breath . A momentter, her feet left the floor .

    "Holy f*cking shit..."

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes shot open and her feet dropped back to the floor with a thud .

    Yundong¡¯s hands were now gripping his hair . "Son of a f*ck!"

    Defensiveness crept in . "Just because we have abilities doesn¡¯t mean that we¡¯re evil or that we¡¯re monsters¡ª"

    Yundong released his hair and shook his head, his eyes widening in rm . "No, no... That¡¯s not what I meant... I was just surprised that¡¯s all . I didn¡¯t mean to imply that . I¡¯m sorry . "

    "Oh . "

    Yundong sighed and waved her over .

    Su Chan walked back towards the coffee table and sat down .

    "Listen, I really didn¡¯t mean anything by my reaction . I was just surprised . " Yundong shook his head, then held her gaze again . "I meant what I told you at the restaurant . "

    Well, he¡¯d told her a lot of things at the restaurant . He might need to be more specific .

    "A lot of things in this world aren¡¯t inherently bad . They are just tools . Their value depends on their user," Yundong said, looking straight at her . "I won¡¯t think of you as an evil monster just for having special abilities . Like money, it all depends on how you use them . "

    Su Chan suppressed an eye roll . Tell that to the rest of the Cultivation world who wanted nothing more than to wipe out fox spirits from the face of the earth .

    Yundong chuckled . "Damn . Now I¡¯m positive that we¡¯ll be on TV tomorrow . There were so many people watching the fight just now and you just..." Yundong paused and drew an arc in the air connecting one spot on the table to another . "Like, right in front of everyone . "

    Su Chan uncapped her pen and wrote: Made it look like jump .

    "Right, I¡¯m sure that¡¯s enough to convince everyone," Yundong deadpanned .

    Was he being sarcastic? Yep . He was . The teasing glint in his eyes said so .

    Su Chan¡¯s cheeks grew warm . "What? It really did look like a jump . " Mortals could jump pretty high too, couldn¡¯t they? Or do those stunts she saw on TV not count?

    Yundong chuckled . "If that¡¯s what you call jumping, then you just broke the Olympic record for high jump . "

    What?

    "Old limp pig? But how could a pig jump if it was already limping?"

    "No . It¡¯s Olym¡ª" Yundong dissolved intoughter .

    Had her cheeksbusted? Su Chan looked down and stared at a spot on the table top . "If... If it doesn¡¯t work, then y- you could just... tell them that... that there are springs in my shoes?"

    Yundongughed even harder . "Springs in your¡ª" He started pping his thighs . "My God you really are a national treasure..."

    Well . At least he wasughing .

    Yundong recovered himself a whileter and took his pad again: This drug I took . Magical?

    Su Chan nodded, then wrote something down on her own pad: Magical pill . Renyuan Jindan .

    "What does it do? How does it work?" Yundong whispered .

    Ugh . Where to even begin?

    Su Chan pondered his question for a moment . In the end, she decided to go with the shorter version . She wrote: Long story short? Reformed your body . Make your body stronger .

    She didn¡¯t want to bore him with details . Besides, a lot of the Cultivation stuff would sound foreign to him .

    Yundong suddenly reached up to touch his face, then wrote: That¡¯s why I not fat?

    Su Chan stared at him for a moment . Hmm... Technically, he lost body fat after his meridians were forcibly activated when he went into Zouhuo Rumo state . But the effects wouldn¡¯t be this pronounced without the Jindan...

    Su Chan scribbled: It did y a role . There was a process .

    There was a contemtive look on Yundong¡¯s face . Momentster, his eyes widened . "Holy shit..."

    "What?" Su Chan shot him a questioning look .

    Yundong grabbed his pen: Three days . I slept for three days .

    Su Chan bobbed her head up and down .

    "Are you tired?" Yundong said . "Um... Because I... I have a lot of questions . Oh, wait . " A worried look flitted across his face . "Were you hurt during the fight?"

    Not exactly . Except maybe for her pride, since he, you know, tossed her away and everything . It would probably take her a while to get over that .

    Su Chan shook her head . "What about you?"

    Yundong grinned . "I was . But then my best girl fixed me . "

    Butterflies fluttered in her stomach .

    Yundong began scribbling again: Run me through?

    "The process?"

    Yundong nodded .

    Su Chan grabbed her pad: Renyuan Jindan¡¯s function = enhance whatever that is already there .

    Su Chan stared at Yundong for a moment to make sure he was following . Then she wrote again: Everything enhanced . Bones . Muscles . Qi . Everything .

    Yundong paused in thought, then wrote: Punch machine . Punch guys into air . Climb up walls . All that .

    Su Chan nodded, picking up her pen again: Stronger . Faster . More agile . Faster reaction time . Better reflexes . Improved senses .

    Yundong stilled her hand . She looked up from her pad .

    Yundong wrote something down on his own pad: Jindan improved senses?

    Su Chan nodded: Hearing + eyesight .

    Yundong had a contemtive look: Makes sense . Eyes . Ears . All made up of cells . Cells enhanced = Organs enhanced .

    Su Chan wrote something down: Not only that . Biggest reason = blood enhanced . Better nourishment for cells .

    "What else?"

    Su Chan flipped to a nk page: Super endurance . Super stamina . Resistant to extreme weather . You¡¯ll never get sick .

    "Wow..."

    Yes . Wow . That was why the Renyuan Jindan was sought after by so many Cultivators .

    Yundong wrote something down again: Renyuan . Come from where? How made?

    Su Chan wrote: Made by Wan Zhenyuan, Head of Gezao Sect . Dunno how made . Need special magical object I think . Not sure details .

    Yundong¡¯s intense gaze made her stop writing .

    "Wh- what?"

    He wrote something down: Gezao Sect = where you from? Wan Zhenyuan your master?

    It took everything in Su Chan¡¯s power not to panic . She shook her head and exhaled shakily . "My Master is a woman, remember?" At least her voice hadn¡¯t wavered when she said that .

    "Right," Yundong said, then paused for a moment . He smiled . "Still don¡¯t believe she¡¯s prettier than you though . "

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t find it in herself to smile back . Please don¡¯t ask about my origins . Please, please, please...

    Yundong¡¯s hand moved across the pad: Which sect you from?

    Su Chan¡¯s heart sank . Should she mention the Fox Zen School? What were the odds that he was able to make the connection between fox spirits and the Fox Zen School? Don¡¯t be stupid, Chan¡¯er . Of course he would be able to make the connection .

    No . Telling him that she was a fox spirit would definitely be a bad idea, at least for now . If he kicked her out because he was disgusted by who she was, then he wouldn¡¯t have anybody to guide him through the Zhuji phase .

    Once he passed the Zhuji phase, her presence in his life wouldn¡¯t matter anymore¡ªhe would be strong enough to defend himself with or without her by his side . She would reveal her true identity then and let him decide whether he still wanted her in his life . If he couldn¡¯t ept having a fox spirit as his lover after she told him, she would leave .

    "Su Chan?" Yundong nudged her .

    "Hmm?"

    Yundong wave the pad in front of her face . Which sect you from? A simple four-word question, yet impossibly difficult to answer .

    Su Chan¡¯s hand shook a little when she wrote: Zen School...

    "Oh..."

    Su Chan wrote again: It¡¯s a small school . Not much influence .

    That part wasn¡¯t a lie . Even before it was ostracized, before it became an object of hatred, the Fox Zen School was just a small organization . Small though it might be, its reputation used to be ster . That was until the Mystical Silver Fox took over as the fourth Head of the Fox Zen School . She was an extremist, a radical, albeit a very powerful one; she had attained the full nine-tailed fox form, the highest physical form attainable by any fox spirit . Her extremism and radicalism, however, had led to the Fox Zen School¡¯s downfall . Her policies and actions had incited the hatred of every Cultivation Sect and School in existence .

    Yundong waved the pad in front of her face again: How did you end up with the Renyuan Jindan?

    "I... I stole it," Su Chan whispered .

    Yundongughed incredulously . "Just like that? If it¡¯s such a big deal, then why wasn¡¯t it locked up in a vault? Or be ced in a dungeon that is guarded by twenty dragons?"

    Su Chan giggled . Well . I¡¯ve had help...

    Su Chan waved her hand and then wrote something down: Doesn¡¯t matter . I stole .

    Yundong raised a brow . "Now here¡¯s another question . "

    He reached for his pad without taking her eyes off her: Why give to me?

    Su Chan blushed . "It... It was an ident..."

    "An i¡ª" Yundong gaped at her for a moment .

    He shook his head and wrote something down: You meet me how?

    "Um... How much..." Su Chan looked up at him from under hershes . "How much do you remember?"

    Yundong stared up at the ceiling for a moment . Then he chuckled . "I remember getting my ass drunk at some street side stall after I got rejected by Zhou Qin . I don¡¯t even remember walking home... But I do remember getting into the...?" Yundong suddenly looked at her and gestured with his hand .

    "Oh, the metal box¡ª" Su Chan¡¯s mouth snapped shut when she noticed Yundong¡¯s raised brows . She blushed . "The Ail... vator?"

    Yundongughed and ruffled her head . "No, silly . The elevator . "

    "Oh . "

    Yundong frowned . "Everything¡¯s still a blur . It¡¯s strange, to be honest... I don¡¯t remember walking home... But I remember stumbling out of the elevator? Then I think I dropped my keys? And there was some kind of animal lying on my doorstep... "

    Su Chan froze . Oh, no... he knows... He knows!

    "A dog, I think? Yeah, it was a dog . An injured dog . I think I picked it up . "

    "A- And then?"

    "And then that¡¯s it . Don¡¯t remember anything else after that . I don¡¯t even remember getting into the apartment . "

    Su Chan sighed inwardly . Okay... so he doesn¡¯t know...

    "Well? How did we meet? Did any of the stuff I described actually happen? Or was that the alcohol messing with me head?" Yundong was now looking at her pointedly .

    "Um... I¡¯m not so sure about the dog..."

    Because it¡¯s me you picked up . Me in my fox form, not a dog . Not that she could tell him that .

    "Just start from the beginning," Yundong said .

    Su Chan picked up her pad and started writing: Stole Jindan . Ran for days . Came to city . People hunt me . Went into your building to hide .

    Su Chan hesitated for a moment .

    This was the part where she had to lie: You unconscious outside your door . I walked over . Saw keys on floor . Picked it up . Used it to open your door . Dragged you inside .

    Yundong frowned slightly: After that you fed me the pill?

    Su Chan shook her head and kept writing: People hunting me . Skilled trackers . Tracked Jindan¡¯s aura to your building . Appeared on balcony .

    Yundong¡¯s eyes widened slightly . "What? How many of them?"

    Su Chan nodded and held up two fingers . She wrote again: Both from Zhengyi Taoist School . You spoke to one of them yesterday .

    "You mean that crazy girl who..."

    Su Chan nodded grimly .

    "So that¡¯s why you shut yourself inside your room . "

    "Yes..."

    "I thought you were mad at me..." Yundong shook his head, then gestured at her pad .

    Su Chan picked it up and wrote: When they appeared on balcony . I panicked . Hid the Jindan in your mouth . Use your Adolescent Yang Qi to mask its aura .

    Yundong stared at her for several moments, then frowned . "That makes no sense..."

    Su Chan shot him a questioning look .

    Yundong flipped to a new page: Those two . Why they didn¡¯t juste in and take Jindan by force? They outside balcony = already know Jindan inside my apartment . Even if you masked aura, why they didn¡¯te in to check .

    Su Chan wrote: Zhengyi School has strict rule . Not allowed to interfere with lives of normal people . If they use force, they would have to use magic .

    Yundong nodded pensively, then wrote: Let me guess . I swallowed it by ident?

    Su Chan nodded .

    Yundong chuckled . "So it was dumb luck after all..."

    After a moment, Yundong wrote: Possible to remove it?

    Su Chan wrote: Jindan became part of you once your body absorbed it .

    Su Chan hesitated . Should she tell him about Yang feeding? Would that scare him away?

    In the end, Su Chan decided to go with: But yes . There is a way to extract its power from your body .

    Yundong didn¡¯t say or write anything, but the intensity of his gaze took her breath away .

    "Wh- What?"

    Yundong kept staring at her . The silence was excruciating . Momentster, Yundong shook his head and said, "It¡¯s nothing . "

    "And that¡¯s pretty much everything..." Su Chan said . She cleared her throat and quashed the twinge of guilt in her heart . "Um... Do you have any more questions?"

    Yundong raised his gaze . "Shenxians... Tell me more about Shenxians . "

    Su Chan sighed . "Well... Once a person unites with the Tao and attains spiritual transcendence, they be a Shenxian . Basically, a Shenxian is the transcended version of a human being . Once you be a Shenxian, you would have unlocked the full potential of your existence . "

    "They won¡¯t age or die, right?"

    Su Chan nodded . "Most of them possess magical powers and can alter their physical form ording to their will . The specific magical powers vary from Shenxian to Shenxian, of course . But in general, they¡¯re immortal beings . "

    "Unite with the Tao..." Yundong sat up straighter, his eyes sparkling with interest .

    "Mm-hmm!"

    Yundong chuckled . "How do people even know this stuff in the first ce?"

    Good question...

    "Do you know Ge Hong?"

    "Err... He was an alchemist, right? Oh! And a healer!"

    Su Chan nodded . "And also a Shenxian . "

    Yundong seemed surprised . "Ge Hong is a Shenxian? Wow . I¡¯ve never heard of that . "

    "He also wrote a book called Baopuzi . Have you read it before?"

    Yundong snorted . "Please . I could barely get through the first page of my history textbook without falling asleep . "

    "Well, in Baopuzi, Ge Hong wrote extensively on the subject of Shenxians and how to be one . "

    "Have you read it?"

    "Mm-hmm! It¡¯s a must-read for any Cultivator!"

    "Which school or sect does Ge Hong belong to?"

    "Oh... The Danding Sect . It is founded by the infamous Zuo Ci . "

    "Wait a minute... the Zuo Ci? As in the Zuo Ci from the Three Kingdoms?"

    "Yep... Why is that so surprising?"

    Yundong scratched his head . "It¡¯s nothing . It¡¯s just... I¡¯ve always been a fan of the Three Kingdoms . I¡¯ve read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, watched all the TV shows and all that . There was a passage in the Records of the Three Kingdoms stating that Zuo Ci became a Shenxian... But I thought that was just a myth . "

    Su Chan smiled . "No . It¡¯s not just a myth . Zuo Ci founded the Danding Sect, then passed on his knowledge to Ge Xuan, who then passed it on to Ge Hong . After that, Ge Hong wrote Baopuzi . That book was a hit after it was published . The Danding Sect became a household name in the Cultivation world due to Ge Hong¡¯s work . "

    "And what about you? Are you..." Yundong hesitated for a moment .

    Then he picked up his pad: Are you a Shenxian? You can fly . And you have powers .

    Su Chan shook her head . "Nope! I¡¯m just a wandering Cultivator . "

    "Do you want to be one?"

    "Of course! Bing a Shenxian is the ultimate goal of Cultivation . "

    Yundong scribbled on the pad again: Is that why you stole Jindan?

    Not exactly . She stole the Jindan so that she could transform from a three-tailed fox spirit to a six-tailed fox spirit . But, of course, she couldn¡¯t tell him that just yet .

    Su Chan shook her head .

    Yundong wrote: Why steal it?

    Su Chan picked her words carefully . "To be stronger..."

    Technically, that wasn¡¯t a lie . It just wasn¡¯t the whole truth . There it was again, that intense look in Yundong¡¯s eyes, like they were trying to suck the truth out of her .

    Yundong raised the pad again: Why didn¡¯t you take it back?

    Su Chan stared at those words .

    Yundong lowered the pad and started writing again: You said there¡¯s a way to extract its power from my body . You risked life to steal = must be important to you .

    Su Chan stared down at herp . "That... That was my n at first . To take it back..."

    The pad hit the table with a smack; the pen rolled to the floor .

    Su Chan raised her gaze and saw the hurt look on Yundong¡¯s face .

    He released a sad chuckle . "I knew it . I knew there has to be a special reason for a pretty girl like you to stick around a loser like me . "

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t take it anymore . She leaped over the table and threw herself at him . Yundong fell back with a loud "oof . "

    Su Chan straddled his hips, shaking her head desperately . "It¡¯s not like that anymore! I changed my mind! Please believe me? Please?"

    Darks spots formed on Yundong¡¯s shirt as her tears slid past her jawline .

    Yundong wrapped his arms around her waist and sat up . "What changed?"

    Su Chan sniffed and dried her tears . Yundong picked up his pen from the floor and handed the pad to her .

    She took it and wrote: I want you to have the Jindan . I¡¯ve decided to help you be a great Cultivator .

    Yundong frowned . "But why? It¡¯s clearly important to you . "

    Su Chan tossed the pen and pad aside and cupped Yundong¡¯s cheeks with her hands .

    "But you¡¯re more important to me," she whispered .

    Yundong stared at her . "Y- You mean that?"

    Su Chan nodded and let her hands drop to his chest . Yundong¡¯s heartbeat drummed beneath her palm, emboldening her for what she was about to say .

    "Yes... I- I care about you . A lot . And I..." Su Chan peered up at him through hershes . "I love you . "

    Yundong stroke her cheek . "F- For real? Not because of that... thing?"

    Su Chan nodded . She wondered if Yundong could feel the heat on her cheek .

    A slow smile formed on Yundong¡¯s face, and Su Chan knew then that everything would be okay . At least for now .

    Yundong¡¯s breath tickled her face as he leaned in . She didn¡¯t try to stop him this time; she wanted it too .

    KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

    They sprang apart .

    Su Chan instantly went on high alert¡ªQi to Shenting and hands reaching for her needles .

    "Damn it! Who the hell is it this time," Yundong growled .

    Su Chan grabbed Yundong¡¯s arm before he could reach for the door . Several more knocks sounded . Yundong shot her a questioning look .

    "Could it be Lin Youfa?" Su Chan whispered .

    Yundong stood up straighter . "Only one way to find out," he said .

    They both nced towards the door .

    KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

 Chapter 100

    Chapter 100

    <h4>Fragile Goods!</h4>

    Li Yundong opened the door to find Zhou Qin standing there with one knuckle raised .

    "Uh... Zhou Qin? What are you doing here?"

    Zhou Qin lowered her hand and smiled at him .

    "Why? Is it strange that I¡¯m here?"

    Li Yundong chuckled and shook himself out of his stupor . "No . Not at all . You¡¯re the only one who knows where I live after all . " A smirk formed on his lips . "You¡¯re not here with a subpoena, are you? What am I charged with? And when is the hearing?"

    Zhou Qin smiled . "No, you goof . I was just..." She cleared her throat . "I was worried about you two . You never came back after you took off . And..." Zhou Qin reached behind and pulled out his ck backpack . "Here . I brought your things . You left them in ss . "

    "Thank you . " Li Yundong took the backpack and stepped aside . "Um... Do you want toe in?"

    Zhou Qin shook her head . "Oh, no, no . "

    Okay . That deny came rather quickly . Not that he could me her . She must be terrified of him after seeing what he did earlier .

    Zhou Qin seemed to have realized as well how her words might sound like . She cleared her throat . "What I mean is... I¡¯d love to, but I can¡¯t . I¡¯ve got urgent matters to take care of . "

    Li Yundong rubbed the back of his neck . "Oh . Okay then . Thanks again for bringing my stuff . "

    Zhou Qin smiled . "No problem . "

    Zhou Qin turned around and walked away from his door .

    Secondster, Li Yundong caved . "Zhou Qin!"

    Zhou Qin stopped walking and turned around . "Yes?"

    "Aren¡¯t you going to ask? I mean about today . "

    "I¡¯m not blind, Li Yundong . And I¡¯m not stupid . "

    Li Yundong tensed up . What was that supposed to mean?

    "I know you¡¯ll tell me when you¡¯re ready . " Zhou Qin regarded him for a moment, then gave him a wave . "I¡¯ll be going now, then . "

    Li Yundong stood at the door and watched her leave .

    Zhou Qin turned around again after she had pressed the elevator call button .

    "Don¡¯t worry," Zhou Qin said, looking at him pointedly . "Nobody will bother you about what happened today . "

    Li Yundong would be lying if he said that he wasn¡¯t concerned about the consequences of today¡¯s incident . What happened today basically put him in a lot of people¡¯s shit list: members of the university council; Liu Chuan; Liu Chuan¡¯s father; He Shao; and maybe even the parents of the students who got injured .

    Thest thing he wanted was to face charges for violent conduct . He had neither the time nor money to deal with the possible legal consequences of his actions . Also, he was already on the verge of expulsion . Today¡¯s incident would just provide ammunition to Director Qian and Professor Liu in their crusade to get him expelled .

    "Thank you . " Li Yundong rubbed the back of his neck . "And I¡¯m so sorry you have to clean up my mess again . "

    Zhou Qin waved him off . "That¡¯s what friends are for . "

    Li Yundong snorted . "Then I must be a shitty friend for troubling you all the time . "

    "Sure . You¡¯re a bad friend who nearly broke his arms saving my life," Zhou Qin deadpanned . "You¡¯re a terrible human being . You should be ashamed of yourself . "

    Li Yundong burst intoughter . "Fair enough . I does sound kinda silly when you put it that way . "

    "One more thing," Zhou Qin said . "Why is your phone always turned off?"

    "A result of my own stupidity . " Li Yundong gave her a wry smile . "Well, you know what happens when you post your number on the forum . "

    Zhou Qin giggled into her hand .

    "No, I¡¯m serious," Li Yundong said . "It¡¯s been ringing non-stop ever since I made that stupid post . "

    "Looks like you need to change your number soon . "

    A loud ding signaled the elevator¡¯s arrival .

    "Well . See you around, then . " Zhou Qin gave him a wave before stepping into the elevator .

    Li Yundong shut the door with a heavy sigh .

    When he turned around, Su Chan was standing there, staring at him .

    Li Yundong sighed again . "Looks like I owe her another favor . "

    "Yundong..."

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes were wide, and her face looked strangely pale .

    "You okay, princess?"

    "Are you... are you interested in her?"

    Li Yundong frowned . "Who? Zhou Qin?"

    Su Chan nodded . "Will you choose her and then... toss me aside?"

    Li Yundong closed the distance between them and then pulled her into his arms . "Tsk . Don¡¯t be silly . She¡¯s just a friend, that¡¯s all . I¡¯m not interested in her that way . And I¡¯ll never toss you aside . "

    "You already did," Su Chan mumbled . "Literally . "

    Li Yundong pulled back slightly . "Yeah... I¡¯m sorry about that, princess . I couldn¡¯t think of another way to get you away from the fight . " Li Yundong chuckled, then pinched her nose . "I¡¯m d you came back for me though . "

    Su Chan leaned backwards and swatted his hand away .

    "Did you manage tond properly?" Li Yundong said . "After I threw you, I mean . "

    "Of course! I can..." Su Chan pped her arms like a pair of wings . "Remember?"

    "Right . " Li Yundong smiled and ruffled her hair . "My princess is the best . "

    "You really won¡¯t leave me for Zhou Qin?"

    "No . Of course not . You¡¯re stuck with me, princess . "

    Su Chan threw her arms around his neck . "You¡¯re mine! I don¡¯t care! I won¡¯t let anyone else have you!"

    A surge of affection coursed through him .

    Li Yundong patted Su Chan¡¯s head a few times . "Yes, yes . I¡¯m yours and yours alone . "

    I¡¯ve been yours since you came into my life .

    They stayed in the hug for a while until Li Yundong remembered something .

    "Hey, wanna check out what¡¯s on Feng Na¡¯s secret DVD?"

    Su Chan looked adorably confused .

    "I mean that thing Feng Na passed to me this morning . "

    "Oh . " Su Chan looked even more confused now . "But it¡¯s just a round, t object . What¡¯s so interesting about it? It doesn¡¯t even move . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . "No . We have to put it into a device and watch it on the TV . Come on, I¡¯ll show you . "

    ***

    "Seriously?"

    Li Yundong stared at the TV screen, where an episode of "Cohabitation with A Flight Attendant" was ying .

    "Hmm? Yundong? What¡¯s wrong?"

    Li Yundong shook his head . "Nothing . I just didn¡¯t expect Feng Na and Cheng Cheng to get so worked up over a soap opera . I thought it would be a scandalous video clip or something . "

    All of a sudden, Su Chan got up from the couch and walked over to the TV .

    "Hey, hey, hey . What are you doing? Don¡¯t punch the TV again, okay? We can¡¯t afford a new one . We¡¯re broke, remember?"

    Su Chan leaned forward until her nose was almost touching the TV screen .

    Li Yundong struggled between wanting tough and to drag her back to the couch . Laughter won out in the end . "What are you doing, princess?"

    Su Chan turned away from the TV .

    "Oh . I was just looking for soaps . "

    "What?" Li Yundong chuckled . "Why?"

    "You said it¡¯s a soap opera, right?" Su Chan scratched her head . "I just thought that maybe it is about soaps..."

    Li Yundong guffawed, then patted the seat on the couch beside his . "Come here . "

    Su Chan shuffled over obediently and sat down .

    "These shows aren¡¯t about soaps, my dear princess . "

    "So why are they called soap operas then?"

    Li Yundong stroked her hair a few times . "In the past, these shows were produced by people who manufacture soaps . That¡¯s how the name came about . "

    "Oh . "

    "You like soap operas, don¡¯t you . "

    Su Chan bobbed her head with zest . "Mmm!"

    Li Yundong smiled . "Good . Which means you can keep yourself upied for a while..."- I should go check out the forums . And then get dinner started . He stood up from the couch .

    Su Chan threw her arms around his waist and made a whiny noise . "Where are you going? Don¡¯t leave... Let¡¯s watch the soap show together . "

    Li Yundong groaned . "Seriously? You want me to spend a few hours watching a soap opera? You might as well kill me now . "

    Su Chan¡¯s cheeks puffed out adorably . Her arms tightened around his waist .

    Momentster, Li Yundong sighed . "You¡¯re not going to let me go, aren¡¯t you?"

    Su Chan shook her head .

    Alright . Time to bring out the big guns .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "Actually... I was about to go cook our dinner . You¡¯re hungry, right?"

    Su Chan nodded and released him .

    Food . It worked on Su Chan every damn time .

    ***

    After dinner, Li Yundong returned to his room and logged on to the university¡¯s forum site . As expected, the forum was going nuts over this afternoon¡¯s incident .

    Li Yundong clicked on the hottest thread: Hero of Tiannan University vs Cloaked Old Man (full y by y) .

    The page took nearly ten seconds to load due to the sheer number ofments posted . When Li Yundong read the description, he found that the OP wasn¡¯t kidding about the "y by y" part; the whole incident was described from start to end in vivid detail . Someone even counted the number of times Liu Chuan had cried for the demise of his father¡¯s car¡ªapparently, it was enough to put a baby to shame .

    Li Yundong scrolled down the page, skimming through thements as he did . Momentster, he saw something that made him stop scrolling . Someone had uploaded a video clip of the fight in one of thements .

    "Great . More proof . Just what I needed," he grumbled, clicking on the video¡¯s y button .

    A few seconds into the video, Li Yundong realized that he really had nothing to worry about . The video¡¯s quality was so shitty that you wouldn¡¯t be able to tell a cat from a dog if it were in it . He paused the video and scrolled down further . The video had gotten quite a lot of replies, and a few of them actually made him chuckle .

    Critical_Mass: What¡¯s this? An earthquake?

    Trololololol: Why is it shaking so much? It¡¯s like the phone was attached to a vibrator or something .

    Li Yundong spent another minute browsing through the forum . Based on what he¡¯d read, most people were skeptical about those supernatural ims, choosing instead to attribute those ims to sensationalism . Li Yundong saw that as a good thing, since he really didn¡¯t feel like exining anything to anyone . What the public believed was none of his concern . He just wanted everyone to leave him in peace .

    Li Yundong powered down hisptop and went into the living room .

    He paused a few feet away from the couch .

    "You¡¯re still watching the show, princess? But it¡¯s been hours . "

    Su Chan turned away from the TV . "This show is fun..."

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Looks like someone has found a new addiction . "

    Su Chan made her face at him and turned back to the screen .

    Li Yundong walked over and flicked her forehead .

    "Do you mind if I use the living room? I haven¡¯t done any Qi-control training today . "

    Su Chan rubbed her forehead . "But I¡¯m still watching the soap show..."

    Li Yundong grabbed the remote and pressed the stop button . He walked over to the DVD yer and removed the disc from the tray .

    "Why don¡¯t you watch the rest in my room?" He handed the DVD to Su Chan . "There¡¯s a TV and a DVD yer . "

    Su Chan took the DVD . "Oh . "

    "Do you know how to set it up?" Li Yundong raised a brow .

    Su Chan pouted . "Hmph! Of course I know! You¡¯ve shown it to me earlier!"

    Su Chan stormed off and went inside his room .

    "Don¡¯t break the DVD, okay?" Li Yundong yelled . "Feng Na would have my head if you do!"

    Secondster, Su Chan poked her head out from his room and made a face at him .

    Li Yundong chuckled and lowered himself to the floor .

    Despite his ordeal and near-death experience, he wouldn¡¯t trade this day for the world . Not when he¡¯d finally heard three precious words from Su Chan .

    He closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift into a meditative state .

    ***

    The first light of dawn alerted Su Chan to the fact that she had spent the whole night watching the soap show . The show was fun to watch as it reminded her of her own cohabitation with Yundong . But if she was honest, that wasn¡¯t the only reason she was so engrossed in it . The show was a distraction from her worries .

    Would Lin Youfa bother Yundong again? Would Ruan Hongling be keeping a close eye on their ce from now on? Should they move to a new ce? But Su Chan didn¡¯t want to move! She liked this ce; it was the perfect ce for Cultivation . Besides, she had gotten rather attached to this ce already...

    Su Chan sighed and got up from Yundong¡¯s bed . She picked up a ck, rectangr device and pressed a button on the top left corner . A t tform¡ªit looked like a tray¡ªpoked out like a tongue from the box which sat beside the TV . Su Chan walked over and removed the round disc from the tray . She studied the disc for a moment . Hmm... Its two faces look different, like a coin... But why is the bottom face so sparkly?

    Speaking of two faces...

    Su Chan was being two-faced as well .

    A fox spirit masquerading as a normal human .

    Yundong will hate me when he finds out...

    Su Chan padded over to the bed and slumped face first onto the mattress . The round disc rolled out of her hand onto the bed .

    Maybe Yundong was different others? Maybe he would find having a fox spirit as a partner eptable... ish?

    But everyone hates fox spirits!

    A whine escaped Su Chan¡¯s throat as she rolled around on the bed .

    She froze when she heard a sharp crack . She rolled to her back and sat up .

    Oh no...

    The round disc had snapped in half .

    Panicking, Su Chan picked up the two broken pieces and stared at them . "B- But how? How could this thing be so fragile?"

    Stupid, stupid, stupid! Not even soap breaks that easily!

    She nced at the door, which was shut¡ªthank goodness .

    "Oh no, oh no... What should I do?"

    She had just given Yundong another reason to hate her!

    Su Chan picked up the broken pieces and held them under the light . Aha! Maybe I can... Su Chan aligned the two pieces together along the crack .

    The two pieces fit together perfectly . Even the crack had vanished .

    Yessss! Yessss! I¡¯ve fixed it! I¡¯ve fixed it! Hehehe¡ª

    One of the pieces fell off the moment she let go of her hand .

    Su Chan wanted to cry .

    Su Chan dumped the other piece onto the bed . Maybe she could use a spell? Su Chan stared hard at the two pieces for a moment or two . When she couldn¡¯te up with any spells, she went into panic mode again .

    Su Chan picked up the two pieces and kept bumping them together, hoping that the pieces would magically join together . "Join, join, join... Please, please, please?" she whispered .

    Would it work if she summoned fire with a spell and then weld the pieces together? No! What if she ended up melting the whole thing? If this thing was so brittle that it would break¡ª

    KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

    "Wake up, princess! Time for breakfast!"

    The broken pieces flew out of Su Chan¡¯s hands when she jumped . She scrambled for the pieces before either one of them could roll off the bed .

    "I¡¯m in trouble, I¡¯m in trouble..."

    Su Chan shoved the broken pieces under the nket when the door suddenly opened .

    Yundong¡¯s poked his head in through the gap .

    "Morning, princess¡ª" His eyes narrowed . "What¡¯s up with your hair? Wait... Don¡¯t tell me you didn¡¯t get any sleepst night..."

    "O- Of course I slept . Hehehehehehe... M-My hair is messy because I just woke up . "

    Not because I¡¯ve been rolling around trying to fix your stupid soap show thingy . Which I identally broke .

    Thankfully, Yundong didn¡¯t press on . His head disappeared through the gap .

    "Hurry up and get ready! We¡¯re almostte for ss!"

    Su Chan climbed out of bed dejectedly . Then, she took the broken pieces from under the covers and nced around the room . Hide it! Hide it! I have to hide it!

    That shelf!

    Su Chan ran, but her feet got tangled up in the nket . She reached out and grabbed the shelf to steady herself, but ended up knocking the shelf slightly . A few books tumbled off the shelf .

    A round object rolled out from between the pages of one book .

    Hey... Isn¡¯t that the same...?

    Su Chan crouched down and picked up a round disc which looked simr to the one she had broken earlier .

    She aligned the broken disc and then ced it side by side with the other disc . Relief coursed through her . The two discs were identical .

    "Did you go back to sleep again, princess!"

    Su Chan¡¯s gaze snapped to the door .

    "Alright! I¡¯ming out now!"

    Su Chan shoved the broken pieces under Yundong¡¯s bed and then picked up the other disc .

    Nobody would know .

    Nobody .

 Chapter 101

    Chapter 101

    <h4>The Boss</h4>

    "Great . . . The government big wigs are here again," Li Yundong mumbled as he stared out of the cab¡¯s window . Their cab hadn¡¯t moved an inch for fifteen minutes now and there were traffic police everywhere .

    The cabbie turned around from the driver¡¯s seat . "Oh? So you¡¯re aware of that as well? I heard it¡¯s a leader from the provincial level this time . "

    Just one day after their battle with Lin Youfa? Could this be a coincidence? Or had the bureaucrats caught wind of what happened? Li Yundong sighed . No point worrying about it now . . . He would just have to cross that bridge when he got to it .

    "When will the roadblock be removed?"

    The cabbie chuckled . "Who knows . "

    The roadblocksted for half an hour .

    When Li Yundong and Su Chan arrived outside the academic building, they saw Feng Na standing in front of the entrance . Feng Na smiled the moment she saw them . "Hah! There you are, O Hero of Tiannan University . Now . Return my DVD . " Feng Na held out her hand .

    "I don¡¯t get you at all," Li Yundong said . "What¡¯s with that cloak and dagger act yesterday? It¡¯s just a soap opera . "

    Feng Na snorted . "What I do with my stuff is none of your business . Besides, that¡¯s a newly released DVD . It hasn¡¯t even hit the market yet!"

    Li Yundong snickered . "Bullshit . I own a copy of Cohabitation with A Flight Attendant at home too . I¡¯ve had it for a long time . "

    Feng Na¡¯s eyes were a mixture of surprise and disbelief . "That¡¯s impossible! My friend had to pull a lot of strings to get me that DVD . "

    An evil smirk formed on Li Yundong¡¯s lips . "You don¡¯t believe me? Okay . How about I lend it to you some day?"

    Feng Na eyed Li Yundong warily . "Nah . . . I don¡¯t trust that look on your face . It¡¯s probably just something dirty . "

    Li Yundong widened his grin for effect .

    Feng Na rolled her eyes . "Stop dallying! Return my DVD! I have to get back to ss . "

    Li Yundongughed . "Oh? You still remember you have your own sses to attend, do you? I mean, you¡¯ve beening to our sses so often that you might as well repeat your second year and join our ss!"

    Feng Na looked affronted . "As if! I¡¯ll have you know that I¡¯m a good student! In fact, I¡¯m a proud schrship holder . " A teasing glint formed in Feng Na¡¯s eyes . "Unlike some people who skipped sses and got into fights all the time . "

    "Hey!" Now it was Li Yundong¡¯s turn to look affronted . "I¡¯ve beening to sses these days, you know . I even had to take a cab ride every morning!"

    Feng Na smiled . "Serves you right!"

    Li Yundong frowned . "Excuse me? Serves me right? What did I do?"

    "You could¡¯ve stayed at the dorms . But no, the dorms aren¡¯t good enough for the mighty Hero of Tiannan University . He had to stay at his own ce with his beautiful girlfriend . "

    The bitterness in Feng Na¡¯s tone made Li Yundong pause . "Whoa there . . . I didn¡¯t know you have a problem with my living arrangements . "

    Feng Na shook her head . "Did you bring the DVD or not?"

    Li Yundong nced at Su Chan with a raised brow .

    Su Chan nodded and began rummaging through Li Yundong¡¯s backpack . Secondster, she pulled out a DVD and handed it to Feng Na .

    Feng Na smiled the moment she saw the DVD . "Thanks!" Feng Na grabbed the DVD and put it into her handbag .

    Li Yundong chuckled at Feng Na¡¯s enthusiasm . "Seriously . It¡¯s just a soap opera . . . "

    Feng Na rolled her eyes . "You¡¯re a guy . I don¡¯t expect you to understand . "

    Li Yundong smiled . "You¡¯re right . I don¡¯t . But for what it¡¯s worth, the show¡¯s pretty good . "

    Feng Na had a look of surprise . "You actually watched it? The whole thing?"

    Li Yundongughed . "No . But this one did . " He pointed at Su Chan . "In fact, I think she got a little addicted to it . "

    Feng Na studied Su Chan for a moment . "At least she¡¯s got good tastes . " Feng Na gave Li Yundong a sidelong nce . "Unlike somebody . "

    Li Yundong raised his palms . "Alright, alright . You can stop mocking me now . I bow to your superior cinematic tastes . . . "

    Feng Naughed . "Alright . I¡¯m gonna go . Oh, wait . One more thing . Come back to the Taekwondo Club if you have time, would you? We need a new president . "

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes . "No thanks . You¡¯re just gonna get me into trouble again . "

    Silence fell between them . Feng Na¡¯s expression no longer held amusement . Instead, she was scrutinizing him intently as though he was a puzzle she was trying to figure out .

    Momentster, Li Yundong could take it anymore . "What?"

    "Sometimes I wonder if you¡¯re even human . " Feng Na shook her head . "All that stuff you did . . . "

    Yeah . . . Join the club . . .

    All of a sudden, Feng Na looked at him sharply, her eyes slightly narrowed . "You¡¯re not some kind of superhero who leads a double life, are you? Or some kind of legendary martial arts master?"

    Li Yundong shared a nce with Su Chan . Subtle though it might be, Su Chan¡¯s headshake was unmistakable . This was one of those times where he had to lie and deflect to keep his consumption of the Renyuan Jindan a secret . Li Yundong cleared his throat and feigned a look of exasperation . "Argh . Damn it . " He pped his thigh, then allowed his shoulders to sag . "Looks like I¡¯ve been discovered after all . "

    Feng Na seemed to believe that he had something to hide¡ªwell, he did¡ªas she perked up instantly . "Ooh . . . So there is a story there . "

    Li Yundong released a dramatic sigh . "Actually . . . My name is Li-El, and I¡¯m from the Krypton . I was sent to Earth 500 years ago to serve as its savior and protector . My goal has always been the same . To fight for world peace!" He had surprised even himself when he managed to say all that with a straight face .

    There was a moment of silence .

    Then, Feng Na pped a hand to her mouth and started giggling . "Superman? That¡¯s the best you cane up with?"

    Li Yundong shrugged . Feng Na stopped giggling and cleared her throat . "Guess you should start wearing your underwear outside then . "

    Li Yundong wagged his finger in front of Feng Na¡¯s face . "Tsk, tsk! Insolent earthling! I¡¯ll have you know that we Kryptonians have a wonderful fashion sense!"

    Feng Na burst intoughter . "Whatever you say, pal . Whatever you say . " She gave him a wave . "See you, then . "

    After Feng Na disappeared into the academic building, Li Yundong sighed . "Well . That was close . "

    There was a tug on his sleeve . "Yundong . . . Who is this Superman? Is he really formidable?"

    Li Yundong smiled, took Su Chan¡¯s hand, and made their way into the academic building . "He is pretty tough . "

    "How do we defeat him?"

    "Well, you see . . . There¡¯s this green rock . . . "

    ***

    Five minutester, the pair walked into the lecture hall . The immediate silence following their arrival had long since be a norm now: strange looks; the relentless stares . Yeah . What else is new?

    Li Yundong pulled Su Chan to the back of the lecture hall and took their seats in thest row . The gazes of his fellow ssmates had followed them all the way to the back of the room, and Li Yundong was really starting to feel a little fed up with their behavior .

    "Yundong . . . Can¡¯t you switch schools? You¡¯re drawing a lot of attention here . "

    Switch schools . What difference would that make anyway? Trouble seemed to follow him everywhere . "I¡¯d rather not go to school if I have the choice . " Li Yundong sighed . "But I can¡¯t . I¡¯ll stop receiving money from my parents if I drop out . Besides, I¡¯ll probably need a university degree to get a job in the future . I still have to feed you and your ridiculously huge appetite . "

    Su Chan released a heavy sigh . "Money is such a pain . . . "

    Li Yundong pulled out his textbook .

    "Yundong . . . Why don¡¯t you ask Zhou Qin for help?"

    Li Yundong raised his brows . "Excuse me?"

    Su Chan lowered her voice . "You can¡¯t really focus on your training if you have money troubles . "

    Li Yundong poked Su Chan¡¯s head . "Tsk! That¡¯s not nice, you know? You can¡¯t just ask people for money just because they are rich . "

    Li Yundong felt like pinching Su Chan¡¯s adorable pout . Or kiss it .

    Su Chan rubbed her head . "M- Maybe you can . . . take her as your disciple?"

    Li Yundong thought he¡¯d misheard her . He leaned in and whispered, "What? I thought you¡¯re the one who wanted me to keep a low profile . "

    Su Chan twiddled her fingers . "B- But we don¡¯t have a choice now, do we? We need more money . . . "

    Li Yundong leaned back with a sigh . He wished the professor woulde to ss already so he could be spared from this ufortable conversation . "Don¡¯t worry, princess . I¡¯ll find a way . " Li Yundong looked at Su Chan pointedly . "It¡¯s best toy low for now . We don¡¯t want another Lin Youfa incident . "

    "Maybe . . . Maybe we can ask Zhou Qin to keep it a secret?"

    Zhou Qin entered the lecture hall before Li Yundong could reply .

    Zhou Qin scanned the room, stopping only when her eyes hadnded on him . She smiled at him and walked down the long aisle towards him .

    "Yes? What can I do for you, Li Yundong?"

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "Nothing . "

    Zhou Qin eyed him skeptically . "You were staring . "

    Yeah . . . Because you were walking towards me and I was balls deep in trying to prevent you from bing my disciple .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat again . "Where else was I supposed to look? I¡¯m sitting in thest row and you were walking towards me from the front, so..." Li Yundong shrugged, and then winced when he reyed his own words .

    Lame . Some .

    "No . I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the case at all . " Zhou Qin studied him for a few seconds . "Come on . What is it? You can tell me . "

    Su Chan suddenly leaned over . "Oh . Actually, we were just thinking of taking you as¡ªMmph!" Li Yundong muffled the rest of her sentence with a hand against Su Chan¡¯s mouth .

    "Shush!" He red at Su Chan .

    "Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!" Su Chan struggled against his hand .

    Li Yundong gave Zhou Qin a smile . "It¡¯s nothing . It¡¯s really nothing . "

    Zhou Qin still seemed skeptical, but she didn¡¯t push . "Okay then . . . " She pulled something out from her handbag . It was a phone . "Here . "

    Li Yundong took the phone and immediately recognized the model from a TVmercial . And no, it wasn¡¯t a cheap model . Li Yundong frowned . "What¡¯s this for?"

    Zhou Qin gave him a strange look . "You needed a new number, right?" Zhou Qin pointed at the phone . "There¡¯s a new SIM card in it . "

    You could¡¯ve just given me the SIM card . "No . " Li Yundong shook his head . "This is too much . " He looked Zhou Qin in the eye and handed the phone back to her . "I can¡¯t ept this . It ain¡¯t right . "

    Zhou Qin sighed . "Listen . You saved my life . Will you please just let me repay you?" Zhou Qin looked at him earnestly . "Please?"

    Li Yundong shook his head again . "You¡¯ve done more than enough for me already, Zhou Qin . I¡¯m not stupid you know . That Mercedes Benz limo I ruined yesterday . . . " Li Yundong shot her a pointed look . "I know you paid for the damage . That was the ¡¯urgent business¡¯ you had to take care of yesterday, wasn¡¯t it?"

    Zhou Qin looked away .

    "I¡¯m grateful for what you did . But I can¡¯t ept anything more from you . It wouldn¡¯t be right . " Li Yundong sighed . "How about this . Either I just take the SIM card from this phone, or I get a new number myself this afternoon . "

    Zhou Qin sighed . "Fine . Yes, I paid for the car . "

    Li Yundong chuckled bitterly . "I doubt money is all they want . "

    "You don¡¯t have to worry about Liu Changhe . He knows you¡¯re friends with me, and he knows that I¡¯m involved in the incident as well . He won¡¯t trouble you . "

    Li Yundong patted his chest . "Good to know . "

    Zhou Qin chuckled . "Seriously? You could dodge bullets and you¡¯re worried about Liu Changhe?"

    Li Yundong snorted . "It¡¯s not him I¡¯m worried about . It¡¯s money . I¡¯m a debtor now . " Li Yundong held up his hand and gave Zhou Qin a pointed stare . "And no . Don¡¯t even think about it . You¡¯ve done more than enough for me . "

    Zhou Qin regarded him silently and then smiled . "Here¡¯s an idea . The summer holidays will be here soon . How about getting a summer job?"

    Li Yundong gave her a wry smile . "That¡¯s pretty much a given considering my current financial state . "

    Zhou Qin¡¯s smile widened . "Good . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes narrowed . "You¡¯re up to something..."

    Zhou Qin kept smiling and took the phone from Li Yundong¡¯s hand . Then, she passed the phone to Su Chan .

    "Su Chan, Li Yundong refused to ept this phone, so I¡¯m giving it to you instead . "

    In a feat of strength that surprised Li Yundong, Su Chan unmped his hand from her mouth . "Really?" His princess¡¯s eyes were practically sparkling right now .

    Zhou Qin nodded . "Yes . Really . It¡¯s yours . "

    Su Chan epted the phone gratefully and began turning it around in her hand .

    Li Yundong red at Su Chan . "Tsk! Have you no shame? You can¡¯t just eptvish gifts like that, you know . "

    Su Chan made a face at him and went back to fiddling with the phone . Clearly, somebody had just found her new toy . Not that she knew how to use it .

    Li Yundong sighed and flicked Su Chan¡¯s forehead . "Where are your manners? Aren¡¯t you going to thank her?"

    Su Chan raised her head, her smile lighting up the room . "Hehehe . . . Thank you so much, Elder Sister Zhou Qin!"

    "You¡¯re wee, Su Chan . " Zhou Qin smiled . "My number is in there . Please call me if you need anything, okay?"

    "Mmm!" Su Chan bobbed her head .

    Li Yundong suppressed augh . She¡¯d more likely crack the screen than make a sessful call .

    The professor arrived, putting their conversation to an end . Zhou Qin took the empty seat beside Li Yundong .

    Minutester, the professor¡¯s voice filled the lecture hall, marking the beginning of several hours of boredom . It was a revision lecture, where the professor would go over previous lecture materials based on the tips he¡¯d given a few days ago . If it wasn¡¯t for the attendance, Li Yundong wouldn¡¯t even attend the lecture . After Su Chan told him about his super memory, Li Yundong had memorized the textbook based on the tips, so he was pretty sure he could pass¡ªif not excel¡ªthe exams just fine . Instead of listening to the professor¡¯s droning, Li Yundong amused himself by watching Su Chan figure out how to operate her new toy .

    Near the end of the lecture, the monotony was broken by amotion outside the lecture hall . Li Yundong went on high alert in an instant . Could it be Lin Youfa again?

    He moved his Qi to his Shenting and watched the door closely . Secondster, the door opened . But instead of Lin Youfa, a middle-aged man with a square-shaped face walked in surrounded by the members of the university council .

    Beside him, Zhou Qin gasped .

    Li Yundong turned and studied Zhou Qin curiously . "What¡¯s wrong? Do you know him?"

    "What¡¯s my father doing here?"

 Chapter 102

    Chapter 102

    <h4>The Lure of Wealth</h4>

    "What? Your father?"

    Zhou Qin could hear the surprise in Li Yundong¡¯s tone . She turned her head slightly and gave him a grim nod . This was a bad sign . Her father showing up at the university just one day after the incident yesterday? This couldn¡¯t be a coincidence .

    Zhou Qin observed her father from thest row, taking in his grey Mao suit and hismanding presence . He stood a few feet away from the lectern, letting his gaze roam across the lecture hall as he studied every student present . Was he looking for her?

    Her thoughts were interrupted by Vice-chancellor Ke, who had taken his spot on the lectern and was now addressing the students .

    "Ladies and gentlemen, it is our honor to wee our extinguished guest, the Deputy Governor of our province, Mr . Zhou Keqiang! Let us all stand and wee our extinguished guests with a round of apuse!"

    Students rose from their seats as the lecture hall filled with the sound of apuse . Zhou Qin didn¡¯t stand up . Zhou Keqiang had lost her respect and affection a long time ago .

    The pping subsided and the students sat back down . That was when she noticed that her father¡¯s eyes were on her . Zhou Qin met her father¡¯s stare with cold intensity . Why are you here, father?

    Then, Zhou Qin noticed her father¡¯s frown . At first, she thought he was frowning at her . But when she looked closer, she realized that her father wasn¡¯t even looking at her now; he was staring at Li Yundong, who was sitting beside her . The lightbulbs in Zhou Qin¡¯s head lit up at the same time her hackles rose . He Shao . . .

    That idiotic scoundrel must have told her father something .

    Was that it? Was her father here to bully or threaten Li Yundong? Zhou Qin bit the inside of her cheeks . Over my dead body!

    "Hey . . . What¡¯s the matter?"

    She turned at the sound of Li Yundong¡¯s voice . Li Yundong was giving her a look of concern .

    Zhou Qin forced out a smile . "Oh, it¡¯s nothing . "

    Li Yundong raised his brow, clearly not buying any of it . "Yeah? I bet your textbook would disagree . "

    What? She nced down and realized that she had crumpled an open page of her textbook .

    "You alright?" Li Yundong asked again .

    Zhou Qin unclenched her hand and smoothed out the page . "Yeah . I¡¯m fine," she saidmely . Or at least I will be once I sort out this mess .

    Her father was already moving towards the lectern, no doubt ready to recite some hackneyed speech that somebody else had written for him .

    "Not a big fan of your old man, I take it?"

    Li Yundong was now smiling at her wryly . Instead of answering, Zhou Qin redirected her gaze towards the lectern . Can you love a father who sees his only daughter as a mere tool to gain political advantage? Who values status and power more than their own daughter¡¯s happiness?

    Another round of apuse signaled the end of her father¡¯s speech . Zhou Qin didn¡¯t hear a single thing her father said . The ppingsted until her father and his entourage left the lecture hall . On the bright side, nobody¡ªother than Li Yundong and Su Chan¡ªseemed to know that Deputy Governor Zhou was actually her father, though she figured it wouldn¡¯t be long until somebody made the connection . Either way, she had to put an end to her father¡¯s nonsense before things came to that .

    ***

    "Qinqin! Over here!"

    Zhou Qin stopped outside the lecture hall and turned to her right . A young man dressed in a suit was waving at her at the end of the corridor .

    Zhou Qin walked over . "Secretary Liu," she said, trying her hardest to sound polite . "Where is my father?"

    "He¡¯s waiting for you in the car . "

    Zhou Qin nodded . "Lead the way . "

    Let¡¯s get this over with .

    Secretary Liu led her out of the academic building and straight towards the campus gates . Past the gates, she saw an Audi A6 parked beside the curb . Pieces of broken ss crunched under her feet as she traversed the curb towards the Audi . The tire marks on the ground were still there, reminding her of yesterday¡¯s extraordinary events . Not that she needed any extra reminder . Ever since Li Yundong¡¯s episode inside the men¡¯s room weeks ago, Zhou Qin had long sincee to the conclusion that both Su Chan and Li Yundong were extraordinary individuals .

    Zhou Qin slid into the Audi¡¯s backseat . For a moment, neither she nor her father spoke . Zhou Qin didn¡¯t even know how to begin . She was still so mad at the fact that her father hade running just because He Shao had whined a little .

    It was only minutester when Zhou Qin fired the first salvo . "Well, well, well . How nice of the great Deputy Governor Zhou Keqiang to grace Tiannan University with his presence . " Zhou Qin snorted . "I¡¯m surprised they didn¡¯t bring out the red carpet . "

    "Qinqin . . . " Zhou Keqiang sighed . "I¡¯m your father, not your enemy . What¡¯s with the attitude?"

    A father? Zhou Qin snorted . You stopped being my father the moment you traded my happiness for power! Zhou Qin crossed her arms in front of her chest . "Why are you here?" she snapped . "What, did He Shao go home crying to his father after I told him off and humiliated him in public?"

    Anger red inside Zhou Qin .

    He Shao . That repulsive, off-putting, obnoxious, depraved, and vile man . Man? No . He wasn¡¯t even a man; he was a barbaric creature without a single ounce of virtue in him . A loveless marriage with a decent man Zhou Qin could live with . But this? This stupid arranged marriage with He Shao would utterly ruin her chances of happiness and perhaps even her whole life . How on earth was she supposed to spend the rest of her life with that shallow and despicable creature who spent more time in the casino and brothel than anywhere else?

    Regardless, arguing with her father was an exercise in futility . She knew that because she had already tried . A hundred times, perhaps more . But every time she did, her father¡¯s answer was always the same: "People can change, Qinqin . Which man doesn¡¯t have such indulgences? He¡¯ll slowly change after you get married . You¡¯ll see . "

    Her father was a fool . He was too blinded by power to see that being associated with He Shao would only damage the Zhou family¡¯s reputation in the long run . Sooner orter, He Shao would do something scandalous, and the Zhou family would be dragged down by it .

    "You¡¯re just like your mother, Qinqin . Just like your mother . "

    A surge of anger coursed through Zhou Qin¡¯s veins . How dare he? How dare he mention mom . . .

    "Oh? So you still remember what mother was like? What a surprise," Zhou Qin said, the acid rolling off her tongue . "She¡¯s been dead for ten years . I thought you have forgotten all about her already!"

    "Don¡¯t use that tone with me, child!"

    Zhou Qin snorted . Anyone else would¡¯ve at least flinched at her father¡¯s outburst . But Zhou Qin had long since passed the point of caring . "Oh? What kind of tone shall I use then? The servile kind? The same kind your subordinates use with you?" Zhou Qin chuckled humorlessly . "I suppose you¡¯d want that . Having people fawning over you, crawling at your feet, feeding your delusions of grandeur and sense of superiority . Isn¡¯t that what you live for, father?"

    "You¡ª"

    "What, don¡¯t tell me you want me to speak to you like a daughter does?"

    "Of course I do . You¡¯re my¡ª"

    "You have no right!" Zhou Qin seethed . "No right!"

    Zhou Keqiang stared at Zhou Qin, too stunned to say anything .

    Zhou Qin took a deep breath . "You don¡¯t get to demand me to act like a daughter . Not when you yourself don¡¯t even treat me like one . "

    "What are you even talking about?"

    "Did youe to my birthday party, father? Did you?" Zhou Qin sneered . "No you didn¡¯t . It was your only daughter¡¯s birthday party, yet you didn¡¯t even show . "

    "I came home that night!"

    "Oh, yeah you did . How loving of you to clear a slot in your busy schedule toe home for your daughter¡¯s birthday, in the middle of the night when the party was long over . " Zhou Qin snorted . "Tell me, Deputy Governor Zhou . How many meetings did you have to reschedule just toe here today, hmm? Five? Ten? You¡¯re a busy man after all . "

    Her father didn¡¯t answer, so Zhou Qin kept going . "And yet here you are . You cleared your busy schedule and came running here like apdog just because He Shao whined a little . You¡¯d do that for He Shao, an outsider, but not your daughter?"

    Tears stung Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes .

    "Qinqin . . . "

    Zhou Qin turned away to face the window . Don¡¯t cry, damn it . Don¡¯t cry . You don¡¯t care about that man . You don¡¯t .

    Silence permeated the car until Zhou Qin heard the flicking sound of a lighter . Zhou Qin tamped down the urge to tell Zhou Keqiang not to smoke, hating herself that she still cared .

    "Get out if you want to smoke," Zhou Qin said . "Or maybe I¡¯ll just go . "

    Zhou Keqiang tossed the lighter away . "What has gotten into you these days, Qinqin? Why are you acting like this?"

    Zhou Qin turned around . "Me? Oh, I assure you I¡¯m not the problem . The problem lies with you! Your obsession with power has made you blind to everything else!"

    "What is it that you want!"

    You know what I want, father . You know . You¡¯ve just chosen to ignore it . You¡¯ve ignored it for years .

    "I want my own life," Zhou Qin said coldly, "not the life of a puppet . "

    Silence fell in the car . Zhou Keqiang had a pensive look on his face . Secondster, Zhou Keqiangughed . "It¡¯s because of that Li Yundong, isn¡¯t it?"

    Zhou Qin frowned . "This has nothing to do with him . Don¡¯t you dare drag him into this!"

    Zhou Keqiang shook his head and sighed . "I thought you were smarter than this, Qinqin . A woman of your status should always seek to secure your position . Otherwise you¡¯ll be destroyed! You know that!"

    Zhou Qin chuckled . "Really? Scare tactics? Is that the best you¡¯ve got?" Zhou Qin red at her father . "I¡¯m going to say this onest time . I will not marry He Shao . I¡¯d rather die than marry that brute . "

    Zhou Qin reached for the door .

    "Aren¡¯t you forgetting something, youngdy? You¡¯re a Zhou! You¡¯re my daughter! Everything you have came from me! Which means you have a duty to this family! To me!"

    Zhou Qin stilled her hand and turned in her seat to regard her father coldly . "Is that a threat, Deputy Governor Zhou? That you¡¯ll take everything away from me if I stop ying the role as your little pawn?"

    "Watch what you¡¯re saying . . . " Zhou Keqiang growled .

    "Or else what? You¡¯re going to disown me?" Zhou Qinughed derisively . "Go ahead then! Disown me! Take everything away! Believe or not, I can do without your name and all the luxury associated with it! At least I get to live a life of a human being, not a puppet!"

    Zhou Qin reached for the door again .

    "Wait . . . " Zhou Keqiang¡¯s voice made her stop . She didn¡¯t like that tone; it sounded too smug .

    "I want you to listen to something before you go . "

    Zhou Qin lowered her hand from the door and then eyed Zhou Keqiang suspiciously . Secondster, Zhou Keqiang tossed a phone at Zhou Qin .

    Zhou Qin nced at the screen and saw that there was an ongoing call to Secretary Liu¡¯s phone . The loudspeaker was turned on .

    Secondster, Secretary Liu¡¯s voice sounded from the speaker . "Are you Li Yundong?"

    "Yes, I am . Can I help you?"

    "I¡¯m Deputy Governor Zhou¡¯s secretary . Can I speak to you in private? It won¡¯t take long . "

    Zhou Qin red at Zhou Keqiang . "You¡¯re shameless!"

    Zhou Keqiang sneered . "Shameless? Don¡¯t tell me you aren¡¯t the slightest bit curious regarding Li Yundong¡¯s true nature?" Zhou Keqiang smirked . "Hang up the phone if you don¡¯t want to know . "

    Zhou Qin stared at the phone in her hand . She didn¡¯t end the call .

    ***

    Li Yundong stopped short the moment he exited the academic building . Someone was watching him . Li Yundong turned and saw a man wearing a pristine suit and a pair of gold wire sses approaching him from his right . Momentster, the man stopped in front of Li Yundong, his leather briefcase brushing against Li Yundong¡¯s left knee . This was one of those men who came into the lecture hall with Zhou Qin¡¯s father earlier .

    "Are you Li Yundong?" the man asked .

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly . What does he want from me? Suddenly, Li Yundong had a bad feeling about this . "Yes, I am . Can I help you?"

    "I¡¯m Deputy Governor Zhou¡¯s secretary . Can I speak to you in private? It won¡¯t take long . "

    Had Zhou Qin gotten into trouble with her dad because she tried to clean up Li Yundong¡¯s mess? Or was this He Shao¡¯s doing? Only one way to find out .

    "Sure," Li Yundong said, his eyes never leaving the secretary . Then, Li Yundong turned to Su Chan . "Wait here for me, okay? Don¡¯t run off on your own . "

    Su Chan nodded obediently .

    Li Yundong turned to the secretary again . "After you, sir . "

    The secretary led Li Yundong to the gazebo beyond the copse of trees, which didn¡¯t surprise Li Yundong at all; it was the only ce on campus without a lot of students wandering about . Li Yundong chose to stand at the edge of the gazebo¡¯s deck, leaning his hips against the baluster with his arms crossed in front of his chest . The secretary stood in the center of the deck, surveying the gazebo¡¯s architecture .

    "Ah . . . Tiannan University do have nice facilities despite not being a popr university . "

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes . Just get to the point already . . .

    "So . I take it you¡¯re well-acquainted with Zhou Qin?"

    Li Yundong nodded . "We¡¯re friends . "

    The secretary nodded a few times, then resumed his perusal of the gazebo . "Nice view out here, don¡¯t you think? Reminds me of my own campus life . . . "

    "With all due respect, sir," Li Yundong said sharply . "I¡¯d prefer it if you stop beating around the bush . "

    The secretary paused in his perusal and turned around . "Tsk, tsk, tsk . Young people these days . . . So impatient . "

    Li Yundong pushed himself away from the baluster . "One would think a respectable career man such as yourself would know the value of time, sir . "

    Li Yundong suppressed a smirk when he saw the look of surprise on the secretary¡¯s face . I bet not many people dare to speak to him this way, let alone a mere student .

    The secretary cleared his throat . "Fine, then . I¡¯ll get right to the point . " The secretary adjusted his sses . "How much?"

    What the hell? Li Yundong frowned . "Excuse me?"

    The secretary opened his briefcase and pulled out a checkbook . "You heard me the first time . How much money for you to leave Zhou Qin?" He then took out a pen from his pocket and clicked it .

    Li Yundongughed . "Leave her? We were never together in the first ce!"

    "100 thousand?"

    Li Yundong stoppedughing and leveled a cold stare at the man . "I¡¯ve already told you that we aren¡¯t together, sir . So keep your money . "

    The secretary smirked, then nodded a few times . "200 thousand then?"

    "Enough!" Li Yundong snapped . "I have no mood for your games . "

    Li Yundong turned around and stormed away from the gazebo .

    "Hey! Come back here, young man! Are you sure you¡¯re going to turn away free money like that?"

    Li Yundong ignored his voice and kept walking .

    "Fine, then . 1 million!!"

    ***

    Inside the Audi A6, Zhou Qin stared at the phone, her hand trembling with trepidation . This was what her father was best at¡ªusing money to get whatever he wanted .

    Zhou Qin nced up from the phone and saw her father looking at her smugly .

    "Soon you will see that this Li Yundong is just like any other man . A ve to wealth . "

    Zhou Qin gritted her teeth .

    "You think he¡¯s special, don¡¯t you? Isn¡¯t that why you fancy him in the first ce? Because you think he sees past your wealth and status?"

    Her father reached over to pull the phone out of her hand . Zhou Qin let him .

    "This is going to prove you wrong once and for all . " Her father chuckled, then waved the phone in front of her face . "I¡¯m going to prove to you that all men are the same . And if all men are the same, then you might as well be with someone with a strong social background . "

    "Fine, then . 1 million!"

    Zhou Qin¡¯s breath caught in her throat . The ensuing silence seemed to stretch on forever .

    "Ah . . . Now you¡¯re ready to talk, young man . . . "

 Chapter 103

    Chapter 103

    <h4>A Man of Honor</h4>

    Li Yundong stepped into the gazebo once more, his gaze focused on Secretary Liu .

    "Ah . . . Now you¡¯re ready to talk, young man . . . " Secretary Liu crossed his arms in front of his chest, then walked towards a granite table at the corner of the gazebo .

    "This is an insult, sir," Li Yundong said, stopping beside the granite table . Secretary Liu ced his leather briefcase on the granite and begun signing the check .

    "An insult?" Secretary Liu said, slipping his pen into his pocket . He smirked . "I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll change your mind once you get your hands on this . " He waved the check in front of Li Yundong¡¯s face .

    Li Yundong took the check and studied it . "Don¡¯t worry," Secretary Liu said . "The money is clean . Take it and go on your merry way . Leave Zhou Qin¡¯s side and never return . "

    Li Yundong raised his gaze from the check, which fluttered slightly in the afternoon breeze . All of a sudden, Li Yundong began chuckling .

    Secretary Liu¡¯s expression darkened . "What¡¯s so funny, young man?"

    Li Yundong took a deep breath and stifled thest of hisughter . Li Yundong waved his hand nonchntly . "It¡¯s nothing . I just realized a few things, that¡¯s all . "

    A frown marred Secretary Liu¡¯s features . "What things?"

    Li Yundong stared at Secretary Liu with contempt . "That there are really two kinds of rich people . "

    "What is your point, young man?" There was an impatient edge to Secretary Liu¡¯s voice .

    Li Yundong folded the check in half . "The first kind put their money to good use . They are humble and respectful . Instead of unting their wealth, they prefer to be lowkey . Instead of spending their resources mindlessly, they choose to build upon their resources . And in case you¡¯re wondering, your superior¡¯s daughter has the potential to be the first type . " Li Yundong folded the check again . "The second type think they can rule the world . They try to buy their way out of everything, putting a price tag on everything, including the things that cannot be measure by mary means . They stomp on the poor, and treat people like trash . And they use their wealth to manipte people like puppets . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes shed defiantly . He took a step forward and waved the folded check in front of Secretary Liu¡¯s face .

    Then, Li Yundong tore the check twice and flung the pieces at Secretary Liu¡¯s face . "Guess what? I don¡¯t want your stupid money . "

    "Y- You foolish and insolent . . . " Secretary Liu sputtered .

    Li Yundong took a step forward, forcing Secretary Liu to step back . "I¡¯m going to say this onest time . Zhou Qin and I are friends . Nothing more, nothing less . There¡¯s only one woman that I¡¯m interested in . And her name is Su Chan . Zhou Qin is a person, not just some puppet or pawn you can toss around at your whim . Which means she has the right to pick her own romantic partners or pursue anyone she¡¯s interested in . And there is nothing you, I, or anyone else can say about it . And this?" Li Yundong poked his finger into Secretary Liu¡¯s chest, causing thetter to stumble back a step . "This thing you¡¯re doing here is a vition of her rights, not to mention aplete insult . " Li Yundong red at Secretary Liu . "You¡¯ve disrespected me, Zhou Qin, and my girlfriend, Su Chan . "

    Secretary Liu studied Li Yundong for a long while, then he burst intoughter . "This is an act . You¡¯re acting just to gain her trust!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes shed . "Do I look like I¡¯m acting!"

    Secretary Liu flinched at Li Yundong¡¯s sharp tone . He averted Li Yundong¡¯s gaze; those eyes were far too intense . "A man who refuses to fight for Zhou Qin?" Secretary Liu snorted . "I must say that¡¯s a first . I wonder what your type is?"

    Li Yundong sneered . "Snobs like you wouldn¡¯t understand even if I tell you . "

    Secretary Liuughed . "A woman who¡¯s better than Zhou Qin? Give me a break¡ª"

    "Not everything is about status, you mindless retard," Li Yundong said sharply . "My type of girl has to be willing to stick with me through thick and thin!" Li Yundong softened his tone . "When everyone else saw me as a pathetic loser, Su Chan was the only person who saw value in me . When times were tough, she stuck by my side and never abandoned me . " Li Yundong¡¯s sharp gaze pierced through Secretary Liu . "Like hell I¡¯m going to give her up for someone else!"

    Secretary Liu stared at Li Yundong in shock . After a while, he recovered . "I see . . . So you¡¯re a romantic, then . "

    Li Yundong snorted . "Say whatever you want, I don¡¯t care . I just want to prove that she¡¯d made the right choice in me . "

    Secretary Liu smoothed out his suit jacket . "Alright then . I suppose we have an understanding . " Secretary Liu offered a handshake, which Li Yundong tantly ignored . Secretary Liu lowered his hand back down and cleared his throat . "Well, since you won¡¯t take the money, then how about this . I¡¯ll arrange for you to be transferred to a new university . A better one of course¡ª"

    Li Yundong bristled . "I¡¯m sorry? A transfer?"

    "And when you graduate, I¡¯ll make sure that you get a well-paid job . You can settle down with your girlfriends and have kids . Basically the whole white picket fence thing . How about that, eh? Now just tell me when would be a convenient time for you to leave, and I¡¯ll make the necessary arrangements right away¡ª"

    Li Yundong burst intoughter .

    When he stoppedughing, Li Yundong looked at Secretary Liu cooly . "Sorry to burst your bubble or step on your moment, but I never agreed to leave . "

    Secretary Liu flushed red . "That won¡¯t do! Either you take the money and leave, or you go with thetter option . Either way, you have to leave and stay away from Zhou Qin¡¯s life . "

    Li Yundong chuckled darkly . "You people don¡¯t get it do you . . . " Li Yundong eyes shed in anger . "Stop trying to control other people¡¯s lives by throwing your money around!" Li Yundong took a deep breath . "I¡¯m staying here . And that¡¯s final . I¡¯m not going anywhere . "

    Secretary Liu was seething at that point . "I¡¯m warning you, boy . . . Don¡¯t force us to take things to the next level . "

    Li Yundong stepped into Secretary Liu¡¯s personal space, forcing Secretary Liu to back away until his legs hit the granite table . "Is that a threat? Are you threatening me?"

    Secretary Liu tried to maintain his bravado, though his efforts were failing . "Y- You leave us no ch- choice . . . "

    "You¡¯re messing with the wrong guy, pal . "

    Secretary Liu¡¯s fear instantly turned into anger . "You insolent brat! You¡¯re the one doesn¡¯t know who you¡¯re dealing with! You¡¯re out of your depth!"

    The granite table shattered into pieces when Li Yundong¡¯s palm connected with its surface . "My name is Li Yundong and I¡¯m not afraid of you," Li Yundong said coldly . Secretary Liu scrambled back a few steps, his lips trembling in fear as he stared down at the ruined granite table .

    "Look at me when I¡¯m speaking to you!"

    Secretary Liu¡¯s gaze snapped up and met Li Yundong¡¯s re .

    Li Yundong began advancing towards Secretary Liu . "I want you tell your superior this . Stay the hell away from my life! And if I find out after this that you threatened my friends or the people I care about?" Li Yundong nced down pointedly at the granite pieces .

    Secretary Liu followed Li Yundong¡¯s gaze and had to suppress a shiver .

    Li Yundong backed away a step, then turned around . He didn¡¯t move . When Li Yundong spoke secondster, his back was still turned to Secretary Liu . "You think that money can buy you everything . But you¡¯re wrong . " Li Yundong turned around to face Secretary Liu . "Inner peace . Wisdom . Strength of character . Virtue . Respect . " There was a pregnant pause . "And honor . "

    Secretary Liu snorted . "Those are just pretty words without practical value . " He smirked . "Money itself isn¡¯t the issue . The amount is . "

    Li Yundong studied Secretary Liu for a moment . Every second passed bolstered Secretary Liu¡¯s confidence, making him think that he had won the argument . Suddenly, Li Yundong kicked up a piece of granite from the deck . When the granitended in his palm, he squeezed it with all his strength, crushing it into tiny rubbles . Li Yundong opened his palm, and the rubbles trickled to the deck .

    He stared at Secretary Liu coldly . "Use your money and put that piece of rock back together . I¡¯d love to see you try . "

    ***

    "Is this your proof, father?" Zhou Qin smirked .

    Zhou Keqiang slid the phone back into his pocket and shrugged . "I suppose things didn¡¯t turn out that bad . "

    Zhou Qin frowned . "Even when you¡¯ve just been proven wrong?"

    "So what? The man clearly isn¡¯t interested in you . In fact, he¡¯s head over heels for someone else! I suggest you stop throwing yourself at him and focus on your own engagement . "

    Zhou Qin stared at her father . For the first time in her life, she pitied the man that was Zhou Keqiang, the man who had led such a miserable and shallow existence . Zhou Qin shook her head . "You really don¡¯t get it, do you father? You¡¯re really incapable of seeing the value in people other than their social status and wealth . " Her father didn¡¯t answer, so Zhou Qin kept talking . "I¡¯m not going to lie . I have feelings for Li Yundong . Because he has something that no other man has . "

    Zhou Keqiang sneered . "And what¡¯s that? The ability to brag and spout useless threats? Anger issues? What a joke . " Zhou Keqiang nced at her . "And you¡¯re naive to fall for his charms . "

    Zhou Qin shook her head and sighed . What a blind and pitiful man you are, father . . . Nobody can save you from your fruitless obsession with power . "You¡¯re the one who¡¯s naive, father . You think you can control everything, that you can rule over the world . But you¡¯re wrong . Don¡¯t you see how futile your efforts are? How many government officials are there out there who are higher ranked than you? More than you can count . Do you actually think you can actually climb your way to the top? Even if you did, what then? You¡¯re still just a human . A mortal . No matter how much power you have, you can never surpass God . " Zhou Qin snorted . "You might scorn or mock him for being a romantic or a sap, but his faithfulness and loyalty to Su Chan was exactly what I like about him . For years, I¡¯ve been sought after by phnderers, by womanizers who saw women as nothing but trophies . "

    Zhou Qin stared intently at her father . "Not him, father . Not him . I¡¯ve been watching him . I¡¯ve had my doubts about him before, but now I¡¯m sure . Li Yundong is an honorable man . And I want an honorable man in my life! Can¡¯t you see that, father? Shouldn¡¯t you be happy for me that I¡¯ve finally met a good man? That I¡¯m willing to give my heart to an honorable man?"

    Her father was looking at anywhere but her . Zhou Qin suppressed the wave of disappointment she felt in her stomach and forced herself to keep going . If there was a chance she could convince her father to set her free, it would be now .

    Zhou Qin took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly . "If I marry He Shao . . . I know I¡¯d be miserable for the rest of my life . " Zhou Qin shook her head . "Fine . Forget about my happiness for a moment . Even if our families are rted by marriage, so what? Without genuine affection and respect between two families, it all means nothing . We are still just using each other! In moments of trouble, when pushes to shove, do you actually think the He family would remain our ally? Because of what? A meaningless marriage certificate? Don¡¯t be naive, father . The truth is that they won¡¯t remain our ally because there was no genuine alliance and fellowship in the first ce! They¡¯ll just throw us under the bus to save their own skin! Wake up, father!"

    When her father remained silent, Zhou Qin suppressed a sigh of frustration . The truth was that she wanted to shake her father¡¯s shoulders until he could finally see the obvious truth . Ice Queen aloofness be damned . "Besides, how do you know that Li Yundong wouldn¡¯t be sessful in the future? He Shao is just a good-for-nothing lowlife who does nothing other than waste his family¡¯s wealth . Li Yundong is a smart, honorable, and loyal man who is willing to work hard . But here¡¯s the most important thing . He is selfless . He puts other people¡¯s needs above his own . I¡¯ve seen him do it, father . I¡¯ve seen it with my own eyes . He nearly broke his arms when he saved my life . A man like that is an asset, father . Loyalty is hard toe by . You know that . " Zhou Qin stared at her father . "You might think that you can buy loyalty, but that kind of loyalty is fickle . What if others offer a higher price than ours? What then?" Zhou Qin shook her head . "An honorable man like Li Yundong, one who knows true loyalty, would never betray us no matter how much money is offered to him . " Warm feelings flooded Zhou Qin¡¯s chest at the memory of Li Yundong tearing up the check Secretary Liu had offered him . Li Yundong¡¯s words¡ªI don¡¯t want your stupid money¡ªechoed in her mind like a soothing chime . Zhou Qin cleared her throat . "He has a lot of potential, father . I believe he would be a better choice than He Shao in the long run . "

    Zhou Keqiang shifted in his seat . "So what if he has potential . He Shao has a better starting point . "

    Not if we support him, father . Zhou Qin bit back thement .

    "Even if we give him a chance," Zhou Keqiang went on, "will he be willing to go through the system and enter into political circle? Fine . Let¡¯s say he¡¯s willing . Even then, he wouldn¡¯tst a year! His character isn¡¯t made for politics . He¡¯s too honest . He has no guile . "

    Zhou Qin studied her father for a moment . Did she imagine it? Or had her father¡¯s attitude towards Li Yundong changed? Zhou Qin sighed . "You¡¯ve never interacted with this man before, so I don¡¯t expect you to understand, father . "

    "What else is there to see other than a hot-blooded young man who thinks he can take on the world?"

    Zhou Qin shook her head, then gazed into her father¡¯s eyes . "You haven¡¯t seen the things he did . . . The things he¡¯s capable of . But I have . I¡¯ve seen him in action with my own eyes, and all I can say is this . He has powers, father . Otherworldly powers . Powers that go beyond status and wealth . "

    Instead ofmenting, Zhou Keqiang lit up another cigarette . Zhou Qin sat in a car for a few more minutes before deciding that it was time for her to leave . Besides, Zhou Qin knew she had said more than enough already; she had made her case . "If there¡¯s nothing else," Zhou Qin said, opening the car door, "I¡¯ll be going now . "

    Zhou Keqiang sighed . "He¡¯s clearly in a stable and loving rtionship with someone else . Do you really think it¡¯s wise to get involved? Won¡¯t you end up getting . . . " Zhou Keqiang cleared his throat . "Tired?"

    Zhou Qin had to do a double take . Did her father just . . . express concern? Was he worried about her getting her heart broken? You¡¯re getting ahead of yourself, Zhou Qin .

    "Even so, it¡¯s my choice," Zhou Qin said, "not someone¡¯s else¡¯s will imposed on me . I won¡¯t regret my choice no matter how much difficulties I¡¯ll run into for making it . "

    Zhou Qin shut the door and walked away from the Audi .

    ***

    Secretary Liu entered the car moments after Zhou Qin had left .

    Zhou Keqiang and Secretary Liu scowled at each other without saying a word .

    After a while, Zhou Keqiang tossed Secretary Liu a packet of cigarette . "Help yourself . "

    Secretary Liu grabbed the pack and lit up a cigarette . He took a long drag, then blew out the smoke .

    Zhou Keqiang studied his trusted secretary from across his seat . Suddenly, he smirked . "So . How does it feel like to be threatened?"

    Zhou Keqiang watched in amusement as Secretary Liu shuddered . "Scary," Secretary Liu said . "Terrifying as hell!"

    Zhou Keqiang¡¯s eyebrows rose in surprise . Secretary Liu was not known to be a coward . Not many things could scare him . "Oh?" Zhou Keqiang studied his secretary carefully . "Scary? How scary? Why don¡¯t you describe it . "

    Secretary Liu took another pull from his cigarette and chuckled . "It¡¯s like my life ispletely in his hands, sir . Like he has total control whether I live or die . "

    Zhou Keqiang kept his eyes on his secretary . The cigarette in Secretary Liu¡¯s hand was trembling . Secondster, Zhou Keqiang realized that the trembling wasn¡¯t deliberate .

    Suddenly, Secretary Liu pressed the butt of his cigarette against the ashtray and leaned closer to Zhou Keqiang . "Sir, you heard everything over the phone just now, right?"

    Zhou Keqiang nodded . "There was some kind of noise, like a bunch of stuff being dropped . " Zhou Keqiang raised a brow . "Why, did that barbarian snatch your briefcase and empty its contents to the floor? You¡¯re terrified just because of that?"

    Secretary Liu shook his head grimly . "No, you don¡¯t understand, sir . He smashed a granite table into pieces with a single hand . "

    Zhou Keqiang¡¯s eyes widened . "What?"

    Secretary Liu nodded . There was a huge granite table where our conversation took ce . And he just pped it with one hand and the whole thing shattered like it was nothing . " Secretary Liu took something out from his briefcase . "Here . I took a sample of the pieces . As you can see, it¡¯s genuine granite . "

    Zhou Keqiang handed the rock back to his secretary . "So he knows a bit of Karate . That doesn¡¯t mean he¡¯s anything special . You could probably find hundreds of Karate masters who can do the same . "

    Secretary Liu shook his head grimly . "Crushing a piece of granite with just his grip? I doubt it, sir . "

    "What? What did you say?"

    Secretary Liu rummaged through his briefcase again . "Before he left, he picked up a piece of granite from the debris . " Secretary Liu pulled out a stic bag . "The piece was about palm-sized . And he crushed it with his palm alone . " Secretary Liu opened the stic bag . "I¡¯ve collected the remains . "

    Zhou Keqiang peered into the bag and saw a bunch of tiny rubbles . "Th- that¡¯s . . . incredible . . . "

    Secretary Liu nodded and put the bag away . "I gotta admit it, sir . I nearly wet my pants when he did that . My God . It was a piece of granite . Granite! Can you imagine it if it were someone else¡¯s throat?"

    Zhou Keqiang nced out of the car¡¯s window . "Looks like things aren¡¯t as simple as I thought . "

    "What¡¯s our next step, sir?"

    Zhou Keqiang took a deep breath . "Change of ns . Leave the guy alone for the time being . I want to see what¡¯s he¡¯s capable of . "

    "And then, sir? Whates after?"

    Zhou Keqiang raised his head and sighed . "And then we¡¯ll see . "

    "Understood, sir . "

    "An honorable man, huh?" Zhou Keqiang said . "A man who couldn¡¯t be swayed by wealth and power . Can such a man truly exist?"

    ***

    Zhou Qin sat on the bench near the academic building and watched the trees sway in the gentle breeze . Despite her initial shock, she was d that her father hade today . Thanks to her father, Zhou Qin had obtained yet another piece of evidence which proved Li Yundong¡¯s worthiness . Familiar voices drifted from her right . She turned on the bench and saw Li Yundong and Su Chan walking away from the academic building .

    "What took you so long!! Were you trying to starve me again?"

    Li Yundong¡¯sughter rang out . "Sorry, princess . Guess the conversation wasn¡¯t as simple as I thought . "

    "What were you talking about?"

    "Oh . It¡¯s nothing . Just a casual conversation I guess . Hey . What¡¯s say I make lunch for you back home? What do you say?"

    "Yayyyyyy!!! I want the duck beer . . . beer duck!"

    Li Yundong unleashed another round ofughter . "Again? But you had that yesterday!"

    "But it tastes so gooood!"

    "Alright then¡ª"

    Zhou Qin raised her gaze and noitced Li Yundong looking right at her . Zhou Qin stood up from the bench and smiled at him . Li Yundong took Su Chan¡¯s hand and walked over .

    "Everything alright with your father?" Li Yundong asked .

    Zhou Qin smiled . "Yes . Everything¡¯s fine . " All thanks to you . . .

    Silence passed between them . Zhou Qin was just about to excuse herself when Li Yundong suddenly spoke .

    "You know, Zhou Qin . Whatever happens, we¡¯ve got your back . " Li Yundong stared at Zhou Qin for a moment, then lifted Su Chan¡¯s hand . "Both of us . We¡¯re your friends . "

    Su Chan bobbed her head excitedly . "Mmm! You can tell me when someone tries to bully you, Elder Sister Zhou Qin! I¡¯ll kick them in the gonads!" Su Chan swung her free hand wildly .

    Li Yundong smacked Su Chan¡¯s forehead . "Tsk! You can just go around and kick people in the nuts!"

    "Oww . . . I was just trying to help . . . " Su Chan mumbled .

    Warmth bloomed in Zhou Qin¡¯s chest as she stared at the couple in disbelief . You two are really . . .

    Li Yundong was staring at her again . "The point is . . . you¡¯re not alone . Not anymore . You have friends now . " Li Yundong pulled Su Chan as they went on their way .

    Su Chan waved at her a few times . "Bye, Elder Sister Zhou Qin! Have a good day!"

    Zhou Qin waved back and tried to smile, but she couldn¡¯t . The tears in her eyes stung too much .

    Zhou Qin watched as Li Yundong and Su Chan headed towards the gates, chatting happily with each other as though they didn¡¯t have a care in the world . The afternoon sun bathed over the beautiful couple and, for a moment there, Zhou Qin thought their bodies were glowing . A drop of tear escaped Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes . I¡¯m not alone . . . Not anymore . At longst, Zhou Qin had found people in her life worth knowing, people worth fighting for . Zhou Qin had found true friends . At longst .

 Chapter 104

    Chapter 104

    <h4>The Most Powerful Magic in Existence!</h4>

    When Su Chan noticed Yundong¡¯s frown for the 50th time since they came home, she couldn¡¯t take it anymore .

    "Yundong . . . What¡¯s wrong?"

    Yundong looked away from the TV and gave her a smile . The frown was still there . "Nothing¡¯s wrong," he said .

    Liar . . . Su Chan shook her head . "You¡¯ve been acting strange since you went away to talk to that guy . . . "

    Yundong looked away . Su Chan shifted herself on the couch until their shoulders were touching, then turned his head so that he was looking at her . Su Chan ran her thumb across Yundong¡¯s forehead as though to smooth away the frown . "That man said something to upset you, didn¡¯t he?"

    Yundong sighed and attempted another reassuring smile, which failed miserably . "It was nothing, Chan¡¯er . Really . So don¡¯t worry about it, okay?"

    Su Chan held Yundong¡¯s gaze for a moment . Not buying it, beloved . I¡¯m not buying it . . . She looked down, then took Yundong¡¯s hand, intertwining their fingers together . She raised their joined hands to his eye-level . She gave Yundong a few moments to stare at their hands .

    "Yundong . . . " Su Chan lowered their hands so that they were resting on her thigh . "Right now, you are my training partner and lover . I trust you with my life . So I hope you can trust me with yours too . And I hope . . . "

    When she didn¡¯t continue her sentence after a few seconds, Yundong turned in his seat to stare at her . Su Chan looked up and met his gentle gaze . "I want to share your burdens in the future, okay?"

    The warmth of Yundong¡¯s hand caressed her cheek . "Aww . . . Looks like our chipmunk isn¡¯t as obtuse as she seemed . So you have a sensitive side after all!"

    Su Chan gaped at Yundong . Obtuse? How dare he! Su Chan smacked his hand away . "Who are you calling obtuse! And I¡¯m not a cheap monk! Hmph!"

    Li Yundong burst intoughter . Secondster, his expression turned sober . "I guess I was wondering if I¡¯ve made a mistake . "

    A mistake? What was he talking about? "What mistake, beloved?" Su Chan waited patiently for Yundong to answer . It took about a minute or so before Yundong finally opened his mouth . "I basically told a powerful government official to shove it . " Yundong looked at her worriedly . "I doubt he would take it well..."

    Oh . So he was worried about that trivial thing . Su Chan chuckled in amusement . "I thought it was something serious . "

    Li Yundong stared at her as though she had suddenly be bald . "I¡¯ve pissed off the frigging deputy governor! You don¡¯t think that¡¯s a serious matter?"

    Su Chan smiled . "Yundong . . . You¡¯re now a trainee Cultivator . And once you passed the Zhuji phase, you¡¯ll be a true Cultivator . You have nothing to fear, Yundong . Normal people will revere you!"

    Li Yundong pondered her words for a moment . "The Zhuji phase, huh?"

    Su Chan nodded . "The fourth phase of Cultivation . It¡¯s the first step to be a true Cultivator . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "And once you pass all phases of Cultivation, you be a Shenxian, right?"

    Su Chan gave him a nod . "That¡¯s right . " Then she paused to look at him . "But Cultivation is only one of the ways to be a Shenxian . "

    Yundong¡¯s head whipped to the side . When Su Chan met his gaze, he seemed surprised .

    "What? You mean there are other ways to be a Shenxian?"

    Su Chan smiled at him . "Many ways, in fact . Okay . So tell me . What is a Shenxian? I¡¯ve told you this before . "

    Yundong stared at the ceiling or a moment . "Um . . . A Shenxian is someone who is immortal?"

    "True," Su Chan said . "Well, technically speaking, a Shenxian is someone who has achieved spiritual transcendence . "

    Yundong snapped his fingers . "By bing one with the Tao . "

    Su Chan nodded and snuggled closer to Yundong . "When someone bes one with the Tao, their existence transcends mortality . " Su Chan paused to let Yundong process her words . Momentster, she continued, "What is the Tao? The Tao is the natural order that governs the Universe . But the Universe is so big andplicated . It has many, many aspects . "

    "I see . " Yundong lowered his gaze from the ceiling to look at her . "So that¡¯s why there are many paths towards transcendence . Because the Tao manifests itself in different forms . "

    Su Chan smiled . "Take the King of Medicine, Sun Simiao, for example . He achieved transcendence through his mastery of the art of healing . "

    Yundong chuckled . "Yeah . You told me before that Sun Simiao is a Shenxian . " He shook his head . "I just didn¡¯t believe you back then . "

    Su Chan looked at Yundong . "But now you do?"

    Yundong nodded . "Now I do . "

    Good . Yundong had to start getting use to these things now . Once he passed the Zhuji phase, he would be capable of even more extraordinary feats . And by the time he reached the Shentong phase, he would be able to fly and use magic . Su Chan trailed her fingers down Yundong¡¯s forearm . This strong arm had saved many lives already despite Yundong¡¯sck of training . There were times when Su Chan found herself wondering whether Yundong¡¯s consumption of the Renyuan Jindan was really just happenstance . After all, despite its power, the Renyuan Jindan couldn¡¯t change a person¡¯s aptitude in Cultivation . Yet, through an unlikely chain of events, the Renyuan Jindan somehow ended up inside the body of a man who could visualize nine lotus thrones in a row . All of it screamed the work of a higher power . Still, Su Chan couldn¡¯t prove it . It was merely conjecture at this point .

    "You alright?" Yundong¡¯s voice broke her reverie . "You¡¯ve gone quiet all of a sudden . "

    Su Chan cleared her throat . "Where were we?"

    "We were talking about transcendence," Yundong said, then shot her a worried look . "You sure you¡¯re alright?"

    "I¡¯m fine . " Su Chan waved him off . "Anyway . Transcendence, or unity with the Tao, can be achieved through theplete mastery of an art . The art of Cultivation is just one of many . "

    "Right . Sun Simiao did it through the art of healing . "

    Su Chan nodded . "Some arts are only avable to Cultivators though . Like the magical arts, for instance . " Su Chan turned her head slightly to gauge Yundong¡¯s reaction .

    Yundong was still staring at the ceiling . "Magic, huh?"

    "Yes . You¡¯ve encountered one already . "

    Yundong tore his gaze away from the ceiling and looked at her .

    Su Chan nodded . "The art of Shenda . "

    Yundong sighed . "Oh . That crazy old man . "

    "Remember that yellow paper you saw yesterday?"

    "Yeah . The old man was burning it before he transformed . "

    "Mmm . That was a talisman . Some spells require talismans . "

    Suddenly, Yundong pped his hands together . "Holy shit . . . "

    Su Chan sat up straighter . "What?"

    Yundong eyed her suspiciously . "Is that why the mes disappeared from the stove? Because you performed some kind of magic on the stove?"

    Su Chan¡¯s cheeks heated up . "I- I might have used a spell or two . . . "

    Yundongughed . "And then after the kitchen blew up, you mentioned something about the talismans from some whatchamacallit school . I didn¡¯t even know what you were talking about back then . "

    Su Chan stole a nce at Yundong through hershes . "A- Are you still mad at me about that?"

    Yundong stared at her for a moment, thenughed . "Nah . I¡¯m over it . " He ruffled her hair . "Besides, I like our new ce better . "

    Su Chan sighed in relief and leaned against Yundong¡¯s chest .

    "So what makes Cultivation so special then?" Yundong asked .

    Su Chan frowned . "What do you mean?"

    "Well . . . I mean, if people can be Shenxians through the mastery of other arts, why bother with Cultivation at all? Cuz¡¯ it seems difficult as hell . "

    Hmm . That was a very interesting question . Su Chan had to pause for a moment to think of the best exnation . Then again, this was a good sign; it showed that Yundong was on the way topleting the 6th dan of the Ningshen phase . Su Chan took a breath and began her exnation . "In general, the likelihood of transcendence depends on theplexity of the art . The higher theplexity, the more likely it is for one to achieve transcendence . " Su Chan paused to let that sink in .

    "Right . That makes sense . There are a lot of brilliant doctors out there, but not many of them became Shenxians . Somehow only Sun Simiao did . . . " Yundong suddenly turned to the side to face her . "Come to think of it . How did Sun Simiao be a Shenxian? Did he, like, suddenly grew wings and rose to the sky or something?"

    Su Chan burst into giggles . Yundong and his funny ideas . How cute . "No, I don¡¯t think so, beloved . "

    "Well, then how?"

    Su Chan shook her head a few times . "Only he knows . But ording to history, he became a Shenxian after he turned a hundred years old . Anyway . The point is, unlike other arts, once you master the art of Cultivation, you are guaranteed to be a Shenxian . For other arts, it depends on the depth of your understanding . It¡¯s just like you said, there are many good doctors out there who didn¡¯t be Shenxians . "

    Yundong went silent in thought . "Okay . So let¡¯s say wepare two people who have achieved transcendence through different arts, one in the art of Cultivation while the other in some other art . Like, sure, they are both Shenxians, but they are still different, right?"

    "Of course . Actually, Shenxian is just an umbre term that refers to immortal, transcendent beings . Their specific abilities are different and depend on the path they have taken towards transcendence . Those who transcended through the art of Cultivation will have magical powers aside from their immortality . " Su Chan chuckled . "By the way, that¡¯s also why most Shenxians have magical powers, because most of them used to be Cultivators . Like I said, the art of Cultivation is the surest path to transcendence . It¡¯s more difficult to be a Shenxian through the mastery of other arts . "

    Silence spread between them . Su Chan stole a nce at Yundong to see if he had fallen asleep . As it turned out, she couldn¡¯t have been more wrong . Yundong¡¯s eyes were wide open and they were burning with intensity as he stared up at the ceiling .

    "So Shenxians . . . " Yundong finally said after a minute or so . "They¡¯re basically deities, aren¡¯t they?"

    Su Chan chuckled . "That¡¯s not entirely urate . Okay, well, by definition, all deities are Shenxians . However, not all Shenxians are deities . "

    Yundong looked at her in confusion . Su Chan smoothed her thumb over the crease in his forehead . "In his book, Baopuzi, Ge Hong wrote an essay on the subject of Shenxians . ording to him, humans can be Shenxians by achieving oneness with the Tao . Even so, oneness with the Tao doesn¡¯t make them deities . A Shenxian only bes a deity when mortals willingly worship them . Worship as in they pray, make offerings, and burn incense to the deities . "

    Yundong stared at her for a moment . "So, like, the more worshippers they have the more powerful they are?"

    Su Chan nodded . "That¡¯s why Guan Yu is such a powerful Shenxian¡ªand deity¡ªeven though he wasn¡¯t a Cultivator . Guan Yu became a Shenxian through the mastery of the art of war and the martial arts . But a lot of people worship him . "

    Su Chan raised her head from Yundong¡¯s chest when she felt him shudder . "What¡¯s wrong?" she asked, failing to keep the worry out of her tone .

    "Just thinking back to that fight with Lin Youfa . " Yundong shook his head . "That guy could really hit, princess . It made sense now that you mentioned how powerful Guan Yu is . I got kicked around like a helpless puppy . "

    Su Chan snorted . "I¡¯m sorry to tell you this, beloved . But what you saw yesterday doesn¡¯t evene close to Guan Yu¡¯s true power . " Su Chanughed when Yundong gaped at her . Su Chan patted Yundong¡¯s cheeks a few times . "The art of Shenda allows the user to borrow only a small portion of a deity¡¯s power . It¡¯s like offering a prayer¡ªor a sacrifice¡ªto a deity in exchange for their help . " Su Chan rolled her eyes and snorted . "Do you really think a deity would grant a Cultivator their full power?"

    Yundong cleared his throat . "Fair enough . "

    They stayed in each other¡¯s arms infortable silence . Su Chan¡¯s mind began to wander . She began to think about their future¡ªif they had one, that is¡ªtogether, about the challenges they might have to face . Momentster, something urred to her .

    She sat up and looked at Yundong . "Yundong . . . Do you want to be a Cultivator?"

    She realized that she had never really asked Yundong whether Cultivation was a path he wanted to take . The life of a Cultivator wasn¡¯t smooth sailing . It was filled with trials and tribtions that would destroy a lesser person .

    Yundong¡¯s answering nod was resolute . "Of course!"

    "Why? Why do you want to be a Cultivator?"

    When Yundong opened his mouth, Su Chan¡¯s hand shot out and covered it . "Take your time to think about it first before you answer . "

    When Yundong nodded, Su Chan lowered her hand . Yundong¡¯s gaze was focused on the ceiling again . Su Chan rxed against his side and listened to his steady heartbeat . This was an important step for him . He needed to find his purpose and reason to pursue the art of Cultivation . When things get tough, it was this purpose that he would fall back on, this purpose that would motivate him to push forward and continue his journey .

    "I guess I want to make a difference in the world," Yundong said after a long while .

    Su Chan sat up and regarded him curiously, waiting for him to go on .

    Their gazes met when Yundong suddenly turned his head . "I want to make the world a better ce . "

    Su Chan nodded . Yundong¡¯s selflessness was one of the first things that Su Chan had noticed about his personality . That, and also his powerful sense of justice .

    "There are people out there who are just bullies, you know?" Yundong said, shaking his head . "People like He Shao, Liu Chuan, and Zheng Youming . . . They walked all over others just because they¡¯re rich and powerful . I don¡¯t like that . " Yundong took a breath . "And then this thing"¡ªYundong gestured up and down his body¡ª"inside me . " He paused to look at her . Su Chan nodded . He was talking about the Renyuan Jindan . "I want to put it to good use . I want to use it to help others . To protect others from bullies like He Shao . "

    Suddenly, Yundong blushed and looked away sheepishly . "I know it all sounds like someme and clich¨¦d storyline from a superhero movie, but it¡¯s true . " Yundong held her gaze again . He was no longer blushing . "I¡¯ve been bullied and treated like trash all my life, so I know what it feels like to be bullied . That feeling of helplessness and powerlessness . . . " Yundong shook his head . "It¡¯s not a good feeling . It puts you in a dark ce that sometimes feels inescapable . It¡¯s like being sucked into a never-ending, dark tunnel . Sometimes, you feel so worthless that you start to wonder why you even exist . " There was a pregnant pause . "I guess I want to spare someone else from having to live through all that shit . "

    Something tugged inside Su Chan¡¯s chest . Poor Yundong . It hurt to even consider how the world had treated such a good man . Even though Su Chan was despised¡ªbecause she was a fox spirit¡ª by a lot of Cultivators from other schools and sects, she still had Master . But Yundong had no one; even his parents had abandoned him . Su Chan clung tighter to his arm . Not anymore . He has me now . For as long as he wants me at least .

    Yundong chuckled all of a sudden . "And then you came along . "

    Su Chan lifted her head slightly . Yundong reached over and hook a strand of her hair behind her ear . "You came into my life and gave me a chance to make a difference . And . . . " Yundong looked away . "You saw something in me . Like I¡¯m someone worth a damn, you know?" He chuckled in disbelief, then looked at her pointedly . "You said it yourself . You could¡¯ve taken that thing away from me, but you didn¡¯t . You changed your mind . " Yundong cupped her cheeks . "I want to prove that you¡¯ve made the right choice . And also . . . I want to be a man worthy of you, a man who deserves your love . "

    Something wet touched her cheeks . Su Chan sniffed . She¡¯d been crying for Tao knows how long, and she didn¡¯t even know it . She pulled away and dried her tears with her sleeves .

    "I¡¯m sorry, princess," Yundong said . "I didn¡¯t mean to make you cry . "

    Su Chan shook her head .

    "Are you alright?"

    Su Chan wiped her cheeks again and smiled at him . "Mmm!"

    Yundong¡¯s face broke into a grin . "So the answer is hell yes! I¡¯m going to work hard and be the best Cultivator I can be!" He pumped his fist in the air . The sliding door rattled slightly .

    Su Chan cleared her throat . "Once you pass the Zhuji phase and reach the Shentong phase, you will have to make some choices though . . . "

    Yundong visibly tensed, out of wariness or excitement she couldn¡¯t tell . "Choices? What do you mean?"

    "When you reach the Shentong phase, you can start to use magic . But there are different types of magic out there . You have to pick one to learn first . "

    Yundong closed his eyes . When he reopen them secondster, they were filled with determination . "I want to learn the most powerful type of magic . "

    Su Chan regarded Yundong seriously . Should she tell him? Master will probably teach him if I beg her . . . Fear coursed through Su Chan . But that kind of magic was not only difficult to learn, but dangerous as well . Have faith in him, Chan¡¯er . . . Nine lotus thrones, remember? Nine!

    Yundong nudged her . "What? What¡¯s the matter?"

    Su Chan leaned forward and took his hand . "Of all types of magic known to Cultivators, there is only one that is universally acknowledged as the most powerful magic . The Five Thunders Spell . "

    "The Five Thunders Spell?"

    Su Chan nodded . "ording to Chinese philosophy, the material world consists of five elements . Gold, wood, water, fire, and earth . The usage of these elements ismon and doesn¡¯t require any magic at all . You can see the usage of these elements in everyday life . But thunder . . . " Su Chan looked deep into Yundong¡¯s eyes . "There is something sacred about thunder . Of all the forces of nature, thunder is the most fearsome of all . But the problem is, nobody can really harness its true power without the use of magic . And that¡¯s what the Five Thunders Spell is all about . "

    Yundong sat up straighter . "So it¡¯s about controlling and harnessing the force of thunder?"

    Su Chan nodded . "Once you master it, you¡¯ll be able to summon thunder, lightning, and even control the weather with a flick of a finger . "

    Yundong¡¯s eyes went wide . "Good God . . . That¡¯s insane..."

    "It is the prime form of all magical arts known in the Cultivation world . It is also the most difficult type of magic to master . To learn it, you have to first master both Internal and External Alchemy, and believe it or not, that¡¯s actually the easy part . The most difficult challenge lies in getting your Spirit to be inplete harmony with Heaven and Earth . "

    Su Chan didn¡¯t know what to make of the look of excitement on Yundong¡¯s face . She liked that he was showing interest in the Five Thunders Spell, but the idea of him dying in the process of mastering it made her sick to her stomach .

    Su Chan got up from the couch and sat down cross-legged on the floor . They were now face to face with the coffee table separating them . Su Chan studied Yundong for a moment, then sighed . "There¡¯s something else you need to know . . . "

    Yundong¡¯s butt inched forward until it was at the edge of the couch . "What?"

    "Learning the spell poses great risks . There¡¯s a chance you might lose your life . . . "

    "What risks?"

    "Your Spirit has to be in harmony with Heaven and Earth the whole time you¡¯re using the spell . That is actually what allows you tomand the power of nature . But the moment you lose focus, the spell will turn on you, and you¡¯ll be struck . And if you¡¯re struck, not even the King of Medicine, Sun Simiao can save you . "

    Yundong stared at her in silence .

    "I want you to think carefully before you make a decision, Yundong . Are you sure you want to learn it?"

    Yundong smirked . "Yes . . . "

    "B- But it¡¯s difficult to master! Thousands of Cultivators have tried to master it, but only a few have seeded!"

    Yundong shook his head . "I¡¯ve been a useless nobody all my life, princess . Now that I have a chance to achieve something great, I¡¯ll never walk away from it . "

    Either he didn¡¯t understand how great the risks were, or he was just that brave . Su Chan took a deep breath . "Are you certain, Yundong? Are you absolutely certain?"

    Yundong nodded . "Yes . I¡¯m certain . " Then, he looked deep into her eyes . "Teach me . "

    Su Chan twiddled her fingers . "I don¡¯t know the spell . . . "

    Yundong¡¯s butt slid off the edge of the couch and hit the floor .

 Chapter 105

    Chapter 105

    <h4>Abstinence!</h4>

    Yundong peered at Su Chan over the coffee table . "What do you mean you don¡¯t know the spell?"

    Su Chan blushed . "I- I never learned it!"

    Yundong chuckled . "But you sounded like you knew what you were talking about!" Yundong raised his voice an octave higher . "Ooh, you have to master Internal and External Alchemy first . . . Ooh . . . your Spirit has to be in harmony with Heaven and Earth¡ª"

    Su Chan kicked him the table, then giggled when Yundong suddenly tickled her foot .

    "So you really don¡¯t know?"

    Su Chan pulled back her feet and pouted . "Of course not, dummy . It¡¯s a very difficult spell to master..."

    "Oh? So you got me so worked up for nothing, huh?" Yundong climbed over the coffee table . "Payback time!"

    "Kyaa!!!" Su Chan tried to dive away, but it was toote . Her back hit the floor as Yundong¡¯s body pressed down on her .

    Su Chan giggled and tried to free herself by twisting her body around . "It¡¯s . . . hahaha . . . It¡¯s not for nothing! I know someone who can teach you, okay?" The tickling stopped instantly . When Su Chan sat up from the floor, Yundong was staring at her expectantly . Once or twice, she caught Yundong¡¯s eyes drifting down to her legs . When Su Chan nced down, she felt her cheeks heat up . She cleared her throat and quickly pulled down her skirt, which had ridden up to mid-thigh some time during their tussle . "My master knows," she said, willing her heart to stop racing . "T-The spell, I mean . . . "

    Yundong stared at her, his brows raised in surprise . "So not only does she know medicine and all those massage techniques, but she also knows the most powerful spell in all of Cultivation?"

    Su Chan¡¯s heart swelled with pride . "Of course! My master is the best! In the Fo¡ª Ahem! I mean, where I came from, she was hailed as a genius! She knows pretty much every spell in existence!"

    "Every spell?" Yundong stared at her in awe . "Damn... Is there anything that your master can¡¯t do?"

    Cooking, apparently . She¡¯d pick Yundong¡¯s duck beer dish over Master¡¯s cooking any day . Forgive Chan¡¯er, Master . You taught me to always be honest . . . Su Chan suppressed a snort . Says the one who¡¯s keeping her origins a secret from Yundong . . .

    Yundong cleared his throat . "Is that the n? You¡¯re gonna ask your master to teach me the spell?"

    Su Chan clung to Yundong¡¯s arm . "Yep! Which means . . . " Su Chan leaned her head against his shoulder . "I¡¯m going to be your senior!"

    Yundong¡¯s face twisted in disgust . "What! No! I¡¯m your boyfriend, not some . . . " He gestured wildly with his hand . "Some dude who bows to you at hallways!"

    Su Chan giggled . He clearly had no idea how fellow students act around each other in Cultivation schools . "Well, you don¡¯t have a choice . I¡¯m your senior because I became my master¡¯s disciple first!"

    Su Chan moaned when Yundong suddenly bit down on her earlobe . Her eyes fluttered close as her back hit the floor once again . Warm breath caressed her neck, and she felt a firm weight pressing down against her breasts . She moaned again . "Yundong . . . Please . . . "

    "So you were a disciple first, huh?"

    "I- It¡¯s true . . . " Su Chan arched her back .

    "Can¡¯t you make an exception for me, hmm?"

    Su Chan¡¯s eyesshes fluttered as she tried to open her eyes . "Th- That¡¯s the rule . . . I c-can¡¯t change th- the... rules..."

    "Rule? I bet none of your other juniors are allowed to do this..."

    Su Chan gasped when Yundong sucked at a sensitive spot on her neck .

    "Yundong . . . no¡ª" The rest of her words were muffled by the press of Yundong¡¯s lips against her mouth . Strong arms gripped her shoulders and hoisted her body upwards . Yundong kept nibbling her lips as he shifted into a new position . Secondster, her back hit the floor once again . Some strange object was pressing up against her lower back, like an uneven surface on the floor . Eventually, she realized that it was the pen she had discarded earlier . Yundong shifted their positions again . Su Chan¡¯s body slid lower, causing the pen to roll upwards along her spine . Su Chan felt a powerful jolt when the pen pressed against a spot between her shoulder des¡ªher Lingtai .

    Her eyes shot open . She shoved Yundong away and sat up . They stared at each other for a moment, both gasping for air . Su Chan reached up and cupped Yundong¡¯s face on both sides . "We can¡¯t, beloved . Not yet . We have to wait until you¡¯ve passed the Zhuji phase first . "

    Yundong stared at her for a moment, and then nodded . "Okay . I respect that . "

    Su Chan sighed and let her hands slide away from his cheeks . "Thank you . "

    Yundong caught her hands and trapped them against his cheeks . His gaze sought out her eyes . "Can I know why? Why do we have to wait until I¡¯ve passed the Zhuji phase?"

    Su Chan held his gaze intently . "The Essence, Qi, and Spirit, also known as the Three Treasures, are the three most vitalponents of life . One of the things that the Zhuji phase does is that it allows you to secure those threeponents inside your body and prevent someone from stealing them from the outside . If . . . If we . . . " Su Chan blushed and looked down . "If we make love now, you¡¯ll die because I will end up consuming the three vitalponents of your life in the process . "

    Silence fell . Then, Yundong chuckled . "Ah . Now I see . So you¡¯re actually a subus, you little devil!"

    Su Chan flinched at that remark . Her gaze snapped up, and she studied his face . Sure, he had used a joking tone when making thatment, but it still raised a dozen of rm bells inside Su Chan¡¯s head . Had he figured out her identity already? Does he know, or at least suspect, that I¡¯m a fox spirit? Su Chan¡¯s heart drummed against her ribcage . Yundong was still smiling at her, so maybe he didn¡¯t know yet . Su Chan sighed inwardly .

    Suddenly, Yundong chuckled and hook a finger under her chin . There was a twinkle in his eyes . "Even if I die, it¡¯ll be totally worth it . " He leaned down and kissed her again .

    Su Chan pushed him away . "Tsk! This isn¡¯t a joke!" she said, raising her voice, though it was more because of anxiety than anger . Yundong flinched back in surprise .

    Su Chan took a deep calming breath . "You¡¯ll really die if we do it now, okay? Not even . . . " Su Chan looked at him pointedly until she was sure he understood that she was referring to the Renyuan Jindan . "Not even that thing can protect you . "

    Silence spread between them . Yundong stared at her with a guarded expression . A whileter, Su Chan couldn¡¯t stand the silence anymore . She wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled against his chest . "Yundong . . . Just listen to me, please? Once you passed the Zhuji phase . . . I¡¯ll let you do whatever you want . "

    Yundong pulled back from their embrace and stared down at her . There was a look of amusement on his face . That familiar twinkle in his eyes was there as well . "Whatever I want?" he said with a quirk of his brows .

    Heat shot through Su Chan¡¯s core until it reached her cheeks . She bit her lip and nodded . "Yes . . . Whatever you want . " If you still want me, that is . . .

    Yundong sighed and patted her head . "Fine . I promise I won¡¯t try to touch you again before I pass the Zhuji phase . " Yundong pumped his fist in the air . "Abstinence, here Ie!"

    Su Chan burst into giggles . "Tell that to your body . . . " She pointed at the bulge in Yundong¡¯s pants .

    Yundong winked . "Well . Dude hasn¡¯t gotten the memo yet," he said with a straight face . "Give him a little time . I¡¯m sure he¡¯lle around . "

    Su Chan giggled harder, relieved that they¡¯d finallye to an understanding . At least he wouldn¡¯t get the wrong idea about the reason she kept rejecting his advances .

    Yundong pinched her cheeks . "Hey . Stopughing . "

    Su Chan cleared her throat and schooled her features .

    "Teach me," Yundong said . "Teach me how to pass the Zhuji phase . "

    Su Chan stared at him . After a moment or two, she burst intoughter once again . "Pfft! Hahaha . You pervert!" Su Chan poked Yundong¡¯s cheek repeatedly . "You just want to quickly pass the Zhuji phase so that you can touch me! Hahaha!"

    Yundong pulled back with a gasp, and then gave her a look of mock horror . "I said no such thing . " He pressed both palms against his chest .

    Su Chan kept poking his cheek . "Then why are you in such a hurry to pass the Zhuji phase, hmm, my dear beloved?"

    Yundong snorted . "Why, I was merely thinking of the little guy of course!" Yundong nced down at the bulge in his pants . "Tsk, tsk . Must be tough being all stiff and bulked up for so long . I thought I could spare him some pain . "

    Su Chan burst intoughter again . "You¡¯re a pervert!"

    Yundong suddenly pinch her cheek . "Hey, hey . Stopughing already . Time to get serious . " Yundong¡¯s eyes were serious when he looked at her next . "I need to be ready," he said . "If I couldn¡¯t even hold my own against Lin Youfa, I doubt I stand a chance against the people after us . I need to be stronger so that I can protect you and our friends, okay?"

    The sudden heaviness in the mood threw Su Chan off a little . Secondster, she found herself nodding .

    "Okay . The Zhuji phase . Let¡¯s start now . Teach me . "

    Su Chan held up a finger and cleared her throat . "The first step is . . . "

    ***

    Li Yundong found himself inching closer towards Su Chan . Suddenly, Su Chan¡¯s face broke into a grin .

    "To call me your master!"

    Li Yundong stared at Su Chan for a moment . "Why you little!" He pounced .

    "Kyaaa!!! Hahaha!"

    Li Yundong started tickling her . "I was being serious! And you were messing with me!"

    Su Chan¡¯s giggles turned into gasps for air . "Okay, okay! I¡¯m sorry!"

    Li Yundong stopped tickling her and pulled her into a sitting position . "Quit messing around and tell me already, alright?"

    Su Chan cleared her throat . "Well, there¡¯s nothing to tell because you aren¡¯t ready for the Zhuji phase yet . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "What? Why?"

    "Because you haven¡¯t even passed the Ningshen phase yet, dummy . "

    Oh . Guess he got a little overexcited there . "Okay . Fair enough . How about this . Why don¡¯t you exin all these phases to me? I honestly still don¡¯t have a clue what each phase does or mean . "

    Su Chan shifted on the floor until she was sitting cross-legged . "There are nine phases in Cultivation . The Sutai phase, the Lianqi phase, the Ningshen phase, the Zhuji phase, the Shentong phase, the Huaying phase, the Jinsheng phase, the Lightning Retribution phase, and finally, the Transcendental phase! Each of these phases has nine dans¡ªor stages¡ªof their own . "

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes . "Hmm . . . So I¡¯m at the third phase now . " Li Yundong looked at Su Chan . "How far am I frompleting the Ningshen phase . "

    "You¡¯ve probablypleted the sixth dan of the Ningshen phase already . . . And toplete the 7th dan, you need to master something called Yinling and then¡ª"

    "Wait . Hold on a second . " Li Yundong held up his hand . Su Chan looked at him quizzically . Li Yundong shook his head . "I think I need to understand the previous phases first . I know I¡¯vepleted the Lianqi phase . But I don¡¯t rememberpleting the Sutai phase . " Li Yundong¡¯s eyes widened . "Wait... Is it because . . . ?"

    Su Chan nodded, then reached for the pad: Jindan helped . Youpleted Sutai in three days .

    "You mean the whole time I was sleeping, I was actually . . . ?"

    "Yes," Su Chan said . Then, she wrote something on the pad: Sutai usually takes decades toplete . The reformation of your body and character = what Sutai phase is about . Make you stronger, have greater sense of justice, more charismatic . Things like that .

    "Holy shit . . . " Li Yundong looked at her in shock . Dumb luck sounded a lot like an understatement now . Li Yundong shook himself out of his stupor momentster . "Sorry . Go on . "

    "I¡¯ve told you before that there are three vitalponents that constitute life . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "The Three Treasures . The Essence, Qi, and Spirit . "

    "Mmm . So the first three phases build each of thoseponents separately . The Sutai phase builds the Essence . The Lianqi phase builds the Qi . And the Ningshen phase builds the Spirit . Remember that Cultivation is a step-by-step process . Meaning, each step is dependent on its predecessors . "

    Li Yundong sat there in silence as he tried to put the pieces together . "You said the Sutai phase builds the Essence . And then at the beginning of the Lianqi phase, you taught me how to convert my Essence into my Qi at the lower Dantian . " Li Yundong looked towards Su Chan for confirmation . When he received a nod, he continued, "Then, near the end of the Lianqi phase¡ªthe other night when you taught me how to perform Guanxiang¡ªI converted my Qi into Spirit . Which makes sense, because that¡¯s a pre-requisite to enter the Ningshen phase, because in the Ningshen phase, I¡¯m supposed to build my Spirit . So basically, each step uses the results of the previous step and builds on them . "

    Su Chan started pping her hands . "Correct . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "Okay . So far so good..." Then, he gave Su Chan a look . "I suppose there is a point in building up our Essence, Qi, and Spirit, right? Perhaps they are required inter phases?"

    The look of pride on Su Chan¡¯s face warmed Li Yundong¡¯s heart . Focus, Li Yundong! Now isn¡¯t the time to feel good about yourself .

    "By the time youplete the Ningshen phase," Su Chan said, "your Essence, Qi, and Spirit will have reached their full potential . The next step will be to learn how to secure the coreponents of your Essence, Qi, and Spirit inside your body . Meaning that you can seal your Essence, Qi, and Spirit inside your body when somebody tries to steal them . You¡¯ll learn that during the Zhuji phase . "

    "Right . Because the threeponents are vital to life . Losing them will lead to death," Li Yundong said .

    "That¡¯s right . And after the Zhuji phasees the Shentong phase, where you¡¯ll be able to use your Essence, Qi, and Spirit in tandem . When you can do that, you¡¯ll gain magical powers . Once you have magical powers, you¡¯ll be able to perform spells . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "Okay . So that means I need to get to the Shentong phase first before I can learn the Five Thunders Spells . . . "

    "That¡¯s right . . . " Su Chan took his hand . "You¡¯re getting there, Yundong . I¡¯ll help you get there . "

    "Thanks, princess . "

    Su Chan smiled . "Just three more dans and you¡¯ll pass the Ningshen phase . "

    "So the Ningshen phase builds my Spirit . . . "

    Su Chan nodded . "Did you notice something inmon between Mingmu, Eryue, and Xianjue?"

    Something inmon? Apart from the fact that those skills are frigging badass, you mean? Then, it hit him . "Oh!" He snapped his fingers . "They all respond to my conscious will . My Spirit!"

    "Exactly . Notice that your mind and Spirit have to be focused in order to use those skills . Once you lose focus, they fail . " Su Chan reached for the pad on the floor and toyed with a page . "In general, the Ningshen phase is about training your Spirit until it reaches a point where it can process all the stimuli avable to you through your senses . Stimuli are basically raw information avable to us through our senses . The information is already there, but to use that information, our mind¡ªor rather, our Spirit¡ªhas to be able to tap into it, to process it and convert it into something useful . But the problem is that the untrained Spirit can only process a small portion of the information . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "And the whole point of the Ningshen phase is to push our Spirit past human limitations . "

    "Indeed . In the first dan of the Ningshen phase, you train your Spirit to process all the visual stimuli avable to you . " Su Chan paused to look at Li Yundong . "That¡¯s basically how you got your Mingmu . "

    "Right . And the second dan applies to auditory stimuli . " Li Yundong gestured at his ears . "With the buzzing and all that . " Li Yundong sat up straighter . "Wait, what about Xianjue?"

    Su Chan smiled as though she had been expecting that question . "Mingmu and Eryue merely allow you to process all the visual and auditory stimuli avable to you . But Xianjue takes things to a whole new level . " Su Chan stared intently at him . "It utilizes the information obtained from all stimuli¡ªsight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste¡ªto make predictions . "

    "Wow..." Li Yundong whispered .

    "It¡¯s about interpreting all the sensory information avable to the Cultivator and then make predictions based on it," Su Chan continued . "Remember I told you that when you use Xianjue to predict the effects of someone¡¯s actions, those actions have to be somehow rted to you?"

    Yeah . She told him that when he was climbing his way up to the rooftop . Back then, he wanted to use Xianjue to predict where Ding Nan would fall, but he couldn¡¯t get his Xianjue to work . "Yeah, I remember . " That shooting incident was pretty much impossible to forget .

    "Well... actually, that was only theyman exnation . " Su Chan stuck out her tongue sheepishly . "When I said, actions must be directed or rted to you, I meant you must be there to experience them . "

    Understanding dawned on Li Yundong . "Right . Because Xianjue works when the Spirit has ess to all sensory information rted to the target . Otherwise, the Spirit has no information to base its predictions on . "

    "Exactly . Well... I can¡¯t fully exin how it works . " Su Chan paused for a moment . "The mind is a fascinating thing, after all . But your Xianjue is definitely superiorpared to that of other Cultivators . " Then, Su Chan raised the pad: Because of Jindan .

    "In what way?"

    Su Chan thought for a moment . "Range . Duration of prediction . And I suspect . . . " Su Chan wrote something down: Predict speech too?

    Li Yundong thought back to the time during the shooting incident on campus . He was able to predict Ding Nan¡¯s exact words before she even said them . Li Yundong tapped on the pad and nodded .

    Su Chan smiled and then shrugged . "As I suspected . " Then, she wrote something down again: Stronger Spirit = Stronger Xianjue .

    "But you said it only works against people with lower Cultivation Quotient . Why¡¯s that?" That question had been bugging him ever since his Xianjue failed against Lin Youfa . It would feel a little demotivating if he tried to use Xianjue against an opponent and found that it wouldn¡¯t work; it implied that his opponent was a stronger Cultivator .

    Su Chan shook her head . "That¡¯s only the rule of thumb, not the whole story . It actually depends on the rtive strength between the Spirits of the user and the target . The wider the gap in strength, the greater your Xianjue¡¯s effect will be . "

    "Hey . . . Come to think of it . . . " Li Yundong rubbed his forehead . "I wasn¡¯t able to predict Lin Youfa¡¯s speech at all! I mean, before Lin Youfa used Shenda, my Xianjue still worked . But even then, I could only read his movements, not his speech . But with Zhao Yujian and Ding Nan, I could read everything . "

    "Mmm . Like I said, it¡¯s the rtive strength in Spirits that matters . In this case, Lin Youfa is a Cultivator, so of course his Spirit is stronger . This is also why that rule of thumb exists, by the way . Usually, Cultivators with higher Cultivation Quotient have stronger Spirits . But obviously, your case is special . "

    "What is the Shenting¡¯s role in the Ningshen phase? Eryue, Mingmu, and Xianjue is only activated when a small part of our Qi is gathered at the Shenting . Why is that?"

    Again, Su Chan beamed with pride as though she¡¯d been expecting the question . "Why don¡¯t I give you a clue, and you try to guess it?"

    Li Yundong looked at her strangely . He¡¯d noticed this a long time ago¡ªSu Chan liked to test him when it came to Cultivation stuff . He wondered why . Or maybe she¡¯s just a really good teacher? Li Yundong smiled . "Sure, princess . What¡¯s the hint?"

    "The clue lies in the name of that acupoint," Su Chan said sagely, then looked at him pointedly . "There¡¯s a reason why it¡¯s called the Shenting . "

    Li Yundongy down on the floor and stared up at the ceiling . Shenting . . . Well, obviously, the first step was to break down the term into its two Chinese characters: shen; and ting . Shen wasn¡¯t too tough to decipher, since it meant Spirit . But what did Ting represent in this context? Courtyard? Front yard? None of them seemed relevant other than the notion of "front . " Then again, the Shenting is located on the forehead¡ªthe front of the head . Hmm . . .

    Suddenly, Li Yundong sat bolt upright . He looked at Su Chan, who was smiling back at him . Home . . . Ting means home . . .

    "Figured it out already, beloved?"

    "Home of the Spirit . . . " Li Yundong whispered .

    Su Chan beamed and threw her arms in the air . "Yayy!"

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Okay . Okay . Settle down . I still wanna hear your exnation . "

    "Stimtion of the Shenting with your Qi allows your Spirit to function in its full capacity . "

    "So!" Li Yundong pped and rubbed his hands together . "What¡¯s next? Let¡¯s get this Ningshen phase over with!"

    Su Chan giggled behind her hands . "Pervert . . . "

    Li Yundong shot her a re . "Still making fun of me, eh? Want to be tickled again?" Li Yundong wiggled his fingers .

    "Okay . . . Toplete the Ningshen phase, you have three more tasks to perform . Yinling, which will get you through the 7th dan . Juxian, which will get you through the 8th dan . And finally, toplete the Ningshen phase, you have to achieve a state known as the Ishvara . "

    It honestly sounded like a bunch of gobbledygook to him, but okay . It sucked to be an amateur . But hey, everyone has to start somewhere, right?

    "Are they difficult?"

    "Not for you . . . "

    "Then what are we waiting for¡ª"

    "But..." Su Chan said, holding up a hand . "There¡¯s something you should know first . When performing either of those three tasks, there¡¯s a chance that your soul will be lost in the process . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "What does that mean?"

    "It means your soul has no way of returning into your body . When that happens, your body lives on, but it bes soulless . "

    "Soulless?"

    Su Chan nodded . "You¡¯ll lose all sensory perception . You won¡¯t be able to see, smell, taste, and hear . You won¡¯t even have a conscious will . "

    "Shit . . . That¡¯s like being in a vegetative state!"

    Su Chan sighed . "The reward of Cultivation is high, true . But the price and risks thate with it is high too . "

    Li Yundong smiled . "I see . Bring it on, then!"

    Su Chan looked at him in shock . "Aren¡¯t you scared at all?"

    "I¡¯ve been a nobody all my life, princess . I waszy, and I didn¡¯t have any goals . And I¡¯m tired of being powerless and helpless . " Li Yundong rose to his feet . "This is my chance to be someone of value . So, no . I¡¯m not scared . "

 Chapter 106.1

    Chapter 106.1

    <h4>Ishvara!</h4>

    Li Yundong sat back down and got into a meditative posture . Then, he grinned at Su Chan . "Awaiting your instructions, mdy . "

    Su Chan held up a hand . "Wait . Before you begin, I need to exin a few concepts to you . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "I¡¯m all ears, princess . "

    Su Chan set the pad and pen on the coffee table and sat down next to him . "ording to the Canon of the Yellow Thearch, there is a god living inside each and everyone one of us . "

    "Seriously?"

    Su Chan pointed at his chest . "Yes . And the god¡¯s spirit is split into five fragments, and each fragment is stored inside one of your five Zangs . "

    Li Yundong stared at Su Chan nkly . There is a god living inside everyone . A god . Inside the human body . Wow . That makes . . . so much sense . So much . Momentster, he shook his head . "You mean there is a god living inside us, and somehow we can¡¯t feel its existence at all?"

    "Remember the Spirit Space?" Su Chan asked .

    Li Yundong looked up sharply . "Yeah . That¡¯s the weird ce with all the clouds . "

    Su Chan nodded . "You can only see and interact with the god inside your own Spirit Space . "

    Li Yundong frowned . Something didn¡¯t add up . "Then howe I didn¡¯t see it when I was performing Guanxiang the other night? I was inside my Spirit Space too . "

    "You weren¡¯t ready back then . There are steps you have to follow before you can see it . "

    Li Yundong stroked his chin . "Well, obviously I need to perform Guanxiang first . " He looked towards Su Chan . "Coz that¡¯s the only way I can be inside my Spirit Space . "

    Su Chan shook her head . "No . The Convergence of Five Qis has to happen first . " One of Su Chan¡¯s eyebrows quirked . "Still remember what that is?"

    Li Yundong thought back to the night when he first saw those colorful blobs . "Yeah . It¡¯s a physical state where the Qis of the five Zangs are gathered at the upper Dantian . "

    Su Chan nodded . "Still remember how to do that?"

    Li Yundong answered in a heartbeat . "The five Zangs are all Yin in nature, and Yang attracts Yin ording to the Yin-Yang Principle . So I need to first get my Yuanyang to circle just outside of the five Zangs . Once I do that, the Qis of the five Zangs will be drawn out and follow my Yuanyang wherever it goes . Basically, I control the Qis of my five Zangs using my Yuanyang . After that, all I have to do is guide my Yuanyang towards my upper Dantian¡ªthe five Qis will follow it automatically . " So Li Yundong wanted to impress his girl a little . Sue him .

    "Excellent, Yundong . Excellent . " Su Chan seemed more excited than impressed though . She inched closer to him . "Now I want you to think carefully, Yundong . What did you seest time when you were inside your Spirit Space?"

    "Um... I was floating in some kind weird space . And there were a bunch of clouds . "

    "What color were they? The clouds . "

    "Before I try to shape them, they were white . "

    "And after you shaped them?"

    "The clouds transformed into the object I visualized . So the colors changed ording to the object I visualized . " Suddenly, Li Yundong shot her a worried look . "Is that not supposed to happen?"

    Su Chan waved off his concerns . "That¡¯s normal . But before you shaped them, the clouds were white . Why do you think that¡¯s the case?"

    Li Yundong stared at Su Chan with narrowed eyes . "You really enjoy testing me, don¡¯t you? You know, this will go much quicker if you just tell me the answer . "

    Su Chan merely shrugged .

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Ah, I see what you¡¯re nning here . You just want to see me act like a clueless idiot, don¡¯t you?" He started poking her in the ribs .

    Su Chan twisted her body away . When she looked at him, her face waspletely serious . "Comprehension is more important than knowledge, Yundong . Cultivation is a difficult art . Without in-depth understanding of its core principles and concepts, you¡¯ll never be able to master it . " Su Chan sighed . "Besides, it¡¯s going to be a bit different this time, because I won¡¯t be able to speak to you and give you direct guidance . You¡¯ll have to do everything on your own . "

    "Why?"

    "Well . For two reasons . One, I¡¯ll be too busy casting a protective spell around you to do anything else . Two, you need to be in total focus during the task, which means no outside interruptions, not even from me . "

    "A protective spell?"

    Su Chan shrugged . "Better safe than sorry . We don¡¯t want you under attack during the session . Like I said, no interruptions . Alright . So . Back to the clouds . Why do you think they were white?"

    Li Yundong leaned back against the edge of the couch and mulled over the question . Su Chan was right . This wasn¡¯t some stupid exam where he could just memorize a bunch of facts and then unload them onto an exam sheet . In this regard, the art of Cultivation is a bit simr to martial arts; it¡¯s about understanding the core principles first, and then applying and adapting them to different situations . Su Chan kept asking him why the clouds were white, so obviously the colors mattered in some way . And those clouds represented his Qi, so . . . Whoa . Hold on a second . . . Li Yundong turned sharply to face Su Chan . "The other night, you taught me how to perform Neiguan . . . " Li Yundong began slowly . "That was the first time I saw all those blobs with colors . "

    "Go on . . . "

    "And you told me what the colors mean . Those blobs represent the state of my five Zangs, and the colors correspond to the each Zang¡¯s Qi . " Li Yundong nced at Su Chan . "You asked me why the clouds in my Spirit Space were white . I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s because those clouds didn¡¯t represent the Qis of my five Zangs? If they did, they would have the same colors as my Zangs¡¯ Qis, right?"

    "Well, that¡¯s correct," Su Chan said with a nod . "But you still haven¡¯t answered the question . Why? Why are they white?"

    Li Yundong frowned . "I thought I just did? Because the clouds didn¡¯t represent the Qis of my five Zangs . "

    Su Chan seemed a bit frustrated . "Yeah . But why? Why didn¡¯t the clouds represent the Qis of your five Zangs?"

    "Because . . . " Li Yundong paused . "Huh . Interesting . " Seconds passed in silence .

    "Want a hint?" Su Chan prompted .

    Li Yundong shook his head . "Just gimme a sec . . . "

    "Take your time . It¡¯s important that you understand . "

    Cultivation is a step by step process . . . Each step depends on its predecessors . . . Li Yundong squeezed his eyes shut and held his forehead . At the beginning of the Lianqi phase, he generated his Qi from his Essence, which is stored at the lower Dantian . That¡¯s why all Qi pathways begin and end at the lower Dantian, because that¡¯s where Qi is generated and, therefore, where the Qi must return to . Once he got his Qi, he was taught to control it with his Spirit¡ªgenerating the Spirit from Qi . And that is what mastering Da Zhoutian is all about . Da Zhoutian allows him to move his Qi around his body in a circuit starting from the lower Dantian . And since Da Zhoutian involves all the meridians inside the body, the rationale behind Da Zhoutian was pretty obvious¡ªtraining the Cultivator to have the ability to mobilize their Qi to any acupoint in the body, hence any part of their body . And then what? What was the next step? Ah . Neiguan, and then Guanxiang . In Neiguan, Su Chan introduced him to the Qis of his five Zangs, which was different from the Qi generated from his Essence . Then, Guanxiang is about getting his Qi to interact with his Spirit inside the Spirit Space . . .

    Wait a minute . The Shenting . The home of the Spirit . . . Li Yundong let his hand drop from his forehead and stared at Su Chan for a moment . "The upper Dantian is located in the head, isn¡¯t it?"

    A tiny smile yed on Su Chan¡¯s lips . "That¡¯s right . "

    But that¡¯s also where the Shenting is . . . Understanding dawned on him in an instant . The Shenting marks the position of the upper Dantian . Simply put, the upper Dantian is the home of the Spirit; the upper Dantian must be where the Spirit is stored . "Only the Qi gathered at the upper Dantian will appear inside my Spirit Space . " Li Yundong stared at Su Chan intently . "That¡¯s why the clouds were white . Because the Qis of my five Zangs weren¡¯t gathered at the upper Dantian when I entered my Spirit Space that night . "

    "Bingo!" Su Chan pped a few times . "That night, I asked you to return the five Qis to your Zangs before you attempted Guanxiang because you weren¡¯t ready to handle the five Qis yet . The Qis of the five Zangs are much more powerful than the Qi generated from your Essence . They are much more difficult to shape . "

    "But now I¡¯m ready?"

    "Well, it¡¯s exactly what you¡¯ll be doing for Yinling . "

    "But what does that have to do with seeing the god living inside me?" Li Yundong gave her a puzzled look . "Didn¡¯t you say that Yinling is about getting the god to show itself?"

    "Each of the five Zangs holds a fragment of the god¡¯s spirit, remember?"

    Li Yundong thought for a moment, then closed his eyes when the pieces finally clicked into ce . "I see . . . So that¡¯s why you said¡ª" Li Yundong¡¯s eyes shot open, and their gazes locked . "You want me to perform Guanxiang on the Qis of the five Zangs . That¡¯s why you said the Convergence of Five Qis must ur first before I enter my Spirit Space . Because for me to be able to see the five Qis inside my Spirit Space, I must first gather all of them at my upper Dantian . "

    Su Chan¡¯s smile was a sight for sore eyes . "Yes . In other words, Yinling is just the Convergence of Five Qis and Guanxiang performed in tandem . "

    "And once I perform Guanxiang on the five Qis, this god will appear?"

    "Not in its full form," Su Chan said . "Completing Yinling will only give you a vague form of the god . An outline . Which is why in the next task, Juxian, you¡¯ll work on refining the image until the god fully appears in front of you . "

    "What do you think it¡¯ll look like? The god, I mean . "

    Su Chan shook her head . "It depends on the individual, so it¡¯s impossible for me to tell . " Su Chan grimaced and then cleared her throat a few times .

    Li Yundong stood up . "Sit tight," he said, then went into the kitchen .

    A minuteter, Li Yundong ced a ss of water on the coffee table . Su Chan took the ss gratefully and finished the water in a few gulps .

    "Thanks, beloved . "

    "So what does the god¡¯s appearance say about me, then?"

    "A lot of things," Su Chan said . "For example, you can tell from the god¡¯s color which one of your Zang has the strongest Qi . If, in its full form, the god is green, then it means the Qi of your Liver dominates . Your Liver¡¯s Qi is green . "

    "Right . That¡¯s based on the color coding of the five Zangs . " Li Yundong rubbed his hands together . "Okay . So there¡¯s one more task after Juxian, right?"

    A worried look shed across Su Chan¡¯s face . "Yes . . . And... this is the part where it¡¯s easy for you to lose your soul and Spirit . " She sighed . "You¡¯ll have to achieve a spiritual state called Ishvara . "

    Li Yundong wanted to pull her into his arms if only to make the frown on her face go away . "Ishvara . . . "

    "In Sanskrit, Ishvara means the possessor of power . And in Hinduism, the term refers to the Supreme Being, personal god, or special Self . " Su Chan looked him in the eye . "Completing Juxian allows you to see the god living inside you . But to achieve Ishvara, you need to be one with it . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "Wait . I don¡¯t follow . I thought I¡¯m already one with it . I mean, it¡¯s already living inside me, right?"

    Su Chan shook her head . "Be one with it spiritually . "

    "As in . . . how?"

    Su Chan took his hand . "By the time youplete Juxian, each fragment of the god¡¯s spirit will have joined together¡ªthe god¡¯s spirit will be whole again . When that happens, the god¡¯s spirit will try to take over your Spirit . "

    "Okay . . . So what am I supposed to do?"

    "Your Spirit has to gain control instead of letting itself be controlled . Gainmand over the god¡¯s spirit . Get it to answer to your Spirit . In other words, be one with the god¡¯s spirit . Consume it instead of letting it consume you . That¡¯s when you¡¯ll achieve Ishvara . "

    Silence fell . Li Yundong stared at the floor for a moment . "What happens if I fail?"

    Su Chan released his hand . "Then you¡¯ll forever be trapped inside your Spirit Space . Your Spirit will be a ve to the god¡¯s spirit . "

    "But my body still lives?"

    "Yes . "

    "So I¡¯ll be in a vegetative state then," Li Yundong whispered .

    Su Chan grabbed his shoulders and shook him a few times . "This is a battle of strength, Yundong . It¡¯s the ultimate test of your Spirit¡¯s strength . Are you sure you¡¯re ready for this?"

    "You don¡¯t think I am?" Li Yundong asked warily .

    Su Chan let go of his shoulders and reached for the pad . "It all depends on your own strength . " She held his gaze for a moment, then wrote something down: Jindan won¡¯t give you much advantage . Jindan made your Spirit strong . But also made the five Zangs strong = god¡¯s spirit also strong .

    Su Chan tossed the pad aside . "I¡¯m a bit worried . "

    Li Yundong stared at the pad in silence . Was he ready for this? He turned the thought over in his head for a while .

    "I want to try," Li Yundong said minutester .

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes snapped to his . She said nothing, as though waiting for him to change his mind . Li Yundong held her gaze unwaveringly .

    Their staring matchsted for a while until Su Chan finally relented . "Okay . . . " Then, she rose to her feet and walked away .

    "Where are you going?" Li Yundong asked, staring after her .

    "We need to open all the windows," she yelled from inside her room . "And the sliding doors too . "

    Li Yundong burst into action . Minutester, they returned to the living room, the entire apartment now bright and airy .

    "Sit facing the east," Su Chan ordered .

    Li Yundongplied and got into a meditative posture . "Okay, shall I begin now?"

    "Wait," Su Chan said . "Repeat all the steps . "

    Li Yundong opened his eyes . "What?"

    "Repeat everything we¡¯ve discussed . I need to be sure that you know exactly what you¡¯re doing . "

    "Okay, then . " Li Yundong cleared his throat . "First, the Convergence of Five Qis . After that, I¡¯ll enter my Spirit Space and try to perform Guanxiang on the five Qis . That¡¯s the first task, Yinling . And then, I have to refine the image until the god¡¯splete form appears . And then finally, I have to gainmand over the god¡¯s spirit and be one with it . "

    Su Chan nodded . "Good . "

    "Um . . . any tips for thest one?"

    Su Chan stared at him intently . "Do not lose track of reality . Do not be blinded by the experience of omnipotence . It isn¡¯t real . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "Okay, got it, princess . "

    Su Chan sat down a few feet behind him . "Ready when you are, Yundong . "

    Li Yundong closed his eyes and exhaled . Guess it¡¯s show time, then . . . Thest thing he heard before he went into a meditative state were the incantations for Su Chan¡¯s protective spell .

 Chapter 106.2

    Chapter 106.2

    <h4>Ishvara!</h4>

    Five clouds¡ªeach with their own color¡ªhovered inside Li Yundong¡¯s Spirit Space . Su Chan wasn¡¯t kidding when she told him that the five Qis are much powerful than the Qi generated from his Essence . Each of the five clouds appeared so much bigger than the white clouds he saw the other night . Not only that, but the five clouds also seemed much more dynamic and energized¡ªconstantly vibrating and spinning . Time to get started then . . . Li Yundong spent a while studying the five clouds until he realized what his first challenge was: Should he shape each cloud separately, or merge them together first and then shape them all at once?

    After a moment of thought, Li Yundong decided to go with thetter . Su Chan did mention something about each of the five Zangs containing a fragment of the god¡¯s spirit, so it made sense tobine the fragments to form a whole first before attempting to shape them . Having made his decision, Li Yundong immediately got to work and willed the clouds to move . It took him several attempts, but eventually, the five cloudsbined to form arge clump . Then, Li Yundong waited . When the clouds didn¡¯t disintegrate or fly apart after a while, Li Yundong decided to move on to the next task: shaping thebined cloud .

    Which, he soon found to be hopelessly difficult . After his thirtieth failed attempt, Li Yundong gave up and studied the huge cloud before him . The five colors were interspersed now, making the cloud look like a huge cotton candy with colorful spots . Still, he couldn¡¯t shape the cloud at all . Why? What was different? Well, the obvious difference was that the clouds represent the Qis of his five Zangs .

    Hey . . . Hold on a sec . Something weird was going on here . When he first merged the five clouds together, the colors on thebined cloud weren¡¯t interspersed at all . Each color stayed in its own region in the cloud . But now it¡¯s like the colors have rearranged themselves . . . hmm . . . It was like the colors had their own will . Yes! That¡¯s it! Each of the five Zang holds a fragment of the god¡¯s spirit . That must be why the colors could move on their own in the huge cloud: they were responding to the will of the god¡¯s¡ªfragmented¡ªspirit .

    The solution seemed obvious now . Li Yundong didn¡¯t even have to do anything . He just had to allow the cloud to shape itself . That was it, wasn¡¯t it?

    However, after what felt like hours, or maybe days, Li Yundong discovered another problem with his solution . The process was taking too frigging long .

    He stared at therge cloud in front of him . Although the colors seemed more homogeneous now, the cloud¡¯s was still shaped like a, well, cloud . Definitely not what a god would look like .

    No . Something wasn¡¯t right . For one, he wasn¡¯t even doing anything here . He was literally just waiting for the god¡¯s outline to appear . Which, in hindsight, didn¡¯t make sense . Su Chan mentioned that this task involved Guanxiang . But as far as he could tell, he hadn¡¯t done much Guanxiang at all . Okay, well, he did, but none of his attempts worked . Was there something wrong with the way he performed Guanxiang? Well, the key to Guanxiang was imagination and visualization¡ª

    Good God, he¡¯d been such an idiot! He¡¯d been going about it the wrong way and he didn¡¯t even realize it . Of course his attempts at "visualizing" the god¡¯s shape wouldn¡¯t work . Of course . How could he visualize something that he¡¯d never even seen before in his life? That was why all his Guanxiangs didn¡¯t work¡ªhe¡¯d never seen the god before, so he had nothing to base his visualizations on!

    Well, at least now he knew what to do . He had to use his imagination in a different way . Instead of trying to imagine the cloud morphing into some shape, Li Yundong imagined speeding up the cloud¡¯s self-shaping process, as though he was fast-forwarding a video yback .

    It worked . Eventually, the cloud transformed itself into a human-shaped object . Like Su Chan said, the object had no detailed features, only a vague outline . He knew right then that he¡¯d justpleted Yinling .

    On to the next task, Juxian .

    Li Yundong studied the human-shaped cloud for a moment . The head seemed disproportionately big, and the figure seemed to have more than two arms . Were those even arms? He supposed he wouldn¡¯t know until he found a way to make the form clearer . But how? How could he get the figure to reveal its form in full detail?

    After a moment of thought, the answer seemed obvious to him . He just had to do the same thing he¡¯d done to get the outline in the first ce .

    Once again, Li Yundong allowed cloud to shape itself but imagined the process speeding up . This time the process took a very long time, but eventually, the cloud transformed into an iridescent figure with three heads and six arms .

    The three heads were honestly the weirdest things Li Yundong had ever seen, yet they were so fascinating that he couldn¡¯t help but stare . Each head had its own face: the first one had an angry face and a glowing third eye on its forehead; the second one had an arrogant expression with its eyes slightly narrowed; thest one looked extremely amiable and approachable, as though its very existence revolved around world peace .

    Upon closer look, Li Yundong realized that all three faces resembled his own . Is this . . . Is this the god living inside me? He supposed it was . It honestly felt creepy as hell, looking at three version of his own face on the same body . He turned his attention to the six arms . Three pairs of arms . One pair for each head, I guess? He studied the arms for a moment and found that those arms were indeed paired, with each pair positioned slightly below the three heads . The whole sight was the very definition of grotesque .

    Li Yundong studied the two arms under the first head, the one with the angry face . One of the arms was holding a ck, metallic war fan¡ªa Tessen . A red, glowing, halo-like structure circled the middle of the fan . Just outside the red halo was yet another ring-like structure . The outer ring wasposed of strange symbols, like those found in Buddhist scriptures . The second arm wielded a sword that was three-foot long . The sword was broader near the hilt but tapered to a sharp point near its tip, almost like a narrow and elongated triangle .

    The second head, the one with the arrogant face, carried huge tripod cauldron on one hand and a Bagua mirror on the other . The cauldron was ck in color and its body was covered in what appeared to be carvings of ancient hieroglyphs and drawings . A red, mist-like substance rose from the center of the cauldron . In the Bagua mirror, he saw the life and reincarnation of a man reyed over and over again . Even though it wasn¡¯t clear who the man in the mirror was, it was still creepy as hell .

    The head with the peaceful face was carrying a thick¡ªas thick as a human thumb¡ªcalligraphy brush in one hand and some kind of ss bowl in another . The color of the ss bowl seemed a bit unnatural . It was mostly green, but with a little bit of grey mixed into it, sort of like a piece of jade that had just been removed from a pile of ash .

    Before Li Yundong could peer into the ss bowl to see what it contained, the figure pounced on him . No . Not on him, more like into him . In an instant, he felt an insurmountable surge of power from within, as though he could alter the universe with just a snap of his fingers . At that moment, there was only one word he could use to describe that feeling .

    Omnipotence .

    ***

    3 . 20PM (Ten minutes into training session)

    The protective spell was done . Su Chan crawled forward until she was sitting right in front of Yundong . Yundong had a peaceful look on his face, a sign that he was already in a meditative state .

    3 . 30PM

    Yundong¡¯s head was glowing like an iridescent soap bubble . The Convergence of Five Qis had urred . Right now, Yundong was probably inside his Spirit Space, attempting Guanxiang on the five Qis . Su Chan hadn¡¯t told him the trick to shaping the five Qis . It wouldn¡¯t be fair if she had . An insightful Cultivator is a strong Cultivator, so Yundong had to learn to figure things out on his own and solve his own problems .

    Yundong¡¯s face continued to glow and change colors . Su Chan found herself incapable of looking away from his face . The changing colors were strangely soothing .

    4 . 55PM

    Nothing had changed . Yundong¡¯s head was still glowing like an iridescent soap bubble . Clearly, he hadn¡¯t figured out the trick toplete Juxian yet . ording to Master, it had taken Su Chan days to figure it out the trick . How long would Yundong take?

    7 . 30PM

    Su Chan¡¯s forehead thunked against the floor . Ugh... Still nothing . Hours ago, the changing colors on Yundong¡¯s face had a soothing effect . But now it was like a burr up her ass . Her very, very sore ass, which had been pressing against the hard floor for hours . What did you expect, Chan¡¯er? That it¡¯ll only take Yundong minutes to figure it out? Please . You yourself had taken days toplete the task . Su Chan sighed . She rose to her feet to give her poor derriere a much needed break . Then she started pacing around, checking the integrity of her protective spell as she did . The spell¡¯s effect were slowly fading, so she would have to recast it soon . She stopped pacing and stared down at Yundong¡¯s face . C¡¯mon, Yundong... You can do it . Just think outside the box... I¡¯m rooting for you...

    With a huff, Su Chan plopped down on the floor to watch another cycle of "red, ck, green, yellow, repeat . "

    8 . 57PM

    Paper Yundong had a new hairstyle . And this time, it didn¡¯t look like an onion . Woohoo! Su Chan studied the two paper dolls on the floor . Paper Su Chan looked decidedly worse for wear; the scissors were too far away, and she had to stay within range to keep the protective spell alive . At least Paper Yundong looked fairly decent, but that was probably because she had spent at least fifteen agonizing minutes tearing him out from the notepad¡¯s page .

    Su Chan picked up Paper Yundong and studied it up close . She had stopped watching Yundong¡¯s face a long time ago, opting instead to check on Yundong once every few minutes to see how he was doing . Not because she waszy or anything, but because the morphing colors would lull her to sleep if she kept staring at them . She supposed it gave the term "soothing" a whole new meaning now .

    Su Chan shook Paper Yundong a little . "Think you can figure it out, beloved?" Paper Yundong didn¡¯t answer . Nor did Real Yundong .

    Su Chan¡¯s stomach answered with a loud growl .

    10 . 22PM

    Why? Why didn¡¯t she eat something before they began the session? Stupid, stupid, Chan¡¯er . Hungry, hungry Chan¡¯er .

    Su Chan¡¯s stomach growled again as if to mock her and her own silliness . Paper Yundong stared up at her from the floor . Maybe she should add a worried look on Paper Yundong¡¯s face with the pen . She would probably feel better knowing that at least somebody was concerned about her well-being, even if said somebody led a two-dimensional existence .

    The living room was dark except for the colorful glow at its center¡ªred, ck, green, yellow...

    When would it end?

    12 . 01AM

    Good morning, world! And finally some progress! The color changes had finally stopped, and the bubble around Yundong¡¯s head had turned murky .

    Yundong had justpleted Juxian, and Su Chan was still hungry .

    2 . 22AM

    The murkiness had cleared slightly . Soon, Yundong woulde face to face with the god living inside him . She wondered what form Yundong¡¯s god would take . Hers was a nine-tailed fox .

    She was no longer hungry . In fact, her stomach was now in knots . She tried not to think about the consequences following Yundong¡¯s possible failure in achieving Ishvara . She would lose everything: Yundong¡¯s soul; the love of her life; her happiness; her partner in Cultivation; the Renyuan Jindan; and possibly her own will to live .

    Too much was at stake . Too much .

    3 . 34AM

    The murkiness had clearedpletely . Now, Yundong¡¯s face was radiating white light; Yundong¡¯s god had revealed itself to him . The final task had begun .

    Su Chan rose to her feet to recast the protective spell . The area had to bepletely secure to prevent any possible interruptions or disturbances . She didn¡¯t want to take any chances . Yundong¡¯s Spirit had to be fully focused and ready to conquer the spirit of the god .

    Su Chanpleted the incantation and took a seat in front of Yundong . The radiance of his face seemed to have grown in magnitude . She pleaded and prayed, to whom she knew not . Please let him get through this... Please... Please... I don¡¯t want to lose him... I can¡¯t lose him... I can¡¯t... White light burst from Yundong¡¯s face, dazzling her .

    And so it began .

    3 . 50AM

    Horror filled Su Chan¡¯s heart . The sight in front of her made her blood run cold . Yundong¡¯s expression had lost its meditative tranquility . Yundong was smiling, grinning blissfully as if he was experiencing some kind of euphoria .

    Tears spilled from Su Chan¡¯s eyes . She buried her face in her hands and sobbed . What had she done? What had she led him into?

    Please, Yundong... Not like this . . . Not like this...

 Chapter 107

    Chapter 107

    <h4>Unconsummated</h4>

    Someone was sobbing . Sniveling, really, like the person was too afraid to cry loudly even though she was clearly distraught . His eyelids felt heavy, which was strange because just moments ago, he felt as though he had all the power in the world . Darkness greeted him when he opened his eyes . He blinked a few times and wondered what time it was . Light from the city streamed in through the open sliding doors and windows . The light was faint, just enough to cast shadows on the walls and floor .

    Gentle sobs drew his attention to his 2 o¡¯clock . He blinked his eyes rapidly, then squinted through the semi-darkness . He saw Su Chan¡¯s prostrated form a few feet away . She was kneeling with both arms on the floor and her face buried in them . Her shoulders trembled as she sobbed into her arms .

    "S- Su Chan?"

    The sobbing stopped and Su Chan¡¯s head shot up . Her eyes were wide and they seemed a bit puffy on the edges . Clearly, she had been crying for quite some time . Her cheeks, and nose were red, and her hair was a mess . She was beautiful .

    "Y- Yundong? Is that really you?"

    What? Of course it was him . Did she expect someone else to be here? "Yeah, of course . Why are you cry¡ª"

    His back crashed into the floor, and Su Chan was suddenly on top of him, straddling him . The whole thing would¡¯ve been erotic if she wasn¡¯t sobbing into his chest . Li Yundong¡¯s hands rose to pat her back . "Tell me what¡¯s wrong?"

    "Idiot, idiot, idiot!" Su Chan emphasized how much of an "idiot" he was by pounding his chest with each mention of the word . "I thought I lost you!"

    What? Lost him? But he was just meditating, wasn¡¯t he? She got out a few more garbled words after that before she dissolved into sobs .

    What the heck was going on here? Shouldn¡¯t she be happy that he passed the test? Li Yundong stroked her hair gently . "You didn¡¯t lose me . See? I¡¯m here now . "

    Su Chan didn¡¯t answer, though her sobs seemed to have quietened . He wondered what she¡¯d seen to make her cry like this . Did he do something while he was meditating? Did he look like he was dying? He keptforting her until the sobbing subsided, which took quite a while . Eventually, Li Yundong patted her shoulder a few times and tried to sit up . This time, Su Chan let him . Li Yundong sat up and extended his arms above his head in a long stretch . After that, he looked towards Su Chan, who was drying her tears with her hands . He patted her head . "Ready to tell me what¡¯s wrong?"

    Su Chan stared at herp . "I- I thought you were about to fail the test . . . "

    Chuckling, he tickled Su Chan¡¯s neck . "Tsk, tsk, tsk . So little faith in me . I think you¡¯ve hurt my feelings . . . "

    Su Chan pushed his hand away and looked him in the eye . "Your face . . . It changedpletely . It didn¡¯t even look like you were in a meditative state anymore . You didn¡¯t look peaceful . You looked... You looked like . . . like some kind of maniac with an addiction . I thought . . . I thought your Spirit gave in to the god¡¯s control . "

    Li Yundong rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly . "Uh . . . well . . . "

    "What happened?" Su Chan asked earnestly .

    Li Yundong sighed . "The god appeared and then . . . " He shook his head . The whole experience honestly felt so weird that he couldn¡¯t even find the words to describe it . "I think the god went inside me? Or was it the other way round . . . I don¡¯t know . All I know is that I¡¯m controlling the god¡¯s body . And I felt powerful . "

    Su Chan inched closer . "And then?"

    "I did a lot of things . Flew around in the god¡¯s body, and I felt so free, you know? Like I can control everything . Like everything answers to only me, and I get to do whatever I want . "

    Su Chan sighed . "That¡¯s just an illusion, the illusion of ultimate power . The moment you believe that it¡¯s real, it¡¯s all over for you . The god would¡¯ve gained control over your Spirit and you¡¯ll be trapped inside that illusion forever . "

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know what to say . When she put it that way, it sounded like a really close call . When he was flying around inside his Spirit Space, it did feel real . So real, in fact, that he had entertained thoughts about staying there forever .

    "How did you get out?" Su Chan was staring at him intently . "If you¡¯re back, then something must have convinced you that it wasn¡¯t real . "

    Li Yundong recalled the exact moment he realized that something didn¡¯t quite add up .

    "There was a voice calling me . " Li Yundong paused and then looked up at Su Chan . "Was it you?"

    Su Chan shook her head . "I didn¡¯t dare make a sound . You were in a deep meditative state . There¡¯s a good chance you would go into Zouhuo Rumo state if I disturbed you... " Su Chan studied him curiously for a moment . "That voice... What did it say to you?"

    Li Yundong shook his head . "It kept calling my name but that¡¯s it . It didn¡¯t say anything else . I kept trying to locate the source of the voice, but I just couldn¡¯t find it . It was like the voice came from everywhere and nowhere at the same time . That¡¯s when I realized that the experience wasn¡¯t real . I knew right away that I wasn¡¯t omnipotent, that it was all just an illusion . I mean, if I was truly omnipotent, then why couldn¡¯t I find the source of the voice?"

    Su Chan sighed in relief . "Then after that you came back?"

    Li Yundong nodded . "Yeah . The moment I started to doubt the reality of the experience, everything inside my Spirit Space became darker and darker . The god¡¯s form dimmed out as well . A whileter, I woke up and heard you crying . "

    "Thank God . . . " Su Chan said, patting her chest . Then she stopped and suddenly looked up at him . "Yundong . . . What did the god look like?"

    Li Yundong studied her face for a brief moment, then smirked . "You tell me yours, and I¡¯ll tell you mine . "

    Su Chan made a face at him . "I asked you first!"

    Li Yundong chuckled and raised his palms in surrender . "Alright, alright . "

    "So? What did it look like?"

    "It was some strange creature with three heads and six arms . " Li Yundong nced at Su Chan . "It had my face though . Well, three versions of my face to be exact . Each with a different emotion . "

    Suddenly, Su Chan leaped up and grabbed his shoulders . Her eyes were wide . "Three heads and six arms?" she said breathlessly .

    Li Yundong frowned . "Uh . . . Yeah? Something wrong with that?"

    "Tell me everything . Everything you can recall . "

    Li Yundong told her about the strange faces and the object each arm was carrying . When he was done talking, Su Chan sat down limply on the floor . She looked like she¡¯d just seen a ghost .

    Minutester, when Su Chan didn¡¯t snap out of her daze, Li Yundong nudged her . "What¡¯s the matter?"

    Why was she looking at him like he was some kind weird creature?

    The vacant expression remained on Su Chan¡¯s face . Li Yundong waved his hand in front of her face and nudged her again . "Hello? What¡¯s the matter?"

    Su Chan gasped, then shook her head . "N- nothing!"

    Nope . Not buying it for a second . Li Yundong narrowed his eyes . "You were looking at me strangely . I don¡¯t think that¡¯s nothing . "

    Su Chan clung to his arm . "Hehehe . . . I was just relieved that you made it, beloved . "

    Li Yundong pulled back slightly and stared at her . "Really? You were relieved? That¡¯s all?"

    Su Chan bobbed her head up and down . "Mmm! You¡¯ve passed the Ningshen phase! I¡¯m so happy!"

    Li Yundong smiled . "Which means I¡¯m now ready for the Zhuji phase . Alright then, what are we waiting for? Let¡¯s begin! Chop, chop!"

    Su Chan giggled . "Such a pervert . You¡¯re doing it for the wrong reason!"

    "I am not!" He totally was .

    "Liar, liar, liar . " Su Chan poked his cheek, then made a face at him .

    Li Yundong caught her hand and trapped it against his cheek . "Do not doubt my reasons, princess," he said with a straight face . "I want to be stronger . That¡¯s my reason . " Just not the only reason .

    Su Chan gave him a sidelong nce, a smirk ying on her beautiful lips . It was a little hard to believe that this was the same girl who had been devastated by his supposed failure just minutes ago .

    "You cannot pass the Zhuji phase yet," she said out of nowhere .

    "What? Why?"

    Su Chan looked at him as though he had a single-digit IQ . "Because you have to go to school in a few hours?" She pointed at the clock behind him .

    "What the¡ª" Li Yundong turned around to look at the clock . "4 . 15AM??" His gaze snapped back to hers . "It took me that long?" Then, something else urred to him . "Shit... You watched over me for the whole night, didn¡¯t you... Are you tired?"

    Su Chan yawned as if on cue . "Of course I¡¯m tired! Ugh . . . I just want to sleep . . . "

    Li Yundong pulled Su Chan into hisp, then tapped her nose yfully . Su Chan snuggled against his chest .

    "Why don¡¯t you stay home today? I¡¯ll attend ss on my own . "

    The front of Li Yundong¡¯s shirt bunched up when Su Chan fisted it . "No, no, no . . . Don¡¯t abandon me . . . You promised!"

    Seriously? This again? Li Yundong chuckled . How many times did he have to tell her that he would never abandon her? "Fine," he said . "Why don¡¯t you take a short nap first? I¡¯ll wake you up when it¡¯s time to leave for ss . "

    Su Chan nodded . "Okay . . . "

    Li Yundong smiled and hoisted her up . He carried her into her bedroom, theny her down on the bed .

    "Stay with me?" she said after he had pulled the nket over her .

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes went wide . "What?"

    "Stay . Until I fall asleep . "

    Li Yundong stared at her in disbelief . She has no idea the effect she has on me, does she? Li Yundong dropped his head with a sigh . Dear God . "Okay . . . Fine . . . " He sat down on the floor beside the bed and watched her .

    Secondster, Su Chan still hadn¡¯t closed her eyes . She was staring at him . "What is it? Go to sleep now," he said .

    Su Chan adjusted her head on the pillow, then patted the space beside her . Oh c¡¯mon... Surely you¡¯re joking, princess... Li Yundong¡¯s throat went dry . He gulped . "Uhh . . . I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea, princess . . . "

    "Mmmm . . . " Su Chan whined, then gave him a pleading look . "Please?"

    Li Yundong suppressed a groan . Good God, woman . . . "Alright, alright . . . " He climbed up the bed and got settled beside her . Su Chan¡¯s scent assaulted his nostrils . The air . The sheets . The pillow . Everything smelled like her . God give me strength . . .

    Su Chan snuggled against his side, then rubbed her face against his arm . "Hehehe . . . Much better . "

    Li Yundong chuckled and patted her head . "Alright . Go to sleep now . "

    Li Yundongy there for God knows how long . When going through basketball stats didn¡¯t work, he began picturing Director Qian and his ever-presentb-over .

    A whileter, when he noticed that Su Chan¡¯s breathing had evened out, he tried to slowly free his arm from her grasp . He needed to get the hell out of the room before his sanity abandoned him for good . However . . .

    "Mmmm... Why are you leaving?" Su Chan¡¯s watery eyes were on him before he could free his arm . "I¡¯m not asleep yet . "

    Li Yundong raised his hands in resignation, then sighed . "Sorry . I thought you were asleep . I won¡¯t leave . "

    "Promise?"

    Li Yundong smiled and stroked her hair . "Promise . "

    Su Chan held out her pinkie and stared at him . Li Yundongughed . So she still remembers . . . He hooked his own pinkie to hers, then pressed their thumbs together . "There," he said . "Now go to sleep . "

    An hourter, Li Yundong was still there, watching her sleep, entranced by her beauty .

    ***

    Li Yundong shook her gently nearly three hourster . "Wake up, princess . Time to go to ss . "

    Su Chan rolled away from him . "Mmm . . . So shleebee . . . " she mumbled .

    "Look . Just stay at home and sleep, okay?" Li Yundong said in a gentle tone . "I¡¯ll go to ss on my own . You don¡¯t have toe with me . I¡¯ll be home as soon as ss finishes . "

    Su Chan sat bolt upright, her arms iling until they snaked around his waist . "No . . . You promeeeshht . " Her eyes weren¡¯t even open .

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry . "How can you go anywhere in this state?"

    Su Chan rubbed her eyes . "Piggy, piggy . . . "

    Li Yundongughed . "What?"

    "Piggy, piggy!" she grumbled, sounding totally annoyed .

    Li Yundong smiled . "You want me to give you a piggyback ride?"

    Su Chan nodded, still rubbing her eyes .

    Li Yundong¡¯s brows rose to his hairline . "All the way to campus?"

    "Yessshhh . . . "

    Li Yundong stared up at the ceiling . What had he gotten himself into this time?

    ***

    All eyes were on them the moment Li Yundong stepped into the lecture hall . He ignored the stares and kept walking down the aisle towards thest row . Nothing to see here, folks . Just a guy treating his girl right . Maybe those dudes could take a page out of his book .

    Li Yundong lowered Su Chan onto the seat, which she promptly used as a bed by curling herself like a shrimp and going back to sleep . Li Yundong sat down beside her and began stroking her hair .

    "Yo, yo, yo . . . Would you look at that . . . PDA bright and early in the morning?"

    Li Yundong turned his head and saw Feng Na and Cheng Cheng approaching him from the opposite end of thest row . Li Yundong smiled at his two seniors . "Morning . "

    The two girls stopped beside him, but neither of them sat down . Feng Na was just stared at him strangely whereas Cheng Cheng greeted him with a quick wave . Suddenly, Feng Na pointed at Su Chan . "Why¡¯s she so tired?" Feng Na smirked . "Tsk, tsk, tsk . What have you two been up tost night, hmm?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s face med . "Nothing . What are you two doing here anyway? Ah . Don¡¯t tell me you failed some of your papers and have to redo your second year?"

    "Nonsense!" Feng Na yelled .

    Su Chan stirred slightly and rolled over . "Noisshh . . . "

    Feng Na had the decency to look embarrassed . She lowered her voice . "I need to discuss something with you . "

    "What is it?" Li Yundong whispered .

    Feng Na stared at him for a moment .

    Li Yundong raised his brows . "Well?"

    Feng Na cleared her throat, then sighed . "We need a new president for the Taekwondo Club . "

    Li Yundong stared at her nkly until the implication of her words hit him . Li Yundong snorted . "No thanks . I won¡¯t take over as the club¡¯s president . "

    Feng Na¡¯s expression shifted from hopeful to panic . "Why not? Zhao Yujian¡¯s gone, and you have the teachers¡¯ and students¡¯ support . You¡¯re the perfect choice . "

    "First of all, I¡¯ve indirectly caused Zhao Yujian¡¯s death¡ª"

    Feng Na opened her mouth to protest, but Li Yundong silenced her with a raise of his hand . "I¡¯m the one who put him in the hospital in the first ce," he said . "He wouldn¡¯t have nned the assault if he had the chance to perform and show off his skills during the student exchange event . So having me, the person who¡¯s partially responsible for his death, rece him as the club¡¯s president will be inappropriate, don¡¯t you think? Secondly, I¡¯m not a Taekwondo practitioner . I wasn¡¯t even formally trained in Taekwondo . Heck, I don¡¯t even have belts . I¡¯m not qualified to lead the club . "

    Feng Na shook her head . "That¡¯s inconsequential . The belts aren¡¯t a big issue . You just have to take the exams to get them . "

    Li Yundong took a deep breath, then exhaled . "And thirdly . . . " He gave Feng Na a pointed look . "I¡¯m just not interested in running the club . "

    Feng Na¡¯s face flushed instantly . "Not interested? Then why¡¯d you enroll in the first ce?" she challenged .

    Li Yundong sighed . "Well I was interested before . " He held Feng Na¡¯s gaze . "But not anymore . "

    Feng Na frowned . "Why not? You¡¯re so good at it!"

    Li Yundong looked away briefly before returning his gaze to Feng Na . "Too many bad memories, I guess? Besides, I¡¯m too busy these days . "

    Feng Na rolled her eyes and snorted . "Yeah . Too busy making babies with your beautiful girlfriend, I bet . "

    Li Yundong gaped at Feng Na .

    Redness crept up Feng Na¡¯s neck into her cheeks . She raised her chin defiantly . "What? You¡¯re going to deny it?"

    "Of course I¡¯m denying it . Su Chan and I . . . We haven¡¯t . . . " Li Yundong cleared his throat, then shrugged .

    Feng Na and Cheng Cheng exchanged a few nces .

    Then, Feng Na chuckled . "Yeah, right . "

    Li Yundong frowned .

    Feng Na gave him a funny look . "No offense, buddy . But you don¡¯t seem like the sex-before-marriage type . "

    Li Yundong buried his head in his palms . Could this day get any worse?

 Chapter 108

    Chapter 108

    <h4>Movie Night</h4>

    "Believe what you want, okay . I¡¯ve already told you the truth . " Li Yundong gave Feng Na a hard stare . "Not that I have anything to exin to you . Whether or not Su Chan and I have done the deed is none of your business . "

    Feng Na looked away awkwardly .

    "Hey, rx Li Yundong, she was just joking," Cheng Cheng said . "Hey, by the way, you don¡¯t have sses this afternoon if I¡¯m not mistaken . "

    Li Yundong eyed Cheng Cheng suspiciously . "You seem to know our schedule pretty well . "

    Cheng Cheng chuckled . "It¡¯s impossible not to know . "

    "Huh?" Li Yundong frowned . "What does that mean?"

    "It¡¯s all up on the forum," Cheng Cheng said .

    "What the heck?"

    Cheng Cheng rolled her eyes . "You¡¯re pretty much a celebrity around here . People are posting all kinds of things about you . Your schedules, your sses, where you have lunch, everything . "

    Li Yundong shook his head in disgust . "Great," he grumbled . "There are paparazzi on campus now . "

    "Anyway!" Cheng Cheng continued in a cheery tone . "You should join us at the media room tonight . We¡¯re screening a movie . "

    Li Yundong arched his brow . "Since when did that be a thing?"

    "Oh, it¡¯s recent!" Cheng Cheng said proudly, then patted Feng Na on the shoulder . Feng Na¡¯s face had taken a deep shade of red .

    "All thanks to Nana, of course!" Cheng Cheng continued . "It was her idea . "

    Li Yundong nced at Feng Na . "Really now?"

    "Yep," Cheng Cheng said . "To spice up campus life, she suggested the screenings of movies and TV shows every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday!"

    Li Yundong nodded . "Wow . Interesting idea . I¡¯m impressed . "

    Feng Na was still blushing, much to Li Yundong¡¯s amusement . "So?" Feng Na asked . "Are you joining us or not?"

    Li Yundong thought for a moment . He wondered if he would be able to pass the Zhuji phase tonight . Su Chan had told him repeatedly that the Zhuji phase was pivotal in any Cultivator¡¯s training . Okay, maybe he wouldn¡¯t be able toplete it in one night, but it¡¯d be better if he started as early as possible . Li Yundong shook his head . "Don¡¯t get me wrong . I think it¡¯s a great activity you¡¯ve got going there . But I can¡¯t join you guys tonight . "

    Feng Na¡¯s face fell . "What? This is my first time! You¡¯re not even going to be there to show some support?"

    Her first ti¡ª

    Students swiveled their heads around to give them funny looks . Li Yundong did a face palm . "Would you please stop saying shit like that? It¡¯s going to give people wrong ideas, dammit!"

    Feng Na frowned . "What? What did I..." She blushed .

    Li Yundong shot her a re . "Yeah, that¡¯s what . "

    Feng Na sneered . "There¡¯s nothing wrong with what I said . You dirty-minded people are the ones who jumped to conclusions!"

    As if it was even possible for people not to jump to conclusions when she said things like that .

    Cheng Cheng leaned herself against Feng Na . "Come on, Li Yundong . Are you going to show up or not?"

    Suddenly, a hint of suspicion formed in Li Yundong¡¯s mind . His eyes narrowed into slits . "Tell me . Why is it so important that I show up?" Feng Na was starting to squirm under his gaze, but Cheng Cheng was still smiling at him without a care .

    "To show your support, of course!" Cheng Cheng said . "You¡¯re our friend, right?"

    Li Yundong smirked . Seriously? Can you girls be any more obvious? Li Yundong raised his hand . "Enough . I know what you two are nning, okay?"

    Cheng Cheng gave him an innocent look whereas Feng Na was now looking at anywhere but him . Gotcha...

    "n? What on earth are you talking about?" Cheng Cheng asked .

    Li Yundong¡¯s smirked widened . "This is a publicity ploy! You just want to use my"¡ªLi Yundong did air quotes¡ª"celebrity status to increase student turnout . "

    Cheng Cheng looked sheepish now . "Oops?"

    Li Yundong studied the two women until Cheng Cheng caved in .

    "Oh,e on . . . " Cheng Cheng smiled . "Just show up? Please? At least for one night . . . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes grew wide in an instant . More strange looks were cast towards them . God damn it . These two really had no filter at all . None . Li Yundong sighed . "Will you stop bugging me if I agree?"

    Cheng Cheng nodded excitedly .

    "Fine . What movie?"

    "Nope . Not telling you . " Cheng Cheng winked . "You¡¯ll just have to be there to find out!"

    ***

    Around 6 PM, their cab pulled up in front of the campus . Li Yundong paid the cabbie and got out of the car with Su Chan .

    "Yundong . . . Why are we here at school again? Do you have sses at night?" Miss Clueless, it seemed, could no longer contain her curiosity . Yundong took her hand and led her past the campus gates .

    "We¡¯re not here for sses, princess . "

    "Then . . . Are we here to fight? Or to watch shamanistic rituals again?"

    Li Yundong pulled them to a stop and stared at her . Shamanistic rituals? Fight? What on earth was she talking about?

    Su Chan seemed to have realized as well that she had said something silly . She blushed and stared down at her feet . "I- I mean . . . I- Isn¡¯t that what we didst time when we came to school at night?"

    The penny dropped . Li Yundong guffawed . Oh, she was talking about the performance night! And by shamanistic rituals, she probably meant the dance performance . Li Yundong stoppedughing and stared at her warmly . Cute . So damn cute .

    "W- What?"

    Li Yundong patted her head . "No, silly . We¡¯re not here to fight . We¡¯re here to watch a movie!"

    Su Chan¡¯s smile could probably light up a football field . She jumped slightly . "They have TV boxes here?"

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Probably . But I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll be using TVs in the media room . "

    Su Chan stared up at him nkly . "Then what will they be using? Will there be a stage? Or people with costumes?"

    Li Yundongughed again . "No silly, that¡¯s a Chinese opera! Geez!"

    "Oh . "

    "They¡¯ll probably use a projector and a huge screen . "

    Su Chan was staring at him like he had just told her that fish live onnd . A confused Su Chan was a cute Su Chan . Okay . Scratch that . Any Su Chan was a cute Su Chan . Yes, even when she was kicking people in the nuts and blowing up kitchens . God give him strength against her lethal cuteness .

    "Well, there won¡¯t be a stage," Li Yundong said as they began to walk again . "There will probably be a huge piece of t, white cloth hung in front . And the images would appear on the white surface . "

    "Oh . So it¡¯s a t TV . . . "

    Well, when she put it that way . . . He shrugged and said, "Yeah . I guess you can think of it that way . "

    "Do these t TVs have the rectangr blocks too?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s steps faltered . "Rectangr blocks?"

    "The one with buttons . "

    "Oh! A remote!" Li Yundong thought for a moment . "Maybe they do? I don¡¯t know . "

    They passed the academic building and made a right turn .

    "Yundong . . . "

    "Hmm?"

    "These t TVs won¡¯t explode like that stupid stove, right?"

    ***

    The media room was crammed when they walked in . Indeed, a massive projector screen was set up in front of the room . At the center of the room, a metal mount hung down from the ceiling with a sophisticated projector sitting on it . Li Yundong scanned the room for Feng Na . It took him a few seconds, but he located her at a corner of the room, where some kind of workstation was set up . Cheng Cheng and a few other seniors stood around her . They all seemed busy, probably with setting up the projector .

    Li Yundong nudged Su Chan and gestured towards Feng Na . Su Chan tore her eyes away from the projector . The device had held her fascination from the moment they walked in . She nodded, and together, they made their way towards Feng Na . Although she would still sneak nces at the projector once every few steps she took . Li Yundong found himself wondering at some point which one was brighter: the light emitted from the projector¡¯s lens; or the sparkle in Su Chan¡¯s eyes when she gazed at the projector .

    Students filled the seats, munching on popcorns and melon seeds while chattering away at each other . Some demanded autographs from him . A few even requested him to take selfies with them . Li Yundong ignored all of them and made a beeline for Feng Na and Cheng Cheng .

    Thanks to the students enthusiasm, Feng Na noticed their arrival before he could greet her; she waved at them as soon as she saw them walking over .

    Li Yundong returned Feng Na¡¯s wave . "So . This better be worth my time . Since you practically coerced me here . "

    Feng Na chuckled . "Why don¡¯t you take a seat and find out?"

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes . "Come on . Spill . Tell us what movie you¡¯re ying . "

    Feng Na rolled her eyes . "So impatient," she grumbled . "Fine . We¡¯ll be ying a soap opera today . "

    Li Yundong groaned and did a face palm . But before he could say anything, Su Chan did a cheer . "Yay! Soap shows! Soap shows!" Li Yundong¡¯s body pitched sideways when Su Chan gave his arm a strong tug .

    Li Yundong straightened himself . "Sorry to burst your bubble, princess," he said . "But we¡¯re going home . This is a waste of time . "

    He pulled Su Chan towards the exit, ignoring Feng Na¡¯s protests .

    Su Chan resisted . "But I like soap shows!"

    Li Yundong smiled at her . "You can watch it at home . "

    "Hey! Li Yundong!"

    Li Yundong turned around to see Feng Na storming over . "You¡¯re already here! So why leave? You might as well stay and watch the film . "

    Several tugs on his hand made him turn, after which he was struck by the full force of Su Chan¡¯s puppy-dog eyes . "Yundong . . . Can we stay and watch the soap show? Please?"

    Or maybe we can go home and you teach me how to pass the Zhuji phase?

    Su Chan¡¯s puppy dog eyes shone under the lights . Li Yundong found his resolve wavering . A minuteter, Li Yundong hung his head low and sighed . "Alright, alright, you win . . . "

    Li Yundong scanned the room . "Are there even any seats left for us? The ce is packed . "

    Feng Na stepped forward and grabbed his arm . "Don¡¯t worry . I¡¯ve reserved two ces for you . VIP seats . " Feng Na led them to a row in the middle of the room .

    "There," Feng Na told them once they had both taken their seats . "These are the best two spots in the room . Reserved just for you two . "

    Li Yundong leaned back in his seat . He didn¡¯t doubt that this was the best spot in the entire room . The seats were positioned at just the right distance from the screen so that they could look straight ahead without having to bend or crane their necks to see the screen . Bags of popcorns were already prepared beside their feet .

    "Wow . Not bad . " Li Yundong nodded appreciatively . "Not bad at all . "

    Feng Na smirked . "Told you, you wouldn¡¯t regret joining us . "

    "Well, thanks for¡ª" Pieces of popcorn sprayed his face before he could finish . It was like being hit by a popcorn shower .

    He turned and saw Su Chan staring nkly at the bag of popcorn she¡¯d just ripped open . Half of the popcorn had spilled from the bag: strewn all over their seats,ps, and the floor .

    Su Chan shot him a sheepish look . "Hehehe . . . Oopsie?"

    Why? Why me? Why the hell me? Why the f*cking hell me? Li Yundong sighed . "Sorry about this," he told Feng Na, who was now giggling into her palm . "Look, you go do your thing . I¡¯ll clean this up . " He gestured at the popcorn mess .

    Feng Na stopped giggling and smiled . "Alright then . Sit tight . We¡¯ll dim the lights soon . "

    Li Yundong watched Feng Na walk away, then shook his head .

    By the time he turned back to deal with the litter of popcorn, most of the popcorn on their seats were already gone . All thanks, of course, to Su Chan the chipmunk .

    With a sigh, Li Yundong bent down to pick up the rest of the popcorn from the floor . One of these days, he was going to drill some table manners into that girl . He just hoped that he could live long enough to see some actual progress .

    ***

    Fifteen minutester, the students were getting restless . The lights had already been dimmed ten minutes ago, but the film wasn¡¯t ying yet . And Su Chan, of course, was already devouring her second bag of popcorn .

    What¡¯s the hold up? Li Yundong nced towards the little workstation Feng Na and her friends had set up at the corner of the media room . Through the darkness, Li Yundong could make out dark figures bustling around Feng Na, who was gesturing her hands wildly . It almost seemed like she was panicking . Li Yundong sighed . Maybe this was a waste of time after all . Nothing was being shown on the screen except for the projector¡¯s brand logo¡ªthe default wee screen . The students were booing and hissing . Clearly, their patience was wearing thin as well .

    Seriously, what the heck is the matter? Li Yundong moved his Qi towards his Shenting and sorted through the buzzing in his ears .

    " . . . I¡¯ve already tried many times! I¡¯m telling you it isn¡¯t working!!" someone said . One of the seniors, no doubt .

    "Dammit!" Feng Na hissed . "What are we gonna do? I didn¡¯t prepare a spare!"

    "I got it!" Another voice sounded . This time, it was Cheng Cheng .

    "What? What is it? You got an idea?" Feng Na said anxiously .

    "C¡¯mon, Nana! Isn¡¯t it obvious? Just y that secret DVD you got from your friend!"

    There was a pause following Cheng Cheng¡¯s statement . Secondster, Li Yundong heard a resigned sigh . "Fine," Feng Na said . "Looks like we have no other choice . Cheng Cheng, go grab it for me, will you? It¡¯s between the pages of a book on my desk . The third book from the left . "

    "Got it!" Cheng Cheng said, sounding way too happy for someone who was supposed to be dealing with a crisis .

    Li Yundong tuned out the voices and returned his Qi back to his lower Dantian; the buzzing disappeared . Momentster, Feng Na made an announcement on the microphone . "Sorry guys, due to some technical issues, we won¡¯t be ying the original soap opera . "

    A chorus of boos and hisses filled the room .

    "This is bullshit!"

    "What a waste of time!"

    "You mean we came here for nothing? Seriously?"

    "Now, now, calm down people," Feng Na continued in a sweet tone . "I didn¡¯t say we won¡¯t be ying anything tonight . Like I said, there¡¯ll be a change of ns due to technical issues, so tonight we¡¯ll be watching Cohabitation with A Flight Attendant!"

    A round of¡ªmostly feminine¡ªcheers sounded . A momentter, the door of the media room opened and Cheng Cheng ran back inside with a DVD .

    Li Yundong nced at Su Chan and raised his brows . "Still wanna stay?"

    "Mmhmm!" Su Chan said .

    Li Yundong¡¯s brows rose higher . "You sure? It¡¯s going to be boring, you know . "

    Su Chan¡¯s nose scrunched up adorably . "Why?"

    "Because they are ying the soap opera you were watching that night . "

    "Oh . " Su Chan stared nkly at the screen in front, then turned back to him . "I can watch it again!"

    Li Yundong groan inwardly . "Alright, alright . As you wish, mdy . "

    Li Yundong turned his attention to the screen . The opening credits were already showing . Hey . . . isn¡¯t that . . .

    Li Yundong nearly fell off his seat . His blood ran cold . Oh shit . . . He shot a panicked look towards Feng Na and her friends . He wanted to run over and tell them to stop ying the DVD, but it was already toote .

    Li Yundong stared at the screen in horror as the entire media room went into a ruckus: the guys were cheering; and the girls were shrieking and covering their eyes .

    Oh f*ck .

 Chapter 109

    Chapter 109

    <h4>Shit Just Got Real</h4>

    When S Aoi started an onscreen strip tease, Li Yundong burst into action . He sprang to his feet and began making his way towards the end of the middle row . On his way out, he snatched an empty popcorn bag from the floor . Two secondster, he reached the end of the row and stepped onto the center aisle where the projector hung directly above his head . He folded the popcorn bag a few times while channeling his Qi to his legs . Then, he made an explosive vertical leap and, while in the air, he shoved the folded popcorn bag into the hollow of the projector¡¯s lens . Darkness suffused the media room as the images ying on the screen vanished into nothingness . Curses and screams of protest followed suit, but Li Yundong didn¡¯t care . He was already making his way towards Feng Na and the seniors in charge of the screening . He reached Feng Na in record time and hit the "space" key on theptop to pause the video before closing the window of the video yer application .

    "F*ck!! Why the hell did it stop ying?!"

    "Oh c¡¯mon! Keep ying it! We¡¯re just getting to the fun part!"

    "F*cking killjoys! Put it back on, goddamnit!"

    "Argh!! Maria Ozawa hasn¡¯t even appeared yet!"

    Well, this is what happens when your porn stash is being yed in a room full of horny guys . Before he knew it, Su Chan was right beside him . Li Yundong forced himself to take several calming breaths . "Su Chan . . . It was you, wasn¡¯t it? You gave Feng Na the wrong DVD yesterday . "

    Su Chan didn¡¯t say anything, though she really didn¡¯t have to; the look on her face said it all . Li Yundong grabbed two fistfuls of his hair and released a low growl . "What the f*ck? How the hell did this even happen? You were supposed to give back Feng Na¡¯s DVD! Why did you give her mine instead?"

    Su Chan stared down at her feet, still not answering his question .

    "Exin!" he hissed, causing Su Chan to flinch .

    "I- I broke hers . . . "

    "What?!" Feng Na and Li Yundong said in unison .

    "A- And then . . . and then I found another one inside your room . They looked exactly the same, s- so I thought . . . I swapped it . . . "

    "Oh, for f*ck¡¯s sake . . . " Li Yundong rubbed his temples . "There¡¯s abel! Didn¡¯t any of you read thebel?" He nced towards Feng Na .

    Feng Na snapped out of her stupor and moved towards theptop . She removed the DVD from theptop and studied it for a moment . "But it says Cohabitation with a Flight Attendant! That¡¯s the same name as my soap opera!"

    Li Yundong shot her an exasperated look . "But yours didn¡¯te with abel in the first ce, did it?"

    Feng Na scowled . "How was I supposed to know! I thought you watched it and thenbeled it for me!"

    Cheng Cheng gasped . "So it¡¯s true . . . Y- You gave the DVD to him that morning . . . You lied to me Nana! And you! Li Yundong! How could you¡ª"

    "Enough!" Feng Na and Li Yundong both said . "Not now, okay?"

    Feng Na groaned . "Why . . . Why on earth did youbel your porn collection with such an innocuous name!"

    "C¡¯mon . . . Seriously? You want me to write ¡¯hardcore sex¡¯ on my porn DVD? Even teenagers know not to do that!" Li Yundong sighed . "You know what, this isn¡¯t helping . " Li Yundong paused and turned to face the crowd of students who were still cursing andining . He shook his head . "We need to find a way to deal with this mess . "

    Feng Na sighed . "It¡¯s toote for that now . We¡¯re screwed . No . I¡¯m screwed . "

    Li Yundong turned away from the students to look at Feng Na . "It can¡¯t be that bad, can it? Even if the students talked, there¡¯s no real proof . Unless someone recorded this on their phones?" Li Yundong hung his head low, then raised his head again . "But I think I managed to stop the video before anyone could get their phones out . Everyone seemed surprised, so I don¡¯t think they expected any of this . . . What?" Li Yundong stared at Feng Na¡¯s grim expression .

    "You don¡¯t understand," Feng Na said . "Director Qian already knows . "

    "The media room is being monitored," Cheng Cheng said with a grim tone .

    Feng Na sighed . "That¡¯s how I got the teachers to agree to all of this in the first ce . We can screen movies as long as it¡¯s done under a teacher¡¯s supervision . " Feng Na chuckled wryly, then gestured at the students . "Just look around you . Do you think the teachers would allow this bunch to watch movies in a dark room unsupervised?"

    Li Yundong let his chin drop . "Shit . . . "

    Feng Na tossed the DVD onto the desk where theptop had been set up . "That¡¯s it . . . I¡¯m gonna be expelled . "

    Feng Na¡¯s devastated tone brought a stab of guilt to Li Yundong¡¯s chest . Li Yundong stepped forward . "Hey . . . That won¡¯t happen . "

    There were tears in her eyes when Feng Na turned back around . "Don¡¯t bother . . . It¡¯s toote . "

    "No," Li Yundong stated firmly . "Just let me handle this¡ª"

    The door of the media room burst open . "You delinquents!" The lights immediately came back on, and the room fell silent . Director Qian stormed along the aisle towards them . "Who! Whose idea was it to y pornographic films on campus!"

    Director Qian stopped in front of them, his eyes bouncing from person to person . Finally, he red at Feng Na . "Well? Was it you, Feng Na?"

    Feng Na paled . "N- No sir, this isn¡¯t¡ª"

    "I did it," Li Yundong said, his voice loud and resolute . He took a step forward . "This has nothing to do with senior Feng Na . " Li Yundong stared into the beady eyes behind Director Qian¡¯s gold-rimmed sses . Like hell he was going to allow Feng Na to take the me . Li Yundong¡¯s reputation as a student was already ruined anyway; one more issue wouldn¡¯t exactly make a difference . But Feng Na had always been a good student with a clean record . It would follow her for the rest of her life if she took the me today . And God knew what Director Qian had up his sleeves . Li Yundong certainly wouldn¡¯t put it past that slimeball to attempt to cut a "deal" with Feng Na¡ªsleep with me and this thing will never see the light of day . Li Yundong clenched his jaw . Over my dead body .

    Li Yundong took a breath . "This is my fault . I brought the DVD by mistake . " From the corner of his eye, Li Yundong noticed Su Chan¡¯s lips moving as though she wanted to say something . Keeping his hand hidden behind his back, he reached over and pinched Su Chan¡¯s hip . When Su Chan nced at him, he sent her a warning nce: Do not say a word .

    Su Chan lowered her head and went back to staring at her feet .

    A momentter, Director Qian released a sneer . "Well, well, well . Look at you, ying the hero again, Li Yundong . Are you that desperate for attention?"

    Li Yundong squared his shoulders . "You¡¯re mistaken . " He looked at Director Qian steadily . "This has nothing to do with me trying to y the hero . It¡¯s called having the courage to admit my own mistakes . " He smirked . "Not that someone like you would understand it . "

    Director Qian seemed to have caught on to Li Yundong¡¯s insinuation as he paled immediately . However, Director Qian regained his bravado a few secondster . Heughed mockingly . "Admitting your own mistakes? What about the other trouble you¡¯ve caused? Are you ready to im responsibility for those too?"

    Li Yundong bristled and opened his mouth to argue, but Director Qian silenced him with another derisiveugh . "You brought this upon yourself, Li Yundong . " An evil glint formed in Director Qian¡¯s eyes . "I¡¯ve been waiting for this day, you little troublemaker . Now I will finally make you pay . "

    "No!" Feng Na shouted all of a sudden . "I- I mean, s- sir . . . I can exin . . . "

    Li Yundong turned around abruptly and gave Feng Na a look . Feng Na looked extremely pale, like she was about to pass out . Li Yundong gave her a reassuring look . I¡¯ve got this, he mouthed the words to her . Then, he gave Cheng Cheng an eye signal . Cheng Cheng took the cue and quickly pulled Feng Na away .

    Li Yundong turned around to face Director Qian once again . The old bastard was looking all too smug now, but Li Yundong didn¡¯t care . He wasn¡¯t about to let Feng Na take the fall for his negligence and mistakes . None of this would¡¯ve happened if he: A) didn¡¯t collect pornography in the first ce, and B) paid more attention to the DVD instead of letting Su Chan handle it .

    Yes, it definitely sucked to give Director Qian the satisfaction of having the power to decide his fate as a student . But it didn¡¯t matter, because this wasn¡¯t about him . This was about honor .

    Time to put his pride aside and do the right thing .

    Li Yundong took a deep breath before letting out a long exhtion . He gazed into Director Qian¡¯s eyes steadily . "There is nothing to exin," he said with a tone of finality . "I¡¯m supposed to bring the DVD for tonight¡¯s screening . But I took the wrong one . It was an honest mistake . An ident . "

    "An honest mistake? An ident?" Director Qian snorted . "You expect me to believe that? After all the trouble you¡¯ve caused?"

    "I don¡¯t expect you to believe anything," Li Yundong said calmly, then paused to look at Feng Na . "However, I expect you to make a fair judgement based on the facts . " Li Yundong returned his eyes to Director Qian . "Senior Feng Na is a good student . A responsible one, in fact . Her grades are impressive, and she has never done anything to discredit the university . Considering these facts, do you think it¡¯s likely that she would pull a stunt like this?"

    Seconds passed in silence until Director Qian snorted . "I suppose not . " Then, the bastard smirked . "You, on the other hand . . . "

    Li Yundong gave him a nonchnt shrug . "I¡¯ve already said it from the start . This is my fault . But . . . " Li Yundong paused and held up a finger . "I must emphasize that I didn¡¯t do it on purpose . "

    Li Yundong honestly didn¡¯t know why he even bothered . The old bastard was out to get him from the start, so it was pointless to justify anything . The others students remained silent in their seats, though Li Yundong could feel their pitiful gazes on him . They all knew what wasing . It was pretty much inevitable at this point .

    Director Qian¡¯sughter broke through the silence . "Hah! It¡¯s official, then! Li Yundong! You don¡¯t have toe to ss starting tomorrow . The university council will hold a meeting to finalize your expulsion . "

    Gasps filled the room . A couple of students rose to their feet in protest .

    "Oh,e on! That¡¯s not fair!"

    "Yeah! He said it was an ident, didn¡¯t he?"

    "This is an abuse of authority!"

    "Yeah! We can file aint against you!"

    "Silence!!!!!!" Director Qian¡¯s yelled . When the room fell silent once again, he continued, "Does anyone else wants to get expelled?"

    More silence ensued .

    "That¡¯s what I thought," Director Qian said .

    While Li Yundong appreciated the students¡¯ sentiments, he also realized that it was pointless to reason with Director Qian . This was bullshit right from the beginning . Which student in their right mind would bring pornographic films to campus and then y them on arge screen in front of so many students? Anyone with a functioning brain could see that the whole story didn¡¯t hold water . Why would Li Yundong, who was already on the verge of expulsion, do something so incriminating? None of it made any sense . Director Qian probably knew it too . He was just too much of a scumbag to care about something like truth and justice .

    "Whatever," Li Yundong said . "Consider me expelled, then . "

    Director Qian sneered . "You¡¯re a disgrace, Li Yundong . And the university is d to finally be rid of you . "

    No . It was actually the other way around . Li Yundong was d to finally be rid of this stinking ce ran by morally corrupt people .

 Chapter 110

    Chapter 110

    <h4>Job Hunt!</h4>

    So . Li Yundong was expelled . Now that it had finally happened, it didn¡¯t seem so bad . In fact, he found it to be a rather freeing experience . Now he no longer had to deal with Director Qian¡¯s toxic schemes, early and boring lectures, or Liu Chuan¡¯s obnoxious taunts . Surely, that counted for something . But, of course, he had to find a way to make money now . He wondered what he could do . Maybe be a bodyguard? It wouldn¡¯t be a terrible idea . With Eryue, Mingmu, Xianjue, and all his Qi-control training, he was confident he could be a decent bodyguard . Then again, would anyone even hire him? What should he even put on his resume? Catching two girls who had fallen off a seven-floor building? Dodging bullets? If Zhou Qin was willing to vouch for him and act as a reference, then maybe someone would hire him . . .

    Li Yundong led Su Chan down the corridor towards the stairs . They had left the media room immediately after Director Qian dered his expulsion . There was no point in staying or arguing with that old bastard anyway . They descended the stairs and then headed for the building¡¯s exit . He walked in silence while Su Chan trudged along behind him . When they stepped into the crisp, night air, he suddenly stopped and turned around to face Su Chan . Su Chan clearly hadn¡¯t expected him to stop so abruptly, so she ended up bumping into him . His hands rose instinctively to steady her . Their gazes locked on to each other the moment his hands touched her shoulders . Su Chan¡¯s eyes were swimming with unshed tears and filled with remorse .

    "Come this way," he said, tilting his head . "We need to talk . "

    "Oh . "

    After several steps, Li Yundong made a sharp right . Momentster, they were both seated on a bench outside the building . Light from a nearby streetmp bathed them in an orange glow .

    "God . . . Do you know what you¡¯ve done?" Li Yundong said, then sighed heavily . "If we didn¡¯te here tonight, it would be Feng Na getting expelled, not me . Do you understand that?"

    "I¡¯m sorry . . . I really didn¡¯t know what was inside that round thing . "

    "No," Li Yundong said in a harsh tone . "That isn¡¯t the point and you know it!"

    Su Chan looked down at herp . "I¡¯m sorry . . . I shouldn¡¯t have swapped it without asking you first . "

    "And you should¡¯ve told me right away when you broke Feng Na¡¯s DVD . "

    "I¡¯m sorry . . . I thought you would leave me if . . . if . . . "

    "And you thought swapping the DVDs was a good idea? Seriously? Are you an idiot? People would realize it the moment they yed the DVD!"

    "B- But they looked the same! I thought . . . I thought they are copies!"

    "Copies . . . " Li Yundong groaned and buried his face in his palms . He had really underestimated Su Chan¡¯s cluelessness about the world . And now his negligence hade back to bite him in the ass .

    "I¡¯m so sorry, Yundong . I truly am . I was wrong . . . "

    Li Yundong raised his head . "Yes, you were . "

    Su Chan lifted three fingers . "I swear I¡¯d never have swapped it if I knew they weren¡¯t identical . " Su Chan lowered her fingers . "And . . . I know I should¡¯ve told you . "

    Li Yundong sighed and patted her head . "No more next time, okay?"

    "Mmm . . . "

    They sat in silence for a while .

    "Is . . . Is Elder Sister Feng Na going to get into trouble?"

    Li Yundong looked to the side . Su Chan looked genuinely worried . "She¡¯s going to be fine . Director Qian¡¯s real target is me, not her . "

    That f*cking son of bitch had been out to get Li Yudong ever since Su Chan kicked him in the nuts .

    "But . . . You were kicked out of school . . . "

    Li Yundong chuckled wryly . "Yes . . . Yes I was . "

    "T- Then . . . are we going to end up as . . . as beggars?"

    Li Yundong pinched her nose . "No, silly . I won¡¯t let that happen . " He let his hand drop . "I¡¯ll get a job . And then we can figure it out from there . "

    "Oh, I know! I¡¯ll get a job too!" Su Chan piped in, looking cheerful for the first time since the shitshow began earlier .

    Li Yundong regarded her with amusement . "You? Nah . You¡¯re more likely to create more jobs for others than get paid," he said dryly .

    Su Chan¡¯s nose scrunched up in confusion . "Are you saying I¡¯m inept?"

    Are you saying you¡¯re not? he added silently . Well, Su Chan would make a great masseur, he supposed . Then again, the idea of Su Chan putting her hands on other men . . . Nope . Not a chance in hell .

    The sound of an unfamiliar ringtone interrupted their exchange . Li Yundong nced around a few times, but it was just the two of them on the bench . Nobody else was around . "Whose phone is that?" he muttered .

    "Oh! It¡¯s mine!" Su Chan began rummaging through his backpack . Secondster, she pulled out the phone that Zhou Qin gave her the other day .

    Li Yundong chuckled . There was only one person who knew this number . So she heard about it already, huh? News sure travels fast .

    "Hello?! Hello?!" Su Chan yelled at the phone . When the phone kept ringing, Su Chan stared at the phone with a puzzled expression . She shook the phone a few times . "Helloooooooooo?!"

    Li Yundong shook his head in amusement . "Yundong..." Su Chan gave him a helpless look . "This rude phone is ignoring me..."

    Li Yundong burst intoughter . "Give me that . " He held out his hand . When Su Chan passed him the phone, he turned the device around¡ªshe¡¯d been holding it upside down the whole time¡ªand showed her a button . "You gotta press this button to answer calls, you got that?"

    Su Chan nodded . "Mmm!"

    Li Yundong pressed the answer key and passed the phone over to Su Chan .

    "Hello?" Su Chan said gently, then shot Li Yundong a tentative nce .

    Li Yundong pointed at her ear . "You have to put it close to your ear," he whispered .

    "Oh," she said, then did as she was told .

    "Hello?" Su Chan spoke into the phone again . She listened to the voice on the phone for a few seconds, then passed the phone back to Li Yundong .

    "It¡¯s Elder Sister Zhou Qin," Su Chan said . "She wants to speak with you . "

    Li Yundong took the phone . "So, Miss Zhou . I take it you¡¯ve heard about the media room incident already?"

    "Yes . Senior Feng Na called and told me about it . " There was a pause . "Seriously, Li Yundong . . . How on earth did you get into so much trouble in literally just . . . days?"

    Li Yundong released a long sigh . "How much did Feng Na tell you?"

    "Nothing specific, that¡¯s why I¡¯m calling you," Zhou Qin said . "She just told me that something happened during the movie screening, and you got expelled . " Zhou Qin sighed . "I guess I should¡¯ve been there . "

    Li Yundong grunted . "I¡¯d rather you weren¡¯t . It wasn¡¯t exactly a pleasant business . "

    "Tell me what happened?"

    Li Yundong spent the next few minutes recounting the whole mishap from the beginning .

    "My God, Li Yundong . . . What is it with you and these strange coincidences?" Zhou Qin said when Li Yundong was done talking . "It¡¯s like the forces of the Universe are conspiring to get you expelled . "

    Li Yundong chuckled wryly . "Tell me about it . . . "

    "Hey . . . Come to think of it . . . I think I saw that DVD when I went through one of your books the other day . Thebel seemed pretty innocuous . . . I never thought it would be . . . you know . . . "

    Heat rose to Li Yundong¡¯s cheeks . "Can we not talk about my bad cinematic tastes, please?" Li Yundong cleared his throat awkwardly . "It wasn¡¯t one of my finest moments, okay? I¡¯m not proud of it . "

    Zhou Qin chuckled . "I guess that exins the innocuousbel . . . "

    "Zhou Qin . . . " Li Yundong said in a warning tone . This was probably the most ufortable phone conversation he ever had . "I¡¯d rather not talk about this anymore, if you don¡¯t mind . "

    Zhou Qinughed . "Rx . . . It¡¯s no big deal, okay? I¡¯m not judging you . "

    "Yeah . You¡¯re not judging . Justughing at my expense . . . " Li Yundong muttered .

    Zhou Qin chuckled a few more times before clearing her throat . "Just let me handle this . I¡¯ll see what I can do to waive your expulsion . "

    Li Yundong groaned . "Again? I always end up troubling you . "

    Zhou Qin¡¯s tone suddenly turned serious . "It¡¯s no trouble, okay?"

    "You keep saying that, but you¡¯ve done more than enough for me already . Is this about me saving your life again? You know you don¡¯t owe me anything, right?"

    Zhou Qin sighed over the phone . "I know my father¡¯s secretary spoke with you . And I know he has insulted you . I guess I want to make it up to you somehow . "

    "It isn¡¯t your fault . "

    "I know . . . But still . Just let me make it up to you . Please . "

    Li Yundong sighed . "Alright . Thank you . "

    Zhou Qin cleared her throat again . "So . What¡¯s your next step? I¡¯m not sure how long it¡¯ll take to sort things out with the university . So you might be away from school for a while . "

    Li Yundong chuckled wryly . "My ns? Isn¡¯t that obvious? Job hunting, of course . " He paused . "At first, I nned to wait until the summer holidays to get a job, but now I¡¯ve got no choice . " Li Yundong nced at Su Chan . "I¡¯ve got a chipmunk to feed . "

    Su Chan blushed adorably and made a face at him .

    "Chipmunk? What are you . . . " There was a brief moment of silence . "Oh!" Zhou Qin¡¯sughter rang out, whichsted for a few seconds .

    "I swear . Sometimes I think she eats more than twenty menbined," Li Yundong grumbled, then leaned his body away to dodge Su Chan¡¯s swipes .

    Zhou Qin¡¯sughter subsided . "She has a healthy appetite, that¡¯s for sure . . . " Zhou Qin cleared her throat . "Anyway . If you¡¯re looking for a job, then I might be able to help you on that front . . . "

    Li Yundong fell silent . If Zhou Qin had a way to get him a job quickly, then all his problems would be solved . But how was he ever going to return the favor? Deep down, he knew what he feared the most¡ªthat this feeling of indebtedness to Zhou Qin would hang over his head forever . Worse, Zhou Qin might start demanding something for him that he could never give¡ªhis affection .

    Li Yundong must have stayed quiet for a long time, because Zhou Qin spoke again .

    "Hello? Are you still there?"

    Li Yundong sighed . "Yeah . . . Yeah, I¡¯m still here . "

    "Listen . . . It isn¡¯tpulsory, okay? It¡¯s just a job interview anyway . If you don¡¯t want to go, then that¡¯s fine as well . "

    Li Yundong fell silent again . This was literally the solution to all his problems right there . He would be a fool to turn away such an opportunity . There were things more important than his pride to consider, things like paying rent and feeding Queen of Gluttony over there . "Which firm?" Li Yundong asked . Assuming that it was even a firm . Right . Who was he even kidding? This was one of Zhou Qin¡¯s connections . Of course it would be some high-end firm .

    "Dongsheng Realtors . "

    "A real estate firm?" Li Yundong chuckled . "I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t think my skillset matches the job description . . . " Real estate agents didn¡¯t have to throw punches and kicks, or dodge bullets .

    "Well, it¡¯s up to the firm¡¯s President what position to give you . Who knows, maybe she¡¯ll want you as an assistant?" Hmm... Making coffee and carrying folders around didn¡¯t sound too bad . "Oh, by the way," Zhou Qin continued in a teasing tone, "the owner of that firm is a friend of mine . And she¡¯s a very beautiful woman . In fact, the entire firm is filled with beautiful women . So you might wanna keep your eyes in check . You don¡¯t want to break Su Chan¡¯s heart, do you now?"

    Li Yundong felt Su Chan¡¯s tug on his arm the moment Zhou Qin finished that statement . "No, no, no . . . " Su Chan mumbled beside his ear, shaking her head frantically . "I¡¯m going with you! I¡¯m going with you!"

    Li Yundong stared at Su Chan in shock . How did she hear . . . Then he remembered that Su Chan was a Cultivator . Must¡¯ve used Eryue . . . Li Yundong felt a surge of warmth in his chest . The fact that Su Chan would feel jealous implied that he meant something to her . He reached over and flicked her forehead . "Fine, you cane along as long as you don¡¯t cause trouble . "

    Zhou Qin must have heard his exchange with Su Chan, because she suddenly startedughing . "Hey, Li Yundong," she said . "Put me on loudspeaker for a sec . "

    Li Yundongplied with a push of a button . "There, you¡¯re on loudspeaker . "

    Su Chan seemed fascinated by the fact that the phone could speak as loud as a human now . "Hey . . . The box¡¯s voice just grew louder . " Li Yundong just shook his head at her and smiled .

    "Su Chan . . . " Zhou Qin¡¯s voice rang out a secondter . "You must find a way to secure Li Yundong¡¯s heart, okay? Or else other women might try to snatch him away from you . " Li Yundong rolled his eyes . Yeah, right . As if that would even happen .

    Su Chan nodded with zest . "I know right!" She raised her fist . "He is mine! And I will not let another dinglu have him!"

    Li Yundong nearly choke on his own spit .

    "Dinglu?" Zhou Qin sounded way too amused now .

    "Mmm! It¡¯s¡ª"

    Li Yundong silenced Su Chan with a re .

    Zhou Qin sounded like she was trying hard to contain herughter . "Anyway, that¡¯s the spirit, Su Chan . Li Yundong is quite the catch, so you must¡ª"

    "Zhou Qin . . . " Li Yundong gritted out . "You¡¯re not helping . Keep that up and I won¡¯t even show up for the interview . "

    "Rx . . . I was only kidding . " Zhou Qin paused for a moment . "All jokes aside, I really think you should go to the interview . The pay is good . "

    Li Yundong switched off the loudspeaker and put the phone back against his ear . "Seriously?"

    Zhou Qin suddenlyughed . "Got you there, pal . I knew you¡¯d cave the moment I mentioned the high sry . "

    Li Yundong blushed and rubbed the back of his neck . "Well . . . I won¡¯t lie . Money is a little tight these days . "

    "But you¡ª"

    Li Yundong cut Zhou Qin off . "I didn¡¯t take the money your father offered because it isn¡¯t the right thing to do, okay? It¡¯s bad enough that I¡¯ve been relying on my parents¡¯ money all these years . I¡¯m not about to add to that by taking your father¡¯s money for nothing . From now on, whatever money I receive has to be rightfully earned . "

    Silence passed between them . Zhou Qin cleared her throat . "Um . . . Actually, I wasn¡¯t about to mention what my father did . . . "

    Li Yundong went still . "Oh . " Then he blushed . "Sorry . What were you about to say then?"

    Zhou Qin sighed . "I was going to say . . . I have a lot of money saved up over the years . . . so . . . I mean if you really need money urgently, then I can lend you some . Ah, you can pay me back in the future if you want!"

    Another stretched of silence passed . "Thank you . It¡¯s kind of you to offer, but I¡¯ll have to decline," Li Yundong said .

    "But what if it¡¯s an emergency¡ª"

    "How about this," Li Yundong cut her off, "I¡¯ll let you know if it everes to that . Sound fair?"

    Zhou Qin let out a long sigh . "Okay . Fair enough . "

    "Look . I appreciate it, okay?" Li Yundong said . "Don¡¯t think I don¡¯t know how much you¡¯ve done for me . But this is my problem, and I need to deal with it, with or without help . Can you understand that?"

    "Yeah . Yeah, I think I do . "

    "Thank you," Li Yundong said . "Alright, then . It¡¯s gettingte, so I¡¯m gonna go . "

    "Oh, okay . Good night, then . I¡¯ll text you the details of the interviewter . "

    Li Yundong nodded even though he knew Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t see him . "Alright . Thanks again . Bye . "

    The line went off with a click . Li Yundong lowered the phone from his ear and turned to Su Chan . "Well, that was some conversation," he said as he put the phone back into his backpack .

    Su Chan was looking at him expectantly . "So . . . You¡¯ve found a job?"

    Li Yundong zipped up his backpack and stood up from the bench . "Not yet . It¡¯s just an interview . I might not even get it . "

    "Oh . " Su Chan reached for his backpack, so he let her have it . She really liked carrying his backpack around these days . He wondered why .

    "What¡¯s the matter? You sound disappointed . " He patted Su Chan¡¯s head after she had slung the straps over her shoulders . "There¡¯s still a chance I might get the job . So don¡¯t look so sad . "

    Su Chan shook her head and stared down at her feet .

    Li Yundong hooked a finger under her jaw and lifted her chin . "What¡¯s up?"

    She used the tip of her shoe to y with a tiny pebble on the ground, causing it to roll back and forth . "It¡¯s just . . . A- Are you still mad at me?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "It depends . "

    Hope shone on Su Chan¡¯s face . "On what?"

    "On whether you¡¯d hide things from me again . "

    "I- I- I¡¯ll try not to . . . "

    Li Yundong stared at her . Secondster, he caved . "C¡¯mere . " He held his arms wide open .

    Su Chan¡¯s face lit up like a star . "Yayyy!" She crashed into Li Yundong¡¯s body and snuggled against his chest . "I know I¡¯m a troublemaker," she said, her voice muffled by his chest . "But I¡¯ll try really, really, really hard not to cause trouble again . So . . . P- Please don¡¯t . . . don¡¯t leave me for other dinglus .

    Li Yundong pulled away from their embrace and looked at Su Chan . "That won¡¯t happen, okay?" He smiled . "I¡¯m a one-woman man!"

    Su Chan giggled and climbed onto his back .

    "Hey! What are you doing?"

    "I¡¯m holding on to you because you¡¯re mine! I won¡¯t let any other dinglu have you!"

    Li Yundongughed, then smacked Su Chan¡¯s butt yfully . "Then are you going to be obedient from now on?"

    "Mmm!"

    "And you won¡¯t hide things from me?"

    There was a brief pause, like Su Chan was hesitating . "Mmm!" she answered before he could turn his head around to look at her face .

    "Alright then! Let¡¯s go!"

    "Hmm? Go where?"

    Li Yundong smacked her butt again . "Where else, silly! Home, of course!"

 Chapter 111

    Chapter 111

    Li Yundong slowly opened his eyes . A jet of white gas shot out from his mouth when he exhaled, vanishing in a poof the moment it collided with the living room¡¯s wall . The sun was already up, which could only mean one thing . Well, two things to be exact: one, he had spent the entire night in a meditative state practicing Qi control; and two, he had to attend the job interview at Dongsheng Realtors in a couple of hours .

    That job interview was the reason he ended up practicing Qi control for the whole night instead of lying in bed asleep . Not that he was antsy or getting cold feet about the interview or anything . He just couldn¡¯t stop wondering how he would fare in the interview . His ceaseless rumination had then led to a bout of tossing and turning in bed where he couldn¡¯t get himself to fall asleep . In the end, he gave up on sleep altogether and went into the living room to practice Qi control .

    Now that he was awake, those pessimistic thoughts returned to his mind in full force . What if he didn¡¯t get the job? What possible skillset could he even offer to a real-estate firm? He wasn¡¯t well-versed in ounting or finance . Nor was he familiar with property deals or sales . Plus, he didn¡¯t have a way with words . Nor was he an eloquent speaker . Unless he wanted to go down in history as the world¡¯s most inept real-estate agent, this all sounded like a terrible idea .

    Should he offer himself to be the firm¡¯s security guard instead? But what if the people who ran the firm were snobs and ended up giving him the brush-off because he was some penniless university dropout? At some point, he began to wonder why he even care .

    Who was he even kidding . He cared because he was broke .

    Zhou Qin had literally thrown him a lifeline when she told him about the job interview . And he knew immediately that it was in his¡ªand Su Chan¡¯s¡ªbest interest not to screw it up . The pay was high, ording to Zhou Qin . So he¡¯d be a fool if he didn¡¯t at least give it his best shot . Guess I¡¯ll just have to find a way to avoid screwing up then . Li Yundong stood up from the floor and did a quick stretch . Despite not having slept a wink, Li Yundong feltplete refreshed . Being a Cultivator was awesome .

    Li Yundong lowered his arms and nced towards Su Chan¡¯s door, which was still closed . He wasn¡¯t surprised that she was still asleep even though she was usually up by this hour . She¡¯d spent the whole night watching over him when he passed the Ningshen phase . Plus,st night had been an emotional night for her, so she must¡¯ve been exhausted .

    He padded to the kitchen and opened the fridge . Leftovers were never a thing in casa de Yundong, not when it housed a girl with an healthy appetite . Good thing he had some extra snacks stocked up then . There were a few apples and berries, a tub of Greek yogurt, some ice-cream, and a sandwich . Well, that takes care of Su Chan¡¯s breakfast...

    Satisfied, Li Yundong shut the fridge door and padded into the bathroom . He took a quick shower and brushed his teeth, then went to his room to get changed . From his wardrobe, he pulled out the same dark suit he¡¯d worn to Zhou Qin¡¯s party . He was pulling out all stops today . Go big or go home, he thought as he put on the suit .

    Minutester, he stood in front of the mirror and studied his own reflection . Some days he was still a little taken aback by how much his physical appearance had changed . And now with the suit, he couldn¡¯t deny that he looked great . Alright, Li Yundong! You can do this! Go break a leg! Figuratively speaking, of course . He turned away from the mirror and crept towards his bedroom door, making as little noise as possible as he walked . He didn¡¯t want to wake Su Chan up . Truth be told, he wanted to avoid having to deal with Su Chan¡¯s tantrums once she found out that he wasn¡¯t going to let her tag along to the interview . He nned to leave a note outside her door(Be home soon . Breakfast in the fridge . Love Yundong) and then sneak out of the apartment while she was still asleep .

    Which, of course, was far too much to ask for .

    They practically ran into each other outside Li Yundong¡¯s bedroom¡ªshe was about to step in when he was stepping out . A split second after their bodies collided, Li Yundong hands shot out to steady her . Su Chan rubbed her eyes sleepily and then did a double take when she noticed his attire .

    Su Chan stomped her foot and grabbed his arm . ¡°Mmmm...¡± she whined, tugging his arm from side to side . ¡°You were going to sneak out without me, weren¡¯t you!¡±

    Oh, shit... Li Yundong chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck . ¡°Well... I have a job interview, so...¡±

    ¡°Oh . ¡± Su Chan seemed contemtive all of a sudden . Li Yundong wondered what was going on inside that adorable head of hers .

    ¡°Um... What kind of job will it be Yundong?¡±

    Hell if I know . Li Yundong cracked a smile . ¡°I don¡¯t know yet . They didn¡¯t say . Like I said, it¡¯s just an interview . ¡±

    Su Chan pressed her index finger against her chin . ¡°Washing dishes? Milking cows? Ooh! Counting coins?¡±

    Li Yundong burst intoughter . Where the heck did she get all these weird ideas from anyway? Geez . He ruffled her hair, then pinched her cheeks . ¡°I don¡¯t know, princess . I have to pass the interview first . ¡±

    Su Chan clung to his arm and stared up at him with her puppy dog eyes . ¡°Take me with you . Please? Pretty please, please?¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s stomach growled .

    Li Yundongughed . ¡°Looks like somebody is hungry . ¡± He stoppedughing . ¡°C¡¯mon . Be a good girl and wait for me at home, okay? There¡¯s food in the fridge . ¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s pout was so huge that it almost gave her those ridiculous chipmunk pouches again . ¡°Meanie, meanie, meanie! You promised me you wouldn¡¯t leave me . ¡±

    Li Yundong chuckled . ¡°I¡¯m not leaving you, okay? I¡¯m just going to attend the job interview and then be home as soon as I¡¯m done . ¡±

    ¡°R- Really?¡±

    Li Yundong cracked a smile . ¡°Yes, of course! I¡¯ve got my best girl waiting for me at home . Where else would I go?¡±

    Su Chan blushed . ¡°Oh . T- Then... I¡¯ll wait for you a-at home . ¡±

    Li Yundong patted her head . ¡°Good girl . I¡¯ll be back as soon as I can . ¡± He nced towards the kitchen . ¡°There¡¯s food inside the fridge . Should be enough tost you until dinner time . ¡±

    They parted ways at the door, but not before sharing a long and warm embrace which turned his insides to mush . He wondered if this was what it felt like to be happily married .

    When he stepped out of the apartment building, Li Yundong stopped beside the street and nced up at the 20th floor . To his surprise, he saw Su Chan¡¯s tiny figure waving at him from their balcony . Li Yundong mobilized a portion of his Qi towards his Shenting, and zoomed in with his telescopic vision . Su Chan was looking at him longingly as she waved, and she seemed to be holding back tears . Her lips were moving as well . Li Yundong sorted through the buzzing in his ears until he could hear her voice . ¡°Come back soon, beloved...¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and waved back at her . ¡°I will,¡± he whispered, knowing that Su Chan could hear her too .

    Yeah . Being a Cultivator rocked .

    ***

    Li Yundong strode into Dongsheng Realtors¡¯ main building with a confidence he didn¡¯t know he possessed, smiling at the receptionist the moment he reached the front desk .

    ¡°Good morning, I¡¯m here to see President Yin,¡± Li Yundong said politely . ¡°I have an appointment . ¡±

    The receptionist was a young¡ªpossibly in her early twenties¡ªwoman who was texting on her phone when he walked in . She returned his smile and lowered her phone . ¡°Good morning, sir,¡± she said, reaching for the keyboard . ¡°You said you have an appointment?¡±

    Li Yundong nodded . ¡°Yes . I¡¯m here for a job interview . ¡±

    ¡°Alright . Please give me a moment to check . ¡±

    Li Yundong smiled . ¡°Will do . ¡±

    The receptionist turned to herputer screen and tapped on the keyboard .

    ¡°So are you... Mr . Li?¡± she asked a few secondster .

    ¡°Yes . ¡±

    The receptionist smiled . ¡°President Yin is waiting for you, sir . This way, please . ¡±

    The receptionist led Li Yundong through a hallway . At the end of the hallway, they made a right turn which led them to an elevator lobby . When they stopped in front of the elevator, the receptionist pressed the elevator call button .

    ¡°Thank you for your help,¡± Li Yundong said warmly . So far, he¡¯d been treated politely and with respect . Returning the courtesy was the least he could do .

    The receptionist smiled . ¡°You¡¯re wee, sir . President Yin¡¯s office is on the 19th floor . Make a right turn after you exit the elevator and you¡¯ll see it . ¡±

    Li Yundong nodded . ¡°Alright . Thanks again . ¡±

    ***

    Li Yundong adjusted his tie using the reflective surface of the elevator¡¯s metallic wall as a mirror . After that, he smoothed his palms down his pants and watched the changing numbers on the elevator¡¯s position indicator . He blew out a breath and began shifting his weight from foot to foot . Damn, he¡¯d never been this nervous since... ever? How could he stare at the muzzle of a gun and remain unfazed yet be reduced to a nervous wreck by something as innocuous as a job interview? Admittedly, a huge part of his calmness during the gunfight was due to Qi control . But still, internal battles were almost always harder than external ones . The battle against the self is always the toughest to win . He reminded himself to move his Qi to his Lingtaiter before he entered President Yin¡¯s office .

    The floor numbers continued to change . Li Yundong forced himself to stand still and stop fidgeting . On the elevator wall, his own reflection stared back at him, reminding him of how posh this entire building was¡ªyes, even the elevators walls were that shiny . This entire building exuded a stylish and opulent air . Even the receptionist seemed very well dressed . But at least she didn¡¯t seem snobbish . That was a good sign, right?

    A loud ding made Li Yundong jump . He exhaled shakily . Geez Louise, he really needed to chix . He was here for a job interview, not a cage fight . What¡¯s the big deal? The doors slid open in a painfully slow manner . A whiff of feminine perfume assaulted his nostrils . He raised his head and saw a tall¡ªaround 170cm¡ªwoman standing outside the elevator, waiting for him to step out . The woman was professionally dressed . Her dark business suit¡ªpencil skirt, white blouse, and dark zer¡ªhugged her figure like a second skin . Li Yundong pushed away from the elevator wall and stepped out of the elevator, giving the woman a polite nod when their eyes met . The woman returned his nod and stared at him curiously for a moment . F*ck . Please don¡¯t tell me I have something on my teeth...

    Li Yundong hurried away from the elevator and took a right turn like the receptionist had told him earlier . Apparently, President Yin¡¯s office upied an entire section on the 19th floor¡¯s massive floor n; shortly after he¡¯d made the right turn, he stood in front of a huge section separated from the rest of the floor by tall ss panels . An automatic sliding door slid open the moment he stepped closer .

    A silence fell upon the entire section the moment he passed the automatic door . He strolled past desks where white-cor women were giving him curious stares . He fought down the blush threatening to bloom on his cheeks and kept walking .

    He hurried past the desk until he reached a short hallway, where he made a left turn . The words ¡°President¡± and ¡°Yin Mengfan¡± carved onto the namete beside the door told him that he was at the right ce .

    Li Yundong approached the door and knocked .

    The answer came almost instantly . ¡°Come in!¡±

    Here goes... Li Yundong closed his eyes and moved his Qi from his lower Dantian to his Lingtai . Calmness suffused him when he opened his eyes . He exhaled and pushed the door open .

 Chapter 112

    Chapter 112

    <h4>Misjudgement?</h4>

    The smell of leather greeted Li Yundong the moment he entered therge office . The room was bright thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows upying the edge of the office . Directly in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows sat a huge desk, behind which sat a woman with long, dark hair . A golden namete sat on the table¡¯s front edge, glinting in the brightness of the room . He wondered if that thing was made from real gold .

    Li Yundong crossed the expanse of the office with long, purposeful strides . The woman behind the desk had yet to raise her head from a bunch of documents she was reading, but he kept walking until he was standing directly in front of her desk .

    Secondster, when the woman still didn¡¯t acknowledge his presence, Li Yundong decided to take a moment to survey therge office instead of making his presence known . A matching leather couch and ss coffee table sat a few feet to his right¡ªnow he knew where the smell of leather came from .

    The rustling sound of a page being turned brought his attention back to the woman behind the desk . The woman was stillpletely absorbed in whatever she was reading . Li Yundong took a moment to study his potential boss¡¯s appearance: a blouse and a blue zer; long, dark hair cascaded over her shoulders as she dipped her head to read her documents .

    Another page was turned, and then more silence . Li Yundong was starting to feel as though this was a test to see if he¡¯d squirm . The woman clearly knew he wasing in¡ªshe answered when he knocked on the door . Which meant that she was ignoring him on purpose . What is this? A test of patience? He smirked . If this was a test, then he could pass it with flying colors . After all, he could stand there for hours on end performing Da Zhoutian and still appear as Zen as a Tibetan monk .

    At the end of his tenth Da Zhoutian circuit, the woman finally spoke . "So . You¡¯re Li Yundong . . . "

    Li Yundong opened his eyes and regarded the woman briefly . "Yes, I am," he said with a nod . "It¡¯s a pleasure, President Yin . And thank you for having me . "

    President Yin nodded, seemingly impressed with what she¡¯d seen . Well . So far so good .

    "Zhou Qin spoke highly of you," President Yin remarked out of nowhere .

    Li Yundong took a few seconds to consider his response . In the end, he went with, "Then I must thank herter . "

    President Yin leaned back against her executive chair . Li Yundong could feel her appraising eyes roaming over his body from head to toe, as though she was trying to make up her mind about whether to hire him based on his appearance alone .

    A whileter, President Yin smiled . "So¡ª" She was cut off by a knock on her door . There was a sh of irritation in her eyes when she nced towards the door . The sound of the door opening soon followed . Instead of turning around to see who had just entered, Li Yundong kept his back to the door and his eyes on President Yin . He didn¡¯t hear any footsteps, so clearly, the person was still standing at the door .

    The look of irritation vanished from President Yin¡¯s eyes . "Oh, it¡¯s you, Shen Hui!" President Yin smiled . "I¡¯d like to hang out with you, but as you can see, I¡¯m a little busy right now . Why don¡¯t I meet youter?"

    "Boo . . . Such a spoilsport, couz!"

    President Yin chuckled . "Some of us have jobs, you know?"

    The woman named Shen Hui giggled . "Alright, fine . I guess I¡¯ll just go find someone else to have fun with and let you get back to your boring job . Ciao!"

    The door closed with a click . President Yin chuckled and shook her head . A momentter, she regarded Li Yundong curiously .

    "So . How many tours?"

    "I beg your pardon?"

    "The military . You¡¯ve served in the armed forces before, right?"

    "No, Ma¡¯am . I¡¯ve never been with the army . " Li Yundong studied the woman for a second . "May I ask what gave you that idea?"

    President Yin gestured with her hand . "Yourportment, I guess? The way you stand with your shoulders squared and your back straight . The fact that you look fit and healthy . And just now, when my cousin poked her head in, you resisted turning around to look . " President Yin steepled her fingers . "That kind of behavior implies focus and willpower . Well, I suppose a soldier would¡¯ve at least looked to see if the neer is a threat . "

    President Yin collected the sheets of paper into a neat stack before pushing it aside .

    President Yin waved at one of the chairs in front of her desk . "Please, have a seat . I apologize for making you wait earlier . "

    Li Yundong stepped forward . "It¡¯s fine, Ma¡¯am," he said, taking a seat . "Was that a test?"

    President Yin smirked . "I don¡¯t know . You tell me . "

    Li Yundong smirked back and gave her a nod . "That¡¯s all the answer I need, Ma¡¯am . "

    The smirk on President Yin¡¯s face morphed into a genuine smile . "So . Since you¡¯re someone rmended to me by Zhou Qin, I¡¯ll cut to the chase . " Her expression turned serious . "What¡¯s your area of expertise? I mean, you didn¡¯t send me a resume or a CV, so . . . "

    This was the question he¡¯d been dreading sincest night . It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t want toe prepared . The truth was that he didn¡¯t know what to prepare . He couldn¡¯t tell the woman that he was good in pitching sales, or that he had a way with words, because those would just be outright lies . In the end, Li Yundong decided that honesty was the best policy in situations like this .

    "I know martial arts," Li Yundong began . President Yin¡¯s eyebrows rose just a tad . And I¡¯m a goddamn Cultivator who can blow cars away with a punch . He kept that thought to himself . He was pretty sure he would be sent to a psychiatric ward the moment he said that .

    "Anything else?"

    F*cking hell . It was so damn hard to remain confident when he was sitting in front of a professional woman¡ªwho probably earns enough to feed an army for decades¡ªand all he knew was how to throw punches and kicks . Especially when said professional woman was staring at him like he was nuts . And he wouldn¡¯t me her for thinking that, to be honest¡ªlike, who the hell brings up martial arts during a job interview at a real estate firm?

    Talk about having his ballspletely busted . Li Yundong resisted the urge to squirm in his seat .

    "Well?"

    Just be honest . Be true to yourself, he told himself . "I¡¯m athletic . I have good reflexes . I can hear and see better than most people . " Ha . If only she knew what he was truly capable of .

    President Yin nodded . "Do you have experience in ounting?"

    Li Yundong shook his head .

    "Know anything about finance?"

    Li Yundong shook his head again . President Yin was frowning now . F*ck . . . He was really screwing this up royally . What was Zhou Qin thinking, seriously? A real-estate firm? Come on .

    "Sales?"

    "No, Ma¡¯am . "

    President Yin leaned back in her chair and looked at him in confusion . Then, she smiled . "I see . Give me a moment, please . "

    She picked up the phone on her desk and pressed a button . "Xiao Jia,e in here for a sec . "

    Momentster, a youngdy entered the office . "What can I do for you, President Yin?"

    President Yin, who was already reaching for a stack of papers, gestured at Li Yundong with her free hand . "Escort Mr . Li to Elder Sister Xie . Tell her to assign a task to him . "

    "Yes, president . " Xiao Jia turned towards Li Yundong . "Follow me please, sir?"

    Li Yundong nced at President Yin, who wasn¡¯t even looking at him now . He didn¡¯t have to be a genius to figure out that this was a dismissal . He stood up from his chair and smiled at Xiao Jia, who he guessed was President Yin¡¯s assistant . "Thank you, miss," he said . "And I¡¯m sorry to trouble you . "

    To her credit, Xiao Jia didn¡¯t seem dismissive at all . Instead, she smiled at him politely . "It¡¯s no trouble at all . "

    It¡¯s okay, Li Yundong . One setback is nothing, he reminded himself as he watched Xiao Jia make her way towards the door . At least she¡¯s assigning a task to me instead of kicking me out... Probably just some menial task that didn¡¯t deserve the high pay Zhou Qin had mentioned . Maybe they wanted him as an errand boy .

    "Sir?" Xiao Jia¡¯s voice shook him out of his reverie . The door was already opened, with Xiao Jia standing at the doorway waiting for him to follow her .

    Li Yundong gave President Yin one final nce, then strode towards the door with his head held high .

    ***

    Li Yundong stood at the elevator lobby and watched the changing numbers above the elevator doors . After a while, he caught Xiao Jia sneaking nces at him, so he gave her a smile .

    "I hope the interview went well?" Xiao Jia asked .

    Li Yundong groaned inwardly . Great . Small talk . Another thing that he sucked at . He flicked a nce towards the elevator indicator again . The number had stopped at 9 . He cleared his throat . "I¡¯m not so sure, to be honest . But I guess it wasn¡¯t too bad?" He chuckled wryly . "Otherwise you wouldn¡¯t be asked to take me to wherever it is that we¡¯re going . " The number was increasing again . 15, 16, 17 . . .

    "Oh . We¡¯re going to look for sister Xie¡ª" A loud ding sounded .

    A woman exited the elevator and smiled the moment she noticed Xiao Jia .

    "Oh, hey! Xiao Jia!"

    Xiao Jia bowed slightly . "Hello, President Cao . "

    President Cao¡¯s eyesnded on him . "Say . . . Xiao Jia . . . Is this handsome young man a new employee here?"

    Xiao Jia turned and gave Li Yundong a smile . "Yes, President Cao . "

    "I see . . . " President Cao drawled . She took a step towards him and held out her hand . "Hi . I¡¯m Cao Kefei, the president of Huasheng Studios . We¡¯re an international entertainmentpany . And we upy the ninth floor of this building . "

    Li Yundong took the woman¡¯s hand and gave it a firm squeeze . "It¡¯s a pleasure, President Cao . I¡¯m Li Yundong . " Li Yundong released her hand . "Wait . Huasheng Studios?" He suddenly turned towards Xiao Jia . "I thought this building is owned by Dongsheng Realtors . . . ?"

    President Cao chuckled . "Oh, yes it is . But it¡¯s also a multi-tenant building . " President Cao gave him a wink . "Dongsheng Realtors rent out office spaces to other firms . Ourpany is one of the lucky ones . "

    "I see . " He didn¡¯t think Dongsheng Realtors would just allow anypany to use their premises, so Huasheng Studios and Dongsheng Realtors must have some kind of connection . A subsidiarypany, maybe? Li Yundong filed that information away .

    "Well then . It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, Li Yundong," President Cao said . "Don¡¯t let me keep you . " President Cao gave him a wave and headed over towards the automatic doors .

    Li Yundong followed Xiao Jia into the elevator . Zhou Qin might be wrong about him being a good fit in this ce, but she was right about one thing¡ªthis building was teeming with beautiful women .

    ***

    "Hey! I¡¯m back again!"

    At the sound of the familiar voice, Yin Mengfan raised her head from the pile of documents she¡¯d been studiously going through . Her friend Cao Kefei was sauntering towards her desk like she owned the entire floor . Yin Mengfan sighed . "What is it again this time?"

    Cao Kefei smiled and plopped down in the chair that Li Yundong had vacated minutes earlier . "Oh . I just remembered that there are a bunch of heavy luggage that require moving in my office . . . "

    Yin Mengfan raised her brows . "So?"

    Cao Kefei¡¯s smile widened a tad . "So . . . I thought I¡¯de up here and see if I could tap into your firm¡¯s abundant human resources . "

    Yin Mengfan narrowed her eyes at her friend . "You do know that most of my employees are female, right?"

    "Oh,e on . . . You have a few guys to spare . I know you have . Can¡¯t you help out a friend in need?" Cao Kefei whined . "Besides, it¡¯s not like I won¡¯t return them to you . Their limbs will be fully intact when I¡¯m done with them . I promise!"

    Yin Mengfan burst intoughter . "What do you mean by when you¡¯re done with them . It sounded like you need them for something other than moving luggage!"

    "Well, a girl doesn¡¯t kiss and tell . " Cao Kefei batted hershes .

    Yin Mengfan chuckled . "Cut the crap already . I¡¯m busy . What do you really want?"

    Cao Kefei gave her an innocent look . "I just told you, didn¡¯t I?"

    Yin Mengfan rolled her eyes . "As if I¡¯m gonna buy that manualbor crap . If you really need manualbor, all you have to do is show your face around and bat those long eyshes of yours . Do that, and you¡¯ll have every straight guy in this building eating out of your palm . "

    Cao Kefei shrugged . "Oops . " Then, she gave Yin Mengfan a fawning smile . "As expected from the great President Yin of Dongsheng Realtors . You¡¯re as sharp as ever . "

    Yin Mengfanughed . "Stop trying to butter me up . It won¡¯t work . So . Who is it? Which one of my employees are you nning to steal?"

    Cao Kefei smiled . Hmm... How about the handsome young man who just walked out of your office . "

    Yin Mengfan stiffened . "Li Yundong?" She stared at Cao Kefei, who was nodding back at her .

    "Yep . That¡¯s the guy . "

    Yin Mengfan shook her head firmly . "Oh, no, no, no . . . He¡¯s off-limits!"

    Cao Kefei¡¯s eyes narrowed as she studied Yin Mengfan¡¯s expression . Yin Mengfan tried her best not to squirm in her chair . "Gee . . . What¡¯s got your panties in a bunch, huh?" Cao Kefei said . "Ooh . . . Don¡¯t tell me . . . You and him . . . ?"

    Yin Mengfan threw a paper clip at her friend and shot her a re . "Tsk! Stop that . A friend of mind rmended him to me . So don¡¯t get any wrong ideas . And no . You¡¯re not allowed to fool around with him either . "

    Cao Kefei snorted . "Fool around? Who says I¡¯m gonna do anything to him? Sheesh!"

    "Uh-huh . . . " Yin Mengfan said, reaching for her coffee cup .

    "Besides . . . I¡¯m pretty sure he¡¯s gay," Cao Kefei said .

    Yin Mengfan nearly spat out her coffee . She coughed, then set down her cup . "What on earth gave you that idea?"

    Cao Kefei leaned back in her chair and stared up at the ceiling . "Well, for one, he¡¯s immune to my charms . . . "

    Yin Mengfan threw another paper clip at her . "What?! You flirted with him already? Good God, you sure move fast . "

    Cao Kefei snorted . "Yeah well, I tried to anyway," she muttered . "Not that it worked . "

    Yin Mengfanughed . "And you think he¡¯s gay just because of your flirting didn¡¯t work? C¡¯mon . That¡¯s so vain . "

    Cao Kefei red at her . "Tsk! You weren¡¯t there, so you don¡¯t understand . "

    Yin Mengfan leaned back in her chair . "Alright, fine . What¡¯d you do?"

    Cao Kefei leaned forward in her chair . "I caressed him with my pinkie when we shook hands . Not just a simple caress . I stroked his palm . And then after that I even winked at him . And guess what? He didn¡¯t show a single reaction! Not even a blush! God, he¡¯s like a wooden block!"

    Admittedly, that revtion surprised Yin Mengfan a little . Never had she encountered any straight man capable of resisting Cao Kefei¡¯s charms . Maybe Li Yundong really was gay? Wait . No . Zhou Qin did mention something about him having a girlfriend the other night when she called .

    " . . . What¡¯s that guy¡¯s problem, seriously," Cao Kefei finished her rant, then arched her brow . "So . Is he gay?"

    Yin Mengfan smiled . "No . I don¡¯t think he¡¯s gay . He¡¯s already seeing someone . And . . . " Yin Mengfan shot her friend a warning look . "I¡¯m pretty sure Zhou Qin is interested in him too . "

    Cao Kefei¡¯s face fell . "Man . . . That sucks . . . " Suddenly, she looked up at Yin Mengfan . "But I still wanna borrow him . "

    Yin Mengfan studied her friend for a moment, then smiled . "Sure . I¡¯ll call Xiao Jiater and ask her to bring him to you . "

    Cao Kefei looked at her in surprise . "What? Just like that? No threats ofwsuits or bodily harm?"

    Yin Mengfan smiled . "Nope . "

    "What, so you¡¯re not afraid I¡¯m gonna drag him into the bathroom and have my way with him?"

    Yin Mengfan burst intoughter . "Stop goofing around already, okay?" Yin Mengfan¡¯s expression turned sober . "Besides, you know you¡¯re not allowed to engage in strenuous activity yet . How¡¯s your body anyway? Those rioters from a while back must have driven you up a wall with their protests, right?"

    Cao Kefei smiled and stood up . "I¡¯m fine . But thank you for your concern . I¡¯m much better now . I¡¯m even allowed to stop taking my meds now . But yeah, the rioters were pretty bad . . . Anyway! Call Xiao Jia! Ask her to bring Mr . Hottie to my floor . " Cao Kefei walked away and paused at the door to send her a few flying kisses .

    Yin Mengfan chuckled at her friend¡¯s antics and shook her head .

    Moments after, when Yin Mengfan ended her phone call with Xiao Jia, her door burst open again .

    "What the hell is that pervert doing here, couz!"

    Yin Mengfan leaned back in her chair and rubbed her temples . "Geez . . . Not so loud, please . And what are you even talking about Shen Hui? What pervert?"

    Shen Hui plopped down on the chair in front of her desk and started shouting like crazy . God, she really needed another cup of coffee . Secondster, Yin Mengfan held up her hand . "Alright! Slow down! Stop acting like a drama queen and tell me what the problem is . "

    Shen Hui huffed . "That guy you were interviewing! He¡¯s a pervert! A molester!"

    "What?" Yin Mengfan¡¯s eyes widened . "Are you sure?"

    But Zhou Qin spoke so highly of him...

    Shen Hui¡¯s face flushed in anger . "He¡¯s the one who molested me at Uniqlo! He barged into my changing room when I was half naked and tried to touch my . . . my . . . my boobs!"

    Yin Mengfan gaped at her cousin . "Seriously? Do you have proof?"

    Shen Hui growled . "Of course I¡¯m serious! I don¡¯t care! You have to fire him! He can¡¯t stay here unless you want every female employee here to be vited by him . "

    Yin Mengfan rested her elbows on her desk and steepled her fingers . Was Zhou Qin wrong about him? Had Zhou Qin misjudged Li Yundong¡¯s character?

    "C¡¯mon couz! What¡¯s there to think about? Just fire him¡ª"

    The door of the office burst open again . A breathless and pale-faced employee ran in . Yin Mengfan knew instantly that something was up . She rose from her executive chair . "What¡¯s the matter?"

    "There¡¯s trouble, President Yin . . . " the employee said breathlessly . "There¡¯s trouble on the 9th floor . "

 Chapter 113

    Chapter 113

    <h4>Desperado</h4>

    Li Yundong stared at the huge throng of people gathered at the 9th floor¡¯s elevator lobby . "Um . . . President Cao? Not that I¡¯m an expert in how entertainmentpanies usually function, but I don¡¯t think this crowd is the status quo . Has one of the movie actors yourpany is managing decided to drop in for a visit?"

    The woman beside him didn¡¯t answer, so Li Yundong nced at her . President Cao looked extremely pale . Her breathing was a bit ragged, and one of her hands was pressed firmly against her chest . A dozen rm bells sounded in Li Yundong¡¯s head . Is she about to hyperventte? He reached out and touched her shoulder gently . The woman flinched as if his touch had burned her .

    "Are you alright, Ma¡¯am?" Li Yundong asked .

    President Cao shook her head . Her eyes had cleared a little . "I¡¯m fine . . . Just wondering what¡¯s going on, is all . . . "

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t buy that for a second . Her face didn¡¯t look fine; she looked ill . Li Yundong nced around a few times . "Why don¡¯t we head over there?" Li Yundong pointed to a spot at the corner of the elevator lobby, where a tall potted nt sat beside a window ledge . "You look like you could use some air . "

    President Cao nodded shakily . Then, under the pretense of guiding her away from the crowd, Li Yundong jabbed his knuckle into an acupoint between President Cao¡¯s shoulder des¡ªthe Lingtai .

    By the time they reached the potted nt, the color had already returned into President Cao¡¯s face, and she was tapping furiously on her phone . Once again, Li Yundong was reminded of the fact that Su Chan really did know her stuff . Stimting the Lingtai could probably calm an ADHD patient high on cocaine .

    President Cao released a frustrated growl and lowered her phone from her ear . "Damn it . My assistant isn¡¯t picking up . And nobody¡¯s answering the phones in the office . "

    Li Yundong surveyed the crowd once again . What the hell are all these people doing here? If the floor n of the 9th floor was anything simr to that of the 19th floor, then there would be a long hallway on the right side of the elevator lobby that would lead straight to the office . And judging from the fact that the elevator lobby was jam-packed, the long hallway was most likely crowded as well .

    Li Yundong turned towards President Cao, who was still trying to call someone on her phone . "Do you recognize anyone here?" he asked, gesturing at the crowd . "Maybe one of your employees?"

    President Cao shook her head . "Most of them are from different floors . "

    Li Yundong frowned . Typical, he thought . People and their seemingly infinite nosiness . Without further ado, he grabbed a guy who had just stepped out from the elevator nearest to where they were standing . "Hey, buddy," Li Yundong said, trying to sound as friendly as possible . "Do you know what¡¯s going on? Why did youe up here?"

    "I¡¯m not sure what¡¯s going on," said the guy . "They said something about an incident on the 9th floor . That someone died or something . "

    "What?!" President Cao gasped . "Who died? What did you hear? Tell me everything . "

    The guy blushed . "U- um . . . Hi, President Cao . The truth is I have no idea . That¡¯s why I¡¯m here to find out . "

    The guy walked away and quickly joined the crowd .

    "Oh, God . . . What a mess," President Cao said with a sigh .

    "Calm down, Ma¡¯am," Li Yundong said . "I don¡¯t think we should jump to conclusions just yet . "

    "Easy for you to say," President Cao mumbled . "It¡¯s not your job on the line here . Someone died, for God¡¯s sake . "

    "That¡¯s just what one guy heard from his buddies, who might be just as clueless as you and I . I hardly think that counts as hard evidence . "

    President Cao sighed . "Okay . Yeah . You¡¯re right . " One of her palm moved to her chest again .

    Li Yundong continued as he scanned over the crowd with his eyes . "Based on the size of the crowd, it¡¯s likely this has been going on for quite a while now . If it¡¯s true that someone¡¯s life is in danger, why isn¡¯t the ambnce here yet? Surely, someone must¡¯ve called . "

    President Cao looked out of the window for a moment . "Yeah . You¡¯re right . No ambnce yet . " She sighed . "I guess I¡¯ll have to go over there and find out . I¡¯m the president after all . "

    "Wait," Li Yundong said .

    President Cao turned back around with a raised brow .

    "Are you sure you¡¯re up for this?" he asked seriously . "Earlier, you looked like you were about to pass out . " Something told him that President Cao had a chronic health problem . Call it a gut feeling .

    President Cao waved him off . "Nah . I¡¯m fine . But do you minding with me? I could use some help . "

    "Sure," Li Yundong said .

    They walked away from the potted nt and headed back to the crowded lobby . As soon as they joined the crowd, there was a ding . One of the elevators opened, and President Yin stepped out . There was a young woman with her which . . . Hey . . . Isn¡¯t that . . . ? He groaned inwardly . Zhou Qin was right . What was it with him and these funny coincidences? Geez!

    President Yin had already reached President Cao¡¯s side . "What¡¯s going on here, Kefei?"

    "Hey, Mengfan . " President Cao shook her head . "I¡¯m not sure . I¡¯m about to go check it out . " Then, she pointed at Li Yundong . "And your brilliant employee is offering me his assistance . "

    Li Yundong smiled at President Cao, then stole a nce at the youngdy beside President Yin . The murderous re she was giving him was a clear indication that she had yet to forget about the little "ident" at Uniqlo the other day . Li Yundong forced out a smile, which thedy answered with a snort .

    "What¡¯s the matter, Shen Hui?" President Cao said in a tone of suspicion, her eyes bouncing back and forth between Li Yundong and Miss Forget-To-Lock-The-Door-In-Fitting-Room . "You two know each other?"

    Shen Hui snorted, then red at Li Yundong as though he wanted to skin him alive . "I¡¯d rather die than be acquainted with a pervert like him . " She jabbed her finger in Li Yundong¡¯s direction .

    President Cao¡¯s gaze snapped to him while President Yin did a face palm . Li Yundong clenched his jaw . He was done with this girl¡¯s bullshit .

    "Listen, Miss Shen . I don¡¯t appreciate you throwing out wild and unfair usations like that," he said, taking a step forward . "It was a misunderstanding and you know it . You were the one who forgot to lock the door in the first ce . And you could¡¯ve answered me when I was calling my girlfriend¡¯s name outside that fitting room, but you didn¡¯t!"

    Shen Hui looked like she was about to argue, but a loud scream from the crowd made her stop . Li Yundong nced towards the crowd, where amotion seemed to be taking ce . Li Yundong turned back to Shen Hui and shot her a warning nce . "We¡¯ll finish this discussionter . Now we have a problem to deal with . " Li Yundong walked towards President Cao . "Stay behind me, Ma¡¯am . I¡¯ll clear a way for us to get through . "

    Li Yundong closed his eyes and began to feel the presence of his Qi at his lower Dantian . By the time he opened his eyes, his Qi had already been moved to his Shenting and Lingtai .

    A split secondter, his clear voice sounded over the crowd¡¯s din . "Make way for the president!"

    ***

    They were still trying to squeeze past the crowd in the long hallway when a man¡¯s voice made them stop . "Cao Kefei! You f*cking bitch! Give me the money, or I¡¯ll paint the walls of your office with blood!" Li Yundong could feel President Cao stiffen beside him . Murmurs and whispers sounded in the hallway . Li Yundong pushed his way forward . "Make way, make way . Coming through," he said in a low tone . He turned back around and gestured for President Cao and President Yin to follow .

    "Cao Kefei!! Where are you!! Come out! Now!" Desperation colored the man¡¯s voice, which was a bad sign . Li Yundong knew how dangerous a desperate man could be; this was Zhao Yujian all over again .

    A series of screams rang out . It came from somewhere past the end of the hallway, where the office of Huasheng Studios must be located . "Ten minutes! I¡¯ll give you people ten minutes to get Cao Kefei toe up here! If she isn¡¯t up here in ten minutes, I¡¯ll start slitting throats!"

    So, he¡¯s got a knife, Li Yundong thought as he squeezed past a guy with a beer belly .

    Momentster, they reached the end of the hallway . A few people turned their heads when they saw them . One of them was about to shout, no doubt to announce President Cao¡¯s arrival, but Li Yundong quickly mped his hand over the guy¡¯s mouth . "Shh," Li Yundong said . "Don¡¯t tell him we¡¯re here yet . " Li Yundong held the guy gaze until he nodded . Then he gave the rest of the crowd¡ªnear the end of the hallway¡ªwarning looks . "Don¡¯t say a word," he whispered loud enough for them to hear . When he saw nods ofpliance, he turned around to face President Cao . "Stay out of sight for now . That guy clearly has a problem with you . "

    "But he said he¡¯ll start killing if I don¡¯t show up," President Cao whispered anxiously, then nced down . "My phone¡¯s already ringing . Someone¡¯s calling me . "

    Li Yundong shook his head . "Put it on vibrate . He gave you ten minutes, right? That¡¯s more than enough time for me to assess the situation first . "

    President Cao thought for a moment, then nodded .

    Li Yundong gave President Yin a pointed look . "This is your building . Do you want the cops involved?"

    President Yin and President Cao shared a look with each other .

    Li Yundong sighed . "You know what, I¡¯ll let you two decide . " Then, he held out his hand to President Yin . "Give me your phone . "

    "Why?" President Yin looked at him warily .

    "Just trust me," Li Yundong said .

    President Yin pressed her phone into Li Yundong¡¯s hand . Li Yundong unlocked the phone¡¯s screen andunched the camera app . He gave the two women a final nce . "Stay here . I¡¯ll be back . "

    Li Yundong crept towards the convex corner at the end of the hallway . "Psst, psst . Guys, make way . " He shouldered past a few guys and peeked out from the corner of the wall . Other than a huge entrance sign with the Chinese characters "Huasheng Studios" carved onto it, he couldn¡¯t see the entrance . I have to get closer . He stepped around the corner and crept towards the entrance sign, using the crowd as his cover . The buzzing was loud in his ears¡ªtoo many noise within a confined space . It would take too long to sort through the buzzing, so he didn¡¯t bother . He crouched behind two onlookers, then slowly raised himself until he could see past their shoulders . A beefy man stood blocking the entrance of the Huasheng Studios and, as expected, the guy was armed with a knife . The man¡¯s attire stuck out to Li Yundong; it seemed totally out of ce . Li Yundong might not be a fashionista, but he was pretty sure that no one would dress in a thick trench coat during summer . He¡¯s hiding something under that coat . . . Li Yundong zoomed in with Mingmu and tried to identify any bulges on the coat . Well, at least he didn¡¯t see any signs of a gun . When Li Yundong switched back to normal vision, something caught his eye . A womany unmovingly at the man¡¯s feet . He switched to telescopic vision again . The woman¡¯s eyes were closed, but she was still breathing . There were no signs of blood . He raised President Yin¡¯s phone to snap a picture of the scene .

    Momentster, Li Yundong returned to the end of the hallway where President Cao was waiting for him anxiously . "What did you see?" she asked .

    Li Yundong handed her the phone instead of answering . President Cao took the phone and gasped when she saw the photo . "Oh my God . . . Is she . . . "

    "She¡¯s alive," Li Yundong said . "Still breathing . No noticeable wounds . Probably just unconscious . "

    "Six minutes, Cao Kefei!" the man yelled . "You¡¯ve got six minutes before I start slitting throats! I know you¡¯re hiding in your office like a coward!"

    Several loud ms followed suit . "Open the damn door! Ande out!"

    Li Yundong regarded President Cao seriously . "How do you want to handle this?"

    A deathlike pallor formed on President Cao¡¯s face . "I- I¡¯ll have to talk to him . See what he wants . "

    "Kefei . . . " President Yin grabbed the other woman¡¯s shoulder . "Are you sure . . . "

    President Cao¡¯s face held a steely resolve . "I¡¯m sure . "

    President Yin nodded and nced at Li Yundong . "The cops are on the way . " President Yin jerked her thumb at somewhere behind her back . "And my security team¡¯s on standby . "

    Li Yundong was a little surprised that President Yin was even telling him all this instead of just taking charge¡ªafter all, she owned the whole building . But for some strange reason, she was letting him, a total stranger, call the shots .

    There was only one usible exnation he could think of¡ªthis was another test .

    "The cops can¡¯t do anything here," Li Yundong said firmly . "Maybe they can send a hostage negotiator, but I¡¯m not sure if that will help . And with all due respect, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anything your security team can do either . " Li Yundong peered over President Yin¡¯s shoulder towards a few uniformed men armed with sticks standing nearby . Li Yundong looked President Yin in the eye . "The bad guy seemed pretty desperate . He might start attacking people if the cops or your men show themselves . Also, I think he¡¯s hiding something under his jacket . We don¡¯t know what he¡¯s hiding or what he¡¯s nning . It¡¯s best not to provoke him . "

    President Yin nodded her agreement . "So, what¡¯s the n, young man?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes slid towards President Cao . "Can you distract him, Ma¡¯am? Just keep him talking . "

    "And then?" President Yin asked .

    Li Yundong looked at the other woman . "I¡¯ll sneak up on the guy and disarm him . "

    A look of rm formed on both women¡¯s faces .

    "And preferably knock him unconscious before he can try anything funny," Li Yundong added .

    "Are you sure you can do all that?" President Yin asked .

    "Yes . " Li Yundong squared his shoulders and took a breath . This was no time for self-doubt . "Yes I can . "

    "What if you fail and he bes aggressive? What if he starts attacking people?"

    "Then I suppose I have to try my best not to fail . "

    President Yin stared at him for a moment before she nodded . Li Yundong gave her a pointed look . "President Yin, I think you should apany President Cao when she talks to the guy . I think she¡¯s unwell . "

    Surprise shed inside President Yin¡¯s eyes, but it was quickly reced with resolve . "I will," she said with a nod .

    Li Yundong turned to Shen Hui . "Look, Miss Shen . I know we got off on the wrong foot, but right now I need your help . Can we put aside our differences and work as a team?"

    Shen Hui huffed . "Fine . What do you need?"

    "Thank you," Li Yundong said . He took President Yin¡¯s phone and passed the device to Shen Hui . "Show the photo to President Yin¡¯s security team . Brief them on the situation . Tell them to start dispersing the crowd . These nosy idiots will just get in the way, not to mention give the bad guy more hostages to pick from . "

    "Fine," Shen Hui said grudgingly .

    "Tell them to do it quietly," Li Yundong said . "Like I said, the bad guy is unstable . We don¡¯t want to provoke him in any way . "

    "Three minutes! Come out you cowardly bitch!"

    The eyes of the onlookers nearby were trained on President Cao . Li Yundong rolled his eyes . "You know what? You guys might as well make yourselves useful . " He raised his brows . "You guys like to make noise, right? Well . Go ahead . Yell . Announce President Cao¡¯s arrival . "

    Li Yundong turned back towards President Cao . "Alright . Time to move . Are you up for this?"

    President Cao took a deep breath, then exhaled . "Yes . "

    "Don¡¯t worry, Kefei . I¡¯ll be there with you the whole time . "

    Li Yundong moved around the corner, then crept towards the entrance sign . The onlookers had begun shouting . "President Cao is here! President Cao has arrived!"

    "Silence!!" the man yelled . The crowd fell silent . Li Yundong crouched lower and kept moving forward through the crowd, squeezing past shoulders while keeping track of the bad guy¡¯s position .

    "Where is she?! Where is that bitch?"

    "I¡¯m over here . . . " President Cao¡¯s voice sounded somewhere behind Li Yundong . He looked behind him and spotted President Cao and President Yin standing at the end of the hallway amidst a sea of onlookers .

    "Excuse me . Let me through," Li Yundong whispered, squeezing past a few guys . He slowly crept forward, making sure to stay hidden behind the bodies of the onlookers . The whole ce was too crowded for Li Yundong to charge at the bad guy and then do a takedown . Obviously, Li Yundong had to sneak up on him and then take him out from behind .

    "I¡¯m here now," President Cao said loudly . "I¡¯m here to listen to your demands . But please put the knife away first . "

    "My demand is simple! Cash!"

    "What¡¯s your name?"

    Good . Keep the bastard talking . Li Yundong tapped on the shoulders of the two guys in front of him, then pressed a finger to his lips when they both turned around . "Let me through," he whispered .

    "My name? Why the f*ck do you care? Just give me the money!"

    "How do I know if I¡¯m paying the money to the right person if you don¡¯t identify yourself? For all I know, you could just be some random guy looking to extort money from my firm . "

    Li Yundong squeezed past the two guys in front .

    "Fine! You want my name? It¡¯s Wang Yong! And I¡¯m here on behalf of the people yourpany owes money to! You can call them and check if you don¡¯t believe me . "

    Several gasps sounded . Suddenly, the crowd was shifting . The people in front of Li Yundong were now retreating .

    "Out of the way!" Wang Yong yelled, drawing more gasps . The crowd started moving and jostling again .

    Wang Yong was slowly making his way from the entrance towards the hallway where President Cao and President Yin stood . Li Yundong moved his Qi towards his legs and arms, just in case he needed to make any explosive movements . Then, he stayed hidden within the crowd and waited . Momentster, Li Yundong started moving towards the front of the crowd again . Wang Yong had already moved past him, so Li Yundong would end up somewhere behind Wang Yong the moment he stepped out from the crowd .

    "Please . . . Put the knife away . . . Please..." President Cao said .

    "Shut up!" Wang Yong screamed . "Where¡¯s the money!"

    "I was told there is a two-day grace period¡ª"

    "I don¡¯t have two days, you bitch!" Wang Yong yelled . "They¡¯re gonna kill me if I don¡¯t collect the money from you today!"

    Li Yundong stepped out from the crowd, wincing when the girl beside him squeaked in surprise . Fearing exposure, Li Yundong quickly took a step back and blended back into the crowd while keeping his eyes locked on Wang Yong .

    Wang Yong was now standing a few feet in front of the two presidents . HHis back was facing Li Yundong, and he hadn¡¯t turned when the girl squeaked . Li Yundong sighed in relief and stepped away from the crowd again . This time, none of the onlookers were stupid enough to make a sound .

    "Calm down . . . please . . . Let¡¯s just talk . . . " President Cao was losing her cool .

    Li Yundong kept walking . He had to go really slow to prevent the heels of his dress shoes from clicking too loudly against the floor . After a few steps, he came to a halt; it was too damned hard to walk quietly in these shoes . He bent down to remove the shoes, then tucked one of them into the waistband of his pants . Just in case he needed a way tounch a long-range attack .

    "I¡¯m done talking!" Wang Yong screamed . "Now give me the money or I¡¯ll stab this knife through your heart!"

    President Cao gasped, then whimpered . President Yin had clearly noticed Li Yundong already as she was now looking past Wang Yong¡¯s shoulder and straight at him .

    Li Yundong pressed his finger to his lips and make a circr motion with his other hand . Keep him distracted, he mouthed the words to her . He tiptoed forward, moving much quicker now that he was barefoot .

    "Hurry up! I want it in cash!"

    "B- But I can¡¯t give you the money because I don¡¯t have that much cash right now!"

    Li Yundong stepped over the body of the unconscious woman and kept moving .

    "Looks like I have no choice but to take things to another level!"

    Wang Yong was now gripping the knife with an icepick grip, and the knife hand was raised above his head . Both President Yin and President Cao screamed .

 Chapter 114.1

    Chapter 114.1

    <h4>Suicidal</h4>

    "Hey!!!" Li Yundong hurled the dress shoe at Wang Yong . The shoe hit Wang Yong in the back with a loud smack . The impact caused Wang Yong to stumble forward, but it wasn¡¯t enough to knock him out . A secondter, Wang Yong was up on his feet again .

    "What the f*ck?!" Wang Yong turned around angrily, scanning over the crowd with murderous eyes .

    "You!" Wang Yong pointed the knife at Li Yundong . "Did you throw something at me, punk?!"

    Li Yundong removed his suit jacket and dropped it to the floor . "So what if I did?" Li Yundong said, rolling up his shirt sleeves . From the corner of his eye, he saw ady pick up his jacket from the floor and then hold on to it .

    Li Yundong advanced towards Wang Yong, smiling confidently as he did . Behind Wang Yong, President Yin was slowly pulling President Cao away to the side .

    "You¡¯re that eager to die, punk?" Wang Yong growled .

    Li Yundong answered the taunt with a smirk . He stopped walking and curled his finger at Wang Yong . "Stop yapping ande kill me already," Li Yundong said, then quickly activated Xianjue¡¯s irvoyant mode . A secondter, he was back in normal mode again . His smirk widened just a tad .

    "Have it your way!" Wang Yong lunged at Li Yundong . Having already anticipated when and where Wang Yong¡¯s attack woulde, Li Yundong grabbed Wang Yong¡¯s wrist mid-sh, and then applied one of Lin Youfa¡¯s wristlocks on Wang Yong¡¯s wrist . Wang Yong screamed, and the knife nged to the floor a secondter .

    Li Yundong released Wang Yong¡¯s hand and then bent down to pick up the fallen knife . Wang Yong scrambled away on his knees .

    Li Yundong straightened up and stood over Wang Yong . He held the knife in front of Wang Yong and then bent it until it snapped at the hilt . He dropped the hilt to the floor, then snapped the de in half again .

    "It¡¯s over," Li Yundong said, tossing the broken pieces aside . "You¡¯re done . And your prison cell awaits you . "

    Wang Yong recovered from his shock at the mention of prison .

    "It¡¯s only over when I get my money!" Wang Yong growled and climbed back to his feet .

    Li Yundong shook his head and narrowed his eyes . What the hell is he nning? "Listen, dipshit . How is she supposed to give you the cash when she doesn¡¯t have it?"

    "She¡¯s lying!!!" Wang Yong screamed . "She¡¯s rich! So she must have it!"

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes . Ever heard of something called a bank? F*cking moron .

    "And you think stabbing her is gonna get you the money?" Li Yundong snorted . "How stupid are you?"

    "Shut up!! That stab wasn¡¯t meant to kill . She¡¯ll give me the money once she experiences a little pain!"

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes . What kind of stupid logic was that?

    "It is over . " Li Yundong took a step towards Wang Yong . "You¡¯re gonnae with me now . I will hand you over to the security guards and they are gonna escort you downstairs . Don¡¯t try anything funny, or I swear to God I¡¯ll break your legs . "

    Wang Yong started to back away . At the same time, he was reaching for something inside his trench coat¡¯s pocket . A momentter, he pulled out a palm-sized cylindrical object .

    A dozen of rm bells rang inside Li Yundong¡¯s head . "Hey! What¡¯s that in your hand! I said no funny business!"

    All of a sudden, Wang Yong dropped the trench coat . "Give me the cash! Or everyone here dies!"

    For the first time since the whole mess began, Li Yundong saw Wang Yong as real threat .

    The bastard was wearing a suicide vest .

    ***

    Li Yundong stared at the cylindrical object in Wang Yong¡¯s hand, which he now knew was the suicide vest¡¯s detonator .

    "Not so smug now, huh? Punk?"

    Li Yundong tore his eyes away from the detonator and studied Wang Yong¡¯s face . "Who put you up to this? A debt collector with a suicide vest? Come on . . . "

    Li Yundong clenched his jaw . Was it He Shao again? Or was it Zhou Qin¡¯s father?

    Wang Yong sneered and kept backing away until his back hit door . "It doesn¡¯t matter . Either I get the money, or I die . " Wang Yong pushed the door a few times . It was locked . "Damn it!" Wang Yong pounded the door with his fist . "Who has the keycard!"

    Keycard? Li Yundong¡¯s nced around until he saw a tiny scanner attached beside the door .

    "I¡¯m gonna ask onest time . . . Who . Has . A . Keycard! Step out now, or I¡¯ll blow up this goddamn floor!"

    Whispers washed over the crowd . Secondster, a man stepped out . "H- Here . . . I have the c- card . . . "

    "Stop! Stop moving! Throw the card towards me!" Wang Yong held out his hand . Suddenly, he was looking towards the hallway . "Hey! Stay where you are! Nobody runs unless you want to get blown into pieces!" Wang Yong brandished the detonator in the air .

    Li Yundong nced towards the hallway . Those in the hallway had been jostling their way towards the elevator before Wang Yong¡¯s warning, no doubt trying to sneak away . But at Wang Yong¡¯s warning, they all stopped moving . Li Yundong returned his gaze to Wang Yong, who was now picking up the keycard from the floor .

    There was a loud beep followed by a green sh on the scanner . Wang Yong pushed the door open with his back and slowly backed his way into the office . Shrieks and yells sounded from inside . "Silence! Gather around over there! And sit down!"

    Secondster, Wang Yong emerged from the office . "Cao Kefei!! Get your ass over here!"

    Li Yundong turned around . President Cao was sitting on the floor . She looked dangerously pale and she was holding her chest with both hands . President Yin suddenly bent down and whispered something into her ear . After that, President Cao stood up on shaky legs .

    Li Yundong shook his head and refocused his attention on Wang Yong . There was only one way out of this situation¡ªhe needed to get his hands on that detonator . But how?

    The crowd stirred as President Cao and President Yin made their way towards the door . Wang Yong was watching the two women¡¯s approach with murderous eyes . C¡¯mon Li Yundong . Think . How can I get the detonator?

    Wait . What if he didn¡¯t try to take it from him, but force him to drop it instead?

    A tiny smirk tugged at Li Yundong¡¯s lips . He reached into his pocket and took out a coin, then held it inside his palm . When President Yin was walking past him, he whispered, "Stick close to him . And stay on his right side . When he drops the detonatorter, kick it away . "

    President Yin stiffened for a moment, and then walked on ahead . Wang Yong opened the door wider . "Get in! And shut the door after you!" he yelled, then slipped back into the office . President Yin paused at the door and gave Li Yundong a fearful nce . Remember what I told you, stay on his right side, he mouthed the words to her . She nodded and entered the office,

    Secondster, the door closed with a loud bang . Li Yundong turned to the crowd . "Another keycard," he said, ncing around . "Quickly!"

    A girl stepped forward . "Here . Take mine . "

    Li Yundong took the card and turned to the rest of the crowd . "The rest of you should get outta here . And tell the security guards to evacuate the building . "

    Once the crowd began to move, Li Yundong turned around and walked towards the door . Su Chan once told him that the Renyuan Jindan had enhanced his reflexes and hand-eye coordination to superhuman levels .

    It was time to put that im to the test .

    ***

    Li Yundong shut the door as quietly as possible . A group of women huddled together near a desk . Wang Yong and the two presidents were nowhere to be seen . Li Yundong crept towards the women first . There were seven of them in total, all of whom shot fearful nces at him when they saw him approach . Li Yundong lifted a hand to calm them down .

    "Where?" Li Yundong whispered .

    "I-Inside President Cao¡¯s o-office . . . " a girl with a pony-tail answered . "Who are you?"

    "I¡¯m a new employee," Li Yundong said . "And I¡¯m here to help . "

    "B- But how?" another woman with short hair asked .

    Li Yundong thought for a moment . This wasn¡¯t what he had originally nned, but he had to improvise . He turned to Miss Ponytail . "Can you take me to her office?"

    Miss Ponytail nodded, then moved to stand up .

    "No, wait . I changed my mind" Li Yundong said, pulling her back down . Then, he turned to face the other six women . "Do you girls know what¡¯s going on here?"

    "The guy has a bomb . . . " Miss Ponytail said .

    Two of the women burst into tears .

    Li Yundong held up his hand . "Girls, calm down . I¡¯ve got a n . But I might need your help . "

    The girls looked at each other fearfully .

    "W- What can we do?" Miss Ponytail asked .

    "Okay . Here¡¯s the thing . " Li Yundong looked pointedly at Miss Ponytail . "Yes, you¡¯re right, the guy has a bomb . And he¡¯s got a detonator in his right hand . " Li Yundong looked at all seven women again . "The detonator looks like a cylinder with a red button on top . Do you follow me so far?"

    When the women nodded, Li Yundong continued, "Alright . Tell me about office . Is it big?"

    Miss Ponytail nodded . "Very . "

    "Is there a way for me to sneak in quietly?"

    "Um . . . Yeah, I think so . It¡¯s pretty big, and it¡¯s got an L-shape floor n . The door leads into the shorter leg of the L-shape, and the desk upies the end of the longer leg . "

    "Anything else? Furniture? Balconies?" Li Yundong asked .

    Miss Ponytail nodded . "A sofa set . Oh, and a coffee table . All those are set up at the bend of the L-shape . And then there¡¯s a balcony beside the long end of the L-shape . "

    "Okay . So if I walk through the door, I¡¯ll see the sofa set straightaway . And then if I take a left turn at the corner, I¡¯ll see the desk at the end?"

    "Yes . . . "

    "Alright, that will do," Li Yundong said with a nod, then rose to his feet .

    "So what¡¯s the n?" Miss Ponytail asked .

    "Just a sec, okay?" Li Yundong walked to a random desk and poked around it for a while . He needed somethingrger and heavier than a coin . He took a stapler from one of the drawers and then walked back to the girls .

    "Alright, listen up . Here¡¯s the n . . . "

 Chapter 114.2

    Chapter 114.2

    <h4>Suicidal</h4>

    Thank God the bastard didn¡¯t lock the door, Li Yundong thought as he slowly opened the door of President Cao¡¯s office . Once there was arge enough gap, he poked his head into the office .

    Xiao Zhang¡ªMiss Ponytail¡ªwas urate in her description . The sofa set and the coffee table were the first thing he saw . Wang Yong and the two presidents were nowhere to be seen, which meant they must both be at the long end of the L-shape . Probably somewhere at President Cao¡¯s desk . . .

    Li Yundong turned back around to face the girls . "Okay . . . Remember the n?"

    The girls gave him grim nods .

    "Whatever you do, do not touch the red button . And make sure you spread out to cover more area . That will increase the chances of one of you grabbing it . "

    The girls nodded again .

    Satisfied, Li Yundong opened the door wider and went into the office first . The girls went in one by one after him . The floor inside the office was carpeted, so he didn¡¯t have to worry about the clicking of the girls¡¯ heels . President Cao probably preferred a quiet environment . Li Yundong walked in front and stopped at the bend of the L-shape . Peeking out from the corner, he saw Wang Yong standing in front of a huge executive desk, on top of whichy a ck duffel bag . The bag was filled with cash and Wang Yong was counting the cash with his left hand . His right hand hung at his side with the detonator tightly clutched in it . True to her promise, President Yin stood on Wang Yong¡¯s right side . Where¡¯s President Cao . . . ? President Cao was sitting behind the desk, so she was partially blocked from view by Wang Yong¡¯s body .

    Li Yundong clutched the stapler tighter and turned back around . Xiao Zhang and the other six girls were all looking at him expectantly, waiting for his instructions .

    Li Yundong waved them over, then pointed at sofa set . "Three of you hide behind the long sofa," Li Yundong whispered . "The rest of you be on standby . "

    The girls nodded .

    Li Yundong peeked around the wall again to make sure that Wang Yong¡¯s back was still to them . Then, he turned back around to give the girls the go-ahead . Xiao Zhang and two other girls sneaked out and hid behind the long sofa . "You guys are the backup, got it?" Li Yundong whispered to the rest of the girls . "Just grab the damn thing if it¡¯s close to you . "

    Li Yundong stepped quietly around the corner and slinked over towards the cab lining one side of the office . The cab should provide him enough cover if Wang Yong suddenly turned around to look over his shoulder . President Yin had already spotted him, but she didn¡¯t do anything to give his presence away . From the cab, Li Yundong nced towards the sofa and saw no signs of the girls, which meant that they were all well-concealed . Li Yundong peeked out from the edge of the cab and dropped into a crouch . He tested the weight of the stapler in his palm, and then mobilized his Qi to his right arm .

    Li Yundong activated his telescopic vision and zoomed in on the back of Wang Yong¡¯s right elbow . The ulnar nerve . Hitting that spot would cause Wang Yong to loosen his grip for sure, but the problem was that it was a difficult target to hit . Should he go for a simpler target such as the head, or the back? Or should he trust Su Chan¡¯s im that the Renyuan Jindan had enhanced his hand-eye coordination and reflexes? In the end, he decided to stick with the original n to go for the ulnar nerve . Calmness washed over Li Yundong . You can do this . . .

    He activated Xianjue and predicted 5 seconds into the future just to make sure that Wang Yong didn¡¯t make any unexpected movements . A secondter, Li Yundong cocked his hand back and hurled the stapler at Wang Yong .

    There was a loud yelp .

    The detonator dropped to the floor . President Yin reacted instantly and kicked the detonator, causing it to roll towards the sofa set . All seven girls ran out from their hiding ces and scrambled for the detonator . Wang Yong ran after the detonator too, but he was toote . One of the girls had gotten to it first .

    "No!!!!" Wang Yong lunged for the girl with the detonator, but Li Yundong was quicker; he pounced and grabbed Wang Yong by the throat with one hand . "Secure the detonator!" Li Yundong yelled as he dragged Wang Yong towards the balcony .

    Li Yundong crossed the balcony¡¯s threshold and headed for the railing . The railing trembled when Li Yundong mmed Wang Yong¡¯s back against it .

    "Don¡¯t move!!" Li Yundong growled . Then, he began to rip the vest off Wang Yong¡¯s body, taking extra care not to touch any of the explosives attached to it . Secondster, the vest was off . Li Yundong shoved Wang Yong aside and stepped towards the railing . He had to dispose of the vest just to be safe . Leaning against the railing, Li Yundong scanned the ground floor desperately . Where . . . where . . . where . . .

    He spotted thepany¡¯s swimming pool on the ground floor . The swimming pool was unupied, which made sense since it was still office hours . Without further ado, he flung the vest downwards and watched it fall until he heard a loud ssh . The vest floated on the pool¡¯s surface .

    Li Yundong turned away from the railing and red at Wang Yong, who lookedpletely crushed . "Stay there . . . " Li Yundong pointed a finger at him . "I¡¯ll deal with youter . "

    Li Yundong walked back into the office . "Where¡¯s the detonator?"

    One girl raised her hand . Li Yundong nodded, then turned towards President Yin . "I¡¯ve dropped the bomb into the swimming pool downstairs . The pool is unupied and the water might soften the st if the bomb goes off . "

    President Yin sighed in relief, then nodded . "Good work . "

    Suddenly, there was amotion at the door . Secondster, Shen Hui and several uniformed security guards appeared inside the office .

    "Oh my God, couz!" Shen Hui¡¯s shrill voice rang out . "What happened?"

    President Yin waved her off . "It¡¯s all over now . " President Yin shot Li Yundong a nce . Was there a hint of awe in her eyes? Before Li Yundong could read any further into it, he was interrupted by a series of gasps and shrieks .

    "Oh my God! What is he doing!" Xiao Zhang shouted, pointing towards the balcony .

    Li Yundong whipped his head around . "Son of a bitch!" he yelled, his legs already moving .

    Wang Yong was now sitting astride the railing, looking down towards the ground floor . Li Yundong charged towards the balcony . But by the time Li Yundong cleared the balcony¡¯s threshold, Wang Yong¡¯s body was slowly tipping over the railing . Knowing that he only had a split second to act, Li Yundong did the first thing that came to mind .

    He leaped .

 Chapter 115

    Chapter 115

    <h4>Dr . Pervert</h4>

    Screams erupted behind Li Yundong the moment his body flew over the railing . Instincts took over . He reached down as far as he could and wrapped his fingers around Wang Yong¡¯s ankle . Then, with his other hand, Li Yundong grabbed the bottom edge of the railing to stop their fall . Next thing he knew, he was dangling nine floors above ground while supporting the weight of an obese man . Sometimes, Li Yundong wondered if he was a masochist .

    Footsteps sounded above him . "Hey! Li Yundong!" Li Yundong nced up . A momentter, President Yin¡¯s head appeared above the railing . Even from his position, Li Yundong could see the relief on her face when she spotted him .

    "Oh, thank God . . . " President Yin sagged against the railing .

    Secondster, a few of her security personnel poked their heads out too .

    "Hang in there kid! We¡¯re gonna get you some help!"

    "No!!" Li Yundong hollered back . "Let me handle this for now! I¡¯ll let you know if I need any help! "

    Nobody else had to risk their lives .

    Li Yundong nced downwards . Wang Yong was trembling in fear . Ha . Maybe the bastard wasn¡¯t that eager to die after all . Still, now he had to figure out a way to deal with this . Li Yundong shut his eyes . Okay, what now? A few options came to mind . The most obvious solution was to drop the guy onto the balcony on a lower floor . "Hey! Wang Yong! Look down! Do you see any balconies?"

    The only answer he got was a whimper . Li Yundong muttered a curse . This was starting to piss him off . Mostly he was mad at himself for being stupid enough to risk his life to save this piece of trash who had just threatened to blow everyone to kingdome . What the hell was I thinking? Right . Of course . He wasn¡¯t thinking . He just reacted .

    Li Yundong nced down and activated Mingmu¡¯s telescopic vision . Indeed, there was a balcony on the 8th floor . There was, however, one major problem . He wasn¡¯t sure if he could make the drop safely . It was too risky¡ªthe 8th floor¡¯s balcony didn¡¯t extend beyond the 9th floor, so if he let go, Wang Yong would just fall vertically downwards . Wang Yong would most likely fall past the balcony instead of onto it .

    What if I just drop him into the swimming pool? But the swimming pool wasn¡¯t within Wang Yong¡¯s vertical falling path too, so Li Yundong would have to swing Wang Yong in mid-air to create a trajectory that would¡ªhopefully¡ªget Wang Yong into the pool . And it certainly didn¡¯t help that: A) Li Yundong was dangling in mid-air; and B) Wang Yong was fat .

    Clearly, the second idea was a no-go as well . Hey wait a minute . . . I don¡¯t even need a swimming pool...

    "Hey!! Security guys!!"

    A middle-aged man poked his head over the railing . "Yeah? What can we do, kid?" The guy sounded a bit anxious .

    "How long do you think it¡¯ll take to set up an air mattress on the ground floor?"

    A look of recognition formed on security guy¡¯s face . "A Rescue Air Cushion?" He paused in thought . "It probably won¡¯t take long to set it up . Maybe a minute or two to fully inte it? I don¡¯t know . But we¡¯ll have to call the firefighters to get one of those . And how long the firefighters might take to get here is another story . Can you hold on that long?"

    He probably could, but that wasn¡¯t the problem . The real problem was whether Wang Yong could evenst until the firefighters got here? Li Yundong might not possess any medical knowledge worth a damn, but he still had a bit ofmon sense . Hanging upside down for long periods of time can¡¯t be good¡ªwhat with the blood rush to the head and all .

    There had to be another way .

    Maybe he should just let go and then do the same thing he did to save Ding Nan the other day . He could carry Wang Yong as they fell and thennd on his feet . But sadly, that solution had its own set of problems¡ªthis time, he wouldn¡¯t be holding on to a slender woman as he fell . Shit . Were his arms even long enough to circle Wang Yong¡¯s wide girth? What if he lost his grip on Wang Yong while they were falling?

    Why? Why did he keep putting himself in these situations? Because you¡¯re a masochistic idiot with a heroplex, that¡¯s why, a not-very-helpful voice inside Li Yundong¡¯s head added .

    Li Yundong let out a frustrated growl . You know what? F*ck this shit . He nced up at the railing again . "Hey! Sir!" He waited until the security guy poked his head out again .

    "Yeah?"

    "Clear the balcony!"

    The security guy seemed perplexed by that request . "What?"

    "Clear the balcony! Get everyone away from the balcony!"

    The security guy stared at Li Yundong like he was nuts . Li Yundong sighed . "Just do it . I know what I¡¯m doing . . . "

    The security guy nodded . "Sure . "

    "Thanks! Let me know when the balcony¡¯s clear . "

    Security guy disappeared . Suddenly, Li Yundong felt the load in his arm twitching . Wang Yong was weeping . Li Yundong rolled his eyes . "Tsk! Pull yourself together, man!" Li Yundong said . "Nobody¡¯s gonna die today!" Not on my watch . . . he added silently .

    "Balcony¡¯s clear!!!"

    "Good! Make sure everyone stays inside! Do note out until I say so!" Li Yundong hollered back .

    "Roger that!"

    "Hey! Wang Yong!" Li Yundong shook Wang Yong¡¯s ankle harshly . Wang Yong whimpered .

    "Listen, man," Li Yundong said . "I don¡¯t know what drove you to be the suicidal maniac you are . Maybe something happened to you . Maybe shit happened in your life, and everything sucks . But I¡¯m gonna tell you this . Life is precious . If you wanna risk your life, make sure that it¡¯s for a worthy cause . Don¡¯t just throw your life away for nothing . Today, you¡¯ve got a second chance, because I¡¯m gonna save your ass . And you are gonna do time and pay for your crimes . Hopefully you can get your shit together by the time you get out of jail . Oh, and make sure you grab onto something if I miss . "

    He got another whimper in response . Li Yundong snorted . Right . Guess he better not miss then .

    Li Yundong blew out a breath and closed his eyes . Su Chan once told him that the Qis of the five Zangs were much more powerful than the Qi generated from his essence at the lower Dantian . Maybe he could take advantage of that . Secondster, Li Yundong¡¯s Yuanyang circled around his Lung, trying to draw out his Lung¡¯s Qi . Of all the five Zangs, he chose the Lung to draw Qi from because it was the Zang nearest to his right arm, where he needed the extra boost in strength to make the toss . All he had to do was guide his Lung¡¯s Qi to his right arm with his Yuanyang .

    The difference was immense . He felt a surge of strength in his right arm like never before . He tightened his grip on Wang Yong¡¯s ankle and looked above him . The railing itself was slightly more than a meter tall, so there wasn¡¯t that much vertical height to clear . The trick, though, was when to release Wang Yong¡¯s ankle: too soon, and Wang Yong would fly away from the balcony instead of onto it; toote, and Wang Yong would smash right into the railing .

    Li Yundong swung his right arm a little to get a little bit of momentum going . With a grunt, he swung his arm upwards and released Wang Yong¡¯s ankle when his arm was at the 2 o¡¯clock position . There was a scream followed by a loud thud secondster . The railing tremored in his grip, and he sighed in relief . He did it . He made the toss .

    Climbing back up over the railing posed no challenge at all¡ªit only took him seconds . When hended on the balcony, everyone inside President Cao¡¯s office staring at him in utter disbelief . Weird was the new normal . He¡¯d gotten used to receiving these looks by now . He walked over towards Wang Yong, who was now a heap of whimpering mess on the floor . He crouched down and patted Wang Yong¡¯s cheek a few times . "Hey! Breathe, man . You¡¯re fine now . " When Wang Yong didn¡¯t react, Li Yundong jabbed a finger to his Renzhong¡ªan acupoint between the nose and the upper lip . Wang Yong gasped and started gulping for air . Li Yundong rose to his full height and then stared down at Wang Yong . "This is your second chance . So I hope you get your shit together from now on . And don¡¯t worry . I don¡¯t think those guys can kill you once you¡¯re in jail . "

    The balcony¡¯s sliding door slid open . The middle-aged security guy and his team stepped out . Li Yundong walked over and patted the middle-aged man on the shoulder . "Well . I¡¯ll leave him to you guys now," Li Yundong said, gesturing at Wang Yong .

    The man nodded . "We¡¯ll take care of it . " He paused, then looked at Li Yundong with awe . "Holy sh*t, young man . . . What you did just now . . . Holy sh*t . . . " Suddenly, the man¡¯s eyes widened as if a thought had just urred to him . "Do you have military background?"

    Li Yundong chuckled and shook his head . "No, sir . I¡¯m not a soldier . " Never was, and never will be .

    The middle-aged man gave a few hand gestures to his team . His men nodded and walked over to Wang Yong . He turned back to Li Yundong . "But how? The stuff you did just now . . . They¡¯re mind-blowing . . . "

    Li Yundong shrugged . "Well . Maybe I¡¯m just a guy who likes Bruce Lee movies?"

    The man snorted at gave him a skeptical look . "Ha . Ha . Ha . Very funny . " There was a brief pause as they both watched Wang Yong being hoisted up by two guys and then dragged away from the balcony .

    "Hey, um, listen," the middle-aged man said with a low voice . "If you want a job here, I can put in a good word for you with President Yin . "

    Li Yundong stared at the man for a moment, then smiled . "That¡¯s very kind of you to offer . I¡¯ll leave the decision up to President Yin . " Li Yundong patted the man on the shoulder twice, then walked back into President Cao¡¯s office .

    Inside the office, he noticed that President Yin had just gotten off the phone and was heading towards him .

    "Hey," she greeted . "Are you alright?"

    Li Yundong rotated his arms a few times and shrugged . "A little tired I guess? But I¡¯m fine . "

    President Yin studied him for a moment . "Good . Well, the police have recovered the suicide vest from the pool . They have to take it apart before they can figure out the estimated st radius . " President Yin held Li Yundong¡¯s gaze . "You¡¯ve done a great job today . Thank you . "

    There was a loud snort . Li Yundong nced sideways and saw Shen Hui ring at him . He sighed and turned back to President Yin .

    "You¡¯re wee . It¡¯s not like I can just stand by and let everyone here die, you know?" Li Yundong paused for a while, then lowered his voice . "Listen . About your cousin . It really was just a misunderstanding . I swear to God, I wasn¡¯t trying to molest¡ª"

    President Yin raised a palm . There was a look of amusement in her eyes . "I get it . She¡¯s a little... spoiled . Don¡¯t mind her . "

    Li Yundong sighed in relief . Good then . He really wasn¡¯t looking forward to spending a few nights down at the police station for a crime that he didn¡¯t evenmit .

    "And regarding your employment..." President Yin said .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "I have to be honest here," he said sheepishly . "I know next to nothing about real-estate, sales, and finance . Well, like I said, I know a bit of martial arts and I have good reflexes and stuff . " Li Yundong rubbed the back of his neck . "I suppose you can call me all brawns and no brains..."

    President Yin opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by a strangled moan . A loud crash followed suit .

    President Yin was already moving towards President Cao¡¯s desk before Li Yundong could figure out what was wrong .

    "Oh my God, Kefei!!"

    President Cao was lying on the floor with both hands clutching her chest . Her face was twisted in pain and she was gasping for air .

    Li Yundong was beside President Yin in an instant . "What¡¯s going on?" he asked, kneeling down beside President Cao¡¯s body .

    Instead of answering, President Yin turned around and yelled over her back . "Somebody call an ambnce! President Cao¡¯s having a heart attack!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s gaze instantly went to President Cao . "Shit..."

    President Cao wed at her throat . Li Yundong quickly pried her hands away from her throat; those long nails could draw blood .

    "Hang in there, Ma¡¯am," Li Yundong said . "Just hang in there, okay? Help ising . "

    President Yin kept barking out orders . "Xiao Zhang! Xiao Zhang! Where¡¯s Xiao Zhang!"

    Footsteps sounded nearby . A few secondster, Xiao Zhang appeared .

    "Her meds!" President Yin yelled, her voice colored with desperation . "Do you know where she keeps her meds?"

    Xiao Zhang turned around and pulled out one of the drawers of President Cao¡¯s huge desk . She rummaged through the drawer for a while .

    "Come on, Xiao Zhang! The meds! Hurry up!"

    "I¡¯m trying, President Yin! But I can¡¯t find them! I swear this is where she keeps them!" Xiao Zhang pulled out all the other drawers and rummaged through them as well .

    President Yin got on her feet and ran towards the desk . "You search the left drawers! I¡¯ll take the ones on the right!"

    President Yin stopped at the desk and turned to the others in the room . "Hey! What are you guys standing around for! Help me look for her medication! Go through that cab over there!"

    "Y-Yes, Ma¡¯am!"

    Li Yundong ignored the sounds of feet shuffling and hurried whispers . Instead, he focused his attention on President Cao .

    All of a sudden, President Cao stopped gasping . At first, Li Yundong thought that maybe the heart attack had stopped, but his blood ran cold a momentter¡ªhe could no longer hear President Cao¡¯s heartbeat with Eryue .

    "President Yin... I think her heart just stopped," Li Yundong said grimly .

    President Yin looked up sharply from the drawers she¡¯d been going through .

    "Oh, no, no, no..." President Yin scrambled towards him and kneeled down . "She¡¯s not breathing either . Damn it! We need to start CPR . " President Yin unbuttoned President Cao¡¯s blouse, then began a series of chestpressions .

    Li Yundong stood up to give President Yin more space to work . He nced around and saw Shen Hui and other female employees standing there watching the scene .

    "An ambnce is on the way!" the security guy yelled from the balcony . "ETA 15 minutes . "

    Did they even have 15 minutes to spare? Li Yundong nced down at President Yin who was still pumping President Cao¡¯s chest furiously .

    "Come on,e on,e on..." President Yin muttered . "Don¡¯t do this to me, Kefei... Don¡¯t you dare do this to me..."

    Secondster, President Yin stopped thepressions and bent down to breathe into President Cao¡¯s mouth .

    "Wake up! Damn it! Wake up!" President Yin was in tears . "Come on!" She began another round of chestpressions .

    President Cao lips had turned slightly purple . Li Yundong knew right then that he had to do something . He couldn¡¯t just watch this woman die .

    "Please..." President Yin¡¯s pressing movements were starting to slow down . "Please... wake up..."

    Li Yundong crouched down and put his hand on President Yin¡¯s shoulder . "Let me try," he said .

    President Yin looked up at him in surprise .

    "I can do it . " Li Yundong gave her a reassuring nod . "I can save her . "

    President Yin stopped pressing and stepped aside .

    Li Yundong stared down at President Cao¡¯s unconscious form . What he was about to do might very well expose his status as a Cultivator or¡ªheavens forbid¡ªreveal something about the Renyuan Jindan inside him . Heck, he honestly wouldn¡¯t be surprised if Lin Youfa suddenly showed up to challenge him again after this . But still, he had to do the right thing .

    Li Yundong looked towards President Yin . "Alright . Now listen to me carefully . . . "

    ***

    "Get her into a meditative posture," Li Yundong said . "And help me keep her body upright . "

    President Yin quickly did as she was told without arguing . During the performance night, John had gone into cardiac arrest as well after he got hit in the chest by the shockwaves generated by Li Yundong¡¯s punch . Back then, Li Yundong had resuscitated him using the Three-Pronged Flower Gathering technique .

    President Cao was currently in cardiac arrest as well .

    This would work . It must work .

    Li Yundong rose to his feet and walked around to stand behind President Cao .

    "You mean hold her up like this, right?" President Yin asked, looking towards him . President Yin¡¯sposed, take-charge attitude was now back . "I hope you know what you¡¯re doing, Li Yundong . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "Now make sure you don¡¯t move her¡ª"

    He was interrupted by Shen Hui¡¯s voice . "I suggest you leave it alone, pal . If you do nothing, none of this will be your fault . But if anything goes wrong and something happens to President Cao, it will all be on you . "

    "Shen Hui!" President Yin said, soundingpletely affronted .

    Anger erupted inside Li Yundong like a volcano . "You heartless and selfish bitch!" His voice boomed, resounding through the huge office . He red at Shen Hui, whose face had suddenly gone pale . "This is a person! Your cousin¡¯s friend! And you¡¯re telling me that you¡¯re more concerned about politics than her life!"

    Shen Hui¡¯s face contorted . Secondster, she started bawling .

    Li Yundong sneered . "Yeah . Cry . Go home and cry to your parents . I¡¯m sure they are so damn proud of the heartless creature they¡¯ve raised . Get out of my sight . You disgust me . "

    Shen Hui turned around and ran, her wails following her all the way to the door .

    Li Yundong turned back around and saw President Yin staring up at him in shock . Li Yundong shook his head and got into position again . They didn¡¯t have much time to lose .

    "Hold her still!" Li Yundong snapped, then nced around the room . "Do not interrupt me, you understand? Don¡¯t speak . Don¡¯t yell . Don¡¯t touch . Don¡¯t do anything until I¡¯m done . "

    Li Yundong positioned his fingers on President Cao¡¯s Baihui, Shenting, and Taiyang¡ªthe standard finger positioning for the Three-Pronged Flower Gathering technique . He closed his eyes and took a deep breath . The first step involved gathering his Yuanyang at his fingertips, which took him mere seconds toplete .

    Then came the hard part . He had to slowly channel his Yuanyang into President Cao¡¯s body and then use it to draw out President Cao¡¯s Qi . This was, of course, another application of the Yin-Yang Principle that Su Chan had so often expounded¡ªusing a man¡¯s Yang Qi to draw out a woman¡¯s Yin Qi or vice versa .

    However, after Li Yundong¡¯s Yuanyang had entered President Cao¡¯s body, he ran into another problem: he couldn¡¯t get her Yin Qi toe out .

    Li Yundong was stumped . From what he understood from Su Chan¡¯s lessons, it was supposed to be easier for Li Yundong to mobilize President Cao¡¯s Qi with the Three-Pronged Flower Gathering technique as opposed to mobilizing John¡¯s Qi because President Cao was a woman and her Qi was Yin in nature . Due to the inherent attraction between Yin and Yang, it is always easier to guide the movement of Yin Qi using Yang Qi or vice versa . When Li Yundong resuscitated John that day, he had had to force John¡¯s Yang Qi to move .

    Out of desperation, Li Yundong circled his Yuanyang around President Cao¡¯s five Zangs, hoping to draw out the Qi of her five Zangs . After a moment, he got nothing . He couldn¡¯t even draw out the Qis of her five Zangs . What the hell was going on here?

    Okay... Last resort .

    He hadn¡¯t nned to do this, but now it seemed like he had no other choice . Li Yundong had asked Su Chan why he had this orgasmic feeling when she gave him the massage inside the lecture hall the other day . Su Chan had told him that it was because his Huiyin¡ªan acupoint between the anus and the scrotum/vulva¡ªwas stimted during the massage . That was when he learned that concealed within the Huiyin was the purest form of Qi inside a person body .

    But the problem was, if he tried that on President Cao...

    Great . Not only was he risking the exposure of his status as a Cultivator, but he might get arrested as well . Imagine the headline: Guy Brought Woman to an Orgasm by Touching Her Head . Nobody would buy that BS .

    Screw it . He had to try . At least President Cao wouldn¡¯t be dead if it worked . Perhaps he would be pardoned from these alleged sexual assault charges for the crucial role he had yed in saving a woman¡¯s life?

    Argh . To hell with it...

    Li Yundong moved his Yuanyang down towards President Cao¡¯s Huiyin . A momentter, he felt it¡ªPresident Cao¡¯s pure Yin Qi was drawn out . It worked . Now he just had to guide the flow of her Qi in Xiao Zhoutian¡¯s circuit . Once her Qi started to move, her blood would start to circte and hopefully generate enough blood pressure to forcefully contract her cardiac muscles .

    Around the fifth Xiao Zhoutian circuit, Li Yundong could feel the heat emanating from President Cao¡¯s head . Good . She was wearing the Crown of Three Flowers now . It was working well so far . After a few more Xiao Zhoutian circuits, he could feel the trembles and shudders in President Cao¡¯s body . Despite Li Yundong¡¯s earlier request for silence, he could hear the sound of cheers and cries of relief all around him . Did it work? Was President Cao breathing again? Had President Cao¡¯s heart been jump-started?

    It must have . Why would everyone be cheering if it hadn¡¯t?

    The final step was to return the purest form of President Cao¡¯s Qi back to her Huiyin, which meant stimting her Huiyin again .

    Secondster, he heard the unmistakable sound of a moan, a feminine moan that could only be heard during the horizontal tango .

    President Cao just had an orgasm .

 Chapter 116

    Chapter 116

    <h4>Employment</h4>

    Cao Kefei could feel herself drifting in and out of consciousness, like she was in some kind of strange limbo, teetering between existence and non-existence . The pain and tightness in her chest were now gone . Not only that, but she also felt strangely good . Her cheeks felt warm, and there was something solid and strong supporting her back . Am I dead?

    Light entered her eyes when she opened them . She blinked, and eventually, Mengfan¡¯s worried expression came into view . Oh, so I¡¯m not dead yet... Cao Kefei shook her head until the ringing in her ears subsided .

    "Kefei...? Kefei?" Mengfan said . "Are you still in pain?"

    Cao Kefei coughed a few times . Her throat felt a little dry, like she¡¯d been screaming for a long time . Someone patted her back . Cao Kefei found herself leaning into the warm touch .

    "M- Mengfan?" Cao Kefei said, clearing her throat again . "What happened?"

    "You scared the crap out of me is what happened," Mengfan said . "You had a heart attack and we couldn¡¯t find your meds . "

    That¡¯s because I don¡¯t have any left . She¡¯d stopped refilling her meds ever since her doctor told her she could stop taking them .

    "Uh-huh..." Cao Kefei said . "And then?"

    Mengfan was suddenly blushing like a school girl . "A-And then... h-he..." Mengfan cleared her throat . "Li Yundong resuscitated you . He saved your life . "

    Mengfan pointed at something behind and above Cao Kefei¡¯s head . Cao Kefei turned and realized that she¡¯d been leaning against Li Yundong¡¯s thighs all this time .

    "Oh... Thank you," Cao Kefei said with a smile, which turned into a frown a secondter when Li Yundong refused to meet her eyes . He was also blushing heavily . Secondster, she realized that he wasn¡¯t the only one blushing¡ªeveryone in her office was blushing and giving her strange looks . A few men were even leering at her .

    "Um... Mengfan..." Cao Kefei said, dropping her voice into a whisper . "What¡¯s going on? Why is everyone looking at me like that...?"

    Surely nobody would blush when someone just had a heart attack?

    "Mengfan..." Cao Kefei nudged her friend when she didn¡¯t answer right away .

    "Um... You... You had... You had an orgasm . "

    A what?! Cao Kefei gasped . Good God! Was Mengfan trying to give her another heart attack? Cao Kefei could feel her cheeks burning . She shot Mengfan a pleading look . Please...Please tell me it¡¯s a joke...

    Sensing her difort, Mengfan quickly took charge . "Alright, everyone! President Cao is okay now! So get back to work! Xiao Zhang!"

    "Yes, President Yin?"

    "Head down to the security booth and get an update from the head of security . I wanna know the perp¡¯s deal . "

    "Right away, president . "

    "Xiao Li!" Mengfan said . "Make sure everyone gets back to work . I don¡¯t want anybody cking off!"

    A secondter, Mengfan was right beside Cao Kefei again . "Hey . Are you feeling okay? Do you need to go to the hospital? There¡¯s an ambnce on the way . "

    Cao Kefei exhaled and felt around her chest for a while . When she realized that her blouse was unbuttoned, she blushed again . But other than her mortification and a wounded pride, she felt surprisingly well . It was strange .

    Cao Kefei shook her head . "I don¡¯t know how to exin it, but I feel fine right now . Just tired . " She stole a nce at Li Yundong who was still standing behind her . What on earth did he do to me? An orgasm? How the hell did that happen? Oh God, don¡¯t tell me he had sex with me in front of everyone?! Cao Kefei quickly nced down at her legs and was relieved to find that her skirt was still in ce .

    Cao Kefei groaned into her hands . "Ugh... I think I need to lie down . "

    Mengfan touched her shoulder . "Come on . Let¡¯s get you settled on the sofa . " Mengfan rose to her feet . "Can you stand?"

    Cao Kefei nodded . "I think so . "

    "Help me lift her up?" Mengfan said to Li Yundong .

    A secondter, Cao Kefei felt an upward force under her armpits . Before she knew it, she was up on her feet and Mengfan was there supporting her on her left side . Li Yundong walked around from behind her and grabbed her right arm .

    Once they got her settled on the couch, Li Yundong left the office for a moment and then returned with a ss of water .

    "Here, President Cao," he said .

    Cao Kefei took the ss gratefully . "Thank you..."

    Li Yundong nodded casually, but President Cao stared at him intently .

    "Not just for the water, but for saving my life as well . " And, apparently, for giving me an orgasm .

    Li Yundong smiled . "No thanks necessary, Ma¡¯am . " Then, he turned towards Mengfan, who¡¯d been watching their exchange quietly . "President Yin, is there anything else I can help you with? If not, I think I¡¯ll take my leave . "

    "Nothing . " Mengfan cleared her throat . "I mean there¡¯s nothing else for you to do here . Thank you for everything you¡¯ve done . Oh wait . Before you go, the police want to take your statement . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "Alright then . " Then, he looked at Cao Kefei . "You take care of yourself, President Cao . "

    Cao Kefei nodded weakly and stared at him until he walked out of her office .

    "Are you waiting for the water to evaporate from the ss, Kefei?" Mengfan¡¯s tone was colored in amusement .

    Cao Kefei tore her gaze away from the door and nced at the ss she was holding . She hadn¡¯t taken a single sip yet . She blushed and finished the water in a few gulps . Mengfan took the empty ss from her and set it on the coffee table .

    "I can call him back here if you want..." Mengfan said teasingly .

    Cao Kefei covered her face and groaned . "Oh, God . . . Mengfan... Here I am, going through perhaps the most humiliating experience in my life, and you¡¯re there making fun of me!"

    Mengfan burst intoughter . However, theughter quickly subsided . Mengfan pried one of Cao Kefei¡¯s hands away from her face . Cao Kefei nced up and saw Mengfan¡¯s sober expression .

    "It was mortifying, yes," Mengfan said . "But you were also lucky . Your heart stopped . And I¡¯m sure you would¡¯ve died if Li Yundong hadn¡¯t done what he did . "

    Cao Kefei stared at her friend for a moment . Then, she covered her face and groaned . "How am I supposed to face everyone at work from now on?"

    Mengfan pulled her hands away from her face once again . "Hey..." she said in a soothing tone . "What¡¯s important is that you¡¯re alive, okay? I¡¯m sure people will forget all about your... ahem... pretty soon . You just have to give it time . "

    Easy for you to say... It wasn¡¯t you who got off right in front of everyone .

    "What on God¡¯s green earth did he do to me?" Cao Kefei said . "How did I... How did he..."

    Surprisingly, Mengfan looked about as confused as Cao Kefei felt even though she had witnessed the whole thing .

    "I have no idea..." Mengfan said, her eyes zing over .

    "Did he . . . Did he touch me down there?" Cao Kefei stole a nce at Mengfan who appeared to be deep in thought .

    Mengfan shook her head . "No, he didn¡¯t . All he did was pressed down on a few spots on your head, like he was giving you a head massage..."

    "What? He got me off by giving me a head massage? Come on! You¡¯re messing with me!"

    "No! I¡¯m not messing with you! That really was all he did! I swear to God!"

    "But... But I¡¯ve never heard of a woman getting off just from a head massage! Is that even possible?"

    Mengfan sighed . "When I couldn¡¯t revive you with CPR, he told me to get you into a meditative posture and keep your body upright . Then he started doing this weird posture with his fingers and pressing them onto your head . Next thing I know, your face no longer looked pale and you were breathing again . And near the end of it, you started twitching and moaning like you were having sex . "

    Cao Kefei groaned . "I can¡¯t believe this..."

    "Yeah? Guess that makes two of us," Mengfan muttered .

    Silence stretched between them . About a minuteter, Cao Kefei stared at Mengfan with narrowed eyes . "Spill it, Yin Mengfan . Where the hell did you find a guy like that?"

    Mengfan rubbed her temples and kicked off her heels . Then, she settled herselffortably in the sofa . "I¡¯ve already told you . A friend of mine, Zhou Qin, rmended him to me . "

    Cao Kefei¡¯s eyes went wide . "Zhou Qin? You mean Zhou Keqiang¡¯s daughter?"

    Mengfan smiled . "Mmm-hmm . The very same . "

    Cao Kefei pondered her friend¡¯s words for a moment . "Zhou Qin and Li Yundong... Are they an item?"

    Mengfan smirked . "Nah . I don¡¯t think they are . "

    Cao Kefei red at her friend . "Don¡¯t give me that look . I was just... curious . "

    Mengfan¡¯s smirk widened . "Yeah . Keep telling yourself that . "

    "Shut up..." Cao Kefei mumbled .

    "Besides, haven¡¯t you heard? Zhou Qin is engaged . "

    Cao Kefei¡¯s gaze snapped to Mengfan . "Seriously?"

    Mengfan nodded . "Yeah . She¡¯s engaged to He Shao . "

    Cao Kefei curled her lips . "A political marriage . How typical . "

    Mengfan chuckled, then nudged Cao Kefei with her feet . "So . How about it? You were flirting with him earlier, right? Are you interested in him? Age is just a figure, you know?"

    Cao Kefei blushed, and then shot her a re . "Shut up! Who says I¡¯m interested in him?"

    "Oh . Then I suppose you won¡¯t be too disappointed to know that he¡¯s already seeing someone..."

    Cao Kefei¡¯s raised her head so quickly that she might¡¯ve torn a neck muscle . Mengfan¡ªthat smug bitch¡ªwas smirking at her .

    "Not interested, huh?"

    Realizing that she had walked right into that one, Cao Kefei looked away . After a while, Mengfan nudged her again .

    "Hey . All jokes aside, are you really okay? You gave me quite the scare, you know?"

    Cao Kefei sighed and stared up at the ceiling . "I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever felt this good before..."

    Mengfan burst intoughter .

    Cao Kefei red at her friend . "Tsk! I wasn¡¯t talking about... about... that . "

    Mengfan covered her mouth with a hand . "Sorry . Sorry . I just couldn¡¯t help it . " Secondster, Mengfan cleared her throat . "Yep . Go on . "

    "It¡¯s hard to describe... But I think I felt lighter in here . " Cao Kefei rubbed her chest with a hand . "It¡¯s like a weight has been lifted off my chest . "

    "At first, I thought Zhou Qin was exaggerating when she told me that he¡¯s a powerful person . " Mengfan held Cao Kefei¡¯s gaze . "She told me that he¡¯s the closest thing to a superhero in real life . And I¡¯m starting to believe her . The stuff he did today was mind-blowing..."

    Cao Kefei nudged her friend . "So you gonna hire him?"

    Mengfan looked back at her as though she¡¯d grown two heads . "You¡¯re joking right? Of course I¡¯m gonna hire him! I¡¯d be an idiot to throw away a talent like him . "

    "Dang . I thought I could snag him up for myself if you aren¡¯t hiring him . "

    "You wish . " Mengfan snorted . "With Li Yundong as my employee, I don¡¯t think I even need a security team . "

    "Hey... Mengfan..."

    Mengfan gave her a sidelong nce, then narrowed her eyes . "What? What are you nning?"

    "You know mypany has been running into a lot of troubletely, right?" Cao Kefei smiled fawningly . "Why don¡¯t you let me borrow him for a few days?"

    Mengfan¡¯s eyes narrowed to slits .

    "Come on... Won¡¯t you help out a friend in need?"

    Mengfan suddenly smirked . "Hmm... You see, one of my firm¡¯smercials ran into some problems during its screening... so..."

    Cao Kefeiughed . "Fine... Consider it done . "

    "Alright then, President Cao . It seems like we have a deal . Li Yundong will be your employee for two days . "

 Chapter 117

    Chapter 117

    <h4>Repayment</h4>

    Yin Mengfan left Kefei¡¯s office after the paramedics had checked all her vital signs and dered that she was fully healthy . Kefei had declined the paramedics¡¯ offer to take her to the hospital for a full checkup . Which, in hindsight, was totally understandable . She probably wasn¡¯t in the mood to answer any questions about how she went from being in a cardiac arrest to having a mind-blowing orgasm .

    How indeed . How the heck did Li Yundong pull it off? It was like magic .

    The elevator doors opened to the 19th floor, and Yin Mengfan stepped out . On the way to her office, she stopped by her assistant¡¯s desk . Xiao Jia, who seemed a bit shaken by the incident earlier, rose to her feet the moment she saw Yin Mengfan heading over .

    "Xiao Jia, are you alright?"

    "Yes, president . I¡¯m fine . "

    "Has Li Yundong finished giving his statement to the police?"

    "I¡¯m not sure, president . " Xiao Jia reached for her phone . "But I can check . "

    Yin Mengfan nodded . "Do that . And if he¡¯s done, tell him toe to my office . "

    "Will do, president . "

    Yin Mengfan entered her office and sat down behind her desk . Exhaustion washed over her . She closed her eyes and let out a sigh . Her phone vibrated against her desk . Someone was calling her . At first, she nned to ignore the call . But then she changed her mind when she opened her eyes and caught a glimpse of the caller ID .

    "Hey, Zhou Qin," Yin Mengfan spoke into the phone .

    "Hey, Mengfan . Are you free now?"

    "Yeah... Yeah, I¡¯m free . "

    There was a long pause .

    "Mengfan...? Are you alright? You¡¯re not in a meeting now, are you?"

    Yin Mengfan frowned and shook her head . "I¡¯m fine . And no, I¡¯m not in a meeting . Why do you ask?"

    "You sound a little strange . Like you were preupied or something . "

    Yin Mengfan chuckled . "That¡¯s because I was preupied . "

    "With what?"

    Yin Mengfan sighed and stared up at the ceiling . "With this powerful person you¡¯ve introduced me to, of course!"

    There was another long pause . But this time, Yin Mengfan had to check the screen to see if the call was still connected . It was, so Yin Mengfan put the phone back to her ear and waited for Zhou Qin to speak .

    "How is Li Yundong? Is he doing okay at yourpany?"

    Yin Mengfan snorted, then mumbled, "To tell you the truth, I have no idea . "

    Zhou Qin rambled on as though she hadn¡¯t heard her . "And I think I forgot to mention something the other day . He¡¯s got quite a bit of a temper . But that¡¯s just part of his personality . Please be patient with him, okay?"

    Yin Mengfanughed . "Oh, trust me, I know about his temper . "

    "What¡¯s that supposed to mean? What did he do?" There was a hint of wariness in Zhou Qin¡¯s voice .

    "Do you know Shen Hui?"

    "Yeah . Your cousin . Shen Conghai¡¯s daughter . The daughter of the Shen family . Why?"

    "He bit her head off right in front of everyone . " Yin Mengfan chuckled . "Not that she didn¡¯t deserve it, of course . But you should¡¯ve seen the look on everyone¡¯s face when Li Yundong yelled at her . "

    Zhou Qin¡¯s chuckles drifted from the phone . "That definitely sounds like his style . From what I see, he tends to blow up whenever he sees injustice . Shen Hui didn¡¯t take it well, I presume?"

    Yin Mengfan rolled her eyes and snorted . "She ran away crying, of course . Typical Shen Hui . "

    There was a moment of silence .

    "Say, Zhou Qin... How did youe across a guy like him? He¡¯s a bit..."

    Zhou Qin sighed . "Mengfan... Something happened today, didn¡¯t it?"

    Yin Mengfan waved her hand even though Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t see it . "Yeah well . You¡¯ll know all about it from the news tomorrow anyway . But God... Is that guy even human?"

    Zhou Qin chuckled . "I was expecting that kind of reaction to be honest . See? I told you, didn¡¯t I? He¡¯s extraordinary . "

    "You can say that again," Yin Mengfan mumbled .

    "What did he do though?" Zhou Qin¡¯s tone was colored in curiosity . "He must¡¯ve done something to give you that impression . "

    Where to even begin? Tossing an obese man over his head while hanging from the edge of a balcony? Giving a woman an orgasm with just a head massage? Talk about mind-blowing .

    "He¡ª"

    A knock on the door interrupted her . "Hey, Zhou Qin . Give me a sec . "

    "Sure . "

    "Come in!" Yin Mengfan hollered .

    The door swung open and Xiao Jia walked in . "Li Yundong is here as you requested, president . "

    "Alright . Thanks, Xiao Jia . Send him in . "

    Xiao Jia turned around and walked out . Yin Mengfan spoke into her phone . "Listen, Zhou Qin . I gotta go . I¡¯ll talk to you soon, okay? Mmm . Bye . "

    Moments after she hung up, her door opened again . Li Yundong strode in confidently . He stopped in front of her desk . "You wish to see me, President Yin?"

    Yin Mengfan nodded and gestured at the chair in front of her desk . Li Yundong sat down and waited for her to speak .

    "Did the police give you a hard time?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "Nah . I just told them the truth . "

    Yin Mengfan arched her brows . "And they believed you?"

    His smile turned into a smirk . "Well, there were other witnesses, so..." He shrugged .

    Yin Mengfan nodded . "I already gave them my statement earlier . I told them the truth as well . I¡¯m sure the stories will match up . Anyway . How are you?"

    "I¡¯m fine . Just a little tired . "

    Yin Mengfan leaned back in her chair . "Good . " Then, she stared into Li Yundong¡¯s eyes . "You¡¯re hired . "

    A smile lit up Li Yundong¡¯s handsome features . "Really?"

    Yin Mengfan couldn¡¯t help but smile back . "Yes, really . Come to work tomorrow . 9 AM sharp . Don¡¯t bete . "

    Li Yundong saluted her . "Yes, Ma¡¯am . "

    Yin Mengfan chuckled and nced at the time . "Well . It¡¯s five-thirty now . So you can go home after this . "

    Li Yundong stood up and smiled at her brightly . "Thank you so much for giving me a chance, President Yin . "

    "You¡¯re wee . Now off you go . "

    Li Yundong nodded and headed towards the door . Then, he paused mid-stride and turned back around . "Umm... What is my job specifically? And what about my work attire?"

    Yin Mengfan looked up from the papers on her desk and rubbed her temples . "I¡¯ve already asked Xiao Jia to send you an email, but since you asked, I¡¯ll tell you now . I nned to put you on my security team, but that¡¯s not what you¡¯ll be doing tomorrow . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyebrows rose .

    "Tomorrow, you¡¯ll be shadowing President Cao . She has a few matters that might require your assistance . "

    "But President Cao runs an entertainmentpany..."

    Yin Mengfan nodded . "Well, ourpanies are coborating on several projects, so sharing human resources is the norm here . "

    Li Yundong regarded her for a moment, then nodded . "Okay . But what will I be helping President Cao with?"

    Yin Mengfan shrugged . "You¡¯ll have to ask her that, I¡¯m afraid . "

    "Alright, then . Have a good evening, President Yin," Li Yundong said, then left the office .

    ***

    "President Cao?" Li Yundong stopped short outside the building when he saw President Cao leaning against the wall beside the door .

    "Hey," President Cao said, walking over . "Heading home?"

    "Yeah," Li Yundong said . "Are you feeling better, President Cao?"

    President Cao smiled . "Yes . Thanks to you . "

    Li Yundong smiled . "No thanks necessary . Well, I¡¯m d you¡¯re alright . I¡¯m gonna go . See you tomorrow..." Li Yundong smirked . "Boss . "

    Li Yundong brushed past President Cao, but a hand on his forearm made him stop . "Wait!"

    "Yes?"

    "Let me treat you to dinner," President Cao said . "To repay you for saving my life . "

    Li Yundong gently freed his forearm from President Cao¡¯s grip . "I appreciate it, but that¡¯s not necessary President Cao . I have to get home to cook dinner for my girlfriend . "

    A look of surprise shed across President Cao¡¯s countenance . However, a secondter, she was smiling again .

    "How about this," she said . "You join me for dinner, that way you can even bring home some food for your girlfriend . My treat . "

    "But¡ª"

    "What kind of cuisine does your girlfriend prefer? Chinese food? Western food?"

    "You really don¡¯t have to do this President Cao..."

    "Oh, but I insist . "

    Li Yundong sighed . "Fine... I¡¯ll join you for dinner . " But only because I don¡¯t wanna piss off my new boss on the first day of my employment .

    "Great! Let¡¯s go then! I¡¯ll drive you!"

    "Wait . Can I borrow your phone? I have to call my girlfriend and let her know that I¡¯ll be home a bitter . "

    "Sure . You can use my phone in the car . "

    When President Cao led him to the building¡¯s parking lot, Li Yundong wasn¡¯t at all surprised to learn that she drove a Lamborghini . President Cao pressed a button on the fob, and the car beeped .

    Soon, the Lamborghini was pulling away from the building . Li Yundong took President Cao¡¯s phone and dialed Su Chan¡¯s number . Su Chan must¡¯ve been waiting for his call because she picked up after the first ring .

    "Yuuuundoooonnng... Why aren¡¯t you back home yet? It¡¯s sote already!"

    Li Yundongughed . "How did you even know it¡¯s me?"

    "Hehehe... Because I¡¯m smart!"

    "Oh yeah? Why don¡¯t you tell me how you figured it all out then, my wise princess?"

    "You told me how these boxes work, remember? You said that each box has a unique number sequence, and too make a call, you have to press a bunch of numbers to form the sequence! But you and Zhou Qin are the only ones who know my number . "

    Li Yundong cracked a smile . God, it feels good to hear her voice... "How did you know it isn¡¯t Zhou Qin?"

    Su Chan giggled . "Because Zhou Qin¡¯s face will show up on the box when she called . That¡¯s what happenedst time . But her face didn¡¯t show this time, so it can¡¯t be her . Which leaves only you . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Okay, okay . I¡¯m sold . My princess is clever . For that I think you deserve a reward!"

    "Yayy!" Su Chan cheered . "What reward?"

    "It¡¯s a surprise!"

    "Mmmmm... Tell meeeee... . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Nope . Not telling ya... Did you behave yourself at home?"

    "Of course!"

    "You didn¡¯t break the TV did you?"

    "Of course I didn¡¯t, you meanie!"

    Li Yundong smiled warmly . "Alright, then . "

    "When will you be home? I miss you . "

    Li Yundong stole a nce at President Cao . Although she was keeping her eyes on the road, he knew she was probably listening .

    "I have to join my new boss for dinner . So I¡¯ll be back a bitter, okay?" Li Yundong paused . "Go ahead and have dinner first . I¡¯ll bring home supper for you . "

    "Mmm! Don¡¯t take too long..."

    "Okay . Bye, Su Chan . "

    He hung up and passed the phone to President Cao .

    "So . That¡¯s your girlfriend, huh . "

    "Yep . "

    "But it sounded like you were speaking to a child . "

    Li Yundong smiled wryly . That¡¯s because she is a child... Behavior-wise at least .

    "Is she pretty?" President Cao asked .

    "To me, she¡¯s the most beautiful woman in the world . "

    They drove in silence for the next few minutes . Eventually, curiosity won over . "Where are you taking me?"

    President Cao smirked . "Su An road . "

    Li Yundong nearly choked on his own spit . "B- But... That¡¯s Tiannan City¡¯s red-light district!"

    President Cao burst intoughter . "Rx... There¡¯s a great Sichuan restaurant there . I hope you can stomach spicy food?"

    Li Yundong turned in his seat and smiled . "Spicy? I don¡¯t even know what that term means?"

 Chapter 118

    Chapter 118

    Chapter 118 Alcoholic

    ¡°Okay! I think that¡¯s enough baijiu, President Cao . ¡± Li Yundong pried the bottle out of President Cao¡¯s hand . Somewhere between her first and second bottle, President Cao had ditched the ss and begun drinking straight out of the bottle . And God that woman could drink .

    ¡°Shuddup!¡± President Cao pointed her finger at him threateningly, though with her loopy expression, the woman look about as menacing as Hello Kitty . She giggled, then snatched another bottle from the table and guzzled down more baijiu .

    Li Yundong groaned inwardly . Apparently, this was his job for the night¡ªchaperoning his inebriated boss . What the f*ck was wrong with this woman? Seriously? Getting her pretty ass drunk in a red light district while in thepany of a stranger? Had she nomon sense at all? Or did the heart attack mess up her brain? And she was supposed to be the driver, for f*ck¡¯s sake! How was she supposed to drive them back in her current state? Li Yundong blew out a breath . Great . Now he needed a drink . Li Yundong poured some baijiu into his ss and took a swig .

    Truth be told, Li Yundong could¡¯ve ditched President Cao and went on his way a long time ago . But then he couldn¡¯t bring himself to do it . He might have a temper and might be a bit impatient at times, but he was never cruel¡ªhe didn¡¯t have the heart to leave apletely defenseless President Cao to fend for herself in this dreadful ce; he might as well just throw her to a pack of hungry wolves if he did . Case in point: President Cao had been receiving countless lecherous looks ever since they got out of the Lamborghini .

    The waiter appeared beside their table with a bag of takeout boxes . Li Yundong had ordered some of the things that he thought Su Chan might enjoy for supper . And to be honest, he felt a little guilty for leaving his princess alone at home for so long . He figured he could make it up to her with food . Maybe he should stop by McDonald¡¯s on the way home and grab a few ice-cream cones too .

    President Cao mmed the bottle down on the table . ¡°Hey... you!¡± she slurred, pointing at the waiter . ¡°Another... boddle of... of... fffff... . ¡±

    ¡°Another bottle of baijiu, miss?¡±

    ¡°Yes!! Shoo! Shoo! Shoo!¡± She waved at the waiter, then slumped onto the table, knocking over an empty ss with her forehead .

    Li Yundong righted the ss with one hand and grabbed the waiter¡¯s arm with the other . He gave the waiter a headshake . ¡°She¡¯s had enough,¡± he whispered . ¡°Can I have the check please?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s already been taken care of, sir,¡± the waiter answered politely . ¡°Miss Cao told us to charge everything to her credit card . ¡±

    Li Yundong sighed inwardly . Good . Because the only thing he could afford at this point was a couple of cab rides . God, he couldn¡¯t wait for the day he got his first paycheck . The waiter left their table after Li Yundong thanked him . Li Yundong stood up and grabbed President Cao¡¯s handbag from her seat . He took out her phone, unlocked it, and then scrolled through her contact list .

    He tapped ¡°Yin Mengfan¡± on the screen and ced the phone to his ear . Come on,e on... pick up... The call went to voice mail . Li Yundong lowered the phone and sighed . A momentter, he tried again .

    While the call rang, Li Yundong began to wonder who he should call if President Yin didn¡¯t pick up . Should he call Zhou Qin again? Damn . This sucks...

    ¡°What¡¯s up, my favorite bitch? Your heart isn¡¯t acting up again, is it?¡± President Yin¡¯s voice drifted into his ear . Li Yundong sighed in relief .

    ¡°Hello, President Yin, this is Li Yundong . ¡±

    ¡°Li Yundong?! What the hell? Why do you have President Cao¡¯s phone? Did something happen?¡±

    ¡°Well... It¡¯s a long story . But President Cao is drunk right now . Can youe pick us up?¡±

    There was some kind of background noise¡ªpapers being shuffled . President Yin was probably packing up her stuff .

    ¡°Where?¡±

    ¡°At this restaurant called Spicy Memory...¡±

    There was a brief pause . Everything was silent on President Yin¡¯s end . Even the background noise had stopped .

    ¡°Wait a minute... Isn¡¯t that...¡± President Yin muttered a curse . ¡°God, that idiot! What the hell is she doing in Su An street?! And after she¡¯d just recovered from a heart attack? Geez . What the hell was she thinking?¡±

    Li Yundong chuckled wryly . Beats the shit out of me too, Ma¡¯am...

    ¡°Wait...¡± President Yin drew out the word, her toneced with suspicion . ¡°Why on earth are you with her? Are you two alone?¡±

    Li Yundong sighed . ¡°Like I said, it¡¯s a long story . But she¡¯s totally conked out right now . How fast can you get here?¡±

    ¡°Fifteen... maybe twenty minutes?¡±

    ¡°Alright then . I¡¯ll stay and keep an eye on her . ¡±

    ¡°And for God¡¯s sake keep the bottle away from her,¡± President Yin said sternly . ¡°She¡¯s an alcoholic . ¡±

    Right . Now that made a shit ton sense .

    ¡°Alright then,¡± Li Yundong said . ¡°I think I¡¯ll let her sleep for now . She wouldn¡¯t be tempted to drink again if she¡¯s asleep . Can you send a text to her phone when you¡¯re almost here? I¡¯ll wake her up then . ¡±

    ¡°Sure... . ¡± There was a pause . ¡°And Li Yundong... Thank you . ¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee . ¡±

    The call ended with a click . Li Yundong lowered the phone from his ear and stared at the screen .

    Yeah . His first paycheck really couldn¡¯te soon enough .

    ***

    Li Yundong lifted the President Cao¡¯s phone when he heard the ping . He tapped on the notification banner to read the text .

    Almost there . Five mins .

    ¡°About damn time,¡± Li Yundong muttered . He stood up and ced the phone back into President Cao¡¯s handbag, then scanned the table and seats to make sure that President Cao didn¡¯t have other items lying around .

    ¡°President Cao...¡± Li Yundong shook her a few times . ¡°Wake up, President Cao . Time to go home . ¡±

    President Cao pped his hand away . ¡°Shuddup...¡±

    Li Yundong shook her harder . He didn¡¯t even get a reaction this time . ¡°I thought adults are supposed to be responsible...¡± he muttered .

    Li Yundong turned President Cao¡¯s face towards him, then jabbed his index finger on her Renzhong¡ªan acupoint between the upper lip and the nose . When she didn¡¯t react after a few seconds, he increased the pressure of his finger . A few more seconds passed, and President Cao suddenly sat bolt upright .

    ¡°W- Wha- What? Who...?¡± She turned her head around in confusion, stopping when her eyesnded on Li Yundong . ¡°Oh . It¡¯s you...¡± President Cao smiled brightly . ¡°My savior...¡±

    Li Yundong pushed away President Cao¡¯s attempt to hug him . ¡°Okay... President Cao . You¡¯re drunk . President Yin ising to take you home, okay? Do you want some water?¡±

    ¡°Ugh... I don¡¯t want water...¡±

    Li Yundong stood up and returned to his seat . ¡°Then rest up for a while, okay? President Yin will be here soon . ¡±

    And so is your massive hangover, he added silently .

    ¡°Tell me...¡± President Cao said, cing her elbows on the table and her chin in her palms . She was staring back at him with ssy eyes .

    ¡°Tell you what?¡±

    ¡°Tell me how you saved life...¡±

    Li Yundong blushed and rubbed the back of his neck . ¡°Err... It¡¯s kinda hard to exin...¡±

    ¡°Tell me how you made mee with your fingers . ¡±

    Li Yundong choked on his on spit . Someone started coughing a few tables away . Li Yundong took his ss and took a huge gulp of baijiu .

    ¡°Would you please keep it down,¡± Li Yundong hissed after putting his ss down .

    President Cao giggled . ¡°Why? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re shy... Didn¡¯t think you¡¯d be that shy after what you did to me...¡±

    Why? Why me?

    Li Yundong sighed . ¡°Alright, enough . You¡¯ve had too much to drink...¡±

    ¡°Yo... Look who¡¯s here... If it isn¡¯t President Cao of Huasheng Studios... What a coincidence . ¡±

    Li Yundong turned around at the voice . Two men were standing behind him, both of whom were dressed in business suits . The only difference between them was that one of them had a bald patch while the other had a full head of hair .

    President Cao sat up straighter . Wariness crept into her eyes . ¡°P- President Zhao? What are you doing here?¡±

    The man with the full head of hair flicked a nce at Li Yundong, then shed a smile at President Cao . ¡°I have some business to attend to,¡± he said . ¡°Ah, right . Allow me introduce you to President Xie of Jiahe Timber . ¡±

    The man with the bald patch stepped forward and took President Cao¡¯s hand . ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, President Cao . I¡¯ve heard a lot of great things about you . ¡±

    Li Yundong did not miss the way both men had given President Cao¡¯s body a thorough once over . It wouldn¡¯t take a lot of imagination to figure out what sort of ¡°great things¡± President Xie had heard about President Cao . Uh-oh... These two men smelled like trouble .

    Suddenly, President Zhao¡¯s eyes were on Li Yundong . ¡°And this is...?¡±

    President Cao chuckled . ¡°Oh . He¡¯s one of President Yin¡¯s employees that I borrowed . ¡±

    President Zhao nodded . ¡°And you¡¯re here as...?¡±

    ¡°Bodyguard . ¡± Li Yundong¡¯s answer took President Cao by surprise .

    President Zhao¡¯s brows drew together . He looked a little confused . Secondster, he turned to President Cao with a raised brow .

    ¡°O- Oh, yeah! That¡¯s right! Well! You know about the riots and protesters right? President Yin thought having a bodyguard is better for my personal safety . So...¡±

    President Zhao regarded Li Yundong for a few seconds, then extended his hand . ¡°Zhao Yougen . President of Guotai Electonics . ¡±

    Li Yundong shook the man¡¯s hand . ¡°I¡¯m Li Yundong . ¡±

    The handshake ended as quickly as it began . Zhao Yougen¡¯s attention was once again on President Cao . ¡°So, President Cao . How about we have a couple of drinks together?¡±

    Uh-oh... Li Yundong rose from his seat . ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea, sir . President Cao has had a lot to drink already . ¡±

    Zhao Yougen frowned at him . ¡°I asked thedy, not you . ¡±

    Li Yundong smirked . ¡°But it is my duty to protect her, sir . ¡± From perverts like you .

    Zhao Yougen didn¡¯t look impressed . ¡°Are you serious?¡± He turned to President Cao . ¡°Is he serious?¡±

    President Cao seemed too stunned¡ªand, to be honest, too inebriated¡ªto speak .

    Li Yundong stepped forward . ¡°Yes, sir . I¡¯m dead serious . Now if you¡¯ll excuse me . I have a job to do . ¡±

    Zhao Yougen opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by another voice .

    ¡°Kefei!¡± President Yin appeared beside their table, then sighed in relief . ¡°Oh, thank God...¡±

    ¡°What? Mengfan?¡± President Cao squinted her eyes in confusion . ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here to pick you up,¡± President Yin said sternly, then turned to give each of the two men a smile .

    ¡°President Zhao . President Xie . Fancy seeing you both here . ¡±

    The two men nodded . ¡°President Yin . ¡±

    Zhao Yougen smiled at President Yin . ¡°We were just asking President Cao to join us for drinks . Would you like to join us too President Yin?¡± Zhao Yougen¡¯s eyes darted to Li Yundong briefly . ¡°The bodyguard can join too, of course . ¡±

    If President Yin was surprised that Zhao Yougen had referred to Li Yundong as President Cao¡¯s bodyguard, she didn¡¯t show it .

    Instead, a cold look formed in President Yin¡¯s eyes . For some reason, those eyes reminded him of Zhou Qin .

    ¡°Thank you for your offer, President Zhao,¡± she said . ¡°But President Cao has had enough to drink for one night, so we¡¯ll pass . ¡± Then, without waiting for the two men to reply, President Yin turned to Li Yundong . ¡°Carry her to my car . I¡¯ll grab her stuff . ¡±

    ¡°Hey! I can walk...¡± President Cao argued weakly .

    President Yin rolled her eyes . ¡°Ignore her . It¡¯s much quicker if you carry her . ¡±

    Li Yundong suppressed a smirk . ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am . ¡±

    Maybe there was more to President Yin Mengfan than meets the eye .

    ***

    ¡°Thank God you were there, Li Yundong,¡± President Yin said after she had started her car . ¡°Zhao Yougen has been pursuing Kefei for ages now . The man doesn¡¯t know how to take a damn hint even after the countless times Kefei has rejected him . ¡±

    Li Yundong turned away from the backseat, where President Caoy fast asleep .

    President Yin held Li Yundong¡¯s gaze intently . ¡°That man would¡¯ve taken advantage of Kefei tonight if you hadn¡¯t been there . So, thank you . ¡±

    Li Yundong nodded . ¡°You¡¯re wee . ¡± Then, he smiled . ¡°I kinda saw it as my job already, you know?¡±

    President Yin returned his smile . ¡°I know . You introduced yourself as Kefei¡¯s bodyguard, right?¡±

    Li Yundong chuckled sheepishly . ¡°Yeah . It was the first thing that came to mind . ¡±

    They pulled away from the restaurant and drove along Su An street .

    ¡°So you and President Cao are pretty tight, huh?¡± Li Yundong remarked . It was probably weird to make small-talk with his superior¡ªeven more so considering how terrible he was at making small-talk¡ªbut he couldn¡¯t stand the silence anymore .

    President Yin sighed . ¡°Yeah . We¡¯re like sisters . ¡± She gave Li Yundong a wry smile . ¡°But I think you figured that out already . ¡±

    Li Yundong nodded . ¡°You pretty much freaked out earlier when she was dying . ¡±

    They stopped at a set of traffic lights . ¡°Kefei... Usually, she likes to flirt around and act promiscuous . But deep down, she¡¯s a good woman . ¡±

    ¡°I see . ¡±

    President Yin turned her head and regarded Li Yundong seriously . ¡°People say that she sleeps around, but that couldn¡¯t be further from the truth . She rejected a lot of men who came on to her . And trust me, there were a lot of those . ¡±

    The lights turned green, and they drove off once again .

    ¡°We¡¯re about to leave Su An street,¡± President Yin said . ¡°Where to?¡±

    Li Yundongughed . ¡°As if you don¡¯t know my address already . ¡±

    President Yin just smirked .

    ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want to take President Cao home first?¡±

    President Yin snorted . ¡°What difference does it make? Just look at her . She¡¯s pretty much dead to the world already . ¡±

    Li Yundong chuckled . ¡°Good point . Hey, wait . What about President Cao¡¯s car? It¡¯s still parked outside the restaurant . ¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll just ask a couple of my security guys to pick it up for her tomorrow . ¡±

    ¡°Oh . Okay . ¡± It was a Lamborghini though . He wondered if it would still be there tomorrow .

    ¡°So? Where to? Do you want me to take you to New Hongsheng District straightaway?¡±

    Li Yundong thought for a moment . A slow smile formed on his lips . ¡°I¡¯d like to make a stop first, if you don¡¯t mind . ¡±

    ¡°Where?¡±

    ¡°McDonald¡¯s . ¡±

    ***

    These soap shows were a lot more fun to watch when Yundong was around . At the moment, two women were arguing on-screen about something . Usually, Su Chan would be all over the ce trying to figure out what they were arguing about, or what an ¡°alimony¡± means . Tonight, she just wasn¡¯t in the mood .

    Su Chan grabbed the remote from the coffee table and pressed a button on its top-left corner . The colors disappeared from the TV¡¯s surface, leaving only darkness . The apartment felt empty and quiet . Without Yundong, Su Chan¡¯s life felt empty .

    The remote bounced a little when Su Chan dropped it onto the couch . She stood up and grabbed her phone from the table . Like the TV, the phone¡¯s surface was ck . It didn¡¯t glow brightly or yed the weird, shamanistic music whenever someone was calling . She hadn¡¯t gotten any calls from Yundong since thest one they shared . Was Yundong¡¯s boss working him hard already? Was Yundong so busy that he didn¡¯t have time to call her? Or maybe he did call and the phone was just too rude to let her know that he had called .

    Should she leave the apartment and go look for him? Maybe fly around the city for a bit? Oh don¡¯t be silly Chan¡¯er... The Zhengyi School was still on the hunt for her . She had exposed herself enough already during that fight with Lin Youfa . If the Zhengyi School got wind of where she was, if they found her, it wasn¡¯t just her life that would be in danger . Yundong¡¯s life would be put at risk as well . So, no . No flying .

    What if she walked? But the city was so big . Where should she even begin the search? Yundong didn¡¯t tell her the location of his new job, so she was pretty much in the dark . Maybe I should call Elder Sister Zhou Qin and ask her about it...

    There was a soft rustle . Su Chan turned around and looked towards the living room¡¯s sliding door . Must be the curtains... She should close the sliding door . With her phone in hand, Su Chan padded towards the sliding door and closed it . The curtains stopped moving instantly .

    Actually, there was a good way for her to do away with this constant fretting . She could have Cultivated while waiting for Yundong toe home . But then she didn¡¯t want to miss his return because she was in a meditative state .

    A soft swish sounded behind her .

    Su Chan swiveled around with a frown . That didn¡¯t sound like the curtain at all . Did she forget to close the sliding door in her room? Just when she was about head to her room to check, she heard another swish above her . But when she nced up, she saw nothing .

    A sharp pain on her back caused her to scream . Something ttered to the floor, and the living room began to spin . A secondter, her head smashed into something solid . The coolness pressed against her right cheek made her open her eyes . Blinking a few times, she saw her phone lying beside her face on the floor .

    Her head pounded, and she couldn¡¯t breathe . Something was inside her, squeezing the life out of her, disrupting the flow of her Qi . Divine aura . She had just been exposed to divine aura .

    Have to... get my needles... Have to stay awake... Have to hide...

    She let out a strangled gasp . ¡°Yun...dong...¡±

    Everything went dark .

 Chapter 119

    Chapter 119

    Darkness greeted Li Yundong the moment he stepped into the apartment . ¡°Princess, I¡¯m home,¡± he hollered, shutting the door behind him . He stood at the door, waiting for an answer . There was none, only the echoes of his own voice .

    He moved away from the door and stopped beside the couch . The TV was turned off and the remote was lying on the couch . ¡°Princess?¡±

    Had she gone to bed already? Li Yundong frowned and padded into the kitchen . That made no sense; it wasn¡¯t her bedtime yet . It was only 9 PM when President Yin dropped him off .

    Li Yundong ced the bag of takeout boxes on the dining table, then walked over to the fridge . Most of the food in the fridge was gone, which meant that Su Chan most likely had her dinner already . He ced the two cups of ice-cream beside the Greek yogurt tub before shutting the fridge .

    A slow smile spread across Li Yundong¡¯s face . ¡°Su Chan... You cane out now, you know . I know you¡¯re trying to scare me . It won¡¯t work . ¡± His smile grew wider when he remembered thest time she had tried to sneak up on him . They were still staying at their old apartment back then . She tried to scare him while he was cooking in the kitchen but got startled by him instead .

    ¡°Come on, Su Chan... Enough games . Come out and eat! I¡¯ve bought supper!¡± he yelled, fully expecting to hear the pitter-patter of Su Chan¡¯s footsteps as soon as those words left his mouth . Food always worked on Su Chan . Always .

    Not this time, apparently .

    Seconds turned into minutes . Still, there were no signs of his princess . A sinking sensation formed at the pit of his stomach . Where the hell is she? He left the kitchen and headed for her room . He knocked on her door a few times . When he didn¡¯t get an answer, he tried the door knob and found that the door was unlocked . Su Chan¡¯s scent assaulted his nostril the moment he pushed the door open . He walked in and came to a halt when his eyesnded on the empty bed . The sinking sensation grew .

    ¡°Come on, Su Chan... Quit messing around!¡± Li Yundong yanked open her wardrobe, half-expecting to see Su Chan pouncing on him or tackling him to the floor . However, instead of a beautiful girl with childlike innocence, he was greeted by the sight of dresses and blouses¡ªan entire row of them, hung neatly on hangers .

    If this was her idea of scaring him, it was working . It was f*cking working .

    He mmed the wardrobe shut and nced around frantically . He hurried towards the corner of the bedroom and drew the curtains apart . Light from the city trickled in, highlighting the evidence of Su Chan¡¯s absence: the neatly-made bed; her pajamas hanging on the clothes rack .

    He unlocked the sliding door, then poked his out . No signs of Su Chan on the balcony either . ¡°F*ck... Where is she?¡± he muttered . He shut the sliding door, then leaned his back against it . Maybe she¡¯s in the bathroom...

    The thought had him scurrying out of the bedroom . Momentster, he stood outside the bathroom with his heart in his throat . She¡¯d checked both bathrooms and came up empty .

    What if she left the apartment to look for him? He ran back into the kitchen and then grabbed his phone from the kitchen counter . With shaky hands, he switched on his phone . The phone pinged with dozens of missed call notifications, thanks to his ¡°fans . ¡± He ignored the notifications and dialed Su Chan¡¯s number instead . Horror filled his chest when Su Chan¡¯s ringtone drifted into the kitchen . He exited the kitchen, following the sound of the ringtone .

    A soft glow lit up a corner of the living room near the curtains . No... No... F*ck... No... He bent down and picked up Su Chan¡¯s phone from the floor . The back cover was a little loose, and there was a chip on the phone¡¯s edge .

    Something must have happened here . Was Su Chan attacked? He nced around like a maniac, looking for any signs of a struggle or forced entry . But the living room was immacte . Nothing seemed out of ce . So why would she drop her phone here? And where the hell is she?

    Li Yundong got to his feet and started pacing the living room . Alright man... Calm down and think... Suppose that Su Chan was indeed attacked . And right now, he couldn¡¯t find her anywhere inside the apartment . What did that imply? Obviously, Su Chan was no longer inside the apartment, so either she had managed to escape from the apartment, or someone had kidnapped her . He prayed that it was the former . He prayed and prayed as he moved past the living room towards the front door . His throat constricted the moment he checked the shoe rack .

    Su Chan¡¯s shoe was still there, which meant she hadn¡¯t escaped . She¡¯d been taken . Someone came into the apartment and took her . The intruder must have knocked her out because there were no signs of a struggle . That must also be why Su Chan dropped her phone . A swish sounded above him, throwing Li Yundong into high alert . He¡¯d heard that noise before, like someone waving a g or a piece of cloth .

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡±

    Who indeed? Lin Youfa? Those Zhengyi wackos?

    Another swish . This time it came from the kitchen . Li Yundong eyed the door of the apartment . Should he make a run for it? Okay, say he managed to get out of the apartment . And then what? Go to the police and report Su Chan missing? That thought made him sick to the stomach .

    Again, another swish . The bathroom! Without ado, Li Yundong charged towards the bathroom¡ªthe one beside Su Chan¡¯s room¡ªand mmed the door shut before locking the door from the outside .

    Got you now, you son of a bitch...

    ¡°Where is she?¡± Li Yundong yelled from outside the bathroom . ¡°Where the hell did you take her? I know you¡ª¡±

    Wait a minute... Wait a f*cking minute...

    Li Yundong backed away from the bathroom and hurried back into the living room . If the intruder had seeded in kidnapping Su Chan, why would they still be here lurking around in the apartment? Hope kindled inside Li Yundong . The intruder is still here . Which means... Su Chan might still be hiding inside the apartment . Li Yundong moved his Qi to his Shenting and walked to a spot in the living room where he knew would put him right at the center of the entire apartment .

    When the familiar buzzing returned to his ears, Li Yundong began to sort through the ambient noise . The noises from the neighborhood were muffled since all the sliding doors were closed . If he heard anything at all, it would most likee from inside the apartment .

    Clock ticking... the fridge¡¯s humming... Come on, princess... make some noise... Water dripping... That goddamn swishing sound again... His own breathing... Come on...

    Then he heard it . A whimper . He focused harder and isted that noise from the rest . Oh God...

    Li Yundong charged into his bedroom and yanked open the door of his wardrobe . Su Chan¡¯s limp figure fell out and copsed into his arms . Her face was pale and her forehead was covered in sweat . She was barely breathing .

    ***

    Li Yundong¡¯s mind was racing . Never in his life had he felt so terrified . His heart was beating so rapidly that it was like his chest could burst open any second . Cradling Su Chan in his arms, he ran out of his room and ced Su Chan on the couch . Hang on, princess . Please hang on... With all the haste he could muster, he opened the living room¡¯s sliding door and hurried back to the couch .

    Then, he picked up Su Chan¡¯s limp form and ced her on the floor, where he got her into a meditative posture . Using his knees to keep her body upright, he pressed his fingers on Su Chan¡¯s head and performed the Three-Pronged Flower Gathering technique . Barely a minute into the massage, Su Chan whimpered and slumped sideways to the floor . Li Yundong dropped to his knees and tried to help her into a sitting position again . Su Chan groaned .

    ¡°Shh... Hold still, I¡¯m not done yet,¡± he whispered .

    Su Chan pushed his hands away . ¡°No...¡± she said weakly . ¡°R- Run... Leave me...¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly!¡± he growled . ¡°I¡¯m not f*cking leaving you . ¡±

    There was that annoying swish again . What the f*ck? Li Yundong¡¯s gaze snapped to the bathroom, whose door was still closed . ¡°How the hell did it...¡±

    ¡°Look out!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s body skidded along the floor after Su Chan shoved him away . The explosiveness and strength behind that shove took him byplete surprise . Before he could react, Su Chan¡¯s body flew across the living room and crashed into the wall at the far end .

    ¡°No!¡± Li Yundong was up on his feet in an instant . When he reached the wall, Su Chan was coughing and struggling to sit up .

    ¡°Su Chan... Are you alright? Tell me where it hurts?¡±

    Su Chan shook her head weakly . ¡°E- Eyes... on... t- the... the enemy...¡±

    Li Yundong rose to his feet, making sure to put his body in front of Su Chan . What the f*ck happened? Something had clearly struck Su Chan, but he didn¡¯t see anything just now . It was like some kind of invisible force had rammed into Su Chan . And what the f*ck was causing that swishing noise? I thought I¡¯d trapped it inside the bathroom... Could there be more than one intruder?

    Get out . They had to get out of the apartment first .

    Li Yundong crouched down and picked up Su Chan¡¯s body from the floor, then made a dash towards the front door .

    ¡°You¡¯re not going anywhere, you demon witch!¡±

    All of a sudden, Su Chan¡¯s body was ripped away from his arms . Next thing he knew, he was falling forward as though he had tripped over some kind of invisible object . Light exploded behind his eyes when the back of his head smashed into the wall .

    By the time Li Yundong climbed back to his feet, Su Chan¡¯s body was floating in midair, her arms dangling limply from her shoulders . Long strands of her dark tresses hung down vertically like a dark waterfall around her head .

    A ball of heat formed inside Li Yundong¡¯s lower belly . ¡°Let . Her . Go!¡±

    ¡°Stay out of this, you filthy man! My business is with this demon witch, not you . And if you get in my way, I¡¯ll destroy you too!¡±

    Li Yundong growled . ¡°Give her back!¡± Li Yundong jumped forward and activated Xianjue at the same time . Su Chan¡¯s body drifted to his left, just like he¡¯d predicted . He wrapped his arms around Su Chan¡¯s waist and yanked her towards him with all his strength . A loud swish sounded and Su Chan was once again back in his arms .

    He ced Su Chan down on the floor and jabbed his finger into her Renzhong . A momentter, Su Chan gasped and blinked her eyes open . The loud swish sounded in three rapid sessions, like it was angry .

    ¡°You will regret this, you prurient fool!¡±

    The curtains fluttered harshly .

    ¡°You have two options,¡± Li Yundong said coldly . ¡°You either show yourself or you get the hell out of our home . ¡±

    A strong gust of wind ripped through the living room . Then, he saw it . Something materialized in the air slightly below the ceiling . It was a piece of red cloth . No . Not just any cloth, it was a piece of damask, a three-foot-long damask which glowed in a greenish light .

    A familiar voice came out from the red damask . ¡°I¡¯m going to say this onest time, demon witch . Hand over the Renyuan Jindan! Or suffer the full wrath of the Zhengyi School!¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t know any Renyuan Jindan,¡± Li Yundong said coldly . ¡°Now get the hell out!¡±

    A contemptuousugh red out from the damask . ¡°Another lecherous fool that this demon slut had bewitched...¡±

    Anger red inside Li Yundong . ¡°Watch your mouth...¡±

    ¡°And now you¡¯re about to die for that demon witch . How pathetic . ¡±

    There was a sudden sh of red light . The red damask whizzed forward like an arrow travelling at the speed of a bullet .

 Chapter 120

    Chapter 120

    <h4>The Heir</h4>

    Light permeated the apartment . The walls, the furniture, and the floor, they all glowed like embers . Li Yundong growled and pushed back against the tip of the spear-like damask . Scarlet rays radiated from the tip of the damask . The rays spread along the length of the damask like the tail of a falling meteor .

    Li Yundong¡¯s feet slid backwards as the tip of the damask pushed harder against his left palm . The white glow in his palm was waning, and he knew it wouldn¡¯t be long before the damask pierced through his skin . Out of sheer desperation, Li Yundong lifted his free hand and tried to grab the other end of the damask . It didn¡¯t work . For some reason, his hand kept encountering some kind of resistance the moment it got close to the damask¡ªhis hand couldn¡¯t reach past the red glow surrounding the damask . Eventually, his attempts to grab the damask with his free hand turned into punches . He delivered punch after punch, all of which were repelled by the damask¡¯s red aura .

    Feminineughter echoed in the room . "Using your Lung¡¯s Qi, huh? Not bad for a pathetic fool . "

    Thanks to Xianjue, Li Yundong had predicted the damask¡¯s trajectory way before it even hit . He knew that it was aimed at his heart . Even so, he decided to stop it with his palm because dodging wasn¡¯t an option¡ªthat f*cking thing would¡¯ve hit Su Chan if he dodged .

    "This damask can pierce through thick boulders and solid metal, but you think you can stop it with your bare hands?" Snideughter rang out . "What a fool!"

    The damask spun like a drill . The white glow surrounding Li Yundong¡¯s palm dissipated instantly . A stinging sensation at the center of his palm caused him to scream . No . He was mistaken . The pain didn¡¯te from his palm; the pain was inside, like some kind of aura had forced its way into his body, tearing him apart from the inside .

    "Since you¡¯re a fellow Cultivator . I have no reason to hold back! Now, die!!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s insides were on fire, but he clenched his jaw and held on . Don¡¯t give up . . . Keep fighting . . .

    A strange sensation washed over Li Yundong, and somehow, it felt familiar . Yes, he¡¯d felt this before . H experienced this exact sensation when he sent Zeng Qin flying after thetter had kicked the pad he¡¯d been holding . A strange surge of strength radiated from Li Yundong¡¯s core, and he roared . The enemy¡¯s scream rang out, and the damask was instantly forced away from his palm . The pain inside his body was gone, but something else was happening to him, something strange . Li Yundong raised his arms, which were now emitting a golden radiance . No . It wasn¡¯t just his arms . His whole body was emitting a golden radiance . (T/N: The perfect imagery will be Goku¡¯s Super Saiyan first form)

    Li Yundong raised his gaze and red at the damask hovering a few feet away in the air .

    "Th- This . . . aura . . . " Gone was the enemy¡¯s bravado . The voice that came out from the damask was the voice of a frightened girl .

    "What did you do to me!" Li Yundong growled . "Why am I like this?!" A sudden burst of light filled the living room, bathing the walls and furniture in gold . Li Yundong stepped forward . "Answer me!!"

    "How could this . . . How could the Jindan¡¯s aura be . . . Oh my God . . . The prophecy . . . It¡¯s you... You are the Heir . . . "

    "What Heir? What the hell are you talking about?"

    "Listen to me! Abandon that demon witch! Abandon the dark side and join us! You belong with us, the force of good! We can help you achieve your full potent¡ª"

    "Shut the hell up! And get off your high horse!" Li Yundong roared . "You break into other people¡¯s homes and assault them, and you have the nerve to call yourself the force of good? You¡¯re nothing but a crook!"

    Li Yundong advanced towards the floating damask while it retreated .

    "D- Don¡¯te any closer! S- Stay back! I¡¯m the disciple of the Zhengyi School! Y- You don¡¯t wanna mess w- with me!"

    The damask tried to fly away, but Li Yundong reached out and grabbed one of its ends . The damask¡¯s protective aura fought against his grip but was eventually overwhelmed by the golden radiance of his hand .

    The damask suddenly coiled up and slithered along Li Yundong¡¯s right arm . Li Yundong tried to rip it away with his left hand, but the damask slipped down his legs and floated back into the air again .

    "Tell your stupid organization to leave us alone and never bother us again!" Li Yundong yelled .

    "S- Stupid organization!" The ire returned to the girl¡¯s voice . "How dare you! The Zhengyi School will not tolerate such utter disrespe¡ª"

    "I don¡¯t give a flying f*ck!" Li Yundong pounced on the red damask and ripped it from the air with both hands . The red aura resisted, but Li Yundong squeezed as hard as he could . Inch by inch, the red aura diminished under Li Yundong¡¯s grip until it dissolved into nothingness . A green apparition floated up from the damask, which was now lying limply in Li Yundong¡¯s hands . The apparition took the form of a frightened teenage girl . It was Ruan Hongling .

    "Get out!!" Li Yundong stepped forward again . The apparition shrieked, then disappeared in a sh of green light .

    Li Yundong sighed and moved his Qi to his Lingtai . Calmness suffused him, and the golden radiance subsided along with all the stress and tension of battle . He turned around and scrambled towards the girl lying on the ground . Su Chan seemed to be holding on to thest threads of consciousness . "Su Chan! Talk to me! How can I help? Tell me what I can do to make it better . . . "

    Su Chan whimpered and moaned .

    "What? What is it?"

    "Mmm . . . M- Ma . . . sss . . . "

    Something clicked in Li Yundong¡¯s mind . The massage .

    "Alright . Got it . " He picked up Su Chan from the floor and carried her into the living room, then positioned her on the floor so that her back was leaning against the couch . After that, he settled himself on the couch behind her and mped his thighs on both sides of her shoulders to keep her upright .

    "Hang on, princess . Don¡¯t die on me . . . " he muttered as he positioned his fingers on Su Chan¡¯s head .

    ***

    A sh of green light appeared on the foot of Mount Longhu . A momentter, Ruan Hongling¡¯s figure appeared on the flight of stairs leading up to Mount Longhu . Like everything else in the area, the stairs¡ªcovered in blue gstones¡ªlooked elegant in a quaint and picturesque sort of way .

    Ten years . Ruan Hongling had had that red damask for over ten years . And now it was taken from her by that vile, and wicked man, that pathetic ve of a fox spirit . How could she allow this to happen? How could she? No . She didn¡¯t allow it to happen . The man had taken the thing from her by force . His Spirit was so powerful that it had broken the connection between her Spirit and the damask . And now the damask no longer answered to her . Oh, the shame . How could she live with herself from now on?

    A sob escaped Ruan Hongling¡¯s lips . She pressed a hand to her mouth to stifle it . Good thing she didn¡¯t fly straight into Mount Longhu . She didn¡¯t want anyone to see her like this . Well, other than Elder Sister Zi Yuan, of course .

    Once she had regained control of her emotions, Ruan Hongling took the flight of stairs and began making her way into Mount Longhu . Halfway up the mountain, Ruan Hongling stopped beside a small Taoist temple . When she raised her knuckles, poised to knock on the door, it swung open .

    "Elder Sister Zi Yuan!!!" Ruan Hongling wailed and threw herself into the woman¡¯s arms .

    "Good God, Hongling . What on earth is the matter?"

    "My damask . . . Someone took my damask from me!"

    Ruan Hongling rubbed her eyes and met Elder Sister Zi Yuan¡¯s gaze . A tiny smile graced her ever-beautiful features . "C¡¯mere Hongling . "

    Tears stung Ruan Hongling¡¯s eyes again and she couldn¡¯t help the sob that escaped her lips a momentter . It was like Elder Sister Zi Yuan¡¯s gentle pats on her back had broken the dam holding back her emotions .

    "Now, now . . . Stop crying, okay? It¡¯s just a red damask, what¡¯s the big deal? I¡¯ll get you another one for youter!"

    Ruan Hongling sniffed . "But it isn¡¯t the same! That thing has been with me for ten years! Master gave it to me himself!"

    Elder Sister Zi Yuan just smiled and said nothing . Minutester, Ruan Hongling¡¯s sobs petered out .

    "Elder Sister Zi Yuan . . . "

    "Yes?"

    "You opened the door when I was about to knock . . . "

    Elder Sister Zi Yuan smirked .

    "How did you know I was returning?" Ruan Hongling asked .

    Elder Sister Zi Yuan chuckled . "Well . Let¡¯s just say that I read your fortune before I returned . So I know that you¡¯d run into trouble today . I¡¯ve been waiting for your return, you see . "

    Ruan Hongling giggled, feeling joy for the first time since she left New Hongsheng District . "You could predict that far into the future? You really are awesome, Elder Sister Zi Yuan!"

    Elder Sister Zi Yuan smiled and dried Ruan Hongling¡¯s tears gently . "Look at you . Crying like a baby even though you¡¯re already a big girl . "

    Ruan Hongling pouted . "That damask is precious to me, you know . . . "

    "I know . Come . Tell me, then . Who took it from you? Didn¡¯t they know that you¡¯re from the Zhengyi School?"

    "It was a man," Ruan Hongling growled . "A vile, repulsive, and lecherous man!"

    A slight frown marred Elder Sister Zi Yuan¡¯s features . "Oh?"

    Suddenly, Ruan Hongling went into a panic . She grabbed Elder Sister Zi Yuan¡¯s arms . "There¡¯s something else, Elder Sister Zi Yuan . . . That man . . . He . . . He¡¯s the Jindan¡¯s Heir!"

    Elder Sister Zi Yuan¡¯s demeanor changed in an instant . Gone was the calm andposed woman . "What?! Are you sure, Hongling? Are you absolutely positive?"

    Ruan Hongling nodded . There could be no mistake . "I¡¯m sure of it, Elder Sister Zi Yuan! He unleashed the Jindan¡¯s aura . That¡¯s how he managed to take the damask from me!"

    "How could . . . " Elder Sister Zi Yuan went pale . For long while, she just stood there, gaping like a fish . Ruan Hongling shook her arm . "Elder Sister?"

    Finally, after minutes of silence, Elder Sister Zi Yuan spoke . "Hongling . Go to my room and grab the jade te and the mirror . "

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s eyes widened . "Seriously?"

    Elder Sister Zi Yuan nodded . "Do you know where I keep them?"

    Ruan Hongling nodded .

    "Go and get them . We¡¯ll leave the mountain immediately . "

 Chapter 121

    Chapter 121

    <h4>You¡¯re Stuck with Me!</h4>

    "I¡¯m okay now, Yundong . . . Really . "

    Li Yundong put the ss of water on the floor and looked at Su Chan worriedly .

    "Are you sure? Coz . . . Fifteen minutes ago, you really looked like you were about to die . " Li Yundong¡¯s heart clenched at the memory .

    Su Chan stood up and started jumping up and down . "Hehehe . . . See! I¡¯m fine . . . Woohoo! Weee¡ª"

    Li Yundong pulled her into a crushing hug . "I¡¯m so sorry . . . Su Chan . . . This is all my fault . God damn it . I should¡¯vee home as soon as I left thepany . I should¡¯ve been here! I shouldn¡¯t . . . I shouldn¡¯t have let you go through all that alone . . . "

    A momentter, Li Yundong felt the light strokes of Su Chan¡¯s finger on his scalp . He closed his eyes to savor the feeling . He could¡¯ve lost her tonight, but he didn¡¯t . She was still here, alive . And that was all that mattered .

    "It¡¯s okay, Yundong . . . You came back in time . You saved me . I¡¯m alright now . See?" Su Chan pulled away . And good God, that smile could light up his whole world .

    Li Yundong lifted his hand and let his fingers trailed along the nes of her cheek . "Are you really okay? I don¡¯t know what the hell she did, but she hurt you really bad . I¡¯ve never seen you so..." So lifeless . So debilitated . "I mean, that was the worst shape I¡¯ve ever seen you in . "

    Su Chan shook her head gently . "The damage isn¡¯t physical . It¡¯s . . . "

    Li Yundong jerked back in surprise . "What? What do you mean it¡¯s not physical? Are you hurt elsewhere?" He scanned Su Chan¡¯s body up and down .

    Su Chan looked away . "It¡¯s the aura . I was incapacitated because I was exposed to its aura . " Su Chan pointed at the red damask lying on the floor .

    Li Yundong stared at the damask while secretly entertaining thoughts about burning the damn thing to ashes .

    "Don¡¯t bother . You can¡¯t destroy it," Su Chan said as if reading his thoughts .

    Li Yundong shot her a worried nce . "But . . . Is it . . . Is it still affecting you?"

    Su Chan shook her head . "No . The magic is gone . "

    Li Yundong lowered his head with a sigh . Momentster, he nced at Su Chan again . "How are you feeling?"

    "Tired . . . " Su Chan said . "But I¡¯m fine . You mobilized my Qi when you gave me the massage . The movement of my Qi helped expel the aura from my body . "

    Li Yundong huffed, then ran a hand through his hair . "This is all on me . I should¡¯ve done something . " He paced back and forth in the living room . "I should¡¯ve told you something about the noise instead of just dismissing it . " He stopped pacing and stared at Su Chan . "Remember that day when Ruan Hongling visited us?"

    Su Chan nodded meekly .

    Li Yundong shook his head in disgust . "Yeah . That¡¯s the first time I heard the swishing noise . Heard it after Ruan Hongling left . It sounded like someone waving a g . Now we know what was causing it . " He red at the red damask .

    Su Chan sighed . "It doesn¡¯t matter Yundong . It has a stealth mode where it turns invisible . "

    "So she¡¯s been spying on us . . . since . . . ?"

    Su Chan shrugged . "My guess? Since the day she knocked on our door . "

    "Right . . . Wait . Is that why you hid inside your room that day? Not because . . . " Not because we made out like a bunch of horny teenagers and you got scared, he added silently .

    "Yeah . . . But I was listening to your conversation . . . "

    Li Yundong frowned . Something felt off . "Those guys have been hunting you since you stole the . . . " Li Yundong pointed at his chest .

    Su Chan smiled wryly . "You can say it, Yundong . It doesn¡¯t matter anymore . "

    Right . Their cover was blown anyway . Li Yundong cleared his throat . "When Ruan Hongling came by the other day, it didn¡¯t seem like she knew you were here . She kept introducing herself to me . Then she asked me about my school and who my master is . " Come to think of it, Lin Youfa kept asking him the same thing as well . Maybe it was a Cultivator thing .

    Su Chan toyed with her sleeves . "That¡¯s because she really didn¡¯t know that day . I hid my aura well . " Su Chan looked him in the eye . "I think she came that day because she was curious about you . "

    "Me? But how could she possibly . . . " Li Yundong sighed and let his chin drop to his chest . "Right . Because I roared in the middle of the night like some nutcase . "

    "She must have traced your roar to this area," Su Chan said pensively . "Only a Cultivator can roar that loudly and for such a long period of¡ª"

    Li Yundong groaned and pped his forehead . "Damn it, I¡¯m such an idiot . . . "

    "What?"

    Li Yundong stared at Su Chan . "She didn¡¯t have to trace the roar here . She lives in this area . I actually saw her the first day we moved here . "

    Su Chan frowned . "What? Where?"

    Li Yundong sighed . "At the gazebo near the gates . I didn¡¯t tell you back then because I didn¡¯t think it was significant . She lives in the block just opposite ours . Remember that morning when I first experienced Xianjue? She¡¯s the one I saw on the balcony!" Li Yundong sighed again . "After that I guess it just slipped my mind, what with all the crazy shit happening around us . Zhao Yujian, Lin Youfa, and all that crap . . . "

    Su Chan sat there quietly with a thoughtful look on her face . Momentster, she closed her eyes and pounded her head with her fist . "Of course . . . Of course she would be living here . . . "

    Li Yundong grabbed her fist and ended her bout of self-harm . "What?"

    "Don¡¯t you see? She¡¯s a Cultivator! Of course she would pick this ce as her home . This is the ideal ce for a Cultivator to stay!"

    All those strange criteria Su Chan had when they were apartment hunting suddenly made a lot of sense .

    Su Chan chuckled . "Ruan Hongling and I were both thinking like Cultivators . So it¡¯s no surprise that we end up staying in the same area . "

    Li Yundong shook his head wryly . "I guess it¡¯s just shit luck then . . . "

    Su Chan snorted . "She must have felt dissatisfied after her first visit . " Su Chan stared at Li Yundong . "You practically dismissed her . "

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes . "I thought she was nuts . Can you me me though? None of the stuff she said made any sense . I even did a search on the inte afterwards . "

    Su Chan look adorably puzzled . Silence spread between them, and the look of puzzlement on Su Chan¡¯s face deepened .

    "What?" Li Yundong asked .

    "But we didn¡¯t have fish that day . . . or the day after . "

    Now it was Li Yundong¡¯s turn to look confused . "What? Fish?"

    "You said you searched in a . I thought . . . " Su Chan blushed . "I thought that¡¯s . . . that¡¯s what they use to c- catch fish . . . "

    Li Yundong¡¯sughter expelled every ounce of tension in his body . "Oh, God . . . Seriously, Su Chan . I adore you to death . . . Hahaha . . . You really are something else, you know that?"

    "S- Sorry . . . "

    Li Yundong reached over and ruffled her hair . "Don¡¯t be sorry . I like this innocent side of you . " He sighed . "It¡¯s so tiring to deal with schemes and ulterior motives all the time . Being with a girl like you makes life better . "

    "E- Even though I¡¯m a troublemaker?"

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Yes . Even though you¡¯re a troublemaking chipmunk . "

    Su Chan pouted and swiped at him .

    Li Yundong caught her hand and held it firmly in his palm . "Which means she found you when she was trying to spy on me..."

    Su Chan¡¯s expression turned grim . "That¡¯s partly my fault I guess . . . "

    Li Yundong gave her a funny look . "What? Why is it your fault?"

    "I got careless . Didn¡¯t conceal my aura well enough . . . And you weren¡¯t here . "

    "Me?"

    "Your presence alone can act as a smoke screen," Su Chan exined . "Remember when I told you about the night we first met? I hid the Jindan in your mouth and stayed close to you . Your Yang Qi can mask auras . "

    "Is that why you insist on tagging along wherever I go?"

    Su Chan nodded . "But that was before . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s expression softened . "And now?"

    "Now it¡¯s because I can¡¯t imagine my life without you . "

    ***

    "I think we¡¯re all set," Li Yundong said, zipping up the suitcase . "Anything else you wanna bring, princess?"

    Li Yundong heaved the suitcase off the bed and ced it on the floor . "Princess?" he said, turning around . Su Chan was sitting on her bed, staring off into space . She was hugging her pillow to her chest .

    Something tugged inside Li Yundong¡¯s heart . "Do you want to take that pillow with you?" he said, keeping his tone light .

    Su Chan¡¯s lips quivered . Momentster, she sniffed . Dark spots formed on the pillowcase . Li Yundong walked over and sat down on the bed . "What¡¯s the matter, princess? Are you sure you¡¯re not hurt anywhere else?"

    Su Chan shook her head and rubbed her eyes . "I . . . I¡¯m gonna miss our home . . . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s features softened . Su Chan had insisted that they stay somewhere else tonight lest Ruan Hongling returned with more reinforcements . Apparently, Su Chan thought they didn¡¯t stand a chance against the Zhengyi School, not even with the Jindan . Li Yundong pulled her into his arms . "It¡¯s gonna be alright," he said, stroking her hair . "Whatever happens, it¡¯s gonna be alright . "

    They left the apartment with two suitcases in tow . Li Yundong decided to keep the lease of their apartment until they sorted this mess out, though to be honest, he hadn¡¯t a single clue what "sorting things out" would entail . Was the Zhengyi School open to negotiations? Would they leave Su Chan alone if he allowed them to remove the Jindan from his body?

    They took a cab to town and wandered around for a bit . Two hourster, they walked into a dingy motel, deciding that it was going to be their ce of stay for the time being . They walked up to the reception and booked a single room . With thest of Li Yundong¡¯s savings, it was all they could afford .

    Li Yundong sat down on the bed with a sigh and pulled Su Chan into his arms . "Looks like it¡®s us against the world again . "

    Su Chan wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled into his chest . "I¡¯m sorry . . . "

    Li Yundong stroked her head . "Don¡¯t be silly . You¡¯ve got nothing to be sorry for . "

    "You got into this mess because I came into your life," Su Chan said .

    Li Yundong chuckled wryly . "My life was a mess before you came into my life . A meaningless mess . " Li Yundong held her gaze and cupped her cheek . "At least now I¡¯ve got you . "

    Su Chan closed her eyes as though she was feeling his touch . Suddenly, she opened her eyes and pulled his hand away from her face . "You¡¯re hurt!"

    When Li Yundong followed her gaze, his eyesnded on the circr wound at the center of his palm . The wound had stopped bleeding . It didn¡¯t even hurt anymore .

    Li Yundong gave her a reassuring smile . "Nah . Don¡¯t worry about it . It¡¯s just a scratch . "

    Su Chan looked at him like it was nuts . "It¡¯s not nothing . You were injured by a magical object . "

    Li Yundong pulled out the red damask from his pocket and held it out in front of them . "I wonder how this thing works . I mean, right now, it looks just like an ordinary piece of cloth . "

    Su Chan took the damask and stared at it in awe . "This thing is made from the Rainbow Cirrus . "

    Li Yundong shook his head . "The rainbow what?"

    "The Rainbow Cirrus . It¡¯s a magical substance found in the Heavenly Lake . "

    "The Heavenly Lake . So, what, is that like Cultivators¡¯ favorite fishing spot or something?" Li Yundong joked .

    Su Chan giggled and smacked his arm . "No, dummy . "

    Li Yundong smiled . He loved making Su Chan happy . "This Rainbow Cirrus thing... What does it look like?"

    "Well . . . It¡¯s a thin, fog-like substance . Just like a thin cloud¡ªa cirrus, basically . And it¡¯s colorful . If I¡¯m not mistaken, the former Head of the Zhengyi School had extracted the Rainbow Cirrus from theke and then made this . " Su Chan handed the damask back to him .

    Li Yundong took it and waved it in the air a few times . "What is this thing capable of? I mean other than invisibility and drilling holes into flesh . "

    "Well, it¡¯s basically indestructible . It is resistant to physical damage . Fire . Wear and tear . All that stuff . And it¡¯ll never get dirty . "

    Li Yundong stared at her with raised brows .

    Su Chan pointed at the nightstand .

    Li Yundong reached over and grabbed the half-empty can of coke .

    Su Chan took the can . "Hold it away from the bed . "

    Li Yundong moved the damask to the side and hold it up beside the nightstand . Su Chan crawled to the edge of the bed . "Now watch . "

    Su Chan sshed the coke on to the cloth . The liquid flowed down the length of the damask without wetting it, like one of those hydrophobic materials .

    Li Yundong whistled .

    Su Chan ced the empty can on the nightstand and crawled back into his arms . "You can try pouring other substances on it . Dirt . Mud . Oil . It will never get stained . Not even corrosive substances can damage it . "

    Li Yundong ran his hand over the red cloth . "How does it work though?"

    "In its natural state, the damask has thinyer of protective aura surrounding it . The aura repels physical objects . That¡¯s why no substance can stain or damage it . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "But howe I can still hold it?" He patted the damask for emphasis .

    "Take a closer look at where you¡¯re touching it . "

    Li Yundong brought the damask closer to his face . "Hey . . . that¡¯s . . . " Li Yundong¡¯s gaze snapped towards Su Chan, who nodded .

    "You¡¯re not actually touching it . Your skin is actually hovering slightly above it . " Su Chan shrugged . "Maybe a quarter of an inch or so, I guess? But with magic, the protective aura can be enhanced . That¡¯s why Cultivators use it as a protective shield against physical attacks and spells . "

    Li Yundong nodded . He remembered trying to punch the damask earlier, but none of his punches got through .

    Su Chan shook her head . "This is one of Zhengyi School¡¯s best magical artifacts . A lot of Cultivators would kill for something like this . . . " Su Chan turned around and stared at him in disbelief . "And yet you grabbed it out of the air just like that . That¡¯s amazing..."

    Li Yundong chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck . "I don¡¯t even know what the hell I did, you know? I think it¡¯s because of the Jindan . "

    Su Chan nodded . "The wound . The Jindan¡¯s protective mechanism was activated the moment the damask pierced your hand . You were able to grab the thing after the Jindan¡¯s aura was unleashed . " Su Chan looked at him . "When activated using magic, the damask¡¯s protective aura is strong . But it¡¯s still no match for the Jindan¡¯s aura . But that¡¯s wasn¡¯t all you did . You managed to deactivate the damask . "

    "Because of the Jindan¡¯s aura?"

    "No . That was because your Spirit is much stronger than Ruan Hongling¡¯s Spirit . "

    "My Spirit?"

    Su Chan nodded . "Ruan Hongling¡¯s Spirit was connected to the damask . That¡¯s how she was able to control it . But the connection between her Spirit and the damask was severed the moment your Spirit overwhelmed hers . " Su Chan suddenly turned around to face him . "You saw Ruan Hongling with your Xianjue that morning, right? It makes sense now . Your Spirit is stronger than hers . That¡¯s why your Xianjue worked . "

    Li Yundong folded the damask into a neat square . "There," he said, presenting the folded damask to Su Chan .

    Su Chan stared at him nkly . "What?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "It¡¯s yours . "

    "Wha . . . ? Are you giving it to me?"

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Of course!"

    "B- But it¡¯s yours! You took it!"

    "What¡¯s mine is yours too, isn¡¯t it?"

    "But . . . " Su Chan stared at him with tears swimming in her eyes .

    All of a sudden, Su Chan started to sob . Li Yundong ced the damask on the nightstand . "Hey . . . What¡¯s wrong? Why are you crying all of a sudden?"

    Su Chan wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face against his chest . "Don¡¯t leave... Don¡¯t leave me... You can¡¯t ever abandon me Yundong! You¡¯re stuck with me forever!"

    Warmth bloomed inside Li Yundong¡¯s heart . "I¡¯m happy to be stuck with you . You¡¯re the best thing that¡¯s ever happened to me . "

    "R- Really?"

    Li Yundong dropped a kiss to her forehead . "Yeah . You are the cutest, the prettiest, and the most adorable . . . . . . "

    Su Chan was looking at him expectantly, her eyes sparkling with hope .

    " . . . Chipmunk that I¡¯ve ever met . "

    Su Chan¡¯s face fell . "Y- You . . . " She gaped like a fish . "Meanie! Meanie! Meanie!" She smacked his chest . "I¡¯m not a cheap monk!"

    Li Yundong burst intoughter, then pulled her into his arms . "It¡¯s gonna be okay, Su Chan . I¡¯ve got a job now . We¡¯ll work it out . "

    Su Chan tensed up the moment he mentioned his job . He wondered why . "Are you sure you¡¯re okay?" he asked . "How are you feeling?"

    "A little sore . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "Where?"

    "My foot, I guess?"

    "What? Did you sprain it?"

    "I don¡¯t think I did . But I might not havended right when I crashed into the wall . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes glinted with delight .

    "Aha! How about I give you a foot rub?"

    ***

    "I don¡¯t get it," Li Yundong said as he stared at Su Chan¡¯s delicate and beautiful foot .

    "Get what?"

    Li Yundong chuckled wryly and kneaded the arch of Su Chan¡¯s foot . Su Chan let out a breathy moan, causing him to look up . Su Chan stared back at him with ssy eyes, her bottom lip pulled between her teeth . Li Yundong cleared his throat . "I mean I don¡¯t get how beautiful girls like you have such nice feet . "

    Su Chan gasped and withdrew her feet . "What do you mean beautiful girls like me! Whose feet have you touched? Which girl is it?" she growled .

    Li Yundongughed and pulled her foot back . "Just yours mdy! Just yours! So don¡¯t be jealous . "

    Li Yundong tickled the base of her foot, causing her to giggle .

    "Kyaa!!! S- Stop . . . Stop it! Kyaaa . . . hahaha . . . Please . . . "

    Li Yundong took pity on her and stopped his tickling . "Don¡¯t move," he said sternly .

    "Oh . "

    The next few minutes passed infortable silence with Li Yundong gently kneading the soft skin of Su Chan¡¯s foot and Su Chan letting out a moan or two .

    A whileter, Li Yundong could feel Su Chan¡¯s eyes on him . He looked up from her foot and smiled . "You¡¯re staring . "

    Su Chan smiled back at him sweetly . "You¡¯re so nice to me, beloved . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Of course . " A teasing glint formed in his eyes . "Like I said, you¡¯re the cutest chip¡ª"

    Su Chan kicked his chest gently . "Do not say cheap monk!"

    Li Yundongughed and trapped her foot against his chest . Then, he gave her a genuine smile . "Of course I¡¯m nice to you . You¡¯re my best girl . "

    Su Chan blushed and looked away .

    Li Yundong went back to rubbing her foot .

    A momentter, Su Chan spoke again . "Aren¡¯t you curious?"

    Li Yundong kept his eyes on her foot . "About what?"

    "Ruan Hongling kept calling me a demon witch," she said with childlike tentativeness . "She associated me with the dark side . Aren¡¯t you gonna ask what she meant?"

    Li Yundong snorted . "Those people from the Zhengyi School . . . They act all high and mighty, like everything they do is righteous . But the truth is that they are nothing but bigots . Extremists . They would probablybel anyone who holds different views as evil . "

    "B- But . . . What if . . . What if one day I turned into a demon . . . Would you still . . . "

    Li Yundongughed . "So? I don¡¯t give a damn even if you turn into a demon . "

    "But... why not?"

    "Well... Because I know you . I¡¯ve seen your actions . And based on what I saw, I know you have a good heart . "

    "Do I?" Su Chan suddenly pulled her foot back and hugged her knees . "All I did was cause trouble for everyone . . . "

    Li Yundong shook his head and climbed onto the bed . "You care, Su Chan," he said, cupping her cheeks . "You care about people, even when you don¡¯t realize it . You care about me, about Zhou Qin, and even Feng Na . " He paused to let that sink in . "After that DVD incident, you asked me whether Feng Na would get into trouble because you were worried about her . " Li Yundong held her gaze . "See? You care . And during the fight with Lin Youfa, when the bastard kicked the car towards me, you were willing to risk your life to help move those injured students away . You even came back for me when you could¡¯ve left . "

    Li Yundong pulled her into his arms . "You¡¯re a good person, Su Chan . Never doubt that . "

    Su Chan pulled away, and their gazes met . Su Chan¡¯s eyes were filled with unspoken emotions .

    "People can call you a demon witch or whatever . I don¡¯t give a damn . To me, you¡¯ll always be my best girl . "

    "I love you, Yundong . "

    Li Yundong smiled . "I love you too . "

    Su Chan leaned in, and their lips met in a ze of passion . Su Chan¡¯s hands went to his hair, tugging and pulling . Li Yundong responded with equal fervor, pouring every ounce of affection he felt for this woman into the kiss .

    Minutester, they parted for air . "Yundong . . . We can¡¯t continue," she said, panting heavily . "Not yet . "

    Li Yundong leaned forward until their foreheads touched . "I know . And you didn¡¯t take my advice . "

    "What advice?"

    Li Yundong chuckled . "I told you, remember? If I ever go too far, just kick me in the nuts . "

    They stared into each other¡¯s eyes, their foreheads still touching . A momentter, they both startedughing .

 Chapter 122

    Chapter 122

    <h4>The Hero¡¯s Fate</h4>

    "So . . . Do you wanna shower first?" Li Yundong asked .

    "Hehehe . . . Why don¡¯t you go first?"

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes at her, then chuckled . "Fine, I¡¯ll go first," he said, tapping Su Chan¡¯s nose . When Su Chan pped his hand away, heughed and got out of bed .

    Li Yundong paused at the bathroom door with his clothes and towel in hand . An evil grin formed on his face . "Hey, I¡¯ll leave the door open . So don¡¯t peek!"

    Su Chan giggled, then stuck out her tongue . "Who would want to look at you . Eww, eww, eww . So gross . So hairy . "

    Li Yundongughed and stepped into the bathroom .

    Fifteen minutester, when Li Yundong stepped out of the bathroom, his eyes bugged out at what he saw . Su Chan the adorable chipmunk was staring at the wall socket, giggling whenever she poked her finger into one of the socket¡¯s terminals . The TV was unplugged and shifted to the side .

    Li Yundong rushed over, nearly tripping over the suitcase on the floor . "Su Chan!" he hissed . "What the hell are you doing! That¡¯s dangerous!"

    Su Chan turned around and giggled . "Hehehehe . . . Brrrr..." Her shoulders moved up and down as she shuddered . "Yundong! That thing is sooooo fun!"

    "Are you out of your¡ª" Li Yundong huffed . "It¡¯s a goddamn wall socket!"

    Su Chan gave him a puzzled look . "But it¡¯s fun! You get this weird tingling when you poke your finger in . " Suddenly, her expression turned contemtive . "I wonder what kind of spell does that . . . "

    Li Yundong did a face palm . Secondster, he started tough . Su Chan shook his arm . "What? What¡¯s so funny?"

    Li Yundong stoppedughing and patted her head . "Don¡¯t do that again, okay? It¡¯s dangerous . "

    Su Chan stared at the wall socket longingly . "Oh . "

    A slow smile formed on Li Yundong¡¯s face . "You know . . . If you crave a tingling sensation . . . You can alwayse to me . . . " He wiggled his eyebrows .

    Su Chan blushed . "Hmph! Who needs you, you pervert! Hmph!"

    Li Yundong chuckled and pulled her to the bed . "I was joking . " He caught a glimpse of the red damask on the nightstand . He reached out and grabbed it . "You really don¡¯t want this thing?"

    Su Chan stared at the damask for a moment, then shook her head . "No . You keep it . You¡¯ll probably need it in the future . "

    Li Yundong studied the cloth in his hand . A momentter, he smiled . "Give me your leg," he said, patting hisp .

    Su Chan frowned . "Why?"

    "Come on," he urged, patting his thigh again .

    Su Chan slid her foot onto hisp . Li Yundong wrapped the damask around her ankle .

    Su Chan gaped at him . "What are you doing?"

    Li Yundong chuckled . "It¡¯s mine, right? So I¡¯m using it as I please . " He winked, then secured the damask around her ankle with a knot . "There," he said, leaning away to admire his work . "Beautiful . "

    Su Chan shook his head in amusement . "The Cultivators of the Zhengyi School would flip out if they ever find out how their precious magical artifact is used . "

    Li Yundong shrugged . "Who cares . " A surge of anger coursed through him . "At least it wouldn¡¯t hurt others if I use it like this . Just look at how the Zhengyi School used it . They gave it to some juvenile girl and let her run amok with it . " Li Yundong stared deeply into Su Chan¡¯s eyes . "She could¡¯ve killed you, you know . "

    Su Chan lowered her gaze . "Not until they have the Jindan . They would¡¯ve tortured me until I handed it over to them . "

    Silence spread between them . Once again, the mood had turned heavy . Li Yundong sighed . Everything was going to shit again . Now they were fugitives from some Taoist organization, which meant they might even have to terminate the lease of their apartment at New Hongsheng District .

    Money had always been an issue . And now even amodation had be an issue . Li Yundong did a quick calction in his head . By his estimation, the money he had left wouldst them for about half a month or so . Well, at least he got a job now . That was a silver lining, right?

    Li Yundong sighed and patted Su Chan¡¯s foot . "Go on and take a shower . After that let¡¯s head to bed . I have wake up early tomorrow to go to work . "

    "No!" Su Chan was shaking her head desperately . "You can¡¯t go to work tomorrow . You can¡¯t leave!"

    "What? But¡ª"

    Su Chan pounced and grabbed his arm . "The Zhengyi School has spies all over the ce . Their influence goes beyond just the Cultivation world, Yundong . They have power in the mortal world as well . "

    "But what am I supposed to do? I¡¯ve got the job . . . " Li Yundong sighed, then levelled a stare at Su Chan . "Besides, are we really going to hide from them forever? You know that¡¯s not gonna work..."

    Su Chan deted and let go of his arm . She stared thoughtfully at the sheets . "Two days . At least wait for two days . " After that, she climbed out of bed without waiting for him to respond . She strode to the suitcase and bent down to take her clothes .

    A momentter, the door of the bathroom mmed shut . Li Yundongy down on the bed and stared at the ceiling . Technically, it shouldn¡¯t even matter . Ruan Hongling had already seen their faces . If it was really like Su Chan said, that the Zhengyi School had influence outside the Cultivation world, then it would be easy to track them down . It really didn¡¯t matter whether they hide or not . What were the chances that the Zhengyi School¡¯s influence extended to the higher-ups in Tiannan University? Or the police? The police had resources that would make tracking them down mere child¡¯s y . He¡¯d checked his bank bnce at an ATM near the motel just now, and the ATM had a security camera . What were the chances that the police already knew that he was here?

    No . Hiding here wasn¡¯t the way to go . But he couldn¡¯t just leave Su Chan alone and go to work either . The best solution was to let Su Chan tag along with him to work . Li Yundong nced towards the bathroom door . Now he just had to get Su Chan to agree .

    ***

    "Please father . . . all you have to do is make a call," Zhou Qin pleaded into her phone . She listened to the voice on the phone for a few seconds .

    "He doesn¡¯t deserve this, father! Look . . . We don¡¯t have time, okay? The meeting will be held today . The chancellor is already on his way to the university . Just give the chancellor a call . Please . " Zhou Qin sighed . "One phone call from you and all of this will be over . "

    Zhou Qin suddenly perked up, an unbidden smile forming on her face . "You¡¯ll do it? Thank you¡ª" Zhou Qin¡¯s smile vanished instantly . "What condition?"

    Secondster, Zhou Qin lowered the phone from her hand . She stared at the floor, her eyes swimming with tears . A momentter, Zhou Qin raised her hand and threw the phone on the floor . A loud smash sounded as the device hit the floor with pieces of it flying asunder .

    ***

    Feng Na stared at her own reflection in the mirror . She didn¡¯t like what she saw . There were dark rims around her eyes, which were puffy from all the crying she¡¯d done for the past few hours . Her face looked pale and a bit gaunt . Those were marks¡ªthe marks of guilt .

    She should¡¯ve said something to Director Qian . She should¡¯ve spoken up instead of let Cheng Cheng drag her away from the scene . She should¡¯ve taken part of the me, but she didn¡¯t . Instead, she let a good man shoulder all the me while she walked away meless . The whole movie screening was her idea in the first ce . And she should¡¯ve checked the damned DVD before ying it on the big screen, but she didn¡¯t . This was her fault .

    Feng Na exited the bathroom and returned to the dorms . Feng Na trudged to her bed and spotted Cheng Cheng sitting there with her back against the headboard . Cheng Cheng had herptop with her, and was now staring fixatedly at the screen . Feng Na plopped down onto the mattress . A heavy sigh escaped her lips .

    Cheng Cheng looked up from the screen . "Someone just posted on the forum . The chancellor has been spotted in the universitypound . " Cheng Cheng let out a dejected sigh . "Makes sense . The meeting is today . They are going to brief the chancellor about Li Yundong¡¯s expulsion . If the chancellor agrees to the expulsion, Li Yundong is gone for good . "

    Feng Na whimpered . "Oh God... Why didn¡¯t I say anything, Cheng Cheng . " She tugged her hair . "I¡¯m such a selfish bitch!"

    Cheng Cheng put herptop aside and patted Feng Na¡¯s back . "Hey . . . None of this is your fault, okay?"

    Feng Na snorted . "What are you even talking about? Everything is my fault . "

    "No," Cheng Cheng said, her tone firm and unyielding . "It¡¯s Director Qian¡¯s fault . He expelled Li Yundong straightaway without even conducting an official investigation into the matter first! That¡¯s just unfair . " Cheng Cheng snorted . "Everyone knows that he¡¯s been out to get Li Yundong for weeks . He was just looking for the right opportunity to expel him . "

    Feng Na groaned . "And I gave the slimeball the means to do just that . I literally ced the opportunity right into his hands!"

    Cheng Cheng sighed . "Nana . . . Listen . . . You can¡¯t keep doing this to yourself . It¡¯s not your¡ª"

    "God damn it!" Feng Na sprang to her feet and stormed away from the bed . "Enough is enough . I¡¯m going to fix this . " Feng Na yanked open her wardrobe and pulled out a few hangers .

    "Whoa, whoa, whoa . . . Hold on a second there . . . " Cheng Cheng mmed the wardrobe shut before Feng Na could grab another article of clothing from it . "What do you mean by fix this? You¡¯ve already called Zhou Qin and asked her for help, right? You¡¯ve done all you could . "

    Feng Na pushed Cheng Cheng aside and opened the wardrobe again . "That was a day ago . If Zhou Qin really did something about it, this meeting wouldn¡¯t even be taking ce!"

    "Okay, so not even Zhou Qin could help . Well, that¡¯s it, right? That¡¯s your trump card, and it didn¡¯t work . So what do you mean by fixing it?"

    "You know what I mean . I¡¯m going to tell them everything . "

    Feng Na stumbled when Cheng Cheng suddenly yanked her backwards . "Are you out of your damn mind, Nana?" Cheng Cheng hissed . "You¡¯re throwing away your future for nothing!"

    "It won¡¯t be for nothing!" Feng Na seethed . "If I told the council I¡¯m partially at fault, then Li Yundong¡ª"

    "They would find a way to make Li Yundong look bad anyway! Come on, Nana!" Cheng Cheng said in exasperation . "This is Director Qian we¡¯re talking about . Do you really think what you say is going to make a damn difference? Li Yundong was there on the scene that night . He¡¯s already involved, okay? Hell, it was his DVD, for God¡¯s sake . Do you really think Director Qian wouldn¡¯t try to find a way to pin everything on Li Yundong? That sick pervert would just twist everything around and turn Li Yundong into the culprit no matter what you say!"

    Feng Na bit her bottom lip and pushed past Cheng Cheng . "The chancellor is back . . . He will . . . He will see to it that a fair investigation i- is conducted . . . "

    "Nana!" Cheng Cheng mmed the wardrobe shut again .

    Feng Na looked at her bestie, whose eyes were filled with tears . It was like Cheng Cheng was pleading with her eyes . "Please don¡¯t do this, Nana . . . If you do this, Li Yundong¡¯s efforts would go to waste . "

    Feng Na lowered her gaze .

    Cheng Cheng sighed . "Don¡¯t you see? He did it to protect you, Nana . He knew that Director Qian would find a way to drag him into this . That¡¯s why he decided to take all the me . "

    Feng Na raised her gaze and stared at Cheng Cheng intently . "Cheng Cheng, there are some things in life that you must do to avoid regretting it for the rest of your life . This, to me, is one of those things . If I don¡¯t do this, if I let Li Yundong take the fall without at least try to do something about it, the guilt will stay with me no matter how bright my future is, or how sessful I be in the future . Do you understand that?"

    They stared at each other for a while . Then, Cheng Cheng sighed and lowered her head . A momentter, Cheng Cheng met Feng Na¡¯s eyes with steely resolve . "Fine . But I¡¯ming with you . "

    Shock coursed through Feng Na . "What?"

    "I¡¯ll be there when we exin to the council together," Cheng Cheng said .

    "B- But . . . But what if you got dragged into this mess too a- and . . . "

    Cheng Cheng smirked . "As if I¡¯m going to let you steal all the glory!"

    Tears stung Feng Na¡¯s eyes . "You . . . " Feng Na sniffed and opened her arms . "C¡¯mere, you bitch . "

    Cheng Cheng chuckled and stepped into the hug . "I¡¯ve got your back, bitch . "

    Feng Na chuckled . "Thanks, FCupCC . "

    "No problem, you t-chested . . . Oww!"

    ***

    The door flew open when Feng Na and Cheng Cheng was approaching the conference room on the third floor of the academic building . Director Qian stormed out with a dark scowl .

    Cheng Cheng and Feng Na stopped beside the door and shared a nce with each other .

    "The meeting¡¯s over already? But it¡¯s only been . . . " Feng Na looked down at her watch . "Five minutes . . . "

    Cheng Cheng stared after Director Qian . "He doesn¡¯t look too happy . Maybe the meeting got postponed?"

    Feng Na opened the door and peeked into the conference room . Cheng Cheng stopped behind her .

    "Oh my God... Nana . . . isn¡¯t that . . . "

    "Yeah . . . " Feng Na said .

    "What the hell?" Cheng Cheng whispered .

    What the hell indeed .

 Chapter 123

    Chapter 123

    <h4>Good News and Bad News</h4>

    Feng Na walked out of the academic building in a trance-like state . Her emotions were all over the ce: shock; disbelief; awe; tion; relief; gratitude;

    A tug on her arm made her stop . "Nana . Let¡¯s go sit down over there . "

    Feng Na turned and saw Cheng Cheng pointing at a bench near the academic building . She nodded half-heartedly and let Cheng Cheng pull her to the bench .

    "Holy shit . . . " Cheng Cheng said after they¡¯d both sat down . "I never thought I¡¯d see the country¡¯s Director General of Education in person..."

    Feng Na shook her head . "Don¡¯t you find it odd?"

    Cheng Cheng shot her a questioning look .

    Feng Na gestured with her hand . "Where¡¯s the entourage? Where¡¯s the cavalcade? The police escorts?"

    A contemtive look formed on Cheng Cheng¡¯s face . "Hey . . . You¡¯re right . Director Sun arrived rather quietly, didn¡¯t he? Like, if we didn¡¯t go to the conference room today, we wouldn¡¯t even know that he¡¯s been here . "

    Feng Na frowned . Something strange was going on here . "Is this Zhou Qin¡¯s doing? Maybe Governor Zhou and Director Sun are golfing buddies and he requested the director general to be discreet?"

    "Why not just call her and ask?" Cheng Cheng said . "You have her number, right?"

    Feng Na pulled out her phone and dialed . A whileter, Feng Na lowered her phone and nced at Cheng Cheng . "Voicemail . "

    "Try her house?"

    Feng Na nodded . Secondster, the call got through . "Zhou residence . "

    "Hi . May I speak with Zhou Qin please?"

    "May I know who¡¯s calling?"

    "Um . . . I¡¯m her senior at Tiannan University . Feng Na . "

    "Alright, miss . Please hold on . Your call will be redirected shortly . "

    Some kind of music yed . The music ended with a click, and Zhou Qin¡¯s voice drifted in . "Hello?"

    Feng Na suddenly felt nervous . "Um . . . Hi . It¡¯s me, Feng Na . "

    "Hello, senior . How can I help you?"

    "I just want to say thank you," Feng Na said . "You know, for your help in waiving Li Yundong¡¯s expulsion . "

    There was a brief moment of silence . "I¡¯m sorry, what did you say? Li Yundong, he . . . "

    Feng Na¡¯s eyes shot to Cheng Cheng, who was staring back at her expectantly . "Hey, Zhou Qin . . . Are you okay?" Feng Na asked .

    Zhou Qin cleared her throat . "I- I¡¯m fine . Thank you for telling me, Senior Feng Na . Look, I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m gonna have to call you back . "

    Feng Na frowned and nced at Cheng Cheng again . "Okay . . . "

    The call ended with a click . Feng Na lowered the phone and stared at it .

    Cheng Cheng inched closer to her . "So? What did she say?"

    "It wasn¡¯t her, Cheng Cheng . She didn¡¯t do it . "

    "What? But . . . Then who was it?

    ***

    The strangest shit just happened, Li Yundong thought as he stared at the ATM¡¯s screen . Well, it wasn¡¯t all bad, he supposed . The numbers on the ATM¡¯s disy could be interpreted as either good or bad news, depending on how he looked at it . The good news: his bank overdraft had decreased in amount, which meant that his parents had yet to stop sending him money . The bad news: every single cent that his parent sent had gone into repaying his bank debts, which meant he couldn¡¯t make a withdrawal .

    Li Yundong sighed and pressed the "cancel transaction" key . The ATM machine said its goodbye before spitting out his ATM card . He took the card and leaned against the ATM booth . F*ck . . . He had yet to convince Su Chan to let him go to work, so he had called President Yin earlier and told her about some family emergency . President Yin probably thought the excuse was bullshit but was just too polite to say it . Instead, she told him it was okay, that it would give President Cao a few days to recuperate at home . Li Yundong didn¡¯t know what to make of it . Was this a veiled way of saying "you¡¯re fired," or was this an actual suggestion .

    Li Yundong trudged back to the motel with a heavy heart . When he entered their room, Su Chan was shouting into her phone . "Oh, hey! He¡¯s back! Why don¡¯t you tell him yourself!"

    Li Yundong frowned and walked over . Zhou Qin? Li Yundong mouthed the words to Su Chan, then took the phone from her hand . Su Chan shook her head .

    Li Yundong lifted the phone to his ear . "Hello?"

    "Finally, I¡¯ve managed to get a hold of you, O Hero of Tiannan University!"

    Li Yundong chuckled sadly . "You mean the ex-Hero of Tiannan University . " Oh, how about the Penniless Hero? Or the Heroic Beggar?" Li Yundong stretched his arms above his head .

    "How did you even get this number, Feng Na," he saidzily . "Ah . Of course . Zhou Qin must¡¯ve given it to you . "

    "Who cares how I got your number! You have toe to the university . Your expulsion has just been waived!"

    Li Yundong nearly dropped the phone . What in the ever loving f¡ª

    "What?!" Li Yundong half-shouted into the phone . Secondster, he startedughing . "Nah . You¡¯re just shitting me . . . This is a prank . It wouldn¡¯t be the first time . "

    Feng Na huffed out in exasperation . "This isn¡¯t a prank, Li Yundong . I swear to God, okay? I overheard the chancellor talking in the conference room . Your expulsion is waived, Li Yundong . The chancellor even sang your praises in front of the Director General of Education, for God¡¯s sake! He called you a good student . "

    "The Director Gene¡ª" Li Yundong¡¯s mind went nk for a moment . "You¡¯re shitting me... Why would the Director General of Education be here...?"

    What in the world? Was it Zhou Qin again? It had to be Zhou Qin . Ugh . How many favors do I have to owe her . . . He suppressed a sigh . "Wait . Did you say the chancellor? He¡¯s back?"

    Feng Na groaned in frustration . "Look . That¡¯s not important . Juste to the university . Now . "

    "Fine . I¡¯ll be there in half an hour . " Li Yundong hung up the phone, then stared at the device for a moment .

    Su Chan shuffled over to him tentatively . "What is it, Yundong?"

    Li Yundong ruffled her hair . "Well, princess . Looks like I¡¯m not expelled after all . "

    ***

    "The call is here, Elder Sister . "

    Zi Yuan reached across the center console and took the phone from Hongling .

    "Hello?"

    "It¡¯s done, Zhenren Zi . "

    "Quietly, I hope?" Zi Yuan asked .

    "Of course . "

    Zi Yuan smirked . "Thank you, Director Sun . The Zhengyi School owes you a favor . "

    The middle-aged manughed . "No . Thank you, Zhenren Zi . " There was a pause . "Is there anything else I can assist you with?"

    "No . That will be all . Thank you, director general . "

    Zi Yuan handed the phone back to Hongling, who was practically beaming when she took the phone . "Oh, you¡¯re so clever, Elder Sister Zi Yuan! This really is the most inconspicuous way to draw him out! Why didn¡¯t I think of this before?"

    Zi Yuan gave Hongling a sidelong nce . Because you¡¯re young, immature, impulsive, and reckless . Zi Yuan held her tongue; she wasn¡¯t in the mood to deal with Hongling¡¯s sulking and temper tantrums .

    From the corner of her eyes, Zi Yuan saw Hongling shift in her seat, leaning forward and cing her arms on the car¡¯s dashboard . Together, they watched the front gates of Tiannan University through the car¡¯s windshield .

    A whileter, Hongling seemed to have reached the limit of her patience . "Elder Sister Zi Yuan . . . We¡¯re going to confront him the moment he shows up, right?"

    Zi Yuan sighed inwardly . When will you ever grow up, Hongling . . . She shook her head . "Hongling . . . Good Cultivators shouldn¡¯t rely solely on their powers and the influence of their school... Good Cultivators think before they act . "

    "Yeah, yeah . . . So are we going to confront him or not?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head . "No . We will observe him first before we make a move . "

    "Observe? What¡¯s there to see, Elder Sister Zi Yuan? That demon witch and that vile man should be destroyed at once! Together, I bet we could beat them up and turn them into nothing but ashes¡ª"

    "Enough!!!"

    Hongling jerked away from the dashboard and stared at her fearfully . Zi Yuan didn¡¯t usually raise her voice at Hongling, but this child had gone too far with her impulsiveness, not to mention her penchant for violence . "Keep acting like this and you mark my words, I¡¯ll confine you in Mount Longhu for a year!"

    "Have I made myself clear!"

    "Y- Yes . . . Elder Sister . . . "

    "Good . So tell me our next course of action," Zi Yuan said sternly .

    "We keep our distance and o- observe . . . "

    Zi Yuan turned away from Hongling and stared out the windshield . Yes, they would observe . At longst, the Jindan¡¯s Heir had appeared . Now it was time to see what he was truly capable of .

 Chapter 124

    Chapter 124

    <h4>The Prophecy</h4>

    The university¡¯s chancellor wanted to see Li Yundong . That was the reason Feng Na insisted on himing to the university . Actually, that wasn¡¯t entirely urate . The chancellor didn¡¯t just want to see him, per se; he also wanted to shake Li Yundong¡¯s hand, give him fatherly pats on the back, and then have their photos taken .

    "Um . . . Thank you so much for your help, Chancellor Feng," Li Yundong said, shaking the chancellor¡¯s hand awkwardly . "I really appreciate you giving me another chance..."

    "Tsk, tsk . No, no, no . . . That¡¯s where you¡¯re mistaken young man," Chancellor Feng said . "You see, we should be the ones thanking you . Your courageous actions during the shooting incident have not only saved the lives of over fifty students . You¡¯ve also saved the university from being shut down . And on behalf of the university, I¡¯d like to express our sincere gratitude for your courage and sacrifice . We are forever indebted to you, Hero of Tiannan University . "

    Li Yundong cleared his throat awkwardly and nced around Chancellor Feng¡¯s office . Vice-chancellor Ke and several of the university¡¯s staff were nodding back at him appreciatively . Except for Director Qian and Professor Liu, of course; those two were glowering at the corner . "It¡¯s no big deal, sir . . . I¡¯m happy to help . . . And about that DVD incident . . . " Li Yundong shot a furtive nce at Feng Na . "I really didn¡¯t mean for that to happen, sir . I give you my word . And it wasn¡¯t senior Feng Na¡¯s fault either . It was just a misunder¡ª"

    Chancellor Feng waved him off . "That¡¯s already been cleared up . It didn¡¯t make sense to me anyway why you would do something like that on purpose . " Chancellor Feng shot Director Qian a pointed look . "Indeed, it boggles my mind . I mean, why on earth would a student on the verge of expulsion"¡ªHe turned back to look at Li Yundong¡ª"like yourself be stupid enough to pull a stunt like that? Clearly, there has been some kind of mistake here . " Chancellor Feng shot another look at Director Qian before giving Li Yundong a smile . "Anyway, you don¡¯t have to worry about that incident anymore . Just make sure you keep your... um... private collections, well, private, next time . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s cheeks grew warm . "Y- Yes, sir . "

    Chancellor Feng turned around and gave Vice-chancellor Ke a hand signal . Vice-chancellor Ke nodded, then bent down and took out a piece of folded cloth from inside his briefcase . When Li Yundong gave Feng Na a questioning look, she just shrugged .

    Chancellor Feng took the item from Vice-chancellor Ke and cleared his throat . "Now . Here is a little something for you," he said .

    "Sir?"

    Chancellor Feng smiled and unfolded the cloth . It was a red g, with a bunch of words embroidered on it: The Hero of Tiannan University; a Symbol of Valor and Courage .

    Li Yundong stared at the item until Chancellor Feng stepped forward and pped him firmly on the back . "Come," Chancellor Feng said, wrapping his arms around Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder . "Smile at the camera over there . "

    When the camera¡¯s sh went off, Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether he had actually smiled .

    After that little ceremony, Li Yundong left the chancellor¡¯s office together with Feng Na and Cheng Cheng . The three of them headed towards the cafeteria, where Su Chan was waiting for Li Yundong to return from the meeting with the chancellor . The professors and members of the staff nodded cordially at him whenever they passed by . There were, however, a few professors who had looks of disbelief in their eyes, as though they couldn¡¯t figure out the kind of background Li Yundong must have to be able to enlist the help of the nation¡¯s frigging Director General of Education to intervene . And truth be told, Li Yundong was wondering about that as well . Why on earth would the Director General of Education step in? How the heck did Zhou Qin pull it off? Did her father have connections with the director general? But her father was just a deputy governor, wasn¡¯t he? Did he really have the power to influence someone that high up in the hierarchy?

    Feng Na nudged him . "Are you going to treat everyone to a celebratory meal?"

    Li Yundong gave her an exasperated look .

    "Yeah," Cheng Cheng piped in . "Seeing as everything has all worked out for your . You¡¯re no longer expelled . You got praised by the teachers and even received a"¡ªCheng Cheng took the g from him, her brows furrowed in confusion¡ª"what is this . . . A g of honor, from the chancellor himself . "

    Li Yundong snorted . Cheng Cheng smiled at him . "I¡¯d call that a win, don¡¯t you think? We should celebrate . When¡¯s the party?"

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes . "You can keep it," he said, pushing Cheng Cheng¡¯s hand away when she gave the g back to him . "That thing has no practical use anyway . I¡¯d rather they reward me in cash . "

    Feng Naughed . "Since when did you be so money-minded?"

    "Since I went broke," Li Yundong muttered under his breath .

    "What¡¯s that?" Feng Na asked .

    "Nothing," Li Yundong said, putting an end to the conversation .

    When they arrived at the cafeteria, Li Yundong found Su Chan sitting by herself at a long table, which was full of dishes: noodles; soup; steamed buns; fried dumplings; fried rice; fried eggs; not to mention the huge stack of empty tes near the edge of the table .

    Li Yundong stopped at the cafeteria¡¯s entrance and bade farewell to Feng Na and Cheng Cheng . After that, he hurried over towards Su Chan¡¯s table .

    "H- How did you even...? Where the heck did all this foode from? I don¡¯t remember giving you that much cash . . . "

    "Mmmfff . . . " Su Chan sucked a spoonful of noodles into those huge chipmunk pouches . "Dossh guyssh ahh . . . naiishhh . " Li Yundong followed Su Chan¡¯s gaze and saw a couple of guys who were sneaking nces at Su Chan . And yes, those dudes looked totally smitten . Li Yundong scowled and sat down with a huff . "Hurry up and finish your food so we can get outta here," Li Yundong mumbled .

    "Oh . " Su Chan said and went back to her food .

    Li Yundong sat back and watched her eat . A stab of guilt pierced through him . He really had to figure out a way to bnce school and his new job at the same time . If he could do that, he would be able to have two ie sources: one from his parents, and the other from his new job .

    A whileter, a voice brought him out of his brooding . "Congrattions, Li Yundong . I heard you¡¯ve officially been pardoned . "

    Li Yundong looked sideways, then smiled . "Hey . . . What¡¯s up, Madam ss Rep . Long time no see . "

    Sun Li smirked . "Now that you¡¯re officially back, I hope you¡¯re ready for the finals . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s smile faltered . Oh . Yeah... that .

    "Hey, um . . . ss rep?"

    ¡°Yes?" Sun Li¡¯s smirk widened as though she already knew what wasing . Hell, who was he even kidding; the fact was that he did the same shitst year .

    Li Yundong smiled . "Well . . . I mean, I know the professor gave us tips . But I was wondering if you could let me borrow your notes . . . "

    Sun Li giggled, her eyes sparkling with amusement . "Sure . "

    Li Yundong cheered inwardly and did a mental fist pump .

    "But what¡¯s in it for me?" Sun Li added with a quirk of a brow .

    Li Yundong gaped . "Oh,e on . . . I know you¡¯re a kind person, Madam ss Rep . " Li Yundong smiled fawningly .

    Sun Li broke into a wide grin . "Fine . I guess I can let you borrow my notes since you saved my life during the shooting and all that . . . "

    Relief washed over Li Yundong . "Wow, great . . . Thanks ss rep . You¡¯re the best ss rep I¡¯ve ever had!"

    "Whatever," Sun Li said, rolling her eyes . A hint of redness dusted her cheeks . "Just wait here . I¡¯ll bring the notes to you . "

    Moments after Sun Li left, Su Chan raised her gaze from her te and stared at Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong chuckled and pinched her cheek . "What? Full already?"

    Su Chan kept staring at him .

    "Yundong . . . Do you really have toe back to school?"

    Li Yundong sighed . "Well, I¡¯ve told you already . " He gave Su Chan a pointed look . "Attending this university is gives me an excuse to receive money from my parents . "

    Su Chan blinked those huge puppy dog eyes adorably, and Li Yundong found himself distracted for a moment there . "But you already have a job, right?"

    Li Yundong ruffled her head . "At this point, we need all the money we can get, princess . "

    A contrite expression formed on Su Chan¡¯s face, and she suddenly looked back down at her te . "I¡¯m sorry . . . Yundong . . . " she mumbled . "It¡¯s all because of me that you . . . "

    "Hush . . . " Li Yundong said . "We¡¯ll get through this, okay?" Li Yundong cracked a smile . "Now eat your food . "

    Ten minutester, there was a loud thunk on the table .

    "W- What . . . C- ss rep! I asked for your notes, not a frigging encyclopedia!"

    Sun Li shrugged . "You asked for my notes . Well, these are my notes . " She waved at the huge stack she¡¯d dumped on the table . "Take it or leave it . " Clearly, her definition of "notes" was a little askew . Seriously? How many frigging pages were there in these? Fifty? A hundred?

    There was another thud as Sun Li ced yet another stack of folders filled with A4 papers on top of the already-mountainous pile . Li Yundong nearly slid off his chair . "T- There¡¯s m- more?" Sure, he could memorize all that with his super memory, but that would only take care of the factual questions in the exam . What about the questions that test the application and understanding of the study materials?

    Li Yundong¡¯s shoulders slumped . "I have to memorize and understand all this?"

    Sun Li just smirked .

    Li Yundong¡¯s forehead hit the table with a loud thunk . "I¡¯m screwed . . . "

    Secondster, Sun Li¡¯sughter filled the cafeteria . Li Yundong raised his head in confusion .

    Sun Li was holding her stomach with one hand and pointing at him with the other . "Oh my God . . . You should look at your face . . . "

    Li Yundong scowled . "Wait a minute... You¡¯re just messing with me, aren¡¯t you?"

    Sun Li straightened herself and cleared her throat . "Here," she said, pulling out one notebook from the stack . "That¡¯s all you need to go through . "

    Li Yundong flipped through the notebook and found that it had around thirty pages . Still a lot, but at least it was manageable .

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Thanks for this, Sun Li . " Suddenly, Li Yundong¡¯s eyes went wide . "Wait . But how are you gonna study if you give me all your notes? Here, why don¡¯t I just"¡ªLi Yundong opened his backpack to take out Su Chan¡¯s phone¡ª"snap photos of the pages and return it to you . "

    Sun Li chuckled . "Rx, Li Yundong . You can have the notebook . I¡¯m already prepared, so I don¡¯t actually need the notes . "

    Li Yundong looked up sharply from his backpack, then smiled . "Of course you¡¯re prepared . You¡¯re Sun Li, the Einstein of our ss . "

    Suddenly, Sun Li started giggling .

    Li Yundong gave her a strange look . "What?"

    Sun Li pressed a hand to her mouth to stifle another giggle . "Nah . I was just thinking that you don¡¯t actually need to borrow the notes from me . "

    "Yeah?" Li Yundong snorted . "My grades fromst year say otherwise . "

    "No, that¡¯s not what I meant . I meant there are a lot of girls who would voluntarily give you their notes . " Sun Li smirked . "And I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if you see little hearts drawn on the pages or love letters falling out from between the pages . "

    Li Yundong blushed . "Nope . No thanks . I prefer borrowing from you, if you don¡¯t mind . "

    Sun Li chuckled . "Well, good luck, then . See ya around, Mr . Hero . "

    After Sun Li left, Li Yundong packed the notebook into his backpack . Su Chan was almost done with her food, so he took out a packet of napkin too . Once Su Chan was done, he handed her a piece of napkin .

    "Full?" Li Yundong asked with a smile .

    Su Chan¡¯s face lit up in joy . "Mmm!"

    Li Yundong stood up and grabbed his backpack off the seat . "Come on . Let¡¯s get outta here . "

    "Mmm! Mmm!" Su Chan smacked Li Yundong¡¯s arms a few times .

    Li Yundong looked at her quizzically . "What?"

    Su Chan pointed at his backpack . There was an adorable frown on her face, as though he had just taken away her favorite toy .

    "You wanna carry it?"

    Su Chan¡¯s face lit up . She bobbed her head up and down .

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Why do you like to carry my backpack so much?"

    "Hehehe . . . I don¡¯t know . . . I just wanna carry it!"

    Li Yundong sighed . "Okay, then . But tell me if you feel tired okay? I¡¯ll carry it . "

    "Nope! Not tired at all . . . " Su Chan said, cing the straps over her shoulders .

    Says the one who nearly died yesterday . . . Li Yundong felt a sharp tug in his chest . No . Never again . It was time for him to rise and get stronger . He was going to ace this exam, and then focus on passing the Zhuji phase . "Alright, princess . Let¡¯s head back . Time to do somest-minute cramming!"

    Su Chan did a little leap and then spun on the spot a few times . "Yayyy!!!" She took off ahead of him, his backpack swinging and knocking against her back . Li Yundongughed and followed her . Despite everything that had happened, he was happy .

    ***

    "You¡¯ve made aplete blunder, Hongling . . . " Zi Yuan said as she stared out of the windshield . A young man and a pretty girl with a backpack had just walked past the campus gates .

    Hongling looked totally affronted . "What blunder?"

    "Look closer," Zi Yuan said, pointing at the windshield . The couple was now standing at the roadside, no doubt trying to get a cab ride for themselves .

    "I¡¯m still not seeing it, Elder Sister . . . "

    Zi Yuan looked at her prot¨¦g¨¦ coldly . "You spout all this nonsense about those two being vile perverts when in fact they are both still virgins . "

    "What!!" Hongling shouted . "B- But how could that be . . . "

    Zi Yuan sighed . "How many times do I have to tell you, Hongling? Do not let your prejudices cloud your judgement . You need to observe ande to conclusions based on objective facts, not your emotions . "

    Hongling opened her mouth to protest, but Zi Yuan silenced her with a raised hand .

    Zi Yuan pointed at the windshield . "Just look at the girl . Open your eyes and look . Which part of her doesn¡¯t scream maidenhood to you? Are you really that blind? Her brow bones, her pelvic structure, even theck of gap between her thighs . These are all tell-tale signs that she¡¯s still a virgin .

    "I admit that I was surprised at first that Li Yundong was able to take the damask from you . But now that I¡¯ve taken a closer look at him, it¡¯s not surprising at all . "

    "But look at him, he¡¯s a sick perv . . . "

    Zi Yuan silenced Hongling with a re . "You are the one who isn¡¯t looking, Hongling . " Zi Yuan turned away to face the windshield . "Despite your ims about him being a pervert, Li Yundong is a virgin too . "

    "But that¡¯s . . . that¡¯s because he had the Jindan¡¯s aura!" Hongling said defiantly .

    "The Jindan only helped him break through the damask¡¯s protective aura . " Zi Yuan regarded Hongling pointedly . "That isn¡¯t how he made you lose connection with the damask, Hongling . " Zi Yuan paused to let her words sink in . "His Spirit is stronger than yours!"

    "You don¡¯t know that," Hongling said petntly . "I . . . I was startled, that¡¯s all! My Spirit faltered when I got surprised . It- it was a slip up . I bet if I stayed and fought, th- those two wouldn¡¯t be a match for me!"

    "You foolish child!" Zi Yuan seethed . "He took the damask from you . You lost your weapon, and you still think you can take him on and walk away alive? Your arrogance is going to get you killed!"

    "That¡¯s not a fair assessment, Elder Sister! I was taken by surprise! It wasn¡¯t even a fair fight! It¡ª"

    Zi Yuan regarded her prot¨¦g¨¦ icily . "A fight? Is that the reason you want to be a Cultivator? To fight? To show off your powers and use it to oppress others? If it is, then you¡¯re a disgrace to the school!"

    "You¡¯re just taking his side because of that stupid prophecy!"

    Zi Yuan stiffened in her seat, then turned away from Hongling . She couldn¡¯t even look at the girl right now . Stupid prophecy? How dare she?

    "E- Elder Sister Z- Zi Yuan . . . I¡¯m sorry . . . I didn¡¯t mean it . . . I¡¯m sorry . "

    After a while, Zi Yuan turned in her seat and stared at Hongling . "By calling it a stupid prophecy, you have disrespected Master as well as our school . " Zi Yuan took deep breath, then exhaled slowly . This conversation was over .

    Hongling could say anything she wanted about the prophecy, but the truth wouldn¡¯t change¡ªthe prophecy had alreadye true . Zi Yuan had been waiting for ten years to see the first sign of the prophecying true . Now she had finally seen it, albeit in the most unexpected of ways . You were right, Master . . . You were right all along . . .

    Zi Yuan was just nine when her master brought her the summit of Mount Longhu for the very first time . Zi Yuan could still remember that day as though it were just yesterday: the way her master still looked handsome despite being over 200 years old; the clouds and wisps of fog floating under their feet as they stared down from the summit .

    "Zi Yuan, do you know that you can see your past and your future on this stone?" her master said, pointing at the Obelisk of Fengchen .

    Zi Yuan let her eyes travel up the length of the tapering stone pir erected at the center of the summit .

    "Interested to know your past? Your future?" Master prompted .

    Zi Yuan shook her head . "I don¡¯t want to know about my past, Master . Because nothing can change the past . But . . . " Zi Yuan paused, turning away from the pir to look at her master . "I want to know about my future . "

    Her master chuckled, then snapped a long branch off a tree beside them . Zi Yuan studied her master¡¯s actions quizzically . "Master . . . ? What are you doing?"

    Her master merely smiled and pointed at the Obelisk of Fengchen . "Just watch . . . " He lowered the branch so that the tip was buried amidst the clouds under their feet, then did a swirling motion as though he was stirring the clouds . A whileter, he raised the branch and waved it in the air a few times . Words appeared on the Obelisk of Fengchen¡¯s surface .

    "Zi Yuan . . . Your destiny lies within this poem . "

    Zi Yuan raised her gaze and read the first line: The Jindan¡¯sing ordains thine fate . The sound of the first thunder shaltplete thine soul .

    Zi Yuan tore her gaze away from the stone pir and regarded her master in confusion . "What does it mean, Master?"

    Her master stroke her head lovingly . "Well, that line basically means that you¡¯ll meet your soulmate when the Jindan emerged in the mortal world . "

    Zi Yuan frowned . "Soulmate? But what if I don¡¯t know him? Why should I see him as my soulmate?"

    Her master chuckle . "Nobody knows a person during the first meeting, Zi Yuan . . . "

    "But . . . What if I hate the man . . . Or what if I feel nothing for him? What then? Why would I end up falling in love with him?"

    Her master sighed . "Ah . . . Well, as for the why, you shouldn¡¯t be asking me . " He then looked at Zi Yuan seriously . "You have to discover the why for yourself . The Obelisk of Fengchen merely states a prophecy . It never states the reason behind its predictions . . . "

    Zi Yuan released a long sigh and leaned her head against the car¡¯s headrest . Li Yundong and the girl had just hopped onto a cab . Master . . . I¡¯ve already met the Heir, and I feel nothing for him . Why, Master? Why is a mere mortal destined to be my soulmate?

 Chapter 125

    Chapter 125

    <h4>Mischief</h4>

    "Yundong . . . "

    "Hmm?" Li Yundong tore his gaze away from the pages of Sun Li¡¯s notebook . Su Chan was sitting in front of him on the bed, hugging her knees . She looked like a hurt puppy .

    "I . . . I miss home . . . "

    The notebook bounced on the mattress after Li Yundong tossed it aside . Li Yundong sighed . "So do I . . . "

    "W-Why don¡¯t we . . . Go home?" Su Chan said weakly .

    "Aren¡¯t you afraid we¡¯ll be ambushed again?"

    Su Chan¡¯s cheeks puffed out . She honestly looked like she was about to cry . "Can we go back and have one meal? One meal won¡¯t take too long right? I . . . I miss your cooking . . . "

    Li Yundong began to stroke Su Chan¡¯s head as he pondered her suggestion . Technically, it really wouldn¡¯t make much difference where they were . Besides, he himself was getting a little tired of being holed up inside this motel . "Alright, then . Let¡¯s go home . "

    Su Chan¡¯s face lit up . "Really, really, really?" She bounced on the bed a few times .

    Li Yundong smiled . "Yes, really . " He paused for a moment . "Ruan Hongling no longer has her weapon, right? That should make her less dangerous?"

    Su Chan bobbed her head up and down .

    Li Yundong scratched his chin a few times . "Maybe they won¡¯t even look for us at the apartment . " Li Yundong shrugged, then held Su Chan¡¯s gaze . "Like, they might think we wouldn¡¯t be stupid enough to stay at the apartment after we got ambushed there . They would assume that we¡¯d be on the run . " The safest ce is the most dangerous ce . Perhaps there was a ring of truth in that saying after all .

    "Mmm!" Su Chan leaped up from the bed and headed for the door .

    "Hey, wait!" Li Yundong said . "Come back!"

    Su Chan came to a halt in front of the door, then shuffled back towards the bed .

    Li Yundong scooted to the side, then leaned his bed against the headboard . He patted the space next to him and said, "Come sit down . We need to work out a n first . "

    "Oh . " Su Chan climbed onto the bed obediently .

    "Obviously, we¡¯ll need to wear a disguise . . . " Li Yundong said after Su Chan got settled .

    "A disguise . . . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "Yeah . They might still be watching the building, so let¡¯s not take any chances . We just need to get inside the apartment building without being recognized as . . . well, us . We should be fine once we¡¯re inside the building . " Unless they¡¯ve got someone monitoring the security cameras as well . . .

    Suddenly, Su Chan leaped out of bed and started poking around the motel room as though she was looking for something . Secondster, she returned to the bed with a pencil and a huge paper bag . Su Chan plopped down on the bed and then poked two holes on one side of the paper bag . Li Yundong stared at her, half-amused . "What are you doing?"

    Su Chan tossed the pencil aside and gave him a sweet smile . And then . . .

    "Ta-da!!!" She pulled the whole paper bag over her head . Through the two holes she¡¯d just created with the pencil, he could see her eyes blinking back at him . "A disguise!" she said proudly .

    Li Yundong stared at her . Momentster, he was hit by a wave of uncontrobleughter that had him in tears within seconds . "Hahahaha . . . " Li Yundong held his stomach and rolled around on the bed . "Oh my God . . . Su Chan . . . You . . . Hahaha . "

    Su Chan readjusted the paper bag on her head and struck a few poses . "What? It¡¯s perfect! Nobody could see my face, but I can see perfectly fine!" She poked her fingers through the two holes on the paper bag for emphasis . "Hmm . . . Maybe I should cut a hole for the mouth too . . . "

    Oh God, his stomach hurt . Were his muscles cramping? Yep, his muscles were totally cramping . Hell, he was lucky he didn¡¯t shit his pants .

    Su Chan removed the paper bag from her head, revealing her slightly tousled hair . "I¡¯m gonna make one for you too!" she said, then moved to climb off the bed .

    Li Yundong¡¯s hand shot out and pull her back down . "No . . . " Li Yundong got out through hisughter .

    Su Chan looked adorably puzzled . "Why not?"

    Li Yundong cleared his throat and wiped the tears from his eyes . "Because that¡¯s not gonna work, silly . "

    "Oh . " Su Chan¡¯s expression turned contemtive . A momentter, her face lit up . "Should we wrap our faces with bandages?"

    Li Yundong sighed . Yeah . This was going to be interesting day .

    ***

    Thankfully, they made it into the building without the need of paper bags¡ªball caps and face masks did the trick . Or at least he hoped they did the trick .

    "Home sweet home!" Li Yundong eximed the moment they stepped through the door .

    "Yayy!" Su Chan crossed the living room in quick strides and dove onto the couch .

    Li Yundong followed her into the living room and sat down on the floor .

    "Oh, wait!" Su Chan suddenly sat up .

    Wariness crept in . "What?" Li Yundong asked .

    Su Chan was up on her feet in an instant . "I need to check out the ce first . "

    Li Yundong got to his feet and followed Su Chan . "Yeah, good idea . "

    Fifteen minutester, Su Chan shut her wardrobe with a loud ck, satisfied that there weren¡¯t any magical objects lurking in the apartment .

    "All good?" Li Yundong asked .

    Su Chan nodded . "Yep!"

    Li Yundong sighed inwardly . That was a relief to hear . Truth be told, he really liked staying here . The Zhengyi School and their holier-than-thou attitude could go to hell .

    "Wee!!" Su Chan dove onto her bed . She hugged her cute bolster and rolled around the mattress a few times . "This bed is sooooo nice . . . . "

    Li Yundong smiled at the sight and nced around her room for a while . The room looked the same as it did when they left that night . "Hey, why don¡¯t you take a nap?" Li Yundong nced towards the bed . "I¡¯m gonna go outside and continue study . . . " Su Chan was already fast asleep with her arms and legs wrapped around the fat bolster like a ko . Li Yundong smiled and walked over to the bed . After pulling the nket over Su Chan, he bent down and dropped a kiss on her forehead . Sleep tight, princess . . .

    ***

    Hourster, Su Chan¡¯s head appeared from behind the edge of the notebook Li Yundong was reading . "Yundong . . . "

    "Hmm?" Li Yundong said distractedly .

    "I¡¯m hungry . . . "

    Li Yundong pointed at the kitchen . "There¡¯s still some food inside the fridge . . . Why don¡¯t you eat those first?"

    Su Chan plucked the notebook from Li Yundong¡¯s hands . In an instant, Li Yundong was greeted with what appeared to be thergest pout in existence . Li Yundong had to stifle augh .

    "Mmmm . . . . . . . " Su Chan whined . "Won¡¯t you cook something for me?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "I told you, didn¡¯t I? There¡¯s still food left in the¡ª"

    "I don¡¯t want the ones in the ice box . . . " Su Chan said in a whiny tone . "They¡¯re cold . . . " She shivered and shook her shoulders for emphasis .

    Li Yundong chuckled . Funny how she didn¡¯t have suchints when she was eating ice-cream .

    Su Chan tugged his arms . "I feel like having a hot, steaming meal . . . "

    Well, there¡¯s always the microwave oven . . .

    Li Yundong put his hands behind his head . "Fine . I¡¯ll cook something for you . "

    "Yay! I knew¡ª"

    "But . . . " A teasing glint formed in Li Yundong¡¯s eyes . "You¡¯ll have to say two things nice about me . "

    Su Chan stared at him for a moment . Then, she smiled . "Hehehe... Two things nice about me!"

    Li Yundong frowned . "What?"

    Su Chan¡¯s smile widened into a grin . "Two things nice about me!" She stuck out her tongue .

    Understanding dawned on Li Yundong . Heughed . "Oh, you think you¡¯re so clever, don¡¯t you?" He tickled Su Chan¡¯s side . "That¡¯s not what I meant and you know it . "

    Su Chan giggled, then ced a finger under her chin while looking up at the ceiling . "Beloved . . . Hehe . . . " She smiled at him, her eyes sparkling like diamonds . "You are the best! You¡¯re my favorite person in the world!" Then, she bent down and nted a loud, smacking kiss on his cheek . Tingles traveled down Li Yundong¡¯s spine .

    "Booooriiingg . . . " Li Yundong said in a singsong voice . "That¡¯s old hat . I wanna hear something new!"

    Su Chan¡¯s face fell before her lips protruded into a huge pout . After a while, the pout disappeared, and she was once again smiling sweetly at him . "You love me the most right, beloved? Won¡¯t you cook something for me?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s mouth dropped open . Is this how she wants to y it? "Try again, princess," he said, pinching her cheek .

    "Beloved . . . " Su Chan batted hershes . "Please?"

    Li Yundong burst intoughter . "Fine . . . You win . " Yeah, right . As if he even stood a damn chance against Su Chan¡¯s charms .

    "Yay!"

    Li Yundong stood up from the couch . "Alright then . Let¡¯s see if I can whip up a feast for this little chipmunk of mine . "

    "Feassst!" Su Chan threw her arms around his neck . "You¡¯re so nice, beloved!"

    Li Yundong stroked her hair . "Of course . You¡¯re my best girl . "

    Su Chan¡¯s grin could lit up a room . "Oooh! I know! Lemme help you!"

    Li Yundong could feel his stomach dropping . Uh-oh . . . "Oh, no, no, no . . . No thanks, princess . I can handle it . "

    Su Chan¡¯s face fell . "But I can help . . . Let me help . . . " she begged .

    "No . You¡¯re gonna stay away from the kitchen . Please . I beg you . "

    Su Chan¡¯s cheeks puffed out . "Meanie, meanie!"

    Li Yundong chuckled and poked her cheeks . "Stop sulking . "

    Su Chan¡¯s mood seemed to improve a little . "Will you be quick? I¡¯m hungry . . . " As if on cue, her stomach growled loudly .

    Li Yundongughed and ruffled her hair . "Don¡¯t worry . I¡¯ll be done in no time . "

    It turned out that "no time" meant twenty minutes . Li Yundong and Su Chan dug into the three dishes that Li Yundong had whipped up from the remaining ingredients in the fridge .

    At some point, Su Chan suddenly lowered her spoon and stopped eating .

    "Something wrong?" Li Yundong asked .

    "I don¡¯t feel like going back to the motel . . . "

    Li Yundong nodded . He understood the feeling . He put down his bowl and chopsticks, then took Su Chan¡¯s hand . "Is there a way to secure the apartment?"

    Su Chan looked down at the table top . "I . . . I could . . . put a simple protective spell?"

    "Will it hold?"

    Su Chan sighed . "Not against magical weapons . But they will work fine against low level spells . "

    Li Yundong leaned back and crossed his arms . "Say, princess . . . Is it just me, or does something smell a little fishy here?"

    Su Chan looked up at him, then sighed . "No, it isn¡¯t just you . To be honest, I¡¯ve been waiting for them to show up again since yesterday . "

    Li Yundong snapped his fingers . "Exactly . Like, why aren¡¯t we attacked already?" He shook his head . "We literally went to campus in broad daylight . But nobody approached us . Everything¡¯s just normal . None of this makes sense if the Zhengyi School wants the Renyuan Jindan as badly as you said . " Li Yundong looked at Su Chan . "I don¡¯t suppose they¡¯ve suddenly decided to give up?"

    Su Chan stared at him as though he was nuts .

    Li Yundong chuckled . "I suppose not . "

    Silence spread between them . They sat there for a while, nursing their thoughts .

    "Well, the only exnation I can think of is that they¡¯re watching us," Li Yundong said . "Maybe they¡¯re waiting for the right opportunity to strike?"

    Su Chan nodded . "Agreed . Maybe they¡¯re worried because we now have one of their most powerful weapons in our possession . "

    Li Yundong hummed his agreement . That made sense . Actually, he had no idea how to use the damask, but the Zhengyi School didn¡¯t know that .

    A momentter, Li Yundong came to a decision . "We¡¯ll stay here . "

    Su Chan looked up sharply . "Really?"

    Li Yundong nodded . "If our theory is right, that they¡¯re observing us, then it really doesn¡¯t matter where we hide . " Li Yundong held Su Chan¡¯s gaze . "They might follow us around wherever we go . "

    Su Chan nodded . "Master told me that the Zhengyi School¡¯s influence in the mortal world runs deep . I don¡¯t exactly know what that means, because I . . . " Su Chan suddenly blushed . " . . . don¡¯t know much about the hierarchy of authority in the mortal world . But there could be spies everywhere . "

    A fire lit up in Li Yundong¡¯s chest . He picked up his chopsticks, and ced a piece of meat into Su Chan¡¯s bowl . "I told you right from the start that running wouldn¡¯t solve the problem," he said . "I need to train myself so that I can hold my own against them if they bother us again . Eat up, princess . Let me deal with this stupid exam first, and then you can help me pass the Zhuji phase . "

    ***

    Next morning, Li Yundong dropped Su Chan off at the cafeteria before he headed towards the exam hall . All around him, students trudged along towards the designated lecture hall . The students wereughing and smiling . None of them seemed worried about the exam at all . He wondered what gave them such confidence; even with his super memory, Li Yundong still wasn¡¯t confident enough to beughing before the exam .

    Li Yundong followed the other students into the lecture hall . Question booklets and answer sheets had already been arranged on the tables when they walked in . As if on autopilot, Li Yundong strode to the back of the lecture hall and took his seat on thest row .

    A minuteter, Zhou Qin walked in, pausing the moment she spotted him at thest row . She smiled and walked over towards him .

    "Good morning," Zhou Qin said, taking a seat beside him .

    "Morning . . . " Li Yundong mumbled . "Hey . . . Um . . . Thanks again . "

    Zhou Qin frowned . "For what?"

    Li Yundong gave her a look: stop ying dumb .

    When Zhou Qin didn¡¯t say anything after a few seconds, Li Yundong rolled his eyes . Gee . She really wants me to spell it all out, doesn¡¯t she? He sighed . "For the expulsion thing . . . "

    Zhou Qin regarded him seriously . "It wasn¡¯t me," she said, turning her eyes downwards in a contrite expression .

    What . . . ? It wasn¡¯t Zhou Qin? "But . . . Then who?"

    Zhou Qin shook her head . "I don¡¯t know . But¡ª"

    "Alright, ss! Get ready! The exam will begin in two minutes . "

    Zhou Qin looked away from the lectern and gave Li Yundong a pointed look . "Let¡¯s talk about thister," she whispered .

    Li Yundong nodded and took out his stationeries .

    Two minutes into the exam, Li Yundong began to notice something strange . Something really strange, as in the what-the-f*ck-is-this-shit kind of strange . He noticed a few students flipping through their notebooks while answering the questions .

    What the hell? These knuckleheads were cheating so overtly! When Li Yundong nced ahead, his eyes nearly bugged out when he saw the professor leaning against the lectern, reading a f*cking newspaper!

    A loud smack sounded beside him . He turned and nearly fell off his seat when he saw what Zhou Qin was doing .

    "Hey, Zhou Qin," he whispered . "What the hell are you doing? How can you be copying answers from the textbook during an exam!"

    Zhou Qin turned and looked at him as though he¡¯d grown five heads . "Umm . . . Are you alright, Li Yundong? Don¡¯t you know that this is an open book exam?"

    An open book what?!

    Li Yundong scanned the exam hall . To his utmost chagrin, he noticed that everyone had at least something to refer to while they answered the questions . Everyone except for poor him, who¡¯d spent hours memorizing the contents of pretty much the entire frigging textbook .

    "Did nobody tell you about this?" Zhou Qin was now looking at him with a frown .

    Li Yundong groaned into his palm .

    "Sun Li . . . " he growled softly .

    His beloved Madam ss Rep, it seemed, had just pulled one over him .

 Chapter 126

    Chapter 126

    <h4>What Is She Doing Here?</h4>

    Li Yundong was a man on mission, a mission to give a certain Sichuan model student a piece of his goddamn mind . He spotted her at the corridor outside the exam hall,ughing and chatting with a couple of her friends . There you are...

    "Sun Li!!"

    Even from afar, he could see Sun Li¡¯s posture going rigid the moment she heard his voice . Then, before he could get another word out, she bolted without even looking at him .

    "Hey! Hold it right there!" Li Yundong yelled, picking up his pace . You think you can run away from me? Think again!

    Sun Li shouldered past the throng of students gathered at the corridor and kept running .

    Eventually, Li Yundong caught up to her and grabbed her arm to stop her . "We need to talk," he growled, staring at Sun Li, who was heaving and panting due to the physical exertion . She looked like she could barely remain upright .

    "Hey, you alright, ss rep?" Li Yundong asked worriedly .

    "I¡¯m fine . " Sun Li straightened herself and exhaled . "What did you want to talk about?"

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes . "Don¡¯t y dumb . Why didn¡¯t you tell me it was an open book exam, dammit! Do you know how much time I¡¯ve spent memorizing all those notes and textbook passages!"

    Sun Li gave him an innocent expression, though she wasn¡¯t fooling anyone . "Really? I didn¡¯t tell you?" She shrugged . "Well, I guess it must have slipped my mind, then . Whoops . "

    "You¡ª" Li Yundong pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath . "Bullshit! This is a prank! You withheld the information from me on purpose!"

    Sun Li burst into giggles . "Serves you right for neglecting everything that¡¯s been going on in ss . "

    "Hey!" Li Yundong gave her an affronted look . "It wasn¡¯t by choice you know . . . "

    "Yeah, yeah, yeah . . . " Sun Li smirked . "Besides, you didn¡¯t ask, so it¡¯s reasonable to think that you already knew . "

    "You¡ª" Li Yundong sighed and let his shoulders sag . "Fine . . . You win . "

    "Yuuuundoonng . . . "

    Li Yundong instantly brightened up at the sound of that voice . He swiveled to his right just as Su Chan barreled into his chest, throwing her arms and legs around him .

    Laughing, Li Yundong wrapped his arms around her and then spun her around a few times . "What are you doing here, princess?" Li Yundong pinched Su Chan¡¯s cheek . "I thought I told you to wait at the cafeteria . "

    "We told her we¡¯d bring her to you . "

    Li Yundong turned around and saw Feng Na walking over with Cheng Cheng in tow .

    Momentster, Feng Na stopped in front of Li Yundong and smirked . "So . What¡¯s with this game of tag between you and model student over there?" Feng Na tilted her head in Sun Li¡¯s direction .

    "Ask her," Li Yundong grumbled, shooting Sun Li a re .

    Feng Na turned to Sun Li with a raised brow . Sun Li spent the next three minutes recounting the little prank she¡¯d yed on Li Yundong . When Sun Li was done talking, Feng Na giggled and high-fived Sun Li . "Wee to the club, Sun Li! You¡¯re the second woman who has sessfully pulled a prank on the Hero of Tiannan University!"

    Li Yundong gaped at Feng Na . "You girls suck, you know that? You too, Feng Na . To think that I¡¯d actually put my ass on the line to save you¡ª"

    Li Yundong stopped talking when he felt a few tugs on his arm . He turned his head and saw Su Chan looking at him quizzically . "Yundong . . . What¡¯s so funny? Why are theyughing?"

    Li Yundong snorted . Why indeed . It wasn¡¯t even funny . "Nothing . Those girls aren¡¯t right in the head . They have issues . " He drew circles beside his head . "It¡¯s best if we stay away from them . "

    Then, Li Yundong took Su Chan¡¯s hand and led her away from the other girls . However, he had barely taken a few steps before Feng Na¡¯s voice stopped him . "Hey, Li Yundong! Wait up!"

    Li Yundong turned around . "What?"

    Feng Na nced around surreptitiously, then lowered her voice into a whisper . "Well . . . It¡¯s just . . . I wanna treat you to lunch . "

    Li Yundong looked at her strangely . "Why?" Suddenly, his eyes narrowed . "This isn¡¯t another prank, is it? What, you gonna putxatives in my food or something?"

    Feng Na giggled into her hand, then smacked him on the head . "No . . . I just . . . I just wanna thank you for what you did . I mean during the DVD incident . . . "

    Li Yundong regarded Feng Na to gauge her sincerity . A momentter, he sighed . "You¡¯re wee," Li Yundong said . "I just did what I thought is right, that¡¯s all . I was partially at fault anyway . And . . . " Li Yundong nudged Su Chan with his elbow .

    Su Chan poked her head out from behind Li Yundong¡¯s arm . "Um . . . Elder Sister Feng Na . . . I . . . I¡¯m sorry for breaking your DVD . "

    Feng Na smiled at Su Chan . "It¡¯s okay . It¡¯s water under the bridge . But . . . Please help me convince Li Yundong to ept the invitation?"

    Su Chan didn¡¯t even hesitate when she heard the request . It was a clever move on Feng Na¡¯s part to appeal to Su Chan¡¯s insatiable appetite .

    "Yundong, Yundong, Yundong . . . Please? Can we go . . . Please? Pretty please?" Li Yundong stared into Su Chan¡¯s puppy dog eyes and that delicious pout that he wanted to kiss off her face . Secondster, he chuckled and met Feng Na¡¯s gaze . "Fine . Lead the way . " He raised an eyebrow, then smirked . "Just so you know, I wasn¡¯t actually nning to turn down the offer . I just wanted to make you sweat a little before agreeing . " Yeah . He¡¯d be an idiot to turn away free lunch considering how broke he was .

    Feng Na¡¯s face lit up . "Then it¡¯s settled! Let¡¯s go . "

    The group made it down the staircase with Feng Na leading the way and Li Yundong and Su Chan bringing up the rear . At the academic building¡¯s main entrance, they ran into Zhou Qin .

    "Where are you guys headed to?" Zhou Qin asked .

    Feng Na and Cheng Cheng shared nces with each other . For some strange reason, neither of them felt inclined to answer the question . Silence passed between them until Li Yundong stepped forward in an attempt to diffuse the awkwardness . "To eat," he said, then pointed at Feng Na . "Miss Generous over here is treating us to lunch today . " Li Yundong gave Feng Na an evil smirk . "And I think I¡¯m gonna try to squeeze every penny out of her . "

    Zhou Qin gave Feng Na a strange look . "What¡¯s the asion?"

    "No special asion," Feng Na answered quickly . There was a strange edge to her tone . "Just one friend treating another friend to lunch . I don¡¯t think it requires an asion for friends to have lunch together . "

    "Well, why don¡¯t you join us, Zhou Qin?" Li Yundong asked .

    "Uggghh! Why are you guys still standing arooounnnd? I¡¯m soooo hungry!" Su Chan whined, then smacked Li Yundong¡¯s chest a few times . "It¡¯s all your fault, Yundong . You took too long!"

    Li Yundong chuckled, then pinched her cheeks with both hands . "I have to finish all the exam questions first, dummy!"

    "Um guys . . . Isn¡¯t that . . . " Cheng Cheng spoke for the first time .

    Everyone turned their heads and saw Ding Nan heading over towards them . Secondster, Ding Nan stopped in front of Li Yundong with a tiny smile adorning her features . "Long time no see, Li Yundong . I see that your fame is growing . "

    Li Yundong chuckled wryly . "I don¡¯t want that kind of fame . "

    Ding Nan¡¯s smile widened as though she had already expected that answer from him . Then, she studied the rest of their group . "You guys are heading to lunch, right?"

    "Oh my God . . . Finally someone who is making sense!" Su Chan said dramatically . "I¡¯m practically starving to death over here and yet these guys are still standing around talking nonse¡ª o!" Su Chan rubbed her head where Li Yundong had poked her .

    Ding Nan chuckled . "Well, here¡¯s an idea . Why don¡¯t I treat everyone to lunch?"

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "Well, there¡¯s no need for that, Ding Nan . As a matter of fact, Senior Feng Na here will be paying for our lunches . But you¡¯re wee to join us . . . " Li Yundong nced at Feng Na . "I mean if Senior Feng Na doesn¡¯t mind, of course . "

    Li Yundong smirked a little when he heard Su Chan¡¯s frustrated growl behind him .

    Ding Nan smiled at Feng Na . "Senior Feng Na . You probably know that Li Yundong saved my life during the shooting, right? I¡¯ve been thinking about repaying him for days now . So . . . "

    Feng Na returned Ding Nan¡¯s smile . "Well, I don¡¯t mind . But are you sure though? There are so many of us here . " Feng Na gestured at their group . Zhou Qin was staring at Ding Nan with slightly narrowed eyes . Clearly, those two hadn¡¯t buried the hatchet yet .

    What struck Li Yundong the most though was how different Ding Nan seemed . He hadn¡¯t seen Ding Nan ever since their conversation under the tree¡ªafter which she had used Zhou Qin of being a serpent . Seeing her today, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but notice the change in Ding Nan¡¯s demeanor . There was no longer a biting edge in her voice when she spoke . Instead, she seemed friendly and approachable .

    "Of course I¡¯m sure," Ding Nan said . "It¡¯s my pleasure to treat everyone here . Well, let¡¯s see . . . We still have exams this afternoon, right?" Ding Nan nced around . She received several nods of confirmation . "So why don¡¯t we pick a ce near campus? I¡¯ll treat you guys properly next time . "

    After everyone decided on a ce, the group began moving away from the academic building towards the campus gates . This time, it was Zhou Qin and Ding Nan who brought up the rear, with Sun Li, Feng Na, and Cheng Cheng leading the way . Li Yundong and Su Chan were sandwiched in between .

    At one point, Cheng Cheng leaned towards Feng Na and whispered, "Hey, Nana . . . Is it just me, or does Ding Nan seem a little . . . different . "

    "I know right?" Feng Na murmured . "And what¡¯s with that strange vibe between her and Zhou Qin? It¡¯s starting to creep me out . . . " Li Yundong suddenly thought back to the advice he gave Ding Nan thest time they talked . He smiled . He never expected Ding Nan to change that quickly . Maybe it really was just an act? Maybe deep down Ding Nan really was a decent human being .

    The group kept moving until they passed the campus gates . In front, Feng Na and Cheng Cheng kept whispering to each other while Sun Li walked quietly beside them . Behind him, Ding Nan and Zhou Qin were conversing with each other as well . He hadn¡¯t expected Ding Nan to ever want to talk to Zhou Qin again, to be honest . Perhaps they were taking the first steps to mending their friendship?

    "Yundong . . . What do you think we¡¯d be eatingter?"

    Li Yundong chuckled . Of course Su Chan would be thinking about food . Of course . Li Yundong patted her head . "We¡¯re going to a ce near campus . I think they have the same stuff as the cafeteria . " Li Yundong regarded Su Chan strangely . "Do you mind? I mean, we could go have lunch on our own if you prefer . "

    Su Chan shook her head . "Nope!" Then, she blushed all of a sudden . "I... I don¡¯t want us to end up as beggars . . . "

    Li Yundongughed out loud and pinched her nose . "Then maybe you should control your appetite for once, hmm?"

    Su Chan pouted and smacked his hand away . "But I¡¯m hungry . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . "I was just joking . Of course I wouldn¡¯t let you starve¡ª"

    He bumped into Feng Na, who had suddenly stopped walking . Feng Na barely even reacted when Li Yundong bumped into her . She was straight ahead at a red Lamborghini parked beside the curb . A momentter, the Lamborghini¡¯s door swung open . A woman d in a ck, strapless dress stepped out . Dark, coffee brown curls framed the woman¡¯s face . Even though her eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunsses, there was no mistake who that woman was .

    "What the hell is she doing here?"

 Chapter 127

    Chapter 127

    <h4>Talismans</h4>

    "Li Yundong!" President Cao¡¯s voice sounded amidst the clicking of her heels . "Going AWOL on the first day of your job? What is the meaning of this?"

    Curious nces were cast towards Li Yundong . Secondster, President Cao stepped in front of Li Yundong with her arms akimbo .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "Um . . . " He nced at Su Chan . "Su Chan, this is President Cao, my boss . "

    Technically, President Cao was only his temporary boss; his real boss was President Yin .

    Li Yundong squared his shoulders and gave President Cao a nod . "Hello, President Cao . These are my friends . "

    President Cao¡¯s eyes were hidden behind her sunsses, though Li Yundong could tell that she was looking at Su Chan .

    "Oh, and um, this is my girlfriend, Su Chan . "

    Silence pervaded . He felt movement behind him¡ªprobably Zhou Qin or Ding Nan . This is awkward...

    Li Yundong nudged Su Chan with his elbow .

    Su Chan stared at him in confusion . Li Yundong tilted his head slightly towards President Cao and gave her a pointed look . A look of recognition formed on Su Chan¡¯s face . She smiled, then gave President Cao a slight bow . "Hello, President Cao . "

    President Cao moved her sunsses to the top of her head . Then, she let her hand hover near Su Chan¡¯s jawline . "May I?" she asked, looking at Su Chan .

    Su Chan nodded .

    President Cao hooked her fingers under Su Chan¡¯s chin and gently turned Su Chan¡¯s head from side to side . "Wow . You really are beautiful," she said before releasing Su Chan¡¯s chin .

    Su Chan grinned . "Hehe . Thanks!"

    "Ever thought of joining the entertainment business?" President Cao remarked casually, eyeing Su Chan from head to toe . "With your looks, you¡¯ll be a superstar in no time . "

    For a moment, Li Yundong tried to picture Su Chan as a world-famous actress . He didn¡¯t find the idea appealing at all . He wasn¡¯t sure if his innocent princess could survive in a ce as dark as the showbiz .

    "You should sign with us if you ever decide to enter the entertainment business, Miss Su Chan," President Cao continued with a smile . "We have the resources and experience to put your gifts to good use . . . "

    President Cao looked up sharply, her gaze fixed upon something behind his back .

    "Are you . . . Zhou Qin?" President Cao asked, causing Li Yundong to turn around .

    Zhou Qin nodded politely . "Yes, I am . It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you again, President Cao Kefei . "

    Smiling, President Cao stepped forward and extended her hand towards Zhou Qin . "Likewise . I¡¯m quite surprised that you even remember me . We only ran into each other briefly during the party . We barely exchanged a few words . "

    Zhou Qin shook the proffered hand . "Of course I¡¯d remember you, President Cao," she said with a smile that didn¡¯t quite reach her eyes . "You¡¯re a big name in Tiannan City¡¯s entertainment circle . Not to mention you¡¯re a very beautiful woman . It¡¯s hard not to remember you . "

    President Cao chuckled and released Zhou Qin¡¯s hand . "Thank you . But I¡¯m sure my beauty pales inparison to yours, Zhou Qin . "

    "Not that it isn¡¯t a pleasure to see you," Zhou Qin said, "but I¡¯m a little curious as to why you¡¯re looking for Li Yundong . "

    President Cao sighed . "Well . . . Li Yundong has proven himself to be a valuable asset... . " President Cao looked at Zhou Qin . "I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard about the incident at President Yin¡¯s building?"

    "I know you rmended him to President Yin, but mypany ran into some troubletely, and I think Li Yundong¡¯s skillset can help me deal with some of my headaches . " President Cao raised a brow . "You don¡¯t mind, I hope?"

    Zhou Qin smiled . "Of course I don¡¯t mind, President Cao . " Zhou Qin nced at Li Yundong . "I¡¯m d my rmendation benefits you and President Yin . "

    A warm breath tickled Li Yundong¡¯s ear . Li Yundong turned away from the conversation and met Su Chan¡¯s piteous eyes . "Yundong . . . I¡¯m sooo hungry . . . " Su Chan whispered . She nced around and tugged Li Yundong¡¯s hand . "Can we please talk on the way?"

    Li Yundong chuckled and pinched Su Chan¡¯s nose . "Excuse me, President Cao . Can we at least go to lunch first before we start talking shop?" He nced around at everyone . "I mean, I don¡¯t know about you guys, but I¡¯m starving . "

    President Cao stopped talking and looked at Li Yundong pointedly . "No," she said . "I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll have to skip lunch today . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "Why?"

    President Cao smiled wryly . "Because I need your help . "

    "My help? With what?"

    President Cao sighed . "With security . " Her expression turned somber . "Two high-profile celebrities will be arriving at the city today . But they¡¯re kicking up a fuss saying that they don¡¯t trust mypany¡¯s security team after . . . after that incident with Wang Yong . . . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s frown deepened . "So, what, they¡¯ll agree as long as I¡¯m providing the security detail?"

    "Pretty much . " President Cao nodded . "I called them personally and told them about how you handled Wang Yong . Plus, President Yin also vouched for you . So . . . " She shrugged .

    Li Yundong sighed . "But I have to sit for an exam this afternoon . . . "

    President Cao froze . "An exam?"

    Li Yundong nodded grimly . "I¡¯ll flunk out if I don¡¯t pass it . "

    "He won¡¯t have enough semester credits to graduate if he skips," Sun Li remarked .

    President Cao nodded and pulled out her phone .

    "Hello, Chancellor Feng . This is Cao Kefei, the president of Huasheng Studios . I¡¯m calling on behalf of one of your students, Li Yundong . " There was a pause . President Cao nodded . "Yes, that¡¯s him . Well, he is a part time employee at my firm, and I need him toe in this afternoon . But I also understand that he has to sit for apulsory exam this afternoon?" President Cao smiled . "Oh? Is that so? But what about his credits? Oh . Okay . Thank you, chancellor . "

    President Cao hung up the phone and smiled at Li Yundong . "Done . You no longer have to sit for the exam this afternoon . "

    "What? Just like that?"

    President Cao nodded . "You will get your semester credits for internship instead . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s brows rose . "Internship? Is that what this is?"

    "You¡¯ll be paid, of course," President Cao said quickly .

    "A paid internship . . . " Li Yundong said . "Interesting . "

    President Cao¡¯s eyes sparkled with hope . "Is that a yes? You¡¯ll help me out?"

    Li Yundong went silent in thought . After a while, he smiled at President Cao . "Excuse me for a moment," he said . "I need to speak with my girlfriend in private .

    Ignoring everyone¡¯s curious nces, Li Yundong pulled Su Chan away, stopping only when he was sure they were out of everyone¡¯s earshot . "Su Chan . . . I . . . "

    Su Chan ced a hand on Li Yundong¡¯s arm . "It¡¯s okay, beloved . I understand . " Su Chan smiled . "Money is tight, right? You have to do what you can to earn money . "

    Li Yundong sighed, then suddenly looked towards President Cao . "Maybe I should ask her if I can bring you along . . . "

    Su Chan shook her head . "It¡¯s okay, Yundong . . . I don¡¯t want to cause any trouble . Also, I think I shouldy low for a bit . " She gave Li Yundong a pointed look . "I dunno if it¡¯s safe for me to be walking around in public . "

    Li Yundong cupped Su Chan¡¯s cheeks . "But isn¡¯t it best if we stick together? I mean . . . What if . . . What if those Zhengyi people attack either one of us when we¡¯re apart?"

    Su Chan¡¯s expression turned contemtive . Secondster, she patted Li Yundong¡¯s hands . Li Yundong took the hint and released her cheeks . She nced around a few times, then took out two pieces of paper from her pocket . "Here . . . " she whispered . "Take one of these . "

    Li Yundong reached out carefully and removed the top piece before studying it . The paper was thin and yellow in color, like a page from an old Chinese calendar . Printed on it were four Chinese characters: Heavenly Thunder ys Evil . Chills traveled down Li Yundong¡¯s spine . His scalp tingled . He stared at Su Chan, his fingers trembling slightly . "What¡¯s this?"

    "It¡¯s a talisman for the Five Thunders Spell . My master gave me these and told me to only use them during emergencies . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "But how do I...? I mean, I haven¡¯t even passed the Zhuji phase . . . "

    Su Chan shook her head . "With this talisman, you don¡¯t need to generate magical powers from your body to use it . The spell¡¯s magic is already sealed inside the talisman . You just have to break the seal by channeling your Qi into the talisman . But . . . "

    Li Yundong met Su Chan serious eyes .

    "Never, ever, use the talisman on a mortal . And do not use the spell lightly . Use it only if you have no other choice . This spell is unpredictable . Unless you¡¯ve been taught how properly control it, it¡¯s easy for the spell to turn on you . "

    Li Yundong nodded and slipped the talisman into his pocket . "But what if it isn¡¯t enough?"

    "The spell can also act as a signal to either one of us . We¡¯ll go to each other the moment we see a shift in the weather . "

    "Is it easy to tell the difference between the spell and normal weather changes?"

    Su Chan nodded . "There will be an instant shift in the weather once the spell is cast . Normal weather changes are slow and gradual, but the spell causes rapid changes . Also, the weather changes caused by the spell will be focused on the area directly above the caster, so it should be obvious . If we use Mingmu, we can easily pinpoint the caster¡¯s location . "

    Li Yundong sighed . "Okay . I got it . " Li Yundong levelled her with a serious look . "I don¡¯t think it¡¯s safe for you to be home alone, Su Chan . " He leaned closer . "Why don¡¯t you find a ce to hide while you wait for me?"

    Su Chan nodded . "Good idea . . . It¡¯s best if it¡¯s somewhere public with a lot of people . The Zhengyi School wouldn¡¯t dare make a move where mortals are present . "

    "Ah, I got it . " Li Yundong smiled . "Remember that theme park we went to the other day?"

    Su Chan grinned . "Mmm! We had so much fun that day . "

    Li Yundong looked at her warmly . "Yeah . Why don¡¯t you wait for me there? I¡¯ll meet up with you once I finished the job . "

    "Mmm!"

    Li Yundong reached into his pocket and took out a wad of cash . "Here . Take these with you . " He shoved the cash into Su Chan¡¯s palm .

    "Thank you, beloved . " Su Chan stuffed the cash into her pocket, then looked up at him with watery eyes . "I¡¯ll be waiting for you, Yundong . . . I¡¯ll miss you . . . "

    Li Yundong patted her head and pulled her into a hug . "I¡¯ll miss you too . Pay attention to your phone just in case I contact you," Li Yundong whispered into her hair . "Don¡¯t leave the theme park unless you have no other choice . And . . . if you¡¯re really bored, you can y a few games at the theme park . "

    Su Chan shook her head . "I don¡¯t feel like ying any games without you . Besides, we should save money . "

    Li Yundong pulled back and looked down at Su Chan affectionately . "Okay . We¡¯ll visit the theme park next time after I get my first paycheck . "

    Su Chan broke into a grin . "Promise?"

    Li Yundong smiled and patted her head . "I promise . "

    Su Chan lifted her pinky, a gesture that elicited a chuckle from Li Yundong . He hooked his own pinky around hers and then pressed their thumbs together . "Okay, princess . I have to go now . Be careful, okay?"

    Su Chan nodded .

    With a heavy heart, Li Yundong took Su Chan¡¯s hand and rejoined the rest of the girls, who were all looking back at them expectantly . "I¡¯m sorry guys . I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t join you guys for lunch today . "

    "Don¡¯t worry about it," Zhou Qin said .

    "Yeah . . . Just go do your badass thing or whatever," Cheng Cheng said with a smile .

    Li Yundong smiled . "Okay . Maybe I can treat y¡¯all next time . " He turned towards President Cao . "I¡¯m ready to go now, boss . Sorry to make you wait . "

    "Great! Let¡¯s get going, then . " President Cao turned around and walked back towards the Lamborghini .

    Li Yundong gave Su Chan a parting wave and followed President Cao to the car .

    ***

    Zhou Qin stared after the Lamborghini as it pulled away from the curb and hit the traffic . It was Ding Nan¡¯s mockingughter that made her look away . "Did you see that, Zhou Qin?"

    Zhou Qin tilted her head and regarded Ding Nan coldly . "See what?"

    Ding Nan chuckled . "A good, and unmarried man is like a loose treasure . Every ambitious woman would try to stake her im on him . This is a battle . "

    A dark look formed in Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes . "What¡¯s your point?"

    Ding Nan smirked . "Oh, you know what my point is . I don¡¯t have to spell it all out for you . " Ding Nan turned and walked away without even bidding the other girls goodbye . Clearly, the mood for lunch was ruined . Zhou Qin would be a fool if she still couldn¡¯t see what Ding Nan¡¯s words meant¡ªa deration of war . Somehow, Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that Ding Nan had something up her sleeves .

 Chapter 128

    Chapter 128

    <h4>Movie Stars</h4>

    "Where are we going?" Li Yundong turned away from the window beside the passenger seat and shot President Cao a curious nce . "This isn¡¯t the way to Dongsheng Realtors . "

    Li Yundong found out during his job interview that Dongsheng Realtors had rented out an entire floor to Huasheng Studios, the entertainmentpany ran by President Cao .

    President Caoughed . "Oh, no . We¡¯re not going to my office . Nobody in the city knows about Zhang Guozheng and Tan Fei¡¯s arrival . "

    "Zhang Guozheng and Tan Fei?" Li Yundong couldn¡¯t keep the surprise out of his voice .

    President Cao smiled . "Yeah . They¡¯re the co-stars of the new TV series that mypany is producing . The filming schedule is still being nned, but they wanted to explore the city before filming starts . " President Cao sighed . "As the head of my Huasheng Studios, I¡¯m also in charge of their travel arrangements and security while they are in the city . "

    Li Yundong studied President Cao¡¯s profile for a moment . "Okay . . . But what does that have to do with me?" Li Yundong asked with a raised brow . "You have a team of professional bodyguards who are trained for the job . "

    President Cao sighed . "That¡¯s the thing . They think my security team is ipetent," she said in a grim tone . "And I don¡¯t me them, what with all the stuff that¡¯s been going on in mypany . . . "

    "What stuff?"

    "There were a bunch of riots and protests a few months back . And more recently, Wang Yong¡¯s stunt . "

    "And you¡¯re worried that they might terminate the contract with your firm?" Li Yundong paused in thought . "They signed a deal with you, right? That TV series?"

    President Cao shook her head . "I don¡¯t think they¡¯d go that far . But still, those two are VIPs that I can¡¯t afford to piss off if I want to survive in this line of work . If anything happens to them during the filming, or while they¡¯re in the city, I¡¯ll lose credibility . My career will be over . "

    Li Yundong stared out the windshield . "I see . "

    They drove in silence for the rest of the journey, whichsted about fifteen minutes .

    "Shengyuan Hotel . . . " Li Yundong said once the Lamborghini pulled to a stop in front of a building . This was the same hotel where Zhou Qin¡¯s birthday party was held the other night .

    "Yeah," President Cao said, killing the engine . "Come on . Let¡¯s go meet the movie stars . "

    Li Yundong exited the Lamborghini and followed President Cao into the lobby . To his surprise, they didn¡¯t stop at the concierge¡¯s counter . Instead, President Cao led him towards a cafe at the lobby . He nced around a few times and immediately understood why President Cao had brought him to that cafe¡ª privacy . The cafe was located near the end of the huge lobby, away from prying eyes . The choice made sense considering the fact that the movie stars had arrived at the city in secret .

    Inside the cafe, President Cao stopped in front of the counter and exchanged a few words with a waiter . The waiter nodded and led them to a secluded booth at the back of the cafe . President Cao pulled out her phone once they slid into the booth .

    "Do you want to order anything?" President Cao asked without looking away from her phone¡¯s screen .

    Well, he hadn¡¯t had lunch yet, so he could eat . However, after a moment of thought, Li Yundong declined the offer . He didn¡¯t want to be eating on the job because of, you know, professionalism .

    President Cao began to make some calls . "Hey, Xiao Zhang . It¡¯s me . I¡¯m already here at the cafe . Can you give me Zhang Guozheng and Tan Fei¡¯s ETA?" President Cao stopped talking and listened to the voice on the phone .

    "Sure," President Cao went on, "and tell Da Liu that I won¡¯t be needing his services anymore . Yes, Da Liu, the one in charge of security . " There was another pause . "Just tell him that the situation has changed . He¡¯ll understand . Yes . I¡¯ve recruited someone else for the job . " President Cao suddenly looked at Li Yundong and smiled . "Of course he¡¯s qualified . Yeah . It¡¯s ast minute thing though . " A crease formed between President Cao¡¯s brows . "What do you mean you don¡¯t know how to tell him?" President Cao rolled her eyes . "What, are you saying you want me to tell him myself? What am I paying you for, anyway? Fine . Be on standby . Wait for further instructions . "

    President Cao hung up the phone with a snort . "Young girls these days . . . " she grumbled . Then, President Cao looked up as though sensing Li Yundong¡¯s eyes on her . She smiled, then shrugged . "My assistant . "

    Li Yundong smiled back . "Problems?"

    President Cao opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again when her phone vibrated against the table . She took one nce at the screen and sighed . She gave Li Yundong an apologetic look and slid out of the booth "Sorry . I have to take this . "

    "Go ahead, don¡¯t worry about me . "

    President Cao left the booth in a hurry . Li Yundong sat back and studied the cafe¡¯s interior . Ten minutester, when President Cao still didn¡¯t return, he was starting to feel bored . He reached into his pocket and took out the talisman that Su Chan had given him before they parted ways at the campus gates .

    The more he studied the talisman though, the more peculiar he found it . The first thing he found strange was the texture of the paper . On the surface, it looked thin, like it would tear if he applied the slightest bit of force onto it . However, when he tried to pull it apart with his fingers, the paper felt sturdy . It wouldn¡¯t even bend . It was as though the talisman was made from an ultra-thin piece of concrete rather than paper . And here was the weirdest part¡ªthe talisman released a burst of green light and vibrated in his hand the moment he tried to pull it apart . Next thing he knew, his hand was repelled from the talisman .

    Li Yundong took a deep breath to calm his hammering heart . He nced around the booth to see if anyone had seen that sh of green light . He really didn¡¯t want to run into any more trouble . Thankfully, nobody noticed anything strange because of how hidden the booth was .

    The talisman fluttered in the air for a moment, theny motionless on the table . A sense of wonderment filled his heart as he stared at the piece of paper which, ording to Su Chan, could summon lightning and cause instantaneous weather changes .

    It was President Cao¡¯s voice that brought him out of his trance-like state a whileter . He raised his gaze and saw President Cao approaching the booth with her phone still pressed to her ear . Li Yundong quickly ced his palm over the talisman and removed it from the table . By the time President Cao slid back into the booth, the talisman was safely stored inside his pocket .

    President Cao put her phone away and gave him an apologetic smile . "Sorry about that . They¡¯re bothte . " She sighed . "Well, you know how it is with hotshots like them . "

    Li Yundong shrugged and gotfortable in his seat . "Guess we¡¯ll just have to wait . "

    ***

    "They¡¯re here . Finally," President Cao growled .

    Li Yundong turned around in the booth and saw a man and a woman heading over towards them .

    "About damn time," President Cao said, rising to her feet . Despite the irritation he¡¯d detected in her tone, President Cao was smiling . Li Yundong followed President Cao¡¯s lead and rose from his seat as well . President Cao was already moving away from their booth towards the two movie stars .

    Li Yundong nced at the clock and realized that he and President Cao had spent over two hours waiting for the movie stars to show up . From the booth, Li Yundong saw President Cao shaking hands with the celebrities, both of whom were wearing sunsses . The man, Zhang Guozheng, was tall¡ªprobably around 180 cm . He had a square face, a chiseled jaw, and looked to be in his early thirties . In a green, Polynesian dress and also a pair of high-heels with white straps, Tan Fei looked like a diva straight out of a fashion magazine .

    When President Cao and the two movie stars arrived at the booth, Li Yundong stepped aside to make way .

    "Howe it¡¯s just you two?" President Cao asked as they all took their seats again . "Where are your agents?

    Zhang Guozheng removed his sunsses . "They¡¯re dealing with our luggage . We¡¯ve decided toe see you first . " Zhang Guozheng¡¯s eyes found Li Yundong . "And . . . Is this your younger brother, President Cao?"

    President Caoughed . "No, he¡¯s not . He¡¯s Li Yundong, the man who will be keeping you safe throughout your visit . "

    Silence passed as Zhang Guozheng regarded Li Yundong with skeptical eyes .

    "He looks young, right?" President Cao went on . "But don¡¯t let his youth fool you . I assure you, he¡¯s a total badass . "

    More silence .

    A whileter, Li Yundong decided to break the silence . He nodded politely and said, "Hello, Mr . Zhang . "

    Zhang Guozheng merely smiled at Li Yundong and said nothing .

    Someone giggled .

    "A badass?" Tan Fei said snidely . "Is this some kind of joke, President Cao?" Tan Fei stopped talking to give Li Yundong a onceover . "When you mentioned on the phone about a badass who single-handedly took out a suicide bomber, I imagined a tough military guy, not some kid who looks like he¡¯s barely passed puberty . "

    Silence spread in the booth .

    President Cao suddenlyughed, though Li Yundong could tell that it was forced . "Well, we shouldn¡¯t judge a book by its cover, Miss Tan . "

    "Don¡¯t judge a book by its cover?" All of a sudden, Tan Fei removed her sunsses, then leaned forward to take a closer look at Li Yundong . "Tsk, tsk, tsk . . . Not bad, President Cao . You really know how to pick the good-looking ones . Although . . . " Tan Fei nced sideways at President Cao . "Running security isn¡¯t the only thing he does for you, is it?"

    What the hell? Li Yundong clenched his jaw and balled his fists under the table .

    "Miss Tan," President Cao seethed, leaning forward as well . "This young man is an expert we have hired to ensure your safety . So I¡¯d appreciate it if you treat me and my employee with respect . "

    Tan Feiughed . "Rx, President Cao . I was only joking . " Then, Tan Fei batted hershes at Li Yundong . "Well... If you¡¯re really that good, why don¡¯t you show me a few moves and prove me wrong . "

    Li Yundong sneered inwardly . So this was the real Tan Fei, the so-called "elegant beauty . " Three minutes with the woman and Li Yundong couldn¡¯t detect a single ounce of elegance in her . Clearly, her public persona was as fake as hershes .

    Li Yundong smirked and rose to his feet . "Well . I must say that this has been aplete waste of my time . " He chuckled . "Miss Tan . . . You clearly don¡¯t think I¡¯m qualified to be put in charge of your safety . So I¡¯m gonna get out of your hair now . " He smiled . "Good luck defending yourself against a gun or a knife without me . Oh, and I¡¯d watch my six if I were you . You don¡¯t exactly have a winning personality . " The smug look on Tan Fei¡¯s face morphed into a scowl, but Li Yundong ignored her and nodded at President Cao instead . "Have a good day, President Cao . I¡¯ll head back to the university . Let me know when you have another assignment for me . "

    "You¡ª" One of Tan Fei¡¯s arms swept across the table when she tried to stand up, knocking a half-filled coffee cup off the edge of the table . Li Yundong¡¯s hand shot out quickly and held the cup upright near the edge of the table . Hot coffee sloshed against the rim of the cup when Li Yundong set the cup back onto the table .

    Li Yundong smirked . "Might wanna be careful there, Miss Tan . " He nced down at Tan Fei¡¯s feet . "Don¡¯t wanna ruin those fancy shoes . "

    Which, he was sure, cost more than his month rent .

    Li Yundong left the booth with a smile on his face .

    The bright side? He got exempted from the exams without having to do anything at all . How cool was that?

 Chapter 129

    Chapter 129

    <h4>Proposition</h4>

    "Wait!" Someone squeezed Li Yundong¡¯s forearm . Turning around, he saw President Cao staring at him with pleading eyes . "Where are you going?" she hissed . "You have a job to do . You can¡¯t just leave . "

    Li Yundong shrugged . "I don¡¯t think it¡¯s gonna work, President Cao . Your clients don¡¯t trust me . " Li Yundong gave her a strange look . "Isn¡¯t that the whole point? Isn¡¯t that why they demanded my service in the first ce? Because I managed to handle Wang Yong¡¯s incident?" Li Yundong snorted . "Clearly, they¡¯ve changed their minds . " Li Yundong¡¯s face twisted in distaste . "And because of my appearance, no less . "

    President Cao sighed . "Listen . I can convince them, but you can¡¯t just leave me here . I¡¯ve got nobody else I trust enough for this job! I¡¯ve seen you in action . If something happens, you can keep them safe . I know you can . "

    Li Yundong shook his head . "It¡¯s going to cause problems, you know? I doubt they¡¯d listen to anything I say if they think I¡¯m ipetent . It¡¯s hard to keep someone safe if they won¡¯t even follow your instructions . "

    President Cao took a step close . "You just need a chance to prove yourself, that¡¯s all . They¡¯ll respect you once they see what you can do . "

    Li Yundong sighed . "But¡ª"

    "Will you stay?" President Cao squeezed Li Yundong¡¯s forearm . "Please?"

    Li Yundong regarded the woman for a second . "Fine . But I wanna a damn raise . " Li Yundong glowered at the booth where Tan Fei and Zhang Guozheng were sitting . "Do you know how shitty it felt to sit there and listen to people talk shit about you?"

    "Done," President Cao said quickly . "You get a ten percent raise . Deal?"

    Li Yundong stared at President Cao . A momentter, he nodded . "Deal . "

    President Cao dragged Li Yundong back to the booth .

    "This young man is the best I¡¯ve ever seen," President Cao said confidently . "And you ought to take my word for it . "

    "Your word?" Tan Fei snorted . "No offense, President Cao . But your word lost a great deal of credibility the moment you showed up with this . . . " Tan Fei nced at Li Yundong . "I mean, this kid doesn¡¯t even look like he¡¯s thrown a punch before . "

    Li Yundong released a low growl . President Cao¡¯s fingers tightened around his forearm as though she was afraid he would barged out of the cafe any second . Whatever . A 10% raise wasn¡¯t so bad . He needed the money anyway .

    "Let me share with you a story about a real badass," Zhang Guozheng said excitedly . "One time I was filming this Wuxia movie, and one of the actors knows martial arts . In between filming, we asked him to do a demo . Back then, we had a bunch of bricks on set . Real bricks, you know . " Zhang Guozheng gave each of them a pointed looks . "As in the ones produced in a kiln . Anyway, the director stacked up three of the bricks and challenged the guy to break all three of them without the use of any tools . So the guy walked over to the stack and smashed his elbow right through the stack . " Zhang Guozheng mimicked the motion with his own elbow . "Like, holy shit! All three bricks broke apart! You see? That¡¯s what I call badass . " Zhang Guozheng paused in his spiel and gave Li Yundong a pointed look . "Think you can do the same?"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t take it anymore¡ªhe burst intoughter . Smashing bricks . Li Yundong could dodge bullets and generate shockwaves with his fists, and this fool was sitting there talking about bricks .

    Zhang Guozheng frowned and looked towards Tan Fei for support . "What¡¯s so funny, huh?" Zhang Guozheng growled . "Are you making fun of me?"

    Li Yundong stoppedughing and took a deep breath . "My apologies," he said, clearing his throat . "You¡¯re absolutely right, Mr . Zhang . That is an impressive story . "

    "Yeah," President Cao jumped in, no doubt trying to salvage the situation . "Tell us more! What else did he do?"

    Zhang Guozheng gave Li Yundong a passing nce before going back to story . However, as Zhang Guozheng droned on, Li Yundong could feel Tan Fei¡¯s eyes on him, drinking him in . Like Li Yundong, Tan Fei didn¡¯t seem too interested in Zhang Guozheng¡¯s story either .

    At one point, Li Yundong felt a light touch on his foot . The touch lingered on his foot for a few seconds before moving up his leg . Someone was trailing their foot up his calf, and Li Yundong was pretty sure he knew who it was . Li Yundong frowned and shifted slightly in his seat . Minutester, Tan Fei leaned forward to grab her coffee cup . And he felt it again¡ªa gentle caress, moving up from his calf to his inner thigh, straight towards his crotch . Li Yundong angled his body and shifted his legs slightly to the side . When he nced up, Tan Fei was sipping her coffee like nothing had happened . Then, as if sensing Li Yundong¡¯s gaze, Tan Fei leaned forward to put down her cup . The movement caused the front of her dress to dip, revealing her deep cleavage . Li Yundong quickly looked away, shaking his head slightly .

    Momentster, when he felt another one of Tan Fei¡¯s attempts at ying footsie with him, Li Yundong decided he¡¯d had enough of this shit . He cleared his throat and stood up from the booth . Zhang Guozheng stopped talking, whereas President Cao was now looking at him questioningly .

    "Excuse me," Li Yundong told President Cao with a slight tilt of his head . "The men¡¯s room . "

    President Cao smiled and gave him a nod . Li Yundong forced out a tight smile and got out of the booth .

    s, Li Yundong was stopped by a voice just as he was about to enter the men¡¯s room .

    "Aww,e on, handsome . Why are you so cold? Are you mad at me because of what I said earlier?"

    Li Yundong closed his eyes and sighed . When he turned around, Tan Fei was standing a few feet away, smiling coquettishly at him .

    Li Yundong raised a brow . "Do you mind, Miss Tan Fei? In case it isn¡¯t obvious, I¡¯m going into to the men¡¯s room . So if there¡¯s anything you wish to discuss, it¡¯ll have to wait untilter . "

    Tan Fei inched closer to Li Yundong . "What¡¯s the hurry, handsome? I just want to ask you a question, that¡¯s all . " Tan Fei winked . "Security isn¡¯t the only thing you¡¯re doing for Cao Kefei, isn¡¯t it?"

    Li Yundong frowned and took a step away .

    Tan Fei moved closer again . "Come on, you can tell me . How much is Cao Kefei paying you a month for . . . you know, extra services?"

    "Ex-cuse me?" Li Yundong growled .

    Tan Fei waved nonchntly . "I can pay you the same amount . . . and then some . " Tan Fei gave him a scious wink . "Why don¡¯t you be with me instead? I¡¯ll make it worthwhile . "

    Li Yundong red at Tan Fei . "I am not an escort . And you¡¯ve just insulted me . " Li Yundong turned around and stormed into the bathroom .

    The door of the men¡¯s room swung open just as Li Yundong was stepping away from the urinal . Zhang Guozheng walked in and paused when he saw Li Yundong . Zhang Guozheng smirked and approached the urinal, patting Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder when he walked past him . "A word of advice, young man . " Zhang Guozheng positioned himself in front of the urinal and unzipped his pants . "It¡¯s tough to survive in this line of work, you know . Without talent, looks, and¡ª"

    Li Yundong silenced him with a finger . "Do you smell that?"

    Zhang Guozheng frowned . "What?"

    Li Yundong sniffed the air a few times . "Something¡¯s burning . . . "

    Zhang Guozheng zipped up his pants and stepped away from the urinal . Li Yundong lowered himself into a crouch .

    "What the heck are you doing man," Zhang Guozheng said with augh .

    Li Yundong ignored him and kept sniffing .

    Zhang Guozheng let out another incredulousugh . "Are you out of your mind¡ª"

    "Shh!" Li Yundong said harshly, then pointed towards an upied stall at the far end of the bathroom .

    Li Yundong motioned Zhang Guozheng to be quiet, then crept towards the stall . Smoke rose from the stall¡¯s partition towards the bathroom¡¯s ceiling .

    Li Yundong stopped in front of the door and knocked . "You alright in there, sir?"

    There was no answer . Li Yundong knocked two more times . "Sir?"

    Zhang Guozheng had moved away from the urinals and was now standing behind Li Yundong, watching the stall curiously . Li Yundong was just about to knock again when a loud smack¡ªlike someone hitting their bare chest¡ªsounded from inside the stall . Then, he heard a series of gurgles, as though someone was choking .

    The next thing Li Yundong heard made his blood run cold .

    " . . . Maoshan Jida Zhen Shengong . Bada Yuanshuai Xian Shentong! Hearken to me, O Great Celestial Lord of the Three Realms! Come to me! Show me your power! I offer you my body as a vessel . . . "

    "Get down!!!!" Li Yundong tackled Zhang Guozheng to the side just as the stall exploded .

 Chapter 130

    Chapter 130

    <h4>Rematch</h4>

    The partitions of the bathroom stall flew apart as though a force had pushed them out from the inside . Li Yundong¡¯s knees scraped the floor as soon as he tackled Zhang Guozheng to the ground . When their bodies skidded to a stop, Li Yundong scrambled to his feet and turned around to face the destroyed stall . "It¡¯s you," Li Yundong said coldly .

    A series of loud, derisiveughter rang out as a solid hunk of a man kicked aside pieces of the broken stall partition .

    "We meet again, Zhenren Li," said Lin Youfa, rolling his neck .

    Li Yundong moved his Qi to his Shenting, causing the familiar buzzing to return to his ears .

    "How did you know I¡¯m here? Have you been following me?" Li Yundong said, rising to his feet .

    Lin Youfa kicked more debris aside and shrugged . "I admit it¡¯s a little frustrating . " Lin Youfa¡¯s face puckered in disgust . "I mean following you around . Ugh . Had to watch you and your girlfriend act all lovey-dovey with each other . But that¡¯s a small price to pay . " Lin Youfa smirked . "Your badass girlfriend isn¡¯t here . So now we can fight without outside intervention . "

    Li Yundong sighed . It seemed like this fight was unavoidable after all . The problem was that Li Yundong wasn¡¯t sure he could beat Lin Youfa . Should he use the talisman Su Chan gave him? As soon as that thought urred to him, Li Yundong wanted tough at how ridiculous it was . How was Li Yundong even supposed to summon lightning and thunder when from inside a frigging skyscraper? Incidentally, he realized that this was probably Lin Youfa¡¯s n all along¡ªto ambush him in an enclosed space . That way, Li Yundong would be forced to fight Lin Youfa in close quarters .

    Li Yundong took a deep breath and mobilized his Yuanyang . In mere seconds, the Qis of his five Zangs were drawn out and channeled towards his upper Dantian .

    Li Yundong nced down at Zhang Guozheng . "Get out of here," he said coldly . "This guy is dangerous . "

    Zhang Guozheng stared up at him with trembling lips . "Y- You . . . Wh- What the hell? Y- Your head is g- glowing . . . "

    Lin Youfa¡¯sughter rang out . Li Yundong turned away from Zhang Guozheng and regarded Lin Youfa . That maniac sounded way too excited to his liking .

    "The Convergence of Five Qis!" Lin Youfa said and started pping . "Now you¡¯re finally getting serious! Bring it on, then!" Lin Youfa smashed his fist into a wall; pieces of concrete fell off .

    Li Yundong got into a fighting stance, then exhaled as he guided each of his five Qis to various parts of his body: his Lung¡¯s Qi to his right arm; his Spleen¡¯s Qi to his left arm; his Liver¡¯s Qi to his right leg; his Kidney¡¯s Qi to his left leg; and his Heart¡¯s Qi to his torso .

    Li Yundong might not be able to beat Lin Youfa when the bastard was all juiced up with a portion of Guan Yu¡¯s power, but he was damn well going to put up a fight . Su Chan mentioned something about there being a time limit to Shenda¡¯s magic . If Li Yundong couldst through the time limit, who knows he might even stand a chance to beat Lin Youfa .

    Lin Youfa cracked his knuckles . "Come on, then! Let us decide once and for all, which one among us is better, and which school is stronger . Your school, or my Divine Fist School!"

    Lin Youfa charged forward with a roar . The first punch was aimed at Li Yundong¡¯s sternum . The punch mmed into a wall when Li Yundong leaped sideways .

    "Good reflexes!" Lin Youfa yanked his fist out from the dent on the wall just as Li Yundong got into a boxing stance .

    "Hyah!" Lin Youfa yelled .

    Li Yundong ducked the punch aimed at his head and followed up with a straight punch to Lin Youfa¡¯s gut . Lin Youfa¡¯s body flew backwards and crashed into another stall . Lin Youfa ripped off a partition and hurled it at Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong caught the flying debris with both hands, but realized secondster that it was a mistake¡ªhis body flew backwards and then mmed against the wall behind him after Lin Youfa kicked the partition he was holding . Grunting, Li Yundong tossed the partition aside . Shit! He raised both arms just in time to block a punch to his chest; all the air left Li Yundong¡¯s chest in a loud gasp . Li Yundong¡¯s spine mmed into something solid, drawing another grunt from his lips . Yelling like a maniac, Lin Youfa punched Li Yundong¡¯s arms again and again . At one point, Li Yundong could actually feel the wall cracking behind his back .

    "Hyahhh!"

    Light exploded in Li Yundong¡¯s eyes when the back of his head mmed into the wall . There was a loud crack, and all of a sudden, the solid surface behind his back was gone . The ensuing shriek told Li Yundong that he¡¯d just been punched through the wall of the men¡¯s room into the adjoiningdies¡¯ room .

    Li Yundong stumbled backwards and crashed into an unupied stall . When he got back up, he saw Tan Fei staring at him from in front of the sink, her lipstick hovering in front of her lips .

    "Zhenren Li!!!"

    Li Yundong looked towards the hole on the wall . Shit! Lin Youfa barreled into him and wrapped those bodybuilder arms around his waist . Don¡¯t let him do a takedown . . . Don¡¯t let him do a takedown . . . Li Yundong rammed his knee into Lin Youfa¡¯s groin as hard as he could . When Lin Youfa¡¯s arms dropped from his waist, Li Yundong knew his chance hade . He hoisted Lin Youfa into the air over his head, and then mmed Lin Youfa¡¯s body backwards with all his strength . Lin Youfa crashed into floor, demolishing an entire row of bathroom stalls in the process .

    Li Yundong turned towards Tan Fei . "Move! Get outta here!"

    Tan Fei, apparently, didn¡¯t need to be told twice . She scrambled towards the door . She even left her branded handbag behind .

    A roar sounded . Li Yundong dodged a piece of ceramic¡ªfrom a broken toilet bowl¡ªthat Lin Youfa had hurled at him . Behind him, the bathroom mirrors shattered when the ceramic piece smashed into them . Lin Youfa rose from the debris,ughing as he did . Water had begun to flood the floor . "That was actually the first time someone performed a suplex on me, Zhenren Li!" Lin Youfa spat onto the ground, then smirked . "You¡¯re full of little tricks, aren¡¯t you?"

    Li Yundong lowered his stance and readied himself for Lin Youfa¡¯s next attack . What¡¯s next? Another takedown?

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t have time to ponder the question further as Lin Youfa came charging at him like a bull . Dammit! Only then did Li Yundong realize that he didn¡¯t have enough room to dodge¡ªthe space was too confined . Li Yundong had no choice but to fight force with force . A loud crunch sounded the moment their bodies collided . Li Yundong grunted and pushed back against Lin Youfa with all his might . However, before Li Yundong could push Lin Youfa down to the floor, his legs were swept out from under him . The bathroom spun as he stumbled . Thick fingers wrapped themselves around his neck, choking him . Secondster, his back mmed into something hard, which he immediately recognized as the opposite wall of thedies room .

    "Is that all you got, Zhenren Li!" Lin Youfa yelled .

    Li Yundong grunted as punch after punch were delivered onto his stomach . F*cking piece of shit! A surge of anger coursed through Li Yundong . With a growl, he caught Lin Youfa¡¯s fist mid-punch and then twisted it into a sick joint lock .

    "How about a taste of your own medicine!" Li Yundong twisted Lin Youfa¡¯s wrist again . This time, the amount of pain he had inflicted managed to bring Lin Youfa to his knees . Li Yundong grabbed Lin Youfa¡¯s neck in a choke hold, then hoisted him into the air . "What the f*ck did I ever do to you, huh?" Li Yundong squeezed Lin Youfa¡¯s neck . "Why won¡¯t you f*cking leave me alone!" Li Yundong pushed himself away from the wall, and then hurled Lin Youfa through the air . Pieces of marble fell to the floor when Lin Youfa crashed head-first into the bathroom¡¯s countertop . Lin Youfa leaned against the smashed countertop, seemingly dazed . Li Yundong charged while cocking his fist back . Lin Youfa dove away just in time to avoid Li Yundong¡¯s punch . CRASH! Li Yundong¡¯s fist smashed into the marble countertop where Lin Youfa¡¯s head had been leaning against seconds ago . The entire countertop copsed to the floor, bringing the sinks and soap dispensers with it .

    Li Yundong freed his fist from the debris and red at Lin Youfa, who was slowly backing away from Li Yundong . Thanks to the Qis of his five Zangs, Li Yundong barely felt any pain in all the ces where he took heavy hits . "Go!!!" Li Yundong roared, shing his hand in the air . He pointed towards the exit . "Go now, and leave me alone! Don¡¯t ever bother me again!"

    Lin Youfa sneered . "I haven¡¯t lost yet . " Suddenly, Lin Youfa crouched down and pulled out something from his right shoe . Chills careened down Li Yundong¡¯s spine . His blood ran cold when he activated his telescopic vision and saw the object that Lin Youfa had pulled out from his shoe . It was a golden needle .

    Su Chan¡¯s golden needle .

    "Where did you get that?!" Li Yundong¡¯s roar shook the walls . Was Su Chan alright? Had Lin Youfa gotten to her? A ball of heat formed at Li Yundong¡¯s lower belly . "Answer me, you son of a bitch!! Where did you get it!"

    Instead of answering, Lin Youfa smirked and jabbed the needle into a spot on the top of his head¡ªthe Baihui . Then, with his free hand, Lin Youfa performed some kind of strange hand sign . "Maoshan Jida Zhen Shengong . Bada Yuanshuai Xian Shentong! Hearken to me, O Heavenly Marshal of the North! Come to me! Lend me your power! I offer you my body as a vessel . . . "

    Wait a minute . . . The Heavenly Marshal of the North? Isn¡¯t that . . .

    Zhu Bajie!

    Li Yundong honestly thought his ear drums were going to burst when Lin Youfa released a loud roar .

    Oh f*ck . . .

    The next thing he knew, Lin Youfa¡¯s body was expanding . Red, bulging veins snaked around his arms and torso . Purple blotches covered Lin Youfa¡¯s skin, which appeared stretched thin under his expanding muscles . Li Yundong almost thought the man would suddenly burst like a balloon . In just seconds, Lin Youfa had transformed from a hunk into a hulking figure that was more than two meters tall .

    Lin Youfa charged towards him with a speed that was too fast for his size . Li Yundong dodged sideways . CRACK! The floor caved slightly, and Li Yundong watched in horror as Lin Youfa pulled his fist out from the huge dent on the floor .

    "Holy shit . . . " Li Yundong whispered .

    "Hargh!" Lin Youfa¡¯s fist whizzed past Li Yundong¡¯s ear before smashing into the wall behind him .

    Li Yundong burst into action, unleashing a flurry of punches¡ªjab, cross, left hook . Lin Youfa stumbled back a slightly, but Li Yundong¡¯s strikes didn¡¯t appear to have done much damage¡ªLin Youfa was smirking at him . SWISH! SWISH! Li Yundong bobbed and weaved around two punches aimed at his head . When he saw an opening in Lin Youfa¡¯s defense, he delivered a quick jab to Lin Youfa¡¯s sternum, then followed up with a powerful right cross .

    Lin Youfa grunted and absorbed the blow like it was nothing .

    Out of sheer desperation, Li Yundong kicked Lin Youfa¡¯s groin again and again . To his horror, Lin Youfa didn¡¯t even budge .

    CRACK! Li Yundong ducked another punch, then slipped behind Lin Youfa through the space between his legs .

    "So we¡¯re back to this shit again, eh? Zhenren Li? Me attacking and you running? How boring . "

    Li Yundong kept backing away while keeping his eyes on Lin Youfa . Reaching into his pocket, he touched Su Chan¡¯s talisman . Gotta lead him to an open ground . . . Li Yundong scanned the bathroom for possible escape routes . The exit was right behind Lin Youfa, so that option was clearly out . He nced to his left . The only option was the hole in the wall, which would lead into the men¡¯s room .

    "Don¡¯t even think about it, Zhenren Li . "

    Li Yundong returned his gaze to Lin Youfa . Right now, Li Yundong had two options: one, oust him until Shenda¡¯s magic wore off; two, lead him to an open and secluded area where he could¡ªhopefully¡ªsummon lightning . Either way, he had to get the hell out of this bathroom .

    But how? Lin Youfa could probably get to both exits before he did . Lin Youfa was fast, and his transformation had lengthened his limbs . Li Yundong would never be able to get past him .

    "Prepare to run . . . I¡¯ll distract him . . . "

    What the¡ª

    Li Yundong whipped his head around . That voice . . . Had he imagined it?

    "Follow the mist . . . "

    Su Chan? What the hell? Li Yundong looked towards Lin Youfa to see if he had heard Su Chan¡¯s whisper too . However, Lin Youfa appeared to be in a daze, his face half-obscured by a dense cloud of green mist .

    More green mist wafted in through the hole in the wall .

    "Go . Now!" Su Chan¡¯s whisper sounded harsh this time .

    Li Yundong moved his legs and charged through the hole in the wall . When he reached the men¡¯s room, Li Yundong saw Zhang Guozheng sitting on the floor . He ran past the dazed actor and charged out of the bathroom, keeping an eye out for the green mist . Secondster, he heard a loud roar .

    "Zhenren Li!!! You coward!!!"

    A loud smash shook the entire building .

    Li Yundong emerged from the bathroom area and ran towards the booth President Cao was sitting in .

    "President Cao . Get out of here . It¡¯s not safe," Li Yundong said as he ran past the booth .

    Someone grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s wrist once he¡¯d passed the hotel¡¯s revolving doors . "Come on! Over here!" Su Chan tugged him away from the door towards the curb . "We have to keep moving . His Shenda will probably wear off in another five minutes . "

    Li Yundong ran alongside Su Chan . "How did you . . . Why are you here?"

    Su Chan stared up at him with huge eyes . "I was worried about you! So I followed you!"

    Li Yundong wanted to ask her how on earth she managed to follow him, since President Cao had driven him all the way out here . Maybe she took a cab and followed President Cao¡¯s car?

    "Are you hurt, Yundong?" Su Chan asked when they ran past Shengyuan Hotel¡¯s front gates .

    "Nah . I¡¯m okay . Hended a few hits, but I took the blow pretty well . "

    "Do you know which Shenxian he called upon this time?"

    Li Yundong nodded . "Yeah . Zhu Bajie, right?"

    Su Chan nodded . "He¡¯s even more powerful than Guan Yu . "

    A loud crash made Li Yundong turn around . There was a series of shouts . Then, the security booth stationed beside the gates crumbled . A momentter, the gate was sent flying, and Lin Youfa barreled through .

    Li Yundong turned around and kept running . "Damn it . What the hell is the matter with that nutcase? I thought Cultivators are supposed to be low-key . "

    "We are, or at least we should . I don¡¯t know Lin Youfa is thinking, but he¡¯s clearly breaking a lot of rules . " Su Chan shot a quick nce behind her shoulder . "Come on! We gotta move faster!"

    Li Yundong picked up his pace . "Where are we going? Home?"

    Su Chan was quiet for a few moments . "No . We gotta lose our tail first . Over here!" Su Chan made a sharp right . Li Yundong followed, hoping to dear God that Su Chan knew what she was doing .

    ***

    "This is ridiculous!" Elder Sister Zi Yuan¡¯s sharp tone made Ruan Hongling turn sideways . There was a frown between Elder Sister Zi Yuan¡¯s brow as she stared at the scene below them . A series of screams drew Ruan Hongling¡¯s attention to the Shengyuan¡¯s Hotel¡¯s front gates . The security booth had just copsed, and a huge man rammed his shoulder into the gates, which flew off their hinges . Ruan Hongling¡¯s face twisted in disgust .

    "Outrageous!" Elder Sister Zi Yuan hissed . "I can¡¯t believe the Divine Fist School is capable of such atrocious disys!"

    "Elder Sister Zi Yuan," Ruan Hongling said, "when are we going to make our move? Things are going to get worse if we don¡¯t intervene¡ª"

    "I¡¯ve already told you, Hongling," Elder Sister Zi Yuan said in a warning tone . "Patience . "

    Patience? No . Ruan Hongling had had enough of waiting, not when that vile man was walking around with her damask! "Elder Sister Zi Yuan," she said . "I¡¯m going after them . "

    Then, Ruan Hongling disappeared in a sh of green light without waiting for Elder Sister Zi Yuan to reply .

    ***

    Lin Youfa came to a halt after he¡¯d rounded a corner . He was now back to his original form; the magic of his Shenda had worn off a minute ago . He cursed, staring after the direction where he knew Li Yundong had run off to .

    "You won¡¯t get away next time!" Lin Youfa growled .

    The sound of footsteps made Lin Youfa turn around .

    A teenage girl stood there, staring up at him . Dressed in a high school uniform with her hair pulled into an elegant ponytail, the girl looked pretty .

    "What do you want, youngdy?"

    The girl performed a hand gesture which instantly made Lin Youfa realize that she was a fellow Cultivator . "Peace in the Tao, fellow Cultivator . May you be blessed with longevity and boundless happiness . " said the girl . "I am Ruan Hongling, a 45th generation disciple of the venerable Zhenren Wang from the Linggong Sect of the Qingzong Zhengyi Taoist School . "

    Lin Youfa stared at Ruan Hongling in shock .

    "So you¡¯re from the Zhengyi School . . . " Lin Youfa put his left fist to his right palm, then bowed . "My apologies for not recognizing you, Ma¡¯am . I am Lin Youfa of the Divine Fist School . "

    Ruan Hongling held her hand in front of her chest¡ªwith her palm facing sideways and her thumb slightly bent . "It is an honor, Zhenren Lin . May I know what business you have here?"

    Lin Youfa sighed and waved his hand a few times . "My disciple misbehaved a while back and put the name of my school to shame . He challenged someone out of his league and ended up losing the fight . I¡¯m here to regain the honor of my school by defeating the man my disciple lost the fight to . "

    "This man you¡¯re seeking... Is he Li Yundong?"

    Lin Youfa looked at Ruan Hongling in surprise . "How¡¯d you know?"

    Something shed inside Ruan Hongling¡¯s eyes . "Was there a girl with him? A young, pretty girl . "

    Lin Youfa narrowed his eyes . "What are you up to?"

    Ruan Hongling sneered . "I have a suggestion to make . "

    Lin Youfa eyed Ruan Hongling warily . After a while, Lin Youfa nodded . "I¡¯m listening . . . "

 Chapter 131

    Chapter 131

    <h4>Double Assault</h4>

    "Yundong . . . Why does this street seem so familiar . . . ?"

    Su Chan came to a halt and started looking from left to right . They were now standing in front of a long avenue lined with dozens of digital advertisement boards on both sides . Soft music drifted in from afar, followed by a woman¡¯s voice expounding GUCCI¡¯s awesomeness .

    Su Chan pressed a finger against her chin and tilted her head slightly . "Hmm... I feel like I¡¯ve been here before . . . "

    Li Yundongughed and flicked her forehead . "This is where we bought all your fancy clothes the other day, silly . " And also where we went broke . . .

    "Oh!" Su Chan¡¯s eyes lit up . Then, she stared longingly down the avenue, where rows of high-end stores stood with their shy storefronts . Around them, shoppers bustled about, most of them carrying shopping bags filled with luxury items . One of those bags could probably feed thousands .

    Su Chan suddenly grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s hand and pulled him down the avenue .

    "Wow . . . " Su Chan said when they stopped in front of a clothing store . Su Chan pressed her face against the ss of the disy window, her eyes gleaming with delight .

    "Hey, Su Chan . . . " Li Yundong cast a wary nce over his shoulder . "Are you sure Lin Youfa¡¯s no longer following us?"

    Su Chan turned away from the disy window . "Nah . He stopped following us ten minutes ago . "

    Li Yundong sighed in relief . "Okay . . . "

    Su Chan pressed her face against the disy window again .

    "What now?" Li Yundong asked .

    "Let¡¯s hide out here for a while . . . " Su Chan said without looking away from the window . "It¡¯s crowded here . So it¡¯s pretty safe . . . "

    Before Li Yundong could open his mouth to remind Su Chan that they couldn¡¯t do anything more than window shopping, Su Chan was already pulling him towards another store .

    "Look! Look!" Su Chan pointed at a cocktail dress on disy . "So pretty . . . "

    A momentter, Su Chan¡¯s shoulders sagged . When she turned around, the sparkle in her eyes was gone . Something tugged inside Li Yundong¡¯s chest .

    "What¡¯s the matter?" Li Yundong asked, even though he already had a good guess as to what was bothering her .

    "I- I miss buying clothes with you . . . " Su Chan stared up at Li Yundong, her lips puckering and sticking out into a huge pout . "I had so much fun that day . "

    Li Yundong pulled Su Chan into a tight hug . "You know I would buy the entire street for you if I could . . . But..." Li Yundong sighed gently . "I just don¡¯t have the money right now . I¡¯m sorry, Su Chan . "

    "Yundong . . . " Su Chan mumbled into his chest .

    "Yes?"

    "Am I a horrible person?"

    Li Yundong pulled back to look at his beloved princess . "No . I don¡¯t think you are . What made you think that?"

    Su Chan started rubbing a spot on his shirt . "You went broke because of me . . . "

    A twinge of guilt stabbed through Li Yundong¡¯s chest . "Don¡¯t say that . " He hugged Su Chan again . "If anything, I¡¯m the one at fault for not working hard enough to support us . " Li Yundong sighed . "Actually, President Cao gave me an important assignment today . " Li Yundong pulled back and stared into Su Chan¡¯s eyes . Those eyes had a calming effect . They anchored him somehow . "I¡¯m supposed to guard two high-profile celebrities . But then Lin Youfa showed up and . . . " Li Yundong waved his hand weakly, then let his hand drop . "Well, you know the rest . . . " He shook his head . "Damn it . "

    They stood in the middle of the avenue for a while, ignoring the curious nces from the other shoppers . Li Yundong stared at his feet, willing the heaviness in his heart to go away . They were now in a deep crisis, so he had to pull himself together and start making things happen .

    The gentle strokes of Su Chan¡¯s fingers on his head pulled him from his thoughts . "It¡¯s okay, beloved . We¡¯ll get through this . " Su Chan¡¯s fingers ran past his temple, drawing a sigh from his lips . "You¡¯re destined for greatness, Yundong . You¡¯ll see . "

    Li Yundong sniffed, then cleared his throat . "Y- You really have a lot of faith in me, huh?"

    Su Chan grinned . "Hehehe!" All of a sudden, Su Chan leaped onto Li Yundong¡¯s back and swung her fists in the air . "Yes! I have faith in you! My beloved is the greatest!"

    Li Yundong took a ragged breath and willed his tears not to fall . "C- Come on . . . " His voice came out a little hoarse, so he cleared his throat harshly . "I might not have enough money to buy clothes for you today, but I can still buy you some snacks . I hope you¡¯re hungry!"

    "Wee!!!" Su Chan cheered . "I¡¯m starving . " Then, Su Chan kicked Li Yundong¡¯s butt with her feet . "Move! Piggy, piggy!"

    Li Yundong chuckled and walked away from the avenue . As he walked, he made no attempts to wipe away the wetness on his cheeks .

    ***

    "Are they good?" Li Yundong asked, ncing sideways at Su Chan . They were now on the way back towards New Hongsheng District .

    "Mmmph! Mmmph! Mmmph!"

    Su Chan¡¯s cheeks looked puffy . A segment of grilled squid poked out from her pouted lips¡ªhe¡¯d bought the squids from a roadside stall earlier .

    Li Yundong smiled . Well . Guess that answers the question .

    Li Yundong bit off the final piece of grilled squid from the wooden skewer, then ced a hand on her forearm to stop her .

    "Mmph? Mmph? Mmph? Wua iff fit?" Su Chan said in between chews .

    Li Yundongughed . "Don¡¯t talk with your mouth full . And give me those . " Li Yundong took the empty skewers¡ªthere were ten of them¡ªfrom Su Chan¡¯s hand and tossed them into a trash can .

    "Fanks!" Su Chan grinned .

    Li Yundong chuckled and patted her head . "You¡¯re wee . Now let¡¯s get going . "

    They walked along the street in silence until Su Chan finished chewing and swallowed all the grilled squid she¡¯d stuffed into her mouth .

    "Yundong..."

    "Yes?" Li Yundong reached over and wiped away a bit of sauce from the corner of Su Chan¡¯s lips .

    "Why is this cat called a piggy bank?"

    The Hello Kitty piggy bank clinked loudly when Su Chan shook it . Su Chan lifted the piggy bank, then peered into the coin slot . "Heeellooo Keedee!"

    Li Yundong burst intoughter .

    "What?" Su Chan stopped walking and stared at him quizzically .

    Li Yundong held his stomach and keptughing .

    Su Chan pouted . "So is this a cat or a pig?" Su Chan held Hello Kitty out in front of her . "It looks more like a cat though . . . "

    Li Yundong regained hisposure after a while . "You can call it a money box too," he said . "It¡¯s called a piggy bank because it¡¯s usually shaped like a pig . This one is just designed to look like Hello Kitty . "

    "Oh . . . " Su Chan studied the piggy bank curiously . Suddenly, she tilted it upside down, and shook it again .

    "What are you doing?" Li Yundong asked in a tone of amusement .

    More clinks sounded . Su Chan stared at the piggy bank with a frown .

    "Just wondering if the coins would fall out..."

    Li Yundong smiled . "Don¡¯t be silly . Just unlock the thing with its key if you wanna take the money out . "

    "Oh . " Su Chan righted the piggy bank . Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks . "Yundong, Yundong!" She jumped a few times . "Look! Look! Mac Doo Nurls!!"

    Li Yundong chuckled and pinched her cheek . "What say we get some ice cream, hmm?"

    "Yayy!" Su Chan yelled, then started running towards McDonalds .

    ***

    "Two sundaes, please," Li Yundong told the man behind the counter .

    "What vor?"

    Li Yundong turned around to look at Su Chan, whose head was tilted slightly as she studied the huge McDonald¡¯s logo in front of the counter . Li Yundong nudged her .

    "Hmm?"

    "What kind of vor do you want for your ice cream?"

    Su Chan tore her gaze away from the logo . "What vor do they have?"

    Li Yundong turned towards the man behind the counter and repeated Su Chan¡¯s question .

    "We have chocte, vani, and yam . "

    "So?" Li Yundong smiled at Su Chan . "Which one?"

    "Su Chan ced a finger on her chin . "Hmm . . . " Suddenly, Su Chan¡¯s eyes twinkled . "Chili!"

    "Err . . . " The man shot Li Yundong a helpless look .

    Li Yundongughed . "She¡¯s just messing with you, just ignore her . "

    The man forced out a fewughs . "T- Then which vor would you like, sir?"

    "Give us . . . Give us a chocte sundae and a vani sundae please . "

    "Right away, sir . "

    They left McDonald¡¯s after Li Yundong paid for their sundaes . "Here," Li Yundong said, handing the loose change to Su Chan .

    Su Chan took the coins, then slotted them into her piggy bank .

    "Su Chan . . . "

    "Hmm?" Su Chan scooped a huge spoonful of ice cream .

    "I wanna try to pass the Zhuji phase when we get back," Li Yundong said .

    Su Chan stopped walking, causing Li Yundong to stop too .

    "Okay . . . " Su Chan said after a moment .

    "There¡¯s been so many distractionstely, you know?" Li Yundong sighed . "Right now, I can¡¯t even beat Lin Youfa . And we also have the Zhengyi School to worry about . "

    Su Chan dug her spoon into her sundae cup . "We need to be careful," she said . "You can¡¯t be interrupted or attacked when you¡¯re trying to pass the Zhuji phase . It¡¯s dangerous . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "It¡¯s a risk . But I don¡¯t think we have much time left . The Zhengyi people areing . " He shook his head . "God knows who they¡¯re going to send next . "

    Su Chan stood there quietly with a sad look on her face .

    "I¡¯ll be fine . " Li Yundong reached out and ruffled her hair . "Come on . Finish your ice-cream . And then we¡¯ll head back . "

    "Mmm!" Su Chan took her spoon again .

    They sneaked past New Hongsheng District¡¯s gates once they were sure that nobody was following them¡ªthey had to walk around in circles for that . On the way to their apartment block, Li Yundong stopped by the security booth and asked the security guard on duty whether anyone had spotted someone who matched Lin Youfa¡¯s physical description . When the security guard shook his head, Li Yundong thanked the man and left the security booth .

    Li Yundong stopped Su Chan below their block . "Hey . I still think it¡¯s safer for us to stay at the hotel tonight . "

    Su Chan looked up their apartment block with longing eyes . She hugged the piggy bank tighter . ¡±Y- You think so?"

    Li Yundong followed Su Chan¡¯s gaze, then sighed . "I don¡¯t really know to be honest . . . " Li Yundong shook his head . "As much as I hate to say this, I think we should start moving some of our stuff out of the apartment . "

    Li Yundong studied Su Chan¡¯s expression carefully . A momentter, Su Chan took a breath and nodded . "You¡¯re right . "

    Li Yundong sighed . "We don¡¯t have to give up the lease just yet . " He wrapped his arm around Su Chan¡¯s shoulders . "I¡¯m just saying maybe we should stay away until I¡¯m ready to face them . "

    Su Chan smiled . "I understand, Yundong . "

    They rode the elevator to the 20th floor . When Li Yundong opened the door and walked in, nothing in the apartment seemed out of ce, except for one thing .

    "Hey . . . Su Chan . . . " Li Yundong frowned . "I thought we closed the sliding door this morn . . . " He turned around just in time to see Su Chan pouncing on him .

    "Yundong! Look out!"

    "Die! Demon witch!"

    The living room exploded in a sh of green light .

 Chapter 132

    Chapter 132

    <h4>The Vital Orb</h4>

    It took only a split second for Li Yundong to realize that Su Chan wasn¡¯t pouncing on him, but on something behind him . When Su Chan flew past him, Li Yundong didn¡¯t turn . Instead, he ran forward, using his body as a shield to block the green sh he¡¯d noticed earlier . Something solid rammed into his chest, but he held on, then pushed back with all his might . The green light disappeared, and the living room went dark once again . A petite figure stumbled to the floor and skidded along the floor until it hit the wall .

    Ruan Hongling was up on her feet in an instant . "Out of my way, you fool!"

    Li Yundong ignored her and turned around to check on Su Chan .

    Su Chan was weaving agilely around Lin Youfa, dodging all of his vicious punches .

    "Damn it! I thought you said you¡¯ll handle this girl!" Lin Youfa yelled when another one of his punches missed . "You said you¡¯ll take on the girl while I duel Zhenren Li! That was the deal!"

    Clenching his jaw, Li Yundong turned around to face Ruan Hongling again . So those two were in cahoots after all . Ruan Hongling pulled something out from behind her back . Li Yundong activated his telescopic vision and squinted through the darkness . The object was small and thin, though he couldn¡¯t make out what it was; Ruan Hongling had quickly hidden the object behind her palm .

    "Don¡¯t worry about me, Yundong!" Su Chan¡¯s voice sounded behind him . "I can handle him!"

    "How dare you underestimate me, girl!" Lin Youfa growled .

    Before Li Yundong could turn around to see what was going on, one of Ruan Hongling¡¯s arms rose, after which she gave her hand a sharp flick . The movement was so subtle and quick that Li Yundong almost missed it . Thin rays of green light streak through the air towards Su Chan . Li Yundong reacted instinctively by stepping into the rays¡¯ path with his palms raised . There were three of rays in total, but Li Yundong only managed to block two of them with his palms; one of the rays whizzed past his ear .

    "Ahhh!!!" Su Chan screamed in pain .

    Shit! Li Yundong whipped his head around and saw Su Chan kneeling on the floor with one hand holding on to her shoulder .

    "Hah! You¡¯ve let your guard down, girl!" Lin Youfa¡¯s leg swung out in a roundhouse kick aimed at Su Chan¡¯s head . Li Yundong burst forward and once again used his body as a shield .

    CRACK! He grunted when a powerful force mmed into his ribs . Li Yundong wrapped his arm around Lin Youfa¡¯s leg, trapping it against his ribs . With one leg raised, Lin Youfa¡¯s bnce and defense waspromised . "Take this, you son of a bitch!" Li Yundong kicked Lin Youfa in the groin as hard as he could, then sent Lin Youfa away with a hard shove . Lin Youfa stumbled, fell, and then rolled on the floor a few times .

    s, it didn¡¯t seem like Li Yundong¡¯s attacked did much damage at all . Lin Youfa got back up in no time .

    "Come! Let us have our duel, Zhenren Li!" Lin Youfa burst forward and tackled Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong lowered his center of gravity and pushed back against Lin Youfa¡¯s shoulders . Li Yundong knew he shouldn¡¯t allow himself to be taken down to the ground; Lin Youfa¡¯s size and strength would give him a huge advantage in a ground fight .

    The following few seconds was a battle of raw strength with Li Yundong trying his best not to let Lin Youfa overpower him .

    "Oh no, you don¡¯t, demon witch!" Ruan Hongling shouted .

    A split secondter, Su Chan was right beside him . Her hand shot out and struck a spot on Lin Youfa¡¯s chest . The force pushing back against Li Yundong¡¯s body weakened almost instantly . Li Yundong gritted his teeth and pushed his legs harder . Just a little bit more...

    A green ray whizzed past his head and struck Su Chan¡¯s back .

    Su Chan¡¯s body sagged to the floor, where sheypletely motionless .

    "Nooooo!!!!!" Li Yundong¡¯s blood boiled inside his veins . "Dieeee!!!!!!" He drove forward with his legs .

    Lin Youfa gasped, clearly taken by surprise by Li Yundong¡¯s sudden burst in leg strength .

    "Arrrgggghhh!!!" Li Yundong pushed harder, forcing Lin Youfa backwards . Eventually, they stumbled through the sliding door into the balcony . Li Yundong lowered himself even more and drove his shoulder into Lin Youfa¡¯s groin . Then, he roared, and hoisted Lin Youfa¡¯s 2-meter-tall body into the air . "Go to hell!" Li Yundong hurled Lin Youfa¡¯s body over the railing .

    Li Yundong turned around and re-entered the apartment . A golden radiance lit up the living room the moment he walked in . He red at Ruan Hongling who was staring back at him fearfully . Without taking his eyes off Ruan Hongling, Li Yundong kept walking until he reached Su Chan¡¯s body . A red spot had already formed on Su Chan¡¯s shirt . His princess was moaning and groaning as her body twitched and rolled in a series of violent convulsions . She looked like someone having a seizure .

    "You think I won¡¯t hurt you just because you¡¯re a woman?!" Li Yundong yelled . The living room shed in gold . "Again and again . . . Youe in here and try to hurt us . . . " Li Yundong raised his gaze sharply . "No more . . . This ends now . "

    "I¡¯m sick and tired of this bullshit..." Li Yundong growled, stepping towards Ruan Hongling . "I¡¯m going to end this tonight . I¡¯m going to end you . . . "

    Ruan Hongling backed away from Li Yundong fearfully . "Y- You . . . "

    "What! What about me?! What the f*ck do you people want!" Every piece of ss in the apartment shattered . The Jindan¡¯s aura radiated outwards from Li Yundong¡¯s body like a golden ze . Li Yundong kept moving forward, forcing Ruan Hongling out onto the balcony . When Ruan Hongling¡¯s back hit the balcony¡¯s railing, he stopped .

    "I¡¯ve warned you time and time again not to bother us . . . " Li Yundong growled . "And yet you keeping back . "

    Defiance reced the fear in Ruan Hongling¡¯s eyes . "Wake up, you blind fool!" she yelled . "That a look at that girl you¡¯re so obsessed with! She¡¯s a fox spirit! She¡¯s manipting you! She¡¯ll drain your Yang Qi one day and then leave you to die!"

    Li Yundong reached into his pocket and pulled out the talisman .

    "You leave me no choice . . . " Li Yundong said coldly . The talisman glowed with a green light the moment it came in contact with the golden aura emanating from his body .

    There was a gasp . "T- That¡¯s . . . Th- The . . . Five Thunders Spell . . . " Through the golden light, Li Yundong could see that Ruan Hongling¡¯s face had grown pale .

    Before he could get another word out, Ruan Hongling disappeared from the balcony in a sh of green light .

    ***

    Li Yundongid Su Chan on his bed . Su Chan¡¯s body was still convulsing violently . Her lips were chapped and her face pale . She looked like she was in unbearable pain . Li Yundong cupped her cheeks . "Su Chan! Talk to me . How can I help? Tell me what to do?"

    Su Chan whimpered and rolled around on the mattress . Li Yundong went into full-blown panic mode . God damn it all to hell! Li Yundong punched his thigh . He looked around the bedroom . Should he perform the massage again? Maybe take her to the hospital? Li Yundong leaped up from the bed . "Hang on, okay? I¡¯m taking you to the hospital . " Li Yundong ran to his wardrobe, wanting to retrieve the rest of his cash .

    "Yun . . . Yun . . . dong . . . "

    Li Yundong turned away from the wardrobe and ran back towards the bed . He grasped Su Chan¡¯s cold hands . "What? What? What can I do, princess? Just tell me what to do..."

    Su Chan shook her head a few times, then released a sharp cry . Her hand shot out to grab his cor . "N- No . . . Hos . . . pi . . tal . . . Don¡¯t . . . "

    "I¡¯ll give you the massage . " Li Yundong moved to stand up but was yanked back down by his cor .

    "Use . . . useless . . . Take me . . . t- to . . . motel . . . " Su Chan¡¯s eyes rolled to the back of her head . "Too . . . Dangerous . . . H- Here . . . Zi . . . Zi Yuan . . . mighte . . . "

    "But you¡¯re in pain!" Li Yundong yelled .

    Su Chan¡¯s breathing turned ragged . "N- needle . . . in pocket . "

    Li Yundong patted her pocket, then pulled out a long, dark needle .

    Su Chan¡¯s body twitched a few times, the veins and cords on her neck pulling taut against her skin .

    "Okay . . . I¡¯ve got the needle . What now?" Li Yundong wiped away the sweat on Su Chan¡¯s forehead .

    "B- Bai . . . hui . . . L- Ling . . . "

    "Lingtai?" Li Yundong said .

    Su Chan nodded .

    Li Yundong got to work immediately . The convulsions stopped the moment Li Yundong poked the needle into her Lingtai . Slowly, her breathing evened out . And when Li Yundong poked the needle on her Baihui, the colors returned slightly to her face .

    Li Yundong put the needle away . "Are you still in pain?"

    Su Chan nodded . "Need to hurry . . . Have to push the aura out . . . C- Can¡¯t do it here . . . "

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t waste time arguing with her . He picked her up from the bed and ran out of the bedroom towards the door .

    "Wait . . . " Su Chan said when they were at the doorway .

    "What is it?" Li Yundong asked .

    "F- Forgot . . . something . . . " Su Chan pointed at something on the floor .

    Li Yundong nced to his right and saw the Hello Kitty piggy bank lying on the floor .

    Li Yundong sighed, then walked over to pick up the piggy bank . "You¡¯re practically half-dead, and you¡¯re still worried about this thing?"

    Su Chan¡¯s fingers trembled when she took the piggy bank and hugged it to her chest . "Y- You . . . need the money . . . "

    Tears stung Li Yundong¡¯s eyes . He picked Su Chan up and left the apartment .

    ***

    After they got into a cab, Li Yundong wanted to smack himself in the head . He¡¯d forgotten to take the cash out from his wardrobe amidst trying to help ease Su Chan¡¯s pain . Now he didn¡¯t have enough cash left to pay for their cab ride . With a heavy sigh, he reached for Su Chan¡¯s piggy bank .

    Su Chan pulled the piggy bank away from his reach . "No . . . " She shook her head . "There¡¯s some in my pocket . "

    Li Yundong pulled out a fifty from inside Su Chan¡¯s pocket . "I thought you¡¯ve put everything in there . " He pointed at the piggy bank .

    Su Chan forced out a smile . "No . The money inside Hello Keedee is for some other purpose . . . "

    "What purpose?"

    Su Chan hugged the piggy bank tighter . "Just . . . I n to use the money to look for you in case you abandon me one day . . . "

    The tears that he¡¯d been holding back since they left the apartment finally flowed . He sniffed and wiped his cheeks . "D- Don¡¯t be stupid . . . " Li Yundong sobbed . "I¡¯ll never abandon you . . . "

    Li Yundong wiped his tears with his sleeve, then regarded Su Chan affectionately . "You¡¯ll always be my best girl . "

    ***

    "P- Please turn around while I do this . . . " Su Chan pleaded .

    Yundong frowned and lowered himself onto the mattress . "What? Why?"

    Su Chan shook her head weakly . "I don¡¯t want you to see me like this! Please . . . Yundong . . . Please . . . "

    Yundong nodded and turned around to face the wall . "Okay . . . I won¡¯t look . Just . . . Will you feel better if . . . I mean after you do whatever it is that you¡¯re about to do?"

    "Y- Yes . . . "

    "A- Are you sure you don¡¯t need any help?"

    Su Chan bit down on her lip . She could use some help, to be honest . But she didn¡¯t want Yundong to see her like this . Plus, if the removed her Vital Orb from her body, there was a chance that she would...

    No . She didn¡¯t even want to think about that . Right now she didn¡¯t have a choice . She would die if she didn¡¯t flush the Divine Aura out of her body within the next hour .

    "I can manage," Su Chan said shakily . "I just need you to look away . . . Please?"

    "Okay . "

    "Promise me you won¡¯t look . . . " Su Chan gritted out .

    Yundong sighed . "Okay, okay . I promise . Now hurry up and do your thing," he said . "God, you were in so much pain just now . "

    Su Chan got into a meditative posture on the bed . She stared at Yundong¡¯s back for a few moments, then took a deep breath . A bulge slowly formed on her lower abdomen . Her chest heaved, and the muscles in her throat constricted .

    Secondster, a colorful orb floated out from Su Chan¡¯s mouth . The orb glowed brightly, lighting up the entire hotel room .

    "What the¡ª Hey! What¡¯s with the glowing thing? What the hell is going on . . . " Yundong said .

    "Don¡¯t!" Su Chan pleaded . "Don¡¯t turn around . . . Please, Yundong . . . I beg you . . . Please . . . "

    Yundong¡¯s back stiffened, but he didn¡¯t turn around .

    Su Chan sighed and removed her hands from her Vital Orb . The colorful sphere hovered in front of her, just a few inches away from her chest . Green tendrils rose from the sphere like a bunch of luminous seaweeds . The tendrils seeped into Su Chan¡¯s body . Su Chan sighed as a cooling sensation coursed through her meridians . Momentster, white tendrils rose from her skin, and she felt thest vestiges of her pain leave her body .

    Relief coursed through her, until her body started to itch all over .

    ***

    Li Yundong tamped down his curiosity and resisted the impulse to turn around . The fact that the whole frigging room was glowing like crazy didn¡¯t help .

    He knew something was wrong the moment the bed started shaking . What the f*ck? "Su Chan?" Li Yundong said warily . "What¡¯s the matter? Why¡¯s the bed shaking?"

    "I- I¡¯m fine . . . "

    Li Yundong clenched his jaw . "No! You¡¯re not fine! What the hell is going on?"

    "No! Don¡¯t turn around!" Su Chan shrieked . "Just . . . Just gimme a minute, okay? I¡¯m almost done . . . . "

    Li Yundong took a deep, calming breath and balled his fists . The bed stopped shaking, but there was now a series of scratching sound . Slowly, the bright lights in the room started to dim .

    Li Yundong felt the mattress dipping behind him .

    There was a loud gasp . "Oh, no, no, no . . . " Su Chan groaned .

    Suddenly, the room dimmed as the colorful lights diminished .

    "Su Chan . . . ?" Li Yundong struggled not to turn around . "What¡¯s the matter Su Chan? You¡¯re scaring me . . . "

    There was a snivel, which turned into sobs . That was when Li Yundong decided that enough was enough .

    He turned around . "No!!!!!" Su Chan screamed . "Don¡¯t look at me!!"

    Li Yundong froze .

    "Oh my God . . . "

 Chapter 133

    Chapter 133

    <h4>Missing</h4>

    At first, Li Yundong didn¡¯t see anything wrong with Su Chan . She had stopped screaming at him and was now sobbing quietly into her hands . Li Yundong reached out with his hand, wanting to pat her head . "What¡¯s the matter¡ª"

    His hand stilled when he saw it . Spread across the mattress, under Su Chan¡¯s folded legs, was a thick and bushy fox tail . "Oh my God . . . " Li Yundong whispered .

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s words came rushing into his mind . The girl had mentioned something about Su Chan being a fox spirit earlier, but Li Yundong thought she was just trying to mess with his head back then .

    So it¡¯s true . . .

    Su Chan was a fox spirit . Wow .

    Li Yundong reached out to touch Su Chan . She resisted him and tried to lean back, but Li Yundong managed to pry her hands away from her face after several attempts .

    Li Yundong cupped his hand under Su Chan¡¯s chin . "Listen, there¡¯s nothing to be¡ª"

    "No!"

    A green sh blinded Li Yundong¡¯s eyes . The next thing he knew, he was stumbling backwards and falling off the bed . There was a sharp click followed by a loud thud .

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes went wide as realization hit him . The sliding door...

    He sprang to his feet and looked towards the balcony .

    What he saw through the open sliding door filled his heart with horror .

    "Su Chan! No! Don¡¯t!!"

    Li Yundong charged towards the balcony, but he was toote; Su Chan had leaped off the railing before Li Yundong could reach her .

    Li Yundong¡¯s clutched the top of the railing with his fingers and peered out into the night . Su Chan¡¯s tail fluttered in the night air as she floated away from the motel with great speed .

    "God damn it!"

    The railing trembled when Li Yundong pped it with his palm .

    Li Yundong pushed away from the railing and ran towards front door, grabbing his phone, keys, and wallet on the way out .

    While waiting for the elevator, Ruan Hongling¡¯s words kept reying inside his mind: "She¡¯s manipting you . . . She¡¯ll drain your Yang Qi and leave you to die . . . "

    "Shut up, you bitch . . . Shut the hell up!" Li Yundong growled, shaking his head harshly . "I¡¯m not going to listen to you . . . "

    Su Chan was a good person . A kind person . That would never change no matter what everyone else told him . He¡¯d seen Su Chan¡¯s goodness with his own eyes, damn it! Ruan Hongling and the Zhengyi School could go to hell .

    A loud ding signaled the elevator¡¯s arrival . Li Yundong entered the elevator car and pressed the button for the ground floor, then began pping the elevator close button repeatedly .

    Once the doors slid shut, the elevator descended the building in a painfully slow manner . Li Yundong used the time topose himself and go through a list of possible ces that Su Chan might go .

    Su Chan¡¯s piggy bank was still in the motel room, so she likely didn¡¯t have any money with her . Which means she can¡¯t take a cab . . .

    Li Yundong banged his head against the back of the elevator and huffed out in frustration . So what? Why would she need to take a cab when she could frigging fly?

    But at least she can¡¯t check into another motel without cash . . .

    Damn it, how the heck was he supposed to find her? The city was so big . She could be anywhere by now . Hell, she could¡¯ve gone back into the mountains for all he knew .

    Should he lodge a missing persons report? F*ck!

    A loud ding jolted him out of his frantic thoughts . He rushed out of the elevator the moment the doors slid open . Outside the motel, he came to a halt . A momentter, he gripped his hair with his hands and started pacing in front of the motel¡¯s entrance¡ªhe had no idea where to even start the search .

    "Calm down, Li Yundong . . . Calm down . . . " he muttered . "Where would she go . . . Think!"

    Li Yundong took a deep breath and went over the facts . Su Chan didn¡¯t know the city very well, so wherever she was heading towards had to be some ce she knew . Maybe it was a ce that they¡¯d both been to before? The campus? McDonalds? Their old apartment? Li Yundong huffed out a breath and released his hair . But what if she didn¡¯t even have a destination in mind? What if she was just flying around aimlessly? How the f*ck was he supposed to find her then?

    To hell with it . So what if he didn¡¯t have a clue where she was going . He¡¯d search the entire city if he had to . He owed it so Su Chan to at least try . He ran to the roadside and hailed a cab . "Tiannan University!" he shouted at the cabbie the moment he got in . "Step on it!"

    ***

    "Wait here! I¡¯ll be back!" Li Yundong yelled at the cabbie before he got out of the cab and ran towards the campus gates . He went to the academic building first, where he checked every ssroom and every lecture hall inside . Then, he went to the library and study lounges, which were packed with students doing theirst minute cramming¡ªthe finals were still going on . He didn¡¯t find Su Chan in any of those ces . He left the academic building and then headed towards the copse of trees on the right . He moved past the copse and came to a halt in front of the gazebo, which was empty except for the pieces of rubble left behind after he had smashed the stone table .

    "Damn it!" Li Yundong muttered, then turned around and headed back towards the gates .

    Where are you, Su Chan?

    Li Yundong slid back into the cab . "New Hongsheng District!"

    The cabbie, bless the man, seemed to have sensed the urgency in Li Yundong¡¯s voice . He pulled away from the curb and drove off quickly . Hell, the guy even broke the speed limit .

    They arrived at New Hongsheng District in record time . Li Yundong thanked the cabbie and told the guy to wait for him in front of the gates¡ªjust in case Su Chan wasn¡¯t in their apartment .

    Li Yundong unlocked the door of apartment 20A with trembling hands . Darkness greeted him inside . Halfway along the doorway, he stopped, too afraid to keep moving, too afraid to face the possibility that Su Chan might not be here after all .

    "Su Chan?!" he yelled .

    His voice echoed in the doorway, taunting him with its emptiness . Images shed across his mind, and at that moment, he remembered . He remembered every moment they had shared: the moments ofughter and joy; the moments of tears and arguments; even normal and routine stuff like bumping into each other in hallways during the mornings, or fighting for food across the dining table .

    He missed his princess . He missed Su Chan .

    He wanted his little chipmunk back .

    Li Yundong¡¯s feet moved on his own . As he walked, shards of broken ss crunched beneath his shoes . Ten minutester, he slumped to the floor in the middle of the living room, utterly vanquished .

    Tears spilled from his eyes .

    "Where are you, you idiot . . . Where the hell are you . . . Why did you run? Why?"

    The truth was that it really didn¡¯t f*cking matter that Su Chan was a fox spirit . He¡¯d witnessed her kindness, her inherent goodness, her sincerity, and her selflessness . None of those things could be faked . Hell, she¡¯d been so damned loyal to him . She had faith in him . Him, a pathetic and penniless loser with no real achievements to speak of . She could literally have any man she wanted, yet she picked him .

    Regret filled his chest, drowning him . This was all his fault . He should¡¯ve made his feelings clearer, should¡¯ve tried harder to convince her that he really didn¡¯t care what other people called her . In hindsight, the signs of her insecurity were all there . How many times had she expressed her fear of him abandoning her? How many times had she cried when she thought he was leaving her? It was all there . He¡¯d just been too blind to see it, too much of an idiot .

    Now she was gone, and he was sitting here crying like a loser .

    Li Yundong wiped his tears . There had to be something he was missing, some ce he hadn¡¯t looked . Alright . . . think . . . Li Yundong exhaled . Where could she be? Where was thest time they had the most fun toge¡ª

    "Holy shit..." Li Yundong whispered into the empty room .

    Secondster, he was up on his feet and out the front door .

    She had to be there . She must be .

 Chapter 134

    Chapter 134

    <h4>The Final Confession</h4>

    The park was just the way Su Chan remembered it . The giant wheel¡ªwith long spokes radiating out from its center and cutepartments hanging at the end of the spokes¡ªwas still there at the center of the park . At another corner to her right, she saw those spiraling tracks, which she now knew were meant for those long carts to travel along . It was called roller-coasting... something, if she wasn¡¯t mistaken .

    The only thing different about the park was that it was nowpletely deserted . The lights were turned off, and there was no music . Nor was the giant wheel rotating likest time . When she first came here, this park was lively and filled with people, especially children . And then there also were these colorful spheres¡ªwith strings attached to them¡ªfloating about in the air . She remembered going nuts over those things when she first saw them .

    Too bad none of those things were present tonight . Too bad indeed, since she could really use some cheering up after what happened at the motel . Darkness pervaded the a-moose-ment park, mirroring the state of Su Chan¡¯s heart .

    She hadn¡¯t meant to run away from the motel . She just . . . Well, she panicked . Even though Yundong had only seen her tail, not her full fox form, she still couldn¡¯t bring herself to face the possibility of him looking at her with nothing but rejection and disgust in his eyes . Instead of staying and watching how Yundong would react, Su Chan fled . She had to get out of there . She needed some space to work through everything on her own .

    Su Chan nced down at herself . Her tail was gone the moment she¡¯d recovered enough of her magical powers to transform herself back to her full human form . Not that it mattered now; Yundong had already seen her tail . She wondered what he was thinking right now . Had he started to hate her already? Was he vomiting, hurling out his stomach¡¯s contents?

    Why didn¡¯t she give him a chance?

    Stupid, stupid, Chan¡¯er . . . There was no chance to give . Nobody would want a fox spirit . Nobody .

    With a heavy heart, Su Chan trudged along the perimeter of the a-moose-ment park . Regardless of how Li Yundong felt, Su Chan knew she had to return to Yundong at some point . Not for her own sake, but for Yundong¡¯s safety .

    Su Chan had already left detailed instructions on how to pass the Zhuji phase for Yundong . She had written the instructions down on a piece of paper that she¡¯d torn off Yundong¡¯s notebook . After Ruan Hongling¡¯s first visit, Su Chan knew it was just a matter of time before Yundong found out about her true identity, so she¡¯d made preparations in advance . If Yundong couldn¡¯t ept who she was and ended up kicking her out, he would at least have some form of guide to help him go through the Zhuji phase . That piece of paper currentlyy in some corner inside her wardrobe . Maybe Li Yundong would discover it when he was emptying her wardrobe after he kicked her out .

    After wandering aimlessly around the park for minutes on end, Su Chan stopped in front of a tall, vertical structure with arge tform in the middle . Arge sign with the words "Space Shuttle" hung above her head .

    This was the first thing they rode when Li Yundong brought her here the other day . Smiling at the memory, Su Chan hopped over the metal barrier and then climbed onto the empty tform . She sat down in one of the seats, then pulled down the harness . The metallic coldness of the harness bit into her bare shoulders¡ªa stark contrast to Yundong¡¯s arm, which felt warm andfortable .

    Tears stung her eyes .

    The more Su Chan thought about it, the more hopeless she felt . Maybe their rtionship was doomed from the very start . How could she be so naive to think that they were meant to be together? A genius Cultivator like Yundong shouldn¡¯t be dragged down by a fox spirit like her . . .

    Su Chan gripped the shoulder harness tighter . A strangled sound escaped her lips as her tears began to fall .

    "But I miss you, Yundong!" Su Chan wailed . "I miss you so much! I miss you... Yundong... Please don¡¯t hate me!!!"

    "I miss you too . . . "

    What¡ª

    Su Chan turned around in her seat so quickly that her cheek smacked into the shoulder harness . However, the sharp pain was totally worth it because she got to see her beloved standing right there below the tform, staring up at her . His eyes looked puffy and his nose was red, so it was obvious that he¡¯d been crying as well .

    Joy bloomed inside Su Chan¡¯s chest . However, the feeling of joy didn¡¯tst as wariness and doubt crept in . She forced herself turn away, her fingers trembled against the harness as she did . She wasn¡¯t ready to face him yet . In fact, she didn¡¯t think she¡¯d ever be ready to face him, not when it had anything to do with what she was about to tell him .

    Footsteps sounded behind her, and that was how she knew that Yundong was moving towards her . Su Chan pushed the shoulder harness upwards .

    "Don¡¯t! Don¡¯t run!" Yundong pleaded loudly . "Please don¡¯t run away again, Su Chan! I don¡¯t care that you¡¯re a fox spirit!"

    Waves of emotions coursed through Su Chan: joy; tion; doubt; surprise . Her gaze snapped towards Yundong, who was standing directly in front of her below the tform . "What?"

    Yundong¡¯s eyes went aze with passion . "I said I don¡¯t care that you¡¯re a fox spirit! You¡¯re my best girl, the love of my life, and nobody can tell me otherwise!"

    Yundong¡¯s figure turned blurry as tears filled her eyes again . "B- But . . . " She sniffed . " But all I did was cause you trouble . . . A- And . . . " Another sniff . "And everyone in the Cultivation world hates my kind¡ª"

    "I don¡¯t give a damn what anybody else says!" Yundong yelled . "The rest of the Cultivation world can go to hell! I just . . . " Yundong¡¯s shoulders sagged . "I just want you, okay? I just want you . "

    "F- For real?" Su Chan¡¯s lips trembled . "Even though I¡¯m an ugly fox spirit?"

    Their gaze met across the meager space between them . Yundong¡¯s eyes were warm, loving, and oh-so-beautiful . . .

    "Yes . . . For real . . . Why won¡¯t you believe me?" Yundong reached up and cupped her cheeks in his warm hands . "How am I going to convince you that I will never, ever, abandon you?"

    Su Chan averted her gaze . "T- There¡¯s . . . something else that I haven¡¯t told you yet . . . And . . . " Su Chan lowered her head . "And if you still want me around after I tell you, then I¡¯ll believe you . "

    "Okay . . . " Yundong said, releasing her cheeks . "What is it?"

    "D- Do you . . . Do you remember what Ruan Hongling said about me? I mean back when we were at the apartment . . . "

    There was a brief moment of silence . Yundong frowned . "You mean the part about you being a fox spirit? I thought I already told you that I don¡¯t care¡ª"

    "No . Not that part . " Su Chan shook her head . "I meant the part about . . . about . . . " Su Chan averted her gaze . "About what I was nning to do to you . "

    Silence filled the space between them .

    "Oh," Yundong said after a while .

    Su Chan stole a nce at Yundong .

    Yundong was staring back at her, his eyes guarded and unreadable .

    Su Chan forced herself to look away again .

    A momentter, she took a deep breath and decided to take the plunge . "I . . . I really did n to steal your Yang Qi at the beginning . . . "

    The air hung thick between them . The silence was now palpable, almost like a noose tightening around her neck .

    Several moments passed before Yundong¡¯s voice cut through the thick silence like a de .

    "What about now? Are you still nning to . . . you know . "

    Su Chan looked up sharply and started shaking her head vigorously . "No! Now I would never . . . " Su Chan sighed . "When I told you the other day that there¡¯s a way to take the Renyuan Jindan¡¯s power from you, this is what I¡¯m talking about . Yang Feeding . " Su Chan stared deeply into Yundong¡¯s eyes . "But I also told you that I no longer want the Jindan . " Dejection filled Su Chan¡¯s heart . "I¡¯m sorry, Yundong . . . I admit that I did n to steal your Yang Qi . It¡¯s just . . . I really wanted the Jindan at the beginning . God, do you know how many Cultivators are willing to die for that pill? And when you got lucky and somehow ended up with the pill, I was just so angry and . . . and¡ª"

    Su Chan yelped when her body was hoisted off the tform . The next thing she knew, her cheek was pressed snugly against Yundong¡¯s chest .

    Yundong¡¯s hug enveloped her like a warm nket during winter, and at that moment, Su Chan realized something¡ªshe was home .

    "You idiot . . . " Yundong mumbled into her hair, his chest vibrating against her cheek . "Don¡¯t you get it yet? I know I¡¯m lucky, okay? But not because of the Renyuan Jindan . I¡¯m lucky because you came into my life . "

    Su Chan pulled back to study Yundong¡¯s face . When their eyes met, she saw truth and sincerity leaking out from Yundong¡¯s eyes .

    "Yundong . . . "

    "Yes?"

    Su Chan¡¯s cheeks heated up . "K- Kiss me . . . "

    Yundong¡¯s eyes grew several shades darker . Slowly, his hands rose to her face . A momentter, those strong hands cupped her cheeks, and when their lips met, it was like someone had cast the Five Thunder Spell inside her; it was the most passionate kiss they shared by far .

    After what felt like minutes, they broke apart, heaving and panting . Their forehead touched, and Su Chan thought her legs were going to give out . When Su Chan recovered enough of her senses a whileter, she giggled .

    "What¡¯s so funny?" Yundong asked . He still sounded a little out of breath .

    Su Chan giggled again . "Nothing . It¡¯s just . . . I can¡¯t feel my lips . "

    Yundong chuckled . "Yeah? I can¡¯t even feel my tongue . You were sucking on it so much that¡ª"

    Su Chan pped a hand over his mouth . "S- Shut up!"

    If someone told her right then that her cheeks had burst into mes, she might actually believe it .

    Yundong threw his head back andughed . "Come on . You don¡¯t have to feel shy . There¡¯s no one here . "

    Su Chan giggled, then made a face at him . "You¡¯re shameless . "

    "Shameless, huh?" Yundong¡¯s eyes grew darker again . "You ain¡¯t seen nothing yet . "

    All of a sudden, Yundong took Su Chan¡¯s hand and then . . .

    Su Chan gasped the moment her hand touched the bulge between Yundong¡¯s legs . "Y- Yundong . . . "

    "This is what you¡¯ve done to me . . . " Yundong said in a strained voice . "Take some responsibility . "

    Su Chan thought she might start bleeding from the pores of her face . "W- We can¡¯t . . . Not yet . . . "

    Yundongughed wryly . "I know . The Zhuji phase right?"

    "Mmm!" Su Chan pulled her hand away . She shouldn¡¯t keep her hand there for too long; she¡¯d end up doing something really stupid if she did .

    Yundong sighed . "Fine . " Then he leaned back a little to study her face . "Are we okay now?"

    Instead of answering, Su Chan threw herself into his arms . Yep . Everything was going to be okay .

 Chapter 135

    Chapter 135

    <h4>Flying without Wings!</h4>

    Everything was perfect until Su Chan started sobbing into his chest again . Just like that, Li Yundong went from mushy, heart-and-flowers romantic mode to a full-blown panic mode .

    "Hey, hey . What¡¯s wrong, princess?"

    Su Chan shook her head . "I¡¯m just so happy and . . . " Suddenly, Su Chan looked up at him tentatively . "Aren¡¯t you afraid of me?"

    Li Yundong sighed inwardly, then smiled . Looks like it¡¯s gonna take a long, long time to convince her that I don¡¯t really care . "Nope . I¡¯m not afraid . And I don¡¯t get scared that easily . "

    "But I¡¯m a fox spirit . People see my kind as demons . "

    Li Yundong shrugged . "So?"

    "So¡ª" Su Chan gaped, looking adorably baffled . "You do know what a demon means, right? Oh, you know, those vile and evil creatures that¡ª"

    "But you don¡¯t kill people at random," Li Yundong said in a firm tone . "In fact, it¡¯s the opposite . You even helped save lives . Look, let me make something clear . Labels don¡¯t mean shit . " Li Yundong shook his head lightly . "I assure you that there are some who arebelled as humans but are pure evil . "

    People like He Shao, he added silently .

    "Labels don¡¯t mean anything, Su Chan . Only your thoughts and actions count..."

    "But most people hate me!"

    "Well I¡¯m not most people," Li Yundong said pointedly . "And I happen to love you, so . . . "

    Su Chan¡¯s lips trembled slightly, after which she let out another sob .

    Li Yundong patted her head . "Come on, stop crying already . It¡¯s gonna be alright, I promise . "

    Su Chan bobbed her head . "Mmm!"

    Suddenly, Li Yundong lips curved into a smile . "Hey . . . I also have a secret to tell you . "

    Su Chan raised her gaze and blinked those huge, watery eyes at him . "Hmm?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart might have just melted a little . He cleared his throat . "Come closer and I¡¯ll tell you . "

    Su Chan brought her face closer like an obedient little girl .

    "You have snot all over your face . . . " he whispered into her ear .

    "Kya!! Really? Oh my god!"

    The next thing that happened took him byplete surprise . Su Chan yanked the front of his shirt and then used it as some kind of face towel . Li Yundong struggled not tough . A momentter, Su Chan released his shirt and started patting her face violently .

    "Is it still there . . . " She nced around frantically as though she was looking for something .

    "Umm... You¡¯ve actually made it worse . . . " Li Yundong said with a straight face .

    However, when Li Yundong saw the horrified look on Su Chan¡¯s face, he couldn¡¯t hold back hisughter anymore . "I was messing with you, geez!"

    Su Chan gaped at him for a moment . "Meanie, meanie, meanie!" She pped his chest . "I thought I looked ugly and terrible and¡ª"

    Li Yundong trapped her hand against his chest and smiled . "You don¡¯t look ugly, princess . You look perfect . "

    Su Chan blushed and tried to look away, but Li Yundong held her chin and prevented her from turning away . "Now I¡¯ve got some questions . "

    Suddenly, Su Chan¡¯s eyes turned wary . "W- What?"

    Li Yundong gave her a reassuring smile . "There¡¯s nothing for you to worry about, okay? I won¡¯t abandon you . . . Ever . "

    Su Chan sighed . "Okay . . . "

    "What happened back at the motel?"

    Su Chan hesitated for a few seconds, then said, "I¡¯ll tell you everything . But not here . Let¡¯s head back to the motel first . "

    Li Yundong pped his forehead . "Oh, shit . . . "

    "What?"

    Li Yundong ran a hand through his hair . "I didn¡¯t tell the driver to wait for me after I paid the cab fare . The guy left already . It¡¯s pretty hard to find a cab here . " Li Yundong paused in thought . "We¡¯ll have to walk out to the main road, and who knows we might get lucky and see one driving by . "

    "No . We don¡¯t have to do that, silly," Su Chan smiled brightly . "I can fly . "

    Li Yundong looked up sharply . "But you¡¯ll be carrying me and I¡¯m kinda heavy . . . Um . . . Will that be a problem?"

    "Nope! Hehehe . . . "

    Wow . Okay . He was going to fly . Not by mechanical means, but by magical means . Holy frigging wow .

    "Come on," Su Chan said, tugging Li Yundong¡¯s arms .

    Li Yundong frowned in confusion . "Where are we going? I thought we¡¯re flying . "

    Su Chan led him away from the Space Shuttle towards the amusement park¡¯s gates . "It¡¯s too open here . People might see us . "

    Li Yundong nced around . The ce was pretty much empty at the moment, but Su Chan was right to practice precaution . They¡¯d had too many close callstely .

    Su Chan led him into a dark alley beside the park .

    "Put your arms around me," Su Chan ordered once they were standing in the alley . "Hug me from behind . "

    Li Yundong quickly did as he was told . A momentter, Su Chan turned her head around to look at him .

    "Whatever you do, don¡¯t let go of me," she said . "I don¡¯t know what I¡¯d do if you fall off . . . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Of course I won¡¯t let go . I¡¯m not that stupid, you know . . . "

    Su Chan pouted and turned away from him . "Okay . . . Ready?"

    "Yep!"

    "Here we go . . . "

    Li Yundong gasped and closed his eyes instinctively when a burst of green light exploded around them . The wind howled beside his ear, blustering against his face . When he opened his eyes slowly a few secondster, he saw nothing but darkness in front of him . But then when he nced lower, he saw tiny dots of light flying past them . Holy shit . . . They were God knows how many feet above the city .

    "Hang on! We¡¯re almost there!" Su Chan voice sounded amidst the wind . A secondter, he felt a sharp dip, like they were taking a deep plunge . Li Yundong hugged Su Chan¡¯s body tighter . Green light blinded his vision . A momentter, the wind stopped blowing . When he opened his eyes, they were hovering above the balcony of their motel room .

    "We¡¯re here," Su Chan said .

    Slowly, they descended onto the balcony until their feet touch the floor .

    Li Yundong unwrapped his arms around Su Chan¡¯s waist and stared at Su Chan for several seconds . "You have got to teach me that . "

    ***

    "So . Ready to tell me what happened?" Li Yundong asked once they got settled on the bed .

    "I had to remove my Vital Orb from my body," Su Chan said .

    "Vital Orb? Wait, is that the thing that caused the room to glow?"

    Su Chan nodded . "I had no choice . That was the quickest way to remove the Divine Aura from my body . I knew I wouldn¡¯t survive if the Divine Aura stayed in my body for too long . "

    Li Yundong sighed and drew her into a hug . "I¡¯m d you¡¯re okay . " He went quiet for a few seconds, pondering his next question . "Is that why you changed into..." He cleared his throat . "I mean is that why your tail came out?"

    "It takes a lot of magical power to maintain my human form . And the Vital Orb is like a reservoir inside the body that stores magical powers . So if I take it out..."

    "Your body will eventually run out of magical powers?"

    Su Chan nodded . "I tried to work as quickly as possible before my magical powers are depleted . But I was toote . I couldn¡¯t . . . " Su Chan stole a tentative nce at him . "I couldn¡¯t maintain my . . . my human form . "

    Li Yundong rubbed her back gently . "For what it¡¯s worth, it wasn¡¯t so bad . I mean, other than your fluffy tail¡ªwhich looked super cute by the way¡ªyou looked pretty much the same . "

    Su Chan suddenly withdrew from their hug . She slid away to the edge of the bed, then hugged her knees . She looked like a frightened child .

    "Hey . . . What¡¯s¡ª"

    "That wasn¡¯t my true form . . . Not even close . "

    "Okay . . . So you¡¯re saying you can actually transform into a fox?"

    Su Chan hugged her knees tighter and nodded weakly . "D- Do you feel disgusted now?"

    Li Yundong yanked Su Chan back into his arms . "No, silly . I told you already that I don¡¯t care about that . And besides . . . " Li Yundong caressed her shapely butt . "I kinda like your human form . "

    Su Chan moaned at his touch . "No . . . Stop touching me there, Yundong . . . " she said breathily . "I- I can¡¯t . . . " She moaned again .

    Li Yundong jerked his hand away . "S- Sorry . . . " He cleared his throat . "You forgot again . "

    Su Chan looked thoroughly puzzled . "About what?"

    "I told you to . . . you know . . . kick me in the nuts if I try to touch you again . "

    There was a moment of silence . Then, Su Chan burst into giggles .

    Li Yundong pinched her nose . "Stopughing," he growled yfully . "You have no idea how hard it is not to touch you . "

    Su Chan removed his hand from her nose, thenced their fingers together . "I really don¡¯t mind giving myself to you, beloved . But not until you¡¯ve passed the Zhuji phase . "

    Li Yundong smiled and lifted their joined hands . "I know," he said, dropping a light kiss onto the back of her hand .

    Su Chan sighed and snuggled into his chest, causing their thighs to rub against each other .

    Dang . This no-touching policy was a lot harder than he thought .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat harshly .

    "So... Um... Where¡¯s your tail now?"

    "After I flew off, I hid myself away . " Su Chan scratched the fabric of his shirt . "Once I recovered enough of my magical powers, I transformed into my human form again . "

    "I see . . . " There was a pause, then a curious thought hit him . "Is that why you ran? Because I saw your tail?"

    "Even after I reabsorbed my Vital Orb, I didn¡¯t have enough magical powers to maintain my human form . My tail appeared and... and I didn¡¯t know what else might appear, so . . . so I left . . . "

    Li Yundong sighed . "Don¡¯t do that again, okay? I was trying to tell you that I didn¡¯t mind . But then you just flew off . . . "

    "S- Sorry . . . I panicked . "

    Li Yundong smiled . "It¡¯s okay . Just know that I really don¡¯t mind . "

    The relief on Su Chan¡¯s face was palpable . She nodded . "Mmm . . . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Seriously though . . . " He gave Su Chan a sidelong nce . "I do find your tail cute . It¡¯s so fluffy and bushy . . . "

    Li Yundongughed out loud when he saw the look on Su Chan¡¯s face, which was as red as a tomato .

    "S- Shut up . . . " Su Chan mumbled . "And . . . And . . . "

    Li Yundongughed again . "What?"

    "It isn¡¯t . . . It isn¡¯t my only tail!"

    Li Yundong nearly fell off the bed . "What? You mean you have more than one tail?!"

    Su Chan¡¯s tentative expression made her look like a frightened puppy . She nodded slowly .

    Li Yundong nced down at her curvaceous booty . "Um . . . How many?"

    Su Chan held up three fingers .

    "Three tails . . . " Li Yundong leaned back and tried to picture it in his head . Nope . He couldn¡¯te up with a good picture . "Wait . . . How many tails do fox spirits have?"

    "Well . . . In our strongest physical form, we have nine tails . . . "

    "You mean the stronger you are, the more tails you have?"

    Su Chan nodded . "In humans, havingrge muscles is a sign of physical strength . But in fox spirits, physical strength depends on the number of tails we have . Nine is the most number of tails we can get . "

    Another thought urred to Li Yundong . "So if you consumed the Renyuan Jindan . . . You would get nine tails?"

    Su Chan shook her head . "Six . But it¡¯s also possible to enhance our physical form through Cultivation . . . "

    A pang of guilt speared through Li Yundong . "I¡¯m sorry, Su Chan . " He sighed . "If I didn¡¯t end up with the Jindan, you would¡¯ve been a six-tailed fox spirit by now . . . "

    Su Chan snuggled up to him . "Yundong . . . I don¡¯t care about that anymore . Even though I¡¯m a lowly three-tailed fox spirit, I know I can be happy . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "Are you sure?"

    "Mmm!" Su Chan nodded enthusiastically .

    "But how can you be sure? I mean you went through so much trouble to steal it . You even told me you nearly died in the process¡ª"

    "Because I have you . "

    Li Yundong stopped talking and stared at her .

    Certainty filled Su Chan¡¯s eyes when she nodded . "I¡¯m sure because I know you¡¯ll always be there by my side . Power doesn¡¯t make me happy, Yundong . You do . "

    Something wet slid down Li Yundong¡¯s cheek . It took him a second to realize that it was his own tears . Su Chan¡¯s face became a blur, and he had to bit his lip to stop himself from sobbing . He drew Su Chan tightly against him, pressing his chin on the top of her head . More tears fell, but he forced himself to speak anyways . "Thank you, Su Chan . You¡¯re the best thing that happened to me . Never forget that . "

    "Mmm!"

    "A- And . . . I¡¯ll w- work hard to be stronger . " Li Yundong¡¯s voice cracked a little . "W- We can help make each other stronger . You can help me be a Cultivator while I help you be a nine-tailed fox . How about that, huh?" Li Yundong cleared his throat .

    There was a moment of silence .

    "S- Su Chan?"

    "I heard you . . . " Su Chan sighed . "I don¡¯t think it¡¯s possible for me to reach a nine-tailed fox form through Cultivation alone . I don¡¯t think I have the talent . . . "

    Li Yundong sniffed loudly . "What? That¡¯s ridiculous! Have you seen the stuff you did? You¡¯re a total badass! I mean just look at the way you¡ª"

    "There are only two known fox spirits who had achieved the nine-tailed fox form . The founder of the Fox Zen School, and also the Mystical Silver Fox . "

    "So what? You¡¯ll get there one there . " Li Yundong wiped his cheeks with his sleeve .

    "I doubt it, Yundong . " The dejection he heard in Su Chan¡¯s voice brought a sharp pang to his chest . Then, her tone turned cheery again . "But it¡¯s okay, hehehe! Nobody will dare bully me once they know that I¡¯m the great Li Yundong¡¯s lover!"

    Li Yundong chuckled a few times before his expression turned somber . He patted Su Chan¡¯s shoulder and turned her around so that they were looking into each other¡¯s eyes . "I promise you I¡¯ll work hard, Su Chan . And then we can be stronger together," Li Yundong stated firmly . "Nobody¡¯s leaving anybody behind, okay? We¡¯re both in this together . Am I clear?"

    Su Chan smiled, then bobbed her head up and down . "Mmm!"

    "I think it¡¯s time, Su Chan" Li Yundong took a deep breath and looked straight into her eyes . "Help me pass the Zhuji phase . "

 Chapter 136.1

    Chapter 136.1

    <h4>Preparations</h4>

    "Aren¡¯t we supposed to leave the windows and curtains open?" Li Yundong asked . Su Chan had been bustling about their motel room, closing windows and drawing the curtains shut . "I mean, that¡¯s what we did when we were training at home, right?"

    "Not this time," Su Chan answered distractedly . She was now floating in the air a few feet above the floor, checking the venttor for God knows what . "This time you really can¡¯t afford any outside interruptions . " Su Chan¡¯s body floated towards another corner of the room . "Each person only has two attempts toplete the Zhuji phase . "

    A sinking feeling formed inside his stomach . "What? Only two?"

    Su Chan seemed to have detected the undertone of distress in his voice . She paused what she was doing and floated back to him . "Yeah . That¡¯s why I need to do everything I can to increase your chances of sess . "

    Two attempts . Which means he¡¯d never be a true Cultivator if he screwed up both attempts . Damn .

    Li Yundong took a deep breath, then nodded resolutely . "Two attempts . Alright . Got it . Tell me what I have to do . "

    Su Chan opened her mouth, but then closed it a momentter . Before he could ask her what was wrong, she turned around and ran towards the door .

    A wave of fear coursed through Li Yundong .

    "Hey! Where are you goin¡ª"

    Li Yundong was cut off by the sound of the door opening . Li Yundong leaned over the edge of the bed and nced towards the doorway .

    Su Chan was hanging the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door knob .

    Li Yundong sighed in relief . Okay . She wasn¡¯t running again . Thank f*ck .

    Su Chan shut the door and walked back towards him . Outside the bathroom, she suddenly came to a halt, her eyes wide as though she¡¯d just remembered something important . She turned around and went into the bathroom .

    Minutester, she emerged from the bathroom with a wooden stool, which she ced in his hands .

    Li Yundong gave her a strange look . "Umm . . . What¡¯s this for?"

    Su Chan was busy looking for something in their luggage . "Help me break off one of its legs . "

    Li Yundong stared down at the stool . "Seriously?"

    "Just do it," Su Chan said, zipping up the luggage . In her hand was a booklet whose cover was filled with strange drawings and patterns .

    Li Yundong wrapped his fingers around one of the legs of the stool, then gave it a sharp bend, wincing at the loud snap that followed . There goes another few hundred yuan from his miserable¡ªand negative¡ªbank ount .

    Su Chan took the broken leg from him and then nced around the room . "Yundong . . . Did you see the¡ª Oh, there it is . "

    Following Su Chan¡¯s line of sight, Li Yundong realized that she was looking at the nightstand .

    "What?" he asked .

    Instead of answering, Su Chan padded over to the nightstand and grabbed the ashtray . She then ced the ashtray on the floor and lowered herself into a crouch . After that, she held out her hand with her palm facing the ceiling .

    Li Yundong watched with curiosity and awe as Su Chan began muttering a strange incantation under her breath . By the time she was done, the air on top of her palmbusted¡ªholy f*cking shit!¡ªinto a tiny ball of me .

    Su Chan brought the wooden piece over the me . The wood caught fire instantly and, after a minute or so, burned to ashes .

    Su Chan collected the ashes and soot in the ashtray and rose to her feet . She then carried the ashtray towards the window and set it down on the ledge . She opened her booklet and flipped through a couple of pages before setting it down on the ledge beside the ashtray . Then, she dipped her index finger into the ashtray and began to draw a bunch of weird symbols on the window pane .

    Li Yundong frowned in confusion . "What are you doing?"

    "Casting a spell," Su Chan said, moving away from the window towards the door .

    "Yeah well, obviously you¡¯re casting a spell," he muttered under his breath . What he wanted to know was what the spell was for .

    Su Chan opened the door and, again, drew a bunch of symbols on it . After a while, Su Chan closed the door and then ced the ashtray back onto the nightstand . She walked back towards the center of the room where she stood with her eyes closed .

    Her lips started to move . Secondster, there was a blinding sh of green light followed by a deafening silence, which permeated the entire motel room . The sounds from the city . . . and the rowdy crowd at the bar downstairs... they were all gone . It was as though a mute button had been pressed .

    "What in the world...?" Li Yundong whispered in awe .

    "That¡¯s an istion spell," Su Chan said . "An invisible barrier that connects the symbols I¡¯ve just drawn . No sound from outside the barrier can reach the space within the barrier and vice versa . "

    Li Yundong stared at Su Chan for a few moments, then started tough .

    "What?" Su Chan asked .

    Li Yundong shook his head in amusement . "You know you could¡¯ve done this a long time ago, right? We didn¡¯t even have to use the pen and pad to talk about the Jindan, for God¡¯s sake . "

    A cute blush bloomed on Su Chan¡¯s cheeks . "You weren¡¯t exposed to magic back then . So I . . . I didn¡¯t want to scare you off . "

    "How many spells do you know anyway?" Li Yundong said in awe . "Like, you know how to fly, generate fire, form protective spells, and now this thing?" He gestured around the room . "That¡¯s a lot of spells . "

    "Hehehe . . . Well . . . That¡¯s the thing about us from the Fox Zen School . Most of us know a lot of spells, but only a few of us are true experts in the spells we know . "

    "The Fox Zen School, huh?" Li Yundong chuckled a few times, then shot Su Chan a yful re . "The first time you told me about your school, you told me it¡¯s called the Zen School . "

    Su Chan¡¯s blush took a deeper shade of red . "S- S- Sorry . . . "

    Li Yundongughed . "It¡¯s okay . So . I¡¯m guessing your master is one of the few who are experts in a lot of spells?"

    "Hmm . . . Well, yeah . . . I guess you could say that?"

    Li Yundong gave her a look of amusement . "You don¡¯t sound sure at all . "

    "My master is a seven-tailed fox spirit who knows 18 types of major spells and 36 types of minor spells . Although she is considered an expert in all the spells she knows, she oftenined to me that she wasn¡¯t a true master in all those spells . . . " Su Chan trailed off with a vacant look on her face . Momentster, the cloud in her eyes cleared and she suddenly gave him a hopeful look . "Yundong . . . Maybe the Fox Zen School will thrive again under your leadership . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . "How am I supposed to lead the Fox Zen School if I¡¯m not even a fox spirit? I don¡¯t think your people will ept a mere human as their leader . "

    Su Chan deted . "Hmm . . . I guess that¡¯s true . . . " She poked her chin with a finger and thought for a moment . "Maybe you should start your own school . . . "

    Li Yundong smiled and held up his hand . "O . . . kay . I think we¡¯re getting way ahead of ourselves here . I haven¡¯t even passed the Zhuji phase yet . " He sighed . "Besides, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that easy to start my own school . "

    "Hehehe!" Su Chan threw her arms around his neck . "But I have faith in you!"

    Li Yundong wrapped his arms around her waist and studied her face . There, within the depth of his eyes, he saw her conviction behind her words . He nodded . "What do I need to do?"

    ***

    Li Yundong knew right then and there that this would be the first¡ªof many¡ªpivotal moments in his life . He held Su Chan¡¯s gaze as though it was his lifeline . He knew that whatever Su Chan was about to tell him was important, and he didn¡¯t want to miss a single word of it .

    "The Zhuji phase isn¡¯t like the early phases of Cultivation . In the early phases, you can go through each dan separately," Su Chan said .

    Li Yundong leaned forward slightly . "Okay?"

    Su Chan nodded . "But to pass the Zhuji phase, you need to go through all the stages sessively until youplete the final stage . And all that has to be done in a single meditative session without any breaks or interruptions . " Su Chan gave him a pointed look . "Everyone is given only two attempts in their lifetime to pass the Zhuji phase . "

    The room fell silent as they stared at each other . For the first time since his Cultivation journey began, Li Yundong could feel a huge weight resting on his shoulders . He took a deep breath and then released it . "Got it, princess . "

    "Okay . Now let¡¯s go through the theory behind the Zhuji phase . " Su Chan gotfortable on the bed . "The whole idea behind the Zhuji phase is to use your body¡¯s Essence, Qi, and Spirit to form your Vital Orb . "

    "The Vital Orb... That¡¯s the thing you took out from your body just now, right? The one that made the whole room glow?"

    "Yes," Su Chan said with a faraway look in her eyes . "Anyone who passed the Zhuji phase has a Vital Orb . " Su Chan¡¯s eyes snapped to his . "The Vital Orb is important for two reasons . One, it is the source of your magical power . And two, it helps keep your Qi secured inside your body and prevent other people from stealing it . "

    Li Yundong nodded a few times . "Okay . Understood . "

    "Good . Now let me walk you through the steps . "

    Li Yundong found himself sitting up straighter .

    "The first step, obviously, is to go into a meditative state . " Su Chan paused for a moment . "Oh, wait . Before you even begin, you need to know a special breathing technique . "

    There was a moment of pause, as though Su Chan was checking to see if she had Li Yundong¡¯s full attention . "Always breath through your nose," Su Chan continued . "And when you breathe, remember this tip . Blind the eyes, deafen the ears, empty the mind, and be one with your breath . "

    "Be one with my breath?"

    Su Chan nodded . "You need to reach a point where you let your breath take its own course . In other words, you have to be breathing through your nose subconsciously . And, obviously, this breathing technique has to be sustained throughout the entire session . Anyway, once you can perform the breathing technique subconsciously, your Yuanyang will start moving automatically and then flow into your upper Dantian . " Su Chan gave him a pointed look . "If you think about it, this is just the¡ª"

    "The Convergence of Five Qis," Li Yundong cut in, nodding . "Because the Yuanyang is moving, it draws out the Qis of the five Zangs . "

    Su Chan smiled . "Yes . And don¡¯t forget what happens when your Qi reaches the top of your head¡ªthe Baihui . "

    "I¡¯ll be wearing the crown of three flowers . " Li Yundong shot a nce at Su Chan . "Just like during the massage you gave me . "

    Su Chan¡¯s smile widened . "Exactly . The Zhuji phase involves a lot of things . One, all types of Qis in your body, including those of your five Zangs . Two, your Spirit . And three, your Essence . Which is why you need to converge the Five Qis and wear the crown of three flowers simultaneously and sustain it throughout the process . "

    "Okay . So what¡¯s next?"

    "You just have to sustain the whole process until your Vital Orb forms . "

    "Just like that?"

    "But . . . " Li Yundongughed in disbelief . "But it sounds so easy . It¡¯s like I¡¯ll just sleeping and waiting for the process toplete . "

    Su Chan held up her palm . "No beloved . You won¡¯t be sleeping during the process . " She gave him a pointed look . "You¡¯ll be inside your Spirit Space the whole time until your Vital Orb is fully formed . "

    "So I have to perform Guanxiang again?"

    Su Chan gave him a serious look . "You¡¯ll have to meet your personal god again . "

    "You mean the one with three faces and six arms?" Li Yundong frowned slightly . "But I nearly let it consume mest time . "

    Su Chan nodded grimly . "Yeah . And it¡¯s going to be even more dangerous this time . . . "

 Chapter 136.2

    Chapter 136.2

    <h4>Preparations</h4>

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart grew heavier . "Even more dangerous?"

    Su Chan nodded . "Because this time, you¡¯ll be spending a much longer time inside your Spirit Space . "

    Li Yundong pondered Su Chan¡¯s words for a moment .

    "Because the Vital Orb takes a while to form?"

    "Mmm . And you¡¯ll achieve and sustain Ishvara through the whole time . "

    Li Yundong released a breath he didn¡¯t know he¡¯d been holding . "Which means . . . "

    "Which means it¡¯s the final dan of the Ningshen phase all over again . Just that you have to sustain it for a much longer period of time . "

    "But I did it before, right?" Li Yundong said in a hopeful tone .

    "It¡¯ll be different this time," Su Chan said with a shake of her head . "Like I said, you not only have to achieve Ishvara, but also sustain that state throughout the entire process . " Su Chan nced at him . "Do you still remember what happened the other day when you passed the Ningshen phase?"

    Li Yundong stared at the ceiling and sifted through his memory . "I got trapped for a while, but then something pulled me out and I woke up . "

    "That¡¯s right . That day, you woke up from your meditative state as soon as you conquered your personal god and achieved Ishvara . But this time, you have to stay inside your Spirit Space and remain in control of your personal god until the formation of your Vital Orb isplete . " Su Chan sighed . "And there¡¯ll be temptations . "

    "Temptations?"

    Su Chan sighed . "Temptations, tricks, illusions, whatever you want to call it . Their sole purpose is to make you lose track of reality . And if you do, your personal god will regain control over your Spirit . "

    "But . . . " Li Yundong frowned . "Can¡¯t I just take back control?"

    "No . " Su Chan shook her head firmly . "The moment your personal god reims control, your Ishvara would be broken . And if that happens before the formation of your Vital Orb isplete, you would not only fail to pass the Zhuji phase, but you¡¯d also be trapped inside your Spirit Space and lose your soul . "

    Silence permeated the room . Li Yundong reyed Su Chan¡¯s words over and over again .

    "No room for error..." he whispered . Could he do it? Could he ovee the challenge?

    A touch on his chest brought him out of his thoughts . When he looked up, Su Chan was kneeling in front of him with her palm over his heart .

    "I- I¡¯m sorry, Yundong . . . " Su Chan lowered her gaze . "I didn¡¯t mean to scare you . I just . . . I..."

    Li Yundong pulled her forward until her face fit snugly against his chest . When he felt her hair tickling the underside of his jaw, he breathed in deep and inhaled a lungful of her scent .

    "It¡¯s alright, princess . I¡¯m gonna be fine . "

    Su Chan said nothing for a while, though Li Yundong could tell that her mind was upied .

    Li Yundong rubbed her back gently . "You¡¯re still worried, aren¡¯t you?"

    Su Chan pulled back and looked at him . "Aren¡¯t you?"

    Li Yundong sighed . "A little bit, I guess?" He smiled . "But I feel safe knowing that you¡¯ll be watching my back . "

    Su Chan¡¯s lips quivered . A momentter, she threw her arms around him . "I¡¯ll watch over you! I promise! I won¡¯t let anything happen to you!"

    Li Yundong smiled . "Thanks, princess . That¡¯s all I need . "

    Su Chan pulled back, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand . "Sit properly . "

    Li Yundong obeyed and got into a meditative posture . Once Li Yundong got settled, Su Chan climbed towards him and kneeled in front of him . Then, she started patting his face with her palms .

    "What are you doing?"

    Su Chan rubbed his temples with his palm with a circr motion . "Improving your chances of sess," she answered in a heartbeat .

    Minutester, Su Chan shifted her position .

    "Now close your eyes," she said .

    Li Yundong obeyed without question . Secondster, he felt Su Chan¡¯s hands pressing into his ear . There was also a light pressure¡ªwas it her index fingers? Or maybe her middle fingers?¡ªonto the back of his head . Suddenly, he heard a subtle pounding inside his ears, as though someone was ying drums inside his head .

    "This technique is called the Heavenly Drum . " Su Chan¡¯s voice sounded amidst the pounding .

    Li Yundong smiled . I guess the name fits...

    A whileter, the pounding inside his ears stopped . "Keep your eyes closed," Su Chan said .

    Li Yundong could feel Su Chan shifting about on the bed .

    Something warm touched his eye lids . Golden light filled his vision even though his eyes were shut . "Umm . . . What¡¯s going on?"

    "Rx . . . " Su Chan said . "This is another massage technique called the Channeling Vision . "

    Li Yundong sighed . "Whatever it is, it feels good . "

    Su Chan kept working on his eyes . "Try opening your mouth and then ck your teeth together . Gently, not too hard . Do it 36 times . It will help wake up your Kidney¡¯s Qi . "

    Li Yundong did as he was told and cked his teeth together once every second .

    "Done?" Li Yundong asked when Su Chan removed her hands from his eyes .

    "Not yet," Su Chan said .

    Li Yundong groaned when Su Chan¡¯s fingers slid down from the bridge of his nose along the two sides of his nose .

    "God . . . " Li Yundong sighed . "And what¡¯s this one for?"

    Su Chan kept applying pressure along the two sides of his nose . "This one is to activate the Qi of your Lung . "

    The sensation on the sides of his nose ended all too soon . When Su Chan¡¯s hair tickled the back of his neck, Li Yundong realized that she had shifted once again and taken up spot behind him . Next thing he knew, Su Chan was pushing her knuckles into the two sides of his lower back .

    "How does that feel?"

    "Good," Li Yundong groaned .

    "You should experience a warm sensation around your waist . It will feel like some kind of force is pushing out from waist, like your waist is swollen . "

    "Yeah, well, my waist isn¡¯t the only thing that¡¯s hot and swollen . . . " Li Yundong muttered under his breath .

    Su Chan kept working instead of answering . Either she hadn¡¯t heard him or she¡¯d chosen to ignore his remark .

    A whileter, Su Chan¡¯s arms snaked along his waist to the front of his body . Li Yundong nced down to see what she was trying to do . Her fingers were interlocked with her left hand lying on top of the right . She adjusted the position of her hands until her right palm was pressing against his sternum, then she began to massage his sternum in a circr motion . After about ten times or so, she switched hands and did the same thing .

    "Now give me your foot," Su Chan said .

    Li Yundong opened his eyes and saw that Su Chan had gotten off the bed and was now kneeling beside the bed .

    Li Yundongplied and stretched his right foot towards her . Su Chan took his foot and massaged a spot on the arch of his foot .

    "And the other one also," Su Chan said after a while .

    "Okay . . . " Li Yundong said, shifting his position on the bed before stretching his left leg out .

    The massage ended after a while . Su Chan stood up and rubbed her hands together . "Okay," she said, staring deep into his eyes . "Now you¡¯re ready for the Zhuji phase . "

 Chapter 137

    Chapter 137

    <h4>The Fine Line Between Reality and an Illusion</h4>

    Ishvara wasn¡¯t that difficult to achieve this time around . Li Yundong managed to gain control of his three-faced, six-armed personal god in just a short time after he entered his Spirit Space . Why had it seemed to difficult the first time he did it?

    The only reason he coulde up with was that he was much more aware this time around; he would no longer be swayed by the illusion of omnipotence that came with his interaction with his personal god .

    Now he just had to sustain Ishvara until the formation of his Vital Orb wasplete . He wondered how long the process would take .

    Li Yundong took stock of his Spirit Space, which seemed like a boundless ocean of thick clouds . He nced down at himself, at the six arms that were now his tomand . This was only the second time he¡¯d taken control over his personal god¡¯s body, so the whole experience still felt kind of weird .

    Li Yundong raised one of his arms . There was a loud rumble and the clouds shifted in response to his movement .

    Hey . . . Isn¡¯t that . . . ?

    Fascinated by what he saw, Li Yundong waved his arm harder . Bolts of lightning streaked across his Spirit Space, and the clouds continued to roil until they eventually parted .

    Whoa . . .

    His Spirit Space wasn¡¯tprised of just clouds; there was a ground too . More bolts of lightning darted around him . The bolts struck down on the ground beneath the clouds, but strangely . For some strange reason, none of the bolts seemed to be able to touch him . The bolts swirled around him as though he was protected by some sort of barrier .

    Hmm . . . What if I . . .

    Li Yundong raised his hand, then pointed a finger at a spot on the ground . A blinding sh of light lit up his Spirit Space . A loud thunderp followed suit . A huge bolt of lightning struck the spot on the ground he was pointing at, causing a series of cracks and explosions .

    A whileter, Li Yundong found himself staring at the charred spot on the ground beneath him, stunned by the amount of destruction he could bring with literally just a finger .

    He suddenly wondered if he could do that in real life¡ª

    A burst of white light filled his vision the moment that thought crossed his mind . Li Yundong shut his eyes and used his arms to shield himself from the blinding light . Secondster, he opened his eyes and slowly lowered his arms .

    What the . . .

    He was no longer inside his Spirit Space¡ªthe clouds, lightning, and the charred ground were gone . Instead, he found himself standing in the middle of a banquet hall . . .

    Hey... Wait a minute .

    He recognized this ce . No . He didn¡¯t just recognized the ce; he recognized this event . It was Zhou Qin¡¯s birthday party .

    "You¡¯re a nobody!"

    Li Yundong turned around sharply and found himself face to face with He Shao .

    "You¡¯re nothing!" He Shao pointed his finger at Li Yundong¡¯s nose . "How dare you try to take my woman from me! You listen well, pathetic loser . Zhou Qin is my woman . Mine! And I¡¯ll destroy you if you dare touch her!"

    Destroy me? We¡¯ll see who¡¯s the one getting destroyed in the end!

    Li Yundong raised his hand and, in a blink of an eye, they were both transported from the banquet hall onto an open ground . Take this, you scum! Li Yundong pointed his index finger at He Shao . Bolts of lightning descended from the sky . He Shao¡¯s scream onlysted for a second as his body disintegrated almost instantly . There was nothing left of He Shao, nothing except ashes .

    A derisiveugh sounded . Who the hell . . . ? Li Yundong turned around with a growl .

    Liu Chuan stood there, looking at him snidely . "You can kill him, but you can¡¯t kill all of us!"

    "Oh, yeah . There are so many of us in this world!" Another voice sounded from his right . "You¡¯ll never get rid of people like us! Never!"

    Li Yundong turned right and saw Zhao Yujian .

    There was anotherugh, this timeing from his left . Li Yundong swiveled his head .

    "Xie Fei..." Li Yundong growled .

    Xie Fei was smirking at him . "You killed He Shao because... what? Because he told the truth . You are a pathetic loser . A nobody . "

    Li Yundong could feel his body trembling in anger . "Do you all want to die!!!" Green light emanated from his body as electricity trickled along his¡ªsix¡ªarms .

    A pleading voice sounded just as Li Yundong was about to start summoning lighting . "Stop it, Li Yundong! It¡¯s wrong tomit murder! It¡¯s against thew!"

    Zhou Qin? Li Yundong let out a derisive snort .

    "Thew," he said snidely . "Does thew bring justice?" Heughed . "No! Thew is full of holes . It¡¯s a breeding ground for corruption! It¡¯ll never be able to deliver true justice . " Li Yundong turned away from Zhou Qin . "I¡¯m the only path to justice! I¡¯m the one who¡¯s going to deliver justice! And I¡¯m gonna start with wiping these vile creatures off the face of the earth!" Li Yundong raised his hand again .

    "Let them go! Please!" Li Yundong¡¯s hand stilled in mid-air .

    Feng Na . He turned around and saw both Feng Na and Cheng Cheng giving him pleading looks .

    "Don¡¯t do this, Li Yundong! They aren¡¯t worth it!" Cheng Cheng shouted .

    Li Yundong released a bestial roar, one that shook his surroundings .

    "Wake up!" he yelled . "Look at these people!" He pointed at Liu Chuan and the others . "Are they showing any signs of remorse? Of repentance? They had many chances to repent, but again and again, they chose to stray from the path of good . They chose evil! They are evil!" Li Yundong swung his arms harshly . Blinding shes permeated the sky followed by the loud rumbling of thunder . "Enough is enough! I¡¯m going to end them once and for all!"

    "No!!! Don¡¯t!!!"

    Li Yundong let his arms drop . That voice... That was the voice of an angel . His angel .

    "This is the work of your inner demon! Fight back! Don¡¯t let it control you!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s anger vanished the moment he saw Su Chan¡¯s figure . The electricity coursing through his arms disappeared, and his body stopped glowing .

    "Are you here to stop me too?" he asked weakly .

    Su Chan approached him slowly . Somehow, his heart fluttered with each step she took . Her eyes, though . . . Those eyes were so bright and clear . He could really lose himself in her eyes .

    "I¡¯m not here to stop you," she said with a gentle tone . "I¡¯m just here to remind you about the promise we made to each other . . . "

    "P- Promise?"

    Su Chan nodded . "You promised you¡¯d never leave me, remember? You promised me that you¡¯d never abandon me..." Tears welled in Su Chan¡¯srge eyes .

    "Of course I won¡¯t abandon you . I will never¡ª"

    "Then you need to stop this madness . Murder is one of many mortal sins . Don¡¯t let it control you . Fight your inner demons!"

    Fight my inner demons . . . Fight . . . Fight!

    His surroundings shattered, leaving only darkness behind .

    The first thing he felt was the movement of his eyelids . His eyelids were fluttering; he was blinking . Secondster, the motel room came into view . Su Chan was sitting right in front of him with a huge grin on her face .

    "Yayyyy!!!! You¡¯ve passed the Zhuji phase, beloved!"

    Li Yundong stared at Su Chan for a moment . "What? I did it? So soon?"

    Su Chan¡¯s grin widened and she bobbed her head harder . Then, she crawled forward and wrapped her arms around his neck . "Of course! That¡¯s because you¡¯re a genius, beloved!"

    Li Yundong stared down at the woman in his arms and inhaled her tantalizing scent . They were so close to each other that her breath was tickling his neck . The grin on Su Chan¡¯s face slowly dwindled . Li Yundong stared into her eyes and noted the widening of her pupils . His hand rose to cup her cheek . "Su Chan . . . " he whispered .

    Su Chan¡¯s lips parted as she licked her lips . He¡¯d been waiting for this moment for God, so long . And now he could finally do what his mind, body, and soul desired .

    Su Chan moaned the moment their lips met . That voice . . . God, so throaty and sexy, lit a fire inside Li Yundong . He released a low growl and pushed Su Chan down onto the bed .

    "I¡¯m going to make you feel so good tonight, my princess . . . "

    ***

    Su Chan paced the room anxiously . Oh, Tao . What do I do now? What do I do? Two days had gone by since Yundong went into meditative state . Things had been going well until an hour ago when Su Chan first noticed the bulge in Yundong¡¯s pants .

    Su Chan stopped pacing and kneeled down in front of Yundong . The bulge between his legs was still there . Worst, the bulge was twitching . Su Chan¡¯s face went pale as horror filled her heart . This is bad . . . If he ejactes now . . .

    Su Chan sprang to her feet and continued pacing . She had to do something . Come on, Chan¡¯er . . . Think! Su Chan stopped moving and turned around abruptly . The orb-shaped glow inside Yundong¡¯s chest was still there, which meant that the formation of his Vital Orb was still ongoing . But the problem was that Yundong¡¯s Spirit . . .

    Wait, what if I . . . Argh! No! It¡¯s too dangerous! Her master had warned her countless times never to disturb or disrupt a person when they are trying to pass the Zhuji phase .

    But . . . Yundong...

    She shot a worried nce at Yundong . She studied his face, which had morphed into an expression of lust .

    No . She had to do something . She couldn¡¯t just sit around and let Yundong lose his soul . To hell with her own safety .

    Gritting her teeth, Su Chan approached Yundong carefully . She palmed the top of Yundong¡¯s head¡ªhis Baihui¡ªwith her left hand, then poked her right index finger into Yundong¡¯s Lingtai .

    Yundong¡¯s powerful Yang Qi flowed into Su Chan¡¯s body almost instantly, drawing a gasp from her lips . Su Chan bit her lip and pushed her Yin Qi into Yundong¡¯s body . Once her Yin Qi mixed with the Yang Qi inside Yundong¡¯s body, harmony would ur, and Yundong would be fine...

    She just had to hang on long enough for it to work . . . Hold on, Chan¡¯er . . . Hold¡ª

    Su Chan¡¯s legs go weak . The room tilted sideways and she felt a sharp pain in the side of her head a secondter . Dark spots formed in her vision . She tried her best to blink them away, but everything was quickly turning into a blur . Yundong¡¯s Yang Qi was too powerful . She couldn¡¯t hold on . This was bad . Had she channeled enough of her Yin Qi into Yundong? Had she done enough?

    Through her haze, she could make out the outlines of Yundong¡¯s body . He was still sitting unmovingly in a meditative posture . Oh, no... This was it . This was the end . They were both screwed .

    Su Chan¡¯s eyelids suddenly felt immensely heavy . "Help . . . Master . . . " she whispered . "Help... us..."

    Everything went dark .

 Chapter 138

    Chapter 138

    <h4>Let¡¯s All Go Look for Him Together!</h4>

    Yin Mengfan hung up the phone and reached for her car keys on her desk . The door of her office burst open as soon as she rose from her chair . She nced up sharply and saw Shen Hui sauntering into her office . Yin Mengfan sighed inwardly . What is she doing here again...

    "Going somewhere, cuz?" Shen Hui said in a cheery tone .

    Hello? Isn¡¯t it obvious? Yin Mengfan resisted the urge to roll her eyes . Instead, she smiled . "Yep . Heading out to meet someone . " Yin Mengfan paused to study the young woman standing in front of her desk . "It¡¯s your summer holidays, right? Howe you¡¯re so free? I thought Uncle Shen would¡¯ve assigned you to some odd tasks by now?"

    Shen Hui curled her lips in disdain . "As if he has time for me . " Shen Hui rolled her eyes . "He¡¯s already gotten his hands full with his many mistresses . "

    "Tsk! Hush!" Yin Mengfan raised her hand to feign a p . "Don¡¯t talk about your father like that . "

    Shen Hui scrambled back a step and made a face at Yin Mengfan . "I was just telling the truth!" Shen Hui fired back . "You know as well I do the ways of that disgusting and narcissistic old man . " Shen Huiughed bitterly . "You should drop by my house some time . That way you can check out the huge parade of women he had inside the house . " Shen Hui snorted . "It¡¯s like he¡¯s a feudal lord or something . Just thinking about it makes me wanna puke . Eugh!"

    Yin Mengfan shook her head and sighed . "Well . I guess Uncle Shen¡¯s promiscuity is his only w . . . "

    Yin Mengfan could already imagine the inheritance war in the future, when his children¡ªand there would probably be a lot of them what with the number of women Uncle Shen had slept with¡ªfought tooth and nail for his assets .

    It wasn¡¯t rocket science to know that this wasn¡¯t going to end well .

    After a moment, Yin Mengfan snapped herself out of her gloomy thoughts . "Well, I¡¯m heading out," she said . "You¡¯re wee to hang out in the building while I¡¯m out . Just don¡¯t cause any trouble . I¡¯ll be back soon, though . "

    Yin Mengfan walked around her desk and headed for the door .

    "Wait!" Shen Hui yelled . A momentter, Yin Mengfan felt a weight pulling on her right arm . She turned and saw Shen Hui clinging tightly onto her arm . The fawning smile on Shen Hui¡¯s face meant that she was up to something .

    Yin Mengfan sighed . "What?"

    "Can I tag along? Please? I¡¯m so bored . . . " Shen Hui batted hershes .

    Yin Mengfan stared at her younger cousin .

    Shen Hui, the daughter of the great Shen family . Uncle Shen had indeed spoiled Shen Hui rotten . All her life, Shen Hui never really had to work for anything she wanted . If she wanted something, all she had to do was open her mouth, and vo . Uncle Shen would serve it up to her in a silver tter . On the downside, that was also the reason why Shen Hui was so immature and, well, spoiled . She would kick up a fuss and start throwing tantrums the moment things didn¡¯t go her way . And when she did kick up a fuss, nobody dared do anything . After all, nobody wanted to get on the Shen family¡¯s bad side .

    Yin Mengfan smiled wryly . "I heard your co-mother enrolled you a bunch of sses . Let¡¯s see . . . " Yin Mengfan counted off her fingers . "Piano ss . Calligraphy ss . Art ss . And dance ss . . . " Yin Mengfan gave Shen Hui a pointed look, then raised a brow . "You have so many sses to attend . Why are you even here?"

    Shen Hui¡¯s face twisted in contempt . "My co-mother? That bitch? Stop joking around, cuz . " She snorted derisively . "She doesn¡¯t give a damn about me . All she cares about is her son¡¯s future . She¡¯s just using me to suck up to the old man . Ever since she gave birth to her son, she wanted the old man to herself! I saw through her schemes ages ago!"

    Yin Mengfan stared at Shen Hui wordlessly, stunned by the younger woman¡¯s outburst .

    "Oh, and also," Shen Hui ranted on . "That woman is a wolf in sheep¡¯s clothing . And guess what, her son is exactly the same! He might seem like a perfect gentleman from the way he dresses and the way he acts in front of others . But the truth is that he¡¯s nothing but an asshole . Do you know how many women got their hearts broken because of him? And that¡¯s not even worst part . " Shen Hui gave Yin Mengfan a look . "The worst part is that he even tried to get into my pants . My pants . Ugh . Who does that brute thinks he is!"

    Suddenly, Shen Hui¡¯s face changed . She turned and gave Yin Mengfan a piteous look . "You¡¯re the only person in my family who is nice to me, cuz . And you¡¯re genuinely nice to me, not because you have some ulterior motive . And if . . . if you don¡¯t wanna hang out with me, then I¡¯ve really got no one else to hang out with anymore . "

    Yin Mengfan pressed her palm against her forehead and sighed . "Alright, alright . . . You win . . . Geez . "

    Shen Hui brightened up instantly . "Really? So I can tag along?"

    Yin Mengfan gave Shen Hui a stern look . "On one condition . "

    "What?"

    "You must listen to everything I say, you hear me? Watch that mouth of yours . And don¡¯t do silly stuff . Is that clear?"

    Shen Hui let out a cheer, then nodded with zest . A momentter, Shen Hui threw her arms around Yin Mengfan . "I knew it! I knew you¡¯re the best, cuz!" Shen Hui stepped back and beamed at Yin Mengfan . "But where are we going though? You should tell me . Maybe I can help . "

    Yin Mengfan gave Shen Hui a wry smile . "You? Help?" Yin Mengfan rolled her eyes . "Yeah right . "

    Shen Hui¡¯s face fell . "What? I can help . "

    Yin Mengfan sighed . "I¡¯m going to see Li Yundong . . . "

    "What!" Shen Hui jumped slightly . "Why on earth are you going to see that perverted basta . . . " Shen Hui gasped . "Don¡¯t tell me . . . Oh my God! So it¡¯s true . . . People are saying that he brought Cao Kefei to an orgasm with a head massage..." Shen Hui pointed a shaky finger at Yin Mengfan . "Y- You are attracted to him, cuz! You wanted him to . . . to . . . Oh, I can¡¯t believe this! You of all people, cuz! What about the pure and innocent image that you¡¯ve always maintained? Was all that just an act? Is everyone in the Shen family perverts like¡ª"

    Yin Mengfan¡¯s palm connected with Shen Hui¡¯s cheeks with a loud smack . Yin Mengfan herself didn¡¯t even realize what she¡¯d done until she heard the loud smack and felt the stinging sensation on her palm .

    Yin Mengfan recovered from her shock first .

    "Stop talking nonsense!" Yin Mengfan shouted . "Do you know that what he did that day saved Cao Kefei¡¯s life? Cao Kefei! My best friend! Me? A pervert? How could you even say that about me? How could you . . . " Yin Mengfan slumped back down onto the couch near her desk .

    "I- I¡¯m sorry, cuz . . . I didn¡¯t mean¡ª"

    "It was for Uncle Shen¡¯s sake, okay? Li Yundong cured Kefei, so I figured I¡¯d ask him to take a look at Uncle Shen¡¯s condition . " Yin Mengfan red at Shen Hui, who¡¯d taken a seat beside her on the couch . "Uncle Shen¡¯s birthday is in two months . This is supposed to be my birthday gift for him¡ªa person who can cure his illness!" Yin Mengfan sniffed .

    A guilty look formed on Shen Hui¡¯s face . "I¡¯m sorry, cuz . . . I misunderstood you . I- I was wrong . . . Forgive me?"

    Yin Mengfan looked away without saying anything .

    "Come on, you know me! Me and my stupid mouth, right? Always saying things without thinking them through first . . . Here, how about this? Why don¡¯t I hit my own stupid mouth . . . "

    SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK¡ª

    Yin Mengfan burst intoughter . Shen Hui stopped smacking her mouth and smiled . "Should I hit myself some more?" Shen Hui raised her palm again .

    Yin Mengfanughed and pulled down Shen Hui¡¯s hand . "Enough already, geez . " Yin Mengfan studied Shen Hui¡¯s cheek, where red fingermarks had already formed . "Does it hurt?"

    Shen Hui grinned . "My skin is super thick, so it¡¯s fine! As long as you¡¯re not mad at me, of course . . . "

    Yin Mengfan shook her head helplessly . "I hate you . . . " she grumbled . "Why do you have to make me cry the moment you see me . Now my makeup is ruined!"

    Shen Hui clung to Yin Mengfan¡¯s arm . "You don¡¯t need makeup . You¡¯re a natural beauty, cuz . "

    Yin Mengfan rose from the couch . "Whatever . Now let¡¯s go or we¡¯re gonna bete, or worse, miss the chance to see him . " Yin Mengfan grabbed a napkin from her desk and dabbed her eyes with it . "It took me quite a while to track him down . " She tossed the napkin into the dustbin . "I had to ask Zhou Qin for his address . "

    Shen Hui snorted . "You asked Zhou Qin for help?"

    "Yeah . And now she¡¯s waiting for me at Tiannan University . So let¡¯s not keep her waiting, shall we?"

    "Of all the people in the world, why does it have to be him . . . " Shen Hui grumbled, rising from the couch .

    Yin Mengfan began fixing her makeup . "You weren¡¯t there, okay? I saw with my own eyes how he brought Kefei out of a cardiac arrest with just a head massage . He didn¡¯t even break a sweat . "

    Shen Hui snorted . "I bet it¡¯s all an act . I heard he and Cao Kefei went out for drinks after that . Cao Kefei must have helped him put on an act and then receive sexual favors from him in exchange!"

    The makeup kit cked loudly against the desk when Yin Mengfan mmed it down in anger . "Keep saying stuff like that and I won¡¯t be bringing you along with me!"

    Shen Hui jumped slightly . "No, don¡¯t! I- I¡¯ll shut up . I¡¯ll be good! I swear!"

    Yin Mengfan shook her head and retrieved her car keys again . "Hurry up . Let¡¯s go . "

    ***

    Twenty minutester, Yin Mengfan¡¯s Audi A6 pulled up by the curb near Tiannan University¡¯s gates . When Yin Mengfan lowered her window, she saw Zhou Qin having a conversation with two other women beside the gates .

    Yin Mengfan poked her head out . "Zhou Qin!" When Zhou Qin looked over, Yin Mengfan gave her a wave .

    Zhou Qin nodded in greeting, then turned back to address the two women she¡¯d been speaking with . After that, all three women approached the Audi A6 together .

    "So good to see you again, President Yin!" Zhou Qin greeted with a smile .

    Yin Mengfan got out of the car and studied the two women beside Zhou Qin .

    "These are my seniors, Feng Na and Cheng Cheng," Zhou Qin said .

    Yin Mengfan smiled . "Hello . I¡¯m Yin Mengfan, the president of Dongsheng Realtors . It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you both . " Yin Mengfan shook hands with both women and exchanged a few more pleasantries .

    "I dropped by Li Yundong¡¯s apartment this morning," Zhou Qin continued . "But he wasn¡¯t there . After that I ran into my seniors, who told me that they know where Li Yundong is . It just so happens that they have business with Li Yundong too . So I figured why not we all go see him together . "

    Yin Mengfan smiled . "Sounds good . " She jerked her thumb towards her car . "Shall we?"

    Zhou Qin nodded . "I brought my car as well . " Zhou Qin looked towards Feng Na and Cheng Cheng . "Do you two mind if we take my ca¡ª"

    The rumbling of an engine cut Zhou Qin off midsentence . A secondter, another car¡ªa Lamborghini¡ªpulled up by the curb, stopping right behind Yin Mengfan¡¯s car .

    Yin Mengfan stared at the Lamborghini in surprise . Kefei? What is she doing here?

    A momentter, the Lamborghini¡¯s door swung open and Kefei stepped out . When Kefei took off her sunsses, she seemed as surprised as Yin Mengfan felt .

    "President Yin? What are you doing here?"

    Yin Mengfan chuckled . "I could ask you the same thing, President Cao . What are you doing here? I thought you¡¯re supposed to be resting . "

    Kefeiughed bitterly . "Right . As if I have time to rest when there¡¯s so much work to be done . . . And speaking of work . . . That brat Li Yundong bailed on me without evenpleting the assignment I gave him . And now he wasn¡¯t even picking up my calls! I¡¯ve been trying to reach him for two days, geez! So here I am, hoping to find him in Tiannan University . "

    Yin Mengfan chuckled . "Must be an important assignment, then . I mean, you usually just let Xiao Zhang handle such menial tasks . "

    A tiny smirk tugged at the corners of Kefei¡¯s lips . It disappeared quickly, but not before Yin Mengfan saw it .

    Kefei seemed to have noticed Yin Mengfan¡¯s curious gaze on her . She turned away to address the rest of the group . "Wait . Don¡¯t tell me you guys are looking for Li Yundong too?" Kefei¡¯s eyes went from person to person in their group .

    Yin Mengfan smirked . This was clearly an attempt to change the subject . What are you up to, Kefei?

    Still, Yin Mengfan decided not to inquire further into what Kefei was hiding, at least not in front of outsiders . People in their line of work hated it the most when others start poking their noses into their business . Yin Mengfan smiled and decided to y along . "Well, how observant of you President Cao! All of us here are looking for Li Yundong . And these two girls"¡ªYin Mengfan gestured at Feng Na and Cheng Cheng¡ª"know where he is . In fact, they¡¯re just about to take us to him . "

    "Wow! What a coincidence! That¡¯s great! Why don¡¯t we all go together!" Suddenly, Kefei¡¯s gaze zeroed in on Zhou Qin . "I can give you guys a lift if you want . "

    Zhou Qin smiled . "That¡¯s so kind of you, President Cao . And yes, if it¡¯s no trouble, then we¡¯d like a lift . "

    "It¡¯s not a problem at all," Kefei answered casually .

    Zhou Qin turned towards Feng Na and Cheng Cheng . "Do you guys want to ride with President Yin, or . . . ?"

    Feng Na and Cheng Cheng shared a nce . "We prefer to ride with you and President Cao, if that¡¯s okay?" Feng Na said, ncing from Zhou Qin to Kefei .

    "No problem at all!" Kefei said . "Hop in!"

 Chapter 139

    Chapter 139

    <h4>Assemble</h4>

    Right . Room 2203 . Here we go . . . Zhou Qin raised her knuckles and knocked on the door a few times, then waited for a few seconds .

    No answer came .

    Zhou Qin nced at Senior Feng Na and Cheng Cheng . There could be no doubt that Senior Feng Na had given them the correct information . Li Yundong was staying at this motel; the receptionist had checked the motel¡¯s registrar .

    "Maybe he¡¯s asleep?" Feng Na suggested .

    Zhou Qin rapped her knuckles on the door again, then waited some more .

    About a minuteter, Senior Feng Na seemed to have lost her patience . She moved towards the door, then pped her palm against its surface .

    "Hey! Li Yundong!" Senior Feng Na yelled . "Are you in there?! We need to talk!"

    Again, there was no answer .

    "Did you see him leave the motel this morning?" President Yin asked the receptionist .

    Zhou Qin turned away from the door to look at the receptionist . She was wondering about the same thing .

    The receptionist, a girl in her early twenties, shook her head . "No, ma¡¯am . In fact, he and his girlfriend hasn¡¯t left the room for two days . "

    Chills ran down Zhou Qin¡¯s spine, and her heart clenched . Two days . . . A sinking sensation formed at the pit of her stomach . What if something happened to Li Yundong and Su Chan? Were they both okay?

    "Two days? Not even once? Not even to get food?" President Cao asked .

    "No, ma¡¯am," the receptionist answered .

    "But..." President Cao paused in thought . "Did they order in? Were there any deliveries to their room?"

    The receptionist shook her head . "No, ma¡¯am . No deliveries . "

    Zhou Qin nced at the number te on the door . 2203 . It was the correct room number .

    Zhou Qin mmed the back of her fist against the door, then waited for a few more seconds . No answer came . Zhou Qin sighed . This was pointless . Suddenly, a thought urred to Zhou Qin: she had Su Chan¡¯s number .

    Zhou Qin reached for her handbag, then pulled out her phone from inside it . She unlocked her phone, then quickly dialed Su Chan¡¯s number .

    Instead of listening to her phone, Zhou Qin pressed her ear against the door . Looks of recognition flitted across President Yin and President Cao¡¯s faces .

    Secondster, fear coursed through Zhou Qin; Su Chan¡¯s phone was ringing inside . Zhou Qin knew that ringtone, because she was the one who¡¯d set it .

    Oh, God no . . . Su Chan . . .

    Something must have happened to the both of them .

    Zhou Qin pushed away from the door .

    "They¡¯re inside," she said, hanging up the call . "They¡¯re definitely inside . I can hear Su Chan¡¯s ringtone . "

    "Oh my God... Do you think he¡¯s . . . " Senior Feng Na said . She looked dangerously pale .

    Zhou Qin frowned and turned towards the receptionist . "Unlock the door!"

    The receptionist jumped at Zhou Qin¡¯s harsh tone . "U- Um . . . I- I¡¯m sorry, miss . . . I can¡¯t . I mean it¡¯s the motel¡¯s policy to always ensure our customer¡¯s privacy . S- So unless you have a warrant, I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t¡ª"

    "Her phone is inside!" Zhou Qin snapped . "And you said it yourself that they haven¡¯t stepped out of the room for two days! Use yourmon sense! Do you think that¡¯s normal?"

    "B- But... I can¡¯t just..." the receptionist stammered .

    Zhou Qin took a deep, calming breath . "What if something happened to either of them? Are you going to take responsibility?"

    The receptionist looked around in a panic .

    "Just open the door," President Yin said calmly . "We¡¯ll take care of any consequences you might face . Don¡¯t worry . I¡¯ll vouch for you . "

    The receptionist looked at President Yin first, and then at President Cao .

    President Cao gave the receptionist a firm nod .

    A look of resignation flitted across the receptionist face . She pulled out her keycard and tapped it against the sensor beside the door knob .

    Zhou Qin pushed the door open the moment she heard the beep .

    ***

    When Yin Mengfan stepped into the room, she immediately noticed how tiny the room was; it barely had enough room to amodate all six of them .

    Yin Mengfan stumbled a little when she bumped into Zhou Qin, who had suddenly stopped walking .

    "What¡¯s wrong?" Yin Mengfan asked .

    When Zhou Qin didn¡¯t answer, she looked ahead and pretty much had the shock of her life .

    "What in the world...?"

    Li Yundong was sitting on the bed with his legs crossed, and a young woman¡ªwho Yin Mengfan assumed was Li Yundong¡¯s girlfriend¡ªwas standing behind his back . God, is that . . .

    Oh, yeah it was .

    Steam was rising from the top of the woman¡¯s head, and she seemed to be doing something strange with her hands . Yin Mengfan leaned forward a little, then looked past Zhou Qin¡¯s shoulder .

    Li Yundong¡¯s girlfriend had her palm resting on Li Yundong¡¯s head, while her other hand was pressing against a spot on Li Yundong¡¯s spine . The whole thing looked like a scene straight out of a Wuxia novel .

    "What the hell . . . ?" Kefei whispered beside her .

    Yin Mengfan nced sideways and noted the look of pure shock on her friend¡¯s face . Yeah . What the hell indeed .

    Before Yin Mengfan couldment, Zhou Qin was moving towards the bed . A momentter, Zhou Qin was standing directly in front of Li Yundong .

    "Li Yundong . . . ? Are you¡ª" Zhou Qin let out a squeak before quickly turning away . Zhou Qin was also blushing to the tip of her ears .

    Frowning, Yin Mengfan strode towards the bed . "Zhou Qin? What is it¡ª"

    Yin Mengfan saw it too, the thing that made Zhou Qin and¡ªwho was she even kidding¡ªher blush . That huge, tent-like monolith between Li Yundong¡¯s legs was impressive to say the least . Is he . . . Is he having a sex dream? Yin Mengfan tore her eyes away from Li Yundong¡¯s "assets" and studied his face instead . Li Yundong¡¯s face was flushed and God, his expression . . .

    Li Yundong had an expression of pleasure¡ªpure and unbridled sexual pleasure . And then she heard it¡ªa soft moan that came unmistakably from Li Yundong¡¯s lips .

    Yin Mengfan tore her gaze away from Li Yundong¡¯s face and looked towards the others . All the other girls were staring at Li Yundong as well, and not a single one of them was without a blush on their cheeks . Heck, Kefei was even biting her lip .

    Shen Hui was the only one who was showing a negative reaction to what she was seeing .

    Shen Hui snorted . "This perverted bastard . . . " she growled, storming towards the bed . "Hey, pervert!" Shen Hui stopped beside the bed and then patted Li Yundong¡¯s right shoulder . "Are you even alive? There¡¯s so many people looking for¡ª"

    Suddenly, Shen Hui¡¯s body went taut, and her strangled gasp filled Yin Mengfan¡¯s heart with horror .

    And it didn¡¯t end there .

    A secondter, Shen Hui¡¯s mouth dropped open as if she was trying to scream . However, no sound came out . Shen Hui¡¯s eyes rolled to the back of her head . And the next thing Yin Mengfan knew, Shen Hui¡¯s body was twitching and convulsing violently .

    "Shen Hui! Are you okay¡ª" Yin Mengfan stepped forward but was pulled back by someone .

    "Don¡¯t . Don¡¯t touch her!" Kefei hissed .

    Yin Mengfan shot Kefei a look of panic . "What the hell is going on?"

    Kefei shook her head grimly . "I don¡¯t know . But I don¡¯t think you should touch her . I just have this..." Kefei gestured with her hand . "This bad feeling that the same thing¡¯s gonna happen to you if you touch her . "

    "But she¡¯s my cousin! I can¡¯t just leave her like this!" Yin Mengfan said . "How am I supposed to exin it to Uncle Shen if something happened to Shen Hui on my watch!"

    "I think the best way is to wake Li Yundong up . . . " Kefei suggested . "Who knows he can fix Shen Hui after he wakes?"

    Yin Mengfan shot a nce at Zhou Qin .

    "I¡¯ll give it a try," Zhou Qin said .

    Yin Mengfan stared at Zhou Qin in surprise . "But... Are you sure?"

    "I don¡¯t think we have a choice now . . . " Zhou Qin nced sideways . Yin Mengfan followed Zhou Qin¡¯s line of sight and saw that Zhou Qin was looking towards her cousin . Shen Hui¡¯s body was still twitching and convulsing violently . It was a miracle that she was even standing at this point .

    "Wait! Maybe don¡¯t touch him directly with your hand?" Yin Mengfan suggested .

    "Yeah," Kefei said . "Why don¡¯t you use . . . " Kefei nced around the room for a few seconds, then strode over to the nightstand . "Here . Use this ashtray . " Kefei picked up the ashtray and handed it to Zhou Qin .

    Zhou Qin took the ashtray and extended it tentatively towards Li Yundong .

    "Ah!!" The ashtray flew away from Zhou Qin¡¯s hand the moment it touched Li Yundong . Both Yin Mengfan and Kefei jumped in surprise .

    "What . . . ? How did . . . ?" Yin Mengfan whispered, staring at the ashtray, which was now rolling around on the floor . "But . . . " Yin Mengfan¡¯s gaze snapped towards Shen Hui, whose hand was still holding on to Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder . Howe Shen Hui wasn¡¯t repelled when her hand touched him?

    Zhou Qin seemed to havee to the same conclusion too as she slowly reached out with her hand . Zhou Qin was biting down on her bottom lip, and she seemed scared, like she was anticipating something bad to happen .

    Zhou Qin winced the moment her hand touched Li Yundong¡¯s waist . It barely took a few seconds before Zhou Qin¡¯s grimace morphed into a pained expression . Worry speared through Yin Mengfan . She gritted her teeth and moved forward to pull Zhou Qin away from Li Yundong . Once again, Kefei pulled her back . "Wait, look!"

    Kefei was pointing at Li Yundong¡¯s girlfriend, who was now awake and . . .

    Good God . . .

    Never in her life had Yin Mengfan seen something like this before . Like, who on earth could move their hands that fast?

    Heck, fast was probably an understatement! Yin Mengfan couldn¡¯t even see her movements clearly . It was like she was striking, jabbing, or poking at various spots on Li Yundong¡¯s body almost simultaneously: his spine; his shoulders; a bunch of spots on his head . This girl could put all the masseurs in the world to shame .

    Then again, whatever the girl was doing seemed to be working as Li Yundong¡¯s cheeks were no longer flushed, and his expression was slowly returning to normal . Yin Mengfan let her eyes trailed downwards . The bulge inside Li Yundong¡¯s pants was slowly . . . um . . . deting? Then, Li Yundong let out a long sigh . Just when Yin Mengfan was thinking that the whole weird experience was finally over, a jet of white gas expelled from Li Yundong¡¯s lips .

    ***

    Voices echoed inside his head . A lot of voices .

    "Hey! Hey! Shh!"

    "Is he awake yet?"

    "Wait . . . Lemme check . . . Yeah, I think he is . "

    "He¡¯s waking! He¡¯s waking!"

    Li Yundong blinked, fully expecting to see his princess¡¯s beautiful face the moment he opened his eyes . However, disappointment coursed through him the moment his vision cleared .

    "Z- Zhou Qin . . . ? What are you doing here? And where¡¯s . . . " Li Yundong looked past Zhou Qin¡¯s shoulders and nearly jumped out of his skin .

    Feng Na, Cheng Cheng, President Cao, President Yin, and even Shen Hui, were all standing beside his bed . The weirdest part of all this¡ªaside from the fact that they were all here inside his motel room¡ªwas that they were all staring at him like he was some kind of creature from outer space .

    Li Yundong shut his eyes, then pped his cheeks a few times . Was this some kind of illusion? Was he still inside his Spirit Space? When he opened his eyes, the women were still there .

    "W- What are you guys doing here? Wait . How did you guys even get in?"

    Nobody answered him . And where the heck was Su Chan? By right she should be¡ª

    There was a strangled sob . Li Yundong turned his head around and saw Su Chan kneeling by the edge of the bed . Her face was buried against the sheets as she cried .

    Li Yundong crawled over towards Su Chan and pulled her into his arms . "Hey . . . Hey . . . What¡¯s the matter?"

    Su Chan¡¯s whispered words shook him to the core .

    "You . . . You failed, Yundong..."

    "What . . . ? I thought you said . . . "

    "No . . . You failed . "Su Chan shook her head and sobbed into his chest . "You failed the Zhuji phase . "

 Chapter 140

    Chapter 140

    <h4>The Mother of Sess!</h4>

    Li Yundong started to panic the moment Su Chan¡¯s sobs turned into full-blown wails . He looked towards Zhou Qin and the others for help . s, the others, even though they were all women, looked about as shocked and clueless as he was .

    Li Yundong shook himself out of his daze and cleared his throat . "Um . . . Do you guys mind giving us a moment?"

    The women nced at each other .

    A momentter, Zhou Qin smiled . "Sure . Take your time . "

    Li Yundong gave her a grateful nod, then carried Su Chan off the bed towards the bathroom .

    He came to a halt just outside the bathroom door . He turned around . "Please . Sit anywhere you like," he said to the women . "Oh, and um... there are some drinks in the fridge . So you can help yourself to them if you want . "

    "O- Okay . . . " Feng Na answered .

    An awkward silence ensued . Li Yundong cleared his throat again . "Well . Make yourself at home . I won¡¯t be long . " He carried Su Chan in the bathroom, then used his foot to close the lid of the toilet .

    After that, he ced Su Chan on top of the lid and started drying her tears with his palms .

    "Hey . . . It¡¯s okay now," Li Yundong said with a low tone .

    Much to Li Yundong¡¯s horror, Su Chan wrapped her arms around Li Yundong and started bawling loudly instead of calming down .

    Li Yundong felt as though someone had stabbed a dagger through his heart . His hand rose instinctively and stroked along Su Chan¡¯s spine .

    "Shen Hui! Where are you going?!" President Yin¡¯s muffled voice startled Li Yundong . Secondster, he heard the sound of the front door being opened, followed closely by a loud m . Li Yundong turned away from the bathroom door and went back toforting Su Chan, whose sobs had turned into gentle snivels .

    Someone opened the front door again . A momentter, the door closed, but at least it was closed gently this time .

    Li Yundong lowered his gaze and hooked a strand of Su Chan¡¯s hair behind her ear .

    "Hey . . . " he said gently .

    Su Chan looked up at him with teary eyes .

    "Ready to talk now?"

    Su Chan sniffed twice, then nodded .

    "Why did you say I failed the Zhuji phase? But I clearly remember you telling me that I passed . . . "

    "T- That was just an illusion, Yundong . . . " Su Chan suddenly looked away and released a choked sob .

    Disappointment coursed through Li Yundong . He lowered his gaze and stared at the bathroom¡¯s ceramic tiles for a moment . Suddenly, he lifted his gaze again .

    "Wait . . . Howe I¡¯m still . . . " Li Yundong raised his hands and studied them . "Howe I didn¡¯t lose my soul?"

    "You almost did . . . " Su Chan said . "I kept trying to bring you out of your Spirit Space . " She sniffed . "I actually passed out a few times . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes nearly bugged out . "What? You passed out?"

    Su Chan nodded . "Your Qi is too powerful . . . " Su Chan nced towards the bathroom door . "Thank God Zhou Qin arrived . . . "

    Li Yundong frowned and followed Su Chan¡¯s gaze . Zhou Qin? Did she do something?

    "Aren¡¯t you devastated at all, Yundong?" Su Chan¡¯s voice brought him out of his thoughts .

    Li Yundong looked towards Su Chan and smiled . "It¡¯s okay, princess . I have another chance, right?" Li Yundong pped his hands together . "What is it that the great ancient schrs said? Ah! Failure is the mother of sess!" Li Yundong wagged his brows . "Although I sometimes wonder which guy did Failure go to bed with... Must be one hell of a night if it led to the birth of sess . "

    Su Chan burst into giggles and pped Li Yundong¡¯s arm . "Shut up! I- It¡¯s not funny . . . !"

    "Then why are youughing?" Li Yundong tickled Su Chan¡¯s neck .

    "Kyaaa! Stop!" Su Chan tried to run, but then Li Yundong held her tighter . "Kyaa! Stop¡ª"

    Li Yundong kissed her . Su Chan stopped struggling and kissed him back . A minuteter, they parted for air, their foreheads touching each other . "Yundong . . . " Su Chan¡¯s breath tickled his lips . "I¡¯m sorry . . . "

    Li Yundong trailed a finger down her cheek . "Whatever for?"

    "For causing you to fail . . . " Su Chan lowered her gaze .

    Li Yundong was having none of that . He hooked a finger under her chin and lifted her head . "Don¡¯t say that . . . I failed because of my own shorings . It wasn¡¯t your fault . "

    Su Chan shook her head . "B- But you were having sexual thoughts because of me . . . That¡¯s the illusion that nearly made you lose your soul . "

    Li Yundong thought back to that moment when Su Chan "told" him that he had passed the Zhuji phase . And then after that, he had unleashed all his carnal desires onto Su Chan .

    None of that had been real . Every single one of those moments was an illusion . Apse . A moment of weakness . At the end of the day, that was really what it all boiled down to, wasn¡¯t it? His weakness . His mind was too weak . He had to get stronger . For his own sake . For Su Chan¡¯s sake .

    Li Yundong cupped Su Chan¡¯s cheeks with both hands and kissed her on the lips . When he pulled back, he stared deep into Su Chan¡¯s eyes, conveying every ounce of the resolve he felt through his eyes .

    "I¡¯ll work harder," Li Yundong said firmly . "I¡¯ll make it the next time . "

    Su Chan nodded . "Mmm!"

    Li Yundong smiled, then turned towards the door . "Now we¡¯ve got some exining to do . "

    ***

    Four heads turned the moment Li Yundong stepped out of the bathroom . Feng Na, Cheng Cheng, and Zhou Qin had all taken seats on the bed . President Cao stood beside the bed with her butt resting against the nightstand . Neither President Yin nor Shen Hui was in the room .

    Li Yundong led Su Chan out the bathroom . However, Su Chan insisted on hiding behind his back once they were out .

    "So!" Li Yundong cleared his throat, then put on a charming smile . "To what do I owe the pleasure guys?"

    President Cao snorted loudly . "Are you kidding me right now?"

    Li Yundong looked towards the others . Zhou Qin¡¯s expression held its usual aloofness, whereas Feng Na and Cheng Cheng were looking at him like he was nuts .

    Li Yundong¡¯s gaze travelled from women to women . "What?"

    "You were missing for two days," Feng Na said .

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes bugged out . "Two da¡ª" He swiveled around to look at Su Chan for confirmation .

    Su Chan nodded meekly at him .

    Well . Shit .

    Two days . . . He was in a meditative state for two days .

    "Err..." Li Yundong released an awkward chuckle . "Oops?" He winced at his ownme response .

    Beside Feng Na, Cheng Cheng shook her head and did a facepalm .

    Feng Na sighed . "Let me exin everything since you clearly have no clue what¡¯s been going on around here . "

    "Yeah? You can say that again," Li Yundong muttered, then gestured for Feng Na to go ahead .

    "President Yin has been looking for you for the past two days . She hasn¡¯t been able to reach your phone, so she called Zhou Qin to ask for your address . " Feng Na paused for a moment to look at Zhou Qin . "Well, Zhou Qin dropped by your apartment this morning, but you guys weren¡¯t there . After that, Zhou Qin ran into me on campus, so I told her about your whereabouts . So here we are . "

    "I see . . . But . . . " Li Yundong turned towards President Cao . "What brings you here, President Cao . "

    "What brings me here?" President Cao closed her mouth and red at him . "You have the nerve to ask me that, Li Yundong? Seriously? After the mess you left behind during your assignment, which you didn¡¯t evenplete! You bailed on me! And guess who had to deal with the mess you left behind? Me!" President Cao started ticking off a list of his messes on her fingers . "Two broken bathrooms . Two traumatized movie stars! And some maniac on steroids wreaking havoc in one of the most prestigious hotels in the city!"

    "But that maniac attacked me! It wasn¡¯t me who started¡ª"

    "Oh . Please . That maniac clearly has some kind of sick vendetta against you . I looked him up . You fought him in front of campus some time ago, didn¡¯t you?"

    Li Yundong rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly . F*cking Lin Youfa . He would¡¯ve gotten paid by now if that idiot hadn¡¯t ambushed him at Shengyuan Hotel . Li Yundong stole a nce at President Cao, who was still ring daggers at him . And now he was probably gonna be fired . F*cking hell . . .

    Suck it up, Li Yundong, he thought . Obviously, he had toe up with a viable excuse to justify his abrupt departure from Shengyuan Hotel that day . Li Yundong squared his shoulders and met President Cao¡¯s gaze steadily . "I did what I judged to be right, President Cao . . . "

    President Cao¡¯s brows rose to her hairline .

    Li Yundong raised a hand . "Wait . Please just hear me out . . . "

    President Cao sighed . "Fine . Exin yourself . "

    "The guy ambushed me in the bathroom," Li Yundong said . "He¡¯s a dangerous man . I figured he might endanger you and your two clients if I stayed . So I lured him out of the hotel . "

    President Cao seemed to be pondering over his words . "And what happened after you left the hotel? And why didn¡¯t you pick up my calls?"

    Li Yundong rubbed his neck . "Well . . . After I left the hotel . . . I ran around the city for a bit . " He looked towards President Cao . "Got the guy to chase me around . . . "

    "Is he still out there?" President Cao asked .

    Li Yundong shrugged . "I dealt with him . "

    A look of rm formed on President Cao¡¯s face . "Wait... You mean y- you . . . You killed him?"

    "Of course not!" Li Yundong protested . I just tossed him off the 20th floor . . . Okay . Shit . Was Lin Youfa dead?

    Nah . He was probably fine . The guy had Zhu Bajie¡¯s powers, for God¡¯s sake .

    "Okay... So if you didn¡¯t kill him, then what happened to him?"

    Hell if he knew .

    "He . . . He ran away," Li Yundong said .

    "And will he be a threat in the future?" President Cao asked .

    "No . I don¡¯t think so . "

    "Good . " President Cao nodded, then rolled her eyes . "A bodyguard is supposed to keep me and my clients safe, not bring more danger to us, for God¡¯s sake . "

    "Got it, President Cao . I¡¯ll be more careful from now on . But, um . . . " Li Yundong grimaced . "You mentioned that you¡¯ve dealt with those messes I left behind?"

    President Cao snorted, then red at Li Yundong . "Oh yeah I did . Cost me quite a lot, mind you . " She jabbed a finger at Li Yundong . "You owe me, young man . "

    Li Yundong thought back to that brawl with Lin Youfa . God, the damage they did to the bathroom . . . Wait, two bathrooms .

    Li Yundong sighed . "Shit . . . "

    All of a sudden, President Caoughed . "Rx . I¡¯m not asking you to pay me back . "

    Wait, what? Li Yundong looked up in surprise . "You¡¯re not?"

    She smirked . "Nope . "

    Suspicion crept into Li Yundong . His eyes narrowed . "What¡¯s the catch? Why are you here?"

    President Cao¡¯s smirk widened . "I have a new assignment for you . " She gave Li Yundong a pointed look . "I have a dinner party to attend . And you¡¯re gonna be my bodyguard . "

    Li Yundong stood up straighter . "An assignment..."

    This was good news, especially during times like this when money was tight . "But . . . " Li Yundong turned around and was surprised to find that Su Chan was no longer standing behind him . Instead, Su Chan was standing beside the bathroom door, having a whispered conversation with Zhou Qin .

    Li Yundong watched as Su Chan grabbed both of Zhou Qin¡¯s hands and then bowed slightly to Zhou Qin .

    Zhou Qin, on the other hand, looked utterly baffled .

    Well . . . Guess I¡¯ll tell Su Chan about the jobter .

    Li Yundong turned around to face President Cao again . "I¡¯ll do it . "

    President Cao nodded . "Good . I expect you to keep me safe before, during, and after the party . Understood?"

    "Of course," Li Yundong said, then paused for a moment . "But just to give me a heads-up... What sort of threat should I be expecting?"

    "Random knife attacks . Acid sshes . And . . . Sexual assaults?"

    Acid ssh¡ª

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyebrows rose just a tad . "Who exactly did you piss off, President Cao?"

    President Cao waved off his question . "It doesn¡¯t matter . Just make sure I¡¯m in and out from the party in one piece, then you¡¯ll receive your payment in your bank ount . "

    Well, what do you know? He still had a job .

 Chapter 141

    Chapter 141

    <h4>Wrath</h4>

    Li Yundong plopped down on the floor, then leaned his back against the side of the bed with a sigh . President Cao had just finished briefing him on his new assignment . And apparently, he was supposed to suit up for the dinner party tonight .

    Tonight, as in six hourster . He didn¡¯t expect to be summoned for duty on such short notice . Granted, he had gone radio silence for two days straight, so there was that .

    Silence permeated the motel room . The awkward air from earlier was gone . Right now, everyone just seemed weary and exhausted . Especially Su Chan, whom Li Yundong had caught nodding off while President Cao was giving him the briefing earlier . Su Chan had finished her conversation with Zhou Qin a while ago . Although Zhou Qin looked confused at first, Li Yundong did notice a tiny smile on Zhou Qin¡¯s face when the conversation ended . He wondered what those two had talked about .

    Neither Feng Na nor Cheng Cheng had said much after he and Su Chan came out from the bathroom . His two seniors were now sitting beside Zhou Qin on the bed, staring at the floor . They both looked like they had something to say but were too reluctant to say it .

    Seriously, what was the matter with everyone today?

    More silence ensued . Li Yundong looked to his left, where President Cao stood . The woman seemed busy as hell, tapping vigorously on her phone¡¯s screen .

    Someone¡¯s stomach rumbled .

    Someone as in a certain chipmunk who probably hadn¡¯t had a bite in two days straight . Heads turned towards the source of the sound . Li Yundong had to stifle augh when he saw the blush on Su Chan¡¯s cheeks .

    "S- S- Sorry . . . " Su Chan mumbled .

    Li Yundongughed out loud . "It¡¯s okay, princess . "

    Feng Na cleared her throat . "Well . . . It is lunch time now," she said, ncing at her watch . "Why don¡¯t we all have lunch together?"

    "Agreed," President Cao said, putting her phone away . "How about this? I¡¯ll treat everyone to lunch today . How does that sound?"

    Li Yundong pped his hands together . "Wonderful!" He turned to Su Chan . "See, princess? I told you my boss is nice! Now she¡¯s taking care of our meals as well . " Li Yundong winked at Su Chan . "Hey, princess . You have my permission to unleash the full power of your appetiteter . "

    Su Chan jumped up so abruptly that her chair fell backwards . "Yayyyy!" she cheered, raising both fists in the air .

    President Cao chuckled . "Sure, sure . You guys can eat all you want . I doubt one meal can cause me to go broke . "

    Li Yundong smirked . Famousst words . . . He nced up to see Su Chan and Zhou Qin looking at each other, then at him . A momentter, all three of them burst intoughter .

    "What?" Cheng Cheng asked in confusion .

    "Yeah, what is it?" President Cao asked, looking equally confused . "Did we miss something? Or was that an inside joke?"

    Zhou Qin covered her lips with her hand . "President Cao, when ites to these two . . . " Zhou Qin paused to give Su Chan and Li Yundong pointed looks . "One meal really can lead to poverty . "

    President Cao chuckled in disbelief . "What? How?"

    Zhou Qin cleared her throat, then schooled her features . "We went to a restaurantst time . The three of us . Someone took care of our bill, and guess how much the meal cost?"

    Li Yundongughed out loud . He couldn¡¯t forget the look on Liu Chuan¡¯s face the moment he saw the bill .

    "What, like three figures?" President Cao said .

    Zhou Qin smiled, then shook her head .

    President Cao¡¯s eyes widened slightly . "Four figures?"

    Zhou Qinughed . "No . Six figures . "

    President Cao gasped . "S- Six figures! What on earth did you guys . . . "

    Li Yundong and Su Chan burst intoughter again .

    "Don¡¯t worry, boss," Li Yundong said once he¡¯d recovered from hisughing fit . "If you can¡¯t afford it, then . . . " He winked at Zhou Qin . "You can always eliminate a few zeros from Zhou Qin¡¯s fat checkbook . "

    ***

    The group left the motel after Su Chan¡¯s stomach growled loudly for a second time . On the way towards President Cao¡¯s Lamborghini, Li Yundong regaled President Cao with tales of Su Chan¡¯s culinary escapades: the Mount Everest she¡¯d erected on her te during Zhou Qin¡¯s party; their daily food wars; twenty bowls of rice . . . and, well, you know the drill .

    President Cao wasughing and giggling all the way, which Li Yundong took as a win . At least his boss was no longer pissed off at him for the mess he¡¯d left at Shengyuan Hotel the other day .

    "Twenty bowls of rice?!" President Cao pressed the fob to unlock her Lamborghini . "Can anyone actually eat that much?"

    Li Yundong chuckled, then dodged one of Su Chan¡¯s swipes . "It¡¯s true, boss . "

    President Cao opened the door, then paused at the door . "Hmm . We came here with two cars . . . But President Yin left already . "

    Li Yundong nced at the Lamborghini . "It¡¯s alright . Su Chan and I can take a cab if there isn¡¯t enough room . Just tell us the ce . We¡¯ll meet you guys there . "

    Yep . He still had enough cash to afford a cab ride . Maybe .

    "Nonsense . " President Cao waved her hand . "You can hold Su Chan and take the front seat . The other girls can take the back sea¡ª"

    "Hold it right there, you motherf*cker!!!"

    Li Yundong turned around instantly and looked towards the corner of the street where the voice came from . What the hell?

    "Stop running, you f*cker!!!"

    "Yundong, Yundong... Look!" Su Chan tugged the hem of his shirt . "Isn¡¯t that . . . ?"

    Oh, hell yeah it was .

    Apparently, Er Lu, the son of the vegetable stall owner, was in huge trouble .

    "Why are so many people chasing him?" Su Chan asked quizzically .

    Li Yundong shrugged . "Who knows . . . "

    From afar, Li Yundong saw Er Lu falling t on his stomach after he¡¯d tripped over the raised surface of the curb . A bunch of gangsters quickly surrounded Er Lu¡¯s prostrated form . Each gangster was wielding a metal-pipe .

    "Do you know him, Li Yundong?" Zhou Qin asked curiously .

    "Yeah," Li Yundong answered without taking his eyes off Er Lu, whose body was now being pummeled repeatedly by the gangster¡¯s metal pipes . Er Lu rolled around on the ground, screaming and howling in pain .

    "You think you can run from us forever, huh?!" one of the gangsters, a bald man with thick arms, yelled . He struck Er Lu¡¯s back with the pipe . "Where¡¯s my money! Pay me now, or I¡¯ll kill you!"

    Er Lu shielded his face with his arms . "P- Please! Give me a few more days! J- Just a few more days! I swear!"

    The gangsters continued to strike Er Lu with their pipes . Er Lu curled up on the ground like a shrimp .

    "A few more days! I¡¯ve given you months, you f*cker! I want the money now, or I¡¯ll break every f*cking bone in your body!"

    "Argh!" Er Lu scrambled to his feet and tried to run . A metal pipe struck the back of his knees, causing him to stumble to the floor again . More gangsters surrounded Er Lu .

    "Pay!" the bald gangster, who Li Yundong assumed to be the leader of the gang, yelled . "Pay! Me! The! Money!" The pipe mmed into Er Lu¡¯s ribs again and again .

    "Noooo!" A new voice sounded .

    A middle-aged woman emerged from the bend of the street . Li Yundong frowned . He recognized that woman . It was the owner of the vegetable stall . "Stop!! Stop beating my son!!! You¡¯re going to kill him!!" The woman pushed herself through the group of gangsters, then kneeled down to shield Er Lu¡¯s prostrated body with her own .

    The bald gangster pointed his metal pipe at Er Lu¡¯s mother . "Out of the way, you old bitch! Your son owes us money but refuses to pay up!"

    The woman flinched and nced down at Er Lu with a loud gasp . "Again? You owe people money again?! How could¡ªWhy didn¡¯t you listen to me, you foolish child! You promised me you¡¯d stop gambling!"

    Er Lu whimpered . "I . . . I¡¯m sorry Ma . . . I couldn¡¯t resist . " Suddenly, Er Lu grabbed his mother¡¯s hands and gave her a pleading look . "Please help me pay back the money, Ma . I won¡¯t ever gamble again after this! I swear to God!"

    Li Yundong shook his head in disgust .

    Er Lu¡¯s mother started bawling like a child . "All the valuables in our home has been sold off to pay your previous debts, you foolish child! The only possessions we have left are the few pieces ofnd from our ancestors!"

    The bald gangsterughed derisively . "A few pieces ofnd, huh? Fine then! This dunce owes us 180,000 yuan! Hah! Now you can get the money to pay me by mortgaging thosends . " The gangster tapped the metal pipe against the pavement a few times . "Hurry up! Bring me thend certificates! Now!"

    The vegetable stall owner sprang to her feet . "My God, you people are ruthless, aren¡¯t you? Thosends belong to our ancestors! We¡¯ll never hand them over to you! Never!"

    "Die, you bitch!" The bald man swung his metal pipe .

    There was a loud crack as the pipe struck the woman¡¯s ribs . "Arrgh!" The woman crashed to the ground .

    "Nooo!!!! Ma!!!! No!!!!!" Er Lu screamed .

    "Those bastards . . . . " Li Yundong growled, his nails digging into his palms . Why? Why were humans capable of such cruelty? Of such injustice? Why, goddammit, why!

    A ball of heat formed at the pit of Li Yundong¡¯s stomach . Should he do something? Maybe he should just call the police and let them handle it . . . But those two were going to be beaten to death by the time the police arrived .

    A blood-curdling shriek sounded . Li Yundong looked up sharply . What he saw made his stomach drop . The bald man was pulling Er Lu¡¯s mother off the ground by her hair .

    "Don¡¯t touch her, you bastards! Don¡¯t touch her! Take me instead! Leave my mom alone! Stop¡ª" One of the gangsters smashed his metal pipe onto Er Lu¡¯s back, silencing him .

    Er Lu¡¯s mother screamed and screamed until her voice cracked .

    Li Yundong nced sideways .

    Su Chan was staring back at him . A momentter, he received a subtle nod from Su Chan .

    Li Yundong started to move away from the Lamborghini towards the gangsters .

    After a few steps, he halted and turned around . "Call the police," he said to the others .

    "Already did!" President Cao yelled, sticking her head out through the Lamborghini¡¯s window .

    Then, Su Chan ran towards him and grabbed his arm . "Stick to hand-to-handbat," she whispered . "And be careful . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "Watch out for the others . " Li Yundong nodded towards Zhou Qin, Feng Na, and Cheng Cheng .

    "Mmm!" Su Chan nodded .

    Li Yundong patted Su Chan¡¯s head and stormed towards rampant gangsters . Time to put an end to this injustice .

    ***

    "Leave her alone!" Li Yundong¡¯s yell sounded from across the street . The bald gangster¡¯s metal pipe stilled in the air . All the gangsters turned their heads towards Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong moved across the street under the gangsters¡¯ scrutiny, not once slowing down his steps .

    "Who the hell are you?" the bald gangster said .

    Li Yundong stopped in front of the group of gangsters . "Someone who is about to put an end to your bullshit . "

    The bald gangster burst intoughter .

    "You? Alone? Against all of us? You¡¯re f*cking nuts . I¡¯ll have you on screaming the floor in no¡ª"

    Li Yundong burst forward with lightning speed . He grabbed the bald bastard¡¯s wrist before giving it sharp twist¡ªone of Lin Youfa¡¯s signature Chin Na moves . The bald guy screamed and fell to his knees .

    Li Yundong ripped the steel pipe out of his grip, then crouched down to give the guy a cold stare . "You were saying?"

    Footsteps sounded around Li Yundong .

    "Boss! Boss!"

    "Boss, are you alright?!"

    "You¡¯re gonna pay for that, you punk!"

    Li Yundong released the bald man¡¯s wrist and then stood up .

    "I¡¯m gonna pay?" Li Yundong sneered . "Oh . . . We¡¯ll see"¡ªHe bent the steel pipe¡ª"about that!"

    The steep pipe curved until its two ends touched to form a ring-shaped object . Loud gasps sounded around him followed by hurried footsteps as the gangsters backed away from him .

    That¡¯s right, you bastards . Know the meaning of fear...

    Li Yundong mmed the steel ring into the pavement . Sparks flew from the metal as cracks spread out from the spot where the steel ring was lodged into the concrete pavement . A few gangsters whimpered . The bald man was now staring back at Li Yundong with trembling lips .

    Li Yundong moved towards the bald man .

    "W- What a- are you doing! D- Do you know w- w- who has my back!"

    "I . Don¡¯t . Care . " Li Yundong growled, then yanked the man from the floor by his cor . "You¡¯re still gonna rot in jail! But not before I teach you a f*cking lesson!"

    "H- H- He Shao!" the bald man yelled . "If you touch me, He Shao will ruin you!"

    "He Shao?" Li Yundong sneered . "That¡¯s perfect! I¡¯ve got a score to settle with that son of a bitch anyway! You¡¯ve just made it easier for me to find him!"

 Chapter 142

    Chapter 142

    <h4>Kindness</h4>

    "Li Yundong, wait . . . "

    Zhou Qin¡¯s voice sounded from behind Li Yundong .

    "You should¡¯ve stayed with the others, Zhou Qin," Li Yundong said without taking his eyes off the bald gangster¡¯s frightened expression . "These punks are dangerous . "

    "Not as dangerous as I am . . . " Zhou Qin¡¯s fingers curled around Li Yundong¡¯s wrist . "Let him go . Let me handle this . "

    Li Yundong turned and raised his brow at Zhou Qin . "You sure?"

    Zhou Qin smirked . "Of course . Besides . . . " She looked towards the bald gangster . "I know how hard you can punch . You could probably kill this weakling with a finger . "

    "Well maybe I should . " Li Yundong tightened his grip on the gangster¡¯s cor .

    The bald man whimpered .

    "But what would that aplish?" Zhou Qin said . "With you ending up in jail? What about Su Chan?"

    Li Yundong released the gangster¡¯s cor . The bald man stumbled and fell t on his butt .

    Li Yundong red down at the bald man . "If this goes south, if this douchebag tries anything funny, then I¡¯m taking over . "

    The bald man slid backwards on his butt .

    Li Yundong looked towards Zhou Qin . "Well . I guess you¡¯re calling the shots now . "

    Zhou Qin nodded and stepped forward . "You people work for He Shao?" she asked loudly, though the question was clearly directed at the gang leader .

    None of the gangsters answered .

    Zhou Qin smirked . "Then do you know who I am?"

    The gangsters looked at each other . None of them spoke . No doubt these punks were terrified by the poise and calmness that Zhou Qin exuded in spade .

    "Yes," the bald leader finally said . "He Shao is our boss . And you are?"

    Zhou Qin smirked . "I see . " She took another step forward . "Then you should call him right now and tell him that Zhou Qin wishes to speak to him . "

    The bald gang leader looked towards his underlings, then back at Zhou Qin again .

    When the gang leader didn¡¯t move after a while, Zhou Qin¡¯s expression turned stone cold . "Didn¡¯t you hear what I said?" Zhou Qin arched a brow . "I said call He Shao . Now . "

    The bald gang leader shot Zhou Qin a skeptical look .

    Li Yundong had reached the limit of his patience .

    "Do as she said!" Li Yundong roared loudly . "Now!!!"

    The gang leader visibly flinched . A few secondster, the bastard pulled out his phone and started dialing .

    "Hello . . . Yes, He Shao, it¡¯s me . . . " The gang leader flinched and pulled the phone away from his ear as though he¡¯d just been yelled at . "Well... There¡¯s a woman here who wishes to speak with you . Says her name is Zhou Qin . "

    A few secondster, the gang leader lowered the phone from his ear and switched it to loudspeaker .

    Sounds of heavy panting could be heard . The pantingsted for quite a while before it was reced by He Shao¡¯s voice .

    "Well, well, well, Zhou Qin . . . Is this your way of telling me that you miss me?"

    Zhou Qin released a snort of contempt . "So you¡¯re associating yourself with the gangsters now? Just how low will you stoop, He Shao?" Zhou Qin paused for a moment . "Then again . . . Now that this hase to my attention . . . " Zhou Qin¡¯s voice suddenly turned cold . "I suggest you call off your minions unless you want to face dire consequences . " Zhou Qin smirked . "You know how incriminating it can be for people like us to have ties with the mafia . "

    The panting in the phone became heavier and heavier, which eventually turned into a loud, angry roar .

    "Do as she says!" He Shao growled .

    There was a loud click, and the line was cut off .

    The gang leader nced up at Zhou Qin with reverence . However, when his gazended on Li Yundong, the look of reverence changed into fear .

    He quickly averted his gaze and climbed back to his feet . He slipped his phone into his pocket, then walked over to Er Lu and his mother, who was still down on the ground .

    "Consider yourselves lucky! You better pray that you don¡¯t run into me next time!"

    The gang leader spat a mouthful of saliva at the woman on the ground .

    The woman tried to shield her face by raising her hands, but she was toote¡ªher face was already covered in the man¡¯s saliva .

    Something inside Li Yundong snapped . A powerful surge of Qi rushed from his navel to the top of his head .

    "You son of a bitch!!!!!!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s roar sted through the entire street . Secondster, his voice dissipated into echoes, leaving the sound of car rms in its wake .

    None of the gangsters moved an inch; they all seemed too transfixed too scared to move .

    "Apologize . . . " Li Yundong¡¯s voice came out in a low, menacing growl .

    Li Yundong snarled and slowly advanced towards the bald gangster .

    "A- Argh! Argh!" The bald gangster tried to back away from Li Yundong but ended up tripping over something on the ground and falling t on his ass once more .

    Li Yundong balled his fists and released an angry snarl . "I¡¯m not going to ask again..."

    A few other gangsters scrambled towards their leader to help him up . Li Yundong stopped his advance and red at the thugs . "Apologize to thedy!" He pointed towards the floor where Er Lu¡¯s mother was lying . "And wipe your filthy spit off her face!"

    The bald gangster flinched . "O- O- Okay! Okay! I¡¯ll apologize!"

    "Then what the f*ck are you waiting for!" Li Yundong gestured at Er Lu¡¯s mother . "Do it now!"

    The bald gangster pushed his henchmen away and crawled towards the fallen woman .

    "M- Ma¡¯am, I¡¯m sorry . . . " He pulled out a napkin and patted the woman¡¯s face with it .

    Secondster, the bald gangster stood up and shot a fearful nce at Li Yundong as though seeking his approval .

    "Now get out of my sight!"

    The gangsters didn¡¯t need to be told twice . Metal pipes ttered against the concrete pavement as the thugs fled the scene and ran for dear life . Li Yundong¡¯s eyes followed the gangsters until they reached the bend of the street .

    Once the gangsters were gone, Li Yundong turned and looked towards the Lamborghini . Clearly, he had given everyone quite a fright . President Cao had a hand pressed against her chest while Su Chan gave her a head massage . Feng Na and Cheng Cheng were staring ck-jawed at him as though they couldn¡¯t believe what they¡¯d just witnessed .

    When Li Yundong turned sideways, he saw Zhou Qin staring at him as well .

    "What?" Li Yundong asked warily .

    "You¡¯re glowing . . . " Zhou Qin pointed out . Even though her tone was neutral, Li Yundong could detect the tremors in her voice .

    Li Yundong raised his forearms . Unsurprisingly, his arms and body were radiating a golden radiance . He¡¯d experience the same thing when he tried to stop Ruan Hongling from hurting Su Chan . Back then, he just ignored the glow and it disappeared on its own . Maybe this time it would too .

    "Let¡¯s head back to the others . " Li Yundong began to move, but then stopped after a few steps . He turned and saw Er Lu crawling his way towards his mother . The vegetable stall owner was struggling to get up . Li Yundong walked over towards thedy and hoisted her up in a fireman¡¯s carry . Then, he walked towards Er Lu and offered the guy his hand . When Er Lu took Li Yundong¡¯s hand, Li Yundong pulled the man to his feet . Er Lu stumbled slightly, but Zhou Qin was there to support him . Together, they all headed back towards the Lamborghini .

    Li Yundong lowered the vegetable stall owner to the ground, then leaned her against the side of the Lamborghini . His movements drew Su Chan¡¯s attention away from the head massage she was giving President Cao . Su Chan¡¯s eyes widened the moment their gazes met . The next thing he knew, Su Chan was pulling him away from the Lamborghini .

    "Sit down," she whispered urgently . "Quickly . "

    Li Yundong lowered himself to the ground and got into a meditative posture . Su Chan moved around so that she was standing behind him .

    "My God . . . This is the Jindan¡¯s aura . . . "

    "This isn¡¯t the first time..." Li Yundong said .

    "I know," Su Chan answered .

    "Thest time it happened, it disappeared on its own after I left it for a while¡ª" Li Yundong felt a sharp prick on his spine between his two shoulder des . "Hey . . . "

    "Hold still . . . "

    "O-Okay..."

    Minutester, the pricking sensation was gone . "Alight, we¡¯re done . "

    Li Yundong rose to his feet again and patted Su Chan¡¯s head . "Thanks princess . "

    "Mmm!"

    Li Yundong took Su Chan¡¯s hand and led her back to the others .

    "I¡¯m sorry you girls had to see that . . . " Li Yundong said, stopping in front of Feng Na .

    "Y- Your whole body was glowing just now . . . " Feng Na said, pointing at Li Yundong¡¯s face . "And now you¡¯re back to normal . . . "

    Li Yundong rubbed the back of his neck . How the f*ck was he supposed to exin any of this shit? "Well¡ª"

    "But oh my gawd!" Feng Na gave him a thumbs up . "That was so badass!"

    Clearly, Feng Na was stepping into her role as the president of the Li Yundong Fan Club .

    "I thought you¡¯d be terrified of me now," Li Yundong said wryly .

    "Oh, I was! But that was only because you look like you were about to tear that bastard into pieces¡ª"

    "Nana, look!!"

    Li Yundong turned around .

    Cheng Cheng was standing across the street, trying to yank the metal ring out from the cracked pavement . When the metal ring didn¡¯t budge after several tries, Cheng Cheng let go of the metal and started gaping at them like a fish . The look on the poor girl¡¯s face was so hrious that Li Yundong burst into guffaws .

    "Hey! Mom! What are you doing¡ª O!"

    "Come with me you good-for-nothing child!"

    Li Yundong turned his head back to the Lamborghini . The vegetable stall owner was heading over towards him . And apparently, it wasn¡¯t just her; she was dragging his son over towards him .

    The woman kneeled when she was a few feet away from Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes widened in shock . "Hey¡ª Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! What are you doing!" Li Yundong bent down to help the woman up .

    The woman pushed Li Yundong¡¯s hands away and then pped herself across the cheek, hard .

    "Oh, what a blind fool I¡¯ve been!" The woman started sobbing violently . "Oh, I can¡¯t believe this! Y- You . . . " The woman sobbed harder . "You came to our rescue even after I swindled a hundred yuan from you back then . . . Thank you, thank you, thank you! And my son . . . Oh, my good-for-nothing son . . . You saved his life as well . . . Oh, how am I ever going to repay you!"

    "Li Yundong stepped forward again . "Ma¡¯am¡ª"

    "I have nothing valuable to give you . So please ept my kowtow as a gesture of my gratitude!"

    The woman prostrated herself until her forehead touched a spot on the ground near Li Yundong¡¯s feet .

    Li Yundong sighed, then pulled the woman to her feet . "Just forget about the 100 yuan, okay? That¡¯s already in the past . " He put a hand on the woman¡¯s shoulder . "Are you hurt anywhere?"¡¯

    The woman shook her head .

    "Then you should take your son home and sort out the mess he¡¯s caused . " Li Yundong turned towards Er Lu . "And you!" He red at the man . "You should be ashamed of yourself! How can you allow your own mother to take a beating by a bunch of thugs . And in broad daylight no less!"

    Something tugged inside Li Yundong¡¯s chest, and he softened his tone . "Can¡¯t you see how much your mother loves you?" Li Yundong nced at the vegetable stall owner again . "She was willing to take a beating for you . " Some of us doesn¡¯t even have parents . . . Or at least parents who give a f*ck . Li Yundong shook his head and pointed a finger at Er Lu¡¯s face . "You better get your shit together and start treating your mother right from now on!"

    Er Lu broke apart right then and there . He threw his arms around his mother and started bawling like a child, not caring at all that he was in public . "I¡¯m sorry, Ma! I¡¯ll never gamble again!"

    Er Lu¡¯s mother sniffed, then patted her son¡¯s back . "Okay, okay . . . Let¡¯s live a good and honest life for now on, okay?" The pair hugged each other and kept crying and crying without any signs of stopping .

    At one point, Li Yundong felt the sting of his own tears in his eyes . He struggled not to let them fall . He wondered if his own mother even knew how he was doing right now, or if she even care whether Li Yundong was alive or dead .

    Something warm slid into Li Yundong¡¯s palm . He looked down and saw Su Chancing their fingers together .

    "I¡¯m here, Yundong . I¡¯m here . " Su Chan stared deeply into his eyes . "You have me . "

    Li Yundong sniffed and patted Su Chan¡¯s head . After that, he stepped forward and cleared his throat harshly .

    Er Lu and his mother stepped out of each other¡¯s arms and shot Li Yundong grateful looks .

    "It¡¯s alright, now," Li Yundong said . "You guys should get out of here before those guys change their minds and return with more people . "

    After that, Li Yundong returned to Su Chan¡¯s side and wrapped his arm around her shoulders . Standing side by side, they watched the gradually diminishing figures of Er Lu and his mother .

    "I¡¯m proud of you, Yundong," Su Chan whispered . "So proud . . . "

    Li Yundong smiled and gave Su Chan an affectionate look . "That¡¯s good enough for me . Because your opinion is the only thing that matters to me . "

    Su Chan wasn¡¯t looking at him though . Instead, she was staring straight ahead . Suddenly, Su Chan patted his arm, then pointed at something in front . "Yundong, Yundong, look!"

    Li Yundong raised his gaze and saw Er Lu running back towards them . When Er Lu was about three feet away, he kneeled down in front of Li Yundong and gave Li Yundong three full kowtows . This time, Li Yundong was too stunned to stop him . When Er Lu raised his head, his forehead was covered in blood . "I, Er Lu, apologize for all my wrongdoings in the past, especially for all the troubles I¡¯ve caused you, my savior!"

    Li Yundong shared a nce with Su Chan, who seemed just as surprised as he was .

    "I never should have tried to pick on a good man like you! But I am turning over a new leaf starting today! I will follow your example and be a good, kind, and responsible man! And from today onwards, you have my full loyalty, my brother! Rest assured that if there is anything you need, big brother, just say the word and I will be there in an instant!"

    "Listen, dude . . . " Li Yundong said .

    Er Lu lifted his fist, then uncurled his pinky . "I swear to you on this pinky!"

    Zhou Qin and the other girls shrieked when Er Lu bent his pinky until it snapped into a grotesque angle .

    "Hey!" Li Yundong and Su Chan moved forward . Su Chan already had a needle in one hand, ready to help fix Er Lu¡¯s broken finger .

    "It¡¯s okay, big brother . " Er Lu stood up and smiled through his pain . "This broken finger is a token of my loyalty to you . I swear to you on my life that you have my allegiance forever!"

    Er Lu ran back towards his mother .

    When Er Lu and his mother vanished around the bend of the street, Li Yundong turned back to face everyone .

    "Well!" he said, pping his hands together . "Who¡¯s hungry?"

    Awkward silence pervaded . And then...

    "Me!!!"

    Su Chan was the one who answered .

    Why was he not surprised?

 Chapter 143

    Chapter 143

    <h4>It¡¯s Algebra!</h4>

    The Lamborghini was not designed with ergonomics in mind . Trying to fit six people into it was a test of willpower and patience . Even with its roof lowered, Feng Na, Cheng Cheng, Zhou Qin had to crawl and squeeze themselves into the tiny convertible¡¯s back seat .

    "Su Chan and I could¡¯ve taken a cab, you know..." Li Yundong told President Cao after she had pulled away from the curb .

    President Cao snorted . "No point taking a cab when my car has enough room for everyone . "

    Li Yundong turned his head towards the backseat . Yeah? I wouldn¡¯t call that enough room . Despite their slim figures, Feng Na, Cheng Cheng, and Zhou Qin looked anything butfortable in the backseat .

    "Stupid FcupCC," Feng Na mumbled . "Why didn¡¯t you grow smaller boobs?"

    Cheng Cheng snorted . "You¡¯re just saying that because you¡¯re a t-chested¡ªoof!"

    Cheng Cheng stopped talking when Feng Na¡¯s elbow connected with her ribs .

    Li Yundong chuckled and turned around to face the front . Su Chan sat between his legs, poking around the Lamborghini¡¯s fancy center console .

    "President Cao, I think you should drop us off at the campus so that I can retrieve my car . " Zhou Qin¡¯s strained voice sounded from the backseat . "No offense, but it really doesn¡¯t feelfortable sitting like this . "

    "Why don¡¯t we just pick a ce near the campus to have lunch?" Feng Na suggested .

    Li Yundongughed . "We might as well just eat at the campus cafeteria!"

    President Cao did a cheer, pping her hands together . "Nice! That¡¯s a great idea! It¡¯s been so long since I¡¯ve tried the food there! I kinda miss¡ª"

    "Whoa! Watch out!"

    "Hey! Watch where you¡¯re going!"

    "Ahhh!"

    A chorus of screams sounded .

    President Cao quickly gripped the steering wheel and steered the Lamborghini to the correctne . "Whoops! Sorry . I haven¡¯t been back to the university after I graduated . Guess I got a little excited . "

    "I bet you¡¯re just saying that because it¡¯s cheaper to eat at the cafeteria," Li Yundong teased . "Didn¡¯t know you¡¯re this cheap, boss . "

    President Cao shot Li Yundong a re . "Cheap? Seriously? Do you know how much money and effort I¡¯ve expended to clean up the mess you made at Shengyuan Hotel?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s face fell . Uh-oh...

    "Ahem . . . Well... Surely, a woman of unparalleled beauty and status such as yourself wouldn¡¯t hold it against a humble citizen like me . . . "

    President Cao snorted, then rolled her eyes . "Humble citizen . Right . "

    Li Yundong gave her a strange look . "What?"

    President Cao chuckled . "If you are just a humble citizen, then everyone else are all just lowly peasants . "

    "How about a troublemaker?" Zhou Qin added from the backseat . "You have no idea how much trouble Li Yundong can cause in literally just days . "

    Li Yundongughed, then wrapped his arms around Su Chan . "Hey, princess . Looks like these women are all ganging up on me . Won¡¯t you step out and defend me, my dear?"

    Su Chan sat up straighter inside Li Yundong¡¯s embrace . She turned around and gave everyone a menacing look . At least as menacing as it could be when those chipmunk pouches of hers were on full disy¡ªher cheeks were puffed out .

    Su Chan swung her tiny fist . "None of you are allowed to bully Yundong! I¡¯m the only one who can bully him!" More fist swinging ensued .

    Everyone in the car was stunned into silence .

    Momentster,ughter filled the Lamborghini¡¯s interior .

    Li Yundong began pinching Su Chan¡¯s cheeks .

    "Wuaad?? Yeeww asshhk mee dooo diifffainn you . . . "

    And she did . In her cute, chipmunk sort of way . And he wouldn¡¯t have it any other way .

    ***

    The cafeteria was almost full by the time the group arrived . Students sat around the tables with their heads half-buried in books while they ate .

    "Wait, didn¡¯t you guys have exams to sit for today?" Li Yundong asked once they found an empty table .

    "We left the exam hall early so that we could go look for you," Cheng Cheng answered .

    Li Yundong smile wryly . "I wish I could sit for the exams like you guys . . . "

    Anything was better than being hunted by a crazy girl with flying damasks and brawling with a jacked up psycho .

    Zhou Qin shook her head and let out a sound of disapproval . "How insensitive of you to say that, Li Yundong . All of us have to study hard to earn our semester credits, but look at you . You skipped over ten lectures, and now you¡¯re getting all your credits without even trying . " Zhou Qin sighed . "How unfair . "

    Li Yundongughed . "Well, in that case, allow me to make up for my insensitive remark by sharing with you guys a personal motto of mine . Call it a pearl of wisdom if you like . "

    Feng Na chuckled . "Ooh! This is interesting . What pearl of wisdom? Do tell! Do tell!"

    Li Yundong sat up straighter and closed his eyes . "Ahem! Ahem! Okay . The pearl of wisdom is . . . " Li Yundong paused for a dramatic effect . "Studying will lead to failure!"

    When Li Yundong opened his eyes, everyone except Su Chan was looking at him as though he¡¯d grown ten heads .

    Silence permeated their table .

    Then, Cheng Cheng burst into giggles . "Oh,e on! That¡¯s bullshit!"

    Li Yundong gave her an affronted look, then studied each person at the table . Feng Na, Zhou Qin, and President Cao still had skeptical looks on their faces . And finally, when he turned to Su Chan for support, his princess looked adorably puzzled .

    Suddenly, Li Yundong chuckled . "You girls clearly don¡¯t believe me . " He nodded a few times . "But don¡¯t worry . I can prove it . "

    Feng Na raised a brow . "Uh-huh . . . "

    Li Yundongughed . "I really can . "

    Feng Na smirked . "Yeah? How?"

    Li Yundong leaned back confidently . "With mathematics . "

    "With mathematics?" President Cao said, putting down her teacup . "Okay . Now I have to listen to this . I have a feeling this is gonna be interesting . " She gestured at Li Yundong . "Well? Go ahead then . Show us the proof of this statement of yours . "

    Li Yundong nodded smugly . "Why, you see, my friends . It is merely a matter of simple algebra . "

    ***

    Su Chan hadn¡¯t a single clue what this elliegeebra thingy was, but when Yundong asked her for his notebook and pen, she took them out from his backpack obediently .

    Yundong ced the notebook at the center of their table, then flipped through a few pages of her doodles¡ªoopsie¡ªuntil he reached a nk page .

    "So!" Yundong said, clicking the pen . "Let¡¯s begin!"

    Everyone leaned forward to look at page .

    Yundong wrote down a simple line: Studying = No Failure .

    Yundong stopped writing and nced around the table . "Everyone agrees with this?"

    Su Chan looked around the table and saw everyone nodding . Su Chan looked down at the page again . To be fair, the rule wouldn¡¯t apply in the world of Cultivation . It would take so much more than just studying to seed in any endeavors in Cultivation . Then again, she supposed the rule sounded quite reasonable when applied to exams . But still, where was he going with this?

    Yundong wrote down another line: No Studying = Failure .

    Yundong looked around the table again . "Agree?"

    Once again, everyone else at the table gave nods . Hmm, that seemed pretty reasonable too . Su Chan scratched her head .

    Yundong smirked . "Therefore . . . "

    Studying + No Studying = Failure + No Failure .

    "And . . . " Yundong said .

    Studying (1 + No) = Failure (1 + No)

    "Which means . . . "

    Studying = Failure (Q . E . D)!!!

    Yundong dropped the pen onto the table .

    "And there you have it! The mathematical proof of this time-tested principle of life!"

    Silence spread across their entire table .

    Su Chan stared at the page . She had never felt so confused in her life .

    Zhou Qin was the first one to react: by bursting into giggles .

    Secondster, Feng Na and Cheng Cheng threw their heads back inughter . Even the olderdy, President Cao, was chuckling into her hand .

    So this nonsensical thing was elliegeebra? B- But Su Chan didn¡¯t understand a single thing! Su Chan nced at the page, then at the other women, who were pretty muchughing their heads off . Worse, Yundong wasughing together with them! Hmph! Meanies!

    Gaaahhh! Master... why didn¡¯t you teach Chan¡¯er elliegeebra back in the mountains...? Now I feel like a total idiot...

    At one point, someone started pping the table . Su Chan looked up and saw Feng Na pressing her forehead against the table¡¯s surface . "This isplete nonsense," Feng Na got out betweenughter . "I can¡¯t believe you spout all that crap with a straight face! Dear God . . . "

    Su Chan had had enough . She tugged Yundong¡¯s sleeve . "What¡¯s so funny?"

    Yundong stoppedughing and stared at her . "What? You didn¡¯t get it?"

    Meanie, meanie! Stop rubbing it in! Grr . . . Su Chan puffed out her cheeks, then shook her head .

    "Alright, alright, enough already..." President Cao said . "We should get some food first . You guys go ahead . I¡¯ll wait here . "

    Finally some food! Su Chan leaped to her feet, then pulled Yundong up .

    "Whoa, slow down, princess," Yundong said .

    "I¡¯m hungry!" Su Chan said, then began marching towards the queue .

    Ten minutester, everyone was back at the table, which was now filled with trays and tes . Su Chan had merely taken several bites when she noticed something strange: instead of digging into their food, everyone was staring at her . Correction: staring at her tray .

    Su Chan blushed and looked at Yundong sheepishly . "B- But . . . Y- You said I could un . . . unleash m- my . . . appetite . . . "

    Yundongughed, then gave President Cao a look . "Now do you believe me?"

    President Cao nodded without taking her eyes off Su Chan¡¯s tray . The poor woman looked like she was about to pass out . Should Su Chan give the woman another massage? She sure looked like she needed one .

    Su Chan nced down and took stock of everything she had piled onto her tray: six medium-sized bowls of rice; three apples; two bowls of those tubr noodles (mah-roh-nee? ma-cah-roh-nee something, something); a te of roasted chicken; a bowl of beef stew; a te of mixed veges; two small bowls of soup; one of those bread dishes with patty in between (the ones at Mac Doo Nurls tasted nicer) .

    Su Chan blushed, then sneaked a nce at Yundong . Well, at least he didn¡¯t look angry . She suspected that Yundong had already figured out by now why she had such a huge appetite . He¡¯d probably put two and two together ever since he found out that she was a fox spirit .

    Yundong patted Su Chan¡¯s head and gave her a smile that nearly melted her heart . "Eat up, princess . " Then, he leaned in and whispered into her ear . "I know you haven¡¯t eaten in two days . You¡¯ve probably been busy watching over me when I was trying to pass the Zhuji phase . And . . . " Yundong¡¯s hand slid into hers under the table . "You passed out several times, right?"

    Su Chan nodded . "Mmm!"

    When she passed out the first time, she really thought it¡¯d be all over for the both of them . But for some strange reason, she woke up a whileter feeling much better . It was as if her Qi had been restored . She still hadn¡¯t figured out how that happened .

    A woman cleared her throat behind her .

    Su Chan turned around and saw two girls standing beside their table . Hey . . . I know these two . . .

    The two girls wore dresses of the exact same style and had identical faces . The only way to tell them apart was from the headbands they were wearing¡ªone of them wore a red headband while the other wore a blue one .

    "Deng Yu? Deng Jiao?" Yundong said . "Hey, what¡¯s up? Long time no see!"

 Chapter 144

    Chapter 144

    <h4>Obsession</h4>

    "Um . . . Hi, Li Yundong . C- Can we . . . Can we join you guys?" said the girl with the red headband . "The other tables are upied . . . So..."

    Li Yundong looked towards the others . "You guys don¡¯t mind, right?"

    When he received a bunch of nods, he smiled at the girl . "Please," he said, gesturing at the empty seats beside President Cao .

    A look of relief formed on the girl¡¯s face . She turned to her twin sister . "See? I told you he wouldn¡¯t mind, sis!"

    Li Yundong smiled at the girl with the blue headband, who looked away shyly .

    "Wait . . . Let me see if I can tell you two apart . " Li Yundong studied both girls for a moment, then pointed a finger at the girl with the red headband . "You¡¯re Deng Yu, am I correct?"

    A look of surprise formed on Deng Yu¡¯s face . "That¡¯s the second time you¡¯re able to tell us apart!"

    Li Yundong shrugged, then pointed at the empty seats . "Why don¡¯t you two sit down first?"

    The two girls walked around to the other side of the table and sat down beside President Cao . Li Yundong smirked when Deng Yu did a double take when she caught a glimpse of Su Chan¡¯s tray . He schooled his features and cleared his throat . "Guys, these are Deng Yu and Deng Jiao . " Li Yundong turned to the twins . "And this is Miss Cao Kefei, my boss and the president of Huasheng Studios . "

    The twins stared at President Cao in awe . "Hello . . . " Deng Jiao mumbled .

    "Nice to meet you, Miss Cao," said Deng Yu .

    President Cao smiled . "Hello . You two are pretty . Let me know if you¡¯re interested in joining the showbiz . "

    Li Yundong smiled and moved on with the introductions . "This is my course mate, Zhou Qin . And these are my seniors, Feng Na and Cheng Cheng . "

    More pleasantries were exchanged before everyone dug into their meal . Fifteen minutester, everyone was pretty much done with their meals, except for¡ªduh¡ªPrincess Chipmunk .

    Deng Yu pushed her tray away and reached for a napkin . "I¡¯m really surprised that you still remember us, you know?" She turned towards Deng Jiao . "Sis thought you wouldn¡¯t remember . . . "

    Deng Jiao blushed .

    Li Yundong chuckled and set down his cup . "Of course I¡¯d remember you two . " He reached over and pinched Su Chan¡¯s cheek . Su Chan looked like she was about to spit out her soup . Li Yundong smiled and turned to Deng Yu again . "After all, my dear Su Chan nearly ruined your face the other day . "

    Su Chan suddenly dropped her spoon and smacked Li Yundong¡¯s hand away . "Ugh! Stop bringing that up, you meanie! I told you I didn¡¯t do it on purpose . "

    Li Yundongughed, then patted Su Chan¡¯s head . A cute blush colored Su Chan¡¯s cheeks as she turned away to give Deng Yu a contrite look . "I- I¡¯m sorry . I just... I got startled . . . I really didn¡¯t mean to hit you . . . " Su Chan said .

    Deng Yu smiled . "Oh, it¡¯s totally fine . But, um . . . actually . . . " Deng Yu pulled out a notebook from her handbag, then handed it to Li Yundong . "Can I have your autograph?" she asked, her eyes brimming with hope .

    Li Yundong gave Deng Yu a strange look, but he took the notebook anyway . "But I thought I gave you an autographst time . "

    Deng Yu grinned, then stole a nce at Deng Jiao . "Actually . . . this time, it¡¯s for my sister . . . "

    "Deng Yu!" Deng Jiao hissed . "Shush! You¡ª" She looked at Li Yundong shyly .

    "Aww, c¡¯mon sis," Deng Yu said . "You¡¯re not the only Li Yundong fangirl around here, you know . . . "

    Deng Jiao¡¯s cheeks turned scarlet . "You¡ª" She stood up abruptly . "I¡¯m leaving!" Deng Jiao stormed away from their table .

    Li Yundong scrawled his signature onto the first page of the notebook, then passed it back to Deng Yu . "Do you always bully your sister like that?"

    Deng Yuughed . "I¡¯m doing her a favor, trust me . She¡¯s just shy, but I bet deep down she¡¯s happy to finally have your autograph . " Deng Yu nced at her watch . "Anyway, thanks for the autograph . I gotta go to work now!"

    Li Yundong looked up in surprise . "McDonald¡¯s again?"

    Deng Yu gave him a casual wave . "Nah . . . "

    Li Yundongughed . "So you finally quit your job at McD?"

    Deng Yu rose from the table . "Nope . I¡¯m still working part-time at McDonalds . But I¡¯ve got other jobs too . " She slung her handbag onto her shoulder . "Anyway . Gotta run now . See ya!"

    Li Yundong smiled . "Bye, then . Take care!"

    After that, Deng Yu hurried away from their table . "Hey, sis! Wait up!"

    Deng Jiao¡¯s voice sounded from outside the cafeteria: "Hurry up, you slowpoke!"

    Li Yundong shook his head and turned back towards their table . He noticed President Cao studying his face with a look of amusement . Li Yundong cleared his throat . "Umm . . . Boss . About the assignment tonight . . . "

    President Cao¡¯s eyes narrowed . "What, you¡¯re not bailing out on me again, are you?"

    Li Yundong raised his palm . "No, I didn¡¯t say that . I mean I¡¯ll do the job . " He met President Cao¡¯s gaze resolutely . "On one condition . "

    President Cao¡¯s brows rose to her hairline . "Are you kidding me right now?"

    Li Yundong stared at President Cao intensely .

    Their staring conteststed for about a minute or so before President Cao relented with a sigh . "Fine . What condition?"

    Smirking, Li Yundong slung his arm around Su Chan¡¯s shoulders . "I¡¯m taking her with me . "

    President Cao did a double take . "You¡¯re what?"

    Li Yundong shrugged casually . "I¡¯m bringing my girlfriend along . I¡¯m not going anywhere without my girlfriend . " Li Yundong gave President Cao a challenging look .

    "But¡ª" President Cao held her forehead for a moment, then raised her gaze again . "But you¡¯ll be too distracted to do your job if your girlfriend is around!" President Cao suddenly gave Su Chan an apologetic look . "No offense, Su Chan . "

    "Oh, that¡¯s not going to be a problem," Li Yundong stated firmly .

    President Cao snorted . "Please . You¡¯ll be too busy making heart eyes at each other to keep me safe . "

    Li Yundong smirked . "Okay then . Good luck finding my recement . " He stood up and pulled Su Chan to her feet . "Let¡¯s go home, Su Chan . "

    Su Chan stood up hesitantly, her eyes darting to President Cao . "But . . . "

    Li Yundong gave Su Chan a reassuring smile, then whispered into her ear, "It¡¯s okay . I know what I¡¯m doing . "

    "Oh . "

    Li Yundong gave the others a wave . "See you guys, then . "

    "Wait! Fine, fine . Bring your girlfriend along," President Cao grumbled . "Geez . Young men these days... So full of themselves . "

    Li Yundong gave Su Chan a triumphant smile, then sat back down at the table . "When are we leaving?"

    President Cao nced at her watch . "We can leave after this if you don¡¯t mind . "

    Li Yundong turned to Su Chan, who gave him a nod . He turned back to President Cao . "No problem, boss . "

    President Cao sighed, then released a chuckle . "God, you two lovebirds . . . " She shook her head . "Are you guys always joined at the hips like this?"

    Li Yundong shrugged casually, though he didn¡¯t say anything in response . Thest time Li Yundong left Su Chan alone, she was attacked . Worse, she¡¯d been all alone with no backup . And she nearly died, for f*ck¡¯s sake . He¡¯d be damned if he let his princess go through that shit again .

    Someone¡¯s phone rang . Li Yundong looked around the table, pausing when he saw Zhou Qin rummaging through her handbag .

    A momentter, Zhou Qin pulled out her phone and smiled at Li Yundong . "Excuse me . "

    Li Yundong nodded . Zhou Qin¡¯s face turned cold the moment she nced at the screen . She picked up the call and pressed her phone to her ear .

    "What do you want?"

    By then, everyone at their table was staring at Zhou Qin; the sharpness of Zhou Qin¡¯s tone had drawn everyone¡¯s attention .

    A frown marred Zhou Qin¡¯s features . Li Yundong shared a nce with Su Chan, who looked like she had something up her sleeves . Li Yundong grabbed Su Chan¡¯s hand under the table, then shook his head subtly . Su Chan looked at him questioningly . Li Yundong pointed at his own ear, then shook his head again: Don¡¯t use Eryue . They should respect Zhou Qin¡¯s privacy . A look of recognition formed on Su Chan¡¯s face, and she nodded .

    Minutester, Zhou Qin hung up the phone and dropped it back into her handbag . She gave Li Yundong another smile, though he could tell that the smile was forced . Zhou Qin nced around the table . "You¡¯ll have to excuse me guys," she said . "There¡¯s something I need to take care of . "

    Zhou Qin stood up and gave President Cao, Feng Na, and Cheng Cheng parting nods before leaving their table in a hurry .

    "Well," Feng Na said, standing up with her tray . "I guess we should get going too . We have another exam to sit for this afternoon . "

    Feng Na waited for Cheng Cheng to rise, then gave Li Yundong a smile .

    Li Yundong waved at Feng Na and Cheng Cheng . "Good luck . And thank you for today . "

    Li Yundong watched Feng Na and Cheng Cheng put their dirty trays away . When the pair vanished through the cafe¡¯s entrance, Li Yundong turned back to President Cao .

    "Say, boss . . . We¡¯ll be attending a dinner party tonight, right? I mean for the assignment . "

    "Yeah, why?"

    "Okay . Isn¡¯t it too early to leave now? It¡¯s just a little past noon . "

    President Cao waved off his concerns . "We still need to get you suited up for the event . That will take some time . "

    Li Yundong chuckled bitterly . "I actually own a good suit, but it¡¯s at my apartment . " Li Yundong shook his head . "I don¡¯t want to risk going back there though . "

    President Cao frowned in confusion . "Risk? Does this have to do with that crazy maniac who attacked you at Shengyuan Hotel?"

    Li Yundong felt a pinch on his left side . He turned just in time to see Su Chan giving him a warning look . He gave President Cao a casual smile . "It¡¯s nothing . Just don¡¯t want to run into thendlord, that¡¯s all . "

    To his relief, President Cao let the subject drop . After taking care of their dirty trays, the three of them left the cafeteria and headed towards the carpark, where President Cao¡¯s Lamborghini was parked .

    "Now, Li Yundong," President Cao said, clicking the Lamborghini¡¯s fob . "Ready for some shopping?"

    ***

    Zi Yuan lowered the Great Mirror after the Lamborghini sped away from the parking lot . With a sigh, she leaned back against the seat of her own car, then handed the mirror to the young girl beside her . Hongling took the mirror and ced it back into the glovepartment .

    They sat in silence for a moment until Hongling broke it . "I don¡¯t believe this, Elder Sister Zi Yuan . . . This is just . . . This . . . This cannot be real!"

    Zi Yuan turned her head and studied her young prot¨¦g¨¦¡¯s face . Hongling looked genuinely puzzled . For once, her prot¨¦g¨¦ was showing emotions other than anger or irritation, which was always the case whenever things involved Li Yundong .

    "How¡¯s that even possible?" Hongling whispered, then shook her head . "H- Her soul structure is iplete! Yet she¡¯s alive and walking . . . " Hongling turned in her seat to face Zi Yuan . "What in Tao¡¯s name is going on, Elder Sister Zi Yuan?"

    Zi Yuan sighed and turned away from her prot¨¦g¨¦ . Zi Yuan stared out of the windshield as she pondered her Hongling¡¯s question .

    "The Heaven-Soul and Earth-Soul are both missing . . . " Zi Yuan mumbled . "How strange . . . "

    "And the Qi-Soul, the Strength-Soul, the Essence-Soul, and the Elite-Soul are missing as well . . . " Hongling said in awe . "Perhaps there was a mistake?"

    "The Great Mirror never lies," Zi Yuan snapped, then dropped her voice into a low murmur . "It never lies . . . "

    Still, Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t deny that the Great Mirror had shown them somethingpletely anomalous . ording to the principles of Taoism, the human soul consists of tenponents, three of which (the Heaven-Soul, the Earth-Soul, and the Life-Soul) are transcendent, while the rest are material .

    Cao Kefei¡¯s soul was iplete . Someponents were either missing or somehow obscured from the Great Mirror .

    Hongling¡¯s frustrated sigh pulled Zi Yuan out of her thoughts . "Regardless, Elder Sister Zi Yuan . . . When are we going to make our y? We can¡¯t just sit back and watch them forever, you know? The longer we take to reim the damask, the more Qi I¡¯ll have to expend to win back its allegiance!"

    Zi Yuan gave her prot¨¦g¨¦ a sidelong nce . "Didn¡¯t you say that you¡¯re going to reim it on your own?"

    The blush dusting Hongling¡¯s cheeks nearly made Zi Yuan smile . "H- How am I supposed to reim it without . . . without any help?"

    Zi Yuan stared out of the windshield . "Without help? So are you saying that you didn¡¯t have any help during your previous failed attempt to reim the damask? No help at all?"

    There was a moment of silence . Then, the car shook a little when Hongling mmed her head against the headrest .

    "So what if I asked for some help? I just wanted to take back what¡¯s mine! Is that so wrong?!"

    Zi Yuan turned in her seat . "The Divine Fist School! You asked someone from the Divine Fist School for help, and to deal with a person who hasn¡¯t even passed the Zhuji phase no less! Seriously, Hongling? Are you out of your mind?" Zi Yuan red at her prot¨¦g¨¦ . "The Linggong Sect¡¯s reputation will be ruined if this ever gets out . "

    Hongling met Zi Yuan¡¯s re with a look of defiance . "Have you forgotten about that demon witch, Elder Sister? I had to deal with two of them! What¡¯s wrong with me seeking some outside help? And he is the Jindan¡¯s Heir, for Tao¡¯s sake! His aptitude far surpasses that of any other Cultivator! Do you know that he nearly killed me with just a roar? Do you?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s re faltered a little . Still, she didn¡¯t back down .

    "Yeah, that¡¯s right, Elder Sister . His Qi was so powerful that he nearly shattered my soul when he roared . " Hongling snorted . "Shouldn¡¯t you be worried about my safety instead of his?"

    There was a brief pause . Zi Yuan shook her head, then sighed .

    Hongling kept ranting . "I can¡¯t believe you care more about him than me . Me, your sister for over ten years!"

    Anger coursed through Zi Yuan . She turned in her seat to re at Hongling . However, her anger dissipated the moment she noticed the hurt look on Hongling¡¯s face .

    "You don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about, Hongling . " Zi Yuan sighed . "Yes, he¡¯s the Jindan¡¯s Heir, that¡¯s true . But that doesn¡¯t mean I care about him . I¡¯m just curious about him, that¡¯s all . Although I¡¯m quite disappointed with what I¡¯ve seen so far, to be honest . He... He seems more interested in romance than Cultivation . Even with the Jindan¡¯s help, his future as a Cultivator doesn¡¯t look promising . . . "

    "Exactly!" Honglingughed snidely, then pped her hands together . "I say we act right this instant, Elder Sister Zi Yuan! We¡¯ve been watching him for so long already . Haven¡¯t you seen enough?"

    Zi Yuan arched her brow .

    "Seen enough? When you first told about him, the way you described him was like he was some kind of evil creature to be exterminated . " Zi Yuan gave her prot¨¦g¨¦ a pointed look . "But why would he save the woman and his son just now if he¡¯s truly evil?"

    "Oh my God!" Hongling shrieked, throwing her hands in the air . "You¡¯re still taking his side!"

    "Hongling..." Zi Yuan said warningly . When would this girl ever grow up?

    "You¡¯re taking his side... That¡¯s what it alles down to at the end of the day, isn¡¯t it? I can¡¯t believe this . . . " Hongling said, then huffed out in anger . "What¡¯s so great about that man, huh? What¡¯s so special about him that drove you into this... this"¡ªHongling gestured wildly with her hands¡ª"obsession with him?"

    Zi Yuan sighed . "I¡¯m wondering the same thing, Hongling . What¡¯s so great about him that Master would write that prophecy on the Obelisk of¡ª"

    "The prophecy!" The car shook when Hongling yelled . "Again with that damned prophecy! Ever since Master wrote it, you started acting strange . You shut yourself off and refused to deal with anything! Even when other sects of the Zhengyi School tried to mock or bully the Linggong sect, you kept quiet and never tried to defend our sect . It¡¯s like you were possessed by an evil spirit or something . God!"

    There was another moment of silence .

    Honglingughed snidely . "And yet you rushed off the mountain the moment I told you about the Jindan¡¯s Heir..." There was a snort . "Clearly this shows where your true prioritiesy, Elder Sister Zi Yuan . "

    Zi Yuan bent forward and opened the glovepartment . Zi Yuan took out the Great Mirror again .

    Hongling huffed out in anger . "And I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re tantly ignoring the fact that he had stolen my damask! Not only that, but you even defended him!"

    Zi Yuan ran her palm over the Great Mirror¡¯s surface . Wisps of mists swirled around inside the mirror surface .

    "Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll help you retrieve the damask tonight," Zi Yuan said, stopping Hongling mid-rant .

    "R- Really? You¡¯ll really do that?" A mixture of joy and surprise colored Hongling¡¯s tone .

    "Mm-hmm . . . " Zi Yuan answered distractedly .

    "Yes! Finally we¡¯re getting somewhere! And while you¡¯re at it, please help me beat him up . Time to teach that perverted bastard a lesson!"

    Zi Yuan lifted her gaze off the mirror¡¯s surface and stared off into space .

    "I guess there¡¯s no harm in interacting with the Jindan¡¯s Heir up close . . . " Zi Yuan said . "It¡¯ll give me a chance to see what kind of person he is . . . "

 Chapter 145

    Chapter 145

    <h4>Challenge?</h4>

    "Man... you have got to be shitting me . " Li Yundong turned in his seat and gaped at President Cao . He¡¯d figured out where President Cao was taking them as soon as President Cao turned the Lamborghini into a street that would lead towards none other than Shengyuan Hotel .

    President Cao sighed . "Yeah, I wish were..."

    Li Yundong shook his head in disbelief . "Seriously?"

    "Yeah . The production crew wanted to host the party at Shengyuan Hotel . " President Cao gave him a helpless shrug . "It¡¯s not like I have any say in the matter . "

    Li Yundong chuckled wryly . After he and Lin Youfa nearly tore the ce apart, Li Yundong really wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he¡¯d be a persona non grata at the hotel by then .

    "Ugh... What¡¯s with these strange coincidences?" Li Yundong mumbled . "It¡¯s like someone is plotting a goddamn conspiracy . "

    Minutester, President Cao slowed the Lamborghini and steered it through Shengyuan Hotel¡¯s front gates, which, to Li Yundong¡¯s amazement, had already been repaired .

    "And in case you¡¯re wondering... Yes, I¡¯m the one who paid for the gates that mad man destroyed," President Cao grumbled once they had cleared the gates and were heading towards the parking lot .

    Su Chan¡¯s hands appeared from the back seat and pped his shoulders . "Yundong! Yundong!"

    Li Yundong turned around . "Yes, princess?"

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes sparkled . "This ce . . . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . Of course she¡¯d recognize this ce too . Of course...

    "Yep," Li Yundong said with a nod . "It¡¯s the same ce . . . "

    "Oh . " Su Chan paused in thought . A momentter, she burst into giggles .

    Realization washed over Li Yundong, and he shot Su Chan a yful re . Oh, no you don¡¯t, you little chipmunk...

    "Nope . You¡¯re not pulling another Mount Everest stunt, okay?" Li Yundong said in a stern voice .

    Su Chan giggled harder, then made a face at him .

    "I¡¯m serious, Su Chan..." Li Yundong said, struggling to keep his ownughter at bay .

    "Mmm!"

    The Lamborghini pulled into an empty parking space after a while .

    "Mount Everest?" President Cao gazed at them curiously .

    Li Yundong waved his hand . "It¡¯s a long story . "

    He unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the Lamborghini .

    Time to work for a living .

    ***

    "Gee . You¡¯d think I personally murdered their families or something," Li Yundong mumbled as they moved across the huge lobby . Pretty much every hotel staff they passed by had given him wary looks as though he was a dirty bomb that could detonate any second .

    President Cao chuckled . "Can you me them though? Have you seen the damage you caused to that bathroom? It¡¯s like the work of a demolition contractor, for heaven¡¯s sake . "

    Li Yundong smiled sheepishly . "It was an ident . I was attacked . "

    They stopped at the reception counter, where President Cao exchanged words with the concierge on duty . Li Yundong looked around the lobby and noticed the looks of admiration that were being cast upon President Cao and Su Chan . Which, of course, was to be expected . Aside from the fact that both President Cao and Su Chan were beautiful women, they were also dressed to the nines tonight: Su Chan in a red, pleated dress; and President Cao in a ck evening gown with a plunging neckline that revealed a decent amount of cleavage and thick diamond ne .

    Minutester, President Cao thanked the concierge and led them away from the counter . They made a few turns until they arrived at a hallway lined with huge rooms on both sides . Sign boards stood outside the door of each room . Most of the sign boards were empty .

    "There it is!" President Cao pointed at a ck sign board: Launch Party for the TV Series The World of Swords .

    Li Yundong smiled at President Cao . "Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re the show¡¯s sponsor?"

    President Caoughed bitterly . "Yeah . I wish . " She nced at Li Yundong . "You need to put in at least eight figures to get a TV series airing . " President Cao snorted . "I wouldn¡¯t be chased around by a bunch of creditors if I¡¯m that rich . "

    "Okay? So if this TV show has nothing to do with your firm, then why are we here?"

    President Caoughed . "My firm is the producer, of course . Someone else is taking care of the bills . My team takes care of the technical stuff . "

    "I see . "

    "Oh, and one more thing . I¡¯ll introduce you two to everyone at the party as reporters . " President Cao gave him a pointed look . "Just a heads up . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes widened a tad . "What? Why?"

    President Cao tut-tutted and gave him a look of disapproval . "Just follow my lead and don¡¯t ask any more questions . " A sparkle lit up President Cao¡¯s eyes . "Besides . . . They¡¯ll be giving out red packets to reporters, so . " President Cao shrugged . "Figured you needed the extra cash . "

    Li Yundong had nothing to say to that .

    A momentter, Li Yundong and Su Chan were led towards the ck sign board . Past the sign board was a short hallway which led to a huge door . A middle-aged man with a short, ttop haircut stood outside the door .

    The man brightened up the moment he saw their arrival . "Yo! President Cao! You¡¯re here early!"

    The three of them stopped in front of the man .

    President Cao smiled in greeting . "Wow! President Wang! You¡¯re greeting the guests yourself tonight? What a surprise!"

    President Wang studied Li Yundong and Su Chan curiously . "And who might this handsome young man and this beautifuldy be?" President Wang¡¯s brows rose just a tad . Then, his eyes widened as though he¡¯d just realized something . "Ah, I see, are they your rookies this year? Damn! You really know how to pick ¡¯em, President Cao!"

    President Cao chuckled . "Right . As if I¡¯m so lucky to sign such a good looking pair . No, they aren¡¯t my rookies . They¡¯re actually from the media . "

    President Wang¡¯s face fell . "Oh, so you¡¯re from the media!" The man immediately took out two red packets from his jacket and offered them to Li Yundong and Su Chan . "My goodness! I¡¯m terribly sorry for the mistake!"

    Li Yundong took the red packet, then nced at Su Chan, who was staring at the red packet with a puzzled expression . Uh-oh . . .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat and epted Su Chan¡¯s red packet on her behalf . "Don¡¯t mind her, President Wang . She¡¯s new here . She¡¯s our new intern, in fact . She still doesn¡¯t know how things work around here . "

    President Wangughed and waved off Li Yundong¡¯s concerns . "Nah . It¡¯s all fine! Please, go on inside!"

    The three of them entered the banquet hall .

    "It¡¯s pretty impressive what you did back there," President Cao praised . "It shows that you have the ability to think on your feet . "

    Li Yundong gave President Cao a sidelong nce . "Aren¡¯t you worried they might ask for our identifications?"

    President Cao chuckled . "I¡¯ve been in this line of work for a long time, kid . I know how things work around here . Trust me, they won¡¯t ask for identifications . " President Cao stopped walking and waved at a group of people standing at another corner of the banquet hall . "Um, hey . I need to go greet a few people . " Then, she lowered her voice so that only Li Yundong could hear her . "Remember your job . "

    After President Cao walked away, Li Yundong began taking stock of the banquet hall . To say that the hall wasvish and opulent was probably an understatement¡ªthe ce looked like some kind of pce . ck marble tiles stretched out beneath his feet . A huge gold chandelier hung from the ceiling, sparkling amidst the light it emitted . The whole ce was dazzling to say the least .

    There were at least one hundred attendees by Li Yundong¡¯s estimate . Some kind of stage was set up in front of the hall . Arge congrattory banner hung above the stage: "Congrattions to the Production Crew on the Sessful Launch of the World of Swords . "

    Waiters bustled around with trays, weaving their way through a throng of well-dressed men and women . Li Yundong grabbed a soda from a passing waiter and continued his inspection of his surroundings .

    At one point, he noticed Su Chan¡¯s gaze lingering on the long table where the food had been served up . She looked like she was about to pounce onto the table and start wolfing down everything .

    Li Yundong smacked Su Chan¡¯s forehead . "Don¡¯t even think about it," he said in a warning tone . "We¡¯re here on a job . "

    A huge pout formed on Su Chan¡¯s lips . "Can¡¯t I have some? Just a little?"

    "A little? You looked like you¡¯d gobble up everything on the table the first chance you get!"

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes sparkled . "Can I eat everything on the table?"

    Li Yundong massaged his temples and released a groan . "Of course not, you dummy!"

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes turned watery . "So I can only watch others eat? B- But t- that¡¯s so cruel . . . " Su Chan gazed longingly at the long table .

    "Stop it," Li Yundong chastised . "You can¡¯t eat the stuff on the table! Haven¡¯t you embarrassed us enoughst time?"

    Su Chan pouted again . "But what¡¯s the point of serving up the food if people aren¡¯t allowed to eat them? Hmph! So mean!"

    Li Yundong patted Su Chan¡¯s head . "Just resist, okay? I¡¯m on the job tonight . You know that . " Li Yundong rubbed her back, then paused to look at her . "You don¡¯t me to get fired, do you?"

    Su Chan shook her head .

    Li Yundong patted her head . "Good . I¡¯ll whipped something up when we get home . "

    "Yo, yo, yo . . . Isn¡¯t that the martial art master Tan Fei was talking about the other day?"

    Li Yundong turned at the voice .

    A handsome and fashionably dressed man stood a few feet away from him and Su Chan . The man appeared to by studying Li Yundong curiously, and he wasn¡¯t alone¡ªthere was a woman beside him .

    "Excuse me? Are you talking to me?" Li Yundong pointed at himself .

    The handsome man smiled and stepped forward . "Yes, I am," the man said, smoothing out his pristine white suit with his hands . When the man stopped in front of Li Yundong, Li Yundong immediately noticed how tall the man was¡ªabout 185 cm if Li Yundong were to venture a guess .

    Li Yundong had to tilt his head upwards to see the man¡¯s face .

    Suddenly, the handsome man turned around and shouted at someone behind him . "Tan Fei!"

    Li Yundong followed the man¡¯s gaze and saw another woman dressed in a white cheongsam standing nearby . The woman was none other than Tan Fei, the actress who tried to proposition him the day he was ambushed by Lin Youfa at this very same hotel . Tan Fei was, of course, not alone . She was nked by Zhang Guozheng and a young man dressed in a red Tang suit .

    Tan Fei gave Li Yundong a nod, which Li Yundong politely returned . At the same time, he saw the look of fear in Zhang Guozheng¡¯s eyes before the poor man averted his gaze . Clearly, the actor hadn¡¯t forgotten the episode in the bathroom .

    "So? Tan Fei? Is this the guy you mentioned?" the handsome man in white suit said .

    Tan Fei nodded again .

    Before Li Yundong knew it, the young man in the red Tang suit was heading over towards him . Secondster, the man stopped in front of Li Yundong and performed a Bao Quan Li .

    "Greetings, my friend . I am Shi Neng, a practitioner and sessor of the Iron Palm from the Northern Shaolin School . May I know which school you are from?"

    The Iron Palm? He¡¯d heard of that style before, but only from TV documentaries . Apparently, these guys specialized in hardening and conditioning their palms so that they could use them to smash through anything .

    Li Yundong studied the man in front of him . The guy was pretty tall, but not as tall as the guy in the white suit . Maybe around 170 cm? Even when hidden beneath the long sleeves of the Tang Suit, Li Yundong could tell that the man had thick, muscr arms . Thick callouses covered the man¡¯s palm, confirming the man¡¯s im that he was a practitioner of the Shaolin¡¯s Iron Palm .

    Sounds ofughter rang out .

    Li Yundong turned and regarded the handsome man beside him .

    "Hey, Shi Neng . Didn¡¯t you mention something about a friendly duel? Here¡¯s your chance!"

    Shi Neng¡¯s eyes glinted with excitement when he looked at Li Yundong .

    "How about it, brother? I challenge you to a friendly duel! Do you ept the challenge?"

 Chapter 146

    Chapter 146

    <h4>Challenge epted</h4>

    Li Yundong shook his head . "Listen, Mr . Shi Neng . I don¡¯t think it¡¯s appropriate to do this here . " Li Yundong gestured at their surroundings . Look around, you moron . You wanna start a fight at a nice ce like this?

    Shi Neng opened his mouth to speak . However, the handsome man in the white suit cut in before Shi Neng could get a word out .

    "Come on, that¡¯s not a problem at all . We have space here . And you don¡¯t even have to strike for real . You can just do a bit of point sparring . Besides . . . " The handsome man lowered his voice conspiratorially . "It might be a good idea to let the members of the media get a few shots of you two sparring . It¡¯s good publicity . "

    Frowning, Li Yundong gave the man a sidelong nce . "And you are?"

    Much to Li Yundong¡¯s surprise, Su Chan jumped in right then . "Ooh! I know who you are!" She pointed at the man in white suit . "You¡¯re Guo Peng!"

    A smug look formed on Guo Peng¡¯s face . "You know me? Ah, you must¡¯ve watched one of the TV shows I starred in!"

    Su Chan bobbed her head adorably . "Mm-hmm! Mm-hmm! I watched them all!"

    "All of them? Wow!" Guo Pengughed merrily .

    Li Yundong clenched his jaw . What the hell is so funny, douchebag?

    Guo Peng stoppedughing and gave Su Chan a sheepish look, which looked totally fake . "Ah, well . . . " Guo Peng said . "Those were my work from two years ago . They weren¡¯t really that good . . . "

    Li Yundong resisted the urge to roll his eyes . This douchebag was clearly fishing forpliments .

    Su Chan bobbed her head even harder . "Yep! Those shows totally sucked! I mean, boo! You look so silly in those shows! I actually pitied you when I watched them . "

    Sounds of feminineughter rang out . Li Yundong raised his gaze and saw Tan Fei hiding her mouth behind her palm . Even Guo Peng¡¯s date was struggling to contain herughter .

    Suppressing his ownughter, Li Yundong turned around and gave Su Chan a re . "Tsk! Shush!"

    After that, he pulled Su Chan¡¯s arm and hid her body behind him . Then, when he was sure that no one could see, he gave her a thumbs up .

    Su Chan giggled and then beamed at him .

    Li Yundong felt his heart swell .

    By the time Li Yundong returned to the conversation, Guo Peng looked as though he had just swallowed a fly .

    Li Yundong smirked . Not so smug now, huh, douche?

    Guo Peng cleared his throat . "Yeah, well . . . Like I said, those shows are my older works . Quite immature I¡¯d say . . . " Suddenly, Guo Peng¡¯s gaze was on Li Yundong again . "Tan Fei told us about yourbat skills the other day . I really think you should show off a bit of your skills . "

    Frowning, Li Yundong opened his mouth to speak, but then Shi Neng beat him to it .

    "The challenge doesn¡¯t have to involve violence," Shi Neng dered confidently . "I mean if you¡¯re worried about coteral damage..."

    Guo Peng gave Shi Neng a strange look . "A martial arts challenge that doesn¡¯t involve violence? Well, that¡¯s interesting . "

    Shi Nengughed but didn¡¯t give any further exnations . Instead, he waved at a nearby waiter . When the waiter came over, Shi Neng whispered something the man¡¯s ear . A momentter, the waiter nodded and hurried off .

    A few minutester, the waiter returned with a rattan container that was shaped like a bowl . "Will this one do, sir?"

    Shi Neng smiled . "Ah, that will do perfectly . Thank you . " He took the rattan bowl and gave the waiter a generous tip .

    Grinning, the waiter took the tip and walked away .

    Shi Neng waved the container at Li Yundong and showed him the container¡¯s base, which was porous . Just then, Tan Fei and Zhang Guozheng joined their group .

    Li Yundong raised a brow and shot Shi Neng a questioning look . Instead of giving an exnation, Shi Neng just smiled at him . Secondster, Shi Neng stopped another passing waiter . "Please bring me a jug of hot water . "

    A look of confusion formed on the waiter¡¯s face, but the manplied and left them to carry out the order .

    When the waiter returned with a thermos, Shi Neng held out the rattan bowl with both hands covering its base, then gave the waiter a pointed look . "Pour the hot water into this thing . "

    The waiter jumped slightly and gave Shi Neng a wide-eyed look . "B- But sir! The water is fresh off the kettle and . . . " The waiter nced down at the rattan bowl .

    "It¡¯s okay . . . Just pour," Shi Neng said with a forced smile .

    The waiter gaped at him for a few seconds . "B- But your hand will get burned and I¡ª"

    "Just do it . . . " Shi Neng growled . "Whether I get burned or not is my business . "

    The waiter stared at Shi Neng for a few moments before he sighed . "Y- Yes sir . "

    Li Yundong frowned deeply . What the hell is this moron nning? Was he trying to show off how resistant his skin was to high temperatures? But if that was the case, why not just dip his entire hand into a bowl of boiling water? What was the deal with all this showmanship? Li Yundong moved his Qi to his Shenting and zoomed in on the base of the rattan bowl .

    The base was unmistakably porous . The thing would never be able to hold any form of liquid . When Li Yundong zoomed out, something weird was going on with Shi Neng¡¯s face . It was slightly flushed and the veins in his forehead were now visible .

    "Sir, I¡¯m pouring now," the waiter said .

    The waiter uncapped the thermos, then positioned it above the rattan bowl .

    Secondster, hot, steaming water gushed into the rattan bowl .

    Li Yundong zoomed in at the base and¡ª

    Holy shit . . .

    "Oh, my God! That¡¯s amazing!" Tan Fei eximed, mirroring Li Yundong¡¯s surprise .

    The waiter yelped in surprise and nearly lost his grip on the thermos .

    Then, Li Yundong heard Su Chan¡¯s derisive snort . "Hmph . That¡¯s just child¡¯s y . "

    Li Yundong whirled around and whispered to her softly, "What? How the heck did he do it?"

    Su Chan rolled her eyes .

    "You really need to start thinking like a Cultivator, Yundong," she whispered .

    Li Yundong turned back around to look at Shi Neng . The waiter had already stopped pouring hot water into the rattan bowl; it would start overflowing if he did .

    "Look closer at the bowl . . . " Su Chan whispered behind him .

    Li Yundong zoomed in at the base of the bowl . Realization washed over him when he had zoomed in enough to see the tiny pores .

    Wait a minute... isn¡¯t that...? Li Yundong turned around abruptly to look at Su Chan . Qi? he mouthed the word to Su Chan .

    Su Chan beamed at him and gave him a nod . Li Yundong turned back to the bowl .

    Shi Neng had gathered his Qi to form a thin film over the surface of his palms . And then when he ced both palms at the bottom of the bowl, his Qi acted as some kind of seal to prevent the hot water from leaking through the pores .

    "You can do pretty much the same thing, and more . "

    Li Yundong turned around abruptly . "More?"

    Su Chan nodded . "You can do it without the bowl . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s brows rose in surprise .

    Su Chan smiled as though she had read his mind . "Your Qi is powerful enough to shape water without the use of a container . "

    Before Li Yundong could say anything else, Guo Peng pped his hand on Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder . "Hah! You see that pal? That¡¯s what I call real Kung-fu!"

    Li Yundong removed Guo Peng¡¯s hand from his shoulder and turned away from Su Chan . A tiny crowd had gathered around Shi Neng right then . Tan Fei, Zhang Guozheng, and the waiter were all staring at the bowl with awestruck looks on their faces .

    Li Yundong smiled gave Guo Peng a casual shrug . "That¡¯s a neat trick, I¡¯ll give you that . "

    Guo Peng smirked . "Well? Why don¡¯t you show us a couple of your tricks, then?"

    "Or..." Shi Neng shoved the rattan bowl in Li Yundong¡¯s direction . The steaming water sloshed about inside the bowl . A few drops spilled from the edge onto the floor . "You can try to do the same thing?"

    Li Yundong regarded Shi Neng with a neutral expression . There was a challenging glint in Shi Neng¡¯s eyes . Li Yundong eyed the rattan bowl being held in front of his face . Hot steam billowed from the surface of the water, tickling his nose and cheeks .

    Li Yundong smirked, then closed his eyes until he felt the familiar ball of heat at his lower Dantian . By the time he opened his eyes, his Qi was gathered at both palms .

    "Sure," Li Yundong said, reaching for the bowl .

    All of a sudden, there was a loud gasp followed by the waiter¡¯s curse . The huge thermos slipped from the waiter¡¯s grip and struck the rattan bowl in Shi Neng¡¯s hands . Warning shouts and yelps sounded as the bowl toppled, spilling the hot water in Li Yundong¡¯s direction .

    "Watch out!"

    "Look out!"

    Li Yundong extended his right hand and, as though guided by an invisible force, the water droplets in the air drifted towards Li Yundong¡¯s palm . Li Yundong moved his palm in a wide arc, collecting as much of the spilled hot water as possible . The rattan bowl fell to the floor with a soft thud, but nobody bothered to pick it up .

    "W- What . . . t- the . . . the f- f*ck . . . " Guo Peng stammered .

    Li Yundong bent down and picked up the fallen bowl . When he straightened, he brought his right hand closer to his face and studied the hot water hovering about half an inch above his palm . The water now took the form of a sphere . Wisps of steam rose from the sphere¡¯s surface, causing Li Yundong¡¯s eyes to tear a little .

    "F*ck . . . It¡¯s like a magic trick . . . " Zhang Guozheng said stupidly .

    Li Yundong smirked . Well, it wasn¡¯t really magic . And it most definitely wasn¡¯t a trick . Like Su Chan said, it was all about Qi control . In fact, this was what the Lianqi phase¡¯s Ziru was all about: theplete mastery of one¡¯s Qi such that it would respond to one¡¯s will and thus be used to perform various physical tasks . Shaping water was probably just one of many things that one could aplish with one¡¯s Qi .

    Li Yundong ced the rattan bowl back onto Shi Neng¡¯s open palm, then snapped his fingers at the stunned waiter .

    Once he was sure that he had the waiter¡¯s attention, Li Yundong pointed at the fallen thermos beside the waiter¡¯s feet .

    To his credit, the waiterplied instantly . He picked up the thermos and handed it to Li Yundong with shaky hands .

    Li Yundong shoved the ball of water into the thermos, then capped it .

    Once he was done, Li Yundong met everyone¡¯s ck-jawed expressions and smiled .

    "Phew! That was pretty close, huh?"

 Chapter 147

    Chapter 147

    <h4>This Is What Real Kung-Fu Looks Like!</h4>

    "Here," Li Yundong said, putting the thermos back into the waiter¡¯s palm . "You better put that away before someone gets hurt . "

    The waiter nodded stupidly and held on the thermos with both hands .

    "Impressive," Shi Neng said, pping his hands a few times . "It appears that you have fully mastered the art of Qi control . Impressive indeed . "

    Li Yundong ignored the praise and began scanning the banquet hall for President Cao . He was in charge of President Cao¡¯s personal safety tonight, so he couldn¡¯t afford to be distracted by meaningless showboating .

    Li Yundong located President Cao in a far corner of the hall . She appeared to be chatting animatedly with some guy . Alright, then . Time to ditch these people and get back to work¡ª

    "How about we do some point sparring?" Shi Neng said .

    Li Yundong stared at Shi Neng through narrowed eyes . "I¡¯d rather not cause a scene if you don¡¯t mind . " He nced in President Cao¡¯s direction . President Cao appeared to be totally engrossed in her conversation . Li Yundong take a step back . "Now if you¡¯ll excuse me¡ª"

    Li Yundong reacted instantly the moment he felt a strong pressure on his wrist . He dropped his elbow low, then swung his forearm in an upward arc while stepping forward and to the side¡ªat about 45 degrees¡ªof Shi Neng .

    Li Yundong¡¯s movements caused Shi Neng¡¯s arm to twist into an awkward angle around the elbow and shoulder joints . Shi Neng hissed, but he still didn¡¯t let go of Li Yundong¡¯s wrist .

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyebrows rose to his hairline . "From what I¡¯ve seen, you¡¯re clearly an experienced martial artist . " Li Yundong¡¯s cold gaze zeroed in on Shi Neng¡¯s pained expression . "So you must know that this is a Chin Na joint lock . "

    The entire hall was now silent except for Shi Neng¡¯s heavy breathing .

    "You¡¯re lucky that I didn¡¯t break your arm," Li Yundong said after the brief pause . "Consider this mercy . " Li Yundong raised his free hand, then struck Shi Neng¡¯s forearm, pulling his arm free at the same time . Shi Neng yelped and stumbled backwards . A few guys¡ªwho were clearly Shi Neng¡¯s acquaintances¡ªmoved in to prevent Shi Neng from falling t onto his ass, but everyone else seemed too stunned to move .

    Li Yundong smoothed out the sleeves of his jacket . "Are we done here?"

    When nobody answered, Li Yundong turned towards Guo Peng and stepped into his personal space . He patted Guo Peng¡¯s chest a few times . "I suggest you do more research before you start making ims about what real Kung-Fu looks like, pal . "

    Ignoring Guo Peng¡¯s gobsmacked expression, Li Yundong turned towards Su Chan .

    "Come on, princess . Let¡¯s get outta here . "

    "Oh," Su Chan said .

    Li Yundong took her hand led her towards President Cao .

    ***

    "Where on earth did you find a guy like that, President Cao?"

    Cao Kefei turned away from the crowd and focused her attention on Director Zhang, who seemed impressed by how Li Yundong had handled Shi Neng¡¯s challenge .

    Suddenly, Director Zhang chuckled . "Well . Looks like your boy over there has some problems getting along with Shi Neng . "

    Cao Kefei followed Director Zhang¡¯s gaze and noticed Li Yundong twisting Shi Neng¡¯s arm into a weird angle . A secondter, Shi Neng was stumbling backwards into the arms of several guys . Cao Kefei smiled . "That¡¯s normal I suppose . They¡¯re both hot-blooded young men, after all . "

    Director Zhang pped his thigh . "Dang! Too bad we didn¡¯t manage to capture what he did on camera . . . " He lowered his voice to a mumble . "I bet my team would love to have that on tape . . . "

    Smiling, Cao Kefei said nothing and took a sip from her flute . She didn¡¯t have to say much, to be honest . From she was seeing, Director Zhang was pretty much sold on Li Yundong¡¯s potential to be a super star .

    "You know . . . " Director Zhang¡¯s pensive voice made Cao Kefei lower her flute .

    Cao Kefei smiled . "Yes, director?"

    "It¡¯s quitemon for great martial artists to get a movie role . . . " Director Zhang said .

    Bingo!

    Admittedly, there was a hidden agenda behind Cao Kefei¡¯s assignment for Li Yundong tonight . Well, in her defense, she really did need Li Yundong here to keep her safe¡ªshe was still receiving death threats every now and then¡ªand to act as her bodyguard . But of course that wasn¡¯t the only reason she¡¯d given Li Yundong this assignment . The other reason was to expose Li Yundong to the world of showbiz . With his looks and abilities, it was just a matter of time before Li Yundong caught someone¡¯s attention, preferably someone with deep pockets .

    Director Zhang was just the first of many . Of that, Cao Kefei had no doubt .

    If she yed her cards right, Li Yundong would rise into stardom very soon . And if she could get Li Yundong to sign a contract with Huasheng Studios . . .

    "Boss!"

    Cao Kefei whirled around and saw Li Yundong and Su Chan heading over towards her .

    Speak of the devil . . . Cao Kefei shared a nce with Director Zhang, then gave Li Yundong a smile .

    "Yes?" Cao Kefei said once Li Yundong stopped in front of them . "What is it?"

    "Is it okay for Su Chan to grab a bite?" Li Yundong pointed towards the long table where the food was served . Suddenly, Li Yundong leaned in and lowered his voice into a whisper . "I mean, I know I¡¯m supposed to be on duty . But Su Chan is hungry . . . "

    Cao Kefei chuckled . "By all means . If she wants to eat, I¡¯ve got no problems with that . "

    Li Yundong smiled brightly and gave her a nod . "Thanks, boss . "

    After that, Li Yundong led Su Chan away again .

    "My God . . . " Director Zhang whispered .

    Cao Kefei turned her head slightly and regarded the director . The director¡¯s ck-jawed expression looked a little funny, so Cao Kefei followed his gaze . Director Zhang was staring after Su Chan .

    A smirk tugged Cao Kefei¡¯s lips . Looks like I¡¯ve picked the right dress for the girl . Not that Su Chan needed a dress to make her look good . Even in normal clothes, the girl exuded beauty in spades .

    "Hell... President Cao... If we can sign them both . . . " Director Zhang mumbled, still staring at the leaving couple .

    Cao Kefei took another sip from her flute . "All in good time, director," she said . "All in good time . "

    ***

    "Oww! Meanie! You stepped on my foot!"

    Li Yundong smiled and pinched Su Chan¡¯s cheek . "Oops . Sorry . Didn¡¯t do it on purpose . "

    After squeezing their way through a huge crowd of well-dressed people, they had finally arrived at the long table .

    "It was totally on purpose, you meanie!"

    Li Yundongughed when Su Chan made a face at him .

    "Alright, alright . Quit messing around and let¡¯s go grab a te . You must be starving . " He took her hand and started pulling her towards the table .

    "Of course I¡¯m starv¡ª"

    Li Yundong felt a resistance in his hand, as though Su Chan had stopped following him . Li Yundong turned around with a frown . "What¡¯s wrong . . . ?"

    Su Chan¡¯s was pointing towards the banquet hall¡¯s entrance . "Hey . . . Isn¡¯t that Zhou Qin?"

    Li Yundong looked in the direction of the entrance .

    "I thought they hated each other now..." Li Yundong said, not taking his eyes off the entrance .

    Through the open door, Li Yundong saw Zhou Qin and Ding Nan standing in close proximity to each other . Ding Nan was whispering something into Zhou Qin¡¯s ear .

    After a moment, the pair started walking towards the elevator .

    "Maybe they made up?" Su Chan suggested .

    Li Yundong frowned . Something felt off .

    Someone patted Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder .

    Li Yundong turned and jumped in surprise .

    "Oh, hey! It¡¯s you! What are you doing here?"

 Chapter 148

    Chapter 148

    <h4>Double-Crossed!</h4>

    Li Yundong stared at the girl in front of him . With her hair pulled into a tight bun and her slim figure wrapped in a beige waitress uniform, Deng Yu looked totally different .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "What are you doing here?" Li Yundong shook his head slightly . Admittedly, he was having a hard time reconciling this woman with the one he¡¯d met in front of MacDonald¡¯s .

    Deng Yu, on the other hand, seemed more amused than surprised to see him here .

    "Isn¡¯t it obvious why I¡¯m here?" Deng Yu gestured at her uniform, then grinned at him . "Here¡¯s an even more interesting question . What are you doing here?"

    Li Yundong shook himself out of his stupor and pointed at President Cao . "Oh . I¡¯m here on a job for President Cao . "

    A look of surprise flitted across Deng Yu¡¯s features . "Y- You¡¯re working for President Cao?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "Yep . I¡¯m her security detail tonight . "

    Li Yundong cast a nce at President Cao . It wasn¡¯t too difficult to keep President Cao in his line of sight since she hadn¡¯t moved away from her position earlier .

    Deng Yu made a sound of approval . "Ooh . Right . You know, back at the cafeteria, I¡¯ve been wondering about how you and President Cao got acquainted with one another and¡ªOh, hi, Su Chan!"

    Deng Yu gave Su Chan a wave .

    "Hi . . . " Su Chan mumbled incoherently . She was still staring at the hall¡¯s entrance .

    What on earth is she staring at?

    Li Yundong followed Su Chan¡¯s gaze and saw Ding Nan and Zhou Qin stepping into the elevator .

    Looks like those two have finally mended fences and¡ª

    "Well! I suppose it makes sense!" Deng Yu said, bringing Li Yundong¡¯s back to their conversation .

    Li Yundong frowned in confusion . "What does?"

    "Oh, I mean the fact that you¡¯re President Cao¡¯s bodyguard tonight . " Deng Yu chuckled, then gestured with her hands . "I mean what with those badass moves you have . . . "

    Li Yundongughed, then looked around the banquet hall . He hadn¡¯t detected any threats so far . As far as he could tell, things looked pretty secure . The attendees had already returned to their conversations or whatever it was that they¡¯d been doing before that little "demo" between him and Shi Neng earlier .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "So . This is your other part-time job, right?" Li Yundong studied Deng Yu¡¯s expression . "The one you mentioned at the cafeteria this afternoon?"

    Deng Yu¡¯s face broke into a huge grin . "Oh, yeah! We got kinda lucky when wended this one . I mean it was a total coincidence . You see, the other day, I saw a flyer saying that Shengyuan Hotel is looking to hire part-time waitresses when I was, guess what, giving out fliers on the streets . Funny, right? Seeing a flyer while giving out fliers . " Deng Yuughed at her own joke .

    Li Yundong¡¯s mind was focused on something else Deng Yu had mentioned .

    "Did you say we?"

    Deng Yu¡¯s eyes widened as though she¡¯d just remembered something . "Oh, that¡¯s right! My sister¡¯s here too!" She suddenly turned and waved at someone at another corner of the hall . Li Yundong turned and saw Deng Jiao waving back at them shyly .

    "We both got the job!" Deng Yu said proudly .

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Congrattions, then . " It must pay pretty well to work at a ce as posh as Shengyuan Hotel .

    Deng Yu nodded with zest . "Mm-hmm! Anyway! I gotta get back to work now . Enjoy the party . I¡¯ll catch up with you guyster!" Deng Yu gave him a wave and hurried off .

    Li Yundong nced down at Su Chan .

    Princess Chipmunk was still staring at the entrance . A deep frown marred her beautiful features .

    "Hey, what¡¯s wrong?"

    Su Chan shook her head distractedly . "Something¡¯s wrong with her . . . " she mumbled .

    "What? With whom?" Li Yundong followed Su Chan¡¯s gaze . Zhou Qin was nowhere to be seen .

    Li Yundong gave Su Chan a curious look . "You mean Zhou Qin?"

    To his surprise, Su Chan shook her head .

    "No," Su Chan said . "With Ding Nan . "

    ***

    Inside the elevator, Ding Nan stared at the half-conscious woman leaning against her shoulder for support . A devious glint shone in Ding Nan¡¯s eyes . Secondter, a derisiveugh escaped her lips .

    "I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re that naive, Zhou Qin . " Ding Nan shook her head in amusement . "You knew how much I hate your guts, yet you barely hesitated to take the drink I offered to you . . . "

    "Damn . . . you . . . "

    Ding Nanughed smugly . "You were overconfident, Zhou Qin . You shouldn¡¯t havee running the moment I called you . " There was a brief pause . Ding Nan turned her head slightly to stare at Zhou Qin . "Do you know what I¡¯m going to do to youter, hmm?"

    "D . . . Ding . . . Nan . . . S- Stop this . . . mad . . . ness . . . or you . . . you¡¯ll . . . get . . . get into . . . trouble . . . " Zhou Qin slurred .

    "Trouble? Hah!" The sounds of Ding Nan¡¯sughter echoed inside the elevator car . "Oh, no, no, Zhou Qin . My actions won¡¯t lead me into trouble . It¡¯s the opposite, you see! Trust me . Everyone will praise me for what I did . Including that powerful father of yours!"

    All was silent in the elevator until a loud ding announced their arrival at the intended floor . Ding Nan smirked when the doors slid open . "Looks like we¡¯re here . "

    The two women stumbled out of the elevator with Ding Nan half-dragging Zhou Qin¡¯s limp form . They moved slowly, stopping only when they reached the door of Room 1503 . Ding Nan raised her knuckles and knocked on the door a few times .

    The door opened secondster to reveal a man sporting a dark scowl on his face .

    "Took you long enough," He Shao growled .

    Ding Nan rolled her eyes . "What did you expect? You think it¡¯s easy to carry her all the way here? Now quit standing around and help me move her inside . "

    He Shao cleared the doorway, allowing Ding Nan to step into the room . Momentster, Ding Nan dumped Zhou Qin onto the bed with He Shao lingering somewhere behind her .

    Ding Nan crouched down and patted Zhou Qin¡¯s cheek a few times .

    Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes opened slightly .

    Ding Nan smirked . "Take a good look, Zhou Qin . This"¡ªDing Nan pointed at He Shao standing behind her¡ª"is your fianc¨¦!"

    Ding Nan rose to her feet, then plopped down beside Zhou Qin on the bed .

    Ding Nan crossed her legs and gave He Shao a smug look .

    "There," Ding Nan said . "I brought the woman here for you . You can do as you please with her . " She smirked . "Just don¡¯t forget to give me my full payment . "

    He Shao stood beside the bed, holding his chin with his thumb and index finger . Although he hadn¡¯t said a word, his eyes were darting back and forth between Zhou Qin and Ding Nan .

    "Y- You¡¯re out of your mind, Ding Nan!" Zhou Qin¡¯s angry voice filled the room .

    Ding Nan threw her head back inughter . "Out of my mind? Oh, I don¡¯t think so, Zhou Qin . " Ding Nan suddenly bent over and held Zhou Qin¡¯s chin with her thumb and index fingers . Then, Ding Nan lowered her voice into a menacing growl . "How about a taste of your own medicine, you maniptive bitch!"

    "A- Aren¡¯t you afraid of the consequences?" Zhou Qin said through gritted teeth . "You actually think you can walk away freely a- after what you¡¯ve done . . . ?"

    Ding Nan burst intoughter again . She took out a bundle of cash from her handbag . "See this?" Ding Nan waved the bundle in front of Zhou Qin¡¯s face . "This is the money He Shao promised me for this job . I¡¯ll get my full payment once the job isplete . Oh, and about these consequences you mentioned . . . " Ding Nan smirked . "I have nothing to worry about . What, you think your father will punish me for pushing you into He Shao¡¯s arms? Why would he do that when that¡¯s the very thing he wanted for you all along! If anything, he¡¯ll reward me, not punish me!"

    The haze in Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes began to clear a little . "You... I never expected you to be capable of something so evil and conniving, Ding Nan!"

    Ding Nan¡¯s eyes shed in anger . "Evil?! You¡¯re calling me evil?! Have you forgotten what happened back on the rooftop? You¡¯re the one who let me die just so you could live!"

    "You never cared about me!" Ding Nan shouted . "I was never your friend! You were just using me like a pawn!"

    Ding Nan¡¯s hand rose to p Zhou Qin . However, a set of fingers wrapped themselves around her wrist before her blow could connect . Ding Nan turned and saw He Shao shaking his head at her .

    A devious glint formed on He Shao¡¯s face . "You¡¯re not allowed to damage her pretty face . . . "

    Ding Nan yanked her wrist free, then stared down at Zhou Qin coldly . "Enjoy your night then, you bitch . Scream and yell all you want . Nobody wille save you . . . ahh... ugh . . . "

    Ding Nan¡¯s body went limp .

    ***

    When He Shao¡¯s roaringughter permeated the room, Zhou Qin decided to drop the whole act . She sat up slowly and stared down at Ding Nan, who was now sprawled across therge bed . Ding Nan was shaking her head and blinking her eyes rapidly, no doubt trying to stay awake .

    Zhou Qin rose from the mattress . Almost at the same time, she heard a gasp from Ding Nan . Zhou Qin nced down and saw Ding Nan staring back at her . Disbelief filled Ding Nan¡¯s hazy eyes, along with a look of dejection and defeat . Zhou Qin had seen that look in Ding Nan¡¯s eyes before . The hopelessness . The helplessness...

    A crushing wave of guilt coursed through Zhou Qin . Stop feeling sorry for her! She tried to betray you! said a voice inside her head . Zhou Qin shut her eyes and took a deep breath . A momentter, she opened her eyes again .

    "You must be feeling rather confused, Ding Nan," Zhou Qin said coldly, "as to why I¡¯m the one standing while you¡¯re the one lying down . "

    "I- It w- was all just an act . . . ?" Ding Nan whimpered . "D- Damn y- you . . . "

    Anger coursed through Zhou Qin . How dare Ding Nan betray her? How dare Ding Nan do this to her when Zhou Qin had tried to save both of their lives that day on the rooftop? How dare she! How dare she do this to me!

    Contrary to what Ding Nan¡¯s deluded mind might believe, Zhou Qin had never intended to let Ding Nan jump off the rooftop . No . She¡¯d never do that to Ding Nan . The truth was that Zhou Qin actually had a n to save both of their lives that day . All she needed was for Ding Nan to y along and pretend to agree to be the one to jump off the roof . Zhou Qin would then goad Zhao Yujian into pushing Ding Nan off the roof himself . Then, when Zhao Yujian got close enough to the ledge, Zhou Qin and Ding Nan would work together and push Zhao Yujian off the roof instead .

    It was a good n . And it would¡¯ve worked if Ding Nan had enough wits about her to listen to what Zhou Qin was trying so hard to tell her . Instead, Ding Nan had panicked and kept backing away when Zhou Qin tried to approach her . That idiot had no doubt assumed that Zhou Qin was approaching her in order to push her off the ledge when in fact Zhou Qin was merely trying to get close enough to whisper the details of her n into Ding Nan¡¯s ear .

    "W- What . . . did . . . did... you do to... to me . . . " Ding Nan¡¯s garbled voice interrupted Zhou Qin¡¯s thoughts .

    "Giving you a taste of your own medicine," Zhou Qin snapped . "Literally . " The drug He Shao had supplied Ding Nan for her little scheme was fake¡ªpainkillers crushed into powder form . However, Zhou Qin had yed along to see how far Ding Nan would go to exact her revenge upon her and also to figure out what other tricks Ding Nan had up her sleeves .

    "W- When d- did... did you . . . " Ding Nan mumbled .

    Zhou Qin snorted . "It doesn¡¯t matter when I drugged you . " Zhou Qin regarded Ding Nan coldly . "I really underestimated you, Ding Nan . Approaching He Shao for help to get rid of me?" Zhou Qinughed humorlessly . "Has it never urred to you that He Shao might double-cross you? That He Shao might take my side instead of yours?"

    Ding Nan struggled to turn her head to look at He Shao . "Y- You . . . bastard . . . "

    "Yes, that¡¯s right," Zhou Qin said . "He Shao called and warned me about your little scheme the same day you cut this deal with him . Otherwise, I¡¯d never have imagined you to be capable of an atrocious act like this!"

    To Zhou Qin¡¯s surprise, Ding Nan¡¯s eyes no longer looked hazy when they suddenly shot open . Instead, venom leaked out of those eyes as they red daggers at He Shao . "He Shao! Why! Why did you double-cross me! You wanted Zhou Qin, so I gave her to you!"

    He Shao startedughing as though he¡¯d just been told the funniest joke in existence . Ignoring the madman, Zhou Qin started scanning her eyes along Ding Nan¡¯s body . Ding Nan should be out cold by now . Why was she still awake? Secondster, she saw it . Ding Nan¡¯s palm was bleeding . She had dug her nails into her palm so hard that it bled and used the pain to stay awake .

    Zhou Qin felt a tug in her chest . Whether she liked it or not, Zhou Qin had to admit that Ding Nan was a little bit like her¡ªtoo stubborn to bend to anyone¡¯s will .

    He Shao stoppedughing and begun to stroke his chin . "Oh, Ding Nan . . . Ding Nan . . . You think you know Zhou Qin well, but the truth is, I know her far better than you do . In fact . . . " Zhou Qin suddenly felt He Shao¡¯s gaze on her . "There¡¯s nobody on earth who knows her better than I do . "

    Zhou Qin felt her skin crawl .

    He Shaoughed derisively . "You¡¯ve also underestimated my intelligence, Ding Nan . Do you actually think I¡¯m stupid enough to go along with your n? There¡¯s only one thing that would happen if I force myself on her . " He Shao paused as though he was about to make some kind of grand revtion . "Zhou Qin would just kill herself . " He Shao chuckled . "Oh, yes, she would . She¡¯d rather die than go through with our marriage . A woman as headstrong as Zhou Qin would never allow anyone to force her into doing something against her will . . . Anyway, her death won¡¯t benefit me at all . " He Shao snorted . "Uncle Zhou would just me me, and when that happens, I¡¯m screwed . My family would rather cut me off than lose Uncle Zhou¡¯s alliance . "

    He Shao pulled out a chair and sat down . "You might not know this, but Zhou Qin and I grew up together at the Municipal Council¡¯s Headquarters, so I know how strong-willed she is . . . " He Shao sighed .

    "Enough, He Shao . . . " Zhou Qin growled .

    He Shao ignored her and kept talking . "You wanna know what happened when she was ten, Ding Nan?" He chuckled . "Uncle Zhou wanted to move into Tiannan City, but Zhou Qin refused to go . In the end, Uncle Zhou had to tie her up and stuffed her into the backseat . But guess what happened?" He Shaoughed loudly . "Uncle Zhou found Zhou Qin covered in blood when they arrived at Tiannan City . She had bitten off the rope used to tie her up . She even lost a tooth in the process¡ª"

    "Enough! Stop your babbling!" Zhou Qin snapped, then nced at Ding Nan on the bed . "I¡¯ll leave her to you . Do whatever you want with her . "

    Zhou Qin stormed towards the door as He Shao¡¯s lecherousughter sounded behind her back .

    Ding Nan¡¯s screams echoed in the hotel room, stilling Zhou Qin¡¯s hand on the door handle . Zhou Qin bit down her lip . This didn¡¯t feel right . None of this felt right .

    "Don¡¯t touch me! Don¡¯t touch me, you filthy animal!!!"

    Images shed inside Zhou Qin¡¯s mind . She remembered the way Li Yundong had stepped forward to defend his enemy¡ªand his mother¡ªfrom He Shao¡¯s thugs . She also remembered the way Li Yundong had risked his life to save both Ding Nan and her own life during Zhao Yujian¡¯s crusade . What drove Li Yundong to such acts? Er Lu had wronged Li Yundong several times, yet Li Yundong had gone up against a bunch of pipe-wielding thugs to save him . Ding Nan was nothing but mean towards Li Yundong at the beginning, and yet Li Yundong had risked his life to save her . How? How could so much honor be found in one human being?

    What would Li Yundong think if Zhou Qin let Ding Nan be vited like this?

    "Zhou Qin!!!" Ding Nan screamed again . "You f*cking bitch! Ahhhh!!!!"

    There was a loud p .

    "Quiet!" He Shao yelled . "You¡¯re mine tonight! So you might as well enjoy the ride!"

    Ding Nan continued to scream at the top of her lungs .

    "Zhou Qin! Even if I die tonight, I¡¯ll haunt you for the rest of your f*cking live!"

    Zhou Qin clenched her jaw and released her grip on the door handle . Without further ado, she turned around and stormed past the lounge area and headed straight to the en suite bedroom .

    "Ahhh!!! Stop! Go away! Don¡¯t touch me!!!" Ding Nan screamed . "Don¡¯t you dare touch me, you son of a bitch!"

    Zhou Qin increased her pace, then yanked open the bedroom door the moment its handle was within reach .

    "Stop!!!" Zhou Qin yelled . "Let her go!"

 Chapter 149

    Chapter 149

    <h4>The Most Powerful Cultivator of the Younger Generation!</h4>

    Zhou Qin red at He Shao, who now had one hand inside Ding Nan¡¯s skirt . His other hand had slipped under Ding Nan¡¯s blouse and was now fondling Ding Nan¡¯s breast .

    Zhou Qin clenched her jaw .

    "I said stop!" Zhou Qin growled .

    That finally did the trick .

    He Shao stopped what he was doing and looked up at Zhou Qin .

    Zhou Qin approached the bed slowly, her re never once leaving He Shao¡¯s face .

    "What is the meaning of this eh, Zhou Qin? I thought we had a deal," He Shao said once Zhou Qin had stopped beside the bed .

    "I changed my mind . "

    "What!"

    "Let . Her . Go," Zhou Qin said in an icy tone .

    He Shao released Ding Nan and leaped up from the bed . "Are you out of your goddamn mind¡ª"

    SMACK!

    Oh boy, that felt good . She¡¯d been wanting to do that for a long, long time .

    Zhou Qin red at He Shao, who was holding his left cheek . His expression was that of utter disbelief .

    "Y- You . . . You pped me . . . "

    Zhou Qin shoved He Shao aside and reached for one of Ding Nan¡¯s arms . Then, she pulled until Ding Nan¡¯s torso rose into a sitting position on the bed .

    "Hang in there, okay?" Zhou Qin whispered into Ding Nan¡¯s ear . Then, she slung Ding Nan¡¯s arm around her shoulders . "Now get up and walk . "

    Zhou Qin rose from the bed, pulling Ding Nan with her . When Ding Nanplied without any resistance, Zhou Qin sighed inwardly . Thank God she can still stand up .

    Otherwise, Zhou Qin had no idea how to get Ding Nan out of there without drawing unnecessary attention . Calling the hotel staff for help would just be a scandal waiting to happen: Deputy Director Zhou¡¯s daughter caught her fianc¨¦ spending the night with another young woman, who also happened to be her close friends .

    The reporters were going to have a field day .

    At the bedroom door, Zhou Qin came to a halt and nced over at He Shao . "I suggest you clean up your act, He Shao . " Zhou Qin gave him a cold stare . "Like I said, no evil deed goes unpunished . I¡¯d watch my back if I were you . "

    Then, Zhou Qin dragged Ding Nan out of the room without waiting for He Shao¡¯s response . The truth was that Zhou Qin wanted to get out of the room as soon as possible . She couldn¡¯t stand the sight of He Shao . The man gave her the creeps, and that was saying something because Zhou Qin could literally count on her fingers the number of things that frightened her . Case in point: she could stare down gangsters and murderers without batting an eye .

    Gangsters and murderers were one thing . But He Shao? That man was another kind of evil . One of the worst kind .

    Zhou Qin made it out of Room 1503 without much difficulty . Outside the door, a sniffing sound made her stop . She turned her head and realized that Ding Nan had begun crying . Then, as though sensing Zhou Qin¡¯s gaze on her, Ding Nan red at her .

    "Don¡¯t think I¡¯d start feeling indebted to you just because you came back for me . . . "

    "I don¡¯t care about your gratitude," Zhou Qin snapped and kept walking forward . Liar, a voice inside her head supplemented . The truth was that Zhou Qin cared . Despite the initial deal they¡¯d made with each other, Zhou Qin had reallye to care for Ding Nan . Not that Ding Nan would know, since Zhou Qin had never overtly showed that she cared .

    Ding Nan no doubt thought that Zhou Qin was just a heartless bitch who only saw Ding Nan as nothing but a pawn . That, however, couldn¡¯t be further than the truth . Ding Nan had no idea how many times Zhou Qin had saved her ass over the years . No idea .

    If Zhou Qin truly didn¡¯t care, she wouldn¡¯t have added a special use in their agreement stating that Ding Nan should never¡ªunder any circumstances¡ªsell her body for Zhou Qin . If Zhou Qin truly didn¡¯t care, would she have intervened every time those sleazy men tried to sleep with Ding Nan? Granted, her interventions were done in the shadows without anyone¡¯s knowledge . But still, Ding Nan would¡¯ve noticed it if she wasn¡¯t so blinded by her own hatred and jealousy .

    They trudged along the long hallway, walking past door after door .

    "M- M- Mark my words . . . " Ding Nan mumbled . "I¡¯ll destroy you the next ch- chance I get . . . "

    A stab of hurt shot through Zhou Qin¡¯s chest, but she clenched her jaw and ignored it .

    "Bring it on then," Zhou Qin said . "I can take whatever you dish out . "

    Finally, they reached the elevators . Zhou Qin pped the elevator call button and waited until a ding announced the elevator¡¯s arrival . They stumbled into the elevator . When the doors slid shut, Zhou Qin hesitated for a moment before she pressed number 18 .

    They rode in silence until the elevator doors opened to the eighteenth floor a minuteter .

    Zhou Qin dragged Ding Nan out of the elevator, stopping in front of the elevator . She craned her neck and stared along the long hallway . If I¡¯m not mistaken, there should be a few staff doing rounds on this floor . . . There!

    "Excuse me!" Zhou Qin yelled .

    A man in uniform paused in the hallway and did a double take .

    "Yes? Can I help you, miss?"

    Zhou Qin waved at the man .

    The man pushed the cart over and stopped in front of them . "Is everything alright, miss?" he asked, eyeing Ding Nan warily .

    Zhou Qin offered a gold card to the man and said, "I need you to give me ess to a room . Thisdy here is unwell . "

    The man bowed slightly, though he didn¡¯t take the card . "I¡¯m terribly sorry, miss . The hotel¡¯s policy requires that you present your identity documents at the concierge¡¯s counter to make a formal booking¡ª"

    "Just do as I say!" Zhou Qin snapped . The man flinched at Zhou Qin¡¯s sharp tone and stared back at her in shock .

    Zhou Qin shut her eyes and took a deep breath .

    "Please . . . " Zhou Qin said in a calmer tone . "This is an emergency . My friend here is unwell, and she needs to lie down immediately . I¡¯ll go down the reception as soon as I get her settled in a room . "

    The man¡¯s face softened . "Alright, miss . Come this way . "

    ***

    "Arrrrggghhh! F*ck you, Zhou Qin!" He Shao grabbed themp beside the bed and smashed it against the wall . "F*ck! F*ck! F*ck!!!!!"

    Another series of crash sounded as He Shao began to smash any object he could find in the bedroom: the tea cups; the tea pot; the saucers; the phone; the TV remote; the ashtray .

    At one point, He Shao picked up a chair and hurled it towards the TV mounted on the wall . A loud crash sounded followed by He Shao¡¯s angry roar .

    "F*ck! Why do you always have to get in my way, Zhou Qin! Why!"

    Just then, the bedroom door swung open, and the hotel¡¯s senior manager rushed inside .

    "H- He Shao . . . What is the matter?" the manager asked in a careful tone .

    He Shao turned around abruptly and red at the manager .

    "What¡¯s the matter with me? You have to f*cking ask?"

    The manager flinched slightly .

    "Arrrggh!! I¡¯m f*cking angry is what it is! F*ck!!!!" He Shao mmed his fist against the wall .

    "P- Please calm yourself, He Shao," said the hotel manager in an¡ªno doubt futile¡ªattempt in cation . "You need to mind your health . It¡¯s not worth sacrificing your health over this matter, whatever it is . "

    He Shao huffed loudly and gave the manager a dismissive wave . "Get out of here and leave me the f*ck alone!"

    "He Shao . . . " the hotel manager said in a careful tone . "May I ask who made you this angry? Maybe I can help you deal with them, whoever they are . "

    Those word managed to grab He Shao¡¯s attention . He Shao suddenly turned his head to regard the hotel manager curiously . Secondster, a contemptuous smile formed on He Shao¡¯s face . "The likes of you? Deal with him?" He Shaoughed derisively . "Trust me, that guy could end you with just a finger . "

    The manager bowed slightly . "In that case, is there anything else I can do for you He Shao? Although I¡¯m just a lowly manager, there are still a few errands that I can run for you . Who knows they might help soothe your anger . "

    He Shao yanked his cor a few times . "Bring two girls to me . "

    The hotel manager smiled . "Ah . Two girls, you say? Right away, sir . "

    "And I want new faces this time!" He Shao snapped . "I¡¯m bored with most of your female staff already!"

    The hotel manager¡¯s eyes widened slightly as though he¡¯d just remembered something . Slowly, the manager approached He Shao and whispered something into his ear .

    Secondster, He Shao¡¯s eyes glinted brightly .

    "Twins, you said? Hah! Not bad! Bring them here!"

    The hotel manager smiled . "Right away, sir . "

    Ten minutester, the manager returned to the room with a conflicted look on his face .

    "He Shao . . . The twins refused toe . . . "

    He Shao sprang to his feet . "What the f*ck did you say?!"

    The hotel manager flinched . "The twins are actually university students . They¡¯re our new part-time employees . Today is their first day on the job¡ª"

    "Shut the f*ck up, you motherf*cker!" He Shao pointed a finger at the manager¡¯s face . "Do you know that over 99% of the women in this building started out as prostitutes? You think I have no idea that this entire f*cking hotel is just a brothel for high-ranking government officials?" He Shaoughed derisively . "How the f*ck do you think Shengyuan Hotel managed tost until today without being shut down by the police, hmm?" He Shao suddenly pointed a thumb at himself . "Yeah, that¡¯s right . Because of me . For years, I¡¯m the one who¡¯s been covering up for you dumbasses! And now you¡¯re telling me that you can¡¯t even do one thing right for me? Seriously? Not even one thing right? After everything I did for you in the past?" He Shao shook his head in disgust . "Try again! I don¡¯t care what means you use . Just bring me the twins . "

    The hotel manager bowed . "Y- Yes, He Shao . Right away . "

    ***

    Li Yundong stared at Su Chan¡¯s slightly bulging tummy . Granted, Su Chan hadn¡¯t wolfed down all the food on the table, but she still came pretty close . Li Yundong chuckled and gave Su Chan¡¯s stomach a few not-too-gentle pokes .

    Su Chan burped .

    Li Yundong¡¯s gaze snapped to Su Chan¡¯s face, where a rosy tint had formed .

    "S- S- Sorry . . . " Su Chan mumbled .

    Li Yundong chuckled and nced down at her stomach again . "Tsk, tsk, tsk . Look at the size of that tummy," he said jokingly . "How many months pregnant?"

    Su Chan pressed a finger under her chin . "Hmm . . . "

    Li Yundong grinned at her .

    "Three months!" Su Chan announced proudly, then gave Li Yundong a yful nce . "You must take responsibility for me and our child, beloved . "

    Li Yundong feigned a look of surprise . "Three months, you say?"

    Su Chan bobbed her head up and down . "Mm-hmm! Mm-hmm!"

    Something warm bloomed inside Li Yundong¡¯s heart . Cute . So damn cute . . .

    Li Yundong nodded as though he was impressed by the knowledge . "Three months, huh?" Li Yundong smiled and leaned his ear against her tummy . "Let¡¯s see if I can hear the baby kicking . "

    Su Chan giggled and smacked Li Yundong¡¯s head . "You dummy!" She giggled some more . "The baby would only be thumb-sized at three months!"

    Li Yundong rose to his feet and feigned an affronted look . He narrowed his eyes and tickled Su Chan¡¯s side . "Well, you seem to know a lot about pregnancies . Tell me the truth . . . " he growled yfully . "Who the heck is the father, hmm?"

    Su Chan giggled and tried to twist away from his touch, but Li Yundong pulled her into his arms .

    Su Chan yelped, then nced around warily . "L- Let me go . . . P- People . . . People are watching . . . "

    Who cares if people are watching? Li Yundong was here to keep President Cao safe, not to impress a bunch of snobs . As long as he didn¡¯t let President Cao out of his sight, he could tease Su Chan all he wanted .

    The rm bells rang inside Li Yundong¡¯s head the moment he felt Su Chan¡¯s body tense up in his arms . He nced down worriedly . "Hey, what¡¯s the matter?"

    Su Chan¡¯s face was now drained of color and her lips were quivering . "Oh, God . . . Oh, God . . . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s blood ran cold . "Hey!" he hissed, shaking Su Chan¡¯s shoulders . "Are you okay?"

    Su Chan stared up at him with hazy eyes . She looked like she was about to pass out, or have a panic attack .

    "D- Divine . . . "

    Li Yundong felt his stomach drop . "What?"

    "D- Divine Aura . . . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s scalp tingled, and he started scanning the room for threats . Was Ruan Hongling here? Was¡ª

    "Oh God, she¡¯s here . . . She¡¯s here for me . " Su Chan hid herself inside Li Yundong¡¯s arms .

    "Ruan Hongling?" Li Yundong kept looking around . "But I don¡¯t see her?"

    "Not her," Su Chan whispered . "Ruan Hongling is just a small flypared to her . . . "

    Li Yundong clenched his jaw . "Okay . Then we gotta leave now . I¡¯ll tell President Cao right now and we can¡ª"

    Su Chan shook her head and gave Li Yundong a look of grave resignation .

    "It¡¯s pointless, Yundong . We won¡¯t be able to outrun her . She¡¯s too powerful . She¡¯s not widely acknowledged as the most powerful Cultivator of the younger generation for nothing . "

    "We have to try," Li Yundong said and started making a beeline towards the entrance .

    However, he had barely taken two steps before a voice behind his back made him stop .

    "So we finally meet, Jindan¡¯s Heir . "

 Chapter 150

    Chapter 150

    <h4>Powerful Enemies</h4>

    Li Yundong whirled around and saw a woman in an elegant white dress . A feminine fragrance assaulted his nose . Only then did Li Yundong realize that the woman was already standing a few feet away . The scent reminded him of flowers . Roses, to be exact .

    Wariness crept in . Li Yundong clenched his jaw and took a step back, shielding Su Chan with his body . The banquet hall had grown quiet, and everyone¡¯s attention seemed to be focused on them . Li Yundong scanned for possible escape routes . They had to get out of here fast . If Ruan Hongling was nothingpared to this woman, then they had to get the f*ck out of here and run as though their lives depended on it . Heck, for all he knew, their lives literally depended on it .

    "At ease . . . " That voice sounded again . Li Yundong stopped his survey of the room and nced at the woman .

    "You are Li Yundong?"

    Li Yundong tensed up slightly . "Yes . And you are?"

    "Zi Yuan," the woman answered casually .

    "Zi Yuan . . . " Su Chan whispered softly so that only Li Yundong could hear her . "Zhenren Zi Yuan from the Zhengyi School¡¯s Linggong Sect . . . Oh, God . . . "

    Li Yundong subtly pinched Su Chan leg to get her to stay quiet .

    "The prodigy who reached the Huaying phase at just twenty years old . . . " Su Chan kept whispering .

    "Hello, Miss Zi Yuan," Li Yundong said, pinching Su Chan again . "How can I help you?"

    "Like I said, at ease... I¡¯m not here to fight you . " Zi Yuan smirked . "You and Su Chan would be long dead by now if I really wanted to attack you . "

    Chills travelled down Li Yundong¡¯s spine . He steeled his mind and met Zi Yuan¡¯s gaze steadily . "You¡¯ll have to go over my dead body if you want to get to Su Chan . "

    Li Yundong felt movement behind his back . Before he knew it, Su Chan poked her head out from his shoulder . "I stole the Renyuan Jindan . . . P- Please let . . . let Yundong go!"

    Li Yundong turned around and red at Su Chan . "Shush!"

    Su Chan removed herself from Li Yundong¡¯s grip and stepped around his body to face Zi Yuan once more .

    "It . . . It¡¯s the truth," Su Chan said, jutting her chin out . "I own up to my actions . " Su Chan met Zi Yuan¡¯s gaze, though Li Yundong could see that his little chipmunk was shaking all over . "Isn¡¯t that why you¡¯ve been looking for me? Because of the Renyuan Jindan?"

    Silence spread between them . Then, Zi Yuan smiled . "Do you actually think you could hide from me if I really wanted to capture you, Su Chan?"

    Su Chan turned her head abruptly towards Li Yundong .

    "Also," Zi Yuan continued, "you never would¡¯ve gotten away with the Renyuan Jindan if it wasn¡¯t for your master . "

    Su Chan¡¯s face went pale .

    Zi Yuan smirked . "Still think I¡¯m here to harm you?"

    Li Yundong had had enough . "Then why are you here?" he said in a sharp tone .

    "To confirm something," Zi Yuan answered cryptically .

    Li Yundong studied Zi Yuan for a few moments . "And what kind of confirmation are you seeking?"

    Zi Yuan didn¡¯t answer . She seemed lost in her own thoughts .

    Li Yundong frowned . "If there¡¯s nothing else important, then we¡¯re leaving . " He took Su Chan¡¯s hand . "Come on, Su Chan¡ª"

    "Wait," Zi Yuan said in a tone that bore no room for argument .

    Li Yundong stopped and looked at Zi Yuan again .

    "Regarding what I wanted to confirm, that¡¯s none of your business . " Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes darted to Su Chan briefly . "Besides, you wouldn¡¯t understand even if I tell you . "

    Li Yundong gave Zi Yuan a cold stare . "So this is about the Jindan, then? You¡¯re here to take it back?"

    Zi Yuan smiled . "No . I¡¯m not here to reim the Jindan . I know you already consumed it . I can¡¯t take it back unless . . . " Zi Yuan let her words hang . "Anyway, reiming the Jindan is no longer on the table, so¡ª"

    "Then what do you want from us?" Li Yundong cut in sharply .

    Zi Yuan nced around . "Let¡¯s talk elsewhere . " Zi Yuan gave Li Yundong a pointed look . "Follow me . "

    Zi Yuan moved towards the exit .

    Li Yundong watched her leave for a moment before he moved to follow .

    Someone grabbed her sleeves . He turned and saw Su Chan shaking her head at him, pleading with him with herrge watery eyes . "Don¡¯t . . . Don¡¯t go, Yundong . It¡¯s a trap . She just wants to take you to a secluded ce to attack you!"

    Li Yundong patted Su Chan¡¯s head . "We can¡¯t avoid this forever, you know?" He sighed . "How about you stay here? I¡¯ll go talk to her and see what she wants . Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll make sure there¡¯ll be people around where we talk . "

    "No, no, no . . . " Su Chan grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s arm and shook her head desperately . "Take me with you! You can¡¯t abandon me! You promised . " Su Chan held up her pinky . "We made a pinky promise, remember?"

    Warmth flooded Li Yundong¡¯s heart . He reached out and hooked his own pinky around Su Chan¡¯s and then pressed their thumbs together . "You silly girl . . . "

    "I¡¯m going with you, I don¡¯t care!"

    Li Yundong sighed . "Fine . But if things go south, I want you to leave me and run, okay?"

    Su Chan looked like she wanted to argue, but he pressed his finger to her lips .

    "There¡¯s no point in both of us dying," Li Yundong said, then leaned down to whisper into her ear . "You can fly, so you¡¯ve got a better chance of escaping . If she tries to attack, I¡¯ll engage while you fly, okay? Go back to your master . I¡¯m sure she can keep you safe . "

    Su Chan stared at him as though he had grown a thousand heads, her eyes swimming with unshed tears .

    Li Yundong gave her a sad smile, then headed towards the entrance .

    ***

    When Li Yundong and Su Chan exited the banquet hall, they found Zi Yuan waiting for them beside the door . Zi Yuan led them past the elevators, much to Li Yundong¡¯s relief . At least they wouldn¡¯t be having this talk in some hotel room where Zi Yuan had every opportunity to kill them both . Soon, they arrived at the hotel¡¯s lobby . Zi Yuan walked past the reception and headed straight for the hotel¡¯s revolving doors .

    "You can both rx, you know," Zi Yuan said once they exited the hotel . "I told you I¡¯m not looking to harm either of you . "

    "Could¡¯ve fooled me," Su Chan mumbled behind him .

    Li Yundong said nothing but kept walking, all the while keeping an eye out for possible escape routes . They circled the building and ended up on a street behind Shengyuan Hotel . Li Yundong scanned their surroundings and noticed a few passers-by and night strollers ambling around . The street didn¡¯t look secluded .

    Li Yundong halted his steps . "Alright, that¡¯s enough . We won¡¯t be going any further," Li Yundong said in a firm tone .

    Zi Yuan stopped walking and turned around with a raised brow .

    "You wanted to talk," Li Yundong said . "So talk . "

    Zi Yuan smiled and took a step closer .

    "As I understand, you had a run in a while back with my prot¨¦g¨¦, Ruan Hongling," Zi Yuan said in a gentle voice . "And you took a piece of damask from her, correct?"

    Li Yundong stared at Zi Yuan without answering .

    "That damask is a highly valuable artifact of the Zhengyi School . I¡¯m asking you to return it to us . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes narrowed . "Give it back to you? How stupid do you think I am?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s brows rose slightly . "Pardon me?"

    "If I return the damask to you, she¡¯ll just use it to attack us again . "

    Zi Yuan held up her palm . "I personally assure¡ª"

    "Your assurance means nothing if you couldn¡¯t even keep her in check in the first ce," Li Yundong said coldly .

    Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes widened slightly .

    Li Yundong snorted . "Yeah . From your reaction, I¡¯m guessing that Ruan Hongling had attacked us without your consent . " Li Yundong red at Zi Yuan . "She nearly killed Su Chan during the attack!"

    Zi Yuan shook her head . "Well, for what it¡¯s worth, you nearly killed her too . " Zi Yuan¡¯s tone was so casual that it was as if she had just stated an obvious truth .

    "That¡¯s ridiculous!" Li Yundong scoffed . "I didn¡¯t evene close to killing her!" In fact, the whole fight was so one-sided that he was almost ashamed to admit it .

    Zi Yuan gave him a pointed look . "You nearly shattered her soul . "

    Li Yundong frowned in confusion . Shattered her soul? What the hell was she talking about?

    "And then you even took away her precious damask¡ª"

    "Which your apprentice used to attack us!" Li Yundong fired back .

    Zi Yuan stared at Li Yundong calmly . Li Yundong tried to get a read on the woman¡¯s bodynguage, but other than poise andposure he couldn¡¯t detect anything . And those eyes... They werepletely unreadable .

    In terms of aloofness, this woman could actually give Zhou Qin a run for her money .

    "How about this," Zi Yuan said momentster . "Why don¡¯t you return the damask to us and we¡¯ll call it even . How about it? I promise you that I¡¯ll keep her in check . She won¡¯t bother you again . "

    Li Yundong curled his lips . How stupid did she think he was?

    "I don¡¯t buy it . " Li Yundong balled his fists . "When Ruan Hongling attacked us that night, she didn¡¯t exactly hide the fact that she hated Su Chan¡¯s guts and wanted nothing more than to wipe Su Chan out of existence . Then, she started spouting all this self-righteous crap about how I deserved to die just because I¡¯m with Su Chan . " Li Yundong leveled a cold gaze at Zi Yuan . "No offense, but all that sounded like a bunch of indoctrinated crap to me . "

    Zi Yuan¡¯s brows rose to her hairline . "Excuse me? Are you saying that¡ª"

    "That your school has brainwashed people to adopt hateful beliefs? Yes, that¡¯s exactly what I¡¯m saying . " Li Yundong¡¯s eyes shed in anger . "So no . I don¡¯t believe a single thing you said since you¡¯re from the same school . "

    More silence spread between them . Zi Yuan looked surprisingly calm . Su Chan, on the other hand, looked awfully subdued .

    "Look, I won¡¯t try to justify Hongling¡¯s behavior," Zi Yuan said . "I agree that her actions were inappropriate . " Then, Zi Yuan¡¯s gazended on Su Chan . "But still, I get where Hongling ising from . "

    Li Yundong shook his head in disgust .

    "F*cking bigots..." he muttered under his breath .

    Zi Yuan kept talking as though she hadn¡¯t heard him .

    "Humans and demons can¡¯t even co-exist, let alone be lovers . Humans and fox spirits don¡¯t belong together . It isn¡¯t right . So, as a Cultivator, Hongling was just¡ª"

    "Shut the hell up!" Li Yundong roared . "Who are you to decide whether or not two people belong with each other? What gives you people the right to decide that!" Li Yundong wrapped his arm around Su Chan¡¯s shoulders . "I care about this girl . And she cares about me . That¡¯s all that matters! Our rtionship doesn¡¯t concern you, so back off!"

    Zi Yuan frowned slightly at his outburst, though Li Yundong was too riled up to stop now . "And you better who you¡¯re calling demons,dy," Li Yundong growled . "Su Chan never hurt a soul! She¡¯s a kind, caring, andpassionate girl! Do you know how many human lives she has saved over the past few weeks? Do you!" Li Yundong snorted . "Demons my ass . If anything, you people are the demons!" Li Yundong shed his hands in the air . "You barged into our home and attacked us . And guess what else that silly prot¨¦g¨¦ of yours did? She went and hired someone as dangerous as Lin Youfa to pick on me . Do you know how many lives were put at risk the moment Lin Youfa got involved?" Li Yundongughed humorlessly . "No . I suppose not . You people have no regard for human life at all! So you f*cking tell me who are the real demons here!"

    Silence filled the street, which was nowpletely deserted .

    After a while, Zi Yuan sighed . "Fine . I apologize for Hongling¡¯s behavior . Just return the damask and we¡¯ll call a truce . "

    Li Yundong regarded Zi Yuan carefully . After a moment, he shook his head and opened his mouth to speak .

    "Argh, damn it! I told you, Elder Sister Zi Yuan! I told you it¡¯s pointless to negotiate with him!" A loud voice echoed in the street .

    Zi Yuan closed her eyes and sighed .

    Li Yundong¡¯s mouth snapped shut and he turned his head to the side . Sure enough, Ruan Hongling was storming towards them from the other end of the street like a tigress approaching its prey .

    "Enough chatter and kick their asses already!" Ruan Hongling pointed at Li Yundong . "And why are you even apologizing to this guy! The Zhengyi School¡¯s Linggong Sect will not suffer such a humiliation¡ª"

    "Silence!" Zi Yuan¡¯s voice rang out with authority . "I told you to stay out of this! How dare you disobey me!"

    Ruan Hongling stomped her foot . "But Elder Sister Zi Yuan!"

    "I told you to be quiet!"

    Defiance shed across Ruan Hongling¡¯s face . "But you¡¯re going to ruin the Linggong Sect¡¯s reputation!"

    "How dare you use that tone with me!"

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s face paled instantly .

    "I was..." Ruan Hongling hesitated for a moment, then raised her chin defiantly . "I was merely stating the truth!"

    "You¡¯re the one who acted rashly in the first ce," Zi Yuan said icily . "You wouldn¡¯t have lost the damask if you hadn¡¯t gone behind my back and attacked them!"

    Ruan Hongling gaped at Zi Yuan as though she couldn¡¯t believe what she¡¯d just heard .

    Li Yundong tensed up when Zi Yuan suddenly pointed her finger at him .

    "Apologize," Zi Yuan said without taking her eyes off Ruan Hongling .

    "W- What?"

    "You heard me . Apologize to the man," Zi Yuan repeated with a firmer tone, then turned to look at Li Yundong . "Will you return the damask to us if she apologizes and admits her mistake?"

    Li Yundong stared at Zi Yuan warily .

    Secondster, Li Yundong said, "And you have to give me your word that you and your people will never bother us again . "

    "Done," Zi Yuan answered in a heartbeat .

    "Fine," Li Yundong said, then looked towards Ruan Hongling .

    "I don¡¯t believe this . . . " Ruan Hongling whispered, shaking her head gently . "I don¡¯t believe this . . . You¡¯ve really lost your mind, Elder Sister Zi Yuan . . . "

    "Hongling!" Zi Yuan said in a sharp tone . "Do you want your damask back or not?"

    Ruan Hongling stared at Zi Yuan for a few seconds . Then, she shot Li Yundong a re . "You know what? He can keep the damn thing . I¡¯d rather die than apologize to this vile¡ª"

    A loud screech pierced through the night . Secondster, an Audi A6 pulled up by the curb .

    The car¡¯s window lowered to reveal Zhou Qin¡¯s beautiful face .

    "Li Yundong? Su Chan? What are you guys doing here?"

 Chapter 151

    Chapter 151

    <h4>Atrocity</h4>

    Li Yundong nced at Ruan Hongling, then looked towards the Audi again . "Hey, Zhou Qin," he said, giving Zhou Qin a hesitant wave . "I¡¯m here for the assignment President Cao gave me this afternoon . " Li Yundong forced out a smile . "I¡¯m President Cao¡¯s bodyguard tonight . "

    A look of recognition formed on Zhou Qin¡¯s face . Secondster, she killed the Audi¡¯s engine . Li Yundong cursed inwardly . He¡¯d been hoping that Zhou Qin would go on her way after he¡¯d given his exnation .

    The Audi¡¯s door opened and Zhou Qin stepped out .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat and forced out another smile .

    "What about you? What are you doing here¡ª" Li Yundong snapped his fingers . "Oh, wait . Where¡¯s Ding Nan? I thought I saw her with you just now . "

    Something flickered inside Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes, but it was gone all too soon . "Mmm, I met up with her to talk about a few things . " Zhou Qin shed a quick smile . "Anyway . Enough about me . Are these two your friends?"

    "Friends?" Li Yundongughed humorlessly . "If I¡¯m looking to cut a few years off my life, then yeah . "

    "You insolent little¡ª" Ruan Hongling stomped her foot, then turned towards Zi Yuan . "Is the prophecy really that important to you, Elder Sister Zi Yuan! How could you side with him? How could you! You¡¯re my mentor, Elder Sister Zi Yuan! And yet you picked the Jindan¡¯s Heir over me!"

    Li Yundong shared a look with Su Chan . The Jindan¡¯s Heir? The prophecy? he mouthed the words to Su Chan . To his surprise, Su Chan looked as confused as he felt when she shook her head slightly .

    It wasn¡¯t the first time Li Yundong had heard of this heir and this mysterious prophecy; Ruan Hongling had mentioned it the night she attacked them at their apartment .

    "Li Yundong . . . I don¡¯t understand . . . What are they talking about?" Zhou Qin asked . "What heir?"

    Li Yundong snapped out of his stupor and quickly pulled Zhou Qin aside .

    "Listen to me, okay? You need to get out of here," he whispered . "Don¡¯t get involve¡ª"

    Zhou Qin raised her hand . "Cut the nonsense, Li Yundong . " Zhou Qin shot Zi Yuan a nce . "Who are they, and what do they want?" Zhou Qin gave Li Yundong a pointed look . "Are you in trouble? Do you need my help¡ª"

    "Off you go, girl! Shoo!" Ruan Hongling shouted . "None of this concerns you, so piss off!"

    Anger rose inside Li Yundong, and he whirled around . "Watch your foul mouth!" He pointed a finger at Ruan Hongling . "That¡¯s my friend you just insulted!"

    Ruan Hongling opened her mouth to argue but was stopped by Zi Yuan¡¯s dangerous voice .

    "Hongling . . . That¡¯s enough!"

    Li Yundong shook his head and turned back to Zhou Qin .

    "Look," he said with a sigh . "This is a veryplicated matter . To be honest, I¡¯m not even sure how to exin it¡ª"

    A loud scream sent frissons of dread through Li Yundong .

    He turned around instinctively to make sure that Su Chan was okay .

    Su Chan was look at him too, her eyes wide and confused .

    Then, there was a loud thud .

    No . Not a thud . It sounded more like a . . . a st .

    From the corner of his eyes, Li Yundong saw Zi Yuan gazing at the upper floors of Shengyuan Hotel¡¯s building .

    A horrifying thought crossed his mind .

    Oh, God . . . No... Not again . . .

    "Yundong!! Into the building! Hurry!"

    Su Chan¡¯s voice made Li Yundong look up .

    Su Chan was already half-jogging towards the hotel¡¯s gates . Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling were nowhere to be seen, like they¡¯d just vanished into thin air . Where the hell did those two go?

    Su Chan came to a halt when she reached the gates . She turned around to face him, then waved at him desperately .

    "Come on, Yundong!"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t have to be told twice . He sprinted towards the building . Su Chan ran past the gates the moment she saw him move .

    Li Yundong caught up to Su Chan momentster .

    "Someone fell off the building, didn¡¯t they?"

    Su Chan was too busy scanning their surroundings to answer .

    Suddenly, Su Chan came to a halt and pointed at something in front of them . Li Yundong stopped beside Su Chan and followed Su Chan¡¯s finger with his gaze . Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling were already there, staring at something at their feet .

    Li Yundong knees went weak . A sudden weightlessness coursed through him, like someone had suddenly yanked the ground out from under his feet . Footsteps sounded nearby . A secondter, Zhou Qin stopped beside him .

    "Gosh . Li Yundong, why did you take off like that?" Zhou Qin said, soundingpletely out of breath . "What¡¯s going...? Oh my God . . . "

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t answer, not when his own mind was reeling . He moved from Zhou Qin¡¯s side and trudged forward on wobbly legs . Su Chan had already run ahead to join Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling and was now crouching down beside Ruan Hongling .

    Amidst the ghastly blood stter,y the body of a young woman dressed in a beige dress¡ªthe standard uniform for Shengyuan Hotel¡¯s waiting staff . Then, when Ruan Hongling removed the dead woman¡¯s cap, Li Yundong¡¯s blood ran cold . He stopped walking . Waves of horror crashed into him as he stared at that familiar red headband .

    The next thing he knew, he was sprinting towards the body .

    "No . . . No . . . No . . . This can¡¯t be right . . . "

    This has to be some kind of sick joke... It has to be .

    Li Yundong pushed Ruan Hongling aside and crouched down .

    "No!!!" Li Yundong yelled . "Deng Yu!!!"

    Something inside Li Yundong¡¯s heart clenched the moment he saw the bloody face on the ground . Just a while ago, this young and carefree girl was alive and well, speaking to him . And now shey dead in a pool of her own blood .

    "Su Chan . . . " Li Yundong could barely recognize his own voice . "C- Can she be revived?"

    Maybe there was a way . Su Chan¡¯s badass massage techniques could revive someone even after their heart had stopped beating . What was it again that Su Chan told himst time? Qi . Right . As long as there was still Qi . . .

    A warm hand slid into Li Yundong¡¯s palm . Li Yundong looked to his left and saw Su Chan staring up at him, her eyes glistening with tears .

    "She¡¯s gone, Yundong . . . I¡¯m sorry . . . "

    "We got here toote . "

    Li Yundong looked to his right and saw Zi Yuan looking at him too .

    "She no longer has any Qi when we got here," Zi Yuan said .

    Li Yundong shook his head stared down at Deng Yu¡¯s body . Deng Yu¡¯s lifeless eyes stared back at him . God, he felt sick . This whole thing was sick .

    "What the hell happened . . . ?" Li Yundong fisted his hair . "What the f*ck happened?"

    Was it suicide? Had Deng Yu jumped off the building? But why? She seemed so happy and excited when they spoke earlier! Why would she suddenly decide to kill herself¡ª

    "Elder Sister Zi Yuan . . . " Ruan Hongling¡¯s grave tone pulled Li Yundong out of his thoughts . Something was wrong with Ruan Hongling¡¯s tone . Something was terribly wrong .

    "Have you checked?" Zi Yuan asked .

    Ruan Hongling nodded grimly . Li Yundong watched Ruan Hongling¡¯s face carefully and waited for the girl to continue . What did she check? What else did these two know?

    "She had intercourse before the fall . And . . . And I don¡¯t think it was consensual . "

    "W- What? She was raped?" Li Yundong growled . "Who did this¡ª"

    "Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!"

    Another shriek made everyone froze . Li Yundong¡¯s gaze snapped upwards as he scanned the side of the building .

    A second body was tumbling off a balcony .

    "Shit!" Li Yundong broke off into a sprint, his Qi reaching his Shenting in record time .

    Xianjue!!

    White light filled Li Yundong¡¯s eyes .

    "No! Dammit! No!!!" Li Yundong screamed even though he knew it wouldn¡¯t change a f*cking thing; he couldn¡¯t do anything from the ground .

    Another burst of white light brought Li Yundong out of irvoyant mode .

    She¡¯s gonna hit a lower balcony . . . F*ck!

    Li Yundong ran to a spot at the bottom of the building where he knew Deng Jiao¡¯s body would fall . When he looked up, he watched in horror as everything he¡¯d seen with Xianjue unfolded right in front of him: Deng Jiao¡¯s head smashing into a railing on a lower floor balcony before continuing its downward path .

    Please don¡¯t die, please don¡¯t die . . . Don¡¯t die, dammit!

    Deng Jiao¡¯s body felt straight into Li Yundong¡¯s waiting arms . Blood soaked the front of Li Yundong¡¯s suit jacket as he lowered the Deng Jiao to the ground .

    "Su Chan!!" Li Yundong yelled at the top of his lungs . "Su Chan!!!"

    "I¡¯m here, beloved . . . I¡¯m here . . . " Su Chan crouched down beside him and began pulling out a bunch of needles .

    Li Yundong stepped aside to give Su Chan space to work . He stared down at his blood-soaked arms as whispered words rang in his ears . Someone touched his shoulder . He turned and noticed Zhou Qin¡¯s concerned expression . Then, he heard Ruan Hongling¡¯s rapid words: raped; head smashed in; very little hope .

    Li Yundong felt his own legs moving . He was walking... somewhere .

    "S- Su Chan . . . ?"

    Li Yundong crouched down beside his princess . God knew he needed it since his legs felt like jelly right then .

    "Yundong . . . " Su Chan stared back at him, then wiped the back of her bloodied hand against her forehead .

    "It¡¯s pointless, Su Chan," Zi Yuan said . "Not even I can save her at this point . "

    Li Yundong took in Deng Jiao¡¯s lifeless form on the ground .

    Ruan Hongling was right; Deng Jiao¡¯s head waspletely smashed in . Even with Xianjue, there wasn¡¯t anything Li Yundong could do to save her .

    Someone tugged Li Yundong¡¯s hand . "Yundong . . . Yundong . . . Come on, breathe . . . Please . . . Beloved!"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t move . Images of Deng Jiao¡¯s ruined face filled his mind as everything else faded away .

    More images came to him: memories of Deng Yu entertaining a bunch of kids in a MacDonald¡¯s mascot; the cheerful and carefree manner in which she spoke to everyone; the way her face lit up when he gave her that autograph; the way she teased her sister .

    The twins were dead . Two innocent girls . Dead . Someone had raped them, and then probably murdered them by pushing them off the building .

    The tugs on his hand grew more and more insistent .

    "Yundong . . . Come on, beloved! Snap out of it!"

    Again, Li Yundong didn¡¯t move . He refused to believe this . He refused to believe that the world could be that cruel .

    Why? Why did the innocent have to die while the scumbags continued to reign over the world like gods? Was there no justice in this world? Were the Heavens blind?

    No . Such atrocity should not be tolerated .

    A ball of heat formed in Li Yundong¡¯s lower belly as he slowly rose to his feet . The heat surged, expanding outwards until it reached the surface of his skin .

    "Who . . . " Li Yundong growled . "Who did this! Tell me who did this!"

    "No! Yundong!"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s voice rang out . "Get back here, Su Chan! It¡¯s too dangerous!"

    "No!!! Yundong!!! Yundong!!!" Su Chan yelled . "Argh!! No!"

    A struggle broke out .

    "Let me go!!!" Su Chan screamed . "Help him! You gotta help him!!!"

    Li Yundong craned his neck upwards and began to count the floor numbers . Eleven . . . Twelve . . . Thirteen . . . He paused at the fifteenth floor and activated his telescopic vision . Zooming in, he studied the balcony where he knew Deng Jiao had fallen off from .

    A man was leaning against the railing .

    The man was looking straight down, holding on to his bleeding forearm . When Li Yundong zoomed in further on the man¡¯s injured forearm, he noticed a deep bite mark . A blue headbandy beside the man¡¯s feet .

    The heat inside Li Yundong¡¯s body red, turning into a zing inferno .

    I¡¯m going to kill you, you evil son of a bitch... I¡¯m going to f*cking end you...

    "Hongling! Hongling!"

    "I¡¯m on it, Elder Sister Zi Yuan!!"

    A strange noise¡ªlike the rustling of paper¡ªsounded behind him, but he didn¡¯t care . That son of a bitch had eluded justice for far too long . It was time to put an end to that lowlife .

    "No!!! Get back here, Su Chan!"

    "No!! Yundong!!! No!!!"

    "Restraint her, Hongling!!"

    "On it!!"

    "Damn it!!! The other one as well! Restraint them both!"

    The rustling grew louder and louder, but soon, he could no longer hear anything except for the strange roaring inside ears . Something was gushing out from the top of his head . Then, the roaring stopped .

    A split secondter, Li Yundong¡¯s world exploded in a bright sh of gold . And when he yelled, he couldn¡¯t even recognize his own voice .

    "He Shao!!!! You¡¯re dead!!! You¡¯re f*cking dead!!!! I¡¯m going to destroy you, you piece of shit!"

 Chapter 152.1

    Chapter 152.1

    <h4>Pursuit</h4>

    Su Chan twisted her body and slipped out of Ruan Hongling¡¯s grip . Behind her, Ruan Hongling cursed, but Su Chan didn¡¯t care . Reaching up with one hand, Su Chan pulled out a strand of her hair and sprinted towards her beloved . She had to get to Yundong before it was toote . Yundong hadn¡¯t passed the Zhuji phase yet . He didn¡¯t have a Vital Orb to help keep all his Qi inside his body . If the Jindan¡¯s Aura went berserk, all his Qi might leave his body and he would¡ª

    Su Chan¡¯s world spun around when a powerful force¡ªlike a shockwave from an explosion¡ªsmacked into her body, pushing all the air out of her lungs . A sh of golden light blinded her eyes, and her arms rose instinctively to shield her face .

    A secondter, Su Chan¡¯s right side rammed into something hard and abrasive . Groaning, she lowered her arms from her face .

    Yundong...

    Not far from where shey on the ground, Yundong stood like a glowing beacon . A golden radiance bathed his body from head to toe .

    "He Shao!!!! You¡¯re dead!!! You¡¯re f*cking dead!!!!" Yundong screamed in a voice that soundedpletely foreign to her ears . No . Please, no . . . This isn¡¯t my Yundong . . . "I¡¯m going to destroy you, you piece of shit!"

    Su Chan yelped when another golden sh dazzled her eyes . The force of the st caused Su Chan¡¯s body to roll further away from where Yundong was standing .

    Su Chan gasped . She reached up with both hands and wed at her chest as her throat constricted . She couldn¡¯t breathe . Oh, God . . . I¡¯m suffocating . . . I¡¯m¡ª

    A dark shadow appeared in front of her . Suddenly, she could breathe again . Su Chan took a huge gulp of air and blinked away her haze .

    Zi Yuan . . .

    But why?

    Why did she save me?

    Su Chan slowly got to her feet and started limping towards Zi Yuan, who was standing elegantly about ten feet in front of her . Dozens of small talismans circled Zi Yuan¡¯s right arm, which was raised in front of her . Green light shone from her palm to form some kind of curved rectangr screen . Su Chan knew what that was .

    A Qi repelling spell . . .

    Su Chan stumbled towards Zi Yuan and grabbed the woman¡¯s left arm .

    "Please! You have to help him . . . Please! He hasn¡¯t¡ª"

    "I¡¯m aware that he hasn¡¯t passed the Zhuji phase yet," Zi Yuan said without taking her eyes off Yundong .

    Yundong¡¯s body was still engulfed in a golden ze .

    "Then you must help him! At this rate¡ª"

    "Calm down, Su Chan . "

    "No! I know what¡¯s happening! His Qi will¡ª"

    "I must say that I¡¯m impressed with the depth of your understanding, Su Chan . Seems like your master has taught you well . "

    Su Chan took a step forward but stumbled when Zi Yuan pulled her back .

    "Rx . . . His Qi reserve is vast . It won¡¯t deplete that quickly . He¡¯s fine for now . " Zi Yuan gave her a sidelong nce . "Now you on the other hand won¡¯t be so lucky, especially if you charge in blindly like what you were about to do just now . You haven¡¯t forgotten the basic Yin-Yang Principle now, have you?"

    No . Su Chan hadn¡¯t forgotten . She knew the risks . She just didn¡¯t care .

    "You must remain behind this shield," Zi Yuan continued . "The area surrounding him is filled with the purest form of Yang Qi . If you get too close . . . "

    Yeah, yeah, yeah . Her Yin Qi might be sucked out of her body as dictated by the Yin-Yang principle . Yada, yada, yada . Who cares? She was willing to risk everything as long as she could help Yundong . Besides, she already passed the Zhuji phase, so maybe¡ªjust maybe¡ªshe might be able to make it out in one piece . . .

    Wait, why am I floating?

    Su Chan iled her arms and kicked her legs in the air . "Put me down!" she snarled, ring at Zi Yuan .

    "You really need to calm down and let me handle this," Zi Yuan said in a t tone .

    Su Chan pouted and kept struggling to no avail . This was no doubt some kind of levitation spell . Grr!

    A momentter, Su Chan realized that she was floating¡ªback towards Ruan Hongling, who was standing in front of Zhou Qin . Ruan Hongling¡¯s right arm was also circled with tiny talismans . The same green shield emanated from the surface of her right palm .

    Su Channded right beside Zhou Qin . When their gazes met, Su Chan could detect the shock and fear in Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes .

    "So this is the true power of the Jindan¡¯s Heir . . . " Ruan Hongling said .

    "Not even close," Zi Yuan replied casually .

    "My God, Elder Sister . . . What on earth am I seeing?"

    "Do you see now why I wanted us to stay back and observe before we act?" Zi Yuan said in a reprimanding tone . "You were foolish to take Master¡¯s prophecy lightly . "

    Su Chan frowned . "What prophecy?"

    Zi Yuan turned around sharply and regarded Su Chan for a moment .

    "Ten years ago, my master wrote down a prophecy . And ording to the prophecy, a great Cultivator shall rise and be the true heir of the Renyuan Jindan . That¡¯s all you need to know . "

    Su Chan opened her mouth to speak .

    "Enough . Now give me that thing," Zi Yuan said, holding out her right hand .

    "What?"

    "The needle you¡¯re hiding in your palm," Zi Yuan said patiently . "Give it to me now . I need it to help him . " Zi Yuan jerked her head towards Yundong .

    Su Chan handed Zi Yuan the long needle reluctantly .

    "T- The L- Lingtai . . . and¡ª"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes shone with amusement . "Who do you think I am, Su Chan?" Zi Yuan took the needle from Su Chan . "I know what to do . "

    Right . Of course . She was speaking with the most powerful Cultivator in the younger generation after all . Stupid, stupid, Chan¡¯er . . .

    "Hongling!"

    "Yes, Elder Sister Zi Yuan!"

    "Watch them both . " Zi Yuan pulled out more talismans from her pocket . "The shield stays up, got it?"

    "Yes!"

    Zi Yuan turned towards Yundong . "Now let me show you how it¡¯s done . "

    ***

    A sharp prick between his shoulder des made Li Yundong turn around . Worry and disappointment coursed through him when he noticed that the person standing in front of him wasn¡¯t Su Chan but Zi Yuan instead . Li Yundong looked past Zi Yuan¡¯s shoulder and found relief a momentter .

    There she is, my princess . . .

    Su Chan was kneeling on the ground right beside Zhou Qin . Ruan Hongling was standing in front of the both of them as though she was... protecting them? Wait, what?

    Li Yundong took stock of their surroundings and immediately noticed the tiny pieces of paper strewn all over the ground . What the hell?

    "You really need to learn how to master the Jindan¡¯s Aura unless you have a death wish, Li Yundong . "

    Li Yundong looked towards Zi Yuan sharply, then down at his own hands . His entire body was glowing .

    All of a sudden, he remembered . Everything came back . The twins¡¯ deaths . All that blood . The heat . The anger . The injustice .

    With a low growl, Li Yundong looked past Zi Yuan¡¯s shoulder towards Zhou Qin .

    "It was He Shao . . . " Li Yundong said . "That son of a bitch did this . . . " He gestured at Deng Jiao¡¯s body with his hand . "He killed them both!"

    "What?" Zhou Qin was up on her feet in an instant . "Are you sure?"

    "I saw him!" Li Yundong yelled, pointing towards the building . "He was right there, on the same balcony where Deng Jiao fell . "

    Zhou Qin suddenly went pale . "You saw him . . . "

    "Yeah . . . With my own eyes . . . " Li Yundong growled, looking up again .

    He Shao was no longer on the balcony .

    "Which floor?"

    Li Yundong tore his gaze away from the building and looked towards Zhou Qin .

    "Which floor was he on when you saw him?"

    "Fifteenth," Li Yundong growled .

    "Fifteenth . . . " Zhou Qin whispered, then closed her eyes . "Oh, God . . . "

    "Wait a minute... Are you saying...?" Understanding dawned on Li Yundong . He took a step closer, his eyes narrowing . "You know which floor he¡¯s staying on, don¡¯t you? It¡¯s the fifteenth floor, isn¡¯t it?"

    Zhou Qin didn¡¯t answer . Hell, she didn¡¯t need to . Li Yundong had seen enough . He¡¯d counted the f*cking floors, for God¡¯s sake .

    "Give me his room number! I¡¯m gonna make that son of a bitch pay!" Li Yundong turned around and stormed off . He strode quickly towards the corner of the building where he knew would lead him to the hotel¡¯s main entrance .

    "Li Yundong! Wait!" Zhou Qin yelled .

    Li Yundong felt a hand his shoulder, then heard a loud gasp . He stopped walking and turned around again . Zhou Qin was kneeling on the floor, holding her right hand with her left . There was a pained expression on her face . Su Chan appeared beside Zhou Qin . "Let me¡ª"

    "It¡¯s okay . I¡¯m fine . " Zhou Qin said, cutting her off . Then, Zhou Qin stood up with Su Chan¡¯s help and walked towards Li Yundong .

    "Stop this, Li Yundong! You need to let the police handle this . Otherwise you¡¯ll just get into trouble . "

    Li Yundong bristled . "The police!" A golden sh lit up Zhou Qin¡¯s face . "That son of a bitch would¡¯ve been tossed into jail ages ago if the cops did their jobs in the first ce!" Li Yundong paused, shaking his head . "No, Zhou Qin . The cops are useless . There¡¯s too much politics involved . Say the cops arrest him now and he goes to jail . And then what? Weekster, he¡¯ll be out parading the streets like a king!"

    "You don¡¯t know that," Zhou Qin stated firmly .

    "You think I¡¯m stupid? You think I don¡¯t know how things work when ites to people like him?" Li Yundong sneered . "Bribes? Dirty cops? Dirty judges? A team of fancywyers? Toss a bit of money around and he can have everyone running around doing his bidding!"

    "Not this time," Zhou Qin said steadily . "This time I¡¯ll personally make sure that he gets the punishment he deserves . "

    "The punishment he deserves?" Li Yundong chuckled humorlessly . "Can you put him on death row? Can you? Hmm?"

    When Zhou Qin didn¡¯t answer, Li Yundong snorted . "Yeah . That¡¯s what I thought . " He turned around and kept walking .

    "And what are you nning to do! Beat him to death?" Zhou Qin yelled .

    He stopped . Footsteps sounded behind him . Zhou Qin had caught up to him .

    "What about Su Chan? Who¡¯s going to be there for Su Chan if you end up in jail for murder?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s gaze found Su Chan, who was staring back at him with piteous eyes . Damn it! He sighed and unclenched his fists . The glow of his body began to wane .

    "That¡¯s it, Li Yundong . That¡¯s it . . . Take it easy . He won¡¯t get away with this . I¡¯ll make sure of it . "

    A loud screech of tires sounded . Secondster, a ck BMW shot out from Shengyuan Hotel¡¯s underground parking lot .

    "Darn it!" Zhou Qin cursed and started tapping on her phone¡¯s screen .

    The ck BMW hurtled past them towards the front gates .

    Just like that, the me of ire rose inside Li Yundong once again .

    "Oh, hell no..." Li Yundong growled .

    That son of a bitch was making a run for it .

 Chapter 152.2

    Chapter 152.2

    <h4></h4>

    Raising a Fox Spirit in My Home-Chapter 152 Pursuit (Part 2)

    Zi Yuan followed Li Yundong¡¯s movement with her eyes as he stormed towards the corner of building . Su Chan and the girl who came in the Audi took off after him . Zi Yuan stared after Li Yundong . Is this him, Master? Is this the man in your prophecy? The man you deemed as the true heir of the Renyuan Jindan?

    ¡°Elder Sister Zi Yuan!¡±

    Zi Yuan tore her gaze away from Li Yundong just as Hongling appeared beside her .

    ¡°Have you checked both souls?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Elder Sister . The souls are still inside the bodies . ¡±

    ¡°Are they still intact?¡±

    Hongling nodded .

    ¡°Good,¡± Zi Yuan said .

    There was still a way to help those poor girls . Granted, neither of them would ever be the same person again, but it was still better than letting two pure souls be taken away in such a horrific manner .

    ¡°Elder Sister?¡± Hongling¡¯s voice pulled Zi Yuan out of her thoughts . ¡°What now?¡±

    Zi Yuan looked towards the dead bodies, then back at Hongling again .

    ¡°Gather their souls,¡± Zi Yuan said . ¡°Keep them safe until we return to the mountains . ¡±

    A look of surprise flitted across Hongling¡¯s face . ¡°Are you saying...¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Zi Yuan said . ¡°I can reconstruct their bodies, but only if their souls remain intact . ¡± Zi Yuan gave Hongling a pointed look . ¡°And I¡¯m giving you the task of collecting their souls . Are you up for it?¡±

    A look of determination formed on Hongling¡¯s face . ¡°Yes . ¡±

    Up ahead, the air exploded in a burst of golden light . Someone grasped Zi Yuan¡¯s arm . When she turned her head, Zi Yuan saw Hongling staring back at her . For the first time, Zi Yuan saw a hint of fear in her prot¨¦g¨¦¡¯s eyes .

    Zi Yuan patted Hongling¡¯s hand . ¡°Go . Time isn¡¯t on our side . ¡±

    Hongling dropped her hand and looked towards Li Yundong . ¡°But is he...¡±

    Zi Yuan shook her head . ¡°I sealed his Qi earlier . Now his Qi can no longer move past his Huagai . The Jindan¡¯s Aura is no longer a threat to him and to us . ¡±

    Unless he broke the seal, of course .

    ¡°Oh...¡±

    Li Yundong stormed off after another heated exchange with the dark-haired girl .

    Zi Yuan turned to Hongling . ¡°Get to work . You have to collect the souls before they leave the bodies . ¡±

    ¡°R- Right!¡±

    There was a loud screech of tires . A ck car appeared from the parking lot and hurtled past them .

    Zi Yuan shook her head in disgust . ¡°That¡¯s him, the culprit . He¡¯s trying to get away . ¡±

    ¡°I hate to say this, Elder Sister,¡± Hongling growled . ¡°But I have to agree with Li Yundong this time . This man deserves the worst kind of death!¡±

    Zi Yuan red at her prot¨¦g¨¦ . ¡°Hongling... You know the rules . ¡±

    Hongling looked like she¡¯d just been forced to swallow a hundred flies .

    A momentter, Hongling schooled her features . ¡°Of course I know the rules, Elder Sister . ¡± Hongling pointed her finger at something behind Zi Yuan . ¡°But I bet he doesn¡¯t . ¡±

    Zi Yuan turned around abruptly and saw Li Yundong running after the BMW .

    ¡°Gather the souls and meet me at the gates,¡± Zi Yuan said without taking her eyes off the BMW .

    Like it or not, Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that the entire world of Cultivation was about to change after tonight .

    ***

    ¡°You¡¯re not gonna get away... You¡¯re not f*cking getting away,¡± Li Yundong growled . ¡°Not this time!¡±

    He took a sharp right and caught a glimpse of the BMW . The car had just driven past the curb in front of the revolving doors and was now heading straight for the gates .

    Son of a bitch!

    Li Yundong pushed his Qi to his legs and broke off into a sprint .

    Outside the gates, Li Yundong stopped .

    Where¡¯s the bastard? Where the f*ck is he...

    He spotted the BMW at the intersection closest to Shengyuan Hotel¡¯s gates . The red light was on .

    Got you now...

    Li Yundong sprinted along the sidewalk until he reached the intersection . Then, when Li Yundong was crossing the road towards the oppositene, He Shao¡¯s BMW started honking like crazy .

    No doubt the bastard had noticed Li Yundong¡¯s approach . Not that it mattered . The bastard wasn¡¯t getting away from him this time . I¡¯m going to make him pay for everything he¡¯s done... Every f*cking thing...

    Li Yundong leaped over the guard rail dividing the two-way street, then charged towards the BMW . Someone cursed loudly, after which the honking grew more insistent .

    The lights turned green .

    Damn it!

    Li Yundong pounced forward .

    Got it!

    Li Yundong¡¯s palms dug into the BMW¡¯s trunk lid just as the car began to move . The lid slid against Li Yundong¡¯s palms . No! Li Yundong mmed his palms onto the lid . The metal surface under his palms caved inwards, resulting in two sharp dents about a meter apart .

    The BMW¡¯s engine rumbled loudly, and Li Yundong reacted by shoving his hands into the two dents . He lowered his center of gravity and then held on to the car with all his strength . The BMW¡¯s tires screeched, but the car wasn¡¯t moving .

    Billows of dust rose from the pavement to Li Yundong¡¯s face . He ignored the dust and looked straight ahead . Through the BMW¡¯s back window, he caught a glimpse of the rear-view mirror, where He Shao¡¯s frightened eyes were staring back at him .

    The engine¡¯s rumbling grew louder . Li Yundong grunted when the sole of his shoes began to slide against the rough asphalt beneath him . Oh, no you don¡¯t! Clenching his jaw, Li Yundong tightened his grip on the trunk lid, then dropped his hips into an even lower stance . Then, he leaned his torso backwards and pulled .

    More dust rose from under him as the smell of burnt rubber grew stronger . Through the dust cloud, Li Yundong caught a glimpse of his glowing arms .

    The metal groaned under his fingers . Li Yundong grunted and held on tighter . He had to reach under the car somehow . That way he could flip the car over and that son of a bitch would be left with no means of esca¡ª

    SNAP!

    Li Yundong stumbled backwards when the trunk lid broke off its hinges . Shoving his rear foot back, Li Yundong managed to regain his footing and prevent himself from falling . However, he¡¯d lost his grip on the BMW, which had begun to speed away from him .

    Anger rose inside Li Yundong . He shifted the lid to this right hand and then cocked his right arm back .

    ¡°Take this!!!¡±

    He hurled the piece of metal towards the BMW .

    CRASH!

    The lid shattered the BMW¡¯s back window . The BMW slowed and then swerved into the adjacentne . However, the BMW righted its path a split secondter and sped off .

    Wasting no time, Li Yundong propelled himself into the air and, in one huge bound, cleared the entire square that formed the intersection . Hended in the middle of the road with a loud thud . Cars swerved around to avoid him .

    Ignoring the honks and curses around him, Li Yundong broke off into a sprint .

    ¡°Come back here, He Shao!!!¡±

    ***

    Li Yundong sprinted after the BMW as though his life depended on it, which, in a way, was kind of true¡ªhe wasn¡¯t sure if he could live with himself if he let He Shao walk away tonight .

    Just how many women had He Shao vited? How many of his atrocious deeds had gone unpunished? How many people had he murdered in cold blood?

    No more . No f*cking more .

    Trees and hedges zipped past Li Yundong as he ran . Li Yundong knew this route like the back of his hand, since he¡¯d used it pretty much every day . This road would lead to Tiannan University, which was located near the city¡¯s outskirts .

    The bastard was trying to leave the city .

    Li Yundong quickened his pace at the thought .

    Eventually, Tiannan University¡¯s gates came into view . The BMW sped past the gates, causing several students to scream in surprise . When Li Yundong ran past the gates ten secondster, he thought he heard cheers of ¡°Hero of Tiannan University¡± behind him .

    Li Yundong wanted to scoff at that nickname . He was no hero . He¡¯d just witnessed the death of two girls, and there wasn¡¯t a single f*cking thing he could do to save them . Li Yundong nced ahead and saw the BMW¡¯s ring taillights . He cursed inwardly .

    At this rate, he¡¯d never be able to catch the bastard .

    I need a n...

    Li Yundong drew a mental picture of the surrounding area while he ran .

    We¡¯ve already passed the campus, which means...

    The market . They were heading towards the market .

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    The BMW had just taken a sharp left turn, so Li Yundong had temporarily lost sight of it . Wait a minute... The tires .

    He could try blowing out the tires...

    But how? He didn¡¯t have a gun, or any sharp object that he could use to throw¡ª

    Li Yundong wanted to smack himself . Why blow out the tires when he could just flip the whole car with a shockwave?

    Yes, that¡¯s it...

    The n was perfect, since He Shao was now driving towards the suburbs where there would be little to no traffic during this hour . Which meant Li Yundong could unleash a shockwave without fear of causing coteral damage .

    Li Yundong sprinted along the empty street towards the corner where the BMW had just taken the turn . Anticipation coursed through Li Yundong¡¯s veins . The n was pretty straightforward . He just had to get close enough to the car, then maintain that distance until they reached the suburban area before he¡ª

    A series of honks sounded just as Li Yundong took a left turn around the corner . For the nth time tonight, Li Yundong heard the annoying screech of the BMW¡¯s tires . However, this time the sound urred in tandem with two screams¡ªmale and female . Li Yundong¡¯s blood ran cold .

    The bastard had probably run over someone .

    Li Yundong raised his head sharply and stared ahead .

    Hundreds of meters away, the BMW was slowing to a stop . Li Yundong activated his telescopic vision and hurried his pace . The glimmer from the BMW¡¯s taillights enabled him to make out a towering figure of a man beside the BMW . The man was screaming and pounding his fist against the BMW¡¯s window .

    Li Yundong zoomed in further .

    Hey, isn¡¯t that...

    Er Lu . It was Er Lu!

    ¡°Hey!!!¡± Li Yundong shouted as he ran . ¡°Stop him! Don¡¯t let him drive away!!¡±

    Er Lu yanked the BMW¡¯s door open and dragged He Shao out of the car . Maybe Er Lu heard him? Er Lu jabbed a finger into He Shao¡¯s chest and began shouting in He Shao¡¯s face .

    F*ck!

    Come on,e on, I have to get there!

    Li Yundong pumped his legs faster . At the same time, he activated Eryue too .

    Angry voices filled his ears .

    ¡°Out of my way, you f*cker!¡±

    ¡°Not until you take my mother to the hospital!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have time for your bullshit!¡± He Shao removed something from his pocket and tossed it at Er Lu¡¯s face . ¡°Here! That¡¯s enough to cover her medical fees! Take her to the hospital yourself! Now move! Get out of my way!¡±

    Er Lu mmed He Shao¡¯s body against the BMW¡¯s door .

    ¡°She¡¯s not going to f*cking make it if you don¡¯t take her now, you sick f*ck!¡±

    He Shao struggled against Er Lu . ¡°I said I don¡¯t have time!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care!!! Load my mom into the car! Now!¡±

    He Shao was reaching for something behind his waist . ¡°Let go of me! I¡¯m warning you!!¡±

    ¡°I said¡ª¡±

    ¡°No!!!!!¡± Li Yundong screamed .

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Li Yundong came to a halt about 100 meters away from the BMW, too stunned to keep running . Er Lu crumpled limply to the ground .

    Li Yundong could feel his fist trembling at his sides .

    Then, he heard a long, grief-stricken wail of a woman .

    ¡°Give me back my son, you monster!!!¡±

    The mming of the BMW¡¯s door brought Li Yundong out of his stupor, and he broke into a sprint again .

    I¡¯m gonna kill him... I¡¯m gonna f*cking kill¡ª

    The BMW began to move even though the vegetable stall owner was still lying in the middle of the road .

    ¡°No!! Don¡¯t you dare!!¡± Li Yundong bridged his Three Gates and cocked his fist back, fully prepared to unleash a shockwave towards the car . ¡°Don¡¯t you f*cking¡ª¡±

    Toote . The BMW¡¯s wheel creaked . The roof of the car rose once, then twice...

    Blood spilled from the woman¡¯s lips as the BMW¡¯s left front wheel and left back wheel rolled across her chest .

    The BMW sped away with a loud vroom .

    Li Yundong stared at the massacre in front of him . Two more had died . He Shao had killed two more people . And all because Li Yundong had arrived toote to stop him .

    Anger red inside Li Yundong .

    ¡°He Shao!!!!!¡±

    Li Yundong punched the air, which exploded in a soundless p . A huge shockwave tumbled along the street . A loud smash and a metallic crunch sounded a momentter followed by the sound of shattering ss . Up ahead, the BMW skidded to a stop .

    A few secondster, however, the BMW¡¯s engine came to life, and the car sped off once more .

 Chapter 153.1

    Chapter 153.1

    The asphalt cracked under Li Yundong¡¯s feet when hended in the middle of the road like a golden meteorite . They had just reached the suburban area, and Li Yundong was finally gaining on the BMW .

    Don¡¯t let him get away... Don¡¯t let him get away...

    Images filled Li Yundong¡¯s head . Images of He Shao¡¯s terrible deeds, the people he had killed: Deng Yu and Deng Jiao¡¯s ruined faces; Er Lu, with three bullets lodged in his chest; Er Lu¡¯s mother, with her upper bodypletely squashed; and God knew how many more in the past .

    Anger surged inside Li Yundong . He roared into the night, and then leaped into the air once more . His body shot into the air like a projectile . Two secondster, hended 15 meters away from where he leaped . Up ahead, the BMW¡¯s taillights shed provocatively as it sped away .

    ¡°Come on!¡± Li Yundong leaped again, covering yet another 15 meters of horizontal distance . ¡°You evil son of a bitch!!!¡± Li Yundong leaped again and again, propelling himself closer and closer to the BMW . The way he was moving made him feel like the Incredible Hulk (except that he was golden instead of green): angry, turbulent, and with a profound need to smash anything in sight .

    Suddenly, the BMW skidded sideways, and then...

    ¡°Leave me alone!!!!¡± BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The bullets ricocheted off the golden aura surrounding Li Yundong¡¯s body .

    Heat shot out from the top of Li Yundong¡¯s head . ¡°Not a chance!!!¡± He charged forward . He Shao¡¯s screams of horror were like coals fueling his wrath .

    That¡¯s right . Know the meaning of terror... Fear me... Fear justice!

    Li Yundong¡¯s feet mmed into the asphalt when hended on the road . He looked ahead . The car was now 50 meters away . Li Yundong palmed a piece of rock in his hand, and then leaped into the air once more . When hended, Li Yundong hurled the piece of rock at the car, and then leaped into the air again . SMASH! One of the BMW¡¯s taillights shattered .

    Li Yundongnded on the ground to see the BMW swerving back and forth betweennes .

    He Shao¡¯s screams pierced through the night, fueling Li Yundong¡¯s anger further .

    Scream... Scream all you want... Nothing can save you this time . Not your money . Not your status!

    THUD! THUD! Li Yundong made two more leaps .

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The bullets bounced uselessly off the golden aura .

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you kill anyone else!¡± Li Yundong sprang forward . And I will give you a taste of hell .

    THUD!

    Li Yundong¡¯s hands shot out at the same time hended on the ground; his fingers touched the car¡¯s surface . The BMW swerved to the leftne, and his fingers slipped off before he could get a firm grip .

    ¡°God damn it!¡± The ground cracked when Li Yundong¡¯s fist smashed into it . With a feral growl, he leaped again .

    THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!

    Come on...e on...e on!!!!

    The BMW¡¯s tires screeched when it made a sharp right turn at a junction ahead .

    ¡°Damn you!!!¡± Li Yundong made a desperate leap andnded somewhere near the junction . After a few steps, he rounded the corner and noticed the BMW hurtling along the road leading to the city limits . Li Yundong broke off into a sprint and then, using the forward momentum he¡¯d gained, made a giant leap into the air . THUD! His hands missed the car by inches . F*ck!

    Just then, something caught his attention . An open, grassy in stretched out on the left side of the road . ring at the BMW in front, Li Yundong bridged his Three Gates .

    Time to end this .

    Li Yundong punched the air in front of him . The shockwave tore through the air and struck the BMW¡¯s rear end from the side . A loud screech sounded as the BMW¡¯s body pivoted around its front wheels .

    Then, everything fell silent .

    When Li Yundong lowered his fist, the BMW¡¯s headlights shone in his eyes . The car had done aplete one-eighty while it was skidding around just now . The head of the car was now pointed straight at him .

    Growling, Li Yundong moved his feet and strode towards the car . The windshield had shattered, so Li Yundong could see He Shao¡¯s pale face staring right at him . How many people had stared at that vile face as they died? How many times had that face struck fear in the hearts of good people? How many dreams and futures had this foul creature crushed with his money and status? Karma had punished Zhao Yujian . Why hadn¡¯t it punished He Shao?

    Then it hit him . A simple yet powerful truth .

    This was the working of karma .

    I am He Shao¡¯s karma...

    The BMW¡¯s engine rumbled .

    A momentter, the car surged forward, but Li Yundong kept walking towards it without fear . As the BMW picked up speed, the trembling muzzle of a handgun rose in front of He Shao¡¯s face .

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Li Yundong walked on as though nothing happened, smirking when he saw He Shao tossing the gun aside to grip the steering wheel with both hands .

    The BMW¡¯s loud vroom tore through the night .

    ¡°Die, dammit!!! Die!!!!¡± He Shao yelled . ¡°Why won¡¯t you just die and leave me alone!!!¡±

    Li Yundong mmed his palms onto the BMW¡¯s hood while his feet slid back a few meters . The metal hood groaned under Li Yundong¡¯s palms . Then, the car stopped moving .

    ¡°It¡¯s over, He Shao!!!¡±

    Sparks danced around Li Yundong¡¯s face when he brought his palms together and crushed the BMW¡¯s engine bay . The rumbling of the engine stopped .

    He Shao released his hands from the wheel and fumbled around to unbuckle his seatbelt .

    ¡°Give it up! You¡¯re not getting away!!¡± Li Yundong grabbed the bottom of the car¡¯s chassis and then flung the car to his left side . The vehicle tumbled over the road¡¯s guard rail and rolled onto the grassy in below the road . Secondster, the car stopped rolling andy on its roof amidst strips of tall weeds . Li Yundong leaped over the guard rail . The grass felt soft and fluffy beneath his feet, so unlike what he was about to do in the next few minutes .

    Li Yundong looked towards the wreckage . The door of the driver¡¯s seat flung open, and He Shao crawled out of the car .

    Li Yundong released a low growl .

    ¡°Now, you¡¯re finished . ¡±

    ***

    Zi Yuan hovered in the night sky hundreds of meters above Tiannan University . She had traced the Jindan¡¯s Aura to somewhere around this area . Zi Yuan scanned the grounds below her . The Jindan¡¯s Heir had followed the culprit here, Zi Yuan was sure of it .

    But why here? Why did the culprite this way?

    A green sh beside her announced Hongling¡¯s arrival .

    ¡°Elder Sister! Where is he? Is he here?¡± Hongling said, sounding a little out of breath .

    ¡°I can feel the Jindan¡¯s Aura, so he¡¯s got to be here somewhere . ¡± Zi Yuan gave Hongling a pointed look . ¡°Scout out the area . ¡±

    ¡°Right away, Elder Sister!¡± Hongling disappeared in another green sh .

    The night breeze caressed Zi Yuan¡¯s face . She sighed into the night . What on earth is happening, Master? Do these events mean anything at all? What were you trying to tell me?

    Zi Yuan could¡¯ve gone after the Jindan¡¯s Heir and He Shao much earlier if Su Chan hadn¡¯t passed out in front of the gates just now . Zi Yuan didn¡¯t have the heart to leave Su Chan lying there, so she asked the girl who came in the Audi¡ªZhou Qin was her name¡ªto book a room for Su Chan at the hotel¡¯s reception . Zhou Qinplied, and by the time Zi Yuan and Hongling carried Su Chan to the room, the police had already arrived at the hotel .

    After that, Zi Yuan decided to go after the Jindan¡¯s Heir, leaving Zhou Qin to deal with the police . Before Zi Yuan left the hotel, she ordered Hongling to cast a healing spell on Su Chan . In any case, Su Chan would be up and awake in no time .

    Zi Yuan shook her head wryly at the thought of Su Chan . That impulsive girl would¡¯ve died if Zi Yuan hadn¡¯t stepped in earlier and shielded her from the Jindan¡¯s Aura . Even so, Zi Yuan had to admire the girl¡¯s selflessness . Su Chan clearly valued Li Yundong¡¯s life more than her own .

    Doubt niggled at Zi Yuan¡¯s mind .

    Was it possible after all? Was it really possible for genuine love to exist between humans and fox spirits? Was the entire Cultivation world wrong about fox spirits? But the Mystical Silver Fox...

    A green sh announced Hongling¡¯s returned . ¡°Found something, Elder Sister Zi Yuan!¡±

    Zi Yuan turned around and saw Hongling¡¯s grim expression .

    Something terrible had happened .

    Zi Yuan sighed . ¡°How many?¡±

    Hongling¡¯s lips trembled . ¡°Two . ¡± Hongling hesitated for a moment . ¡°I think it¡¯s best if I show you, Elder Sister . ¡±

    ***

    Zi Yuan stared at the two dead bodies in front of her, aghast at the cruelty behind those deaths . The man had died from three GSWs to the chest . But the woman...

    Bile rose to Zi Yuan¡¯s throat . The poor woman¡¯s torso waspletely crushed . ttened, no doubt by the weight of a car .

    Hongling¡¯s scream of anger tore through the night . ¡°How can anyone be capable of such terrible acts?!¡±

    ¡°Hongling...¡± Zi Yuan said .

    ¡°Argh! Li Yundong is right, Elder Sister! That man needs to be exterminated!¡± Hongling yelled . ¡°And if Li Yundong doesn¡¯t do it, then I will!¡±

    ¡°Stop it, Hongling!¡± Zi Yuan said sharply . ¡°Have you forgotten about themandment?¡±

    A red flush crept up Hongling¡¯s face . She looked like she was holding back tears .

    Zi Yuan took in their surroundings once again . The ce was eerily quiet and deserted . No doubt there weren¡¯t any eyewitnesses around when this horror took ce . Zi Yuan had already figured out why He Shao had driven all the way here . It was obvious to her now that He Shao was trying to flee the city . In that case...

    All she had to do was to follow this road and then catch up to Li Yundong before he brought disaster upon himself by breaking one of the biggestmandments in the Cultivation world .

    A Cultivator should never take the life of a mortal with their skills . The vition of that sacredmandment would bring instant death to the Cultivator¡ªhe or she would be struck by the Heavenly Thunder .

    Granted, they might have to let He Shao go for the time being, but it shouldn¡¯t be too difficult for Zi Yuan to track him down afterwards . Although the Zhengyi School forbade its members to involve themselves in worldly matters, Zi Yuan agreed that an evil man like He Shao had to be stopped .

    Zi Yuan didn¡¯t have to do much, of course . She could just give a little tip to the police once she tracked down He Shao¡¯s location, and the police would handle the rest . Then, she would pull some strings and use the Zhengyi School¡¯s influence in the upper echelon of the government to ensure that He Shao stay in jail for the rest of his life .

    ¡°Come, Hongling,¡± Zi Yuan said as she floated away from the crime scene .

    Honglingplied wordlessly and floated towards Zi Yuan .

    ¡°Let¡¯s follow this road,¡± Zi Yuan said .

    A minuteter, Zi Yuan and Hongling were floating fifty meters above the road . Zi Yuan could feel the Jindan¡¯s Aura growing stronger, so they must be getting closer to Li Yundong . Along the way, they¡¯d passed by a series of dents on the pavement, each approximately 15 to 20 meters apart . There could be no doubt how those dents came about .

    There was a loud screech . Zi Yuan paused midflight and looked towards Hongling . Hongling was staring back at her with wide eyes .

    ¡°Up!¡± Zi Yuan ordered . ¡°Tell me what you see!¡±

    Hongling nodded and shot higher into the air . Zi Yuan flew after her prot¨¦g¨¦ .

    ¡°There!¡± Hongling pointed to her ten o¡¯clock .

    Before Zi Yuan could speak, a series of gunshots rang out .

    ¡°Move in!¡± Zi Yuan said, then flew towards the location .

    ¡°My God, Elder Sister!¡± Hongling screamed . ¡°Look!¡±

    Li Yundong had just flipped the entire BMW over the guard rail . Good God, such tremendous strength...

    ¡°Left,¡± Zi Yuan ordered . ¡°To the field . Quickly!¡±

    Ten secondster, Zi Yuan and Hongling hovered above a wide field with no vegetation other than grass and weeds .

    ¡°Wait!¡± Zi Yuan¡¯s hand shot out, preventing Hongling from flying straight down .

    Li Yundong was now crossing the field towards the wrecked car, where He Shao was crawling out on all fours .

    ¡°This could get messy,¡± Zi Yuan said without taking her eyes off the scene below . ¡°The seal I ced isn¡¯t foolproof . I might¡¯ve underestimated the Jindan¡¯s Aura after all...¡±

    Hongling¡¯s arm trembled slightly . ¡°Then... Then what do we do?¡±

    Zi Yuan went over their options silently . The wind howled around them as though reminding them that a storm wasing .

    ¡°I¡¯ll talk to him,¡± Zi Yuan said, after a few moments .

    ¡°What about me?¡± Hongling asked .

    ¡°Call Zhou Qin,¡± Zi Yuan said, finally looking at Hongling . ¡°Give her our location . Ask her to bring Su Chan here as soon as possible . ¡±

    Hongling¡¯s face scrunched up in confusion . ¡°What? Su Chan? Why¡ª¡±

    Zi Yuan silenced Hongling with a shake of her head . ¡°I don¡¯t think the Jindan¡¯s Heir will listen to anything we have to say . But he might listen to her . ¡± Zi Yuan gave Hongling a pointed look . ¡°Did you use the healing spell on her?¡±

    Hongling nodded . ¡°Of course . ¡±

    Zi Yuan sighed inwardly, d that Hongling had carried out her order . Good . At least Hongling had gotten over some of her dislike towards Su Chan . ¡°Then she should be awake by now . Ask Zhou Qin to bring Su Chan here as soon as possible . ¡±

    As Hongling got to work, Zi Yuan lowered herself to the field .

    Time to confront the Jindan¡¯s Heir .

 Chapter 153.2

    Chapter 153.2

    Zi Yuan nted herself between Li Yundong and the overturned car . ¡°That¡¯s enough, Li Yundong . ¡±

    Li Yundong stopped walking and stared into Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes . The intensity behind those eyes took Zi Yuan by surprise . Never in Zi Yuan¡¯s life had she encountered someone who could stare her down without feeling even the slightest hint of reverence .

    At that moment, Li Yundong¡¯s eyes were the very definition of determination and fearlessness . Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes darted towards He Shao, who was sitting on the ground with his back leaning against the overturned car . The man appeared to be in a daze, but seemed unharmed other than a few scratches on his face .

    Zi Yuan returned her gaze to Li Yundong . A golden radiance coated the surface of his skin courtesy of the Jindan¡¯s Aura . This was the most primitive form of the Jindan¡¯s Aura, much to Zi Yuan¡¯s relief . In its more advanced form, the Jindan¡¯s Aura draws out the user¡¯s Qi to form a powerful protective barrier around him or her . The radius of the barrier would depend on the amount of Qi the user possesses .

    Looks like the seal is still intact...

    Zi Yuan sighed inwardly .

    ¡°Are you here to stop me as well?¡± said Li Yundong in a steely tone .

    Hongling descended from the sky andnded somewhere behind Li Yundong . Zi Yuan met Li Yundong¡¯s gaze . ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing, Li Yundong?¡±

    Something shed inside Li Yundong¡¯s eyes . ¡°Something that should¡¯ve been done a long time ago,¡± he growled, taking a huge step towards Zi Yuan .

    ¡°Calm yourself,¡± Zi Yuan said, holding up her palm . ¡°You¡¯ve done enough . Now leave the rest to thew . ¡±

    ¡°Thew?¡± Li Yundong scoffed . ¡°You think thew is enough to make this lowlife pay for everything he¡¯s done?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Zi Yuan said . ¡°But only if you let it . ¡±

    Li Yundong bared his teeth and pointed at He Shao angrily . ¡°Then why is he out on the streets in the first ce! Why isn¡¯t he rotting in jail already?! Why hasn¡¯t he been executed and sent straight to hell where he f*cking belongs!!!¡±

    Zi Yuan was stunned into silence . Somewhere beside them, He Shao whimpered .

    ¡°Answer me!!!¡±

    A golden ze dazzled Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes for a moment . A strong gust of wind hit her square in the face .

    Zi Yuan forced her eyes open, blinking a few times .

    ¡°And what is your grand n? Beat the guy to death?¡± Zi Yuan raised her brow . ¡°If you do that, then you¡¯re just like him . ¡± Zi Yuan jerked her chin towards He Shao . ¡°A murderer . ¡±

    Come on...e on... bite... bite .

    Silence fell between them .

    Li Yundong stared at Zi Yuan, his expression unreadable .

    All of a sudden, Li Yundongughed .

    ¡°Beat him to death? Oh, no, no... You¡¯re way off the mark . I¡¯m not going to beat him to death . That would be going easy on him . ¡± Li Yundong red at He Shao . ¡°What I¡¯m nning is much, much, worse . ¡±

    Chills travelled down Zi Yuan¡¯s spine . ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you mean tossing him into jail...¡±

    ¡°How many times do I have to tell you¡ª¡± Li Yundong suddenly turned around to look at something over his shoulder . ¡°You try anything funny and I won¡¯t show you any mercy this time!¡±

    Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes shot up just in time to see Hongling stilling her movements behind Li Yundong . Fear coursed through Zi Yuan . Not for herself, but for Hongling .

    ¡°Stand down, Hongling! Haven¡¯t you learned your lessonst time?¡±

    Foolish girl . Even when untrained, the Jindan¡¯s Heir was a force to be reckoned with . Hongling was no match for him, not with the Jindan¡¯s Aura activated .

    ¡°Look,¡± Zi Yuan said with a gentle tone . ¡°I understand the rage you¡¯re feeling¡ª¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t understand a thing!!!¡±

    Golden light shed, dazzling Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes . She raised a hand to shield her eyes from the re .

    ¡°Do you know that he¡¯s killed two more people tonight?! Do you?!¡± Li Yundong shouted, pointing a trembling finger at He Shao on the ground . ¡°He put three rounds in a man¡¯s chest and then drove his f*cking car over the man¡¯s mother! His mother!!!¡±

    Something shifted on the ground . From the corner of her eyes, Zi Yuan saw He Shao pushing himself away from the car .

    ¡°T- They asked for it! I gave them a chance to move!¡±

    ¡°Shut your filthy mouth!!!¡± The air in front of Li Yundong exploded . The shockwave mmed into the side of the overturned car, sending it tumbling into the air .

    The carnded with a loud crash further out into the field .

    Zi Yuan looked towards the car, then back at Li Yundong again . Barely two months had passed since the Jindan was stolen, so the Jindan¡¯s Heir couldn¡¯t have been exposed to the art of Cultivation for more than a month . Yet look at all the stuff he was doing . Even for a talented Cultivator, it would take years to learn how to bridge the Three Gates properly .

    After everything she had witnessed so far, Zi Yuan knew one thing for sure: this guy had an insane amount of aptitude for Cultivation .

    Zi Yuan detected more movement from the corner of her eyes . Behind Li Yundong, her prot¨¦g¨¦ was slowly backing away from Li Yundong .

    Oh, so now she¡¯s afraid...

    Zi Yuan looked away from Hongling when Li Yundong took another step towards He Shao .

    ¡°A chance? Are you seriously talking about giving chances right now, you piece of shit? You gave them a chance!¡± Li Yundongughed snidely . ¡°Give me a f*cking break!¡± Li Yundong stoppedughing . His expression suddenly became harsh and stony . ¡°And what about those two girls? Did you give them a chance before you raped them and drove them to their deaths?¡±

    He Shao whimpered .

    ¡°That¡¯s right, He Shao,¡± Li Yundong growled . ¡°You killed them all . So you¡¯ve got no right! No f*cking right to talk about giving chances!!!¡±

    Another shockwave sted through the field, sending pieces of weed flying into the air .

    ¡°Li Yundong...¡± Zi Yuan tried again . ¡°Calm yourself...¡±

    ¡°You killed them, you f*cking piece of shit... You murdered all of them in cold blood...¡± Li Yundong¡¯s voice trembled . ¡°You¡¯re a f*cking monster... And I¡¯ll give you a taste of living hell before I end your worthless life!¡±

    ¡°Li Yundong!¡± Zi Yuan snapped . This was getting out of hand . The Jindan had blown his innate sense of justice out of proportion . Before he learned how to control the Jindan¡¯s power with his Spirit, there was no way for him to overpower this drive to deliver justice by any means necessary . It was like a primal need, an obsession . At this point, Su Chan was probably their only hope of getting through to him .

    Nevertheless, Zi Yuan had to try . As a Cultivator, it was her duty to uphold the sacredmandments of the Cultivation world, one of which Li Yundong was no doubt about to breach .

    ¡°Come on, Li Yundong... Please, listen to me,¡± Zi Yuan said steadily . ¡°You are the Jindan¡¯s Heir . You¡¯ll be doing great things in the future . You¡¯re destined for greatness . ¡± Zi Yuan stopped talking and pointed at the ground, where He Shaoy . ¡°Don¡¯t throw it all away because of that worthless man...¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes were as hard as steel when they met Zi Yuan¡¯s secondster . ¡°Great things?¡± He chuckled .

    Zi Yuan¡¯s scalp tingled, and she frowned . ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡±

    Li Yundong stoppedughing and gave her a pointed look . ¡°Why do I have to wait until the future to do great things when I can start now?¡±

    Zi Yuan¡¯s frown deepened . ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Let this be the first great thing I do!¡± Li Yundong broke their eye contact and red at He Shao on the ground . ¡°Ridding the world of that evil scumbag!!¡±

    He Shao¡¯s scream echoed through the night .

    Oh, no!

    Zi Yuan¡¯s lips began to move when she saw Li Yundong charging towards He Shao . Secondster, she raised her palm, and Li Yundong¡¯s body levitated off the ground when he was a few feet away from He Shao .

    That was close...

    Li Yundong turned his head and red at Zi Yuan . ¡°What the hell did you do!¡± he snarled, iling his arms and legs . ¡°If you¡¯re not trying to help, then stop getting in my way!¡±

    Zi Yuan moved her palm slightly . Li Yundong¡¯s body moved through the air until he was hovering in front of her .

    ¡°Beating him to death won¡¯t solve anything,¡± Zi Yuan said calmly .

    ¡°You¡¯re wrong!¡± Li Yundong growled dangerously, then turned his head sharply towards He Shao . ¡°I never said I was going to beat him to death... In fact, I¡¯m going to end his pathetic life without even touching him . And when I¡¯m done, there won¡¯t be anything left of him!¡±

    The implications of Li Yundong¡¯s words echoed inside her mind . What? Chills travelled down Zi Yuan¡¯s spine . What was he talking about? Was he nning to use a spell?

    ¡°You¡¯re bluffing,¡± Zi Yuan said coldly . ¡°You need to reach the Shentong phase before you can use spells . You haven¡¯t even passed the Zhuji phase yet . ¡±

    All of a sudden, Li Yundong¡¯s arms stopped iling . Then, Zi Yuan heard a loud gasp . Zi Yuan nced towards the source of the voice .

    Hongling stared back at her with wide, fearful eyes .

    ¡°Hongling...¡± Zi Yuan narrowed her eyes . ¡°What do you know that you didn¡¯t tell me?¡±

    Li Yundongughed darkly . ¡°I think she¡¯s referring to this . ¡±

    Li Yundong pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket . The paper was brown in color, and there were four words printed on it .

    Shock coursed through Zi Yuan .

    There was no mistaking those words: Heavenly Thunder ys Evil .

    The Jindan¡¯sing ordains thine fate . The sound of the first thunder shaltplete thine soul...

    The sound of the first thunder . Was this what Master¡¯s prophecy was referring to? The Five Thunders Spell?

    Li Yundong gave the talisman a quick flick .

    Not a chance! Zi Yuan raised her free hand, and the talisman shot out of Li Yundong¡¯s grasp .

    ¡°No!!! Give it back!¡± Li Yundong swung his arms like a maniac .

    The talisman fluttered in the air a few times before itnded in Zi Yuan¡¯s palm secondster . Zi Yuan studied the talisman briefly . This talisman required Qi activation . And it was protected by some kind of spell against physical damage, so it was impossible to destroy it .

    After a while, Li Yundong stopped moving .

    ¡°Fine!¡± Li Yundong said, pointing a finger at Zi Yuan . ¡°Since you¡¯re so against me using the spell, why don¡¯t you do it then? Cast the spell and send that son of a bitch to hell!¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Zi Yuan said coldly .

    Li Yundong lowered his finger and gaped at Zi Yuan for a moment .

    ¡°What do you mean, no?¡±

    ¡°Cultivators are aren¡¯t allowed to harm mortals with spells . That has been ourmandment for thousands of years . ¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s bullshit!¡± Li Yundong snapped, then jabbed his finger at He Shao . ¡°Use it! Cast the spell!¡±

    ¡°I refuse,¡± Zi Yuan said .

    Li Yundong sneered . ¡°Fine! Give me the talisman then!¡± Li Yundong held out his hand . ¡°Since you¡¯re too much of a coward to do it, then I¡¯ll do it for you! Give it to me!¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t understand! We¡¯re stopping you for your own good!¡± Hongling spoke for the first time since shended on the ground . ¡°Any Cultivator who takes a mortal¡¯s life with a spell will suffer divine punishment! Don¡¯t you get it? You¡¯ll be struck by Heavenly Thunder if you go through with this! Your soul will be destroyed!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes shed in anger . ¡°Then it is destroyed!¡±

    ¡°Wha-¡± Hongling¡¯s mouth dropped open . ¡°Y- You¡¯re joking...¡±

    Li Yundong huffed out a breath . ¡°If I die, then I die . At least I¡¯d die knowing that nobody else would suffer at the hands of that piece of trash!¡±

    Hongling opened her mouth to argue .

    ¡°Don¡¯t try to convince me! It¡¯s pointless!¡± Li Yundong snarled . ¡°My mind¡¯s already made up . ¡±

    ¡°Then think again!¡± Zi Yuan said sharply . ¡°Reconsider!¡±

    ¡°Give . Me . The . Talisman!¡±

    ¡°Why, so you can use it to desecrate our one of our most sacredmandments? I will not tolerate such sacrilege!¡±

    ¡°I said give it to me!¡± Li Yundong paddled his arms and legs as though he was swimming in mid-air .

    ¡°What are you trying to prove? That you¡¯re above the traditions upheld by Cultivators for millennia?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not trying to prove anything, you hypocritical fools!¡±

    Anger rose in Zi Yuan . ¡°You¡ª¡± She closed her eyes and forced herself to take a deep breath . When she spoke again, her voice was much calmer . ¡°Thosemandments exist for a reason, Li Yundong . ¡±

    ¡°What reason?!¡± Li Yundong snarled . ¡°To allow scums like He Shao to live freely, to murder innocent people, to oppress and trample over the poor and less fortunate?! Is that the so-called reason for your bullshit traditions?¡±

    ¡°How dare¡ª¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Li Yundong barked . ¡°I will not in good conscience allow someone that evil to walk away unpunished . I will not!¡±

    ¡°He will receive his punishment in due time . ¡± Zi Yuan said patiently . ¡°You just have to let nature take its course . The Heavens shall decide that man¡¯s final punishment¡ª¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes shed . ¡°And what if this...¡± Li Yundong spread out his arms . ¡°All of this, is the will of the Heavens! What if I¡¯m meant to do this! Have you considered that possibility?¡± Li Yundong let his arms drop limply to his sides . ¡°Hasn¡¯t that man caused enough death and suffering to incur the wrath of the Heavens¡ª¡±

    ¡°Enough!¡± Zi Yuan yelled . ¡°Who do you think you are! You think you have the right to act on behalf of the Heavens just because you¡¯re the Jindan¡¯s Heir? That¡¯s hubris!¡±

    ¡°Hubris...¡± Li Yundong said weakly, then lowered his gaze to the ground .

    Silence fell .

    Zi Yuan shared a nce with Hongling . Had they done it? Had they finally convinced him?

    Zi Yuan looked towards Li Yundong again . ¡°You have to look at the bigger picture here,¡± she said carefully . ¡°There will be grave consequences if you use that spell on him . Not just to you, but to the entire world of Cultivation as well . That sacredmandment is the thing that¡¯s been keeping the Cultivation world and the mortal world in a state of bnce for generations! Mortals and Cultivators can co-exist as long as one side doesn¡¯t interfere with the affairs of the other . Just think for a second what would happen if even one Cultivator breaks thatmandment . Other Cultivators would be tempted to do the same . Cultivation schools would start wars with other schools or even start terrorizing the mortal world! The entire Cultivation world would fall into chaos . ¡±

    ¡°Cultivation schools...¡± A dark chuckle escaped Li Yundong¡¯s lips . ¡°Now I see what this is all about . ¡± Li Yundong raised his head sharply . ¡°Self-preservation . This is all about self-preservation!¡±

    Zi Yuan felt all the air leave her lungs the moment their gazes locked . It was like those eyes had pierced through her soul .

    Li Yundong pointed an usatory finger at Zi Yuan . ¡°You don¡¯t give a damn about what goes on in the mortal world, do you? All you care about is preserving the good name of your school...¡± Li Yundongughed mockingly . ¡°And yet you parade among mortals, acting all high and mighty like you¡¯re all a bunch of saints who embody everything virtuous and wise . ¡± Li Yundong shook his head . ¡°But the truth is that you people don¡¯t even understand the simple notion that magic, like everything else in the world, is just a tool!

    ¡°What, you think a few rules are enough to prevent Cultivators from abusing their powers if they want to?¡± Li Yundong sneered . ¡°How stupid can you people get?¡±

    Zi Yuan clenched her jaw, but she didn¡¯t stop Li Yundong¡¯s tirade .

    ¡°So you have a bunch ofmandments in ce . So f*cking what! Have there never been schools or sects in the past who tried to start wars? Have there never been any acts of rebellion in the Cultivation world? Please . Don¡¯t kid yourself . How much blood was spilled over the Renyuan Jindan? How many Cultivators, or even mortals, have lost their lives to obtain it? You think a few rules can prevent Cultivators from going rogue when they see something they want? If you truly think that, then y¡¯all just a bunch of blind and deluded fools!¡±

    Zi Yuan was stunned, struck by the truth behind Li Yundong¡¯s words . None of themandments had prevented the Mystical Silver Fox from wreaking havoc in the Cultivation world back then . And everything he said about the Renyuan Jindan was on point .

    ¡°You call yourselves Cultivators, but what have you people spent thousands of years inside the mountains cultivating?¡± Li Yundong bared his teeth . ¡°Bigotry? Cowardice? Selfishness? Hubris?¡±

    ¡°You live and walk among mortals, thinking that you¡¯re above them, that you¡¯re morally superior to them, but the truth is that there isn¡¯t a single ounce of virtue in you! Justice? The greater good?¡± Li Yundongughed snidely . ¡°You don¡¯t give a shit about the greater good... All you care about is yourself and the reputation of your school!¡±

    A pause ensued with the only audible sound being Li Yundong¡¯s heavy breathing .

    ¡°You people could¡¯ve used your powers to save lives! You could¡¯ve used your powers to help the weak or those in need, and to punish those who deserves punishment! And you wanna know something else? I¡¯ve seen mere mortals with kinder hearts and greater selflessness than you so-called Cultivators! The firemen! The doctors and nurses! The police officers! These are people without any powers who risk their lives on a daily basis for people they don¡¯t even know! And you!¡± Li Yundong pointed at Zi Yuan . ¡°You people! What good have you ever done for the world, huh! How many lives have you saved? None! You people have done nothing despite having all these powers! Hell, you¡¯re even willing to turn a blind eye to evil deeds that are happening right under your noses! And all for what? To observe a bunch of dumbass traditions! Shame on you! Shame on all of you!!!¡±

    Zi Yuan recovered herposure and cleared her throat . ¡°Who says we¡¯re turning a blind eye? There are just other ways to¡ª¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you get it yet?!¡±

    A sh of golden light radiated from Li Yundong¡¯s body . Zi Yuan shielded her eyes with her hand once again .

    ¡°Thew isn¡¯t enough to stop that bastard from killing! With enough money, power, and human resources at his disposal, that son of a bitch can kill even from inside a prison cell!¡±

    Again, Zi Yuan was stunned into silence .

    ¡°No... A prison cell won¡¯t cut it...¡± Li Yundong¡¯s voice had suddenly turned eerily calm . When Zi Yuan lowered her hand from her eyes, she saw Li Yundong pointing at He Shao on the ground . ¡°This man has to be exterminated for good!¡±

    He Shao started screaming in fear at that point, but Li Yundong kept talking as though he didn¡¯t hear anything .

    ¡°Can you imagine how many more he will kill if you let him walk away alive tonight? How many more bloodshed will you allow before you¡¯re finally willing to bring justice on him?!¡± Li Yundongughed . ¡°Let nature take its course, you say? Let the Heavens decide, you say?¡± Li Yundong shed his hand through the air, then spread his arms out wide . ¡°Fine! Why don¡¯t I let the Heavens decide right now what to do with that scum!¡±

    Li Yundong tilted his head skyward, then pointed one finger at He Shao .

    ¡°Punish that evil man!¡± Li Yundong shouted at the sky . ¡°Prove to me that you aren¡¯t blind to everything that¡¯s been happening on earth! Strike him with your Heavenly Thunder and give him the punishment he deserves! Rid humanity of that scumbag and all his evil deeds!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s voice dissolved into distant echoes before silence fell . Behind Li Yundong, Hongling nced up at the sky . When she lowered her gaze secondster, Zi Yuan could see the look of utter defeat in her prot¨¦g¨¦¡¯s eyes .

    Li Yundong¡¯s words echoed inside Zi Yuan¡¯s mind, making her stomach churn . What was the point of Cultivation? Was there no other purpose in Cultivation other than to be a Shenxian?

    In light of Li Yundong¡¯s words, the term Cultivation suddenly seemed so... shallow, like it was no different than what those power-hungry mortals were doing¡ªjust that instead of money, status, and power, Cultivators sought after immortality and magic .

    But what about virtue? What aboutpassion? What about the drive to do good? To save lives? To make the world a better ce? Shouldn¡¯t these things also be part of Cultivation?

    For thousands of years, the orthodox views of the Cultivation world had never been questioned . Every Cultivator in every school had abided by thosemandments . Until the Jindan¡¯s Heir came along to challenge it . And Zi Yuan had to agree that he¡¯d made some pretty solid points .

    Were the ts of the Zhengyi School¡ªand all the other Cultivation schools, for that matter¡ªiplete at best and outright wrong at worst? How had Zi Yuan not seen it earlier?

    ¡°Is this your answer?!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s voice jolted Zi Yuan out of her thoughts . Li Yundong was still staring at the sky . Zi Yuan followed Li Yundong¡¯s gaze and noted the darkness above them . Clouds drifted past, but the sky appeared calm . It didn¡¯t seem like there would be any thunder tonight .

    ¡°Are you going let this man live and subject innocent lives to all his evil deeds?¡± Li Yundong screamed at the sky . ¡°Or are you just too pompous to care about the lives of the good people on earth, the good people that you¡¯re supposed to be watching over!¡±

    Zi Yuan lowered her gaze from the sky . She couldn¡¯t watch this anymore . She couldn¡¯t stand the silence, the serenity of the night sky . The implication of that silence was too profound to even fathom .

    Li Yundong chuckled, causing Zi Yuan to look up sharply once more . When their gazes locked, Zi Yuan felt another chill down her spine .

    ¡°Do you see that, Zhenren Zi? The Heavens are blind...¡± Li Yundong said, closing his eyes and letting his arms drop limply to his sides . Zi Yuan waited silently for Li Yundong to continue .

    Then, Li Yundong¡¯s eyes shot open . ¡°But I am not!¡±

    Something strange was happening . Zi Yuan could feel it in her bones .

    She stared at Li Yundong warily . ¡°What did you do...?¡±

    ¡°I might not be well-trained in the art of Cultivation, but I still know a thing or two about resourcefulness . ¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°You underestimated me!!!¡±

    Zi Yuan gasped when the talisman in her hand began to glow .

    ¡°Honglin¡ª¡±

    Zi Yuan was thrown away by a powerful st before she could even finish her sentence; the field was now bathed in a blinding gold light . Cursing, Zi Yuan released the Levitation Spell she¡¯d cast on Li Yundong and muttered the incantation for the Qi-repelling spell .

    Green light radiated from her right palm as shended gracefully on both feet .

    ¡°Hongling!¡± Zi Yuan yelled . ¡°Hongling! Where are you!!¡±

    Zi Yuan waited for a response . Up ahead, the Jindan¡¯s Aura had fused with Li Yundong¡¯s vast Yang Qi to form a homogeneous, sphere-like structure with a radius of approximately 10 meters . Once again, it struck Zi Yuan how vast Li Yundong¡¯s Qi reserve was .

    Tiny talismans fluttered around Zi Yuan¡¯s wrist .

    Zi Yuan raised her palm higher .

    ¡°Hongling!!!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m over here, Elder Sister Zi Yuan!¡± Hongling¡¯s voice sounded amidst the roaring of the Jindan¡¯s Aura .

    Zi Yuan looked up into the sky to see Hongling floating down towards her . Green light spread out from Hongling¡¯s palm like a shield .

    Zi Yuan sighed in relief .

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Zi Yuan asked when Honglingnded beside her .

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, Elder Sister . What about you?¡± Hongling asked worriedly . ¡°You were nearer to the st . ¡±

    Zi Yuan waved off Hongling¡¯s concern with her free hand, then looked towards Jindan¡¯s Heir . ¡°He broke the seal . ¡±

    Hongling nodded fearfully .

    ¡°Look at his head,¡± Zi Yuan said . ¡°Do you know what¡¯s happening?¡±

    ¡°Yeah... That¡¯s the Convergence of Five Qis and the Crown of Three Flowers happening simultaneously... I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m seeing this on someone who hadn¡¯t undergone Qi-control training for more than a few months...¡±

    The Jindan¡¯s Heir . Just how much talent did this man possess?

    ¡°Take a look at the Qi surrounding him,¡± Zi Yuan said without taking her eyes off Li Yundong .

    Hongling was silent for a few seconds before she spoke, ¡°It¡¯s like his Qi is forming a barrier around him...¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the advanced form of the Jindan¡¯s Aura,¡± Zi Yuan exined . ¡°Right now it¡¯spletely out of control . ¡±

    ¡°Any woman who gets too close would be drained of her Yin Qi unless she has a way to secure her Qi inside their body . ¡±

    The sound of tires screeching interrupted them .

    Zi Yuan turned and saw a white Audi A6 pulling up by the roadside above the field . Too little toote...

    ¡°Stay back!¡± Zi Yuan yelled .

    Su Chan and Zhou Qin came to a halt beside the guard rail .

    Zi Yuan turned to Hongling . ¡°Let¡¯s go to them . ¡±

    Hongling nodded .

    Secondster, Zi Yuan and Hongling regrouped with Su Chan and Zhou Qin .

    ¡°What took you so long?¡± Zi Yuan snapped, ring at Su Chan . ¡°You could¡¯ve just flown here . ¡±

    Somehow, Zhou Qin didn¡¯t look surprise at all when Zi Yuan mentioned flying . Perhaps the girl had been hanging around Li Yundong for too long .

    ¡°I didn¡¯t have enough magic...¡± Su Chan said weakly .

    ¡°My God... What is going on over there?¡± Zhou Qin asked, staring down at the field .

    Zi Yuan ignored the question and kept ring at Su Chan .

    ¡°Was it you?¡± Zi Yuan asked with a sharp tone . ¡°Did you give him the talisman?¡±

    Su Chan didn¡¯t answer . Instead, she white-knuckled the guard rail and gazed at the field .

    Suddenly, Su Chan leaped over the railing and ran towards the field .

    ¡°No!¡± Zi Yuan moved in a sh and stood in front of Su Chan to block her path .

    ¡°I have to go help him...¡± Tears streaked down Su Chan¡¯s cheeks . ¡°He¡¯ll listen to me and stop the spell!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll die before you even get close!¡± Zi Yuan snapped, raising her right palm to protect them both . ¡°You¡¯ll be useless to him dead . So stand back!¡±

    ¡°But...¡± Su Chan nced longingly towards the Jindan¡¯s Heir . ¡°We have to do something...¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we have to do something alright...¡± Zi Yuan mumbled .

    ¡°Elder Sister Zi Yuan!¡±

    Zi Yuan looked up to see Hongling and Zhou Qin approaching them .

    ¡°What should we do, Elder Sister?¡± Hongling asked . ¡°Should we... Should we contact the sect and request for backup?¡±

    ¡°No...¡± Zi Yuan said . ¡°The Zhengyi School won¡¯t like this . It would be foolish to involve them . ¡±

    ¡°But this is getting out of hand...¡± Hongling argued weakly .

    Zi Yuan looked towards the golden ze in the middle of the field .

    ¡°I know,¡± Zi Yuan said with a sigh . ¡°But this needs to be handled with tact . Discretion is of the utmost importance . ¡± Zi Yuan gave everyone a pointed look, pausing for an extra second when her gazended on Zhou Qin . ¡°Nobody except the people here can know about this, you hear me?¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± Zi Yuan said when she received collective nods from the other women . Then, Zi Yuan turned to Zhou Qin . ¡°You have considerable influence in Tiannan City, I presume?¡±

    Zhou Qin snapped to attention . ¡°Yes . ¡±

    Zi Yuan nodded . ¡°Then now might be a good time to put them to good use . ¡±

    Zhou Qin opened her mouth to speak, but Zi Yuan raised a palm to silence her .

    ¡°Don¡¯t do it for me,¡± Zi Yuan said . ¡°Do it for him . ¡± Zi Yuan jerked her chin towards the field where the Jindan¡¯s Aura was still zing . ¡°I assure you that a lot of people would want him dead if word of what happened here ever gets out . ¡±

    Zhou Qin took a deep breath . ¡°Tell me what I can do . ¡±

    ¡°I need you to pull some strings and get this entire area sealed off,¡± Zi Yuan said . ¡°Block all the roads leading here . We don¡¯t need any onlookers wandering into the area and recording the whole thing on their phones . ¡±

    ¡°For how long?¡± Zhou Qin asked .

    ¡°Until I give the OK . ¡±

    Zhou Qin nodded . ¡°Anything else?¡±

    Zi Yuan thought for a moment . ¡°That¡¯s all for now . But I might need you to handle the police once all of this is over . Now go . We don¡¯t have much time to lose . ¡±

    Zhou Qin¡¯s phone was already pressed to her ears by the time she was walking towards her car .

    Zi Yuan turned to Su Chan . ¡°Has he been taught how to perform spells?¡±

    Su Chan wiped her cheeks and shook her head .

    Zi Yuan cursed inwardly . This was bad . The Five Thunders Spell was perhaps the most difficult spell to master and control . One wrong move and the spell would turn on the caster .

    ¡°Y- Yundong can do it!¡± Su Chan said all of a sudden . ¡°H- He¡¯s a genius!¡±

    Zi Yuan regarded Su Chan steadily . ¡°Let¡¯s just hope you¡¯re right . ¡±

    ¡°What!¡± Hongling yelled . ¡°A- Are we seriously going to let him perform the spell?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s toote to stop him now,¡± Zi Yuan said . ¡°And I doubt anyone can stop him . ¡± Zi Yuan nced at Su Chan . ¡°Yes, not even you . ¡±

    Hongling frowned . ¡°But I thought that was the whole point of bringing her here!¡± Hongling pointed at Su Chan . ¡°You said it yourself that she can persuade him!¡±

    Zi Yuan turned away from Hongling and looked towards the field where the Jindan¡¯s Aura continued its rampage .

    ¡°Perhaps I was mistaken,¡± Zi Yuan whispered . ¡°Perhaps this is all meant to happen . ¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°The prophecy, Hongling,¡± Zi Yuan said . ¡°The prophecy...¡±

    A powerful gale blew past them, rustling the weeds in the field . Zi Yuan looked up into the night sky, where storm clouds had begun to gather directly above the field .

    ¡°Here ites...¡± Zi Yuan said .

    So it begins...

    The Jindan¡¯sing ordains thine fate . The sound of the first thunder shaltplete thine soul .

 Chapter 153.3

    Chapter 153.3

    <h4>Retribution</h4>

    Li Yundong picked up the glowing talisman from the ground . The talisman glowed brighter the moment it came into contact with his hand as though it was responding to his touch .

    Li Yundong gathered his Qi at his hand, then watched the glow of the talisman change its color¡ªfrom white to green . Secondster, the talisman burst into mes, releasing a string of tiny symbols into the air .

    Glowing like embers, the symbols spiraled outwards until it formed a full sphere with Li Yundong at its center . Directly above the field, storm clouds began to form . For seconds on end, more clouds drifted in from all directions as though they were being summoned by a mysterious force . Having picked up speed, the wind howled amidst the distant rumbling of thunder .

    All of a sudden, the air grew thick and heavy, as though there was a spike in air pressure . Sparks materialized in the air at random, and soon, the golden aura engulfing Li Yundong was crackling with electricity . The symbols surrounding Li Yundong spiraled quicker and quicker as steam began to rise from the top of his head . Something strange was happening to his body as well . He realized that he wasn¡¯t just emitting golden light from the surface of his skin . The color of his skin had actually changed into gold, like he was wearing a shiny golden armor .

    Li Yundong angled his head skywards and roared . Above the field, the storm clouds tumbled and spun as though answering his battle cry . Random shes lit up the clouds as they moved about in the air .

    Li Yundong stopped roaring and raised him arms above his head . He held that position for a few seconds . Then, he slowly brought his palms closer together¡ªlike he was squeezing an invisible object above his head . The storm clouds shifted inwards and slowly condensed into a thick clump .

    Be in harmony with Heaven and Earth... Su Chan¡¯s words echoed inside Li Yundong¡¯s mind .

    Li Yundong¡¯s hands lowered to his sides . Then, he nced around until he located He Shao¡¯s head peeking out from between a bunch of tall weeds .

    He Shao¡¯s eyes widened in fear the moment their gazes locked . A secondter, He Shao sprang to his feet and started running towards the edge of the field .

    "You¡¯re not going anywhere!" Li Yundong shed his hand across the air . A thin shockwave sliced across the field like a de and grazed He Shao¡¯s left thigh . He Shao¡¯s body spun into the air like a rag doll before itnded further out into the field .

    Li Yundong¡¯s feet began to move . Each step he took would bring him one step closer towards He Shao¡¯s death, towards justice . He Shao struggled to push himself up, but failed every time he tried .

    "You will pay..." Li Yundong growled dangerously . "You will suffer for every crime you¡¯vemitted... and every person you¡¯ve murdered in cold blood!" Li Yundong stopped about two feet away from where He Shaoy . "No amount of money, status, and power can save you now..."

    "P- Please . . . s-s-s-spare me!" He Shao screamed . "Spare me! I-I-I¡¯ll give you anything you want! Anything!"

    "Anything?" Li Yundong sneered coldly . "This is what I want! I want you gone from this world!"

    He Shao started bawling and weeping . "P-P-Please... I¡¯ll repent! I-I-I¡¯ll change!! I w- won¡¯t kill again! I swear!"

    "Toote!" Li Yundong yanked He Shao up by the throat, then mmed him down onto the ground . "Your death shall be an example to the world that the Heavens aren¡¯t blind to humanity¡¯s evil deeds! That the Heavenly Thunder will y the vile and the wicked!"

    Li Yundong crouch down and grabbed He Shao¡¯s left arm .

    "Arrrgghhh! No! No! I¡¯ll give you money! Status! Please! Just don¡¯t kill me..." He Shao wailed .

    "This is for Deng Yu!!!"

    CRACK! He Shao screamed when Li Yundong broke his left forearm . CRACK! Another scream when Li Yundong snapped He Shao¡¯s left wrist .

    He Shao¡¯s left arm fell uselessly to the ground when Li Yundong dropped it . Li Yundong shifted on the grass and grabbed He Shao¡¯s right arm next .

    "Argh! No! No¡ª"

    "This is for Deng Jiao!!!"

    CRACK! The bones in He Shao¡¯s forearm shattered under Li Yundong¡¯s crushing grip .

    "Arrgh!!! Arrgh!!" He Shao screamed until his voice became hoarse .

    Li Yundong rose to his feet and stared down at He Shao on the ground .

    "This is for all the women that you¡¯ve raped and vited!!!" Li Yundong raised his leg and mmed in into He Shao¡¯s groin .

    "Arrrggghhhh!" He Shao¡¯s body curled up like a shrimp .

    With a growl, Li Yundong bent down and forcefully uncurled He Shao¡¯s body .

    "Lay still!" Li Yundong yelled . "I¡¯m not done with you yet!"

    He Shao whimpered weakly . "P- Please..."

    Li Yundong picked up a piece of rock and then crushed it with his bare grip . Pieces of rubble fell to the ground when he uncurled his fingers . He bent down and picked up three tiny pebbles from the rubble .

    "This is for Er Lu!!!!" Li Yundong mmed each of the three pebbles into He Shao¡¯s chest until they were partially buried in his skin .

    "This is for Er Lu¡¯s mother!!! The woman whose chest you crushed with your car!" Li Yundong mmed his feet down onto He Shao¡¯s chest until he heard the sound of ribs snapping .

    "This is for all the vicious and disrespectful things you¡¯ve said!" He Shao¡¯s lips ruptured the moment Li Yundong¡¯s fist mmed into it .

    "This is for all the cruel and dishonest orders that you¡¯ve given . " Li Yundong mmed his fist into He Shao¡¯s lips again . "And for all the assassinations that you¡¯ve ordered!" CRACK! A few of He Shao¡¯s teeth fell to the grass .

    Blood spilled from He Shao¡¯s busted lips as hey on the ground, wheezing and coughing .

    Li Yundong rose to his feet and walked around until he was standing beside He Shao¡¯s feet .

    Bending down, Li Yundong raised He Shao¡¯s leg .

    "This is for all the people that you have trampled over and oppressed with your status and power!"

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! He Shao¡¯s leg fell back to the ground, where ity as limp as a piece of cooked spaghetti . The ankle and knee joints were both crushed beyond recognition .

    Li Yundong red at He Shao, heaving and panting heavily .

    Secondster, Li Yundong began to back away from He Shao . After about four or five steps, Li Yundong stopped walking .

    "And this..." Li Yundong raised his fist into the air . Burst of white and blue lit up the storm clouds¡¯ surface as they swirled above the field like a maelstrom .

    "...is for justice!!!" Li Yundong pointed his right index finger at He Shao .

    A white sh illuminated the entire field as a huge bolt of lightning descended from the storm clouds and engulfed He Shao¡¯s body . A loud explosion sounded above, like a bomb had detonated in the sky .

    The air sizzled and crackled around Li Yundong, and he struggled to remain upright . It was as though his body had be a vessel for a boundless power, the power to alter the state of the universe with a mere flick of a hand .

    Li Yundong screamed in pain as his body threatened to rip apart from the inside . Be in harmony with the Heaven and Earth... Su Chan¡¯s soothing voice rang out inside his mind once again . Be in harmony with the Heaven and Earth...

    Be at peace .

    Li Yundong thought back to all the times he¡¯d shared with Su Chan, all the happy memories . My little chipmunk... For the first time since he witnessed the twins¡¯ deaths, Li Yundong felt the need to smile .

    I guess this is goodbye then...

    Li Yundong¡¯s body sway from side to side . By the time his body hit the soft ground, the white sh had already disappeared . So soft... Just like the bed my room...

    Pieces of weed tickled his cheeks when a gentle breeze blew across the field . The scent of charred flesh wafted to his nostrils and lingered there briefly . Li Yundong turned his head slightly and saw the dark hole on the ground . Specks of ck ashes rose from the hole . The fumes tilted in the air in the direction of the breeze . There were no signs of He Shao .

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyelids grew heavy . He gave the dark hole onest nce before allowing his eyes to draw shut .

    His work was done .

    The Heavenly Thunder had struck .

    Evil had been in .

 Chapter 154

    Chapter 154

    <h4>The Master</h4>

    Su Chan¡¯s teary face was the first thing Li Yundong saw when he opened his eyes . Blinking a few times, he realized that he was still lying on the ground and Su Chan was sitting right next to him . His body had stopped glowing, much to his relief . He really thought he was going to die just now . Then again, the fact that he was still alive was pretty much moot, since he was about to die soon .

    Hopefully not too soon .

    Li Yundong forced out a smile . "Hey, princess . . . "

    "Yundong . . . " Su Chan wailed loudly, then slumped forward until she was lying directly over his torso .

    Li Yundong raised his hand and patted Su Chan¡¯s head . "Su Chan . . . Listen . . . "

    Su Chan raised her head from his chest and sniffed a few times .

    Li Yundong stroked her cheek . "You have to go now, princess . Get as far away from me as possible . . . "

    He had just killed a man with a spell . He didn¡¯t want Su Chan anywhere near him when the Heavenly Thunder struck .

    The thought of Su Chan dying returned a bit of strength to his weak body .

    "Go!!!" Li Yundong gave Su Chan a hard shove .

    "I¡¯m not going anywhere!" Su Chan crawled back towards Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong bit back a curse .

    "Su Chan . . . " he said sternly . "You have to go! Now! Go! Before the Heavenly Thun¡ªmmph!"

    Su Chan¡¯s hand mped over his mouth . "Don¡¯t say it! Please, don¡¯t say it!" Su Chan¡¯s shoulders trembled as she sobbed .

    Li Yundong turned his head away and freed his mouth from her hand . Hot tears slid down his own cheeks .

    "Listen to me, princess . . . Please just go, okay? There¡¯s no point in both of us dying . . . "

    "No, no, no!!! I¡¯m staying! I¡¯m staying! I¡¯m not going anywhere!" Su Chan yelled, then crumpled into a sobbing heap on top of him . "Yundong . . . Please don¡¯t make me leave... I can¡¯t live without you . . . I can¡¯t!!!"

    Li Yundong sniffed, feeling the sting of his own tears . "Silly girl . . . You were living just fine before you met me, weren¡¯t you?" Li Yundong patted Su Chan¡¯s head . "Go, okay? Go back to your master . She . . . " He cleared his throat . "She¡¯ll keep you safe . "

    Su Chan¡¯s face rubbed against the front of his shirt as she shook her head wildly . "No, no, no . . . I won¡¯t leave you . . . I won¡¯t leave . . . "

    Li Yundong grunted and pushed himself into a sitting position . Then, he cupped Su Chan¡¯s face and dried her cheeks with the pad of his thumb . "You¡¯ll be fine, princess . " He smiled wanly at her . "You¡¯ll soon forget about me and find someone else to love¡ª"

    "But I don¡¯t want anyone else, dammit!" Su Chan cried out . "I want my Yundong!!"

    Li Yundong choked back a sob . "I¡¯m so d you came into my life, Su Chan . Even though the time we spent together is short¡ª"

    "Don¡¯t!!!" Su Chan shrieked . "Don¡¯t talk like that!" Su Chan covered her ears and began shaking her head wildly . "I don¡¯t wanna hear it! I don¡¯t wanna hear it!"

    More tears stung Li Yundong¡¯s eyes . He reached up and pried Su Chan¡¯s hands away from her ears . She had to hear this whether she liked it or not . This might very well be thest conversation they had with each other .

    "You¡¯ve brought so much joy into my life, Su Chan . I¡¯m forever grateful to you . " He stared deeply into Su Chan¡¯s eyes . "I love you . "

    Su Chan¡¯s face crumpled . "Yundong . . . " she sobbed . "Please, don¡¯t..."

    "I want you to always, always remember something . " Li Yundong waited until he was sure he had Su Chan¡¯s full attention . "It doesn¡¯t matter what everyone is saying about fox spirits . None of it matters . To me, in my eyes, you are the kindest, the cutest, the prettiest, and the most adorable girl to ever live . And... over the short time I¡¯ve known you, I can say with absolute certainty that you are a good person . " Li Yundong tapped Su Chan¡¯s chest . "You have a good heart, and you shouldn¡¯t let anyone tell you otherwise . "

    Su Chan kept shaking her head . "W-Why are you telling me all this?" Su Chan gripped the front of his shirt . "Why are you talking like that?! Don¡¯t talk like that! Like you¡¯re about to leave me!"

    Li Yundong gave her a sad smile, then pried Su Chan¡¯s hands off his shirt . "I guess this is goodbye, Chan¡¯er..."

    They stared at each other for a moment . The look of shock in Su Chan¡¯s eyes was almost as intense as the wistful longing in his own eyes .

    "I love you . . . " Li Yundong whispered, then turned around and ran towards the woods at the edge of the field .

    He had barely taken a few steps before a pair of slender arms wrapped themselves around his waist, bringing him into aplete stop . He turned and saw Su Chan clinging onto his waist like he was her favorite bolster .

    Li Yundong sighed and tried to unwrap her arms from around his waist, but the stubborn girl refused to let go .

    "Please don¡¯t make this harder than it already is . . . " Li Yundong said . "Please let me go, Chan¡¯er..."

    Su Chan shook her head desperately and sent him a pleading look . "Just let me die with you . . . Let¡¯s die together, Yundong¡ª"

    "Don¡¯t be stupid, Chan¡¯er!" Li Yundong pushed her away . "You have a full life ahead of you!"

    "But life would be meaningless without you!!!" Su Chan yelled back .

    Li Yundong groaned into his hands, and when he lowered them, he realized that his palms were wet .

    "Don¡¯t say that!" he shouted . "That¡¯s nonsense! Now stay where you are! Don¡¯t follow me!"

    Li Yundong turned around and marched towards the woods . A momentter, a solid weight rammed into his body from behind, sending him tumbling to the ground . A warm body crawled on top of his torso . That familiar weight felt so damned good that he almost didn¡¯t want to open his eyes . Warm liquid dripped all over his cheeks and neck . He opened his eyes and saw Su Chan¡¯s face hovering inches above his own .

    "Can¡¯t you see?" Su Chan hupped a few times . "If you die, I¡¯d just kill myself anyway . . . "

    All of a sudden, Su Chan¡¯s face turned into aplete blur . The next thing he knew, his shoulders were shaking violently . His eyes burned with such an intensity that he thought he was going blind .

    "Oh, you stubborn, stubborn girl . . . "

    Warm palms ran through his hair . "Since we¡¯re both going to die anyway, why not spend our final moments together?"

    Li Yundong half-groaned and rolled his head to the side .

    "Please, Yundong..." Su Chan pleaded . "Please don¡¯t let me die alone..."

    "I don¡¯t want you to die at all..."

    "But life without you is even more painful than death..."

    A sob tore out from Li Yundong¡¯s lips . "Goddammit!! This is so unfair! Why do I have to die just because I helped rid this world of an evil man!!"

    Su Chan poked his cheek . "Say yes, Yundong? Please say yes? Let me stay by your side..."

    Li Yundong kept sobbing .

    "I- I promise I¡¯ll never steal from your te again!" Su Chan added . "I¡¯ll... I¡¯ll even let you call me cheap monk!"

    Li Yundong chuckled despite his tears . After a few moments, he sighed and opened his arms . "Come here, you little chipmunk . "

    Su Chan threw her arms around his neck and cried . Li Yundong patted Su Chan¡¯s back and stared up into the night sky, breathing in Su Chan¡¯s scent . Perhaps it wouldn¡¯t be so bad if Su Chan¡¯s scent was thest thing he breathed before death imed him?

    "Are you sure about this, Su Chan?" Li Yundong asked into Su Chan¡¯s hair after a while . "You don¡¯t have to die, you know?"

    Su Chan pulled back and wiped her cheeks . "Nonsense," she said . "I told you I¡¯d rather die than live a life without you in it . "

    Li Yundong opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by another voice .

    "Not to ruin your little romantic moment or anything . . . But nobody has to die . "

    Li Yundong raised his head from the ground and saw Zi Yuan approaching them from the roadside . Li Yundong looked past Zi Yuan¡¯s shoulder and saw Ruan Hongling and Zhou Qin looking straight at him . Both of them had tears in their eyes .

    Li Yundong snapped to attention the moment Zi Yuan got close . He frowned . "What are you talking about? You made it pretty clear just now that I¡¯m doomed the moment I cast the spell . . . " Then, a thought hit him . Li Yundong¡¯s eyes went wide . "Wait . Why aren¡¯t I dead yet?"

    Zi Yuan stopped in front of him and smirked . "Ah . Finally you¡¯re keeping up . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s head was spinning . He shook his head a few times, then paused when another thought hit him . He red daggers at Zi Yuan . "So it was all a lie to stop me from using the spell? Is that it?"

    Zi Yuan gave him a withering look . "No . Everything I told you is the truth . "

    Li Yundong spread out his arms . "Then why am I still alive?"

    "That¡¯s easy . " Zi Yuan smiled . "Because you haven¡¯t passed the Zhuji phase yet, of course . "

    ***

    Hope coursed through Li Yundong . "Wait, so if I¡¯m alive because I haven¡¯t passed the Zhuji phase . . . " Li Yundong looked into Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes . "Then . . . "

    Zi Yuan smiled . "You¡¯ll be safe from the Heavenly Thunder as long as you don¡¯t pass the Zhuji phase . "

    Li Yundong looked towards Su Chan, who looked just as confused as he felt . It was obvious that Su Chan didn¡¯t know anything about this . Otherwise she wouldn¡¯t have made a fuss about wanting to die together with him .

    Li Yundong looked towards Zi Yuan . "But why?"

    Zi Yuan raised a brow at Su Chan . "I¡¯m surprised your master never told you about this . "

    Su Chan blushed and looked like she was about to argue, but Li Yundong grabbed her hand . "Easy, princess . Let her finish . " He gestured for Zi Yuan to continue .

    "The nature of Cultivation revolves around the pursuit of immortality . And, as you know, immortality isn¡¯t part of the natural order of things . All life ends with death eventually . Where there is life, there will be death . To attain immortality is, therefore, to go against the natural order of things . "

    "So?"

    "So . . . " Zi Yuan stared at Li Yundong pointedly . "It is also part of the natural order for those who go against the natural order to suffer divine punishment . "

    "Okay?" Li Yundong narrowed his eyes . "But what does that have to do with the Zhuji phase?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s expression suddenly turned pensive, like she was thinking hard about something .

    Li Yundong flicked a quick nce at Su Chan, who, much to his surprise, was staring at Zi Yuan reverently .

    After a while, Zi Yuan lips began to move . She raised her right hand and wiggled her fingers . Green tendrils emerged from her fingertips .

    Li Yundong tensed up instantly . "What are you doing?" he said, moving in to shield Su Chan with his body .

    Zi Yuan finished the incantation and gave him a look of amusement . "You really have to start getting used to the idea that I¡¯m on your side . "

    Su Chan patted Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder from behind . "Rx, Yundong . That¡¯s just a projection spell . It¡¯spletely harmless . "

    Li Yundong nced at Su Chan briefly, then shot a wary look at Zi Yuan .

    Zi Yuan sighed . "Look over here . " Zi Yuan flicked her fingers . The green tendrils danced and weaved in the air until they formed some kind of holographic image¡ªtwo human figures standing on a t surface .

    "Okay . . . ?"

    "Imagine a simple world consisting of only two mortals . The t surface represents the earth, and . . . " Zi Yuan flicked her fingers again . A round sphere formed around the t surface . "The sphere is the boundary of the sky, which represents the Heavens . "

    Li Yundong stared at the image . "Right . So the whole point of Cultivation is to reach to the sky? To get closer to the Heavens and unite with the Tao?"

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Very good . So you get the basic idea of the analogy . Now let¡¯s move on . " Zi Yuan waved her hand again . The image morphed into an erge view of the two human shape figures . "To be closer to the Heavens, you have to be closer to the sky . Now . What do you think these two mortals have do to get closer to the sky using just their bodies?"

    "Without any tools?" Li Yundong asked .

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Without any tools . "

    "Umm . . . jump?" Li Yundong ventured a guess .

    Zi Yuan shrugged . "But you¡¯ll fall . It won¡¯t be permanent . "

    "Grow taller . . . " Su Chan answered .

    Zi Yuan nodded . "That¡¯s correct . " She flicked her hand, and the two human-shaped figures began to elongate . "When you develop the three fundamentalponents of life (the Three Treasures), you¡¯ll get slightly closer to the Heavens . In terms of the analogy, you will grow taller . And when you do, you¡¯ll be able see the sky a bit better . " Zi Yuan paused to give Li Yundong a look . "By the way, in case you haven¡¯t figured it out already, this growing taller stage refers to the first three phases of Cultivation¡ªthe Sutai, Lianqi, and Ningshen phases . These phases develop the Essence, Qi, and Spirit separately . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "Right . "

    The holographic image changed back to the one with the t surface and the sphere . "However, there is a limit to how tall you can grow . " Zi Yuan wiggled her fingers again . The two human-shaped figures on the t surface elongated for a moment until the elongation process slowed to a stop . "More has to be done to reach greater heights . " Zi Yuan stared at Li Yundong . "This is where the Zhuji phasees in . " Zi Yuan flicked her hand, and all of a sudden, a building appeared under each human-shaped figure . "To reach the Heavens, you need a structure¡ªor in terms of the analogy, a building¡ªfor you to stand on . And the Zhuji phase is basically the process of establishing the foundation of that building or structure . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s mind raced . "So the Heavenly Thunder can only reach those standing on top of buildings . . . "

    "Indeed . And . . . " Zi Yuan waved her hand . The two buildings begun to stretch towards the sky . "As you advance through the phases of Cultivation . . . "

    "You¡¯re making your building taller . . . " Li Yundong said .

    Zi Yuan nodded . "By building on top of the foundational structure obtained during the Zhuji phase . "

    "And the taller your building is, the more likely it is for you to be struck by lightning . . . " Su Chan added .

    Zi Yuan smirked . "Correct . And as a matter of fact . . . " Zi Yuan arched a brow . "Surviving the Heavenly Thunder is what the 8th phase of Cultivation is all about . "

    "The Lightning Retribution phase . . . " Su Chan whispered .

    The holographic image changed again . A thin film appeared slightly below the surface of the sphere . "Like I said, Cultivation itself is against the natural order of things . So therees a point in one¡¯s Cultivation journey where it would be impossible to move forward without experiencing divine punishment . " The two holographic buildings kept rising until they stopped just under the thin film . "There are only two possible oues . . . " The building on the left breached the film . Bolts of¡ªholographic¡ªlightning extended from the surface of the sphere and struck the top of the building . When the building remained intact after nine sessive strikes, it kept extending beyond the film until its top merged with the surface of the sphere, after which it glowed brightly . "If you can survive the wrath of the Heavens, you¡¯ll achieve transcendence . On the other hand . . . " When the building on the right pushed beyond the boundary, it crumbled after one of the bolts struck its top . "Failure would lead to the total annihtion of one¡¯s soul . " The holograms vanished after a final wave of Zi Yuan¡¯s hand .

    Li Yundong met Zi Yuan¡¯s gaze steadily . "This is a good analogy and all that . But how does it actually work? I mean, surely the Heavens must have some kind of way to pinpoint which Cultivator to strike?" Li Yundong raised his brows . "How, for instance, can the Heavens tell between a person who has passed the Zhuji phase and someone who hasn¡¯t?"

    "The Vital Orb . . . " Su Chan answered .

    "That¡¯s correct," Zi Yuan said with a nod . "The presence of the Vital Orb is what separates a person who has passed the Zhuji phase from those who haven¡¯t . Without the Vital Orb inside your body, the Heavens would never be able to pinpoint you . "

    The penny dropped . "The buildings . . . " Li Yundong looked towards Zi Yuan . "In the analogy, the buildings represent Vital Orbs . . . "

    "Yes . "

    "Yundong . . . Let¡¯s forget about the Zhuji phase, okay?" Su Chan shook his arm . "You don¡¯t have to pass the Zhuji phase! We . . . We can go to a ce where nobody can find us and . . . and live a happy life together!"

    Li Yundong gave her a sad smile . "And then be virgins for the rest of our lives?" He chuckled . "Is that what you want?"

    A blush bloomed on Su Chan¡¯s cheeks . "M- Meanie! H- How can you be t- thinking about . . . about that at a time like this!!"

    The sound of a throat clearing interrupted their banter . Li Yundong looked away from Su Chan and found Zi Yuan staring back at him with a guarded expression . "Well . . . " Zi Yuan cleared her throat again . "If you don¡¯t pass the Zhuji phase, you¡¯ll be able to live out the rest of your lives peacefully . But . . . " Zi Yuan sighed . "It also means that your Cultivation journey ends here . . . "

    "It¡¯s okay, Yundong! This is a perfect n! You can forget about passing the Zhuji phase! We can¡ª"

    "Is that all the Zhengyi School is capable of? Coming up with silly ideas?" A new voice sounded out of nowhere .

    What the hell...?

    Li Yundong nced around to locate the source of the voice . The voice had been cold, haughty, and most definitely feminine . But he didn¡¯t see any woman around, presentpany excepted .

    An eerie silence descended upon the field . Then, Li Yundong noticed a frown marring Zi Yuan¡¯s features . She was also looking past his shoulder at something .

    Li Yundong turned around and squinted through the darkness .

    He realized then that Zi Yuan was staring at the woods, but nobody was there . Frowning, Li Yundong turned back around . Just as Li Yundong was about to ask Zi Yuan what she was staring at, the voice sounded again .

    "Looks like the standards of the Zhengyi School hasn¡¯t risen at all even after all these years . . . What a disappointment . "

    A look of recognition formed on Zi Yuan¡¯s face . "No . . . No... It can¡¯t be . . . " she whispered .

    "What is it, Elder Sis¡ª" Ruan Hongling gasped, then pointed a shaky finger at something behind Li Yundong . "T- That sword . . . "

    Li Yundong turned around abruptly . Sword? What swo¡ª

    A thin strip of white light shone through the darkness of the woods . Secondster, an object burst through the dark foliage and stabbed itself into the ground . The thin object glowed brighter and brighter until it became so dazzling that Li Yundong had to shield his eyes with his hands . Momentster, the glow waned, and Li Yundong slowly lowered his hands from his eyes .

    There in front of him stood a beautiful sword about three feet long .

    "Yes, Hongling . This is the same sword Master used to carve the prophecy on the Obelisk of Fengchen ten years ago . . . "

    The word prophecy did ring a bell, but not Obelisk of Fengchen . Li Yundong shot Zi Yuan a questioning look . However, Zi Yuan appeared to be too engrossed with the sword¡¯s presence to notice his questioning gaze .

    "B- But that¡¯s Master¡¯s sword!" Ruan Hongling tugged Zi Yuan¡¯s arms . "Howe it¡¯s here? And who on earth is wielding it?"

    Zi Yuan sighed and pointed at something past Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder . "Look . . . "

    Li Yundong looked over his shoulder and nearly got the fright of his life . When the heck did she...?

    Standing on the hilt of the sword was a beautiful woman with long, straight hair . Then, Li Yundong felt a trembling beside him . Su Chan . Li Yundong looked sideways and saw Su Chan staring at the woman with tears streaking down her cheeks .

    Something tugged inside his chest .

    "Hey, what¡¯s wro¡ª"

    Su Chan was up on her feet before Li Yundong could even finish his sentence .

    "Hey! Where do you think you¡¯re going?!"

    Su Chan ignored him and kept running towards the woman standing on the sword .

    "Master!!! You¡¯re here! I can¡¯t believe you came back for Chan¡¯er!!"

 Chapter 155

    Chapter 155

    Li Yundong felt as though he was having some kind of weird dream . First, he summoned a bolt of lightning from the sky and basically barbequed a terrible man to death with it . And then his little chipmunk¡¯s infamous master appeared literally out of nowhere .

    Wee to the proverbial twilight zone .

    ¡°Oh, so you still remember that you have a master, hmm?¡± said the woman standing on the hilt of the sword .

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t like her tone . She sounded way too caustic and so unlike the loving master that Su Chan had so often boasted about .

    ¡°M-Master... I... I...¡± Su Chan had, apparently, gotten the message that her master wasn¡¯t here for a hearty reunion . She had stopped her advance towards the beautiful woman on the sword and was now backing away in fear .

    ¡°Tell me something, Chan¡¯er . How much havoc were you nning to cause before you finally stop your nonsense?!¡±

    Su Chan flinched .

    ¡°Y- Y- You are the great seven-tailed fox spirit of the Fox Zen School, Ao Wushuang!¡± Ruan Hongling¡¯s voice sounded behind him . ¡°How could... B- But I thought you were dead! And howe you¡¯re wielding Bahuang?!¡±

    Li Yundong turned around sharply to look at Ruan Hongling . The girl¡¯s face was now as white as a sheet . Beside Ruan Hongling, Zi Yuan was the very picture ofposure and stoicism, though her slightly-parted lips gave Li Yundong the impression that Ao Wushuang¡¯s arrival had surprised her as well .

    Li Yundong returned his gaze towards Ao Wushuang, the woman who was Su Chan¡¯s master . His eyes darted briefly to the sword under the Ao Wushuang¡¯s feet before returning to the woman¡¯s face .

    Li Yundong had expected Ao Wushuang to answer Ruan Hongling¡¯s question, but Ao Wushuang didn¡¯t even spare Ruan Hongling a single nce . Instead, Ao Wushuang had kept her eyes on Su Chan the whole time .

    ¡°Answer me, Chan¡¯er!¡±

    Su Chan flinched again, then lowered her head .

    Li Yundong clenched his jaw . Enough was enough . With a soft groan, he pushed himself up from the ground and began walking towards Su Chan . As he walked, his joints cracked and his steps felt wobbly .

    That f*cking spell had taken a real toll on his body .

    When he reached Su Chan, he grabbed Su Chan¡¯s arm and turned her around to face him .

    ¡°That¡¯s your master?¡± Li Yundong asked without taking his eyes off Ao Wushuang .

    ¡°Mmm! And... And...¡±

    Li Yundong nced down at Su Chan, who was busy sneaking fearful nces at Ao Wushuang . ¡°And?¡± he prompted .

    Su Chan stared up at him with piteous eyes . ¡°And I think she¡¯s mad at me...¡±

    That was probably an understatement . A severe understatement . Li Yundong looked over to Ao Wushuang, then gave Su Chan a reassuring look .

    Squaring his shoulders, Li Yundong took a step in front of Su Chan and met Ao Wushuang cold stare with as much bravado he could muster . ¡°Su Chan has nothing to do with everything that¡¯s happened tonight,¡± he said . ¡°I¡¯m the only one responsible . ¡±

    ¡°So?¡± Ao Wushuang arched a brow . ¡°Your mess-ups? Her mess-ups? Same difference . You¡¯re both responsible . ¡±

    Suddenly, Su Chan poked her head out from his shoulder . ¡°M- Master... It¡¯s not like that! This really has nothing to do with Yundong... Everything is my fault!¡±

    ¡°Hush!¡± Li Yundong turned around and shot Su Chan a re .

    Ao Wushuang snorted . ¡°Yeah... Keep arguing whose fault it is . I¡¯m sure that¡¯s a good way to solve all your problems . ¡±

    Silence fell .

    Li Yundong stared at Su Chan with wide eyes as the implication of Ao Wushuang¡¯s words washed over him like a cold shower on a hot day .

    ¡°Master... Are you saying...?¡± Su Chan¡¯s face lit up like a bright star . Before Li Yundong could react, Su Chan jumped up in joy and then ran out from behind his back . ¡°Master, Master, Master! You know a way to help Yundong survive the Heavenly Thunder, don¡¯t you? You do, don¡¯t you!¡± Suddenly, Su Chan turned around and beamed at Li Yundong . ¡°See, see, see? I told you my master is the greatest and smartest ever!¡±

    Then, Su Chan was running towards the sword .

    When she reached the sword, Su Chan grabbed the hem of Ao Wushuang¡¯s dress . ¡°Please help Yundong, Master! Please! I... I¡¯ll let you ept any punishment you give me! I promise! Just please... help Yundong survive the Heavenly Thunder!¡±

    Silence ensued as Ao Wushuang regarded Su Chan from the top of the sword .

    Su Chan tried again . ¡°I mean... You do know a way to help Yundong, right?¡±

    A momentter, Ao Wushuang smirked . ¡°Why, yes . As a matter of fact, I do know of a way . ¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes sparkled . ¡°Then will you help Yundong? Please? Please?¡±

    Ao Wushuang leveled a gaze on Li Yundong, then looked down at Su Chan again . ¡°Fine,¡± she said with a tone of amusement, then shrugged . ¡°I¡¯ll help him . Sure thing . ¡±

    ¡°Yay!!! Yay!!!¡± Su Chan started jumping up and down . Then, she stopped jumping and ran back towards Li Yundong . ¡°You see? You see? Hah! I told you my master is a genius! I knew she¡¯d know a way!¡± Su Chan looked towards Ao Wushuang . ¡°When can we start, Master? And what should we do? Tell us! Tell us!¡±

    ¡°Nope . That was just a lie . Your lover is beyond saving . ¡±

    ¡°What¡ª¡± Su Chan gaped like a fish, and Li Yundong would¡¯ve found the look on her face hrious if it weren¡¯t for the severity of the situation .

    ¡°B- But Master!¡±

    Ao Wushuang rolled her eyes . ¡°Who do you think I am, child? A Shenxian?¡± Ao Wushuang red at Su Chan . ¡°How can you believe anything people tell you without thinking it through first?¡± Ao Wushuang snorted . ¡°Looks like your time spent in the mortal world hasn¡¯t cured you of your naivety!¡±

    Ao Wushuang pointed a finger at Li Yundong . ¡°What if this man turns out to be a liar and a scum? Would you believe everything he tells you without question?¡±

    Su Chan snapped out of her stupor . ¡°No, no, no... Yundong isn¡¯t like that at all! Yundong is nice... . and he... he...¡± Suddenly, Su Chan took an unconscious step back .

    Lifting his gaze, Li Yundong managed to figure out the source of her difort¡ªthe dark scowl slowly forming on Ao Wushuang¡¯s face .

    ¡°Stay where you are, child!¡± Ao Wushuang pointed a finger at Su Chan .

    Su Chan gasped and suddenly stopped moving .

    Upon closer look, Li Yundong realized with horror that it wasn¡¯t that Su Chan didn¡¯t want to move, just that she couldn¡¯t move . Her back was ramrod straight . Her arms were trapped against her sides, and her legs appeared to be trembling . It was as though she was paralyzed .

    Li Yundong¡¯s hackles rose . ¡°What did you do to her!¡± he yelled, pushing off his feet and charging towards Ao Wushuang .

    However, Ao Wushuang pointed her finger at him before he could take more than three steps . And when she did, it was like the force of gravity had suddenly be a hundred times stronger . His body felt immensely heavy, and soon, he was brought to his knees .

    ¡°What... the... h- hell...¡± Li Yundong said through gritted teeth .

    ¡°Master!!! No!!! Please don¡¯t hurt him! Punish me!¡± Su Chan yelled . ¡°Punish me instead!¡±

    Li Yundong raised his gaze . Ao Wushuang had leaped down from the sword and was now gliding towards him . Her movements were light and gentle, aplete contrast to what Li Yundong was feeling right then: like he was carrying a frigging Boeing 737 on his back .

    It¡¯s a spell... It¡¯s got to be a spell .

    ¡°Let Su Chan go!¡± Li Yundong yelled . ¡°Punish me instead! I can take whatever you dish out!¡±

    I hope, he added mentally .

    Ao Wushuang stopped a few feet in front of Li Yundong . ¡°Is that so? You can take any punishment I give? Anything?¡± she said snidely . ¡°But what can a weakling like you do?¡±

    ¡°Go ahead, then . ¡± Li Yundong red up at Ao Wushuang . ¡°Try me . ¡±

    All of a sudden, Ao Wushuang performed a strange hand sign with her right hand, and the beautiful sword behind her began to emit some kind of strange buzzing sound .

    ¡°Bahuang!!¡± Ao Wushuang shouted .

    There was a white sh, and the next thing Li Yundong knew, the sword was floating in front of Ao Wushuang . The sword was vibrating and pulsating like it was going to explode any second .

    ¡°Let¡¯s see if you can handle this!!¡± Ao Wushuang pointed a finger at Li Yundong .

    There was an ear-piercing noise¡ªlike hundreds of metallic objects being grated . Another blinding sh followed suit . Li Yundong grunted and closed his eyes . When he opened his eyes secondster, he was surrounded by dozens of identical swords .

    ¡°No!!!! Master!!!¡±

    The sound of clinking metal rang inside his ears as the swords closed him on him from all sides . Shit, shit, shit . How was he supposed to defend himself if he couldn¡¯t even f*cking move! He wondered if the Jindan¡¯s Aura thingy would appear and save his ass again, preferably right about now . Yeah . Fat chance of that happening considering he couldn¡¯t even walk properly minutes ago .

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes darted around frantically . The swords continued to swirl around him . He would definitely be shredded if the swords reached him .

    Damn . What a spell...

    Suddenly, the swords stilled in the air . Slowly, the clones moved in towards the real sword in front of Ao Wushuang . Once all the clones had merged with the real sword, the sword stabbed itself into the ground .

    Ao Wushuang gave Li Yundong a smug look . ¡°Still think you can survive that?¡±

    ¡°If I say yes, would you let Su Chan go?¡±

    A dark scowl formed on Ao Wushuang¡¯s face . ¡°Insolence!¡± Ao Wushuang raised her hand and then curled her fingers into a closed fist . Suddenly, the ground beneath Li Yundong began to shift . Li Yundong gasped when he felt something on his thighs . Shit!! A bunch of green vines had appeared from the ground and were now crawling up his thighs . The vines started out as thick as a human thumb . However, by the time they reached his torso and shoulders, the vines had grown as thick as a human leg .

    Thick vines curled around his neck . Ugh... Can¡¯t breathe! He was suffocating, and there wasn¡¯t a single shit he could do to save himself .

    A momentter, he realized, to his horror, that his windpipe wasn¡¯t the only thing being crushed¡ªthe vines had engulfed him from head to toe and was now squeezing the hell out of his whole body .

    Then, just when he was about to lose hope, the pressure around his throat eased . The vines fell away from his face and¡ª

    Li Yundong gasped . Shit... When did I...

    He was no longer on the ground . The vines had elevated his body about twenty meters off the ground, like a scene from Jack and the Beanstalk . Ao Wushuang walked towards the vines and stopped when she reached the bottom . Then, Li Yundong thought he saw Ao Wushuang running her palm over the vines¡¯ surface, but he couldn¡¯t really tell from his position¡ª

    Li Yundong hissed in pain . Something was burning his leg . He looked down and, to his absolute horror, realized that the vines had caught fire . The vines scorched his skin, but Li Yundong clenched his jaw and endured the pain . If this was his punishment, then so be it . He wouldn¡¯t scream . He wouldn¡¯t make a f*cking sound . He didn¡¯t want to give Ao Wushuang that satisfaction .

    Suddenly, the vines burst asunder, like a ss shattering . Li Yundong fell to the ground amidst pieces of glowing ember . Secondster, his head and back mmed into the soft ground . Li Yundong groaned and rolled over .

    ¡°Ahhhh!!!! No!!! Master, no!!! Please stop!!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes flew open when he heard Su Chan¡¯s scream . Shit!!! A huge boulder was falling rapidly towards him . Li Yundong¡¯s eyes fell shut automatically . It was toote to roll himself away so he raised his arms to protect his head .

    The blow never came . Instead, he heard the sound of... running water?

    Li Yundong lowered his arms . The boulder hovered inches above his body and... No . It wasn¡¯t that the boulder was floating, rather it was being held up by a film¡ªa finger¡¯s thickness¡ªof running water . Li Yundong traced the water to its source: Ao Wushuang¡¯s index finger .

    Ao Wushuang smirked and then flicked her index finger . The stream of water undted in the air and flung the boulder towards the center of the field . THUD! A huge crater appeared on the ground where the boulder had crashed into . A split secondter, the boulder disintegrated into a bunch of ashes, which drifted off into the night sky .

    Holy shit...

    Li Yundong stared at Ao Wushuang in awe . This woman was a total badass .

    Ao Wushuang red at Li Yundong . ¡°I know over 300 spells capable of ending your life in a blink of an eye!¡± She pointed at the huge crater nearby . ¡°And I¡¯ve just shown you five of them . ¡± Ao Wushuang lowered her finger . ¡°Not even I, a master Cultivator who knows pretty much every spell in existence, dare to defy the sacredmandment of the Cultivation world . But you!!!¡± Ao Wushuang pointed her finger at Li Yundong . ¡°You¡¯re nothing but a nameless weakling, yet what did you do? Defyingmandments? Challenging the Heavens?! Such arrogance!¡±

    Li Yundong lowered his gaze and stared down at his hands . Su Chan¡¯s snivels and pleas sounded nearby .

    Was it really wrong of him to use the spell on He Shao? Couldn¡¯t anyone else see what a threat He Shao was to the lives of other people? Why did the Heavens even allow He Shao¡¯s reign of terror to happen in the first ce?

    ¡°And worst...¡± Ao Wushuang¡¯s voice dropped into a menacing growl . Li Yundong looked up from his hands and took note of Ao Wushuang¡¯s fuming look . ¡°You even dragged my disciple into your mess! My disciple!! The girl I havee to love as my own daughter!! How dare you!!!¡± The sword swung out in a wide arc, sending pieces of weed and soil into the air . ¡°You think you can y the hero just because you¡¯re the Jindan¡¯s Heir?¡± Ao Wushuang snorted derisively . ¡°The truth is that you¡¯re nothing but an amateur! A weakling!¡±

    Li Yundong lowered his gaze in shame . Ao Wushuang was right . She was absolutely right about him being a weakling . The Jindan was probably wasted on him . Even now, he was still the same old Li Yundong: the weak, pathetic nobody .

    Su Chan would be better off without him .

    ¡°Enough of this,¡± Ao Wushuang said sharply . ¡°You¡¯ve had your chance to say your goodbyes . Now I¡¯m taking my disciple with me . ¡±

    ¡°No, Master!!!¡± Su Chan screamed . ¡°No! I don¡¯t want to leave! Don¡¯t take me away... please... don¡¯t take me away... I wanna be with Yundong... I want Yundong...¡±

    ¡°You foolish child!¡± Ao Wushuang said . ¡°You still want to be around him even after knowing what he¡¯s done? Don¡¯t you know that when the Heavenly Thunder strikes him, any Cultivator within a ten-mile radius of him will suffer the same fate as him?!¡±

    ¡°Then I shall die with him!¡± Su Chan cried . ¡°I don¡¯t care if I die as long as I can be with Yundong!¡±

    ¡°You¡ª¡± Ao Wushuang closed her eyes and took in a deep breath . ¡°You¡¯ve lost your mind, child!¡±

    Su Chan crawled towards Ao Wushuang and then wed at the hem of her skirt . ¡°Please don¡¯t separate us, Master... Please... I beg you¡ª¡±

    ¡°Enough, Su Chan...¡± Li Yundong said firmly . ¡°Your master is right . You need to go with her . ¡±

    Su Chan stared back at him in shock . ¡°What! No! Yundong! We agreed...¡±

    ¡°Please... Su Chan...¡± Li Yundong said, finally allowing his tears to fall . ¡°I want the best for you . And this is the best . ¡±

    Ao Wushuang snorted . ¡°Looks like you have a heart and somemon sense after all . ¡± Turning to Su Chan, Ao Wushuang said, ¡°Come, child . Your beloved has agreed . Now let¡¯s go . ¡±

    ***

    A weight pushed against Zi Yuan¡¯s left side . She turned and saw Hongling leaning against her for support . The poor girl looked like she was about to pass out due to shock . Zi Yuan wrapped her arm around Hongling¡¯s shoulders . ¡°You alright there, Hongling?¡±

    When Zi Yuan looked into Hongling¡¯s wide eyes, she could see a mixture of fear and awe in them .

    Hongling¡¯s lips trembled . ¡°S- She can perform spells from all five elements... That¡¯s incredible, Elder Sister...¡±

    Zi Yuan looked towards the woman who appeared to be physically dragging Su Chan off the ground . She sighed . ¡°That¡¯s Senior Wushuang for you... The most powerful Cultivator of the Fox Zen School . ¡±

    Even Zi Yuan herself was shocked when Senior Wushuang performed five spells in a row, one from each element: Metal; Wood; Water; Fire; and Earth .

    That was the second mind-blowing thing Zi Yuan had witnessed tonight . The first was, of course, the advanced form of the Jindan¡¯s Aura . Li Yundong¡¯s Qi reserve was without a doubt one of the most impressive things she¡¯d seen .

    Zi Yuan patted Hongling¡¯s arms a few times . Hongling nodded and let go of Zi Yuan¡¯s arms .

    ¡°Senior Wushuang...¡± Zi Yuan said, walking past Li Yundong towards the woman .

    Senior Wushuang turned around and gave Zi Yuan a cold look . Well, cold was an apt description, since that look downright sent chills down Zi Yuan¡¯s spine . Not many in the Cultivation world could have that kind of effect on Zi Yuan .

    Senior Wushuang arched her brow at Zi Yuan . ¡°Why? Is the Zhengyi School looking to interfere with the business of my Fox Zen School?¡±

    Zi Yuan bowed slightly . ¡°We dare not do such thing, Senior Wushuang . ¡±

    ¡°Then what is it that you want?¡±

    Zi Yuan looked towards the sword whose tip was buried in the ground . Bahuang . Her master¡¯s sword .

    A white glimmer coated the sword¡¯s surface . The sword looked as glorious as Zi Yuanst remembered it .

    ¡°This sword... Bahuang...¡± Zi Yuan held Senior Wushuang¡¯s gaze . ¡°It¡¯s a treasured artifact of the Linggong Sect . I was wondering if you could return it to us...¡±

    There was a brief moment of silence .

    Senior Wushuang¡¯s face showed no reaction at all, so Zi Yuan continued, ¡°Also, my master¡¯s junior visited the Fox Zen School nine years ago . But unfortunately, no one has seen or heard of her ever since . Do you know of her current whereabouts, Senior Wushuang?¡±

    Senior Wushuang regarded Zi Yuan with a look amusement . After a while, sheughed . ¡°Your master¡¯s fellow junior, you say? How should I know where she is? Also...¡± Senior Wushuang wrapped her fingers around Bahuang¡¯s hilt . ¡°I¡¯m not nning to give this sword to anyone anytime soon . ¡± She arched a brow . ¡°You¡¯ll have to take it from me yourself if you really wanted it . ¡±

    Su Chan yelped when Senior Wushuang suddenly hoisted her up and gave her a piggyback .

    ¡°Master, wait!¡±

    Senior Wushuang and Su Chan vanished in a burst of green light .

    Zi Yuan sighed weakly . Well, that was worth a try . Shaking her head, Zi Yuan turned around and walked back towards Hongling .

    To Zi Yuan¡¯s surprise, Hongling was now looking at Li Yundong with eyes full of pity and concern . Not Zi Yuan would me her . The poor man looked utterly defeated, like he had just lost a piece of his soul . Then again, maybe he did . After everything she¡¯d witnessed tonight, Zi Yuan could tell that Li Yundong and Su Chan loved each other dearly .

    There was a sharp tug on Zi Yuan¡¯s sleeve . She turned and met Hongling¡¯s stare .

    ¡°Elder Sister Zi Yuan... He...¡±

    Gosh . Was Hongling about to cry?

    Zi Yuan had honestly never seen Hongling look so sad and mncholic .

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing more we can do to help him, Hongling . ¡±

    Hongling nodded and released Zi Yuan¡¯s sleeve .

    Zi Yuan nced around until she located Zhou Qin beside the guard rail . The woman looked like she wanted to rush over to Li Yundong but was in too much shock to do so .

    Alright . Time to clean up the mess...

    ¡°Hongling,¡± Zi Yuan said .

    ¡°Yes, Elder Sister . ¡±

    Zi Yuan looked past the guard rail towards the road . ¡°Secure the perimeter . I know I¡¯ve asked Zhou Qin to seal off the area earlier, but I need you to check nheless . I don¡¯t want a single word about tonight¡¯s incident getting out . ¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m on it!¡± Hongling took off into the sky .

    When Hongling was gone, Zi Yuan looked towards Li Yundong¡¯s dejected form again .

    Had the Jindan¡¯s Heir reached the end of the line?

    ***

    Ao Wushuang noticed that something was very wrong once they were about ten miles away from where they¡¯d taken off earlier . Su Chan had gotten too quiet . Her cute disciple was no longer crying, begging, and screaming .

    Frowning, Ao Wushuang turned her head to check on Su Chan .

    Her blood ran cold . ¡°Foolish child!¡±

    Ao Wushuang quickly scanned the grounds beneath her . Secondster, she located a secludedke nearby and flew down towards it . Shended beside theke and lowered Su Chan onto the ground .

    ¡°Wake up, you foolish child!¡± Ao Wushuang mmed her palm onto Su Chan¡¯s back . Blood spilled from Su Chan¡¯s lips .

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s heart clenched at the sight of Su Chan coughing and wheezing on the ground . For years, she had loved and nurtured this girl as though she was her own daughter . But now this foolish child was actually nning to end her life because of some man! How ridiculous!

    ¡°You were nning to destroy your meridians from within, weren¡¯t you!¡± Ao Wushuang yelled . ¡°You¡¯re out of your mind, child!¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s coughs turned into full-blown wails . ¡°I¡¯d rather die than live a life without Yundong!¡±

    Tears stung Ao Wushuang¡¯s eyes . No! She would not think about him . Ao Wushuang clenched her jaw . ¡°What¡¯s so great about that man anyway? No man is worth dying for . ¡±

    That¡¯s right, Chan¡¯er . I don¡¯t want you to go through the same pain I did...

    The sound of Su Chan¡¯s crying grew even louder . ¡°You don¡¯t understand, Master... It hurts... It hurts!!! It hurts so much!!! It hurts right here!!¡± Su Chan pointed at her chest, then fell onto the ground into a sobbing heap on the ground .

    Ao Wushuang felt a drop of her own tears slide down her cheek . Oh, Chan¡¯er... Ao Wushuang reached out a hand to touch Su Chan¡¯s hair, but then hesitated at thest moment .

    Should I tell her? But won¡¯t everything be pointless if I tell her now? Will she be able to resist...? Damn it!

    Ao Wushuang pulled her hand away .

    ¡°He brought so much joy into my life, Master... He made me so happy...¡± Su Chan¡¯s back quivered . ¡°Without him, life is meaningless...¡±

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s resolve crumbled right then and there . She sighed and drew Su Chan into her arms .

    ¡°Oh, Chan¡¯er... I told you a long time ago to stay away from love, but you didn¡¯t listen . Haven¡¯t I told you before that love is the greatest source of pain in this world?¡± Ao Wushuang sniffed, then patted Su Chan¡¯s head . ¡°Now it¡¯s toote . Seems like you¡¯re already experiencing the same pain I did back then...¡±

    ¡°But to me, it¡¯s worth it, Master...¡± Su Chan said firmly . ¡°No matter how painful it is, it¡¯s worth it . ¡± Su Chan took Ao Wushuang¡¯s hands . ¡°Master, I beg you... Please let me return to Yundong . I can¡¯t live without him... I can¡¯t...¡±

    Ao Wushuang released a long sigh . I guess I should tell her after all... The whole n would be even more pointless if this silly girl made another attempt on her own life .

    Ao Wushuang dried Su Chan¡¯s tears with her sleeve, then stroke Su Chan¡¯s head .

    Ao Wushuang shook her head and sighed . ¡°I wasn¡¯t trying to tear you two apart, you idiot . I¡¯m trying to save you both...¡±

 Chapter 156

    Chapter 156

    <h4>Bittersweet</h4>

    "S- Save us?! What do you mean, Master?"

    Ao Wushuang smiled and patted Chan¡¯er¡¯s head . "Do you think I¡¯m that blind? I know true love when I see it, Chan¡¯er . Which is why . . . " Ao Wushuang sighed and looked at Chan¡¯er, who stared back at her with those huge, watery eyes that were filled with apprehension and hope . Ao Wushuang shook her head . "Which is why you have to stay with me for now . "

    Chan¡¯er¡¯s face scrunched up . "But why?"

    Ao Wushuang snorted . "I know he failed miserably in his first attempt to pass the Zhuji phase . "

    Chan¡¯er jumped slightly . "W- W- What? But how did . . . "

    Ao Wushuang shook her head . "I was watching you two from the shadows that night . " Ao Wushuang pinned Chan¡¯er with a scathing look . "A motel? Seriously?"

    Chan¡¯er pouted . "We had no other choice... It was too risky to remain at our home..."

    "Yes . " Ao Wushuang sighed . "You were ambushed . I know about that too . "

    "What?" Hurt shed across Chan¡¯er¡¯s face . "You knew and you didn¡¯te to my rescue?"

    "Oh, Chan¡¯er..." Ao Wushuang stroked Chan¡¯er¡¯s hair . "I would¡¯ve rescued you in a heartbeat if I¡¯d known about the attack when it happened . " Ao Wushuang sighed . "Unfortunately, I only found out about it muchter . "

    "Oh . " The hurt look vanished from Chan¡¯er¡¯s face and was reced with a look of curiosity . "But how did you find out about the ambush, Master?"

    "I¡¯ve been keeping an eye on Mount Longhu... Well, more specifically, on Zi Yuan . " Ao Wushuang looked at Chan¡¯er . "I know she¡¯s been sent to hunt you down . "

    "Oh . " Chan¡¯er still looked adorably puzzled .

    "Then one day I saw Ruan Hongling appear at Mount Longhu," Ao Wushuang continued . "The girl was crying and whining to Zi Yuan about how your beloved had stolen her red damask from her . " Ao Wushuang looked towards Chan¡¯er again . "That¡¯s how I found out about the attack . I heard from her own mouth that she had attacked you, and that she lost the damask while fighting your beloved . "

    A tiny smile yed at Chan¡¯er¡¯s lips .

    "Yundong saved me, Master..."

    Ao Wushuang returned Chan¡¯er¡¯s smile . "Ah . The Jindan¡¯s Heir . Yes, I heard about that too back at Mount Longhu . Ruan Hongling was grumbling to Zi Yuan about some man being the Jindan¡¯s Heir . " Ao Wushuang chuckled wryly . "I was really surprised at first because I thought the Jindan was still with you . But after that I put two and two together and guessed that you had probably found yourself a lover . " Ao Wushuang snorted . "It had to be someone special if you were willing to give up the Renyuan Jindan . So I knew it had to be your lover . "

    Chan¡¯er suddenly looked sheepish . "How it actually happened might be a lot different from what you imagined, Master..."

    Ao Wushuang waved her hand . "Anyway . I followed Zi Yuan and her prot¨¦g¨¦ back to the city and eventually found out where you were . I had toy low and stay in the shadows, so I only watched over you two after the sun was down . Even then, I didn¡¯t linger around for too long . No longer than ten minutes each time . "

    "Oh . "

    "Except for that night when the Jindan¡¯s Heir attempted to pass the Zhuji phase, of course . I was in the area during the entire disastrous session . " Ao Wushuang gave Chan¡¯er a stern look . "How else do you think you managed to survive all the times you passed out after you tried to bring him back?"

    Chan¡¯er gaped at Ao Wushuang .

    "Oh yes, that¡¯s right," Ao Wushuang gave her disciple a withering look . "You nearly died, Chan¡¯er . Multiple times . " She snorted . "I have honestly never seen a clumsier attempt at passing the Zhuji phase in my life . "

    Chan¡¯er¡¯s eyes widened as though she had just remembered something . "But how did you get in, Master? I ced protective spells all over the ce that night¡ª"

    Chan¡¯er¡¯s mouth clicked shut the moment Ao Wushuang raised a brow at her .

    "I¡¯m your master," Ao Wushuang said . "You think those petty tricks of yours can actually stop me?"

    Chan¡¯er blushed and shook her head meekly .

    Ao Wushuang huffed out in annoyance . "And you two have to pick tonight of all nights to cause trouble too . " At Chan¡¯er¡¯s confused gaze, Ao Wushuang decided to exin further . "I decided to take a break from watching you two tonight . Left you two alone after you guys left for Shengyuan Hotel . I never really liked that ce anyway . " Ao Wushuang shook her head . "I wasn¡¯t even in the city when I saw the Heavenly Thunder strike down from the sky . But when I did, I knew right away that one of you must be in trouble . So I flew back into the city as quickly as I can . " Ao Wushuang red at Chan¡¯er . "Trust you to give away a talisman of the most powerful spell in existence to aplete amateur . What were you even thinking?"

    Chan¡¯er puffed out her cheeks and pouted . "S- Sorry Master . "

    Ao Wushuang sighed . "Never mind..."

    Maybe it was meant to happen .

    "Master?"

    "Yes?"

    "Why didn¡¯t you reveal yourself to me?" Chan¡¯er asked . "We could¡¯ve talked . I... I missed you..."

    Ao Wushuang smiled wryly . "I have my reasons . "

    "Oh . "

    "When I first started watching you, I wasn¡¯t nning to show myself at all . " Ao Wushuang smirked at Chan¡¯er . "But when I saw the Heir¡¯s miserable attempt to pass the Zhuji phase, I knew I had to separate the two of you . " Ao Wushuang red at Chan¡¯er . "I just didn¡¯t expect it would take a bolt of Heavenly Thunder to prompt me into action . "

    "But... But... Still, you could¡¯ve stepped in and helped Yundong pass the Zhuji phase . . . "

    Amused, Ao Wushuang pinched Chan¡¯er¡¯s cheek . "Nonsense . Okay, well, it is technically possible for me to help him pass the Zhuji phase, but then it would be pointless . "

    "Huh?" Chan¡¯er frowned . "Why would it be pointless?"

    Ao Wushuang released Chan¡¯er¡¯s cheek . "His Vital Orb wouldn¡¯t be pure if he receives external help during the process of its formation . In fact, no Vital Orb obtained by artificial means can be pure . " Ao Wushuang paused to look at Chan¡¯er . "In Cultivation jargon, any Vital Orb that isn¡¯t pure is known as a pseudo Vital Orb . "

    Chan¡¯er sat up in attention . "You never told me this before, Master . "

    Ao Wushuang smiled . "That¡¯s because there wasn¡¯t a need to . Why would I want my disciple to end up with a pseudo Vital Orb?"

    Chan¡¯er had a thoughtful look on her face . "Are they that terrible though?"

    Ao Wushuang sighed . "I suppose having a pseudo Vital Orb is better than having no Vital Orb at all . But there¡¯s a fundamental w in pseudo Vital Orbs . " Ao Wushuang gave Chan¡¯er a stern look . "Theyck structural integrity and can be destroyed with ease . A master Cultivator have ways to destroy pseudo Vital Orbs without even breaking a sweat . And I have a feeling that the Jindan¡¯s Heir will be crossing paths with a lot of master Cultivators in the future . "

    Chan¡¯er stared down at herp . "Oh . "

    "Which is why it is absolutely crucial for him to establish a solid foundation in the art of Cultivation," Ao Wushuang said earnestly . "His Vital Orb must be strong . Otherwise his talents¡ªand the Jindan, of course¡ªwould be wasted on him . "

    "Um... Is that what you meant when you said you were trying to save us both, Master?"

    "You think?" Ao Wushuang rolled her eyes in exasperation . "He¡¯ll never pass the Zhuji phase with you hanging around him every minute of the day . Not in a million years!"

    Chan¡¯er¡¯s head shot up . "What?"

    "Do you know the real reason he failed his first attempt?" Ao Wushuang snorted, then gave Chan¡¯er a pointed look . "Lust, Chan¡¯er, lust . His lust for you is what led him to failure . "

    At Chan¡¯er¡¯s nk stare, Ao Wushuang exined further, "Passing the Zhuji phase requires the Cultivator to sustain the state of Ishvara until their Vital Orb fully forms . But sustaining Ishvara is no easy feat, especially if done over a long period of time . Your personal god would spent the whole time tempting you with all kinds of worldly desires . " Ao Wushuang paused and pinned Chan¡¯er with a hard stare . "Your presence will just give his personal god extra ammunition to be used against him!"

    Chan¡¯er visibly deted . "So it¡¯s all my fault . . . " she said sadly . "It¡¯s my fault that he failed . . . "

    "Yes," Ao Wushuang said . A secondter, she added, "Well, partly, anyway . "

    Chan¡¯er fiddled with an invisible piece of lint on her skirt .

    A momentter, Ao Wushuang sighed . "The man desires you, Chan¡¯er . And that¡¯s why I want you to stay with me for now . At least until he passes the Zhuji phase . "

    Suddenly, Chan¡¯er¡¯s head shot up . "Wait! B- But what about the Heavenly Thunder? Wouldn¡¯t he receive divine punishment if he passes the Zhuji phase?"

    "Yes, but I¡¯ll deal with that when the timees," Ao Wushuang said .

    A soft weight bumped against Ao Wushuang¡¯s chest . Before she knew it, Chan¡¯er¡¯s arms were wrapped around her neck . "Yayyyyy!!! Yayyyy!!! I knew it, Master! I knew you¡¯re the best person in the world!"

    Ao Wushuang grinned and stroked Chan¡¯er¡¯s spine . "One moment you wanted to die for your lover, and then the next, you¡¯re iming that I¡¯m the best person in the world?"

    Chan¡¯er rubbed her face against her chest . "Master! Stop making fun of Chan¡¯er already!"

    Affection bloomed inside Ao Wushuang¡¯s chest . However, Chan¡¯er ended their hug before Ao Wushuang could say another word .

    "Master! Master! There¡¯s something I have to tell you!"

    Ao Wushuang quirked a brow . "What is it?"

    Chan¡¯er beamed . "Yundong is a super genius!"

    Ao Wushuang nodded . "I don¡¯t deny that he has a lot of potential . I realized that already when I found out that he managed to grab Ruan Hongling¡¯s damask . "

    "No, no, no . " Chan¡¯er shook her head adorably . "He visualized nine lotus thrones in a row during Guanxiang!"

    Ao Wushuang thought her brows were about to shoot off her forehead when she heard that . "What did you say? Nine lotus thrones??"

    Chan¡¯er bobbed her head up and down . "Mmm! It¡¯s true, Master! It¡¯s true!"

    Ao Wushuang felt her lips moving on her own . "That¡¯s . . . impressive . . . "

    Impressive? More like insane .

    Chan¡¯er cheered . "I know right!"

    Nine lotus thrones in a row . . . Heavens above .

    Secondster, Ao Wushuang was brought out of her thoughts by a series of sharp, insistent tugs on her arm .

    Chan¡¯er was staring back at her expectantly . "Master, Master! Will you teach Yundong? Please?" Chan¡¯er¡¯s eyes sparkled . "Yundong is very smart! He¡¯ll pick up whatever you teach him quickly! Please, teach him, Master!"

    Ao Wushuang shook her head wryly . "While I agree that someone has to teach him, I have to decline . "

    Chan¡¯er¡¯s face fell . "What? Why?"

    "Because I¡¯m not qualified to teach him . "

    "But you know so many powerful spells!"

    Ao Wushuang sighed . "I know my own abilities, Chan¡¯er . It¡¯s true that I have a huge arsenal of spells at my disposal, and that I can perform spells from all five elements . Even so, I¡¯m more of a Jack of all trades, but master of none, you know? Ick specialization in my knowledge . I think . . . " Ao Wushuang hesitated for a moment . "I think his talent would be wasted if I teach him . "

    Chan¡¯er gazed at Ao Wushuang with piteous eyes . "But who else is qualified to teach him if not you, Master?"

    Ao Wushuang smiled . "Well, you¡¯ve met her already . "

    Chan¡¯er frowned . "Who?"

    Ao Wushuang sighed . "The Cultivator who is most qualified to teach the Jindan¡¯s Heir . You¡¯ve met her already . . . "

    Ao Wushuang could hear the gears turning in Chan¡¯er¡¯s head . Secondster, Chan¡¯er shouted . "Y- You mean . . . "

    "Yes, that¡¯s her . " Ao Wushuang chuckled, then sighed . She stared out into the darkness of theke . "Actually, that person did tell me about this ten years ago . . . "

    "I don¡¯t understand, Master . Who told you what?"

    Just like that, the familiar tug returned to Ao Wushuang¡¯s chest . Enough! Why couldn¡¯t she stop thinking about him? Even after all these years?

    Ao Wushuang shook her head, disgusted with herself . "Forget it, Chan¡¯er . Let¡¯s not dwell in the past . Anyway, you don¡¯t have to worry about your lover . He has his own path to follow . But rest assured that as long as he managed to pass the Zhuji phase and survive the divine punishment, the amount of potential he has will be insurmountable . He will be a great Cultivator . Far greater than you and I will ever be..." Ao Wushuang sighed . "And when the timees . . . " Ao Wushuang trailed off .

    "What is it, Master?"

    Ao Wushuang smiled at Chan¡¯er . "My mind will be at ease when I hand you over to him in the future . "

    A panicked look spread across Chan¡¯er¡¯s face . "Master, are you abandoning me? You don¡¯t want Chan¡¯er anymore?!"

    Ao Wushuang burst intoughter . "Gosh! Minutes ago you hated me for separating you two, and now you¡¯re begging me not to abandon you? You really are something else, Chan¡¯er . "

    Chan¡¯er lowered her head quickly, but not before Ao Wushuang caught the shy look on her face . After a while, Chan¡¯er peeked up at her from below hershes . "Umm . . . Master . . . ?"

    Ao Wushuang smiled . "Yes, Chan¡¯er?"

    "C- Can I . . . Can I go say goodbye to Yundong properly . . . ?"

    Ao Wushuang regarded Chan¡¯er for a moment, then released a long sigh . Young love...

    "Fine . Go . But don¡¯t take too long . "

    Surprise flitted across Chan¡¯er¡¯s face . "Really?"

    "Yes . Besides . . . " Ao Wushuang looked out into theke again . "I don¡¯t want him to end up hating me . Otherwise . . . in the future . . . "

    "Future? What¡¯s going to happen in the future, Master?"

    Ao Wushuang shook her head . "It¡¯s nothing . Just go . And make sure you keep it short . "

    "Yayy!" Chan¡¯er vanished in a sh of green light .

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s gaze drifted to theke once more . Darkness suffused theke . Tiny ripples swept across theke¡¯s surface, reminding her of the halcyon days she¡¯d spent with...

    But he¡¯s gone . He¡¯s no longer here .

    Green light shed beside her . Ao Wushuang turned and saw Chan¡¯er staring back at her with pleading eyes .

    Ao Wushuang gave her a strange look . "I know I told you to be quick . . . But I didn¡¯t mean this quick . "

    A blush crept up Chan¡¯er¡¯s neck, ending at the tip of her ears . "Master . . . "

    God, this girl is so transparent . . . Ao Wushuang rolled her eyes . Clearly she wants something from me...

    It was the same look Chan¡¯er had back in the mountains when she¡¯d begged Ao Wushuang to give her extra y time after her lessons .

    "What do you want?"

    Chan¡¯er raised her gaze . "Hehehe . . . Master... Remember that magical weapon you promised to give mest time?"

    It took merely a few seconds for Ao Wushuang to connect the dots .

    "You . . . " Ao Wushuang gasped .

    Well . She did not see thising .

    Secondster, Ao Wushuangughed . "Boy . . . You really have it bad for him, Chan¡¯er . . . You want to give the Fox Zen School¡¯s treasure over to him?"

    Chan¡¯er blushed heavily and fiddled with her sleeves . "Is that . . . Is that not okay?"

    Ao Wushuang rubbed her temples a few times, then sighed . "Fine... Give it to him then . No one back at the Fox Zen School can wield it anyway . With his strength and talents, he might actually be able to use it to its fullest potential . "

    "Yayyyy!!!!" Chan¡¯er jumped around on the grass .

    Ao Wushuang shook her head in amusement . "Tsk! Settle down . . . " She did a hand sign, after which arge, colorful silk pouch materialized in front of Chan¡¯er . "It¡¯s in there . "

    Chan¡¯er stopped jumping and took the pouch gratefully .

    Ao Wushuang gave her a stern look . "Remember to be quick . And avoid too much physical intimacy, you hear? Otherwise you¡¯ll just affect his training . "

    Chan¡¯er nodded . "Mmm!"

    ***

    Li Yundong had no idea how long he¡¯d been kneeling on the ground . Hell, he wondered if he was even breathing .

    No . No he wasn¡¯t breathing . He was drowning . Drowning in a sea of emptiness, dejection, and self-pity . Weak . He was f*cking weak .

    There was a green sh somewhere nearby .

    "Hey!!!" Someone shouted . He recognized that voice . But sadly, it was only Ruan Hongling . It wasn¡¯t the voice he yearned to hear again, to hear forever and ever .

    Footsteps sounded behind him . A familiar scent assaulted his nostrils . Great, now I¡¯m imagining things, he thought as he slowly turned around .

    It was a magical moment when he saw Su Chan walking up to him . It was like he could finally breathe properly again .

    "P- Princess?" Try as he might, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t prevent his voice from trembling . "Y- You¡¯re back . . . "

    Su Chan broke off into a sprint and then threw herself into his arms . By the time they both tumbled to the ground, Su Chan had turned into a crying mess again . "Beloved . . . " Su Chan wailed . "I missed you! I missed you so much!"

    Li Yundong shook his head in a fruitless attempt to clear the fog in his head . "B- But how did youe back?"

    Su Chan climbed off his body and kneeled beside him . "Master let mee back!" she said, beaming through her tears .

    Joy and relief coursed through Li Yundong . "She¡¯s no longer taking you away?" Then, Li Yundong steeled his heart . "No! You need to stay away from me! It¡¯s too dangerous to be around me! You need to¡ª"

    Su Chan mped her hand over his mouth and shook her head . For the next fifteen minutes or so, Li Yundong listened to Su Chan as she recounted everything her master had told her: his lust for Su Chan being the cause of his failing to pass the Zhuji phase; Ao Wushuang¡¯s n to temporarily separate them until he passed the Zhuji phase; pseudo Vital Orbs (what the heck?); Zi Yuan being his new teacher (God damn it, seriously?) .

    Su Chan even told him that Ao Wushuang would figure out a way to help him survive the Heavenly Thunder . Which didn¡¯t sound all that reassuring, but it was still better than nothing .

    "Yundong . . . " Su Chan took his hands . "Don¡¯t worry about anything else when I¡¯m not around, okay? Just focus on passing the Zhuji phase and surviving the Heavenly Thunder . I¡¯lle look for you when everything¡¯s over!"

    Li Yundong smiled and nodded . He still didn¡¯t know how to aplish the second part, but he figured it must involve making himself stronger . The stronger he became, the more likely it was for him to survive the Heavenly Thunder . There was no arguing with that logic; it just made sense .

    Li Yundong exhaled lengthily . "She¡¯s right, you know?"

    Su Chan frowned . "What?"

    Li Yundong shook his head . "Your master . She¡¯s right in everything she said about me . I¡¯m still just a weakling . I can¡¯t even protect myself let alone protect you . "

    "But you¡¯ll get stronger!" Su Chan dered confidently . "You might be weak now, but one day you¡¯ll be the greatest Cultivator to ever live! Master thinks so too! And... And I have faith in you!" Su Chan patted her chest . "I believe in you here!"

    Tears sprang to Li Yundong¡¯s eyes, but he held them back . "Mmm . I . . . I¡¯ll work hard!"

    "Also . . . I want you to have this, Yundong . . . "

    Su Chan performed a strange hand sign .

    Suddenly, a colorful bag appeared out of thin air . The bag wasrge and about as tall as him .

    "What¡¯s that?" Li Yundong asked .

    Instead of answering, Su Chan reached into a pouch and pulled out a glowing object .

    Li Yundong raised his hands to cover his eyes . When the glow subsided, Li Yundong lowered his hands and saw a ck tessen¡ªa war fan¡ªabout as tall as a human being .

    Wait a minute...

    He had seen this tessen before . It was the same fan that his personal god had wielded in one of its six hands!

    Su Chan lugged the tessen towards him .

    When Li Yundong took it from her, Su Chan patted its surface a few times . "This is for you, Yundong . You can use it to defend yourself in the future . "

    Li Yundong picked it up and swung it gently above his head before putting it back down . "It¡¯s quite heavy," he remarked .

    "This is the magical weapon left to us by Grandmaster Pan Shi, the founder of the Fox Zen School . It¡¯s called The Fan of Seven Treasures . " A pensive look formed on Su Chan¡¯s face . "Grandmaster Pan Shi has defeated a lot of powerful foes with it!"

    "B- But . . . " Li Yundong shook his head . "It isn¡¯t right for me to take this, princess . This fan belongs to your school . You can¡¯t just give it to me, aplete outsider¡ª"

    Li Yundong was silenced by Su Chan¡¯s raised finger . "The truth is that nobody in the Fox Zen School has enough strength to wield it to its full potential . It would be a total waste if we keep it locked away in the vaults . . . Please have it, Yundong . "

    "But . . . "

    "Please? For me?"

    Li Yundong stared at the tessen for a moment . "Okay then . . . I¡¯ll keep it safe for now until we can return it to your school . "

    Su Chan seemed satisfied with his answer as she beamed happily at him . "Yay! Hey, have you forgotten something, Yundong? What¡¯s mine is yours, and what¡¯s yours is mine! Remember?"

    Li Yundong gave her a sly look . "What¡¯s yours is mine, huh? You sure about that?"

    A quizzical look formed on Su Chan¡¯s face . Secondster, she gasped and started smacking his arm . "Meanie, meanie, meanie! Not the Hello Keedee!" Su Chan stomped her foot . "T- The money is m- mine! I don¡¯t care! You¡¯re not allowed to touch Hello Keedee!"

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Fine, fine, I¡¯ll leave the piggy bank alone, happy?" Then, he reached over and ruffled her hair . So soft and smooth . . . It felt really nice to touch her hair . However, his smile faded when a sad thought hit him . Guess I won¡¯t be doing that for a while, huh?

    Su Chan¡¯s shoulders shook . "I don¡¯t want to leave . . . Yundong . . . I don¡¯t wanna leave . . . "

    Just like that, the sting returned to Li Yundong¡¯s eyes again . "It¡¯s alright, princess . Maybe it¡¯ll only take a few days?" he said, keeping his tone light .

    Su Chan wiped her tears with the back of her hand . "Remember to think of me when I¡¯m not around, okay?"

    Li Yundong wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her forward until she was flushed against him . Then, he lowered his head and captured her lips with his own .

    After what felt like forever, Li Yundong pulled back, and their gazes locked .

    "Of course I¡¯ll think of you, silly," Li Yundong said . "How is it possible for me to not think of you when you¡¯re already inside here?"

    With a teary smile, Li Yundong raise his hand and tapped the left side of his chest, where his heart was .

 Chapter 157

    Chapter 157

    <h4>The Journey is Afoot</h4>

    Su Chan disappeared in a sh of green light, marking the end of their brief reunion . Despite the circumstances, Li Yundong¡¯s heart felt lighter after the talk they had . Su Chan¡¯s words of reassurance along with all the promises they made to each other had breathed a new life into Li Yundong, filling the void left behind by Su Chan¡¯s absence . Now he had something to look forward to . He had a goal¡ªto be stronger .

    After staring off into space for God knows how long, Li Yundong finally turned away from the field, where the remnants of his wrathy scattered . He expected to feel at least a little bit of remorse over He Shao¡¯s death, but strangely, the feelings of guilt never came . In fact, the whole experience was rather freeing . At least he could now rest assured that Deng Yu and Deng Jiao didn¡¯t die for nothing; their deaths had triggered a chain of events that eventually rid the world of one evil son of a bitch .

    Rest in peace, my friends . . .

    Li Yundong made his way back towards the road . Zhou Qin¡¯s Audi A6 was parked beside the guard rail, and Zhou Qin herself was leaning against her car, staring at him from the top of the field with a guarded expression .

    Li Yundong had no doubt that Zhou Qin had witnessed the whole thunder-summoning shebang from start to finish . What¡¯s interesting was that she didn¡¯t seem shocked at all . It was like: hey, you just summoned a bolt of lightning from the sky and then barbequed a man alive with it; okay, cool, now let¡¯s just chill and act like nothing happened; by the way, can we go now? Coz I¡¯m starving .

    Either Zhou Qin had nerves of steel, or she had the best poker face in the history of poker faces .

    Hell, it was probably both .

    Li Yundong leaped over the guard rail andnded in front of Zhou Qin .

    They stared at each other for a moment . Zhou Qin didn¡¯t smile at him like she used to when they see each other .

    "I¡¯m sorry to drag you into this, Zhou Qin," he said .

    Zhou Qin regarded him for a few more seconds, then released a soft sigh . "So what are you gonna do next?"

    Good question . What was he going to do? "Bing stronger" was far too vague to help hime up with an immediate action n .

    "I know I should turn myself in," Li Yundong said, shaking his head . "I killed a man after all . " Li Yundong gave Zhou Qin a look . "But I¡¯m not going to do that because Su Chan is still waiting for me . "

    Zhou Qinughed as though she¡¯d just been told a funny joke . "Trust me, it¡¯s pointless to turn yourself in . " Zhou Qin stoppedughing . "The prosecutors won¡¯t have enough physical evidence to build a case against you . "

    Li Yundong stared at Zhou Qin . "Seriously? I mean... hello? I just chased after the guy¡¯s car, all the while yelling death threats at him . " Li Yundong sighed . "Shit... There¡¯re probably traffic cams everywhere . I¡¯m pretty sure at least a few of them caught the chase . "

    Zhou Qin smiled . "Even so, the case would crumble if that¡¯s the only evidence they have against you . " Zhou Qin¡¯s smile faltered and was reced by a somber expression . "That is why I tried to stop you earlier . If you killed him with your bare hands, you¡¯d probably be locked up for the rest of your life . "

    Li Yundong pondered Zhou Qin¡¯s words for a moment . "Yeah . He Shao¡¯s family is powerful and influential . "

    Zhou Qin nodded . "Even if you leave the country and hide overseas, they still have the means to hunt you down and put you on murder trial . "

    "Well . . . I did beat him up . But that was only after we got here . " Li Yundong gestured towards the field below them .

    Also, beating him up was definitely an understatement . Li Yundong had pretty much broken that scumbag¡¯s body before killing him with the lightning . He had made He Shao¡¯s final moments a living hell before sending him straight to hell where he belonged .

    He Shao deserved hell for all the atrocious things he¡¯d done .

    "Oh, but this is where everything gets interesting . " There was a twinkle in Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes . "You did beat him up, that¡¯s true . But, there is no evidence to prove that you did . "

    Li Yundong stared at Zhou Qin . Is she just trying to make me feel better?

    As though sensing his skepticism, Zhou Qin raised her index finger . "Just hear me out for a second . One, there are no surveince cameras around this area, which means there are no footages that the prosecutors can use to prove that you¡¯ve physically assaulted He Shao . And two . . . " Zhou Qin¡¯s expression changed from its usual aloofness to something different . She almost seemed . . . intrigued . "He Shao¡¯s body was destroyed, so no autopsy can be done . And without a full autopsy report, there¡¯s no way to prove that he was assaulted before the . . . " Zhou Qin gestured at the sky . "The . . . you know . "

    Li Yundong chuckled wryly . "Sorry you had to see all that . "

    Zhou Qin shook her head as though she was trying to clear some kind of mental fog .

    "How on earth did you pull that off?"

    "It¡¯s . . . " Li Yundong raised his hands, then let them drop after a few seconds . "Well, how did I dodge seven bullets in a row? I mean, I can try to exin them, but it¡¯ll probably still sound like nonsense to you . " Li Yundong huffed out a breath . "Regardless, I don¡¯t think they¡¯re going to let me off the hook that easily . I¡¯m still linked to He Shao¡¯s death whether I like it or not . And I¡¯m sure those sleazywyers would find a way to twist everything around to make me look guilty . "

    Not that he wasn¡¯t guilty .

    Zhou Qin smirked . "Not when you have this . " Zhou Qin pulled out her phone and showed him the screen .

    The screen showed He Shao lying on the ground, staring fearfully up the sky . Secondster, the screen shed in white and blue as a huge bolt of lightning engulfed He Shao¡¯s body . The video ended seconds after the lightning disappeared .

    "I¡¯m going to have to confiscate that . . . " Zi Yuan¡¯s cold voice sounded from somewhere . Li Yundong looked away from the phone and saw Zi Yuan standing on the other side of the car, ring at Zhou Qin . "I¡¯ve made it clear that I don¡¯t want any of this on record . "

    Zhou Qin put her phone away and turned around to face Zi Yuan . "This footage can be used to Li Yundong¡¯s advantage . " Zhou Qin squared her shoulders . "If Li Yundong is forced to go to trial, this footage is our best bet to get the judge to absolve him of any foul y . " Zhou Qin turned to Li Yundong again . "Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll make sure that things don¡¯te to that . "

    Zi Yuan didn¡¯t seem fully convinced . "And what if people start questioning how anyone can summon lightning from the sky?"

    Zhou Qin smirked . "Who says the lightning was summoned by anyone at all?" Zhou Qin shrugged . "For all we know, the Heavens have decided to punish He Shao for all his evil deeds by striking him with a bolt of lightning . "

    Zi Yuan frowned . "But¡ª"

    "I didn¡¯t appear in the video," Li Yundong added . "There¡¯s no proof that I summoned the lightning . "

    "Exactly," Zhou Qin said .

    Zi Yuan scowled . "That¡¯s still not good enough . A Cultivator who sees the footage would recognize the Heavenly Thunder immediately and know that a spell is involved . I can¡¯t have that . "

    Zhou Qin sighed . "Like I said, I¡¯ll make sure that things don¡¯te to a point where we have to reveal the footage inside a courtroom . "

    The staring match between Zi Yuan and Zhou Qinsted for a long while before Zi Yuan ended it . "Hongling!"

    Ruan Hongling stepped up from behind Zi Yuan . "Yes, Elder Sister?"

    "Status report . "

    "We¡¯re clear," Ruan Hongling said . "No eye-witnesses spotted when I scouted the area . But I did see police vehicles headed this way . "

    Zhou Qin nodded as though she¡¯d been expecting it . "I told them to seal off the area for half an hour beforeing in . "

    "You¡¯ve been extremely helpful," Zi Yuan said, looking at Zhou Qin . "Thank you . "

    "It¡¯s no big deal," said Zhou Qin .

    The conversation suddenly died down . Secondster, Li Yundong realized that everyone was staring at him . He sighed . "What?"

    "You shoulde with me," Zi Yuan said . "It¡¯s best to remove you from the scene before the police arrive . A Cultivator should avoid getting on the wrong side of thew . Any involvement withwsuits and court cases will not be tolerated! That is a cardinal rule that every Cultivator should follow . "

    Great . More rules . So much fun .

    There was a pause . Zi Yuan was no longer looking at him but at Zhou Qin instead . "And I trust you¡¯ll find a way to... mitigate things?" Zi Yuan asked .

    Mitigate . Li Yundong was pretty sure she meant cover up .

    Zhou Qin smirked . "Consider it done . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . "That¡¯s Zhou Qin for you . Confident as always . "

    Zi Yuan ignored his remark . "Now let¡¯s get out of here . " Zi Yuan held out her right arm . "Put your hand on my wrist . "

    Wariness crept in . Li Yundong stared at Zi Yuan hesitantly .

    "Hurry up!" Zi Yuan snapped . "We don¡¯t have all day . "

    Why was Zi Yuan even helping him now? Just days ago, the Zhengyi School wanted him dead! Also, why did Ao Wushuang say that Zi Yuan would be his teacher starting from now? What the heck was going on?

    Regardless, he had to admit that staying here wasn¡¯t an option . Besides, Su Chan seemed pretty okay with him being under Zi Yuan¡¯s tutge . And since he trusted Su Chan with his life, he decided to roll with it .

    Li Yundong took a deep breath and ced his right hand on Zi Yuan¡¯s wrist .

    Zi Yuan turned her head to look at Zhou Qin . "Do you want toe with us?"

    Zhou Qin shook her head . "I¡¯ll stay and handle the cops . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Just remember that discretion is key . "

    Zhou Qin smiled . "I know . "

    Zi Yuan returned Zhou Qin¡¯s smile, and it struck Li Yundong right then how alike Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin were: calm;posed; elegant; dignified; badass chicks who exuded confidence and poise in spades .

    If Zhou Qin was the Ice Queen of the mortal world, then Zi Yuan was probably the Ice Queen of the Cultivation world . Those two were two sides of the same coin .

    "Zhou Qin," Li Yundong said . "Thank you for everything you¡¯ve done for me . "

    Zhou Qin smiled wanly . "You¡¯re acting like this is goodbye . " She shrugged . "It¡¯s not . "

    Li Yundong gave Zhou Qin a smile, then nodded at Zi Yuan .

    "Hongling . Let¡¯s go," Zi Yuan said .

    "Where to?" Ruan Hongling asked .

    Li Yundong was surprised by Zi Yuan¡¯s answer .

    "New Hongsheng District . "

    ***

    A wave of sadness washed over Li Yundong when he opened the door to his apartment . As expected, the apartment felt totally empty without Su Chan . Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling had dropped him off in front of his block earlier . Before they parted ways, Ruan Hongling had passed him the tessen Su Chan had given him . He was honestly surprised that Ruan Hongling hadn¡¯t at least tried to trade the tessen for the damask . Maybe she took pity on him . Or maybe she wasn¡¯t as terrible as he originally thought .

    Li Yundong dragged the tessen through the doorway and set it down beside the couch . Darkness permeated the apartment . Somehow, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t even summon the strength to switch on the lights . Truth be told, he¡¯d rather not . Seeing everything inside the apartment¡ªthe couch, the TV, those cute Hello Kitty slippers¡ªwould just remind him of Su Chan¡¯s absence .

    He walked past the living room and opened the sliding door . He stepped onto the balcony and then walked towards the railing . Tiannan City blinked back at him . When a light breeze tickled his face, Li Yundong decided to stop moping around and start doing something useful . He pushed away from the railing and went back into the apartment, leaving the sliding door open .

    After that, he went around the apartment to open the windows and sliding doors, deliberately leaving Su Chan¡¯s room untilst . Finally, he padded back into the living room and got into a meditative posture .

    Seconds after he closed his eyes, he heard a voice .

    "What do you think you¡¯re doing?"

    He opened his eyes and saw Ruan Hongling perched on the balcony¡¯s railing with one leg crossed over the other .

    Li Yundong shut his eyes again .

    "If this is about the damask, then you can have it back . " He sighed . "It¡¯s there on the coffee table . Take it and leave me alone . "

    "Are you trying to pass the Zhuji phase? Now?" Ruan Hongling said in a tone of disbelief . "Are you nuts?"

    Groaning inwardly, Li Yundong opened his eyes . "Is that a problem?"

    Ruan Hongling stared at him like he had suddenly grown ten heads . "Well, duh . " Ruan Hongling rolled her eyes . "You¡¯ll totally fail if you attempt it in your current state . "

    Annoyance red inside Li Yundong . "Why do you care anyway? I thought you¡¯d be happy to see me fail . " Li Yundong snorted . "Now please leave and stop bothering me . "

    "You ungrateful bastard . . . " Ruan Hongling growled . "I¡¯m warning you out of the kindness of my heart!"

    "Kindness?" Li Yundong snarled . "Have you forgotten what you did to Su Chan? You nearly killed her!"

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s feetnded on the balcony¡¯s floor . "You¡ª"

    A green sh lit up the balcony . The next thing he knew, Zi Yuan was there with one hand on Ruan Hongling¡¯s shoulder . "What is the matter with you two? Geez . " Zi Yuan shook her head . "Grow up . "

    Li Yundong shot Ruan Hongling an apologetic nce, then sighed . "Look, I apologize for my behavior . But now really isn¡¯t a good time, okay?"

    Zi Yuan stepped into the apartment without waiting for an invitation . Behind her, Ruan Hongling followed with a dark scowl .

    Li Yundong got up from the floor and gestured at the couch . "Um . . . Please, take a seat . " He nced towards the kitchen . "Do you want something to drink . . . or . . . ?"

    "No, thank you," Zi Yuan said, taking a seat on the couch .

    Li Yundong turned to Ruan Hongling next . "What about you? Drinks? Ice-cream?"

    The thought of ice-creams brought a stab of pain in Li Yundong¡¯s heart . Su Chan loved ice-creams . F*ck . Was there anything in the apartment that didn¡¯t remind him of his little chipmunk?

    Li Yundong kept staring at Ruan Hongling, waiting for her answer . Ruan Hongling¡¯s scowl deepened .

    Guess that¡¯s a no, then .

    "I know this is a difficult time for you," Zi Yuan said gently . "You want to pass the Zhuji phase quickly and then survive the Heavenly Thunder so that you can reunite with Su Chan . I get that . "

    Li Yundong sighed and lowered himself to the floor . "But?"

    "But rushing things isn¡¯t the right way," Zi Yuan said . "In fact, it¡¯ll only make things worse . "

    Li Yundong stared down at his empty hands . He kept quiet . He didn¡¯t know what else to say .

    "Hongling was right to say that you¡¯ll fail," Zi Yuan continued . "You aren¡¯t in the right state of mind to pass the Zhuji phase . Right now you¡¯re still struggling with feelings of uncertainty, anger, sadness, and frustration . All these emotions can be used against you when you try to sustain Ishvara . Do you understand?"

    Li Yundong sighed . "Yeah . . . "

    "In any endeavor in Cultivation, peace of mind is crucial for sess," Zi Yuan said, pausing slightly . "There is a concept in Buddhism called the purification of the six senses . Have you ever heard of that?"

    Li Yundong shook his head .

    "Well, in simple terms, it means being in a state of mind where you are free from worldly troubles . It is with this state of mind that you¡¯ll be most likely to pass the Zhuji phase . "

    Li Yundong took a deep breath . "So you¡¯re saying that I just have to sort out my mind before I try again?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head . "I wouldn¡¯t even be here if it were that simple . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "Okay . What else do I have to do?"

    "Your Qi reserve is vast . " Zi Yuan leaned back in the couch and crossed her legs . "The amount of Qi you have is . . . " She shared a look with Ruan Hongling . " . . . phenomenal . Plus, the Jindan has made your Qi much more powerful . Basically, you now possess one of the most powerful types of Qi in the world, and you have it in spades . " She looked into Li Yundong¡¯s eyes . "I¡¯m starting to see why you are the Jindan¡¯s Heir . "

    "Why?"

    "The Jindan¡¯s effects dependrgely on its bearer . Give it to a weakling, and the effects would be mediocre . With your vast Qi reserve, you can bring out the Jindan¡¯s full potential . However . . . " Zi Yuan gave Li Yundong a pointed look . "You aren¡¯t in the optimal state to pass the Zhuji phase . Right now, you have one major problem . "

    Li Yundong raised a brow . "Other than my state of mind?"

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Your Dantianscks structural integrity . We need to condition your Dantians . Otherwise your Vital Orb would be weak even if you managed to pass the Zhuji phase . "

    My Dantians? Li Yundong shook his head . "Sorry . But I don¡¯t follow . "

    Zi Yuan rose from the couch and said, "Come with me . "

    Puzzled, Li Yundong stood up and followed Zi Yuan to the balcony . On the balcony, Zi Yuan did a few hand signs and muttered a brief incantation . Zi Yuan maintained the hand sign until¡ª

    Holy f*cking shit! Li Yundong ducked when arge object flew across the railing . There was a soft thud . When Li Yundong took a closer look at the object, he was once again taken by surprise . "Hey . . . Isn¡¯t that¡ª" He quickly moved his Qi to the Shenting and nced out the railing . He zoomed and zoomed until he located the gazebo near New Hongsheng District¡¯s gates . A few marble tables had been set up inside the gazebo, but one of them was missing a table top .

    Li Yundong zoomed out and red at Zi Yuan . "Great . Now I have to worry about vandalism charges," he grumbled . "So much for not getting on the wrong side of thew . "

    A ghost of a smile flitted across on Zi Yuan¡¯s lips .

    "Never mind that," she said . "Now . I want you to punch this piece of marble . "

    Li Yundong eyed the b carefully, then nodded . "Sure . "

    It was just a block of marble . How hard could it be?

 Chapter 158

    Chapter 158

    <h4>Square One</h4>

    "So I just punch it here?" Li Yundong tapped the smooth surface of the marble block .

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Yes . "

    Okay then... Li Yundong raised his fist and¡ª

    "On second thought, no . "

    Li Yundong lowered his fist and shot Zi Yuan a questioning nce .

    Zi Yuan waved her hand at him . "Take three steps backwards," she said . "And use your Qi . "

    Li Yundong frowned and looked towards the marble block again . But it¡¯s just a marble block... He could definitely crack it without getting his Qi involved .

    "Don¡¯t worry," Zi Yuan said . "At your current level of Qi control? I doubt you¡¯ll even be able to cause a crack . "

    Li Yundong whipped his head around so quickly that he nearly cricked his neck . He didn¡¯t like Zi Yuan¡¯s disparaging tone any more than he liked the smug look on her face .

    I¡¯ll show you . . .

    Li Yundong gritted his teeth and backed away three steps . Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and lowered his stance . When he felt the familiar ball of heat at his lower Dantian, he moved his Qi to his right palm, and then curled his fingers to form a fist .

    "Hyahh!"

    The marble block trembled as marble chips scattered across the floor . Li Yundong yanked his fist out of the hole he¡¯d just created on the marble surface .

    "How about that?" Li Yundong asked, turning around to face the two women . Secondster, he decided that he liked Ruan Hongling¡¯s reaction better . The girl was practically gaping as she inspected the damage he¡¯d done on the marble b . Not a crack my ass . He hadn¡¯t even used the Qi of his five Zangs yet .

    Zi Yuan, on the other hand, looked amused, like she was studying a child¡¯s drawing while trying toe up with something nice to say .

    "Hongling," Zi Yuan said after a while . "Flip it over . "

    Ruan Hongling rose to her feet and flipped the thick marble over and set it back down .

    Zi Yuan gave Li Yundong a pointed look, then took a step forward . "Now watch . "

    Zi Yuan raised her right palm and lightly tapped the marble block¡¯s smooth surface . There was a muffled thud, after which the marble block trembled and¡ª

    "Holy shit..." Li Yundong whispered, stepping towards the marble block to take a closer look .

    Zi Yuan¡¯s palm had sunk right into the block¡¯s surface without even cracking it, almost like she was pressing down on a fluffy pillow . And when Zi Yuan pulled out her palm, there was perfect palm print right at the center of the block . Li Yundong lifted the block and inspected the palm print . Indeed, there wasn¡¯t a single crack surrounding the palm print . And when he ran a finger through the indentation of the palm print, it felt smooth, as though the palm print was carved out .

    Li Yundong set the marble block back down . "How on earth did you do that?"

    Zi Yuan smiled . "Come . Let¡¯s talk inside . " She turned and walked back into the apartment .

    Li Yundong picked up the marble block and studied the palm print again . He couldn¡¯t deny it . This was some pretty amazing shit .

    "Yeah . Keep staring at it . Maybe you¡¯ll be able to improve your skills if you stare at it for twenty years . "

    Li Yundong red at Ruan Hongling, who was standing in front of the sliding door, smirking at him . The girl looked way too smug for his liking . Li Yundong dropped the marble block and stormed past Ruan Hongling into the living room .

    When he entered, Zi Yuan was already sitting on the couch, waiting for him .

    Li Yundong took a seat on the floor . "How?" Li Yundong pointed towards the balcony . "How did you do it?"

    Ruan Hongling had stepped into the apartment as well and was now closing the sliding door .

    "Qi is in a lot of ways simr to water," Zi Yuan said, looking at Li Yundong . "Water is one of the most powerful forces of nature . I¡¯m sure you know what water is capable of . "

    Images of strong waves and tsunamis came to mind .

    "Water is a versatile substance, you see," Zi Yuan said . "It can slip through cracks . It can take any form or any shape . It can nourish and heal . But, it can also be highly destructive . Even so, there are two ways in which water can be destructive, as illustrated by what you and I both did to the marble block just now . "

    Zi Yuan paused, probably to make sure that she had Li Yundong¡¯s full attention . Li Yundong sat up straighter and looked into her eyes .

    "The key difference lies in how our Qis behaved when we struck the marble block," Zi Yuan continued . "Yours is like a tidal wave, smashing through things and causing mass destruction . Mine, on the other hand, is like a concentrated but powerful jet capable of causing localized damage . " Zi Yuan raised a brow . "But of course, the destructive nature of your Qi is partly due to the Jindan¡¯s effect . Like I said earlier, the Jindan has enhanced the strength of your Qi to tremendous levels . In a way, it also made the destructive nature of your Qi more pronounced . However . . . " Zi Yuan paused again . "With the right training, you can alter the behavior of your Qi easily . "

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that he was still missing an important piece of the puzzle . He frowned, "There has to be some way to exin . . . " He gestured with his hands . "I mean some kind of . . . of . . . concept behind how Qi behaves . "

    Zi Yuan chuckled . "Very inquisitive . I like that . "

    "You mentioned something about the strength of Qi," Li Yundong said, stroking his chin . "I suppose that¡¯s a property of Qi, but I doubt that¡¯s the answer I¡¯m looking for . "

    "Your Qi¡¯s strength does y a role, yes," Zi Yuan said . "But you¡¯re right, its role is rather minor in this case . The key here is lies in the concentration of your Qi . "

    Li Yundong looked towards Zi Yuan . "Concentration as in . . . "

    "As in the amount of Qi upying per unit volume of space inside your meridians . "

    "Hmm . . . Interesting . "

    "Think back to the water analogy . Like I said, your Qi behaves like a tidal wave . And I¡¯m sure you know what a tidal wave does . It crashes and sweeps away anything in its path . Very destructive . But, don¡¯t forget that it also upies a lot of space . "

    Understanding washed over Li Yundong . "But if I can take the same amount of water and change its form . . . Like a steady stream of water . . . A beam . . . "

    "Exactly . The behavior of your Qi¡ªwhether it crashes or flows¡ªwill influence the overall effect it produces . " Zi Yuan smirked . "Before you punch the marble block just now . I deliberately provoked you . " Her smirk grew wider . "I got a rise out of you with that remark about you being unable to smash the block . And it worked . Your Qi responded to the state of your emotions by being turbulent instead of concentrated . "

    Li Yundong snorted . "Sneaky, I¡¯ll give you that . "

    Ruan Hongling sniggered . "Heh! So gullible!"

    Li Yundong opened his mouth to argue, but Zi Yuan beat him to it .

    "Oh? Is the pot calling the kettle ck now?" Zi Yuan said with a raised brow .

    Ruan Hongling blushed to the tip of her ears and quickly looked away .

    Li Yundong smirked, then looked towards Zi Yuan again . "Why is the concentration of Qi so important? I mean why bother if I can already do a huge amount of damage to my opponent with my Qi . "

    "For two reasons," Zi Yuan said . "One . Versatility . "

    Li Yundong stared at Zi Yuan for a moment, then sighed . "Well, I guess that makes sense in the grand scheme of things . "

    "It isn¡¯t hard to see that being versatile is advantageous no matter what situation you¡¯re in . After all, why would it be bad if you¡¯re able to do more things with your Qi? Don¡¯t get me wrong, though . I¡¯m not asking you to change your style . " Zi Yuan looked at him pointedly . "Ultimately, you can use your Qi however you want . What I¡¯m asking is for you to learn other ways to use your Qi . That way, you can control the behavior of your Qi and adapt to any situation . If the situation calls for mass destruction, then by all means, make your Qi as turbulent and destructive as possible . But in a situation where finesse¡ªlike during a covert operation, for example¡ªis required, knowing how to alter the behavior of your Qi will certainly help you . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "Fair enough . "

    "And now the second reason," Zi Yuan said . "Which is far more important than the first . "

    There was a pregnant pause . Anticipation filled Li Yundong¡¯s heart as he waited for Zi Yuan to continue .

    "The ability to concentrate your Qi ys a crucial role in the Zhuji phase . "

    Li Yundong sat up straighter . "How so?"

    "It affects the formation of your Vital Orb, you see . In particr, it affects the pureness and structural integrity of your Vital Orb . If your Qi isn¡¯t concentrated enough when you try to pass the Zhuji phase, you¡¯ll just end up with a Vital Orb that is weak and impure even if you do manage to pass the Zhuji phase . There¡¯s actually a term for such Vital Orbs . It¡¯s called¡ª"

    "Pseudo Vital Orbs," Li Yundong said .

    Zi Yuan seemed taken aback . "You know?"

    Li Yundong shrugged . Did it count as knowing if the knowledge was only a few hours old? He¡¯d only heard of the term when Su Chan was rying Ao Wushuang¡¯s words to him .

    "What do I have to do?" Li Yundong looked at Zi Yuan steadily . "How do I improve my Qi¡¯s concentration?"

    "You¡¯ll have to start from the beginning, of course . " Zi Yuan smiled at him .

    "From the beginning as in . . . "

    Zi Yuan smirked . "From the ground up . You¡¯ll have to learn basic Cultivation Theory . "

    Theory? Good God . This was like studying for finals all over again . Li Yundong shuddered .

    "Why? You scared?" Ruan Hongling taunted .

    "No," Li Yundong growled, ring at Ruan Hongling . Then, he turned to Zi Yuan . "Just wondering if it¡¯s really necessary to start from the beginning . "

    "Unfortunately yes," Zi Yuan said . "The concepts in Cultivation are interrted . One builds upon the other . "

    Right . Su Chan had mentioned that too .

    "First, I need you to know how everything works . But that¡¯s only possible if you have some basic understanding of Cultivation Theory . After that we can start conditioning your Dantians to perform more advanced Qi-control training . And yes . " Zi Yuan looked towards Li Yundong . "Learning how to increase the concentration of your Qi is the highest level of Qi control training, in case you¡¯re wondering . "

    "Right . "

    "Before this, you¡¯ve no doubt only learned how to mobilize your Qi . In other words, you¡¯ve only learned how to control the movement of your Qi, but not its behavior . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "Okay . Sounds good . " He pped his thigh and stood up . "When can we start?"

    Zi Yuan rose from the couch and, much to his surprise, began walking towards the balcony . "Tomorrow," she said, pausing at the sliding door .

    Ruan Hongling brushed past him and stepped onto the balcony .

    "Tomorrow?" Li Yundong snorted . "I can start right now . "

    Zi Yuan turned around to face him . "No . You need to rest tonight . "

    Li Yundong opened his mouth to ask why, but his mouth clicked shut when he saw Zi Yuan¡¯s arched brow .

    Right . Because he¡¯d just performed one of the most powerful spells in existence and could barely stand up afterwards . How had he forgotten about that so soon? Oops .

    Li Yundong sighed . "Fine . But what will we be doing tomorrow?"

    Zi Yuan smiled . "We¡¯ll be visiting a bookstore . "

    Li Yundong gaped at her . "A bookstore?"

    "Yes, Xin Hua Bookstore," Zi Yuan answered coolly . "How are you supposed to learn Cultivation Theory if you don¡¯t have the right book?"

    "A book?" Li Yundong chuckled in disbelief . "And Xin Hua Bookstore? Seriously? I can¡¯t believe the secrets to Cultivation can be found in a ce we buy crappyic books!"

    Ruan Hongling giggled but then quickly masked herughter with a cough . Li Yundong shot the girl an amused look and found that she was blushing .

    "Why¡¯s that so surprising?" Zi Yuan smiled at Li Yundong . "In fact, it¡¯s sold everywhere . "

    Li Yundong felt as though he had to pick up his jaw from the floor . "Okay . Which book are you even talking about?"

    If Kama Sutra was part of the book list, then this whole learning-Cultivation-Theory thing might not be as bad as he thought .

    Zi Yuan smirked . "You¡¯ll know tomorrow . Rest well . " Zi Yuan opened the sliding door and stepped onto the balcony . Ruan Hongling followed, and soon, the two women disappeared in two shes of green light .

    Li Yundong stared at the empty balcony and sighed . So it was back to square one, huh? Well, if he was beingpletely honest, square one was looking an awful lot like square zero at this point .

 Chapter 159

    Chapter 159

    <h4>Cultivation 101</h4>

    "Are you kidding me right now?" Li Yundong stared at the book in Zi Yuan¡¯s hand . They were now inside Xin Hua Bookstore at the medical section, where stacks of medical texts¡ªancient and modern¡ªfilled a shelf that was twice as tall as he was . Apparently, the Canon of the Yellow Thearch was the only book he needed to learn the basics of Cultivation . Nope . Not Kama Sutra . Dang .

    Zi Yuan smirked . "Why are you so surprised?"

    "It¡¯s a medical text!" And an ancient one at that .

    Okay, well, the text had its merits, he supposed . In fact, he was pretty convinced that the Canon was an effective cure for a chronic illness that had gued mankind for generations¡ªinsomnia .

    Please . Nobody could go one minute into the book without being lulled into sleep .

    But still . The Canon of the Yellow Thearch? Seriously?

    The Yellow Emperor wasn¡¯t even a Cultivator! How could he possibly write a book that held all the secrets to Cultivation?

    "It is a medical text, sure," Zi Yuan said casually . "But it also covers all the basic concepts in Cultivation Theory . Things like the Yin-Yang Principle, the five elements, pulse reading, Nutrition Theory, the anatomical properties of your meridians, even the theory behind Qi control . It¡¯s all in there . "

    Li Yundong took the book from Zi Yuan¡¯s hand and stared at it for a moment . "Fine," he said with a sigh . "I¡¯ll go through it carefully . "

    He¡¯d do anything to be stronger .

    "You are no doubt surprised that the ts of Cultivation can be found in an ancient medical text?" Zi Yuan asked, sounding amused .

    Li Yundong looked up from the book . "Well . I just find it a bit hard to reconcile with real-world facts, you see?"

    There was a loud snort, which sounded totally derisive and bitchy . Li Yundong nced to his side just in time to see Ruan Hongling rolling her eyes at him .

    "Many practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine have read this book," Li Yundong said, ring at Ruan Hongling . "Yet none of them became badass Cultivators . That doesn¡¯t make sense to me . "

    Zi Yuanughed out loud . Li Yundong¡¯s gaze snapped to her . Did she just . . . Did she justugh?

    "Critical thinking and observation are important skills for Cultivators to have," Zi Yuan said, nodding approvingly . "Keep up the inquisitiveness . "

    Li Yundong shrugged casually .

    "And to answer your question," Zi Yuan said, taking the book from him . She spent the next few seconds flipping through the book until she stopped at one page . "Take a look at this . "

    Li Yundong took the book again . There was a long passage on the open page . Wait, on second thought . . . It wasn¡¯t even a passage . It was a poem . "What¡¯s in here?"

    "Most readers would just skim through this part, thinking that the author was just waxing poetic . But that poem actually contains a deep principle in Cultivation . " Zi Yuan tapped a finger on the open page . "This is only one of the many, many examples of things like that . " Zi Yuan removed her finger from the page . "The point is, yes, this book is essible to the public . A lot of people have it on their shelves, that¡¯s true . But not manyprehend its true depths . "

    Li Yundong closed the book and nodded . Bring it on, then...

    "How much do you know about the history of our school?" Zi Yuan asked . "The Zhengyi School . "

    Li Yundong was surprised by the question, but he didn¡¯t let it show . "Not much . " Well, he did try to research it when Ruan Hongling came knocking on their door the other day, but he didn¡¯t learn much from his searches .

    "Some time during the transition between the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring State period, Lao Tzu authored and published his famous work, Tao Te Ching . "

    "Aha . That I do know," Li Yundong said .

    Guess those boring lectures in the History of Chinese Literature hadn¡¯t been a total waste after all . Hooray .

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Then you must know that the contents in Tao Te Ching eventually inspired a religious movement called Taoism . Zhang Daoling, a brilliant schr, read and understood Tao Te Ching during his early teens . When he grew up, he decided to start a school to spread the teachings of Lao Tzu . "

    Li Yundong pped his thigh . "I know this one! It¡¯s called the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice!"

    He read about that during one of his inte searches .

    "That¡¯s right . Our school has a lot of names . The Way of the Five Pecks of Rice . The Way of the Celestial Master . But we generally go by the Zhengyi School these days," Zi Yuan said . "Ours is the first ever Taoist school to exist . A lot of other Cultivation schools came into existence after ours did . "

    "Right . "

    "Do you know how Zhang Daoling managed to gain so many followers and worshippers?"

    A light bulb went off inside his head . "A healer . He was a healer, wasn¡¯t he?"

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Correct . Back in the days, there were two ways to win the respect of the people and make them revere you . The first was through the practice of the healing arts . And the second was¡ª"

    Li Yundong snapped his fingers . "Martial arts . . . "

    "Exactly," Zi Yuan said, nodding approvingly . "However, there is a key difference between the two . "

    "Uh... Hello? They are bothpletely different arts?" Li Yundong gave Zi Yuan a dry look . "I¡¯m not that stupid, you know . "

    Zi Yuan chuckled . "No . That¡¯s not what I meant . I was referring to the difference in terms of the attention they garner from the people . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "How so?"

    "Well . A great martial artist will be revered and respected, that¡¯s true . But..." Zi Yuan raised a finger . "A great healer is more likely to be loved, trusted, and worshipped by people . "

    Li Yundong shrugged . "That makes sense, I suppose . Martial arts is an art of taking lives, but the art of healing is the art of preserving lives . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Which is why most great Cultivators began their Cultivation journey as healers . "

    "Which is also why I¡¯m going to absorb everything in this," Li Yundong said, waving the Canon of The Yellow Thearch .

    "Yeah, yeah, yeah . Big deal . I¡¯ve memorized the whole book since I was seven!" Ruan Hongling piped in . "I can even recite it backwards in my sleep!"

    "The point . . . " Zi Yuan said, ring pointedly at Ruan Hongling . "Isn¡¯t to memorize everything in the text, but to fullyprehend the concepts it expounds . " Zi Yuan looked towards Li Yundong . "Once you¡¯re able to do that, you¡¯ll realize that the concepts are all interconnected . "

    "Okay . Got it," Li Yundong said, cing the book under his armpit . "Now let¡¯s get out of here so I can start studying . "

    Li Yundong walked away from the shelf but then stopped a few stepster . He turned around sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck . "Um . . . I forgot to bring money . . . "

    Ruan Hongling burst intoughter . "No money?! Pfft! Look at him, Elder Sister! So pathetic!"

    Anger rose in him . He stepped forward and growled, "I¡¯ve had enough of your attitude, you little bitc¡ª"

    "Cut it out! Both of you!" Zi Yuan hissed . Then, she gave Ruan Hongling a hard stare . "You need to stop making my life so difficult, Hongling . "

    Ruan Hongling snorted and muttered something under her breath . Something about Jindan¡¯s Heir and preferential treatment .

    "And you, Li Yundong . . . "

    Li Yundong looked away from Ruan Hongling and found Zi Yuan staring at him pointedly .

    "Just focus on your mission and don¡¯t worry about anything else . Food . Money . Whatever it is, I¡¯ll take care of it for you . "

    Confusion shot through Li Yundong . None of this made sense . "Why are you helping me?"

    Zi Yuan regarded Li Yundong for a moment . The coolness behind her gaze made him squirm . God knew he might turn into a human Popsicle if she kept staring at him like that .

    "Like I said, I¡¯m seeking an answer in you . A confirmation . "

    "What confirmation?"

    A tiny smile formed on Zi Yuan¡¯s lips, then she started shaking her head . "You wouldn¡¯t understand even if I tell you . "

    "Try me," Li Yundong shot back .

    Zi Yuan sighed, then gave him a hard stare . "Stop asking already . Remember that I¡¯m on your side . That¡¯s all you need to know . "

    Easy for you to say . You¡¯re not the one whose life is on the line...

    Li Yundong regarded Zi Yuan for a moment . He¡¯d be lying if he said that he didn¡¯t feel at least a little bit suspicious about Zi Yuan¡¯s motivations .

    Why were they helping him? Why the sudden change in attitude? Weren¡¯t they trying to kill him and Su Chan just days ago?

    But still . Su Chan trusted Zi Yuan . . .

    Li Yundong sighed . "Fine . Thank you so much for your help, Miss Zi Yuan . I owe you one . " Li Yundong looked Zi Yuan in the eye . "I¡¯ll find a way to repay you some day . "

    Zi Yuan nodded before turning back to Ruan Hongling . "Hongling, go pay for the book, and then let¡¯s get out of here . "

    ***

    "Hey! You still alive in there?"

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s voice made Li Yundong look up from the Canon . Likest time she was here, Ruan Hongling was perched on the balcony¡¯s railing . Li Yundong put down the book and did a quick stretch . The living room was dark and . . . Wait . It was dark already? When did that happen?

    Li Yundong looked sharply towards sliding door . Ruan Hongling was stepping into the apartment on her own . Li Yundong snorted . By all means . Pleasee in . Make yourself at home .

    "Why are you here?" he asked sharply .

    "To take care of your dead body if you¡¯re dead," Ruan Hongling said offhandedly .

    A twinge of annoyance coursed through him . Somehow, this girl just rubbed him the wrong way . "What gave you the idea that I might be dead," Li Yundong said, quirking a brow .

    "You haven¡¯t left your apartment since you returned from the bookstore, doofus," Ruan Hongling said dryly .

    "Since I returned from the . . . " Li Yundong pondered for a moment . "Wait, what day is today?"

    "What a loser . " Ruan Hongling rolled her eyes . "We went to the bookstore yesterday morning!"

    Which meant he¡¯d spent the whole day and night yesterday reading . The whole day today too, since it was already night time . Wow . Li Yundong never knew he had it in him to be so engrossed in a book .

    Maybe the Yellow Emperor deserved a Pulitzer Prize .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "As you can see, I¡¯m alive and well . Thank you for your concern . The door¡¯s over there . Please see yourself out . Goodbye . " Li Yundong picked up the book again . "Oh, and please don¡¯t m the door on your way out . You¡¯ve ruined enough things in my apartment already . " Including his mood .

    "It¡¯s not like I want to be here to see your disgusting face," Ruan Hongling grumbled . "I wouldn¡¯t evene here if Elder Sister Zi Yuan hadn¡¯t ordered me to check on you . "

    There was a rustling sound followed by a thud . Ruan Hongling had just ced a huge stic bag on the coffee table .

    Li Yundong opened his mouth to speak . "What¡¯s¡ª"

    A sh of green light drew Li Yundong¡¯s attention to the balcony . Li Yundong sighed inwardly when he saw Zi Yuan stepping into the apartment . "People invent front doors for a reason, you know?"

    "Honestly, Hongling . How many times do I have to tell you to watch your temper? How are you ever going to be a good Cultivator if you anger that easily?"

    Ruan Hongling sneered, then pointed a finger at him . "It¡¯s his fault! He provoked me!"

    "Yeah? Well you were asking for it," Li Yundong said coolly .

    Ruan Hongling stomped her foot . "You see?! You see?! He keeps saying things like that to provoke me, Elder Sister Zi Yuan!"

    "Just . . . " Zi Yuan pinched the bridge of her nose . "Just keep your mouths shut . Both of you!" Zi Yuan looked towards Li Yundong . "So . You¡¯ve spent two days and one night going through the text . Do you have a better understanding of how things work now?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "As a matter of fact, I do . "

    Zi Yuan returned his smile and walked around the coffee table . "Oh? Let¡¯s hear it then," she said, taking a seat on the couch .

    "One of the things I found interesting is that there¡¯s actually a link between our five senses and our five Zangs," Li Yundong said . "For example, the eyes are linked to the Liver . So when we close our eyes, it¡¯s like closing a valve inside our Liver . We¡¯ll feel calmer . Our blood pressure, blood flow rate, and even our body metabolism will decrease too . It also helps preserve our energy and strength . "

    Zi Yuan smiled and nodded . "Go on . "

    "And then there¡¯s the stuff about the five elements, which I found rather interesting . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "What are the five elements then?"

    Li Yundong started ticking off the list with his fingers . "Metal . Wood . Water . Fire . Earth . "

    "And why are they significant?"

    "Hah!" Li Yundong pped his hands together . "This is the part I found the most intriguing . " He sat up straighter . "The concept of the five elements can be used to model a wide array of phenomena . Cosmic cycles . The interaction between the five Zangs . And even politics!"

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Good . What else?"

    "And there¡¯s an interesting rtionship between the five elements . The first is called the Feeding or Generating Cycle where each element feeds or enhances another . Wood feeds Fire . Fire creates Earth . Earth bears Metal . Metal collects Water . And Water nourishes Wood . And there¡¯s a backward cycle as well¡ªthe Oveing Cycle . Wood parts Earth, like how the roots of trees can split the soil on the ground . Earth absorbs Water . Water extinguishes Fire . Fire melts Metal . And Metal cuts down Wood!"

    Zi Yuan leaned back in the couch . "Very good . And what about concepts of Traditional Chinese Medicine? What have you learned?"

    Li Yundong went on to present his newfound understanding about the Three Treasures¡ªEssence, Qi, and Spirit¡ªand how they were rted to each other and to the five Zangs . Then, he told Zi Yuan everything he could remember about the function of each Zangs and how each of them utilizes theponents of the Three Treasures to function . He even told her about the stuff he¡¯d learned from his discussions with Su Chan, and then moved on to exin how the Sutai, Lianqi, and the Ningshen phases worked . Finally, he grab his notebook and mapped out every single meridian inside the human body .

    When he was done, Zi Yuan was smiling and giving him appreciative nods whereas Ruan Hongling was gaping like a fish .

    "What? Did I get everything right?"

 Chapter 160

    Chapter 160

    <h4>The Letter</h4>

    "These are for you . " Zi Yuan pointed at the coffee table where the stic bag sat . "You should eat . You haven¡¯t eaten in two days . "

    Li Yundong smiled . "Nah . I¡¯m good . I think I¡¯m just gonna keep reading . "

    "Hey! I took all the trouble to buy your food," Ruan Hongling snapped, "and you¡¯re not even gonna eat it?"

    "Hongling . . . " Zi Yuan red at Ruan Hongling, then looked back towards him . She sighed . "Looks like the Canon¡¯s true meaning eludes you . " She shook her head . "You still don¡¯t understand what Cultivation truly entails . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "What¡¯s that supposed to mean?"

    Okay, fine . He might have sounded a bit defensive, bute on! He¡¯d just spent two days poring over the Canon!

    "Fine . Tell me what is Cultivation? How do you Cultivate?" Zi Yuan paused for a moment, then smirked . "Sitting in a meditative posture and practice Qi control? Breathing?"

    "Umm . . . You mean it¡¯s not?"

    Zi Yuan kept smirking at him .

    "Wearing the crown of three flowers and the Convergence of five Qis!" Li Yundong gestured his hands wildly . "These processes enable the Cultivator to convert their Essence, Qi, and blood into Spirit? I thought that¡¯s what Cultivation is all about!"

    Zi Yuan shook her head and reached for the stic bag . "That¡¯s just a superficial understanding of Cultivation, I¡¯m afraid . " Zi Yuan began to pull out takeout boxes and containers from the stic bag .

    Li Yundong sighed . "Enlighten me, then . "

    Zi Yuan opened one of the takeout boxes .

    Li Yundong took a peek . Stir-fried lotus . Yum .

    "Generally speaking, Cultivation is the process of acquiring the skills and abilities to go against the natural order of the universe . However, to acquire such skills, you must first experience the workings of the natural order . You must first live it . " Zi Yuan stared pointedly at Li Yundong . "In a sense, this is like resistance training . Why do people lift weights? They lift weights to develop the strength and ability to lift heavier weights . " Zi Yuan looked away and beganying out the chopsticks . "Living in ordance to the natural order involves going with the flow . Doing something when it¡¯s the right time to do something . Eating when you¡¯re hungry . Sleeping when it¡¯s time to sleep . "

    Li Yundong sighed . "Right . " He got up from the floor and took a seat on the couch . Minutester, he was wolfing down the food with a speed that would make Su Chan proud .

    Li Yundong looked up from his container when Zi Yuan tapped the table with her knuckles . "What?"

    "You should slow down," Zi Yuan said . "Chew your food properly before you swallow . Otherwise, your stomach would have to expend more energy and blood to digest it . That extra energy could¡¯ve been used for other activities . "

    Now that he thought about it, the Canon of the Yellow Thearch did have a section on that . Damn . Reading about it was one thing, but to put it into practice was another thing altogether .

    The next twenty minutes went by rather awkwardly, mostly because Zi Yuan was watching him eat as though he was some kind ofb rat . For once, Ruan Hongling was sitting quietly in the corner instead of constantly getting on his case .

    While clearing up the empty takeout boxes and wiping down the coffee table, Li Yundong suddenly remembered something . "Um . . . Can you guys give me a ride to the motel? I need to get some stuff . "

    "What stuff?" Zi Yuan asked .

    "Oh . Well, some of my things¡ªand Su Chan¡¯s¡ªare still in the motel room . We stayed there when we were hiding from you two . "

    Zi Yuan thought for a moment, then nodded . "Sure . No problem . Taking a walk after a meal is good for you . "

    Li Yundong finished clearing the table and went inside his room . When he came out, he walked up to Zi Yuan . "Here . I¡¯m returning this to you . "

    Zi Yuan smiled and took the damask from him . "Why the sudden change of heart?"

    Li Yundong returned her smile . "You¡¯re basically teaching me for free . This is the least I can do . " Li Yundong turned to Ruan Hongling . "There . I¡¯ve returned the damask . Can we call a truce now?"

    Implied meaning: You can stop annoying me now, thanks .

    Ruan Hongling grinned, then gave Li Yundong a casual wave .

    After that, Li Yundong left the apartment on his own using the front door¡ªlike a normal person¡ªwhereas Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling flew away from his balcony . Inside the elevator, he began reminiscing about his time with Su Chan: Su Chan liked to poke around the elevator panel; Su Chan liked to jump up and down whenever the elevator was moving; Su Chan would do this; Su Chan would do that .

    By the time Li Yundong reached the ground floor, he was nearly in tears . He missed his little chipmunk . Dearly .

    He hurried out of his apartment block and walked towards the gates of New Hongsheng District . Near the gates, he saw a small crowd gathered at the gazebo . All of a sudden, terrible thoughts began to creep into his mind, most of which had a recurring theme: did someone jump off the building again?

    He soon realized, however, that the crowd was gathered there for less morbid reasons . Once he got close enough to the gazebo, he noticed everyone in the crowd staring at the stone table Zi Yuan had used¡ªwhen did she even return it?¡ªfor the demo the day before yesterday .

    "Good God! How did the palm print even get there?!"

    "This table was gone for a day, and then reappeared with a perfect palm print on it . So weird . . . "

    Li Yundong shook his head in amusement and moved away from the gazebo .

    A dark sedan¡ªHongqi¡ªwas parked just outside the gates . The car¡¯s engine was already running, and through the windshield, Li Yundong saw Ruan Hongling sitting behind the wheel . Li Yundong climbed into the backseat and told Zi Yuan the name of the motel . Secondster, they were off .

    Half an hourter, Li Yundong returned to his apartment carrying Su Chan¡¯s Hello Kitty piggy bank and a bunch of other stuff . This time Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling followed his example and actually used the front door¡ªthank the Universe for small favors¡ªto enter his apartment .

    Li Yundong carried Su Chan¡¯s things into her room . Inside her room, he stopped to think of the best ce to store her piggy bank . A momentter, he padded towards her wardrobe .

    Su Chan¡¯s scent assaulted his nostril the moment he opened her wardrobe . He stood there, staring at the wardrobe¡¯s contents until he realized that he was acting like a lovesick puppy . He shook his head in disgust and stuffed the piggy bank onto the wardrobe¡¯s bottom shelf .

    Something caught his eye . A piece of paper¡ªfolded in half¡ªsat on top of Su Chan¡¯s clothes . He took the paper and realized that it was a page torn out from his notebook .

    One side of the paper was filled with strange doodles: MacDonald¡¯s symbols; a cute fox; a funny drawing of him (with his hair looking like an onion) .

    Tears stung his eyes . He sniffed and flipped over the paper .

    Su Chan¡¯s beautiful cursive stared right back at him .

    It was a note . A long one .

    Yundong . . . If you¡¯re reading this, then it means you¡¯ve somehow found out my true identity and have decided that you no longer want me in your life . I just want to say that, although short, the time I spent with you contains the happiest moments in my life . Thank you, Yundong, for all the happy memories you have given me . I will cherish them forever . Below is a list of instructions to pass the Zhuji phase . . .

    Tears blotted the paper¡¯s surface . Li Yundong sniffed and dried his tears with the back of his hand . He shifted the paper in his hands and continued to read .

    Su Chan had clearly written this letter a long time ago; the carefully-written instructions had all been told to him in person when he tried to pass the Zhuji phase the other night at the motel . She must have written the letter before he found out that she was a fox spirit .

    There was another long paragraph after the list of instructions .

    I know you must hate me or feel disgusted with me because of who I am . Perhaps even more so after finding out that I¡¯ve been lying to you this whole time . Yes, I lied to you . But not for the reason you might think . The feelings I have for you is real . That¡¯s why I lied . I knew you would find out the truth one day and thene to hate me when you do . Hiding my true identify from you allowed me to stay with you just a bit longer, so I did it . I lied . I know it¡¯s selfish of me, and I¡¯m sorry . Maybe it¡¯s a good thing that things end between us . You are a talented Cultivator with a lot of great aplishments awaiting you in the future . Someone like you shouldn¡¯t be associated with a fox spirit like me . If you¡¯re nning to disregard everything you¡¯ve read in this letter, that¡¯s okay too . But please just follow the instructions to pass the Zhuji phase . It is absolutely vital that you pass the Zhuji phase no matter what . There are people after you, Yundong . After the Jindan inside you . You need to be ready to face them . Thank you, and goodbye .

    Love, Su Chan .

    Li Yundong bit back a sob and folded the paper carefully . He shut the wardrobe and left Su Chan¡¯s room . He entered his own room, ced Su Chan¡¯s letter in his drawer, and then sat down on his bed .

    The contents of Su Chan¡¯s letter had pretty much knocked the wind out of him, figuratively speaking . All these while, Su Chan had assumed that he woulde to hate her after finding out who she truly was . All of a sudden, every single aspect of Su Chan¡¯s behavior, including her frequent disys of insecurity, made sense .

    Li Yundong shook his head and stood up from the bed . He had to get stronger and survive the Heavenly Thunder . That was the only way he and Su Chan could build a future together .

    When he left his room, he was surprise to see Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling still inside his apartment . Zi Yuan was standing at the doorway . Ruan Hongling, on the other hand, was lounging on his couch, clearly making herself at home .

    Li Yundong walked past the living room and headed towards the doorway . "Why are you standing at the door?" he asked . "Go sit in the living room or something . "

    Zi Yuan gave him a strange look . "I can¡¯t believe you left the Fox Zen School¡¯s treasure beside your door like some kind of trash bag . " Zi Yuan pointed at the huge tessen leaning against the wall beside the shoe shelf .

    He¡¯d moved the tessen there yesterday so that it didn¡¯t draw attention when people looked into his apartment through the balcony . In hindsight, he should¡¯ve moved it into his room .

    Zi Yuan shook her head . "I wonder what the great fox elder Pan Shi would think when he saw his creation treated so carelessly . "

    Li Yundong picked up the tessen and shook it a few times . It felt rather clumsy and heavy . "I don¡¯t get it," he said . "What¡¯s so great about this fan? To me it¡¯s just a heavy and bulky fan . "

    There was a loud snort, which sounded totally udylike .

    Li Yundong turned towards the couch and saw Ruan Hongling rolling her eyes .

    Zi Yuan just looked amused .

    Suddenly, Zi Yuan smirked and pointed at the tessen . "Why don¡¯t you try opening it?"

    Li Yundong did as he was told . Well, tried to, because the fan wouldn¡¯t open . He stared at the tessen in surprise, then decided to try again . This time, he got his Qi involved .

    It worked . The tessen slowly slid open .

    Once it was fully opened, the tessen looked like a metal folding screen with golden Sanskrit characters printed all over its surface . The Sanskrit characters gleamed and glittered in a way that seemed unearthly .

    The words looked beautiful, even though he didn¡¯t understand what they meant .

    Li Yundong reached out with a hand and began to caress the tessen¡¯s shiny surface . As he did, his mind went to Su Chan once again .

    "Behold, The Fan of Seven Treasures," Zi Yuan said .

    "The Fan of Seven Treasures . . . " Li Yundong repeated after Zi Yuan .

    Zi Yuan¡¯s next words nearly made him fall over .

    "It is perhaps the most misogynistic magical weapon ever created . "

 Chapter 161

    Chapter 161

    <h4>The Fan of Seven Treasures</h4>

    Li Yundong ended his ministration on the fan¡¯s surface . "Misogynistic? What on earth gave you that idea?"

    Try as he might, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t hide the surprise in his voice . He took a step back and studied the tessen like it was an odd specimen . How could this thing by misogynistic? It wasn¡¯t like the fan had a will of its own . . . Or did it?

    "That¡¯s because only a man can wield its full power," Zi Yuan said casually .

    Li Yundong frowned . "But why? Why does it matter?" Li Yundong paused in thought . "Well, it is a little heavy, I suppose . "

    "No," Zi Yuan said with a shake of her head . "This has nothing to do with its weight or size . "

    Li Yundong gave her a puzzled look . "Okay?"

    "Have you heard of the Diamond Sutra?"

    "Err... It¡¯s a Buddhist scripture if I¡¯m not mistaken . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "ording to the Diamond Sutra, Gautama Buddha himself said that there are seven treasures inside a man¡¯s body and five leaks¡ªor punctures¡ªinside a woman¡¯s body . " Zi Yuan paused and ran her palm over the fan¡¯s surface . "Take a look at these inscriptions . What do you make of them?"

    Li Yundong brought his face closer to the fan and studied the strange engravings on its surface . "Well... They¡¯re Sanskrit . " He looked towards Zi Yuan for confirmation . "Right?"

    Zi Yuan nodded . "As a matter of fact... You¡¯re staring at the Diamond Sutra . "

    Li Yundong gave Zi Yuan a look of surprise . "Wait, what? You mean the whole scripture is..." Li Yundong¡¯s gaze drifted towards the fan once more .

    Zi Yuan smirked, then nodded . "Yes . These inscriptions contain all the verses from the Diamond Sutra . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . "No wonder it¡¯s so . . . big . "

    "Before he became a Shenxian, the fox elder Pan Shi created this fan and then inscribed the entire Diamond Sutra onto its surface in honor of the great dharma heir and Zen master, Baizhang Huaihai . "

    Li Yundong looked towards Zi Yuan . Baizhang who?

    It didn¡¯t seem like Zi Yuan had noticed of his confusion . Zi Yuan looked almost pensive as she stood there stroking the fan¡¯s surface . She also had a faraway look in her eyes, like she was revisiting old memories .

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t want to interrupt her thoughts, so he kept watching her, waiting for her to continue .

    Secondster, she did . "After that, Pan Shi performed an adhisthana on the fan . " Zi Yuan looked towards Li Yundong briefly . "Adhisthana is like a blessing ceremony that grants an object or a person magical powers . Anyway, Pan Shi blessed this fan with Vajra magic, which can only be wielded by someone with a body of seven treasures . In other words, only a man can wield its magic . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "No wonder Su Chan said that none of her sisters in the Fox Zen School are able to use it . . . " he mumbled to himself .

    "So unfair . "

    Both Li Yundong and Zi Yuan looked towards the couch where Ruan Hongling sat with a dark scowl on her face .

    "A lot of spells and magic can only be mastered by men, not women," Ruan Hongling grumbled .

    Li Yundong stole a nce at Zi Yuan who appeared to be engrossed in her own thoughts . Perhaps this was one thing that Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t correct Ruan Hongling on .

    "I mean, just take a look at the long history of Cultivation," Ruan Hongling ranted . "The number of female Shenxians are far too littlepared to the number male Shenxians . " Ruan Hongling snorted . "Oh, and let¡¯s not forget what happened to the Mystical Silver¡ª"

    "Hongling . . . " Zi Yuan said in a warning tone .

    "What, Elder Sister!" Ruan Hongling snapped . "It¡¯s history! It really happened . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes bounced back and forth between Ruan Hongling and Zi Yuan . Clearly, these two were talking about something he knew absolutely nothing about . Momentster, Zi Yuan¡¯s shoulder sagged slightly and she sighed .

    "Um . . . guys . . . ? Do you mind exining to me what you guys were talking about? I mean I am trying to be a Cultivator, so . . . maybe some background knowledge would... you know..." Li Yundong finishedmely .

    Ruan Hongling crossed her arms and regarded him for a moment . "Does the name The Mystical Silver Fox ring any bells? Did your girlfriend ever mention that name to you?" Ruan Hongling asked without taking her eyes off him .

    Li Yundong shook his head .

    Ruan Hongling huffed out a breath . "Well, she was the fourth head of the Fox Zen School . Anyway, she sneaked into Mount Wutai one time to research on Buddhist magic . And guess what? She tried to master a Vajra spell and went into Zouhuo Rumo state . She only survived because a monk sacrificed his life to save her . "

    The living room fell silent . Li Yundong didn¡¯t know what to make of what he¡¯d just heard . Who was this Mystical Silver Fox? From what he¡¯d heard so far, she sounded like a controversial figure . Why hadn¡¯t Su Chan told him any of this?

    "The Fox Zen School has produced quite a few prodigies over the years," Ruan Hongling said . "The Mystical Silver Fox is probably the greatest among them . Her magical powers were phenomenal back then . " Ruan Hongling snorted . "Not anymore though . Now she is weak . Then again, the Fox Zen School has Ao Wushuang now . Too bad¡ª"

    "Enough, Hongling . It is disrespectful to discuss the affairs of other schools . "

    "But¡ª"

    "Enough . . . " Zi Yuan said sternly .

    The two women red at each other across the room .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat and raised his palms .

    "Whoa, whoa, whoa, guys, guys . . . Why don¡¯t we all just . . . chill?"

    After a while, Ruan Hongling looked away with a loud huff . Li Yundong turned towards Zi Yuan . "Um... Can you exin to me how to use this thing properly?" Li Yundong tapped the Fan of Seven Treasures with his knuckles .

    Zi Yuan looked away from Ruan Hongling . "There are two ways to use it . You can either use it as a physical weapon, or you can use its magical properties . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . "A physical weapon? You mean like smashing someone¡¯s head with it? But it¡¯s so heavy and bulky . "

    Zi Yuan smiled . "I can show it to you," she said, then paused to look at him . "Only if you don¡¯t mind, of course . "

    Li Yundong shrugged . "Sure . " He lifted the fan off the floor and handed it over to Zi Yuan .

    Despite her slender frame, Zi Yuan lifted the bulky fan with ease and carried it towards the living room . Even Ruan Hongling had stopped sulking and was now following Zi Yuan¡¯s movements curiously . The girl¡¯s face still looked a bit sullen, but Li Yundong suspected that it was her natural look . He kept that thought to himself lest he start another bickering match .

    Zi Yuan stopped at the center of the living room . She nced around the apartment a few times, then shook her head . A secondter, her eyes were on Li Yundong . "There¡¯s not enough room here . Come with me . " Zi Yuan jerked her chin towards the sliding door . "I¡¯ll show you how it can be used as a physical weapon . "

    Then, without waiting for Li Yundong¡¯s response, Zi Yuan strode towards the sliding door and stepped outside onto the balcony . Ruan Hongling rose from the couch a momentter and followed Zi Yuan to the balcony .

    Li Yundong sighed and shook his head . "It¡¯s like they own the damn ce," he grumbled .

    By the time Li Yundong stepped through the sliding door, Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling were nowhere to be seen . No doubt those two had flown off again .

    Li Yundong sighed inwardly . Great . Now where the hell am I supposed to go?

    Li Yundong leaned over the top of the railing and looked up and down .

    "Uh . . . Hello?!!" he yelled into the night . "You two geniuses seem to have forgotten something very, very important! You see, guys . I can¡¯t fly¡ªWhoa! Shit!" Li Yundong reached for the railing when his legs suddenly levitated off the floor .

    He grabbed the railing tighter .

    "Let go of the railing, doofus!"

    Li Yundong looked up and saw Ruan Hongling staring down at him .

    Li Yundong let go of the railing and allowed his body to float upwards until he was level with Ruan Hongling .

    Li Yundong red at Ruan Hongling . "How about a little warning next time, huh?"

    Ruan Hongling rolled her eyes . "Too scared to fly? Tsk, tsk, tsk . What a sissy . So much for being the Jindan¡¯s Heir . "

    "Hey! Who says I¡¯m scared? I was just startled¡ª" Li Yundong yelped when his body suddenly shot into the air .

    At least he managed not to squeak . Barely .

    Secondster, hended on the rooftop of his apartment block . Zi Yuan was already there, waiting for him .

    "What took you so long?" Zi Yuan asked the moment his feet touched the floor .

    "Maybe because he got scared and started crying like a baby!"

    "Hey! I told you I wasn¡¯t scared!" He red at Ruan Hongling, who was lowering herself to the roof . He turned away from Ruan Hongling to face Zi Yuan . "I wasn¡¯t scared . I swear . "

    A smirk tugged at Zi Yuan¡¯s lips . Then, she waved her hand a few times . "Back away a few steps . "

    Li Yundong did as he was told .

    Zi Yuan swung the fan in a wide arc and then let it rest on her right shoulder . "Now watch," she said, giving Li Yundong a pointed look . "This is how you use it as a physical weapon . "

    SWISH! CLACK! The fan spread open after a flick of Zi Yuan¡¯s wrist . What! How the heck did she...? Li Yundong had to use his Qi to even spread the fan, yet she did it so effortlessly . Wait... What was that?

    Something strange was happening to the fan¡¯s leaves . They weren¡¯t stationary at all; they were rotating about the ribs like a bunch of spinning des .

    SNAP! The fan closed again with Zi Yuan holding it like a Bo staff . Zi Yuan moved into a fighting stance, and then started dancing around the rooftop . SNAP! The fan opened again .

    "I see . . . " Li Yundong whispered . The fan could be wielded as a Bo staff, and then opened to increase its striking range . He had no doubt that those spinning des would tear anything to shreds upon contact .

    Zi Yuan¡¯s demonstrationsted for quite a while . Hell, Li Yundong almost didn¡¯t want it to end . It was the most impressive weapons demonstration that he¡¯d ever seen .

    "Amazing . . . " he said when Zi Yuan ced the fan back into his arms .

    "That¡¯s actually nothing," Zi Yuan said with a smile . She didn¡¯t even look like she broke a sweat .

    "Hah! Elder Sister Zi Yuan is capable of things that are far more impressive things than that!" Ruan Hongling said .

    Li Yundong nodded . "I¡¯m sure that¡¯s true . "

    Ruan Hongling beamed with pride .

    "What about spells?" Li Yundong ran his hand over the fan¡¯s surface . "How do you use spells with this thing?"

    Zi Yuan smiled wryly . "Unfortunately, I can¡¯t show you that because . . . well, for obvious reasons . " She gestured at her own body .

    "Right . Because you¡¯re not a man . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Only someone with the body of seven treasures can unlock the fan¡¯s weapon . " Zi Yuan held his gaze steadily . "I guess you¡¯ll find out once you pass the Zhuji phase and reach the Shentong phase . "

    Li Yundong stared down at the weapon inside his arms . So close yet so far .

    ***

    Zi Yuannded on the balcony of Hongling¡¯s apartment, which was right across Li Yundong¡¯s apartment block .

    The sliding door opened, and Hongling poked her head out .

    "Come on in, Elder Sister Zi Yuan . "

    Zi Yuan turned, and gave the rooftop of the opposite block a final nce . Li Yundong was still up there having fun with the Fan of Seven Treasures .

    "Elder Sister?"

    Zi Yuan tore her gaze away from the rooftop and found Hongling staring at her quizzically . Instead of entering the apartment, Zi Yuan turned around and stared out into the night sky .

    The sliding door closed behind her . Hongling was standing beside her secondster .

    "What¡¯s on your mind, Elder Sister?"

    Zi Yuan sighed . "Nothing... It¡¯s just..."

    "You¡¯re thinking about the Jindan¡¯s Heir again, aren¡¯t you?"

    Zi Yuan didn¡¯t answer . Why bother when the answer was already so obvious?

    "Are you just going to keep helping him, Elder Sister Zi Yuan?"

    "Is that a problem?"

    Hongling was silent for a while .

    "To be honest, I don¡¯t see the point," Hongling said .

    Zi Yuan looked at her young prot¨¦g¨¦ .

    Hongling held her palms up defensively as though she was expecting to be reprimanded . "Don¡¯t get me wrong, Elder Sister . I think he¡¯s smart and talented . But hecks experience . " Hongling held Zi Yuan¡¯s gaze . "I¡¯m not sure he¡¯ll be able to survive the Heavenly Thunder . "

    For once, Zi Yuan couldn¡¯te up with a counterargument against Hongling . "I..." Zi Yuan sighed . "I don¡¯t know, Hongling . I don¡¯t know..."

    Silence spread between them .

    "Are you thinking about Master¡¯s prophecy?" Hongling asked .

    "What if this is the ultimate test?" Zi Yuan said .

    "What do you mean?"

    "I mean what if Li Yundong¡¯s divine punishment is the ultimate test of whether Master¡¯s prophecy is true?"

    "Hmm..."

    "It makes sense, doesn¡¯t it?" Zi Yuan said . "If Li Yundong failed to survive, then Master¡¯s prophecy is clearly wrong . But if he did..." Zi Yuan trailed off .

    "If he did?" Hongling asked after a while .

    "Then I don¡¯t know... Maybe we¡¯ll be allies..."

    Hongling snorted .

    Zi Yuan smiled . "What is it with you two, Hongling?"

    "He just... rubs me the wrong way, I guess . "

    Or maybe you¡¯re just jealous of his talents...

    "Regardless," Zi Yuan said in a stern voice . "We¡¯ll keep teaching him for now . So I want you two to start getting along . "

    "Great . Now I have to tolerate his obnoxious attitude for God knows how long," Hongling grumbled .

    Zi Yuan chuckled . "You might not have to worry about that, Hongling . "

    "Yeah right . You just told me that we¡¯re going to stick around him . "

    "Nope," Zi Yuan said . "You won¡¯t be seeing him in a few days . "

    "Seriously?" Hongling sounded surprise .

    "Yes, seriously . " Zi Yuan smiled . "I¡¯m taking him to that ce . And you¡¯ll be going back to the mountains to take care of those souls . "

    "What! You¡¯re taking him there?!" Hongling shouted . "B- But... He¡¯s going to die before he even tries to pass the Zhuji phase!"

    "Well . There is a risk of that . " Zi Yuan sighed . "But if he couldn¡¯t even survive that ce, then he definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to survive the divine punishment..."

 Chapter 162

    Chapter 162

    <h4>Genius Freak</h4>

    Ruan Hongling stormed out of her kitchen and went into her living room . "Ooh, Hongling, please go check on him and make sure he eats," Ruan Hongling mumbled, mimicking Elder Sister Zi Yuan¡¯s cold voice .

    She opened the sliding door and stepped onto her balcony, where the morning air and sunrise greeted her . The whole view would¡¯ve been pleasant if she wasn¡¯t feeling this grumpy .

    "What am I, his caretaker?" Ruan Hongling grumbled, closing the sliding door behind her . She stood in front of the railing and looked towards the opposite block . Li Yundong¡¯s balcony was empty .

    Still asleep, probably .

    Ruan Hongling snorted . What a cker . He should be up by now, practicing Qi control . The human body¡¯s Yang Qi thrives during hour of the Dragon (the time between 7 AM to 9 AM) .

    Ruan Hongling leaped off her balcony and vanished in a burst of green light . Flying at high speeds during the day was crucial to avoid drawing attention . A secondter, shended on Li Yundong¡¯s balcony with a soft thud and then sat on the railing for a moment .

    The sliding door was open, just the way she had left itst night . Ruan Hongling frowned . Why didn¡¯t he close it when he came backst night? Ruan Hongling pushed herself off the railing, then stepped into the apartment . The living room was empty, so were the kitchen and the dining room . She checked the bedroomsst, and found that Li Yundong wasn¡¯t in either bedrooms .

    Wait . . . Don¡¯t tell me he¡¯s been practicing on the rooftop all night . . .

    Ruan Hongling ran out to the balcony and channeled her Qi into her Shenting . Leaning against the railing, she listened carefully to the surrounding noises with Eryue . Eventually, she heard the unmistakable swinging of the metal fan and Li Yundong¡¯s grunting .

    Ruan Hongling snorted . The idiot probably thought he could master how to wield the fan in just one night .

    She leaped off Li Yundong¡¯s balcony and flew all the way up to the rooftop . However, Ruan Hongling got the surprise of her life the moment shended on the rooftop .

    Li Yundong wasn¡¯t just practicing how to use the fan properly; he was wielding it like a master .

    For one, he wasn¡¯t even touching the fan; the fan was just dancing around his body as though he was controlling it with some kind of telekic ability .

    Oh, yes . She¡¯d heard of this property of the Fan of the Seven Treasures . Elder Sister Zi Yuan had told her about it a long time ago . Apparently, the fan would acknowledge a man as worthy of wielding it and then form some sort of telepathic bond with the wielder . That way, the wielder could control the fan with his mind . The fan would also develop some kind of protective instinct towards the wielder ande to his rescue the moment he feels threatened .

    White steam rose from the top of Li Yundong¡¯s head . The crown of three flowers . . . Not bad for someone who barely had any experience in Qi-control training . Please . Two months wouldn¡¯t be considered as "experience" at all . Not by a long shot .

    All of a sudden, Li Yundong¡¯s hand shot out and grabbed the fan¡ªat its rivet¡ªfrom the air . The fan stopped spinning and then¡ªSNAP! The fan folded itself into a stick . Li Yundong spun the fan around his waist like a Bo staff and then hoisted it above his head . SNAP! The fan spread open once again when Li Yundong tossed it forward .

    The fan spun around the rooftop like a huge chakram . It took Ruan Hongling a few seconds, but she eventually realized that the spinning fan was following the movements of Li Yundong¡¯s eyes¡ªhe was controlling the fan mentally .

    Li Yundong¡¯s hand shot out again . The fan stopped in its flight path and did aplete one-eighty . It was now flying back to Li Yundong¡¯s hand . SNAP! The fan closed moments before it reached Li Yundong¡¯s hand . Li Yundong caught the fan¡¯s rivet and then¡ªSNAP!¡ªspread it open again . He leaped into the air, then swung the open fan in a wide arc . A strong gust of wind swirled around the rooftop .

    Ruan Hongling doubted Li Yundong had used his full strength in that swing . If he used his Qi and the Jindan¡¯s Aura, he could probably generate a mini hurricane .

    Li Yundongnded on the floor with a heavy thud . SNAP! The fan closed up .

    Then Ruan Hongling saw this look in his eyes: the intensity; the sharp focus . It was like nothing else existed in his world at that moment . He was looking at something intensely, some imaginary opponent that only he could see . He cocked his arm¡ªthe one carrying the fan¡ªbackwards and thenunched the fan forward like a spear . SNAP! The fan spread open and spun forward in a straight line . Li Yundong charged forward as though he was chasing after the fan . Suddenly, he ducked and got into a low crouch, from which heunched an upward kick . SWISH! ZING! The spinning fan streak over the top of Li Yundong¡¯s body moments after heunched the upward kick .

    Ruan Hongling soon realized that none of these movements were random¡ªthey formed abo . The upward kick was no doubt a follow-up strike to the first attack¡ªthe fan toss . If his opponent ducked the fan toss, the upward kick from below would¡¯ve sent his opponent into the air . Nobody can duck a projectile while in the air (unless they can fly), so he reversed the spinning fan¡¯s motion, getting it to fly backwards and then slice his opponent¡¯s body in half . It was genius .

    Something else was happening .

    Whoa . . . What kind of move is that?

    Ruan Hongling stepped forward to take a closer look .

    Li Yundong was now holding the fan by its rivet . The fan snapped close . Then, he swung the fan above his head with both hands, like a Bo staff . And then...

    Ruan Hongling nearlyughed .

    What is he even doing?

    Li Yundong turned around and leaped into the air .

    That idiot was leaving his back wide open for attack¡ª

    SNAP!

    Li Yundong twisted his upper body around, and then thrusted the fan backwards in a downward stab . The fan spread open the instant his arm was fully extended .

    SNAP! The fan closed when Li Yundong¡¯s feet mmed into the floor .

    Ruan Hongling was stunned . Li Yundong had just applied one of the most brilliant strategies expounded in Sun Tzu¡¯s Art of War¡ªretreat, get your opponent to chase after you, and then attack when your opponent least expects it . The same strategy was adopted in martial arts technique such as the retreating horse stab and the art of the dragging knife . By deliberately exposing his back, Li Yundong could lure the enemy to attack his back, and then take his enemy off-guard by parrying and striking with the fan at the same time .

    Ruan Hongling shook her head in amazement . She honestly had no idea what to make of the guy . He was a genius . No, he was a freak of nature . Nobody could be that good, especially not someone who, just two months ago, knew close to nothing about Cultivation and martial arts .

    Li Yundong was now doing a series of fancy moves, spinning the fan around before tossing it into the air .

    Ruan Hongling snorted and looked away . Now he¡¯s just showing off and ying around¡ª

    A loud yelp drew Ruan Hongling¡¯s attention back to Li Yundong, who was now fumbling around trying to catch the fan from the air . He swiped at the fan . "Argh! Shit!"

    He missed, and the fan ended up bouncing off the top of his head . The fan crashed into the floor with a loud tter .

    "PFFT! HAHAHA . . . " Ruan Hongling burst intoughter, then quickly pped her hands over her mouth .

    Toote . Li Yundong was now ring daggers at her .

    "What are you doing here?" Li Yundong asked in a not-so-friendly tone .

    Ruan Hongling ignored his question and approached him slowly . "When did you be so good with it?" She nodded at the fan .

    Li Yundong shrugged and picked up the fan from the floor .

    "Did Elder Sister Zi Yuan teach you some new moves after I left?" She¡¯d returned back to her apartmentst night after she got bored watching Elder Sister Zi Yuan teach Li Yundong how to use the fan .

    "Nope," Li Yundong said, shaking his head .

    Ruan Hongling could feel her own eyes growing wide . "Then where did you learn all those moves?"

    Li Yundong looked at her strangely . "All that stuff? Well . I was ying around with the fan after Zi Yuan left, so I figured why note up with a few moves of my own . "

    "Y- You came up with those moves?!"

    Was he bragging? Hah! He must be . How could he possiblye up with his own moves in just a day? Nobody was that good .

    Unless he is a genius . . . or a freak of nature, a small voice inside her mind added .

    Green light filled the rooftop . Ruan Hongling nced to her right and saw Elder Sister Zi Yuan standing near the rooftop¡¯s ledge . Ruan Hongling ran towards Elder Sister Zi Yuan and grabbed her arm . "Elder Sister Zi Yuan . . . " Ruan Hongling pointed at Li Yundong . "Just now . . . h- he . . . he . . . "

    He what? What was she even trying to tell Elder Sister Zi Yuan? That Li Yundong had juste up with a few new moves? That Li Yundong was going to surpass Ruan Hongling and soon rece her as Elder Sister Zi Yuan¡¯s prot¨¦g¨¦?

    "What on earth is the matter with you, Hongling?" Zi Yuan looked at her strangely . "And what took you so long?"

    Ruan Hongling pouted and crossed her arms . "It¡¯s nothing . Why don¡¯t you ask him?" She pointed at Li Yundong again .

    Damn it! I¡¯m going to train harder! I can¡¯t let him be better than me!

    "What¡¯s going on here, Li Yundong?" Elder Sister Zi Yuan asked .

    "Oh . It¡¯s nothing," Li Yundong said . "I was just ying around with the fan, that¡¯s all . "

    Ruan Hongling rolled her eyes . You call that ying around?

    "Haven¡¯t I told you to obey the natural order," Elder Sister Zi Yuan said in a reprimanding tone . "Sleep when it¡¯s time to sleep . Following the natural order is an important part of Cultivation . "

    Li Yundong chuckled wryly . "Ah . But you forgot something very importantst night . "

    Ruan Hongling stole a nce at Elder Sister Zi Yuan and noted the frown on her Elder Sister¡¯s face .

    "What do you mean?" Elder Sister Zi Yuan asked .

    Li Yundong sighed and lowered the Fan of the Seven Treasures to the floor . "You forgot to think like a normal human being . "

    Annoyance red through Ruan Hongling . "What are you even talking about?" she snapped . How dare he insult Elder Sister Zi Yuan after all the trouble she¡¯d gone through to teach him? That insolent bastard!

    Li Yundong gave her a look . "Seriously?"

    Ruan Hongling growled . "What¡ª"

    "I can¡¯t fly, remember? Neither of you thought toe back and take me back to my apartment?" Li Yundong rolled his eyes, then pointed at the door at the rooftop . "The door is locked . So I couldn¡¯t walk down . And even if it wasn¡¯t locked, it wasn¡¯t like I could drag this bulky thing"¡ªHe pointed at the fan¡ª"all the way down the stairs . "

    Oh . . . Ruan Hongling nced sideways and found Elder Sister Zi Yuan staring back at her as well .

    Good God . . . Elder Sister Zi Yuan actually looked sheepish . Ruan Hongling had never seen that look on her mentor before .

    "So yeah, geniuses . . . I was left here for the whole night with the Fan of Seven Treasures . So I did what I could to make the best use of my time . Practice . "

    "Pffft!!! Hahaha!" Ruan Hongling cracked up .

    This was probably the silliest thing Elder Sister Zi Yuan had ever done in years . Secondster, Elder Sister Zi Yuan turned away from her . Ruan Hongling could¡¯ve sworn she saw Elder Sister Zi Yuan¡¯s shoulder trembling .

    "Oh, yeah . Keepughing, eh? You¡¯re not the ones who got trapped up here all night," Li Yundong grumbled .

    A whileter, Elder Sister Zi Yuan cleared her throat . "Let¡¯s get you back to your apartment, then . You must be tired . Besides, I have a few things to discuss with you . "

    Ruan Hongling stared at Elder Sister for a moment . So she¡¯s going to tell him about bringing him to ce already? Ruan Hongling looked towards Li Yundong . Yeah . Good luck surviving that, pal . . . You¡¯re gonna need it .

    ***

    "Face the east side," Zi Yuan said once they were inside Li Yundong¡¯s apartment .

    Li Yundong paused on his way to the bedroom . "What?"

    "Sit down and face the east . It¡¯s the hour of the Dragon now . Your body¡¯s Yang Qi should be thriving . You¡¯ll feel refreshed after a few minutes of Qi-control training . "

    Li Yundong nodded and padded back to the center of the living room . He sat down with his legs crossed and angled his body eastward . Once Li Yundong¡¯s eyes slid shut, Zi Yuan gave Hongling an eye signal . Hongling nodded, and they both slipped quietly to the balcony and left the apartment .

    Zi Yuan and Hongling returned to Li Yundong¡¯s apartment around noon . Li Yundong was still in the same pose with his eyes closed when they entered the living room, so they sat down on the couch and waited for him to rouse .

    Twenty minutester, Li Yundong stirred .

    "Oh . Hey, you guys are here," he said .

    Zi Yuan sneaked a nce at her prot¨¦g¨¦, who seemed rather sullen ever since she asked her to check on Li Yundong this morning . She wondered what was that about . Did those two get into a quarrel again?

    "What¡¯s wrong?" Li Yundong asked again .

    Zi Yuan gave him a smile . "It¡¯s nothing . "

    "You¡¯re both staring at me like I did something strange . . . "

    "You are blessed with a rare form of Adolescent Yang Qi," Zi Yuan remarked . "And you also have the Jindan¡¯s Aura inside you . " Zi Yuan regarded him steadily . "You should make treasure them and put them to good use . These traits are hard toe by . "

    "Oh, thanks¡ª" Li Yundong paused mid-sentence . He was looking at something . Zi Yuan followed his gaze and saw what he was staring at: the stic bag containing Li Yundong¡¯s lunch that Hongling had left on the coffee table earlier . Li Yundong rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly . "Damn . You guys brought my lunch again? I¡¯m sorry to always trouble you guys . . . "

    Zi Yuan smiled . "Don¡¯t mention it . "

    "Thank you," Li Yundong said earnestly . "I really appreciate it . "

    Hongling snorted . "Wait what? I think I might have misheard you . Did you just express your appreciation?"

    Zi Yuan sighed inwardly . What was it with Hongling and Li Yundong . Honestly .

    However, Li Yundong didn¡¯t argue back this time . Instead, he began removing the containers from the stic bag . Zi Yuan had a feeling that things had changed ever since Li Yundong returned the damask to them . Li Yundong had begun treating her and Hongling with less hostility . Sometimes, Zi Yuan even felt as though Li Yundong revered and respected her .

    "Hey, by the way, have you guys eaten?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s voice brought Zi Yuan out of her thoughts . Li Yundong was staring back at her, his chopsticks hovering inches away from his mouth .

    "So now you¡¯re worried about us . " Hongling snorted . "And we¡¯re starving by the way .

    Zi Yuan shot Hongling a reprimanding look . "Don¡¯t listen to her," Zi Yuan said without taking her eyes off Hongling . "We ate this morning . "

    "But it¡¯s already past noon now," Li Yundong said with a sigh, then set down his chopsticks . "You guys must be hungry already . " Suddenly, Li Yundong stood up . "You guys stay here . I¡¯m going out for a moment . I¡¯ll be back soon . " He turned around and walked towards the door . When he reached the doorway, he paused and turned back around . "By the way, do you mind using the door when youe here next time? Please stop flying in and out of my apartment through the balcony . " Li Yundong¡¯s face scrunched up . "It makes you two look like a bunch of . . . " He did some weird gesture with his hands . " . . . I don¡¯t know . . . Flying thieves . "

    After that, he turned around and left the apartment .

    "Did you hear that, Elder Sister Zi Yuan?!" Hongling growled . "He just insulted us! Thieves! He called us flying thieves!"

    Zi Yuan chuckled . "I don¡¯t think he meant it quite literally, Hongling . "

    Hongling huffed . "Where do you reckon he¡¯s going anyway?"

    Zi Yuan smiled at Hongling . "Why ask me when you already know the answer?"

    Hongling grinned and then opened her mouth to speak, but her mouth clicked shut when a loud ringtone sounded .

    "Oh, hey, it¡¯s his phone . " Hongling picked up Li Yundong¡¯s phone from the coffee table .

    When Hongling turned the phone around and showed Zi Yuan the screen, Zi Yuan caught a glimpse of the caller ID: Princess

 Chapter 163

    Chapter 163

    <h4>Su Chan¡¯s Dilemma</h4>

    Su Chan paced back and forth in the room . Come on . . . Pick up . . . Pick up . . . Pick up . . .

    Master would be back soon, so she didn¡¯t have much time left to talk to Yundong . Probably ten minutes give or take .

    "The number you have dialed is unavable . Please leave a message after the¡ª" Grr! Su Chan lowered the phone and bit her lip . Had she pressed the wrong buttons? Maybe she had pressed the wrong buttons . That had to be it . These buttons were way too tiny . Su Chan flipped the phone over and tried again, thumbing each button carefully . Once she was sure she had gotten the sequence correct, she pressed the green button .

    The phone trembled slightly when she raised it to her ear . It rang, rang, and rang¡ª

    CLICK!

    Su Chan¡¯s heart soared . Yayyy!!!

    "Helloooooooo!!!! Beloved! Guess who is calling?"

    Silence .

    Hmm? Maybe he was too surprised to hear her voice that he got tongue-tied? Su Chan giggled into the phone . "Hehehe . . . Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve forgotten my voice already? It¡¯s me! Your little cheap monk!"

    Then, Su Chan¡¯s blood ran cold .

    She heard augh . A feminineugh .

    Su Chan hands dropped limply to her sides . The phone slipped from her grip and fell to the carpeted floor with thud .

    H- He¡¯s reced me . . . He¡¯s found... a n-new lover . . . He¡¯s abandoned me . . .

    Su Chan thought back to the voice she¡¯d heard over the phone . Who was that girl? Zi Yuan? Ruan Hongling? But no, that voice didn¡¯t sound like either of them . Besides, why would Zi Yuan or Ruan Hongling have Yundong¡¯s phone?

    Maybe Yundong left his phone at the motel and someone else had it now? Maybe it was one of those girls with the strange uniforms, the ones pushing thoserge trolleys around the motel every morning? Maybe¡ª

    CLACK!

    "Chan¡¯er!! Where are you?"

    Uh-oh! Master¡¯s back! Master¡¯s back! Argh!

    Su Chan scrambled for the phone on the floor and then stuffed it under her pillow . Then, she jumped onto the bed andy down with her back facing the door .

    Yundong wouldn¡¯t just rece me, would he? No, no, no . . . Yundong is the nicest . . . the most loyal . . . and . . . and . . . Su Chan¡¯s shoulders began to tremble . B- But . . . what if he really doesn¡¯t want me anymore? What if he got tired of my absence and then . . . and then he . . .

    A sob escaped Su Chan¡¯s lips . She bit her bottom lip to stifle another one .

    The door opened . "Chan¡¯er? Are you¡ª" Master paused mid-sentence .

    Su Chan bit her lip harder and endured the sting in her eyes . Secondster, she heard Master¡¯s dejected sigh .

    "You¡¯re thinking about him again, aren¡¯t you, Chan¡¯er?"

    Su Chan decided to abandon all pretense right then . She turned around on the bed and faced her master, teary face and all . "Can I go see him, Master? Please? Chan¡¯er misses him, Master . . . Let me go see him . . . "

    "No . . . " The coldness in Master¡¯s voice made Su Chan flinch . "Absolutely not! He will fail the Zhuji phase if you go back now, do you understand? He will fail . And then he will die! Do you really want that?"

    Su Chan let her shoulder sag, then shook her head weakly .

    Master was already stepping out of the door . "Remember that he only has one chance left, Chan¡¯er . One chance . "

    The door mmed shut a secondter .

    ***

    The entire apartment screamed "weird vibes" when Li Yundong walked in . He paused at the doorway with bags of groceries hanging from his hands . Ruan Hongling was on the couch, scowling . Zi Yuan was leaning her back against the sliding door with her eyes closed .

    "What happened?" Li Yundong asked . He looked from Zi Yuan to Ruan Hongling, then back to Zi Yuan again .

    Nobody answered .

    Okay . . . ? This was awkward . Li Yundong cleared his throat loudly and moved from the doorway into the living room .

    "Well! So, um... I know we got off on the wrong foot, but you two have been so helpful to me for the past few days . I figured I¡¯d repay you with a meal . Plus, you guys haven¡¯t had your lunch yet, so . . . " He shrugged .

    Zi Yuan opened her eyes and smiled at him . "You¡¯re too kind . "

    Li Yundong returned her smile . "Nah . It¡¯s no big deal," he said casually . "It doesn¡¯t feel right to let you two watch me eat anyway . "

    Ruan Hongling shot him a skeptical look . "You know how to cook?" Then, her expression turned suspicious . "You¡¯re not trying to poison us, are you?"

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes . Annoying girl . "I guess you¡¯ll see . " Li Yundong padded into the kitchen . "Make yourself at home . I won¡¯t be long!"

    ***

    "Need a hand?"

    Li Yundong looked up from the chopping board at the sound of Zi Yuan¡¯s voice .

    Li Yundong smiled . "Nah . It¡¯s okay . Girls should avoid the kitchen at all costs . "

    Zi Yuan gave him an amused look . "Why?"

    Li Yundong shrugged . "Well, all the smoke and . . . " He cleared his throat . "And... you know, the oil . . . Might ruin your skin . . . "

    Li Yundong dropped the knife and turned away from the counter .

    I miss her . . . God I miss her so much . . .

    F*ck! Why didn¡¯t he chop onions instead of . . . of . . . Shit, what the heck had he been chopping? He couldn¡¯t even remember . Damn it . Should¡¯ve gone with onions first . At least he could use the onions as an excuse for his tears .

    A warm hand touched his shoulder a secondter .

    "Are you okay?"

    Li Yundong turned and saw Zi Yuan¡¯s concerned expression .

    "I¡¯m fine," he said, then sniffed . "I just . . . "

    "You miss her," Zi Yuan said .

    Li Yundong sighed . "Yeah . . . " Suddenly he smiled . "I told her the same thing I told you earlier . " He chuckled . "I mean, about why women shouldn¡¯t spend so much time in the kitchen . "

    And then his princess totally ignored him and ended up blowing up the kitchen . Fun times . Happy times .

    "Come on," Zi Yuan said with a warm smile . "The food¡¯s not going to prepare itself . "

    Li Yundong cleared his throat and turned back to the chopping board . When he picked up the knife, he saw Zi Yuan removing a second chopping board from the cab .

    "You can cook?" Li Yundong asked .

    In hindsight, he should¡¯ve asked in a less skeptical tone .

    Zi Yuan didn¡¯t seem offended by the question¡ªthank God . Instead, she smiled andy the chopping board on the counter .

    "A little bit, I guess . "

    There was a loud, haughty snort .

    Li Yundong looked up to see Ruan Hongling leaning against the door jamb of the kitchen .

    "I¡¯ll have you know that Elder Sister Zi Yuan cooks really well . I bet her skills are way better than yours!"

    "Really?" Li Yundong¡¯s gaze snapped towards Zi Yuan . "Wow . I didn¡¯t know . "

    Truth be told, Li Yundong thought Zi Yuan was the rich, pampered type . At least that was his first impression of her . Then again, he knew close to nothing about Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling¡¯s lives . So there was that .

    "Ignore her," Zi Yuan said . "I only know how to make a few simple dishes, that¡¯s all . "

    Li Yundong lowered his gaze and studied the way Zi Yuan was slicing a piece of carrot like she¡¯d been doing it for decades .

    "Uh-huh . . . " he said .

    Zi Yuan kept slicing and dicing the carrot . She didn¡¯t even look up from the chopping board . "No, really . I used to stay alone . " She shrugged . "A girl has to eat in order to survive, you know?"

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Fine . How about this, then? Why don¡¯t I make two of my signature dishes, and you do the same? Deal?"

    Zi Yuan stopped her knife work and looked up from the chopping board . She held Li Yundong¡¯s gaze for a moment, and then smiled confidently . "Deal . "

    Ruan Hongling pped her hands together . "Yes! Woohoo! Looks like I¡¯ve got a chance to savor Elder Sister Zi Yuan¡¯s cooking again!"

    "Enough . . . Hongling . Stop being a nuisance and go outside . "

    For once, Ruan Hongling didn¡¯t talk back to her mentor like a petnt child . She grinned and slipped out of the kitchen . Li Yundong stared after Ruan Hongling in shock . Maybe the girl liked Zi Yuan¡¯s cooking a lot .

    Twenty minutester, lunch was served .

    Li Yundong went out of his way and prepared three dishes instead of two: braised carp; sweet and sour pork ribs; and finally, tomato and egg soup . True to her word, Zi Yuan prepared two simple dishes: stir-fried lotus; and stir-fried carrot slices .

    "Lucky me!" Ruan Hongling said . "It¡¯s been so long since I¡¯ve had home cooking! And it smells heavenly in here!"

    "Wait, you guys don¡¯t eat home-cooked meals regrly?"

    Try as he might, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t keep the surprise out of his tone when he asked the question, to which Zi Yuan answered with a cryptic smile .

    In the end, it was Ruan Hongling who answered his question . "Elder Sister Zi Yuan¡¯s CQ is so high that food is no longer needed for survival . And I . . . Well . . . I..."

    Was Ruan Hongling blushing? Yep . She totally was .

    "I don¡¯t know how to cook . So I relied on take-outs..."

    Li Yundongughed but then immediately masked it with a cough . He cleared his throat and picked up his chopsticks .

    "Hey . . . This is good!" Li Yundong said after taking a bite of Zi Yuan¡¯s stir-fried lotus . "Holy wow! This tastes amazing!!"

    Li Yundong took a few more bites .

    Zi Yuan smiled humbly . "It¡¯s okay, I guess . "

    Li Yundong opened his mouth to say something, but then he was cut off by Ruan Hongling¡¯s shrill voice .

    "Delicious!!!" Ruan Hongling turned to Zi Yuan . "Here, have some of this fish, Elder Sister Zi Yuan!"

    Li Yundong watched Ruan Hongling ce a piece of the braised carp he¡¯d made into Zi Yuan¡¯s bowl . He smirked . Who¡¯s trying to poison whom now?

    Zi Yuan picked up her chopsticks and took a bite of the fish while Li Yundong waited with bated breath for Zi Yuan¡¯s reaction . A tiny smile formed on Zi Yuan¡¯s lips . "It¡¯s really good . "

    Li Yundong smirked . Well . He never doubted that for a second . Ruan Hongling¡¯s nearly-full bowl¡ªlet¡¯s not forget his daily "food wars" with Su Chan¡ªpretty much told him everything he needed to know about his culinary skills .

    After that, the meal went on inpanionable silence, which was quite a surprise considering that they had tried to kill each other not a few days ago .

    Perhaps food was the solution to world peace .

    Minutester, Li Yundong could feel Ruan Hongling¡¯s eyes on him . He looked up from his bowl and saw Ruan Hongling studying him curiously .

    Li Yundong raised a brow, then smirked . "What¡¯s the matter? You look like you wanna eat me up . "

    Ruan Hongling sniggered . "Oh, trust me . I don¡¯t wanna eat you up . " Then, Ruan Hongling¡¯s eyes darted to Zi Yuan . "But somebody does . "

    Li Yundong nced towards Zi Yuan, who was now blushing to the tip of her ears .

    Some sort of scuffle sounded under the table .

    "Ow! Why¡¯d you kick me, Elder Sister Zi Yuan!" Ruan Hongling pouted, reaching down under the table .

    Li Yundong shot Zi Yuan another questioning look, but the woman wasn¡¯t even looking at him . She was ring at Ruan Hongling as though she wanted to skin her prot¨¦g¨¦ alive .

    "Um, what are you guys¡ª" Li Yundong stopped talking when he heard the sound of a familiar ringtone .

    Su Chan . It was Su Chan¡¯s ringtone .

    He was out of his seat in a second, charging towards the couch like a madman . He grabbed the phone from the couch and hit the answer key almost immediately .

    "P- Princess?"

    His heart sank to the bottom of his stomach when the first thing he heard was Su Chan¡¯s wails .

    "How could you!!! How could you abandon me . . . !!!"

    Just like that, Li Yundong felt as though his world had shattered into a million pieces .

 Chapter 164

    Chapter 164

    <h4></h4>

    Raising a Fox Spirit in My Home-Chapter 164 The Little Fox¡¯s Training

    ¡°Whoa, whoa, whoa... Slow down, princess,¡± Li Yundong said . ¡°What happened?¡± He opened the sliding door and stepped outside .

    Su Chan was still crying on the phone . ¡°Have you r-reced me already?¡±

    ¡°Rece¡ª¡± Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or to cry . ¡°What are you even talking about, princess?¡±

    Su Chan cried even harder . ¡°You¡¯ve abandoned me for someone else, haven¡¯t you? You were with some... some other women . ¡±

    Li Yundong sighed . ¡°Don¡¯t be silly, princess . Of course I haven¡¯t abandoned you . That¡¯s not even possible, for God¡¯s sake . In fact, I missed you like crazy!¡± And let¡¯s not forget broke down in tears in front of Zi Yuan because I remembered something I told you . Not that he would ever tell Su Chan that .

    Su Chan¡¯s sobs turned into snivels . ¡°B-But women flock to you, Yundong . Y-You¡¯re basically surrounded by beautiful women! What if you be attracted to one of them a-and...¡±

    Li Yundongughed out loud, relieved to learn the cause of Su Chan¡¯s emotional breakdown¡ªunfounded jealousy .

    ¡°Never thought I¡¯d see my little princess so jealous...¡± he said in betweenughs .

    Su Chan sniffed and then made some kind of whiny sound . ¡°Meanie, meanie, meanie! Stopughing and answer the question!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled even though he knew Su Chan couldn¡¯t see him . ¡°Don¡¯t be silly, princess . I told you I only have eyes for you . ¡±

    ¡°But¡ª¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s true that I¡¯m surrounded by beautiful women . But...¡± Li Yundong paused for a few seconds . He couldn¡¯t hear Su Chan¡¯s breathing over the phone, so he knew she was probably waiting with bated breath for what he was about to say . Li Yundong smiled again . ¡°But none of them were you . ¡±

    There was a long silence .

    ¡°Princess?¡±

    ¡°But why?¡±

    Li Yundong frowned . ¡°Why what?¡±

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you falling for those women? They¡¯re beautiful... and nice... kind... And I...¡±

    Li Yundong gripped the phone tighter . ¡°You what?¡±

    Su Chan sniffed and blew her nose . ¡°I¡¯m just a cheap monk . ¡±

    There was a brief pause, after which Li Yundong burst intoughter .

    Su Chan made that whiny noise again¡ªsomething between a grumble and a sob .

    Li Yundong stoppedughing . ¡°Why do you keepparing yourself to other women? I mean,e on . You win hands down . My princess is the best¡ª¡±

    ¡°At least they¡¯re human...¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart stopped for a second .

    ¡°And I...¡± Su Chan sniffed . ¡°I¡¯m just a fox spirit...¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s gripped the railing with one hand . Momentster, he sighed . ¡°I don¡¯t know how to convince you, Su Chan . ¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s persistent sniffs could be heard on the other end of the line .

    ¡°You asked me why I chose you,¡± Li Yundong said, then chuckled . ¡°Well, the answer really isn¡¯t thatplicated . ¡± Li Yundong released his grip on the railing and ran his hand through his hair . ¡°I chose you because you chose me first . ¡± Li Yundong paused to let his words sink in . ¡°You never abandoned me from the start, even when I was just a useless nobody . So I would never¡°¡ªHe injected as much vehemence as possible into his voice¡ª¡±ever abandon you . You got that?¡±

    ¡°Mmm...¡± Su Chan said . ¡°Okay...¡±

    Li Yundong sighed in relief . ¡°So are we good?¡±

    ¡°Mmm!¡±

    ¡°Um... Can I ask what brought this on?¡±

    A brief silence passed before Su Chan spoke in a grumpy tone .

    ¡°I called earlier, but someone else picked up . ¡± Another pause . ¡°A woman . ¡±

    Li Yundong frowned . ¡°What?! But...¡± The penny dropped . He turned away from the railing and stared into the apartment through the sliding door . Ruan Hongling was staring back at him from the dining table, but then quickly averted her gaze when she saw him watching her .

    That little... Li Yundong clenched his jaw tightly .

    ¡°I went out to get some groceries earlier,¡± he said, ring in Ruan Hongling¡¯s direction . ¡°And I didn¡¯t bring my phone with me . ¡±

    ¡°But some woman picked up!¡± Su Chan grumbled .

    Li Yundong wondered if she was pouting . She definitely sounded like she was pouting .

    ¡°Uh-huh... What did she say?¡± Li Yundong said, still ring at Ruan Hongling .

    ¡°She didn¡¯t say anything . Justughed . ¡±

    Anger rose inside Li Yundong . I¡¯ll deal with herter...

    ¡°You have nothing to worry about, princess . I wasn¡¯t even there when my phone rang . Someone else picked up my phone . And I think I know who it is . ¡±

    ¡°Who?¡± Su Chan sounded puzzled, though he could still detect a hint of wariness in her voice .

    ¡°It was probably Ruan Hongling,¡± Li Yundong said, then chuckled . ¡°I think you totally got pranked, princess . ¡±

    ¡°Oh . ¡± There was a long pause . ¡°Wait! You said you went out to get groceries . ¡±

    ¡°Yep . I did . ¡± Where was she going with this?

    ¡°Then... You cooked something for Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    Realization washed over Li Yundong, and heughed . ¡°Bravo! My princess is so clever! Yep! You¡¯ve guessed right . ¡±

    ¡°Hmph! I... I wanna taste your cooking too! I¡¯m soooo hungry!¡±

    Yep . That little chipmunk was definitely pouting .

    Li Yundong chuckled . ¡°Don¡¯t worry, princess . I¡¯ll cook for you every day once all this is over, okay?¡±

    ¡°Really, really, really? Promise?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled . ¡°Yep! I promise . ¡±

    ¡°Pinky!!!¡±

    Li Yundongughed out loud . ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Pinky, pinky!!!¡± Su Chan whined . ¡°Hold out your pinky! Let¡¯s make a pinky promise . ¡±

    Li Yundong gripped the railing with one hand andughed even harder .

    ¡°Grr!!! Meanie! Stopughing and hold out your pinky!¡±

    Li Yundong grinned and held out his pinky in front of him .

    ¡°There . Done . ¡±

    God, this was stupid . And yet it felt so right .

    ***

    Ao Wushuang leaned her back against the wall beside Chan¡¯er¡¯s door . Secondster, Chan¡¯er¡¯s giggles sounded through the closed door . Ao Wushuang shook her head wryly . She¡¯d had her suspicions for days . Today, she decided to confirm her suspicions by sneaking in without Chan¡¯er knowing it .

    ¡°Fineee... I trust you, Yundong...¡± Chan¡¯er whined . ¡°Oooh, by the way, you should learn all you can from Zi Yuan... Mmhmm! Mmhmm! Master has a lot of good things to say about her... Yep! Yep! Well, shees from a prominent Cultivation school, so she can teach you better than I ever could...¡±

    Chan¡¯er giggled again . ¡°Hehehe... But I feel like all I did was cause you more trouble...¡±

    ¡°Well... You got that right,¡± Ao Wushuang muttered under her breath .

    ¡°Yundong... I miss you...¡±

    Alright . Enough of that . Ao Wushuang rolled her eyes and pushed herself away the wall . Then, she begun to make a bunch random noises around the hotel suite .

    Chan¡¯er¡¯s squeak sounded from inside the room .

    ¡°Uh-oh! Master¡¯s back! Master¡¯s back! I have to go, Yundong . ¡±

    Ao Wushuang rolled her eyes and rapped the door¡¯s surface with her knuckles .

    ¡°Chan¡¯er?! I¡¯ming in!¡±

    Ao Wushuang pushed the door open and entered the room .

    Chan¡¯er was sitting on the bed, staring back at her with round, innocent eyes . Amusement crept into Ao Wushuang . How stupid does this girl think I am?

    Ao Wushuang headed straight towards the bed, then stopped in front of Chan¡¯er .

    Chan¡¯er beamed at Ao Wushuang as though she was happy to see her . ¡°Yay!!! Master!!! You¡¯re back!¡± She even threw her hands in the air .

    Ao Wushuang smirked and ignored Chan¡¯er¡¯s feigned excitement . Instead, she held out her hand with her palm facing upwards .

    Chan¡¯er stared up at her quizzically . ¡°Master?¡±

    Uh-huh... Keep pretending, Chan¡¯er...

    ¡°Mm-hmm...¡± Ao Wushuang jerked her palm .

    Chan¡¯er tilted her head sideways, then blinked her eyes innocently . ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Hand it over...¡± Ao Wushuang jerked her palm again .

    Chan¡¯er flinched . ¡°H-Hand what over...?¡±

    ¡°Stop ying dumb, Chan¡¯er,¡± Ao Wushuang said harshly . ¡°The phone! Now!¡±

    A huge pout formed on Chan¡¯er¡¯s lips as she crawled from the edge of the bed towards a pillow . Then, from under the pillow, Chan¡¯er removed a sleek, ck phone . Where did she even get that thing? Must have gotten it from Li Yundong .

    Ao Wushuang snatched the phone from Chan¡¯er¡¯s hand . ¡°Not bad,¡± she grumbled . ¡°A few months in the mortal world, and you can even use a cell phone now . ¡±

    Chan¡¯er lowered her gaze guiltily and began toying with an invisible lint on her sleeve .

    Ao Wushuang sighed . ¡°Sometime I wonder if you love him at all, Chan¡¯er...¡±

    Chan¡¯er¡¯s head shot up . ¡°What! How could you say that, Master? Of course I love him!¡±

    ¡°Then why do you keep doing things to sabotage his training?¡± Ao Wushuang snapped . ¡°Do you know what you¡¯re doing right now, Chan¡¯er? You¡¯re putting his life at risk! No more contact with him . I mean it!¡±

    Chan¡¯er lowered her head again .

    ¡°T- Then... When am I allowed to contact him again, Master?¡±

    Ao Wushuang sighed . ¡°At least wait until he survived the divine punishment, okay? If he¡¯s as good as you imed, then it shouldn¡¯t take long . ¡±

    ¡°Oh . ¡± Chan¡¯er lowered her head again . After a while, Ao Wushuang felt a tug on her hand . She nced down and met Chan¡¯er¡¯s piteous eyes .

    ¡°But... Master... How am I gonna know that he¡¯s survived the punishment if I don¡¯t contact him?¡±

    Ao Wushuang felt an urge to pull her own hair . ¡°Oh, for God¡¯s sake, Chan¡¯er! You¡¯re a three-tailed fox spirit! Why are you acting like some...¡± Ao Wushuang¡¯s face twisted in distaste . ¡°...some clueless newbie Cultivator who asks a bunch of silly questions? Don¡¯t you think that everyone in the Cultivation world will know when the divine punishmentes? Honestly, Chan¡¯er . Have you forgotten everything I taught you?¡±

    Chan¡¯er opened her mouth, but Ao Wushuang immediately silenced her with a re .

    ¡°S-Sorry, Master . ¡±

    For minutes, Ao Wushuang stared at Chan¡¯er and studied her behavior . One thing did strike Ao Wushuang as odd: the way Chan¡¯er¡¯s eyes moved about in her sockets like she was thinking hard about something .

    Ao Wushuang narrowed her eyes . What are you up to, Chan¡¯er...

    After a while, Chan¡¯er seemed to have noticed Ao Wushuang¡¯s gaze on her . She looked up and smiled at Ao Wushuang innocently . ¡°What is it, Master?¡±

    Ao Wushuang shook her head . I¡¯ll have to keep a closer eye on her to make sure she doesn¡¯t do anything silly .

    Ao Wushuang produced the train ticket she¡¯d purchased at the station earlier . ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go . ¡±

    Chan¡¯er took the ticket obediently, then nced at it .

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Chan¡¯er looked up from the ticket and stared quizzically at Ao Wushuang . ¡°Why are we going to Dongwu City, Master?¡±

    Ao Wushuang resisted the urge to smack Chan¡¯er upside her head . ¡°Don¡¯t you have any desire for self-improvement at all?¡± Ao Wushuang released a sigh of frustration . Oh, Heavens help me with this child...

    Chan¡¯er had the decency to look sheepish . ¡°Hehehe...¡±

    Ao Wushuang rolled her eyes . ¡°How on earth did the Fox Zen School produce a disciple like you?¡± Ao Wushuang red at her disciple . ¡°Gosh . You¡¯re like the ck sheep of our school!¡±

    Chan¡¯er blushed adorably . ¡°S-Sorry, Master...¡±

    Ao Wushuang arched her brows . ¡°Are you going to sit back and watch your lover grow as a Cultivator and abandon your own training? Is that it?¡± Ao Wushuang shook a finger in front of Chan¡¯er¡¯s face . ¡°You mark my words, Chan¡¯er . With your current abilities?¡± Ao Wushuang snorted . ¡°You¡¯re just going to end up as a burden to your lover in the future . ¡±

    Apparently, that did the trick as Chan¡¯er¡¯s head suddenly shot up .

    ¡°When do we leave! When do we leave!¡±

    ¡°Tsk! Just check the ticket, dummy!¡±

    ¡°Oh . ¡± Chan¡¯er blushed and nced down at the ticket .

    Ao Wushuang chuckled wryly . Love really does make you stupid...

    ¡°But why Dongwu City, Master?¡±

    Ao Wushuang sighed . ¡°Well, it¡¯s an ancient city with thousands of years of history . And it¡¯s got a beautiful view with clear waters and impressive mountain ranges... It¡¯s a peaceful ce . All in all a good ce to Cultivate . ¡±

    ¡°But why not go back to the mountains...¡±

    Ao Wushuang snorted, then gave Chan¡¯er a dry look . ¡°Yeah . Like that¡¯s going to benefit your training . ¡±

    Chan¡¯er seemed puzzled . ¡°But why not? I¡¯ve been training inside the mountains since I was young!¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh... But you didn¡¯t have a lover back then, did you? If I take you back to the mountains now, you¡¯ll just end up moping around and crying like a baby because you miss your beloved too much . ¡±

    Chan¡¯er blushed .

    ¡°Might as well take you to Dongwu City, where it¡¯s peaceful and quiet . You can rest easy knowing that your beloved isn¡¯t too far from you . That way you can focus on your training . ¡±

    ¡°Mmm! You¡¯re so wise, Master!¡± Chan¡¯er paused . ¡°But... Can I... umm...¡±

    Ao Wushuang rolled her eyes . ¡°Out with it! Geez . ¡±

    ¡°Can I... tell Yundong where we¡¯re going?¡±

    This insolent little... Ao Wushuang red at Chan¡¯er . However, her anger dissipated instantly when she saw the hopeful look in Chan¡¯er¡¯s teary eyes .

    Ao Wushuang sighed and rubbed her temples . ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that, okay? He¡¯ll know where we are once he survived the Heavenly Thunder . I promise . ¡±

    ¡°Master...¡±

    Ao Wushuang suppressed a groan . She stopped rubbing her temples and stared into Chan¡¯er¡¯s puzzled eyes . ¡°What is it this time?¡±

    ¡°W-Why are we using a train... C- Can¡¯t we just fly?¡±

    Ao Wushuang pointed out the window towards the sky, where heavy storm clouds swirled . ¡°Are you an idiot? You want to fly in this kind of weather? Do you want to be struck by lightning?¡±

    Chan¡¯er smiled sheepishly, then mumbled, ¡°Hehehe... Right... I forgot...¡±

    Ao Wushuang red at her for a moment .

    ¡°You know what? I¡¯m starting to think that you¡¯re trying to piss me off on purpose and then run off to your beloved when I kick you out . ¡±

    A solid weight rammed into Ao Wushuang¡¯s chest as Chan¡¯er threw her arms around her . ¡°Mmmm... Master... Chan¡¯er wouldn¡¯t dare...¡± Chan¡¯er rubbed her face against Ao Wushuang¡¯s chest . ¡°Master is the nicest! I¡¯m staying with you!¡±

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s heart melted right then and there . She patted Chan¡¯er¡¯s head affectionately and felt every ounce of her annoyance melt away . After a while, she sighed and smacked Chan¡¯er¡¯s shoulder . ¡°Start packing or we¡¯re going to miss the train . ¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master!¡± Chan¡¯er leaped off the bed and began scrambling around the room for her things . Suddenly, Chan¡¯er stopped and turned around to face her . ¡°Master... I¡¯m hungry . ¡±

    Ao Wushuang burst intoughter and walked out of the room . Momentster, Ao Wushuang tossed a stic bag at Chan¡¯er . ¡°Here . Have some of this . ¡±

    Chan¡¯er opened the bag and peered inside . Secondster, Chan¡¯er looked up from the bag . ¡°Shaobing?¡± Chan¡¯er looked utterly crestfallen . ¡°But they¡¯re cold...¡±

    That insolent and ungrateful little...

    ¡°Hey! I made that for you!¡± Ao Wushuang snapped .

    The crestfallen look never left Chan¡¯er¡¯s face as she kept peering into the bag . She looked like someone who¡¯d been expecting to see diamond but got a bunch of dull pebbles instead .

    ¡°Fine!¡± Ao Wushuang growled . ¡°Give it back then...¡±

    Ao Wushuang reached for the bag, but Chan¡¯er hugged the bag to her chest like it was some kind of prized possession .

    Ao Wushuang snorted and lowered her hand . ¡°Now you want it,¡± she muttered .

    Chan¡¯er reached into the bag and took out a piece of Shaobing . Then, she took a huge bite .

    Ao Wushuang winced when she caught Chan¡¯er rubbing her cheeks as though she had a toothache . In hindsight, she should¡¯ve warmed up the damn thing . At least that would soften if up a little¡ª

    ¡°Yundong¡¯s cooking still tastes better...¡± Chan¡¯er said around a mouthful of Shaobing .

    Argh! That does it!

    Ao Wushuang growled and reached for the bag . ¡°Stupid, ungrateful disciple!¡±

 Chapter 165

    Chapter 165

    <h4>The Trial Begins</h4>

    Li Yundong stormed into apartment . Secondster, he stopped in front of the dining table and crossed his arms in front of his chest .

    "You picked up my phone, didn¡¯t you?" Li Yundong said, ring at Ruan Hongling .

    Ruan Hongling pped the table defiantly . "Fine! Yes! It was me! So what?"

    Li Yundong gave Ruan Hongling an incredulous look . "My phone is private! You have no right to go through it!"

    A loud ck sounded when Ruan Hongling stood up from her chair abruptly . "I did it for your own good!"

    "For my own¡ª" Li Yundong¡¯s mouth snapped shut . Shaking his head, he stared down at Ruan Hongling in incredulity . For his own good? How could any person be this self-righteous?

    "Yeah! That¡¯s right! For your own good!" Ruan Hongling yelled, gesturing wildly with her arms . "I didn¡¯t want you to be associated with those degenerate fox spirits and¡ª"

    "Shut up!" Li Yundong roared, then took a deep, calming breath . Li Yundong pointed a finger at Ruan Hongling¡¯s face, which had a stunned expression . "You have no right to call her that . And whom I choose to be with is none of your goddamn business . It¡¯s my love life . Mine! So stay out of it!"

    "Fine! You think I care!" Ruan Hongling screamed . "I wouldn¡¯t even be here helping you out if Elder Sister Zi Yuan hadn¡¯t asked me . " Then, Ruan Hongling pushed away from the stable and stormed off . Secondster, he heard the loud m of the sliding door . The balcony lit up in green, and Ruan Hongling was gone .

    Zi Yuan sighed . "I really don¡¯t understand this air of hostility between you two . I honestly thought that things would be better once you returned the damask . Looks like I was wrong . "

    "I¡¯ve been tolerant with her," Li Yundong growled . "Forget that she nearly killed Su Chan . Now she¡¯s going through my stuff?" He shook his head in disgust . "Who does she think she is? Didn¡¯t her parents teach her any manners at all?"

    "Hongling¡¯s parents died when she was very young . " Zi Yuan sighed . "I¡¯m the one who raised her . So you can me me if you want . "

    Li Yundong nced at Zi Yuan and noted the sad look on the woman¡¯s face . He sighed and decided to let it drop . "Earlier, you said you had something to discuss," he said . "What is it?"

    Zi Yuan looked up from the table and stared at him .

    Li Yundong raised his brows . "Well?"

    Zi Yuan averted her gaze . "Pack your things . You¡¯ll be going on a trip . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "A trip? Where to?"

    Zi Yuan looked straight into his eyes . "Tibet . "

    "What?!"

    ***

    This was perhaps the most ridiculous thing Li Yundong had ever heard . Which was saying something considering he¡¯d spent¡ªwhat, a few months?¡ªwith Su Chan, who had basically turned "saying random, silly stuff" into an art form .

    "Tibet?! What the heck am I supposed to do all the way up at Tibet?"

    "To train, what else," Zi Yuan said sternly .

    "Can¡¯t I do that here?" Li Yundong spread his arms wide . "I was doing fine, wasn¡¯t I?"

    Perhaps he should show Zi Yuan all those fancy moves he came up with one more time . Surely that counted as progress?

    "Cultivators usually prefer to be on a mountain when attempting to pass the Zhuji phase," Zi Yuan said . "Do you know why?"

    Li Yundong give Zi Yuan a helpless shrug .

    Duh . Would he have reacted this way if he knew?

    "The mountain air is fresh and unpolluted," Zi Yuan exined . "Besides, the mountains are where Nature¡¯s Qi is most concentrated . You¡¯ll be able to feel Nature¡¯s power when you¡¯re on a mountain . The higher the mountain the better, of course . "

    "Would that . . . " Li Yundong shot Zi Yuan a wary look . "Would that help increase my chances of sess?"

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Of course . That¡¯s the whole point . " She sighed . "The world has changed . Human activities have damaged and contaminated a lot of the world¡¯s mountains and forests . Fortunately, the mountains in Tibet are still very well-preserved . So I think it¡¯s best if you train there . "

    Li Yundong pondered Zi Yuan¡¯s words for a moment . Well, if there was a way to improve his chances, he didn¡¯t see why not .

    Then reality hit him . He suddenly remembered something that would put a damper on this let¡¯s-pack-up-and-go-to-Tibet n .

    Li Yundong sighed . "Look, this sounds like a good n and all . But we have a huge problem . "

    Zi Yuan arched a brow . "Which is?"

    Li Yundong gave her a helpless look . "I¡¯m broke . I can¡¯t afford a trip to Tibet . "

    Zi Yuan stared at him for a moment . "Are you serious right now?"

    Li Yundong sighed and lowered his gaze . "Unfortunately, yes . " Then, he looked up sharply . "Unless you¡¯re nning to sponsor my trip . " He deted and let his head drop . "Which would put me in your debt again . . . "

    "Who says you need to pay for anything at all?" Zi Yuan asked .

    Li Yundong¡¯s head snapped back up . "Wait . You¡¯re really sponsoring for the trip? Oh, wow! Thank you! Look, I really can¡¯t thank you enough for everything you¡¯ve done . Rest assured that once all of this is over, I¡¯ll¡ª"

    Zi Yuan raised her palm . "Hold your horses," she said . "I never said I¡¯ll pay for the trip . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "What? Then how?"

    Zi Yuan gave him a cryptic smile . "Nobody has to pay a single cent . "

    Li Yundong stared at Zi Yuan for a moment . "Oh!" He pped his forehead . "Right! Of course! You can fly me there with your powers! Silly me!"

    "Nope . You¡¯re going to Tibet on your own . Without having to pay a single cent . "

    Li Yundong snorted . "What do you want me to do, run all the way there?"

    Silence spread between them . Li Yundong waited for Zi Yuan to say something, but other than that cryptic smile on her face, he got nothing else .

    Horror and disbelief spread through him .

    "You¡¯re shitting me . . . " Li Yundong whispered . "This is a joke . "

    Zi Yuan said nothing .

    Secondster, Li Yundong chuckled . "Of course it¡¯s a joke . What am I even asking? Nobody can run from Tiannan City all the way to Tibet . I mean, that¡¯s nuts, right?" Li Yundong¡¯s smile faltered . "Right?"

    After what felt like forever, Zi Yuan¡¯s smile broadened and she broke her silence . "You know what? I think you should bring the Fan of the Seven Treasures along . The extra weight can definitely make your training much more effective . "

    Forget about what he said earlier . This, was the most ridiculous thing he¡¯d ever heard .

    Running all the way to Tibet . Was this chick nuts?!

    "Running is a great way to improve the concentration of your Qi," Zi Yuan continued . "Which, as I recall, is something that you¡¯recking . I see this as killing three birds with one stone . One, you can travel cost-free . Two, you can increase your Qi¡¯s concentration . And three, you¡¯ll be going to one of the best ces to pass the Zhuji phase . See? Solving three problems at once . "

    Li Yundong gaped at Zi Yuan . Nuts . This chick was definitely nuts .

    Zi Yuan sighed . "What, do you think Cultivation is an easy art to master? Well, it¡¯s not . To go against the natural order, you have to first live it . You have to experience and endure a lot of nature¡¯s tests . " Zi Yuan gave him a pointed look . "At some point, if you feel like you can no longer carry on, I want you to think of Su Chan . Think of the promise you¡¯ve made to each other . "

    Li Yundong nodded resolutely . "I understand . " He looked into Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes . "Where should I go once I reach Tibet?"

    Zi Yuan smirked . "To the highest ce in Tibet, of course . "

    Li Yundong stared at Zi Yuan for a moment . Great . This chick wanted him to climb the Himyas . No . Scratch that . She wanted him to conquer frigging Mount Everest . Right after he ran from Tiannan City to frigging Tibet .

    Li Yundong smiled wryly . "You sure I won¡¯t freeze to death before I even get to the summit?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head . "You don¡¯t really have to reach the summit . When you climb to a certain point, your body will tell you when it¡¯s time to make your attempt to pass the Zhuji phase . "

    "What do you mean?"

    "Your body will react . You¡¯ll start feeling something, and you¡¯ll know . " Zi Yuan raised her palm . "Don¡¯t ask me what kind of sensation you¡¯ll be feeling . I can¡¯t tell you that . All I can say is that you¡¯ll know when the timees . "

    Li Yundong took a deep breath before releasing it . "I got it . When do I leave?"

    "Tomorrow," Zi Yuan said . "So you better start packing now . "

    ***

    Li Yundong stared at the contents of his backpack: a few bottles of water; a thermos; two sets of travel clothes (Zi Yuan had insisted on a more minimalist¡¯s approach to packing); some toiletries; towels; his phone and its charger; the Fan of the Seven Treasures; and some cash .

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes lingered on the cash . Worry gnawed his insides . Several hundred yuan was far from enough to sustain the journey .

    "Worried about money?"

    Li Yundong turned around in surprise . Zi Yuan was floating into his room from the balcony .

    He sighed . "Geez . You really need to learn how to use the door . And yes, of course I¡¯m worried about money . I¡¯m broke, in case you haven¡¯t noticed . "

    Zi Yuannded beside his backpack and studied its contents for a moment . "Hmm . That¡¯s good enough . You have nothing to worry about . "

    Li Yundong stared at the bundle of cash . "Seriously? There¡¯s only like, a couple hundred yuan..."

    "What, you¡¯re not thinking about buying food on the journey or sleeping in an inn, are you?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes nearly bugged out . "Are you saying that I shouldn¡¯t be?"

    Again, there was that cryptic smile . This time, it looked more like a smirk .

    "Okay, hold on a second now . This is taking things too far! Where am I supposed to sleep? What am I supposed to eat?"

    Zi Yuan smirked . "Do you know how it was for me when I first began my training?"

    Li Yundong shook his head .

    "I had to travel for two thousand miles on foot . And I didn¡¯t have any food or money with me . "

    "What! That¡¯s¡ªBut how did you even survive!"

    Zi Yuan shrugged casually . "I pretty much left it to chance, fate, or whatever you wanna call it . When I was hungry, I either asked for food, or looked for food in the mountains . When I was thirsty, I drank from the rivers and streams . " Zi Yuan smiled as though she was recalling a pleasant memory . "It took me thirty-five days to reach my destination . "

    "Wow . . . That¡¯s tough . . . "

    Zi Yuan raised a brow . "You call that tough? The Tibetan Buddhists had it worse, I¡¯m telling you . They have this pilgrimage journey every year, travelling long distances on foot to reach the mountains . And guess what? Unlike you and I, these people are mortal . They are normal humans without powers or any physical enhancements . If they can do it, then so can you . " Zi Yuan gave him a pointed look . "You are the Jindan¡¯s Heir . " She looked away . "If you can¡¯t even survive this little journey? You¡¯ll never be able to survive the Heavenly Thunder . "

    Li Yundong pondered Zi Yuan¡¯s words in silence .

    "Like I said, Cultivation is not easy," Zi Yuan said . "It¡¯s not just about gaining magical powers . It¡¯s about building a strong will too . Mark my words, Li Yundong . A lot of times, the oue of a battle is decided by the strength of thebatants¡¯ will . "

    Li Yundong nodded and hoisted his backpack off the floor . "I understand now . "

    He moved towards the door .

    "Wait," Zi Yuan said, making Li Yundong pause .

    Li Yundong smiled . "What, you got some more tips for me?"

    Zi Yuan pointed at the fan¡¯s rivet sticking out from the top of his backpack . "You should keep the Fan of Seven Treasures out of sight at all times," she said sternly . "That¡¯s one of the most valuable magical weapons that exists, do you understand? Other Cultivators will try to take it from you if you¡¯re not careful . "

    Li Yundong lowered his backpack to the floor and stared at it . After a while, he ran into his bedroom and pulled out several old nkets . Then, he pulled out the fan and wrapped the nket around it before stuffing it back into the backpack . "There," he said .

    Zi Yuan nodded . "This is important . Keep it out of sight at all times . "

    "Got it . "

    "Alright, then . Let me send you off to the gates . "

    ***

    Fifteen minutester, Li Yundong and Zi Yuan stood inside the gazebo near New Hongsheng District¡¯s gates . The backpack sat idly on the stone table¡ªthe one with Zi Yuan¡¯s palm print¡ªas Li Yundong ran through his minimalist travel checklist for the nth time .

    "All set?" Zi Yuan asked .

    Li Yundong looked up from the backpack and smiled . "I guess so . . . " He cleared his throat . "Well, you got any more tips for me?" He sounded nervous . Hell, who was he kidding . He was about to run all the way to frigging Tibet . Of course he was nervous .

    Zi Yuan seemed to be deep in thought . Was she having second thoughts too? If she was, then, well, join the club .

    "Two things," Zi Yuan said all of a sudden .

    Li Yundong squared his shoulders . "I¡¯m listening..."

    "First, make sure you mind your own business throughout the journey," Zi Yuan paused for a moment . "Especially after you cross Tibetan borders . Keep to yourself and minimize human contact . More importantly . . . " Zi Yuan gave him a pointed look . "Do not get into unnecessary fights and arguments . Your top priority is to pass the Zhuji phase . So just focus on that . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "Right . "

    "Two . Once you start running, do not stop . "

    Li Yundong did a double take . "What? You mean like... I can¡¯t even stop to take a break?"

    Not even to take a leak? What the heck? Should he pack a few diapers?

    "No . No stops . Just keep running until your legs can¡¯t move anymore . "

    Why did he get the feeling that his shoes were going to fall off at some point during the journey? You know what? Scratch that . His legs were probably going to fall off . Then again, who was he to argue with the most powerful Cultivator of the younger generation?

    Li Yundong sighed . "Right . No stops . Got it . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Good . I¡¯ll look for you after you pass the Zhuji phase . "

    Li Yundong nodded and lifted his backpack off the stone table . "Well . . . I¡¯ll be off then . "

    Zi Yuan nodded regally . "Good luck . "

    Li Yundong walked out of the gazebo, then paused after a few steps . He turned around . "Um... Thank you . . . For everything you¡¯ve done . "

    Zi Yuan smiled . "You don¡¯t have to thank me . I¡¯m doing this for my own Cultivation training . "

    Li Yundong frowned . What was that supposed to mean? Before he could ask further, Zi Yuan vanished in a sh of green light . Li Yundong sighed and walked out of the gazebo .

    The sun emerged from the eastern horizon, breaking the dawn . The birds soared across the sky, singing to wee the morning . A new day . A new journey . A new Li Yundong .

    Tibet, here Ie . . .

 Chapter 166

    Chapter 166

    <h4>Interrogation</h4>

    "What really happened that night, Miss Zhou?"

    Zhou Qin raised her head and met Detective Wang¡¯s gaze from across the table . The cold, metallic walls of the interrogation room surrounded her like a prison cell . The chair under her felt hard and ufortable, but that probably had more to do with the fact that she¡¯d been sitting in it for hours telling the same story over and over again .

    Zhou Qin looked past the police detective¡¯s shoulders at therge, two-way mirror carved at the center of the metallic wall . The only thing missing in this entire picture were handcuffs and shackles .

    Zhou Qin looked at Detective Wang once more . "I¡¯ve already told you everything I know, haven¡¯t I?"

    The detective sighed . "Come on, Miss Zhou . . . I want the truth . How did He Shao really die? And where¡¯s the body?"

    Zhou Qin¡¯s smirked . "Oh? So you do believe that he¡¯s dead, then? Well . I suppose that¡¯s progress . "

    Detective Wang shrugged . "We¡¯re not ruling out other possibilities, of course . It depends on what you tell us . "

    Zhou Qin shrugged . "I told you the truth . "

    That wasn¡¯t a lie . She did tell Detective Wang the truth¡ªthe rtively believable truths anyway . She¡¯d left out the parts about magic, flying, the fact that Li Yundong¡¯s body was glowing the whole time, and the fact that Li Yundong had summoned a bolt of lightning from the sky .

    Unreal . It was unreal . Even to her, someone who had seen everything unfold with her own two eyes, all of it seemed unreal . It would be foolish to tell the police the whole truth, since it would further diminish the credibility of her story . No way Detective Wang would believe all that magical stuff .

    "Alright fine," Detective Wang said . "Let¡¯s just run this through from the beginning . "

    Zhou Qin gave him a nomittal shrug . She knew what the man was trying to do . He was trying to find loopholes in her story, and perhaps get her to reveal more than she intended .

    Detective Wang opened a folder on the table, then pushed a couple of photographs towards her . All the photos were taken at Shengyuan Hotel . One was a photo of her speaking with Ding Nan outside the banquet hall . Another one showed her standing beside her Audi, speaking with Li Yundong outside the gates . The rest were random shots of her having conversations with He Shao .

    Detective Wang tapped his finger on one of the photos . "We have evidence to show that you, Miss Ding Nan, and Mr . Li Yundong were thest people He Shao had had contact with before his death . " Detective Wang raised his brows . "Assuming that he is dead and not kidnapped by an unknown party . "

    Zhou Qin looked up from the photos . "He Shao is dead," she said in a sharp tone .

    "Then prove it . Help me understand . Exin to me how he died . "

    Zhou Qin leaned against the back of her chair . Should she show them the video after all? She hadn¡¯t nned to do so, but it was starting to seem like she had no other choice .

    "Let¡¯s start with this . " Detective Wang pushed another photo towards her . This one showed the curb outside Shengyuan Hotel¡¯s security booth . Probably taken by one of the surveince cameras in front of the booth . The photo showed Zhou Qin and Li Yundong having a conversation beside her Audi .

    Detective Wang tapped his finger on the timestamp of the photo . "This was ten minutes before He Shao drove away from the hotel . And then traffic cams also showed this guy"¡ªDetective Wang tapped his finger on Li Yundong¡¯s image¡ª"running after He Shao¡¯s car yelling a bunch of death threats . " Detective Wang removed his finger from the photo and leaned back . "So you¡¯re gonna have to try harder to help me make sense of all this, Miss Zhou . Because at this rate? Things really don¡¯t look good for you and your friend . Like I said, you two are thest people He Shao had had contact with before he disa¡ªI mean before he died . "

    "Sure . Fire away," Zhou Qin said in a casual tone . "What else do you want to know?"

    "I want more details," Detective Wang said . "As many as you can give me . "

    Zhou Qin stared at the detective .

    "Start with this picture . " Detective Wang pointed at the photo . "What were you and Li Yundong talking about at the time?"

    Zhou Qin studied the photo for a moment . "I was driving away from the hotel, but then I saw him and his girlfriend standing outside the gates . So I pulled over to say hi . I asked him what he was doing at the hotel . He told me he was on a job . "

    "What kind of job?" Detective Wang asked .

    "He runs security for President Cao Kefei of Huasheng Studios . He was there as her bodyguard that night . " Zhou Qin gave the detective a pointed look . "I¡¯m sure President Cao can verify that . "

    Detective Wang nodded and wrote something down on his notebook . "There were two other women in front of the gates . Who are they?"

    "I don¡¯t know those two women . I did ask him, but he didn¡¯t tell me . "

    "But they were both with him when you arrived?"

    "Yes . "

    "They were conversing? Exchanging words?"

    "Yes . "

    To be exact, Li Yundong was yelling at those two women, but Zhou Qin wouldn¡¯t reveal that .

    "Did you know what they were talking about?"

    "No . "

    "So you didn¡¯t manage to catch bits and pieces of their conversation?"

    "Of course not . " Zhou Qin red at the detective . "It¡¯s not my habit to eavesdrop on other people . Besides, their conversation stopped when they saw my car . "

    Detective Wang studied Zhou Qin for a moment . "Okay . What happened next?"

    Zhou Qin suppressed the urge to roll her eyes . This again .

    "Look . I already told you, didn¡¯t I? After that the twins fell, and we ran into the building¡ª"

    "In detail, Miss Zhou," Detective Wang interrupted . "I want it in full detail . "

    Zhou Qin sighed . "Fine . Let me think . "

    Detective Wang nodded . "Sure . Take your time . "

    Zhou Qin didn¡¯t need any time; she already knew what detail to reveal to the cops . Even so, she had to act like she hadn¡¯t practiced her story in her head over and over again before she was called into the interrogation . The cops would suspect a lie if her story seemed rehearsed .

    After a while, Zhou Qin began her ount of the events that night .

    "We heard a scream, and then a loud crash . " Zhou Qin arched a brow . "And as you and your colleagues probably already knew from the CCTV footages, all of us ran into the building to see what happened . "

    "And? What did you see?"

    "Blood . A lot of blood . " That was theplete truth .

    "Mm-hmm..."

    "One of the twins . . . Deng Yu . Well, I couldn¡¯t tell the twins apart to be honest, but I heard Li Yundong yell her name when he ran over . "

    "Ran over to where?"

    "Towards the blood and the body . "

    Detective Wang nodded and flipped through a few pages in his notebook . "Li Yundong¡¯s prints were on Miss Deng Yu¡¯s body . His girlfriend¡¯s too . . . "

    "Well, I¡¯m not surprised that they were . " Zhou Qin arched a brow . "I mean, if you were in the same situation, wouldn¡¯t you at least try to check and see if the girl was still alive? To check for a pulse or vital signs?"

    "Of course I would," Detective Wang said distractedly . "Go on . . . "

    "Not long after we saw the first body, there was a second scream," Zhou Qin said, pausing for a moment . "The second twin fell off a balcony . "

    Detective Wang put down his notebook and sat up straighter in his chair .

    "Ah . Now you¡¯ve reached the part where I don¡¯t get," Detective Wang said, studying her face carefully . "You said that Li Yundong knew He Shao was the one responsible for the twins¡¯ deaths . But how? How could he possibly know?"

    "Come on, detective . He Shao drove away from the building just minutes after the twins fell to their deaths . "

    Zhou Qin decided to leave out Li Yundong¡¯s im about his being able to see He Shao standing on a balcony fifteen floors up .

    "Fair enough . But chasing after a car? A BMW sports car, mind you . " Detective Wang gave her a skeptical look . "You expect me to buy that?"

    Zhou Qin smirked . "What can I say? He¡¯s fast . "

    Detective Wang stared at her through narrowed eyes . A momentter, he leaned forward and ced his elbows on the table . "You hiding something from us, Miss Zhou . I know you are . "

    Zhou Qin smiled . "I don¡¯t see what I have to hide . " She crossed her legs under the table . "The way I see it? The sooner I can get out of here, the better . "

    Detective Wang¡¯s eyes narrowed even further . "We know there¡¯s something special about this Li Yundong guy, Miss Zhou . We¡¯ve seen the footages . "

    Oh you have no idea, detective . No idea .

    Zhou Qin shrugged . "Then there¡¯s really nothing left for me to tell you, is there? You¡¯ve seen the evidence of his abilities, so you already know that he¡¯s fast enough to keep up with a sports car . What else do you want from me?"

    "What I want to know is whether any of the evidence presented to us have been tampered with or fabricated . " A smug expression spread across Detective Wang¡¯s face . "With your resources, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that hard to hire a team of hackers to mess with the traffic cams . "

    Zhou Qin smiled . "Is that an usation, detective? Do I need to call mywyer?"

    Detective Wang¡¯s smile faltered . "Come on, Miss Zhou . A guy pulling back a BMW sports car, stopping it from moving? This is real life, not a scene from a Captain America movie . No human is capable of a feat like that . "

    "What do you want me to say? He just is," Zhou Qin said in mild exasperation . She felt utterly exhausted . Plus, her mind was still reeling from everything she¡¯d witnessed . "And why would I tamper with the traffic cams, detective? What would be the point?" Zhou Qin shook her head . "Even if I did hire a hacker to mess with it, why would I rece the real footage with something thatcks credibility? I could¡¯ve just changed it to somethingpletely normal and innocuous rather than what you saw . "

    Silence fell upon the interrogation room .

    "You were there at the scene, where the wreckage of He Shao¡¯s car was found," Detective Wang said a minuteter . "How did you know where to find him? Did you follow him?"

    Zhou Qin sighed . This was the part where she had to lie . She wouldn¡¯t just make stuff up, of course . She was smarter than that . She would lie using the truth .

    "Shortly after Li Yundong ran after the BMW, his girlfriend passed out in front of the hotel . "

    "Why did she pass out?"

    "Shock," Zhou Qin said confidently, even though she didn¡¯t have a clue why Su Chan passed out .

    "Go on . "

    "I booked a room and brought her to the room . After that, I checked my phone coz I got an email notification from the university¡¯s forum site . Someone made a post on the forum iming that they saw Li Yundong running past the campus gates . " Zhou Qin gave the detective a quick nce . "You can check the forums and also the time the post was made if you don¡¯t believe me . "

    Detective Wang got up and knocked on the two-way mirror twice . Then, he walked back towards the table and sat down . "And then?"

    Zhou Qin shrugged . "I knew that if someone saw Li Yundong running past the campus, then He Shao¡¯s car must¡¯ve passed by that area as well . " Zhou Qin nced at the detective briefly . "That was under the assumption that Li Yundong was chasing after He Shao¡¯s car . " Zhou Qin crossed her arms in front of her chest . "By then, it became obvious to me what He Shao was up to . " Zhou Qin snorted . "He was clearly driving towards the city limits so that he could leave the city . So I got into my car and drove over there as fast as I could . "

    Lies . Zhou Qin didn¡¯t even know where He Shao went until that girl¡ªone of Li Yundong¡¯s weird friends¡ªcalled, asking her to bring Su Chan over to some field at the roadside as quickly as she could .

    Detective Wang flipped through his notebook again . "You told the policemissioner that, I quote, there is a loose gunman on the run, in that particr area . . . " Detective Wang held her gaze . "And you also told him to set up a blockade to prevent anyone from going in and out of the area for at least half an hour . "

    Zhou Qin uncrossed her arms . "Yes I did . "

    Detective Wang¡¯s eyes narrowed . "How did you even know that He Shao had a gun?"

    Zhou Qin suppressed a smirk . She knew this question wasing . The solution was obvious . Lie . Tell more lies . Believable lies concocted from true events .

    "When I was driving to the university, I kept checking the forums for any updates . A few studentsmented on the post that they heard gunshots in the area . " Zhou Qin exhaled . "I knew it had to be He Shao . "

    Detective Wang shot her a skeptical look . "And that¡¯s when you called? You made the call when you were driving to the scene?"

    "Yes . "

    "So you weren¡¯t even there at the scene when the shots were fired," Detective Wang said .

    "Obviously . "

    "And yet you deemed it necessary to pressu¡ª" Detective Wang cleared his throat . " . . . to convince themissioner to set up a blockade? There could¡¯ve been witnesses to verify He Shao¡¯s supposed getaway . "

    "I did what I judged to be right . " Zhou Qin leveled a cold gaze at the detective . "You don¡¯t know He Shao as well as I do . That man is capable of anything when he¡¯s desperate . " Zhou Qin smirked . "How can I, a responsible citizen of this country, allow innocent bystanders to get injured, or worse, killed by a loose gunman when I know I have the means and resources to prevent further casualties?"

    Satisfaction coursed through Zhou Qin when she saw the twitch on Detective Wang¡¯s eyebrows .

    "I can totally understand that if your request applied only to civilians," Detective Wang snapped . "But you told themissioner not to allow any armed officers to enter as well . "

    Zhou Qin smirked . "Yes, I did . And shouldn¡¯t you guys be thanking me?"

    "Excuse me?"

    "Do you"¡ªZhou Qin gave the two-way mirror a quick nce¡ª"and your colleagues really want to be put in a position where you¡¯re forced to fire your weapons at He Shao?" Zhou Qin smirked . "Do you really think your careers would survive the wrath of the He family?"

    Detective Wang went pale .

    Zhou Qin chuckled . "Yeah . I thought as much . " Zhou Qin stared pointedly at Detective Wang¡¯s pale face . "If you guys injure or kill He Shao, you¡¯ll most likely face dire consequences . But if you let him go, your reputation as cops would be ruined . " Zhou Qin shrugged . "Either way, it would be the end of your careers . " Zhou Qin smirked . "You¡¯re wee, by the way . "

    Detective Wang cleared his throat harshly . "You said you were in your car, heading over to wherever He Shao was going . "

    "That¡¯s correct . "

    "Were you armed?"

    Zhou Qin chuckled . Did these guys think she was stupid? "No I wasn¡¯t armed . It¡¯s illegal for private citizens to own firearms in this country . "

    "Then what was your n? What were you nning to do when you did catch up to him?"

    "To talk to him and convince him to turn himself in, of course . " Zhou Qin smiled . "Like I said, I¡¯m a responsible citizen . "

    The detective eyed her skeptically . "But you were also an unarmed woman about to confront an armed man . "

    "He knew my background . " Zhou Qin crossed her arms confidently . "He wouldn¡¯t dare harm me . "

    Detective Wang pulled out two more photos from his folder and slid them over towards her .

    Zhou Qin gave the photos a brief nce . Er Lu and his mother, both of whom He Shao had murdered .

    "Do you know these two victims?"

    "Not personally," Zhou Qin answered . "But I know thedy runs a vegetable stall at the market . The male victim was her son . "

    "Your friend Li Yundong had a rather . . . shall we say . . . antagonistic rtionship with the male victim . "

    "So?"

    "That¡¯s motive for murder . "

    Zhou Qin smirked . This was a trick .

    Nope . Not falling for that, pal .

    "Like I said, I don¡¯t know the male victim personally . But I did witness Li Yundong save the man¡¯s life from a group of gangsters a few days ago . " Zhou Qin yed with her nails . "And I also know that Li Yundong wasn¡¯t carrying a gunst night . " She looked up from her nails at Detective Wang .

    The detective seemed pretty satisfied with her answer .

    Detective Wang flipped through his notes

    "Did you see anything strange while you were driving towards the scene?" Detective Wang kept staring at his notes . "Anything peculiar or out of the ordinary?"

    Another trick question . These guys were trying to see if her story matched the facts . Well, good thing Zhou Qin was smart enough to concoct a lie using the truth .

    "Well . . . " Zhou Qin pretended to think hard . "Ah . There were a bunch of potholes along the way . Like, one every ten or twenty meters or so? I remember having to swerve betweennes to avoid them . "

    That was the truth . She did have to avoid holes on the road . God, it was like someone had dropped giant metal balls from the sky . What on earth did Li Yundong do anyway?

    "What about when you arrived at the scene? What did you see?"

    Zhou Qin leaned away from the table until her back touched the chair . "I slowed down when I saw skid marks on the road . Eventually, I saw He Shao¡¯s car on my left . " Zhou Qin paused for a moment . "It had fallen off the road onto a wide field beside the road . "

    "Okay . What state was the car in? Wrecked? Were the engines running?"

    "Turned turtle," Zhou Qin said in a heartbeat . "It was pretty badly damaged . But I¡¯m not sure about the details . Don¡¯t know about the engine either . I wasn¡¯t really focused on the car . "

    "What else did you see?"

    "I saw . . . " Zhou Qin paused to take a breath . "Well, Li Yundong was walking towards the car . Then, He Shao crawled out from the overturned car . "

    Lies . The only thing she saw when she arrived was the entire field bathed in golden light . There was arge golden sphere surrounding Li Yundong¡¯s body . It was an unbelievable sight .

    "What did Li Yundong do?"

    Zhou Qin nced at the detective . This was the part where she had to be really careful with her words . Saying the wrong thing would incriminate Li Yundong .

    "Li Yundong and He Shao were yelling at each other . "

    "Were you able to hear them?"

    "Yes . They were loud . "

    "What were they talking about?"

    "Li Yundong was forcing He Shao to turn himself in . "

    More lies . Zhou Qin didn¡¯t even know if Li Yundong and He Shao were actually talking .

    "He Shao tried to bride Li Yundong with money, but Li Yundong didn¡¯t take the bait . "

    "Was there a physical altercation? I mean . . . Was there any violence involved at some point during the argument?"

    Zhou Qin raised her brow at Detective Wang¡¯s tant insinuation .

    Detective Wang shrugged . "It¡¯s a reasonable question . Just now, you said they were yelling at each other . Did the argument escte?"

    "No . They were just yelling . Besides, do you think Li Yundong is stupid enough to attack He Shao when he knew that He Shao was armed?"

    Lies . All lies . Even though they sounded logical and totally believable .

    "Fair enough," Detective Wang said, closing his notebook . "And afterwards?"

    "He Shao tried to make a run for it into the woods . Li Yundong ran after He Shao, but before he could get close . . . " Zhou Qin gave the detective a pointed look . "You already know the rest . "

    Detective Wang tossed the notepad onto the table . "Right . A bolt of lightning came down from the sky and turned He Shao into ashes . . . " Detective Wang rubbed his face . "Come on . You expect me to believe that?"

    "I expect you to rely on the evidence, detective . " Zhou Qin smiled . "I mentioned that there was a dark hole on the ground?"

    "You did . " Detective Wang chuckled bitterly . "You said it is the spot where the lightning struck He Shao . "

    "Well . It is . " Zhou Qin smirked . "Has your forensics team examined it?"

    Detective Wang stole a nce at her . "They¡¯re working on it . "

    "Then I have no doubt that your team would be able to uncover traces of He Shao¡¯s DNA in that hole . " Zhou Qin shrugged . "Charred tissue, maybe? Bones? Hair?"

    Detective Wang¡¯s eyes narrowed . "Even if we do find those things, that isn¡¯t enough to validate your story . " Detective Wang leaned forward, pressing his elbows on the desk . "Come on, Miss Zhou . Do you really think that a story of . . . of . . . " Detective Wang grimaced and made a couple of wild gestures with his hand . " . . . of a person killed by a random bolt of lightning would be taken seriously inside the court ofw?"

    Zhou Qin lifted a shoulder casually . "Why not?" Zhou Qin arched her brow . "You do know that lightning strike fatalities ur everywhere in the world, right?"

    "Seriously, Miss Zhou? Who do you think I am? An idiot? If there was a thunder stormst night, and He Shao was standing on open ground, then the im would at least be believable! But guess what? The weather was perfectly fine that night!" Detective Wang took a deep breath . "Look, Miss Zhou . You¡¯ve got to give me something else here . Come on..."

    The detective almost sounded like he was pleading . Perhaps he was . God only knew how much pressure the He family was putting on the police to find He Shao¡¯s "killer . "

    Zhou Qin sighed . "You¡¯re not listening to me, detective . I can¡¯t give you anything else because what I gave you is the truth . " She paused . "And regarding what you mentioned about the weather . I have one more thing to add . "

    Detective Wang sat up straighter and picked up his pen . He gestured for Zhou Qin to continue, then opened his notepad .

    "There were storm clouds above the field that night . "

    Detective Wang looked up from his notebook . "Are you sure?"

    "Absolutely positive," Zhou Qin said firmly . "I¡¯m sure because I was there . I saw the clouds . You can check the satellite data if you don¡¯t believe me . "

    Detective Wang scribbled something down . "Right . Storm clouds . And then this bolt of lightning supposedly came flying down from the sky and then struck He Shao until there was literally nothing left of him . " Detective Wang tossed the pen onto the table . "Good luck asking the jury to believe all that crap . "

    Zhou Qin shook her head . It seemed like she had run out of options now . That footage had to be revealed .

    Zhou Qin and Detective Wang stared at each other across the table .

    "I can prove it," Zhou Qin said minutester . "I can prove that He Shao was struck to death by a bolt of lightning . "

    Detective Wang¡¯s eyes widened . "How?" He leaned forward, seemingly intrigued .

    Zhou Qin sighed . "I recorded the whole thing with my phone . "

    Detective Wang deted . "We¡¯ve already checked your phone, Miss Zhou . There wasn¡¯t any recording . "

    "Not that phone," Zhou Qin said . "My other phone . It¡¯s inside my car . In the glovepartment . "

    Detective Wang waved at the two-way mirror, then turned back to give Zhou Qin a narrow-eyed stare . "Why isn¡¯t the footage the first thing you showed us?"

    Miss Zi Yuan¡¯s warning came flooding into Zhou Qin¡¯s mind . Nobody outside of the four of them should know about the events of that night . Yeah . Easy for her to say .

    Zhou Qin lowered her gaze like a scared little girl . Great . Now she had to act like a victim she didn¡¯t have an excuse for why she didn¡¯t reveal the footage first thing she was brought into this interrogation room .

    "I- I panicked, okay?" Zhou Qin said with a sigh . "The footage was rather . . . graphic . "

    The interrogation dragged on for another twenty minutes before the door of the interrogation room opened slightly . Another detective poked his head in . "Hey, Wang . I think you need to see this . "

    ***

    Detective Wang exited the interrogation room, closing the door behind him . "You got something?"

    "Oh, yeah I¡¯ve got something alright," his colleague said . "Come take a look at this . "

    This better be good .

    Detective Wang walked over and peered over his colleague¡¯s shoulder . "That¡¯s the footage?"

    "Uh-huh . . . Now watch . " His colleague tapped the space key .

    The video began to y .

    Like Miss Zhou imed, He Shao had tried to run into the woods . The image shook a little as Miss Zhou followed He Shao¡¯s movements with the camera .

    A bright sh lit up the center of the screen .

    "Holy f*ck . . . "

    Detective Wang brought his face closer to the screen, which showed He Shao¡¯s entire body engulfed by a white¡ªmaybe blue?¡ªlight .

    Three secondster, the light vanished, but the video didn¡¯t end . The image moved again, and Miss Zhou¡¯s stilettos came into view . The poor girl had probably lowered the phone in shock .

    Secondster, the image shifted and refocused on the center of the field . The camera zoomed in on the ground .

    The dark hole was exactly where Miss Zhou had described it earlier .

    "Holy shit . . . " Detective Wang whispered .

    Sounds of Miss Zhou¡¯s heavy panting red through the speaker .

    Dark fumes rose from the hole on the ground as the video yed on . At one point, the image began to shake; Miss Zhou¡¯s hands were trembling .

    Then, the video ended .

    "F*cking hell . . . " Detective Wang muttered . "F*ck..."

    "There¡¯s something else bro," said his colleague .

    "What?" Detective Wang said without looking away from the screen .

    "This shit is legit, bro . The geeks checked . The video wasn¡¯t fabricated . It¡¯s one-hundred percent legit . Even the time stamp matches the timeline of Miss Zhou¡¯s story . "

    Detective Wang turned his head and met his colleague¡¯s stare .

    "Bro, I think the girl¡¯s telling the truth," said his colleague grimly .

    Detective Wang ran a hand through his hair . "Then there¡¯s no way to me it on Li Yundong . . . "

    There was a brief moment of silence .

    "What the hell are we supposed to do, man? Themissioner is breathing down our necks . "

    Detective Wang snorted . "Yeah well, the He family is breathing down his . "

    Another silence spread between them .

    Detective Wang shook his head . "Miss Zhou¡¯s story is pretty much rock solid . "

    That was an understatement . Her story was wless .

    "Agreed," his colleague said .

    "But... My gut tells me that she¡¯s hiding something from us," Detective Wang said . "She¡¯s left out some key information . "

    "Like what?"

    Detective Wang paused in thought, then nced at his colleague . "Did you notice how she always kept her statements short and brief when I asked her about Li Yundong?"

    "You think she knows more about Li Yundong than what she told us?"

    "I think she¡¯s protecting him . "

    His colleague sighed . "Then, we¡¯ll just have to find other ways to coax the information out of her . "

    Detective Wang shook his head . "The usual tricks won¡¯t work on her . That girl is smart as hell . "

    Detective Wang reached for the keyboard and yed the video again, skipping to the part where the lightning struck He Shao .

    "Shit, bro . . . Do you really believe all this?" said his colleague .

    Detective Wang raised his brows at his colleague .

    "I mean, do you think that He Shao¡¯s death is . . . you know . . . the work of God? Some kind of divine punishment?"

    Detective Wang sighed . "Hell if I know, bro . "

    His colleague¡¯s phone pinged .

    "Forensic results just came back . The tissue samples obtained from the hole has He Shao¡¯s DNA . . . "

    Detective Wang shook his head . "Come on, man . You and I both know that that¡¯s far from conclusive . "

    "They also did a heat transfer analysis on the tissue . Based on the temperature profile, they estimated the temperature of the heat source . Around 49,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which corresponds to a lightning strike . "

    Detective Wang¡¯s jaw dropped open . "You¡¯re shitting me..."

    His colleague shook his head grimly . "No . And guess how long the heat transfersted? 3 . 5 seconds . That¡¯s way too long for normal lightning strikes, but it corresponds to the video . "

    Detective Wang reyed the video . The shsted for 3 seconds .

    "F*ck . . . Divine punishment..." his colleague muttered .

    Detective Wang snorted . "The guy probably had iting . I mean you know how¡ª" Detective Wang paused, then lowered his voice into a whisper . "You know how f*cking corrupt he is, bro . All the stuff he¡¯s done? Maybe he f*cking deserves it . "

    His colleague threw his hands up . "But the He family is gonna want answers from us, you know? And this . . . " His colleague pointed at theputer screen . "This ain¡¯t gonna cut it . " His colleague fell silent, clearly waiting for him to answer .

    "What did themissioner say? What does he want us to do?"

    His colleague shook his head . "He said to pin it all on that Li Yundong guy . "

    Detective Wang snorted . "Slimeball . That way he can avoid pissing off both the He and Zhou families . "

    "Well, that¡¯s not gonna work anymore," said his colleague . "The evidence is rock solid . It¡¯s clear that He Shao was struck by lightning . There¡¯s no way we can me it on Li Yundong . Like, what the f*ck are we supposed to say? That Li Yundong summoned lightning from the sky? That¡¯s ridiculous!"

    Detective Wang sighed . "Does themissioner know about this evidence yet?"

    "Not this video . But I think he knows about the forensics report . " His colleague paused and stared at him . "What do you reckon we do? Pin it on Miss Zhou?"

    Detective Wang looked towards the interrogation room . Through the two-way mirror, he saw Miss Zhou¡¯s elegant andposed expression . That girl had a lot of guts, that was for sure; she wasn¡¯t even here with herwyer .

    Detective Wang shook his head . "She didn¡¯t do it, bro . This is way too messy . With her resources, I¡¯m sure there are much more efficient ways to get rid of a guy . And besides, what¡¯s her motive? The Zhou family won¡¯t benefit at all from He Shao¡¯s death . If anything, they¡¯ll lose an ally . "

    "Themissioner is gonna try to pin it on her whether we want to or not . "

    Detective Wang stared at Miss Zhou through the mirror and shook his head . "But this ain¡¯t right, bro . This ain¡¯t right . "

 Chapter 167

    Chapter 167

    <h4>The Running Man</h4>

    Day 2

    "Hey!!! Young man!!! Do you need a lift or what?!"

    Li Yundong lowered the water bottle from his lips and looked to his left . A car had deliberately slowed down to match his pace . Through the car¡¯s lowered window, Li Yundong could make out the concerned face of a middle-aged man .

    Li Yundong capped the bottle and waved at the driver . "Nah! I¡¯m good!"

    "You sure?" The middle-aged man looked at him skeptically . "

    "Yep, I¡¯m sure!" Li Yundong increased his pace . "Thanks for offering though!"

    "You training for a marathon or something?"

    Li Yundong met the driver¡¯s curious gaze . "Nope!" he said . I¡¯m just running to frigging Tibet, he added silently .

    "Alright then! See you around kid! I hope you reach wherever you¡¯re going . "

    Li Yundong gave the man a wave as the car gained speed and pulled away from him .

    Well . That was the third time today something like this happened . Yesterday, he had had around twenty such encounters . If the passing drivers thought he was crazy, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t really me them . He himself thought he was nuts for doing this . But if this training could help him pass the Zhuji phase and survive the Heavenly Thunder afterwards, then he¡¯d be damned well sure he¡¯d ace it .

    What surprised him, though, was the fact that he didn¡¯t feel tired at all despite having run God knows how many kilometers without sleep, food, and rest . Even when he was rehydrating himself, he hadn¡¯t stopped running . Instead, he merely slowed his pace to a slow jog and then sipped on his water .

    Zi Yuan had insisted that he never stop for a breather once he started running, that he should keep running until his legs gave out entirely . So far, he¡¯d been doing exactly that . The way he saw it, his entire journey to Tibet would consist of: all out bout of running; copse due to exhaustion; eat, sleep, and rest to replenish his strength; repeat .

    Basically, the whole journey would consist of cycles . Hmm . He would call it the Running Man cycle . Yep . That definitely had a nice ring to it .

    Right now, he was still in his first Running Man cycle¡ªhe had yet to stop running since he left New Hongsheng district . He wondered when his body would finally reach its limit because at this rate, he felt like he could keep running for days without problems . Well, he did experience a minor difort yesterday, where his skin began itching like crazy minutes after he started running . However, the itching disappeared as soon as he started sweating . Other than that, there weren¡¯t any major diforts . His heart rate was slightly elevated but consistent . His legs didn¡¯t feel sore at all . His body felt hot all over, but he supposed that was normal for anyone who was running . The heat inside his body never became ufortable, most probably because he was sweating heavily, which helped cool him down .

    One other thing did strike him as odd . Somehow, the Qis of his five Zangs got drawn out on their own and started circting through his meridians after he¡¯d been running for a while . That had never happened before . Usually, he had to consciously draw out the Qis of his five Zangs with his Yuanyang, but this time the Qis seemed to have a will of their own . He wondered why . He made a mental note to ask Zi Yuan about itter .

    Su Chan was constantly on his mind . Whenever he ran past something interesting, he¡¯d start wondering about the kind of funny remarks that Su Chan would make if she were there beside him .

    Ooh, Yundong! Look! That thing has so many wheels!

    Hey, Yundong! Colorful lights! Hehehe!

    Oh, Yundong... Look! Octopus food! Dagoyakee balls! Yummy! Can we have some? Cue puppy dog eyes . Blink . Blink . Blink . Secondster: Yay!!! You are so nice, Yundong! Muacks! Muacks! Muacks!

    Yundong! Squids! Fried squids on sticks!

    Yundong this . Yundong that .

    Who was he kidding . Those were all memories . She¡¯d actually said those things to him .

    Arge archway appeared ahead . Above the archway was a huge sign with a bunch of words printed on it . He squinted and tried to read the words from afar . He couldn¡¯t .

    His vision was too blurry from the tears that had welled up in his eyes .

    Day 3

    Li Yundong¡¯s knees hit the pavement . Well . What do you know? His first Running Man cycle just ended . So this was what it felt like to run till you drop . Surprisingly, it had taken over 600 kilometers to reach his limit .

    Good God . Am I dead? He took several long gulps of air, and then rolled onto his back . The stars blinked down at him from the clear, night sky .

    Where was he anyway?

    He sifted through his memory for any signboards orndmarks that he¡¯d passed by before his knees gave out .

    He came up with nothing .

    Great, now he didn¡¯t even have a clue where he was . All he knew was that he was lying half-dead in a middle of some highway . Highway to hell, he thought, chuckling to himself .

    God . What the heck am I doing . . . ?

    Seriously, what the f*ck was he doing?

    He shut his eyes and kept breathing and filling his lungs with much-needed oxygen .

    The first signs of fatigue came when he was about to leave the previous city¡ªthe first city he¡¯d arrived at after he left Tiannan City . His breathing started to be rapid . His heart rate increased . Eventually he started to feel the burn in his lungs .

    But still, he kept pushing forward . He left the city quickly and entered the highway . He¡¯d been running on this highway for an hour or two before his muscles finally gave out .

    He tried to remember thest time he ate . It was actually during the afternoon before he left for this crazy trip . He had lunch with Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling before Zi Yuan told him about this trip . So it was three days since Ist ate, huh? Wasn¡¯t too bad, he supposed . Even though it felt like ages ago . And yes, he was hungry as f*ck . But that wasn¡¯t even his primary concern . Right now he had bigger problems to worry about (aside from feeling like he¡¯d just turned into a cripple, of course): he had run out of drinking water .

    Li Yundong groaned at the thought . Stupid, stupid, stupid! He was a f*cking idiot . Why did he choose to leave the city? He should¡¯ve just run around the city in circles until his legs gave out . At least he¡¯d still be inside a city when he exhausted all his strength . Right now he was in the middle of a highway . Where was he supposed to find water in the middle of a highway? What should he even do? Pray for the rain?

    Yeah . That was pretty dumb .

    Regardless . What¡¯s done is done . He would just have to walk back into the city tomorrow, buy some water and some food, and then be on his way again .

    His breathing had begun to even out, and he felt like he was drifting in and out of consciousness . He knew because he kept seeing Su Chan¡¯s face floating before his eyes, kept hearing her sweet voice beside his ear .

    Maybe she was here? Idiot . Why would she be here?

    Maybe he should just sleep . . . Wait, no . Li Yundong shook his head a few times and blinked his eyes open . He pushed himself into a sitting position, then removed his backpack from his back . After that, he leaned his back against some kind of concrete surface and got into a meditative posture . Performing Da Zhoutian and Xiao Zhoutian would help him recover faster . He closed his eyes and let his breathing take over .

    I miss you, Chan¡¯er . . .

    Day 10

    Guess what? He¡¯d just crossed the borders into another province . Another province! On foot! Woohoo! Great stuff to tell his¡ªhopefully foxy¡ªgrandkids .

    Now he was on his way towards Zhangfang, the first town he would pass after crossing the borders into Hunan province . He¡¯d passed by a lot of towns and counties over the past few days when he was traveling towards the borders of Jiangxi province (Zhaoxian, Shibi, Huangzhou, Luoshi, Shangfu, Ganfang, and etc . ), during which he realized the importance of nning and strategizing in order to achieve a goal .

    He¡¯d learned to avoid big cities and pick routes that would lead him through smaller towns and counties instead . Generosity was abundant in small towns unlike inrge cities . In a few towns that he¡¯d stopped by, the townsfolk had actually opened their homes to him, letting him use their bathroom and giving him food . And it certainly helped that prices for food and water were much in small towns .

    It wasn¡¯t just about picking the right routes as well; it was also about timing and the ability to adapt to unforeseen circumstances . He had to make creative adjustments to his pace¡ªheck, even the length of his strides¡ªso that he would end up somewhere inside a town when his legs finally gave out . It had taken him several tries to get the hang of making these adjustments . For example, he could still keep running after entering Zhaoxian¡¯s town area, so he couldn¡¯t stop (Zi Yuan said he had to keep running until he dropped) . But at the same time, he wasn¡¯t sure he had enough steam to reach the next town before copsing . In the end, he ended up running around Zhaoxian in circles¡ªhe didn¡¯t want to end up in the middle of some highway again when he reached his limits .

    There were also noticeable improvements in his stamina . Every time after he reached his limits and recovered, he was able to push himself further (in terms of speed and distance) in the subsequent Running Man cycles . In other words, the training was working . It was really working . He could feel the Qis of his five Zangs growing stronger and bing more concentrated . Which reminds me... He should start collecting concrete bricks and test out the results of his training . Hopefully he could achieve the same thing Zi Yuan did with the marble block soon . He needed a name for that effect . Yeah . He definitely needed a name for it . How about . . . the Palm Print effect? Yep . That would do .

    So . His goal was to reproduce the Palm Print effect before he arrived at Tibet . Operation Palm Print . How about that?

    Day 15 . Near the borders of Hunan Province .

    Finally, this day came, the day he was forced to throw his shoes away because they were no longer serviceable¡ªthe base waspletely torn off due to all that wear and tear . At the moment, he had three choices: buy a cheap pair of shoes; continue his journey barefoot and hope that some kind Samaritan would give him a pair of shoes for free; find his own shoes, either by rummaging through the trash can or by making his own shoes .

    Li Yundong dismissed the first option almost instantly . A new pair of shoes wouldn¡¯t be worth the investment at all . What would be the point in buying a cheap pair of shoes only to ruin them after a few days of running? He would be better off saving his money for food and water . Making his own shoes seemed to much of a hassle . Rummaging through dumpsters for a pair of shoes seemed like a terrible idea too, especially when he had no ready ess to a shower . He¡¯d much rather go barefoot than facing the possibilities of having maggots crawling up his legs .

    Barefoot it is, then . Li Yundong shoved his old shoes into the trash can and looked up at sky . For once, Li Yundong was grateful for the summer weather¡ªeven though it could be stifling at times .

    So far, he only had one encounter with the rain, which happened four days ago, where he was caught in a thunderstorm . Since he wasn¡¯t allowed to stop, he had to run through the whole storm .

    It wasn¡¯t that bad . He kinda saw it as a free shower .

    Silver lining, right?

    Yeah . After everything that happened, he¡¯d learned to look for silver linings everywhere .

    "Ugh, this is no good," he muttered, lowered his gaze from the sky . He had to get to higher ground . He couldn¡¯t see very far from down here .

    He sighed and surveyed his surroundings . He wasn¡¯t on a highway yet, so there were still some trees nearby . He just had to pick one that was tall enough .

    Even though he got a free shower during the thunderstorm four days ago, he didn¡¯t want to run into another storm . The slippery ground would slow him down . It might even be dangerous now that he was going barefoot .

    He couldn¡¯t check the weather forecast because he¡¯d sold his phone for more cash . So here he was, standing on top of arge Gingko tree, gazing out into the afternoon sky . Might as well put the Ningshen phase to good use . . . He activated his telescopic vision and gazed out as far as he could . The sky was pretty clear with little to no clouds, which meant he could probably make another run today . . .

    Li Yundong lowered his gaze from the sky, then unstrapped his backpack from his shoulders . He took out a map and unfolded it . Okay . . . . Let¡¯s see . . . Where¡¯s the nearest town . . . Huayuan County . Roughly 200 kilometers from his current location . During hisst Running Man cycle, he ran at 25% of his top speed and covered roughly 600 kilometers of distance . The whole runsted for two days before his legs gave out, which would put his average jogging speed at around 12 . 5 kilometers per hour . If he jogged at the same pace, he would reach Huayuan County in 16 hours .

    Less than two days . . .

    Which meant he might have to pass that town and head to the next one without stopping to rest . Li Yundong unfolded the map . The town after Huayuan County was . . . Lixi . Approximately 80 kilometers away, which would add 6 more hours to the total time . 22 hours .

    He couldst longer than that .

    Li Yundong sighed and checked the map again .

    In the end, he realized that he had to pass five more towns after Lixi before he reached his limits .

    Li Yundong folded the map and slipped it into his backpack . The Fan of the Seven Treasures felt weightless now . Guess that¡¯s what training does to you . . . Li Yundong leaped down from the tree top andnded on the ground . He nced at the road ahead .

    Time to be the Running Man again .

    Day 20 . Outskirts of Chengdu City, Sichuan

    "Yess!!!!" Li Yundong eximed and pumped his fist a few times . Operation Palm Print was a sess! Finally! After dozens of failed attempts, he¡¯d finally done it! Wait . . . no . There were still tiny cracks around the thumb and middle finger . Damn it . Not a sess then . But it wasn¡¯t a total failure, he supposed .

    Li Yundong tossed the brick aside andy down on his back . The sun was setting soon, and he¡¯d just finished a hearty meal that consisted of Kung Pao Chicken, Ma Po Tofu and Dandan Noodles . A group of kind vige folks practically dragged him back to their vige when they saw him copse in the middle of the road a couple of hours ago . They bathed him, fed him, and even offered him a ce to stay overnight . Li Yundong had dly epted their generous offer except for thest one . He didn¡¯t want to impose or overstay his wee . More importantly, he didn¡¯t want his presence to be a threat to those kind folks . Call him paranoid or whatever, but he kept having this feeling that he was being watched . He did activate his Xianjue to check things out, but he didn¡¯t find any threat . It did ur to him that it might be Zi Yuan watching him, but he didn¡¯t want to take the risk .

    So he left the vige after the wonderful meal and took a long hike from the vige to the nearest town, where he bought more food and water supplies . In the town, he came across a demolition site and spent some time there sifting through piles of smashed rubbles for more concrete bricks; he needed those to test the progress of his training .

    Speaking of progress . . .

    He¡¯d picked up a bunch of new skills too . First, he learned how to multitask with his Qi . For instance, when he was running, his Qi would usually circte around his body and interact with the Qis of his five Zangs . But at one point his feet had begun to hurt because he¡¯d been running around barefoot, so he isted a small portion of his Qi and then channeled it to the base of his feet .

    It worked like a charm .

    He managed to produce a thin film of Qi under his feet while the rest of his Qi circted around his body . The effect was simr to wearing shoes, only that this was much, much better . Guess he might call it, what, the Qi shoes? Anyway, that discovery was the only reason his feet weren¡¯t covered in blisters and calluses right now . So yeah . Cultivation . Awesome stuff .

    Another thing he had gotten quite good at was making weather predictions based on cloud patterns . Well, it wasn¡¯t thatplicated actually . In fact, he could sum up his observations with just two tips: clouds with darker bottoms are more likely to produce rain; if the clouds start to grow vertically, be prepared for heavy rain or a storm . Brilliant stuff . Worked every time .

    Oh, wait . There was something else . He actually made another interesting discovery during his foray into meteorology . He learned that he could actually bridge his Three Gates using the Qis of his five Zangs . The effect was essentially simr to bridging his Three Gates the normal way: he could generate shockwaves by punching the air . The only difference was that the new shockwaves were more powerful and had far greater range . He¡¯de across that discovery when he was¡ªcolor him nuts¡ªtrying to move a cloud in the sky .

    A week ago, he was checking the weather as usual to decide whether it was feasible for him to make another run . Unfortunately, he saw a dense cloud several miles away . That damned cloud was probably going to bring heavy rain, so he wanted it out of the way .

    Anyway, the genius idea he came up with was to blow the cloud away with a shockwave . However, he found that the shockwaves he produced couldn¡¯t reach the clouds if bridged his Three Gates the normal way . The shockwaves simply didn¡¯t have enough range, so he had to improvise .

    Another idea hit him when he remembered something Su Chan told him a long time ago: the Qis of his five Zangs were much more powerful . So he did it . He bridged his Three Gates with the Qis of his five Zangs, generated a mega shockwave and . . . ended up disintegrating the whole cloud instead of blowing it away .

    He ended up producing rain instead of preventing it .

    Stupid .

    He left the town after getting enough food and water tost another marathon . He could¡¯ve spent the night inside the town, but he didn¡¯t want to draw attention to himself . Hah . Trust him, it¡¯s pretty hard to remain inconspicuous when you have a bulky magical weapon half-sticking out of your backpack . And running a marathon to frigging Tibet . Barefoot .

    Anyway, after a one-hour walk from the town, he spotted this cozy little spot¡ªunder a flyover¡ªfrom afar using his telescopic vision . The ce provided enough shelter and privacy, so he decided to spend the night here . God bless the Ningshen phase . Otherwise he would have to sleep on the roadside like during the few¡ªunfortunate¡ªtimes when he had mistimed his runs . One time, he actually woke up with an ambnce beside him because some well-meaning Samaritan had called the hospital thinking that he was dying . Then he overheard the paramedic telling the ambnce driver where they were taking him¡ªa mental institute . He gave them the slip after that and picked a new route to continue his journey . Zi Yuan would probably lose her marbles if he ended up in a frigging asylum .

    Li Yundong sat up and removed a dirty towel from his backpack . He rolled up the towel and ced it on the hard concrete . Then, hey back down, using the rolled towel as a pillow . An orange tinge spread across the sky as the sun set . Wisps of clouds drifted in the sky . Huh . Wait . . . There it was again, that same, spherical cloud . He¡¯d seen a simr cloud thest time he stopped to rest . Were spherical cloudsmon in the sky? Maybe they were .

    Li Yundong shut his eyes and released a long sigh . Times like this were double-edged swords . On the one hand, it gave him some reprieve, at least when he was asleep . But at the same time, it also made it impossible not to think about Su Chan . His beautiful princess . The woman he hade to love so dearly despite the short amount of time they spent together . He wondered how she was doing . Was she eating well? Was she sleeping well? Was she staring up at the night sky, wondering where he was? He wished there was a way for him to speak to her . She hadn¡¯t called him again after the day Zi Yuan told him about the trip . He¡¯d called her a few times during the end of his first run, but her phone was turned off . That was part of the reason he sold his phone for cash . He would probably drive himself mad if he hadn¡¯t done it .

    It was easier to me theirck of contact on theck of means than to ept that Su Chan was ignoring him on purpose .

    She didn¡¯t even have to speak to him though . He just wanted to know if she was safe and sound . . .

    Who was he even kidding .

    Of course she was safe . With a powerful Cultivator like Ao Wushuang protecting her, Su Chan was much safer than when she was with him .

    He had to get stronger . Yes . He must . For Su Chan . . .

    Day 33 . Baiyu County, Western Part of Sichuan Province

    Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder-length hair fluttered in the gentle breeze as he stood on arge cliff overlooking Baiyu County . Below, Bailonggou River flowed freely from his left to his right, carrying boats and dinghies filled with people dressed in maroon robes . Themas . Which meant that he was close to the Tibetan borders . The Running Man¡¯s journey was reaching its end . At longst .

    He was a changed man, reformed by 33 days of running, meditating, problem-solving, improvising, and good old surviving .

    Li Yundong breathed in the fresh air from the mountains, then exhaled loudly . He ran a hand through his hair, which felt sticky and goopy with sweat, grime, and things that he didn¡¯t even want to know . He grimaced and lowered his hand . He really, really needed a haircut . And a shower . Preferably with shampoo . God, he missed shampoo .

    A dark tan spread over the once fair skin of his arms . His shirts were pretty much ruined . They had turned crusty due to the salt crystals from his sweat, which were impossible to wash off . Not that he had a lot of opportunities to wash his shirts . Actually, he did wash his shirt often¡ªwith his sweat .

    He had grown a beard too, which probably looked as unkempt as a bird¡¯s nest after a hundred fledglings had tumbled in it . In other words, he looked like shit . Correction: he looked like a Neanderthal who smelled like shit .

    The bright side? He no longer had to struggle with the overwhelming urge to see Su Chan . He¡¯d rather die than allow Su Chan to see him in his current state .

    Li Yundong jumped off the edge of the cliff andnded in front of Baiyu town with a loud thud . Themas, townsfolk, and a couple of tourists nced over at him . Ignoring the whispers and strange looks, Li Yundong took out his map and checked the direction of Mount Duonian . About . . . 45 degrees west of north . . . Li Yundong folded the map and took out hispass, using it to reorient himself .

    Aha . There it is . . .

    Arge group ofmas and monks in maroon and saffron robes were crawling on all fours up a winding path . Those must be the pilgrims Zi Yuan mentioned . Zooming in with his telescopic vision, Li Yundong noticed that the pilgrims were wearing gloves . Some tourists, who were probably on their way towards Mount Duonian, stood beside the crawling pilgrims, snapping photos with their phones .

    Li Yundong zoomed out, then put thepass away . After that, he adjusted the straps of his backpack and marched towards the pilgrims .

    Even though the town area was pretty crowded, Li Yundong didn¡¯t have to worry about congestion at all . So far, the tourists and townspeople he¡¯d passed had given him the wide berth . Was it the smell or his general appearance? Probably both .

    Li Yundong hid a smirk behind his hand . These folks probably thought he was just some beggar . Good . This was exactly what he needed¡ªhiding in in sight . Nobody would associate a beggar with a Cultivator after all .

    Li Yundong trudged forward, keeping his head low . The Fan of the Seven Treasures was safely concealed inside his backpack with its top part¡ªthe part jutting out of the backpack¡ªcovered with a towel . Li Yundong closed his eyes and sealed every single pore on his skin . Now that he was closer to his destination where he would make his attempt to pass the Zhuji phase, he should avoid sweating so much .

    He had acquired this new skill¡ªsealing the pores on his skin¡ªabout the same time he had perfected Operation Palm Print . He now had much better control of his Qi . Not only can he move his Qi wherever he desired, he could now also condense his Qi at a particr body part to boost its strength . Using Zi Yuan¡¯s lingo, he now had total control over the concentration of his Qi¡ªthe amount of his Qi per unit volume of space inside his meridians .

    The walk towards the winding path took about fifteen minutes . When he arrived, he stood at the bottom of the winding path and looked up towards the mountain . Zi Yuan said that the height of the mountain didn¡¯t matter, and that he should just pick any mountain in Tibet to climb . Apparently, the effects would be simr as long as the mountain had the same terrain as most mountains in Tibet . So he figured he would try to climb Mount Duonian first before he attempted to conquer Mount Everest .

    Truth be told, he was hoping¡ªno, pleading¡ªthat it wouldn¡¯te to that . Maybe his opportunity to pass the Zhuji phase woulde when he was in the middle of climbing Mount Duonian?

    Speaking of which . . .

    Zi Yuan had told him that his body would tell him when it was the right time to make an attempt to pass the Zhuji phase . She said that when the right time came, he would start feeling something, whatever this something was .

    Li Yundong took a deep breath, then exhaled . He only had once chance left . One chance to pass the Zhuji phase . One chance to survive the divine punishment . One chance to reunite with Su Chan .

    Li Yundong stepped onto the winding path and began his climb .

    One chance . Just one .

    Zhuji phase, here Ie . . .

 Chapter 168

    Chapter 168

    <h4>The Living Buddha!</h4>

    Halfway to the summit, something caught Li Yundong¡¯s attention . A group of pilgrims and tourists were gathered into a crowd about fifty meters ahead .

    Li Yundong stopped climbing and nced towards the crowd, which consisted of approximately twenty people .

    Li Yundong took another step, then hesitated .

    Should he wait until the crowd dispersed before he keep climbing? Or should he just say screw it and get on with his journey . He took out his map from his pocket and studied it for a moment . There was only one trail leading to the summit . He folded the map and sighed .

    I should hang back for now .

    It was best to avoid drawing too much attention to himself .

    Maybe the crowd would move on if he waited for a¡ª

    A loud, high-pitched wail drew his gaze towards the crowd .

    Li Yundong frowned . What the heck is going on over there? Is there trouble? Was this the universe¡¯s way of saying: Hey! Get yourzy ass over to Mount Everest now!

    Li Yundong channeled his Qi to his Shenting, then activated his telescopic vision . He saw the monks first . The monks looked like they were standing around something . . . or someone? A few monks were spinning some kind of strange cylindrical objects on spindles . Wait a minute . He recognized those things! Those were prayer wheels .

    Is this some kind of ritual?

    The monks were surrounded by a bunch of tourists . The tourists appeared to be far less stoic than the monks . They were gesturing at something that Li Yundong couldn¡¯t see because it was hidden from his view by the monks¡¯ bodies .

    Noises filled his ears the moment he activated Eryue .

    The monks were chanting some kind of mantra . Amidst the chanting, Li Yundong heard the sobbing of a girl . The girl stopped sobbing once ever few seconds to utter something in a foreignnguage, which, if he were to venture a guess, was probably Lhasa Tibetan .

    The girl¡¯s voice sounded like a plea .

    What the hell?

    Li Yundong scanned the crowd with his eyes . He didn¡¯t see any crying girl .

    It hit him then that the girl must be hidden from view by the monks .

    "Make way! Make way!" a dark-haired Chinese woman with arge backpack yelled . The tourists moved about, and the Chinese woman squeezed her way through the crowd . When she reached the monks, the Chinese woman gently tapped the shoulder of one of the monks, then whispered something in Tibetan . Secondster, all the monks stepped aside to allow the Chinese woman to go through .

    Li Yundong saw the source of themotion right then .

    A teenage girl dressed in traditional Tibetan costume was sitting on the ground, sniveling weakly . Cradled in her arms was an unconscious old man dressed in a red and yellow robe .

    Li Yundong zoomed in closer on the old man¡¯s face, which was deeply wrinkled . The man¡¯s forehead was covered in dark callouses . Strange .

    When he scanned the rest of the old man¡¯s body, Li Yundong noticed that he, like the pilgrims he¡¯d seen earlier, was wearing gloves . Scratches and dry scabs covered the man¡¯s knees and chest .

    This old man, it seemed, was a pilgrim . Even though he appeared to be in his eighties . For a moment there, Li Yundong was stunned by the old man¡¯s devotion .

    But still . What on earth happened? Did the old man pass out during his pilgrimage? And why wasn¡¯t anyone trying to help the man?

    A horrifying thought hit him . Was the old man dead?

    The dark-haired Chinese woman crouched down and touched the sobbing teenager¡¯s shoulder . The woman muttered something in Tibetan to the girl .

    To Li Yundong¡¯s surprised, the girl answered the woman in perfect Mandarin . "Changbag copsed during his pilgrimage! Oh, he¡¯s leaving me isn¡¯t he! He¡¯s leaving me to go to Buddha!"

    The teenager buried her face into the old man¡¯s robe and continued sobbing .

    The Chinese woman seemed taken aback by the girl¡¯s outburst . But she quickly recovered and touched the girl¡¯s shoulder again . "What is your name, young girl?"

    "M- Meiduo . . . "

    "Okay, Meiduo," said the woman gently . "Is he Changbag?" She pointed at the old man in the girl¡¯s arms .

    The girl nodded .

    The woman shook the girl¡¯s shoulder . "Alright listen, Meiduo . You see those two men over there?" The woman pointed towards two Caucasian men in sunsses standing among the group of tourists .

    Meiduo nodded feebly . "W- Who are they?"

    The woman gave Meiduo apassionate smile . "They are experienced mountain climbers and hikers . And I¡¯m their tour guide and trantor . "

    Meiduo nced over at the two men warily . The two men removed their sunsses and waved back at the girl . Meiduo turned and gave Miss Tour Guide a hopeful look . "Can they help Changbag?"

    Miss Tour Guide smiled . "Like I said, they are experienced mountain climbers . So they know a great deal about first aid . Do you want them to take a look at Changbag?"

    Meiduo nodded fervently .

    Miss Tour Guide turned and waved at the two Caucasians, who hurried towards the woman secondster . The tour guide said a few things to the foreigners who nodded grimly . One of the men walked over towards Meiduo, then bent down to say something to her in English .

    "He said not to worry . He¡¯ll try his best to help your friend . "

    The Caucasian man, a buff-looking dude with dark brown hair, rose to his feet and crouched down beside the unconscious old man, then began to take the old man¡¯s pulse . A grim look formed on the foreigner¡¯s face, but he didn¡¯t seem like he was giving up yet . Li Yundong spent the next few minutes watching the man perform CPR on the old man . Eventually, foreigner stood up and shook his head at the tour guide .

    The tour guide crouched down and patted the Meiduo¡¯s shoulder .

    "I¡¯m very sorry, Meiduo . Your friend has passed . There is nothing we can do . "

    Meiduo¡¯s high-pitched wails grew so loud that Li Yundong had to deactivate his super hearing to avoid going deaf .

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes never left the crowd . The monks closed in again after the tour guide and her two foreignpanions moved away from Meiduo .

    Something gnawed at Li Yundong¡¯s insides . Should he go over there and help the man? It wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d revived a person with his Qi . He did it for John and President Cao . Shouldn¡¯t he at least try to help the old man?

    Zi Yuan¡¯s warning echoed inside his head: keep to yourself . . . minimize human contact . . .

    Li Yundong looked towards the crowd again . Some of the tourists had already left the crowd . Meiduo was still down on the ground, crying her hearts out . Meiduo reminded so much of Su Chan right now . The way she was crying over the loss of someone dear to her...

    Damn it!

    Li Yundong lowered his backpack and pulled out a dark towel . Stealth be damned . He would not stand by and watch someone die without doing something to help . If he walked away right now, he¡¯d be no different than all those hypocritical Cultivators whom he loathed .

    Li Yundong lifted the towel and wrapped it around his neck like a bandana mask . Once he was sure that his face was covered below his eyes, he stood up and sprinted towards the crowd .

    ***

    Smelling like shit definitely had its perks . One of it was that people would make way for him without him having to say anything . The crowd parted to two sides the moment he got close . The remaining tourists covered their noses and gave him wary looks . It was like he had the bubonic gue or something . Li Yundong ignored the looks and whispers and walked on .

    The monks paused their chanting and turned around to regard him . Kudos to these monks because they didn¡¯t even flinch when they saw him .

    Li Yundong stopped in front of the monks and gestured with his hand: make way please, I¡¯m trying to save a guy¡¯s life here .

    The monks stepped aside without question, much to his relief . Li Yundong stepped past the monks and walked towards Meiduo and the fallen old man slowly .

    Shouts erupted around Li Yundong as he approached Meiduo . The people were shouting in Lhasa Tibetan, so he couldn¡¯t understand a single word they were saying . But judging from their tone, these people were probably cursing at him . Meiduo turned around abruptly before he even got close . Maybe it was his smell .

    Wariness shone through Meiduo¡¯s eyes as she regarded him . Ignoring the shouts and looks of disdain cast his way, Li Yundong moved past Meiduo and crouched down beside the old man .

    "Hey!! What are you doing?!" Meiduo shouted in Mandarin . "Don¡¯t touch Changbag! His spirit has gone to see the Buddha . You¡¯re not allowed to touch his body!"

    Li Yundong looked up Meiduo, who had already stopped crying and was now scowling at him . He smiled even though he knew the girl couldn¡¯t possibly see his smile behind the towel covering his face .

    "B- Back away from Changbag!" Meiduo yelled, ring at him .

    The Tibetans began to shout again .

    Li Yundong gave the girl a reassuring look . At least he hoped it looked reassuring . He reached out with his hand and touched the top of the old man¡¯s head¡ªthe Baihui .

    The shouts and yells grew louder, but Li Yundong ignored them . Instead, he focused on channeling his Qi into the old man¡¯s body . Once a portion of his Qi was inside the old man¡¯s body, Li Yundong closed his eyes and performed a skill he¡¯d learned when he passed the 7th dan of the Lianqi phase¡ªNeiguan .

    Blobs of colors appeared in his mind¡¯s eye . The blobs were dim and faint, but still present . The old man still had Qi in his five Zangs . There was still hope for this old man yet . Li Yundong smirked and opened his eyes . It seemed like the Buddha wasn¡¯t nning on iming this man¡¯s soul just yet .

    Meiduo looked like she wanted to skin him alive . The Tibetan folks and tourists were still shouting and chewing his ass . Only the monks remained calm and stoic . A few of them were studying him curiously; others were sharing knowing looks with each other .

    Li Yundong looked at the old man on the ground . He was confident that he could save this man, but he didn¡¯t want to risk the crowd seeing anything weird and start spreading rumors . God knows he started glowingter, and the next thing he knew, every Cultivator in the area was on his ass .

    Li Yundong looked towards the monks, then jerked his chin towards the crowd . The monks stared at him, clearly not understanding what he meant . He pointed towards the crowd, then did a "go away" gesture . A momentter, Li Yundong pointed at the crowd again, then covered his eyes a few times . One of the monks, an older fellow, pped his hands together . Then, the monk whispered something to hispanions . Secondster, the monks nodded at Li Yundong, then began making their way towards the crowd . The older monk walked towards Meiduo and pulled her away . When Meiduo protested, the monk whispered something to her . Meiduo calmed down instantly .

    Li Yundong waited until the monks had ushered Meiduo and the crowd away before he got to work . He closed his eyes and gathered his Qi at his right palm . When he was about to touch the old man¡¯s Baihui again, Li Yundong hesitated . The patient was probably in his eighties . His body was weak and frail . Li Yundong closed his eyes again and increased the concentration of the Qi gathered at his palm . Momentster, he covered the old man¡¯s Baihui with his right palm and channeled his Qi into the old man¡¯s body .

    ***

    Meiduo freed herself from the old monk¡¯s grasp and charged towards Changbag, who was still lying on the ground . How dare that slovenly young man touch his body! How dare he! Where was he anyway? Meiduo kneeled down beside Changbag and scanned the area with her eyes . She followed the mountain trail ahead until she located the young man, who was continuing his climb as though nothing happened . Anger surged in Meiduo . What a disrespectful and vile¡ª

    There was the loud gasp . Meiduo tore her gaze away from the young man was nearly overwhelmed with joy when she saw Changbag¡¯s chest moving .

    "Changbag!! Wake up! Please . . . Wake up!"

    The crowd was around them in an instant, yelling and screaming for Changbag to wake up .

    Secondster, Changbag released a long sigh and opened his eyes .

    A scream of joy tore out of Meiduo lips . "Changbag!" She threw herself into Changbag¡¯s arms . "I thought you were gone! You scared me!"

    Changbag pushed himself into a sitting position . "W- Why am I here? I thought . . . " Changbag shook his head like he was confused . "I thought just now I . . . "

    "What?" Meiduo asked .

    "I . . . " Changbag stared into Meiduo¡¯s eyes . "I saw a living Buddha . The Buddha was about to enlighten me and take me to Sukhavati, the Western Paradise . But all of a sudden . . . I¡¯m back here . "

    A ruckus erupted among the crowd .

    "Changbag! You saw Buddha?"

    "What did he look like?"

    "How was the Buddha nning to enlighten you?"

    Changbag nodded . "Yes . I saw a living Buddha!"

 Chapter 169

    Chapter 169

    <h4>Mister Han Chinese</h4>

    Changbag¡¯s words threw the crowd into an uproar . Meiduo stared down at her oldpanion, stunned by the gravity of his words .

    "What! Changbag! Did you really encounter a Living Buddha?"

    "Hey, I think it¡¯s totally possible! Remember what Jeepg said? He mentioned that we can actually have encounters with gods and Buddhas during near-death experiences!"

    "But . . . I don¡¯t get it . How did Changbage back to life then? He stopped breathing for so long!"

    "H- Hey . . . Do you think the Living Buddha saved his life? He said he saw a Living Buddha, right?"

    "Whoa . . . I think you might be right!"

    "But what¡¯s the deal with that strange young man? First, he touched Changbag¡¯s head, then he asked us to turn away . Then a few minutester, Changbag came back to life!"

    "H- Hey . . . Do you think that young man is . . . you know . . . the Living Buddha Changbag saw?"

    "Pfft! No! That¡¯s ridiculous! The young man is a Han Chinese! How can a Han Chinese be a Buddha!"

    Changbag¡¯s voice shook Meiduo out of her stupor .

    "You¡¯re all wrong," Changbag said . "The Buddha said that everyone is born equal . It doesn¡¯t matter whether you are a Tibetan or a Han Chinese . Anyone has the potential to reach enlightenment . "

    The uproar died down instantly .

    "Meiduo . . . " Changbag said, reaching out a hand to her .

    Meiduo went into panic mode in an instant . "No! Changbag! You shouldn¡¯t move around . You nearly died, Changbag! Please, you need to rest!"

    Changbag burst intoughter . "Nonsense . I feel fine . In fact, I feel great! I haven¡¯t felt this good in twenty years!"

    Changbag ced his palms on the ground and struggled to stand up . Meiduo hurried over to help him up .

    "Meiduo . . . What really happened?" Changbag whispered into Meiduo¡¯s ear once he was up on his feet .

    "What do you remember, Changbag?"

    "I remember passing out in the middle of the pilgrimage . . . After that, I saw a Living Buddha standing behind me, guiding me towards enlightenment . "

    Meiduo could feel her own eyes growing wide . To have a chance to encounter a Living Buddha . . . Wow .

    Suddenly, Meiduo remembered something .

    "Changbag!" Meiduo nudged Changbag, then pointed at the two foreigners and the tour guide . "They took your pulse and tried to resuscitate you . " Meiduo¡¯s lips trembled . "They told us you died . "

    Changbag turned towards the foreigners and the tour guide, then pressed his palms together . Changbag bowed . "Tashi delek . Thuk je che . You have my sincere gratitude for your kindness . " (T/N: Thuk je che is Tibetan for ¡¯thank you" and Tashi delek is a form of Tibetan greeting)

    The tour guide said a few words to the foreigners . She was probably tranting Changbag¡¯s words to them . A momentter, the foreigners mimicked Changbag¡¯s gesture and bowed .

    Changbag straightened himself . "Everyone was saying that a young man saved my life . Is there any truth to the im?"

    Meiduo looked towards the mountain trail again .

    The young man was long gone .

    "Meiduo?"

    Meiduo returned her gaze to Changbag . "Yes . There was a young man . He came out of nowhere dressed like a beggar . He had long hair and was carrying arge backpack . The bottom part of his face was covered by a dark cloth, but his eyes were sharp . He was barefoot and . . . Oh! Um... Some kind of long object was sticking out of his backpack, but it was also covered with a piece of cloth . Anyway, he came over and then touched your head for a moment . Then, he asked everyone to turn away while he did something to you . I don¡¯t know what he did, but he got you to start breathing again¡ª"

    "Meiduo! Where is this man?!" Changbag asked with a fervor that was uncharacteristic to him . He seemed really riled up all of a sudden .

    Meiduo frowned and pointed towards the mountain trail . "He followed the path towards the summit, Changbag . "

    Changbag sighed and stomped his foot . "Oh, Meiduo . . . Have you forgotten everything I thought you?! Why didn¡¯t you ask him to stay? He is the Living Buddha I saw!"

    "W- What? C- Changbag . . . A- Are you sure?" Meiduo stammered .

    Changbag closed his eyes and took a deep breath . "Of course I¡¯m sure . Your description of him was a perfect match for the Living Buddha I saw!" Changbag exhaled and began chanting a mantra to calm himself .

    "But he¡¯s a Han Chinese! How can he be a Living Buddha?" someone from the crowd yelled .

    Changbag stopped chanting and nced towards the source of the voice . "I was about to die . But this man pressed a palm over my head and brought me back to life . Not even Master Dorjee Tenzin is capable of something like that!" Changbag started to pace around, then stopped . "No, no, no . That young man must be a Living Buddha . He has to be . "

    Whispers and hushed voices washed over the crowd . Meiduo followed Changbag¡¯s movements . He seemed worried, like he was thinking hard about something .

    The whispers in the crowd continued .

    "But a Han Chinese . . . How can a Han Chinese be a Living Buddha?"

    "Well . . . It doesn¡¯t really matter, does it? Like it or not, you can¡¯t deny that the young man saved Changbag¡¯s life . "

    "Yeah . . . Maybe he is some kind of sage among the Han Chinese..."

    Meiduo turned away from the crowd and looked towards Changbag again .

    "Changbag," Meiduo said, grabbing the old man¡¯s arm to stop him from pacing . "Should you really be moving around so much?"

    Changbag waved off her concerns . "I¡¯m fine, I¡¯m fine . . . "

    "What¡¯s on your mind?" Meiduo asked carefully .

    "I¡¯m facing a major dilemma, Meiduo . . . "

    "Tell me what¡¯s bothering you . Maybe I can help . "

    "It¡¯s impossible for us find him now . . . "

    "Oh! But I know which way he went!"

    "That¡¯s not the problem, Meiduo . . . " Changbag sighed .

    "That what is?" Meiduo asked .

    "Tell me, Meiduo . How is it possible for us to catch up to him if we have to kowtow once every three steps we take?"

    "Oh," Meiduo answeredmely .

    "But this sacred ritual is an important part of the pilgrimage . Failure in its observance is a serious disrespect to Buddha . " Changbag sighed . "There are consequences, Meiduo . If we abandon the ritual, we¡¯ll never be able to reach enlightenment after we die . "

    There was a moment of silence .

    Then, Meiduo jumped slightly . "Oh, I know!"

    Changbag gave her a puzzled look .

    "Oh, Changbag... He¡¯s headed for the summit, remember? Which means he¡¯ll pass by Kathok Monastery! He¡¯s probably going to rest there, and who knows? He might still be there when we arrive!"

    Hope spread across Changbag¡¯s face . "Oh . . . That¡¯s a wonderful idea . . . " Changbag suddenly gave her a stern look . "Meiduo . . . Why didn¡¯t you stop him from leaving in the first ce? It isn¡¯t like you to behave like this . I taught you better than that . " Changbag narrowed his eyes . "I doubt it¡¯s just because he is a Han Chinese either . There was something else, wasn¡¯t there?"

    Meiduo lowered her gaze, then shook her head sheepishly . "U- Umm . . . H- He smelled kinda bad . . . And h- he looked kinda dirty . . . "

    "Y- You!" Changbag gaped at her for several seconds . "How many times have I told you not to judge a book by its cover?! Have you forgotten all about Buddha¡¯s teachings? Everyone is born equal! And we should never judge a person¡¯s value by their status, wealth, appearance, or even their cleanliness! Look at how you¡¯ve treated the kind man? And yet you call yourself my disciple? You should be ashamed of yourself!" Changbag paused to re at her . "Do you know that the great Buddha himself was once a beggar?"

    Hot tears stung Meiduo¡¯s eyes as guilt and remorse stabbed through her . She sniffed, then reached out to grab Changbag¡¯s arm . "P- Please don¡¯t be mad, Changbag . Y- You just came back from the dead, and I¡¯m worried about your health . I¡¯m sorry for what I did, and I will repent . Oh! And I¡¯ll apologize to that young man if we run into himter!"

    "And what if we don¡¯t run into him? What then?" Changbag answered in a sharp tone, then wagged his finger in front of her face . "Mark my words, Meiduo . If we don¡¯t run into himter, you¡¯ll never be able to make up for your sins . You¡¯ll suffer thews of Karma!"

    Something wet slid down Meiduo¡¯s cheeks . She sniffed and quickly turned her face away from the crowd . She didn¡¯t want to appear weak in front of the others .

    "I think you should go easy on Meiduo, Changbag," someone from the crowd said while Meiduo was busy dabbing her eyes with her sleeve . "You have no idea how hard she cried for you when we thought you were dead just now . "

    "Yeah, that¡¯s right, that¡¯s right! We might still run into the young man if we hurry now!"

    "And what if we don¡¯t?" Changbag asked sternly .

    The crowd grew quiet . Meiduo sniffed and turned around back around to face Changbag and everyone else . Time to stop feeling sorry for herself and atone for her errors .

    "They¡¯re right, Changbag," she said, smiling brightly . "We shouldn¡¯t give up hope . Didn¡¯t Buddha teach us that too?"

    Meiduo sighed inwardly when Changbag¡¯s features softened . He turned to face the trail leading up to Mount Duonian¡¯s summit, then pressed his palms together . When Changbag kneeled to the ground and kowtowed, the message was clear: let¡¯s get on with the journey . Behind her, the crowd fell to their knees and mirrored Changbag¡¯s gesture . After onest nce at Changbag, Meiduo lowered herself to the ground .

    ***

    Jack stared after the group of pilgrims who were now continuing their journey towards the summit . Changbag, the oldma who, just moments ago, had no pulse, was now alive and well, leading the pilgrims up the mountain trail . Jack had been on hundreds of dangerous expeditions, conquered several mountains, and waded through more forests than he could count on one hand, yet he¡¯d never seen something like this today .

    How did that beggar do it? How did he bring the old man back to life?

    The old man was dead, Jack was absolutely sure of it!

    Someone nudged Jack¡¯s shoulder . He turned and saw his travelpanion, Ruben, staring back at him . "Dude, are you sure the guy was dead when you checked?"

    Jack scowled at Ruben . "Who do you think I am, eh? Some amateur? Of course I¡¯m sure! He had no pulse! And he wasn¡¯t breathing for more than 10 minutes!"

    Ruben raised his palms . "Gee . Chill . I was just asking . No need to bite my head off . "

    Jack shook his head and turned to Miss Liu Xia, their lovely tour guide .

    "Miss Liu, does this kind of thing happen very often in China?"

    Liu Xia shook her head . "Not that I know of . This is my first time seeing something like this too . "

    "Holy shit, dude . . . " Ruben said . "How did he do it? If the old man really was dead like Jack said . . . " Ruben raised his palms again when Jack red at him . "Then there¡¯s no way to bring him back to life! What about brain death? Surely there would be brain damage if the guy wasn¡¯t breathing for over ten minutes! But the old man just got up and walked it off like it was nothing . What the heck?"

    Jack shook his head in awe . "And all the guy did was touch the old man¡¯s head . . . "

    "Ah . . . But we don¡¯t know what else he did," Liu Xia said . "He asked us to turn around, remember?"

    "Argh . . . " Ruben scratched his hair, then red at Jack . "We would be watching a video recording right now if somebody here had the good sense to put his fancy digital camera to good use . "

    "Hey!" Jack protested . "I was busy trying to save a guy¡¯s life, Ruben! I forgot, okay?"

    "Whatever man," Ruben said with a dismissive wave . "Miss Liu, those pilgrims were talking a lot just now . What were they saying?"

    "Oh . They were nning to go after the young man . The girl suggested that the guy might make a pit stop at Kathok Monastery, so they might still be able to catch up to him if they hurry . "

    Jack shared a nce with Ruben, who was now grinning like a Cheshire cat .

    "Then what are we waiting for?" Ruben said . "Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go! Chop, chop! I have a feeling that the show is far from over . And for God¡¯s sake, Jack, use that digital camera of yours . "

    ***

    Li Yundong slowed his steps and massaged his chest a few times . Something weird was happening . He¡¯d been experiencing this strange tightness inside his chest since ten minutes ago, like something was squeezing his lungs from the inside .

    Li Yundong stopped walking and sat down on the ground, then leaned backwards until his back touched the rough surface of a tree trunk .

    What the hell is happening?

    Was it something in the air?

    Bullshit . The air was here fresh and healthy .

    It had to be something else, something that was causing this stifling feeling inside his chest .

    Did he lose his Qi when he saved the old monk just now?

    Nah . That couldn¡¯t be right . He¡¯d made sure to return his Qi into his body every time . Su Chan had basically drilled that into him since she started teaching him about Cultivation . Li Yundong rested his head against the rough tree bark . He shut his eyes and let himself breathe .

    Maybe I¡¯m just tired . . .

    Yeah . He was probably just tired .

    Ten minutester, the sensation intensified . Now it felt like an invisible weight was pressing down on his chest . F*ck . . . What the hell¡¯s wrong with me . . . He struggled to his feet, leaning his whole weight against the tree trunk . Don¡¯t panic, don¡¯t panic . . . Then, he remembered something . He closed his eyes and moved his Qi to his Baihui, Lingtai, Shenting, and Huiyin .

    Calmness washed over him, but the weird sensation was still there . Which meant the sensation had nothing to do with his state of mind .

    Li Yundong exhaled slowly and tried to think . Is this a spell? Is there an enemy nearby?

    Li Yundong activated Xianjue .

    Nothing . He couldn¡¯t feel or predict any threats . But it could mean that the enemy had a stronger Spirit . That thought brought chills down Li Yundong¡¯s spine . Alright, stay calm . . .

    Li Yundong activated Eryue and sorted through the ambient noise . He heard rhythmic footsteps and whispers of prayers . The footsteps were uniform . Three steps, then a thud, like they were kneeling down . Then another thud, but this time softer . Then the rustling of clothes, like a group of people standing up . Li Yundong immediately knew what it was¡ªa kowtow . The pilgrims . He was hearing the march of the pilgrims .

    Wait . . .

    There was another sound . Chatter . A few people were having a conversation, and it sounded like English .

    Must be the foreigners just now . . .

    Li Yundong sighed . This was pointless . He deactivated Eryue and scanned his surroundings: winding mountain path . . . trees . . . more trees .

    He shouldy low . If an enemy was lurking nearby, then he shouldn¡¯t be out in the open . It was too dangerous . Someone could ambush him and he doubted he would even stand a chance . Not in this state, where he was hungry and exhausted .

    But where should he hide? Should he climb to the top of a tree and hide there?

    Li Yundong activated his telescopic vision and gazed at the mountain path ahead . He zoomed and zoomed until¡ª

    There was a bulding . A temple .

    Li Yundong sighed in relief . That could work . He could hide inside the temple, and maybe take a few hours¡¯ break . He zoomed out and broke off into a sprint . The tightness inside his chest amplified . Li Yundong gritted his teeth and soldiered on . Come on,e on . . . just run . Don¡¯t give up .

    The temple¡¯s facade grewrger andrger .

    When he finally reached the temple, he waspletely out of breath and panting for dear life . What the hell was going on? Just yesterday, he could run around for days without feeling out of breath, and now this?

    His chest squeezed violently . Li Yundong gasped and fisted the front of his shirt . Something was seriously wrong with his body¡ªthe Qis of his five Zangs were drawn out on their own and was now charging along his meridians towards his upper Dantian .

    Was is time to make his attempt to pass the Zhuji phase? Was this what Zi Yuan meant when she told him that he would know when it was the right time?

    But why was there this feeling of doubt niggling at the back of his mind?

    No . This didn¡¯t make sense . Zi Yuan mentioned that the ideal state of mind to pass the Zhuji phase was when he was free from all worldly troubles . Right now it didn¡¯t feel like he was free from worldly troubles at all . If anything, he felt like he was in a world of trouble .

    Wait . . .

    There was some kind of... of mysterious force .

    And this force was somehow capable of messing up his Qi flow .

    He detected movement in front of him . He raised his gaze and studied the front of the temple .

    That was when he saw it .

    Hovering above the temple¡¯s rooftop was a golden apparition of a fierce-looking arhat .

    There was a bright sh of gold .

    Next thing he knew, the apparition was charging straight at him .

    Uh-oh...

 Chapter 170

    Chapter 170

    <h4>Mahak</h4>

    The only thoughts running inside Li Yundong¡¯s mind at that moment were: run; flee for your life .

    So he did .

    He leaped to the side, not caring where the golden apparition was . His knees scraped against something rough when they hit the ground .

    Then, he scrambled to his feet and ran .

    The temple . He had to get to the temple .

    He channeled more Qi into his legs and pumped his legs harder .

    Somehow, the strange feeling inside his chest had spread to his entire body . Some kind of invisible force or pressure was squeezing his body from all sides . It was as though something was trying to tten him and forcibly fit him into some kind of two-dimensional nd .

    What the f*ck is this shit?

    Li Yundong gasped, and before he knew it, his knees hit the ground again . This time, he couldn¡¯t even get up .

    He gasped for air and started to crawl his way towards the temple . His eyes darted around their sockets, scanning the area for more threats .

    He didn¡¯t see the golden apparition anywhere . Was it gone?

    Come on . . . Move . . . Move!

    He reached forward to grab hold of something . Anything .

    Something tickled his palm . He opened his eyes and realized that he had just grabbed a fistful of grass . Damn it . He wasn¡¯t even facing the right direction . He pulled back his hand and re-oriented himself on the ground .

    Don¡¯t give up . . . Don¡¯t you dare give up!

    Li Yundong growled and mobilized more Qi from his lower Dantian .

    The pressure squeezing against his body grew stronger the moment he did that .

    Su Chan . . . Think of Su Chan . . .

    Li Yundong fought back against the pressure with everything he got . s, it seemed like the more he struggled, the stronger the pressure grew .

    "Damn it!" He mmed his palms against the ground and tried to push himself up .

    Suddenly, he heard a whisper .

    "Do not harbor hostile intentions . . . "

    The voice sounded feeble and frail, like the voice of an old man .

    "Malevolence fuels its power . Rein in your Qi, young man . "

    Li Yundong gave up the struggle right then and guided his Qi back to his lower Dantian . The effect was almost instantaneous¡ªthe pressure vanished and he felt like he could breathe again .

    Li Yundong rose to his feet and scanned his surroundings . The templey about thirty meters ahead . Trees lined both sides of the inclined path . He didn¡¯t see any old man around . Nor did he see the golden apparition of the arhat .

    He sighed in relief .

    He wondered who gave him the tip just now .

    Li Yundong shook his head and forged on . Better get inside that temple before the attacker returns...

    He made it to the temple in a couple of minutes .

    He stood in front of the temple and studied its facade for a while . The temple was quiet and peaceful, almost idyllic . Beside the temple were shops selling incense, food, and drinks . Li Yundong directed his gaze to another corner and saw several hoses scattered around . Beyond the hoses were several water faucets .

    Seems like a good ce to rest and stay overnight...

    He approached the steps leading up to the temple and lowered his backpack onto one of the steps . Then, he sat down to take a much-needed break .

    ***

    It was almost nightfall by the time Meiduo and her fellow pilgrims arrived at Kathok Monastery . Light from the temple pierced through the darkness of their surroundings, illuminating their path . Meiduo smiled at the metaphorical significance: the path towards enlightenment .

    The smell of incense greeted Meiduo as they approached the temple¡¯s facade . Wisps of white smoke swirled around them . The rhythmic sounds of Tibetan drums drifted from inside the temple with chants of mantras forming a soothing background noise . Meiduo closed her eyes and spent a brief moment to soak it all in . This was home .

    The head of Kathok Monastery was a close acquaintance of Changab . After Changbag exchanged a few pleasantries with the head, the rest of the pilgrims went about their own business . Everyone seemed tired and weary after the long journey . Some sat on the stairs, chatting with theirpanions . Others picked a spot andy down on the ground to get some shut-eye . Meiduo scanned the crowd for Changbag . She found him sitting on one of the steps, staring up into the sky with both hands hugging his knees . Meiduo walked over and sat down beside him . The moon shone down at them from the clear sky .

    After a while, Changbag broke thefortable silence . "Meiduo . . . "

    She turned to regard the old man . "Yes, Changbag?"

    "Are you angry at me for yelling at you in front of the others?"

    Meiduo shook her head . "No, Changbag . I think you were right in everything you said . I shouldn¡¯t judge a person¡¯s worth by their appearance . " She sighed . "Looks like I still have a long way to go towards enlightenment . "

    Changbag said nothing after that and kept staring at the sky .

    Minutester, Meiduo detected movement from the corner of her eyes . She turned and squinted through the darkness . She caught a glimpse of dark, shaggy, shoulder-length hair spread across a set of broad shoulders . The man disappeared around the corner a split secondter . Meiduo sprang to her feet . "I- It¡¯s him!"

    Changbag stared up at her . "What?"

    Meiduo reached down and pulled Changbag¡¯s arm . "He¡¯s here! The Han Chinese who saved your life!"

    ***

    Meiduo tugged Changbag¡¯s arm until he was up on his feet .

    "Where? Where is he!"

    Meiduo pointed at the corner of the temple . "I saw him rounding that corner!" she said, then began to pull Changbag in that direction . "Come on, Changbag! Let¡¯s go!"

    They rounded the corner in record time and walked on for a few more seconds . Meiduo helped Changbag stepped over a bunch of tangled hoses, then continued forward . They reached another corner, by which time they could hear the sound of running water . Maybe he was taking a drink¡ª

    Meiduo blushed the moment she and Changbag walked around the corner . The Han Chinese waspletely naked as he stood in front of the faucet . Under the moonlight, the sharp nes of the man¡¯s muscr back gleamed at them . Meiduo blushed even harder and turned away .

    Changbag patted her shoulders and said, "Let¡¯s give him some privacy . "

    Meiduo fought down the burn in her cheeks and nodded meekly .

    After that, the two of them retreated around the corner and waited . A whileter, the sound of the water stopped . Meiduo shared a nce with Changbag .

    Changbag shook his head gently . "Not yet," he whispered . "He still needs to get dressed . "

    Meiduo flushed again . It seemed like hermon sense had left her tonight .

    When the Han Chinese man didn¡¯t show after twenty minutes, Meiduo began to worry . Surely it wouldn¡¯t take that long to get dressed .

    Had the man left?

    Meiduo shot a worried nce at Changbag, whose lips were moving as he spun a prayer bead in his right hand .

    Meiduo shifted forward and shook Changbag¡¯s knee .

    Changbag opened his eyes a secondter . "Hmm?"

    "Shall we take a look? It¡¯s been nearly twenty minutes . "

    Changbag got to his feet . "Sure . "

    They walked around the corner again .

    Relief coursed through Meiduo when she saw that the young man was still there .

    However, her relief was short-lived .

    Something strange was happening . Something really, really strange . Like supernatural .

    The young Han Chinese appeared to be meditating . Dust and leaves spiraled around him as though he was the center of a tornado . Then, something even stranger happened . A jet of white, gas-like substance shot out from his mouth . The white jet travelled forward for over ten meters before it ran into a huge rock and vanished in a puff of white smoke .

    All of a sudden, the young man sprang to his feet and cocked his fist back . A split secondter, the air in front of him exploded in a soundless p . The ground trembled under Meiduo¡¯s feet as some kind of shockwave shot out from the man¡¯s fist . The ground shook again when the shockwave mmed into the giant rock ten meters away, releasing a muffled crack .

    Meiduo turned sideways to look at Changbag .

    Changbag wasn¡¯t looking at her, but she could tell that the old man was in shock .

    When Meiduo looked to the front again, the young man was nowhere to be seen .

    Meiduo turned to Changbag . "Hey, where did he¡ª"

    Changbag was already making his way towards the rock .

    Meiduo hurried after Changbag .

    Secondster, they were both staring at a deep imprint of a fist buried several inches deep into the rock .

    "Mahak . . . " Changbag mumbled .

    Meiduo turned her head sharply . She gaped at Changbag, too stunned to speak .

    Changbag closed his eyes and pressed his palms together . "Amitabha . . . We have just encountered the living reincarnation of Mahak . The great Dharma Protector . The Defender of the Law . The Lord of Justice . "

    Meiduo shook herself out of her stupor right then .

    Mahak . One of the most powerful gods known in Tibetan Buddhism . The god with three faces and six arms . . .

    Before Meiduo could open her mouth to speak, a cold voice sounded behind her .

    "What are you two nning? Why were you following me?"

    ***

    Li Yundong stared at startled faces of the young girl and the old man . He had heard their whispers with Eryue while he was washing himself earlier and had decided to confront them .

    The girl was still in shock when the old monk recovered hisposure .

    "Well?" Li Yundong said sternly . "State your purpose! Why were you following me!"

    Suddenly, the old monk lowered himself to the ground and prostrated himself before Li Yundong .

    rm coursed through Li Yundong . "Hey! What the¡ª"

    "Hail, great Lord of Justice, Mahak!" said the old monk . "I thank you for saving my life!"

    Li Yundong moved forward and quickly pulled the old man to his feet . "Please rise, old sir . This isn¡¯t necessary . "

    The old monk grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s hands . "Thank you, my lord . "

    Li Yundong smiled . "You don¡¯t have to thank me, sir . Any decent human being would¡¯ve done something to help . "

    "But still . . . My lord¡ª"

    "I prefer Li Yundong, thanks . "

    The old monk stared at him for a few awkward moments .

    "You have my utmost gratitude, then, Mr . Li . "

    Then, the old man nudged the girl with his elbow .

    "Meiduo!" he hissed . "What are you standing around for? Say something!"

    The girl¡¯s eyes cleared a little .

    She stepped forward and gave Li Yundong a bow .

    "I am terribly sorry for the way I¡¯ve treated you today," she said shyly . "I shouldn¡¯t have yelled at you . And I should¡¯ve at least tried to properly thank you after you brought Changbag back to life . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "You¡¯re wee . "

    Changbag stroked his long, white beard . "If you don¡¯t mind me asking, Mr . Li, are you here for a vacation? Or are you here for some other purpose?"

    Li Yundong regarded the old man warily . What should he tell them? After a moment of thought, he decided to answer with the truth but keep his answer vague .

    "This trip is part of my training . "

    "I see, I see!" Changbag said pensively . Suddenly, Changbag beamed at Li Yundong . "Well, I¡¯m leading a group of people on a pilgrimage to the summit . You can join our group if you like?"

    Li Yundong rubbed the back of his neck . "Well . . . I¡¯d like to, but you see . . . I¡¯m kinda in a hurry . . . And you guys . . . Well..."

    Kowtowing once every three steps didn¡¯t exactly fit the definition of "hurry" no matter how he looked at it .

    "Come on... You don¡¯t actually think we have to perform the kowtow ritual for the whole journey, do you?" Changbag said as though he¡¯d read Li Yundong¡¯s mind .

    When Li Yundong didn¡¯t answer, Changbagughed and waved his hand casually . "We don¡¯t actually have to do that . The ritual is only necessary when we are near the foot of the holy mountain . " Changbagughed harder . "Come on, the whole journey is more than 100 kilometers long! Most of us would die of head traumas if we kowtowed all the way up . "

    Li Yundong burst intoughter .

    "Am I right, Meiduo?" Changbag nudged the girl again .

    "Yep! Yep!" Meiduo nodded with zest . "Changbag is right . Besides, we could use some protection . "

    Li Yundong raised a brow . "Protection? From what?"

    Meiduo stared at Li Yundong as though he¡¯d grown three heads . "Wolves, of course!"

    "Wolves?"

    Meiduo nodded again . "Mm-hmm! This mountain is filled with them!"

    Li Yundong tried his best not to gape .

    Wolves . He¡¯d been running around in a mountain full of wolves, and he hadn¡¯t a single f*cking clue .

    Well . Shit .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "Umm... That¡¯s... that¡¯s good to know . "

    "Like I said, you can protect us from wolves," Meiduo said . "And in return, we can be your guide towards the summit . It is very easy to get lost as you go further along this path . "

    Li Yundong studied the pair for a moment . Should he ept the offer? Or was this too big of a risk?

    Argh . Screw it .

    Li Yundong sighed . "Fine . "

 Chapter 171

    Chapter 171

    <h4>Tantric Secrets!</h4>

    Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of two malemas, who were carrying antern each .

    Li Yundong would¡¯ve given themas some kind of polite greeting if they weren¡¯t shouting at them in Lhasa Tibetan .

    rm coursed through Li Yundong . However, Changbag ced a reassuring hand on his shoulder and stepped forward to greet themas before Li Yundong could make himself scarce .

    Tibetan words spilled from Changbag¡¯s lips: something, something Changbag; something, something, Danba (was that someone¡¯s name?) something, something .

    The twomas moved in closer towards them and raised theirnterns . One of themughed and called out Changbag¡¯s name . More conversation in Tibetan ensued . Then, thema shone hisntern at Meiduo .

    Thema gasped in surprise . "Meiduo?"

    Meiduo bowed at the twomas and gave each one of them a polite greeting . Brief pleasantries were exchanged between Meiduo and themas before thenterns were directed at Li Yundong¡¯s face .

    Looks of suspicion spread across themas¡¯ faces .

    One of thema said something in Tibetan . His tone sounded hostile .

    Maybe I should make a run for it...

    Changbagughed and gave Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder a friendly pat . Then, Changbag spoke to thema in Tibetan .

    Li Yundong sighed inwardly when the looks of suspicion fell away from themas¡¯ faces . The twomas gave him respectful nods before turning back to Changbag .

    More words were exchanged between the monks .

    A whileter, Changbag began to make several hand gestures as he spoke animatedly about something . It was like he was telling themas an epic story .

    "What are they talking about?" Li Yundong asked Meiduo .

    Meiduo smiled at him . "Changbag was telling them about how you brought him back to life . Puqiong"¡ªMeiduo pointed at the shorterma of the pair¡ª"is still skeptical . But I think Mima is starting to believe him . "

    Li Yundong smiled . "Nah . It¡¯s okay . I don¡¯t really care whether they believe it or not . So long as they don¡¯t punish me for sneaking into the temple . . . "

    Suddenly, the conversation in Tibetan halted .

    Mima¡ªthe tallerma¡ªwas now staring at him in shock .

    "Y- You sneaked into the temple?" Mima asked in perfect Mandarin .

    Well . Shit .

    Li Yundong sighed . "Yeah . . . I figured I¡¯d stay overnight at the temple before continuing my journey to the summit tomorrow . " Li Yundong grimaced . "Is that a vition?"

    "You cannot spend the night at Kathok Monastery without permission," said the second monk, Puqiong .

    Puqiong¡¯s Mandarin sounded rather awkward . Li Yundong had to bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself fromughing at Puqiong¡¯s weird pronunciation .

    Li Yundong nodded . "Alright . I understand . I apologize for the intrusion . " Li Yundong bowed his head slightly . "It really wasn¡¯t my intention to cause any trouble . And I definitely didn¡¯t mean any disrespect by my actions . I¡¯ll grab my things now and be on my way . "

    Li Yundong stepped around Meiduo and¡ª

    "Wait!" Changbag grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s arm .

    Li Yundong stopped walking and shot the old gentleman a questioning look .

    "You are my savior, kind sir," Changbag said, then gave Puqiong a pointed look . "And we Tibetans will never turn away those to whom we are beholden . " Changbag patted Li Yundong¡¯s arm a few times, then gave him a reassuring smile . "Give me a moment . The head of the monastery is a very good friend of mine . I shall speak to him and get this sorted in no time, don¡¯t you worry . "

    "Sir, um . . . Bhante Changbag," Li Yundong said . "That¡¯s very kind of you . But it¡¯s really alright . I mean, I have to be on my way anyway, so . . . "

    Changbag tutted and tightened his grip on Li Yundong¡¯s arm . "Please, let me repay you for the kindness you¡¯ve shown me . I¡¯d never be able to live with myself if you walk away right now without at least giving me a chance to repay you . "

    Li Yundong opened his mouth to say something, but Meiduo beat him to it .

    "Brother Li, I know you didn¡¯t get lost on your way up here, but trust me, this path gets even more confusing past this point . There aren¡¯t any sign boards or indications around to guide you . I really think it¡¯s best if you travel with us . "

    Li Yundong sighed and nodded . "Fine . But only if it¡¯s alright with the head of the monastery . "

    Changbag brightened up . "Ah! Fret not, kind sir . I shall speak to him at once! Wait for my good news . "

    Changbag gave Meiduo a pointed look, to which the girl answered with a nod .

    Then, Changbag waved at the twomas . "Hurry up, you two! Bring me to Danba!"

    ***

    Li Yundong watched as Changbag left with the twomas . He couldn¡¯t help but wonder if he had made a mistake in agreeing to stay . He still wasn¡¯t sure if anyone was following him . He might put the pilgrims at risk if he traveled with them . But still, he couldn¡¯t deny that Meiduo made a solid point .

    He would end up wasting a lot of precious time if he got lost in the mountains .

    "Don¡¯t worry, Brother Li," Meiduo said . "Changbag and Danba are very good friends . They¡¯re like brothers . It¡¯ll all work out . "

    Li Yundong smiled . "Nah . I¡¯m not worried about that at all . I can just camp out somewhere in the woods if it doesn¡¯t work out . That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been doing for the past month anyway . "

    Meiduo suddenly went quiet . When Li Yundong looked at her, he noticed that the girl was studying his feet with interest .

    "Brother Li . . . " Meiduo looked up from his feet, her eyes filled with shock and amazement . "Have you been travelling barefoot all this while?"

    Li Yundong hesitated for a moment, then decided to answer the girl truthfully . "Yeah . . . "

    Meiduo gaped at him . "B- But you don¡¯t have any blisters!"

    Li Yundong smirked and said nothing . It wasn¡¯t like he could start exining to the girl the nuances of Qi control .

    "Where are you from, Brother Li?"

    Li Yundong stared at the girl for a moment .

    Meiduo blushed . "I- I mean it¡¯s totally okay if you don¡¯t want to tell me . . . It¡¯s really none of my business..."

    Li Yundong smiled . "Tiannan City . Have you heard of the ce?"

    Meiduo perked up instantly . "Of course I¡¯ve heard of it! It¡¯s a city far, far away from here . " All of a sudden, she stopped talking and stared off into space . "It¡¯s more than 2000 kilometers away!"

    Li Yundong nodded approvingly . "Wow . You even got the distance right . "

    Meiduo beamed proudly . "I know my geography!"

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Impressive . I bow to your superior knowledge . "

    Meiduo¡¯s face was positively glowing at that point . "Hmph! I¡¯m a top student in my school, so don¡¯t underestimate me!"

    Li Yundong stifled augh . "Oh, no . Trust me, I wouldn¡¯t dare underestimate you . You sound like a far better student than I was . "

    She would agree if she saw his high school report cards .

    "Um . . . Brother Li?"

    "Yes?"

    "How old are you? Are you working now?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "Nah . I¡¯m a university student . I¡¯m just twenty . "

    The astonished look on Meiduo¡¯s face almost seemedical . "T- Twenty? But . . . But you look like you¡¯re in your early thirties!"

    Gee . Way to make a guy feel young . Maybe it was the beard and the unruly hair .

    "I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re only two years older than I am!" Meiduo continued . "Ooh! Guess what? Hehe . I¡¯m applying for tertiary education next year!"

    Li Yundong gave her a tiny smile . "Is that so? Which university?"

    "Hmm . . . " Meiduo hesitated . "Actually, I¡¯m not sure about that yet . . . " Meiduo¡¯s eyes sparkled . "Wait! Which university are you a student at, Brother Li?"

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Tiannan University," he said, then waved dismissively . "But it¡¯s just a third-rate university . Not even worth mentioning . "

    "Hey! I know!" Meiduo jumped excitedly . "Why don¡¯t I apply to your university?"

    Li Yundong shook his head grimly . "Nope . That would be a terrible idea . "

    Meiduo¡¯s face fell . "Why?"

    Li Yundong gave her a strange look . "You¡¯re joking, right? I just told you that it¡¯s a third-rate university like, seconds ago . "

    "Is it really that bad?"

    Images of Director Qian¡¯s obnoxious face popped up in his mind .

    Yep . It really was that bad .

    Li Yundong snorted . "It¡¯s not an ideal ce for learning, that¡¯s for sure . " Not with the likes of Professor Liu standing at the lectern . These so-called educators . Li Yundong gave Meiduo a pointed look . "Trust me, you¡¯ll just be wasting your talents if youe to Tiannan University . "

    Meiduo looked at him quizzically . "But you¡¯re a student there, Brother Li . And you seem like a decent guy . " Meiduo shrugged . "How bad can it be?"

    Li Yundong wanted tough at the absurdity of the question .

    How bad can it be?

    Famousst words .

    ***

    "Danba! Danba! Are you awake!" Changbag banged the door with his palm .

    Nobody answered the door .

    Changbag knocked on the door again . "If you¡¯re already asleep, then wake up! We need to talk!"

    Changbag turned around to face Mima and Puqiong . "You two should wrap up your patrol and head back to bed . "

    Mima and Puqiong nced at each other, thought they didn¡¯t move .

    Changbag sighed . "Just go . I¡¯ll handle things here . "

    Mima and Puqiong shared another nce, then headed back to their own quarters .

    "Danba! Wake up! We need to¡ª"

    The wooden door swung open . "Come on, Changbag! Why are you making so much noise at this hour? You might disturb the Buddha with your yelling . "

    Fear coursed through Changbag . He turned sideways and gave the Buddha statue at the temple a deep bow . After that, he grabbed Danba by the arm . "This is an urgent matter, my friend . "

    "My, my . You really haven¡¯t changed at all, my friend . It¡¯s been what, several decades, and you¡¯re still so hot-headed . " Danba gave him a wry smile and shook his head . "Come . Let¡¯s head inside so you can tell me about the matter so urgent that you¡¯d risk the wrath of Buddha by making so much noise at His sacred temple in the middle of the night . "

    Changbag followed Danba into his living quarters and then spent the next fifteen minutes recounting everything that happened in thest five hours, including how his life was saved by the man who was the living reincarnation of Mahak .

    "All he did was touch your head?" Danba asked in shock .

    Changbag nodded . "Indeed, my friend . That young man is the closest thing to a Living Buddha I¡¯ve ever seen . "

    Danba sprang to his feet . "Where is he now? Bring me to him!"

    Changbag stood up and blocked Danba¡¯s path before he could reach the door . "Hold up, my friend . I¡¯ll bring you to see him, but you have to promise me one thing first . "

    "What is it?"

    "Give him permission to stay overnight here at Kathok Monastery . "

    Danbaughed . "Is that all? Done! Now can we go?"

    "Wait . . . " Changbag said . "There¡¯s something else . "

    Danba sighed . "What is it this time?"

    Changbag schooled his features into a serious look . "Listen . That man saved my life . I wouldn¡¯t have the chance toplete my pilgrimage if it weren¡¯t for him . I want to repay him, but I have nothing to offer him at the moment . "

    Danba narrowed his eyes . "What do you want to borrow from me?"

    "The Mahamudra Tantra!"

 Chapter 172

    Chapter 172

    <h4>Backfiring</h4>

    Changbag¡¯s heart sank when Danba answered his request with a head shake .

    "No! Absolutely not! The Mahamudra Tantra is such an important scripture to us Tibetan Buddhists! And you want to give the original copy to an outsider? Are you out of your mind?" Danba red at him . "And you call this borrowing?! This is giving the book away for free!!"

    Annoyance red inside Changbag . "Have you forgotten the promise you made to mest time, Danba?" He raised his brows . "You promised to give me a full copy of the Mahamudra Tantra . " Then, he smirked . "Whom I give it to afterwards is my choice . "

    Danba shook his head again . "Absolutely not . The Mahamudra Tantra is the Kathok Monastery¡¯s treasure, Changbag . You can¡¯t just give it away to an outsider!"

    Changbagughed . "What do you take me for, eh, Danba? An idiot?"

    Danba narrowed his eyes . "What¡¯s that supposed to mean?"

    Changbag rolled his eyes . "I¡¯m not blind, pal . I know you¡¯ve been printing out copies of the Mahamudra Tantra and then selling those copies to tourists as souvenirs . Souvenirs! How¡¯s that any different?"

    Silence spread between them . Changbag felt a twinge of satisfaction when he saw the redness coloring the tip of Danba¡¯s ears .

    "Come on . Those doesn¡¯t count!"

    Changbag¡¯s brows rose to his hairline . "I don¡¯t see how they don¡¯t count . "

    "Because those are¡ª" Danba stopped talking and nced around a few times . Then, he lowered his voice to a whisper . "Those are iplete copies with all of the scripture¡¯s secrets removed . "

    Changbag sighed in frustration . "Have you been listening to what I said?" He shot Danba an exasperated look . "I¡¯m telling you, man . This guy isn¡¯t normal! He¡¯s extraordinary! He isn¡¯t just some . . . some . . . outsider . If anything, he¡¯s better than every single one of usbined . " Changbag reached forward and grabbed Danba¡¯s shoulders . "He¡¯s the living reincarnation of Mahak, the great Dharma Protector and Lord of Justice . I¡¯m sure of it, my friend . "

    More silence ensued .

    Changbag shook Danba¡¯s shoulders . "Come on, pal . That scripture won¡¯t be wasted on him . Trust me . "

    A momentter, Danba sighed . "Fine . Wait here . "

    Changbag couldn¡¯t help the grin that spread over his face . "That¡¯s right, buddy! I knew you¡¯d see sense!"

    Danba returned minutester with a book as thick as a human thumb . "There . "

    Changbag took the proffered book and flipped over a few pages . Anger rose inside him . "Our friendship ends today, Danba!" He tossed the book to the ground .

    "What!" Danba grabbed Changbag¡¯s arms . "What on earth are you¡ª"

    Changbag red at his friend . "That¡¯s one of those bogus copies you sell to tourists!" He jabbed a finger at the ground . "You think I¡¯m an idiot?"

    Changbag turned away and marched towards the door . Secondster, he was stilled by a hand on his shoulder .

    "Alright, alright . Calm down my friend . . . Here it is . "

    Changbag turned around and saw Danba pulling out a much thicker book .

    This one was worn around the edges, and the front cover looked a bit yellowish . He reached out and snatched the book from Danba¡¯s hands, then flipped it open .

    Joy surged through him . "Now that¡¯s more like it . . . " He snapped the book shut and ced it under his armpit .

    Danba sighed . "Now can we go see this Mahak reincarnation you keep telling me about?"

    ***

    Danba followed Changbag out of his personal living quarters . Admittedly, his desire to see this so-called Living Buddha had waned substantially . The fact that Kathok Monastery had practically been robbed of its only copy of Mahamudra Tantra had ruined Danba¡¯s mood for anything else . Why did he make that stupid promise to his friend in the first ce? Maybe this is all Buddha¡¯s will, a small voice inside Danba¡¯s head added . Danba trudged along behind Changbag as Changbag led him through a series of hallways and turns . Danba had to admit that something about Changbag seemed different . It was like his friend¡¯s vitality was renewed .

    For as long as Danba remembered, Changbag¡¯s body had always been frail and weak . Now, he was walking around with a spring in his steps . And he was fast, so much so that Danba had to jog to even keep up with him .

    "Hey, Changbag! Wait up!" Danba yelled .

    "Tsk! Come on, my friend . Keep up!" Changbag yelled back .

    Danba raised his gaze and saw that Changbag was a good ten meters ahead of him . Geez, when did Changbag be so spry? Perhaps Changbag¡¯s savior really did something to him?

    By the time Changbag and Danba arrived at the monastery¡¯s courtyard, Danba was already out of breath .

    "Behold . . . My savior!" Changbag announced .

    A young man with shoulder-length hair stood beside Meiduo . The first thing that struck Danba about the young man was his eyes . Those eyes were razor-sharp, like they could cut through a person¡¯s soul . The power and spirit behind those eyes were incredible . Danba didn¡¯t think he had seen such potent eyes before, not even among the holy mountain¡¯s guardian sentinels . Who on earth is this guy¡ª

    Danba¡¯s blood ran cold .

    Oh, no...

    Changbag was gravely mistaken . This man wasn¡¯t a Buddhist at all . He was a Cultivator! And most probably one that was looking to steal Buddhist secrets!

    Panic coursed through Danba¡¯s veins . This was bad . He was about to lose one of the most treasured Buddhist text to a Cultivator! What a disgrace!

    "Is everything settled, Changbag?" Meiduo said, then paused .

    Suddenly, Meiduo¡¯s eyes were on Danba . "Oh!" The girl bowed to him . "Greetings, Head Danba!"

    Danba forced out a smile . "Greetings, Meiduo . " He cast a nce towards the young man beside her . "Is he the one who brought Changbag back to life?"

    Changbag beamed at him . "Indeed, my friend! Indeed!" Changbag pped his hands together . "Come! Let me introduce you . "

    With that, Changbag stepped forward and pulled the young man¡¯s arm . "Li Yundong, this is a very good friend of mine . The Head of Kathok Monastery, Bhante Danba . "

    The young man gave him a nod . Even though the nod had been polite, Danba could detect a hint of wariness and vignce in those sharp eyes .

    "Danba," Changbag continued, utterly oblivious to Danba¡¯s internal turmoil, "this is the man who saved my life, Li Yundong!"

    So it¡¯s Zhenren Li, huh? Danba forced out a tight smile and pressed his palms together to perform an Anjali Mudra .

    "Namaste," Danba said .

    Zhenren Li smiled and bowed slightly at him .

    "Now . Let¡¯s get right down to business," Changbag said . Danba tried his best not to wince when Changbag pulled out the monastery¡¯s only original copy of Mahamudra Tantra and then presented it to Zhenren Li .

    "Please ept this book as a token of my gratitude, kind sir," Changbag said .

    Zhenren Li stared at the Mahamudra Tantra in Changbag¡¯s hands, though he didn¡¯t reach out to take it .

    Hope surged through Danba when he saw the hesitant look on Zhenren Li¡¯s face .

    That¡¯s it . . . That¡¯s it . . . Reject it . . . Reject it . . . A Cultivator like you don¡¯t need a Buddhist text at all¡ª

    "Come on, Brother Li! Just ept the gift!" Meiduo prompted . "You saved Changbag¡¯s life, you know? Changbag would feel miserable if you refuse to ept this small gift . "

    Danba nearly fell t on his butt .

    S- Small gift?!

    That child had no idea what she was talking about! This was the Mahamudra Tantra, for Buddha¡¯s sake!

    Zhenren Li took the book hesitantly, then crouched down to put it into his backpack . Danba resisted the urge to snatch the backpack from him .

    Not now . . . Not yet . . . This isn¡¯t the way . . .

    Changbag pped his hands together . "Alright then! Bhante Danba has given you permission to stay the night at the monastery . We should all get some rest, don¡¯t you think?"

    Zhenren Li stood up and gave Danba a nod . "Thank you, sir . That¡¯s very kind of you . "

    Danba pressed his palms together and smiled . Keeping Zhenren Li in the monastery might be a good thing . That way, he could find a way to get the scripture back .

    It wouldn¡¯t be that hard .

    He just needed a bit of extra assistance .

    ***

    When Danba returned to his quarters, he saw Mima and Puqiong waiting outside his door . The twomas had just finished their nightly patrol and were now waiting to be debriefed .

    "Get me Dorjee Tenzin!" Danba snapped, storming past the twomas into his living quarters .

    After a while, a buff-looking man dressed in a red and orange kasaya strode into his living quarters and bowed to him . "Greetings, Bhante Danba . You wished to see me?"

    "Rise," Danbamanded .

    Dorjee Tenzin straightened himself and proved why he was Kathok Monastery¡¯s guardian sentinel¡ªthe man was at least two heads taller than Danba .

    "I have a mission for you," Danba began . "The Mahamudra Tantra had fallen into the hands of a Cultivator . "

    Danba paused to look at Dorjee Tenzin, whose face was as stoic as ever .

    "This is a threat to our school and therefore cannot be allowed . " He gave Dorjee Tenzin a pointed look . "I want you to retrieve the book . "

    Dorjee Tenzin¡¯s head snapped up . "Are you asking me tomit murder, Bhante Danba?"

    Danba shook his head . "No . Of course not . We are Buddhists . We cannot take a man¡¯s life . I just want you to retrieve the book . You can talk to him, buy it from him, or even steal it from him . Just don¡¯t harm the guy . "

    Dorjee Tenzin nodded . "Understood . "

    Dorjee Tenzin turned and headed to the door .

    "Wait," Danba said .

    Dorjee Tenzin paused at the door and turned back around .

    "Make sure to act only when Changbag and the others aren¡¯t around . Changbag can never know about this, do you hear me?"

    Dorjee Tenzin nodded .

    "And do not underestimate your opponent," Danba warned . "You might be one of the Eighteen Guardian Sentinels of the holy mountain, but we still have no idea what that man is capable of . And if he can bring Changbag back to life, it¡¯s safe to assume that he¡¯s a force to be reckon with . " Danba held up a finger . "But of course, the best case scenario is if you can get him to hand over the book willingly . "

    Dorjee Tenzin frowned . "And if he refuses?"

    Danba sighed . "Then you¡¯ll have to take it by force . "

    Dorjee Tenzin nodded .

    "But do not kill him, you understand?" Danba said .

    "Understood . "

    ***

    The next morning, when Danba woke up and headed to the temple¡¯s courtyard to perform his morning ablutions, he saw arge group ofmas gathered around a rock near the faucets .

    "Hey, hey!" Danba yelled . "What¡¯s this about?"

    One of themas approached him and bowed . "I think you shoulde take a look at this, Head Danba . " Then, thema turned back to the crowd and yelled, "The Head is here! Make way! Make way!"

    The crowd parted to two side to reveal the tall rock .

    Danba felt his knees go weak .

    "W- W- Who d- did this!" Danba stammered, staring at the deep¡ªseveral inches¡ªimprint of a fist buried inside the rock¡¯s surface .

    "It was fine yesterday evening!" one of themas piped in .

    "Head Danba," Mima said . "Meiduo, Changbag, and the Han Chinese were the only ones herest night when I ran into them during my patrol . "

    "T- The Han Chinese?" Danba stammered .

    Zhenren Li . This had to be Zhenren Li¡¯s doing!

    "Wait! Guys!" one of themas yelled . "Meiduo mentioned somethingst night!"

    "What? What?"

    "Yeah! Tell us, tell us!"

    "Ahem . Well, a few of us ran into Meiduost night . And she told us stories about the Han Chinese . More specifically, she told us the amazing feats he¡¯s capable of . Well, Meiduo imed that the guy could punch a rock from ten meters away . I think she might be referring to this!" Thema pointed at the rock .

    The crowd went into an uproar .

    "Ten meters away?!!"

    "That¡¯s impossible?!"

    "Not even Dorjee Tenzin is capable of that!"

    "Guys . . . Guys . . . I think we should calm down a bit . Meiduo is a kid . Maybe she exaggerated her ims?"

    "Well . . . She sounded pretty serious when she was talking about itst night . "

    "Oh, yeah, she was . When I told her I didn¡¯t believe her story, she got really mad and stormed off . "

    "So that¡¯s why she looked so mad¡ª"

    "Silence!!!" Danba shouted .

    Danba took a deep breath . "W- Where¡¯s Dorjee Tenzin? Bring him here!"

    Themas looked at each other . "Um . . . Head Danba . . . Dorjee Tenzin left the monastery at dawn . . . He went after Changbag and the pilgrims . . . "

    Danba¡¯s knees buckled right then and he fell t on his butt . Themas went into an uproar again .

    "Head Danba!"

    "What¡¯s wrong Head Danba!"

    "Are you alright?"

    Mima crouched down beside him . "What¡¯s the matter Head Danba?"

    Danba shook his head . "I might have just sent our guardian sentinel to his death . . . "

 Chapter 173

    Chapter 173

    <h4>Distorted Reality</h4>

    The chains rattled as Li Yundong towed the wagon uphill . The wagon, which carried the pilgrims¡¯ various travel equipment and food supplies, felt as light as a feather . Before they left the temple, one of the pilgrims in their group suggested to Changbag that they borrow some kind of wagon from the monastery to store all their equipment, and then use an animal (using motor-powered vehicles during a pilgrimage would be a huge disrespect to Buddha) to pull the wagon . Changbag balked at the idea at first, expressing concerns that the use of an animal wagon was too risky since the animal¡¯s scent might attract the wolves . But then Li Yundong stepped forward and offered to pull the wagon for them . Surprisingly, nobody gave him skeptical looks when he made the offer . After he brought Changbag back to life, most of them seemed to think of him as some kind of super sage .

    After loading up the wagon, they set off a little before dawn . It was almost mid-morning now, and most of the pilgrims were tired . Li Yundong could easily tell from their sluggish forms and steps .

    Li Yundong had asked some of them to climb onto the wagon, but they declined . He supposed it made sense . Travelling on a wagon would probably defeat the whole purpose of the pilgrimage .

    Apparently, Meiduo wasn¡¯t as devoted as the rest of the pilgrims . She had climbed onto the wagon half an hour ago, iming that she needed a break, otherwise she would pass out . Right now, Li Yundong could feel her stare even though he wasn¡¯t looking at her .

    "You know, Brother Li . . . "

    Li Yundong switched the chains to another hand and turned his head around . "Yeah?"

    "Before, when you said that you walked here from Tiannan City, I didn¡¯t really believe you . " She shrugged . "I mean it was over 2000 kilometers away . But now, I think I¡¯m starting to believe what you said . " She gaped at him for several seconds . "Like, don¡¯t you ever get tired?"

    Li Yundong chuckled .

    "We¡¯ve been walking for hours without taking a break! And you were even dragging a heavy wagon with you!"

    Li Yundong turned his head again . "Correction . I didn¡¯t walk here . " He paused for effect . "I ran here . "

    Meiduo¡¯s jaw went ck . Li Yundong burst intoughter .

    "W- What . . . You r- ran here?!"

    Li Yundong looked to the front again . "Yep . That¡¯s how I lost my shoes, actually . They fell off due to all that running . "

    "Amazing . . . " Meiduo whispered .

    Li Yundong smiled to himself and gave the chains a sharp tug .

    Amazing, huh?

    His smile faded away as a wave of sadness washed over him . He couldn¡¯t disagree with that statement more . The truth was that he was just a pathetic amateur who couldn¡¯t even save his friends from the ws of an evil man . He couldn¡¯t even protect the woman he loved .

    Ao Wushuang was right . He was a weakling . A failure .

    The question now was how could he change? How could he be better?

    ***

    Around evening, Changbag stopped their march and ordered the group to rest for the night . Collective sighs were heard as Li Yundong dragged the wagon towards arge tree, and then parked it right under the tree . For the next thirty minutes, the pilgrims bustled around, using the waning light of the sunset to set up camp . Li Yundong sat on top of the wagon and watched them work . The men worked on the tents whereas the women started fires and prepared food . Several men nodded at him when they walked towards the wagon to grab supplies¡ªfirewood, pots, food, and water .

    Meiduo was whispering to a group of men . A bag of hung from her right hand . When Li Yundong zoomed in with his telescopic vision, he realized that the bag contained sewing needles, thread, and yarn .

    What was she trying to make? A jacket?

    Li Yundong scanned the area for Changbag, but the old monk was nowhere to be seen . He hoped Changbag didn¡¯t pass out somewhere again .

    Watching the pilgrims work was rather hypnotic . After a while, Li Yundong felt his eyelids growing heavy .

    He shouldn¡¯t do this .

    He shouldn¡¯t be drifting off .

    Somebody could easily attack him if he let his guard down . But he just felt so tired and rxed that he couldn¡¯t help it .

    Just for a few minutes...

    His body felt immensely light, like he was floating into the sky and . . .

    He was back at the amusement park, on the Space Shuttle . He turned, and Su Chan was sitting right there next to him, looking totally unfazed . He smiled . The Space Shuttle could never faze his princess . He¡¯d learned that lesson the hard way .

    Then they were back on the ground, strolling hand in hand around the amusement park .

    Su Chan was dancing around excitedly, yelling and screaming, swatting at balloons . She looked so happy .

    Su Chan giggled and whispered something to him . Then she grabbed his hand and, before he knew it, they were soaring above Tiannan City,ughing and giggling like a bunch of school girls .

    Wait . . . Where was this? He knew this ce .

    The luxury .

    The splendor .

    The soft carpet .

    The gentle hum of ssical music .

    Shengyuan Hotel . They were at Shengyuan Hotel . He turned around and once again found himself smiling . Su Chan was all dolled up . She looked so beautiful .

    The banquet hall vanished in a sh . Darkness surrounded him .

    This was the gates . He was standing in front of Shengyuan Hotel¡¯s gates .

    Where was Su Chan? Where¡ª

    A loud st filled his chest with horror . No . . . No . . . No . . . Please . . . No! Not again! He moved past the gates and headed towards the hotel¡¯s building . His knees hit the ground and he screamed at the top of his lungs .

    "NOOOOOO!!!!!!"

    The woman whoy dead in a pool of blood wasn¡¯t Deng Yu .

    It was Su Chan .

    Peals ofughter filled his ears . He hated that voice . He hated that voice with a vengeance . What he hated even more was the owner of that voice . Theughter grew louder and louder .

    Li Yundong looked up at the building and saw He Shao standing somewhere above him . Li Yundong red up at He Shao and raised his arms .

    "Die!!!!!!!" Li Yundong pointed his finger at He Shao . "Have a taste of the Heavenly Thunder!!!"

    He Shao¡¯sughter kept growing louder . At one point, it almost seemed as though He Shao¡¯s voice wasing from the sky . Why wasn¡¯t it working? Why, dammit! Why?! Didn¡¯t He Shao deserve to die?

    "Come on!!!!" Li Yundong pointed his finger at He Shao again . "Come on!!! Heavenly Thunder!!! y this evil creature!!!"

    "The Heavens have abandoned you, you loser!" He Shao said . "I am untouchable . I am invincible! You can never touch me . . . Hahaha . . . "

    The ground crumbled under him . "Nooooo!!!!!" He fell and fell until hended on some kind of rough surface .

    "You are a failure . . . "

    Li Yundong opened his eyes and saw Zi Yuan staring down at him . Her eyes were filled with disappointment .

    "I¡¯ve changed my mind . You are not the Jindan¡¯s Heir . You are nothing but a disgrace . . . "

    There was a snort of contempt .

    "I was right all along, Elder Sister Zi Yuan . I told you from the start that he couldn¡¯t possibly be the Jindan¡¯s Heir . "

    A sharp, high-pitched, metallic noise caused his ears to ring .

    Li Yundong screamed and covered his ears .

    Secondster, the noise was reced by the nging of metal . When he opened his eyes, he saw thousands of des and swords swirling around him . At that moment, there wasn¡¯t a single doubt in his mind that he was facing the wrath of Ao Wushuang .

    "You killed her . . . !" Ao Wushuang¡¯s voice red from all directions . "You killed my disciple!!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s knees hit the ground . How was he supposed to defend himself against the usation? How could he deny the truth?

    "She died because you are too weak!!!"

    She was right . That truth was impossible to deny .

    "I shall make you pay!!!"

    The des closed in on him from all direction, spinning around, shing through every inch of his skin .

    He knew very well what was happening¡ªhe was being skinned alive .

    And he let it . He let it because he deserved it .

    Beloved . . . . Wake up . . . Wake up . . .

    What . . . ?

    The searing pain on his skin was gone .

    It¡¯s just a dream, beloved . . . Wake up . . . Wake . . .

    The voice faded away .

    Li Yundong gasped and took a huge gulp of air . His butt slid off some kind of surface and he crashed into the ground with a thud . He nced around frantically, heaving and panting .

    A sliver of light streaked across the dark sky . What time was it? Was it dawn already? He fumbled around with his hand until he touched something circr, like a wheel .

    The wagon .

    He had just fallen off the wagon .

    All of a sudden, he realized that he wasn¡¯t alone . A shadow was hovering above his head . A shadow with long hair and a slender figure . Shock coursed through his veins .

    C- Chan¡¯er . . . ?

    "Umm . . . "

    "Y- You¡¯re here!"

    Li Yundong reached out and pulled the dark figure right into his arms .

    ***

    Zi Yuan strode into Hongling¡¯s apartment at New Hongsheng District, closing the door behind her . The apartment was quiet and peaceful ever since she sent Hongling back to Mount Longhust week . By now, the twins¡¯ souls should be safely ced inside the Tianyi Pond . Zi Yuan hadn¡¯t had the chance to return to Mount Longhu, since she¡¯d been busy keeping an eye on Li Yundong over the past month .

    Hopefully Hongling had handled the souls with care .

    A soft breeze caressed Zi Yuan¡¯s cheeks the moment she stepped onto the balcony . She smiled to herself when she remembered all the times Li Yundong had stared at the cloud she¡¯d been hiding behind during her surveince . The poor guy had no clue . But still, Zi Yuan had tomend the Jindan¡¯s Heir for his sharp instincts .

    He had done well so far . No . He hadpleted his tasks exceptionally and had even picked up a lot of new things on his own . Other than the fact that he¡¯d tantly ignored her warning to mind his own business, Zi Yuan was very satisfied with his progress .

    One other thing was rather troubling though: she hadn¡¯t heard a single thing from Zhou Qin yet . The girl wasn¡¯t picking up her phone when Zi Yuan called . Then again, the authorities hadn¡¯t issued an order for Li Yundong¡¯s arrest, so Zi Yuan figured that Zhou Qin had done a good job .

    The Heir¡¯s secret was safe . For now .

    "You¡¯rete . "

    Zi Yuan looked sharply to the side, then bowed slightly when she saw who her visitor was .

    "Greetings, Senior Wushuang . "

    Senior Wushuang approached her gracefully . "You don¡¯t have to act so formal around me . "

    Secondster, Senior Wushuang stopped beside her in front of the railing . The lights from the city gave Zi Yuan the opportunity to study Senior Wushuang¡¯s features .

    The most powerful Cultivator of the Fox Zen School was, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman Zi Yuan had ever set eyes on . Zi Yuan thought Su Chan was beautiful, but Ao Wushuang . . .

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s beauty was on another level .

    "How¡¯s the kid doing?" Senior Wushuang asked .

    "He¡¯s progressing rapidly . " Zi Yuan shook her head slightly . "I¡¯ve honestly never seen a more talented Cultivator . "

    Senior Wushuang sighed . "This is bad . "

    Zi Yuan stared at the woman beside her . Momentster, she sighed . "I know . " Zi Yuan wrapped her fingers around the railing . "I . . . I don¡¯t think he¡¯s going to make it, Senior Wushuang . "

    Senior Wushuang stared out into the city, her expression stoic and calm .

    Zi Yuan turned away from Senior Wushuang; the woman¡¯s silence was a little unnerving .

    "Have you . . . Have you found a way yet, Senior Wushuang?"

    "I¡¯m working on a few ideas," Senior Wushuang answered without taking her eyes off the view of the city below . "But there are still tons of research to be done before I can be sure that it¡¯ll work . " Senior Wushuang returned Zi Yuan¡¯s gaze . "I need more time . "

    "But we don¡¯t have more time," Zi Yuan said earnestly . "The Heir is already halfway to Mount Duonian¡¯s summit when I checked on him today . At this rate, he¡¯ll probably pass the Zhuji phase within the next few days . "

    "I see . . . " Senior Wushuang answered tly .

    Zi Yuan¡¯s heart sank . So not even the great genius, Ao Wushuang, could find a way then .

    "Here . . . " said Senior Wushuang .

    Zi Yuan turned and saw Senior Wushuang waving a silk pouch at her .

    Zi Yuan took the pouch carefully . "What¡¯s in this?"

    "Something that can buy us more time . But . . . " Senior Wushuang gave her a pointed look . "You need to make sure you¡¯re there in time to cast the spell . Do you understand?"

    Zi Yuan opened the pouch and saw a talisman that she¡¯d never seen before in her life . Zi Yuan¡¯s gaze snapped up . "What¡¯s¡ª"

    "It¡¯s a spell to mask the Vital Orb¡¯s true power," Senior Wushuang said .

    Zi Yuan took out the talisman and studied it . The drawings and patterns were convoluted . There had to be at least two hundred symbols on the talisman .

    "Took me a whole week of research to find the spell," Senior Wushuang said . "Had to go through thousands of ancient scrolls and texts . "

    Zi Yuan was mesmerized . Never in her life had she seen a talisman soplicated .

    "You were right in thinking that he wouldn¡¯t be able to survive the Heavenly Thunder," Senior Wushuang said .

    Zi Yuan looked up from the talisman to find Senior Wushuang staring at her .

    "If he really is as talented as what that idiot disciple of mine kept telling me, and what you yourself have witnessed over the past month, then he won¡¯t even survive the first bolt of Heavenly Thunder let alone the other eighty . "

    Zi Yuan lowered her gaze to the floor . The strength of the Heavenly Thunder increases with the target¡¯s aptitude . To survive divine punishment meant that one had to be struck by 81 sessive bolts of Heavenly Thunder, each one faster and more powerful than its predecessor .

    "Not even the first bolt..." Zi Yuan mumbled .

    Senior Wushuang chuckled darkly . "He doesn¡¯t stand a chance . "

    Silence reigned .

    "How much time can this spell buy you?" Zi Yuan asked .

    "If my calctions are correct, then the Heavens won¡¯t be able to detect his Vital Orb until he passes the Shentong phase . "

    Zi Yuan looked up again . "If your calctions are correct?"

    Senior Wushuang smirked . "I¡¯m rarely wrong . "

    Zi Yuan nodded and put the pouch away .

    "Take care of the talisman, will you?" Senior Wushuang raised a brow . "It¡¯s extremely hard to draw, even for me . Took me a few days toplete it . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "I will . "

    Senior Wushuang stepped away from the railing . "Remember that timing is key," she said . "The Heavenly Thunder will strike the moment he passes the Zhuji phase . So you have to be on standby and cast the spell the moment he passes . Do you understand?"

    Zi Yuan nodded .

    "Good . " Senior Wushuang did a hand sign; Bahuang materialized on the balcony .

    Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help but stare at the sword . Her master¡¯s sword .

    "Don¡¯t even think about it, child," Senior Wushuang said . "You won¡¯t be able to take it from me . "

    Zi Yuan looked away from the sword . But how and where did you get Master¡¯s sword? Howe you¡¯re able to wield it?

    When Zi Yuan turned to ask Senior Wushuang the questions that had been guing her mind, the woman was already gone .

    Zi Yuan sighed and leaned against the railing . So many questions but not a single answer .

    What on earth have your foreseen, Master?

 Chapter 174

    Chapter 174

    <h4>Sign Language</h4>

    Something was wrong. None of this felt right.

    It was the scent. The scent was wrong.

    "There, there..." A soft palm patted the back of his head. "Everything¡¯s going to be okay. You¡¯re safe now, Brother Li."

    What...? Brother Li?

    Li Yundong jerked backwards as though he was burned, causing the back of his head to smash into the wood of the wagon.

    The woman in her arms wasn¡¯t Su Chan.

    It was Meiduo.

    Shit.

    Li Yundong scrambled to his feet and fought down the waves of disappointment coursing through him.

    Meiduo was staring up at him with confused eyes. "Is... Is everything alright, Brother Li?"

    "S- Sorry!" he mumbledmely. Then, he pushed past Meiduo and ran off before he embarrassed himself further.

    "Brother Li! Wait!"

    Li Yundong ignored the voice and kept running. Most of the pilgrims were still asleep, so he guessed it was still prettyte... or early, depending on how you look at it. He ran and ran until he reached a small brook nearby. Crouching down beside the brook, he buried his face into his palms.

    God damn it. He had got to get his shit together. How was he supposed to pass the Zhuji phase if his head was so messed up?

    But that dream...

    It was so vivid.

    What was this? PTSD? Shit.

    It hit him then that he hadn¡¯t really had the chance to properly deal with the trauma he¡¯d experienced that night at Shengyuan Hotel. He was thrown into training immediately after the incident and didn¡¯t have time to make peace with the twins¡¯ deaths.

    He reached down and dipped his hands into the brook, then sshed some water onto his face. The brook water felt cool and crisp against his cheeks. A few more sshester, the fog in his mind began to clear as alertness seeped in.

    God knows he needed a clear head after this. He had one more chance. Just one. He couldn¡¯t afford to f*ck things up now; there was just too much at stake.

    Footfalls sounded behind him. He wiped his face and turned around abruptly.

    Meiduo was walking up towards him timidly, and she appeared to be hiding something behind her back.

    "B- Brother Li..."

    Li Yundong sighed and rose to his feet. "Listen. I¡¯m sorry about just now. That was inappropriate." He squared his shoulders and looked her in the eye. "It won¡¯t happen again."

    Something flickered inside Meiduo¡¯s eyes. She shuffled a few steps closer and peered up at him from under hershes. "W- Were you having a nightmare?"

    "Yeah," Li Yundong answered, then sighed.

    It was the most horrifying dream he¡¯d ever had.

    He shook his head to block out the mental images of Su Chan lying in a pool of blood.

    "Um... Then are you okay?"

    "I¡¯m fine." He smiled. "Thanks for asking."

    "Oh. Okay..."

    Li Yundong nced around a few times, then looked up at the sky. "What time is it?"

    "It¡¯s nearly dawn."

    Dawn, huh? It seemed like he slept for quite a while after he dozed off on the wagon. He even skipped dinner. Great, now he sounded like his little princess chipmunk.

    Li Yundong tore his gaze away from the sky. "Wait. Why are you up at this hour?" He paused in thought, then regarded Meiduo carefully. "Did you sleep at all?"

    Meiduo shifted on the spot, seeming shy and sheepish all of a sudden. Then, she shook her head slowly.

    Li Yundong frowned. "What? Why? Why didn¡¯t you sleep?" Li Yundong paused in thought again. "Was I too loud when I was... you know... having a nightmare?"

    Meiduo¡¯s looked up sharply and shook her head earnestly. Secondster, she pulled her hands out from behind a back to reveal a pair of cloth shoes.

    "F- For you..." Meiduo held out the shoes timidly.

    Li Yundong stared at the shoes for a few seconds, then it all clicked. The thread. The needles. The sewing equipment. It all made sense now.

    Li Yundong¡¯s gaze snapped to Meiduo. "Y- You stayed up all night to make this?"

    Meiduo nodded shyly.

    Oh shit. Even someone like him, who was obtuse 90% of the time, could see what this gesture meant.

    Meiduo might have developed feelings for him, feelings that he could never return.

    Li Yundong must have been quiet for a long time because Meiduo suddenlyunched into a nervous ramble. "U- Um... Why don¡¯t you try them on! Here! I¡¯ll help you put them on!"

    The meaning behind Meiduo¡¯s words struck Li Yundong, jolting him out of his thoughts. rm coursed through him, filling his chest.

    "Wait, no!" He raised his palms when he saw that Meiduo was about to bend down to help him put the shoes on. Meiduo stilled her movements and straightened herself. Confusion swirled inside her eyes.

    Shit. Should he refuse to ept the shoes? But wouldn¡¯t that be too harsh? The girl had spent the whole night making it, for f*ck¡¯s sake. What the heck was he supposed to do here?

    Once again, Li Yundong cursed hisck of dating experience.

    Li Yundong cleared his throat. "U- Uh... I mean I can do it on my own."

    Understanding shed inside Meiduo¡¯s eyes. She beamed and handed him the shoes. Li Yundong smiled and took the shoes with both hands. "Thank you," he said, then crouched down to put them on.

    God. This was awkward.

    The softness enveloping his feet felt foreign to him. Wow. So this was what wearing shoes felt like. He had honestly forgotten after one whole month walking around barefoot.

    "Well?"

    Li Yundong looked up from the shoes and saw Meiduo staring down at him. Anticipation shone in her eyes.

    "Do they fit?"

    Li Yundong nodded and rose to his feet. He jumped on the spot a few times, then smiled at Meiduo. "Yep. I think they fit perfectly. And they feelfortable too." Li Yundong held Meiduo¡¯s gaze. "Thank you. You don¡¯t really have to do that."

    Meiduo grinned. "Oh. I wanted to! I mean... You saved Changbag¡¯s life. It¡¯s... It¡¯s the least I can do..."

    Li Yundong regarded Meiduo¡¯s expression. Was that all? Gratitude? God, he sure hoped so. Because friendship was only thing he could give this girl. His heart already belonged to someone else.

    Regardless, he had to maintain his distance and keep things professional between them. Not that he hadn¡¯t been keeping things professional, but just... you know. Extra precautions were necessary, especially after knowing that Meiduo had stayed up the whole night to make him a pair of shoes...

    Li Yundong cleared his throat.

    "When will we set off again? What did Changbag say?"

    "After breakfast," Meiduo answered in a heartbeat.

    An awkward silence spread between them. Meiduo looked like she wanted to say something else, but couldn¡¯t get the words out.

    He had to say something. Preferably in the next few seconds.

    "H-Hey, Meiduo. Can you read Sanskrit?" he blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

    Meiduo brightened up instantly, much to his relief.

    "Oh, yes I can!" Meiduo jumped slightly. "I¡¯m pretty good at it actually!"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but smiled at the girl¡¯s enthusiasm. "Well, then I need your help."

    "With what?"

    Li Yundong chuckled wryly. "You know that book Changbag gave me?"

    A look of recognition formed on Meiduo¡¯s face. "Oh. Was it written in Sanskrit?"

    Li Yundong nodded. "Part of it, yeah." He shook his head. "Some parts were written in Tibetan I think."

    "So you need me to trante it for you?"

    Li Yundong nodded. "Yeah." He paused to look around their camp. Changbag and the others were still fast asleep. "I mean we have time until breakfast, right?"

    Meiduo nodded. "Mm-hmm!"

    Li Yundong smiled. "Right! Shall we get started?"

    ***

    "Oh my God!" Meiduo eximed, startling Li Yundong so much that he nearly dropped his water bottle.

    "Something wrong?" He stowed the bottle into his backpack.

    Meiduo was staring ck-jawed at the book. Secondster, she looked up sharply.

    "T- This is the Mahamudra Tantra!" she hissed. "I can¡¯t believe Changbag gave you the original copy!"

    Li Yundong frowned. "What, is that like a sacred text or something?"

    Meiduo stared at him like he was nuts. "Are you kidding? This is the Kathok Monastery¡¯s treasure!"

    "What!" Li Yundong hissed. "Then you must give it back to Changbag. I can¡¯t ept something like this. It¡¯s too much!"

    Meiduo seemed to balk at the idea. "But he already gave it to you."

    Li Yundong shook his head. "Return it," he said firmly. "The text belongs to the temple. I have no right to take it."

    Meiduo shook her head. "But it was a gift!"

    Li Yundong thought for a moment. "Okay. How about you trante the whole thing for me, and I¡¯ll try to memorize its contents. That way, you can return the book to the temple after this since I won¡¯t be needing it anymore. Deal?"

    Meiduo gave him a skeptical look. "Memorize the whole book?"

    Li Yundong smirked. "I have a good memory." Oh, you have no idea, he added silently.

    Meiduo sighed. "Fine. I¡¯ll trante it for you." She paused for a second. "You know what, I might as well just read the book to you."

    Li Yundong smiled, then hopped onto the wagon and sat beside Meiduo.

    "I¡¯m all ears."

    ***

    Apparently, the term mudra refers to a symbolic hand gesture or hand sign used in Buddhism. And, as Meiduo had kindly told him before she began tranting the words from the text, the Mahamudra Tantra was all about mudras.

    ---

    Li Yundong wasn¡¯t an expert in Sanskrit or anything, but even he could tell that maha meant great. After all, maharajah meant a great ruler.

    The book was divided into three scrolls, the first of which was titled Ganga Mudra. In the Ganga Mudra, the author expounded on the three major ssifications of mudras: the Truth mudras; the Emptiness mudras; and the Enlightenment mudras.

    By the time Meiduo got to the end of the first scroll, Li Yundong realized, much to his dismay, that its content was pretty simr to that of the Canon of the Yellow Thearch. He was hoping for a book that contained some hidden secrets in Cultivation, not a bunch of articles whose contents he¡¯d read and mastered from a book that he could literally buy from Xinhua Bookstore for all of fifty yuan.

    In essence, both the Canon and the first scroll of the Mahamudra Tantra were about the fundamentals of Cultivation, only that they were told from two different perspectives. The Canon approached Cultivation from a medical perspective, whereas the Mahamudra Tantra expounded the basics of Cultivation through Buddhist principles and practices.

    As it turned out, they were just two sides of the same coin.

    The second scroll contained a vivid and interesting ount on the origins of om mani padme hum, a six-syble Sanskrit mantra that Buddhists chant as a form of prayer. Disappointment coursed through Li Yundong when Meiduo told him that she had reached the end of the second scroll. None of what he heard so far was beneficial to his training. All he got was a bunch of history lessons.

    A sliver of light from the east betokened theing of dawn. Some pilgrims were starting to rouse from their sleep.

    "Is everything alright, Brother Li?"

    Li Yundong smiled. "Nah. I¡¯m fine. Just thinking about the contents." He nodded at the book.

    "Shall I read the third scroll to you?"

    Would there be a point?

    "Sure," he said nheless.

    Meiduo flipped to the next page, then suddenly looked up from the page. "Um... Brother Li, there¡¯s nothing else to read."

    She showed him the book and flipped through the remaining pages from the third scroll. The pages were filled with diagrams of mudras (hand signs). Below each diagram was a bilingual¡ªSanskrit and Tibetan¡ªcaption. Perhaps the names of those hand signs?

    One unique hand sign caught his eye. The diagram showed a right hand forming a fist with the fingers wrapped around the left index finger.

    "What¡¯s this sign?" Li Yundong pointed at the diagram.

    "Oh. That¡¯s one of Mahavairocana¡¯s hand sign. The Intelligent Fist."

    "Mahavairocana?"

    "Yes," Meiduo said. "He¡¯s one of the five Primordial, or as we Buddhist call it, Dhyani Buddhas."

    "Well, what does that mean?"

    "Primordial Buddhas are celestial buddhas who are self-born. They¡¯ve existed since the beginning of time."

    Li Yundong still didn¡¯t quite get it, but he nodded anyway. He dropped his gaze back onto the page and pointed at another diagram. "What about this one?"

    The diagram showed two hands pressed together with each pinky bent inwards until they touched the palms.

    "Oh! That¡¯s one of Divyadundubhi Meghanirghosa¡¯s hand signs!"

    Li Yundong looked up from the page and stared at Meiduo.

    Meiduo smiled and did a¡ªrather poor¡ªimitation of the hand sign. "We call him the Buddha of the Heavenly Drums!"

    Li Yundong smiled politely and returned his eyes to the page.

    Momentster, he held out his palm for the book. "May I?"

    Meiduo smiled and handed the Mahamudra Tantra to him.

    Li Yundong flipped through the pages of the third scroll. Each page was filled with little diagrams of hand signs and captions. Could it be that the real secrets of the texty within these hand signs?

    Li Yundong flipped back to the first page of the third scroll, then ced the book down on the wagon.

    After that he got into a meditative stance.

    "What are you doing, Brother Li?"

    Li Yundong nced at Meiduo, who was looking at him strangely. He smiled. "Learning, of course!"

    Then, he began to perform each of the hand signs sessively.

    When he got to the third page, he realized that he had a real knack for this; the hand signs came to him almost naturally. It was just like how he could copy and execute a martial arts technique only after watching it once.

    Perhaps it had to do with the Renyuan Jindan.

    But still, there was something mysterious about these signs. Like they held some kind of unknown power.

    Then again, maybe he was just deluded. After all, he¡¯d been performing over a hundred hand signs so far and nothing happened.

    Near the end of the book, he spotted a short line written in Sanskrit.

    "Meiduo..." Li Yundong turned the book around. "What does this say?"

    Meiduo craned her neck forward and stared at the page. "Oh. That¡¯s a Buddhist mantra!"

    Li Yundong frowned. "Which mantra?" He had a pretty good idea which mantra it was, but he just wanted to make sure.

    "The om mani padme hum."

    Hah! I knew it!

    Li Yundong smiled and took the book from Meiduo. He might have just figured out how the hand signs worked. Perhaps the effect would onlye when the signs were performed in tandem with the mantras.

    Whispers and footsteps sounded around them as more pilgrims roused from their slumber. Li Yundong nced at the page again. Now he just had tomit all the hand signs and the mantras to memory. Thanks to the Lianqi phase, he could do that easily.

    Li Yundong nced at Meiduo and patted the spot beside him. "Come here for a sec."

    Meiduo climbed over and sat down beside him.

    "Read out the mantras for me while I memorize the diagrams."

    Meiduo stared at him in shock. "Y-You can do that? Memorize all of them?"

    Li Yundong smirked. "I guess we¡¯ll see."

 Chapter 175

    Chapter 175

    <h4>Strength of a Thousand Men</h4>

    With Meiduo¡¯s help, it didn¡¯t take long before Li Yundong memorized every hand sign in the third scroll as well as the mantra associated with each sign . Once he was done, Meiduo put the book away, and they spent some time chatting with each other while the rest of the pilgrims roused . Meiduo kept asking him questions about what Tiannan City was like and what campus life back at Tiannan University was like . Despite Li Yundong¡¯s many attempts to dissuade Meiduo from wasting her talents at Tiannan University, the girl didn¡¯t seem deterred .

    It was like she had already made up her mind to enroll herself at Tiannan University, which confirmed his suspicion that Meiduo had developed feelings for him that were beyond tonic . He knew he had to talk to her at some point before he parted ways with the pilgrims before he hurt the girl even more .

    At one point, Meiduo steered their conversation towards dangerous territory . She began asking him questions about his personal life: his parents; his hobbies; his likes and dislikes; etc .

    Li Yundong deflected her attempts by steering the conversation back into safer territory: Buddhism; her rtionship with Changbag; etc .

    Then, just when the women were about to start prepping breakfast, there was amotion . A group of men were rushing towards Changbag as though they had some urgent business to report to him .

    Meiduo craned her neck . "What¡¯s going on over there?"

    Li Yundong activated Eryue and listened to the whispered words between Changbag and the men .

    "...The same foreigners who tried to save your life, Changbag..."

    "It doesn¡¯t matter . As Buddhists, we should mustn¡¯t be selective in the kindness we give others . Enlightenment will elude you otherwise . "

    Changbag turned and motioned to a few other men behind him .

    Li Yundong deactivated Eryue . "There¡¯s trouble . I think we should go check..."

    Meiduo was already leaping down from the wagon and running towards Changbag .

    "Changbag!!"

    "...it out..."

    Li Yundong sighed and climbed down from the wagon . Then, he walked over towards Changbag and Meiduo . Along the way, he passed by curious and bewildered pilgrims, who kept sneaking nces at him .

    Changbag noticed his approach and gave him a smile .

    "Good morning, kind sir!"

    "Good morning . " Li Yundong nodded before stopping in front of Changbag . Then, he jerked his chin towards a group of men who appeared to be hurrying in the direction downhill .

    "What happened?"

    "Oh . Some tourists¡¯ car got stuck in a mud hole . " Changbag smiled . "I¡¯ve sent some of my men down to help . "

    Ten minutester, one of the men returned .

    Mud covered the man¡¯s legs up to his shins . The man didn¡¯t seem all that happy, judging from the scowl on his face .

    "Where are the other boys? We should get moving soon," Changbag asked in Mandarin, much to Li Yundong¡¯s surprised . Perhaps Changbag did that for Li Yundong¡¯s benefit .

    The man stopped beside Li Yundong and gave Li Yundong a nod before turning to Changbag . "They¡¯re still with the tourists, Changbag . We... um..." The man gave Changbag a sheepish look . "The jeep is still stuck . "

    Changbag raised his brows . "What have you guys tried so far?"

    The man looked down at his dirtied feet . "Some of us climbed into the mud and pushed, while others pulled from the front . " The man shook his head . "Didn¡¯t work . "

    "Did you try removing stuff from the vehicle to lighten the load?" Li Yundong remarked .

    The man gave Li Yundong a nce . "The tourists didn¡¯t carry much . "

    Changbag frowned, then turned around . "Maybe we should ask the rest of the boys to help out too..."

    "Um... Brother Li? Maybe you can lend a hand¡ª" Meiduo yelped when Changbag elbowed her . Meiduo muttered a quick apology, then rubbed her ribs .

    "I think that¡¯s a good suggestion," Li Yundong said . "You should call back your men, Changbag . They need to reserve their energy for the rest of the trip . I¡¯ll handle this . "

    Changbag opened his mouth to protest, but Li Yundong silenced him with a hand .

    "It¡¯s not a problem, Changbag . I¡¯ll just go down there and take a quick look," Li Yundong said . "Who knows? It might save us some time . " Then, he turned to the man . "Lead the way . "

    The man nodded . "Follow me, then . "

    Li Yundong followed the man under the curious stares by the other pilgrims . Meiduo and Changbag followed closely behind him .

    Upon their arrival on the scene, Li Yundong saw three of the pilgrims in the mud, pushing the jeep from behind . The two foreign man were on each side of the jeep, pushing at the jeep¡¯s center pirs . The Chinesedy, whom Li Yundong recognized as the foreigners¡¯ tour guide, was in the driver¡¯s seat .

    Li Yundong crouched down beside the jeep to examine the mud hole, which appeared to have formed when arge area of the trail¡¯s surface caved inwards . Cracks spread out from the edge of the hole, which he estimated to be at least several feet deep . Both of the jeep¡¯s rear wheels had sunk into the muddy hole .

    Wait a minute...

    Li Yundong rapped his knuckles at jeep and turned towards Miss Liu Xia, the tour guide .

    "Step on the gas," he said .

    The rear wheels spun a secondter . Li Yundong tilted his head away just in time to avoid a piece of mud flying towards his face .

    More grunts were heard as the men tried to push the jeep out of the hole . Li Yundong rose to his feet and chuckled . Now he knew what the problem was . The jeep was a two-wheel drive, so stepping on the gas wouldn¡¯t help at all since the rear wheels had no surface to generate any traction .

    The rear wheels kept spinning, sending more mud into the air .

    Li Yundong tapped the roof of the jeep . "Kill the engines . "

    "How are we supposed to free the car then?"

    Li Yundong gave thedy a look . "Right now, you¡¯re just wasting fuel . " He pointed at the rear wheels . "The engines aren¡¯t doing any work because your wheels are free spinning . "

    Miss Liu Xia killed the engines immediately .

    Li Yundong positioned himself beside the jeep once again and crouched down . Then, he activated his telescopic vision and zoomed in at theyer of mud that the rear wheels were resting on . The mudcked firmness, so turning the wheels with the engine would just send more mud into the air . The solution was pretty clear . He had to lift the rear end of the jeep high enough to clear the depth of the hole .

    One of the two foreigners said something to Miss Liu Xia in English .

    Miss Liu Xia turned towards Li Yundong . "He asked if you have a solution . "

    Li Yundong suppressed a smirk . If you call raw strength a solution, then sure .

    Li Yundong turned towards Meiduo, then waved at the men who were knee-deep in the mud . "Ask the guys to step aside . "

    Meiduo ryed his words to the men in Tibetan . At first, the man just looked at each other . But then theyplied with his request momentster . Once the men were out of the mud, Li Yundong stood beside the jeep and tried toe up with a n .

    How should he do this? Well . He was afraid that there was really no way to do this without staining his feet with mud...

    Or maybe there was .

    He just had to do the same thing he did that night at Shengyuan Hotel, where he shaped a body of water into a sphere using his Qi . Li Yundong stared at the deep mud hole . Okay . The mud was pretty much fluid, so this would work .

    On second thought...

    There was a much better way, one that wouldn¡¯t appear as shy, which was precisely what he wanted .

    "Miss Liu, step out of the vehicle please," he said without taking his eyes off the mud hole .

    The jeep swayed a little when the door mmed shut secondster .

    Li Yundong closed his eyes and mobilized his Qi to his legs¡ªbelow knee level . The idea was simple . He just had to use his "Qi shoes" again, but this time turn it into a pair of "Qi boots" which covered up to his knees . He removed the shoes that Meiduo gave him and set it aside .

    After that, he stepped into the pool of mud and then positioned himself behind the jeep as quickly as possible, just in case some sharp-eyed dude noticed that something freaky was going on below his knees .

    Thankfully, everyone¡¯s gazes were fixated on the jeep, not him .

    Reaching down, Li Yundong grabbed the bottom of the jeep¡¯s rear bumper .

    His surroundings had suddenly gone eerily quiet . He didn¡¯t even need Xianjue to know that everyone¡¯s eyes were now on him .

    He nced down at his feet and shins, making sure that his Qi formed a thin film on the surface .

    Well, it didn¡¯t feel heavy at all . The jeep¡¯s springs creaked when Li Yundong hefted its rear end upwards . Then, with a couple of pushes, the jeep was out . Li Yundong lowered the bumper until the rear wheels touched the ground, then pretended to clean his feet at a patch of grass nearby .

    When he was done, he turned around and walked back towards the mud hole to grab his shoes . However, his movements stilled the moment he turned around . His jaw went ck at what he saw . Except for the two foreigners and Miss Liu Xia, everyone¡ªincluding Meiduo and Changbag¡ªhad prostrated themselves until their foreheads were touching the ground .

    "Guys!" Li Yundong eximed . "What the hell do you think you are you doing?! Get up! Now!"

    Meiduo raised her head from the ground, but made no moves to get up . Admiration and reverence filled her eyes as she looked at him now .

    "Come on, get up already," Li Yundong said . "None of this is necessary!"

    "Of course it¡¯s necessary! This is a show of respect!"

    "Respe¡ª" Li Yundong could feel his brows knitting together . "What?"

    "You¡¯re the living incarnation of Mahak, Brother Li!"

 Chapter 176

    Chapter 176

    <h4>Epiphany</h4>

    This was absurd . As in the is-this-shit-really-happening kind of absurd . All his life, Li Yundong had been scorned,ughed at, bullied, mocked, ridiculed, and even spat at . But now, he was being worshipped by a bunch of Tibetan Buddhists . Weren¡¯t Buddhists supposed to be devoted to their faith?

    Maybe the Buddha took a day off or something .

    "Guys... Come on . . . What¡¯s with this Mahak nonsense, eh?"

    Truth be told, this wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d been called by that name .

    Changbag had mentioned that name too back at the monastery that night when Li Yundong caught him and Meiduo spying on him . Then again, Li Yundong¡¯s mind was too upied with Changbag¡¯s intentions to ask what that name meant .

    Li Yundong surveyed his surroundings .

    Miss Liu Xia was staring at him in shock whereas the two foreigners were looking back and forth between the jeep and him . Poor dudes . They were probably so mind-fucked that they might need brain condoms .

    Then, the pilgrims began to chant .

    "Mahak! Mahak! Mahak!"

    Li Yundong shot Meiduo a desperate look, then dropped his voice into a low hiss . "Hey, can you all just stand up and, you know, talk like normal people?"

    Meiduo shook her head, then prostrate herself before him . "No! We can¡¯t do that! Doing that would be a great disrespect to you, my Lord Mahak . "

    As if making him feel awkward wasn¡¯t a form of disrespect .

    "Come on, guys . Get up already!"

    The pilgrims ignored him and kept chanting . He wasn¡¯t even sure most of them heard him over the loud chants .

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes . "Fine! Mahak orders all of you to stand up!"

    The chanting stopped immediately . Clothes rustled as everyone rose to their feet like obedient soldiers .

    Li Yundong resisted the urge to do a face palm .

    "Alright, guys . Look... I think there¡¯s some kind of mistake here . I¡¯m not Mahak¡ª"

    "You¡¯re too humble, kind sir," Changbag said with a smile .

    Meiduo bowed reverently . "That¡¯s right, Brother Li . We¡¯ve seen what you¡¯re capable of . Twice now, in fact . "

    "But I don¡¯t even know who this Mahak is!"

    A look of surprise shed across Meiduo¡¯s face . A secondter, she schooled her features and assumed a look of reverence again . "Mahak is a protector deity that we Tibetan Buddhists worship . . . "

    Gee, thanks . That exined a lot .

    Li Yundong gave Meiduo a nk stare .

    Meiduo smiled shyly . "And he¡¯s the Dharma Protector and the Lord of Justice . "

    Li Yundong forced out a smile . "Well, good for you guys . I truly hope you¡¯ll get to meet this awesome deity one day . "

    Meiduo looked at Li Yundong from under hershes . "Perhaps we already did . " Reverence shone in her eyes .

    Li Yundong sighed . "Look, like I said, I¡¯m not¡ª"

    "We think you¡¯re a reincarnation of Mahak sent to protect our people," Meiduo said, cutting him off .

    "Reincarnation..." Li Yundong said in a skeptical tone .

    Meiduo blushed and waved her hands a few times . "Oh... I mean I know you don¡¯t have six arms, three faces, and all that, but¡ª"

    "What did you say?" Li Yundong whispered, his eyes narrowing into slits .

    Chills travelled down his spine as every single muscle inside his body went taut . Meiduo had just described the physical appearance of his personal god, the one he saw inside his Spirit Space when he achieved Ishvara .

    How the hell could she possibly know?

    Meiduo frowned and shared a nce with Changbag . "Um..."

    "You said six arms and three faces!" Li Yundong said sharply, causing Meiduo to flinch . "What do you mean by that?"

    Meiduo¡¯s eyes flicked towards Changbag¡¯s face .

    "At ease, kind sir . She meant no harm by that . In fact, what she said ismon knowledge among us Tibetans," Changbag said gently .

    Li Yundong raised his brows . "Common knowledge?"

    Changbag nodded . "That¡¯s right, sir . "

    "That¡¯s Mahak¡¯s physical form, Brother Li," Meiduo exined hurriedly . "Six arms and three faces . "

    Li Yundong stared at Meiduo for a few seconds before rxing his stance . A momentter, he tensed up again . "Wait a minute..." His eyes snapped to Meiduo . "Just now you said I was sent here to protect your people..."

    Silence pervaded as Li Yundong waited for Meiduo¡¯s exnation . When he got none secondster, he raised both hands and sighed heavily . "Look, I¡¯m sorry to disappoint you, but you¡¯ve really mistaken me for someone else . I am not your protector . And I¡¯m definitely not here to stay . I must return to my city the moment I¡ª"

    Li Yundong held his tongue before he let slip about the true reason he was here .

    He cleared his throat . "I mean I¡¯ll leave after I get what I came here for . " He finishedmely and let his hands drop to his sides .

    Granted, it was still a matter of some debate whether or not he was able to leave Tibet alive, but none of the pilgrims needed to know that .

    Whispers spread over the crowd .

    People were giving him strange looks now . Some of them even looked crestfallen, like they just had all their hopes crushed . Perhaps this was why Zi Yuan had warned him to mind his own goddamn business and to minimize social contact once he crossed Tibetan borders .

    Li Yundong took a step back, then bent down to put on his shoes . A twinge of guilt coursed through him . He sighed and removed the shoes, then stood back up . He approached Meiduo and took her hands before pressing the shoes into her hands . Meiduo stared back at him in utter confusion .

    "You should keep them . " Li Yundong nodded at the shoes in her hands . "The other men need them more than I do . " He pointed at one of the pilgrims with muddy shoes .

    Then, Li Yundong turned towards Changbag . "And about that book you gave me..." Li Yundong sighed . "I really think you should take it back . It belongs to the temple . I have no right to take it . "

    Changbag opened his mouth to protest, but Li Yundong was already backing away .

    "Wait!"

    Changbag reached out to grab Li Yundong¡¯s arm . Something fell out from the sleeve of his robe . Li Yundong nced down at the fallen object and realized that it was a string of prayer beads . Li Yundong picked up the prayer beads from the ground and studied it for a moment .

    All the beads were brown in color except for six of them .

    Each of the six beads had their own color¡ªwhite, green, yellow, blue, red, and ck¡ªand they were all evenly spread out .

    But why six beads?

    Li Yundong looked up from the prayer bead . Changbag was eyeing him curiously .

    Li Yundong raised the beads . "Why do these six beads have different colors?"

    Changbag shed a smile and waved his hand casually . "Well, they represent the colors of a special mantra . "

    Six beads... Six sybles?

    Wait a minute...

    "Which mantra?" Li Yundong asked anxiously .

    "The om mani padme hum mantra . " Changbag gave Li Yundong a strange look . "Have you heard of it before?"

    Li Yundong exhaled slowly and started pacing around .

    His mind was reeling .

    "That¡¯s one of the mantras mentioned in the Mahamudra Tantra..." he whispered to himself .

    "I beg your pardon, sir?" Changbag asked .

    Li Yundong ignored the man and kept pacing .

    "The Intelligent Fist..." he mumbled to himself . "Mahavairocana¡¯s hand sign..."

    Suddenly, he stopped pacing . Wait a minute... He raised the prayer beads to his eye level and studied the six beads again .

    Five of those six beads had colors that corresponded to Zhang Zhongjing¡¯s Five-Organ Pathological Model first presented in The Essential Prescriptions from the Golden Cab . Su Chan had told him about the Five-Organ Pathological Model the other night before he passed the Lianqi phase .

    And ording to the Five-Organ Pathological Model, each of the five Zangs in the human body was color-coded: white for the Lung; green for the Liver; yellow for the Spleen; red for the Heart; and ck for the Kidney .

    Was it just a coincidence that five of those six beads had colors that corresponded to the colors of the Five Zang¡¯s Qis?

    Wait . What about the remaining bead? What about blue?

    Li Yundong lowered the prayer beads and turned around abruptly to face Changbag . "What does the color blue represent?"

    Changbag stared at him nkly . Not that Li Yundong could me the old man . The guy was probably surprised by Li Yundong¡¯s sudden show of interest in the prayer beads . After all, the beads themselves looked innocuous enough .

    "Well?" Li Yundong prompted when Changbag didn¡¯t answer him . "Why is one of the beads blue?"

    "Blue corresponds to the syble pad in padme . "

    "Okay, but what does it mean? What does it represent?"

    "Wisdom . "

    Just like that, a million light bulbs went off inside Li Yundong¡¯s head .

    "Wisdom..." he whispered .

    "Yes," Changbag said with a nod . "Blue represents the elimination of moha from one¡¯s character or existence . In Tibetan Buddhism, there is a concept known as the three poisons, or what we call the three defects of one¡¯s character: Moha; Raga; and Dvesha . Moha refers to delusion, confusion, and ignorance . "

    A smile tugged at Li Yundong¡¯s lips . "So it¡¯s a code..." He chuckled . "Now I see..."

    Changbag frowned . "Code? What code?"

    Li Yundongughed and handed the prayer beads back to Changbag .

    Blue represents wisdom, and wisdomes from the mind or, in other words, the upper Dantian . When he was memorizing the contents of the Mahamudra Tantra, he had a hunch that those hand signs and mantras were all linked somehow .

    His hunch was right .

    The Convergence of Five Qis . That, was the key to unleashing the Intelligent Fist .

    It all just fit together perfectly . Each of the six sybles was associated with a color . At the same time, five of those colors represented the colors of the Five Zangs¡¯ Qis . The remaining color, blue, represented the upper Dantian . When put together, the meaning was obvious: to unlock the power of the Intelligent Fist, the Qis of the Five Zangs had to be drawn out and then gathered at the upper Dantian, which, in essence, was just the Convergence of Five Qis .

    Well . So far this was all just theory . He had to test it out .

    Li Yundong began to walk away from the crowd .

    "Brother Li!" Meiduo yelled . "Where are you going?"

    He kept striding uphill without looking back .

    "Brother Li!!"

    Suddenly, he stopped walking and turned around . Then, his eyes swept over the crowd .

    "Don¡¯t follow me," he said sternly . "I need you guys to give me a few hours alone . "

    With that, he turned around and continued his path uphill . Yeah . They really should stay away from him .

    It was for their own good .

    Because if he was right? Then things were about to get dangerous .

 Chapter 177.1

    Chapter 177.1

    <h4>Parting Song</h4>

    When Li Yundong returned to the camps fifteen minutester, every single one of the pilgrims were on their feet, staring at him with frightful eyes . A few men had their rifles out while others were armed with hunting bows . Some of the women were hiding inside the foreigners¡¯ jeep . Relief spread across each of their faces when they saw that it was him .

    Li Yundong strode past the crowd and stopped in front of Changbag . "What¡¯s the matter? Y¡¯all look like you¡¯ve just seen a ghost . "

    Changbag seemed a little shaken . "There was a strange noise," he said . "We thought it was the wolves . "

    "Oh no that was me," Li Yundong said . "I was..."

    Was what? Blowing shit up? Deforesting?

    "Training . " Li Yundong cleared his throat . "I was training . "

    The colors returned to Changbag¡¯s countenance . "So there were no wolves?" Changbag looked at him reverently . "Or did you take care of the wolves as part of your training?"

    Li Yundongughed . "No . There were no wolves . " Li Yundong turned and waved at the men with weapons . "Y¡¯all can rx . "

    Changbag sighed and waved to his followers . "Alright, settle down, people . There are no wolves, so we¡¯re safe . Return to your tents and get some rest . "

    There was a collective sigh, and then the crowd began to disperse .

    "Changbag," Li Yundong said when he saw that Changbag was about to leave . "May I have a word in private?"

    From the corner of his eyes, Li Yundong saw Meiduo staring at him curiously . She was still holding the shoes he had returned to her earlier this morning .

    "Sure . Follow me . "

    Li Yundong followed Changbag until they reached the inside of Changbag¡¯s tent . Li Yundong declined the ss of water that Changbag had offered him and took a seat at one corner of therge tent .

    Changbag lowered himself across from him and arranged himself into a meditative posture . "So . Are you going to tell me who you really are?"

    Li Yundong raised his gaze sharply .

    Changbag just smiled at him . "I know there¡¯s something special about you . Are you perhaps..." His brows rose just a tad . "A Cultivator?"

    Li Yundong held Changbag¡¯s gaze for a moment, then hung his head . "Yes . "

    Changbag pressed his palms together . "Amitabha... Perhaps there is some truth after all in the saying that you¡¯re the reincarnation of Mahak..."

    Li Yundong rubbed the back of his neck . "Yeah... That¡¯s what I wanted to talk to you about..." Li Yundong dropped his hand and stared into Changbag¡¯s eyes . "Everyone kept calling me by that name . Why is that?"

    Changbag took a sip of tea . "How much do you know about Mahak?"

    Li Yundong shook his head . "Not much . I just know that it¡¯s the name of a deity that your people worship . "

    Changbag nodded . "Mahak is actually a Sanskrit term . We Tibetans call him Nagpo Chenpo, which means Great ck One; or Gonpo, which means protector . "

    "Who, or what, does he protect?" Li Yundong asked .

    "Everything rted to Buddha and Buddha¡¯s teachings . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "Everything... as in..."

    "The worshippers . Temples . Scriptures . Everything . " Changbag smiled . "That¡¯s why Mahak was bequeathed the title, the Dharma Protector . "

    "Wow . That¡¯s a lot to protect..."

    Changbag shrugged . "He is a protector after all . It¡¯s in his nature . "

    Li Yundong nodded, but said nothing .

    "Now I have a question," Changbag said all of a sudden .

    Li Yundong regarded the old man for a moment, then nodded . "Fire away . "

    "What happened earlier? I mean before you ran off on your own . " Changbag paused as though he was trying to choose his words carefully . "You mentioned something about a code?"

    "Oh . That . Well, it¡¯s just..." Li Yundong shrugged . "I realized that a part of the Mahamudra Tantra held a coded message, that¡¯s all . "

    Changbag smiled . "Ah . So you had an epiphany then?"

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "Well... Sort of..."

    "And did you find your answer?"

    Li Yundong nodded resolutely . "Yes . " Pretty sure the fallen trees and broken twigs could attest to that .

    Changbag chuckled . "Maybe it was the right call to give the book to you after all . " Changbag suddenly looked towards him . "Did you know that you uttered Mahak¡¯s other name during your epiphany?"

    Li Yundong could feel his eyes widening . "Seriously? Did I?"

    Changbag chuckled . "My hearing might have declined with age, but I¡¯m quite sure I heard your say Mahavairocana . "

    "Oh, yeah . I did say that..."

    "May I ask why you mentioned that name?" Changbag paused for a moment . "It had something to do with that epiphany you had, am I right?"

    Li Yundong nodded . "Yes . I realized something about one of Mahavairocana¡¯s hand signs . "

    Changbag had a thoughtful look on his face .

    "Which hand sign, if you don¡¯t mind me asking? Well, you did mention it just now, but you were mumbling to yourself, so I couldn¡¯t catch what you were saying . "

    "Um... The Intelligent Fist . "

    Changbag¡¯s eyes widened just a tad . "Ah... The Intelligent Fist... Now I see..." He chuckled . "No wonder you asked me about the mantra . "

    Li Yundong sat up straighter and shifted closer to Changbag .

    "Changbag..."

    "Yes?"

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "Hypothetically speaking..."

    Changbagughed, his eyes shone with amusement . "Oh, so we¡¯re speaking in hypotheticals now, eh? Fine . Go on, then . "

    Li Yundong smirked, then continued, "Hypothetically speaking, if these hand signs contain the secrets to some hidden powers, what would they be?"

    Changbag chuckled .

    "Then I shall tell you, my friend, that ording to Vajrayana Buddhism, each hand sign does indeed hold the secrets to unlock a unique divine power . "

    "What kind of divine power?"

    "ording to Vajrayana Buddhism, these hand signs¡ªor mudras¡ªcan be split into three categories . Thebative, Ganges, and tantric mudras . The Intelligent Fist mudra belongs to the third category since it requires a mantra . "

    "What kind of divine power does the Intelligent Fist mudra give then?"

    Changbag smiled . "Patience, young man . "

    Li Yundong blushed . "Sorry . "

    "Thebative mudras, as its name implies, mostly deal physical damage when used . Ganges is the name of a river that originates in the Himyas and flows southeast across the Ganges Valley . " Changbag smiled . "And as you know, a river nourishes and cleans . It washes away undesirable things . It is a source of life, you see?"

    Understanding washed over Li Yundong . "So the Ganges mudras has healing abilities?"

    Changbag nodded . "Not all of them though . Some can be used to end disasters . Others can be used as a form of blessing . "

    "And thest category?"

    "Ah . The tantric mudras are special . " Changbag shot him a pointed look . "They are protective in nature . "

    "Like a shield?"

    "Some, yes . But not all of them are shields . "

    "What things can they protect their user against?"

    "A wide range of things," Changbag said . "It repels physical objects . It purifies evil and repels demonic aura, etc . "

    "I see..."

    So that¡¯s what the Intelligent Fist mudra does . . . The fallen trees must be the effect of the physical repulsion .

    "All these are, of course, hypothetical and have no basis in reality..."

    Li Yundong raised his gaze and saw Changbag staring at him with his brows raised .

    Li Yundongughed . "Of course . These are all hypothetical . " Suddenly, Li Yundong stoppedughing and gave Changbag a serious look . "Suppose that if, in this hypothetical scenario, a Buddhistma were to give away a precious text containing these secrets... Would the he face dire consequences for doing so?"

    Changbag smiled casually . "Who knows?"

    "But thema would¡¯ve been used of giving away the temple¡¯s secrets . "

    Changbag smirked . "Ah . But these hypothetical secrets are so obscure that very little people can unveil them . " Changbag¡¯s smirk turned into a grin . "And if anyone do manage to unveil these secrets, then there isn¡¯t a single doubt in my mind that the text is in the right hands . "

    Li Yundong pondered Changbag¡¯s words silently .

    "Now I have another question . "

    Li Yundong stared at Changbag for a moment . "Are we still talking in hypotheticals?"

    Changbagughed . "No . "

    Li Yundong smiled . "Go ahead, sir . "

    "You always seemed a little defensive whenever we call you Mahak . " Changbag paused for a moment . "Why is that?"

    Li Yundong sighed . "I had..." How the heck was he supposed to exin Ishvara and his personal god? "Well... I had a vision of some sort . "

    Changbag leaned forward slightly . "A vision?"

    "Yeah... Sort of like a dream, where I was this omnipotent god with six arms and three faces . "

    Changbag stroked his beard . "Hmm..."

    "Anyway . " Li Yundong waved his hand a few times . "It creeped me out a little when you guys described Mahak to me . Coz you said six arms and three faces, which is exactly what I saw in the vision . " He chuckled . "Maybe it¡¯s all just a coincidence . "

    "Coincidence?"

    Li Yundong looked at Changbag, taken aback by his skeptical tone . "I mean, yeah . I¡¯m a Cultivator, but I¡¯m not an all-powerful Buddhist deity . "

    In fact, he was aplete nobody before Su Chan came into his life, before the Renyuan Jindan .

    "You have an aptitude for martial arts, don¡¯t you? You have good battle instincts . You¡¯re a natural warrior . You anger easily and tend to settle things with your fists . . . "

    "But¡ª"

    "And I have no doubt that you are a great cook too . You know your way around the kitchen and enjoy serving food to others . Also, you have a great desire to protect the poor and the weak . " Changbag raised his brows . "And let me guess, it angers you greatly whenever you see injustice?"

    Li Yundong gaped at the old man . "How did you..."

    Changbag pressed his palms together . "Amitabha . . . All the traits I mentioned belonged to Mahak . In fact, ancient Buddhist texts described Mahak as the god of battle, the Lord of the Kitchen, and the Lord of Justice . " Changbag smiled . "I do not think it is a mere coincidence that you happen to have those traits too, Zhenren Li . "

    Li Yundong sat there wordlessly, staring down at the tent¡¯s tarpaulin flooring .

    After what felt like forever, Changbag broke the silence .

    "Your difficulty lies in the fact that your mind is filled with assumptions about yourself, Zhenren Li . "

    Li Yundong looked up from the tarpaulin .

    Changbag smiled . "The mind is a beautiful servant, but a dangerous master . Your assumptions will eventually be a leash through which your mind controls you . Cut the leash . Be the master of your own mind . Discover, not assume . Perhaps then the truth about yourself shall reveal itself to you . "

    Li Yundong smiled and nodded . "You¡¯re a wise man, Changbag . "

    Changbag shook his head . "Not a wise man, Zhenren Li . But a peaceful man . "

    Li Yundong wondered what Changbag meant by that . He chuckled . Buddhist monks . Always speaking in riddles .

    Li Yundong rose to his feet . "This has been really enlightening, Changbag . Thank you . "

    Changbag pressed his palms together and bowed .

    "Good night," Li Yundong said, then walked out of the tent .

    ***

    After leaving Changbag¡¯s tent, Li Yundong grabbed his backpack and headed towards the brook to take a bath . He had gone longer without one, but he figured he should make full use of the clean water from the brook before he leave the camp tomorrow morning . On the way to the brook, he passed by a few women who greeted him in Tibetan . He answered the greetings with polite nods and smiles before hurrying off .

    The brook was empty when he arrived, which was perfect . This wouldn¡¯t take long anyway¡ªten minutes tops, he figured .

    He found a rock near the far end of the brook and lowered his backpack onto it .

    Then, he pulled out a clean towel from his backpack and began stripping off his clothes . A minuteter, he stood in the brook and began to wash the dirt and grime off his body . The sky was clear tonight, and the moonlight was ample enough that he could make out the state of his skin .

    He smiled when he began to wonder what Su Chan would think if she saw him now . Surely, his princess would start making fun of him for hisck of hygiene . But of course, she was more than wee to help him in the personal hygiene department . He certainly wouldn¡¯t mind a backrub .

    His thoughts about Su Chan ended when he heard a rustling sound behind him . He froze .

    "Who¡¯s there?!" he yelled and turned around to face the intruder .

    He wasn¡¯t expecting to see Meiduo standing there without a single stitch on .

    Li Yundong gasped and covered his eyes . "What the hell?!"

    Then, he scrambled out of the brook and ran towards the rock where he ced his backpack . He grabbed his towel and wrapped himself in it . When he was done, he looked up and, much to his horror, saw a naked Meiduo walking towards him . He gasped and quickly turned around .

    "For God¡¯s sake, Meiduo! Put some clothes on!"

    "Why won¡¯t you look at me, Brother Li?" Meiduo said . "Don¡¯t you find me beautiful?"

    "Come on! Meiduo! Stop messing around!"

    "I¡¯m not messing around, Brother Li..."

    Li Yundong took a deep breath . "Alright, look . Why don¡¯t you put on some clothes on first, and then we¡¯ll talk, okay?"

    More rustling of grass sounded .

    "You like me, don¡¯t you?"

    "Wha¡ª I never said..." Li Yundong uncovered his eyes, but cursed when he saw that Meiduo was still naked . Dammit! Li Yundong scanned the ground until he saw a Tibetan traditional robe lying on the grass several feet away . He ran over and picked up the robe from the ground, then threw the robe around Meiduo¡¯s shoulders .

    Meiduo reached up and tried to wrap her arms around his neck .

    Li Yundong pushed her hands away and stepped back . "Stop this, Meiduo... You shouldn¡¯t be doing this... I¡ª"

    "Why not!" Meiduo¡¯s eyes were filled with tears now . "Why won¡¯t you look at me like you did this morning?"

    "What? This morning¡ª" Li Yundong froze . This morning he had mistaken Meiduo for Su Chan and ended up hugging her . Oh God . He had made such a mess of things .

    "Listen . About this morning, I can exin¡ª"

    "You looked at me with so much love, Brother Li . Why won¡¯t you look at me like that again?"

    Li Yundong sighed and sat down on the rock . "Because my heart already belongs to another woman . "

    "W- What?"

    Li Yundong ran a hand through his hair . "I¡¯m already in love with someone else . "

    "But this morning... You..." Meiduo gasped . "Y- You thought... You thought I was her this morning..."

    Li Yundong nodded . "I was having a dream about her . When I woke up, I mistook you for her . I... I¡¯m sorry . "

    Silence passed between them . When Li Yundong couldn¡¯t stand the awkwardness anymore, he opened his mouth to speak .

    "Meiduo¡ª"

    "Are you married?"

    Li Yundong stared at Meiduo, stunned . Momentster, he regained hisposure . "No . I¡¯m not married . I have a girlfriend . "

    Meiduo burst into tears and sobbed into her hands .

    Li Yundong sighed and stood up from the rock . He walked over and slowly guided Meiduo to the rock .

    "Sit," he said . "Let me tell you a story . "

 Chapter 177.2

    Chapter 177.2

    <h4>Parting Song</h4>

    Once Meiduo got settled on the rock, Li Yundong sat down beside her and began recounting the story of how he and Su Chan met, leaving out the parts about the Renyuan Jindan and the fact that Su Chan was a fox spirit .

    "And that¡¯s pretty much how we met . I was on my way back to my apartment because I got drunk after a failed love confession..." Li Yundong chuckled and stared down at his hands . "And then... vo . There she was, the most beautiful woman I¡¯ve ever met . "

    "Was it... Was it love at first sight?" Meiduo¡¯s sobs had turned into snivels .

    "Nah..." Li Yundong shook his head, then smiled . "Well, I¡¯m not gonna lie . For me, it was lust at first sight . As for her...I¡¯m pretty sure it was neither . " Li Yundong chuckled darkly . "I had nothing back then . Literally nothing . " Li Yundong shot Meiduo a look and waved a hand in front of his face . "I don¡¯t always look like this . "

    Meiduo frowned . "What do you mean? You mean the beard and the long hair?"

    "No . I meant I was fat and chubby . "

    The way Meiduo¡¯s jaw went ck was soical that Li Yundongughed out loud .

    "B- But now you look so... so..."

    Li Yundong shrugged . "It only happened after I met her . "

    And after I swallowed a magical pill by ident .

    Meiduo pulled her robe tighter around her shoulders . "But she epted you when you were... chubby?"

    "You cold?"

    Meiduo nodded . "A little..."

    Li Yundong rummaged through his backpack and pulled out another towel, then offered it to Meiduo .

    "Yes, she did," Li Yundong answered as Meiduo took the towel . "Well, she did have an ulterior motive at the beginning . " Li Yundong smiled at the memory of Su Chan¡¯s teary confession that night . "But I found outter that she had a change of heart . She abandoned her original cause and chose to be with me instead . "

    Sometimes he still couldn¡¯t believe that Su Chan had given up the Renyuan Jindan for him .

    "Then why are you here? Why aren¡¯t you with her now?"

    Li Yundong slowly looked up from his hands . There was a hint of boldness in Meiduo¡¯s tone, as though the question was meant as a challenge .

    Then, as if sensing her own impertinence, Meiduo blushed and looked away . "I- Is she... Is she alright?" she asked in a more tentative tone .

    "She¡¯s fine . " Li Yundong sighed . "At least I know she¡¯s somewhere safe . "

    That seemed to have gotten Meiduo¡¯s attention as her eyes snapped back to his face . stered across her face was a look of rm and concern .

    "Was she in danger before?"

    Li Yundong smiled wryly . "She¡¯s in danger every second she¡¯s with me . "

    "What do you mean?"

    Li Yundong sat there in silence .

    "Brother Li?"

    Li Yundong looked up into the night sky . "I did some things recently... Things that some might consider questionable . " He lowered his gaze from the sky and looked at Meiduo . "Things that are punishable by death . "

    The look of rm on Meiduo¡¯s face intensified . "Wait . Are you a fugitive?"

    Li Yundong thought for a few seconds, then shook his head . "No, I don¡¯t think I am..." A fugitive from the Heavens, yes . But thew? Maybe not . As far as he could tell, the authorities had not called for his arrest yet . He had a feeling that he had Zhou Qin to thank for that .

    "I don¡¯t get it, Brother Li . You¡¯re not making any sense . "

    "I can¡¯t tell you the details . All I can say is that I did some questionable things that pissed off certain powerful... parties . " Li Yundong shrugged . "And my punishment is death . "

    At least the He family hadn¡¯t put a bounty on his head .

    Meiduo was silent for a long while . Li Yundong turned his head to the side to check whether she was still there . Finally, Meiduo looked into his eyes . "Is this what your trip is about? Are you trying to escape death?"

    "No," Li Yundong stated firmly . "It¡¯s the opposite, actually . This trip is meant to help prepare me for my punishment . If I train myself hard enough, I might survive . "

    He had never really discussed with Zi Yuan about his chances of surviving the Heavenly Thunder, but he knew it was pretty slim . He Shao turned into ashes in literally just seconds after being struck . With the Jindan¡¯s help, Li Yundong mightst, what, a few minutes?

    "What on earth did you do, Brother Li? And what kind of punishment are we talking about here? Electrocution?"

    Meiduo¡¯s voice pulled him out of his thoughts . Li Yundong smirked . Electrocution pretty much summed it up .

    "Brother Li?"

    Li Yundong opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again . He sighed and shook his head .

    "Right . You can¡¯t tell me . I get it . " Meiduo sounded disappointed .

    "If..." Li Yundong trailed off . He really didn¡¯t know the best way to say this .

    "Yes?"

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "Let¡¯s say there¡¯s a man who owns a powerful weapon . "

    Meiduo frowned . "A weapon? What kind of weapon?"

    "One that can destroy a person in an instant . But, at the same time, it¡¯ll also bring death to its user . "

    Meiduo¡¯s baffled expression made himugh .

    Secondster, he stoppedughing and raised a palm . "Bear with me for a second, okay?"

    Meiduo smiled for the first time since their unfortunate "ident . "

    "Okay," she said .

    "Anyway, this man¡ªthe man with the weapon, well, let¡¯s call him Weapon Guy¡ªencountered another man . And let¡¯s call this second man Evil Guy . " Li Yundong kicked a loose pebble on the ground . "Evil Guy... Well, Evil Guy was very wealthy . And very powerful too . He had a lot of influence . However, he used his wealth and influence to do bad things . "

    "Right . Because he¡¯s an evil man..." Meiduo said dryly .

    Li Yundong nodded . "He killed without remorse . He raped and vited women... and basically treated everyone else like trash . "

    Meiduo¡¯s face scrunched up . "That¡¯s horrible..."

    Horrible was an understatement .

    "Then one day, Evil Guy crossed the line and murdered two of Weapon Guy¡¯s friends . When Weapon Guy learned about his friends¡¯ deaths at hands of Evil Guy, he... Well, he lost it . He decided right then and there that he¡¯d had enough . He didn¡¯t want Evil Guy to hurt anyone else, so he killed Evil Guy with the weapon . "

    Li Yundong turned his head and saw Meiduo watching him carefully . Meiduo hadn¡¯t said a single word, but he knew he had her full attention . She looked like she was processing his words carefully .

    Li Yundong smiled wryly .

    Perhaps she would change her mind about her feelings for him after this .

    Li Yundong lowered his gaze and kicked another loose pebble . The pebble rolled away until it stopped at the edge of the brook . "Some might think of Weapon Guy as a sanctimonious and self-righteous prick who killed Evil Guy because he was looking for an emotion outlet . They might think it was all about vengeance, because Evil Guy murdered two of his friends in cold blood . Others might think that Evil Guy had iting, that Evil Guy¡¯s death is justified because he had too much influence for the legal system to work properly . " Li Yundong sighed and angled his head towards the sky . "I guess the question is... Was Weapon Guy wrong in killing Evil Guy?"

    The stars blinked down at him in a peaceful, almost idyllic, manner . The silence between them was palpable . Li Yundong would¡¯ve thought that he had gone deaf if it weren¡¯t for the sounds of the flowing water that came from the brook .

    Just when Li Yundong was about to move the conversation forward, Meiduo spoke .

    "Killing is wrong," she said softly . "Buddha said that taking a life, be it animal or human, would lead to karmic consequences . "

    Li Yundong chuckled wryly . I thought so...

    "He¡¯s brave though..."

    Li Yundong looked down from the sky towards Meiduo and raised his brows .

    "The man with the weapon," Meiduo said . "I think he¡¯s brave?"

    "Yeah?"

    Meiduo nodded weakly .

    Brave but dumb I guess .

    "Was he aware that using the weapon would cost him his life?" Meiduo asked .

    "Yes . "

    Meiduo released a hum of approval . "And yet he still did it . " There was a brief pause . "In a way, he sacrificed his own life to protect everyone else from that evil man . " Meiduo gazed at him steadily . "He would rather suffer the karmic consequences of taking a life than have anyone else suffer at the hands of the evil man . "

    Well . That¡¯s... an interesting way to look at it .

    Li Yundong nodded . "I guess so . "

    Meiduo smiled . "That¡¯s why I said he¡¯s brave . "

    "He was angry too I think," Li Yundong said, stealing a nce at Meiduo . "I can¡¯t help but think that vengeance was also part of why he did it . " Li Yundong sighed . "Which is why he is paying the price now . "

    There was another stretch of silence .

    "Are you... Are you going to die, Brother Li?"

    Li Yundong stared out into the dark silhouette of trees . Ao Wushuang didn¡¯t seem optimistic at all and had insisted on taking Su Chan as far away from him as possible . She did promise Su Chan that she would find a way to help him, but he couldn¡¯t help wondering if it was even possible to survive the Heavenly Thunder at his current level . Cultivators typically didn¡¯t have to worry about the Heavenly Thunder until they had reached the eighth phase of Cultivation¡ªthe Lightning Retribution phase . Su Chan herself had said so during their conversation with Zi Yuan .

    Man... the eighth phase .

    Yet here he was, forced to survive the Heavenly Thunder after passing just the fourth phase of Cultivation . That was like asking a three-year old to survive being run over by a truck .

    Zi Yuan had remained pretty tight-lipped on the subject of his impending divine punishment, telling him to just worry about passing the Zhuji phase . What he didn¡¯t understand, though, was why . Why did she push him to pass the Zhuji phase so quickly? If even Ao Wushuang had doubts about his chances of surviving the divine punishment, shouldn¡¯t he refrain from passing the Zhuji phase for now? Was there something about the Heavenly Thunder that he wasn¡¯t told? Somehow, he couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that both Zi Yuan and Ao Wushuang were hiding something from him .

    "Brother Li?"

    Li Yundong looked towards Meiduo . "Sorry . You were saying?"

    A look of concern flitted across Meiduo¡¯s face . "I asked if... if you¡¯re going to die..."

    Right . The million-dor question .

    Li Yundong sighed . "I don¡¯t know, Meiduo . I don¡¯t know . "

    "Maybe... Maybe you can talk to Changbag about this? Perhaps he could perform a sacred ritual for your protection..."

    "It isn¡¯t fair to drag Changbag into this . " Li Yundong shook his head . "This is something that I have to face alone . " He, Li Yundong, was the one who made the choice to kill He Shao . This was his punishment, his cross to bear . "I have to be stronger so that I can survive this . "

    "And after you survive, you¡¯ll return to the woman you love?"

    Li Yundong regarded Meiduo steadily . "Yes . "

    Silence ensued . Meiduo looked like she was holding back tears .

    "I- I understand, Brother Li . " Meiduo stood up and handed him the towel .

    Li Yundong took the towel, searching for the right words to say .

    "You¡¯ll meet someone, Meiduo . "

    Meiduo shook her head and smiled . "A- All the best in your training!"

    Then, she ran off without waiting for Li Yundong to respond . Li Yundong dropped the towel into hisp and sighed .

    ***

    At dawn, Li Yundong stood outside Changbag¡¯s tent . He didn¡¯t want to leave without at least saying goodbye to the old man .

    "Juste in, Zhenren Li . " Changbag amused voice sounded from inside the tent . "I promise there is nothing indecent for you to see even if you barge in without announcement . It¡¯s just an old monk and his prayer wheels in here . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Pardon the intrusion, then, Changbag . "

    Li Yundong parted the tent ps and stepped in .

    True to his word, Changbag was sitting at the center of the tent, meditating . The old man opened his eyes when he sensed Li Yundong¡¯s presence .

    "Ah . Leaving already, I see?"

    Li Yundong nodded . "It is for the best . "

    His original n was to let the pilgrims guide him towards the summit of Mount Duonian until he felt it was the right time to pass the Zhuji phase . And when the moment for him to pass the Zhuji phase¡ªhe hadn¡¯t yet experienced this mysterious feeling Zi Yuan had told him about¡ªcame, he would then part ways with the pilgrims and look for a private and inessible spot to pass the Zhuji phase . This was crucial for two main reasons: he shouldn¡¯t be disturbed during the process; and his surroundings should be clear of innocent bystanders when the Heavenly Thunder struck .

    Admittedly, he hadn¡¯t thought things through .

    Now, he had to leave before Meiduo got even more attached .

    "Why do you think it is for the best, if you don¡¯t mind me asking?"

    "I¡¯m a Cultivator," Li Yundong answered . "I have enemies . It¡¯s better for me to travel alone . "

    "I see..."

    "Will you guys be fine on your own? What with the wolves and everything . "

    "We have measures . Rifles and bows . " Changbag shook his head . "But with Buddha¡¯s blessing, I hope we don¡¯t run into any wolves . It is not advisable to take lives, be it human or animal . "

    "Best wishes, then . "

    "Likewise . " Changbag stood up . "Where will you go next?"

    "The Himyas . "

    Changbag raised his brows, then stared at Li Yundong¡¯s backpack . "With so little supplies?"

    Li Yundong nodded . "This is enough . "

    Changbag looked concerned .

    Li Yundong gave him a reassuring smile . "Part of my training is to be able to survive in any circumstances . "

    How could he survive the Heavenly Thunder if he couldn¡¯t even survive the harsh conditions of the Himyas?

    Changbag grabbed his arms . "Take some of our food supplies with you at least . "

    Li Yundongughed . "It¡¯s okay . Your people need them more than I do . "

    "I insist, Zhenren Li . "

    Li Yundong sighed . "Alright, then . "

    Changbag led Li Yundong to the wagon, where Li Yundong filled his backpack with more food supplies .

    "Farewell, Zhenren Li . " Changbag pressed his palms together . "May Buddha¡¯s blessings follow you through the rest of your journey . "

    Li Yundong bowed . "Thank you for everything, Changbag . For your hospitality, your advice, and for the book . "

    "Are you sure you don¡¯t want me to wake Meiduo so she can say her goodbyes?"

    Li Yundong nodded resolutely . "Yes, I¡¯m sure . "

    With that, he turned and started walking downhill .

    ***

    Meiduo¡¯s eyes shot open when she felt an insistent shake on her shoulder . She rolled around and rubbed her eyes groggily .

    "What?" she mumbled .

    "Your Brother Li is leaving..."

    Meiduo sat bolt upright and stared at the person who woke up . It was one of Changbag¡¯s trusted helpers .

    "Yes," the man whispered . "I saw him enter Changbag¡¯s tent with his backpack and all . "

    Meiduo scrambled out of her tent and ran into Changbag¡¯s tent .

    "Changbag! Is it true?! Has he left?!" she shouted, not caring that she might have just woken up the entire camp .

    Changbag stood up and walked towards her . "Come, child . "

    Changbag led her away from his tent towards the path downhill .

    "There he is," Changbag said, pointing along the path .

    Meiduo squinted and, through the first light of dawn, saw Brother Li¡¯s figure slowly walking down the winding path .

    Something wet dripped down Meiduo¡¯s cheeks, and she sang the first song that came to mind:

    That day, standing amidst the smoky halls of the temple with my eyes closed, I heard your gentle chants;

    That month, I spun my prayer wheel, not to free myself from the path of sin, but to touch your fingertips;

    That year, I went on a pilgrimage along a winding, mountain path, not to be closer to the divine, but to be closer to your warmth;

    That lifetime, I traveled across mountains and oceans, not to achieve enlightenment, but so that our paths might cross...

 Chapter 178

    Chapter 178

    <h4>All or Nothing</h4>

    The orange glow of dusk spread across the sky of Tiannan City . Zi Yuan lowered herself onto the balcony of Hongling¡¯s apartment . Her feet felt slightly wobbly, so she reached out with a hand and grabbed the railing for support . A three-hour flight from Tibet to Tiannan City without stops was draining even for a Cultivator at her level . The observer cloud that she¡¯d deployed to follow Li Yundong around had dispersed two days ago, so she had to fly back to Tibet to recast the spell . It took her a day and a half to track him down, and then another hour to form the observer cloud . No wonder she felt drained; she¡¯d probably expended too much of her magical powers . It wasn¡¯t a major problem, of course . An hour of Da Zhoutian would make her feel refresh again .

    Zi Yuan pushed away from the railing and opened the sliding door . Then, she padded into the kitchen to grab a ss of cold water .

    "You look tired . "

    Zi Yuan turned around so quickly that the ss slipped from her hand . She found herself face to face with none other than Ao Wushuang .

    Zi Yuan heaved a sigh of relief . "Good evening, Senior Wushuang . When did you . . . " Zi Yuan swallowed the rest of her words when she realized just how silly they would sound . Those from the Fox Zen School were masters of the stealth arts, and Ao Wushuang was the greatest of the Fox Zen School .

    Case in point: not many people could sneak up on Zi Yuan like that .

    "My apologies," Senior Wushuang said . "I didn¡¯t mean to startle you . "

    Senior Wushuang drew a tiny loop with her finger . The ss hovered in the air for a few seconds before itnded back in Zi Yuan¡¯s hand . Not a single drop of the water had spilled from the ss .

    Zi Yuan set the ss on the counter . "You¡¯re here to deliver good news, I hope?"

    "I¡¯m here . . . " Senior Wushuang leaned her hip against the counter and gave Zi Yuan a pointed look . " . . . to get an update . Because ording to you, the Heir should have passed the Zhuji phase by now . " Senior Wushuang arched a brow . "I trust that you¡¯ve performed the spell sessfully? I didn¡¯t detect signs of the Heavenly Thunder earlier today, so your timing must¡¯ve been impable . "

    Zi Yuan smiled wryly . "No, Senior Wushuang . " Zi Yuan shook her head . "The spell has not yet been cast . "

    There was moment of silence .

    "But how could¡ª" Senior Wushuang slowly narrowed her eyes . "That¡¯s not possible . "

    Zi Yuan raised a palm . "There wasn¡¯t a need to . "

    Another stretch of silence .

    Suddenly, Senior Wushuang¡¯s eyes widened in rm . "Oh, dear Heavens . You can¡¯t possibly mean that the Heir has failed the Zhuji phase yet again?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s gaze snapped up from the counter . "Oh, no, no . That¡¯s not it at all . I meant he hasn¡¯t made his attempt yet . There has been a . . . " Zi Yuan sighed, then shook her head . "He was sidetracked . "

    "What do you mean sidetracked?" Senior Wushuang scowled . "If you tell me that he got sidetracked because of some... some"¡ªSenior Wushuang¡¯s face twisted in disgust¡ª"woman other than my disciple, then by Heaven¡¯s name I am going to castrate him . "

    Zi Yuan had to bite her lip to stifle augh . "No, senior . He got mixed up with a group of pilgrims and ended up having to change courses . "

    "Change courses? So he¡¯s not climbing Mount Duonian anymore?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head . "He¡¯s headed for the Himyas now . It¡¯s what I suggested to him in the first ce . "

    "Good call . " Senior Wushuang nodded approvingly at Zi Yuan . "Secluded ce, which means he is unlikely to be disturbed there . Besides, there¡¯ll be less chance of coteral damage if the Heavenly Thunder strikes . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Indeed . But it¡¯s probably going to take another week for him to get there . "

    Senior Wushuang waved her off . "That¡¯s fine," she mumbled . "If nothing else, he just bought me more time toe up with a solution to deal with his little conundrum . "

    Zi Yuan¡¯s back stiffened . "How far are you from a workable solution, senior?"

    Senior Wushuang shrugged and said nothing .

    "Senior?"

    "Well, if you must know, I¡¯ve just scrapped 23 potential solutions off the list . " Senior Wushuang smiled . "Ten more to go . "

    Zi Yuan sighed dejectedly . "I just don¡¯t know if . . . "

    "Why, you¡¯re not giving up already, are you?" Senior Wushuang arched a brow . "You know . . . I don¡¯t think your master would be too happy if he sees you giving up so easily . "

    Zi Yuan¡¯s head snapped up at the mention of her master . For a moment there, she and Senior Wushuang just stared at each other . Obviously, it had been a slip of tongue on Senior Wushuang¡¯s part as well . Judging from the woman¡¯s surprised expression, she hadn¡¯t meant to bring up her master in the conversation .

    Senior Wushuang looked away first, then cleared her throat . Zi Yuan had dozens of questions for the woman: how did Senior Wushuang know Master; howe Senior Wushuang was wielding Master¡¯s sword . Before she could find her voice, however, Senior Wushuang was already speaking . The moment was gone . Zi Yuan had lost her opening to get some answers .

    "So . I guess the Heir climbed half of Mount Duonian for nothing, then . Tsk . Tsk . A waste of time . It took him, what? A few days?"

    "I wouldn¡¯t call it aplete waste," Zi Yuan said .

    Senior Wushuang stared at Zi Yuan for a moment . "Really now . . . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "He picked up several useful skills along the journey . " Including how to disperse the clouds in the sky . Which was also the reason why Zi Yuan had to waste half a day flying over to Tibet to recast the observer cloud . Zi Yuan smirked . "Oh, and guess what? The Mahamudra Tantra is now in his hands . "

    "The Mahamudra Ta¡ª" Senior Wushuang¡¯s eyes widenedically . A secondter, those beautiful eyes shed in anger . "That idiot! What was he thinking?!" Senior Wushuang¡¯s eyes narrowed dangerously . "Did he steal it from the temple?"

    "No . " Zi Yuan shook her head . "An oldma gave it to him as a thank-you gift after the Heir saved his life . "

    "A thank-you gift . . . " Senior Wushuang snorted . "Look, it doesn¡¯t matter . He¡¯s in trouble . The Buddhists won¡¯t like the fact that one of their sacred texts, one that contains all their secrets, had fallen into the hands of a Cultivator . There¡¯s probably a legion of guardian sentinels out there hunting for him as we speak . "

    "Don¡¯t worry, Senior Wushuang," Zi Yuan said reassuringly . "I¡¯m keeping a close eye on him . " Zi Yuan had made sure to increase the size and breadth of her observer cloud to give her a wider visual field .

    Senior Wushuang pushed away from the counter and made her way out of the kitchen . "Just make sure he doesn¡¯t lose the Fan of Seven Treasures to some bandit . "

    Zi Yuan smirked and followed Senior Wushuang until they both reached the balcony . "I¡¯m sure you can easily take it back if it everes to that . "

    Senior Wushuang snorted . "Reiming it is easy . Tracking it down? Not so much . "

    "There hasn¡¯t been any attempts to steal the fan so far . He¡¯s done a pretty decent job keeping it concealed . Well, I¡¯m pretty sure a few pilgrims caught a glimpse of it, but none of them seemed to recognize it . "

    Senior Wushuang paused at the railing and turned around . "How long did you say it¡¯ll take him to reach the Himyas? A week?"

    "Ten days to be exact . "

    A bright sh lit up the balcony . Bahuang materialized in front of Senior Wushuang . "Get some rest," she said . "I need you to be in top form when you perform the spell . The more magical power you expend on the spell, the more time the spell can buy us . " Senior Wushuang¡¯s eyes widened slightly . "Ah . Which reminds me . " Senior Wushuang¡¯s expression turned serious . "Last time, I told you that the spell can mask his Vital Orb until he passes the Shentong phase . But that¡¯s only the best case scenario . "

    Zi Yuan sighed . "I thought you said your calctions are rarely wrong . "

    "I can only calcte the upper limit of the spell¡¯s effect . " There was a pause . "The truth is, there are a lot more factors at y here . Without more data, it is impossible to ount for those factors . "

    "Right . The speed at which he advances through the Shentong phase . The strength of his Qi . The size of his Qi reserve . The maximum concentration of his Qi . The amount of time he spent training . "

    Senior Wushuang nodded . "Exactly . And let¡¯s not forget about the Jindan as well . There is no telling exactly when his Vital Orb will be too strong for the spell to mask . Which is why I need toe up with a solution before he learns how to fly . " Senior Wushuang picked up Bahuang . "You¡¯ll need to be on constant alert once he passes the third dan . "

    Zi Yuan nodded resolutely . "Understood . "

    "Get some rest . " Senior Wushuang turned around . "I have to get back soon . Otherwise that silly disciple of mine might be up to no good again . "

    ***

    The Himyas stretched out majestically before Li Yundong¡¯s eyes . On one side, the side he was standing on,y the beautiful Tibetan teau . And thanks to geography ss back in high school, he knew whaty on the other side: the Indian subcontinent .

    Thick clouds obscured the Himyan summit . Even with his telescopic vision, he couldn¡¯t see the top of Mount Everest . Try as he might, he couldn¡¯t help the fear coursing through his veins as he stood before what appeared to be the greatest obstacle he had ever faced in life . He had only one chance left . This was all or nothing . A voice inside his mind kept reminding him that he could always just turn around and walk away . Maybe he should try again next year, or the year after .

    Don¡¯t be a coward, Li Yundong .

    This was what he had run over thousands of miles for . He had to do this . He had to be stronger for Su Chan . He took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled .

    Make the climb, Li Yundong . Make the climb . . .

    The first step was liberating . The moment he started climbing, it was full steam ahead . Doubts constantly niggled at his mind, but he squashed them down mercilessly, thinking only of Ao Wushuang¡¯s taunt a month ago . You are nothing but an amateur! A weakling!

    "Just watch me . . . " Li Yundong growled, leaping over a bunch of thick roots . "I¡¯ll show you what I¡¯m made of . . . Just you wait . "

    For the first time, Li Yundong truly embraced the fact that he was the Jindan¡¯s Heir . So help him God he would try everything in his power to ensure that the Jindan was not wasted on him . Or, at the very least, he would die trying .

    At the 1000-meter altitude mark, Li Yundong stopped his climb to take a breather . He didn¡¯t really need it, but he figured he would stop to admire the view . It was his first time climbing the Himyas after all . And sadly, it might also be hisst . Stretched out beneath him were vast green ins interspersed with winding rivers that sparkled under the morning sunlight . Li Yundong kicked a rock off the cliff and watched it roll soundlessly down towards the boundless ins . Funny enough, he thought his situation was not much different than the rock: falling off a cliff, coasting in the air thousands of feet above the ground with no idea where it willnd next; or whether it will even be in one piece when it hit the ground .

    Li Yundong turned away from the cliff and continued his climb . Along the way, he watched the grass beneath his feet slowly thin out . Soon, the ground became slippery . Splotches of green algae smeared across the rocks and soil . Where it wasn¡¯t green, the ground was white, covered in snow . It was like a different world up here, with beautiful subalpine conifers lining both sides of the path .

    Keep climbing . Just keep climbing .

    The further up he climbed, he began to notice something strange . There was snow everywhere, so the temperature had to be below 0 degrees Celsius . The winds were pretty darn strong, too . And yet he didn¡¯t feel cold at all . Not to mention that he was walking barefoot . At the 2000-meter mark, he stopped his climb again and walked towards the edge of a cliff . Gone were the beautiful ins he saw earlier . In their ce were wisps of clouds and fog . Up here, one could easily delude oneself into believing that one was a Shenxian who lived among the clouds .

    White steam rose from his skin, but stopped when he consciously shut the pores of his skin .

    Zi Yuan was right . The Himyas really was a good ce to pass the Zhuji phase . He climbed on and paid attention to his body . He wondered what the physical cues would be . So far he hadn¡¯t felt anything out of the ordinary .

    It wasn¡¯t until he passed the 4000-meter mark that he felt it . It began as a reinvigorating sensation inside his body, like he was on top of the world¡ªwhich wasn¡¯t that far from the truth . Something was happening to his meridians . There were these strange pulses urring in various parts of his body . Each pulse felt like a jolt of electricity . All in all, he counted twelve strong pulses followed by eight weaker pulses . He didn¡¯t think those numbers were a coincidence, because the Canon of the Yellow Thearch stated that there were 12 major meridians and 8 extraordinary meridians inside the human body . When the pulses ended, a ball of heat gathered in his lower Dantian . Again, he didn¡¯t consciously try to convert his Essence to his Qi; it happened on its own . Momentster, his Qi surged to the top of his head . That sensation reminded him of the first massage Su Chan had given him at the lecture hall .

    Then his head started to glow in various colors .

    The Convergence of Five Qis .

    It was time .

 Chapter 179

    Chapter 179

    <h4>Storm</h4>

    It was pitch-ck dark everywhere he looked, like he was floating in some kind of void space, a universe without stars . This was a stark contrast to hisst attempt in passing the Zhuji phase, where people like He Shao, Liu Chuan, Xie Fei, and Zhao Yujian had appeared inside his Spirit Space for no other reason than to taunt him . This time, there was nothing in his Spirit Space except for this emptiness and void .

    Maybe it had something to do with the location, or the fact that he had better control over his Qi¡¯s concentration this time around .

    Still, he wished he had some kind of indication or clue that he was on the right track .

    He waited in the darkness .

    After a while, he tried to imagine himself moving around inside his Spirit Space . After a few tries, however, he began to realize how pointless it was . For one, he couldn¡¯t tell if he had actually moved without some sort of reference object¡ªthere was nothing here except for dark, empty space . For all he knew, the notion of space and motion might not even make sense here .

    But what was he supposed to do now? Just wait and do nothing? Again, that felt way too easy .

    No .

    There had to be something for him to aplish here . Well, he was supposed to sustain Ishvara while his Vital Orb was forming . So where was that feeling of omnipotence, of supreme power? Where were the temptations or the illusions? None of this made sense .

    Was he even in Ishvara?

    He spent a moment recalling exactly what happened when his personal god showed up . His personal god looked the same it did thest time he saw it¡ªthree faces, six arms that wielded various magical objects . After it showed up, the six-armed being had pounced on Li Yundong, filling him with a sense of omnipotence . However, the moment his Spirit overpowered his personal god¡¯s will, he found himself trapped inside this dark world .

    In the end, Li Yundong decided to go with an age-old advice: if it ain¡¯t broke, don¡¯t fix it .

    He decided to wait it out and see what would happen . So he did . He waited and waited until he felt something strange¡ªhe could feel his chest again . When he first arrived inside this dark world, if was like the concept of sensory perception didn¡¯t even exist, like he couldn¡¯t receive any sensory input other than this persistent darkness before him . But now he could actually feel a sensation, one that he was absolutely certain originated from his chest .

    The sensation grew stronger and stronger until it became some kind of emotion, like a need¡ªthe need to break free from something that he couldn¡¯t even identify let alone fathom .

    Was this how a baby feel like inside its mother¡¯s womb?

    Then, he heard a rumbling sound, which turned into a roar in a matter of seconds . Something was happening, but Li Yundong hadn¡¯t a single clue what it was . All he could do was hang on for dear life until everything blew over¡ªhe hoped .

    Which, of course, was a fool¡¯s hope .

    It didn¡¯t blow over, but blow up instead, right in his face .

    A bright sh filled the dark void inside his Spirit Space . His sensory perceptions returned to him all at once, crashing into him like an avnche . When he opened his eyes, he found himself drifting through what appeared to be the sky .

    All of a sudden, his body stopped moving .

    More rumbling sounded . This time, however, there wasn¡¯t a single doubt in his mind what had caused that sound¡ªthunder .

    He nced around him frantically . Large storm clouds swirled around him, enveloping him like some kind of cocoon . Soon, he was surrounded by a frigging maelstrom of dark storm clouds .

    He tried to free himself from the cloud cocoon, but it was toote . Bright shes lit up the surface of the clouds . The next thing he knew, he was screaming as waves of pain shot through him .

    He was being electrocuted .

    ***

    "Come on, Ruben! Keep up! We gotta move!" Jack yelled as he helped Miss Liu Xia down a steep slope .

    Miss Liu Xia¡¯s foot slipped .

    "Damn it!" Jack reached out with his hand, but he was toote . Miss Liu Xia fell t on her butt .

    Jack scrambled over towards the woman and pulled her to her feet . "Are you okay?"

    The tour guide nodded weakly . Jack sighed, relieved that the woman hadn¡¯t hurt herself . They couldn¡¯t afford to be slowed down by injuries . Jack lowered his backpack to the ground and crouched down . He stuffed his digital camera into the backpack . Now wasn¡¯t the time to take photos . They had to get to lower ground as soon as possible, preferably before one of them got struck by lightning .

    Jack turned his head around and yelled over his shoulder, "Ruben! Come on, man! What the hell¡¯s taking you so long?!"

    "Man, cool your jets, will ya? Geez . " Secondster, Ruben emerged from between the trunks of tworge conifers . Suddenly, Ruben stopped walking and nced up at the sky . "Jesus Christ . . . "

    Jack followed his friend¡¯s gaze . Dark storm clouds swirled above their heads, which was pretty damn strange if you ask him because he could¡¯ve sworn that the weather was fine ten minutes ago .

    "I¡¯ve never seen something like this before . . . I swear to God . . . " Ruben whispered .

    Neither have I .

    "Yeah well, you won¡¯t being seeing shit if you get your ass killed by a lightning strike . " Jack stood up and secured the straps of his backpack over his shoulders . "Come on, people! Let¡¯s go! Time to move!"

    Ruben snapped out of his stupor and hurried towards them .

    The three of them ran down the Himyan trail as fast as their legs could carry them .

    "Guys . . . " Miss Liu Xia said . "Is it just me, or are the clouds following us?"

    Jack stopped running and looked up at the sky . Somehow, the clouds seemed even closer to them now despite the fact that they¡¯d been moving downhill for the past fifteen minutes .

    "No . "

    Jack turned to Ruben, who appeared to be studying the clouds intently .

    "I don¡¯t think they¡¯re following us . " Ruben pointed past Jack¡¯s shoulder at the sky . "Look . "

    Jack turned around and studied the clouds . "They¡¯re moving downhill..."

    "Yeah," Ruben said .

    "So what do we do?" Miss Liu Xia asked . "We¡¯re still quite far away from the base camp . "

    Jack nced down the mountain trail . Their jeep was still parked at the base camp . And Miss Liu Xia was right; it would take at least half an hour before they could get to the base camp .

    "I think we should find shelter around here and weather out the storm," Ruben said .

    Jack looked up at the sky . "Agreed . "

    After ascertaining the wind direction, Jack looked down from the sky and scanned over their surroundings .

    "Over there," Jack said a momentter, pointing at a tall rock not far away . The leeward side of the rock could shelter them from the wind . Hopefully, it would be enough to help them weather out the storm . The best case scenario was that the clouds kept drifting downhill .

    Jack led Ruben and Miss Liu Xia towards the rock and quickly got settled behind it . Ruben never took his eyes off the clouds, staring at it as though they were the most fascinating thing in the world .

    "Holy shit . . . Guys, look!" Ruben pointed at something beyond the rock .

    Jack crawled to the edge of the rock and took a peek .

    "Oh my God . . . " Miss Liu Xia whispered beside him . "What on earth is happening?"

    Jack had never seen anything like this before . The clouds¡¯ movement patterns were just . . . unnatural .

    "Jesus Christ . . . " Ruben said . "They aren¡¯t just moving downhill, bro . It¡¯s almost like . . . like they are gathering at a specific location . Christ Almighty . . . "

    Jack scrambled towards their backpacks and began rummaging through their contents .

    "Dude . What the hell are you doing?" Ruben asked from the edge of the rock .

    "Looking for our binocrs, of course . "

    "Oh, right!" Ruben snapped his fingers . "Good thinking . "

    Secondster, Jack found what he was looking for . He grabbed his digital camera as well and switched it on .

    He moved back towards the edge of the rock and tossed the camera to Ruben . "Make sure you get clean shots!"

    "Roger that!" Ruben said . "Like hell I¡¯m gonna miss out on something like this . "

    Jack handed Ruben¡¯s binocrs to Miss Liu Xia, and then brought his own binocrs to his eyes . He adjusted the lens until he got a full view of the clouds .

    "Looks like you were right, Ruben . . . " Jack mumbled .

    The clouds were indeed amassing at a specific location, growing taller and darker as more clouds began to drift in from all directions . Jack shifted the binocrs downwards . The clouds appeared to be gathering directly above arge rock full of cracks and¡ª

    "Oh my God!" Miss Liu Xia shrieked . "Did you guys see that?"

    "Huh? See what?" Ruben asked .

    "S- Something flew down from the clouds! Some kind of white object! I swear!"

    Jack adjusted his binocrs . A white object? Where¡ª

    A red sh blinded Jack¡¯s eyes, causing him to drop the binocrs . Beside him, Miss Liu Xia screamed and fell backwards from the rock . Ruben cursed as he scrambled to pick up the digital camera from the ground .

    Jack blinked a few times, then groped around for his binocrs .

    "Shit! What was that?" Ruben asked .

    "Was it lightning?" Miss Liu Xia asked, leaning her back against the rock .

    Jack peered out from the rock .

    "No," Jack said, shaking his head . "That wasn¡¯t lightning . "

    "Yeah . . . We would¡¯ve heard the sound of thunder by now if it were lightning," Ruben said .

    Jack brought the binocrs to his eyes .

    "Ruben . . . The clouds . They¡¯re dispersing . "

    Jack lowered the binocrs and handed it to Ruben .

    Secondster, Ruben lowered the binocrs from his face and turned to face Jack . If this whole thing wasn¡¯t creeping the hell out of Jack, he would¡¯veughed at the stunned look on Ruben¡¯s face right now .

    "And now they¡¯re gone . . . " Miss Liu Xia said . "The clouds arepletely gone . "

    Jack peeked out from behind the rock . Miss Liu Xia was right; the storm clouds were gone .

    "Bro . Remind me when we get back to make a donation to one of those climate change NGOs," Ruben remarked . "The weather these days is seriously creeping me out . "

    ***

    Once he was sure that there weren¡¯t any storm clouds around, Jack led hispanions out of their hiding ce . Then, the three of them hiked downhill towards the base camp . Ten minutes into their hike, Ruben stopped walking and did a low wolf whistle .

    Jack stopped walking and raised a brow at Ruben .

    Ruben smirked and pointed at something in front of them .

    Jack nearly dropped his backpack when he saw a beautiful Chinese woman walking uphill towards them .

    Beautiful didn¡¯t evene close to doing the woman justice .

    The woman could¡¯ve been easily mistaken for a goddess .

    Jack shook himself out of his stupor and nudged Miss Liu Xia . "Do you know her? Have you seen her around here before?"

    "No . Never . "

    Jack looked towards the woman again . The hem of her purple dress billowed around her legs as she walked . And that veil around her shoulders made her seem ethereal somehow .

    Goddess .

    She was a goddess .

    The woman walked past them as though she didn¡¯t see them .

    Ruben suddenly turned around and headed back uphill .

    "Hey!" Jack hissed, grabbing Ruben¡¯s shoulder . "Where the hell are you going?"

    Ruben stared at him like he was nuts . "You think? To get her number of course!"

    Jack smacked Ruben upside his head . "Quit messing around! Let¡¯s head back to camp before it gets dark . "

    "Well . Somebody, it seems, needs to getid," Ruben mumbled, rubbing the back of his head . Then, he smirked and nudged Miss Liu Xia with his elbow . "What do you say, huh? Why don¡¯t you take one for the team? He might stop acting so grumpy after you give him the night of his life . "

    Miss Liu Xia blushed and smacked Ruben¡¯s arm .

    Jack scowled . "Enough already . Now let¡¯s go . "

    The three of them trekked along the path in silence until Miss Liu Xia suddenly tapped on Jack¡¯s shoulder .

    Jack turned his head around and saw Miss Liu Xia pointed at something on the side of their trail .

    "Guys . . . Isn¡¯t that where the clouds were gathering above just now?" she asked in a wary tone .

    Jack stepped closer to the side of the trail and studied the rocky terrain before him . "Yeah . . . I think you¡¯re right . See that big rock with the cracks? I recognize it from..." Jack squinted . "Hey... I think there¡¯s . . . " Jack took a few steps closer . "Shit . . . There¡¯s someone there . . . "

    "What? Seriously? Where?" Ruben stopped beside him .

    Jack pointed at the rock . "Look over there . See thatrge crack on the rock?"

    "F*ck . . . You¡¯re right, bro . "

    Jack began running towards the rocks . "Let¡¯s head over there . Someone might need our help . "

    It wasn¡¯t until they were within ten feet of the rock that Jack recognized who the person was . It was that vagabond dude who brought the monk back to life at the foot of Mount Duonian . They had driven past the guy ten days ago, right after the guy left the pilgrims¡¯ camp . Jack had stopped the jeep to offer him a ride, but the guy declined . And now he was sitting inside a fissured rock in the middle of the Himyas?

    Ruben was already pulling the guy out of the crack .

    "Gosh! His body is freezing!" Miss Liu Xia said .

    All of a sudden, Jack had a bad feeling about this .

    "Ruben, check his pulse . "

    Ruben removed his gloves and crouched down to check the guy¡¯s pulse .

    A minuteter, Ruben stood up .

    "So?" Jack asked .

    Ruben shook his head grimly . "He¡¯s dead, bro . "

 Chapter 180

    Chapter 180

    <h4>Deluge</h4>

    "Dead?" Jack pushed Ruben aside and lowered himself to the snow-covered ground to check on the guy himself.

    The guy wasn¡¯t breathing. And Jack couldn¡¯t feel the man¡¯s pulse. His lips were blue and chapped, and his skin was cold. Jack brought his nose closer to the man¡¯s body and sniffed a few times. No pungent smell, which meant the guy hadn¡¯t been dead for long.

    Jack sighed and stood up.

    "What do you think he died of?" Ruben asked.

    Jack shook his head. "Dunno."

    The three of them stared wordlessly at the corpse.

    "I reckon it¡¯s exhaustion," Ruben said after a while.

    Jack raised a brow at Ruben.

    Ruben shrugged. "Dude turned us down when we offered to give him a ride. Must¡¯ve ran all the way here. Jesus.... Was he a masochist or something? He ran for like hundreds of miles and then decided to, what, climb the Himyas?"

    Jack rolled his eyes. "That shit doesn¡¯t even make sense, Ruben."

    Maybe Ruben¡¯s brain wasn¡¯t functioning at full capacity because of the blood rush to hisher regions. Not that Jack would me the guy. The chick they¡¯d run into earlier was a total bombshell.

    "Okay, fine. What other exnation is there?"

    "Check his feet, Ruben."

    Ruben crouched down and studied the corpse¡¯s feet. Secondster, he stood back up again. "So?"

    Jack red at Ruben. "Dude. He¡¯s barefoot. Wouldn¡¯t his feet be covered in, gee I don¡¯t know, some goddamn blisters if he ran all the way here?"

    Ruben suddenly looked sheepish. "Oh."

    Jack ignored him and reached into the crack on the rock¡¯s surface. He pulled out arge backpack. The guy didn¡¯t carry much with him. Just some clothes, toiletries, arge stick¡ªwhich looked like a Bo staff¡ªwrapped in a bunch of nkets, and arge water bottle.

    "Damn... This guy is nuts," Jack said. "Nobody can survive out here with so little supplies." Jack shook his head. "He didn¡¯t even have stuff to help keep himself warm."

    "So, you¡¯re saying, what, that the guy starved to death?" Ruben asked.

    "Or died of thirst," Jack said, then shrugged. "Or hypothermia."

    "Jesus Christ..."

    Jack slipped the backpack into the crack and stood up.

    "What do we do, guys?" Miss Liu Xia asked. "It¡¯s not like we can drag a corpse around with us."

    "I say we put him back inside the rock," Jack said, "then call the police once we get back to base camp."

    Miss Liu Xia grimaced as though she didn¡¯t like the idea, though she didn¡¯t argue.

    "Maybe this was a nned death," Ruben said. "Like maybe he came all the way up here to die. Or..." Ruben raised a finger. "He could be a murder victim."

    "Who knows, bro," Jack said. "It isn¡¯t our ce to specte. Let¡¯s just put him back and get outta here."

    ***

    When the three of them were making their way back to the mountain trail, Ruben sidled up to Jack.

    "Hey, Jack," Ruben whispered.

    Jack looked towards his friend.

    Ruben seemed to be thinking hard about something.

    "What¡¯s eating at you?"

    The two of them walked on for a while. Miss Liu Xia was following them a few feet behind.

    "Ruben?"

    "I don¡¯t know, man." Ruben shook his head. "Something doesn¡¯t add up." Ruben pulled Jack to a stop.

    Jack turned and raised his brows at his friend.

    "Think about it." Ruben jerked his thumb towards the rock. "Dude could bring a dead man back to life. You¡¯d think he¡¯s able to revive himself."

    Admittedly, Ruben did make a good point. This whole sequence of events was just bizarre. First, there were those mysterious clouds. And then, there was that red sh, which seemed to havee out of nowhere.

    Jack shook his head and looked towards the rock again. Miss Liu Xia was still trying to catch up to them. The woman kept sneaking nces at the rock once every few steps. The woman probably felt bad about leaving the poor guy there in the rock.

    "You thinking what I¡¯m thinking, Jack?"

    Jack turned around to face his friend. He didn¡¯t like Ruben¡¯s tone. And there was that familiar glint in Ruben¡¯s eyes.

    "Oh, Jesus Christ." Jack huffed out in frustration. "If you say the word alien or UFO, then I swear to God I¡¯d¡ª"

    "Look. Just think about it, bro," Ruben said, eyeing him seriously. "The strange behavior of the clouds? Strange lights? It all fits!"

    Jack groaned. "For once in your life, man... Just quit it with the Area 51 crap already... Jesus..."

    Ruben opened his mouth to speak, but was immediately cut off by Miss Liu Xia¡¯s scream of horror.

    Jack swiveled around just in time to see Miss Liu Xia falling t on her butt. The woman was pointing a shaky finger at something.

    A split secondter, Ruben screamed as well.

    Jack raised his gaze and followed Miss Liu Xia¡¯s finger.

    B- But how...? How¡¯s that even...

    The vagabond dude, who was supposed to be dead, was now climbing out through the crack in the rock.

    Jack shared a nce with Ruben.

    "Hey, don¡¯t look at me," Ruben said. "You checked his vitals as well!"

    Whatever. Time to get their asses out of there. Preferably now. Jack ran towards Miss Liu Xia and pulled her to her feet.

    "Come on, let¡¯s¡ª"

    Jack thought his ears were going to bleed the moment he heard it: a loud, earth-shaking roar, which sounded as though someone had shouted into a thousand megaphones simultaneously.

    His knees hit the ground and his hands rose instinctively to cover his ears. A few feet away, Ruben started cursing and screaming. Jack scrambled to his feet and grabbed Miss Liu Xia¡¯s arm. "Come on!"

    They started crawling towards Ruben, who looked like he was actually enjoying himself.

    Ruben was actually grinning by the time they reached him.

    "Hah! See! Told you not to be too quick to dismiss the alien theory!" Ruben yelled over the loud roar.

    Jack nced towards the rock, in front of which vagabond dude stood roaring at the sky.

    Jesus... How the hell is that guy still yelling? It¡¯s been minutes already!

    Then, the roaring stopped.

    Jack shared a nce with Ruben as the residual sound diminished into distant echoes. Lying beside him, Miss Liu Xia let out a whimper. The poor woman seemed utterly shaken.

    "You know what? This has got to be the weirdest trip ever..." Ruben groaned. "Ugh! I think my ears are still ringing... F*cking hell¡ª"

    "Shh!" Jack held up a finger. "You hear that?"

    Ruben stared back at him with wide eyes.

    There was a loud whump somewhere above them, like some kind of powdered substance beingpressed.

    Secondster, the rumbling began.

    Horror coursed through Jack. "Oh, shit..."

    Ruben was already on his feet, pulling Miss Liu Xia towards the main trail.

    "Ruben!!!" Jack screamed. "We¡¯re not gonna f*cking make it if we run! We gotta find cover!!"

    "Christ! Look around you!!! There¡¯s no f*cking cover, Jack!"

    Jack stopped running and turned around until he was facing the direction uphill. He realized then just how royally screwed they were when the entire slope before them was obscured by thick, roiling white clouds of pure snow.

    It was without a doubt the most devastating avnche Jack had ever seen.

    "Oh, son of a bitch..."

    ***

    When Li Yundong heard the rumbling sound, he was certain that the time of his divine punishment hade. But when he set his gaze towards the summit, what he saw was a different kind of storm. It wasn¡¯t lightning that he saw, but an endless barrage of snow in the form of turbulent, white clouds, pouring down the Himyan slope.

    Oh, shit.

    Had his roar triggered an avnche?

    All of a sudden, Li Yundong froze. He remembered passing by a bunch of camps and lodgings on the way up here. Those ces had to be evacuated. The people staying at the camps had to be warned.

    There was a scream. No. Not just a scream; there were three screams.

    The voices came from the trail. He turned and saw three people scrambling downhill in fright. Li Yundong pushed his Qi to his legs and dashed towards trail. Those people would never make it. The snow wasing down too rapidly. Hell, he could even feel the ground shaking under his feet.

    "Hey!!!" Li Yundong yelled at the three strangers. "Stop! Stop! Come back here!"

    Those people were screwed if they kept running; the avnche would catch up to them in minutes and they¡¯d end up buried under a ton of snow. None of them would survive. Not unless Li Yundong was close enough to protect them. "Stop running, dammit!"

    The ground quivered under his feet. Suddenly, one of the three people¡ªarge, burly man with a snow cap¡ªcame to a halt and turned around. Through his telescopic vision, Li Yundong recognize the man as Jack, the foreigner he¡¯d encountered twice already¡ªthe first time at the foot of Mount Duonian, and the second time when he helped free their jeep.

    No wonder Jack didn¡¯t stop no matter how much he yelled. The guy couldn¡¯t understand Mandarin.

    Wait, wasn¡¯t there a tour guide with them?

    Li Yundong zoomed until he could see past Jack¡¯s shoulders. The tour guide and one Jack¡¯spanion were running far ahead of Jack.

    Li Yundong pumped his legs harder and ran past Jack.

    "Hey, Miss Tour Guide! Stop! Hey! Stop! It¡¯s toote to run! Stop running! Get over here! I can protect you!"

    The tour guide stopped. So did the other foreigner whose name Li Yundong didn¡¯t know. The foreigner yelled something at the tour guide in English. The tour guide pointed a finger at Li Yundong and yelled something back at the foreigner.

    A momentter, the tour guide gazed at Li Yundong with fearful eyes. "H- How are you gonna protect us?! There¡¯s an avncheing, for God¡¯s sake!"

    "Listen... We don¡¯t have time for an argument!" Li Yundong growled, pointing at the iing avnche. "Just do as I say!"

    After that, Li Yundong turned around and began dragging Jack towards their group. Li Yundong pointed at the tour guide. "Tell your friends to stay behind me!"

    The tour guide stared nkly Li Yundong as though she hadn¡¯t heard him.

    "Now!"

    The tour guide snapped out of it and ryed Li Yundong¡¯s order to her friends. At least that was what Li Yundong hoped she was saying.

    The foreigners didn¡¯t argue.

    Soon, the three tourists were huddled together behind Li Yundong.

    "Make sure y¡¯all stay behind me until this is over, you understand?" Li Yundong said to the tour guide. "And do not move no matter what!"

    Li Yundong turned to face the iing snow while the tour guide spoke to the foreigners in English. Gusts of wind hit Li Yundong¡¯s face as the avnche drew closer. Li Yundong closed his eyes and mobilized his Yuanyang, using it to guide the Qis of his Five Zangs towards his upper Dantian.

    "Oh my God!" the tour guide shrieked. "Y- Y- Your head! It¡¯s c- changing colors!"

    Li Yundong exhaled slowly.

    "Quiet... I need to focus."

    Then, without opening his eyes, Li Yundong sped his hands together, keeping the fingers of each hand interlocked except for his index fingers, which were pointed straight up towards the sky.

    This was Acannatha¡¯s first mudra¡ªthe Heavenly Swords.

    The tour guide was sobbing now. "Oh, God... Oh, God... We¡¯re all gonna die... We¡¯re all gonna be buried alive!"

    "Calm down... Just trust me..." Li Yundong said, opening his eyes. Then, he looked straight ahead at the iing avnche. "The camps are on the right side of the trail, right?"

    "Y- Yes..."

    Which means he had to sweep all the snow towards the left side of the trail to prevent the people at the camps from being buried alive.

    With that in mind, Li Yundong angled his body slightly to the left.

    The tour guide whimpered.

    When the avnche was about fifty meters away, Li Yundong bent his knees and lowered his stance. "Namah samanta vajranam ham!" He bridged the Three Gates as soon as he reached the end of the mantra. Two golden des of light swept across the terrain from right to left after he swung his arms in a wide arc. The front half of the avnche was swept to the side, while the remaining half kept tumbling down the slope.

    That should be enough to save those at the camps.

    The tour guide started screaming hysterically. "No!!! You failed! You failed! Now we¡¯re really gonna die!"

    "Rx... I¡¯m not done yet," Li Yundong said as he rearranged his fingers into another mudra. The fingers of his two hands were sped while the two thumbs were pressed into the palms.

    This was atha¡¯s second mudra¡ªthe Immovable Mountain of Treasure.

    "Here ites..." Li Yundong said without taking his eyes off the approaching snow. "Just stay still..." He waited for a while, then chanted atha¡¯s mantra again. "Namah samanta vjranam ham!"

    A thin, semi-transparent golden wall appeared in front of Li Yundong, stretching out in both directions. A whump sounded amidst the rumble, and Li Yundong suddenly felt as though there was an invisible weight pulling down on his hands. Li Yundong grunted and struggled to maintain the hand sign. It wasn¡¯t explicitly stated in the Mahamudra Tantra that the barrier would disappear once he stopped performing the hand sign, but he didn¡¯t want to risk it. More rumbling sounded as snow gushed along the area beyond the barrier¡¯s reach. At one point, when pieces of snow pellets and hailstones started falling down around them, Li Yundong looked up at the top of the barrier. Shit. The barrier wasn¡¯t tall enough because he didn¡¯t use enough Qi when he bridged the Three Gates.

    The snow had begun to fall over the brim of the barrier.

    Li Yundong looked away from the barrier. "Hey!" he shouted at the tour guide. "You and your friends need to get out of here! Now!"

    "W- What?"

    "Take your friends and run!" Li Yundong shouted. "The barrier is overflowing. Wait longer and you¡¯ll all be buried."

    More snow pellets fell around them.

    The snow around Li Yundong had already reached his mid-shin.

    Thedy said something to the foreigners, who then sprang to their feet. The weight on Li Yundong¡¯s hands were starting to feel heavy. "Run downhill! I¡¯ll keep the barrier up until you guys are far enough." Li Yundong said without taking his eyes off the top of the barrier.

    When he could no longer hear footsteps behind him, Li Yundong looked over his shoulders. Should be far enough...

    He turned to the front. Now he had to find a way to deal with all that snow behind the barrier, which was still falling over the top of the barrier. On his side of the barrier, he himself was already buried in snow from waist down.

    Right now, he had two obvious choices. One, release the barrier without doing anything and then pray to dear Buddha that the Jindan¡¯s enhancements would allow him to survive being buried under a f*ckton of snow. Two, release the barrier, and then find a way to blow all the snow away before it crashed down on him.

    And where the heck was Zi Yuan anyway? Didn¡¯t she say that she woulde get him the moment he passed the Zhuji phase?

    Whatever. Right now, he had to save his own ass.

    He exhaled slowly. Alright, here we go... He gathered his Qi at his lower Dantian.

    The golden barrier vanished the moment he moved his fingers into Mahavairocana¡¯s mudra¡ªthe Intelligent Fist. Heaps of snow rumbled above his head. "Om mani padme hum!" He bridged his Three Gates with his Qi and pushed his hands forward.

 Chapter 181

    Chapter 181

    <h4>Extortion</h4>

    Li Yundong unleashed another st of shockwave, sending heaps of snow into the air . He had managed to avoid being buried alive thanks to the Intelligent Fist mudra, which had sted the snow away moments after he released the barrier .

    Most of it anyway . Now he still had to wade through quite a bit of snow to get to his backpack, which was¡ªhopefully¡ªstill inside that rock . Li Yundong sliced his palm through the air . A thin de of shockwave moved across the terrain, sweeping a decent amount of snow to the side . Li Yundong dragged his legs through the snow and slogged forward . After a few steps, he stopped to look up at the sky, fearing what he might see there . The sky was clear with no signs of any storm clouds, which was a good thing .

    Or maybe not .

    None of this made sense . Zi Yuan said that his divine punishment woulde the moment he passed the Zhuji phase . But he hadn¡¯t seen signs of the Heavenly Thunder since he stepped out of the rock . Nor did he see any signs of Zi Yuan . A horrifying thought formed in his mind, turning his blood into ice .

    What if he was still inside his Spirit Space? What if this was all just an illusion, an imaginary world that his personal god had created for him . Shit . It was like he couldn¡¯t even tell what was real anymore .

    Calm down, Li Yundong . . . Look at the facts .

    He pulled in a deep breath, then exhaled slowly . Okay . First of all, he had woken up inside the same rock he¡¯d climbed into before he went into a meditative . He was still barefoot and wearing the same clothes as before . He also wasn¡¯t experiencing the feeling of omnipotence like he didst time . Nor did he have the same appearance as his personal god . Pretty sure those foreigners would totally freak out if he did . Not that erecting a supernatural barrier to ward off an avnche wasn¡¯t freakish, but he figured that having six arms and three faces would fall on the extreme end of the "weird" spectrum .

    But still, were all those good enough reasons to believe that none of these were illusions? Well, if this was an illusion, then it could mean one of two things: one, he hadn¡¯t passed the Zhuji phase yet; two, he had failed the Zhuji phase and would forever be trapped inside his Spirit Space, living out illusion after illusion .

    Was there a way to tell for sure that he had passed the Zhuji phase?

    His body did feel a lot different now . He could feel the presence of . . . of . . . something, inside his lower Dantian, like there was this extra life force inside him . Was that because he had a Vital Orb now? Or was that just another illusion that his personal god had conjured up in order to deceive him?

    There was no way to tell unless the Heavenly Thunder struck or Zi Yuan suddenly showed up, the very things that made him doubt everything in the first ce .

    This was seriously f*cked up .

    Li Yundong sent more snow flying with another shockwave . He could now see the tip of the rock jutting out from the mountain of snow in front of him .

    Hooray . Small victories .

    Li Yundong punched the air again and again and until the entire rock was revealed . He looked up at the sky . Still no Heavenly Thunder . After a while, he chuckled to himself . As f*cked up as this whole situation was, he couldn¡¯t help but find the irony of it a tad amusing . Days ago, he was dreading theing of the Heavenly Thunder . And now, he was desperately hoping for it to appear .

    Li Yundong lowered his gaze from the sky and sighed . He wished Zi Yuan would just show up already .

    ***

    Li Yundong made his way down the mountains once he had retrieved his backpack and checked that the Fan of Seven Treasures was still safely stored inside . He¡¯d decided to stop moping around and start getting shit done . If Zi Yuan didn¡¯t show up as promised, then fine . He would go to her . Hell, he¡¯d run all the way back to Tiannan City if he had to .

    He followed the mountain trail and ran downhill without stopping . When he reached Everest Base Camp 2, he noted with no small amount of relief that the avnche hadn¡¯t done too much damage to the camps . Workers and travelers bustled about with huge shovels to clear the snow off the trails . Under normal circumstances, Li Yundong would¡¯ve stayed and lent those poor folks a hand . But right now, his circumstances were far from normal . He had to get to lower ground as soon as possible lest the Heavenly Thunder suddenly decided it was time to grace him with its presence .

    It did ur to him that he should ask around at the camps for anyone matching Zi Yuan¡¯s physical description, but he doubted that it would be much help . A six-kilometer hike from Base Camp 2 brought him to yet another base camp¡ªEverest Base Camp 1 . Again, he didn¡¯t stop and kept walking . Thirty minutes,ter he arrived at a temple, which looked more like another camp than a temple if he was being honest . For one, there wasn¡¯t actually a temple, just a few shrines and tents that were enclosed by wires covered in small, triangr gs . The only reason he even called it as a temple was because . . . well, the signboard said so .

    Li Yundong stopped beside one of the shrines and took out his map andpass . He had juste down from Mount Everest, which was on the east . Using thepass, he reoriented himself until he was facing west, where he was granted a clear view of Mount Pumori¡¯s snowy peak . There was a hotel and restaurant about half a kilometer from the shrines, but he didn¡¯t have the time or cash to stop by it .

    Li Yundong studied the map again .

    To get to the nearest highway, he had to pass by Tingri, a small town approximately 70 kilometers northwest from his current location . If he jogged at his usual pace, he would reach Tingri in about 6 hours . It was noon now, so it would be sunset by the time he reached the town, which was perfect .

    The sound of crunching gravel made Li Yundong turn his head . A Land Rover pulled up beside one of the tents . Li Yundong frowned . Was it another group of tourists looking to climb Mount Everest?

    Perhaps they came from the hotel?

    Through the Land Rover¡¯s windshield, Li Yundong saw the inside of the vehicle . He wished he hadn¡¯t . The driver¡¯s side was upied by not one, but two people . A man sat in the driver¡¯s seat while a woman straddled hisp . The pair was making out with each other like the world was going to end . The man noticed Li Yundong before he could turn away and patted the woman¡¯s arm . A momentter, the woman turned around in the man¡¯sp to look at Li Yundong as well .

    The man smirked and whispered something into the woman¡¯s ear . The woman smiled, then nted a kiss on the man¡¯s cheek . She shifted in her lover¡¯sp, then wrapped her arms around his neck . Secondster, the door of the driver¡¯s side swung open . The man stepped out carrying the woman in his arms .

    The man lowered his lover to the ground, then wrapped and arm around her waist . The couple sauntered casually towards Li Yundong . As the couple drew near, Li Yundong noted their appearance . The man was wearing a long-sleeved pink shirt, dress pants, and pair of loafers . His eyes were hidden behind a pair of aviator sunsses, but Li Yundong knew that he was watching him closely . The woman had long, dark hair, and was dressed seductively in a short mini dress . She was also wearing a pair of sunsses, but hers had dark-purple lenses .

    Li Yundong¡¯s scalped tingled .

    Something wasn¡¯t right .

    They were right in the middle of a mountain trail leading up to the summit of Mount Everest, and there was snow everywhere . You¡¯d think thedy would have enoughmon sense to wear something thicker than a flimsy mini dress . None of them were wearing jackets, coats, or anything to help keep their bodies warm .

    Clearly, these people weren¡¯t normal .

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on the straps of his backpack .

    The couple stopped in front of Li Yundong . The man removed his sunsses and slipped it into the front pocket of his shirt . Then, he smirked and did a Fist and Palm gesture (T/N: Search for ¹°ÊÖÀñ) .

    "Greetings, brother in the Tao," he said .

    Thatnguage . . .

    Li Yundong¡¯s back stiffened . These people were Cultivators .

    Had Zi Yuan sent them?

    "Greetings . " Li Yundong returned the greeting with his own Fist and Palm gesture . He didn¡¯t ask how they knew he was a Cultivator seeing as it was pretty darn obvious .

    The man smiled . "I am Wu Hao, from the Yin Yang Sect based in Mount Wuhua . "

    Thedy beside him giggled . "And I¡¯m Lyu Fengping from the same sect . "

    "An honor to meet you both," Li Yundong said, keeping his expression neutral . "How may I help you?"

    Wu Hao flicked some snow off his hair, then adjusted the cor of his pink shirt . The guy definitely had an air of swag about him, Li Yundong would give him that . He honestly thought the guy looked more like a gangster rather than a Cultivator .

    "Well . It seems like congrattions are in order, Zhenren," Wu Hao said with a smirk .

    "So you guys heard, huh?"

    Wu Haoughed . "Oh, we sure did . "

    "Mm-hmm . Just never expected it to trigger an avnche," said Lyu Fengping .

    Yeah well, neither did I...

    "We drove up here right after we heard your roar," Wu Hao said . "We¡¯re both pretty excited to meet this mysterious Cultivator who¡¯s passed the Zhuji phase somewhere in the Himyas . "

    Lyu Fengpingughed . "Our timing was impable though . We ran into you as soon as we arrived . " She smirked . "I guess it¡¯s fate . "

    "I see," Li Yundong said in a neutral tone . "Well . I¡¯m gonna head off . " He took a step back . "You guys have a good day . "

    "Hold up!" Wu Hao said .

    Li Yundong turned around and raised a brow at Wu Hao .

    "We also . . . " Lyu Fengping smiled . "Have a proposal to make . "

    "Not interested," Li Yundong said in a heartbeat .

    The corner of Wu Hao¡¯s lips twitched . "We haven¡¯t even told you what it is . . . "

    Wu Hao didn¡¯t sound too friendly now .

    "Like I said..." Li Yundong turned away . "Not interested . "

    "Let¡¯s make a trade . " Wu Hao grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder before he could walk away . "Five million yuan for that thing inside your backpack . How about that?"

    "No deal," Li Yundong said in a low growl . "Now if you¡¯ll all excuse me, there¡¯s somewhere else I need to be . "

    Li Yundong removed Wu Hao¡¯s hand from his shoulder .

    "Fine . Ten million!" Wu Hao yelled .

    Anger red inside Li Yundong .

    "I said no deal!" Li Yundong turned around abruptly . "I won¡¯t sell it even if you offer fifty billion! Now back off!"

    Wu Hao and Lyu Fengping shared a look with each other . A secondter, Wu Hao chuckled humorlessly . "You leave us no choice, then . "

    Wu Hao gave Lyu Fengping a nod .

    All of a sudden, Lyu Fengping vanished into thin air .

    What the¡ª

    "And now you have nowhere to run . "

    Lyu Fengping¡¯s voice made Li Yundong look over his shoulder . Somehow, the woman had reappeared a few feet behind him .

    Li Yundong returned his gaze to Wu Hao, who now had a smug look on his face . Something slid out from under Wu Hao¡¯s right sleeve¡ªa bunch of beads .

    There were five beads in total, and each of them appeared to be moving around Wu Hao¡¯s right arm in a random pattern .

    "That¡¯s right, buddy," Wu Hao said . "Hand over the Fan of Seven Treasures . " The beads released a crimson glow . "Or suffer the worst kind of death!"

 Chapter 182

    Chapter 182

    <h4>On Fire</h4>

    Doubt and fear coursed through Li Yundong as he stared at the spinning beads, which took the definition of freakish to a whole new level . Actually, no, it wasn¡¯t the sight of the beads that creeped him out; it was the unmistakable scent of blood and gore that assaulted his nostrils the moment the beads appeared .

    Oh shit...

    This was bad . He was outnumbered . And then those beads . . .

    Li Yundong studied the beads again . He had no doubt that those beads were some kind of powerful magical weapon, whose effects he hadn¡¯t a single inkling of . Besides, if Wu Hao could wield it, then his CQ must be high enough to use spells and magic . Clearly, the odds were stacked against Li Yundong .

    "This is your final warning..." Wu Hao said threateningly . "Hand over the Fan of Seven Treasures . Now!"

    Li Yundong red at the man before him .

    Like hell he was going to hand the over fan without at least putting up a good fight . You know what? Scratch that . Just putting up a fight wasn¡¯t good enough . Su Chan had entrusted the fan to him . Him of all people! So yeah . He was going to f*cking guard it with his life . Besides, it would be a damn shame if he allowed the Fox Zen School¡¯s greatest treasure to fall into the hands of a bunch of dumb robbers . Whatever . Enough with this nonsense . Time for a n . He needed a way to level the ying field, or better yet, gain some sort of leverage .

    Without taking his eyes off Wu Hao, Li Yundong took a deep breath, and then slowly exhaled . Ever since he climbed out from the rock, he could feel some mysterious thing spinning and rotating inside his lower Dantian . His best guess was that it was his Vital Orb, but he honestly couldn¡¯t be sure . Li Yundong did a quick and subtle scan of his surroundings .

    Those beads were the immediate threat, so he had to deal with them first . His eyes darted briefly to the Land Rover parked nearby, then towards Lyu Fengping behind him . The upside was that Lyu Fengping appeared to be unarmed . Then again, he didn¡¯t think that it was because the woman didn¡¯t own a weapon; it was probably because they thought he wasn¡¯t a threat, just some lowly Cultivator who had barely passed the Zhuji phase . Not that they were wrong .

    "You heard the man," Lyu Fengping said . "Hand it over!"

    Li Yundong angled his head slightly and saw Lyu Fengping pulling out a dark maroon whip . Yeah . So much for being unarmed .

    The womanshed the ground a few times with the whip .

    "We¡¯re not gonna ask again . . . " Wu Hao growled . "Hand it over!"

    The beads spun faster around Wu Hao¡¯s arms .

    Li Yundong raised his arms in a gesture of surrender while secretly channeling his Qi to his legs in secret .

    "I¡¯ll hand it over on one condition," Li Yundong said, flicking a quick nce towards the Land Rover .

    Wu Haoughed snidely .

    "I don¡¯t think you¡¯re in a position to make bargains, pal . "

    These guys were overconfident, so Li Yundong would y it to his advantage .

    "Those beads looks pretty cool . " Li Yundong paused to study Wu Hao¡¯s face . "How do they work?"

    A smug look spread across Wu Hao¡¯s face and heughed . "Behold! The Beads of Gore! One hit by one of these babies is enough to liquefy your flesh and bones!"

    "Impressive . . . " Li Yundong said coldly, channeling more Qi to his rear leg .

    Wu Hao threw his head back inughter . "It is one of our sect¡¯s most valuable¡ª"

    Li Yundong burst forward, closing the distance between Wu Hao and himself in a split second . At the same time, he extended his right arm in a snapping motion and delivered a finger jab straight into Wu Hao¡¯s eyes . There was a hiss followed by a loud scream . Those beads ttered uselessly to the ground when Wu Hao¡¯s hands rose to cover his eyes .

    Li Yundong continued his attack by delivering an ap chagi (Taekwondo¡¯s front snap kick) straight into Wu Hao¡¯s groin . Wu Hao screamed and bent his body forward . Li Yundong then arched his back and rotated his hips forward while thrusting his right knee in an upward motion . There was a sickening crunch when Li Yundong¡¯s knee smashed into Wu Hao¡¯s nose . Wu Hao¡¯s head snapped backwards, leaving his throat wide open . Li Yundong¡¯s hand shot out and grabbed Wu Hao¡¯s throat .

    Wu Hao was yanked upwards with his feet dangling several inches above the ground .

    When Li Yundong heard the whipping sound behind him, he turned around abruptly and used Wu Hao¡¯s body as a shield . The whip pulled back at thest second . Lyu Fengping cursed .

    "Make another move, and I¡¯ll crush his windpipe," Li Yundong growled .

    Lyu Fengping flinched, then froze in ce . Wu Hao made a choking sound in his throat .

    "Drop the whip and show me your hands!" Li Yundong yelled .

    When Lyu Fengping didn¡¯t move, Li Yundong raised Wu Hao¡¯s body higher and squeezed his fingers harder . "Now!"

    Wu Hao made another strangled sound and began kicking his legs in the air .

    "Okay . . . Okay . . . " Lyu Fengping tossed the whip to the ground and raised her palms . "Let him go . "

    Without releasing Wu Hao from the choke, Li Yundong slowly backed away towards the Land Rover parked nearby . He could just take the car and then leave these two dimwits here .

    Wu Hao kept struggling and kicking his legs .

    "Y- You . . . b- bas . . . tard . . . T- That was . . . a sneak attack . . . " Wu Hao choked .

    "Sounds f*cking riching from you," Li Yundong said coldly and dragged Wu Hao backwards a few more steps . "You¡¯re not the one who¡¯s outnumbered here . " Li Yundong¡¯s back hit the car secondster . With his free hand, he reached behind him and tried the door handle .

    The door wouldn¡¯t open .

    "Open the damn door!" Li Yundong growled .

    Wu Hao choked again, like he was trying to say something .

    Li Yundong eased the pressure around Wu Hao¡¯s throat .

    "It¡¯s p-pointless . . . "

    More choking and coughing .

    "What do you mean pointless . Just open the damn door!"

    "The car¡¯s got a fingerprint ignition switch! You¡¯ll have to take me with you if you want to drive the car . "

    Li Yundong cursed . Fine . n B . Knock these two dimwits out and then get out of here .

    Just then, he saw Lyu Fengping scrambling towards them .

    Li Yundong tightened his fingers around Wu Hao¡¯s neck . "Don¡¯te any closer!"

    "Stop! Stop!" Lyu Fengping yelled . "P- Please . . . Just let him go, please . . . We made a mistake, Zhenren . . . Please just let him go . "

    "A mistake? Are you shitting me right now? A minute ago, you were threatening to kill me!"

    "I- It was a mistake, okay! A mistake!" Lyu Fengping screamed . "We thought you were a newbie Cultivator . A- And we were just trying to intimidate you into giving us the fan!"

    Li Yundong kept ring at the woman until she turned pale .

    "L- Look . . . Please just let him go and we¡¯ll leave . "

    "Bullshit," Li Yundong said coldly . "Why should I believe you? You¡¯ll just ambush me again if I let him go . "

    "No!" Lyu Fengping shook her head frantically . "We won¡¯t! Just let him go . . . Please!"

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes . He didn¡¯t trust a single word she said, but he also didn¡¯t want to kill . I¡¯m gonna have to knock them both out and¡ª

    Li Yundong gasped when he felt something wrap around his wrist . Horror coursed through him when he saw the head of a cobra staring right at him from his wrist . Li Yundong released Wu Hao¡¯s neck in fright and yanked his arm backwards .

    The cobra recoiled and then slithered back into Lyu Fengping¡¯s hand before it transformed back into a whip .

    When the hell did she¡ª

    Li Yundong looked towards the spot on the ground where he¡¯d seen Lyu Fengping drop the whip earlier . Obviously, the whip was no longer there .

    Wu Hao climbed to his feet and spat out a mouthful of blood . Then, he gave Li Yundong a feral grin .

    "My turn!" Wu Hao yelled and raised a palm . One of the beads flew towards Li Yundong .

    Shit!

    Li Yundong ducked, but the bead didn¡¯t strike him like he had expected; instead, it morphed into a giant ball of me when it was a few feet shy of hitting him . He tried to back away, but it was toote . The mes closed in on him before he could take more than two steps . The next thing he knew, the mes engulfed his entire body .

    He was about to be burnt alive .

 Chapter 183

    Chapter 183

    <h4>Framed</h4>

    The scorching sensation never came . A thin film of golden light enveloped his body, making him glow from head to toe . The light was repelling the mes, pushing them away they moment they got too close . Li Yundong sighed . The Jindan¡¯s Aura had saved his ass once again .

    "Die, you punk!" Wu Hao yelled .

    The mes pounced on Li Yundong with such ferocity that he actually had a split second¡¯s doubt with regards to the Jindan¡¯s Aura¡¯s ability to protect him . He raised his arms and flinched back in fear .

    Again, the scorching sensation never came; the mes were repelled .

    A modicum of confidence returned to Li Yundong¡¯s psyche . He lowered his arms from his head and watched the mes¡¯ movements carefully . The mes circled and danced around him as though they had a life of their own, enclosing him in a fiery sphere .

    He had to fight back . This situation would just drag on forever if he kept allowing himself to be on the defensive .

    The mes . He had to do something about the mes .

    Maybe I can create an opening by repelling it with the Jindan¡¯s Aura . . .

    Li Yundong stretched out his arms and pushed them out to both sides, like he was trying to open a curtain . The mes parted slightly . Yes! Li Yundong pushed his feet off the ground and tried to charge through the opening .

    Toote . The gap vanished before he could slip through it . After that, he tried punching the mes, swiping his arms at them to chase them away . None of his attempts worked . Although the Jindan¡¯s Aura could repel the mes upon close contact, it couldn¡¯t disrupt the mes¡¯ continuity in structure . No matter how Li Yundong struck the mes, he couldn¡¯t create a gap that wouldst long enough for him to slip through . There was a kind of fluidity in the mes¡¯ movements . Whenever one part of the mes was repelled, the remaining part would move in to fill the gap created by the repulsion . It was almost as though the mes were some kind of fluid .

    "It¡¯s a pointless struggle, Zhenren . . . " Wu Hao¡¯s smug voice sounded amidst the constant crackling of the mes . "The Beads of Gore will not only reduce your body into nothing but blood and gore, but it will also devour your entire soul! There is no escape! Today is the day you meet your maker!" Wu Hao¡¯s derisiveughter sounded next .

    The mes flowed through the air with a smoothness uncharacteristic of fire . They danced around Li Yundong like rhythmic waves as if responding to the cadence of Wu Hao¡¯sughter . Secondster, Lyu Fengping startedughing as well .

    In spite of the chaotic situation, Su Chan¡¯s face suddenly popped up in Li Yundong¡¯s mind . Something tugged inside his chest . The love of his life was still waiting for him . He couldn¡¯t just die here . Not like this .

    Who do you think you are! Ao Wushuang¡¯s taunt echoed inside his mind . You think you can y the hero just because you¡¯re the Jindan¡¯s Heir? Hah! The truth is that you¡¯re nothing but an amateur! A weakling!

    Li Yundong clenched his jaw and squared his shoulders . Calmness suffused him the moment his Qi reached his Lingtai . All his life, he¡¯d been a nobody . A weakling .

    Enough was enough .

    He was tired of being weak, sick of being helpless .

    I am the Jindan¡¯s Heir . . . I will not be beaten . Not today!

    There had to be a way out of this mess, and he was going to find it .

    Li Yundong ced his left index finger in front of his chest, pointing its tip at the sky . He then wrapped the middle finger, ring finger, and pinky of his right hand around his left index finger . Finally, he touched the tips of his index fingers together toplete Mahavairocana¡¯s first mudra¡ªthe Intelligent Fist . However, when he was about to chant Mahavairocana¡¯s mantra, something made him hesitate .

    He lowered his backpack to the ground and studied it .

    It wasn¡¯t burning . His backpack hadn¡¯t caught fire at all . When he opened it, he immediately understood why . The Fan of Seven Treasures was emitting an aura of its own . Li Yundong pulled the huge tessen from inside the backpack, then snapped it open with a quick flick of his wrist . The air swirled around him, pushing the mes outwards, causing the fiery sphere surrounding him to expand thus giving him more room to move around .

    Lyu Fengping¡¯s shrill voice erupted amidst the roaring wind and crackling mes . Li Yundong didn¡¯t give a damn . He just wanted to get the hell out of there .

    He swung the tessen above his head in arge circle .

    More air currents were formed, which surged upwards, bringing all the mes with them . When the sphere broke apart and the mes lifted, Wu Hao¡¯s frightened face was the first thing he saw .

    Li Yundong growled and charged forward, causing Wu Hao to scream and scramble back in fear . Theshing of a whip sounded on his left . He ducked low and narrowly avoided the giant cobra that had shot out from Lyu Fengping¡¯s hand . Li Yundong stopped running when he felt some kind of resistance pulling against the Fan of Seven Treasures . The cobra had changed back into a whip after ittched onto the tessen .

    Li Yundong flicked his wrist . The fan rose abruptly, pulling the whip upwards . There was a loud snap, and the whip utched itself from the fan¡¯s surface . Lyu Fengping¡¯s body was thrown into the air as a result .

    Li Yundong followed the trajectory of Lyu Fengping¡¯s body until it crashed into the ground two secondster .

    Li Yundong charged towards the fallen woman . The tessen snapped shut and once again took the form of a long Bo staff .

    I have to knock her out while she¡¯s down . . .

    Two sets of footsteps sounded behind him, though Li Yundong kept his eyes focused on Lyu Fengping, who was still lying on the ground in a daze .

    "No!!! Stop!!!" Wu Hao screamed .

    Li Yundong raised the tessen, and then swung down with just enough force to knock someone out .

    CLICK!

    The tessen stopped moving when it was inches away from Lyu Fengping¡¯s head . Li Yundong stared in shock at the thick, muscr arm that had reached out from behind him to stop the tessen¡¯s movement .

    "Namo Amitabha . . . You would desecrate these sacrednds by spilling civilian blood here? Do you not fear Buddha¡¯s wrath?"

    The tessen fell sideways after a strong push from the arm . Li Yundong steadied the tessen and whirled around to face the neer . It was ama, a tall and buff-lookingma who looked like he could casually lift elephants above his head . It was like staring at the Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson d in a red and orange kasaya . From the corner of his eyes, Li Yundong saw Lyu Fengping crawling away from the stand-off between him and thema .

    Suddenly, Wu Hao appeared out of nowhere and fell to his knees . Then, he grabbed the ends of thema¡¯s kasaya and started sobbing .

    "H- Help us, kind monk!" Wu Hao whimpered . "You have arrived just in time!" Wu Hao pointed a shaky finger at Li Yundong . "S- Save us from t- that vile monster!"

    "Hey!!" Li Yundong protested . Is this guy for real?

    "Oh?" Thema raised his brow . "Was there trouble before I got here?"

    "W- We¡¯re tourists, you see? But when we drove up here, this evil man tried to rob us!" Wu Hao pointed at Li Yundong again .

    Anger rose inside Li Yundong . "That¡¯s a lie! You guys are the ones who¡ª"

    "H- He tried to steal our car and all our belongings!" Wu Hao sobbed . "A- And then he even tried to rape my w- wife . . . I tried to stop him . . . but look what he did to me!" Wu Hao showed thema his broken nose and bleeding eyes . "And look at my wife!"

    Lyu Fengping whimpered like a hurt kitten . "Thank you for saving us, kindma! H- He tried to rape me . My husband and I are Cultivators, so we fought back . But we were no match for him . He would¡¯ve killed me if you hadn¡¯t arrived in time just now . "

    Li Yundong gaped at the scene before him . Seriously? Is this shit really happening right now? These f*cking scoundrels!

    "Is that so?" Thema¡¯s steely eyes zeroed in on Li Yundong .

    "That¡¯s bullshit!" Li Yundong growled . "They¡¯re both lying!"

    "No! We¡¯re not lying!" Lyu Fengping screamed and showed thema her battered face, which was covered in scrapes and bruises . "Just look!! He beat us up! Please believe us!"

    Son of a bitch!

    Thema¡¯s expression turned even stonier .

    "Indeed, I¡¯m not surprised at all that a man like him is capable of such atrocious deeds . . . "

    Li Yundong frowned at thema¡¯s words . What the hell was that supposed to mean?

    "He did steal a sacred text from Kathok Monastery after all . . . "

    Li Yundong could feel his own eyes growing wide at the usation . "Hey! I didn¡¯t steal anything! It was a gift¡ª"

    "Silence!" Thema flicked his robe and revealed his muscr arms . "As the guardian sentinel of Kathok Monastery and one of the Eighteen Sentinels of the Holy Mountain, I cannot tolerate this . " Thema pressed his palms together . "Namo Amitabha . By the orders of the head of Kathok Monastery, I shall put an end to your evil ways and then reim the Mahamudra Tantra from your cold, dead hands . "

    Li Yundong raised the tessen in front of him and started backing away from the tallma . He cursed inwardly when he noticed that the Jindan¡¯s Aura had disappeared .

    "Look... This is a misunderstanding," Li Yundong stated calmly as he backed a few steps away . "I never robbed those people, and I didn¡¯t rape thedy . And for God¡¯s sake, I never stole the sacred text from the temple . It was a gift! Changbag gave it to me as a gift! Why don¡¯t you just ask him! You know Changbag, don¡¯t you?"

    Thema kept advancing towards him .

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know why, but the man¡¯s stoic expression somehow made him seem even more menacing .

    "I am well-acquainted with Changbag . But that has nothing to do with what I¡¯m doing here . I have a duty to fulfill . Bhante Danba wanted me to retrieve the sacred text without killing you . But now... . Now it seems like I don¡¯t have to hold back at all . "

    Li Yundong kept backing away . "Listen man . . . I don¡¯t want to fight you . . . " When he looked past thema¡¯s broad shoulders, he saw Wu Hao and Lyu Fengping whispering at each other . "Look . You want the Mahamudra Tantra back? Fine . You can have it back . There¡¯s no need for violence . "

    Thema smirked . "Oh? You think you¡¯re off the hook that easily? As a guardian sentinel, it is also my sworn duty to make you answer for all the horrible things you did to those poor folks . " Thema jerked his chin towards the Wu Hao and Lyu Fengping . Those two were still whispering to each other . What the hell are those two up to?

    "Besides . . . I¡¯m sure that the Mahamudra Tantra isn¡¯t the only sacred artifact that you¡¯ve stolen . . . "

    "I never stole anything," Li Yundong stated calmly . Except maybe for the Renyuan Jindan, which technically didn¡¯t count as theft .

    "Oh . . . I beg to differ . " Thema chuckled . "That object you are carrying in your hand . . . I saw inscriptions of the Diamond Sutra on it, so it¡¯s most likely some valuable Buddhist artifact too . "

    Oh, for f*ck¡¯s sake! Couldn¡¯t a guy catch a f*cking break after he¡¯d run all the way from Tiannan City to Tibet?

    Li Yundong snorted . "You¡¯re just saying that," he said coldly . "I bet you just want it for yourself . "

    Wu Hao was climbing to his feet . Lyu Fengping was trying to pull him back down . They looked like they were arguing about something .

    Li Yundong channeled his Qi to his Shenting .

    Lyu Fengping¡¯s voice sounded amidst the mild buzzing .

    "I think we should just leave, Ah Hao . . . That guy is so strong... I don¡¯t think we should mess with him . "

    "Bullshit . I got careless that¡¯s all . I can take him if I use all four beads at the same time . I know I can . "

    Thema pressed his palms together . "Regardless . I shall return the tessen to its rightful owner as soon as I find out who it is . "

    "Well . The owner gave it to me . "

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t mention Ao Wushuang¡¯s name . When Ao Wushuang first made her appearance, both Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling were shocked because they both thought that she was dead . Clearly, Ao Wushuang had spent all this time in hiding, and Li Yundong wasn¡¯t about to jeopardize her secret by mentioning her name .

    "Are you out of your mind, Ah Hao? You¡¯re gonna use up all four beads? God! Do you even know how difficult it is to make even one of those beads?"

    "Tsk . Just think for a second, Fengping, would you? Think . What are four beadspared to the Fan of Seven Treasures?"

    "Still... I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea, Ah Hao . I¡¯ve got a bad feeling about this..."

    "You¡¯re overthinking this . . . Look . I¡¯ll just use all four beads at once . That¡¯s more than enough to take care of the bastard and thatma as well . "

    "Are you nuts?!" Lyu Fengping hissed . "He¡¯s a guardian sentinel . The Esoteric Sect will hunt us down!"

    "Are you an idiot?" Wu Hao hissed back . "We¡¯ll be in bigger trouble if word gets out that we have the Fan of Seven Treasures! We can¡¯t allow any loose ends!"

    Those treacherous f*ckers .

    Li Yundong looked towards thema . It didn¡¯t seem like thema had heard those words, which made sense since those treacherous swines had been whispering the entire time . Li Yundong could only hear them because of Eryue .

    "You know . . . For ama, you¡¯re a really lousy judge of character," Li Yundong said wryly .

    "The only thing that matters to me is duty and honor . "

    Li Yundong snorted derisively . "You call it honor, but I call it bing someone else¡¯s pawn . "

    "A thief and a robber has no right to talk about honor . "

    "You¡¯re making a huge mistaken,ma . " Li Yundong felt his back touching something cold and slippery . He tightened his grip on the tessen . Thisma was going to try and take the fan from him too . It was best if he refrained from using it lest it get taken away .

    Ao Wushuang would skin him alive if he lost the fan to any one of these¡ª

    Uh-oh .

    Iing!

    Li Yundong dove sideways when a st of hot gas¡ªthe shape of arge human palm¡ªcame flying towards him . There was a muffle thud when the gas mmed into the rock whose surface Li Yundong had been leaning his back against . Water dripped down from the rock as the snow covering the rock¡¯s surface melted . Steam rose from the palm imprint on the rock .

    Li Yundong recognized that technique; there was a passage in the Mahamudra Tantra that described it . This must be one of thosebative mudras that Changbag had told him about .

    "Shouldn¡¯t you seek proof and verification first before you deemed me as guilty?" Li Yundong dodged several more bursts of palm-shaped hot air .

    "I¡¯ve already seen the proof of your evil . The battered appearance of that poor couple tells me all I need to know!"

    Thema leaped into the air and cocked his hands back .

    Damn it! Li Yundong quickly performed Mahavairocana¡¯s first hand sign¡ªthe Intelligent Fist Mudra . He didn¡¯t miss the look of shock on thema¡¯s face when he did that . Two palm-shaped sts of hot air came flying towards him .

    "Om mani padme hum!" Li Yundong bridged his Three Gates with a small portion of his Qi . A golden apparition of the Intelligent Fist mudra flew out of his hands and repelled those sts .

    Themanded on the ground a few feet away . "T- That¡¯s impossible! How can someone like you perform that technique . . . "

    God . That sounded so condescending .

    "What¡¯s that supposed to¡ª" Li Yundong suddenly stopped talking and leaped forward . "Watch out!!!"

    Flying towards them were all four of those deadly beads and the giant head of a cobra .

 Chapter 184

    Chapter 184

    <h4>The Consequence of Greed</h4>

    Li Yundong leaped over themas head. His feet slid against the icy ground when hended and got into a low stance. The Fan of Seven Treasures spread open with a loud snap, revealing its metallic leaves, which were tinged with the glowing verses of the Diamond Sutra.

    Li Yundong swung the tessen from left to right, generating a powerful gale that blew the iing beads away before they could reach them. The cobra recoiled and transformed back into a whip. Two of the beads smashed into a cliff nearby and then rolled uselessly on the ground. The remaining two beads smashed into Wu Hao¡¯s body, engulfing him in a giant ball of me. There was a blood-curdling scream, whichsted for only a few seconds as that was all the time it took for Wu Hao¡¯s body to dissolve into a puddle of blood and gore.

    The guy had been liquefied. Literally.

    Li Yundong shuddered at the thought that he would¡¯ve suffered the same fate if it weren¡¯t for the Jindan¡¯s Aura.

    Lyu Fengping went hysterical in an instant. "No!!! Ah Hao!!!!!"

    The cobra came flying at Li Yundong once again. He parried it by swinging the Fan of Seven Treasures like a bat. The cobra slithered along the tessen¡¯s length, coiling around its surface.

    "You bastard!" Lyu Fengping screamed.

    Shit!

    Li Yundong was forced to let go of the handle to avoid being bitten at the wrist. The tessen crashed to the ground while the cobra changed back into a whip. Lyu Fengping gave the whip a sharp tug; the tessen slid on the icy ground towards her. "This is mine now!"

    Li Yundong moved his fingers quickly and performed atha¡¯s 12th mudra¡ªthe Great Sword. "Namah samanta vajranam ham!" A golden apparition of a long sword materialized in front of Li Yundong. The sword zipped across the air. Lyu Fengping shrieked and yanked the whip to the side. CRACK! The whip was cleaved in half. Lyu Fengping staggered back a few steps. Li Yundong raised his right arm and willed the Fan of Seven Treasures toe to him. The tessen didn¡¯t move, which surprised him because he clearly remembered being able to control it with his mind when he was ying around with it on the rooftop.

    "Damn you!!" Lyu Fengping came charging at him again. Her fingers were now releasing a faint, blue glow, which extended from each finger like ws. Li Yundong leaped backwards to avoid a swipe at his neck. Hended six feet away and got into a Bai Jong stance with his right arm extended.

    Lyu Fengping swiped at him with those ws.

    Li Yundong dodged backwards while maintaining the Bai Jong stance.

    Then, Li Yundong started bouncing on the balls of his feet, moving around Lyu Fengping in circles with his footwork.

    Lyu Fengping tried to attack again. SMACK! Li Yundong delivered an oblique kick to Lyu Fengping¡¯s shin. Surprise shed in Lyu Fengping¡¯s eyes, which quickly turned into anger. Lyu Fengping stepped forward again, but her attack was thwarted by another oblique kick.

    Li Yundong switched up the rhythm. He raised his knee and feinted a kick. Lyu Fengping took the bait. She jumped backwards, nearly tripping over her own feet in the process. However, she regained her footing in no time. SWISH! SWISH! She made a few more useless swipes with those ws. Lyu Fengping had bent herself at the waist instead of stepping forward when she made herst few attacks.

    Li Yundong smirked. She was afraid of those low kicks.

    Li Yundong feinted an oblique kick. Again, Lyu Fengping jumped backwards in fear. This time, however, Li Yundong decided to use her momentary distraction to his advantage. Pushing off the rear foot of his Bai Jong stance, Li Yundong moved forward while extending his right fist in a snapping motion. POP! The straight lead punch connected with Lyu Fengping¡¯s face. Lyu Fengping¡¯s head snapped backwards and she staggered a few steps.

    "Good night!" Li Yundong leaped forward andnded a Muay Thai flying knee strike at Lyu Fengping¡¯s sternum.

    The woman flew backwards and crashed into the ground, rolling a few times. Li Yundong sighed and switched back to his normal stance. The womany motionlessly on the ground. He really hoped she would stay down. For her own good.

    Li Yundong slowly made his way towards the Fan of Seven Treasures, which was lying a good ten meters away from where he stood. When he reached the fan, he crouched down and started uncoiling the broken whip from the fan¡¯s handle. A sharp whizz made him drop the fan. Moving by instinct, he sprang to his feet and whirled around.

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham!" A golden rectangr barrier appeared in front of Li Yundong the moment he bridged his Three gates. Two beads struck the barrier hard before bursting into mes.

    Li Yundong gritted his teeth as he struggled to maintain the finger positioning of the Immovable Mountain of Treasure mudra. The mes lurched around in the air as they tried relentlessly to breach the barrier. Each time the mes struck the barrier, Li Yundong could feel an invisible force trying to pry his hands apart.

    He had to get rid of those mes.

    He reached behind with his leg and moved the Fan of Seven Treasures until ity on the ground beside him. Li Yundong nced down at the tessen. Those mes would hit him the moment he broke the hand seal. The Jindan¡¯s Aura was now gone. He wouldn¡¯t bank on the fact that it would appear again. As far as he could tell, the Jindan¡¯s Aura was usually activated when he was super pissed off or when he suffered some kind of physical wound.

    Right. Physical wound.

    No way in hell he was going to risk getting hit by not one, but two, of those beads. He wondered if he could wield the tessen with his legs. How the heck did he manage to control it with his mind the other day?

    Footsteps sounded ahead. He raised his gaze and saw thema jumping into the air. A barrage of red palm prints flew out from thema¡¯s hands and struck the mes. Secondster, the resistance on Li Yundong¡¯s hands vanished; the mes were gone.

    Themanded on the ground a few feet away from him. Li Yundong sighed and released the Immovable Mountain of Treasure hand seal.

    "Still think I¡¯m the bad guy?" Li Yundong asked. The sarcasm in his tone was obvious even to his own ears.

    Lyu Fengping was already on her feet. She raised her hands and, all of a sudden, the blue glow on her fingertips shot out likeser beams. Thema leaped into the air. A red palm print swept across the space in front of them and parried those beams away.

    "She¡¯s open!" thema yelled when hended.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t have to be told twice. He raised his hands with both palms facing each other and held them a couple of inches apart. Then, he touched his index fingers together toplete atha¡¯s 8th mudra, the Pouncing Lion.

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham!"

    A golden apparition of a lion sprung out from Li Yundong¡¯s hand sign. The lion roared, then pounced swiftly onto Lyu Fengping.

    Lyu Fengping screamed and vanished in a sh of green light. Secondster, she reappeared in the air twenty meters above the ground.

    "W- Who are you? Which school are you from?!" Lyu Fengping yelled.

    The lion disappeared when Li Yundong lowered his hands to his sides. "Who I am is none of your damn business." He red up at Lyu Fengping. "Tell me something. Who put you guys up to this, huh?"

    Lyu Fengping kept ranting as though she didn¡¯t hear him. "Y- You¡¯ve only just passed the Zhuji phase, yet you already have so much power..."

    Li Yundong picked up the tessen from the ground and then rested it on his shoulders.

    "How did you recognize this fan?" he asked coldly. "I never showed it to anyone. So somebody must have tipped you off. I want a name!"

    If Wu Hao and Lyu Fengping were in fact sent by someone, then it was likely that whoever sent them knew of the fan¡¯s absence from the Fox Zen School.

    His next thought filled him with a sense of dread.

    Was it an inside job? Had the Fox Zen School beenpromised? Was there a spy or an intruder inside the Fox Zen School?

    If there was, then Ao Wushuang had to be warned as soon as possible. Otherwise Su Chan¡¯s life might be in danger.

    The woman kept staring down at him from the sky, but she didn¡¯t answer.

    "Answer me!!!" Li Yundong roared threateningly. The tessen spread open with a loud snap. "I¡¯m not going to ask again..."

    The woman smirked. "Go to hell!"

    All of a sudden, the wind picked up speed. Shadows crept out from Lyu Fengping¡¯s body, filling the whole area with darkness, which was creepy as hell seeing as the sun was still shining brightly in the sky.

    What kind of spell is this?

    Li Yundong lowered the tessen and nced around frantically. Thest thing he wanted was to see enemy reinforcementsing in.

    There was a loud gasp followed by a series of strangled coughs. Li Yundong turned around and saw the tallma falling to his knees with his hands clutching his chest. Li Yundong ran over to thema. "Hey! What¡¯s the matter?" Thema kept clutching his chest. Li Yundong red up at Lyu Fengping. "What the hell did you do?!"

    Lyu Fengpingughed hysterically instead of answering.

    Something in the air shifted.

    The next thing Li Yundong heard made his hair stand on end. There were voices. Screaming voices, like thousands of people being tortured. Eventually, the wind gained enough speed and started howling like crazy, though it still wasn¡¯t enough to muffle out those creepy voices. Dark wraiths rose from the ground and started dancing around them. The whole thing looked like a scene from a goddamn horror movie.

    "S- Such evil..."

    Li Yundong looked to the side and saw thema struggling to his feet. The poor man was shivering.

    Li Yundong looked up at Lyu Fengping. Evil? Li Yundong lifted the Fan of Seven Treasures and then snapped it open. I fear no evil.

    A strong gust of wind blew across the area when he swung the tessen above his head. He thought the wind could blow the wraiths away, but it didn¡¯t. These things probably didn¡¯t even have material forms. Right. n B.

    Whoa... wait a second...

    The engravings on the Fan of Seven Treasures were glowing brightly. Then, when he raised the fan to take a closer look at those verses, he noticed the wraiths closest to him cowering back in fear. These are Buddhist verses from the Diamond Sutra...

    Li Yundong swung the tessen again. The wraiths were repelled and pushed back several meters. But secondster, the wraiths started closing in towards them again.

    I see...

    Li Yundong smirked as an idea began to form inside his mind. If repelling evil doesn¡¯t work, then I¡¯ll just have to purify it. He raised his right hand to chest, then formed a closed loop with his index finger and thumb while leaving the other three fingers pointing towards the sky. ording to the Mahamudra Tantra, this was atha¡¯s 14th and final mudra.

    "The Hand of Purification..." thema whispered in a strangled voice.

    "Stay down..." Li Yundong said. "This will be over quickly."

 Chapter 185

    Chapter 185

    <h4>Grandmaster</h4>

    Li Yundong stared coldly at the woman hovering twenty feet above him. Dark phantoms and wraiths surrounded him, bathing him in darkness, taunting him with their creepy voices. Nevertheless, Li Yundong remainedpletely unfazed.

    I fear no evil.

    Li Yundong¡¯s right hand rose slightly. The wraiths slithered away as if the mere presence of atha¡¯s 14th mudra terrified them.

    "Who sent you after me?" Even Li Yundong himself was a little surprised by how calm and cold his voice sounded right then. He didn¡¯t think he had ever felt this confident before. Not in real life, and certainly not while standing amidst dozens of dark, ghost-like creatures who looked like they were about to swallow him alive.

    "I¡¯ll tell you who sent me..." Lyu Fengpingughed hysterically, then stopped to give him a snide look. "Your mom!"

    "You think this is funny?" Li Yundong¡¯s cold gaze locked onto Lyu Fengping¡¯s face. The woman¡¯s smug expression faltered a little. "Give me a name!"

    A crazed and deranged look spread across Lyu Fengping¡¯s face. "I have nothing to say to you!!" Then, she released a shriek worthy of a thousand banshees. The wraiths¡¯ voices became louder and¡ªif it was even possible¡ªcreepier.

    "Fine..." Li Yundong said. "You leave me no choice."

    "That fan is mine!" Lyu Fengping yelled, her expression twisting into something barely recognizable. It didn¡¯t even look human.

    "Be gone, evil..." Li Yundong whispered. "Suffer the Hand of Purification."

    Lyu Fengping flew down towards him just as the wraiths began to close in on him from every direction.

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham!"

    The moment Li Yundong bridged his Three Gates, he thought he¡¯d turned into the Human Torch¡ªmes erupted from his skin, engulfing him from head to toe. The next thing he knew, he was at the center of a bright, golden ze.

    Golden rays shot out from his body like spears, ripping through the dark aura surrounding him. The wraiths evaporated, their wails turning into diminishing echoes. Behind him, Li Yundong heard an endless string Amitabhas before those chants were blocked out by a long, screeching voiceing from above.

    Like those wraiths, Lyu Fengping¡¯s body was slowly evaporating, almost as if those golden rays were eating up her physical form starting from her arms, moving rapidly towards her torso.

    Then, something caught Li Yundong¡¯s eyes. Something flew out of Lyu Fengping¡¯s torso seconds before her torso evaporatedpletely. Despite the dazzling golden rays, Li Yundong could tell that the object was green in color.

    It was an apparition of Lyu Fengping¡¯s physical form.

    He had seen something like this before. When Ruan Hongling ambushed them at their apartment, a green apparition of her had floated out of her damask as well.

    The golden rays dissolved thest remnants of Lyu Fengping¡¯s contorted face and then vanished in a bright sh. The darkness was gone, and everything seemed to be back to normal except for the green apparition hovering in mid-air.

    "Y- You destroyed my body..."

    Li Yundong lowered his right hand, then picked up the Fan of Seven Treasures from the ground. Then, he red up at the apparition. "A name... Give me a name..."

    The apparition screamed and flew several feet backwards.

    "Tell me..." He rested the tessen across his shoulders and took a step forward. "Did the head of the Yin Yang Sect put you two up to this?" He took another step forward.

    The apparition shrunk back in fear.

    Li Yundong raised a brow. "Still not talking?" He raised his hands and positioned his fingers into atha¡¯s 13th mudra¡ªthe Divine Lasso.

    But before he had time to chant the mantra, the apparition screamed and slipped through the surface of arge crag.

    It was gone.

    ***

    Li Yundong walked back towards thema after the interrogation, which was, admittedly, a total failure. Stopping in front of thema, Li Yundong mmed the rivet of the Fan of Seven Treasures¡ªnow in the form of a Bo staff¡ªinto the ground. Cracks spread out from the hole in the ice where the rivet was lodged into.

    "Now you listen up,ma," Li Yundong said. "I did not steal anything. This weapon"¡ªHe tapped the tessen¡¯s surface¡ª"was entrusted to me by its owner. And before I have the chance to return it to its rightful ce, I¡¯ll guard this thing with my life, do you understand? Those two are the ones who tried to rob me, not the other way around. I was only defending myself!" Li Yundong red at thema. "Also, I don¡¯t know what the hell your superiors told you, but I didn¡¯t steal the Mahamudra Tantra either. Changbag gave it to me as a gift and told me to put it to good use! For God¡¯s sake, why can¡¯t people just do a fact-check first before they start throwing wild usations?!"

    Thema seemed rather taken aback by Li Yundong¡¯s outburst. As he should be, because Li Yundong was pretty much seething at this point. He really needed a f*cking break from all this nonsense.

    Momentster, thema sighed and pressed his palms together.

    "Amitabha..." he said. "Indeed, it does seem like I have made a grave misjudgment."

    Li Yundong snorted. "You don¡¯t say."

    "And it is my hope that you ept my deepest and sincerest apology." Thema bowed slightly.

    Li Yundong eyed thema skeptically. Just like that?

    "Uh-huh... What changed your mind?" Li Yundong scowled. "Minutes ago, you¡¯d rather side with those crooks than listen to my side of the story."

    It was like critical thinking has be a lost skill these days.

    "Again. My deepest apologies, Zhenren... Umm..." Thema shot him an expectant look.

    "Li," Li Yundong said. "Li Yundong."

    Thema nodded. "And I am Dorjee Tenzin. The guardian sentinel of Kathok Monastery and one of the Eighteen Sentinels of the Holy Mountain."

    "Eighteen Sentinels?" Li Yundong raised a brow. "Wait, you mean you¡¯re like one of those eighteen bronze men?"

    Dorjee Tenzin gave him a funny look. "Well... Something like that."

    "You haven¡¯t answered my question." Li Yundong narrowed his eyes. "What made you change your mind about me?"

    For all he knew, this Dorjee Tenzin guy could just be putting up an act so that he could steal the Fan of Seven Treasures the moment Li Yundong let his guard down.

    Dorjee Tenzin closed his eyes and pressed his palms together. "Amitabha... It is the way you have wlessly executed the tantric mudras, Zhenren Li," he said. "Those are the secret techniques known only to a selected few in the Esoteric Sect."

    "So? That¡¯s only because I¡¯ve read and understood the Mahamudra Tantra," Li Yundong said. "I bet anyone could do it once they read the book. But that doesn¡¯t say anything about my character at all. You¡¯re gonna based your judgement on that?" Li Yundong rolled his eyes. "Now I totally see why you¡¯re gullible enough to be fooled by those two crooks earlier."

    "No." Dorjee Tenzin shook his head. "I¡¯m afraid you don¡¯t fully understand the significance of this, Zhenren Li." Dorjee Tenzin gave him a reverent look. "Only those with pure intentions can perform those techniques."

    Li Yundong stared at Dorjee Tenzin. Huh. Interesting.

    Thema smiled. "Those techniques are like bridges connecting the user and the divine, you see."

    "Oh." Li Yundong had no idea what to say. So, like, what, he was one of Buddha¡¯s buddies now?

    "Zhenren Li... If you don¡¯t mind me asking... How long did it take you to master the tantric mudras?"

    "A couple of hours, I guess?"

    Dorjee Tenzin just stared at him.

    "Why? Is that too slow? Well. In my defense, I couldn¡¯t read Sanskrit and Tibetan, so somebody had to read it out line by line to me. It might actually take a lot less time if¡ª"

    Dorjee Tenzin fell t on his butt.

    "Whoa!" Li Yundong was beside thema¡¯s in an instant. "What¡¯s the matter, man?"

    "A- A few h- hours...?"

    Li Yundong sighed. "Like I said¡ª"

    "But it took my master two years!" Dorjee Tenzin eximed.

    Li Yundong stared at the man. "Uh..."

    "And then there¡¯s me, who couldn¡¯t even master a single tantric mudra after three years of training!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s jaw went ck. "Seriously?" Li Yundong had failed to keep the surprise out of his tone. He half-expected Dorjee Tenzin to take that as an insult, but the guy just sat there with a crestfallen look on his face.

    Li Yundong cleared his throat. "Well... I must¡¯ve gotten lucky, then."

    He honestly wouldn¡¯t take all the credit. Chances were that most of his aplishments were only made possible by the Jindan.

    "Such talent..." Dorjee Tenzin mumbled to himself. "Such insurmountable talent..." Dorjee Tenzin¡¯s eyes zed over. Poor guy looked like he was about to pass out.

    "Hey!" Li Yundong waved a hand in front of Dorjee Tenzin¡¯s face and snapped his fingers a few times. "Snap out of it."

    Dorjee Tenzin¡¯s eyes cleared a little. Li Yundong offered thema his hand. Dorjee Tenzin took his hand and stood up on wobbly feet.

    Li Yundong patted Dorjee Tenzin¡¯s shoulder and motioned for him to wait there. He lifted the Fan of Seven Treasures and walked towards his backpack.

    His backpack and the stuff inside it were unharmed. Seriously. Not a single scratch or burn mark. He deposited the backpack beside Dorjee Tenzin¡¯s feet, then pulled out the Mahamudra Tantra.

    "T- That¡¯s..." Dorjee Tenzin stammered.

    Li Yundong gave him a stern look. "I will return the book on one condition."

    Dorjee Tenzin stared at him nkly.

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes. "You¡¯ll have to prove to me that you really are the person you imed to be, not some impostor looking to steal the book for yourself. Changbag warned me to not let the book fall into the wrong hands. So." Li Yundong crossed his arms. "Prove it. Prove to me that you really are one of the Eighteen Sentinels or whatever."

    Dorjee Tenzin pressed his palms together. "Amitabha. I have no proof to offer other than my word."

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes. "Are you nning to sell the book?"

    "No."

    "Are you nning to use the techniques for nefarious purposes?"

    "I am incapable of that even if I want to, Zhenren Li." Dorjee Tenzin smiled wryly. "I have spent three fruitless years training myself in order to master the tantric mudras to no avail. Regardless, the answer is still no. I harbor no intentions to use the mudras for purposes that would defy Buddha¡¯s teachings."

    "What are your intentions then?"

    "Amitabha. To fulfill my duty and return the Mahamudra Tantra to the safety of Kathok Monastery."

    "Indeed..." Li Yundong slipped the Mahamudra Tantra back into the backpack. "No lie, no matter how convincing, can deceive the Great Eye." Li Yundong sped his hands together and pointed his index fingers to the sky toplete atha¡¯s 4th mudra.

    Li Yundong closed his eyes. "Namah samanta vajranam ham..." He bridged his Three Gates. "Nor can it remain unperturbed in the presence of the Heart of Virtue." He moved his fingers into atha¡¯s 6th mudra.

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham...."

    Li Yundong opened his eyes and found Dorjee Tenzin staring back at him in awe. They stared at each other for a while. Had Dorjee Tenzin been lying or harboring any impure intentions, he would start feeling super ufortable right about now.

    A minuteter, Li Yundong smiled and lowered his hands. "Fine. I believe you." He took out the Mahamudra Tantra once more and handed it to Dorjee Tenzin, who took it gratefully.

    "Amitabha... On behalf of the Esoteric Sect and Kathok Monastery, I¡¯d like to offer you my sincerest gratitude for returning the book willingly."

    Li Yundong shrugged. "I¡¯ve already learnt everything in the book anyway, so I don¡¯t really need it." All thanks to the Lianqi phase, of course. "I only took it with me because Changbag insisted that I take it."

    "Zhenren Li. Might I interest you to join me back at Kathok Monastery? Perhaps we could carry on this conversation over a cup of warm tea and some food?"

    Li Yundong nced in the northwest direction. Tingri was only 70 kilometers away. He could still make it into the town before dark if he set off now. Plus, he still had to find a way to get in touch with Zi Yuan.

    Li Yundong shook his head. "Unfortunately, I have to get going. There¡¯s somewhere I need to be."

    Dorjee Tenzin¡¯s face fell. "I understand."

    Li Yundong smiled and patted the tallma¡¯s shoulder. "Maybe next time."

    Would there be a next time though? He honestly wasn¡¯t even sure if he would ever return to Tibet. Hell. He couldn¡¯t even be sure if all of this was actual reality, not some illusion conjured by his personal god.

    Li Yundong stuffed the Fan of Seven Treasures into the backpack and covered it up with a towel. Then, he secured the straps over his shoulders.

    "Well. See you around, big guy."

    Dorjee Tenzin closed his eyes and pressed his palms together. "May Buddha guide your journey."

    "Thank you." He waved at Dorjee Tenzin and walked away.

    "One more thing, Zhenren Li!"

    Li Yundong came to a halt and turned around.

    "You are blessed with insurmountable talents, Zhenren Li," Dorjee Tenzin said. "Do not waste them. I have no doubt that you¡¯ll one day be one of the greatest Grandmasters to ever live."

 Chapter 186

    Chapter 186

    <h4>Reunite</h4>

    It was dark by the time Li Yundong arrived at the fork of Country Road 218. He stood at the fork, ncing around for a road sign that would point him towards the town of Tingri. There were none.

    Sighing, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his map.

    It was too dark to read, so he gathered his Lung¡¯s Qi to his left hand while unfolding the map with his right. A white glow emanated from the tip of his index finger, which he used as a torch light of some kind to read the map.

    The left fork would take him north towards G318, the highway he was trying to get to (T/N: map is included; see end notes). The other fork led to Gangga vige, beyond which the town of Tingriy. He folded the map and slipped it back into his pocket. After a quick check of his surroundings, he took the fork on his right.

    Country Road 220 was just like all the other roads he had taken in the Tibetan outskirts¡ªidle and deserted, almost to the point of being godforsaken. Thanks to his Qi shoes, he was able to move swiftly but quietly down the road. He also made sure to stick to the right-hand side of the road where he could use the trees as cover from anyone spying on him from the sky. He hadn¡¯t had any hostile encounters after he parted ways with Dorjee Tenzin, but he didn¡¯t want to take any chances. Which was why he had kept his Eryue activated the whole time.

    God forbid Lyu Fengping returned with more reinforcements.

    After walking for about ten meters, he came to a sudden halt. He heard something through the hush of the night, some kind of trickling sound.

    There was a water source nearby.

    He got off the road, then slowly made his way towards the woods on his right. Secondster, he was walking in the woods, using the light from his index finger to guide him. He stopped near the edge of a downward slope. Not too steep¡ªabout 30 to 45 degrees nt angle. A small streamy at the bottom of the slope.

    He sighed and lowered his finger. That should take care of his water source until he got far away enough from this area to replenish his supplies. He could¡¯ve gotten supplies from the vige or Tingri of course, but he didn¡¯t want to leave too many bread crumbs for his enemies to follow.

    On second thought, it might be a better idea to spend the night here rather than in Tingri or Gangga vige. By now, the person who sent Wu Hao and Lyu Fengping had probably begun to wonder where those two were. For all he knew, they might¡¯ve sent another team to check out the base camps. Was Wu Hao¡¯snd rover equipped with a GPS device? It probably was. Shit.

    Well, on the plus side, nobody other than Dorjee Tenzin had seen Li Yundonge this way. And Dorjee Tenzin himself had vowed to help Li Yundong draw away any Cultivators who came looking for him.

    Dorjee Tenzin¡¯s help should buy him a little time.

    Li Yundong leaped off the edge andnded at the bottom of the slope. He approached the stream and lowered his backpack to the ground.

    The stream water felt cool in his hands. He stared at the water and allowed himself a moment of peace. A sense of tranquility washed over him. That is until he began to notice strange ripples in the water.

    Somebody was here.

    He sneaked a nce at his backpack, which was leaning against a rock a several feet away. The Fan of Seven Treasures was still there.

    A breeze tickled his skin. Wisps of white fog danced around his face, confirming his suspicion that something strange was happening.

    He twisted his torso sideways, then did an abrupt shoulder roll, putting him in a kneeling position in front of his backpack. His fingers moved into atha¡¯s 2nd mudra¡ªthe Immovable Mountain of Treasure.

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham!"

    A golden barrier spread out in front of him.

    For a moment or two, he couldn¡¯t see anything other than the thick fog surrounding the area. Then, the sound of sloshing water drew his eyes towards the stream. Light shone through the fog, like the parting of a curtain leading into a bright room.

    The light was so dazzling that he had to struggle to keep his eyes open.

    Secondster, the fog parted to two sides, revealing an elegant figure in a long, purple gown. A tulle veil fell around the woman¡¯s shoulders. The whole scene was surreal in an ethereal sort of way. He felt like he was in paradise; he couldn¡¯t even tell where the woman¡¯s veil ended and where the fog began.

    Li Yundong sighed and lowered his hands. The golden barrier faded.

    "About time you showed up."

    The woman advanced towards him. The fog shifted again, this time forming two condensed clump. Each clump then drifted towards each of the woman¡¯s hands.

    "I¡¯ve known for many years that the Mahamudra Tantra held great secrets. I just didn¡¯t expect I¡¯d get a chance to see them in y on multiple asions. I guess I should be d that you didn¡¯t take my advice to mind your own business."

    Li Yundong frowned. "Wait... Multiple asions? But I¡¯ve only shown you..."

    Zi Yuan was now close enough that Li Yundong could see her smirk.

    The penny dropped. "You¡¯ve been watching me this whole time, haven¡¯t you?"

    "Of course." Zi Yuan stopped in front of him. "Why do you think you¡¯re still alive?"

    Li Yundong failed to stifle a snort. "Is that a joke? Where were you when I was attacked by those two robbers?"

    Zi Yuan waved him off. "Just a bunch of low level thugs. I knew you could handle them."

    Yeah, well it certainly didn¡¯t feel like it.

    Li Yundong sighed and lowered himself to the ground. "I killed one of them by ident." He shook his head. "The other one got away."

    "Technically, you killed both of them."

    Li Yundong¡¯s head shot up. "But the woman got away." He frowned. "She turned into this... I don¡¯t know, transparent figure, and then disappeared."

    Zi Yuan stared at him strangely.

    "What is it?" Li Yundong narrowed his eyes. "You¡¯re creeping me out a little."

    Secondster, a look of recognition formed on her face. "Ah. I see." She chuckled. "I guess this is what happens when you rely on the Jindan to pass the Sutai phase."

    "I don¡¯t follow."

    "What you saw was the woman¡¯s soul. She managed to remove her soul from her body before her body got destroyed. That¡¯s why I said you technically killed her." Zi Yuan stared at him. "Right now, she doesn¡¯t have a physical body unless her soul enters another person¡¯s body and gains control of that person¡¯s Spirit Space."

    "Okay... But what does that have to do with the Sutai phase?"

    "The 7th dan of the Sutai phase is all about gaining the ability to allow your soul to roam freely outside your body. We call it the Wandering Soul."

    "Like an out-of-body experience?"

    "Essentially, yes."

    "But I¡¯ve already passed the Sutai phase. Howe I can¡¯t do it?"

    Zi Yuan smiled. "You can. You just haven¡¯t been taught how."

    "I see."

    "Your body is already capable of the Wandering Soul¡ªamong other things¡ªthanks to the Jindan. But you have to be taught the specifics before you can do it properly."

    "Well." Li Yundong spread his arms. "I¡¯m all ears."

    "Not now." Zi Yuan shook her head. "Right now we have bigger things to worry about."

    You¡¯re damn right about that.

    Li Yundong stood up from the ground. "I think those two were sent by someone."

    Zi Yuan had a pensive look on her face, though she was quiet.

    "There¡¯s something fishy going on here." Li Yundong shook his head. "Howe they knew I have the fan? I never showed it to anyone, I swear."

    "I know. I was watching you."

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes at Zi Yuan. "For how long?"

    "From the moment you left New Hongsheng District, of course."

    Great. She must¡¯ve had quite a fewughs at his expense considering all the stupid things he had done.

    "So, by watching, you mean you were following me around?"

    Zi Yuan smirked. "Not exactly."

    "What? Then how did..." It clicked. He pped his hands together. "I knew there was something strange about that cloud."

    "A simple but useful spell from the Water element." Zi Yuan smiled. "Very handy for long-range surveince."

    Li Yundong opened his mouth to speak, but Zi Yuan silenced him with a hand.

    "I know you have questions," she said. "But let¡¯s talk over dinner."

    Li Yundong had to do a double take when he heard the word dinner.

    Zi Yuan chuckled. "Yes, an actual dinner. I also booked two rooms at a backpackers lodge in Tingri. A car wille pick us up tomorrow."

    He wanted to ask where they were going tomorrow, but right now he was honestly too hungry to care. He turned around, lifted his backpack off the ground, and then started walking away from the stream towards the slope.

    Zi Yuan floated along beside him.

    When they were back on the road again, Li Yundong stopped walking and turned towards Zi Yuan.

    "You said backpackers lodge just now..."

    Zi Yuan raised a brow. "Yeah. Why?"

    "Do they by any chance have shampoo?"

 Chapter 187

    Chapter 187

    <h4>The Heir¡¯s Resolve</h4>

    Two gentle knocks on the door brought Zi Yuan out of her meditative state . She got up from the chair and padded over to the door . Even though she had a pretty good idea who it was on the other side of the door, she looked through the peephole anyway .

    A freshly-showered Li Yundong didn¡¯t look much different than what he looked like a few hours ago . The guy barely looked presentable . Not with the wild, shoulder-length hair and unkempt beard . Unfortunately, his personal grooming would have to take a back seat to other important matters, at least until they got back to Tiannan City .

    Zi Yuan stepped aside to let him in, then watched from the doorway as he walked past her into the tiny hostel room . His steps were slow and tentative, and when he passed by the bathroom, he stopped and lingered in front of the bathroom door .

    Zi Yuan shut the door and walked towards him . He still hadn¡¯t moved from his position in front of the bathroom; he was staring at his own reflection in the mirror with a nk look on his face . She supposed he could just be feeling self-conscious about his appearance, but Zi Yuan doubted it was that simple . He had a lot of opportunities to ask her questions during dinner, yet he barely said a few words to her .

    Something was clearly bothering him .

    Maybe he¡¯s just lovesick, said an amused voice inside her head .

    Zi Yuan moved past the Heir and took a seat at the single bed at the center of the room . When the Heir finally looked away from the mirror, Zi Yuan motioned him towards the chair at the corner of the room . Heplied and trudged towards the chair, then sat down .

    "So . What¡¯s bothering you?"

    The Heir sighed and rubbed a hand across his face . When he lowered his hand, she saw an expression of weariness . "Is any of this real?" He waved his hand around for a bit .

    Zi Yuan allowed a tiny smirk to show . Ah . So that¡¯s what this is about .

    "All of this," he continued, waving with both hands now . "What if they¡¯re just illusions? What if I¡¯m still inside my Spirit Space?"

    Zi Yuan schooled her features . "What do you think?"

    "I honestly don¡¯t know what to think . " Li Yundong sighed, dropping his hands limply onto hisp . "Last time when I failed, I really thought I had passed . Everything was so real, you know? My daily experiences . The people I encountered inside that illusion . The ces . My surroundings . Everything was so close to reality that I couldn¡¯t tell the difference at all . " He shook his head slowly . "I hate to say this, but I¡¯d probably be trapped inside that illusion forever if Su Chan hadn¡¯t pulled me out . " He buried his face inside his hands . "And now this uncertainty is driving me nuts . "

    Zi Yuan rose from the bed and headed towards the window . She unlocked thetch and opened the window slightly .

    "Your doubts ground you in reality," she said, leaning herself against the ledge .

    The Heir looked up from his hands . He didn¡¯t say anything, just stared at her, his eyes pleading and begging for an exnation .

    Zi Yuan gave him a smile that she hoped would seem at least a little bit reassuring . The Heir had already reached the first dan of the Shentong phase . The divine punishment was approaching .

    She still hadn¡¯t heard back from Senior Wushuang yet .

    "When Ishvara is broken and your Spirit falls prey to your personal god¡¯s temptations, you¡¯ll sink intoplete indulgence . " Zi Yuan walked back towards the bed . "Your personal god won¡¯t give you a chance to start doubting the things it has shown you . " She sat down and shifted so that she was facing the Heir . "The fact that you¡¯re capable of expressing doubt is a sign that you¡¯re in reality . " She smiled . "Don¡¯t worry . This is all very real . "

    The Heir¡¯s shoulder sagged . He seemed relieved, though Zi Yuan could tell that he wasn¡¯t totally convinced .

    "Then why isn¡¯t my divine punishment here yet?" He finally met Zi Yuan¡¯s gaze . "You said I¡¯d be struck the moment I pass the Zhuji phase . So far nothing¡¯s happened yet . "

    Something did happen . Zi Yuan smiled wryly . You just didn¡¯t know it .

    "That¡¯s coz I cast a spell on you . "

    The Heir drew back in surprise . "A spell?"

    "Remember what I told you the other day when you asked how the Heavens identifies which Cultivator to strike?"

    "By their Vital Orbs . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "The spell masks your Vital Orb . "

    The Heir stared at her, his expression a mixture of disbelief and awe . Momentster, he shook his head . "Thank you . You saved me again . "

    "I can¡¯t take all the credit . " Zi Yuan chuckled . "I was merely there to cast it . Senior Wushuang was the one who put the spell together . "

    "Ao Wushuang?" The Heir was up on his feet now . "You heard from her?"

    Zi Yuan nodded .

    "T- Then... What else did she tell you? Did she say anything about Su Chan? How is Su Chan doing?"

    Zi Yuan smiled . Clearly, the man had it bad .

    "She didn¡¯t say much . But she did tell me that Su Chan was undergoing her own training . "

    A smile lit up the Heir¡¯s face . That smile was infectious, and Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help but smile back . Oh, yes . The man totally had it bad .

    "However..." Zi Yuan raised a finger . "There are several caveats that you need to be aware of . "

    The Heir¡¯s smile faltered a little . He sat back down in the chair .

    "Oh, don¡¯t look so disappointed . " Zi Yuan chuckled . "This should¡¯ve been obvious from the start . The spell isn¡¯t foolproof after all . "

    The Heir blushed and scratched his cheek . "Sorry . I guess I got a little carried away there . "

    "First of all, you must stay close to the ground at all times . Which means no flying, no standing on top of tall buildings, etc . "

    "Coz the higher above ground I am, the closer I am to the Heavens . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Based on Senior Wushuang¡¯s calctions, you¡¯ll be safe as long as you don¡¯t go higher than ten thousand feet above ground level . Any higher than that..." Zi Yuan gave him a pointed look . "There¡¯s no telling what will happen . "

    "Ten thousand feet... Such a specific estimation..."

    Zi Yuan smiled . "What can I say? Senior Wushuang is a genius . "

    "Anything else I need to watch out for?"

    "As your CQ increases, your Vital Orb will eventually be too powerful for the spell to mask . " Zi Yuan paused briefly to collect her thoughts . "Well, in a way this is unavoidable . Every Cultivator will face divine punishment at some point in their training, but that¡¯s only when they reach the eight phase . Your case is different because..."

    "Because I vited themandment and did the unforgivable . "

    "Yes . "

    Silence spread between them .

    "How much time can the spell buy me?"

    "Senior Wushuang says..." Zi Yuan let her words trail off . If she told him now, he might start thinking that stalling the progress of his training was the best way to go .

    "What did she say?"

    Their gazes met . He seemed wary, like he was afraid of what she might say .

    "She told me to watch out once you reach the 3rd dan of the Shentong phase . The divine punishment coulde any time after that . "

    The Heir¡¯s face fell .

    Zi Yuan was struggling toe up with something to say . None of the things she had in mind sounded reassuring .

    After what felt like forever, she went with, "Senior Wushuang will find a way . "

    The Heir raised his gaze . "So in the meantime I just wait and do nothing?" He shook his head wryly .

    Zi Yuan let her gaze drop to herp . She had nothing else to give him, not when her own mind was filled with doubts

    "Zi Yuan... I need you to be straight with me here . "

    Zi Yuan looked up from herp .

    "What are my chances of survival?"

    "If there¡¯s a workaround¡ª"

    "I mean if Ao Wushuang couldn¡¯t find a way . What are my chances of survival?"

    Zi Yuan sighed . "You won¡¯t even survive the first bolt . Senior Wushuang agrees . "

    "The first bolt..." He chuckled darkly . "Great . Now I find out that I have to be struck more than once . "

    "Eighty-one times to be exact . "

    The Heir raised his palm, then let it drop to hisp . "Eighty-one..."

    Silence reigned once again . Zi Yuan had never felt so powerless in her life .

    "If I die, then I die..."

    Zi Yuan¡¯s head shot up . "Pardon?"

    The Heir¡¯s eyes now held a new kind of intensity, the kind that inspires hope and determination, the kind that belongs to a man who would fight to hisst breath .

    "It doesn¡¯t matter whether Ao Wushuang cane up with a solution . I¡¯ll continue my training and keep getting stronger . "

    That deration should¡¯ve made Zi Yuan feel proud and content, but for some reason, she just felt sad .

    The Heir paused to take a breath . "I think there are enemiesing and I need to be ready to face them . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . The attempt to steal the Fan of Seven Treasures came out of nowhere . When the Heir was attacked, she didn¡¯t intervene because she didn¡¯t want word to get back to the Zhengyi School that one of their members was somehow involved in the incident . At the moment, nobody at the Zhengyi School¡ªother than Zi Yuan and Hongling¡ªknew about the Jindan¡¯s Heir or the Jindan¡¯s whereabouts . And for the Heir¡¯s safety, it was best to keep it that way . If Zi Yuan stepped in back then, those two Cultivators from the Yin Yang Sect would¡¯ve recognized her right away . Soon, the entire Mount Wuhua would know of her involvement . And if Mount Wuhua knew, so would Mount Longhu .

    Besides, she was confident that the Heir could handle the situation himself, which he did .

    "Someone must¡¯ve sent those two to extract the Fan of Seven Treasures from me," the Heir continued . "Unless Su Chan or Ao Wushuang told everyone that the fan is with me, then I think the Fox Zen School might bepromised . "

    "Don¡¯t worry about that for now," Zi Yuan said . "I¡¯ll look into the matter . "

    She would have to do it on her own though .

    Zi Yuan cleared her throat . "You should just focus on not dying . "

    The Heir chuckled while Zi Yuan stared down at herp . She didn¡¯t share his humor .

    "Hey . Don¡¯t look so sad . "

    Zi Yuan looked up to find the Heir smiling at her .

    "None of this is your fault," he said . "It was my choice to use the spell . You guys did your best to stop me, but it was my call in the end . "

    "Do you ever regret it? Using the spell?"

    The Heir sighed and leaned forward until his elbows were resting on his knees . "I thought about this a lot during my journey to Tibet . And... I think that the whole divine punishment thing is fair . " Suddenly, he raised a palm and gave her a stern look . "Don¡¯t get me wrong . I still think that He Shao deserved to die . But I agree that I, too, must suffer the consequences for killing him . "

    He¡¯s grown... Zi Yuan allowed a tiny smile to form on her face . She didn¡¯t think he had noticed it though; he was too engrossed in his own thoughts .

    "If there isn¡¯t some kind of divine punishment in ce for Cultivators who kill mortals with spells, even good Cultivators would eventually be morally corrupt," he said . "The divine punishment is there to remind Cultivators that taking a life is inherently wrong . If Cultivators could get away with killing every time, then there¡¯s really nothing stopping them from doing it again and again . Worst, they might even start deluding themselves into thinking that they are doing it in the name of justice . But, to answer your question, no I don¡¯t regret killing He Shao . " There was a pause . "Back in Tibet, there was a girl who helped me see things differently . "

    "Oh? Do tell . " Zi Yuan was piqued . She didn¡¯t know about this . It must¡¯ve happened during the time when the observer cloud was down .

    "Basically, when I killed He Shao, I was trading my own life to save other people from suffering . I guess what the girl was saying is that the intent or motivation behind the act matters too . That¡¯s why I think the divine punishment should be there . " He looked at Zi Yuan . "If taking a life leads to one¡¯s own death, then no act of killing could be for selfish reasons . I mean, how can a person kill for selfish reason if the act itself always leads to their own death?"

    Zi Yuan smiled but said nothing .

    The Heir chuckled . "But I guess that applies only to Cultivators, spells, and such . " He waved his hands a few times . "Well, that¡¯s probably because Cultivators are so powerful that such measures are required . "

    Zi Yuan disagreed . Mortals, too, were capable of enough wickedness to warrant such measures .

    "I suppose I could¡¯ve just beaten He Shao to death that night . That way I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about the Heavenly Thunder at all . "

    Ah . Interesting . Zi Yuan would be lying if she said she hadn¡¯t wondered about that before .

    "Well why didn¡¯t you?"

    The Heir was silent for a moment . "It wouldn¡¯t be fair to the people around me . "

    Zi Yuan waited silently for him to continue .

    Secondster, he did . "The cops would be all over me if I beat him to death . I would be leaving too many incriminating evidence behind . Su Chan would end up as a suspect, or worst, be charged as an aplice . Zhou Qin would probably try to buy my freedom and end up butting heads with the He family . All kinds of underhanded dealings mighte into y . Judges, police officers, prosecutors, and God knows how many more people would get dragged into the mess . "

    Zi Yuan nodded .

    "But if I kill him with the spell, the responsibility falls solely on my shoulders . I killed him . So I alone suffer the consequences for the act in the form of the divine punishment . Nobody else has to pay the price . "

    Zi Yuan stared at the man in front of her, the man who¡¯d grown so much in just two months . She sighed . "It¡¯s such a waste of talent if you die, you know . "

    He burst intoughter .

    "Well . I guess I just have to try not to die, then . "

 Chapter 188

    Chapter 188

    <h4>Master and Disciple</h4>

    "Now I have a few questions for you . "

    Zi Yuan¡¯s voice made Li Yundong look towards the bed . For the nth time since they met each other beside the stream, Li Yundong wanted to cringe and then crawl back to the privacy of his own room .

    There she was, sitting there looking like a goddess while he could barely get that strange smell¡ªwhose source he didn¡¯t even want to know¡ªoff his hair . Maybe he should take another shower when he got back to his roomter, this time with twice the amount of shampoo .

    "Sure . " Li Yundong shifted in his chair and cleared his throat . "What do you wanna know?" God . He felt like he was soiling the chair just by sitting in it .

    "How did you manage to figure out the secrets of the Mahamudra Tantra?"

    Well . That was unexpected . He¡¯d expected Zi Yuan to start berating him for his tant defiance of her advice to mind his own business .

    "It¡¯s nothing too impressive," he said, leaning forward until his elbows were resting on his knees . "I kinda figured it out by ident . "

    A tiny smile graced Zi Yuan¡¯s features . "I highly doubt it . But do continue . " Zi Yuan smirked . "I¡¯m interested to know how a rtively inexperienced Cultivator managed to crack the Esoteric Sect¡¯s secrets in less than a day . "

    "There was a code . " Li Yundong sat up straighter and performed Mahavairocana¡¯s first hand sign . "When I was going through the third scroll, I realized that there was something special about this hand sign . "

    Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes darted briefly to his hands .

    "Mahavairocana¡¯s first mudra," she said . "The Intelligent Fist . "

    Li Yundong nodded and lowered his hands back down .

    "There are probably hundreds of mudras in that scroll," Zi Yuan said . "What drew you to this one?"

    Li Yundong chuckled . "It¡¯s kind of a long story . But the gist of it is that when I was trying to memorize those hand signs, I got curious about the Buddhas who performed them . So I asked that girl..." He looked up at Zi Yuan . "Ah, I forgot to mention that the girl¡ªthe one I mentioned just now¡ªwas reading the scrolls to me coz I don¡¯t know Sanskrit . Anyway . I asked her about Mahavairocana, and she told me that Mahavairocana is the root or origin of all Buddhist powers . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "That¡¯s why you came to the conclusion that Mahavairocana¡¯s first hand sign holds the secrets to unlock those powers . "

    "It was just a guess . " Li Yundong paused in thought . "At first, I focused too much on the hand signs . Well . I had a feeling that the mantras need to be chanted as well, but I didn¡¯t really think much about it untilter . I kept practicing the hand signs, but nothing happened . Then I tried doing the hand signs and chanting the mantra at the same time, but nothing happened as well . So I knew something had to be missing . " He chuckled . "The idea that Mahavairocana¡¯s mantra represents a code only came to me when I saw those colored beads . "

    "Colored beads?"

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes . "Wait, howe you don¡¯t know any of this? I thought you were watching me the whole time?"

    Zi Yuan rolled her eyes . "I was busy casting the spell for another Observer Cloud . " She red at him . "Since you blew the first one apart . "

    Whoops .

    Li Yundong reached behind to rub the back of his neck . All he touched was hair . God, he really needed a haircut .

    "Impressive shockwave, by the way . " Zi Yuan smirked . "I¡¯m just d that there weren¡¯t any airnes or members of the avian species flying around during your creative, but utterly ineffectual, attempt at weather maniption . "

    Li Yundong let his hand drop and stared at Zi Yuan nkly . Did she just... Did she just crack a joke?

    "Don¡¯t look so surprised . " The woman¡¯s smirk widened . "I can still have a sense of humor, even though the mere mention of my name incites fear across the entire Cultivation world . "

    Li Yundongughed . Now we¡¯re back to being haughty again .

    ¡°So . The colored beads . " Zi Yuan¡¯s expression turned serious . "What about them?"

    "Prayer beads, to be exact . But they didn¡¯t look like the typical ones . " Li Yundong nced at Zi Yuan . "Six of the beads were colored . The rest of the beads were all brown . "

    "I see..." Zi Yuan looked calm andposed, but he knew she was already piecing everything together in her head .

    "Five of the six colors match the colors of the five Zangs ording to Zhang Zhongjing¡¯s Five Organ Pathological Model . I didn¡¯t think that was a coincidence, so I gave it more thought . Eventually, I figured it out . "

    Zi Yuan sat there silently . After a while, she smiled and stood up . "Well done . " He then realized that she was walking towards the desk behind the chair he was sitting in .

    Li Yundong rose from the chair and stepped aside to give her room .

    She thanked him and opened the topmost drawer . "Here," she said .

    Li Yundong took the tiny slip of paper from Zi Yuan .

    It was a train ticket from Lhasa to Tiannan City . The train was scheduled to leave the station at 6 PM tomorrow .

    So we¡¯re going home...

    Li Yundong slipped the ticket into his pocket . "What time do we leave for Lhasa tomorrow?"

    Lhasa was probably 700 kilometers away . If they travel by car, it would take at least half a day .

    Zi Yuan closed the drawer . "The car will be ready at six . But we¡¯ll leave at eight after breakfast . Now get some rest . "

    Li Yundong nodded and bade Zi Yuan good night before heading for the door .

    ***

    Sometimes, Ao Wushuang wondered if her gifts for Cultivation were really just apensation for her inadequacies in other areas of life . Among those inadequacies were, first and foremost, her culinary skills (orck thereof), and also her ability to pick disciples who understood the concept of obedience .

    "Oh, for Heavens¡¯ sake..." Ao Wushuang muttered and then slowly opened her eyes .

    Instead of sitting in a meditative posture like Ao Wushuang had instructed her to not five minutes ago, Chan¡¯er was on her knees, crawling towards the door .

    Crawling . That silly girl was trying to sneak out by crawling towards the door . Ao Wushuang feared for the future of the Fox Zen School .

    "What do you think you¡¯re doing, Chan¡¯er?"

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s exasperation must have shown in her voice because Chan¡¯er flinched and starting crawling back towards her .

    Chan¡¯er sat down on the edge of the meditative cushion and twiddled her fingers . "M-Master..."

    Ao Wushuang bit the inside of her cheek to stifle her smile . This girl looked so adorable even when she was being a total nuisance . "Just spit it out, Chan¡¯er . " Ao Wushuang regretted it the moment those words left her mouth . Ugh, here we go again...

    "H- Has Yundong passed the Zhuji phase yet?"

    Ao Wushuang raised her gaze to the ceiling . "Four thousand eight hundred and fifteen... Are you kidding me?" Ao Wushuang mumbled .

    "M- Master?"

    Ao Wushuang lowered her gaze and shook her head tiredly .

    "Four thousand eight hundred and fifteen? What does that mean, Master?" Chan¡¯er ced a finger under her chin . Suddenly, she perked up . "Ooh! Is that the height of a mountain? Had Yundong conquered a summit? Which mount¡ª"

    "Tsk!" Ao Wushuang poked Chan¡¯er¡¯s head with a finger . "That¡¯s the total number of times you¡¯ve asked me that question sincest month, you little¡ª" Ao Wushuang stopped to take a deep breath . She exhaled slowly . "I told you already, Chan¡¯er . I¡¯ll tell you when I¡¯m sure that he has passed, okay?"

    Chan¡¯er was still staring at Ao Wushuang like she was some kind of Shenxian who had all the answers in the world . Then, a slow grin spread across Chan¡¯er¡¯s face . "Hehehe!" Chan¡¯er mbered towards Ao Wushuang .

    Ao Wushuang barely had time to react when Chan¡¯er threw herself against Ao Wushuang¡¯s side .

    "Master, Master, Master..." Chan¡¯er rubbed her cheek against Ao Wushuang¡¯s arm . "You¡¯re a genius, right?"

    Ao Wushuang looked down at her disciple through narrowed eyes . "Uh-huh... What do you want?"

    "Then you must have excellent divination skills!" Chan¡¯er pulled back a little, then blinked those eyes at Ao Wushuang .

    "Chan¡¯er..." Ao Wushuang said in a warning tone .

    "I¡¯m just saying, Master... Why don¡¯t you use a divination spell to predict whether Yundong is going to make it¡ªOw!!"

    Chan¡¯er started rubbing her forehead after Ao Wushuang poked her finger into it .

    "I told you to stop worrying about that and focus on your own training!" Ao Wushuang scowled . "It¡¯s been nearly two months and you¡¯ve barely made progress at all!"

    Ao Wushuang wondered if Chan¡¯er would start listening to her if she summoned Bahuang and leave it at her side during every training session .

    Chan¡¯er had the decency to look sheepish . "I- I just can¡¯t focus . "

    Ao Wushuang smacked Chan¡¯er¡¯s forehead . "And you call yourself a Cultivator!"

    Suddenly, Chan¡¯er¡¯s face brightened . Her eyes were brimming with hope again . "Ooh! I know, Master! You should let me see Yundong and see how he¡¯s doing! I¡ª"

    "No!" Ao Wushuang said harshly . "How many times do I have to tell you that your presence will only get in the way of his training?"

    Chan¡¯er deted . "He doesn¡¯t even have to know I¡¯m there . I can just look at him from afar a- and... and then... leave..."

    Yeah right . As if that would happen . This love-struck girl would run straight into the man¡¯s arms the moment he was in sight .

    "No..." Ao Wushuang hardened her tone . "You¡¯re not going anywhere near him . Not until I say you can . " Ao Wushuang gave her a warning look . "This isn¡¯t a joke, Chan¡¯er . "

    Chan¡¯er pouted .

    Ao Wushuang sighed . "Just be patient, okay?"

    "It¡¯s been nearly two months..." Chan¡¯er mumbled . "And I can¡¯t even see him . "

    Yeah . And not forck of trying either . Ao Wushuang suppressed an eye-roll . Ten times Chan¡¯er had tried to sneak away to go see him, and ten times Ao Wushuang had thwarted the girl¡¯s miserable attempts to escape .

    "I don¡¯t even know if he¡¯s gotten thinner..." Chan¡¯er kept rambling . "O- Or maybe he¡¯s gotten fatter..."

    "He¡¯s the Jindan¡¯s Heir, for Heavens¡¯ sake!" Ao Wushuang poked Chan¡¯er¡¯s head again . "If he ends up gaining body fat after two months of harsh training, then he might as well hang himself to death right now!"

    Chan¡¯er¡¯s eyes were now wide and fearful . "W- Why?"

    "Because then he wouldn¡¯t be able to survive the divine punishment no matter what I do to help him, you idiot! Gaining body fat means that his meridians have weakened! Honestly, Chan¡¯er! Have you forgotten everything I taught you?"

    Gaining body fat after making progress in Cultivation . That was probably the most ridiculous and absurd thing Ao Wushuang had ever heard in her entire life . Where on earth did Chan¡¯er get that silly idea from anyway?

    Love makes people blind, a small voice sounded in Ao Wushuang¡¯s mind .

    Ao Wushuang silenced that voice before it could spout any more nonsense . She stood up and pulled Chan¡¯er to her feet .

    "You listen to me well, Chan¡¯er¡ª"

    Ao Wushuang stopped talking and looked towards the window .

    Chan¡¯er tugged her sleeve . "Master?"

    Ao Wushuang silenced her with a finger, then waved her other hand at the window .

    The window creaked open . A small, white paper crane flew in andnded on top of Ao Wushuang¡¯s open palm . Ao Wushuang stared at the paper crane and watched it unfold into a palm-sized square note .

    "But there¡¯s nothing¡¯s written on it, Master . "

    Ao Wushuang looked up from the memo and found Chan¡¯er studying the note curiously .

    "I don¡¯t see anything written on it..." Chan¡¯er reached out to take the note .

    "Of course you won¡¯t see anything," Ao Wushuang said, pulling the memo away from Chan¡¯er¡¯s reach .

    "But why would someone send an empty memo?" Chan¡¯er¡¯s face lit up . "Ooh! Is it a secret message?" She leaped up in joy . "Is it about Yundong?"

    Ao Wushuang smiled and shook her head . "Let me take a look at it first . "

    Ao Wushuang raised the memo and cast a spell to reveal the hidden message .

    Momentster, Ao Wushuang folded the memo once and held it in front of her eyes . The memo burst into mes and was reduced to ashes in seconds .

    Chan¡¯er was staring at her expectantly . "What does it say? What does it say?"

    Ao Wushuang smiled . "He passed . "

    Chan¡¯er started jumping around . "Yayy!!! Master!!! He made it! He¡ª"

    Chan¡¯er¡¯s face paled .

    Ao Wushuang smirked . She was wondering when Chan¡¯er would realize the main concern .

    Chan¡¯er was by Ao Wushuang¡¯s side in an instant . She looked like she was about to cry . "The Heavenly Thunder!"

    "Oh, rx, Chan¡¯er . He¡¯s fine . "

    "B- But he passed the Zhuji phase . His Vital Orb¡ª"

    "Has already been masked by a spell . Tsk . Tsk . So little faith in your own master . "

    Chan¡¯er looked like she could barely process what she¡¯d just been told .

    Ao Wushuang stroked Chan¡¯er¡¯s hair . "His Vital Orb won¡¯t be detected until he reaches intermediate level Shentong phase . "

    What happened afterwards was beyond her control .

    Chan¡¯er appeared to have recovered from her stupor . "A spell? You mean you went to see him without me?!"

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s expression softened . "Of course I didn¡¯t, dummy . I prepared the talisman and gave it to Zi Yuan . "

    "Oh . "

    "Mm . And Zi Yuan cast the spell sessfully . So there¡¯s nothing for you to worry about, okay?"

    Chan¡¯er suddenly looked up at Ao Wushuang . Her eyes had zed over a little . "You were working on the spell . . . " Chan¡¯er sniffed and tugged Ao Wushuang¡¯s sleeve . "I- Is that why you spent so much time in the study, Master?"

    And also why you were able to sneak away from me ten times .

    "Yes . "

    The next thing she knew, Chan¡¯er¡¯s arms were around her neck . "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, Master! Thank you so much for saving him!"

    Ao Wushuang smiled and patted Chan¡¯er¡¯s back . "You¡¯re wee . "

    Ao Wushuang would do anything to make Chan¡¯er happy . Even though she could be such a nuisance at times .

    Chan¡¯er ended their hug and beamed up at her . "I knew you¡¯re the best, Master! I knew it!! Hehehe!"

    Ao Wushuang gasped in surprise when Chan¡¯er suddenly leaned in and nted a huge kiss on her cheek .

    "Yayy!! I¡¯m soooo, soooo happy, Master!" Chan¡¯er began dancing and skipping around the room . "Weee!!! You¡¯re the best!!"

    Ao Wushuang burst intoughter .

    "Alright, alright! Settle down already! Geez!"

    Chan¡¯er stopped in her tracks and ran back to Ao Wushuang¡¯s side again . "So he¡¯s safe? He¡¯s really okay, Master?"

    Ao Wushuang nodded . "Mmm . "

    For now .

    "Hooray!!!!" Chan¡¯er leaped into the air and started floating around the room .

    Ao Wushuang rolled her eyes and pointed a finger at Chan¡¯er .

    Chan¡¯er squeaked and began iling her arms and legs .

    "I told you to settle down," Ao Wushuang said and released the Levitation spell .

    Chan¡¯ernded on her feet with a soft thud .

    Ao Wushuang walked over and pinched Chan¡¯er¡¯s cheek to get her attention . She gave Chan¡¯er a stern look . "Now can you finally focus on your own training?"

    "Oh . "

    Ao Wushuang red at Chan¡¯er, who hadn¡¯t moved an inch from her spot .

    "Well? What are you waiting for?" Ao Wushuang pointed at the meditation cushions set up at the center of the room .

    "Oh . " Chan¡¯er lowered her head and shuffled towards the cushions .

    Chan¡¯er stopped walking and turned back around . She was smiling .

    "Hehehe... Master..."

    Ao Wushuang arched a brow . "What?"

    "Now that he has passed the Zhuji phase..."

    Ao Wushuang narrowed her eyes . "Mm-hmm..."

    Chan¡¯er broke into a grin . "Can I go see him?"

    "Why you little¡ª" Ao Wushuang scowled . "No you can¡¯t!!!"

 Chapter 189.1

    Chapter 189.1

    <h4>I Trust Him!</h4>

    Li Yundong nced towards the door at the sound of three sharp knocks . He was just about to wrap up his packing .

    Crap . Was it 8 AM already?

    "Just a sec!" he yelled, returning his attention to his backpack .

    The knob turned, and the door creaked open . Li Yundong looked up sharply and saw Zi Yuan poking her head in . He didn¡¯t even want to know how she managed to open the door, which he was pretty sure was locked from the inside .

    Zi Yuan strode in casually, shutting the door behind her . "The car¡¯s ready to leave . What¡¯s taking you so long?"

    Li Yundong sighed and pointed at three objects on the bed . "These . "

    Zi Yuan stopped at the edge of the bed and studied the three objects he¡¯did on top of the folded nket .

    Li Yundong watched Zi Yuan¡¯s expression carefully . He didn¡¯t know how she would react to him being in possession of these magical objects .

    Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes roamed over the objects . Her expression was inscrutable, though she did frown a little when her eyes traveled over the two orb-like beads .

    She bent down and picked up the red, leather whip .

    "The Ophidian Whip," Zi Yuan said, pulling the whip taut . "A Yin-based weapon capable of magic from the Fire element . " Zi Yuan studied the whip using the sunlight streaming in from the window . Suddenly, she turned away from the whip and met his gaze . "Where¡¯s the other one? It¡¯s supposed toe in pairs . "

    Li Yundong gave her a sheepish look . "I destroyed it . " He shrugged . "Sliced it in half . "

    Zi Yuan looked a little surprised at that . "Sliced it in half? You mean with..."

    "Yeah..." Li Yundong nodded . "With one of the mudras . "

    Zi Yuan turned back to the whip in her hands and studied it for a moment . "It matters not . " She started coiling up the whip . "In terms of strength, I¡¯d ce the Ophidian Whip somewhere in the middle on the power-scale . But in the right hands, it can be a formidable weapon . " Shey the whip back onto the bed . "Keep it . It mighte in handy . "

    Li Yundong sighed in relief . Minutes after Li Yundong had begun walking away from the base camps, Dorjee Tenzin ran up to him with those weapons, insisting that he take them with him . Dorjee Tenzin thought it would be a bad idea to leave those weapons lying around for someone else to find . He said that those magical weapons would endanger the lives of those who found them, especially if the people who found them were non-Cultivators . Li Yundong had agreed to take them because he thought Zi Yuan would know what to do with them . He didn¡¯t expect that she would ask him to keep them .

    Zi Yuan was already walking away from the bed . She didn¡¯t even spare the beads a second nce .

    "Wait, what about those beads?"

    Zi Yuan stopped in front of the door and turned around . "The Beads of Gore are evil in nature . I wouldn¡¯t use it lightly . " Zi Yuan nced down at her watch . "Come on . We have to go . "

    The door closed, leaving Li Yundong alone in the room .

    He looked towards his backpack again .

    Time to go home .

    ***

    Ao Wushuang stepped into the condo¡¯s elevator, carrying bags of Dongwu City¡¯s finest delicacies in one hand . With her free hand, she pressed the button for the neenth floor .

    The doors slid shut and the elevator started rising .

    Ao Wushuang might not have any culinary skills to speak of, as that ungrateful disciple of hers so often reminded her, but she could still put good food on the table . Not that Chan¡¯er had ever overtly expressed gratitude to Ao Wushuang for catering to her dietary needs . The closest thing to appreciation Ao Wushuang had ever gotten out of Chan¡¯er was an offhanded: "Ooh! That¡¯s as good as Yundong¡¯s beer duck stew!"

    Ao Wushuang didn¡¯t even know what beer duck stew was .

    A soft ding announced the end of her elevator ride . Ao Wushuang strode out after the doors opened, then made a beeline towards the apartment she had leased two months ago . One thing nice about Dongwu City was that it was easy to look for Cultivation-friendly amodations . Then again, the entire Dongwu City was Cultivation-friendly to begin with .

    A few men leered at her along the way, but she ignored them . She wondered if those puny men would still look at her the same way if they knew that she could turn them into a pile of ashes with a mere flick of her finger .

    Ao Wushuang made a sharp right turn and arrived at a long hallway, the end of whichy her and Chan¡¯er¡¯s shared lodgings .

    That idiot girl better still be busy training when she returned, or else...

    Ao Wushuang had some qualms at first about leaving Chan¡¯er alone while she went out to buy food . If it weren¡¯t for the fact that Chan¡¯er had a lot of training to catch up on, Ao Wushuang would¡¯ve brought Chan¡¯er out with her just so she could keep an eye on her .

    But still, Chan¡¯er had been super obedient and acquiescent after learning about the Heir¡¯s sess in passing the Zhuji phase . She¡¯d even made a bit of progress in her training .

    Ao Wushuang pushed the door open and strode into the apartment . She turned and headed straight for the old-fashioned square table beside the living room .

    "Chan¡¯er! Dinner time!" Ao Wushuang yelled, setting the bags onto the table .

    Yeah . That¡¯s right . They should hurry up and get dinner out of the way . After all, Ao Wushuang had tons of research to get back to . She¡¯d made some progress ining up with a solution to the Heir¡¯s conundrum . Finally! After two months of endless research and brain racking .

    Her idea was ingenious, and she couldn¡¯t wait to work out all the details . First, she had to do some calctions, and then run a simtion using a projection spell...

    Ao Wushuang shook herself before she became so engrossed in her thoughts that she forgot about everything else, like Chan¡¯er¡¯s current whereabouts, for instance .

    "Chan¡¯er! Hurry up! Dinner¡¯s ready!"

    Silence .

    Ao Wushuang frowned . Usually, Chan¡¯er woulde running out and cheering at the mere mention of food¡ªeven though the food wasn¡¯t prepared by her beloved Yundong .

    Ao Wushuang crossed therge expanse of the living room and headed towards Chan¡¯er¡¯s bedroom . The door was still closed .

    Surely that silly girl wouldn¡¯t run away again after Ao Wushuang had threatened to renounce her discipleship if she pulled another escape stunt . Ao Wushuang stood in front of the bedroom door for a moment . Then, she looked towards the front door . Chan¡¯er¡¯s shoes were still neatly ced on the shoe rack .

    Ao Wushuang turned around to face Chan¡¯er¡¯s bedroom door again .

    Maybe she was just in a deep meditative state . Ao Wushuang turned the door knob slowly and pushed the door gently lest her entrance disrupt Chan¡¯er¡¯s meditation .

    It turned out that her worries were unfounded because the room was empty .

    Ao Wushuang stormed into the room . "Chan¡¯er!"

    A small note sat on top of the meditation cushion beside the foot of the bed: Master, I¡¯m just going back to take a quick look at him . Just a quick look . I¡¯ll be back soon!

    Ao Wushuang growled . Red mes rose from her palm, burning the note to ashes .

    "You idiot disciple! You really think you can escape from me?"

    Ao Wushuang did a hand sign .

    Shadow Mist! Wisps of mists floated up from the ground . Ao Wushuang quickly switched to another hand sign . Shadow Dance! Under the cover of the mist, Ao Wushuang moved to a corner of the room and waited . Secondster, the mist thinned out, leaving a clone of her right where she¡¯d been standing before she moved .

    "I¡¯ll get you for this, Chan¡¯er!" her clone yelled .

    A secondter, the door opened and her clone stormed out .

    Smirking, Ao Wushuang stood at the corner of the room and waited .

    About a minuteter, Chan¡¯er crawled out from under the bed .

    Ao Wushuang shook her head . How Chan¡¯er had managed to fit herself under that bed was beyond Ao Wushuang .

    Oh, you think you¡¯re so clever, Chan¡¯er .

    Insolent girl . Clearly, she had forgotten who her master was .

    Chan¡¯er cheered and jumped around a few times . "Hehehe! Master... Now you can¡¯t end my discipleship even if I go out," she whispered to herself . "Because this won¡¯t count as me sneaking out! I¡¯m just going out to look for my beloved Master because I¡¯m such a loyal disciple!"

    Ao Wushuang had to bite the inside of her cheek to stifle herugh . Heavens bless this girl and her infinite cuteness .

    "Hmm . Should I bring something for Yundong...? Nah . I¡¯ll just go and take a quick look as promised..."

    Ao Wushuang rolled her eyes . Enough was enough .

    Ao Wushuang did a hand sign . The mist thickened and drifted towards Chan¡¯er¡¯s back before falling away to reveal Ao Wushuang¡¯s full form .

    "Nice try, Chan¡¯er..." Ao Wushuang reached out to pinch Chan¡¯er¡¯s Shentang . "But that¡¯s not enough to fool¡ª"

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s eyes widened when her finger went through Chan¡¯er¡¯s shoulder de instead of touching it . Then, Chan¡¯er¡¯s figure faded into nothingness .

    A talisman fluttered in the air andnded on the floor .

    Ao Wushuang bent down and picked up the talisman . It was a standard cloning spell, an inferior version of the Shadow Dance that required a talisman to work .

    Ao Wushuang flipped the talisman over and look at its back, where arge smiley with its tongue stuck out was drawn .

    A simple line was written under the smiley face: Gotcha, Master! Hehehe!

    A ball of fire erupted from Ao Wushuang¡¯s palm and engulfed the talisman .

    "You insolent disciple!!!"

 Chapter 189.2

    Chapter 189.2

    <h4>I Trust Him</h4>

    A billow of thin mist drifted towards the balcony of apartment 19A of New Hongsheng District . It slipped through the gaps between the balusters forming the railing and then lingered there for a moment, staying close to the floor the whole time . No light came from inside 19A; the upants were either out or asleep .

    The mist glided along the floor of the balcony, stopping only when it was inches away from the balcony . It rose from the floor and swirled, slowly losing its transparency until it formed an opaque clump .

    Secondster, the clump morphed into the delicate figure of Su Chan .

    "Phew..." Su Chan said and leaned herself against the sliding door . The ss trembled under her weight . Idiot, Chan¡¯er! She thought, wincing . Be quiet! Master is still upstairs!

    Su Chan knew that Master would get here before she did . For one, Master could fly way faster than Su Chan ever could . Besides, Master had left the corn-door building before Su Chan did .

    Corn-door . What a strange name to call a house by . Why would anyone name a building after some crop? Had a farmer constructed that building? Then again, she didn¡¯t understand why Mac Doo Nurls was called Mac Doo Nurls either .

    Mortals and their strange nomenture .

    Anyway . Su Chan had been flying around¡ªin her mist form¡ªtheir apartment block ever since she arrived at New Hongsheng District . She hadn¡¯t seen Master leave their apartment¡ª20A¡ªyet, so she knew that Master was still in there, waiting for Su Chan to show up .

    Speaking of which...

    Yippee!!!

    Su Chan had managed to hoodwink the great Ao Wushuang!

    Su Chan felt like doing cartwheels and somersaults right then and there, but that was probably a bad idea . Oh, yes . It would be a terrible idea indeed, considering Master was just one floor up .

    The n was pretty straightforward .

    If Master arrived at the apartment before Su Chan, she would no doubt hide inside the apartment and wait until Su Chan showed up inside the apartment . So, if Su Chan waited long enough, Master would eventually leave the apartment and look for her elsewhere . Su Chan would then sneak in once she was sure that Master had left the building .

    Of course, Master would search through the whole apartment before leaving just to make sure that Su Chan wasn¡¯t hiding anywhere inside the apartment¡ªMaster had always been meticulous . But still, Master would eventually be convinced that Su Chan wasn¡¯t there, because... well, she really wasn¡¯t .

    Ideally, Master would fly back to Dongwu City after she left the apartment, though Su Chan doubted Master would do that . Master was too clever for that . She would definitely linger in Tiannan City and eventually find a way to track Su Chan down . Even more so considering the huge arsenal of spells Master had at her disposal...

    Nevertheless, Su Chan was confident that this little scheme of hers could buy her more time to stay at the apartment . Maybe she could even stay long enough until Yundong came home from his journey...

    Su Chan slid down against the ss door until her butt touched the balcony floor . The balcony above was quiet . There were no sounds of the sliding door opening, nor did she hear any footsteps .

    Master was still inside apartment 20A .

    Su Chan sighed and hugged her knees to her chest . Master would be so mad at her though...

    Fear coursed through Su Chan .

    Would Master really toss Su Chan aside after this? Su Chan had tantly defied Master¡¯s orders after all . Su Chan wondered what kind of punishment she would receive when she got back . Maybe Master would ground Su Chan for weeks by cing powerful talismans around the corn-door building .

    Or maybe Master would unleash her culinary skills on Su Chan...

    Su Chan shuddered at the thought .

    After a while, Su Chan¡¯s fear turned into a niggling sensation of guilt . Master had been working so hard to save Yundong¡¯s life . All those long hours she¡¯d spent inside the study, poring through books and scrolls, drawing talismans...

    Su Chan didn¡¯t think Master slept or rested at all . Well, Master didn¡¯t really need sleep or rest, but still...

    Su Chan sighed again . She should really stop causing Master so much trouble after this . It wasn¡¯t like she wanted to disobey Master . It was just that Master had forbidden any form of contact with Yundong . Not even a phone call . Or a letter...

    She missed Yundong so much that her heart ached . She didn¡¯t even have a photo or picture of Yundong she could stare at whenever she missed him .

    A soft thud sounded on the balcony above . Su Chan rose to her feet and hid herself behind the railing . Was Master leaving already?

    Su Chan took a peek from the top of the railing . There was a bright sh, after which a green streak shot into the sky at blinding speed . Wow . Master¡¯s speed was amazing as always .

    Su Chan rose to her full height and flew upwards until she reached the balcony above . Home sweet home, she thought when her feet touched the floor .

    She walked away from the railing and stopped in front of the sliding door . Master had closed it before she left .

    Standing in front of the ss door, Su Chan peered into the apartment through the ss . Darkness greeted her eyes .

    A wave of disappointment settled at the pit of her stomach .

    Yundong wasn¡¯t home yet .

    Su Chan opened the sliding door and stepped into the apartment . She stopped at the center of the living room and soaked in the familiarity of her home . Everything looked the same: the couch; the TV box, the shoe rack; her fluffy cartoon slippers; the round table in front of the couch; the rectangr table where they had their meals .

    Tears stung Su Chan¡¯s eyes . She thought that being here would make her feel better, but it didn¡¯t . It actually made her feel worse .

    She was such an idiot .

    Something wet slid down Su Chan¡¯s cheeks, but she did nothing to stop its flow .

    It hurt so much . Her chest hurt so much . She missed him so much .

    Su Chan¡¯s vision blurred . "Yundong..."

    "Now do you understand why I keep denying your request toe here?"

    Su Chan gasped and turned around . Despite the blurriness in her vision, Su Chan could still make out Master¡¯s beautiful figure .

    Su Chan¡¯s legs moved on their own . Secondster, Su Chan threw herself into the arms of the woman who had taught her the first ever spell she knew, the woman who had raised her like her own daughter .

    "I¡¯m s- sorry, Master..." Su Chan cried . "I¡¯m so sorry!"

    Su Chan felt a series of gentle pats on her back .

    "Shh... It¡¯s okay, Chan¡¯er... It¡¯s okay . Just let it out . "

    Su Chan kept sobbing into Master¡¯s chest, not caring at all that she was ruining the front of Master¡¯s dress .

    "I- I miss him, Master..." said Su Chan after her sobs had turned into snivels .

    Master sighed . "I know you do, Chan¡¯er... I know . " Master pulled back so that she could look into Su Chan¡¯s eyes . "But if you can¡¯t even handle a brief separation like this, how are ever you going to survive longer separations in the future?"

    The answer was in . She couldn¡¯t .

    Su Chan sniffed and looked away .

    "That¡¯s why you need to learn how to be self-sufficient," Master continued . "Yes, you love him, I get it . But right now, you¡¯re acting like a child . "

    Su Chan¡¯s cheeks heated in shame . "I¡¯m sorry..." She lowered her head .

    Su Chan felt a gentle pat on her head . Then, she heard Master¡¯s chuckle .

    "It¡¯s okay . You¡¯re still so young . " Master sighed . "I guess I should¡¯ve seen thising . "

    Su Chan raised her gaze . "Why did youe back here so quickly, Master? Did you leave something behind?"

    "Come back?" Masterughed loudly . "I never left!"

    Su Chan gaped . "B- But... I saw you fly off¡ª Kyaa!" Su Chan rubbed her head where Master had poked her . "Oww..."

    "Oh, Heavens above..." Master said . "Your lovesickness must¡¯ve really messed with your head if you think you can actually fool me, Chan¡¯er . "

    Su Chan pouted . "But I did fool you..." she mumbled . "I tricked you the first time back at¡ª"

    "Tsk! Such insolence!"

    Su Chan made a face at Master, who merely smiled back at her .

    After a while, Master¡¯s expression turned serious . "You listen to me well, Chan¡¯er..."

    Su Chan stood at attention . Master¡¯s tone wasn¡¯t reprimanding, but Su Chan knew that tone . Whatever Master¡¯s next words were, Su Chan had better give Master her full attention .

    "Mmm!" Su Chan nodded .

    "Do you think your beloved has what it takes to be a great Cultivator?"

    "Mmm!" Su Chan bobbed her head up and down . "I have faith in him!"

    Master arched a brow . "In that case, shouldn¡¯t you be working hard to grow stronger as well?"

    There was a pregnant pause .

    "Y- Yes..."

    Master¡¯s brow rose even higher . "Surely you want to be a Cultivator worthy of the Heir¡¯s affections?"

    Su Chan pondered Master¡¯s words quietly .

    "If you truly love him, then you ought to do what¡¯s best for him . "

    Su Chan fiddled with the hem of her dress .

    "And what do you think is the best for him now, hmm?" Master paused . "What do you think he should be focusing on right now?"

    Su Chan sneaked a nce at Master .

    Master was clearly waiting for an answer .

    "S- Surviving his divine punishment?"

    There was a snort . "Oh, so you do know what¡¯s good for him then..."

    Su Chan sneaked another nce at Master . A pair of stern eyes made her look down again .

    "Right now he needs to focus on strengthening his meridians and his Vital Orb . " Master¡¯s sharp tone echoed in the room . "He can¡¯t afford to be distracted, do you understand?"

    But wouldn¡¯t he be distracted too if he missed her? Su Chan could barely concentrate on her own training because she missed Yundong too much . Wait . What if Yundong didn¡¯t miss her at all?

    "And you need to focus on your own training so you don¡¯t be a burden to him in the future," Master said sternly . There was a brief pause, like Master was thinking about something . "Has it ever urred to you that the Heir might have powerful enemies in the future?"

    Su Chan nodded meekly . He had powerful enemies even now .

    "And what do you think would happen if those powerful enemies decide to use you to get to him?" Master continued .

    Su Chan stared quietly at her feet . Somewhere in the living room, the clock chimed . She counted twelve times .

    "If you¡¯re so weak that you can¡¯t even defend yourself," Master continued, "then you¡¯ll eventually lead the Heir to his death!"

    Su Chan¡¯s head snapped up .

    Master gave her a stern look . "Make no mistake, Chan¡¯er . That man would dly give his life to save you . "

    So would I, Su Chan wanted to say, but she bit her tongue .

    "The best way to protect him is to not put him in a position where he has to risk his life for you at all," Master said . "And that means improving your skills so that you can hold your own against his enemies . " There was a pause . "You don¡¯t have to defeat them, of course . But you need to at least be able to defend yourself when you¡¯re up against them . Otherwise, you¡¯ll just be his Achilles¡¯ heel . "

    The truth of Master¡¯s words echoed inside Su Chan¡¯s mind .

    "Do you want that, Chan¡¯er? Do you want to end up bing your beloved¡¯s ultimate weakness?"

    Su Chan shook her head frantically .

    Master arched her brow . "Do you want to be the reason for his downfall? The source of his doom?"

    Su Chan shook her head even harder . She thought her neck muscles were about to tear .

    "Good . " Master nodded . "It seems like we are finally on the same page . "

    Su Chan stared up at Master, waiting for her next words .

    "Now . Are you ready to go back and resume your training?"

    ***

    Ao Wushuang sent a prayer of gratitude to the Heavens the moment she saw Chan¡¯er¡¯s nod . If that little speech wouldn¡¯t work, she didn¡¯t know what else would . Not even Ao Wushuang¡¯s threats of disownment had worked, for Heavens¡¯ sake .

    "Come . Let¡¯s head back . " When Ao Wushuang began to step away, she felt a tug on her sleeve .

    Ao Wushuang turned around .

    There it was again, Chan¡¯er¡¯s signature I¡¯m-the-most-pitiful-little-fox-in-the-whole-world eyes .

    Heavens give me strength . Ao Wushuang sighed . "Spit it out . "

    "C- Can I just... um..."

    "What," Ao Wushuang snapped . Her tone must have sounded too harsh because Chan¡¯er flinched . She softened her tone . "What is it?"

    "Can I check out his bedroom?!" Chan¡¯er spoke in a hurried tone .

    Ao Wushuang stared at Chan¡¯er in disbelief .

    "Just for a moment! It won¡¯t take long! I promise!" Chan¡¯er pressed her palms together . "Please? I..." Chan¡¯er blushed . "I miss his scent..."

    Ao Wushuang stared up at the ceiling and shook her head . Heavens save her soul . Scratch that . Not even the Heavens could save her from this torture .

    "Fine..." Ao Wushuang waved her hand tiredly . "Go . Do whatever you want . "

    "Yay!!!"

    For the following few seconds, the only thing Ao Wushuang heard was the pitter-patter of Chan¡¯er¡¯s footsteps .

    "Silly disciple," Ao Wushuang grumbled, then walked over to the couch and sat down .

    Fifteen minutester, Ao Wushuang stood up from the couch in a fit of impatience .

    "Chan¡¯er! What¡¯s taking you so long?!"

    Ao Wushuang had kept Eryue activated, so she knew that Chan¡¯er was still inside the apartment .

    Ao Wushuang stood outside the bedroom whose door was closed and waited for Chan¡¯er toe out .

    "Chan¡¯er!" Ao Wushuang rapped her knuckles on the door¡¯s surface . "Hurry up already, geez!"

    Seconds passed in silence, which then turned into a minute .

    Ao Wushuang huffed out in frustration, then twisted the door knob . She stormed in .

    "Chan¡¯er¡ª"

    Ao Wushuang stopped short . Chan¡¯er was sitting on the bed with a nk expression, hugging a... Hello Kitty piggy bank?

    Ao Wushuang approached the bed quietly . "What¡¯s wrong, Chan¡¯er?"

    A grin lit up Chan¡¯er¡¯s face, and she raised the piggy bank as if she was trying to show it off to Ao Wushuang . "Hello Keedee..." The piggy bank clinked noisily when Chan¡¯er shook it a few times . "Hello Keedee..."

    Ao Wushuang had never felt so confused in her life .

    "What are you talking about?"

    "My Hello Keedee..." Chan¡¯er said, again with that silly grin on her face .

    Maybe a healing spell was required because Chan¡¯er was clearly getting a little loopy here .

    "Tsk . It¡¯s just a piggy bank," Ao Wushuang said .

    Chan¡¯er shook her head . "Yundong bought Hello Keedee for me . "

    Ao Wushuang sighed heavily . Perhaps Ao Wushuang was the one who would be needing a healing spell after this .

    "So?"

    That silly grin returned to Chan¡¯er¡¯s face again . "I found it on the bed, Master! Right beside his pillow!"

    You¡¯d think Chan¡¯er had just found out she¡¯d be a Shenxian judging by the happy look on her face .

    "Yeah, yeah, yeah . So he put your piggy bank beside his pillow . How sweet of him," Ao Wushuang said impatiently . "Now are you done?"

    "It means he did miss me while we were apart..."

    "But he wasn¡¯t even here," Ao Wushuang mumbled to herself . The guy was thousands of kilometers away, conquering Tibetan mountains .

    "He must¡¯ve missed me so much that he kept the piggy bank beside his pillow..."

    Ao Wushuang wondered if she would be having an aneurysm right about now if she weren¡¯t a powerful seven-tailed fox spirit . "Okay... . Fine . He misses you . Are you happy now? Let¡¯s go already . I¡¯ve got a lot of work to do¡ª"

    "Master, Master! Can I leave a note?" Chan¡¯er bounced on the bed a few times . "Please, please, please?"

    Ao Wushuang stared at her through narrowed eyes .

    Chan¡¯er held three fingers beside her temple like she was swearing an oath . "Chan¡¯er will be obedient from now on, Master!"

    Ao Wushuang sighed . "Fine . "

    "Hooray!!!"

    "But you¡¯re not allowed to give him clues about our location," Ao Wushuang said sternly .

    Chan¡¯er bobbed her head up and down, then spent the next few minutes running around the bedroom .

    "What are you looking for?"

    Chan¡¯er closed the wardrobe with a bang . "A backpack... His backpack... The one he always brought to school..."

    Chan¡¯er began to crawl on the floor to check under the bed .

    Ao Wushuang sighed . "What does it look like?"

    Chan¡¯er crawled towards the head of the bed . "It looks like a bag . "

    Ao Wushuang suddenly felt an urge to burn this whole building down with the Five Thunders Spell . "Of course it looks like a bag, you silly girl . You¡ª" Ao Wushuang took a deep, calming breath . "Tell me its color . "

    "ck..." Chan¡¯er¡¯s voice was muffled . Not a surprise since her head was currently buried somewhere under the bed .

    "Should¡¯ve said so earlier," Ao Wushuang mumbled .

    A simple spell from the Water element should do the trick . Ao Wushuang closed her eyes and muttered a quick incantation . Then, she opened her eyes and held out her palm . Secondster, the water vapor from every corner of the room gathered into a ball of mist above Ao Wushuang¡¯s palm .

    Ao Wushuang mumbled another incantation .

    The mist dispersed and moved out of the bedroom before spreading out to all corners of the apartment .

    Ao Wushuang closed her eyes again . This simple spell was merely a variation of the Observer Cloud spell used for long-range surveince .

    Secondster, Ao Wushuang opened her eyes . "It¡¯s on the chair beside the dining table . "

    Chan¡¯er leaped up from the floor and ran out .

    Momentster, Chan¡¯er returned with a notepad and a pen .

    Ao Wushuang leaned over Chan¡¯er¡¯s shoulder to see what she was writing¡ªjust in case the girl had other forms of mischief in mind .

    Chan¡¯er wrote down a line: Beloved! I was home! I missed you so much! Do you miss me?

    Suddenly, Chan¡¯er stopped writing and stared off into space .

    Before Ao Wushuang could say anything, Chan¡¯er tore the page and crumpled the paper .

    On a new page, Chan¡¯er wrote: Congrattions, Yundong! You¡¯ve passed the Zhuji phase . I miss you... I miss you so, so, so, so... so... much .

    Chan¡¯er hesitated for a moment, then tore the page again .

    Ao Wushuang huffed out in frustration . "Oh, for Heavens¡¯ sake . It¡¯s just a note! How hard can it be?"

    "Sorry! Master! Sorry!" Chan¡¯er looked up at her . "I- I don¡¯t think I can write it with you looking over my shoulders, Master..."

    Ao Wushuang gave her a stern look . "Remember what I said¡ª"

    "I won¡¯t reveal our location . " Chan¡¯er raised three fingers again . "I swear!"

    Ao Wushuang sighed and backed away a few steps . Then, she watched from a few feet away as Chan¡¯er wrote down a few lines and folded the paper into a neat square . After that, Chan¡¯er brought the note to the bed and ced it under the piggy bank .

    "You¡¯re not worried that he might miss the note if you put it there?"

    Chan¡¯er beamed . "He won¡¯t miss it . "

    Ao Wushuang raised a brow . "You¡¯re that sure?" Ao Wushuang looked around the room . "Isn¡¯t it better to leave the note at a more conspicuous ce?"

    Chan¡¯er smiled . "If he truly cares about the piggy bank, then he¡¯ll find the note, Master . "

    Ao Wushuang snorted . "And what if he doesn¡¯t care at all? Wouldn¡¯t that just break your heart?"

    Chan¡¯er leaped off the bed and looped her arm through the crook of Ao Wushuang¡¯s elbow . "He¡¯ll find it, Master . I trust him!" Chan¡¯er patted her own chest . "I trust him with my heart!"

    Ao Wushuang chuckled and shook her head wryly .

    Young love indeed .

 Chapter 190.1

    Chapter 190.1

    <h4>Warning</h4>

    House arrest . Home detention . Never in Zhou Qin¡¯s life had she imagined that those terms would one day apply to her . For as long as she could remember, her family name was like an armor, a deterrent against those who wished her harm . Nobody would dare mess with her as long as she was a Zhou . But now, it became increasingly clear that the first chink had formed in the armor she once thought of as imprable .

    Admittedly, the whole affair felt like a bad dream, one that she desperately wanted to wake up from . But then there was nothing to wake up from . This house detention was real, as real as that electronic ankle bracelet she¡¯d been fitted with after herst interrogation session with Detective Wang . She was now officially a criminal suspect, not of murder, but of perjury and obstruction of justice . The cops clearly thought she was covering up for Li Yundong, which, of course, she was . There was, however, a silver lining . Something told her that Detective Wang wasn¡¯t like the rest of his colleagues . Her gut told her that Detective Wang was starting to believe her story about He Shao being struck down by a bolt of lightning from the sky .

    Still, what could one man do against the entire police force?

    Detective Wang might be different from the rest, but he was still just a homicide detective . The policemissioner was the one who had the final say regarding what to do with her .

    Hence the house arrest .

    Her father had been furious and extremely disappointed in her . Not that his reaction surprised her . As far as she could tell, this was just another day in the Zhou household . After all, when had her father ever looked at her with anything other than disappointment in his eyes? When had the great Zhou Keqiang cared about her well-being? To him, she was just a tool, a means to some elusive goal that had driven him to the point of madness . Even when he was disappointed in her, it wasn¡¯t because he cared; it was only because he thought she had done something to desecrate the name of the Zhou family .

    So much for familial ties .

    Over the past few weeks, Zhou Qin had a lot of time to think things over . And during those long, sleepless hours of self-reflection and soul-searching, Zhou Qin found herself constantly returning to one simple question: Why?

    Why was she doing this to herself? Why was she putting everything on the line for Li Yundong, a man who clearly didn¡¯t return her feelings? She kept telling herself that she was doing this because of hormones, because she was infatuated and blinded by her feelings for Li Yundong . But deep down, she knew that wasn¡¯t the case at all .

    The fact was that she had changed . Ever since she¡¯d gotten to know the real Li Yundong, her entire worldview had changed . Her friendship with Li Yundong had made her question everything she thought she knew about life . And as a result, she had begun to see that there really are things in life worth more than just status and money, things that are meaningful, things that are worth protecting .

    While her father believed in wealth and status, Li Yundong believed in people . He valued a person¡¯s inherent goodness more than their wealth and status . Most people in Zhou Qin¡¯s circle picked friends and allies based on material things . Li Yundong picked his friends based on their internal qualities .

    And then there was Su Chan .

    God . That girl was something else entirely . The nature of Su Chan¡¯s character was something that baffled Zhou Qin to no end . It was something that she couldn¡¯t for the life of her fathom . For one, her character was riddled with contradictions: meek andpliant, yet fiercely assertive and protective when it came to the things or people she cared about; simple-minded, yet capable of astoundinglyplex behaviors and thought processes; blessed with a disproportionately huge appetite, yet possessing a figure that most women would die for .

    But of course, the one aspect about Su Chan¡¯s character that baffled Zhou Qin the most was her childlike innocence .

    Good Lord .

    That girl was innocent to point of hrity, not to mentionpletely ignorant to the ways of the world . And yet, despite her innocence, that girl also possessed far greater wisdom and foresight than any woman Zhou Qin had ever known . Su Chan had chosen Li Yundong from the very start . When everyone¡ªsadly, even Zhou Qin herself¡ªsaw Li Yundong as just another loser, Su Chan saw a great man hidden behind his mediocre exterior . For someone so innocent, Su Chan had such great insights into the human character . Perhaps her innocence was precisely the thing that had allowed her to see past the shallow nonsense and focus on the things that truly matter .

    Zhou Qin would rather die than admit this to anyone, but that emotional exchange between Li Yundong and Su Chan shortly after He Shao was struck to death had moved Zhou Qin to tears . It was clear to Zhou Qin then that Li Yundong and Su Chan loved each other deeply . In fact, their love for each other ran so deep that either one of them would die for the other .

    How a love that pure could exist in this world was beyond Zhou Qin .

    Regardless, the pure love between Li Yundong and Su Chan made Zhou Qin realize one thing: it is people, not wealth, that brings true happiness .

    You could have all the wealth and status in the world, yet be surrounded by people who would backstab you any chance they get . Indeed, how could happiness stem from such a life, where you¡¯re constantly living in fear because you¡¯re surrounded by people who would bring destruction upon you the moment you let your guard down, who wouldn¡¯t hesitate to throw you under the bus to save their own skin? How could anyone be happy by living amongst sharks and blood-thirsty wolves? Zhou Qin had seen such a life . No . She hadn¡¯t just seen it . She had experienced it . Because that was exactly the kind of life that her father had chosen for her .

    On the other hand, you could lead a simple life but be surrounded by people who cherish you for who you are, not how deep your pocket is or how yourst name is spelled . By inviting her to his home, Li Yundong had given Zhou Qin a glimpse of what a simple, yet meaningful life looks like .

    Indeed, a simple, home-cooked meal had opened Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes to so many things and allowed her to finally understand the meaning of true happiness .

    After she came to that realization, Zhou Qin had spent quite a while wondering if she would ever experience such happiness . It wasn¡¯t until three weeks ago that she realized something else: she¡¯d already experienced such happiness .

    Oh yes, she did, back at Li Yundong¡¯s apartment, where she had been an eager participant of casa de Yundong¡¯s daily Food War . God . What a meal that had been . Zhou Qin hadughed until her cheeks hurt every time Su Chan stuck her tongue out at Zhou Qin after she had beaten Zhou Qin to a piece of duck meat . And then when it was the other way round, when Zhou Qin had beaten Su Chan to a piece, the poor girl would showcase her "chipmunk" pouches in an entirely different capacity¡ªin the form of a huge, sulky pout . Zhou Qin hadughed until her stomach cramped .

    That kind of happiness was something her father would never understand . He wouldn¡¯t understand because he never really had people he cared deeply about .

    Zhou Keqiang cared about no one .

    Not even his own daughter .

    Zhou Qin wouldn¡¯t allow herself to go down that path . She didn¡¯t want that kind of life . She¡¯d never wanted it in the first ce . Before, she had let herself be controlled because she had no idea what happiness truly meant . She hadn¡¯t seen the other side, so to speak . Back then, her life consisted of nothing other than meaningless parties and petty political maneuvers to satisfy her father¡¯s delusions of grandeur . Not to mention countless matchmaking attempts to find the most "beneficial" suitor for her . She had nothing to look forward to, nothing worth fight for .

    But things were different now .

    Now, Zhou Qin had found people that she actually cared about . She had friends . Real friends, not the kind with agendas . Granted, she didn¡¯t have a lot of true friends yet . As far as she could tell, right now she only had two: Su Chan and Li Yundong .

    Well, she supposed having two friends was better than having none . Especially when those friends actually gave a damn about her beyond her status .

    Although Li Yundong¡¯s feelings for her were merely tonic, Zhou Qin knew that he cared about her as a friend .

    And Su Chan...

    At first, Zhou Qin was jealous of Su Chan, because Su Chan had something Zhou Qin could never have¡ªLi Yundong¡¯s heart .

    But as they got to know each other better, Zhou Qin had eventuallye to see Su Chan as the little sister she never had . Good Lord . That girl was just impossible to hate . Literally impossible . And even though Su Chan had never overtly stated it, Zhou Qin could tell that Su Chan cared about her too . Zhou Qin would never forget the time when Su Chan had risked her own life to save her during their unfortunate encounter with Lin Youfa outside the campus gates . Su Chan had dove in front of Zhou Qin and then pulled her away from a shockwave powerful enough to st a limousine several feet away . Su Chan could¡¯ve left Zhou Qin for death and gone straight to Li Yundong, but she didn¡¯t . She came for her instead . Su Chan had protected her .

    And now it was Zhou Qin¡¯s turn to protect them both .

    Detective Wang had been dropping hints here and there about what themissioner was up to . Although subtle, the hints were still clear enough for Zhou Qin to get the message¡ªshe had a feeling that Detective Wang was trying to help her . Themissioner, and most likely the He family, wanted to pin He Shao¡¯s death on Li Yundong . And if Li Yundong was convicted, Su Chan would no doubt be devastated .

    To protect them both . That was the main reason Zhou Qin had refused to give themissioner what he wanted .

    Sometimes, Zhou Qin wanted tough at herself for even considering it . Li Yundong could dodge bullets . And Su Chan could fly . Yes . The girl could fly . To think that either of them would need her protection was just ridiculous . But still, Zhou Qin wanted to do something to help her friends . Admittedly, a small part of her was doing this because she didn¡¯t want to give the He family the final victory . She didn¡¯t want He Shao to have thestugh, even though it would be done from hell . But mostly, it was because she didn¡¯t want Li Yundong and Su Chan to get into further trouble with thew .

    Like she said, she wanted to help her friends .

    She hadn¡¯t done much in that regard though .

    So far, all she did was omit a few details from the story she had¡ªrepeatedly¡ªtold the cops . Those details were the ones that would incriminate Li Yundong . But since there weren¡¯t any physical evidence to prove that Li Yundong had actually killed He Shao, things would soon blow over as long as she¡ª

    CLACK!

    Zhou Qin froze . The noise came from downstairs . Someone was inside the house .

    CLACK! CLACK!

    Is it father? Has he returned?

    But no . It couldn¡¯t be . Her father only returned during the weekends .

    Zhou Qin scrambled out of bed and ran to her desk . She pulled out the top drawer and removed the Taser she¡¯d kept there for emergency .

    After that, she ran to door of her bedroom and locked it . She then pressed her ear against the door and listened . For ten minutes, she stayed in that position, listening to any sounds outside .

    She didn¡¯t hear anything out of the ordinary .

    Maybe she was just tired . She hadn¡¯t been sleeping welltely .

    She sighed and pushed away from the door .

    On the way towards the bed, she turned off the lights in her bedroom . Leaving the lights on would just make it easier for the intruder¡ªif there was any¡ªto find her .

    I should call the security staff .

    Zhou Qin made a beeline towards the nightstand where the PBX phone system sat . She lowered the Taser onto the nightstand, then reached for the phone receiver .

    CLACK!

    This time, the noise came from the window behind her .

    Zhou Qin gasped and turned around, dropping the phone receiver in the process .

    She reached for the Taser on the night stand, but it was toote . A strong, gloved hand mped over her mouth . The next thing she knew, she was being dragged away from the nightstand, away from the Taser .

 Chapter 190.2

    Chapter 190.2

    <h4>Warning</h4>

    Zhou Qin struggled and kicked her legs, but it was no use . The attacker was too strong . She tried to step on the attacker¡¯s foot, but her attempt was thwarted when the attacker hoisted her body upwards¡ªher feet couldn¡¯t even reach the ground . Her arms were restrained, so she couldn¡¯t use her hands or elbows to strike the attacker¡¯s groin .

    Realizing how defenseless she was, Zhou Qin did the only other thing she could think of . She jerked her head backwards as hard as she could until the back of her skull mmed into something soft¡ªprobably the attacker¡¯s mouth, or his nose .

    There was a hiss, then a grunt .

    "Shh! Damn it! It¡¯s me, Miss Zhou!"

    Zhou Qin stopped struggling . That voice sounded so familiar .

    The attacker¡¯s arms loosened around her body the moment she stopped struggling . Secondster, she was lowered gently to the floor . As soon as her feet touched the carpeted floor of her bedroom, Zhou Qin scrambled towards the nightstand and reached for the Taser .

    "Stop!" The attacker removed the dark ski mask from his face . "It¡¯s me!"

    Zhou Qin¡¯s hands stilled in midair .

    "Detective Wang?" she squeaked in surprise . A momentter, she regained herposure and narrowed her eyes . "What on earth are you doing here?"

    Detective Wang lowered the ski mask with a soft groan, then rubbed his lips . "Nice head butt, by the way . "

    "How did you get past security?" Zhou Qin snapped .

    "Gave them the slip," Detective Wang said with a casual wave of his hand . "I¡¯m ex-military . Those guys didn¡¯t stand a chance . "

    Zhou Qin opened her mouth to argue, but Detective Wang silenced her with his palm .

    "There¡¯s no time," Detective Wang said urgently . "You need to¡ª"

    Zhou Qin didn¡¯t wait for him to finish . She dove for the phone receiver and¡ª

    "Stop!" Detective Wang¡¯s hand beat her to the receiver . He tossed it onto the bed . "I¡¯m on your side, dammit! They¡¯reing for you . "

    Zhou Qin froze . Confusion swirled in her mind like a dense fog .

    "What?"

    "The He family," Detective Wang said, giving her a stern look . "They¡¯reing for you and your family . You need to warn your father and start taking precautionary measures . "

    Zhou Qin stared at Detective Wang for a few seconds . Then, she took a deep breath . "Start from the beginning," she said . "Tell me what¡¯s going on . "

    Detective Wang sighed and moved towards the window, the one he¡¯d just climbed through . He stared out the window for a moment before drawing the curtains shut . After that, he pulled out a chair and sat down .

    Dark rims circled the detective¡¯s eyes . Thest time Zhou Qin saw the detective was about two weeks ago, in the interrogation room . His face was still clean-shaven back then . Now, it was covered with scruff and dark stubble . His hair was also slightly longer than Zhou Qin remembered .

    "The whole system is bullshit," Detective Wang said tiredly . "My team got taken off the damn case after we presented your statement . "

    Zhou Qin frowned . "Wait, when was that?"

    "A week ago . " Detective Wang¡¯s face twisted in disgust . "I tried, Miss Zhou . I really tried . " Detective Wang sighed . "Look . I don¡¯t have to spell everything out for you . I think you¡¯re smart enough to figure out what¡¯s going on here . "

    Zhou Qin sat down on the edge of the bed, her mind racing .

    "The He family had themissioner wrapped around their little finger, Miss Zhou . " Detective Wang shook his head in disgust . "I refused to do themissioner¡¯s bidding . So they kicked me off the damn case . Gave it to some dumb rookie with a chip on his shoulders instead . You see that? Assigning a high-profile case to some rookie who is about as green as the Bok Choy in my mom¡¯s vegetable garden!" Detective Wang snorted . "If that doesn¡¯t smell like bullshit, I don¡¯t know what is . " The detective paused and gave Zhou Qin a pointed look . "I¡¯m sure I don¡¯t have to tell you what this means, Miss Zhou . "

    No . He didn¡¯t . The rookie officer¡ªor detective, whatever¡ªwould jump at the chance to do themissioner¡¯s bidding without asking any questions . After all, what better way to ensure a ster career inw enforcement than getting on the policemissioner¡¯s good side?

    "I see . " Zhou Qin nodded . "The He family wanted Li Yundong charged for He Shao¡¯s murder . But the only way to get a conviction is through me . " Zhou Qinughed darkly . "They want me to testify against him . "

    Detective Wang nodded grimly . "So far, all the evidence tying Li Yundong to He Shao¡¯s murder is circumstantial at best . There¡¯s no direct proof that he killed He Shao . And all the stuff you pointed out in ourst few interrogation sessions checked out . The story you told me matches all the evidence theb found . The footprints . He Shao¡¯s DNA in the hole . All that stuff . "

    "But it wasn¡¯t enough," Zhou Qin said tiredly .

    Detective Wang sighed . "The He family is convinced that Li Yundong is the killer because his prints are all over He Shao¡¯s car . "

    "Of course his prints would be there . Li Yundong was chasing He Shao¡¯s car," Zhou Qin said coldly . "That doesn¡¯t prove he killed He Shao . "

    "Which is why we¡¯re sitting here, having this conversation," Detective Wang said . "The evidence against Li Yundong is all circumstantial, but the He family needs a way to convict the guy . "

    Zhou Qin rolled her eyes . "I¡¯m surprised they didn¡¯t just try to bribe the judge . "

    "It would still make them look bad if the evidence isn¡¯t conclusive . People will talk . "

    "Right . So now they¡¯re forcing me to testify because I¡¯m a key eyewitness . " Zhou Qin let out a dark chuckle . "An eyewitness ount is better than circumstantial evidence . That¡¯s the game n they are going with . "

    "When I was first assigned to the case, themissioner ordered me to trick you into revealing incriminating information about Li Yundong . " Detective Wang shook his head slightly . "But when everything in your story checked out, he told me to use any means necessary to force you to testify against Li Yundong . " Detective Wang gave her a pointed look . "Any means necessary . "

    Zhou Qin smirked . "And you disagreed?"

    "Nearly socked the old bastard in the face . "

    Zhou Qin shook her head . "If they took you and your team off the case, what¡¯s stopping them from destroying all the evidence I gave you? My statements . " Zhou Qin snorted . "Even that video of He Shao¡¯s death . Everything . "

    "Not necessarily . "

    Zhou Qin looked up and saw Detective Wang smirking at her .

    "I don¡¯t see why not, detective . Isn¡¯t that the whole point of recing the lead detective?"

    Detective Wangughed . "I was one step ahead of the old bastard, Miss Zhou . " He smirked again . "I secretly made copies of the case files and then kept it in a safe ce . "

    "But that¡¯s not¡ª"

    "Even the audio recordings and transcripts of our interrogation sessions . "

    Zhou Qin would be lying if she said that she wasn¡¯t impressed .

    "That . . . takes a lot of foresight," Zhou Qin said .

    "I¡¯d chalk it up to my military training . " Detective Wang stood up from the chair and walked towards the window again . He took a peek from the curtain, then returned to the chair once again . "Look . Right now it¡¯s just you and me here . So why don¡¯t you cut the bullshit and tell me the truth . Did He Shao really die because he was struck by lightning?"

    Zhou Qin stared at the detective for a few seconds, her eyes narrowing . Suddenly, she sprang to her feet . "You! This is a setup! You¡¯re wearing a wire, aren¡¯t you?"

    Detective Wang rolled his eyes . "I¡¯m not wearing a damn wire!" He yanked down the cor of his shirt and patted himself all over . "See? No listening device . "

    Zhou Qin eyed the man suspiciously .

    Detective Wang sighed . He sounded exasperated, and perhaps a little bit annoyed .

    "What do you think this is for?" Detective Wang waved a hand down his body, which was d in dark,bat gear . "There¡¯s no need for all this cloak-and-dagger business if I¡¯m really working for them . I could juste in through your front door like I was conducting official business and then basically tell you the same thing . "

    Zhou Qin rxed her stance a little .

    "I had to sneak around because themissioner has put me under surveince ever since he kicked me off the case . And if I get caught, not only will I lose my badge, but my contacts in the military will also be¡ª" Detective Wang huffed out in frustration . "You know what? We¡¯re wasting time here . Look . How many times do I have to tell you that I¡¯m . On . Your . Side . "

    "Why are you helping me?" Zhou Qin narrowed her eyes slightly . "What¡¯s in it for you?"

    "Let¡¯s just say that I have a thing against corrupt officials," Detective Wang said gruffly, then waved his hand a few times . "Whatever . If you still want to keep what really happened to He Shao a secret, then that¡¯s fine by me . It doesn¡¯t matter anyway . Now sit, and listen carefully to what I¡¯m about to tell you . "

    Zhou Qin sat down at the edge of the bed .

    "The policemissioner couldn¡¯t force you to testify, so the He family ns to take things to the next level . " Detective Wang gave her a serious look . "They n to get the military involved . "

    It took Zhou Qin everything to maintain her poker face . "And how, may I ask, did youe across that information?"

    Detective Wang leaned forward . "Like I said, I¡¯m ex-military . So I still have a lot of contacts inside the military . A few of them heard rumors about the formation of a special task force to"¡ªDetective Wang did air quotes¡ª"work on a murder case . And then, two days ago, another buddy of mine saw members of the He family leaving a military base in Tiannan City . My buddy called me because he knew I was working on a case involving the He family . He didn¡¯t know that I¡¯d actually been kicked off the case . " Detective Wang leaned back in the chair . "After that, I asked my buddy to do some digging, and he found out that the task force is about to, I quote, make an arrest . "

    Zhou Qin¡¯s back stiffened . Stay calm, Zhou Qin . Stay calm...

    Detective Wang leaned forward again . "My buddy couldn¡¯t find out any specifics of the arrest, just that it¡¯ll take ce within the next few days . He couldn¡¯t find out the person they¡¯re nning to arrest either . But I figured it¡¯s most likely you, because I know that the He family is out to get you . "

    Zhou Qin could feel her hands shaking a little as Detective Wang¡¯s words from before echoed inside her head: any means necessary .

    Just how far would they go to force her to testify?

    "Look . I¡¯m just here to warn you," Detective Wang said . "What you decide to do is up to you . "

    What should she do? Bend to the He family¡¯s will and agree to testify against Li Yundong? Throw Li Yundong and Su Chan under the bus to save her own skin?

    Where was the honor in that?

    Even in death, He Shao was screwing up her life .

    That thought made Zhou Qin sick to the stomach .

    "You alright, Miss Zhou?"

    Zhou Qin looked up . Detective Wang was staring at her worriedly . Those eyes were filled withpassion and pity .

    Secondster, Detective Wang sighed .

    "I suggest you warn Deputy Governor Zhou about this . I didn¡¯t have a way to reach out to him, but you do," Detective Wang said, then paused slightly . "Maybe he¡¯ll find a way to smooth things over before the members of the task force arrive with guns zing . "

    Her father? Zhou Qin released derisive snort . That man would rather feed her to the wolves than jeopardize the good rtionship between the Zhou and the He families . No . She wouldn¡¯t count on Zhou Keqiang to get her out of this mess . She was on her own .

    Detective Wang rose from the chair . "Whatever your ns are, Miss Zhou, I hope they involve a safehouse and a damn goodwyer . " Detective Wang gave her a hard stare . "You need to find a ce toy low before those bastards get here . "

    Detective Wang moved towards the window .

    "Thank you for the warning, detective . "

    When Detective Wang reached the window, he paused and turned around .

    Silence permeated the room .

    After a while, Zhou Qin sighed . "He Shao really died because of the lightning . " Zhou Qin stared at Detective Wang intently . "I saw it with my own eyes . I¡¯m telling you the truth . I swear . "

    Detective Wang ended the staring match with a nod .

    "Your story fits the evidence . " Detective Wang suddenly had a faraway look in his eyes . "But Li Yundong... I just don¡¯t know how he..." Detective Wang sighed and shook his head .

    "He¡¯s a good man," Zhou Qin said pointedly .

    Detective Wang looked up sharply .

    Zhou Qin held his gaze firmly . "He is a good man, detective . "

    "I know . "

    Wait, what?

    Zhou Qin¡¯s expression must¡¯ve looked a little funny right then because Detective Wang suddenly startedughing . "Seriously, I¡¯m not bullshitting you . I do know that he¡¯s a good man . "

    Zhou Qin kept staring .

    Detective Wang stoppedughing, his expression turning somber . "Look... I know I was a bit biased against him during our first interrogation¡ª"

    "A little?" Zhou Qin arched a brow .

    "Okay, maybe more than a little . But I did a deeper background check on the guy after I saw the video of He Shao¡¯s death . " There was a pause . "I found out that he was the guy who saved my idiot brother¡¯s life . "

    Zhou Qin did a double take .

    "Yeah . " Detective Wang let out a sad chuckle . "That¡¯s right . He did . Li Yundong saved my brother¡¯s life . I was a little surprised that the information hadn¡¯t turned up sooner . But then again, the incident was covered up pretty well . "

    "Which incident are you referring to?"

    There were a lot of incidents involving Li Yundong .

    Detective Wang scowled . "Months ago, my good-for-nothing brother decided to show up at Dongsheng Realtors with a suicide vest . But Li Yundong stopped him and saved everyone in the building . After that, my brother jumped off the building . And guess what?" Detective Wang chuckled . "Li Yundong saved him too . "

    Zhou Qin could do nothing except stare .

    "I swear, dude¡¯s like some kind of superhero out of aic book," Detective Wang mumbled .

    Zhou Qin smirked . If only you knew half of it, detective .

    "So no . I don¡¯t have a problem with Li Yundong . "

    Zhou Qin nodded .

    "It¡¯s the He family that I have a problem with," Detective Wang growled .

    Zhou Qin curled her lips . You might have to get in line, detective .

    "Those corrupt bastards¡ª" Detective Wang froze, then pulled out his phone from his pocket . He stared at the screen and frowned . "It¡¯s my buddy from the military . "

    "Go ahead," Zhou Qin said .

    She rose from the bed and walked towards the window while the detective answered the call . She parted the curtains slightly and peered out .

    "Hey buddy . What¡¯s up?"

    Two SUVs were parked outside the gates of Zhou¡¯s residence . The vehicles seemed unupied .

    Strange . She¡¯d never seen those vehicles before .

    There had been one or two police vehicles stationed outside the house ever since her house arrest, but they were always sedans, not SUVs .

    "What?!"

    Zhou Qin turned away from the window at the sound of Detective Wang¡¯s angry voice . The man was now pacing around her room .

    "Goddammit! Why didn¡¯t you tell me this sooner?!" Detective Wang yelled into the phone .

    There was some kind ofmotion at the front gates . Zhou Qin frowned and nced out the window again . Five men were now standing in front of the gates, speaking to the security staff .

    Zhou Qin shot a fearful nce at Detective Wang . "Detective..." She pointed at the window .

    Detective Wang walked over, his phone still pressed to his ear . He stepped beside her and looked out the window .

    "Shit..." Detective Wang said . "Listen, buddy... I¡¯m gonna have to call you back . "

    Zhou Qin¡¯s scalp tingled .

    Detective Wang listened to the voice on the phone for a moment .

    "Yeah . Thanks for the warning, buddy," he said . "But you¡¯re toote . The task force is already here to make the arrest . "

 Chapter 191.1

    Chapter 191.1

    <h4>Haircut</h4>

    When Li Yundong stumbled into Apartment 20A, he saw Ruan Hongling loungingfortably on his couch, clearly making herself at home .

    "What is she doing here?" Li Yundong looked towards Zi Yuan, who had just walked through the front door .

    Zi Yuan closed the door gently and moved past Li Yundong without answering the question .

    "You didn¡¯t run into any problems, I hope?" Zi Yuan said .

    Ruan Hongling stood up from the couch and greeted Zi Yuan with a bow . "No Elder Sister . They¡¯re both fully intact and ready for you inside the Tianyi Pond . "

    "Good . "

    Yeah . Very good . Just fantastic . By all means, ignore a man inside his own home, treat him like he¡¯s invisible, coz that¡¯s such a polite thing to do .

    Li Yundong trudged along the doorway and set down his travel backpack on the floor beside the couch . He didn¡¯t put it on the couch; that thing looked so raggedly and dirty that he¡¯d had qualms about bringing it into the apartment in the first ce .

    He pulled out the Fan of Seven Treasures from the backpack andy it beside the backpack .

    To his surprise, Ruan Hongling suddenly ran over and yanked up his backpack by its straps .

    Then, she tossed it out onto the balcony .

    "Hey!"

    Ruan Hongling shut the sliding door and walked back towards the couch . The girl¡¯s face was scrunched up like she had just opened a bag of rotten fish .

    "What?" Ruan Hongling gritted out .

    "Why¡¯d you put the bag outside?" Li Yundong pointed at the balcony .

    Ruan Hongling rolled her eyes . "I just cleaned the apartment two days ago . That thing is just gonna make the floor dirty again . "

    Li Yundong stared at the girl for a moment, then turned to look at Zi Yuan .

    "I asked Hongling to stop by from time to time for some upkeep . " Zi Yuan smiled, then turned towards Ruan Hongling . "Thank you, Hongling . "

    Ruan Hongling snorted . "Well . I¡¯m happy to do it as long as Elder Sister Zi Yuan is the one who asked . " Ruan Hongling gave Li Yundong a sidelong nce . "And as long as somebody doesn¡¯t go off the deep end and start telling me to stay out of his business . "

    Li Yundong flinched at the jab, but then he remembered the reason he¡¯d said those words to Ruan Hongling¡ªshe had picked up his phone without his permission and pranked Su Chan .

    That memory eased the guilt a little .

    "Hongling..." Zi Yuan¡¯s warning tone pulled him out of his thoughts . "We just got back . So be nice and don¡¯t start a fight . "

    Ruan Hongling stuck out her tongue at Zi Yuan, then plopped down on the couch .

    Li Yundong sighed and nced around the living room .

    He had to admit that Ruan Hongling had done a superb job in keeping the apartment clean . He¡¯d been away for two months, yet the ce didn¡¯t seem dusty at all . The floor had clearly been mopped . While Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling were having a whispered conversation, Li Yundong padded towards the kitchen .

    He stopped in front of the fridge and opened it . The fridge had been restocked with fresh fruits and vegetables . He closed the fridge¡¯s door and opened the freezer on top . Stacks of frozen meat¡ªpoultry, fish, and beef¡ªfilled the shelves .

    The conversation in the living room halted the moment Li Yundong walked out of the kitchen . Li Yundong stepped over the Fan of Seven Treasures¡¯ bulky form and went around the couch to stand in front of the coffee table .

    The two women from the Zhengyi School stared at him curiously .

    Li Yundong focused his gaze on Ruan Hongling .

    "Thank you for cleaning the apartment . " He jerked his head towards the kitchen . "And for restocking the fridge . " He cleared his throat . "I really appreciate it . "

    Li Yundong nearly smirked when he saw Ruan Hongling¡¯s jaw ckening . He stole a nce at Zi Yuan, who seemed rather amused at their exchange .

    Li Yundong returned his eyes to Ruan Hongling, who appeared to be struggling with her words . This time, Li Yundong really did smirk: there¡¯s my olive branch, take it or leave it .

    After what felt like forever, Ruan Hongling cleared her throat . "Y- You¡¯re wee . "

    From the corner of his eyes, Li Yundong could make out a satisfied smile spreading across Zi Yuan¡¯s features .

    Suddenly, a devious glint formed in Ruan Hongling¡¯s eyes .

    "Why don¡¯t you could cook for us again?" Ruan Hongling said triumphantly . "To repay me for all this . " She waved a hand across the room .

    Zi Yuan¡¯s smile instantly turned into a re .

    "Well!" Li Yundong released a loud chuckle . "That¡¯s not gonna be a problem . " He himself had to eat anyway . It wouldn¡¯t be that much harder to cook for three .

    My princess... Wherever you are, I hope you¡¯re eating well...

    "You know... You might be obnoxious, annoying and¡ªOww!"

    "Hongling..." Zi Yuan said . "Be nice . "

    Li Yundong regarded Ruan Hongling with a raised brow .

    Ruan Hongling cleared her throat . "But I have to admit that you¡¯re a decent cook . "

    Li Yundong smirked .

    "Still not as good as Elder Zi Yuan though..."

    Li Yundong burst outughing . "Okay, okay . I get it . " He stoppedughing and shook his head . Truly, this girl sucked at givingpliments . "Thanks again . " He looked straight at Ruan Hongling, then waved a hand across the apartment . "I can¡¯t even imagine the mess I¡¯de home to if you hadn¡¯t helped me keep the ce clean . "

    Ruan Hongling shrugged dismissively .

    Whatever . He¡¯d take that as a win .

    He stretched his arms above his head and then ran his hand through his hair¡ª

    What the...

    He grunted when his fingers got tangled up in his hair .

    "Goddamn shampoo didn¡¯t even work," he mumbled, giving his fingers a few more tugs before they came loose from his messy strands .

    Even now, his hair still smelled a little funny .

    He looked up to find Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling studying him . Zi Yuan had a look of amusement on her face, whereas Ruan Hongling looked like she was trying to hold back herughter .

    Li Yundong let his eyes wandered down his body for a moment, wincing at what he saw .

    Ruan Hongling burst intoughter right then . "Pfft! Hahaha! You look like you just stepped out of a forest after spending years in it!"

    Li Yundong smiled wryly . He couldn¡¯t even disagree with Ruan Hongling on that one . He did look like a beast from the wilderness .

    Li Yundong sighed . Guess it was time for another shower .

    ***

    For the first time in two months, Li Yundong allowed himself to really study his own reflection in the mirror .

    He looked leaner now . The muscles of his deltoids and abs looked so much more defined than before . Granted, he didn¡¯t look like the next Mr . Olympia, but he looked a lot better than he used to¡ªif those six-pack abs were any indication . More importantly, he could feel the explosive strength underneath his skin, like he could actually support the weight of the sky if it ever came crashing down on him .

    With a satisfied smile, Li Yundong grabbed his razor de and spent the next fifteen minutes shaving off the beard that he¡¯d grown during the past two months . Once he was done, he grabbed a clean set of clothes from the shelf beside the counter and got dressed . He had tossed his clothes¡ªthe clothes he¡¯d worn back from his Tibetan trip¡ªstraight into the trash can before stepping into the shower earlier . Those clothes were ruined, so there was no point in keeping them .

    Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling were still sitting in the living room when he got out .

    He stopped beside the couch and studied Zi Yuan for a moment .

    "Aren¡¯t you going back to freshen up as well?" he asked .

    Indeed, it boggled his mind how Zi Yuan still seemed so put together even after their long journey home .

    Zi Yuan rose from the couch and smiled . "Later . "

    Li Yundong shot her a funny look . "Seriously? After that train ride?" He shuddered at the memory of that dreadful train ride where they had to share space with God knows how many people . China¡¯s poption size was a force to be reckoned with¡ªa force that could squeeze you until you turn into a t piece of paper if you let it .

    "I really don¡¯t get you at all . " Zi Yuan shook her head in amusement . "You could reach Tibet on foot without a single word ofint, yet you¡¯re acting all grumpy after a rtivelyfortable train ride . "

    Li Yundong grunted in response . It was best not to let Zi Yuan know just how much he hadined and grumbled over the course of his trip to Tibet .

    Zi Yuan flicked her hand: a stool near the dining table floated across the room andnded beside the couch .

    "Now sit . "

    Li Yundong stared at the stool, then at Zi Yuan .

    On the other end of the couch, he could hear Ruan Hongling giggling .

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes . "Why?"

    "Because you still look like someone who had spent ten years out in the wilderness," Zi Yuan said dryly . "You need a haircut . "

    Li Yundong kept staring at Zi Yuan until the implication of her words hit him . "Wait . Are you going to give me a haircut?"

    He nced back and forth between Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling . Thetter had stopped giggling .

    "Of course," Zi Yuan said . "Now sit . "

    Li Yundong raised his palms . "Oh, no . No thanks . " He shook his head . "I¡¯ll just go get one on my own tomorrow . "

    Zi Yuan rolled her eyes, then waved her hand once again . Li Yundong yelped when he levitated off the floor .

    "Hey¡ª"

    His buttnded on the stool¡¯s surface .

    The next thing he knew, Zi Yuan was using an old tablecloth¡ªwhere did she even find that thing?¡ªas a makeshift barber cape .

    Li Yundong turned his head around to look at Zi Yuan . "Hey... You sure you know how to do this?"

    Zi Yuan smirked but said nothing .

    "Okay, you know what? Let¡¯s not do this at all . " Li Yundong reached up to untie the tablecloth around his neck . "I can just¡ª"

    His butt hit the surface of the stool once again when Zi Yuan¡¯s hand pressed down on his shoulder with a shocking amount of strength .

    Goddamn Cultivators .

    Oh, wait . He was one too .

    "Oh,e on!" Li Yundong yelled .

    Ruan Hongling burst into giggles .

    "Just sit still," Zi Yuan said . "I¡¯ll be done soon . "

    Zi Yuan held up her palm . Li Yundong watched in horror as a pair of scissors flew from Ruan Hongling¡¯s backpack on the coffee table andnded on her palm .

    "B- But what if you mess up my hair and I¡¯m forced to shave it all off?" Li Yundong protested . Yes, it was true that he¡¯d read and understood the Mahamudra Tantra and all . But that didn¡¯t mean he wanted to be an actual Buddhist monk . "I haven¡¯t gone bald since..." Li Yundong froze . "Hey,e to think of it... I¡¯ve never been bald in my life!"

    Zi Yuan arched a brow . "Oh? Is that the hairstyle you want, then? Hmm . Okay . That can be easily remedied . " Zi Yuan turned towards Ruan Hongling . "Hongling, go get the electric head shaver from¡ª"

    "Okay! Okay!" Li Yundong said . "Just..." Li Yundong sighed . "Just cut it short . No shaving . Alright?"

    Zi Yuan smirked . "Sit still . "

 Chapter 191.2

    Chapter 191.2

    <h4>Haircut</h4>

    "Just rx," Zi Yuan said while she ced the tablecloth on Li Yundong''s shoulders once again . "I told you before that I practically raised Hongling . Who do you think is the one who cut her hair all these years?"

    "You should be honored," Hongling chimed in from the couch . "Elder Sister Zi Yuan is very skilled . "

    Li Yundong visibly rxed . "Oh . Great . I thought you were just trying to experiment with my hair . "

    Zi Yuan chuckled . "With your hair looking like a chicken''s nest, I bet nothing I do could make it any worse . "

    Li Yundongughed out loud . "Fine . Fine . Do your thing, then . Just don''t ruin my hair . " Suddenly, he paused . "Or give me a bald patch . " He shuddered . "God . Please don''t give me a bald patch . "

    Zi Yuan stifled a smile . "I won''t," she said reassuringly, then got to work .

    The first ten minutes went by with Li Yundong constantly asking her whether his hair was still fine . But then he eventually grew so quiet that Zi Yuan was starting to wonder if he had fallen asleep .

    Zi Yuan leaned forward slightly to check his face .

    He was still awake, but staring off into space .

    "What''s on your mind?" Zi Yuan asked,bing her fingers through his sideburns .

    "Nothing¡­"

    Right . That totally sounded like nothing right there .

    "You''re thinking about her," Zi Yuan said . She hadn''t phrased that as a question . She had stated that as a fact .

    For the next few seconds, the only audible sound were the snipping of scissors .

    Then, Li Yundong sighed . "Yeah . I am . I miss her . "

    Zi Yuan didn''t miss the slight tremble in his voice .

    "Do you know why your hair had grown so long in just two months?" Zi Yuan asked, steering the conversation away from any emotionally-loaded topic . She might not be able to do anything to alleviate the lovesickness he was feeling, but she could at least attempt to distract him .

    "Hey¡­ now that you mention it, you''re right," Li Yundong said . "I''ve gone for longer without a haircut, but my hair never got this long . Geez . Look at all this hair . It even got past my shoulders!"

    SNIP! SNIP! SNIP!

    "And do you know why?"

    There was a moment of silence .

    "No," he said . "Why?"

    "Oh,e on . " Zi Yuan sighed . "You''ve already read the Canon of the Yellow Thearch, haven''t you? The answer is all there . "

    Li Yundong went silent in thought again . A momentter, he pped his thigh . "It''s got something to do with my Qi and blood, right? They''ve be more vigorous over the course of my training . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Which helps boost cellr processes . "

    "Right . That''s why my beard and hair grew faster . "

    "I''ve said this before . The art of Cultivation involves more than just Qi-control training or learning how to cast spells . It also involvesprehension and research . It''s an ongoing process of acquiring knowledge, you see? You have to keep asking why . Only then can all the knowledge you''ve acquired be applied . "

    "Gee . You make Cultivation sound so¡­ I don''t know, scientific?" Li Yundong chuckled . "Months ago, I would''ve scoffed at the idea that magic and Cultivation are in any way rted to science . But now I think I know what you mean . "

    "Here . Let me ask you a question . How do you thinkputers work?" Zi Yuan paused for a second . "A silicon chip ced on a motherboard along with otherponents, all functioning together to performplexputations . " Zi Yuan paused again to let her words sink in . "How do you think that''s possible?"

    Li Yundong grew silent .

    "These things work because they obey certainws and principles," Zi Yuan exined . "Cultivation, too, has its own principles . These principles have to be fully understood before the art of Cultivation itself can be mastered . " Another pause . "Computers work because the people who designed them understood their working principles . "

    "Right . I understand now . "

    Zi Yuan sighed . "You''ve already read the Canon of the Yellow Thearch, yet you''re still clueless when I asked you basic questions about Cultivation . "

    "I''m sorry," Li Yundong said . "I know I should''ve done better . "

    "You need to get into the habit of constantly asking questions . Learn more . Research more . Otherwise, the truth will elude you forever . "

    "Okay . " Li Yundong nodded, then paused for a few seconds like he was thinking about something . "I''ll head down to Xin Hua bookstore tomorrow . "

    Zi Yuan''s hands stilled . She lowered the scissors and stared at Li Yundong . "Why?"

    Li Yundong gave her a puzzled look . "Um¡­ To buy more books? You said to do more research, right?"

    Zi Yuan chuckled . "Or you can just try the library in your university . "

    "The Tiannan University library?" Li Yundong said in a skeptical tone . "Is that a joke?"

    Zi Yuan smiled and raised the scissors again . "Tiannan University might be a"¡ªZi Yuan''s eyes darted to Li Yundong''s face¡ª"third-rate university, as you so often put it, but its library is ratherplete . You can find a lot of books there . "

    Li Yundong stared at her nkly, then nodded . "That''s actually not a bad idea . It could even save me some money . " Suddenly, Li Yundong sat up straighter, like he''d just thought of something . "The new semester will begin in two days¡­ Have you¡­ Have you heard from Zhou Qin yet?"

    Zi Yuan''s hands stilled again . "No . I haven''t . "

    Truth be told, Zi Yuan was starting to feel a bit concerned about this as well . Zhou Qin had gonepletely radio silent ever since they parted ways the night He Shao died . She was aware that Zhou Qin had been called into interrogation some time ago, but she hadn''t made any further inquiries into the matter; Zi Yuan had spent most of her waking hours watching over Li Yundong, as per Senior Wushuang''s instructions .

    "Nobody tried to detain me when we entered the country," Li Yundong said . "That made no sense to me . I was there at the scene of He Shao''s death . The police would''ve at least tried to bring me in for an interrogation . " Li Yundong sighed . "That night, you asked Zhou Qin to handle the police . I think she did it . But now, I''m worried that she herself has gotten into trouble because of that incident . "

    Zi Yuan lowered the scissors in her hand and studied Li Yundong''s face . This man was about to face his own demise in the form of the divine punishment, yet here he was, worrying about someone else .

    You''re just like him¡­

    "I''m sorry, who?"

    Zi Yuan froze . Had she said that out loud?

    She meant Master . Li Yundong was just like Master in this regard: always so selfless and putting other people''s needs before his own .

    Zi Yuan ignored Li Yundong''s question and raised the scissors again .

    Li Yundong seemed to have sensed her difort and didn¡¯t press her for an answer .

    "You know, I don''t understand why you asked me to return to the university," he said . "Now that I''ve reached the Shentong phase, I thought you''re gonna confine me at home and teach me a bunch of spells . "

    SNIP! SNIP! SNIP!

    "There are two types of Cultivators," Zi Yuan said . "There are the reclusive type, those who sequester themselves in the mountains and focus solely on their Cultivation training . And then there are also those who live and train among mortals . "

    "Oh . Well, the recluses are preferable, I suppose?"

    SNIP! SNIP! SNIP!

    Zi Yuan shook her head . "Each has its own advantages and disadvantages . The recluses are powerful because they are so focused on their training . They aren''t distracted by worldly affairs . However, all that time spent in istion will also make them ignorant of the ways of the outside world . It makes them inexperienced . " Zi Yuan gave him a pointed look . "I''m sure I don''t have to exin to you why ignorance is a disadvantage . "

    "Right . "

    "There is one other thing that the recluses tend to miss out on . " SNIP! SNIP! SNIP! "The opportunity to forge and strengthen their will . "

    "Hmm¡­"

    "The mortal world is filled with challenges and tribtions . A Cultivator who is forced to face and deal with these challenges will eventually develop the grit and inner strength that are crucial to their sess . It helps build character . " Zi Yuan paused . "I told you this before . There are times when the oue of a battle depends not on thebatants'' skill level, but on their inner toughness . "

    "Inner strength, huh?"

    "Yes . The ability to stay calm andposed under duress . The ability to handle criticisms . Persistence . Discipline . None of these traits are innate . They are forged from the challenges and tribtions one faces in life . "

    "Mm . That''s why you asked me to go back to school . You want me to still be a part of the real world even though I have chosen the path of Cultivation . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "The best oue can be attained by striking a bnce between being a recluse and a Cultivator who is world savvy . That way, you get to experience the advantages of both but avoid being bogged down by their disadvantages . "

    "That''s very wise," Li Yundong remarked .

    "Bnce is the key," Zi Yuan said . "Although the point of Cultivation is to achieve transcendence, its process doesn''t have to involveplete istion from the real world or worldly affairs . Think of it this way . When you be a Cultivator, you aren''t supposed to fly off the face of the Earth and move to another . You''re just hovering in the sky, looking down at the world from a higher ce . You''re notpletely detached from the world . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "Bnce . "

    "That''s right . And an educational institution is the perfect ce to find that bnce . "

    "How so?"

    "Imagine if you''re out in society¡­ Well, say the corporate world, for instance . You''ll be so swarmed with work that it bes a distraction . You''ll also have to deal with people with schemes and agendas . " Zi Yuan chuckled . "You''ll never be able to fully focus on your training . There are just too many distractions . "

    "Ah . Now I see . . . " Li Yundong chuckled . "But a university is rtively quiet, and there won''t be as many distractions . And I''ll have freedom of movement, plus a lot of resources that I can utilize, like the library . . . "

    Zi Yuan smiled . "Exactly . "

    Nothing else was said for the rest of the haircut .

    "There . All done," Zi Yuan said as she removed the makeshift barber cape from Li Yundong''s shoulders .

    Li Yundong turned around on the stool to face Hongling and Zi Yuan . "Well? How do I look?"

    Zi Yuan studied her handiwork . Gone were the messy locks, and in their ce was a full head of neatly-trimmed hair . She hadn''t shortened his hair too much, merely trimmed off the messy bits .

    She did a fantastic job, if she dared say so herself .

    Right now, he looked handsome .

    However, Li Yundong clearly had very little faith in her hairstyling skills¡ªeven though he hadn''t even looked at her work¡ªjudging from the wary expression on his face .

    "Why don''t you go look at yourself in the mirror then?" Zi Yuan said .

    Li Yundong rose from the stool and walked into his bedroom, presumably to do what she had suggested .

    Minutester, Zi Yuan heard a loud cheer, which was immediately followed by the sound of footsteps .

    The bedroom door swung open, and Li Yundong came barging out .

    "She was here!" Li Yundong stopped in front of Zi Yuan . Spread across his face was a megawatt smile . "She''s been here recently! She came back!" He waved a small piece of paper in front of Zi Yuan''s face .

    Zi Yuan shared a nce with Hongling, who had a puzzled look on her face .

    Zi Yuan took the paper from his hand, and then nced down at it . Only three words were written: I miss you .

    "Who was here?" Hongling stood up from the couch .

    "My little princess Su Chan, of course!" Li Yundong said, taking the note from Zi Yuan''s hands .

    "You came to that conclusion just because of a note?" Hongling said snidely, then snorted . "Anyone could''ve left that note . "

    Li Yundong smiled warmly . "I know it was her . I just know it . "

    "I don''t get it," Zi Yuan said . "It''s just three words . You''re over the moon because of three simple words?"

    Zi Yuan doubted that Li Yundong had even heard her . For a while, he paced around the living room with a silly grin on his face . Then, he opened the sliding door and stepped out into the balcony .

    The Jindan''sing ordains thine fate . The sound of the first thunder shaltplete thine soul .

    Zi Yuan looked towards the balcony . Li Yundong was still staring at that piece of paper .

    That man was without a doubt the most talented Cultivator she had ever seen, a talent that would only appear once every few centuries .

    But what did Master''s prophecy mean?

    In what way would the Jindan''s appearance decide her fate? Through its rightful heir? Or was it through some other way?

    How could a man so hopelessly and deeply in love with another womanplete her soul?

 Chapter 192.1

    Chapter 192.1

    <h4>Upheaval</h4>

    Annoyance coursed through Ao Wushuang when Chan''er suddenly sprang up from her meditation cushion and ran out of the room .

    "Oh, for Heavens'' sake, Chan''er!" Ao Wushuang growled . "What is it this time?!" Ao Wushuang got up and followed Chan''er out of the room .

    Can''t she focus for once?

    Chan''er had run to the other end of the apartment and was now opening the window .

    The window creaked open, and Chan''er poked her head out, looking from left to right .

    "What on earth are you doing, Chan''er?" Ao Wushuang stopped near the window''s ledge .

    "I think I heard Yundong shout my name . . . " Chan''er said .

    The silly girl was now standing on the tip of her toes as though it would help her see further . Ao Wushuang sighed and massaged her temple .

    "Yundong called out my name . . . He called my name¡­" Chan''er mumbled . "Yundong . . . "

    Chan''er poked her head out again .

    "Enough!" Ao Wushuang yanked Chan''er back inside by the cor . "You think I wouldn''t know about it if the Heir is really here?"

    Chan''er pouted and adjusted her cor . Ao Wushuang stepped towards the ledge and closed the window, but not before she had taken a good look of the view outside .

    A few pedestrians dressed in modern clothes strolled along quaint, limestone pavements . Elegant buildings stood on both sides of the avenue with their white walls and dark roof tiles . There were no signs of the Heir .

    "But I could''ve sworn I heard him," Chan''er mumbled .

    Ao Wushuang turned around and red at Chan''er . "Have you forgotten the promise you made me that night you ran away, hmm? You said you would start taking your training seriously once we got back!" Ao Wushuang shook her head . "The Heir had made so much progress in just two months, but look at you! You''ve made no progress at all . You should be ashamed of yourself, Chan''er . "

    "Hehehe . . . But what''s there to be ashamed of, Master?" Instead of looking contrite, Chan''er was actually grinning . "The stronger he bes, the happier I am!"

    Why you little¡­ Ao Wushuang pointed at the bedroom . "Get back in there and focus!"

    Chan''er lowered her gaze and slowly shuffled towards the room . "I wasn''t lying," she mumbled . "I really did hear his voice . . . "

    "Look at where we are . We''re in Dongwu City, for Heavens'' sake! You think his voice can travel across thousands of miles?"

    Chan''er stopped and turned back around . "Hmph! Maybe we are telepathically linked!"

    Ao Wushuang scowled . "You¡ª" Suddenly, she frowned and moved away from the window .

    Chan''er approached her tentatively .

    "Master . . . what . . . "

    "Shh," Ao Wushuang said, pressing a finger to her lips .

    Chan''er mped up instantly .

    Bahuang materialized inside Ao Wushuang''s free hand . "Get behind me," she said without taking her eyes off the front door .

    The door unlocked itself and swung open . A thin, dwarfish old man with a fully-wrinkled face stepped into the apartment .

    Ao Wushuang sighed . A momentter, Bahuang vanished from Ao Wushuang''s hand .

    Liu Ye¡­ What on earth is he doing here?

    "G- Grandmaster?!" Chan''er poked her head out from behind Ao Wushuang''s arm .

    Head Liu moved away from the door and began making his way towards them . He walked in a slow and rxed pace, which gave Ao Wushuang the opportunity to study the old man as he moved . His hands were hidden inside the sleeves of his long, grey robe . His eyelids were hung so low that it looked like he was walking with his eyes closed . It was a surprise that he didn''t trip and fall over at some point .

    Head Liu stopped a few feet from them .

    A pair of green cloth shoes peeked out from under his robe .

    Wariness crept into Ao Wushuang . "Head Liu . " Ao Wushuang greeted the old man with a slight nod . "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

    Instead of answering, the head of the Fox Zen School began ncing around the apartment . Ao Wushuang hadn''t splurged when she rented the apartment . The ce was rather spartan with the only furniture being a square table and the two stools that came with it .

    Head Liu released a sigh, which sounded a bit wistful to Ao Wushuang''s ears .

    "Wushuang . . . How is it that there are only two chairs in the whole apartment?" He shook his head . "Look at this ce . A square table and two stools? That''s it? How are you supposed to receive guests if that''s all you have?"

    Ao Wushuang smiled mockingly . "Me? Receiving guests?" She chuckled . "Surely you''re joking, Head Liu . People usually run for the hills the moment they see me, note knocking on my door . "

    Except you, apparently .

    Head Liu sighed and took a seat in one of the stools beside the square table . Once he got settled, he reached into the chest pocket of his robe and fished out a purple bag . stered on the bag''s surface was an embroidery of a goldfish . From the bag, he pulled out a delicate opium pipe, which he then filled up with tobo leaves from the same purple bag . Instead of lightning up the pipe, he brought the pipe to his lips and took two long drags . The end of the pipe lit up on its own .

    "It''s been ten years already, Wushuang . You still haven''t let that incident go?" Arge ring of smoke emerged from Head Liu''s lips . The ring rose higher and dispersed when it reached the ceiling . "You really need to let bygones be bygones, Wushuang . The affairs of the world are like a puff of smoke . You can''t hold on to it forever . Given enough time, it will go away . "

    Ao Wushuang shot Head Liu an icy look . "Knowing you, I don''t think you''re here just to share pearls of wisdom with me, Head Liu . "

    "Ah . So I was right, then?" A subtle smile graced Head Liu''s lips . "You are still mad at me for kicking you out of the school . "

    "Mad at you, the great seer and the great flying fox?" Ao Wushuangughed humorlessly . "I''m afraid you''re gravely mistaken, Head Liu . Why would I make an enemy of the current Head of the Fox Zen School, the leader of my own kind? I''m already a lone wolf, an outcast . " Ao Wushuang sneered . "Nothing but death awaits me if my own people turn against me too . "

    Head Liu startedughing . The act caused the wrinkles on his face to deepen . He tapped his finger on the pipe''s chamber . "Oh, you''re most definitely still mad . " He chuckled again . "I can hear it in your tone . "

    Ao Wushuang said nothing . Chan''er shifted behind her . When Ao Wushuang nced down, she saw Chan''er looking up at her curiously . The poor girl looked like she was having a rather difficult time holding back the barrage of questions she had for Ao Wushuang .

    Ao Wushuang suppressed a groan . Heavens save my soul . . .

    "I kicked you out of the school in order to protect you," Head Liu said . "You''re a smart woman, Wushuang . I''m sure you can understand . "

    Waves of conflicting emotions coursed through Ao Wushuang . Momentster, she sighed . "I understand your reasons, that''s true . " Ao Wushuang chuckled darkly . "But whether I can forgive you for what you did is a totally different matter . Now . " Ao Wushuang took a deep breath and stepped forward . "Why don''t you cut to the chase and tell me why you''re really here, Head Liu?"

    Head Liu sighed . "I''m just here to tell you that you should return to the school for a visit . "

    Ao Wushuang could feel her own brows rising to her hairline .

    Head Liu smiled wryly . "While you still have a school to return to, that is . "

    She could feel Chan''er tensing up behind her .

    Ao Wushuang frowned . "What''s that supposed to mean?"

    Head Liu took a few more drags from the pipe, then stood up from the stool and headed for the door . Ao Wushuang followed the old man''s movements with her eyes, watching him slip his pipe back into his robe . Head Liu stopped in front of the door and turned back around to face them .

    "The leaders of the Great Six havee to a consensus that we, the Fox Zen School, have stolen the Renyuan Jindan for ourselves . "

    Ao Wushuang stared at the old man, waiting for him to continue .

    Head Liu opened the door . "Six of the world''srgest Cultivation organizations will attack us in two months . Six, if we''re really lucky . And you are the most powerful Cultivator of the Fox Zen School . I''m sure you can put two and two together . "

    Nobody spoke for a while . Head Liu was still standing at the door .

    "Whether you return or not is up to you . "

    Head Liu stepped out of the apartment .

    "Why didn''t you just tell them that I''m the one who stole it?!" Ao Wushuang yelled at the door .

    Head Liu halted his steps and turned around slowly . A sardonic smile spread across his face . "What good will that do? To them, we''re just a bunch of demons . Lowly creatures of evil . " Head Liu released a dark chuckle . "The Great Six . They''re always the ones calling the shots, aren¡¯t they?" Head Liu gave Ao Wushuang a pointed look . "You think they''ll give a damn that you''re no longer part of the school?" Head Liu snickered . "Don''t kid yourself, Wushuang . You could turn into a pile of ashes right now and they''ll still regard you as part of us . You can alter your form or your appearance all you like, Wushuang, but none of that changes the fact that you''re a seven-tailed fox spirit . You''re forever tied to the Fox Zen School!"

    "There''s no way our defenses can hold if all members of The Great Six attack us at once," Ao Wushuang said . She gave Head Liu a sharp look . "With or without me . "

    Head Liu shook his head sadly . "What would you have me do, Wushuang¡­"

    Seconds passed in silence .

    "Go into hiding . Take everyone with you," Ao Wushuang said .

    "Hide?" Head Liu released a scornfulugh . "Ever since Grandmaster Pan Shi founded our school back in the Tang Dynasty, there have been more organizations who tried to destroy us than there are fish in the river! And yet here we stand, a great school with more than 1200 years of history!" Head Liu snorted . "You mark my words, Wushuang . Even though our strength has waned and our powers dwindled, we''ll still stand and fight . "

    Ao Wushuang stared at Head Liu in disbelief .

    "Oh, yes . We will stand and fight," Head Liu said .

    "This is folly, Head Liu," Ao Wushuang growled . "The Fox Zen School doesn''t stand a chance in an open warfare with The Great Six! This will be the end of the Fox Zen School as we know it!"

    "Fine . Say we go into hiding . What then? What happens if they attack us next time? Are we going to hide again?" Head Liuughed snidely . "No, Wushuang . We can''t hide forever and you know it . We''ll eventually run out of hiding ces . "

    The door closed with a loud click .

    "You have two months to think it over!" Head Liu''s voice sounded from outside secondster .

    Ao Wushuang turned around and found Chan''er looking at her fearfully .

    "M- Master?"

    Ao Wushuang strode past Chan''er and made a beeline to the bedroom .

    Chan''er scurried after her, but Ao Wushuang came to a halt and turned around . Chan''er gasped when she nearly bumped into Ao Wushuang .

    "Master? What is it?"

    "Stay here, Chan''er," Ao Wushuang said . "I need to go somewhere . I won''t be long . "

 Chapter 192.2

    Chapter 192.2

    <h4>Upheaval</h4>

    Zi Yuan jumped up from the couch the moment she saw Senior Wushuang appear on the balcony of Hongling''s apartment . Anticipation coursed through her as she quickly made her way towards the sliding door .

    Senior Wushuang had reached out . Perhaps she had finally figured out a way to help Li Yundong .

    The moment Zi Yuan unlocked the door, however, she began to sense that something was horribly wrong . Senior Wushuang stormed past Zi Yuan into the living room without even a greeting .

    Zi Yuan frowned and hurried after her .

    "Good evening, Senior Wu¡ª"

    Senior Wushuang turned around abruptly, her sharp gaze stopping Zi Yuan right in her tracks . Those eyes didn''t look friendly; they were filled with anger and menace .

    "Did you know about it? Is the Linggong Sect part of it?" Senior Wushuang snarled .

    "Part of what, Senior Wushuang?" Zi Yuan shook her head . "I don''t understa¡ª"

    Senior Wushuang silenced her with a raised palm and stepped closer .

    "Why didn''t you tell them?" Senior Wushuang snapped . "You knew where the Jindan is all along . Why didn''t you reveal it to them?"

    Senior Wushuang was standing so close that Zi Yuan could feel the woman''s breath on her face . "Reveal what to whom? I don''t even know what this is about¡ª"

    "Are you saying that you have no idea?" Senior Wushuang''s eyes narrowed even further . "You aren''t aware of any recent changes in the Zhengyi School?"

    "What recent changes? God, I''m so confused! What¡ª"

    "I''m going to ask you again," Senior Wushuang growled . "Are you or are you not aware of the recent developments involving the Zhengyi School?"

    "No!" Zi Yuan said adamantly, then took a deep, calming breath . "I haven''t contacted anyone from the Linggong Sect or any other branches of the Zhengyi School since I left Mount Longhu to look for the Heir . And I''ve been busy doing what you asked for the past two months . " Zi Yuan held Senior Wushuang''s gaze firmly . "I really have no idea what you''re talking about, senior . I swear . "

    Senior Wushuang backed away a step . "So you really didn''t know . . . " Senior Wushuang whispered . "They''ve kept you out of the loop¡­" Senior Wushuang looked utterly confused . "But that makes no sense . . . Why would they do that? With your abilities . . . Surely they would''vee to you . . . " Senior Wushuang''s frown deepened . "Or maybe . . . " A look of understanding formed on Senior Wushuang''s face . "Maybe just not yet . "

    "Okay . Will you please tell me what''s going on here, senior?"

    Senior Wushuang''s gaze returned to Zi Yuan''s face where it lingered for a few seconds .

    "No," Ao Wushuang stated firmly .

    Zi Yuan frowned . "Why not¡ª"

    "I''m sure you''ll know about it soon enough . "

    "But¡ª"

    "No," Senior Wushuang said in a tone of finality . "You''ll just tip them off if you start acting strange . Right now you need to keep doing what you''ve been doing . Watch over the Heir . Help him survive the divine punishment . "

    Senior Wushuang began to move towards the couch .

    "But how am I supposed to do that when you haven''t . . . " Zi Yuan came to a halt beside the couch . Something clicked inside her mind . "You . . . " She looked towards Senior Wushuang, who had just taken a seat on the couch . "You''ve found a way . "

    Senior Wushuang nodded . "Yes . "

    Anticipation coursed through Zi Yuan once again . She lowered herself slowly onto the armchair beside the couch .

    Senior Wushuang chuckled wryly . "You know, all this while I''ve been going about this the wrong way . " Senior Wushuang shook her head as though she was disappointed in herself . "I kept thinking along the lines of making him strong enough to survive being struck when in fact there''s a much better and safer way . "

    "What way?" Zi Yuan leaned forward on the armchair and held her breath .

    Senior Wushuang smirked . "By not getting hit at all, of course . "

    Zi Yuan''s heart sank . "But isn''t that what he''s doing right now? The spell masks his Vital Orb . But I thought that''s only a temporary solution . "

    "No, you misunderstood me . " Senior Wushuang''s smirk grew wider . "I didn''t say anything about avoiding the Heavenly Thunder . I''m saying he needs to avoid getting hit by the Heavenly Thunder when it''s happening . "

    Zi Yuan blinked a few times as Senior Wushuang''s words sank in .

    "You want him to dodge the Heavenly Thunder?" Zi Yuan had never felt so shock in her life . "All 81 bolts?"

    Senior Wushuang nodded . "Yes . That''s precisely what I''m saying . "

    If the situation weren''t so dire, Zi Yuan would''veughed at the sheer absurdity of the idea . "But that''s impossible! His aptitude is so high, and he has pretty much breezed past the early Cultivation phases! The Heavenly Thunder will strike him hard and fast . You know that, Senior Wushuang . He''ll never be able to pull that off . "

    Senior Wushuang rose from the couch . "He will with enough training . "

    Zi Yuan sprang to her feet . "Training?" Zi Yuan shook her head . "I''m sorry, Senior Wushuang, but is that a joke? It''s virtually impossible to create a training drill that can evene close to the real thing! This involves the Heavenly Thunder!"

    Senior Wushuang chuckled . "Impossible? Are you sure about that?"

    Zi Yuan''s scalped tingled . Had she missed something crucial?

    "What?"

    Senior Wushuang sighed . "Honestly, I''m a little disappointed in you, Zi Yuan . " Senior Wushuang arched a brow . "Tell me . What are the magical properties of the Purple Gold Jade te?"

    Zi Yuan frowned . "Well . . . its main function is to allow its user to create a simted world and . . . " Zi Yuan''s eyes went wide . "Oh my God . . . "

    "Precisely . " Senior Wushuang smirked . "And the moment the jade te''s magic is activated, every living person in its vicinity will be pulled into that world . Remember one of the Purple Gold Jade te''s most basic properties, Zi Yuan . "

    Zi Yuan''s mind was reeling . She couldn''t even speak .

    "The Purple Gold Jade te will extract a portion of a person''s Qi and then use it to recreate a version of that person inside the simted world," Senior Wushuang went on . "It''ll be just like the real thing, you see? Inside that simted world, every aspect of that person''s experience will be exactly the same as his or her experience in the real world . They will have a body, a Vital Orb, Qi, Spirit, Essence . . . Everything will be there . In fact, they might not even be able to tell that it is a simtion at all unless they were told beforehand . "

    Zi Yuan could feel Senior Wushuang''s presence beside the armchair . She turned, and sure enough, Senior Wushuang was right there beside the armchair, staring down at her .

    "You thought it is impossible to create a simtion that closely resembles the real Heavenly Thunder," Senior Wushuang said . "Well, I beg to differ . The Purple Gold Jade te has been around for like, what, thousands of years?" Senior Wushuang chuckled . "Think about that . Thousands of years to absorb and store the Qi of the Heavens and Earth . Sure, it might not be able to emte the real Heavenly Thunder, but it''ll be pretty damn close if you ask me . "

    Zi Yuan raised her head and stared wordlessly at Senior Wushuang .

    Senior Wushuang must''ve misconstrued Zi Yuan''s slight head movement as a gesture of doubt as she suddenly crouched down in front of Zi Yuan and grabbed her shoulders .

    "I''ve done the calctions," Senior Wushuang said firmly . "Yes, a normal Cultivator won''t benefit from this kind of training drill at all . But the Renyuan Jindan has enhanced the Heir''s reaction time . " There was a pregnant pause . "I think the Heir will acquire significant gains from the drill and then trante those gains into the real world . If he can reach a point in his training where he can repeatedly dodge all 81 bolts inside the simtion, there is a good chance that he can do the same when the real thinges, don''t you think?"

    Senior Wushuang released Zi Yuan''s shoulders .

    "Besides, the drill will confer additional benefits on the Heir," Senior Wushuang said . "Like I said, the Purple Gold Jade te has been around long enough to absorb and store a vast amount of Nature''s Qi . And when you emte the Heavenly Thunder inside the jade te, you''re tapping into that vast power source . Now think about what will happen when the Heir goes through the drill . Each bolt of Heavenly Thunder that he encounters inside the simtion will expose him to a powerful dose of Nature''s Qi . Such repeated exposure will¡ª"

    "Strengthen his Vital Orb . . . " Zi Yuan said, finally breaking her long silence .

    Senior Wushuang nodded . "Not to mention significant enhancements in terms of his physical strength, agility, and reaction time, all of which will be immensely helpful when he faces the real thing . "

    "Oh my God . That''s¡­ That''s¡­" Zi Yuan whispered . "Brilliant . "

    "Even if he gets struck during the simtion, he will benefit from that experience as well," Senior Wushuang said . "He won''t die since it''s just a simtion, but he''ll experience the same pain as if it were real . That experience will also help strengthen his Vital Orb, unleash the Jindan''s full potential, and build up his willpower and mental strength, among other things . " Senior Wushuang rose to her feet . "But remember, the main strategy is still not to get hit . The whole point of the drill is to help him acquire the necessary agility and reaction time to dodge the real thing . " Senior Wushuang shook her head . "It is folly to even entertain the idea of helping him survive being struck by the Heavenly Thunder . If he has already reached the Jinshen phase, he might have a chance . But right now he''s forced to face the Heavenly Thunder while still in the early stages of the Shentong phase . "

    Zi Yuan stood up from the armchair and followed Senior Wushuang to the balcony .

    Senior Wushuang stopped short at the balcony''s threshold . "If all else fails . . . " she said, slowly turning around . "If all else fails, I have a contingency n . " She gave Zi Yuan a pointed look . "Well, two, in fact . "

    Zi Yuan stared at the woman, waiting for her to continue .

    Senior Wushuang''s expression turned grim . "But I would highly advise against them unless . . . "

    Senior Wushuang suddenly looked away and shook her head slightly .

    Zi Yuan frowned . "Unless what?"

    Senior Wushuang held her gaze steadily . "Unless you''re willing to sacrifice the two precious items he left you before he transcended . "

    "W- What?" A sinking sensation formed at the pit of Zi Yuan''s stomach . "What''s that supposed to mean?"

    Senior Wushuang sighed . "You''re a clever woman, Zi Yuan . I''m sure you''ve already figured it out . "

    Zi Yuan took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled .

    "But like I said, those should only be used asst resorts," Senior Wushuang said . "If the Heir''s training goes smoothly, you might not even need them . " Senior Wushuang crossed the threshold and stepped out onto the balcony .

    "Will they work?" Zi Yuan said . "The contingencies . Are you certain that they will work?"

    Senior Wushuang turned around and gave Zi Yuan a sad smile . "The Great Mirror repels all forms of magic, Zi Yuan . So you do the math . " There was a pause . "But it will suffer a blowback too . I highly doubt that it can survive the power of the Heavens . At least that''s what my calctions told me . "

    "But what about the jade te? If I can transport him into another space, then surely¡ª"

    "No," Senior Wushuang said . "Look, I know what you''re thinking, but aren''t you forgetting something else? The jade te doesn''t hide Vital Orbs, Zi Yuan . It only serves as a container . It can create a world to store the bodies of those in its vicinity, but that''s all it does . It stores, not hides . The bodies and Vital Orbs still exist . To be exact, the jade te bes one with the entities it contains . Even if you do manage to send the Heir into the jade te''s simted world during the divine punishment, the Heavens can still see his Vital Orb . Not only that, the Heavens will¡ª"

    "See the jade te and the Heir as one of the same," Zi Yuan said .

    "Yes . It will strike the jade te as though it were striking the Heir himself . " Senior Wushuang sighed . "The Heir will remain safe inside the jade te, sure . But make no mistake, the jade te will take the full brunt of those strikes . "

    "But you''ve said it yourself, Senior Wushuang . The jade te has been around for thousands of years . The power it has umted might increase its chances of¡ª"

    "But what if the Heir slips up at, say, the twentieth strike?" Senior Wushuang said . "The jade te would then have to survive the other sixty-one bolts of Heavenly Thunder . Look . . . " She sighed . "It all depends on the circumstance, of course . If it''s just one or two bolts, then yes, I''d say that the jade te stand a good chance of surviving . But sessive bolts?" Senior Wushuang shook her head . "I highly doubt it . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "I understand . "

    "That''s why I said the best bet is to have the Heir focusing on not getting hit . If he can do that, all will be fine . "

    "But the Heavenly Thunder is the most unpredictable force of Nature . " Zi Yuan sighed . "Things will go wrong at some point . You know that, Senior Wushuang . "

    The ensuing silence was palpable . The air hung thick with tension until Senior Wushuang''s voice sliced it open .

    "Then I guess it depends on how much you''re willing to sacrifice . "

    Zi Yuan raised her gaze at those words . The curtains fluttered in the night breeze . Ao Wushuang, the most powerful Cultivator of the Fox Zen School, was gone .

    ***

    Chan''er practically bounded across the living room the moment Ao Wushuang strode into the apartment in Dongwu City .

    "Ready my luggage, Chan''er," Ao Wushuang said without preamble . She walked past Chan''er and headed into the bedroom, ignoring the puzzled look on Chan''er''s face .

    Secondster, she heard the pitter-patter of footsteps behind her . A momentter, Chan''er was by her side, tugging her arm .

    "Are we returning to the Fox Zen School, Master?"

    Ao Wushuang stopped walking and stared into her disciple''s innocent eyes . The girl was practically beaming, her eyes sparkling with excitement and possibly joy . Doesn''t she know that we''re about to walk into a massacre?

    Something tugged inside Ao Wushuang''s chest . Ao Wushuang had taken Chan''er as her disciple when she was very little . Chan''er had spent her early years at the Fox Zen School, but that still didn''t change the fact that she hadn''t returned to the school in a decade . Chan''er was only six years old when Ao Wushuang was kicked out of the school .

    Which is why there is no an easy way to do this . . .

    Ao Wushuang sighed inwardly . "Not you, Chan''er," she said . "I''m returning alone . "

    "What! You''re taking me back with you?!" Chan''er yelled . "But Master! I¡ª"

    "No, I''m not . " Ao Wushuang shook her head . "Destruction is upon the Fox Zen School, Chan''er . It''s too dangerous for you to stay with me . " Ao Wushuang stopped talking and stared off into space for a moment . This wasn''t ideal at all, but right now, the situation had forced her hand .

    Ao Wushuang sighed . "Return to the Heir . He''ll look after you . Just make sure you stay away from him when the divine punishmentes . And make sure you keep your identity a secret . Don''t tell anyone that you''re from the Fox Zen School, and you''ll be fine . "

    There, Chan''er . That''s what you''ve always wanted, isn''t it?

    Ao Wushuang did a double take when the look on Chan''er''s face wasn''t that of joy or tion but one of grim determination .

    Such an uncharacteristic expression for her adorable little disciple to have .

    "No! I''ming with you, Master!" Chan''er shook her head . "If the Fox Zen School is gone . . . then Chan''er will be the only member of the Fox Zen School left . . . I don''t want that . " Chan''er grabbed Ao Wushuang''s arm and shot her a pleading look . "Please let mee with you, Master! Besides, I . . . I share part of the responsibility for what''s about to happen to the school as well . . . "

    Anger rose inside Ao Wushuang . "For Heavens'' sake, Chan''er!" she yelled . "Why do you always have to disobey me? For months, you''ve been pestering me to let you go back to your beloved Yundong . Now I''m granting you your wish! So go!" Ao Wushuang pointed at the door . "Leave! Now!"

    "No, no, no!" Chan''er shook her head frantically, then threw her arms around Ao Wushuang''s waist .

    Tears stung Ao Wushuang''s eyes .

    "Isn''t this what you''ve always wanted, Chan''er?" Ao Wushuang said, trying hard to keep her voice steady . "You''ve wanted to go back to your beloved, don''t you? Now I''m allowing you to do just that . I''m giving you my permission . " Ao Wushuang sighed . "Why? Why won''t you just go?"

    Chan''er pulled back and stared up at Ao Wushuang . "Master . . . You''re the one who raised me . You taught me how to read and write . You taught me the first spell I know . " Chan''er''s voice cracked a little . She sniffed and then wiped her eyes . "If I abandon you at the first sign of danger, then I would be the most ungrateful person in the world . And Yundong . . . Yundong is going to hate me if he finds out . "

    Ao Wushuang smiled warmly at Chan''er . Oh, how she adored this girl . Which was why she had to do what was best for her . Suddenly, Ao Wushuang nced towards the door and feigned a look of surprise . "Oh, hey! What are you doing here?"

    Then, Ao Wushuang raised her hand in preparation to strike the back of Chan''er''s neck¡ª

    Instead of turning her head around like Ao Wushuang had expected, Chan''er jumped backwards with both fists raised to the sides of her head . The wary look on Chan''er''s face was so impossibly adorable that Ao Wushuang nearlyughed .

    "Master . . . " Chan''er nced around a few times, then shook her fists . "You were nning to knock me out and then head back to the school on your own, weren''t you?"

    Ao Wushuang lowered her raised palm . "Fine . . . You win . " Ao Wushuang sighed . "Come along, then!"

    Chan''er''s fists rose a tad higher . Her eyes kept darting around in their sockets . "Y- You can''t lie to me, okay?"

    Ao Wushuang red at her disciple . "Enough nonsense!" She turned around and walked into the bedroom .

    "Maaasssteeerr! Wait for meeeee!"

    Ao Wushuang hid a smile . "Hurry up and start packing!"

    "Um . . . Can I tell Yundong about this?" Chan''er said, opening their luggage . "He''s the Jindan''s Heir, right? He might be able to help us!"

    Ao Wushuang rolled her eyes . "Don''t be ridiculous, Chan''er . Right now, the Great Six is attacking us because they believe that we have the Renyuan Jindan . Your Yundong is screwed if the Great Six finds out that it is him who swallowed the Jindan . " Ao Wushuang snorted . "They''ll all try to capture him, and Heavens only know what they''ll do to him if they seed . "

    Chan''er was staring quietly at the open luggage, pouting .

    Ao Wushuang sighed . "Besides, I doubt there''s much he can do even if hees to our aid . He''s only at the early stages of the Shentong phase . But who knows, maybe . . . "

    "Master?"

    Ao Wushuang shook her head . "It''s nothing . Just hurry up and pack . "

 Chapter 193

    Chapter 193

    <h4>The Mystery Man</h4>

    So began a new semester .

    On this fine morning, the za in front of Tiannan Station was a sight to behold: colorful booths set up and arranged into a square formation; student representatives (no doubt the best-looking ones) from various universities could be seen manning the booths, greeting their respective freshmen with remarkable enthusiasm .

    It was a long-held tradition for universities to give their freshmen a warm wee at the beginning of every new intake . As a fourth year senior of Tiannan University and an integral member of the student council, and a prospective candidate for the next student council president, Feng Na would never miss out on such a noble undertaking .

    "Ugh! Nana! Another bottle of water, please! I need a drink!"

    Feng Na nced to her right at that familiar voice . Sure enough, Cheng Cheng was standing right there with her left palm extended towards Feng Na .

    "Hurry up already, Nana! God¡­" Cheng Cheng fanned herself with a cute little stic hand fan that she was holding in her right hand . "I''m dying of thirst here!"

    Smiling, Feng Na reached down for the box and pulled out a bottle of mineral water . "How many freshmen have you weed today?" She tossed the bottle towards Cheng Cheng .

    Cheng Cheng caught the bottle, then immediately turned to smile at another freshman walking past their booth .

    "Wee! Enjoy your first day!"

    After the freshman walked away, Cheng Cheng turned back around . The smile was gone from Cheng Cheng''s face almost instantly . She scowled and said, "That, was the 138th . Ugh! This is so exhausting! I think I''m gonna drop dead soon . " She uncapped the bottle and took a huge gulp . Then, she swallowed and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand . "And you wanna know the worst part, Nana?"

    Amusement crept into Feng Na . Worse than doing manualbor here? Somehow, Feng Na doubted it . But still, she would indulge in her bestie''s need to whine .

    Feng Na cleared her throat . "Alright then . Lay it on me . What''s the worst part of today?"

    Cheng Cheng rolled her eyes in her usual dramatic fashion . "The new guys are all perverts! I swear to God! It''s like they can''t even go for two seconds without staring at my boobs!"

    Feng Na stared at her bestie for a second or two . Then, she burst intoughter .

    "Oh, shut up . " Feng Na swatted Cheng Cheng''s shoulder . "Quit being such a drama queen . And you should be grateful for your¡­ um¡­ assets . " Feng Na waved a hand in front of Cheng Cheng''s melons . Indeed, some women would die for boobs like that . Women like me, a small voice inside Feng Na''s head taunted .

    "Besides, you had iting," Feng Na said .

    Cheng Cheng gasped . "Ex-cuse me?" She lookedpletely appalled . "I had iting? How could you say that?"

    Feng Na gave her bestie a huge eye roll . "Uh¡­ Hello?" Feng Na waved a hand at Cheng Cheng''s voluminous boobies . "You''re the one who chose to wear this low-cut outfit . Look at that cleavage! Perverts are going to leer if you unt your assets like that, Cheng Cheng . That''s just how it works . "

    Cheng Cheng rolled her eyes dramatically . "Like, sure, they can look, but maybe for a second or two . They shouldn''t keep staring at them like . . . " Cheng Cheng waved her hands in the air as though she was trying to search for a proper description for some kind of unsolvable dilemma . "Like¡­ Like they wanna shove their eyeballs into my cleavage!"

    Feng Na opened her mouth to speak but was quickly interrupted by the sound of someone panting .

    A voice sounded beside her .

    "Yo! Feng Na! Can I have a bottle of water, please?"

    Feng Na turned and saw Wu Hui trudging towards them . The dude was drenched in sweat .

    Feng Na reached for another bottle of mineral water and then tossed it at the man . "Have you sent them off to the bus already?" Feng Na smiled . "From the looks of it, I''m guessing their bags are pretty heavy . "

    Wu Hui uncapped the bottle and took several long gulps of water . After that, he poured the rest of the water onto his head and stood there with his arms akimbo .

    "Freshmen these days . . . I swear to God¡­ They bring everything!" Wu Hui growled . "Desktop PCs are still eptable . But TVs? Come on! Some even brought those bulky electric fans! It''s like I''m running a goddamn movingpany around here . Ouch, ouch! Great, even my back hurts now . " Wu Hui sighed dramatically . "Hey . If there are any more bags to carryter, you girls need to handle them yourselves . I think I pulled a muscle . "

    Feng Na bit back a snarky retort . Even though Feng Na disliked Wu Hui, she didn''t want to bite his head off in front of everyone; after all, he did do quite a lot to help out at the booth . Granted, his main motive might be to impress thedies, but still¡­

    Feng Na smiled at Wu Hui, hoping that it seemed genuine . "Well, what is it that they always say? The heavier responsibility falls on the shoulders of the capable?" Feng Na turned to Cheng Cheng . "Isn''t that right?"

    Cheng Cheng nodded . "You bet!"

    Feng Na looked towards Wu Hui again . "You''re the only male student here . Of course you should be the one to move the bags . You have the strength that none of us girls possess . "

    Wu Hui sighed . "But there are so many of them, you know!"

    Feng Na resisted the urge to roll her eyes . "Well . It''s their freshman year . It''s normal for them to bring more stuff . "

    "Wow . Are you guys bad-mouthing us freshmen already?"

    All three of them swiveled around to face the owner of the voice: a beautiful youngdy dressed in a long, pale-yellow dress .

    Underneath thedy''s white straw hat was a typical pretty facerge eyes, longshes, and fair skin . What struck Feng Na, though, was how tall the girl was (165 cm if she were to venture a guess), not to mention the slim yet curvy figure, which rendered her appearance infinitely more attractive .

    "Hello, seniors," said the girl, blinking thoserge eyes at them .

    Apparently, those eyes were the perfect remedy for Wu Hui''s back problems as he suddenly stepped forward to introduce himself .

    "Hello . Are you a freshman of Tiannan University? What''s your name? Which department will you be joining?"

    The corner of the girl''s lips tugged upwards .

    "I''m Jiang Xiuxiu . And I''m in Visual and Performing Arts . "

    "Jiang¡­ Xiu¡­ Xiu . . . " Cheng Cheng wrote something down on a new form . "Like this?" Cheng Cheng turned the clipboard around to show the girl what she''d written down .

    Jiang Xiuxiu nodded, apparently satisfied that Cheng Cheng had gotten her name right . Her eyes, however, glinted with what appeared to be vanity .

    "Do you guys know that the Xiu in my name means exceptionally beautiful?"

    Feng Na shared a nce with Cheng Cheng, who looked like she was struggling to hold back a litany of snarky retorts .

    Feng Na smirked . You and me both, girl .

    Their exchange was interrupted by Wu Hui, who suddenly stepped towards the girl .

    "Here . Let me take your luggage . "

    Feng Na gave Wu Hui a sidelong nce .

    "I thought you couldn''t handle any more heavy lifting today because you um¡­ how exactly did you put it¡­ pulled a muscle?"

    Okay, that was a little mean, but Feng Na couldn''t help it . Besides, the mortified look on Wu Hui''s face was totally worth it .

    "You should be careful, senior . These suitcases are pretty heavy," Jiang Xiuxiu said, pointing at the two sizeable suitcases beside her feet .

    Wu Hui let out augh . Then, with a casual wave of his hand and perhaps an ego the size of a cow, he said, "Don''t worry! I''m the member of the student council''s sportsmittee!"

    Wu Hui struck a pose like a bodybuilder .

    What an idiot, Feng Na thought, then shared another nce with Cheng Cheng . Feng Na had no doubt that her bestie had the exact same thing in mind¡ªCheng Cheng''s disdain was all over her face .

    Jiang Xiuxiu''s giggles made Feng Na look away again .

    Wu Hui had just finished striking another pose .

    Feng Na suppressed yet another eye roll . But before she could say something to end Wu Hui''s theatrics, the guy was already reaching for one of Jiang Xiuxiu''s suitcases .

    The look on his face a secondter nearly made Feng Naugh: saying that he looked constipated would be putting it lightly .

    The suitcase had barely risen a few inches off the ground before it slipped out of Wu Hui''s hands and crashed back down .

    "W- What the¡ª" Wu Hui gaped at the suitcase . "What did you put in it? Bricks? Howe it''s so heavy?"

    Out of curiosity, Feng Na stepped forward and tried to lift the suitcase herself: she couldn''t even get it off the ground despite have used both hands .

    "Well then!" Feng Na grinned at Wu Hui and patted his shoulder a few times . "We''re counting on you now, big guy!"

    Wu Hui bent down and grabbed each suitcase by their top carry handles . This time, he fared better¡ªat least he managed to keep the suitcases stable . Feng Na watched in amusement as he took several wobbly steps before he gave up and put the suitcases back down .

    "Argh . . . Can''t do it," Wu Hui said, waving his hands . Then, he bent over and ced his hands on his knees and panted as though he''d just finished a marathon . "I think I''ll have to carry them one by one . "

    Feng Na snorted . Or you could just extend the handle and drag it towards the bus, moron .

    Feng Na kept that thought to herself .

    "God, you''re such an idiot!" Cheng Cheng said with augh . "Why do you have to carry them when they''ve got wheels?! See?" Cheng Cheng pressed a button and pulled upwards to extend the trolley handle . "Just roll them to the bus, geez . "

    Apparently, her bestie didn''t feel like watching the asshole make a fool of himself .

    Wu Hui smacked his own forehead . "Oh, right! Why didn''t I think of that?"

    Feng Na had about a dozen answers to that question, all of which ran along the lines of: because you''re dumb .

    "Coz you just want to show off in front of a pretty girl," Cheng Cheng mumbled .

    After that, Feng Na and Wu Hui towed Jiang Xiuxiu''s suitcases towards the bus . Then, with much effort, Wu Hui managed to lug both suitcases onto the bus . I wonder what he''s nning to do if Jiang Xiuxiu asks him to bring those suitcases up to the girls'' dorms . A smirk tugged at Feng Na''s lips . Well, she supposed it would be fine if she stayed on the ground floor . But what if Jiang Xiuxiu got assigned to the fifth floor dorms?

    Feng Na decided to take pity on Wu Hui . "Hey, Wu Hui," she said . "Why don''t you stay here and watch the booth for me . I''ll apany Jiang Xiuxiu back to campus . Oh, don''t worry about the bags . I''ll just ask a few more guys to help carry them when we arrive . "

    Wu Hui nced towards Jiang Xiuxiu . Perhaps he hadn''t realized that Feng Na was trying to give him a way out .

    "I mean," Feng Na continued, "if you leave with the bus, then Cheng Cheng and I wouldn''t be able to handle the bags on our own . "

    Apparently, that remark did the trick . Wu Hui nodded enthusiastically . "Ah . True! Alright! I guess I''ll get back to work then . "

    Wu Hui turned around and walked away without sparing Jiang Xiuxiu another nce .

    "Hey, senior . That guy seems fun . . . " Jiang Xiuxiu was staring after Wu Hui .

    Fun? Sure . If you like the dumb ones, that is .

    Feng Na kept that thought to herself .

    "And he''s quite handsome too . "

    Handsome, huh? Feng Na smiled . An unbidden image of Li Yundong, whom she hadn''t seen for two long months, formed in her mind . I wonder how he''s been . . . Did he change over the past two months?

    Feng Na''s thoughts drifted further and further away . Soon, her mind was filled with images of Li Yundong .

    " . . . hello . . . senior? Anybody home?"

    Feng Na snapped out of her thoughts when she realized that Jiang Xiuxiu was waving a hand in front of her face .

    "You totally spaced out right there, senior . What were you thinking about?"

    When Feng Na didn''t answer right away, a teasing look formed on Jiang Xiuxiu''s face . "Ooh . . . You were thinking about that handsome senior just now, weren''t you?"

    And thatment right there destroyed every single remnant of her fantasy . Feng Na red at Jiang Xiuxiu . "Him?" Feng Na snorted . "Why on earth would I think about him?"

    Jiang Xiuxiu just smiled and bumped her shoulder into Feng Na . "Aww . . . Don''t be shy, senior . . . "

    Feng Na rolled her eyes . "Just get on the bus . And I already have someone I like . "

    The two girls boarded the bus took their seats .

    "Who is he?" Jiang Xiuxiu asked .

    "Huh?" Feng Na decided to y dumb .

    "The guy you like," Jiang Xiuxiu said .

    Li Yundong''s face popped up in Feng Na''s mind once again . Something tugged inside her chest, and it didn''t feel good .

    Feng Na sighed . "Look . Just stop asking already . You wouldn''t recognize his name even if I tell you . "

    "Oh . "

    Jiang Xiuxiu didn''t say anything else after that, thank God . They sat in their seats for a while, waiting for other freshmen to arrive . When it was time to leave, Feng Na rose and walked towards the front of the bus .

    "Mr . Zhao, please take us to the campus," she said to the driver .

    "Very well, miss . "

    The drive to campus took nearly half an hour . Even with the bus driver''s help, it took considerable effort for them to carry Jiang Xiuxiu''s suitcases off the bus . The poor driver could barely stand up after all that exertion .

    "It''s fine, Mr . Zhao . Don''t mind the suitcases . I''ll just ask a bunch of guys to carry them for us . You can head back to the station first," Feng Na said .

    Mr . Zhao stared at the suitcases for a moment, then nodded . "Alright then . "

    After the bus left, Feng Na turned towards Jiang Xiuxiu .

    "Wait here . "

    ***

    Jiang Xiuxiu watched Senior Feng Na hurry through the gates . She didn''t understand why Senior Feng Na had to go look for extra helping hands elsewhere when there were so many guys around them .

    Just then, a guy walked past her .

    "Hey, handsome!" she yelled without thinking .

    However, the guy just kept walking without answering her call .

    Not used to being ignored, Jiang Xiuxiu stalked after the guy . Damn it, she thought, he sure walks fast .

    Jiang Xiuxiu quickened her pace .

    "Hey, handsome! Wait up!"

    The man was wearing a long-sleeved, white shirt, which she immediately recognized as Armani . She couldn''t identify the brand of his dark pants though . Just as she was trying to work out what kind of sport shoes he was wearing, something else caught her eye: a long, bulky object (wrapped up in a dark cloth) sticking out of the top of his backpack .

    The sight of that strange object made Jiang Xiuxiu stop walking .

    What on earth was that thing? A telescope?

    Whatever . She didn''t care .

    "Hey!!! Handsome! I need your help!"

    Again, she was ignored .

    Humiliation coursed through her . "Hey!!" By then, her voice had caught the attention of every single guy in the area except for the man her words were intended for . Is he deaf?

    Jiang Xiuxiu stomped her feet in anger and then broke off into a full sprint . When she caught up to him, she reached out to grab his arm . She missed; the guy moved his arm away as though he knew when and where she was going to grab him .

    It was like he had eyes on the back of his head .

    When the guy finally turned around to face her, Jiang Xiuxiu''s heart skipped a few beats .

    Standing in front of her was perhaps the most handsome man she had everid eyes on: tall (definitely around 175 cm) and manly; thick eyebrows; huge piercing eyes; straight nose that looked like a mountain ridge; strong jawline and well-defined lips; and the way he carried himself exuded an air of confidence .

    Even though Jiang Xiuxiu had spent pretty much her entire childhood surrounded by boys, she had never seen a man this attractive before . For a long while, she just stared wordlessly at the man in front of her, utterly incapable of speech .

    "Can I help you, miss?"

    "U- Um . . . I- I just . . . " Jiang Xiuxiu cleared her throat . "Uh . . . S- Suitcases . . . I need . . . your help . . . "

    "Ah . " The man smiled . "You''re a freshman . "

    Jiang Xiuxiu nodded . "Yes . "

    Suddenly, the man looked past her shoulders . He appeared to be squinting at something behind her . What''s he looking at? Jiang Xiuxiu turned around and followed his line of sight .

    It surprised her to see just how far she''d gone from the front gates . Herrge suitcases were barely visible now . When she turned back around, the guy was no longer squinting . "Those two suitcases over there, you mean?" He pointed past her shoulders . "The ones with the ribbons?"

    Jiang Xiuxiu did a double take . How did he see the ribbons from¡ª She turned around again . The suitcases themselves were barely visible let alone those ribbons .

    He probably just caught a glimpse of them when he walked past the gates just now .

    There was no way he could see those tiny ribbons from here .

    "Uh, yeah . Those are mine," Jiang Xiuxiu said, d that she had managed to salvage a modicum ofposure .

    "Sure . I''ll help you out . "

    Jiang Xiuxiu followed the man back to the gates . After that, they rolled the suitcases towards the block where the girls'' dorms were located .

    Jiang Xiuxiu ced a hand on his arm when they reached the staircase . "Wait . These are pretty heavy," she said . "I''ll go find a couple more guys to help out . "

    Stupid dorms didn''t even have an elevator .

    As soon as she had turned around, the man''s voice sounded behind her .

    "There''s no need for that, miss . These aren''t that heavy . "

    When Jiang Xiuxiu turned back around a secondter, she literally had the shock of her life: the suitcases were dangling from the guy''s hands like they weighed nothing .

    "Y- You can lift them?"

    The man gave her a funny look . "Err . . . Isn''t that obvious?" He hoisted the two suitcases higher for emphasis .

    Jiang Xiuxiu blushed heavily . "Oh . "

    The man turned around and walked up the stairs . "You gotta tell me which floor, you know?"

    Jiang Xiuxiu snapped out of it and ran up the stairs .

    They resumed their climb after Jiang Xiuxiu told him that she was staying on the third floor .

    "Aren''t they heavy?" Jiang Xiuxiu asked when they reached thending of the first floor . She stared down at her own suitcases .

    "They''re fine . "

    Wow . Her suitcases had quite literally tortured a lot of men during her journey here . But this guy was carrying it around like they weighed nothing . Such monstrous strength . . .

    Before she knew it, they had reached the third floor and were now standing in front of her dorms . Mr . Hercules followed her into the dorms and then ced her suitcases beside her bed .

    "Well, then . I''ll get out of your hair now . " The man smiled . "Have a nice day . "

    "Wait!" Jiang Xiuxiu yelled . "At least let me walk you out . "

    The man shrugged and walked out of the dorms . Jiang Xiuxiu scurried after him . It wasn''t until they were walking down the stairs that she realized something strange: every student they had walked past began whispering behind their backs; most of them seemed awestruck the moment they saw him .

    Is he some sort of VIP here? Jiang Xiuxiu thought . If he is, then I''m damn lucky to have run into him . I should ask for his phone number¡­ Or his QQ address¡­

    The man stopped walking and turned around to face her once they were out of the dorms building .

    "This is far enough," he said with a kind smile . "I''m sure you have a lot of unpacking to do . You don''t have to walk with me . See you around!"

    He walked away before she could evene up with a response .

    "Hey! I don''t even know your name!" Jiang Xiuxiu yelled after him .

    The man didn''t even turn around when he waved his hand at her . "I''m Lei Feng!"

    Lei Feng? But isn''t Lei Feng that national hero . . . ?

    "You''re lying!" Jiang Xiuxiu yelled again .

    The man walked on as though he hadn''t heard her .

    Jiang Xiuxiu kept staring at the man until a voice sounded behind her .

    "Jiang Xiuxiu! Gosh . Where have you been?!"

    Jiang Xiuxiu turned around and saw Feng Na approaching the dorms with several buff-looking men in tow .

    "I told you to wait for me at the gates! Why did you run off on your own¡ª" Feng Na stopped talking and nced around . "Wait . Where are your suitcases? I didn''t see them at the gates . "

    Jiang Xiuxiu ignored the question and pointed at the man instead . He was quite far away, but still visible from where they stood .

    "Hey, hey, senior! Do you know that man? He''s from our university right? What''s his name?"

 Chapter 194

    Chapter 194

    <h4>Research</h4>

    Li Yundong stopped short when he was crossing the threshold into the lecture hall . Some kind of resistance was preventing him from taking another step forward¡ªunless he wished to bring utter ruination on his poor backpack .

    He nced up and instantly realized the source of his problem: the rivet of the Fan of Seven Treasures was pushing against the outer part of the door frame .

    Li Yundong sighed and crouched down a little to allow the Fan of Seven Treasures to clear the frame entirely . Last night, Zi Yuan had suddenly shown up in his apartment and told him to keep the Fan of Seven Treasures beside him at all times . And when she said at all times, she meant in the most literal sense: the Fan of Seven Treasures had to be beside him even when he was, say, taking a dump .

    Apparently, doing so would allow the fan to slowly get used to his Qi, which, in turn, would increase his chances of passing the early dans of the Shentong phase .

    He saw it as some sort bonding session .

    When Zi Yuan told him to bring the fan to ss, he agreed almost immediately, but not for the reason Zi Yuan had told him . His reason had more to do with security than the need to pass the Shentong phase quickly . It would be pretty dumb to leave the fan out of his sight after he nearly got robbed at the Everest base camp .

    Call him paranoid .

    And speaking of paranoid¡­

    He nearly freaked out earlier when he sensed someone trying to grab him from behind¡ªhe honestly thought someone was trying to steal the Fan of Seven Treasures again . But it was just some girl who wanted to ask him for help to move her bags .

    Admittedly, he could''ve been friendlier to the girl . But he didn''t want another Meiduo incident to happen, so he figured he should keep his distance from other women from now on .

    Right now, his heart belonged to Su Chan and only Su Chan . There really was no more room for anyone else .

    The lecture hall was empty when he strode in, which didn''t surprise him at all since today was the orientation day for the first years¡ªsses would officially begin tomorrow .

    He''d onlye to campus today to use the library resources and, admittedly, to see if he would run into Zhou Qin . He hadn''t heard from Zhou Qin since the night He Shao died .

    Although Zhou Qin told him that she would handle the police, he honestly wasn''t so sure if things could be handled that easily . If Zhou Qin were holding all the cards, then yes, things would be settled . But the other side involved the He family whose wealth and influence rivalled that of her own family .

    Li Yundong did try to think of alternative exnations for Zhou Qin''s radio silence: maybe her father got angry and grounded her; maybe she just hated Li Yundong for bringing so much trouble to her doorsteps .

    None of those exnations made him feel better .

    Li Yundong left the lecture hall and went to the library . After registering for a library card at the counter, he headed towards the library''sputer room .

    Then, he sat down at one of theputers and did a search of the library''s inventory . To his surprise, there were several hundred hits when he searched for the keyword "religion . "

    It seemed like Zi Yuan was right .

    After spending a while narrowing down his search, Li Yundong decided to go with Diamond Sutra and Lotus Sutra first . He grabbed the two books from their respective shelves, then headed back towards the counter .

    The librarian, an old man who looked to be in his early seventies, seemed a bit surprised at Li Yundong''s choice of books . He raised the reading sses¡ªthey were hanging around his neck¡ªand slipped them on .

    After that, he squinted at Li Yundong for a moment or two .

    "Well, well, well . You don''t see a lot of young people reading these books, that''s for sure . "

    The librarian took the books and began to work on the bookkeeping stuff .

    "Huh . Guess what? This is actually the first time that these books are taken out from this library . "

    Li Yundong acknowledged thatment with a smile .

    "Say, young man¡­" said the librarian in a strange tone . "Do you think you can really understand these books?''

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Guess we''ll see about that, won''t we?"

    The old librarian chuckled . "Hey, you better not damage the books if you can''t understand them . " Then, he looked up sharply as though he''d sensed some kind of w in his words . "Oh, but of course you shouldn''t ruin the book even if you can understand it . . . "

    Li Yundongughed . What a funny old man . "Don''t worry, sir . I''ll take good care of them . You have my word . "

    When Li Yundong got back to his apartment, he dove right into the Diamond Sutra . To his surprise, the book wasn''t as elusive and unintelligible as he used to think . The early chapters were filled with fables and stories about Buddhism . The stories were, of course,prehensible and interesting to read . Li Yundong got the impression that they were meant to impart a great deal of spiritual wisdom to their readers . The middle chapters focused on the conversations between Subhuti and Gautama Buddha . In these chapters, the format was rather simr to that of the Canon of the Yellow Thearch, in which important lessons were found in the form of a dialogue between the Yellow Emperor and Qibo .

    The only difficulty Li Yundong ran into so far was the fact that the dialogues were all written in ssical Chinese . However, by constantly referring to the excerpts from the early chapters (the fables and stories), he quickly got the hang of it .

    For the first time in his life, Li Yundong realized just how addicting reading can be . In the past, he would''ve fallen asleep before he even made it past the first page . But now, he was totally hooked .

    Just like when he was going through the Mahamudra Tantra, he felt like there was something mysterious and mystical about the contents, like they held some sort of hidden secrets . Every line he read gave him new insights, which eventually led him to more questions . Then, to seek out the answers to those questions, he would read further .

    It was addicting, this thirst and hunger for knowledge .

    ***

    When Zi Yuan entered Apartment 20A, she was greeted by the sight of the Heir sitting cross-legged on the floor,pletely absorbed in a book . A quick nce at the book cover made Zi Yuan smile . On the floor, beside his right knee,y another book¡ªthe Lotus Sutra .

    So he took my advice . . .

    A noise made Zi Yuan turn around: Hongling was entering the apartment .

    "Shh," Zi Yuan said, pressing a finger to her lips, then gave Hongling an eye signal .

    Hongling froze on the spot, then looked past Zi Yuan''s shoulder towards the living room . A secondter, Hongling looked back towards Zi Yuan in surprise .

    Zi Yuan moved quietly towards the door, and then pulled Hongling out of the apartment .

    "Elder Sister Zi Yuan," Hongling said as they were heading towards the elevator . "Why is he reading Buddhist texts? He''s a Cultivator . He should be studying Taoist texts . "

    Zi Yuan pondered Hongling''s words for a moment . "Maybe he wants to acquire knowledge from both worlds . " And he certainly had the aptitude to do so . Zi Yuan had seen him perform the tantric mudras, which were nothing short of impressive .

    Hongling snickered . "A lot of people tried to do that, but how many have actually seeded? Oh, let''s see . First, there''s Liu Huayang . Then there''s Wu Shouyang . And that''s it . The rest of them failed miserably . They wanted to learn more, but ended up getting sidetracked from their real training . In the end, they lost everything . " Hongling snorted . "Is he nning to follow their footsteps?"

    Zi Yuan pressed the elevator call button . She had to admit that Hongling made a good point: it''s easy to get sidetracked when you''re presented with too much information to absorb .

    Besides, Buddhists and Cultivators haven''t really gotten along ever since the end of the Han Dynasty¡ªthere had been a lot of major and minor shes between both parties . The rift between Buddhists and Cultivators reached its culmination during the end of the Tang Dynasty, thanks to the various provocations of the Mystical Silver Fox . Today, it was extremely hard, if not impossible, for Buddhists and Taoists to co-exist in harmony . By mastering spells and techniques from both sides, the Heir would likely make enemies from both sides .

    Or he might be the bridge that connects both worlds . A gateway towards harmonious co-existence .

    Zi Yuan broke her silence after she and Hongling stepped into the elevator . "You shouldn''t say that, Hongling . "

    Hongling snorted and leaned herself against the wall of the elevator . "But it''s all true, isn''t it? That''s what history tells us . "

    "That''s a rather pessimistic way to look at it," Zi Yuan said . "Even for a Cultivator, there''s no harm in studying Buddhist texts . After all, the only way to improve our knowledge is to keep an open mind and absorb as much as we can . "

    Zi Yuan took Hongling''s silence as a sign that she had the girl''s full attention .

    "Don''t forget that there are simrities between Cultivation and Buddhism . So there''s really no harm in learning both . " Zi Yuan paused . "His journey to Tibet has not only allowed him to grow in strength, Hongling . It has expanded his mind as well . " If only Hongling saw him perform the tantric mudras . "Besides, I''m the one who encouraged him to do more research . He''s probably just following my advice . "

    "Fine," Hongling grumbled . "Let''s just see how far he can get with his research . "

    Zi Yuan sighed quietly . How far indeed .

    ***

    The old librarian didn''t expect to see the young man¡ªthe one who''d borrowed the Diamond and Lotus Sutras this morning¡ªto walk into the library for a second time today . He nced at his watch and saw that it was only noon . Barely a couple of hours had passed since the young man walked away with those ancient texts .

    Yet there he was, heading towards the counter with those same books in hand .

    A wave of disappointment coursed through the old librarian .

    Hah . I knew it . I knew that none of these youngsters will be able to grasp the contents of those texts .

    The young man stopped at the counter and slid the books towards the librarian . "Good afternoon, sir . I''m here to return the books . "

    The old librarian sighed inwardly and pulled the books towards him . "Guess they''re too difficult for you, huh?"

    At least the books are in good condition . . .

    "They''re okay, I guess . "

    The librarian raised a brow and studied the young man from across the counter . Okay? What did that even mean? Is he just pretending to have understood the contents?

    "Why are you looking at me like that, sir?" said the young man with a smile . "I finished both books . They''re very enlightening . "

    The old man''s eyes widened just a tad . A secondter, he narrowed them again . Fine then . Let''s see if you really understand what you''ve read .

    "What''s another term referring to form, sound, scent, taste, touch, and dharma?"

    "The Six Dusts, of course," said the young man .

    The librarian did a double take .

    The young manughed . "I can tell you their other names too . Six External Bases . . . Six Gunas . . . Sadayatana . . . " The young man smirked . "Need I go on?"

    The librarian cleared his throat harshly . "What are the Six Roots of Perceptions?"

    The young man smiled . "The Six Roots of Perceptions include to the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind . They''re also known as the six internal bases!"

    The old man opened his mouth to speak, but the young man kept going and recited the whole passage from the Diamond Sutra about the rtionship between the Six Dusts, the Six Roots of Perceptions, the Eighteen Elements, the Five Components, and also the Four Noble Truths .

    By the time he was done, the old librarian had to pinch himself to make sure that he wasn''t seeing things .

    "Y- You actually finished the books? For real?"

    In just a few hours, no less!

    The young manughed . "Yes, I did . I told you, didn''t I?"

    The old man quickly gathered his thoughts . Alright . . . Let''s see if you can answer this one .

    "What did Buddha mean when he told Subhuti that a single thought can give rise to a pure believer?"

    "Buddha is reminding Subhuti to never underestimate a young and inexperienced schr . "

    The old librarian opened his mouth, then closed it again . "What does the phrase takes delight in Aranya mean?"

    "To enjoy being free from temptation and distress, to delight in the calm and the quiet . "

    The old librarian shook his head in awe . "Holy cow! You''re good!" He picked up the Diamond Sutra and flipped through it from cover to cover . "You really did finish it . . . "

    The young man justughed . "Come on . Why would I lie?"

    The old man tossed the copy of Diamond Sutra onto the counter and picked up the Lotus Sutra instead . "What about this one? You finished this too?"

    "Yep . " The young man smiled . "Why, you wanna test me again? Bring it on, then . "

    The old manughed and ced the Lotus Sutra on top the Diamond Sutra . "Nah . Forget it . I believe you now . " The old man stoppedughing and gave the young man an earnest look . "Forgive me for doubting you . I just couldn''t believe that a youngster like you would bother with these ancient texts, that''s all . "

    "Nah . It''s totally fine, sir . There''s nothing to forgive . " The young man smiled . "It was pretty fun though . "

    The old man smiled . "It did bring back old memories . Reminded me of the time when I was still a teacher . "

    The young man leaned his elbow against the counter . "Um, sir . Actually I''m here to borrow two more books," he said . "Not sure if you have them here . "

    "Oh, yeah?" The old librarian put on his reading sses . "Which books?"

    "Well, I was thinking the Surangama Sutra and the Records of the Pure Heart," said the young man .

    "ssical texts again?"

    "Yeah . Do you have them?"

    "Of course . Wait here . I''ll go grab them for you . "

    Ten minutester, the old librarian returned to the counter with both books and handed them to the young man .

    "Thanks, sir . Have a good day . "

    After the man left, the librarian pulled out his phone and dialed a number .

    "Hey, Xiao Hua . I ran into a brilliant schr today . Mm-hmm . Could totally give you a run for your money, I''m telling you . Psh! He can even understand Buddhist texts! What? You think he''s an old man? That''s where you''re wrong . He''s about the same age as you . Oh, and he''s a student at your university . . . Hah! You know you shouldn''t be so full of yourself just because you''re the top student in the city . Coz lemme tell you something right now . There''s a new sheriff in town!"

 Chapter 195

    Chapter 195

    <h4>The Legend of Tiannan University</h4>

    "Y- You finished them both already?!" said the old librarian . "But it''s only yesterday that you borrowed them . . . "

    Li Yundong smiled and slid the Surangama Sutra and Records of the Pure Heart across the counter .

    The old librarian didn''t reach out to take the books .

    "Yeah . Finished them both . Cover to cover . " Li Yundong smiled . "Actually, I''m here for two new books . "

    The old librarian shook his head slightly .

    Li Yundongughed . Poor guy . He probably hadn''t seen a lot of avid readers around here .

    "Anyway . Return these two for me, please?" Li Yundong tapped the cover of the Surangama Sutra . "I''ll get those two books on my own . "

    After that, he left the ck-jawed old man at the counter and headed over towards the shelves .

    He found Zhang Zhongjing''s Treatise on Cold Damage Diseases in no time . The second book, Compendium on Elixir-Based Resurrection, was a collection of articles on the subject of internal alchemy . This one took a bit longer to find, but he found it eventually . After that, he brought both books back to the counter .

    "You really don''t specialize at all, do you?" The old librarian stared at the two books that Li Yundong had just ced on the counter . "These aren''t even Buddhist texts . This one is . . . what the hell is this . . . ? This one''s a Taoist medical text! And another book on internal alchemy?" The old librarian looked up from the counter . "What else do you know, eh, kid?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "A little bit of this and that . " Li Yundong shrugged . "I might not be able to understand all of them at the moment . But with time, I might be able to grasp all of the contents . "

    The old librarian chuckled and shook his head . "You remind me of someone . "

    Okay . That was interesting .

    "Who?"

    The old librarian looked up from the books .

    "Why, the great poet, Tao Yuanming, of course!"

    Li Yundong had no idea who that was other than that he was a poet .

    Li Yundong left the library with both books and made his way to the academic building . A lively atmosphere permeated the campus''pound . Li Yundong didn''t think he had ever seen so much activity on campus before . Freshmen wandered about inrge groups, infusing the air with their seemingly endless enthusiasm . The seniors could also be seen milling about thepound . Most of them were busy checking out the freshmen, making frivolous remarks about their appearance .

    "Ooh, that guy looks cute . "

    "Dude, that new chick is a total bombshell . "

    Sometimes, Li Yundong wished the Jindan hadn''t enhanced his normal hearing . He would''ve invested in a pair of good quality earbuds if he weren''t so damn broke .

    A sudden thought made him stop right in the middle of thepound .

    It was a realization: months ago, he was just the same as these people .

    That thought filled his heart with pang of yearning . If Su Chan hadn''t flitted into his life like a colorful butterfly and changed the course of his fate, he''d still be that fat, mediocre, and inconsequential homebody . It disgusted him howzy he''d been back then . No wonder those 21 girls rejected him . What did even have to give them? He was just some useless guy wasting away his youth, doing nothing of consequence .

    It wasn''t until now that he realized just how much of life he''d missed out on . Those moments he''d spent with Su Chan were ones that he would cherish for the rest of his life . Even the harsh journey to Tibet had brought him more satisfaction than hisfortable but meaningless old life .

    Li Yundong was greeted with silence when he stepped into the academic building''s ground floor . He strode on, ignoring the strange looks that he was receiving from everyone . Even though the academic building was crowded, Li Yundong didn''t find it difficult to navigate through the crowd¡ªmost guys gave him a wide berth the moment they saw him .

    Past the crowd, he slowly made his way towards the staircase .

    That was when the whispers began .

    "Who''s that dude? Why did everyone be quiet the moment he entered? Is he a mob boss or a super crime lord or something?"

    Li Yundong smirked . That one must be a freshman .

    "A mob boss?" said another guy in a derisive tone . "You think everyone will stoop to your level?"

    That guy sounded more experienced . Probably a sophomore . . .

    "Who is he then?" challenged the freshman . "And how can anyone be more badass than a mob boss?"

    "Tsk, tsk . You really need keep yourself up to date, pal," said the sophomore . "That guy, is a legend around here . "

    "A legend?"

    "Just go check the old forum posts, man . "

    Li Yundong shook his head and quickly climbed up the staircase . In the past, hearing nonsense like that would''ve made his ego swell to the size of an elephant . But right now, he felt nothing .

    None of that stuff mattered anymore .

    ***

    Li Yundong saw Sun Li the moment he entered the lecture hall . He smiled and gave her a nod . After that, he kept scanning the lecture hall until a sinking sensation formed at the pit of his stomach: there were still no signs of Zhou Qin .

    Li Yundong took his usual seat at the back of the lecture hall and waited for the lecture to begin .

    When the lecture ended, Li Yundong sought out the one person he knew might be able to help him track down Zhou Qin .

    "Ding Nan!"

    Relief coursed through Li Yundong when Ding Nan stopped at the first row of the lecture hall at the sound of his voice .

    Slowly, Ding Nan turned around .

    It surprised him a little how much Ding Nan had changed over the past two months . Gone were the fashionable and revealing clothes . Today, she was wearing a pale-green casual dress . The dress seemed in and a total opposite of shy . With her hair down and minimal makeup, Ding Nan looked just like a normal student .

    Ding Nan smiled when she saw him . "Li Yundong? Oh, wow! It''s been two months since Ist saw you! And you''re . . . " Ding Nan paused as if to gather her thoughts . "Wow¡­ You look even more handsome now . "

    Li Yundong acknowledged thepliment with a smile . "Thank you . You look great too, by the way . Actually, I was wondering if you''ve seen Zhou Qintely . "

    Ding Nan''s face fell .

    "I knew there has to be a reason you''re initiating a conversation with me . I knew it . " Ding Nan''s eyes shed angrily . "So this is about her again, huh? The great Zhou Qin . " Ding Nan snorted derisively . "Seems like I''ve ttered myself . "

    Li Yundong could feel his own smile faltering .

    "Wait . . . I thought . . . I thought you guys have made up," he said . "I mean, I saw you talking to each other that night at Shengyuan Hotel . . . "

    Li Yundong regarded Ding Nan for a moment . Ding Nan''s expression seemed conflicted, like she was struggling with something .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "Anyway . I . . . uh . . . I just found it a little strange that she isn''t here with you today, since you''ve made up and all that¡ª"

    "Whatever," Ding Nan snarled and stormed off .

    "Hey, wait up¡ª"

    Ding Nan stopped at the door and shot him a scathing look . "You have her number, don''t you? Why don''t you just call her yourself?!"

    The door closed with a loud bang .

    Li Yundong nced around at the empty lecture hall, then lowered his gaze to the floor .

    A phone call . If only it were that easy . He''d already sold off his phone during his journey to Tibet . And why didn''t he at least try to memorize Zhou Qin''s phone number before he sold off his phone? Stupid .

    With a heavy sigh, he picked up his backpack and left the lecture hall .

    ***

    Just when Li Yundong was about to make a turn towards the stairway, his senses tingled again: someone was trying to grab him from behind .

    He leaped to the side and turned around, fully expecting to see another attempt to steal the Fan of Seven Treasures . Instead, he heard a feminine yelp . Feng Na was stumbling forward after her hand had missed his back .

    Li Yundong grabbed her arm just in time to prevent the poor girl from tumbling down the whole flight of stairs .

    "Be careful," Li Yundong said . "Geez¡­"

    Feng Na stared up at him with ssy eyes . "Thanks . I thought I saw you yesterday outside the girls'' dorms, but I couldn''t really tell if it was you . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . "I haven''t changed that much, have I?"

    Stupid question . Of course he''d changed . He''d just returned from a long hike to frigging Tibet . Plus, his hair was a bit longer now, and his skin tone a bit darker . Not to mention he was much leaner now .

    "Um . . . You . . . Um . . . " Feng Na kept stammering and fumbling with her words .

    Then, someone giggled loudly .

    Li Yundong looked past Feng Na''s shoulders and saw Cheng Cheng walking towards them .

    "God, look how much you''ve changed . . . " Feng Na had apparently recovered enough from her shock to form coherent words . "What on earth happened to you?" She reached out as if she wanted to touch his face, but then quickly let her hand drop when she realized what she was about to do .

    Li Yundong smiled . "Well . Let''s just say that I had a productive summer . "

    Cheng Cheng stopped beside Feng Na . "Tsk, tsk . What have you been up to during the summer holidays, Li Yundong? It''s like you''re a changed man . "

    Li Yundong smirked . You wouldn''t believe it even if I tell you .

    Li Yundong kept that thought to himself .

    "Something significant must have happened . . . " Feng Na said all of a sudden . "Something happened during the summer holidays . "

    Li Yundong tensed up slightly . Women and their sixth sense . . .

    Li Yundong covered up his reaction with a friendly smile .

    Then, from the corner of his eyes, he saw Cheng Cheng nudging Feng Na with her elbow .

    "Oh! Um . . . " Feng Na said . "Why don''t we . . . Why don''t we have lunch together? My treat!"

    Li Yundongughed . "Seriously?"

    "Of course I''m serious . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . "You''re letting me take advantage of you on the first day of the semester? How generous . "

    Cheng Cheng suddenly giggled . "Here''s the thing, Li Yundong . Nana over here¡­" She started nudging Feng Na with her elbow again . "¡­is actually dying to let you take advantage of her . " Cheng Cheng wiggled her eyebrows . "Dying . "

    Li Yundong nced at Feng Na whose face was now as red as a tomato .

    Cheng Cheng yelped when Feng Na suddenly pinched Cheng Cheng''s waist .

    "Shut up, you bitch!" Feng Na began pping Cheng Cheng''s arm . "Shut! Up! Ugh! Who gave you permission to talk?!"

    Li Yundong watched in amusement as the two girls tried to overpower each other .

    At one point, Feng Na stopped her various attempts to inflict bodily harm on Cheng Cheng and gave him a sheepish look .

    Feng Na cleared her throat . "S- Sorry you had to see that . "

    Li Yundong shrugged it off . "It''s fine . So . Where are we having lunch?"

    "Hey, Nana . Didn''t you say you wanted to check out that restaurant the other day? But then President Cao showed up and the n got cancelled¡­ Why don''t we just go there today?"

    Feng Na smiled . "Great idea . . . " Feng Na suddenly frowned and looked past Li Yundong''s shoulders . "Um . . . Where''s Su Chan? Why isn''t she with you today? You guys are usually joined at the hips . . . "

    Li Yundong tensed up again, then quickly covered up his reaction with a smile . "She''s with her teacher now . . . So . . . "

    "Oh . . . Um¡­ When is sheing back?"

    "I''m not sure," Li Yundong said . "But I''ll go look for her in two months . "

    Nothing else was said as the three of them made their way down the staircase . Li Yundong was grateful for the silence . He didn''t want to think about where Su Chan might be right now, or about the uncertainties thaty ahead of them .

    Nevertheless, he was grateful because he still had two things that connected him to Su Chan: the long, bulky object behind his back; and the organ beating against his ribcage .

 Chapter 196

    Chapter 196

    <h4>Clueless</h4>

    Outside the academic building, Li Yundong saw the same girl whose suitcases he had helped move yesterday . Li Yundong''s first instinct was to avoid the girl, but it was already toote . The girl had already spotted him and was now heading straight towards them .

    "Senior Feng Na!! Hi!!" The girl waved at them . "Can''t believe I ran into you here! What a coincidence!"

    Secondster, the girl turned to Li Yundong and feigned a look of surprise as though she hadn''t been ogling him while she was walking towards them .

    "Oh, hi there, handsome! You''re here as well?"

    No, I''m not here at all . The person you''re staring at is just a figment of your imagination .

    Li Yundong forced out a smile and greeted the girl with a nod while the word "fake" echoed inside his mind . He wondered what else about the girl was fake .

    Feng Na opened her mouth to speak . "Here, let me introduce you . This is¡ª"

    The girl, whose name Li Yundong wasn''t even interested in knowing, interrupted Feng Na rudely with a loud squeal . "Oh, Senior Feng Na! Why did you leave so soon yesterday! I had so many questions for you!"

    And so began a long spiel that mostly involvedints, questions about schedules and various campus facilities, and . . . well, moreints . It was all Li Yundong could do to stop himself from walking away right then and there . Li Yundong stole a nce at Cheng Cheng . Like him, Cheng Cheng had an impatient look on her face .

    Feng Na seemed to be the only one who showed interest in the girl''s constant yapping .

    When the girl was¡ªfinally¡ªdone, Feng Na chuckled . "Well, you look so pretty . I''m sure a lot of guys will dly help you out if you ever run into problems . "

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes inwardly . Such a diplomat¡­

    "Well¡­ I suppose that''s true . . . But . . . " The girl''s eyes darted towards Li Yundong''s face . The movement was quick and subtle, but Li Yundong had caught it . "But most of them just like to act cool, you know? They usually just walk away without saying anything after helping out . That''s just so impolite and ungentlemanly, don''t you think?"

    Feng Naughed, though herugh sounded a little mocking to Li Yundong''s ears . "What, you mean he should stay and ask you to repay him with your body? How''s that for chivalry?"

    Oh, yeah . Feng Na was definitely mocking the peabrain .

    Miss Pea-Brained giggled into her hand . "Aw . . . You''re so funny, Senior Feng Na . Ooh, by the way, I heard something back at the dormsst night . They told me there''s this super legend in Tiannan University . Ah! Li Yundong! That''s his name . Right?"

    Li Yundong stole a nce at Feng Na, who was also looking at him through the corner of her eyes .

    "I mean is he really as great as everyone imed?" the girl continued . "Like, the girls kept telling me how handsome Li Yundong is, or how strong he is . Oh! They even told me about all that stuff he did! But¡­ To be honest, it all sounded like stuff from the movies¡­"

    Li Yundong felt a nudge on his side . When he turned, he saw the funny look Feng Na was giving him . She also looked like she was struggling to hold back herughter .

    "Hey, pal! What do you think, huh?" Feng Na nudged him again . "Do you think this legendary Li Yundong is as handsome and strong as everyone imed?"

    Li Yundong did a double take to make sure that Feng Na was really talking to him .

    Cheng Cheng was somewhere behind him, trying but failing to hide her grin .

    What the heck was he supposed to say to that? And more importantly, could they all go for lunch already?

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "Um . . . He''s okay, I guess?"

    "He''s okay?" said the girl .

    Li Yundong didn''t like her tone at all; it sounded way too derisive .

    "Can you send a grown man flying with a punch from several meters away? Can you dodge a bullet fired from point-nk range seven times in a row? Can you support the weight of a woman who has fallen off the top of a building? Can you move a limo with a punch?"

    Li Yundong shot a helpless nce at Feng Na, then at Cheng Cheng .

    Surely, something this ridiculous couldn''t be happening .

    "Well? Can you?" the girl taunted again . She was smirking now .

    Maybe he should just tell this silly girl his name and end this stupid conversation . Nothing in this conversation made sense anyway . You''d think there would be photos of him circting around the forums if people were really iming how handsome he was .

    The girl sneered at Li Yundong . "I bet you''re the type who likes to act cool and doesn''t appreciate the greatness of others . "

    Wow . This is what I get for helping her out? Li Yundong stared at the girl in disbelief . Act cool? Did she think he was vying for her attention? How anyone could be this vain baffled him to no end .

    Whatever . I''m outta here .

    He had no time for this bullshit . He had more important things to do, like going through a bunch of ancient texts and worrying about how to survive being struck by 81 sessive bolts of lightning without getting fried in the process .

    s, just when he was about to bid Feng Na and Cheng Cheng farewell (lunch be damned), that girl jumped forward and grabbed Feng Na''s arm .

    "What do you think, Senior Feng Na? Was I right about him?"

    Li Yundong stood there and studied Feng Na''s expression . He wanted to hear her answer before he go .

    Feng Na burst intoughter . "You know what? You''re spot on!" Feng Na gave Li Yundong a yful look . "This guy acts cool all the time!"

    Bullshit . Months ago, the only thing "cool" about him was the fact that he could still walk around despite his potbelly . Or the fact that he had the willpower to go through 21 rejections in a row .

    Cheng Cheng, who was holding her stomach with one hand and massaging her cheek with the other, suddenly stoppedughing and patted the freshman''s shoulder . "Hey, junior! You''re pretty sharp, huh?" Cheng Cheng snapped her fingers . "You saw through all his pretense and all it took you was one nce! Not bad at all!"

    That was when Li Yundong saw the pointed look Cheng Cheng was giving him . There was a devious glint in her eyes too, like she was telling him to stay and watch everything unfold .

    Then it hit him . This was a prank . Feng Na and Cheng Cheng were pulling a prank on that pea-brained chick .

    Li Yundong crossed his arms and leaned back to enjoy the show .

    ***

    Jiang Xiuxiu still didn''t notice anything wrong with the situation despite the fact that both Feng Na and Cheng Cheng''sughter sounded a bit strange .

    "I''m not surprised that I got it right," Jiang Xiuxiu said in a smug tone . "People always say that I have discerning eyes . "

    Feng Na wiped a stray tear off the corner of her eyes and said, "So, it''s safe to say that you''re Li Yundong''s fan, then?"

    "Of course I am!" Jiang Xiuxiu nodded enthusiastically and feigned an infatuated look to make Li Yundong jealous . "In fact, I''m his die-hard fan!"

    Cheng Chengughed and patted Feng Na''s shoulder . "I guess congrattions are in order, Nana . Your Li Yundong Fan Club, it seems, has just gained a new member . "

    Jiang Xiuxiu''s eyes widened . "Wait, are you guys members of his fan club too?"

    "Of course we are . " Feng Na''s eyes darted briefly to Li Yundong''s face, though she kept her own expression neutral . "He became my idol the moment I saw him . Oh, and I''m the president of the Li Yundong Fan Club by the way . "

    "I see, I see . " Jiang Xiuxiu giggled . "Well, then I want to be the vice president!"

    "No way!" Cheng Cheng protested . "The club already has a vice president . " Cheng Cheng pointed at herself . "Me!"

    Jiang Xiuxiu wanted to argue further, but she was afraid to piss off Feng Na and Cheng Cheng¡ªthey were her seniors . In the end, she went with a more diplomatic suggestion: "Then . . . How about I be the club''s secretary?"

    "The secretary?" Cheng Cheng said, then shared a nce with Feng Na .

    An awkward silence spread between them .

    A few students approached, so Li Yundong stepped aside to let them walk past .

    As the awkward silence stretched out, Jiang Xiuxiu''s face began to pale; she thought she had said something to offend her seniors .

    "Um . . . I''m sorry," said Jiang Xiuxiu . "I was just saying, that''s all . I don''t have to be the secretary if it''s an inconvenience . "

    Feng Na smiled . "Nah, it''s alright . Then from now on, you shall be the Li Yundong Fan Club''s secretary . Although . . . " Feng Na hid her smile behind her hand . "I must remind you that the secretary ranks pretty low among othermittee members of the club . "

    Jiang Xiuxiu grinned . "Oh, that doesn''t matter! I''m just d to be a part of themittee . " She sidled up to Feng Na and looped her arm through Feng Na''s elbow . "Senior Feng Na, I''m part of your gang starting from today . Please you take good care of me once you be the student council president!"

    Jiang Xiuxiu''s words made Feng Na stiffen . She hadn''t mentioned to Jiang Xiuxiu that she was a member of the student council, nor had she mentioned anything about her being a candidate in the running for the next student council president . She didn''t even tell Jiang Xiuxiu that the current president was nning to step down .

    From that alone, Feng Na could tell that Jiang Xiuxiu wasn''t as simple as she looked: she was the type with agendas, the type who devises schemes to get what she wants . She''d just moved into the dorms yesterday, yet she''d already managed to ferret out this kind of information . And from the way she was hanging on to Feng Na''s arm, the girl clearly knew a thing or two about currying favors with people and had no scruples about using her body to do just that .

    Feng Na smiled . "Sure . I hope you support my campaign . "

    Joy coursed through Jiang Xiuxiu; she construed Feng Na''sck of denial as a form of eptance . Thinking that she had finally won Feng Na''s favor, Jiang Xiuxiu turned towards Li Yundong and raised her chin haughtily . "You see that? This is what I call ss . Get it? ss . "

    Li Yundong ignored Jiang Xiuxiu and turned towards Feng Na . "So . The student council president, huh?"

    Feng Na nodded and released a soft sigh . "Yeah . . . It''s my fourth and final year this year . " Feng Na shrugged . "Figured I''d end my university life with a bang, you know? Besides, I can put this onto my resume . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . "I think that''s great! You have my full support!"

    Feng Naughed . "Is that so? Thanks!" Feng Na''s eyes widened as though she''d just thought of something . "Oh, and speaking of support . . . I could really use your help with something . "

    Li Yundong feigned a look of horror . "You know what, I was just joking earlier . " He rolled his eyes dramatically . "Hah . As if I would show my support to someone who pranked me in front of hundreds of students . "

    Feng Na chuckled . "Very funny . "

    "Of course it''s funny . " Li Yundong smirked . "That''s how jokes work . "

    Feng Na''s face fell . "Hey, I''m serious about this . Please . Will you help me out?"

    Li Yundong stared at Feng Na for a few seconds, thenughed . "Of course I will . What can I do?"

    "Well, as you know, the weing party for the freshmen will be held in a few days . . . "

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes . "Uh-huh . . . So?"

    "So!" Feng Na grinned and pped her hands together . "Why don''t you give a performance during the event? I can secure a slot for you . "

    Li Yundongughed out loud . "Now who''s the one being funny?"

    Li Yundong stoppedughing when he saw that Feng Na wasn''tughing along with him .

    "You''re serious?"

    Feng Na nodded .

    "But aren''t these performances usually reserved for clubs? I''m not part of any clubs . " Li Yundong raised a palm . "And no . Don''t give me that Taekwondo Club BS again . "

    Feng Na hid augh behind her hand . "Didn''t you say that I have your full support? Now you''re backing down? Geez . "

    Li Yundong smirked . "I said I''ll support your campaign to be the student council president . I didn''t say anything about performing in some random dinner party . "

    "Ugh! What is the matter with you?" Jiang Xiuxiu cut in . "Why is it so hard to ask a favor from you? Like yesterday, I literally had to run all the way from the gates just to get you to help me move my bags . And when I ask for your name, you wouldn''t even tell me! Right now the future student council president is asking you for help, and you''re not even gracious enough to lend a hand?" Jiang Xiuxiu snorted derisively . "Hey, on second thought¡­" Jiang Xiuxiu looked towards Feng Na . "I don''t think it¡¯s a good idea to ask him to do the performance, Senior Feng Na . The way I see it? He''s just all brawn and no brains . What can he perform, I wonder? Smashing concrete? Kicking sticks? Or maybe one of those ancient rock-smashing rituals . I''m sure that''s right up his alley . "

    Li Yundong, Feng Na, and Cheng Cheng stared at each other at that final remark .

    "Oh,e on," Jiang Xiuxiu said . "Surely you guys know what I''m talking about? Don''t you guys watch documentaries at all? Like, they''d have one person lie down on their back and then ce arge concrete b over their chest . Then a second person would grab a huge mallet and then¡ª"

    Jiang Xiuxiu didn''t get to finish her sentence because Li Yundong, Feng Na, and Cheng Cheng suddenly burst into guffaws .

    Jiang Xiuxiu stared at theughing trio quizzically, wondering what on God''s green earth was so funny about herment .

    When Feng Na stoppedughing, she patted Jiang Xiuxiu''s shoulder . "You see? Even our young freshman here is trying so hard to change your mind . " Feng Na smiled and blinked her eyes at Li Yundong . "Won''t you reconsider?"

    Li Yundong raised his hands in surrender . "Fine¡­" He sighed . "You win . Geez . "

    Feng Na''s face lit up . "So you''ve agreed?"

    "On two conditions," Li Yundong said .

    Feng Na smiled . "Name them . "

    "One . I''ll only do it if you get elected as the student council president . "

    Feng Na smirked . "Done . And the second condition?"

    "Two . No pranks likest time . " Li Yundong gave Feng Na a stern look . "Got it?"

    Feng Na''s smirk grew wider . "Looks like we have a deal . "

 Chapter 197

    Chapter 197

    <h4>You''re Li Yundong?!</h4>

    So . Nameless girl had a name now¡ªJiang Xiuxiu, from the Department of Visual and Performing Arts . Feng Na had let slip the girl''s name some time in the middle of this stupid conversation, which Li Yundong wouldn''t even bother with if he didn''t know that this was another one of Feng Na and Cheng Cheng''s pranks .

    After a while of giggling and sniggering, Feng Na finally said the words that Li Yundong had been dying to hear since ten minutes ago: "Hey, look at us! We were so busy chatting that we almost forgot about lunch!¡°

    "Oops! You''re right, Nana," Cheng Cheng said . "Let''s go grab some lunch, then . "

    Feng Na smiled at Jiang Xiuxiu . "How about you join us?"

    Li Yundong raised a brow at Cheng Cheng .

    He got another pointed look in return .

    Looks like this prank is gonnast longer than he thought .

    He wondered when these two were finally going to put Jiang Xiuxiu out of her misery .

    His thoughts were interrupted by Jiang Xiuxiu''s high-pitched squeal . "Aww¡­ That''s awesome! I''d love to join you guys!"

    Li Yundong would be surprised if Feng Na''s shoes weren''t squeaky clean by the time she graduated seeing as Jiang Xiuxiu had a particr fondness for bootlicking .

    Then again, Feng Na was probably used to these things by now . After all, this kind of stuff came with the territory¡ªwhat with her being a senior student with considerable influence and all .

    The four of them left the academic building shortly .

    The restaurant that Feng Na had in mind was located near campus, so they decided to go to the restaurant on foot .

    "Wow . . . Howe there''s so many people here?" Jiang Xiuxiu said when they entered the restaurant fifteen minutester .

    Li Yundong took stock of the restaurant . Indeed, the ce was jam-packed with people . Guess this would exin why there were extra tables lined up outside the restaurant .

    Feng Na smiled wryly . "Well . At least we know that the restaurant''s business is picking up . " She looked towards Cheng Cheng . "Is Sichuan cuisine really that good?"

    Cheng Cheng snorted . "You''re from Jiangzhe, right? But look at you, standing right in the middle of a Sichuan ce . That says a lot about its poprity, don''t you think?"

    "I say we just go to the canteen," Li Yundong suggested . "You won''t run out of food there no matter how crowded it is . "

    Feng Na didn''t fancy the idea, judging from the hesitant look on her face . "But¡­ you want me to treat you to canteen food? Um . . . Isn''t that a little . . . "

    "It''s fine . " Li Yundong chuckled . "It''s just food anyway . "

    Feng Na smiled . "Okay then . The canteen it is . "

    Li Yundong looked towards the others to see if they agreed . Cheng Cheng just shrugged, so he guessed she was cool with the idea . Jiang Xiuxiu, on the other hand, didn''t seem too happy with it . He could tell from the look of disappointment that had shed across her face briefly before it was reced with a smile, which appeared totally fake .

    "Cool! It''s my first time eating at the canteen . I wonder what the food is like¡­"

    Feng Na smiled . "Well . Guess you''ll find out soon enough . " She looked towards Li Yundong . "Shall we?"

    Thought you''d never ask . . .

    With that, the four of them turned around and headed back to the campus .

    ***

    As expected, the canteen was crowded when they arrived . For the life of him, Li Yundong could never get used to the effect he now had on people: the chatter quieted down the moment he walked in; the guys scrambling aside to let him though .

    Guess this is what happens when you can dodge bullets and shit . Li Yundong sighed inwardly .

    "Wow . . . Senior Feng Na . . . " Jiang Xiuxiu said . "So you''re pretty famous around here, huh?"

    "I do okay, I guess," Feng Na remarked casually . "I''ve been here for three years after all . Guess I''m a familiar face around here . "

    "Seriously, Senior Feng Na . . . It''s like you have amanding presence or something," Jiang Xiuxiu said in awe . "The ce got so quiet the moment you walked in . Ooh! Look, look! They are even stepping aside to let you through . Wow! I didn''t know you have so much influence!"

    Li Yundong bit the inside of his cheeks to stifle a smile . He stole a nce at Feng Na and Cheng Cheng and nearlyughed when he saw Cheng Cheng pinching Feng Na''s waist . Feng Na looked like she was about to open her mouth to say something, but then changed her mind when she noticed Cheng Cheng''s subtle headshake .

    Cheng Cheng gave Feng Na a pointed look, her eyes glinting with mischief .

    Feng Na looked like she was struggling not tough . Her eyes flicked to Li Yundong''s face and lingered there for a second . Then, she cleared her throat . "Come on, guys . Let''s go grab some food, shall we?"

    Ten minutester, the four of them were heading towards an empty table with their trays .

    "Damn . . . I gotta say, Senior Feng Na . That was sooooo cool!" Jiang Xiuxiu said after they had taken their seats . "I can''t believe I finally got to see an alpha female in action . I mean, wow!" Jiang Xiuxiu looked towards Li Yundong and Cheng Cheng . "Did you guys see how those guys acted around her? It was like they all revered her!" Jiang Xiuxiu sighed wistfully . "I wonder if I could ever gain that kind of poprity . . . "

    It was all Li Yundong could do to keep a straight face . Then, he noticed the look Feng Na was giving him, to which he answered with a smirk and a shrug: Do your thing; it''s your show .

    Feng Na gave him a smirk in return . Then she schooled her features and turned to Jiang Xiuxiu . "Nah . . . I''m nothingpared to the legendary Li Yundong, of course . " Then, Feng Na reached over and tapped Li Yundong''s te with her chopsticks . "Hey, isn''t that right?"

    Li Yundong shot Feng Na a withering look . Why does she keep dragging me into this?

    Still, Li Yundong smiled and yed along . "Yeap!"

    "Are you kidding?!" Jiang Xiuxiu''s jaw dropped openically . "But you already have such a huge effect on the students, Senior Feng Na! I can''t even imagine what would happen if Li Yundong suddenly walks in! God! It''d probably be like an emperor''s march!"

    There was a loud snort, followed by a series of coughs . Li Yundong nced sideways just in time to see Cheng Cheng hiding her smile behind her hand .

    Cheng Cheng shot Jiang Xiuxiu a look, then waved her free hand casually . "Oops . Sorry . I choked on something . "

    Jiang Xiuxiu frowned and gave Cheng Cheng a funny look .

    Surely, she must have suspected something by now¡­

    Jiang Xiuxiu smiled and looked away .

    Okay . Maybe not . Li Yundong would''ve taken pity on her if she hadn''t outright insulted him earlier .

    Feng Na patted Cheng Cheng''s back, though her eyes were fixed upon Li Yundong .

    "Hey pal," Feng Na said, kicking him under the table . "Do you agree with our dear freshman here? If Li Yundong walks in right now, would the effect beparable to an emperor''s march?"

    "I''m sure that''s an over-exaggeration," Li Yundong said dryly .

    "How''s that an over-exaggeration?" Jiang Xiuxiu snapped . "I bet you''re just jealous that he''s more popr than you . "

    It honestly baffled him why this girl had such an ax to grind with him . Just because he''d walked away without telling her his name? Seriously?

    "I didn''t say that," Li Yundong replied with a straight face . "I just think you''re putting him on a pedestal, you know?"

    And you don''t even know the guy, for f*ck''s sake .

    Apparently, hisment had rubbed Jiang Xiuxiu the wrong way .

    "Oh? So you disagree, then? You don''t think that his poprity is greater than yours?"

    This time, Li Yundong did roll his eyes . Disagree? What does that even f*cking mean? Hello? Didn''t I just tell you that that wasn''t what I said?

    "Yeah, sure . He''s more popr and a much bigger badass than I am," Li Yundong said dryly .

    Jiang Xiuxiu released a derisive snort and¡ª

    "Li Yundong?"

    Li Yundong, Feng Na, and Cheng Cheng all turned at the sound of that familiar voice . Jiang Xiuxiu, on the other hand, practically leaped off her seat and started ncing around as though she was looking for someone .

    Li Yundong studied the two girls who were standing beside their table: one of them was fashionably dressed in what seemed to him to be branded clothes; the other one was inly dressed, though she had a pretty face and a curvy figure .

    "Hello Zhuang Hui," Li Yundong said .

    He remembered the girl: she was the girl from the dance club, the one who gave the dance performance during the performance night .

    Li Yundong smiled to himself when he remembered Chan''er''s shamanistic ritualment .

    Zhuang Hui smiled and shifted her tray to the side . "Can I join you guys?"

    "Can''t you see it''s a bit crowded here?" Feng Na snapped .

    There was a snort .

    "You know what? Let''s just go, Huihui," said the girl beside Zhuang Hui . "What''s the point of hanging out with these people!"

    The girl stormed away from their table with her tray . Li Yundong red at the girl . Indeed, it was pointless to hang out with that girl, the same girl who had tantly insulted Su Chan months ago .

    Zhuang Hui watched her friend leave for a moment, then sighed .

    Zhuang Hui looked towards Li Yundong . "How about I treat you to lunch next time?"

    Feng Na released a cold sneer . "Yeah? You''ll have to get in line for that . " Feng Na chuckled snidely . "Don''t hold your breath though . I''m pretty sure the queue is long enough to reach the moon . "

    Anger shed inside Zhuang Hui''s eyes . She shot Feng Na a re before storming off .

    Clearly, those two weren''t on the best of terms .

    Li Yundong looked towards Feng Na . "Something happened between you two?" He jerked his chin towards Zhuang Hui .

    Feng Na shot Li Yundong an apologetic look . She smiled, though her smile seemed forced . "Sorry . I shouldn''t have lost my cool like that . "

    Cheng Cheng chuckled . "They''re rivals . "

    Li Yundong looked towards Cheng Cheng .

    Cheng Cheng smiled at him . "Oh, you know . Just girl stuff . " Cheng Cheng waved her hands casually .

    Li Yundong nodded and returned to his meal .

    "Umm . . . Guys . . . ?"

    Li Yundong looked up from his tray and saw Jiang Xiuxiu looking at them with wide eyes .

    "I . . . I think I''m missing something here . . . "

    Li Yundong smirked . About damn time, you idiot .

    Jiang Xiuxiu pointed a shaky finger at him . "A- Are you saying that he''s Li Yundong?"

    Li Yundong crossed his arms and looked at Jiang Xiuxiu steadily . Admittedly, he wanted to watch her squirm . Call it payback for all the insults she''d thrown at him since they ran into each other in front of the academic building .

    When Li Yundong didn''t answer, Jiang Xiuxiu looked towards Feng Na and Cheng Cheng for confirmation .

    The two seniors said absolutely nothing .

    "B- But how can you be Li Yundong? T- That''s impossible . . . "

    God, just how idiotic can this girl get?

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes . "Oh yeah? Why can''t I be Li Yundong?"

    Feng Na and Cheng Cheng burst intoughter right then and there . Li Yundong didn''t miss the blush coloring Jiang Xiuxiu''s cheeks as she gaped at him . She looked about as mortified as someone who had just wet themselves in public .

    Momentster, Jiang Xiuxiu finally found her words . "So you''re Li Yundong?"

    God! This f*cking idiot!

    "Yes . . . Geez! I practically just told you¡ª"

    A guy''s voice interrupted him before he could finish his sentence: "What''s so nice about this university anyway, Hongling? It''s not even popr! It doesn''t have good lecturers either . And look! Even the food they serve tastes horrible! Yuck! What''s up with this stir fry anyway? It tastes like crap!"

    Hongling? Li Yundong turned his head so quickly that he nearly twisted his neck .

    Indeed, there was no mistaking those features: high ponytail; prominent forehead; sharp, piercing eyes; that air of confidence .

    Oh hell . . .

    It was Ruan Hongling .

    What was she doing in Tiannan University? The only reason Li Yundong could think of was that Zi Yuan had sent her here to keep an eye on him .

    Ruan Hongling pped her palm on the table, clearly offended by the guy''s statement . "Are you done with your yapping, Yan Hua? Where I choose to study is none of your goddamn business, so back off!" Ruan Hongling red at the guy named Yan Hua . "If you want to go to North Qinghua University, then go ahead . Nobody''s stopping you . Why are you here spouting nonsense?"

    The entire canteen erupted in cheers: "Well said! Well said!"

    "North Qinghua University? He can''t even pass the entrance exams from the looks of it!" some dude yelled .

    Yan Hua turned and red at the dude who shouted .

    "Haven''t you heard of my name, you fool?" Yan Hua retorted . "My grades for the National College Entrance Examination are the best in Tiannan City! You think I care about this trashy university? North Qinghua University sent me an invitation . An invitation . They invited me . But I turned them down for Hongling . You guys got a problem with that?!"

    The canteen fell silent .

    Then, Yan Hua turned and gave Ruan Hongling a fawning smile . "Come on, Hongling . I was just saying, that''s all . Please don''t be mad . But I just don''t get it . With your grades, you can easily get into North Qinghua . Why do you insist oning here?"

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes . The guy was clearly pussy-whipped .

    Ruan Hongling chuckled darkly . "You wanna know why I insisted oning here?"

    Yan Hua nodded . "Of course I do!"

    What happened next took Li Yundong byplete surprise: Ruan Hongling pointed a finger at him and said, "I''m here because of him!"

    Once he had recovered from his surprise, Li Yundong scowled at Ruan Hongling . "Hey, Hongling! Stop talking nonsense!"

    Yan Hua was now staring at Li Yundong, clearly appalled at Li Yundong''s use of Ruan Hongling''s given name .

    Yan Hua shot Li Yundong a contemptuous look . "Oh . . . So you''re the infamous Li Yundong . "

    God damn it to hell .

    Li Yundong was starting to think that Zi Yuan was dead wrong about Tiannan University being a good ce for Cultivation .

    As far as he could tell, there was only one thing that this godforsaken ce was good for: lowering people''s IQ points .

 Chapter 198

    Chapter 198

    <h4>Provocation</h4>

    This whole fiasco kind of reminded Li Yundong of an old Chinese saying: an unlucky man would hurt his teeth even from taking a sip of water .

    Well, right now, Li Yundong''s teeth did hurt a little, but probably because he''d been grinding them too hard while he envisioned a thousand different ways to restructure Yan Hua''s face .

    In the end, he tamped down his anger and went back to his food . The braised pork ribs on his te was decisively much better-looking than that condescending look on Yan Hua''s face .

    It was probably best if he finished his lunch quickly and then get out of here . He''d been wanting to ask Feng Na and Cheng Cheng about Zhou Qin, but that could wait untilter .

    "Hey, Li Yundong," Yan Hua yelled from a few tables across . "Look at me when I''m talking to you . "

    Li Yundong looked up from his te . The look of condescension was gone . Right now, Yan Hua just looked jealous . It was a wonder that the guy''s eyes hadn''t turned green already .

    "What''s your rtionship with Hongling?" Yan Hua asked .

    Man, this guy must be seriously off the rocker if he actually believed that there was something going on between Li Yundong and Ruan Hongling . Seriously? Couldn''t the idiot detect the air of hostility between them?

    Li Yundong sneaked a nce at Ruan Hongling and caught the girl rolling her eyes .

    "We''re just friends . . . " Li Yundong said, then let his voice trail off . Somehow, that didn''t sound quite right . "On second thought, we''re not friends . "

    The girl had tried to kill his beloved Su Chan . He wouldn''t call such a person a friend .

    Yan Hua sneered . "Oh? Are you implying that you''re more than friends?"

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes . "Did I say that?" He looked towards Feng Na, then Cheng Cheng . Both girls shook their heads . "See? I didn''t . " Li Yundong lowered his gaze back to his te . Lunch didn''t seem all that appealing now .

    There was a ruckus: the scraping of a chair against the floor; Ruan Hongling''s harsh whispers; then hurried footsteps .

    Li Yundong looked up from his te once again . Yan Hua was now making his way towards their table with Ruan Hongling following closely behind .

    Li Yundong sighed . What the hell are these idiots up to?

    Once the pair got close enough, Li Yundong shot Ruan Hongling a re . "Look . I don''t know what you''re up to, but you better don''t cause me any trouble here!"

    What happened next took him by surprise: a pair of hands seized his cor .

    "Enough, Yan Hua! What do you think you''re doing!" Ruan Hongling yelled . "God . You''re such an idiot!"

    Li Yundong''s cor tightened when those hands jerked upwards . There was a loud tter when Li Yundong''s chopsticks dropped onto his tray .

    "Raising your voice at a woman? Are you even a man?" Yan Hua jerked Li Yundong''s cor again . The movement knocked Li Yundong''s tray sideways . "Juste at me if you have a problem! Leave the girl out of it!"

    Li Yundong gave Yan Hua a cold stare . "Let go . Now . "

    "Oh, yeah? You¡ª"

    Li Yundong wrapped his fingers around Yan Hua''s wrist, and then twisted it into a joint lock .

    Yan Hua yelped .

    Li Yundong gave Yan Hua''s chest a light shove . Unfortunately, he had underestimated his strength: Yan Hua was flung 4 or 5 meters away with both feet elevated at least a meter off the ground .

    Before Li Yundong could step in to hopefully prevent another Li Yundong vs Director Qian scenario, Ruan Hongling reacted by jumping backwards and then catching Yan Hua''s body in midair .

    Li Yundong nced down and stared at his own hand .

    Shit¡­

    He had forgotten how much stronger he had be after passing the Zhuji phase . But in his defense, he really didn''t push Yan Hua that hard . Scout''s honor .

    The sound of a loud p made Li Yundong look up .

    Ruan Hongling had one hand raised in the air . She didn''t look happy .

    "Are you nuts?!" Ruan Hongling yelled, then smacked Yan Hua''s arm . "Are you seriously gonna pick a fight with him?" She pointed a finger at Li Yundong . "Do you think you''re a match for him?"

    Yan Hua looked utterly mortified . "A- A r- real man win battles with . . with words! N- Not with their fists!"

    "Yeah? I wonder who grabbed his cor first," said a guy from a few tables down .

    Ruan Hongling chuckled . "You know what?" She suddenly turned to Yan Hua . "If you can beat him in a debate, I''ll acknowledge how good you are!"

    Yan Hua''s face lit up in satisfaction . "Really?"

    Ruan Hongling nodded . "Mm-hmm . "

    Yan Hua turned to face Li Yundong and raised his chin haughtily . "So . Li Yundong! I challenge you to a debate! How about that? Do you ept my challenge?"

    ***

    When Elder Sister Zi Yuan asked Ruan Hongling to enroll at Tiannan University, Ruan Hongling had agreed with that request in a heartbeat . The n was for Ruan Hongling to keep an eye on Li Yundong while he was in the university . Besides, Tiannan University was located in a remote area, thus making it a rtively peaceful ce, which would help Ruan Hongling''s own training .

    Admittedly, Ruan Hongling had an ulterior motive for agreeing to Elder Sister Zi Yuan''s request so readily: she wanted to keep a close eye on Elder Sister Zi Yuan''s "lover-to-be" and make sure that he didn''t fool around . In other words, she wanted to help keep Li Yundong''s perverted, sex-starved, and Don Juan tendencies in check .

    Which was why it nearly drove her nuts earlier when she saw Li Yundong sitting at the same table with three beautiful women .

    Three women!

    Three!

    This was uneptable!

    How dare he betray Elder Sister Zi Yuan like that!

    This was unforgivable!

    "A- A r-real man win battles with . . . with words! N- Not with their fists!" Yan Hua stammered .

    Ruan Hongling gave him a sidelong nce .

    That idiot had been crushing on her since they were in junior high, and now he had even followed her all the way to Tiannan University . Well . . . Since he''s already here . . . I might as well put his presence to good use . Ruan Hongling smirked, then chuckled . "You know what?" She turned so that she was facing Yan Hua . "If you can beat him in a debate, I''ll acknowledge how good you are!"

    Yan Hua brightened up instantly . "Really?"

    Truth be told, the mere thought of doling out praises to Yan Hua brought a bad taste to Ruan Hongling''s mouth, but she had no choice¡ªthe situation called for it .

    "Mm-hmm . . . "

    Ruan Hongling could now feel Li Yundong''s re on her . Served him right for acting like a yboy . Ruan Hongling smirked . Let''s see if those three girls would still hang out with that pervert after Yan Hua humiliates him in front of them . . .

    "So . Li Yundong!" Yan Hua said loudly . "I challenge you to a debate! How about that? Do you ept my challenge?"

    Seconds passed in silence . Ruan Hongling stole a nce at Li Yundong .

    She was met with a re which brought chills down her spine .

    The Heir could be terrifying if he wanted to .

    "What the hell is your damn problem, Ruan Hongling!" Li Yundong growled . "You''re adding fuel to the fire for no reason at all!" Li Yundong pointed at Yan Hua .

    For no reason? Hah . I beg to differ .

    Li Yundong suddenly rose from his seat and took a step towards them . "Whatever you''re nning? I suggest you stop it now," he growled, then pointed at Yan Hua . "I don''t want any part of this nonsense . So cut it out!"

    Li Yundong''s re turned outright murderous . Fear coursed through Ruan Hongling, and she took a step back unconsciously .

    As much as Ruan Hongling hated to admit it, she felt intimidated by Li Yundong''sbat prowess . More importantly, she feared the Jindan''s power coursing through his meridians . He could already kick her ass even before he passed the Zhuji phase .

    Now that he''d passed the Zhuji phase . . .

    Ruan Hongling suppressed a shudder . She didn''t even want to imagine how a fight between herself and Li Yundong might turn out .

    Yan Hua stepped forward and puffed out his chest . "Don''t be afraid, Hongling . I''m here!"

    You? Ruan Honglingughed out loud . What can a bookworm like you do? No matter how despicable Li Yundong was, he was still the Jindan''s Heir . Even Elder Sister Zi Yuan had only good things to say about his talents . Ruan Hongling nced at Yan Hua and shook her head . An idiot like you isn''t even in the same league . . .

    "Is bullying girls all you know?" Yan Hua said cockily . "I told you already . If you have a problem, juste at me . Leave Hongling out of it!"

    Li Yundong smirked . "You''re out of your depth, man . "

    "You . . . " Yan Hua growled .

    Ruan Hongling turned around abruptly and started walking towards the canteen''s exit . Li Yundong was right . Yan Hua was out of his depth . Hell, she was out of her depth .

    God . She must be out of her mind .

    This was the Jindan''s Heir, not some random punk .

    What had she been thinking?

    "Wait! Hongling! Don''t go! Wait for me!"

    Hurried footsteps sounded behind her, but Ruan Hongling kept walking .

    "C''mon, Hongling! Where are you going?!"

    Annoyance red inside Ruan Hongling . She stopped and whirled around and red Yan Hua .

    "Shut up, bookworm! Where I go is none of your business!" She turned around and started walking again . "And stop following me! Ugh, you''re so annoying . "

    "So you think I''m a bookworm as well?"

    Ruan Hongling released a low growl and came to another halt . She turned around slowly and faced Yan Hua with her hands on her hips . That hurt look on his face should''ve made her feel sorry for the guy, but for some reason, it just enraged her even further .

    "No, you''re not a bookworm! You''re an idiot! A moron! You''re dumb! Do you get it now?"

    Yan Hua paled instantly . "What did I do . . . ?"

    Ruan Hongling rolled her eyes and stormed off .

    "Hey! Don''t go! Tell me what I did wrong! Is it something I said?! Come back!"

    ***

    After Ruan Hongling and Yan Hua left the canteen, Li Yundong sat down at their table and picked up his chopsticks .

    Feng Na and Cheng Cheng were both staring at him .

    He sighed and lowered his chopsticks . "What?"

    "Honestly, Li Yundong . . . " Feng Na said, feigning a pensive look . "Trouble follows you everywhere . "

    Li Yundong shrugged and went back to his meal .

    "You didn''t piss off either of them before this, did you?"

    Li Yundong put down his chopsticks again . "No . . . " he said . "I don''t even know what their problem was . Now can we have lunch in peace?"

    Cheng Cheng pressed her palms together and held it in front of her chest as though she was praying . "You think trouble won''t find you just because you''re low-key? Tsk . Tsk . " Cheng Cheng shook her head . "Trust me, pal . The word low-key doesn''t even apply to a man like you . "

    Li Yundong shot Cheng Cheng a skeptical look .

    Cheng Cheng shrugged . "You stick out like a sore thumb no matter where you go . I mean . . . Just look at you . Tsk . Tsk . Those eyes . So sharp and piercing . And look at your hair . It''s longer now, which gives you a cool,rger-than-life look . Just imagine what happens when there''s a breeze . . . Rawr!" Cheng Cheng gave him a teasing look . "Sooo attractive . . . It really makes me want to eat up your delicious . . . . . . "

    Li Yundong raised his brows .

    Cheng Cheng smirked .

    "¡­ your delicious¡­braised pork ribs . " With that, Cheng Cheng reached out with her chopsticks and stole a piece of pork ribs from his te . "Ooh! Hey, this is really good . "

    Li Yundong kept staring at Cheng Cheng while she stole yet another piece of pork rib from his te .

    He recovered his stupor the moment Feng Na startedughing her head off . Momentster, Li Yundong joined in theughter as well .

    "Hah . Very funny . You think you''re so damn funny¡ª"

    Something caught Li Yundong''s eye: Jiang Xiuxiu was still standing beside her unupied chair, gaping at him .

    "Why are you standing there?" Li Yundong pointed at her chair . "Sit down and eat . "

    Jiang Xiuxiu snapped out of it, though she seemed to be blushing even harder now .

    "Well? What are you waiting for?" Li Yundong pointed at the chair . "Have a seat¡ª"

    Jiang Xiuxiu screamed into her hands, and the next thing he knew, Jiang Xiuxiu was bolting out of the canteen as though her ass were on fire .

    "See?" Li Yundong jerked his thumb towards the canteen''s exit, then looked towards Feng Na and Cheng Cheng . "It''s your fault for pranking her . And you two call yourself good seniors . Tsk! Tsk! You should be ashamed of yourselves . "

    Feng Naughed . "As if you''re not in on the prank as well!"

    Li Yundong feigned a look of horror . "I did no such thing . "

    Lunch went on peacefully after that fiasco earlier .

    Li Yundong finished his food first . Heid down his chopsticks and waited for Feng Na and Cheng Cheng to finish their meals . When both of them were done, Li Yundong leaned forward slightly in his seat . Alright . Time to get down to business .

    "Um, have either of you seen Zhou Qintely?"

    Feng Na looked up from her tray . "Zhou Qin?" She frowned . "Wait, why are you asking me? She''s in your ss, right?"

    Li Yundong sighed . "I didn''t see her in ss today . I was just wondering where she is, that''s all . "

    "Maybe she has some personal matters to take care of?"

    Li Yundong frowned . Yeah . He bet she had a lot of matters to take care of, most of which probably had to do with him .

    She''s in trouble . She''s definitely in trouble . . .

    "Something''s troubling you . . . " Feng Na remarked .

    Li Yundong looked up and found Feng Na eyeing him carefully .

    "And it''s got something to do with Zhou Qin," she said .

    Silence spread between them . Cheng Cheng hadn''t said a word, but Li Yundong knew she was paying attention to them .

    "What is it?" Feng Na asked .

    Li Yundong shook his head . "It''s nothing . I just need to ask her about something, that''s all . "

    He didn''t want to tell Feng Na and Cheng Cheng about the horrible night He Shao died, not because he didn''t trust them, but because he wanted to keep both of them out of trouble . He''d researched the He family after his return from Tibet, and he had to admit that the He family''s influence wasn''t something to be trifled with .

    Zhou Qin had some protection from the ws of the He family due to her own family background, and Li Yundong could take care of himself because he was a Cultivator; but Feng Na and Cheng Cheng would literally be defenseless if they got involved .

    "Maybe she''ll show up in a few days," Feng Na said reassuringly . "Don''t worry . "

    Li Yundong sighed . "I really hope you''re right . "

    Try as he might, Li Yundong couldn''t shake this terrible feeling he had inside his gut .

 Chapter 199

    Chapter 199

    <h4>Missing!</h4>

    After lunch, Li Yundong left the canteen and went to an empty ssroom, where he spent the entire afternoon going through Treatise on Cold Damage Diseases and the Compendium on Elixir-Based Resurrection . Before he left the campus in the evening, he went to the library again to borrow two more books . The poor librarian was so overwhelmed by incredulity that he ended up spending half an hour grilling Li Yundong about the contents of both books . But of course, Li Yundong aced the old man''s tests and left the library with two new books .

    When Zhou Qin still didn''t show up for ss the following day, Li Yundong decided to seek out Sun Li and the teacher in charge to ask them if they knew anything about Zhou Qin''s absence .

    Both of them gave him the same answer: no idea .

    The bad feeling inside his stomach had intensified to the point of queasiness by then . ying truant wasn''t Zhou Qin''s style at all . Unlike, Li Yundong himself, Zhou Qin wouldn''t go AWOL for days on end . If there was a good reason for her absence, the ss rep and the teacher in charge would know about it . The fact that neither of them had a clue implied one thing: Zhou Qin''s absence wasn''t by choice; something was preventing her from attending ss .

    In other words, something must have happened to her .

    Li Yundong left the campus, hailed a cab, and then told the driver to take him to the nearest branch of his bank: he had to get a new phone .

    After that, he would import his contact list from his old SIM card to get Zhou Qin''s number since Ding Nan had outright refused to give him her number and Feng Na, Sun Li, and the teacher in charge didn''t know Zhou Qin''s new number .

    When he arrived at the bank, he received yet another surprise: his bank overdraft had been covered; not only that, but he now had a ten thousand yuan surplus in his bank ount .

    When he returned to his apartment, Zi Yuan was there, sitting on the floor at the center of the living room . She appeared to be meditating: the back of her hands were resting against her inner thighs; the tips of her thumbs and index fingers were touching, forming a loop on each hand . Having read the Mahamudra Tantra, Li Yundong recognized those hand gesture as the Jnana Mudra¡ªthe wisdom seal .

    Zi Yuan opened her eyes slowly when he approached .

    "Did you pay off my bank debts?" Li Yundong waved the bank card a few times .

    Zi Yuan''s expression remained peaceful . "Yes . " She closed her eyes again .

    "Why''d you do that?"

    "You''re a Cultivator," she said without opening her eyes . "You need money . "

    Li Yundong stared at her wordlessly .

    Secondster, Zi Yuan continued, "You can''t focus on your training if you''re constantly worrying about financial problems . "

    What Zi Yuan said made sense, but it also filled Li Yundong with guilt and dissatisfaction . How much longer was he going to keep relying on the kindness of others to get by? First Zhou Qin, and now Zi Yuan?

    And worst, Zhou Qin had even gotten into trouble because of him .

    Enough was enough . This had got to stop . He had to get his act together . He had to find a way to be self-sufficient, not mooching off others . He had to build a life, not just in Cultivation, but also in his career as well .

    "Thank you," Li Yundong said after a while . "I''ll pay you back as soon as possible . "

    Zi Yuan smiled without saying a word . She didn''t open her eyes either .

    Li Yundong didn''t want to disturb Zi Yuan''s meditation, so he left the apartment after that .

    He made another trip to the bank, but this time to make a withdrawal . After that, he went to the nearest mall to buy a new phone . Instead of importing his contacts list straightaway after inserting his old SIM card into his new phone, Li Yundong dialed Su Chan''s number, which he knew by heart .

    "We''re sorry . The number you have dialed is outside our service area . Please try againter . "

    Li Yundong stared at his new phone for a second or two . Had Ao Wushuang taken Su Chan back to the mountains?

    Li Yundong swiped across the screen and pulled up the messaging app, then typed out a text: "Princess, I saw the note you left me . I miss you very much . I''ve already passed the Zhuji phase . I''lle fetch you home after I survive the divine punishment . Where are you right now?"

    He tapped "send" and then began importing his contacts from his SIM card . Secondster, he found Zhou Qin''s number .

    "Sorry . The number you have dialed is unavable . Please leave a message after the tone . . . "

    There was a beep . Li Yundong ended the call and stared at the screen for a moment .

    Zhou Qin''s phone was turned off .

    What should he do now? Send her an email?

    But he didn''t even have her email address .

    He had officially run out of options to get in touch with her .

    Never in her life had Zhou Qin experienced such treatment . Never . The room was dark and stuffy with thick curtains obscuring any light from the outside . The only source of light in the room was the tablemp aimed directly at her face, blinding her every time she stared at it . The air was fraught with a stifling and oppressive aura . She could barely breathe . Truth be told, she didn''t have the energy to do even that; she hadn''t eaten since she''d been brought to the military facility three days ago, and the fact that she hadn''t slept for two nights straight only made it so much worse .

    She wasn''t alone in the room .

    A man in a grey Mao suit sat across from her in front of the tiny desk . Beside the man was a woman in a skirt suit . The woman was writing furiously on her notepad .

    SMACK! The tablemp shook when the man mmed his palm on the tabletop . Zhou Qin didn''t flinch .

    "You and I both know that Li Yundong murdered He Shao, Miss Zhou," said the man . "You are a key witness of the murder . All you need to do is testify against him in court . "

    Zhou Qin chuckled breathless .

    God, she sounded so weak .

    She wondered how much longer she could hold on .

    Of course the He family would get the military involved . Of course . He Shao''s father was a militarymander in charge of an entire province . The fact that his son had gone missing for over two months had taken Tiannan City by storm . In hindsight, Zhou Qin should''ve seen thising . Then again, even if she had, what else could she do? Run?

    "I must remind you again, Miss Zhou Qin, that as a key witness of the murder, you are obliged by thew to appear in court to give your testimony," said the man in the grey Mao suit . "Failure to do so will be treated as treason! By protecting a criminal, you are betraying this country and the Communist Party! Know that there will be terrible consequences awaiting you if you refuse to cooperate . "

    Zhou Qin raised her head tiredly and squinted through themp''s brightness . The man was ring right back at her . No doubt he was trying to appear menacing, but she honestly didn''t care at this point .

    "Just agree to testify . . . " the man growled . "And I''ll make all this go away . " He waved an arm across the room .

    "Testify?" Zhou Qin rasped, then smiled weakly . "Why is my testimony required when no crime has beenmitted?"

    SLAM! The table andmp shook violently . "You are ying with fire, Miss Zhou!"

    "No¡­ No, I''m not . . . " A surge of dizziness coursed through her when she tried to shake her head . "The evidence clearly¡­ clearly . . . shows¡­ that no . . . " She paused to take a frail breath . "That no crime has beenmitted . "

    "This evidence you mean?" Aptop was ced on top of the desk and slid across towards her . The device was then turned so that Zhou Qin could see the screen .

    The footage she''d recorded with her phone that night was ying silently on the screen .

    Zhou Qin looked away from the screen and stared right into man''s eyes . "Yes . "

    "This is fake!"

    "No it isn''t," Zhou Qin said . "I saw the whole thing with my own eyes . "

    SLAM!! The desk rattled again . "You expect me to believe that He Shao was struck down by lightning? On a night where the weather was fine?!" The man stood up from his chair and leaned over the desk . His voice turned into a snarl . "I . Don''t . Believe . You . "

    Hang on, Zhou Qin . Hang on . Be strong . Be tough . . . Don''t let these scumbags win .

    "I''ve already told you everything I know," Zhou Qin said in a mechanical voice "He Shao tried to rape Miss Ding Nan that night . But he didn''t get what he wanted because I brought Miss Ding Nan away . So he raped Miss Deng Yu and Miss Deng Jiao instead . Something happened inside that hotel room, something that I''m unaware of even now . Perhaps there was a struggle . I don''t know . But the twins fell off the balcony of He Shao''s room . " Zhou Qin struggled to keep her eyes open . "He Shao fled the scene and drove away from the hotel . Li Yundong got mad and chased after He Shao''s car . Don''t ask me how he did it, because like I''ve told you and Detective Wang many times already . . . I don''t know . "

    The man in the Mao suit stared at Zhou Qin in disbelief .

    "Even now you''re still sticking with that story?"

    Zhou Qin ignored the man and kept talking . She had told the same story so many times that she didn''t even need to think about what she said . The words just flowed out mechanically . "In his flight, He Shao killed two more people . He ran over an olddy and then shot her son dead . " Zhou Qin coughed . "There was an ident . . . He Shao''s car went off the road . Li Yundong caught up . He tried to convince He Shao to turn himself in . He Shao refused and ran into the woods . But before he could reach the woods, a bolt of¡ª"

    SLAM!

    "That isn''t what happened, and you know it!" the man snarled . "What are you implying?! That this is a punishment sent down from the Heavens? That is absurd!"

    Zhou Qin sneered . "Absurd? Are we really going to sit here and pretend that He Shao is a saint?" Zhou Qin chuckled . Weak though her voice might be, the derision in it was pronounced . "Don''t make meugh . You and I both know about all the things he had done, the people he had murdered in cold blood . Two innocent girls . A young man and his mother . " Zhou Qinughed coldly . "If I had the power to summon lightning, I would kill him in a heartbeat!"

    "Are you saying that you wished to kill him?"

    "Who wouldn''t?" Zhou Qin said in a sneering tone . "He was an evil scumbag, a lowlife who deserves to rot in hell! Anyone with a heart would wish him dead!"

    She knew she shouldn''t have said that, not when this entire interrogation was recorded, but she just didn''t care anymore . She was probably going to die here anyway . Nobody wasing to save her .

    "Why do you hate him so much?!" the man in the Mao suit yelled .

    Anger rose inside Zhou Qin, giving her an ounce of renewed strength .

    "How dare you ask me why! Open your eyes, you blind fools! Go take a look at all the things he did!" Zhou Qin yelled . Her outburst had left her heaving and panting .

    The man and the note-takingdy stared back at her in shock .

    "Do you know what it''s like to watch the people you know die in front of you? Do you?" Zhou Qin sneered . "That monster killed them all and then tried to make a run for it! So yes, I hate him . I hate that vile, narcissistic, and evil creature!"

    "Do you hate him enough to murder him?"

    Zhou Qinughed darkly, then smirked . "Oh, I assure you that the poption in Tiannan City would be substantially reduced if I have the habit of murdering everyone I hate . "

    "Is this your final decision, then?" The man pointed at theptop . "You''ll refuse to testify against Li Yundong, and insist instead that He Shao died because of a lightning strike?"

    "Yes," Zhou Qin said casually .

    "You¡ª"

    "Listen very carefully, because this is the only statement that you''re going to get out of me . " Zhou Qin paused . "He Shao died because he was struck by lightning . "

    "Why are you so dead set on protecting this Li Yundong?" the man yelled . "What are you really up to, Miss Zhou?"

    Zhou Qin sat up straighter and arched a brow . "And what are you up to?" Zhou Qin sneered . "Why is the military wasting its precious resources on a murder case, hmm? Shouldn''t cases like this be left to the police?" Zhou Qin smirked . "Even if this is within your jurisdiction and you people have the right to get involved, I don''t see a good amount of fair investigation going on around here . You''re focusing your investigation solely on He Shao''s death and neglecting other aspects of the case . " There was a pregnant pause . "What about the twins? Has any one of you bothered to look into their murders?"

    The man in the Mao suit stood up in anger . "Zhou Qin! This is your final warning! Agree to testify, or else¡ª"

    "Final warning?" Zhou Qin smiled . "I seem to recall hearing the same threat four times already . . . "

    "You . . . "

    There was a giggle . Zhou Qin turned and saw the woman in the skirt suit hiding a smile behind her hand .

    "You''re ying with fire, Zhou Qin," said the man . "You have been warned . You''re going to get burned . "

    The man turned around and stormed out of the room .

 Chapter 200

    Chapter 200

    <h4>Zhou Qin''s Decision</h4>

    <small></small>Shortly after the man in the Mao suit left the room, the woman in the skirt suit stood up as well . Zhou Qin watched her movements: closedptop lid; gathered sheets of paper; slid her notepad into the folder on the desk; picked up theptop and the folder .

    The clicking of heels sounded for a few seconds before it stopped .

    The woman was standing at the door, and she was looking right at Zhou Qin .

    The two women stared at each other across the ill-lit room . Through the gloom, Zhou Qin could detect the confusion clouding the woman''s eyes .

    The woman was baffled, and Zhou Qin wouldn''t me her .

    Indeed, Zhou Qin''s refusal to cooperate with the He family would seem outright nonsensical to that woman¡ªor to anyone looking in from the outside for that matter . Why endure this torturous ordeal when she could just take the easy way out and agree to testify against Li Yundong? What did she stand to gain by going up against the entire He family on her own?

    Why was she putting herself through all of this?

    Why?

    Well . Not for justice, that''s for sure . Zhou Qin had been around the system long enough to know that justice doesn''t exist in this world .

    Beauty? Goodness? Righteousness? Evil? Justice? None of those things are real . The only two real things in this world are: profit and self-interest .

    The world is driven by profit and self-interest . Zhou Qin had understood that cold and harsh reality from a young age .

    Then again, she might not truly believe it that after all . Otherwise, she wouldn''t be putting herself through this .

    My friends . . . I''m doing this for my friends . . .

    Lies . She was doing this for something that she yearned for, something that she''d been denied since the day she was born: love .

    She was doing this for Li Yundong . And Su Chan . Her friends . Stop lying to yourself, Zhou Qin¡­

    No . She wasn''t lying . Li Yundong was technically her friend too . It wasn''t all about love . Or was it?

    She didn''t even know anymore .

    She was so confused .

    The door creaked open . She heard the clicking of the woman''s heels again . CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! She focused on that rhythmic sound until the door closed with a sharp click .

    Then silence .

    Zhou Qin leaned back against her chair but kept her expression neutral and her back ramrod straight . This room was monitored, and she didn''t want to give the impression of being relieved that the interview was over . She didn''t want to show any signs of weakness .

    She wouldn''t give those bastards the satisfaction .

    Don''t let them win, Zhou Qin . Don''t let them win . . . You''re strong . . . You''re strong . . .

    Admittedly, the He family had yed their cards well . They had brought her here to threaten her, hoping that she would break after enough coercion, that she would finally agree to testify in court against Li Yundong after she was subjected to enough torture . When she had tantly refused to cooperate during the first day of her confinement, they immediately took things to the next level: they started digging up dirt on the Zhou family; and all of a sudden, both her father and uncle were removed from their positions of power due to "corruption charges . "

    It was the end of the Zhou family as she knew it .

    The Zhou family was burnt to ashes, and she was the one who lit the match .

    Not that she hadn''t foreseen such an eventuality ages ago . Anyone who had been around the system long enough would have some dirt on them . It was just a matter of time before certain parties found the reason to dig them all up . For her family, that time was two days ago, when she had told the He family to shove their threats to a ce where the sun doesn''t shine .

    In a blink of an eye, Zhou Qin was stripped of everything . Gone was Zhou Qin, the glorious and proud phoenix; now she was just some nameless chicken on the way to an abattoir .

    A criminal .

    <small></small>She was now a criminal .

    As horrible as all this was, Zhou Qin knew that the worst had yet toe . The He family would soon use her family''s downfall as extra ammunition against her . They would no doubt approach her with a deal: "agree to testify, and you''ll have your old life back again . "

    It was the oldest tactic in the book .

    Right now, they were just waiting for her to crack and then approach her with the deal when she did . Which was why she couldn''t afford to show any signs of weakness; those bastards would swoop in like vultures the moment they saw an opportunity to break her .

    She had to be cool andposed . She had to be Zhou Qin, the Ice Queen .

    Fool . How long do you think you''re gonnast? You''re gonna break eventually . Who''s going toe save you then?

    Li Yundong? Would Li Yundonge for her?

    Fool . He won''te for you . He doesn''t love you . . .

    "Is all this worth it, Zhou Qin?" Zhou Qin whispered into the darkness . "Is it worth it?"

    She remembered that day when she had called Yin Mengfan to rmend Li Yundong to Dongsheng Realtors . He had needed a job back then, so she had taken it upon herself to help him out . She remembered staring at her own reflection in the mirror after her call with Yin Mengfan ended . She remembered telling herself these exact words: "Oh, Zhou Qin . You''re in for a world of trouble if you fall for him, a man who is clearly in love with someone else . "

    What she failed to realize then was that her own warning hade toote: she had already fallen for him even back then .

    A world of trouble was definitely apt considering her current situation . Now she had nothing left . Her family was destroyed, and she was being incarcerated like some lowly criminal .

    Yet her feelings remained unrequited .

    Was everything worth it?

    No, it isn''t, Zhou Qin . None of this is worth it . Just agree to testify . Save yourself¡­

    Indeed . She should just save herself . That would be the most logical thing to do . Li Yundong could take care of himself . He had superhuman powers . Plus, he still had Zi Yuan or that other girl (whoever she was) to protect him . She should end this fruitless crusade .

    What would be the point?

    Li Yundong would never notice her anyway . . .

    Stop it, Zhou Qin! You''re not just doing this for him . You''re doing this for your friends! The first two real friends you have in your whole life!

    Really Zhou Qin? Was she really willing to besmirch her character by bending to the He family''s will? Would she really stoop that low? And all for what? So that she could go back to live the life of a queen?

    That would be so cowardly and despicable . Just like He Shao . She would be no different from He Shao if she went through with this deal .

    Li Yundong''s face appeared before her eyes once again . Was she hallucinating? She wouldn''t be surprised if she was . She hadn''t eaten anything in three days . The low blood sugar must be messing with her head .

    Stop thinking about him, you fool . He doesn''t love you . He''ll never love you .

    CLICK! The door creaked open once again .

    Zhou Qin raised her gaze slowly . Someone was walking in . She squinted for a moment and allowed her eyes to adjust to themp .

    Secondster, sheughed derisively . "What are you doing here? I thought you were indefinitely suspended and put under investigation . In fact, I was pretty confident that you''d be given a nice little cell of your own, just like this one . "

    Zhou Qin didn''t really need to ask why her father was here; she already knew why he was here . She just wanted to taunt and mock the high-and-mighty Zhou Keqiang a little .

    Her taunt seemed to have found its mark as it made her father pause a few feet away from the desk . It gave Zhou Qin the opportunity to study her father''s appearance . Like usual, he was immactely dressed in a ck suit . Other than the exhaustion in his eyes, he didn''t look like someone who''d been fending off a barrage of corruption charges .

    Her father was staring right back at her .

    <small></small>The staring match ended secondster with a resigned chuckle from her father . He approached the desk and sat down in the chair opposite hers .

    "They sent me here to redeem myself . " Her father chuckled again . "I''m sure you understand what that means . "

    Of course Zhou Qin understood . She was used to these political games by now . Somehow, being reminded of those things angered her even further . The anger fueled her resolve, giving her a surge of strength, chasing away some of the hunger and exhaustion that she''d been feeling for days .

    She was sick of tired of these games . She didn''t want that kind of life anymore . She wanted out .

    She wanted to break free .

    And if the price of her freedom was death, then so be it .

    "I can understand it if it''s them," Zhou Qin sneered, jerking her chin at the door . "They don''t know anything about me after all . " Zhou Qinughed darkly . "But you? I''m surprise to even see you trying . I''m sure you know me well enough to know how futile it is to try to change my mind . "

    Zhou Keqiang sighed heavily . "Qinqin . . . Do you really have to use that tone with me every time? Whether you like it or not, I''m still your father . "

    A father who was willing to sell his own daughter to a lowlife for his own personal gains . Perhaps she should start poking voodoo dolls on Father''s Day .

    Zhou Qin snorted and averted her gaze .

    There was a noise, a rustling sound, like Zhou Keqiang was shifting in his seat . Secondster, she heard something else: like a packet being opened .

    When she stole a nce, she noticed the cigarette mped between her father''s lips .

    "Do you mind if I have a smoke?" he asked .

    Zhou Qin froze and stared at Zhou Keqiang for a moment . All of a sudden, she burst intoughter .

    Zhou Keqiang frowned .

    "Oh, dear me! My, my, my!" Zhou Qin said, then feigned a look of surprise . She honestly hadn''t felt so energetic since she was brought here . "Since when do you give a damn about my opinions, Zhou Keqiang?" Zhou Qinughed again, making no attempts at all to hide the derision in her voice this time . "Never thought I''d live to see the day where Zhou Keqiang starts taking other people''s opinions into consideration . " Zhou Qin gave her father a mocking look . "Well, well, well . Looks like you''re already mentally prepared to lead a normal civilian life . Good for you then . "

    Zhou Keqiang''s face twitched . Zhou Qin could tell that she had managed to get under his skin, which brought her a small amount of satisfaction .

    A momentter, Zhou Keqiang sighed . "Qinqin . . . Don''t you think you should rein in yourself a little? Don''t you think you''ve gone too far this time?"

    Zhou Qin met his stare defiantly .

    "Forget that I was dragged into your mess," Zhou Keqiang said . He sighed and shook his head . "But your uncle? You n to bring him down as well? Is that your intention? To see our family fall apart?"

    "Oh, my fellow Zhou Keqiang," Zhou Qin sneered . "Isn''t this what you signed up for, hmm? You chose this life the moment you took office . " Sheughed darkly . "We both know it''s just a matter of time before something like this happens . " She paused and arched a brow at her father . "Besides . . . Would you have fallen this hard if you did everything right and had a clean record?"

    "You!" Zhou Keqiang stood up angrily .

    "Me? What about me?" Zhou Qin met her father''s gaze unwaveringly . "You''re not going to deny the truth of what I just said, are you?"

    Zhou Keqiang took a deep breath, then exhaled . "Qinqin, you''re a grown woman now . You need to think carefully before you speak and act! This obsession of yours will lead to your downfall!" Zhou Keqiang wagged his finger in front of her face . "Don''t you understand what''s at stake here, Qinqin? Your days of living a luxurious life will be over! Don''t you know that?" Zhou Keqiang paused to take another deep breath . "You''re going to fall, Qinqin . And you''re going to fall hard . You''ll go from being a prominent princess to being an insignificant nobody! A nobody . Do you understand that? A nobody who''s buried under a pile of mud! Your life and future will be over!"

    Zhou Qin smirked .

    My future has been over ever since you sold me to He Shao .

    "Oh, you don''t have to worry about that," Zhou Qin sneered . "I couldn''t care less about living a life of luxury . " She raised her chin defiantly . "I have my own hands and feet . I can make a living for myself!"

    SMACK! Themp shook when Zhou Keqiang mmed his fist onto the tabletop .

    "Are you out of your damn mind, Zhou Qin?!" he yelled . "Do you even know what you''re saying?! What on earth possessed you to act like this? Is it because of that boy, Li Yundong?"

    "Don''t call him a boy!" Zhou Qin snapped . "I assure you that he''s more of a man than most men out there in the world!"

    <small></small>"But is he worth it, Qinqin?" Zhou Keqiang said tiredly . "Is that man worth tearing your family apart for?"

    Zhou Qin sneered . Family? What family? What they had didn''t count as family at all . A bunch of pawns and tools, maybe . But definitely not family .

    "Open your eyes, Qinqin . . . I did some digging, okay? Had a PI follow him around . He doesn''t have feelings for you . He really doesn''t . Do you still think that all of this is worth it?"

    Zhou Qin raised her chin . "Yes . "

    "Oh,e on!" Her father''s face twisted in anger . "Can''t you see how pointless this is?" he snapped . "Here you are, throwing your life and future away for him! And where is he, huh? Where the hell is he? Does he even know what you''re going through right now? Does he even care?" There was a pause . "And even if he knew, would he be touched? Wait¡­ Is that your grand n? To make him feel indebted to you?" Her father was heaving and panting now . "Do you actually think he''ll start developing feelings for you after seeing you risk everything for him? Don''t be a fool, Qinqin . He''s in love with someone else! You know how that works! He''ll never look your way! Never!"

    Those words were like a spear piercing right through her heart . And it hurt . It hurt so damn much that she had to bite her lip to stifle a gasp .

    All of a sudden, Su Chan''s words from the night He Shao died came flooding into her mind .

    I''m not going anywhere!!!

    No, no, no!!! I''m staying! I''m staying! I''m not going anywhere!

    Yundong . . . Please don''t make me leave . . . I can''t live without you . . . I can''t!

    Tears stung Zhou Qin''s eyes, and she struggled to hold them back .

    . . . I don''t want anyone else dammit! I want my Yundong!!!

    Just let me die with you . . . Let''s die together, Yundong . . .

    . . . life would be meaningless without you!

    Can''t you see? If you die, I''d just kill myself anyway . . . Since we''re both going to die anyway, why not spend our final moments together?

    Please Yundong . . . Please don''t let me die alone . . .

    Life without you is even more painful than death . . .

    Then, her traitorous mind reminded her of Li Yundong''s response to Su Chan''s poignant derations: "I want you to always, always remember something . . . . . . . To me, in my eyes, you are the kindest, the cutest, the prettiest, and the most adorable girl to ever live . . . "

    Zhou Qin had nearly been moved to tears then, and she was on the verge of tears now . Her heart felt as though it had been ripped asunder .

    Zhou Qin lowered her gaze to the desk to avoid the cameras .

    Don''t let them see . Don''t let them see¡­

    Ambivalent thoughts filled her mind, like the proverbial shoulder-angel scenario .

    Don''t be a fool, Zhou Qin . . . Stop this madness now . Li Yundong will never choose you!

    Zhou Qin . . . Aren''t you dying to find out whether he truly cares about you? This is the ultimate test, isn''t it? Will he still be your friend once you''re stripped of your wealth and status?

    She couldn''t even tell which one of them was the voice of the Angel and which was the Devil .

    Then, another thought hit her .

    Why does it have to be about him? Why not make it about me? Why not fight for myself? Fight for my own freedom?

    Wasn''t this what she wanted all along? The freedom to make her own choices and dictate the direction of her own life?

    At that moment, she felt as though she was seeing a sliver of light from the heavens, one that pierced through the sea of hopelessness she''d been feeling ever since she was dragged here three days ago .

    Zhou Qin took a deep breath as though she was about to take a plunge .

    She was about to take a plunge; what she was about to say would change everything .

    "Father," Zhou Qin said, then paused to look at Zhou Keqiang . It still felt weird and awkward to call him that even after all these years . But she figured why not, since this might be thest time she would ever call him that .

    Zhou Keqiang was looking at her questioningly .

    Zhou Qin sighed . "Do you remember that painting I drew that night after my birthday party?"

    Zhou Keqiang froze for a moment . Then, something flickered inside his eyes . "Of course I remember," he said . "It was a butterfly . "

    Zhou Qin smiled wanly . "And do you remember what I told you about the butterfly that night, father?"

    Zhou Keqiang frowned . "You ripped it apart, and then you said¡ª"

    "I said no matter how vivid or lifelike the butterfly is, it''ll never be able to fly off the surface of the canvas . "

    Zhou Qin didn''t want to be that butterfly anymore .

    She wanted to achieve the impossible .

    She wanted to break free .

    Zhou Keqiang''s frown deepened . "So?"

    Zhou Qin chuckled sadly . Seriously, Zhou Qin? Why did you even bother?

    Theck of food must''ve really done a number on her brain if she expected him to understand .

    "It''s nothing," Zhou Qin said . "I don''t expect you to understand anyway . "

    "What?"

    Zhou Qin chuckled wryly . "Besides, I don''t think you''ve ever understood it . "

    He''d never understood it because he never had someone in his life that he truly cared for .

    "What are you even talking about, Qinqin?"

    Zhou Qin shook her head . "Like I said, it''s nothing . " She paused and shot Zhou Keqiang a look of determination . "My mind''s already made up . I won''t testify no matter what anyone says . "

    "You¡ª"

    "You can think of it as me being stubborn or obstinate or whatever," Zhou Qin said dismissively . "Like I said, I don''t expect you to understand . "

    "Qinqin . . . " Zhou Keqiang said warningly . "I suggest you think twice¡ª"

    "From now on, I''m no longer your daughter," Zhou Qin said coldly . "I''m sick and tired of being trapped inside a cage . I want to make my own choices for once . "

    Zhou Keqiang stared at her in shock .

    "Are you out of your mind?!" Zhou Keqiang screamed . "You''re making a huge mistake!"

    "Am I?" Zhou Qin smiled wryly . "Am I really?"

    "You''ll regret this!"

    No she wouldn''t . If death was the only way towards freedom, then she would rather choose death .

    Zhou Qin smiled . "Whether I regret it or not is my own business, not yours . Like I said, I''m no longer your daughter . " Zhou Qin nced at Zhou Keqiang . "Everyone has only one life . And everyone has to choose their own path in life . This is my choice . I won''t regret it . " She pointed at the door . "See yourself out . "

 Chapter 201

    Chapter 201

    <h4>The Cat Theory, Buddhism, and Taoism</h4>

    <small></small>Zi Yuan was still there when Li Yundong strode into his apartment .

    "I should probably start collecting rent from you," Li Yundong joked as he approached the living room .

    Zi Yuan opened her eyes and gave him an elegant smile . That smile cemented his belief that Zi Yuan was the closest thing to a goddess he had ever seen .

    "How''s the research going these days?" Zi Yuan asked casually . "Learned anything new from the books you''ve been reading?"

    Li Yundong returned her smile and took a seat on the couch . "Not bad, I suppose," he said . "The books are quite instructive . " He nced at Zi Yuan curiously . "Why did you ask?"

    Zi Yuan stared at him for a long while, her expression stern and dour .

    "What is it?" Li Yundong asked .

    "What is Cultivation?"

    Li Yundong froze at the question . His dear princess had once asked him the same question . Then again, he figured he could give a better answer this time around .

    "There are two paradigms of Cultivation," Li Yundong said, pausing to smile at Zi Yuan . "Buddhists and Taoists hold slightly different views on what the term means . "

    Zi Yuan nodded sagely . "Go on . "

    "ording to Gautama Buddha, the world is an ocean of bitterness and suffering . " Li Yundong looked towards Zi Yuan . "Therefore, Cultivation, ording to Buddha, is a process of finding the shore amidst the ocean of suffering . It is a process of seeking peace . And most importantly, it is the process of seeking spiritual enlightenment, which allows one to break free from the cycle of life and death . Once you climb onto the shore, suffering ends . "

    Li Yundong stared at Zi Yuan and waited for her to say something .

    "Keep going . "

    "Well . . . ording to the Taoists, Cultivation is the process of finding one''s true self . " Li Yundong stared up at the ceiling . "Cultivation brings us closer to the Ultimate Truth . The end result is, of course, unity with the Tao . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Very good . " For some strange reason, Zi Yuan sounded relieved when she said that . Li Yundong shot her a questioning look .

    Zi Yuan smiled, then raised one of her shoulders slightly . "You''ve been reading a lot of books about Taoism and Buddhism . I was worried you might get confused and end up doing more harm than good to your progress . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . "I think that''s an over-exaggeration . " He shrugged . "Why would reading both Buddhist and Taoist materials affect my training? From what I see, it''s the opposite . After all, there are simrities between both paradigms . "

    <small></small>Zi Yuan shifted on the floor and turned so that she was facing the couch and looking right him . It was then that Li Yundong noticed the round, donut-shaped cushion she was sitting on .

    "Oh? How so?" Zi Yuan asked, apparently still ignorant of Li Yundong''s fascination for the cushion .

    "How did you get this in here?" He pointed at the cushion . "I don''t think you''d carry this thing all the way from your apartment . " He grimaced . "Awkward elevator rides and all that . "

    "Hmm . . . Since we''re on the subject . . . " Zi Yuan smiled and patted the cushion . "Why do you think we need a mat, futon, or a cushion to sit on when we meditate?"

    Li Yundong gave her a funny look . "Um¡­ I don''t know . Why?"

    Zi Yuan gave him that cryptic smile again . "That is something for you to think about . " Zi Yuan''s smile disappeared . "Now . Returning to the simrities between the Buddhist view and the Taoist view on Cultivation . I want to hear your thoughts on that . "

    ***

    Zi Yuan sat there and waited for the Heir to start talking .

    After a few seconds, he did .

    "I think that both are just two different approaches towards the same goal . "

    Zi Yuan leaned forward slightly . Interesting . . .

    The Heir shrugged . "It''s kinda obvious if youpare the two definitions . The Buddhists spoke of reaching enlightenment . Or, in other words, the process of achieving some kind of realization . And then we have the Taoists who see Cultivation as the path towards the Ultimate truth . " The Heir looked at her . "See? Aren''t they the same? When you find the Ultimate Truth, you will have reached enlightenment, and vice versa . "

    Zi Yuan smiled and nodded . "Not bad . Keep going . "

    Zi Yuan''s words of encouragement had definitely worked, because the Heir suddenly had a look of excitement on his face .

    "I think it''s unnecessary to put that much emphasis on the differences between both views" ¡ªThe Heir nced at Zi Yuan¡ª"given how simr they were . "

    Zi Yuan frowned . "But for thousands of years, the Buddhists and Taoists have failed to co-exist in peace . They''re like fire and water . They can never mix . "

    Silence spread between them .

    Secondster, the Heir shook his head . "Suppose I want to go to Beijing¡­"

    "Mm-hmm?"

    <small></small>The Heir shifted slightly on the couch . "Well, there are different ways to go to Beijing, right? Different routes to take . For example, I can use a ne? A bus? Or . . . " The Heir''s eyes shone teasingly . "I can run all the way there . "

    Zi Yuan chuckled .

    "My point is this¡­ If the goal is just to get there, then does it really matter that much how I get there?" There was a pause . "No matter which method I use, I will still end up in Beijing . The only difference is the travelling speed . "

    Zi Yuan did an open-palm hand gesture . "There you have it," she said . "That''s the biggest difference isn''t it? Won''t speed serve as an appropriate definition for a method''s quality? One will get you there faster . Hence it is the better method . "

    The Heirughed and waved his hand casually . "Well, I disagree . "

    Zi Yuan raised a brow .

    The Heir smiled . "Speed has its merits, definitely . But it''s got a few downsides as well . " The Heir paused in thought . "It might be much slower if I walk all the way to Beijing, but then I''ll also gain a lot of valuable experience throughout the journey . I''ll be able to learn new things and take a closer look at the world . On the other hand, if I''m coasting thirty thousand feet above the ground, what can I really see? Sure, I can reach the destination faster, but I''ll also be missing out on a lot of things, you see?" The Heir stared into Zi Yuan''s eyes . "Now here''s the thing . How can I seek the Ultimate Truth when I don''t even take the time to learn everything I can about theplicated world?"

    They stared at each other for moment .

    Zi Yuan would be lying if she said that she wasn''t impressed by the depth of the Heir''s understanding . At first, Zi Yuan had intended to pick his brain a little, and then maybe take the opportunity to remind him of the differences between Buddhist Cultivation and Taoist Cultivation . She had never expected to once again have her views thoroughly challenged .

    Had he really just started reading those texts a few days ago? Had it really only been months since he was first exposed to Cultivation?

    How could anyone gain so much insight in such a short amount of time?

    Was this why Senior Wushuang was going out of her way to help the Heir survive his divine punishment? Because she knew just how talented this man was? Could the Heir really by a genius Cultivator who would only appear once every few centuries?

    The Zhengyi School had seen innumerable talented Cultivators over the millennia that it had existed . Zi Yuan herself was acquainted with a lot of genius Cultivators . Even so, she had honestly yet to meet one like Li Yundong, who could gain so much insight within a short period of time .

    "Um . . . Zi Yuan?"

    Zi Yuan looked up and saw the Heir staring back at her .

    "Are you okay?" he said . "You kinda spaced out just now . . . "

    Zi Yuan shook her head . "It''s fine . Just . . . Just keep talking . "

    "Sure . . . " The Heir smiled . "Where was I . . . Oh, right . I was just about to bring in the Yin-Yang Principle . "

    Zi Yuan smiled . Ah . I see where he''s going with this .

    <small>"</small>Well, ording to the Yin-Yang Principle, there are two sides to everything," he said . "Let''s go back to that example about the Beijing trip . Going there on foot might confer a lot of benefits, sure . But, as dictated by the Yin-Yang principle, it has its disadvantages as well . " He paused for a second or two . "The journey might be too harsh and grueling for someone toplete . Some people just aren''t physically built for such a journey, and it isn''t their fault . They just need to find another way . Even for those who are physically capable, they might encounter a lot of dangers during the journey . They will either quit the journey halfway, or die before they reach the destination . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "What about the first method then? Other than speed, what do you think are its other advantages?"

    A pensive look spread across the Heir''s face . He seemed to be thinking hard about something .

    "Breadth," he said about a minuteter .

    "Pardon?"

    The Heir turned to face her . "Breadth," he said . "Breadth of vision . You can see just how big the world truly is from up high . You can see further, and truly appreciate the vastness of the world . " The Heir smiled as though he was remembering a fond memory . "It . . . It also allows you to experience something that you won''t normally experience . You''ll get a view of the earth that you won''t get to see from the ground . "

    Zi Yuan smiled . "And in conclusion?"

    "Well . . . " Suddenly, the Heirughed . "I think something that our former president, Deng Xiaoping, said sums it up pretty well . "

    Zi Yuan arched her brow . "How so?"

    "Have you heard of the cat theory?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head . She hadn''t spent enough time in the mortal world to be familiar with these things .

    "The idea is based on something that Deng Xiaoping once said, which goes like this . It''s a ck cat, or it''s a white cat . . . Whatever . It is a good cat as long as it catches mice . "

    Zi Yuan stared at him for a moment, thenughed .

    The Heir''s lips pulled into a smile .

    After herughter subsided, Zi Yuan shook her head gently . "When I asked you all those questions, I was trying to help you differentiate between the Buddhist style of Cultivation and the Taoist style of Cultivation . " She raised her gaze to look at him . "I really didn''t expect the conversation to turn out this way . "

    Li Yundong smiled . "Why focus so much on their differences? Why not learn from both worlds? They can both get us to our destination, just through different pathways . I also don''t see the point ofparing both with one another and then iming that one way is better than the other . " He shrugged . "Nothing in this world is perfect anyway . Everything has its advantages and disadvantages . It''s how we adapt them to our needs that matters . " The Heir shot Zi Yuan a yful look . "If my goal is to acquire interesting life experiences, then I would run all the way to Tibet . "

    Zi Yuan chuckled . "You''re never ever gonna let that go, are you?"

    "Nope . " The Heir smiled . "On the other hand, if I''m rushed for time, I might choose to fly to Tibet . See? It all depends on my needs . "

    "Hmm . . . " Zi Yuan said .

    The Heir did make a sound point . There was only one problem, which Zi Yuan found awfully vexing . What the Heir said went against a principle that her master had drilled into her ever since she was capable of conscious thought: Buddhism and Taoism are different; the two can never be unified .

    Admittedly, a lot of what she currently knew was acquired through indoctrination . She hadn''t been able to see it before, but she was starting to see it now .

    Not once had she tried to question the things that her master had told her .

    All she knew was that Buddhism and Taoism could never be merged, but she hadn''t bothered to ask why .

    Why?

    Why couldn''t they be merged?

    Why?

    Why do Cultivators sit the way they do when they meditate?

    Too often, Cultivators had epted whatever they were told as the truth without stopping to think about why they were true . As much as she hated it, Zi Yuan had to admit that she had been one of those Cultivators .

    Zi Yuan nced at Li Yundong, the Jindan''s Heir, the man who had changed the way she saw things twice since they first met each other .

    His rapid progress in Cultivation didn''t impress Zi Yuan much at first¡ªshe had assumed that it was made possible by the Jindan . Nor was she impressed by the strength of this willpower¡ªa lot of Cultivators were strong-willed, so it wasn''t all that surprising .

    But now . . .

    Now she couldn''t help but be in absolute awe with the man .

    It wasn''t his strength or hisbat prowess that made her feel this way; it was his aptitude, his ability to grasp andprehend Cultivation principles with seemingly effortless ease .

    Days .

    It had only been days since he started reading all those books, yet he was already able toe up with arguments that eluded even Zi Yuan, someone who had been studying scrolls and texts (on both Buddhism and Taoism!) since she was little .

    "Why are you asking me these questions, by the way?"

    The Heir''s voice ended Zi Yuan thoughts . When she looked at him, she found that he was smiling at her .

    Zi Yuan shook her head a little .

    "I think it''s time I teach you how to pass the first dan of the Shentong phase . "

 Chapter 202

    Chapter 202

    <h4>Shentong!</h4>

    <small></small>When Zi Yuan told him it was time to advance into the next stage of his training, Li Yundong was so worked up that he nearly leaped off the couch .

    "Really?"

    Excitement coursed through his veins, and he could actually feel his blood pumping faster .

    Zi Yuan just smiled and gave him a small nod .

    "Um¡­ I''ve actually been meaning to ask you when I can proceed to the next stage of training," he said sheepishly .

    Zi Yuan sighed . "Technically, you could already proceed to next stage right after you passed the Zhuji phase . Once your Vital Orb forms, you''re physically ready to move into the Shentong phase . However . . . " Zi Yuan looked at him pointedly . "Your foundational knowledge in Cultivation Theory was severelycking back then, that''s why I didn''t teach you right away . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Hence the speech you gave me during the haircut . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "As you move into more advanced phases of Cultivation, the need for conceptual understanding bes greater . Otherwise, your progress will stall . " Zi Yuan looked at Li Yundong . "You''ll get stuck . "

    "Right . Do more research, and work on improving my understanding . Got it," Li Yundong said . "So . Can we start now?"

    There was a moment of silence .

    Then, Zi Yuan chuckled . "So impatient . " She stoppedughing and shot him a re . "You''d likely fail than make progress if you train in your current state of mind . "

    Well . That didn''t sound too good .

    "Why is that?" he asked warily .

    Zi Yuan sighed . "You''re too eager . Too excited . You need to calm yourself . At your current state?" Zi Yuan rolled her eyes . "You''ll likely run into difficulties with basic Qi control, let alone the more advanced stuff . "

    Li Yundong''s cheeks heated up . "Oops . " He cleared his throat . "Sorry . "

    Li Yundong closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then mobilized his Qi to his Lingtai . When that familiar wave of calmness washed over him, secondster, he slowly opened his eyes again .

    "There," he said . "I''m good now . "

    Zi Yuan was still sitting in a meditative posture on top of the donut-shaped cushion on the floor . She seemed very rxed, like some kind of Zen grandmaster¡ªpeaceful, yetmanding .

    "First, tell me what you understand about the Shentong phase . "

    "Um . . . I suppose¡­ It''s a phase where a Cultivator starts to gain magical abilities?"

    Zi Yuan pondered his answer for a moment . "Okay . But what are magical abilities? Where do theye from? Or better yet, what is magic? What does that term even mean?"

    Li Yundong paused to consider those questions, which, admittedly, he hadn''t a single clue how to answer .

    Then again, Zi Yuan saved him from having to answer the questions when she spoke again about a minuteter .

    "You can''t exactly define it as supernatural abilities, can you?" Zi Yuan asked rhetorically . "After all, everything you''ve done by far seems pretty supernatural, yet they didn''t involve magic at all . Except for the tantric mudras, of course . But those involve a different kind of power that we''ll talk about some other time . "

    Li Yundong looked down at his own two hands . Zi Yuan was right . His understanding of how magic is defined was superficial and iplete . What is magic? What about Eryue? Mingmu? Xianjue? None of those had magical origins even though their effects were clearly supernatural . Why was that the case? What was the missing criteria here? Did it have something to do with the Vital Orb?

    "So . Any ideas?" Zi Yuan said after a while .

    Li Yundong shifted a little to getfortable .

    "Well¡­ everything I''ve done so far can be somewhat exined physically?" Li Yundong looked towards Zi Yuan . "Like, they have some kind of physiological basis . . . "

    "Mm-hmm . Go on . "

    "For example, all that stuff in the Ningshen phase can be understood in terms of our minds'' ability to process sensory information more efficiently . And the Lianqi phase has to do with Qi control, which can also be understood physiologically, since Qi is part of our bodies, not to mention a key concept in Traditional Chinese Medicine . "

    Li Yundong held Zi Yuan''s gaze for a moment . The woman''s expression was as unreadable as ever .

    "At least let me know if I''m on the right track?" he asked .

    "Yes, you are . "

    Okay . Good to know .

    "So . . . Based on these observations, magical abilities seem to be those abilities that do not have physical origins . . . Like, they have a non-physical source . "

    "That''s correct," Zi Yuan said with a nod . For a moment there, he thought she was smiling, but he couldn''t really be sure . Zi Yuan could give Zhou Qin a run for her money when it came to Ice-Queen behaviors .

    Silence spread between them . Zi Yuan was staring at him as though she was still waiting for him to say something, in which case he had run into a huge problem .

    "Um . . . That''s all I''ve got . "

    "Oh . Right . " There was a pause . Zi Yuan looked as though she was trying to choose the best way to proceed . "Well, you seem to have gotten the gist of it . But let''s get the terminologies out of the way first," Zi Yuan said . "Whenever you perform spells, or use a magical object''s special abilities, you''ll be expending something inside your body . You can think of it as spiritual energy or spiritual power, but in Cultivation, we usually just call it magic . "

    "Oh . It''s kind of like mana, right?" Li Yundong said .

    "What?" Zi Yuan looked utterly confused .

    "Er . . . Mana points? Like, in video games, it usually requires mana points to use skills . . . " Li Yundong sighed and lowered his gaze . "Never mind . " Video games probably weren''t part of the standard curriculum back at the Zhengyi School . Li Yundong looked up suddenly . "So how do we obtain magic then? I mean, it''s some kind of power source, so there has to be a way to produce it, right?"

    "We''ll get to that partter," Zi Yuan said with a light shake of her head . "Right now I want you to list out the different forms of magic, or spiritual abilities . "

    For a moment, Li Yundong just sat there, thinking about the question . Based on the stuff he''d learned from both the Surangama Sutra and the Records of the Pure Heart, he knew that the question didn''t have a straightforward answer .

    "Hmm . . . "

    "Yes?"

    Li Yundong frowned . "Again, it seems like the Taoists and the Buddhists hold different views regarding what constitute spiritual abilities . "

    "Mm-hmm . What are their differences, then?"

    "Well, the Buddhists believe that there are six types of spiritual power: the Heavenly Eye; the Heavenly Ear; Heart Binding; the Divine Foot; Metasamsara; and finally, Nirvana . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Do you know what each one means?"

    "The Heavenly Eye sees all, and the Heavenly Ear hears all . Heart Binding gives one the ability to read minds and to be aware of another''s intentions . The Divine Foot allows teleportation at will . Metasamsara gives one the ability to recall things from one''s past life . Nirvana implies true enlightenment and the ability to free oneself from the karmic rebirth cycle . "

    "Good . And what about the Taoist view?"

    "The Taoists believe in five forms of spiritual abilities: cognizance; sorcery; spirit possession or mediumship; the undead; and animism . "

    A small smile graced Zi Yuan''s features . "Very good . Now . Tell me what you know about each one?"

    "Cognizance basically refers to knowledge and awareness," Li Yundong said . "Personally, I don''t quite get this part . How does having deep knowledge and wisdom give a person spiritual powers? But anyway, that what''s stated in the books . There are a lot of historical figures who attained spiritual powers through knowledge alone . Lao Tzu from the Qin Dynasty . Confucius . Mencius . Wang Yangming from the Ming Dynasty . These are just a few examples .

    <small></small>"Sorcery is pretty much self-exnatory . It involves the use of spells . Mediumship involves using one''s body as a container for the spiritual beings, like deities, ghosts, etc . " Li Yundong looked towards Zi Yuan . "The art of Shenda is probably some form of mediumship . The undead is pretty self-exnatory as well . It involves evil spirits and demons . And animism . . . It is believed that non-human objects such as nts and animals all possess a distinct spiritual essence . This spiritual essence can be cultivated into higher forms until they can eventuallye to life and even take on human forms . This is verymon in animals like chinchis, hedgehogs, wolves, serpents, and . . . " Something tugged inside Li Yundong''s chest . "And foxes . "

    I wonder how she''s doing . . .

    "Indeed," Zi Yuan said . "Those are the five forms of spiritual power . In Cultivation, we deal more with thest four than the first . Nevertheless, allow me to exin the first one to you . " Zi Yuan paused to give him a look . "You said you don''t understand how knowledge and wisdom can grant a person spiritual powers?"

    With a sigh, Li Yundong shoved his thoughts about Su Chan aside . "Enlighten me, then . "

    "Do not underestimate the power of knowledge," Zi Yuan said, "for it is also a way to attain unity with the Tao . Bear in mind what the Tao fundamentally represents . The Tao reflects the natural order of things, and knowledge makes you conscious of the natural order . " There was a pause . "Wisdom takes one beyond the norm; it allows one to transcend the boundaries of mediocrity . And guess what happens when you grow your intellect to Lao Tzu or Confucius''s level?" Zi Yuan smiled .

    "Um . . . Be a Shenxian?"

    "That is one possibility, yes," Zi Yuan said . "But even if you don''t be a Shenxian, you''ll still be able to tap Nature''s vast Qi reserves, you see? Demons and evil spirits fear those who are in possession of great wisdom and knowledge . "

    "Wow . . . " Suddenly, Li Yundong smirked . "Think I should start moving some of my stuff into the university''s library?"

    "That''s not necessary," Zi Yuan said dryly . A secondter, her expression shifted into a pensive look . "I wonder if you''ve heard of an old Chinese saying . . . "

    "Which one?"

    "Beautiful women can be found within books . . . "

    Li Yundong snapped his fingers together . "And books hold the key to a house made of gold . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Yes, that''s the one . But . . . " Zi Yuan''s gaze zeroed in on his face . "I''d argue that the saying is iplete . "

    "Okay? How would you make itplete, then?"

    "Perhaps add another line that goes like this . . . " Zi Yuan leaned back slightly . "Books are the stairway to heaven . "

    Li Yundong stared at her . "Right," he said dryly . "Because they either bore you to death, or they''re so difficult to understand that they make you wanna kill yourself¡­"

    "Moving on . . . " Zi Yuan shot him a re, though he could tell that she was fighting back a smile . She cleared her throat . "How many phases of Cultivation are there?"

    "Nine," Li Yundong answered almost instantly . Su Chan had told him this before .

    "Correct . " Zi Yuan nodded . "And the Shentong phase is the fifth phase of Cultivation . " She looked into his eyes again . "Why do you think that''s the case? Why is Shentong the fifth phase of Cultivation?"

    Li Yundong opened his mouth to answer, but then froze when he realized that he couldn''te up with a satisfactory answer . His mouth clicked shut .

    Why was Shentong the fifth phase?

    "I . . . " Li Yundong opened his mouth again . After a while, he shook his head . "I have no idea . . . "

    So much for research . And spending hours going through all those books .

    Zi Yuan smiled as though she''d already anticipated his reaction . "Well, the answer is actually quite simple . "

    Li Yundong stared at her in disbelief, then sighed . "Fine . Why then? Why is Shentong the fifth phase?"

    Zi Yuan was still smiling . She looked like she was totally enjoying herself here . Good for her .

    "Are you aware of the Chinese idiom, jiu wu zhi zun?"

    "Jiu wu¡­" Li Yundong mumbled . "Nine and five?" He looked towards Zi Yuan for confirmation .

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Yes . In Chinese culture, the numerals nine and five outrank all others in terms of importance . "

    There was a moment of silence as Zi Yuan studied his face . She was probably checking if he was paying attention .

    Li Yundong sat up straighter .

    "That''s what jiu wu zhi zun means," Zi Yuan continued . "Literally, it means the venerable nine and five . But figuratively, the phrase refers to an emperor''s status .

    "An emperor?"

    "That''s right," Zi Yuan said . "But the key here, of course, is why the numerals nine and five are so important . "

    Something clicked inside his mind . He raised his hand . "I think I can answer that . "

    Zi Yuan smiled . "Go ahead . "

    "The ancient Chinese believed that the Heavens consist of nineyers with the ninthyer being the highest; and because nine is thergest single-digit number avable, it represents supremacy and supreme power . Then we have the number five, which upies the central position on the spectrum . And since it sits right in the middle, it is the glue that holds the two extreme ends together, thus allowing everything to exist as one coherent unit . The number five represents harmony . " Li Yundong shot Zi Yuan a nce . "That''s why the numerals nine and five are associated with the emperor''s status, isn''t it? Nine represents supreme power, and five represents a harmonious temperament . Both are qualities that an emperor must have in order to build a nation that thrives . "

    "Hmm . . . " A grimace appeared on Zi Yuan''s face . "You''re no doubt on the right track, but your answer is still iplete . "

    Iplete? Li Yundong frowned .

    "Hold on, let me try again . " Li Yundong leaned backwards until he felt his back touch the couch . He raised his gaze and stared up at the ceiling .

    What did I miss?

    "Want a hint?"

    His eyes instantly went from the ceiling towards Zi Yuan''s face . The grimace was gone, and she was smiling again .

    "By all means," he said with a chuckle, then shook his head . "I''m pretty much grasping at straws here to be honest . "

    "In the context of ruling a nation," Zi Yuan said, "The numeral five is more important than the numeral nine . " She paused and raised a brow at him . "Why do you think that''s the case?"

    The number five is more important than the number nine? Li Yundong looked up at the ceiling again . Why indeed . . .

    When it all clicked, Li Yundong leaned forward so quickly that his butt nearly slid off the couch . "Because it involves a nation, not just the emperor himself," he said . "A nation can only flourish if its emperor has the ability to unite its people and bring harmony to the nation . An emperor with supreme power might be able to rule out of fear, but his nation will be weak at its core because its people are divided . " Li Yundong looked towards Zi Yuan and held her gaze . "Fear creates discord, not harmony; andck of harmony leads to division . A divided nation is bound to fall . "

    A tiny smile graced Zi Yuan''s features . "Very good," she said with a nod . "Now . Try to apply the analogy in the context of Cultivation . In particr, the Shentong phase . "

    Li Yundong went silent in thought . How did Cultivation rte to ruling?

    Obviously, any form of governance would involve two roles: the ruler; and the people being ruled .

    The ruler was clearly analogous to the Cultivator . . .

    But what does a Cultivator havemand over?

    After a moment of thought, Li Yundong came upon the obvious answer to that question: the forces of nature; a Cultivator hasmand over the forces of nature .

    He looked towards Zi Yuan . "Every spell must belong to one of the five elements of nature, right?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head . "It depends on the form of spiritual power that the spell taps into . "

    "Err¡­ what?"

    <small></small>"Spiritual powers can manifest themselves in five different forms, remember?"

    "Ah . Right . Cognizance, sorcery, mediumship, the undead, and animism . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "If the spell involves sorcery, then yes, the spell will be tied to each of the five elements . " Zi Yuan suddenly stopped talking as though she''d just remembered something . "Except for the Five Thunders Spell, that is . The Five Thunders Spell involves a different kind of force . "

    Li Yundong nodded and went back to his thoughts .

    Okay . Time to list out the facts: the Shentong phase gives a Cultivator the ability to use spells; most spells are associated with the forces of nature (as represented by each of the five fundamental elements of nature) .

    Inference: the Shentong phase gives a Cultivatormand over the forces of nature .

    "The fifth phase . . . " Li Yundong whispered . "That''s why it''s represented by the number five, isn''t it? Because five represents the most important criteria to be a great emperor . . . " He looked towards Zi Yuan for confirmation . "Right?"

    "Exactly . " Zi Yuan''s smile widened just a tad . "The Shentong phase teaches a Cultivator how tomand over the forces of nature . In a way, it''s like bing the emperor of Heaven and Earth . "

    "Wow . I thought the Zhuji phase is big deal . " He chuckled . "But it turns out that the Shentong phase is an even bigger deal . "

    "Well, the Zhuji phase is a huge deal," Zi Yuan said . "The presence of the Vital Orb is the foundation upon which everything else is built . However, the Zhuji phase only gives you the necessary tools . It doesn''t teach you how to use those tools to rule over the five elements . " Zi Yuan arched a brow . "Those who have mastered the Shentong phase will have the power to move mountains and part oceans with a mere flick of a finger . "

    Li Yundong was instantly reminded of how Ao Wushuang had kicked his butt back then . Spell after spell after spell she had thrown at him, and there wasn''t a single thing he could do to counter them . Even with the Jindan, he had been a sitting duck .

    Killing him was probably easier than shooting fish in a barrel .

    Li Yundong gave Zi Yuan a look of determination .

    "So what''s the first step?"

    <h4>Shentong!</h4>

    Silence permeated the living room as Zi Yuan scrutinized him . Her eyes werepletely unreadable, and Li Yundong couldn''t help but wonder if he had said something wrong . After a while, a cryptic smile formed on her lips, which vanished quickly .

    "Well, you know the basics . " Zi Yuan gave him a pointed look .

    Li Yundong took his cue and quickly slid off the couch . He sat down on the floor, then got into a meditative posture .

    "Close your eyes¡­"

    Li Yundong did as told and sat there quietly, awaiting his next instruction .

    "I assume you''re aware of the changes in your body after you passed the Zhuji phase?"

    "I can feel this thing circling inside my lower abdomen . " He shot Zi Yuan a quick nce . "That''s my Vital Orb?"

    "Technically, what you felt is your Zhenqi . "

    And what the heck was that? Some special form of Qi?

    "Okay . . . ? So this Zhenqi thing . . . What is it really? I mean . . . I''ve never felt its presence before, which means it wasn''t there before I passed the Zhuji phase?"

    "No, it wasn''t . It was synthesized during your attempt to pass the Zhuji phase . I won''t go into too much detail for now, but in general, the synthesis of Zhenqi involves a two-step process . First, Qi is condensed to increase its concentration . After that, it will be fortified by the Spirit to be Zhenqi . "

    Moments passed in silence as Li Yundong pondered her words .

    "That''s why you asked me to run all the way to Tibet . . . " Li Yundong opened his eyes to look at Zi Yuan . "All that running gave me the ability to condense my Qi . "

    "Yes," Zi Yuan said . "For your case, it was absolutely necessary because your Qi had been so greatly enhanced by the Jindan that it became too powerful to condense without extra training . "

    Li Yundong suddenly remembered his many failed attempts at recreating the Palm Print effect .

    "My Qi is too destructive . Too vigorous . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "It is much more difficult to condense a body of gas that is turbulent in nature . "

    "Okay . . . So this Zhenqi thing is somehow involved in the formation of my Vital Orb?"

    "When your Zhenqi reaches your lower Dantian, your Essence holds it together to form the orb''s structure . " Zi Yuan raised a brow . "There''s a reason why your Vital Orb is located at your lower Dantian, you know?"

    Understanding washed over Li Yundong . "Because the lower Dantian stores the Essence¡­"

    "Exactly . " Zi Yuan smiled . "Also, have you ever wondered how its name came about?"

    "You mean the Vital Orb?"

    "Yes . Why do think it''s called the Vital Orb?"

    Li Yundong paused in thought . He tried to recall any mentions of the Vital Orb in the Canon of the Yellow Thearch, but he got nothing . "I don''t know . " He shook his head and shot Zi Yuan a helpless look . "Sorry . "

    God, it sucked to be clueless .

    "It''s alright . " Zi Yuan smiled reassuringly . "Well . It''s called the Vital Orb because its formation involves the three vitalponents of life . "

    Something inside his mind clicked . "The Three Treasures . " He nced at Zi Yuan . "The Essence, Qi, and Spirit . "

    "Indeed . " Zi Yuan nodded . There was a pause . "Incidentally, having a Vital Orb also helps secure these vitalponents inside your body and prevent someone else from stealing them through external means . . . "

    Li Yundong shot Zi Yuan a curious nce . Su Chan had mentioned that before, but he never got around to ask for a further exnation .

    "But of course, it mostly applies to your Qi and your Essence," Zi Yuan said, picking up where she''d left off .

    "Right . Because nobody can really steal the Spirit . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "And how it does that should be obvious if you consider the fact that your Qi and Essence are both key structuralponents of your Vital Orb . "

    Li Yundong processed Zi Yuan''s words, which made a lot of sense .

    The Vital Orb forms when Zhenqi¡ªbasically an upgraded form of a person''s Qibines with the Essence . So rather than flowing around inside the meridians, Qi will circle around the Vital Orb and be part of its structure .

    "So the presence of the Vital Orb itself keeps one''s Qi and Essence there . . . " He looked towards Zi Yuan . "As an integral part of the Vital Orb''s structure . . . "

    "That''s correct," Zi Yuan said with a quick nce towards him . "If the majority of your body''s Qi is integrated into your Vital Orb''s structure instead of constantly flowing through your meridians, it bes much more difficult for another Cultivator to suck your Qi out of your body through the use of spells or any other means . " Zi Yuan held his gaze steadily . "A helpful way to think of this is to imagine your Vital Orb as some kind of secure vault that stores your Qi . "

    "Okay¡­ But what if I actually need my Qi to be flowing through my meridians? Err . . . Like duringbat, for instance . "

    Zi Yuan waved her hand casually . "That''s just a matter of Qi control," she said . "The Vital Orb isn''t rigid . Your Zhenqi can be released back into your meridians . "

    "But wouldn''t that cause the Vital Orb to fall apart?"

    <small></small>"Patience . . . " Zi Yuan raised a hand . "I''ll get to that partter . "

    "Sorry . "

    "Earlier, you mentioned that you''ve been feeling this new sensation inside your lower abdomen, correct?"

    "Yup . "

    "To be exact, that sensation is caused by the movement of your Zhenqi around the outermostyer of your Vital Orb . "

    "You mean right on its surface?"

    Zi Yuan nodded . "That''s where your Zhenqi is furthest away from the center of your lower Dantian . That portion of your Zhenqi breaks free from your Vital Orb''s structure because it''s no longer held together by your Essence . "

    "Right . Because it''s on the outeryer of the Vital Orb, so it''s too far away from my lower Dantian . It didn''t have ess to my Essence . "

    "Since you can feel the presence of your Zhenqi, you can move it around your body through your meridians with basic Qi control . "

    "Just like that? No special techniques required?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head . "The normal techniques you learned during the Lianqi phase will do . "

    Well . That certainly simplified matters .

    "Now . " Zi Yuan''s voice drew his attention back to the conversation . "To get a picture of how everything works, you need to understand the process of the Vital Orb''s formation . "

    Li Yundong shifted on the floor and gave Zi Yuan his full attention .

    "But before you get into that, tell me the physical cues you experienced while you were climbing the Himyas, the ones that told you it was time to make your attempt at the Zhuji phase . "

    Li Yundong searched his memory for the sensations . "Um¡­ It''s like everything was happening on its own . The crown of Three Flowers . The Convergence of Five Qis . All that stuff . " He looked towards Zi Yuan . "I didn''t even try . They just happened automatically . "

    Zi Yuan nodded as though she''d been expecting his answer . "That''s because your body was in a state so ideal for the task that it literally required no conscious effort at all . "

    "Right . It just happened naturally . "

    "Okay . What did you do after you started noticing those cues?"

    "Well, I found a secure location inside a rock and performed Guanxiang straightaway . I ended up inside my Spirit Space and¡­" Li Yundong winced slightly . "And I met my personal god again . "

    A look of concern formed on Zi Yuan''s face . "What happened?"

    "Huh?"

    "Don''t y dumb . " Zi Yuan red at him . "There was a look on your face just now when you mentioned your personal god . " Zi Yuan''s eyes narrowed . "You ran into difficulties when you were trying to sustain Ishvara, didn''t you?"

    "Yeah, I did . " Li Yundong sighed . "It was the scariest thing I''ve ever experienced . "

    "What did you see?"

    "I was . . . " Li Yundong shook his head . "It was the divine punishment . I was struck by the Heavenly Thunder over and over again . " Li Yundong shuddered . "I thought I was gonna die . It felt so real . "

    Zi Yuan chuckled humorlessly .

    Li Yundong frowned . "What?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head . "The first time, it was lust that you had to face . But the second time, it was fear . " Zi Yuan held his gaze . "Your personal god used your fear of the divine punishment against you . "

    "I guess so . "

    "How''d you gain control?"

    Warmth flooded his chest . "It was . . . " He chuckled . "I remembered Su Chan . And all of a sudden, I didn''t feel so scared anymore . Then as the fear slowly went away, I was able to think rationally again . I began to realize that none of it was real . Coz I''d seen how devastating the Heavenly Thunder was . He Shao practically evaporated in seconds . I knew I wouldn''t have survived that many strikes, so it had to be an illusion . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Achieving and maintaining the state of Ishvara allows your Spirit to be strong enough for the task, which is to fortify your Qi to produce authentic Zhenqi . Otherwise, you''d just end up producing subpar Zhenqi . The resulting Vital Orb would of course be¡ª"

    "Pseudo Vital Orbs," Li Yundong said .

    "Correct . " Zi Yuan smiled . "The rest of the process should be pretty obvious now . The synthesis of Zhenqi began once you reached Ishvara . Your Zhenqi then moved towards your lower Dantian where it interacted with your Essence to form your Vital Orb . The important thing here is this . " Zi Yuan looked towards Li Yundong . "Ishvara has to be sustained long enough until a certain threshold is reached . "

    "Threshold?"

    "The threshold amount of Zhenqi required for your Vital Orb to have a stable structure . "

    "I see . . . "

    "Just now, when I told you that it''s possible to release your Zhenqi back into your meridians, you expressed some concerns about the Vital Orb losing its structure?" Zi Yuan arched her brow .

    "Yeah?"

    "That''s a reasonable concern, of course . But it won''t happen as long as you don''t overdo it . As for the reason why¡­ I''m sure you can figure it out on your own . "

    "Um . . . The Vital Orb will stay intact as long as I don''t release so much Zhenqi that it drops below the threshold amount?"

    Zi Yuan smiled . "Bingo . "

    Li Yundong did a mental fist pump . It felt good to not act like a clueless idiot for once .

    "Your Vital requires a minimum amount of Zhenqi to maintain its structural integrity . That''s just the threshold . And obviously, the lower the threshold, the better . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "What factors determine the threshold then?"

    "There are a lot of factors involved . But mainly, it depends on the strength of your Zhenqi and Essence . " Zi Yuan looked towards Li Yundong . "If you have a strong Essence, you wouldn''t need as much Zhenqi to maintain your Vital Orb''s structure . Likewise, if your Zhenqi is powerful, you wouldn''t need too much of it . But of course, the strength of your Zhenqi depends on the strengths of your Qi and Spirit . "

    "Damn . . . It''s amazing to see how everything fits together . . . "

    Zi Yuan gave him that cryptic smile again . "So . Do you have any more questions regarding the Vital Orb''s formation?"

    Li Yundong shook his head .

    "Okay then . Now let''s move on to the function of the Vital Orb," Zi Yuan said . "There is another important function of the Vital Orb other than to secure your Qi inside your body . "

    "Yeah?" Li Yundong snorted . "How about turning someone into an object of the Heavens'' target practice?" he mumbled .

    "Tsk! Be serious . . . " Zi Yuan sounded amused .

    "Sorry . " Li Yundong cleared his throat . "Umm . . . To store . . . magical powers?"

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Your Vital Orb serves as a container to store spiritual energy . Or magic . "

    "Yeah . I''ve been meaning to ask¡­ Where do we get this magic stuff from anyway? I mean . . . " Li Yundong raised his palms and stared at them for a moment before lowering them back down . "Like, do I possess any magic now?"

    "No . "

    "Oh . " Well . That was a bit of a bummer .

    "Don''t look so disappointed," Zi Yuan said with a smile . "Close your eyes . "

    Li Yundong closed his eyes . "Okay?"

    "As usual, you start with the basics . The Crown of Three Flowers . The Convergence of Five Qis . "

    "Mm-hmm . "

    "Then you have to release a portion of your Zhenqi from your Vital Orb, and then gather it at your upper Dantian . Keep your Zhenqi inside your upper Dantian, where it will be fortified by your Spirit . "

    Well . Everything sounded pretty easy enough so far . Li Yundong waited silently for more instructions . A minuteter, Zi Yuan still hadn''t spoken .

    Li Yundong opened his eyes . "And then?"

    Zi Yuan looked outright amused at his question . "And then return your Zhenqi back to your Vital Orb, of course . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . "What? That''s it?"

    Zi Yuan raised a brow . "Is there a problem?"

    "But it sounded so easy . "

    Zi Yuan gave him a disapproving look . "Just because it involves only the basics doesn''t mean that it''s easy . " She arched a brow . "The Goldbach''s Conjecture, for example, involves the basic notion of sums and prime numbers, yet it remained one of the oldest unsolved problems in mathematics . "

    Li Yundong stared at the woman in front of him . Had she really just spouted a bunch of scientific gobbledygook that he knew absolutely nothing about?

    Zi Yuan rolled her eyes . "What I just described to you is a process known as the Qi Transmutation cycle . "

    Zi Yuan wiggled her fingers: arge holographic image of a human torso materialized in the air .

    It was the projection spell again .

    Li Yundong stared hard at the image until he saw the outlines of all the five Zangs appear within the holographic torso . A few moments after that, a glowing, spherical object materialized at the bottom of the image .

    Zi Yuan flicked her hand again .

    The image rose from the floor and stopped when it was hovering several feet above their heads .

    "Picture your upper Dantian as a cauldron . " The image of a cauldron appeared above the torso . "And think of the Qis of your five Zangs as the different types of metal to be used as the raw materials to make coins . And your Spirit¡­" A small human-shaped figure appeared above the cauldron . "Your Spirit is the alchemist, the one manning the cauldron . " Suddenly, the five Zangs began to glow . Colorful substances emerged from the five Zangs and began moving towards the cauldron .

    "The Convergence of Five Qis¡­" Li Yundong whispered .

    "Now all the raw materials are gathered inside the cauldron . Next ¡­" The human-shaped figure above the cauldron moved . It appeared to be adding some kind of liquid substance into the cauldron . "The Essence acts as the catalyst . " A momentter, the bottom of the cauldron burst into mes . "The Qi acts as the fire, or energy source . The three flowers are now in ce . " There was a pause . "There''s a name for that physical state . "

    "The Crown of Three Flowers¡­" Li Yundong answered .

    "Correct . And now to kick-start the transmutation process¡­"

    Some kind of strange substance emerged from the surface of the spherical orb at the bottom of the image . The substance flowed through the meridians towards the cauldron on top . The process was slow and a little dull, but he did notice something interesting: the Five Zangs began to glow like crazy whenever the substance flowed past them .

    mes erupted from the top of the cauldron when the substance went inside . It was like watching some kind of intense chemical reaction . Secondster, the mes disappeared .

    The cauldron was now filled to the brim with coins .

    Surprisingly, the strange substance from the orb wasn''t used up during the reaction; it remained bubbling inside the cauldron, slipping back and forth between the coins .

    The next thing he knew, the cauldron was overflowing . The strange substance was pouring out of the cauldron, carrying the coins back to the orb with it . While all that was happening, the Qis of the Five Zangs began moving towards the cauldron once again .

    "There you have it," Zi Yuan said . "The Qi Transmutation cycle . "

    "The coins¡­" Li Yundong said after a moment . He nced at Zi Yuan . "The coins represent spiritual energy, don''t they?"

    "Indeed . " The holographic images vanished into thin air when Zi Yuan curled her fingers into a fist . "Here''s a simple analogy that involves trade andmerce . Suppose you want to make a purchase from a merchant . Then, you''ll need to expend coins . " Zi Yuan held his gaze steadily . "Well, the purchase of goods represents¡ª"

    "Spells," Li Yundong answered . "The use of spells . "

    Zi Yuan smiled . "And the coins represent spiritual energy, the entity that you need to expend in order to use spells . So . Is there anything else you''re still unclear about?"

    "What about that strange substance flowing into the cauldron from the orb? I''m guessing that represents the Zhenqi?"

    "Correct . "

    "Is it even an ingredient? I mean it wasn''t used up at all during the reaction . "

    "The Zhenqi isn''t an ingredient, no . Only the Qis of the Five Zangs are . " Zi Yuan paused . "Even so, the Zhenqi''s presence is absolutely necessary for the transmutation to ur . It ys several roles in the process, you see?" She held up a finger . "First, it activates the entire reaction . "

    "Right . The stuff inside the cauldron sort of started cooking the moment the substance was added into it . "

    He must''ve said something silly because Zi Yuan suddenly looked very amused . Whatever .

    "And did you notice how the Zhenqi carried all the coins back into the Vital Orb?"

    "Yeah . "

    "That''s the Zhenqi''s second role . It acts as a conveyor of spiritual energy . " Zi Yuan stared at Li Yundong . "Your spiritual energy is stored inside your Vital Orb, but it can only be mobilized to all parts of your body via your Zhenqi . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "What''s up with the Five Zangs though?" He gave her a searching look . "They started glowing like crazy when the Zhenqi got near them . "

    "Good eye for detail," Zi Yuan said in a tone of approval . "That''s one of the properties of Zhenqi . " Zi Yuan regarded him seriously . "It revitalizes your Zangs and stimtes the production of their Qis . The Qis of your Five Zangs will be expended during Qi Transmutation . So there has to be a way for your Five Zangs to regenerate their Qis . Otherwise, your organs will die . "

    Li Yundong snapped his fingers . "That''s why it''s called the Qi Transmutation cycle, isn''t it? The Zhenqi moves around in a loop . When the transmutation process ispleted, the Zhenqi carries the spiritual energy back to the Vital Orb . After that it flows back up to the upper Dantian again . On the way up, it will pass by the five Zangs and stimte the production of more raw ingredients . And the process repeats itself . "

    "Very good . Seems like you''ve caught on quite well . "

    Hey . Come to think of it¡­

    Li Yundong nced up at Zi Yuan . "The Zhenqi works a little bit like blood, doesn''t it? It carries spiritual energy around just like how¡ª"

    "Just like how blood carries nutrients around, yes . "

    "Wow . " Li Yundong shook his head a little . "Cultivation Theory, huh?"

    Zi Yuan smiled . "Are you ready to put theory into practice?"

    Li Yundong smirked .

    "I thought you''d never ask . "

 Chapter 203.1

    Chapter 203.1

    <h4>Recognition</h4>

    <small></small>When Li Yundong opened his eyes again, the smooth, fair skin of Zi Yuan''s cheeks was the first thing he saw . Her eyes were closed, and she had a serene expression on her face . And judging from her posture and the way she was sitting, she was meditating .

    He raised his hands above his head and stretched . Zi Yuan''s blinked open as soon as he moved .

    "Oh . You''re up . "

    Li Yundong released a long sigh . "What time is it?"

    "It''s been nearly three hours since you began your first Qi Transmutation cycle . "

    Three hours? Time sure flies .

    "How do you feel?"

    Li Yundong chuckled and lowered his arms back down . "Not too bad I suppose . But . . . I don''t feel extra powerful or anything . Um . . . Actually, I feel just the same . No difference . "

    The whole thing honestly felt like a long nap .

    Zi Yuan was looking past his shoulders . He turned his head and saw the Fan of the Seven Treasures that he''d leaned against the side of the couch when he walked in earlier .

    "Why don''t you try channeling your Zhenqi into the Fan of Seven Treasures and see what happens?"

    Li Yundong swiveled his head around and found Zi Yuan smirking at him .

    Indeed, the significance of what Zi Yuan was asking him to do wasn''t lost on him at all . All this while, his usage of the Fan of Seven Treasures didn''t involve any magic or spiritual energy . Even then, the Fan had proven itself to be capable of terrifying feats of power .

    What would happen if he juiced it up with magic?

    Li Yundong reached behind him and pulled the Fan of Seven Treasure from the couch towards him . Hey the bulky object down on the floor in front of him, then stared at it warily .

    So help him God if he ended up destroying the whole apartment after this training session . . .

    "Go on . " Zi Yuan''s voice jolted him out of his musings . "What are you waiting for?"

    Li Yundong stole a fearful nce at Zi Yuan . Suddenly, this whole thing felt like a terrible idea . Shouldn''t they take this somewhere outside the apartment?

    "O- Okay . " He cleared his throat and sat up straighter . Then, he took a deep breath and ran his fingers along the fan''s metallic surface .

    He should probably start with just a little bit of Zhenqi .

    Baby steps, right?

    <small></small>"Just use the same Qi control techniques, right?" he asked tentatively . "Like the ones I practiced during the Lianqi phase?"

    "Mm-hmm . "

    Alright then . . . He focused his mind on the Zhenqi circling around the surfaceyer of his Vital Orb .

    Here we go¡­

    He mobilized a small portion of Zhenqi and guided it along the Hand''s Major Yin Lung Meridian . A momentter, he felt his Zhenqi leave the surface of his palm .

    Shit . . . What''s with this weird¡ª

    His Zhenqi was met with a resistance the moment it entered the fan, almost as though the fan had some kind of inner defense mechanism . The resistance grew stronger as it tried to push his Zhenqi back into his body . He kept pushing back against the resistance and, with some effort, managed to keep his Zhenqi inside the fan . Secondster, he felt something else: his Zhenqi had lost some of its vitality; like the fan had extracted something from his Zhenqi .

    He slowly guided his Zhenqi back into his body . When he felt thest of his Zhenqi entering his meridian, he cracked open an eye to take a peek at the fan .

    Nothing . Absolutely nothing .

    The fany as still as a dead fish .

    He opened both eyes and looked towards Zi Yuan . "Um . . . "

    Amusement shone through Zi Yuan''s eyes as she studied him . Somehow, she managed to make him feel about as helpless as a three-year-old kid trying to drive a truck .

    "Well? What did I do wrong?"

    Zi Yuan smiled . "Technically, you didn''t do anything wrong . "

    "But . . . " Li Yundong''s eyes went to the fan again . "It didn''t even react . It''s like nothing happened . "

    "Nothing? Are you sure about that?"

    Li Yundong''s gaze went from the fan to Zi Yuan''s face . One of her brows was arched .

    Then, he spent a while recalling every sensation he''d felt during the process .

    "My Zhenqi was met with some kind of resistance," he said .

    "Uh-huh¡­ What else?"

    "After that it was like . . . like something was drawn out of my Zhenqi?" Li Yundong paused to take a look at Zi Yuan . Something clicked inside his mind . "It was my spiritual energy, wasn''t it? The fan consumed my spiritual energy . "

    "Precisely . "

    <small></small>"Okay . . . " Li Yundong frowned . "So did it even work?" He gestured at the fan . "It didn''t react at all . "

    He didn''t expect the fan to suddenly explode or anything, but he figured it would at least glow .

    Zi Yuan shook her head like she would at a child who''d just told her something utterly nonsensical .

    "What?" he asked .

    "Suppose that an item costs a million yuan," she said with a quirk of a brow . "Do you expect to buy it for ten yuan?"

    Oh . So he had to channel more spiritual energy into the fan was what she was saying .

    Right . Stupid . He cleared his throat, suddenly feeling as though his cheeks were on fire .

    "More spiritual energy . Got it . "

    "If this were a thousand years ago, the fan wouldn''t respond to you even if you spend the next two years channeling your Zhenqi into it . "

    Li Yundong stared at Zi Yuan for a moment, unable to believe what he''d just heard . "T-Two years?"

    "At your current level, yes . " Zi Yuan''s eyes darted to his face . "Not even a single budge after two years . "

    Two frigging years . You''ve gotta be shitting me .

    "Hold on . You said a thousand years ago . How is the fan different nowpared to a thousand years ago?"

    "Grandmaster Pan Shi was still wielding it at that time," Zi Yuan answered . "Unlike now, the Great Fox Elder''s spiritual signature inside the fan was still thriving . . . "

    "Spiritual signature?"

    "A spiritual signature is exactly as its name implies . It is a mark indicative of the presence of spiritual energy . "

    "I see¡­"

    That sounded a bit simr to DNA¡­

    "Remember . . . " Zi Yuan''s expression turned serious . "The magical object chooses its master . " She pointed at the Fan of Seven Treasures . "And that is exactly what you need to do in order to pass the second dan of the Shentong phase . You need to get the Fan of Seven Treasures to choose you as its new master . " Zi Yuan ced her hand back onto herp . "The most basic way to use your spiritual energy isn''t to cast spells, but to use it to gain the allegiance of a magical object . " Zi Yuan''s expression softened . "That resistance you felt earlier is due to the spiritual energy of its current owner trying to expel yours . " Zi Yuan shot him a pointed look . "And yes, until you can get the fan to recognize you, Grandmaster Pan Shi is still its owner . "

    Li Yundong stared wordlessly at the Fan of Seven Treasures .

    Suddenly, Zi Yuan chuckled . "It''s amazing how Grandmaster Pan Shi''s spiritual signature remains inside the fan even after a thousand years . "

    Zi Yuan shook her head in awe . "It proves just how powerful his spiritual energy was when he was at his prime . "

    <small></small>"Spiritual signatures weaken with time?"

    "Without constant exposure to the owners'' Qi, then yes, they do . "

    Li Yundong nodded and stared at the fan again . That must be why Zi Yuan had asked him to keep it beside him at all times .

    After a while, Li Yundong chuckled and shook his head .

    "What''s so funny?" Zi Yuan asked .

    "How does it even work?" he asked, ncing over at Zi Yuan .

    "It''s not thatplicated . Just keep channeling your Zhenqi into the fan and try to fight against its resistance," Zi Yuan exined . "Your spiritual energy will do the rest by slowly erasing Grandmaster Pan Shi''s spiritual signature from the fan . " There was a pause . "The task might take a while, but it should be possible even for someone at your level . It''s been a thousand years since Grandmaster Pan Shist wielded it after all . . . "

    Li Yundong wanted to ask how long "a while" was, but he held his tongue in the end . He figured it wouldn''t be as long as that trip to Tibet . At least that was what he hoped .

    "Okay . What actually happens when the fan acknowledges me as its owner?"

    Would it involve some kind of ritual?

    "Several things," Zi Yuan said . "At the exact moment a magical object acknowledges you as its owner, a connection will be formed between your Spirit and the magical object''s Spirit . "

    Li Yundong nced down at the fan, then looked back up at Zi Yuan . "Magical objects have Spirits?"

    "Of course . " Zi Yuan smiled, then nodded at the Fan of Seven Treasures . "You''ll soon see that it has a will of its own . "

    "Wow¡­"

    "Now pay attention . This is very important," Zi Yuan said sternly . "That connection between your Spirit and the object''s Spirit is a sign of ownership . You understand?" There was a pause . "Do you know how you managed to take the damask from Hongling back then?"

    Li Yundong shook his head . He just remembered telling himself to do everything in his power to stop that f*cking thing from hurting Su Chan . He didn''t recall doing anything special .

    "Your Spirit severed the connection between Hongling''s Spirit and the damask''s Spirit . That''s how you took it from her," Zi Yuan said wryly . "The damask no longer recognized Hongling as its owner after you grabbed it from thin air . "

    Li Yundong could feel his own eyes going wide . "Wait . You mean I became the owner of the damask after I took it?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head . "I don''t think so . " She quirked a brow . "You didn''t even have a Vital Orb back then . There was no way you could''ve imed ownership without exposing it to your Zhenqi . "

    Hold on . Something didn''t add up .

    "Then how did I steal it in the first ce?" Li Yundong frowned . "You said it yourself . I didn''t even have a Vital Orb . . . " He nced down at the Fan of Seven Treasures on the floor . "And I had to send my Zhenqi into the damask for it to recognize me, right? Like I''m trying to do with the fan?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head . "You couldn''t establish ownership, that''s true . But that doesn''t mean you couldn''t break the existing connection between the object and its current wielder . " Zi Yuan raised a finger . "And you''re forgetting something else . "

    Li Yundong sat there and waited for her to carry on her exnation .

    "Again, what is Zhenqi?" Zi Yuan prompted . "We discussed this earlier . "

    "A condensed form of Qi that''s been fortified by the Spirit . "

    "Precisely . The Jindan''s Aura is itself a highly condensed form of Qi, you see? And during the battle, your Spirit must''ve been strong enough to fortify the Aura to convert it into a powerful form of Zhenqi . . . " She paused and studied him for a moment or two . "Did you feel any resistance when you grabbed the damask back then?"

    Li Yundong nodded .

    "Describe it . "

    "Er¡­ There was some kind of red aura pushing back against my hand . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "That was Hongling trying to fight back . But her Spirit is weaker than yours . " Zi Yuan chuckled wryly . "Her spiritual signature got erased by the Jindan''s Aura the moment your hand touched the damask''s surface . "

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "Will she still be able to use it after this?"

    "Of course . " Zi Yuan shrugged . "She just has to do what you''re trying to do now . " Zi Yuan nodded at the Fan of Seven Treasures . "She has to expend her spiritual energy to regain ownership of the damask . "

    "Look¡­" Li Yundong raised his hands defensively . "I had no choice, okay? She tried to kill¡ª"

    Zi Yuan silenced him with a palm . "I''m not ming you . I already told the girl not to act rashly, but she didn''t listen . So she paid the price . . . " Zi Yuan shook her head slightly . "Anyway . We''ve digressed . Where were we . . . ? Ah . Right . Like I said, the formation of Spiritual connection will be the first thing that happens during the recognition . After thates the awakening . "

    "The awakening?"

    "The moment the magical object¡­es to life, so to speak . " Zi Yuan flicked a nce at him . "This is when you''ll see the magical object act as though it has its own free will . "

    "Wait¡­ You mean it''ll start moving around on its own?"

    "It''ll do more than that, actually . " Zi Yuan chuckled . "It''ll use its owner''s spiritual signature as a guide and start seeking out the owner''s Zhenqi . "

    Li Yundong nced at the fan again . She made it sound as though magical objects could act like pets .

    "Try again . "

    Li Yundong looked up to find Zi Yuan giving him an encouraging nod . "Work on it until you seed . "

    Li Yundong took a deep breath and sat up straighter . "How long do you think it''ll take?"

    "It doesn''t matter how long it takes," Zi Yuan said in a tone of finality . "You''ll keep trying until the fan recognizes you as its true owner . "

    With that, Zi Yuan closed her eyes and went back to her meditation .

 Chapter 203.2

    Chapter 203.2

    <h4>Recognition</h4>

    <small></small>Five minutes into his training, Li Yundong noticed the first sign of progress . The movement had been subtle and slight (just a tiny jolt), but it was there and he saw it with his own eyes .

    Indeed, if the whole thing had taken ce before Su Chan came into his life, he would''ve assumed that his eyes were ying tricks on him . Or, at the very least, he would''ve ducked under the table for cover because he thought an earthquake had hit Tiannan City .

    Now it just filled his heart with joy .

    Li Yundong shot a nce at Zi Yuan, wondering if she had noticed the fan''s subtle movement as well . Her eyes were still closed, and she still had that serene expression on her face . Clearly, she hadn''t noticed it . Or if she did, she had dismissed it as something trivial and totally unworthy of her attention .

    Li Yundong closed his eyes and touched his hand to the fan''s surface once more . Then, he channeled more Zhenqi into the fan, holding nothing back this time . While he worked, he kept track of the fan''s reaction .

    The fan didn''t move again after that, but he knew he was making progress because the resistance against his Zhenqi was gradually weakening .

    He kept working and working until the fan started to move again . However, this time it wasn''t just a simple jolt, but a strong and persistent vibration . He opened his eyes and released a long breath; a jet of white gas shot out from between his lips when he exhaled .

    The Fan of Seven Treasures was shaking like crazy .

    SNAP!

    Li Yundong flinched when it suddenly spread open to reveal its leaves . But before he even blink, the fan closed up and took the shape of a Bo staff once more .

    For minutes on end, Li Yundong just sat there and watched the fan''s movements . The fan slid and thrashed violently against the floor, opening and closing on its own once every few seconds or so . The whole disy gave him the impression of some kind of giant bug having a seizure on the floor .

    It was creepy as hell .

    Li Yundong stole a nce at the clock . About an hour had passed since he began channeling his Zhenqi into the fan .

    He looked back down at the fan, which was still twitching around .

    He hadn''t expected to make this much progress in just an hour''s time . Well . It seemed like the process might not take long after all .

    "No breaks . " Zi Yuan''s stern voice pulled him out of his thoughts . "Keep going until it acknowledges you . "

    <small></small>Li Yundong looked up from the fan . Much to his surprise, Zi Yuan''s eyes were still closed .

    "Right now it''s at its weakest," Zi Yuan continued . "This is the best time to subdue it and secure its allegiance . Don''t waste the opportunity . "

    Li Yundong nodded even though he knew that Zi Yuan couldn''t see him with her eyes closed¡ªor maybe she could, who knows .

    He took a deep breath and returned his focus to his Vital Orb, where his Zhenqi swirled around with unparalleled vigor . It still amazed him sometimes how far he''de .

    After a while, he was interrupted by Zi Yuan''s voice . "Open your eyes and take a look at what''s happening . "

    The fan was no longer moving about; instead, itypletely still on the floor . If it weren''t for the golden glow on the fan''s surface, he would''ve thought that his attempt had failed . Then, upon a closer look, he realized that the golden glow on the fan''s surface wasn''t uniform at all: it seemed to be following the path of his Zhenqi as it moved around inside the fan .

    He shot a questioning nce at Zi Yuan .

    "Focus," Zi Yuan snapped . "Eyes on the fan . You''re almost there now¡ª"

    SNAP!

    The Fan of Seven Treasures shot into the air and then spread open like a peacock''s tail .

    Li Yundong stared at the wonderful sight before him, unable to say a word .

    "Come on . Give it more Zhenqi," Zi Yuan said without taking her eyes off the fan . "This is a good sign . "

    Li Yundong pushed wave after wave of his Zhenqi into the fan . As he did, the golden glow began to spread across its leaves . One thing about the fan did jump out at him: the inscriptions of the Diamond Sutra were glowing the brightest .

    Suddenly, the fan emitted a bright sh of golden light . Li Yundong grunted and raised his arms to shield his eyes . Momentster, he heard a strange buzzing sound, which wasing from the fan as well .

    Amidst the buzzing, he also heard the shuffling of feet .

    "Sess . . . "

    Zi Yuan''s voice came from somewhere beside him .

    Li Yundong lowered his arms and let his eyes adjust to the brightness . The whole living room was now bathed in a golden luminescence, yet nothing he saw couldpare to the sight of the Fan of Seven Treasures, which was now hovering slightly below the ceiling .

    <small></small>The word glorious couldn''t even do it justice .

    The inscriptions of the Diamond Sutra were like glowing embers, outshining the golden light that formed its background .

    Li Yundong felt as though his feet were moving on their own when he took a few steps forward . As he got closer to the fan, he eventually realized the cause of that buzzing sound he heard earlier: the leaves of the fan were vibrating at a high frequency .

    Once again, Li Yundong''s eyes were drawn towards the glowing inscriptions of the Diamond Sutra . Even though he didn''t understand any of those symbols, he could still feel the sheer power each of them was emanating . The words drew him in, enticing him, beckoning him forward .

    It was like some kind of spell .

    He wondered if this was what it felt like to be in the presence of Gautama Buddha .

    Li Yundong stopped walking when the Fan of Seven Treasures began to move . It floated down towards the floor, towards him . Then, it spun a few times along its rivet and drifted across the room as though it was inspecting each corner of the apartment . Li Yundong stood there and watched, utterly fascinated .

    "The awakening . . . " Zi Yuan remarked .

    Li Yundong had heard her, but he didn''t acknowledge her words; he couldn''t take his eyes off the fan .

    The fan flew into the kitchen, then into the bedroom . A minuteter, it returned to the living room and flew circles around Li Yundong .

    Suddenly, the fan stopped short and turned sharply towards Zi Yuan . Another burst of golden light filled the room; the fan snapped shut, then spread open again .

    The inscriptions on the leaves weren''t just glowing now: they were burning .

    mes rose from the surface of the leaves (from the inscriptions) like small tentacles of fire . Those fiery tendrils drifted towards Zi Yuan like they were about to engulf her in mes .

    "H- Hey . . . What''s going on?" Li Yundong stammered as horror filled his chest . The Fan of Seven Treasures seemed hostile towards Zi Yuan .

    Zi Yuan just stared at the mes,pletely unperturbed .

    "Oh . It''s nothing to worry about," Zi Yuan said . "It''s just part of the process . "

    It was beyond Li Yundong how Zi Yuan could still sound so casual in the face of such threatening presence .

    <small></small>"Remember what I said about the awakening?" Zi Yuan said . "Well . This is it . Right now, it''s trying to identify its owner based on the spiritual signature left inside it . While doing so, it will reject and act hostile towards those whose Qis don''t match the signature . "

    "Amazing . . . " he whispered .

    The fan retreated from Zi Yuan and drifted back towards him . Li Yundong reached out with a hand to touch it, but then held back at thest second . He turned his head to look at Zi Yuan . "Um . . . How do I use it?"

    "When a magical object first acknowledges its owner, it will protect its owner on its own," Zi Yuan said without taking her eyes off the fan . "You don''t have to try to control it for now . "

    "What? That doesn''t even make sense . "

    How was he supposed to wield it without having the ability to control its powers?

    "The magical object has its own spiritual energy," Zi Yuan exined . "Right now, the fan''s spiritual energy is more powerful than yours . You can only start controlling it when your spiritual energy exceed the magical object''s spiritual energy in terms of strength . "

    "But that night on the rooftop, I could¡ª"

    "That doesn''t count . " Zi Yuan nced at him . "You had the Jindan''s help that time . "

    "Okay . So I just have to keep growing my spiritual energy until I can wield the fan?"

    "Yes," Zi Yuan said . "Well, as your spiritual energy grows, you can do more than just wield it . You can even reform or transmute it . "

    "So what should I do now?" Try as he might, he couldn''t keep the excitement out of his voice .

    Zi Yuan chuckled . "Isn''t it obvious?"

    Li Yundong stared at Zi Yuan . "Er . . . Not to me?"

    Zi Yuan smiled at him . "You greet it, of course!"

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Geez . You make it sound like I''m meeting a pet for the first time . "

    Zi Yuan''s expression sobered . "There are two things I want you to remember . "

    "Yeah?"

    "From now on, you need to keep the fan with you at all times, do you understand?"

    Li Yundong nodded .

    "Good . Now, for the second thing . Do not use the fan lightly, especially when you''re facing an opponent whose spiritual energy is more powerful than yours . "

    Understanding dawned upon him . "Otherwise the fan might choose them as its new owner¡­"

    Zi Yuan nodded . "What you did to Hongling''s damask, someone else could do to you . " She nodded at the Fan of Seven Treasures . "A Cultivator can easily remove your spiritual signature if their spiritual energy is more powerful than yours . " Zi Yuan gave him a pointed look . "When that happens, the fan will abandon you and acknowledge them as their new owner . "

    Such fickle creatures¡­

    "Understood," Li Yundong said with a grave nod . "I''ll watch out . "

    "Alright then!" Zi Yuan grinned . "Time for you to get acquainted with your first magical object . "

    Li Yundong turned away from Zi Yuan to face the Fan of Seven Treasures .

    SNAP!

    The fan snapped shut at the slightest touch of his hand and once again took the form of a Bo staff . Even the golden glow on its surface had vanished . Li Yundong withdrew his hand and nced sideways at Zi Yuan .

    Zi Yuan gave him an encouraging nod .

    Li Yundong took a deep breath and stepped forward . The dark Bo staff reoriented itself until it was hovering in the air horizontally . Then, it floated downwards until it was hovering right in front of his chest .

    Li Yundong stroke along the fan''s rivet, leaving a trail of golden glow on the fan''s surface . The glow disappeared once again when he removed his hand . Li Yundong reached out and wrapped both arms around the fan''s body . Surprisingly, he could feel the full weight of the fan the moment it fell into his arms¡ªthe fan was no longer hovering .

    Li Yundong gripped the fan tighter and turned around to face Zi Yuan .

    Zi Yuan''s eyes had zed over slightly, and there was an uncharacteristic gentleness in them . She was technically looking at him (or right through him), but he doubted that it was his image that she saw¡ªit was like she was living inside a different world, a world of old memories .

    "Congrattions, Li Yundong," Zi Yuan said gently . "You''re now the owner of the Fan of Seven Treasures and a true Cultivator . Wee to the Cultivation world . "

 Chapter 204

    Chapter 204

    <h4>Qi Kinesis</h4>

    <small></small>Li Yundong cleared away thest of the dinner tes and then joined Zi Yuan at the dinner table . After the lesson she had given him, he figured cooking dinner for her was the least he could do .

    Zi Yuan''s eyes remained fixed on the Fan of Seven Treasures like they had been since dinner ended half an hour ago . She appeared to be studying the fan with rapt attention, though he had no idea what she was looking for . Her expression was unreadable for the most part, but he thought he saw a fleeting look of wistfulness a few times . It was like she was reliving old memories .

    Li Yundong let his own eyes settle on the Fan of Seven Treasures, which was currently propped up against the edge of the dining table . The fan hadn''t tried to move on its own or follow him around ever since it fell into his arms just now . In the end, he had to physically drag it around in order to have it close by, even when he''d been cooking dinner earlier .

    It seemed like he and the fan were back to this one-sided-bonding thing again . He supposed he should be thankful . He doubted the students on campus would take kindly to a giant metal fan floating around . Next thing he knew, the entire campus grounds might be teeming with Taoist exorcists .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "Thanks for today . "

    Zi Yuan finally tore her gaze away from the Fan of Seven Treasures . She held his gaze curiously, as though unsure of what he was thanking her for .

    "For the lessons," Li Yundong rified .

    Not just for the lessons, actually .

    For everything: dying his divine punishment by casting Ao Wushuang''s spell; settling his bank debts . . .

    Geez . His bank debts, for God''s sake .

    For the nth time since the night He Shao died, he wanted to ask her why . Why was she helping him at all? He could understand Ao Wushuang''s motivation for helping him¡ªSu Chan . But what about Zi Yuan? What possible reason did she have to help him?

    The words Obelisk of Fengchen and prophecy sprang to his mind .

    "Don''t mention it," Zi Yuan said .

    Li Yundong kept staring at her from across the table . This prophecy thing clearly meant a lot to her, and it appeared to have something to do with him . Well, perhaps it didn''t have anything to do with him per se, but with the Jindan instead .

    Zi Yuan raised a brow . "Questions?"

    He lowered his gaze onto the table .

    "You mentioned a lot of times about . . . " Li Yundong shook his head and peered up at her . "About some prophecy . "

    Zi Yuan''s expression shifted instantly .

    "That''s none of your concern . "

    Her brows where knitted together in a tight frown, and she lookedplete closed off . Yep . He had definitely hit a nerve right there .

    "Sorry . " Li Yundong raised his palms in defeat . "I didn''t mean to pry . "

    He wanted to scoff at himself as soon as those words left his mouth . He did mean to pry . Why else would he have asked?

    An awkward silence passed between them .

    "So . You''re a true Cultivator now . " Zi Yuan''s expression was now back to normal . She was even smiling at him . "Thoughts? Tell me what you''re feeling . "

    This was clearly an attempt to change the subject, but he decided to roll with it in the end . Besides, Zi Yuan''s eyes were searching his face as though she was genuinely interested to hear his answer .

    He chuckled . "A lot of things," he said, leaning back against his chair . "But mostly I''m just surprised, you know?" He nced at Zi Yuan from across the table . "I never imagined that I''m capable of this . " His eyes darted towards the bulky object lying beside his feet . Then, he waved a hand across the room . "Of all this . " He sighed . "And sometimes I wonder . . . " A wave of sadness surfaced inside his chest . Suddenly, he found himself incapable of words .

    "Yes?"

    Li Yundong could feel Zi Yuan''s eyes on him . He looked up and saw genuine curiosity in her eyes .

    Oh, what the hell . . .

    Li Yundong chuckled . He might as well get it off his chest .

    "Well, it kinda sucks to think that everything I''ve done is only possible because of the Jindan," he said, unloading the weight of his own self-doubt for the very first time . He smiled sadly and tried to sound nonchnt . "Even my greatest aplishment in life is all because of dumb luck . " He shrugged . "Sad, isn''t it?"

    "You''re wrong . "

    Li Yundong''s gaze left the surface of the table top almost instantly . He scanned Zi Yuan''s face for any signs of deception . He didn''t need her pity . Nor did he need some meaningless titude . Just because he felt a little sad didn''t mean that he was willing to be blind to the truth .

    Zi Yuan raised a brow challengingly . "You''re wrong," she said . "While the Jindan did y a role, it definitely wasn''t responsible for all of your aplishments . "

    "Really now," Li Yundong said dryly . "I guess you haven''t seen my high-school photos yet . "

    "First of all . . . " Zi Yuan said in a stern tone .

    Okay . Somebody, it seemed, wasn''t in the mood to joke .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat and sat up straighter . Zi Yuan did tend to have that kind of effect on people . She often gave people the impression of a strict elder sister whom everyone feared .

    "The Jindan only enhances what''s within," Zi Yuan continued in a softer tone . "Yes . It does reform your body and make it stronger, but it does so using your body''s existing framework . Feed the Jindan to someone mediocre, and I guarantee you that the effects won''t be as pronounced . " Zi Yuan held up a palm as though to prevent him from speaking . "And no, by mediocre, I do not mean one''s physical attributes . I''m referring to one''s Essence . What''s within, not what''s on the outside . Think of a car''s transmission system . " Zi Yuan arched a brow . "An old, battered car will never be able to go as fast as a sports car no matter how much you spend on its upkeep . "

    "Point taken," Li Yundong said .

    "Aptitude is innate and has nothing to do with your body . " There was a slight pause . "Your body is just a vessel, or, at times, a weapon . Although it can be a contributing factor, your aptitude in Cultivation is what ultimately determines your long-term sess . " Zi Yuan smiled . "I''ll borrow your words . A tool is just a tool . What matters is how you use it . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . It surprised him a little how she could refer to those words so casually considering he''d practically yelled those words at her that night .

    "You managed to absorb the contents of several ancient texts within days," Zi Yuan went on . "That''s not something that anyone can do . You have a high aptitude for Cultivation, so don''t waste it . " She gave him a pointed look . "Use it wisely and to your full advantage . "

    Li Yundong nodded . Dorjee Tenzin had pretty much told him the same thing back at the Everest Base Camps, though he didn''t believe him at the time .

    Zi Yuan released a half-snort . "You reached the Shentong phase in just months . " She gave him a strange look . "Even highly talented Cultivators require years of diligent training to do that . "

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "So I passed, what, the first dan of the Shentong . . . Oh, wait . " Li Yundong''s eyes widened slightly . "You mentioned it just now . It''s the second dan, right?"

    "Correct," said Zi Yuan . "You passed the first dan right after you performed your first Qi Transmutation cycle . "

    <small></small>"That makes a lot of sense . " Li Yundong nodded . "When I passed the Zhuji phase, a Vital Orb was all I had . . . " He looked towards Zi Yuan . "The Qi Transmutation cycle is a process that uses the Zhenqi from my Vital Orb to generate spiritual energy . And I need to have magic first before I can use spells or do everything else . That''s why mastering the Qi Transmutation cycle is the requirement to pass first dan of the Shentong phase . "

    "Yes . And . . . " Zi Yuan suddenly trailed off, then sighed . "So soon, huh?"

    "What?" Confusion coursed through Li Yundong . "What''s so soon?"

    Zi Yuan chuckled . "My n was to wait until you''ve learned how to magically control the fan before teaching you this, but since we''re already on the subject, I might as well teach you now . "

    Confusion instantly transformed into excitement .

    Li Yundong''s butt slid closer towards the edge of his chair . "Okay?"

    "There are two . . . " Zi Yuan paused in thought . "Actually, no . Make that three things . " She nodded . "Yes . There are three things that I think you should master . "

    Li Yundong gave her a funny look . "You mean these things aren''t part of the standard Cultivation curriculum?"

    Zi Yuan smiled . "You probably would''ve discovered them on your own given your aptitude, but I think it would be in your best interest if you were taught these things . "

    "I''m all ears . "

    Bring it on .

    "The first one is the simplest," Zi Yuan said . "It has to do with strengthening your Vital Orb . Well, there are a lot of ways to strengthen one''s Vital Orb . . . The best . . . " A strange look passed over Zi Yuan''s face . She shook her head slightly and cleared her throat . "The most effective way is to expose oneself to Nature''s Qi . The power of the Heavens can be destructive . But it can also nourish and revitalize . "

    Li Yundong''s eyes widened as realization hit him .

    "Wait . So you''re saying that if I be around the Heavenly Thunder long enough, I can actually get stronger?"

    "Yes . "

    Li Yundong leaned back against his chair . "Oh wow . . . " Too bad he didn''t have a Vital Orb when he struck that son of a bitch He Shao with the Five Thunders Spell .

    Moron . He''d be dead already if he had a Vital Orb back then .

    "Don''t start getting any funny ideas," Zi Yuan said sternly . "If you deliberately expose yourself to the Heavenly Thunder, you would be dead long before you can derive any benefits from the exposure . "

    Li Yundongughed . "Nah . Don''t worry . I don''t have a death wish . "

    One of Zi Yuan''s brows rose to her hairline .

    Li Yundong sighed . "Okay, fine . I have a death wish . . . Had a death wish . "

    He wouldn''t have used the Five Thunders Spell on He Shao otherwise .

    "There is another method . . . a ssical method, to strengthen your Vital Orb," Zi Yuan continued as though their previous exchange never happened . "It''s called the Orb Fortification cycle . " She nced at him . "It''s far less efficient than the first method, but it''s the safest since it only involves basic Qi control . "

    "In that case, why don''t I try doing it now?" Li Yundong moved to stand up, but Zi Yuan raised a palm to stop him .

    "There''s no need for that," she said . "You already know enough basics to perform it . I just need to tell you the steps . "

    "Okay . " Li Yundong sat back down . "What are the steps?"

    "Did Su Chan exin to you what Da Zhoutian is when she guided you through the Lianqi phase?"

    Li Yundong nodded . "It''s an advanced technique in Internal Alchemy that involves circting Qi around the body through all meridians rather than just the Ren and Du Meridians . "

    "Good . So for the Orb Fortification cycle, all it requires is a modified version of Da Zhoutian . "

    "Modified how?"

    "You perform Da Zhoutian with your Vital Orb''s Zhenqi instead of your normal Yang Qi . "

    "Oh . " That sounded simple enough .

    "Doing so will give you other benefits as well . Do you remember what you saw in that projection I showed you just now?"

    "The cauldron and stuff?"

    "Yes . And I''m sure you noticed what happened to the Five Zangs when your Zhenqi got near it . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "The Qis of the Five Zangs started to regenerate . "

    He was starting to see what Zi Yuan was getting at .

    "Exactly . Your Zhenqi has regenerative properties . And if you take it through Da Zhoutian''s circuit, you''re essentially exposing all parts of your body to it . I''m sure you can see how that can be beneficial . "

    "Yeah . "

    "Da Zhoutian is only one keyponent of the Orb Fortification cycle," Zi Yuan said . "The secondponent is Guanxiang . Now here''s a question for you . " She looked at him pointedly . "Why Guanxiang?"

    Li Yundong stared at the smooth surface of the dinner table as he contemted the question . The goal of the Orb Fortification cycle was to strengthen the Vital Orb . And since the Zhenqi is a keyponent of the Vital Orb''s structure, the whole process must involve enhancing the Zhenqi somehow, right?

    But why Guanxiang?

    Li Yundong suddenly looked up from the table . "I think I got it . "

    "Oh?" Zi Yuan smiled . "Let''s hear it . "

    "Zhenqi is just a condensed form of Qi that''s been fortified with the Spirit . So, in order to strengthen it, I just have to fortify it again with my Spirit, right?" Li Yundong stared at Zi Yuan until he received a nod for him to keep going . "And when I''m performing Guanxiang, I''ll be inside my Spirit Space . Basically, my Zhenqi will be interacting with my Spirit the whole time . The process toughens up my Zhenqi . "

    "Good answer . " Zi Yuan smiled . "Oh . And did you notice that the Orb Fortification cycle is a bit simr to the Qi Transmutation cycle?"

    "Yeah," he said . They both involved his Spirit and his Zhenqi . And both involved some form of Qi control .

    "Now I want you to tell me their differences," Zi Yuan said .

    "Their differences . . . "

    <small></small>Li Yundong snapped his fingers when the answer came to him .

    "The Convergence of Five Qis . " He looked towards Zi Yuan . "The Convergence of Five Qis isn''t required for the Orb Fortification cycle . "

    "Why do you think that''s the case?"

    They sat in silence as Li Yundong searched for an answer . He thought back to that projection Zi Yuan had shown him earlier: therge cauldron, and then the Qis of his Five Zangs being added into the cauldron as the raw ingredients for¡ª

    Hey¡­ That''s the answer¡­

    "Because the goal of the Orb Fortification cycle isn''t to generate spiritual energy," Li Yundong said confidently . "It''s just to strengthen the Vital Orb, so no raw ingredients are needed . "

    "Looks like you have a good grasp of the concepts," Zi Yuan said, then raised a brow . "From now on, make sure you perform the Orb Fortification cycle whenever possible . It won''t help you survive the Heavenly Thunder, but it''s always a good idea to keep your Vital Orb strong . The Vital Orb is an important part of a Cultivator''s body and should never be left vulnerable . One of the best ways to protect it is by strengthening it . "

    Li Yundong recalled the ordeal that Su Chan had gone through during Ruan Hongling''s assault . Back then, Su Chan had to remove her Vital Orb from her body to deal with whatever damage that had been inflicted upon it . The look of excruciating pain on Su Chan''s face that night was something that Li Yundong could never forget for the rest of his life .

    "Got it . "

    "And now for the second thing . . . "

    Zi Yuan stopped talking and started ncing around the apartment .

    Li Yundong frowned . What was she looking for?

    When she stopped moving secondster, Li Yundong followed her gaze . She was staring at the sink .

    "Will you bring me that spoon please?"

    Li Yundong studied her for a moment, then shrugged . "Sure . " He rose from the chair .

    "No . Stay where you are," Zi Yuan said .

    "What?" Li Yundong frowned and jerked his thumb towards the sink . "But you asked me to . . . to¡­" Something in Zi Yuan''s expression made him stop talking . "Wait . . . " He nced over at the sink . "Are you saying . . . ?"

    Zi Yuan was smirking by the time his eyes returned to her face . "Yes," she said .

    Li Yundong gaped at her for a few seconds . "But . . . But how!"

    The smirk disappeared and changed into a regal smile . Zi Yuan leaned back in her chair as though she was enjoying his disy of ignorance .

    "Well . You''re a Cultivator," she said archly . "Figure it out . "

    "Yeah, that''s the point," he mumbled . "I''m a Cultivator, not Mao . "

    Li Yundong sighed and nced over at the sink again . How the heck was he supposed to bring the spoon from the sink all the way to the dining table without touching it? There had to be at least eight meters from the table to the sink!

    He searched his memory and went through the contents of the Mahamudra Tantra that he had memorized .

    s, none of the tantric mudras involved telekinesis .

    Yeah . Telekinesis . That''s basically what Zi Yuan was asking him to do . Tele-frigging-kinesis .

    What about a spell?

    Zi Yuan did something to him that night when she tried to stop him from killing He Shao, right? He remembered floating off the ground after Zi Yuan pointed a finger at him .

    Li Yundong gave her a smug look . "A spell . You''re teaching me my first spell, aren''t you?"

    "Nope," Zi Yuan said casually, then arched a brow . "No Levitation Spell is needed for this painfully simple task . "

    Painfully simple .

    Yeah . Something felt painful alright . His mind . And his backside too .

    He looked towards the sink .

    How? How could he grab an object from afar without touching it? How could he pull off this spooky-action-at-a-distance thing?

    The shockwaves?

    No . The shockwaves could only push, not pull .

    Momentster, Li Yundong spun around so quickly that he nearly fell off his chair . "With my Qi?"

    A slow smile spread across Zi Yuan''s countenance . "Yes . "

    Li Yundong nced towards the sink, then back at Zi Yuan again .

    "But . . . Which type? My Yang Qi or . . . "

    Zi Yuan was still smiling . "Why don''t you try it with both and see what happens?"

    Li Yundong decided to try with his Yang Qi first . He levelled his hand at the sink the moment his Yang Qi reached the surface of his right palm . Okay . Here goes¡­

    His Qi became turbulent once it left the surface of his palm . It was as though his mind no longer had control over the form of his Qi, like his Qi was trying to disperse and spread out . He slowed down a bit and withdrew his Qi back to the surface of his palm .

    His Qi calmed down again .

    Huh . Weird . . .

    Maybe it was a matter of mental focus .

    He tried again, but this time putting more conscious effort into the task . However, when his Qi extended about half a meter from the surface of his palm, it lost its structurepletely and dispersed into a cloud .

    Li Yundong stared at his hand for a moment .

    <small></small>Well . That was aplete failure . Not to mention a total waste of Qi .

    "Now try it with your Zhenqi," Zi Yuan said .

    Li Yundong nodded, then closed his eyes, focusing his mind on that swirling ball of energy inside his lower Dantian . He still hadn''t gotten used to his Vital Orb yet . His Zhenqi travelled to his right palm and then¡ª

    Whoa! Shit, shit!

    His Zhenqi shot out from the surface of his skin and hurtled towards the kitchen .

    Stop, st¡ª

    The Zhenqi stopped moving .

    "Hey . . . It . . . " He shot Zi Yuan a questioning nce .

    Unlike his Yang Qi, his Zhenqi actually heeded his conscious will; it stopped moving the moment his mindmanded it to stop .

    "Shape it," Zi Yuan said . "Control it with your mind . "

    Li Yundong stared at his Zhenqi for a moment . Right now, it looked like a formless, murky blob sticking out from the surface of his hand .

    He pictured a sphere inside his head, and his Zhenqi responded in tandem by morphing into the exact same sphere he had visualized . After that, he yed around with a few more shapes: pyramids; cones; cubes; a rod; a bowl; Su Chan''s face (only the outline, of course);

    They all worked .

    And now for the task at hand¡­

    He looked towards the sink once more . Secondster, his Zhenqi morphed into a pair of tweezers¡ªjust because the shape of a hand is too mainstream .

    "Refine it," Zi Yuan said . "Even out its form . "

    When Li Yundong did as told, something amazing happened: his Zhenqi''s murky color began to fade .

    Eventually, the shape became colorless .

    He now had an invisible pair of tweezers sticking out of his palm .

    Zi Yuan smiled . "I''m sure you know what to do next . "

    Li Yundong extended his Zhenqi towards the kitchen sink, and then watched the spoon slowly rise from sink''s surface . When the spoon was hovering inches above the sink, Li Yundong stopped what he was doing and turned to stare at Zi Yuan .

    He couldn''t f*cking believe what he was doing . This was X-Men shit .

    "Well? Don''t stop there," Zi Yuan said with a raised brow . "Bring the spoon over here . "

    The spoon floated slowly towards them, and then dropped onto the table with a loud ng .

    "Behold, the art of Qi Kinesis," Zi Yuan said, picking up the spoon with her hand . "It''s one of the most practical skills avable to a Cultivator who has reached the Shentong phase and beyond . "

    "Qi Kinesis . . . " Li Yundong chuckled . Holy frigging wow .

    "The whole point of this little experiment is to get you to understand the key difference between your Yang Qi and your Zhenqi," Zi Yuan said, then paused for a few beats . "Now . You''ve tried the exercise with both types of Qi . What have you observed?"

    "I couldn''t maintain control of my Yang Qi after it left my body," Li Yundong answered in a heartbeat . "But with my Zhenqi, I could control it as if it were still inside my meridians . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "And why do you think that''s the case?"

    Li Yundong flipped his right hand until his palm was facing up . Why indeed?

    "Don''t overthink it," Zi Yuan said gently . "The answer is pretty straightforward . "

    Ah . Of course . The answer seemed obvious now when he considered the way in which his Zhenqi was derived from his Yang Qi .

    "Because the Zhenqi is basically a condensed form of Qi that has been fortified by the Spirit . " Li Yundong curled his hand into a fist . "That''s why it responds to the conscious will even though it is outside the body . " He smiled at Zi Yuan . "It''s linked to the Spirit . "

    "Bingo," Zi Yuan said with a smile . "Once you have mastered the Lianqi phase, you can control your normal Qi as long as it is inside your body . The human body is a closed system, and the Spirit can only exert its influence on the system itself . Is that clear?"

    Li Yundong nodded . "As soon as Qi leaves the body, it leaves the system and goes beyond the Spirit''s reach . " He looked towards Zi Yuan and tapped his finger on the surface of the table . "But the Zhenqi is a part of the Vital Orb . So even if it leaves the body, it''s still part of the system . It''s still linked to the Spirit¡­" He paused . "In a way, it''s kinda like grabbing an object with the Vital Orb itself . "

    "Precisely . " Zi Yuan smiled .

    "So the Vital Orb is sort of like this shapeshifting ball of stuff that can grow arms in order to grab¡ª"

    He was interrupted by Zi Yuan''sugh .

    Zi Yuan''s eyes shone with amusement . "That''s certainly an interesting way to put it, but yes, you can think of it that way . "

    Li Yundong shrugged .

    Zi Yuan rose from her chair . "Qi Kinesis is a useful skill, but it requires a lot of practice before you can safely apply it inbat . You need to practice it until it bes like second nature . Otherwise I don''t rmend using it inbat at all . " She walked into the kitchen and then put the spoon away . "Combat situations are often stressful . Your mind will probably be too busy processing threats to pull off Qi Kinesis satisfactorily . But once you have truly mastered it, it can be a deadly skill . " Zi Yuan leaned her hip against the sink . "For example, a Cultivator at Senior Wushuang''s level can effortlessly manipte objects of all five elements with their Zhenqi alone . It''s like having extra limbs that can grab fire or water and then hurl it at your opponents . "

    "Wow¡­"

    "Don''t be too impressed," Zi Yuan said sternly . She was staring at him from the sink . "Qi Kinesises with other dangers . It should never be used lightly duringbat unless you know what you''re doing . "

    "Oh . "

    "Thought I should warn you before you get any weird ideas . "

    "What sort of other dangers?"

    "Your Zhenqi is a crucial part of your Vital Orb . Ideally, you always want it to be inside your body, not outside . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "Makes sense . "

    "Unless your Vital Orb is so powerful that having a small portion of your Zhenqi outside your body is negligible, I don''t rmend using Qi Kinesis duringbat at all . " There was a pause . "Besides, there''s also the danger of overusing your Zhenqi . It''s very difficult to keep track of the amount of Zhenqi you''ve mobilized for Qi Kinesis, especially if Qi Kinesis has be like second nature . " Zi Yuan raised a brow . "I bet you couldn''t give me an answer if I asked you right now how many breaths you''ve taken today . "

    "Point taken," Li Yundong said . "Once something bes like second nature, we tend to do it without any awareness at all . "

    "Indeed," Zi Yuan said . "For example, you might end up developing the tendency to mobilize your Zhenqi to move an object from afar¡ªsay, 500 meters away . Which, of course, would be idiotic, since the amount of Zhenqi required for Qi Kinesis is proportional to the range of its application . "

    "Thanks . I''ll keep that in mind . "

    "Good . Do you have any other questions?"

    "Yeah . " Li Yundong paused in thought . "My normal Yang Qi can''t be controlled once it''s outside my body, right?"

    "Yes?"

    Li Yundong held Zi Yuan''s gaze . "I can think of a few times where I still managed to move my Qi around even though it was outside my body . "

    "Okay?" Zi Yuan''s brows pulled together slightly . "Can you describe the exact circumstances of such urrences?"

    "Basically, I touched a guy''s head and then pushed my Yang Qi into his body . But once my Qi was inside his body, I could still control it like usual . Why though? My Qi was inside his body, not my own . "

    A look of understanding spread across Zi Yuan''s face, but she didn''t speak .

    "Um¡­ Well¡­ That''s actually how I revived the old monk," Li Yundong said .

    "It has to do with the environment that your Qi was in . "

    Li Yundong sat up straighter . "Yeah?"

    "The other person is human, just like you . " Zi Yuan stared at him . "Physiologically speaking, your bodies are simrly built . So, when your Qi entered his body, it ended up in an environment that is somewhat simr to your own body . "

    "Right . There are meridians, blood vessels and all that . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Your Spirit can still exert some form of control over your Qi as long as your Qi is within an environment that resembles the internal structure of the human body . " Zi Yuan pushed herself away from the sink and walked out of the kitchen . "Your Spirit needs to be powerful enough to pull it off though . "

    "Right, thanks . That certainly clears things up . "

    Zi Yuan moved past the table and headed towards the balcony .

    Was she leaving already?

    "Um¡­ What about the third thing?" Li Yundong said . "You said there are three things, right? You''ve only told me two . "

    Zi Yuan paused beside the couch and slowly turned around . "The third thing . . . " A conflicted look flitted across her face .

    Li Yundong stood up and walked towards the living room as well .

    "The third thing involves the Jindan''s Aura . "

    Li Yundong stopped short; excitement coursed through his veins, making his scalp tingle .

    "Yeah . . . I''ve been meaning to ask you about that . . . I found the Aura highly useful . It actually saved my life when He Shao shot at me that night . I thought it''d be nice if you could teach me how to contr¡ª"

    "No," Zi Yuan said sharply .

    "Pardon?"

    "I won''t teach you how to control it," she said . "I''ll teach you how to hide it first . "

    Li Yundong took a few moments to process her words . "People wille after me once they find out that I''ve consumed the Jindan . "

    "Yes," Zi Yuan said, then lowered her voice into a whisper . "It doesn''t even have to be activated¡­"

    "What do you mean?"

    "Those who know what they are looking for will be able to find it even when it isn''t activated," she said in her normal voice . There was a pause . "That''s actually how I located you after you chased He Shao''s car across the city . "

    "Oh . "

    "For your own safety, I highly advise against activating the Jindan''s Aura . "

    "But that''s just the thing . " He sighed and sat down on the couch . "Every time it came out, it was spontaneous . " He looked up at Zi Yuan . "I had no control over it . "

    Zi Yuan turned around and walked towards the balcony . "Don''t worry about that for now," she said, opening the sliding door . "Right now, just practice drawing out your Adolescent Yang Qi from your Huiyin . Once you can do that, I''ll teach you how to hide the Jindan''s Aura with your Adolescent Yang Qi . "

    Adolescent Yang Qi . Wasn''t that what Su Chan had used to hide the Jindan''s Aura from Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling the night she was hiding inside his old apartment?

    Once on the balcony, Zi Yuan came to a halt . Li Yundong watched her from the couch .

    "Remember to bring the Fan of Seven Treasures with you when you attend ss tomorrow," she said .

    "Got it . "

    "Good night," she said . "Get some rest . "

    "You too," Li Yundong said . "And thanks for the lessons!"

    A green sh lit up the balcony . By the time the light dimmed out, Zi Yuan was gone .

    Li Yundong sighed and stared at the half-open sliding door . He raised his hand until his palm was facing it .

    CLICK!

    Li Yundong lowered his hand back down and stared at the door, which was now closed .

    Qi Kinesis, huh?

    And here he thought his Qi shoes were pretty cool .

 Chapter 205.1

    Chapter 205.1

    <h4>Doctor Li</h4>

    <small></small>It was 9:30AM by the time Li Yundong arrived at Tiannan University the next morning, which was totally uneptable, since he had left New Hongsheng District as early as six frigging thirty . The reason for his tardiness was none other than traffic congestion .

    Tiannan City''s traffic at its finest, truly .

    "I wonder when I can start flying to campus," Li Yundong mumbled as he strode past the gates . "That will spare me from having to endure the long hours spent sitting inside a slow-moving cab . "

    "Li Yundong!"

    Li Yundong stopped short and turned around . Feng Na was approaching him from the curb just outside the gates .

    "Li Yundong!"

    His name rang out once again . Feng Na''s crisp and clear voice drew the attention of pretty much all the students in his vicinity . A few dudes were openly staring at him, but he was pretty much used to this kind of thing by now .

    "Good morning, Miss Future Prez," Li Yundong greeted Feng Na when she finally caught up to him . "So . What are your orders for me this morning?" He smiled . "I assume that''s what this is about? You''re easing into your role as the new student council president?"

    Feng Na chuckled . "Stop joking around, geez . Nothing is set in stone yet . I might not even win . " Suddenly, she stoppedughing and fidgeted a little . "Actually, I''m giving a speech tomorrow¡­"

    "What, you mean like a campaign speech?"

    Feng Na nodded . "Will you be there to show your support?"

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Sure . When and where?"

    Feng Na beamed at him . "Tomorrow night at seven thirty . And the venue is the¡­" Feng Na cringed and cleared her throat . "The media room . "

    Li Yundong did a double take . "You mean¡­ The one where that disastrous movie night took ce?"

    Feng Na sighed and nodded weakly .

    "Damn¡­ Of all the ces¡­"

    Feng Na snorted . "It''s not like I had a choice . The members of the student council picked that ce . "

    They walked side by side towards the academic building .

    "Where''s Cheng Cheng, by the way?" Li Yundong asked once they left the campus'' front yard . "Isn''t she your plucky sidekick? You guys are usually joined at the hips . "

    Feng Na released a heavy sigh . "Ugh¡­ Don''t even start . "

    "What? Why? Did you guys have a fight?"

    "Nah . I''m just feeling a little sad that''s all . She and I are in our fourth year now . We have to start worrying about job prospects soon . You know, Cheng Cheng spent her entire summer holidays doing an internship at apany . Well, she''s still with thepany now¡­" There was a slight pause . "The workload is a bit heavy, so she''s decided to skip a few sses this semester to deal with it . "

    <small></small>"I see . "

    "There''s a good chance they might hire her," Feng Na remarked . "I guess that''s why she''s putting so much time and effort on her internship job . "

    "That''s great news," Li Yundong said . "I hope she gets in . "

    "I hope so too," Feng Na said, then sighed . "Cheng Cheng''s family isn''t well off, so this is a great opportunity for her . "

    They walked in silence for a while .

    "What about you?" Li Yundong asked . "What are your ns after you graduate?"

    "ns?" Feng Na chuckled sadly . "If only things were that easy . "

    "No ns, then?"

    "Nothing solid at the moment," she said, then sighed . "Ugh . It''s so hard tond a good job these days¡­ Especially one that you enjoy doing . Well, what I really want is to work at a TV station, but it''s hard to get in without proper connections¡­"

    Li Yundong chewed over Feng Na''s words for a while . If he hadn''t chosen the path of Cultivation, he would be in the exact same position as Feng Na and Cheng Cheng next year, driving himself nuts over career prospects .

    Then again, even Cultivators need a way to earn a living as well¡­

    "And you?" Feng Na''s voice ended his musings . "What are the grand future ns for the Legendary Hero of Tiannan University?"

    To be a great Cultivator . Those were the first words that sprang into his mind . Not that he could tell Feng Na that .

    "I''ve got no ns at the moment," he said with a shrug . "What can I say? I''m just an average guy with no real goals and aspirations . "

    "Tsk!" Feng Na poked his arm with her finger . "What''s with that nonsense?"

    Li Yundong answered with another nomittal shrug .

    Feng Naughed . "You''re just being modest . "

    "That wasn''t modesty, senior . " Li Yundong smiled wryly . "Just good old honesty . "

    Feng Na stopped walking and eyed him skeptically .

    Li Yundong chuckled . "No . Really . I''ve got nothing figured out yet, I swear . I have no idea what I wanna do after graduation . "

    Cultivation and Su Chan were the only things on his mind right now . Not to mention the looming threat of his divine punishment .

    The small garden beside the academic building came into view . A sense of nostalgia washed over him, and he sighed . "Time really flies, huh?"

    "Yeah¡­" Feng Na said wistfully .

    <small></small>"An entire semester went past in just a blink of an eye," Li Yundong said . "Even I am approaching my fourth year now . "

    "Yeah . That''s why I''m trying hard to be more active in my final year," Feng Na said, then shrugged . "More bullet points for my resume . "

    "I don''t think it will be a problem for you, Feng Na . " Li Yundong grinned at her . "With your talents and qualifications, I''m sure you''ll be Tiannan City''s media queen in no time . "

    Feng Na''s smile right then was full of hope . "You really mean that?"

    Li Yundong nodded . "Every word . "

    "Thanks, pal," she said . "That really means a lot . "

    "You''re wee . "

    They entered the academic building in silence .

    "Hey, where are you going? Aren''t the lecture halls this way?" Feng Na pointed her finger to her left . "Don''t you have sses?"

    Li Yundong patted his backpack a few times, his hand brushing against the Fan of Seven Treasures as he did .

    "I''m heading to the library to return a few books," he said .

    Feng Na was too busy staring the Fan of Seven Treasures to reply .

    Li Yundong couldn''t resist sneaking a nce just to make sure that the dark cloth he''d used to wrap the fan was still in ce . At the same time, he was hoping to dear God that the fan wouldn''t suddenly float into the air and start wreaking havoc inside the academic building . Thest thing he wanted was for Director Qian to get on his case again .

    "I''ve been wondering¡­" Feng Na nced at him . "What on earth is this thing that you''ve been carrying around or the past few days?"

    "It''s¡­"

    A magical object that could probably bring the whole building down in seconds .

    "Well? What is it?" Feng Na ran her finger along the dark cloth . "It feels really solid . And isn''t it kind of bulky to carry around on campus?"

    Li Yundong gave her a tight smile . "It''s something very important to me . So I''d like to keep it close with me at all times . "

    Feng Na gave him a funny look . Great . Now she might start thinking that he had some kind of weird fetish .

    Okay! Time to go¡­

    "See you around, Senior Feng Na . "

    He gave Feng Na a parting wave, then made his way towards the back entrance of the academic building . The library was on another block opposite the academic building, just across the campus stadium .

    "Li Yundong!" Feng Na''s voice made him stop .

    <small></small>He turned his head around . "Yeah?"

    Feng Na''s intense stare unnerved him a little, but he didn''t let his difort show .

    "You''re gonna be a great person one day!"

    Li Yundong stared at her for a moment, thenughed . "Why do you say that? It''s so out of the blue . "

    Feng Na waved him off and then shrugged . "No reason . The thought just came to me . "

    "So you decided to, what, yell it across the corridor?"

    Feng Na ced her hands behind her back . "I think a guy like you has a bright future . Maybe¡­ Maybe you''ll be the CEO of somergepany or something . "

    Li Yundongughed out loud . "Now I know you''re just messing with me . Come on . I''m practically half-broke!"

    Feng Na chuckled . "No . I''m not just messing with you . I meant every word . And who knows¡­" A teasing glint formed in her eyes . "Cheng Cheng and I might ask you for job positions in the future . Please don''t turn us away when that happens . "

    "Sure thing . " Li Yundong smirked . "Who am I to say no to freebor?"

    Feng Na giggled . "Well . I have to go to ss now . See ya!" She waved at him . "Oh! And don''t forget toe support me when I give my speech!"

    Li Yundong waved back at her . "I''ll be there . "

    He left the academic after that .

    Apparently, some kind of military drill was taking ce at the stadium . Well, that certainly brought back memories . The drill waspulsory for every freshmen . He remembered going through the whole grueling thing during his first year .

    Young students in green military uniforms swarmed the field . Arge group of them were goose-stepping across the field while amander yelled orders at them . Several students stood around a bunch of mats, watching a hand-to-handbat demonstration given to them by two instructors .

    Li Yundong was halfway across the field when themander yelled amand to stop the foot drill . The cadets clicked their feet together and turned out to face themander .

    The cadets stood at attention, their uniforms drenched in sweat .

    Li Yundong hurried past them, hoping that none of the cadets recognized him .

    "Pst, pst! Isn''t that the guy they were talking about on the forum?"

    "Yo¡­ I think you''re right bro . It''s that legend, Li Yundong! The Hero of Tiannan University!"

    "Dude¡­ What do you reckon he''s carrying behind his back, eh?"

    "That ck thing sticking out of his bag, you mean?"

    "Yeah¡­"

    "Beats me, bro . But it sure looks heavy . Maybe it''s¡ª"

    "SILENCE!!!!"

    Li Yundong slowed to a stop and turned around . Two of the cadets were now down on the ground doing push-ups while themander red down at them . The rest of the cadets were struggling not tough .

    And that was when he saw it .

    One of the cadets, a tall and burly guy, was looking right at him . Li Yundong had never seen the guy before in his life, but the guy was staring at him as though he knew him .

    Wariness crept into Li Yundong''s chest . He ignored the guy and averted his gaze . After that, he crossed the rest of the stadium quickly and headed straight into the library, where he returned his books and borrowed a several new books .

    He paused at the library''s entrance on his way out . Today''s ss wasn''tpulsory, so it was okay for him to skip . He turned around and walked back into the library .

    Then, he found an unupied reading chair and sat down, making sure to keep the Fan of Seven Treasures out of sight just in case it suddenly started acting weird . After that, he pulled out a book and ced it on hisp .

    Admittedly, he could''ve picked a quieter spot . Most of the students in the area were quietly minding their own business except for two students¡ªa man and a woman¡ªwho were whispering harshly at each other .

    A lovers'' quarrel, probably¡­

    Li Yundong ignored them and went back to his book .

    About ten minutes into his reading, Li Yundong was interrupted by some kind of ruckus . He kept his eyes on the book and tried his best to ignore the noise . In hindsight, he should''ve just gone home .

    SMACK!

    There was no mistaking the cause of that loud and crisp sound: someone had just been pped .

    Li Yundong looked up from his book . A woman, the same one who''d been quarreling with her boyfriend earlier, was pounding her fist into a man''s chest .

    "You bastard!" Clearly, the woman had forgone any pretense of obeying library regtions, since she was practically screaming her head off . "You''re breaking up with me? How could you!"

    The man was holding onto his left cheek . That woman must have a mean swing because when the man turned¡ª

    Wait a minute¡­ Isn''t that¡­

    It was that Shenkui guy, the one who got diagnosed with Renal Yin Deficiency the other day .

    Li Yundong hadn''t seen the guy again ever since Su Chan gave him that diagnosis .

    "Y- You pped me¡­ Y- You actually pped me¡­" Shenkui guy sputtered . "Y- You''re crazy!"

    "Yes!" the woman screamed . "Yes, I''m crazy! I must be crazy to fall for a bastard like you!" The woman raised her fist again . "Screw you, you bastard! I''m going to end your life toda¡ª"

    Shenkui guy''s body went limp, then crumpled to the floor a secondter .

 Chapter 205.2

    Chapter 205.2

    <h4>Doctor Li</h4>

    <small></small>Li Yundong''s view of the couple was soon blocked as the students in the library had abandoned their seats and were now forming a crowd around the couple . There were a lot of students at the library since the semester had just begun¡ªwhen most students still bothered with self-studying .

    Students, especially the seniors, preferred to use the library facilities for self-study because the library was rtively quiet . And, it certainly helped that the library was air-conditioned .

    Before long, the whispers grew insistent . The students were freaking out .

    "Oh my God! What''s happening to him?"

    "Call an ambnce!" someone yelled .

    Li Yundong grabbed his backpack from the floor and stood up from the reading chair he''d been sitting in, then quickly moved towards the crowd .

    When Li Yundong got there secondster, Shenkui guy appeared to be having a seizure on the floor . The woman who pped him earlier was kneeling beside him, sobbing and begging him to wake up . White foams emerged from between Shenkui guy''s lips as violent spasms shook his body .

    Whatever was happening to the guy, it didn''t look good at all .

    Li Yundong slung his backpack onto his back, then tapped the shoulder of the guy in front .

    "Run down to the university''s health center," Li Yundong said to the guy . "Ask them to send a medic here or something . "

    That would probably be quicker than waiting for an ambnce .

    The guy nodded and hurried away from the crowd .

    "Excuse me, please," Li Yundong said as he shouldered his way through the crowd . "Coming through . "

    Li Yundong was beside Shenkui Guy in no time . Once there, he crouched down to examine the guy .

    "H- Hey! What are you doing?!" Shenkui Guy''s girlfriend cried out when she saw Li Yundong touching Shenkui Guy .

    "Rx . . . " Li Yundong said in a reassuring tone . "I''m just trying to help . "

    The girl''s face crumpled as she started crying again .

    Before Li Yundong could do or say anything else, a man''s voice rang out .

    "Hey! Don''t crowd his space, you guys! Give him room to breathe!"

    The voice didn''te from the crowd, but from somewhere behind the crowd .

    "Let me through! Let me through!" yelled the voice . "Tsk! Why are you guys still standing around? I told you to give him room! You''re going to suffocate him!"

    When the crowd parted, Li Yundong saw Yan Hua making his way towards him .

    Yan Hua stopped short the moment he saw Li Yundong . And for a split second that their eyes met, Li Yundong could see the surprise in Yan Hua''s eyes .

    Li Yundong looked away and started giving Shenkui Guy a pulse reading .

    From the corner of his eyes, Li Yundong saw Yan Hua crouching down beside him .

    "You know Traditional Chinese Medicine?"

    Li Yundong ignored Yan Hua''s question and focused on Shenkui Guy''s pulse instead .

    <small></small>Hmm . . . Li Yundong frowned . Pulse is weak, but rapid . . .

    Li Yundong stared at Shenkui Guy for a moment . Fortunately, the convulsions had stopped, though the guy was still unconscious . Shenkui Guy''s girlfriend had already wiped away the foam on the guy''s mouth with her handkerchief .

    Based on Shenkui Guy''s pulse alone, Li Yundong would go with Su Chan''s diagnosis of Renal Yin Deficiency, though he wasn''t confident enough to see it as a final diagnosis . After all, he wasn''t nearly as good as Su Chan when it came to Traditional Chinese Medicine, so it was probably best if he looked for more symptoms just to be sure .

    I should check his tongue . . .

    Li Yundong reached out and pulled Shenkui Guy''s jaw downwards .

    Tongue is red and covered with a light coating of fur . . .

    Another symptom of Renal Yin Deficiency .

    "So what''s the diagnosis?" Yan Hua asked again . His tone sounded challenging .

    Li Yundong ignored Yan Hua once again and pressed his palm on top of Shenkui Guy''s head, right over his Baihui . Then, he performed the Qi-control technique that he had learned in order to pass the 7th dan of the Lianqi phase¡ªNeiguan .

    Closing his eyes, Li Yundong mobilized a tiny portion of his Qi into Shenkui Guy''s body and then used it to observe the state of Shenkui Guy''s internal organs .

    Blobs of colors appeared inside his mind . The colors seemed faint and unhealthy . In particr, the ck blob looked so dim that it was barely noticeable .

    ck Qi . . .

    Li Yundong knew from the Five-Organ Pathological Model that Kidney''s Qi was ck in color .

    It was confirmed . This guy''s Renal Yin Deficiency had gotten even worse since Su Chan gave him the diagnosisst semester .

    Li Yundong removed his hand from the top of Shenkui Guy''s head and opened his eyes .

    "You sure you know what you''re doing?" Yan Hua taunted, making no attempts at all to hide the contempt in his eyes . "I doubt you can evene up with a relevant diagnosis . "

    "Aren''t you supposed to be doing your military drills, freshman?" Li Yundong asked casually .

    "I''m on the Special Admissions Program!" Yan Hua snapped . "I''m exempted from the drills . " There was a pause . "Before you start getting any strange ideas¡­ I''m not¡­ I''m not skipping it because I''m some . . . some bookworm! I''m skipping it because there are better ways to make use of my time here . "

    Whatever you say, man . Whatever you say¡­

    Li Yundong arranged Shenkui Guy into a meditative posture, then nced at the woman beside him .

    "Yo, girlfriend! Keep him in this position please . "

    "The guy clearly has Renal Yin Deficiency," Yan Hua snapped, clearly annoyed at being ignored . "All I need is a needle, and I can have him up and awake in no time . "

    Li Yundong froze, then turned to stare at Yan Hua .

    Hmm . . . Acupuncture does work in this case . Plus, it would draw less attention .

    Li Yundong smiled and gestured at Shenkui Guy''s unconscious form, which was now upright¡ªMiss Girlfriend was holding him up nicely .

    "I agree," Li Yundong said with a nod .

    A satisfied smirk formed on Yan Hua''s face, though he didn''t appear to be making any moves to take over Shenkui Guy''s first aid .

    "Well?" Li Yundong raised his brows, then gestured at Shenkui Guy again . "What are you waiting for? Go ahead . Do your acupuncture thing . "

    <small></small>Yan Hua''s smirk faltered . "I didn''t have my needles with me¡­" His eyes widened slightly as though he''d just thought of something . A split secondter, he turned towards the crowd . "Does anyone has a hairpin that I can use?"

    Whispers washed over the crowd .

    "Girls? Hairpin?" Yan Hua tried again . "Anyone?"

    Nobody offered a hairpin .

    Li Yundong turned towards Miss Girlfriend . "Keep him still, okay?"

    The girlfriend nodded weakly .

    Li Yundong rose to his feet and then moved to stand behind Shenkui guy . A few students stepped aside to give him room . The girlfriend shifted her position until she was kneeling on Shenkui Guy''s left side, all the while keeping her hands on his back and shoulder to hold him upright .

    "What kind of game are you ying here?" Yan Hua said angrily . "Stop messing around if you don''t know what you''re doing!"

    Li Yundong ignored Yan Hua and performed the Three-Pronged Flower Gathering technique just like Su Chan had taught him . With his fingers, he applied firm pressure onto four acupoints on Shenkui Guy''s head, and then waited .

    Secondster, there was a soft moan, followed by a gasp . Shenkui Guy stirred and started groping around with his hands like he was panicking . When Shenkui Guy''s hands found his girlfriend''s, he visibly rxed .

    "Whoa! Look! He''s awake! He''s awake!"

    "Holy shit! That''s amazing!"

    "Man¡­ He really is the Hero of Tiannan University¡­"

    "This is gonna end up on the forums again for sure . "

    As soon as Li Yundong removed his fingers from Shenkui Guy''s head, Miss Girlfriend burst into tears and threw herself into Shenkui Guy''s arms .

    "Oh, I''m so sorry, babe! I''m so, so sorry! God, you nearly frightened me to death!"

    Shenkui Guy stroked the woman''s hair and said, "I''m the one at fault here . I¡­ I shouldn''t have tried to break up with you . . . "

    Well, would you look at that? They made up . Li Yundong chuckled in amusement .

    "Alright then . I''m d that everything worked out despite your little lovers'' quarrel back there," Li Yundong said, patting Shenkui Guy''s shoulder . "One word of advice though . " Li Yundong smirked . "Next time either of you wants to kick up a storm? Make sure you do it at a ce other than a library, okay?" Li Yundong lowered his voice conspiratorially . "Coz¡­ you know, this isn''t exactly a filming location for a soap opera . "

    The crowd burst intoughter .

    "O- Oh . . . " Shenkui Guy rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly . "Y- You''re right, of course . . . "

    Li Yundong smiled and patted the guy''s shoulders two more times before stepping aside to give the couple more privacy .

    A secondter, Li Yundong heard Yan Hua''s derisive snort . When he turned, he realized that Yan Hua''s eyes weren''t on him but on Shenkui Guy instead .

    "And my advice to you, pal, is to keep your bedroom activities to a minimum . " Another derisive snort . "At this rate, you''re gonna die young . "

    The crowd burst intoughter once again . Li Yundong was honestly having a bit of a trouble to see what was funny .

    Shenkui Guy was blushing so deeply that he didn''t even look like a guy suffering from poor health . Meanwhile, poor Miss Girlfriend was practically bleeding from the pores of her cheeks .

    Li Yundong nced at Yan Hua and shook his head slightly . F*cking asshole . . .

    Li Yundong looked towards Shenkui Guy and gave him reassuring smile . "Don''t worry, man . You won''t die young . "

    <small></small>Shenkui Guy was staring at him hopefully . "I- I won''t?"

    "No, you won''t," Li Yundong said, then shot a re at Yan Hua . "That''s just an over-exaggeration . "

    Shenkui Guy grinned at his girlfriend . "You heard that, babe? Hah! I won''t die young!"

    "However . . . " Li Yundong gave Shenkui Guy a stern look, then waited until he had Shenkui Guy''s full attention before he continued speaking . "You do have severe Renal Yin Deficiency . Your Kidney''s Qi is too weak and you have insufficient Yuanyang . " Li Yundong paused to let his words sink in . "Although I won''t go as far to say that you''ll die young, what I can say for certain is that you''ll start experiencing symptoms of impotence at a young age . "

    "I- Impotence?!" Shenkui Guy stammered, clearly aghast at Li Yundong''s words . As if on cue, his girlfriend started sobbing again .

    Li Yundong nodded grimly . "I''m afraid so, pal . You''ll run into all kinds of problems soon . Early aging . Reduced libido . Erectile dysfun¡ª"

    Shenkui Guy raised his palm . "Okay! Okay! I . . . I get the idea . . . "

    The crowd burst intoughter again .

    Li Yundong adjusted the straps of his backpack and backed away from the couple . "You take good care of yourself, man . "

    Li Yundong turned around to leave .

    "Hey! Boss! Wait!"

    The next thing Li Yundong knew, Shenkui Guy was on his feet and pulling him away from the crowd .

    "You can''t just up and leave after dropping a bomb like that! Geez!" Shenkui Guy hissed .

    Li Yundong raised his brows . Dropping a bomb? Uh¡­ Hello? You were given the same diagnosis months ago .

    Shenkui Guy groaned into his palms . "Ugh . How am I supposed to show my face around here again . . . ?"

    "What do you want me to do, man?" Li Yundong sighed . "My girlfriend gave you the same diagnosisst semester, remember? She warned you to ease up on your sex life . But you didn''t listen . "

    Shenkui Guy groaned into his palms once again .

    Li Yundong decided to take pity on the guy .

    "Look, do you understand what happened earlier?" Li Yundong asked . "Do you know why you passed out and went into a seizure the moment you became emotionally distressed?"

    Shenkui Guy lowered his hands from his face and shook his head .

    "That''s because you''ve lost too much of your Essence through ejaction," Li Yundong exined . "Losing Essence leads to weak Qi, and one of the things your Qi does is to promote blood flow . " Li Yundong paused for a few beats . "Just now, you passed out due to insufficient blood flow into your brain . " Li Yundong sighed . "Just don''t let things get out of hand, okay? What if you passed out while you''re driving? Ever thought about that? If things get worse, premature death might not be too far from your doorstep . "

    Li Yundong turned around to walk away . Again, Shenkui Guy wouldn''t let him . He clung onto Li Yundong''s arm as though it was a lifeline .

    "Boss! You''ve gotta help me! Please! Help me," Shenkui Guy said . "Is there . . . Um¡­ Do you know of any remedies?"

    Li Yundong thought for a moment . "Do you have a pen and piece of paper?"

    Shenkui Guy''s expression turned hopeful again . "Please gimme a moment! I''ll go get them right away . "

    A minuteter, Shenkui Guy returned with a pen and a piece of paper torn off a page of a notebook . Li Yundong took the pen and wrote down a list of some kidney-strengthening herbs that he knew . He even added in a few general rmendations based on the Canon of the Yellow Thearch .

    "You know there''s this old saying," Li Yundong said when he handed the piece of paper to Shenkui Guy .

    Thetter took the paper and folded it carefully . "What saying?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "When ites to general health, nutrition triumphs over medicine, mental health triumphs over nutrition, and physical health triumphs over mental health . "

    Shenkui Guy slid the paper into his pocket and then stared at Li Yundong nkly .

    "You . . . " Li Yundong sighed heavily "You didn''t understand a single thing I said, did you?"

    Shenkui Guy shook his head . "I kinda agree that nutrition triumphs over medicine . But mental health?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "Here . Let me exin to you what I mean . "

    Shenkui Guy shared a nce with his girlfriend, then nodded .

    "Traditional Chinese Medicine speaks of the seven emotions and the six sensory pleasures . " Li Yundong nced at Shenkui Guy . "Ever heard of that?"

    Shenkui Guy nodded but said nothing .

    "Well, ording to Traditional Chinese Medicine, all those things are bad for your health," Li Yundong continued, "which is why it is important to be mentally healthy and stable . But you might wonder why it triumphs over nutrition when ites to maintaining general well-being . Well . Let me give you a simple example . " Li Yundong raised a ringer . "Suppose that a person''s mind is f*cked up, like they have a lot of emotional issues and all that crap . Chances are that they would turn to stuff like alcohol or even drugs to dull that emotional pain, because they aren''t mentally strong enough to deal with their emotions the healthy way . In mild cases, they might end up overeating and eventually be obese . Look, the point is, if you''re mentally unhealthy, then you''re not in the right mindset to lead a healthy life . " Li Yundong smiled, then shrugged . "Sure, you could consume highly nutritious foods for every meal, but that''s not gonna do much for your health if you swallow a bunch of junk the moment you feel stressed out . Being mentally healthy means having the ability to handle stress and emotions, you see?"

    A look of understanding formed on Shenkui Guy''s face . "That . . . That actually makes sense . . . " Then, his eyes went wide . "Wait, what about thest part? The part about physical health and mental health . "

    "Well, that one''s kinda obvious, isn''t it?" Li Yundong said with a smile . "How can you be mentally healthy when you''re sick all the time? If your body feels like shit every day, you would probably end up depressed . "

    "Oh . "

    "Even if you''re happy and you aren''t physically ill, you might still end up obese as well if you aren''t careful . "

    "Right . "

    "Which is why exercise is so important," Li Yundong added .

    Shenkui Guy shared a teasing grin with his girlfriend .

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes . "Oh get your minds out of the gutter, both of you," he said . "By exercise, I don''t mean doing the horizontal tango . " Li Yundong pointed a finger at Shenkui Guy''s face . "In fact, too much sex is what got you here in the first ce!"

    Shenkui Guy blushed . "So . . . Um . . . Should I hit the weight room from now on?"

    "It would be nice if you can," Li Yundong said . "But you don''t have to lift weights to experience the benefits of exercise . Just go for a ten-minute walk or a slow jog or something . Preferably about an hour after your meals . " Li Yundong chuckled . "Which reminds me of another old saying . They say that if you take a hundred steps after your meals every day, you get to live to ny-nine . " He shrugged . "Don''t really know if it''s true, but it does emphasize on the importance of exercise . "

    "Got it, Boss!" Shenkui Guy beamed . "Go for a light jog or a walk after meals!"

    Li Yundong smiled . "No biggie . "

    Shenkui Guy gave him a strange look . "Why aren''t you running your own clinic right now, Boss?"

    Truth be told, the idea did ur to him earlier when Feng Na was talking about career prospects .

    "Well¡­ I can''t exactlypete with modern medicine, can I?" Li Yundong smiled . "Not a lot of people believe in Traditional Chinese Medicine these days . "

    But at least he would be able to make a living, so it was definitely something that he would consider doing in the future . Plus, he didn''t even need an actual clinic; he could just do travelling consultations . Heck, he bet he could make a lot of people feel better just by performing the Three-Pronged Flower Gathering technique alone .

    Note to self: study more medical texts .

    "It might not be popr now, Boss, but I''m sure it will be once you start poprizing it!" Shenkui Guy said excitedly . "I mean, you already have the skills . If they really work, then there''s no reason why they won''t be a big hit . "

    Li Yundong froze and stared at the guy for a moment . Then, he smiled and patted the guy''s shoulder . The guy was right, of course . He could definitely make it as TCM practitioner if he wanted to . After all, being a Cultivator had already given him an edge over other practitioners of the same field . The best part about it was that he could help keep the Chinese culture alive while earning a living at the same time .

    Someday, maybe . Someday . . .

 Chapter 206

    Chapter 206

    <h4>Cocky Freshman vs ssy Senior</h4>

    <small></small>Li Yundong huh?" the old librarian mumbled to himself as he watched the man walk out of the library . "That''s the kid''s name . . . "

    Every time the kid came in here to borrow new books, the old man never really got around to ask for his name . Their conversations never involved pleasantries anyway; they always turned into some kind of intellectual debate about the contents of the books that the kid was returning .

    The old man followed Li Yundong with his eyes until thetter reached the elevator lobby . A momentter, the old man detected movements beside him . Someone else was approaching the counter he was sitting behind .

    It was his grandson, Yan Hua .

    "What were you staring at, Grandfather?" Xiao Hua was frowning as he approached .

    The old man pointed at the library''s entrance . Li Yundong was still waiting for the elevator .

    Xiao Hua leaned his side against the counter and nced in the indicated direction .

    There was a sound of surprise, and it didn''t sound pleasant .

    "You know that guy, grandfather?"

    The old librarian looked towards his grandson, whose eyes held so much hatred, disdain, and jealousy .

    The old librarian sighed inwardly . This spoiled brat never learns . . .

    "That''s the guy I told you the other day over the phone," the old librarian said, then chuckled . "I told you he''s good, Xiao Hua . " The old librarian raised his brows . "I suppose you believe me now, eh?"

    Xiao Hua''s expression turned into a scowl . "What''s there to believe in? I truly don''t see what''s so good about him . "

    The old librarian chuckled . "Tell that to the pretty boy he just brought back to life earlier . " He jerked his thumb towards his left .

    Xiao Hua snorted . "A coincidence, that''s all it is . A coincidence . "

    After that, Xiao Hua stormed off .

    The old librarian shook his head . "That kid is too prideful for his own good . . . "

    The old librarian followed his grandson''s movements towards an empty table in the library . He sighed . "He will fall this time . And he will fall hard . "

    ***

    The marching drills had stopped by the time Li Yundong exited the library building and stepped into the scorching hot sun . Most of the cadets now sat in groups under severalrge, shady trees near the academic building, which was located on the opposite end of the field . Li Yundong descended the porch steps of the library building and made his way towards the field . He would have to cross the field to get back to the academic building .

    A chorus of cheers drew Li Yundong''s attention towards the field . The cadets, who had beenzing around under the trees earlier, were now on their feet, and they all seemed engrossed in something that was taking ce on the field . A few cadets had even abandoned theirfortable spots under the shade to indulge their curiosity .

    The cadets were looking towards the area where the mats were set up, where the hand-to-handbat demo had taken ce earlier . Even from afar, Li Yundong could tell what it was that had gotten the cadets so excited: a sparring match was about to take ce .

    As Li Yundong stepped onto therge field, he zoomed in with his telescopic vision .

    What he saw surprised him a little .

    A student sparring with an instructor? That''s a little bit unusual .

    <small></small>Usually, students would only spar with fellow students, not with one of the instructors¡ªunless, of course, the student was looking to get his ass kicked .

    He wondered which student had the balls to take on¡ª

    Li Yundong stopped short .

    The instructor''s sparring opponent was none other than that burly guy who had given Li Yundong the death stare earlier .

    Well . Whatever .

    Li Yundong resumed his journey across the field, but kept his telescopic vision activated as he walked . Admittedly, he was a bit curious to see how the sparring match would turn out .

    The instructor was a dark-skinned man about the same height as Li Yundong; fit, albeit a bit too skinny in Li Yundong''s opinion . Definitely too skinny to be taking on his burly student . Not that anybody cares about weight sses on the battlefield .

    The action began before Li Yundong was even halfway across the field . Burly Dude charged straight at the instructor and went for a takedown . The nimble instructor leaped aside just in time to avoid being taken down .

    Li Yundong frowned . That''s an odd way to fight . . .

    Usually, when two experiencedbatants engage in a hand-to-hand fight and neither of them were in a position of disadvantage, they would approach each other slowly, which would give them the opportunity to observe their opponent to look for openings they can exploit .

    The more agile fighter will try to circle around their opponent in order to find a chance to attack their opponent''s back . The less agile fighter, on the other hand, will favor close-quarter techniques by constantly keeping their opponent within their striking range . Nobody would do what Burly Dude just did¡ªcharging in blindly without even testing out their opponent''s strength and agility .

    Burly Dude charged again, this time aiming a punch at the instructor''s face .

    The instructor dodged the punch by taking arge step backwards .

    Clumsy though it might seem, Li Yundong could tell that the punch packed a lot of power, which was strange considering this was supposed to be a friendly spar, not an all-out brawl .

    By the time Li Yundong was approaching the mats, he got the impression that the military instructor was having the upper hand despite his smaller frame . Based on all the martial art books and videos that he''d been studying, Li Yundong would also guess that Burly Dude was a practitioner of Wushu . A few of his straight punches wereunched from the hips, which you''ll never seen in boxing . Not to mention those flowery kicks he had thrown a couple of times . There was also a matter of the stances that Burly Dude had used, which Li Yundong recognized as the Ma Bu, or Horse Stance .

    As Li Yundong skirted along the side of the mats, he saw Burly Dude throwing yet another reckless punch at the instructor''s chest .

    The military instructor once again impressed Li Yundong with his skills by deftly side-stepping Burly Dude''s punch and then grabbing Burly Dude''s arm . The instructor then rotated his body, dropping his center of gravity while pushing his backside into Burly Dude''s hips . During all that, the instructor never let go of Burly Dude''s arm .

    A struggle broke out with both fighters grunting and panting . The instructor was clearly trying to execute a judo hip throw, whereas Burly Dude was trying to prevent that by using his size to his advantage .

    Li Yundong kept walking .

    This fight was clearly over . The instructor had the upper hand since he had a lower center of gravity . It wouldn''t be long before he found the leverage on Burly Dude''s hips to execute the judo hip throw . And once Burly Dude was down on the ground, the instructor could easily end the fight via a submission¡ªa simple arm bar from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu would have Burly Dude tapping out in seconds .

    Li Yundong looked away from the mats and smiled to himself . The whole situation kind of reminded him of that time when he had stupidly epted Zhao Yujian''s challenge to a fight despite knowing that he was severely outssed in terms of skill .

    God, I was such an idiot back then¡­

    Li Yundong chuckled at himself .

    But still . A cadet taking on an instructor? The guy had to have some guts to¡ª

    "HYAAAAHHHH!!!"

    That loud roar made Li Yundong turn around . And when he did, he saw something that took him byplete surprise: the military instructor had just been flung off ground like a ragdoll and was now flying across the mats with both his legs pointing towards the sky .

    Li Yundong moved his feet in an instant . He ran back towards the mats and then dove forward, hoping to catch the instructor before the poor guy crashed head first into the ground and end up with a devastating neck injury .

    <small></small>Shit! Can''t reach him in time!

    Li Yundong extended his arm and then mobilized his Zhenqi, shaping it into some kind of invisible scoop . The Qi Kinesis slowed the instructor''s fall just in time for Li Yundong to jump up and then grab the instructor''s body in midair . By the time Li Yundongnded on his feet with the instructor leaning against his side, the field was roaring with the other cadets'' cheers .

    "Whoaa!!!!"

    "Feng Ji!!! That''s so cool!!!"

    "Holy shit, Feng Ji!!! You kicked his ass!"

    Li Yundong released the instructor and then readjusted the straps of his backpack . Turning his head, he did a quick check to make sure that the Fan of Seven Treasures was still there .

    "You alright, sir?" Li Yundong said, pressing a hand on the instructor''s shoulder .

    "Yeah, I am . " The instructor nodded gratefully . "Thanks to you, kid . " The instructor looked at Li Yundong strangely . "That was a nice save . "

    Li Yundong answered with a smile and a casual shrug .

    The cadets'' uproar continued .

    "Feng Ji! Feng Ji! Feng Ji!"

    "Brother Feng is awesome, isn''t he?" said one of the cadets who was standing a few feet away from the instructor .

    "Of course he is! Don''t you know? He''s the country''s Wushu champion!"

    "No shit?"

    "Tsk! Why would I lie? Just look him up on the inte!"

    "Then what the f*ck is he doing here? Shouldn''t he enroll in a sports college or something?"

    "Yeah . . . Not so sure about that, brah . But I heard he''s on the Special Admissions program . "

    "Cocky bastard," the instructor grunted . "I thought I had him . " Suddenly, he shot a sheepish nce at Li Yundong . "I think I just made a fool of myself in front of those punks . "

    "Don''t be too hard on yourself, sir . " Li Yundong smiled at the instructor . "You only lost because you fought him fairly . "

    Indeed, if groin kicks or eye gouges were an option, Li Yundong would put his money on the instructor any day .

    "And you''re both in different weight sses," Li Yundong continued . "He''s a heavyweight, and you''re probably a¡­" Li Yundong appraised the instructor for a moment . "I''m guessing you¡¯re a bantamweight? Or maybe a featherweight¡­?"

    "Featherweight," said the instructor .

    "There . " Li Yundong smiled . "There''s really no shame in losing to a heavyweight . In fact, I''m actually impressed that you could hold your own against the guy . " Li Yundong jerked his chin towards the mats .

    "Ah . A fellow martial artist, I see . "

    Li Yundong could feel the instructor''s eyes appraising him . Li Yundong turned and gave the man a strange look . So he doesn''t know about me . That''s a nice change . Well, the guy was probably too busy conducting military drills to bother with the stupid university forums .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat and gave the man a casual shrug .

    <small></small>The military instructor chuckled, then shook his head slightly . "Yeah . What am I even saying? You definitely knowbat," he said . "It''s written all over your posture . Not to mention all thosebat jargon you were throwing around seconds ago . "

    Li Yundong smiled . "Well, I suppose I know a little bit . "

    That is if the definition of knowingbat extends to reading books on boxing, judo, Jiu-Jitsu, and JKD .

    The cadets'' cheers suddenly quieted down .

    A secondter, Li Yundong knew why: Feng Ji was walking towards them .

    At first, Li Yundong thought the guy hade to apologize to the instructor . But as soon as Feng Ji got close, Li Yundong realized just how wrong he''d been . The asshole didn''t even spare the instructor a single nce; instead, his eyes were trained on Li Yundong the whole time .

    And those eyes weren''t apologetic¡ªthey were taunting .

    Li Yundong sighed inwardly . This guy was clearly another one of those "challengers" with a chip on their shoulders, one of those attention-seekers with something to prove and about a dozen egocentric axes to grind .

    Perhaps there was a ring of truth after all in what Cheng Cheng had jokingly told him: trouble would find him even if he tried to keep a low profile .

    Not that he could actually keep a low profile when people were constantly posting shit about him on the forums .

    Feng Ji stopped at the edge of the mat and continued to stare at Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong met the guy''s stare for a moment, wondering what he was up to . As the death stare continued, those eyes glinted challengingly .

    Then, Li Yundong wanted tough at himself .

    He was a frigging Cultivator at the Shentong phase . He was the Jindan''s Heir, for crying out loud .

    Why the heck was he even bothering with such trivial nonsense?

    Li Yundong didn''t miss the look of puzzlement in Feng Ji''s eyes when he answered Feng Ji''s taunting smile with a graceful smile of his own . Nope . Not getting in your face, pal . Not today . Not ever .

    Despite its grueling nature, Li Yundong was immensely grateful for his journey to Tibet . If Su Chan''s appearance was the one thing that changed his life, then his Tibetan pilgrimage would be the thing that changed his soul .

    He was a changed man after that trip, both inside and out .

    Those moments he''d shared with Changbag, Meiduo, and Zi Yuan had made him realize that there were far more important things in life than engaging in these meaningless scuffles just to feed his own ego .

    The fact was that Li Yundong knew; he knew just how much power he now wielded, knew how much capacity for destruction his hands were now capable of .

    There was no need to prove himself to anyone .

    Li Yundong broke his eye contact with Feng Ji and turned to give the military instructor a polite nod .

    "You have a good day, sir . "

    The military instructor returned his nod and even gave him a salute . For a fleeting moment, Li Yundong caught a glimpse of the approval and respect in the battle-hardened instructor''s eyes . And that, to Li Yundong, was far more fulfilling than winning ten bouts of meaningless brawls .

    Li Yundong realized that his had forgotten to deactivate his Eryue when he could still hear the cadets'' chatter despite having walked quite some distance away from the mats .

    "Hey, do you guys reckon that the whole disy just now was Brother Feng''s way of issuing a challenge?"

    "Tsk! What kind of stupid question is that, man? Of course it was a challenge . Didn''t you see the look Brother Feng was giving the guy when the guy walked away from him just now?"

    "Yeah . . . He looked like a hungry beast ready to pounce . . . "

    "I think he even cracked his fist a few times . . . "

    "The Legendary Hero of Tiannan University . . . " There was a derisive snort . "I bet he''s just another coward . "

    Li Yundong smiled to himself and kept walking .

    I don''t expect you morons to understand .

    This wasn''t him being a coward at all . In fact, it was the opposite; this was him having the courage to walk away from literally a free opportunity to show off his strength .

    If he really wanted to, he could level the entire campus within seconds, and all it would take was a simple, six-syble mantra .

    But then what would be the point in unleashing that kind of power?

    None .

    Other than to feed his own vanity and ego, there was no point at all in doing that .

    For wielders of immense power, hubris is usually the first sign that they''ve been corrupted by the power they wield . This was what he''d learned over the past few months .

    Oh, he had learned that lesson alright .

    He had learned it the hard way, and his impending divine punishment was a proof of that .

    During those long jogs between Tibetan towns, he had subjected himself to long bouts of self-reflection, had looked deep into his soul in order to understand his exact motivations for killing He Shao that night . And it was during then that he realized something crucial: amidst all that anger and thatpelling need for vengeance, there was a small part of him that thought he had all the right to punish He Shao, that he actually had the right to act on behalf of the Heavens .

    Then, after his long conversation with Zi Yuan at Tingri, he realized that Meiduo and Zi Yuan were both urate in their assessments of what motivated him to end He Shao''s life .

    Yes, it was true that he had been willing to sacrifice his own life and suffer the karmic consequences of murder to spare others from He Shao''s evil . Meiduo was right in that regard .

    But Zi Yuan was right too . There was a moment where he had sumbed to hubris . He could see it clearly now; the truth, ring right back at him . There had been a moment when he actually thought that he shouldn''t be punished at all for killing He Shao; he had even whined andined to Su Chan afterwards about how unfair his divine punishment was .

    This is so unfair! Why do I have to die just because I helped rid this world of an evil man!!

    Those were his exact words, the words of a self-righteous man, not of a man who is willing to take responsibility for his actions .

    None of it mattered now, of course .

    He had learned from his mistake and grown as a result .

    And he was grateful, grateful to Zi Yuan, to Ao Wushuang, and to Su Chan for all the help and guidance that they had given him over the past few months .

    Perhaps Ao Wushuang''s sess in dying his divine punishment¡ªand also her promise to help him survive the actual punishment¡ªwas the Heavens'' way of giving him a second chance? Perhaps the Heavens wanted him to redeem himself by building his character and bing a better man?

    Who knows .

    Whatever the Heavens had in store for him, and whatever his future held, there wasn''t a single doubt in his mind how he should begin his path towards redemption .

    He would begin by epting his punishment like a man .

 Chapter 207

    Chapter 207

    <h4>Guest Star</h4>

    <small></small>"Li Yundong!!"

    Not even the loud din permeating the canteen, it seemed, could impede Feng Na''s voice from making its presence known . Li Yundong turned his head and saw Feng Na walking up to him from the end of the queue .

    Li Yundong smiled . "Yes, senior?"

    "Hey!" Feng Na stopped beside him . "Look, this morning I forgot to inform you that¡ª"

    "It''s your turn now, buddy," said the guy behind him in the queue .

    Li Yundong nced at the counter, which was now unupied . The guy in front of him was walking away with his tray .

    Li Yundong smiled at Feng Na . "Let''s grab some food first, then we''ll talk . "

    Ten minutester, they found a table and sat down with their trays .

    "So . What did you forget to inform me?"

    "Oh, right . Um . . , you see, the thing is¡ª"

    Feng Na suddenly stopped talking and stared at him strangely .

    Li Yundong lowered his spoon from his mouth . "What?"

    Feng Na exhaled sharply .

    "Okay . Seriously . What is up with you?" Feng Na asked, waving her hand over his tray .

    Li Yundong nced down at his tray and studied it for a moment . He didn''t see anything weird there; it was just food .

    "I don''t understand . "

    Feng Na frowned . "You just . . . You''re . . . I don''t know . It''s like you¡¯ve be a different person . Even the way you eat ispletely different . " Feng Na waved her hand about . "You used to just gobble down everything . But now, you''re eating like you''re some sophisticated princess from a noble bloodline . "

    Li Yundongughed at Feng Na''s description, then stoppedughing when he saw that Feng Na wasn''tughing with him . She wasn''t even smiling .

    He cleared his throat . "Come on . It''s not that big of a deal . " He shrugged . "It''s just a healthier way to eat, that''s all . "

    "Seriously, pal . What on earth happened to you during the summer break?" Feng Na said . "First, your appearance changed . Then you started carrying this strange object around in your bag . And now even the way you''re eating is different?"

    Suddenly, Feng Na''s eyes went wide . "Did¡­" She paused to give him a tentative nce . "Did something happened between you and Su Chan?"

    Li Yundong could feel his brows rising to his hairline, though he said nothing .

    Feng Na cleared her throat . "I- I mean, you guys were usually seen together whenever you were on campus . But she hasn''t been around since the start of this semester . And then you were suddenly this changed man¡­"

    "So what are you saying?" Li Yundong smiled . "That Su Chan and I broke up, and then in order to nurse my broken heart, I started walking around campus with a bulky object on my back?"

    "Okay . It does sound a bit ridiculous when you put it that way¡­"

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Su Chan and I are fine . "

    Granted, they hadn''t been seeing much of each other ofte, but this was probably how this long-distance thingy worked .

    "Oh . That''s good¡­" Feng Na cleared her throat . "I mean, that''s good to know . "

    "As for these changes in me¡­" Li Yundong lowered his spoon and chopsticks onto his tray, then smiled . "It''s no big deal . I''ve just decided to pick up a few new habits, that''s all . "

    Such as maximizing bonding time with a magical weapon that could probably tear down this entire building in seconds¡­

    "New habits¡­" Feng Na eyed him skeptically . "Right . "

    "Ever wondered why we should all eat slowly?" Li Yundong asked, steering the conversation away .

    "Better for digestion, I guess?" Feng Na said .

    "True," Li Yundong said with a nod . "But why is it better for digestion if we slow down when we eat?" He shrugged . "After all, the food still ends up in the stomach . "

    <small></small>Feng Na chuckled . "Who do you think I am? A kid?" She rolled her eyes . "It''s easier for food to be absorbed if it''s chewed into smaller pieces . "

    "That exnation is correct . But¡­" Li Yundong raised a finger . "It''s iplete . "

    Feng Na frowned in confusion .

    "Your exnation only touched on one of the key points," Li Yundong rified . "There are other important points too . "

    Feng Na''s frown deepened . "What other points are there?"

    Li Yundong smiled and lowered his finger . "Here . Let me ask you a few more questions . How do you think the stomach carries out its digestive functions? And what about the intestines? How do they work?"

    "What? That''s it? Those are your questions?" Feng Na snorted, then shot him an incredulous look . "But the questions are so simple!"

    Li Yundong raised his brows . "Then by all means . Please share your insights on how the human digestive system work . "

    "When food enters the stomach," Feng Na said as though she knew the answer by heart, "food will be churned and broken down into smaller pieces via the contraction of the gastric muscles . And then the stomach lining will start secreting enzymes and stomach acid to help the digestion process . After that, everything will be mixed together . "

    "Okay . " Li Yundong nodded approvingly . "And what about the small intestines?"

    Feng Na looked a bit offended at the question . "That''s where the absorption of nutrients will take ce, of course . "

    Li Yundong smiled . "Then do you know what allows the gastric muscles to contract?"

    A puzzled look formed on Feng Na''s face . "Huh? You mean like some kind of secret ingredient?"

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Well, sort of . "

    Feng Na went silent in thought . Momentster, a teasing grin spread across her face . "Wei Dongli . " (T/N: Wei Dongli is a brand of some kind of yogurt drink; the author is using this as an idea of a joke because Wei means stomach, and Dongli means impetus, motivation, or driving force, which fits the context because they were talking about what drives the stomach muscles to work; like I said, the author''s intent is to use it as a joke)

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Did you want to work in a TV station so badly that you spent time studying product advertisements?"

    Feng Naughed . "Okay . Fine . I give up . What''s this supposed secret ingredient . . . " Feng Na''s eyes went wide . "Oh! Blood!" She looked towards Li Yundong, her eyes gleaming with excitement . "It''s blood, right?"

    "Bingo," Li Yundong said with a nod . "And do you know what drives blood movement?"

    "Who do you take me for? A three-year-old?" Feng Na red at Li Yundong . "The pumping of the heart of course!"

    "Okay, okay¡­" Li Yundong raised his palms defensively . "I guess I should''ve worded that question differently . " He lowered his hands and cleared his throat . "What I meant to ask is what improves blood flow and cirction?"

    Feng Na stared at him nkly .

    "Okay fine . I''ll just tell you," Li Yundong said . "So . ording to Traditional Chinese Medicine, that''s one of the functions of our Qi . "

    Feng Na gave him a skeptical look . "Uh-huh . Qi . Right . So what does that have to do with the way we eat?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "Okay . Let''s try an experiment . "

    Apparently, that managed to pique Feng Na''s interest as she suddenly leaned forward and stared at him expectantly .

    "Try this . " Li Yundong pulled in a deep breath, sucking in as much air as he could .

    Feng Na frowned in confusion . "What? You mean take a breath?"

    Li Yundong released his breath and nodded . "Yes . Take one big gulp of air, as much as you can . "

    Feng Na mimicked his earlier actions, then exhaled after a few seconds .

    "Well, that''s it . . . " Feng Na said . "What''s the point you''re trying to make?"

    "Patience, patience . . . " Li Yundong said with a smile .

    Feng Na narrowed her eyes . "You''re just messing me, aren''t you?"

    "No, I''m not . " Li Yundong chuckled . "So . Breathing is important for life, correct?"

    "Of course . "

    <small></small>"But there is only a limited volume of air you can breathe in every time, right?"

    Feng Na nodded, though she still looked confused .

    Li Yundong smiled . "You were right when you said that chewing your food into smaller pieces helps digestion . But let''s take the exnation one step further . Let us exin¡ªfrom a Traditional Chinese Medicine point of view¡ªhow chewing your food into smaller pieces can help digestion . "

    Feng Na stared at him quietly, hanging on his every word .

    "Okay . So we all agree that breathing is necessary for life, and that there is a limit to the total volume of air we can breathe into our system each day . And now, let''s apply that analogy to Qi . " Li Yundong paused for a moment . "Qi is absolutely vital to life, but there is also a limited amount of Qi we can produce each day . Having said that, it should be obvious that there is also a limited amount of Qi avable to us in our lifetime . " Li Yundong raised a finger . "But how does this rte to digestion, then? Well, the thing is, you see . . . Every time your stomach muscles work to break down food, your body will expend a small amount of Qi and blood for the task . But what happens when you don''t chew your food properly? Well . Your stomach''s gonna have to work harder to do the job, which means more Qi will have to be expended . And if too much Qi is expended for digestion, there won''t be enough for other bodily functions . " Li Yundong chuckled when a funny imagery came to mind . "It''s a bit like trying to fix a leak on a castle''s brick wall when you''ve already run out of bricks or any other substitute materials for the job . " Heughed again . "Imagine tearing down the wall on the castle''s east side to fix a broken wall on the castle''s west side . It''s silly . " Li Yundong waved his hand . "Anyway . I digressed . Where was I . . . Ah . Over-expenditure of Qi for digestion . Right . This is exactly why those who gobble down their food when they are young tend to experience health problems during theirter years . The way they eat leads to Qi insufficiency . You see? Everything in the human body is interconnected¡ª What?"

    Feng Na was staring at him with wide eyes .

    Li Yundong smiled . "What''s the matter? You look like you''ve just seen a ghost . "

    "Nothing, it''s just . . . " Feng Na shook her head . Then, she smiled and pressed her palms together . "You sound like a legit practitioner of TCM, you know? Or some kind of Taoist priest . "

    Li Yundong chuckled at the Taoist priest remark .

    "I gotta be honest, Zhenren Li . . . "

    Li Yundong raised a brow at the Zhenren title .

    "I was quite skeptical back then¡­"

    "Back then?"

    "I mean when they imed that Su Chan had gotten all her medical knowledge from you . "

    Li Yundong stared at her for a moment . "And where did you hear that from?"

    Feng Na waved her hand casually . "Some thread on the forum mentioned something about Su Chan scolding a bunch of guys in front of a crowd and then giving out free diagnoses afterwards . "

    Li Yundongughed . Funny how he''d just run into one of the "fortunate" recipients of Su Chan''s diagnoses .

    "But now, after hearing that little lecture yours, I think I''m starting to believe it . "

    Li Yundong just smiled and said nothing . That wasn''t true back then, when Su Chan was giving those diagnoses . But at least it was true now after he''d read all those ancient texts .

    Suddenly, Feng Na shoved her palm in front of his face .

    "Well, Zhenren Li! How about you give me a free diagnosis?"

    Li Yundong leaned away from her palm and said, "You''re not even sick . What do you need a diagnosis for?" He chuckled . "And besides, why are you showing me your palm? That''s palm reading, not pulse reading . "

    Feng Na grinned . "A palm reading sounds great too!"

    "Seriously? You believe in all that fortune-telling stuff?" Li Yundong pushed Feng Na''s palm away and smiled . "You better be careful or you''ll get swindled . "

    Feng Na raised a brow challengingly . "You saying you''re a conman, then?"

    Li Yundong schooled his features and feigned a dignified look . "Of course not," he said . "I''m a true seer, a legitimate oracle . Now . Tell me which aspect of your life do you wish me to envision?" Li Yundong raised a brow . "Does it perhaps have something to do with your career? Or marriage?"

    Feng Naughed . "Why not just tell me both?"

    "Alright then . " Li Yundong cleared his throat and closed his eyes . After a few seconds of silence, he opened one eye and sneaked a peek: Feng Na was staring at him expectantly, apparently very eager to have her fortune told .

    Li Yundongughed . "I was kidding! Geez . What, do you expect me to bring out a crystal ball or something?"

    Feng Na''s face fell, then she curled her lips . "Fake Zhenren," she mumbled .

    "Alright, alright . Enough," Li Yundong said, picking up his spoon . "I know you''re just stalling . You wanted to talk to me about something just now . Wait, let me guess . " He raised his brows . "You need a favor from me . "

    Feng Na smacked her own forehead . "Oh, right! I actually forgot . . . "

    "You forgot? Wow . Such great memory you have . " Li Yundong ate a spoonful of rice .

    "It''s all your fault . " Feng Na snorted . "I wouldn''t have forgotten if you didn''t fool around with me just now . "

    Li Yundong choked on his rice .

    <small></small>"Tsk! Stop saying . . . " He nced around and lowered his voice into a hiss . "Will you please just watch what you say in public?"

    A blush spread across Feng Na''s cheeks . "Y- You''re the only one whose mind went to the gutter!"

    Li Yundong nced around and saw a few girls hiding their blushes . Apparently, Feng Na had noticed it too, as her own blush deepened further .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "What did you want to inform me?"

    Feng Na suddenly looked sheepish . "Um . . . You know the weing dinner party for the freshmen is in a few days, right?"

    "Uh-huh . "

    "Well . . . I need you toe to the rehearsal . " Feng Na finished thest part of her sentence in a rush .

    "Nope," Li Yundong said in a heartbeat . "Ain''t gonna happen . "

    Feng Na''s face fell . "Why?"

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes . "I said I''d only agree to do a performance if you get elected as the student council president . " He red at her from across the table . "The polling hasn''t even started yet!"

    Feng Na gave him a sly grin . "Don''t worry about that . I''m pretty confident about my chances . "

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes .

    Feng Na cleared her throat . "Like I said, I''ll definitely win . Which means you''ll have to perform eventually . " Feng Na pointed a finger at his face, then grinned smugly . "Because a promise is a promise . "

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes even further .

    "And since your performance is inevitable," Feng Na continued, clearly ignoring Li Yundong''s scowl, "it''s prudent that you rehearse the performance at least once . "

    "Nope . Not buying it . " Li Yundong smirked . "You have to win the elections first, sorry . "

    Feng Na pressed her palms together and shot him a pleading look . "Please . . . ?"

    "No . "

    "Please . . . Please help me out?" she begged . "This is important to me . "

    "Uh-huh¡­ Why is it so important?"

    "Because they expect us, the seniors, to put on a good show this year!" Feng Na said in a desperate tone .

    "Then give them a good show," Li Yundong said . "Why does it have to involve me?"

    Feng Na gave him a look that clearly said: are you seriously asking me that?

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes . Goddamn forums .

    "At least tell me what the performance is about," he gritted out, then massaged his temples .

    Feng Na beamed at him . "We''ll be doing a stage y!"

    "What kind of stage y?"

    If she say rock-smashing, then I swear God¡­

    Feng Na raised her finger and held it there .

    What was she waiting for? Drumrolls?

    Li Yundong gave her an eye roll instead .

    "The onstage adaptation of Chinese Pdin!" Feng Na announced with a triumphant grin . "Directed by me, of course!"

    Li Yundong leaned back in surprise . "But . . . Chinese Pdin is a big too long, isn''t it?"

    Feng Na chuckled . "Of course we won''t be acting out the whole thing, silly . We''ll just pick one of the scenes . "

    "Which scene?"

    Feng Na grinned again . "That scene where the master swordsman took Zhao Ling''er away . "

    "Wait a minute . . . " Li Yundong narrowed his eyes . "Don''t tell me¡­" Li Yundong red at her . "You want me to y Li Xiaoyao!"

    Feng Na burst into giggles . "Why not? I mean you share the same surname, right?"

    "No . If it''s Li Xiaoyao, then I refuse . "

    Feng Na frowned . "Why?"

    "Coz it''s embarrassing!" Li Yundong said . "And his story is too tragic . I''ll probably have to cry onstage, which is something that I won''t do . "

    Feng Naughed . "Fair enough . Well, in that case you don''t have to worry . Someone else is ying that role . "

    Li Yundong sighed in relief .

    Feng Na rolled her eyes . "As if there was any doubt which role you''ll be ying . "

    "The master swordsman," Li Yundong said .

    "Duh . . . You''re the person most suited for the role considering how good you are in martial arts . "

    "But I''m not even in the Drama Club¡­"

    Feng Na waved him off . "Doesn''t matter . "

    "So I''m like a guest star . "

    "Yep . "

    "If this turns out to be another one of your pranks¡­" Li Yundong raised a brow warningly .

    Feng Na shook her head desperately . "No, no, no . . . I swear this isn''t a prank . "

    Li Yundong stroked his own chin, then mimicked the voice of an old man: "Should I start growing my beard, then?"

    Feng Na burst intoughter . "You see? I knew you''re the perfect person for the role¡ª"

    "Li Yundong?"

    Li Yundong turned around in his seat at the voice . He groaned inwardly when he saw the person standing near their table .

    It was Feng Ji, and he definitely didn''t look like he was here to have lunch .

    Li Yundong studied the hunk of a man before him . The guy''s fists were clenched and resting beside his thighs, and his knees were slightly bent like he was ready to pounce . And those eyes . . . They looked blood-thirsty, like they belong to someone who is hungry for a fight .

    Li Yundong schooled his features . "How can I help you?"

    Feng Ji performed a Bao Quan Li . "I heard you know a fair amount of Kung Fu," he said . "I would like a chance to spar with you . "

    And I would like a chance to have my lunch in peace for once .

    Li Yundong kept that thought to himself and gave the man a friendly smile instead .

    "What you heard are just rumors I''m afraid," Li Yundong said with augh . "And most of them are probably just exaggerated . Besides, I never learned Kung Fu . "

    That wasn''t a lie . Li Yundong never did learn Kung Fu . What he learned, though, was the art of Cultivation . Not that he could reveal that information to Feng Ji .

    An awkward silence ensued as Feng Ji stared at Li Yundong with a guarded expression .

    Li Yundong smiled, hoping to diffuse the awkwardness and the tension surrounding their table .

    "I''m sure you can find a lot of good fighters out there who are worthy of your skills," Li Yundong said, then turned back around to face Feng Na . "So . Where were we, senior?"

    Li Yundong heard Feng Ji''s sneer from behind him .

    "Forgive me for doing this then," said Feng Ji .

    A secondter, Feng Na screamed . "Ahhh!!! Look out!!!"

 Chapter 208

    Chapter 208

    <h4>Out of Your Depth!</h4>

    <small></small>Li Yundong felt a tight pressure on his left shoulder seconds after Feng Na screamed . When he turned his head, he saw Feng Ji''s fingers digging right into the flesh of his shoulder . Feng Ji looked like he was trying hard to make sure that his grip hurt (his knuckles were white and he was growling a little), though Li Yundong barely felt anything .

    "Listen, freshman," Li Yundong said with all the patience he could muster . "I''m not interested in sparring with you, okay?"

    A vicious look shed across Feng Ji''s face .

    Li Yundong sighed . "Now will you please let me get back to my lunch? And besides . . . " Li Yundong tilted his head in Feng Na''s direction . "You''re scaring my friend here . "

    Feng Na''s face was as white as a sheet .

    Feng Ji didn''t let go of his shoulder .

    With a sigh, Li Yundong raised his hand and pried Feng Ji''s hand off his shoulder . For a fleeting moment, Li Yundong saw the look of surprise in Feng Ji''s eyes . The guy clearly thought highly of his own strength .

    s, Feng Ji appeared to have misconstrued Li Yundong''s action as an eptance of his challenge because he suddenly switched his grip and tried to maneuver Li Yundong''s wrist into a joint lock .

    Too slow, pal .

    Li Yundong flipped his palm quickly and then wrapped his fingers around Feng Ji''s wrist, and then twisted it into an awkward angle .

    Li Yundong rose from his chair and then turned around to face Feng Ji . Li Yundong eased the pressure on Feng Ji''s wrist, but he didn''t let go lest Feng Ji try anything funny again .

    "You''re a liar . " Feng Ji''s eyes shed in anger . "You said you never learned Kung Fu, and yet you just performed an advanced Chin Na technique on me . "

    Ugh . Yeah . He''d picked up that technique after he saw Lin Youfa perform it once . Li Yundong did a quick scan of the canteen with his eyes . They were starting to draw the other student''s attention .

    Li Yundong sighed and loosened his fingers around Feng Ji''s wrist .

    However, the moment his fingers ckened, Feng Ji attempted yet another joint lock on him .

    Still too slow .

    Li Yundong rotated his arm in a circle, then performed a Nikajo wrist lock by trapping Feng Ji''s hand against his forearm with his free hand . There was a loud grunt . One of Feng Ji''s knee hit the ground the moment Li Yundong applied a downward pressure onto Feng Ji''s wrist .

    Feng Ji gazed up at Li Yundong from the floor, and he wasughing .

    "You really are as good as they say," Feng Ji said, his eyes glinting with what appeared to be madness .

    "Man, cut it out," Li Yundong hissed . Having learned his lessonst time when he''d identally flung Yan Hua away, Li Yundong eased the pressure on Feng Ji''s wrist . Given how much stronger he had be after passing the Zhuji phase, he could easily crush this moron''s wrist if he wasn''t careful .

    "Oh . . . This is good!" Feng Ji said, rising to his feet quickly . "Come! Let''s take this elsewhere . To the Taekwondo Club''s dojo or something!"

    Feng Ji grabbed Li Yundong''s arm and pulled, like he was trying to physically drag Li Yundong away .

    Li Yundong tightened his core and stood still .

    "Come on!" Feng Ji yelled and tugged his arm again .

    <small></small>Li Yundong didn''t budge .

    Fine . I''ll just spar with him and be done with this nonsense . Li Yundong sighed . Otherwise the idiot would just keep bugging him, or worst, do something to force his hand .

    Great . Now he had another problem on his hands: how not to kill the dumbass .

    Maybe he''d stop annoying me if I just let him win . . .

    The other student might gloat and make fun of him, but whatever . Not that he gave a damn .

    "Come on! Let''s go!" Feng Ji yanked Li Yundong''s arm forcefully despite how futile his efforts were¡ªLi Yundong hadn''t budged once .

    "Okay . . . Okay . . . " Li Yundong growled . "I''ll spar with you . Just let go first¡ª"

    Screams of terror shook the entire canteen .

    "Ahhh!!!! Oh my God, it''s flying!!!"

    "F*ck¡­ What the hell is that thing!"

    Li Yundong''s gaze snapped to his right . A dark object was hurtling towards Feng Ji .

    A secondter, the dark object swooped in from right side like an eagle and bumped into the side of Feng Ji''s shoulder . In a split second, Feng Ji''srge form was skidding all the way across the floor towards the far end of the canteen while Li Yundong himself stumbled to the floor¡ªFeng Ji was still holding on to his arm when the object hit .

    Secondster, Feng Ji''s body rolled to a stop . The guy managed to climb to his feet, though his eyes were now filled with shock and horror . The dark, shaft-like object zoomed across the canteen, then came to an abrupt halt several feet from where Feng Ji stood . It rose to the air, hovering there for a split second, and then¡ª

    SNAP!

    The fan spread open like the tail of a peacock, tearing the dark cloth that Li Yundong had used to wrap it into shreds . A bright golden glow permeated the entire canteen, inciting more screams of terror from the students . A loud screeching sound¡ªlike the repeated drawing of a thousand swords¡ªfollowed suit as the des on the fan''s leaves began to rotate like crazy . It was as though there was a series of mini carbide saws attached to the fan''s surface . tes, trays, and cutleries were crashing into the floor everywhere as students jostled their way towards the exit .

    Li Yundong climbed to his feet and charged towards the fan, which was now inching closer towards Feng Ji .

    Feng Ji was holding a wooden stool in front of his chest, apparently thinking that a miserable wooden stool was a viable defensive option against a dozen of carbide des .

    Li Yundong slipped on a tray and fell, grunting when his head crashed into the side of a table .

    "No! Don''t!" Li Yundong yelled .

    Toote .

    Feng Ji had already tossed the wooden stool towards the fan .

    The sound of wood splintering could be heard even from all the way across the canteen where Li Yundong was lying on the floor .

    The attack appeared to have agitated the fan further as it suddenly released a strong gust of wind, which send Feng Ji sprawling to the floor .

    Li Yundong rolled around and climbed to his feet .

    The screeching sound grew louder . The fan rose higher, then reoriented itself into a new position . The fan was ready to cleave Feng Ji into God knows how many pieces and probably turned the guy into minced meat .

    <small></small>"Argh! F*ck it!" Li Yundong growled and stopped running . He raised his hand and aimed his palm at the fan . Li Yundong''s Zhenqi shot out from his palm just as the fan moved down in a shing motion .

    Li Yundong could feel his own feet sliding along the floor as he was dragged forward by the fan, which was still trying to cut Feng Ji despite being held back by his Qi Kinesis . Li Yundong struggled to maintain the contact of his Qi Kinesis while he inched closer towards the raging fan .

    When he got close enough, Li Yundong grabbed the fan''s rivet and ended the Qi Kinesis . The fan strained against his grip, refusing to settle down . Li Yundong gripped the rivet with both hands and pulled back just as hard . Now I have to get it to calm down¡ª

    "W- Who the hell are you?"

    What the fu¡ª

    Li Yundong peeked from the side of the fan''s leaves and saw that Feng Ji was still sitting there on the floor instead of moving out of the way and running for dear life . The rotating des hovered two feet above the moron''s head .

    "Why the f*ck are you still sitting there!" Li Yundong screamed and tightened his grip on the fan . "Get out of the way! Go!"

    Li Yundong held on to the fan as tight as he could and watched Feng Ji slowly crawl away from the des . Secondster, when Feng Ji was at a safe distance from the fan, Li Yundong slid his hands along the two sides of the rivet and tried to press his hands inwards . He thought he could force the fan to close up and revert into the shape of a Bo staff . It didn''t work .

    Then he tried to physically drag the fan away, but that didn''t work either¡ªthe fan wouldn''t budge at all . In fact, Li Yundong could feel as though the fan was trying to fly towards his left, where Feng Ji was still lingering around .

    God, why is that idiot still here¡ª Li Yundong released a low growl . You know what? Forget it .

    Okay . Now he had one more thing to try before he officially ran out of options . He closed his eyes, and channeled his Zhenqi into the fan . As he did, he held on to the fan even tighter just in case the idea backfired . Thest time he did this was back at the apartment, and the fan had started jumping around like crazy . F*ck . . . Maybe this is a dumb idea after all¡ª

    The fan stopped glowing . Emboldened by the sudden change in the fan''s behavior, Li Yundong channeled more Qi into the fan . About a minuteter, the fan was no longer trying to fly towards Feng Ji, who was still there despite everything that happened . Li Yundong sighed in relief when the fan changed back into a dark Bo staff .

    THUD!!

    Tremors shook the canteen when Li Yundong lowered the fan to the floor . Pieces of broken ceramic tiles were sent scattering from the spot where the rivet was lodged a few inches into the floor . Li Yundong turned around and walked back towards Feng Ji, dragging the fan with him .

    Li Yundong bent down until his face was mere inches away from Feng Ji''s fearful one .

    "I suggest you rein in that cocky attitude of yours, freshman," Li Yundong growled . "Or you''ll end up dead one day when you get caught up in things that are out of your f*cking depth . "

    ***

    A deafening silence spread across the canteen, which was now in a state of utter devastation with ruined tes and overturned furniture scattered all over the ce .

    Feng Na, like pretty much everyone else who were still there inside the canteen, was watching Li Yundong as he stowed that thing inside his backpack .

    That thing .

    Finally Feng Na knew what that thing was, and she''d rather she didn''t know at all .

    The whispers began the moment Li Yundong was out of the canteen .

    "F*cking hell . . . What the hell just happened . That was . . . incredible . "

    "Yeah . . . I never thought I''d be able to see this kind of thing in real life!"

    "I know right! F*ck! It''s like CGI!"

    <small></small>"So now we know what that thing is . . . " some guy said . "People have been talking about it, you know? About that mysterious object he''s been carrying around since the start of the semester . Turns out to be a massive tessen! F*ck! How cool is that, eh?"

    Feng Na stared at the guy in disbelief . Are these knuckleheads for real? That thing practically turned a wooden stool into dust!

    The chatter continued on despite the withering re that Feng Na was shooting them .

    "Holy shit!" another male student yelled .

    Feng Na turned and saw a guy studying the ruined ceramic tile on the floor .

    "Yo¡­ How much do you guys think that thing weighs?" the guy asked .

    "Well, he kinda mmed it down pretty hard, so that must have caused the crack," some other guy replied . "His backpack could still withstand the weight, so I guess it can''t be that heavy right?"

    "A hundred pounds, you reckon?"

    "Maybe, I don''t know . . . "

    "The Hero of Tiannan University indeed . Damn . What a guy . "

    "Oh, shit . . . Bro . . . Oh shit! I-I badmouthed him a couple of times . . . Shit . . . Am I gonna reach the end of my life when I''m just a fourth year university student?"

    "Yeah well, I bet nobody would dare mess with him now . . . "

    Feng Na rolled her eyes as a feeling of disdain rose inside her . Mindless idiots . . .

    The students'' tittle-tattle became even more ridiculous minutester when Feng Na was busy looking for her handbag among a litter of overturned chairs . Those idiots hadunched into a discussion about how they all wanted to join Zhenren Li''s Taoist school .

    Feng Na kicked a broken te away . God . Where on earth was her handbag? Had someone snatched it during the chaos?

    "Um . . . Guys . . . There should be a registration fee right? How much do you think it would cost?" Some girl had apparently joined those idiots'' conversation . "I mean . . . If I wanna join Zhenren Li''s school¡­"

    Shouldn''t you ask Zhenren Li that question? Feng Na rolled her eyes inwardly . Why are you asking those idiots? Right . Of course . Because you''re an idiot too .

    "I don''t think you''ll be asked to hand in your registration fee at all, cutie pie . He''ll probably just ask you for your . . . um . . . measurements!"

    The guys burst intoughter .

    Feng Na just felt like throwing up .

    The silly girl giggled . "Mine is 36D, 25, and 36 . Think he''ll ept me?"

    Just then, Feng Na''s handbag came to her salvation by revealing itself under an overturned table . She might pull an eye muscle if she rolled her eyes every time one of those idiots uttered a sentence .

    She grabbed her handbag and stormed away from the group .

    On her way out, she walked past the freshman who had tried to pick a fight with Li Yundong earlier . The idiot was sitting on the ground,pletely dazed .

    Feng Na stepped around the guy and exited the canteen .

    She saw Li Yundong sitting alone on a bench in the small garden beside the academic building . She walked over and sat down beside him .

    Li Yundong sighed and turned to face her .

    "Yes? Do you have any new directives for me, Madam Prez?" he said with a wry smile .

    A surge of pity rose inside Feng Na''s chest . This guy couldn''t catch a break at all, could he? She smiled . "Tomorrow afternoon at the media room . "

    Li Yundong raised his brows .

    Feng Na chuckled . "The rehearsals . Make sure you be there . "

    Li Yundong just stared at her . He didn''t look excited at all .

    "Come on," Feng Na said enthusiastically . "Juste along . Who knows you might actually enjoy yourself and forget about that crappy incident earlier!"

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Yeah, yeah, yeah . Fine . I''ll be there . Happy?"

    Relief coursed through Feng Na . "Okay then . I know you''re a man of your word . " She smiled . "Seriously though . It might actually be fun . "

    Li Yundong waved her off . "Don''t worry, I''ll be there . " He rose from the bench and picked up his backpack .

    Somehow, Feng Na found herself unable to take her eyes off that metallic thing jutting out of the top of the bag .

    "See you around, Senior Feng Na . "

    "See ya . . . "

    It wasn''t until Li Yundong had already gone beyond her sight that Feng Na finally came to . That man . . . He was like a stranger to Feng Na now . So unlike the guy she thought she knew when they first met at the Taekwondo Club''s dojo . Over the months, he had drifted further and further away from what Feng Na knew and understood . The stuff he was capable of, and the things that he knew, they all gave her the impression that he was from another world .

    Feng Na sighed and stared up at the afternoon sky . What on earth is so special about you, Li Yundong . . .

    ***

    Back at the canteen, Feng Ji was still sitting on the floor .

    "Brother Feng¡­ Are you alright?"

    A guy''s voice shook him out of his stupor . The guy moved in and tried to help him up . Feng Ji shrugged him off and climbed to his feet on his own .

    Ignoring the chatter inside the canteen, Feng Ji pulled out his phone from his pocket and moved to a quiet corner of the canteen .

    His hand trembled as he swiped his finger across the screen .

    "Senior," Feng Ji spoke into the phone . Feng Ji shook his head . "No, it hasn''t been taken care of¡­ I''m not a match for him¡­ He looks like an inner disciple, senior¡­ Mm-hmm¡­ Yeah¡­ Okay . I understand¡­"

    Feng Ji hung up the phone . Something shed inside his eyes as he stared at the ruined state of the canteen .

    A minuteter, he walked out of the canteen like a man on a mission .

 Chapter 209

    Chapter 209

    <h4>Civil War</h4>

    <small></small>"This way, Chan''er," Ao Wushuang said, looking over her shoulder . Chan''er seemed engrossed in her scrutiny of a bunch of strange-looking flowers scattered along the roadside . "Hurry up! We don''t have time to sightsee . "

    Chan''er rose to her feet instantly and walked away from the flowers, casting longing nces at them once every few steps . As Chan''er trudged towards her, Ao Wushuang thought she saw a flicker of emotion inside Chan''er''s eyes . The vulnerability she saw in Chan''er''s eyes triggered an avnche of emotions inside Ao Wushuang''s chest . It reminded her of that six-year-old girl whose hands she had held ten years ago as they travelled along this very road but in the opposite direction . It''d been the same back then as it was now . Behind her disciple''s yful exterior, underneath all that curiosity and excitement, there was a hint of insecurity and fear .

    "S- Sorry, Master . . . Those flowers just looked so pretty," Chan''er mumbled .

    The way Chan''er had refused to look Ao Wushuang in the eye tugged on Ao Wushuang''s heartstrings a little . It was like Chan''er was deliberately putting on a brave front for Ao Wushuang''s sake .

    Ao Wushuang sighed inwardly .

    Have I been too harsh on her?

    "Come along, then," Ao Wushuang said in a gentler tone .

    They continued their journey towards the foot of Mount Tianlong . They could''ve just flown there, but Ao Wushuang didn''t want to risk drawing any attention now that the Great Six had their sights set upon the Fox Zen School . The enemy could be monitoring the sky for any Cultivators flying in and out of Mount Tianlong .

    Ao Wushuang led Chan''er along the winding path, taking the opportunity to instruct Chan''er on the finer points of the stealth arts . Chan''er had seemed a little withdrawn ever since they left Dongwu City . It also didn''t escape Ao Wushuang''s notice that her disciple''s reticence had be increasingly pronounced as the foot of Mount Tianlong drew near .

    "Don''t be afraid, Chan''er," Ao Wushuang said when the foot of Mount Tianlong finally came into view .

    Chan''er stopped walking and gazed up at Ao Wushuang . Ao Wushuang''s heartstrings nearly came undone when she saw the insecurity in Chan''er''s eyes .

    "There is nothing to fear . " Ao Wushuang smiled reassuringly . "Just stick close to me and you''ll be fine . "

    A hint of cheerfulness returned to Chan''er''s face, which warmed Ao Wushuang''s heart a little .

    "Mmm!" Chan''er nodded .

    Ao Wushuang walked on, but stopped when she felt a tug on her sleeve . "Yes, Chan''er?"

    "D- Do I¡­ Do I have to g- greet the elderster?"

    "Maybe," Ao Wushuang said in a light tone . If our arrival is well-received, that is . . .

    Ao Wushuang felt a stab of guilt in her chest .

    It was because of her association with Ao Wushuang that Chan''er had lost her home . Ao Wushuang''s past decisions had turned Chan''er into an outcast . Had things been different back then¡­

    If I never met him . . .

    Ao Wushuang shoved that thought into the deepest recesses of her mind . "Come, Chan''er," she said . "Let''s get to the school before it gets dark . "

    Under normal circumstances, Ao Wushuang would have preferred to travel at night . After all the stealth arts thrived in the darkness . However, Ao Wushuang was also aware that stealth doesn''t pick sides¡ªthe enemy could also use the darkness to their advantage . Ao Wushuang didn''t want to risk running into traps, especially when Chan''er was travelling with her .

    "I just have to greet them once, right?" Chan''er said .

    "Hmm?"

    The forests nketing Mount Tianlong''s slopes seemed thicker than Ao Wushuang remembered . Overhead, clumps of foliage formed wide and dense canopies, which cast afortable shade on the trail .

    "I mean . . . Is¡­ Is it okay if I just greet them once . . . and then hide behind your back?"

    Ao Wushuang suddenly stopped walking .

    "Oof¡­" Chan''er bumped into her back a secondter . The girl let out an adorable squeak . "S-Sorry, Master¡­"

    Ao Wushuang smiled down at Chan''er and patted her head a few times . "If it makes you feel better, you can hide behind my back for as long as you like . "

    Ao Wushuang''s tone sounded amused even to her own ears . She had honestly never encountered a person with a personality like Chan''er . Her words had clearly provided Chan''er with a small amount of relief as the girl seemed more at ease after the exchange .

    They walked on for another ten minutes inplete silence .

    "Does anything here seem familiar to you?" Ao Wushuang asked, breaking the silence . Admittedly, she wasn''t used to Chan''er being this quiet . She kind of missed her perky and adorable (and sometimes annoying) little pupil .

    Chan''er released a long hum . Ao Wushuang had no idea what to make of Chan''er''s response . Was that a hum of agreement or denial? Well, at least her voice sounded lighter nowpared to ten minutes ago .

    <small></small>"It feels kinda weird, Master . . . "

    Ao Wushuang frowned a little . "Mm-hmm?"

    "It''s just . . . everything here seems kinda familiar, like I''ve been here before . But then when I look closer, everything feels foreign . "

    The heaviness returned to Ao Wushuang''s chest in full force . Seconds passed in silence with Ao Wushuang struggling toe up with reassuring words .

    "You know what this trip reminds me of, Master?"

    "What?" Ao Wushuang said . The smile in Chan''er''s tone eased the tightness in Ao Wushuang''s chest a little .

    "Hehehe . . . Of all the times we traveled together in the mountains, of course!"

    Those words made Ao Wushuang stop walking altogether in order to stare at Chan''er . A wave of affection swarmed her chest, chasing away the sadness she''d been feeling right down to itsst sliver .

    "It does, huh?" Ao Wushuang said, keeping her tone even .

    "Mmm!" Chan''er bobbed her head . "There are trees . . . flowers . . . mountains . . . And . . . " Chan''er suddenly sidled up to her and grabbed arm . "And there''s Master!"

    Ao Wushuang chuckled . It amazed Ao Wushuang how this adorable girl could make her temporarily forget about the dangers thaty ahead of them at the school .

    "I really missed traveling with you, Master . . . "

    Ao Wushuang stroked Chan''er''s hair . "Not as much as you miss your beloved Yundong, I''m sure," she said dryly .

    "Well¡­ I miss him too . . . " Chan''er mumbled as they hit the trail once more . "But I also miss . . . I miss¡­ Argh! Whatever! I don''t wanna choose! I miss you both! Hmph!"

    Ao Wushuang burst intoughter, allowing herself this small moment of peace and happiness, this calm before the storm .

    ***

    Halfway up Mount Tianlong, Ao Wushuang pulled Chan''er to a stop .

    "This way," Ao Wushuang whispered, pointing towards a side trail on their left .

    Chan''er nodded and followed her obediently . The side trail would lead them to a Taoist temple where the Fox Zen School was using as its base . This was a rathermon practice among Cultivators who wish to set up schools inside the mountains . Most temples were built halfway to the summit of a mountain, not on the summit itself . They hurried along the side trail until the aforementioned temple came into view .

    Chan''er stopped walking and studied the temple''s facade with her head tilted slightly . Her cute little disciple, it seemed, was back in curious mode again .

    "Master¡­?"

    "Mm?"

    "Our school is called the Fox Zen School, isn''t it?"

    rm coursed through Ao Wushuang, and she looked sharply towards her disciple . Surely this girl hadn''t forgotten the name of their school .

    Chan''er''s head remained tilted to one side .

    "The word Zen stems from Buddhism, doesn''t it?" Chan''er continued . "And the school was anointed by the great Zen master Baizhang Huaihai . . . Ooh, and not to mention that the founder of our school practiced Buddhism!"

    "Your point?" Ao Wushuang quirked a brow .

    Chan''er pointed a finger at the building''s facade . "Then why does our school''s building look like a Taoist temple?"

    Ao Wushuang sighed inwardly, grateful that Chan''er''s question about the school name arose from curiosity, not a bad case of amnesia .

    "I thought it would look like a Buddhist temple," Chan''er mumbled quizzically .

    Ao Wushuang smiled . This wasn''t the first time Chan''er had raised this question .

    Ao Wushuang patted Chan''er''s hand, the one pulling at Ao Wushuang''s sleeve . "That''s a long story, Chan''er . Maybe save the question for another day . "

    "This answer again? Boo . . . " Chan''er''s lips shaped themselves into what appeared to be thergest pout in the history of pouts . Ao Wushuang smiled . The only thing that could rival that Chan''er''s innocence was perhaps her insatiable curiosity . Then again, perhaps those two traits were interdependent .

    <small></small>Ao Wushuang stepped forward and knocked on the tall double doors stered at the center of the building''s facade . She didn''t have to knock, of course . If she wanted to, she could break in easily . But then she didn''t want to, since that would just make her presence even more unwee than it already was . The double doors creaked open to reveal a beautiful woman d in a Taoist robe .

    Ao Wushuang could feel the woman''s wary gaze on her . Ao Wushuang appraised the woman at the door . Human, not a fox spirit . Probably not a virgin . Even when dressed in full Taoist vestments, the woman was wearing heavy makeup . Clearly an outer disciple .

    "Yes?" The woman''s voice ended Ao Wushuang''s appraisal .

    "Send word for Liu Ye," Ao Wushuang said coolly . "Tell him that Ao Wushuang has returned . "

    The Taoist priestess'' face took on a hostile expression . "I''ve never heard of the name Ao Wushuang before . "

    Right . Her name had probably be a taboo ever since the old man kicked her out of the school .

    "It doesn''t matter whether or not you know my name," Ao Wushuang said coolly . "Liu Ye knows who I am, and that''s the only thing that matters . "

    Anger shed inside the priestess'' eyes . "How dare you address the head of our school by name!"

    Ao Wushuang shook her head slightly . Perhaps this was a mistake . Why should shee to the aid of an organization who had cast her aside like she was some worthless junk? Why should she risk her life for the people who had abandoned and ostracized her because of whom she chose to fall in love with? Because you''re loyal, that''s why . Admittedly, Liu Ye was right when he told her that she would forever be tied to the Fox Zen School . Even now, a small part of her still considered the Fox Zen School her home . And now her home was under siege, and this foolish woman was making them lose precious time .

    "Lady," Ao Wushuang said in a calm voice . "I assure you that our visit concerns a matter of utmost urgency, one that demands Head Liu''s immediate attention . So I would appreciate it very much if you could send word for Head Liu immediately and notify him of my arrival . " Ao Wushuang took Chan''er''s arm and stepped forward . "Now . If you would just let us through¡ª"

    "Stay where you are!" The woman drew her sword, the tip of which was now hovering inches away from Chan''er''s face .

    "That," Ao Wushuang said, pausing to stare at the woman coldly, "was a huge mistake . "

    Nobody draws their weapon on my disciple . Nobody .

    The sword stayed up .

    "Leave," the Taoist priestess sneered . "The Fox Zen School does not grant entrance to outsiders . "

    Ao Wushuang touched Chan''er''s shoulder to get her attention .

    "Mm? Master?"

    Ao Wushuang smirked . "You''ve always been curious about the spells I know, haven''t you?"

    "Mmm!" Chan''er bobbed her head with zest, not caring at all that the tip of a sharp de was mere inches from her face . A secondter, Chan''er looked adorably puzzled . "But why do you ask, Master?"

    "Because, my dearest disciple . . . " Ao Wushuang smiled at Chan''er sweetly . "I''m about to show you one of them . "

    Chan''er beamed . "Really?"

    "Mm-hmm . . . Now watch closely, Chan''er . " Ao Wushuang turned away to give the woman blocking the door a cold stare . "Here''s a little something from the Water element . " Ao Wushuang mobilized her Zhenqi . "Steam Vortex . "

    A split secondter, the sword-wielding woman was blown away from the entrance by a swirling st of water vapor . The woman''s body flew across front hall and smashed into the wall at the far end .

    "Whoa . . . " Chan''er said in awe when the woman''s body slid down onto the floor .

    Ao Wushuang stepped into therge hall with Chan''er .

    "It was not my intention to harm you," Ao Wushuang said to the woman . Indeed, the vapor''s temperature would''ve been much higher if she wished the woman harm . "But we''re in a hurry, you see . And you were in the way . "

    The woman climbed to her feet . "Sisters!!! We''re under attack! I repeat! We''re under attack!"

    A second after the woman''s voice fell, dozens of simrly-dressed Taoist priestesses filled the hall, each wielding some kind of weapon in their hands: long swords; fly-whisks; Emeicis; etc .

    Soon, Ao Wushuang and Chan''er were surrounded by these fools . Ao Wushuang pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned inwardly . God . This is stupid . . . Why am I even here . . .

    "Intruders!" one of the women shouted . "Identify yourselves and state your purpose!"

    Ao Wushuang did a quick scan of their surroundings . Secondster, she sighed . Might as well give Chan''er the opportunity to put her skills into practice . God forbid Ao Wushuang ended up killing one of these idiots by ident if she fought them herself .

    "All yours, Chan''er," Ao Wushuang said .

    Chan''er''s face was positively coruscating at that point . "Hehehe . . . Yes, Ma''am!"

    It filled Ao Wushuang with a sense of pride to witness Chan''er''s mastery of the Shadow Mist . Thick, green mists enshrouded therge hall, throwing their attackers into a state of confusion . Ao Wushuang eyes darted around as she followed Chan''er''s movements . There was a cacophony of screams and yells before the green mists gathered into a thick cloud beside Ao Wushuang .

    <small></small>The mists cleared away to reveal Chan''er''s beaming face and a bunch of weapons she was carrying in her arms¡ª the ones that Chan''er had sneakily disarmed from their opponents .

    The Taoist priestesses watched them with stunned expressions . Some were holding their arm limply against their sides, while others were rotating their wrists . All of them were still standing though .

    Clearly, Chan''er had gone easy on them .

    "What the f*ck just happened!"

    "Motherf*cking coward! Hiding inside mists?! That''s a dirty trick! Fight us head on if you dare!"

    "Return our weapons!"

    "Yeah! Fight us head on, you slut!"

    Ao Wushuang frowned . She couldn''t believe her eyes that this was the state that the Fox Zen School had fallen to .

    Ten years . Ten years since Ao Wushuang left the school . That was all the time it took for the Fox Zen School to fall to such philistine standards . Since when were the disciples (even the outer disciples) of the Fox Zen School capable of such crass, and vulgarnguage? If this was the state that the Fox Zen School was in for the past decade, then Ao Wushuang feared that school had already fallen . This ce wasn''t even a Cultivation school anymore¡ªit was a breeding ground for a bunch of uncivilized brutes .

    Is this what you''ve been doing all these years, Liu Ye? Running the school to the ground and destroying Grandmaster Pan Shi''s legacy?

    "Return our weapons, you slut!"

    Anger rose inside Ao Wushuang .

    "Enough!!!"

    A powerful shockwave swept across the hall the moment Ao Wushuang''s voice rang out . It brought Ao Wushuang a sense of satisfaction to see her spell sending those ill-mannered brutes sprawling onto the floor .

    Ao Wushuang rolled up her sleeves and stepped forward . "Didn''t your master teach you people any manners? Is this the way you people treat your guests?"

    The women scrambled back in fear and started screaming and shrieking .

    "Ahhh!"

    "Help! Help!"

    "This intruder''s trying to kill us!"

    Ao Wushuang stared at the scene in disbelief . What in Heavens'' name am I seeing here? Why were the school''s outer disciples acting like a bunch of . . . a bunch of mindless harpies!

    Ao Wushuang looked towards Chan''er to see the girl equally stunned . In hindsight, it was a good thing that she brought Chan''er away from the school ten years ago . The mere thought of Chan''er spending her childhood with these harpies brought a bad taste to Ao Wushuang''s mouth .

    A green sh lit up the hall . Someone had just arrived .

    Ao Wushuang snorted . Of course these floozies were his . Of course .

    Why am I not surprised . . .

    The women scrambled to their feet and ran towards Gu Feng the moment he showed up; some were even crawling on all four towards the man .

    "Oh, Master! Thank goodness, you''re here!"

    "We were bullied by these intruders! Please help us, master!"

    Gu Feng raised his arms and put his sword behind his back . "Now, now . Slow down my dears . One by one, okay? Tell me¡ª"

    The look on Gu Feng''s face when their eyes met made Ao Wushuang smirk .

    "A- Ao Wushuang? Y- You . . . You . . . You''re back?"

    Those annoying women instantly quieted down . Ao Wushuang took a step forward and sized-up Gu Feng from afar . The man looked the same as shest remembered . He still wore the same bun on his head and the same robes . And he still carried his sword the same way .

    Just then, one of those women pointed her finger at Chan''er . "That slut stole our weapons, Master!"

    Gu Feng flinched in surprise when he nced at the direction indicated by that harpy . Ao Wushuang let out a low growl and immediately stepped in front of Chan''er . She didn''t like the way Gu Feng was leering at Chan''er .

    Not my Chan''er, you sick pervert .

    "I- Is that . . . C- Could she be . . . Su Chan?" Gu Feng stammered .

    Ao Wushuang could feel Chan''er''s grip on the back of her dress . When she turned, she saw Chan''er stiff posture .

    Chan''er shot her a tentative nce . "Who is that man, Master?" Chan''er poked her head out from behind Ao Wushuang''s back to look at Gu Feng .

    Gu Feng had clearly regained hisposure as he now had a friendly and amiable smile on his face . "You were only this tall thest time I saw you . " Gu Feng held his palm to his hip level, then chuckled . "I can''t believe how much you''ve grown!"

    Ao Wushuang red at Gu Feng . Yeah . I bet you''ve noticed how much she''s grown .

    Ao Wushuang pushed away her morbid thoughts when Chan''er tugged her sleeves . "Who is he, Master?"

    Ao Wushuang chuckled humorlessly . "Meet your Shibo Gu Feng . " Ao Wushuang smirked . "The most ipetent and inept member of the Fox Zen School . " (T/N: Refer to the end chapter notes for an exnations for the honorific terms Shibo, Shijie, Shishiong, Shidi)

    "Still with that poisonous tongue, Shimei . " Gu Feng let out a strainedugh . "Ten years, and you haven''t changed at all . I guess old habits die hard . "

    Ao Wushuang snorted . "Says the one who still acts like a perv after all these years . "

    "You¡ª" Anger shed inside Gu Feng''s eyes, though his expression remained amicable . "I wonder what made youe to that conclusion . . . "

    Ao Wushuang did a quick visual sweep of the hall . The Taoist priestesses were all gaping at her now . "What''s up with these people?" Ao Wushuang shook her head in disgust . "What an insolent bunch . " Ao Wushuang shot a re at Gu Feng . "I must say that your teaching methods are questionable if your disciples act like harpies instead of Cultivators . "

    Gu Feng''s smile faltered, and he opened his mouth .

    "Some of them are my disciples," said a woman''s voice . "Does that mean you find my teaching methods questionable as well, Shimei?"

    Ao Wushuang chuckled darkly . "Chan''er," she said without taking her eyes off Gu Feng . "Meet Ye Yu, another one of your Shibos . "

    Ye Yunded at the center of the hall with a soft thud . Ye Yu''s appearance hadn''t changed at all as far as Ao Wushuang could tell . Despite being much older than Ao Wushuang was, Ye Yu still looked like an eighteen-year-old teenager . In fact, one could''ve easily mistaken Ye Yu and Chan''er as peers . Ye Yu approach Ao Wushuang slowly, a dark scowl spreading over her features . As always, Ye Yu carried her signature weapon¡ªa huge chakram¡ªon her back .

    "I hope you''ve been well, Shijie," Ao Wushuang said coolly .

    "Drop the act, Ao Wushuang!" Ye Yu snarled . "Stop pretending that you still care about the school!"

    "Ah . I suppose this is how you people treat those who havee to your aid these days," Ao Wushuang said in a cial tone . "What a shame . "

    "It''s because of you that we''re in this mess," Ye Yu snapped . "Or have you forgotten already what you have done . "

    Ao Wushuang kept quiet . She knew Ye Yu''s explosive temper as well as her tendency to defend the shorings of her own people .

    Ye Yu smirked . "What, so you got nothing to say for yourself now?"

    "I didn''t return to seek forgiveness, Shijie . "

    Ye Yuughed derisively . "Shijie? You still have the nerve to call me your Shijie after everything you''ve done? After all the trouble you have brought upon the school''s doorsteps?" Another derisiveugh . "Forget that your actions have led to the Fox Zen School''s downfall . And now youe back after ten years to bully my disciples?" Ye Yu pointed a finger at Chan''er . "You''re the one who beat them up, aren''t you? Very well! Come on! Let''s see what your master has been teaching you all these years!"

    Chan''er jumped slightly and quickly hid herself behind Ao Wushuang .

    "Your beef is with me, Shijie," Ao Wushuang said, stepping forward to shield Chan''er with her own body . "Leave my disciple out of it . "

    Ye Yuughed snidely . "Sounds riching from a person who tossed my disciples around . " Ye Yu pointed a finger at Ao Wushuang . "Move out of the way, Ao Wushuang . Otherwise I''ll deal with the both of you at the same time!"

    Ao Wushuang smirked . "You''re not a match for me, Shijie . Or have you forgotten about that little fact?" A momentter, Ao Wushuang''s smirk changed into a re . "And also the fact that we have a school to protect . We are wasting precious time engaging in these useless and pointless scuffles!"

    The huge chakram on Ye Yu''s back sprang into the air, releasing a series of harsh, grinding noise¡ªlike two abrasive metal surfaces being rubbed together repeatedly .

    ZING!!!

    Bahuang materialized in front of Ao Wushuang and began circling around her, ready to protect its master .

    "That sword¡­"

    Ye Yu''s eyes widened in shock; a secondter, they were filled with rage .

    "I can''t believe he even gave you that sword!" Ye Yu snarled, then pointed a finger at Ao Wushuang . "You! So it''s true after all! You were in cahoots with the Zhengyi School! No wonder Yan Fang from the Linggong Sect came here nine years ago with all these wild usations! This was all your doing wasn''t it? You traitor!"

 Chapter 210

    Chapter 210

    <h4>Paper Cranes</h4>

    <small></small>Sometimes, Su Chan wondered where her talent trulyy: the stealth arts; or the ability to feel puzzled in virtually any situation .

    Yes . Any situation, like the one she was in right now .

    Argh! This was all just so confusing! Even more so than the nuances of mortal-speak . At least corn-door (or condo) was somewhat rted to a building¡ªlike, you know, a door . But this! None of this made sense! Why were the members of the Fox Zen School so eager to pick a fight with Master? Shouldn''t they be weing Master''s return with open arms? The most powerful member of the Fox Zen School had just returned to fight for the school; shouldn''t she be treated like a hero or something?

    But no! They did none of that! Instead, they had to treat Master like she was their mortal enemy!

    What on earth was the matter with these people? Grr!

    "That sword¡­" Ye-shibo whispered .

    Dread coursed through Su Chan when Ye-shibo''s chakram began to screech loudly . Su Chan barely had time to cover her ears before Master''s sword materialized in the air and begun circling around them protectively . For a moment there, Su Chan''s mind drifted to Yundong . Had the Fan of Seven Treasures acknowledged Yundong as its owner yet? How was Yundong doing?

    "I can''t believe he even gave you that sword!" Ye-shibo yelled . "So it''s true after all! You were in cahoots with the Zhengyi School! No wonder Yan Fang from the Linggong Sect came here nine years ago with all these wild usations! This was all your doing wasn''t it, Ao Wushuang? You traitor!"

    A surge of anger coursed through Su Chan . Master isn''t a traitor! She''s loyal, and kind, and loving, and¡ª Ugh! Enough of this! Emboldened by her anger, Su Chan plucked up the courage to poke her head out from behind Master''s arm .

    "Master''s not a traitor!" Su Chan yelled, grateful that her voice didn''t sound like a squeak . "And please stop fighting!"

    "Know your ce, insolent child!" Ye-shibo snapped . "You have no right to speak here!"

    "Chan''er . . . " Master said in a low, warning tone .

    Su Chan nced up at Master .

    "It''s okay . Stand down," Master said .

    "Oh . "

    Su Chan hid herself behind Master''s back . Master always made her feel safe .

    "She''s my disciple," Master said . "Of course she has the right to speak . "

    Ye-shiboughed derisively . "The fact that she is your disciple is precisely why she has no right to speak here!"

    Su Chan winced when the chakram''s screeching grew even louder . She covered her ears and sneaked a peek from behind Master''s arm again . The chakram was spinning rapidly in the air like some kind of giant metal wheel . It looked like it could slice through just about anything . Su Chan tightened her grip on Master''s sleeve .

    Master will be okay, right?

    "Don''t be afraid, Chan''er," said Master .

    That voice had lulled Su Chan to sleep and ayed her fears more often than she could count .

    "Mmm," Su Chan said softly, reveling in the calmness that Master''s voice had instilled .

    "Please stand down, shijie," said Master calmly . "None of this is necessary . We have more important things to worry about than settling old scores . "

    "I''ve had enough of your goody-goody attitude, Ao Wushuang," said Ye-shibo . "You think you can act all high and mighty just because you''re more talented than everyone else? Well, guess what . I''m still your senior!"

    "Then start acting like one," said Master coldly .

    All hell broke loose right then: the spinning chakram hurtled towards Master .

    Su Chan flinched and let out a squeak .

    Master raised her right palm, and Bahuang surged upwards to intercept the chakram''s path .

    "Stand down, shijie," said Master with her palm still raised . "Final warning . "

    There was a dangerous edge to Master''s tone, and Su Chan knew that tone very well: Master was angry .

    Actually, no .

    Master wasn''t just angry; she was incensed .

    The chakram suddenly backed away from them and retreated towards Ye-shibo . A split secondter, Bahuang shot down from the air and hovered in front of Master''s face once again .

    What happened next was decidedly the most impressive feat of magical swordsmanship that Su Chan had ever witnessed: Bahuang began to double itself .

    From a single sword, it became two swords, then four, then eight .

    In just a matter of seconds, there were dozens of Bahuang replicas circling around them . When Master lowered her palm, the swords began shifting into some kind of formation .

    It took Su Chan a while, but she eventually figured out the formation''s shape .

    It was a lotus throne .

    "Looks like we''re in agreement," Ye-shibo sneered . "Now it''s time to settle our¡ª"

    "Why are we fighting each other when we''re all sisters from the same school," a voice sounded .

    Su Chan frowned . Why does that voice sound so familiar?

    Su Chan looked up and saw a woman d in a white robe slowly floating down from the ceiling . Draped over the woman''s shoulders was a transparent veil, which billowed gently in her descent .

    Su Chan couldn''t help but stare in wonder at the woman .

    W- Whoa¡­ Am I seeing things? S- She . . . She looks just like a . . . a Bodhisattva!

    By the time the womannded on the floor, Su Chan had convinced herself that she wasn''t seeing things . The woman did look like a Bodhisattva, albeit a youthful one (like a woman in her early twenties): long dark hair, bunched up at the top of her head, held together by a golden hairpin; the regal and saintly mien, which garnered respect and reverence;

    The chakram stopped spinning and returned to Ye-shibo''s hand .

    "Shijie!" Ye-shibo greeted the woman with a nod .

    Once Bahuang had returned to its normal state, Su Chan tugged Master''s sleeve . "Master, is she another shibo?"

    Master nodded and lowered Bahuang to her side . "Yes, she is . And her name is Mo Ahshi . She is the eldest among all your shibos . "

    There was a hint of reverence in Master''s tone when she spoke of Mo-shibo . Perhaps there was someone in the Fox Zen School that Master held in high regard after all .

    "B- But Mo-shibo looks like a Bodhisattva!" Su Chan blurted out .

    "Shijie practices Vajra magic in her spare time," Master said . "That''s why she looks like a Bodhisattva . "

    Su Chan thought she saw a flicker of admiration in Master''s eyes when she looked at Mo-shibo .

    "Oh . "

    A rustling sound came from above: four more beautiful women had just flown in from the top window and were now floating down towards them .

    "Looks like everyone''s here now," Master mumbled .

    The four womennded beside Mo-shibo .

    Su Chan shot Master a questioning nce, to which Master answered with a tight smile .

    <small></small>"Come, Chan''er . Allow me to properly introduce you to all your shibos . " Master draped her arm over Su Chan''s shoulders and then guided her towards the women . Su Chan clung tightly to Master''s sleeve and resisted the urge to hide behind Master''s back .

    Those women looked a little intimidating .

    "Now . In decreasing order of seniority . . . . " Master directed Su Chan''s gaze to Mo-shibo, the Bodhisattva lookalike . "First we have Mo Ahshi . " Then, Master pointed at the pervy man who had been leering at Su Chan earlier . "Gu Feng . " Master pointed to the rest of the women . "Next up, we have Zhuang Yating, Chang Sunhong, Liu Yuehong, Cao Yi, and finally . . . Ye Yu . "

    The sharpness in Master''s voice when she mentioned Ye-shibo''s name was unmistakable .

    Su Chan bowed at her elders and then studied them one by one . While doing so, Su Chan memorized their names and faces, then ranked them in the order of seniority: one, Mo Ahshi; two, Gu Feng; three, Zhuang Yating; four, Chang Sunhong; five, Liu Yuehong; six, Cao Yi; and seven, Ye Yu .

    Hmm¡­ Master called Ye-shibo her shijie just now, which means that Master is the youngest .

    Yet Master was the most powerful among them .

    That thought filled Su Chan''s heart with a sense of pride .

    An awkward silence spread across the hall . Su Chan could feel the elders'' eyes on her, sizing her up . Eventually, Su Chan felt her own gaze drifting towards Mo-shibo .

    A Bodhisattva! Awesome . . . . !

    Su Chan nearly squeaked when Mo-shibo smiled back at her . Mo-shibo''s face looked kind and gentle . A Bodhisattva!!!!

    A secondter, Mo-shibo turned away from Su Chan; she was looking at Master now .

    "Wee home, shimei," Mo-shibo said to Master .

    Su Chan studied Master''s reaction from the corner of her eyes . Master raised a palm, holding it in front of her chest¡ªa Buddhist form of greeting . Then, Master tilted her head forward slightly . Su Chan did a double take .

    Master never bowed to anyone, not even to Grandmaster Liu Ye!

    "Greetings, Mo-shijie," said Master . "Have you been well?"

    "Indeed I have been well," Mo-shibo said . "I''m just so d that you''ve decided to return, shimei . "

    "Ye Yu . " Mo-Shibo nced over at Ye-shibo . "The school is under threat . Can''t you put your differences aside for now? You''re doing the enemy a favor by starting a fight amongst ourselves . "

    Ye-shibo shot Master a quick re . "So it''s all my fault, and she''spletely without me . " Ye-shibo snorted . "Wow . Just . . . Wow . " Ye-shibo turned around and stormed off .

    Mo-shibo shook her head and looked towards Master again .

    "It seems like your powers have grown over the past ten years, shimei," Mo-shibo said . "I''m impressed . "

    Mo-shibo was smiling at Master now .

    The corners of Master''s lips pulled into a smile, though the smile didn''t quite reach her eyes . Su Chan wondered why .

    "Not at all, shijie," said Master . "My power level is about the same as it was ten years ago . " Master paused for a moment as though she was studying Mo-shibo . "You on the other hand seemed to have improved substantially, shijie . "

    Su Chan was so puzzled .

    How on earth could Master tell whether or not someone''s power levels had increased?

    Maybe it was a master Cultivator thing .

    Mo-shibo sighed gently, then smiled . "I''m sure my powers are nothingpared to yours . " Mo-shibo turned to address everyone gathered at the hall, including those annoying women who attacked them earlier . "You''re all dismissed . Go back to your quarters . "

    As feet began to shuffle and whispers arose, Mo-shibo gave Master a nod, then said, "You two shoulde with me . "

    Master was clearly familiar with the ce as she just kept walking straight without turning her head at all . Su Chan barely had time to indulge her curiosity before they had to turn around corners or pass through hallways .

    Maybe she could sneak out and explore the ce on her ownter . If Master would let her, that is .

    Eventually, they arrived in front of arge, old-fashioned wooden door .

    "Go right in," Mo-shibo said . "Head Liu is waiting for you inside . "

    Then, with two parting nods, Mo-shibo turned around and left .

    Grandmaster Liu was smoking his pipe when they stepped into the room .

    Grandmaster Liu looked as though he''d been anticipating their arrival, which didn''t surprised Su Chan at all¡ªhe wasn''t known as the Great Seer for nothing .

    Grandmaster Liu gestured at the square table with his pipe . "Have a seat," he said .

    Su Chan followed Master towards the square table, then waited for Master to take a seat first before taking the seat beside Master''s . The square table looked simr to the one Master had back at the corn-door building .

    "With all due respect, Head Liu," Master said coldly . "The standards of the Fox Zen School have been substantially reduced under your leadership . "

    Su Chan stole a nce at Master . There was a look of pure distaste on Master''s beautiful face .

    "Just look at our outer disciples, for Heavens'' sake! Acting like a bunch of vulgar brutes . " Master shook her head and lowered her voice to a low mumble . "It''s like there''s no proper code of conduct at all in this godforsaken ce . "

    Grandmaster Liu chuckled . "A reasonableint, no doubt," he said . "But you haven''t been back here for a decade, Wushuang . So you can''t possibly know the state of affairs here . " Grandmaster Liu sighed . "Right now, I''m the Head of the Fox Zen School in name only . Your shijie, Mo Ahshi is the one who''s been handling the school affairs . Take it up to her if you have anyints . "

    An awkward silence permeated the room as Grandmaster Liu busied himself with his pipe . Su Chan kept sneaking nces at Master, but every time she did, Master appeared to be staring at the same spot on the table . And judging from the scowl on Master''s face, she didn''t look too happy with the conversation . If there even was a conversation going on .

    Su Chan was so confused . Why were they even here? Was there some kind of secret conversation going on that Su Chan didn''t know about?

    Eventually, Su Chan decided to stop puzzling over whether or not there was a conversation going on and instead began to upy herself with studying the billows of smoke emerging from Grandmaster Liu''s pipe .

    Thick, white, fluffy puffs of smoke . . . Like clouds . . .

    Clouds . The Yun in Yundong''s name means cloud and the Dong means east .

    Yundong . . . The eastern cloud . The cloud from the east¡­ Hehehe . . .

    "Where are my quarters?"

    Master''s sharp voice ended Su Chan''s reverie .

    Grandmaster Liu pointed to his right with his pipe . "Down this hallway . Twenty meters from this room . "

    Master had stood up so quietly that Su Chan didn''t even notice her movements until she was already at the door . Su Chan stood up, gave Grandmaster Liu a bow, and then hurried after Master .

    Minutester, they walked into their quarters, which came with two rooms . The ce was about the same size as Master''s apartment at the corn-door, but this one was better furnished .

    "Which room do you prefer?" Master asked . "Left or right?"

    Su Chan studied the two rooms . Hmm . . . Which one is better?

    Secondster, Su Chan came to a decision . Hehehe . . .

    "I want the one on the left!"

    Master raised a brow and studied Su Chan''s face . A momentter, Master chuckled, then reached out to pinch her cheek . "You picked that one because it''s closer to the door, so that it''s easier for you to sneak out . "

    Su Chan''s face fell . Then, she gave Master a pouty look . Hmph! Master is always so smart .

    Su Chan stole a nce at Master, who was still smiling at her . Hehe¡­ At least I managed to put Master in a better mood! Su Chan would take that as a win even if Master prohibited her from sneaking out .

    <small></small>"Fine . You can have the one on the left . "

    Su Chan stared at Master nkly . "R- Really?"

    Master didn''t look angry at all, just amused . "Mm-hmm . "

    "Yayyy!!!"

    "Settle down, Chan''er," Master said, already moving towards a corner of the room .

    Master pulled out a cushion from under the couch . After that, she sat on the cushion and began to meditate .

    In other words, Su Chan was being totally ignored .

    Su Chan sighed and turned away from Master .

    Great . Now what am I supposed to do . . .

    After poking around their living quarters for a while, Su Chan sat down on one of the stools beside the square table . Master hadn''t moved from her meditative posture ever since she sat down to meditate half an hour ago . Su Chan got up from the stool and went into one of the two bedrooms .

    The bedroom took the definition of spartan to a whole new level . Other than a simple red sandalwood bed, a square table (another one!), and a few stools, there was nothing else .

    Su Chan walked out of the bedroom with her head hung low, then trudged towards the square table beside the living area . She sat down with her elbows nted on the square table and held her chin in her palms . I''m so bored¡­

    Was there anything for her to do here?

    How about sitting down and practicing some Qi control, said a voice inside her head . The voice sounded suspiciously like Master . Su Chan nced around the living room again . There weren''t TV boxes lying around, which meant no soap shows . She didn''t see one of those mini TV boxes (with tiny buttons) either, which meant she couldn''t use the Net . The invisible ones, not the ones used to catch fish .

    And worst: No food!

    There was nothing to eat!

    She wished Yundong were here .

    Eventually, her thoughts about Yundong made her unbearably sad, so she rose from the stool and decided to sneak out . Maybe she could explore the school, or find something to eat . Anything to distract her mind from Yundong . Would Master be mad if I sneak out? Su Chan stopped walking and stole a nce at Master .

    Master was still meditating peacefully . Phew .

    Master did give Su Chan the bedroom on the left just now, so maybe Master was okay with Su Chan sneaking out?

    Maybe I should just ask .

    However, the peaceful look on Master''s beautiful face prevented Su Chan from opening her mouth . She should just go and give Master a moment of peace . If Master asked herter where she''d run off to, she could just tell Master that she had gone out to look for food . Please . As if a responsible pupil like Su Chan would ever allow her beloved master to go without food .

    Besides, Master probably wouldn''t want Su Chan to starve either .

    Su Chan tiptoed towards the door .

    "Going somewhere, Chan''er?"

    Su Chan gasped and turned around . How did she¡ª

    Master''s eyes weren''t even open!

    Su Chan shuffled back towards Master . "Can I explore the school grounds a bit?"

    "Sure . . . " Master said without opening her eyes . "If you''re not afraid to be bullied by everyone, that is . "

    "Hehehe . . . Nobody would dare bully me because I''m under the protection of my great master!"

    Master''s eyes remained close, Su Chan could see a ghost of a smile on Master''s lips . Master looked so beautiful when she smiled, even though her smile was barely noticeable at times .

    "Tsk . Look at you, trying to butter me up," Master said in a tone of amusement .

    "Hehehe¡­"

    The corners of Master''s lips twitched . "Go ahead then . "

    "Yay!"

    Su Chan practically bounded towards the exit .

    "Chan''er?"

    Master''s voice made her pause at the door .

    "Master?"

    "Don''t go around causing trouble," Master said sternly . "I don''t want any mischief, am I clear?"

    Su Chan raised three fingers and ced them beside her cheek . "Yes, Ma''am!"

    ***

    Su Chan skipped down the hallway with an extra bounce in her steps . She knew she shouldn''t be feeling this happy considering the circumstances, but she just couldn''t help it . Master had literally given her permission to poke around the school! Provided, of course, that she didn''t cause any trouble .

    Heh! Of course I won''t cause any trouble . . .

    Su Chan could already picture the eye roll Yundong would give her if he were here .

    Meanie .

    Su Chan came to a halt outside Grandmaster Liu''s door, which was slightly ajar . Strange . . . Didn''t I close it when I leave just now? Someone else had to have entered or left the room after Su Chan left with Master . Maybe Grandmaster Liu forgot to close if after he left?

    Su Chan sidled up to the door and slowly poke her head through the gap . Grandmaster Liu was still sitting at his desk, smoking his pipe .

    Ooh¡­ Interesting .

    That wasn''t Grandmaster Liu''s usual pipe . It was a different contraption, one that came with a flexible tube attached to some kind of strange chamber . And those heavy fumes didn''t smell like smoke at all; they actually smelled kind of nice, like perfume .

    "It''s called a hookah . "

    Su Chan jumped slightly at Grandmaster Liu''s voice . When she tore her eyes away from that hookah thingy, she realized that Grandmaster Liu wasn''t even looking at her!

    Su Chan stood stiffly at the doorway, wondering if she should make a run for it . Idiot . Idiot . Idiot . No mischief, remember? No mischief!

    Secondster, Grandmaster Liuughed . "You might as welle inside, little one . "

    Su Chan smiled sheepishly and shuffled into the room .

    Grandmaster Liu tapped his finger on the top part of the chamber . "You basically burn tobo, cannabis, or opium inside this chamber," he said . "There''s also a water jar at the bottom . So when someone sucks on the pipe, the fumes will travel down and mix with the water . " Grandmaster Liu sucked on the pipe as though to demonstrate how the device worked . More fumes filled the room when he blew out .

    Su Chan stared at the chamber .

    "The fumes are scented, of course," Grandmaster Liu said .

    So essentially, it was kind of like inhaling perfume while smoking? Sort of .

    I wonder how it tastes like¡ª

    <small></small>Ooh! Paper cranes!!

    Su Chan moved towards Grandmaster Liu''s table, where the crane sat idly . Sooooo cuuuute!

    One of these cuties had flown into their room at the corn-door days ago . Su Chan assumed that it was sent by Zi Yuan, since Master told her that Yundong had passed the Zhuji phase after she read the note .

    But now that she thought about it, Grandmaster Liu could''ve sent it too . He was the Great Seer after all . Maybe his gifts of foresight had allowed him to predict Yundong''s sess . Would he be able to predict whether Yundong would survive his divine punishment as well?

    Su Chan reached out to touch the crane on the table, but then stopped short when she remembered the no-mischief promise she made to Master earlier .

    Grandmaster Liu chuckled beside her . "You''re a curious little thing, aren''t you?"

    Su Chan withdrew her hand from the crane . "Hehehe . . . "

    Grandmaster Liu flipped over his palm . The crane fluttered its wings and flew up from the table top beforending in his palm .

    "Here . " Grandmaster Liu extended his hand towards Su Chan . "It''s yours . "

    "Really?!" Su Chan would be doing cartwheels right now if she were alone in the room .

    "Of course," Grandmaster Liu said with a smile .

    Su Chan took the cute crane with both hands, careful not to crumple it . "But . . . How do I use it?" She looked up at Grandmaster Liu . "Does it . . . Does it go wherever I tell it to go?"

    "Yes . "

    Yessss!!! Now she finally had a way to send a message to Yundong!

    But wait . . . What if . . .

    Su Chan shot Grandmaster Liu a wary look .

    "Can I really have this?" Su Chan held the crane closer to her chest . This wasn''t one of Master''s tricks was it? Was this an illusion to test Su Chan''s obedience?

    Would Grandmaster Liu report it back to Master after this?

    Grandmaster Liuughed . "Of course, dear child . " Then, he smiled at her . "Nobody else has to know . "

    Joy coursed through Su Chan . Yayy!!!

    She beamed at Grandmaster Liu . "Thank you, Grandmaster! You''re a kind man!"

    Grandmaster Liu chuckled again . "Off you go now, child . " He gave her a meaningful look . "I''m sure you have lots of things to write about . "

    "Mmm!" Su Chan turned around and rushed out of the room .

    ***

    By some miracle, Su Chan managed to smuggle the crane into her bedroom without Master noticing . Granted, Master was probably still in a deep meditative state when Su Chan entered their quarters, so maybe Su Chan shouldn''t feel too smug about it .

    Su Chan tiptoed towards the little square table in her bedroom and set the crane down . The crane waddled back and forth on the table like a duck, then rotated its head around as though its neck was sore . Finally, it pped its wings a few times .

    "Aww . . . I didn''t mean to hurt you just now . . . " Su Chan patted the crane''s head . "I had to cover you up in case Master saw you . . . "

    The crane waddled away from her hand . Is it ignoring me?

    Well . That couldn''t be good .

    Su Chan rested her elbows on the table, wondering about the best way to use the crane . Back at the corn-door building, the crane Master received had unfolded itself into a note . Su Chan stared at the crane on the table . Could this one do the same? Or was this one a different kind? Hmm . . . It certainly looked different from the one Master received at the corn-door . This one looked bigger and more sophisticated .

    "Here, birdie, birdie . . . Here, birdie, birdie . . . " Su Chan clicked her tongue a few times . "Unfold . . . "

    The crane stopped in its movements and engaged Su Chan in a staring match .

    Su Chan waited with bated breath for the crane to unfold itself so that she could write her message . It would work, right? Grandmaster Liu said I could give it orders and¡ª

    The crane returned to its waddling .

    Gah!!! How am I gonna write a message on it if I can''t even get it to unfold!!

    "Paper!" Su Chan pointed a finger at the crane .

    "Transform! Letter! Write! Change!"

    Su Chan tugged the ends of her hair . None of those keywords had worked .

    Su Chan groaned into her palms . She wished she had her phone . As useful as these paper cranes were, they still weren''t as effective as those clever boxes that the mortals had invented .

    Those phone boxes really dide in handy (when they weren''t being rude by ignoring her, of course)! Like, they could even send voices and sounds overrge distances without even having to move from their spot! It was like a spell!

    Such a clever bunch, these mortals . Cultivators should take a page out of their books ande up with spells that do the same thing .

    Su Chan lowered her palms from her face .

    The crane was still waddling about .

    Waddle, waddle, waddle . Why did they even fold you into the shape of a crane in the first ce? You should be a duck!

    "Unfold!" Su Chan waited for a few seconds .

    Still nothing .

    Argh! Whatever . I''ll just write a short message on its body and tell it where to go . . .

    Su Chan sneaked out of the bedroom and poked around the living room for a while until she found a ballpoint pen . After that, she tiptoed back into her bedroom .

    Back at the table, Su Chan picked up Waddly Birdie from the table and tried to write something on one of its wings¡ªthe only surfacerge enough to write on .

    "Tsk! Hold still!"

    The crane kept fluttering its wing and pushing the tip of the pen away .

    Su Chan sighed . "Stop moving around!" she hissed at the crane .

    The crane pped its wings harshly .

    Su Chan forced herself to take a deep breath . "Just let me write a few words, okay? Pleeease? Pretty please, please?"

    The crane kept struggling .

    "I''ll be reeeeally gentle," Su Chan coaxed . "I promise . "

    The fluttering of wings slowed down .

    "Good birdie . . . Good birdie . . . Hey¡ª"

    The crane flew out of Su Chan''s hand .

    "No, no, no! Don''t run away . . . " Su Chan pleaded .

    Secondster, she managed to secure the crane between her fingers . Phew . That was close .

    Hey . . . Wait a minute . . .

    Su Chan suddenly gasped and smacked her own forehead Ugh! You idiot, Chan''er!

    Why did she have to write on the crane itself? Why not just write the message on another piece of paper and then attach it onto the crane somehow!

    But . . . Hmm¡­

    Su Chan nced at the struggling crane . Will the note fall off?

    Su Chan brought the crane closer to her face . "You don''t like it when people write stuff on your wings, huh, birdie?"

    Then, the most amazing thing happened . The crane shook its head!

    Hey . . . It can actually understand me!

    Su Chan giggled . "Hehe . . . Sorry, sorry . . . I didn''t know just now . " Su Chan eased the pressure of her fingers on the crane''s body . "I''m gonna let you go, but will you promise me not to fly away?"

    The crane nodded .

    Yayy!!!

    Su Chan sneaked out of her bedroom again, this time to look for a piece of paper . Once she returned to the table, she scribbled a quick note and then folded the paper into a small square .

    Su Chan poked the crane''s head with her finger . "Will you be able to deliver this note for me?"

    The crane nodded .

    Su Chan''s heart leaped in joy . But wait . . . What if it rained and the note got wet?

    Argh! This is such a paaaaainnnn .

    She should just ask Master for her phone back . . .

    Su Chan sighed and tapped the crane''s head again . "Hey, hey, hey . . . Will you be able to protect this note from the rain?"

    The crane stared back at Su Chan for a few seconds, then nodded .

    "Really, really, really?"

    The crane nodded again .

    Yes!!! Su Chan did a fist pump . "Good birdie, good birdie . . . "

    Suddenly, Su Chan narrowed her eyes at the crane . "You better not be lying to me . . . "

    The crane shook its head quickly .

    Su Chan narrowed her eyes even further . "And you won''t lose the note?"

    Another head shake .

    "You promise?"

    This time a quick nod .

    Su Chan grinned . "Good birdie . . . Good birdie . . . Hehe . . . " Su Chan ced the little square of paper on the table and slid it towards the crane . "Here you go . . . Bring this note to my beloved Li Yundong . "

    The crane stared at the paper for a moment . Suddenly, it began to nce around as though it was confused .

    Su Chan''s face fell . "Hey . . . What are you waiting for? Go ahead . Deliver my message . Do your duty!"

    The crane looked up from the table and shook its head desperately .

    Su Chan scowled . "Are you refusing me request?"

    The crane shook its head and pped its wings a few times .

    Su Chan huffed out in frustration . "Then what?"

    The crane waddled around in a circle, then pped its wings again .

    Su Chan smacked her forehead . You idiot, Chan''er! The birdie probably needed Yundong''s address!

    "Hehehe . . . " Su Chan smiled sheepishly at the crane . "Sorry, sorry . " Su Chan lowered her face to the table . The crane waddled a few steps away as though it was afraid of her . "Shh . . . Don''t be scared, birdie . " Su Chan poked the crane''s head with her finger . "Apartment 20A, New Hongsheng District . Now go . "

    There was a loud rustle, and the crane took off from the table and flew out of the window speedily .

    Ahh . . . Finally . A message to her beloved Yundong .

    She wondered what his face would look like when he saw her note . . .

    Would he cry? Would he smile? What would his reply be?

    That was when she saw something that shattered her fantasies: lying on the table was that piece of square paper that contained her message .

    The stupid birdie had forgotten to take it . Or rather, the stupid cheap monk Chan''er had forgotten to attach the paper to the birdie .

    Su Chan darted towards the window and leaned against the sill . "Hey!! Idiot! Come back!!! You forgot the paper!!"

    KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

    "Chan''er? What''s with all that yelling? What are you up to in there?"

    "N- Nothing! Master! It''s nothing! I was just¡­ just talking to myself!"

    "I''m gonna head out for a bit to get us some food," Master said . "Do you want anything in particr?"

    "No! Anything will do! Thanks Master!"

    "Okay . "

    Secondster, she heard the front door close . She sighed and threw herself onto the bed .

    "Argh! You idiot, Chan''er!" she screamed into a pillow .

    What was the point of sending a paper crane if it didn''t even carry a message? Would Yundong even know that she was the one who sent the crane? It wasn''t like the crane could speak .

    Su Chan wanted to cry .

    Gah!!! Idiot, idiot, idiot! She rolled back and forth on the bed, then smacked her own face with the pillow .

    Secondster, Su Chan lowered the pillow from her face . "M- Maybe Yundong would put two and two together and guess that I''m the one who sent the crane?"

    Yep . He would .

    He definitely would .

 Chapter 211

    Chapter 211

    <h4>Old-School Communication</h4>

    <small></small>Li Yundong opened the door and strode into Apartment 20A . At the doorway, he had to stoop slightly to allow the Fan of Seven Treasures'' rivet to clear the door frame . A sense of disgruntlement rose to his chest at the thought of his magical sidekick . He''d run into trouble at the university again because of that stupid freshman .

    After a brief stop at the shoe rack, he continued along the entryway towards the living room .

    His could feel his sweat-stained shirt clinging to his back as he walked . Instead of taking a cab, he had decided to run all the way from campus to the apartment . His journey to Tibet had brought him closer to the true meaning of Cultivation . As a result, he was now able to truly appreciate the value and benefits of activities like walking or running, activities that he used to takepletely for granted . He had decided that, from now on, he would rely on his feet to travel within the city unless it was raining . Most people would think he was nuts for his new travel arrangements, but he honestly thought it made total sense considering all the benefits running would grant him: for one, running was basically another form of Qi-control training; save more money by avoiding cab fares; increase his bonding time with the Fan of Seven Treasures; save travel time (he could run pretty damn fast), especially during rush hours .

    So, yeah .

    The Running Man was back .

    The tantalizing aroma of stir-fry assaulted his nose the moment he stepped into the living room . He paused beside the couch and nced at the dining table, on top of whichy two steaming tes of home-cooked dishes .

    Li Yundong approached the table and studied the two tes . The first one was a vegetable tter consisting of stir-fried celery, corn kernels, lily bulbs, and asparagus . The stir-fry was expertly done¡ªhe couldn''t see a single drop of excess oil or moisture . Spread over the top of the vegetables was a thinyer of thickener, which, from the looks of it, was probably cornstarch . The vegetables were also arranged into a beautiful shape of a fan .

    Li Yundong chuckled when he realized that it was meant to take the shape of the Fan of Seven Treasures .

    This thing looked like something from MasterChef China .

    Li Yundong lowered his backpack and leaned against the edge of the dining table .

    "What an honor it is to have a respected member of the Zhengyi School''s Linggong Sect cook me a meal," he yelled towards the kitchen .

    Secondster, Zi Yuan emerged from the kitchen with an apron tied around her waist . She was carrying a bowl of soup . Based on the soup''s aroma, Li Yundong could tell that it was fish soup .

    Li Yundong''s mouth watered .

    Zi Yuan ced the soup bowl beside the vegetable tter .

    "This looks and smells amazing," Li Yundong said with a chuckle . "What''s the asion though?"

    Zi Yuan gave him a rare smile . "No asion . "

    Li Yundong shot her a skeptical look .

    Zi Yuan''s expression turned serious . "I just think that you should leave these trivial chores to me and focus fully on your training . " Zi Yuan gave him a pointed look . "Your divine punishment is nearing . "

    Yes, he knew . There hadn''t been a single moment during the day that he wasn''t obsessing about it .

    Li Yundong smiled . "Should I be paying you then?" He gestured at the dining table . "For your hard work and effort, I mean . "

    Zi Yuan removed the apron and then folded it .

    "Well . You can if you want to," Zi Yuan said, then gave him a smirk . "Though I doubt you can afford my services . "

    Li Yundongughed . However, hisughter stopped when he saw that Zi Yuan was about to move into the kitchen again .

    "No, no . Please, sit down," he said, raising his palm . "You''ve done enough already . Let me do the rest . "

    Then, he dragged Zi Yuan to the table and pushed her down into a chair before she could even protest .

    Zi Yuan red up at him . "Tsk! I told you that I''d take care of these trivial chores . "

    "Trivial chores?" Li Yundong said as he made his way towards the kitchen . "Well . I beg to differ, my friend . Food is important, you see?" He stopped at the kitchen doorway and raised a brow at her . "Aren''t you the one who told me that I should live ording to the natural order of things? Eating is part of the natural order . "

    <small></small>Zi Yuan''s eyes narrowed . "Sometimes I wonder if you''re really a gentleman, or you just like to get on my nerves . "

    Li Yundong chuckled and continued his way into the kitchen .

    "Why can''t it be both?"

    ***

    Minutester, Li Yundong served up two rice bowls and two sets chopsticks on the table . He smiled at Zi Yuan once he had taken his seat at the table .

    "Well! Let''s dig in," he said, picking up his rice bowl . "Thanks for the meal, by the way . "

    While he ate, Li Yundong took the opportunity to observe Zi Yuan . Admittedly, it felt a bit strange to see Zi Yuan engaging in daily human activities such as having a meal . Most of the time, Zi Yuan gave off this "divine" vibe, like she came from a paradisiacal and spiritual world where things like eating and sleeping were considered too earthly, too mundane . She was like a delicate work of art, best admired from a distance so as to avoid tainting it with one''s presence .

    And then there was also this regal and dignified air that she exuded in spades . This could be seen from the way she had kept her back was straight and her movements precise and elegant throughout the entire meal . By the time Li Yundong was done with his meal, he was convinced that Zi Yuan was a stickler for social decorum, a firm upholder of the proprieties .

    Li Yundong rose from the dining table and carried his dishes to the sink . It wasn''t until he had taken care of the dishes and was walking out of the kitchen that he heard it: a faint pecking sounding from the living room .

    "Hey . . . Did you hear that?" Li Yundong asked Zi Yuan, who had just finished her meal .

    "Yes," she said . "Looks like you have a message . " She tilted her head towards the balcony of the living room .

    Li Yundong nced over and saw some kind of white object bumping against the ss .

    "Whoa . . . Is that . . . ?"

    He slowly walked over and opened the sliding door . The paper crane flew in and began circling above his head . He nced towards Zi Yuan . "Should I just grab it or . . . ?"

    "Open your hand," Zi Yuan said . "If it''s meant for you, it''de to you .

    When Li Yundong did as told, the cranended at the center of his palm .

    When Li Yundong raised his palm and brought the crane closer to his face, he frowned .

    "But there''s nothing written on it . . . "

    He nced over at the dining table, but Zi Yuan was already inside the kitchen .

    Then the crane began shaking itself and pping its wings violently . Li Yundong was instantly reminded of a dog or a cat trying to dry itself after its fur got wet . The crane kept shaking and trembling . Does it feel . . . cold? Li Yundong studied the crane for a moment . Nah . It''s more like it''s trying to shake something off its body .

    Li Yundong reoriented his palm and studied the crane from various angles . Nothing . There was nothing attached to it .

    Li Yundong brought the crane to eye-level . "Where did youe from?"

    Amazingly, the crane stopped shaking and raised its head to look at him . Dang . This magical crane understands humannguage . . . The crane stared at him for a while . Then, just when he was about to repeat his question, the crane pointed one of its wings towards the sliding door .

    Duh . Of course you came from outside . What I wanna know is who sent you .

    Perhaps he should phrase his question better .

    "Someone sent you here," he said .

    The crane nodded .

    Li Yundong''s heart leaped in joy . "My princess sent you here, didn''t she?"

    The crane stared at him nkly . It didn''t nod or move . Li Yundong frowned . It then urred to him that the crane probably didn''t understand the term "my princess . "

    <small></small>Then again, who else could''ve sent the crane if not Su Chan? Well, it could be Ao Wushuang, since she, Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Ruan Hongling were the only Cultivators who knew his address .

    Whatever .

    He would just write a reply and then ask the crane to send it back .

    With a grin, Li Yundong carried the crane into his room . Time for some old-schoolmunication .

    ***

    At his desk, Li Yundong took out a piece of paper and wrote a simple note .

    After folding the note, he looked towards the crane .

    "Yo, buddy," he said . "Think you can carry this back to the person who sent you?"

    On the desk, the crane moved towards him with wobbly strides .

    The crane stopped when it was about an inch from his hand, then nodded .

    Li Yundong studied the crane for a moment . Okay . Looks like we have another problem .

    "Um . . . Where should I put this on you?" he asked the crane .

    The crane suddenly lowered itself and spread its wing . Some kind of groove appeared on its back .

    "Right there?" Li Yundong pointed at the groove .

    The crane nodded .

    "Alright, then . . . " Li Yundong slid the note into the groove and made sure that it was secure . "Please bring this to the girl who sent you . " He tickled the crane''s head . "Can you do that?"

    The crane nodded .

    Li Yundong smiled and stroke the crane''s head once again .

    "Thanks buddy . "

    The crane took off from the surface of his desk . Li Yundong followed the crane''s swift movements across the room and watched it fly out of the balcony, carrying with it all the hopes, feelings, and affection that he held for his dear princess .

    ***

    Su Chan paced around in her room . What should I do? What should I do?

    She hadn''t been able to calm down ever since that little mishap with the paper crane half an hour ago . Not even food was able to calm her nerves . Case in point: she only ate two bowls of rice before retreating to her room .

    Master had been giving her suspicious looks during the meal, but Su Chan didn''t want to read too much into that .

    Ugh! This was driving her nuts!

    Stupid Chan''er!

    She might''ve just wasted a paper crane!

    Suddenly, Su Chan stopped pacing .

    <small></small>Should I ask Grandmaster Liu for another one?

    But . . .

    Yeah, right . As if he will agree .

    Indeed, why would Grandmaster Liu give her another one? She''d be lucky if he didn''t scold her for wasting his precious paper cranes .

    PLOP! Su Chan fell face first onto the mattress . She stayed like that for a while, then rolled over to look out of the window .

    Tiannan City was pretty far from Mount Tianlong . I wonder how fast birdie can fly . . .

    Then, she began wondering if Yundong had received her message already, only to realize that there was no message to receive .

    Su Chan wanted to cry . She wanted to¡ª

    Birdie! Su Chan sprang out of bed and dove for the window . Despite her clumsy movements, she managed to snatch the crane the moment it flew into her room . She might''ve crumpled the crane''s wings a little, but she didn''t care .

    There was a note attached to the crane!

    A note!

    She took the note and set the crane down on the table . Then, she eagerly unfolded the note: Princess? That you?

    Su Chan mped her hand over her lips to muffle her squeak .

    Kyaaaaa!!! Hahahaha!!! He got it!! He got it!!

    Su Chan did a little victory dance around the room .

    Once she had calmed down a little, Su Chan tiptoed towards the door and open it slightly .

    She peeked out through the crack .

    Master was meditating . Her expression was so peaceful that one would think that she was asleep .

    Granted, that could just be an illusion that Master had set up, but right now Su Chan was too excited to care . She closed the door gently and tiptoed back towards the square table .

    Happiness bloomed inside her chest .

    She just got a message from Yundong! Hooray! Hooray!

    After giggling and probably grinning like an idiot for a while, Su Chan picked up a pen and wrote down another note: Hi beloved! How smart of you to figure out right away that it was me! I actually forgot to attach my first note onto the crane . . . Hehehe . . . Erm . . . I probably shouldn''t have told you that? Please don''t tease me for being a silly cheap monk? Oh, by the way, I''ve returned to the Fox Zen School with Master . I''m totally fine! So don''t worry about me . What about you? How have you been?

    Su Chan reread her message a few times before she folding the paper . After that, she slid the note into the groove on the crane''s back . "Shoo . Shoo . Go along now, birdie . "

    The crane turned its head away and refused to even look at her .

    Su Chan gaped at the crane .

    Is it¡­ Is it sulking?

    A fawning grin spread across Su Chan''s face .

    "Hehehe . . . " Su Chan tickled the crane''s head . "Aww . . . are you mad at me, birdie? I''m so sorry for scolding you before . . . "

    The crane turned its head to look at her .

    Su Chan widened her grin until her cheeks hurt .

    The crane turned away again .

    Su Chan''s face fell . How dare you ignore me! Gah!

    "Go," Su Chan growled . "Or else I''ll tear you to shreds . " Su Chan raised her fingers and mimed a tearing motion . Well, she wasn''t actually going to tear the crane apart (coz that would be stupid) . She was just trying to scare it a little .

    Her scare tactics appeared to have worked, because the crane flinched back and quickly took off with the paper .

    Half an hourter, the crane returned .

    Su Chan squeaked and pounced on it again .

    The reply read: Of course I knew it was you! We''re telepathically linked, remember? And I''ve got good news for you! Your beloved has passed the Zhuji phase . I''lle fetch you after I survive my divine punishment and then we can travel the world together! How does that sound?

    Su Chan giggled at the note .

    Telepathically linked? Heh . Why would they even need tomunicate like this if they were telepathically linked? Su Chan pressed a finger to her chin and stared at the note for a moment . Hmm . Secondster, she broke into a grin . Hehehe . . . Maybe this is a good opportunity to test it out .

    Su Chan grabbed another piece of paper and scrawled a simple note: I tell you what, beloved . If you can guess what''s on my mind now as I''m writing this note, then I''ll truly believe that we''re telepathically linked!

    Su Chan folded the paper .

    Su Chan clicked her tongue a few times . "Come here, birdie . "

    The crane seemed morepliant than before as it waddled over .

    Su Chan poked the crane''s head a few times . "You really need to learn how to walk properly, you know . "

    Just when she was about to slip the note into the groove, Su Chan stilled her hand . "Hold on a second, birdie . . . "

    Su Chan unfolded the note and read over the note again .

    Should I add a few more lines?

    Minutester, Su Chan decided that to just add a smiley face at the end of the note .

    Birdie took off once again .

    It was already dark when Su Chan saw birdie flying towards her window from afar . Somehow, this trip took much longer than the previous ones . Maybe Yundong had spent a long time writing his reply? The thought sent waves of anticipation coursing through her veins .

    Birdie flew in through the bedroom window and headed straight for the square table . Su Chan wanted to scold it for returning muchter than usual, but Birdieypletely still on the table . Su Chan ignored it and went straight for Yundong''s reply .

    Su Chan unfolded the note: Hmm¡­ I just told you that I passed the Zhuji phase . . . So I''m guessing that you were thinking about you and me together¡­ on a bed!

    Su Chan burst into giggles .

    Oh, my dear beloved . . . You''re thinking about touching me even when we''re this far apart?

    Su Chan''s face heated up at the thought of Yundong touching her in an intimate way . Su Chan rolled onto the bed, hugging that tiny piece of paper to her chest . Somehow, that simple line of words penned down by the man she loved could make her feel like she was living in paradise .

    At that moment, she was happy .

    So very happy .

 Chapter 212

    Chapter 212

    <h4>Loyalty</h4>

    <small></small>It took Su Chan fifteen minutes toe up with a reply . When she did, she rolled out of bed and padded towards the square table . Her blood ran cold: instead of waddling around on the table, Birdieypletely still, just like a lifeless piece of origami .

    Su Chan scrambled towards the table . "Oh, no! Birdie!" she hissed . "What happened?"

    Su Chan poked the crane''s body with her finger . All that did was make the crane''s body slide lifelessly along the table''s wooden surface .

    "Hey¡­" Su Chan''s eyes narrowed . "Are you ying dead?"

    Su Chan poked the thing again .

    "Tsk! Stop ying dead already," she hissed . "Get up!"

    Panic rose to her chest . She picked up the crane and examined it from various angles . The crane''s body looked fine other than the fact that it waspletely motionless .

    "Oh, no, no . . . I''m so sorry for scolding you just now . . . Please wake up . . . Please . . . "

    Su Chan began pacing back and forth . She paused in front of the bed to examine the crane again .

    Is it dead? Oh, please don''t tell me it''s dead . . .

    "Wake up birdie, wake up¡­"

    Su Chan shook the crane a few times .

    Should I bring it back to Grandmaster Liu and then ask him to take a look at it?

    Su Chan looked towards the door .

    Gah! But it''s already sote! Master probably won''t let me sneak out again!

    Su Chan raised the crane and studied it under the light .

    After a while, Su Chan whimpered .

    "Why won''t you move, birdie? Why¡ª"

    "It has run out of spiritual energy, you dummy . "

    Su Chan gasped and nced towards the door .

    The door was still closed, but she couldn''t sworn she heard Master''s voice just now!

    Su Chan stared at the door for about a minute or so . Master hadn''t barge into her room yet .

    She must have imagined Master''s voice, right?

    Pfft . I must have . How could Master possibly know what I was up to?

    But still . Master was so clever .

    Better check . . .

    Su Chan lowered the crane onto the mattress and tiptoed towards the door .

    Yup . I better check just to be sure . . .

    Just when she was about to reach the door, Su Chan smacked her forehead and ran back towards the bed . When she reached the bed, she quickly lifted the covers and then shoved the crane under the covers .

    After making some adjustments to the nket and smoothing out the wrinkles on the sheets, Su Chan tiptoed towards the door once again .

    <small></small>Nah . . . Master probably doesn''t know . She would''ve said something during dinner if she knew .

    Su Chan reached for the door knob and twisted it gently . The door opened a crack and¡ª

    "Eeep!!!!" Su Chan jumped backwards the moment she saw Master''s beautiful face in front of the crack . A secondter, the door swung open and Master strode in with a smirk .

    "What''s the matter, my dear Chan''er?"

    Master smiled sweetly at her .

    Su Chan nced surreptitiously towards the nket, but then realized her mistake as soon as she did it . She looked away quickly, hoping that Master wouldn''t notice her subtle eye movement .

    Master was staring at the nket with a raised brow .

    Right . Not so subtle after all .

    "M- Master . . . "

    Master looked away from the bed . "Yes, Chan''er?"

    "S- So . . . Um . . . Y- You knew all along?" Su Chan winced at howme she sounded .

    Master kept staring at her .

    After what felt like forever, Master chuckled and stepped further into her room . Master closed the door and then walked towards the bed, where she sat down . Master lifted the nket and picked up the stupid birdie .

    Su Chan wished the floor would just swallow her up already .

    "S- So you knew . . . "

    Master chuckled again . "Of course I knew . " She waved Birdie at Su Chan . "I knew the moment you smuggled this thing into our quarters . "

    Su Chan grimaced . Oopsie .

    "But um . . . How did you know, Master?"

    "Forget how I knew," Master said . "Where did you even get this thing? Did you steal it from Grandmaster Liu''s quarters?"

    The sternness in Master''s voice near the end of her statement made Su Chan flinch .

    Su Chan lowered her gaze and fiddled with her sleeve . "He . . . He gave it to me . . . "

    For some reason, Masterughed out loud at that .

    "That old man . . . You''d think he would at least teach you how this thing works if he was going to give it to you . "

    Su Chan shot a tentative nce at Master . "A- Are you mad at me, Master?"

    Master just smiled . "Do you think I''m mad?"

    Su Chan studied Master''s expression for a moment . "Hehehe . . . " Su Chan broke into a grin, then jumped onto the bed . ¡°You''re not mad at me!"

    Master rolled her eyes . "Here . Keep it . "

    Su Chan took the paper crane from Master''s outstretched hand . "But . . . " Su Chan gave Master a puzzled look . "Why aren''t you mad though? And why didn''t you say anything if you knew?"

    Master rolled her eyes again . "Sure, I could get mad all I want . But what would be the point? Your heart is with him, so you''re going to be constantly thinking about him no matter where you are . " Master red at her . "In fact, I don''t even understand why you''re here with me instead of going back to him . Do you know how dangerous this is, Chan''er?"

    Su Chan beamed at Master and raised her fist . "I have nothing to fear as long as you''re with me, Master!"

    Su Chan could feel her own smile slipping away when Master gave her a hard stare .

    <small></small>"This is the Great Six, Chan''er . If ites down to an open warfare . . . " Master sighed . "I just don''t think . . . " Master trailed off .

    The Great Six .

    Six of the world''s leading Cultivation organizations wanted to storm the Fox Zen School because they thought the Fox Zen School was hiding the Renyuan Jin¡ª

    Su Chan froze . Wait a minute . . .

    "Master . . . ?" Su Chan felt as though her world was tilting sideways .

    "Yes?"

    "Won''t the members of the Zhengyi School be part of the attack as well?"

    "Most probably . "

    "B- But Elder Sister Zi Yuan is from the Zhengyi School! And she¡ª" Su Chan grabbed Master''s arms and lowered her voice into a whisper . "She knows where the Jindan is! Yundong is in danger if¡ª"

    "Shh . . . Settle down, Chan''er . . . " Master said calmly . "We can trust Zi Yuan . "

    Su Chan rxed her grip on Master''s arm .

    "As you have already realized," Master continued, "Zi Yuan could''ve shared what she knew about the Jindan''s whereabouts with the other sects of the Zhengyi School, but she didn''t . " Master gave her a reassuring look . "She genuinely wants to help your beloved . So don''t worry . "

    Su Chan sighed in relief . If Master says we can trust Zi Yuan, then it should be alright . . .

    "But Master . . . " Su Chan looked up at Master . "Why is Zi Yuan helping Yundong?"

    "Well, she''s helping him because¡ª" Something flickered inside Master''s eyes .

    Su Chan frowned . "Master?"

    Master shook her head and cleared her throat . "She has a good reason . "

    "Oh . " Suddenly, Su Chan grabbed Master''s arm again . "When do you think Yundong''s divine punishment wille, Master?"

    "Soon . " Master sighed . There was a brief pause as Master collected her thoughts . "It coulde any time after he learns how to fly . "

    Su Chan''s stomach clenched in fear .

    "M- Master . . . Y- You''ll help him, right?"

    Master didn''t answer; rather, she appeared to be engrossed in her own thoughts .

    In hindsight, Master had seemed a bit distracted ever since Su Chan brought up Zi Yuan''s name . Su Chan wondered why .

    The tightness in Su Chan''s stomach intensified . "H- Have¡­ Have you changed your mind about helping him, Master?"

    "Mmm?" Master said .

    Panic took over .

    "Maaaasssteeerrrr," Su Chan whined . "Please help him!" She tugged Master''s arm repeatedly . "Please? Pleeeeeeaaaase?"

    Master''s narrow-eyed re stifled Su Chan''s next words . Suddenly, Master chuckled . "Tsk, tsk, tsk! I''ve never seen you act this crazy over me even though I''ve raised you for ten years . " Master smirked . "Spend a few weeks with that man, and you''re ready to die for him . "

    That''s where you are wrong, Master . . . I''m willing to die for you too .

    There were two people in this world that Su Chan cared more than anyone else, even more than her own life . The first was Yundong, and the second was Master .

    Su Chan pulled Master''s arm . "Y- You haven''t changed your mind about helping him, have you?"

    <small></small>"Hey! What about my well-being?" Master flicked Su Chan''s forehead . "Do you know how dangerous it is to help someone survive the Heavenly Thunder?" Master shot her a re . "What if I die while helping him, hmm? Do you want that to happen?"

    Fear speared through Su Chan''s heart, and she clenched Master''s arm .

    Oh, no . . . What if¡­ What if one of them dies . . . ?

    Tears stung Su Chan''s eyes .

    "W- Will you die if you help him, Master?"

    Master chuckled and ruffled Su Chan''s hair . "Oh? You''re starting to worry about me now, huh?"

    A familiar sensation of warmth enveloped Su Chan when she threw herself into Master''s arms . "But I don''t want either of you to die!" Su Chan rubbed her face against Master''s chest . Suddenly, she drew back and stared up at Master . "Oh! I know!"

    Master''s eyes narrowed . "Uh-huh . What do you know?"

    "You should just tell me what to do to help Yundong and then I''ll do it! I''ll die so that neither of you has to die! Isn''t that perfec¡ª Oww!"

    Su Chan rubbed her forehead .

    "Stop saying nonsense like that," Master chastised .

    Su Chan pouted and dropped her hands to herp . "I just don''t want either of you to die . . . "

    Master smiled in amusement . "I appreciate the concern, but there''s really no need for your noble sacrifice . "

    Su Chan''s heart sank . "Then¡­ Does it mean that no one can help Yundong after all?"

    Master sighed . "I already did, you silly girl . "

    Su Chan froze for a moment .

    "Really?!" Su Chan bounced on the bed a little .

    "Mm-hmm . He''ll be fine as long as he trains hard and does exactly as I say . " Master smiled . "Besides, Zi Yuan will be there to guide him . "

    "Yeeessss!!" Su Chan threw her arms around Master''s neck, and then peppered Master''s cheek with kisses . "I knew it! I knew Master is the best! Kyaa! I''m so happy¡ª Oww!"

    Su Chan rubbed her head again after Master poked her skull .

    Su Chan shot Master a pouty look . "What was that for, Master?"

    Master smiled down at her . "I really wonder how Li Yundong got so lucky to have found a lover like you . "

    Su Chan shook her head . "No, no, no . . . " She stared deeply into Master''s eyes . "I''m the one who''s lucky, Master . "

    Master''s eyes narrowed when Su Chan suddenly jumped off the bed and kneeled on the floor . "Buddha once said that a person would meet their true love if they destroyed a wooden fish during their past life," Su Chan said, pressing her palms together . (T/N: A wooden fish is a percussion instrument; usually, monks would knock them with a stick when they recite prayers or sutra verses; destroying a wooden fish implies spending a lot of time on prayers)

    Master chuckled . "So?"

    Su Chan beamed at Master . "So I must have destroyed at least a hundred of them if I got to meet a man like Yundong!"

    Masterughed, then rolled her eyes . "That man better stay loyal to you, or else!"

    "Of course he will!" Su Chan sprang to her feet and climbed onto the bed once more . "Yundong is the most loyal man in the world! I trust him!"

    They stared at each other silently .

    Master''s eyes were filled with so much sadness right then that it nearly broke Su Chan''s heart . But before Su Chan could ask, the look was gone .

    "Oh, my dear Su Chan . . . " Master whispered . "The truth is¡­ I used to think so too . . . "

    Su Chan leaned back in surprise . Wait¡­ Does that mean Master had a lover in the past?

    Su Chan wanted to smack herself as soon as the question came to mind .

    Of course Master would have a lover! Master was so beautiful! She was the most beautiful woman Su Chan knew!

    But . . .

    Su Chan stole a nce at Master, who was now staring off into space .

    Howe I''ve never met Master''s lover before¡­

    Before she could ask, Master rose from the bed and strode towards the door .

    "Don''t worry about the Heir," Master said, pausing at the door . "He''ll be fine . "

    "Oh . "

    Master left her room quickly after that, leaving Su Chan alone with her confused thoughts .

    ***

    Seven words .

    Seven words was all Zhou Qin had written down on that piece of paper they had given her .

    So far, they had agreed to her all requests and gave her what she wanted: an elevated room with a good view; full privacy (the room shouldn''t have camera surveince); some food and water, though those were just red herrings since she didn''t actually need them; a pen; and a piece of paper .

    They gave her everything .

    Suchpliance could only mean one thing¡ªthey believed they had broken her .

    In a way, they kind of had .

    She was already broken . In fact, she couldn''t remember a time she wasn''t broken . It was like she was born in this world just to be broken .

    Zhou Qin folded the paper and ced it on the center of the table . On second thought, no . She shouldn''t leave it there . Zhou Qin picked up the paper again . Then, she walked towards the bed at the corner of the room and ced the paper right on top of the pillow .

    She turned away from the bed and walked towards the window .

    Darkness greeted her the moment she pushed open the window .

    She stood there quietly, taking a moment to just stare out into the darkness .

    Once again, her mind returned to the night of her birthday party, that cathartic night where she had torn the butterfly painting into pieces and watch the pieces scatter into the abysmal darkness .

    Zhou Qin chuckled sadly .

    Perhaps she wasn''t that different from the butterfly after all .

    She''d spent pretty much her entire life trying not to be that butterfly . But in the end, she realized that she had to be the butterfly first in order to step out of the shadows of its existence .

    How ironic .

    Zhou Qin took a deep breath and grabbed the windowsill with both hands .

    Soon she would be free .

    Free from the cage that was her life .

    Free from the fetters of unrequited love .

    Free from the shackles of life .

 Chapter 213

    Chapter 213

    <h4>The Set-Up</h4>

    <small></small>Perhaps there was a good reason why old-schoolmunication was deemed as, well, old school¡ªit was unreliable, even though it functioned by magical means .

    For hours Li Yundong had stood on his balcony and waited for the paper crane''s return, yet there were no signs of it . Maybe Su Chan had gone to bed already? Did Ao Wushuang confiscate the paper crane? Li Yundong sighed . This was stupid . He should head back inside . It wasn''t like standing out here would make the cranee any faster .

    Li Yundong pushed away from the railing and entered the living room .

    Zi Yuan rose from the couch as soon as he stepped in .

    "I''m gonna head back," she said .

    "Oh," Li Yundong said, closing the sliding door gently . "Thanks for dinner . I really appreciate it . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Good night, then . "

    Following Zi Yuan''s departure, Li Yundong did a quick visual sweep of the apartment, which felt empty all of a sudden . Guess he had gotten used to Zi Yuan''s presence inside his apartment .

    He walked around the apartment for a bit and ended up standing outside Su Chan''s room . A wave of loneliness rose inside him, but he tamped it down . He lowered his hand from the door knob and let out a heavy sigh .

    Sneaking around in her room wouldn''t make him miss her any less .

    He strode into the living room, then moved past the couch towards the kitchen .

    Zi Yuan had cleared the dining table and taken care of all the dishes . He came to a halt outside the kitchen . He turned and slowly walked towards the dining table .

    Zi Yuan had reced the table cloth .

    A teacup sat at the center of the table . When he touched the teacup''s surface, he found that it was still warm . Pressed underneath the teacup was a note: "The Heavenly Thunder is approaching . Stay focused . Drink it while it''s still warm . "

    Li Yundong picked up the teacup and studied its contents . He raised the teacup and then brought its rim closer to his nose .

    He sniffed a few times and found that the liquid was odorless . He took a small sip and realized that it was tasteless as well .

    Probably just warm water . . .

    He drank up the rest .

    Li Yundong nearly dropped the teacup when he felt it: a strong pulse in his lower abdomen, right at his lower Dantian .

    It was like his Vital Orb had just grown stronger .

    Li Yundong stared at the teacup . That couldn''t have been just water . Even though it tasted just like water, he knew that Zi Yuan must have fed him something .

    Li Yundong sighed and ced the teacup back onto the table . I''ll just ask her tomorrow .

    He turned away from the table and nced around the apartment again, wondering what he should do .

    The answer was pretty obvious .

    He padded towards the center of the living room and got into a meditative posture .

    ***

    The next morning, Li Yundong was proud to announce that the Running Man had set a new record: half an hour from New Hongsheng District to Tiannan University, and he''d done it while carrying a bulky magical object on his back .

    The strange looks and hushed whispers began the moment he walked past the campus gates . Great . The entire university had probably found out about yesterday''s incident at the canteen by now . Right . As if that wasn''t par for the course .

    He wondered what kind of excuse he coulde up with to justify the Fan of Seven Treasures'' magical properties . That it was aponent of an AI-controlled robot? So believable right there .

    What were Zi Yuan''s reasons again for her insistence that he should return to the university? He honestly didn''t know anymore .

    On the way to the academic building, a voice stopped him in his tracks .

    "Tsk, tsk, you think that guy can still walk?"

    "Hmm . . . I don''t know, Nana . But I think he might run into a little trouble considering how swollen his head must be . "

    There was a giggle .

    "Well, fame does that to people . "

    Li Yundongughed out loud . Those two . . .

    He turned around and saw Feng Na and Cheng Cheng standing side by side, staring at him .

    He gave them a wave . The two women waved back and began walking towards him . Cheng Cheng was dressed differently today . Instead of her usual casual attire, she was wearing a long-sleeved blouse and a pair of ck dress pants .

    "Whoa . Somebody''s giving out a lot of OL vibes . " He gave Cheng Cheng a thumbs up . "Nice . Very professional . "

    Feng Na stopped right in front of him while Cheng Cheng stood slightly to his left .

    <small></small>Li Yundong gave Feng Na a nod . "Morning . "

    "Don''t so sound surprise, please," Cheng Cheng said . "You make it sound like I don''t usually look nice¡ª"

    Iing!

    Li Yundong whipped his head to the side . At the same time, his hand shot out and grabbed . . .

    Cheng Cheng''s wrist .

    Li Yundong and Cheng Cheng stared at each other for a second .

    Cheng Cheng''s eyes were wide with shock .

    With a sigh, Li Yundong rxed his stance and let go of Cheng Cheng''s wrist .

    "Sorry . That was a reflex," Li Yundong said . Then, he shot Cheng Cheng a worried look . "Are you okay?"

    A smile spread over Cheng Cheng''s stunned expression . "Nah . It''s fine . I should''ve known better . " She chuckled . "You''re a trained martial artist after all . " She gave him a strange look . "Though you do seem a bit wound up tight today . I mean, it wasn''t like I was trying to p you or anything . I was just trying to pat your shoulder . . . "

    "Yeah¡­ My bad," Li Yundong said . "Like I said, it was just a reflex . "

    Cheng Cheng waved off his concerns . "So . I heard from Nana that you put on a show again yesterday . At the canteen . "

    Li Yundong groaned . "Don''t even start . "

    "I''m pretty sure putting on a show is an understatement, Cheng Cheng," Feng Na piped in . "He tore the whole ce apart!"

    Li Yundong shot Feng Na a re . "You''re not helping . "

    "What?" Feng Na hid a smile behind her hand . "I was just stating the truth . "

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes at Feng Na . "And you still want to be near me after what you saw?" Li Yundong jerked his chin towards his backpack, where the Fan of Seven Treasures sat . He''d wrapped up the thing with another piece of cloth today . "Not scared that it might try to hurt you?"

    Suddenly, Feng Na didn''t look so smug anymore . "Um . . . Will it?"

    Li Yundongughed out loud . Either she was either slow on the uptake or she had balls of steel .

    "No," he said . "It''spletely harmless as long as you don''t try to touch it . "

    He could see the curiosity in Feng Na''s eyes as she stared at his backpack . She was probably dying to ask him about what the fan does or how it works . In which case she would bepletely out of luck, because Li Yundong himself had no clue .

    "Damn . . . " Cheng Cheng pped her hands together . "Now I''m curious about what happened . Can''t believe I missed the whole show!"

    Li Yundong raised a brow . "You do know that it was a dangerous situation, right?"

    Cheng Cheng shrugged as though it wasn''t even a big deal . "Maybe I like to live precariously . "

    Until death got in your face, he added mentally .

    "Well? Just look it up on the goddamn forums," he grumbled . "I''m sure it''s up there already . " He looked towards Feng Na . "So what''s up anyway? There has to be a reason why you guys are here bugging me so early in the morning . "

    Feng Na broke into a grin . "As a matter of fact, we do!" she said .

    "Uh-huh¡­"

    "Yep! We need your help!" Cheng Cheng said .

    "Right . Why am I not surprised," he said dryly .

    Feng Na cleared her throat . "So we''ve got these tables that we have to move, you see?"

    Cheng Cheng nodded . "And since we know you''re strong . . . "

    Li Yundong chuckled and raised his palm . "Okay . Okay . You need my help moving a bunch of tables . I get the idea . " Li Yundong looked towards Feng Na . "When and where?"

    Feng Na grinned . "We''ll take you there after your lecture . "

    Li Yundong smirked . "What if I just, I don''t know, decided to run off after my lecture?"

    Feng Na smirked back . "Not a chance . "

    Li Yundong raised his brow . "You sound confident . "

    Cheng Cheng giggled . "That''s because we''ll be following you around today to make sure you don''t run off . "

    Li Yundong did a double take .

    The two girls were smiling at him cheekily .

    <small></small>"Are you guys serious?" he asked .

    A smug look spread across Feng Na''s face . "Of course we are," she said . "You''re not getting off the hook that easily . "

    "What about your sses?" Li Yundong studied the two women with suspicious eyes . "Your schedules just happen to be free right now?"

    "Of course," Feng Na said smugly . "Which is why we''ll be sitting in your lecture hall until your lecture ends, so deal with it . "

    "Mm-hmm," Cheng Cheng said . "We''ll be watching you . " She pointed two fingers at her eyes .

    "This is ridiculous . " Li Yundongughed . "You know there''s no chance in hell you two can stop me if I really want to run right? I suggest you save yourselves some trouble and¡­ What?"

    Neither of the women were even looking at him right now . Instead, their eyes were focused on something behind him .

    Li Yundong turned around and followed their gazes .

    Li Yundong''s stomach clenched .

    Ding Nan was heading straight for them .

    "Hey, Ding¡ª"

    Li Yundong was cut off by Ding Nan''s cold voice: "Do you want to know where Zhou Qin is?"

    ***

    It took everything in Li Yundong''s power to stay cool .

    "Yes," he said almost too quickly . "Where is she?"

    Ding Nan didn''t answer the question . Instead, she seemed to be observing him, watching his reaction to her words . Somehow, the frosty look on Ding Nan''s face rubbed Li Yundong the wrong way .

    "Ding Nan . . . " Li Yundong said, his voice betraying his urgency . "Stop ying games . Tell me where she is . Why isn''t she attending her sses?"

    A small part of him feared what he might hear from Ding Nan . But still, he needed to know the truth so that he could do something to help .

    "sses?" Ding Nanughed snidely . "I doubt she''d be able to attend sses ever again . "

    Li Yundong''s blood ran cold . His hand rose instinctively to grab Ding Nan''s shoulders, but then he held himself back at thest second, fearing he might hurt Ding Nan .

    "What''s that supposed to mean? What happened to her? Tell me!"

    A smirk pulled across Ding Nan''s lips .

    "Why, are you worried about her?" Ding Nan sneered . "Does your heart ache for her?"

    Li Yundong took a step back and schooled his features .

    "Of course I''m worried about her," he said in a firm tone . "She''s my friend . "

    "Friend?" Ding Nan sneered, then pointed a finger at his face . "I bet you only befriended her because of her status and money!" A look of disdain spread across Ding Nan''s features . "I wonder how you would treat her now that she''s be a penniless nobody . "

    Anger rose inside Li Yundong .

    "I don''t give a shit about her status and money," Li Yundong said coldly . "She''s my friend . " Li Yundong took a step forward . "Now I''m gonna ask you again . Where is she?"

    Ding Nan''s smug expression faltered, and she took a step backwards .

    "If she''s in trouble, then I wanna help . " Li Yundong said, softening his tone . "I don''t care whether she''s rich or poor . None of that matters . She''s my friend . "

    His words seemed to have renewed Ding Nan''s confidence somehow . She snorted . "Just wait till you see the state she''s in . "

    Li Yundong''s heart stopped . What the f*ck happened to Zhou Qin? Did she get hurt?

    "So what if she''s in a bad state?" Cheng Cheng said in a tone of disdain . "Li Yundong isn''t a suck-up who only befriends someone for their status . " There was a pause . "Unlike a certain someone . "

    Anger shed across Ding Nan''s eyes . She turned and red daggers at Cheng Cheng and Feng Na .

    "Drop the pretense," Ding Nan snarled . "You''re all just a bunch of hypocrites!"

    Cheng Cheng looked like she was ready to pounce, but Feng Na held Cheng Cheng back and gave her friend a subtle headshake .

    Li Yundong decided to step in right then . "Quit stalling, Ding Nan . Just tell me where to find her . "

    Ding Nan rolled her eyes and turned around to walk away .

    Son of a bitch!

    Li Yundong hurried after her . "Ding Nan! Come on!" He grabbed Ding Nan''s arm and forced her to turn around . "If you know where she is, just tell me!"

    They stared at each other for a moment . Ding Nan''s expression was guarded and unreadable . As the staring match dragged on, Li Yundong began to sift through his memory for the contents of the Mahamudra Tantra . Perhaps there was a tantric mudra that would allow him to force the truth out of someone .

    <small></small>He came up with none .

    Ding Nan freed her arm from his grip . "I''ll give you one day to think things over . " She backed away a step, then turned around to walk away . "Come find me if you still wanna know where she is . I''ll tell you then . " Ding Nan stopped walking and stood there with her back facing him . "You might not like what you see . Don''t say I didn''t warn you . "

    Ding Nan began to walk away again .

    "I don''t need a day!" Li Yundong yelled after her . "Just tell me now!"

    Ding Nan kept walking until she disappeared into the academic building .

    "Son of a bitch!" Li Yundong ran a hand through his hair . "I should go after her¡ª"

    Cheng Cheng pulled him back . "You know she could be lying just to get your attention, right?"

    Feng Na nodded grimly . "I agree . Their friendship ended months ago . " Feng Na nced towards the academic building . "There''s no way she could''ve known Zhou Qin''s whereabouts . "

    Li Yundong sighed . "But they were in the same circle . " Li Yundong shook his head . "Ding Nan still have connections . She might really know something . "

    "Why don''t you head to ss first?" Feng Na gave him a sympathetic look . "She said she''s gonna tell you tomorrow anyway, right?"

    "She''s right, you know," Cheng Cheng said . "Besides, I don''t think you''re gonna get much out of Ding Nan even if you go after her right now . "

    Feng Na rolled her eyes and snorted . "Yeah well, given how stubborn she is, I''d say it''s damn near impossible . "

    Cheng Cheng shook her head in disgust . "I still think she''s just vying for Li Yundong''s attention . "

    Li Yundong huffed out a breath . "Let''s just go . "

    It would be naive to think that Zhou Qin was okay at this point . Something had happened to her, and he was going to f*cking find out what .

    ***

    The lecture went by in a blur . By the time Li Yundong was walking out of the lecture hall with Feng Na and Cheng Cheng, he could barely recall the contents of the lecture, super memory notwithstanding .

    Feng Na and Cheng Cheng had stayed true to their word by sitting through the entire lecture with him . They hadn''t said more than a few words to him during the lecture though . They had probably sensed his foul mood and didn''t want to disturb his brooding .

    "Hey, Cheng Cheng," Feng Na said in a faux cheery tone . "How was your internship job? We never got around to ask . "

    Li Yundong knew that Feng Na was just trying to lighten the mood, but he was honestly too worked up over their conversation with Ding Nan to care . As the three of them walked along the hallway, he stole a nce at Cheng Cheng . The girl seemed to be having some kind of silentmunication with Feng Na .

    Li Yundong sighed inwardly and decided to indulge them .

    "Yeah, Cheng Cheng . How was it? Think you can get hired for good?"

    "Ugh!" Cheng Cheng grimaced as though she had just swallowed something rotten . "Just thinking about that stupid job drives me mad . "

    Li Yundong pulled up short . "What? Why?" He looked towards Feng Na . "I thought it was going well?"

    "Well, the job itself was great," Cheng Cheng grumbled . "But the boss? Not so much?"

    "What happened?" Li Yundong pulled Cheng Cheng to a stop, then nced at Feng Na .

    Feng Na didn''t look all that surprised, so he guessed she must have known about it already .

    "I got sexually harassed is what happened," Cheng Cheng said with a sigh .

    What the hell?

    "What did the bastard do?"

    "He kept staring at my chest whenever we were in the same room . " Cheng Cheng pressed her hands to her chest as though to emphasize her point . "If that was all he did, then fine, I could handle it . I mean I''m already used to people staring at my chest anyway . But then yesterday he touched my legs and told me to stay at the office until after hours . " Cheng Cheng curled her lips in disgust . "Said he wanted to" ¡ªCheng Cheng did air quotes¡ª"discuss work-rted matters with me . " Cheng Cheng rolled her eyes . "Stupid old geezer thought I''d fall for that kind of thing . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "Please tell me you kicked him in the nuts . "

    An image of Su Chan kicking Director Qian shed in his mind .

    "Nah . He''s bigger and stronger than me . " Cheng Cheng chuckled sadly . "I''d be stupid to pick a fight with him . " Cheng Cheng nced at him . "Though if I have your fighting skills, he''d probably be dead now . " Cheng Cheng released a heavy sigh . "Worse . I can''t even file a HRint . I mean, what would be the point? He owns thepany . "

    "What about¡­?" Li Yundong paused in thought . "Have you tried reporting him to the police?"

    Cheng Cheng waved her hand . "I''ve got no evidence against him . "

    "So what''d you do?"

    Cheng Cheng stared at him like he''d grown ten heads . "I quit the job and left, what else . " Cheng Cheng shrugged . "Bye-bye job opportunity . "

    Li Yundong sighed . "Shit . . . That sucks . . . "

    There was a snort . Li Yundong nced sideways and saw Feng Na giving him a wry smile .

    "See? I told you the other day, didn''t I?" Feng Na said in a tone of resignation . "It''s hard to get a good job these days . "

    "Hey, Li Yundong . " Cheng Cheng smiled . "If you ever n to start your ownpany, don''t forget about us, okay?"

    Feng Na nodded with zest . "Yeah . It''s much better to have you as a boss than those perverts . "

    "Me? Starting my ownpany?" Li Yundong chuckled . That was probably as likely as pigs flying . "Don''t hold your breath . "

    Li Yundong moved further along the corridor while the two girls followed him . They were headed to the media room . Apparently, these tables and chairs had to be moved from the media room to somewhere .

    "If you want, I could call President Cao or President Yin and ask them if they have suitable positions for you two," Li Yundong said as they descended the stairs of the academic building .

    "Really?"

    "No thanks . "

    Cheng Cheng and Feng Na spoke over each other .

    The three of them stopped walking and stared at each other for a moment .

    Cheng Cheng had sounded pretty excited just now, but Feng Na just t-out denied the offer .

    "What''s the matter with you two today?" Li Yundong asked, his eyes narrowing . "Do you want me to put in the call or not?"

    Cheng Cheng and Feng Na did their silentmunication thing again .

    "Uh, guys?" Li Yundong waved a hand in front of them .

    "Um¡­ Well . " Cheng Chengughed awkwardly . "I think I agree with Nana . Don''t think that''s a good idea . I mean, I don''t think we''d . . . " Cheng Cheng cleared her throat and grinned . "I don''t think we''d be a good fit there . "

    Li Yundong gave them a strange look . What the hell was that about?

    Feng Na pped her hands together .

    "Come on, let''s go! The tables and chairs aren''t gonna move themselves!"

    ***

    It wasn''t until Li Yundong had strode into the media room that he realized that he''d just been yed . These supposed tables and chairs were already arranged into neat rows when they got there .

    The media room was filled with students, who sat in those chairs . Some kind of stage was set up in front of the room .

    Li Yundong red at Feng Na and Cheng Cheng .

    "There never was any tables and chairs to move, was there?"

    Cheng Cheng stuck her tongue out . "Ta-da!" She gestured proudly at the room .

    "Nope . " Feng Na smirked . "That was just an excuse to get you here . "

    "What the hell is this?" Li Yundong jerked his chin towards the stage .

    Feng Na pped his shoulders . "Rx, pal . The candidates for the student council president will be giving their speeches shortly . "

    "What? I thought that''s supposed to take ce this evening?"

    Feng Na waved her hand casually . "The schedules got moved up . The speeches will begin in . . . " Feng Na checked the time . "Probably fifteen minutes . "

    Li Yundongughed . "You know you guys could''ve just told me, right? I already gave you my word that I''ll be there when you deliver your speech . "

    A slow grin spread across Feng Na''s face . "Nope . That''s not good enough . " Feng Na''s grin turned into a smirk . "I had to be sure that you''re here on time . "

    "That''s why you followed me around," Li Yundong said, shaking his head in amusement . "So you could drag me here . "

    Feng Na shrugged . "I didn''t want to take any chances . "

    Li Yundong scanned his eyes across the media room . More students were filing in, and the chatter seemed to have gotten louder now .

    Li Yundong tore his eyes away from the stage and looked towards Feng Na .

    "I don''t get it," he said, shaking his head slightly . "Why is it so important that I''m here?"

    Cheng Chengughed out loud .

    "Well¡­" Cheng Cheng stepped towards him and patted his shoulder a few times . "The truth is, my friend, you y a crucial role in ensuring Feng Na''s victory today!"

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes at the two women . What''s that supposed to mean?

    "What the hell are you two up to?"

    Feng Na and Cheng Cheng exchange several looks .

    "Oh . . . You''ll see . " Feng Na smirked . "You''ll see soon enough . "

 Chapter 214

    Chapter 214

    <h4>Campaign</h4>

    <small></small>When Li Yundong was still puzzling over the kinds of schemes that Feng Na might have up her sleeves, something caught his eye: a familiar figure entering the media room .

    He whipped his head to the side and nced at the entrance .

    Sure enough, Ruan Hongling was marching into the room confidently . Trailing behind her like a lovesick puppy was none other than Yan Hua .

    Li Yundong knew Ruan Hongling had noticed him too when her movements suddenly stilled . She turned around and looked right at him . Before Li Yundong could turn away though, Ruan Hongling was stalking over towards them .

    "Hey, wait up! Hongling!" Yan Hua said, hurrying to keep up with Ruan Hongling''s quick strides .

    Even from afar, Li Yundong could detect the look of hostility in Ruan Hongling''s eyes whenever her eyes darted towards Cheng Cheng and Feng Na .

    The first thing Ruan Hongling did when she was reached them was grab Li Yundong''s arm and then pull him aside .

    "What are you doing here?" Ruan Hongling whispered harshly .

    "I could ask you the same thing," Li Yundong fired back . "What are you doing here?" His eyes darted sideways towards Yan Hua, who, unsurprisingly, was ring daggers at him . Li Yundong smirked . "Oh, I see¡­ Your boyfriend over there in the running for the student council president, and you''re here to cheer him on . "

    "Shut up," Ruan Hongling hissed . "He is not my . . . Ugh!" Ruan Hongling took a deep breath . "Your divine punishment is near, you idiot . You should be focusing your energy on strengthening your Vital Orb, not wasting your time participating in this . . . " A look of contempt spread across Ruan Hongling''s features . "This pointless nonsense . " She red at him . "Do you know how much Elder Sister Zi Yuan has done for you? All her efforts will go to waste if you die!"

    "Are you kidding me? This is her idea! She''s the one who encouraged me toe back to school in the first ce!" Li Yundong fired back . Indeed, he''d rather stay away from this stupid ce if he had a choice . "If you have any problems with that, then take it up with her . "

    "You . . . " Ruan Hongling growled .

    They were interrupted by Yan Hua''s snide voice .

    "You''re not gonna tell me you''re one of the candidates, are you?"

    Li Yundong looked to his left and saw Yan Hua sauntering up them . The guy had probably sensed the hostility between him and Ruan Hongling and had decided toe over to defend Ruan Hongling''s honor .

    Looking past Yan Hua, Li Yundong noticed Feng Na and Cheng Cheng walking over as well . Secondster, the three of them joined him and Ruan Hongling at the corner of the room . He ignored Yan Hua''s re and smiled at Feng Na instead .

    <small></small>"Meet yourpetition," he said, jerking his thumb towards Yan Hua .

    Feng Na gave Yan Hua adylike smile . She looked like an elegant diplomat instead of some cheeky girl with a penchant for pulling pranks .

    "Hello," she said politely .

    "Hello . " Yan Hua gave Feng Na a polite nod . "You''re Feng Na, right? It''s a pleasure . I''m looking forward to your guidance . "

    Feng Na''s brows drew together slightly . The frown was subtle and brief, but Li Yundong still noticed it . Clearly, Feng Na didn''t like the guy very much . Join the club, then .

    Feng Na was still smiling at the guy though .

    "You tter me," Feng Na said before she shared a quick nce with Cheng Cheng . "I''m sure y''all have heard of that analogy about waves . The new currents always drive the old currents onto the shore because they have the strength to do so . What''s often left unsaid, however, is that the old currents usually end up dead when they crash onto the shore . " Feng Na shrugged . That little shoulder movement gave an impression of nonchnce . "The fact is that the younger generation usually wins . " Feng Na smirked at Yan Hua . "Just make sure you show some mercy, okay? Don''t let an old current like me die too horribly . "

    Yan Hua chuckled in delight . Shrouded in hisughter, though, was a hint of smugness and glee .

    Yan Hua stoppedughing . Li Yundong noticed that Yan Hua''s eyes were now on him, those eyes that were filled with contempt and condescension .

    "Wise words indeed, Senior Feng Na . Perhaps that is why a certain someone has decided not to nominate himself for the position," Yan Hua jeered, then let out a dramatic sigh . "There goes my chance to show him who''s boss . "

    Ruan Hongling let out augh, which quickly turned into a cough .

    Li Yundong shot Ruan Hongling an amused nce . The look on her face clearly implied that she found Yan Hua''s pointed remark utterlyughable . When their eyes met, Li Yundong could see a glint of amusement in them .

    Li Yundong couldn''t resist a smirk .

    Yan Hua, on the other hand, seemed encouraged by Ruan Hongling''s reaction . The idiot had probably misconstrued Ruan Hongling''sughter as her way of agreeing with his statement .

    "Senior Feng Na," Yan Hua said, exuding an air of haughtiness now . "How did your speech preparation go?"

    Feng Na smiled graciously .

    <small></small>"I didn''t prepare much, to be honest . " Feng Na paused to look at Yan Hua . "I''m sure yours has gone well . "

    "Just normal, I guess," Yan Hua said .

    Li Yundong turned away to hide his eye roll .

    "Ooh!" Feng Na suddenly turned towards the entrance . "Looks like the teachers and the members of the university council have arrived . " She nced at Yan Hua . "Come on, junior . We have to go get ready . "

    "Where are they sitting?" Li Yundong asked Cheng Cheng after Feng Na and Yan Hua had walked away from the group .

    "The first row, together with the teachers," Cheng Cheng answered . "That''s where all the candidates will sit . "

    Li Yundong nodded . It made sense . The candidates had to walk onto the stage to deliver their speeches anyway, so it made sense to seat them in the first row since it was closest to the stage .

    "And what about us? We can sit anywhere we like, right?"

    "Yeah . " Cheng Cheng smiled at him . "Come on . This way . "

    Cheng Cheng led Li Yundong and Ruan Hongling to thest row .

    "How''s this thing gonna work, by the way?" Li Yundong asked Cheng Cheng once they had taken their seats .

    "The students will vote . But the university council can veto the results of the poll if they don''t like it . But the students'' votes still count, of course . "

    "I see . "

    After a while, the MC walked onto the stage to start the event .

    Some time during the speech of first candidate, Li Yundong leaned towards Ruan Hongling .

    "Hey, be straight with me," he whispered . "Why are you really here? Did Zi Yuan send you here to babysit me?"

    Ruan Honglingughed . "Oh, get over yourself . "

    <small></small>Li Yundong leaned away in surprise . "Wait, so you''re not here to observe my progress?"

    "This is part of my training," Ruan Hongling whispered back, then gave him a pointed look . "I have to gain some experience in handling worldly affairs . It''s a requirement for all Cultivators in the Linggong Sect . We have to learn how to engage and interact with mortals . "

    "I see . "

    The second candidate was a short, plump-looking guy . The guy''s speech was okay, but it was a little bit too . . . slobbery for Li Yundong''s tastes . Li Yundong thought he saw a few teachers in the first row raising their notepads to shield their faces from the guy''s saliva .

    As the event dragged on, Li Yundong did a quick headcount of the number of candidates seated in the first row .

    There were eight of them in total .

    So far, the first few candidates had received mixed responses from the students . Some were well-received, while others were booed the moment they got onto the stage .

    When it was Yan Hua''s turn, the boos and hisses stopped, and Li Yundong could understand why¡ªthe guy really knew how to hold the stage .

    Yan Hua''s confidence could be seen in his eyes, which began sweeping through the audience the moment he took his ce at the podium .

    The media room plunged into a deafening silence .

    From thest row, Li Yundong could see that all eyes were now trained on the podium . Anticipation filled the silent void left behind by the audience''s chatter . Everyone was eager to hear what Yan Hua had to say . And admittedly, Li Yundong was the same .

    After his unpleasant encounter with Yan Hua at the canteen, Li Yundong had looked Yan Hua up from the university''s Special Admissions portal . While going through Yan Hua''s dossier, Li Yundong learned that Yan Hua came from a well-off family of schrs . Both his parents were highly educated, and he himself was knowledgeable beyond his age .

    Yan Hua adjusted the microphone .

    Secondster, Yan Hua''s speech began .

    Li Yundong leaned back in his chair and listened to Yan Hua''s every word . The guy was an exceptional speaker, Li Yundong had to give him that . His overwhelming confidence aside, there was a certain eloquence in his manner of speech, not to mention the charisma thates with being knowledgeable . The guy could very well be a professional public speaker . His statements flowed smoothly and naturally without any awkward pauses in between . That alone was an impressive feat because Li Yundong was pretty sure that Yan Hua wasn''t reading out his lines from a script¡ªYan Hua''s eyes had never left the audience since he took the stage .

    But of course, it wasn''t just Yan Hua''s public speaking skills that Li Yundong found impressive . The content of his speech was ster as well: every im he made was backed up by statistics; he had even thrown a few English jargons and terms around like they were nothing .

    Yan Hua''s speechsted ten whole minutes, during which the entire hall was silent except for Yan Hua''s maic voice . The moment he was done, the entire media room exploded in a huge round of apuse .

    Several teachers even gave the guy a standing ovation .

    As expected from the top student of the city, Li Yundong thought as he begun to p as well .

    Someone elbowed his ribs .

    He turned and saw Cheng Cheng ring at him .

    "Seriously? You''re supporting the enemy?" Cheng Cheng said in a tone of annoyance . "Have you forgotten how he mocked you just now?"

    "I''m just giving credit where credit is due," Li Yundong said with a shrug . "Look . Don''t get me wrong, okay? I still hate his guts . I find him arrogant and disrespectful . But I''m also open to the truth . " Li Yundong tilted his head towards the stage . "Can''t deny the fact that he''s a great speaker . "

    Cheng Cheng rolled her eyes . "That douche is most likely to win if Nana loses . " Cheng Cheng red at him . "You sure you can handle that? Him being the student council president?"

    "Personally, I''m rooting for Feng Na . " Li Yundong smiled . "Then again, I don''t really care much . If he wins, then he wins . It doesn''t really bother me that much . "

    Granted, Yan Hua would be a pain in the ass if he won, but Li Yundong could handle him .

    "Are you an idiot?" Cheng Cheng snapped . "He''s gonna pick on you and make your life difficult if he bes the student council president!"

    Li Yundongughed out loud . And I can dodge bullets and demolish the whole campus if I wanted to .

    "Well, he can try," he said casually, "but it really doesn''t bother me . "

    The apuse died down .

    "It''s Nana''s turn," Cheng Cheng mumbled .

    When Li Yundong turned his eyes to the stage, Feng Na was striding elegantly towards the podium . She had changed into a pale yellow dress with a green belt wound around her slender waist . She had decided to let her hair down, and with her long hair flowing past her shoulders, she exuded confidence in a simple and easygoing sort of way .

    The audience''s chatter dwindled . Anticipation coursed through Li Yundong, and he found himself leaning forward in his seat, wondering what sort of speech Feng Na hade up with to top Yan Hua''s oratory earlier .

 Chapter 215

    Chapter 215

    <h4>Feng Na''s Speech</h4>

    <small></small>"Hey¡­" Li Yundong said, turning in his seat to face Cheng Cheng . "She knows what she''s doing, right?"

    To his surprise, Cheng Cheng was smirking confidently instead of bouncing around like a worry wart .

    "Oh . . . don''t worry . " Cheng Cheng snickered . "She definitely knows what she''s doing . "

    "Okay . . . ?" Li Yundong turned back to the stage, where Feng Na was taking her ce at podium . He wondered where Cheng Cheng''s confidence wasing from .

    Li Yundong watched Feng Na give the audience a wide grin . To Feng Na''s credit, she didn''t seem nervous at all . In fact, she seemed confident . Maybe she really knew what she was doing . Her dream was to work for a TV station after all .

    News anchors and reporters had to be fantastic speakers, right?

    Feng Na reached for the mic and then brought it to her lips .

    "Before this event started," Feng Na began, "I had a brief conversation with the previous speaker, fellow student Yan Hua . " She paused for a moment to smile at the audience . "And during our conversation, I mentioned an analogy . The wave analogy . Is everyone familiar with that?"

    Whispers and mumbles washed over the audience .

    Confusion shrouded Li Yundong''s mind like a fog .

    Where is she going with this?

    Li Yundong frowned and looked sideways at Cheng Cheng .

    If Cheng Cheng had seemed smug before, then she now looked positively vainglorious .

    "You see¡­ We were sharing our thoughts about each of our chances of bing the next student council president . " Feng Na''s voice drew Li Yundong''s eyes back to the stage . "That was when I brought up the wave analogy . I told him that the new currents always drive the old currents onto the shore . " Feng Na chuckled . "Obviously, by new and old currents, I was referring to the younger and older generations respectively . " Suddenly, Feng Na gave the audience a deadpan expression . "And then after that I said something else . I told him that when the old currents crash onto the shore, they usually wind up dead . "

    Chuckles and giggles washed over the audience .

    Li Yundong still couldn''t see where Feng Na was going with this, but at least she was making the audienceugh .

    "In other words, I was asking Yan Hua to go easy on me," Feng Na went on . "But, as you can see, he clearly had different ideas . I mean, that speech he gave just now? That was . . . " Feng Na''s widened her eyes dramatically . "Wow . "

    Li Yundong turned towards Cheng Cheng and raised his brows . "This, is her grand speech? Raising the white g and admitting defeat in front of the whole crowd?"

    "Shh!" Cheng Cheng waved her hand sharply . "Just watch . The good part''s about toe . "

    Li Yundong shook his head and turned back to the stage .

    "I''ve prepared a little speech of my own, of course . " Feng Na raised a piece of paper and waved it above her head for everyone to see . "But mine probably looks like a dull brickpared to Yan Hua''s jewel, so let''s just forget about this thing . "

    Feng Na tossed the paper onto the podium .

    Li Yundong groaned into his palm . "What the hell is she doing?"

    "Shh¡­ Just watch . . . " Cheng Cheng said confidently .

    A series of noise made Li Yundong look up¡ªFeng Na was removing the mic from the stand . After that, she walked around the podium with the mic and stood at the edge of the stage .

    Whispers and hushed voices filled the room .

    "So!" Feng Na grinned . "I''m going to make this really simple . "

    The whispers petered out . All eyes were once again on Feng Na .

    The next thing Li Yundong knew, Feng Na was pointing her finger at him .

    "Does everyone know that guy?" Feng Na asked in a cheery tone .

    What the f¡ª

    Everyone turned around in their seats to stare at him .

    A cacophony of shouts and screams filled the room .

    "Of course we know him!"

    "The Hero of Tiannan University!"

    "Hero! Hero! Hero!"

    "Legend! Legend! Legend!"

    <small></small>"The Living Legend!"

    "Parkour Dude! Parkour Dude!"

    "It''s the King of Parkour, moron!"

    "Cucumber Dude! Cucumber Dude!"

    Understanding washed over Li Yundong like a tidal wave . So that''s her n¡­ Holy shit¡­

    No wonder she wanted him to give a performance during the freshmen''s weing party . No wonder!

    Li Yundongughed and shook his head a few times . "Very clever, you girls . Very f*cking clever . . . You yed me like a goddamn vi . "

    Cheng Cheng giggled . "Aww . . . You make it sound so horrible . It''s just a performance . "

    "Shh¡­ Guys . . . Guys . . . Settle down, settle down . . . " Feng Na said . "Listen to what I have to say first, okay?"

    The cheers and wolf-whistles went away in seconds . However, several harsh whispers could still be heard once every few seconds¡ªthe teachers weren¡¯t liking this .

    "Here''s the thing guys," Feng Na continued . "I''ve got a special performance arranged during the freshmen''s weing dinner party . " Feng Na smiled and paused for a few beats . "So I approached Li Yundong a few days ago and then asked him if he would like to participate in the performance . "

    The audience descended into an anticipatory silence .

    "And he agreed . "

    Cheers erupted, but died down as soon as Feng Na raised her hand .

    "On two conditions," Feng Na said . "One, I have to be elected as the next student council president . And two, the performance shouldn''t involve a prank . "

    More whispers sounded .

    "I''ve got the second condition covered, of course," Feng Na said . "I''ll make sure that the performance doesn''t involve a prank . But for the first condition . . . " Feng Na smiled . "As you can see, I need your help to fulfill the first condition . "

    "How do we know you''re not just bluffing to win votes!" someone from the audience yelled .

    "Yeah! You could be lying to all of us for all we know!"

    "Why should we believe you!"

    Feng Na smirked and raised her finger to silence the audience . "A reasonable concern," she said, nodding a few times . "But! I''ve got that covered as well . "

    Feng Na was reaching for something in her pocket .

    "Holy shit¡­" Li Yundong nudged Cheng Cheng with his elbow . "Is that . . . Don''t tell me you guys . . . "

    Cheng Cheng burst into giggles .

    On the stage, Feng Na was holding her phone close to the microphone .

    Secondster, a recording of Feng Na''s voice red out: "Why don''t you give a performance during the event? I can secure a slot for you . . . "

    Silence reigned, whichsted for only a few seconds .

    "So you''ve agreed?" That was Feng Na''s voice again .

    "On two conditions . . . " Li Yundong groaned when he heard his own voice yed out from the recording .

    "Name them . "

    "One, I''ll only do it if you get elected as the student council president . "

    "Done . And the second condition?"

    "Two . No pranks likest time . . . Got it?"

    "Looks like we have a deal . "

    A loud click signaled the end of the recording .

    Those two devious little . . . ugh .

    Li Yundong had no words for this . None .

    "There you go, guys! There''s the proof that the deal really took ce," Feng Na said, pocketing her phone . "Now the question is . . . Do you guys wanna see Li Yundong put on a show again?!"

    <small></small>"Yesssssss!!!"

    The audience erupted in cheers and whistles .

    From the back row, Li Yundong saw Yan Hua leaping to his feet, swinging his fists in protest .

    "This is absurd! What kind of lousy speech is this!" Yan Hua screamed . "This is a shameless tactic to bribe the students!"

    "Guys . . . Guys . . . " Feng Na said, ignoring Yan Hua''s protests . "Just let me say onest thing, okay?"

    The crowd quieted down once again .

    Feng Na took in a deep breath and exhaled . "Some of you guys might have doubts regarding my ability to lead the student council . So let me take this opportunity to point out some of the things I did during my previous years as a student here . Call it listing out my credentials, if you will . " Feng Na cleared her throat . "Now . I''m sure y''all know that I was in charge of the performance night during the student''s exchange visitst semester?"

    "YEAH!!!"

    A chorus of cheers followed suit .

    Feng Na smiled . "And I''m sure all of you can remember what a spectacr night that was . "

    More cheers and cries rang out .

    "As you can see, that event was a huge sess," Feng Na continued . "I can''t take all the credit, of course . I know I couldn''t have done it without the help of my dedicated team . And, obviously, I have Li Yundong to thank for as well . That night wouldn''t have ended on such a high note without his spectacr performance . " Feng Na cleared her throat . "But the point is¡­"

    Feng Na moved the mic around to untangle the wires .

    "I am confident in my leadership and management abilities, and I sincerely hope that you guys can give me a chance . " Feng Na''s tone suddenly turned wistful . "As you know, I''m currently in my fourth year . This is my final year as a student of Tiannan University . And I''d really like to gain as much experience as I can before I graduate . With all that being said . . . " Feng Na paused to grin at the audience . "If you guys want to give me a chance¡­ and if you guys want to see Li Yundong on stage again in a few days, please vote for me! Thank you!"

    The entire room erupted in cheers when Feng Na bowed and walked down from the stage .

    Li Yundong chuckled and shot Cheng Cheng a yful re . "Well yed, you two . . . Well yed . "

    Cheng Cheng smirked . "It''s call being resourceful . And it was Nana''s idea, by the way . She came up with the whole thing . I just helped out in its execution . "

    The students were starting to chant his name now: "Li Yundong! Li Yundong! Li Yundong!"

    Li Yundong followed Feng Na''s movements with his eyes . She had just gotten off the stage . The students she had walked past by were all throwing questions at her . Amidst the chaos, Li Yundong could actually make out a few of those questions: "Hey! Senior! What''s Li Yundong''s performance gonna be about? Give us a hint! We want spoilers!"

    Feng Na''s answer to the questions was so cheeky that Li Yundong couldn''t help butugh: "Oh? You wanna know? Vote for me and I''ll tell you!"

    Some kind ofmotion was happening near the front row, right below the stage .

    Li Yundong looked over and saw Yan Hua kicking up a fuss .

    "That''s cheating!!" Yan Hua screamed as a teacher struggled to pull him back . "She just bribed the students! Disqualify her! I demand her disqualification!"

    Li Yundong turned away from the scene when he heard Cheng Cheng''s cheer .

    Feng Na had just reached them .

    "God, Nana! That worked really well!" Cheng Cheng squealed and embraced Feng Na tightly .

    Feng Na pulled back from Cheng Cheng''s embrace and struck a victory pose . "Told you I''ve got this . "

    "Feng Na . . . " Li Yundong chuckled . "I swear to God you''re the most maniptive and calcting woman I''ve ever met . "

    Feng Na burst intoughter . "I''ll take that as apliment . "

    Li Yundong raised his brows . "I suggest you don''t count your chickens before they hatch, though . The university council can still veto the poll results . "

    Feng Na smirked . "They won''t . "

    "What makes you so sure?"

    Feng Na''s smirk widened . "Coz I''ve got another secret weapon . "

    "Wait, howe I don''t know about this?" Cheng Cheng asked, sounding a little hurt .

    Feng Na smiled at Cheng Cheng . "You''ll know soon enough . "

    "Uh-huh¡­ And what if I just tell everyone here that I changed my mind about the deal?" Li Yundong challenged .

    Feng Na shrugged casually . "Toote . The polling has already begun . "

    Li Yundong nced around the room .

    <small></small>A box was now being passed around and the students were all slipping their votes into the box .

    "And don''t think you can just decide to not show up on the day of the performance itself," Feng Na said . "The students will just keep bugging you if you do that . You can say goodbye to your peaceful campus life . "

    As if it was even peaceful to begin with .

    "C''mon, pal . Just perform . . . " Cheng Cheng said encouragingly . "What''s the harm anyway? The students love you . "

    Li Yundong raised his hands in defeat . "Damn . You really had everything nned out, didn''t you?"

    Feng Na answered with augh . "It''s call being resourceful . "

    ***

    The polling took around fifteen minutes toplete . Another ten minutes were spent counting the votes before the results were disyed on the LCD screen in front of the media room: Yan Hua, 1 vote; Feng Na, 499 votes .

    The other six candidates didn''t even get a single vote .

    Feng Na and Cheng Cheng jumped up in joy .

    "Oh, my God! You did it, Nana!" Cheng Cheng squealed . "You really did it! God! You''re such a genius! Not only have you gained publicity for your performance during the dinner party, but you''ve also managed to establish yourself as Li Yundong''s ally! Now nobody in the university will doubt that you have Li Yundong''s backing . You just killed three birds with one stone, Nana!"

    Feng Na struck another victory pose .

    Li Yundong watched their excitement with amusement . Now he would really like to see the look on their faces when the results got vetoed .

    THUD! THUD! THUD! Li Yundong turned and saw Yan Hua kicking and pounding the edge of the stage while a teacher struggled to hold him back .

    "I will not ept this result!" Yan Hua shouted . "This is unfair! The results shouldn''t count!!!"

    "Control your emotions, Mr . Yan Hua," the teacher on the stage spoke into the mic . "Calm yourself . Rest assured that the university council will evaluate the results of the poll ande up with a decision soon . "

    Yan Hua yanked himself free from the teacher who''d been restraining him . After that, he shot Feng Na a re .

    "Looks like you''ve made a new enemy now, Feng Na," Li Yundong mused .

    Feng Na answered with a casual shrug .

    The next fifteen minutes passed by in rtive silence . On the stage, Chancellor Feng and his council members seemed to be engaged in an earnest discussion .

    "Tsk . Tsk . Tsk . Look at them . They''re taking so long toe to a decision . " Li Yundong gave Feng Na a sly grin . "Maybe they''re gonna nullify the poll results after all . "

    Feng Na answered his taunt with a smirk . "Wanna bet?"

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes at Feng Na . He wondered what else Feng Na had up her sleeves . Surely the university council wouldn''t approve of something this absurd? The university was probably going to be aughing stock¡ªnot that it hadn''t already¡ªif this ever got out .

    Yan Hua''s angry footsteps ended his musings .

    The guy stormed over furiously and stopped in front of Feng Na .

    "This underhanded trick of yours will never work!" Yan Hua pointed his finger at Feng Na .

    "It''s called tactics and strategy," Cheng Cheng said smugly .

    Feng Na smiled gracefully . "I believe the university council will make the right call . "

    Yan Hua sneered . "Of course . I''m sure the teachers haven''t lost their minds unlike the students here!"

    Cheng Cheng sniggered . "I guess we''ll know about it soon enough . " She pointed at the stage, where Chancellor Feng was approaching the podium . The chancellor picked up the mic and cleared his throat . "Good afternoon, fellow students . "

    The chatter in the room died down .

    "As a show of respect to our students'' wishes, the university council has decided to approve the poll results . Feng Na will be the new president of the student council . Effective immediately!"

    "However¡­" Chancellor Feng smiled at the audience and waited for the cheers to die down once again . When the students fell silent, he brought the mic to his lips again . "We agree that the methods that Feng Na has employed are a bit . . . unconventional . " Chancellor Feng shot a pointed look in Feng Na''s direction . "We''ll only allow it just this once . Make no mistake . If any future candidates pull something like this again, he or she will be disqualified from the race . "

    The audience''s cheers drowned out Chancellor Feng''s voice .

    "All hail the teachers! All hail the university council!"

    "Well said! Well said!"

    Li Yundong shook his head in wry amusement . "Looks like your n worked out, Feng Na . "

    "Of course," Feng Na said confidently . "I never had a doubt . "

    "Uh-oh . . . Iing . . . " said Ruan Hongling, who had, until now, remained silent .

    Li Yundong looked ahead and, to his horror, saw a huge mob of students rushing towards him .

    "Boss! Give me your autograph!"

    "Li Yundong!!! I love you!! Please go out with me!"

    "Holy f*cking shit!" Li Yundong sprang to his feet . "Anyways! I gotta go, guys! Congrattions, Feng Na!"

    With that, Li Yundong hightailed it out of there like his ass were on fire .

    ***

    Feng Na followed Li Yundong''s movements until his figure disappeared through the media room''s exit . The group of students were still screaming and chasing after him, but she knew there was no way they could catch him .

    In front of the room, she saw Yan Hua storming onto the stage .

    "Are you guys nuts?!" Yan Hua screamed at the chancellor''s face . "How can the university council approve of something this absurd?!"

    "I suggest you watch your tongue, fellow student Yan Hua," Chancellor Feng said sternly, "if you wish to hold any position at all in the student council . "

    "But¡ª"

    "The university council hase to a decision, young man," Chancellor Feng said . "You ought to respect that, as you ought to respect your teachers . "

    Feng Na turned away from the drama onstage when she felt her bestie nudging her side .

    "How''d you do it, Nana?" Cheng Cheng whispered . "You were so confident that the council was gonna approve . "

    "It''s actually very simple . " Feng Na smiled at her bestie . "Why don''t you take a guess?"

    Cheng Cheng shook her head . "I mean I get the part about using Li Yundong''s poprity to win votes, but . . . I don''t get how you¡ª" Cheng Cheng gave her a look of confusion . "Why weren''t you worried at all about the university council''s veto?"

    Feng Na leaned closer to Cheng Cheng . "Do you remember what we saw that day when Li Yundong''s expulsion was waived?"

    Cheng Cheng drew back in surprise . "Y- You mean . . . " Recognition shone in her best friend''s eyes . "The Director General of Education . . . "

    "Mm-hmm . . . " Feng Na smirked . "And did you notice how the teachers treated Li Yundong after that incident? It''s like they were all walking on eggshells around him!"

    "Oh my God, Nana . . . " Cheng Cheng whispered . "You''re absolutely right . . . "

    "Of course I am," Feng Na said . "Chancellor Feng and the rest of the teachers must''ve assumed that Li Yundong has deep political ties inside the government . That''s why he was able to get the Director General of Education''s support . "

    "Okay, okay, I get it now . " Cheng Cheng chuckled . "Damn . . . You''re one cunning bitch, aren''t you, Nana?"

    Angry stomps sounded on her left . Feng Na turned .

    "I refuse to ept this!" Yan Hua screamed . "You never would''ve beaten me in a fairpetition!"

    Feng Na gave the guy a look of pity . "It isn''t me that you''ve lost to today, buddy . "

    "What?"

    Feng Na smiled . "You didn''t lose to me . You lost to Li Yundong . "

    Yan Hua''s eyes widened in surprise . Secondster, those eyes were filled with confusion . "How could I have lost to him when he wasn''t even a candidate!"

    Feng Na sighed and shook her head . This idiot still doesn''t get it .

    So much for being a top student .

    "How do you think I won the polls then?"

    There was a pregnant pause .

    When Yan Hua didn''t answer, Feng Na chuckled darkly . "You think you''re so clever just because you''ve got good grades . " She shot him a mocking look . "And yet you can''t even understand something this simple . " Feng Na red at the freshman . "I won today because, unlike you, I''m resourceful enough to use the influence Li Yundong has on the students to my advantage . "

    Yan Hua''s eyes widened in shock .

    "What do you think will happen if Li Yundong decided to take part in the election?" Feng Na sneered . "Yeah . That''s right . None of us would stand a chance . Not you . Not me . Not anyone else! Get it now, genius?" Feng Na snorted . "You''re blinded by your own arrogance, Yan Hua . And you wear your awards and certificates around like badges, using them to bully and slight others . Well guess what, freshman . Not everything in this world is about grades and academic achievement! So I suggest you rein in your self-conceit . "

    Feng Na turned around to walk away, but then stopped after a few steps .

    "Onest thing," Feng Na said . "If you''re nning to cause trouble or pick a fight with Li Yundong, I suggest you drop it . He''s a mountain that you''ll never be able to climb . Not in a million years . Take that as you will . "

    With that, Feng Na and Cheng Cheng walked away, leaving behind a stunned Yan Hua .

 Chapter 216

    Chapter 216

    <h4>Ambiguous Intentions</h4>

    <small></small>It didn''t take Li Yundong long to give his crazy fans the slip . After he ran out of the media room, he sneaked into the men''s room and hid himself inside a stall, where he stayed for about five minutes until the coast was clear . Once he was sure that those nutjobs were gone, he sneaked out of the building and went to the library . Since he was already in the campus, he figured he might as well borrow a few books . At least that way his trip to campus wouldn''t have been a total waste of time .

    The old librarian looked up from the counter and smiled at him the moment he walked into the library . Li Yundong smiled back and waved at the old man . The old man didn''t even seem surprise to see him there anymore . This had be a ritual of sorts¡ªLi Yundong woulde in here and borrow a few books, then returned the books the next day to borrow new ones .

    The old man chuckled when Li Yundong slid the two books he''d borrowed yesterday across the counter .

    "Finished them already, eh?" said the old man . "Why am I not surprised . "

    Li Yundongughed in response . "Sorry to trouble you again, sir . "

    The old man waved him off . "Nah . Don''t worry about it, young man . It''s my job after all . "

    "Appreciate it, sir . Um . . . I''d like to borrow these two books . " Li Yundong passed a piece of paper to the old man .

    The old man took the paper and nced at it .

    "Do you have them here?" Li Yundong asked .

    "Yeah . . . " The old man nodded . "Yeah, I think we have ''em . But it''s a bit hard to find among the shelves . I''ll go bring ''em out for you . "

    "Thank you, sir . "

    The old man came to the halt when he was about to leave the counter to look for Li Yundong''s books .

    "Sir?" Li Yundong asked .

    The old man was staring at something . A secondter, Li Yundong realized that the old man was staring at the bulky object sticking out the top of his backpack .

    Li Yundong was starting to think that he should buy a bigger backpack . Then again, he doubted he''d be able to find one that would fit the size of the fan .

    Maybe he should have one custom made .

    "Isn''t it troublesome to carry that bulky thing around?" asked the old man .

    Li Yundong smiled . "It is when I first started carrying it around . But I''m used to it now . "

    The old man nodded, then regarded Li Yundong carefully . "You probably wouldn''t tell me if I ask what that thing is, right?"

    Li Yundong tried to hide the surprise in his expression . Well . What do you know? Looks like not everyone knows about the incident at the canteen . . .

    Li Yundong recovered himself and shrugged at the old man . "It''s just something important to me," he answered smoothly . "And I''d like to keep it with me at all times . "

    The old man nodded and left the counter .

    After leaving the library, Li Yundong decided not to stay on the campus lest he run into his crazy fans again . Instead, he went to a coffee shop and spent the afternoon reading the two books he''d just borrowed from the library . Around four-thirty, he left the coffee shop and headed home . Based on his jogging speed, he knew he would be able to reach home in half an hour .

    When he walked through the door of his apartment, he was once again greeted by the scent of home-cooked food .

    He strode towards the dining table and saw that his dinner had already been prepared .

    Must be Zi Yuan again .

    When Li Yundong strode into the kitchen, he was surprised to see that Zi Yuan wasn''t there . The kitchen was neat and tidy . It didn''t show any signs that it had been used recently .

    I''ll have to thank her the next time I see her .

    Li Yundong grabbed himself a bowl of rice and sat down at the dining table to finish his meal . The food tasted wonderful as usual, a testament to Zi Yuan''s fantastic culinary skills . He ate slowly, making sure he chewed his food properly before swallowing . Half an hourter, he cleared the dining table and took care of the dishes .

    As he walked past the living room, something caught his eye: a ss of water on the coffee table .

    <small></small>He walked over and picked up the ss¡ª

    What the hell?

    The ss was warm .

    How the heck could it still be warm when¡­

    He looked towards the dining table . How long had the ss been sitting here? Even the food on the table had gone a bit cold when he was eating it earlier .

    He nced down at the coffee table .

    A notey beside the ss pad: Be sure to drink this .

    Li Yundong nced around the living room .

    This all seemed a little odd .

    Why didn''t she just leave the ss on the dining table?

    Li Yundong brought the ss to his lips and emptied its contents in one gulp . The water¡ªassuming that it was indeed water¡ªfelt really warm . About a minute after he finished the drink, he felt it: a series of pulses at his lower abdomen, just like what he experiencedst night .

    Li Yundong let out a harsh gasp and slowly lowered himself onto the couch . The sensation didn''t feel bad, per se (it wasn''t pain or anything); it just felt a bit strange . Suddenly, a thought urred to him . He closed his eyes and performed the technique he''d learned during the 7th dan of the Lianqi phase¡ªNeiguan .

    Blobs of colors appeared inside his mind . Underneath those blobs was a spinning orb¡ªabout the size of a human pinky¡ªwhich he assumed to be his Vital Orb . Something strange was happening to the spinning orb . It appeared to be expanding and contracting rhythmically .

    Wait . . . What if I . . .

    He quickly lowered himself to the floor and got into a meditative posture . Then, he performed the Orb Fortification cycles several times, after which he performed Neiguan again .

    His Vital Orb had grown in size¡ªnow it was as big as a human thumb .

    Something inside that "water" must have caused the effect .

    Li Yundong closed his eyes and went back to his training .

    It was already dark the next time Li Yundong opened his eyes . A quick nce at the clock told him that it was past midnight . He had spent hours performing the Orb Fortification Cycle . He sighed and stood up from the floor . Billows of cool breeze caressed his face as he stretched himself out . The wind howled gently beside his ear¡ª

    Wait, how''s that even . . . ?

    His eyes shot open . Why was it so windy in here? He didn''t remember leaving the windows open . He turned around until he was facing the sliding door leading to the balcony . The sliding door was obscured by the curtains, which were billowing out rhythmically in the wind .

    The sliding door was open .

    Li Yundong approached the curtains and drew them open .

    Zi Yuan was there, standing on his balcony with her back facing him, staring out into the cityscape .

    "Hey . . . Good evening," Li Yundong said softly .

    Zi Yuan slowly turned around .

    They stared at each other for a moment .

    "Thanks for dinner," Li Yundong said, ending the awkward silence .

    Zi Yuan smiled and moved away from the railing .

    "You''re wee," she said .

    Li Yundong stepped back to let her through the sliding door . She moved past him and then took a seat on the couch . Another sh of green light lit up the balcony . Secondster, Ruan Hongling was marching into his apartment like she owned the ce . The girl was still dressed in the same outfit she wore to that fiasco back at the media room . Li Yundong closed the balcony and joined the two women in the living room .

    <small></small>"You''ve made good progress in strengthening your Vital Orb, I hope?" Zi Yuan asked .

    Li Yundong nodded and lowered himself to the armchair opposite the couch .

    "Yeah . It feels twice as strong now . "

    Zi Yuan nodded, but didn''t speak .

    Li Yundong stared at Zi Yuan for a moment .

    "So . Those special drinks you''ve been fixing me," he said . "What are they?"

    There was a haughty snort . From the corner of his eyes, he saw Ruan Hongling ring at him .

    "So you''ve finally noticed, huh?" Ruan Hongling said snidely .

    Li Yundong nced at Ruan Hongling . I wonder what her problem is this time .

    He forced himself to hold Ruan Hongling''s gaze despite the hostility he saw in her eyes . "At first I thought it was just warm water . But then¡ª"

    "Warm water!!" Ruan Hongling sprang to her feet . "My God . . . Elder Sister Zi Yuan! Would you look at how clueless he is!"

    "Hongling . . . " Zi Yuan said warningly . "Calm down . There''s no need to get so worked up . "

    Ruan Hongling looked away from Zi Yuan and red at Li Yundong . If looks could kill, Li Yundong thought he''d probably be dead a hundred times over by now .

    Ruan Hongling''s expression morphed into a dark scowl . She really looked like she wanted to strangle him to death .

    "That ss of warm water was a solution obtained by dissolving the Enneacyclic Haworthia Extract in water, you doofus!"

    (T/N: I''ve chosen the term Enneacyclic in order to convey the meaning of ¾Å×ª, which means nine cycles . The prefix ennea, which originated from Greek, also means nine . Haworthia is a type of nt, which, in Mandarin, is written as ÓñÂ¶ . All in all, when written out in Chinese, Enneacyclic Haworthia Extract is ¾Å×ªÓñÂ¶Íè . My trantion fully conveys the underlying concept behind its Chinese name without making its English name seemme and awkward at the same time . The concept behind the name is "an extract obtained from Haworthia that has undergone nine refining/purification cycles . " Hence, Enneacyclic Haworthia Extract . )

    ***

    Try as he might, Li Yundong couldn''t hold back the surge of defensiveness that Ruan Hongling''s words had brought upon .

    "Hey! How was I supposed to know when neither of you told me anything!" Li Yundong paused when he realized that he was shouting . Then, he sighed and softened his tone . "Besides, I''ve only had it twice . The first time was only yesterday, and it really tasted just like water¡ª"

    "Twice!" Ruan Hongling snarled . "What, are you rubbing it in my face now? Is that it?!"

    "What? Rubbing¡­" Li Yundong frowned . "No! I was just telling you the tru¡ª"

    Ruan Hongling stomped her foot and whipped her head around to face Zi Yuan . "How could you, Elder Sister Zi Yuan . . . " Ruan Hongling sounded so hurt right now that Li Yundong actually took pity on the girl . "You gave two of your precious Enneacyclic Haworthia Extract to that man, Elder Sister . . . " Then, the anger returned to Ruan Hongling''s voice once again . "Two!! While you only gave me one! How could you be so unfair?!"

    Zi Yuan sighed . "Hongling . . . Please . . . I¡­"

    Ruan Hongling looked like she wanted to start screaming again, but Li Yundong decided to intervene before things escted further .

    "Whoa, whoa, whoa . . . Why don''t everyone just calm down for a second, okay?" Li Yundong raised his palms . "Let''s just . . . " He sighed and lowered his hands . "First of all, will anyone please exin to me what this Ennea thing is?"

    "The Enneacyclic Haworthia Extract is the Linggong Sect''s most powerful magical pill!" Ruan Hongling snarled, then quickly looked away as though she couldn''t even stand the sight of him . "Don''t you dare underestimate the Zhengyi School''s proficiency in the art of External Alchemy . Sure, we might not be in the same league as the"¡ªRuan Hongling gave him a pointed nce¡ª"Gezao Sect when ites to External Alchemy, but the pills of our creation are still noteworthy and capable of life-changing bodily reformations!"

    Li Yundong stared at Ruan Hongling, stunned by her outburst .

    The Gezao Sect .

    Su Chan had mentioned that name before .

    It was where the Renyuan Jindan came from .

    Ruan Hongling pointed at the empty ss on the coffee table . "One ss of that amounts to five years of harsh training," she snapped . "Five years! Get it? Five years! And do you know how much the Enneacyclic Haworthia Extract is worth in the Cultivation market?"

    <small></small>Li Yundong kept staring at the girl without saying anything . He couldn''t stop the girl''s tirade anyway, so he might as well let her finish . Ruan Hongling looked like she was about to pounce on him and start throttling him .

    "Just one of those pills costs at least ten million yuan!"

    Li Yundong''s butt nearly slid of the edge of the couch right then .

    "Ten million?!"

    His gaze snapped towards Zi Yuan, who was now pinching the bridge of her nose .

    "As if it should cost any less than that," Ruan Hongling spat . "What, you think it is like your normal Six-vor Rehmanni Pill? I can''t believe a doofus like you just swallowed¡ª"

    "Hongling! Stop talking!"

    Clearly, Zi Yuan had had enough .

    Ruan Hongling stomped her foot angrily . "I was just telling the truth!"

    "Are you going to disobey me, Hongling?" Zi Yuan said, ring at Ruan Hongling . "Is that it? Do you not respect my wishes at all?"

    Ruan Hongling mmed up instantly and looked away .

    Li Yundong sighed and ran his hands through his hair . Zi Yuan had just fed him two super pills, each of which was worth ten f*cking million yuan .

    How the f*ck was he ever going to repay her for all she''d done?

    "Don''t worry about it," Zi Yuan said in a soothing tone .

    Li Yundong raised his head and forced himself to meet Zi Yuan''s gaze .

    "You have bigger things to worry about," Zi Yuan said with a brief pause . "Your divine punishment is nearing, so you have to use all the tools and resources you have to be stronger . "

    "The tools I have . " Li Yundong let out a heavy sigh . "That''s just the problem, Zi Yuan . Those pills aren''t mine . They belong to you and your sect . "

    And yet you gave them to me just like that .

    Zi Yuan shook her head gently . "Fine . Say, I kept those pills . Then what? What would be the point? They aren''t going to benefit anybody if I keep them to myself . "

    Aren''t going to benefit anybody? Are you sure about that?

    Li Yundong stole a nce at Ruan Hongling . The poor girl was biting down on her bottom lip, and she looked like she was struggling to keep her tears at bay .

    Li Yundong sighed . "I don''t think I can ever repay you, Zi Yuan . . . "

    Zi Yuan gave him a cryptic smile . "Did I ever say anything about wanting you to repay me?"

    Then why are you doing this? Why are you giving so much to me without asking for anything in return?

    Li Yundong lowered his gaze to the floor .

    He had been mulling over those questions over the past few weeks, and there were only two exnations he coulde up with to make sense of Zi Yuan''s behavior .

    The first had to do with this prophecy that Ruan Hongling kept referring to . And based on the bits and pieces he''d overheard, there seemed to be some kind of prophecy that could only be fulfilled through him . Perhaps that was why Zi Yuan was trying so hard to help him . Perhaps she wanted that prophecy to be fulfilled .

    The second possibility was, decidedly, more dreadful than the first¡ªthat perhaps Zi Yuan had feelings for him . That possibility filled him with guilt every time he thought about it . Because no matter how much he cared about Zi Yuan as a friend, and how much he respected her as a person, he just didn''t have that kind of feelings for her, just like he didn''t have that kind of feelings for Zhou Qin .

    "You''re overthinking this," Zi Yuan said in a warning tone .

    Li Yundong looked up to find Zi Yuan''s cool gaze on her .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat and decided to change the subject .

    "Oh, by the way . Do you guys need anything?" He nced at the clock again . "You must have something important to tell me to drop by thiste, right?"

    "Just checking up on your progress . " Zi Yuan smiled . "And I wanted to ask you about the spells you''re interested in learning . "

    "I see . " Li Yundong thought for a moment . "What kind of spells do you know? Do you know a lot of them?"

    "What kind of stupid question is that?" Ruan Hongling snapped . "Of course Elder Sister Zi Yuan knows a lot of spells . Do you know how¡ª"

    "Hongling¡­ Please¡­" Zi Yuan said tiredly . "That''s enough, okay?"

    Li Yundong regarded Zi Yuan for a moment . "What about spells that allow me to summon the Heavenly Thunder?"

    Zi Yuan stared at him until he couldn''t stand the awkward air anymore .

    "What?" he asked .

    "Are you serious?"

    "Yeah . " Li Yundong nodded . "Yeah, I am . "

    The living room plunged into silence . Zi Yuan clearly didn''t like his spell preferences judging from the way her brows were knitted together .

    "Is there something wrong with wanting to learn how to control the Heavenly Thunder?"

    His idea was that if he could somehow learn how to control the Heavenly Thunder before he had to face his divine punishment, then he might stand a better chance of surviving it . Then again, whether or not he could actually make that much progress in learning the spell before his divine punishment arrived was a different matter altogether .

    "There are thousands of spells across all five elements," Zi Yuan said . "Yes, the power of the Heavenly Thunder reigns supreme over the power of the five elements, that''s true . But despite its vast power, the Heavenly Thunder is also the most unpredictable force in existence . Its unpredictability makes it a far more difficult power to master and controlpared to the other five elements . " Zi Yuan sighed and shook her head . "Not to mention all the dangers you might face in the process of mastering it . One misstep, and you will perish before you even master it . " Zi Yuan held his gaze once more . "On the other hand, spells from the five elements are easier and much safer to learn . And once you''ve truly mastered them, the power they grant you isparable to the Heavenly Thunder anyway . So why pick a difficult route when there''s an easier one?"

    Li Yundong held Zi Yuan''s gaze for a moment, thenughed .

    "Hey!" Ruan Hongling growled . "What''s so funny? Did you take what Elder Sister Zi Yuan said seriously at all?"

    Li Yundong raised his palm . "Sorry . It''s nothing . . . I just . . . " He cleared his throat andposed himself . "In the third chapter of the Art of War, Sun Tzu said to know oneself, and know one''s enemy . ording to Sun Tzu, that''s the secret to winning a hundred battles . " He stood up from the couch and walked away until he was standing in front of the sliding door . He stared out into the night . "I figured that by learning how to control the Heavenly Thunder, I can improve my chances of surviving my divine punishment . What Sun Tzu said made a lot of sense to me . How can I beat something if I don''t even understand it?"

    A gentle breeze wafted into the apartment when Li Yundong opened the sliding door . He stepped out onto the balcony and pointed at the stars above . "That out there?" He turned his head around and found both Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling staring at him with rapt attention . "That''s where the unknown lies . " He lowered his hand and chuckled . "Scary, I know . But if we keep letting ourselves be limited by our fears, we''ll never be able to reach new heights . "

    Li Yundong stepped back into the living room and closed the sliding door . "Am I afraid of the Heavenly Thunder? Well, yes . Absolutely . " He sat back down on the couch and then smiled . "I''m not gonna lie . I''m terrified as hell . Even more so considering I''m about to face 81 bolts of it soon . " He chuckled and shook his head as memories came rushing into his mind . "I''ve learned so many important lessons throughout my journey to Tibet, and one of them is that we all have to face our fears in order to grow . " He shot Zi Yuan a pointed look . "After all, isn''t that what Cultivation is all about? It''s an act of going against the natural order . That''s what you told me the other day . Every time a Cultivator makes progress in his training, there''s always this growing fear of divine retribution, right? But if he chooses to run and hide instead of facing it, he''ll never achieve transcendence . And . . . " Li Yundong gave Zi Yuan a searching look . "You said that the Heavenly Thunder is the most powerful force in existence, correct?"

    Zi Yuan nodded wordlessly .

    Li Yundong smiled . "Well? Just imagine what would happen if I have the ability tomand the most powerful force in existence? My name itself would strike fear in my enemies and make them think twice about hurting the people I care about . It''s the ultimate form of defense, you see? Stopping an attack before it even takes ce . Defeating my enemies without even have to fight at all . "

    The two women sat there silently like they had no idea how to respond . Zi Yuan had a contemtive look on her face . Ruan Hongling wasn''t even looking at him; instead, she was staring out into the darkness through the ss of the sliding door .

    "Don''t get me wrong though . " Li Yundong sighed . "I want strength not for myself, but for the people I love and care about . Months ago, I watched two of my friends die in the worst way possible . Their deaths made no sense at all . There''s so much injustice in their deaths that it pains me . " He paused and shook his head . "The guilt still ate at me sometimes, you know? I couldn''t help wondering about things . Like, if I''d been stronger back then; if I''d already reached the Shentong phase and learned how to fly, or learned Qi Kinesis . I would''ve been able to prevent their deaths . So yeah . I have my struggles and regrets . But I also know that the only way is forward . I have to be stronger to protect the people I care about . " Li Yundong shrugged . "As cheesy as that sounded, it''s what I really think . And it''s also why I want to master the Heavenly Thunder . "

    Zi Yuan rose from the couch elegantly . "I cannot dictate the direction of your magical training . Nobody can . " She picked up the ss on the coffee table . "Ultimately, the decision is yours . But I do urge you to choose wisely . "

    Li Yundong opened his mouth to speak, but then held his tongue at thest second; Zi Yuan looked like she wasn''t done talking yet .

    "You don''t have to decide now," Zi Yuan said, then sighed . "Perhaps I have brought up the subject too early . "

    "Oh . Okay . " He would think take some time to think it over, but he doubted it would matter¡ªhis mind was already made up .

    Zi Yuan set the ss back onto the table, then nced at the clock .

    "Are you tired?"

    Li Yundong was a little surprised at the question . "Um, no . Not really . Why?"

    Zi Yuan shrugged, then stepped away from the table .

    "I figured I''d teach you how to fly if you aren''t . "

 Chapter 217

    Chapter 217

    <h4>Advanced Qi Kinesis</h4>

    <small></small>At first, Li Yundong thought he''d misheard Zi Yuan, but then when he looked at her, he saw that she was staring right back at him .

    Her expression was dead serious .

    "Are you up for it?" Zi Yuan said after a moment of silence . "It''s prettyte now, which is ideal because you can practice on the balcony without having to worry about anyone seeing you . "

    Was he up for it? Oh, hell frigging yeah .

    "Yeah . Let''s do it . "

    Zi Yuan gave him a brief nod before turning to face Ruan Hongling .

    "Hongling, why don''t you head back first?" Zi Yuan said in a low and gentle tone . "I''m just going to teach him the basics . It probably won''t take long . "

    Ruan Hongling stole a nce at him, then said, "Oh . "

    Ruan Hongling stood up and headed towards the balcony . It surprised Li Yundong a little that she didn''t at least argue or throw another tantrum . But still, he was grateful for her acquiescence . He really wasn''t looking forward to another bickering match with the girl .

    At the railing, Ruan Hongling suddenly turned around to look at him . Li Yundong couldn''t decipher the look in her eyes right then . Her expression wasn''t angry like just now when they were bickering . Rather, it seemed conflicted, as though she herself didn''t know what she was feeling .

    He wondered what it meant .

    Perhaps it had something to do with that speech he gave earlier .

    "Good night," Li Yundong shouted at the balcony when he saw Ruan Hongling turning away .

    A secondter, Ruan Hongling vanished in green sh .

    Li Yundong raised his hand and shut the sliding door with Qi Kinesis .

    Then, he turned to face Zi Yuan .

    "Now, let''s begin," Zi Yuan said, pointing at the cushion she''d left behind thest time she was here .

    Li Yundong took the cue and sat down on the donut-shaped cushion .

    "As always, we''ll start with the concepts," Zi Yuan said . "I want you to understand the principles of flight first and then put them into practice . "

    Li Yundong sat up straighter . "I''m all ears . "

    A look of amusement spread across Zi Yuan''s countenance .

    "Is that how you think this is gonna go?" Zi Yuan raised a brow . "That I''ll just tell you everything?"

    Err¡­ Okay? Clearly, he was missing something here .

    Li Yundong stared at the living goddess in front of him and then frowned . "Sorry, but isn''t that the point of taking lessons from you?"

    Zi Yuan shrugged nonchntly . "Well, I will tell you the answers at some point . But only after you try to figure out the answers for yourself . "

    Li Yundong spend a few seconds pondering the implication of her statement .

    "So let me get this straight . . . " Li Yundong stared at the woman skeptically . "You want me to figure out how to fly . On my own . Just like that . "

    The tiniest of smiles formed on Zi Yuan''s lips . "Why, yes . And I also want you to learn how to think for yourself . "

    Li Yundong chuckled wryly . "Not even a hint?"

    "The hint," Zi Yuan said pointedly and with a slight pause, "is that you''re already in possession of all the tools required for flight . You just have to put everything together and get it to work . " Zi Yuan gave him a stern look . "Now . Think . How? How can you utilize everything you''ve learned so far and make yourself fly?"

    How indeed .

    Li Yundong closed his eyes and got himself to rx . He could do this . He could figure this out .

    Before he passed the Zhuji phase, flying wasn''t even a remote possibility, so he could probably discount the tools he''d obtained during the Ningshen and Lianqi phases . Granted, they could still be somehow involved¡ªsince each Cultivation phase builds upon the previous phases¡ªbut their roles were probably minor . Obviously, whatever it was that makes flight possible must be something that he picked up during the Shentong phase .

    <small></small>He spent a minute recalling everything he''d learned so far: during the Zhuji phase, he learned how to synthesize Zhenqi and then integrate it with his Essence to form a part of his Vital Orb; after that, he learned the Qi Transmutation Cycle, which allows him to generate spiritual energy using the Qis of this five Zangs; then there was the Orb Fortification Cycle, which allows him to use Guanxiang to strengthen his Vital Orb; he also learned how to channel his Zhenqi into the Fan of Seven Treasures and then use it to interact with the fan; finally, Qi Kinesis, which was probably the coolest and non-destructive thing he''d ever done since he became a Cultivator .

    Well, those were pretty much everything he''d learned since passing the Zhuji phase . But how could he put everything together to help him fly? Where should he go from here? How should he approach the problem?

    After a few minutes of contemtion, he decided to apply the principle that Sun Tzu had expounded in the Art of War: know yourself and know your enemy, for that''s the key to winning a hundred battles .

    In other words, he had to first understand what flying entails before trying to figure out how to fly .

    Obviously, the prerequisite to flying was levitation . He had to somehow lift his body off the ground and then get it to either: hover in the air for as long as he wanted; or move it through space in any direction he wished .

    And all that had to be achieved using just his mind alone .

    In a way this was like telekine¡ª

    His eyes shot open right then, and he stared at Zi Yuan for a moment .

    "It''s¡­ It''s Qi Kinesis, isn''t it?" Li Yundong said . "That''s the underlying mechanism behind flying . It''s just another form of Qi Kinesis . "

    A satisfied smile spread across Zi Yuan''s lips . "Very good . Looks like you managed to figure it out after all . And in such a short amount of time too . " She nodded approvingly . "I''m impressed . " She shifted on the couch and gave him a firm stare . "Yes . At your current level, flying is essentially an advanced form of Qi Kinesis . "

    Li Yundong let his thoughts linger on the "at your current level" remark . He wondered what she meant by that . The only thing he could think of was that there were more than one way for Cultivators to fly . He refrained himself from pressing for details, and chose instead to wait for Zi Yuan to continue her exnation .

    "Normal Qi Kinesis involves mobilizing your Zhenqi and then using it to move external objects," Zi Yuan went on . "When attempting to fly, you''ll also be mobilizing your Zhenqi, only that you''ll use it to move your own body through space . "

    "Hold on a second . " Li Yundong raised a palm . "Something''s not right . . . " He frowned . "I get that part about using Zhenqi to move your own body through space, but how exactly is it gonna work?" He met Zi Yuan''s gaze . "Like, for example, if I wanna move an object with Qi Kinesis, my Zhenqi has to be in contact with the object itself, right? But how is it gonna work if it''s my own body? I suppose the most obvious way is to send my Zhenqi out of my body and then push it against the floor¡ªsort of like the gas propulsion system they use for rockets . Sure, that might help me levitate off the ground, but to fly through space? That''s a little impractical, isn''t it? Like, if I wanna fly 30,000 feet above ground level, do I even have enough Zhenqi to cover that much vertical distance? I mean, it''s not like I can grab the surrounding air with my Zhenqi and then push my body forward, right?"

    Zi Yuan wasughing by the time he reached the end of his exnation . "A reasonable question," she said, her eyes glinting with mirth . "But you didn''t let me finish . "

    "Sorry . "

    "Don''t be," she said . "Like I mentioned earlier, I want you to be able to think for yourself . So far, you''ve been doing exactly that . " She cleared her throat . "Now . To answer your question, no . You don''t have totch your Zhenqi to the ground and then use that contact to push yourself through space . That''s not how flying works in Cultivation . The key difference between flying and normal Qi Kinesis is that you''ll have to expend your spiritual energy to generate the required propulsion force to push your body forward . That''s why a Cultivator is taught how to fly before they are taught how to cast spells . Because when learning how to fly, the Cultivator will, for the first time, learn how to convert their spiritual energy into some other form of energy . " Zi Yuan nced at him . "Which is basically what happens when you perform spells from the five elements . "

    Zi Yuan stopped talking all of a sudden .

    Li Yundong used the brief pause to process what he''d just been told .

    Secondster, Zi Yuan picked up where she left off .

    "Now . When I said converting your spiritual energy into other forms of energy, here is what I mean . At the most basic level, you''re using¡ªor expending¡ªyour spiritual energy to generate kic energy, like the propulsion force required for flight . And once you be adept at that, you''ll be able to manipte or, at an even more advanced level, create material that belongs to the five elements . "

    Creating material .

    Pretty sure that was exactly what Ao Wushuang did when she kicked his ass that night . Unless he was very much mistaken, Ao Wushuang had created wood, water, fire, and earth seemingly out of nothing . No . In hindsight, it probably wasn''t out of nothing, but out of her spiritual energy .

    "Another thing to keep in mind is the movement pattern of your Zhenqi the whole time you''re flying . In this regard, there are two requirements to be fulfilled . One, a small portion of your Zhenqi must extend beyond your body, just like when you''re doing Qi Kinesis . This requirement is logical if you think about it¡ª"

    "Because it would be pointless if the propulsion force is generated inside the body," Li Yundong cut in . "We want to force to propel the entire body through space, not push our internal organs within the confines of the body . "

    "Precisely . And the second requirement is that your Zhenqi has to move in a circtory pattern . And the reason for that is simple . " Zi Yuan nced at him . "You already know that your Zhenqi is the entity that carries or conveys your spiritual energy to anywhere inside or outside your body . "

    "Like how blood carries nutrients and stuff . "

    "Indeed . And you also know that a small portion of your Zhenqi has to be outside your body while you''re flying, and that your spiritual energy will be expended to generate the required propulsion force . " Zi Yuan raised her brows . "So you do the math . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "After the propulsion force is generated, the spiritual energy contained within the Zhenqi outside the body will be used up . So I''m guessing the idea is to return the depleted Zhenqi back into the body and then rece it with a fresh batch that contains spiritual energy . That''s why the Zhenqi has to move in a circuit . "

    "Yes . And there has to be continuity its flow as well," Zi Yuan said . "Otherwise, you won''t be able to fly smoothly . This is why flying is essentially advanced Qi Kinesis . It takesplete mastery of Qi control to be able to fulfill both requirements . If you''re really advanced, you can even fly and perform the Qi Transmutation Cycle at the same time . " Zi Yuan held his gaze . "That way, you''ll always have enough spiritual energy to fly . "

    "Right, because the Qi Transmutation Cycle regenerates your spiritual energy . So if we perform it while flying, we''ll never run out of spiritual energy . "

    "Exactly . "

    "Alright . I think I get the theory . " Li Yundong gave Zi Yuan a determined look . "But what about the execution? What''s the proper technique to execute it?"

    "Well, the training is done into two stages," Zi Yuan said . "The first stage involves levitation only . And then in the second stage, you will bring propulsion into y . That is, you will generate the propulsion force to move yourself through space while you''re levitating . "

    "I suppose that makes sense," Li Yundong said contemtively .

    <small></small>"For the first stage, there are three main focuses . One, how to properly mobilize your Zhenqi to lift yourself off the ground . Two, how to maintain bnce while you''re in the air . And three, developing the mental concentration required to keep yourself in the air under stressful situations . "

    Li Yundong nodded .

    "It all sounds very easy, but I assure you that it''s not . " Zi Yuan gave him a stern look . "Do not underestimate the simplicity of the task . All three aspects are very important, especially thest one . If you lose mental focus while you''re in the air, you''d just fall off the sky . "

    "Okay . Got it . "

    "Good . Now let''s begin with the first stage . " Zi Yuan pointed at his feet . "Get into a proper meditative posture and close your eyes . "

    Li Yundong did as told and waited for Zi Yuan''s next instruction .

    "Whenever you''re ready, mobilize your Zhenqi towards the bottom part of your body . " Zi Yuan paused . "This, of course, depends on your posture or body positioning . If you''re in a standing position, the bottom part is obviously the base of your feet . But right now, you''re in a meditative posture, so the bottom part is . . . well, your bottom . "

    Li Yundong had to bite the inside of his cheek to stifle hisugh .

    "Tsk, don''t smile," Zi Yuan said a secondter . "Stay focused . "

    What? Thest part of her statement was funny .

    "Keep pushing your Zhenqi out and keep your eyes closed for now . Don''t open your eyes until I say you can . Tsk! Oh,e on . That''s not good enough . Make it a continuous flow . Good, good . That''s better . "

    The next thing he knew, his butt was off the cushion and his felt a force pushing against his ass and lifting him upwards . Secondster, he ran into a problem: his body kept tilting and wobbling in the air, and he felt like he was drifting towards his left .

    "Bnce . . . Li Yundong, bnce . . . You''re not bncing properly," Zi Yuan said . "You''re way off center . Right now you''re moving away from the cushion . Put more Zhenqi towards your left side . Make sure they flow at the same rate on both sides . "

    Zi Yuan didn''t speak for about a minute or so .

    "Just a heads up," Zi Yuan said . "You''re now about three meters off the floor . Okay . . . Now slowly open your eyes . "

    The ceilingmp was the first thing he saw . Hard not to, since it was directly in front of his face . He nced down and saw Zi Yuan looking up at him . The next thing he knew, he was falling straight down . A yelp escaped his lips . Secondster, hended .

    On his balls .

    ***

    Li Yundong didn''t think he had ever experienced so much pain in hisher regions . All he could do was roll around on the floor, moaning and groaning . He couldn''t even open his eyes .

    F*ck . This must be what Director Qian felt like when Su Chan kicked him in the nuts .

    F*cking, f*ckity, f*ck!

    Footsteps sounded beside him, then stopped .

    "S- Son of a bitch . . . " he gritted out .

    A secondter, he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder .

    This time he did manage to crank one eye open . Zi Yuan was staring down at him with a look of utter confusion stered on her face .

    "Hey, what''s the matter? Does it really hurt that much?" Her frown deepened . "It was just a fall, you know . I''m sure you''ve had much worse . "

    The incredulity he felt right then nearly chased away the excruciating pain in his nutsack . Are you kidding me right now? Are you f*cking kidding me?! Here he was, feeling like Mike Tyson had just delivered an uppercut straight into his balls, and she was there asking him whether it f*cking hurts?! What the actual f*ck?

    Ugh . Okay . On second thought, he should probably cut her some ck . An otherworldly goddess like Zi Yuan couldn''t possibly understand the woes of being whacked in the balls . Well, that, plus the fact that she was anatomically incapable of experiencing such pain .

    "Of course it hurts! Do you even know what hap¡ªUgh! Never mind," Li Yundong said in a strained voice . "You''re a woman . You''ll never understand the agony of . . . of . . . testicr pain . . . Goddamnit!"

    Li Yundong pushed his knees together and rolled away .

    "I suppose not," she deadpanned . "Just like men will never be able to understand the kind of pain a woman has to experience once every month . "

    Li Yundong closed his eyes and tried toe up with a retort .

    "You''re one to talk," he said . "You passed the Zhuji phase way before you hit puberty, so you''ve never experienced menstrual pain as well . "

    "Oh? Looks like somebody''s been reading up on Cultivation books . I''m impressed," Zi Yuan said dryly . "But sadly, you''re wrong . I have experienced that kind of pain before . "

    <small></small>Li Yundong''s eyes shot open .

    Zi Yuan smirked . "Don''t look so surprised . It''s part of the Linggong Sect''s requirement for its Cultivators to gain enough mortal experience . So my master put me through a simtion . . . "

    An image of Zi Yuan inside a bathroom with pads and tampons shed inside his mind .

    He shuddered at the thought .

    Li Yundong shook his head . "Don''t you know a healing spell or something?"

    Goddamnit . His balls still hurt like hell .

    On second thought, no . He wasn''t letting any woman other than Su Chan near his balls . That would just be . . . inappropriate .

    "You''ll be fine," Zi Yuan said casually . "Just wait it out . The Jindan will take care of such trivial injuries . "

    Yeah . That woman clearly had no f*cking clue what the word trivial means .

    ***

    It took him half an hour to get the hang of levitation . Apparently, just now he fell because his focus was disrupted when he opened his eyes . His earlier ball-busting experience aside, things had gone pretty smoothly, and he was now able to hover 3 meters above the floor in a steady and non-wobbly manner .

    This time, he had made damn sure that he was hovering right above the cushion .

    "Ready for the next step?" Zi Yuan asked .

    "Sure . As long as it doesn''t threaten the well-being of my gonads," he quipped .

    He thought he saw a tiny smile gracing Zi Yuan''s lips .

    "Right now, you''re floating nicely, but you''re still in a meditative posture . Now I want you to straighten out your legs and move into a standing position . "

    "Okay . . . "

    THUD! His feet hit the ground .

    "What the¡ª" His gaze snapped towards Zi Yuan, and he gaped for a moment . "But why? I was doing fine just now . "

    Had he lost focus again? No . He didn''t think so .

    "The Qi flow in your body is the smoothest when you''re sitting cross-legged," Zi Yuan exined . "This has to do with the distance between your lower Dantian¡ªor your Vital Orb¡ªand the Yongquan acupoints at the base of your feet . The distance is much shorter when you''re sitting cross-leggedpared to when you''re in a standing position . "

    Well . Okay . That would certainly exin why the cross-legged posture was the ideal posture for any form of Qi-control training .

    "Okay . So what should I do?"

    Admittedly, floating around in a meditative posture seemed somewhat ridiculous .

    "Just increase the speed of your Qi flow when your Zhenqi reaches your feet . "

    "Alright, I''m gonna try again . " Li Yundong moved towards the cushion and got into a meditative posture .

    "No," Zi Yuan said . "Try it from the standing position straightaway . Just make sure your Zhenqi flows much faster than the first few attempts . "

    Li Yundong nodded and stood back up .

    Minutester, he did it . He was hovering in the air with his legs extended and his feet pointing straight down .

    Zi Yuan motioned him back to the ground .

    "Well, that was fun," Li Yundong said when his feet touched the floor .

    "Ready for the second stage?"

    Li Yundong stared at Zi Yuan for a moment . Had he misheard her?

    "Really? Isn''t that too soon? I mean I''ve only just learned levitation¡­" he trailed off .

    His Jindan-enhanced balls might be able to survive a three-meter drop, but he doubted they could maintain their structural integrity after a thousand-foot drop .

    He shuddered at that mental image .

    Zi Yuan smiled . "I''m not asking you to take off into the sky, of course . " Zi Yuan''s smile faded away . "That would be foolish . "

    Li Yundong nodded in agreement . He didn''t think he was ready to take on the Heavenly Thunder just yet .

    "I just want you to start learning how to convert your spiritual energy into other forms of energy . " Zi Yuan paused . "The practice wille in handy when you learn how to cast spells . "

    "Sounds good to me," Li Yundong said, rubbing his palms together . "So should I levitate first or . . . ?"

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Levitate from a standing position . "

    Li Yundong closed his eyes and mobilized his Zhenqi . Secondster, his feet were off the ground .

    "Open your eyes," Zi Yuan said . "You want to be able to see for this task . Well, at this point, you should already be able to levitate with your eyes open anyway . If you can''t, then perhaps you aren''t ready for the task . "

    Li Yundong opened his eyes . He wasn''t floating very high this time¡ªjust a few inches above the floor .

    Zi Yuan was standing somewhere behind him .

    "Great . Now, for the task," Zi Yuan said . "I want you to float from here to the balcony, and then back . Understand?"

    Li Yundong nodded and exhaled slowly .

    "Slowly," Zi Yuan said sternly . "Keep your Zhenqi flowing, but expend only a small amount of your spiritual energy, okay? Just a small amount . "

    "Slow," Li Yundong said . "Got it . "

    "Ready?"

    Li Yundong gave her a determined look . "Yup . "

    He so wasn''t ready . But hey, at least he was still levitating .

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Alright, go . "

    He felt a powerful lurch, which sent him cartwheeling towards the balcony .

    "No! That''s too fast!" Zi Yuan shouted . "You gotta slow down!"

    He stopped expending his spiritual energy . Slow¡­ slow¡ª

    Li Yundong''s head smashed into the railing . He iled his arms, hoping to grab hold of something to stop his flight . Gosh, was he even flying?

    Zi Yuan was still shouting something behind him, but he couldn''t hear her anymore .

    He was panicking .

    His body spun around rapidly .

    Then it hit him why he hadn''t been able to grab hold of anything despite all the iling he''d done with his arms: he''d somehow flown off the building .

    Shit¡­ Shit¡­ Don''t panic, don''t panic .

    He might fall if he panicked . He had to stay afloat until Zi Yuan came over to get¡ª

    He felt a sharp, downward lurch, followed by a feeling of weightlessness .

    He was free falling .

    Shit!

    Up! Damn it! Up! He had to propel himself upwards before he hit the ground . He expended his spiritual energy once again .

    He felt a powerful lurch . Next thing he knew, his body was shooting into the night sky like a cannon ball .

 Chapter 218

    Chapter 218

    <h4>Zhou Qin''s Whereabouts</h4>

    The wind whipped at his face . He knew he was shouting and screaming, but he couldn''t hear his own voice due to the howling of the wind . Aside from the tiny dots of light spinning around him, it was dark everywhere . Just how high above the city was he? And why the hell couldn''t he stop himself from hurtling around like a pinball .

    Calm down first, Li Yundong . You gotta calm the f*ck down .

    The flow of his Zhenqi was probably out of whack, that must be why he was spinning around so much, but then he couldn''t just stop the flow of his Zhenqi; if he did, he would fall straight down .

    Levitation, Li Yundong .

    He had to work on stopping the propulsion force and just levitate until Zi Yuan came to get him . But f*ck! How was he even supposed to do that when his mental focus was so goddamned messed up?

    Fearnced through him . He could feel the flow of his Zhenqi bing even more turbulent as the panic inside him grew .

    Do something dammit! I''ve gotta f*cking do something!

    The Lingtai . Su Chan said that the Lingtai was the key to calmness .

    With that, he mustered every ounce of mental concentration he had left and moved a small amount of his Zhenqi to his Lingtai .

    The calmness came almost instantly .

    God he was such a f*cking idiot . Why didn''t he do this from the start, before he even attempted to fly?

    Secondster, he could feel his body losing its earlier impetus, which meant that he had managed to stop the random bursts of propulsion force .

    Now he had to stop his body from spinning around .

    Come on, Li Yundong . You can do it . . . Concentrate . . .

    Eventually, the spinning turned into a mild wobble .

    Wait a minute .

    The meditative posture . . . That''s it!

    A person''s Qi flow is the smoothest when they''re in a meditative posture . That was what Zi Yuan said .

    Without ado, he tucked his legs under him and crossed them . After several tries, he managed to regain his bnce, sighing in relief once he did .

    His relief, however, was short-lived . Little dots of lights could be seen scattered beneath him, which wasn''t a reassuring sight if he considered its implication . He shouldn''t be up here, so high above the ground .

    He wasn''t ready yet .

    He had to go . Now .

    He unleashed his spiritual energy, not caring that it might turn him into a malfunctioning pinball again .

    There was a lurch, and his world started spinning around again . F*ck! Why was it so damn hard to control the release of his spiritual energy!

    Endless flurries of strong wind blustered his face, making his eyes water . Where the hell am I? Was he even in the city''s airspace?

    All of a sudden, the spinning stopped .

    "What the¡ª"

    He could feel a familiar equilibrium in the way he was floating, but he knew that it wasn''t his own doing . In fact, he''d felt this sensation before, on the night he killed He Shao .

    A burst of green light appeared beside him, and he felt a strong grip on his arm .

    "Hang on!"

    Relief coursed through him at the sound of that voice .

    Zi Yuan . . .

    His surroundings morphed into a dark blur as he felt a sharp downward dip .

    ***

    When theynded, Li Yundong realized that they were at some abandoned yground near New Hongsheng District . He lowered himself to the ground andy down on his back . He just . . . needed a minute .

    The stars winked down at him as he tried to catch his breath . His cheeks still felt a little numb due to the wind . When the pounding in his ears subsided minutester, he heard footsteps . He sighed and slowly got into a sitting position . Zi Yuan was pacing back and forth .

    And she was fuming .

    The pacing stopped the moment she noticed him looking at her . She stormed over and poked him in the chest, hard .

    "Are you out of your mind?!" she shouted . "Have you forgotten about Wushuang-qianbei''s warning?!"

    Li Yundong stared at the woman in front of him, too stunned by her outburst to speak . He''d never seen Zi Yuan so riled up before .

    "I told you to go slow . . . And what did you end up doing?" she growled, and then let out an angry huff . "You could''ve gotten both of us killed!"

    "I don''t know what happened, okay?" Li Yundong said tiredly . "You said to only use a little bit of spiritual energy, and that''s what I did . I¡ª"

    "You shot out of the balcony in your first try!" she snapped . "You call that a little bit?"

    "Look I don''t know, okay!" he fired back . "It just happened!" He sighed heavily and climbed to his feet . "You know what? It was all my fault, and I''m sorry . I didn''t know what I was doing . " He turned around and walked back towards the apartment .

    "Wait!"

    He stopped walking when he felt a gentle but firm grip on his arm .

    He turned around and saw Zi Yuan looking back at him guiltily .

    "I apologize," Zi Yuan said . "I shouldn''t have yelled at you . "

    Li Yundong shook his head . "It wasn''t your fault," he said, lowering his gaze to the ground . "I really don''t know what happened back there . Either way, I know I screwed up . I''m sorry . "

    "Don''t be too hard on yourself," Zi Yuan said . "You''ve made more progress than in months than literally every single Cultivator I know . "

    Li Yundong raised his gaze .

    Zi Yuan was smiling at him .

    He could tell that she was trying to make him feel better, but her attempt fell t; it only made him feel worse, like he was a disappointment .

    Yeah . Who was he even kidding . He was a disappointment . Maybe not to her, but definitely to himself . He was so disappointed in himself right now .

    Still, he appreciated Zi Yuan''s efforts, so he gave her a nod .

    Zi Yuan sighed . "You know what? I think you''re right . Let''s just head back and call it a night . "

    Li Yundong couldn''t agree more . He had a lot of thinking to do . Not to mention a lot practicing . He''d be damned if he didn''t teach himself how to fly properly before dawn .

    ***

    When Zi Yuan stepped into Hongling''s apartment, her prot¨¦g¨¦ was sitting on the couch, clearly waiting for her return .

    "Elder Sister Zi Yuan . . . " Hongling said, rising from the couch anxiously . "What was that just now? I could''ve sworn I sensed the power of the Heavens amassing in the sky just now . It was . . . terrifying . "

    Zi Yuan sighed and shut the sliding door quietly .

    "Well, you''re not wrong," Zi Yuan said wryly as she padded towards the living room . "The drill was a disaster . " She shook her head, disgusted at her own negligence and carelessness . "The Heir lost control, and I didn''t have a contingency prepared . "

    "W- What? Lost control? What do you mean?" Hongling hurried over to her side and took her arm . "Are you hurt, Elder Sister Zi Yuan? Did he hurt you?"

    Zi Yuan smiled and patted her prot¨¦g¨¦''s hand . "I''m okay, Hongling, don''t worry . "

    Still, Hongling pulled her towards the couch and sat her down .

    When Hongling sat down beside her, she was looking expectantly at Zi Yuan, no doubt waiting for an exnation .

    Zi Yuan raised a brow at her prot¨¦g¨¦ . "You didn''t see anything from here?"

    Hongling shook her head . "I was . . . I was in my room . " Hongling blushed . "I was . . . a little angry . "

    Zi Yuan sighed . "Hongling . . . I . . . "

    "Wait¡­" Hongling turned around on the couch until she was fully facing Zi Yuan . Hongling''s eyes grew wide with shock . "He¡­ That idiot took off to the sky, didn''t he?"

    Zi Yuan studied her prot¨¦g¨¦ for a few seconds . "Yeah, he did . But he didn''t do it on purpose . " Zi Yuan rubbed her forehead, then dropped her hand back onto herp . "I guess I underestimated the strength of his spiritual energy . . . " Zi Yuan shook her head slightly and gave her prot¨¦g¨¦ a wry smile . "I asked him to try flying around with only a little bit of spiritual energy . "

    A look of understanding formed on her prot¨¦g¨¦''s face, though Zi Yuan thought she saw a hint of mirth in her eyes .

    "But it was still too strong, and it blew him straight out of the building?"

    Zi Yuan nodded .

    A giggle escaped Hongling''s lips, but then she quickly stopped herself . "S- Sorry, Elder Sister . "

    Zi Yuan waved off the apology . It was a little funny to be honest, if the situation weren''t so dire, that is .

    The two of them sat in silence for a minute or so .

    "God, Hongling . . . " Zi Yuan sighed . "The balcony . . . Why did I ask him to fly towards the balcony?" Zi Yuan hooked a strand of hair behind her ear . "And then the sliding door . . . Why did I leave it open? I should have closed it . "

    "Please don''t me yourself Elder Sister Zi Yuan . . . " Hongling said gently . "And I doubt a ss door could stop the Heir''s spiritual energy . . . "

    Zi Yuan held her prot¨¦g¨¦''s gaze, grateful for this small moment offort .

    A teasing glint formed in Hongling''s eyes . "And I''m sure he wouldn''t want a human-shaped hole in the wall of his apartment," she joked .

    "Yeah . " Zi Yuan chuckled . Then, she cleared her throat and sighed . "Yeah, you''re right, Hongling . Thank you so much for saying that . "

    "So um . . . he . . . " Hongling shot her a tentative nce . "He didn''t get struck, did he?"

    Zi Yuan did a double take . Did Hongling just express concern for the Heir''s well-being?

    Hongling seemed to have realized the implication of her own words as well, judging from the blush coloring her cheeks .

    "I . . . I just¡­ I just didn''t want all your hard work to . . . to go to waste . "

    Zi Yuan smiled warmly at the younger girl . You keep telling yourself that, Hongling . Perhaps a friendship between those two was possible after all . "The Heir is fine, Hongling . " Zi Yuan paused and reyed the Heir''s behavior earlier . "He didn''t seem too shaken . . . I think he was more disappointed in himself than traumatized by his near-death experience . "

    There was a snort . "What''s there to be disappointed about?" Hongling mumbled . "Reaching the Shentong phase and learning how to fly in months? That kind of progress is a Cultivator''s dream . "

    Zi Yuan let Hongling''sment pass .

    "I seriously don''t understand him, Hongling," Zi Yuan mused aloud . "How could he not feel terrified at all? And when he was all but this close to be struck down by the Heavenly Thunder?" Zi Yuan chuckled . "Sometimes I wonder if he really does have nerves of steel . "

    "Maybe he was just faking it," Hongling grumbled . "Maybe deep down he was actually wetting his pants . "

    Zi Yuan shook her head . "I doubt it . . . " She let her voice trail off for a few seconds . "Did you see the look on his face when he was speaking about the Heavenly Thunder just now? He looked like his mind was already made up . Like he really wanted to conquer the most powerful and the most unpredictable force in existence . "

    For a long while, neither of them spoke .

    Then, Zi Yuan heard Hongling''s sigh .

    "Say . . . Elder Sister Zi Yuan . . . "

    "Yes?"

    "Do you think . . . do you think he can survive?"

    "To be honest, I don''t know," Zi Yuan said . "Wushuang-qianbei''s solution is brilliant, but there''s still the risk of him getting hit . "

    "And if he gets hit? Would he survive?"

    "No," Zi Yuan said in a heartbeat . "I don''t think he''d survive if he gets hit . "

    Hongling sighed . "I think . . . I think he''s likely going to be a powerful Cultivator if he can survive . . . "

    Zi Yuanughed and shook her head a few times .

    Her reaction had clearly surprised Hongling; thetter turned around abruptly to face her .

    "You don''t agree, Elder Sister?"

    "Oh, no . I definitely agree with the point you were trying to make . " Zi Yuan kept shaking her head . "I just don''t agree with your word choice, that''s all . "

    "Huh?"

    "You said likely, Hongling . " Zi Yuanughed again . "Likely . That''s such a travesty . "

    The look of confusion on Hongling''s face didn''t disappear .

    "Not likely, Hongling," Zi Yuan said . "He will be a great Cultivator . And probably one of the greatest in our generation . " Zi Yuan chuckled . "I honestly wouldn''t be surprised if he ends up starting his own sect in the future . "

    "If he survives, that is¡­" Hongling added .

    "Mm-hmm . . . "

    "I didn''t know you look so highly on him, Elder Sister Zi Yuan . . . " Hongling said . "I mean . . . starting his own sect? That''s like . . . " Hongling stared at Zi Yuan with wide eyes . "That''s . . . That''s in the same league as the greats like Zhang Sanfeng and Wang Yangming!"

    Zi Yuan gazed towards the balcony . "You haven''t seen all the things he''s done, Hongling . . . " she said distractedly . "Once you''ve seen them, you''ll no doubt agree with me . He has so much potential . . . Hongling . . . So much potential . "

    Once again, Wushuang-qianbei''s question rang inside Zi Yuan''s mind .

    How much? Just how much was she willing to sacrifice to help this man reach his full potential?

    ***

    Li Yundong waited patiently at the corridor outside the lecture hall . He''d checked inside the lecture hall ten minutes ago, so he knew that Ding Nan wasn''t inside . Which was a good thing, because he wanted to interrogate Ding Nan away from prying eyes and ears .

    Time to finally get some answers on Zhou Qin''s whereabouts .

    "Psst, psst, boss . . . "

    Goddammit, not again¡­

    Li Yundong tamped down a wave of annoyance and tightened his grip on the straps of his backpack . The Fan of Seven Treasures swayed a little when he turned around to face the guy who''d just spoken to him .

    "Yes?"

    "What are you going to be performing?"

    Li Yundong stared at the dude without answering .

    "Oh, you know, during the dinner party for the freshmen . . . "

    Li Yundong forced out a tight smile . "Just be there and you''ll know . No spoilers, right?"

    He even threw in a few fakeughs for good measure .

    Thankfully, the dude got the hint that he wasn''t in the mood to chat, and quickly left him to his brooding .

    He felt a bit more tired than usual today, but that was probably because he''d spent hoursst night trying to perfect his flying skills . He managed to do it, but it took him the whole night . It was totally worth it though; he really wasn''t looking forward to a repeat ofst night''s disaster .

    He didn''t run to campus today; he took a cab instead . He wanted to be here as early as possible so that he didn''t miss the chance to interrogate Ding Nan . Besides, afterst night''s harsh training, he figured he would give himself a break . Despite all the sneaking around he''d been doing once he arrived on campus, he still ran into Feng Na earlier . Apparently, Feng Na had been asking around for his whereabouts earlier today, and some dude told her that he''d seen him lurking around near the bathroom inside the academic building .

    It turned out that Feng Na just wanted to remind him to be present for the rehearsal this afternoon . He answered her with a big t no . He figured he would probably be spending his afternoon tracking down Zhou Qin, not flying around with a fake sword and artificial beard .

    Li Yundong moved in swiftly as soon as he caught sight of Ding Nan''s familiar handbag .

    Ding Nan yelped in surprise when he grabbed her arm .

    "Come with me," Li Yundong said in a hurried tone . "We need to talk . "

    After that, he dragged her away from the lecture hall towards a secluded spot in the corridor .

    "No more games, Ding Nan," he said sternly . "Tell me where Zhou Qin is . "

    Ding Nan said nothing, though she seemed to be appraising him with her eyes .

    "You said you''ll tell me today," he said, raising his voice this time . "So here I am . "

    Ding Nan snorted .

    "Are you sure you want to go see her?" she raised a brow . "Everyone is avoiding her . You know that, right?"

    "Yes, I''m sure," Li Yundong growled . "How many times do I have to tell you that I don''t give a shit about her status!"

    Ding Nan flinched .

    Li Yundong sighed and softened his tone . "I''m not gonna abandon my friends just because they lost everything . That''s just not honorable, Ding Nan . It''s what a coward does . "

    Ding Nan''s eyes shed angrily . "It''s human nature, get it? Human nature! It''s our instinct to seek out benefits and steer clear of disadvantages . You''re different from other men, so here''s some friendly advice . Stay away from her for your own good!"

    "No, I won''t . "

    "You''re naive!"

    "Fine, I''m naive," Li Yundong said coldly . "If not abandoning my friends when they''re in need is a naive thing to do, then I''d rather be naive for the rest of my life . "

    Ding Nan''s eyes grew wide . "Y- You . . . "

    "Aren''t you her friend too? Shouldn''t you go see her as well?" Li Yundong softened his tone .

    The anger returned to Ding Nan''s eyes almost instantly .

    "Friends?" she snarled . "I was never her friend! She was only using me!"

    And I''m not buying your bullshit .

    Li Yundong raised a brow . "Aren''t you using her as well?"

    Ding Nan''s mouth clicked shut, and she stared at him with wide eyes . "W- What did she tell you about me? What did she tell you!"

    "It doesn''t matter what she told me," Li Yundong said . "Just tell me where she is . " He paused and gave her a stern look . "I''m going to see her, and that''s final . You cane along if you want . "

    "Go see her yourself!" Ding Nan seethed .

    "Fine," Li Yundong said . "Where?"

    "The hospital . Room 502 . "

    Ding Nan stormed off .

    "Which hospital?" Li Yundong yelled after her .

    "The First People''s Hospital!" came Ding Nan''s angry reply .

    Li Yundong stood there and watched Ding Nan walk away as her angry yells echoed in the corridor: "I hate her! I hate her to death!!"

 Chapter 219.1

    Chapter 219.1

    <h4>Rather Be Broken Than Bent!</h4>

    Room 502 . The regr wards . To think that Zhou Qin would be ced anywhere other than the most luxurious VIP ward in this hospital . If it weren''t for Ding Nan''s spiels about Zhou Qin losing her status, Li Yundong would''ve found the notionughable . Now it just made his heart heavy with guilt .

    The sick feeling at the pit of his stomach grew as he moved past the reception and headed toward the corridors . The smell of drugs and iodoform was everywhere . Somehow, being here reminded Li Yundong of those concentration camps he''d seen in the documentaries .

    But of course, this was just a hospital, not a concentration camp per se . Unlike in the Nazi camps during the Second World War, the upants here actually had freedom of movement . For one, the ce wasn''t surrounded by electric fences . Nor were there guards lingering around to beat the upants with sticks if they so much as step out of line . The upants could even leave the ce if they so choose . And, obviously, this ce was legal .

    All the same, this ce still reminded him of those dreaded concentration camps thanks to a ring simrity they share: once you''re in, you''re unlikely to get out, either due to incapacitation or sheer loss of willpower .

    The hospital, like a concentration camp, was a final destination of life .

    The corridors of the fifth floor was pretty crowded . As Li Yundong made his way towards room 502, old folks with walking sticks limped past him while their rtives hovered beside them, holding their hands, steadying their IV drips .

    He was instantly hit by that feeling of surrealness again, that Zhou Qin was now among these regr folks .

    Room 502 came with four beds . He didn''t see Zhou Qin in the room when he entered, but he knew that the bed at the furthest end of the room was hers¡ªit was the only upied bed in the room .

    The partition curtains were drawn, so his view of the bed was obscured .

    "H- Hello?" he said, slowly making his way past the empty beds . "Zhou Qin? Are you there?"

    Idiot! What if she''s asleep?

    There was a gasp, which was immediately followed by a crash .

    Li Yundong froze .

    A secondter, a wheelchair rolled out from behind the curtains . The wheelchair turned around sharply, then stopped moving altogether .

    That was when Li Yundong felt the weight of guilt crashing down on his entire existence . For a moment there, he thought he felt lightheaded, like someone had clobbered his head with a mace . His knees grew weak, and his ears rang like crazy .

    "Oh my God, Zhou Qin . . . "

    ***

    Zhou Qin was there in the wheelchair, staring back at him . Her face was so pale that it almost seemed like she''d reced her makeup with chalk, and God, she had lost so much weight . But what ultimately ripped Li Yundong''s heart asunder were those lifeless eyes .

    Those were the eyes of someone who had lost the will to live .

    His legs moved on their own .

    However, Zhou Qin tensed up the moment he got close, so he stopped at the foot of the bed . From where he stood, he could see the slight trembling in her lips . Suddenly, one of her hands rose from herp and extended towards him .

    Li Yundong took the cue and reached out with his own hand, but then she withdrew her hand before their hands could touch .

    "Zhou¡ª"

    Her icy re smothered the rest of his words . Then, she averted her gaze as though she couldn''t stand the sight of him .

    Li Yundong clenched his jaw and closed the distance between them .

    He knelt down in front of the wheelchair and tried to look into her eyes .

    She wouldn''t let him .

    "Zhou Qin . . . What happened to you?" he whispered, refusing to give up . "Who did this to you? Was it the He family?"

    Zhou Qin said nothing, and she gave him nothing except for that nk, lifeless expression .

    Panic rose inside his chest . "Zhou Qin . . . Please tell me what happened . Please . I wanna help . Please let me help . . . "

    Zhou Qin''s eyes remained cold, but he could tell that her resolve was crumbling: her shoulders was shaking slightly; and she was white-knuckling the wheelchair''s armrest, like she was trying to hold herself back from touching him .

    "Zhou Qin . . . Please say something," Li Yundong prodded gently . "I''ll do everything I can to help you . But you need to tell me what happen¡ª"

    "I think it would be best if you stop pushing her," said a deep baritone .

    Li Yundong spun around so quickly that the Fan of Seven Treasures smacked into the overbed table beside him . A man in a grey Mao suit stood at the doorway .

    The man was carrying a thermos sk in one hand, and a lunch box in the other .

    "I don''t think she''s ready to talk," said Deputy Governor Zhou as he walked in .

    Li Yundong rose to his feet and waited for Deputy Governor Zhou to reach Zhou Qin''s bed .

    "I will answer any questions you have," Deputy Governor Zhou said, putting the thermos and the lunch box on the table . Li Yundong eyed the lunch box briefly just to see if Zhou Qin had eaten anything .

    The lunch box was empty and had clearly just been washed .

    Deputy Governor Zhou lookedpletely different from the proud man Li Yundong once saw in the campus months ago . Wisps of grey peppered his sideburns, and most, if not all, of his confident mien was gone . Dull eyes had reced intent, purposeful ones .

    For the first time, Deputy Governor Zhou actually looked . . . in . Ordinary .

    "Let''s talk outside," said Deputy Governor Zhou before turning around and moving towards the door .

    Li Yundong gave Zhou Qin a final nce before he followed Deputy Governor Zhou out of the room .

    No words were exchanged as Deputy Governor Zhou led him out of the hospital building . At the frontwn, they turned left and ambled down a cobbled footpath .

    "Let''s sit down over here," Deputy Governor Zhou said, pointing at a long bench at the side of the footpath .

    Li Yundong followed the man wordlessly . His senses had failed him ever since he stepped into Room 502 . Now he just felt numb all over .

    The two men sat down on the bench and stared out into thewn for a moment .

    "Deputy Gover¡ª"

    "I''m no longer a Deputy Governor," Zhou Keqiang cut in . "Now I''m just a normal citizen like you . "

    The tightness in his chest returned .

    Li Yundong lowered his gaze and stared numbly at the cobbled ground .

    "Please tell me what happened, Uncle Zhou . "

    Silence followed his question .

    Uncle Zhou was clearly still trying to decide whether he should divulge everything that had happened to Zhou Qin . Li Yundong decided to respect the man''s need for space; he waited patiently for the man to open up instead of pushing him .

    A momentter, Uncle Zhou began to shift around on the bench . Li Yundong kept staring at the ground . He didn''t bother to look, not even to check if Uncle Zhou was getting up to leave . He was too caught up in his own thoughts at that point to care .

    "Do you mind if I have a smoke?" Uncle Zhou asked a whileter .

    Li Yundong turned and saw Uncle Zhou waving a cigarette at him .

    "Sure . . . " he said, then returned his gaze to the cobbled ground .

    Uncle Zhou reached for his pocket again, probably to get a lighter or something .

    The words began pouring out of Li Yundong''s mouth like he had no control over his lips .

    "Have you been experiencing frequent ringing in your ears, Uncle Zhou?" Li Yundong said without looking away from the cobbled ground . Even to his own ears, his voice sounded mechanical, like he was some sort of automaton . "And perhaps blurriness in your eyes? Does your breath feel warm whenever you exhale?"

    There was a drawn out silence .

    "Hey, that''s exactly¡ª"

    There was a pause .

    "How on earth do you know all that?" Uncle Zhou asked in a tone of surprise .

    "The ears are linked to the kidneys, the eyes to the liver, and the nose to the lungs," Li Yundong said numbly . "The ringing in your ears implies unhealthy kidneys and your blurry vision impliespromised liver health . You should know that the liver and kidneys determine a person''s overall health, and right now, you have neither . Your overall health ispromised, so I would highly advise against smoking unless you n to damage your lungs even further . "

    Uncle Zhou chuckled loudly .

    "I''ve been smoking for over ten years, kid . My lungs are probably damaged beyond repair . "

    Li Yundong said nothing . He sat there silently, waiting for the sound of a lighter or the smell of cigarette smoke, neither of which came .

    "The He family," Li Yundong said without taking his eyes off the cobbled footpath . "What did they do to her?"

    There was a loud and weary sigh .

    "They have a vendetta against you, boy," Uncle Zhou said .

    The familiar sensation of rage sparked inside Li Yundong, but he tamped it down .

    "What did they do?" Li Yundong repeated his question calmly .

    "They wanted to ruin you, and they tried to aplish that through Qinqin," Uncle Zhou said bluntly .

    There was a long pause . Li Yundong waited patiently for the man to continue .

    "They wanted you prosecuted for He Shao''s murder . So that they can slowly ruin you when you''re in jail . "

    "If they wanted me dead, why not just hire someone to kill me?" Li Yundong asked bluntly . "What''s the point of throwing me in jail?"

    Uncle Zhou chuckled . "Believe me when I say that there are ways to murder you from within prison . " There was a pause . "Ways that are less likely to implicate them of any foul y . "

    Li Yundong turned his head to look at Uncle Zhou .

    The older man gave him a humorless smile . "Death due to a fight between inmates is moremon than you think . And it''s less suspicious and incriminating than an assassination . " Uncle Zhou chuckled . "And those who have been in the game long enough know better than to leave behind loose ends that could be used against you . " Uncle Zhou gestured at himself, then shrugged . "Just look what happened to me . "

    Li Yundong chewed over Uncle Zhou''s words until understanding dawned on him . He turned in his seat to look at Uncle Zhou . "They forced her to testify against me . "

    Uncle Zhouughed wryly . "So you''re not as naive as I thought . "

    Li Yundong kept his eyes on the Uncle Zhou until the older man stoppedughing .

    "Yes," Uncle Zhou said with a sigh . "That was their n . There wasn''t enough physical evidence to prove that you killed He Shao . " Uncle Zhou gave him a strange look . "They thought it was more practical and economical to incriminate you through a reliable eye-witness ount rather than, say, fabricated physical evidence . " Uncle Zhou chuckled humorlessly . "Guess they underestimated Qinqin''s tenacity . "

    Something inside Li Yundong''s stomach twisted . "What did they do to her?" he asked sharply . "Did they torture her?"

    "No," Uncle Zhou said . "They didn''t physically torture her, no . "

    "Then?"

    Uncle Zhou shook his head . "They dragged her into a military facility before I could do anything about it and then incarcerated her there . By the time I found out about what they did, I was already suspended from my position . I was . . . " Uncle Zhou sighed . "I waspletely blindsided . "

    Li Yundong stared at Uncle Zhou .

    "They kept her at the facility for days," Uncle Zhou said, then shot a brief nce at him . "They starved her, thinking that she would eventually break and yield to their demands if they kept her there long enough . But Qinqin is no delicate flower . " Uncle Zhou sighed . "Once her mind is set on something, nobody can change it . She''d rather be broken than bent . "

    "Why''s she in a wheelchair?" Li Yundong asked the question whose answer he dreaded .

    Uncle Zhou met his gaze right then . For a moment, Li Yundong saw anger in the man''s eyes before it was reced by a look of utter defeat . Uncle Zhou sighed . "On the fourth day of her incarceration, Qinqin requested to be transferred into the facility''s living quarters, where she would be fed and taken care of . She asked to be given a pen and a piece of paper . . . " Uncle Zhou chuckled derisively . "Said she needed them to write down her full ount of He Shao''s murder . The He familyplied to her request and took her to afortable room on the fourth floor . I was so relieved . I thought she had finally yielded and decided to take the deal that the He family was offering . " Suddenly, Uncle Zhou hardened his tone . "But I was a fool . She demanded full privacy . She wanted her room to be free from any form of surveince . . . No cameras, no microphones, nothing . She wanted to be left alone and . . . " Uncle Zhao sighed and rubbed his forehead . "I should''ve suspected that something was amiss right then . Goddamnit, I should''ve known . . . "

    Li Yundong gripped Uncle Zhou''s shoulder . "Uncle Zhou . . . " Li Yundong said pointedly . "What did¡­" He paused to take a breath . "What did she do?"

    "She wrote down seven words on that piece of paper . . . " Uncle Zhou gave Li Yundong a hard stare . "Name of He Shao''s Murderer: Zhou Qin . That''s what she wrote . "

    Li Yundong let his hand drop limply from Uncle Zhou''s shoulder .

    "And then she jumped out of the window to kill herself . "

 Chapter 219.2

    Chapter 219.2

    <h4>Rather Be Broken Than Bent!</h4>

    Li Yundong felt as though he had the wind knocked out of him right then . He stared at Uncle Zhou, almost hoping that none of this was real, that he hadn''t actually passed the Zhuji phase yet, that all of this was just a sick, f*cked up illusion that his personal god had concocted to torture him .

    "Yes, boy," Uncle Zhou said . "She tried to take her own life . " Their eye contact ended when Uncle Zhou turned away to stare out at thewn . "She would rather die than be a tool to be used against you, it seems . "

    Li Yundong stared down at his own hands, the hands that he had used to kill He Shao, thinking that he would be protecting his friends in doing so . And yet . . .

    The truth of it hit him square in the face: his punishment had already begun .

    This . This crushing guilt . This was part of his retribution . It was the karmic consequence that he must suffer for ending He Shao''s life .

    He had ovee his fear of the Heavenly Thunder, so the Heavens found another way to punish him .

    "I should''ve believed it back then . . . " Uncle Zhou''s voice pulled Li Yundong out of his morbid thoughts .

    Li Yundong looked up from his hands and saw the regret etched on the older man''s face .

    "Why didn''t I believe it back then? Why?" Uncle Zhou shook his head while staring out into thewn .

    "Believe what?" Li Yundong asked .

    Uncle Zhou raised his gaze and stared up into the sky . "When Qinqin was born . . . " A look of reminiscence spread over Uncle Zhou''s face . "My younger brother, he . . . " Uncle Zhou cleared his throat . "I couldn''t decide on a name for her, so my brother hired a Feng Shui master to point me in the right direction . ording to the Feng Shui master, Zhou Qin temperament was affiliated to Gold among the other five elements . " Uncle Zhou chuckled . "I still remember his exact words . He said that he could see a killer aura in Qinqin''s eyes, said that she would grow up to be a tenacious and headstrong woman . He then advised me to give her a softer name to counterbnce this inherent tenacity . " Uncle Zhou held Li Yundong''s gaze for a moment . "He rmended that I go with the Chinese character, Qin, as in piano . " Uncle Zhouughed . "Piano . . . I didn''t like it back then because I thought it was too soft . And besides, I was an atheist back then, so I didn''t buy all that Feng Shui nonsense . " He smiled wryly . "You could say that I was young and arrogant . I wanted my daughter to be powerful and dominating like I was . In the end, I picked another Chinese character with the same pronunciation . "

    Realization washed over Li Yundong .

    "You went with Qin, as in Qin Shi Huang . . . " Li Yundong remarked .

    Uncle Zhou nodded gravely .

    "The leader of the Qin dynasty . The first emperor to unify China . Impressive, right?" Uncle Zhou chuckled . "I wanted her to be a conqueror, to be dominating . "

    Li Yundong sighed and said nothing . A small part of him could understand Uncle Zhou''s motivation for putting all his hopes on Zhou Qin . After all, the Zhou family had a prominent status to protect .

    But was everything worth it?

    "It''s all my fault that she ended up like this," Uncle Zhou said . "The high hopes I had for her have ruined her, and I realize that now . For years she has shouldered all my wishes and expectations on her own . I was blinded by power . I wanted her to follow my footsteps and be my sessor . I . . . I never even asked for her opinion, never asked her what she wanted in life . At first . . . At first she waspliant . Did everything I asked without anyints . Until . . . "

    Li Yundong could feel Uncle Zhou''s eyes on him .

    "Until he met you . . . " Uncle Zhou sighed . "That was when everything changed . She . . . She became rebellious . No, I guess I should say that she finally knew what she wanted in life . " There was a long pause . "She wanted freedom . The freedom to make her own choices and . . . And the freedom to love whom she chooses to love . "

    "Then you must hate me," Li Yundong stated ndly . "Your family and daughter are ruined because of me . "

    "I won''t lie . " Uncle Zhou leveled a piercing gaze at him . "I wanted to put a bullet through your skull, especially during the first few days of Qinqin''s hospitalization . " Uncle Zhou sighed . "But once the dust settled, I started to let things go . " Uncle Zhou chuckled sadly . "What is it that they say? That there are ups and downs in life? Right now, my focus is to help Qinqin stand up again . I''ll bring her overseas after this and¡ª"

    "Tell me about her injury," Li Yundong cut him off . "Why can''t she stand up?"

    Uncle Zhou lowered his gaze . "Spinal damage . She''s . . . paralyzed from the waist down, but the doctors said that she was lucky, that it could''ve been much, much worse . " Uncle Zhou looked up at him sadly . "I don''t think Qinqin saw it as luck at all . "

    "Spinal injury . . . " Li Yundong said, narrowing his eyes . "Can you be a little bit more specific?"

    "There''s a blood clot between the 10th and 11th vertebrae of her spine . "

    Li Yundong fought against the sickness in his stomach . "Can it be removed via surgery?"

    "Not without great risks . "

    "What kind of risks?"

    "She . . . If anything goes wrong with the surgery, she¡­ she might lose all her motor functions . Her whole body would be paralyzed . "

    Li Yundong couldn''t breathe . He rose from the bench so quickly that his movements surprised the older man . "Excuse me, Uncle Zhou . . . I . . . " He cleared his throat . "I have to¡­ I have to go see Zhou Qin . . . "

    Li Yundong hurried away from the bench . He had to get out of there . He needed a moment to collect himself .

    ***

    Li Yundong stared at his own reflection in the mirror, disgusted by what he saw . Thankfully, none of the stalls in the bathroom were upied . He was pretty much losing his shit here, and he didn''t want anyone to be around when he did .

    He cupped his hands under the running faucet and sshed more water onto his face .

    Zhou Qin could never stand up again let alone walk .

    His actions had turned Zhou Qin into a cripple .

    Li Yundong gripped the wash basin tighter and clenched his jaw . For a moment there, he wallowed in the feeling of rage boiling inside him, the rage at the He family for ruining so many lives .

    Stop it, Li Yundong .

    He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down .

    Being angry won''t change anything .

    Indeed, his old self would''ve barged straight into He residence and then beat up every single member of that f*cked up family . And considering the power he possessed, he might very well ughter those animals and send them straight to hell .

    But that wasn''t him anymore .

    He''d been through enough to know that violence wasn''t always the best way to deal with problems . A true Cultivator shouldn''t be impulsive . If anything, impulsiveness was the exact antithesis of what constitutes good Cultivation¡ªnobody could possibly attain Ishvara without being in the proper state of mind . In fact, his impulsiveness was the thing that had led to this f*cked up situation in the first ce .

    Li Yundong slowly opened his eyes . Then, he stared at the faucet and watched it close slowly on its own without his hands touching it . While doing so, he imagined the running water being the metaphoric equivalent of his anger, gradually diminishing until it vanishedpletely, safely held back by a valve .

    He sighed and rose to his full height . His reflection stared back at him with newfound resolve .

    Fix this, Li Yundong . You''ve gotta fix this .

    Uncle Zhou said that surgery could risk paralyzing Zhou Qin''s whole body, but what if there was a way to remove the clot without surgery . There had to be something inside all those medical texts he''d gone through that could help . There had to be . What if Traditional Chinese Medicine had a solution? What if acupuncture or the Three-Prong Flower Gathering could¡ª

    Li Yundong froze .

    "The Renyuan Jindan . . . " he whispered .

    Yes¡­ The Renyuan Jindan!

    Su Chan said something about the Renyuan Jindan having curative properties .

    "Maybe . . . Maybe it would work . . . " he whispered and started backing away from the mirror .

    When Li Yundong returned to room 502, he nearly got the fright of his life: the wheelchair was overturned; and Zhou Qin was down on the floor, crawling towards a cupboard several feet away .

    One of her arms was stretched out, and she was staring intently at the ss on the cupboard .

    Li Yundong ran over and picked her up in a bridal carry . He heard a surprised gasp from Zhou Qin, but she didn''t protest . Li Yundong righted the wheelchair with his foot just as the door opened and Uncle Zhou strode in .

    Uncle Zhou stared at the scene for a moment before he had a look on his face which implied that this wasn''t the first time this had happened .

    "Again, Qinqin?" Uncle Zhou sighed heavily . "Why didn''t you ask the nurse for help? Why do you have to be so stubborn?"

    Li Yundong sighed inwardly and set Zhou Qin back into the wheelchair .

    Zhou Qin was still refusing to meet his eyes, but Li Yundong could make out the redness in her eyes, like she''d been crying before he got here .

    Uncle Zhou left the room quickly, probably to look for a nurse, leaving Li Yundong and Zhou Qin alone .

    Li Yundong tried to look at Zhou Qin again, but she turned her head away every time he tried .

    She doesn''t want me here . . . Li Yundong sighed inwardly . He honestly wouldn''t me her for feeling this way . I should go and give her some space for now .

    Li Yundong turned around and walked away . At the door, he suddenly stopped .

    "I know you hate me and might not want to see me ever again," Li Yundong said gently . "But I promise you that I''m going to find a way to help you stand up again . Take care of yourself for now and . . . And don''t give up . " Li Yundong paused to take a breath . "Because I know I won''t . "

    He opened the door and stepped outside .

    "I''ll be back tomorrow," he said .

    Just as the door was about to close, he heard Zhou Qin''s cold voice .

    "Go! Go and don''te back! I don''t want to see your face ever again!"

 Chapter 220

    Chapter 220

    <h4>The First Disciple?</h4>

    Zhou Qin kept staring at the closed door even though it had been minutes since Li Yundong left, minutes since she hurled out those hateful words at him .

    At first, she couldn''t believe her eyes that he came to see her . When everyone else had shunned and abandoned her, he actually came to see her . And he even promised to help her! When she first saw him there, her first reaction, as foolish and pathetic as it sounded, was to reach out to touch him . But then reality came crashing down on her before their hands even touched .

    Why was he even here? Why did he even care?

    Guilt .

    That was all it was . Guilt . And pity .

    The door opened and Zhou Keqiang walked in with a new ss of water .

    That stupid ss of water .

    Why?

    Why did Li Yundong have to walk in when she was crawling on all fours like some invalid?

    Like some invalid? Zhou Qin wanted tough at herself . She didn''t resemble an invalid; she was an invalid .

    The tap of the ss against the surface of the overbed table drew Zhou Qin''s attention towards Zhou Keqiang . How long had he been standing there, watching her pitiful state?

    "Is he worth it, Qinqin?" Zhou Keqiang said tiredly .

    This question again . Was he worth it?

    She honestly didn''t know anymore .

    It might have been worth it if her n had worked . But her n had backfired . She was supposed to die from that fall, not walk away from it a cripple .

    Zhou Keqiang sighed and walked out of the room .

    Guilt . Pity .

    If that fall had paralyzed the lower half of her body, then those two words had paralyzed her heart .

    ***

    Zi Yuan heard the Heir''s muffled shouts before she even reached the door of 20A .

    "Zi Yuan! Zi Yuan!"

    She frowned and hurried towards the door, wondering what the fuss was about . She unlocked the door with her key then strode in with the grocery bags .

    When she entered the living room, the Heir was bent over the balcony''s railing, yelling in the direction of Hongling''s apartment .

    "Zi Yuan! Zi Yuan!!"

    "Stop yelling already . I''m here," Zi Yuan said .

    The Heir turned around in surprise and then hurried back inside .

    "Sorry," he said, closing the sliding door . "Didn''t have your phone number . "

    Zi Yuan smiled in amusement . "And you think yelling from across the building is going to work?" She arched a brow . "What if I wasn''t at the apartment?"

    The Heir ignored her attempt at banter and walked towards her .

    "We need to talk," he said without preamble .

    There was an uncharacteristic sobriety in his tone, and his behavior didn''t reflect his usual boisterous self .

    Something''s wrong . . .

    Zi Yuan studied the grim look on his face .

    Was it because ofst night''s incident? Was he traumatized by his near-death experience after all?

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Just let me put these grocery bags away, then we''ll talk . "

    Li Yundong quickly stepped forward and relieved her of one of the bags .

    Five minutester, they both sat facing each other across the coffee table in the living room .

    "I found Zhou Qin," the Heir hurried out before Zi Yuan could ask him what was bothering him .

    Zi Yuan frowned and sat up straighter . "And?"

    Guilt shed across his face . He tried to hide it, but it still wasn''t quick enough to evade Zi Yuan''s gaze .

    "She''s¡­ She''s paralyzed from the waist down . "

    "What?!" Zi Yuan half-shouted .

    The Heir sighed . "She tried to kill herself by jumping off a building, but then she survived . And now . . . " The Heir rubbed his forehead . "Now she can''t even stand up . "

    Zi Yuan spent a full minute processing the information . She wouldn''t lie . This was about as shocking as her finding out about theing of the Jindan''s Heir .

    What on earth could drive a tough and headstrong woman like Zhou Qin to take her own life¡ª

    It hit her right then .

    The realization, however, led to fear .

    What if that is my fate too?

    Zi Yuan pushed the thought to the back of her mind .

    "What can I do to help her?" Zi Yuan asked .

    She could make some arrangements and have the best surgeons in the country¡ªor even from overseas¡ªtake a look at Zhou Qin .

    People still owed Zi Yuan favors .

    "You don''t have to do anything," said the Heir, surprising Zi Yuan . "I will help her . " He looked straight into Zi Yuan''s eyes . "I''m gonna help her stand up again . "

    Zi Yuan stared at him in disbelief .

    Shouldn''t he be focusing on his divine punishment right now? Zi Yuan had almost finished preparing the training simtion that Wushuang-qianbei had suggested . Once the Jade te was ready, which wouldn''t be that much longer, they could begin the training simtion right away .

    Yet here he was, worrying about someone else even though he himself was facing imminent death .

    God, they are both so alike¡­

    The Heir''s lips were moving again .

    Zi Yuan pulled herself out of her daze . "Pardon?"

    "I said I can''t do it alone," said the Heir before pausing to look at her . "Listen¡­ I''ve got an idea . But I''m not sure if it will work . I figured I''d run it by you first . "

    "Okay . . . ?" Zi Yuan eyed him carefully . What was he nning?

    The Heir cleared his throat . "Well, ording to the Canon¡ª"

    "Hold on a second . " Zi Yuan raised her palm . "Tell me about her condition first . "

    "Oh . Right . Uh . . . There''s a blood clot between two of her vertebrae . That''s the cause of her paralysis . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Surgery?"

    "Her dad said it''s too risky . " The Heir shook his head . "It might cause her whole body to be paralyzed . "

    Zi Yuan frowned . Full-body paralysis . That didn''t sound good at all .

    Zi Yuan nced at the Heir . "What''s your idea then?"

    The Heir leaned forward slightly . "What if we try removing the blood clot without surgery?"

    Zi Yuan narrowed her eyes at him .

    "Qi control, Zi Yuan . Qi control . " There was an excited gleam in the Heir''s eyes . "Qi drives blood flow, right? So . What if I use my Zhenqi to drive the flow of her Qi? That''s gonna help promote blood cirction . And once there''s improved blood flow in the injured area, won''t the clot disappear with time?"

    Zi Yuan considered his idea carefully . Even though something like this had never been done before, she had to admit that it could actually work .

    "Well? What do you think?" The Heir stared at her expectantly . "It''s worth a try, right?"

    "But what about spinal damage? And nerve damage?" Zi Yuan countered . "Even if the clot disperses, there''s no guarantee that . . . " Zi Yuan paused when she saw the pained look on the Heir''s face . "That she can stand up . "

    Even if she could, her legs might not be able to function like they used to .

    The Heir had a determined look on his face . "The Jindan . "

    Zi Yuan gasped . "Are¡ª"

    "The Jindan has curative powers . " the Heir cut in . "I just have to expose her to the Jindan''s Aura, then it''ll help repair the tissue damage or whatever . "

    "Now hold on a second there . You can''t just channel the Jindan''s Aura into another person''s body," Zi Yuan argued . "Once the Jindan is assimted into its user''s body, its power will have grown too powerful for another body to handle . Worst, she is untrained! Her meridians aren''t even activated! What if the Aura damages her meridians?"

    The Heir leaned forward and raised his thumb and index finger . "Yeah, but what if I only give her a small dose every day? Just a tiny dose . "

    Zi Yuan leaned back in thought . Could that actually work? From what she had seen so far, the Jindan''s curative power had fully manifested itself inside the Heir''s body . The Heir had assimted the Jindan perfectly, so there could be no doubt as to the potency of the Aura''s curative power, even in small doses .

    But still . Could the Heir really manage small?

    Zi Yuan nced at the Heir . "Okay, fine . It works in theory . "

    "Yes!" The Heir sprang to his feet and pumped his fist .

    "But . . . " Zi Yuan waited for him to sit back down . "Your definition of small isn''t exactly reliable, is it?" Zi Yuan arched a brow . "Need I remind you what happenedst night?"

    The Heir ran his hands through his hair and sighed . "I know . But I have to try, okay? I just¡­" He pleaded with his eyes . "I have to try . She''s . . . " The Heir let his hands dropped limply to hisp . "She''s like this because of me . "

    "Okay . Let''s say you manage to cure her," Zi Yuan said . "Then what?"

    The Heir''s gaze snapped up, and he frowned .

    "What do you mean, then what?"

    Zi Yuan arched her brow . "Can you give her back her old life?"

    "No, I can''t give her old life back," the Heir said . "But I can give her a chance . A chance to rebuild her life . "

    Zi Yuan gave the Heir a meaningful stare . "But can you give her what she truly wants?"

    The Heir''s eyes grew wide, and Zi Yuan could see his resolve wavering .

    "You''re not a fool, Li Yundong . You know what it is that she wants from you . "

    The Heir''s shoulders sagged, and he leaned back against the couch .

    The two of them sat in silence for a long while . The Heir seemed engrossed in his thoughts, so Zi Yuan began a wistful reflection on something that Master had said to her a long time ago . Master was absolutely right when he''d warned her about the worst kind of pain anyone could ever experience in life¡ªthe pain caused by love .

    A soft sigh escaped Zi Yuan''s lips .

    "You can heal her body, but you can''t heal what''s inside . And she''s hurting inside, Li Yundong . " Zi Yuan stared pointedly at the Heir . "She''s hurting because of what you can''t give her . " Zi Yuan raised a brow . "Unless you''ve changed your mind and decided to give yourself to her as well¡ª"

    "No . " The Heir said, his eyes zing with resolve . "The woman I love is Su Chan . And that will never change . "

    Zi Yuan searched the Heir''s eyes for any signs of doubt, but there were none . The man''s dedication and loyalty to his beloved was admirable indeed . He was surrounded by beautiful women who would readily throw themselves at him, yet not once did he waver .

    Which was why the true meaning of Master''s prophecy eluded Zi Yuan even now . This man didn''t look like he would open his heart to any woman other than Su Chan .

    Zi Yuan let out a sigh . "When I was young, my master told me something . He said that no type pain can be greater than the pain caused by love . And . . . "

    Zi Yuan could feel the Heir''s intense gaze on her . She raised her head and looked into his eyes . "He said that Cultivators should never allow themselves to be caught up in romantic love . Otherwise . . . otherwise they''ll never achieve greatness . "

    The Heir grunted and broke their eye contact .

    "I disagree," the Heir said bluntly .

    Zi Yuan could feel her brows rising to her hairline .

    The Heir raised both hands in a cating gesture . "But hey, I''m just a newbie Cultivator . My opinions probably don''t mean much . "

    "That''s nonsense," Zi Yuan said quickly . She stared at him for a few seconds, then gave him a nod . "Go ahead . I want to hear your thoughts . "

    It wouldn''t be the first time that the Heir had challenged Master''s ideologies .

    The Heir didn''t speak right away, and his thoughtful expression told Zi Yuan that he was weighing his words carefully .

    "I think . . . " He trailed off and gave her a hesitant look .

    Zi Yuan sighed . "It''s okay . Just speak your mind . "

    The Heir took a deep breath and exhaled . "I think that most Cultivators don''t have a deep sense of purpose for what they do . "

    Despite having given him permission to speak his mind, Zi Yuan could help but feel a little offended by his remark . Was he implying that most Cultivators were shallow? And worst, he said that right after she told him about Master''s views on the subject . Was he implying that Master was shallow?

    "What do you mean?" Zi Yuan said, trying her best to keep her tone even .

    "Well¡­" The Heir suddenly stopped himself and shot her a wary look . "I''m not trying to be presumptuous or anything, okay? Coz I know I might be way off the mark about this¡­"

    Zi Yuan acknowledged his gesture with a brief nod .

    "Okay . Um¡­ As far as I know, most Cultivators they¡­" said the Heir . There was a brief pause after that . "Well, if you ask them why they chose their path, why they became a Cultivator, I bet they''d all tell you the same stuff . " The Heir nced at her briefly . "They want to be a Shenxian . They want to gain power, to gain knowledge . Or they just want to live longer, or be able to use spells . Etcetera, etcetera . " The Heir shook his head . "But these reasons . . . They all revolve around the self . They''re all about the individual, you see?" The Heir sighed . "There''s nothing wrong with being motivated by self-interest, of course . But my point is that Cultivators should look deeper into the true reason they chose the path of Cultivation . Once they dig deep enough, they''ll realize that what motivates them is actually external, not internal . Like, do they want power to protect the people they love? Personal revenge? Things like that . "

    There was a long, drawn out silence, during which Zi Yuan tried valiantly to dispel the overwhelming sense of bewilderment resulting from the Heir''s words . It felt as though she had time-travelled back to that fateful night, where the actions of one man had offset the status quo and reformed not only the Cultivation world but also Zi Yuan''s entire worldview . She would never forget how she had stood in the middle of that field, surrounded by the Jindan''s zing glory while her long-held beliefs crumbled to pieces .

    Zi Yuan didn''t realize that the Heir had started talking again until she noticed his lips moving .

    "What''s that?" Zi Yuan asked with a frown .

    The Heir stopped talking and stared at her intently . "So love hinders greatness, huh"

    "Excuse me?"

    "Love hinders greatness . That''s essentially what your master was implying . He thought that love will get in the way of greatness . " The Heir suddenly rose from the couch . "Well, sorry, but Ipletely disagree . "

    Zi Yuan''s gaze snapped up . This guy . . . How could he say such things so casually? He had no idea who Master was or what Master was truly capable of, and yet¡ª

    The Heir quirked his brow challengingly . "You see, Zi Yuan¡­ I believe the exact opposite . I think that greatness is born out of love . Love can give rise to greatness, that''s what I think . " The Heir smiled . "How can a musician be great without genuine love or passion for music? A newborn child is pretty great, don''t you think? The birth of a new life is a miraculous thing in and of itself . . . " There was a pregnant pause . "But then what gives rise to a child? The union of two people who love each other . The act of love . " The Heir sighed longingly . "Love can inspire people to do great things, Zi Yuan . It can even¡­ It can even drive people to push past their limits¡­" The Heir released a self-deprecating chuckle . "I know I would''ve died several times over during my journey to Tibet if it weren''t for my feelings for Su Chan . That says a lot about love''s ability to inspire greatness, don''t you think?"

    Again, Zi Yuan was stunned into speechlessness .

    The Heir didn''t look like he was done talking yet, though .

    "Your master imed that love can cause great pain and suffering," said the Heir . "Well, sure I agree that it does . But is that always the case? Is there really no room for feelings of happiness or bliss in the course of love?" Suddenly, the Heir''s eyes were on her . "Have you ever been in love, Zi Yuan?"

    Zi Yuan quickly averted her gaze . "No . . . "

    "No?" The Heir chuckled . "And yet you believe everything your master told you about love?"

    Zi Yuan bit the inside of her cheek . She already knew what his next question was going to be .

    "How can you possiblye to the conclusion that love always leads to pain and suffering if you haven''t even experienced it yourself?"

    Something inside Zi Yuan snapped .

    "I don''t have to experience it to know that it leads to pain, Li Yundong," Zi Yuan said sharply . "I''ve seen it with my own eyes . That night, when you and Su Chan were forced into separation . Even I, aplete outsider, could see and feel how painful it was for the both of you . Isn''t that enough proof?"

    "Ah . . . But here''s the thing," said the Heir . "Nothing in this world is perfect . "

    Zi Yuan opened her mouth, but no words came out .

    The Heir raised a finger .

    "Suppose¡­ Suppose you''re in possession of a beautiful diamond ne . " The Heir lowered his finger . "Now . If you wear it while you''re out on the streets, it might increase the chances of you getting hurt, say if you get mugged . But here''s the thing . Once in a while, people do get robbed . " The Heir held her gaze pointedly . "And in such cases, the diamond ne is the indirect cause of pain and suffering . Even so, that doesn''t change the fact that the diamond ne is beautiful, does it? This is basically the Yin-Yang Principle . " The Heir shrugged . "There are two sides to everything . In the wrong circumstances, anything can cause pain and suffering . A diamond ne can make the wearer feel beautiful and confident; but at the same time, it gives a murderer the perfect tool to strangle her to death . Like I said, nothing in this world is perfect anyway, so why limit ourselves from experiencing something that is truly beautiful just because it could potentially hurt us? Cars can hurt, or even kill, people in an ident, but that doesn''t stop people from using them . The same goes for nes, or ships, or whatever . " The Heir cleared his throat . "You mentioned the time when Su Chan and I were forced apart due to our circumstances . Was it painful? Well, yes . Absolutely . But that''s only one side of it . " The Heir gave her a warm smile . "There is potential for happiness too . Those little moments shared between two lovers can be the most precious and meaningful thing in the world, you see? Even the pain of separation can be worth it if it gives the lovers an opportunity to experience the sheer pleasure and joy of reunion . . . "

    The Heir fell silent after he let his words trailed off .

    "If you asked me why I became a Cultivator¡­" said the Heir, ending the brief lull . There was now a faraway look in his eyes, and Zi Yuan found herself unable to look away; she was utterly transfixed .

    "I can honestly tell you that the thought of bing a Shenxian never even crossed my mind . I just want to protect the people I love, that''s all . That''s why I chose this path . I wasn''t exactly kidding when I said that I would''ve died several times in Tibet if it wasn''t for the feelings I have for Su Chan . The love I feel for her gave me a deeper sense of purpose and meaning . It''s like I''m fighting for the sake of others, not just for myself . " The faraway look in his eyes was instantly gone and was reced with its usual sharpness . "Your master is wrong in my opinion . Or, at the very least, his im is only partially true . "

    Zi Yuan couldn''t help the little gasp that somehow made it past her lips .

    "Love isn''t a liability, Zi Yuan," said the Heir . "It is a source of strength . And it can be the thing that sparks greatness . "

    Zi Yuan curled her fingers into a fist . How could Master be wrong? Master was never wrong . Ever .

    "And what about Zhou Qin," Zi Yuan snapped . "What did her love give her in return?"

    The Heir flinched .

    Zi Yuan forced herself to continue despite the pained look on his face .

    "A lifetime of pain and suffering . A broken heart . Those are the fruits of love . " Zi Yuan paused for a beat . "She lost everything, Li Yundong . Even her will to live . Her life is over for all we know . "

    "Then I will give her a new life!" the Heir yelled . "I will give her a life that is far better than the one she has lost . " The Heir''s eyes were burning with so much intensity that it staggered Zi Yuan . "She''ll not only stand up again, but she''ll also gain new abilities, abilities that she never even dreamed of having . "

    The full implication of his words hit Zi Yuan right then . She exhaled slowly .

    "You . . . You''re nning to teach her Cultivation . . . "

    "Yes . "

    Silence followed the Heir''s outburst . Zi Yuan was still struggling to reel in her muddled thoughts . Time and again, the Heir hade along and challenged the foundation of Zi Yuan''s beliefs, making her doubt everything she thought she knew .

    Maybe you never knew those things at all . . . Maybe . . .

    She banished those thoughts .

    "Ask," Zi Yuan said once she''d calmed down a little .

    "I''m sorry?"

    "I''m sure you have more questions about Zhou Qin''s treatment . " Zi Yuan held his gaze . "So ask . "

    "Oh . Well . . . I was thinking that maybe we could discuss itter tonight . Maybe after dinner?" The Heir rubbed the back of his neck . "There''s this rehearsal thingy that I have to attend in . . . " He nced at the clock . "An hour . "

    Rehearsal? Zi Yuan frowned in confusion . Wait . . . Is that the same event as the calligraphy thing Hongling said she was participating in?

    Zi Yuan sighed . "Sure, we can talk about it tonight . "

    She needed some time to sort through her thoughts anyway .

    "Thanks . " The Heir thought for a moment . "To be honest I haven''t worked out all the details of the treatment n yet . And . . . "

    The hesitance in his tone piqued Zi Yuan''s curiosity . Seconds ago, he sounded so assertive, and now he was hesitant? What on earth was his problem?

    "I know you might be opposed to this, but you gotta teach me how to activate and control the Jindan''s Aura . " He sighed . "That''s the only way I can heal her . "

    Oh . Right . Now his hesitance made sense .

    Zi Yuan kept staring at him . A minuteter, she relented .

    "Fine . "

    The Heir sighed in relief . "Thank you . "

    He picked up his backpack and headed towards the door .

    "Li Yundong! Wait!"

    The Heir paused at the doorway and turned back around . "Yeah?"

    "What does it really feel like?" Zi Yuan got the question out quickly before she changed her mind . "Being in love . What does it feel like?"

    Li Yundong grinned at her . "Just try it for yourself, and you''ll know exactly what it feels like . " He shrugged . "I mean, I can exin it to you a thousand times until you get it . Or you could try it one time and know everything you need to know . "

    Zi Yuan sighed . "Try it for myself, huh?"

    "Of course," said the Heir, his smile broadening . "You''re a beautiful and talented woman, Zi Yuan . You just have to find someone who''s worthy of your love, that''s all . "

    The sound of the front door closing jolted Zi Yuan out of her musings . She sighed and shook her head . Love . The Heir made it sound so easy, but was it really that easy?

 Chapter 221

    Chapter 221

    <h4>Fruit Fest<small></small></h4>

    The following day, Li Yundong decided to skip all his sses to visit Zhou Qin again at the hospital . He left the apartment early and decided to buy some fruits to take with him to the hospital this time . After a quick trip to the grocery store, he hailed a cab and told the driver to take him to First People''s Hospital .

    He had decided to put his Running Man duties on hold today; the nurses probably wouldn''t take kindly to visitors walking around the ward looking all sweaty and disgusting .

    When the cab stopped at the traffic lights near First People''s Hospital, something caught Li Yundong''s eye . Well, that might be able to cheer her up¡­

    He wasn''t sure if the hospital would allow it though .

    When the lights turned green, Li Yundong made a split-second decision .

    "Sir . . . " Li Yundong pointed out of the window . "Can you drop me off at that shop, please?"

    "The pet store?"

    "Yeah," Li Yundong said, pulling out several bills .

    Twenty minutester, Li Yundong strode into First People''s Hospital with a bag of fruits and a small cage housing a pair of cute little hamsters . Admittedly, the hamster idea was a hit-and-miss . During his previous visit, Li Yundong got the impression that Zhou Qin didn''t enjoy thepany of her father very much, so he thought he''d find something to help keep herpany . Well, at worst, the hamsters could help keep her mind upied and distract her from her circumstances; at best, they might even cheer her up a little .

    In a feat of stealth that would make even Su Chan proud, Li Yundong managed to smuggle the cage to the fifth floor of the regr wards .

    s, his grand n was foiled when the hamsters decided it was a good time to start squeaking while he was trying to walk past the fifth floor''s reception desk .

    "Hey! What''s that thing you''re carrying young man?"

    Li Yundong cringed and came to a halt .

    The receptionist, an overweight woman, suddenly stepped around the counter and blocked his path .

    Li Yundong tried to shift the cage away from the woman''s grasp but he was toote . The woman yanked away the cloth that he''d used to cover the cage and gasped at what she saw .

    And no, it wasn''t exactly the aww-would-you-take-a-look-at-these-little-cuties type of gasp .

    "Tsk! This is a hospital, young man! No pets are allowed here!"

    Li Yundong put on his most charming smile . "Oh,e on . They''re harmless!"

    The obese nurse red at him .

    "Not . Allowed," she growled . "Hospital regtions . "

    Li Yundong''s smile faltered .

    His charms, it would seem, left much to be desired .

    Okay . . . n B, then .

    Li Yundong sighed and feigned a contrite look . "Alright, Ma''am . I''m so sorry about this . I didn''t know the rules . But¡­" He nced around a few times . "Where should I leave the cage while I visit my friend?"

    "Well that''s your problem, young man," said the nurse . "So you deal with it . Just don''t let me see that thing anywhere on this floor, you hear me?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "Yes, Ma''am . "

    Li Yundong backed away from the reception counter and slowly moved towards the staircase .

    Li Yundong descended the stairs until he reached thending between the fourth and fifth floor . At thending, he crouched down and opened the packet of seeds that he''d bought at the pet store . He poured a copious amount of seeds into the cage and then watched the hamsters munch on them .

    That should keep them quiet for a while . . .

    He couldn''t help but smile when he saw the hamsters'' cheek pouches, which reminded him of Su Chan . He rose to his feet and climbed up the stairs again . When he reached the fifth floor, he peeked out from the staircase .

    The fat receptionist was sitting behind the counter, staring at her phone .

    Li Yundong smirked and hid himself behind the wall . Once the coast was clear, he mobilized his Zhenqi and watched the hamster cage float towards the ceiling . Secondster, the cage stopped moving and hovered about half an inch below the ceiling . Li Yundong stared at the cage for a moment to make sure that it was stable¡ªand that it wasn''t raining hamster poop .

    Once he was satisfied with his inspection, he stepped away from the staircase and started walking back towards the reception desk with confident strides .

    The cage floated soundlessly along the ceiling .

    The fat nurse raised her gaze from her phone as soon as she saw his approach . She stood up and stepped around the counter once again . The woman gave him a once-over .

    Li Yundong smiled and showed her the bag of fruits he was carrying .

    "You''ve dealt with it?" asked the woman, her eyes narrowing .

    <small></small>"Yup," Li Yundong said, shing another smile . "Hospital regtions, right?"

    The woman stared at something behind him . "It''s not inside the backpack, is it?"

    "Nope," said Li Yundong, patting cloth-covered Fan of Seven Treasures . "The backpack''s already full, Ma''am . There''s no more room to fit the cage . "

    The woman''s eyes narrowed suspiciously . "And what is that long thing in the bag?"

    Li Yundong waved his hand nonchntly . "Oh . That''s just something from a science project . " He smiled . "I''m an engineering student, you see . "

    The woman kept staring at his backpack .

    Li Yundong ignored the woman and focused instead on maintaining perfect control of his Zhenqi .

    Secondster, the woman stepped away and moved back towards the counter .

    Li Yundong hid a smirk and moved quickly towards Room 502 .

    All hail Qi Kinesis .

    ***

    Zhou Qin was having her breakfast when Li Yundong entered . Li Yundong stood quietly at the doorway and watched Zhou Qin make a quick work of her porridge . Uncle Zhou was standing beside Zhou Qin''s bed, looking down at Zhou Qin with affectionate but sad eyes . Perhaps Uncle Zhou did love his daughter dearly, just that he had done a shit job showing it all these years .

    Li Yundong sighed inwardly, trying his best not to dwell on how f*cked up this whole situation was .

    Uncle Zhou was the one who noticed him first . Li Yundong greeted the man with a nod and stepped into the room . After closing the door quietly, he walked towards Zhou Qin''s bed .

    He''d barely taken two steps before Zhou Qin dropped her spoon and whipped her head around to look at him . For a moment there, he thought he saw delight in Zhou Qin''s eyes before they were once again filled with coldness .

    Li Yundong refused to be deterred by the icy re, so he kept walking .

    Uncle Zhou suddenly cleared his throat and said, "I have something to take care of . Why don''t you guys talk?"

    Li Yundong nodded at Uncle Zhou again when they passed each other .

    When he reached Zhou Qin''s bed, he ced the bag of fruits on the cab .

    "Meet your new friends," Li Yundong said, showing Zhou Qin the cage .

    When Zhou Qin showed no reaction, Li Yundong ced the cage beside the fruits and lowered his backpack to the floor .

    "How are you feeling today, Zhou Qin?" he said, then cringed inwardly at howme he sounded .

    Of course she''s feeling like crap, you moron .

    "Why are you here?" Zhou Qin said icily . "Didn''t I tell you not toe anymore?"

    Li Yundong clenched his fists until he felt his nails digging into his palms .

    "I''m here because I care about you," he said with a smile . "You''re my friend . "

    "Friend?" Zhou Qinughed derisively . "I still have friends?"

    "Of course you do," Li Yundong said, picking up a paring knife . He pulled out an apple from the stic bag . "You have me and Su Chan . We''re both your friends . "

    When Zhou Qin didn''t respond, Li Yundong began peeling the apple while silently watching her .

    When half of the apple''s skin hade off, Zhou Qinughed darkly again . "And are you sure you still want to be my friend? Right now, people are avoiding me like the gue!"

    Li Yundong stilled the peeling motion of his hands and looked at Zhou Qin . Momentster, he sighed and resumed peeling . "You''ll always be my friend, Zhou Qin . I''ve said this once, but I''ll say it again . I won''t abandon you even when everyone else in the world shuns you . " Thest strip of the apple''s skin came off . Li Yundong put the knife away and stared at Zhou Qin . "And besides, do you actually think I''m capable of leaving you alone knowing that¡­ knowing that I''m partially responsible for your current situation?" He sighed heavily . "I''d be no different from He Shao if I do that . "

    He heard a little gasp, which made him look up . That was when he saw the softening of Zhou Qin''s expression . But the look was gone as soon as their eyes met . Before he knew it, Zhou Qin''s icy mask was back in full force .

    "What happened to me is none of your business," Zhou Qin said in a sharp tone . "It was my choice . Mine . Get it? Mine . It''s got nothing to do with you, so get over yourself . " Zhou Qin suddenly looked away with a humorless chuckle . "Oh, I see what this is about . You''re just here to see me suffer, aren''t you? You''re here to mock me with your presence . "

    Li Yundong stared at the woman, aghast that she''d think so little of him .

    Then it hit him .

    She was doing this on purpose to push him away .

    He ignored her rant and walked towards the bed with the peeled apple .

    "Here, have an apple . "

    "I don''t want an apple!"

    <small></small>Li Yundong tried not to flinch when he saw the angry look in Zhou Qin''s eyes . He smiled instead .

    "What would you like then?"

    Zhou Qin''s brows knitted together . Her expression no longer seemed aloof; rather, it seemed conflicted, like she couldn''t quite decide what she wanted to feel . Then, he noticed the quick dark of her eyes towards the exit before they returned to her hands, which were clenching the nket .

    "I want . . . " Zhou Qin suddenly pointed at the bag of fruits at the cab . "I want a . . . I want a banana!"

    Li Yundong bit the inside of his cheek to stifle augh . He''d never seen Zhou Qin act like this before . His next thought, however, flushed out everyst ounce of mirth he''d been feeling: she''d never been crippled before, too .

    Li Yundong banished his morbid thoughts and reached for the stic bag for a banana . He peeled the banana and held it out for Zhou Qin .

    "Here you go¡ª"

    The banana flew across the room when Zhou Qin pped it away .

    "I want a pear!"

    You''re not going to scare me away so easily, Zhou Qin . . .

    "Sure," Li Yundong said with a smile . "A pear it is then . "

    "I take mine without the skin!" Zhou Qin snapped .

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Fine . I''ll peel it for you . "

    Minutester, Li Yundong passed a peeled pear to Zhou Qin . This time, he held it tighter so that Zhou Qin couldn''t p it away .

    Zhou Qin took the pear, and then hurled it away .

    "I want a banana!" Zhou Qin snapped .

    Li Yundong watched the fruit hit the door with a loud thud before rolling to a stop on the floor . Suddenly, the door swung open .

    "What''s with all the noise in here¡ª" A nurse paused at the door and let out a gasp . "Oh, for God''s sake! Look at this mess!"

    Li Yundong cringed when he saw the murderous look the nurse was giving him .

    "Ugh! Young people these days! So irresponsible!" The nurse stormed off, muttering something about the cleaning staff .

    Li Yundong stared at the door, which the angry nurse had forgotten to close on her way out .

    "See? Can''t take it anymore, can you? I bet I''m too difficult for you to handle," said Zhou Qin snidely . "Leave then! Leave and don''te back! I don''t want to see your face ever again!"

    Li Yundong looked away from the door and took out another banana from the stic bag .

    Zhou Qin snatched the banana from his hand and hurled it across the room once more . The poor banana joined the pear at the door''s threshold .

    Li Yundong chuckled wryly .

    "You know you could''ve just asked if you want me to feed you . "

    Zhou Qin''s mouth went agape .

    Li Yundong smirked . "So? Shall I feed you then?"

    Zhou Qin''s mouth clicked shut .

    "Get over yourself!" Zhou Qin screamed hysterically . "Who asked you to feed me?!"

    "Oh for f*ck''s sake! Shut up, you crazy bitch!" someone from the neighboring room yelled . "Do you know what time it is? It''s 6AM in the morning! People are trying to sleep, dammit!"

    "You shut up!!" Zhou Qin roared . "I can yell all I want and there''s nothing you can do about it!"

    The voice in the other room quieted down, much to Li Yundong''s surprise .

    Li Yundong stared at Zhou Qin in wonder .

    "Damn . . . Never knew there''s a tigress living inside you," he remarked .

    Zhou Qin sneered . "Now you know what a crazy and unreasonable bitch I am . Are you disgusted with me now?" Sheughed darkly . "I bet you are . " She pointed at the door . "Leave!"

    Li Yundong smiled and reached for the stic bag once again .

    He nced down and gaped at the bag for a second or two . "Oh, shucks . . . " He looked up from the bag towards Zhou Qin and feigned a crestfallen look . "We''ve run out of bananas . " He let out a dramatic sigh and shook his head . "Tsk, tsk . Fruit hawkers these days . You''d think they havergerbs of bananas to offer . I mean, look at this shit!" He pulled out the stem of the emptyb and shook it a few times . "Two bananas perb? Tsk, tsk! Ridiculous . " He tossed the stem into the bag . "You''d think a bunch of monkeys robbed their stall or something . "

    <small></small>There was a giggle .

    Zhou Qin''s face was turned away from him, but he could see that her shoulders were trembling .

    Secondster, Zhou Qin cleared her throat . "Leave . "

    "Nope," Li Yundong said cheekily . "How about an apple?"

    Zhou Qin let out a low growl . Li Yundong pretended he didn''t notice the re on her face .

    "Hmm? An apple?" he asked innocently . "They taste good . "

    There was another low growl . "Peaches!"

    Li Yundong gave her a wry smile . "Peaches aren''t in season, your highness . "

    A challenging glint formed in Zhou Qin''s eyes . Li Yundong thought he even saw a smirk somewhere .

    "I . Don''t . Care," Zhou Qin said . "Get me peaches . Or get lost!"

    Li Yundong smiled . "Ah . . . Very clever . " He wagged his finger at her . "This is your way of trying to make me leave the room . But . . . Nope! Ain''t gonna happen . "

    He reached into the bag and pulled out another apple, then began peeling its skin .

    "I- I said peaches!"

    Li Yundong shrugged and kept peeling the apple .

    "Are you deaf?! I said peaches, not apples! Peaches!"

    Li Yundong put the knife away and then raised the peeled apple to his lips . "Did I say that this is for you?" he asked in an innocent tone, then bit into the apple .

    The corners of Zhou Qin''s mouth lifted . Li Yundong could tell that she was struggling to hold back her smile .

    "Tsk! What''s with theseints about noises, eh?!" There was a series of heavy footsteps . "Seriously, you people! No respect for hospital policy at all¡ª"

    Somebody appeared at the doorway . It was the fat nurse from the reception desk . She was standing at the door with her arms akimbo .

    Li Yundong quickly stepped forward to block her view of the hamster cage .

    "You!" said the fat nurse, ring at Li Yundong . "Someoneined to me about a noisy troublemaker, so it was you!"

    The fat nurse took a step into the room . Oh, shit . . .

    "No! Don''te in, Ma''am!"

    "Don''t you Ma''am me, you insolent troublemak¡ª"

    There was a loud yelp followed by a crash . The fat nurse had slipped on the banana and fallen t on her back . One of her shoes, which was sent flying into the air during the fall, crashed down onto the poor woman''s face .

    Li Yundong could still feel the residual quakes resulting from Miss Roly-Poly''s fall .

    Li Yundong hurried towards the door to help the poor woman up, smirking when he heard the gigglesing from Zhou Qin''s bed .

    Once the fat nurse was up on her feet, Li Yundong stole a nce at the bed and saw Zhou Qin reaching behind her back for her pillow . A secondter, Zhou Qin buried her face into the pillow, her shoulders shaking violently .

    That was when Li Yundong startedughing too .

    "You bastard!" yelled the nurse . "Exin this mess, now!"

    Li Yundong''s hand shot out to still the fat nurse when he saw that she was about to start jumping around again .

    "Don''t, Ma''am . Please, don''t . Otherwise you''ll slip and fall again . "

    And the people downstairs will be having ceiling dust together with their porridge, he added silently .

    Despite being muffled by the pillow, it was clear that Zhou Qin''s giggles had turned into full-blownughs .

    The fat nurse wagged her finger in front of Li Yundong''s face .

    "You . . . You people!" She stomped her foot . "Just you wait!"

    The fat nurse turned around and stormed off .

    Li Yundongughed and shut the door .

    When Li Yundong was cleaning up the mess, he caught Zhou Qin staring at him . When he nced over, Zhou Qin quickly averted her gaze as though she was embarrassed to be caught staring . However, before he couldment, Zhou Qin was ring at him again .

    It amused him a little that Zhou Qin thought she could actually scare him away with these deliberate tantrums .

    "Why are you ring at me?" Li Yundong said, walking back towards the bed . "Ah . You want more fruits?"

    Zhou Qin''s re turned murderous . "I want peaches!"

    "Oh," Li Yundong said casually, then took out another apple from the bag and began peeling .

    Halfway through peeling the apple, Li Yundong saw the look of disbelief that Zhou Qin was giving him .

    "Why won''t you just leave me alone?"

    Li Yundong shrugged and went back to peeling .

    Peel, peel, peel . . . Peel¡ª

    SMACK!

    Something soft hit him square in the face . He dropped the knife instinctively and reached up to grab the object . It was Zhou Qin''s pillow .

    Li Yundong chuckled and put the pillow away .

    "I didn''t know you have a habit of throwing things when you''re angry . "

    He looked up and saw Zhou Qin''s fuming face .

    "You¡ª"

    "Ta-da! A perfectly peeled apple . " Li Yundong held out the apple to her .

    "What, is this another one of your jokes?" Zhou Qin released a dark chuckle as her eyes slid shut . "You''re just gonna make fun of me and say that you peeled it for yourself . "

    Li Yundong sighed inwardly .

    Admittedly, he was starting to feel a little out of his league here . How was he ever going to convince Zhou Qin to let him help her if he couldn''t even get her to ept a piece of fruit from him?

    Don''t give up, a small voice inside his head whispered . Just keep trying .

    Li Yundong stepped forward and brought the apple to her mouth . Zhou Qin''s eyes shot open the moment Li Yundong touched the apple''s surface to her lips .

    "You''re not going to scare me away, Zhou Qin," Li Yundong said gently . "I''m not here to make fun of you, or to see you suffer . I''m here because I want to help you stand up again, do you understand?"

    Zhou Qin''s lips parted slightly . Her eyes widened just a tad and turned slightly ssy . Through the sheen of unshed tears in her eyes, Li Yundong could make out the shock and surprise in them .

    When Zhou Qin failed toe up with a reply, Li Yundong smiled and waved the apple in front of her face . "You don''t want this apple?" He feigned a crestfallen look . "What a waste . Well . Guess I''ll eat it¡ª"

    Zhou Qin snatched the apple from his hand with a speed that surprised even him . Then, Li Yundong watched her take arge bite into the fruit .

    There was a sharp hiss . The next thing he knew, Zhou Qin was wincing and covering her mouth with her hand .

    "Hey, hey . . . " Li Yundong stepped forward and reached for the apple . "See? You bit your tongue, didn''t you? You need to slow down . "

    Zhou Qin moved the apple out of his reach, then took another bite .

    This time, however, the bite was apanied with a sob .

    Something tugged inside Li Yundong''s chest at that moment . The floodgates had opened, and Zhou Qin began sobbing like there was no tomorrow .

    For minutes, Li Yundong stood beside Zhou Qin''s bed and watched her devour the apple while her cheeks became awash with tears .

    Li Yundong balled his fists at his sides as he fought his own demons .

    Was this really the way of the Heavens, punishing a man by making his friends suffer? Was punishing him with the Heavenly Thunder not enough? The Heavens had to drag in his friends too? What kind of f*cked up nonsense was that?

    The more Li Yundong thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed . By some twisted Heavenly logic, the person who killed an evil man ended up suffering a punishment even more severe than the one suffered by the evil man . He Shao had been punished by death for his wrongdoings . And Li Yundong, like He Shao, would be facing death by the Heavenly Thunder for his crime . The only difference was that Li Yundong had to watch his friends suffer first before facing that . How absurd was that? How was any of this fair?

    Zhou Qin''s sobs echoed in the room, filling Li Yundong''s heart with guilt, remorse, anger, and everything in between .

    Some timeter, he heard Zhou Qin''s muddled voice between the crunching of apple .

    "Li Yundong . . . I hate you . I hate you . I hate you . . . "

    Good . She should hate him . She should despise him . Hating him was a good sign . Hating him meant that she was feeling something rather than feeling nothing at all like a person who''d given up all hope .

    Li Yundong would allow her to hate him as much as she wanted, knowing that her hatred of him could never surpass his hatred of himself .

 Chapter 222

    Chapter 222

    Persuasion

    Some time after Zhou Qin started crying, it urred to Li Yundong that this was the first time he had seen Zhou Qin shed tears . For as long as he knew her, Zhou Qin had always been this proud and feisty woman who never showed weakness in front of anyone .

    Watching her tough exterior crumble to pieces was akin to being stab in the heart with a knife and then having that knife twisted over and over again . Drawing in a shaky breath, Li Yundong reached over and began stroking Zhou Qin''s hair . Although his movements were awkward, he hoped that they would provide Zhou Qin with somefort .

    "It''s gonna be okay, Zhou Qin . Everything''s gonna be alright . . . " Li Yundong whispered . "I''m gonna do everything in my power to help you stand up again, okay? Just don''t give up . "

    Zhou Qin stopped sobbing and looked up at him . With her hands holding on to the half-eaten apple and her eyes brimming with hope, she looked like an innocent child .

    She nodded twice .

    Relief coursed through Li Yundong . That''s progress . . .

    During his cab ride to the First People''s Hospital, Li Yundong hade up with a simple game n to approach the problem . The first step, Li Yundong knew, was to pull Zhou Qin out of this ocean of hopelessness that had driven her to take her own life in the first ce . In other words, he had to give her a sense of purpose once again . Yes, ultimately, the goal was to help her get better physically, but he had to first give her a reason to do that; otherwise, his effort would just fizzle out before it could bear any fruit .

    The best way to restore the sense of purpose in Zhou Qin''s life, Li Yundong realized, was to show her that there were still people who genuinely cared about her beyond her wealth and status . Although he came alone today, he had already made ns to bring Feng Na and Cheng Cheng along with him for his future visits . Things would be easier once Zhou Qin found her reason to fight, her reason to get better . For one, she would be more receptive to his help, which would make the job of treating her a lot easier . And then once she saw that his treatment was working, which he had no doubt it would, the rest would take care of itself . Evidence of her recovery would encourage her even further and bolster her drive to get better .

    Yes . The n would definitely work, but he had to take it slow considering how delicate the situation was . Zhou Qin was still in a fragile mental state, and he didn''t want to do something to jeopardize her trust in him .

    Zhou Qin was still sobbing when she finished the apple .

    Li Yundong reached over to take the apple''s core from her .

    "Stop crying already," he said with a smile . "You''ll ruin your face if you keep crying like that . "

    "So what?!" Zhou Qin began swiping harshly at her cheeks . "How I look doesn''t concern you!"

    Li Yundong raised his hands in a gesture of surrender . "Okay, okay . You''re absolutely right . It''s none of my business, so I will say no more . "

    Zhou Qin made onest swipe at her cheek before lowering her hands . Her mask of aloofness was back up again, though when she spoke a secondter, her voice wasn''t as harsh and biting as it was before .

    "Leave," she said . "I don''t want your help . And . . . You don''t have to feel obliged to help me . It was my choice . "

    "Being here is my choice too," Li Yundong fired back, then paused for a few seconds . "I''m not here out of obligation . "

    At least not entirely .

    Zhou Qin stared at him for a moment, then let out a sad chuckle .

    "And what difference will your presence make?" She averted her gaze . "You said you''re going to help me stand up again . " There was another chuckle, though this one sounded so bitter that it made Li Yundong cringe . "Stop joking around . I''ll never be able stand up again . It''s just impossible . "

    "Is dodging bullets possible?" Li Yundong paused to let his words sink in, then chuckled . "Sometimes, things only seem impossible because no one has the courage to try them yet . "

    Zhou Qin sighed . "Look . It''s useless, okay? Even the doctors said that it''s impossible for me to stand up again . It''s over for me . I''m crippled for life . "

    "Just because his methods fell short, doesn''t mean that mine will too," Li Yundong argued stubbornly .

    Zhou Qin turned around and shot him a skeptical look .

    Li Yundong held his ground . "We won''t know unless we try . "

    Zhou Qin sighed again . "Fine . Even if you manage to pull it off and help me stand up again, then what? I''ve still lost everything . "

    "Then rebuild," Li Yundong said . "Stand up and rebuild your life . "

    Zhou Qin kept staring at her hands without saying anything .

    Li Yundong sighed inwardly and walked over towards the cab . He picked up the cage and walked back towards the bed .

    "Look at your new friends," Li Yundong said, stopping at the foot of the bed .

    Thankfully, Zhou Qinplied .

    Li Yundong pointed at one of the hamsters, who appeared to be performing sprints on the hamster wheel with seemingly unparalleled enthusiasm .

    "Are they showing any signs of giving up?" Li Yundong asked .

    Zhou Qin curled her lips . "So? They can run till they drop dead, and they''ll still remain inside the cage . Their efforts are futile . Pointless . "

    "That''s where you''re wrong," Li Yundong said firmly . "You said that the hamsters can never escape from their cage no matter how hard they push themselves . " He paused to look at her . "But that''s exactly the point I''m trying to make . " He rapped the cage with his knuckles . "They kept trying even though they were aware of how small their chances are of escaping . "

    "Maybe they''re unaware," Zhou Qin fired back . "Maybe they''re just fools who don''t even realize how futile their efforts are . "

    Li Yundong smiled, pulled the overbed table towards himself, and then set the cage onto the table . "Sure, they might not know . But does it matter?" Li Yundong brought his face closer to the cage and peered in through the bars . "As long as they keep running, new possibilities will open up to them . " Li Yundong nced at Zhou Qin on the bed . "I mean, who knows right? The wheel might fall off due to all the wear and tear, and then the owner will be forced to open the cage . And then when the cage is open, these little things can make their escape . Or maybe¡­ Maybe all that running can make the hamsters stronger and faster, which gives them a better chance of escaping the next time the cage is opened . On the other hand . . . if they just sit around and do nothing, nothing will ever happen . They might be fat, or get sick and die before they even have a chance to escape . " Li Yundong picked up the cage and carried it back towards the cab . "Well, that much applies to two hamsters in a cage . " He turned around and walked back towards the bed . Once he reached the bed, he took a seat in the chair beside the bed, then eyed Zhou Qin steadily . "But you''re not in a cage anymore, Zhou Qin . You''re free . "

    Zhou Qin''s lips parted slightly . He could see that Zhou Qin wanted to argue back, but he held up his hand to silence her .

    "No, please let me finish . "

    Zhou Qin''s mouth clicked shut .

    "If two hamsters never gave up despite being trapped inside a cage with little to no chance of escaping, then why should you? Like I said, you''re free from your shackles now . You have a chance to rebuild your life . "

    "Free from my shackles?" Zhou Qin said incredulously, then gestured at her legs . "Then what do you call this? A gift?" Zhou Qinughed derisively . "I jumped out of my cage! And I was supposed to die, but I didn''t . Instead, I fell out of the cage and turned into a cripple!"

    "And I will heal you," Li Yundong said firmly . "I will help you stand up again . I told you I will . "

    Zhou Qin looked away again . "I won''t hold my breath . "

    ***

    Zhou Keqiang almost couldn''t believe his eyes when he opened the door of Room 502 and peeked inside: Zhou Qin was giggling .

    His distraught and demoralized daughter was now giggling despite not having uttered a single word ever since Li Yundong left the hospital yesterday . From the door, Zhou Keqiang watched silently as that boy whispered something inaudible to his daughter . A secondter, another round of giggles escaped his daughter''s lips . Zhou Keqiang sighed and closed the door as quietly as he could . For days, Zhou Keqiang had tried everything he could think of to get a reaction out of his daughter . Even then, his efforts had fallen short .

    Some father he was .

    No . He wasn''t even a father . Zhou Qin herself had denounced him, iming that she no longer wanted him as her father .

    With a heavy heart, Zhou Keqiang trudged away from the room and left the hospital building .

    His legs carried him to thewn where he and Li Yundong had their conversation yesterday . He even ended up sitting on the same bench . Some timeter, he felt another presence beside him . The other person sat down, and Zhou Keqiang got the impression that the person was staring at him .

    "I''m sorry, but I''m not looking forpany," Zhou Keqiang said without taking his eyes off thewn . "I just need some time alone, if you don''t mind . "

    "Ignoring me already, eh, Old Zhou? That''s a little cruel . "

    Zhou Keqiang whipped his head to the side and saw a familiar face smiling back at him .

    "Old Li?" Zhou Keqiang said after he''d recovered from his initial surprise . "What are you doing here, man?" Zhou Keqiang reached out a hand to the other man .

    Old Liughed and sped his hand in a brief handshake .

    "Can''t I drop by to see my old buddy?" Old Li pulled out a packet of cigarette and passed it to Zhou Keqiang . "Want a smoke?"

    Zhou Keqiang''s hand reached out instinctively to pull out a cigarette . However, his hand stilled moments before it touched the pack .

    He chuckled and lowered his hand back down . "Nah . It''s alright . I''m quitting . "

    Old Li shifted in his seat and gave him a look of surprise . "Going cold turkey? Since when?"

    "Well . " Zhou Keqiang smiled . "Since . . . just now . "

    Old Li nodded and lit up his cigarette .

    Zhou Keqiang watched his old friend take a long drag before releasing a smoke ring .

    "I know you must have a lot of grievances after everything that happened," said Old Li . "But you should just let it all go, man . There''s more to life than all this, you know? You just have to be open to other possibilities, right?"

    "Thanks for the advice, pal . " Zhou Keqiangughed . "But I''ve already done that . I''ve been doing a lot of thinking ever since I got sacked . After a while, I realized that this isn''t so bad . " Zhou Keqiang sighed . "I was too blinded by power before . . . And . . . well . I suppose I deserved all this . Everything happened because I mishandled things with the He family . I know that now, and I ept my fate and my failings . But what pains me is that my daughter paid the price too . " Zhou Keqiang sighed and shook his head . "I suppose that''s my fault as well . I was a terrible father to her . "

    After a moment of silence, Old Li snorted . "F*cking He family . "

    Zhou Keqiang sighed but said nothing .

    "They say that He Shao was struck down by lightning," Old Li remarked .

    Zhou Keqiang nodded . "Qinqin swore by it . Said she saw it with her own eyes . She even recorded the whole thing on her phone . " Zhou Keqiang paused to look at his old friend . "What do you believe, old friend?"

    "That son of a bitch had iting . That''s what I believe," Old Li said in a sharp tone . "We all know that He Shao was about as corrupt as theye . "

    Zhou Keqiang released a nomittal hum . And yet I pushed my only daughter into the arms of such a man for no reason other than my own selfishness . . .

    "The He family had really gone too far this time," said Old Li, pulling Zhou Keqiang out of his thoughts .

    Zhou Keqiang nced sideways and saw Old Li taking another long drag from his cigarette .

    "They''ll pay for what they did to you and Zhou Qin," said Old Li, smiling at Zhou Keqiang . "Those bastards won''t get away with it, you''ll see . "

    Zhou Keqiang smiled and sped Old Li''s shoulder . "It''s all thanks to you that we both made it out in one piece, old pal . Otherwise . . . "

    Old Li chuckled, releasing several puffs of smoke . "Hey, don''t mention it . I never saw eye to eye with the He family anyway . "

    Zhou Keqiang smiled wryly . "Guess it''s true what they say, eh?" He pped Old Li''s shoulder again . "You only know who your true friends are during times of trouble . "

    "And yet you refuse my cigarette offer just like that," said Old Li . "Tsk, tsk . Some friend you are . "

    Zhou Keqiang burst intoughter . "I''m still saying no to the cigarette, but I could do with a good game of chess . " Zhou Keqiang rose from the bench . "What do you say, old pal? For old times'' sake?"

    Old Li pped his thigh and stubbed out his cigarette . "Well said, old pal!" Old Li stood up and pped Zhou Keqiang''s shoulder . "You know that old saying?"

    "Which one?" Zhou Keqiang asked as the two of them headed towards a stone table nearby for their game .

    "Oh, you know, the one that says: life is like a game of chess," said Old Li, pulling out a chess set from inside his pocket .

    Zhou Keqiangughed . He''d been about to start asking around for a chess set, but it seemed like his old buddy came prepared .

    "If it is, then I''m afraid I just lost a huge game, pal," Zhou Keqiang remarked wistfully .

    "Well, that''s exactly my point, buddy," said Old Li . "There are wins and losses in life, just like in chess . It''s a truth that we all have to ept at some point . "

    Zhou Keqiang grunted in response . Good old buddy . Wise as ever .

    "And you wanna know how else life is like chess?"

    Zhou Keqiang took a seat at one end of the stone table . "Yeah?"

    Old Li ced the chess set onto table . "You can analyze your game after you lost, and then start new one . " Old Li smiled . "And what''s stopping you from winning your next game?"

    ***

    Li Yundong strode into Room 502 with the bags of food that he''d purchased from the hospital''s canteen . He''d spent the whole morning hanging out with Zhou Qin and was proud of the progress he''d made with her so far . Granted, Zhou Qin would still scowl at him once every few minutes, but at least they were on speaking terms .

    Zhou Qin had tantly refused to look at him when he served up the food on the overbed table .

    "And¡­ lunch is served," Li Yundong said after he''d ced the chopsticks beside the bowl .

    When Zhou Qin didn''t even look at the food, Li Yundong waved a hand in front of her face to get her attention . "Come on . Time to eat up . "

    Zhou Qin''s eyes darted to the table briefly . Then, she snorted haughtily . "The food here tastes horrible . "

    And yet he''d seen her wolfing down her porridge when he arrived this morning . Li Yundong suppressed augh .

    Clearly, the woman was still trying to annoy him .

    Li Yundong smiled at her and put the food away . "What do you feel like having, then? I''ll get them for you . "

    Li Yundong made a mental note to buy a variety of dishes from different restaurants . Just in case Zhou Qin decided to pull another I-don''t-want-X-but-I-want-Y stuntter .

    "Well?" Li Yundong asked again when he got a re instead of an answer .

    Suddenly, a challenging glint formed in Zhou Qin''s eyes . There was a tiny smirk too . "I want your cooking . "

    Li Yundong froze . "Err . . . " He nced at the door . "Um . . . "

    "See? You can''t handle me already," Zhou Qin said in a smug tone . "So give up and leave . "

    "No, it''s not that," Li Yundong said, looking from the door back to Zhou Qin . "It''s just . . . It''s gonna take a while to go back to my apartment to cook, and thene back again . Aren''t you hungry now?"

    "I¡ª" Zhou Qin gaped at him for a moment . Then, her eyes shed angrily . "I don''t care! I''m not going to eat anything unless you made it!"

    Li Yundong went silent in thought . Should he lie? Would she be able to tell if he bought something from a restaurant and then pack them into a container from home to make it look like he''d made them?

    Li Yundong stole a nce at Zhou Qin on the bed . Nah, she''s too clever to fall for that . She''d probably only believe it when she saw the same dishes he''d made when she came over to his apartment the other day .

    Besides, lying to her would just defeat the purpose of the whole thing . The idea was to show her that he cared . He would lose her trust if she found out that he had tricked her .

    "Okay, then . " Li Yundong stood up and grabbed his backpack . "Wait here . I''ll be back as soon as I can . "

    "Hey! Wait! I was¡ª"

    Li Yundong didn''t hear the rest of her sentence since he was already out the door .

 Chapter 223

    Chapter 223

    A Glimmer of Hope

    Hourster, Li Yundong sauntered into Room 502 carrying several air-tight containers in a stic bag . It was alreadyte afternoon, and Zhou Qin appeared to be taking a nap .

    He shut the door quietly and stepped into the room .

    He paused near the door, wondering if he should wake Zhou Qin or just let her sleep . He could leave the containers here and include a note to Uncle Zhou or something . She and Uncle Zhou could share the food for dinnerter . He was pretty sure there were microwave ovens somewhere in the hospital, so reheating the food wouldn''t be a problem at all .

    In the midst of his indecision, Zhou Qin roused and opened her eyes .

    d that Zhou Qin had made the decision for him, Li Yundong smiled and moved across the room towards the bed .

    "Hey . Sorry for the wait," Li Yundong said . "I''ve got your lunch right here . " He raised the stic bag in his hand to show her the containers .

    Zhou Qin stared at him, her eyes wide with disbelief .

    Li Yundong chuckled . "What, you didn''t think I''d actually do it?" He smirked . "I''m a man of my word, Zhou Qin . "

    So when I say I''m gonna help you stand up, that''s exactly what I''m gonna do, he added silently . And I''m damn well gonna make it happen . Just you wait .

    Zhou Qin blushed and looked away .

    Li Yundong set the containers down on the table and then opened each one . Then, he grabbed a bowl from the cab and filled it with rice .

    "Here you go . "

    Li Yundong ced the rice bowl beside the containers .

    Zhou Qin slowly turned away from the window . Li Yundong watched with bated breath as her eyes scanned over each container .

    At least she wasn''t scowling, which was a good sign .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "These are just a few simple dishes and might not be up to your usual tastes . I kinda prepared them in a hurry and¡­ Well, I didn''t have time to make something better, so¡­ I hope you don''t mind . "

    Instead of answering, Zhou Qin kept staring at the containers like she was trying to decide whether or not she should eat them .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat again . "And I''m sure you can recognize a few of these dishes . " He pointed at the container containing the stir-fried lotus with chicken . "I made this one too when you visited my apartment the other day . "

    After what felt like forever, Zhou Qin reached for the chopsticks .

    "Wait, hold on a sec . "

    Li Yundong quickly stood up and adjusted the hospital bed''s height so that it was easier for her to eat .

    "There . All done . Eat up . "

    Zhou Qin gave him a tiny smile and reached for a piece of pork rib with her chopsticks .

    She was smiling now .

    Achievement unlocked .

    Perhaps she wouldn''t kick him out of the roomter if he brought up her treatment options .

    Li Yundong sat down in the chair beside the bed to watch her eat .

    About a minuteter, Zhou Qin started sniffing and crying .

    Li Yundong was up on his feet in an instant . "Hey, what''s the matter?" He nced at the containers and then cringed . "Does the food really taste that horrible?"

    "Pfft! Haha!" Zhou Qin spewed an entire mouthful of food over the nket and bedspread .

    Li Yundong stood helplessly beside the bed . "Um . . . "

    "Great . Now my nket is dirty . " Zhou Qin shot him a re . "This is your fault!"

    "H- Hey! I wasn''t the one who spit all over it," Li Yundong sputtered .

    "It''s your fault that Iughed!"

    "Hey! That''s not fair! I¡ª" Li Yundong held his tongue and hung his head with a sigh . "Okay . Fine . me it on me . It''s my fault . "

    It was the undeniable truth . It was his fault that Zhou Qin ended up like this, his fault that she lost everything, his fault that she nearly lost her life .

    Everything was his fault .

    Li Yundong sat down and tried not to let his guilt show . He forced out a tight smile and said, "Hurry up and eat, okay? Don''t let the food get cold . "

    Zhou Qin stared at him for a moment, then went back to her food .

    The meal went by in silence after that . While watching her eat, Li Yundong allowed his mind to drift away . Once in a while, though, he would catch Zhou Qin stealing nces at him . And every time he did, he gave her a smile before returning to his thoughts .

    He kept reying the discussion he had with Zi Yuanst night, where they had spent hours working out the details of how he could use the Jindan''s Aura to heal Zhou Qin''s spinal damage . Zi Yuan seem a bit reluctant when he begged her to divulge the key to activating the Jindan''s Aura . But in the end, she relented after Li Yundong had given her his word that he would never activate the Aura other than when he was giving Zhou Qin the treatment .

    As it turned out, the secret to activating the Jindan''s Aura lies in the speed of his Qi flow; once the speed of his Qi flow surpasses a certain threshold, the Jindan Aura will be activated and his body will start glowing .

    Li Yundong remembered wanting to smack himself in the head for not figuring it out sooner . For one, the exnation madeplete sense, not to mention it fit all the facts¡ªsuch as why the Jindan''s Aura was activated when he was wounded or when he was angry .

    It was obvious now that he thought about it .

    Both of those phenomena would lead to a surge in Qi flow: the increased blood flow to open wounds is driven by an increase in Qi flow; simrly, the rate of Qi cirction will also increase when a person bes angry .

    After the revtion, Zi Yuan had sat him down on the floor of the living room and forced him to practice maintaining his Qi flow at a constant speed . In particr, Zi Yuan wanted him to practice restraint . He could try increasing the speed of his Qi flow, but only by so much . Overdoing it, in Zi Yuan''s own words, would lead to disastrous consequences .

    Li Yundong took the practice session seriously because he himself knew just how risky the treatment was¡ªthe Jindan''s Aura could easily ruin Zhou Qin''s body if he lost control for just a fraction of a second . Then again, the risk was worth it; unlike with surgery, Zhou Qin''s recovery was pretty much guaranteed as long as he did everything right .

    Once he had mastered the speed of his Qi flow, Zi Yuan took the training session to the next level: localized speed maintenance . In other words, he had to maintain the speed of his Qi flow through a certain part of his body¡ªlike his hands, for instance . The training made logical sense since it would allow him to activate the Jindan''s Aura only at a certain part of his body .

    The whole practice session took hours toplete .

    Li Yundong shook himself out of his reverie when he could no longer hear the sound of moving chopsticks .

    Zhou Qin had finished her meal and was now staring at him .

    Li Yundong smiled and stood up from chair .

    "All done?"

    Li Yundong could feel Zhou Qin''s eyes on him as he worked on clearing away the food containers . Then, when he was cleaning Zhou Qin''s nket and bedspread, he finally mustered his courage to bring up the subject of her treatment .

    "Say, Zhou Qin . . . Why don''t I give you a massage?"

    As soon as the question was out, he noticed the tightening of Zhou Qin''s fingers around the nket . He winced internally and cursed himself for his impatience . Zhou Qin was silent for a long time, so Li Yundong stole a nce at her .

    Zhou Qin was staring back at him with indecision in her eyes, and it was all Li Yundong could do not to retract his question and im that it was only a joke .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat and decided to try again .

    "It''s not gonna hurt at all," he saidmely . "It''s just something to help improve your blood cirction . "

    After what felt like forever, Zhou Qin gave him the briefest of nods .

    Li Yundong nearly did a fist pump right then and there . He smiled at Zhou Qin and folded the wash cloth in his hands . "Just give me a moment, okay? I''ll be right back . "

    He went into the bathroom to deal with the cloth .

    When he returned, Zhou Qin still had a hesitant look on her face . Before Li Yundong had the chance to reassure her again, she opened her mouth to speak .

    "How should I . . . Um . . . " Zhou Qin said shyly . "Should Iy down on my stomach . . . or?"

    Li Yundong paused beside the bed . Right . That was probably how things are done in a massage parlor . Then again, Li Yundong had a different kind of massage in mind .

    "No . Not really . . . " Li Yundong trailed off and nced around the room for a moment . Getting her into a meditative posture wasn''t option, so he would have to settle for the next best thing .

    Li Yundong walked over to the wheelchair and then pushed it over towards the bed . Zhou Qin seemed to have gotten the hint as well since she suddenly lifted the nket off her body and shifted closer to the edge of the bed .

    Several awkward moments passed with Zhou Qin eyeing the wheelchair warily . "Um . . . You''re gonna have to help me into the . . . " She pointed at the wheelchair .

    "Sure . " Li Yundong moved closer to the edge of the bed and then lifted Zhou Qin off the mattress .

    Zhou Qin''s arms went around his neck instantly .

    Only then did Li Yundong realize that she was trembling .

    Li Yundong frowned and stared down at her . "Are you okay? Does this hurt?"

    Zhou Qin shook her head gently .

    "But you''re shaking . "

    "I- It''s nothing," Zhou Qin stammered . "Just . . . " She cleared her throat and pointed at the wheelchair .

    Li Yundong nodded and slowly lowered her into the wheelchair .

    He heard a sigh when Zhou Qin removed her arms around his neck .

    As he stood up, he caught a glimpsed of Zhou Qin''s worried expression .

    "Don''t be scared," he consoled . "It''s just a simple head massage . "

    She looked up at him warily . "Will it hurt?"

    "Of course not . " Li Yundong smiled . "Like I said, it''s going to help improve your blood cirction . It''s meant to help you feel morefortable . "

    "O- Oh . "

    "Don''t worry," he said . "Just leave it to me . "

    Li Yundong positioned himself behind the wheelchair and pushed it towards the center of the room where it was less cluttered and more airy .

    "Just close your eyes and rx, okay?" Li Yundong said . "It''s not gonna hurt . I promise . "

    A secondter, Li Yundong could see Zhou Qin''s tensed shoulders rxing as she let out a long sigh . "That''s it . . . Just rx," he said soothingly, then nced over at the door . Uncle Zhou had left with his friend and probably wouldn''t return for a while . He didn''t know when the nurses woulde to do their rounds, but he figured it wouldn''t be a problem even if they got interrupted; it was perfectly safe to stop the massage and then pick up where he left off .

    "Um . . . Li Yundong?" came Zhou Qin''s tentative voice . "Aren''t you going to begin?"

    "Just a sec, okay? Just a sec . . . " Li Yundong lowered his hands, using the wheelchair to keep them from view .

    After that, he closed his eyes and increased the speed of his Qi flow near his fingertips . When he opened his eyes secondster, there was a golden glow coating his fingertips .

    "Alright . . . I''m gonna start now," Li Yundong said . "You ready?"

    Zhou Qin nodded .

    "Now keep your eyes closed . "

    Li Yundong brought his glowing fingertips to the top of Zhou Qin''s head .

    A Glimmer of Hope

    The first thing Zhou Qin felt was the heat spreading over her scalp . Heat . That was the only way she could describe it . This warm, tingly feeling that felt as if it originated from the top part of her head, right at the center .

    Before she could examine the sensation further, the heat spread down to her neck and began stretching into her body like tiny tentacles .

    It was a strange and foreign sensation, and she knew she would''ve freaked out if it didn''t make her feel sofortable and rxed . After a while, she started to feel warm all over, like there was this stream of hot gas circting inside her body from head to toe .

    One particrly intense wave nearly made her scream, but she held it in since she didn''t want to embarrass herself further in front of Li Yundong .

    Eventually, thefortable warmth turned into pinprick sensations in her upper body . This pinprick sensation felt rather familiar, though she couldn''t quite put her finger on it until minutester . It was the same itchy feeling she would get whenever she went for a run after a long period of inactivity . Whatever Li Yundong was doing, it was definitely improving her blood cirction . Although she still couldn''t feel anything in her lower body, she could feel the pinprick sensation in her upper body growing more and more intense with time .

    At one point, the sensation became ticklish to the point that she felt an urge tough and twitch her body around . Again, not wanting to embarrass herself further, Zhou Qin held it in and tried everything in her power to remain still .

    Just when Zhou Qin was about to congratte herself for her ability to keep any embarrassing reactions to herself, she felt a sharp and painful throb in her spine . She let out a loud and udylike squeal .

    "Um . . . I think it hurts a little¡­"

    "Hang on, okay? It won''tst," Li Yundong said soothingly . "It''ll be gone soon . Just stay still and keep your breathing even . "

    Zhou Qin bit down on her bottom lip and waited it out . Thankfully, it didn''t take long before the pain on her spine turned into a dull, persistent throb . The location of the pain did strike out to her . . .

    Almost as if . . .

    Zhou Qin suddenly tensed up when realization washed over her . The pain just now was on her spine .

    Could it be that¡ª

    "Yes, that''s your blood flowing around the area of the blood clot," Li Yundong said as though reading her mind . "It''s nothing to worry about, okay? You need to breathe, though . "

    It hit her then that she''d been holding her breath without knowing it .

    She slowly exhaled and pulled in a deep breath .

    This had to be another one of Li Yundong''s supernatural powers . It had to be .

    For the first time in days, Zhou Qin could see a glimmer of hope in her bleak and wretched life, the life that she''d tried to throw away once .

    If Li Yundong could perform countless supernatural acts, then he might be able to cure her condition and help her stand up again . After all, what was the word of a doctorpared to that of a man who could summon a bolt of lightning from the sky?

    Zhou Qin opened her eyes and looked down at her legs . Then, she did something she''d been trying to do in vain ever since she woke up: move her toe .

    Her left toe . It twitched . The movement was small, but it was there . The joy Zhou Qin felt right then nearly moved her to tears . She turned her head around, wanting to share this triumphant moment with Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong turned her head with his fingers so that she was facing forward again . "Don''t get too excited now," he said sternly . "Deep, even breaths . I''ll let you know when I''m done . "

    Zhou Qin settled back into the wheelchair and let her thoughts wander .

    Hope .

    Finally, she had some hope, and again, it was all because of Li Yundong .

    From the moment he came into her life, that was what he had been doing¡ªgiving her hope . It was like he was her guardian angel or something .

    Then, a small, morbid part of herself started wondering what would happen once she was cured . Would he ignore her again? Would he stop caring and worrying about her? Zhou Qin wasn''t a fool . She knew that he was only here out of guilt, or worst, pity .

    But what if she get never got better? Would he keeping back if she never got better? Would he feel indebted to her, and then offer to take care of her forever¡ª

    Quit being so pathetic, Zhou Qin .

    She felt disgusted with herself for even considering that .

    God, those pain meds must have really messed with her mind .

    She opened her eyes again despite Li Yundong''s warning . Then, with one hand, she pinched her left thigh, hard . More pinprick sensations popped into her consciousness . Her lips curved into a tiny smile .

    She was healing .

    ***

    A quick nce at the clock made Li Yundong aware that an hour had passed since he began the treatment . Time to wrap things up . He didn''t know how much Zhou Qin''s body could take in one day, so he didn''t dare to take things too far . In fact, giving a one-hour session was already stretching it . Last night, Zi Yuan rmended the session tost 30 minutes, tops . The only reason Li Yundong had kept going was because Zhou Qin had apparently felt sofortable that she''d dozed off a few times during the session .

    The session had gone exceedingly well as far as he could tell .

    Other than that brief pain in her spine, Zhou Qin had suffered no other major difort . It was actually a good thing that she could still experience pain in the spinal area, since it indicated the presence of functioning nervous tissues .

    Last night, he and Zi Yuan had tried toe up with an alternative solution, one that wouldn''t involve the use of the Jindan''s Aura¡ªacupuncture .

    In principle, acupuncture would work too, since it would give the same effect as Qi control . The whole idea behind acupuncture is also to stimte and speed up the patient''s Qi flow . The only difference is how the speeding-up effect is achieved¡ªby stimting the patient''s acupoints with needles instead of moving Qi with the mind . However, the downside to using acupuncture to treat Zhou Qin''s condition was that there was no guarantee that the acquired increase in Qi-flow speed would be significant enough to do away with the blood clot . Even if it could, there was no telling how long it would take for the effects of the treatment to be noticeable¡ªthere were other factors determining the treatment duration, such as the strength of Zhou Qin''s Qi, etc . After the idea of acupuncture was put forth, Zi Yuan did a rough estimation of the required treatment time if acupuncture were used . The result wasn''t optimistic at all: decades .

    The idea of using acupuncture was immediately discarded after that .

    Zi Yuan did try toe up with other alternatives, but in the end, she conceded . They had to use the Jindan''s Aura . Zhou Qin''s condition was just too severe for other alternatives to work .

    Thest remnants of Li Yundong''s Zhenqi seeped through his fingertips and flowed back to his Vital Orb . When the golden glow in his fingertips disappeared, he removed his hand from Zhou Qin''s head . He turned the wheelchair around until Zhou Qin was facing him, then crouched down .

    "How do you feel?" he asked .

    Zhou Qin slowly opened her eyes and smiled . "Like my body is warm all over . "

    Li Yundong returned her smile . "Good . You''re supposed to feel like that . " He rose to his feet and grabbed the wheelchair''s handles . "Come on . Let''s get you back to bed . "

    Li Yundong pushed the wheelchair towards the bed . When Zhou Qin leaned away from the backrest, Li Yundong noticed that her hospital gown was drenched in sweat . Several strands of her hair were stered against her neck, which was also covered in sweat .

    Li Yundong stepped forward and hooked one arm under her legs while his other arm supported her back . Zhou Qin''s arms went around his neck automatically when he lifted her up . Once Zhou Qin was settled in bed, Li Yundong went into the bathroom to grab a dry towel .

    "You need to get changed and dry your sweat," Li Yundong said, handing her the towel .

    Zhou Qin stared nkly at him .

    Li Yundong ced the towel on the bed . "Seriously, you need to dry your sweat," he said sternly . "Right now, the pores of your skin are expanded . If you don''t dry your sweat quickly, a small portion of the water in your sweat will seep into your skin and enter your meridians . ording to Traditional Chinese Medicine, that''s bad for your health and can cause rheumatic diseases . "

    "I- It''s not that . . . " Zhou Qin muttered .

    She was blushing heavily .

    "Then what is it?"

    "I- I don''t think I can reach my back . . . "

    "Oh . Well¡­" He jerked his thumb at the door . "I could go get Uncle Zhou . . . "

    Zhou Qin''s scowl made Li Yundong swallow the rest of his words . Okay . Zhou Qin had unresolved daddy issues . Got it .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat .

    "I could ask for a nurse?" he offered .

    Zhou Qin looked away without answering and grabbed the towel from the mattress .

    Zhou Qin winced when she reached behind and tried to wipe her back on her own .

    After about ten seconds of watching her futile attempts, Li Yundong couldn''t take it anymore .

    He rolled his eyes and walked over to the bed .

    "Give me the towel," he demanded firmly .

    Zhou Qin stilled her hand movements and stared at him with wide eyes . A rosy tint dusted her cheeks .

    "Give it here," he said sternly . "I''ll do it for you . "

    When Zhou Qin still didn''t move, he rolled his eyes and grabbed the towel from her hands .

    "Stubborn girl," he muttered under his breath and began drying the sweat on her neck and back . "You''ll be suffering from joint pain like a ny-year-old by the time you''re done . "

    Zhou Qin giggled, much to Li Yundong''s annoyance .

    Right . How could he forget? This stubborn girl would rather crawl on the floor rather than ask the nurses for help to get a ss of water .

    A minuteter, Li Yundong handed the towel back to Zhou Qin . "You can wipe your chest on your own," he said, pointing at the front of her hospital gown .

    Zhou Qin blushed and took the towel from his hand . Secondster, Zhou Qin still wasn''t moving .

    Li Yundong sighed . "What''s wrong?"

    Zhou Qin was red to the tip of her ears . "Oh,e on! I can''t do it with you watching me!"

    Li Yundong gave her an incredulous look . "Just do it under the nket, silly . "

    Zhou Qin snatched the nket and then pulled it over her head . Secondster, she peeked out from the top of the nket . "T- Turn around . "

    "You know I don''t have X-ray vision, right?" he deadpanned .

    "Argh! I don''t care! Just turn around, dammit!"

    A pillow flew out from under the nket and hit him square in the face .

    "Okay . Okay . I''ll turn around, geez . "

    Li Yundong tossed the pillow back onto the bed and then turned around .

    After a while, Li Yundong cleared his throat loudly . "Are you done yet?"

    "No," came Zhou Qin''s muffled reply .

    "What''s taking you so long?" Li Yundong paused and waited for Zhou Qin''s reply . When none came, he sighed . "Look, just ask for a nurse if you''re having trouble . "

    "Almost done¡­"

    Li Yundong frowned . Was she slurring her words? He turned around slightly and saw the nket wiggling . Right . Not done yet . He turned around again .

    At the five-minute mark, Li Yundong''s patience was finally wearing thin . What the hell''s taking her so long? Had she dozed off or something? He held his breath and waited for a few seconds . He didn''t hear any movements behind him .

    Maybe she''s messing with me again . Nobody needs five frigging minutes to dry their own sweat .

    Li Yundong sighed and slowly turned back around .

    Zhou Qin''s head and body remained hidden under the nket, but she wasn''t moving at all . Together, her body and the nket formed an unmoving lump on the bed . Concern spread across Li Yundong''s chest . Asleep?

    Li Yundong walked over and shook Zhou Qin''s ankle . "Hey, Zhou Qin?"

    Nothing .

    He shook her leg once more, then waited for a few seconds . Again, no reaction .

    Then, he wanted to smack himself .

    Of course she wouldn''t feel it if he touched her ankle; she was paralyzed from the waist down!

    He stared at the motionless heap on the bed . Why not just let her sleep? Secondster, he dispelled the idea . Better check to make sure she''s alright . She could be unconscious for all he knew .

    He stepped forward and poked the nket a few times . "Hey, Zhou Qin¡­"

    There was a gasp . The nket lowered to reveal Zhou Qin''s frazzled but angry scowl . Li Yundong raised his palms and backed away a few steps . "Whoa, whoa . . . Rx . It''s just me . . . "

    Zhou Qin blinked several times . She looked utterly confused now .

    Li Yundongughed out loud . "You fell asleep, didn''t you?"

    A dark scowl reced the look of confusion on Zhou Qin''s face .

    "S- Shut up!"

    The nket lifted slightly . Then, something flew out of the nket . Li Yundong''s hand reached out instinctively to grab it . It was the towel he gave Zhou Qin earlier to dry her sweat .

    Li Yundong folded the slightly damp towel and ced it at the foot of the bed .

    "You know what''s funny?" he said in a t tone . "Just now you were so embarrassed that you forced me to turn around even though you werepletely hidden under the nket . And yet you just threw the towel at me . The same towel, I might add, that you used to wipe your body . " Li Yundong raised a brow at her . "I really don''t get you at all, Zhou Qin . "

    The deep blush on Zhou Qin''s face made himugh again .

    "What, not so shy now after your catnap?"

    "Shut!" Zhou Qin grabbed a pillow . "Up!"

    The pillow flew towards him .

    Li Yundong caught the pillow with one hand . "Tsk, tsk! You like to throw things around when you''re mad, don''t you¡­" Li Yundong feigned a reprimanding look . "You must be a nightmare as a child . "

    Zhou Qin snorted haughtily . "That''s none of your business . "

    "True," Li Yundong said, nodding as he ced the pillow back onto the bed . "But it bes my business if you make a habit of throwing objects at me . One of these days it won''t be a pillow that you throw at me, but a knife . I might lose an eye . " Li Yundong covered one eye . "I don''t think the pirate look suits me at all . "

    Zhou Qin was still ring at him, though her eyes now shone with amusement .

    Li Yundong sighed contently .

    He''d given her the massage and, dare he say it, cheered her up a little . Mission aplished . At least for today .

    "Well . I guess I should head back now," Li Yundong said with a smile . "Somebody here was so exhausted that she dozed off in the middle of drying her sweat . "

    Zhou Qin opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat .

    Li Yundong whirled around and saw Uncle Zhou''s head poking in through the gap of the half-open door .

    Li Yundong smiled at the man . "You''re back just in time Uncle Zhou . I was just about to leave . "

 Chapter 224

    Chapter 224

    Get Out!

    Zhou Qin''s jaw clenched when she saw her fathe¡ªahem¡ªZhou Keqiang walking in . That mental slip made her want to p herself . She didn''t have a father anymore . Why was he here anyway? Why did he even care? Surely, he had dozens of career-saving phone calls to make? Why on earth was he wasting his time on her? She was a cripple now . A burden . A liability . Wasn''t it better for him to abandon her and go do his own thing?

    "Leaving already?" Zhou Keqiang said, stopping beside the bed . "So soon?"

    "Yeah . " Li Yundong gave her a smile . "I think she''s tired . "

    A horde of butterflies spawned inside Zhou Qin''s stomach . Her heart fluttered in response .

    The fluttering stopped the moment she noticed Zhou Keqiang''s eyes on her . Zhou Qin turned her head away to look out of the window instead . She didn''t want to look at Zhou Keqiang . She didn''t even want him here .

    The room plunged into an awkward silence . Despite her mask of aloofness and her determination to avoid Zhou Keqiang''s eyes at all cost, Zhou Qin couldn''t help but sneak a few nces at Li Yundong .

    Finally, after what felt like forever, Li Yundong broke the silence .

    "Well then!" he said almost too cheerily . "I really should go . I''ll be back again tomorrow, Uncle Zhou . "

    "Ah, yes . Right . . . " Zhou Keqiang said, though his tone sounded a little weird .

    Zhou Qin turned away from the window to look at Zhou Keqiang, her eyes narrowing slightly . Zhou Qin didn''t like the way Zhou Keqiang was looking at Li Yundong . Not one bit .

    "So you''ll be back tomorrow?" Zhou Keqiang asked hopefully .

    Li Yundong looked from Zhou Keqiang to Zhou Qin, then back to Zhou Keqiang again . "If you guys don''t mind, of course . "

    Zhou Qin opened her mouth to speak, but Zhou Keqiang beat her to it .

    "Of course we don''t mind," Zhou Keqiang said . "In fact, I think it''s a great idea . I think¡­ I think you shoulde visit Qinqin more often . After all¡­" Zhou Keqiang suddenly trailed off .

    Zhou Qin''s eyes narrowed even further . Oh no, you don''t . . .

    "Yes, Uncle Zhou?"

    Zhou Keqiang cleared his throat . "After all, Qinqin¡ª"

    "You don''t have to be here tomorrow, Li Yundong," Zhou Qin said quickly, ring at Zhou Keqiang . "I''m fine . "

    Li Yundong, who was already at the door, smiled at her .

    Zhou Qin''s heart did that fluttering thing again .

    "Nah . It''s fine . I''ve got no ns tomorrow anyway . Rest well, Zhou Qin . " Then, Li Yundong looked towards Zhou Keqiang and smiled . "Until tomorrow, Uncle Zhou . "

    Zhou Keqiang answered with a nod .

    Zhou Qin watched the door close behind Li Yundong .

    After a while, she heard Zhou Keqiang''s loud sigh .

    "Don''t you think you should let him know how you feel?"

    Zhou Qin tore her gaze away from the door .

    "What I do is none of your business," she said coldly .

    "Qinqin . . . Sometimes being stubborn isn''t going to get you what you want . "

    Zhou Qin ignored her fath¡ªugh, dammit! Ex-father .

    "Try telling him tomorrow," Zhou Keqiang said . "Maybe he¡ª"

    "And what would be the point in that," Zhou Qin cut him off sharply . "He''s already . . . "

    In love with someone else .

    And worse, her love rival was a woman who Zhou Qin cared about and had no desire to hurt .

    "Besides . . . " Zhou Qin continued . "I''m pretty sure he already knows how I feel . . . "

    "Even so," Zhou Keqiang argued, "you should make your feelings clear to him . Lay all your cards on the table . "

    And then what? Scare him away? Or be rejected right in the face? No thanks .

    "Don''t you see? Now is the perfect time for you to capture his heart," Zhou Keqiang continued . "Right now, he feels indebted to you . If you tell him how you feel, then maybe he¡ª"

    "He''s already in a rtionship," Zhou Qin snarled . "I''m not going to ruin his rtionship by guilt-tripping him into being with me . That''s just . . . "

    Selfish . Not to mention utterly and disgustingly pathetic .

    Zhou Qin sighed . "His faithfulness is why I fell for him in the first ce . If . . . If he''s the type who''s willing to abandon his lover, or the type who gives in to temptation easily, then I might end up despising him . "

    "Good God, Qinqin . What are you even saying?" Zhou Keqiang said exasperatedly . "So you''re just going to keep torturing yourself by watching him from afar? By watching him love someone else? Are you a masochist?"

    Zhou Qin kept staring out the window . She didn''t even know what she was looking at . She was just . . . looking .

    "I don''t have to be with him . . . "

    "What¡ª"

    "I''m happy if he''s willing to spend time with me and just be my friend . . . Maybe chat with me . Cook me a meal once in a while . . . "

    "Qinqin . . . You . . . You''ve really lost your mind!" Zhou Keqiang yelled .

    Zhou Qin smiled wryly . Maybe she had . She didn''t care anymore .

    "Look . . . " Zhou Keqiang sighed . "You said that your feelings for him might disappear if he turns out to be the unfaithful type, right? That''s what you said . "

    Zhou Qin bristled at those words . She had a pretty good idea what Zhou Keqiang was suggesting, but she said nothing .

    "I say you do it," Zhou Keqiang continued . "Tempt him . Confess to him . Do everything you can to win him over . What do you have to lose anyway? The way I see it? There can only be two oues if he leaves his girlfriend and chooses to be with you . One, your feelings for him remain, in which case you can be with him and be happy . Two, his infidelity disgusts you and you end up hating him, which is still better because then you won''t have to suffer the pain of watching the man you love be with another woman . "

    Zhou Qin turned away from the window and red at Zhou Keqiang .

    "It''s the most logical choice, Qinqin," Zhou Keqiang said tiredly . "I don''t want you to get hurt¡ª"

    "Out!!!" Zhou Qin pointed at the door . "I don''t need your concern! Get out!!"

    "Qinqin, please . . . "

    "I said, OUT!" Zhou Qin grabbed any object within reach and hurled it at Zhou Keqiang . "Out! Get out of my sight!!"

    ***

    The TV was turned on when Li Yundong stepped into his apartment . Ruan Hongling was lounging on his couch, totally making herself at home . There were also noisesing from the kitchen . Someone, who could only be Zi Yuan, was chopping vegetables inside the kitchen .

    Li Yundong''s backpack bounced a few times when he dumped it onto the couch .

    "What are you doing here?" Li Yundong chuckled and stared at Ruan Hongling . "You don''t have a TV back at your own ce?"

    Ruan Hongling turned away from the TV and gave him a dirty look . "Oh . So we''re unwee at your home, is that it? Despite everything Elder Sister Zi Yuan has done for you?" Ruan Hongling rolled her eyes and stood up from the couch . "Fine then! I''ll leave!"

    Then, before Li Yundong could even get another word out, Ruan Hongling turned to face the kitchen and yelled, "Elder Sister Zi Yuan! I think we should go! Somebody here doesn''t like the fact that we''re here and wants to kick us out!"

    "Hey! When did I say¡ª" Li Yundong closed his eyes and sighed . "It was a joke, okay? A joke . "

    Ruan Hongling eyed him tauntingly . "A joke?" She smirked . "Oh, alright . " Ruan Hongling plopped down on the couch and put her feet up on the coffee table . "Then I''m sure you won''t mind if I make myself at home . "

    "Hey!" Li Yundong red at her angrily . "Feet off the table!"

    Ruan Hongling stuck her tongue out . "Make me . "

    "Tsk! You little¡ª" Li Yundong pointed at the coffee table . "Feet off! Now!"

    Li Yundong''s harsh tone must have worked because Ruan Hongling suddenly flinched and let her feet drop from the table .

    Then, as though embarrassed for allowing herself to be intimidated by Li Yundong, Ruan Hongling sprang to her feet . "Look at him, Elder Sister Zi Yuan! He''s bullying me again!"

    "Will you two stop bickering like a bunch of three-year-olds?" Zi Yuan walked out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of something . "I swear to God you two belong in a kindergarten . "

    "But he''s (she''s) the one who started it!" Li Yundong and Ruan Hongling shouted at the same time .

    Li Yundong froze, then whipped his head around to stare at Ruan Hongling, who was also staring back at him .

    "Why are you copying me?" they both asked at the same time .

    Zi Yuan set the bowl on the dining table .

    "Well, well, well . Would you look at that," Zi Yuan said dryly . "So much chemistry between you two . "

    "C- Chemistry?!" Ruan Hongling gaped for a moment . "With him? Eww!!! Elder Sister! That''s just so disgusting . Eugh! Bleh! Bleh! Bleh!"

    "As if I care . " Li Yundong snorted . "The only person I want to have chemistry with is my princess!"

    "Oh . You mean with that demon witch?" Ruan Hongling snorted . "Wow . Great stuff there . "

    Anger rose inside Li Yundong . "What the hell did you say?!"

    Ruan Hongling suddenly ran towards Zi Yuan and hid herself behind the older woman''s back . "Look at him, Elder Sister . He''s bullying me even though I''m your shimei . You''re my shijie . Won''t you do something about him?"

    Li Yundong red at Ruan Hongling as Zi Yuan rubbed her temple .

    "Just stop talking," Zi Yuan said tiredly . "Both of you . "

    Li Yundong grabbed his backpack from the couch and walked towards his room without another word . He was so done with this shit . Today was too emotionally taxing, and he needed some space to work through things . It was bad enough that he had to deal with his guilt after finding out about Zhou Qin, not to mention the divine punishment he had to face . And now Ruan Hongling had to start giving him shit in his own f*cking home . He was so f*cking tired .

    "Hey, where are you going? Dinner is almost ready . " Zi Yuan''s voice sounded behind him .

    "I''m not hungry," Li Yundong said numbly, then mmed the door shut behind him .

    It''s all your fault, Li Yundong . . . It''s all your fault . . .

    Li Yundong''s legs felt like lead as he padded over to his bed . At the edge of the bed, he lowered his backpack to the floor and pulled out the Fan of Seven Treasures . Do I even deserve this? He chuckled sadly, theny the fan on top of the mattress . His eyes lingered on the Hello Kitty piggy bank thaty beside his pillow .

    With a sigh, he climbed into bed andy down on his side to stare at the piggy bank .

    "I miss you, my princess," he whispered to no one in particr . "I miss you so much . . . "

    ***

    Ao Wushuang''s patience was wearing thin, mostly because her beloved disciple was about to drive her nuts with her antics¡ªscratching her hair once every few seconds, running circles around the room, poking her head out the window . It had been that way for hours . Hours . Enough was enough .

    Ao Wushuang mmed the manuscript she''d been reading down onto the table .

    "For Heavens'' sake, Chan''er! What on earth is the matter with you?" Ao Wushuang growled . "Why are you acting so antsy?"

    Chan''er withdrew her head from the window and turned back around to face Ao Wushuang .

    "Come here," Ao Wushuang ordered, her sharp tone causing Chan''er to flinch .

    Secondster, Chan''er shuffled back towards the square table and sat down on the stool .

    Honestly, what was the matter with this girl? Ao Wushuang had been super tolerant with her already . Letting her write to her beloved Yundong? Telling her about the progress the Heir had made in his training, or the fact that he had passed the Zhuji phase? What more did Chan''er want?

    Why couldn''t she just focus on her own training?

    Although Chan''er wasn''t the most talented Cultivator out there, she still possessed above-average talent . With hard work and persistence, Chan''er had the potential to be a six-tailed fox spirit, and that was exactly what Ao Wushuang wanted to help her achieve . But ever since Chan''er met the Heir, it was like she had lost all interest in Cultivation .

    It was frustrating for Ao Wushuang to see that Chan''er had made little to no progress in her training despite the months since Ao Wushuang had separated her from the Heir .

    Little to no progress .

    How utterly infuriating!

    This could not go on .

    Ao Wushuang rapped her knuckle against the surface of the table .

    "Talk," Ao Wushuang said sharply . "What''s going on?"

    The way Chan''er had looked up fearfully from under hershes sent frissons of rm through Ao Wushuang .

    Still, Ao Wushuang waited patiently for Chan''er to open up .

    "W- Will you be mad if I tell you?"

    Ao Wushuang arched a brow . "And you think I won''t be mad if you don''t tell me?"

    "Oh . "

    The next few moments passed by in total silence . Chan''er seemed to be pondering Ao Wushuang''s words .

    Then, a crestfallen look spread across Chan''er''s face .

    "I guess I won''t tell you then," said Chan''er . "Sorry, Master . "

    Ao Wushuang could almost feel the veins popping out in her forehead . This was not how she had envisioned this conversation to go .

    "Tsk! Enough of that," Ao Wushuang said . "Just tell me . "

    Su Chan twiddled her fingers on the desk . "D- Do you really want me to tell you?"

    Ao Wushuang mmed her palm against the desk . Chan''er flinched .

    "You won''t tell me? Is that it? Fine! I''m going to kick you out¡ª"

    Chan''er was out of the stool before Ao Wushuang could evenplete her sentence . The next thing she knew, Chan''er was running towards the front door .

    "Hey, where are you going?!" Ao Wushuang yelled, rubbing her temples . "You haven''t told me what''s wrong yet!"

    Ao Wushuang stared at the front door, which was still open . Secondster, Chan''er''s forehead and eyes peeked out from behind the doorjamb .

    "B- But you said you''ll kick me out, Master . . . "

    "I said . . . Ugh!" Ao Wushuang took a deep breath, then exhaled . "Fine . Go away . Leave . I don''t want to see you walking or crawling back in here until you''ve decided that you''re ready to tell me what''s wrong with you . "

    Ao Wushuang picked up her manuscript and pretended to study it .

    "Oh . " Chan''er''s head disappeared from the doorway for a moment .

    Secondster, Chan''er''s figure reappeared at the doorway .

    Ao Wushuang smirked . This girl is so easy . . . Scare her a little and she''lle running back¡ª

    Ao Wushuang''s jaw dropped open at what she saw next .

    Chan''er raised both arms above her head, theny down on the ground .

    "For goodness'' sake! What are¡ª"

    Chan''er rolled on the floor a few times until her body cleared the door''s threshold .

    "W- What on earth are you doing?!" Ao Wushuang asked, rising from the stool . "Did you hit your head or something?"

    Chan''er got up from the floor, patted her clothes a few times, and then stared back at Ao Wushuang with those wide, innocent eyes of hers .

    "Oh . . . You said I''m not allowed to walk or crawl in if I''m not ready to tell you . " Chan''er blinked a few times, then pointed at the doorway . "I rolled in . So technically, I did neither . Hehe . . . Which means I can be here and still not tell you anything¡­"

    "You¡ª" Ao Wushuang took in a deep breath, then exhaled . Secondster, Ao Wushuang burst intoughter . "Oh, God . How can I beughing when I''m so mad at you!"

    "Hehehe . . . " Chan''er shuffled over towards Ao Wushuang and grabbed Ao Wushuang''s arm . "Aww . . . Don''t be mad at me, Master . . . Please . . . ?"

    Ao Wushuang stifled thest of herughter and swiped a stray tear from the corner of her eye . "Tsk! Your cute charms aren''t going to work this time . " Ao Wushuang red at the girl . "Exin your behavior just now! Why did you look so nervous? What''s worrying you?"

    Chan''er regarded Ao Wushuang''s face carefully, then broke into a grin . "Well . . . "

    One of Ao Wushuang''s brows rose higher .

    "Well?"

    "IheardYundongcallmynamejustnow!" Chan''er said .

    Ao Wushuang stared at Chan''er''s face . "Oh . This again . "

    Chan''er bobbed her head enthusiastically .

    Ao Wushuang groaned and rubbed her temples again . Now I regret asking her . . .

    "But you said that to me pretty much every day, Chan''er . " Ao Wushuang sighed and lowered her hands . "Yet you didn''t seem nervous yesterday, or the day before . Why is today different?"

    Chan''er''s lips pooched out, forming what appeared to be thergest pout in the history of pouts .

    "Because it''s true today!"

    Ao Wushuang rolled her eyes . "Yeah? You believed it was true yesterday too . And the day before . "

    "Argh . I don''t care . " Chan''er grabbed Ao Wushuang''s arm tighter . "It has to be true this time . . . It has to be . . . "

    When Ao Wushuang nced down, she immediately noticed the faraway look in Chan''er''s eyes .

    "It has to be true . . . " Chan''er mumbled . "I can feel it . "

    Ao Wushuang sighed . "Oh fine . Just do whatever you want . I don''t care anymore . " Ao Wushuang shook her head . "And I won''t force you to keep training . If you want to stay mediocre, then stay mediocre . Just don''te crying to me if your lover gets tired of your ineptitude . " Ao Wushuang freed her arms from Chan''er''s grasp . "Now get out of here . Go y or whatever . "

    Chan''er ran off, then paused at the door . "Master . . . " Chan''er was grinning from ear to ear . "Yundong is nice to me . . . He won''t get tired of me . "

    "Just wait and see then . "

    Useless disciple . . .

    Chan''er snorted haughtily . "Fine! I''ll wait and see!"

    ***

    After she left their living quarters, Su Chan quickly made her way out of the building . Minutester, she found herself in a picturesque backyard: beautiful greeneries with thick and lush hedges;rge rocks stacked together to form artificial cliffs and mountains; several winding brooks that wreathed around the area with cute little bridges arching over them; elegant gazebos that stood majestically near the brooks .

    Su Chan trudged towards a stone bench and sat down on it . Once seated, she nced to her left, then to her right . She waspletely alone .

    With a sigh, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the paper crane .

    She set the crane down on the stone table in front of her .

    The crane flopped lifelessly onto the table''s surface the moment she released her fingers .

    Su Chan''s heart sank to her toes .

    Still, she refused to give up .

    "Hey, hey . . . " She poked the crane''s body with a finger . "Wake up . I need you to send a message for me . "

    The crane remained motionless .

    Su Chan poked at it again . "Wakey, wakey . . . "

    Is it still running low on spiritual energy? But how can this be? It''s been days already!

    Disappointment rose inside Su Chan, culminating in a wave of anger . "You useless birdie!" She snatched the crane off the table and then hurled it towards one of the brooks .

    Much to her chagrin, the crane pped its wings in midair and took off towards the sky .

    The stupid birdiended on the rooftop of one of the gazebos .

    What the¡­ Grr! It''s been ying dead all along!

    Su Chan''s anger returned in full force . "You! Get down here! Now!" Su Chan pointed at the gazebo .

    The paper crane shook its head fervently .

    Su Chan rolled up her sleeves . "That does it! I''m gonna get you! And then I will tear you to pieces!"

    The crane took off in fear .

    "Get back here!" Su Chan took off after the crane .

    If Su Chan had been wondering about how fast or agile the crane could be, she definitely had her answer now . This stupid birdie was the most nimble thing Su Chan had ever seen!

    "Grr!" Su Chan made another swipe at the crane .

    The crane twisted its body sideways and slipped away before her fingers could close around it .

    The chasested for minutes before Su Chan managed to hoodwink the crane with a clever feint . With a triumphant smile, Su Channded on one of the eaves of arge building .

    Hehehe . . . Think you can outrun me? Hmph! Not a chance!

    Ignoring birdie''s incessant struggles to free itself from her hand, Su Chan nced around the area . Great . Now she had no idea where she was . By her count, they had flown past about ten buildings or so .

    Voices drifted up from below .

    Hmm? Su Chan crouched down on the eave and tried to make out the voices .

    "Shh!"

    The paper crane stopped struggling after Su Chan shushed it .

    She spent another minute or so on the eave, listening for the voices .

    She didn''t hear them again .

    Had she imagined everything?

    As it turned out, she hadn''t imagined the voices . The same voices were heard the moment Su Chan activated Eryue . The sound definitely came from the building below her, which was ratherrge, judging from the length of its roof .

    But those voices . . .

    They sounded oddly familiar .

    Su Chan lowered herself soundlessly to the ground . After that, she slinked towards the building and leaned her back against the wall .

    She uncurled her fingers slightly and stared at birdie . The birdie, it seemed, had also sensed that their little adventure had taken a suspenseful turn . It sat quietly on her palm, staring back at her excitedly .

    "Don''t fly away, okay?" Su Chan whispered . "And don''t make a sound . "

    Birdie nodded obediently .

    Su Chan gently slipped birdie into her pocket, then closed her eyes .

    "Shadow Mist . . . "

    Su Chan''s body morphed into thin wisps of green smoke .

    After that, she floated around the building for a while until she finally discovered the source of the voices: a room located on the east side of the building .

    The window was open, which exined why the voices were audible in the first ce . Su Chan''s blood ran cold the moment she heard those voices¡ªor should she say, noises .

    No . No way .

    This cannot be . . . H- How . . . How can this be happening?

    Overwhelmed by a sense of disbelief, Su Chan slinked over towards the window to take a peek, hoping that her ears were ying tricks on her .

 Chapter 225

    Chapter 225

    Broken Trust

    Su Chan could barely contain her gasp when she saw the naked forms of two of her shibos, Gu Feng and Mo Ahshi, moving rhythmically against each other on a huge bed .

    The two of them were going at it like bunnies .

    T- This is . . . absurd! Does Master know about this? What about Grandmaster Liu? Does he know about this?

    Su Chan turned around until she was facing away from the window . With a shaky breath, she leaned herself against the wall for support .

    I¡­ I can''t believe this .

    To be fair, Gu-shibo dide across to Su Chan as a bit of a sex maniac . But Mo-shibo?! Mo-shibo, the Bodhisattva lookalike! None of this made sense! A Bodhisattva is supposed to have abandoned all carnal desires! And yet . . .

    Mo-shibo''s wanton moans drifted through the window .

    Su Chan winced, then shook her head harshly .

    No . . . Something is clearly wrong here .

    Su Chan closed her eyes and tried toe up with possible exnations for her shocking discovery . Maybe somebody was impersonating Mo-shibo? Had somebody infiltrated the Fox Zen¡ª

    All of a sudden, the moaning, grunting, and (Good Heavens!) the creaking of the bed stopped .

    Leaning against the wall, Su Chan strained her ears to detect the soundsing from inside the room . The sound of heavy panting was all she heard .

    Are they done?

    Su Chan lowered herself to the floor and then crawled forward until her body was positioned right under the windowsill . Then, she raised herself just enough to take a peek . Through the red, semi-transparent veils hanging down from all four sides of therge bed, Su Chan saw a very naked Mo-shibo straddling the waist of an equally-naked Gu-shibo .

    Su Chan hid herself below the windowsill and forced herself to take deep breaths . Okay . Calm down, Chan''er . Calm down and think . . .

    Master had always taught her to stay calm in any situation .

    First question: go or stay?

    I should stay .

    Yes . She should definitely stay longer . Maybe one of them would let slip something during their pillow talk: like which one among them was an impostor; or what they were nning, who they were working for, etc .

    Gu-shibo''s breathlessughter drifted through the window . "I''ve been dreaming of having you for years, shijie!"

    "What are all your disciples for, then?" said Mo-shibo . "Those are all fine dinglus you''ve got there . Are they not good enough to satisfy your needs?"

    Gu-shibo started moaning and groaning again .

    Su Chan thought her cheeks were about to catch fire .

    "Ah . . . shijie . . . Stop moving inside me already . . . Ah . . . Are you trying to draw out my vital essence?"

    Mo-shibo''s low chuckles sounded next .

    "Why, shouldn''t I? Isn''t that a good way to . . . um . . . desex you? Hmm?"

    Now, the fact that Mo-shibo was a Bodhisattva lookalike only made Su Chan want to throw up .

    "Ah . . . Stop joking around, shijie . . . " Gu-shibo moaned . "Are you really trying to drain me of my vital essence?"

    Funny how Gu-shibo sounded like he was in the throes of passion when he said that .

    Mo-shiboughed again . "Well, like I said . Draining you is definitely something I''m considering . It''s the right thing to do, I''d say . "

    "W- What . . . Ah!"

    Mo-shibo moaned a few times .

    "If I don''t drain you, you''re just going to keep preying on all the finedies in the Fox Zen School," said Mo-shibo . "We can''t have that now, can we?"

    "Stop joking around . . . Stop . . . " Gu-shibo panted .

    "Hehe . . . Don''t think I didn''t notice how you were looking at Su Chan," Mo-shibo said . "You were lusting after her, weren''t you, hmm? I could see the lust in your eyes when you look at her . "

    Su Chan''s fists clenched subconsciously .

    Gu-shiboughed . "I guess you know me well, shijie! God . . . That girl has grown into such a fine and gorgeous youngdy, hasn''t she? Just looking at her makes my heart itch!"

    Disgusting old pervert! Just wait till my Yundong finds out about this! I''d love to see him destroy your gonads!

    Mo-shibo hummed . "So . I''ve been wondering . "

    "Mmm?" Gu-shibo said in between grunts .

    "How do you think she would stack up against me?"

    Gu-shiboughed . "She couldn''t hold a candle to you, of course!" Gu-shibo''sughter soon turned into moans of pleasure . "You . . . Ah . . . You are the full package¡­ The perfectbination of beauty and sultriness¡­ That girl is still too young and innocent . She''s nowhere near as attractive as you are, shijie . "

    Su Chan gagged silently . What a disgusting pair! Eugh!

    Stupid, perverted Gu-shibo!

    Gu-shibo''s moans grew louder and louder . Su Chan pulled her hair in frustration . Stupid morons were going for another round!

    Argh! Just get to the pillow talk part already, goddammit!

    Intel on the enemy . That was what she wanted to hear, not two horny elders of the Fox Zen School going at each other like jackrabbits .

    Su Chan shuddered at the image .

    Another thought urred to her right then: what if there weren''t any impostors involved?

    What if this was Mo-shibo''s true nature?

    What if Mo-shibo was putting on a fake persona all along, pretending to be pure and maidenly, fooling even the Great Seer, Grandmaster Liu?

    But Mo-shibo''s speech pattern just now . . .

    Something was definitely wrong with her speech pattern . But wasn''t that the point of a fake persona? Gah! This was such a pain!

    Su Chan reached down and touched her pocket; Birdie was still there .

    Should she send Birdie back to Master and ask her toe here? But . . . She didn''t have a pen .

    "Shijie! Stop! Stop! What are you doing! Are you trying to kill me?!"

    Su Chan froze . Gu-shibo didn''t sound like he was in the throes of passion anymore . He sounded like he was frightened out of his wits .

    "Arrgggghhh!!! Stop! Stop! Please!!!" Gu-shibo pleaded .

    Mo-shibo''sughter resounded in the room and drifted out the window .

    Su Chan''s skin crawled . What''s with that creepyugh? Su Chan had never heard augh like that before, like it wasced with pure evil .

    Su Chan thought it sounded outright demonic .

    Mustering her courage, Su Chan rose to her feet as quietly as she could, and then peeked up from the windowsill .

    One of the red veils had somehow fallen off its attachments at the tip of the tall bedposts, granting Su Chan a full view of what was taking ce on the bed .

    Mo-shibo was clinging on to Gu-shibo''s body like a vine wrapped around a tree trunk . And Mo-shibo''s face . . .

    If Su Chan ever imagined how terrifying a Bodhisattva would look if they had an evil grin, she had her answer now .

    Mo-shibo reached up and pulled out her hairpin . Mo-shibo shook her head as her dark tresses tumbled over her shoulders . Gu-shibo looked like he was trying to say something, but the only thing that came out of his lips were gasps and retches .

    Then, Mo-shibo stabbed the hairpin into the center of Gu-shibo''s chest about an inch below his corbones .

    Oh my God . . .

    That wasn''t just some random acupoint; it was the Huagai .

    Mo-shibo wasn''t just trying to steal Gu-shibo''s vital essence like he had thought; she was trying to suck everything out of Gu-shibo .

    Gu-shibo''s eyes bulged in their sockets, and his mouth split open in a silent scream . His twitching hands reached up and wed at Mo-shibo''s face as though he knew that the person on top of him was merely wearing Mo-shibo''s skin and he wanted to tear the skin to pieces to see who was underneath .

    Su Chan felt her knees grow weak as she watched everything unfold; this was the exact thing that she''d nned to do to Yundong before she fell in love with him . Mo-shibo was trying to drain Gu-shibo''s Three Flowers (Essence, Qi, and Blood) out of his body .

    Gu-shibo''s body was shrinking at an rming rate . In mere seconds, all that was left of Gu-shibo was a dry corpse .

    Su Chan''s knees buckled right then, and she fell t on her butt with a squeak .

    "Who''s there?!" Mo-shibo''s voice sliced through the brief silence .

    Su Chan pped a hand over her mouth and held her breath .

    She had to go . She had to run and return to Master .

    Mo-shibo had just killed Gu-shibo, and Su Chan had no doubt that Mo-shibo would kill her too just to silence her .

    Su Chan morphed into a cloud of green smoke and flew away . She flew and flew and flew, not caring at all which direction she was heading towards . She just knew that she had to run .

    Her life depended on it .

    ***

    Su Chan sighed in relief when she saw the familiar building that she and Master had entered to see Grandmaster Liu . Su Chan had been flying around thergepound for fifteen minutes without a single clue where she was .

    In her panic, she ended up getting lost .

    Su Channded quietly on the pavement and slowly made her way back towards the building .

    Act normal, Chan''er . Act natural¡­

    Thankfully, she hadn''t run into Mo-shibo, or any of her other shibos for that matter, during her flight . Heavens only knew how many more members of the Fox Zen School were in on this treacherous scheme .

    Treacherous scheme .

    What scheme? That was the big mystery .

    What on earth was going on here?

    Assuming that Mo-shibo was indeed the real Mo-shibo, why would she even want to kill Gu-shibo? What was her motive? And wasn''t she afraid of Grandmaster Liu finding out? But wait . The assumption that Mo-shibo was the real Mo-shibo instead of an impostor was shaky in the first ce!

    Mo-shibo was someone that Master respected; the real Mo-shibo definitely wasn''t capable of something this evil .

    But still¡­

    That look on Mo-shibo''s face when she . . .

    Su Chan shuddered .

    No . That definitely wasn''t Mo-shibo .

    A sudden and horrifying thought made Su Chan freeze on the spot . What if this was the Great Six''s doing? What if the attack on the Fox Zen School had already begun and the Great Six''s spies had infiltrated the Fox Zen School?

    "Oh, no . . . I need to warn Master . . . "

    Su Chan broke into a sprint .

    Once inside the building, Su Chan dashed up the staircase and headed towards their floor . It urred to Su Chan that Master''s life might be in danger too if one of her shibos decided to ambush her . The thought made Su Chan forgo running altogether and fly up the stairs instead .

    Please be alright, Master . . . Please . Forgive Chan''er . Please forgive Chan''er for not being there . . .

    Su Chan reached their floor in record time . She walked briskly down the hallway, past Grandmaster Liu''s quarters .

    "Why the hurry, Su Chan?"

    Su Chan''s hand froze on the door handle . That voice . . .

    Su Chan pressed down on the door handle anyway and stormed into the living room . Where are you, Master . . . Where are¡ª

    Relief coursed through Su Chan when she saw Master meditating on the cushion .

    Master''s eyes opened as though she had sensed her presence .

    Su Chan snapped out of her stupor . "Master, please listen! Something hap¡ª"

    KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

    "Wushuang? May Ie in?"

    Su Chan whirled around and felt her heart stop at the sight of Mo-shibo standing at their door .

    Mo-shibo was giving out Bodhisattva vibes again . Her hairpin was back in ce, and she was immactely dressed . Not a single hair out of ce, as though none of what Su Chan saw ever took ce .

    "Ah . . . Su Chan . . . I thought I saw you entering just now . " Mo-shibo smiled at Su Chan . "Are you okay? You look a little frazzled . And you seemed to be in a hurry just now . "

    Panic rose in Su Chan''s chest . She turned back to Master, but Master was already on her feet and walking towards the door .

    "Pleasee in, shijie," Master said politely . "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

    Mo-shibo stepped inside and smiled at Master . "Oh, it''s nothing . " Mo-shibo''s eyes darted to Su Chan briefly . "I was passing by, so I thought I''de in to say hello . "

    Su Chan shook Master''s sleeve . "Mas . . . " Su Chan forgot what she wanted to say when someone else stepped into their quarters .

    "G- Gu-shibo?!" Su Chan eximed . "Y- You''re alive?"

    Su Chan could feel Master''s re as soon as those words left her mouth .

    Gu-shibo sauntered into the room like he hadn''t been reduced into a bunch of dry bones and withered skin by Mo-shibo .

    He paused beside Mo-shibo and frowned at Su Chan .

    "What a strange thing to say, Su Chan," said Gu-shibo, flicking his fly-whisk .

    "B- But . . . " Su Chan''s gaze bounced between her three elders before it fixed itself on Gu-shibo . "But I thought you were dead!"

    Suddenly, Gu-shiboughed . "Do you perhaps wish that I''m dead?"

    "I . . . That''s not what I mean!" Su Chan stammered . "J- Just now I thought¡ª"

    "Chan''er!"

    Su Chan jumped half an inch at the sound of Master''s roar .

    She stole a nce and saw Master''s murderous re .

    "Where are your manners?!" Master pointed at Gu-shibo . "Apologize to your shibo right away . "

    Su Chan gaped like a fish . "But¡ª"

    "Apologize . . . " Master growled .

    "Nah . . . Forget it, shimei . She''s just a kid," Gu-shibo said with a casual wave of his fly-whisk .

    What on earth was happening? She saw everything with her own eyes! She couldn''t have imagined it! She just couldn''t!

    "I apologize on her behalf then," said Master .

    Mo-shibo and Gu-shibo both smiled .

    "Well then, shijie, shishiong . Is there anything I can help you both with?"

    "Oh, it really is nothing, shimei," said Mo-shibo . "Like I said, I was passing by and I just wanted to drop in and say hello . Oh, and to remind you that you can let me know if there''s anything you need . " Mo-shibo smiled again . "Just say the word and I''ll have someone see to your needs immediately . "

    Master returned Mo-shibo''s smile . "Thank you for your concern, shijie . "

    Su Chan clenched her fists tightly . She''s lying Master . She''s a murderess! I saw the whole thing with my own eyes!

    But there was no way Master would believe what she said! Not when Gu-shibo was still alive and walking! Speaking of which . . . How on earth was Gu-shibo still alive and walking?

    "Well . I guess I shall take my leave then," Mo-shibo said .

    Gu-shiboughed . "Me too . My disciples are waiting for me . "

    Go! Go away so I can talk to Master!

    "Then enjoy the rest of your day, shijie, shishiong," said Master with a polite nod .

    Su Chan waited until the door closed behind Gu-shibo, then quickly grabbed Master''s arm . "They''re both lying, Master! Just now I saw¡ª"

    Su Chan gasped when Master shook her arm free . "You''ve gone too far, Chan''er!" Master pointed at the door . "It''s one thing to act insolent around me . But how dare with speak to your elders with that attitude!"

    "Please, Master . . . " Su Chan pleaded . "Please listen . Just now I saw Mo-shibo kill Gu-shibo!"

    Master stared at Su Chan nkly as though she was too shock to even react .

    Su Chan grabbed Master''s arm again and shook it desperately . "They were both having sex . And then . . . and then Mo-shibo poked her hairpin into Gu-shibo''s Huagai and drew out Gu-shibo''s Essence, Qi and¡ª"

    "Silence!!" Master wrenched her arm free from Su Chan''s grasp and red at Su Chan . "So you''re bold enough to start lying to me now, is that it?" Masterughed incredulously . "What? Mo Ahshi? Having sex with Gu Feng? Do you have any idea how absurd that sounds? Mo Ahshi would never do that! And you''re telling me that your Gu-shibo is dead when"¡ªMaster pointed at the door again¡ª"he had literally just walked through the door minutes ago!"

    Tears stung Su Chan''s eyes .

    "But I saw!" Su Chan screamed . "I saw it happen with my own eyes!"

    "Quiet!" Master pointed a finger at Su Chan''s face . "I don''t want to hear another word from you . From now on, you''re confined to your room!"

    Something wet slid down Su Chan''s cheeks .

    "You don''t believe me at all, do you, Master?" Su Chan whispered . "You . . . You would rather believe those treacherous liars than me . . . "

    "Enough!" Master''s eyes shed in anger . "You will not insult your elders like that . "

    Su Chan yelped when her body levitated off the floor .

    "Please, Master! I''m telling you the truth! I swear to the Heavens I''m not lying!" Su Chan sobbed and paddled her arms and legs . "Why won''t you believe me!"

    Su Chan felt a powerful lurch . Next thing she knew, she was flung into her room and onto her bed . She scrambled out of bed to get to the door, but it was toote . The door mmed shut right in front of her face .

    "Master . . . ! Listen to me!" Su Chan pounded the door with her fist . "Please! You have to be careful around Mo-shibo! She could be an impos¡ª"

    "Silence!!"

    Su Chan opened her mouth and yelled .

    No sound came out .

    She had lost her voice .

    Su Chan''s heart sank to her toes . A muting spell . Master had just cast a muting spell on her . Su Chan''s eyes stung as her vision turned blurry . Her chest hurt . Her heart hurt . But more than anything else, she was angry . She was angry at Master for not believing her, for dismissing her ims just like that . Master wouldn''t even bother to look into the matter .

    Su Chan''s back slid against the door until her butt hit the floor . She sat there against the door, releasing soundless sob after soundless sob, wondering what she should do next .

    Suddenly, she dried her tears and climbed to her feet . Then, she all but ran to the desk and fumbled around for a pen and a piece of paper .

    Yes . Yundong will listen . . . He always does . . .

 Chapter 226

    Chapter 226

    Road to Recovery

    Li Yundong opened the door slightly, careful not to make any noise . Keeping the door ajar with one hand, he leaned forward and peeked in through the gap . The hush inside room 502 told him that his decision not to knock was the right call . It was still fairly early in the morning, and he didn''t want to risk disturbing Zhou Qin if she was asleep . It turned out that his concerns were unfounded; Zhou Qin was very much awake .

    She was still in bed though, and she appeared to be alone¡ªthere were no signs of Uncle Zhou anywhere in the room . Aptopy open in front of her on the overbed table . She was staring intently at the screen, her lips curved into a small smile that he knew he wouldn''t have noticed if it weren''t for the light emitted from theptop''s screen . She wasn''t typing or moving her fingers, so he guessed that she was either reading or watching a movie¡ªthe former more likely than thetter since she wasn''t wearing headphones and the room was quiet .

    Li Yundong allowed his eyes to linger on her expression, which, much to his relief, was no longer filled with despair . The coldness and apathy were gone as well . Although subtle, her smile was there, especially in her eyes .

    For the first time since his first visit, she actually seemed alive; her spirit had returned .

    Zi Yuan had repeatedly mentioned to him how difficult it is to heal what''s on the inside . And he agreed . After all, not even a magical pill could cure emotional pain, or bring someone out of deep depression . Emotional healing is, for the most part, dependent on the patients themselves and how much support they have .

    The fact that Zhou Qin was smiling when she was all alone in her room was tremendous progress .

    But still, he couldn''t help but wonder where the heck Uncle Zhou was . Former deputy governor or not, leaving a potentially suicidal girl alone in the room was a pretty dumb thing to do .

    "Good morning!" Li Yundong swung the door open and strode in . "Well, well, well . Looks like somebody is in a good mood today . "

    Zhou Qin turned away from theptop screen and met his gaze, the smile on her lips vanishing almost instantly . The micro expression caught Li Yundong off-guard, but then her next words dispelled any worries he had .

    "Well, I was in a good mood," Zhou Qin said with a pause, raising a brow . "Until now . "

    "Huh?" Li Yundong feigned a crestfallen look . "So you''re saying that my presence ruined your good mood?" He let out a dramatic sigh . "Well . In that case, I better go . "

    Li Yundong turned around and headed for the door .

    Zhou Qin''s disgruntled voice sounded the moment he reached the door . "Are you really¡ªugh! Fine! Go away then!"

    Li Yundong reached for the door handle, then paused . "Hey¡­ I''m really gonna leave, you know? Last chance to beg me to stay," he teased, turning his head around .

    Much to his surprise, Zhou Qin answered with a taunting smirk and a stubborn arch of her brow .

    "See yourself out . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . One heck of a stubborn girl, that one . He opened the door and walked out of the room .

    Outside, Li Yundong lingered at the corridor for a few seconds . Well, he could wait around for a few minutes and then go back in, but where was the fun in that?

    Li Yundong smirked and crept towards Room 503 .

    Let''s see if I can surprise her a little . . .

    All four beds of Room 503 were upied, but the patients appeared to be asleep . He heaved a small sigh of relief . This would certainly make things easier .

    Li Yundong moved past the beds quickly and crept towards the end of the room . There was a connecting door which he knew would open into Room 502 . He reached the door in no time and opened it slightly to take a peek . The connecting door was positioned behind and to the left of Zhou Qin''s bed, so he knew she couldn''t see him unless she had anticipated his actions . At the moment, Zhou Qin''s head was turned the opposite way, towards the right side of the bed, where the main door was . It was as though she was expecting him to walk through the door any minute .

    After a while, Zhou Qin let out a half-suppressedugh .

    "I bet you''lle in soon," Zhou Qin mumbled to herself .

    Li Yundong smiled to himself .

    Sorry, Zhou Qin . . . I''m not as predictable as you think I am .

    Zhou Qin was staring at theptop screen again, though she would nce towards the main door once every few seconds .

    Li Yundong kept watching her through the gap, noting with amusement the changes in her facial expressions: from smugness to curiosity; to annoyance; then to disappointment . Even though he could only see the left half of her face, he still found it easy to read her emotions .

    Li Yundong nearlyughed when he heard Zhou Qin''s sulky growl . She turned her head and stared at the main door . Secondster, she crossed her arms and let out a frustrated huff .

    Looks like the joke''s on you, Zhou Qin . . .

    When she started freaking out and screaming at the door, Li Yundong decided that it was time for him to show himself lest she wake up the entire hospital .

    "Hey!" Zhou Qin all but yelled at the main door .

    Li Yundong stepped into the room, shutting the connecting door quietly behind him . Then, he slinked towards Zhou Qin''s bed .

    She hadn''t noticed him yet since she was still staring at the main door .

    "Hey!!!" Zhou Qin yelled again .

    Li Yundong stopped when he was a few feet away from the bed .

    "Looking for someone?"

    There was a loud yelp as Zhou Qin whipped her head around to face him .

    Li Yundong stared down at her with a grin .

    "Y- You . . . H- How did you . . . But . . . " Zhou Qin looked towards the main door, then back at him again . She gaped at him for a second . "Are you a ghost or something? How did you get in here?"

    Li Yundong chuckled and pointed at the connecting door behind the bed .

    Zhou Qin cleared her throat and tried to look poised .

    "H- How long have you . . . um . . . I mean¡­"

    Li Yundong smirked . Her Ice Queen act might have fooled him if her voice didn''t sound so flustered .

    "I was watching you the whole time," he said with a straight face .

    Zhou Qin stared him, her mortification written all over her face in the form of a deep blush which extended all the way to the tip of her ears .

    "Y- You idiot!" Zhou Qin reached for a pillow, then smacked him with it . "I- I hate you! Argh! Leave! I don''t wanna see your face!"

    Li Yundong burst intoughter . At the same time, he raised his forearm to shield himself against another onught of pillow strikes .

    "Leave, leave, leave! Argh!" Zhou Qin kept smacking him with the pillow .

    Li Yundong backed away two steps so that he was out of the pillow''s striking range . "Yeah? You really want me to leave?"

    Zhou Qin opened her mouth like she was about to start shouting at him again . Then, her mouth clicked shut and she lowered the pillow back down .

    Li Yundong knew full well that she didn''t really want him to leave, but he just couldn''t help messing with her a little . If nothing else, their friendly banter could help prevent her from wallowing in depressive thoughts .

    Li Yundong schooled his features and gave her a serious look . "Not gonna say anything to get me to stay? Hmm . You hate me . I get it . Oh well . Guess it can''t be helped then . I shall take my leave now . See ya!"

    The pillow flew towards him before he could even walk away . Li Yundong caught the pillow with one hand andughed .

    "Argh! Just go! Leave! And don''te back!"

    After a few moreughs, Li Yundong decided to stop his teasing lest he give her an aneurysm .

    "Alright, alright, settle down," he said, tossing the pillow back onto the bed . "I was just messing with you . Why would Ie all the way here and then leave without spending at least one hour here? That''s just silly . "

    Not to mention aplete waste of cab fare .

    Li Yundong approached the bed again and lowered his backpack to the floor . Then, he took a seat in the chair beside the bed .

    "What were you reading just now?" he said, jerking his chin towards theptop . "You were smiling to yourself . "

    Zhou Qin shot him a dirty look . "The university forums, what else?" Suddenly, Zhou Qin''s eyes glinted with delight . "You have a performance tonight, right? For the freshmen''s weing dinner party?"

    "Yeah," Li Yundong said with a wry smile . "I kinda got roped into it . "

    Feng Na . That clever and maniptive little bitch . One of these days he was going to prank her right back .

    "There are a lot of threads on the forum where people tried to guess what your performance is going to be," Zhou Qinmented, staring at the screen for a moment . Then, she shot him a hopeful look . "Will you tell me what it is?"

    "Sure," Li Yundong said with a smile . "Well, I''m supposed to be a"¡ªHe did air quotes¡ª"guest star for a stage y . "

    "A stage y . . . " Zhou Qin paused in thought . "Ah . Chinese Pdin, right?"

    Li Yundong nodded . "Yeah . We''re supposed to act out a scene from that series . "

    "Which character are you¡­" Zhou Qin''s eyes grew wide and round . "Wait a minute . . . Are you ying Li Xiaoyao?"

    "As if!" Li Yundongughed out loud . "I would''ve turned them down right away if they asked me to y Li Xiaoyao . " He paused to look at Zhou Qin . "I''m the master swordsman . "

    "Oh . " Understanding shed in Zhou Qin''s eyes . "I guess that makes sense . . . "

    "Mm-hmm . "

    Zhou Qin slumped against the bed . She looked utterly crestfallen . "The y seems promising . . . Too bad I can''t be there to watch it . "

    "Who says you can''t?"

    Zhou Qin whipped her head around so quickly that Li Yundong was starting to wonder if she would suffer from whish .

    She stared back at him, her eyes wide and hopeful .

    Li Yundong shrugged . "I can bring you to the event if you want . "

    Joy shone through Zhou Qin''s eyes . "Really?" Then, the light in her eyes dimmed slightly . "But will that trouble you?"

    Li Yundong stared at her in disbelief . Trouble? He would''veughed at how ridiculous that sounded if he wasn''t so overwhelmed by incredulity . She must be joking, right?

    What was this little "trouble"pared to what she''d done for him?

    She lost everything .

    His incredulity must have shown on his face because Zhou Qin''s expression suddenly became wary . "What?"

    Li Yundong cleared his throat and schooled his features . "Nonsense . It''s no trouble at all . " He smiled . "I''d be happy to take you to the event . Besides, I think it might do you some good to go out for a bit . " He waved his hand casually . "Anyway . Enough of that . What say I give you another massage?"

    Zhou Qin broke into a grin . "Right now?"

    Li Yundong nodded and got up to help Zhou Qin into the wheelchair .

    Fifteen minutes into the massage, Li Yundong decided to start a conversation to prevent Zhou Qin from dozing off likest time; it was important for her to remain upright throughout the massage for better Qi flow .

    "Is it a coincidence that you''re the only patient in this room?" he asked even though he already had an inkling of the answer .

    "No . " Zhou Qin chuckled . "No, it isn''t . " Zhou Qin''s tone was gentle and rxed . "I booked the whole room . "

    Li Yundong sensed that she had more to say, so he waited silently for her to continue .

    "I don''t like sharing the room with other patients," Zhou Qin continued secondster .

    "I see," Li Yundong said .

    So she covered the fees for the other three beds as well .

    Li Yundong sighed inwardly . The reason she hadn''t been assigned to a VIP suite was no mystery to him at this point .

    "Apparently, the VIP suites are fully booked," Zhou Qin said, then let out a contemptuous snort . "But I know that''s just rubbish . The VIP suites are never fully booked . "

    Li Yundong kept quiet and deactivated the Jindan''s Aura at his fingertips . Perhaps venturing into this topic during the massage was a bad idea; his guilt could easily cause him to lose focus .

    "That''s just how it is with these people," Zhou Qin said in a voice that almost sounded robotic . "It doesn''t even matter that we can afford the VIP suites . Zhou Keqiang was brought down because of corruption allegations . " She chuckled darkly . "When a government official is suspected of corruption, all those who are closely associated with them will also be put under investigation . His allies, especially the ones with their own dirty secrets to hide, will start severing ties with him out of fear . Pull away before they themselves be the target of investigation, if you catch my drift . " Zhou Qin sighed . "Not that they have anything against me personally, of course . Denying me ess to their VIP suites is just their way of making a statement . They''re trying to protect themselves . "

    Li Yundong had figured as much . That was why he didn''t like politics, where the line between friend and foe doesn''t even exist . Friend could be foe¡ªand vice versa¡ªin literally a blink of an eye .

    It also didn''t escape Li Yundong that Zhou Qin had addressed her father by name . Perhaps it made sense now why Uncle Zhou wasn''t here in the room . Did Zhou Qin kick him out?

    Li Yundong sighed and gave Zhou Qin''s shoulder a firm grip .

    "You will stand again, Zhou Qin . You will . "

    Zhou Qin turned her head around and stared up at him .

    Li Yundong gave her a meaningful nod . The look of gratitude in her eyes was a sign that the double meaning behind his words was not lost on her .

    And he would make it happen . He would help her stand up again, both literally and figuratively .

    Li Yundong smiled at her . "Face the front . "

    Zhou Qinplied, and Li Yundong began the massage again .

    Li Yundong was still surprised by the treatment''s effectiveness even though he''d been expected it . Yesterday''s session onlysted for an hour, yet he could already tell¡ªbased on the Qi-flow pattern in her spine¡ªthat the blood clot was nearly gone . He wasn''t sure how much the Jindan''s Aura had healed her damaged nervous tissues, but he figured it couldn''t be that far behind .

    Like yesterday, Li Yundong ended the treatment at the one-hour mark .

    "How are you feeling," he asked . "Can you feel anything in your legs?"

    "N- No . . . " Zhou Qin said a bit too quickly .

    Li Yundong frowned . "Are you sure?"

    Zhou Qin was looking at anywhere but him . "Yeah . . . "

    Not even a little bit of sensation? That''s just impossible . . . Unless . . .

    Suspicion crept up his spine .

    Keeping his face neutral, Li Yundong crouched down and pinched Zhou Qin''s foot, watching Zhou Qin''s expression closely as he did . He started off with light pinches, but whenever he increased the pressure slightly, he could see Zhou Qin''s brows furrowing .

    Li Yundong sighed inwardly and stood back up .

    Zhou Qin was lying, and he knew damn well why .

    That was one dangerous territory that he had no intention of crossing into .

    "What time do you want to leave for uni?" Li Yundong asked in an attempt to change the subject .

    "Huh?" Zhou Qin looked as though she had just recovered from a daze . "Oh, you mean . . . " Her eyes widened slightly . "Wait, you were actually serious about bringing me to the dinner party?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "Of course . "

    Zhou Qin''s face broke into a grin, then she sobered up . "I''ll need time to get dressed . . . "

    "Take all the time you need," Li Yundong said, pushing the wheelchair back towards the bed . "I''lle back here . . . say . . . around mid-afternoon? Then we can leave together . "

    When Zhou Qin nodded, Li Yundong thought that this was the most excited she seemed in days .

    ***

    Zhou Qin was all dolled up when Li Yundong arrived around four-thirty in the afternoon . Uncle Zhou was present this time, fussing over Zhou Qin''s wheelchair .

    "Good afternoon, Uncle Zhou," Li Yundong said as he strode into the room . As soon as the words left his mouth, Zhou Qin stopped ring at Uncle Zhou and smiled at him instead .

    "Is it time to go already?" Zhou Qin asked breathlessly .

    Li Yundong could tell that she was excited, so he grinned at her . "Yeah . I have to be there early . " He chuckled wryly . "Feng Na would have my head if I don''t show up at least an hour earlier . " Li Yundong nced around the room . "What about you? Are you ready? I''ve got a cab waiting outside . "

    Zhou Qin nodded . "Yeah, I''m ready . "

    "You''ll take care of her?"

    Li Yundong gave Uncle Zhou a nod . "I will, sir . "

    Zhou Qin suddenly cleared her throat . "Come on . Let''s just go . "

    "Don''t worry, Uncle Zhou . I''ll keep an eye on her . " Li Yundong gave Uncle Zhou a reassuring smile . "Let''s just hope that she''ll enjoy herself at the event . "

    And that nothing untoward happens .

    He kept that thought to himself .

    Ten minutester, Li Yundong pushed Zhou Qin out of the room . They took the elevator down to the ground floor, and then headed out . Outside the hospital building, he helped Zhou Qin into the cab while the driver folded the wheelchair before stowing it into the trunk . Minutester, the cab pulled away the hospital and drove towards Tiannan University .

    The journey from the campus gates to the grand hall was awkward to say the least . As he pushed the wheelchair through thepound, Li Yundong had to re at a few students to stop them from gawking at Zhou Qin . At one point, Li Yundong wanted to ask Zhou Qin if she felt ufortable with all the stares and whispers . However, his concerns were ayed when he leaned forward and saw Zhou Qin''s expression .

    Zhou Qin lookedpletely unfazed .

    Li Yundong smiled to himself . Who was he kidding . This was Zhou Qin, not some damsel in distress . Of course she''d be able to handle it .

    When passing by the academic building, they ran into Feng Na .

    "Oh, hey! There you are, Li Yun¡ª" Feng Na came to a sudden halt, her eyes widening in shock . A secondter, Feng Na was rushing over towards them . "Oh my God! Zhou Qin? What happened?"

    Li Yundong observed the interaction closely . From the corner of his eyes, he saw Cheng Cheng heading towards them as well .

    Zhou Qin smiled tightly . "Hello, Feng Na-xuejie . " (T/N: Xuejie is an honorific used to address a female senior; it is only used in an academic setting or in a setting where some kind of learning is involved; it is essentially a female senpai but in a narrower context)

    "Are you alright?" Feng Na said in a tone of concern .

    "I''m okay now," Zhou Qin answered . "It''s just a small injury . I''m already recovering . "

    Li Yundong suppressed a snort . Yeah . Keep acting tough why don''t you?

    He wanted to chastise Zhou Qin for ying down her injuries, but then he remembered how effective his treatment was and decided to keep his mouth shut . Chances are that she would make a full recovery after a few more treatment sessions .

    Feng Na opened her mouth to say something but was cut off abruptly by Cheng Cheng''s arrival .

    "Hey, Li Yundong! I was worried that you wouldn''t show, but¡ª" Cheng Cheng gasped . "Zhou Qin! What the¡ª"

    Li Yundong cleared his throat harshly, then gave Cheng Cheng a pointed look followed by a subtle headshake .

    Thankfully, Cheng Cheng got the hint and schooled her features into a cheerful smile .

    "So you showed up, Li Yundong," Cheng Cheng said in a jovial tone . "I was telling Nana earlier that you might stand us up today . " Cheng Cheng chuckled . "Looks like I was wrong . "

    Feng Na nodded at him approvingly . "Not bad, Li Yundong . Looks like you really are a man of your word . "

    Grateful that the topic had been steered towards safer topic, Li Yundongughed . "And ruin your perfect scheme?" Li Yundong smirked . "No way . "

    "Scheme?" Feng Na feigned a look of horror . "Whatever did you mean?"

    Li Yundongughed again . "You know damn well wha¡ª"

    "Li Yundong," a familiar voice sounded behind him .

    Li Yundong swiveled around and jumped slightly in surprise .

    "Hey . . . What are you doing here?"

 Chapter 227

    Chapter 227

    The Other Sword

    Li Yundong wasn''t surprised to see Ruan Hongling here, but Zi Yuan? What on earth was Zi Yuan doing here?

    "Why? Am I not allowed here?"

    Zi Yuan''s voice brought Li Yundong out of his momentary daze .

    Li Yundong smiled . "I didn''t say that," he said, then chuckled . "I was just surprised to see you here, that''s all . " He paused and studied the two living goddesses standing before him . "You two cleaned up nice . "

    And they did . Zi Yuan had her hair done in some kind of sophisticated updo whose name Li Yundong was sure he''d never even heard of . The updo suited her though . It left the column of her wless neck exposed, not to mentionplemented the long, flowing white gown she was wearing .

    Ruan Hongling, on the other hand, wore her hair in a ponytail . Unlike Zi Yuan, Ruan Hongling wasn''t dressed to the nines . Rather, she wore a sailor outfit, like one of those Japanese school girl uniforms .

    "Thank you," Zi Yuan said with a regal nod .

    "So you''re not here to keep an eye on me then," Li Yundong deadpanned .

    There was a loud snort . "Oh, get over yourself!" Ruan Hongling said, rolling her eyes . "Elder Sister Zi Yuan''s presence here has nothing to do with you . She''s here to watch my performance!"

    Li Yundong''s brows rose to his hairline . "Really now?" He cast a nce towards Feng Na, who appeared to be staring at Zi Yuan in awe . Not that he was surprised; Zi Yuan did have that kind of effect on people .

    "You sound surprised," Ruan Hongling said smugly . "Somebody, it seems, has underestimated my artistic talents . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Underestimate you? I wouldn''t dare . " Then, he gave her a sidelong nce . "Although there is some level of concern about you getting stage fright . " He smirked . "Make sure you don''t embarrass Zi Yuanter by crying onstage . "

    Ruan Hongling''s smug expression turned into a scowl . "You¡ª"

    "Oh, I remember now!" Feng Na eximed, snapping her fingers . "You must be Miss Calligraphy! Everyone''s been talking about the pretty freshman who''ll be giving the calligraphy performance . That''s you, isn''t it?"

    "Yes . That''s me," Ruan Hongling said with a confident grin . And of course, she didn''t forget to throw a smug look Li Yundong''s way while she said that .

    Li Yundong chuckled and shook his head . Show off . . .

    "Hey . Come to think of it . . . " Li Yundong shot Ruan Hongling a curious look . "I don''t even know which department you''re in . "

    "I''m with the Department of History," Ruan Hongling said, her eyes darting briefly to his face . "Not that it''s any of your business . "

    "Oh? A historian, huh . " Li Yundong sighed dramatically . "Oh well . Send your course mates my condolences then . " He gave Ruan Hongling a teasing look . "I''m sure they''ll be having it tough this semester . "

    "And what is that supposed to mean?" Ruan Hongling growled .

    Li Yundong shrugged . "Nothing in particr . Just a¡ª"

    "Will you two stop bickering already?" Zi Yuan cut in . "We''re in public . So behave yourselves . "

    Thankfully, Feng Na decided to step in and diffuse the situation .

    "What say we all head to the backstage, huh? All the performers are probably gathered there already . Ah . Which reminds me . " She suddenly gave Li Yundong a stern look . "You should do ast-minute rehearsal . "

    "Is that really necessary?" Li Yundong said, rolling his eyes . "I''m not even one of the main actors . "

    Feng Na red at him . "That doesn''t matter . "

    "Yeah, yeah, yeah . . . Whatever . " Li Yundong waved his hand nomittally, then leaned down to whisper into Zhou Qin''s ear . "Hey . Do you prefer watching the performance from the backstage, or would you like to join the rest of the audience?"

    Zhou Qin smiled at him . "I think it''d be better if I join the audience . "

    "As you wish . " Li Yundong straightened and turned to face Feng Na . "Shall we?"

    ***

    When they reached the backstage, Li Yundong immediately sensed that something was wrong . The performers involved in the y had formed a crowd around a guy who had a phone pressed to his ear .

    Apparently, Feng Na had noticed that something was amiss to as she hurried towards the group .

    "Hey, what''s going on here? Why aren''t you guys rehearsing?" Feng Na said .

    One of the performers, a girl dressed in some traditional Chinese costume, suddenly turned around, clearly relieved to see Feng Na there .

    "Oh, thank God you''re here, Feng Na," said the girl . "It''s Liu Ling . She isn''t here yet . "

    The guy with the phone sighed . "Voicemail again . " He shot Feng Na a helpless look . "I''ve tried calling her so many times already, but she never picked up . "

    The guy was clearly involved in the y as well, judging from his attire¡ªa green robe, and a green headscarf .

    "Voicemail?" Feng Na asked with a deep frown . "Every single time?"

    All eyes turned to the guy with the phone .

    "Yeah," said the guy .

    "Damn it," Feng Na said, rubbing her forehead .

    "Hey¡­ Do you guys think something happened to her?" asked the guy . "Maybe she got into an ident or something?"

    An uproar erupted among the performers .

    "Oh, shush!"

    "Don''t say that!"

    "Yeah! It''s bad luck to stay stuff like that!"

    The uproar continued until Feng Na decided to step in .

    "Guys!" Feng Na shouted over themotion . "Enough! Now''s not the time to quarrel . "

    Feng Na started pacing around the backstage .

    Li Yundong walked over and grabbed Feng Na''s arm to stop her movements .

    "Missing performer?" he asked .

    Feng Na gave him a shaky nod . "Damn it . Why does this have to happen every time?"

    Feng Na was hanging in there, but Li Yundong could tell that she was panicking inside .

    "Is her role important?" Li Yundong asked . "If it isn''t, then why not just find someone else to rece her?"

    "That''s the problem pal . " Feng Na sighed heavily . "She''s ying Zhao Ling''er . . . "

    Li Yundong stared at Feng Na for a moment . "Well . Shit . "

    Zhao Ling''er was one of the main characters of the y .

    Still, Li Yundong would try to be the voice of optimism here . He cleared his throat . "It''s still early though . Right now, it''s only . . . " Li Yundong nced over at the clock . "A little past five . " He looked away from the clock and gave Feng Na a reassuring smile . "Maybe she''ll be here soon . "

    Feng Na gave him a grateful smile . "I sure hope so . " Suddenly, Feng Na turned around to address the rest of the performers . "Ah . Guys! Meet our guest star today, Li Yundong! He''ll be ying the master swordsmanter . "

    A round of cheers and apuse filled the backstage .

    Li Yundong shot Feng Na a withering look . "Is that really necessary?"

    Feng Na gave him a cheeky smile, then shrugged .

    Li Yundong waited until the cheers and apuse died down before addressing everyone .

    "Um¡­ Just do your thing, guys . Don''t mind me . "

    One of the girls was about to say something but then she was cut off when Feng Na pulled her towards Li Yundong .

    "This is Yu Le," said Feng Na . "She''ll be ying Ling Yueru . "

    Apparently, Feng Na hadn''t gotten the memo that he wasn''t in the mood to socialize .

    Oh well .

    Li Yundong gave the girl a polite smile . "Hello . "

    "Hi," Yu Le said, holding out her hand .

    Li Yundong took her hand and gave it a firm shake .

    Yu Le suddenly chuckled . "Please don''t kill me for realter, okay? Master swordsman?"

    "Kill you?" Li Yundong waved his hand and feigned a wistful expression . "No, no, no . . . I''m afraid there isn''t a single person in this world whom I deem worthy enough to die by my swordsmanship . . . "

    Chuckles filled the backstage .

    "Swordsmanship my ass," Ruan Hongling jeered . "He''s never even touched a sword before . "

    Li Yundong shot Ruan Hongling a yful re .

    Ruan Hongling stuck out her tongue at him .

    Li Yundong rolled her eyes and looked away when Feng Na introduced him to the rest of the performers .

    The guy with the green headscarf was Zhong Xiuguo, a handsome dude who looked a bit like the Chinese actor, Hugh Hu . It turned out that he was the one ying Li Xiaoyao .

    The next introduction took Li Yundong by surprise .

    Jiang Xiuxiu, the airhead who had thought that it was "impossible" for him to be Li Yundong, was also involved in the y! She would be ying Gai Luojiao .

    Li Yundong nearlyughed when Jiang Xiuxiu suddenly mumbled someme excuse to leave the conversation, something about touching up on her makeup or costume . The poor girl was probably still mortified after Feng Na''s little prank the other day .

    "Gai Luojiao is a pretty important character, right?" Li Yundong looked towards Feng Na .

    Feng Na smiled . "Yeah, why?"

    Li Yundong jerked his chin in the direction that Jiang Xiuxiu had just run off to . "Can Jiang Xiuxiu really handle such an important role?"

    Feng Naughed as though he''d just told her a funny joke . "You shouldn''t underestimate her, you know . She''s majoring in the visual and performing arts, so she knows her way around scripts and stages . "

    "Ah . I stand corrected then . " Li Yundong smiled, then paused in thought . "Here''s another question . Where''s my prop? You gotta give me some kind of sword if you want me to y the master swordsman, right?" He eyed Feng Na skeptically . "Unless you want me to show up onstage with that wooden stick we used during the rehearsals, which looks ratherme to be honest . . . "

    Feng Na burst into giggles .

    "Oh, don''t you worry, pal," Feng Na said, patting his shoulder . "I''ve got that covered!" Suddenly, Feng Na turned her head around to yell at someone at the far end of the backstage . "Hey! Yan Hua! Bring the sword!"

    Li Yundong''s eyes bugged out when he heard that name .

    "You''re on speaking terms with the guy now?"

    "Tsk . Tsk . Fellow student Li Yundong . . . " Feng Na smirked . "Looks like you''re really out of the loop . "

    "What, did you guys meet up after the elections and you were charmed by his winning personality?" Li Yundong remarked dryly .

    "He''s my vice president," said Feng Na . "Of course we have to get along . "

    Li Yundong stared at her for a moment, then burst intoughter . "Oh . . . very clever, Feng Na . " He shook his head . "Very f*cking clever . "

    Feng Na shrugged it off like it was nothing, though the smirk on her face told a different story .

    Yan Hua didn''t seem very happy with Feng Na''s victory the other day, so Feng Na had probably selected Yan Hua as the vice president to either: A) keep a closer eye on the guy; or B) dissuade the guy from organizing petty schemes to jeopardize Feng Na''s term as the student council president .

    Momentster, Yan Hua stormed over carrying a longsword .

    "This better be handled with extreme care . " Yan Hua''s pointed gaze at Li Yundong made it clear whom those words were meant for . "This thing is irreceable, I''m telling you . "

    Yan Hua passed the sword to Feng Na instead of Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong shook his head in amusement, wondering if the idiot was aware that it wasn''t Feng Na who would be wielding the sword on the stageter .

    Feng Na held the sword above her head and studied it . "What, is this like a family heirloom or something?"

    Suddenly, there was a loud shriek . Turning his head, Li Yundong saw Ruan Hongling pointing a shaky finger at the sword in Feng Na''s hand . Zi Yuan, too, was eyeing the sword carefully . Her wide eyes betrayed her shock .

    Ruan Hongling shot a re at Yan Hua . "Are you nuts, Yan Hua? How could you steal that sword from¡ª"

    "Why would it be stealing if it''s mine to begin with?" Yan Hua fired back, though no amount of snarky words could cover up the blush on his face .

    Ruan Hongling ignored Yan Hua and turned towards Zi Yuan .

    "Elder Sister Zi Yuan . . . That sword . . . Isn''t that . . . "

    Li Yundong frowned when he saw the subtle headshake that Zi Yuan had given Ruan Hongling . Even weirder was the way Ruan Hongling had mmed up instantly after receiving that look . Ruan Hongling being sopliant? Well, that''s a first¡­

    Clearly, the sword was some kind of big deal .

    Li Yundong ran his eyes over the sword in Feng Na''s hand . The only impression it gave him was that it looked like a . . . well, an antique sword . The de looked clean and well-polished, but that was about it . Other than those, he didn''t see any notable features .

    Li Yundong approached Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling .

    "Hey guys," he whispered . "What''s going on? What''s the deal with that sword?"

    Ruan Hongling was looking at Zi Yuan as though asking thetter for permission to speak . Okay . This was starting to creep him out a little .

    "Guys?" Li Yundong asked with a frown .

    Zi Yuan gave Ruan Hongling a nod .

    "That sword belongs to my shibo," Ruan Hongling whispered back . "It''s called Liuhe . "

    Shock coursed through Li Yundong, and he couldn''t help the brief nce that he''d just cast at Yan Hua .

    "Liuhe and Bahuang are supposed toe in pairs," whispered Ruan Hongling .

    "You''re shitting me . . . " Li Yundong whispered .

    If that guy was in possession of a Cultivators sword, then¡­

    Li Yundong stared at Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling in shock . "Please don''t tell me Yan Hua is a Cultivator¡­"

 Chapter 228

    Chapter 228

    Recement

    Li Yundong''s question incited two entirely different reactions: from Ruan Hongling, it was a loud snort followed by a derisiveugh; Zi Yuan, on the other hand, merely gave him a look of amusement .

    "Him? A Cultivator?'' Ruan Hongling sniggered . "Stop joking around . " Her eyes darted briefly to Yan Hua . "He''s just an overambitious guy who doesn''t have enough talent to turn his ambitions into reality . " Ruan Hongling shrugged . "There is a Cultivator in his family though . "

    "Let me guess," Li Yundong said . "Your shibo?"

    Ruan Hongling nodded, then jerked her chin towards Yan Hua . "My shibo is his aunt . "

    Li Yundong nced at Yan Hua . The guy was trying to show off some cool feature of the sword to Feng Na . "Does his family know?" Li Yundong returned his gaze to Ruan Hongling .

    "About Yan Hua''s aunt being a Cultivator?" Ruan Hongling smirked . "No . "

    "I see . "

    "Yan Hua himself doesn''t know as well," said Ruan Hongling .

    "How did the sword end up with him?" Li Yundong raised his brows . "Didn''t you say that the sword belongs to your shibo?"

    An uncharacteristic seriousness crept over Ruan Hongling''s countenance . "My shibo is missing . "

    "Oh . " Li Yundong blinked several times . "I''m sorry to hear that . "

    Ruan Hongling waved him off . "My shibo met my master when she was fourteen . They joined the Zhengyi School together and became Cultivators after that . " Ruan Hongling stole a nce at Zi Yuan . "Apparently, my shibo had some kind of score to settle with Ao Wushuang, so she visited the Fox Zen School nine years ago . " Ruan Hongling gave him a serious look . "She never returned from the visit . No one has seen her or heard from her ever since . "

    Li Yundong would be lying if he said that he wasn''t surprised .

    What was Ruan Hongling implying? That Ao Wushuang killed or kidnapped her shibo?

    Li Yundong looked towards Zi Yuan whose gaze was still fixated on the sword . There was a vacant and faraway look in her eyes .

    "Zi Yuan?" Li Yundong said . "Are you alright?"

    "Sorry . " Zi Yuan cleared her throat and shook her head slightly . "I just couldn''t believe it, that''s all . Two months ago, Bahuang mysteriously appeared . And now Liuhe was brought here of all ces?" Zi Yuan gave him a strange look . "I wonder if . . . "

    "Wait . . . " Li Yundong turned towards Ruan Hongling again . "You still haven''t told me how the sword came into Yan Hua''s possession . "

    "Don''t worry, it''s not like he won over the sword or anything . " Ruan Hongling snorted . "My shibo left the sword at the Yan family home before going to the Fox Zen School . She didn''t tell us much though . Just asked us to watch over the sword . She said that she''de back to reim the sword one day . "

    Li Yundong frowned . Something didn''t add up . So Ruan Hongling''s shibo thought it was a good idea to leave her magical weapon at home, and then show up at the Fox Zen School to settle a score with a skilled Cultivator like Ao Wushuang?

    That made no sense at all .

    Feng Na joined their conversation before Li Yundong could voice out his thoughts .

    "Hey there!" Feng Na pped Li Yundong''s shoulder . "What are you guys talking about?"

    "Oh, nothing much . " Li Yundong smiled . "Just admiring the sword''s beauty, that''s all . "

    Feng Na''s eyes lit up at the mention of the sword . She stepped forward held the sword in front of him . "There you go, master swordsman . Your prop!"

    Li Yundong took the sword and tested its weight in his hand .

    It felt super light . Well, it could be that he was too strong .

    "How on earth did you manage to convince Yan Hua to allow his family treasure to be used as a stage prop?"

    Feng Na giggled . "I didn''t have to try . "

    Li Yundong lowered the sword and stared at Feng Na .

    "I was asking everyone if they have something at home that looked like an ancient sword . " Feng Na shrugged . "And Yan Hua volunteered to bring one . I didn''t even know at the time that it would be something this valuable . "

    Li Yundong nodded, then lifted the sword again . He ran his fingers over the scabbard and was surprised by the smoothness he felt there .

    "Shark skin," someone whispered beside him .

    Li Yundong turned and saw that it was Ruan Hongling .

    "Smooth, but tough," Ruan Hongling whispered . "Highly resistant to wear and tear . "

    Shark skin, huh?

    Li Yundong nodded and returned his attention to the sword . Grabbing the hilt, he pulled the sword upwards to reveal a portion of the de from the scabbard . To his surprise, the de was covered in delicate patterns . Piqued, he leaned in to take a closer look .

    What were they? Taoist symbols? Hieroglyphs from an unknownnguage?

    Li Yundong took a deep breath, and unsheathed the sword from the scabbard . He was going to have to be careful here . This was a real sword and could easily cut¡ª

    Shit!

    Li Yundong nearly dropped the sword when it started vibrating like crazy in his hand .

    A series of high-pitched, whining sound filled the backstage .

    Li Yundong snapped the sword back into the scabbard and nced around, hoping that nobody had seen or heard that disy . That hope went down the drain the moment he saw Feng Na''s open-mouthed stare .

    "W- What was that?" Feng Na asked .

    Great . How the heck was he supposed to answer that? He looked towards Ruan Hongling and Zi Yuan for help . Neither of them seemed surprised by the sword''s reaction earlier . Then again, it didn''t seem like either of them woulde to his aid and help him exin the sword''s behavior . Granted, he had expected that from Ruan Hongling¡ªthe girl probably enjoyed watching him squirm . But Zi Yuan didn''t even look like she had been paying attention to anything that was happening around her; she looked like she was miles away .

    "How did you do that, Li Yundong?" Feng Na was practically shouting now . "The sword! It was glowing and whining like crazy just now! It was like magic!"

    "I . . . " Li Yundong gave Feng Na a helpless shrug, then stared down at the sword . "I don''t know . "

    And he really didn''t . He didn''t even try to push his Zhenqi into the sword like he did with the Fan of Seven Treasures .

    The sword just reacted to his touch .

    All of a sudden, there was a loud thud followed by an angry snarl .

    Li Yundong looked away from the sword and saw Yan Hua''s murderous re .

    Right . Poor dude was probably pissed as hell that someone else got to show off with the sword that he had brought .

    Li Yundong looked down at the sword once more .

    But still . What the heck just happened? Why did the sword react that way? Was the sword trying to attack him? But it didn''t feel like an attack at all . It wasn''t like the sword had tried to stab him or anything .

    It was just¡­ vibrating and glowing .

    "Li Yundong . . . "

    Someone gripped his arm .

    Li Yundong turned his head .

    It was Zi Yuan .

    "Yeah?"

    Zi Yuan tilted her head, indicating a corner of the backstage . "I need to talk to you about something . "

    Li Yundongplied and followed Zi Yuan to a secluded corner of the backstage .

    "What is it?" Li Yundong asked warily .

    Zi Yuan''s stern expression was starting to unnerve him .

    "im ownership of the sword," Zi Yuan said . "Put it to good use . "

    Li Yundong''s eyes widened in surprise, his eyes instantly darting to Yan Hua . The guy was still shooting res in his direction . Yeah¡­ He''s totally gonna flip out if I im the sword . . . Li Yundong cleared his throat and looked away from Yan Hua . "It''s probably not a good idea, Zi Yuan . It belongs to your shibo . "

    "Yes . And I want you to wield it," Zi Yuan said firmly .

    "But your shibo¡ª"

    "Has been missing for nine years," Zi Yuan said .

    Li Yundong nced down at the sword in his hand .

    "Look¡­ I don''t think it''s a coincidence that the sword found its way into your hands today, Li Yundong . "

    Li Yundong looked up in surprise . "You''re saying someone nned this? Someone wanted me to have it?"

    "I think¡­" Zi Yuan shook her head suddenly . "No . I am sure, that this is the work of unknown forces . " She gave him a pointed look . "Powers beyond our control . "

    Li Yundong frowned . Like what? Fate? Kismet? Or did this have to do with the prophecy again?

    "Well¡­ I''m not sure if I can handle this to be honest," Li Yundong admitted . "I already have the Fan of Seven Treasures to look after . "

    Which nearly killed a guy because I still didn''t know how to control it .

    He kept that thought to himself . No need to rm Zi Yuan with that information .

    Still, the point remained: one magical weapon was already a handful .

    "No . " The intensity in Zi Yuan''s eyes stunned him a little . "You must have it," Zi Yuan said in an insistent tone . "You must . "

    Li Yundong studied the sword again . While doing so, he considered the chain of events leading up to this moment: the fact that Yan Hua had a crush on Ruan Hongling and ended up following Ruan Hongling to Tiannan University instead of going to North Qinghua University; the fact that Yan Hua became Feng Na''s fiercepetitor for the presidency of the student council, which in turn drove Feng Na to start scheming in order to win; the fact that Li Yundong got dragged into all this through said scheme; and then the next thing he knew, he was holding a magical sword in his hands .

    It was like everyone in this world was linked together by invisible puppet strings with fate, kismet, destiny, or whatever being the puppeteer .

    After a while, Li Yundong gave Zi Yuan a firm nod .

    "I understand . I''ll take care of the sword . "

    Zi Yuan smiled . "Good, I¡ª"

    Zi Yuan was cut off by a chorus of cheers .

    "Oh, there she is!"

    "Prez! Prez! She''s here!"

    "Woohoo! She''s here now!"

    "God, Liu Ling! Where have you been?"

    "We thought you weren''t gonna show!"

    "Yeah!"

    "And good lord! What happened to you? Why do you look so wasted?!"

    Li Yundong looked towards the source of themotion .

    A girl with wild and unkempt hair stumbled through the door of the backstage and began pushing her way through the performers gathered around her .

    Zi Yuan shot Li Yundong a look: this discussion isn''t over .

    Li Yundong gave Zi Yuan a nod .

    As soon as they rejoined everyone else, Li Yundong immediately noticed that something was amiss about Liu Ling . First of all, the girl reeked of cigarette smoke and alcohol . She was walking a bit strange too: her steps were wobbly, and she seemed to be favoring one foot over another .

    Also, she seemed a bit disoriented, like she couldn''t even recognize the people she was walking past .

    Unless Li Yundong was very much mistaken, this girl had been out partying all night and was currently suffering from a massive hangover .

    Li Yundong winced when he heard Feng Na''s angry voice: "What have you been up to, Liu Ling, huh? What the hell is this?! Are you having a goddamn hangover?!"

    Liu Ling shot Feng Na a sheepish look . And then she giggled .

    "Oops . " Liu Ling stuck out her tongue . "Guess I had too much funst night . . . Hehe . Sorry . "

    Li Yundong could feel Feng Na''s wrath even from where he was standing . He had honestly never seen Feng Na this angry before .

    "God, what is the matter with you?! What were you thinking?!" Feng Na yelled . "Have you forgotten that you''re supposed to go onstage today?"

    Liu Ling no longer looked sheepish now; rather, her brows were knitted together and her face was twisted in displeasure .

    "What''s the problem?" Liu Ling slurred . "We still¡­ still¡­ have four hours, right?"

    Feng Na took in a deep breath .

    "Everyone''s been waiting for you, do you know that?" Feng Na said in a tight voice . "We called your phone so many times and you never picked up . And then you suddenly show up here looking like this?" Feng Na gestured at Liu Ling''s appearance . "How can you be so irresponsible?"

    Liu Ling suddenly leaped to her feet . As soon as she did that, she winced and slowly sat back down, confirming Li Yundong''s suspicion that the girl had hurt her leg .

    "What''s wrong with¡­ with how I look? I think I look fine!" Liu Ling said indignantly, then did a hair flip . The whole tough-girl act would''ve been convincing if she was sober .

    Murmurs of protests filled the backstage .

    "I look fine," Liu Ling slurred .

    Li Yundong winced . Yeah, sure . You look fine¡­ If you''re supposed to y the role of a zombie, that is .

    In her inebriated state, Liu Ling had probably screwed up her makeup . It was like someone had pressed a frigging color palette over her face . Patches of ipatible colors spread over both her cheeks . Dark rims circled her eyes, making her look like a panda . A very colorful panda . And to top it all off, she was wearing purple lipstick .

    The other performers were starting to voice out their protests as well .

    "You look fine? Is that a f*cking joke? Girl, just look yourself! You don''t even look human!"

    "And you look totally wasted! Wait a minute . . . Don''t tell me you were also doing drugsst night?"

    "Damn it! You''re gonna screw up the entire y!"

    "Yeah! And we''ve all worked so hard for it too!"

    "Guys! Guys! Settle down!" Feng Na said, rubbing her temples tiredly . Then, she sighed . "This won''t do . " Feng Na nced around at her performers . "We''re gonna have to look for a recement . "

    More shouts of protests broke out .

    "What!"

    "But Prez . . . We can''t just rece one of the main characters on such short notice!"

    Feng Na raised her palm to silence everyone .

    "First of all," Feng Na said, pausing to re at Liu Ling, who had actually dozed off in the chair she was sitting in . "Look at this useless girl . Do you think she can go onstage in her current state? She might not even remember half of her lines!"

    Groans filled the backstage .

    "Um¡­ Maybe we can go buy something to help her sober up?"

    "Yeah, Prez! Like caffeine or something . "

    "No," Feng Na said firmly, then gave Liu Ling a look of distaste . "We never should''ve picked her in the first ce . "

    After Feng Na''s voice had petered off, the backstage was silent except for Liu Ling''s snores .

    Momentster, the guy with the green headscarf broke the silence . "Then do you have a candidate in mind, Prez?"

    "Oh I know!" Yu Le eximed . "Why don''t you do it, Prez?"

    "Yeah! You''re familiar with all the scenes . And you were there during the rehearsals! Why don''t you fill in?"

    "I wish I could," Feng Na said with a sigh . "But I have to oversee the event . And Cheng Cheng is busy . . . "

    Li Yundong had requested Cheng Cheng to help keep an eye on Zhou Qin during the event .

    "Then we''re screwed, Prez," Yu Le said with a sigh . "There''s no way we can find a recement on such short notice . . . "

    "Well we have to!" Feng Na snapped, then took a deep breath . Secondster, she exhaled slowly . "Okay guys . Think . We need to find someone who can remain calm andposed in front of arge audience, someone who can think on their feet . Oh, and someone with a good memory too . " Feng Na paused to look at her performers . "Do you guys have anyone in mind?"

    Murmurs and whispers broke out .

    Li Yundong sighed . This was clearly going nowhere .

    He did have a solution in mind though: rouse Liu Ling from her drunken state with a head massage plus some basic Qi-control tricks .

    He was just about to step forward to offer his solution when something else urred to him . All those criteria that Feng Na''s had listed out¡­ Calm andpose . Has a good memory¡­

    Li Yundong smiled . I think I know just the person for this . He nced sideways at the woman beside him .

    His smile turned into a smirk .

    And it definitely helped that she was gorgeous as hell .

    When Li Yundong met Ruan Hongling''s gaze, he saw a yful glint there . Clearly, the girl had the same idea as well . Smirking, Li Yundong gave Ruan Hongling an eye signal, then tilted his head slightly .

    Ruan Hongling''s face broke into a yful grin . "I know someone!"

    Feng Na and her performers immediately halted their discussion . All eyes in the backstage were now on Ruan Hongling .

    "Who is it?" Feng Na said excitedly . "Whom do you have in mind?"

    Ruan Hongling''s eyes slid towards Zi Yuan . "Why, my dearest Elder Sister Zi Yuan, of course!"

    "Hey!" Zi Yuan protested .

    Li Yundong bit the inside of his cheek to stifle augh .

    "Oh my God!" Feng Na gasped, then pped her hands together . Her eyes were practically sparkling at this point . "You''re absolutely right! She''s perfect!"

    Ruan Hongling bobbed her head up and down . "Mm-hmm! She is, isn''t she?"

    "Hongling!" Zi Yuan hissed . "Stop joking around!"

    Ruan Hongling left Feng Na''s side in an instant and sidled up to Zi Yuan .

    "Elder Sister Zi Yuan . . . " Ruan Hongling said in a sickeningly sweet tone . "You''re perfect for the role . Actually, no . You look far more mature than Zhao Ling''er, but that doesn''t matter . The important thing is your beauty and elegance, Elder Sister! You''ll make a perfect Zhao Ling''er!"

    "I agree," Li Yundong chimed in .

    Zi Yuan shot him an exasperated look . "Oh God, not you too?"

    Li Yundong shrugged . "Just stating the truth . I really think you''re perfect for the role . Zhao Ling''er is supposed to be beautiful and elegant . And you clearly have both . She, on the other hand . . . " Li Yundong jerked his chin towards Liu Ling, who was now drooling all over her colorful face .

    "Come on, Elder Sister Zi Yuan," Ruan Hongling implored . "Won''t you do it? Please?"

    Zi Yuan red daggers at Ruan Hongling .

    "Tsk! How insolent!" Zi Yuan chided . "Are you trying to make a fool out of your shijie? Is that it?"

    "Hehehe . . . Not at all, shijie . . . " Ruan Hongling grinned . "Didn''t you notice how everyone was staring at you just now? You''re a sight for sore eyes, Elder Sister . You''ll never make a fool of yourself! Trust me!"

    Zi Yuan looked a bit flustered . "You¡ª"

    She was interrupted by Feng Na''s arrival .

    "Um . . . Hello, miss . . . " Feng Na said . "I''m sorry, but I didn''t catch your name just now . . . "

    Zi Yuan nced at Feng Na briefly . "I''m Zi Yuan . "

    Li Yundong watched in amusement as Feng Na''s smile faltered a little . No doubt the girl felt intimidated by Zi Yuan''s regal presence .

    Feng Na cleared her throat and smiled . "Well . . . Miss Zi Yuan . . . As you can see, we''re in a bit of a trouble here . We''re shorthanded, you see? So¡­ Um¡­ Won''t you let us a hand? Please?" Feng Na pressed her palms together and shot Zi Yuan a pleading look . "You''re perfect for the role . "

    "No," Zi Yuan said .

    "But¡­" Feng Na''s face fell . "Please?"

    "The answer is no," Zi Yuan said firmly .

    That was when Li Yundong felt someone kicking his shin . He looked up and saw the pleading look that Feng Na was sending him .

    He chuckled . "Go do your thing, Feng Na xuejie . I''ll convince her . "

    As soon as he said that, he felt the sharp dig of Zi Yuan''s elbow against his rib .

    Feng Na cleared her throat and drew closer to Li Yundong .

    "I''m counting on you now, pal," she whispered . "You must get her to agree, okay?"

    Li Yundong chuckled and waved his hand a few times . "Alright, alright . Geez . Just go do your thing . Leave this to me . "

    Li Yundong crossed his arms in front of his chest and watched Feng Na walk away . At the same time, his began to outline several arguments that he could use to convince Zi Yuan to take part in the y . Whatever his game n was, Li Yundong knew it had to involve Cultivation somehow, since Cultivation seemed to be the only thing Zi Yuan cared about .

    Li Yundong followed Feng Na with his gaze until she stopped in front of the chair Liu Ling was sitting in .

    Liu Ling jerked awake when Feng Na kicked her leg .

    "Wh- Wha . . . What?"

    "You''re out," Feng Na said . "I found someone else to rece you . "

    Liu Ling blinked several times . "What! H- How could you?!"

    Feng Na red at her .

    "First of all, take a look at yourself in the mirror," Feng Na said with a snort . "You must be out of your damn mind if you think I''m gonna let you go onstage looking like this . No . You''re out! Oh, and I want you to hand in a self-reflective report after this!"

    "No!" Liu Ling stood up from the chair but then hissed in pain as soon as she did . A secondter, she sank back down into the chair with her hand holding on to her right ankle .

    "Huh¡­ I thought you were walking funny just now . . . " Feng Na''s eyes narrowed . "What''s up with your leg?"

    "I . . . I twisted itst night," Liu Ling mumbled .

    "Oh you have got to be kidding me . . . " Feng Na stared at Liu Ling with nothing but incredulity in her eyes . "You show up here, on the day of the performance, with a twisted ankle?" Feng Na looked up at the ceiling and let out an exasperated huff . Secondster, she lowered her gaze and red at Liu Ling . "Out . " She pointed at the exit . "I don''t want to see your face . "

    "B- But . . . "

    "Out!"

    "Argh! Fine!" Liu Ling stood up slowly, then wobbled towards the exit .

    "And don''t forget the report!" Feng Na growled .

    The door mmed shut secondster .

    Li Yundong nudged Zi Yuan''s side . "You really not gonna help out?" He shot Zi Yuan a nce . "They''re in trouble, you know? If you don''t take the role, they would still have to find a recement for her . You noticed the girl''s ankle, right?"

    Well¡­ that wasn''t exactly true . Li Yundong could easily fix the ankle with a bit of Qi control .

    Zi Yuan turned and red at him . "So you want to see me make a fool of myself as well?"

    A loud crash and a scream sounded before Li Yundong could speak .

    "Oh for God''s sake," Feng Na growled . "What is it this time?"

    "It''s Liu Ling, Prez!" someone yelled . "She slipped and fell down the stairs . That ankle looks pretty bad, Prez . "

    "Take her to the clinic!"

    "Huh? Right now?"

    "No . You should wait until her ankle is swollen like a balloon," Feng Na said sarcastically, then rolled her eyes . "Of course right now! She shouldn''t even havee here with her ankle in that state . "

    Li Yundong cleared his throat and watched a few guys exiting the backstage to help Liu Ling .

    "You know, Zi Yuan¡­"

    "Yes?"

    "Isn''t it your master''s wish for you to gain as much mortal experience as possible?" Li Yundong remarked casually . "And it''s one of the Linggong Sect''s requirements, right? That''s why you sent Hongling here, to experience how mortals go through daily life¡­"

    Silence spread between them .

    Someone nudged his elbow . He nced sideways and saw Ruan Hongling giving him a thumbs up .

    Keep going, she mouthed .

    Li Yundong smirked and cleared his throat again . "Well, I think this is a good opportunity to expand your mortal experience . Think about it . You''ll be standing on a stage in front of hundreds of people . I bet you''ve never had that kind of experience before . "

    More silence ensued . A quick nce at Zi Yuan gave Li Yundong a glimpse of the hesitant look on Zi Yuan''s face .

    Li Yundong let out a wistful sigh . "Ah . Mortal experience . Isn''t that the ultimate test of a Cultivator''s resolve? After all, no Cultivator can im that their resolve would never waver unless they have already experienced everything . . . "

    Zi Yuan suddenly cleared her throat . "Hongling . . . This Zhao Ling''er . . . What kind of character is she?"

    Ruan Hongling squealed in joy .

    "Does that mean you''ll do it, Elder Sister Zi Yuan? You''ve agreed!"

    "You better not be enjoying this too much, Hongling . " Zi Yuan red at Ruan Hongling . "Or else¡­"

    Ruan Hongling giggled and started giving Zi Yuan a rundown on Zhao Ling''er''s character as well as a brief summary of Chinese Pdin''s plot .

    "Fine . I''ll do it," Zi Yuan said after Ruan Hongling was done . "What do I have to do?"

    Ruan Hongling leaped into the air . "Yes! This is perfect!"

    Zi Yuan shot Ruan Hongling another re . "You''re gonna pay for thister, Hongling . I assure you . "

    Li Yundong watched in amusement the interaction between the two living goddesses: one had a yful grin while the other one looked nothing but flustered .

    He wondered what Su Chan would say if she were here .

    From the corner of his eye, he saw the hopeful look that Feng Na was sending him .

    He turned, then gave Feng Na a smile and an OK sign .

    Feng Na''s face broke into a huge grin .

    Yeah . This night might not turn out so bad after all .

    ***

    "Li Yundong . . . " Mo Ahshi growled, crumpling the note as well as the paper crane she had intercepted the day before .

    Mo Ahshi had never heard of this Li Yundong before .

    Which sect did this man belong to?

    Were these fools calling for reinforcements?

    Mo Ahshiughed darkly . It matters not . . .

    None of it mattered now . Of course it wouldn''t matter . Nobody, not even the Jade Emperor himself could stop her from destroying the Fox Zen School with her bare hands .

    Mo Ahshi opened her palm, where the paper crane and the notey in a crumpled ball .

    Secondster, the ball caught fire, and Mo Ahshi watched it burn into ashes .

    Soon, the Fox Zen School would suffer the same fate .

    Very soon .

 Chapter 229

    Chapter 229

    Gods and Goddesses?

    Apparently, it didn''t take more than Zi Yuan''s agreement to participate in the y to put Feng Na in a jovial mood again . Forget that Zi Yuan hadn''t even rehearsed her scenes, or that she haven''t even read the script and memorized her lines yet . Everything was fine and dandy as long as Zi Yuan agreed to show her beautiful face onstage . Not that Zi Yuan couldn''t handle simple tasks such as memorizing a few lines of dialog . Of course she could handle it; she was a Cultivator for crying out loud .

    But still, Feng Na''s seemingly cavalier attitude towards thisst-minute cast change amused Li Yundong a little .

    For the nth time, Feng Na nudged Li Yundong''s side and burst intoughter .

    Li Yundong gave her a sidelong nce and tried not to say something to ruin her fun .

    "This y is going to be a big hit!" Feng Na said happily . "With such a beautiful actress appearing on stage? Hah! The audience is gonna be so electrified!"

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Seriously? Just because one of the actresses is beautiful?" He looked towards Zi Yuan, who was having a conversation with Ruan Hongling . "You''re acting like this is a beauty pageant . "

    Feng Na made a face at him . "What do you know anyway?" She smirked . "Ever heard of the term Attention Economy? Human attention is a preciousmodity, you know? The more eyeballs you can attract, the more you''ll profit from whatever event you''re running . "

    "Fair enough . " Li Yundong chuckled . "But shouldn''t you at least ask the other performers if they''re okay with this?"

    Feng Na gave him a look that said: you''re worried for nothing .

    Li Yundong just shrugged .

    Feng Na sighed and turned to face everyone in the backstage .

    "Hey, guys!" Once she knew she had everyone''s attention, Feng Na pointed at Zi Yuan . "This beautiful goddess has agreed to be our new Zhao Ling''er . Do you guys have any problem with that?"

    "What! Of course not!"

    "Yeah! We''d be honored to have her on board!"

    Feng Na turned her head and beamed at Li Yundong .

    "See? Told ya . "

    "I''ve got a problem with it!" a guy yelled secondster .

    Feng Na''s confident grin fell away and was immediately reced with a look of displeasure .

    It was Zhong Xiuguo, the guy with the headscarf who would be ying Li Xiaoyao .

    "Oh? And what kind of issue could you possibly have with the arrangement, hmm?" Feng Na said in a tight voice . "Do tell . "

    Zhong Xiuguo was silent for several moments, though he kept sneaking nces at Zi Yuan .

    Li Yundong nearlyughed when he heard Zhong Xiuguo''s answer .

    "I . . . It''s just . . . It''s a little stressful to be partnered with a woman that beautiful . . . "

    An uproar broke out in the backstage .

    "Say what?! Are you an idiot?!"

    "God! What a dumbass!"

    "Yeah! If you don''t want the role, just give it up! I assure you that a lot of guys would love to take your ce!"

    "What, so you want to be partnered with someone ugly?"

    "Such an idiot!"

    "I know right!"

    Li Yundong watched as a deep blush crept up Zhong Xiuguo''s neck before spreading across his cheeks . The poor guy was still sneaking nces at Zi Yuan though .

    At one point, Li Yundong wondered what the real cause of Zhong Xiuguo''s blush was: Zi Yuan''s beauty; or the other student''s jeers .

    He suspected it was more because of the former than thetter .

    Once the students settled down, Zhong Xiuguo let out a dejected sigh .

    "Fine then, you guys . Take my role if you want," he said wryly . "I don''t think I''d be any use onstage if I''m a nervous wreck . I might screw up my lines . "

    Li Yundong felt movement on his right .

    A secondter, Feng Na stormed past him, heading straight for Zhong Xiuguo .

    Li Yundong silently prayed for Zhong Xiuguo''s physical well-being .

    To his surprised, Feng Na didn''t start chewing Zhong Xiuguo''s head off once she reached him .

    "Hey¡­ Zhong Xiuguo," Feng Na coaxed . "What''s there toin about? This is your time to shine, don''t you see? This is a fantastic opportunity to gain some acting experience! Don''t just throw it all away out of fear . Besides, you''re doing Visual and Performing Arts, right? Weren''t you taught in ss how to handle situations like this? And how are you ever going to survive in your real acting career if you can''t even handle a small thing like this? Come on . . . Just¡­ Just don''t worry and focus on your scenes, okay? You''re gonna be fine . " Feng Na waved her hand a few times . "You''ll both get into your roles once she puts on her costume . I have faith in you . "

    Zhong Xiuguo mumbled something to Feng Na . Li Yundong didn''t manage to catch what the guy said, but from the look of relief on Feng Na''s face, the guy had probably agreed to go on with performance .

    Damn the girl could be persuasive when she wanted to . Just look at how she wiped the floor with Yan Hua during the elections .

    A whileter, Feng Na began handing out the scripts to every performer to do somest-minute rehearsals . Li Yundong took the script but didn''t look at it . He already knew all his lines, which weren''t that many to begin with . All he had to do was strike a few poses onstage, and then whisk Zhao Ling''er away at the right time . That was pretty much it . His part would be finished after that .

    Rather than his lines or the script, Li Yundong had other more pressing issues to worry about . One, how was he supposed to prevent the sword from going crazy when he drew it onstageter? And two, whom should he entrust the Fan of Seven Treasures to when he went onstage?

    In hindsight, the solution to the second problem was pretty obvious . Since Su Chan wasn''t here, and Zi Yuan had to go onstage as well, he could only entrust it to Ruan Hongling . The situation wasn''t ideal (Li Yundong had taken the girl''s damask before), but it would have to do .

    Now for the first problem . . .

    Li Yundong raised the sword and studied it for a moment . He nced at Zi Yuan, who seemed engrossed in the script despite her adamant refusal earlier to participate in the y . Then, he scanned the backstage for any signs of Ruan Hongling .

    Ruan Hongling was nowhere to be seen, which, in hindsight, made sense . The girl probably had to do her own preparations, since she was also one of the performers . He sighed . Guess I''m on my own now .

    He studied Liuhe again . The only solution that came to mind was that he should try to channel his Zhenqi into the sword and get the sword to recognize him as the new owner .

    Zi Yuan had specifically told him to wield it, so there shouldn''t be a problem, right? Surely it wouldn''t offend Zi Yuan''s shibo if Zi Yuan herself gave him her permission to wield it?

    Li Yundong closed his eyes and channeled his Zhenqi into the de . His eyes shot open when he felt a strong repulsion forcing his Zhenqi out of the sword .

    Li Yundong stared at the sword in surprise . The sensation was freakishly self-contradictory . The repulsion he felt was powerful, yet soft and gentle at the same time . It also left a strange pin-prick sensation in his hand, the one holding the sword''s hilt .

    Li Yundong had no doubt that the effect was caused by the spiritual signature of a Cultivator . He kept his eyes on the sword, wondering if he should continue .

    He remembered the incident back at the canteen, where the Fan of Treasures had wreaked havoc and nearly killed a guy . He removed his hand from the hilt and held the sword by the scabbard instead . It was too dangerous to continue, that much he knew . The spiritual signature of the sword''s owner was too powerful; God knows how the sword might react to his attempts at erasing it .

    With that, Li Yundong left the backstage to look for Zhou Qin .

    ***

    As evening drew near, Li Yundong and Zhou Qin joined the rest of the performers backstage for a simple dinner . By the time dinner was wrapped up, the grand hall was starting to fill up with attendees, so Li Yundong pushed Zhou Qin to the audience''s seating to secure a good spot for her . After leaving Zhou Qin in Cheng Cheng''s care, Li Yundong headed backstage once again .

    Feng Na was looking for him when he returned .

    "Hey, hey . Come over here," Feng Na said, waving at him . "I''ve been looking for you!"

    "What''s up?"

    "We have to do your makeup!"

    Li Yundong froze .

    Right . He was about to go onstage looking like an old man in an hour or so .

    "Come on, Li Yundong!" Feng Na yelled, pushing him towards a makeshift makeup table which consisted of . . . well, a table and a mirror .

    "We had a deal," Li Yundong said, eyeing Feng Na suspiciously as Feng Na pushed him down onto a stool . "We agreed that there would be no pranks . "

    Feng Na rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers to get someone''s attention . "This isn''t a prank, pal . You''re doing me a favor here . "

    Li Yundong did a double take when the makeup artist sauntered over minutester . For one, the guy was a crossdresser . Correction: an effeminate crossdresser .

    "Yo . . . Yo . . . What a privilege and honor to be given the chance to do your makeup, my lord swordsman," said the makeup artist in a silky voice . The guy ced a makeup box on the table and gave him a smile .

    Li Yundong shot Feng Na a skeptical look . Feng Na burst into giggles and patted his shoulders a few times . "Enjoy your session . "

    Then, Feng Na walked away with a wink .

    That little shit .

    Li Yundong stared at the makeup artist through the mirror . "Please show me some mercy . . . "

    Implied meaning: please don''t turn me into aughing stock, thank you very much .

    The crossdresser batted his eyshes at Li Yundong . "Oh, I wouldn''t dare do anything to ruin your good looks, my lord swordsman . Otherwise . . . " Li Yundong saw the guy winking at him through the mirror . "Well¡­ I don''t think I''d be able to stand it if your . . . um . . . sword, prates me . "

    Li Yundong whirled around and gaped at the makeup artist .

    Was this dude flirting with him?

    Li Yundong suppressed a shudder and turned around to face the front again .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat and closed his eyes . "L- Let''s just get this over with . "

    Half an hourter, Li Yundong felt a pat on his shoulder . When he opened his eyes, the makeup artist was holding the mirror in front of his face .

    "There! All done! Have a look!"

    Li Yundong took the mirror from the makeup artist and studied his own appearance .

    "Your swordsman''s all good, Feng Na!" the makeup artist yelled .

    Feng Na shouted something in reply, but then Li Yundong didn''t quite catch her words because he was too busy marveling at how remarkably different he looked .

    His face right then was the very definition of a frail, old man . The makeup artist had even done something to give his forehead some kind of wrinkle effect .

    "Let me see!" Feng Na stumbled over and began inspecting his face . A minuteter, Feng Na gave the makeup artist a thumbs up . "This is perfect! Great job!"

    Before Li Yundong could ask the makeup artist about the wrinkles, Feng Na pulled him away from the makeup table .

    "Where are we going now?" Li Yundong grumbled .

    "To the bathroom," Feng Na said . "You have to change into your costume . "

    Inside the bathroom, Feng Na "decorated" his face with a fake beard and a fake moustache . Then she gave him a white wig and a long, white robe . After that, Feng Na pushed him into an empty stall and asked him to change into the robe .

    The ends of the white wig reached just below his shoulders after he put it on . The wig didn''t bother him that much, not as much as the beard and the moustache did anyway .

    Everyone (except Zi Yuan, since she was nowhere to be seen) was in awe when he returned to the backstage in his full master swordsman get-up . They had even attached some kind of sling to the sheath so that he could wear the sword on his back .

    "Ever thought of joining a cosypetition?" Feng Na remarked casually . "You might win with this get-up . "

    Li Yundong red the woman . Cosy? Seriously? He wouldn''t even be dressing up like this if it weren''t for Feng Na''s clever contrivance .

    Li Yundong ignored Feng Na''s remark and decided that it was time for him to step into his role: meaning, he should start acting like a badass swordsman who would slice anyone''s head off if they dared approach him .

    He walked over towards an empty chair and sat down regally . Minutester, he felt someone''s eyes on him . When he turned, he saw that it was Jiang Xiuxiu, who had just returned from the fitting room fully dressed in her own costume .

    Li Yundong surveyed the backstage for a moment . There were still no signs of Ruan Hongling and Zi Yuan . The event had already begun half an hour ago when he was still doing his makeup . Ruan Hongling probably wouldn''t be here until she was done with her performance, so he would have to wait before he passed the Fan of Seven Treasure to her .

    Suddenly, Feng Na returned to the backstage with a student in tow .

    "Take a picture of me and the legendary swordsman, would you?" said Feng Na, handing the guy her phone .

    Li Yundong chuckled and indulged Feng Na while she struck various poses .

    s, Feng Na''s genius idea to start taking selfies with him was a slippery slope; soon, every student in the backstage were crowding his space, begging for selfies .

    Around his eleventh selfie, some girl who was striking a pose¡ªsome kind of weird, hipster pose that involves pouty lips¡ªturned away from the camera to face him .

    "Aww . . . Why won''t you smile a little, master swordsman?"

    I''ll smile when you leave me in peace .

    Li Yundong stroked his fake beard and gave the students a stern look . "I could show you my smile . . . " Li Yundong suddenly reached behind his back and stroked the hilt of his sword . "But then I would have to kill you . " He smirked . "I have a reputation to uphold, you see . . . "

    The students left him in peace after that .

    Zi Yuan appeared at the backstage around the same time when Ruan Hongling began her performance onstage .

    Li Yundong chuckled when he took note of Zi Yuan''s appearance . He decided right then that sophisticated updos and flowing gowns fit Zi Yuan''s image better . That wasn''t to say that she didn''t look good in her costume though . Even with her hair pulled into a double braid, and her figure d in a green shirt and a pair of green pants, Zi Yuan looked absolutely stunning . Not to mention that she had the Zhao Ling''er look down pat .

    "Does my costume look strange?" Zi Yuan whispered once she was standing beside him . "Why does everyone keep staring at me like that?"

    Li Yundong resisted the urge to roll his eyes .

    Because you''re a frigging goddess, that''s why . . .

    He cleared his throat instead .

    "They''re staring because you''re beautiful, Zi Yuan," he said . "Surely you must know that already . "

    After that, they stood side-by-side inpanionable silence, watching Ruan Hongling show off her calligraphy skills onstage .

    The silence was short-lived as students soon began whispering behind their backs . It didn''t take Li Yundong long to realize that he and Zi Yuan were the topic of the students'' gossip .

    "Hey, hey . Those two look great together, don''t you think?"

    "Yeah, just like a Shenxian couple or something . "

    "But the age gap though . . . "

    "Tsk! Age is just a number, you idiot . "

    "Besides, we were talking about the vibes they are giving out . "

    "Mm-hmm . Their vibes totally match!"

    There was a dreamy sigh . "Ah¡­ A god and a goddess . What a pair . "

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes and nced at Zi Yuan to see if she was affected by the students'' idle talk .

    "Just ignore them," Li Yundong whispered when he noticed Zi Yuan''s slightly flustered appearance . "They''re just a bunch of gossips . "

    Zi Yuan gave him a tight smile before looking away .

    Ruan Hongling entered the backstage right after her performance ended .

    "Hehe . I''m done, Elder Sister Zi Yuan," she said, grinning at Zi Yuan . "You guys are up soon, I think . "

    Li Yundong gave Ruan Hongling a pointed look, then tilted his head towards the Fan of Seven Treasures .

    Ruan Hongling got the cue right away and gave him a nod .

    "You''ll look after it?" Li Yundong whispered when he knew Ruan Hongling was standing beside him .

    "Leave it to me," Ruan Hongling said, then paused to look at him . She snorted a momentter . "Just don''t embarrass Elder Sister Zi Yuan onstage . "

    "Thanks . " Li Yundong chuckled . "But I''m afraid it''s the other way around . "

    Ruan Hongling rolled her eyes at him before looking away .

    "Alright guys! Get ready! We''re up!" Feng Na shouted .

    Shortly, the stage curtains began to rise, and the grand hall erupted in a round of thunderous apuse . The stage lights flicked on, giving Li Yundong a sense of deja vu . He''d been here before, standing on the same stage, in front of the same audience .

    The stage curtains stopped rising .

    Li Yundong took a deep breath and stared at the dazzling stage lights above them .

    So it begins . . .

 Chapter 230

    Chapter 230

    Assassination

    Feng Na really had a knack for theatrics, Li Yundong would give her that . She had picked the perfect scene from the Chinese Pdin for the y, one that struck a good bnce between exciting swordy and melodramatic tear-jerkers . It was a superb blend of action and drama .

    Li Yundong had been to the rehearsals once, so he had a pretty good grasp of the y''s sequence . The y would begin with a scene about Li Xiaoyao and Ling Yueru going on a quest to track down Zhao Ling''er, who was kidnapped by Elder Shi prior to the scene . Li Xiaoyao, Ling Yueru and their search party would run into Gai Luojiao and Elder Shi during their quest, after which a fight would ensue . The fight sequence would end with Elder Shi unleashing a powerful move that killed everyone involved in the battle except for Li Xiaoyao and Ling Yueru .

    Li Yundong''s character, the master swordsman, just so happened to be passing by the area shortly after the fight ended . Upon his arrival at the scene, the master swordsman discovered Zhao Ling''er sitting alone amidst a litter of dead bodies (courtesy of Elder Shi''s suicidal move) . Aghast at the massacre, the master swordsman mistakenly assumed that Zhao Ling''er was the one responsible for the deaths . He thought that Zhao Ling''er must''ve been possessed by an evil spirit to be capable of such a horrendous act . In a fit of rage, the master swordsman decided to bring Zhao Ling''er away to properly exterminate the evil spirit .

    In the original scene, both Li Xiaoyao and Ling Yueru were knocked unconscious by Gai Luojiao before the master swordsman showed up . However, Feng Na had modified the scene a little to make it more dramatic . In Feng Na''s version, Li Xiaoyao was conscious even after Elder Shi''s suicidal move .

    Li Xiaoyao would then engage in a duel with the master swordsman after thetter threatened to take Zhao Ling''er away . The y would conclude with an emotional scene where a defeated Li Xiaoyao watch Zhao Ling''er be taken away by the master swordsman .

    The entire sequence was oddly simr to how Ao Wushuang had taken Su Chan away from Li Yundong that fateful night . Then again, he decided not to read too much into it since there was no way Feng Na could''ve known about what transpired the night He Shao died .

    From behind the curtains, Li Yundong observed the choreographed fight between Elder Shi and the members of the Li Xiaoyao''s search party . Zi Yuan (Zhao Ling''er) was kneeling somewhere on the stage, watching the brutal fight unfold with a fearful look in her eyes . For someone who hated making a fool of herself in front of arge audience, Zi Yuan seemed really into her role .

    Li Yundong smiled to himself . Guess I should really up my game too . He might as well do his best since he was already involved in the y .

    Li Yundong took a deep breath and exhaled . He wouldn''t have to make his entrance until the final scene of the y, so he still had a bit of time to pep himself up a little .

    Screams of horror drifted from the stage .

    Li Yundong recognized that to be the cue for Elder Shi''s suicide scene . He did a final check of his costume and made sure that the sword was secure on his back . Then, he took another peek from behind the curtains . Elder Shi was now striking some kind of weird pose, clearly about to unleash his deadly, suicidal move .

    Li Yundong counted three seconds in his head .

    At the third count, the stage lights shed brightly to simte some kind of explosion . Screams of anguish filled the stage where bodies were flung away from Elder Shi . Then, when the whole stage plunged into darkness, Li Yundong knew it was time for him to make his appearance .

    Li Yundong stepped out from behind the curtains and hurried towards the center of the stage where he stood with his head bowed, waiting for the stage lights toe back on .

    CLICK!

    The lights dazzled him a little, but he raised his gaze anyway .

    The entire hall came alive almost instantly: members of the audience were now cheering and chanting his name .

    Show time!

    ZING!

    Li Yundong unsheathed the sword from its scabbard and held it high above his head . As expected, the de began to glow brightly . Since there was nothing he could do to prevent the sword from reacting, he figured he would use the sword''s reaction to his advantage and incorporate it into the y somehow .

    The roaring from the audience diminished the moment the sword was out . Despite the absence of cheers and ps, the grand hall wasn''t silent at all . An ear-piercing, whining noise resonated throughout the hall, drowning out everything else, even the pounding inside Li Yundong''s ears . The stage lights dimmed, yet the stage remained gloriously lit by the sword''s radiance .

    ZING!

    Li Yundong swung the sword in a downward arc .

    Zi Yuan, in a feat of dramatic virtuosity, let out a frightened gasp when Li Yundong pointed the tip of the sword at her face; Zhao Ling''er was terrified .

    So far so good .

    "Did you ughter these people?" Li Yundong said in a cold voice . "Are you responsible for this massacre?"

    Zi Yuan scrambled backwards and shook her head wildly .

    But the master swordsman was having none of it .

    "There are corpses strewn all over this ce!" Li Yundong said sharply . "And you are the only one left standing! How dare you deny your wrongdoings, you devil!"

    Li Yundong took a step forward . That was a cue; they had rehearsed this before .

    In three, two, one¡­

    Li Xiaoyao rose from the pile of dead bodies and ran forward to shield Zi Yuan behind his back .

    "Please, sir! Please do not harm her! She didn''t kill these people!" Li Xiaoyao yelled . "I can attest to her innocence!"

    "Out of my way, you bumbling fool!" Li Yundong shoved Li Xiaoyao aside .

    Then, as Li Xiaoyao stumbled sideways, Li Yundong reached forward to grab Zi Yuan .

    "Get away from her!" Li Xiaoyao screamed .

    ZING!

    Li Yundong turned his head . As expected, Li Xiaoyao had drawn his sword and was about to attack Li Yundong with it .

    Just when Li Yundong was about to start trading blows with Li Xiaoyao, something freakish happened .

    Liuhe''s hilt twisted around Li Yundong''s fingers and then flew out of his hand with astounding speed .

    ZING!

    The sword swung around in a quick circle, stopping when it was a good twelve feet above the stage .

    The sword''s whining grew louder and louder .

    At one point, Li Yundong thought his ears might start bleeding since he was standing so close to the sword . He shot Zi Yuan a worried nce . To his surprise, Zi Yuan wasn''t even paying attention to the sword; she was ncing around desperately as though she was looking for some kind of invisible object in the air .

    A secondter, Zi Yuan gasped .

    Her eyes were on him then; she was staring straight at him with an expression that could only be construed as that of sheer horror .

    ***

    rm coursed through Li Yundong when Zi Yuan suddenly moved towards him . Zi Yuan grabbed his shoulder with one hand and then shoved his head downwards with the other . He grunted when his knees hit the stage''s wooden surface . A split secondter, he looked up from the floor . Zi Yuan was now standing about two feet in front of him with her back facing him . It looked like she was trying to shield his body from something in front of them, but he didn''t know what it was .

    "Show yourself!" Zi Yuan yelled, striking the air with her palm . There was a sudden spike in air pressure as a burst of green light flew from Zi Yuan''s palm towards an empty corner of the stage .

    Some kind of high-pitched noise rang out, and all of a sudden, numerous golden needles flew out from the corner the stage where Zi Yuan''s palm strike had justnded .

    CLINK! CLINK! CLINK!

    The golden needles rose into the air, circling and twirling .

    Then, they shot downwards, every single one of them .

    Shit! Li Yundong ducked and did a shoulder row . A few of those needles streaked past his head and circled towards the ceiling once more .

    Keeping his head low, Li Yundong rose into a half-crouch and hurried towards Zhong Xiuguo, who hadpletely forgotten his role as Li Xiaoyao . The poor guy was down on the floor, trembling in fear .

    Li Yundong shoved Zhong Xiuguo away the moment he was within reach .

    "Go," Li Yundong hissed at the dazed man . "Get out of here . Hide . "

    Li Yundong turned away, not caring whether or not Zhong Xiuguo had actually followed his instructions .

    While making his way back towards Zi Yuan, Li Yundong immediately realized why the golden needles had stoppeding at him after that first attack . The needles appeared to be subdued by some kind of purple ribbon attached to Zi Yuan''s right hand .

    Zi Yuan kept rotating her wrist as she slowly backed away from the needles . The purple ribbon spiraled along its length, herding the golden needles into a clump .

    "Grab the sword!" Zi Yuan said without taking her eyes off the needles . The purple ribbon''s spiraling motion had forced the needles into some kind of conical structure .

    Li Yundong leaped into the air and extended his arm to grab the sword''s hilt . The sword twisted away before his fingers could reach it . Li Yundongnded on the stage with a loud thud . Damn it! He sprang to his feet once more, this time adding more explosiveness into his movements .

    Again, his attempt to grab the sword came up short .

    Fine . How about this!

    He raised his palm and aimed it at the sword .

    Qi Kinesis!

    His Zhenqi shot out from his hand the moment he jumped into the air .

    Yes!

    His Zhenqi enclosed the sword in arge bubble before the sword could fly away . He wrapped his fingers around the hilt and then yanked the sword towards him .

    THUD!

    Hended on the stage with the sword secured in his hand .

    "Be gone!!"

    Zi Yuan sent another airborne palm strike towards the golden needles .

    CLINK!

    The needles burst apart from its conical structure and flew away from the ribbon, scattering towards the ceiling .

    Li Yundong''s blood ran cold . Shit¡­ What the hell?

    The needles had begun to merge .

    ZING!

    Arge¡ªat least 5 inches long¡ªgolden hairpin appeared in the air .

    And judging from Zi Yuan''s reaction (a loud gasp and an abrupt stiffening of her posture), she probably recognized the weapon .

    "What the¡ª"

    Li Yundong hissed when his body lurched sideways . He widened his stance and managed to regain his footing before he toppled over .

    There was another lurch . But this time, it felt more like a powerful tug on his arm .

    The sword was trying free itself from his grip .

    He grunted and gripped the sword with both hands .

    Then, the hilt did a sharp twist, causing his wrists to bend at an odd angle . He tried to fight back, but his efforts were futile: the sword suddenly surged upwards, flinging his body over the edge of the stage .

    The sword''s hilt slipped from his fingers the moment he was thrown off bnce .

    Reacting purely by instinct, Li Yundong kicked out with his right leg . His foot mmed into the edge of the stage, and he used the contact to propel himself upwards before somersaulting back onto the stage .

    ZING! ZING! ZING!

    Li Yundong dodged three shes from the sword andnded in a Bai Jong stance, ding his body sideways to make himself a smaller target .

    Footwork, footwork, footwork . . .

    Li Yundong followed the sword with his eyes, keeping his weight bnced on the balls of his feet .

    ZING! ZING!

    Li Yundong leaped backwards and managed to dodge two sessive cuts .

    The sword retreated and spun in the air . Take this! Li Yundong stretched out his hand andunched his Zhenqi at the sword .

    His Zhenqi missed the hilt by inches when the sword jerked sideways .

    ZING!

    The de shot towards at him like an arrow .

    Shit!

    Li Yundong''s hand rose instinctively . The surface of his palm slid along the surface of the de and managed to deflect the sword sideways . The thrust narrowly missed his throat, and the de grazed the side of his neck .

    Clenching his jaw, Li Yundong gripped the hilt with both hands and yanked the sword away from his throat . Then, he channeled his Zhenqi straight into the sword, hoping to erase the pre-existing spiritual signature from the sword . That was the only way he could think of to get the sword under control .

    Li Yundong was brought to his knees when his Zhenqi was met with a powerful resistance .

    Li Yundong hissed in pain but held on nheless .

    Come on . . . Fight! Damn it! Don''t give up!

    Li Yundong growled and channeled another wave of Zhenqi into the sword .

    The resistance weakened slightly, though the sword was still highly agitated, jerking and tugging at his arms repeatedly .

    Li Yundong shut his eyes and held on to the sword with all his might . A momentter, he felt his feet sliding along the stage . He dropped into a crouch to lower the center of gravity and managed to stabilize his body .

    "im it," someone hissed . "You have to im it!"

    He opened his eyes and realized that he was now standing near the side wing of the stage, and Ruan Hongling was staring right at him with anxious eyes .

    "Come on! im it!" Ruan Hongling pleaded desperately .

    "I''m trying, damn it . . . " Li Yundong said through gritted teeth .

    Yes, he was f*cking trying .

    He knew he couldn''t afford to lose, not this time . The stakes were too high . There was no telling what the sword would do the moment he let go of it . What was stopping the sword from ughtering anyone in its path if he let go? Nothing . Absolutely nothing .

    Closing his eyes, Li Yundong mustered all the control he had over his Zhenqi, and then channeled it into the sword in one powerful surge .

    The sword answered with a powerful jerk against his fingers .

    The whining of the sword grew louder, and even though his eyes were closed, he could tell that the sword''s radiance was growing brighter as well .

    Then, it all stopped: the whining; the lurching; the resistance; everything .

    "Y- You did it . . . " Ruan Hongling whispered .

    Li Yundong opened his eyes and nced at the sword in his hands, not daring to loosen his grip on the hilt lest the sword decided to go nuts again .

    A few drops of his blood had spilled onto the de''s surface during the scuffle, but that wasn''t the thing that had caught his attention .

    Something creepy was happening to the de: his blood was seeping into the surface of the de as though the sword was absorbing his blood .

    A bunch of weird symbols shed across its surface as soon as the blood was fully absorbed . However, the symbols vanished almost as soon as they appeared .

    SNAP! CLINK!

    Li Yundong looked up from the sword and saw Zi Yuan''s purple ribbon striking at the golden hairpin like a whip . The hairpin shot to the ceiling and then disappeared into thin air .

    Was it gone? Or had it just turned invisible?

    A deafening silence permeated the hall, and Li Yundong knew that all eyes were now on him . Ignoring the audience''s gazes, he strode over towards Zi Yuan, who was still staring at the ceiling, at the exact spot where the hairpin had just vanished into thin air .

    The grand hall erupted in cheers and whistles as soon as he reached the center of the stage . The audience''s apuse was so loud that it even drowned out the pounding in his ears .

    Li Yundong ignored everything else and kept walking towards Zi Yuan .

    Screw the y .

    This show was over .

    Someone had just tried to assassinate him, and he wanted to know who and why .

 Chapter 231

    Chapter 231

    Teamwork

    Li Yundong stepped up to Zi Yuan and grabbed her arm .

    "What the hell was that?" he hissed . "Who''s trying to kill me?"

    Zi Yuan turned around to face him . "I''m not sure," she said in a low and grave tone . "But we have to¡ª"

    "Look out!"

    Li Yundong lunged forward, swinging Liuhe upwards to parry the iing object .

    CLANG!

    Sparks flew out from the point of contact between the sword and the golden hairpin .

    ZING!

    The golden hairpin changed its course and shot towards the ceiling .

    Li Yundong stared at the deadly hairpin, which was now hovering slightly below the ceiling . Li Yundong narrowed his eyes in suspicion . For some reason, the hairpin hadn''t turned invisible again like it did just now . Had his parry weakened it? Or was it perhaps running low on spiritual energy? Who was controlling it? Was the controller here inside this hall?

    The hairpin glowed a little and started moving in the air in a strange pattern: like it was moving around an imaginary axis .

    Wait a minute . . . Is it recharging?

    There was a soft rustle behind him . He didn''t even have to turn around to know that the sound was caused by Zi Yuan''s purple ribbon .

    Li Yundong kept his eyes on the hairpin, his mind racing a mile a minute .

    Decision time: Kendo or Fencing?

    A secondter, he decided to go with fencing: the hairpin seemed to favor thrusting attacks rather than shes; not to mention that the attacks were fast, so his defense had to involve swift parries with minimal movements .

    Li Yundong silently thanked Zi Yuan for encouraging him to read more and do more research .

    "I''ll cover your six," Zi Yuan whispered, "and you cover mine . Got it?"

    "Yeah," Li Yundong answered .

    A secondter, he felt Zi Yuan''s back touching his .

    They were both standing back to back .

    "Any specific reason for this strategy?" he asked .

    "I know its attack pattern," Zi Yuan said . "It''s most likely going to split up and attack us from all directions . "

    So it won''t be just frontal attacks . . .

    Li Yundong''s eyes narrowed further .

    "Here ites," he said in a warning tone and quickly got into a fencing stance . "It hasn''t separated yet, though . "

    "It will, trust me," Zi Yuan answered . "Don''t let your guard down just because it hasn''t split yet . The actual split will be swift, and you won''t know what hit you if you''re careless . "

    SWISH! CLANG!

    Li Yundong parried a thrust with a quick flick of his wrist .

    "We have to restrain it first," said Zi Yuan .

    "How?"

    The hairpin swerve to the right when Li Yundong parried it again .

    "Keep it distracted," Zi Yuan said . "I''m gonna try something . "

    Li Yundong didn''t answer but kept his gaze focused on the hairpin instead .

    The hairpinunched another thrust at him . He rotated his wrist, but immediately realized that it was a mistake: the thrust changed course as soon as he moved his wrist just a little .

    Shit! A feint!

    Li Yundong quickly adjusted his stance topensate for the opening in his defense, and then flicked the sword upwards to deflect a thrust aimed at his torso .

    There was a rustle: the purple ribbon shot out over his left shoulder and coiled around the hairpin .

    The hairpin slipped away from the ribbon at thest moment and thrust at Li Yundong again .

    Li Yundong flicked his wrist and parried the attack sideways .

    "Damn it," Zi Yuan whispered harshly . "Couldn''t get the timing right . "

    "That thing is too agile," Li Yundong said, pping the hairpin upwards . "It even knows how to feint . "

    "Keep trying," Zi Yuan said .

    "Shit . . . " Li Yundong said . "You were right . It''s separating now . "

    The hairpin split itself into dozens and dozens of needles, which circled rapidly above their heads like a ring made up of thin spikes .

    "Qi Kinesis," Zi Yuan said, pressing her back against his . "They''re dispersed . You have to force them into a tight space so I can disarm them at one go . "

    "Roger that," Li Yundong said .

    The needles clinked loudly above them, and for some strange reason, Li Yundong felt as though the needles were watching him .

    "On the count of three," Zi Yuan said steadily .

    Li Yundong began the count in his head . One . . . Two . . . Now!

    Li Yundong unleashed his Zhenqi from his hands, shaping it into a donut-shaped bubble . The invisible bubble rose upwards and enveloped the needles from all sides . The bubble shrunk inwards, pushing all the needles together into its center .

    Green light shot out from Zi Yuan''s palm, striking the needles through the hole at the center of the torus . Li Yundong felt the effect almost instantly: the needles pushed outwards against the bubble, trying to force their way out of his Zhenqi''s control .

    "Hold it together," Zi Yuan said calmly .

    Another beam of green light shot out from her palm . The needles vibrated against his Zhenqi after they were struck .

    "Damn it . . . I didn''t know she''s this strong . . . " Zi Yuan whispered in surprise .

    Zi Yuan struck the needles with the green light again .

    What happened next creeped the f*ck out of Li Yundong: the needles began shifting into some kind of weird formation .

    No . It wasn''t formation . It was a face, a ghastly and grotesque face . And the face was staring right at him .

    A surge of anger dispelled every ounce of fear that the face had roused in him . He retracted his Zhenqi and channeled it into the sword instead .

    The high-pitched whining of the sword returned with a vengeance, but this time, the sword didn''t resist him; instead, it felt as light as a feather in his hands .

    White light filled the stage when he raised the sword and pointed its tip at the grotesque face .

    The face recoiled .

    "Who are you?" Li Yundong said coldly . "Who sent you to kill me?"

    The expression on the face shifted . Just when he thought he was making headway in his interrogation, the face imploded, literally: the needles copsed inwards and reshaped themselves into the long hairpin .

    Li Yundong switched into a Kendo stance and swung the sword downwards .

    The hairpin slipped away and shot towards the window of the hall .

    A secondter, it was gone .

    ***

    With a sigh, Li Yundong withdrew his Zhenqi from the sword . The blinding white glow vanished instantly, and the stage was visible again . A set of soft fingers wrapped around his hand .

    He felt a tug .

    "Follow my lead," Zi Yuan whispered .

    Before he knew it, Zi Yuan was dragging him off the stage . Secondster, they stopped at the window through which the hairpin had made its escape .

    "Out," Zi Yuan whispered . "Quickly . "

    They climbed out of the hall through the window .

    "What''s the game n?" Li Yundong asked once they were outside .

    Aloft in the starry night sky, the golden hairpin floated away from them .

    "I''ll go after it," Zi Yuan said . "You stay on the ground . "

    Li Yundong nodded . He shouldn''t fly yet, not until he had passed his divine punishment .

    "Here . Take this . " Zi Yuan handed a phone to him . "Call Hongling . Tell her to take you to the usual ce . "

    Li Yundong took the phone and frowned . "The usual ce? What ce?"

    Zi Yuan looked up at the sky . "Hongling knows . Now go . "

    Before Li Yundong could say anything else, Zi Yuan took off into the air .

    ***

    It turned out that "the usual ce" was the gazebo located near the edge of the campuspound, past the copse of trees where he and Su Chan had had their little spying adventure the other day .

    Li Yundong followed Ruan Hongling up the steps leading into the gazebo, his mind still reeling from what happened back inside the grand hall . He did catch a glimpse of Zhou Qin before Zi Yuan dragged him out of the hall, and she was fine; Cheng Cheng was still with her when he left .

    Ruan Hongling lowered his backpack onto the stone table . Li Yundong distinctly remembered that he had smashed the table to pieces during his "talk" with Uncle Zhou''s secretary, but he supposed that the university had reced it with a new one .

    Li Yundong walked over and set the sword down on the stone table''s surface . Then, he opened his backpack and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the Fan of Seven Treasures was still there .

    He turned his head to face Ruan Hongling .

    "Thank you for looking after it," he said .

    Even in the darkness, Ruan Hongling looked a little pale in the face . Not once did her eyes left the sword on the table, and she seemed a bit shaken as well .

    "Hey . . . Are you okay?" Li Yundong asked .

    Ruan Hongling flinched back when he stepped closer . It was as though she was frightened of him . Li Yundong raised his hands in a cating gesture . "Hey . . . Rx¡­ It''s just me . . . "

    Ruan Hongling cleared her throat and looked away as though she was embarrassed by her own reaction . "Y- You''re wee," she said .

    "Are you alright?" Li Yundong asked again .

    Ruan Hongling''s eyes darted briefly to his face .

    "I''m fine," she said a bit too quickly . There was a pause . "Just a little shaken, that''s all . "

    Well . You and me both¡­

    Li Yundong sighed and lowered his hands .

    "What about the others at the hall? Did anyone get hurt¡ª"

    He was cut off by Ruan Hongling''s signature snort .

    Li Yundong looked at her curiously . "What?"

    "No," Ruan Hongling mumbled . "Nobody got hurt . "

    A tight knot eased in his chest . A momentter, Li Yundong sighed into his palms . "God . . . Everyone must be terrified as hell . "

    There it was again: a snort, Ruan Hongling style .

    "Terrified?" Ruan Hongling snickered . "Those idiots thought it was all part of the show!"

    Li Yundong stared at Ruan Hongling for a few seconds .

    "You''re shitting me, right?"

    Ruan Hongling shrugged .

    Li Yundong chuckled in disbelief . It was likemon sense didn''t even exist these days .

    "Well . Most of them anyway," Ruan Hongling added a momentter . "The smart ones realized that something was wrong and were pretty shaken . Some even ran off . But the dumb ones?" She snorted again . "The dumb ones didn''t even know that they just had a brush with death . "

    "What happened after Zi Yuan and I left?"

    "The audience started pping, yelling, h, h, h . . . " Ruan Hongling waved her hand casually . "You know the drill . " She rolled her eyes . "Ugh . Those fools¡­"

    Li Yundong chuckled .

    "And then your friend, the new student council president . . . Feng Na, is it?"

    "Yeah . "

    Ruan Hongling nodded . "She took charge after you left . Got onto the stage and made up some rubbish about the y being a modified version of the original story . She said that in her version, Zhao Ling''er is supposed to"¡ªRuan Hongling did air quotes¡ª"elope together with the master swordsman . "

    "And everyone bought it?"

    Ruan Hongling sniggered . "Like I said . . . " She rolled her eyes . "Fools . "

    "Well, that''s better than having the cops knocking on my door tomorrow I suppose," he said wryly .

    To be honest, he was just d that nobody got hurt . And speaking of getting hurt . . . Zi Yuan had saved his ass again tonight .

    "Hongling . . . " Li Yundong said .

    "Yeah?"

    "Who''s trying to kill me?" He paused and studied Ruan Hongling''s face for a moment . "Do you know?"

    After a while, Ruan Hongling shook her head .

    "I didn''t recognize the weapon . "

    Li Yundong looked away from Ruan Hongling . "But Zi Yuan did," he said . "She even predicted what that thing would do . "

    "Hey, Li Yundong . . . "

    Li Yundong looked towards Ruan Hongling . She wasn''t looking at him though; she was staring at the sword .

    "Yeah?"

    "So fast . . . " Ruan Hongling whispered to herself . "Way too fast . . . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "Pardon?"

    Ruan Hongling tore her gaze away from the sword and stared at him in awe . "Just now . . . " She pointed at the sword . "How did¡ª"

    Green light red somewhere on the left of the gazebo, where the copse of treesy .

    They both sprang to their feet and ran towards the edge of the gazebo, their conversation forgotten .

    Zi Yuan glided from the trees towards the gazebo .

    "Did you catch it?" Li Yundong asked .

    Zi Yuannded at the center of the gazebo and sighed .

    "No," she said sharply . "It gave me the slip . "

    "Damn it," Li Yundong said .

    "What was all that about just now, Elder Sister Zi Yuan?" Ruan Hongling said anxiously . "That hairpin . . . I''ve never seen a weapon like that before . "

    Li Yundong suddenly stopped his pacing and stared at the two women . He approached them slowly, keeping his eyes on Zi Yuan''s serious expression .

    "That, Hongling," Zi Yuan said, "was the Threaded Hairpin of Traversing Soul . " There was a pregnant pause . "It belongs to Mo Ahshi, a senior member of the Fox Zen School . "

 Chapter 232

    Chapter 232

    Night-Time Meeting

    "The Fox Zen School?" Li Yundong didn''t even bother to hide the surprise in his voice . "The Fox Zen School is trying to assassinate me?"

    "Now hold your horses . " Zi Yuan''s stern voice was apanied by sharp raise of her palm . "That weapon could''ve been stolen from the Fox Zen School for all we know . " She paused and him a pointed look . "We shouldn''t jump to conclusions . "

    "But Elder Sister Zi Yuan, none of this makes any sense," Ruan Hongling protested . "You were attacked as well . "

    "Yes I was," Zi Yuan said without taking her eyes off Li Yundong . "Though I am beyond certain that the real target is him . "

    Li Yundong sighed and rubbed his forehead . "I agree . The first shot was clearly meant for me . " He looked towards Zi Yuan . "You were only attacked after you got in its way . "

    "Look, I know that, okay?" Ruan Hongling said impatiently . "But it still doesn''t make sense . " Ruan Hongling nced at Zi Yuan worriedly . "Nobody in the Cultivation world is stupid enough to mess with a subsidiary sect of the Zhengyi School . Even if the Fox Zen School intended to attack someone from our sect, it would''ve been done covertly so that nobody would trace the attack back to them!"

    "She''s got a point," Li Yundong said, fixing his gaze on Zi Yuan . "You were able to recognize that weapon almost instantly . Why use such a distinctive weapon for a covert attack? It doesn''t fit . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "That''s why I said we shouldn''t jump to conclusions for now . "

    "But this isn''t the first time an attempt was made on my life," Li Yundong remarked . "Something simr happened before . " He paused to look at Zi Yuan . "In Tibet . "

    "What?" Ruan Hongling said in a confused tone . "What happened in Tibet?"

    "The robbery," Zi Yuan remarked, ncing briefly at Ruan Hongling . "He was robbed . "

    Li Yundong gave Ruan Hongling a nod . "Someone tried to take the Fan of Seven Treasures from me . "

    Ruan Hongling''s face scrunched up in confusion . "But a robbery is different from an assassination . "

    Li Yundong chuckled darkly . "Believe me, those crooks would''ve killed me even if I handed over the fan . " He looked towards Zi Yuan . "You saw what those orbs did to me, right?"

    Zi Yuan nodded .

    Silence permeated the gazebo .

    "I knew it . " Li Yundong sighed heavily . "I knew something was wrong with the Fox Zen School . " He looked towards Zi Yuan again . "I told you back in Tingri¡ª"

    "I''ve already looked into that," Zi Yuan said . "And I''m fairly certain that the robbery was an isted incident . "

    Li Yundong blinked several times . Okay¡­ what?

    "But those two knew I had the fan . "

    Zi Yuan shook her head . "Robbery isn''t the Fox Zen School''s MO . Theft is more their style . " Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling shared a look with one another . A momentter, Zi Yuan''s eyes were back on him . "Besides, stealth is the Fox Zen School''s forte . If they really wanted to steal the fan from you, it would be much easier to do it when you were trying to pass the Zhuji phase . " Zi Yuan paused to let her words sink in . "You were sitting inside that rock alone, and you were in deep meditative state . " Zi Yuan raised her brow . "Why bother taking the fan from you by force when they could literally just walk up to you and then take the fan from you without you even knowing it . "

    Good point .

    "Also, I don''t think the Fox Zen School would hire someone to do the job," Ruan Hongling added . "The Fan of Seven Treasures is such a treasured weapon . I certainly wouldn''t trust anyone but myself to handle it . I mean, what if the hired help decided that they wanted the fan for themselves?"

    For a long while, Li Yundong didn''t speak .

    "What''s on your mind?" Ruan Hongling asked, interrupting his thoughts .

    He looked up and saw both Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling staring at him worriedly .

    "And¡­ Um¡­" Ruan Hongling pointed at something above his head . "You might wanna¡­"

    He nced upwards and was surprised to see his backpack floating above his head . He had been performing Qi Kinesis all this time, and he wasn''t even aware of it .

    The backpack floated down towards the stone table .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat and shook his head slightly . "Sorry about that . "

    Zi Yuan waved off his apology .

    "You seemed pretty out of it for a moment there," Ruan Honglingmented .

    Li Yundong sighed . "Yeah, I know . I was just¡­ I was thinking back to the fight with those two robbers from the Yin Yang Sect . " He looked towards Zi Yuan . "And I think you''re right . "

    Zi Yuan''s eyes narrowed slightly . "Is there something else that you haven''t told me?"

    "No, that''s not it . " Li Yundong shook his head . "It''s just¡­ Well, I thought that Lyu Fengping and Wu Hao''s attack seemed a bit reckless . " Li Yundong nced at Ruan Hongling . "They even tried to murder a monk from the Esoteric Sect . A guardian sentinel or something . "

    Ruan Hongling gasped . "What?!"

    "It''s a long story . " Li Yundong gave the girl a wry smile . "But the point is, the attack doesn''t seem like a premeditated attempt to take me out . It was too reckless . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "If the goal was to assassinate you, they would''ve killed you while you were attempting to pass the Zhuji phase . " Zi Yuan held his gaze . "Most likely those two noticed you while you were in Tibet . Perhaps they recognized the fan from afar . I know you were careful, but they might have a sharp eye . "

    Li Yundong sighed . "Bad luck, then?"

    "More like an eventuality," Zi Yuan said, pausing to study his face for a few seconds . "Cultivators frequent that area, you see . " She arched a brow at him . "That''s why I warned you to minimize human contact the moment you passed Tibetan borders . "

    "Okay . Let''s say the robbery is an isted incident . But what about tonight''s attack?" Li Yundong said, then paused when another thought urred to him . "Wait . But Ao Wushuang¡­ Ugh . None of this makes sense!" He gripped his hair and started pacing around the gazebo . "If the Fox Zen School wanted to assassinate me, then why didn''t Ao Wushuang just kill me that night? She had so many chances to end my life, but she didn''t . Hell, she even helped me! And then there''s also the question about the Fox Zen School''s motive . Like, what was the assassination even about? What possible reason could the Fox Zen School have for wanting me dead? Was it because they thought I stole the Fan of Seven Treasures? But Su Chan was the one who gave me the fan!" Li Yundong stopped pacing and swiveled around to face Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling . "Unless . . . " His eyes narrowed . "Ao Wushuang and Su Chan had acted independent of the Fox Zen School?"

    Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling suddenly looked at each other .

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes further and moved away from the edge of the gazebo towards the two women .

    "What is it?" Li Yundong said warily .

    Zi Yuan looked at him strangely . "Su Chan never told you?"

    "Told me what?" Li Yundong half-growled .

    So they were back to this shit again: him being a clueless idiot who didn''t know the whole story .

    "Ao Wushuang was kicked out of the Fox Zen School ten years ago," Ruan Hongling said in a grave tone .

    Li Yundong''s eyes bugged out . "What?"

    Ruan Hongling nodded . "She was expelled . And she probably took Su Chan with her when she left . "

    "So the Fan of Seven Treasures was never in the Fox Zen School to begin with," Li Yundong said as the pieces began to fall into ce . "Ao Wushuang took it with her when she left the school . That''s why Su Chan had it . "

    "Most likely," Zi Yuan said with a nod .

    Ao Wushuang? Expelled? What the hell?

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "I see . "

    Zi Yuan let out a soft sigh . "I''m not entirely sure what happened, but I have a feeling that there''s some kind of connection between that incident and our shibo''s sudden visit to the Fox Zen School nine years ago . "

    Ruan Hongling nodded . "Before she went missing, shibo went to the Fox Zen School specifically to see Ao Wushuang . "

    To settle a score, apparently .

    "Wait, but that was nine years ago," Li Yundong said, narrowing his eyes . "Ao Wushuang was expelled ten years ago . She wasn''t even there when your shibo arrived . "

    "Yeah, but my shibo didn''t know," Zi Yuan said .

    Li Yundong strode towards the stone table, then sat down on the stone bench in front of the table .

    Chan''er . . . Are you alright? Are you safe?

    Secondster, Zi Yuan came over and sat down beside him .

    Li Yundong looked beyond the gazebo, gazing at the darkness surrounding them . A wry chuckle escaped his lips . How fitting: here he was,pletely in the dark, both literally and figuratively .

    A light touch on his shoulder made him nced sideways . Zi Yuan was looking back at him with concerned eyes .

    "Don''t worry about this for now¡ª"

    "How can I not worry?" Li Yundong stood up abruptly . "Su Chan is there at the Fox Zen School as we speak . If someone inside the school has evil agendas¡ª"

    "What?" Zi Yuan said in surprise . "Su Chan is at the Fox Zen School?"

    "Yeah . . . ?" Li Yundong narrowed his eyes . What''s with that reaction?

    "So that''s where qianbei was going . . . " Zi Yuan whispered .

    What? So Ao Wushuang never told Zi Yuan where she went?

    I thought those two were in close contact with each other .

    "Su Chan and Imunicated with each other a few days ago with the paper crane," Li Yundong rified, hoping that Zi Yuan would reveal more information to him .

    "The paper crane . . . " Zi Yuan''s eyes slid shut, and there was a look of realization on her face . "I was wondering how your attacker managed to find you here in Tiannan City . Now we have the answer . " Zi Yuan opened her eyes to look at him . "The paper crane . Someone must have intercepted the paper crane after Su Chan sent it out . "

    "Well that fits," said Ruan Hongling all of a sudden .

    Li Yundong shot her a questioning look .

    "Uh . . . Hello?" Ruan Hongling said . "The attack?"

    Ruan Hongling made it sound like her point was obvious .

    Well, it wasn''t .

    Li Yundong frowned and shook his head .

    "Oh,e on . " Ruan Hongling rolled her eyes . "You were exchanging love letters with Su Chan . What if the person who intercepted the crane is from the Fox Zen School?"

    "So, what, they decided to assassinate me just because I''m in a rtionship with Su Chan?"

    "Rumor has it that there''s a power struggle within the Fox Zen School," Zi Yuan said . "The senior members of the school don''t really get along with each other . I heard it''s been going on for years . "

    "Because they all wanted to take over the school at some point," Li Yundong observed .

    Zi Yuan nodded . "The official story behind Wushuang-qianbei''s expulsion is that she did something to taint the Fox Zen School''s good name . "

    "Like they had any good name to begin with," Ruan Hongling mumbled .

    "What exactly did she do?" Li Yundong asked, ignoring Ruan Hongling''sment .

    "I don''t know," Zi Yuan said, shaking her head slightly . "I was still pretty young back then, so I didn''t know much about the stuff that was going on in the Cultivation world until muchter . " Zi Yuan sighed . "But even in the official story, they kept it very vague . Not much detailed was revealed . "

    Li Yundong walked towards the bench and sat down beside Zi Yuan . "But you think there''s more to the story . " He stared at Zi Yuan for a few seconds . "You think they''re lying . "

    Zi Yuan''s eyes darted to his . "No one knows for sure . But there are a few rumors making such ims . "

    Li Yundong turned slightly in the bench so that he was facing Zi Yuan fully . Even Ruan Hongling seemed to be listening to Zi Yuan with rapt attention .

    "These are just rumors," Zi Yuan said emphatically . "It''s best if you two take them with a grain of salt . "

    Zi Yuan shot Ruan Hongling a pointed look immediately after she said that .

    Li Yundong smiled when he saw Ruan Hongling''s blush .

    "Some imed that there''s a hidden agenda behind Wushuang-qianbei''s expulsion," Zi Yuan said .

    Realization washed over Li Yundong . "Because she was the best of them . " He closed his eyes and sighed . "So they wanted her out . They wanted to eliminate the strongestpetitor . "

    Zi Yuan nodded grimly . "Maybe Wushuang-qianbei did do something, who knows? But kicking a Cultivator out of her own school? That''s an extreme measure . "

    Li Yundong rubbed his forehead . "And if Ao Wushuang did something so scandalous that it warranted her expulsion, everyone in the Cultivation world would likely know about it . " He looked towards Zi Yuan . "And yet nobody knew . Nobody knew what Ao Wushuang did . Not even you . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Exactly . " She sighed . "Well, in any case, those are just rumors . Only Wushuang-qianbei herself knows the truth . I don''t think Su Chan knows either . "

    Ruan Hongling snorted . "I doubt she would be sending you paper cranes if she knew . "

    Li Yundong stared at Ruan Hongling for a moment, wondering what she meant .

    Understanding came secondster .

    "They think I''m Ao Wushuang''s ally," Li Yundong said . "So the attack tonight is their way of eliminating the help . "

    "You yourself said that Su Chan is back at the Fox Zen School now," Ruan Honglingmented . "Think about it from their perspective . Ao Wushuang and her disciple suddenly return to the school ten years after being kicked out? And then her disciple wasmunicating with someone outside the school?" Ruan Hongling shrugged . "It all fits . "

    "Still just a theory," Zi Yuan said, rising to her feet . "I suggest we don''t cloud our minds with these assumptions until we know more . "

    "Why not just visit the Fox Zen School and be done with it?" Ruan Hongling said in an offhand tone . "The answers are all there, aren''t they?"

    "And send the Heir to his death?" Zi Yuan raised her brow . "That is unwise, Hongling . Remember that we still have no idea what''s really going on . " Zi Yuan jerked her chin towards Li Yundong . "He was attacked by one of Fox Zen School''s most lethal magical weapons tonight . And you''re suggesting that we bring him right to their doorsteps . You might as well kill him right now . "

    "Nobody said he has toe," Ruan Hongling challenged .

    "What, and leave him here on his own like a sitting duck?" Zi Yuan shook her head grimly . "No, Hongling . I need to be here to guard him . You might not know this, but the Threaded Hairpin of Traversing Soul is a highly dangerous weapon . When wielded properly, it can turnpletely invisible . It''s one of the best assassination tools out there . " Zi Yuan pointed a finger at Li Yundong . "He would''ve died tonight if I wasn''t here . He doesn''t stand a chance . "

    Li Yundong cleared his throat harshly . "Um . . . Will you two please stop talking as if I''m not sitting right here?"

    Zi Yuan''s features softened . "I apologize . " Then, she looked away and sighed . "It''s just . . . Tonight was a close call . Imagine what would happen if you were sitting alone inside your apartment tonight instead of being at the performance . What if Hongling had decided not to give her calligraphy performance? Then I wouldn''t even be here at all . . . "

    Li Yundong sighed, not knowing what else to say .

    "I didn''t even see the attacking," Zi Yuan said after a few moments .

    "Still," Li Yundong said . "You saved my ass . Thank you . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Don''t mention it . "

    "Do you think Su Chan will be okay?" he asked tentatively .

    "If it''s any constion to you," Zi Yuan said, "Wushuang-qianbei is there . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "Have you heard from her recently?"

    "No," Zi Yuan said . "She specifically warned me not to make contact with her shortly after your return from Tibet . " Zi Yuan paused . "Now I know why . "

    Li Yundong nodded and decided to let the subject drop . There was another question that he needed answers to .

    He turned around and picked up Liuhe from the stone table .

    There was a niggling suspicion at the back of his mind regarding the sword''s behavior tonight . The sword tried to kill him as soon as the hairpin showed up, just like how the Fan of Seven Treasures had tried to attack Feng Ji back at the canteen . But thetter made sense because the fan must have sensed Feng Ji''s malicious intention towards him back then and was just trying to protect him .

    But what about Liuhe?

    Back on the stage, Liuhe had acted as though it was trying to protect its owner from him . But Liuhe''s owner was Zi Yuan''s shibo, someone who had been missing for nine years . Was Zi Yuan''s shibo here tonight? But wouldn''t Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling have noticed it if their own shibo were close by?

    Besides, how could he harbor malicious intention towards a woman he''d never even met?

    Unless . . .

    "Zi Yuan . . . ?" Li Yundong''s eyes went from the de to Zi Yuan .

    The whispered conversation between Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling came to a halt .

    "Yes?"

    "You said that your shibo visited the Fox Zen School nine years ago . . . " Li Yundong paused in thought . "And then she went missing after that?"

    "Yes . "

    Li Yundong sat down on the bench andid the sword over hisp .

    What if this Mo Ahshi person killed Zi Yuan''s shibo and then somehow imed the sword? That would exin why the sword began attacking him immediately after the hairpin made its appearance, wouldn''t it? Maybe Mo Ahshi was the owner of the sword before he erased her spiritual signature just now, and the sword tried to stab him because he was harboring malicious intent towards the hairpin, which was essentially Mo Ahshi .

    "Li Yundong?"

    Zi Yuan''s soft voice pulled him out of his thoughts .

    He cleared his throat and looked towards Ruan Hongling . "Nobody has touched the sword since your shibo left it at the Yan family home?"

    Ruan Hongling shook her head .

    "You''re sure about that?" Li Yundong asked .

    "Our shibo asked us to keep an eye on it," Ruan Hongling said defensively . "So, yes . I''m sure . "

    Li Yundong raised his brows . "And yet you seemed surprised when Yan Hua brought it here tonight . "

    Ruan Hongling blushed .

    Li Yundong raised his brows higher . Even Zi Yuan was staring at Ruan Hongling now .

    "Okay . Fine . I was . . . " Ruan Hongling cleared her throat . "I . . . I may have been avoiding the Yan family home . " She shot a tentative nce at Zi Yuan .

    "Ah . I see . " Li Yundong chuckled . "I guess that''s understandable . "

    It wouldn''t take a genius to figure out what (or rather, who) Ruan Hongling was trying to avoid . Although Li Yundong had only known Yan Hua for a few days, he was repulsed by the guy already .

    But that was none of his business .

    His business had to do with the sword and its ownership at the time of the attack .

    He stole a nce at Zi Yuan . Her shibo didn''t bring the sword with her when she visited the Fox Zen School . But was it possible for Mo Ahshi to sneak into the Yan family home without anyone noticing and then somehow im the sword as hers?

    Stealth was the Fox Zen School''s forte, right?

    But wait . . .

    Something still didn''t add up .

    Why didn''t the sword attack Zi Yuan? Zi Yuan was fighting the hairpin as well!

    Then, another thought hit him .

    What if it was the other way around? What if Zi Yuan''s shibo had stolen Mo Ahshi''s hairpin during her visit to the Fox Zen School and then made it hers? Which would mean that Zi Yuan''s shibo was the one controlling the hairpin tonight . And, of course, it meant that Zi Yuan''s shibo was still the owner of the sword during the attack earlier . That would exin why the sword never tried to attack Zi Yuan¡ªwhy would Zi Yuan''s shibo attack her own people?

    So far, the second theory fit most of the facts .

    But still, it begged yet another question: what was the motive behind the attack?

    Why on earth would Zi Yuan''s shibo want to assassinate him? They didn''t even know each other for f*ck''s sake! Was this about the Renyuan Jindan again? Or was there something bigger at y here?

    Li Yundong stole a nce at Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling, who appeared to be having their own private discussion . Li Yundong sighed and studied the sword in hisp .

    Li Yundong had the impression that Ruan Hongling and Zi Yuan respected their shibo a great deal . They would definitely not take it well if he so much as insinuated that she was a thief and possibly a killer .

    There was, of course, a third possibility: that Mo Ahshi and Zi Yuan''s shibo were in cahoots with each other, working towards some unknown scheme .

    Maybe "settling a score with Ao Wushuang" was just a smokescreen, an excuse for Zi Yuan''s shibo to visit the Fox Zen School (to meet with Mo Ahshi) without rousing suspicion . After all, who in their right minds would leave one of their most powerful weapons at home when they were off to fight a Cultivator as powerful as Ao Wushuang?

    The third possibility would also exin the apparent discrepancy in tonight''s events . Maybe there were two attackers tonight . Maybe Zi Yuan''s shibo decided to step in and finish the job when Mo Ahshi failed to kill him with the hairpin the first time . Maybe that was why the sword never attacked Zi Yuan, because Zi Yuan''s shibo was controlling it .

    Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling seemed to be wrapping up their private discussion at another corner of the gazebo . Ruan Hongling nodded at something Zi Yuan said, then they both walked over to where he was sitting .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat .

    "Do you mind telling me more about your shibo?" he said in a casual tone . Then, he chuckled . "I mean, I don''t even know her name . "

    Zi Yuan sat down beside him . "Yan Fang . That''s my shibo''s name . Code name, the Eventide Reaper . "

    Li Yundong shifted on the bench . "The Eventide Reaper?"

    "That''s what everyone in the world of Cultivation calls her," Ruan Hongling supplied .

    Zi Yuan smiled . "The one who harvests the clouds of the evening sky . That¡¯s the meaning behind the code name . "

    Li Yundong took a deep breath and decided to go for it .

    "Do you think Yan-zhenren was close by tonight?"

    A palpable tension spread between them . Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling looked at each other awkwardly .

    Momentster, Zi Yuan sighed .

    "That''s what Hongling and I were discussing just now . We¡ª"

    "Shibo would definite show herself if she came back!" Ruan Hongling snapped . There was a look of defiance in her eyes, which was ssy with unshed tears .

    Zi Yuan sighed tiredly . "Hongling . . . "

    "Doesn''t she know how much the Linggong Sect is being oppressed right now?" Ruan Hongling continued her rant . "Our sect is on the verge of copse! We are about to be overthrown! We''ve been bullied ever since Master¡ª"

    Ruan Hongling stopped herself and turned away .

    Li Yundong nced at Zi Yuan, whose expression seemed as calm as ever . The only sign of her distress was the clenched fists in herp .

    Ruan Hongling cleared her throat . "Shibo isn''t here . She hasn''t . . . She hasn''t returned . She would never abandon the sect . "

    "She might be right, you know?" Li Yundong offered .

    Both women''s gaze snapped to his .

    Right . It wasn''t every day that they got to see Li Yundong agreeing with Ruan Hongling .

    He shrugged and said, "This sword is hers, right? And I took it from her . Wouldn''t shee running the moment I imed it?"

    Ruan Hongling''s eyes widened slightly .

    There .

    There it was again, that look .

    The same look on Ruan Hongling''s face before Zi Yuan arrived: the look of awe and reverence .

    "That is what I did, right?" His eyes travelled from Ruan Hongling to Zi Yuan before settling on Ruan Hongling''s face again . "That''s what you told me back on the stage . You said I imed it . " He raised the sword and studied it for a bit, then looked towards Zi Yuan . "But what about the awakening? Isn''t there supposed to be a ritual? It didn''t happen just now . "

    Zi Yuan held out her palm . "Give me the sword for a sec . "

    Li Yundongplied .

    Zi Yuan took the sword and close her eyes for a few seconds .

    "Hmm . . . " Zi Yuan opened her eyes . "It hasn''t fully recognized you as the owner yet . "

    "It hasn''t?" Ruan Hongling said in surprise .

    Zi Yuan nced at the younger girl . "No . "

    "Oh," said Ruan Hongling .

    "Shibo''s spiritual signature was gone, though," Zi Yuan said, looking at Li Yundong in awe . "Completely wiped clean . "

    "In just a few minutes no less . . . " Ruan Hongling whispered . "Amazing . . . "

    "Forces beyond our control, Hongling," Zi Yuan said, her brows quirking as she gave Li Yundong a pointed look . "Forces beyond our control . " Zi Yuan held out the sword to Li Yundong . "Do you want to keep it? It''s yours if you keep channeling your Zhenqi into it . "

    Li Yundong considered the offer .

    "Is that wise?" he said after a moment . "That sword is Yan-zhenren''s signature weapon . Wouldn''t other Cultivators recognize it if I walk around with it? Besides . . . " Li Yundong jerked his chin towards his backpack, from which the Fan of Seven Treasures was jutting out . "My hands are kinda full . "

    There was a small smile on Zi Yuan''s lips when she retracted her hand and ced the sword on herp .

    "The Jindan''s Heir indeed," Zi Yuan said, shaking her head in disbelief . "It''s bing more and more obvious now why you were chosen . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "I beg your pardon?"

    "Most Cultivators would die to own this," Zi Yuan said, tapping the scabbard with her fingers . "If you were one of them, then you would''ve taken the sword out of sheer greed when I offered it to you earlier . " Zi Yuan sighed and schooled her features . "Look, I meant what I said earlier . I think this sword came to you for a reason . "

    "Yeah . To murder me," Li Yundong mumbled .

    "Or to seek out a worthy wielder," Zi Yuan said, her tone stern despite the smile on her face . "The sword will be in my care for now . It is a waste to leave it idle at the Yan family home . " Zi Yuan looked towards Ruan Hongling . "We have to face the reality that shibo might not return to us, Hongling . " Zi Yuan turned towards Li Yundong . "The sword is yours whenever you''re ready to wield it . "

    Li Yundong sighed . "If it''s okay with both of you, then sure . "

    For several minutes, the gazebo remained silent except for the sound of crickets .

    "What about the Fox Zen School?" Li Yundong asked, breaking the silence . "Shouldn''t we look into the matter?"

    "Not we . " Zi Yuan gave him a withering look . "I will look into it . And you, need to focus on your training . " Zi Yuan sighed and gazed into the darkness surrounding the gazebo . "I still need a bit of time toplete the design of your training drill, but it''s almost ready . "

    "Training drill?"

    Zi Yuan gave him a slight nod . "To prepare you for the divine punishment . " Zi Yuan stared at him for a moment . "The sooner you survive the divine punishment, the sooner you can advance into the higher phases of Cultivation . Even if the Fox Zen School is really in trouble, there''s nothing you can do to help unless you''ve passed the Shentong phase . You''ll be dead if you charge in now . Or worse, you''ll be giving your weapons away to the enemy for free . "

    Right . The Fan of Seven Treasures . And the Jindan as well .

    Li Yundong nodded . "Let me know when the drill is ready . In the meantime I''ll just keep doing what I''ve been doing¡ªgo through the Orb Fortification cycle every day to strengthen my Vital Orb . "

    "Good . " Zi Yuan turned towards Ruan Hongling . "Hongling . "

    "Yes, elder sister . "

    "Return to Mount Longhu immediately . " Zi Yuan gave Ruan Hongling a meaningful look . "You know what to do . "

    Ruan Hongling nodded . "Yes . And I will do my best, elder sister . "

    "Good . Be sure to take my golden seal with you . "

    "Understood . "

    Zi Yuan nodded regally, then stared out into the darkness .

    "Let''s see what the Fox Zen School is really up to . "

 Chapter 233

    Chapter 233

    The Ghost

    The night breeze caressed Zhou Qin''s face, its warmth thawing the chill on her skin . Finally she felt like she could breathe again . Behind her, the double door closed with a loud bang, dampening the cacophony of cheers and yells from the hall until it became a distant din . Once they were out the door, Cheng Cheng quickened her pace, and Zhou Qin watched as her wheelchair rolled towards the side of the grand hall where several benches were sat side by side . They stopped beside one of the benches, and Cheng Cheng sat down with a sigh .

    "Thank you, xuejie," Zhou Qin said . "For taking care of me . "

    Cheng Cheng looked up from her hands and gave Zhou Qin a weak smile . "Don''t mention it . We can wait here for Li Yundong toe back . "

    Zhou Qin nodded and resumed her observation of her xuejie''s demeanor . Cheng Cheng''s face seemed a bit ashen, and her hands were trembling against herp .

    Zhou Qin could definitely rte to those visceral reactions . In fact, she was pretty sure she would be experiencing them too if she wasn''t so benumbed by her own circumstances .

    "Are you okay, Zhou Qin?"

    Zhou Qin looked up and met Cheng Cheng''s concerned gaze .

    Zhou Qin smiled . "I''m fine, xuejie . What about you? Are you okay?"

    "Just shocked," said Cheng Cheng . "I mean . . . What happened back there . . . That was . . . " Cheng Cheng shook her head in disbelief . "God . . . I don''t even know what to say . "

    Zhou Qin sighed and said nothing .

    What else was there to say?

    Anyone with a functioning brain would''ve realized by now that Li Yundong wasn''t normal, that he was capable of superhuman feats . Only those foolish students inside the hall would believe the impromptu story that Feng Na xuejie came up with in order to salvage what was left of the event . Then again, it was probably a good thing that the students bought the story . After all, Zhou Qin no longer had the power to bail Li Yundong out if he got into trouble .

    "That needle thing was trying to kill him," Cheng Cheng said out of the blue .

    Zhou Qin nced at her xuejie, then nodded . "That sword as well . "

    "First he dodged bullets . And now this?" Cheng Cheng ran a hand through her hair . "What else can''t he do?"

    Zhou Qin wondered what Cheng Cheng xuejie''s reaction would be if she told her that Li Yundong was slowly healing her legs by giving her head massages .

    God . Zhou Qin still didn''t know how he was able to do it . Like, she epted that he could, but she still wanted to know how he did it .

    It suddenly felt like there was a world of things out there that she didn''t know anything about . Wealth and status seemed like nothing nowpared to the mysterious world out there, the world of the unknown, the realm of the unfathomable .

    "Well, Feng Na xuejie''s quick thinking kinda saved the event," Zhou Qin remarked dryly .

    Cheng Cheng let out augh, which quickly turned into a snort .

    "I can''t believe thatme-ass excuse actually worked," said Cheng Cheng . "I thought the event''s gonna tank for sure . "

    Zhou Qinughed . God it felt good tough openly .

    "But it didn''t . " Zhou Qin smirked . "In fact, I think the students are pretty excited about the whole thing . "

    Cheng Cheng rolled her eyes . "Those idiots . " Then, Cheng Cheng sighed . "Well . . . At least nothing is broken and nobody was hurt . So there''s that . "

    The double doors of the grand hall burst open, and the students poured out into the night in their rowdy and boisterous fashion .

    "Hmm . I guess the event has wrapped up," Cheng Cheng said, looking over at the grand hall .

    Zhou Qin forced herself to look away from the main entrance and focused her eyes on her front .

    "You can go look for Feng Na xuejie if you want," Zhou Qin said . "I''m fine on my own . "

    "No way," Cheng Cheng protested . "What kind of friend would I be if I leave you on your own like this?"

    Zhou Qin twisted her head around in surprise and nearly regretted doing that . The determination and sincerity she saw on Cheng Cheng''s face brought tears to her eyes . Crying in front of a xuejie? Great job, Zhou Qin . Great job .

    "W- What?" Zhou Qin saidmely .

    Cheng Cheng smiled . "I''m staying, Zhou Qin . At least until Li Yundong gets here . So deal with it . "

    Zhou Qin nodded and quickly looked away .

    Friends, huh?

    What started out as a conjecture, a mere hypothesis, had finally been validated . Zhou Qin had real friends; even though she had been stripped of everything and turned into a cripple, there was actually a living person¡ªother than Li Yundong and Su Chan¡ªwho saw her as a friend .

    It amazed her how that simple knowledge could bring far more satisfaction than all the wealth and status she had once possessed . Don''t cry, Zhou Qin . Don''t cry .

    "Uh-oh¡­ Iing, 9 o''clock," Cheng Cheng mumbled suddenly .

    Zhou Qin nced to her left and immediately froze . Then, she recovered quickly and turned away, cursing her bad luck .

    Go away . . . Please make her go away . . . I''m not in the mood to deal with her . Please¡­ Not now . . .

    Zhou Qin tightened her grip on the armrest of her wheelchair .

    Cheng Cheng rose to her feet and leaned down . "Hey, we can wait somewhere else if you want . "

    Zhou Qin shook her head . "It''s okay, xuejie . "

    She had already seen them anyway, which was why she was heading over; she would just follow them if they tried to leave .

    "Well, well, well . . . If it isn''t the great Miss Zhou . What a surprise to see you here . "

    Zhou Qin clenched her jaw .

    She was smart enough to read between the lines: I can''t believe you have the courage to show your face here in your state .

    Zhou Qin took a deep breath and turned around to face the woman .

    Stay cool, Zhou Qin . Stay cool . You can handle this .

    Zhou Qin smirked . "I didn''t know you''re an active participant of club activities, Ding Nan . When did that happen?"

    Zhou Qin could sense Cheng Cheng''s movements behind her . A secondter, Zhou Qin felt a firm pressure on the top of the wheelchair''s backrest; Cheng Cheng''s hands were gripping the push handles tightly as though she was ready to push Zhou Qin away any time .

    Zhou Qin sent a silent thank you to her new friend .

    To her surprise, Ding Nan didn''t answer her taunt with some venomous riposte right away . Instead, Ding Nan was just studying her like she was some kind of specimen .

    Zhou Qin felt a sudden urge to stand up even though she knew she would fall over if she did . She hated the height difference between them; she hated the fact that Ding Nan was literally looking down on her with those smug eyes .

    Then, Ding Nan startedughing . "Oh¡­ Look at how much you''ve changed in two months . "

    You have no idea how much I''ve changed . No idea .

    "But one thing about you still hasn''t changed, I suppose," Ding Nan sneered . "That smart mouth of yours!"

    Zhou Qin''s grip on the armrest tightened a little as she fought against the impulse to drown Ding Nan in a litany of sarcastic and witty remarks .

    She isn''t worth it, Zhou Qin . Just let her talk .

    Ding Nanughed snidely . "What? Nothing to say for yourself, O Great Miss Zhou Qin? Aha! I know¡­" Ding Nan pped her hands together . "You''re scared, aren''t you? You''re scared of me coz you''re a nobody now . You have nothing else to threaten me with, and that terrifies you . " Ding Nan took a few steps closer . "Tsk, tsk . I never thought I''d live to see the day where the great Miss Zhou Qin got turned into a helpless cripple . How the tides have turned . . . "

    "Enough, Ding Nan!" Cheng Cheng''s voice sounded behind her .

    Zhou Qin turned around in surprise . What surprised Zhou Qin even more, though, was the anger and protectiveness she saw on Cheng Cheng''s face .

    This was the real deal .

    Her xuejie was defending her even though doing so wouldn''t confer any benefits at all . Cheng Cheng was doing this because she actually cared about a helpless cripple like her .

    "You''ve gone too far, Ding Nan," Cheng Cheng growled . "Now back off!"

    Ding Nan''s venomousughter drew Zhou Qin''s attention away from Cheng Cheng''s face .

    "Me? I''ve gone too far?" Ding Nan''s eyes shed angrily . "So it''s okay for her to walk all over me with her status and power? It''s okay for her to force me to jump off a rooftop, and I can''t even say a few things to her face?"

    Zhou Qin sighed inwardly . This again¡­

    "How many times do I have to tell you that I had a n that day?" Zhou Qin said coolly . "Neither of us would have to fall off the rooftop if you would just listen¡ª"

    "That''s a lie!" Ding Nan screamed . "You''re a liar!"

    "Let''s just go, Zhou Qin," Cheng Cheng said . "Let''s not waste our breaths on this crazy bitch . "

    The wheelchair rolled forward .

    "Hey! I''m not done with you!" Ding Nan stopped the wheelchair by pressing both of her hands on the armrest . Then, Ding Nan leaned down until her face was mere inches away from Zhou Qin''s .

    Zhou Qin met Ding Nan''s gaze head on . Crippled or not, Zhou Qin had already stared death right in the face and survived . Ding Nan didn''t evene close to intimidating her .

    "Let . Go . Ding Nan," Cheng Cheng said . "I''m warning you . . . "

    "It''s okay, xuejie," Zhou Qin said without taking her eyes off Ding Nan .

    She had to deal with Ding Nan sooner orter, so she might as well get this over with .

    "Ding Nan . . . You said that I walked all over you in the past," Zhou Qin said . "But ask yourself this¡ª did I really?"

    "Didn''t you?" Ding Nan sneered .

    "It was a deal, Ding Nan," Zhou Qin said . "A two-way agreement . And you know it . You could back out any time . And not once did I let those men do anything to disrespect you . I even protected you . " Zhou Qin quirked her brow . "I don''t have to remind you how I saved you from He Shao, do I?"

    It brought Zhou Qin a small amount of satisfaction to see the look on Ding Nan''s face falter .

    "You chose to take the deal, Ding Nan," Zhou Qin said . "Everyone is responsible for their own choices . "

    Their ring matchsted for a few more seconds before Ding Nan released the armrest and straightened herself .

    Just when Zhou Qin thought the conversation was finally over, Ding Nan startedughing hysterically .

    "Everyone is responsible for their own choices . . . Hah!" Ding Nan stoppedughing . "How fitting!" With her foot, Ding Nan tapped the side of the wheelchair a few times . "So this must be the consequence of your past choices then, huh?" Ding Nanughed derisively . "So much for your holier-than-thou speech earlier . Just look at how the Heavens have punished you! You must be such a bitch in the past that the Heavens decided to turn you into a cripple . " Ding Nanughed again . "You and karma must be best buddies now . Since you''re both bitches . "

    "Shut . Up . Ding Nan," Cheng Cheng growled .

    "No, you shut up!" Ding Nan red at Cheng Cheng . "This is between me and her . It''s none of your business, so get lost!"

    "Zhou Qin is my friend," Cheng Cheng said in a raised voice . "Her business is my business!"

    Silence followed Cheng Cheng''s fervent deration .

    Once again, Zhou Qin found herself teetering between tion and disbelief . Oh God, she''d been such a fool for not believing in the good of people sooner .

    What a blind fool I''ve been . . .

    s, Ding Nan''s deliriousughter shattered the moment to pieces .

    "Hahaha¡­ Oh my God . . . That''s a good one . "

    "What the hell is so funny?" Cheng Cheng said coldly .

    Zhou Qin could hear the push handles straining under Cheng Cheng''s tight grip .

    Ding Nan stoppedughing to catch her breath . "Oh, God . . . That was hrious . "

    "You . . . " Cheng Cheng growled .

    "You do know that Zhou Qin is just a nobody now, right?" Ding Nan said in a smug tone .

    "She''s not a nobody," Cheng Cheng said . "She''s my friend . "

    Ding Nan smirked . "But she''s not the same person anymore . "

    "Yeah . . . I''ve heard about it from Nana," Cheng Cheng challenged . "So what?"

    "So?" Ding Nanughed . "Why bother sticking up for her? You won''t get any benefits at all . In fact, it''s the opposite . People might start shunning you if you stick around . Just like they''re shunning her . "

    "I''d rather stick around her than the likes of you," Cheng Cheng scorned .

    "Is that so?" Ding Nan chuckled . "What do you have to gain, I wonder? Let''s see . . . Her prestige? Her status? But no . Those are all gone . She''s lost everything . " Ding Nan''s eyes darted to Zhou Qin''s legs briefly . "Including her ability to stand up, it would seem . Ah, well . . . I guess I see now what you''ve gained . " Ding Nan smirked . "A burden . "

    "You despicable bitch!" Cheng Cheng growled . "I''ll end you¡ª"

    Zhou Qin ced a hand on top of Cheng Cheng''s hand on the push handle . Then, she twisted her head around and gave Cheng Cheng a grateful smile .

    Cheng Cheng''s face was flushed in anger and she looked like she was about to pounce forward and start pulling hairs .

    Zhou Qin gave her xuejie a nod: I''ll take it from here .

    The gesture seemed to have calmed Cheng Cheng down a little as she turned away with a huff .

    Zhou Qin set her cold gaze upon Ding Nan . "Everything you said is true, Ding Nan . I did lose everything . " But I''ve gain true friends, she added silently . "I have no status and no power . I can''t even walk . So, yes . What you said ispletely true . I am a nobody . " Zhou Qin smirked . "But I''m a nobody with honor . You, on the other hand, are a disgrace . "

    Ding Nan''s lips twisted in displeasure, but Zhou Qin didn''t give her the opportunity to speak .

    "Mock me all you want, Ding Nan . Call me whatever you like . " Zhou Qin shrugged . "A fallen angel . A disgraced phoenix . I don''t care . " Zhou Qin smirked . "I actually pity you . "

    "You are pitying me?" Ding Nanughed incredulously . "You''re out of your mind . "

    "Why, yes, I do pity you," Zhou Qin said casually . "Not just you, of course . " She smirked . "I pity those who can only feel a sense of superiority through their mockery of others and not through actual achievements . "

    "What did you say?" Ding Nan snarled .

    "If I''m a disgraced phoenix, then you would be . . . " Zhou Qin smirked . "A chicken, I suppose . "

    A giggle sounded behind her .

    Ding Nan shot Cheng Cheng a re .

    "At least a disgraced phoenix can still fly," Zhou Qin said . "It just lost its luster and beauty, that''s all . A chicken, on the other hand, will never be able to fly . "

    "You''re one to talk!" Ding Nan roared angrily . "You can''t even stand up! You can''t walk! You''re a cripple! Get it?! An invalid!"

    "And what the hell are you, Ding Nan?"

    Zhou Qin raised her gaze at the voice . At the same time, Ding Nan turned around to look behind her .

    Striding towards them was the man whom Zhou Qin was willing to die for .

    "Li Yundong¡­" Zhou Qin whispered .

    ***

    "Stay out of this, Li Yundong," Ding Nan said . "This is between me and Zhou Qin!"

    Zhou Qin''s heart raced as she watched Li Yundong approach them with confident strides . The makeup on his face was still there, but the wig and the beard were both gone . He''d changed out of his costume as well .

    "Stay out of this?" Li Yundong said coldly . "You want me to stand by and watch you insult my friend like you did just now?" Li Yundong stopped in front of Ding Nan . "Like hell I''m gonna do that . "

    Li Yundong had growled out thatst statement .

    Ding Nan snorted derisively . "Look at you . Zhou Qin''s knight in shining armor . Some idealist who is too naive to realize that he''s being manipted . "

    Li Yundong took a step forward .

    "And look at you," Li Yundong said icily . "The nasty viper who throws hurtful words at others . The lowlife who kicks people when they are down . "

    "Can''t you see that she''s manipting you?!" Ding Nan screamed . "You don''t know her as well as I do! She''s acting pitiful to win yourpassion! This kind of deception is her forte! You''re being fooled, Li Yundong! Once she''s done using you, she¡ª"

    "Enough!!!"

    Li Yundong''s roar ended Ding Nan''s outburst .

    "I thought you''d changed after the shooting, Ding Nan," Li Yundong said coldly . "I guess I was wrong . You''re still the same heartless woman from those months ago . " Li Yundongughed darkly . "Actually no . You''re even worse than before . I guess you''ve finally shown us your true colors . "

    "Li Yundong! You¡ª"

    "Get out of my sight," Li Yundong cut in . "You repulse me . "

    Ding Nan gasped . Secondster, she burst into tears and ran off . Zhou Qin sighed in relief, d that the ordeal was over .

    "I''m sorry, Zhou Qin," Li Yundong said once Ding Nan was gone . He crouched down beside her wheelchair . "I didn''t mean to run off after the performance . I just . . . " He scratched his neck awkwardly . "I had to take care of . . . stuff . "

    Zhou Qin smiled . By stuff, he probably meant: freaky, supernatural things .

    "Don''t worry about it," she said .

    "Are you okay?" he asked .

    "I''m fine . Just a little tired . "

    Li Yundong rose to his feet instantly . "Then I''ll take you back now . "

    "Wait!" Zhou Qin grabbed Li Yundong''s sleeve . "Hold on a sec . "

    Li Yundong gave her a quizzical look .

    Turning away from him, Zhou Qin reached out with both hands and sped Cheng Cheng''s hand in them .

    "Xuejie," Zhou Qin said, gazing deeply into Cheng Cheng''s eyes, hoping to convey every ounce of gratitude she felt towards the other woman .

    Cheng Cheng shifted awkwardly . "Y- Yeah?"

    "Thank you," Zhou Qin said in an earnest tone . "For everything . "

    "O-Oh . . . " Cheng Cheng chuckled a few times . "It''s nothing, really . It''s what friends are for, right?"

    Zhou Qin grasped Cheng Cheng''s hand tighter when she felt Cheng Cheng''s hand slipping away .

    "I mean it, xuejie," Zhou Qin said . "Thank you . "

    Cheng Cheng grinned and patted Zhou Qin''s hand a few times . "I know you mean it . And you''re wee . " Cheng Cheng cleared her throat . "Well, I gotta go look for Nana now . " She rolled her eyes . "Before she sends out a search party to look for me . "

    Li Yundong''s chuckles sounded behind her .

    "Good night, Cheng Cheng," he said . "Say hi to Feng Na for me, would you?"

    "Sure," Cheng Cheng said with a casual wave of her hand .

    "Oh! And uh . . . Sorry about the performance . . . "

    Zhou Qin could imagine Li Yundong''s grimace even though she couldn''t see her face .

    "You and your superhuman theatrics . " Cheng Cheng rolled her eyes . "Honestly . "

    "Hey!" Li Yundong said, thenughed . "You guys were the one who roped me into it in the first ce . "

    "Yeah, yeah, yeah," Cheng Cheng said, waving her hand . Then, she shed them a smile . "Good night, guys . "

    Zhou Qin smiled . "Good night, xuejie . "

    Cheng Cheng nodded, then pointed at Li Yundong . "Hey dude . You''ll be careful, right?" Cheng Cheng''s eyes narrowed . "Those freakish needles aren''t gonna attack you again, are they?"

    Li Yundong''sughter rang out behind her . "Nah . Took care of them . "

    For the life of her, Zhou Qin couldn''t imagine what "taking care" might entail .

    As soon as Cheng Cheng''s figure vanished through the grand hall''s main entrance, Zhou Qin felt a hand on her shoulder .

    "Shall we?" Li Yundong asked .

    Zhou Qin nodded .

    Li Yundong turned the wheelchair right, then rolled it forward .

    "It''s still early," Li Yundongmented, "so we might be able to catch a cab . "

    Zhou Qin snorted . "Can''t you just . . . I don''t know, fly us back or something?"

    Li Yundong chuckled . "I wish I could, Zhou Qin . I wish I could . "

    There was something wistful in his tone, but Zhou Qin decided not to push . They had had enough excitement for one night .

    Neither of them spoke for a while as the wheelchair rolled past the academic building towards the gates . Li Yundong had tried to avoid crowded paths, but they still encountered a few groups of students who were on their way towards the gates as well .

    The students were pointing fingers at her, whispering, and . . . well, the usual drill .

    A whileter, Zhou Qin broke the silence .

    "Hey, Li Yundong . . . "

    Her tone must''ve sounded strange to him because the wheelchair slowed to a stop .

    "Yeah?"

    "I . . . " Zhou Qin cleared her throat . "Was I really that bad? I mean, before I''m like this . " She gestured at her own legs, then let her hands drop . "I just . . . " She sighed . "Ding Nan hated me so much . . . "

    "Honestly?" Li Yundong said . "I don''t think you''re that bad . "

    Zhou Qin turned her head around to look at the man . "Really?"

    "A little standoffish, maybe?" He shrugged . "But other than that, you''re fine . "

    Zhou Qin heaved a sigh of relief .

    "Look, just ignore whatever Ding Nan said to you, okay? You should know by now how jealousy can drive people to say hurtful things . " Li Yundong paused for a moment . "Just focus on getting better for now . "

    Zhou Qin pondered his words silently, reflecting on her past actions . Admittedly, she had been too cynical in the past . She was so disillusioned with society and with her own upbringing that she was incapable of believing the good in people .

    "Everyone has their own path to follow, Zhou Qin," Li Yundong said . "The past isn''t as important as the now and the future . The important thing is that we learn from the past and keep growing as a person . " Li Yundongughed . "I mean, just look at me . I used to be a hot-headed idiot with anger issues . "

    "Oh? You mean you''re not a hot-headed idiot now?" Zhou Qin said archly .

    "Hey!" Li Yundong said, feigning a hurt tone .

    Okay, that was a little mean, but she just couldn''t resist .

    "Okay . . . yeah . . . Maybe I''m still a little bit of a hot-headed idiot," Li Yundong mumbled .

    Zhou Qin chuckled . "Rx . I was kidding . "

    Li Yundongughed and pushed the wheelchair forward again . "Sure you are . "

    Neither of them spoke until about a minuteter .

    Again, it was Zhou Qin who broke the silence .

    "Thank you for defending me just now," Zhou Qin said .

    "Mm-hmm," Li Yundong said, then paused for a moment . "And it seems like I''m not the only one who did . "

    Zhou Qin froze . He almost sounded cheerful .

    "Oh, you mean Cheng Cheng xuejie?"

    "Yep," Li Yundong said . "Clearly, something must have happened before I showed up . "

    "Mm . Xuejie defended me," Zhou Qin said, then chuckled . "Rather fiercely, in fact . "

    "And how do you feel about that?"

    Zhou Qin sighed and considered the question for a moment .

    "Grateful? Happy? Touched? Amazed?" She chuckled . "Something in between? I don''t even know . "

    Li Yundong hummed . "So you were wrong before . "

    "Hmm?"

    "At the hospital, you told me that you no longer have friends," Li Yundong said . "You were wrong . "

    "I guess so . "

    "True friends reveal themselves in times of trouble, Zhou Qin . You mentioned that all your friends started avoiding you after your ident . Here''s the thing . They aren''t even your friends to begin with . "

    Zhou Qin sighed . "Yeah . " Then, she forced out a chuckle . "Good riddance, then . "

    "You still have friends, Zhou Qin . People still care, and it''s got nothing to do with your status or whatever," Li Yundong said earnestly . "So don''t give up, okay?"

    Zhou Qin bit her lip and said nothing . The truth was that she would have to give up on something . She just hoped that her heart would still be in one piece after that .

    ***

    Ding Nan stumbled along the street, not knowing at all where she was or where she was going . Her grand n, the n to taunt Zhou Qin the same way she had taunted her in the past, had backfired . It had blown up in her face .

    When the need for oxygen became too great, Ding Nan stopped running and leaned her side against amp post . Her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath . She was standing in a dark street, one that she didn''t recognize .

    Ding Nan swiped her tears, hoping that her failure to recognize the street was due to the blurriness in her vision, not the fact that she had gotten lost .

    A powerful gust of wind blew past her face .

    The next thing she knew, she was airborne .

    She couldn''t even scream; she was too terrified .

    To her surprise, hernding wasn''t a hard drop, but a slow descent until both of her heels touch the ground .

    Fear speared through her when she realized where she was: some kind of dark alley .

    A hand shot out from the darkness just as she was about to turn tail and run . She gasped and swung her fists wildly, but she couldn''t hit anything .

    "Not bad . . . Not bad . . . Definitely a good dinglu! And she''s got some fight in her too . . . " said the voice of an old man .

    What the hell?

    "Well? How about this one, my dear disciple?" said the old man . "We''ve gone through so many candidates for the past few months, but none of them were good enough for you . . . "

    Ding Nan stopped struggling when a green apparition of a woman appeared beside her .

    Ding Nan screamed and kicked her legs harder .

    A ghost . She was seeing a ghost .

    The ghost and the old man ignored her screams . The ghost circled her, looking her body up and down .

    "You''re right, Master . This one is perfect," said the ghost . "Such a wonderful dinglu . . . And she''s a virgin too . "

    "What do you guys want from me?!"

    "Aww . . . . You poor thing," said the ghost . "Save yourself some strength and stop struggling, okay? This will be over very soon, I promise . . . " The ghost hovered in front of her face . "Oh . . . And before we begin . . . I suggest you remember my name . "

    Begin? Begin what?

    The ghost flew right at her face . "The name is Lyu Fengping!"

 Chapter 234

    Chapter 234

    The Battle of Spirits

    Ding Nan awoke toplete darkness . Where am I? Why is it so dark in here? She groaned and reached up to rub her eyes¡ª

    She gasped . Where are my hands? My legs?! My¡­ My¡ª

    She couldn''t see her own body .

    Her whole body was gone .

    Ding Nan screamed and screamed, hoping that this was all just a dream . Maybe she had gotten drunk after Li Yundong had humiliated her . Maybe this was all just a sick, twisted nightmare .

    She stopped screaming when a strange and foreign sensation washed over her . She tried to sense her body again, to move her arms and legs, but she couldn''t . It was like she was conscious of her own limbs and body (as in she knew that she still had a body), but she just couldn''t see it .

    What the f*ck happened to her? Was she dead? Did those bastards kill her? Had she turned into a ghost, like the one she saw before she got trapped in this f*cked up ce?

    Shafts of light tore through the darkness . Shortly after that, the darkness fell away, and she found herself in a new ce .

    A ce full of . . . clouds? What the f*ck? Was she flying?

    "Ah . . . I see you''re finally here . . . Took you long enough . . . "

    Ding Nan gasped . That voice . . .

    It was the ghost .

    Her vision shifted the moment she willed herself to scan her surroundings .

    White fluffy clouds were all she saw . She didn''t see the green apparition anywhere .

    "Ooh . So you''re looking for me, huh?"

    Anger rose inside Ding Nan . She had had enough of being toyed, of being at another woman''s mercy . She hated it when Zhou Qin did it to her, and she hated it now .

    "Show yourself!" Ding Nan yelled .

    "Ooh . . . feisty," said the ghost . "I like it . "

    Ding Nan shrieked when the green apparition suddenly appeared in front of her .

    "Y-You bitch!" Ding Nan yelled .

    The ghost smirked . "I have a name, you know? I thought I told you already? It''s Lyu Fengping . " The ghostugh smugly . "You ought to remember it . "

    "I don''t give a damn what your name is!" Ding Nan screamed . "Where am I? And what do you want from me?!"

    "Tsk, tsk, tsk . . . So feisty," said Lyu Fengping .

    "Answer me, goddammit!"

    Lyu Fengping smirked . "Take a look around . This is your Spirit Space . "

    Her spirit what?

    Wait a minute . Was this ghost responsible for the attack on Li Yundong during the performance?

    "Where is my body," Ding Nan growled . "Why can''t I see my body?"

    "Aww, you poor thing . I guess you''ve never had an experience like this before, huh? You must be freaking out," said Lyu Fengping . "Here . Why don''t I make it easier for you?"

    Ding Nan gasped when her body suddenly popped into view . Her body was fine though . Her limbs were intact . There wasn''t even a scratch on her .

    At the moment, her body was hovering above the clouds .

    What the hell is this?

    "How''s that for an illusion . " Lyu Fengping''s apparition flitted around Ding Nan . "Nice, isn''t it? That should be able to calm you down, I suppose . Do you feel morefortable now?"

    "Illusion?" Ding Nan snarled . "What the f*ck is that supposed to mean, you bitch?"

    Lyu Fengping''s apparition stopped moving around and hovered in front of Ding Nan''s face . The woman seemed displeased with her eyes were narrowing and her green face morphing into a scowl . "I told you I have a name . " That green head shook slightly . "Tsk, tsk, tsk . So forgetful . . . Oh well . I guess it doesn''t matter . Soon, you won''t be able to remember anything anyway . You''ll be gone from this world like you never existed . " A smirk spread over that green, transparent face . "Your beautiful body will still exist though . But it will be mine . Your soul would be mine too¡­"

    This f*cking bitch was nning to kill her and then im her body as her own!

    Grr . . . Like hell I''m gonna go down without a fight!

    "Hmm . . . " Lyu Fengping said . "I guess you''re almost ready . "

    "Ready for what?"

    Lyu Fengpingughed . "Oh, you''ll see soon enough . . . " Lyu Fengping stoppedughing and moved closer to Ding Nan .

    Ding Nan swung her arm and tried to p Lyu Fengping . Her hand passed straight through Lyu Fengping''s head .

    "Stop fighting me," said Lyu Fengping . "It''s pointless . Just be obedient and it''ll be all over soon . It won''t hurt as long as you don''t resist me . "

    "Go to hell!" Ding Nan growled, then pounced on Lyu Fengping .

    ***

    Zheng Yuan was absolutely shocked by the return of his beloved disciple Lyu Fengping two months ago . He had been expecting her return, of course . He just didn''t expect her to return without a body!

    Oh, her body! That beautiful body of hers! The same body which he had spent nights showering with love and adoration .

    However, Zheng Yuan''s shock turned into rage when he found outter on that some guy who had just passed the Zhuji phase had single-handedly destroyed Ping''er''s beautiful body, not to mention reduced Wu Hao''s (another one of his disciples) to a pile of ashes, blood, and gore!

    That son of a bitch!

    The Yin Yang Sect had never suffered a humiliation of such scale ever since he took on the mantle as Head .

    This was uneptable!

    Unfortunately, Ping''er didn''t manage to get the guy''s name . The guy was smart enough not to boast or leave his name after he''d defeated two of his disciples . But it wouldn''t matter . Zheng Yuan had other ways to find the bastard . The guy could hide his name, but he couldn''t hide his moves .

    Buddhist magic, ording to Ping''er . One of the tantric mudras, apparently . Hadn''t seen one of those in ages . Powerful stuff too . But most importantly, it was a valuable piece of information, one that would lead Zheng Yuan straight to the guy . All he had to do was look towards the monks . If the guy was using Buddhist magic, then he must have some ties to the monks .

    If Zheng Yuan could find that connection, he would be able to find the guy . Simple as that .

    That wasn''t to say, of course, that Zheng Yuan hadn''t encountered any resistance while trying to follow that lead: that damned guardian sentinel kept getting in his way .

    In the end, Zheng Yuan had resorted to sending a few of his spies to get the information from one of the pilgrims . It wouldn''t take much at all to loosen the pilgrim''s tongue . All it took was a bunch of curious tourists (Zheng Yuan''s spies), and the pilgrim was soon prattling on about the "living incarnation of Mahak" walking amongst them .

    Li Yundong .

    Finally . The bastard had a name .

    Unfortunately, Zheng Yuan''s problem didn''t end there . He had gotten a name, so next he had to put a face to that name .

    The problem was that Li Yundong was such amon name in this country that it would take forever to identify him even though Ping''er recognized the guy''s face . So, Zheng Yuan had to find another way to narrow down his search .

    In the end, it was a crucial detail in the pilgrim''s story that provided Zheng Yuan with the breakthrough he needed: Li Yundong had traveled to Tibet on foot .

    Bingo .

    In only took Zheng Yuan a week to trace this "mysterious jogger with a bulky backpack" to the outskirts of Tiannan City .

    Zheng Yuanughed and nced down at the unconscious woman on the bed . It was only yesterday that he and Ping''er had arrived at Tiannan City to track down that bastard . They wouldn''t attack him yet, of course . The guy was wielding the Fan of Seven Treasures after all . And ording to Ping''er, he was powerful enough to simultaneously take out both Ping''er and Wu Hao with rtive ease . Attacking him without more intel would be foolish . They had to research him first, find out his weaknesses, something that they could exploit . Once they found out his weakness, Zheng Yuan would end the bastard''s life and avenge his disciples .

    ording to the pilgrim''s story, Li Yundong was a university student, so Zheng Yuan figured they would begin the search at Tiannan University, which was where he had been heading towards tonight .

    Until he encountered such a fine dinglu¡­

    Zheng Yuan stroked the unconscious woman''s cheek .

    Zheng Yuan knew right away that this woman possessed the perfect body for Ping''er the moment he saw her stumbling along the street, crying and wailing like someone who just had their heart broken .

    Indeed, not only was she a good dinglu, but she was also heartbroken . In other words, her Spirit would be weak . That would make it a lot easier for Ping''er to take over the girl''s Spirit Space and consume her soul . It was too good of an opportunity to pass up, so Zheng Yuan had decided to put his surveince ns on the back burner and focus on getting a body for Ping''er first .

    In the end, he captured the girl, and brought her to an alley .

    Zheng Yuan stroked his white beard and strode away from the bed .

    Ping''er should be done in a while . And then, he would have his disciple back . One of them, at least .

    ***

    "You don''t know when to quit, do you?" Lyu Fengping growled .

    Ding Nan twisted her "body" around and tried to free herself from Lyu Fengping''s wraith-like body, which was wound around her torso like some kind of serpent .

    "No! Never!" Ding Nan screamed and kept struggling .

    Lyu Fengping startedughing hysterically . "Man . . . You''re one tough bitch, I''ll give you that . Most girls would be begging to die at this point . "

    "F*ck! You!" Ding Nan kicked out her legs and twisted her torso over and over again .

    "Enough!" Lyu Fengping roared . "Don''t be a fool! The more you struggle, the more it''s going to hurt!"

    "I don''t f*cking care if it hurts," Ding Nan snarled . "I won''t let you have my body!"

    "Your efforts are futile! You are no match for me, you foolish girl!" Lyu Fengping screamed beside Ding Nan''s ear . That voice sounded hollow and creepy, but Ding Nan was way past being scared at this point . She was going to f*cking fight her way out of this if she could . She would keep fighting as long as there was still a single iota of her existence left .

    Ding Nanughed . "So what if I''m no match for you?" Ding Nan stoppedughing and smirked . "I don''t f*cking care! I would either fight you till I get my body back, or I''ll die trying!"

    "As you wish!" Lyu Fengping sneered . "Bring it on, then!"

    Ding Nan screamed in pain when she felt something threatening to engulf her, like she was being squeezed¡­ no, crushed, from all directions . Darkness began to seep into the white clouds surrounding her .

    Then, the whole ce began to shake .

    "Surrender your Spirit Space to me, woman," Lyu Fengping said in a strained voice . "Stop fighting me¡­"

    Ding Nan had once thought that her life was over . Back on the rooftop, she really thought she was going to die .

    "Zhou Qin . . . " Ding Nan growled .

    Why is it always me . . . ?

    Why is Zhou Qin always the one to have all the good luck?!

    First, she had status . But now that her status was gone, she managed to get Li Yundong to take her side?

    No . Ding Nan wouldn''t lose . She refuse to lose . She didn''t want to give Zhou Qin that satisfaction of seeing her die like some rape victim in a dark alley . Ding Nan unleashed a roar and pushed back against the omnidirectional pressure with every ounce of willpower and fighting spirit she had .

    Then, something amazing happened . The darkness in the cloud began to fade; soon, her Spirit Space was bright again .

    The pressure disappeared .

    "H- How can this be possible¡­? How can you, a mere mortal, possess a Spirit stronger than mine?"

    Lyu Fengping''s voice echoed inside Ding Nan''s Spirit Space, though the apparition was nowhere to be seen .

    A surge of confidence coursed through Ding Nan . I can beat this bitch . Yes, she could totally beat this bitch .

    "Be gone!" Ding Nan roared, and tried the same thing she did earlier to regain control .

    Lyu Fengping''s shriek resonated through her Spirit Space . Then, Lyu Fengping''s apparition appeared in front of Ding Nan once more .

    The apparition''s eyes were wide with disbelief . "Y- You . . . I- Impossible . . . "

    "Now you remember my name," Ding Nan said in a low, guttural voice . "It''s Ding Nan!"

    The apparition''s eyes rolled upwards .

    A momentter, tiny green tendrils rose from the apparition''s form .

    Lyu Fengping''s ghost was evaporating .

    The tendrils floated around the Spirit Space for a moment before they gathered on top of Ding Nan''s head .

    Suddenly, the tendrils shot into Ding Nan''s body, and the next thing she knew, the Spirit Space vanished in a white sh .

    What the¡ª

    Dozens and dozens of images shed and blurred in Ding Nan''s vision . It was like she was flying through some kind of warp tunnel . Some of those shes consisted of faces, faces that Ding Nan had never seen before . There were also people walking around dressed in robes, and strange buildings that looked like temples . Then she saw an old man with long white beard . It was the same old man who had his fingers around her throat at the alley .

    Then it hit her .

    These were all Lyu Fengping''s memories .

    Suddenly, the visions slowed down .

    Wait . . . Where was this? A mountain? She saw a lot of snow .

    The image changed into the inside of a car . From Ding Nan''s point of view, she was sitting across a man''sp, straddling him .

    The car disappeared, and she was suddenly approaching a man who looked like a beggar . The man had long, unkempt hair, and there was a long object sticking out of his¡ª

    Li Yundong?!

    A wave of sadness crashed into Ding Nan when the image changed: the man whosep she''d been straddling inside the car was dying; he was engulfed in mes, and there was blood and gore everywhere .

    Then, she found herself face to face with Li Yundong, like they were about to fight each other . The sadness instantly changed into anger .

    Li Yundong was doing something with his hands, some kind of strange hand sign .

    She felt yet another change in her emotion: from anger to fear .

    Two golden apparitions of a lion leaped out from Li Yundong''s hands . Ding Nan''s vision exploded in a burst of light .

    When the light cleared away, she was hovering in the air, staring down at Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong''s lips were moving .

    "Tell me something . . . Who put you guys up to this, huh?"

    What was he talking about?

    "How did you recognize this fan . . . I never showed it to anyone . . . somebody must have tipped you off . . . I want a name!!"

    "Answer me!!"

    "Be gone, evil . . . Suffer the hand of Purification . . . Namah samanta vajranam ham!"

    Golden light filled her vision, then everything turned white .

    ***

    When Ding Nan slowly blinked her eyes open, the face of the old man hovered above hers . It was Lyu Fengping''s master .

    "How are you feeling, Ping''er?"

    Ping''er? Lyu Fengping .

    The man clearly thought that Lyu Fengping had sessfully taken over her body .

    The old fool .

    I must y my part, otherwise he might kill me .

    And then what? Should she follow him back? She probably should . Until Ding Nan could find an opportunity to escape, she had no choice but to live the life of Lyu Fengping .

    "What is it, Ping''er?" asked the old man . "Is it because you''re not used to your new body?"

    I have to say something now . Can''t let him suspect anything .

    Ding Nan forced out a giggle . "I''m fine, Master . . . In fact, I''ve never been better!"

    The old man burst intoughter . Then, he suddenly grabbed Ding Nan''s wrist . Goosebumps broke all over Ding Nan''s flesh, and she resisted the urge to shudder .

    "Come! We shall forget about revenge for now and return to Mount Wu Hua first," said the old man . "You need some time to recuperate and get used to your new body . "

    Ding Nan covered up her nerves with a smirk .

    "As you wish, Master," she said, struggling to keep her voice steady .

    "Let''s go then, Ping''er!" said the old man . "Off to Mount Wu Hua we go!"

 Chapter 235.1

    Chapter 235.1

    Answers

    Li Yundong slipped into Apartment 20A, closing the door behind him . Darkness and quietude greeted him at the doorway, a mark of Zi Yuan''s absence .

    He and Zi Yuan had parted ways shortly after Ruan Hongling left the gazebo . Right before she left, Zi Yuan had asked him for her phone back, saying that she needed it to make some urgent calls . She seemed to be in a hurry to leave too . When he asked her what the problem was, she gave him a cryptic smile and told him that she had to deal with the ramifications of tonight''s incident, even more so since it had urred right in front of so many civilians .

    "There is a reason why good Cultivators tend to keep a low profile in the mortal world," Zi Yuan had told him back at the gazebo . "Too much exposure incites challenge, and challenge incites trouble . And trouble, as a general rule, hinders Cultivation . "

    And he agreed with herpletely .

    He had learned that lesson the hard way during his pilgrimage to Tibet .

    When he asked her afterwards how she was nning to deal with the ramifications, she had kept her answer vague . Apparently, she would "do everything in her power" to prevent the incident from turning into a full-scale media storm . To be honest, he thought that it was a rather futile enterprise, one that was doomed to fail . Like,e on, what could she possible do to shut the mouths of those gossips? Memory-altering spells?

    Regardless, Zi Yuan seemed pretty determined about it . She hadn''t outright told him, but Li Yundong had a feeling that Zi Yuan med herself for tonight''s incident .

    Li Yundong lowered his backpack onto the floor, then leaned it against the couch . Standing in the middle of the dark living room, he reyed the attack earlier .

    He had to be more careful starting from now . Discounting those bouts with Lin Youfa and the robbery attempt by the Yin Yang Sect, this was the first real attempt on his life . And it definitely wouldn''t be thest .

    With a sigh, he sat down on the floor and folded his legs into a meditative posture . Then, he closed his eyes and tried to meditate .

    About a minuteter, he opened his eyes with a loud huff . He kicked out his legs andy down on his back to stare up at the dark ceiling .

    This sucked .

    He couldn''t stop thinking about what happened tonight .

    The sword . Zi Yuan said that he was meant to wield the sword, that it was the work of unknown forces, and that the sword was brought to him by powers beyond any of their control .

    Even more bizarre was the fact that he remembered seeing his personal god wielding a sword the first time he achieved Ishvara . And it wasn''t just the sword either; his personal god was wielding a tessen as well .

    And then there was that creepy thing involving his blood .

    The sword had absorbed his blood . But why? Why did it do that?

    Li Yundong pressed a hand to his neck where the de had grazed him earlier . The wound had already healed up, so he couldn''t feel anything there .

    Li Yundong sighed and dropped his hand from his neck . Good thing Zi Yuan had exined to him about the corrtion between the Jindan''s Aura and the speed of his Qi flow; otherwise, the wound would''ve triggered the activation of the Jindan''s Aura, and they would end up with even more problems on their hands .

    Li Yundong sighed and climbed to his feet .

    This wouldn''t do . He needed answers before he drove himself nuts . There were so many things that he didn''t know, too many unknowns surrounding this string of events .

    Like hell he was going to sit around and wait for the answers toe to him . He''d beenzy for over a decade, and he was so done with it . This time, he was going to take the initiative to seek out the answers he needed .

    He strode towards the sliding door and opened it . At the balcony, he came to a halt . He turned around and stared at his backpack beside the couch . Half a minuteter, he sighed . Might as well bring it .

    The backpack floated from the couch towards the balcony, and straight into his waiting arms .

    After pulling the straps of the backpack over his shoulders, he nced towards Ruan Hongling''s apartment . The lights in the apartment were still on, so Zi Yuan was probably awake .

    Gripping the straps on his shoulders to secure his backpack, Li Yundong closed his eyes and waited until he felt his feet levitating off the balcony .

    Once he had cleared the railing, he stopped and hovered in the air for a while . He looked up at the sky and kept his gaze there . Much to his relief, he didn''t see any storm cloudsing, nor did he hear the sounds of thunder .

    Guess this altitude should be okay .

    Feeling more confident now, he guided his body forward .

    Slowly and steadily, his body drifted through the night air towards the opposite block . Lately, he had begun to wonder about flight speed . Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Ruan Hongling always seemed to be capable of flying at such high speeds . And their flights were always apanied by a burst of green light . He wondered why .

    Guess he should add two more items to his "questions that he needed answers to" list .

    Hended soundlessly on the balcony . The curtains in front of the sliding door were half-drawn, so he could see the inside of the living room . The room was well-lit, and there was a long table set up at a far corner of the living room . Beside the table stood arge floormp whose light illuminated the surface of the table .

    There were no signs of Zi Yuan .

    Li Yundong mobilized his Zhenqi to his Shenting and activated his telescopic vision, zooming in at the table .

    The table was neat and uncluttered with a sheet of paper was spread over its center . An ink stone sat on the paper''s right-hand side . A small calligraphy brushy across the pad of the ink stone . The tip of the brush was soaked with ink, so he knew that it had recently been used . Maybe this was where Ruan Hongling had been practicing her calligraphy skills . Then again, Ruan Hongling had gone back to her sect, so it had to be Zi Yuan practicing calligraphy tonight . He zoomed out and tried to open the sliding door .

    It was locked .

    He knocked on the ss a few times, then waited for a moment for Zi Yuan to show up .

    Nobody answered .

    Where is she anyway?

    The lights were on, so she was probably in .

    He zoomed in on the table, focusing his gaze on the ink stone . Yeah, the ink definitely didn''t look dry . He sighed . He should just wait for a while . Maybe she was in the shower or somethi¡ª

    He froze when he caught a glimpse of the first two Chinese characters written on the piece of paper: Jindan .

    He zoomed in further .

    It was some kind of poem . Maybe a psalm?

    The Jindan''sing ordains thine fate .

    The sound of the first thunder shallplete thine soul .

    The mirror shall sunder, for the mortal hath sinned .

    The swordeth! But the true celestial path shall ne''er be severed!

    Behold! Behold the ocean of clouds!

    Seek! Seek the summit where the elderly awaits thee!

    Hearken to me, O Seeker of the Truth!

    Forth! On to the great Obelisk, before which the Truth speaketh!

    Purge thy envy and free thyself!

    Vain is envy! Bitter is its taste!

    For fate shall take its course .

    Li Yundong zoomed out and stepped to the side behind the curtain . After a few moments, he released the breath that he didn''t know he''d been holding .

    It was the prophecy . It had to be .

    A silhouette moved behind the curtains . Li Yundong stepped to the side again and peered into the living room through the ss .

    Zi Yuan was standing at the table now, and she seemed to be running the brush over the pad of the ink stone . A momentter, she raised the brush and bent herself over the table slightly .

    Her hand hovered above the paper .

    Are there more verses?

    Li Yundong zoomed in once more and waited for the brush to move .

    Secondster, it did .

    Zi Yuan added another line at the bottom of the paper . It was short line which consisted of only three Chinese characters .

    It wasn''t another verse . It was a name .

    Wang Yuanshan .

    Wang Yuanshan . . . He''d never heard of the name before, but he''d guess that it was the name of Zi Yuan''s master .

    The brush was moving again .

    Another name was added onto the paper, right beside Wang Yuanshan''s name: Li Yundong .

 Chapter 235.2

    Chapter 235.2

    <h4>Answers</h4>

    <small></small>The fact that Zi Yuan had written his name at the end of the poem made Li Yundong realize something: the prophecy didn''t just involve him; it was about him .

    There were hints everywhere in the poem, specific keywords that had already manifested themselves in his life . Jindan . Fate . Thunder . Sword . All these things had turned up at some point after Su Chan came into his life .

    The Jindan''sing ordains thine fate .

    That verse was pretty much self-exnatory at this point . It meant that the Jindan''s emergence would alter the course of his life, which it already did . His life hadpletely changed after he swallowed the Jindan by ident .

    The second verse, however, eluded him still . The sound of the first thunder shallplete thine soul . What the hell did that mean? Well, thunder most likely referred to the Heavenly Thunder . But there were (or would be) quite a few instances of the Heavenly Thunder''s appearance in his life . So which instance was it referring to? Was it his divine punishment? Or the time he killed He Shao with the Five Thunders Spell? Thetter seemed more likely, since the verse mentioned the first thunder? Perhaps it was referring to the first urrence of the Heavenly Thunder? And what did pleting his soul" mean? Could it be referring to his sess in passing the Zhuji phase? Perhaps "soul" was a metaphoric representation of his Vital Orb and the pletion of his soul" was referring to the formation of his Vital Orb?

    The sound of the first thunder shallplete thine soul . . .

    A usible interpretation was that Li Yundong had to kill He Shao with the Heavenly Thunder in order toplete his Vital Orb, which would fit the facts; he probably wouldn''t have gone to Tibet if he hadn''t used the spell on He Shao . Even so, the interpretation was too vague and far less definitive than what Li Yundong had hoped .

    The verse about the mirror made absolutely no sense to him, though the one about the sword did .

    "Sword" probably referred to Liuhe?

    And clouds? What did that even mean? Was it referring to his Spirit Space, which he knew consisted of an ocean of clouds? Or was it referring to his name? The Yun character in his name means cloud .

    The rest of the poem made no sense to him . Another keyword did ring a bell¡ªObelisk . That must be the obelisk that Ruan Hongling and Zi Yuan had mentioned a few times in the past, though he hadn''t a clue what it meant .

    Dark blots of ink appeared on the paper about an inch from his name .

    He zoomed out and realized that Zi Yuan was still holding the brush over the paper, though she wasn''t writing anything . She was just staring nkly at the paper . Her eyes looked ssy, like she was holding back tears .

    This was probably the third time Li Yundong got to witness Zi Yuan lose herposure . The first time happened during his first flight lesson; she''d all but bitten his head off right after he lost control of his Zhenqi (and ended up sting himself off the building and into the sky) . The second time was when he first told her about Zhou Qin''s condition . They hadunched into a discussion about the virtues and shorings of love, and she had gotten pretty riled up when he challenged her master''s philosophy about love .

    Zi Yuanid the brush across the ink stone . A secondter, her face crumpled, and he caught a glimpse of her grief-stricken expression before she buried her face into her hands . Then, her shoulders started trembling .

    Li Yundong sighed and turned away from the ss . He walked over to the railing and leaned against it . He stared out into the night, wondering if he should just forget about this meeting and head back to his own dark, gloomy apartment . He knew he had just stumbled upon a very private moment, a moment of mourning where Zi Yuan grieved over the loss of someone dear to her .

    His mind drifted to that name he saw on the calligraphy paper .

    Wang Yuanshan .

    Neither Ruan Hongling nor Zi Yuan had told him much about their master, but from the way they had both been acting, Li Yundong knew that Wang Yuanshan was gone .

    Li Yundong sighed into the night .

    Life and death . Happiness and sadness . Joy and sorrow . Pleasure and pain . Yin and Yang . Sometimes, he wished that this bnce never existed, that life could be without death, sadness, sorrow, and pain . No matter how naive and impractical that notion was, he still preferred it over a universe gued by a seemingly inexhaustible amount of pain and suffering .

    CLICK!

    Li Yundong whirled around and saw Zi Yuan''s head sticking out between the sliding doors, which were now half-opened . Gone was the look of sorrow on her face; she looked like a dignified goddess once again .

    "Hi," she said .

    "Hey . "

    "What are you doing here?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "I came over to ask you a few things . But then you were busy when I arrived . " He shrugged . "I didn''t want to bother you . "

    "Busy?" Zi Yuan seemed a bit ufortable all of a sudden .

    "You were writing . " Li Yundong cleared his throat . "I mean, the . . . um . . . " He pointed into the apartment . "The calligraphy . "

    Something flickered inside Zi Yuan''s eyes: a hint of sadness, or perhaps relief .

    For a few seconds, neither of them spoke .

    "Do you wannae in?" Zi Yuan asked .

    <small></small>Li Yundong stared at her for a moment . "Only if I''m not imposing . "

    Zi Yuan smiled . "I don''t mind . " She let out a soft sigh . "I could use somepany right now to be honest . "

    Li Yundong nodded and pushed himself away from the railing .

    Zi Yuan stepped to the side to let him through .

    Li Yundong strode into the living room, pausing beside the calligraphy table . The paper containing the prophecy was nowhere to be seen, so Zi Yuan must have put it away . The brush had been cleaned and was now hanging on a brush holder alongside several brushes of various sizes and lengths . Li Yundong moved away from the table and headed towards the couch where Zi Yuan was already seated, waiting for him to join her . As he walked, he slowly took in the apartment . This was his first time here, so he thought he''d check out the ce a little . Just as he was about to step around the couch, he came to a halt . There was a trash can beside the coffee table, and inside the trash can was a balled-up piece of calligraphy sheet .

    Li Yundong''s gaze snapped to hers . "Isn''t that what you were writing?" He pointed at the trash can .

    Zi Yuan shrugged . "I ruined it," she said casually . "It wasn''t good work . "

    Li Yundong nodded and decided to let the subject drop . He moved towards the armchair across from the couch and sat down .

    "So," Zi Yuan began, "what did you want to ask me about?"

    Li Yundong leaned his backpack against the armchair . "The sword . "

    "Liuhe?" Zi Yuan asked, sounding mildly surprised . "What about it?"

    "During the attack, it absorbed some of my blood," he said, staring at Zi Yuan intently . "And I wanna understand why . "

    Zi Yuan''s eyes widened in rm . "You were hurt?"

    Li Yundong waved off her concerns . "Nothing serious . Just a small nick . A few drops of my blood got onto the de during the attack, but the sword absorbed them . " He stopped talking, frowning as he stared at his hands . "It didn''t look like the blood had evaporated from the de''s surface or anything . . . The drops were literally absorbed into the metal . " Li Yundong nced at Zi Yuan briefly . "It was . . . weird . "

    "That''s merely the effect of the Yin-Yang Principle," Zi Yuan said .

    Li Yundong''s looked up from his hands and frowned . "I don''t understand . "

    "Your blood is Yang-based," Zi Yuan said as though the answer was obvious .

    Li Yundong stared at her nkly .

    "During the attack, Liuhe still contained my shibo''s Yin-based spiritual energy," Zi Yuan added . "And as you already know, the Yin-Yang principle dictates that all things tend towards bnce and harmony . Yin and Yang neutralizes each other to create a state of bnce . " Zi Yuan paused to look at him . "You''ve no doubt noticed that it became much easier to wield the sword afterwards?"

    Li Yundong reyed the battle in his head . He and Zi Yuan had been standing with their backs to each other at the time, and the hairpin had attacked him before Zi Yuan came up with a strategy . He hadn''t really noticed it back then, but now that he thought about it, the sword felt super light in his hand when he tried to fence with it . And then afterwards when that grotesque face appeared and he channeled his Zhenqi into the sword, it didn''t resist him at all . That was probably because he had erased Yan-zhenren''s spiritual signature from the sword, but his blood most likely yed a role too . After all, his blood would''ve already gotten onto the de the instant it nicked his neck .

    "Yeah," he said . "I think you''re right . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "With your blood and your powerful Spirit, you managed to erase my shibo''s spiritual signature in less than a minute . " Zi Yuan looked towards him . "Which is impressive, by the way . "

    Li Yundong shrugged . "But the opposite is also true, isn''t it?"

    "The opposite?"

    "Yin-based blood could also subdue and weaken Yang-based Zhenqi, right?"

    Zi Yuan stared at him for a moment . Then, a proud smile spread across her features . "Ah . I see what this is about . You''re worried that . . . " She nced pointedly at his backpack .

    Li Yundong''s cheeks heated a little . "Well, yeah . "

    Zi Yuan had a satisfied look on her face when she nodded at him . "Well . . . That is a theoretical possibility, yes . But in real life, it''s not that simple . "

    Li Yundong leaned forward in the armchair . This definitely sounded important, and he wanted to absorb everything he could . "What do you mean?"

    "Here . " Zi Yuan cleared her throat . "Let''s try an experiment, shall we?"

    Zi Yuan rotated her wrist once and, to Li Yundong''s amazement, a purple ribbon slithered out from under her sleeve . The ribbon was long and was approximately three-fingers wide .

    Li Yundong took the ribbon carefully when Zi Yuan offered it to him .

    "This is my magical weapon," she said with a smile . "Now . Why don''t you try to im it like you did with Liuhe?"

    Li Yundong''s eyes bugged out .

    <small></small>"What? No!" he protested . "It''s yours . I can''t do that . "

    "Why not?" Zi Yuan shrugged casually . "My Zhenqi is Yin-based, and yours is Yang-based . It should be easy, right?"

    But that''s exactly why I shouldn''t even try! he shouted inwardly . It will be too easy to im it!

    His internal turmoil was interrupted by Zi Yuan''s sigh .

    "Look, just do as I say, okay?" she said . "Trust me . "

    Li Yundong sighed . "Fine . "

    He closed his eyes and channeled his Zhenqi into the silky object in his hands . Five minutester, he opened his eyes, thoroughly stunned . "It . . . It didn''t work . . . "

    Zi Yuan smiled and took the ribbon from his hands . "I told you it isn''t that simple . "

    "I¡­ Well, your Zhenqi is soft and gentle, but I couldn''t even reach it . " Li Yundong frowned and shook his head . "There was a different kind of resistance protecting it . Something . . . " Li Yundong gestured with his hand and tried to find the right word . "Something sharp, I guess?" He looked towards Zi Yuan and held her gaze . "The resistance isn''t very powerful, but it kept distracting me whenever I tried to reach your signature . "

    "See?" Zi Yuan smirked . "Not that easy after all . "

    Li Yundong wiped his brows; he was sweating profusely . When the heck did that even happen? "What''s going on here?" He nced at the ribbon in Zi Yuan''s hands . "Where did that extra resistancee from?"

    Zi Yuan smiled and swiped her fingers along the ribbon''s surface . "Come take a look . "

    Li Yundong leaned forward in the armchair . "Holy sh . . . " His mouth clicked shut . Golden light emerged from the surface of the ribbon, forming a cluster of symbols that he''d never seen before .

    "What on earth are those?"

    "Runes," Zi Yuan said, tracing the glowing symbols with her finger .

    Li Yundong nced at the woman . "Did theye with the weapon?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head .

    "My master inscribed these runes onto the ribbon with golden sand," she said wistfully . "Runes are symbols with magical powers . Inscribing them onto weapons will give the weapon magical properties on top of their existing ones . The exact properties would depend on the specific runes, of course . But for these runes¡­" Zi Yuan caressed the glowing symbols reverently . "Their sole purpose is to help prevent others from erasing my signature . "

    "Makes sense," Li Yundong said with a nod . "You''re covering all bases and addressing potential weaknesses that others can exploit . "

    Zi Yuan smirked . "Exactly . Every magical weapon has what we call elemental attributes . In general, there are 7 elemental attributes that each magical object can possess . Wood, Fire, Metal, Earth, Water, Yin, and Yang . "

    Realization washed over Li Yundong, and he chuckled .

    "Yet another application of the Yin Yang Principle and the Five Elements Theory . . . Dang . Should''ve realized it sooner . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Thanks to these runes, this ribbon isn''t solely a Yin-based weapon . It is Metal-based as well . Without the runes, someone with a powerful enough Yang-based Zhenqi could easily im it . " Zi Yuan folded the ribbon together . "But with this extrayer of defense, it is very difficult if not impossible for anyone to take it from me . " Zi Yuan smirked . "As you can see, not even someone with Zhenqi as powerful as yours could im this . "

    Li Yundongughed . "Su Chan was right about you . "

    "Oh?" Zi Yuan''s brows rose just a tad . "And what, may I ask, did she say about me?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "She thinks you''re a total badass . "

    Zi Yuan snorted . "You tter me . "

    "No, it''s true," he said . "In fact, her exact words were: the most powerful Cultivator of the younger generation . That''s your code name in the Cultivation world, isn''t it?"

    Zi Yuan rolled her eyes . "You say that now, but in a few years, you will have surpassed me immensely . " She suddenly smiled at him . "In fact, I think it''s time for me to relinquish that title to you . "

    Li Yundong snorted . "What kind of joke is that? I got my ass kicked tonight, remember? I would''ve died if you hadn''t saved my ass back there . "

    Zi Yuan shook her head . "You underestimate your own potential . " One of her brows arched high . "Reaching the Shentong phase in less than 6 months? Even in the long history of Cultivation, something like that ispletely unheard of . " Zi Yuan stared at him intently . "And what else? Let''s see . . . Ah . Mastering the techniques in the Mahamudra Tantra in, what, hours? And then there are smaller things, like your prowess in Qi control and martial arts . " Zi Yuan smiled . "You didn''t think I''d notice you studying all those books on martial arts?"

    "Let''s not dwell on this matter," Li Yundong said, waving his hand . "It''s not all that important anyway . No matter how good you are, there''s always someone out there who''s better . "

    Zi Yuan smiled . "If you say so . "

    <small></small>Li Yundong chuckled . "It''s the truth . "

    "Well . Do you have any other questions?"

    Li Yundong grinned . "As a matter of fact, I do . About flying . "

    A stern expression formed on Zi Yuan''s face . "You shouldn''t start flying around before¡ª"

    "Before I survive the divine punishment, yes I know that," Li Yundong said, then chuckled . "But I was just curious about flying speed that''s all . " He nced at Zi Yuan . "You guys can fly way faster than me . I was just wondering why . And also, I noticed that there was always this sh of green light whenever you, Hongling, and Su Chan flew . Why is that?"

    "Oh . That . Well, you''ll be able to do it too once you reached the sixth phase of Cultivation where you obtain your Yin Spirit . "

    Excitement coursed through Li Yundong . "Yin Spirit?"

    Well, this is new¡­

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Do you remember what I told you about the eighth dan of the Sutai phase?"

    Li Yundong spent a few seconds searching his memory for the conversation . "Ah . The Wandering Soul, right?" He paused . "It''s that green thing that flew out of Lyu Fengping''s body the other day . "

    "Technically, that''s Lyu Fengping''s Yin Spirit," Zi Yuan said . "The Wandering Soul is a prerequisite skill that gives you control over your Yin Spirit . " Zi Yuan nced at him . "But you have to possess a Yin Spirit first before you can do anything useful with that skill . "

    "Huh . . . " Li Yundong gave her a nk stare . "Very interesting . . . "

    Zi Yuan broke into a grin .

    "Oh it is, isn''t it?" Zi Yuan said in a pleased tone . "Only those who possess the curiosity and drive to explore can fullyprehend the true depths of Cultivation Theo¡ª"

    "But I''m afraid you''ve lost me at Yin Spirit," Li Yundong said with a straight face .

    Zi Yuan''s face fell .

    Li Yundongughed . "Sorry . You seemed pretty excited, so I didn''t want to ruin your fun with my ignorance . "

    Zi Yuan''s expression shifted into a haughty re . "How insolent," she huffed . "And here I thought you were following my train of thought closely . "

    Li Yundong stoppedughing and mimed a zipping motion . Then, he gestured with his hand for her to continue .

    Zi Yuan leaned back in the couch and sat there inplete silence, her brows furrowed in concentration .

    As he sat there in the quiet living room, bereft of the thrill of discussion, Li Yundong was suddenly hit by a pang of longing . Two months ago, it was Su Chan who had sat beside him, exining to him the nuances of Cultivation Theory . He realized now more than ever just how much he missed those nights with Su Chan . Not that presentpany was unpleasant, of course; it was just . . . different . These discussions with Zi Yuan were highly educational and informative, but theycked the kind of intimacy and emotional connection that he could only experience with his princess .

    "The Wandering Soul is a skill that gives a Cultivator the ability to step outside their body," Zi Yuan said, pulling him out of his thoughts .

    He took a deep breath and stole a nce at Zi Yuan, hoping that she hadn''t noticed his maudlin behavior .

    She hadn''t .

    In fact, Zi Yuan was in full Professor-Cultivator mode now .

    "When you perform the Wandering Soul, your consciousness leaves your body, and you''ll be able to perceive things in the vicinity of your body from a third-person perspective . "

    He supposed this was simr to those paranormal out-of-body experiences that people often talked about on TV .

    "The Yin Spirit is an entity that your Vital Orb generates once you go beyond the Shentong phase . And since it originates from your Vital Orb, it carries a portion, or in some cases, all, of your spiritual energy . The Yin Spirit also contains your soul as well as your Spirit and consciousness . " Zi Yuan raised her brows . "You can even get your Yin Spirit to leave your body . And once you do that, you can fly your Yin Spirit around simply by performing a prerequisite skill . . . "

    Something clicked inside his mind . "The Wandering Soul . . . "

    Zi Yuan smiled . "Correct . " A secondter, her smile disappeared and her expression turned serious once again . "The Wandering Soul is a tremendously useful skill . However, its true capacity can only be attained through the Yin Spirit . Without the Yin Spirit, the effects of your Wandering Soul will be highly limited . For instance . . . " Zi Yuan waved a hand across the room . "If I were to perform the Wandering Soul right now without involving my Yin Spirit, then my unconscious physical body will be the only thing you see . "

    Li Yundong considered Zi Yuan''s words for a moment . Then, he raised his finger . "But if you perform it with the Yin Spirit, I''ll be able to see your Yin Spirit floating around, right?"

    "Precisely . Simply put, the Wandering Soul is the skill that allows you to maneuver your Yin Spirit through space once it leaves your body . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "Then isn''t it better to perform the Wandering Soul without the Yin Spirit?" He looked towards Zi Yuan . "I mean, nobody can tell what you''re doing if they can''t even see you . "

    Zi Yuan smirked . "Well, there is another limitation if you perform the Wandering Soul in the absence of your Yin Spirit . "

    "Okay?"

    "The range will be limited," Zi Yuan said, then paused to let her words sink in . "Without the Yin Spirit, your consciousness can only remain in the vicinity of your physical body . " She paused in thought . "I suppose you can think of it as stretching, or extending, your consciousness beyond your physical body as opposed to detaching it from your bodypletely . Anyway . . . " Zi Yuan waved a hand . "That limitation will bepletely removed once the Yin Spirit is involved . This is because¡ª"

    "Because the Yin Spirit contains a portion of the Spirit and consciousness," he said, snapping his fingers . "So you''ll no longer be stretching your consciousness beyond your physical body . Instead, you''ll be cing your consciousness inside the Yin Spirit, using it as some kind of container that can be flown around in space . " Li Yundong paused for a moment . "The Wandering Soul is like the skill required to pilot a ne, and the Yin Spirit is the ne, right?"

    Zi Yuan smiled . "Good . You''ve caught on . "

    Li Yundong sat there in silence for a moment, thinking back to all his previous encounters with green apparitions: when Ruan Hongling attacked Su Chan in their apartment; during the final few moments of his battle with Lyu Fengping .

    Those had to be their Yin Spirits wandering outside their bodies .

    Li Yundong chuckled . "So the Yin Spirit"¡ªHe looked towards Zi Yuan¡ª"is a poltergeist . . . essentially . "

    Zi Yuan stared at him for a second, then chuckled into her hand .

    "What''s so funny?"

    Zi Yuan cleared her throat . "Nothing . It''s just that poltergeist isn''t exactly the most urate analogy for the Yin Spirit . "

    "No?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head . "Calling it a poltergeist implies that it can touch or move physical objects . "

    Li Yundong did a double take . "It can''t?" And here he thought he''d just found an alternative to Qi Kinesis .

    Zi Yuan smiled . "No . You can''t touch physical objects with your Yin Spirit . Not until it reaches its most advanced form, the Yang Spirit . "

    Li Yundong gave her a nk stare .

    Zi Yuan chuckled . "Rx . . . It''lle to you when you passed the Shentong phase . Just focus on surviving your divine punishment first . "

    Li Yundong cleared his throat sheepishly . "Oops . Sorry . " Suddenly, another thought hit him . "Wait, is the Yin Spirit the thing that causes the green shes when you fly?"

    Zi Yuan nodded . "The green light you see is when you ovey your physical body with your Yin Spirit . " She paused to look at him . "But of course there is a practical purpose for doing that . It''s not just for show . "

    Li Yundong pped his hands together . "Speed, right?"

    Zi Yuan smiled . "Yes . You Yin Spirit contains spiritual energy that can be readily used to aid flying . "

    "So that''s why y''all can fly so damn fast . . . " he mumbled .

    "You''ll get there soon enough," Zi Yuan said .

    "The sixth phase, huh," he said .

    "If you''re a human, then yes . "

    Li Yundong did another double take . "What does that mean?"

    "Some beings possess Yin Spirits by nature . " Zi Yuan gave him a look . "Beings . . . like fox spirits . "

    "I see . . . "

    Su Chan had once told him that fox spirits have a special affinity with stealth . With their natural possessions of Yin Spirits, he could now imagine why .

    Li Yundong stretched his arms above his head . "What an enlightening evening," he said, leaning back against the couch with a loud sigh .

    Zi Yuan smiled . "Do you have any other questions?"

    "Just one more . "

    "Go ahead . "

    "How do I add extra elemental attributes to the Fan of Seven Treasures?"

 Chapter 236

    Chapter 236

    Unexpected Results

    Li Yundong could feel Zi Yuan''s wary gaze on him the moment he asked the question . His scalp tingled . Had he said the wrong thing? Should he not have asked the question? He cleared his throat . "I mean, that way I wouldn''t have to constantly worry about the fan getting taken away from me, right?"

    After a moment of silence, Zi Yuan smiled . Li Yundong heaved a small sigh of relief .

    "There are many ways to do it," she said . "You already know one of them . " Zi Yuan waved the ribbon a few times for emphasis . "You inscribe runes directly onto the weapon . But doing that requires certain skills that you do not yet possess . " Zi Yuan put the ribbon away . "The easiest way is to fortify your weapon with another magical object . Ideally, one that possesses elemental attributes that are different from yours . The best way to understand this is through an analogy . Think about the food you consume and the way it helps nourish your body . When you consume food, your body breaks it down and absorb the nutrients it contains . The fortification of magical weapons is simr, at least conceptually . You break down another weapon and then have your own weapon absorb its essence . "

    "Okay¡­" Li Yundong leaned forward in the armchair . "How?"

    Zi Yuan shrugged nonchntly . "I''m sure you''re already familiar with my coaching style by now . " A smirk yed on her lips . "If you expect me to tell you everything, then you have another thinking . "

    Li Yundong stared at her for a moment .

    The smirk remained on Zi Yuan''s lips .

    Momentster, Li Yundong burst into chuckles . "Okay . Fair enough . "

    Zi Yuan smiled . "You''ll have time to experiment with weapon fortification after you survive your divine punishment . "

    Li Yundong grunted . "Let''s just hope that I don''t run into any more robbers until then . " Li Yundong paused, then shot Zi Yuan a wary look . "Was there something wrong with my question though?"

    "Sorry?"

    Li Yundong kept his eyes on her . "It''s just . . . You seemed a little worried just now . " Li Yundong gestured at his own face . "You had this strange look after I asked that question . " He lowered his hand from his face . "Did . . . Did my question upset you?"

    Zi Yuan sighed . "No, it isn''t that . I was just a bit concerned about your understanding of magical warfare . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "I don''t follow . "

    Zi Yuan stared at him intently . "You seem to assume that Cultivators will always try to steal your magical weapon duringbat situations . " Zi Yuan nodded . "Which is understandable considering your prior experiences . However . . . " Zi Yuan gave him a serious look again . "I should warn you that you should never try to im another Cultivator''s magical weapon unless you are absolutely certain of your sess . "

    Li Yundong had more questions, but he held his tongue and waited for her to continue .

    "Why do you think Lyu Fengping and Wu Hao were bold enough to attempt to take the Fan of Seven Treasures from you by force?"

    "Uh . . . I don''t know, maybe because they were both legitimate assholes?"

    Zi Yuan shot him a withering look .

    Li Yundong held up his palms in surrender . "I''m not sure . "

    "My guess? It''s probably because they knew you had only just passed the Zhuji phase back then . " Zi Yuan gave him a pointed look . "And also the fact that they had the numbers advantage . " Zi Yuan chuckled humorlessly . "I mean, there they were, two Cultivators at the sixth phase against one newbie who had just passed the Zhuji phase . Sounds like a no-brainer, right?"

    Li Yundong nodded . Those two did seem awfully confident back then .

    A look of cold disdain spread across Zi Yuan''s features .

    "Well, they were both fools," she said, her voiceced with contempt . "They weren''t thorough enough in their assessment of your strength and ended up misjudging the whole situation . They were so blinded by greed that they didn''t even stop to consider one painfully simple question . " Zi Yuan paused to look at him . "If you were truly that weak, then how did you end up possessing such a powerful weapon in the first ce?"

    Li Yundong pondered Zi Yuan''s words in silence . Indeed, she had a point . It was true that the Fan of Seven Treasures was given to him by Su Chan and Ao Wushuang as a gift . But Wu Hao and Lyu Fengping couldn''t possibly be aware of that fact back then . And yet neither of them had stopped to consider the possibility that he had actually taken the fan from its past owner by force .

    Zi Yuan was right . That was pretty sloppy thinking right there .

    "Having a slight numbers advantage or the fact that your CQ is higher than your opponent aren''t nearly enough to justify an attempt to steal your opponent''s magical weapon . In fact, a numbers advantage means nothing if your opponent is capable of highly destructive spells that can affect arge area . " Zi Yuan paused to let her words sink in . "Why would it even matter that you are facing a hundred, or even a thousand, opponents if you could take them out all at once with one of the mudras, for instance?" Zi Yuan held his gaze . "I was watching the battle that day, you know? But I didn''t step in to help you . "

    Something clicked inside Li Yundong''s mind .

    "You said you knew I could handle them . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "I had more data . I knew what you were capable of . " Zi Yuan shook her head in distaste . "And those fools would, too, if they actually took the time to observe you before they acted . " Zi Yuan raised her brow pointedly . "And the same goes for you . Never ever attempt to im your opponent''s magical weapon during a battle unless you have absolutely no choice like with Liuhe and Hongling''s damask . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "Understood . "

    "The rationale behind it is quite simple," Zi Yuan continued . "iming a weapon in the middle of a battle leaves you highly vulnerable . " She paused to look at him . "Take the attempt on your life tonight, for instance . The Hairpin of Traversing Soul could stab you to death while you were busy trying to erase Liuhe''s spiritual signature . The only reason you survived is because I was there to fend off the hairpin''s attacks . "

    Zi Yuan stopped talking all of a sudden . She looked like she was thinking hard about something, so Li Yundong kept quiet; he didn''t want to interrupt her thoughts .

    "You can think of it this way," she said about a minuteter . "In a typical magical warfare where two opponents¡ªeach with their own magical weapons¡ªgo up against each other, there are twomon scenarios . One, the magical weapons take on each other and the Cultivators watch their weapons duke it out from the sidelines . Two, the Cultivators duel each other while their weapons are fighting each other . Each of these cases involves a"¡ªZi Yuan did air quotes¡ª"fair fight, where neitherbatants are at a tactical disadvantage . This should be obvious for the first scenario where the oue will be determined by the respective strengths of the magical weapons as well as the Cultivators'' mastery of their own weapons . The second scenario is pretty much the same . In the second scenario, a certain kind of equilibrium exists, you see? When the Cultivators are battling each other, their magical weapons will automatically be fighting each other as well . To be exact, they are actually preventing each other from going to their master''s aid . Hence the equilibrium . " Zi Yuan nced at Li Yundong . "What do you think will happen if one of the Cultivators shifts their focus onto their opponent''s magical weapon instead of trying to take out their opponent?"

    "The equilibrium would be disrupted . . . " Something clicked inside Li Yundong''s mind, and his gaze snapped to Zi Yuan''s face . "It could potentially turn into a two-versus-one scenario . "

    "Think . If you''re fighting another Cultivator, and you go for his weapon first?" Zi Yuan arched a brow . "Your opponent can do whatever he wants and you wouldn''t even be aware of it because you''ll be too busy trying to subdue his magical weapon . For example . . . " Zi Yuan gestured with a hand . "He could just stand there and do nothing . He would be safe, because he was no longer trying to attack you, which means that your magical weapon will stop trying to attack him as well . "

    "Right . Because magical weapons will only switch into protective mode when someone is harboring malicious intent towards itself or their master . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "So what happens then? Your magical weapon bes idle because you''re no longer under attack . And you yourself would be too upied with the task of subduing your opponent''s weapon to maneuver your own weapon . " There was a pointed pause . "You would be vulnerable . "

    There was a moment of silence where Zi Yuan seemed content to let him stew over her words .

    "Why do you think the Fan of Seven Treasures never came to your aid during tonight''s attack?" Zi Yuan asked after a while .

    Li Yundong nced up at her . "Because it was too far away . "

    "Correct . " Zi Yuan nodded, then paused for a moment . "Which is a good thing, by the way . We didn''t know what was really going on back then, so it was wise move not to show our hands too early . We would have a lot more problems on our hands if it turns out that the Fox Zen School was in fact behind the attack . I don''t think they would take it well if they found out that you''re in possession of their treasured weapon . " A look of pride graced Zi Yuan''s features . "Hongling had acted wisely by choosing to wait for my signal instead of throwing the fan onto the stage . . . Anyway . " Zi Yuan cleared her throat and shook her head slightly . "I digressed . My apologies . "

    Li Yundong waved his hand . "It''s okay . "

    "So . Back to our topic," Zi Yuan said . "There are many ways you can be vulnerable to attack in that kind of scenario . For instance, your opponent could try to exploit your desire to im his weapon as yours . " Zi Yuan paused to look at him . "What if he controls his weapon and then use it to lure you away from your own weapon? In such cases, the battle would indeed turn into a two-versus-one situation like you said earlier . "

    Li Yundong nodded in agreement .

    "The fight is pretty much over if it gets to that point," Zi Yuan said . "Your opponent and his weapon could attack you at the same time, but your magical weapon wouldn''t be able to sense his intent because it''s too far away . Even if it did sense your opponent''s evil intent¡ª"

    "It might not be able to reach me in time," Li Yundong cut in .

    "Exactly . And if your opponent kills or injures you . . . " Zi Yuan looked towards him and let out a wry chuckle .

    "It would be two versus one again," Li Yundong said . "This time, it would be him and his magical weapon versus my weapon alone . Even if I survived, I would lose my weapon to my enemy . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "From a purely tactical point of view, going for the weapon first is almost always a bad idea . It just isn''t worth the risk . " Zi Yuan paused for a moment, then shook her head . "There are too many uncertainties involved . For instance, you won''t know what your opponent''s magical weapon is truly capable of until he reveals it to you inbat . What if the weapon has other elemental attributes that you aren''t aware of and you''re taken by surprise? Worst, you will be expending your Zhenqi to¡­" Zi Yuan suddenly turned to him . "You already learned this during the second dan of the Shentong phase . To subdue a weapon, you have to erase the weapon''s spiritual signature first . And for that, your Zhenqi has to be inside the weapon to do the work, which increases your vulnerability . " Zi Yuan shook her head gently . "Again, not worth the risk . "

    "Right . "

    "A wise Cultivator would take out his opponent first, and then im his weapon . Or, he might force his opponent to use his magical weapon in order to gather data on the weapon, like what kind of abilities it has or the elemental attribute it possesses . "

    "The most important thing is to keep our weapons near us at all times, right?" Li Yundong asked . "So that we can watch each other''s backs and protect each other . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Ideally, yes . "

    He remembered the way the purple ribbon had slithered out from under Zi Yuan''s sleeves during the attack earlier . It surprised him a little that she had been carrying a lethal weapon on her all this while and he wasn''t even aware of it .

    "Well!" Li Yundong ced his palms on his knees and rose from the armchair . "That was enlightening . But I think I should go now . "

    Zi Yuan stood up from the couch as well . "It is prettyte," she said after a quick nce at the clock .

    Li Yundong picked up his backpack and slung it over his shoulders . "Yep . Thank you so much for the lessons . "

    Zi Yuan smiled . "Any time . "

    Li Yundong returned her smile and headed towards the balcony .

    "You can start thinking about how you can incorporate other weapons into the Fan of Seven Treasures . " Zi Yuan''s voice sounded behind him . "Just remember to be careful . "

    At the balcony, Li Yundong came to a halt and turned around .

    "Why didn''t your master add runes onto Ruan Hongling''s damask?" he asked .

    Zi Yuan leaned against the sliding door and stared at him . Momentster, she let out a soft sigh . "To tell you the truth, Hongling is only Master''s disciple in name only . "

    Li Yundong stared at Zi Yuan in surprise . "You mean she has never been taught your master directly?"

    You''d think Ruan Hongling had a close bond with Wang Yuanshan considering the way she practically worshipped the ground he walked on .

    "She has . " A sad smile formed on Zi Yuan''s lips . "For a few days . But that''s about it . "

    "A few days?" Li Yundong said, his eyes rounding in sheer incredulity .

    Zi Yuan sighed again . "Yes . And he gave Hongling the damask right before he . . . " Zi Yuan cleared her throat . "He didn''t have time to inscribe runes onto the damask . "

    Li Yundong sighed . "You okay, Zi Yuan?"

    "I''m fine . " Zi Yuan smiled . "Why wouldn''t I be?"

    Because you were crying after you finished writing that calligraphy .

    Li Yundong kept that thought to himself .

    "Alright then . I''m gonna go now, okay?"

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Good night . "

    ***

    The Ophidian Whipy beside Li Yundong''s feet in a neat coil . To the left of the whip, sat a wooden box which held two spherical beads . Li Yundong walked over to the coffee table, on top of which the Fan of Seven Treasuresy idly . Reaching down, he picked up the Fan of Seven Treasures and spent a moment just feeling its weight in his arms . He already knew the fan''s inherent elemental attribute: Yang . Now he just had to figure out a way to add other attributes to it .

    The curtains fluttered when a cool breeze wafted in from the balcony . The living room was dark; he had opted to leave the lights off lest he give his neighbors a fright if they saw anything weird going on inside the apartment . Granted, he could''ve have closed all the curtains and windows, but doing so would impede the air cirction too much .

    Li Yundong picked up the Ophidian Whip and scrutinized it in the darkness . Back at Tingri, Zi Yuan had mentioned something about the whip being a Yin-based weapon capable of magic from the Fire element, so he could probably assume that the Ophidian Whip had the elemental attributes of Yin and Fire .

    Multiple elemental attributes . . .

    It felt damn near impossible to im Zi Yuan''s purple ribbon just now . Then again, he was pretty sure that Zi Yuan''s ribbon had at least three attributes, not just two . Its primary attribute was Yin, but he thought he felt a bit of Yang along with Metal . But still . It would probably be too much of a challenge to integrate two elemental attributes into the fan at the same time .

    The whip joined the other items on the floor .

    Li Yundong''s hand stilled when it was inches away from the wooden box containing the Beads of Gore . These things nearly burned him alive when hest encountered them . Touching the beads with his bare hands was most definitely a bad idea . He picked up the whole wooden box and brought his face closer to the box''s opening . He tilted the box and watched the two beads rolled to a corner of the box . A secondter, he hesitated and leaned his face away . Sure, he wanted to take a good look at the beads, but he didn''t know if it was a good idea to have his face that close to those freakish things . He was too broke to afford a stic surgery if his face got barbequed .

    With a sigh, he lowered the box to the floor and snapped a few pictures of the beads with his phone . He spent the next ten minutes studying the photos he took, zooming in to take a closer look at the beads surface .

    Li Yundong frowned . He couldn''t really work out the beads'' attributes . Also, he was pretty sure that there was something inside the beads, something too tiny to be captured with his phone''s camera . He sighed and pocketed his phone, then looked towards the wooden box again . Should he use Qi Kinesis and grab one of the beads with his Zhenqi? He dispelled that idea as soon as it came up . It could be risky; he didn''t know how the beads would react to his Zhenqi touching it . After all, Liuhe sort of went havoc when he tried to grab it with his Zhenqi earlier .

    But what if I . . . Li Yundong nced around the room a few times . He paused when his gaze fell on the kitchen . Hmm¡­ I suppose that could work . . . He strode into the kitchen and yanked open the cutlery drawer, then returned to the living room with two dinner forks .

    He spent the following few seconds mobilizing his Zhenqi from his Vital Orb, shaping it into two pairs of tweezers, which he then used to grab the dinner forks .

    After that, he released the dinner forks into the air and watched them float down towards the wooden box .

    Another thought urred to Li Yundong .

    He made the forks freeze just above the mouth of the box, then nced towards the balcony . Probably best if I check it out first . He padded towards the sliding door and stepped out onto the balcony . Standing in front of the railing, he nced around, checking the upper floors of his own block as well as those of the surrounding blocks .

    It was prettyte, so most of the tenants in the surrounding blocks had gone to bed already . The lights in Zi Yuan''s apartment was still on though . Other than that, the coast was clear .

    He turned around and stepped back into the apartment, pausing at the sliding door to open it fully .

    The dinner forks reached into the wooden box and mped one of the beads with their tines . Slow and steady now . . . Slow and steady . . .

    Secondster, the bead was out of the box, and the forks slowly drifted towards the balcony, carrying the bead with them .

    About a few feet away from the railing, Li Yundong made the forks stop .

    Is that far enough?

    He held his breath and watched the bead for any reactions . He waited for about a minute before deciding that it was okay to proceed .

    Inside the apartment, Li Yundong kept backing away from the sliding door to put more distance between himself and the bead . When he reached the dining table, he moved his Qi to his Shenting and activated his telescopic vision to get a good look at the bead .

    Before this, Li Yundong thought that the beads were ck in color when deactivated . He was wrong . Upon closer look, the beads were actually red, albeit of a darker shade . The bead was small¡ªslightly smaller than the tip of a human thumb . Its surface was smooth, giving the whole thing a shiny look . The most fascinating feature about the bead was the thing inside it, deep under its surface . Whoa¡­ What the heck is that . . . ? When Li Yundong zoomed in further, he saw tiny red¡ªa brighter shadepared to the surface of the bead¡ªtendrils swirling inside the bead .

    Blots of silver-colored substance began to obscure his vision . Wait, what? Where did those silver-colored thingse from? He zoomed out slightly and discovered, much to his horror, that the forks were melting .

    The next thing he knew, the bead burst into mes .

    Shit!

    Li Yundong moved his legs in an instant and charged towards the balcony . s, before he could take more than three steps, the ball of me hurtled towards the sliding door .

    Reacting by instinct, Li Yundong shaped his Zhenqi into a rectangr wall and then used it to seal the sliding door . Li Yundong broke out in shudders the moment the mes struck his Zhenqi . Those were mes that he was seeing, and yet their aura felt cold .

    What the hell?

    The ball of mes was repelled backwards, but it didn''t seem to show signs of giving up as it charged at the wall once more .

    Li Yundong gasped as another wave of shudders coursed through his body . And to make matters worse, the ball of mes had doubled in size .

    Shit . It''s reacting to my Zhenqi somehow . . .

    Li Yundong pulled back his Zhenqi and rushed towards the sliding door . Change of ns, then . Li Yundong activated the Jindan''s Aura in both arms the moment he saw the ball of mes charging into the living room . The ball flew straight at his head, forcing him to duck . The ball of mes missed his hair and flew over him before circling back to his front . I gotta force it out of the apartment .

    Li Yundong threw a punch when the ball charged at him . His punch missed, so he was forced to bob and weave a few times to avoid getting hit by the ball .

    All of a sudden, the ball jerked to his left . Oh no you don''t!

    Li Yundongnded a left hook, forcing the ball back to his front . He immediately followed up with a right cross, which propelled the ball out of the sliding door .

    Li Yundong ran after the ball but then came to a halt the moment he crossed the balcony''s threshold .

    Holy shit¡­

    The ball of mes was lengthening and changing its color like it was undergoing some kind of freakish transformation . Dark wraiths with ghoulish faces crept out of the elongated shape .

    "Om mani padme hum!"

    A golden apparition of Mahavairocana''s First Mudra¡ªthe Intelligent Fist¡ªflew out of Li Yundong''s hands . The dark wraiths evaporated in seconds after they were struck .

    Li Yundong lowered his hands and stared at the empty balcony . The bead was gone . The forks were gone too . Through the golden glow from his arms, he discerned stter of melted stainless steel on the balcony floor .

    Something crackled behind him .

    When he turned around, another ball of me was flying straight at his face .

 Chapter 237

    Chapter 237

    The Immovable Wisdom King

    Li Yundong raised his glowing arms and pushed back against the mes before they could engulf his body . The mes shot into the living room as though they were repelled by some kind of invisible force . He nced down at his body . The sleeves of his shirt were charred, but his arms, coated by a thin golden glow, remainedpletely unharmed .

    The Jindan''s Aura had protected him .

    The mes crackled and flew towards him once again .

    SNAP! CLANG! THUD!

    A powerful heat wave smacked him in the face, though strangely enough, he wasn''t burned . The Fan of Seven Treasures was now standing directly in front of him with its leaves spread out like an imprable metal wall . The mes thrashed against the fan, sending waves of heat through the gaps between the leaves . The entire living room was now bathed in a reddish orange glow .

    Crap . The apartment is going to burn down if I don''t¡ª

    All of a sudden, the Fan of Seven Treasures folded itself into some kind of ring-shaped wall, trapping the mes with its leaves . Some of the mes tried to escape the metallic ring through the gaps between the leaves, but they were quickly thwarted when the leaves started spinning rapidly .

    As soon as the leaves started rotating, the symbols from the Diamond Sutra flew out from the fan''s surface and began circling the fan .

    Li Yundong heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that nothing in the apartment was burned . Now I just have to take bring the fan to the balcony and deal with the fire¡ª

    Before Li Yundong could evenplete that thought, the ring-shaped Fan of Seven Treasures floated out of the sliding door, bringing all the mes with it . Secondster, the fan stopped moving, hovering slightly above the balcony''s floor .

    Wait a minute . . . Did it just read my thoughts?

    He suddenly remembered the paper crane he used tomunicate with Su Chan a few days ago . That paper crane was some kind of magical object too, and it could definitely understand him when he tried to talk to it .

    Maybe the same principle applied here as well?

    Besides, he was pretty sure that it had already happened just now . The fan had automatically altered its structure to contain the mes the moment he internally expressed his concerns about the apartment burning down .

    What if I try talking to it?

    Li Yundong stared at the ring-like fan . The golden symbols from the Diamond Sutra had now arranged themselves into a spinning sphere around the fan . The mes were still thrashing against the fan''s leaves . Some of them had even managed to escape the ring-shaped wall, but they couldn''t make it past the sphere formed by the symbols .

    Can you understand me? he asked the fan internally .

    The fan jiggled inside the sphere .

    Move up and down if you can understand me .

    The fan shot upwards, then quickly dipped down to its original spot . The mes remained securely contained within the sphere .

    Move up and down for yes, he added in his mind a secondter . Move left and right for no . Do you copy?

    The fan moved up and down twice .

    Huh . That went well .

    Alright . So we''re gonna have to work as a team here, buddy, he said to the fan . I need you to give me an opening so I can destroy the mes, can you do that?

    The fan repeated the up-and-down motion .

    Okay . So far so good .

    Li Yundong studied the mes for a moment . The Intelligent Fist Mudra should take care of those mes .

    On the count of three? Li Yundong stared at the fan and waited for its confirmation, which it did two secondster .

    Li Yundong arranged his fingers into the Intelligent Fist Mudra .

    Whoa¡­ Hold on a second . . .

    He lowered his hands and studied at the fan and the roaring mes . Why destroy the mes at all? What not ask the Fan of Seven Treasures to absorb the bead''s magic on its own and then fortify itself with it?

    Li Yundong himself didn''t know how to do it, true . But what if the fan knew?

    Hey, buddy . Do you think you can fortify yourself by absorbing the mes and the bead?

    The fan moved up and down .

    Excitement coursed through Li Yundong .

    What about those dark phantoms? Are they evil spirits?

    The fan affirmed .

    You have to destroy the evil spirits first before you absorb the beads, right?

    He received yet another affirmation .

    I knew it!

    His suspicions had been confirmed: those dark wraiths were there to protect the beads and prevent other people from iming them .

    Can you destroy the evil spirits then?

    Again, the fan affirmed .

    Do it, Li Yundong told the fan . Absorb the bead .

    The symbols stopped orbiting the fan and froze in space the moment he gave the order . The des on the fan''s leaves had stopped spinning as well . Everything stopped moving, and the fan hovered in mid-air like some kind of ring-shaped sculpture¡ªstatic and lifeless . A burst of green light lit up the left corner of the balcony . Li Yundong turned and saw Zi Yuan storming towards him from the railing .

    "What in Heavens'' name¡ª"

    Zi Yuan was cut off by a sh of golden light . Li Yundong tore his gaze away from Zi Yuan and looked towards the source of the light .

    Something was emerging from the Fan of Seven Treasures .

    It was some kind of golden apparition, though its shape was too vague and formless for him to guess what it was .

    The des on the fan''s leaves started spinning again . The sliding doors rattled against their fixtures as the wind picked up speed . A strange whining sound permeated the balcony as the symbols turned murky . In a matter of seconds, the symbols rose from the sphere''s surface and transformed into dozens and dozens of arhats .

    Then the chanting began .

    The arhats were chanting some sort of mantra in Sanskrit . Even though Li Yundong couldn''t understand a single word the arhats were saying, he could still feel the power behind those foreign sybles .

    As soon as the mantra sounded, the dark wraiths inside the mes started going crazy . They screamed, howled, and thrashed against the fan as though they were in the throes of agony; it was like they were being tortured by the sounds of the mantra .

    The wraiths tried to move outwards to no avail; the wraiths were trapped within a shrinking sphere of fire as the mes werepressed inwards by the fan''s des .

    Li Yundong stared at the wraiths, aghast at the eerie and ghoulish expressions that appeared inside the ball of mes every few seconds or so . When the ming ball shrunk to the size of a human fist, each of the arhats surrounding the fan unleashed a blinding glow .

    Li Yundong flinched and covered his eyes with his hands, but then lowered his hands instantly when he heard Zi Yuan''s gasp .

    "What the¡­" Li Yundong whispered .

    The arhats were all moving towards the sphere . After crossing the sphere''s surface, they merged with the golden apparition he''d seen earlier .

    There was another bright sh, though this time Li Yundong couldn''t even bring himself to look away . Right before his eyes was perhaps the most fascinating thing he''d ever seen: the converging arhats morphed into a magnificent figure with six arms and three faces .

    Suddenly, the space behind the figure went aze . Billows of brilliant and varicolored mes radiated from behind the figure like a bright halo . Li Yundong allowed his eyes to drift downwards as he took in the figure''s muscr torso . From the waist down, the figure was wearing a golden kasaya . When his gaze reached the figure''s bare feet, Li Yundong received yet another surprise: the figure was standing on a bunch of colorful clouds .

    His eyes snapped upwards to the figure''s head .

    He nearly flinched when he saw one of the faces¡ªthe one with the angry expression¡ªring at him .

    This couldn''t possibly be a coincidence .

    The figure looked way too simr to the deity he''d seen during Ishvara .

    "M- My Lord Ac," Zi Yuan said in surprised tone .

    The angry face slowly turned away to re at Zi Yuan .

    A soft rustle sounded beside Li Yundong . A soft thud followed suit .

    Li Yundong turned his head and saw Zi Yuan on her knees, prostrating herself until her forehead was touching the floor .

    Li Yundong whipped his head to the front .

    Just when he was about to lower himself to the ground and copy Zi Yuan''s movements, those angry eyes were on him again . Once again, the sheer force behind those eyes knocked the wind out of him . Before he could recover himself from the effects of that piercing re, the figure unleashed a loud roar, the magnitude of which caused the sliding doors and railing to tremble . There was so much power behind that voice that it startled Li Yundong, throwing him into a daze .

    The next thing he knew, the figure was speaking to him .

    s, despite its voice being loud and clear, Li Yundong couldn''t understand a damn word since they were all uttered in Sanskrit . Li Yundong automatically turned towards Zi Yuan for help, but the woman was still down on the floor, fully prostrated .

    Momentster, Li Yundong heard something that he did recognize: "Namah samanta vajranam ham . "

    The figure stopped speaking after that and continued to re at Li Yundong . Behind the deity, the ring of fire zed ferociously, dazzling his eyes for a moment . Li Yundong tamped down his fear and forced himself to speak . "Please . . . I don''t understand . . . What does that mean?"

    The deity didn''t answer .

    Li Yundong took a deep breath and mustered his courage .

    "Please help me understand . . . What were you trying to tell me? What is your message?"

    There was another bright sh .

    By the time he could see again, the deity was gone .

    SNAP!

    The ball of mes was crushed into oblivion by the snapping motion of the Fan of Seven Treasures .

    The fan¡ªnow in the shape of a Bo staffnded on the floor with a loud thud and stood erect on the floor . Tiny puffs of green smoke swirled around the spot where the ball of mes had upied before it got crushed . The smoke morphed into dozens and dozens of tiny demonic faces before it drifted beyond the railing and away into the night sky .

    Li Yundong stared after the disappearing smoke .

    "What the hell just happened?" he whispered to no one in particr .

    He turned when he detected movements beside him .

    Zi Yuan had risen to her feet . She walked over, pausing in front of the Fan of Seven Treasures to examine it .

    "Heavens above," Zi Yuan said . "You did it . . . You actually did it . You managed to integrate the Beads of Gore into the Fan of Seven Treasures . . . "

    Li Yundong heaved a sigh . "Yeah . . . I think so . . . "

    Zi Yuan turned away from the fan and shot him a re .

    "Two near-death experiences in one night?" she chided . "You really have a death wish, Li Yundong . "

    "Hey . . . " Li Yundong raised his palms in a gesture of surrender . "I was careful . "

    Zi Yuan looked at him as though he had grown twenty heads .

    "You were careful," she said dryly . "Really now?"

    Li Yundong let out a chuckle and then told her about all the precautionary measures he had taken prior to his experimentation: the forks; using Qi Kinesis and his telescopic vision so that he could study the beads from a distance; not touching the beads directly; etc .

    "Like I said, I wanted to study the beads . But I didn''t want to touch them directly," Li Yundong said, holding Zi Yuan''s gaze . "I knew they were dangerous . "

    The deadpan look on Zi Yuan''s face remained .

    "Your methods are ingenious, I''ll give you that," she said . "But in this case, they fell short . "

    "Why?"

    She stared at him for a moment, then sighed . "My guess? Your Zhenqi is so powerful that it didn''t even need to enter the beads to trigger their protective mechanism . "

    "I see . "

    Yeah, well, he''d already figured out that part when he was attempting to subdue the mes . The mes had reacted violently and grown stronger every time he tried to hold them back using Qi Kinesis .

    "Remember what I told you the other night about the risks of using Qi Kinesis duringbat?" Zi Yuan paused pointedly . "Well, this is one of them . "

    They stood in silence for a while .

    "The deity just now," Li Yundong said . "That was atha, wasn''t it?"

    "Yes," Zi Yuan said in a robotic tone . "That''s his full name in Sanskrit . The name is usually abbreviated as Ac . "

    Li Yundong nodded and continued staring at the Fan of Seven Treasures . Namah samanta vajranam ham . He recognized that line because it was the same mantra required to unleash the power of atha''s 14 mudras .

    "He is widely known across Buddhist cultures as a prominent dharmaph," Zi Yuan said . "In Sanskrit, dharmaph basically means, the protector of the Dharma . He is so widely known, in fact, that he was given different names across different cultures andnguages . atha or Ac in Sanskrit . In Chinese, we call him Budong Mingwang . The Japanese call him Fudo Myo-o . These names might sound different, but they all mean the same thing in their respectivenguages . "

    Li Yundong turned his head to the side and met Zi Yuan''s intense gaze .

    "The Immovable Wisdom King," Zi Yuan said, then turned away to look at the Fan of Seven Treasures . "That''s what the name means . "

    Eventually, Li Yundong found his gaze drifting back towards the fan as well .

    "And it would seem that atha is the Fan of Seven Treasures'' guardian deity," Zi Yuan said in a tone of awe .

    Li Yundong chewed over her words . He was starting to see a pattern now . Those inscriptions from the Diamond Sutra on the Fan of Seven Treasures'' surface most likely had the same purpose as those runes on Zi Yuan''s ribbon: they were all gateways to some kind of spiritual power .

    While Zi Yuan''s ribbon was protected by the strange power granted to it by the runes and the Beads of Gore were protected by those dark wraiths, his Fan of Seven Treasures was protected by a frigging deity .

    Li Yundong shook his head in disbelief . A deity . Holy frigging wow .

    "What did atha say just now?" Li Yundong turned towards Zi Yuan . "He was trying to tell me something, but I didn''t understand a single word he said . "

    Zi Yuan remained silent for a long while .

    "Zi Yuan?" he prompted .

    Finally, Zi Yuan turned away from the fan to meet his gaze .

    "atha''s words . Please tell me what they mean," Li Yundong said .

    Just then, Zi Yuan opened her mouth and ryed the meaning behind atha''s words:

    Those who see my body shall embrace the Bodhicitta;

    Those who hear my name shall banish all evil and cultivate goodness;

    Those who heed my teachings shall obtain ultimate Wisdom;

    Those who understand my will shall attain Buddhahood .

 Chapter 238

    Chapter 238

    Meet the Specialist

    When Li Yundong strode into Room 502 the next day, he did not expect to run into a sneak attack .

    "Is this your way of greeting someone who, A)es visit you in his free time, B) took the time to cook your lunch, and C) gives you massages?" Li Yundong said, staring at the pillow beside his feet, the same pillow that had smacked him in the face the moment he opened the door .

    And yes, he had allowed the pillow to hit him in the face because: one, both of his hands were upied (he was carrying stic bags containing his ungrateful attacker''s lunch); and two, he was too busy mulling over atha''s message to dodge random, unexpected pillow assaults .

    He raised his gaze from the pillow and looked towards Zhou Qin''s corner of the room .

    Zhou Qin was sitting in her wheelchair, smiling back at him .

    Somebody, it seemed, was in a good mood .

    Li Yundong resisted the urge to pick up the pillow with Qi Kinesis . No need to frighten the poor girl . He side-stepped the pillow and strode further into the room .

    "You seem to be in a good mood today," Li Yundong said, setting the stic bags on top of the cab .

    Zhou Qin''s smile widened just a tad . "Of course I''m in a good mood . I saw a certain idiot today, that''s why . "

    "Oh yeah?" Li Yundong shot her a yful re, then feigned a disgruntled snort . "I''m here out of the kindness of my heart . And you''re calling me an idiot?"

    Zhou Qin gave him an innocent look .

    "Did I say I was talking about you? Hmm . I don''t think I did . "

    Li Yundong chuckled .

    Zhou Qin arched her brow challengingly .

    "Alright, alright . You win, geez . " Li Yundong smiled . "Now why don''t you tell the real reason you''re in such a good mood¡­"

    Zhou Qin chuckled and rolled the wheelchair towards the bed . She reached for the overbed table, where aptop sat idly . She spun theptop around to show him the screen .

    "What''s this?" Li Yundong walked over, then leaned down to take a good look at the screen . Momentster, Li Yundong shot her a look of amusement . "Seriously? The stupid forums? That''s what''s got you so happy?"

    Zhou Qin smirked, then nodded at theptop . "Read thetest posts . "

    Li Yundong returned his gaze to the screen and began reading out the first few threads .

    "Stage y, or magic show: Tiannan University''s drama club outshining Broadway?" Li Yundong smiled and read the next one . "Li Xiaoyao: The Noobest Noob in the History of Noobs; the pathetic loser who lets his girl be stolen by an old man?" Li Yundong burst outughing . Then he peered at Zhou Qin over the top of theptop''s lid . "What the hell is this shit?"

    Zhou Qin smirked . "Keep reading . "

    Li Yundong scrolled down . "Hrious parody of Chinese Pdin turns a martial arts film into an age-gap ro . The greatest swordsman in existence, or the greatest manther in existence? Closet gerontophile Zhao Ling''er elopes with a master swordsman who is old enough to be her grandpa . . . " Li Yundong did a face palm and shook his head .

    "Goddamn morons . . . " he mumbled as he clicked into page two .

    He scanned the second page, pausing at a thread near the bottom of the page .

    "X-Files: Tiannan City, starring Li Yundong?" Li Yundong chuckled . "God . These knuckleheads really have too much free time . " He passed theptop back to Zhou Qin, shaking his head as he did . "I can''t believe reading this nonsense put you in such good mood . "

    Zhou Qin closed the lid of theptop .

    "What?" she said innocently . "Some of them are pretty funny . "

    Li Yundong sighed and sat down in the chair beside the bed . "Look . . . You must be wondering about what happened during the eventst night¡­ All I say is¡ª"

    "Look, you don''t have to exin anything to me," Zhou Qin said, pausing to look at him . "I know you''re capable of . . . " She cleared her throat . "Stuff . "

    Li Yundong gave her a wry smile .

    Zhou Qin chuckled . "What, do you think I''m an idiot like those students?" She tilted her head towards theptop .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "No, not at all . " He nced down at his hands .

    An awkward silence permeated the room .

    "I get it, you know?" Zhou Qin said after a while .

    Li Yundong looked up in surprise .

    Zhou Qin smiled at him weakly . "It can be difficult to exin things to someone who doesn''t know . "

    Li Yundong stared wordlessly at Zhou Qin .

    Zhou Qin sighed . "Sometimes it''s easier to just not talk about it at all . " She shrugged . "I used to do it all the time . So yeah, I totally get it . "

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "Well, that, plus the fact that those nosy people couldn''t keep their damned mouths shut . " Li Yundong jerked his chin towards theptop .

    Zhou Qin chuckled . "True . "

    "Anyway . Enough about that . " Li Yundong rose from the chair . "Are you hungry? Do you want to eat before or after the massage?"

    Zhou Qin considered his question for a moment .

    "I''d like to have the massage first if that''s okay," Zhou Qin said .

    "Sure," Li Yundong said with a smile . Then, he raised a brow . "Not hungry?"

    Zhou Qin shook her head . "Had ate breakfast . "

    Li Yundong nodded, then rolled the wheelchair towards the bed .

    "Okay . Here''s the thing . The massage I''ll be giving you today is more advanced than the previous ones," he said while clearing the clutter on the bed to make space .

    "Oh . "

    Li Yundong straightened up and turned around to face Zhou Qin . "It won''t just be a head massage this time . I''ll be massaging your spine directly . "

    A look of surprise flitted across Zhou Qin''s features . "Directly, as in . . . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "As in right in the area of the blood clot . " He sat down on the edge of the bed . "This is the second and final phase of your treatment . " He gave her a serious look . "I told you I''d help you stand up again, Zhou Qin . And this is it . " He tapped the wheelchair''s armrest . "The moment of truth . "

    The air hung thick between them .

    Suddenly, Zhou Qin turned her head away, but not before he caught a glimpse of her conflicted expression .

    "Is something the matter?" he asked .

    Zhou Qin turned back around and shook her head . "No, it''s nothing . "

    Li Yundong rose from the bed . "Shall we begin then?"

    "Wait!" Zhou Qin grabbed his arm, then quickly released it . "Do I need to . . . " She cleared her throat . "I mean . . . Do I have to take off my gown?" She peered up at him . "My back needs to be bare, right?"

    The poor girl was blushing like hell .

    Li Yundong sighed . "I do need to touch your back directly . " He paused to give her a reassuring smile . "But you can keep the gown on . "

    He needed a way to hide the Jindan''s Aura anyway . The gown would do just that .

    When Zhou Qin didn''t respond, he nudged her to get her attention . "Is that okay with you?"

    Zhou Qin nodded .

    Li Yundong turned the wheelchair slightly . "Alright . Now I''m gonna carry you onto the bed . "

    It took Li Yundong five minutes to get Zhou Qin settled into afortable position on the bed . The whole process was awkward as hell, of course . He didn''t even dare let his gaze linger on Zhou Qin the whole time he was helping her . He just wanted to get the job done as quickly as possible and then get on with the massage .

    By the time he was done, Zhou Qin was lying face down on the bed, keeping herself fairly entertained with the two hamsters he bought the other day .

    Li Yundong chuckled when Zhou Qin clicked her tongue and tried to poke her finger into the cage .

    "It''s a wonder that the nurses even let you keep them," he remarked .

    "They never found out," Zhou Qin said, sounding a little smug .

    Meanwhile, the hamster wheel rotated ferociously inside the cage .

    "And you managed to hide them how?" Li Yundong walked over and rapped the metal cage with his knuckles . He expected Uncle Zhou to take the hamsters back to wherever he was staying instead of leaving them here .

    "Hid it under one of the empty beds, of course . " Zhou Qin snorted haughtily . "As if anyone can stop me from keeping them . "

    Li Yundong smiled to himself . That''s the spirit . . .

    "They are cute," Zhou Qin said, poking her finger at the cage again . "And entertaining . "

    "I know," Li Yundong said . "That''s why I bought them . "

    "He helped too¡­" Zhou Qin added secondster .

    Li Yundong froze at the use of the pronoun, which he assumed referred to Uncle Zhou .

    "Helped hide the hamsters, I mean," she rified .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "Look, I know it''s none of my business . . . but do you think there''s a chance for you to patch things up with your dad?"

    Zhou Qin didn''t respond . She seemed rather content to let the hamsters make all the noise .

    "We had a conversation the other day, your father and I . And . . . " Li Yundong sighed . "You didn''t see the look on his face when he was talking about you . " He paused for a beat . "He cares about you, Zhou Qin . He really does . "

    There was a nomittal hum . "We''ll see . "

    There was a soft sigh after that .

    Li Yundong smiled . "Well . I hope everything works out between you two . "

    Indeed, Zhou Qin was lucky to have a father who still cared; some parents didn''t even give a shit .

    Li Yundong nced at the main door, then at connecting door near the bed . Once he was certain that no one would walk in, he bumped up the speed of his Qi flow in his right hand .

    His right hand started glowing almost instantly .

    He brought the hand to his face and studied the golden light coating its surface . The dosage had to be just right since he would be treating the spinal injury directly this time . The human spine is a delicate area, after all .

    It took Li Yundong another minute or so to convince himself that the Jindan''s Aura in his hand was stable, and that its intensity guaranteed safe exposure . Before he began, he mobilized a bit of Zhenqi to his Shenting and activated Eryue so that he could hear the soundsing from the corridor . Things would look pretty bad if someone happen to barge in while he had one hand shoved under Zhou Qin''s robe, so it was best if he prepared for that eventuality .

    "I''m gonna start now, okay? Don''t forget to breathe . "

    Once he received a nod from Zhou Qin, Li Yundong slipped his right hand under the fabric of Zhou Qin''s gown to reach her spine .

    Zhou Qin squealed the moment his fingers touched her skin .

    "Hey, keep it down, would you?" Li Yundong hissed . "Do you want to get me into trouble?"

    Zhou Qin giggled . "Oops . Sorry . I was just surprised . "

    Li Yundong pressed down on her spine again . Zhou Qin released yet another squeal .

    "Zhou Qin . . . " he said warningly .

    "Sorry, sorry," Zhou Qin said before burying her face into a pillow .

    Li Yundong chuckled and shook his head wryly .

    Ten minutes into the massage, Zhou Qin broke the silence .

    "You know . . . " she said, her voice muffled by the pillow . "My dad''s probably gonna flip out if he walks in to find us in thispromising position . "

    Li Yundong smiled at her use of "my dad" instead of "he . "

    "Which is why I''m trying to get the job done as quickly as possible," he said, then paused for a moment . "I agree with you, though . He''s definitely not gonna be happy seeing his daughter in such a . . . I quote,promising, position . "

    The man himself had admitted his own desire to put a bullet through Li Yundong''s skull, for God''s sake .

    "I''m gonna reveal a little secret to you," Li Yundong said as he moved his fingers to Zhou Qin''s Shenshu and Qihai . "I mean, just in case you still have doubts that your dad truly loves you . "

    Zhou Qin back tensed up under his fingers .

    "Oh? Do tell?"

    "He . . . uh . . . " Li Yundong cleared his throat . "He threatened to put a bullet through my skull . . . I mean, for hurting you . "

    Zhou Qin was silent for a few moments . Then, she burst into giggles .

    "I don''t find that surprising at all," Zhou Qin said once her giggles subsided . "My dad kinda hates you . "

    Li Yundong answered with a grunt .

    "You could probably just dodge those bullets or something," Zhou Qin remarked casually .

    Li Yundong chuckled . "You make it sound like dodging bullets is child''s y . "

    There was a snort . "No . . . You made it seem like child''s y . "

    Li Yundongughed . "Fair enough . "

    Ten minutester, Li Yundong picked up Uncle Zhou''s voice with his Eryue . Uncle Zhou was approaching the room from the corridor and he wasn''t alone .

    Li Yundong deactivated the Jindan''s Aura and removed his hands from under Zhou Qin''s gown .

    "Done already?" Zhou Qin turned her head around to look at him .

    "Someone''sing," Li Yundong said, raising a brow . "And I think we better hide that . " He pointed at the hamster cage .

    Zhou Qin nodded .

    Li Yundong walked over and lifted the cage . "Which bed?"

    Zhou Qin pointed at the bed next to hers . Li Yundong scrambled towards the bed and slipped the cage under it .

    Li Yundong straightened up but then froze when saw Zhou Qin on the bed: no patient would lie face down on their bed .

    "Alright," he said, stepping forward . "Now I''m gonna flip you over so that you''re lying on your back . "

    Zhou Qin nodded .

    s, the door swung open when Li Yundong was in the middle of flipping Zhou Qin over .

    Uncle Zhou paused midsentence .

    "What is going on here?" Uncle Zhou asked in a tone of suspicion . "Why are you¡ªFor God''s sake, why is there a pillow in the middle of the doorway!"

    Li Yundong groaned internally and adjusted Zhou Qin''s position on the bed . Then, he turned around to face a scowling Uncle Zhou .

    "She wanted to lie down, so I was helping her onto the bed," Li Yundong answered smoothly .

    Uncle Zhou bent down and picked up the pillow that Zhou Qin had thrown at him earlier . "Is that so?"

    "Yes sir," Li Yundong answered with a straight face .

    Uncle Zhou''s eyes narrowed . "Then why does my daughter look so flustered?"

    Li Yundong gave Zhou Qin a sidelong nce . Zhou Qin did look a bit flustered .

    Well . Shit .

    Uncle Zhou moved away from the door and walked further into the room, his eyes watching Li Yundong''s face like a hawk .

    "I don''t know, Uncle Zhou," Li Yundong said .

    Oh, I don''t know¡­ maybe because she''s just been exposed to one of the most powerful auras in existence? he added silently .

    Behind Uncle Zhou, two middle-aged doctors stepped into the room .

    "You know, young man," said one of the doctors, "the hospital isn''t the right ce for inappropriate behavior . . . "

    Li Yundong''s eyes bugged out at those words . Uncle Zhou turned his head sharply and red at the doctor who had just spoken .

    "Enough," Zhou Qin said in an icy tone . "I will not have you people insult my friend like that . " Zhou Qin stopped talking and red at the two doctors . "I was a little stiff from sitting too long, so he gave me a massage, that''s it . There''s nothing inappropriate going on here . And I would appreciate it greatly if you would stop making baseless assumptions . "

    From the corner of his eyes, Li Yundong saw Uncle Zhou looking at Zhou Qin with nothing but pride in his eyes .

    Secondster, Zhou Qin smirked . "And by the way, I actually felt much better after the massage he gave me . " Zhou Qin arched a brow . "If I didn''t know any better, I''d say that he''s doing a better job at treating me than you two . "

    "Really now?" said one of the doctors .

    One of the doctor snorted .

    His colleague, on the other hand, shot Li Yundong a nce .

    "Do you have a medical degree, young man?"

    Okay . . . Time to stop this nonsense before things escte any further .

    Li Yundong stepped forward, put on a diplomatic smile, and then offered the doctor a handshake .

    "Hello . I''m Li Yundong," he said politely . "Are you the doctor in charge of Zhou Qin''s treatment?"

    The doctor shook Li Yundong''s hand briefly . "Are you a medical student?" the doctor asked .

    Li Yundong smiled despite the fact that this douchebag had just brushed his question aside like nothing .

    "No," Li Yundong said, shaking his head . "I''m not a medical student . "

    The doctor shook his head and sighed . "You know you shouldn''t be giving massages unless you know what you''re doing, young man . "

    Li Yundong smirked . "Of course . "

    Here''s the thing you don''t get, though . I know exactly what I''m doing .

    The other doctor stepped forward, looking all too happy to introduce his colleague to everyone .

    "Hello everyone . Meet Zhong Guofang, a well-known neurology and hematology specialist in the country!"

 Chapter 239

    Chapter 239

    Li Yundong on a Roll

    After the awkward and almost confrontational greeting (if it could even be called a greeting), Dr . Zhong began to exin to Zhou Qin the intricacies of her condition . Like Uncle Zhou, Li Yundong stood beside Zhou Qin''s bed and listened to Dr . Zhong''s every word .

    Dr . Zhong was a plump, rotund man with a full head of white hair and a slightly receding hairline . The man wasn''t tall . Li Yundong would put his height at around 170cm, which was nowhere enough topensate for the man''srge girth; hence the rotundity .

    One thing about the Dr . Zhong did stick out at Li Yundong: his confidence . When the guy spoke, he expected everyone in the room to listen to him . Even his colleague¡ªthe other doctor who came in¡ªseemed a bit hesitant to voice out his thoughts even though his face clearly showed that he had a few points of his own to add . Then again, Dr . Zhong was a famous expert in the country, so he was probably used to people looking at him like he was a Buddha or Avalokiteshvara .

    For some reason, Dr . Zhong reminded Li Yundong of Yan Hua .

    At some point during Dr . Zhong''s lecture, Li Yundong stole a nce at Zhou Qin .

    It would seem that Zhou Qin''s Ice-Queen demeanor was back in full force . She sat on the bed with her back ramrod straight, giving nomittal single-word answers whenever Dr . Zhong inquired about her condition or asked her questions . Dr . Zhong sounded kind and loving when he spoke to Zhou Qin, though for some strange reason, Zhou Qin seemed a bit annoyed with Dr . Zhong .

    "And now, Miss Zhou¡­ Regarding your treatment options . . . " Dr . Zhong suddenly cleared his throat . "After a thorough review of your case, it seems to me that you''ll most likely require surgery . "

    Li Yundong tensed up at the mention of surgery . What the heck? His eyes darted briefly to Uncle Zhou, who stood stoically beside Zhou Qin''s bed .

    "The only problem is that it is impossible to carry out the procedure within the country," Dr . Zhong continued . "I''m sorry to say that we do not have the proper equipment to facilitate the procedure¡ª"

    "Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on a second here," Li Yundong cut in . "Surgery? I thought . . . " He nced at Uncle Zhou once again . "But what about the risks?"

    "Oh?" Dr . Zhong turned away from the bed and raised a brow at Li Yundong . "Do you have a better way then?"

    Li Yundong met Dr . Zhong''s challenging gaze with a steely look of his own .

    The other, after Uncle Zhou mentioned about the risks of removing the blood clot from Zhou Qin''s spinal column via surgery, Li Yundong went home and did some digging .

    And his research revealed another consequence of the surgery that was far more devastating than Zhou Qin losing all her motor functions: it was unlikely for Zhou Qin to even make it out of the surgery alive, let alone walk again .

    Yes . Zhou Qin would die if she went through with the procedure .

    And the reason for that was so simple that Li Yundong had wanted to smack himself for not realizing it sooner: the Du Meridian runs along the spinal column; if they cut open Zhou Qin''s spinal region, her Du Meridian would be severed .

    "What do you know anyway, kid?" said Dr . Zhong''s colleague . "You should keep quiet if you don''t know what you''re talking about . "

    Li Yundong ignored the other doctor and turned to Dr . Zhong instead .

    "I urge you to reconsider, Dr . Zhong," Li Yundong pleaded . "She wouldn''t survive the surgery . "

    "There are always risks when ites to surgery," Dr . Zhong said patiently . "But that''s just it . Those are only risks . She needs surgery if she wants to make aplete recovery . There''s just no other way . The risks might be worth it if it means that Miss Zhou can stand up again . "

    "Not in this case," Li Yundong said insistently . "The chances of Zhou Qin surviving the procedure is close to nil . "

    Li Yundong heard two sharp intakes of breaths beside him . When he nced sideways, he caught a glimpse of Uncle Zhou and Zhou Qin''s shocked expressions .

    Dr . Zhong frowned and exchanged a look with his colleague . "That''s a rather bold im, don''t you think?" Dr . Zhong studied Li Yundong''s face for a moment . "How, may I ask, did you arrive at that conclusion?"

    "Well, the Du Meridian runs along the spinal column," Li Yundong said . "So if you cut open that area¡ª"

    "Wait, you know Traditional Chinese Medicine?" Dr . Zhong interrupted him rudely .

    Li Yundong sighed . "Yes . I dabbled in it a little . "

    Dr . Zhong shared yet another look with his colleague . Secondster, the two doctors started chuckling and shaking their heads .

    "With all due respect," Li Yundong said in a tight voice . "This is noughing matter . Like I said¡ª"

    "Say, kid," said Dr . Zhong''s colleague . "What year do you think we''re living in, eh?" There was a pregnant pause . "Nobody believe in all that stuff anymore . " The doctor rolled his eyes . "I mean, you might as well feed Miss Zhou a vial of enchanted water if you still believe in all that Traditional Chinese Medicine crap . "

    Li Yundong stared at the doctor for a few seconds, aghast at theplete travesty of Traditional Chinese Medicine that the doctor had just spouted .

    Enchanted water? Seriously?

    "Your understanding of Traditional Chinese Medicine is wed I''m afraid," Li Yundong said .

    Dr . Zhong''s colleague stoppedughing instantly .

    "Oh?" The doctor raised a brow challengingly . "Why don''t you enlighten us then?" Then, he gestured at Zhou Qin''s bed with a hand . "What type of treatment n do you propose to treat Miss Zhou''s condition?"

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes at the doctor .

    "With improved blood cirction, the blood clot will eventually disperse on its own," Li Yundong said without taking his eyes off the doctor . "And Traditional Chinese Medicine has a lot of good ways to enhance blood flow . The most effective method is Qi control . But there are other methods such as acupuncture and massage¡ª"

    The doctorughed again . "Tsk . Tsk . Did you hear that, Dr . Zhong?" He nced at Dr . Zhong . "This kid is trying to teach us, trained medical professionals, by spouting all these nonsense . Qi control, he says . " The doctor snorted and rolled his eyes . "Please . Don''t you know that most Qigong masters in the country were arrested and convicted of fraud?"

    Li Yundong exhaled slowly . "Just because there are a bunch of frauds out there operating under the banner of Traditional Chinese Medicine, it doesn''t mean tha¡ª"

    "Listen, young man," Dr . Zhong cut in abruptly . "History have shown over and over again that these so-called Qigong masters were all chatans . And the same goes for those traditional nutritionists or practitioners of alternative medicine . Don''t you see what the problem is? The problem is that none of their methods could withstand the test of time . " Dr . Zhong paused to look at Li Yundong . "Why do you think that Traditional Chinese Medicine, despite its long history, had failed to establish a strong foothold in the world of medicine? Obvious, isn''t it? It''s because Traditional Chinese Medicine isn''t based on scientific principles . It''s a pseudoscience, not a legitimate science . " Dr . Zhong sighed heavily . "Look, if you''re really serious about medicine, then I suggest you enroll to a good medical school and start from there, okay?"

    A wry chuckle escaped Li Yundong''s lips as he shook his head .

    At the end of the day, it wouldn''t matter how he put forth his points or how he presented his case to them . Hell, he could write a frigging thesis that put forward a cogent treatment n based on Traditional Chinese Medicine, and they would still dismiss it as quackery .

    These doctors were already prejudiced to begin with . To them, Traditional Chinese Medicine was nothing but nonsense .

    Li Yundong nced over at Uncle Zhou and Zhou Qin, then looked back towards the doctors again . He didn''t really have to waste his breath trying to convince the two doctors, of course . Ultimately, the final decision was still up to Zhou Qin . All Li Yundong had to do was make Zhou Qin stand up before then, and everything would be fine .

    But still, Li Yundong had to admit that the two doctors'' tant dismissal of Traditional Chinese Medicine rubbed him the wrong way .

    "Look, I fully acknowledge your expertise, Dr . Zhong," Li Yundong said with a gracious smile . "You''re the best in your field, I get it . But I still think it''s a bit unfair to dismiss Traditional Chinese Medicine just like that without considering its merits . "

    "Merits?" Dr . Zhong''s colleague scoffed . "We just told you that¡ª"

    Li Yundong silenced the man with a raised palm .

    "Please allow me to demonstrate to you what Traditional Chinese Medicine really is . " Li Yundong paused and gave each doctor a pointed look . "Until then? Please reserve your judgements . "

    Despite the doctor''s protests, Li Yundong pushed past them and strode into the bathroom . Secondster, Li Yundong returned with a Zhou Qin''s makeup kit, which he had grabbed from the bathroom counter .

    Li Yundong flipped open the kit and held it in front of Dr . Zhong''s face .

    "Take a look at yourself in the mirror, Dr . Zhong," Li Yundong said . "Pay attention to your eyes . Do you think they look healthy?" Li Yundong didn''t wait for an answer . "Well, I''ll be blunt with you, Dr . Zhong . This is the unhealthiest pair of eyes I''ve ever seen in my life . " He paused for a second . "The eyes of a healthy person will be clear and sharp . Yours look murky and cloudy, like there''s some kind of opaque substance coating them . The dark circles around your eyes are pretty telling as well . And also the fact that your eyes look totally sunken . " Li Yundong raised a brow . "Based on these physical symptoms and, of course, my understanding of Traditional Chinese Medicine, I have a pretty good guess of what Dr . Zhong''s daily habits are . Including his vices . "

    Li Yundong smirked and nced at everyone in the room .

    Zhou Qin and Uncle Zhou were both looking at him curiously .

    "Yeah right," Dr . Zhong''s colleague scoffed .

    Li Yundong ignored the man and looked Dr . Zhong right in the eye .

    "Tell me, Dr . Zhong¡­ . How long have you been struggling with your drinking problem?"

    There was a gasp .

    "Wha¡­ H- How . . . How d- did you . . . "

    "The eyes are connected to the liver," Li Yundong exined . "One look at your eyes is enough to tell me that your liver health is severelypromised . And yourck of sleep is pretty obvious from the dark circles around your eyes, which is understandable since you''re a doctor with a busy schedule . Sleep deprivation does affect liver health, but not to this extent . " Li Yundong gestured at Dr . Zhong''s eyes . "Something else is messing up your liver . You''re an alcoholic . "

    Silence permeated Room 502 . Gone were the doctors'' condescending and smug attitude . Instead, they looked utterly mortified .

    Li Yundong didn''t n to just stop there though .

    "And then your hair," Li Yundong said, closing the kit with a snap . "All your hair has gone white, but you don''t look that old to me . From your face, I''ll put your age around fifty-ish . " He handed the kit back to Zhou Qin and nced at Dr . Zhong . "Your premature greying implies severe kidney problems . "

    Dr . Zhong''s eyes widened when Li Yundong suddenly approached him .

    "H- Hey, hey . . . what are you¡ªArgh!"

    Li Yundong jabbed two spots on Dr . Zhong''s lower back with his thumbs .

    "You felt that, didn''t you?" Li Yundong smirked, easing the pressure of his thumbs slightly . "Renal Yin Deficiency, that''s what you have, doctor . "

    "Renal¡ªWhat? That''s nonsense!" Dr . Zhong twisted his back away from Li Yundong''s hands and shot him a re .

    "Nonsense?" Li Yundong raised a brow . "Is the constant ringing you''ve been experiencing in the middle of the night nonsense too?"

    Dr . Zhong gasped . "How could you possibly¡ª"

    "The ears and the kidneys are linked," Li Yundong said tly . "That''s how I know . "

    Ignoring the angry flush on Dr . Zhong''s face, Li Yundong gave Dr . Zhong''s body a quick once-over .

    "You don''t exercise at all, do you?" Li Yundong''s eyes darted briefly to Dr . Zhong''s face, focusing on his double chin . "Your body fat levels are way too high¡­" Li Yundong paused in thought . "I suppose that makes sense considering your drinking problems . Alcohol contains a lot of calories after all . "

    Li Yundong reached over to and grabbed Dr . Zhong''s wrist .

    "Hey!" Dr . Zhong protests .

    "Shh!" Li Yundong raised a ringer, then spent the next minute giving Dr . Zhong a pulse reading .

    Suddenly, Li Yundong looked up at Dr . Zhong''s face .

    "Open your mouth," Li Yundong said .

    "What? No!" Dr . Zhong lookedpletely affronted at that point .

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes and pinched Dr . Zhong''s cheeks until thetter''s mouth dropped open . Then, he peered into the man''s mouth, wincing when he saw Dr . Zhong''s tongue .

    Li Yundong shook his head and pushed on Dr . Zhong''s lower jaw until the man''s mouth clicked shut .

    "Slightly swollen tongue? Weak pulse?" Li Yundong said, ticking the items off on his fingers . "Again, these are all symptoms of Renal Yin Deficiency . " Li Yundong lowered his hand . "The liver and kidneys are integral to overall health . Not only that, but your liver and kidneys also depend on each other . Whenever either organ ispromised, the rest of your internal organs will be affected as well . " Li Yundong held up five fingers . "Five years . You''re going to run into serious health problems in five years if you don''t change your lifestyle, Dr . Zhong . " He lowered his hand . "Of course, I can''t predict the exact illness or illnesses that you''ll be experience in five years . That''s beyond the scope Traditional Chinese Medicine and more towards Western Medicine''s domain . But I know beyond a single doubt that your health will suffer a devastating blow in about five years . "

 Chapter 240

    Chapter 240

    The Miracle Worker!

    "You are way out of line, kid," Dr . Zhong growled .

    "Out of line?" Li Yundong said, feigning a quizzical look . "Why, I''m terribly sorry if my diagnoses have offended you, sir . But I was merely concerned for your wellbeing . " Li Yundong gave Dr . Zhong a kind smile . "I have the utmost respect for you and your profession, you see?" Li Yundong shook his head gravely . "And as a responsible citizen, I cannot in good conscience allow a fine medical expert such as yourself to perish by the likes of alcoholism, poor eating habits, disrupted circadian rhythms, and,st but not least . . . " Li Yundong quirked a brow . "Viagra overconsumption . "

    Dr . Zhong''s face paled instantly . "V- Viagra¡­ W- Wha¡­ What did you say?"

    Li Yundong sighed wistfully . "It is such a waste for you to die young, doctor . Other patients are still in dire need of your expertise, you see?"

    A peal of feminine giggles erupted in the room .

    Li Yundong couldn''t help but smile when he saw Zhou Qin burying her whole face in her pillow .

    Uncle Zhou, too, was staring at him with amusement in his eyes .

    "Viagra overconsumption?" Dr . Zhong''s colleague scoffed . "You''re out of damn mind, kid . " He red at Li Yundong . "That''s a baseless im! You have no proof!"

    Li Yundong smirked . "Baseless im, you say?" His eyes slid to Dr . Zhong, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here .

    Li Yundong walked over and lifted Dr . Zhong''s wrist again .

    "Hey¡ªOww!"

    Li Yundong removed his thumb from a spot on the inside of Dr . Zhong''s wrist . He lowered Dr . Zhong''s hand and moved around to stand behind Dr . Zhong . Li Yundong found the acupoint on the back of Dr . Zhong''s head in no time and pressed it down firmly .

    "Ouch! Hey, watch it, kid!"

    Li Yundong stepped away from Dr . Zhong and nced at Dr . Zhong''s colleague .

    "Tenderness in those two acupoints indicates mild erectile dysfunction," Li Yundong said with a straight face .

    Another round of giggles filled the room .

    Zhou Qin was pping the pillow she was hugging .

    "And yet, strangely enough," Li Yundong continued in a light tone, "someone with erectile dysfunction ended up Renal Yin Deficiency, which, by the way, is caused by excessive semen loss due to ejaction . " Li Yundong paused for effect . "Now how on earth did that happen?" Li Yundong smirked and nced at Dr . Zhong''s colleague . "I''m sure your guess is as good as mine . "

    "Y- You . . . You . . . " Dr . Zhong pointed a shaky finger at Li Yundong''s face .

    "Oh¡­" Li Yundong gave Dr . Zhong a look of concern . "Are you alright, doctor? You seem a little pale . . . You''re not gonna pass out, are you? It is not umon for patients with Renal Yin Deficiency to experience random bouts of fainting when they are emotionally¡ª"

    "You!" Dr . Zhong growled . "Give me your name! I''m going to sue you for nder!"

    "nder?" Li Yundong stared at the doctor for a moment . Ah . . . I see what this is about .

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Don''t worry, doctor . What I said earlier about your drinking problems is merely a piece of friendly advice . I''m sure nobody here will report you to the medical board, isn''t that right?" Li Yundong nced around the room for emphasis . Silence filled the room . Momentster, Li Yundong shrugged . "See? You have nothing to worry about . Your medical license is safe . " He shed Dr . Zhong a smile . "Nobody is ndering you, doctor . You can rest easy . "

    Dr . Zhong sucked in a deep breath .

    Li Yundong mentally prepared himself to see the doctor''s spit flying within the next few seconds or so .

    "You''re using me of being an alcoholic without hard evidence," Dr . Zhong said coldly . "That, young man, is nder . " Dr . Zhong red daggers at Li Yundong . "What evidence do you have anyway? My bloodwork? Results from a breath test?" Dr . Zhong snorted . "You''ve got nothing, kid . " Suddenly, the doctor smirked . "That''s another reason why Traditional Chinese Medicine is nothing but quackery . Trained doctors like us base our diagnoses on concrete data obtained from high-tech medical instruments like X-rays or MRIs . " Dr . Zhongughed derisively . "You quacks make ims based on nothing but subjective opinion . "

    Li Yundong opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again when he felt a firm grasp on his shoulder . He turned around and saw Uncle Zhou''s stern expression .

    "I know your intentions are good, Li Yundong," Uncle Zhou said with a raised brow . "But Qinqin''s condition isn''t a joking matter . We should leave the matter to the medical professionals . " Uncle Zhou tilted his head towards the two doctors .

    Li Yundong turned around and gave Uncle Zhou a serious look .

    "Give me a chance, Uncle Zhou," Li Yundong said . "And I''ll have Zhou Qin up and walking again in no time . "

    Uncle Zhou''s eyes widenedically; the poor man seemed too stunned to evene up with a response .

    "You?" Dr . Zhong''s colleague sneered . "You are going to make Miss Zhou stand up, you say?" The manughed snidely . "Hah! You don''t even have a medical license!"

    "Take your nonsense elsewhere, kid . Practicing medicine isn''t as simple as reading a few books," said Dr . Zhong . "I suggest you go back to school and educate yourself properly before you start ying doctor . "

    Li Yundong took a deep breath and smiled graciously . "Why don''t we let Miss Zhou decide for herself, then?" Li Yundong turned his head to look at Zhou Qin . "Whom would you like to be treated by?"

    "You, of course," Zhou Qin answered in a heartbeat . Then, her eyes slid to the two doctors . "I don''t really trust Dr . Zhong . He tends to get a little . . . handsy during our consultations . "

    Li Yundong could feel his brows rising to his hairline . His gaze snapped towards Dr . Zhong, who seemed totally flustered now .

    That exins the Renal Yin Deficiency . . .

    The guy was a f*cking perv!

    No wonder Zhou Qin was giving the guy hateful looks earlier .

    "You people are out of your minds," Dr . Zhong growled . "I will not tolerate such humiliation . " Dr . Zhong suddenly turned around and stormed towards the door .

    Uncle Zhou burst into action and grabbed the man''s arm .

    "Hey . . . Come on now, doctor . Please, calm down . They''re just kids," Uncle Zhou said . "You shouldn''t take their words to heart . " Uncle Zhou suddenly turned his head and shot Zhou Qin a re . "Qinqin . Apologize to Dr . Zhou . Now . "

    "Seriously, dad?" Zhou Qin gave Uncle Zhou an affronted look . "Are you kidding me right now?"

    Uncle Zhou gasped . "W- What? What did you just call me?"

    Dad, huh? Li Yundong smiled to himself . Seems like there''s hope for these two yet .

    Zhou Qin seemed to have realized her own slip too, judging from her wide eyes, though she managed to recover herself secondster .

    "Why should I apologize for being molested?" Zhou Qin fired back, then shot Dr . Zhong a re .

    Uncle Zhou''s fists were clenched tightly as he stared at Dr . Zhong . The poor man looked like he was holding himself back from punching Dr . Zhong in the face .

    Secondster, Uncle Zhou took a deep breath and exhaled .

    "Regardless, you need their help if you want to stand up again, Qinqin . . . "

    Need their help? Li Yundong scoffed inwardly . Oh, hell no she doesn''t .

    Enough was enough .

    Li Yundong stepped forward and sped Uncle Zhou''s shoulder firmly .

    When their gazes met, Li Yundong gave Uncle Zhou a reassuring look .

    "Two days, Uncle Zhou," Li Yundong said firmly . "Two days are all I need to heal her . "

    Uncle Zhou''s eyes widened in shock .

    Li Yundong nodded earnestly . "You have my word . "

    Dr . Zhong burst intoughter . "You''re not actually going to take this quack seriously are you, Mr . Zhou?" Dr . Zhong shot Li Yundong a look of contempt . "This is the oldest trick in the book! That''s ssic medical quackery right there, Mr . Zhou . These frauds prey on their distraught patients'' vulnerable psychology, using it to manipte their patients with false promises!" Dr . Zhong snickered . "It is doubtful that Miss Zhou would be able to fully recover in two years, let alone two days . "

    "And if she doesn''t take our treatment ns seriously," Dr . Zhong''s colleague piped in, "she might never be able to stand up again . "

    Li Yundong opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off by Zhou Qin''s sharp tone .

    "Enough!"

    "Hey, hey, hey! Calm down, Qinqin! Wait, no! Don''t!" Uncle Zhou was scrambling towards the bed . "What are you doing? That''s dangerous!"

    Li Yundong whirled around and saw Zhou Qin swinging her legs over the edge of the bed .

    Uncle Zhou reached the bed in record time . "Come on¡­ Lie back down, Qinqin! You''re not ready to stand up yet!"

    Zhou Qin swatted Uncle Zhou''s hands away . "It''s okay, dad . I think I can stand up already . "

    "What?!" Uncle Zhou said .

    Li Yundong immediately noticed the smile that Zhou Qin was sending him .

    Their gazes locked .

    "I think today''s session did the trick," Zhou Qin said without breaking their eye contact .

    Surprised, Li Yundong stared down at his right hand . He knew that the blood clot was almost gone thanks to the head massages, but he didn''t expect Zhou Qin to be able to stand up so soon . Based on the dosage of the Jindan''s Aura that he''d exposed to Zhou Qin earlier, he thought it would require at least three sessions before the damage in her spine was healed . Had he miscalcted the dosage? Or did it have something to do with the Enneacyclic Haworthia Extract that Zi Yuan had fed him?

    Suddenly, there was a collective gasp .

    "My God . . . Qinqin . . . "

    Li Yundong nced up from his hand . Zhou Qin was standing beside the bed on both legs,pletely unsupported .

    It was done .

    Zhou Qin was healed .

 Chapter 241

    Chapter 241

    <h4>Showing Off!</h4>

    "B- B- But . . . H- How . . . !" Dr . Zhong sputtered .

    Zhou Qin took several tentative steps forward, stopping a few feet away from the bed .

    "My God, Qinqin . . . " Uncle Zhou said breathlessly . "You... You¡¯re walking . . . You¡¯re actually walking!"

    Li Yundong stepped closer with his arms extended just in case Zhou Qin fell .

    "How do they feel?" Li Yundong asked .

    "As good as new!" Zhou Qin beamed at him . "See?" She began takingrger steps around the room .

    "T- That¡¯s impossible!" Dr . Zhong eximed, ncing at his colleague . "That¡¯s just . . . " He pointed a shaky finger at Zhou Qin . "That¡¯s just not possible!"

    Li Yundong turned and gave Dr . Zhong a smile . "Evidence, doctor . " He tilted his head towards Zhou Qin, who was now attempting to stand on one leg . "Isn¡¯t that what science is all about? You base your judgement on the evidence?"

    "No . " Dr . Zhong shook his head desperately . "There has to be some other exnation for this! I examined at her X-rays a few days ago, for crying out loud!"

    Li Yundong sniggered inwardly . Yeah . And I bet her X-rays will look totally different now if you take them again . The X-ray is just a tool after all . If the Jindan¡¯s Aura really did heal her spine, the results would show on her X-rays as well .

    "Ah! I know!" Dr . Zhong pped his hands together and turned his head sharply towards his colleague . "You must have shown me the wrong X-rays!"

    Dr . Zhong¡¯s colleague froze, blinking a few times . "I... definitely . . . " Then, a look of recognition shed across the man¡¯s face and he began nodding fervently . "Pfft! Right? I must have given you the wrong ones, Dr . Zhong! I must have!" The man gestured at Zhou Qin . "There¡¯s no way a person with those X-rays can be walking around like this . "

    Li Yundong frowned when Zhou Qin suddenly stopped walking . Before he could rush to her side and ask her what was wrong, Zhou Qin began storming towards the two doctors like a woman on a mission . Two secondster, Zhou Qin was standing in front of the two middle-aged doctors .

    And she looked totally pissed off .

    "Didn¡¯t you say that it would take longer than two years for me to make a full recovery?" Zhou Qin¡¯s words were clearly meant for both doctors, though her gaze was fixed on Dr . Zhong . "How about it, hmm? Ready to eat your words now?"

    Dr . Zhong¡¯s mouth opened, but Zhou Qin didn¡¯t give him the chance to speak .

    "Well, guess what? It only took a few days for Li Yundong to cure me," Zhou Qin said sharply . "And he has done so with Traditional Chinese Medicine, the same discipline that you have mocked and dismissed as mere quackery!"

    Li Yundong shot Zhou Qin an awkward look .

    Technically, that wasn¡¯t theplete truth . He did design his treatment strategy based on the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine, but the Jindan¡¯s Aura and his mastery of Qi control still did the bulk of the work . His treatment n wouldn¡¯t have produced such miraculous results if it involved acupuncture alone .

    Then again . . .

    Li Yundong nced at the two doctors .

    Nope . Those assholes didn¡¯t have to know that . Let them suffer a bit .

    "I¡¯ve been dying to say this for days," Zhou Qin continued her rant, pausing to re at Dr . Zhong . "You call yourself a doctor, but I doubt you¡¯re here to do your job . " She let out a humorless chuckle . "Why don¡¯t you tell me who¡¯s the real chatan here?"

    Dr . Zhong flinched and suddenly nced at the door .

    "Do you think I¡¯m blind?" Zhou Qin sneered . "You didn¡¯t think I would notice the way you were looking at me with those lewd eyes?" Zhou Qin pointed an usatory finger at Dr . Zhong . "You¡¯re nothing but a sex predator masquerading as a doctor!"

    Dr . Zhong paled . "H- How dare you make such baseless usations¡ª"

    Zhou Qin sneered . "I bet you managed to get away with it every time . " Another humorless chuckle . "I¡¯m pretty sure your patients kepting back in spite of what you did . " There was a pause . "Your patients, or should I say your victims, kepting back because they had no other choice! You were their only hope for recovery . That¡¯s why they kept their mouths shut and kepting back . " Zhou Qin was on a roll . "You are the one who¡¯s been preying on your patients¡¯ need to get better! You are the chatan here!"

    "T- This is libel! You mark my words, youngdy . I shall have you sued for¡ª"

    "Libel?" Zhou Qin snickered . "Fine . Guess I¡¯ll see you in court, then . Let¡¯s see if your word can measure up to the testimonies of the dozens of young women whom you treated in the past, or those of the nurses and the medical staff in this hospital . "

    Dr . Zhong nced at his colleague, who appeared to have taken a sudden interest in the room¡¯s flooring .

    "Ugh! This is absurd!" Dr . Zhong turned around and stormed towards the door .

    "And submit your resignation while you¡¯re at it," Zhou Qin yelled after Dr . Zhong . "You¡¯ll be doing society a favor by ridding other young women of the pain and humiliation caused by your obscenity . "

    The door creaked open .

    "And stop ying around with women!" Zhou Qin yelled . "Or risk dropping dead due to Renal Yin Deficiency!" Then, she dropped her voice into a low mumble . "On second thought, it might be better if you drop dead . "

    The door closed with a loud bang, startling Dr . Zhong¡¯s colleague out of his scrutiny of the floor . The man stared at the closed door for a few seconds, then hurried after Dr . Zhong when he noticed Zhou Qin¡¯s re .

    As soon as the second doctor was out of the room, a shriek sounded from another corner of the room .

    "Zhou Qin! You¡¯re on your feet!"

    For some reason, Zhou Qin¡¯s scowl vanished as soon as that voice sounded .

    "Madam Xu!" Zhou Qin said, her face lighting up in joy .

    Having followed Zhou Qin¡¯s gaze, Li Yundong saw an olddy standing at the connecting door near Zhou Qin¡¯s bed .

    "Good Lord!" Madam Xu eximed . "You¡¯re standing!"

    Zhou Qin strode towards the olddy . "Both my legs are healed, Madam Xu!" Zhou Qin stopped in front of thedy and did a full turn on the same spot . "See? They¡¯re totally fine now . "

    "Oh, what great news!" Madam Xu pped her hands together and looked towards Uncle Zhou .

    "I know," Zhou Qin said tedly .

    From the corner of his eyes, Li Yundong saw Uncle Zhou slowly lowering himself into a chair . The man appeared to be still in shock .

    "But . . . how is this possible?" Madam Xu inquired . "I thought the doctors said . . . "

    Zhou Qin shook her head . "The doctors didn¡¯t make this happen, Madam Xu . " Zhou Qin gestured at her legs .

    "T- Then who did?" Madam Xu asked .

    The next thing he knew, Zhou Qin¡¯s finger was pointed straight at him . "He did . "

    Madam Xu turned her head sharply . Li Yundong gave the olddy a polite smile .

    "He looks young, right?" Zhou Qin added secondster .

    "Oh, he does," Madam Xu answered without taking her eyes off him .

    "Mm-hmm . . . " Zhou Qin said . "But don¡¯t be fooled by his appearance . " Zhou Qin nced at him briefly . "He¡¯s actually a rare talent . "

    "Zhou Qin . . . " Li Yundong said in a warning tone . "Stop exaggerating . I¡¯m just . . . Whoa! Ma¡¯am! What are you¡ª"

    THUD!

    Madam Xu suddenly dropped to her knees and hugged Li Yundong¡¯s legs .

    Li Yundong shot Zhou Qin a panicked look .

    Zhou Qin seemed quite stunned as well .

    "Oh, master healer! Would you please cure an old woman of her many ailments?"

    ***

    Li Yundong bent down and tried to pull Madam Xu to her feet . s, his efforts were futile; the woman refused to stand up, and Li Yundong didn¡¯t want to resort to force lest he identally hurt the frail-looking woman .

    "Please get up, Ma¡¯am," Li Yundong said in a helpless tone . "This isn¡¯t necessary . I haven¡¯t done anything to deserve your¡ª"

    "Nonsense," Madam Xu said, hugging his legs tighter . "You helped Zhou Qin stand up again . That¡¯s a miracle in and of itself!"

    Li Yundong shot Zhou Qin yet another pleading look, which, much to his distress, went utterly unheeded .

    Li Yundong sighed and nudged Madam Xu¡¯s arm gently . "Please, stand up, Ma¡¯am . . . "

    Madam Xu tightened her arms around Li Yundong¡¯s legs . "I¡¯ll stand up only if you agree to take a look at me!"

    Li Yundong sighed in resignation . "Alright, alright . Fine . I¡¯ll take a look at you . But please, get up first, okay?" Li Yundong reached down once more .

    This time, the olddy relented and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet . Thank f*ck .

    Once the olddy was on her feet, Li Yundong took stock of her appearance: short and petite; thin and frail; dressed in some kind of blue traditional gown and a pair of cloth shoes .

    "Um . . . Where should I sit?" Madam Xu asked tentatively .

    "Here . You can use this . "

    Li Yundong turned around in surprise and saw Uncle Zhou rising from the chair he¡¯d been sitting on .

    Madam Xu thanked Uncle Zhou after the man carried the chair over and ced it behind her . While helping Madam Xu into the chair, Li Yundong could feel Uncle Zhou¡¯s curious gaze on him .

    Once Madam Xu wasfortably seated in the chair, Li Yundong took the woman¡¯s wrist and began a pulse diagnosis .

    About a minuteter, Li Yundong released her wrist .

    "So?" Madam Xu asked . "Will I live?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "Just a sec, okay?" He went around to stand behind the chair . "Is it okay if I touch your head?"

    After receiving a nod from Madam Xu, Li Yundong ced his palm over the top of her head and performed Neiguan to observe the state of her Five Zangs . Her Kidney and Spleen seemed much weaker than the rest of her five Zangs, which was rather rming since her Zangs were already weak to begin with due to old age . Her Liver looked pretty bad as well, though not as bad as her Kidney . Li Yundong closed his eyes and moved his Qi around her body through her meridians . After several circuits, Li Yundong discerned several oddities in several of Madam Xu¡¯s joints . Something seemed odd with her left forearm, as well, though Li Yundong quickly attributed that to a past injury .

    Li Yundong removed his hand from the top of Madam Xu¡¯s head and stepped around the chair so that he was standing in front of Madam Xu .

    "What is your diagnosis?" asked Madam Xu in an anxious tone .

    Li Yundong held his chin as he sorted out his thoughts . Secondster, he nced at the old woman . "May I confirm a few things with you?" Li Yundong said .

    Madam Xu nodded .

    Li Yundong took a step closer to the chair . "You have been experiencing frequent bouts of fatigue throughout the day recently, I presume?"

    "That¡¯s..." Madam Xu¡¯s eyes widened slightly . "That¡¯s right . "

    "Your knees, ankles, and elbow joints start to hurt during cold days?"

    Madam Xu nodded desperately .

    "You broke your left forearm before when you were younger," Li Yundong said .

    "You brat!" Madam Xu pped her thigh loudly . "You¡¯re spot on in everything you said!" All of a sudden, Madam Xu¡¯s pped her hand over her mouth and gave him a sheepish look . "Oops . Forgive my rudeness, young man . I didn¡¯t mean to call you a brat . . . "

    Li Yundong smiled . "That¡¯s fine, Ma¡¯am . And you¡¯ve been suffering from diarrhea for the past few days?"

    Madam Xu¡¯s mouth dropped open . She looked towards Uncle Zhou before allowing her gaze settle on Zhou Qin .

    "Y- You haven¡¯t told me anything about me, have you?"

    Zhou Qin shook her head .

    Li Yundong chuckled . "No . Neither of them told me anything . "

    Madam Xu shook her head in disbelief . "Then how on earth did you guess all that?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "The bouts of fatigue you¡¯ve been experiencing are due to weak Kidneys, Ma¡¯am . "

    "Weak Kidneys!" Madam Xu eximed .

    "Yes, Ma¡¯am . " Li Yundong nodded gravely . "Your kidneys are suffering from severe Qi deficiency, I¡¯m afraid . "

    Madam Xu¡¯s eyes widened in rm .

    "A- Am I going to die?" asked the old woman in a small voice . "Is it my time already?"

    "Whoa, whoa, whoa... Calm down . " Li Yundong chuckled and raised a palm . "I never said anything about dying . The weakening of your Kidneys is simply part of the natural process of aging . "

    "Oh . "

    Li Yundong gave her a reassuring smile . "In Traditional Chinese Medicine, there¡¯s this concept called the Six Excesses, or the Six Pathogenic Factors . " He paused to look at Madam Xu . "Have you heard of it?"

    The olddy shook her head .

    Li Yundong raised his finger . "Traditional Chinese Medicine proposed that the human body is governed by seventeen Functional Entities¡ªQi, blood, body fluids, Essence, Spirit, the 5 Zangs, the 6 Fus, and also the meridians . Together, these Functional Entities perform what we call the Five Cardinal Functions of the human body¡ªActuation, Warming, Defense, Containment, and Transportation . Illness, therefore, urred as a result of the disruption of the Five Cardinal Functions . And the Five Cardinals only get disrupted when the Functional Entities are in a state of disharmony . The Six Excesses basically refers to the six distinct types of disharmony that can ur to our Functional Entities . " Li Yundong looked towards Madam Xu, who appeared to be listening to him with rapt attention . "The aches you¡¯ve been experiencing in your knee, ankle, and elbow joints are caused by the umtion of Dampness over a long period of time . And yes, Dampness is one of the Six Excesses . Note that I used the term umtion . The reason for that is because Dampness is a distinct entity, not just some abstract property . In more precise terms, Dampness is a type of Qi that can enter your system from the external environment . See? Dampness is a kind of stuff that can be obtained externally and then umted inside the body . Usually, Dampness umtes in the joints and meridians after it enters the body . Oh, and it also umtes in sites of injury like open wounds, broken bones£¬ and such . " Li Yundong smiled at Madam Xu . "For your case, I know it¡¯s your left forearm . You fractured it before, didn¡¯t you?"

    "B- But how could you possibly tell!" Madam Xu spluttered . "That was so long ago!"

    Both Uncle Zhou and Zhou Qin were staring at him curiously right then .

    "When I put my hand over your head just now," Li Yundong said, "I was actually performing a Qi-control technique called Neiguan . It allows me to sense the different types of Qis inside your body, including those of your Zangs and Fus . "

    "Oh . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "There is heavy umtion of Dampness Qi in the joints I mentioned earlier . But on your left forearm, the distributed pattern forms a narrow strip . " Li Yundong smiled, then shrugged . "So I deduced that the umtion had been caused by some kind of bone fracture . "

    "Amazing . . . " Uncle Zhou whispered .

    "Wait . . . " Madam Xu pped her thigh again . "What about the diarrhea? How could you possibly know about that?"

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Neiguan again, of course . I could sense the state of your Zangs, remember? Your Kidney is the weakest . But your Spleen is pretty bad too . " He shot Madam Xu a sympathetic look . "Both your Kidney and Spleen are suffering from severe Qi deficiency . "

    "And that¡¯s causing the diarrhea?"

    "Why, of course, Ma¡¯am," said Li Yundong . "Your Spleen is like your body¡¯s manager, you see . It handles the transportation of nutrients and . . . " Li Yundong waved his hand . "Anyway . I digressed . The diarrhea is due to your Spleen¡¯s exposure to Wind, which is another one of the Six Excesses . " Li Yundong gestured at the old woman¡¯s attire . "I rmend wearing thicker clothes, Ma¡¯am . It¡¯s nearing autumn now . Exposure to the cold wind will only worsen your condition . "

    Silence permeated the room .

    Secondster, Madam Xu gave him a huge thumbs up . "Wow . You really are something else, young man . "

    "Nah . " Li Yundong shrugged . "I didn¡¯te up with all that stuff anyway . " He chuckled . "I just read about it, that¡¯s all . "

    "Oh, look at him . " Madam Xu chuckled . "So humble . "

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "Madam Xu . . . If I may ask . . . " He shot the old woman a serious look . "Are you, by any chance, hospitalized because of cerebrovascr disease? Or hypertension?"

    Madam Xu pulled back in surprise .

    Li Yundongughed . "Don¡¯t look so surprised, Ma¡¯am . People don¡¯t usually get hospitalized because of diarrhea and rheumatic diseases . So I know that you¡¯re here for something much more serious than what I just listed . "

    After a moment of silence, Madam Xu sighed . "I had a mild stroke a week ago . It was caused by hypertension . "

    "I see," Li Yundong said .

    Madam Xu shot him a curious look . "But how did you figure it out?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "First of all, hypertension is quite amon problem in people of your age . "

    Madam Xu chuckled . "That¡¯s true, I suppose . "

    "But the cerebrovascr disease is more like an educated guess . " Li Yundong looked towards Madam Xu . "I didn¡¯t know for sure . "

    Madam Xuughed . "Could¡¯ve fooled me though . "

    "The Kidney and the Liver are dependent on each other for optimal function," Li Yundong continued . "Since your Kidneys are in a poor state of health, your Liver health is likely affected as well . " Li Yundong paused to give Madam Xu a pointed look . "Even more so considering your age . " Li Yundong waved a hand . "Anyway . In your case,promised Liver health leads to hyperactivity of fire due to yin deficiency . What that basically means is that you¡¯ll have a higher tendency to get angry . But here¡¯s another problem . People at your age shouldn¡¯t be getting angry at all, since your meridians aren¡¯t as healthy as they used to be . Getting angry can easily lead to hypertension and, with hypertension,es cerebrovascr diseases . "

    Madam Xu shot Li Yundong a hopeful look . "Then . . . Do you know of a way to make it all go away?"

    Li Yundong shoved his right hand into his pocket and secretly activated the Jindan Aura .

    "Of course, Ma¡¯am," he said and positioned himself behind Madam Xu¡¯s chair . "What do you say I give you a head massage?"

 Chapter 242

    Chapter 242

    <h4>Suspicion</h4>

    Su Chan stared longingly out the window, hoping to detect even a slightest hint of white paper amidst the green mountains . Two days . Birdie had been gone for two days . Birdie, who was carrying her carefully constructed message to Yundong .

    "Grr... Where on earth are you, birdie?" Su Chan muttered as she pushed herself away from the windowsill . "Why aren¡¯t you back yet?"

    Su Chan paced around the room anxiously, pausing once every few steps to look out the window . She honestly didn¡¯t know why she even bothered . There weren¡¯t any signs of the paper crane every time she looked . Birdie had most likely gotten lost . Maybe that useless thing had malfunctioned halfway¡ªlike maybe it ran out of spiritual energy or something .

    Regardless, this was terrible .

    Master didn¡¯t believe her . And now she had no way tomunicate with the one person whom she knew would believe her .

    Su Chan wanted to cry .

    Su Chan stopped pacing and nced at the closed door of her bedroom . Su Chan hadn¡¯t spoken with Master ever since their argument regarding Mo-shibo¡¯s treachery and Gu-shibo¡¯s murder . Master had sealed the door of her bedroom . The only times Su Chan even saw Master was when she came into the room to deliver Su Chan¡¯s meals . Even then, they never spoke to each other .

    Master wouldn¡¯t even look at her .

    Chan¡¯er is telling the truth, Master . . . Why won¡¯t you believe me?

    Right . Silly, Chan¡¯er . Because Gu-shibo, whom Su Chan had imed to be dead, showed up at their quarters very much alive right after Su Chan made the im .

    Su Chan sighed and padded towards the window once again . Resting her elbows on the windowsill, she stared out into the sky . Was there a way to convince Master that she was telling the truth? Su Chan scoffed at the thought . How was she ever going to convince someone else when she herself wasn¡¯t sure what was going on? Did what she see take ce at all? Su Chan sighed and stretched her arm forward . Her hand crossed the windowsill without encountering any resistance at all .

    Master hadn¡¯t sealed the window .

    Maybe she should sneak out and start searching thepound for birdie . If it fell off somewhere, she might be able to find it . Don¡¯t be a fool, Chan¡¯er . Finding a tiny paper crane in the huge Mount Tianlong . Fat chance of that happening . Looking for her phone was out of the question either . Heavens knew where Master had hidden it .

    Su Chan retracted her hand and slumped over the windowsill . Maybe she should just leave Mount Tianlong altogether . And then she could borrow some mortal¡¯s phone and call Yundong with it .

    But still... It didn¡¯t feel right to just leave without telling Master anything .

    The sound of her door knob turning nearly made Su Chan jump out of her skin . She whirled around from the window and dove straight onto her bed, pulling the nket over her head . Lyingpletely still under the nket, Su Chan listen with bated breath for any sounds inside her room . Was it time for her meal already? No . Su Chan was pretty sure it wasn¡¯t . For once in her life, the prospect of food failed to excite Su Chan .

    After waiting in silence for about a minute, Su Chan slowly lowered the nket and took a peek over the top of the nket .

    She squeaked loudly when she saw Master standing beside her bed, staring down at her . There was a stern look on Master¡¯s beautiful face . She wasn¡¯t even smirking orughing at Su Chan¡¯s silly reaction .

    Su Chan clutched the nket tighter and struggled not to squirm under the Great Ao Wushuang¡¯s intimidating gaze .

    "M- Master . . . ?"

    The air was thick and heavy with tension, and Su Chan thought she was about to die of suffocation . After what felt like forever, Master¡¯s features softened . The bed dipped when Master sat down on its edge . A series of soft pats drew Su Chan¡¯s attention away from Master¡¯s form onto a spot on the bed where Master was patting with her left hand .

    Su Chan kicked the nket away and crawled over obediently . Once she got settled beside Master, Su Chan reached out a tentative hand to grab Master¡¯s arm .

    "You said you saw your Mo-shibo and Gu-shibo sleeping together?"

    There was a tight frown formed on Master¡¯s face, like it physically hurt her to say those words .

    "Yes, Master!" Su Chan grabbed Master¡¯s arm and bobbed her head up and down . "I saw it happen with my own eyes! I swear!"

    Master regarded her silently for a few seconds . "And then your Mo-shibo killed Gu-shibo afterwards?"

    Hope kindled inside Su Chan . Was Master finally starting to believe her?

    "Mmm!" Su Chan nodded earnestly . "Mo-shibo pulled out her hairpin and then went for Gu-shibo¡¯s Huagai . " Su Chan leaned closer and let her voice drop to a whisper . "She drained everything from him, Master . Gu . . . " Su Chan shuddered at the memory . "I saw Gu-shibo turn into a bag of dry corpse before I got scared and ran away . "

    Master spent a long while in silent contemtion, which put Su Chan on edge . After another while, Master bent forward and massaged her forehead .

    "You still don¡¯t believe me, do you, Master?"

    Master¡¯s shoulders stiffened . Momentster, Master sighed . "It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to believe you, Chan¡¯er . It¡¯s just the evidence . "

    Su Chan lowered her head dejectedly .

    "How am I supposed to believe your story when Gu-shibo had shown himself to be alive and well?" Master paused to look at Su Chan . "I¡¯ve spoken to him a few times after that day . I couldn¡¯t detect anything wrong with him at all . His spiritual signature seemed normal, and there wasn¡¯t anything out of ordinary in his behavior as well . "

    Thest of Su Chan¡¯s hope fizzled out .

    "But I saw . . . " Su Chan whispered . "I really saw . . . "

    "It could just be an illusion," Master remarked .

    Su Chan¡¯s gaze snapped upwards .

    "It didn¡¯t seem like an illusion, Master," Su Chan fired back defiantly .

    Master turned around sharply and grabbed Su Chan¡¯s shoulder . Su Chan could see the worry and concern etched on Master¡¯s beautiful face right then .

    "You must tell me everything, Chan¡¯er," said Master . "As many details as you can remember . Leave nothing out . "

    For a moment or two, Su Chan was taken aback by Master¡¯s vehemence .

    "Chan¡¯er?" Master prompted .

    Su Chan shook herself out of her stupor and began recalling the events that day . "After I left our quarters, I... I went to the backyard . . . Oh! I brought birdie with me, too!"

    Master nodded for her to continue .

    "The stupid birdie took off, so I chased it around for a bit . Then I flew past . . . " Su Chan did the math inside her head . "Ten buildings?"

    Master gave her a look of surprise . "You flew that far?"

    "Yeah, well, that stupid birdie was fast . . . " Su Chan mumbled .

    "Go on . "

    "I caught birdie eventually andnded on the roof of arge building," Su Chan said, then paused for a few seconds . "I . . . I didn¡¯t recognize the building or my surroundings . Don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever been there before . "

    The frown on Master¡¯s face deepened . "Arge building you say?"

    "Mmm!"

    "Which direction?"

    Su Chan frowned . "I don¡¯t understand, Master . "

    Master sighed . "Which direction did the crane take off in? Rtive to the backyard, I mean . "

    Su Chan thought for a moment . "Um . . . South . "

    Master¡¯s eyes widened slightly . "South . . . "

    Su Chan nodded .

    "Are you absolutely certain?"

    Su Chan bobbed her head up and down . "Mmm!"

    A long stretched of silence passed . Su Chan didn¡¯t dare say make a sound lest she disturb Master¡¯s thought process .

    "This building . . . " Master said in a tone so serious that Su Chan found herself sitting up straighter . "It¡¯s a three-story building with a lot of rooms?" The intensity in Master¡¯s eyes sent chills down Su Chan¡¯s spine . "And it¡¯s got theserge eaves extending from the roof?"

    Shock coursed through Su Chan . "Yes, Master! That¡¯s right . "

    It was obvious that Master recognized the building .

    Master let out a shaky breath . "Which room did you witness the whole . . . You know . " Master made a random gesture with her hand . When her hand motions stopped, Master was staring at Su Chan again . "Was it a room on the ground floor?"

    Su Chan nodded again .

    "How did you end up there?" Master asked . "Were you snooping?"

    "After I caught birdie, Inded on one of the long eaves to catch my breath¡ª"

    Master silenced her with a raised hand .

    "Which eave?" Master said . "Front, back, or side?"

    "Front," Su Chan answered in a heartbeat .

    Master nodded . "Continue . "

    "I heard . . . " Su Chan blushed a little . "Voices . . . " Su Chan cleared her throat . "Well, more like noises . . . "

    "The ground floor . . . " Master whispered, then went silent . Momentster, Master looked up sharply . "When you were standing on the eave, were you facing away or towards the building?"

    "Away . "

    "Now . Using that as a reference point," Master said . "Which direction, rtive to the eave, was the room in? South, east, or west?"

    "East . "

    Master¡¯s eyes slid shut . "Mo Ahshi¡¯s personal quarters . . . "

    "Master, I¡ª"

    "What did you do next?" Master cut her off abruptly .

    "I . . . I got curious and traced the noises to that room . " Su Chan fiddled with her sleeve . "The windows were open, so I . . . I took a peek . . . "

    Master¡¯s eyes snapped open . "Did you run into anybody on the way to the room?"

    Su Chan shook her head . "I flew around with Shadow Mist . "

    A look of relief spread across Master¡¯s face .

    After a few moments of silence, Master¡¯s expression turned serious once again . "You were looking in from the window the whole time?"

    "Mmm . "

    "Were you discovered? Did either of them notice your presence?"

    Su Chan stiffened a little at the question . "I... I um... I identally made a noise when I saw Gu-shibo die . . . "

    Master shot her a withering re . "And?"

    "Mo-shibo did notice something, I think . She asked who was there, but I sneaked away . " Su Chan shot Master a tentative nce . "I . . . don¡¯t think I was discovered?"

    Su Chan let out a gasp when Master suddenly grabbed her shoulder . "I want you to think carefully, Chan¡¯er . Did you see anything out of the ordinary while you were there? Anything at all?"

    "Um . . . Like what?"

    "Were there any talismans lying around?" Master asked .

    Su Chan spent a few seconds searching her memory . "No, Master . . . "

    "When you were chasing the crane, did you run into anyone?"

    Su Chan shook her head . The stupid birdie was a handful . Su Chan could barely keep up with it let alone stop for a chat .

    Master was silent for a few seconds . "What about before the chase?" Master stared at her intently . "When you were on the way to the backyard, did anyone speak to you, or touch you?"

    "No . . . " Su Chan frowned and gave Master a strange look . "You think someone cast a spell on me, Master?"

    "When you were spying on them through the window . . . " Master stared at her . "Was there any weird smell?"

    "I . . . I don¡¯t think so?"

    "Did you see any smoke inside the room? Was there any incense burning?"

    Su Chan shook her head and waited for Master to say something .

    Just when Su Chan thought she couldn¡¯t take the silence anymore, Master rose from the bed . Su Chan followed suit .

    "Master . . . ?"

    Master turned around to face her . "You must leave, Chan¡¯er . It is no longer safe for you to remain here . "

    "What? But¡ª"

    "Don¡¯t argue with me, Chan¡¯er," said Master sternly . "Not this time . "

    Su Chan lowered her gaze to the floor .

    A secondter, Su Chan felt a firm pressure under her chin . The next thing she knew, her head was tilted upwards by Master¡¯s fingers .

    "From this point onward, I want you to do exactly as I say," Master said with a pause . "To the letter . Is that clear?"

    Su Chan nodded weakly .

    Master grasped her shoulders tightly, drawing a gasp from her lips .

    "Promise," Master growled, shaking her a few times .

    Su Chan schooled her features and gave Master a determined look . "Yes, I promise you, Master . "

    Master sighed and released her shoulders . "Good . "

    "D- Do I . . . Do I leave now?" Su Chan asked .

    She didn¡¯t want to leave to be honest . This didn¡¯t feel right . None of this felt right . Something sinister was lurking in this godforsaken ce . She could feel it in her bones . Would Master be alright without anyone watching her back? Su Chan scoffed inwardly at the thought . Watching her back? Su Chan would probably just be a burden if she stayed . Maybe that was why Master wanted her to leave .

    "No," Master said . "It would be unwise to leave now . You must wait until tonight . " Master¡¯s eyes darted to Su Chan¡¯s face . "After you were properly fed and well-rested . "

    "O-Okay . . . "

    "And go on foot," Master said, giving Su Chan a pointed look . "No flying . "

    Su Chan blinked . "F- For the entire journey?"

    "Yes," Master said . "We don¡¯t want anyone detecting your spiritual signature . "

    "I . . . Alright, Master," Su Chan mumbled weakly .

    "Still remember that spell I taught you?"

    Su Chan looked up sharply . "Yes . "

    Master nodded . "Use that . Make sure you cover your tracks well . " Master gave her a stern look . "Do not let your guard down . "

    Su Chan lowered her gaze as a sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu hit her . This felt a whole lot like the time when she was forced to go on the run after stealing the Jindan .

    "And don¡¯te back after you leave," Master said sharply .

    Su Chan shot Master a timid nce .

    "I mean it, Chan¡¯er," said Master forcefully . "I don¡¯t care what you see or hear . Do note back after you leave, you understand?"

    "R- Right..."

    "Stay away no matter what happens," Master paused . "You got that?"

    Su Chan nodded weakly .

    "Promise me," Master said vehemently .

    "I-I promise," Su Chan said .

    "Good girl . "

    "Um . . . Where should I go, Master?"

    "Head back to Dongwu City," said Master .

    "Alright . . . But what should I do once I get there?"

    "Lay low and wait for my instructions . "

    Which meant she would be going back to that corn-door building again .

    "While you¡¯reying low, pay close attention to the sky . You are to return to the Heir immediately if you don¡¯t hear from me after the Heavenly Thunder strikes . " Suddenly, Master turned around to look at her with a raised brow . "You sent out the paper crane a few days ago, I presume?"

    Su Chan could feel her cheeks heating up as she nodded meekly .

    "And it hasn¡¯t returned yet?" Master said, ncing at Su Chan . "I didn¡¯t sense its return . . . "

    Su Chan shook her head .

    "Hmm . . . I suppose the Heir will be busy preparing for the divine punishment around this time . He probably won¡¯t have time to respond to any of your messages . . . "

    Master¡¯s words brought Su Chan a small amount of relief . Maybe birdie didn¡¯t get lost after all . Good birdie .

    "Anyway . " Master waved her hand . "Rest up for now¡ª"

    Three gentle knocks on the front door stilled their conversation . Su Chan nced up at Master, who was staring at the door with narrowed eyes .

    A secondter, Master was moving away from the bed .

    "Wait! Master . . . " Su Chan hissed .

    Master turned around and stopped Su Chan in her tracks .

    "Stay in here and don¡¯te out," Master whispered . "Everyone in the school knows that I have confined you to your room . "

    Su Chan stared at Master for a moment . Master¡¯s expression was stern and unyielding .

    A secondter, Su Chan nodded .

    Master smiled and patted her head . "Good . And keep the door locked . "

    Su Chan closed the door and locked it once Master was out . After that, Su Chan pressed her ear against the door and tried to listen to the sounds outside .

    Three more knocks sounded . Secondster, Su Chan heard a click followed by the familiar creak of the front door . There was a brief pause before she heard Master¡¯s voice .

    "Mo-shijie . What can I do for you today?"

 Chapter 243

    Chapter 243

    <h4>Deceit and Betrayal</h4>

    Ao Wushuang stared the woman at their door through the peephole . Mo Ahshi, the eldest disciple of the Fox Zen School . Despite Chan¡¯er¡¯s ount of what happened a few days ago, Ao Wushuang was, admittedly, still having difficulties seeing Mo Ahshi in a new light . Nevertheless, after spending a whole day yesterday brooding over the incident, Ao Wushuang had decided to give Chan¡¯er¡¯s story a chance . In hindsight, Ao Wushuang shouldn¡¯t have doubted Chan¡¯er to begin with, shouldn¡¯t have used the girl of lying to her . For all she knew, the decades¡¯ worth of respect she had for Mo-shijie might¡¯ve been misced all along . Even more so considering she had neither seen nor interacted with Mo-shijie for over ten years . A lot could happen in ten years . Hearts could be swayed . Bonds could be severed and trust broken asunder, leaving the old alliance in shambles . People change . But Chan¡¯er? For as long as Ao Wushuang could remember, Chan¡¯er had been nothing but loyal to her . She owed it to Chan¡¯er to at least look into the matter .

    Ao Wushuang swung the door open and gave Mo-shijie a cordial smile .

    "Mo-shijie . What can I do for you today?"

    Mo-shijie was immactely dressed in her usual Daopao (T/N: A Taoist robe) . Her dark tresses were held up by a golden hairpin, which, ording to Chan¡¯er¡¯s narrative, was probably the same one Mo-shijie had used to murder Gu Feng .

    Gu Feng, who was still alive and wellst time Ao Wushuang checked . The apparent discrepancies in these events rubbed Ao Wushuang the wrong way . Ao Wushuang hated not knowing .

    Mo-shijie¡¯s face looked as dignified and gentle as ever when she returned Ao Wushuang¡¯s smile .

    "Can Ie in, Wushuang?"

    Ao Wushuang was so d right then that Chan¡¯er had decided to obey her order and remain inside the bedroom . Ao Wushuang couldn¡¯t afford any distractions right now, not when she still hadn¡¯t figured out the best approach to get to the bottom of this mystery .

    "Of course," Ao Wushuang said amicably . "You know you¡¯re always wee, Mo-shijie . "

    Ao Wushuang stepped aside to let the other woman in . After Mo-shijie entered, Ao Wushuang closed the door and led her to the living room .

    "Make yourself at home," Ao Wushuang said, waving at one of the stools beside the square table .

    Mo-shijie stopped beside the table . For a fleeting moment, Mo-shijie¡¯s eyes darted around the living room . That subtle movement right there was enough to raise a dozen of rm bells inside Ao Wushuang¡¯s head .

    She¡¯s looking for something...

    Mo-shijie¡¯s gaze lingered on Chan¡¯er¡¯s bedroom before returning to Ao Wushuang¡¯s face .

    "The ce is to your liking I hope?" Mo-shijie remarked .

    "Of course," Ao Wushuang answered, making sure to keep her smile in ce . Right now, the best approach was to y dumb, at least until Chan¡¯er waspletely out of harm¡¯s way . Let them think that she was still clueless, that she still hadn¡¯t suspected anything yet . All hell would break loose if Ao Wushuang decided to act now . Thest thing Ao Wushuang wanted was to diminish Chan¡¯er¡¯s chances of escaping .

    Ao Wushuang tried to recall where she had left Bahuang .

    The kitchen .

    "Would you like some tea, shijie?"

    A tiny smile graced Mo-shijie¡¯s features . "Why, yes . Tea sounds delightful, Wushuang . Thank you . "

    Ao Wushuang turned around and strode into the kitchen .

    I bet she just wants to poke around the ce without me watching .

    Inside the kitchen, Ao Wushuang grabbed Bahuang¡¯s hilt . She looked past the kitchen door, making sure to keep Bahuang concealed behind the kitchen counter . Mo-shijie was no longer standing beside the table; instead, she was moving back and forth inside the living room, inspecting the ce as she went .

    Ao Wushuang was now convinced that Mo-shijie was indeed here to look for something .

    Without further ado, Ao Wushuang lifted her skirt and slid Bahuang into her thigh holster . This was the best way she could think of to stay armed without appearing hostile . It was best to let Mo-shijie think that Ao Wushuang was still unsuspecting . Once Bahuang was in ce, Ao Wushuang smoothed down her skirt and started preparing two cups of tea .

    When Ao Wushuang exited the kitchen with a tray, Mo-shijie had reimed her spot beside the square table as though she hadn¡¯t been snooping around earlier .

    "I hope oolong is okay?" Ao Wushuang lowered the tray onto the square table, then waved a hand at one of the stools .

    "Oolong is fine," Mo-shijie said, reaching for one of the cups .

    Mo-shijie didn¡¯t sit down .

    Don¡¯t want to leave yourself vulnerable, I see... Well . Two can y this game .

    Ao Wushuang reached for her own cup .

    "So . What can I do for you, shijie?" Ao Wushuang asked after taking a sip .

    From a few feet away, Ao Wushuang watched Mo-shijie take a sip from her cup before cing the cup back onto the table .

    "I found something yesterday . " Mo-shijie paused to look at Ao Wushuang . "A paper crane . "

    It took Ao Wushuang everything to maintain her poker face right then .

    "A paper crane?"

    Forget about travelling under the cover of the night . Chan¡¯er had to make her escape right now .

    Mo-shijie nodded . "Found it in the backyard, lying on the ground . "

    "I see," Ao Wushuang said, taking another sip of tea . "Outbound or inbound?"

    "Definitely outbound . "

    Ao Wushuang nodded . "Must be one of Grandmaster Liu¡¯s, then . " Ao Wushuang nced at Mo-shijie . "He collects those cranes as I recall . "

    Mo-shijie smiled and held her gaze for a brief moment . "Indeed . But I heard he gave one to Su Chan recently . "

    Damn it!

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s fingers tightened around the tea cup .

    "Is that so?" Ao Wushuang said, feigning a look of surprise . "I had no idea . " Ao Wushuang paused for a few moments, then let out a huff . "Tsk! That foolish disciple of mine must be up to no good again . "

    Mo-shijie chuckled . "Rest easy, Wushuang . No harm was done . "

    Ao Wushuang rolled her eyes . "Well . You¡¯ve got no idea the kinds of mischief that girl is capable of, shijie . " Ao Wushuang raised a brow at the other women . "No idea . "

    Mo-shijie let out a nomittal hum .

    "Where is she, by the way?" Mo-shijie nced around the room a few times . "I didn¡¯t see her here . "

    rm coursed through Ao Wushuang, but she tamped it down lest she give the whole game away .

    "Chan¡¯er?"

    Mo-shijie nodded .

    "That useless disciple . " Ao Wushuang released a huff of annoyance . "I confined her to her room after she insulted you and Gu Feng the other day . " Ao Wushuang shook her head . "Insolent girl . "

    Mo-shijie chuckled . "You shouldn¡¯t be too hard on her, you know . "

    Ao Wushuang snorted . "It¡¯s not like I can stop her though . "

    "Oh?" Mo-shijie raised a brow . "What do you mean?"

    "Why, I¡¯m pretty sure she snuck out of her room ages ago!" Ao Wushuang said in a loud voice, hoping that Chan¡¯er would get the hint . She rolled her eyes . "I didn¡¯t seal the window after all . "

    Mo-shijieughed .

    "Anyway, I hope she doesn¡¯te back after she left this time," Ao Wushuang said, once again raising her voice so that Chan¡¯er could hear her from inside the bedroom .

    She just hoped that Chan¡¯er would get the damn hint .

    "Honestly, shijie," Ao Wushuang continued with a sigh . "I¡¯ve had enough of that girl¡¯s insubordination . "

    Mo-shijie hummed . "Too bad, then . I was actually hoping to see her today . "

    Oh, I bet you are, Ao Wushuang growled inwardly . It was beyond obvious at this point that Chan¡¯er had been discovered when she was spying on Mo-shijie the other day . On the flip side, Mo-shijie¡¯s current behavior also implied that Chan¡¯er was right to some degree; something did happen inside Mo-shijie¡¯s quarters that day .

    But what?

    That was the real question .

    What exactly happened?

    The things that Chan¡¯er had witnessed couldn¡¯t possibly be the whole truth, since Gu Feng was very much alive when Ao Wushuangst saw him .

    Damn it, Mo-shijie... What the hell are you up to?

    Whatever it was, Ao Wushuang was determined to find out .

    "Oh,e now, Mo-shijie . " Ao Wushuang smiled amicably at Mo-shijie . "Surely you didn¡¯te all the way here just to see that pesky little disciple of mine . " Ao Wushuang paused, using the brief lull in their conversation to study Mo-shijie¡¯s expression . "You know you can always speak freely before me, shijie . "

    Mo-shijie hummed, then nodded a few times . That calm face betrayed absolutely nothing .

    "Actually . . . " Mo-shijie began . "I do have some matters to discuss with you . "

    Now that¡¯s more like it . . .

    "Well, then . I¡¯m all ears . " Ao Wushuang took a step towards the square table and then lowered her tea cup back onto the tray .

    "Here¡¯s the thing, Wushuang," said Mo-shijie . "I heard something from Grandmaster Liu about Wang Yuanshan . "

    Tea spilled across the tray when Ao Wushuang¡¯s hand jerked sideways .

    "W- What did you say . . . ?"

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s fingers gripped the table¡¯s edge .

    Ten years . Even after ten years, the mere mention of his name could still make Ao Wushuang weak at the knees .

    "Mmm . . . " Mo-shijie said . "Grandmaster Liu had some news about him that I thought you should know . "

    "N- News . . . ? B- But that¡¯s not... That¡¯s just not possible... How could there be news when... I thought he¡¯s . . . "

    The attacks were so swift that Ao Wushuang didn¡¯t even notice their execution until they wereing straight at her .

    Ao Wushuang raised both palms by instinct and parried the finger strikes that were aimed at two important acupoints on her chest: the Huagai and Shenfeng .

    Having sessfully parried the strikes, Ao Wushuang leaped backwards to put some distance between herself and Mo-shijie .

    "My, my, my . . . Ao Wushuang . "

    The eeriness in Mo-shijie¡¯s voice made Ao Wushuang look up .

    Mo-shijie¡¯s dark tresses hade loose during their brief scuffle; Mo-shijie¡¯s hair was now floating around her head, fanned out like she was wearing a spiky headpiece .

    And that face . Heavens, that face .

    Gone were those dignified features that resembled a Bodhisattva; in their ce was the visage of a female rakshasa, the manifestation of everything evil and sinister .

    "Even with your defensespletely down, you were still able to parry my attacks like they were nothing," Mo-shijie continued in that eerie tone which soundedpletely foreign to Ao Wushuang . There was a sneer . "You really are the Fox Zen School¡¯s greatest, Ao Wushuang . "

    Ao Wushuang slowly rose to her feet .

    "Then again..." Mo-shijie continued . "No matter how good you are, you¡¯ll never be able to fend off an attack that you never sawing!!"

    Something struck Ao Wushuang¡¯s lower belly before her hand could reach Bahuang . The next thing she knew, her Zhenqi was thrown into a state of utter chaos .

    Oh, no, no, no . . . Not like this!

    Some kind of foreign aura was threatening to infiltrate her Vital Orb .

    Mustering her willpower, Ao Wushuang regained control of her Zhenqi within seconds and then used it to resist the aura .

    "Oh, wow! Look at this! Hah!" Mo-shijieughed smugly . "You never fail to impress me, Ao Wushuang . "

    Ao Wushuang gritted her teeth and red at Mo Ahshi .

    That damned bitch!

    "I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re still standing even after taking a direct hit from the Threaded Hairpin of Traversing Soul . Tsk, tsk, tsk . And you were struck at the Qihai no less! As expected from the great Ao Wushuang, I suppose!"

    Mo Ahshi stretched her arm forward .

    Ao Wushuang groaned in pain when a long hairpin withdrew itself from her lower belly . Once it was fully out, the hairpin floated back towards Mo Ahshi and hovered beside her head .

    "Looks like it¡¯s the right move to take you out first," Mo Ahshi said .

    "What is the meaning of this, shijie?" Ao Wushuang said coldly .

    Mo Ahshi sneered . "Isn¡¯t it obvious?"

    Traitor . Betrayer . Treacherous bitch .

    "You won¡¯t get away with this treachery, Mo Ahshi," Ao Wushuang growled .

    "Oh? Is that a threat? Are you threatening me?" Mo Ahshiughed out loud . "Might I remind you that you¡¯re in no position to threaten me, Ao Wushuang . " Mo Ahshi smiled tauntingly . "I mean... Look at you . The great Ao Wushuang . The master of 18 sses of major spells and 36 sses of minor spells... Torn to shreds simply because she was rendered incapable of using any of her precious spells . "

    Mo Ahshi burst intoughter .

    Ao Wushuang clenched her jaw . The goddamned bitch was right . That strike on her Qihai had disrupted her Zhenqi so much that she could barely hold her Vital Orb together let alone perform any spells .

    She couldn¡¯t even use Bahuang, since it would require her to channel her Zhenqi into the de .

    "That¡¯s right, Ao Wushuang," Mo Ahshi taunted . "You¡¯re nothing without your arsenal of spells . Nothing . "

    Has Chan¡¯er left Mount Tianlong yet? God, I hope she¡¯s okay . . .

    Time . Ao Wushuang had to buy Chan¡¯er more time .

    "Why?" Ao Wushuang said in a strained voice . "Why are you doing this?"

    The taunting look vanished from Mo Ahshi¡¯s countenance; a vicious re took its ce . "Enough chatter!" Mo Ahshi flicked her sleeve . "Where is Bahuang? Hand over the sword!"

    "Bahuang?" Ao Wushuang sneered . "I see . So that¡¯s what you¡¯re after, isn¡¯t it?" Ao Wushuang smirked, secure in the knowledge that sword was now hidden under her skirt .

    "That¡¯s right," Mo Ahshi growled . "Hand it over! You have no right to wield that sword . No right!"

    And you do?

    "You¡¯ll never have it," Ao Wushuang said .

    "I¡¯m not giving you a choice!"

    Ao Wushuang chuckled snidely .

    "My, you¡¯re a little dense, aren¡¯t you, Mo Ahshi?" Ao Wushuang taunted .

    "You¡ª"

    "Do you really think I¡¯d leave Bahuang lying around when I had all but smelled your treachery from miles away?" Ao Wushuang said in a smug tone, pausing to give Mo Ahshi a condescending look . "You¡¯re out of your mind . "

    "That¡¯s a lie!" Mo Ahshi yelled . "You¡¯re bluffing!"

    "Take a look around, then," Ao Wushuang said casually . "Do you see any signs of Bahuang? Surely you can detect its presence by now if it was here . "

    Good thing Bahuang wasn¡¯t active right now .

    Ao Wushuang was very much aware that she was in no shape to fight . She couldn¡¯t even move her arms, for Heavens¡¯ sake .

    "Ah . " Mo Ahshi sniggered . "So you¡¯ve hidden it somewhere..." Mo Ahshi¡¯s expression morphed into a re . "Where?"

    "You¡¯ll never find it," Ao Wushuang said .

    Wang Yuanshan had entrusted Bahuang to her . She¡¯d rather die than let this treacherous woman take it away .

    "Give it up, Ao Wushuang! Tell me where it is!" Mo Ahshi roared . "That sword is mine!"

    "Over my dead body," said Ao Wushuang .

    A derisive look spread across Mo Ahshi¡¯s face .

    "You? You think you can stop me?" Mo Ahshi released a dark chuckle . "What can you do? You can barely move!"

    Ao Wushuang ignored the taunt . "So you¡¯re in cahoots with the Great Six now? Is that it?" A wave of disgust welled up in Ao Wushuang¡¯s stomach . "What did they promise you, Mo Ahshi? That Bahuang is yours as long as you help them take me out?"

    That could exin Mo Ahshi¡¯s motive if true . The only problem with that theory was that nobody really knew that Ao Wushuang was still alive; they all thought she had perished along with him all those years ago .

    All of a sudden, Mo Ahshi burst intoughter .

    "What on earth is so funny, Mo Ahshi?"

    "Hah! I suppose not even the great Ao Wushuang can figure out the true extent of my ns . " Mo Ahshi¡¯s mocking gaze settled on Ao Wushuang¡¯s face . "I¡¯ve been nning this for nine years after all . I¡¯ve been thorough, you see?" Mo Ahshi¡¯s eyes glinted maliciously . "I¡¯ve been meticulous..."

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s mind raced as she tried toe up with ways to gain some sort of leverage . Right now, she was in a position of severe disadvantage, and she had to admit that her chances of escape were pretty slim . She couldn¡¯t use any of her spells, nor could she transform into her fox form . Hell, she couldn¡¯t even move!

    I have to at least find a way to pass a message to Liu Ye . . .

    "Oh? And what kind of ns do you have?" Ao Wushuang asked, stalling for time .

    A smirk spread across Mo Ahshi¡¯s face .

    The next thing Mo Ahshi did made Ao Wushuang¡¯s blood run cold .

    Mo Ahshi rotated her wrist to reveal a tiny object hidden under her sleeve: a purple clock .

    "Where did you get that?!"

    A round ofughter escaped Mo Ahshi¡¯s lips . "Tsk, tsk, tsk . No, no, no . That¡¯s where you¡¯re wrong, you see . " Mo Ahshiughed snidely . "I don¡¯t have to get it from elsewhere, Ao Wushuang . It¡¯s mine to begin with!"

    Horror coursed through Ao Wushuang .

    The clock shot out from under Mo Ahshi¡¯s sleeve, increasing in size as it flew across the air . Then, when the clock had expanded to about the same size as Ao Wushuang¡¯s body, some kind ofplex transformation process was activated: the whole contraption unfolded, then refolded itself into a box .

    The box enclosed Ao Wushuang¡¯s body like a coffin, sealing her inside .

    Ao Wushuang knew right then that there was no way for her to escape now .

    She was trapped .

 Chapter 244

    Chapter 244

    <h4>Into the Fray</h4>

    Mo Ahshi strode towards therge box hovering above the living room . Secondster, Mo Ahshi stopped in front of the box and began stroking its surface with her hand . "Hah! I never thought I¡¯d live to see this day!" Mo Ahshi unleashed a peal of mirthlessughter . "The great Ao Wushuang,pletely at my mercy!!" Mo Ahshi removed her hand from the box¡¯s surface . "Oh . . . Don¡¯t you worry, Ao Wushuang . I won¡¯t kill you just yet . I want you to see with your own eyes how I destroy everything you hold dear!" Mo Ahshi¡¯s eyes glinted murderously . "I will kill every single person you know, starting with that disciple of yours!" Mo Ahshi unleashed another roundughter . "And then? Heh . And then I will tear the Fox Zen School apart, brick by brick . And you¡¯re going to watch, Ao Wushuang . You¡¯re going to watch as I take everything away from you . Everything, you hear me?" Mo Ahshi tapped the surface of the box with a finger . "Everything!!!"

    Mo Ahshi lowered her finger and flipped over her hand; the box shrank and transformed back to a clock beforending on Mo Ahshi¡¯s waiting palm . Then, with a quick flicked of her wrist, the clock slid back into Mo Ahshi¡¯s sleeve . An eerie silence swathed the living room, which was now bereft of Ao Wushuang¡¯s existence .

    Mo Ahshi stood at the center of the living room, her eyes scanning all over the ce . Finally, her eyes settled on one of the bedrooms whose door was closed .

    A smirk tugged at the corners of Mo Ahshi¡¯s lips .

    "Come out now, you foolish child!" Mo Ahshi said loudly . "I know you¡¯re here!"

    Mo Ahshi rotated her wrist so that her right palm was facing the ceiling . Wisps of green mist rose from the surface of Mo Ahshi¡¯s palm, forming a swirling ball .

    "I managed to seal your master away," Mo Ahshi said loudly . "Do you actually think you stand a chance against me?"

    Seconds passed in silence .

    Mo Ahshi floated across the living room towards the bedroom, and then hovered just in front of the closed door . Above her palm, the green ball of mist continued to swirl .

    "You know I have ways to flush you out," Mo Ahshi drawled . "So why don¡¯t you make things easier for the both of us ande out willingly . I don¡¯t want to have to use my spells on you . . . "

    A smug look spread across Mo Ahshi¡¯s face . A bunch of scare tactics should work on that timid child, Mo Ahshi thought .

    A minuteter, the smug look on Mo Ahshi¡¯s face turned into a scowl .

    "Still noting out, huh?" Mo Ahshi released a low growl . "You forced my hand, then!"

    The green ball of mist shot out of Mo Ahshi¡¯s palm and spread out to all corners of the room like tendrils .

    "Hah!" The bedroom door split asunder the moment Mo Ahshi¡¯s flung her arm upwards .

    "Final warning," Mo Ahshi growled . "Step out of the room . Now!"

    Secondster, Su Chan¡¯s head poked out from behind the door jamb .

    Overwhelmed by a sense of smug satisfaction, Mo Ahshi withdrew the green mists and lowered her hand . Mo Ahshi stepped towards the door, reveling in the way in which Su Chan lips were trembling in fear .

    "Now, now . . . " Mo Ahshi drawled . "Don¡¯t be afraid, dear child . I still have some use for you!"

    "Ahhhh!" Su Chan screamed when Mo Ahshi burst forward with astounding speed .

    However, instead of striking the acupoint she¡¯d been aiming for, Mo Ahshi¡¯s fingers went through Su Chan¡¯s body . A split secondter, Su Chan¡¯s body flickered a few times before vanishing entirely .

    A talisman fluttered in front of Mo Ahshi¡¯s face .

    Mo Ahshi¡¯s angry scream shook the entire room . She snatched the talisman from the air and crumpled it into a ball .

    The ball burst into mes a secondter .

    "Gu Feng!!!" Mo Ahshi shouted at the front door . "Get yourzy ass in here!"

    The front door creaked open, and Gu Feng stepped in .

    "S- Shijie?"

    "Find the girl and bring her to me!" Mo Ahshi snarled . "She most likely has the sword . "

    ***

    Su Chan moved swiftly and soundlessly down the mountain trail . Night had fallen, as evident from the darkness surrounding her . Which meant that she¡¯d been running for at least two hours . On the bright side, she was nearly at the foot of Mount Tianlong . Suddenly, Su Chan froze . A split secondter, she gasped and whirled around, though she didn¡¯t know why she did it; even without the darkness, she was too far down the mountain to see the Fox Zen School .

    Her clone¡¯s memories came flooding into her mind, which meant that it had just been destroyed .

    Su Chan¡¯s knees buckled, and she crumbled to the ground in a sobbing heap . Her clone had heard everything from inside the bedroom .

    "No, Master . . . " Su Chan sobbed . "Please, no . . . "

    Not now, Chan¡¯er . Not here . Hide . . . Hide . . . Don¡¯t let them find you . . .

    Su Chan crawled along the ground, not knowing at all where she was heading since it was dark and her vision was blurry with tears . She fumbled around in the darkness, ignoring the sting in her knees as they scraped along pebbles and loose twigs . About a minuteter, her hands finally touched something solid¡ªsome kind of huge rock .

    Hide, Chan¡¯er . . . Hide . . .

    Su Chan scrambled to her feet and moved off the trail . She imed a spot behind the rock and pressed her back against its hard surface . By then, her sobs had reduced to whimpers and sniffs, though the sharp ache inside her chest persisted . Su Chan had no idea what sort of trickery Mo-shibo had employed, but that evil witch had managed to capture Master . Her clone did hear something about a threaded hairpin and some traversing soul thingy, but Su Chan hadn¡¯t a single clue what those terms meant . All she knew was that Mo-shibo was in possession of several magical weapons: that hairpin; that unknown thingy that she used to capture Master; and soon, even Bahuang .

    Su Chan had no idea what Master had done with Bahuang, but Mo-shibo couldn¡¯t seem to find it back at their quarters . At least that was what Su Chan had assumed, since the evil witch was demanding Master for it .

    Maybe Master had hidden it somewhere . Master was a genius after all . . .

    For a fleeting moment, Su Chan allowed herself to believe that perhaps Master could somehow escape from captivity . Master was clever and full of tricks . Maybe Master would escape soon ande find her in Dongwu City?

    s, the weight of reality crashed down on Su Chan¡¯s optimism . There wasn¡¯t a single sign of Master when her clone had stepped out of the bedroom earlier . Even Master¡¯s scent was gone . It was like Master never even existed .

    Su Chan¡¯s shoulders trembled once again .

    "It¡¯s all your fault, Chan¡¯er . . . " Sobs overwhelmed her for a moment . "I . . . I shouldn¡¯t have run . I should¡¯ve gone to Master¡¯s aid, and then perhaps Master wouldn¡¯t be . . . "

    You fool! Su Chan chided herself . Master told you to run, remember? You promised her that you¡¯d listen to everything she says! So suck it up and keep moving!

    Su Chan sniffed and ran the back of her hand over her eyes to dry her tears .

    What would be the point in revealing her presence? Su Chan stood no chance against Mo-shibo; she¡¯d be dead as soon as she showed herself .

    Relief coursed through Su Chan, and she exhaled shakily .

    Indeed, Master was wise when she gave Su Chan the cue to run . Su Chan could see it clearly now, Master¡¯s game n . Su Chan¡¯s escape was probably Master¡¯s only chance of surviving . She was no use to Master dead, after all! Only by escaping could Su Chan seek external help and thene to Master¡¯s rescue .

    Su Chan gazed upwards at the night sky, wondering when the Heavenly Thunder woulde .

    Yundong . . .

    Yundong would definitely help her . The Jindan¡¯s Heir was a force to be reckoned with . Even Master acknowledged his strength . Plus, there was now an alliance between Yundong and Zi Yuan, so maybe Zi Yuan would lend a hand as well . Oh, and Ruan Hongling!

    Let¡¯s see here . . .

    The Fan of Seven Treasures should¡¯ve recognized Yundong as its owner by now, which meant there would be would be at least... three weapons on their side? Yes . Three magical weapons on their side, assuming that Yundong had returned the damask back to Ruan Hongling . Well, Zi Yuan might possess more than one magical weapon, but she was only referring to the bare minimum here .

    But first, Su Chan had to get off this mountain and get to some ce safe . The whole n would be foiled if she got caught by Mo-shibo now .

    Anger rose inside Su Chan at the thought of Mo-shibo .

    "Mo Ahshi . . . " Su Chan growled, forgoing the honorific .

    Mo Ahshi .

    How dare she . How dare she mess with one of the two people Su Chan ever loved . How dare she!

    Su Chan rose to her feet and unclenched her fists . She took a deep breath and performed a few hand signs .

    The Shadow Cloak .

    A spell that would allow Su Chan to conceal her Qi and, quite literally, cloak her presence . Master had taught her that spell years ago .

    After taking onest look at the summit of Mount Tianlong, Su Chan turned around and moved stealthily down the mountain path .

    Su Chan would obey every single one of Master¡¯s orders except for one .

    Hang on tight, Master . Chan¡¯er ising back for you . . .

    ***

    Gu Feng strode into Mo Ahshi¡¯s quarters .

    "Did you find the girl?" Mo Ahshi asked without turning around to face her visitor .

    Gu Feng shook his head . "No . "

    Mo Ahshi spun around abruptly and shot a murderous re at the man . "What do you mean, no?"

    "I¡¯ve looked everywhere," Gu Feng retorted . "But there aren¡¯t any signs of the girl . She¡¯s covered her tracks well . "

    Mo Ahshi¡¯s face twisted in disgust .

    "Ugh! You useless piece of trash!" Mo Ahshi growled . "You can¡¯t even do one thing right!"

    Gu Feng¡¯s eyes darted to Mo Ahshi¡¯s face briefly before he let out a mocking snort .

    "Don¡¯t think you can start ordering me around," Gu Feng sneered . "Don¡¯t forget that I¡¯m from the Wanxiang Sect . " Gu Feng red at Mo Ahshi . "You have no authority over me!"

    Mo Ahshi¡¯s arm twitched against her side .

    Gu Feng failed to notice Mo Ahshi¡¯s rising anger as he continued his mockery . "Besides . . . Weren¡¯t you the one who allowed the girl to escape in the first ce?" Gu Feng smirked . "Yeah, that¡¯s right . She escaped from right under your nose!"

    A vicious look spread across Mo Ahshi¡¯s face as she red daggers at Gu Feng . "What did you say?!"

    Gu Feng scrambled backwards in fear . "W- Whoa, whoa . . . W- What do you think you¡¯re doing? Y-You wouldn¡¯t dare harm a single hair on me!"

    Mo Ahshi took a few steps closer despite Gu Feng¡¯s warning .

    Suddenly, Gu Feng stopped moving backwards and held his ground . "Fine! Come on, then! Kill me! Let¡¯s see how you handle it when the Great Seer starts suspecting something fishy . "

    Mo Ahshi halted her steps and stared at Gu Feng . A smug look began to take shape on Gu Feng¡¯s face .

    "That¡¯s right . . . " Gu Feng said . "Think about how much your ns would be affected if the Great Seer starts poking his nose around . "

    Mo Ahshi schooled her features and took a deep breath .

    "I¡¯ll let you off the hook this time," Mo Ahshi grumbled, then paused to look at Gu Feng . "Alert the Great Six . Tell them that there¡¯s been a change of ns . The joint assault on the Fox Zen School will be moved ahead of schedule!"

    "Who do you think you are? The head honcho of the Cultivation world?" Gu Feng sneered . "You think you can order the Great Six around and have them do your bidding?" Gu Feng snorted . "You overestimate yourself . "

    Mo Ahshi burst forward and hoisted Gu Feng upwards by his throat .

    Gu Feng gasped and started thrashing against her tight grip . "L- Let . . . me . . . go . . . "

    "You fool!" Mo Ahshi snarled . "The Great Six should feel lucky to have me on their side! They couldn¡¯t even find the Fox Zen School¡¯s location let aloneunch an all-out assault on it if I hadn¡¯t infiltrated the foul ce in advance!" Mo Ahshi tightened her fingers around Gu Feng¡¯s neck . The act drew a sharp gasp from Gu Feng . "Who do you take Liu Ye for, huh? You think the Great Seer is a fool like you? I¡¯ve just sealed Ao Wushuang away, and her annoying disciple is gone without a trace! It¡¯s just a matter of time before Liu Ye notices something wrong . We¡¯re gonna miss our opening if we don¡¯t move the attack ahead of schedule . "

    Gu Feng gasped for air and kicked out with his legs . "L- Let me go! Y- You . . . You¡¯ll only make things worse if... if you kill me . . . " Gu Feng gasped again . "How . . . are you . . . going . . . t- to exin it to Liu Ye if . . . if I go missing too?"

    Mo Ahshi released a roar and flung Gu Feng away . A loud crash sounded, followed by a series of coughs .

    Mo Ahshi pointed her finger at the man sprawled on the floor . "I would¡¯ve ended your pathetic life ages ago if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that you¡¯re still of some use to me . " Mo Ahshi lowered her finger andughed darkly . "The Wanxiang Sect? You¡¯re threatening me with that pathetic little sect of yours? Give me a break!" Mo Ahshi shot the man a menacing look . "Even the Head of your miserable little sect have to bow to me let alone a nobody like you!" Mo Ahshi pointed her finger at Gu Feng . "I¡¯ve been nning this for nine years . So if you dare do something to jeopardize my ns, if you so much as get in my way? You mark my words, I¡¯ll make you suffer a death so slow and painful that you¡¯ll be begging me for death!"

    Gu Feng recovered from his coughing fit and stood up from the floor with shaky legs . "U- Understood . Destroying the Fox Zen School is the Great Six¡¯smon goal . I- I¡¯ll notify them right away!"

    Mo Ahshi turned around with a flick of her sleeve .

    "Two weeks," she said . "Two weeks, and not any longer . With the Great Six attacking it from the outside and meunching an assault from the inside? We can end this foul school once and for all!"

    <h4>Into the Fray</h4>

    Li Yundong exited the First People¡¯s Hospital with Zhou Qin in tow . And yes, Zhou Qin had walked out on her own two feet as though she had never been crippled before .

    Bye-bye wheelchair .

    "How are you gonna get home?" Zhou Qin asked once they had reached the curb .

    Li Yundong scanned his surroundings, hoping to spot Zi Yuan¡¯s car .

    Zi Yuan didn¡¯t specify a rendezvous when he called earlier, just that he should look for a red Hongqi once he passed the hospital¡¯s front entrance .

    Zhou Qin cleared her throat .

    "I could ask my father to drive you back if you want . "

    Ah . There she is . . .

    Li Yundong smiled at Zhou Qin . "Nah, it¡¯s alright . I¡¯ve got my ride . " He pointed at the red sedan across the street .

    Zhou Qin looked across the street and visibly froze .

    Li Yundong frowned at her reaction, though he didn¡¯tment .

    The sedan¡¯s door swung open, and Zi Yuan stepped out from the driver¡¯s side .

    "Thanks for the offer though," Li Yundong said .

    Silence spread between them as Zhou Qin stared at the sedan across the street with a guarded look on her face .

    Zi Yuan had evidently spotted him too as she was staring back at them from across the street . With her lithe figure leaning against the car, Zi Yuan was very much the definition of poise . Pretty much everything about her screamed elegance and ss, like she was the product of years of good breeding and ster upbringing . She stood there quietly, evidently unfazed by the sight of Zhou Qin¡¯s recently-acquired ability to stand . A smile tugged at Li Yundong¡¯s lips . The level of self-possession that Zi Yuan had never ceased to amaze Li Yundong . Then again, he supposed he should expect nothing less from a living goddess .

    Li Yundong turned away from Zi Yuan and the car to face Zhou Qin .

    "Well, I¡¯m gonna head home now . " His gaze swept from Zhou Qin¡¯s head to her toe . "Everything¡¯s good with your legs? Do you feel any pain?"

    He was pretty sure that her legs were fine, but there was no harm in checking .

    Zhou Qin tore her gaze away from the car and gave him a tight smile .

    "No pain at all," she said with a quick shake of her head . "My legs feel as good as new . "

    "Good . " Li Yundong tilted his head towards the hospital¡¯s entrance . "You should head back in . "

    Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes flicked towards the hospital¡¯s entrance before returning to his face .

    "I¡¯ll see you off," Zhou Qin said rather insistently . Then, she shrugged . "It¡¯s the least I could do for the person who healed me . "

    Li Yundong smiled and decided to let her have her way .

    "So I¡¯ll see you tomorrow at the campus, then?"

    Zhou Qin smiled . "Yeah . "

    Li Yundong gave Zhou Qin a parting wave, then moved across the street towards Zi Yuan¡¯s car .

    Li Yundong had opted to take the backseat since there wasn¡¯t enough room at the front seat for the bulky Fan of Seven Treasures . Besides, he had to put his backpack at the backseat anyway, so he might as well sit there too .

    "Thanks for picking me up," Li Yundong said once he got settled in his seat .

    He looked up and immediately saw Zi Yuan¡¯s piercing gaze through the rearview mirror .

    She didn¡¯t start the car¡¯s engine .

    Up close, Zi Yuan¡¯s posture seemed a bit stiff, like something was troubling her . Frissons of fear coursed through Li Yundong . For a fleeting moment, his traitorous mind conjured up dozens upon dozens of horrible scenarios, most of which involved finding Su Chan¡¯s dead body amidst the burning ruins of the Fox Zen School .

    Had Ruan Hongling reported back to Zi Yuan?

    Had he been right all along that the Fox Zen School was facing imminent danger?

    "Is everything alright?" Li Yundong asked, his voice sounding surprisingly even despite the fear raging inside him .

    Zi Yuan kept staring at him through the mirror .

    Several moments passed before she finally answered .

    "Yeah . Everything¡¯s fine . Why do you ask?"

    Relief washed over him, dispelling some of his fears .

    Li Yundong shrugged and shifted his backpack towards the other end of the backseat . "Well . No offense, but you looked like you were about to murder someone . "

    I just hope that it isn¡¯t me, he added silently .

    "Ugh . " Zi Yuan sighed tiredly . There was a soft thud as Zi Yuan rested her head against the steering wheel .

    "Don¡¯t even ask," she mumbled .

    Li Yundong shifted forward in his seat and poked his head between the two front seats . "Something the matter?"

    Zi Yuan lifted her head from the steering wheel and shot him a wry look . "It¡¯s nothing serious . "

    Li Yundong raised a skeptical brow .

    "It was just Yan Hua . " Zi Yuan rolled her eyes . "That boy kept pestering me about Liuhe . " Zi Yuan shook her head slightly . "I¡¯m sorry to say this, but I¡¯ve just returned the sword to the Yan family home . " Zi Yuan sighed . "Otherwise that child¡¯s tantrums would drive me insane . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . Now he was starting to wonder how Ruan Hongling had managed to stay sane all these years .

    "You have my sympathy . "

    Zi Yuan gave him another wry look .

    Li Yundong chuckled again .

    "And you¡¯re okay with it?" Zi Yuan raised a brow at him . "Me returning the sword to the Yan family home?"

    "Why wouldn¡¯t I be?" Li Yundong waved off her concern . "You can do whatever you want with the sword . I don¡¯t really need it . "

    Zi Yuan made a sound of disapproval . "Such a waste though . "

    "Hey . " Li Yundong shrugged . "It might be worth it if it helps get Yan Hua off your back . "

    Zi Yuan fired up the engine .

    "Now I¡¯ve got a question for you," Li Yundong said .

    Zi Yuan raised a questioning brow at him .

    "Where¡¯s your driver?"

    Zi Yuan turned her head around to look at him . "Pardon?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "Your driver . " He shrugged . "Someone of your status usually has a personal driver, right?"

    "Usually Hongling drives me everywhere, but since she¡¯s not around . . . "

    Zi Yuan shrugged .

    Li Yundongughed . "So you have condescended to drive yourself around . "

    "Hey . " Zi Yuan shot him a yful re . "I can drive, you know? Besides, it¡¯s not that bad . " She adjusted the rearview mirror . "I quite enjoy the task, actually . "

    As the sedan pulled away from the curb, Li Yundong allowed his mind to wander . Most of his thoughts were centered on Su Chan and the Fox Zen School .

    She¡¯s gonna be alright . Ao Wushuang can keep her safe .

    After a while, his thoughts strayed towards the secret mission that Zi Yuan had sent Ruan Hongling on . Truth be told, he was dying to know what the mission was about, but he (miraculously) refrained himself from asking . It was pointless to ask anyway .

    Hell, he could even imagine Zi Yuan¡¯s reply if he asked: probably something along the lines of "that¡¯s none of your concern," or "you should just focus on your training . "

    "So you did it . "

    Li Yundong looked up and met Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes through the rearview mirror .

    "You healed Zhou Qin," she added a secondter .

    "Mm," Li Yundong said . "The treatment worked much better than I thought . "

    Instead of answering, Zi Yuan returned her eyes to the road .

    "It¡¯s the least I could do, you know?" Li Yundong said, feeling the need to fill the awkward silence in the car . "I mean . . . after everything she¡¯s done for me . . . It¡¯s just . . . "

    Li Yundong sighed and shook his head, not knowing how to finish his sentence .

    "And you feel nothing for her?" Zi Yuan said . "Not even a little?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s skeptical tone drew Li Yundong¡¯s gaze to the front of the car once again .

    The sedan pulled to a stop at a junction just as the lights turned red .

    The meaningful look in Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes reflected back at him through the rearview mirror . Those profound eyes whose depths Li Yundong couldn¡¯t even begin to fathom . Despite everything they¡¯d been through together for the past few months, Zi Yuan was still very much an enigma to him: the mystery surrounding her shibo¡¯s disappearance; Wang Yuanshan¡¯s mysterious past; and that strange prophecy which became the object of Zi Yuan¡¯s obsession .

    Every time he thought he had unraveled some truth about Zi Yuan¡¯s life, the air of mystery surrounding the woman would thicken .

    Eventually, Li Yundong realized that he had failed to observe the most basic rule of social decorum: he had left Zi Yuan¡¯s question hanging .

    The car had already left the junction, yet Zi Yuan¡¯s question remained unanswered .

    "No," Li Yundong said, shooting Zi Yuan an apologetic look . "I feel nothing for Zhou Qin beyond friendship . "

    Zi Yuan drove silently . Even though she didn¡¯t acknowledge his answer with any response, he could tell that she was waiting for him to say more .

    "If . . . If I never met Su Chan, then I would probably develop feelings for Zhou Qin . " Hell, he had even confessed to her at one point . "But right now?" Li Yundong shrugged . "I really can¡¯t feel it . There¡¯s no..." Li Yundong paused to search for the right word . "Spark . There¡¯s no spark between us, you know?"

    "I literally have no idea what that means," Zi Yuan said dryly .

    "It¡¯s this feeling of . . . of . . . " Li Yundong made a few wild gestures with his hand . "Ugh . Well . I guess I can¡¯t exin it . "

    "Sparks, huh?" Zi Yuan mused out loud . "Is that even a thing?"

    Li Yundongughed . "Well . You¡¯ll know when you finally meet the man of your dreams . "

    They drove in silence until the Hongqi pulled into New Hongsheng District ten minutester . They parted ways at the parking lot, though Zi Yuan did tell him that she would drop by his apartmentter . She said she had to stop by Ruan Hongling¡¯s apartment first .

    When Li Yundong entered his apartment, he was surprised to find Zi Yuan already there . She was standing on his balcony, gazing out into the night sky . One of her arms was stretched beyond the railing, like she was feeling for something in the air . Li Yundong strode into the living room, stopping briefly at the couch to put down his backpack before moving towards the sliding door .

    The night breeze skimmed across his cheeks the moment he opened the sliding door .

    "It¡¯s approaching," Zi Yuan said, lowering her outstretched arm onto the railing .

    Li Yundong stepped across the sliding door¡¯s threshold onto the balcony . He didn¡¯t even have to ask to know what she was referring to . Her dark, ominous tone said it all .

    "You can actually feel it?" Li Yundong asked curiously .

    Zi Yuan turned and faced away from the railing . One of her brows arched . "Can¡¯t you?"

    Li Yundong noticed a medium-sized canvas bag leaning against the bottom of the railing, though he didn¡¯t ask what it was .

    "Not really," Li Yundong said . "I don¡¯t feel anything at all . "

    Zi Yuan turned around with a huff and continued her scrutiny of the night sky . "Well, you would if you were paying enough attention . "

    Li Yundong sighed .

    "I guess so . "

    He moved forward and took the spot beside Zi Yuan in front of the railing .

    The Immovable Wisdom King¡¯s cryptic words echoed inside his head . Those who see my body shall embrace the Bodhicitta . . .

    He had already seen atha¡¯s body, up close . And yet he didn¡¯t feel anywhere close to enlightenment . Things seemed as bleak as ever, especially in light of recent events .

    Movements beside him made him turn . Both of Zi Yuan¡¯s arms were now stretched out beyond the railing . Her eyes were closed .

    A green glow coated Zi Yuan¡¯s body from head to toe like a beautiful veneer .

    The Yin Spirit?

    "I can feel it," Zi Yuan whispered . "It¡¯s in the air . The power of the Heavens, amassing in the sky, growing more potent each day . "

    Li Yundong pondered her words in silence . He had no idea what kind of sensation Zi Yuan was referring to .

    "You¡¯ve been too distracted by worldly affairs to take notice," she added momentster .

    Li Yundong turned away and gazed beyond the railing, trying desperately to catch just a glimpse of what Zi Yuan could evidently see .

    A few moments passed before a few whispered words broke through the lull, shattering thepanionable quietude between them .

    "The Heavenly Eyes have opened . "

    The ominous undertone of those words made Li Yundong¡¯s scalp tingle .

    Li Yundong swiveled his head . The green glow on Zi Yuan¡¯s body had disappeared .

    "The Heavenly Eyes?"

    Zi Yuan regarded him silently .

    "Have you been inside your Spirit Space recently?"

    "No," Li Yundong answered in a heartbeat . Like Zi Yuan said, he¡¯d been too busy with Zhou Qin¡¯s treatment .

    The tiniest of smiles flitted across Zi Yuan¡¯s lips . Her sleeves rustled when she turned her body to lean her hip against the railing .

    "Try it now," she said, pointing at the floor .

    With a nod, Li Yundong pushed away from the railing and got into a meditative posture on the balcony floor .

    "When you reach the point of Guanxiang, reach out with your Zhenqi," Zi Yuan said just as Li Yundong¡¯s eyes slid shut . "I bet you¡¯ve never tried that trick before . "

    Indeed he hadn¡¯t .

    It took less than a minute for Li Yundong toplete Xiao Zhoutian and Da Zhoutian; these Qi-control drills felt like child¡¯s y now . Next came the Convergence of Five Qis, which took him another minute or so toplete . On the cusp of Guanxiang, he mobilized a portion of his Zhenqi from his Vital Orb, then pushed them out as though he was performing Qi Kinesis . Instead of shaping his Zhenqi into a bubble that enveloped his body, he molded them into tiny tendrils . The sudden appearance of the ocean of white clouds told him that he was now inside his Spirit Space .

    Zi Yuan didn¡¯t mention anything aboutpleting Guanxiang, so Li Yundong ignored those clouds, focusing instead on stretching the tendrils of his Zhenqi out further into¡ª

    A flurry of sensations coursed through him . A sensation of fear, danger, and imminent threat, like he was being watched .

    He shifted his focus towards the clouds .

    Something was embedded within those clouds . . .

    It was a pair of cold and forbidding eyes .

    Li Yundong exited his Spirit Space and withdrew his Zhenqi into his Vital Orb . He stared up at Zi Yuan without getting up from the floor .

    "I saw them," he said, suddenly feeling ashamed at how shaky his voice sounded . "Those eyes . . . "

    "The Heavenly Eyes," Zi Yuan said, smiling at him . "Any Cultivator who has passed the Zhuji phase will be able to see them whenever their Spirit is connected to Nature . "

    Li Yundong blinked a few times, then closed his eyes when realization hit him . "My Zhenqi . " He nodded before re-opening his eyes . "My Zhenqi is a condensed form of Qi that has been fortified by the Spirit . So when I send it outside the body . . . "

    "It interacts with Nature," Zi Yuan said,pleting his statement .

    Li Yundong nodded . "Make sense . It forms a connection between Nature and my Spirit Space . "

    "Those eyes you saw . . . " Zi Yuan said, eyeing Li Yundong steadily . "Were they clear? Did they have distinct forms?"

    Li Yundong climbed to his feet . "They were clear . "

    He didn¡¯t have to be a genius to know what that implied .

    "Usually"¡ªZi Yuan gave him a brief nce¡ª"for a Cultivator at your current level, the Heavenly Eyes will only appear as vague outlines . "

    Right . Since he had done the unforgivable, the Heavens now had a vendetta against him .

    "Your Vital Orb¡¯s strength has grown beyond the spell¡¯s ability to mask," Zi Yuan said after a moment of silence . "Wushuang-qianbei¡¯s estimate is pretty spot-on . . . " Zi Yuan let out a sigh . "Come . " She turned around and picked up the canvas bag from the floor . "We don¡¯t have much time to lose . "

    Li Yundong followed Zi Yuan through the sliding door, closing it on his way in . Inside the living room, Zi Yuan lowered the canvas bag onto the coffee table and turned around to face him .

    She didn¡¯t sit down .

    Her stiffportment right then bespoke the gravity of the situation .

    It was, after all, a matter of life and death .

    "Things will start to heat up from this point onwards," Zi Yuan said . "You¡¯re about to enter the fray, so to speak . "

    Li Yundong held his mentor¡¯s gaze unwaveringly .

    "Are you ready, Li Yundong?" Zi Yuan¡¯s steady voice was the very definition of the calm before the storm .

    Li Yundong took a deep breath, then exhaled .

    "Yes . "

 Chapter 245

    Chapter 245

    <h4>The Three Shentong Paradigms</h4>

    So this was it . The proverbial ball had started rolling .

    Squaring his shoulders, Li Yundong took a step towards his mentor . "I take it the drill is ready?" His eyes darted briefly towards the canvas bag on the coffee table .

    Zi Yuan reached down and pulled out a t, palm-sized object from the bag; Li Yundong found himself leaning forward involuntarily, his eyes glued to the delicate object now resting on top of Zi Yuan¡¯s palm .

    "Hey . . . Isn¡¯t that... Isn¡¯t that some kind of Feng Shui tool?" Li Yundong¡¯s eyes snapped to Zi Yuan¡¯s face . "A geomanticpass, right?"

    Zi Yuan cradled the object in both palms .

    "Behold, the Purple Gold Jade te . "

    Li Yundong returned his eyes to the jade te . The thing looked like a perfect square with a circr disk at its center .

    Li Yundong held out his palm . "May I?"

    Zi Yuan gave him a small nod before cing the te onto Li Yundong¡¯s open palm . Itsck of size notwithstanding, the thing felt surprisingly sturdy and solid . Li Yundong raised the object to eye level and studied it .

    Upon a closer look, he could understand why this thing was called the Purple Gold Jade te¡ªits body was made entirely of purple jade . That realization brought an inadvertent smile to his lips . First a purple ribbon, and now a purple jade te? Clearly there was a pattern here . Not that the pattern was hard to see, of course: the "Zi" character in Zi Yuan¡¯s name literally means "purple . "

    The jade te¡¯s top surface held tiny engravings which were arranged in a perfect circle¡ªlike those typically found on geomanticpasses . When he flipped the te over, he realized that its bottom surface was covered in unknown symbols . For some reason, he thought the symbols looked quite simr to those found on Taoist talismans .

    "Fascinating," Li Yundong whispered, handing the jade te back to Zi Yuan .

    "The Purple Gold Jade te is one of the Linggong Sect¡¯s three signature magical objects," Zi Yuan said, her voice thick with emotion . "My master . . . He..." She cleared her throat . "He left this in my care . "

    A wave of sympathy washed over Li Yundong .

    Not for the first time, Li Yundong found himself wondering about Wang Yuanshan . How did the man die? Why did he pen down that prophecy? What could Wang Yuanshan possibly see in someone like Li Yundong? Had Wang Yuanshan foreseen Li Yundong¡¯s murder of He Shao?

    His reverie ended when Zi Yuan released a soft chuckle .

    "Wushuang-qianbei cracked the problem," Zi Yuan said without taking her eyes off the Purple Gold Jade te . "Your best bet is not to get hit at all . " Zi Yuan smiled wryly . "That¡¯s the only way you can survive the Heavenly Thunder before the Jinshen phase . "

    Li Yundong blinked a few times . "So let me get this straight . . . "

    Zi Yuan raised her gaze from the jade te right then . There was an ufortable lull where they stared at each other wordlessly .

    Li Yundong shook his head slightly . "You¡¯re saying I have to dodge lightning in order to survive . " He cleared his throat . "That¡¯s... That¡¯s basically what you¡¯re saying . "

    So help him God he had tried his best to keep the incredulity out of his tone .

    "Yes . "

    "Well . " Li Yundong blinked a few times . "Shit . "

    "Technically," Zi Yuan added secondster, "you have to dodge 81 bolts of lightning sessively . "

    And he thought going to Tibet on foot was batshit crazy .

    "Is it even physically possible? I mean . . . " Li Yundong shook his head slightly . "I mean, do you think I can do it?" He shot her a hopeful look .

    "With enough training, you might . "

    Might . He didn¡¯t like that word at all .

    "And this is where the Purple Gold Jade tees into y," Zi Yuan continued with a small smile, which didn¡¯t seem all that reassuring .

    Was it just him, or did Zi Yuan seem oddly calm about all this?

    Hell, who was he kidding; Zi Yuan was always calm .

    "So . . . um . . . Let me guess . " He pointed at the jade te . "That thing¡¯s gonna shoot lightning bolts at me, and then I have to practice dodging them?"

    Li Yundong eyed the Purple Gold Jade te warily, suddenly feeling defenseless against the tiny magical object which, for all he knew, could fry his balls within a fraction of a second .

    Li Yundong looked away from the jade te when Zi Yuan didn¡¯t answer . He frowned . The bottom half of the woman¡¯s face was obscured by her hand, and her shoulders were shaking . Mirth shone through her eyes like fine beacons .

    "What?" Li Yundong asked warily . "Did I say something funny?"

    A giggle burst through Zi Yuan¡¯s lips . "Shooting lightning bolts . . . " Zi Yuan shook her head as another giggle tore past her lips . "God . . . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s cheeks heated up . "Well, you said you prepared a training drill . . . So I thought . . . I thought you meant..." He cleared his throat harshly . "I don¡¯t see how the jade te can help me train otherwise . "

    "No, silly," Zi Yuan said, her eyes sparkling with amusement . "The jade te won¡¯t be hurling lightning bolts at you, don¡¯t worry . " She paused as though she was reconsidering her words . "Not in the way you imagined, anyway . " She ran a finger along the te¡¯s surface . "What this does . . . among many other things..." Zi Yuan nced at him . "...is allow its user to create a simted world . "

    "A simted world," Li Yundong repeated .

    Zi Yuan nodded . "The user can then transport anyone within the te¡¯s vicinity into that world . "

    Something clicked in his mind . "I see . So the training drill will take ce inside the simted world . " He looked towards Zi Yuan for confirmation . "You used the jade ce to create a simtion of the divine punishment so that I can practice surviving it . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "That¡¯s the n . "

    Li Yundongughed . "That way I won¡¯t die even if I get hit . Coz it¡¯s just a simtion . "

    Going around the obstacle instead of going through it .

    Very clever, Ao Wushuang . Very clever .

    "You can go through the drill as many times as you like," Zi Yuan said . "But bear in mind that although the jade te¡¯s spiritual energy reserve is vast, it¡¯s still limited . " Zi Yuan paused to look at him . "With every simtion, the jade te¡¯s spiritual energy drains a little . " Zi Yuan gave him a pointed look . "And I¡¯m sure you know what that means . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "It means I gotta learn how to dodge 81 sessive bolts of Heavenly Thunder before the jade te runs out of spiritual energy . "

    "Indeed . "

    Li Yundong gave her a strange look . "Can¡¯t you just, I don¡¯t know, recharge it or something?"

    Zi Yuan snorted . "I wish it were that simple . " Zi Yuan ran her fingers over the jade te .

    Li Yundong waited patiently for more exnation .

    Momentster, she sighed . "Recharging it is technically possible . But it will take a lot of time . " Their gazes locked fleetingly before Zi Yuan went back to studying the jade te . "The only reason the jade te can evene close to emting the Heavenly Thunder is because it has been around for a long time . " There was a pause . "Long enough for it to absorb and store a vast amount of Nature¡¯s spiritual energy . "

    "How long are we talking here?"

    "Thousands of years . "

    "Thousands of¡ª" Li Yundong stared at Zi Yuan in shock . "Seriously?"

    Zi Yuan smirked . "What can I say? The Zhengyi School has a long history . "

    "Oh, wow . " Li Yundong shook his head slightly . "Now I¡¯m afraid to ask how long the Fan of Seven Treasures has been around . . . "

    Zi Yuan¡¯s smirk widened just a tad . "So . Do you have any other questions before we start?"

    "Okay, um..." Li Yundong cleared his throat . "Just to recap a bit..."

    Li Yundong waited until Zi Yuan gave him the go-ahead signal before continuing .

    "So basically, I¡¯m gonna be transported into this Matrix thingy and then y lightning dodgeball with this simted version of the Heavens . . . "

    Zi Yuan¡¯s lips twitched slightly . "Yes . "

    "Right . " He pointed at the jade te, then shot a questioning look at Zi Yuan . "How long do you think it¡¯ll take?"

    "I can¡¯t really tell," Zi Yuan said, looking into his eyes . "Maybe days if you¡¯re quick on the uptake . But bear in mind that figuring out how to dodge the Heavenly Thunder is no easy task . " Zi Yuan sighed . "No one has ever attempted it before . "

    Moments went by in silence .

    "How much time do I have before the real thinges?" Li Yundong nced at her apprehensively . "Can you tell?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s expression instantly turned grim . She sighed instead of answering .

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart sank a little . "That bad, huh?" He chuckled . "Think it would buy me more time if I visit a temple right now and then give the Heavens an offering?"

    Zi Yuan nced towards the sliding door, evidently ignoring hisme attempt at humor .

    "When you saw the Heavenly Eyes earlier, you said that they had distinct forms," she said without looking away from the sliding door .

    "Yeah . "

    "Then I¡¯m guessing a week . Two weeks, at most . " There was a long pause before her gaze shifted back to his face . "You¡¯re gonna have to up your game . "

    Li Yundong walked towards the couch and sat down . He bent forward until his elbows were resting on his knees . Closing his eyes, he steepled his fingers before pressing the tips of his index fingers against the bridge of his nose .

    A week didn¡¯t sound like a lot of time considering the sheer difficulty of the task . Could he figure out how to dodge the Heavenly Thunder within a week? Was there some kind of trick to it? Or was it all about reflexes?

    No . The speed of his movements mattered too . Even if he could predict when the Heavenly Thunder would strike, it would be pointless if he didn¡¯t possess enough speed to move out of the way in time .

    Which meant he probably had to do some side training (aside from the simtion drill) to increase his movement speed .

    Li Yundong opened his eyes and regarded Zi Yuan for a moment .

    "Can you tell me more about the simtion?" Li Yundong leaned back against the couch . "How real is it?"

    "As real as theye . "

    "So it¡¯s like a virtual reality thing . "

    "Virtual reality?" Zi Yuan scoffed . She seemed strangely affronted by his choice of analogy . "There¡¯s nothing virtual about this, trust me . " Her regal gaze zeroed in on his face . "The Purple Gold Jade te acts as a container . When you¡¯re inside the simtion, you are, quite literally, inside the jade te as well . "

    "Wait . How does that even work?" Li Yundong frowned and shook his head slightly . "I thought the whole point of the simtion is so that I wouldn¡¯t actually die if I get hit? But what you said just now sounds like the version of me inside the simtion is the real me . " He shot Zi Yuan a questioning look . "Doesn¡¯t that defeat the purpose?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head . "The jade te stores your physical body, that¡¯s true . But it¡¯ll also create a copy of your body . "

    "Oh . So the copy is the one that shows up in the simtion?"

    "Yes . "

    "Okay..." Li Yundong frowned again . "But wouldn¡¯t the copy have its own consciousness as well? Can I feel what it feels, or make it move with my own will? Like, are our consciousness even linked? How does that even . . . ?" Li Yundong shot her a helpless look . "Sorry . But I still don¡¯t understand how it works . "

    "Don¡¯t be sorry," Zi Yuan said with a smile . "It¡¯s always a good thing to ask when there¡¯s something you don¡¯t understand . " Her smile faded . "This is no joking matter after all . " She shook her head slightly . "Anyway . To answer your question, yes, your consciousness will be linked to the copy . And here¡¯s how it works . " Zi Yuan nced at him . "Right after the jade te stores your body, it creates a copy of you, but only the physical aspects of you . "

    "And that includes what? Bones, muscles, organs, blood . . . "

    "All of that, plus your Qi and Essence . " Zi Yuan cleared her throat . "Once that¡¯s done, the jade te will extract your Spirit from your real body, and then insert it into the copy . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "That way my consciousness will be linked to the copy, not my original body . "

    "Exactly . " Zi Yuan smiled . "But that¡¯s not all . It will also create a copy of your Vital Orb using your Spirit . "

    Li Yundong went silent in thought . "So basically, everything I feel inside the simtion . . . " He looked towards Zi Yuan .

    "Will be exactly the same as what you feel in the real world," Zi Yuan said with a nod,pleting his sentence for him .

    Li Yundong hummed . "And when the simtion ends, my Spirit will be returned to my real body . "

    "That¡¯s right . "

    "Which means the memory of my experiences inside the simtion will be transferred back to my body . "

    "Not just your memory . " Zi Yuan smirked . "Any physical changes the copy experiences during the simtion will also be carried over to your real body . "

    Li Yundong stared at Zi Yuan nkly .

    "Muscle memory?" Zi Yuan continued, clearly having misconstrued hisck of response as confusion . "Muscr and sensory enhancements?" One of Zi Yuan¡¯s brows arched high . "Even the increase in strength of your Vital Orb and spiritual energy . "

    Li Yundong blinked a few times . "T- That¡¯s . . . fascinating . "

    A small chuckle pushed its way past Zi Yuan¡¯s lips . "The look on your face right now . . . " Zi Yuan shook her head, clearly amused by his suddenck of eloquence .

    "What an amazing tool . " Li Yundong shook his head in awe . "I mean, you could train for as long as you like inside the simtion . And once you get tired, all you have to do is end the simtion and start over . " He held Zi Yuan¡¯s gaze for a second . "Coz the jade te will just create another copy based on your real body, which was asleep the whole time during the simtion! That way, you can begin a new session right away feelingpletely fresh!"

    Zi Yuan grinned . "Exactly . "

    "Damn . " Li Yundong chuckled . "It¡¯s like I¡¯m using a cheat code or something . "

    "Just by going through the simtion alone will make you more powerful than most Cultivators at the Shentong phase . " Zi Yuan chuckled . "You could end up failing the simtion miserably and still reap major benefits from it . "

    Now that was an interesting statement .

    Li Yundong gave her a curious look . "How so?"

    Zi Yuan looked at him as though she expected him to know the answer already . They continued staring at each other for a moment before Zi Yuan finally decided to put him out of his misery .

    "Every second you spend going through the drill exposes you to the vast amount of spiritual energy stored in here . " Zi Yuan tapped the jade te a few times . "It¡¯s been around for¡ª"

    "Thousands of years," Li Yundong said with a nod .

    "It¡¯s got enough spiritual energy stored up over the years to approximate the real Heavenly Thunder . It won¡¯t be as powerful to the real thing, but it¡¯s the closest we can get . " Zi Yuan picked up the jade te once more . The te hovered above Zi Yuan¡¯s palm and started spinning slowly . "Exposing yourself to such power will strengthen your Vital Orb and spiritual energy to unimaginable levels . " The te stopped spinning and dropped back onto Zi Yuan¡¯s palm . "And every progress you made inside the simtion will be transferred back to your real self . Every single one . It¡¯s the perfect tool to help you . "

    "And I can repeat the whole drill over and over again until the te conks out . "

    "Brilliant, isn¡¯t it? The solution . " Zi Yuan nced at him briefly, then chuckled . "Ao Wushuang . . . "

    "Remind me to thank her next time," Li Yundong said with a shake of his head . "I owe her . " He looked at Zi Yuan . "I owe you both . "

    "Well . You can thank us after you survive," Zi Yuan said dryly . Suddenly, her expression turned somber . "We¡¯ve . . . We¡¯ve done all we could . " Zi Yuan looked into his eyes . "The rest is now up to you . "

    And he was going to give it his everything .

    "I¡¯m assuming that the real thing is going to make me stronger as well?" he asked momentster .

    "Pardon?"

    "Being exposed to the real Heavenly Thunder will strengthen my spiritual energy too, right?"

    "Yes," Zi Yuan said with a nod . "And to a much greater effect . "

    "Right . Coz it¡¯s the real thing . "

    "If you do manage to survive, then your power levels . . . " Zi Yuan trailed off .

    For seconds on end, Zi Yuan¡¯s sentence was left hanging .

    There it was again, that faraway look in Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes . He saw the same look that night, right after she wrote down the prophecy .

    "So what¡¯s next?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes became clear again . "Sorry?"

    "I mean what¡¯s next for me after I survive?"

    If he survived . And he didn¡¯t even want to think about how big of an if that was .

    Zi Yuan took a deep breath . "Well, there are generally three ways to proceed at your current level . " She held his gaze for a moment . "In the Cultivation world, we call it the Three Shentong Paradigms . "

    "Whoa, okay . This is new stuff . " Li Yundong sat up straighter and gave Zi Yuan his full attention . Not that he hadn¡¯t been giving her his full attention, of course .

    Zi Yuan chuckled . "Good to know that the threat of imminent death hasn¡¯t diminished your eagerness to learn . "

    "What can I say?" He shrugged . "I have a good teacher . "

    Zi Yuan smiled . "So . Here are the three paradigms . Internal Shentong, External Shentong, and Supreme Shentong . "

    He stared at Zi Yuan for a few seconds .

    "Yeah . That exined a lot, thanks," he said dryly .

    "Tsk . Patience . " Zi Yuan smirked .

    Li Yundong gestured for her to continue .

    "The Three Shentong Paradigms, as the name implies, refers to three different approaches topleting the Shentong phase . Each of these three paradigms differ in terms of training method, training philosophy, the level of difficulty, and also the risks incurred during training . Now . " Zi Yuan paused to give him a look . "The first paradigm, Internal Shentong, is the easiest and also the safest approach . It focuses primarily on strengthening the Vital Orb . "

    "Oh . That¡¯s why it¡¯s called Internal Shentong, isn¡¯t it?" Li Yundong said as he tried to put the pieces together . "Coz the approach focuses on what¡¯s internal to the Cultivator¡¯s body . "

    "Hmm . . . " Zi Yuan¡¯s head tilted slightly as a frown marred her delicate features . "You¡¯re definitely on the right track, but your understanding is still iplete . "

    "Okay?"

    "Let me exin . " Zi Yuan ced the Purple Gold Jade te back onto the coffee table and then took a seat beside him on the couch . "The key to passing the Shentong Phase is to strengthen your Vital Orb to a certain point where your Yin Spirit takes form . " Zi Yuan paused for a moment . "As long as you do everything right, your Vital Orb will grow no matter which paradigm you choose to follow . "

    Something clicked inside Li Yundong¡¯s mind . He turned slightly to face Zi Yuan on the couch .

    "The difference is . . . " Zi Yuan paused when their eyes met . "Yes, any questions?"

    "Essentially, what you¡¯re saying is that all three approaches will strengthen the Vital Orb to some extent . But the Internal Shentong approach is different from others in that it trains the Vital Orb directly rather than through some external means?"

    "Bingo . " Zi Yuan smiled . "For Cultivators of Internal Shentong, training begins within . Their mind and body are all they need . Cultivators of External Shentong, on the other hand, rely on their mastery of magical objects to make progress . " Zi Yuan gave him a wry smile . "Thetter group spend most of their time and effort tinkering with magical objects rather than, say, practicing Qi control or undergoing the Orb Fortification Cycle . "

    "Hmm . . . " Li Yundong held his own chin . "When you put it that way, the External Shentong approach sounds like a real challenge . I mean, you have to own at least one magical object for it to work, right?" Li Yundong gave her a curious look . "What if someone starts out with none?"

    "Well, there are easier ways to obtain magical objects, of course . Like through inheritance, for example . "

    An image of Yan Hua¡¯s annoyingly smug face popped up inside Li Yundong¡¯s head . He quickly pushed the image away before it could ruin his mood .

    "But yes, generally speaking you¡¯re right . " Zi Yuan continued . "The second approach tends to favor the luckier ones . . . " Zi Yuan waved her hand . "Regardless, each paradigm has its own pros and cons . "

    "Well, you already told me that the Internal Shentong is the safest and easiest approach . " He nced at Zi Yuan . "What are its downsides?"

    Zi Yuan smiled wryly . "Time . "

    Li Yundong thought for a moment, then hummed in agreement . "Makes sense I suppose . Progress will be much slower without the help of external means . "

    "But the reward is definitely worth the time invested," Zi Yuan said . "Over-reliance on magical objects is never a good idea . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "Coz you¡¯ll be leftpletely defenseless the moment someone disarms you . "

    "Exactly . Most Cultivators today prefer a hybrid of the Internal and External Shentong paradigms . Even so, they still start off with Internal Shentong first before transitioning into External Shentong . "

    "Makes sense . " Li Yundong nodded . "You make your Vital Orb strong first so that others can¡¯t im your magical object that easily . " He chuckled . "No point in owning dozens of magical objects if you¡¯re dead . "

    "True . "

    "What about the third approach? Supreme Shentong . "

    "Well . . . " Zi Yuan sighed . "Supreme Shentong is the riskiest among all three approaches . " She gave him a serious look . "I¡¯m pretty sure you already know what it entails . " One of Zi Yuan¡¯s brows raised . "Absorbing the spiritual energy of the Heavens and Earth? Harnessing the power of the Heavens and then wielding it? Ring any bells?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s breath caught in this throat .

    "The Five Thunders Spell . . . "

    "Yes . The Supreme Shentong paradigm advocates learning the Five Thunders Spell and the like before learning anything else . "

    Li Yundong did a double take . "And the like?" He stared at Zi Yuan for a moment . "You mean there are other spells that allow Cultivators to wield the power of the Heavens?"

    Zi Yuan smirked . "Quite a few, actually . "

    "Huh . " Li Yundong leaned back against the couch . "I¡¯ll be damned . . . "

    Yeah... Let¡¯s just hope I don¡¯t run into one of those .

    Then again, what did he have to fear if he could survive 81 sessive bolts of Heavenly Thunder?

    A poignant smile spread across Zi Yuan¡¯s countenance . "But most of them are, sadly, lost . "

    "Lost . . . as in?"

    "The scrolls and manuals containing the instructions to master those spells are gone . " Zi Yuan shook her head . "Nobody knows how to master them . "

    Li Yundong frowned . He found it a little odd, to be honest . If those spells were indeed so powerful, then surely people would find ways to keep the records safe . Unless of course someone thought the spells were too dangerous and had decided to burn all the scrolls associated with them .

    "Do you have any more questions?" Zi Yuan asked momentster . "If you don¡¯t, then I say we begin the drill . " Her expression turned grim . "Time isn¡¯t on your side . "

    "Okay . " Li Yundong rose from the couch . "I¡¯m ready . "

    Zi Yuan nodded and picked up the jade te from the table .

    Anticipation coursed through Li Yundong¡¯s veins as he watched Zi Yuan move away from the table . Momentster, she stopped at the center of the living room .

    Zi Yuan raised the jade te above her head with both hands, then closed her eyes . A green glow bathed Zi Yuan¡¯s figure . Secondster, the jade te levitated off Zi Yuan¡¯s palm and rose upwards, revolving on its axis all the way up . The jade te stopped its upward motion and then hovered several feet below the ceiling .

    Li Yundong gazed up at the te, watching its revolution pick up speed . When the te¡¯s form turned blurry, a cylindrical beam of golden light shone down from the base of the jade te .

    "Step under the light . "

    Li Yundong looked away from the spinning te and found Zi Yuan staring back at him .

    Li Yundong walked towards the circle of light on the floor,ing to a halt right near the circle¡¯s edge .

    "Will the simtion begin as soon as I . . . " Li Yundong pointed at the spinning te .

    "Not right away," Zi Yuan said with a smile . "It will begin at mymand . "

    Li Yundong gave her a shaky smile .

    The light beam felt warm, like sunshine during summer . Soon, the light became too bright for his eyes to stay open, so he shut them . Even from behind his closed eyelids, he could feel the intensity of the light .

    Li Yundong blinked his eyes open when he felt the heat on his eyelids start to wane .

    He was no longer inside his apartment, but was hovering in the sky instead . Beneath him, winding rivers slithered over the vastndscape where thick mountain ridges jutted out .

    The view was breathtakingly beautiful .

    "Good, you¡¯re in . "

    Li Yundong flinched when Zi Yuan¡¯s voice echoed in the sky .

    He spent a moment scanning his surroundings, though he didn¡¯t see any signs of Zi Yuan . Then again, he supposed it made sense that she wasn¡¯t here . After all, she wasn¡¯t the one who was supposed to y lightning dodgeball with the Heavens .

    "The simtion will begin in three . . . two . . . one . . . " Zi Yuan¡¯s voice paused . "Good luck . "

    Thrill coursed through Li Yundong¡¯s veins as he waited with bated breath for the first bolt to strike . If the Heavens had made its move, then it was subtle as hell because his surroundings hadn¡¯t changed one bit after the announcement .

    It happened in a blink of an eye . Literally .

    Pain ripped through him, pervading him down to thest fiber of his tormented existence . He screamed and screamed, knowing full well that there was nothing he could do except wait out the pain . No point in dodging if he was already hit .

    Stop! Stop! Please!

    It was useless . This overwhelming and omnipotent power probably wouldn¡¯t stop until it tore his body asunder, until there was nothing left of him other than a bunch of disconnected atoms .

    Weak! You¡¯re nothing but a pathetic weakling¡ª

    The pain stopped . Something solid was pressing against his back; he was lying down somewhere .

    Zi Yuan¡¯s amused expression was the first thing he saw when he blinked his eyes open .

    "Why, hello there?" Zi Yuan said in an innocent tone . "Did you have a nice nap?"

    Li Yundong groaned and rolled his eyes at her .

    Yeah . It was going to be a long, long night .

    Hell . It was going to be a long week .

 Chapter 246

    Chapter 246

    <h4>Facing the Odds</h4>

    <strong>Project Beat the Heavens: Day 1</strong>

    "Argh! Goddammit!"

    A loud thud sounded when Li Yundong¡¯s back crashed into the floor of the living room . He¡¯d just been ejected from the simtion by the Purple Gold Jade te . Again .

    How many times had this happened already?

    Right . The twenty-seven times .

    Yet, the number of bolts he managed to dodge remained the same: a big fat zero .

    Way to go, Li Yundong .

    His eyes blinked open the moment he felt a tickle on his right cheek . Zi Yuan¡¯s face was hovering inches above his, and she seemed troubled . Before he could say anything else, a set of gentle fingers wrapped themselves around his arm, pulling him out from the bottomless chasm of pain that had, just seconds ago, threatened to consume him whole .

    "Are you okay?"

    "Yeah . . . " he croaked out, his voice hoarse due to all the screaming he¡¯d been doing inside the simtion .

    Zi Yuan rose to her feet . "Wait here . Let me get you a ss of water . " Secondster, Zi Yuan was gone from his side, moving quickly towards the kitchen .

    With a soft grunt, Li Yundong rolled over and then got into a sitting position .

    A quick scan of his body put his mind at ease; at least all his limbs were still intact .

    Zi Yuan was right about something though . That simtion was no virtual reality; no virtual world could emte pain to such a realistic degree .

    "Here . "

    Li Yundong flinched at the sound of Zi Yuan¡¯s voice . He whirled around and saw Zi Yuan standing beside him with a ss of water in her hand . He didn¡¯t even hear her approach .

    "Calm yourself," Zi Yuan said, handing him the ss . "The state of your Zhenqi is in disarray . "

    Li Yundong took the ss gratefully and finished the water in three huge gulps . Then, he ced the ss on the floor and massaged his forehead a few times . "I think I..." He exhaled shakily . "I need a minute . "

    "Take your time . " Zi Yuan picked up the ss from the floor and moved away again .

    Li Yundong moved a portion of his Zhenqi to his Lingtai . A wave of calmness washed over him as soon as he did .

    Zi Yuan returned minutester, empty-handed this time . "Wanna try again?" She pointed at the Purple Gold Jade te, which was still hovering in the air .

    Li Yundong studied the jade te for a moment, noting in silent wonderment the jade te¡¯s radiance as well as the ethereal quality that it seemed possess in spades, just like its owner .

    "Hey..." Zi Yuan snapped her fingers and shook his shoulder a few times . "Are you with me?"

    "Yeah . " Li Yundong shook his head slightly . "Sorry . "

    "Ready to continue?"

    Li Yundong looked towards the jade te again . After a few moments of silent contemtion, he sighed .

    "27 tries already, Zi Yuan . " Li Yundong shook his head, then lowered his gaze to hisp . "And I still couldn¡¯t even get past the first bolt . "

    The unspoken implication behind his words resonated soundlessly inside the apartment, suffusing the air with dread and gloom .

    Li Yundong sighed . "It would be unwise to try again until I¡¯vee up with some sort of game n . " He lifted his gaze and stared into Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes . "I¡¯d just be wasting the jade te¡¯s spiritual energy if I keep going in blindly . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "You have a point . " She sighed and lowered herself to the floor in one elegant movement . The next thing he knew, they were sitting side by side on the floor, staring at the spinning jade te .

    "Did you at least learn something useful from the previous tries?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s gaze went from the jade te towards his mentor .

    Zi Yuan¡¯s expression was calm as usual, though the stiff set of her shoulders betrayed her worry .

    He gave her a smile, hoping that it would at least assuage some of her stress .

    "Well, I think I know what the problem is," he said .

    Zi Yuan inched closer towards him . "Which is . . . ?"

    "Speed . " Li Yundong said before looking away . "I couldn¡¯t dodge in time . " He sighed heavily . "It¡¯s like . . . " He rolled his fingers into a fist and shook it a few times . "It¡¯s like I could feel the moment the strike wasing, but . . . "

    "But you were hit before you could even move," Zi Yuan said .

    "Yeah . . . " Li Yundong uncurled his fingers and lowered his hand to hisp .

    A long silence ensued .

    Zi Yuan seemed pretty content with letting him work through his own thoughts .

    "Maybe I¡¯m thinking about this the wrong way," Li Yundong mumbled after a while . He felt Zi Yuan shift beside him as soon as those words left his mouth . After a quick sidelong nce, he managed to catch a glimpse of the questioning look on her face .

    "I mean, it¡¯s kinda pointless to think about how to make myself move faster, isn¡¯t it?" Li Yundong paused for a few beats . "No matter how fast I can move, I doubt I¡¯ll be able to keep up with the speed of light . " He shook his head .

    "Which means . . . " Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes widened slightly . "You have to know when the next strike ising way before it hits . "

    "Yeah . . . " Li Yundong nodded . "That¡¯s what I thought too . "

    "Hmm . . . " There was a frown on Zi Yuan¡¯s features .

    "What is it?"

    Zi Yuan nced at him . "I don¡¯t think you should eliminate movement speed from the equation just yet . "

    "Hmm . . . " Li Yundong pondered her words . Secondster, he snapped his fingers . "Right . Coz the faster I can move, the less I have to rely on premonition topensate for myck of speed . "

    "Exactly . " Zi Yuan hesitated for a moment, then gave him a wry smile . "Well, if it helps, Wushuang-qianbei seemed pretty convinced that you can pull it off . "

    Li Yundong chuckled humorlessly . "She probably wouldn¡¯t have suggested the method if she didn¡¯t think I could . "

    "Nah . She probably would¡¯ve suggested it anyway," Zi Yuan said, pausing to nce at him . "Why wouldn¡¯t she when you have no other options? Don¡¯t forget that the alternative is to stand there and take those hits . Or¡ª" Zi Yuan¡¯s voice hitched, and an uncharacteristic pallor spread over her features right then .

    Li Yundong frowned . "Hey, you alright?"

    Zi Yuan cleared her throat and regained herposure . "I¡¯m fine . " She smiled at him as though she hadn¡¯t acted like some kind of trauma victim seconds ago .

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes . What the hell was that about?

    "There¡¯s something you haven¡¯t told me, isn¡¯t there?" Li Yundong said, raising a brow . "What is it?"

    Zi Yuan gave him a nonchnt smile . "Look, it¡¯s nothing, okay?" she said emphatically .

    "Not buying it," Li Yundong fired back . That definitely didn¡¯t sound like nothing .

    Zi Yuan sighed . "I was just . . . I imagined for a second that it was me getting hit . It jarred me a little, that¡¯s all . "

    "Is that so?" Li Yundong said without taking his eyes off her .

    "Yes . " Zi Yuan rolled her eyes . "Now can we focus on the problem, please?"

    "Fine," Li Yundong mumbled, deciding to let it go .

    Zi Yuan released another sigh . "You were right before . "

    Something in Zi Yuan¡¯s pointed statement caught his attention, and he nced over at her .

    "Yeah?"

    Zi Yuan nodded . "It is crucial that you make every simtion count . " Their gazes locked . "Though in hindsight, it should have less to do with conserving the jade te¡¯s spiritual energy"¡ªZi Yuan arched a brow¡ª"and more to do with the fact that the training might hasten theing of your divine punishment . "

    It took Li Yundong a few seconds to put two and two together . "Coz the training strengthens my Vital Orb . And the stronger my Vital Orb bes, the sooner the punishmentes . " He sighed and ran a hand through his hair . "I don¡¯t really have much wiggle room, do I?"

    Zi Yuan rose to her feet and started pacing around the living room . "Look . . . There has be a way to enhance your movement speed and sharpen your ability to sense the Heavens¡¯ striking intent . We just have to figure it out . "

    "Maybe you should teach me the high-speed flying thing that you and Su Chan often did . "

    Zi Yuan waved her hand without slowing her steps . "That will require you to develop your Yin Spirit," she said distractedly . "The divine punishment woulde before you could reach that stage . "

    "Good point . "

    Zi Yuan reached the dining table, stopped, turned around, and then walked back towards the living room . Her steps were quicker now, more hurried .

    "Wushuang-qianbei said it¡¯s possible . . . " Zi Yuan whispered . "But how . . . What¡¯s the trick?"

    "What about the Jindan¡¯s Aura?" Li Yundong suggested .

    Zi Yuan pulled up short and stared at him for a moment .

    "I mean . . . I can still activate the Jindan¡¯s Aura inside the simtion, right?"

    "Of course . "

    "Well, the aura will give me a boost in speed, won¡¯t it?" he said in a hopeful tone .

    Zi Yuan nodded . "It will . " Then, she sighed . "I¡¯m just not sure if it¡¯s gonna be enough . "

    "Whoa, wait a minute . . . " Li Yundong sat up straighter and nced up at Zi Yuan from the floor .

    "What?"

    "If I can still activate the Jindan¡¯s Aura inside the simtion, then . . . " Li Yundong shook his index finger as he slowly rose to his feet .

    Once he was up, he started walking towards the jade te .

    "What is it?" Zi Yuan¡¯s voice sounded behind his back .

    Li Yundong paused at the edge of the circle of light on the floor . "I¡¯m gonna try something . " He turned around to meet Zi Yuan¡¯s questioning look . "I think it might work . "

    ***

    The smell of fresh leaves assaulted Su Chan¡¯s nose . An annoying twig was poking against her left cheek, which was still stinging from all her crying earlier . The urge to move that stupid twig away from her face was overwhelming, though Su Chan didn¡¯t dare move an inch lest she alert those mindless harpies (as Master liked to call them) to her presence inside the thick shrub .

    Gaaaah!!!

    If only she was allowed to fly . If only . Then, none of these fools would¡¯ve caught up to her .

    Indeed, what a pain in her backside .

    Speaking of pain in backsides . . .

    Su Chan was pretty sure there was another annoying twig poking on her backside too . Su Chan sighed inwardly . The things she would do for stealth . Ugh .

    Now she was starting to wonder why Master never tried to invent a spell to turn one¡¯s body transparent . Like a more advanced version of the Yin Spirit or something .

    There was a rustle .

    "Did you find her?" one of those harpies said .

    "Nah . What about you two?" said a second voice . "Any luck?"

    "We¡¯ve got nothing as well," the first voice grumbled .

    "We¡¯ve searched the whole school though," said a third voice .

    "Yeah," said the first harpy .

    "Think she¡¯s off the mountain already?" the second voice asked .

    "On foot?" The first harpy sounded skeptical . "I doubt it . "

    "I agree," the third harpy said . "She must still be here, skulking around somewhere . We just have to find her before she leaves the mountain for good . "

    Heh . These useless bimbos had another thinking if they thought they could catch her . Where did Gu-shibo find these women anyway? A brothel?

    Su Chan winced internally . She wasn¡¯t even sure if she should regard Gu Feng as her shibo now . For all she knew, Gu Feng could be in on the whole treachery . Why else would his disciples be running around trying to catch Su Chan? Hmph! Treacherous cowards! Wait till I get to my Yundong . None of these fools would stand a chance if Yundong and Master teamed up together .

    "God . . . Master¡¯s gonna be so pissed if we don¡¯t find the girl before daybreak," mumbled Harpy 2 .

    "I wonder why he wants to look for her all of a sudden," said the first harpy .

    There was a loud snort, which came from Harpy 3 . "You have to ask?" Another snort . "You mean you didn¡¯t see the way Master was undressing her with his eyes back there?"

    There was a collective sigh .

    "Guess you have a point," said Harpy 2 .

    "I don¡¯t think he¡¯d touch the girl though," said Harpy 3 .

    "Yeah? How do you figure?" said number two .

    "Seriously?" Harpy 3¡¯s voice wasced with incredulity . "Didn¡¯t you see how powerful her master is?"

    "Wait a minute, Master didn¡¯t tell you?" said Harpy 1 .

    "Tell me what?"

    "The girl¡¯s master isn¡¯t here," said Harpy 2 .

    "Yeah . Master said she changed her mind about fighting for the school," Harpy 1 said with a snort . "Apparently, she ran away like a coward . "

    Su Chan clenched her fist and fought down the sudden impulse to growl .

    Damn you, people . . . Damn you all!

    That wasn¡¯t even what happened! Master was anything but a coward!

    "Yeah right . Why would she leave the girl behind if she ran off?" Clearly, Harpy 3 had some brains . A little . Just a little .

    "Well, that¡¯s what Master told me," said Harpy 1 .

    Harpy 2 echoed with a low hum .

    "And where did Master even get that news from?"

    "Oh, well . . . " Harpy 1 said, trailing off .

    "Well?"

    "I didn¡¯t really ask," Harpy 1 said sheepishly .

    "Wait!" Harpy 2 suddenly said . "I think it came from Grandmaster Liu . " There was a pause . "I overheard Master speaking with Mo-shibo . "

    A fourth voice interrupted the conversation just then .

    "Hey! You three! Why are you still standing around for?" A pause . "We have a girl to find! Move your asses!"

    Su Chan kept herself hidden within the thick shrub as the harpies moved away in grumbles and mumbles .

    You¡¯re going to pay for this, Mo Ahshi . . . Just you wait!

    ***

    Li Yundong found himself surrounded by a sea of green the moment he opened his eyes . Instead of hovering in midair like in all the previous 27 simtions, he was now standing on a vast, open grasnd .

    "Zi Yuan?" Li Yundong said warily . "This is different from the previous simtions . "

    "I thought a change of scenery might help," Zi Yuan¡¯s voice resonated in the sky . "Besides, something like this is a closer approximation to your actual divine punishment . "

    They hade to an agreement that Li Yundong would y lightning dodgeball on the ground instead of in the air .

    When Zi Yuan had suggested it, Li Yundong had agreed in a heartbeat simply because Zi Yuan¡¯s argument made logical sense: the act of flying would upy a portion of his mental focus, which should all be directed towards anticipating when the Heavenly Thunder would strike .

    "There won¡¯t be much difference," Zi Yuan continued . "So just do your thing, whatever it is that you want to try . "

    "Roger that," Li Yundong said, looking up at the sky .

    "Ready?"

    "Yup!"

    Li Yundong formed atha¡¯s 2nd Mudra with his hands¡ªthe Immovable Mountain of Treasure .

    "In three . . . two . . . one . . . Begin!"

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham!" Li Yundong chanted at the same time he bridged his Three Gates .

    A thin, semi-transparent golden sheet appeared and formed a dome shape around Li Yundong . He had used this mudra to support over a ton of snow before, not to mention ward off the attacks from a powerful magical weapon .

    It was worth a try .

    There was a bright sh followed by a crackle .

    Li Yundong could barely maintain the mudra¡¯s form when the bolt struck the top of the dome .

    BAM!

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart did a little flip when he looked up and saw that the dome was still intact . Yes!!!!!

    Another sh .

    "Arrrrgggghhhh!!!" Li Yundong¡¯s hands flew apart as pain ripped through him once again .

    He didn¡¯t stop screaming until a warm hand shook his shoulder . Zi Yuan . . .

    He opened his eyes and saw Zi Yuan looking down at him worriedly . He was back inside his apartment .

    "Are you okay?" Zi Yuan asked, pulling him to a sitting position .

    Li Yundong groaned . "Well . I¡¯m still alive . "

    And his balls were still intact . Probably .

    Zi Yuan let out a sigh, which quickly turned into a chuckle . When their eyes met, he noticed that Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes were sparkling with amusement .

    "That was pretty clever, I¡¯ll give you that," Zi Yuan said . "But it won¡¯t work . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "Why not?"

    "The mudra¡¯s power depends on the user¡¯s spiritual energy," Zi Yuan said . "That¡¯s why the dome shattered when it was struck by the second bolt . " Zi Yuan arched a brow . "Don¡¯t forget that there are 81 bolts in total . And each one will be more powerful than its predecessor . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart sank to his toes . "And the divine punishment wille way before I can amp up my spiritual energy to the point where I can use the mudras to hold off all 81 bolts of the Heavenly Thunder . . . "

    "That¡¯s right," Zi Yuan said, then paused for a moment . "Remember that yours is a special case . " She chuckled wryly . "You aren¡¯t even supposed to be thinking about facing the Heavenly Thunder at this stage..." Zi Yuan sighed wearily . "Alright, look . . . Even if you do manage to hold off the Heavenly Thunder with the mudra during the simtion, I honestly wouldn¡¯t bank on it to hold against the real thing . "

    "Right . " Li Yundong hung his head low . "Coz this is still just a simtion . "

    "The real thing is still more powerful," Zi Yuan said .

    "So I guess it¡¯s back to dodging, then?" Li Yundong asked, raising his head to look at Zi Yuan .

    They stared at each other for a few seconds before they both sighed .

    Li Yundong broke their eye contact and nced towards the jade te .

    Time to face the truth: they were stuck .

    <h4>Facing the Odds</h4>

    <strong>Project Beat the Heavens: Day 2</strong>

    Li Yundong had decided to skip all his sses today . Actually, scratch that . He¡¯d already decided to skip for the whole week . Who needs sses when you could y dodge-a-lightning-bolt against the fearsome Heavens? Orange light filtered in from the balcony door, soaking the walls and floor with its hue . The sun glowed weakly from the west like a beacon of dusk .

    Another day squandered where precious seconds had trickled towards oblivion and progress remained a formless and elusive silhouette .

    How depressing .

    "You know, Zi Yuan . . . " Li Yundong paused, allowing his voice to mix with the orange glow permeating the living room .

    "Yes?"

    "Maybe you know some kind of mining spell . . . " He rolled onto his side, the side facing the balcony . "Like, I don¡¯t know . . . Something from the Earth element?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s incredulous chuckle drifted from the couch . "What are you even talking about?"

    Li Yundong studied the scarlet gleam smeared across the evening sky . The color reminded him of the dress Su Chan had worn on the day they first met .

    "Well, I was just thinking... Maybe you can dig a massive hole in the ground with that spell," Li Yundong mumbled . "Create an underground bunker or something . "

    "And what good will that do?" Zi Yuan chuckled again . "The Heavenly Thunder will just st it open anyway . "

    Li Yundong grimaced, then released a groan . "I suppose you¡¯re right . " Rolling over, he stared up at the ceiling .

    "Hey, you hungry?"

    Li Yundong nced towards the couch .

    Zi Yuan was staring back at him . Unlike him, she didn¡¯t look like someone who had been slogging away for hours on end trying to figure out the solution to some elusive puzzle .

    Seriously . Not a single hair out of ce . The woman was not from this world .

    "I could make you something if you¡¯re hungry," Zi Yuan offered .

    An image of Su Chan¡¯s chipmunk pouches instantly came to mind .

    "Nah . . . I¡¯m not hungry at all . " He chuckled . "To be honest, I would¡¯ve forgotten all about dinner if you hadn¡¯t reminded me . "

    "Dinner?" Zi Yuan scoffed . "You didn¡¯t even have lunch . "

    Li Yundong groaned and covered his eyes with his both hands . Admittedly, food wasn¡¯t high on his list of priorities right now, even though he knew that having some food in his system would do him good .

    "Did you check the state of your Vital Orb?"

    "Yeah," Li Yundong answered . "It definitely feels a lot stronger now . "

    Zi Yuan let out a low hum, though she didn¡¯tment .

    "If those two pills you fed me the other day could double the size of my Vital Orb," Li Yundong said, "I can¡¯t even imagine what¡¯s gonna happen once I¡¯m exposed to the Heavenly Thunder . " He chuckled . "It¡¯s probably gonna swell up like a balloon . "

    "It isn¡¯t just about size," Zi Yuan said briskly .

    Li Yundong lowered his hands from his eyes to look at Zi Yuan .

    Zi Yuan gave him a small smile . "You¡¯ll know what happens the moment you pass the Shentong phase . "

    If he passed the Shentong phase .

    Li Yundong nodded and looked away .

    A hush fell upon the room . The silence dragged on for quite a while before Li Yundong felt the need to end it .

    "I¡¯m sorry, Zi Yuan," he said softly .

    There was a long pause .

    "Whatever for?"

    "For wasting your time?" Li Yundong let out a self-deprecating chuckle . "And your resources?"

    "Stop that," Zi Yuan said sternly . "I told you not to worry about any of that . "

    "I can¡¯t help it, Zi Yuan," Li Yundong said tiredly . "It just feels like I¡¯m dragging everyone down, you know?" He sighed . "Su Chan was in trouble because of me . Zhou Qin lost everything because of me . " He paused for a beat . "And then, there¡¯s you . You¡¯re putting your own life on hold, hell, even risking your own life, just to help me . " He shook his head in disgust, then let out a sad chuckle . "Looks like I¡¯m still as useless as I was back then . "

    Zi Yuan sighed . "Li Yundong . . . Now isn¡¯t the time to be feeling down¡ª"

    "These hands . . . " Li Yundong raised his hands above him . "These hands held so much power now . And yet what have I done with them?" He chuckled darkly, letting his hands drop . "Some hero I am . " Another scornful chuckle . "I couldn¡¯t even save my friends . "

    "I¡¯m only going to say this once, Li Yundong, so you better listen up . "

    Zi Yuan¡¯s harsh tone put an end to his self-mockery, forcing him to turn his head to look fully at his mentor, at the woman who was now radiating silent anger in spades .

    Li Yundong gulped .

    "The twins¡¯ deaths aren¡¯t your fault . " Zi Yuan leveled a harsh stare at him . "The sooner you get that through your head, the better . " Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes softened . "You have toe to terms with your guilt at some point, you know? That type of thinking isn¡¯t healthy at all . "

    "I know, sorry . " Li Yundong sighed . "Actually, I¡¯ve alreadye to terms with it during my trip to Tibet . . . But, well . . . " He chuckled . "I guess getting hit by the Heavenly Thunder fifty-nine times made my brain go a bit haywire . "

    Another stretch of silence ensued .

    "It wasn¡¯t your fault, Li Yundong," Zi Yuan said in a small voice .

    "I know . . . It was¡ª"

    "If anything, it was my fault . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes grew wide . He stared at Zi Yuan for a few seconds, searching her face for a hint that she was only joking .

    The woman was dead serious .

    "What?" Li Yundong scoffed . "Come on . That¡¯s not true at all . "

    "I didn¡¯t kill them, sure . But..." Zi Yuan shook her head . "I¡¯m pretty sure I could¡¯ve saved the second twin if I wanted to . "

    Li Yundong blinked a few times .

    "I mean... I couldn¡¯t perform Qi Kinesis to the extent that you¡¯re capable of . " Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes darted to his face . "Your Qi reserves far exceed mine . But I could still reach the second twin . . . " She looked towards him . "I don¡¯t know her name . . . "

    "Deng Jiao," Li Yundong supplied .

    Zi Yuan nodded . "I could still reach Deng Jiao in time if I fly at my top speed . "

    Silence filled the living room as Li Yundong searched for the right words to say .

    Before he could say anything, however, Zi Yuan rose from the couch and padded towards him .

    Piqued by her actions, Li Yundong sat up from his lying position .

    "Wha¡ª"

    Zi Yuan took both of his hands the moment she crouched down in front of him . "A time wille when these hands are needed, Li Yundong . " The intensity in Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes right then matched that of her voice . "The world will need you one day . I¡¯m sure of it . " She released his hands, though her expression didn¡¯t lose a single ounce of its gravity . "And that¡¯s why you must do everything in your power to survive . You must . Do you understand?"

    Li Yundong nodded . "I know . "

    Zi Yuan got up and returned to the couch .

    Li Yundong waited until Zi Yuan had sat down before he spoke again .

    "I know I¡¯ve asked you this before . . . " Li Yundong nced at Zi Yuan warily . "But why are you helping me, Zi Yuan?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s guarded eyes zeroed in on his face .

    What ensued was a long staring match between the two of them .

    "Does it matter?"

    "It matters to me . "

    "Why?" The challenging glint in Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes shone back at him . "Why do you care about the reason I¡¯m helping you? Isn¡¯t it more than enough to know that I¡¯m on your side?" Zi Yuan¡¯s lips curved into a smirk . "Or is it because you still don¡¯t trust me . "

    Li Yundong raised a brow . "If our roles were reversed, wouldn¡¯t you want to know too?"

    Instead of answering the question, Zi Yuan kept staring at him .

    Li Yundong sighed . "It matters to me because you¡¯re doing so much for me, and I want to find a way to repay you, okay?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s smirk grew wider . "Survive your divine punishment, then . That¡¯s a good enough repayment for me . "

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes . "Oh,e on, Zi Yuan . That¡¯s just..." Li Yundong sighed and raised his palms . "You know what? It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t wanna tell¡ª"

    "You are my path towards transcendence . "

    Her voice hade out so soft that he almost failed to catch it . And when he did, all he could do was stare her; admittedly, her words had rendered him momentarily speechless .

    "What?"

    "That¡¯s right . " Zi Yuan gave him a wry smile . "You hold the key to whether or not I can survive the Lightning Retribution phase in the future . "

    "Me?" Li Yundong pointed at himself . "But how can I possibly¡ª"

    "Haven¡¯t figured out that part yet," Zi Yuan said with a quick shake of her head, then paused to study his face for a moment . "I¡¯m just telling you what my master told me . "

    "I see . . . "

    "And that¡¯s why . . . " Zi Yuan sighed and looked away . "Until I¡¯ve figured out the true meaning behind my master¡¯s message, it is in my best interest to keep you alive . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "That¡¯s why you¡¯re helping me . "

    "Besides . . . " Zi Yuan smiled at him gently . "You¡¯re not a bad friend to have . "

    Somehow, that deration brought him a small amount of relief . He chuckled . "d to know that you approve . "

    "Did that address your concerns?" Zi Yuan¡¯s smile turned into a smirk . "Or do you have any more questions regarding my motivations?"

    Li Yundong regarded Zi Yuan for a moment . That wasn¡¯t the only question he wanted to ask, to be honest . The one question whose answer Li Yundong was dying to know was this: What does the prophecy mean?

    But then he remembered how Zi Yuan had broken down that night after she wrote down that prophecy, so he decided not to ask . Plus, he got the distinct impression that not even Zi Yuan herself knew the full meaning behind the prophecy .

    Seriously, why did Cultivators like to speak in riddles? Why?

    "Nah," Li Yundong said with a wave of his hand . "I¡¯ve got no other questions . "

    "This might be hard for you to believe, but . . . " Zi Yuan sighed . "It isn¡¯t just about self-interest . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s gaze snapped to her face . "What do you mean?"

    "I mean me helping you . " Zi Yuan paused to look at him . "It isn¡¯t just about self-interest . "

    "I know . " Li Yundong smiled . "We¡¯re friends . "

    To his surprise, Zi Yuan shook her head . "This has nothing to do with friendship . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "Okay?"

    "There¡¯s something special about you . " Zi Yuan¡¯s sharp gaze felt as though it could pierce through his soul . "I don¡¯t what it is just yet, but I do know something about you is extraordinary . " There was a pause . "And I think it¡¯s more than just talent . "

    Li Yundong stared at her for a moment . "How so?"

    Zi Yuan went silent in thought . "When I consider all the circumstances surrounding you, I can¡¯t help but think that..."

    Li Yundong held his breath . "Think... what?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes bore into him .

    "That there¡¯s an unknown force guiding your existence towards some greater purpose . "

    A chill ran down Li Yundong¡¯s spine . "You seem..." He cleared his throat . "You seem awfully sure . "

    Zi Yuan smiled . "Call it a gut feeling . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Gut feeling, huh?"

    "You started out by taking the Taoist approach to Cultivation, didn¡¯t you?"

    "I guess?"

    "You did," Zi Yuan said in a tone of certainty . "The Jindan itself is a product of External Alchemy, which is a known Taoist practice . And the Qi-control methods you used so far are also from Taoist lineages . The foundation of your Cultivation definitely has Taoist roots . And yet . . . " Zi Yuan shook her head . "And yet you ended up mastering the tantric mudras in just a few hours . " She stared at him in awe . "On your own, no less . You didn¡¯t even have external guidance . " Zi Yuan chuckled incredulously . "You know, there are actually a lot of dedicated Buddhists out there who have spent decades trying to aplish the same . Yet some of them barely made progress at all . " Zi Yuan schooled her features and held his gaze . "Good Cultivators out there will definitely recognize your value right away . " Zi Yuan paused as though to let her words sink in . "I¡¯m sure this is one of Wushuang-qianbei¡¯s reasons for helping you as well . It would be such a waste if you fail to attain your potential due to theck of proper guidance . "

    Li Yundong nodded silently . He didn¡¯t know what else to say .

    To be honest, he was still reeling a bit from everything Zi Yuan told her .

    All his life, Li Yundong had been called many things, most of which were less than ttering . But to be considered by another person as some kind of revolutionary figure? That was definitely a first .

    "I meant what I said earlier . "

    Li Yundong looked up to see Zi Yuan looking deep into his eyes .

    "One day, the world will need your talents . "

    She made it sound like he was expected to save the Universe or something . No pressure .

    "But until then?" Zi Yuan jerked her chin towards the hovering jade te . "Survive . Figure this thing out . "

    ***

    <strong>Project Beat the Heavens: Day 3, 5 . 30 PM</strong>

    Zi Yuan stood over the Heir¡¯s slumbering form, watching the steady rise and fall of his chest . Now in deep slumber, the Heir¡¯s face was devoid of stress and worry . For the first time in days, he actually seemed peaceful .

    Zi Yuan crouched down and picked up the pieces of paper strewn all over the floor .

    Charts . Diagrams . A geometric sketch illustrating the most efficient dodging pattern that the Heir had drawn himself . Another one contained a series of detailed diagrams elucidating some kind of pivoting footwork from martial arts; the Heir had considered the option of dodging via a slight pivoting motion instead of moving his whole body out of the way . Needless to say, it didn¡¯t work . Each bolt had a st range, which required more than just a pivoting motion to clear .

    Zi Yuan collected the papers into a neat stack, then brought them over to the coffee table . Momentster, the stack joined another piece of paper on the table¡ªa list of viable solutions that Zi Yuan herself had written down earlier . Thest item on that list had been crossed out an hour ago after the Heir was ejected from the jade te for yet another failure .

    Indeed, it was a failure, in every sense of the word, since the result was the same as the first try: the Heir couldn¡¯t even get past the first bolt .

    That alone was a crushing blow, considering the third day was already nearing its end .

    Despite the apparent ingenuity and inventiveness that the Heir had showcased over the past few days, all their ideas came up short .

    The Jindan Aura had been activated during the simtion to give a boost in the Heir¡¯s movement speed . However, it turned out exactly as Zi Yuan had predicted: it wasn¡¯t enough .

    The best solution the Heir hade up with so far was the idea of utilizing his Zhenqi to enhance his ability to sense the Heavens¡¯ striking intent . Well, to give him a sensory boost, so to speak . In one of the simtions, the Heir had sent his Zhenqi out into the sky in the form of a long rod to help him detect the signs indicating that the next bolt wasing .

    It was, in the Heir¡¯s own words, some kind of "Qi probe . "

    Zi Yuan had to admit that the method was ingenious, though it still wasn¡¯t enough . The method did allow the Heir to sense theing of the next bolt slightly ahead of time, but the prior awareness proved useless when it came to helping him dodge the strike . If he dodged too early, the Heavens would just readjust and send the bolt to his new location, which, essentially, led them back to the same problem: how to be quick enough to dodge in time .

    One thing was pretty clear at this point: the Heavens would not be hoodwinked .

    The Heavens would strike, and it would strike hard .

    What did you mean when you said "dodge," Wushuang-qianbei . . .

    For the nth time, Zi Yuan¡¯s mind went back to Master¡¯s psalm . Perhaps something in the prophecy contained a clue, like a secret trick to this whole endeavor . After all, wasn¡¯t the prophecy about the Heir? And this was the Heir¡¯s divine punishment . It was a major event in the Heir¡¯s life; it concerned the Heir¡¯s fate . Surely the prophecy would contain some kind of clue?

    Of course it was . The clue was definitely inside the prophecy . She just had to figure it out .

    But which verse? Which verse held the clue?

    As far as she could tell, there were only two verses that were connected to the Heavenly Thunder:

    The sound of the first thunder shallplete thine soul .

    Behold! Behold the ocean of clouds!

    The first verse probably wasn¡¯t relevant . And she¡¯d already tried out the second verse¡ªthe initial scenery of the simtion was an ocean of clouds . But that evidently didn¡¯t work .

    What were they missing?

    Her phone buzzed against the coffee table . She reached over and grabbed the device from the table .

    The call came from Hongling .

    Zi Yuan frowned . So soon?

    Zi Yuan stepped onto the balcony, closing the sliding door gently .

    "I didn¡¯t expect to hear from you so soon, Hongling," Zi Yuan spoke into the phone . "Is the mission a sess?"

    "No, Elder Sister... I..."

    Something was wrong with Hongling¡¯s voice .

    Zi Yuan¡¯s body grew taut . "What happened? Are you okay?"

    Hongling cleared her throat .

    "I¡¯m fine, Elder Sister," Hongling said . "But . . . " There was a loud sigh . "God, I don¡¯t even know how to exin this . . . "

    Zi Yuan¡¯s frown deepened . "Try . "

    "The Fox Zen School is gone . "

    Zi Yuan was silent for a few seconds . "Wait, what do you mean gone?"

    "It¡¯s just . . . gone . I . . . " Hongling sounded frustrated . "There was nothing there when I got there . I couldn¡¯t even find the entrance!"

    "Are you sure you went to the right ce? It¡¯s Mount Tianlong¡ª"

    "It was the right ce, Elder Sister," Hongling said . "I swear . "

    Seconds went by in silence . "When you were there, what did you see?"

    "Trees and forests, nothing else . " Hongling paused . "The temple should be located at mid mountain, right?"

    "Yes . "

    "There was nothing there, Elder Sister . And I checked everywhere," Hongling said . "Not even a single building in sight . It was like the school never even existed . "

    What was this? Some kind of illusion spell? A concealment spell?

    "Elder Sister?" Hongling¡¯s voice ended Zi Yuan¡¯s musings .

    "Where are you now?"

    "At some motel in Dongwu City . " Hongling paused . "What do I do next, Elder Sister?"

    Something was definitely going on at the Fox Zen School, and truth be told, Zi Yuan feared for Hongling¡¯s safety .

    "Return to Mount Longhu," Zi Yuan said into the phone . "Stay there and wait for my instructions . "

    "What about the mission? I . . . " Hongling hesitated . "I didn¡¯t even manage to start the mission because I couldn¡¯t find the ce . "

    "Abort the mission," Zi Yuan said in a tone of finality .

    "Yes, Elder Sister . "

    "Did we receive any messages from the other subsidiary sects recently?"

    There was a snort . "Not at all, Elder Sister . "

    That wasn¡¯t surprising news at all . The Linggong Sect had pretty much isted itself from the rest of the Cultivation world ever since Zi Yuan took over .

    "Alright . That¡¯s all for now," Zi Yuan said, then paused when another thought came to mind . "Were you followed when you were poking around Mount Tianlong? Did you run into anyone?"

    "Please don¡¯t doubt my abilities, Elder Sister Zi Yuan . . . "

    Zi Yuan smiled as she pictured her prot¨¦g¨¦¡¯s eye roll . "Mm . Make sure you¡¯re not followed, okay? And watch your six . "

    "Fine," Hongling grumbled, not sounding happy at all .

    "Stay safe, and don¡¯t take unnecessary risks . Oh, and keep me posted . "

    After the call ended, Zi Yuan spent a while leaning against the railing, looking out into the city . When the sliding door clicked open, she turned around .

    "Hey," the Heir greeted sleepily .

    Zi Yuan smiled . "Did you have a good nap?"

    The Heir mumbled something inaudible before he joined her on the balcony .

    His movements stilled just when he was about to reach the railing .

    The Heir¡¯s eyes went from her hand to her face . "You were on the phone?

    Zi Yuan smiled . "Just checking up on Hongling . "

    "Oh . " He studied her for a second or two . "Everything alright?"

    "Everything¡¯s fine," Zi Yuan answered .

    The Heir nodded and turned away to look out into the city .

    "Another failed day, huh?" said the Heir secondster .

    Zi Yuan studied the man from the corner of her eyes, noting the disappointment and disquiet marring his features .

    "You¡¯ll figure it out, Li Yundong . " Zi Yuan looked out into the evening sky . "You¡¯ll figure it out . "

    The sun was setting, but it would rise again tomorrow; her only wish was that it would carry a ray of hope with it when it did .

    <h4>Facing the Odds</h4>

    <strong>Project Beat the Heavens: Day 4, 5:49AM; Apartment 20A, New Hongsheng District, Tiannan City . </strong>

    The glimmer of sunrise coruscated from the eastern horizon, painting the dark sky with a tinge of blue . The first light had arrived, yet hope eluded them still .

    With a heavy sigh, Zi Yuan scratched thest two items off the list in her hand . Two more had bitten the dust . How many more would it take before they finally got it right?

    The paper rustled when a morning zephyr blew across the railing she was leaning against . When the breeze tickled her cheeks, Zi Yuan had to fight the sudden impulse to tear the paper to shreds before tossing the pieces off the balcony .

    She folded the paper and faced away from the railing, then peered into the living room through the ss of the sliding door .

    The living room was currently unupied, and had been so ever since Zi Yuan forced the Heir to get some much-needed rest in his bedroom half an hour ago . As soon as the Heir¡¯s bedroom door closed, Zi Yuan herself had left the living room and moved towards the balcony .

    Heavens knew she needed to clear her head, which, admittedly, was starting to doubt the feasibility of their quest .

    Last night, the Heir hade up with two more ideas, both of which were rather ingenious . The first idea involved the use of basic Qi Kinesis to "push back" and "slow down" the Heavenly Thunder, which would give the Heir arger time window to dodge the strike . That idea didn¡¯t out pan out . The mental focus required to slow down lightning with Qi Kinesis was too great; so great, in fact, that it affected the Heir¡¯s motor coordination, thus reducing his chances of making a sessful dodge . Clearly, that solution wasn¡¯t ideal . It depended too much on external variables, on things that they might not have control over . What they needed was a clean, foolproof solution with minimal chances of error .

    They needed something robust .

    The second idea turned out slightly better . The Heir had tried to apply the principles of Qi-Kic flight to give his movement speed an extra boost (on top of the boost resulting from the Jindan¡¯s Aura) . With the second method, the Heir managed to slightly offset his Vital Orb¡¯s position from the lightning¡¯s path . s, the amount of offset was far too insignificant to make a clean dodge possible . Although it fared slightly better than the first method, the second method yielded the same result as its predecessor: the Heir failed at the first bolt .

    A wave of queasiness rose inside Zi Yuan, causing her stomach to clench . Was Wushuang-qianbei wrong after all? Maybe the Heavenly Thunder wasn¡¯t meant to be dodged . Perhaps it really was physically impossible .

    But still .

    What other options did they have?

    No Cultivator could withstand a direct hit from the Heavenly Thunder unless they had already reached the Jinshen phase .

    Not for the first time, Wushuang-qianbei¡¯s parting words on the balcony invaded Zi Yuan¡¯s thoughts .

    Then I guess it depends on how much you¡¯re willing to sacrifice...

    <strong>Project Beat the Heavens: Day 4, 9:11AM</strong>; <strong>Dongwu City</strong>

    The mortals called them trains . To Su Chan, they were just long cuboids with tiny wheels . Bendable and flexible cuboids equipped with the ability to roll along curvy tracks thanks to said wheels .

    Those things were essentially grounded roller coasters .

    Or was it the other way around? Were roller coasters really just trains with elevated and spiraling tracks?

    Whatever .

    Su Chan had more important things to worry about than the nuances of mortal nomenture .

    Su Chan strolled past a group of giggling mortals, making sure to keep her face hidden under the hat she was wearing . Yes . The hat . What a strange article of clothing indeed, the hat . It was shaped like one of those round Chinese caps from the Qing Dynasty . The only difference was that this one had a cute little visor in front . Yundong had taught her how to use one of these caps for disguise after he had convinced her that paper bags with holes weren¡¯t the way to go . So she went and bought one from the clothing store near Master¡¯s corn-door .

    Ady¡¯s voice rang out . Apparently, it was some kind of announcement: the train to    will be leaving in . . .    minutes .

    Just another normal day here, she supposed .

    Indeed, Su Chan had been here before, this ce with a bunch of tforms where mortals lingered about, waiting for their respective trains to roll in¡ªthose trains were surprisingly coordinated, like they knew when it was their turn to roll towards the tforms .

    Mortals and their clever (but puzzling) tricks .

    Su Chan had taken to a new routine ever since her arrival at Dongwu City two days ago . The routine wasn¡¯t all thatplicated . Basically, she would spend her nights at Master¡¯s corn-door and thene here (to the train station) during daytime . As to why she chose to be here instead of holing herself up at the corn-door? Well, there were several reasons, actually .

    One, she didn¡¯t want to spend too much time at the corn-door lest its location gotpromised . Like, sure, Su Chan could easily give those mindless harpies the slip if they ever found her, but it was still a terrible idea to get caught at the corn-door . Where was Su Chan supposed to spend her nights if the corn-door¡¯s location gotpromised?! Master had kept the location of the corn-door under wraps . If Su Chan were to venture a guess, the only person who knew that Master owned a corn-door was Grandmaster Liu Ye . Like, duh . The man had visited them a while back, and theck of furniture at the corn-door suggested that Master didn¡¯t entertain guests .

    Now, for the silver lining: Grandmaster Liu Ye wasn¡¯t part of the whole treachery; Su Chan was sure about that now .

    She hade to that conclusion based on the fact that none of those treacherous harpies had shown up at the corn-door to look for her yet .

    The second reason was more of a precautionary measure . Staking out at the train station would allow her to watch and monitor anyone arriving and leaving Dongwu City . The trains generally didn¡¯t run during the night, so if anyone were to arrive at Dongwu City by train, it could only happen during the day . She had even used a few clones (in different disguises, of course) so that she could watch multiple tforms at the same time . So far, she hadn¡¯t encountered those people who were hunting her, but it was probably best to keep a close watch . She was on her own now with nobody watching her back . She couldn¡¯t afford to ck off .

    But of course, people-watching wasn¡¯t the only thing Su Chan did during her daily excursions; she¡¯d been keeping a close eye on the sky as well .

    No signs of the Heavenly Thunder so far, which meant that Yundong¡¯s divine punishment hadn¡¯t arrived yet . Then again, she might not be able to tell for sure since they were in different cities . . .

    Was Yundong training hard right now? Had he been eating and sleeping well?

    The ceiling went ding-dong again .

    Su Chan recognized that sound: the mortals were about to make another announcement .

    "Attention all passengers . The train to . . . "

    Su Chan didn¡¯t catch the rest of the announcement because her mind was suddenly sent reeling by a sensation of shock . Su Chan sprang up from the bench and began making her way towards the nearest bathroom .

    One of her clones had seen something .

    Inside the bathroom, Su Chan hurried into the stall and linked her Spirit to her clone .

    "Ruan Hongling?" Su Chan whispered . "What on earth is she doing here?"

    ***

    <strong>Project Beat the Heavens: Day 4, 10:11AM; Apartment 20A, New Hongsheng District, Tiannan City . </strong>

    Li Yundong woke up in a start . Feeling utterly dibobted, he let out a groan and groped around until his hand touched something solid . He opened his eyes and saw the Hello Kitty piggy bank lying beside his pillow . For a brief moment, Li Yundong allowed himself the simple joy of smiling, of thinking about his beloved .

    Then, reality settled in, and the warm feelings inside his chest were doused by a sea of despair .

    He sighed and turned away from the piggy bank, focusing his gaze at the ceiling .

    Four days . Zero progress .

    This was bad .

    He closed his eyes and reyed his previous two attempts . If there was one thing he learned from all his failed attempts, it was the fact that it was pointless to impede (stop, slow down, dy, hold back, etc . ) the Heavenly Thunder . He had tried Qi Kinesis, but that didn¡¯t work at all . Not even the most powerful tool he had in his arsenal¡ªthe mudra¡ªcould hold it back . The Heavenly Thunder was, for theck of a better term, unstoppable . In other words, fighting force with force was definitely a no go .

    But then hereiny the problem: avoiding the force seemed pretty damned impossible either . He just couldn¡¯t generate enough speed to do that .

    So he couldn¡¯t fight the force head on, but he couldn¡¯t avoid it either?

    What the f*ck was he supposed to do? It wasn¡¯t like there was a third op¡ª (T/N: Rmended soundtrack for the following scenes is up on Google Drive; see trackbel 246_p3_t1)

    Li Yundong sat bolt upright .

    "Oh my God . . . " he whispered .

    Secondster, he was scurrying out of bed and bolting out of his bedroom .

    "Morning, Li Yundong," Zi Yuan said from the kitchen . "Brunch will be ready in . . . "

    Li Yundong tuned out her voice and dashed past the kitchen; his mind was still reeling from his sudden revtion .

    Once he reached the living room, Li Yundong grabbed the stack of papers from the coffee table and then spread them all out on the floor .

    Come on,e on . . . Where is it . . . ?

    He kept rummaging through the sheets until he found the paper he was looking for . It was the sketch he¡¯d drawn yesterday, the one illustrating the design of his Qi Probe . With trembling hands, Li Yundong picked up the paper from the floor and began scanning over the sketch: a stick figure at the bottom of the page (the ground) with a sphere drawn at its midsection to represent the Vital Orb; a tapering, rod-like structure which extended from the stick figure¡¯s head and stretched towards the sky; a bunch of tiny annotations that Zi Yuan had made all over a paper .

    Where¡¯s that thing she wrote?

    He was looking for one particr annotation, something about spiritual energy .

    There!

    Five simple words stared back at him from the top edge of the paper, right beside the tip of the rod-like structure: spiritual energy spike starts here .

    "Holy shit . . . " he whispered .

    The paper rustled when he let his arms dropped limply to his sides . A light touch on his shoulder made him turn around .

    Zi Yuan was standing beside him, apron in hand, staring back at him with concerned eyes .

    "What¡¯s wrong?"

    Li Yundong raised the paper and shook it a few times .

    "I think I¡¯ve got it, Zi Yuan," he whispered . "I¡¯ve figured it out..."

    Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes went round in an instant . "Are . . . Are you sure?"

    Li Yundong flipped the paper around and showed her the sketch .

    "Take a look at this . . . " he said, pointing at the Qi probe on the sketch .

    Zi Yuan took the paper from him and gave it a quick nce .

    "But we tried that yesterday," she said with a frown, giving him a puzzled look . "It didn¡¯t work . "

    Excitement surged inside him, and an unbiddenugh burst through his lips .

    "Don¡¯t you see? It didn¡¯t work because I used the wrong approach!" Li Yundong took a step closer and pointed his finger at the sketch . "When we tried this yesterday, the idea was to use the Qi Probe for sensory purposes, right?"

    Zi Yuan nodded . "The... um..." Her brows furrowed and she tilted her head slightly . "The early spike in spiritual energy will let you know in advance that the next bolt is about to hit . But..." She frowned and shook her head . "Even with the extra time window you still have to be fast enough to¡ª"

    "No . . . " Li Yundong took the paper from Zi Yuan¡¯s hand . "Iplete . " He wagged his index finger a few times . "That approach is iplete . That¡¯s why it failed . We didn¡¯t take it one step further!"

    "Whoa, whoa, whoa... Hold on a second here . " Zi Yuan raised a palm . "One step further? What are you talking about?"

    Li Yundong looked deep into Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes . "I can¡¯t fight force with force . And I don¡¯t have the speed to avoid the force, either . " He paused pointedly . "So what do I do?"

    Zi Yuan frowned and shook her head a few times .

    "Simple, isn¡¯t it?" Li Yundong smirked . "I borrow power from the force I¡¯m fighting against, and then use that power to my advantage . "

    "Wait a minute..." Zi Yuan whispered, blinking a few times . "Are you¡¯re saying . . . "

    "Yes . " Li Yundong nodded . "That¡¯s exactly what I¡¯m saying . " Li Yundong shook the paper in his hand as his smirk grew wider . "I¡¯m going to use the Heavens¡¯ power against it . "

 Chapter 247

    Chapter 247

    <h4>Breakthrough</h4>

    <strong>Project Beat the Heavens: Day 4, 10:30AM; Apartment 20A, New Hongsheng District, Tiannan City</strong> .

    A long silence befell the living room after Li Yundong¡¯s bold and, admittedly, borderline insane deration . Zi Yuan seemed pensive, hesitant even, like she didn¡¯t know what to make of his new idea .

    His heart sank into a sea of disappointment .

    Did she not think it would work?

    Li Yundong nced down at the paper in his hand . Zi Yuan had made several other annotations that would allow him toe up with a solid design and put his idea into practice . One in particr was written beside the circle ovepping the stick figure¡¯s midsection .

    Striking target: Vital Orb

    Another one was written beside the stick figure¡¯s head .

    If on ground (standing vertical) strikes Baihui .

    No . This had to be it . He was convinced that this was the answer . Zi Yuan had said it herself that exposure to the Heavenly Thunder would strengthen the Vital Orb . But isn¡¯t the Vital Orb just Zhenqi held together by the Essence inside the lower Dantian? The Zhenqi is the stuff that the Vital Orb is made up of . In other words, the Zhenqi is the substance that will absorb the Heavens¡¯ spiritual energy; and the strengthening of the Vital Orb is merely a consequence of that .

    Now, if he could extrapte that principle and then apply it to his Qi Probe . . .

    "I¡¯m not saying that it won¡¯t work . . . "

    Li Yundong raised his gaze from the paper . Finally, Zi Yuan had spoken . Finally .

    "But? I sense a buting . "

    His stomach twisted into a tight knot as soon as those words left his mouth .

    "I¡¯m just . . . " Zi Yuan shook her head . "I¡¯m just wondering how we can make the idea work . " Her sharp gaze zeroed in on his face . "First of all, there¡¯s no guarantee that the absorption would ur at one-hundred percent efficiency . In fact, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s even possible to achieve that level of efficiency . "

    "No . " Li Yundong held her gaze firmly . "It doesn¡¯t have to be one-hundred percent efficient . I just have to¡ª"

    "What? What do you mean it doesn¡¯t have to be one-hundred percent efficient?" Zi Yuan frowned . She didn¡¯t sound impressed at all . "Of course the absorption has to be perfect! That¡¯s a must!" Zi Yuan took a deep breath, then exhaled . "Alright, look . In principle, you¡¯ll have to utilize at least 50% of the Heavenly Thunder¡¯s power to be able to push back or cancel out the remaining half . But that¡¯s not going to happen if a portion of the spiritual energy is lost during the absorption . "

    Li Yundong opened his mouth to speak but was quickly silenced by Zi Yuan¡¯s raised palm .

    "Trying to absorb more than 50% would be a terrible idea . " Zi Yuan gave him a hard stare . "The process would take too long if you absorb more than 50% . You¡¯ll be struck down before you could even repel it with Qi Kinesis!" There was a pause . "50% is the upper limit . Any more than that is suicide . " Zi Yuan sighed . "Unfortunately, it is impossible to absorb even that much . A portion of spiritual energy will be lost due to inefficient absorption . "

    "What if I turn it into speed, instead?"

    Zi Yuan froze, blinking several times . Silence spread between them .

    "Instead of trying to repel the Heavenly Thunder with the borrowed spiritual energy, what if I use it to increase my speed?" Li Yundong could barely contain the thrill coursing through his veins right then . "Heck, I weigh less than 80 kilos! I bet I only need to absorb, like, 1% from each bolt and that¡¯s already gonna increase my movement speed by a significant amount . "

    Despite her nk look on her face, Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes now held a glimmer of hope . Li Yundong took a step forward and grabbed Zi Yuan¡¯s arms .

    "Advanced Qi Kinesis, Zi Yuan," Li Yundong said excitedly . "That¡¯s one of the first things you taught me when I was learning how to fly . "

    "Converting spiritual energy into kic energy," Zi Yuan said .

    "Exactly . " Li Yundong smirked and released Zi Yuan¡¯s arms . "I can apply the same principle here . The only difference is that I¡¯ll be converting the spiritual energy borrowed from the Heavenly Thunder instead of my own . "

    Zi Yuan hooked a stand of hair behind her ear and walked over to the couch . She dropped the apron onto the coffee table, then lowered herself onto the couch .

    "Okay..." Zi Yuan said slowly . "So right now, we still have the extended time window for you to react . " Zi Yuan nced up at him . "You can still feel the strike in advance because your Zhenqi will be up there in the sky . "

    Li Yundong nodded .

    "But on top of that," Zi Yuan continued, "you now have the speed boost from the Jindan¡¯s Aura, and also the speed boost from Heavenly Thunder itself . "

    "Yes," Li Yundong said . "Basically, I¡¯mbining all of our previous ideas into one solution . "

    Zi Yuan nodded, then suddenly paused in thought .

    Li Yundong decided right then that he didn¡¯t like the frown on her face .

    "What is it?"

    "I just thought of another issue that we need to address," Zi Yuan said, bending down and picking up another sheet of paper from the floor .

    Li Yundong stepped forward until he was standing beside the coffee table .

    Zi Yuan waved the paper a few times . "Remember this experiment yesterday?"

    Li Yundong nodded . It was one of his failed ideas where he had tried to use Qi Kinesis to slow down (since deflecting it was impossible) the Heavenly Thunder .

    "Right . " Zi Yuan ced the paper onto the table and pointed at something he¡¯d sketched on the paper . "The problem with this method is that it requires too much mental focus . In the end, you were so distracted with Qi Kinesis that you couldn¡¯t even dodge in time . " She looked up from the paper . "You might run into the same problem with this new idea . " She gave him a hopeful look . "Do you have a workaround for that problem?"

    Li Yundong smiled and raised a finger . "I¡¯ve thought about that actually . And I think I¡¯ve figured why that method didn¡¯t work . Here . . . Let me just . . . " He nced around the living room until he spotted the pencil on the floor . He picked up the pencil and then kneeled down beside the coffee table .

    "Thanks," he said when Zi Yuan pushed the sketch towards him . He flipped the paper on its back . "The reason why it didn¡¯t work . . . " Li Yundong drew another stick figure near the bottom edge of the paper . "...is because . . . " Li Yundong added a long ellipse which stretched from the stick figure¡¯s feet towards the top edge of the paper . " . . . of this . " He tapped the pencil on the interior portion of the ellipse .

    Zi Yuan stared at the paper for a moment . "I see..." She returned her gaze to Li Yundong¡¯s face . "The volume was too big . There was too much Zhenqi for you to handle, that¡¯s why you lost focus . "

    Li Yundong smiled . "Exactly . I recruited arge amount of Zhenqi to form that ellipsoid yesterday because it was necessary . "

    "Mm," Zi Yuan said . "The more Zhenqi you use, the more likely it¡¯d be able to slow the Heavenly Thunder down . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "But . . . " He raised a finger . "Right now we¡¯re not trying to slow it down anymore . " He paused for a beat . "We¡¯re no longer trying to fight force with force . "

    Zi Yuan eyes slid shut as she exhaled lengthily . "And this is where your Qi Probees in . . . "

    Li Yundong smiled and added a tapering rod-like structure inside the ellipse .

    "A concentrated beam, like a detector," he said, finishing the sketch . "Which upies much less volume . "

    "Hence will require a lot less mental focus to use," Zi Yuan said,pleting his train of thought .

    "Vo . " The pencil rolled away after Li Yundong dropped it onto the table .

    There was a long pause .

    "Li Yundong," Zi Yuan said, reaching over to pat his shoulder . "You¡¯re an absolute genius . "

    Li Yundong chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck . "Well . We still don¡¯t know if it¡¯ll work . "

    "Only one way to find out . " Zi Yuan nced over at the jade te .

    Li Yundong followed her gaze .

    So this was it, then . Make or break .

    <strong>Project Beat the Heavens: Day 4, 11:05AM; Apartment 20A, New Hongsheng District, Tiannan City . </strong>

    Zi Yuan nearlyughed when the Heir all but yelped the moment he saw her appearing beside him inside the simtion .

    "H-Hey! Y- You¡¯re here!"

    "Great observational skills," Zi Yuan said dryly, then arched her brow . "You do know that I own the jade te, right?"

    "Oh . " The Heir blinked a few times . "It¡¯s just . . . You never appeared during the previous simtions . "

    "No, I didn¡¯t . " Zi Yuan smirked . "But this time, I want to see the simtion for myself . "

    The Heir chuckled . "Now you¡¯re making me nervous . " Then, he stoppedughing as though he¡¯d just thought of something . He shot her a worried nce . "Hey . . . Wouldn¡¯t you be struck too if you¡¯re here?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head in amusement . You¡¯re both so alike, Master . Always worrying about other people before yourselves . . .

    "Don¡¯t worry . " Zi Yuan smiled reassuringly . "I¡¯m controlling the whole thing . " She gestured at their surroundings with a twirl of her finger . "Besides, I¡¯m not part of the simtion, so you don¡¯t have to worry about me . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "Right . " He nced around a few times, then back at her . "Show time?"

    Zi Yuan nodded . "I¡¯ll be watching from a distance . That way I can pick up on things that would help you refine the idea . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "Thanks . I appreciate that . "

    "Stay put," Zi Yuan said as she did a hand sign .

    Secondster, she was teleported to a "hill" that would give her a vantage point of the Heir .

    "Ready when you are," Zi Yuan said .

    A momentter, the Jindan¡¯s Aura came alive, and the Heir¡¯s body began glowing brightly .

    The Heir raised his arm to give her a thumbs up .

    Alright . Here we go . . .

    "In three . . . two . . . one . . . Begin!"

    Zi Yuan performed another hand sign, lowered her hand, and then held her breath . The Heir¡¯s eyes were glued to the sky, but Zi Yuan knew that his Zhenqi was already up there, ready to detect the first energy spike .

    The air was charged with tension as seconds went by in total silence . Zi Yuan bit her lip and balled her fists . Please let it work . . . Please . . .

    There was a bright sh . Here ites! A thundering crackle ensued .

    WHAM!

    "Waaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!"

    Cold dread coursed through Zi Yuan .

    Wait, what? Where is he? Where is . . .

    Zi Yuan spotted a charred hole on the ground .

    The Heir wasn¡¯t there .

    Dread instantly turned into joy . It worked! He dodged it!

    "Waaaaahhhhhhh!!"

    The scream came from above .

    Zi Yuan looked up and burst into giggles when she saw the Heir cartwheeling through the air .

    "Pfft! Hahaha . . . "

    The Heir smashed into a huge boulder far away from the spot where the first bolt had struck .

    There was another sh, which was quickly followed by another crackle . The Heir screamed, but this time, it was a scream of agony . Zi Yuan flew closer and watched the Heir¡¯s body being engulfed by lighting before disappearing in a bright sh .

    Zi Yuan¡¯s lips curved into a smile as she performed another hand sign .

    The Heir was writhing and groaning on the floor when Zi Yuan appeared inside the apartment a momentter .

    As though sensing her presence, the Heir stopped rolling and sat up .

    "Well . . . That hurt like a bitch . . . "

    Zi Yuan chuckled . "But you dodged the first bolt . "

    The Heir¡¯s eyes lit up in joy . "Yeah!" A secondter, his shoulders sagged . "But now we have another problem . I gotta figure out a way to get the dodging motion under control . " He gave her a wry look . "You saw what happened just now, right?"

    Zi Yuan suppressed a giggle and gave him a smirk instead . "Let¡¯s just say it was one of the worst acrobatic stunts I¡¯ve ever seen . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . "I¡¯ll have to fix that . " He paused in thought . "Maybe change the geometry of the Qi Probe . "

    "Well? What are we waiting for?" Zi Yuan began walking towards the living room . "Let¡¯s get to work . "

    <strong>Project Beat the Heavens: Day 4, 11:30AM; Dongwu City . </strong>

    Lunch time! But before that, Su Chan had a major conundrum to solve: Mac Doo Nurls, or that cute little shop beside the train station which sold the most delicious dumplings ever .

    Ugh . It was always such a pain whenever she was forced to choose between two goodies . It was like asking her to choose between Yundong and Master, the mere thought of which brought a bad taste to Su Chan¡¯s mouth .

    Maybe she should just get both . . .

    But . . .

    Su Chan counted the cash she was holding in her hands .

    Nope . Definitely not getting both .

    Su Chan wanted to cry .

    "Hmph . . . If only I have Hello Keedee with me," Su Chan mumbled to herself, but then quickly mped up when the old man sitting beside her on the bench started giving her strange looks .

    Right . Probably shouldn¡¯t be talking to yourself, Chan¡¯er .

    Those men with sticks would probably try to kick her out if they thought she was some loony with ten loose screws . Not that she couldn¡¯t kick all of their asses . She just, you know, didn¡¯t want to draw attention to herself .

    Su Chan sighed and counted the cash again . She nced at Mac Doo Nurls, which was located just opposite of the bench she was sitting on .

    Pro: Nearer; more filling .

    Cons: More expensive; longer queue .

    In the end, Su Chan went with the dumpling shop . It was probably a good idea to save as much money as possible since she didn¡¯t have Hello Keedee with her .

    Half an hourter, Su Chan returned to the same bench carrying arge box of Chinese dumplings . The old man had already left, so she now had the bench all to herself . Which meant she could eat in peace . Yay .

    Momentster, Su Chan sat down on the bench to munch on her dumplings . While she ate, Su Chan mentally went through everything she had learned from her stake-out this morning .

    First of all . . . Ruan Hongling! What was that girl doing here? Shouldn¡¯t she be in Tiannan City helping Yundong prepare for his divine punishment?

    After spotting Ruan Hongling at the train station, Su Chan had followed the girl around with one of her clones . As it turned out, Ruan Hongling wasn¡¯t in Dongwu City to stay; Su Chan saw the girl boarding a train to leave Dongwu City shortly after she began following her . The destination of Ruan Hongling¡¯s train was, unsurprisingly, Tiannan City . Well, that was that .

    Maybe Ruan Hongling was here to run an errand?

    About half an hour after Su Chan saw Ruan Hongling board the train, she encountered yet another shocker: she saw Ding Nan get off a train from Tiannan City!

    Ding Nan? In Dongwu City? What a puzzling sequence of events indeed .

    Like, what in Tao¡¯s name was going on? Why were the people she knew (not that she really knew Ding Nan) suddenly popping up in Dongwu City?

    She wouldn¡¯t mind it if Yundong suddenly popped up in Dongwu City though...

    Lost in her own thoughts, Su Chan didn¡¯t realize that she had just finished thest of her dumplings until her chopsticks touched the bottom of the box . She stared at the empty box for a moment, then nced longingly at the Mac Doo Nurls outlet opposite the bench .

    Her traitorous stomach rumbled loudly .

    Nope . Not gonna happen .

    Su Chan tore her gaze away from Mac Doo Nurls and rose from the bench to dispose of the empty box . Master didn¡¯t have a lot of money stashed at the corn-door . Thest thing Su Chan needed was ending up having to beg on the streets for food .

    Right then . Lunch time was over . Time to get back to work .

    Her stomach protested with another loud rumble .

    It was going to be a long, long day .

    <strong>Project Beat the Heavens: Day 4, 2:43PM; Apartment 20A, New Hongsheng District, Tiannan City . </strong>

    Zi Yuan studied the sketch detailing the new design of the Heir¡¯s Qi Probe . The thin, rod-like structure (the main body of the probe) was retained . The only thing different now was the geometric structure of the Qi Probe below the head . In the old design, the thin rod was connected to a glob-like structure that enveloped the whole body; but in the new one, the rod was linked to some kind of ring-like structure around the waist .

    Zi Yuan traced her finger across the sketch . "The position of this ring . . . " She looked up from the paper towards the Heir .

    "Slightly below the navel," the Heir answered quickly, almost as though he¡¯d been anticipating the question . "That¡¯s the center of mass of the human body in a standing position . "

    Zi Yuan smiled and gave him a nod . I figured as much . . .

    She circled her finger around the ring structure . "A ring, huh?" She looked up from the paper again . "This is to counterbnce the push, isn¡¯t it?"

    "Newton¡¯s Second Law . " The Heir grinned, then nodded . "That way I won¡¯t be sted to kingdome like just now . "

    "I see . " Zi Yuan chuckled . "And you achieve that by generating a second propulsion force in the direction opposite of the first push . "

    "Yep . " The Heirughed . "Guess I should send my high-school physics teacher some flowers after this... Or maybe build a shrine for Newton . "

    That remark drew another chuckle from Zi Yuan .

    "Anyway," said the Heir . "The first propulsion will get me out of the line of fire . And then the second one, which will be generated a split second after the first one, will stop my body¡¯s motion so that I can be ready to dodge the next bolt . "

    "And the ring shape makes it possible because it is symmetrical in all directions . . . " Zi Yuan shook her head in amazement . "Which means you¡¯ll always be able to generate an opposing propulsion no matter which direction the initial push is acting . . . "

    "Exactly . "

    Zi Yuan looked up from the paper . "And you wrapped the ring directly over the center of mass to eliminate rotational motion . . . "

    The Heir nodded . "It prevents my body from toppling over after I make the dodge . "

    "Brilliant . . . " Zi Yuan whispered . And it was . It truly was .

    The solution was absolutely brilliant .

    A swell of pride filled Zi Yuan¡¯s chest right then . Perhaps this was why Master had deemed him worthy . Perhaps she¡¯d been right all along . Maybe there really was a greater purpose behind the Heir¡¯s emergence .

    All of a sudden, the words of atha echoed inside Zi Yuan¡¯s mind .

    Those who heed my teachings shall obtain ultimate Wisdom .

    The Immovable Wisdom King . Could he really . . .

    "So? Think it¡¯s worth a try?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s raised her gaze at the Heir¡¯s voice . The Heir was staring back at her expectantly .

    "Come . " Zi Yuan rose from the couch and strode towards the jade te . "Let¡¯s get this over with . "

    ***

    (T/N: Rmended soundtrack begins here; avable on Google Drive; see trackbel 247_t1)

    "Ready when you are!" Zi Yuan shouted from her position on the hill .

    The Heir was standing at the center of the ins with his eyes closed and his figure bathed in the golden glow of the Jindan Aura . Earlier, Zi Yuan had suggested that he should keep his eyes closed throughout the whole thing . That way he could focus more on maintaining control of his Zhenqi rather than be distracted by what he saw . After all, he didn¡¯t have to rely on his eyesight to make a sessful dodge; his Zhenqi had already gotten the sensory part covered .

    From the hill, Zi Yuan saw the Heir getting into his stance .

    Secondster, one of the Heir¡¯s arms rose to give her an OK sign .

    "In three . . . two . . . one . . . Begin!"

    Zi Yuan did a hand sign and activated the simtion .

    The first bolt struck precisely two secondster . The Heir¡¯s body blurred as it shifted on the ground .

    WHAM!

    The Heir now stood a few feet to the side of a charred hole on the ground .

    "Steady . . . steady . . . " Zi Yuan whispered as the Heir adjusted his stance to stop his body from wobbling .

    The second bolt streaked down from the sky . Zi Yuan¡¯s breath caught in her throat for a moment before it left her mouth in a sigh .

    The Heir¡¯s glowing body stood tall beside a second hole . He even managed to get rid of the wobbling .

    A loud rumble sounded above .

    CRACK! WHAM!

    Another sessful dodge .

    Zi Yuan lifted her gaze and saw more storm clouds amassing above the field . Two quick shes blinded Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes temporarily, causing her to flinch . As soon as she reopened her eyes, Zi Yuan immediately scanned the field for the Heir .

    Yes!

    The Heir¡¯s glowing figure stood roughly twenty feet to the left of his original position, which had been reduced to arge crater . Despite theirrge area of impact, the Heir still managed to dodge the two previous bolts .

    Zi Yuan smirked . So he¡¯s worked out how to adjust the magnitude of the propulsion force based on the magnitude of the energy spikes in the sky .

    What a quick study .

    The Heir moved in a golden blur to avoid another bolt .

    Zi Yuan looked towards the grasnd, focusing her gaze on the Heir¡¯s posture . The design relied heavily on the positioning of the ring-like structure of the Heir¡¯s Zhenqi rtive to his body¡¯s center of mass . The solution would break down if, at any moment, the Heir¡¯s center of mass shifted . In other words, the Heir had to be in the same stance and posture throughout the entire ordeal to keep his center of mass in the same position .

    Another golden blur brought the Heir towards the right side of the field . It made sense to move there; the left side of the field was pretty much covered in holes and craters .

    It was only when the Heir was dodging the 20th bolt that another idea urred to Zi Yuan . What if he wasn¡¯t standing on the ground while dodging? What if he was levitating slightly above the ground the whole time? Wouldn¡¯t that make his movements much more efficient? Because then friction would be eliminated from the equation . Zi Yuan made a mental note to add that into the Heir¡¯s designter .

    CRACK! CRACK! WHAM!

    Zi Yuan¡¯s looked towards the grasnd at the sound of the Heir¡¯s scream of agony . The grasnd was now covered with charred craters . The Heir was lying on the grass, writhing in pain as the Heavenly Thunder¡¯s power swallowed his body whole .

    A secondter, the Heir disappeared in a sh .

    Holding her breath, Zi Yuan did a hand sign; a counter appeared in front of her face .

    Zi Yuan¡¯s lips curved into a smile as she switched to another hand sign .

    The Heir was sitting on the floor when she reappeared inside the apartment .

    He sprang to his feet the moment he saw her .

    "How many?" he asked anxiously .

    Zi Yuan smirked . "Thirty-two . "

    A pindrop silence ensued after her announcement .

    Zi Yuan stood there, studying the changes flitting across the Heir¡¯s expression: the slow parting of his lips; the rounding of his eyes; the way his jaw moved, yet no sound came out; and then . . .

    "Thirty-two!!!!" The Heir leaped into the air and pumped his fist . "Yes!!!! Woo-hoo!!! Yes!!! Yes!!!" When hended on the floor, he startedughing his head off . "Thirty-two! Zi Yuan!! Thirty-two!!!" Soon, the Heir was lying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling . "Chan¡¯er!!! I love you!!! Wait for me, Chan¡¯er!!! I¡¯ming to fetch you soon!"

    Then he went back toughing .

    A slow smile spread across Zi Yuan¡¯s features as she watched the whole scene quietly .

    At longst .

    The beacons of hope were lit .

 Chapter 248

    Chapter 248

    <h4>The Final Push</h4>

    <strong>Project Beat the Heavens: Day 5, 7:52PM; Apartment 20A, New Hongsheng District, Tiannan City.</strong>

    Zi Yuan had just finished setting up the dining table when the Heir reappeared on the floor in a bright sh.

    "Dang... That hurt..." The Heir rolled onto his side. "How many this time?" He let out a groan. "I kinda lost count."

    "Look up," Zi Yuan said, pointing her finger at a bunch of numbers floating beside the jade te. The figure looked promising.

    "Oh. Thanks." The Heir seemed rather engrossed in the floating numbers. "Sixty-four." He turned his head to look at Zi Yuan. "Not too shabby, eh?"

    Understatement of the millennium. To go from 0 bolts to 64 bolts in just a few days was impressive to say the least.

    "You¡¯ll get much better with more practice," Zi Yuan said, taking a seat at the dining table. "But first, you have to eat."

    "It smells amazing in here," said the Heir as he climbed to his feet.

    "I hope you¡¯re hungry, then," Zi Yuan said, reaching for her rice bowl.

    The Heir pulled out a chair and sat down. "Hell yeah I am."

    ***

    "So. Evaluation time," Zi Yuan said once she was done with her dinner. The Heir was currently devouring his fourth helping. "Tell me all your observations. What have you learned?"

    Zi Yuan had proposed that they approach the training in a more systematic manner. As such, every time a simtion ended, she would ask the Heir to report everything he had observed and learned during the simtion. These post-simtion evaluations were more for the Heir¡¯s sake than hers if she was beingpletely honest. Which was why the evaluations would take ce even on the asions where Zi Yuan herself had been observing the whole simtion prior to its end; and on such asions, the evaluations would usually involve the two of themparing notes and sharing their own observations with each other. The evaluations had proven highly productive since they had allowed Zi Yuan toe up with several refinements to add on top of the Heir¡¯s solution.

    The Heir lowered his chopsticks and bowl onto the table. "I found that things start to get a little tricky past the 40th bolt."

    Zi Yuan studied the Heir¡¯s pensive expression, silently waiting for him to continue.

    "The area of damage is significantlyrger." The Heir shook his head slightly. "I have to dodge arger distance to avoid getting hit."

    "That¡¯s to be expected." Zi Yuan nodded. "Anything else?"

    "Yeah, there is." The Heir looked up at her. "The intervals. It got really erratic. And sometimes, the intervals were super short."

    Zi Yuan detected a hint of worry in his eyes. "I see," she said with a nod. "That does pose a danger." If the interval between two bolts was too short, the Heir would be struck by the next bolt before he had time to react after he had dodged the previous one.

    Zi Yuan nced at the Heir. "Do you have a solution in mind?"

    "I think I do."

    "Well?"

    "Keep my body in motion slightly longer after dodging each bolt."

    "Mm." Zi Yuan nodded. "Since the time interval between two bolts is so short, you can dodge two bolts with just one motion." Zi Yuan held his gaze. "That could work, but there are a number of caveats."

    A grim look spread across the Heir¡¯s features. "Yeah." He sighed. "My speed might drop a little if the dodging movement bes toorge. I¡¯ll have to take extra care to prevent that."

    Zi Yuan went silent in thought. She might have a solution for that. "You could recruit your own spiritual energy topensate for the speed loss."

    So right now, he had a speed boost from the Jindan¡¯s Aura, from the borrowed spiritual energy, and finally, from his Vital Orb.

    Admittedly, that was a lot of speed boosts.

    The Heir was smiling at her now. "That¡¯s actually a great idea, thanks."

    Zi Yuan didn¡¯t return his smile; there was another problem to address.

    "You can¡¯t keep your body in motion for too long." Zi Yuan gave him a serious look. "Let¡¯s say you manage to dodge two bolts in one movement. That¡¯s good and all. But if you stop toote¡ª"

    "Yeah, I know... The time I stop moving would be too close to the time the third bolt is sent out, which leads back to the same problem." The Heir paused. "I wouldn¡¯t be able to react to the third bolt in time."

    "Yes."

    "What if..." The Heir¡¯s eyes narrowed. He seemed to be thinking hard about something. "What if I..."

    "Yes?"

    "What if I¡¯m constantly moving around?" The Heir shot her a hopeful look. "Would that work?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s brows rose to her hairline. "Moving around? You mean throughout the entire divine punishment?"

    The Heir nodded.

    "No." Zi Yuan shook her head. "It¡¯s impossible for you to keep moving at dodging speed."

    "Right." The Heir¡¯s shoulder¡¯s sagged. "Coz I don¡¯t have enough juice to do that. The only way I can move at dodging speed is by borrowing the Heavenly Thunder¡¯s spiritual energy." He let out a groan. "Damn. This is tough."

    You think? Zi Yuan suppressed an eye roll. It wasn¡¯t just tough; it was close to impossible.

    "Anyway, I just need to find the right bnce, right?" said the Heir. "I have to keep my body in motion for longer after each dodge, but not too long."

    "Yes."

    It sounded easy, but in actuality, it would take nothing short of perfect Qi control to pull it off.

    "Okay." The Heir sighed tiredly. "I won¡¯t lie to you, Zi Yuan. I don¡¯t feel confident right now."

    "Hey." Zi Yuan tapped the table top a few times, and then waited until she had the Heir¡¯s attention. "You¡¯ll get there, okay? You just need more practice."

    The Heir stared at her for a few seconds before he nodded. He didn¡¯t seem too convinced. Zi Yuan cursed inwardly at herck of ability to inspire and motivate.

    "What else have you observed?"

    Since she was so terrible at giving pep talks, she would resort to distractions. Besides, what better way to boost the Heir¡¯s morale than reminding him of all the progress he¡¯d made?

    "Oh, yeah. There¡¯s something else." The Heir was frowning. "I didn¡¯t notice this before because my eyes were always closed. But I opened my eyes on one asion. And when I did, I saw these green... strings?" He looked towards her. "I don¡¯t know. They looked a bit like smoke, to be honest..." The Heir shook his head. "But anyway. Those green strings suddenly appeared out of thin air." He paused in thought. "I think they were scattered along the path of the Heavenly Thunder, but I couldn¡¯t tell for sure. There was just..." The Heir frowned and gestured with his hands. "Like, a lot of them floating around."

    "Hmm. Let me guess," Zi Yuan said, "the green strings flew towards you and entered your body?" She paused to give him a look. "Like they were drawn to you?"

    "Oh." The Heir looked at her in mild surprise. "You were watching?"

    "No." Zi Yuan pointed at the empty dishes on the table. "Was preparing dinner, remember?"

    "Right."

    "Well. The green stuff you saw inside the simtion is the result of the Heavenly Thunder¡¯s residual spiritual energy being drawn to your Spirit."

    Recognition shed in the Heir¡¯s eyes. "I was absorbing them."

    "Yes. And that¡¯s actually a good thing." Zi Yuan folded her forearms above the table. "What else?"

    "Hmm... Nothing else, I suppose." The Heir spent a few moments in thought. "The early bolts are pretty easy to dodge now. But then things became progressively more difficult, of course... Oh, right!" He snapped his fingers and grinned at her. "Your levitation idea worked really well! The dodging became so much easier since my movements were smoother."

    "I¡¯m d it helped." Zi Yuan smiled. "It does require more mental focus though. Would that pose a problem?"

    The Heir shook his head. "Haven¡¯t encountered any problems so far."

    Zi Yuan hummed. "Just keep practicing until it bes like second nature."

    "Yeah..." The Heir nced over at the jade te. "Just have to keep practicing..."

    Apanionable silence passed between them, which felt rather odd considering the looming threat of the divine punishment. After all, they were now less than two days from the one-week mark. Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t pinpoint the exact time it woulde, but she knew it would be here sooner rather thanter.

    "I should probably get back to work," said the Heir, jolting Zi Yuan out of her reverie.

    The Heir¡¯s eyes never left the floating jade te. Zi Yuan followed his gaze and stared at the number hovering beside the jade te.

    Sixty-four down. Seventeen more to go.

    "Yeah... Back to work..." Zi Yuan whispered.

    The number beside the jade te change from 64 to 0.

    <strong>Project Beat the Heavens: Day 7, 8:00AM; Tianyi Pond, Tianyi Cavern, Linggong Sect¡¯s Sacred Grounds.</strong>

    Ruan Hongling stood near the edge of Tianyi Pond, marveling at the dozens of lily pads scattered across the pond¡¯s surface. Before her, the pondy as still and transparent (at least for regions that weren¡¯t obscured by lily pads) as ever. Tianyi Pond was by no meansrge; in terms of surface area, it upied no more than ten square meters. Then again, what itcked in size itpensated with depth and beauty. With thousands of years of history, Tianyi Pond remained one of the Zhengyi School¡¯s most treasured ces. The ce had long since been hailed as sacrosanct and invible, so much so that only a few people were allowed to even set foot on it. Ruan Hongling was proud to be one of the very few who could.

    Two soft sshes ended Ruan Hongling peaceful admiration of the pond¡¯s beauty and reminded her of the task at hand.

    Ruan Hongling nced down just in time to see two lotuses falling off their stalks before tumbling into the pond water.

    SPLASH! SPLASH!

    "Failed..." Ruan Hongling released a tired sigh. "Again."

    How on earth did Zi Yuan ji¨§jie manage to do it anyway? (T/N: ji¨§jie is a Chinese honorific that means "elder sister"; it is the same jie in the term sh¨©ji¨§) Zi Yuan ji¨§jie had always made it look so effortless when the actual task was anything but!

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie must be really busy if she was willing to entrust Ruan Hongling with such an important task. A task, Ruan Hongling might add, that she was failing miserably¡ªif the past two days she¡¯d spent holed up in here was anything to go by.

    Ruan Hongling bit down on her lip and stroke the locket resting against her chest. No way she was giving up now. She was ready to keep trying even if it killed her. Thest thing she wanted was to let Zi Yuan ji¨§jie down.

    Ruan Hongling crouched down beside the pond and positioned the tips of her index fingers above the surface of the pond.

    It had to be simultaneous. The spiritual energy released from both fingers had to be in the exact same magnitude. Simultaneity. Uniformity. Equality. Those were the keyponents of the task. Ruan Hongling lowered her hand and watched her fingertips dip into the clear pond water. A momentter, her finger tips broke the water surface. Two concentric ripples spread across the pond surface.

    Two tiny flower buds rose from the water¡¯s surface. Ruan Hongling tilted her head slightly and studied the buds, noting their size and color.

    Disappointment coursed through Ruan Hongling¡¯s veins when she saw that the bud on the left was slightlyrger than the one on the right.

    Simultaneity. That was where Ruan Hongling had failed.

    The good news was that the two buds had the same shape and color, which was a vast improvementpared to her first few attempts at the task. Ruan Hongling shuddered at the memory of those attempts, which had produced malformed lotuses and distorted buds.

    The two buds continue to grow until their respective lotuses plopped back into the water.

    Right. Time to try again. Time to make Zi Yuan ji¨§jie proud.

    Ruan Hongling repeated the task ten more times before she finally got it right. Two pink, perfectly shaped, and evenly sized buds emerged from the center of the ripples. Without further ado, Ruan Hongling removed the ne from around her neck, and then held its locket with her right hand. Two balls of light (one blue, one red) swirled above Ruan Hongling¡¯s palm the moment her right hand left the locket¡¯s surface.

    Ruan Hongling grinned. Now for the easy part.

    Ruan Hongling raised her right palm until the two balls of light were level with her lips. Then, she blew gently on the two balls of light, causing them to drift towards the waiting flower buds.

    The balls of lights then merged with the flower buds, which immediately bloomed into two glowing flowers.

    Ruan Hongling sighed and rose to her feet, satisfied with her work. Even though it had taken her two days and one night...

    Whatever. It was the final results that counted.

    With a silly grin stered on her face, Ruan Hongling turned around and walked away from the pond. On her way towards Tianyi Cavern¡¯s exit, she entertained herself by studying the magnificent wall whose surface held numerous engravings of faces. Not just any faces. Those faces belonged to the previous grandmasters of the Linggong Sect.

    Ruan Hongling really liked that wall; it reminded her of the Linggong Sect¡¯s glorious days. Every time she looked at those engravings on the walls, she could forget, at least temporarily, the miserable state that the current Linggong Sect was in. Not that it was Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s fault that the Linggong Sect turned out like this. The truth was that the Linggong Sect had lost a lot of influence ever since Master and Yan-shibo were gone.

    Ruan Hongling stopped in front of the wall and then turned around.

    The wall was located near the cavern¡¯s exit, so she could see pretty much the whole cavern from where she stood.

    Tianyi Cavern. Famed for its beauty and serenity. No doubt one of Ruan Hongling¡¯s favorite ces in the world.

    "Hello?!!" The boisterous voice of a woman shattered the quietude. "Hey, hey, hey!!! Anybody home?!! Is anyone from the Linggong Sect still alive?!!"

    Maybe not so serene after all.

    Scowling, Ruan Hongling marched out of the cavern. Who could that be? It had been forever since anybody had visited the Linggong Sect. And so rude! How dare they kick up a fuss here? This was a respected Cultivation sect, not a yground for a bunch of uncivilized barbarians.

    The grounds outside the cavern were deserted when Ruan Hongling walked out, which meant that the voice had to havee from the temple.

    And she was right. There were three of them. Three visitors, standing in the front hall, each immactely dressed in pristine Daopaos.

    All three of them were standing side by side. The one on the left¡ªa short and plump man sporting a long, ck beard¡ªwas carrying a miniature pagoda in his hand. Ruan Hongling found herself taking an instant dislike to the portly little man; the arrogant look on his face rubbed Ruan Hongling the wrong way.

    The visitor on the right was a beautiful woman with a curvaceous figure. Ruan Hongling immediately inferred that she was the one who had shouted earlier. It wasn¡¯t that big of a deductive leap considering that the woman was the only female among the three visitors. The voice she had heard just now was most definitely female.

    A long sword was attached to the woman¡¯s back. There was a fly whisk in her hand as well. A Taoist priestess, Ruan Hongling surmised. From the way the woman¡¯s eyes were darting around in their sockets, Ruan Hongling could tell that the woman was taking stock of the ce. Ruan Hongling would have construed the behavior as that of curiosity if the contempt in those eyes wasn¡¯t so tantly obvious.

    The person in the middle was a handsome man. Unlike his twopanions, the man wasn¡¯t armed at all. Even so, Ruan Hongling could tell that the man was the most powerful among the three. Something in her gut told her the man was in the same league as Zi Yuan ji¨§jie.

    Whoever these people were, Ruan Hongling knew that she had to tread carefully. Even more so when Zi Yuan ji¨§jie wasn¡¯t here. Ruan Hongling stepped away from the huge pir that she¡¯d been hiding behind and marched over to greet her visitors.

    The handsome man in the middle broke into a grin as soon as he noticed her approach. The next thing she knew, the man was making his way towards her as well. It was then that Ruan Hongling noticed the jade earrings that he was wearing. Yet another sign of high status and prominence.

    The man folded his hands in front of his chest and tilted his head forward. The gesture revealed the various jade rings adorning the man¡¯s fingers.

    Definitely no ordinary Cultivator, this one.

    "Peace in the Tao," greeted the man. "Are you perhaps Zi Yuan Zhenren of the Linggong Sect?"

    Ruan Hongling would be lying if she said that she wasn¡¯t surprised. Nobody had ever mistaken her for Zi Yuan ji¨§jie. And to be frank, she didn¡¯t think she was worthy of suchparison.

    Ruan Hongling returned the hand gesture. "Who might you be? And to what do I owe the pleasure?"

    Admittedly, Ruan Hongling¡¯s social skills required some refinement. She realized that she hadn¡¯t told the man that she was not, in fact, Zi Yuan Zhenren of the Linggong Sect.

    "Are you blind?" the woman on the right snarled. "Are you seriously telling me that you don¡¯t recognize him?"

    Ruan Hongling nced at the woman briefly before returning her eyes to the man whom she was supposed to¡ªbut sadly didn¡¯t¡ªknow. Ruan Hongling had decided to ignore the rudedy for the rest of the conversation.

    "This is Zhang Tianh¨¦, the son of the current Head of the Zhengyi School," the woman continued in her annoyingly loud voice. "Everyone knows him as the Jade Zhenren."

    Clearly not everyone, Ruan Hongling added silently.

    "And you¡¯re saying that you¡¯ve never heard of him?" the woman said. "How absurd."

    How conceited.

    There were probably millions of people who¡¯d never even heard of Grandmaster Pan Shi, as legendary as the man was.

    Ruan Hongling schooled her features and gave the man her most polite smile. "Greetings, Zhang Zhenren," she said with a bow. "I apologize for not recognizing you sooner."

    Though I feel not a single ounce of remorse, sorry not sorry.

    Zhang Tianh¨¦ smiled and waved off her apology. "So you are Zi Yuan Zhenren then?"

    "My sh¨©ji¨§ is away." Ruan Hongling regarded Zhang Zhenren carefully. "Is there anything that I can assist you with? You have a message to deliver to my sh¨©ji¨§, perhaps?"

    Ruan Hongling tried not to squirm under the Jade Zhenren¡¯s intense scrutiny. "You mentioned that Zi Yuan Zhenren is your sh¨©ji¨§..." Zhang Zhenren smiled. "Are you perhaps Hongling Zhenren?"

    "Indeed, I am."

    Ruan Hongling didn¡¯t really mind living in Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s shadow, but this was starting to feel a bit bothersome.

    "So. Is there something that I can help you with, Zhang Zhenren?" Ruan Hongling repeated her question.

    "Ah, right. Here¡¯s the thing." Zhang Zhenren shared a few nces with hispanions. "We¡¯re here to borrow your shijie¡¯s strength."

    It took Ruan Hongling everything to maintain her poker face. "Borrow my shijie¡¯s strength?" Ruan Hongling frowned slightly. "Is there... Is there an ongoing battle?"

    "Indeed." Zhang Zhenren smiled. "You might be unaware of this, but there will be¡ª"

    "I don¡¯t see why you¡¯re wasting your breath on these people, sh¨©d¨¬," the woman interrupted rudely. "Just look at this ce. It looks like it¡¯s been abandoned for years! There are probably cobwebs hanging from those statues over there."

    Ruan Hongling released a feral growl. "Hey! Watch your¡ª"

    "Their strength has most likely weakened considerably if they couldn¡¯t even keep their halls clean," the woman said snidely. "I say we drop the whole idea of asking them to join us. They might end up bing a burden for all we know."

    "Ipletely agree!" the plump man spoke for the first time.

    Anger rose inside Ruan Hongling.

    "Watch your foul mouth!" Ruan Hongling snapped. "How dare you insult my sh¨©ji¨§ like that?!"

    A smirk spread across the woman¡¯s lips. Ruan Hongling wanted to wipe that smug look off the foul woman¡¯s face and then shove it down her equally foul throat.

    "Oh? Are you saying that I¡¯m wrong?"

    Ruan Hongling bristled. "You..."

    "Where is your precious sh¨©ji¨§ now? Hiding away like a coward?"

    Something inside Ruan Hongling snapped right then and there. "That does it! Let¡¯s duel, you and I! We don¡¯t even have to wait for my shijie¡¯s return. I am going to wipe the floor with you right here right now!"

    "Have it your way, then!" The woman drew her sword from its scabbard. "As if I¡¯m afraid of weaklings like you!"

    "Hey, hey, hey." Zhang Zhenren stepped between Ruan Hongling and the woman. "Let¡¯s just calm down, okay? We¡¯re all from the Zhengyi School. Allies shouldn¡¯t fight amongst themselves." Zhang Zhenren turned around to face the obnoxious woman. "Zou Ping sh¨©ji¨§... Please don¡¯t make things difficult. My father will have our heads if we stir up trouble here."

    Anger shed inside Zou Ping¡¯s eyes. "That weakling challenged me." The woman swung her sword in a downward arc.

    "Who are you calling a weakling?!" Ruan Hongling growled, fully prepared to summon her damask.

    "Zhang Zhenren grabbed Zou Ping¡¯s arm.

    "Zou Ping sh¨©ji¨§... Please drop this, okay? Do it for me. Please?"

    Seconds passed in silence. Ruan Hongling struggled to keep her rage in check. Calm down, Hongling. Calm down... Zi Yuan ji¨§jie wouldn¡¯t want this... Just breathe... Just breathe...

    A momentter, Ruan Hongling noticed Zou Ping¡¯s sharp re.

    "This isn¡¯t over," Zou Ping growled, resheathing her sword.

    "Thank you, sh¨©ji¨§," Zhang Zhenren said, then turned back around to face Ruan Hongling. "Now. As I was saying, a joint assault is about to take ce and we would like you and Zi Yuan Zhenren to be part of it."

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s stomach tightened. A joint assault? This was her first time hearing this. Then again, nobody told the Linggong Sect anything anymore.

    "Pardon me? A joint assault?" she asked, keeping her tone even.

    "Indeed," Zhang Zhenren said. "A pact has been reached between the members of the Great Six to destroy the Fox Zen School once and for all."

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s blood ran cold. "The Fox Zen School?"

    Zhang Zhenren nodded and gave her a look of sympathy. "It¡¯s thest ce your shibo had visited before she went missing nine years ago, isn¡¯t it not?"

    Stunned by the news, Ruan Hongling could only nod.

    "My deepest condolences to you and your sh¨©ji¨§," Zhang Zhenren said. "I myself was greatly saddened by the news."

    "I- I thank you," Ruan Hongling stammered.

    "So will you and your sh¨©ji¨§ be joining us?"

    Panic rose inside Ruan Hongling. What the heck was she supposed to do here?

    Contact Zi Yuan ji¨§jie... She¡¯ll know what to do.

    After all, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie herself had told Ruan Hongling to contact her the moment the Linggong Sect received any word from the other sects. Had Zi Yuan ji¨§jie anticipated that someone would reach out to them?

    She should call Zi Yuan ji¨§jie right this instant and let her know what happened.

    Ugh! Grow up, Hongling!

    What was she, a ten-year-old? Why did she always have to rely on Zi Yuan ji¨§jie to handle everything? Zi Yuan ji¨§jie had enough on her te already, especially with the Heir¡¯s iing divine punishment.

    Ruan Hongling might not like the Heir, but she didn¡¯t want him dead.

    The Heir needed Zi Yuan ji¨§jie right now, so she should just suck it up and handle this herself.

    "Hongling Zhenren?"

    Ruan Hongling snapped out of her tumultuous thoughts. She realized then that she had left Zhang Zhenren¡¯s question unanswered. She cleared her throat. "Yes. I would like to join you."

    "And what about Zi Yuan Zhenren?"

    "Sh¨©ji¨§ is currently in training and has specifically asked not to be disturbed until her training is fullyplete."

    "I see," Zhang Zhenren drawled.

    "Might I suggest that I join you first?" Ruan Hongling stood firm under Zhang Zhenren¡¯s studious gaze. "That way I can bring sh¨©ji¨§ up to speed when she join uster on."

    This was the best way to handle this, Ruan Hongling was sure of it. She would go along with these people and then find out what was really going on. She would gather all the facts first and then report everything to Zi Yuan ji¨§jie.

    "Hmm. That works, I suppose," Zhang Zhenren said, then paused for a moment. "But do you mind if we depart now?" He smiled at Ruan Hongling. "The schedule is rather tight, I¡¯m afraid."

    "I am ready to leave any time," Ruan Hongling said politely. "But where are we going?" Last time she checked, the Fox Zen School was literally gone. Had the school been relocated? Did these people know where its new location?

    "There will be a meetingter tonight," Zhang Zhenren said with a pause. "All members of the Great Six who are part of the assault will assemble before the actual attack takes ce." Zhang Zhenren smiled. "It would be best if we leave now if we want to make it there in time."

    Ruan Hongling squared her shoulders and gave the man a nod. "Please lead the way."

    <strong>Trantor End Notes:</strong>

    An astute reader (taratect) has recently suggested the use of Mandarin intonations for the honorific terms that I introduced at the end of Chapter 209: Civil War. I personally think that it is a great idea. Ergo, I will include an update here on all those honorific terms and, at the same time, share with you guys an instructional video where a gorgeous, English-speaking (she speaks English really well)dy teaches you the nuances of Mandarin intonations.

    Here is the link to the video - https://.youtube/watch?v=3wV8B4bx1lM

    Now, let¡¯s talk about one of the most important tools in a mathematician¡¯s arsenal¡ªnotation. But before that, here¡¯s a crash course on Mandarin intonation. There are four tones in pretty much all of Mandarin pronunciations. The first, second, third, and fourth tone. These tones are denoted in the pinyin of Chinese words by including ents on top of vowels. For example, for the vowel "a": ¨¡ (first), ¨¢(second), ¨£ (third), ¨¤ (fourth)

    Okay. That¡¯s pretty it for the notations. To learn the right way to pronounce them, please refer to Miss Cheng¡¯s fantastic video lesson.

    Let¡¯s put all that information into our honorifics:

    Ç°±² / Qi¨¢nb¨¨i

    Senpai¡¯s equivalent. In terms of semantics, it basically means "senior."

    2) ºó±² / H¨°ub¨¨i

    Kouhai¡¯s equivalent. Semantically, "junior."

    3) Ê¦ÐÖ/ Sh¨©xi¨­ng

    A fellow male student under the same master. This honorific can only be used if that male student is your senior; meaning that they became the master¡¯s disciple before you did.

    4) Ê¦µÜ/Sh¨©d¨¬

    A fellow male student under the same master. This honorific can only be used if that male student is your junior; meaning that they became the master¡¯s disciple after you did.

    5) Ê¦½ã/ Sh¨©ji¨§

    A fellow female student under the same master. This honorific can only be used if that female student is your senior; meaning that they became the master¡¯s disciple before you did.

    6) Ê¦ÃÃ/ Sh¨©m¨¨i

    A fellow female student under the same master. This honorific can only be used if that female student is your junior; meaning that they became the master¡¯s disciple after you did.

    7) Ê¦²®/ Sh¨©b¨®

    Your master might alsoe from some school, meaning that he also has his own master, Sh¨©xi¨­ng, or Sh¨©ji¨§. Shibo is basically your master¡¯s Sh¨©xi¨­ng/Sh¨©ji¨§.

    8) Ê¦Êå/ Sh¨©sh¨±

    Your master¡¯s Sh¨©d¨¬/Sh¨©m¨¨i.

    And... that¡¯s pretty much it. You might see these notations popping up in the future chapters too. They will be used to refer to distinguish Mandarin pronunciations from English ones. For example, a Chinese di is actually pronounced as dee. In English, we might pronounce di as die.

    Also, some sybles do not have tonal ents, such as in the case of ji¨§jie (elder sister). Note that there isn¡¯t a tonal ent in the second syble. The reason for that is because the second jie in ji¨§jie is pronounced softly. In Mandarin, we call them light tones, or ÇáÉù (q¨©ngsh¨¥ng)

    A huge shout-out to Miss Cheng Yangyang for the fantastic video. And thank you again, taratect for your brilliant suggestion.

    Have a pleasant day.

    Best,

    Anthony.

    <h4>The Final Push</h4>

    <strong>Project Beat the Heavens: Day 7, 6:30PM; Apartment 20A, New Hongsheng District, Tiannan City.</strong>

    White light filled the interior of the apartment. A secondter, the Heir flew out from the jade te and crashnded on the floor. Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes automatically went to the numbers floating beside the jade te. 79. Two more to go. Just two more.

    Zi Yuan was up from the couch in an instant, padding swiftly towards the Heir. The poor man was panting and gasping on the floor. He lookedpletely exhausted. No. He wasn¡¯t just exhausted; he was barely conscious.

    Zi Yuan felt a sharp tug inside her chest as stared down at the Heir¡¯s crumpled form. Her heart went out to this man, who had been working so hard for the past two days, doing everything in his power to survive. And now, it seemed the effort was finally taking a toll on his body.

    The Heir¡¯s eyes opened slowly. "Oww..." He tried to sit up, but then gave up after several failed attempts. "That hurt..."

    Another wave of sympathy crept into Zi Yuan. Of course it hurt. Of course. Even the first bolt had caused him to scream in agony at the start of the drill. Now, he had just been struck down by the 80th bolt, the power of which was a far cry from that of the first bolt.

    It was sobering to think that this was only a simtion, not the real thing.

    Zi Yuan crouched down and yanked him up by his arm. The Heirplied and stood up on wobbly feet. The fact that he was still heaving and panting was not a good sign at all.

    He needs rest...

    Thankfully, the Heir didn¡¯t resist her when she dragged him away from the jade te. She led him to the dining table and sat him down in a chair.

    "Drink up," she said, cing a ss of water on the table.

    The Heir reached for the ss and emptied the contents of the ss.

    "Up," Zi Yuan ordered once he was done.

    "Huh?"

    "Up." Zi Yuan tugged his arm. Heplied and stood up from the chair.

    Zi Yuan pushed him towards the bedroom. This time, however, he did resist.

    "What? No! I¡¯m not done yet," he protested. "I can still keep going."

    "Don¡¯t be an idiot," Zi Yuan reprimanded. "You look like you¡¯re about to copse."

    "But how much time¡ª"

    "You¡¯ll do much better once you¡¯re sufficiently recovered," Zi Yuan implored gently. "Trust me."

    Still, the Heir refused to move.

    "Two hours," Zi Yuan prodded gently. "Two hours of Qi control to recover yourself. Okay?"

    Zi Yuan raised a brow challengingly when the Heir didn¡¯t answer.

    The Heir sighed dejectedly. "Fine."

    "Good. Now go." Zi Yuan turned around and started walking back towards the living room. "I¡¯ll let you know when your two hours are up."

    Zi Yuan didn¡¯t allow herself to rx until a minuteter when she heard the sound of the door closing.

    <strong>Project Beat the Heavens: Day 7, 8:45PM; Apartment 20A, New Hongsheng District, Tiannan City.</strong>

    "Li Yundong!" Zi Yuan rapped her knuckles against the bedroom door. "Time¡¯s up!"

    There was a thud, followed by the shuffling of feet. Momentster, the door creaked open to reveal the Heir¡¯s face, which, much to Zi Yuan¡¯s relief, seemed well-rested.

    "Ready to get back to work?" Zi Yuan asked.

    The Heir nodded and stepped out of the bedroom.

    The short walk back to the living room was fraught with unspoken tension. The clocking was ticking, and they both knew it. Especially the Heir, whose shoulders and posture were stiff.

    "Are you okay?" Zi Yuan asked once they had reached the living room.

    Zi Yuan had heard voices from the bedroom just now; the Heir had been talking to himself.

    "Yeah, I¡¯m fine," he said with a tight smile.

    No, you¡¯re not. You¡¯re not fine at all. He was just putting up a front.

    The Heir turned and began making his way towards the jade te.

    Zi Yuan reached out and sped his shoulder before he could take more than two steps.

    The Heir flinched, a testament to how on edge he truly was. He turned around and gave her a questioning look.

    Zi Yuan regarded him steadily. "Do you remember what I told you the other night?" She paused for a second. "About what you should do if you ever found yourself unable to carry on during your journey to Tibet?"

    The Heir gave him a nk stare. "You..." He sighed. "You told me to think of Su Chan."

    "Yes, that¡¯s right." Zi Yuan smiled, hoping with every fiber of her being that it would provide him some form of reassurance. "You once told me that love can be a source of strength, that love can inspire greatness." She gave him a pointed look. "Remember Su Chan, Li Yundong. Remember the promise you made to each other. She¡¯s waiting for you."

    With a sigh, the Heir buried his face into his palms and sank onto his knees. He stayed like that for a few seconds.

    "Li Yundong?"

    The Heir stood back up and smiled at her. "Thank you, Zi Yuan. I needed that."

    Zi Yuan nodded firmly. "Two more to go. Just two more" Zi Yuan gave him a serious look. "You can do this."

    Master believed in you. Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i believed in you. I believe in you.

    The Heir stepped under the jade te¡¯s light. Secondster, he vanished.

    Zi Yuan stood at the side, watching the changing numbers. 3... 4... 5...

    Hang in there, Li Yundong. Hang in there...

    <strong>Project Beat the Heavens: Day 7, 9:15PM; A guesthouse near the foot of Mount Tianlong, Dongwu City Outskirts.</strong>

    Ruan Hongling was surprised to learn that the entire guesthouse was booked, though by whom she had no idea. All she knew was that the whole ce had been turned into some kind of convention center for Cultivators. Apparently, those who taking part in the joint assault were to gather here first and be on standby until they received some kind of signal from one of their associates. Surprisingly, the identity of that associate was unknown even to Zhang Tianhe.

    "Why is the Great Six attacking the Fox Zen School?" Ruan Hongling asked as Zhang Tianh¨¦ led her down a hallway. They were now inside the guesthouse, heading towards its conference hall where the others were already gathered.

    "You must be rather dense if you¡¯re asking that question," Zou Ping said snidely. "Haven¡¯t you heard about Ao Wushuang and her disciple¡¯s theft of the Renyuan Jindan?"

    Ruan Hongling red at the woman. No. You are the fool here...

    Of course Ruan Hongling knew that the attack had something to do with the Jindan. But the real question was why now?

    The timing of the attack felt a little odd.

    It had been known for months now whom the culprit behind the Jindan¡¯s theft was. Everyone knew that shortly after the theft, Su Chan had managed to escape with the Jindan because the first responders were too surprised by the sudden appearance of Ao Wushuang that night. The reason for everyone¡¯s surprise was because nobody had expected Ao Wushuang to still be alive; everyone thought she had died some time after her expulsion from the Fox Zen School.

    Ruan Hongling herself hadn¡¯t believed in the rumored sightings of Ao Wushuang back then. She had just assumed that it was some kind of illusion spell that Su Chan had cast as a diversion. That assumption was, of course, overthrown when Ao Wushuang showed up right after the Heir murdered that evil bastard with the Five Thunders Spell. But still, the point remained: why now? Why didn¡¯t the Great Six storm the Fox Zen School the same day the Jindan was stolen?

    Something didn¡¯t add up.

    s, Ruan Hongling¡¯s question remained unanswered even as she, Zhang Tianh¨¦, Zou Ping, and the other portly little man strode into the conference room.

    And good God it was like a mini army in there.

    A mini army, Ruan Hongling quickly realized, of powerful Cultivators from the younger generation.

    Ruan Hongling did a quick visual sweep across therge conference room.

    Ten. She counted at least ten master Cultivators who, as far as she could tell, had reached at least the Huaying¡ªsixth¡ªphase of Cultivation.

    None of the senior members of the Great Six were present, of course.

    But still! These numbers! The Fox Zen School wouldn¡¯t stand a chance even if they had Ao Wushuang on their side!

    It dawned on Ruan Hongling right then what a serious crisis this was, not just for the Fox Zen School but for the Linggong Sect as well. Zi Yuan ji¨§jie had already made her intentions pretty clear: she would assist Li Yundong in his quest, whatever the heck said quest entailed. And Ruan Hongling had long since decided to support Zi Yuan ji¨§jie in any way she could. However, an alliance with the Heir would inevitably lead to an alliance with the Fox Zen School since the Heir and Su Chan were lovers!

    Ruan Hongling stole a nce at Zhang Tianh¨¦.

    The Linggong Sect¡¯s influence was already hanging by a thread. It would undoubtedly be the end of the Linggong Sect if the main sect of the Zhengyi School so much as suspected an alliance between one of their subsidiary sects and the Fox Zen School.

    Master¡¯s legacy would be destroyed, every single one of them.

    "Are you alright, Hongling Zhenren?"

    Ruan Hongling cursed herself inwardly for failing to pay attention to her surroundings. She gave Zhang Tianh¨¦ a smile. "Why, of course, I am, Zhang Zhenren."

    "You seem a little distracted just now," Zhang Tianhe remarked casually.

    "Oh. I was just thinking about contacting my sh¨©ji¨§." Ruan Hongling smiled tightly. "She should be avable to take a call soon."

    Zhang Tianh¨¦ hummed. "That would be wise indeed." He nced around the room. "The meeting has yet to start. You still have time to make a quick call."

    Ruan Hongling nodded. "Please excuse me, then."

    <strong>Project Beat the Heavens: Day 7, 9:25PM; Apartment 20A, New Hongsheng District, Tiannan City.</strong>

    Zi Yuan leaped to her feet when the Heir reappeared on the floor. As usual, her eyes went to the counter first. Zi Yuan¡¯s heart leaped in joy, and she floated swiftly towards the Heir. "Eighty! You¡¯re getting there¡ª" The rest of Zi Yuan¡¯s words were stifled by the ashen look on the Heir¡¯s face.

    Zi Yuan dropped to the floor instantly. "What¡¯s the matter?" She pped the Heir¡¯s face gently. "Is it the pain?"

    The Heir¡¯s eyes cleared a little, but what she saw in those eyes nearly broke her heart. "It¡¯s impossible... Zi Yuan..." He stared at her, eyes filled with so much tears yet devoid of even a single iota of hope. "Thest bolt is impossible to dodge..."

    "What do you mean impossible!" Zi Yuan snapped, pointing at the numbers hovering above their heads. "You were so close already! Eighty bolts! You¡¯re giving up now of all times?!"

    The Heir shook his head slowly.

    Zi Yuan suddenly felt the urge to grab his shoulders and shake the dejection out of his system.

    "You don¡¯t understand, Zi Yuan," he said. "You weren¡¯t there."

    Indeed she wasn¡¯t there. Zi Yuan had chosen not to enter the simtion in order to preserve the jade te¡¯s spiritual energy.

    "Thest bolt wasn¡¯t just a single bolt," the Heir continued. "It... It sort of forked out when it struck the ground."

    Zi Yuan¡¯s heart stopped for a beat. "F- Forks out?"

    The Heir¡¯s dispirited eyes zeroed in on her face. "I already dodged thest bolt when it came down from the sky. It missed me and struck the ground. But then it forked out at the exact moment it hit the ground and charged straight at me."

    Zi Yuan sat down on the floor. Heavens help her she needed a minute to process all of this. "Okay... But what if you change directions after it spread out?"

    "That¡¯s what I did," the Heir replied, then sighed. "That¡¯s exactly what I did when the bolt came at me after hitting the ground. But here¡¯s the thing. It didn¡¯t just fork out into a single bolt, Zi Yuan. It forked out into multiple bolts."

    Multiple bolt¡ª

    Zi Yuan¡¯s gaze snapped to the Heir¡¯s face. "H- How many?" She cleared her throat. "You said multiple bolts. How many were there?"

    "I didn¡¯t count." The Heir sighed. "But I know there were a lot of them. And when the first bolt hit the ground, the other bolts sort of spread out in all directions from the initial point on contact on the floor. It was like a circle growing out from the point of contact."

    "A circle..."

    "Yeah... I didn¡¯t see much of it coz I got hit pretty soon. But I think it looked like a circr electrified field or something."

    Zi Yuan let out a heavy sigh. "Which means you couldn¡¯t avoid it even if you change directions. Coz it¡¯s everywhere... in a circle..."

    "It¡¯s impossible, Zi Yuan... I... I don¡¯t think I can make it."

    "Don¡¯t talk like that!" Zi Yuan snapped, causing the Heir to flinch. "Don¡¯t you dare! Don¡¯t you dare give up!"

    "Look, I¡¯m not saying I¡¯m giving up, okay?" he said. "But I just..." He shot her a helpless look. "I¡¯m running out of ideas."

    "Then we¡¯ll figure something out." Zi Yuan rose to her feet. "Come. Let¡¯s think about it again. Maybe there¡¯s another way."

    They moved to the living room again.

    "Maybe the radius of the circle is limited," Zi Yuan said, drawing a circle on a piece of paper. "What if you move fast enough to clear the entire radius during the initial dodge?" Zi Yuan drew a line from the center of the circle until the line extended beyond the circumference. Zi Yuan nced up from the paper. "You don¡¯t have to change directions at all. You can just charge in a straight line until you clear the entire circle."

    "But what if I¡¯m not fast enough to clear the circle?"

    "You¡¯ll just have to move faster then."

    "But how?" said the Heir. "That¡¯s already the 81st bolt. The most powerful bolt. I¡¯ve already borrowed spiritual energy from the most powerful bolt." He shook his head. "But even then I wasn¡¯t able to clear the whole circle."

    "Absorb more, then."

    The Heir shook his head again. "That would take too much time. I wouldn¡¯t even be able to dodge the one from the sky if I did that."

    Damn it. Zi Yuan dropped the pencil onto the table and leaned back against the couch.

    "It¡¯s okay, Zi Yuan," the Heir said with a sad smile.

    No, it wasn¡¯t. This was not okay. What would happen to Master¡¯s prophecy if Li Yundong didn¡¯t survive? What about her? Did that mean she¡¯d never be able to reach transcendence? But most importantly, did Li Yundong really deserve such an end?

    Zi Yuan looked away from the table. She didn¡¯t want to look at the papers strewn all over the table, and the Heir¡¯s crestfallen expression. Those were all the fruits of their failure, of her failure, and she couldn¡¯t handle the sight of them. Not right now.

    Her gaze drifted to the number 80 floating beside the jade te. So close, yet so far. It felt like a taunt now, the 8 and 0 hovering above the floor¡ª

    Zi Yuan slowly turned back to face the Heir. "Above..."

    The Heir frowned. "What?"

    Zi Yuan sprang to her feet. "Above, Li Yundong. Above!" She grabbed another piece of paper and drew a three-dimensional ne. Then, she added a circle on the ne. "Look here." She tapped the circle on the ne. "That¡¯s the circle." Zi Yuan nced at the Heir, who nodded.

    "Just now, when you dodged the bolt from the sky..." Zi Yuan drew a line perpendicr to the ne through the center of the circle. Then, she shaded the circle on the ne to represent the bolts forking out from the point of contact. "You were moving parallel to the ground, right?" Zi Yuan nced at Li Yundong. "You were still on the same ne as the circle."

    "So now I just have to move upwards..." A smile spread across the Heir¡¯s face. "I leave the circle of effect entirely."

    "Exactly!"

    The Heir stood up on shaky feet. "This..." He chuckled. "This could actually work."

    Zi Yuan nodded. "Come on, Li Yundong. One final push."

    <strong>Project Beat the Heavens: Day 7, 10:00PM; A guesthouse near the foot of Mount Tianlong, Dongwu City Outskirts.</strong>

    Ruan Hongling strode into the conference room with a heavy heart. Zhang Tianh¨¦ was by her side in an instant.

    "Did you manage to get in touch with Zi Yuan Zhenren?"

    "Yes, I did." Ruan Hongling smiled. "Sh¨©ji¨§ said she would be joining us."

    Lies. Zi Yuan ji¨§jie didn¡¯t even pick up her phone. Ruan Hongling¡¯s calls had all gone to voicemail.

    Zhang Tianh¨¦ seemed satisfied with her answer. Thank Heavens.

    "When would she be here then?" Zhang Tianh¨¦ asked.

    The man hadn¡¯t even bothered to hide the eagerness in his voice. Unless Ruan Hongling was very much mistaken, Zhang Tianh¨¦ had the hots for Zi Yuan ji¨§jie.

    "Sh¨©ji¨§ didn¡¯t specify the exact time she will arrive," Ruan Hongling lied through her teeth. "She only told me to wait for her call."

    Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s smile faltered a little, though he gave Ruan Hongling a cordial nod.

    With that, Ruan Hongling returned her attention to the others gathered in the room, all the while praying that Zi Yuan ji¨§jie would listen to her voicemails soon.

    (T/N: Rmended soundtrack starts ying here; check out trackbel 248_p2_t1)

    <strong>Project Beat the Heavens: Day 7, 10:40PM; Apartment 20A, New Hongsheng District, Tiannan City.</strong>

    "No... No... No..." Zi Yuan whispered when the counter stopped at 80 without going up. A split secondter, an all too familiar white light announced the simtion¡¯s end as well as the Heir¡¯s failure.

    Zi Yuan scrambled towards the jade te and kneeled beside the Heir¡¯s lying form.

    His eyes were closed.

    "What happened?" Zi Yuan said, pulling him to a sitting position. "The n... Why did it fail?"

    The Heir shook his head.

    What Zi Yuan wouldn¡¯t give to remove the look of utter defeat from his face right then.

    "Did you dodge properly?" Zi Yuan pressed on. "Look, you can¡¯t just dodge directly upwards. You have to dodge upwards and outwards. Like in an angle¡ª"

    "It¡¯s useless, Zi Yuan. I was wrong the first time."

    Zi Yuan¡¯s stomach twisted into knots. Wrong? What was that supposed to mean?

    "The..." He sighed. "The electrified field wasn¡¯t just a circr region on the ground, Zi Yuan..." A pause. "It was..." The Heir¡¯s voice cracked. "It was a hemisphere."

    Zi Yuan¡¯s heart sank. A hemisphere. Which meant that dodging upwards wouldn¡¯t work as well.

    Then we¡¯ll find another way.

    "Come on." Zi Yuan stood up. "There¡¯s gotta be another way. We¡¯ll figure this out." Zi Yuan pulled the Heir¡¯s arm. "Up."

    Before the Heir could rise to his full height, he copsed onto his knees with a loud gasp.

    Zi Yuan was down by his side in an instant. The Heir¡¯s hands were buried in his hair, and his body was trembling violently.

    "Hey!" Zi Yuan tried to pry his hands away from his head. "What¡¯s the matter? Snap out of it!"

    The trembling of his body stopped. And he looked up at her with ssy eyes. "D- Did... Did you see that?"

    "See wha¡ª" Zi Yuan¡¯s blood ran cold. She sprang to her feet and rushed to the sliding door. On the balcony, she looked up at the sky and stretched her Zhenqi outwards.

    Oh, no...

    Zi Yuan pushed away from the railing and stormed back into the living room.

    "It¡¯s time, isn¡¯t it?" the Heir asked from the floor. "I saw those eyes just now."

    Zi Yuan began pacing back and forth in the living room. "There¡¯s... There¡¯s still time. I... I¡¯ll find a way to get in touch with Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i and then... And then we ask her for advice on thest bolt." She stormed past the Heir, wanting to grab her phone, which she had left on the kitchen counter.

    A strong tug on her hand stopped her in her tracks.

    She turned around and saw the Heir shaking his head at her.

    "It¡¯s okay, Zi Yuan," he said with a sad smile. "It¡¯s okay... You¡¯ve done all you could." He slowly rose to his feet. "This is enough... This isn¡¯t your burden anymore..."

    Zi Yuan was still in a state of stupor when the Heir brushed past her and entered his bedroom.

    No, damn it! No!

    Zi Yuan snapped out of her daze and stormed towards the bedroom. However, the Heir was walking out of the bedroom before she could even reach the door.

    He was holding a phone in his hand.

    "If I don¡¯t make it back..." He pushed the phone towards her. "Then please give this to Su Chan."

    "Give it to her yourself," Zi Yuan said. "She¡¯s waiting for you, damn it! She¡¯s... She¡¯s waiting..."

    A tear slid down the Heir¡¯s face.

    Zi Yuan clenched her jaw.

    "Su Chan is still waiting for you!" Zi Yuan pressed on. "So don¡¯t..." Her voice cracked a little. "Don¡¯t give up. Don¡¯t give up on her..."

    "Zi Yuan..." the Heir said dejectedly. "Please..."

    The phone was now inches away from her face. She reached out with a shaky hand and took the device from him.

    "Thank you," he said, then exhaled slowly.

    Zi Yuan kept staring at him, her fingers gripping the phone tightly.

    The Heir broke eye contact first. "I should... I should get going before the punishment begins... Before innocent people get killed."

    He moved past Zi Yuan and headed towards the sliding door.

    "Keep fighting!" Zi Yuan yelled after him. "Keep fighting and don¡¯t give up!"

    The Heir stopped beside the couch and turned his head slightly.

    "Return that to Ao Wushuang for me, will you?" He pointed at the Fan of Seven Treasures leaning against the couch. "And tell her thank you."

    Zi Yuan lunged forward and seized his arm before he could step out the sliding door. "Where are you gonna go?"

    The Heir shook his head. "I¡¯m not telling you," he stated firmly. "You¡¯d juste after me if I tell you. No more risking your life for my sake, Zi Yuan." The Heir removed his arm from her grip. "No more."

    "You don¡¯t deserve this, Li Yundong."

    A sad chuckle escaped his lips. "Maybe I do," he said. "I killed a man after all."

    Li Yundong¡¯s feet levitated off the balcony floor.

    Zi Yuan sprang forward once again, her fingers wrapping around his ankle this time.

    "Fight," she growled. "Fight till yourst breath, you hear me?"

    Li Yundong looked down at her from his elevated position.

    They stared at each other for a few seconds before he gave her a firm nod.

    "I will."

    Zi Yuan returned his nod and let go of his ankle.

    "Thank you, Zi Yuan. For everything." He paused, smiling wanly. "You¡¯ve been a very good friend."

    Please... Not like this... Not like this! We were so close... Just one more bolt...

    "Zi Yuan..."

    Zi Yuan looked up.

    "It¡¯s okay..." He smiled. "Don¡¯t me yourself."

    "You¡¯re a good man, Li Yundong." A stinging sensation began to take form in Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes. "One of the best I¡¯ve ever known." Zi Yuan cleared her throat. "Good luck."

    With a final nod, Li Yundong flew off the balcony.

    ***

    (T/N: Rmended soundtrack starts ying here; check out trackbel 248_p2_t2)

    It didn¡¯t take Zi Yuan long to find out what it was that the Heir wanted Su Chan to receive. It was an audio file. A short one (about three minutes) with a simple file name: To Su Chan.

    Sunk in gloom, Zi Yuan hit y.

    The first ten seconds were filled with the sounds of the Heir¡¯s breathing, like he didn¡¯t know how to begin. Then, when the Heir finally began to speak, the first word he uttered was, unsurprisingly, the name of his beloved.

    "Chan¡¯er......"

    It hit Zi Yuan then that the Heir wasn¡¯t talking to himself inside the bedroom earlier; he was recording this.

    "...if you¡¯re hearing this, it means that I didn¡¯t make it. It means that I¡¯ve failed to keep my promise to you."

    "...I¡¯m sorry, Chan¡¯er. I¡¯m sorry that I couldn¡¯t keep my promise. I¡¯m sorry that I couldn¡¯t be there with you for the rest of your life. But most of all..." Sound of throat clearing. "Most of all, I¡¯m sorry for hurting you and... and for... for causing you pain. I won¡¯t ask you not to grieve for me. Because... Because it would be unfair to ask that of you. I know that I won¡¯t be able to stop myself from mourning you if our roles were reversed. What I will ask, though, is for you to move on."

    A long silence ensued, and Zi Yuan found herself counting the passing seconds.

    Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten.

    Ten seconds of wordlessness, which were fraught with unspoken emotions, so much so that Zi Yuan could feel her own heartstrings unravelling.

    "I mean it, Chan¡¯er... Move on. You have to move on even after I¡¯m gone. You once told me that you¡¯d end your own life if I didn¡¯t survive. Well... Please don¡¯t do that. I want you to do the opposite. I want you to live."

    More sounds of breathing were heard after that.

    "Know that there are others who care about you, not just me. Your master. Zi Yuan. Zhou Qin. They all care. They¡¯re your friends too. If..." There was a chuckle. "If you give up on your life just because I¡¯m gone, then I¡¯d end up hating myself in the afterlife. What if I hate myself so much that I end up killing myself in the afterlife?" Zi Yuan smiled as several chuckles drifted out from the speaker. "I wonder what would happen if you die in the afterlife? Like, do you go to the after, afterlife?"

    The Heirughed at his own joke.

    The idiot.

    Zi Yuan bit down on her lower lip and fought against the tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

    This wasn¡¯t right. Nothing about this felt right. Nothing.

    "Live on, okay, Chan¡¯er? Live. I want nothing but the best for you. You¡¯re a good girl with a kind heart. Never doubt that for a second. And... And you deserve happiness. You do." A pause. "You deserve all the happiness this world has to offer." There was a contented sigh. "I know I¡¯ve already found mine during the short time I got to spend with you. You made my life worth living, Chan¡¯er. Thank you for that. And... thank your master for me, will you? I know that she and I didn¡¯t exactly part on good terms, but please let her know that I respect and admire her greatly, and that I¡¯m grateful for everything she did for me. Um... Let¡¯s see... What else... Right. Make sure you eat your meals... Oh, you can¡¯t have Mac Doo Nurls every day, though." The Heir chuckled. "Who knows, if you try to get along with Zi Yuan after I¡¯m gone, she might even offer to cook for you. She... uh... she might be an even better cook than I am..." Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help but smile at that. "Well... I... I really can¡¯t think of anything else to say. So, um... Goodbye, Chan¡¯er. I love you."

    The recording ended with a click.

    Zi Yuan sprang to her feet and started pacing the apartment again. She would not allow this. She would not.

    He didn¡¯t deserve this.

    Anger rose inside Zi Yuan. Was this really the Heavens¡¯ will? Robbing a good man of his future?

    This was nonsense.

    The Purple Gold Jade te flew towards Zi Yuan¡¯s hand. She grabbed the jade te from the air and deactivated it. After that, she slipped out of the sliding door and stood on the balcony, staring into the night sky. No more than 15 minutes had passed since the Heir took off. The divine punishment had yet to begin, so she still had some time.

    As Zi Yuan flew back towards Hongling¡¯s apartment, Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i¡¯s words from the other night kept reying inside her head like a broken record.

    "...should only be used asst resorts... depends on how much you¡¯re willing to sacrifice... how much you¡¯re willing to sacrifice..."

    How much was she willing to sacrifice?

    Something. Maybe everything.

    Zi Yuan reached Hongling¡¯s apartment in no time. After getting everything she needed, Zi Yuan flew away from the balcony again.

    Now, she just had to find him.

 Chapter 249

    Chapter 249

    <h4>Heavens¡¯ Wrath</h4>

    The wind whipped against Zi Yuan¡¯s face as her body streaked across the cityscape towards the outskirts of Tiannan City . She was flying at her top speed . She had to, since she had to keep her flying altitude low lest she herself be struck down by the Heavenly Thunder . The mortals would see her if she went too slowly .

    Lies .

    That wasn¡¯t the only reason she was in a hurry, and she knew it .

    The whole journey took only ten seconds, after which Zi Yuan found herself gliding downwards until her feet touched the firm bough of a tree . The air smelled different tonight . It carried a scent of peril, of danger .

    The source of said danger was no mystery . The Heavens were out for blood .

    Zi Yuan stood on the bough, looking around until she spotted the unmistakable glow of the Jindan¡¯s Aura far ahead .

    So, he picked this ce after all... Zi Yuan smiled . Smart man .

    It had been a bit of a wild guess on Zi Yuan¡¯s part, but this was the first ce that came to mind when she tried to figure out where the Heir might go . Zi Yuan had no choice but to guess at the Heir¡¯s location, since the alternative was to rely on the storm clouds to figure out the Heir¡¯s location . Thetter option would be too time consuming . For her contingency ns to work, everything had to be set up before it all began .

    ncing ahead, Zi Yuan discerned the Heir¡¯s glowing figure . At the moment, he was sitting in a meditative posture, no doubt practicing Qi control . Good... Qi control would freshen him up and prepare him for action .

    The Heir had picked the location wisely .

    Topographically speaking, the ce was ideal and highly suitable for the "activity" that he was about to partake in . Thend was wide, t, and obstacle-free, which would give him enough space to move around freely . The ce was alsopletely deserted since it was located somewhere in the city¡¯s outskirts . At least now Zi Yuan didn¡¯t have to worry about some innocent bystander getting hurt . Zi Yuan silently thank the deities for making her one of the witnesses of H¨¦ Shao¡¯s death; she wouldn¡¯t have guessed the ce correctly had she not been there to confront the Heir that night .

    A loud rumble sounded in the sky . Tree leaves rustled as a strong gale tore through the air . Zi Yuan looked away from the Heir, focusing on the Heir¡¯s surroundings instead . She allowed her gaze to linger on a bushy area near the edge of the field .

    That should be good enough...

    Zi Yuan released therge object in her hands and watch it hover in front of her face . Time to put Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i¡¯s genius to the test . Without ado, Zi Yuanunched the object forward, keeping her eyes on it until it had reached its destination at the edge of the field .

    More rumbling sounded aloft, forcing Zi Yuan to look up . The night sky condensed, and the air thickened . Monstrous clouds drifted in from all directions like ominous specters, converging towards an imaginary focal point in the sky . Even as they moved, the clouds shed brightly, ready to strike, ready to kill, ready to punish . The celestial forces were ready . The Heir, on the other hand, was not ready .

    So close, yet so far . . .

    Zi Yuan tore her gaze away from the sky, focusing her attention on the Heir instead . Doubts niggled at Zi Yuan¡¯s mind as she stood on the bough, watching the Heir from afar . Had she really made the right choice? Was this worth it? Was he worth it? What if Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i was wrong? What if she went through with the n and he still perished?

    Zi Yuan shook her doubts away and forced herself to run through the n again . The n, upon sessfulpletion, would consist of six stages, each of which required wless timing to execute . No room for error, and certainly none for doubt . Indeed, if pushes to shove, Zi Yuan would have to act decisively .

    Zi Yuan exhaled and squared her shoulders . The n would definitely work . Zi Yuan would see that it did .

    Enough of that . Now she had another problem to consider .

    Zi Yuan studied therge tree she was standing on, gauging the distance between the tree and the Heir . Is this far enough? Indeed, all would be in vain if she herself was struck before she could do anything useful .

    A bright sh in the sky ended Zi Yuan¡¯s fixation with distance .

    Has it begun?

    It hadn¡¯t . But it was about to .

    The Heir knew it too, as he was now slowly rising to his feet .

    (T/N: Rmended soundtrack starts ying here; see trackbel 249_t1)

    The ensuing rumble was loud and deep, like the entire sky was quaking . Towering above thends was a swirling vortex of clouds, a celestial maelstrom .

    Zi Yuan held her breath and sent a silent prayer to atha .

    Please watch over him . . .

    Her mind instantly went back to the way in which the Heir had stopped beside the couch and stared at the Fan of Seven Treasures earlier . He had thought about it . Zi Yuan knew he had thought about it . In the end, he had chosen not to, and asked her to return the Fan of Seven Treasures to Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i instead . That alone proved how selfless he truly was . Just like Master .

    What Zi Yuan had neglected to mention to him was that it wouldn¡¯t have mattered . The Fan of Seven Treasures wouldn¡¯t have been able to stop the Heavenly Thunder; it would just be destroyed .

    A golden blur streaked across the white ze of the first bolt .

    So it begins...

    The Heavens¡¯ wrath .

    The Heir¡¯s retribution .

    ***

    "Six . . . Seven . . . " Zi Yuan counted under her breath as bright shes lit up the field ahead . "Eight . . . "

    The Heir¡¯s body morphed into a golden streak as he darted around, eluding the Heavens, challenging the Heavens: I will not yield; I will not give in to fear; you might be able to obliterate my body and sunder my soul, but my Spirit shall endure and my courage live; I will face you .

    CRACK!!!

    The Heavens unleashed its wrath for the tenth time, splitting the sky with a blinding whip of light . Zi Yuan recoiled against the tree . After a moment, she forced her eyes open . The Jindan¡¯s Heir endured . The streak of gold came to a halt and transformed back into a human-shaped beacon .

    "Ten . . . " Zi Yuan found herself whispering .

    The training was paying off . The Heir was still clinging to life, but for how long?

    "Fifteen . . . Sixteen . . . "

    Zi Yuan shifted on the bough and leaned forward slightly . Wait . . . What is he doing? Zi Yuan¡¯s scalp tingled as she watched the Heir made two more dodges . Seventeen . . . Eighteen . . .

    So far, he was doing what she had suggested during the drill: letting his feet float slightly above the ground the whole time to eliminate friction .

    But still . Something was different . He kept moving back to the same spot after making each dodge . She had never seen that dodging pattern before . Neen . . . Twenty . . .

    Again, the Heir had moved back to the same spot after he dodged .

    Rather than the t ground, the Heir¡¯s figure was now hovering above a mini crater, which appeared to have garnered significant depth due to the Heavenly Thunder¡¯s repeated strikes .

    The next sh was decidedly more blinding than its predecessors .

    Zi Yuan quickly recovered from her momentary corneal reflex and forced her eyes open, sighing in relief as soon as she did . The Heir endured still, his glowing figure hovering above the center of the crater, which had once again grown in depth due to the previous bolt .

    "Twenty-one," Zi Yuan whispered, then exhaled shakily .

    CRACK!!!

    The Heir¡¯s figure blurred into a golden streak . Twenty-two . . .

    Pieces of charred earth flew out from the crater as the force of the Heavens bored through its center yet again . The crater deepened as a result . Zi Yuan thought it didn¡¯t even look like a crater anymore . It was more like a deep burrow now, like some kind of tunnel¡ª

    A constetion of emotions red inside Zi Yuan right then: pride; joy; relief; tion; exhration; excitement; and some strange concoction of the aforementioned emotions .

    "Oh you, clever, clever man . . . "

    Feeling overwhelmed, Zi Yuan had to grip the tree trunk to prevent herself from toppling off the bough . The Heir was using the Heavenly Thunder to dig a tunnel . That was why he kept returning to the same spot after making each dodge¡ªso that the Heavenly Thunder would strike at the same spot again and again until the crater grew into a deep tunnel .

    And at that moment, Zi Yuan knew; she knew what the tunnel was for .

    Containment .

    It was there to contain the final bolt, the bolt which he had deemed impossible to dodge .

    During the simtion, the Heir had observed that the 81st bolt would only transform into an electrified hemisphere after it had struck something solid, like the ground .

    With that being said, if there was a tunnel reaching deep into the ground, and if the Heir was hovering right above the tunnel¡¯s opening before the 81st bolt struck, he might actually be able to survive! The bolt from the sky would just charge straight into the tunnel after the Heir had moved out of its path! And he could . He had already shown during the simtion that he was quick enough to dodge the bolt from the sky . It was just the follow-up bolts that he couldn¡¯t dodge . And this was where the tunneles into y . Would there even be a hemispherical formation of follow-up bolts if the tunnel reached deep enough underground?

    Even if the tunnel failed to contain the follow-up bolts, there would still be a dy before the bolts emerge from the tunnel since they would have to travel arger distance to reach the surface of the ground again . Besides, the follow-up bolts would only be appear after the bolt from the sky had struck something solid . This meant that there would be an even greater dy, since the bolt would have to reach all the way down to the end of the tunnel before it grew into follow-up bolts .

    In fact, the deeper the tunnel was, the greater the dy!

    The Heir had just set a trap for the Heavens . And it was brilliant . It was absolutely, utterly, and irrevocably brilliant . Genius .

    Despite the stress of the situation, Zi Yuan found herself chuckling . The Heir had yet to give up hope . Even now, when everything seemed bleak, he was still fighting, still trying to hoodwink the Heavens .

    Thirty-one . . . thirty-two . . . thirty-three . . .

    Fight . Fight to thest breath .

    From afar, Zi Yuan stood on the bough and watched the spectacle unfold . However this turned out, there wasn¡¯t a single doubt in Zi Yuan¡¯s mind that tonight would go down in the annals of Cultivation as the most epic event to ever take ce . An event in which a man tried to outwit the Heavens .

    Thirty-eight . . . Thirty-nine . . . Forty . . .

    The Heir¡¯s floated towards the opening on the ground and then hovered above it, waiting for the next strike . Above, the celestial vortex churned and shed . The Heir stood firm like a golden beacon amidst a sea of threat and peril .

    Would the beacon prevail?

    Or would it be quenched by the Heavens¡¯ wrath and dim into oblivion?

 Chapter 250

    Chapter 250

    <h4>Zi Yuan¡¯s Resolve</h4>

    (T/N: Rmended soundtrack starts ying; see trackbel 250_t1)

    The Heavens raged on, unleashing its power upon the object of its fury . But again and again, the Heir eluded his executioner: evading; sidestepping; dodging; clinging on to the thread of life .

    Fifty-one . . . Fifty-two . . . Fifty-three . . .

    Up in the sky, the vortex of clouds had acquired a vibrant shade of violet . Blue sparks shed sporadically at the center of the vortex; the eye of the storm blinked .

    It was during the sixtieth bolt that everything went horribly and sickeningly wrong . As the Heir went down on one knee, Zi Yuan¡¯s heart leaped up to her throat . She leaned forward on the bough, squinting hard . No matter how much she wanted to, she couldn¡¯t just fly over towards the Heir to check on him¡ªthat wasn¡¯t part of the n . What on earth happened? He hadn¡¯t been hit! Zi Yuan was sure of he hadn¡¯t been hit! So why was he down?

    Had he given up the fight?

    Come on... Come on... What are you doing! Get up! Get up before the next onees!

    The Heir got up, though his movements were slow and sluggish, and he appeared to be holding on to his left side .

    He did not move back to the tunnel¡¯s opening .

    CRACK!!

    The sixty-first bolt came crashing down from the sky .

    For a split second, Zi Yuan thought it was all over, that all her meticulous nning had failed her . But then the Heir relieved her of that rming thought by morphing into a golden streak . A second crater formed some distance away from the tunnel¡¯s opening .

    The Heir copsed .

    At that moment, seeing the Heir down on all fours, Zi Yuan resigned herself to the inevitability of the situation . It was as though a blindfold had been removed from her eyes, and everything suddenly became crystal clear . The veil of hope and optimism fell away, revealing the harsh truth: even with all his resourcefulness and cleverness, the Heir could not survive this alone .

    The prophecy would not be denied its fulfillment .

    The mirror shall sunder, for the mortal hath sinned .

    Moving her hands quickly, Zi Yuan performed a hand sign . Seek!

    From the edge of the field, the Great Mirror shot out from behind a shrub and hurtled towards the Heir .

    It took Zi Yuan merely a split second¡¯s time to switch to a new hand sign . Hover!

    The Great Mirror stopped moving and hovered directly above the Heir¡¯s form .

    Teleport! White light shed before Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes the moment she switched to another sign . Zi Yuan dropped down from the mirror¡¯s surface andnded right beside the Heir, who was barely conscious .

    The Great Mirror repels all forms of spiritual energy . . .

    Zi Yuan really, really hoped that Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i knew what she was talking about .

    Somewhere above the Great Mirror, the air exploded in a ze of violet and blue, but Zi Yuan didn¡¯t have the time to care as she busied herself with channeling her spiritual energy into the Purple Gold Jade te . A deafening boom sounded above . Much to her horror, the Heir copsed into a heap beside her, and the golden glow of the Jindan¡¯s Aura waned into nothingness .

    Activate!

    The jade te rose upwards, then stopped in midair . A cone of light shot down from the jade te¡¯s bottom surface . Seizing the Heir¡¯s arm, Zi Yuan hauled his body along as she moved towards the circle of light on the ground .

    "Zi Yuan . . . ? Wha¡ª"

    Zi Yuan didn¡¯t hear the rest of his sentence as they were both propelled into the jade te¡¯s simtion .

    ***

    Sixty-six . . . Sixty-seven . . .

    Zi Yuan lowered herself onto the grass with a sigh . For some reason, the strikes seemed to being at a slower pace now . Sixty-seven bolts . Fourteen bolts remaining .

    Zi Yuan was rather confident that the jade te could hold back the next thirteen bolts¡ªnot without suffering damage, of course . It was thest bolt that she was concerned about . The final bolt might be too much for the jade te to handle, even more so considering the amount of physical damage that the jade te would¡¯ve suffered from the prior thirteen bolts . Which was why the sixth and final stage of the n had to be perfectly time . That was the only way they could both get out of here alive .

    Zi Yuan¡¯s hand shot out to steady herself when a huge quake shook the ground . She looked upwards, wondering if the simted sky would copse on them .

    To her relief, it didn¡¯t .

    Sixty-eight...

    There was a groan . Zi Yuan lowered her gaze and looked to her left . The Heir was slowlying to .

    "Good," Zi Yuan said . "You¡¯re awake . . . "

    "What the hell happened?" He slowly sat up, then began ncing around . Then, he froze . His eyes snapped to hers . "T- This is the simtion . . . "

    A loud crash sounded above, and the ground shook once again .

    Sixty-nine . . .

    "What happened back there?" Zi Yuan repeated his question . "You were doing so well just now . "

    "Bad luck, I guess? I don¡¯t know . . . " The Heir shook his head . "I just know that I felt pain right after I dodged the sixtieth bolt . It probably grazed me or something . " He touched his left side with his hand . "I think the Jindan¡¯s Aura took the brunt of it, but it still hurt like hell . " He sighed . "I almost passed out . "

    Zi Yuan sighed . "Guess it can¡¯t be helped, then . " She nced at him briefly . "You did good . " She looked towards him again . This time she didn¡¯t look away but held his gaze instead . "That strategy would¡¯ve worked . " She smiled . "That tunnel thing, I mean . "

    The Heir wasn¡¯t in the mood to revel in his cleverness, if the serious look on his face was any indication . "The jade te¡¯s gonna be destroyed, isn¡¯t it?"

    Something tugged inside Zi Yuan¡¯s chest . The jade te wasn¡¯t the only thing that would be destroyed tonight . Zi Yuan was pretty sure that the Great Mirror had already been destroyed, otherwise the jade te wouldn¡¯t even have been struck .

    "Don¡¯t worry about it," Zi Yuan said, trying everything not to let her emotions show .

    "Again . . . " The Heir groaned and let his shoulders sagged . "Because of my weakness, you end up losing something precious to you . Again . "

    Another quake tore through their surroundings .

    Seventy . . .

    "It was my choice, Li Yundong," Zi Yuan said in a sharp tone . "If you respect me at all, then please respect my choice . "

    Another deafening boom sounded . The ground tremored .

    Seventy-one . . .

    The Heir stared wordlessly at the sky .

    Zi Yuan sighed inwardly, thankful that he had decided to let the subject drop . She really didn¡¯t want to dwell on the impending loss of her magical objects, the two most important items that she had inherited from Master .

    The Heir¡¯s gaze went from the sky to her face . "So what¡¯s the n?"

    "When thest bolt hits, I will sw¡ª" She was interrupted by a loud boom in the sky . Seventy-two . She held the Heir¡¯s gaze . "When thest bolt hits, I will switch the jade te into absorption mode . "

    "Absorption mode?"

    Zi Yuan nodded . "The jade te will start absorbing all spiritual energy it detects in its vicinity . " Zi Yuan looked at the Heir pointedly . "The timing has to be perfect . I have to switch the te into absorption mode before it gets destroyed by thest bolt . " She paused . "And I will only transport us back into the real world after the absorption mode has been activated . "

    Recognition shone in the Heir¡¯s wide eyes . "Because that¡¯s the only way we can get out safely . " The Heir paused to study her face . "You¡¯re gonna let the jade te absorb the follow-up bolts so that we won¡¯t get hit once we¡¯re out . "

    "Yes . . . "

    A loud st drew Zi Yuan¡¯s gaze to the sky . Their surroundings tremored hard .

    Seventy-three . . .

    Zi Yuan returned her gaze to the Heir¡¯s face . "But just to be safe, we¡¯ll fly away from the te as fast as we can the moment we¡¯re transported out, is that clear?"

    The Heir nodded silently .

    "Oh, and another thing . " Zi Yuan waited until she had the Heir¡¯s attention . "When we¡¯re flying awayter, we have to cling to each other and then fly with everything we¡¯ve got . "

    The Heir frowned . "Cling to each . . . " Understanding shed in his eyes . "Right . That way, the propulsion force wille from both of us . " He nodded . "It¡¯ll increase our speed since our body weights are pretty much negligible . "

    "Yes . "

    The Heir smiled and shook his head . "Smart . . . "

    "We also have to agree on the direction we¡¯ll both be flying towards . " Zi Yuan paused . "I say we just fly forward . "

    "Agreed . " The Heir nodded . "The n sounds solid . "

    "Let¡¯s just hope that we¡¯re both still alive by the end of this," Zi Yuan muttered .

    The ground shook again . Seventy-four . . .

    "How many bolts have struck already?" The Heir looked from the sky towards Zi Yuan . "Did you keep count?"

    "Thatst one was the seventy-fourth bo¡ª" Another loud boom sounded . Zi Yuan gave the Heir a wry smile . "Seventy-five . "

    Nothing else was said until the seventy-ninth bolt had struck .

    Zi Yuan rose to full height . "We have to get ready now . "

    The Heir stood up with a loud groan . Zi Yuan¡¯s heart instantly went out to the man . That hit must¡¯ve done a number to his body even though it was just a graze .

    BOOM! Eighty . . .

    "Hang on to me!" Zi Yuan snapped . "Now!"

    The Heirplied and put an arm around her waist .

    Zi Yuan performed a quick hand sign, and the jade te¡¯s absorption mode came alive in an instant . She switched to another hand sign and waited .

    "You¡¯ll experience a feeling of weightlessness when the transportation begins," Zi Yuan said without taking her eyes off the sky . "As soon as that feeling was gone, hang on to me and fly forward as fast as you can . Got it?"

    "Yeah . "

    They waited, waited, and waited . Not once did Zi Yuan take her eyes off the sky .

    BOOM! Transport!

    The weightlessnesssted only a split second .

    The moment Zi Yuan felt the weight of the Heir against her body, she activated her Yin Spirit and flew as fast as she could . For the following few seconds, Zi Yuan¡¯s world consisted only of blue, violet, and white . She didn¡¯t care . She kept flying forward and never looked back .

    "Slow!" Zi Yuan yelled .

    When the wind stopped whipping against her face, Zi Yuan turned her head to look at the Heir .

    The Heir gave her a nod, and their bodies drifted apart after that .

    "Over here," Zi Yuan said, pointing at the same tree she¡¯d been standing on earlier .

    When they reached the tree, the Heir copied Zi Yuan¡¯s action andnded atop thergest bough of the tree . Zi Yuan shifted on the bough and angled her body towards the field . There wasn¡¯t much destruction to be seen, at least not on the surface . Thanks to the Heir¡¯s ster hoodwinking abilities, most of the damage was subterranean .

    Up in the sky, the clouds were beginning to drift apart .

    "I- It¡¯s . . . It¡¯s over," the Heir whispered beside her .

    "Yes . . . " Zi Yuan sighed . "Yes, it¡¯s over . "

    The mirror shall sunder, for the mortal hath sinned .

    The mortal had sinned .

    And the mirror had sundered .

    It was over .

 Chapter 251

    Chapter 251

    <h4>Zi Yuan¡¯s Faith</h4>

    Zi Yuan dragged her feet into Hongling¡¯s apartment . Ambivalent feelings had prevailed over her usual poise, over cold logic, but Zi Yuan was too tired to care . She just wanted some time alone to lick her wounds .

    It was the right thing to do . . . . I did the right thing .

    Everything was falling to ce now: Master¡¯s abstruse words all those years ago; the fact that Master had left the Purple Gold Jade te and the Great Mirror in her care instead of giving them to sh¨©b¨®¡¯ .

    Zi Yuan¡¯s knees bumped into the edge of the dining table . She paused in front of the table and loosened her grip, feeling the strength leave the lengths of her fingers . A series of clinks and two loud cks followed the sudden lightening of her hands . Zi Yuan sank into the chair and rested her elbows on the table .

    Shards of the Great Mirror stared back at her from the table . Amidst the broken shards,y the two broken halves of the Purple Gold Jade te .

    The Purple Gold Jade te, once a vibrant and glorious shade of purple, was now no different from an ordinary piece of rock .

    Two pieces of rock .

    Green light red .

    Zi Yuan looked towards the balcony . Hongling leaped down from the railing andnded on the balcony . TAP! TAP! TAP! The sliding door shook, but didn¡¯t open; Zi Yuan had locked it due to her desire to be alone tonight .

    With a sigh, Zi Yuan rose from the chair and padded towards the sliding door .

    The taps turned into insistent bangs .

    "Zi Yuan ji¨§jie! Zi Yuan ji¨§jie!"

    Patience had never been Hongling¡¯s strong suit .

    Zi Yuan unlocked the door with Qi Kinesis and leaned her hips against the couch . She was so, so tired tonight . She didn¡¯t think she had been this tired before . A loud crash sounded when the sliding door flung open .

    Hongling came charging into the apartment .

    Zi Yuan nearly had the wind knocked out of her when Hongling barreled into her and enveloped her in a tight hug . The poor girl was in tears .

    rm coursed through Zi Yuan .

    "Hongling, what¡ª"

    "I was so worried!" Hongling wailed . "I came back as quickly as I could after I felt the Heavenly Thunder¡¯s presence! And you weren¡¯t picking up your phone! And . . . And I . . . "

    A tide of affection flushed the feeling of dread from Zi Yuan¡¯s system . Hongling was just worried about her .

    "Hey . . . It¡¯s okay . . . " Zi Yuan stroked Hongling¡¯s head . "It¡¯s alright . We both made it out alive . "

    Hongling sniffed and nced up at Zi Yuan tentatively . Zi Yuan smiled at the girl . "He survived . The divine punishment is over . "

    Hongling¡¯s eyes widenedically . The fact that her face was tear-stained made her dumbfounded expression even funnier . A chuckle escaped Zi Yuan¡¯s lips, easing some of the heaviness in her heart .

    "H- He pulled it off? B- But... but," Hongling stammered . "That¡¯s amazing . . . "

    "Mm . " Zi Yuan smiled . "You should¡¯ve seen all the clever ideas he came up with . "

    Hongling sniffed and wiped the tears from her face . "Where is he now?"

    "His apartment . Recovering . "

    Hongling nodded a few times . "I was so worried . " Hongling wiped her cheeks again . "You weren¡¯t picking up your phone . And I thought . . . I thought that you . . . " Hongling¡¯s face crumpled again . "I thought you were gone, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . "

    Zi Yuan pulled her prot¨¦g¨¦ into her arms . "You didn¡¯t have to worry, you know . I knew what I was doing . I had a n . "

    "How could I not worry!" Hongling cried . "I... I really don¡¯t know what I would if something happened to¡ª"

    Hongling cut off her own sentence with a loud gasp .

    Surprised by the girl¡¯s reaction, Zi Yuan pulled away slightly and nced down at Hongling .

    Hongling was staring past Zi Yuan¡¯s shoulders .

    Before Zi Yuan could even get a word out, Hongling was pushing away from her . Hongling stormed towards the dining table .

    "Oh my God . . . " Hongling whispered . "T- These . . . These are . . . " Hongling nced at Zi Yuan .

    Zi Yuan¡¯s heart sank to her toes . She knew it . She knew Hongling would react like this the moment she found out .

    Hongling picked up one of the jade te¡¯s broken pieces .

    "This is... This is the jade te . . . isn¡¯t it?"

    Zi Yuan nodded weakly .

    "And this . . . " Hongling¡¯s hand trembled when she picked up one of the shards . "The Great Mirror . . . "

    Zi Yuan sighed . "Yes . . . It had to be done¡ª"

    "No!!!!!!" The shard and the broken jade scattered across the floor when Hongling crumbled to her knees . The girl burst into tears, screaming and yelling . "No!!!! No!!!!"

    Zi Yuan stepped forward . "Hongling . . . "

    "This . . . This can¡¯t be happening!" Hongling cried, her shoulders trembling wildly as she sobbed . "They¡¯re both gone . . . Oh, God . . . No . . . "

    "Please, listen..." Zi Yuan crouched down beside Hongling . "It had to be done, Hongling . " Zi Yuan reached out to pull Hongling into her arms . "There was no other way¡ª"

    Hongling smacked her hands away .

    "No other way?!" Hongling screamed at Zi Yuan¡¯s face, her eyes shing in anger . "ording to what? Some fancy poem?!"

    Zi Yuan wouldn¡¯t lie . That had hurt . "Hongling¡ª"

    Hongling sprang to her feet . "I can¡¯t believe this," she mumbled . "You chose him above everything else . You chose him . . . "

    Hongling stormed past Zi Yuan .

    "Hongling . . . Please . . . " Zi Yuan rose slowly .

    "You chose him!" Hongling bellowed, spinning around to face her . "You chose him over the sect, sh¨©ji¨§! You . . . You even sacrificed two precious magical objects to save him! You betrayed us!"

    Zi Yuan flinched at thest usation . She had honestly never seen Hongling this angry before .

    "Our sect has been oppressed for nearly a decade, sh¨©ji¨§! A decade!" Hongling screamed . "And now we just lost two of our most powerful magical objects!" Hongling let out a few sobs . "We¡¯re done for, sh¨©ji¨§ . . . The Linggong Sect is done for . . . "

    Hongling wept some more after that, and Zi Yuan let her . The girl needed to let it all out .

    "No, we¡¯re not," Zi Yuan said after a while . "We¡¯re not done for . There¡¯s¡ª"

    "Yes we are!" Hongling roared, stunning Zi Yuan once again . "God! Can¡¯t you see?! The main sect will shut us down for good the moment they realize how weak we¡¯ve be . And it¡¯s all your fault, sh¨©ji¨§! It¡¯s all your fault! You let Master down . "

    The hurt in Zi Yuan¡¯s heart had be impossible to bear . Tonight¡¯s events had already left her feeling raw, forcing her to make two of the most difficult choices in her life . She had already lost two precious things tonight . Her heart couldn¡¯t bear it if she lost Hongling¡¯s trust too .

    "Don¡¯t you think I know that?!" Zi Yuan screamed until her voice cracked . She thought she heard Hongling¡¯s gasped, but she didn¡¯t care . Her knees buckled and she sank down to the floor . "Did you really think it was easy for me?! Have you never considered how I . . . " A sob tore past Zi Yuan¡¯s lips . "Have you never considered how those choices might have hurt me too?" And it did hurt . It still hurt . Everything hurt so much that Zi Yuan just couldn¡¯t take it anymore . Zi Yuan mped a hand over her mouth and let her tears flow . "It pains me to think that you have so little faith in me, Hongling . . . " Even to her own ears, her voice sounded weak . "Did you actually think that my decisions were based on some frivolous whim? That I would sacrifice the mirror and the jade te without good reasons? I . . . "

    Warmth enveloped Zi Yuan¡¯s torso .

    "Say no more, sh¨©ji¨§ . . . Say no more . . . "

    And Zi Yuan said no more . She closed her eyes and leaned into thefort that Hongling was offering . For a long while, Zi Yuan allowed herself to be held . She might have even drifted off a few times, but she didn¡¯t care . She was just so tired .

    "Forgive me, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie," Hongling said in a small voice . "I shouldn¡¯t haveshed out at you . I... I shouldn¡¯t have said those hurtful things to you . . . . I¡¯m an awful sister, a horrible person . " There was a few seconds¡¯ pause . "I hate myself . "

    Zi Yuan shook her head without opening her eyes . "I don¡¯t me you for being angry, Hongling . " She let out a soft sigh . "I haven¡¯t been forting with you . There are . . . There are some things that you don¡¯t yet understand . "

    Afortable silence spread between them, and Zi Yuan wasn¡¯t in a hurry to break it . She needed this, this brief moment offort .

    "I¡¯m sorry, sh¨©ji¨§," Hongling mumbled . "Will you forgive me?"

    Zi Yuan opened her eyes and withdrew from the warmth of Hongling¡¯s embrace . "There is nothing to forgive, Hongling . " She shook her head . "I was... I was too emotional earlier . I¡¯m sorry too . "

    "So was I," Hongling mumbled guiltily .

    Zi Yuan grabbed Hongling¡¯s arm to get her attention . "It¡¯s alright, Hongling . " She looked deep into her prot¨¦g¨¦¡¯s eyes . "But I can exin everything . Will you listen?"

    Hongling nodded .

    They both moved towards the living room after that . Near the couch, Hongling pulled up short . Zi Yuan followed Hongling¡¯s gaze and realized that her prot¨¦g¨¦ was staring at the main body of the Great Mirror whose surface was now covered in cracks . Between those cracksy several missing pieces, the shape of which corresponded to the broken shards she had left on the dining table .

    "Come . " Zi Yuan pulled Hongling towards the armchair . "Sit . "

    Honglingplied and sat down . Zi Yuan grabbed what was left of the Great Mirror and ced it on the coffee table .

    "The mirror shall sunder, for the mortal hath sinned," Zi Yuan said as she took a seat on the couch . Once seated, Zi Yuan stared at the Great Mirror¡¯s cracked surface for a moment . "That¡¯s what Master¡¯s prophecy says . "

    "I know . . . "

    "I figured out its meaning a while back . " Zi Yuan paused . "But I . . . " She sighed . "I didn¡¯t want it to be true . "

    And she had been trying so hard to deny the prophecy¡¯s fulfillment . The amount of hours she had poured into the simtion¡¯s design was proof of that .

    "When?"

    Zi Yuan looked towards Hongling .

    "I mean . . . When did you figure out?" Hongling rified .

    "When Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i told me about the contingencies, I¡ª"

    "Contingencies?" Hongling frowned .

    "The Heir sessfully dodging all 81 bolts was only the best case scenario," Zi Yuan said . "There have to be contingencies in ce in case something goes wrong . " Zi Yuan shook her head . "The forces of the Heavens are too unpredictable . Too vtile . Anything could happen . " Zi Yuan paused in thought . "Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i suggested twost resorts if all else failed . " Zi Yuan looked into Hongling¡¯s eyes . "The Great Mirror repels all forms of magic . That¡¯s what she said . " Zi Yuan sighed . "And I knew right away what she was hinting at . That verse from Master¡¯s poem suddenly made sense as well . "

    "The mirror shall sunder, for the mortal has sinned," Hongling whispered .

    "Yes . " Zi Yuan nodded . "The mortal refers to the Heir . By killing H¨¦ Shao, the Heir has sinned . And . . . And because he has sinned, the mirror needs to break . "

    "But that¡¯s got nothing to do with the jade te," Hongling said, frowning . "Why did the jade te has to be destroyed too?"

    "I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a coincidence that Master left both the jade te and the mirror to me, Hongling," Zi Yuan said, then paused to shake her head . "Knowing Master, I think he left those two items to me because he knew I would need them . And . . . And then there¡¯s also something else that Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i said that night . She told me that thest resort would require me to sacrifice the two items that Master gave me before he passed . "

    "But¡ª" Hongling stared at Zi Yuan for a moment, looking thoroughly baffled . "How on earth did Ao Wushuang know what Master left you before he passed?"

    Zi Yuan smiled wryly . "They must have had some sort of dealing with each other in the past . How else do you think Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i ended up wielding Bahuang?" Zi Yuan paused in thought . "And I suspect . . . "

    "What?"

    "It¡¯s nothing . " Zi Yuan shook her head and sighed . The idea that Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i and Master were past lovers had been brewing inside Zi Yuan¡¯s mind for a while now . Of course, it could be that they were just close friends, but that wasn¡¯t the point .

    The point was that Zi Yuan had no idea that Master and Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i even knew each other . When did they meet? Where did they meet? If Master had been to the Fox Zen School in the past, Zi Yuan didn¡¯t know about it .

    Zi Yuan did notice something, though: Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i was expelled from the Fox Zen School around the same time Master transcended .

    "So you¡¯re saying that... that Master gave Bahuang to Ao Wushuang?"

    Zi Yuan looked towards Hongling, who seemed aghast at the notion that Master would do such a thing . Zi Yuan wouldn¡¯t me Hongling for feeling that way . She herself had felt that way when the idea crossed her mind for the first time . In fact, it was what had led Zi Yuan to believe that Master and Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i were lovers .

    "Yes . I believe so, yes," Zi Yuan answered frankly . "I think... I think he gave her the sword knowing that she would need it at some point . "

    Just like how Master had left the jade te and the mirror to Zi Yuan .

    "Why would Ao Wushuang need the sword?" Hongling said . "For what purpose?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head . "I don¡¯t know . "

    Hongling stared at Zi Yuan for a long while .

    Zi Yuan sighed . "You know how Master was, Hongling . "

    "What¡¯s with all this mystery," Hongling grumbled . "Why not just be upfront from the start?"

    Zi Yuan contemted Hongling¡¯s words . Indeed, she herself had wondered about this .

    "I¡¯m not sure, Hongling," Zi Yuan said in a tone of resignation . "But there has to be a reason he chose secrecy . I think..." Zi Yuan nced at Hongling . "I think he knew something about the future . " Zi Yuan sighed . "It feels like we¡¯re all part of some kind of grand n . "

    "Yeah," Hongling mumbled . "You said it yourself just now . The prophecy¡¯s fulfillment is inevitable . "

    Zi Yuan chuckled humorlessly . "Believe it or not, I actually refused to ept the prophecy¡¯s inevitability back then . "

    Hongling looked up in surprise .

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Oh yes, I did . " Zi Yuan chuckled darkly . "I actually tried to prevent the prophecy froming true . I didn¡¯t want the Great Mirror to break . And I was willing to do everything in my power to make sure it didn¡¯t happen . " Zi Yuan looked towards Hongling . "I poured everything into making Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i¡¯s first solution work . "

    "The simtion . "

    "Yes," Zi Yuan said with a nod . "Nothing would have to be sacrificed if the Heir could dodge all 81 bolts, at least not in the context of the divine punishment . " Zi Yuan shook her head . "The mirror could still break for reasons other than the divine punishment . "

    "I see," Hongling said .

    Zi Yuan looked at Hongling tiredly . "And I tried, Hongling . I really did . The Heir did too . We tried so hard . " She sighed . "And it nearly worked . We were so, so close to seeding . "

    "How many bolts did he manage to . . . ?"

    "He failed at the 60th . It wasn¡¯t a direct hit, but a graze instead . But he was still hurt pretty badly . I had to step in after that . " Zi Yuan paused in thought . "But he did manage to dodge 80 bolts inside the simtion . We didn¡¯t have enough time to figure out how to dodge thest one . " Zi Yuan chuckled sadly . "He actually confronted the real thing without having a single clue how to survive the final bolt . "

    "That¡¯s why you went after him," Hongling said in a small voice . "With the mirror and the jade te and all . . . "

    Zi Yuan shook her head . "I would¡¯ve gone after him even if he managed to dodge all bolts inside the simtion . " Zi Yuan paused in thought . "I guess . . . I guess deep down I already suspected the prophecy¡¯s inevitability, and I was afraid . I was afraid that the prophecy woulde true . " Zi Yuan chuckled self-deprecatingly . "Which it did . "

    "I never knew you doubted the prophecy, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . You were always so . . . " Hongling¡¯s face scrunched up . "So . . . "

    "Obsessed with it?"

    Hongling blushed slightly . "Y- Yeah . . . "

    "Of course I had my doubts, Hongling," Zi Yuan said with a smile . "I doubt it all the time . "

    Hongling frowned, confusion spreading across her face . "Why?"

    "Well . One of the verses implies that the Heir is my soulmate," Zi Yuan said . "And yet . . . "

    The look of confusion on Hongling¡¯s face deepened . "Do you... Do you feel anything for him, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head .

    Hongling¡¯s confused expression turned into a look of surprise . "Nothing? Not even a little?"

    "Well . He¡¯s a close friend, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re saying . "

    "Oh . " Hongling paused in thought . "I just thought... Well... since you were always trying so hard to help him and all . . . I thought..." Hongling shrugged . "You know . "

    "I knew that¡¯s how it must look like to you," Zi Yuan said in resigned tone . "After all, you were alwaysining to be about how I was constantly taking his side . But things aren¡¯t that simple, Hongling . " She sighed . "Believe me when I say that I¡¯m helping him for far more important reasons than some mindless infatuation . " Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes darted to Hongling¡¯s face . "You know me better than that, Hongling . I always have my reasons . "

    "Reasons thatpelled you to sacrifice the jade te and the mirror?"

    Zi Yuan looked into Hongling¡¯s eyes . "Yes . "

    They stared at each other for a moment until Hongling suddenly looked away .

    "And those same reasons led you to believe that there¡¯s still hope for the Linggong Sect?" Hongling asked .

    "Yes . "

    Hongling stared at her in mild surprise . "Will you exin it to me, then?"

    "Will you listen?"

    "Of course . " Hongling frowned . "That¡¯s why I asked¡ª"

    "Will you really listen?" Zi Yuan quirked her brow . "With an open mind?"

    Hongling blushed . "Yes . . . "

    Zi Yuan scooted sideways on the couch . Then, keeping her eyes on Hongling, Zi Yuan patted the space she had just vacated . "Come here . "

    Honglingplied instantly and took the seat beside her .

    Zi Yuan wrapped her prot¨¦g¨¦¡¯s hands in her own . "Yes . It¡¯s true that we lost two magical objects tonight . But we gained something else . "

    Hongling looked utterly puzzled .

    "An ally, Hongling," Zi Yuan said with a pause . "We gained a powerful ally . "

    For a long while, Hongling sat there wordlessly, staring off into space .

    Zi Yuan took that as a sign that the girl wasn¡¯t convinced .

    "What if I tell you that the amount of talent the Heir possesses surpasses even Master¡¯s?"

    Hongling¡¯s eyes snapped to Zi Yuan¡¯s face . "W- What?"

    Zi Yuan held Hongling¡¯s gaze for a moment . "What about me? Do you think I¡¯m talented?"

    Hongling nodded fervently .

    "The Heir will far surpass me," Zi Yuan said in a serious tone . "That¡¯s how much talent he possesses . "

    "What makes you so sure?" Hongling said . "It could just be the Jindan, you know?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head . "You haven¡¯t seen the stuff he did, Hongling . " Zi Yuan eyed Hongling seriously . "He mastered all the techniques in the Mahamudra Tantra in just hours . "

    "What!" Hongling gaped . "Y- Y- You mean . . . t-the E- Esoteric Sect¡¯s . . . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "In Tibet, he sliced through the Ophidian Whip with atha¡¯s 12th mudra like it was nothing, and then with atha¡¯s 2nd mudra, he managed to hold back two Beads of Gore simultaneously . " Zi Yuan paused emphatically . "And he hadn¡¯t even begun his training in the Shentong phase yet at the time . "

    "W- Wow . . . "

    Zi Yuan smiled, but said nothing .

    "Wow . . . Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . . . That¡¯s just . . . " Hongling looked at her with wide eyes . "Wow . "

    Zi Yuan¡¯s expression sobered . "He would¡¯ve died if I hadn¡¯t sacrificed the jade te and the Great Mirror tonight . And it would be such a waste . His death, I mean . " Zi Yuan ran a hand through her hair . "A waste of talent . A waste of potential . A waste of everything . "

    Zi Yuan felt Hongling gripping her hands tighter . The gesture was soothing, so Zi Yuan smiled at the girl in appreciation .

    "Consider, Hongling," Zi Yuan continued, "what would happen if he died tonight . The Jindan would be lost . His talents would be lost . " Zi Yuan paused and turned to Hongling . "The Fan of Seven Treasures would be lost too . " Zi Yuan smiled at Hongling¡¯s ck-jawed expression . "Oh, don¡¯t look so surprised, Hongling . You and I both know that only a man can wield the Fan of Seven Treasures to its fullest potential . "

    After a moment of silence, Hongling lowered her gaze .

    "Mm," Hongling mumbled, staring down at herp .

    "And by helping him survive, we have gained his allegiance . " Zi Yuan lifted the younger girl¡¯s chin . "And along with it, the Renyuan Jindan, his talents, and the Fan of Seven Treasures . "

    "You¡¯re that sure?"

    Zi Yuan raised her brow questioningly .

    "You¡¯re that sure that we have his allegiance?" Hongling asked . "You have that much faith in him?"

    Zi Yuan continued to stare at Hongling until the poor girl started squirming in her seat .

    "W- What?"

    Zi Yuan arched her brow higher . "Have you not noticed one of his most striking qualities?"

    "You mean his okay-ish cooking skills?" Hongling mumbled .

    Zi Yuan smiled at thement . "No . I meant his loyalty, Hongling . " Zi Yuan gave Hongling a few moments to chew over her words . "He¡¯s loyal to his friends, loyal to his lover . "

    Hongling snorted .

    Zi Yuan turned and gave Hongling a strange look .

    "Loyal to his lover?" Hongling said . "Seriously?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s brows rose to her hairline . "Are you saying that he isn¡¯t?"

    "But he¡¯s constantly surrounded by women!" Hongling protested . "Back on campus, I saw¡ª"

    Zi Yuan chuckled . "You saw what you wanted to see, Hongling . "

    Hongling pouted adorably . "I know what I saw," she grumbled . "He was with those women . . . "

    "And what, may I ask, was he doing with those women? Chatting? Sharing a meal?" Zi Yuan rolled her eyes . "Come on, Hongling . Over the months we¡¯ve spent with him, has he made a pass at you? At me?" Zi Yuan quirked a brow . "And what about Zhou Qin? The girl was practically throwing herself at him . Did you see him reciprocate?"

    Hongling stared wordlessly at herp, fiddling with some invisible lint on her sleeve .

    "You said that he was constantly surrounded by women . But doesn¡¯t that just prove my point?" Zi Yuan paused . "He has so many opportunities, you see? So many women are ready to jump his bones the moment he says the word . And yet we saw him going crazy over a slip of paper left to him by Su Chan . " Zi Yuan hadn¡¯t even told Hongling yet about the heartfelt voice message that Li Yundong recorded for Su Chan before he left to face the divine punishment .

    Hongling hummed nomittally .

    "All that proves just how much he loves Su Chan," Zi Yuan said, pausing in thought . Secondster, she chuckled . "He even gave me a lecture on love the other day . He said something about how love can, I quote, inspire greatness . " Zi Yuan paused upon noticing Hongling¡¯s confusion . "That was . . . " Zi Yuan sighed and waved a few times . "You weren¡¯t there . "

    "So um... The prophecy . . . "

    Hongling sounded so tentative right then that Zi Yuan found herself doing a double take .

    "Yes?"

    Hongling looked away and went back to fiddling her sleeve . "The verses are reallying true . . . "

    "Yes," Zi Yuan said . "As far as I know, yes . " Zi Yuan let out a wistful sigh . "I¡¯ve told you several times already, Hongling . There are forces beyond our control at y here . . . "

    Indeed, Zi Yuan did not think for a second that atha¡¯s appearance on the balcony that night was a mere coincidence . As a matter of fact, Zi Yuan was pretty sure that the term coincidence wasn¡¯t even applicable to the Heir .

    "But Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . . . " Hongling shot her a tentative nce . "Wouldn¡¯t that mean . . . That you¡¯re destined to . . . " Another tentative nce . "You know, fall in love with him?"

    Zi Yuan sighed inwardly . Admittedly, that was a distinct possibility . She wouldn¡¯t lie, not to herself, anyway . "Perhaps . . . " She cleared her throat . "Perhapspleting my soul was meant as some kind of metaphor? Perhaps . . . " Zi Yuan shrugged . "Perhaps the prophecy was referring to the Heir¡¯s soul, not mine?"

    "But you told me Master said¡ª"

    "I know what Master said," Zi Yuan said a bit too quickly .

    Silence spread between them .

    "I just . . . I... I don¡¯t want you to get hurt," Hongling said weakly .

    Zi Yuan reached over and patted Hongling¡¯s head . "Thank you for your concern, Hongling . " Zi Yuan gave Hongling a smile . "But it doesn¡¯t matter . " Zi Yuan shrugged . "Some things are just meant to happen . We just have to ept them . "

    "Let me guess?" Hongling mumbled . "Because there are forces beyond our control?"

    Zi Yuan pinched Hongling¡¯s cheek . "That doesn¡¯t apply to all cases, so don¡¯t use that as an excuse to start cking off, okay?"

    "Fine . . . "

    "But in the Heir¡¯s case? Yes . I¡¯m convinced that there are unknown powers at y . " Zi Yuan paused in thought . "Don¡¯t you find it odd that these things keep happening to him? That everything just sort off . . . "

    Zi Yuan frowned and searched for the right words .

    "Fell into ce?" Hongling supplied .

    "Exactly . " Zi Yuan nodded, satisfied with Hongling¡¯s choice of words .

    Afortable silence passed between them .

    "The other night, I came face to face with Lord Ac," Zi Yuan remarked .

    Hongling whipped her head around so quickly that Zi Yuan wondered if the girl had twisted her neck . "Wha¡ª Budong Mingwang?! How?!"

    "Long story short? Lord Ac is the Fan of Seven Treasure¡¯s guardian deity . " Zi Yuan paused to relive the memory of that night . After a while, she shook her head . "None of these urrences are coincidences . It¡¯s like everything is leading up to something . . . " Zi Yuan stared off into space for a moment . "Some sort of greater purpose . . . "

    "Maybe it¡¯s in the prophecy?" Hongling said . "Have you figured out what the other verses mean?"

    "No . . . " Zi Yuan shook her head, then gave Hongling a smile . "It has been proven again and again that the meaning of those verses will only be revealed when the time is right . "

    Hongling sighed . "So you have faith in him, then? The Heir . " Hongling gave her a look . "You really think he will help us?"

    Zi Yuan sighed . "I have no doubt that he would if we ask . " Zi Yuan waved her hand . "Putting aside the affairs about the Linggong Sect, I still think it¡¯s good to ally ourselves with him . " She looked at Hongling . "In many ways, I think he¡¯ll make us better Cultivators . "

    "Um, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . . . About the Linggong Sect . . . "

    Zi Yuan frowned . "Yes?"

    "There¡¯s . . . " Hongling gave her a grave look, then sighed . "We¡¯re facing a serious crisis . And . . . I¡¯m afraid we¡¯re going to have to pick sides here . "

    "Pick sides?" Zi Yuan frowned and shifted on the couch . "What do you mean?"

    "The Fox Zen School is under attack, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . And the main sect wants us to join the attack . " Hongling gave her a pointed look . "Well, to be exact, they want you to join them . "

    Zi Yuan stared at Hongling for a few seconds .

    "Tell me everything . "

 Chapter 252

    Chapter 252

    <h4>Crisis</h4>

    Unease and apprehension gnawed at Ruan Hongling as she continued to stare at her surrogate sister . Poise andposure had once again returned to Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s countenance . The orange glow of the apartment¡¯s lighting cast soft shadows over Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s delicate features, heightening her beauty . It was hard to believe that this was the same woman who had all but broken down in tears in her arms half an hour ago .

    Ruan Hongling tried not to think too much about the argument just now, about how her tirade must have hurt Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s feelings . Guilt and shame weren¡¯t the only things Ruan Hongling had felt by the end of the argument; there were also feelings of shock and disbelief .

    Over the years, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie had always seemed so self-possessed, so collected . Never in her life had Ruan Hongling seen Zi Yuan ji¨§jie break down in tears . Never . Zi Yuan ji¨§jie didn¡¯t even shed a tear (at least not in front of Ruan Hongling) when they both found out about Master¡¯s passing ten years ago, and that was saying something .

    Ruan Hongling lowered her head in shame .

    How Ruan Hongling wished she could turn back time and take it all back: all the poisonous words she had spouted in anger; worst, her angry usations of Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯sck of loyalty to the sect and to Master .

    Ruan Hongling loathed her own behavior now . She hated her violent temper, and herck of maturity . She hated the fact that it had taken Zi Yuan ji¨§jie falling to her knees in tears before she finally realized that she needed to grow up .

    Ruan Hongling hated herself .

    She had to change . She had to grow up before she became an even greater burden to Zi Yuan ji¨§jie .

    "So the members of the Great Six areunching a joint-assault on Mount Tianlong..."

    Ruan Hongling lifted her gaze from herp and found Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s studying her pensively . Still reeling from everything that had happened and struggling with her guilt, Ruan Hongling could only nod .

    "But you checked the other day . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s eyes narrowed . "You told me that the Fox Zen School was gone . "

    Ruan Hongling snapped out of her emotional daze .

    Now wasn¡¯t the time to wallow in self-loathing and guilt . There would be time for thatter . A lot of time .

    "I did," Ruan Hongling said, nodding fervently . "There were no signs of the school, I swear . "

    "Well . The Great Six clearly believes that the Fox Zen School is still there . " One of Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s brows arched . "A tip? From someone within the Fox Zen School, perhaps?"

    Ruan Hongling nodded . "When I left the meeting, everyone was still waiting for some kind of signal from one of their associates . "

    "A signal..." Zi Yuan ji¨§jie gave her a brief nce . "To start the attack, you mean . "

    Ruan Hongling nodded . "The exact location of the school wille with the signal . "

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie leaned back against the couch with a sigh . Her eyes were closed, but Ruan Hongling knew that she still had sh¨©ji¨§¡¯s full attention . "And did they reveal the identity of this associate?"

    "No . . . " Ruan Hongling hesitated . She nced at Zi Yuan ji¨§jie, whose eyes were still closed . "Could it . . . Do you think it¡¯s Mo Ahshi?"

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie waved her hand casually . "Of course it is Mo Ahshi . " Longshes parted to reveal a pair of beautiful eyes . "The real question is why . What¡¯s her motive?"

    "To . . . Take over the school?"

    "Unlikely . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie shook her head . "She didn¡¯t have to resort to such measures if her goal is to take over the school . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie paused to look at Ruan Hongling . "Mo Ahshi has the most seniority among all the other disciples of the Fox Zen School . And her reputation is ster . With Ao Wushuang expelled, she¡¯s bound to be the next head anyway . So why go through all this trouble?"

    "Mmm . " Ruan Hongling nodded .

    "No, Hongling... Taking over the school isn¡¯t the goal here . " There was a pause . "I think it¡¯s the opposite . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie crossed one leg over the other . "She¡¯s obviously trying to destroy the Fox Zen School . But why? What¡¯s her real motive?"

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s analysis made sense . Why would Mo Ahshi coborate with the Great Six tounch an assault on the same school that she was trying to take over?

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie suddenly rose from the couch and began pacing back and forth . Wariness crept into Ruan Hongling as she followed her shijie¡¯s movements with her eyes .

    "Z- Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . . . ?"

    Her sh¨©ji¨§ did not stop pacing . "Before her sudden departure, Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i asked me something strange . Back then, she asked if I¡¯d been aware of any recent changes in the Zhengyi School . . . "

    Confusion filled Ruan Hongling¡¯s mind . "What?"

    "She said that I would find out about it eventually..." Sh¨©ji¨§ kept pacing . "This must be it . She was referring to the attack . " Sh¨©ji¨§ suddenly turned around to face Ruan Hongling . "So she knew . . . "

    Ruan Hongling stared at Zi Yuan ji¨§jie, trying everything in her power not to let her bafflement show . Zi Yuan ji¨§jie had never told her any of this before .

    "Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i knew about the attack," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie said a few secondster . "That would exin her sudden return to the Fox Zen School and why she told me not to contact her . " Realization shone in Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s eyes . "She must¡¯ve gone back to defend the Fox Zen School after she learned of the attack . "

    Hey... Wait a minute...

    Something niggled at the back of Ruan Hongling¡¯s mind . A discrepancy . A contrariety resulting from something she had overheard at the guesthouse .

    Ruan Hongling rose from the couch and walked over towards her sh¨©ji¨§ .

    "Um . . . Zi Yuan ji¨§jie... I forgot to mention something just now," Ruan Hongling said tentatively .

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie turned around, her prating eyes scanning Ruan Hongling¡¯s face in a way that made Ruan Hongling¡¯s steps falter .

    "It¡¯s... It¡¯s about Ao Wushuang," Ruan Hongling said, lowering her voice into a whisper . "They¡¯re saying that she ran off . "

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s eyes widened just a tad . A momentter, Ruan Hongling found herself being pulled back towards the couch .

    "Where did you hear that?" Zi Yuan ji¨§jie whispered when they were once again seated side-by-side on the couch .

    Ruan Hongling shifted slightly on the couch so that she was facing her sh¨©ji¨§ . "Back at the guesthouse . "

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie stared at her, clearly expecting her to say more .

    Ruan Hongling paused in thought, searching her memory for more information to reveal . "I was . . . I was snooping around a little, coz I wanted to find out more about the attack . At one point, I overhead a group of Cultivators talking about the threats they might encounter during the assault . One of them mentioned Ao Wushuang¡¯s name, but then the others were quick to dismiss the idea . " Ruan Hongling paused to recall the exact words she had overheard . "They said that Ao Wushuang got scared and ran off . "

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie had grown extremely quiet, though Ruan Hongling knew from the sharpness in shijie¡¯s eyes and the knit in her brows that she was deep in thought .

    Ruan Hongling decided to stop talking and leave Zi Yuan ji¨§jie to her thoughts .

    "That makes no sense, Hongling . "

    Ruan Hongling tensed up but said nothing .

    "What do you make of it?" Zi Yuan ji¨§jie asked after a while .

    "Hmm?"

    "That rumor about Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i running off because she got scared," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie rified . "What do you make of it?"

    Ruan Hongling did a double take . Had Zi Yuan ji¨§jie just asked for her opinion?

    Ruan Hongling cleared her throat . "Honestly? I don¡¯t buy it . " Ruan Hongling shook her head . "Ao Wushuang doesn¡¯t seem like the type who would run away . " Ruan Hongling looked towards her sh¨©ji¨§ . "I think something else is going on here . "

    "That is very astute, Hongling . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie nodded at her approvingly . "Well done . "

    Ruan Hongling fought hard not to blush .

    "Indeed, Ao Wushuang is no coward," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie continued . "Only a fool would believe that story . "

    Well . That was... interesting . So by Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s standards, nearly all the Cultivators gathered at the guesthouse were fools .

    "So... Um, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie... What do you think happen¡ª" Ruan Hongling stopped talking when Zi Yuan ji¨§jie suddenly raised her palm .

    "How certain is the Great Six regarding Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i¡¯s absence?"

    "Um . . . " Ruan Hongling thought hard about everything she¡¯d observed back at the guesthouse, including her interactions with the Cultivators gathered there . "Wait . I just remembered something . " Ruan Hongling pped her hands together and shifted closer to Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . "I got curious after I overheard the conversation about Ao Wushuang, so I asked Zhang Tianh¨¦ about it afterwards . " Ruan Hongling stole a nce at Zi Yuan ji¨§jie, who appeared to be listening to her with rapt attention . "I casually brought up Ao Wushuang in our conversation . And then I asked him if he thought Ao Wushuang was going to cause problems for the joint assault . " Ruan Hongling held Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s gaze . "He gave me this confident smile and told me that Ao Wushuang isn¡¯t going to be a problem because¡ªI quote¡ªshe has already been taken care of . "

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s frown deepened .

    Ruan Hongling cleared her throat . "When I asked him what made him so sure, he told me that the intel came from an inside source . "

    "These are deep waters, Hongling . . . Deep waters . . . "

    A tight knot formed inside Ruan Hongling¡¯s stomach right then . The grim look on Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s face unnerved her to no end . What exactly had Zi Yuan ji¨§jie glimpsed from these events that she herself had missed?

    Before Ruan Hongling could voice out her questions, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie seized her shoulders .

    "I need you to think, Hongling," said Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . "When you were there at the guesthouse, did you hear any mentions of Bahuang?"

    Ruan Hongling froze .

    Huh . . . Come to think of it...

    There were no mentions of Bahuang, which was very odd indeed . It was true that, before this, nobody from the Great Six (other than Ruan Hongling and Zi Yuan ji¨§jie, of course) knew that Ao Wushuang was in possession of Bahuang . But things were different now; now the Great Six had someone inside the Fox Zen School . If Mo Ahshi was spying for the Great Six, wouldn¡¯t she have mentioned something about Bahuang? It was, after all, a vital piece of information that could affect the oue of the attack . So why had Mo Ahshi neglected to mention it to her associates?

    "Hongling?" Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s voice jolted Ruan Hongling out of her thoughts, reminding her that she had yet to answer Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s question .

    "Um . . . No . " Ruan Hongling shook her head . "There were no mentions of Bahuang . "

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie grabbed Ruan Hongling¡¯s shoulders again .

    "Are you certain?" The urgency in Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s tone rivalled the intensity in her eyes . "Are you absolutely certain that nobody mentioned Bahuang? Not even subtly?"

    Ruan Hongling nodded firmly . "I¡¯m positive, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . When you didn¡¯t pick up your phone, I stayed at the guesthouse and mingled . "

    "For how long?"

    Ruan Hongling nced up at the ceiling for a moment . "An hour, I think?"

    "And you managed to interact with everyone there?"

    "Well . . . I didn¡¯t do much talking, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re saying . " Ruan Hongling stole a nce at her mentor . "Most of the time I was just listening . . . " Ruan Hongling winced . "Did... Did I not do enough?"

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie released Ruan Hongling¡¯s shoulders and exhaled lengthily . "You did really well, Hongling . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie leaned back against the couch . "You acted as my eyes and ears . That¡¯s more than I could ask for given the circumstances . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie shook her head . "You werepletely in the dark when you went in, yet you still managed to gather a significant amount of useful intel . "

    "What do you think is going here, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie?" Ruan Hongling sighed . "I must confess that I¡¯m stumped . I honestly have no idea what to make of any of this . "

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie was silent for a moment .

    "The Great Six¡¯s ignorance regarding Bahuang no doubt strikes you as peculiar?"

    Ruan Hongling nodded slowly . "Mo Ahshi is their spy . Why didn¡¯t she say anything?"

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie chuckled humorlessly . "That would cease to be a mystery if you consider the possibility that Mo Ahshi wants the sword for herself . "

    Anger rose inside Ruan Hongling . "But that¡¯s . . . "

    That sword wasn¡¯t hers to im!

    Ruan Hongling took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down . They didn¡¯t need another tirade from Ruan Hongling right now .

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie rose from the couch . "This is bad, Hongling . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie started pacing again . "Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i¡¯s missing status is very concerning . "

    Ruan Hongling stared at Zi Yuan ji¨§jie for a moment . "Maybe . . . Maybe Ao Wushuang really did leave, but not because she was a coward . Maybe she left the Fox Zen School for some other reason?"

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie shook her head . "Unlikely . "

    Ruan Hongling frowned . "How so?"

    "She would¡¯ve contacted me if she really left the Fox Zen School . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie raised a brow . "Don¡¯t you think she would be interested in knowing the Heir¡¯s progress?"

    A sinking sensation formed at the pit of Ruan Hongling¡¯s stomach . "So you¡¯re saying . . . "

    "Yes . I fear that something untoward has happened to Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i . "

    Ruan Hongling remembered Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s exact words back at the guesthouse: she has already been taken care of .

    "And Su Chan¡¯s life is in grave danger . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie suddenly stopped pacing . "Assuming the poor girl isn¡¯t dead already . "

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s stomach twisted into knots .

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie was right . Su Chan¡¯s life was in danger . The other night, Mo Ahshi managed to track down Li Yundong before attacking him . And Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s had hypothesized that Mo Ahshi had intercepted the paper crane Su Chan had sent out to Li Yundong . In other words, Su Chan was already on Mo Ahshi¡¯s hit list because of the paper crane .

    "So I was right," Ruan Hongling said, stealing a nce at her sh¨©ji¨§ .

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie was now standing in front of the sliding door, staring out into the darkness .

    Ruan Hongling rose from the couch slowly . "Mo Ahshi attacked Li Yundong because she wants to take out Ao Wushuang¡¯s ally . "

    "No . "

    "No?" Ruan Hongling blinked a few times . "You think there¡¯s some other reason behind Mo Ahshi¡¯s attack on the Heir?" Ruan Hongling slowly approached the sliding door .

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie didn¡¯t turn around to face her . "What else was involved during the attack?"

    What else was involved¡ª

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s blood ran cold .

    "L- Liuhe . . . " Ruan Hongling found herself whispering .

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie turned away from the sliding door and gave her a grim nod . "I suspect that Mo Ahshi only attacked the Heir because she saw him wielding Liuhe . "

    "Wait, wait, wait . . . Sh¨©ji¨§ . . . wait . . . " Ruan Hongling shook her head a few times . "I . . . I¡¯m a little confused here . "

    "Think, Hongling . Put yourself in Mo Ahshi¡¯s shoes . " There was a pause . "Why would she attack Li Yundong just because she thought Li Yundong was Ao Wushuang¡¯s ally? She could¡¯ve just intercepted the crane and then leave it at that . That way, Li Yundong would be left with no means ofmunicating with Ao Wushuang . " There was another pause . "Attacking Li Yundong is actually counterproductive to Mo Ahshi¡¯s goals if you think about it . "

    Something clicked inside Ruan Hongling¡¯s mind . "Because it might tip Li Yundong off..."

    "Exactly . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie nodded . "What if, Li Yundong managed to figure out after the attack that hismunication channel with Ao Wushuang waspromised? What if Li Yundong decided to speed up his ns because of that?" Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s eyes darted to Ruan Hongling¡¯s face . "And let¡¯s not forget that Mo Ahshi was using her signature weapon that night . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie paused as though to let her words sink in . "If I were Mo Ahshi, I would certainly think twice about using the hairpin to attack Li Yundong . I would¡¯ve been wary, and cautious . It would¡¯ve crossed my mind that perhaps Su Chan and Ao Wushuang had passed on enough intel to Li Yundong during theirmunications prior to my intercepting their crane . What if Li Yundong is able to identify the hairpin based on that intel? These factors alone would suffice to dissuade me from attacking Li Yundong . "

    Ruan Hongling shook her head in confusion . "Then how do you exin the attack, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie? Just because she saw Liuhe?"

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie hummed . "Here¡¯s what I think happened . " There was a pause . "Mo Ahshi must¡¯ve intercepted the paper crane a day or two prior to the attack . The paper crane knew Li Yundong¡¯s address, so it was easy to figure out which city Li Yundong was in and where he was staying . Initially, she must¡¯ve sent the hairpin to Tiannan City to spy on Li Yundong . But . . . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie paused to look at Ruan Hongling . "I¡¯m confident that she didn¡¯te to the apartment . "

    Ruan Hongling frowned . "What makes you so sure?"

    "I spent a lot of time at the apartment, remember? I would¡¯ve noticed something amiss if she were there poking around . "

    "But . . . if her intent was to spy on Li Yundong, isn¡¯t it better to observe him when he¡¯s at home?"

    "You forgot something else, Hongling . An experienced Cultivator will always be wary of another Cultivator¡¯s home . There could be traps lying around . Protective spells . Talismans . Things like that . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie shook her head . "No . Mo Ahshi is too smart and too experienced to make that mistake . "

    Agreed . A Cultivator could easily lose his or her magical weapons to one of those traps .

    "Besides, the hairpin can¡¯t be used in the same way you use long-range surveince spells, like the Observer Cloud," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie continued . "It can only spy from up-close . "

    "But Tiannan University?" Ruan Hongling frowned . "How on earth did Mo Ahshi think to look there?"

    "Good question," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie said . "But I¡¯m afraid we can only rely on conjecture to answer that . " There was a brief pause . "It isn¡¯t unreasonable to assume that something inside Su Chan¡¯s note has led Mo Ahshi to believe that the Heir is a student of Tiannan University . " There was a dark chuckle . "And I bet Mo Ahshi found out about the freshmen¡¯s weing party while she was poking around the university . The event was the perfect opportunity for Mo Ahshi to observe Li Yundong from the shadows..." Zi Yuan ji¨§jie sighed . "Though I must confess that I remain uncertain as to what Mo Ahshi was hoping to learn from her attempt to spy on Li Yundong . Maybe she wanted to learn more about his abilities? Perhaps she nned to find out if Ao Wushuang had other allies aside from Li Yundong? The possibilities are endless..." Zi Yuan ji¨§jie shook her head . "Regardless, Mo Ahshi knew that Li Yundong would be there at the event . And Li Yundong¡¯s poprity amongst the students definitely didn¡¯t help matters . Any one of those students could¡¯ve mentioned something about his involvement in the stage y . "

    Ruan Hongling nodded a few times . "And she wouldn¡¯t have to worry about traps since the university is a public ce . "

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie hummed in agreement .

    "So was watching him at first," Ruan Hongling said . "But then Li Yundong showed up onstage wielding Liuhe . " Ruan Hongling looked towards Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . "That was when she decided to attack . "

    "Makes sense, doesn¡¯t it?" Zi Yuan ji¨§jie arched a brow . "We already suspect that Mo Ahshi is trying to get her hands on Bahuang . So it isn¡¯t unreasonable to think that she would jump at the chance to grab Liuhe as well . Surely you know what will happen when Liuhe and Bahuange together . "

    Ruan Hongling nodded . Liuhe and Bahuang came in pairs . When brought together, they could bebined to form an even more powerful sword .

    "You acted wisely by keeping the Fan of Seven Treasures hidden that night," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie said . "Who knows what she else would¡¯ve done if she found out about the Fan of Seven Treasures too . "

    "Mm," Ruan Hongling mumbled .

    "Greed," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie said . "Greed drove her to attack Li Yundong that night . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie shifted until she was facing Ruan Hongling directly . "Did you notice the way Liuhe react to Li Yundong¡¯s touch?"

    "Yeah . "

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie nodded and turned away . "I¡¯m willing to bet that Mo Ahshi was nning to take Liuhe away before Li Yundong could im it as his . "

    Silence spread between them .

    "What should we do now, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie?" Ruan Hongling sighed . "The Great Six is expecting you to make an appearance soon . "

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie turned and raised a brow . "Is that so?"

    A bitter taste formed inside Ruan Hongling¡¯s mouth . "Zhang Tianh¨¦ Zhenren from the main sect has personally requested your participation in the battle . "

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie remained silent .

    "Ugh..." Ruan Hongling ran both hands through her hair . "This is such a mess . The only reason we still have a sect is because of you, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . But if we try to help Su Chan now, they¡¯ll think we¡¯re in cahoots with the Fox Zen School . That¡¯ll just give them the perfect excuse to shut us down . " Ruan Hongling sighed . "What in Tao¡¯s name are we supposed to do here? We have to help Su Chan, but we also have to fulfill our obligations to the main sect..."

    "Simple . "

    Ruan Hongling released the ends of her hair and stared at her mentor .

    "We¡¯ll just do both at the same time," said Zi Yuan ji¨§jie .

    "Both at the sa¡ª" Ruan Hongling¡¯s jaw went ck . "But we can¡¯t do that!"

    "Can¡¯t we?" Zi Yuan ji¨§jie arched a brow .

    Ruan Hongling blinked a few times . "Y- You have a n?"

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie nodded . "Yes, I do . "

    <h4>Crisis</h4>

    "What?!" Ruan Hongling gaped . "Y-You want us to go undercover?"

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie gave her a strange look . "Why, yes, Hongling . That¡¯s the perfect solution to the conundrum we¡¯re facing . "

    Okay . That was true . But still . An undercover operation! Espionage! Against the members of the Great Six, no less!

    "We need to be there for appearances¡¯ sake anyway," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie continued . "So we might as well capitalize on the situation and do something useful while we¡¯re there . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s lips curved into a smirk . "All this while, we needed a way into the Fox Zen School, didn¡¯t we? And now we have it . Our opportunity has presented itself . " Her smirk widened . "This will solve all of our problems, Hongling . Trust me . "

    Ruan Hongling took several calming breaths . This was new and, if she was being honest, kind of thrilling . She had never been on an undercover mission before . Her tasks usually involved surveince, information gathering, message delivery, and package delivery . Basically, nothing covert . Ruan Hongling highly suspected that this had to a lot to do with her rather . . . um . . . loud, personality . Zi Yuan ji¨§jie did raise her after all, so she probably knew that espionage wasn¡¯t Ruan Hongling¡¯s strong suit . It fact, it might very well be the bane of Ruan Hongling existence .

    Which was why Zi Yuan jiejie¡¯s suggestion came as such a shock .

    "Okay . . . " Ruan Hongling said as she slowly ustomed herself to the idea that she might have to step out of herfort zone this time . "So . . . " She looked towards her mentor . "We go there, pretend that we¡¯re part of the assault . . . and then what?"

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie kept staring out of the sliding door wordlessly . Ruan Hongling was starting to think that Zi Yuan ji¨§jie hadn¡¯t heard her question at all .

    "Ji¨§jie?"

    "Come . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie turned away from the sliding door and began walking back towards the couch . Ruan Hongling followed her mentor obediently .

    "First," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie began once they had both sat down, "let¡¯s make our mission objectives clear . "

    Ruan Hongling nodded .

    "Good . We have two primary objectives here . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie raised a finger . "The first is to find out about Su Chan and Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i . And the second . . . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie quirked a brow . "I think you already know what the second objective is . "

    Ruan Hongling nodded firmly . The second objective was to prevent Mo Ahshi from getting her dirty hands on Bahuang . The mere thought of Mo Ahshi wielding the sword made Ruan Hongling¡¯s blood boil . How dare that woman!

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s angry thoughts ended the moment she felt Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s body heat against her side . Surprised, Ruan Hongling nced sideways . Zi Yuan ji¨§jie was now leaning against Ruan Hongling . Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s eyes were closed, and she was massaging her temples .

    "Are you alright, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie?"

    Her sh¨©ji¨§ sighed tiredly . "I¡¯m fine . . . Just . . . Just a little worn out, that¡¯s all . "

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s heart went out to her sh¨©ji¨§ . As far as Ruan Hongling could tell, the Heir¡¯s training hadsted an entire week . Had Zi Yuan ji¨§jie found time to rest or meditate at all during that period? Or had she been keeping vigil the whole time?

    There was a soft sigh . The weight and heat of Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s body vanished from Ruan Hongling¡¯s side shortly after that .

    "We can also try to find out what happened to sh¨©b¨® nine years ago," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie cleared her throat . "I mean while we¡¯re undercover . "

    Ruan Hongling studied her sh¨©ji¨§¡¯s profile . She would be lying if she said that she wasn¡¯t interested in knowing what happened to sh¨©b¨® .

    "We shouldn¡¯t get our hopes up though," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie said momentster . "I highly doubt we¡¯d be able to find out much . We¡¯re undercover after all . We have to y our parts and act like we¡¯re trying to destroy the Fox Zen School, not snooping around . "

    It was then that something urred to Ruan Hongling .

    "But Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . . . Isn¡¯t our cover already blown?"

    "Hmm?"

    Ruan Hongling shook her mentor¡¯s arm . "You were defending Li Yundong that night, right? Wouldn¡¯t Mo Ahshi have known by now that you and Li Yundong are allies?"

    "Indeed, you have raised an important issue . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie smiled . "However, that won¡¯t be a problem . "

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s puzzlement must have shown on her face because Zi Yuan ji¨§jie suddenly chuckled .

    "Mo Ahshi and I have never actually met each other before the night of the attack . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie shrugged . "For all she knew, the woman she saw defending Li Yundong that night could be any Cultivator, not Zi Yuan Zhenren of the Linggong Sect . "

    "Oh . "

    "And also . . . " A purple ribbon slithered out from under Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s sleeves . "I never had course to use this until that night . So we don¡¯t have to worry about her figuring out my identity through this weapon . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie ran her hand through the ribbon and smiled at Ruan Hongling . "No one other than you and Master knows about this ribbon . "

    "Well, the Heir knows too," Ruan Hongling mumbled .

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie smiled . "And the Heir . "

    "But what if you show up at the Fox Zen School and Mo Ahshi recognizes you then?"

    "A reasonable concern . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie nodded . "I¡¯m still working on that part, actually . Although . . . " The tiniest of smirks formed on Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s lips . "We do have an advantage . "

    The confidence in Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s tone stirred up a new wave of confusion inside Ruan Hongling . The way Ruan Hongling saw it, nothing in this situation was in their favor . If anything, it was the opposite . The Linggong Sect was facing a crisis, a conundrum .

    Intrigued, Ruan Hongling stared at her sh¨©ji¨§, hoping that her sh¨©ji¨§ would shed some light upon the matter and free her from her apparent ignorance .

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie smiled . "I think we can pull it off as long as we y our cards right . "

    The penny dropped .

    "The y!" Ruan Hongling was pretty sure she was grinning like an idiot right now, but she didn¡¯t care . "You were wearing a costume, a wig, and¡ª"

    "And heavy makeup, yes," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie said, her smirk growing even wider . "All I have to do is dress up or wear my makeup differently when we show up . " One of Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s brows rose . "I might not even have to do anything at all . " The corners of Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s lips quirked . "Zhao Ling¡¯er has apletely different hairstyle . "

    Ruan Hongling burst into giggles . "See? I told you it was a good idea to participate in the y!"

    A secondter, Ruan Hongling felt a dig on her right side . Ruan Hongling turned and noticed Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s yful re .

    Ruan Hongling stuck out her tongue and crossed her eyes . Somehow, that childish gesture drew a heartyugh out of Zi Yuan ji¨§jie, and Ruan Hongling found herself cheering inwardly .

    She had just made Zi Yuan ji¨§jieugh . She would count that as a win .

    "Sh¨©ji¨§ . . . Do you think . . . " Ruan Hongling stole a nce at her mentor . "Do you think that Su Chan is still alive?"

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie didn¡¯t reply .

    "What about . . . What about Ao Wushuang?"

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie sighed . "I don¡¯t know, Hongling . " She shook her head . "I don¡¯t know . " A grim line formed on her lips . "That is why it is crucial for us to be on the inside . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie sent her a pointed look . "So that we can find out more . "

    "Sh¨©ji¨§..." Ruan Hongling¡¯s stomach tightened . "If . . . If Ao Wushuang¡¯s gone, then . . . "

    "Then Mo Ahshi likely has Bahuang already," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie said .

    This sucked . This totally sucked .

    Ruan Hongling felt like throwing up .

    "How . . . How do you supposed it happened, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie?" Ruan Hongling shook her head . "I mean . . . It¡¯s Ao Wushuang . "

    "Underhanded trickery, no doubt," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie said in a tone of disdain . "An ambush, perhaps . Drugs? A sneak attack when the other is in deep meditative state?" Zi Yuan ji¨§jie shook her head grimly . "There are so many ways a person can die by the hands of someone they trust . "

    Ruan Hongling lowered her gaze and studied herp, suddenly overwhelmed by the weight of Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s words . Guilt rose to her chest, suffocating her, burying her under an endless pile of shame .

    Trust . All these years, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie had shown nothing butplete trust in her . And yet Ruan Hongling had repaid that trust by hurling hurtful words at Zi Yuan ji¨§jie .

    "I¡¯ve told you many times, Hongling . "

    Ruan Hongling looked up from herp .

    "There are other factors aside from power and spell mastery that will affect the final oue of a battle . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie shook her head . "No matter how powerful we are, things could go horribly wrong if we aren¡¯t cautious . And there are many, many ways for that to happen . "

    Ruan Hongling kept quiet . The truth was that she¡¯d already learned that lesson the hard way when the Heir stole her damask from her .

    "Regardless, we won¡¯t know more unless we¡¯re there at the Fox Zen School . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie smiled . "So until then, let¡¯s stay positive, okay?"

    Ruan Hongling nodded . Zi Yuan ji¨§jie was right . Ao Wushuang was formidable after all; Master wouldn¡¯t have given Bahuang to her otherwise . Right . As if Master would give Bahuang to some weakling who couldn¡¯t protect the sword . He might as well give away the sword for free if he did that .

    Indeed, there was a chance that Ao Wushuang was still alive . Maybe she managed to hide Bahuang? Maybe she gave Bahuang to Su Chan and then Su Chan went into hiding with the sword? That was usible, wasn¡¯t it? After all, Su Chan was an expert in stealth . The girl had managed to elude even Zi Yuan ji¨§jie that night when they were chasing her, which was impressive to say the least .

    Maybe Su Chan managed to get away?

    There was a chuckle . Piqued, Ruan Hongling looked towards her sh¨©ji¨§, who now had a smile on her face . "All is not lost, Hongling . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s eyes shone with confidence and optimism . "Because we have something else in our favor . "

    Ruan Hongling found herself holding her breath, eagerly awaiting her sh¨©ji¨§¡¯s next words .

    "The Jindan¡¯s whereabouts, Hongling . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie raised a brow . "Surely they needed Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i alive if they want to find out where the Jindan is . " A sly grin spread across Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s face . "Isn¡¯t that why the Great Six is attacking the Fox Zen School in the first ce?"

    Ruan Hongling burst into giggles at that . The so-called Great Six had no idea that they had all been hoodwinked .

    "Oh it is a little funny, isn¡¯t it? Seeing how ignorant the members of the Great Six truly are . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jieughed . "None of them had a clue that the Jindan has already been consumed . They must think that Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i had hidden the Jindan away . There¡¯s still hope . We still have a chance to help them . "

    "But Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . . . " Ruan Hongling shook her mentor¡¯s arm . "Even if we found out where Su Chan ister, how are we supposed to save her? We have to maintain our cover, right?"

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie chuckled . "Of course we won¡¯t be the ones who doing the saving, silly . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie smirked . "That¡¯s the Heir¡¯s job . "

    "What¡ª" Ruan Hongling gaped at her mentor . Momentster, she snapped out of her stupor and began shaking her sh¨©ji¨§¡¯s arm . "But is that wise?" Leaning closer, Ruan Hongling lowered her voice into a whisper . "What if the Great Six finds out that he has the Jindan?"

    "I¡¯ve already taught him how to hide the aura, so it¡¯s fine . "

    "But is he ready?" Ruan Hongling tightened her grip on Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s arm . "Last time I checked, there was a mini army of powerful Cultivators at the guesthouse! What if the Heir shows up and those guys think he¡¯s with the Fox Zen School? They¡¯ll all attack him!"

    "Powerful Cultivators, you say?" Zi Yuan ji¨§jie quirked a brow . "Were any of the senior members there?"

    Ruan Hongling pulled back slightly . "No, but still¡ª"

    "Then it isn¡¯t going to be a problem . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie patted Ruan Hongling¡¯s hand a few times .

    "Y- You think so?"

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie chuckled . "I don¡¯t just think so, Hongling . I know so . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie smirked . "The Heir could probably wipe the floor with them using hand-to-handbat alone . "

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s hands fell limply from Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s arm . "W- Wipe the floor with..."

    Maybe Zi Yuan ji¨§jie had hit her head or something . Sure, the Heir was a genius and all that . But to defeat an entire army of powerful Cultivators? That was too much!

    Silence spread between them .

    "Since when are you so concerned about the Heir¡¯s well-being, hmm? Hongling?"

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s jaw clicked shut .

    "I- I was just..."

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jieughed heartily .

    "S- Stopughing already," Ruan Hongling mumbled with a pout .

    "Well... You need not worry about the Heir, Hongling," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie said once she had stoppedughing . "We¡¯re talking about a man who has recently been exposed to countless bolts of Heavenly Thunder, both in real life and the simtion . " There was a pregnant pause . "Even I felt a significant increase in my spiritual energy, and I was only exposed to a few bolts . "

    Ruan Hongling stared at her mentor, too stunned to speak .

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie smiled . "The Heir can handle himself . "

    Ruan Hongling nodded weakly and began to mull over their uing undertaking .

    After a while, Ruan Hongling let out a long sigh . "So let me get this straight . " Ruan Hongling turned slightly and gave Zi Yuan ji¨§jie an incredulous look . "Our job is to nt ourselves within the Great Six and then essentially act as double agents, restore the goodwill between the Linggong Sect and the main sect, find out what Mo Ahshi is up to, gather intel about Su Chan and Ao Wushuang, feed said intel to the Heir, save Bahuang, engage in battle with a bunch of angry fox spirits, keep an eye on the Heir to ensure that the Jindan remains hidden, and then gather news about Yan-sh¨©b¨®?"

    The subtlest of smirks graced Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s lips . "Pretty much . "

    Ruan Hongling gaped . "This is crazy, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . . . Like . . . Insane . "

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie chuckled . "Fun fact, Hongling . Things have been crazy ever since the Heir came into our lives . "

    Ruan Hongling shook her head in disbelief .

    Insane . Completely, and irrevocably nuts .

    <h4>Crisis</h4>

    Bed . Pillow . Ceiling . Hello Kitty piggy bank . Home . A soft sigh made its way past Li Yundong¡¯s smiling lips as he drifted into wakefulness .

    I made it, Chan¡¯er . I kept my promise to you...

    Grinning, Li Yundong got out of bed and stretched his arms above his head . The piggy bank clinked as it rolled on the mattress . Affection bloomed inside Li Yundong¡¯s chest . Lowering his arms, he picked up the piggy bank and studied its shiny surface, wondering how Su Chan would react if he brought the piggy bank along to their long-awaited reunion . What was it that Su Chan had always called the piggy bank again?

    Hello Keedee .

    Cute .

    Li Yundong brought the piggy bank towards his desk and set it down . Then, he walked out of his bedroom feeling more light-hearted than ever . At the living room, he stopped beside the couch, ncing around until he located the Fan of Seven Treasures lying on the coffee table . Sunlight trickled in from the balcony, showering the apartment with warmth . Scattered across the floor were the remnants of his (and Zi Yuan¡¯s)st-ditch effort from the previous night . He hade so close, in both sense of the word: so close to seeding; and so close to dying .

    A wave of sadness crept into his chest .

    Zi Yuan...

    The woman had saved his ass again . And in doing so, she had lost not only the jade te, but another one of her magical object as well¡ªsome kind of strange mirror whose function he knew nothing about . Zi Yuan had told him repeatedly not to worry about her sacrifices and to respect the choice that she had willingly made . He did respect her choice, and he sincerely appreciated her sacrifices .

    But still...

    Li Yundong shook off his negativity and forced himself to focus on the good that resulted from this whole ordeal: friendship; loyalty; trust; personal growth; and respect .

    Indeed, Zi Yuan had now be a valued friend and a trusted ally .

    And he would repay her . So help him God he would repay her . And thanks to Zi Yuan finally opening up to him about the reason she was helping him, he now knew how he could do that: he would take Wang Yuanshan¡¯s word for it and do everything in his power to help Zi Yuan achieve transcendence .

    A loud buzzing made him look down . His phone was vibrating against the coffee table . Zi Yuan must¡¯ve left it there when she brought him backst night . The caller ID surprised him a little . Bending down, he picked up the phone and answered the call .

    "Good morning, Zhou Qin . How are you?"

    For a few seconds, the sounds of breathing was all he could hear .

    "Hello?" Li Yundong frowned . "Zhou Qin? Are you there¡ª"

    "Can we meet?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes narrowed . Why did she sound so breathless?

    "Uh, sure," he said carefully . "Campus?"

    "Y-Yeah, okay..." There was a pause . "Campus... Campus sounds fine . "

    "Hey, Zhou Qin... Are you alright? You sound a little¡ª"

    The call ended with a loud click .

    Li Yundong lowered the phone and stared at the screen for a moment . She just hung up on him . What the hell was that?

    He tried calling again, but Zhou Qin had shut off her phone .

    Seriously, what the hell?

    Li Yundong sighed and pocketed his phone . For a moment, he considered calling Feng Na or Cheng Cheng to check her, but then thought better of it .

    It was obvious that something was wrong, and at the moment, Li Yundong could onlye up with three possibilities . One, her legs were acting up again . Two, perhaps she had a fight with Uncle Zhou and needed some advice, though he didn¡¯t understand why she couldn¡¯t just tell him over the phone . The third possibility was decidedly the worst: the H¨¦ family was giving her trouble again .

    "Shit..."

    Li Yundong grabbed his backpack from the couch, then moved towards the coffee table to grab the Fan of Seven Treasures . Once the fan was secured inside his backpack, he left the apartment in a hurry .

    He would have to get in touch with Zi Yuanter to find out where the Fox Zen School was . But he had to make sure that Zhou Qin was alright first .

    ***

    The journey to campus took him twenty minutes, since he couldn¡¯t fly during the day . As he walked past the gates, he called Zhou Qin¡¯s phone again . s, her phone was still turned off, so he had no idea where they should meet .

    Li Yundong went to the cafeteria first, since it was the most logical ce to have a social meeting .

    Zhou Qin wasn¡¯t there .

    Geez . Couldn¡¯t she at least set a meeting ce before hanging up?

    With a sigh, he pulled out his phone to check for any text messages . Perhaps she had decided to text him the meeting ce .

    No new messages .

    Frowning, he pulled up his contact lists and scrolled through it, wondering whom he should call . His fingers paused when he saw Ding Nan¡¯s name .

    Nah . . .

    They had another falling out the other night . Why would she know where Zhou Qin was?

    In the end, Li Yundong decided to call Feng Na . Needless to say, Feng Na was her usual bubbly self .

    "Yo, Li Yundong! I haven¡¯t seen you in almost a week! Where the heck have you been?"

    "Morning, Prez . Hey, um... Have you seen Zhou Qin today?"

    "Err... No . No, I haven¡¯t," Feng Na said . "Not today... Oh, guess what! She¡¯s been back for a week, you know? And she¡¯s moving without the wheelchair! Isn¡¯t that great?"

    Yes, that was great . Super great . And it would be even better if she wasn¡¯t acting so weird .

    "Can you help me ask around? See if any of your friends have seen her today?" Li Yundong shook his head . "This is urgent . "

    There was a long pause .

    "Hey... Is something the matter?"

    "I just..." Li Yundong sighed . "She called just now and asked me to meet her in campus, but she didn¡¯t say where . "

    "Hmm... That¡¯s a little odd," said Feng Na .

    "Yeah? Tell me about it," he muttered under his breath .

    "Well, I did see her yesterday," Feng Na said . "She was... I don¡¯t know, she seemed a little down, I guess? Cheng Cheng and I asked her to join us for lunch, but she declined . " There was a pause . "I think she left the campus after that . "

    "She seemed down, you say?" Li Yundong frowned .

    "Yeah . "

    "Did she seem... stressed out?"

    "Err... I wouldn¡¯t say stressed out?" Feng Na paused . "More like depressed . "

    "Did any¡ª" Li Yundong checked himself, wondering how much he should reveal to Feng Na about the H¨¦ family .

    "Hey, what is it?"

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "Did anyonee to talk to her recently?"

    "You mean other students? Well, we don¡¯t attend the same lectures, so I don¡¯t really know . But she¡¯s popr, right? I¡¯m sure she¡¯s talked to a lot of students since her return¡ª"

    "No . I don¡¯t mean other students . "

    "Oh . "

    He could tell that Feng Na was confused .

    Li Yundong sighed . "Damn . How should I even put this? Um... Did anyone from outside the campuse to see her? Like... Men in suits?"

    "Men in suits?"

    "Yeah . Like..."

    "Like powerful people, you mean?"

    "I guess . "

    "Hmm..." Feng Na grew quiet for a few seconds . "The only person that fit the men-in-suits criteria is her dad . " There was another pause . "On the first day of her return, Cheng Cheng and I walked her out after ss . Her dad was there to pick her up . "

    "And that¡¯s it?"

    "Yeah . " Feng Na paused . "Why are you asking all this? Is everything alright?"

    "Oh, no . Everything¡¯s fine," Li Yundong said in a faux cheery tone, which probably wasn¡¯t fooling Feng Na at all . "Just... Just give me a call if you see her, okay?"

    "Um... Okay, sure . I¡¯ll ask Cheng Cheng and my other friends if they¡¯ve seen her . "

    "Thanks, Prez! I owe you one . "

    He hung up and made his way towards the cafeteria¡¯s exit . On the way towards the academic building, he took a detour and headed towards the copse of trees near the academic building . It was worth a try considering he once had a private meeting with Zhou Qin inside the gazebo .

    The gazebo was empty when he arrived .

    "Damn it . " Li Yundong nced up at the sky . "She isn¡¯t here . "

    He pulled out his phone and checked for any new messages . There was only one message, but it was from Feng Na, not Zhou Qin:

    Asked Cheng Cheng . Didn¡¯t see her today either . Still waiting for my other friends to reply . Good luck in your search .

    Li Yundong flicked a quick thank-you text and pocketed his phone again .

    At the ground floor of the academic building, he ran into a guy from his ss .

    "Yo! Li Yundong! Haven¡¯t seen you in a week, man! How have you been? Oh, and nice performance the other¡ª"

    "Listen, have you seen Zhou Qin?"

    The guy beamed . "Oh yeah, I did! Saw her when she came backst week! She¡ª"

    "No . " Li Yundong raised of his hand to silence the guy . "I mean today . Have you seen her today?"

    The guy shook his head . "Er... No . I haven¡¯t seen her today . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart sank .

    "But a buddy of mine did . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s gaze snapped up . "Where?"

    "My buddy ran into her at the staircase leading to the rooftop," said the guy . "My buddy wasing down from the stairs, but she was walking up . So I¡¯m guessing she¡¯s at the rooftop?"

    The rooftop .

    Li Yundong¡¯s blood ran cold . He stepped forward and grabbed the guy¡¯s shoulder . "When was this?"

    "Um..." The guy frowned . "A while ago? Sorry, man . I can¡¯t really tell you the exact time . "

    Li Yundong released the poor guy¡¯s shoulder and moved away . "Thanks . "

    "Err... You¡¯re wee?"

    Li Yundong ran up the staircase as fast as he could . The door leading to the rooftop was closed . Li Yundong ran up the remaining flight of stairs and reached for the door knob .

    During his cab ride to campus, he had assumed that the first thing he would feel when he saw Zhou Qin was relief . As it turned out, he was wrong . Dead wrong .

    Because the moment he pushed open the door, he saw Zhou Qin standing right on top of the rooftop¡¯s ledge .

    ***

    Li Yundong did the first thing that came to mind: he sprang forward andunched his Zhenqi towards Zhou Qin¡¯s figure .

    When he heard Zhou Qin¡¯s loud yelp, he knew that his Qi Kinesis had found its target . He pulled his Zhenqi towards his body and pumped his legs harder . A secondter, Zhou Qin¡¯s figure crashed into his chest .

    Li Yundong lowered his stance to steady them both .

    "What the hell is the matter with you?!" Li Yundong yelled . "Are you out of your damn mind?!"

    Zhou Qin stared up at him with ssy eyes, her lips trembling .

    "Goddamn it, Zhou Qin!" Li Yundong ran a hand through his hair . "After everything you¡¯ve been through, you still want to throw your life away?!" Li Yundong swung his arm in a wide arc . "Open your eyes and look at yourself! You¡¯ve recovered! You¡¯re standing and walking again! You¡¯re healed! Don¡¯t you know how lucky you are?"

    "Y- You thought I was going to jump..." Zhou Qin whispered .

    Li Yundong stared at the girl . Is she for real? Seriously?

    "What the hell was I supposed to think?!" Li Yundong pointed a finger towards the ledge . "You were depressed . And you were standing right there, looking like you were about to jump!"

    A smile pulled across Zhou Qin¡¯s lips . "Y- You were worried about me?"

    Li Yundong felt a sudden urge to reach over and shake some sense into the girl .

    "Of course I was worried! This is the seventh floor! What happens if your head hits the ground first¡ª"

    "Do you love me?"

    "What?"

    "I said..." Zhou Qin sighed and rose to her feet . Once she was up, she walked over until she was standing directly in front of him . Then, she bit her lip and nced up at him from under hershes . "Do you love me?"

    So it was finally here, the inevitable talk .

    Li Yundong sighed . "Look, Zhou Qin..."

    "Please just..." Zhou Qin grabbed his hand . "Please just tell me the truth . " She raised her head and looked straight into his eyes . "Do you love me?"

    Li Yundong shook his head . "No . "

    He could see the look of resignation gathering in Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes right then, along with the tears that she had no doubt been holding back .

    A drop of tear slid down Zhou Qin¡¯s cheek, and she sniffed .

    "Zhou Qin... Look, I¡¯m sorry, okay? I just¡ª"

    Zhou Qin mped her hand over his mouth .

    "Please, don¡¯t . " Tears swam in Zhou Qin¡¯s pleading eyes . "Please don¡¯t say anything . "

    Resigned, Li Yundong nodded, and Zhou Qin removed her hand from his lips then . Moments passed in silence . From the corner of his eye, he saw Zhou Qin drying her tears and taking in deep breaths .

    A minute or so passed before Zhou Qin returned to stand in front of him . She had stopped crying now, and she seemed calm .

    "I... I know you love Su Chan . " Zhou Qin gave him a sad smile . "I can see it . I can see how much you love her . And I..." Zhou Qin cleared her throat . "I have no intention ofing between the two of you . " Zhou Qin held his gaze . "Truly, I don¡¯t . You two are happy together, and I can see that . "

    Li Yundong continued to stare at Zhou Qin without saying a single word . He had no idea that his skepticism had shown on his face until he heard Zhou Qin¡¯s next words .

    "I care about her too, you know?" Zhou Qin gave him another sad smile . "Su Chan . I care about her too . And... And I know how much she loves you . So no, I won¡¯t try to ruin things between you two . "

    This sucked . This legitimately sucked .

    Li Yundong sighed . "Zhou Qin..."

    "Shh!" Zhou Qin raised her finger . "Just... I need to say this . "

    Li Yundong nodded for her to go on .

    "I only have one request . "

    "Name it," Li Yundong said .

    "Don¡¯t cut me out of your life . "

    "What?" Li Yundong frowned . "Of course I¡¯m not going to cut you out of my life . You¡¯re my friend¡ª"

    "I don¡¯t want to be just your friend," Zhou Qin said .

    Li Yundong stared at her for a few seconds, then shook his head tiredly . "Then what are you saying?"

    "Take me as your disciple . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s head shot up . Zhou Qin¡¯s expression was dead serious . Not that the idea hadn¡¯t crossed his mind before . He¡¯d already decided to teach Zhou Qin the basics of Cultivation one way or another . He just didn¡¯t expect Zhou Qin to be the one to bring it up .

    Zhou Qin sighed . "After witnessing what happened at the performance, the things you did..." She stole a nce at his face, then sighed again . "I spent some time researching you . "

    Li Yundong raised a brow . "Research?"

    Zhou Qin nodded . "Like... The terminologies that you and Zi Yuan often used . All that Qi-control things that you talked about back at the hospital . I researched them all . "

    Zhou Qin sighed and began moving towards the edge of the rooftop . rmed, Li Yundong reached out and seized her arm .

    Zhou Qin turned his head and smiled at him . "Rx . I¡¯m not going to jump . "

    Li Yundong eyed her suspiciously until Zhou Qin rolled her eyes and turned back around .

    "I know that you and Zi Yuan have powers," Zhou Qin said when she was standing in front of him again . "Well . That much is obvious . What I¡¯m saying is that I know that you¡¯re Cultivators . "

    Li Yundong gave her a resigned smile .

    "Will you ept me as your disciple?" Zhou Qin gazed at him hopefully .

    "Sure . " Li Yundong gave her a stern look . "But on one condition . "

    Zhou Qin kept staring at him, clearly waiting for him to state his condition .

    "You never ever try to kill yourself again," Li Yundong said firmly . "Ever . Do you understand?"

    Zhou Qin nodded .

    "Good . " Li Yundong sighed . "Life is precious, okay? Don¡¯t throw your life away . Just don¡¯t . "

    He knew just how precious life was . He nearly lost hisst night despite how hard he had fought . So he knew .

    "I swear I will never try to take my own life again," Zhou Qin said .

    Li Yundong nodded . "Then, yes . I ept you as my disciple . "

    "Thank you, Master . "

    ***

    Li Yundong flopped onto the couch unceremoniously, not caring at all that his backpack was slipping off the edge of the cushion . A soft thud sounded a secondter . His backpack had fallen off .

    While the apartment was silent, Li Yundong¡¯s mind was far from silent . No matter what he did, his mind kept reying his conversation with Zhou Qin on the rooftop . To be honest, he still didn¡¯t know what to feel about everything . All he knew was that he needed to maintain some sort of distance between them starting from now .

    A strange, yet oddly familiar noise broke the silence . Li Yundong sat up on the couch and looked towards the balcony . He squinted .

    Hey... Isn¡¯t that...

    Li Yundong sprang to his feet and pushed away from the couch . Before he could even reach the sliding door, a paper crane flew into the living room . He halted his steps, and watched the paper crane circle above his head .

    As he held out his hand, there was only one thought going through his mind . A name .

    Chan¡¯er, Chan¡¯er, Chan¡¯er...

    The paper cranended on his palm and began unfolding itself . Secondster, Li Yundong found himself staring at arge piece of paper containing an all too familiar cursive .

    Fox Zen School under siege . Come at once .

    The Great Six looking to wipe out the Fox Zen School . Su Chan in danger .

    Fox Zen School located somewhere inside Mount Tianlong . Precise location unknown . Might have to find the entrance on your own . Look for Taoist temple halfway to the summit .

    Hongling and I are with the Great Six . Undercover . Will pretend to join the assault to gather intel from the inside .

    Remember: We are on your side .

    Basic facts:

    Ao Wushuang and Su Chan both missing¡ªexact status unknown .

    The Great Six has spies inside the Fox Zen School¡ªMo Ahshi is one of them .

    Enemy is not in possession of Bahuang . The sword is still missing .

    Mo Ahshi thinks you are Ao Wushuang¡¯s ally but has yet to reveal that information to the members of the Great Six .

    Mo Ahshi is unaware that I was the one defending you that night when she attacked you .

    Exact time of assault still undecided at the time of writing¡ªmost likely this evening .

    Number of Cultivators joining the assault equivalent to a small army .

    Our prelim investigation suggests:

    Ao Wushuang most likely got captured .

    Su Chan most likely alive and in hiding . Because enemy doesn¡¯t have Bahuang yet¡ªwe think Su Chan might¡¯ve escaped with the sword when Ao Wushuang was captured .

    Su Chan could still be hiding inside (or somewhere near) Mount Tianlong .

    No evidence that she was captured, but still a possibility . Therefore, start search from Mount Tianlong . See where the clues lead you to .

    Head of Fox Zen School most likely aware of the assault . That¡¯s why you can¡¯t find entrance¡ªconcealment spell was activated . The Great Six¡¯s assault force will rely on Mo Ahshi¡¯s tip to locate the entrance .

    Head of Fox Zen School ignorant of Mo Ahshi¡¯s betrayal .

    Mo Ahshi has her own agendas¡ªshe has withheld important information from the Great Six . Exact agendas unknown, but stealing Bahuang is definitely one of them .

    The Great Six¡¯s objective is to destroy the Fox Zen School . Exact motive unknown . But we suspect it has something to do with the Renyuan Jindan .

    Things to beware of:

    Mobilize Adolescent Yang Qi to Vital Orb: Mask Jindan¡¯s Aura at all times .

    No flying . Traps in the sky + they might detect you . You have the element of surprise on your side; use it to your advantage .

    Do not try tomunicate with Hongling and I . Might break our cover . Not safe .

    Don¡¯t bother with phones . Mountain = No signal . Your Eryue far more powerfulpared to others . Keep it activated at all times . We will find ways to pass intel to you .

    Top priority = rescue Su Chan . But if possible, take out as many enemies as you can . Less enemies, higher chance for Su Chan to survive .

    Word regarding the assault has spread to Cultivation world . A lot of Cultivators from other schools outside the Great Six might show up . These are lowly Cultivators intent on pige¡ªFox Zen School has lots of magical weapons and treasures hidden inside their vaults . Stay sharp, and trust no one other than me and Hongling . Keep a close eye on the Fan of Seven Treasures .

    This is of the utmost importance . You must put everything else on hold ande at once . Hongling and I will be there, but we both need to maintain our covers . Our hands are tied, so you have to be the one to rescue Su Chan .

    You will be walking into a warzone, so stay sharp . And remember, trust no one .

    Once you¡¯ve finished reading this message, channel your Zhenqi into the paper .

    Good luck, and stay positive .

    ¡ªZi Yuan .

    The paper burst into mes the moment Li Yundong¡¯s Zhenqi made contact with it . Li Yundong red at the dancing ashes in front of his eyes .

    Not my Chan¡¯er, you brutes . Not my Chan¡¯er .

 Chapter 253

    Chapter 253

    <h4>An Old Acquaintance</h4>

    Barely fifteen minutes had passed since he had gotten on this trail, and Mount Tianlong had already proven to Li Yundong just how much he sucked at stealth . He stopped mid-stride and looked past his shoulders . His pursuers were nowhere in sight .

    For now .

    Li Yundong let out a long sigh and returned his gaze to the front .

    Goddamn bastards are like bloodhounds . . .

    He stood on the spot and studied his surroundings . Momentster, he came to a decision and swung onto a tree,nding on a huge bough about twenty meters above the ground . The bough was thick and long, so he didn¡¯t have to worry about it snapping under his weight . Besides, the copious amount of leaves and branches should be able to keep him out of view .

    Crouching down on the bough, he scanned his surroundings once again, focusing his gaze on the ground .

    There were still no signs of his pursuers .

    But just to be safe . . .

    Li Yundong shifted into a meditative posture . Once seated, he focused on concealing his own Qi by slowly guiding his body into a deep meditative state . Normally, it would be a terrible idea to do this in the absence of a trusted partner (even more so considering he was now inside a flipping warzone), but right now he had no other choice¡ªthe situation had forced his hand .

    Before he left the apartment, Li Yundong had dressed himself in inconspicuous clothes . He even bought a pair of sunsses at the train station to hide his eyes, since they were pretty darn distinctive¡ªthe eyes of a Cultivator are sharp and powerful, and any experienced Cultivator could identify another Cultivator through their eyes alone . Then, upon his arrival at the foot of Mount Tianlong, he had ensured that the Fan of Seven Treasures was fully concealed inside his backpack . Having done all of that, he could easily pass himself off as some random tourist on a hike, carrying arge backpack of supplies .

    s, despite the whole innocent tourist get-up, he still ended up rousing the suspicion of those bastards . He didn¡¯t exactly know how, since he was sure he¡¯d done everything right and had masked the Jindan Aura properly, though he suspected that it had something to do with his Qi .

    Li Yundong had done this enough times to recognize the physical cues associated with being in a meditative state: the evening of his breath; the rxation of his muscles; the feeling of weightlessness, like he was floating inside a zero gravity capsule .

    Time for the next step, which involved pulling his consciousness out of his own body . Li Yundong didn¡¯t stop trying until he found himself staring at his own body momentster . His body remained seated on the bough in a meditative posture . His back was leaning against the trunk, and there was a tranquil look on his face .

    A surge of excitement coursed through him . And when he saw that his excitement did absolutely nothing to hinder his body¡¯s rxed state, he knew that his first attempt at having an out-of-body experience was a sess .

    The Wandering Soul .

    Before he left Ruan Hongling¡¯s apartment that night after Mo Ahshi tried to assassinate him, he had asked Zi Yuan to teach him how to perform the technique . It turned out that the key to performing the Wandering Soul involves a conscious attempt to detach one¡¯s mind from the senses, which, in principle, is the antithesis of mindfulness meditation . In mindfulness meditation, the practitioner¡¯s goal is to keep their mind fully attuned to their body and their senses . The Wandering Soul, on the other hand, demands the exact opposite; the practitioner has to consciously visualize the mind and body as separate entities until a point where the soul can detach itself from the body . That is why the Wandering Soul can only be mastered by someone who has passed the 7th dan of the Sutai phase¡ªthe body has to be strong enough to sustain itself in the absence of the soul . When the soul leaves the confines of the body, it carries a portion of the practitioner¡¯s Spirit with it, hence allowing the practitioner to perceive their external environment from a third-person perspective .

    Satisfied with his sess, Li Yundong redirected his soul¡¯s attention from his body towards the mountain trail below the tree . He had just concealed his Qi without leaving himself vulnerable to attack . All he had to do now was wait .

    He did give his pursuers the slip earlier, but he knew it was just a matter of time before the bastards figure out where he went . Like, duh? Where else other than up the mountain trail would he go?

    The n was simple . Stay hidden and wait until those guys overtake him . And then he would follow them . Hopefully those guys would lead him straight to the Fox Zen School¡¯s hidden entrance, which would save him a whole lot of trouble since he knew that it was impossible for Zi Yuan to get in touch with him .

    Fifteen minutester, two men¡ªboth dressed in Taoist robes¡ªrushed along the trail, stopping under the tree . They both lookedpletely out of breath .

    Li Yundong guided his Wandering Soul downwards to take a closer look at his pursuers . He didn¡¯t possess a Yin Spirit yet, so he didn¡¯t have to worry about being seen .

    His pursuers formed an odd pair . While one of them was freakishly tall, the other one was dwarfishly short .

    "Damn . . . We lost him," Tall Dude panted . "How can the guy move so damn fast?"

    Short Dude sat down on the ground and scanned the area with his eyes . "Just chill, man . We were behind him the whole time and we didn¡¯t see him turning back around . There¡¯s only one direction he could be heading to . " Short Dude nced at hispanion . "Up . "

    "Yeah . . . Yeah, you¡¯re right," said Tall Dude when he had finally caught his breath . Tall Dude nced at Short Dude . "Who do you reckon he is?"

    Short Dude shook his head . "Never seen the guy before, so I know he¡¯s not an agent of the Great Six . "

    "His Qi is strong though," Tall Dude remarked .

    "It was okay, I guess," said Short Dude .

    Li Yundong smirked internally . It would appear that he was better at masking his Qi than he thoughtl .

    "But his speed," Short Dude continued . "That¡¯s the problem . The guy¡¯s too damn fast . "

    Yeah? They hadn¡¯t seen him dodge lightning yet .

    "Yeah, I know," said Tall Dude . "We could still feel his Qi like, five minutes ago . And now it¡¯spletely gone . He must¡¯ve pulled so far ahead of us that we couldn¡¯t detect it anymore . " Tall Dude pulled up short and nced at hispanion . "Can you detect his Qi?"

    Short Dude shook his head and straightened out his robe .

    "How could anyone move that fast," Tall Dude mumbled to himself . Suddenly, his eyes widened and he looked towards Short Dude again . "Do you think he¡¯s gone into deep meditative state?"

    Uh-oh . . .

    Short Dudeughed out loud . "Here? Nah . I don¡¯t think he¡¯s that dumb . " There was a pause . "This ce is the Great Six¡¯s territory now, and he¡¯s travelling alone . " Short Dude snickered . "Don¡¯t think he would do that unless he has a death wish . "

    Relief coursed through Li Yundong . Okay . These guys are smart, but not THAT smart .

    Tall Dude seemed to be pondering hispanion¡¯s words . "Hmm . . . And I don¡¯t think he¡¯s carrying a magical weapon either . " A satisfied smile spread across Tall Dude¡¯s face . "Doing that would leave himpletely vulnerable . "

    Short Dude hummed his agreement . "And from the way he moved, he¡¯s probably a seasoned Cultivator . " Short Dude shook his head . "Don¡¯t think he¡¯d make a rookie mistake like that . "

    "Agreed . Which means that he¡¯s pulled ahead of us . " Tall Dude nced down at hispanion . "We should get going if we want to catch up to him . "

    Li Yundong took his words back . These guys weren¡¯t smart at all; they were dumb .

    "Honestly?" Short Dude chuckled . "I don¡¯t think we should bother . "

    Tall Dude looked at hispanion in surprise .

    Short Dude shrugged . "The way I see it, he¡¯s just one of those thieves . " Short Dude smirked . "We don¡¯t have to chase after him because we already know where he¡¯s gonna go . "

    A sly smile spread across Tall Dude¡¯s face . "The vault . . . "

    "That¡¯s right . " Short Dude chuckled . "I bet the whole Mount Tianlong will be teeming with looters like him soon . "

    "Hey, do you reckon the rumors are true?" asked Tall Dude in a low voice .

    Short Dude raised a brow . "About the vault you mean?"

    Tall Dude crouched down and joined Short Dude on the floor .

    "They say there are a lot of treasures and secret scrolls hidden in there," Tall Dude whispered conspiratorially .

    Short Dude nodded . "It¡¯s true as far as I know . " He nced at Tall Dude . "The Fox Zen School has over a thousand years of history . It¡¯s not surprising that they have arge collection . "

    "I wonder how they would divvy up the treasures after the assault," Tall Dude mused out loud .

    Short Dude snorted . "Dream on, pal . "

    "What?"

    Short Dude rolled his eyes . "If they are divvying up anything, it would probably all go to the subsidiary sects of the Zhengyi School . " Short Dude¡¯s lips twisted in disgust . "Even though we¡¯re all part of the Great Six, the good stuff only goes to the top dogs . You know that . " Short Dude nced at hispanion . "Don¡¯t you know whom the Zhengyi School has sent this time? Zhang Tianh¨¦ Zhenren . " Short Dude paused and raised a brow . "Zi Yuan Zhenren . " Short Dude chuckled snidely . "I suggest you don¡¯t get your hopes up . "

    Tall Dude visibly deted . Secondster, the look of disappointment on Tall Dude¡¯s face morphed into that of anger .

    "Those Zhengyi pricks!" Tall Dude shouted . "They act all high and mighty, like they¡¯re better and more virtuous than all of us . But the truth is that they¡¯re greedier than all of usbined!"

    "Hey, shush!" Short Dude hissed . "Are you out of your damn mind? What if one of them hears you? Do you know how much influence they have? There¡¯s nowhere on this earth you can hide if you end up on their shit list . "

    "Yeah, yeah, yeah . . . The Zhengyi School is powerful . But so is the Donghua Sect where Ie from . " Tall Dude snorted . "As if I¡¯m scared of them . "

    Short Dude chuckled humorlessly . "Whatever you say, pal . It¡¯s your funeral anyway . " He rose to his feet . "Now let¡¯s get going . "

    "To the vault?"

    "No . To your mom¡¯s house . Of course to the vault," Short Dude said in a tone of annoyance . "That way we can take care of those thieves in one fell swoop . "

    ***

    Li Yundong floated from tree to tree, making sure that he was following those two from arge enough distance . He knew that his two "pursuers" had detected the presence of his Qi; he managed to pick up their whispered conversation with Eryue about five minutes ago . But the good news: those two idiots thought they were slowly gaining on him, not the other way around . The thought of him being the one following them never even crossed their genius minds .

    And here he thought Cultivators were supposed to be smart .

    Apparently, those two geniuses were heading towards some kind of secret vault which held all of the Fox Zen School¡¯s treasures . Granted, it wasn¡¯t the ce he was looking for, but he figured it was good enough: the entrance and the vault probably weren¡¯t too far away from each other . If he could get to the vault, he could probably¡ªhopefully¡ªget to the entrance .

    Assuming, of course, that the entrance hadn¡¯t been sealed off by some kind of arcane spell .

    Darn . He should¡¯ve asked Zi Yuan for a spell book when he had the chance .

    Li Yundong froze when he heard the sounds of a scuffle up ahead . Hended softly on a spiraling bough and concealed himself behind a clump of thick foliage . Those two guys had clearly heard the scuffle as well since they were now whispering to each other . Besides, they were both further ahead and closer to the source of the noise .

    Li Yundong focused his Eryue on their conversation .

    " . . . Not too far away from here," said Short Dude .

    "Why do you think there¡¯s a battle going on this area?" Tall Dude mumbled . "It¡¯s not even close to the vault . "

    "Well . We won¡¯t know for sure unless we get closer . " Short Dude paused . "It could be our allies . "

    "Oh? And you¡¯re sure about that how?" Tall Dude scoffed .

    Several seconds passed in silence .

    "You weren¡¯t paying attention at all during the meeting, were you?" said Short Dude .

    "Bah . It was too boring . " A pause . "What did I miss?"

    "The leaders have decided to send out patrol teams . "

    "Patrol teams?"

    "To keep the looters away when the assault is taking ce, apparently," said Short Dude .

    "Ah . Right . "

    "Look, let¡¯s just go check it out . If it¡¯s one of the patrol teams, we might as well join them . " Short Dude sighed in annoyance . "We would¡¯ve been inside the Fox Zen School by now if you weren¡¯t sote . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s stomach tightened ufortably .

    So the assault has already begun .

    Li Yundong nced up and noted the smear of orange clouds across the sky . So Zi Yuan had been spot on in her prediction .

    The attack did begin sometime around evening .

    Li Yundong activated his telescopic vision and continued to spy at the two Cultivators from afar . He followed them with his eyes until they both disappeared around a bend in the trail .

    Damn it .

    He had to move in closer .

    Li Yundong zoomed out and floated down from the tree, staying as close to the ground as possible . For stealth reasons, he had decided to glide around instead of walk¡ªhe could move around quietly that way . He quickly rounded the corner and floated to the crown of a tall tree . Once he was sure that the coast was clear, he sat astride the branch cor of the tree .

    Loud and angry voices drifted to his ears . There were three . . . no, four, men quarreling about something . He hadn¡¯t heard anything from Short Dude and Tall Dude again, so those two had to be hiding somewhere as well .

    I¡¯ve gotta be careful here . . .

    Li Yundong leaned forward and hid his face behind the leaves . Then, he focused his Eryue on those voices .

    "You people from the Jinshan Sect are just a bunch of cowards!" a man yelled .

    Li Yundong frowned .

    This voice . . .

    The man¡¯s voice sounded oddly familiar, but he couldn¡¯t recall when and where he had heard it before . Well, one thing was for sure: he must have encountered that voice before he passed the Ningshen phase, otherwise he wouldn¡¯t have forgotten it .

    "Four against one?!" yelled the same man again . "How pathetic! You people don¡¯t have the guts to take me on in a fair fight!"

    "A fair fight?" a woman sneered . "Hah! We have neither the interest nor time to engage in a duel with you, you fool . You were sneaking around this mountain even after we told you that this is a restricted area!" The womanughed snidely . "You have a death wish!"

    The man with the familiar voiceughed mockingly . "Oh? So you¡¯re saying you people can be here and I can¡¯t?" Another mockingugh . "Last time I checked, this area belongs to the Fox Zen School, not the Jinshan Sect . "

    "Drop the act . " The woman snorted . "We know why you¡¯re here . " There was a pause . "You¡¯re after the Fox Zen School¡¯s treasures, aren¡¯t you?"

    The man sniggered . "And you¡¯re not?"

    "We are authorized to be here," the woman said in a haughty tone . "Unlike a thief like you . " The woman scoffed . "And if you managed to find your way here, then it means you¡¯re heading towards the vaults . It also means that you know about the hidden passage in the vault . "

    Li Yundong froze .

    Hidden passage? What hidden passage?

    He snapped out of his daze and forced himself to keep listening .

    "We can¡¯t allow that," the woman continued in a snide tone . "Our orders are clear . No one who isn¡¯t part of the Great Six is allowed to enter the Fox Zen School during the assault . No one . "

    Thrill coursed through Li Yundong¡¯s veins . So the vault had some kind of secret passage that would lead him into the Fox Zen School! He had just found his way in!

    Okay . But first, he needed to sneak past these guys, which he assumed to be the patrol units that Short Dude had mentioned just now .

    Li Yundong tuned into the conversation again .

    "I don¡¯t need your permission to do what I want here,dy," said the familiar voice .

    "Heh! Let¡¯s not waste our breaths on him, sh¨©ji¨§," said another man who Li Yundong assumed to be another member of the patrol unit . "I say we just take him out and be done with it . "

    The familiar voiceughed . "Oh, you brats are so going to regret that decision . "

    Secondster, Li Yundong finally understood why the man¡¯s voice had sounded so damned familiar .

    "Maoshan Jida Zhen Shengong . Bada Yuanshuai Xian Shentong! Hearken to me, O Heavenly Marshal of the North! Come to me! Lend me your power! I offer you my body as a vessel . . . "

    It was Lin Youfa .

 Chapter 254

    Chapter 254

    <h4>An Unlikely Alliance</h4>

    A series of bone crunching and gurgles began as soon as the mantra ended . Li Yundong¡¯s mind instantly conjured up images of an old man transforming into a hulking figure over two meters tall .

    The Heavenly Marshal of the North .

    That¡¯s Zhu Bajie . . .

    Great . Now he had to find a way to sneak past a demigod .

    Li Yundong¡¯s Eryue buzzed again . He focused harder and heard Lin Youfa panting for breath . Secondster, those pants turned into a series of low chuckles . Another few secondster, the sound of feet shuffling could be heard over those chuckles .

    "What do we do now, sh¨©ji¨§? Are we gonna fight him?" whispered a man from the patrol unit . "It¡¯s your call . "

    Li Yundong parted the twigs in front of his face and tried to peek through the thick foliage . He saw the woman first . Two men nked the woman on both sides while another man stood somewhere behind the woman, who was clearly the leader of the squad .

    A four-man squad? Or are there more of them?

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t see Lin Youfa from his position on the tree . Not that he had to see Lin Youfa to have a rough idea of where the man was: Lin Youfa was most likely standing somewhere along the woman¡¯s line of sight .

    Li Yundong scanned the area surrounding the woman, paying attention to the direction that the woman was facing . s, much of his view was obscured by the thick canopy of foliage hanging above the area .

    He had to find a new spot to hide, at least one that would give him a good view of the path leading up the trail .

    "What¡¯s the matter, you cowards?" Lin Youfa taunted as Li Yundong began searching for a new hiding ce . "Are you frightened of me?" There was augh . "Come on, then! Let¡¯s end this!"

    Li Yundong half-expected the fighting to begin right then, but surprisingly, it didn¡¯t .

    "Sh¨©ji¨§ . . . "

    "The art of Shenda, I see," said the woman . A hint of wariness colored her tone . "So you¡¯re from the Divine Fist School . . . "

    "Oh? You¡¯ve heard of my school?" Lin Youfa cackled . "You? Someone from the Great Six? What a surprise!"

    Li Yundong spotted another tree¡ªa shorter one¡ªnearby . However, just when he was about to start moving, he hesitated . He lowered his gaze to the ground and scanned the area once again .

    He had to be extremely careful here, since Tall Dude and Short Dude were nowhere in sight .

    Those two must still be hiding somewhere in the area .

    Li Yundong turned his head and nced at his backpack .

    Hey buddy, Li Yundong said through the telepathic connection he shared with Fan of Seven Treasures . No matter what happenster, don¡¯t show yourself, okay? I can handle this .

    His backpack vibrated a secondter .

    Good . It was best if he kept the Fan of Seven Treasures hidden unless he had no choice .

    "The Divine Fist School is not part of the Great Six¡¯s assault force," said the woman, her voice eerily calm . "Leave . This is your final warning . "

    Li Yundong got out of his hiding ce and floated quietly towards the other tree . He heard another noise: the popping of joints and the cracking of knuckles .

    "Hah! Are you all here to fight?" said Lin Youfa . "Or are you just going to keep yapping?"

    Li Yundong suppressed a snort . Couldn¡¯t the guy see that they were just stalling to let the effects of Shenda wear off? Lin Youfa . What a fool .

    Li Yundong made it to the tree without being discovered .

    He got quickly got settled on a thick branch and returned to watching the scene . Indeed, he had picked the right hiding ce this time . He could see the whole area now, and he quickly noted that he¡¯d been right in his guess about Lin Youfa¡¯s position .

    Lin Youfa¡¯s Hulk-like figure stood directly in the woman¡¯s line of sight .

    There was loud roar .

    Lin Youfa suddenly barreled towards the woman .

    ZING!

    Swords were drawn in an instant . The woman and her three subordinates leaped out of Lin Youfa¡¯s way . Li Yundong found himself watching Lin Youfa¡¯s movements closely, looking for potential weaknesses that he could exploit just in case he had no choice but to confront Lin Youfater .

    It didn¡¯t take long for Li Yundong to find one . Although Shenda had given Lin Youfa a massive boost in raw strength, it also made his movements slower . A agile fighter could easily avoid those heavy blows and wait around until Lin Youfa could no longer maintain Shenda¡¯s effect .

    A new voice sounded amidst the scuffle .

    "Fear not, my fellowrades from the Jinshan Sect, for I, a member of the Quanzhen Dragon Sect, havee to your aid!"

    Li Yundong nced down and saw Short Dude stepping out from behind a bush . The guy was now wielding a fly-whisk in his hand . Li Yundong found himself genuinely baffled as to how that little thing could be used as a weapon .

    Another figure emerged from behind the same bush .

    "So have I, a member of the Donghua Sect!" said Tall Dude as he drew his long sword from its scabbard .

    Li Yundong could see the confidence returning to the woman¡¯s bodynguage at the arrival of her allies .

    "Look who¡¯s here! Our allies from the Great Six!" said the woman smugly . "Come join us, my friends!" The woman looked towards Lin Youfa . "Together, we shall get rid of this foul creature!"

    The rest of the patrol squad cheered .

    "Very well!" Tall Dude yelled .

    A secondter, Short Dude and Tall Dude leaped forward andnded somewhere behind Lin Youfa . Meanwhile, the rest of the patrol squad began to spread out their formation .

    In a matter of seconds, Lin Youfa was surrounded by six opponents .

    Li Yundong turned away from the scene and looked towards the open trail . He didn¡¯t give a flying damn about the fight . He just had to get past these people and be on his way .

    Unfortunately, there was no clear path leading from his hiding ce to the trail . He was stuck on this tree for now .

    Lin Youfa¡¯s roaringughter drifted from below . Li Yundong looked towards thebatants again . The woman and her fiverades were inching slowly towards Lin Youfa, who was stillughing his head off . Despite their number¡¯s advantage (and their relentless yapping about how insignificant the Divine Fist School was), the members of the patrol unit seemed a little frightened of Lin Youfa .

    All of a sudden, Lin Youfa stoppedughing and dropped into a low crouch .

    His six opponents froze instantly .

    "There are six of you, yet you¡¯re all acting like a bunch of scaredy-cats!" Lin Youfa released a mockingugh . "Cowards! You¡¯re all just cowards!" Lin Youfa swung his right arm in a full circle .

    His six opponents leaped away in fright .

    Li Yundong took a deep breath and analyzed his current situation . The members of the patrol squad were clearly fighting smart¡ªthey kept their distance instead of charging straight in .

    At this rate, this might turn into a long, drawn-out battle, and Li Yundong didn¡¯t have time to wait around .

    No . Waiting for the battle to end was definitely a no go .

    In that case, he was left with two options: 1) move in and take them all out himself; 2) sneak away when everyone was too distracted by the battle .

    The first option was definitely the most practical . It also jibed with Zi Yuan¡¯s advice to take out as many enemies as he could . The only problem with that was that he hadn¡¯t made it into the Fox Zen School yet .

    Those six Cultivators were all agents of the Great Six . It was true that Tall Dude and Short Dude didn¡¯t recognize him, but what if one of the members of the patrol squad did? What if one of them sent a signal to their superiors the moment he attacked? The Great Six would then be aware of his presence; he would lose the element of surprise .

    Grunts and shouts rang out below as the battle continued . Thebatants were too dispersed, so Li Yundong couldn¡¯t find clear path to move towards the trail . The tree shook as Lin Youfa¡¯s fist mmed into the ground . One of the woman¡¯s subordinate was sent flying . The man crashed into the ground and then rolled into a crouch .

    "Is that all you¡¯ve got?" Lin Youfa taunted . "Since when did the Great Six allow such weaklings to join their ranks?"

    "Watch your mouth!" the woman snarled and sprang forward, thrusting her sword . "Who are you calling weak?!"

    The sword pierced through Lin Youfa¡¯s right forearm instead of his throat¡ªno doubt the thrust¡¯s intended target .

    The woman gasped the hilt and tried to yank the sword back, but for some reason, the sword remained stuck inside Lin Youfa¡¯s forearm .

    "Hyah!!" Lin Youfa¡¯s left fist flew towards the woman¡¯s face .

    The woman screamed and leaped backwards, abandoning her sword altogether .

    SWISH!

    Short Dude moved in swiftly with his fly-whisk, aiming for Lin Youfa¡¯s lower torso .

    "Pathetic!" Lin Youfa send Short Dude away with a powerful roundhouse kick . Short Dude crashed into the floor and rolled around a few times .

    Tall Dude leaped into the air, swinging his long sword downwards . Lin Youfa pulled the woman¡¯s sword from his forearm and swung it upwards to meet the blow . An ear-piercing ring sounded when the two swords shed . Li Yundong winced and had to readjust his Eryue lest his eardrums start to bleed .

    Tall Dude was flung away after the sh and ended up crashing into a tree trunk . The other three men from the patrol squad started backing away in fear .

    Lin Youfa raised the woman sword and studied it for a moment . "What a low-grade sword," he said in a sneering tone . "Not even worth using . "

    He snapped the de in half and tossed the pieces aside .

    The woman shrieked . "My sword! How dare you!"

    The woman charged straight at Lin Youfa .

    Li Yundong knew right then that she was about to meet her end .

    Oh, goddamn . . .

    Li Yundong winced when Lin Youfa¡¯s palm mmed onto the woman¡¯s skull . The blow packed so much strength that it nearly bashed the woman¡¯s head straight into her thoracic cavity .

    The woman¡¯s lifeless body swayed to the side before crumpling to the ground, her "head" lolling about as though it was attached to her shoulders by a mere thread .

    "No!!!!!"

    "Sh¨©ji¨§!!!"

    The three men jumped on Lin Youfa simultaneously . Blood spurted out when three long swords lodged themselves into Lin Youfa¡¯s back . Lin Youfa straightened himself and turned around .

    "You pests!"

    SMASH! SMASH! SMASH!

    The three men fell to the ground, their chestspletely smashed in .

    SWISH!

    Short Dude¡¯s fly-whisk found its target on Lin Youfa¡¯s navel .

    Lin Youfa¡¯s grunt of pain turned into an angry snarl . "You fools don¡¯t give up, do you!" Lin Youfa¡¯s monstrouslyrge hand mped around Short Dude¡¯s upper torso .

    "Argh!!!" Short Dude screamed as Lin Youfa hoisted him upwards .

    "Weakling," Lin Youfa sneered, the muscles of his forearms bulging as he tried to crushed Short Dude¡¯s body with his bare hand .

    Short Dude screamed and kicked his legs to no avail .

    Li Yundong looked past Lin Youfa¡¯s shoulders . There was no way he could make it to the trail without breaking his cover . He could try flying over these idiots, but he didn¡¯t know how high he could fly without setting off those traps that Zi Yuan had mentioned in her message .

    Crap .

    "Let him go!" Tall Dude was on his feet again . "He¡¯s a member of the Quanzhen Dragon Sect . You wouldn¡¯t dare kill him . "

    "I wouldn¡¯t dare?" Lin Youfa sneered . "Look around you . I just killed four members of the Jinshan Sect . You think I¡¯m afraid of the Quanzhen Dragon Sect? Or your petty little Donghua Sect?" An eerie smirk formed on Lin Youfa¡¯s face . "Here . Just to prove my point . . . "

    "N- N- No . . . " Short Dude whimpered when two of Lin Youfa¡¯s thick fingers rose to his head .

    Li Yundong wouldn¡¯t me the guy for being scared shitless seeing as the tips of those fingers were asrge as a human fist .

    Lin Youfa pinched his fingers together, and Short Dude¡¯s head burst apart like a watermelon .

    Li Yundong felt like throwing up .

    This goddamn bastard . . .

    There was a soft ng .

    Tall Dude¡¯s sword had slipped out of his shaking fingers .

    A secondter, Tall Dude turned tail and fled downhill .

    ***

    The battle had ended sooner than Li Yundong expected . Now, Lin Youfa was the only one left standing amidst a litter of dead bodies . Li Yundong stayed hidden in the tree, watching Lin Youfa from above . He smirked . If anything, this oue only made things easier for him . The conversation between Lin Youfa and the dead woman confirmed that Lin Youfa knew the way to the vault . All Li Yundong had to do now was to let Lin Youfa lead him there . Granted, he didn¡¯t know what would happen once he got to the vault . He may or may not have to engage in a battle with Lin Youfa, but that wasn¡¯t relevant to his current situation . Right now, his priority was to get to the vault and find that secret passage .

    "Weaklings," Lin Youfa mumbled, tossing Short Dude¡¯s headless body aside .

    Li Yundong held his breath and waited for Lin Youfa to make his next move . And when he did secondster, Li Yundong¡¯s blood ran cold .

    "Stop hiding ande out now," Lin Youfa said loudly .

    Li Yundong froze . The bastard must have felt his Qi earlier . Damn .

    "I don¡¯t know who you are," Lin Youfa continued, "but I know you¡¯re a lot stronger than those pathetic wimps just now . " There was a brief pause . "Show yourself . "

    Li Yundong sighed inwardly . He would have to deal with Lin Youfater anyway, so he might as well do it now .

    Li Yundong secured his backpack around his shoulders and jumped down from branch .

    "L- Li Zhenren?"

    Yeah, yeah, yeah . Surprise, surprise . Now can we get a move on? I¡¯ve got a girlfriend to save, thank you very much .

    Li Yundong strode over towards Lin Youfa¡¯s hulking figure while thetter stared at him in shock .

    "What are you doing here, Li Zhenren?"

    Li Yundong stopped a good ten feet away from the man and gave him a cold look . "My reason for being here is none of your business . "

    Lin Youfa¡¯s eyes shed in anger . "You¡ª"

    All of a sudden, Lin Youfa¡¯s face twisted into an odd angle . Then, Lin Youfa¡¯s body began shrinking until it was back to the size of an old man . The whole process took about a minute .

    So his Shenda has reached its limit . . .

    Roughly fifteen minutes had passed since the battle began . Li Yundong filed that information away for future use .

    Lin Youfa bent over and grasped his knees, panting and heaving .

    "You know the way to the vault," Li Yundong said coldly . "Take me there . "

    Lin Youfa straightened himself and pulled out the needle from his Baihui . "Heh . You ought to learn some manners, kid . " Lin Youfa reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a tiny vial .

    "I don¡¯t see the point of being nice to someone who tried to kill me twice . " Li Yundong paused to re at the old man . "Stop dallying and take me to the vault . "

    Lin Youfa drained the contents of the vial in a single gulp and then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand .

    "Ugh . Much better . . . " Lin Youfa groaned and straightened himself .

    Li Yundong regarded the man and tried hard not to let his surprise show . The old man¡¯s wounds were rapidly closing up .

    Had to be some kind of healing potion inside that vial .

    "The vault, you say?" Lin Youfa cracked his neck, then smirked . "You must be after the Fox Zen School¡¯s treasure as well . "

    Li Yundong resisted a snort .

    Unlike you, I¡¯m actually here for honorable reasons . . .

    "I don¡¯t care what you think," Li Yundong said coldly, then pointed a finger at the old man¡¯s face . "Lead me to the vault . Now . "

    Lin Youfaughed snidely . "Who are you to be giving me orders, kid?" Lin Youfa stoppedughing and shot him a slighting look . "Last I checked, you were struggling to hold your own against me . "

    "You¡¯re mistaken if you think I¡¯m still the same as I was a few months ago . " Li Yundong paused and sent a cial look Lin Youfa¡¯s way . Satisfaction coursed through him when Lin Youfa¡¯s smirk faltered . "Right now, you¡¯re no match for me . " Li Yundong raised a brow . "With or without Shenda . "

    Lin Youfa ended their staring match with a chuckle . "I don¡¯t buy it . " Lin Youfa snorted . "Nobody can improve that much in just a few months . "

    "Believe whatever you want . " Li Yundong smiled humorlessly . "Now let¡¯s get going . "

    Lin Youfa didn¡¯t move .

    Annoyance red inside Li Yundong . "What¡¯s your problem now?" He raised a challenging brow . "Need another dose of your potion?"

    "Why should I help you?" Lin Youfa smirked . "What¡¯s in it for me?"

    Li Yundong took a step closer . "I don¡¯t recall giving you a choice . "

    All of a sudden, the old man startedughing .

    Li Yundong shook his head slightly . He¡¯d had about enough of this .

    I don¡¯t have time for this bullshit .

    Lin Youfa stoppedughing right then . "You¡¯re all talk kid¡ª"

    Lin Youfa¡¯s words stilled the moment Li Yundong unleashed the power of Qi Kinesis on him . Within a split second, Li Yundong¡¯s Zhenqi engulfed Lin Youfa¡¯s body like a thick bubble .

    Lin Youfa¡¯s eyes went round .

    Ten feet away, Li Yundong stoodpletely still as he watched Lin Youfa¡¯s body float upwards . Li Yundong willed his bubble-like Zhenqi to apply an inward pressure onto Lin Youfa .

    Lin Youfa gasped loudly . "W- What the hell d- did you do¡ª"

    "I can crush every single bone in your body from where I¡¯m standing, and I won¡¯t even break a sweat . " Li Yundong increased the pressure of his Zhenqi to prove his point . "We¡¯re on totally different levels now, you understand?"

    Lin Youfa gurgled a few times . Li Yundong could see the veins popping out on the man¡¯s forehead .

    "Now you listen to me well, old man," Li Yundong growled while maintaining his death re on Lin Youfa¡¯s purplish face . "I¡¯m in a bit of a hurry here, if you haven¡¯t already noticed . I have a very important mission to aplish, you see . And in order to do that, I have to get into the Fox Zen School . So here¡¯s what¡¯s gonna happen . " Li Yundong took a step closer . "You¡¯re gonna lead me to the vault . And then when we get there, you¡¯re gonna tell me where to find the secret passage . Is that clear?"

    Lin Youfa nodded shakily .

    "Good . " Li Yundong red at Lin Youfa for a few moments . "And if I find out that you¡¯re jerking me around and wasting my time?" Li Yundong increased the pressure of his Zhenqi . "I¡¯ll do the same thing you did to that man¡¯s head . " Li Yundong jerked his chin towards Short Dude¡¯s corpse . "Is that clear?"

    Lin Youfa nodded, and Li Yundong withdrew his Zhenqi to his Vital Orb .

    Lin Youfa dropped to the floor, coughing and wheezing .

    "Get up," Li Yundong said harshly . "Let¡¯s get moving . "

    Lin Youfa stood up on shaky feet and angled his body towards the path .

    After taking several steps, the old man paused and turned around to face him .

    "Aren¡¯t youing?" Lin Youfa gave him a quizzical look . "Thought you said you¡¯re in a hurry . "

    "You move first, since you¡¯ll be walking in front," Li Yundong snapped . Then, he pointed a finger at Lin Youfa . "I don¡¯t want you pulling any funny tricks behind my back . "

    Lin Youfa grunted in response and started walking up the trail again . Li Yundong followed quietly behind him . After about a minute or so, Lin Youfa stopped walking again and turned his head around .

    "How do I know you¡¯re not trying any funny tricks behind my back?" Lin Youfa asked, his eyes narrowing .

    Li Yundong stared at the old man coldly .

    "If I really wanted it, you¡¯d be dead already . " Li Yundong paused pointedly . "And it won¡¯t matter where you are . "

 Chapter 255

    Chapter 255

    <h4>The Secret of Secrets</h4>

    "Hey!" Li Yundong snapped . "How much longer till we get there?"

    Lin Youfa stopped short and slowly turned around to face him . Li Yundong red at the old man . They had been following the trail for nearly half an hour now, yet the entrance to this so-called vault was still nowhere in sight .

    Lin Youfa raised his brows . "Patience really isn¡¯t your shtick, is it?"

    Patience? Li Yundong snorted . Patience won¡¯t save my Chan¡¯er¡¯s life .

    "How much longer?" Li Yundong gritted out .

    Lin Youfa sighed . "We¡¯re almost there . " Lin Youfa looked towards the trail . "Fifteen minutes give or take . "

    "Yeah? How about you just tell me where the vault is . " Li Yundong paused to send Lin Youfa a scathing look . "We¡¯ve been following this trail for nearly half an hour now . "

    Thirty invaluable minutes that could¡¯ve been spent on rescuing Su Chan .

    "There¡¯s a side trail branching off this path that will lead us straight to the vault . "

    Li Yundong studied at Lin Youfa wrinkled face for a moment . Deep down, he was itching to use atha¡¯s 6th mudra (the Heart of Virtue) on Lin Youfa to know once and for all if the guy was lying to him . The only problem with that method was that Lin Youfa would end up debilitated, or worse, dead if it turned out that he was lying . And Lin Youfa was no use to him debilitated .

    Li Yundong jerked his chin forward . "This is the main trail?"

    Lin Youfa nodded .

    "Where does it lead to?"

    "Straight to the summit . But you¡¯ll pass by the Fox Zen School¡¯s main entrance along the way," Lin Youfa said, then paused to give him a look of wry amusement . "Just forget it, Li Zhenren . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "What?"

    Lin Youfa let out a dark chuckle . "You were thinking about following the main trail to the entrance, weren¡¯t you?" Lin Youfa shook his head . "It¡¯s pointless, I¡¯m telling you . The Great Six has guards stationed everywhere near the entrance . You¡¯ll get caught before you can even sneak in . If you can even find that entrance, that is . The entrance is probably concealed by a spell . "

    "And where is this side trail you mentioned?" Li Yundong asked, ignoring Lin Youfa¡¯s advice .

    Lin Youfa smirked . "Just keep following me and you¡¯ll see . "

    "This is the Fox Zen School¡¯s territory . " Li Yundong narrowed his eyes . "Howe you know so much about it?"

    The guy wasn¡¯t even from around here; he was based in Kowloon, Hong Kong . Howe he knew so much about the ins and outs of Mount Tianlong?

    Lin Youfa cackled, though his voice made him sound like he was choking . "Research, of course . "

    "Research," Li Yundong said in a skeptical tone .

    Lin Youfa shrugged . "I had a lot of free time after our duel that night . "

    "Uh-huh . "

    Lin Youfa gave him a sad look . "What else could I do? I couldn¡¯t train, spar, or do anything else that I usually do . " Lin Youfa let out a wry chuckle . "Broke my arm after you tossed me off the building . "

    "Yeah . You broke an arm after falling off the 20th floor . You deserve so much pity right there . "

    Lin Youfa shrugged . "Well, it hurt . " Lin Youfa waved a hand . "Anyway . I started reading a lot of scrolls while I was recovering . Wanted to find ways to be stronger . Maybe obtain a magical weapon or two . . . "

    Li Yundong frowned . So this guy has had his eyes on the Fox Zen School¡¯s treasures for months now .

    Lin Youfa cleared his throat . "Then I came across this old text, you see . " Lin Youfaughed . "It didn¡¯t spark my interest at first, since it was about the history of the Fox Zen School . But then I saw this map among the pages, and it got me curious . " Lin Youfa nced at Li Yundong . "I studied the map carefully . That¡¯s how I learned about the vault and the secret passage . " Lin Youfa chuckled . "Took me months, though . "

    Li Yundong pondered Lin Youfa¡¯s words carefully . So this guy managed to crack the Fox Zen School¡¯s secret by reading some book?

    Something¡¯s not right here...

    "Wouldn¡¯t we be walking straight into an ambush?" Li Yundong raised a brow . "The Great Six knows about the vault . " Li Yundong gave Lin Youfa a pointed look . "Those people you killed mentioned it just now . "

    Lin Youfaughed . "The Great Six? Oh, I have no doubt that some of them know . " Lin Youfa¡¯s eyes darted to his face . "But only a selected few, I¡¯ll wager . "

    "A selected few," Li Yundong said,pletely unconvinced .

    Lin Youfa snickered . "The top dogs, most likely . "

    Li Yundong stared at Lin Youfa but said nothing .

    "Think about it . " Lin Youfa smirked . "Why would they let a bunch of cannon fodders be privy to that knowledge if their goal is to secure the vault¡¯s contents for themselves?"

    Li Yundong nodded .

    If the Great Six stationed guards or patrol units around or inside the vault, chances were that theirckeys would try to steal those treasures for themselves .

    Lin Youfa snorted . "I bet you wouldn¡¯t reveal the location to anyone too if you knew . "

    Li Yundong red at the old man . "I¡¯m not interested in the treasure . "

    Lin Youfa stared at Li Yundong, his eyes calcting and skeptical .

    "Whatever," Li Yundong growled . "Let¡¯s just go . "

    ***

    The side trail didn¡¯t even look like a side trail, at least not in the normal sense .

    It was a rock .

    Yes, a rock, albeit one that split apart to reveal a hidden path once a series of steps were performed in the right sequence: remove the loose pebble from the side of the rock; ce said pebble this groove on the ground; press down and twist the pebble until the rock splits; then, as the rock opened and closed, some hidden mechanism would convey the pebble back to its originalpartment on the side of the rock .

    "How the hell did you figure all that out using just a map?" Li Yundong asked once they had both passed through the rock .

    The rock clicked shut behind them .

    Li Yundong realized that the exact same mechanism was on this side of the rock as well .

    Lin Youfaughed . "I didn¡¯t learn that from the map, Li Zhenren . The map only showed me the location of the side trail, not how to reveal it . "

    "So, what? You used your Shenda and borrowed some much-needed wisdom from Zhu Bajie to figure it all out?"

    Didn¡¯t know Zhu Bajie was that bright, to be honest .

    Lin Youfa guffawed . "Of course not . " He cleared his throat . "There was a poem inside the text . One of my disciples cracked it . "

    Li Yundong studied Lin Youfa¡¯s back . Admittedly, Li Yundong had been trying to test Lin Youfa throughout their trek by asking him various questions . So far the guy had been pretty forting .

    But still .

    Trust no one . . .

    "Ah . I think we¡¯re here . " Lin Youfa stopped walking and pointed at something ahead .

    Li Yundong raised his gaze and looked past Lin Youfa¡¯s shoulder .

    Arge stoney ahead, half-obscured by the tall weeds surrounding it .

    Lin Youfa was already moving forward, wading his way through the sea of weeds . Not wanting to be left behind, Li Yundong hurried after the old man .

    As he walked, Li Yundong scanned his surroundings for signs of a building, cave, or a cer¡ªbasically, anything that resembled a vault .

    There were none .

    The only thing he saw was a huge, rectangr stone block lying amidst a sea of weeds . The whole ce looked more like a forsaken tomb rather than the entrance to an arcane vault .

    Then again, maybe that was the whole point . After all, nobody would pay attention to a weedy, squalid ce like this .

    Lin Youfa stood in front of the stone block and began to examine it .

    "So?" Li Yundong stopped beside the old man . "What¡¯s next?" He studied the stone block for a moment . Clearly, the vault was located somewhere underground .

    Li Yundong nced sideways when Lin Youfa didn¡¯t answer .

    Lin Youfa was still staring at the block, lookingpletely stumped .

    "What? No more fancy tricks?" Li Yundong asked .

    Lin Youfa shook his head . "This isn¡¯t what I expected . "

    "Well what did you expect?" Li Yundong asked in a tone of annoyance .

    Lin Youfa shrugged . "Like an actual door?"

    Li Yundong red at the old man . "So what you¡¯re saying is that you have no idea how to open this thing . "

    Lin Youfa shot him a helpless look . "The map only showed me the location of the vault, Li Zhenren . "

    Li Yundong studied the stone block again . "Try pushing the block aside . "

    Lin Youfa¡¯s head shot up . "Why do I have to do all the work? Why can¡¯t you do it?"

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes . "I¡¯m not the one who can borrow strength from a deity . "

    Lin Youfa kept staring at him with narrowed eyes .

    Li Yundong sighed . "Do you want to enter the vault or not?"

    "Fine," Lin Youfa said gruffly before pulling out a needle from his pocket .

    Li Yundong stepped away and let the man work .

    "Maoshan Jida Zhen Shengong . Bada Yuanshuai Xian Shentong! Hearken to me, O Heavenly Marshal of the North! Come to me! Lend me your power! I offer you my body as a vessel . . . "

    The transformation could only be described as grotesque no matter how Li Yundong looked at it . Li Yundong didn¡¯t even realized he¡¯d been staring until Mr . Hulk over there suddenly startedughing .

    "Curious about my Shenda, Li Zhenren?" Lin Youfa said . "Wanna know its secrets?"

    "Nope . "

    Lin Youfa¡¯s face fell .

    Li Yundong still didn¡¯t give a shit .

    "Well, I wanna know yours," Lin Youfa said, pausing briefly . "How¡¯d you gain so much power in such a short amount of time?"

    "Hard work," Li Yundong gritted out . That wasn¡¯t a lie . He had worked his ass off for the past few months . Going to Tibet on foot? Dodging lightning? Come on . Those were grueling, thank you very much .

    "So you¡¯re not telling, huh?" Lin Youfa chuckled . "What if I offer to pay good money for your secrets?"

    "No dice . "

    Lin Youfa let out a huff of frustration . "Come on, Li Zhenren . What¡¯s your secret?"

    "There are no secrets," Li Yundong growled . "Now shut up and get to work . " He pointed at the block .

    Lin Youfa raised both hands in a gesture of surrender before he bent down to start pushing the block .

    Not that the block was willing to be pushed .

    "Gah! What the hell?!" Lin Youfa shouted . "It wouldn¡¯t even budge!"

    Lin Youfa had tried pushing the block in different directions and from angles . He had even tried lifting it at one point . Admittedly, it was starting to look like they would have much better luck turning the moon blue, or freezing hell .

    "Just smash it apart," Li Yundong said after he¡¯d had enough of Lin Youfa¡¯s ineffectual pushes .

    Lin Youfa raised his fists and mmed them onto the block¡¯s top surface . When that didn¡¯t work, Lin Youfa leaped into the air and stomped on the block with both feet .

    Nothing . Not even a single crack .

    "The f*ck?!" Lin Youfa eximed . "What the heck is this thing made of?"

    Li Yundong gave the man a sidelong nce . "I don¡¯t suppose you know a more powerful god . . . "

    Lin Youfa shot him a withering look .

    I¡¯ll take that as a no .

    Li Yundong looked up at the sky . It was starting to get dark, so they had better hurry up . He had better hurry up, since it would be even more difficult to conduct the search during sundown .

    Li Yundong sighed and began pacing around the stone block, examining the block from different angles . There had to be some kind of trick to opening it . After all, it was the same for the side trail .

    Li Yundong stopped pacing and looked towards Lin Youfa, who was in the middle of transforming back to his original form . Li Yundong dropped into a crouch and studied the bottom edge of the stone block .

    Maybe the block had some kind of hidden mechanism?

    Li Yundong pushed aside a bunch of weeds and studied the surface of the block .

    Nothing .

    He moved to another corner of the block and did the same thing .

    Huh . Something .

    Li Yundong leaned down to take a closer look .

    There were symbols engraved near the bottom edge of the block . Sanskrit symbols, to be exact .

    Not just any Sanskrit symbols . These symbols formed one of the verses from the Diamond Sutra . He recognized them because he¡¯d seen the same verse on the Fan of Seven Treasures .

    Okay . So there was a Diamond Sutra verses engraved on a seemingly abandoned stone block . What now? What did that even mean?

    Perhaps verses had to be chanted for the door to open?

    Li Yundong¡¯s hand froze .

    He¡¯d just found more engravings on the left of the Sanskrit symbols .

    Piqued, Li Yundong yanked out a handful of weeds which were obstructing his view of the engravings . The new engravings weren¡¯t Sanskrit symbols; they were Chinese characters:

    The door opens to the rightful heir .

    Li Yundong frowned .

    The rightful heir? The rightful heir to what? The Jindan? Was it referring to him as the Jindan¡¯s Heir?

    As he pulled out more weeds, Li Yundong received yet another surprise: the cryptic line of Chinese characters were enclosed in a circle; it would appear that they were at the center of some kind of exotic, circr diagram .

    Also engraved on the circle were seven dots, which were evenly spaced along the circumference .

    Each of the seven dots wasbelled .

    Li Yundong traced his fingers along the circle and examined eachbel carefully .

    Sraddha . . . S . . . Hri . . . Dharma . . . Dana . . . Apatrapya . . . and Prajna?

    From his pathetically limited understanding of Sanskrit, Li Yundong knew that: sraddha means faith; s means virtue; and prajna means wisdom .

    Li Yundong froze .

    "Faith, virtue, wisdom . . . " he whispered, then looked towards the circr engraving again .

    And there were seven dots . Seven .

    Li Yundong rose to his feet, suddenly feeling thankful for all the time he¡¯d spent studying all those texts on Buddhism .

    Faith, virtue, and wisdom . Each of them constitutes the Seven Treasures of the Noble Ones .

    The seven treasures . . .

    Li Yundong chuckled . Now he knew what that cryptic line meant .

    The door opens to the rightful heir .

    The rightful heir to the Fan of Seven Treasures, not the Jindan . In other words, only the true owner of the Fan of Seven Treasures could open the door .

    "What¡¯s so funny, Li Zhenren?" Lin Youfa said breathlessly .

    Li Yundong looked towards the old man, who was sitting on the ground, struggling to recover from his use of Shenda .

    "I know how to open this thing . "

    Lin Youfa¡¯s eyes grew wide . "How?"

    "I will open it," Li Yundong said sternly . "But you can¡¯t be here . " No way in hell he was going to let this sneaky old man know about the Fan of Seven Treasures .

    Lin Youfa released a sound of protest . "What the heck is that supposed to mean?"

    "I don¡¯t want you anywhere near this area when I try to open the door . " Li Yundong stared at the man . "Head back to the start of the side trail and wait for my signal . "

    "Bullshit!" Lin Youfa growled . "You¡¯re just gonna enter the vault without me!"

    "Hello, genius? I still need you inside the vault to show me where the secret passage is, remember?" Li Yundong fired back .

    "Why do I have to leave?" Lin Youfa challenged . "Why can¡¯t I just wait here?"

    Coz¡¯ I don¡¯t trust you, you despicable old man .

    Li Yundong decided to take the soft approach . "Look man . If you want to enter the vault, then do as I say . " He gave Lin Youfa a hard stare . "Right now, you¡¯re wasting both of our times . "

    Lin Youfa stared back at Li Yundong, his eyes filled with distrust .

    Li Yundong sighed . "Just go and don¡¯t argue with me . I¡¯ll let you know when the door¡¯s open . You have my word . After that you can go in and loot whatever the hell you want . "

    Lin Youfa¡¯s eyes narrowed . "What if you enter first and then take all the good stuff away before I can get them?"

    Something inside Li Yundong snapped: his patience, most likely .

    "Ten minutes," Li Yundong growled . "Youe back after ten minutes . That¡¯s not a lot of time for me to steal anything . "

    This damn well better work . Otherwise, he was going to have to knock the old man out and then wake him after the door was open .

    "Fine," Lin Youfa said gruffly . "And make it quick . "

    Li Yundong waited until Lin Youfa was no longer in sight before he returned his attention to the stone block .

    How? How could he use the Fan of Seven Treasures to open this thing?

    Maybe the fan had to be inserted somewhere to trigger the mechanism? But the stone block¡¯s surface was smooth; there weren¡¯t any grooves, slots, orpartment for him to ce the Fan of Seven Treasures .

    Maybe the mechanism could only be activated magically?

    Li Yundong lowered his backpack and pulled out the Fan of Seven Treasures . Without ado, he essed the telepathic connection he shared with the fan .

    Hey buddy . Think you can activate the door for me?

    He stared at the fan for a few seconds, waiting for it to react .

    Momentster, it did .

    The fan snapped open on its own, and a particr verse on the fan¡¯s body started glowing brightly . Unsurprisingly, the glowing verse corresponded to the verse engraved on the stone block .

    Something freakish was happening to the stone block: a portion of its smooth surface sunk down to form aplex pattern of grooves and indentations .

    Li Yundong leaped onto the stone block to get a better look of those grooves . He noted first the contour of the grooves, which resembled the shape of the Fan of Seven Treasures when fully open . The inner region of the outline contained smaller grooves which were arranged in a neat structure . When Li Yundong counted the number of smaller grooves, he found that there were forty-nine of them .

    Forty-nine grooves .

    The Fan of Seven Treasures had seven leaves in total, and there were seven des on each leaf .

    Forty-nine des in total .

    One groove for each de .

    Come here, buddy, Li Yundong ordered the Fan of Seven Treasures telepathically .

    The fan floated towards him obediently .

    Li Yundong stared at the fan, then back at those grooves .

    Open...

    SNAP!

    Lie down on the block .

    The fan flipped itself over until its body was parallel to the stone block¡¯s surface, then slowly lowered itself onto the block .

    It was a perfect fit .

    A loud click sounded as soon as the Fan of Seven Treasures started to glow . The next thing he knew, the stone block was shifting under his feet as it slid to the side to reveal a rectangr hole .

    Vo . Open sesame .

 Chapter 256

    Chapter 256

    <h4>The Vault</h4>

    The vault, Li Yundong soon realized, was essentially an underground maze, aplexbyrinth of passageways interspersed by what appeared to be dozens of cers and chambers . It was without a doubt one of the most marvelous feats of engineering that Li Yundong had ever seen .

    Li Yundong raised his oilmp (found a couple of them hanging on the wall near the entrance) and spotted Lin Youfa sticking his head into one of the many, many chambers . The guy was an old dude, but right now he was acting like an excited three-year-old .

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes when Lin Youfa let out a cheer .

    "Holy shit, Li Zhenren!" Lin Youfa eximed . "Do you know what that is?"

    Yeah . By all means, keep shouting, why don¡¯t you? Let everyone in the Great Six know that we¡¯re here .

    Li Yundong walked over and peered over Lin Youfa¡¯s shoulder .

    Lin Youfa¡¯s oilmp shone into a particr corner of the dark chamber, illuminating arge frame hanging on the wall .

    It was a calligraphy painting .

    Lin Youfa¡¯s boisterous voice echoed in the chamber . "Hah! See that? That¡¯s Wu Daozi¡¯s famous work! The Birth of Gautama Buddha!"

    Li Yundong studied the painting for a moment . Well, it was a nice painting and all that . But quite frankly, he didn¡¯t give a flying fig .

    "I wonder if that¡¯s the original," Lin Youfa whispered . "It¡¯ll be worth several hundred million dors if it is..."

    Li Yundong nced sideways at Lin Youfa .

    Even in the dark, the greed in the old man¡¯s eyes was in as day . Lin Youfa definitely couldn¡¯t be trusted fully .

    Just as Lin Youfa was about to move towards the painting, Li Yundong reached out and held the man¡¯s shoulder in a tight grip .

    "Hey," Li Yundong growled . "Take me to the hidden passage first . "

    Lin Youfa turned around and stared at him in disbelief .

    "But this is the vault!" Lin Youfa protested . "There are so many¡ª"

    "I don¡¯t give a damn about the treasures," Li Yundong snarled . "Take me into the Fox Zen School . Now . "

    Through the meager light from the oilmp, Li Yundong could see the defiant glint inside Lin Youfa¡¯s eyes right then .

    "Why do you always get to do what you want?" Lin Youfa snapped . "Why can¡¯t I explore the vault first and then take you to the secret path?"

    "Are you dumb?" Li Yundong growled . "I¡¯ll be out of your damn hair once you lead me out of here . And then you can explore this ce for however long you want or rot in here for all I care . "

    "That¡¯s not gonna work, Li Zhenren . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "What¡¯s that supposed to mean?"

    "The secret passage might take a while to find . "

    "So?" Li Yundong stared at Lin Youfa . What the hell was this old man even on about?

    "What if I don¡¯t have enough time to explore the vault?" Lin Youfa raised his chin . "What if the Great Six arrives by the time I lead you out?" Lin Youfa snorted . "I won¡¯t be able to take anything then . "

    "That¡¯s your problem, not mine . " Li Yundong paused to take a breath . Then, he shot the old man a re . "You said that finding the secret passage will take some time . Isn¡¯t that all the more reason for you to start looking right away?" Li Yundong took a step closer . "I warned you not to waste my time, old man . "

    The old man didn¡¯t back down this time . "How about we work together, then? Let¡¯s strike a deal . An agreement . "

    Li Yundong kept ring at Lin Youfa . Clearly, this idiot had forgotten who was really in charge here .

    Perhaps he needed a little reminder .

    Lin Youfa¡¯s oilmp crashed to the floor the moment Li Yundong hoisted him up by the throat .

    "I told you not to jerk me around, Lin Youfa," Li Yundong growled . "You seem to have forgotten that . "

    Li Yundong tightened his grip around Lin Youfa¡¯s throat, causing thetter to gasp .

    "K- K- Kill me a- and y- you¡¯ll n- never... f- find t-the pa... passage..."

    Li Yundong red into Lin Youfa¡¯s eyes, reveling in the fear he saw in those eyes .

    Lin Youfa gasped . "L- Let me go... And... We¡¯lle up w- with... a deal . "

    Li Yundong mmed Lin Youfa¡¯s back against the wall, though he didn¡¯t let go of the man¡¯s throat . "I¡¯m going to ask this onest time, old man," Li Yundong growled . "Will you get me into the Fox Zen School or not?"

    Lin Youfa nodded shakily .

    "As soon as you can?" Li Yundong squeezed Lin Youfa¡¯s throat harder .

    There was another shaky nod .

    Li Yundong let go of Lin Youfa¡¯s neck then . The old man slid down to the floor, coughing and wheezing .

    He didn¡¯t want to resort to such violence, but he really didn¡¯t have a choice right now . If the main entrance was sealed off as Lin Youfa imed, then the secret passage was the only way he could make it into the Fox Zen School on foot . Well, he could¡¯ve searched for the passage on his own, if the whole ce wasn¡¯t so damned big and convoluted . It would probably take him days to search through the whole ce .

    He hated to admit it, but Lin Youfa was his only hope of making into the Fox Zen School as quickly as possible .

    "How about we split up . I go find the secret passage, while you explore the ce and tell me what you findter . " Lin Youfa rose to his feet . "Sound fair?"

    "What, not afraid that I¡¯m gonna steal away all the good stuff?"

    Lin Youfa shrugged . "I¡¯m convinced now that you¡¯re not here for the treasures . "

    Yeah? No shit .

    "So do we have a deal or not?" Lin Youfa asked impatiently .

    "No," Li Yundong said in a sharp tone .

    "Why not?"

    Li Yundong red at Lin Youfa . "What do you take me for? An idiot?" Li Yundong took a step forward and pointed a finger at Lin Youfa¡¯s face . "You¡¯ll just go on a looting spree the moment I let you wander off on your own! So no! Your stupid n isn¡¯t gonna happen . Here¡¯s what will happen instead . You¡¯re gonna start looking for the hidden passage right now, and I¡¯ll be following you around . I¡¯m not letting you out of my sight . "

    "But that¡¯s a waste of time!" Lin Youfa argued . "One of us could¡¯ve spent that time exploring this ce!"

    Li Yundong smashed his fist into the wall beside Lin Youfa¡¯s head . "Don¡¯t test my patience, old man..."

    A smirk formed on Lin Youfa¡¯s face . "Go ahead . Kill me . You¡¯ll never be able to find the hidden passage without me . "

    Pieces of concrete fell to the floor when Li Yundong yanked his fist out from the dent on the wall .

    "Just take the deal, Li Zhenren," said Lin Youfa . "Can¡¯t you see? It¡¯ll be a win for the both of us . "

    Li Yundong shot the man a vicious re .

    It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t see it, asshole . It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t trust you .

    Lin Youfa shrugged . "You get to be on your way, and I get to save some time . Like I said, win-win . "

    Li Yundong shook his head and said nothing . This wouldn¡¯t do . He had toe up with some way to outwit the bastard . Otherwise, the guy would just keep jerking him around .

    Li Yundong red at Lin Youfa again .

    Apparently, death threats had no effect on him anymore .

    Son of a bitch .

    Lin Youfa chuckled and waved his hand around . "Look around you . It¡¯s like a goddamn maze in here . The ce is so huge . There¡¯s no way you can find the passage on your own . It¡¯d probably take you days! And there¡¯s no way I can finish exploring the ce on my own either . " Lin Youfa pped Li Yundong on the shoulder . "So what do you say, Li Zhenren? How about we work together, eh?"

    Li Yundong removed Lin Youfa¡¯s hand from his shoulder and considered his options . What if he broke the bastard¡¯s arm and then offered to heal it only if the guy did as he said? Would that work? Or was there a better way?

    Suddenly, Li Yundong smirked .

    Perhaps there is...

    "Fine," Li Yundong said, schooling his features . "I¡¯ll take the deal . "

    "Hah!" Lin Youfa pped his hands together . "Finally saw sense, eh? Good, good!"

    Two can y this game...

    "Go on, then," Li Yundong snapped . "Move your ass and get to work!"

    Instead of moving, Lin Youfa reached into his pocket .

    "Hey!" Li Yundong¡¯s hand shot out . "No funny business . "

    "Geez... Rx, Li Zhenren . " Lin Youfa waved the object in his hand . It was a tiny ball of string, about half the size of his palm . "This thing ispletely harmless . "

    "What¡¯s that for?" Li Yundong snapped as he watched Lin Youfa bend down to pick up the fallen oilmp .

    "So that I can find my way back to you, of course . " Lin Youfa took one end of the string and pulled . Then, he broke off a piece of string from the yarn . He tied one end of the string to his wrist before handing the other end to Li Yundong . "Tie it somewhere on you . "

    Li Yundong stared at Lin Youfa . Had this old man gone off his rocker? "What difference would that even make? This thing is only like, 2 meters long!"

    Lin Youfa rolled his eyes . "It¡¯s an enchanted string . Haven¡¯t you heard of it?"

    "Would I be reacting like this if I have?"

    Lin Youfa sighed . "It¡¯ll stretch out and elongate when pulled . " The red string lengthened when Lin Youfa pulled it . "And it¡¯ll never get tangled up . "

    Fine . Point proven .

    Li Yundong grabbed the other end of the string and began tying it to his wrist .

    "Like I said," Lin Youfa continued in a strange tone . "I need a way to find you in this mazeter, since you¡¯ll be doing your own exploration . " There was a pause . "Besides, I would know immediately if you¡¯re just following me the whole time I was tracking down the secret passage..."

    Li Yundong looked up from his wrist .

    Lin Youfa smiled smugly . "Did you think I¡¯m that dumb?"

    God damn it!

    His n had failed before it even began .

    Son of a bitch .

    Fine . n B .

    "And I have your word that you¡¯ll locate the secret passage as quickly as you can?" Li Yundong raised a brow . "No funny tricks?"

    "No funny tricks . "

    Without taking his eyes off Lin Youfa, Li Yundong formed atha¡¯s 6th¡¯s mudra¡ªthe Heart of Virtue¡ªwith his fingers .

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham," he whispered while bridging his Three Gates .

    After about ten seconds of silence, Li Yundong lowered his hands slowly .

    "Didn¡¯t know you¡¯re a Buddhist, Li Zhenren," Lin Youfa said in a strange tone .

    "That¡¯s none of your business," Li Yundong snapped . "Now get¡ª"

    "Seek..."

    Li Yundong whipped his head around and looked over his shoulder . There was nobody there .

    But that voice...

    "What¡¯s the matter?"

    Li Yundong turned back around and found Lin Youfa studying him curiously . Li Yundong shook his head but then froze when he heard the voice again .

    "Seek..."

    It sounded like some kind of echoing whisper, which was creepy as hell . (T/N: Think Voldermort whispering to everyone at Hogwarts in the Deathly Hallows)

    "Hey," Li Yundong said, narrowing his eyes at Lin Youfa .

    "What?" Lin Youfa asked curiously .

    "Did you hear that?"

    Lin Youfa frowned . "Hear what?"

    Li Yundong raised a finger to his lips and pushed his Zhenqi to his Shenting; Eryue came to life in an instant . He spent the next minute trying to detect the strange voice he heard just now, only toe up empty .

    The voice was gone .

    "What the hell?" Li Yundong whispered to himself .

    Lin Youfa chuckled . "I don¡¯t know what you heard, but you must¡¯ve imagined it, Li Zhenren . " Lin Youfa waved a hand dismissively . "We¡¯re the only ones who entered the vault just now, remember? Nobody came in after us . " He shrugged . "Unless there¡¯s another way in, or unless someone else knows how to open the door, then we¡¯re the only ones here . "

    Li Yundong shook his head .

    Fool...

    What if someone was already hiding inside the vault before they even entered?

    "Whatever," Li Yundong said gruffly . He deactivated Eryue and gave Lin Youfa a hard stare . "Just get moving . I want that passage found in half an hour . "

    Lin Youfa mumbled something about impatient kids before he pulled out a digital camera from his pocket .

    "Use this to take pictures of everything you find in those rooms," Lin Youfa said, then grinned . "I¡¯ll revisit them once I see something I want . "

    "Half an hour," Li Yundong growled, snatching the camera from Lin Youfa¡¯s hand .

    Lin Youfa shot him a helpless look . "I have to check on a few things, so half an hour is a little..."

    "Half an hour," Li Yundong snapped .

    Lin Youfa sighed . "Fine . I¡¯ll try my best . "

    The red string lengthened as Lin Youfa shuffled away from him . Li Yundong stared after the old man¡¯s leaving form . Nothing had happened when he used Heart of Virtue on the guy .

    But still .

    Just to be safe...

    A tendril of Li Yundong¡¯s Zhenqi stretched forward and shaped itself into a noose around Lin Youfa¡¯s throat . Call him paranoid, but he trusted his own Zhenqi more than that enchanted string .

    "I¡¯m warning you, Lin Youfa," Li Yundong said in a dangerous tone . "No funny business . Or else..."

    Lin Youfa stopped walking and started coughing when Li Yundong¡¯s Zhenqi squeezed Lin Youfa¡¯s neck .

    Li Yundong eased up on the Qi Kinesis and let Lin Youfa breath .

    "How the f*ck did you do that?" Lin Youfa was staring back at him in shock .

    "Get moving!"

    Lin Youfa turned around and started moving away again .

    When Lin Youfa was out of sight, Li Yundong sighed . Hopefully, the old man would return soon and he would be out of here . Please hang on, Chan¡¯er...

    The string stopped lengthening .

    Li Yundong nced down at his wrist and fought down the annoyance rising to his chest . The old man must¡¯ve gotten distracted by something .

    Li Yundong tightened the Zhenqi noose around Lin Youfa¡¯s neck .

    There was a loud yelp .

    "Argh! Li Zhenren! Stop! Stop!" A retching sound . "I- I¡¯ll keep moving! J- Just stop!"

    Li Yundong shook his head and loosened his Zhenqi .

    The red string started lengthening again .

    Li Yundong sighed . "I might as well explore the ce . "

    He kept walking until he reached the end of the corridor where he had to make a choice: left or right .

    He nced down at his wrist . The red string had curved towards his right .

    He exhaled slowly and decided to follow the string . It made more sense to avoid straying too far from Lin Youfa .

    "No..."

    Li Yundong came to a halt, his scalp tingling . Below, the red string kept stretching forward . He shook his head and forced himself to keep walking .

    "No..."

    Ignore it .

    "Back..."

    Li Yundong hastened his pace . It could be an illusion . Some kind of trap .

    "Wrong..."

    Keep walking . Just keep¡ª

    Li Yundong gasped when his vision exploded in a multitude of colors .

    Fire . He saw fire . Brilliant, varicolored mes . The mes were everywhere, forming some kind of halo . The vision disappeared as quickly as it came, and Li Yundong found himself down on his knees .

    Someone was pulling on his backpack . But when he turned his head, he realized that he was wrong . Nobody was pulling his backpack; the backpack itself was trying to move back where he came from .

    Okay, okay . I get the idea, Li Yundongmunicated with the Fan of Seven Treasures . Stop pulling already .

    When the backpack stopped jerking around like it was having a seizure, Li Yundong rose to his feet and turned around .

    Was that your voice just now?

    The backpack moved to the left, then to the right .

    Li Yundong frowned .

    That was a "no" ording to their agreed gesturalnguage .

    "Then whose voice was that just now?" he whispered .

    From Lin Youfa¡¯s reaction earlier, it seemed like Li Yundong was the only who could hear the voice .

    You want me to go back where we came from, Li Yundong said to the Fan of Seven Treasures .

    The backpack shot up, then dipped back down .

    Okay then...

    Li Yundong started walking back .

    "Yes... Seek..."

    The hissing voice echoed inside his mind . It was like hearing a bunch of snakes hissing away inside an echo chamber .

    "Who are you?" Li Yundong said but didn¡¯t stop walking . "Show yourself . "

    "Seek..."

    Seek what? What am I looking for?

    He had just arrived at the fork at the end of the first hallway where he took the right turn earlier . He continued walking until he was past the first hallway; he assumed that the voice, whomever the heck it belonged to, had wanted him to take the left turn instead of the right . He kept walking despite his niggling doubts, fully aware of the fact that he had no idea what he was walking towards .

    Left, right, right, left, left, left, the voice kept guiding him as he made his way through thebyrinth that was the Fox Zen School¡¯s hidden vault . Suddenly, he noticed how simr his fate was to that piece of string attached to his wrist: slowly unravelling as it was stretched apart by the force of the unknown .

    The air was starting to turn chilly . Despite his body¡¯s temperature resistance, his skin still ended up peppered with goosebumps . Perhaps that had nothing to do with the cold and more to do with the fact that he didn¡¯t know what the hell he was doing .

    Can that voice be trusted? Li Yundong asked the Fan of Seven Treasures .

    The fan affirmed .

    "Proceed..."

    Li Yundong strode into some kind of weird chamber with a rectangr floor n . The chamber was empty except for its four walls . The ce was essentially arge atrium with four hallways connected to it, one to each wall .

    Li Yundong stopped at the center of the chamber . "What now?"

    The voice didn¡¯t speak again .

    Did you know that voice? At least he had the Fan of Seven Treasures forpany . He honestly didn¡¯t know what he would do if he was in this alone .

    The fan affirmed .

    Whom does the voice belong to?

    His backpack began vibrating like crazy .

    Right . The Fan of Seven Treasures would only respond to yes or no questions .

    Settle down buddy . The backpack stopped vibrating immediately . Are you sure that the voice can be trusted?

    That was his main concern right now, which was why he sighed in relief when the fan answered with an affirmation .

    "From south... North-east... Fifteen steps..."

    Li Yundong¡¯s head snapped up, though he had no idea what he¡¯d been expecting to see . The chamber¡¯s marble roof was the only thing he saw . In his defense, it did feel like the voice hade from above .

    From south? North-east?

    Everything clicked .

    From south . That was probably meant as some kind of reference point . Which means... Li Yundong turned his head and looked towards the hallway he came from . That hallway must be south . He looked back to the front, making sure that his back was facing the south hallway directly .

    And north-east...

    He rotated his body 45 degrees clockwise, and then started walking forward .

    He stopped at the fifteenth step .

    A loud click sounded, and a deep rumbling followed suit . A rectangr pad at the center of the chamber sank downwards to form a series of stairs .

    Li Yundong stood rooted on the spot until the floor stopped quivering before he slowly made his way towards the staircase . It was a steep flight of stairs leading to God knows where .

    "Are you leading me out of this ce?" Li Yundong yelled .

    Maybe Lin Youfa didn¡¯t know shit after all . Maybe this was the secret passage .

    The echoes of Li Yundong¡¯s voice petered out . Still, no answer came .

    Having been ignored, Li Yundong decided to turn to his trusted partner in crime for some much-needed advice .

    Is the owner of that voice trying to lead me to the Fox Zen School?

    His backpack didn¡¯t move .

    Buddy?

    Nothing .

    Oh,e on! Don¡¯t abandon me now...

    Seconds went by .

    Not an inch . Not even a tiny nudge . So much for trusted partner in crime .

    "Proceed..." the voice hissed .

    Li Yundong looked down at flight of stairs and winced . He took a deep breath and made the first step .

    At least the first step felt pretty solid .

    "Heavens help me," Li Yundong muttered as he took another step .

    The stairs led to a huge circr room . Half of the floor was painted ck while the other half was painted white . Scratch that . The whole room was actually a massive Yin-Yang circle .

    A huge wall cut across the center of the circle . The wall seemed a little out of ce given how in it looked unlike the room¡¯s exotic design .

    "Forth..."

    Li Yundong leaped down from the staircase and walked forward .

    "Seek..."

    "Seek what?" Li Yundong stopped walking and red up at the ceiling . "What do you want me to find?"

    "Forth..."

    Li Yundong did a face palm and sighed .

    All of a sudden, he let his hand drop .

    "The wall..." He looked up at the ceiling and pointed at the wall . "That wall? You want me to reach that wall?"

    "Forth..."

    Forth it is, then .

    Li Yundong walked on, stopping when he reached the wall . "Okay? Now what?" He reached out to touch the wall .

    "What the¡ª"

    His hand bounced right off before it could even touch the wall¡¯s surface .

    Piqued, he leaned in to take a closer look at the wall¡¯s surface .

    There was nothing there, at least to the naked eye .

    Well, the wall looked like the dullest wall in existence, and yet...

    Li Yundong slowly pushed his index finger forward . Again, his hand was repelled when the tip of his finger was about an inch from the wall¡¯s surface .

    It was like there was some kind of invisible barrier protecting the wall . Some kind of spell? A magical seal maybe?

    "Satya..." the voice hissed .

    Li Yundong leaned back from the wall with a frown . Satya? Truth? Why was it suddenly speaking to him in Sanskrit?

    "Prajna..."

    "Wisdom," Li Yundong whispered .

    "Seek... Hear my name... Heed my teachings..."

    Something shed inside Li Yundong¡¯s mind¡¯s eyes; he saw those colorful mes again .

    "Heed my teachings..."

    Li Yundong gasped when the vision disappeared .

    "Heed my teachings..."

    Head my teachings? Hear my name? Li Yundong rubbed his forehead with his palm . Where have I heard that kind of speech pattern before? And those me¡ª

    Everything clicked .

    Those colorful mes . He¡¯d seen those mes the night he met atha on his balcony!

    "Heed my teachings," Li Yundong said as he started pacing back and forth . "Hear my name..."

    Li Yundong stopped short, and all of a sudden, Zi Yuan¡¯s trantion of atha¡¯s message came flooding into his mind .

    "Those who hear my name shall banish all evil and cultivate goodness," Li Yundong whispered . "Those who heed my teachings shall obtain Ultimate Wisdom..."

    Li Yundong looked up at the ceiling, his mind running a mile a minute .

    Satya means truth in Sanskrit; and Prajna means wisdom .

    Okay . So he had to seek truth and wisdom, possibly from that wall over there .

    Li Yundong walked back towards the wall and stared at its nd surface .

    Seek truth and wisdom . Right . Easier said than done .

    Li Yundong walked around to the opposite side of the wall .

    Maybe it¡¯s only sealed on one side?

    His hand bounced off once again .

    He hung his head with a heavy sigh . Right . As if anyone could be that stupid .

    He examined the wall¡¯s surface again, hoping to find some clue to help him unravel this mystery . Unfortunately, this side of the wall looked as in as the other side .

    Li Yundong cocked his fist back and sent a powerful right cross at the wall . The resulting bounce was so powerful that he was thrown ten feet backwards and ended up falling t on his ass . Well . Not that he¡¯d been expecting that to work; he just wanted to blow off some steam .

    Li Yundong groaned and climbed to his feet . Right . So this stupid wall contained the truth he was supposed to be seeking . But he had to break the seal in order to get the wall to reveal this so-called truth to him .

    Truth . Ultimate wisdom, whatever .

    Li Yundong froze . Whoa . Wait a minute .

    Li Yundong reyed atha¡¯s message in his head: Those who heed my teachings shall obtain Ultimate Wisdom .

    "Heed my teachings... That¡¯s what the voice said..." Li Yundong rubbed his face with his palms . "Heed my teachings... Heed my teachings . "

    He lowered his hands and released a frustrated growl .

    atha¡¯s teachings . What did atha teach?

    He took a deep breath and closed his eyes . Come on, Li Yundong . Think . This is important . What do I know about atha?

    atha . The Immovable Wisdom King .

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes shot open . "My God... The mudras . " He gripped his hair with his hands and began another round of pacing . "It¡¯s in the mudras... It has to be . "

    He came to a halt, turned around, then ran back towards the wall .

    atha had conveyed his teachings to his followers via different ancient texts; the Mahamudra Tantra was one of them . Li Yundong stared hard at the wall . Okay . So one of atha¡¯s mudras held the power to destroy the seal . He was sure of that now . But which one? atha had 14 mudras in total . Which one should he use?

    Should he just try all of them?

    Don¡¯t be stupid, Li Yundong . Some of those mudras were pretty destructive . One wrong move and it would be all over for him¡ªthe entire vault would copse . He wouldn¡¯t even be able to get out of here .

    Right . Which means the 1st, 8th, 9th, 10th, 12th, and 14th mudras were all out since they were all highly destructive in nature .

    The 2nd mudra, the Immovable Mountain of Treasure, forms a defensive shield, so that was probably out as well .

    The 4th mudra, the Great Eye, allows the user to perceive a person¡¯s evil intent .

    The 5th mudra, the Mouth of Samadhi, was the only mudra in the Mahamudra Tantra that Li Yundong had no idea how to use . Well, he knew how to form its hand sign, but its purpose, effect, and incantation weren¡¯t stated in the Mahamudra Tantra . Even now, Li Yundong remained ignorant as to why that was the case .

    The 6th mudra, the Heart of Virtue, delivers immense suffering to those who harbor malicious intention towards the user; the suffering willst until the user releases the mudra .

    The 11th mudra, the Dharma Shankha, was used as a form of blessing which boosts the morale, spirit, and willpower of everyone in the user¡¯s vicinity; the range and duration of the morale boost depends on the user¡¯s own willpower .

    The 13th mudra, the Divine Lasso, is yet another offensive mudra; it shackles, binds, and immobilizes a foe at its user¡¯s will .

    Li Yundong failed to see how any of these mudras could be applied to disarming a magical seal .

    (Rmended soundtrack: Check out atha¡¯s theme)

    "Goddamn it!" Li Yundong¡¯s fist bounced off the wall after he punched it again . Nothing was ever easy . Everywhere he went, obstacles seemed to just throw themselves at him . Why was he always so clueless every time when it really mattered? Worst, he even had to rely on other people to save his ass on many asions¡ª

    Li Yundong froze . "Obstacles," he said, staring at the wall again . "The seal... The seal is an obstacle . "

    And obstacles had to be removed .

    All of a sudden, despair transformed into thrill and excitement . Blood pounded in his ears as a flurry of thoughts gushed into his mind .

    The mudras weren¡¯t the only things that atha had taught through the Mahamudra Tantra . Back in Tibet, Meiduo told him that the Mahamudra Tantra had dedicated an entire chapter on atha¡¯s 14 mudras . But some of those pages, ording Meiduo, had side notes .

    The side notes themselves had nothing to do with any of the mudras; rather, they were about atha¡¯s incantations .

    He remembered Meiduo telling him that there were five side notes, each dedicated to one of atha¡¯s incantations .

    "My God..." Li Yundong whispered in awe . "Why didn¡¯t I see this sooner?"

    He closed his eyes and recalled Meiduo¡¯s voice when she had read out the contents of one of the side notes to him: it was an incantation called atha¡¯s Rite of Exorcism .

    The pieces were starting to fall into ce now .

    That night on his balcony, the arhats from the Fan of Seven Treasures had destroyed those dark wraiths from the Beads of Gore by chanting a special mantra . And if he remembered correctly...

    No . Not if . He was certain of it . Those arhats had been chanting atha¡¯s Rite of Exorcism .

    It made sense . Those dark wraiths were evil spirits, and the incantation had exorcised them; hence its name, the Rite of Exorcism .

    Then, atha himself had uttered an incantation after revealing himself in front of Li Yundong!

    Come on,e on... Think! What was the incantation? How did it go?

    Li Yundong squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to match atha¡¯s voice from that night to Meiduo¡¯s voice when she was tranting those side notes to him .

    His eyes shot open secondster . "Holy... I know what it is..."

    So that¡¯s what atha was trying to tell me...

    Li Yundong lowered his backpack to the floor, then stood up to face the wall . One of atha¡¯s incantations held the power to remove the seal .

    It was atha¡¯s True mes of Samadhi . That was the incantation he needed; because, ording to the Mahamudra Tantra, the True mes of Samadhi was actually a prayer to atha for the removal of any obstacle towards the Path of Truth .

    Now he understood why the 5th mudra was called the Mouth of Samadhi, and also why it couldn¡¯t be used with the normal mantra: the Mouth of Samadhi was meant as the conveyor of atha¡¯s True mes of Samadhi .

    Li Yundong held his hands in front of his chest and formed the 5th mudra with his fingers . "Here we go... the Mouth of Samadhi . "

    From his Vital Orb, Li Yundong¡¯s Zhenqi surged upwards, linking all three Dantians together to bridge his Three Gates .

    May the Mouth of Samadhi breathes the True mes of Samadhi...

    "Namah sarva tathagatebhyah sarva mukhebhyah, sarvatha trat canda maha rosana kham khahi khahi sarva vighnam hum trat ham mam..."

    The wall in front of him burst into mes . It was the same mes he¡¯d seen that night on his balcony, the same ones he¡¯d seen earlier in those visual shes .

    Li Yundong repeated the mantra over and over and over again until the colorful mes engulfed the wallpletely .

    "Namah sarva tathagatebhyah sarva mukhebhyah, sarvatha trat canda maha rosana kham khahi khahi sarva vighnam hum trat ham mam!"

    White, blinding light filled the room . Li Yundong flinched and turned away from the wall .

    "Seek..."

    It was that voice again .

    When Li Yundong lowered his arms, he realized that the light was gone .

    The wall still looked the same .

    Li Yundong frowned . Did it work at all?

    "Seek..."

    Li Yundong pulled in a deep breath and reached out with his hand to touch the wall .

    The barrier was gone .

    As soon as his palm touched the wall¡¯s smooth marble surface, a bunch of Chinese characters began to appear on the wall¡¯s surface . The characters were releasing a golden glow:

    Herein lies the truth of all truths .

    Bright to the wise;

    Dark to the foolish .

    Seek, and thou shalt discover;

    Grasp, and thou shalt master .

    Ask, and thou shalt stray;

    Follow, and thou shalt fail .

    The tree ofprehension will bear fruit;

    The tree of instruction will wither and wilt .

    Woe to those to whom counsel hath been given;

    For your body shall fall into ruination;

    Never to heal, never to rise .

    ves ye shall be;

    Fettered by ignorance, shackled by infirmity .

    And the Truth shall elude you for all eternity;

    The crossing of Essence yields life;

    But the crossing of Qi yields power .

    Life is vital;

    But power is growth;

    Grow the Orb, and thou shalt be exalted .

    Look within, not without;

    For therein live the Elixirs of Power .

    The path to the Heavens is a ninefold ascent;

    Omit none lest all be vain;

    Skip none lest the foundation crumble .

    Elixir of Formation

    What forms the Orb?

    Is it not the merging of Fire and Water?

    Is it not the byproduct of such a union?

    Elixir of Structure

    Whatever generates, grows; whatever ovees, withers .

    Order is structure wherein power grows .

    Disorder is chaos wherein power withers .

    What is power without structure?

    What is growth without order?

    Elixir of Yang

    Yang stokes Fire;

    Vitality thrives in the presence of Fire .

    Vitality is the basis of growth .

    The Convergence of Yang leads to growth .

    Elixir of Yin

    Yin-Yang is harmony;

    Fire is motion;

    Earth is stability .

    Bnce the Fire;

    And be as stable and immovable as the Earth .

    Elixir of Bones

    Look to the Water source .

    Elixir of Flesh

    Thy Water source is abundant; nourish with it .

    Elixir of Eleven Transmutations

    Look inward! Look within!

    Look for the eleven constituents of your constitution;

    For they are the ingredients of the True mes .

    The Orb fortifies the Eleven;

    The Eleven sets the Orb aze .

    Elixir of Fire

    When the Eleven converges at the Cauldron and the Spirit sparks, the True mes will be born .

    Elixir of Transcendence

    Burn! Burn! Burn!

    From the ashes a new power shall rise!

    Once created, the Elixirs will grant immense power;

    Once created, the Elixirs will never go dry;

    Once created, the Elixirs will never be spent;

    Once created, the Elixirs can be called upon to serve their master;

    The true master of the Elixirs shall rise and be the master of all masters .

    Whosoever that has mastered these methods, if they be worthy, shall unlock the full potential of their corporeal existence . Their metabolism shall speed up a hundredfold; and the state, size, and form of their bodies can be altered at will . Their blood, flesh, and bones shall be the bearers of insurmountable strength . Six arms shall be bestowed upon them, for two cannot wield their strength; one head cannot contain their wisdom, so they shall be granted two more .

    Such is the power of the Nine Elixirs Method, the ultimate form of Internal Alchemy .

    ¡ªMystical Silver Fox

 Chapter 257

    Chapter 257

    <h4>Riddle Me This</h4>

    Li Yundong ran his palm over the four glowing ideograms at the end of the inscription .

    Mystical Silver Fox .

    The fourth Head of the Fox Zen School, and one of the most powerful fox spirits to ever live . A controversial figure hailed as the greatest prodigy the Fox Zen School had ever produced . Indeed, the Mystical Silver Fox¡¯s legendary talents were said to surpass even those of Ao Wushuang . One could only imagine the kind of things such a person was capable of, the kind of power she wielded .

    And apparently, Li Yundong was now staring at a wall containing the Mystical Silver Fox¡¯s penmanship . Not to mention the fact that a mysterious voice¡ªwhich he now suspected belonged to a deity¡ªhad guided him towards said wall .

    What a day this had been .

    And he wasn¡¯t even inside the Fox Zen School yet .

    Li Yundong released the breath he didn¡¯t know he¡¯d been holding and slowly backed away from the wall . After a few steps, he stopped, once again overwhelmed by a sense of wonderment . On the wall, the ideograms continued to coruscate . Periodic ripples of golden light skimmed across the body of the text . It was as though a continuous stream of molten gold was flowing through a bunch of tiny grooves carved onto the wall .

    Beautiful . Enigmatic . And mystical, just like its author .

    A sharp tug on his wrist snapped him out of his daze . Raising his forearm, he noted that the enchanted string was still lengthening . He lowered his forearm with a sigh, grateful that he still had time to figure this thing out .

    He returned his attention to the engravings on the wall .

    The style of thenguage was archaic, so these inscriptions must¡¯ve been done a long time ago . And he would infer something else: the inscriptions were most likely not meant to be discovered . That much was obvious from the painstaking measures that the Mystical Silver Fox had employed for their concealment: carving them onto a wall that was hidden within an underground maze; sealing said wall with a spell so powerful that it would take nothing less than a deity¡¯s power to ovee; the prose itself, which was highly obscure no doubt by design, encoded in anguage intelligible only to the author herself .

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes lingered on the line directly above the author¡¯s signature .

    The Nine Elixirs Method .

    Whatever this mysterious method was, it was clearly a huge deal in the Cultivation world, almost like a holy grail of Cultivation .

    Did the Mystical Silver Fox invent it?

    Li Yundong dispelled the idea after a moment of thought . Why inscribe it at all if she had no desire for anyone to learn about her invention? Besides, if she was indeed the inventor, then she would¡¯ve known the method inside out . Why keep a record for people to discover? No . She probably learned the method from an external source and then decided to inscribe everything she had learned onto this wall so that she alone could refer to it in the future .

    But that assumption alone begged several other questions . Where was the Mystical Silver Fox now? Was she even alive? Did she intend on¡ª

    "Seek..."

    The voice caused Li Yundong to jump .

    Li Yundong red up at the ceiling . "Gee... Can you not make this whole thing creepier than it already is?"

    "Seek..." the voice hissed, clearly ignoring his protest .

    Li Yundong sighed . Oh, never mind...

    Funny how he was speaking to a deity like they were old buddies, yet he was still alive and breathing instead of being condemned to hell for sphemy .

    Li Yundong returned his attention to the inscription on the wall .

    The general structure of the writing was somewhat intelligible: a preface consisting of five paragraphs; a list of nine so-called elixirs; and finally, a brief summary of the various benefits that the nine elixirs would confer upon their master .

    Several terms did seem familiar to him such as the term Orb, which probably referred to the Vital Orb . Fire and Water sounded a lot like the Fire and Water elements as described in the Five Elements Theory .

    Each item in the list had its own captions, though the precise meaning of those captions was still lost on him . The whole thing was a riddle, some kind of code .

    Li Yundong froze .

    Seek . The voice kept telling him to seek even though the writing on the wall had been revealed . Perhaps there was something else that needed to be found? Like a cipher?

    Li Yundong shook his head sharply and forced his eyes close . He shouldn¡¯t get ahead of himself with these assumptions . It would be unwise to search for something that might not even exist . His best bet right now was to work with the things that he had .

    He opened his eyes and studied the wall once more .

    The first step was to figure out what he should be figuring out . Yes, this was a riddle . Yes, this was a code to be cracked . But he still had to have some idea of what the solution looked like, or what form it would take, before he even try to crack the problem . Otherwise he¡¯d just be grasping at straws the entire time .

    The answer came to him secondster . "The elixirs..." Li Yundong let out a breathless chuckle . "Of course..."

    The significance of the nine elixirs was obvious from the name of the technique¡ªthe Nine Elixirs Method . Plus, there were hints all over the passage as well: the list of nine elixirs; a reference to some kind of Elixir of Power in the preface .

    Okay . So the goal was to obtain the nine elixirs . That¡¯s what the whole thing was about . No . Not obtain, but create . The elixirs had to be created . The author had used the phrase "once created" four times in the passage .

    A glimmer of understanding sparked inside Li Yundong . The captions! Maybe the captions described the necessary steps to create the elixirs?

    Li Yundong read the first item in the list of elixirs .

    Elixir of Formation

    What forms the Orb?

    Is it not the merging of Fire and Water?

    Is it not the byproduct of such a union?

    "What forms the Orb?" Li Yundong thought aloud .

    Well, if Orb indeed referred to the Vital Orb, then the answer was obvious: Zhenqi .

    s, the following two lines stumped him . Merging of Fire and Water? What? Li Yundong skipped through the list to look for more references of "Fire" and "Water . "

    He found four more items in the list that mentioned "Fire" and "Water" in their captions .

    Elixir of Yang

    Yang stokes Fire;

    Vitality thrives in the presence of Fire .

    Vitality is the basis of growth .

    The Convergence of Yang leads to growth .

    Elixir of Yin

    Yin-Yang is harmony;

    Fire is motion;

    Earth is stability;

    Bnce the Fire;

    And be as stable and immovable as the Earth .

    Elixir of Bones

    Look to the Water source .

    Elixir of Flesh

    Thy Water source is abundant; nourish with it .

    There were mentions of "Earth" as well, which hinted further at some form of application of the Five Elements Theory . Other than that, Li Yundong had no idea what to make of those captions .

    With a sigh, he lowered his backpack to the floor and sat down . Might as well getfortable . Then, he went through the list of nine elixirs from top to bottom, reading each caption carefully . By the time he reached thest item of the list, it became clear to him that the meaning of these captions could only be understood within the right context . Certain terms and concepts were cited across different items in the list: Fire; Water; Earth; Orb . This hinted at some kind of underlying framework that would make those captions meaningful . He just had to reconstruct that framework, and everything else would make sense .

    "The preface..." Li Yundong closed his eyes and huffed . "Of course . "

    Herein lies the truth of all truths . That was stated in the very first line of the preface .

    "Bright to the wise, dark to the foolish... seek and thou shalt discover... grasp and thou shalt master?"

    Li Yundong paused and shook his head a few times . He didn¡¯t know what any of that meant . Yet .

    He skipped to the next paragraph .

    "The tree ofprehension will bear fruit... The tree of instruction will wither and wilt . " Li Yundong paused again, frowning . Then, he reread the previous paragraph a few times . For some reason, he couldn¡¯t help but think that the first two paragraphs were intimately rted, like they were both implying the same thing .

    I¡¯lle back to itter...

    He skipped to the third paragraph . "The crossing of Essence yields life, but the crossing of Qi yields power?" Li Yundong rested his elbows on his legs and steepled his fingers .

    The crossing of Essence...

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes widened a tad . "Fertilization," he said, sitting up straighter .

    The crossing of Essence implies procreation; namely, the exchange of Essences between a man and a woman, which yields life .

    Okay, moving on...

    "The crossing of Qi yields power?"

    Li Yundong shifted into a meditative posture and blinked at the wall for a moment . The crossing of Qi . Well, the only thing that came to mind was the Convergence of Five Qis . Not really sure what "crossing" meant, but he figured the Convergence of Five Qis fit the bill pretty well .

    He moved on to the next line . "Life is vital, but power is growth..." Made sense, he supposed . Life is vital because without life, power can¡¯t even exist . At the same time, life doesn¡¯t imply the presence of power¡ªa being can be very much alive, yet be weak and frail . What does imply power is growth . Even a weak person can gain power through growth .

    So growth is power, and power is growth...

    "Grow the Orb, and thou shalt be exalted . . . "

    Li Yundong trailed off and went silent in contemtion . Grow the Vital Orb . Was that another purpose of the technique?

    "Look within, not without... For therein live the Elixirs of Power..."

    Li Yundong stroked his chin a few times . So to create those elixirs, one must look within oneself because the stuff required to create the nine elixirs resides inside everyone .

    It made sense, he supposed . It was stated at the end that the Nine Elixirs Method was the ultimate form of Internal Alchemy . The method must therefore involve some kind of internal reformation that had nothing to do with external sources .

    Which means, what? Qi control?

    He tabled that idea forter and read on .

    "The path to the heavens is a ninefold ascent . Omit none lest all be vain... Skip none lest the foundation crumble . "

    Now that he had enough context, these few lines seemed pretty sensible . The "path to the heavens" was a metaphorical way of saying "the mastery of the Nine Elixirs Method . "

    "Ninefold ascent" most likely implied that there would be nine steps involved in the whole process . And considering there were nine elixirs presented in order, this interpretation of this line became even more suggestive .

    Omit none lest all be vain: this one was rather self-exnatory .

    Skip none lest the foundation crumble . This one seemed pretty obvious as well . The creation of the elixirs had to be done in the exact order they were presented, starting from the Elixir of Formation to the Elixir of Transcendence . The use of the term "foundation" also suggested some kind of dependency between the elixirs; perhaps each elixir was a crucial ingredient in the creation of the next one?

    Li Yundong exhaled and rubbed his hands together . Now that he had a basic understanding of the context, it was time to give those captions another shot . Alright then...

    He studied the captions for the Elixir of Formation .

    What forms the Orb?

    Is it not the merging of Fire and Water?

    Is it not the byproduct of such a union?

    Well, the Zhenqi forms the Vital Orb . Easy-peasy .

    However, the Mystical Silver Fox had, in a somewhat poetic fashion, likened the Zhenqi to the byproduct of the merging of Fire and Water . Why was that? After sitting there for about a minute or so anding up with nothing, Li Yundong shook his head and shut his eyes again .

    Okay, so she had made some sort of obscure reference to the Zhenqi .

    Why? What did that imply? Li Yundong¡¯s eyes shot open a secondter . Obvious, wasn¡¯t it? The creation of the Elixir of Formation must involve the Zhenqi .

    Right . But how was it rted to the union of Fire and Water?

    Li Yundong closed his eyes and spent a few seconds in silent contemtion . If I merge Fire and Water, I would get...

    "Steam..." Li Yundong whispered, opening his eyes . "Steam is a water in gaseous form . "

    Okay . So what? Li Yundong sighed and hung his head low . A secondter, he raised his head again . Well, in Chinese culture, Qi was often likened to a gaseous substance . So there was that . Not that the information was helpful . It still didn¡¯t say anything about how to create the Elixir of Formation .

    Li Yundong sighed and massaged his temples . What am I missing?

    Li Yundong¡¯s head shot up . His eyes travelled down to the end of the inscription .

    "Unlock the full potential of their corporeal existence," he whispered .

    It said corporeal existence . The method had something to do with the human body . In that case, he should probably incorporate ideas from Traditional Chinese Medicine as well!

    He returned his attention to the Elixir of Formation . The merging of Fire and Water . Okay . So what did TCM have to say about Fire and Wat¡ª

    It clicked .

    The organs! Each of the five Zangs is associated with an element in the Five Elements Theory .

    Excitement coursed through Li Yundong¡¯s veins . So the merging of Fire and Water was probably referring to the mixing of the Qis from two different Zangs! Also, the idea concurred with that line in the preface: the crossing of Qi yields power .

    Li Yundong exhaled slowly to calm his excitement . The Zangs associated with Fire and Water are the Kidney and the Heart respectively . Okay . So the Qis of these two Zangs had to be mixed . But where? Where should the mixing take ce? Inside the Zangs themselves? Somewhere along the meridians? At the upper Dantian?

    Secondster, Li Yundong chuckled . "Of course . "

    The Vital Orb .

    That¡¯s where his Zhenqi is gathered . And in this case, the Zhenqi would probably act as some kind of catalyst .

    Good . That¡¯s one down...

    The caption for the Elixir of Structure was a lot longer than the one for the Elixir of Formation .

    Whatever generates, grows; whatever ovees, withers .

    Order is structure wherein power grows .

    Disorder is chaos wherein power withers .

    What is power without structure?

    What is growth without order?

    Once again, the notion of "growth" was propounded . This could mean several things, of course . The growth of the internal organs? Tissue? Spiritual growth? The growth of the Vital Orb?

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes narrowed . Order . This elixir was about order and how order rtes to growth . Indeed, what is power without structure? A motor can¡¯t possibly produce efficient work without having a good supporting structure to convey its power . An engine will be useless on a car with a weak chassis . Structure is necessary for the effective use of power . And order gives rise to structure .

    Order and growth... power and structure...

    There was something there . But what?

    Li Yundong snapped his fingers repeatedly . "Whatever generates, grows... Whatever generates, grows... Generates... generates..."

    It hit him .

    Generates .

    The generating cycle from the Five Elements Theory: Water feeds Wood; Wood fuels Fire; Fire forms Earth; Earth contains Metal; Metal carries Water .

    "And if I think about it in terms of Traditional Chinese Medicine..." Li Yundong sat up straighter and scanned over the inscriptions a few times .

    Momentster, he chuckled .

    Growth .

    It was about growing the Qis of his Five Zangs using the principles expounded through the generating cycle of the Five Elements Theory . And the process had to be carried out in a cyclic manner: begin with any Zang, say, Kidney (Water element); then use Kidney¡¯s Qi to stimte the growth of the Liver¡¯s (Wood) Qi; and so forth .

    The Elixir of Structure would probably be formed by the end of the whole process .

    The captions for the other elixirs became much easier to grasp once he had understood the context better . It took him around twenty minutes to figure out the rest of the elixirs .

    The Elixir of Yang was a bit tricky, but he still managed to crack it in the end . Yang stokes Fire, and the Convergence of Yang leads to growth . The difficulty was that he hadn¡¯t been able to figure out what Convergence of Yang meant . After a few minutes of fruitless brain-wracking, it was his knowledge of Traditional Chinese Medicine that came to his rescue . The five Zangs are internal organs of Yin nature; the six Fus, on the other hand, are internal organs of Yang nature . The Convergence of Yang, therefore, referred to the gathering of the Qis of the six Fus . Also, the convergence had to take ce within the Heart, since the Heart was the organ rted to the element of Fire . To stoke Fire with Yang, the Yang had to converge at the source of Fire; hence the Heart .

    The Elixir of Bones was pretty straightforward . Look to the Water source¡ªthe Kidney . And guess which part of the human body the Kidney is responsible for ording to Traditional Chinese Medicine?

    The bones .

    In other words, the creation of the Elixir of Bones required him to strengthen his Kidney¡¯s Qi to the point where his bones were reformed .

    The Elixir of Flesh builds on the Elixir of Bones .

    Elixir of Flesh

    Thy Water source is abundant; nourish with it .

    Water nourishes two things: Wood and Earth .

    The meaning became obvious when he tranted that into thenguage of Traditional Chinese Medicine: strengthen the Liver (Wood) and Spleen (Earth) using the Kidney¡¯s Qi . Again, this involved the crossing of Qi, which yields power . The name Elixir of Flesh made sense as well, since the Liver is responsible for general tissue health, whereas the Spleen governs the skeletal muscles .

    The Elixir of Eleven Transmutations was where things started to get serious .

    Elixir of Eleven Transmutations

    Look inward! Look within!

    Look for the eleven constituents of your constitution;

    For they are the ingredients of the True mes .

    The Orb fortifies the Eleven;

    The Eleven sets the Orb aze .

    The captions themselves weren¡¯t that hard to decipher, but the process of creating the elixir itself seemed grueling even from the get-go . The meaning behind the captions became apparent the moment he worked out the meaning of the second line: look for the eleven constituents of your constitutions .

    The "constitution" referred to the physical body . With that idea as a basis, "constituents" must then refer to the internal organs of the body . There are eleven internal organs that make up the body (five Zangs and six Fus), hence the name Eleven Transmutations .

    The term "transmutation" provided the next clue . In the context of alchemy, it means a change in state, form, or nature of some substance . By putting them all together, the procedure required to create the Elixir of Eleven Transmutations became apparent: the reformation of his internal organs .

    His five Zangs and six Fus had to be transmuted, so to speak . Not only that, but the transmutation had to ur at the Vital Orb, as hinted in the line "the Orb fortifies the Eleven . " Because of this, he highly suspected that transmutation process would require the expenditure of spiritual energy .

    The Elixir of Fire was rted to the Elixir of Eleven Transmutations in that they were both involved in the generation of something called the True mes . One line in the Elixir of Eleven Transmutations¡¯ captions hinted at the eleven internal organs being the ingredients of the True mes . Another line stated that the Eleven would set the Orb aze . Since it fit the context, he interpreted aze as "the generation of the True mes . "

    Elixir of Fire

    When the Eleven Converges at the Cauldron and the Spirit sparks, the True mes will be born .

    The creation of the Elixir of Fire, Li Yundong realized, was merely an advanced form of the Qi Transmutation cycle; while the normal Qi Transmutation cycle involved only the Qis of the five Zangs, this one involved the Qis of the five Zangs and those of the six Fus . From the holographic images Zi Yuan had shown himst time, he knew that the "Cauldron" referred to the upper Dantian .

    As for the nature of the True mes, Li Yundong had no doubt that the True mes referred to a more powerful form of spiritual energy, since it appeared to be a byproduct of an advanced form of Qi Transmutation cycle .

    Ironically, thest elixir, the Elixir of Transcendence, was the easiest to figure out .

    Elixir of Transcendence

    Burn! Burn! Burn!

    From the ashes a new power shall rise!

    The word "burn" hinted at the use of the True mes generated during the creation of the Elixir of Fire . And since the True mes was a kind of spiritual energy, and since spiritual energy is stored inside the Vital Orb, the meaning was obvious: fortify (or burn) the Vital Orb with the True mes .

    Li Yundong stood up from the floor and strode towards the wall . He now had a pretty good idea how to create each elixir . There were still a few lines in the preface that he hadn¡¯t figured out, but he figured he¡¯d return to thoseter; right now, his wanted to see how the elixirs woulde together as a whole to form the big picture .

    Once created, the Elixirs will grant immense power;

    Once created, the Elixirs will never go dry;

    Once created, the Elixirs will never be spent;

    Once created, the Elixirs can be called upon to serve their master;

    Li Yundong reread the paragraph again and again,ing to the same conclusions every time he did: 1) the elixirs will be a part of the body once they are created; 2) the elixirs can be activated by their user some time after their creation; 3) when activated, the elixirs will produce certain effects and grant "immense power . "

    Li Yundong furrowed his brows in thought .

    The first conclusion certainly made sense . From what he had gathered so far, the mastery of the Nine Elixirs Method involved aplete internal reformation of the body: the reformation of bones and flesh; heck, even the eleven internal organs had to be reformed .

    Perhaps these elixirs would physically exist inside his body once they were created . None of the captions described the physical forms of the elixirs . His best guess at this point was that perhaps these new structures (elixirs) would form somewhere inside his meridians¡ªsince the whole process involved Qi control and meridians are the passages through which Qi flows .

    After a while, Li Yundong looked away from the wall and shook his head . He was going nowhere with this . It was implied that each elixir could be activated to produce certain effects, but it was impossible to figure out what those effects were unless he¡¯d mastered each elixir . The Mystical Silver did mention some effects in the final paragraph . Increased metabolism was one of them . Then, there was also the altering body size and shape at will (probably the effects of Elixir of Bone and the Elixir of Flesh) . Growing six arms and three heads! What the heck?

    Li Yundong sighed and looked up at the ceiling . "Can¡¯t I get a hint or something?"

    For some reason, that mysterious voice had gone awfully quiet .

    "You... cannot... be taught..." the voice hissed .

    Li Yundong frowned .

    "What do you mean I cannot be taught?" he fired back .

    Honestly . Why wasn¡¯t he condemned for sphemy already?

    "You... must...prehend..."

    "Comprehend," Li Yundong repeated . "Uh-huh . That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been trying to do, you see?"

    "The... truth... cannot... be... taught..." the voice hissed . "It... must... be... discovered..."

    Li Yundong froze . Wait a minute... Comprehend . . .

    He read the preface again . "Bright to the wise, and dark to the foolish... Seek and thou shalt discover . Grasp and thou shalt master . Ask, and thou shalt stray . Follow and thou shalt fail..." He paused in thought . Doesn¡¯t that convey the same sentiment? That the truth cannot be taught? He skipped to the next paragraph . "Tree ofprehension will bear fruit... tree of instruction will wither..."

    He froze again . Comprehend . That¡¯s what the voice said . It saidprehend .

    Something clicked inside his mind .

    "I see..." he whispered .

    He read on just to be sure .

    Woe to those to whom counsel hath been given;

    For your body shall fall into ruination;

    Never to heal, never to rise .

    ves ye shall be;

    Fettered by ignorance, shackled by infirmity .

    And the Truth shall elude you for all eternity;

    The entire paragraph expressed the same idea: the Nine Elixirs Method cannot be mastered through direct instruction; those who wish to master it mustplete it without guidance .

    Why though? Would this record on the wall be considered as guidance?

    Body shall fall into ruination... Never to heal, never to rise...

    Li Yundong frowned . "That kinda sounds like Zouhuo Rumo..."

    A loud thud ended Li Yundong¡¯s musings . He turned around and saw Lin Youfa leaping down from the staircase .

    "Say, Li Zhenren, what¡¯s this amazing ce that you¡¯ve discovered, eh?" Lin Youfa said as he made a beeline towards him .

    Li Yundong nced down at his wrist . The string was shortening . He must¡¯ve been too distracted by the writing on the wall to notice it .

    Li Yundong withdrew his Zhenqi from Lin Youfa¡¯s neck . "Did you find the secret passage?" he asked, ignoring Lin Youfa¡¯s question .

    Lin Youfa smirked . "I did, and¡ª" Lin Youfa came to a halt, his smirk faltering . "Li Zhenren... What is that?"

    Lin Youfa was staring at the wall behind Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong smirked . "It¡¯s a wall . "

    Lin Youfa ran forward and touched the wall .

    "T- This is... T- This!"

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes . Very coherent there, old man .

    "T- The legendary Nine Elixirs Method!" Lin Youfa stammered . "B- But I thought it¡¯s..." Lin Youfa gestured at the wall . "It was supposed to be lost centuries ago, during the period of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms!"

    "Hey!" Li Yundong said sharply . "Enough, now let¡¯s¡ª"

    He was cut off by Lin Youfa¡¯s roaringughter .

    "It¡¯s here! I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m seeing this!" Moreughter rang out . "Do you know how much this is worth, Li Zhenren?"

    Li Yundong opened his mouth to speak, but Lin Youfa kept talking .

    "No . I wouldn¡¯t even sell this thing!" Lin Youfa turned away from the wall . The old man¡¯s features were twisted into a manic grin, and Li Yundong could see the greed shining in the man¡¯s eyes . "This!" Lin Youfa pointed a finger at the wall . "This is power, Li Zhenren . True power!"

    Li Yundong frowned and tossed the digital camera at Lin Youfa, who caught the device with one hand .

    "Whatever," Li Yundong snarled . "Snap a photo of it and let¡¯s go . " Li Yundong red at the old man . "You¡¯re gonna lead me to the Fox Zen School . Now . "

    "Tsk, tsk, tsk . No, no, no, Li Zhenren . " Lin Youfa smirked . "I will show you the secret passage, yes . But not before I mastered the Nine Elixirs Method first . "

    Anger rose inside Li Yundong .

    "You¡¯re lying, aren¡¯t you?" he growled . "You never found the secret passage!"

    Lin Youfaughed . "Who says I¡¯m lying?" He stoppedughing and pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket . "See this? This is a map¡ª"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t wait for Lin Youfa to finish his sentence; heunched his Zhenqi towards the paper and pulled the paper towards him using Qi Kinesis .

    Li Yundong unfolded the paper .

    It was nk .

    "What the hell?!" he growled .

    Lin Youfa startedughing again . "Do you really think I¡¯m that stupid, Li Zhenren?"

    "Why didn¡¯t you give me the map from the start?" Li Yundong snarled . "You¡¯ve wasted so much of my time . "

    Li Yundong took a step forward .

    "Ah, ah, ah..." Lin Youfa said, raising a hand . "Kill me, and you¡¯ll never be able to find the map . "

    "What do you want?" Li Yundong said coldly .

    Lin Youfa shrugged . "Like I said, we should help each other . "

    "Get to the point," Li Yundong snapped .

    "Let¡¯s make a trade . " A smug look formed on Lin Youfa¡¯s face . "You teach me how to master the Nine Elixirs Method, and I will give you the map . How about it?"

 Chapter 258

    Chapter 258

    <h4>Extermination</h4>

    "What makes you think that I¡¯ve mastered it?" Li Yundong shot Lin Youfa a re . "For all you know, I could be just as clueless as you are!"

    "Clueless? A man of your talents?" Lin Youfaughed snidely . "Who are you trying to fool, Li Zhenren?"

    Li Yundong kept ring at Lin Youfa instead of answering .

    The old man shrugged . "You were inside this cer the whole time I was gone . " He smirked and gestured at their surroundings . "You would¡¯ve left a long time ago if you couldn¡¯t figure out what those inscriptions mean . "

    Li Yundong pointed at the wall . "It¡¯s all written there . Just read it yourself . " He lowered his finger . "Why do you need me to teach you?"

    "Oh, I could read the words just fine," Lin Youfa said coolly . "I just don¡¯t know what they mean, that¡¯s all . "

    Li Yundong snorted and looked away .

    "How about it? A fair trade," Lin Youfa said . "You get what you want . And I get what I¡¯ve always desired . "

    Li Yundong looked towards Lin Youfa again . The smug look on the old man¡¯s face rubbed him the wrong way .

    "And what is it that you¡¯ve always desired?"

    Li Yundong was pretty sure he knew the answer already .

    Lin Youfa shrugged . "Power, of course . " The old man smirked . "Just imagine what I can do if I¡¯m the sole master of the Nine Elixirs Method . I can finally make a name for myself in the Cultivation world . "

    Lin Youfa began roaring withughter .

    Disgust welled up inside Li Yundong . "Power," he muttered, shaking his head slowly .

    Lin Youfa¡¯sughter subsided .

    "That¡¯s right," Lin Youfa sneered . "Power . " Lin Youfa paused, his greedy eyes scanning Li Yundong¡¯s face . "Something that you seem to possess in spades, Li Zhenren . Though I confess I don¡¯t know how . "

    Li Yundong regarded the old man carefully . The damn old man must¡¯ve hidden the map somewhere . How do I outwit the bastard and find out where the map is?

    After a while, Li Yundong released a darkugh . "You know what? I¡¯m done with your games . " He schooled his features and took a step forward . "I¡¯m going to kill you now . "

    The smugness vanished from Lin Youfa¡¯s face as he took a step back . "W- What?"

    Li Yundong took another step forward . "I said I¡¯m going to kill you now . "

    "B- But w- what about the map?" Lin Youfa¡¯s back hit the wall, his eyes darting briefly towards the staircase . "D- Don¡¯t you want to know the way to the F- Fox Z- Zen School?"

    Li Yundong shrugged and kept advancing towards the wall . "I¡¯ll just search your corpse for the map after I killed you . "

    "Y- You can¡¯t!" Lin Youfa screamed . "Y- You w- won¡¯t be able to f-find it!"

    Li Yundong smirked . "Says who?"

    Lin Youfa skittered sideways along the wall . "You think I¡¯m stupid enough to walk in here with the real map?" Lin Youfaughed . "I¡¯ve hidden the map, of course!"

    Now that¡¯s more like it...

    "Oh?" Li Yundong stopped advancing and raised his brows . "Where?"

    Lin Youfa seemed to have regained a modicum of his bravado by then . "I¡¯ll tell you where the map is after you help me master this . " Lin Youfa rapped his knuckles against the wall where the Mystical Silver Fox¡¯s words had been carved .

    Li Yundong snorted . "Well . That¡¯s too much of a hassle, sorry . " Li Yundong began walking towards the wall again . "I¡¯m in a hurry, you see . So I¡¯d rather just kill you and be done with it . " Li Yundong shot the old man a cold look . "You¡¯re a dead man, Lin Youfa . "

    "C- Come on, Li Zhenren!" Lin Youfa yelled . "Just teach me the method and you¡¯ll have the map! Isn¡¯t that much quicker?"

    Li Yundong stopped and gave Lin Youfa a threatening look .

    "I-I mean, you¡¯re in a hurry, right?" Lin Youfaughed shakily . "I¡¯d resist if you resort to torture . You¡¯d just end up wasting time . "

    Like you haven¡¯t been doing so for the past two hours .

    "A- And y-you can¡¯t kill me either! Otherwise you won¡¯t be able to find out where the map is!"

    Li Yundong studied Lin Youfa¡¯s face for a moment . It would appear that his scare tactics had worked; at least he was now certain that Lin Youfa had hidden the map somewhere .

    "Come on, Li Zhenren," Lin Youfa pleaded . "It doesn¡¯t have to be difficult, you know?"

    "Which part do you need me to exin?" Li Yundong said without taking his eyes off Lin Youfa .

    Lin Youfa nced at the wall briefly . "Everything . "

    Li Yundong raised a brow .

    Lin Youfa shrugged . "Internal Alchemy isn¡¯t the Divine Fist School¡¯s main focus . "

    "You don¡¯t say," Li Yundong said tly .

    A look of anger shed across Lin Youfa¡¯s face before it vanished . Lin Youfa cleared his throat . "Let¡¯s begin . " Lin Youfa stole a nce at Li Yundong . "You¡¯re in a hurry, right? I¡¯ll show you where the map is after I¡¯ve mastered the technique . "

    Li Yundong jerked his chin towards the wall . "It says here that those who attempt to learn the technique through external guidance will end up in Zouhuo Rumo state . " Li Yundong paused to give the man a pointed look . "You sure you still want to go through with this?"

    "What does it even matter how you learn it?" Lin Youfa snorted . "That¡¯s bullshit . "

    "I¡¯m just telling you what the wall says," Li Yundong said casually .

    Lin Youfa waved his hands dismissively . "It¡¯s probably written there to scare people away . Maybe the author¡¯s trying to dissuade other people from learning the method . " Lin Youfa snorted . "It doesn¡¯t scare me at all . "

    Yeah, but I won¡¯t know where the map is if you die!

    Li Yundong sighed . "Fine . I¡¯ll exin the meaning of each line, and then you tell me where the map is . " He paused to re at Lin Youfa . "Just don¡¯t do anything stupid . "

    Lin Youfa rolled his eyes . "Just hurry up . "

    Li Yundong spent the next five minutes exining to Lin Youfa what he¡¯d been able to figure out about the elixirs . The process wasn¡¯t all bad, he supposed . He even managed to gain new insights on the Nine Elixirs Method while exining it to Lin Youfa . For instance, he now had a pretty good idea of what each elixir does when activated .

    "Where¡¯s the map?" Li Yundong said once he¡¯d wrapped up his exnation . "A deal¡¯s a deal . " Li Yundong crossed his arms in front of his chest . "I decoded it for you . So you tell me where the map is . "

    Lin Youfa raised a palm . "Not so fast, Li Zhenren . "

    "What else do you want?" Li Yundong growled .

    "Show me . "

    "Show you what?"

    Lin Youfa gave him an exasperated look .

    Li Yundong answered with an exasperated look of his own . "Why the hell do I have to show you anything?" Li Yundong pointed at the wall . "I just exined the steps to you! You can try out the method yourself once I¡¯m outta here . "

    Go on . Go into Zouhuo Rumo for all I care . I just want the map .

    Lin Youfa smirked . The smugness on the old man¡¯s face was rivalled only by the greed in his eyes . "Just hearing your exnation isn¡¯t enough, I¡¯m afraid . You could be lying to me for all I know . " He paused for a moment . "You have to demonstrate . " He pointed at a spot on the floor . "Prove to me that the stuff you told me actually works . Only then I¡¯ll tell you where the map is . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes narrowed . "You want me to demonstrate? Are you sure about that? Didn¡¯t you say that you want to be the only per¡ª"

    Realization washed over Li Yundong like a tidal wave .

    Not five minutes ago, Lin Youfa was going on about wanting to be the only person on this earth to master the Nine Elixirs Method; and now the guy was asking him to learn the method right in front of him?

    Li Yundong chuckled darkly . This guy takes me for a fool .

    "What¡¯s so funny, Li Zhenren?" Lin Youfa smiled . "Come now . You¡¯re wasting time . The sooner you show me, the sooner you can be on your way . "

    Li Yundong red at Lin Youfa . You mean the sooner you can try to kill me?

    Li Yundong shook his head in disgust . Demo, my ass . More like leaving himselfpletely vulnerable once he was in a meditative state!

    Li Yundong turned his head and studied Lin Youfa¡¯s expression .

    The guy wanted the Nine Elixirs Method for himself; that¡¯s why he was trying to take Li Yundong out . And he knew he wouldn¡¯t stand a chance unless he yed dirty .

    Slimy old man .

    "Learn..."

    The familiar hiss made Li Yundong snap to attention .

    "What?" Li Yundong asked .

    "What do you mean, what?" Lin Youfa frowned . "Didn¡¯t you hear what I said? I asked you to show me . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes snapped to Lin Youfa¡¯s face where they lingered for a brief moment . So he¡¯d been right before . Lin Youfa really couldn¡¯t hear the voice .

    The voice was inside his head .

    "You... are... running... out... of... time..."

    The sharp, reverberating hiss made Li Yundong wince . The word "time" kept ringing inside his ears seconds after it was uttered .

    Something shed inside Li Yundong¡¯s mind; it was those mes again .

    Li Yundong massaged his forehead and sighed .

    "What¡¯s the matter? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re all talk and no show?"

    Li Yundong ignored Lin Youfa¡¯s taunt and focused on rubbing his temples . The mes were gone .

    "You... have... found... the... Truth..."

    Li Yundong grimaced .

    "Now... master... it..." There was a pause . "Make... it... yours..."

    Li Yundong shook his head . What, you mean like right now?

    "Yes..." the voice hissed sharply .

    Okay . You know what? To hell with sphemy . Are you shitting me right now? You want me to leave myselfpletely vulnerable around that sneaky old man?

    Technically, he wouldn¡¯t bepletely vulnerable . After all, he still had the Fan of Seven Treasures watching his back, and he could perform the Wandering Soul to watch his own back .

    There was only one problem: he wouldn¡¯t be able to find out where the map was if the Fan of Seven Treasures identally killed Lin Youfa .

    Li Yundong winced when the voice hissed again .

    "Do not... be afraid..." Thest syble echoed in his ears for a few seconds . "I... will... protect you..."

    Right . That sounded so reassuring right there .

    "Master... the Truth..." Another pause . "You... will... need... its power..."

    Li Yundong sighed . Fine .

    Li Yundong burst forward and hoisted Lin Youfa up by his neck .

    Lin Youfa gagged .

    "No more games after this, you sick old man," Li Yundong growled . "You tell me where the map is after I show you . Are we clear?"

    Lin Youfa made another choking sound and then nodded .

    Those mes shed inside Li Yundong¡¯s mind again . Li Yundong winced and dropped Lin Youfa to the ground .

    "Make... haste..." the voice hissed . "Time... is... running... out..."

    The mes disappeared again . Okay, okay . I got it .

    Li Yundong moved towards the wall and lowered himself to the floor . Once he got into a meditative posture, he sent a telepathic message to the Fan of Seven Treasures: Will you watch over me, buddy?

    He¡¯d expected the fan to give him some sort of response, but it didn¡¯t .

    Li Yundong closed his eyes with a sigh, deciding to just trust the voice¡ªit hadn¡¯t led him astray so far .

    But just to bepletely safe, he performed the Wandering Soul the moment he entered meditative state; a small portion of his Spirit detached from his body, and soon he was watching himself meditating on the floor .

    This wasn¡¯t ideal, but it would have to do .

    Lin Youfa was watching him carefully as well . After a while, he saw Lin Youfa smirking to himself . Lin Youfa got up from the floor and began pacing the room like he was looking for something .

    Li Yundong followed Lin Youfa around with his Wandering Soul . Momentster, Lin Youfa stopped . He bent down and picked up the nk piece of paper that Li Yundong had angrily tossed to the floor after deeming it as a fake map .

    The paper unfolded in Lin Youfa¡¯s palm . What happened next took Li Yundong by surprise: the paper began to move in a wavelike pattern, and with each undtion, its surface area doubled .

    Secondster, the paper stopped moving .

    Lin Youfa pped the paper in the air, and theny it down t on the floor . The paper was now asrge as Chan¡¯er¡¯s favorite quilt .

    Lin Youfa kneeled on the floor and then ran his palm across the paper¡¯s surface . Secondster, dark ink appeared on the paper¡¯s surface .

    Son of a bitch!

    That was the map all along!

    "Calm..." the voice hissed again .

    Li Yundong maneuvered his Wandering Soul so that he was looking down at Lin Youfa from above . Lin Youfa swiped his palm across the map a second time .

    Something else appeared on the map: a red line tracing out a path on the map .

    Lin Youfa stood up with a smirk

    "Stand... your ground..." the voice hissed warningly .

    Any thoughts of grabbing the map and just leave were dispelled right then .

    Li Yundong followed Lin Youfa from above; the old man was now moving away from the map .

    "Steel... your mind..." the voice hissed again .

    While Lin Youfa was pacing around the room doing God knows what, Li Yundong performed a quick Neiguan and discovered a white orb-like structure lodged within his Vital Orb .

    The creation of the Elixir of Formation hadpleted . He was probably halfway through the Elixir of Structure now .

    Lin Youfa stopped in front of Li Yundong¡¯s body . "Too bad, Li Zhenren . Too bad..." he mumbled . "A man of your talents, tsk, tsk, tsk . " A sad smile formed on Lin Youfa¡¯s face . "I am sorry, Li Zhenren . I was nning to help you . But..."

    Lin Youfa nced at the wall behind Li Yundong¡¯s body .

    "You have discovered something that is too important," Lin Youfa said with sigh . "And I¡¯m afraid I cannot share . "

    "Do not... fear..." the voice hissed . "I... will... protect you..."

    "...With the Nine Elixirs Method, I can restore the Divine Fist School to its former glory..." Lin Youfa raised his palm . "Farewell, Li Zhenren . "

    SNAP! ZING!

    Lin Youfa¡¯s scream echoed in the circr room . Li Yundong watched, with an odd sense of satisfaction, as the old man¡¯s severed hand fell to the floor with a plop .

    The Fan of Seven Treasures, in all its glory, did a quick twist in the air before it hovered in front of Li Yundong protectively .

    Blood continued to spurt out from Lin Youfa¡¯s amputated forearm, but the man himself had stopped screaming .

    A secondter, Li Yundong knew why .

    A golden apparition was slowly taking shape in front of the Fan of Seven Treasures .

    A golden apparition with six arms and three heads .

    "Na mo siddhi siddhi susiddhi siddhi ghara rajaya kuyan sama masti ajama siddhi svaha..."

    Through the eyes of his Wandering Soul, Li Yundong noticed the ckening of Lin Youfa¡¯s jaw .

    "Na mo siddhi siddhi susiddhi siddhi ghara rajaya kuyan sama masti ajama siddhi svaha... Na mo siddhi siddhi susiddhi siddhi ghara rajaya kuyan sama masti ajama siddhi svaha..."

    Li Yundong knew this mantra . It was atha¡¯s Rite of Exorcism .

    The voice hissed again, "Exterminate..."

    There was a whimper . The Fan of Seven Treasures charged straight at Lin Youfa¡¯s sprawled form . The old man screamed and scrambled away in fear .

    Toote .

    More blood spilled onto the floor as the fan¡¯s rotating de shredded Lin Youfa¡¯s skin . Lin Youfa¡¯s body mmed to the ground, bloody and lifeless .

    "Feed..."

    Strings of runes on the fan¡¯s body started to glow in red . Those runes were the ones that were added to the fan after it had absorbed the Beads of Gore .

    Green tendrils rose from Lin Youfa¡¯s body as though they were being drawn out . The tendrils drifted in the air towards the Fan of Seven Treasures before they were absorbedpletely .

    White light shed, then it was all over .

    The Fan of Seven Treasures snapped shut and fell into the floor with a loud thump .

    As he guided his Wandering Soul back into his body, Li Yundong¡¯s mind was filled with only one thought: you had iting .

 Chapter 259

    Chapter 259

    <h4>The Siege</h4>

    Noises drifted to Zi Yuan¡¯s ears . Empty taunts . Meaningless chatter . She had picked this spot to avoid precisely those, but apparently, this ce still wasn¡¯t far enough to dull out those obnoxious voices .

    "Not nning to join the others?"

    Zi Yuan looked towards the source of the voice, which sounded like it came from above . The voice was close . Too close for her liking .

    Zhang Tianh¨¦, the son of the current Head of the Zhengyi School, was floating down towards her .

    Zi Yuan acknowledged the man with a cordial nod . "Zhang zhenren . "

    Zhang zhenren¡¯s robe rustled when hended beside her .

    "Zi Yuan zhenren," he greeted politely .

    Zi Yuan turned away from the man . "Crowds aren¡¯t my thing," she said coolly .

    Nor is greed, she added in her mind .

    Greed . Greed was everywhere; she could see it in the eyes of those gathered here, could smell it in the air .

    "I really appreciate youing out here today, Zi Yuan zhenren . "

    Zi Yuan nced sideways at the man who had all but invited himself into her private space .

    Zi Yuan acknowledged the remark with a hum, all the while fighting back a frown .

    Zhang zhenren appeared to be studying the crowd as well . At the moment, there were over a hundred people gathered in the temple¡¯s vicinity . An entire legion of Cultivators flying under the banner of the so-called Great Six .

    Disgust pooled inside Zi Yuan¡¯s belly .

    Greed . That¡¯s all there is to it . Pure greed .

    They had all heard about the Fox Zen School¡¯s legendary vault, about the kinds of treasures that were locked away inside the vault for centuries . Now, a former member of the Fox Zen School had stolen the Renyuan Jindan . The perfect opportunity had presented itself, the perfect excuse to march into one of the oldest schools in the history of Cultivation and im all its prized possessions . The Fox Zen School had to be destroyed, its members ughtered, and its vaults piged . They had no right to exist, no right to own those treasures . Forget that Grandmaster Pan Shi was once a great Cultivator . Forget that the Fox Zen School was once a reputable organization before the Mystical Silver Fox became Head . Fox spirits were evil creatures that deserved eternal condemnation, and they had proven their evil by robbing the Gezao Sect of its finest creation .

    How revolting .

    As if the members of the Great Six themselves had never entertained the thought of stealing the Renyuan Jindan .

    Hypocrites .

    This was never about justice . This was Great Six feeding their own greed in the name of justice . This was hypocrisy at its finest .

    Zi Yuan curled her lips in contempt .

    The Heir had been right . The longstanding creed of the Cultivation world was wed . So what if there were a bunch of rules in ce . So what if the rules had been around for thousands of years . Evil manifests itself everywhere, even amongst those who are supposed to embody virtue and honor .

    The siege on the Fox Zen School today was proof that the best of Cultivators were no different than the vilest of mortals; that behind the veil of Cultivation, a bunch of greedy, and power-hungry creatures lurked .

    Zi Yuan tamped down her raging emotions . She had a job to do, a mission to aplish, and hence, a role to y .

    "It appears that I¡¯m not needed here after all," Zi Yuan remarked, her eyes darting briefly to Zhang zhenren¡¯s face . "There isn¡¯t much fighting going on . "

    Zi Yuan returned her gaze to the crowd .

    Technically, there wasn¡¯t any fighting going on . The Great Six¡¯s forces were just hanging around, doing absolutely nothing .

    "Ah, well, the truth is... We¡¯ve... Well, we¡¯ve sort of hit a snag . " Zhang zhenren chuckled . "It seems like the Great Seer still had a few tricks up his sleeves . "

    Zi Yuan nced sideways and raised a brow .

    Zhang zhenren smiled at her reaction . "A powerful barrier surrounds the temple . " Zhang zhenren gestured with his arm . "Anybody who touches it will turn to dust . "

    Zi Yuan returned her eyes to the front . The temple¡¯s door was wide open . A woman stood guard in front of the door, ring at the Great Six¡¯s forces . Zi Yuan didn¡¯t know every member of the Fox Zen School, only the most prominent ones, but she was fairly certain that the woman guarding the door was Ye Yu¡ªif the huge chakram in the woman¡¯s hand was anything to go by .

    "Is that so?" Zi Yuan nced at Zhang zhenren .

    "Mm . " Zhang zhenren nodded . "It is quite a powerful enchantment . " Zhang zhenren chuckled . "As expected from the Great Seer, I suppose . "

    "That¡¯s too bad," Zi Yuan said, keeping her voice even .

    This is perfect .

    Zi Yuan did a quick scan of her surroundings . "Our forces have yet to withdraw . " Zi Yuan looked towards Zhang zhenren . "So I suppose you have a n then?"

    Zhang zhenren smiled . "A couple of my guys are working on something . " The jade rings Zhang zhenren wore on his fingers clinked as he crossed his arms in front his chest . "A counter-spell . "

    Zi Yuan arched a brow . "Would it deactivate the entire barrier?"

    Zi Yuan highly doubted it . It would certainly take more than just a makeshift solution to fully counter a spell performed by a Cultivator of the Great Seer¡¯s caliber . At least that was what Zi Yuan hoped .

    "Not the entire barrier, unfortunately . " Zhang zhenren shook his head a few times . Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help the satisfaction that arose inside her at the hint of frustration that she¡¯d detected in Zhang zhenren¡¯s tone . "But it would create a gaprge enough to fit a person . "

    "Permanent?"

    Zhang zhenren shook his head again . "Only temporary . "

    "How long?"

    There was a few seconds of silence .

    "A couple of seconds, perhaps?" A look of displeasure spread across Zhang zhenren¡¯s countenance . "After that it would take another fifteen minutes to reset the counter-spell . "

    Zi Yuan turned away to hide a smirk . So Liu Ye had essentially turned the tables on the Great Six . If the Great Six insisted on attacking, they could only send one person through the barrier until the next person was sent in fifteen minutester .

    A lot could happen in fifteen minutes .

    In fact, during those fifteen minutes, it would be one fighter from the Great Six going up against the entire Fox Zen School .

    Liu Ye had yed the Great Six at their own game .

    Smart...

    Zhang zhenren chuckled . "However . . . "

    The smugness in the Zhang zhenren¡¯s tone made Zi Yuan turn .

    "We have someone on the inside . " Zhang zhenren smiled . "So it shouldn¡¯t be long until the entire barrier is deactivated . "

    Zi Yuan hummed thoughtfully .

    Several moments passed . Zi Yuan wanted the man to leave her alone . Well, she could leave, but then she didn¡¯t want to give up her perfect hiding spot .

    "Would you like to join the rest of us?" Zhang zhenren asked in a hopeful tone . "I¡¯m sure a lot of our associates would be delighted to meet you in person, Zi Yuan zhenren . "

    Well, the feeling isn¡¯t mutual . Zi Yuan kept that thought to herself .

    "I prefer staying out of sight for the time being, if you don¡¯t mind . " Zi Yuan raised a brow at Zhang zhenren . "Isn¡¯t it in our best interest that the Fox Zen School remain unaware of my presence?"

    "Ah . " Zhang zhenren smiled . "You¡¯re saying that we shouldn¡¯t show our hands too early . "

    "Exactly," Zi Yuan said with a nod .

    "Very wise, Zi Yuan zhenren . Very wise . "

    Zi Yuan hid a smirk, satisfied that she had sessfully fooled the man . Remaining in the shadows was a wise policy, that much was true; but not for the reason Zhang zhenren imagined .

    The real reason Zi Yuan had decided to keep her presence hidden was to minimize the chances of Mo Ahshi recognizing her .

    Then again, she might not even have to worry about that at all . She hadn¡¯t seen any signs of Mo Ahshi since she got here . Nor was Grandmaster Liu Ye anywhere in sight .

    "I must say I¡¯m a bit surprised that Hongling zhenren isn¡¯t here with you . " There was a pause . "She seemed very eager to participate in the assault during the briefing . "

    "She will be joining us shortly . " Zi Yuan gave Zhang zhenren a sidelong nce . "After she has secured the perimeter on my orders . "

    But of course, securing the perimeter was just a smokescreen for Hongling¡¯s real task: searching for Su Chan .

    Zhang zhenren turned and gave her a look of surprise . "I don¡¯t think that¡¯s necessary at all, Zi Yuan zhenren . "

    Zi Yuan arched a brow .

    "I have about a dozen units patrolling the area," Zhang zhenren exined . "In fact, we¡¯ve chased away quite a number of Cultivators already . " Zhang zhenren smiled . "No one other than the members of the Great Six has to be involved in this affair . "

    More treasure for the Great Six, you mean .

    "No harm in taking extra precautions . " Zi Yuan smirked . "The Fox Zen School¡¯s mastery in the stealth arts is legendary . "

    "True, true . " Zhang zhenren chuckled . "I suppose it¡¯s a good idea to cover all the bases . "

    "Your patrol units haven¡¯t encountered much resistance, I hope?"

    "Hmm..." Zhang zhenren¡¯s expression suddenly became thoughtful . "Not much, I suppose . " Zhang zhenren wiggled his ring-d fingers dismissively . "Not much activity along the path leading to the temple . " He jerked his chin towards said temple . "That path has been concealed . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . She had already anticipated this when she wasposing her long note to Li Yundong . She just hoped that Li Yundong was crafty enough to find another way in .

    "And you¡¯re certain that there aren¡¯t other ways to enter the school?" Zi Yuan asked, keeping her tone neutral . No harm in trying to fish for more information while she was here . It was the whole point of their mission after all .

    "Well... There is the hidden passage in the vault," Zhang zhenren said thoughtfully . "But I doubt that would be a problem . "

    "Hidden passage?"

    Zhang zhenren nodded, then froze . "Come to think of it, the unit in charge of guarding the path to the vault hasn¡¯t reported back to me yet . "

    Zi Yuan feigned a look of disinterest, though deep down she was anything but . Perhaps Li Yundong had found the passage?

    Zi Yuan studied Zhang zhenren¡¯s expression for a moment . "I assume you haven¡¯t told anyone else about the hidden passage?"

    Zhang zhenren smiled and shook his head . "Of course not . Even the patrol units knew nothing about it . " Zhang zhenren looked back towards the temple . "I only told them to guard the entrance and prevent any thieves from essing the vaults while we¡¯re here . " Zhang zhenren paused . "Well, I suppose one unit knows . About the hidden passage, I mean . " Zhang zhenren nced at Zi Yuan . "But we can trust those guys . That¡¯s why I put them in charge of guarding the vault in the first ce . "

    Zi Yuan nodded and looked back towards the temple . "Then there¡¯s nothing to worry about . "

    Zi Yuan had deliberately failed to mention how idiotic it was to station only one patrol unit outside the vault, since the members of the Fox Zen School could all escape through the hidden passage in the vault if they wanted to .

    It had also urred to Zi Yuan that Su Chan could be hiding inside the vault as well, which was a good thing since she might run into the Heir in the vault if he was in fact nning to infiltrate the Fox Zen School through the hidden passage .

    White light shed ahead, followed by a crackling sound .

    "It seems like the action has begun," Zhang zhenren remarked in a tone of amusement .

    The casting of the counter-spell had caused the enchantment to reveal its full structure: arge, semi-transparent dome which covered the entire temple .

    Near the temple¡¯s door, a human-shaped hole begun to take shape . A secondter, a man wielding an iron whip slipped in through the hole .

    "Why attack now? Why not wait until the barrier is down before attacking?"

    "Well . " Zhang zhenren smiled at Zi Yuan . "Who am I to stop our fellow associates if they want to have some fun?" Zhang zhenren chuckled . "It¡¯s not all bad, Zi Yuan zhenren . We have the number¡¯s advantage to begin with . Besides..." Zhang zhenren nced at Zi Yuan again . "It would give us the opportunity to gauge the Fox Zen School¡¯s strength . "

    There was another sh, after which the hole disappeared . The man with the iron whip was now inside the dome . Zi Yuan noted with interest that the barrier became invisible again as soon as the hole vanished . It would seem that the barrier¡¯s structure was only visible when the counter-spell was active .

    A harsh, abrasive grinding noise sounded as Ye Yu¡¯s chakram came to life .

    Zi Yuan could only wonder how much blood would be spilled by the time this night ended .

    ***

    Li Yundong guided his Wandering Soul away from the map as soon as he felt it . Something strange was happening to his Vital Orb, something intriguing yet scary at the same time . The merging of his Wandering Soul with his body allowed him to put a finger on the strange sensation .

    Burning .

    His lower Dantian was burning from the inside .

    He activated Neiguan and quickly took stock of his body¡¯s internal state . The first thing he noticed was the size of the Vital Orb, which was now asrge as his fist . A red orb sat inside his middle Dantian, which wasn¡¯t there when hest checked .

    The Elixir of Fire .

    That exined the burning sensation, which Li Yundong suspected was caused by the presence of this so-called True mes .

    Something shifted inside his Vital Orb . When he focused his Neiguan on his lower Dantian, he saw something totally freakish: something was uncurling from the surface of his Vital Orb, as though it was trying to crawl out from his Vital Orb .

    Momentster, he saw a green blob emerging from his Vital Orb . As it rose, the green blobunched into a series of seemingly erratic expansion and contraction, as though it couldn¡¯t decide what form it should take . By the time it was fully outside his Vital Orb, the blob had morphed into the shape of a baby .

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t even have time to puzzle over the sudden appearance of this baby-shaped thing when his whole world plunged into darkness . For a second there, he really thought he was screwed, that he had screwed up the attempt and gone into Zouhuo Rumo state .

    But then he suddenly came to .

    And when he did, he realized that he was that baby . His Sprit had somehow be attached to the baby .

    Then it hit him .

    This had to be his Yin Spirit .

    It meant that he had just passed the Shentong phase . Apparently, the process of mastering the Nine Elixirs Method had grown his Vital Orb so much that his Yin Spirit had begun to develop .

    To test out that theory, Li Yundong performed the Wandering Soul again .

    As usual, his consciousness rose from his Baihui until it became fully detached from his physical body .

    However, the end result was different this time .

    This time, he could actually see his own form while viewing everything through his Wandering Soul . And his form was, unsurprisingly, that green apparition of a baby . Piqued, he guided his Yin Spirit around therge room, pausing every time he flew past Lin Youfa¡¯s corpse .

    After a while, he guided his Yin Spirit downwards and let it hover above the map .

    It¡¯s still there... It¡¯s still there...

    The fire inside his Vital Orb continued to rage . At one point, the arms and legs of his Yin Spirit began to grow longer . It only took him a second to realize that the limbs of his Yin Spirit weren¡¯t just lengthening: they were maturing; his Yin Spirit was growing from its baby form into an apparition of him .

    Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t get to see theplete maturation of his Yin Spirit . As soon as his Yin Spirit had matured into a toddler, it was sucked back into his body . The burning sensation inside his lower Dantian vanished instantly .

    When he opened his eyes secondster, he was himself again .

    He exhaled lengthily and nced down at his arms . He felt more powerful now, but other than that, everything was normal .

    Those mes shed inside his mind again .

    "You... have... mastered... the Truth..."

    The sharpness of that hissing voice made Li Yundong wince .

    "Now... Go..." His mind¡¯s eye went aze . Colorful mes spread apart, forming a glorious halo . "Go... and... carry out... my will... Fulfill . . . your destiny . . . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s body swayed, and he gripped his hair to stave off the intensity of those images .

    "Those... who see my body... shall embrace the Bodhicitta..."

    Li Yundong opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out .

    "Those... who hear my name... shall banish all evil... and cultivate goodness..."

    It was as though those mes were burning his head from the inside .

    "Those... who heed my teachings... shall obtain ultimate Wisdom..."

    "Those... who understand my will... shall attain Buddhahood..." There was pause . "Whatever... you do... I... will... be... watching..."

    The halo-like mes expanded, and everything went white .

    Li Yundong felt his shoulder hit the floor .

    "...watching... watching..."

    The hissing voice persisted in the form of diminishing echoes .

    And then it was over .

    The mes were gone .

 Chapter 260

    Chapter 260

    <h4>The Snake in the Grass</h4>

    The arrival of dusk saw the beginning of bloodshed in Mount Tianlong . Crimson spilled forth, blending into the dark ambience surrounding the temple . The sounds of bones crushing and flesh rupturing drifted into Zi Yuan¡¯s ears .

    First blood had just been drawn .

    And Zi Yuan found herself questioning the entire purpose of Cultivation . Was this really the so-called path to transcendence? Or was the world of Cultivation long past its glory days?

    In the olden days, master Cultivators sought to spread the truth and cultivate virtue amongst humanity . Nowadays, Cultivators associate themselves with pointless squabbles and petty crimes .

    When?

    When had thingse to this?

    Above the bloody corpse on the ground, the glowing chakram gyrated, reveling in its first kill of the night . A secondter, the chakram abandoned its victim and returned to its master¡¯s waiting hands .

    "She¡¯s pretty strong, isn¡¯t she?"

    Zi Yuan turned sideways to face herpanion, the man whosepany was anything but weed .

    Zhang Tianh¨¦ zhenren¡¯s broad smile remained visible in the dark, much to Zi Yuan¡¯s displeasure . Why couldn¡¯t this man leave her alone already? She didn¡¯t even want to see his face . Zi Yuan curled her lips . She knew exactly why the man was so intent on bugging her .

    "The seven-tailed fox spirit, Ye Yu," Zhang zhenren continued as though he didn¡¯t have a single clue of Zi Yuan¡¯s bubbling annoyance .

    Sometimes, Zi Yuan wished she couldn¡¯t hide her emotions so well .

    Zhang zhenren chuckled . "And it¡¯s my first time seeing the Adamantine Chakram of Magnificence in action too . "

    Zi Yuan frowned and returned her gaze to the front .

    A green apparition rose from the misshapen corpse on the ground; the man had managed to activate his Yin Spirit in time .

    "Ye Yu! You demon witch! How dare you destroy my body!"

    Ye Yu released the chakram in her hand and let it circle above her head .

    "We can go for another round if you¡¯re not satisfied," Ye Yu taunted . "Though I assure you that it will be the end of you this time . "

    "You witch!" the apparition growled .

    A ruckus spread over the crowd of Cultivators gathered outside the barrier . Boos and hisses drowned out the apparition¡¯s angry curses .

    Heathens, Zi Yuan concluded, curling her lips in disdain . The majority of the Great Six consisted of heathens .

    As though to prove Zi Yuan right, a brouhaha erupted among the crowd .

    "Tsk, tsk, tsk... The Quanzhen Dragon Sect has be rather weak, hasn¡¯t it?"

    "Hmph . Just look at the man . His body is in tatters! And the fight barelysted three seconds . How pathetic . "

    "Right? Leave it to the Quanzhen Dragon Sect to ruin the Great Six¡¯s reputation . "

    "You mean you folks never saw thising? Hah! Lemme tell you something . The Quanzhen Dragon Sect is a mere shadow of its former self . "

    A sardonic smile spread across Zi Yuan¡¯s lips . The entire Cultivation world was a mere shadow of its former self . Not that these people cared .

    "I suppose you¡¯re right . Its glory days were back in Qiu Chuji¡¯s time . "

    "Oh, yes . Definitely . "

    "Indeed . Master Changchun was the most famous among the Seven True Taoists of the North . "

    "But sadly, his legacy was ruined by Yi Zhiping, Li Zhichang, and their cohorts..."

    "Mm-hmm . It gets worse generation after generation, doesn¡¯t it?"

    "Shut up! Who are you people to be bad-mouthing our sect!"

    "Yeah! You people from the Golden Elixir Sect are no better than us!"

    "What the hell did you say?! How dare you lump our sect together with the likes of yours!"

    "Tch! Which powerful Cultivator has the Golden Elixir Sect produced since Zhang B¨®du¨¡n and Bai Y¨¹chan? Oh, that¡¯s right . No one . Heh . No one worth mentioning anyway . "

    "You bastard..."

    "Hey, hey... Rx... My fellow friend from the Golden Elixir Sect . Just let it go, eh?" There was a sneer . "It is not worth your time arguing with these weaklings . "

    A chorus of yells and curses broke out . Someone from the Quanzhen Dragon Sect stepped forward to quiet the ruckus .

    "Yeah . You¡¯re one to talk . The Donghua Sect is even worse than the Golden Elixir Sect!"

    "Well said, sh¨©xi¨­ng! Well said! The Donghua Sect hasn¡¯t produced a single worthy Cultivator ever since Ning Quanzhen died nearly a thousand years ago! These hacks have no right to even open their mouths here!"

    Zi Yuan heard a loud sigh beside her .

    "Well . I guess that¡¯s my cue to step in . " Zhang zhenren let out a resigned chuckle . "It¡¯s best if I do something before they start killing each other . "

    Zi Yuan smirked . Good riddance, I say .

    Zhang zhenren gave her a pointed look which rubbed her the wrong way . "I expect you to join us soon, Zi Yuan zhenren . " One of Zhang zhenren¡¯s brows rose . "The Zhengyi School thrives on the loyalty of its subsidiary sects . " A slow smirk crept onto Zhang Zhenren¡¯s lips . "The Linggong Sect has been rather... quiet, ofte . "

    Zi Yuan¡¯s skin crawled .

    "The Linggong Sect¡¯s loyalty has always been with the Zhengyi School . " Zi Yuan gave Zhang Tianh¨¦ a smirk of her own . "Perhaps you have forgotten how much my master had sacrificed for the sake of the Zhengyi School all those years ago . "

    Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s smirk faltered instantly .

    "I will step in when the time is right, Zhang zhenren . " Zi Yuan quirked a brow . "And when I¡¯m actually needed . " She tilted her head towards the quarrelling crowd .

    Zhang zhenren regarded Zi Yuan for a moment before he nodded . "See that you do, Zi Yuan zhenren . See that you do . "

    Zi Yuan watched through narrowed eyes as Zhang zhenren floated away from the grove they had been hiding in . Zi Yuan had picked this grove due to its density¡ªshe could use the trees for cover . The fact that it was located on higher ground helped as well, since it would give her a good vantage point of the temple .

    Zi Yuan didn¡¯t like what she had seen so far . There hadn¡¯t been a single sign of Mo Ahshi .

    The noise from the crowd dwindled when Zhang zhenren rejoined the crowd .

    "Calm yourselves, my fellowrades . " Zhang zhenren¡¯s voice resonated through the night . "Tonight, we, the members of the Great Six have convened for amon goal and to take down amon enemy! We..."

    Zi Yuan stopped listening when she felt a familiar presence in her vicinity . Relief coursed through her as Hongling¡¯s figure scoured through the dark foliage andnded beside her . The damask hovered above her prot¨¦g¨¦¡¯s head after shended .

    Hongling opened her mouth to speak but Zi Yuan silenced her with a finger .

    Realization crept into Hongling¡¯s wide eyes, and her mouth clicked shut .

    Zi Yuan pulled out a talisman and went through a series of hand signs .

    Water Element: Sound Barrier .

    The talisman on Zi Yuan¡¯s palm began to glow in red; the surrounding water vapor shifted and gathered until she and Hongling were enclosed inside a transparent bubble .

    "Did you find her?" Zi Yuan asked once the spell was in ce .

    Hongling shook her head dejectedly .

    Zi Yuan frowned . "I see . "

    Hongling nced down at her feet guiltily . "I... I¡¯m sorry, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . "

    Zi Yuan reached over and rubbed her prot¨¦g¨¦¡¯s arm affectionately . "Don¡¯t be silly, Hongling . It¡¯s not your fault that she isn¡¯t here . "

    Hongling nodded weakly .

    Zi Yuan released a soft sigh . Hongling had been walking on eggshells around Zi Yuan ever since their yelling match the other night .

    "What did you find, then?"

    "Dead bodies . "

    Zi Yuan turned her head instantly, almost wishing that it was a joke . s, Hongling¡¯s grave expression bespoke the significance of that finding .

    "How many?"

    "Five . All of them belonged to the members of the Great Six . "

    Zi Yuan mulled over Hongling¡¯s findings in silence . "The Heir¡¯s doing?"

    Hongling shook her head . "Doesn¡¯t seem like it . " Hongling pulled out something from her pocket . "I also found this . "

    Zi Yuan took the paper and studied it .

    It was a talisman .

    "The Divine Fist School . " Zi Yuan frowned . "I see . "

    Zi Yuan shook her head in disgust . The talisman burst into mes courtesy of a Fire spell .

    "It was brutal, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . " Hongling shuddered . "One of the corpses didn¡¯t even have a head . "

    Guess we now know what happened to Zhang zhenren¡¯s trusted patrol unit .

    "Any Yin Spirits flying around?" Zi Yuan asked .

    "No . " Hongling paused . "I doubt any of them had reached the Yuanying phase, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . "

    Zi Yuan hummed in agreement . It made sense . Zhang Tianh¨¦ would choose to keep the powerful ones here for the assault .

    "Any signs of the Heir?"

    Hongling shook her head again .

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Good . "

    If Hongling couldn¡¯t detect his presence, then it meant that he had hidden the Jindan¡¯s Aura well .

    "Do you think he¡¯s here? In Mount Tianlong?" Hongling asked tentatively .

    "Of course he¡¯s here," Zi Yuan said . As if there could be any doubt about that .

    Hongling nodded meekly .

    Apanionable silence filled the space between them .

    "What about you, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie?" Hongling stared up at her . "Did you manage to find anything?"

    Disgust welled up inside Zi Yuan¡¯s throat as she shook her head . "I was being watched . "

    Hongling visibly tensed up . "By whom?"

    "By Zhang Tianh¨¦ and his people, no doubt . " Zi Yuan nced at Hongling from the corner of her eyes . "It¡¯s another reason I chose to hide here . "

    Hongling began to nce around fearfully .

    "Don¡¯t worry," Zi Yuan said . "Nobody¡¯s watching now . "

    Hongling stopped her frantic nces . "Oh . "

    "He was testing me, Hongling . " Zi Yuan chuckled humorlessly . "Wanted to see where my true loyalty lies . "

    Hongling sighed . "So what do we do now, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie?"

    "Have you searched the entire mountain?"

    "Yes," Hongling mumbled .

    "Even the summit?"

    "Yup . "

    "And there were no signs of her aura?"

    "None . "

    Zi Yuan hummed thoughtfully . The damask would know if Su Chan was in fact nearby . "Either she isn¡¯t in the mountain . Or..."

    "Or she¡¯s in there?" Hongling pointed at the temple .

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Mo Ahshi hasn¡¯t made her move yet . "

    "Wait . You mean she hasn¡¯t shown herself?" Hongling sounded surprised . "Not even once?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head . "The barrier is still up . " Zi Yuan paused in thought . "At least we know that Liu Ye is still alive . "

    Hongling sighed dejectedly . "I guess it¡¯s pointless to ask where Bahuang is then..."

    "The barrier wille down once Mo Ahshi makes her move . " Zi Yuan paused, holding Hongling¡¯s gaze . "He¡¯s expecting us to fight . " Zi Yuan tilted her head towards the crowd where Zhang Tianh¨¦ appeared to be giving a lecture on teamwork and the pride of the Great Six .

    A conflicted look spread across Hongling¡¯s face, the sight of which made Zi Yuan smile .

    "Why? Having scruples about killing fox spirits now, Hongling?" Zi Yuan teased . "That¡¯s a first . "

    Hongling¡¯s face crimsoned when she looked away .

    "Hasn¡¯t it been your wish to wipe out these so-called foul creatures from the face of the earth, hmm?"

    Zi Yuan knew she shouldn¡¯t teased the poor girl so much, but she just couldn¡¯t help herself .

    Hongling¡¯s blush deepened .

    "T- They aren¡¯t all bad," Hongling mumbled .

    Zi Yuan¡¯s smile widened . Zi Yuan had known for a while now that Hongling¡¯s view on fox spirits had changed . To be exact, she had known since the night the twins died at the hands of H¨¦ Shao . Zi Yuan didn¡¯t think she could ever forget the look on Hongling¡¯s face that night when they both saw Su Chan, a supposed demon witch, trying desperately to save the life of a human girl .

    Something warm bloomed inside Zi Yuan¡¯s chest .

    You¡¯ve grown, Hongling . And I¡¯m so proud of you...

    "Don¡¯t worry, Hongling . "

    Hongling¡¯s gaze suddenly returned to Zi Yuan¡¯s face .

    Zi Yuan gave her prot¨¦g¨¦ a firm look, hoping that it would reassure the girl . "All eyes will be on me once the fighting starts . " She paused and cast a nce towards the temple . "I¡¯m not expecting you to take part in the battle . "

    Zi Yuan nced at Hongling . The poor girl looked puzzled .

    "B- But..."

    "I have another mission for you . "

    The red damask faltered in its flight andnded on Hongling¡¯s shoulder .

    "This is important, Hongling . " Zi Yuan gave her a prot¨¦g¨¦ a serious look . "And you must not fail me . "

    Hongling stood up straighter . "O- Oh . " Hongling cleared her throat . "I- I¡¯ll try my best, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . "

    "All hell¡¯s going to break loose once the barrier is down . " Zi Yuan paused pointedly . "When the fighting begins, I want you to sneak into the temple . "

    Hongling¡¯s eyes widened slightly .

    "Infiltrate the temple . " Zi Yuan nodded firmly . "See if you can find out where Su Chan and Bahuang are . "

    Zi Yuan slipped a talisman into Hongling¡¯s palm, then gave her a pointed look . "This will summon me to you when activated . "

    Hongling stared at the talisman for a moment before she pocketed it .

    "If you encounter Mo Ahshi inside the temple and she happens to have the sword, do not engage," Zi Yuan said sternly . "Do not attempt to take Bahuang on your own . " Zi Yuan paused . "Instead, you are to summon me with the talisman immediately . Do you understand?"

    Hongling gave her a shaky nod .

    "Good . " Zi Yuan sighed and looked towards the temple . "With any luck, the Heir would arrive and stop this mess before a carnage breaks out . " Zi Yuan shot Hongling a nce . "He¡¯s probably going to start his search from the temple . "

    "But what if she isn¡¯t even here?" Hongling stared at Zi Yuan for a moment . "We¡¯ve run out of leads, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . " Hongling sighed . "It¡¯s like she¡¯s gone without a single trace . "

    "There is another option," Zi Yuan said thoughtfully, then shook her head . "But I fear we might not have the opportunity . "

    "What option?"

    Zi Yuan nced at Hongling briefly . "Liu Ye . "

    Recognition shed inside Hongling¡¯s eyes . "I- I see..."

    "The Great Seer might have ways to find her . " Zi Yuan paused . "But Mo Ahshi might take him out before we even have the chance to ask him for help . " Zi Yuan let out a heavy sigh . "And then there¡¯s the fact that he hasn¡¯t found Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i yet, which is very worrying . " Zi Yuan shook her head . "Either he hasn¡¯t suspected anything yet, or..."

    "Or what?" Hongling asked .

    Zi Yuan shook her head instead of answering .

    Or Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i¡¯s captor had managed to conceal Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i¡¯s location from the Great Seer¡¯s sight . There were certainly ways to aplish that . Powerful sealing spells could pull it off; so could magical objects such as the Purple Gold Jade te .

    "Zi Yuan ji¨§jie?"

    Zi Yuan waved a hand . "Never mind¡ª"

    A bright sh appeared below . Zi Yuan looked towards the temple . A human-sized gap was slowly forming on the barrier¡¯s surface .

    "That¡¯s a counter-spell, right?" Hongling asked .

    "Mm . "

    Hongling stepped forward until her face was less than an inch away from the sound barrier Zi Yuan had erected earlier . "Hey... I know that man . " Hongling turned around to look at Zi Yuan . "He¡¯s the one whose conversation I overheard back at the guesthouse . "

    Zi Yuan stepped in to take a closer look . A short, plump man was sliding through the gap . "Which sect is he from?"

    "The Jinshan Sect . "

    "I see . "

    "I don¡¯t know who his opponent is though," Hongling mumbled .

    "Ye Yu," Zi Yuan answered quickly . "She¡¯s a seven-tailed fox spirit . "

    The battle began when Ye Yu¡¯s chakram hurtled towards the short man .

    "You know we can¡¯t just walk up to Liu Ye and ask him about Su Chan, right?" Hongling said all of a sudden . "Zhang zhenren will be watching . "

    "Of course we can¡¯t," Zi Yuan said without taking her eyes off the battle . "Hopefully the Heir would show up before anything happens to Liu Ye . "

    "You¡¯d think he¡¯d be here by now," Hongling grumbled, "given that he¡¯s fast enough to dodge lighting . "

    Zi Yuan smiled at that remark .

    "He¡¯ll be here, Hongling . "

    The glowing chakram morphed into a blue streak, chasing its enemy back and forth . As the battle continued, Zi Yuan began to wonder if things would¡¯ve been different had Master not left them so soon .

    <h4>The Snake in the Grass</h4>

    A giggle escaped Ruan Hongling¡¯s lips despite the gravity of the situation . Below them, the plump man¡¯s limbs had withdrawn into his torso, which had swollen up like a gigantic, round, spherical...

    A meatball . The man had just transformed into a human meatball .

    "What kind of spell is that, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie?" Ruan Hongling burst into giggles again . "It looks like something from that cartoon show!"

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie raised a brow .

    "Oh, you know . " Ruan Hongling bit her lip to stifle a smile . "Teenage mutant ninja turtles . "

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie looked like she had no idea what Ruan Hongling was talking about, so Ruan Hongling decided to let it drop .

    The human meatball began to roll around on the floor to avoid the chakram¡¯s vicious shes .

    "Pfft! Hahaha..." Ruan Hongling mped her hand over her mouth and then stole a quick nce sideways .

    Amusement shone in Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s eyes, much to Ruan Hongling¡¯s relief .

    "Do not underestimate that spell, Hongling . " The corner of Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s lips twitched . "It¡¯s actually a pretty decent Earth-style escape spell . "

    Ruan Hongling let her hand drop from her mouth and gaped at Zi Yuan ji¨§jie .

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie smiled . "Watch," she said, indicating the ongoing battle with a slight head tilt .

    The meatball rolled again . Sparks flew as the chakram scraped against the ground .

    "I don¡¯t get it, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . " Ruan Hongling bit her bottom lip . "He¡¯s just... rolling around . "

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie chuckled . "You¡¯ll see soon enough . "

    "Soon" turned out to be one minuteter .

    SWISH!

    The chakram struck empty air .

    "Hey¡ª" Ruan Hongling was rendered speechless . The meatball had just vanished into the ground . "W- What? How did he do that?"

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie answered with a cryptic smile .

    The chakram continued to circle Ye Yu, who looked just as surprised as Ruan Hongling felt .

    "Here ites," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie said .

    Ruan Hongling leaned forward slightly and squinted through the darkness . "Whoa..."

    The man rose from the ground a few feet behind Ye Yu, who didn¡¯t seem to be aware of his presence yet .

    Suddenly, Ye Yu turned around, but she was toote .

    The man¡¯s thick arms wrapped around Ye Yu¡¯s body, sessfully trapping her in a tight bear hug . Something was happening to the man¡¯s arms, like they were turning into rocks .

    "It¡¯s called the Earth Transformation Spell . "

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s voice brought Ruan Hongling out of her trance .

    "That huge boulder just now is actually an earth shield," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie exined . "The user can also harden his flesh, effectively turning his flesh into stone . "

    "But how did he... how did he go underground?" Ruan Hongling asked . "There wasn¡¯t even a hole on the ground . It¡¯s like he..." Ruan Hongling gestured with her hands wildly as she searched for the right term .

    "Like he could move through the earth?" Zi Yuan ji¨§jie said .

    Ruan Hongling turned to face her mentor . "E- Exactly . "

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie nodded . "In its most advanced form, the Earth Transformation Spell allows its user to be one with the earth . You could move through the earth, or even conceal yourself in the ground as long as you have to spiritual energy to maintain the spell . It¡¯s a very good escape tool . "

    The sound of roaringughter drew Ruan Hongling¡¯s attention back to the battle .

    "You¡¯re done for, demon witch!" the short man snarled . "Now you can¡¯t use that chakram of yours unless you want to slice your own body in half . " The man snickered . "Meanwhile, I¡¯m just going to crush your body with my bare hands . "

    "The battle is over . " Disdain colored Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s tone . "He¡¯s too careless . Too full of himself . "

    The crowd¡¯s cheers turned into screams of horror when Ye Yu transformed into her fox form . Secondster, a seven-tailed fox with fire red fur towered over the temple . One of Ye Yu¡¯s tails rose and plucked the short man off her back . A loud crack sounded when the man¡¯s body mmed into the ground .

    Ruan Hongling winced internally when one of Ye Yu¡¯s paws squashed the man¡¯s body into a bloody pulp .

    "NOOOO!!!!!!"

    The short man¡¯s Yin Spirit rose from under Ye Yu¡¯s paw .

    "Uh-oh," Ruan Hongling said .

    A soft sigh was Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s only reply .

    They both knew what wasing .

    Ye Yu¡¯s mouth opened wide .

    The crowd went into an uproar: some were screaming in anger; some were screaming in fear .

    "NOOO!!!! Stop!!!!"

    The short man attempted to flee with his Yin Spirit, but he was toote; his Yin Spirit was sucked right into the seven-tailed fox¡¯s mouth .

    "You goddamned demon witch!" someone from the crowd yelled .

    "Release this barrier now so that we can kill you properly!"

    BAM!

    The crowd was silenced when all of Ye Yu¡¯s seven tails mmed into the ground . A feral grin formed on the giant fox¡¯s mouth .

    Someone broke the silence .

    "The Jinshan Sect will not tolerate this!"

    "Release the barrier you cowards!"

    The fox¡¯s body glowed in red as it begun to shrink in size . Secondster, Ye Yu was back in her human form, grinning smugly at the members of the Great Six through the barrier .

    Ruan Hongling looked towards her mentor . "She¡¯s strong..."

    "This is nothing," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie remarked . "Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i is far more powerful . "

    Ruan Hongling nodded . If this was what a seven-tailed fox spirit could do, she couldn¡¯t even imagine what kind of power a nine-tailed fox spirit like the Mystical Silver Fox possessed .

    Suddenly, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie took a small step towards the sound barrier . "Hongling..."

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s stomach dropped when she noticed the tensed set of Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s shoulders .

    Ruan Hongling quickly followed Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s gaze to see what was wrong .

    Something was happening at the temple .

    Below, the crowd had parted to two sides to make way for Zhang Tianh¨¦ zhenren, who was moving towards the temples protective barrier . On the other side of the barrier, an old man was stepping out from the temple . A long, grey robe enveloped the man¡¯s dwarfish figure . The robe billowed and fluttered around the old man with every measured step he took . Trailing after the old man was his entourage, which consisted of the members of the Fox Zen School .

    Ruan Hongling noted with interest that aside from Liu Ye and one other man among the entourage, the rest of them were all women .

    ZING!

    Zhang Tianh¨¦ zhenren unsheathed his sword . A golden radiance emerged from Zhang Zhenren¡¯s right hand, dispelling the gloom in the temple¡¯s vicinity .

    "Z- Zi Yuan ji¨§jie..." Ruan Hongling never thought she would have the opportunity to see that sword with her own eyes . "I- Is that..."

    "Mm," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie said . "The Sword of Seven Stars . "

    Zhang Tianh¨¦ zhenren¡¯s clear voice resonated through the night . "So you have finally shown yourself, Liu Ye . "

    "Round up your people and leave, Zhang zhenren . " The old man stopped beside Ye Yu . "Before more blood is spilled . " The old man flicked the sleeve of his robe . "I see a lot of young faces here . It is such a waste for them to die in such needless scuffles . "

    A woman stepped forward from the entourage, stopping on Liu Ye¡¯s right .

    Ruan Hongling felt Zi Yuan ji¨§jie shift beside her .

    "There you are," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie whispered to herself, "you snake in the grass..."

    Frowning, Ruan Hongling observed the woman on Liu Ye¡¯s right . The woman¡¯s posture and facial expression bespoke a regal air and a dignifiedportment . Compared to Ye Yu, this woman looked far less threatening .

    Then, it clicked .

    "Wait... You mean that¡¯s Mo Ahshi?!" Ruan Hongling practically screamed . Pretty sure the entire mountain would¡¯ve heard her voice by now if they didn¡¯t have the sound barrier .

    "I think so," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie answered after a moment .

    "But I thought you¡¯ve never met her before," Ruan Hongling said with a pause . "How could you tell?"

    "Take a closer look at the woman¡¯s hair . "

    Realization swamped Ruan Hongling . "The hairpin..."

    "Mm . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s gaze remained fixed upon the scene below them . "It¡¯s her, Hongling . There¡¯s no mistake . "

    "B- But she looks so... so..." Ruan Hongling shook her head . "I mean, she¡¯s like a Bodhisattva!"

    "Never judge a person by their appearance, Hongling," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie said, sounding unimpressed .

    "I know... It¡¯s just..."

    Ruan Hongling didn¡¯t manage to finish her sentence as Zhang Tianh¨¦ zhenren¡¯s voice sounded again .

    "We will leave once your walls are reduced to ruins . "

    "Your n has been foiled, Zhang zhenren," Liu Ye said . "There is no way you can breach this barrier . It is futile . "

    It surprised Ruan Hongling a little that a frail old man could speak that loudly .

    "Oh, I beg to differ, Liu Ye," Zhang Tianh¨¦ zhenren said in a smug tone .

    "Is this what you call a sessful assault, Zhang zhenren? Sending in one man at a time to face all of us?" Liu Ye gestured at the army of battle-ready fox spirits behind him . "You are sending your men to their deaths . "

    Zhang Tianh¨¦ zhenren¡¯s elegantughter sounded below .

    "It would seem that your fears are unfounded, Liu zh¨£ngm¨¦n," Ye Yu sneered, ignoring Zhang Tianh¨¦ zhenren¡¯sughter . "At this rate, I alone can dispatch these weaklings . " A look of disdain spread across Ye Yu¡¯s face . "We don¡¯t even have to count on that despicable woman to show up . "

    Ruan Hongling frowned . Despicable woman? It took Ruan Hongling a second to realize that Ye Yu was referring to Ao Wushuang .

    "None of them knew," Ruan Honglingmented . "None of them suspected anything . "

    "Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i never got along with any of them," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie answered . "I doubt anyone bothered to look into her disappearance . "

    Not even Liu Ye?

    Ruan Hongling looked towards the temple, where Liu Ye and Zhang zhenren appeared to be having a heated argument with each other .

    "Get ready, Hongling . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s serious tone interrupted Ruan Hongling¡¯s observations . "Things are about to go south . "

    Ruan Hongling squared her shoulders and gave Zi Yuan ji¨§jie a firm nod .

    I can do this... I can do this...

    "Do you know your mission?"

    Ruan Hongling nodded . "Sneak into the temple . Find Bahuang . Find Su Chan . "

    "Tell me your n," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie said . "What¡¯s your strategy?"

    Ruan Hongling answered in a heartbeat, "I¡¯ll let the damask find the girl while I myself search for Bahuang . "

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie seemed impressed . "That would be wise . "

    "If I find Bahuang, I will summon you with the talisman," Ruan Hongling continued to outline her n . "If I find Su Chan and her life is in immediate danger, I will summon you with the talisman . If her life isn¡¯t in immediate danger, I will take note of her location and then report it back to you . "

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie suddenly turned her head . "And in the event of an emergency?"

    Ruan Hongling forced herself to meet her sh¨©ji¨§¡¯s stern gaze . "I will activate the talisman and summon you to my location immediately . "

    "Good . " A thoughtful look spread across Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s features . "When you¡¯re looking for Bahuang..." Zi Yuan ji¨§jie trailed off as though she was considering her words carefully .

    "What is it, sh¨©ji¨§?"

    "Avoid themon areas in the temple . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie frowned . "If she has the sword, she¡¯s most likely going to keep it hidden somewhere to avoid Liu Ye¡¯s suspicion . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie nced at her briefly . "I¡¯m not sure about the rest of his disciples, but I think Liu Ye knows that Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i had Bahuang . "

    "Understood . " Ruan Hongling nodded . "I know what to do . "

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s expression remained thoughtful when she returned her gaze to the temple . "The battle is probably going to take ce in front of the temple . However, the Great Six has the number¡¯s advantage, so they¡¯re probably going to spread out to cover more ground . "

    "And to prevent anyone from escaping," Ruan Hongling added .

    The Great Six had made things pretty clear back at the guesthouse: ughter everyone; leave none alive .

    Ruan Hongling turned her head when she felt Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s gaze on her .

    "You need to infiltrate the temple from above . "

    "Understood . "

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie nodded . "Once the barrier is down, fly up high and then lower yourself to the temple¡¯spound . Make sure to be quick . "

    "Roger that . " Ruan Hongling froze, suddenly remembering something . "When do you think¡ª"

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie raised her hand and pointed at the temple below them . "Something¡¯s going on . "

    Zhang Zhenren¡¯s voice was too soft to be audible, but Ruan Hongling knew that he was speaking to a few members of the Great Six . What surprised Ruan Hongling a little was that nobody was working on the counter-spell .

    Maybe because they know they won¡¯t be needing the counter-spell soon, an ominous voice sounded inside Ruan Hongling¡¯s head .

    "Leave, Zhang zhenren!" Liu Ye said loudly . "It is over . "

    Zhang zhenren stopped speaking and turned around to face the barrier . The Sword of Seven Stars suddenly stabbed itself into the ground .

    "That¡¯s where you¡¯re wrong, old man," Zhang zhenren said in a confident tone . "The game¡¯s just about to begin!"

    "You¡¯re wasting your time!" Liu Ye snapped .

    Zhang zhenrenughed . "Am I?"

    "What is the point of all this, Zhang zhenren?" Liu Ye said . "The Fox Zen School has never harmed anyone!"

    "You shouldn¡¯t waste your breath on the likes of him, Liu zh¨£ngm¨¦n," Ye Yu sneered . "These people are just a bunch of lunatics . "

    Zhang zhenren suddenly stoppedughing, and a confident smirk spread across his handsome features . "The barrier ising down, old man . "

    Liu Ye slid his hands under the sleeves of his robe . "You¡¯re out of your mind . "

    Zhang zhenren suddenly grabbed the hilt of the Sword of Seven Stars . "And you, Great Seer, are blind . "

    It all happened so fast that Ruan Hongling almost missed it: Liu Ye¡¯s body flew backwards until it crashed into wall of the temple; Ye Yu sank to her knees, her chakram rolling uselessly on the ground .

    Mo Ahshi¡¯s hair hade loose, though it wasn¡¯t the woman¡¯s hair that struck terror into Ruan Hongling¡¯s heart .

    It was the woman¡¯s face .

    The face of a female rakshasa .

 Chapter 261

    Chapter 261

    <h4>The Ultimate Treachery</h4>

    "Liu zh¨£ngm¨¦n!"

    "Grandmaster!"

    "Grandmaster Liu!"

    "Stay back!" Liu Ye yelled, leaning against the broken wall for support . "Retreat to the temple!"

    "B- But grandmaster¡ª"

    "Do as I say!" Liu Ye broke into a series of coughs . "Retreat . " He red at his other disciples . "Now . "

    When neither of them moved, Liu Ye flew away from the wall and nted himself between Mo Ahshi and the younger fox spirits . They were the future of the Fox Zen School, and he would guard them with his life .

    With a flick of his arm, Liu Ye unleashed a powerful wave of Zhenqi at the young fox spirits .

    "Ah! Grandmaster!"

    His disciples were forced back into the school¡¯spound through the gates .

    Liu Ye was now fully prepared to sacrifice himself to prevent even more casualties . When he told Wushuang that the Fox Zen School would stay and fend off the Great Six¡¯s assault instead of fleeing, he really didn¡¯t expect things to turn out this way . The n was to activate the Barrier of Disintegration (a spell of his own creation) as soon as the attack began . Nobody other than himself knew of the spell¡¯s existence until he had actually cast it, and it was meant to be such . The barrier was the ultimate trap that Liu Ye had set for the Great Six . Its purpose was not only to protect the school, but also to significantly reduce the Great Six¡¯s numbers¡ªcaught unawares, the members of the Great Six would charge right into the invisible barrier and got turned into dust . He¡¯d only brought Wushuang back as a contingency, just in case someone managed to work out a counter-spell . He really thought that the n would work, that the Fox Zen School could finally take a stand against such tant oppression .

    s, no barrier could hold back a threat on the inside .

    The n had failed .

    Hopefully, Gu Feng would take charge and lead the others to safety while he held off the attack as long as he could .

    There was a loud moan followed by a series of gurgles .

    Ye Yu was writhing on the ground with Mo Ahshi standing directly over her .

    Liu Ye struggled against the myriad of emotions swirling inside his chest . So it was you, Sh¨©¡¯er... You were the traitor...

    "W- What is... is... t-the... meaning of this... s-sh¨©ji¨§!" Ye Yu gritted out . "W- Why..."

    Mo Ahshi burst intoughter . "So you¡¯re done, huh? Tsk, tsk, tsk . So weak . "

    "Enough, Mo Ahshi . " Liu Ye forced himself to speak . "Let her go . "

    How could you, Sh¨©¡¯er? I trusted you... All these years, I trusted you...

    Mo Ahshi spared Liu Ye a brief nce . "Let her go?" Mo Ahshiughed again . "Toote for that, Liu Ye . "

    Mo Ahshi reached down and pulled at the Threaded Hairpin of Traversing Soul, which was stuck inside Ye Yu¡¯s lower belly . Liu Ye realized with dread that Ye Yu had just been struck by the hairpin at the Qihai .

    Mo Ahshiughed mirthlessly . "Tried the same trick on Ao Wushuang . " Mo Ahshi kept pulling at the hairpin, causing Ye Yu to scream . "Didn¡¯t really work . " Mo Ahshi snorted . "The bitch was still standing even after she got hit . "

    Blood spilled from Ye Yu¡¯s mouth once the hairpin was fully out .

    Curling her lips, Mo Ahshi tapped Ye Yu¡¯s cheek with the tip of the hairpin . "It proves just how powerful Ao Wushuang ispared to you . "

    Mo Ahshi released the hairpin, which floated upwards until it was hovering directly above Ye Yu¡¯s writhing form .

    "Stop this!"

    Liu Ye charged forward, but he was toote . Green tendrils rose from every part of Ye Yu¡¯s body . And at that moment, Liu Ye knew that Ye Yu¡¯s Vital Orb was beyond saving . The tendrils drifted towards the hairpin where they were absorbed .

    In a matter of seconds, Ye Yu was reduced to a bag of dry corpse and bones .

    Liu Ye¡¯s knees hit the ground . All these years, Liu Ye had trusted Mo Ahshi . All these years...

    "What have you done to Wushuang?" Liu Ye asked shakily .

    "Well, I tried to kill her . " Mo Ahshi replied almost flippantly . "But then I failed . Had to seal her away instead . " There was a pause . "Then again... it¡¯s just as well . " Mo Ahshiughed . "She¡¯s still of some use to me . Plus, why kill her so soon when I can torture her some more by destroying every single thing she cares about..." Mo Ahshi grabbed the hairpin from the air . "You mark my words, Liu Ye . Tonight will be the end of your precious Fox Zen School!"

    Liu Ye struggled to his feet . "I trusted you..."

    "And you were a fool to do that," Mo Ahshi snarled .

    "Why?" Liu Ye asked coldly . "Why are you doing this?"

    Lead them to safety, Gu Feng... I¡¯m counting on you .

    "Why?" Mo Ahshiughed humorlessly . "Revenge, of course . "

    Liu Ye frowned . "Revenge?"

    "Enough!" Mo Ahshi pointed the hairpin at him . "Now I have a question for you . "

    Liu Ye slid his hand into the sleeve of his robe for his trusted opium pipe .

    "How are you still alive?" Mo Ahshi asked coldly . "I¡¯m certain that Inded a lethal hit on your Gaohuang just now . "

    It was then that Liu Ye realized something: this wasn¡¯t a betrayal .

    He hadn¡¯t been betrayed; Mo Ahshi never betrayed the school .

    That realization brought him a small amount of sce despite the grim circumstances .

    Liu Ye¡¯s shoulders trembled as he began tough .

    "What¡¯s so funny, you old fox," Mo Ahshi snarled .

    "Tell me something," Liu Ye said coldly . "Who are you really? And what have you done to the real Mo Ahshi?"

    The hairpin charged forward . Liu Ye¡¯s arm emerged from under his sleeve as he parried the strike with his opium pipe .

    "What makes you think I¡¯m not the real Mo Ahshi?" Mo Ahshi taunted . The hairpin circled around and returned to Mo Ahshi¡¯s hand . "Didn¡¯t you see how well I¡¯m wielding this?"

    "The real Mo Ahshi would¡¯ve been aware of a simple fact concerning fox spirits . " Liu Ye red at Mo Ahshi¡¯s impostor . "In our human form, we can alter the positions of our acupoints . That¡¯s just basic fox spirit physiology, something that every fox spirit knows . " Liu Ye pointed a finger at the impostor . "And yet you were confused as to how I managed to survive your first attack . The real Mo Ahshi wouldn¡¯t even have asked . "

    Mo Ahshi¡¯s impostor¡¯s eyes widened slightly before they were filled with anger .

    "You old fox..." Mo Ahshi growled . "So you did notice something amiss..."

    Liu Ye snorted . "A letter from Ao Wushuang saying that she was leaving the school with Su Chan?" Liu Ye sneered . "I knew the letter was fabricated the moment I read it!" Liu Ye red at the impostor . "I¡¯ve known Ao Wushuang since she was a little girl . I watched her grow up . She¡¯s the most loyal person I know! There¡¯s no way she would leave just like that!"

    Mo Ahshi¡¯s shoulders trembled in quietughter .

    "After reading that letter, I became aware of the fact that there¡¯s a traitor inside the school . " Liu Ye stared at Mo Ahshi coldly . "I just didn¡¯t know who it was, or what their intentions were . "

    Mo Ahshi stoppedughing right then . "Fine! It was me . I nted that letter . " She smirked . "Didn¡¯t expect it, did you?" Mo Ahshiughed . "Mo Ahshi . One of your closest disciples . "

    "Where¡¯s the real Mo Ahshi?" Liu Ye gritted his teeth . "You killed her?"

    "Of course I killed her . " The impostorughed . "She was no use to me alive . I needed her identity after all..." A smirk formed on the impostor¡¯s lips as she stroked the hairpin . "Although her weapon did serve me quite well..."

    Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s cold voice sounded from the other side of the barrier . "Enough chatter, Mo Ahshi . Release the barrier . Now . "

    The impostor snorted . "Have care how you speak, Zhang Tianh¨¦," she said without even turning her head . "I don¡¯t answer to you . "

    "We had a deal," Zhang Tianh¨¦ said threateningly .

    An uproar broke out among the mini army gathered behind Zhang Tianh¨¦ .

    "Yeah! Lower this barrier, you bitch!" someone yelled .

    "Silence!!!" The impostor turned around and red at the Cultivator who had just spoken .

    What happened next made Liu Ye¡¯s blood run cold: the Cultivator, and those in his vicinity, suddenly copsed to the ground with blood gushing out of their mouths .

    "You dare order me around?!" the impostor screamed at the crowd, which had suddenly gone exceedingly quiet . "None of you weaklings have the right to speak here . "

    Liu Ye frowned . Whoever the impostor was, she was powerful . Nobody could deal that much damage with just a look . And what disgusted him the most was her tantck of loyalty . Attacking her own allies?

    Only the lowliest scum was capable of such treachery .

    "How much time remaining till the counter spell is ready?" Zhang Tianh¨¦ asked one of his associates .

    "Two minutes, my lord . "

    "Step on it," Zhang Tianh¨¦ ordered . "I¡¯m going in myself . "

    Liu Ye kept his eyes on the impostor . He was in no condition for a drawn-out battle; he had to end this quickly . The impostor slowly turned away from the crowd, her fingers sliding along the length of the hairpin as she moved .

    Liu Ye knew he had to time it perfectly; it was his only chance .

    The impostor levelled her cold eyes on him .

    "Time for you to die, old fox . "

    Horror coursed through Liu Ye when the impostor¡¯s face suddenly changed from Mo Ahshi¡¯s elegant appearance to that of a female rakshasa .

    The woman¡¯s figure blurred as she moved .

    She¡¯s fast!

    Shadow Mist!

    Liu Ye¡¯s body morphed into wisps of green mist before the impostor¡¯s strikes couldnd . The mists swirled around the impostor who was trying swinging her arms wildly to free herself from the mist .

    Now!

    Liu Ye changed back to his original form the moment he saw an opening . His hands moved quickly as he delivered two quick strikes to the impostor¡¯s Qihai and Huagai .

    "Ah!!!"

    The impostor crashed into the ground and rolled to a stop .

    Liu Ye walked towards the impostor¡¯s limp form . "I don¡¯t know who you are," he said, "but you better tell me where you¡¯re keeping Ao Wushuang . Otherwise, I¡¯ll make your life a living hell . "

    The impostor moaned and crawled along the floor .

    "It is futile, woman," Liu Ye said coldly . "That body is ruined . " Liu Ye stopped walking and red at the woman . "Reveal your Yin Spirit . Show me who you really are . "

    The impostor rolled over and looked straight into Liu Ye¡¯s eyes . Then, she startedughing .

    "Ao Wushuang?" the impostor said in a mocking tone . "You want to rescue her?" Sheughed again . "Dream on, you old fox . "

    Dread coursed through Liu Ye .

    "What have you done to her?" he growled . "Answer me!"

    The impostor¡¯s body suddenly twitched on the ground . "Gah! You¡¯re right!" She chuckled and spat out a mouthful of blood . "This body really is ruined . "

    Suddenly, Liu Ye¡¯s skin prickled . A sensation of threat had fired up his instincts, and he leaped away from the impostor¡¯s body .

    The impostor¡¯s mouth dropped open, and she unleashed a blood-curdling shriek into the night . Green tendrils rose from Mo Ahshi¡¯s chest, swirling upwards until it formed a human-shaped cloud above her body .

    Horror filled Liu Ye¡¯s psyche as the features of the cloud grew more and more distinct .

    This wasn¡¯t just a Yin Spirit .

    It was a Yang Spirit .

    The green apparition morphed into the body of a beautiful young woman . And Liu Ye knew that woman . He knew her all too well .

    "Y- Yan Fang?"

 Chapter 262

    Chapter 262

    <h4>Endless Betrayal</h4>

    Liu Ye¡¯s ears were ringing, and it had nothing to do with themotion tearing through the crowd right then. Nine years ago, Yan Fang showed up at the Fox Zen School demanding for Ao Wushuang¡¯s location. And Liu Ye had chased her off the Mount Tianlong back then.

    She must have infiltrated the school around that time.

    And killed Mo Ahshi.

    Liu Ye cursed his own carelessness. Zhang Tianh¨¦ was right about one thing. Liu Ye had been blind. All these years, he had been so blind. His old age had weakened him and clouded his judgement.

    He honestly didn¡¯t think he deserved the title of Great Seer anymore.

    The crowd grew more riotous by the second.

    "Y- Yang Spirit!"

    "Heavens above! T- Thatdy passed the Yuanying phase!"

    "Thatdy?! Are you kidding me right now? Don¡¯t you know who that is? That¡¯s the Eventide Reaper!!"

    "Wait, what?! Y- You mean... Y- Yan Fang zhenren?"

    "My God! You¡¯re absolutely right! So this is where she¡¯s been hiding all these years?!"

    Liu Ye staggered to his feet. There was still time. Her Yang Spirit would require some time to reach its full form. Even more so if her Yang Spirit had been residing in another body for a period of time.

    And nine years was a very long time.

    "Revenge," Liu Ye said, pausing to let a few coughs pass. "Whose death are you avenging? The Fox Zen School has never touched anyone from the Zhengyi School."

    Distract her. Keep her talking.

    Once her Yang Spirit was sufficiently formed, a well-aimed strike at the Qihai should take her out.

    "To avenge me, of course," Yan Fang fired back.

    Liu Ye reached under his robe with one hand. "Avenge you?" He chuckled when he felt the Brush of Duality¡¯s cool surface under his fingers. "How could the Fox Zen School possibly have wronged you? We never had a single dealing with you before you barged into our halls nine years ago to look for trouble."

    "I¡¯ll tell you how your foul school has wronged me, you old fox," Yan Fang snarled. "My life has been over since the day that bitch from your foul school stole my sh¨©xi¨­ng from me!"

    Liu Ye¡¯s fingers tensed around the Brush of Duality. So this was about Wushuang and Wang Yuanshan after all.

    Ten seconds. This would be over in ten seconds. Liu Ye began the countdown in his head.

    "You mark my words, Liu Ye," Yan Fang growled. "Your demise and the destruction of the Fox Zen School are just the beginning." Yan Fang let out a scornful chuckle. "I¡¯ll let Ao Wushuang experience what it feels like to lose everything! By the time I¡¯m done, she¡¯ll be begging me to kill her, to ease her mental agony¡ª"

    Now!

    Liu Ye had never moved so fast in decades, not since he had gone past his prime and lost his former strength to old age; but right now, the speed of his movements was enough to cause his vision to warp.

    His senses tingled.

    Something wasing at him from his right.

    No!

    Liu Ye pulled out his pipe just in time to parry a sh from the Sword of Seven Stars. A powerful aura threw him backwards, and he had no choice but to double back.

    He blew it. His attack had just been thwarted.

    Zhang Tianh¨¦ stood in front of Liu Ye in a regal manner.

    "That is a respected elder of the Zhengyi School, Liu-qi¨¢nb¨¨i," Zhang Tianh¨¦ said smugly. "You would have to go through me if you intend to harm her."

    Liu Ye clenched his jaw. He was so close. He knew he would¡¯ve gotten her if Zhang Tianh¨¦ hadn¡¯t stepped in.

    "My deepest apologies, Yan zhenren," Zhang Tianh¨¦ continued in a reverent tone, "for not recognizing you sooner." Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s eyes slid back to Liu Ye¡¯s face. The Sword of Seven Stars began to release a golden glow. "Now it is time to put an end to this." Zhang Tianh¨¦ pointed the tip of the sword at Liu Ye. "I shall im your life and deactivate the barrier."

    Liu Ye pulled out the Brush of Duality the moment he saw Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s figure vanishing into thin air.

    Left!

    Liu Ye avoided the sh and charged towards Yan Fang again.

    "Don¡¯t even think about it, Liu-qi¨¢nb¨¨i!"

    Something grabbed Liu Ye¡¯s feet as soon as Zhang Tianh¨¦ finished speaking. Liu Ye thrust the Brush of Duality to the ground to prevent himself from toppling over. When he nced down, he saw a bunch of thick roots crawling up his legs.

    Wood Style...

    "You¡¯re mine!"

    Liu Ye raised his gaze and saw Zhang Tianh¨¦ swinging the Sword of Seven Stars downwards at his head.

    Shadow Mist!

    Liu Ye turned into a billow of green mist before those roots could fully engulf his body. Surging upwards, the mist turned left and flew away from those roots. Liu Yended on the ground to catch his breath.

    That was a mistake.

    The ground shifted beneath Liu Ye¡¯s feet, causing him to lose his bnce. Before he could take off into the air, the ground broke apart around him. Pieces of earth rose from the ground, forming a sphere around him.

    Liu Ye mobilized his Zhenqi and did a quick hand sign.

    Water Element: Erosion!

    The sphere turned slimy before it could close in on Liu Ye. A split secondter, the sphere lost its structure and was reduced to a pile of mud on the ground.

    Liu Ye mobilized his Zhenqi and unleashed his spiritual energy again.

    Water Element: Sonic Wave!

    Liu Ye opened his mouth and roared. The air around Liu Yepressed, sending powerful sound waves outwards in a hemispherical pattern. Shrieks and screams were heard when the sound waves moved beyond the barrier and reached the crowd.

    Liu Ye stopped roaring, satisfied that he had managed to take out some of Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s cannon fodders as well.

    Liu Ye fell to his knees, heaving and panting.

    There were no signs of Zhang Tianh¨¦.

    Secondster, the ground shifted and Zhang Tianh¨¦ rose from the ground. The Sword of Seven Stars continued to glow in the man¡¯s right hand.

    Liu Ye quickly rose to his feet.

    Wood style and Earth style...

    This young man was a force to be reckoned with if he could casually toss those kinds of spells around.

    "You impress me, Liu-qi¨¢nb¨¨i," Zhang Tianh¨¦ said coldly.

    Liu Ye narrowed his eyes and wrapped his fingers around his opium pipe. The next attack woulde from the sword. He was sure of it.

    "Come on!" Zhang Tianh¨¦ vanished once again.

    A cloud of smoke emerged from the pipe when Liu Ye blew on it. The smoke moved swiftly until it shrouded Liu Ye from head to toe. The smoke had sensory functions, which would allow Liu Ye to sense iing attacks in his vicinity.

    The sword¡¯s thrust came from behind, but Liu Ye was ready for it.

    CLINK!

    Sparks flew when the opium pipe shed with the Sword of Seven Stars head on.

    Liu Ye looked behind Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s back, at the invisible barrier, mentally calcting the amount of Zhenqi it would require for his next strike.

    "You¡¯ve reached the end of your line, young man!"

    Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s eyes grew wide when Liu Ye moved his hand to deliver a calcted palm strike.

    Zhang Tianh¨¦ twisted his body slightly.

    Liu Ye¡¯s palm mmed into Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s left shoulder at the same time the Sword of Seven Stars unleashed a golden aura.

    Liu Ye and Zhang Tianh¨¦ were both thrown away from each other.

    Liu Ye grunted as his world spun around. Although his strike had missed Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s chest, he was certain that it still had enough power to send Zhang Tianh¨¦ towards the barrier.

    Liu Ye crashed into the ground, coughing out more blood. The scream of pain he¡¯d been expecting to hear from Zhang Tianh¨¦ never came. When he opened his eyes, he immediately understood why. The Sword of Seven Stars had saved the man by stabbing itself into the ground, giving Zhang Tianh¨¦ something to grab on to, thus preventing the man from crossing the barrier¡¯s threshold.

    Liu Ye stood up on shaky legs, resigned to the fact that he only had one option left.

    Grandmaster Liu Ye of the Fox Zen School shall unleash his full fox form for onest time.

    ***

    Ruan Hongling struggled against Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s hold. "Sh¨©b¨®!!! Sh¨©b¨®!!!"

    Why, Yan-sh¨©b¨®? Why? Why have you not returned to us? Nine years! You¡¯ve hidden yourself away for nine years! The Linggong Sect needed you!

    "Let me go, sh¨©ji¨§!!" Ruan Hongling screamed and wed at Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s arm, which was wrapped around Ruan Hongling¡¯s neck in a non-lethal chokehold. "Can¡¯t you see? That¡¯s Yan-sh¨©b¨®! She¡¯s right there! Why aren¡¯t we going to her?!"

    "Calm down, Hongling."

    Ruan Hongling gasped when her feet suddenly left the ground. Zi Yuan ji¨§jie had hoisted her up and was now pulling her back towards the grove.

    "Why, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie?!" Ruan Hongling kept struggling, kicking out with her legs. "We thought she was dead! And now she¡¯s there! She¡¯s right there!" Ruan Hongling swung her arms wildly. "Our sh¨©b¨® is right there! Zi Yuan ji¨§jie!!"

    Ruan Hongling felt her back m into the rough bark of a tree trunk.

    "Enough!" Zi Yuan ji¨§jie hissed. "You¡¯re not thinking straight, Hongling! I need you to calm down, okay?"

    The anger and intensity in Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s beautiful eyes startled Ruan Hongling into silence. And for a moment, she felt all the fight trickle out of her.

    Then it all returned: the hurt; the betrayal; the confusion; and the sense of utter despondence.

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s vision blurred as tears began to fill her eyes. She twisted her body around so that she was once again facing the temple. Some kind of battle was going on in front of the temple, but Ruan Hongling couldn¡¯t bring herself to care anymore.

    Her eyes were glued to Yan-sh¨©b¨®¡¯s Yang Spirit, which was hovering above the temple.

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s knees buckled, and she felt her side sliding against the tree.

    She turned her head when she felt a warm presence beside her.

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s blurry face came into view. Ruan Hongling sniffed and dried her tears with her hands.

    "Hongling..."

    Ruan Hongling kept swiping at her tears.

    "Hongling, look at me."

    Ruan Hongling lowered her hands and met Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s concerned gaze.

    "You saw what happened." Zi Yuan ji¨§jie gave her a pointed look. "You saw what she did to those people, Hongling. She murdered those young Cultivators, her own allies, in cold-blood."

    It was then that Ruan Hongling saw it: the pained look in Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s eyes; the hurt of having been betrayed by someone whom they once held dear.

    "Is that really the Yan-sh¨©b¨® we once knew and looked up to, hmm?" Zi Yuan ji¨§jie asked. "Think about that, Hongling. Just think for a second, okay?"

    A sob tore past Ruan Hongling¡¯s lips.

    A warm palm ran through Ruan Hongling¡¯s hair. "No, Hongling. Whoever that person is, she¡¯s no longer the sh¨©b¨® we once knew." There was a sigh. "It¡¯s like she became another person entirely."

    "Zi Yuan ji¨§jie..." Ruan Hongling threw herself into her mentor¡¯s arms and started wailing. "T- This is so... so unfair... Zi Yuan ji¨§jie... So unfair... First, Master was gone. And now sh¨©b¨® too? W- When will th- this end... Zi Yuan ji¨§jie... When will this end..."

    It was like the forces of the Universe were conspiring against the Linggong Sect.

    Ruan Hongling continued to weep until she ran out of breath. Suddenly, she felt so tired; tired of being bullied, of all her futile attempts to defend the sect¡¯s pride and glory which she knew, deep down, no longer existed.

    As her sobs began to ebb, Ruan Hongling rested her head against Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s shoulder, seeking sce in the gentle strokes of Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s palm against her hair.

    "These are difficult times, Hongling," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie suddenly spoke. "But we need to be strong."

    Ruan Hongling sniffed and pulled away from Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s embrace.

    A glimmer of hope flickered inside Ruan Hongling¡¯s chest when Zi Yuan ji¨§jie smiled at her.

    "We¡¯re on our own now, you and I." Zi Yuan ji¨§jie patted Ruan Hongling¡¯s head and let out a soft sigh.

    Ruan Hongling stared at her sh¨©ji¨§ expectantly, waiting for her to continue.

    "Master wouldn¡¯t want us to give in to our circumstances, Hongling." Zi Yuan ji¨§jie held her gaze. "He would want us to stand up and fight."

    Ruan Hongling nodded weakly. "Mm."

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie grabbed Ruan Hongling¡¯s shoulders firmly. "We will get through this, Hongling. We will."

    Ruan Hongling took in a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Together."

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie smiled. "Together."

    Ruan Hongling dried the rest of her tears and stood up. "I¡¯m sorry, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie."

    "It¡¯s okay." Zi Yuan ji¨§jie stood up as well. "But, we still have a job to do." Zi Yuan ji¨§jie gave her a serious look. "Are you up for it?"

    Ruan Hongling summoned her resolve and nodded.

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie turned away and looked towards the temple. "It¡¯s all there, Hongling." She sighed. "The answers we seek. It¡¯s all there."

    Ruan Hongling agreed. Whatever happened to turn Yan-sh¨©b¨® into this mad woman must¡¯ve urred some time during her visit to the Fox Zen School nine years ago.

    The fighting in front of the temple seemed to havee to a lull. Liu Ye had removed his grey robe and was now tossing it aside. Once again, Ruan Hongling found her gaze drawn towards Yan-sh¨©b¨®. The Yang Spirit was floating down until it was hovering directly above Mo Ahshi¡¯s corpse.

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s eyes narrowed. What¡¯s she doing?

    Yan-sh¨©b¨® was down on her knees beside Mo Ahshi¡¯s body. One of her hands was rummaging for something inside Mo Ahshi¡¯s dress.

    She¡¯s looking for something...

    Without taking her eyes off Yan-sh¨©b¨®, Ruan Hongling shook Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s sleeve. "Hey, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie... Look¡ª"

    She was cut off by Zhang zhenren¡¯s voice.

    "Look out, Yan-qi¨¢nb¨¨i! The old fox is going all out!"

    Yan-sh¨©b¨® sprang away from Mo Ahshi¡¯s body immediately and took off into the air once more.

    "Things are getting serious," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie mumbled. "Liu Ye is about to transform into his fox form."

    Something caught Ruan Hongling¡¯s eye right then. Yan-sh¨©b¨® was carrying some kind of object in her hand.

    "What¡¯s that clock thing she¡¯s carrying?" Ruan Hongling blurted out.

    Ruan Hongling felt Zi Yuan ji¨§jie shift beside her.

    Secondster, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie gasped. "Heavens... Is that... I... I can¡¯t believe she has it!"

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s scalp tingled. "What is it, sh¨©ji¨§? What¡¯s with that clock?"

    "That¡¯s the Clock of The Heavenly Emperor, Hongling," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie said in a grim tone. She sighed. "I think I now know what happened to Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i."

    Yan-sh¨©b¨®¡¯s Yang Spirit rose higher.

    "Um... Zi Yuan ji¨§jie..." Ruan Hongling squinted thought the darkness. Yan-sh¨©b¨® seemed to be waving to someone at the temple. "I think... I think she¡¯s giving a signal."

    "Do it!!!" Yan-sh¨©b¨®¡¯s voice suddenly rang out. "What are you waiting for, you fool! Do it now!!"

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie sighed and pointed her finger at something below. "Look."

    Liu Ye screamed in pain.

    "A- A second traitor," Ruan Hongling whispered.

    A man had just stabbed a long sword into the old fox spirit¡¯s back, interrupting the transformation.

    "Liu zh¨£ngm¨¦n!"

    "Grandmaster Liu!"

    Arge group of fox spirits charged out from the temple.

    "Stay away!" Liu Ye¡¯s strained voice stilled the fox spirits¡¯ movements. "Back to the temple, now!"

    "Tonight will be your end, Liu Ye!"

    The man pushed the de deeper into Liu Ye¡¯s back.

    Liu Ye¡¯s scream of pain turned into an angry growl. "Damn you, Gu Feng!"

    The man named Gu Fengughed and twisted the hilt of the de.

    Liu Ye roared and mmed his palm into Gu Feng¡¯s chest. The force of the blow flung Gu Feng away until his body crashed into a wall.

    Ruan Hongling found herself grimacing internally.

    That palm strike was so powerful that it had caused one side of Gu Feng¡¯s chest to cave in.

    Liu Ye pulled out the sword from his back. "Damn you!" The sword nged to the ground. "Damn you all!"

    "Give it up, old man," Zhang zhenren said, grabbing the hilt of the Sword of Seven Stars. "It¡¯s all over for you and your school."

    Liu Ye ignored Zhang zhenren¡¯s taunt and pointed a shaky finger at Gu Feng, who, much to Ruan Hongling¡¯s surprise, was struggling to get back up. "You¡¯re not really Gu Feng, are you? You¡¯re another impostor!"

    Gu Feng slumped against the wall weakly. At first, Ruan Hongling thought the man had died, but then he startedughing. Even though blood was spilling from his mouth, that lunatic wasughing his head off.

    "You..." Liu Ye growled. "You¡¯re from the Wanxiang Sect, aren¡¯t you?"

    Ruan Hongling frowned and looked towards Zi Yuan ji¨§jie. "The Wanxiang Sect?"

    "It¡¯s an old sect," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie answered softly. "Its members are masters in transfiguration spells."

    Gu Feng stoppedughing and started poking his fingers into various acupoints on his body.

    "What¡¯s he doing?" Ruan Hongling asked.

    "He¡¯s deactivating the transfiguration spell," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie answered.

    "Grandmaster!!"

    "Liu zh¨£ngm¨¦n!!"

    Several members of the Fox Zen School had clearly decided to ignore Liu Ye¡¯s orders to stay inside the temple as they charged out and hurried to Liu Ye¡¯s side.

    "These are either the loyal ones," Ruan Hongling said, "or they¡¯re all traitors looking to finish him off."

    Liu Ye was down on his knees, coughing up more blood. Ruan Hongling was honestly surprised that he was still able to keep the barrier up despite his debilitating injuries.

    What tremendous willpower...

    Something tugged inside Ruan Hongling¡¯s chest. She shook her head and sighed. She couldn¡¯t even imagine what the old man must be going through right now, having just been betrayed by the two people closest to him. Even though those two were impostors, they had still yed their roles well over the years. The realization that both of them were impostors wouldn¡¯t soften the blow either, since Liu Ye would now have to face the reality that the real Gu Feng and Mo Ahshi were dead.

    "Observe," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie said, drawing Ruan Hongling¡¯s attention towards the wall Gu Feng was leaning against.

    The man¡¯s face was undergoing a series of contortions, as though his entire facial structure was rearranging itself into a new form.

    The whole processsted about ten seconds.

    There was a series of feminine shrieks. Liu Ye had just pushed his aides aside and was now up on his feet again.

    "I recognize you," Liu Ye growled, pointing at the man. "You¡¯re one of Gu Feng¡¯s disciples!"

    A smug smile spread across the man¡¯s original face. "R- R- Remember... the name of... of your k- killer... Liu Ye..." More blood dribbled out of the man¡¯s lips. "I- It¡¯s W- Wang... Wang Yu... of the Wanxiang... Sect..."

    Thatst syble carried the man¡¯s final breath.

    There was a bright sh.

    By the time Ruan Hongling¡¯s vision had readjusted, Liu Ye was lying on the ground.

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s blood ran cold.

    Is he dead?

    "The barrier is down, Hongling." Zi Yuan ji¨§jie shifted beside her. "Get ready."

    More fox spirits rushed out from the temple. They all closed in on their fallen leader, forming a circle around him.

    Ruan Hongling sighed, relieved that those were the loyal ones.

    "No!!!!" Liu Ye screamed. "Leave the Emperor¡¯s Clock!"

    A split secondter, Yan-sh¨©b¨®¡¯s Yang Spirit disappeared in a sh of green light. For a fleeting moment, Ruan Hongling felt that familiar urge again, the urge to fly after her sh¨©b¨®. She quickly tamped it down and reced it with anger.

    Sh¨©b¨® had betrayed them.

    "NOOO!!!!" Liu Ye¡¯s voice, filled with helpless anguish and agony, tore through the night.

    "My fellowrades!" Zhang zhenren¡¯s voice boomed below them, drowning out Liu Ye¡¯s scream. "Rise, my friends! Rise! The time hase for the Great Six to bring destruction upon the Fox Zen School!"

    Cheers and roars erupted¡ªsounds of bloodlust and murder.

    "Draw your weapons!" Zhang zhenrenmanded, raising the Sword of Seven Stars above his head.

    The unmistakable noise of swords being drawn sounded through the mor.

    "Glory to the Great Six!" Zhang Zhenren swung the golden sword in a circle.

    "Glory to the Great Six!" the crowd repeated.

    "Remember, Hongling." Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s calm voice drifted into Ruan Hongling¡¯s ears.

    Ruan Hongling turned her head and immediately noticed the determined set in Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s eyes.

    "As soon as the battle starts, you make your move." Zi Yuan ji¨§jie sped Ruan Hongling¡¯s hand. "Don¡¯t take unnecessary risks, okay?"

    "Mm." Ruan Hongling nodded.

    She could do this. She wouldn¡¯t let Zi Yuan ji¨§jie down this time. The damask floated upwards and hovered above her head.

    "CHARGE!" Zhang zhenren yelled.

    The Great Six¡¯s army swarmed towards the temple.

    Ruan Hongling levitated off the ground, ready to take off into the sky.

    "Hongling." Something in Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s voice made her stop. "Wait."

    Ruan Honglingnded on the ground and sent Zi Yuan ji¨§jie a puzzled look. "What is it?"

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s eyes were closed, and her brows were furrowed as though she was thinking hard about something.

    A secondter, a smirk formed on Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s lips. "He¡¯s here..."

    (T/N: Rmended soundtrack starts ying here; click on the link to y it https://drive.google/file/d/17fh7wPMM91gVUbab_0XFD6qag9s3GLmN/view?usp=sharing )

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s gaze snapped towards the battlefield.

    "What?! Where¡ª"

    "OM MANI PADME HUM!"

    "Ah!!!" Ruan Hongling screamed when something exploded below them.

    Four, no, five golden hand signs rained down from the sky before they scattered across the battlefield in multiple directions. Screams of terror sounded as the Cultivators of the Great Six scrambled away to avoid the hand signs. Ruan Hongling gasped when she felt her own body being thrown back slightly.

    "Steady..." Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s firm hand on her back prevented Ruan Hongling from stumbling.

    "My God..." Ruan Hongling whispered in awe. "Isn¡¯t that the Esoteric Sect¡¯s..."

    "Mm." Zi Yuan ji¨§jie removed her hand from Ruan Hongling¡¯s back. "Mahavairocana¡¯s 1st Mudra, the Intelligent Fist."

    A long object flew down from the sky andnded in front of the Fox Zen School¡¯s entrance with a loud crash. Through the darkness, smoke, and dust, Ruan Hongling could make out the shape and form of the object. It looked like a longer and thicker version of a Bo staff.

    "The Fan of Seven Treasures," Ruan Hongling found herself whispering.

    The fan stood vertically on the ground with one of its ends lodged in the ground. Standing on the exposed end of the fan was the unmistakable form of the Jindan¡¯s Heir.

    "Something¡¯s different about him," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie whispered.

    Ruan Hongling nced at her sh¨©ji¨§. "What?"

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie frowned and shook her head. "I¡¯m not sure."

    Ruan Hongling returned her gaze to the Jindan¡¯s Heir, who was still standing on the fan with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

    "So badass," Ruan Hongling blurted out before she could stop herself. Then, she felt her own lips pulling into a smile. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, the Heir¡¯s presence was a huge relief.

    "Well. He does know how to make an entrance, doesn¡¯t he?" Zi Yuan ji¨§jie remarked dryly.

    "Show-off," Ruan Hongling mumbled through her smile.

    "I¡¯m removing the sound barrier now," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie said. "And then I¡¯ll try tomunicate with him." Zi Yuan ji¨§jie reached up and grabbed the glowing talisman above them. "You make your move upon my signal."

    "Yes, sh¨©ji¨§."

    "Help has arrived," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie mumbled. "Now we just have to make the best of it."

 Chapter 263

    Chapter 263

    <h4>One Man to Face Them All</h4>

    One of the biggest benefits Li Yundong had reaped from his grueling trial against the Heavens was his heightened strength of will . Nothing frightened him anymore . Not guns . Not status and power . Not the Heavens . Not a cunning old man who possessed the ability to transform into a monstrous demigod . And certainly not the army of magic-wielding men gathered in front of him .

    An army of savages who called themselves Cultivators .

    Zi Yuan hadn¡¯t been kidding when she told him that he would be walking into a warzone .

    Li Yundong exhaled slowly and crossed his arms in front of his chest . At the moment, he felt strong, confident, like he could handle anything; and the reassuring presence of the Fan of Seven Treasures under his feet only served to bolster that confidence . Deep inside his middle Dantian, the Elixir of Fire pulsated, releasing a steady stream of True mes into his system . The True mes fired along his meridians, pooling in his lower Dantian where they were absorbed by his Vital Orb . His spiritual energy had never felt so powerful before .

    "Who are you?"

    Li Yundong nced down at the owner of that cold voice¡ªa young man who was clearly the one in charge with leading the assault . Thanks to the Fan of Seven Treasures, the man was forced to tilt his head upwards to look at Li Yundong¡¯s face .

    Li Yundong could tell that the man didn¡¯t enjoy the height difference .

    "Who are you?" the man repeated in a harsher tone .

    "Someone who is about to put an end to your barbaric acts," Li Yundong said as he scanned the faces of everyone in therge assemge .

    C¡¯mon, Zi Yuan... Where are you?

    Li Yundong pushed his Zhenqi to his Shenting .

    Ningshen: Eryue!

    A soft buzzing entered his ears .

    "Barbaric, you say?"

    The golden sword rose until its length was parallel to the ground .

    Under his feet, the Fan of Seven Treasures started quivering uncontrobly . Easy, buddy... Easy, Li Yundong sent a telepathic message to the fan . Let me handle this, okay?

    The quivering stopped .

    "Attacking a wounded old man and a group of women?" Li Yundong red at the youngmander . "What else would you call that? An act of virtue?"

    The golden sword lowered until its tip touched the ground .

    Li Yundong ignored the look of incredulity on the youngmander¡¯s face and continued to scan the crowd for Zi Yuan¡¯s elegant figure .

    Zi Yuan hadn¡¯t spoken to him yet . Or had she? Even with the powers granted to him by the Ningshen phase, he still found it difficult to iste Zi Yuan¡¯s voice from the pandemonium surrounding the temple . So far, he heard yells, curses, and even questioning whispers from those wondering who he was .

    There were just too goddamned many of them .

    "Quiet!" Li Yundong roared .

    The Great Six¡¯s legion fell silent .

    "...hear me? Li Yundong... Can you hear me?"

    There we go...

    Zi Yuan¡¯s voice sounded like it came from the sky . He nced up surreptitiously but saw nothing . So she wasn¡¯t in the sky, then .

    Maybe she¡¯s on higher ground?

    "... Left . . . "

    Li Yundong frowned . What? Left? His eyes darted left . He didn¡¯t see Zi Yuan or Ruan Hongling .

    What did she mean, left?

    He focused harder on Zi Yuan¡¯s voice .

    "...left . I repeat, if you can hear me, turn your head left," Zi Yuan whispered softly .

    Li Yundong turned his head left .

    "I repeat¡ª" There was a hitch in Zi Yuan¡¯s voice . "You can hear me?"

    Li Yundong turned his head left again .

    "About time . " Zi Yuan sounded a little annoyed even though her voice was only a whisper . "Talk to him . " There was a pause . "He probably can¡¯t hear me, but I don¡¯t want to take any chances . "

    Li Yundong nced down at the man with the long sword .

    The man was staring back at Li Yundong with calcting eyes, as though he was trying to decide his next move . Li Yundong got the impression that the man wanted to attack, but was too wary to do so .

    Li Yundong uncrossed his arms and waved a hand at the temple¡¯s fa?ade . "Why are you attacking these people?"

    "That¡¯s it... Keep talking to him," Zi Yuan whispered softly .

    The youngmander kept studying Li Yundong while the rest of the legion remained silent . Secondster, the youngmander startedughing .

    "Here are the basic facts," Zi Yuan said in her normal voice, clearly taking advantage of themander¡¯s distraction . "Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i is still alive, but she was sealed inside a powerful magical object . " Zi Yuan¡¯s voice hitched again . "Li Yundong..."

    Li Yundong decided that he didn¡¯t like that tone; it sounded way too ominous, way too forbidding .

    "It... It was... It was my sh¨©b¨®... She..." He heard a sharp intake of breath . "She¡¯s the one behind everything . . . I... Sorry . " Zi Yuan cleared her throat . "Hongling has scoured the entire Mount Tianlong including the summit . No signs of Su Chan . The only ce we haven¡¯t checked is the temple¡ª"

    "Don¡¯t¡¯..." Zi Yuan¡¯s voice hardened the moment Li Yundong wheeled around to look at the temple . "Hongling is already inside the temple . Right now, you need to stay here and hold off the attack, do you understand?"

    Li Yundong clenched his jaw and turned back around to face the legion of the Great Six¡¯s Cultivators . The youngmander was still shaking his head inughter .

    "What the hell is so funny?" Li Yundong growled . "Are the lives of those women some kind of joke to you? You take pleasure in ughtering them?" He paused to re at the man . "Do you not fear Buddha¡¯s wrath?"

    Those who hear my name shall banish all evil...

    "Women?" the youngmander retorted with yet anotherugh . "I¡¯m sorry, but you seem to be a bit confused here . " Themander levelled his sword at the temple . "That, my friend, is the Fox Zen School . Their of fox spirits . " The tip of the sword shifted towards a group of women gathered beside the entrance . "And they, are all fox spirits . "

    "And you¡¯re all supposed to be Cultivators," Li Yundong said brusquely . "Not a bunch of cold-blooded killers . "

    The same look of incredulity flitted across themander¡¯s face .

    Themander was speaking again, but Li Yundong was too focused on Zi Yuan¡¯s voice to listen to the man¡¯s yapping .

    "Keep Grandmaster Liu Ye alive . " There was a pause . "The Great Seer is our only hope of finding Su Chan if it turns out that she isn¡¯t inside the temple . "

    Li Yundong stole another nce at the temple¡¯s entrance . Those young women had formed a circle around the injured old man . A few of the women were huddled beside the old man, tending to his wounds . The rest of them stood around with their weapons drawn, clearly prepared to guard their leader with their lives .

    Li Yundong had counted three dead bodies so far . One man and one woman . He couldn¡¯t tell the gender of the third body since bones and dry skin were all that was left of it; there wasn¡¯t even any clothing or fabric lying around to help him identify the victim¡¯s gender .

    The sword-wieldingmander was still speaking .

    "...of the Great Six . This does not concern the Esoteric Sect . "

    "The Esoteric Sect?" Li Yundong raised his brow . "Who says I¡¯m from the Esoteric Sect?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s voice drifted to his ears again . "That¡¯s Zhang Tianh¨¦ zhenren from the Zhengyi School . " There was a steely edge in her tone when she mentioned that name . "Do not underestimate him . " A pause . "He¡¯s the only one here that you need to worry about . The others don¡¯t stand a chance against you . "

    "Oh? So you¡¯re saying you¡¯re not from the Esoteric Sect?" Zhang zhenrenughed . "Sorry, but I don¡¯t buy it . Only a true master from the Esoteric Sect can pull off the techniques from the Mahamudra Tantra like you did . "

    The crowd erupted in screams and yells when the words Mahamudra Tantra left Zhang zhenren¡¯s lips .

    Zhang zhenren thrust the golden sword towards the sky . "Silence!"

    The uproar died down .

    "That¡¯s the Sword of Seven Stars," Zi Yuan whispered . "A very powerful sword . It¡¯s one of the five most well-known swords in the Cultivation world . "

    "... I don¡¯t know what kind of connection you have with the Fox Zen School," Zhang zhenren continued, "but let me give you one word of advice . " Zhang zhenren took a step forward . "From one master to another . "

    Li Yundong raised his brows .

    "Walk away," Zhang zhenren said coldly .

    Li Yundong stared at the man for a second, then chuckled . "Walk away?" He stoppedughing and red at Zhang zhenren . "And let you ughter these people?" He jerked his chin towards the temple . "Not a chance . "

    "I urge you to reconsider, my friend . This is an official business that you¡¯re interfering with . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s brows rose higher . "Official business?"

    "This assault was sanctioned by the Great Six . Any attempt to hinder it will be treated as an act of defiance against the Great Six . " Zhang zhenren paused emphatically . "However, I¡¯m willing to turn a blind eye if you walk away now . "

    Anger coursed through Li Yundong .

    "I¡¯m not going anywhere . "

    Zhang zhenren shook his head . "Listen to me, my fellow zhenren . " Zhang zhenren pointed at the temple with his sword . "That ursed ce is a breeding ground for evil . Nothing good wille out of an alliance with such an organization . Your name and reputation will be tarnished forever if you associate yourself with them!"

    "If they are evil, then what are you?" Li Yundong said, crossing his arms in front of his chest again . "Thieves? Robbers? Murderers?"

    Zhang zhenren¡¯s expression faltered .

    Instead of leaping down from the Fan of Seven Treasures, Li Yundong lowered himself into a crouch so that their faces were closer . "I¡¯ll tell you what you are," he sneered, pointing a finger at Zhang zhenren . "You¡¯re all bigots . Dogmatists who viinize anyone with different values . " He lowered his finger and let his gaze sweep across the army of Cultivators behind Zhang zhenren . "Wolves in a sheep¡¯s clothing . Devils masquerading as saints . "

    Something flickered inside Zhang zhenren¡¯s eyes, which had grown wide at the usation .

    "Good . Just keep talking," Zi Yuan said . "None of them are attacking because they¡¯re afraid of you . Let¡¯s try to keep it that way . "

    "You¡¯re making a huge mistake, zhenren," Zhang zhenren said in a dangerous tone .

    Li Yundong smirked . "A mista¡ª"

    Shrieks and screams broke out before he could finish his sentence .

    "No! Liu zh¨£ngm¨¦n!"

    "Grandmaster!"

    Li Yundong wheeled around and saw the Fox Zen School¡¯s women bustling around frantically . Shit . Did the old man just die?

    "Potion! We need more potion!"

    "I-I- I¡¯ll go get them!"

    One of the women quickly left the group and ran back into the temple .

    Li Yundong leaped down from the Fan of Seven Treasures and turned around to face Zhang zhenren and his men .

    SNAP! The Fan of Seven Treasures spread open when Li Yundong touched its rivet . The bbergasted look on Zhang zhenren¡¯s face right then almost made this entire shitty situation worthwhile . Almost .

    Gasps and words of shock washed over the Great Six¡¯s assemge .

    "B- But that¡¯s..."

    "The Fan of Seven Treasures!"

    "That¡¯s Pan Shi¡¯s..."

    "Where did he even get it?!"

    "I don¡¯t think anybody has seen it since..."

    Li Yundong leaped into the air and swung the tessen in a wide arc . The air stirred, and the crowd screamed .

    "Take cover, my lord!!"

    "Look out!"

    Streams of concentrated air currents swept across the ground in the direction of Li Yundong¡¯s swing, carving out a line on the ground . Li Yundongnded on one side of the partition, while Zhang zhenren retreated to the other side .

    "Up!" Li Yundong said, releasing the rivet . A powerful gale blustered against the ground when the Fan of Seven Treasures shot into the air like a missile .

    Zhang zhenren raised his sword to the front of his torso as he retreated a few steps .

    "Guard!" Li Yundong barked out another order .

    The Fan of Seven Treasures stopped its ascent instantly . The runes and inscriptions of the Diamond Sutra began to glow .

    Li Yundong red at the Great Six¡¯s army . "If anybody crosses this line..." Li Yundong tapped the ground with his foot, and then looked back up at the Fan of Seven Treasures . "You know what to do . "

    The des on the fan¡¯s leaves begun to rotate .

    Li Yundong turned around and made his way towards the fallen grandmaster . s, his actions must havee across as hostile since the women raised their weapons the moment he got close . A few brave ones even stepped forward to block his path .

    Li Yundong stopped in his tracks . "At ease,dies," he said, raising a hand in a cating gesture . "I¡¯m here to help . "

    The weapons stayed up, though they were all trembling inside their owners¡¯ grips . Just like that, Li Yundong¡¯s respect for these women grew substantially .

    These poor women were all frightened out of their wits, yet here they were, guarding their leader even though they knew it would be thest thing they ever did .

    "Ladies," Li Yundong said, softening his tone . "I mean no harm . I swear . "

    There was a retching sound followed by a series of coughs .

    "No, grandmaster! Please stay still!"

    "Let... h- him..." More coughs . "T- Through... He has... Fan... Treasures...Wu... Wushuang... t- trusts... him..."

    More coughs sounded .

    Before Li Yundong could speak, another voice sounded . The voice also came from behind the women blocking his path . "You heard him, girls . Let the man through . "

    The women lowered their weapons and stepped aside .

    "Thank you . " Li Yundong nodded and moved past the women .

    Grandmaster Liu Ye was lying on his back, and he was naked from the waist up .

    "How¡¯s he doing?" he asked ady whosep the grandmaster¡¯s head was resting against .

    "Not good . " Thedy nced up at Li Yundong, though her fingers continued their ministrations on the grandmaster¡¯s scalp . And unless Li Yundong was very much mistaken, she was performing the Three-Pronged Flower Gathering Massage technique on the old grandmaster .

    Li Yundong kneeled down beside the grandmaster . "How bad?"

    Thedy¡¯s fingers stilled . "He¡¯s lost too much Zhenqi . And blood . His..." Thedy shook her head . "His Vital Orb is pretty much depleted . "

    A few girls burst into tears .

    Li Yundong shook his head and scanned the old man¡¯s body for more injuries .

    "There¡¯s... There¡¯s another one on his back . " Thedy suddenly turned her head to re at something nearby . When Li Yundong followed her gaze, he registered the object of her fury: the male dead body he¡¯d seen earlier .

    "That bastard stabbed Liu zh¨£ngm¨¦n in the back," thedy growled .

    All of a sudden, Li Yundong looked up at the sky and frowned . He thought he saw a green sh earlier .

    Someone gripped his wrist .

    Li Yundong lowered his gaze and saw Grandmaster Liu¡¯s lips moving .

    "W- Who... a- are..."

    Li Yundong grabbed the wrinkled hand on his wrist . "My name is Li Yundong . And I¡¯m here for Su Chan . "

    Gasps of surprise sounded around him .

    Grandmaster Liu Ye, on the other hand, looked as though he¡¯d already expected that answer .

    "Who are you?" Thedy eyed him sharply . "How did you and Su Chan know each other?"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t answer right away because Zi Yuan was speaking to him again .

    "Hongling has just returned . Bad news, Li Yundong . Su Chan isn¡¯t in the temple . " There was a pause . "Neither is Bahuang . "

    Disappointment coursed through his veins .

    "Hey!" thedy snapped . "I asked you a question!"

    Li Yundong sighed and flipped over Grandmaster Liu Ye¡¯s hand to take the old man¡¯s pulse . "Su Chan is my girlfriend . "

    An uproar followed that deration .

    "Girls... Be quiet," said thedy .

    The old man¡¯s pulse was weak even though he¡¯d just been given the Three-Prong Flower Gathering massage . That alone proved just how dire his condition was . Closing his eyes, Li Yundong mobilized a portion of his Zhenqi and channeled it into Grandmaster Liu¡¯s body .

    The old man¡¯s eyes shot open .

    "Don¡¯t worry, Liu zh¨£ngm¨¦n," Li Yundong said, "that was me . " Li Yundong sighed . "I wish I could do more, but that¡¯s all I can do for you now . "

    And it really was . Zi Yuan had cautioned him to keep the Jindan¡¯s Aura hidden at all times .

    Understanding shone in Grandmaster Liu¡¯s eyes, and he nodded weakly .

    "Do you know where Su Chan is?" Li Yundong held his breath as he awaited the grandmaster¡¯s response .

    The grandmaster suddenly closed his eyes and began chanting something under his breath .

    "Liu zh¨£ngm¨¦n! No!" thedy shouted in rm . "You can¡¯t! You¡¯re in no condition to¡ª" Thedy suddenly red at Li Yundong . "Stop this! He barely has a Vital Orb!"

    The grandmaster¡¯s lips stopped moving when Li Yundong suddenly grabbed his hand .

    "It¡¯s okay, Liu zh¨£ngm¨¦n . "

    The grandmaster¡¯s eyes fluttered open, and Li Yundong stared into them, noting the despair they contained .

    "Is she alive?" Li Yundong asked . That¡¯s all he needed to know for now . "Is she safe?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s stomach unclenched when the grandmaster nodded .

    Li Yundong cleared his throat . "Will you be able to find her once you¡¯re in better shape?"

    The grandmaster nodded, then broke into coughs again, his head trembling in thedy¡¯sp .

    Thedy went into a panic .

    "Hey, Miss . " Li Yundong snapped his fingers to get thedy¡¯s attention . When their gazes met, Li Yundong noted how ssy her eyes were . He also didn¡¯t miss the slight trembling of her lips .

    "What¡¯s your name?" Li Yundong asked in a softer tone .

    "C-Cao Yi . "

    "Alright, Cao Yi . " Li Yundong smiled reassuringly . "Can you save him?" He indicated Grandmaster Liu with a slight head tilt .

    "I- I¡¯ll try..."

    Li Yundong nodded . As much as he wanted to help the old man, his understanding of a fox spirit¡¯s physiology was limited at best . His only experience in treating fox spirits was when he performed the Three-Pronged Flower Gathering massage on Su Chan out of desperation . Even then, the nature of the injury waspletely different .

    Li Yundong sighed . "Alright, then¡ª"

    "Ji¨§jie! Ji¨§jie! Potions! Potions! I got them!"

    A girl stumbled through the throng of women surrounding them, but then came to a halt the moment she saw Li Yundong . The girl looked young . Very young . Perhaps even younger than Su Chan .

    "What are you waiting for?" Cao Yi snapped . "Bring them here! Quickly!"

    The girl snapped to attention and scrambled towards Cao Yi . A few vials fell to the ground due to the girl¡¯s clumsy movements . Not that it mattered . He was fairly certain that there was enough potion to treat an entire army since the girl was hugging an armful of vials to her chest . Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether to pity her or feel amused by her actions .

    The girl kneeled down beside Cao Yi and loosened her arms . The vials scattered to the ground and rolled all over the ce .

    "What do these potions do?" Li Yundong asked .

    Cao Yi uncapped a vial . "It helps regenerates a fox sprit¡¯s Zhenqi . " Cao Yi slowly poured the contents of the vial into Grandmaster Liu¡¯s mouth, then sighed . "I¡¯m just not sure if it¡¯ll do enough . " Cao Yi sent Li Yundong a grim look . "Yan Fang did a number on him . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "Help him," he said, rising to his feet . "Do everything you can to keep him alive . "

    Cao Yi nodded . Then, her expression faltered . "What about those guys?" Cao Yi looked past his shoulders at something . "They¡¯ve..." Cao Yi¡¯s sad eyes returned to his face . "They¡¯ve made their intentions pretty clear, Li zhenren . " She sighed . "I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll leave until every single one of us are ughtered . "

    "I will hold them off . " Li Yundong held Cao Yi¡¯s gaze . "You just worry about keeping Liu zh¨£ngm¨¦n alive . "

    Surprise shed inside Cao Yi¡¯s eyes . "A- All of them?" she sputtered . "B- But... But... they have an army!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s lips twitched . "You know what? I¡¯ve changed my mind . "

    A look of rm spread across Cao Yi¡¯s face . "W- What? Changed your... But... But... You... How could..."

    Li Yundong smirked and started backing away from Cao Yi and Grandmaster Liu . "Well,dies . I guess today is your lucky day . " Li Yundong turned around and marched back towards the Fan of Seven Treasures .

    "W- Wait! What on earth is that supposed to mean?!" Cao Yi¡¯s voice rang out behind his back .

    "I¡¯m not just going to hold them off, Cao Yi . " Li Yundong kept marching, not once slowing his steps . "I¡¯m gonna drive those bastards off the frigging mountain . "

 Chapter 264

    Chapter 264

    <h4>One-Man Army</h4>

    Even from a distance, Li Yundong could feel the eyes of his enemies following his every move . He knew full well that those guys couldunch abined attack on him if they wanted to . Still, he remained unfazed, keeping his strides slow but purposeful . Thest thing he wanted was to let the enemy think that he was afraid of them, that they still had the upper hand .

    Zi Yuan hadn¡¯t spoken to him again, but he knew she was somewhere on high ground, watching his back . And if he was beingpletely honest, Zi Yuan¡¯s presence was the main reason he felt so confident right now . If the Great Six had two spies (neither of whom were avable at the moment) within the Fox Zen School, then he had two spies inside the Great Six as well¡ªthose fools just didn¡¯t know it .

    The game n was simple: defeat one (or a few) enemies (preferably the leader) in the most brutal way imaginable . If he could do that, then the rest of them would probably leave the mountain out of fear .

    "Have youe to a decision, zhenren?" Zhang zhenren shouted at him from afar .

    Li Yundong ignored the man and kept marching forward . Closing his eyes, Li Yundong performed Neiguan once again, sighing in relief at what he saw .

    They were still there, all nine of them .

    The nine elixirs .

    Nine tiny orbs (or nodes), scattered across various parts of his body . Two of the nodes, the Elixir of Formation and the Elixir of Structure, were located inside his Vital Orb . The Elixir of Fire resided inside his middle Dantian whereas the Elixir of Transcendence found its ce inside his upper Dantian, just below his Baihui . The Elixir of Yang formed a node at the midpoint of his spine, along which his Du Meridian ran; the Elixir of Yin was the opposite, forming a node at his navel, which happens to be the midpoint of his Ren Meridian . The Elixir of Flesh was sandwiched between his Liver and his Spleen, whereas the Elixir of Bones sat directly between his Kidneys . And finally, the Elixir of Eleven Transmutations, which was located at his Huagai .

    At the moment, only the Elixir of Fire was activated .

    Li Yundong opened his eyes and nced up . The Fan of Seven Treasures was doing exactly what he¡¯d asked of it, patrolling the sky right above the line he¡¯d carved on the ground .

    Li Yundong came to a halt when he was about ten feet from the line . His enemies were still watching him like hawks, but he paid them no mind . He raised his right arm and waited for a second or two .

    Then, the enemies on the left nk started screaming . Some of them dove for cover when the Fan of Seven Treasures swooped down from the sky .

    Li Yundong seized the fan by its rivet the moment it was within reach .

    SNAP!

    Cracks spread out under his feet when one end of the fan lodged itself into the ground . Zhang Tianh¨¦ was probably the only one in the enemy¡¯s formation who didn¡¯t flinch .

    "Leave," Li Yundong said in a harsh tone . "The Fox Zen School is now under my protection . "

    Whispers and gasps washed over the Great Six¡¯s assemge .

    "Is that your final decision?" Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s voice sounded even colder now . "You would make enemies of us, the Great Six, for the sake of that evil organization?"

    Li Yundong crossed his arms in front of his chest . "I would make an enemy of any cold-blooded murderer," he sneered .

    "This is folly," Zhang Tianh¨¦ huffed, shaking his head .

    Li Yundong took a step forward . "Leave!" He paused, letting the echoes of his voice diminish into silence . "Before I remove every one of you from this mountain by force!"

    Sounds of feet shuffling drifted to his ears . He hadn¡¯t noticed it until now, but the front line seemed to have moved backwards by several feet .

    "Good," Zi Yuan whispered . "They¡¯re all afraid of you . Keep it up . "

    The Sword of Seven Stars hummed when Zhang Tianh¨¦ flicked his wrist twice . The sword was now vibrating vigorously as though its de was trying to fly off the hilt . The whole disy reminded Li Yundong of how Liuhe had reacted to his touch during the performance .

    "You are a Cultivator of considerable strength," Zhang Tianh¨¦ said sharply, then levelled the vibrating sword at the temple . "Abandon them ande join us . " The sword continued to hum when Zhang Tianh¨¦ lowered it back down . "There is a ce for you among our ranks . "

    "Leave," Li Yundong growled . "This is my final warning..."

    "Come on," Zhang Tianh¨¦ implored . "Be reasonable . Why are¡ª"

    "Don¡¯t waste your breath on him, Zhang zhenren . " Someone leaped over the top of Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s head andnded in a crouch in front of Li Yundong . It was arge, burly man with a thick patch (about palm-sized) of hair on his chest . "He¡¯s obviously one of those men who got bewitched by a fox spirit! He might as well be one of them!"

    When the man rose to his full height, Li Yundong noted how tall he was¡ªover 190 centimeters .

    "I say we just get rid of him and finish what we came here to do, Zhang zhenren . " The man cracked his knuckles a few times .

    "I wouldn¡¯t do that if I were you, Kuang zhenren," Zhang Tianh¨¦ said in a warning tone . "It would be best if you stand down . "

    The ground cracked when Kuang zhenren punched it . "Forgive me, Zhang zhenren . But I¡¯ve run out of patience . " Pieces of concrete flew apart when Kuang zhenren yanked his fist out of the dent on the ground . "First there was the barrier, and now this?" He snorted . "Sorry . But I¡¯m not gonna stand around and waste any more of my time . This has dragged on for far too long . "

    Kuang zhenren red at Li Yundong . "Prepare yourself, kid," he snarled, pointing his thumb at his hairy chest . "I, Kuang Tianping, the Golden Hammer of the Donghai Sect will make you regret ever showing your face here tonight!"

    Li Yundong smirked and uncrossed his arms .

    "Kuang zhenren," Zhang Tianh¨¦ said sternly . "I highly advise you¡ª"

    Kuang Tianping pounced, but Li Yundong had already anticipated the man¡¯s attacks with Xianjue .

    SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

    Li Yundong bobbed and weaved to avoid a flurry of vicious punches, thenunched a spinning hook kick the moment he saw an opening .

    Due to their height difference, the kicknded on Kuang Tianping¡¯s left deltoid rather than his chin . Still, the blow caused Kuang Tianping to tumble sideways to the ground .

    Li Yundong withdrew his leg from the air and got back into a neutral stance .

    Laughing, Kuang Tianping climbed to his feet and cracked his neck a few times . "That all you got, kid?"

    Li Yundong smirked and nced down at his own legs . The pants should be fine; it was his shirt that he was worried about .

    Kuang Tianping charged again . "Take this¡ª"

    Li Yundong ducked low and performed a sweep kick, which sent Kuang Tianping tumbling to the ground a second time . Then, Li Yundong quickly followed up with a sharp kick to the Kuang Tianping¡¯s ribcage .

    Kuang Tianping flew away with a loud grunt, rolling to a stop at Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s feet .

    "You alright there, Kuang zhenren?" Zhang Tianh¨¦ asked in a snide tone, though his calcting eyes were trained on Li Yundong .

    "I¡¯m fine," Kuang Tianping growled and spat out a mouthful of blood . "This is nothing . "

    Screams sounded on Li Yundong¡¯s left . He turned slightly and saw the Fan of Seven Treasures fending off a dozen of Cultivators who were attempting to cross the line he¡¯d carved on the ground earlier .

    Kuang Tianping rose to his feet once again . "Tch! You¡¯re gonna pay for that, kid . "

    Li Yundong grabbed the hem of his shirt and lifted it over his head .

    Time to end this .

    "This is on you, Zhang zhenren," Li Yundong said in a loud voice, tossing his shirt aside . "The blood of your men will be spilled tonight because you refuse to call off the assault . "

    He heard a snort from Zi Yuan . "You¡¯re not going to convince him that easily, Li Yundong," she scoffed . "That man has something to prove to his father . To him, those men are nothing but pawns . "

    "Shut up, kid," Kuang Tianping snarled, lowering his stance . "This ain¡¯t over yet . "

    Li Yundong closed his eyes and pressed his palms together .

    Here goes...

    A spot on his lower back¡ªbetween his Kidneys¡ªred when the Elixir of Bones came alive . A split secondter, he felt another sharp throb, this time somewhere to the left of his sternum . Heat rose from his sternum, spreading over his entire torso .

    He knew then that the Elixir of Flesh had also been activated .

    Li Yundong opened his eyes and willed his muscles to expand and his bones to lengthen .

    And they did .

    The widening of Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s eyes was the first thing Li Yundong noticed before his vision shifted upwards due to the sudden change in his height and the broadening of his torso . He heard a yelp, which sounded like it came from Ruan Hongling .

    Li Yundong stopped the transformation when he was about the same height as Kuang Tianping .

    This should be enough . . .

    Bulking up too much might slow down his movements . Even though he had the Elixir of Yang topensate for the loss in agility, his body would still feel awkward if he bulked up too much .

    "How did he . . . " came Zi Yuan¡¯s surprised whisper . "What in Heaven¡¯s name was that?"

    Something materialized in Kuang Tianping¡¯s hand .

    It was a huge melon hammer whose rounded head was about asrge as a basketball .

    "HYAH!" Kuang Tianping charged forward, bringing the hammer down to his left waist . At first, Li Yundong thought Kuang Tianping would start swinging the hammer at him, but then the guy surprised him by hurling the entire hammer at him instead .

    The smug look on Kuang Tianping¡¯s face vanished when Li Yundong caught the hammer with one hand .

    THUD!

    A wok-sized dent formed on the ground when Li Yundong tossed the hammer away . A smirk formed on Kuang Tianping¡¯s lips, which was unusual considering Li Yundong had just disarmed the guy .

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes in suspicion . What the heck is he up to?

    "Li Yundong! Watch¡ª" A chorus of feminine shrieks drowned out Zi Yuan¡¯s voice .

    Li Yundong wheeled around in rm .

    Shit!

    A second melon hammer was plummeting from the sky, heading straight for Grandmaster Liu and Cao Yi .

    CLANK!

    The Fan of Seven Treasures (bless the thing) got there in time and pped the hammer away with its leaves .

    The hammer was sent flying back into the sky .

    "Gah!!! Gah!!!"

    "Iing!!!"

    "Lookout!!!"

    SLAM!

    The hammernded somewhere in the middle of the Great Six¡¯s formation .

    Li Yundong turned back around to face Kuang Tianping .

    "You evil son of a bitch," Li Yundong growled . "Have you no shame at all? Is there not a single ounce of humanity in your twisted soul?"

    Kuang Tianping¡¯s only response was a smug grin .

    "Come on!" Kuang Tianping pounced again, throwing a straight punch, which Li Yundong parried with ease .

    Kuang Tianping tried to withdraw his arm after the punch, but Li Yundong was much quicker: he grabbed Kuang Tianping¡¯s arm and swiveled around until his hip crashed into Kuang Tianping¡¯s groin .

    Seoi nage!

    Li Yundong flipped Kuang Tianping¡¯s bulky frame over his shoulder with a perfectly executed Judo hip throw . You¡¯re finished! Li Yundong kept a tight hold on Kuang Tianping¡¯s arm to prevent the guy from rolling away, then mmed his foot down on Kuang Tianping¡¯s head .

    It was a quiet death .

    There was no scream of pain, no cry of horror, just the sound of Kuang Tianping¡¯s skull turning into pulp beneath Li Yundong¡¯s foot .

    A secondter, Kuang Tianping¡¯s Yin Spirit rose from his headless body . A green, semi-transparent face stared back Li Yundong in fear .

    Li Yundong stepped over the ruined corpse and slowly approached the Yin Spirit .

    "Be gone, evil," Li Yundong growled .

    The Yin Spirit screamed in fear and made a hasty retreat towards the legion of Cultivators .

    More screams drew Li Yundong¡¯s attention to his left . From the corner of his eyes, Li Yundong saw the Fan of Seven Treasures swatting about a dozen men into the air .

    The left nk remained unbreached for now .

    "Ahhh!!! Li zhenren! Help!!!"

    Li Yundong turned around again: potion girl was pointing at something on his right .

    Those bastards!

    About ten men had breached the right nk while the Fan of Seven Treasures was upied on the left nk .

    Li Yundong bridged his Three Gates and flung his arm sideways .

    "Argh!!"

    A powerful shockwave sent those men crashing into another group of men trailing behind them .

    Li Yundong took a massive leap backwards and nted himself in front of the women . Turning his head left, he looked towards the Fan of Seven Treasures . One of the enemy Cultivators was breathing fire, and the fan was using the wind to push back those mes .

    "Pull back!" Li Yundong yelled .

    The mes recoiled when the Fan of Seven Treasures performed a powerful sweep .

    "Argh!" The fire-breathing man dove aside to avoid his own mes .

    SNAP!

    The Fan of Seven Treasures flew back towards Li Yundong .

    "Guard!" Li Yundong pointed at the spot on the ground . The Fan of Seven Treasuresnded on the exact spot before spreading its leaves apart .

    "Ladies," Li Yundong said as he turned his head to the front . The Great Six¡¯s army nked Zhang Tianh¨¦ on both sides . "No matter what happens, I want you to stay behind the fan . Understand?"

    "Y- Yes!"

    "Good," Li Yundong said in a low voice . "Coz something¡¯s about to happen . And it ain¡¯t gonna be pretty . "

    Li Yundong exhaled slowly and formed Amoghasiddhi¡¯s Mudra¡ªthe Heavenly Drum¡ªwith both hands .

    "Namah samanta buddhanam ham nah svaha!"

 Chapter 265

    Chapter 265

    <h4>The Quintuple Squad</h4>

    Li Yundong dragged out the final syble of the mantra, all the while keeping his three Dantians linked with his Zhenqi . The air in front of his hands, where Amoghasiddhi¡¯s Mudra was still on full disy, continued to warp and bend . The resulting shockwaves swept across the terrain, sting their way through the Great Six¡¯s formation .

    Behind him, the fox spirits screamed in fear, though he didn¡¯t turn around this time; he was confident that the Fan of Seven Treasures could keep them safe .

    A momentter, Li Yundong ended the mantra and released the mudra . As his hands fell to his sides, his Zhenqi left his Dantians and returned to his Vital Orb . Almost the entirety of the Great Six¡¯s legion was down . Some were out cold, while others were groaning and writhing on the ground .

    Zhang Tianh¨¦ was one of few who were still standing .

    The Sword of Seven Stars¡¯ golden aura had formed some kind of spherical shield around Zhang Tianh¨¦ and two other Cultivators: a curvaceousdy dressed in a Daopao; and a plump man sporting a long, ck beard .

    There was a buzzing sound, like the sound emitted by a spinning propeller . At first, Li Yundong thought it came from the Fan of Seven Treasures, but then the sound didn¡¯te from behind; it came from the enemy lines, somewhere to the left of Zhang Tianh¨¦ .

    Once the dust cleared, Li Yundong saw a man spinning a long staff with one hand . The staff had somehow protected the man from the st wave he had unleashed . After a while, a short, bald man poked his head out from behind the staff-wielding man . Li Yundong recognized the second man as the fire-breathing guy .

    "Phew! Guess I really owe you this time, eh, Du Fei zhenren?" said fire-breathing man . "That Jingu staff of yours really doe in handy at times . "

    The spinning came to a stop . The staff shortened when its wielder swung it to the side .

    Du Fei chuckled . "Well . They don¡¯t call me the Golden Monkey for nothing, Dang Qiang zhenren . "

    Dang Qiangughed . "Still . Nice save, Du zhenren . " Dang Qiang shifted his gaze towards Li Yundong .

    "Don¡¯t mention it, Dang zhenren," Du Fei said . "The Peni Sect is like the Quanzhen Dragon Sect¡¯s extended family anyway . "

    Dang Qiang smirked . "You bet . "

    A cracking noise drew Li Yundong¡¯s attention away from the odd pair . Li Yundong quickly scanned his surroundings for the source of the noise .

    He found it secondster . It was a wilting tree, which appeared to have grown out from the ground some time during the st wave .

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes slightly .

    Must be a spell...

    There was no way a normal tree could survive that kind of st wave .

    The tree continued to wilt and wither until its trunk crumbled to reveal two men inside . The first of the pair was tall andnky . Nothing about the man was notable except for the strange hat (like one of those ancient Chinese hats) on his head and the wooden sword he was wielding in his right hand . The man lowered the wooden sword and said, "Your wood style is impable as always, Chen Anji zhenren . "

    The second man snorted and released the hand sign he¡¯d been performing . "There wouldn¡¯t be any members left of your pitiful Fangzhen Sect if I didn¡¯t step in and save your ass just now, Zhao Wuji zhenren . "

    Another tall man emerged from the ground just as Zhao Wuji was about to say something .

    "Dang! That was close!" The tall man nced around a few times . "Whoa... Tsk . Tsk . Tsk . Would you look at that . Almost the entire assault force was wiped out . " The man¡¯s gaze lingered at the back of the Great Six¡¯s formation .

    Li Yundong followed the man¡¯s gaze and saw a group of men fleeing into the forest .

    The tall man chuckled snidely . "Some of us have even decided to abandon ship . "

    There was a snigger, though this time it came from Chen Anji . "Sounds riching from you, Zhang Hongcheng . "

    "Hey!" The tall man red at Chen Anji, who merely shrugged .

    Zhang Hongcheng turned away . "Say, Du zhenren . . . "

    "Huh?" Du Fei ced his staff over his shoulders .

    Zhang Hongcheng¡¯s eyes slid towards Li Yundong . "It¡¯s been a while since we encountered an opponent this strong, wouldn¡¯t you say, Du Fei?" Zhang Hongcheng smirked . "Aren¡¯t you itching for a good battle?"

    Du Feiughed, holding his staff vertically beside him . "What do you even know, Zhang Hongcheng? You¡¯re from the Jinshan Sect . Running away from fights is your specialty!"

    Zhang Hongcheng seemed mildly annoyed at the remark . "There are more to Earth spells than just their effectiveness as escape mechanisms, Du zhenren . There arebat applications as well . "

    "I hardly see the threat in a bunch of ground-digging moles," Chen Anji quipped .

    Zhang Hongcheng smirked . "Guess we¡¯ll just have to see about that Chen zhenren . " Zhang Hongcheng suddenly looked towards Zhang Tianh¨¦ . "Zhang zhenren, you don¡¯t mind if the five of us have some fun, do you?"

    Zhang Tianh¨¦ didn¡¯t even spare the man a single nce; those cold, calcting eyes remained on Li Yundong, analyzing him, sizing him up .

    Li Yundong made a note to watch out for Zhang Tianh¨¦; that guy was definitely up to something .

    Secondster, it was thedy beside Zhang Tianh¨¦ who answered the question . "Be my guest, Zhang Hongcheng zhenren . " Thedy gave Zhang Tianh¨¦ a brief nce . "I¡¯m sure my sh¨©d¨¬ won¡¯t mind . "

    Zhang Hongcheng smiled . "Very well then, Zou Ping zhenren!" The man vanished into the ground as soon as he stopped speaking . A secondter, his tall figure reappeared slightly in front of the line Li Yundong had carved on the ground . Footsteps sounded behind Zhang Hongcheng . Li Yundong stole a quick nce past Zhang Hongcheng¡¯s shoulder and saw the other four men stepping forward .

    Li Yundong heard Zi Yuan¡¯s voice right then . "A little warning next time, Li Yundong?" She sounded a little annoyed .

    "Ow... Stupid Li Yundong! I think my ears are still ringing a little, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . "

    Li Yundong winced internally . Sorry guys...

    "Tsk! Hongling!" Zi Yuan hissed . "Shush! Do you want them to hear us?"

    "I¡¯m pretty sure half of them are deaf by now," Ruan Hongling mumbled .

    The other four men nked Zhang Hongcheng on both sides .

    "At least have the decency to tell us your name, young man," Du Fei, the one with the staff, said .

    "Li Yundong . "

    Chen Anji smirked . "So it¡¯s Li zhenren, then . "

    "Which school or sect are you from?" Dang Qian asked, stroking his shiny bald head .

    Li Yundong stared at his five opponents without answering .

    "The Esoteric Sect, no doubt," said Zhao Wuji, the man with the wooden sword .

    Li Yundong smirked and raised his right hand . Gasps of surprise sounded behind him when the Fan of Seven Treasures flew to his hand .

    SNAP!

    "I¡¯m not part of any sect . " Li Yundong rested the fan on his shoulder . "I¡¯m Li Yundong . The guardian of the Fox Zen School . "

    "The guardian of the Fox Zen School?" Ruan Hongling giggled . "What kind ofme title is that?"

    "Hongling," Zi Yuan hissed . "Be quiet if you have nothing useful to say . "

    Li Yundong smirked .

    "Very well, guardian of the Fox Zen School," Zhang Hongcheng said . "Shall we begin?"

    Li Yundong lifted the palm of his free hand and curled his fingers twice . "Come . "

    A slow smirk spread across Zhang Hongcheng¡¯s face .

    That smirk thest thing Li Yundong saw of Zhang Hongcheng before the guy vanished into thin air .

    What the¡ª

    Li Yundong twisted his body just in time to avoid being struck in the head by Du Fei¡¯s staff, which had grown substantially in length . The thing was over 10 meters long now .

    Ningshen: Xianjue!

    "You¡¯re all too slow!" Li Yundong growled and stomped his foot on Zhang Hongcheng¡¯s hand, thwarting the man¡¯s attempt to grab his ankle .

    Xianjue shed again .

    Li Yundong ducked low and avoided a roundhouse swing from Du Fei¡¯s long staff . While in a crouching position, Li Yundong grabbed Zhang Hongcheng¡¯s arm with one hand and yanked the rest of his body out from the ground . "Like I said!" Li Yundong turned around . "Too slow!" Li Yundong hurled Zhang Hongcheng¡¯s body straight into the path of the fireball which he had already seening .

    "Earth Element: Earth Armor!"

    Zhang Hongcheng¡¯s body turned brown just before he crashed into the fireball .

    Li Yundong rolled sideways to avoid the remaining mes .

    "Watch it, baldy!" Zhang Hongcheng yelled as pieces of thick ash fell off his body . "You nearly burned me alive!"

    "Hey, it ain¡¯t my fault that you got tossed into the line of fire," said Dang Qiang smugly . "Literally . "

    Li Yundong parried a flurry of rapid strikes from the Du Fei¡¯s staff . What surprised Li Yundong about Du Fei was the man¡¯s agility; despite the staff¡¯s length, Du Fei was still able to wield it nimbly .

    CLANK!

    Li Yundong swung the Fan of Seven Treasures diagonally and parried yet another blow from the staff .

    "Fire Element: Great Fireball!"

    Uh-oh...

    SNAP!

    The Fan of Seven Treasures spread open upon Li Yundong¡¯smand . At the same time, Du Fei¡¯s staff came at him from the opposite side of the massive fireball .

    Li Yundong swung the fan in a wide arc to parry Du Fei¡¯s staff while stirring the surrounding air at the same time . The wind blew the fireball apart even though the fireball was about as big as a bus .

    Du Fei started swinging at Li Yundong again .

    Pretty clever strategy, Li Yundong thought as he avoided a series of quick thrusts from the staff . Du Fei would engage Li Yundong in mid-rangebat with his staff while the others wouldunch long-range spells at him whenever he was distracted .

    "You¡¯re pretty nimble for your size, Li zhenren!" Du Fei swung the staff at Li Yundong¡¯s feet .

    Li Yundong leaped into the air andnded a few feet away .

    "I think it¡¯s your turn now, Zhang Hongcheng zhenren..."

    Li Yundong looked towards Dang Qiang when he heard the bald man¡¯s smug tone .

    "Earth Element: Earth Ripple!"

    Shit!

    The ground underneath Li Yundong¡¯s feet began to shift . It was as though the earth beneath the ground had turned into some kind of fluid . The undting motion caused the Fan of Seven Treasures to slip out of Li Yundong¡¯s grip .

    The ground surged upwards, tossing Li Yundong into the air . Li Yundong bnced himself in midair with Qi-Kic flight and ended up levitating above the ground .

    A bright sh lit up his peripheral vision . He turned and saw another fireball hurtling towards him . Something shot up from the ground before Li Yundong could even move .

    SNAP!

    The Fan of Seven Treasures spread open and started corralling the mes away from Li Yundong .

    "Goddammit, Dang Qiang!" Zhang Hongcheng yelled as he dove sideways to avoid the fireball .

    "Whoops!"

    Li Yundong raised his hand . The Fan of Seven Treasures flew back towards¡ª

    CLANK!

    Du Fei¡¯s staff managed to block the Fan of Seven Treasures path .

    Li Yundong nced down at Du Fei, who was smirking at him .

    "Zhao Wuji zhenren," Du Fei said without taking his eyes off Li Yundong . "If you would be so kind?"

    "Of course, Du zhenren . "

    A thin object shot into the air to assist Du Fei¡¯s staff in its duel against the Fan of Seven Treasures .

    It was the wooden sword .

    "That¡¯s the Sword of Nine Yin," Zi Yuan whispered . "It has the ability to absorb spiritual energy . They¡¯re trying to counter the Fan of Seven Treasure¡¯s Yang elemental attribute with the sword¡¯s Yin attribute . "

    No, you don¡¯t!

    Li Yundong bridged his Three Gates and sent a shockwave towards thenky man who was clearly controlling the wooden sword .

    A bunch of thick roots sprouted out from the ground and took the brunt of the shockwave .

    "I trust you to take care of my body, Chen Anji zhenren?" Zhao Wuji said as he got into a meditative posture on the ground .

    "Of course, Zhao zhenren . "

    More roots sprouted from the ground, slithering around Zhao Wuji like snakes .

    Li Yundong formed a mudra with his hands .

    Mahavairocana¡¯s 1st Mudra: Intelligent Fist!

    "Om mani¡ª"

    Something came at him from the right .

    "I¡¯m your opponent, Li zhenren!"

    SWISH!

    Li Yundong avoided Du Fei¡¯s roundhouse kick to his head .

    Du Fei leaped away and got into a fighting stance . Li Yundong didn¡¯t like the smug look on the guy¡¯s face .

    "Get ready, Zhang Hongcheng zhenren," Du Fei said .

    "Shut up, you monkey," Zhang Hongcheng fired back from somewhere .

    Li Yundong¡¯s scalped tingled . Get ready? Get ready for what?

    Du Fei charged at him again .

    "Hyah!"

    ZING!

    "A sword," Li Yundong said, leaping backwards to avoid the sh . "Well-yed . "

    "Consider this a sign of respect," Du Fei said, letting go of the hilt of his sword . The sword floated into the air and hovered above Du Fei . "I don¡¯t really use this sword unless I¡¯m up against a powerful opponent . "

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes at the man .

    "Dang Qiang zhenren..." Du Fei smirked . "Showtime . "

    "Aye!"

    Two fireballs hurtled towards Li Yundong from both sides . Li Yundong¡¯s Zhenqi surged to his upper Dantian, bridging his Three Gates . The fireballs disintegrated when the shockwaves sted through them .

    "Fire Element: The Great re!"

    The remnants of the fireballs transformed into an orange ze, dazzling Li Yundong¡¯s eyes momentarily .

    Ningshen: Xianjue!

    Li Yundong twisted around and avoided the bald man¡¯s headbutt to his groin .

    Damn it!

    Li Yundong forced his eyes open and kicked the bald man away .

    Dang Qiang somersaulted in midair beforending in a crouch .

    "Oh, this guy is good, Du Fei," Dang Qiang said with a chuckle . "He¡¯s damn good . "

    "What, too much for you to handle?" Du Fei taunted .

    Dang Qiang smirked . "Not a chance!" The bald man flew at Li Yundong like a cannon ball .

    SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

    Dang Qiang had clearly decided to use his own short stature to his full advantage seeing as he kept going for low targets: the legs; the groin; the stomach; the liver .

    As Li Yundong fend off the strikes, he caught a glimpse of the Fan of Seven Treasures in the sky .

    Shit...

    The fan wasn¡¯t doing well at all .

    The fan was almost engulfed by the dozens of dark wraiths surrounding it .

    "Get him out of there, Chen zhenren!" Du Fei yelled .

    Li Yundong nced down and saw Dang Qiang¡¯s smirk . A split secondter, the bald man was yanked away by a bunch of vines .

    "Li Yundong!" Zi Yuan hissed . "Above!"

    Li Yundong looked up and felt his blood run cold . The sky was filled with swords, hundreds of them . The swords circled around in their formation before they stopped moving entirely .

    ZING! The swords reoriented themselves until their tips were all pointing downwards at Li Yundong .

    "Behold, Li zhenren," Du Fei said . "The Rain of a Thousand Swords!"

 Chapter 266

    Chapter 266

    <h4>Intense Battle!</h4>

    Li Yundong jumped backwards and nted himself in front of the fox spirits . "Stay close to me!" he shouted over the clinking of swords . His hands moved quickly to form a mudra .

    atha¡¯s 2nd Mudra: The Immovable Mountain of Treasure!

    "It¡¯s been an honor, Li zhenren!" Du Fei¡¯s hand went through a series of quick hand signs . "Too bad you have to die though . " Du Fei let out a sad chuckle . "You would¡¯ve been a great asset to the Great Six . "

    A fuside of swords rained down upon Li Yundong and the fox spirits as soon as Du Fei¡¯s hand stopped moving .

    Li Yundong bridged his Three Gates . "Namah samanta vajranam ham!"

    A golden, semi-transparent barrier shed into existence, forming a dome-like structure above Li Yundong and the fox spirits . A chorus of feminine shrieks broke out when the swords charged at the dome from every direction .

    Then, the swords stopped, every single one of them . Their tips couldn¡¯t prate the barrier . An orange re lit up the left side of the dome courtesy of the fireball sting against the dome¡¯s surface .

    A grim thought urred to Li Yundong right then .

    The other two could attack him as well, and when they did, there was nothing the barrier could do to protect him, since they both had spells that could bypass the barrier by reaching up from under the ground¡ª

    Something coiled around Li Yundong¡¯s ankles . He nced down and saw a bunch of vines and roots snaking around his legs .

    Behind him, the fox spirits screamed .

    Amidst their screams, he also heard the scraping and clinking of metal . He turned his head and saw the women hacking at a bunch of vines with their swords . Li Yundong gritted his teeth and faced the front again . He had to do something quickly before Zhang Hongcheng breached the barrier from under the ground .

    He did a quick scan of his surroundings, noting the dome¡¯s radius . The swords would probably reach them within a second once he released the barrier . The fireball would take longer, maybe four or five seconds .

    "Take cover!" Li Yundong screamed over his shoulder .

    The dome vanished when Li Yundong switched to a new mudra .

    CLINK!

    The swords arrowed down towards him whereas the fireball swept in from the side .

    atha¡¯s 10th Mudra: Almighty Push!

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham!"

    The air stirred .

    "No!!!!!" Du Fei screamed .

    The swords were flung outward and away from Li Yundong by an omnidirectional repulsive force; the fireball disintegrated, forming tiny balls of mes which scattered into the night sky . Strangely enough, the clinking noise¡ªdue to a thousand swords falling to the ground¡ªhe¡¯d been anticipating never came . Instead, only one sword fell down from the sky .

    The swordy motionless beside Du Fei¡¯s feet .

    Li Yundong yanked his leg upwards, freeing his ankle from those annoying vines . When kicked aside, the vines flopped lifelessly to the ground, a clear sign that the spell responsible for them was no longer active .

    Li Yundong turned around to check on the fox spirits . He saw a bunch of pale faces staring back at him in shock . Some of the women still had vines and roots wrapped around their limbs .

    Li Yundong looked towards the Fan of Seven Treasures and was relieved to find that the fan was now winning in its battle against Du Fei¡¯s staff and the wooden sword . The arhats had appeared once again and was now driving those dark wraiths back towards the wooden sword .

    "Oww...! That didn¡¯t really work, did it?"

    Li Yundong tore his gaze away from the fan and saw Dang Qiang climbing to his feet .

    "No shit," said Chen Anji, the wood-style user .

    Zhang Hongcheng was nowhere to be seen, but knowing his moves, he was probably hiding somewhere underground .

    "You failed," Li Yundong said in a clipped tone, ring at Du Fei .

    Du Fei smirked . "It ain¡¯t over yet . "

    Li Yundong leaped backwards when a hand burst through the ground¡¯s surface . Zhang Hongcheng¡¯s emerged from the ground, revealing his full body .

    Zhang Hongcheng moved his hands .

    "Earth Element: Human Boulder!"

    Zhang Hongcheng¡¯s body swelled up and turned into a boulder, which began rolling towards Li Yundong the moment it was formed .

    Instead of dodging, Li Yundong cocked his fist back and punched the boulder .

    "What the¡ª"

    Instead of shattering the boulder, Li Yundong¡¯s fist slipped through the boulder¡¯s surface . He realized then that the boulder¡¯s surface had turned into sand .

    "Earth Element: Sand Storm!"

    The entire boulder burst apart, tossing sand everywhere . Li Yundong leaped backwards, but it was toote; the sand got him in the eye .

    "Hey, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie? What¡¯s wrong with him? Why¡¯s he holding his face?"

    "His eyes, Hongling . The sand went into his eyes . "

    "Earth Element: Quick Sand!"

    Li Yundong gasped when he felt his feet sinking into the ground . Shit! He mobilized his Zhenqi and levitated himself off the ground . He managed to stay levitated for a few seconds before he felt something solid wrap around his ankle . His body lurched downwards, and the next thing he knew, something abrasive was grinding against his face .

    Sand .

    He had just fallen face-first into the sand .

    "Wood Element: Immortal Shackles!"

    The binding around his ankles tightened . The sand shifted under him, pulling him down . He was literally sinking into the ground . iling his arms, he tried to grab hold of something, but then realized with horror that even his arms had been rendered immobile by those annoying roots .

    I see...

    Those sneaky bastards wanted to prevent him from using the mudras .

    Li Yundong moved his arms with all his might, pulling his wrist in random directions . He could feel the roots snapping every time he pulled, but for some reason, the roots were still able to restrain him .

    Li Yundong coughed and spat out a mouthful of sand . His eyes were still stinging, so he couldn¡¯t really see .

    "What should we do, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie? Should we help him?"

    More sand piled on top of Li Yundong¡¯s head . He shook his head free, coughing out more sand . Damn it . It seemed like he might have to activate the Jindan¡¯s Aura after all despite Zi Yuan¡¯s warning .

    "We don¡¯t have to step in," Zi Yuan said in a calm voice . "He¡¯s got this . "

    No . I don¡¯t f*cking got this . I¡ª

    SNAP! SWISH!

    All of a sudden, the ground became solid again . A light breeze brushed against his face instead of rough sand, and the wooden shackles around his limbs finally came loose .

    Something crackled on his left .

    SNAP! THUD!

    A wave of heat rushed into his left cheek . The fireball, he thought, reaching out tentatively . He sighed in relief when he felt the familiar metallic surface under his palm .

    His trusted buddy had saved his ass again .

    Li Yundong climbed to his feet, leaning his back against the warm metal, knowing that his trusted partner in crime was currently shielding him from the fireball . He had to take care of his eyes first . Pressing his palms together, he activated the Elixir of Yin . A cooling sensation gushed out from his navel, flowing through his Ren Meridian before spreading out to all parts of his body . The stinging sensation in his eyes was gone a secondter .

    Li Yundong opened his eyes .

    Dang Qiang had stopped breathing fire; the bald dude was now down on his knees, heaving and panting . Further to Li Yundong¡¯s left, Zhao Wuji was down on the ground, coughing up a decent amount of blood . The Sword of Nine Yiny lifelessly beside Du Fei¡¯s staff . The Fan of Seven Treasures had defeated the two weapons and immediatelye to his aid .

    Li Yundong stepped out from behind the Fan of Seven Treasures to face his four remaining opponents, all of whom were looking the worse for wear . Behind the enemy lines, Li Yundong spotted another group of Cultivators sneaking off into the mountains . Zhang Tianh¨¦ either didn¡¯t know or didn¡¯t care that his precious army consisted mostly of cowards .

    Those who chose not to run were all whispering to each other .

    "S- Strong... S- So damn strong..."

    "He went up against five of them, and he¡¯s still standing... He was even holding his own!"

    "Are you sure you¡¯ve never heard of this guy, Zhang Tianh¨¦ zhenren? Hell... This guy should be on everyone¡¯s watch list!"

    Li Yundong took a deep breath and then pressed his palms together . Heat coursed through his spine, firing up his Du Meridian . Unless he was very much mistaken, the Elixir of Yang would give him a boost in stamina, speed, agility, and vitality when activated .

    Time to put that theory to the test .

    Li Yundong extended his arm andunched his Zhenqi towards Zhang Hongcheng, the one with the annoying Earth spells .

    "Argh!!!" Zhang Hongcheng¡¯s body shot into the air .

    "Be careful with Qi Kinesis," Zi Yuan reminded sternly . "You¡¯re up against trained Cultivators, not a bunch of random thugs . "

    Li Yundong had used his Zhenqi to lift Zhang Hongcheng up by the throat . The whole idea was to keep Zhang Hongcheng in the air; no way in hell Li Yundong was going to let the bastard escape into the ground again . Zhang Hongcheng¡¯s body¡¯s stopped rising once it was twenty feet off the ground . Li Yundong looked away from the hovering body towards his other three opponents . Zhang Hongcheng should be out cold by the time Li Yundong was done with those three .

    Li Yundong mobilized the Qis of his Lung and Liver, channeling them into his legs . Du Fei and Dang Qiang scrambled to the side when Li Yundong barreled forward . Not that it mattered; Li Yundong wasn¡¯t nning to take out those two first anyway .

    Wood shot out from Chen Anji¡¯s arms, twisting and turning in the air like a bunch of live snakes . Li Yundong avoided them and went straight for the guy¡¯s legs . He¡¯d observed earlier that the wood-style user didn¡¯t use his legs much . Li Yundong ducked under bunch of vines and delivered a sweep kick which had Chen Anji tumbling into the ground . A follow-up kick to Chen Anji¡¯s ribs sent the man flying back towards the Great Six¡¯s formation . Chen Anji¡¯s body crashed into the ground, then rolled to a stop .

    He didn¡¯t get back up again .

    Having done away with the annoying Wood and Earth spells, it didn¡¯t take Li Yundong long to defeat the remaining two Cultivators . Li Yundong¡¯s shockwaves pretty much rendered Dang Qiang¡¯s fireballs useless; and Li Yundong¡¯s size and speed advantage allowed him to best Du Fei in hand-to-handbat .

    Zhang Hongcheng¡¯s unconscious body dropped down from the sky when Li Yundong withdrew his Zhenqi, which he had used to perform a blood choke on Zhang Hongcheng .

    "Consider this mercy!" Li Yundong mmed his foot into a spot inches beside Du Fei¡¯s head .

    "Fine! Fine! You win!" Dang Qiang yelled, climbing to his feet with one hand holding on to his side .

    Li Yundong red at the rest of the Great Six¡¯s assemge, allowing his gaze to linger on Zhang Tianh¨¦ for a few seconds longer . "Anyone else care to try?"

    Silence washed over the agents of the Great Six .

    The coughs behind him reassured Li Yundong that Grandmaster Liu was still alive .

    "How¡¯s the old man doing?" Li Yundong asked over his shoulder .

    Amotion broke out among the Great Six before Li Yundong could get an answer .

    "Sh¨©d¨¬! Are you sure about this?"

    "Z- Zhang Tianh¨¦ zhenren!"

    Li Yundong returned his eyes to the front . Zhang Tianh¨¦ had stepped away from the rest and was now walking towards him .

    "Be careful, Li Yundong," Zi Yuan said . "He seems pretty confident . I don¡¯t know what he¡¯s got under his sleeves . "

    "So he¡¯s decided to fight after all," Ruan Hongling said .

    Zi Yuan released a snort . "I bet this has been his n all along, Hongling . The previousbatants were just pawns, tools to reveal Li Yundong¡¯s moves . "

    Li Yundong smirked . He had the exact same thought .

    The Sword of Seven Stars glowed inside Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s right hand .

    "Prepare yourself, Li Zhenren . "

    The Fan of Seven Treasures floated to the ground andnded beside Li Yundong . The crowd began to chant Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s name .

    "Remember," Zi Yuan said . "Watch out for the sword . "

    Li Yundong squared his shoulders and walked towards his opponent, knowing that the real battle had just begun .

 Chapter 267

    Chapter 267

    <h4>The Jindan¡¯s Heir vs The Jade Zhenren</h4>

    Silence pervaded the air, which was fraught with tension and danger . The members of the Great Six had long since stopped chanting theirmander¡¯s name . Instead, they were all just watching, no doubt wondering about the oue of the impending battle . Li Yundong knew then that the youngmander was now carrying the hopes of his entire army¡ªwhatever that was left of it anyway . He also knew that his defeat of Zhang Tianh¨¦ was probably the only way to end this meaningless battle .

    Zhang Tianh¨¦ came to a halt in front of the line Li Yundong had carved on the ground .

    Li Yundong observed the man with utmost vignce . Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s demeanor seemed calm andposed . Those calcting eyes bespoke confidence, as though he knew he had the power to bring instant defeat to anyone who stood in his way .

    Zhang Tianh¨¦ raised the Sword of Seven Stars to his chest and ran his palm along the de¡¯s glowing surface . His movements were slow and deliberate, elegant; and they caused the jade rings adorning Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s fingers to clink loudly against the de¡¯s surface . "This would be over quickly," he said, looking past the de towards Li Yundong . "Last chance to back out, Li zhenren . "

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes but said nothing . A gentle breeze caressed his cheeks as the Fan of Seven Treasures circled around him, stalwart and ready to receive hismand . Admittedly, the fan¡¯s presence reassured him .

    Thanks buddy...

    The fan twirled as though it had read his thoughts .

    There was a humorless chuckle . The Sword of Seven Stars rose from Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s hand and hovered above his head .

    "So you have chosen death," Zhang Tianh¨¦ said wryly . "What a pity . "

    Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s chest expanded as he pulled in a deep breath .

    Wariness crept into Li Yundong . What¡¯s this? Another fire spell? He¡¯d seen Dang Qiang doing something simr earlier .

    Instead of spitting out massive fireballs, Zhang Tianh¨¦ brought his arms together slowly, forming a closed loop by bending them at the elbows . Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s arms continued to rise until they were level with his chest . It was as though he was hugging an invisible boulder to his chest . Now Li Yundong almost wished that it was a fire spell; that way he would at least know what to expect .

    What the heck is he doing?

    Zi Yuan hadn¡¯t said anything to him either .

    Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s arms finally moved past his chest, stopping as soon as his hands were slightly above his head . The Sword of Seven Stars continued to circle around the man, dissuading Li Yundong from making the first attack .

    Zhang Tianh¨¦ flung his arms downwards and he released the breath he¡¯d been holding in his lungs . His robe fluttered, and there was a loud snap, like two pieces of wooden nks pped together with considerable strength . Li Yundong heard Zi Yuan¡¯s gasp, but her voice was soon drowned out by a powerful gust of wind gushing out from Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s body .

    "...the Yin-Yang Embrace . " Zi Yuan¡¯s voice sounded amidst the wind¡¯s howling .

    Li Yundong lowered his hands from his face and looked towards Zhang Tianh¨¦ .

    What the...

    Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s body seemed to be drawing in some kind of blue aura from his surroundings .

    "That was the Yin-Yang Embrace, Li Yundong," Zi Yuan said . The apprehension in her voice did absolutely nothing to reassure Li Yundong . "He¡¯s absorbing the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth, and thenbining it with his own . " There was a pause . "I don¡¯t know what it is just yet, but his next attack is probably going to involve some kind of powerful spell . "

    Li Yundong bridged his Three Gates and punched the air in front of him . The shockwave hurtled towards Zhang Tianh¨¦, but the Sword of Seven Stars was there to defend its master, cleaving the shockwave into two halves .

    The shockwave parted to two sides, leaving Zhang Tianh¨¦pletely untouched .

    "Move in," Li Yundongmanded the Fan of Seven Treasures . "Distract the sword . "

    Attack, attack, and attack . That was the game n . If he couldnd a sessful hit on Zhang Tianh¨¦, then he might be able to interrupt the Yin-Yang whatever process and prevent Zhang Tianh¨¦ from absorbing too much of the Heavens¡¯ spiritual energy .

    The Fan of Seven Treasures and the Sword of Seven Stars shed somewhere on his left . Li Yundong moved his arms through the air in a series of shing motion, sending des of shockwaves towards Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s glowing figure .

    Damn it!

    The shockwaves couldn¡¯t even make it past the blue aura surrounding Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s body .

    Li Yundong formed a mudra with his hands .

    "Sh¨©d¨¬! Watch out!"

    Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s eyes shot open .

    "Om mani padme hum!"

    A golden apparition of the Intelligent Fist Mudra flew towards Zhang Tianh¨¦ .

    Somebody screamed . "Ah!! Sh¨©d¨¬!"

    Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s body moved in a sh, evading the mudrapletely .

    Li Yundong cursed under his breath . As powerful and destructive as the mudras were, theycked speed, at least in this case .

    But if I close the distance...

    Li Yundong pounced forward . "Om mani padme hum!"

    Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s body blurred as it shifted sideways .

    Damn it! Still not fast enough...

    "Nice try, Li zhenren," Zhang Tianh¨¦ said . "But your path ends tonight!"

    All of a sudden, Zhang Tianh¨¦ bent over at his waist .

    "Oh, no, no, no..." Zi Yuan whispered . "I can¡¯t believe he knows that spell!"

    Before Li Yundong could work out what Zi Yuan meant, Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s body began to move in a strange pattern . It was like some kind of shamanistic dance, with his torso undting back and forth and his arms stretching behind his back as they moved along to match the rhythm of his torso .

    "Li Yundong!" Zi Yuan hissed . "Attack him! Quickly!"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t have to be told twice . He brought his hands to the front of his chest and touched his index fingers together .

    atha¡¯s 8th Mudra: The Pouncing Lion!

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham!"

    A deafening roar echoed through the night: a golden apparition of a lion sprang out from Li Yundong¡¯s hands and hurtled towards Zhang Tianh¨¦ . The Pouncing Lion was the fastest among all of atha¡¯s mudras .

    And Zhang Tianh¨¦ dodged it .

    The lion had missed Zhang Tianh¨¦ by at least a few feet .

    "Come on... Keep attacking him," Zi Yuan said urgently . "Right now he¡¯s mobilizing his Zhenqi into the atmosphere . He¡¯ll be able to summon lightning once he releases enough spiritual energy into the sky!"

    Summon lightning? Was this the infamous Five Thunders Spell?

    Shit .

    "Om mani padme hum!"

    Five golden hand signs scattered across the terrain, drawing screams and shouts from the crowd . Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s body zipped back and forth, dodging each and every one of the hand signs .

    Restrain him . I¡¯ve gotta restrain him somehow .

    "Keep attacking," Zi Yuan said in a calmer tone . "There¡¯s still time . The spell requires quite a bit of channeling time . "

    Li Yundong gritted his teeth . "Om mani padme hum!" Five hand signs flew out once again . This time, however, Li Yundong didn¡¯t wait around to see if any of the hand signs had found their target .

    atha¡¯s 13th Mudra: Divine Lasso!

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham!"

    "Sh¨©d¨¬! Look out!!!"

    "Zhang zhenren!!!"

    A golden loop snaked around Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s glowing figure .

    Yes!

    The n had worked . Li Yundong had managed to restrain Zhang Tianh¨¦ with the Divine Lasso while the guy was busy dodging the Intelligent Fists .

    "Damn you, Li zhenren!" Zhang Tianh¨¦ growled .

    Li Yundong smirked, feeling his confidence returning . That is until Zi Yuan¡¯s voice shattered it once again .

    "Iing! Behind you!"

    Li Yundong wheeled around .

    Shit!

    Li Yundong ducked under the de, which had been about to slice his head off his shoulders . The sword flicked downwards; and Li Yundong pulled his hands away to avoid the vicious sh on his wrists . The sword jerked sideways and rammed its pommel into Li Yundong¡¯s elbow, forcing him to release the mudra .

    Damn it!

    Li Yundong leaped away to put some distance between himself and the Sword of Seven Stars . The Divine Lasso had been released, and Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s was starting to move again .

    A chilling sensation coursed through Li Yundong¡¯s spine .

    What the hell? I thought...

    He turned to his left and saw the Fan of Seven Treasures battling with the Sword of Seven Stars .

    But how could...

    He frowned and turned to the front again . The sword hovering in front of him was also the Sword of Seven Stars .

    A loud rumble sounded above . Looking up, he saw storm clouds drifting in from all directions and gathering above Zhang Tianh¨¦ .

    THUD!

    The Fan of Seven Treasuresnded beside Li Yundong . Further ahead, the two copies of the Sword of Seven Stars drifted towards each other before merging back into a single sword .

    Zhang Tianh¨¦ was now levitating off the ground . Shit . Had hepleted the channeling process? Was it toote to stop the spell now?

    Li Yundong looked up at the clouds . Well . He could always just dodge them . After all, he¡¯d done it countless times already .

    "Argh!" Something shed inside his mind; it was those colorful mes again .

    "Learn..."

    Li Yundong felt his knees hit the ground . "W-What?"

    "Learn... the spell..." A pause . "You... are faster... stronger... Learn the spell... You will defeat him..."

    "But how?" he growled .

    I¡¯ve never even seen the spell before, for atha¡¯s sake!

    "Use... the Elixir..."

    Li Yundong gripped his hair harder as the mes grew even more intense inside his head .

    "Come on, Li Yundong! What are you doing!" Zi Yuan hissed . "There¡¯s still time! Don¡¯t give up now! Get up and attack!"

    "Transcend... Do not... disappoint me!!!"

    The mes burst apart, and Li Yundong¡¯s eyes shot open .

    Zhang Tianh¨¦ was still dancing like a maniac, though the storm clouds seemed to have grown thicker .

    Something clicked inside Li Yundong¡¯s mind . "Transcend," he whispered . "Transcend... That¡¯s what he said . Transcend..."

    Li Yundong climbed to his feet and pressed his palms together . When he was making his way out of the vault, Li Yundong had activated the Elixir of Transcendence to see what kind of effects it had . However, he was surprised to learn that it did absolutely nothing; it was the only elixir out of all nine that didn¡¯t have an immediate effect upon activation .

    But now perhaps...

    Something red inside his upper Dantian, and all of a sudden, he could see everything: the flow of spiritual energy in and out of Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s body; the movement patterns of his spiritual energy and its interaction with the spiritual energy of the Heavens .

    No wonder he didn¡¯t experience the effects of the Elixir of Transcendence directly when he activated it for the first time back at the vault . There was nothing to see back there .

    So that¡¯s how he does it... I see...

    Li Yundong bent at his waist and began copying Zhang Tianhe¡¯s movements .

    "Oh my God... Zi Yuan ji¨§jie... What¡¯s he doing?!"

    The uproar from the crowd drowned out Zi Yuan¡¯s response .

    "What! He knows the Dance of Storms too?!"

    "B- But... h- how! I... I thought that¡¯s the Zhengyi School¡¯s secret spell?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s body began to levitate on its own .

    "Holy sh*t! I think his version required even less channeling time!"

    Li Yundong tuned out those voices .

    "Impossible..." Zi Yuan whispered . "That¡¯s just impossible..."

    Going to Tibet on foot was impossible . Figuring out the Mahamudra Tantra¡¯s secret was impossible . Dodging the Heavenly Thunder was impossible .

    Li Yundong thrived on the impossible .

    And he would prove himself again this time .

    Li Yundong stopped his version of the dance just as Zhang Tianh¨¦pleted his . Floating under two swirling vortices, the two men stared at each other across the electrified air .

    I¡¯m stronger than him... faster than him...

    Electricity cackled along Li Yundong¡¯s right arm .

    "Heavenly Thunder!" Zhang Tianh¨¦ pointed his arm at Li Yundong . "Imand you..."

    The voice hissed again . "Whatever... you do... I will... be watching... Do not... disappoint me..."

    "y that man!" Zhang Tianh¨¦ yelled .

    Li Yundong thrust out his right arm . For Chan¡¯er! Electricity shot out of his palm .

    There was a bright sh . A surge of heat struck him in the face before his whole world turned white .

 Chapter 268

    Chapter 268

    <h4>Instant Defeat!</h4>

    It was one of those moments where death is literally within sniffing distance . He could smell it: his charred hair; the sharp scent of ozone as those two boltsshed through the air and connected with each other .

    Then he heard it . The sonic boom due to the rapid expansion of heated air . The heat wave blustered against his face, but he forced his eyes open nheless . Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s shocked expression, illuminated by the colliding blue bolts, was the first thing he saw .

    The Elixir of Fire thrummed inside his chest; and when the True mes rose from his Vital Orb and fired along his right arm, he knew that he had won .

    He thrust his hands further at his opponent when the color of his bolt changed from blue to purple . Crackling purple surged forward, overpowering the resisting shades of blue .

    Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s eyes widened in fear, whereas Li Yundong¡¯s widened in triumph .

    He was faster . Stronger . More powerful . More skilled .

    Victory was his .

    s, his opponent refused to yield .

    Zhang Tianh¨¦ raised his other arm moments before Li Yundong¡¯s purple bolt overwhelmed his blue boltpletely . A second blue bolt shot out of Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s hand and careened towards Li Yundong .

    An object flew in from the side and headed straight for Zhang Tianh¨¦ .

    Li Yundong dodged the second blue bolt while his purple bolt mmed into the Sword of Seven Stars, though the sword had arrived slightly toote to protect its master this time .

    There was a sh of purple . Zhang Tianh¨¦ screamed when the residual bolts sted his body away .

    Another anguished scream sounded, though this time it came from a woman .

    "No!!! Sh¨©d¨¬!!!"

    Zhang Tianh¨¦ crashed into the ground below them, his body writhing on the ground as blood gushed out from his lips . A woman in a Daopao rushed towards the fallenmander, and dropped to her knees the moment she reached his side .

    Li Yundong saw everything . The flow of the woman¡¯s Zhenqi through into Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s meridians . The exchange of spiritual energy between them . The pulsing of Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s Vital Orb in his lower belly . It was like there was a sudden explosion of colors in his vision, which dazed him a little .

    Li Yundong shook his head and deactivated the Elixir of Transcendence . The colors were too distracting, too much for him to handle right now .

    The crowd was eerily quiet by the time Li Yundong floated back to the ground . The chanting of theirmander¡¯s name had long since dwindled . Their hopes had fizzled out, diminished into nothingness following theirmander¡¯s defeat .

    "It¡¯s over!" Li Yundong said loudly, pausing to re at the crowd . "Leave this mountain! Leave the Fox Zen School alone!"

    The echoes of his voice spread across the terrain . A few members of the Great Six actually flinched . Li Yundong took in the scene before him, the remnants of the Great Six¡¯s broken army . Was it finally over? Had he done it? Had he sessfully defended the Fox Zen School?

    His eyesnded on Zhang Tianh¨¦ again . The man was whispering something into the woman¡¯s ear . The woman was listening to Zhang Tianh¨¦ with utmost attention before her eyes widened in shock . Momentster, a dark scowl spread across her countenance .

    The woman whispered something back to Zhang Tianh¨¦, who nodded in response .

    The woman shifted Zhang Tianh¨¦ into a morefortable position, then nodded at the short guy with the long beard . He hadn¡¯t noticed it before, but the short guy was carrying a mini pagoda in his hand .

    The short guy crouched down and took over the task of tending to Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s injuries while the woman rose to her feet .

    "You will pay for this, Li zhenren," said the woman .

    Li Yundong held his ground . "None of this would¡¯ve happened if you people left us alone in the first ce," he answered back coldly .

    "Us?" The woman released a dark chuckle . "Is that a deration? Are you dering that you¡¯re part of that foul school?"

    The Fan of Seven Treasuresnded beside Li Yundong . "Why are you people so intent on destroying the Fox Zen School?" Li Yundong stared at the woman coldly . "What¡¯s your endgame? To steal their treasures? Is that all?"

    The woman snorted . "Ao Wushuang and her disciple stole the Renyuan Jindan from the Gezao Sect . This assault is just¡ª"

    "How stupid can you people get?" Li Yundong said in a tone of disgust . He snorted . "And you call yourselves Cultivators . "

    The woman¡¯s eyes shed in anger . "Why you little¡ª"

    "Yan Fang infiltrated the Fox Zen School nine years ago," Li Yundong snarled, taking a step forward . "And the Renyuan Jindan was stolen fairly recently . " Li Yundong red at the woman for a few seconds . "What are you even saying? That Yan Fang could predict that far ahead into the future? That she knew, even back then, that Ao Wushuang would end up stealing the Jindan and that¡¯s why she infiltrated the school beforehand? That¡¯s absurd . "

    And no, Li Yundong did not miss the woman¡¯s visceral reactions whenever he mentioned Yan Fang¡¯s name: the subtle shift of the woman¡¯s expression, which betrayed her confusion and what appeared to be mortification . The woman¡¯s reactions confirmed his suspicion that Yan Fang had indeed acted without the knowledge of the Great Six . It was Yan Fang who wished to bring destruction upon the Fox Zen School, and the Great Six was just a means to that end, a tool to fulfill that twisted desire of hers .

    "I¡¯m not buying your stupid excuses . " Li Yundong snorted . "The Renyuan Jindan?" He paused to re at the woman . "You guys wouldn¡¯t even be here if your real goal is to find out where the Jindan is . " Li Yundong pointed at the sky . "You would¡¯ve left hours ago to track down Yan Fang!" Li Yundong lowered his hand . "Because apparently she managed to seal Ao Wushuang inside a magical object . "

    Silence followed Li Yundong¡¯s outburst .

    "But you¡¯re all here!" Li Yundong pointed at the ground . "Trying to destroy the Fox Zen School instead of spending your time interrogating Ao Wushuang, the only person who knows where the Jindan is . " Li Yundong snorted . "Either you¡¯re all dumb, or you¡¯re all lying . " Li Yundong red at Zhang Tianh¨¦ . "And I¡¯m willing to bet it¡¯s thetter . "

    He heard a snort, then a half-suppressed giggle, which sounded suspiciously like it came from Ruan Hongling . His suspicion was confirmed secondster when he heard Zi Yuan¡¯s chiding tone .

    "Tsk! Hongling..."

    "What? That guy is shameless," Ruan Hongling said in an innocent tone, then burst into another round of giggles . "I mean, he spouted all that nonsense about the Jindan knowing full well that he has already consumed it!"

    "Quiet," Zi Yuan hissed sharply . "Heavens, Hongling . Are you trying to break our cover?"

    Li Yundong suppressed a smirk and looked away from Zhang Tianh¨¦ .

    "We¡¯ll deal with Ao Wushuangter . " The woman raised her chin challengingly . "Like you said, she¡¯s already been sealed away . She has no chance of escaping . So what¡¯s the hurry? But this . " She pointed at the temple . "This school has to be destroyed when we have the chance! I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯re aware of this, Li zhenren . But it isn¡¯t the first time that a member of the Fox Zen School has wreaked havoc in the Cultivation world!" The woman lowered her hand and arched her brow . "The Mystical Silver Fox, the instigator of that bloody war between the Taoists and Buddhists? Ao Wushuang, the culprit behind the Jindan¡¯s theft?"

    The fox spirits in front of the temple had suddenly grown very quiet .

    "Who¡¯s next? An evil creature capable of mass genocide?" the woman snarled and pointed at the temple once again . "Are we really going to wait around for the next great viin to march out those gates before we finally decide to burn that school to the ground?! Isn¡¯t history enough proof that the Fox Zen School is nothing but a breeding ground for evil?"

    Li Yundong chuckled darkly and shook his head . "I guess discrimination exists even among Cultivators . "

    The woman frowned .

    "Let me tell you something, Miss Cultivator," Li Yundong growled, taking a step forward . "I¡¯ve seen a man¡ªa human being¡ªrape two girls before murdering them in cold-blood . I¡¯ve seen men who would put a bullet into another man¡¯s skull without batting an eye! What does that say about mortals? That we¡¯re all evil?"

    Silence befell Mount Tianlong . Zi Yuan hadn¡¯t spoken to him for a while now, but he knew she was listening .

    "You wanna know what else I¡¯ve seen?" Li Yundong pointed at the temple¡¯s fa?ade . "A fox spirit, who risked her life to save mortals, the same group of people who have loathed her kind practically since the beginning of time!"

    The woman opened her mouth . "Don¡¯t be¡ª"

    "Zou Ping sh¨©ji¨§..."

    Li Yundong looked past the woman¡¯s shoulder and saw Zhang Tianh¨¦ moving into a sitting position .

    When Zou Ping turned around, he saw Zhang Tianh¨¦ giving her a headshake .

    "Let¡¯s just get this over with," Zhang Tianh¨¦ said .

    Li Yundong red at the man . Oh, you¡¯re damn right this is over .

    "It¡¯s over," Li Yundong said, pointing at the trail leading downhill . "Leave, and don¡¯te back . "

    Zou Ping smirked . "I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re wrong, Li zhenren . This isn¡¯t over yet . "

    Li Yundong stared at the woman for a few seconds . "You¡¯re out of your mind . "

    "Am I?" Zou Ping said confidently .

    Li Yundong frowned . He didn¡¯t like where this was going .

    Li Yundong pointed at Zhang Tianh¨¦ . "I defeated yourmander . "

    "Oh, but you have yet to defeat the most powerful among us . " Zou Ping¡¯s smirk grew wider . "Isn¡¯t that right, Zi Yuan zhenren?"

 Chapter 269

    Chapter 269

    <h4>Head of the Fox Zen School</h4>

    Something stirred above him: a sharp rustle; a gust of wind . Li Yundong¡¯s instincts kicked in, and he leaped backwards . There was a burst of green light, after which Zi Yuan¡¯s figure shed into existence, upying the spot he¡¯d just vacated .

    Zi Yuan¡¯s figure disappeared before Li Yundong even had time to recover from his shock .

    She reappeared somewhere on his left .

    He turned, fully anticipating an attack, but then she vanished again .

    She¡¯s fast!

    There was a soft rustle . Li Yundong wheeled around, and Zi Yuan was right there with her palm raised, ready to strike . Li Yundong twisted his torso sideways, but then the strike he¡¯d been anticipating never came .

    Zi Yuan¡¯s figured had vanished yet again .

    A feint?

    Li Yundong gasped when the ground shifted under his feet . He leaped away just in time to avoid Zi Yuan¡¯s palm strike to his sternum . Zi Yuan¡¯s body rose from the ground fully after that miss .

    Li Yundong stared at Zi Yuan in shock .

    That was the same earth spell Zhang Hongcheng had used earlier .

    SNAP! CRACK!

    Li Yundong looked up and saw the Fan of Seven Treasures slicing through a huge boulder that was about to squash him . The boulder burst apart, sending pieces of rocks scattering into the air . Then, the rocks stopped moving entirely, each of them hovering in midair .

    Gasps of wonder washed over those who were watching the battle .

    Li Yundong knew then what was about to happen . A mudra formed on his hands just as those rocks pelted down towards him .

    atha¡¯s 10th Mudra: Almighty Push!

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham!"

    An omnidirectional force flung the rocks apart before they could hit him .

    Screams and yelps sounded among the crowd, but Li Yundong didn¡¯t have time to give a damn because (guess what?) Zi Yuan was gone again .

    Seriously, how could that woman move so damn fast¡ª

    "Ah!!! Li zhenren!"

    "Behind you!"

    Li Yundong wheeled around, but he was toote . Zi Yuan¡¯s palm mmed into his sternum; and for the first time since Su Chan appeared in his life, he was the one being sent flying .

    After cartwheeling around in the air for a few seconds, Li Yundong managed to regain control of his body and floated back down to the ground . Damn . That had hurt . He felt like he had the wind knocked out of him .

    "Behold... Zi Yuan zhenren of the Linggong Sect!" Zou Ping announced smugly . "The most powerful Cultivator of the younger generation . "

    And just like that, the crowd started cheering again .

    Li Yundongnded on the ground with a soft thud and then pressed his palms together . The Elixir of Yin¡¯s rejuvenating effect coursed through him, easing the difort in his torso where Zi Yuan¡¯s strike hadnded .

    He lowered his hands and stared at Zi Yuan who now stood ten meters away from him .

    ...hear me?

    Li Yundong flinched . Wait a minute . That voice...

    Li Yundong zoomed in on Zi Yuan¡¯s face . But her lips weren¡¯t even moving! How could¡ª

    Ah . So you can hear me... Very good .

    What the hell? It was like Zi Yuan¡¯s voice was inside his head .

    What kind of crazy spell¡ª

    Calm down, Zi Yuan said . I¡¯ve ced an invisible seal on you .

    An invisible seal? When did she even...?

    Realization washed over him . That palm strike . She must¡¯ve ced the seal on him when she struck his torso earlier .

    It¡¯s only temporarily, Zi Yuan continued, but right now our Spirits are linked . We canmunicate with each other through our thoughts .

    Okay, Li Yundong answered .

    Listen, Zi Yuan said . You¡¯re gonna have to fight me . And don¡¯t hold back, you understand?

    What! No! You¡¯re my friend . I¡¯m not gonna hurt¡ª

    Now isn¡¯t the time for chivalry, Li Yundong .

    C¡¯mon, Zi Yuan . You can¡¯t seriously expect me to hurt you! I can¡¯t, okay? I just can¡¯t .

    What kind of a person would he be if he even thought of harming the person who had already sacrificed so much for him? He would not go through with this . This was uneptable .

    "You shouldn¡¯t have interfered tonight, Li zhenren," Zi Yuan said coldly . Even from ten meters away, her cold, prating gaze sent chills down his spine . "And in doing so, you have disrespected the Great Six¡¯s authority . " Zi Yuan flicked her sleeve elegantly . "And I¡¯m here to defeat you in the name of the Great Six . "

    A chorus of cheers erupted .

    Come on, Zi Yuan... Please don¡¯t make me do this... There has to be another way!

    The Linggong Sect is in danger, Zi Yuan said grimly . Zhang Tianh¨¦ is testing my loyalty . They¡¯re gonna shut my sect down the moment they found out that I¡¯ve been helping you .

    But still! This is¡ª

    No, Li Yundong . We have to fight . You have to defeat me .

    It took Li Yundong everything not to let his incredulity show right there .

    "Zi Yuan zhenren, is it?" Li Yundong asked, stalling for time . From the corner of his eyes, he noticed Zou Ping¡¯s smug expression . And Zi Yuan was right: Zhang Tianh¨¦ was watching her like a hawk .

    Goddammit to hell .

    Li Yundong took a deep breath, then exhaled . What if we just put on an act? You¡¯ll fake your loss and¡ª

    That¡¯s not gonna work, Li Yundong . Look around you . We¡¯re surrounded by trained Cultivators . They¡¯ll see through the act right away .

    "No! Liu zh¨£ngm¨¦n! I told you, you can¡¯t do that!"

    Li Yundong turned around and saw a panicking Cao Yi scrambling about, no doubt looking for more potions .

    Li Yundong...

    It was like Zi Yuan¡¯s telepathic voice had a calming effect . He turned to the front and met Zi Yuan¡¯s intense gaze .

    Do you trust me? she asked .

    Yes .

    Of course he trusted her . How could he not trust her after everything she had done for him?

    Then trust me when I say that I have a n, okay?

    What n?

    "Bring me more vials!" Cao Yi screamed .

    Zi Yuan motioned Zou Ping to move aside . "Please stand back, Zou Ping zhenren," Zi Yuan said without taking her eyes off Li Yundong . "You¡¯re in the way . "

    Zou Ping¡¯s smug expression turned into a scowl, though sheplied with the request and returned to Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s side .

    My n will work, Zi Yuan said insistently, but only if you defeat me for real .

    There was pause .

    Li Yundong waited for her to say more .

    You don¡¯t have to kill me, of course, Zi Yuan continued . Just injure me a little and I¡¯ll handle the rest . Okay?

    Li Yundong understood the general idea of the n, of course . Zi Yuan¡¯s defeat would, without a doubt, finally convince these assholes to leave the mountain . But still, he couldn¡¯t help but think that there was more that Zi Yuan wasn¡¯t telling him .

    Yan-sh¨©b¨® is probably on her way to retrieve Liuhe right now . I need to go before she gets her hands on that sword . There was a pause . Last I checked, her Yang Spirit wasn¡¯t in its full form yet, so we still have time . Another pause . If you injure me in a fight, that would give Hongling and I a legitimate excuse to leave the scene .

    Li Yundong sighed . Fine . Let¡¯s do this .

    Good . I won¡¯t hold back, Zi Yuan said . Neither should you .

    Li Yundong punched the air in front of him .

    A whirlwind formed around Zi Yuan¡¯s figure and absorbed the shockwave like it was nothing .

    "Good punch," Zi Yuan said once the whirlwind subsided . "Now it¡¯s my turn . "

    Zi Yuan¡¯s figure vanished in a sh . One of these days he was going to ask her to teach him how to move that goddamned fast . Hell, he thought she was almost as fast as he was when he¡¯d borrowed the Heavens¡¯ spiritual energy to dodge lightning .

    Li Yundong ducked instinctively; Zi Yuan¡¯s palm sailed over his head .

    Not bad, Zi Yuan remarked in tone of amusement . You managed to avoid that . I¡¯m impressed .

    Zi Yuan¡¯s figure disappeared once again . Great . Now where the heck did she go?

    You know, Li Yundong... We might as well have some¡ªZi Yuan¡¯s palm mmed into his forearm¡ªfun!

    Seeing the opportunity, Li Yundong trapped Zi Yuan¡¯s palm in his hand and threw a straight punch . His fist struck empty air when Zi Yuan disappeared once again .

    This is your idea of fun? Li Yundong snorted internally . You¡¯re crazy .

    Hmm . Let¡¯s see how much you¡¯ve improved, shall we?

    Zi Yuan reappeared in front of him, and she was smirking . She was clearly up to something .

    Li Yundong gritted his teeth and pounced forward .

    Hah! Got you now! There was no way she could dodge this time¡ª

    He received yet another surprise when his punch went through Zi Yuan¡¯s body instead of hitting it .

    Gotcha, Zi Yuan said smugly .

    Zi Yuan¡¯s figure uncoiled into a long purple ribbon . The ribbon slithered along Li Yundong¡¯s arms, moving towards his torso . SNAP! The Fan of Seven Treasures sliced the ribbon into shreds .

    Li Yundong untangled himself from the torn ribbon and flew away to distance himself from it . The next thing he saw fascinated him to no end: each torn shred of the ribbon lengthened before they joined with one another to form a longer ribbon .

    Oh, that¡¯s clever, Zi Yuan . Very clever .

    d you approve, Zi Yuan answered confidently .

    The ribbon¡¯s real target was the Fan of Seven Treasures, which was now struggling to untangle itself from the ribbon . The more it sliced the ribbon, the longer the ribbon became .

    Amazing...

    You should worry about yourself, Zi Yuan fired back .

    A whoosh sounded the moment Zi Yuan stopped talking .

    Heat caressed the exposed skin of his torso .

    Crap!

    Li Yundong quickly formed atha¡¯s 10th Mudra .

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham!"

    The Almighty Push repelled the ring of fire before the mes could close in on him . Billows of grey smoke obscured his vision, but then he could still see it: something shifting inside the smoke .

    Ohe on! Li Yundong yelled internally .

    Hundreds of long needles burst through the smog and hurtled towards him .

    What? Too much for you to handle? Zi Yuan taunted .

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham!"

    The smoke and needles were blown away .

    Damn it . There was no way he could beat her like this . Zi Yuan was just too good at spell-casting . She knew Earth spells and also Fire spells . And those needles most likely originated from some kind of Metal spell . He nced to his left . The purple ribbon had forced the Fan of Seven Treasures back into the shape of a Bo staff .

    The fan couldn¡¯t even spread open its leaves . Dang, that ribbon was something else .

    Zi Yuan, Li Yundong said,nding on the ground softly . Are you listening?

    Yes .

    I know how to end this quickly . Li Yundong pressed his palms together and closed his eyes . He needed two elixirs for this to work: the Elixir of Structure, to hold his Vital Orb together; and the Elixir of Eleven Transmutations, to protect his vital organs .

    "Hey... What¡¯s the guy doing? Has he given up?"

    "What the hell? Who closes their eyes in the middle of a battle?"

    "What¡¯s he up to?"

    "I don¡¯t know . But Zi Yuan zhenren is winning, wouldn¡¯t you say?"

    "Yeah... Even the Fan of Seven Treasures is subdued . "

    How? Zi Yuan actually sounded curious .

    I¡¯m going to leave an opening on my back, Li Yundong said . And I want you to hit me with everything you¡¯ve got .

    With everything I¡¯ve¡ª

    There was a sudden lull in their telepathic conversation, most likely due to the outrage Zi Yuan was feeling .

    But you¡¯re gonna die .

    I won¡¯t . Just hit me with everything you¡¯ve got .

    But your organs won¡¯t¡ª

    Just trust me, Zi Yuan . Li Yundong opened his eyes, feeling the power of the Elixir of Eleven Transmutations coursing through his meridians . I¡¯ll be fine .

    At his lower Dantian, the Elixir of Structure expanded outwards, forming a crystalline structure around his Vital Orb .

    Just forget it! You¡¯re nning to use the Jindan¡¯s Aura, aren¡¯t you? I told you it¡¯s too risky¡ª

    Rx, Li Yundong said, cutting her off . I¡¯m not nning to use the Jindan¡¯s Aura . I¡¯ve mastered the Nine Elixirs Method . I can use the elixirs to keep myself safe .

    What? The Nine Elixir¡ª Zi Yuan gasped . There was a long pause . So that¡¯s how you altered the size of your body...

    Yeah .

    Heavens, Li Yundong... The legendary Nine Elixirs Method...

    Attack me whenever you¡¯re ready, Zi Yuan . Let¡¯s finish this .

    Fine . Zi Yuan didn¡¯t sound too happy .

    Maybe restrain me with an earth spell or something . Li Yundong lowered his stance slightly . That way it¡¯ll be more convincing . At least it won¡¯t look like I¡¯m leaving myself open on purpose .

    Fine . Just be ready .

    Li Yundong knew Zi Yuan¡¯s attack had begun the moment his feet sank into what appeared to be a mini puddle of sand . Li Yundong screamed as loud as he could; he might as well y his part and act like someone who¡¯s about to wet his pants .

    Cheers erupted among the crowd again .

    "Go Zi Yuan zhenren!"

    "Finish him!"

    "His back is wide open!"

    Li Yundong iled his arms a few times and pretended to wobble on his feet .

    "You¡¯re finished!" Zi Yuan¡¯s voice sounded behind him .

    Li Yundong screamed when an impact mmed onto his back a split secondter . The scream wasn¡¯t even an act; even with the elixirs, that blow had hurt .

    Shudders coursed through his spine, and he sank to his knees .

    Zi Yuan was right; that blow would¡¯ve killed anyone else .

    Li Yundong indulged in more theatrics by coughing a few times . C¡¯mon, Zhao Ling¡¯er, he said . y your role . Act like you¡¯ve won .

    Shut up, she fired back .

    "It¡¯s been an honor, Li zhenren," Zi Yuan said in a haughty tone . "But your journey ends tonight!"

    More cheers erupted .

    Then, he heard Cao Yi¡¯s screaming voice . "Li zhenren! Please, you have toe quickly! I don¡¯t think Liu zh¨£ngm¨¦n is gonna make it . He... He wants to speak with you!"

    Uh-oh...

    That¡¯s your cue, Li Yundong, Zi Yuan said . Go find out where Su Chan is . Leave the Great Six to me .

    Li Yundong suddenly turned around and trapped Zi Yuan¡¯s arm in a vice grip . The crowd¡¯s cheers died down just as Zi Yuan feigned a look of horror .

    "I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ve underestimated me, Zi Yuan zhenren!" Li Yundong said loudly .

    I¡¯m sorry, Zi Yuan . But this is gonna sting a little, Li Yundong said . de your body slightly to your right .

    "I win!" Li Yundong roared and mmed his palm into Zi Yuan¡¯s body .

    Zi Yuan ded her body at thest moment, so Li Yundong¡¯s palmnded on her left shoulder . The impact sent Zi Yuan flying .

    Ruan Hongling screamed . "Zi Yuan ji¨§jie!!! No!!!"

    Zi Yuan crashed into the ground . Ruan Hongling was beside Zi Yuan secondster .

    Li Yundong winced internally . God! I¡¯m sorry, Zi Yuan! I¡¯m sorry!

    A wave of anger coursed through him, every ounce of which was directed at Zhang Tianh¨¦ and the Great Six .

    It¡¯s okay, Li Yundong, Zi Yuan said . It hurt, but I¡¯ll live .

    Ruan Hongling shot him a re right then . The girl looked like she was about to hurl a litany of curses at him, but then Zi Yuan¡¯s hand suddenly shot out and grabbed the younger girl¡¯s arm .

    "Li zhenren!" Cao Yi screamed . "Please!!!"

    Go, Zi Yuan said . I¡¯ll take things from here .

    Li Yundong turned around and ran back towards Grandmaster Liu .

    Cao Yi stood up the moment he got near and stepped aside slightly .

    Li Yundong crouched down and took Grandmaster Liu¡¯s hand . "How you¡¯re holding up, Liu zh¨£ngm¨¦n?"

    The old fox shook his head shakily . "I... I... w- won¡¯t... m-make it..."

    Li Yundong looked towards Cao Yi . Thedy didn¡¯t say anything, but she didn¡¯t really have to¡ªthe crestfallen look on her face said it all .

    "I... know... w-where... sh... . she is..."

    Li Yundong leaned in closer . "Tell me where she is... Please, grandmaster . " Li Yundong held the old man¡¯s hand tighter . "Please . "

    "I will . . . tell you..." Grandmaster Liu¡¯s eyes zed over .

    rm coursed through Li Yundong . "Grandmaster!" He reached out and cupped the old man¡¯s wrinkled cheeks .

    Suddenly, Grandmaster Liu raised his other hand and grabbed the front of Li Yundong¡¯s shirt .

    "But you must... agree... to onest...st...w- wish..."

    Li Yundong looked towards Cao Yi again . The woman looked utterly devastated .

    "P- Please... Grant a dying old man hisst...st... wish..." Grandmaster Liu coughed out more blood .

    Li Yundong nced down and held the old man¡¯s eyes . A secondter, he nodded . "Please tell me your wish, grandmaster, and I¡¯ll do everything in my power to fulfill it . You have my word . "

    Relief filled Grandmaster Liu¡¯s eyes right then . The old man beckoned him closer . Li Yundongplied and leaned down slightly . A wrinkled hand touched Li Yundong¡¯s head .

    "I... Liu Ye... hereby dere Li Yundong zhenren... to... to be the new Head of the Fox Zen School..."

 Chapter 270

    Chapter 270

    <h4>Su Chan¡¯s Whereabouts</h4>

    Considering everything he¡¯d been through so far, Li Yundong honestly thought that nothing in this world could surprise him anymore . Until he was suddenly bequeathed a title that he was sure he didn¡¯t deserve .

    Li Yundong, the frigging Head of the Fox Zen School .

    What . The . Hell .

    He wasn¡¯t even a fox spirit, for Heavens¡¯ sake!

    Grandmaster Liu¡¯s coughs shook Li Yundong out of his daze . Li Yundong nced around a few times to gauge the fox spirits¡¯ reactions to this sudden turn of events . Cao Yi and the other fox spirits looked just as shocked as he felt .

    "Lead... the Fox Zen School," Grandmaster Liu wheezed . "Protect these... women... Keep them... s¡ª" Grandmaster Liu coughed again . "Safe..." The old man sighed and looked into Li Yundong¡¯s eyes . Those dying eyes held a glimmer of hope . "I... know... that... that S- Su Chan... will... be happy... if... if you... be the new... head..."

    Warm memories flooded Li Yundong¡¯s mind right then¡ªechoes of a past conversation between Su Chan and himself . Indeed, Su Chan had expressed that same wish before . She¡¯d expressed to him how wonderful it would be if he could take over the leadership of the Fox Zen School .

    "Promise... me... Li zhenren..." Grandmaster Liu reached for Li Yundong¡¯s hand again .

    Li Yundong allowed the old man to grab his hand .

    "Promise me... that... that you¡¯ll... protect... them..."

    Li Yundong pulled in a breath and looked deep into Grandmaster Liu¡¯s pleading eyes . Then, he exhaled slowly . "You have my word . "

    Grandmaster Liu nodded and released a shuddering breath . Li Yundong waited with bated breath for the old man¡¯s next words .

    "D- Dongwu... City... pond..."

    Li Yundong leaned in closer . "Pond? What pond?"

    "Foot of Mount Qili... Pond... Please... I¡¯m... counting... on you..."

    Grandmaster Liu¡¯s eyes rolled upwards as he released his final breath .

    Li Yundong sighed andy the old man¡¯s hands across the center of his chest .

    Cao Yi moved towards them on shaky feet . Li Yundong met the woman¡¯s eyes and noted the pools of unshed tears they held .

    "G- Grandmaster...? Grandmast... Oh God..."

    Li Yundong rose to his feet and mutter a quick prayer to atha . Please watch over him...

    Then he turned around to face the other fox spirits .

    "My deepest condolences," he said . "The grandmaster has passed .

    ***

    "Heavens... Zi Yuan ji¨§jie," Hongling whispered . "What on earth did he do to you?"

    Zi Yuan opened her eyes and saw Hongling¡¯s panicked expression hovering above her own face . Zi Yuan went for a smile, but it turned into a grimace instead .

    "Hongling..." Zi Yuan shifted her head on Hongling¡¯sp .

    "A- Are you alright, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie?"

    Zi Yuan sighed . "I¡¯m okay . "

    "That damn bastard," Ruan Hongling muttered under her breath . "How could he hit you for real after everything you¡¯ve done for him? Couldn¡¯t he pull his punches a little?"

    Zi Yuan grabbed Hongling¡¯s dress and gave her a pointed look . "Hush," she whispered . Hongling scowled at Zi Yuan before turning away . Zi Yuan released her prot¨¦g¨¦¡¯s dress and closed her eyes again .

    She could¡¯vemunicated with Hongling using the same pseudo telepathic spell; but then she only had one talisman for the spell, which she had already used on Li Yundong before their battle began .

    Hopefully nobody heard Hongling¡¯s careless remark just now .

    On the plus side, the crowd was still in an uproar over her defeat . More than half of the army had fled; those who remained were either the loyal ones, or those with too much pride to flee .

    With a sigh, Zi Yuan blinked her eyes open . With one hand, Zi Yuan motioned Hongling to shift their positions . Thankfully, Honglingplied, and secondster, Zi Yuan found herself staring at the temple¡¯s fa?ade where the Heir appeared to be speaking with Liu Ye .

    Zi Yuan shook her head slightly .

    Hongling was wrong . The Heir did hold back when he struck her earlier . Her injuries would¡¯ve been much, much worse if he¡¯d hit her with full power .

    Zi Yuan let out a soft sigh . Admittedly, Zi Yuan was a bit in awe with the Heir right now, the man who hade so far in his Cultivation journey in just months .

    Heavens...

    The Nine Elixirs Method .

    How on earth did he even master it? Weren¡¯t the scrolls lost a long time ago? Did hee up with it on his own? No . He knew the exact name of the method . So he couldn¡¯t havee up with it on his own .

    Zi Yuan forced her tired mind to go through the verses in Master¡¯s prophecy . Perhaps another verse had just been fulfilled through tonight¡¯s events . A minuteter, she gave up the effort . She couldn¡¯t see any connections at all between any of the verses and the Nine Elixirs Method .

    "Help me up, Hongling," Zi Yuan whispered . "Let me speak to Zhang Tianh¨¦ . "

    Hongling nced down at Zi Yuan worriedly .

    "Hurry up . " Zi Yuan gave her prot¨¦g¨¦ a nudge .

    Hongling sighed and moved to help her up .

    The crowd fell silent the moment Zi Yuan sat up . Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s eyes flicked towards her body, where they lingered for a moment or two .

    Zi Yuan schooled her features and held Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s worried gaze . Time to be Zi Yuan zhenren of the Linggong Sect again . Cold . Composed . Collected . "Call off the assault, Zhang zhenren . " Zi Yuan tilted her head towards the Heir . "The n has failed . It is futile to continue . " It had been futile from the moment the Heir made his appearance . Zi Yuan looked away from Zhang Tianh¨¦ and took in the remainder of the Great Six¡¯s army . Frightened faces stared back at her . "He has defeated even me . " Zi Yuan paused for effect . After a moment, she quirked a brow . "Do any of you really think you stand a chance against him?"

    Silence was the only response Zi Yuan got, although Zhang Tianh¨¦ now had a conflicted look on his face . And for some reason, Hongling and Zou Ping kept ring at each other . Zi Yuan would have to ask her prot¨¦g¨¦ about itter .

    "Call it off, Zhang zhenren," Zi Yuan continued in a harsher tone . "End this fruitless battle before it results in more casualties . " Zi Yuan paused, barely managing to suppress her smirk . Time to bring in the big guns . . . Zi Yuan arched a brow and made sure she was staring right into Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s eyes . "I¡¯m sure Zhang Tiansh¨© zhenren wouldn¡¯t appreciate having the good name of the Zhengyi School thus tainted . " Zi Yuan paused pointedly . "By his son, no less . "

    Zhang Tianh¨¦ flinched .

    "How would the Zhengyi School answer to the other members of the Great Six, given that an operation led by Zhang Tianh¨¦, the son of the Head of the Zhengyi School himself, has resulted in hundreds of casualties?" Zi Yuan paused for a few beats . "Who would take the fall? Would it be themander of the assault force, whose bad decisions have caused the lives of countless talented young Cultivators? Or would it be Zhang Tiansh¨© zhenren due to his failure in keeping his son¡¯s actions in check . "

    "You!" Zou Ping snarled . "How dare you insult¡ª"

    "I was only stating the truth," Zi Yuan cut her off sharply . "Think about it, would you? Why can¡¯t you just think?" Zi Yuan paused for a moment . "What good will continuing this fruitless battle bring to the Great Six and the Zhengyi School?" Zi Yuan shook her head . "Absolutely nothing . " Zi Yuan looked towards Zhang Tianh¨¦ . "Rein in before we suffer more losses . "

    Then, the whispers began, fearful ones . When Zi Yuan turned around, she immediately understood why .

    Li Yundong was walking away from the temple¡¯s fa?ade and making his way towards them .

    I¡¯m still working on it, Zi Yuan said telepathically .

    I know, Li Yundong said, then paused . Are you okay?

    I¡¯m fine . Just a little banged up, that¡¯s all .

    Look I... I¡¯m sorry . I¡ª

    Don¡¯t worry about it, Zi Yuan said . Hey, I think the spell¡¯s gonna wear off soon . Did you find out where Su Chan is?

    She¡¯s in Dongwu City...

    Did the Great Seer tell you that?

    Yeah .

    Zi Yuan sighed in relief . Good job . You¡¯ve found her .

    Li Yundong was now close enough for Zi Yuan to see his face . Despite his newfound knowledge of Su Chan¡¯s location, he didn¡¯t seem too happy . Something else was bothering him .

    Zi Yuan... he said . Grandmaster Liu didn¡¯t make it . And he... he made me the new Head of the Fox Zen School .

    It took Zi Yuan everything to keep her expression neutral right then .

    It was his dying wish, Li Yundong continued after the brief pause . And I agreed . Another pause . Besides... I don¡¯t think he would¡¯ve told me Su Chan¡¯s location if I refused him .

    Zi Yuan frowned . Was the Heir ready to lead a sect? He could handle himself in battle for sure . But leadership...

    Zi Yuan stole a nce at the fox spirits huddled around their fallen grandmaster . Well, he did showcase good leadership abilities with the fox spirits earlier . Zi Yuan decided to table that issue for another time . For now, they had more pressing matters to take care of .

    Get over here, Zi Yuan said . Let¡¯s put an end to all this nonsense .

    Be right there . Instead of walking, Li Yundong levitated off the ground and flew towards them .

    Try to look more intimidating, please?

    Fine . Li Yundong¡¯s expression turned into a scowl .

    Li Yundongnded in front of Zhang Tianh¨¦ shortly . Then, he crossed his arms and stared down at the Jade Zhenren as though he was looking at a child . Li Yundong let out a heavy sigh .

    "Man, just leave already . "

    Zi Yuan could hear the frustration in his tone .

    Zhang Tianh¨¦ staggered to his feet and flicked his sleeves once . "This will not be forgotten, Li zhenren," he said coldly, then turned to his associates . "Let¡¯s go . "

    "Hongling . " Zi Yuan gave her prot¨¦g¨¦ a pointed look .

    "My sh¨©ji¨§ and I will take our leave as well," Hongling announced to the crowd . After that, she turned her head and shot Li Yundong a murderous re . "You¡¯ll pay for hurting my sh¨©ji¨§, Li zhenren!" Hongling snarled, pointing a finger at Li Yundong¡¯s face . "You better sleep with both eyes open from now on . "

    Something told Zi Yuan that Hongling wasn¡¯t acting at all .

    Zi Yuan gave Li Yundong a look . Keep me posted .

    I will . Li Yundong paused . What¡¯s your next move?

    I¡¯ll head home to recover for a bit, Zi Yuan answered honestly . I¡¯m still feeling kinda sore .

    The corner of Li Yundong¡¯s eyes twitched . The poor man had to turn away to hide the guilty look on his face .

    I¡¯ll be fine after a few hours, don¡¯t worry, Zi Yuan said . In the meantime, I¡¯ll send Hongling to retrieve the sword .

    What about the Linggong Sect? Will things be okay?

    For now, yes, Zi Yuan said . I think the battle between us has dispelled some of the doubts about my loyalty . I¡¯ll get in touch with the main sect after this and see if I can find out more about my sh¨©b¨® .

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes widened slightly .

    Yes, Zi Yuan said . I think there¡¯s something else going on here . But we won¡¯t know until I get all the facts sorted out .

    Good luck, then, Li Yundong said . Just let me know if you need my help .

    You too .

    Thanks .

    You must find Su Chan quickly and then inform me as soon as you find her . Zi Yuan looked at him pointedly . I¡¯ve got a few important questions to ask her .

    A look of recognition formed on Li Yundong¡¯s face . Let me guess? It¡¯s got something to do with rescuing Ao Wushuang?

    Yes .

    Alright then, Li Yundong said . I¡¯ll find a way to get in touch .

    Zi Yuan turned away and patted Hongling¡¯s arm to get the younger girl¡¯s attention . After as many as ten pats, Hongling finally decided to stop ring at Li Yundong to look at Zi Yuan .

    "Time to go, Hongling . "

 Chapter 271

    Chapter 271

    <h4>A Bolt from the Blue</h4>

    As soon as Zhang Tianh¨¦ and his party left Mount Tianlong, the rest of the Great Six¡¯s army dispersed . Some had taken off into the night sky while others had left on foot . Li Yundong did a quick visual sweep of his surroundings, sighing in relief after he did . Except for several dead bodies lying around, the area surrounding the temple was pretty much unupied .

    It was over .

    Li Yundong raised his right arm . "Come here, buddy!"

    The Fan of Seven Treasures hurtled towards him from the side . He grabbed the fan¡¯s rivet and then snapped the fan close . Then, he turned around and flew back towards Cao Yi and the others .

    Cao Yi dried her tears and rose to her feet as Li Yundongnded in front of the temple . Li Yundong shifted the fan on his shoulders and joined the fox spirits in their mourning for their fallen grandmaster . None of them said anything as they continued to weep .

    It was a wordlessmentation, a requiem of tears .

    After a while, Cao Yi sniffed and cleared her throat .

    Li Yundong stepped back, wanting to give them a moment . But then Cao Yi suddenly spoke up . "Hail, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n, the new Head of the Fox Zen School!"

    All of a sudden, the other fox spirits filed towards him and dropped to their knees, right beside his feet .

    "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey, you¡ª" Li Yundong shot Cao Yi a helpless look .

    Cao Yi wasn¡¯t kneeling, though her body was bent forward in a slight bow . Those who were kneeling, Li Yundong realized, were the younger ones .

    "Cao Yi . " Li Yundong sighed . "Let¡¯s not stand on ceremony, okay?"

    Cao Yi straightened herself, looking utterly puzzled .

    Li Yundong gave her a wry smile and waved at the kneeling women before him . "This isn¡¯t necessary . "

    Cao Yi frowned in puzzlement . "But¡ª"

    Li Yundong cut her off by raising his hand . Then, he turned towards the kneeling women .

    "Rise," he said to the women .

    The women rose . Potion Girl was staring back at him with an expression of awe .

    Li Yundong turned to Cao Yi again . "No more of this kneeling stuff, okay? It makes me feel so awkward . And oh, you guys should also drop the zh¨£ngm¨¦n while you¡¯re at it . " He smiled . "Just call me Li Yundong . "

    Cao Yi suddenly cleared her throat . "I¡¯m afraid we must decline, Liu zh¨£ngm¨¦n . Such formalities must be observed . " Cao Yi bowed slightly . "You are the leader of our school now . You are our direct superior . The formalities are a sign of respect . "

    But I want you girls to respect yourselves first, he added silently . These women had already proven themselves to be loyal and courageous . In his book, they shouldn¡¯t have to bow to anyone .

    "Thank you," Li Yundong said, smiling when an idea urred to him . "How about this? Let¡¯se up with apromise . "

    Cao Yi straightened herself and eyed him curiously .

    "I¡¯ll allow the zh¨£ngm¨¦n title," Li Yundong continued, "but I don¡¯t want all these kneeling and bowing nonsense . Deal?"

    Cao Yi¡¯s features twitched as though she¡¯d just tasted something rotten . "That¡¯s... agreeable, I suppose . " All of a sudden, Cao Yi¡¯s eyes went round as though she just realized that she had said something impudent . She cleared her throat . "I-I mean... As you wish, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n . "

    "Good . "

    Cao Yi took a deep breath, then exhaled .

    "Then please allow me to properly introduce myself, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n," Cao Yi said reverently . "I am Cao Yi, one of the main disciples of the Fox Zen School . Originally, there were eight of us . "

    Li Yundong stared at Cao Yi nkly .

    "The main disciples of the Fox Zen School, I mean," Cao Yi rified secondster at Li Yundong¡¯s confusion . "There were eight of us . "

    "I see . "

    Cao Yi nodded . "In terms of seniority, I¡¯m ranked sixth . "

    Li Yundong nced around a few times . "Where are the others?"

    A sad look spread across Cao Yi¡¯s face . She pointed at one of the corpses . "That¡¯s Mo Ahshi, the most senior disciple among us . " Cao Yi shook her head . "We recently found out that she¡¯s been dead for over nine years . "

    "Yan Fang," Li Yundong said .

    Cao Yi nodded, then pointed at the bag of dry bones and skin on the ground .

    "That¡¯s Ye Yu, the 7th disciple . " Cao Yi lowered her finger . "What¡¯s left of her anyway..."

    "Okay... What about the rest? You said there were eight of you . "

    "Technically, only seven . " Cao Yi hugged her torso .

    Li Yundong frowned . "Technically?"

    Cao Yi shifted awkwardly . "Wushuang was the youngest among us . "

    Right . And she¡¯d been expelled .

    "Not that it mattered . " Cao Yi sighed . "Liu zh¨£ngm¨¦n had always regarded her as one of us . "

    "Okay . So there¡¯s Mo Ahshi and Ye Yu . " Li Yundong gestured at the corpses . "Where are the other four?"

    Cao Yi shook her head tiredly and gestured at another corpse leaning against the wall . "That¡¯s Gu Feng¡¯s impostor," she said . "The real Gu Feng is dead too . And... And the others are missing . " Tears swam in Cao Yi¡¯s eyes when she looked up at him . "I fear that the worst had happened to them, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n . " She sighed and pointed at Potion Girl . "She didn¡¯t see any of them when she went back inside the temple to look for the potions just now . "

    "So these are the younger disciples, then?" Li Yundong pointed at the others who were lingering around, whispering to each other .

    Cao Yi nodded .

    The young fox spirits seemed lost, like they no longer had a purpose in life . Not that he could me them . Their whole world had just fallen apart within the span of one night .

    "They¡¯re brave," Li Yundong remarked, ncing at Cao Yi . "They¡¯ve got guts, those girls . "

    The tiniest of smiles graced Cao Yi¡¯s lips, but it quickly tuned into a scowl . "Well . Not all of us are . "

    Li Yundong turned around to face Cao Yi fully . "What do you mean?"

    Cao Yi snorted . "Gu Feng¡¯s disciples"¡ªCao Yi did air quotes¡ª"fled the school just before the assault began . "

    Li Yundong nced around and took stock of his surroundings . The temple didn¡¯t sustain a lot of damage during the battle, which was a good thing .

    "So what now, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n?"

    Cao Yi¡¯s question drew Li Yundong¡¯s attention back to her .

    "Do you have a n?" Cao Yi sounded almost tentative .

    Yeah... He was still working that, to be honest .

    "I¡¯ll track down Su Chan first and then bring her back . " Li Yundong stared at Cao Yi . "I hope you understand . "

    Li Yundong wanted to smack himself in the head as soon as those words left his mouth . Why the heck was he speaking as though he was asking her for permission? He was the frigging Head of the Fox Zen School now, for atha¡¯s sake .

    Guess it might take a while for him to get use to that idea .

    "But..." Cao Yi suddenly looked towards the temple . "What if the Great Six attack us again after you leave? Who¡¯s..." Cao Yi lowered her gaze . "Who¡¯s gonna defend us?" Cao Yi looked up at him with pleading eyes . "Only a few of us in the Fox Zen School are great inbat . And... none of them are here at the moment . " Cao Yi sighed and lowered her head . "Liu zh¨£ngm¨¦n is gone . So are Mo Ahshi, and Ye Yu . Ao Wushuang is the most powerful among us . But then she¡¯s been captured..."

    Li Yundong sped Cao Yi¡¯s shoulders with both hands to interrupt her rambling . When Cao Yi looked up again, he gave her a smile . "They won¡¯t attack again . Trust me . "

    Cao Yi didn¡¯t look convinced . "A- Are you sure?"

    Li Yundong released Cao Yi¡¯s shoulders and nodded . "Yes . " He smiled again . "Besides, none of them has to know about my absence . "

    Li Yundong was certain that he had scared the living crap out of those assholes . They wouldn¡¯t return if they thought he was still here, guarding the ce . And he was fairly certain that Zi Yuan would dissuade those idiots from attacking again .

    Cao Yi still didn¡¯t look convinced .

    Li Yundong chuckled . "You guys are pretty good with illusions, am I right?"

    He¡¯d seen Su Chan perform one of those cool illusion spells .

    "Um... Yes?"

    Li Yundong nodded . "Just create an illusion of me standing right there . " Li Yundong pointed at the temple .

    Cao Yi¡¯s eyes widened slightly . "O- Oh... That¡¯s... Actually pretty clever . "

    "Which means..." Li Yundong smirked . "I never left the school . " Li Yundong raised a brow . "After all, I am the guardian of the Fox Zen School . "

    Cao Yi smiled . "I think you¡¯re more than that now, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n . "

    "Anyway . " Li Yundong lowered the Fan of Seven Treasures to the ground . "Here¡¯s the n . "

    Cao Yi stood up straighter .

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but feel amused at her behavior .

    "I¡¯ll head to Dongwu City to find Su Chan . Meanwhile, you guys should take care of Grandmaster Liu¡¯s body . " Li Yundong sighed and nced towards the old man . "I don¡¯t know much about your customs, but for us humans, there¡¯s usually some kind of ritual . A proper funeral . "

    "As you wish, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n," Cao Yi said . "I¡¯ll handle¡ª"

    There was a gasp .

    "What¡¯s wrong?" Li Yundong looked towards Cao Yi .

    Cao Yi was looking past his shoulder, squinting through the dark .

    "Who¡¯s there?!" Cao Yi suddenly flung a bunch of needles at something behind him .

    Li Yundong whirled around and saw a dark, wraith-like creature hovering above Mo Ahshi¡¯s corpse . The needles went through the phantom and struck a tree nearby . Then, the phantom shot into the night sky .

    Ningshen: Xianjue!

    Li Yundong turned towards Cao Yi . "Take the girls into the temple . "

    Cao Yi nodded .

    Li Yundong turned towards the Fan of Seven Treasures . "You stay here and protect them . "

    The Fan of Seven Treasures rose from the ground and snapped open .

    After that, Li Yundong took off into the night sky .

    ***

    Even with Xianjue, it was extremely hard to keep up with the dark phantom, especially now when it waspletely dark .

    Hell . Who was he even kidding . He wasn¡¯t even keeping up . The phantom had given him the slip about two minutes ago, and now he had no idea where it was .

    Damn it .

    Who could that be? Was it Yan Fang? But why would she return?

    There you are!

    He caught a glimpse of the phantom somewhere below him on his two o¡¯clock . The phantom vanished into the trees .

    Li Yundong flew downwards andnded on a tree branch secondster .

    Damn it, where did it go?

    Li Yundong closed his eyes . Ningshen: Eryue!

    He spent a minute listening to any voices or noises indicating the phantom¡¯s presence .

    "... Ping¡¯er! Ping¡¯er! Where are you?"

    The voice was male . An old man, in fact .

    "I¡¯m over here, Master!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s blood ran cold . What the hell? That voice...

    Ding Nan?!

    "Where have you been, Master? I¡¯ve been waiting for you for so long!"

    No . This had to be some kind of mistake . It had to be . It wasn¡¯t Ding Nan . The old man had called her Ping¡¯er . Maybe it was just someone with a simr voice .

    The old man chuckled . "Look what I found, Ping¡¯er..."

    "What¡¯s that?" Ping¡¯er said .

    "This, my dear, is the Fox Zen School¡¯s Threaded Hairpin of Traversing Soul!"

    Li Yundong located the source of the voices just then . It was quite far away from his current location . Li Yundong took off into the sky, but kept his Eryue activated .

    "Is it powerful?"

    "Of course it is!¡± The old man paused . "But first we have to go . Someone¡¯s after me . "

    No you don¡¯t!

    "Oh... Okay . As you wish, Master . "

    "Hmm . I¡¯ll show you how this thing works once we return," the old man said, then chuckled . "Well . I was nning to give it to you anyway . "

    "Really?!"

    There!

    Li Yundong increased his speed and activated his telescopic vision .

    He saw and old man putting his arm around a young woman¡¯s shoulders . Li Yundong bridged his Three Gates and sent a shockwave towards the pair .

    Toote .

    The pair morphed into a phantom and took off into the sky before the st could reach them .

    Li Yundongnded on the floor, stunned .

    There was no mistaking that figure, and that T-shirt .

    That woman was Ding Nan .

 Chapter 272

    Chapter 272

    <h4>On the Move</h4>

    Cao Yi was on her knees beside Mo Ahshi¡¯s corpse when Li Yundongnded in front of the temple again . None of the younger fox spirits were around, so Li Yundong assumed that Cao Yi had sent them back into the temple to recuperate .

    Cao Yi rose to her feet and hurried towards him when she noticed his arrival . The woman¡¯s anxiety was written all over her face . "Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n!" She stopped beside him . "Did you apprehend the thief?"

    Li Yundong shook his head . "Couldn¡¯t get to him in time . " Li Yundong paused in thought . "I did get a good look of the thief though . " Li Yundong nced down at his recently-acquired subordinate (God, he really had to start getting used to the whole idea) . "I can describe his appearance to you, if you want . Who knows it might ring a bell . "

    "Of course, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n . "

    "Alright, um... it was an old dude with white hair and white beard . " Li Yundong paused for a second . "His robe looked kinda strange . Weird design . ck on one side and white on the other . "

    "Zheng Yuan..."

    Li Yundong looked towards Cao Yi . "You know the guy . "

    "Yes . " Cao Yi¡¯s eyes were now as cold as ice . "Zheng Yuan, the Head of the Yin Yang Sect . "

    Something clicked inside Li Yundong¡¯s head; like a switch, triggered by the mention of that sect . Li Yundong closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead .

    Yin Yang Sect . Ping¡¯er .

    Lyu Fengping .

    Thest time he saw that woman was back in Tibet when she and Wu Hao had tried to take the Fan of Seven Treasures from him . But here¡¯s the thing: she had escaped with her Yin Spirit back then; her body was destroyed when he used atha¡¯s 14th and final Mudra, the Hand of Purification .

    But just now Zheng Yuan had called Ding Nan Ping¡¯er .

    Which means...

    A touch on his arm pulled him out of his thoughts .

    "Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n?"

    Li Yundong met Cao Yi¡¯s worried gaze .

    "Are you okay?" Cao Yi withdrew her hand from his arm . "Forgive my impudence, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n, but you seemed a little out of it just now . "

    Li Yundong shook his head slightly . "Nothing... it¡¯s just..." He sighed . "I¡¯ve figured out a few things, that¡¯s all . "

    Cao Yi frowned . "What things?"

    Like the fact that Ding Nan was possessed by Lyu Fengping¡¯s Yin Spirit .

    Li Yundong waved a hand casually . "It¡¯s nothing . Don¡¯t worry about it . " He nced down at Mo Ahshi¡¯s corpse, then raised his gaze again when he heard Cao Yi¡¯s dejected sigh .

    "The Hairpin of Traversing Soul . " Cao Yi hooked a strand of hair behind her ear . "One of the Fox Zen School¡¯s deadliest weapons . " Cao Yi shook her head and let out a sad chuckle . "Gone . "

    "We¡¯ll get it back," Li Yundong stated firmly .

    Cao Yi smiled . Then, her eyes widened . "Oh, before I forget..." She picked up something from the ground . "This is the Adamantine Chakram of Magnificence . It belonged to my sh¨©m¨¨i Ye Yu . But now she¡¯s..." Sadness shone in Cao Yi¡¯s eyes as her face crumpled . A momentter, she shook her head and schooled her features . "Please ept this, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n . I would like you to have it . "

    Li Yundong took the chakram from Cao Yi and began studying the crescent-shaped weapon .

    The thing was fascinating to say the least . The first feature that stuck out to him was its color; well, colors actually, since the color on each side was different: silver on one side, gold on the other . The silver side held the engraving of a beautiful Apsara, or a Flying Bodhisattva . When he flipped to the other side, a fierce-looking arhat stared back at him .

    Li Yundong shook his head . "So weird . " He nced up from the chakram . "Why are its teeth on the inner edge?" He raised the chakram and showed Cao Yi the teeth he meant . "Shouldn¡¯t the teeth be on the outer edge?"

    Cao Yi smiled . "There are actually teeth on both edges, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n . "

    Li Yundong frowned and studied the chakram again . "But the outer edge looks so smooth¡ª" Something sharp poked his flesh the moment he ran his finger along the outer edge .

    Cao Yi was still smiling when he looked back up at her . "The teeth on the outer edge are invisible, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n . It¡¯s one of the chakram¡¯s special properties . "

    Li Yundong lowered the chakram to his side and then swung it around a few times . After that, he tested the chakram¡¯s weight on each hand .

    "It can cut through almost anything," Cao Yi added .

    Li Yundong nodded and returned the chakram to Cao Yi .

    Cao Yi didn¡¯t take it . "Um... It¡¯s yours, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n," she said, looking puzzled . "Why are you giving it back to me?"

    "It belongs to the school," he said, then paused .

    But you own the school now, a small voice in his head added . The look on Cao Yi¡¯s face basically conveyed the same sentiment .

    "I don¡¯t n on carrying it around with me," he said .

    Momentster, Cao Yi took the chakram reluctantly .

    "Keep it safe along with any other weapons or magical objects owned by Grandmaster Liu . " He remembered seeing some kind of special opium pipe and a huge calligraphy brush lying beside Grandmaster Liu earlier .

    Cao Yi nodded . "As you wish, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n . "

    "Good . Now I have to go," Li Yundong said, then paused in thought . "Is there somewhere I can keep the Fan of Seven Treasures safe? I won¡¯t be bringing it with me to Dongwu City . " He gave Cao Yi a pointed look . "Someone might suspect that I¡¯m not actually at the Fox Zen School if they saw me carrying it around . "

    "Ah . I have just the thing..." Cao Yi trailed off and pulled out a small bag from her pocket . The fabric was glowing in many different colors .

    "Uh..." Li Yundong stared at the bag for a moment . "Isn¡¯t that a little small? I mean the fan is rather big..."

    Cao Yi nearly dropped the bag and the chakram when she burst into giggles .

    Cao Yiposed herself secondster and cleared her throat . "I apologize, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n . That was rude of me . "

    Li Yundong waved off the apology . Clearly the bag had some kind of magical properly that he was unaware of . Maybe its size could be altered by a spell? He¡¯d seen Su Chan pull out the Fan of Seven Treasures from a colorful pouch the other night before they parted . But then that bag was big, so it didn¡¯t seem weird that it could fit the Fan of Seven Treasures .

    Perhaps Su Chan¡¯s colorful pouch was just a scaled-up version of this tiny thing that Cao Yi was carrying?

    "Please watch . " Cao Yi pulled the bag¡¯s drawstring and opened the bag . Then, she brought the chakram to the mouth of the bag .

    Something amazing happened .

    The chakram shrank and vanished into the bag in a bright sh .

    "What the heck?" Li Yundong leaned down and peered into the bag . A momentter, his head shot up . "But there¡¯s nothing inside!"

    He took the bag from Cao Yi, turned it upside down, and then shook it a few times .

    Nothing fell out .

    Li Yundong gaped at Cao Yi, who was struggling to hold back herughter .

    Yeah . Maybe, Grandmaster Liu Ye was wrong . The Fox Zen School might be heading for its doom since it now had such a clueless leader .

    Li Yundong shook his head a few times . "How does this thing work?"

    Cao Yi cleared her throat . "It has its own Spirit Space . " She paused . "You can put as many things into it as you like, and it would never fill up . "

    Li Yundong stared at the tiny pouch in his palm . "Amazing . "

    He handed the bag back to Cao Yi, then reached for the Fan of Seven Treasures on the ground .

    "I¡¯ll leave the fan here," he said, giving Cao Yi a serious look . "Take it out if there¡¯s an emergency . It will guard you . I give you my word . "

    Indeed, he had alreadymunicated with the fan earlier, and they hade to an agreement . The fan would defend the Fox Zen School in his stead while he was out looking for Su Chan . Besides, his spiritual signature was so strong that nobody would be able to steal the fan while he was away .

    Cao Yi nodded and opened the glowing pouch once again .

    A bright sh appeared when Li Yundong slipped the fan into the bag .

    "Alright then . " Li Yundong nced at the temple briefly before giving Cao Yi a pointed look . "Don¡¯t forget to cast the spell . " He tilted his head towards the temple .

    Cao Yi dipped her head slightly . "Yes, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n . "

    "Good . Guess I¡¯m off, then . " Li Yundong turned around . "I¡¯ll be back as soon as I can . "

    "Wait! Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n!"

    "Yes?"

    Cao Yi ran over and pushed the colorful pouch into his hand . "Please take this with you . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "But..." He stared at Cao Yi . "The fan can protect the school . "

    Cao Yi shook her head . "It doesn¡¯t feel right to separate you from your weapon, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n . " She nced at the temple briefly, then smiled at him . "Besides, I think your idea of using an illusion spell will work perfectly fine . "

    "Are you sure?"

    Cao Yi gave him a firm nod . "Yes . "

    Li Yundong nodded and pocketed the pouch .

    "Where did Grandmaster Liu say Su Chan is?"

    "He told me she¡¯s in Dongwu City . " Li Yundong narrowed his eyes . "And he mentioned something about a pond near the foot of Mount Qili . "

    "Mount Qili..." Cao Yi whispered .

    "You know the ce?"

    Cao Yi shook her head . "I¡¯ve never been there, but I think Grandmaster Liu mentioned before that Wushuang has a property nearby . "

    Which means he should begin his search in the apartments and condos in that area .

    Cao Yi suddenly shot him an apologetic look . "I¡¯ve never heard of any pond though . "

    "Oh, no, don¡¯t worry about it . What you told me is actually quite helpful . " Li Yundong smiled . "Thank you, Cao Yi . "

    ***

    Zi Yuan suppressed a hiss when Hongling lowered her onto the couch . They had just arrived at Hongling¡¯s apartment in New Hongsheng District after a short flight from Mount Tianlong to Tiannan City . The journey had taken less time than Zi Yuan had anticipated . Fifteen minutes instead of twenty .

    Clearly, Hongling¡¯s flight speed had improved . Perhaps it was a good idea to encourage Hongling to hang out with the Heir more . Being around him could motivate the girl to improve herself .

    Zi Yuan caught Hongling¡¯s hand when thetter began fussing over her injuries again . "I¡¯ll be fine, Hongling," she said, eyeing her prot¨¦g¨¦ sternly . "You need to go now before Yan Fang get her hands on Liuhe . "

    The pained look on Hongling¡¯s face was impossible to miss . Not that Zi Yuan could me the girl . It felt incredibly awkward to refer to Yan Fang without some form of honorific attached to her name . Well, that was going to have to change soon .

    They had already lost Yan sh¨©b¨® nine years ago .

    "Call Yan Hua first," Zi Yuan said, letting her eyelids droop . The lights were too bright . Or maybe she was just tired . "Make up some excuse, ask him to take the sword out of the Yan family home if possible . "

    "If he refuses?" Hongling countered weakly .

    Zi Yuan opened her eyes to look at her prot¨¦g¨¦ . "He¡¯ll listen to you, Hongling . " Zi Yuan smirked . "The boy is sweet on you if I recall . "

    Hongling blushed adorably .

    "Fine," Hongling mumbled .

    "Don¡¯t overdo it though," Zi Yuan reminded . "If he can¡¯t bring the sword out, just ask him to stall Yan Fang, or convince her that the sword isn¡¯t at the house . Make sure the boy doesn¡¯t do anything rash . "

    Heavens forbid Yan Fang might murder the poor boy if he stood in her way .

    "I¡¯m on it, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie," Hongling said, then paused for a few seconds . "Will you really be okay?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s heart warmed, and she smiled at her prot¨¦g¨¦ . "I¡¯ll be fine . "

    Hongling padded to the balcony and took off into the sky .

    Zi Yuan sighed and lowered herself to the ground . She got into a meditative posture and closed her eyes . Thest thought she had before she went into deep meditative state was whether Master had foreseen Yan Fang¡¯s betrayal all those years ago .

 Chapter 273

    Chapter 273

    <h4>Potential Misfortune</h4>

    It turned out that this so-called pond was a popr tourist spot in Dongwu City . A seven-mile track looped around said pond, which was located at the foot of Mount Qili (T/N: Qili means "seven miles"; Qi = seven Æß; Li = mile Àï) . The mountain itself was obviously named after the tourist spot, which goes to show just how significant the pond was to the citizens of Dongwu City .

    There were two condos in the area . Li Yundong had already spent an hour outside the first condo, showing Su Chan¡¯s photo to anyone entering or exiting the building . His efforts were nheless fruitless . None of the residents at that condo had seen or heard of Su Chan . It was pretty much the same at the second condo, where Li Yundong had left five minutes ago . Now he was dragging his feet towards the tourist spot to continue his search there .

    Where are you, Chan¡¯er?

    In hindsight, the fact that nobody in the area could recognize Su Chan¡¯s photo sort of fit the circumstances . Su Chan was on the run, so she probably wouldn¡¯t be moving around the city in her real appearance . She would¡¯ve disguised herself or used an illusion spell .

    Would it help if he bought a megaphone and then used it to make an announcement to everyone in the area: "Attention, Su Chan! Your beloved has returned! Please meet me at XXX location in XXX minutes! I love you!"

    Right . As if that would work .

    He probably shouldn¡¯t even mention Su Chan¡¯s name since she was on the run and all . Maybe he could use a catchphrase, something that only the two of them knew: "I¡¯m here now, my dear little princess cheap monk! Where are you?!"

    Maybe add in an inside joke or two: "Come back to me! I miss the cucumbers you bought me!"; "Did you blow up any more kitchens while we were apart?"; "Are you hungry? There¡¯s a hot, steaming bowl of Beer Duck Stew waiting for you!"

    Li Yundong kept trudging forward until a huge archway came into view . It was a Chinese-style archway with roofs that curved upwards near the edges . Massive spotlights along the avenue shone onto the archway¡¯s red surface, illuminating the golden letters carved onto the center of the archway: Mount Qili .

    He quickened his pace and moved past the archway .

    After that, he followed a winding asphalt pavement until he arrived at a beautiful granite bridge . The bridge had a semi-circr structure, arching upwards from one end before dipping down to the other . He could totally see why this ce was hailed as Dongwu City¡¯s major tourist spots .

    Unfortunately, Li Yundong wasn¡¯t in the mood to sightsee . He crossed the bridge quickly and entered what appeared to be amercial area . Li Yundong turned left and headed west, where the dark silhouette of Mount Qili loomed . The buildings seemed old . In an architectural sense, of course . The buildings were by no means decrepit; they just had an antiquated design . White walls, ck roof tiles and all that . The roofs were supported by intricate dougongs, one of those interlocking wooden brackets hailed as one of the hallmarks of Chinese architecture . Even the pavements under his feet were covered in beautiful bluestones .

    Li Yundong stopped in front of a row of food stores . He pulled out his phone and checked the time: ten-thirty p . m .

    He pocketed his phone and strode towards the establishments . Su Chan mighte here to have supper (she was always hungry) . It was worth checking out .

    His first stop was a shop selling Chinese butter cookies¡ªSu Chan enjoyed those . The store was quite upied when he entered . Heads turned the moment he stepped in . He ignored the stares and headed straight towards the cashier .

    "Excuse me, ma¡¯am . Has this girl been here before?" Li Yundong showed his phone¡¯s screen to the youngdy behind the counter .

    The youngdy answered animatedly, but then he couldn¡¯t understand a single thing she had said because she had spoken to him in Wu Chinese .

    Li Yundong raised his hand to interrupt her . "Wait . "

    The youngdy stopped rambling in her dialect and looked at him quizzically .

    Li Yundong gave thedy a cordial smile . "Do you mind switching to Standard Chinese?" His smile turned sheepish . "I don¡¯t really understand Wu Chinese . "

    Thedyughed . "Oh, so you¡¯re not from around here . "

    "Unfortunately not . "

    Thedy smiled again . "I said I¡¯ve seen her a few days ago . "

    Excitement coursed through Li Yundong . "Where?"

    "Not in my shop," thedy said, then paused in thought . "But somewhere in this area . "

    Li Yundong deted . "Oh . "

    "You can try asking at the noodle shop in front," thedy said . "That shop is very popr . Who knows she might have gone there to try out their noodles . "

    Li Yundong put his phone away and smiled . "Thank you . "

    He exited the cookie shop and headed towards the noodle shop .

    Thedy was right . That shop was popr¡ªit was full of people even though it was now close to eleven p . m .

    The waiters and waitresses were all upied, so Li Yundong waited outside the shop, taking asional peeks inside to see if any of the staff were avable to talk . After a while, a customer left the shop . Li Yundong entered the shop and sat down at the newly-vacated table . The staff woulde if they thought he was a customer . Well, he might have to order something, but whatever .

    "Hey, sh¨©xi¨­ng..."

    "Hmm?"

    "How do you think Master would deal with that demon witch?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s scalp tingled . Demon witch? The voices hade from the table on his left .

    "I have no idea . Probably free her tormented soul by burning her to death?"

    "You think so?"

    "Hm . Probably . "

    A waitress arrived at Li Yundong¡¯s table to clear away the used bowls and tes . "What would you be having, sir? The special?"

    Li Yundong mumbled a quick yes and refocused his attention to the conversation happening at the neighboring table .

    "Sh¨©xi¨­ng... Do you think¡ª"

    "Tsk! Just hurry up and finish your noodles . We have to hurry back to the temple after this, you know?" There was a sigh . "I think it would be best if we get there as quickly as possible . It must be important if Master summoned everyone back to the temple out of the blue . "

    "Sh¨©xi¨­ng..."

    "What?"

    "Wu Hua sh¨©xi¨­ng said we might run into a disaster this time . "

    There was a loud snort . "You must be out of your mind if you believe a single thing thates out of that guy¡¯s mouth . " There was a pause . "Wu Hua is a disgrace to the temple, period . "

    "Um... I think you¡¯re being a little harsh, sh¨©xi¨­ng . "

    "Harsh?" There was a humorlessugh . "I tell you what . I¡¯ll stop being harsh on him when he finally stops lusting after every single woman who crosses his path!" There was a loud smack, which sounded like a cup being mmed onto the tabletop . "He¡¯s a disgrace, I¡¯m telling you . Just look at what he wrote in this letter, for Buddha¡¯s sake!" There was a rustling sound, like a piece of paper being unfolded .

    Several taps followed suit .

    Li Yundong was dying to turn his head, but he didn¡¯t want those guys to realize that he¡¯d been eavesdropping on their conversation .

    "Read . " Another loud tap .

    "Sh¨©xi¨­ng... this is..."

    "Yeah, that¡¯s right . That¡¯s Wu Hua¡¯s description of that demon witch¡¯s physical appearance . " The voice lowered into a mumble . "And he went into such great detail too . "

    "Curvaceous body... Beautiful face... Full chest... Tall... 165 centimeters... Looks to be around sixteen years of age¡ª"

    "Oh, for Buddha¡¯s sake, don¡¯t read it out loud!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s mind went nk right then . Those descriptions fit Su Chan to a tee .

    Shit .

    F*ck .

    Li Yundong shook his head after a moment . Nah . There¡¯s no way that¡¯s her...

    Su Chan was a Cultivator . Normal humans wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against her .

    Except that those two guys weren¡¯t normal humans .

    They were bothmas .

    And he¡¯d seen firsthand just how powerful Dorjee Tenzin was .

    F*ck .

    Two chairs scraped against the floor . Themas had just left their table and were now heading towards the cashier to pay for their meal . Meanwhile, Li Yundong¡¯s mind was running a mile a minute as he tried toe up with a n .

    Screw it . I¡¯m following this lead .

    He had to check it out . Just to be safe .

    Themas vanished through the shop¡¯s entrance .

    "Here are your noodles, sir! Enjoy your¡ª"

    Li Yundong stood up and ced a few bank notes (which, he was sure, was more than enough to cover for the meal) on the table .

    The waitress stared at him in surprise . "Sir?"

    "Keep the change," Li Yundong said before hurrying out of the shop .

 Chapter 274

    Chapter 274

    <h4>Xiyuan Temple</h4>

    Li Yundong followed the twomas until he eventually arrived at¡ªunsurprisingly¡ªa temple . Technically, he wasn¡¯t inside the temple; rather, he was standing on a huge parking lot beside the temple . Some kind of ticket booth was set up at the corner of the parking lot . There was a long queue at the ticket booth, and the twomas were having a conversation with anotherma near the booth .

    When Li Yundong first arrived at the parking lot, he saw a group of tourists hanging around the booth as well . He had decided to blend in with the group, hiding in in sight while he kept a close eye on themas . The tourists were clearly waiting for someone; though if Li Yundong were to venture a guess, they were probably waiting for their tour guide who was queueing up at the booth to purchase their tickets .

    Li Yundong took a deep breath and tamped down a wave of frustration .

    The conversation between themas was taking far too long . Ten minutes and counting . His original game n was to follow the twomas around until they eventually led him to the location where this supposed demon witch was incarcerated . It did seem like a good idea at the time, since those twomas were part of whatever ritual required to exterminate the demon witch . At least that was what he understood from the conversation he¡¯d overheard back at the noodle shop .

    s, it would appear that a change of ns was necessary .

    Damn it . He really thought that those twoma would lead him straight to Su Chan . But now they were just standing there, chatting with each other like they didn¡¯t have a care in the world .

    What the heck happened to "it¡¯s best if we get there as quickly as possible?"

    Weren¡¯t those two supposed to be in a hurry?

    Li Yundong sighed . n B, then...

    This wasn¡¯t ideal, but he would probably have to sneak into Xiyuan Temple on his own . Assuming that Su Chan was even inside the temple . From the looks of it, Xiyuan Temple was open to tourist and local visitors . Which means there would be a lot of prying eyes . Wouldn¡¯t it be better to "exterminate" Su Chan elsewhere? How was Li Yundong even supposed to find out where Su Chan was being kept without the twomas to lead him to the ce?

    Shit .

    Five minutes, he told himself . I¡¯ll wait for five more minu¡ª

    Themas were leaving .

    Li Yundong pushed away from the throng of tourists and hurried after themas . The pair had just left the parking lot and was now walking towards Xiyuan temple .

    Hah! So she was inside the temple after all¡ª

    Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder rammed into something soft; a woman shrieked .

    "Sorry, miss! I¡¯m sorry!" Li Yundong crouched down to check on the youngdy he¡¯d just knocked to the ground . "Are you okay?"

    "Geez! Dude, watch where you¡¯re going!" thedy red at him as she scrambled around to pick up the dozens of entrance tickets strewn all over the ground .

    Li Yundong looked towards the temple . Themas were gone .

    Damn it!

    Li Yundong sprang to his feet and began sprinting towards the temple .

    "I¡¯m sorry, miss! I truly am!" he yelled over his shoulder .

    "Hey!" thedy yelled . "Where do you think you¡¯re goin¡ªGet back here! You¡¯re not allowed to enter the temple without buying a ticket first!"

    Li Yundong ignored thedy and kept running .

    "Hey!!" thedy yelled again .

    "Good Lord, Lan... What on earth is the matter?" said another woman .

    Li Yundong did a quick scan of his surroundings as he ran . Damn it . Where the heck did those two go? Were they inside the temple already?

    Li Yundong stopped in front of the temple¡¯s main entrance . A portion of his Zhenqi rose from his Vital Orb and gathered at his Shenting .

    Ningshen: Eryue!

    Thedy was still yelling . "...I swear! The guy bumped into me and then started sprinting towards the temple . And I don¡¯t think he has a ticket . "

    "Are you sure?"

    "Just ask them!"

    The tourists voiced out their agreement .

    "She¡¯s right, Miss Liu . I saw . "

    "Yeah, me too . He bumped into her and then just up and left . "

    "Didn¡¯t even help her pick up our tickets . "

    "What a rude young man . "

    Li Yundong tuned out the voices and sprinted away from the entrance to distance himself from the parking lot .

    C¡¯mon, c¡¯mon, c¡¯mon... Where are they?

    He¡¯d alreadymitted themas¡¯ voices to memory . He just have to iste them and pinpoint their location .

    Li Yundong pulled up short: Eryue had picked up something .

    "...sh¨©sh¨± is waiting for us . "

    "Of course he is! You¡¯re the one who got carried away just now . "

    "Sorry, sh¨©xi¨­ng..."

    Relief coursed through Li Yundong . Neither of themas were inside the temple yet . He followed their voices and realized that themas were moving to the side of the temple .

    Where the heck are they going? Are they leaving the temple?

    The twomas circled around the side of the temple and kept on walking . From the looks of it, they were heading towards Xiyuan Temple¡¯s back entrance .

    Li Yundong followed themas stealthily, making sure to stay at least ten meters away from them . The back of the temple was an isted area, so he had to be even more careful lest themas notice his presence . Right now, Li Yundong and themas were the only ones around in the area .

    Themas stopped in front of arge wooden door .

    Li Yundong hid behind the trunk of arge tree and watched the pair from afar .

    Ningshen: Mingmu!

    Li Yundong zoomed in and saw one of thema reaching for the bronze door knocker .

    KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

    The wooden door creaked open five secondster . A middle-agedma stood at the door .

    "Ah, there you are . "

    Thema who knocked pressed his palms together . "Greetings, sh¨©sh¨± . "

    The otherma copied his gestured . "Sh¨©sh¨± . "

    "Come on in," said the middle-agedma . "Everyone¡¯s waiting for you two . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s body grew taut . That did not sound good . It definitely sounded like thosemas were about to begin some kind of ritual .

    Damn it . He had to get to Chan¡¯er before those guys did .

    The twomas entered the temple .

    The double doors were closing . However, the doors stopped moving just before they were fully closed . A secondter, they creaked open again . Li Yundong zoomed in and saw the sharp eyes of the middle-agedma looking in his direction .

    Shit!

    The blown-up view of the tree bark shed in his mind the moment Li Yundong pull his head away from the edge of the trunk . He zoomed out, but kept his Eryue activated . He would move in after he heard the door close .

    Crap . He didn¡¯t see me, did he?

    He waited behind the tree until he heard the unmistakable click of a lock . After that, he poked his head out again and zoomed in . The doors were closed, and there were no signs of the middle-agedma .

    But just to be safe...

    Li Yundong levitated from the ground and floated towards the top of the tree . Hended on a branch and surveyed the area from his new vantage point . He stood on the branch for about a minute, scanning the area for threats .

    The coast was clear .

    He moved quietly towards the door .

    Disappointment crept into Li Yundong as he approached the double doors . Two talismans were attached to the double doors, one on each door . He couldn¡¯t see the talismans just now because themas¡¯ bodies were blocking them from his view .

    Li Yundong crouched down in front of the doors and studied the talismans . The talismans appeared to be identical, and they were about the same size as his palm . The drawings on the talismans were totally different from the one that Su Chan had given him . These ones contained not Taoist symbols but Sanskrit symbols . Behind the Sanskrit symbols were the drawings of several menacing arhats .

    The symbols on the talismans started to glow when Li Yundong reached for the door . The golden glow waned the moment Li Yundong withdrew his hand slightly . He sighed and let his hand dropped to his side . He probably shouldn¡¯t take any chances since he had no idea what those talismans were capable of .

    He straightened himself and stared at the double doors as he figured out his next move .

    Simple . Just fly over the wall .

    Li Yundong moved away from the door and took a right turn¡ªno need to stay too close to the talismans . He kept walking until he arrived at a dimly lit corner beside the temple . The ambience was dark due to the presence of a huge tree whose foliage had blocked out most of the light from the surrounding streetmps . He stopped under the tree and nced around a few times . He didn¡¯t need anyone to start freaking out when they saw him levitating off the ground .

    Okay . Here goes...

    s, as his body rose, his heart sank .

    Talismans were attached all over the top surface of the wall . Li Yundongnded on the ground with a loud huff .

    Hmm...

    He picked up a pebble from the ground and hurled it towards the top of the wall . The pebble sailed over the wall without encountering any resistance .

    Okay . So it wasn¡¯t a barrier .

    Maybe it was some kind of rm, in which case it would be an even bigger pain in the ass¡ªthose guys inside the temple would know right away that there was an intruder the moment one of the rms was triggered .

    No . He had to find another way in .

    There had to be some ce around this huge temple that wasn¡¯t sealed off with a bunch of talismans . He just had to find it .

    Another thought hit him, and he froze .

    Why not just enter from the temple¡¯s main entrance? He quickly dismissed the idea; it was too illogical . This ce was clearly a restricted area . It was probably inessible from anywhere inside the temple that was open to the public . What if some random tourist wandered into the ce while "looking for the bathroom?"

    Fine . Not the main entrance then .

    What if he infiltrated from the sky? Maybe hover in the sky, and then stealthily lower himself into the middle of thepound . He pondered that idea for a moment . Would that work? Would there be traps in the sky?

    Most likely .

    Zi Yuan had mentioned something simr in her letter summoning him to the Fox Zen School .

    Li Yundong ran a hand through his hair and sighed .

    Don¡¯t give up . Just keep on looking .

    After fumbling around for a few more minutes, he ended up standing in front of those double doors again . Nothing had changed . The symbols on the talismans still glowed whenever his hands neared the door¡¯s surface and dimmed whenever he pulled away . What did those things detect anyway? Physical proximity?

    If that¡¯s the case, then...

    Li Yundong turned around and looked towards therge tree he¡¯d been hiding behind when he was spying on the twomas earlier . Argh, whatever . Might as well give it a try .

    He flew towards the tree and stood on the branch again .

    God, he really hoped that there weren¡¯t any security cameras around here . He hadn¡¯t seen any so far, so there was that . Then again, who needs security cams when you have these awesome talismans lying around to keep intruders away?

    Talismans, he might add, that he was about to disarm .

    Li Yundong crouched down on the branch and raised his hand, aiming his palm at the double doors .

    Qi Kinesis!

    His Zhenqi shot out from his palm and began stretching towards the double doors . If the talismans worked by detecting someone¡¯s physical presence, then he might be able to disarm them from afar . He was hoping that he could literally peel the talismans off the door using Qi Kinesis .

    Which, apparently, was too much to ask for .

    Thanks a lot, Universe .

    Li Yundong groaned and withdrew his Zhenqi from the talismans when they started glowing again .

    Great . Now what?

    Voices drifted to his ears .

    "...the right ce, Lan? I don¡¯t even see him!"

    "Just keep looking . " A pause . "I¡¯m positive that he came this way . "

    The second voice belonged to thedy he ran into earlier .

    Crap, crap, crap...

    The voices sounded rather faint, so he knew that the two women weren¡¯t close-by . Not yet anyway . But still, the fact that they were both looking for him set off a dozen of rm bells in his head .

    Li Yundong cursed under his breath and flew towards the doors again . He just had onest thing to try . And if this didn¡¯t work, he would try sneaking in from the temple¡¯s main entrance¡ªwho knows he might be able to ess the restricted area by breaking few walls .

    He hadn¡¯t tried to use this mudra because he wasn¡¯t certain about the effects it would have on the talismans . Would the talismans burst into mes like the wall inside the Fox Zen School¡¯s secret vault? Well, it would be okay if one or two talismans caught fire . But what if all of them (he didn¡¯t even know how many there were hidden all over the temple) burst into mes simultaneously? Wouldn¡¯t that alert themas inside the temple?

    Or maybe nothing would happen .

    The True mes of Samadhi can remove any obstacle from the path of truth .

    Would rescuing a girlfriend count as "the path of truth?"

    Guess he was about to find out .

    Li Yundong formed atha¡¯s 5th Mudra, the Mouth of Samadhi and bridged his Three Gates .

    May the Mouth of Samadhi breathes the True mes of Samadhi...

    "Namah sarva tathagatebhyah sarva mukhebhyah, sarvatha trat canda maha rosana kham khahi khahi sarva vighnam hum trat ham mam..."

    Colorful mes engulfed the two talismans on the double doors . In just a matter of seconds, the talismans were reduced to ashes .

    Li Yundong stopped chanting and held his breath . There would no doubt be some kind ofmotion or uproar inside the temple if he was discovered .

    There was only silence .

    Note to self: Next time, don¡¯t be afraid to follow my instincts .

    He sighed, released the mudra, and then stared at the double doors .

    Hang on, Chan¡¯er...

 Chapter 275

    Chapter 275

    <h4>Infiltration</h4>

    Xiyuan Temple was huge . And unless Li Yundong was very much mistaken, the temple¡¯spound consisted of at least three sections: the public section, where the usual worshipping (offerings, blessings, or other religious rites) took ce; the living quarters for themas and monks; and the restricted area whose purpose was still unknown to Li Yundong . There might be other sections, but Li Yundong didn¡¯t know about them and, quite frankly, he didn¡¯t care .

    He had been right in his guess that the restricted area was inessible from the other sections . Each section was segregated from each other by thick concrete walls . Needless to say, each wall had a bunch of talismans attached to them . If he had a penny for every talisman he had encountered inside the temple so far, he¡¯d be able to pay back the money Zi Yuan had spent on his bank debts .

    Just kidding .

    Sure, there were a lot of talismans lying around, just not that many .

    Li Yundong floated towards a couple ofrge barrels stacked up near the wall . Then, he lowered himself to the ground and hid behind the barrels . He¡¯d taken great care to conceal the Jindan¡¯s Aura as well as his Qi . He hadn¡¯t encountered anymas so far, but he didn¡¯t want to take any chances .

    He peeked out from behind the barrels and looked towards the double doors through which he had entered the temple¡¯s restricted area . He had made sure to close the doors after entering . From the outside, nobody could tell that the doors had recently been tampered with . Unless, of course, one considered the two missing talismans .

    The double doors was locked from the inside before he came in, so he ended up having to poke around with his Zhenqi until he could feel lock from outside the door and then destroy it with Qi Kinesis . He had hidden the broken pieces of the lock so that nobody inside would notice them .

    Themas had been quiet .

    Too quiet .

    He knew because for the past fifteen minutes, he¡¯d been listening for the typical noises associated with Buddhist rituals . s, even with Eryue, he hadn¡¯t had any sess . There was no chanting of a Buddhist mantras . No percussive tapping of wooden fish . Not even a single mention of Amitabha .

    Something¡¯s not right...

    When he first activated Eryue, he was able to iste the voice of a woman even though there were twenty floors separating them . How much distance was that? 280 feet?

    And now he couldn¡¯t hear a loud Buddhist ritual inside a temple even though he was inside said temple?

    Impossible .

    He leaned his back against the barrels and tried harder .

    Ningshen: Eryue!

    Again, the chatter of the tourists was the first thing he heard . He tuned them out and focused on other noises: prayers; the crackling from an incense pot; sound of crickets from the woods beside the temple; car tires; noises from the ticket booth...

    Damn it .

    There was a creak .

    Li Yundong froze . He didn¡¯t pick that up with Eryue . That noise came from nearby . A loud ck followed suit, followed by another creak . It sounded like someone was opening¡ª

    Shit!

    He peeked out from behind the barrel and looked towards the double doors .

    One of the double doors was now partially open .

    Did anotherma just enter?

    Damn it, damn it, damn it .

    He did a quick scan of thepound . No one was there .

    "How on earth did you open that door, Lan?"

    That voice came from outside the doors .

    "I don¡¯t know, Xiaxia," Lan whispered . "I just gave it a push and it opened . "

    "That¡¯s impossible," Xiaxia hissed . "The Head told us that only authorized personnel is allowed through that door! He even warned us not to bring any tourists to this area . By right, that door should be locked!"

    He heard the shuffling of feet next .

    The door creaked again .

    Li Yundong groaned internally and took another peek at the door . Lan, the woman he¡¯d knocked over, was now standing in front of the door . She appeared to be scrutinizing the brasstch for the lock .

    Li Yundong cursed under his breath and hid behind the barrel once again .

    He couldn¡¯t step out of his hiding ce; the woman would see him if he tried to leave now .

    "Check out thistch, Xiaxia..."

    "What?"

    "Gosh... The metal is bent out of shape . "

    "..."

    "Hmm . This is so weird..."

    "I agree . "

    "Hey, Xiaxia . Check the ground . Maybe the lock is still around . "

    More shuffling of feet .

    "I don¡¯t see anything . What about you, Lan?"

    "Nope . "

    "So weird . "

    "I know, right? The lock is on the inside . So someone must¡¯ve broken it from the inside . "

    "Why would anyone do that?" Xiaxia said, then paused . "Do you think someone was trying to escape the ce but they didn¡¯t have the key? That would exin why they broke the lock . "

    "I don¡¯t know... But I bet that brute earlier was responsible for this . "

    Well, you¡¯re damn right about that, Li Yundong thought wryly .

    "What are you even talking about, Lan? That doesn¡¯t even make sense!" Xiaxia hissed . "The lock was broken by someone from the inside!"

    "But I¡¯m positive he came this way!"

    Uh-oh...

    Li Yundong peeked out from the side of the barrel once again . Lan was still standing at the doorway . Crap .

    "But still..." There was a pause . "I think we should go . Nobody is allowed in this area . "

    Clearly, Xiaxia was the voice of reason here .

    "Yeah... Yeah, you¡¯re right . "

    The doors creaked again . A click sounded a secondter .

    Move, move, move!

    Li Yundong stepped out from behind the barrels and floated towards the nearest building in thepound¡ªsome kind of shrine with two Buddha statues set up beside its entrance .

    The shrine¡¯s entrance was locked, and he couldn¡¯t detect the smell of burning incense at all . Besides, there were cobwebs everywhere, so it was safe to assume that the shrine hadn¡¯t been in use for quite a while .

    Past the shrine, there was a cobble path lined with smaller Buddha statues . Tall weeds peeked out from behind the statues . He spotted several flower pots around the statues as well . The pots looked old and were covered in cracks . The nts they once housed had long since wilted .

    Whatever reason this ce was built for, horticulture definitely wasn¡¯t part of it .

    A smaller templey at the end of the cobble path . The temple was enclosed by a metal fence; and he was fairly certain that beyond the fencey the forest beside Xiyuan temple . And if he were to venture another guess, that forest probably led to the summit of Mount Qili .

    Li Yundong stopped in front of the gate leading into the small temple .

    Did themase this way?

    Ningshen: Eryue!

    Most of what he heard came from the woods: crickets; rustling of foliage by the night breeze . He had to focus harder to hear the tourists¡¯ chatter now, which means that this area was further away from the main temple .

    He levitated off the ground and circled the temple a few times . Nobody was around . It was just him and those noisy crickets in this godforsaken ce . Just when he was about to lower himself to the ground to look for more clues, something caught his eye . There was a smaller gate at the back of the temple where the metal fence terminated .

    The gate opened into the forest .

    Li Yundong flew towards the gate andnded in front of it . Surprisingly, the gate was unlocked, and there were no talismans lying around .

    Li Yundong stared at the gate for a moment, then inspected the area around the gate .

    No talismans? Seriously?

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes . What if the talismans were invisible?

    Li Yundong formed atha¡¯s 5th Mudra with his hands . Call him paranoid, but he wasn¡¯t taking any chances with this . He was the only one who could save Su Chan right now .

    "Namah sarva tathagatebhyah sarva mukhebhyah, sarvatha trat canda maha rosana kham khahi khahi sarva vighnam hum trat ham mam..."

    No colorful mes appeared .

    After repeating the mantra a few times, Li Yundong lowered his hands back down . Okay . So there really are no talismans here .

    Right, so the next step was to figure out where the two...no, three,mas had gone off to . Obviously, they had gone into the forest, but then the forest was so big .

    Li Yundong floated over the metal fence andnded on the other side of the fence . The ground sank down slightly when hended .

    Hm . Soft ground...

    Footprints . He should start looking for footprints .

    He mobilized his Zhenqi and levitated until there was a slight gap between his feet and the ground¡ªno need to leave his own set of footprints for the othermas to see . After that, he activated the Jindan¡¯s Aura at his fingertips, using the golden glow for light .

    Five minutester, he found what he was looking for: three sets of footprints headed northwest .

    Gotcha...

 Chapter 276

    Chapter 276

    <h4>The Hanging Talismans</h4>

    Something was seriously wrong with this forest . He could feel it in his bones . It was like there was some sort of mysterious aura suffusing the forest . The aura was suffocating, like an invisible pressure squeezing his body¡ªand even his mind¡ªfrom all directions . And the deeper he moved into the forest, the more intense the sensation became .

    This wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d experience something like this . He¡¯d experienced this before back in Tibet, when he was making his way towards Kathok Monastery . Afterwards he was attacked by a bunch of golden apparitions which looked like arhats . A mysterious voice had given him a tip back then to help him survive the arhats . The identity of the owner of said voice had, of course, ceased to be a mystery .

    After all, the same voice had led him to the discovery of the Nine Elixirs Method .

    As per the tip he¡¯d received back in Tibet, Li Yundong reined in his Qi and tried not to harbor any malicious intent towards themas . Thetter was pretty damned hard to aplish since themas in question were about to burn Chan¡¯er alive .

    Regardless, the tip had worked .

    Sort of .

    The pressure in his chest had eased a little, and he no longer had to stop to catch his breath once every few steps . His mind still felt a bit heavy though . He could still use Eryue and Mingmu, but he could tell that their effectiveness had been reduced . The pressure on his mind had taken a toll on his ability to concentrate and focus .

    The working hypothesis was that this was the effect of some kind of Buddhist magic . And if he were to expand on that hypothesis, he would surmise that the purpose of the magic was to ward off intruders or anyone who harbor ill will or malicious intent towards a Buddhist establishment: a temple; a monastery; or some creepy forest where randommas convened to conduct an exorcism .

    Yeah . An exorcism .

    How the heck was it even going to work? Would an exorcism still work if the target wasn¡¯t evil to begin with? And what about all that burning and soul-freeing crap? Were thesemas seriously intending to burn Su Chan alive? Or was that a figurative expression for something else?

    Goddamnmas¡ª

    He staggered a few steps when the overwhelming pressure returned . It honestly felt like his head was about to explode .

    Suck it up, he chided himself . Chan¡¯er needs you...

    He pushed himself up and trudged forward .

    After five minutes of slogging through the dark, creepy forest, he ran into another problem: he lost themas¡¯ trail .

    The footprints were gone, not because themas suddenly took off into the sky, but because the ground ahead was covered in roots and detritus¡ªfallen twigs, dead leaves, broken branches, etc .

    There was no way he could find any footprints amidst a bunch of dposing organic material . He sighed and lowered himself to the ground . After that, he leaned himself against a tree trunk to catch his breath .

    Catch his breath .

    Wow .

    Ever since the Jindan reformed his body, there hadn¡¯t been a single asion where he had to catch his breath just from walking . And now look at him .

    Pathetic .

    Okay . That was a bit unfair . He wasn¡¯t pathetic . Not when he just fought off an entire army of powerful Cultivators several hours ago .

    He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the trunk . The rough bark dug into his scalp, momentarily distracting him from the annoying sensation of being squeezed by an invisible pressure .

    The pressure seemed to be growing stronger the deeper he moved into the forest . Maybe he should just let the pressure guide him towards Chan¡¯er . Pretty sure the spell¡¯s effect would be the most powerful where the exorcism or whatever ritual took ce .

    A traitorously selfish voice in his mind suggested calling Zi Yuan for help . That voice was immediately drowned out by a wave of guilt and disgust . No . He was doing this on his own . The woman deserved a break .

    He opened his eyes and went through his options again . Momentster, he activated Eryue and tried to listen for more noises: crickets; rustling leaves; the breeze; the cracking of twigs; and... well, more crickets .

    He sighed and massaged his temples a few times . That pressure was seriously a burr up his ass . It was making it increasingly difficult for him to think clearly .

    Okay . That didn¡¯t work . Now what?

    He spent a few moments going through a list of all the tools he had in his arsenal . The mudras had served him pretty well all this while, but none of them would give him the ability to track down a foe . The elixirs didn¡¯t seem like they had any applications beyondbat situations either .

    He shifted his leg and pulled out the colorful pouch from his pocket .

    The Omnivacant Spirit Pouch .

    Before he left the Fox Zen School, Cao Yi had taught him how to use that magical pouch . Apparently, the pouch could sense a person¡¯s genuine intent to take out a particr object and then act ordingly by removing the correct object from its Spirit Space . Pretty darned clever if you ask him . No thief could steal anything inside if they didn¡¯t know what the heck it contained in the first ce . And the spirit pouch had¡ªsurprise, surprise¡ªa Spirit Space, which implied that it had its own Spirit and could probably tell whether a person was a thief or the true owner of the object based on their intent . Also, the pouch was constructed from the Rainbow Cirrus, which, Su Chan had once told him, was practically indestructible (physically, at least) . The term "rainbow" certainly jibed with the pouch¡¯s colorful appearance .

    Anyway .

    Removing the Fan of Seven Treasures from the pouch now was definitely counterproductive, since it would probably worsen the spell¡¯s effect . Prancing around with a deadly weapon was the exact definition of "harboring malicious intent . " He had no idea how to use the Adamantine Chakram of Magnificence, so that was out as well .

    Eventually, his mind returned to the nine elixirs . Perhaps one of the elixirs had some hidden property that would be applicable in his current situation? If there was, then he was woefully unaware of it .

    A twig snapped .

    Li Yundong sat up straighter and listened for more noises . He heard nothing else . Probably just a squirrel, or a hare, or whatever species that live in forests . Momentster, he climbed to his feet and decided to just rely on the intensity of the suffocating aura to navigate himself to the right ce . After all, it made sense for the spell¡¯s effects to be the strongest near the source of the spiritual energy responsible for its¡ª

    Li Yundong froze .

    Spiritual energy .

    During his battle with Zhang Tianh¨¦, the Elixir of Transcendence had allowed him to see the flow of Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s spiritual energy .

    If a spell was responsible for this thing, then...

    Li Yundong pressed his palms together and focused on the elixir inside his upper Dantian .

    Elixir of Transcendence!

    The effect was immediate: golden loops and tendrils appeared in his vision .

    It was like donning a pair of night goggles .

    The golden strings were quite scattered, a clear sign that the spell (or whatever the heck it was) was pervasive and had a huge range of effect .

    Li Yundong followed the strings, hoping that they would lead him to their source . When the strings became denser and thicker as he moved deeper into the forest, he knew that his hunch was correct .

    Ten minutester, he stopped moving . Now the strings were all over the ce, forming some kind ofplex golden web around him . He half-expected a golden tarant to suddenly crawl out of the woods and start attacking him .

    Li Yundong moved forward slightly, then stopped again .

    There were no massive tarants, of course .

    But the strings appeared to have gathered into some kind of tall... structure... thingy... Hell . He couldn¡¯t even tell what it was . The strings were too confusing .

    He deactivated the Elixir of Transcendence and watched the golden strings disappear .

    What in the world...

    "What the heck?" he whispered, overwhelmed by a sense of disbelief .

    It was a pagoda .

    A frigging six-story pagoda, sitting right in the middle of a flipping forest .

    And that wasn¡¯t even the creepiest part .

    The creepiest part was that there were strings¡ªactual strings¡ªcrisscrossing all over the pagoda¡¯s vicinity . Attached on each of those strings were tiny talismans . And there were so darned many of them . There were probably hundreds¡ªhell, maybe even thousands¡ªof tiny talismans hanging above his head .

    Maybe that was why his Eryue couldn¡¯t pick up the soundsing from inside the pagoda . What were the chances that some of those talismans had soundproofing effects? After all, he¡¯d seen Su Chan isting their apartment from the outside world with a talisman during his first attempt to pass the Zhuji phase, so he knew that it was possible .

    Shit .

    If Su Chan was inside the pagoda, then he would have to find a way to get past all these talismans without triggering them...

    Or maybe not .

    Why get past them when he could just disarm them at one go?

    May the Mouth of Samadhi breathes the True mes of Samadhi...

    Li Yundong moved his hands and formed atha¡¯s 5th Mudra . All hell would break loose the moment the talismans were disarmed, so he would have to act quickly .

    "Namah sarva tathagatebhyah sarva¡ª"

    "Amitabha..."

    Li Yundong leaped sideways and then rolled into fighting stance .

    Ama emerged from the woods . Not just anyma . It was the middle-agedma who had greeted the two youngermas at the double doors earlier .

    "Looks like my hunch is correct after all," said the middle-agedma . "I suspected the presence of an intruder... And now look what I¡¯ve found . "

    Li Yundong stood up slowly and lowered his hands to his sides . He had decided to take a non-hostile approach . If possible, he didn¡¯t want this to result in a fight at all .

    "Sir," he said in a firm but respectful tone . "It hase to my knowledge that you and your associates have recently apprehended a girl . "

    Thema¡¯s brows rose to his non-existent hairline . "Oh?"

    Li Yundong took a deep breath and exhaled . "Yes . She has long, dark hair . A beautiful face . Has a nice figure . Quite tall . About 165 centimeters . "

    "I see," thema sneered . "You¡¯re referring to that demon witch . The animal spirit . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s blood ran cold . "Animal spirit..."

    A cold look formed on thema¡¯s face . "That¡¯s right . "

    "What kind of animal spirit?" Li Yundong implored, not caring how desperate his voice sounded . "Is it... Is she a fox spirit?"

    The Chinese culture speaks of all kinds of animal spirits . Maybe it was some other kind of animal spirit .

    "It¡¯s impossible to tell what kind of animal spirit she is if she refuses to reveal her true form . " Thema took a step forward . "Whatever she is, we will find out soon enough once the ritual isplete . "

    Which means the ritual had already begun .

    F*ck . Why couldn¡¯t he hear a damn thing? The Ningshen phase had never failed him before .

    The talismans .

    It had to be due to the talismans .

    "Look, sir..." Li Yundong pulled out his phone and unlocked it . "Is this her? Please, just tell me if this is the girl you¡¯ve apprehended . " He stepped towards thema, wanting to show thetter Su Chan¡¯s photo .

    "Don¡¯te any closer!" Thema leaped backwards and got into a fighting stance . "I know why you¡¯re here . " He pointed a finger at Li Yundong . "You¡¯re here to interfere with the ritual!"

    "Please... Kindma... Please listen," Li Yundong said in a calm voice, raising the phone slightly . "The girl in this photo... I know her . She isn¡¯t evil at all . "

    All of a sudden, a look of recognition formed on thema¡¯s face . "You..." He wagged a finger at Li Yundong . "She¡¯s bewitched you, hasn¡¯t she?"

    "What? No! Just..." Li Yundong sighed . "Alright, look . I have a photo of her right here . If you would please just take a look at it and tell me if she¡¯s the one you and your associates¡ª"

    A hand sign flew towards his face before he could even finish his sentence .

 Chapter 277

    Chapter 277

    <h4>Charging the Keep</h4>

    It would appear that those endless rounds of lightning dodgeball had benefits that went beyond improving his survivability against the Heavenly Thunder . Now, for instance, they granted him the reflexes required to dodge a fast-moving mudra fired at him from practically point-nk range .

    The mudra sailed over his head a split second after he ducked .

    No mantras, he thought as he leaped away from thema to create space . So this was one of thebative mudras, the same ones used by Dorjee Tenzin .

    Li Yundongnded in a crouch, but he was forced to move again when a few more palm prints flew towards him .

    "Oh,e on! I¡¯ve got her picture right here!" He waved his phone at thema . "I just want to confirm¡ª"

    "SILENCE!" Thema flicked the sleeves of his robe, his eyes glinting threateningly . "Where are your two aplices hiding?"

    Li Yundong frowned .

    Aplices? What the heck was the guy even talking about? Was he referring to the chakram and the fan of seven treasures?

    "I came here alone, sir," Li Yundong said carefully .

    "You¡¯re lying," thema growled . "Two others entered the woods ten minutes after you did!"

    Li Yundong tensed up . What? Two people had been following him around for the past thirty minutes and he didn¡¯t even notice their presence? Either his pursuers were highly skilled ninjas, or the spell protecting this forest had affected his senses more than he thought .

    Two pursuers . Who could they be?

    The first two names that came to mind were Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling . But then he quickly dismissed that notion as absurd . Why wouldn¡¯t Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling show themselves if they were really here? What would be the point in sneaking around?

    Besides, both of them were busy; Ruan Hongling had left to retrieve Liuhe while Zi Yuan was tending to her injuries .

    No . It couldn¡¯t have been Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling .

    Had Cao Yi and another member of the Fox Zen School followed him here? The members of the Fox Zen School were good in stealth after all . Maybe that was why he couldn¡¯t detect their presence .

    "I¡¯m going to ask you again, young man . " Thema took a step forward . "Where are they?"

    "There are no aplices . " Li Yundong rose to his feet slowly . "Like I said, I came into the woods alone . "

    Without taking his eyes off thema, Li Yundong slid the phone back into his pocket¡ªno need to ruin the device now .

    Ningshen: Xianjue!

    His mind shed once, then twice .

    "...doesn¡¯t matter where they are hiding," thema said . "I won¡¯t allow anyone to interfere with the ritual . "

    Li Yundong smirked, knowing that thema was about to unleash another mudra in a few seconds .

    Well, he¡¯s good... But I¡¯m better!

    "Om mani padme hum!"

    The Intelligent Fist Mudra hurtled forth, colliding head-on with the red, palm-shaped aura flying towards him . Lights red, and darkness gave way to a dichromatic disy¡ªgold on one side and red on the other, each fighting for dominance .

    The result of the sh, however, had long since been decided; Mahavairocana¡¯s power would not be denied its victory . The red palm sundered into tiny embers; and the Intelligent Fist Mudra continued its path, illuminating thema¡¯s frightened expression with its omnipotent glow .

    Thema dodged the mudra and rolled into a crouch .

    "You . . . " Surprisingly, there wasn¡¯t a single ounce of fear in thema¡¯s voice . If anything, his voice sounded even more acerbic . "What is someone from the Esoteric Sect doing here?"

    Li Yundong lowered his hands and looked towards the huge pagoda thaty ahead . ording to thema, the ritual had already begun, so there wasn¡¯t much time to lose .

    "You¡¯re from the Esoteric Sect! You should¡¯ve known better than to let yourself fall prey to the likes of an animal spirit!"

    Li Yundong looked from the pagoda towards thema . He didn¡¯t really have to defeat thema; he just had to get past thema and then to the pagoda as quickly as possible . The only talismans he saw in the area were the ones hanging on the crisscrossing metal wires above . He still had no idea what those talismans were capable of, so it was probably safer to approach the pagoda from the ground .

    "I suggest you repent, young man," thema yelled, "before you fall deeper into this abyss!"

    Li Yundong followed thema¡¯s movements with his eyes . Thema was now making a hasty retreat towards the temple . Thisma was definitely no fool; he had already figured out the best approach to deal with the Intelligent Fist Mudra after seeing it just once .

    The Intelligent Fist Mudra was incredibly destructive, but itcked speed . In other words, distance was the key to avoid getting hit by the Intelligent Fist Mudra . Due to itsck of speed, someone further away would have a higher chance of dodging it because they could see iting from afar .

    Li Yundong looked towards the pagoda, which stood roughly 200 meters away . If he flew at top speed, he could probably reach it in 5 or 6 seconds give or take . But then those damned talismans were such a pain, since they prevented him from just flying over thema¡¯s head to get to the pagoda . Li Yundong looked towards thema, who had stopped retreating and was now standing somewhere between Li Yundong and the pagoda .

    That guy is in the way...

    He had to find a way to keep thema upied first . Who knows what other tricks the man had up his sleeves . Li Yundong took a deep breath and pulled out the Omnivacant Spirit Pouch from his pocket . Keeping the pouch hidden inside his palm, he began walking towards thema in slow, purposeful steps .

    I have to take him by surprise...

    After a few steps, Li Yundong suddenly took off into the air, making sure to stay below the metal wires lest he trigger the talismans . Surprisingly, thema wasn¡¯t perturbed at all by the sight of him flying . Thema stood his ground, eyeing Li Yundong with calcting eyes .

    Li Yundong opened the pouch and reached in .

    White light red .

    SNAP!

    The Fan of Seven Treasures spread apart and shot towards thema .

    Thema struck the air with both palms: a huge arhat materialized in the air .

    The sudden appearance of the arhat caused Li Yundong to falter mid-flight . He¡¯d never seen that technique before .

    The arhat took off into the air to engage the Fan of Seven Treasures . Random bursts of light lit up his peripheral vision as the fan and the arhat battled each other . Having decided that the fan could handle itself, Li Yundong flew past the fan and arhat and headed straight for the pagoda . Halfway towards the pagoda, he was forced to fly in a zig-zag pattern to avoid the flurry of red, palm-shaped auras that thema had so kindly sent his way .

    His original game n was to use the fan to distract thema, but thema had apparently seen through the n and summoned that arhat so that it was two against two .

    It seemed like he would have to improvise .

    "Be gone!"

    Another red palm print flew at him .

    Li Yundong dipped down andnded on the ground in a crouch . Judging from the look on thema¡¯s face, the man clearly hadn¡¯t expected Li Yundong to drop to the ground again .

    Now¡¯s my chance!

    Li Yundong sprinted left, travelling in a path that would evade thema but still lead him to the base of the pagoda .

    Come on,e on,e on...

    When thema followed him to the same side, he knew that the man had taken the bait . Li Yundong slowed his pace some more and watched the smug look on thema¡¯s face grew .

    "You¡¯re too slow, kid!"

    Oh, yes, he was definitely too slow . Thema just didn¡¯t know that it was by design .

    Momentster, thema nted himself right in front of Li Yundong¡¯s path .

    "Forget it, kid!" Thema spread his arms out wide . "You¡¯re not getting past me!"

    Li Yundong barreled forward, weaving his body to the left . Thema took the bait and slipped to the same side . Li Yundong mmed his left foot onto the ground and kicked himself to his right side .

    "Is that all you¡¯ve got? A lousy feint?!"

    He could still see thema on his left peripheral vision, so he knew that thema was keeping up with him .

    No . That isn¡¯t all I¡¯ve got .

    Li Yundong moved his hands quickly .

    atha¡¯s 10th Mudra: Almighty Push!

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham!"

    "Argh!!!!" Thema was flung away by an omnidirectional repulsive force, though thema was actually the least of Li Yundong¡¯s concerns right now .

    His nced up at the talismans above him .

    None of them were triggered .

    "You insolent little...!"

    Li Yundong lowered his gaze to his left . Thema¡¯s lips were moving quickly as he spun a circr string of prayer beads with his right hand .

    Li Yundong ignored thema and sprinted towards the pagoda .

    Ningshen: Mingmu!

    He zoomed in on the pagoda .

    Which floor, which floor, which floor...

    Then he saw it: wisps of smoke emerging from a barred window on the sixth floor .

    Hang on, Chan¡¯er!

    He mobilized his Zhenqi and took off¡ª

    His body stopped midair, and not by choice . He nced down and immediately realized what was hindering him: the arhat¡¯s thick fingers wrapped around his ankle like a golden shackle .

    Then the next thing he knew, his world was spinning around .

    The arhat swung him over its head before mming him into the ground .

    His skull cracked, and his ears rang .

    "Chan¡¯er..."

    Li Yundong quickly wrapped his legs around the arhat¡¯s elbow joint to perform a maneuver from Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, but then the arhat mmed its heel into his chest before he couldplete the move . Pain ripped through the center of his chest, spreading all the way towards his ribs . Li Yundong growled and stared at the arhat¡¯s menacing scowl . The arhat increased the pressure on his chest when he wrapped his arms around the arhat¡¯s leg . Sharp pain coursed through him once again .

    The arhat was trying to crush his chest .

    Li Yundong let go of the arhat¡¯s leg to form a mudra, but the arhat pped his hands away with its own hand .

    The pressure on his chest increased again .

    The arhat bent down slightly, giving Li Yundong a full view of its murderous visage . One of the arhat¡¯s fists rose, and at that moment, there wasn¡¯t a single doubt in Li Yundong¡¯s mind that the punch was meant to turn his brain into mush .

    Oh shit...

    A howling sounded above .

    SNAP!

    The Fan of Seven Treasures swooped in from the side and sliced the arhat¡¯s fist off its forearm . The arhat turned its head sideways and stared at its severed arm with a puzzled expression .

    Li Yundong worked his fingers .

    Almighty Push!

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham!"

    The pressure on his chest vanished when the arhat was flung away .

    Li Yundong got to his feet just in time to see the arhat crashing into the side of the pagoda .

    He moved his fingers again .

    atha¡¯s 12th Mudra: The Great Sword!

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham!"

    The golden apparition of a gigantic sword emerged from his hands . The sword swung down swiftly, cleaving the arhat from its head to its groin . The two halves of the arhat¡¯s body fell sideways, flopping against the pagoda¡¯s wall .

    Li Yundong¡¯s body shot into the air beforeing to an abrupt stop near the pagoda¡¯s roof . Smoke was still emerging from the window .

    Li Yundong peered into the pagoda¡¯s interior through the bars . It was a circr room with a long totem pole set up at its center . Sanskrit symbols filled the pole¡¯s surface .

    The symbols were glowing .

    Li Yundong floated upwards so that he could see the whole room, where hundreds ofmas were gathered in a circle . Li Yundong scanned the room with his eyes, skipping over dozens of bald heads until his eyesnded on the bottom of the pole .

    The girl¡¯s back was facing him, so he couldn¡¯t see her face .

    But something about the girl¡¯s long, dark tresses evoked a feeling of yearning and dread inside him . The girl writhed and thrashed against the chains used to restrain her against the pole, but the creepiest part of all this was the fact that Li Yundong couldn¡¯t hear a single thing . The girl was clearly in pain, but he couldn¡¯t hear a single screaming from the room . It was like watching a silent horror movie .

    The girl¡¯s back twitched, and her dark tresses parted to reveal the white skin on the back of her neck . Li Yundong felt as though someone had cleaved his heart into two, and his blood-curdling scream tore through the night .

    "Chan¡¯er!!!!!"

    Li Yundong cocked his fist back . Before his fist could smash through the barred window, his vision exploded in sh of gold . The next thing he knew, he was falling; something was pulling him down to the ground .

    His vision exploded again when his head smashed into the ground . He sprang to his feet with a growl, then turned so that he was facing the pagoda again . The arhat, whose body he had sliced into two just now, was back to one piece again . And it was now charging towards him like a mad bull .

    "Out of my way!" His hands curled into a mudra . "Om mani padme hum!"

    The mudra blew the arhat¡¯s body into smithereens .

    Li Yundong grabbed the Fan of Seven Treasures by its rivet and then took off towards the pagoda .

    SNAP!

    Li Yundong flung the fan towards the sixth floor . "Tear down that wall!"

    The fan charged ahead while Li Yundong flew after it . Once the wall was down, he would charge in and¡ª

    The Fan of Seven Treasures was flung away before it could make contact with the pagoda . Li Yundong stopped midflight and followed the fan with his gaze . The fan was thrown towards the woods, but it quickly circled back towards him .

    What the heck happened? Why did it fly off like that?

    The Fan of Seven Treasures glided through the air, slowing down when it reached him . What he saw next made him blood run cold . His body wobbled in the air a few times before he quickly regained control of the flow of his Zhenqi . The Fan of Seven Treasures dipped down as though it was preparing to catch his fall .

    "Holy shit..."

    Dozens of smaller arhats were now floating around the pagoda in circles, arranging themselves into some kind of strange formation .

    Where the hell did they evene fro¡ª

    It clicked .

    Li Yundong whipped his head around and looked towards the talismans hanging on the metal wires .

    So that¡¯s what the talismans are for...

    SNAP!

    The Fan of Seven Treasures suddenly flew down to the ground .

    ZING!

    Li Yundong watched in horror as the fan¡¯s des sliced through the arm of the same arhat whose body he¡¯d blown to pieces with the Intelligent Fist Mudra not thirty seconds ago . His prior efforts were futile .

    It dawned on him then just how much the odds were against him .

    These arhats weren¡¯t just powerful .

    They were indestructible .

 Chapter 278

    Chapter 278

    <h4>The Lion¡¯s Den</h4>

    It was one thing to go up against an army of greedy Cultivators, but another thing altogether to go up against an entire legion of indestructible arhats . And to make matters worse, he was running out of time . ording to thema, the ritual had been going on for quite some time now .

    Chan¡¯er would die if he didn¡¯t hurry .

    Li Yundong soared higher above the ground, moving his hands at the same time .

    Aim for the pagoda .

    He didn¡¯t really have to fight the arhats; he just had tond a hit on the pagoda to disrupt the ritual .

    "Om mani padme hum!"

    The Intelligent Fist Mudra flew out from his hands .

    Come on,e on, hit!

    The arhats¡¯ shifted into a new formation; those guarding the pagoda¡¯s lower floors suddenly moved upwards while the one floating near the top floors moved aside to make space for the iing arhats .

    The arhats were closing ranks around the sixth floor .

    The mudra rammed into the arhats¡¯ new formation, sending dazzling rays everywhere . Li Yundong himself was thrown away slightly by the impact . By the time he regained his bnce and opened his eyes, he saw the arhats pushing back against the mudra . A few arhats in the frontline eventually disintegrated, but those behind them quickly moved forward to fill in the gap .

    The arhats were literally throwing themselves in front of the mudra .

    The mudra waned before it could reach the sixth floor .

    The arhats suddenly went into offensive mode, their snarling faces flying towards him at full speed .

    Shit!

    Li Yundong slipped sideways and narrowly avoided being head-butted by an angry arhat . Another group of arhats flocked above his head, but instead of attacking, they were just hovering above him . He realized then what these arhats were trying to do: forcing him to the ground where the giant arhat awaited him .

    Inference: the giant arhat couldn¡¯t fly .

    Li Yundong avoided another flurry of attacks, dodging from side to side . The Fan of Seven Treasures remained close to him, covering his six, tearing to shreds any arhat who got too close . A small group of arhats were guarding the pagoda while the rest of them attacked him, trying to force him to the ground .

    At one point, it was all he could do to just defend himself; he couldn¡¯t even fight back against the arhats .

    There were just too many of them .

    Every time he tried to form a mudra, the attacking arhats would crowd him from all sides, forcing him to defend himself . If he sacrificed defense in favor of chanting the mantra (required to use the mudras), he would either get punched in the face or have his hands forced apart by those arhats . The Fan of Seven Treasures was there to defend him, of course, but they were still severely outnumbered .

    An arhat rammed into his shoulder from behind . He spiraled around a few times before he managed to regain his bnce . Two more wereing at him from both sides . He avoided the one on the left, but the other one got him in the leg . The blow sent him tumbling to God knows where .

    Even the small guys pack a punch, he thought as he righted himself with Qi control .

    More arhats flocked towards him from above .

    Oh shit...

    A dozen of palm-shaped auras rained down upon him, forcing him to zip around to avoid them . At one point he slipped up and actually got hit by one of those auras . The blow nearly made him drop out of the sky .

    Great . These arhats could use mudras as well .

    The talismans .

    He had to take out those talismans . When he was dodging around earlier, he saw a number of arhats absorbing golden strings from those talismans to regenerate the parts on their body that had been hacked off by the Fan of Seven Treasures .

    "Come on!"

    Li Yundong made a series of maneuvers from left to right, feinting and dodging . Eventually, he saw an opening and broke free from the throng of arhats crowding him .

    Yes!

    He reoriented himself so that he was facing the metal wires .

    No dice .

    Another squadron of arhats had cut off his path . The arhats were now swooping down at him from above . Li Yundong was forced to double back .

    Damn... So many of them...

    He grunted when an arhat (or maybe two, he couldn¡¯t even tell) struck him on the back . He swerved to his right, bending at his waist to avoid several mudras aimed at his face . There was a loud crack, like a heavy object being smashed into the ground . Something was obviously happening on the ground, but he honestly didn¡¯t have enough mental resources to figure out what it was . At one point he did steal a nce at the ground, but all he saw were arhats flying around .

    Something crashed into his left hip . He cartwheeled in the air . The surrounding arhats used his momentary distraction andnded more blows on him . Out of sheer desperation, he raised his arms to guard his face while using Qi Kinesis to defend against any rear attacks .

    A gust of wind blew in from his left . He lowered his arms and saw the Fan of Seven Treasures fighting off arge group of arhats on his left . More arhats were flying in, but the fan¡¯s arrival had disrupted the arhat¡¯s formation enough for him to form a mudra without being attacked .

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham!"

    The repulsive force blew the surrounding arhats away . Without the arhats blocking his view, he realized that he¡¯d been forced away from the pagoda . Now he would have to fight through a sea of arhats to get close to the pagoda again .

    No . He needed something long-range, preferably something big . That way he could attack the pagoda even from afar .

    The arhats had regrouped and were now charging at him again . The Fan of Seven Treasures snapped open, ready for the next bout .

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham!"

    The arhats were blown away .

    Li Yundong switched to another mudra .

    Amoghasiddhi¡¯s Mudra: The Heavenly Drum!

    "Namah samanta buddhanam ham hah svaha!"

    Ripples formed in the air . The arhats closest to Li Yundong suddenly closed ranks, nting their bodies in the path of the shockwaves .

    The shockwaves tore through the arhats¡¯ defense and crashed into the pagoda .

    "What...?"

    Li Yundong stared at the pagoda in shock . The shockwaves were gone; the pagoda had just absorbed them like they were nothing .

    But how? He was certain that the pagoda was constructed of wood . So how could it withstand shockwaves of such magnitude?

    Was it another spell?

    Was the pagoda immune to physical attacks?

    The arhats were closing in again .

    Li Yundong growled . "Namah samanta vajranam ham!" The repulsive force blew away arge group of arhat, giving him a good view of the ground . He scanned the ground for signs of thema .

    Take out the spell caster, and the spell ends . Makes sense .

    Hey buddy, he told the Fan of Seven Treasures telepathically while his eyes continued to scan the ground . Help me look for thema .

    Arhats, arhats, arhats . These things were everywhere .

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham!"

    Another batch of arhats were flung away .

    The Fan of Seven Treasures suddenly shot down in a particr direction .

    You found him? he asked the fan . The fan didn¡¯t respond, so he took off after it .

    There you are...

    He saw thema spinning his prayer beads near the edge of the forest .

    The Fan of Seven Treasures swatted away a bunch of arhats who were trying to get in its way . As they began to close in on thema, Li Yundong thought he saw a smirk on thema¡¯s lips .

    Take him out, buddy .

    The Fan of Seven Treasures swooped down .

    ZING!

    More arhats rose from the ground . A few of them flew upwards to cut off the fan¡¯s path; the remaining ones formed a circle around thema .

    No you don¡¯t!

    Li Yundong quickly formed a mudra . "Om mani¡ª" The rest of the mantra turned into a scream when he felt a hard object ram into his stomach . His body spun around in the air until he eventually lost control of his Zhenqi and crashed into the ground .

    He rolled to his side and groaned . What the heck was that? That felt totally different from the arhats¡¯ usual attacks .

    He blinked his eyes opened and felt his stomach drop .

    Man... Seriously?

    The big arhat looked even bigger now, so much bigger than he remembered . And it was wielding some kind of long, metal pole . No . It wasn¡¯t a pole . It was a staff . A long, golden staff, which may or may not be capable of spells .

    Crap .

    The arhats from the pagoda swooped down from the sky, dozens and dozens of them . The golden staff suddenly extended and struck him in the chest . The blow sent him flying . When his back crashed into a tree secondster, he realized that he¡¯d just been forced back into the forest . Li Yundong flew out of the forest to rejoin the battle, but a mob of smaller arhats were waiting for him near the edge of the forest .

    "Namah¡ª"

    Something struck him in the head, and he fell . The pain from the blow was so great that he didn¡¯t even feel the impact when his body crashed into the ground . He coughed and forced his eyes open . He realized then that he was lying on his stomach, and the ground directly under his face was covered in blood . His blood .

    Suddenly, his hands were yanked to the sides and then pinned to the ground .

    He looked up and saw therge, staff-wielding arhat walking towards him . Behind it stood a legion of smaller arhats with menacing scowls . The Fan of Seven Treasures was putting up a good fight against arge squadron somewhere near thema, but its efforts appeared as fruitless as his own¡ªthe arhats¡¯ bodies kept regenerating after the fan tore them to shreds .

    He shut his eyes and tried to search his mind for atha¡¯s voice .

    Nothing .

    Was atha watching him right now? He must be . He himself had told him so .

    atha was watching, but he wasn¡¯t speaking .

    Li Yundong opened his eyes, resigned to the fact that he was on his own this time .

 Chapter 279

    Chapter 279

    <h4>Breach</h4>

    "Give it up," thema¡¯s voice sounded amidst the whirling of the Fan of Seven Treasures¡¯ spinning des . "This is beyond you . "

    Li Yundong stopped struggling and raised his gaze . He was still lying on his stomach and his hands were pinned down by something invisible that refused to yield no matter how hard he pulled . Thema was walking towards him, those glowing prayer beads spinning in his right hand .

    Li Yundong clenched his jaw and continued his ineffectual attempts to free his hands . Don¡¯t give up... Keep fighting...

    "It is futile, young man," thema said . "Nobody has ever gotten past the Great Arhat Formation before . It doesn¡¯t matter how powerful you are . " Thema stopped a few feet away . "You¡¯ll never seed . "

    I refuse to give up . I refuse!

    Li Yundong screamed and tried to lift his hip off the ground .

    "Do you know why these arhats are so powerful?" thema asked . "Where do you think they draw power from? What¡¯s the source of their power? Do you know?"

    Li Yundong stopped struggling and looked up at thema .

    Thema smirked mockingly . "Devotion . "

    Li Yundong kept staring at thema .

    The smirk vanished from thema¡¯s countenance . "These arhats draw power from the thousands of worshippers who came to Xiyuan Temple to offer their prayers . From usmas, who has spent every waking hour with our prayer wheels, reciting the verses from Buddhist scriptures!" Thema brought the prayer beads to the front of his chest . "This is the power of faith . "

    Li Yundong watched each of those beads slide across thema¡¯s fingers, one after the other .

    I¡¯m running out of time...

    He growled and tried to free himself again .

    "Give it up already . " Thema sighed . "Do you not understand the futility of your efforts? The Xiyuan Temple has over eight-hundred years of history . That¡¯s what you¡¯re up against, you fool . Eight-hundred years¡¯ worth of faith and devotion . "

    "H- Her name is Su Chan..." Li Yundong wheezed . "Is that her? Is... Is she the one you apprehended?"

    "We do not know her name . "

    "How can you not know?"

    "Because we do not care . "

    Li Yundong clenched his jaw and kept struggling . God damn it!

    A look of disappointment flitted across thema¡¯s features . "You really are bewitched, aren¡¯t you?"

    "Where?" Li Yundong asked, ignoring thema¡¯s taunt . "Where did you find her?"

    "A group of Cultivators found them two days ago and brought them to us yesterday . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s head shot up . "Them?"

    "A man and a woman . "

    A man and a woman? Maybe it wasn¡¯t Su Chan after all . Su Chan was on the run . Surely, she would prefer to travel alone?

    "Who are those Cultivators?"

    "Didn¡¯t ask for their names . " Thema sounded a bit annoyed . "Though they did say that they¡¯re based in Mount Donghua . "

    Donghua . That name rang a bell . Donghua Sect was part of the Great Six . That realization made Li Yundong¡¯s stomach clench .

    What if Su Chan got apprehended by the Cultivators who were part of the assault? What if the other guy was also a disciple of the Fox Zen School? What if the guy and Su Chan had gone into hiding together before they got caught by those Cultivators? Didn¡¯t Cao Yi mention that several of the Fox Zen School¡¯s disciples were missing? Maybe the guy was one of those missing disciples .

    But how many male disciples did the Fox Zen School have?

    He had no idea; Cao Yi didn¡¯t say .

    "I don¡¯t know who you are, young man," said thema, "but I can tell that you possess a great deal of talent . So I will give you a choice . " There was a brief pause . "Repent . Give up now and leave . Otherwise I have no choice but to take things to the next level . "

    Li Yundong stared at thema for a long moment .

    Thema seemed to be waiting for his answer .

    "Please... Just let me take a look at her," Li Yundong pleaded . "Or... Or check my phone! I have a photo of her . Please . I just want to know if it¡¯s her . If it isn¡¯t her, then I¡¯ll go . "

    Thema¡¯s expression turned stony . "And what if it¡¯s her?" he said in a harsh tone . "Will you interfere with the ritual if it¡¯s her?"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t answer .

    There was a snort . "Fool..."

    Li Yundong raised his gaze and saw thema backing away from him . Thema¡¯s left hand was going through a series of hand signs . Suddenly, the smaller arhats parted to two sides to make way for the giant arhat .

    The ground trembled with every step the arhat took .

    Li Yundong lowered his gaze back down . A pool of his own blood stared back at him . Maybe it wasn¡¯t her? He couldn¡¯t see the girl¡¯s face when he peeked through the window just now . Long, dark hair? White skin? That¡¯s way too generic, and far from distinctive .

    It wasn¡¯t her .

    It wasn¡¯t .

    It couldn¡¯t be, right? Chan¡¯er was so good at stealth . She¡¯d never allow herself to get caught .

    But what if it¡¯s her?

    Was he really going to base his decision on a guess, or worse, wishful thinking?

    The ground continued to shake; the giant arhat was drawing close .

    Buddy, he spoke to the Fan of Seven Treasures . I need you to keep thema upied . Make sure he can¡¯t see me . The Fan of Seven Treasures was still tearing through the arhats¡¯ formation in order to make its way towards him . Don¡¯te towards me, he said, then paused . Don¡¯t worry about me . I know what I¡¯m doing . Just make sure thema can¡¯t see me .

    The giant arhat stopped in front of him, staring down at him with those menacing eyes .

    Li Yundong met the arhat¡¯s stare . Give me a signal when it¡¯s done, he told the fan .

    The golden staff rose above the arhat¡¯s head . Li Yundong tried to free his limbs again . But the restraints (whatever the heck they were) wouldn¡¯t give .

    When the staff mmed down on his head, he thought he saw stars . For the next few seconds, the arhat beat his body with the staff repeatedly .

    Li Yundong gritted his teeth and endured those blows . Buddy... Hurry up...

    SNAP! A bright sh of golden light appeared somewhere behind the giant arhat .

    That¡¯s the signal!

    Li Yundong closed his eyes and mobilized his Zhenqi through his meridians, speeding up its flow until he could feel the familiar power of the Jindan¡¯s Aura bursting through his skin .

    The staff smashed down onto his head once again, but it ended up bouncing off the Jindan¡¯s Aura . With a roar, Li Yundong pulled at his restraints with all his might .

    His hands came free .

    He knew then what those restraints were: two tiny talismans attached to the ground near his hands .

    The Jindan¡¯s Aura spread out, reducing the talismans to ashes .

    Li Yundong rose to his feet . He caught the arhat¡¯s swinging staff with one hand, then threw a right cross at the arhat¡¯s stomach . The arhat flew away and crashed into the ground . Li Yundong turned off the Jindan¡¯s Aura and flew upwards . Thanks to the Fan of Seven Treasures, thema¡¯s back was turned to him the whole time the Jindan¡¯s Aura was active .

    The smaller arhats surrounded him again .

    Almighty Push!

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham!"

    The arhats were gone . For now .

    Li Yundong brought his palms together: heat surged through his spine when the Elixir of Yang came alive . The speed and agility boost provided by the Elixir of Yang would allow him to move his hands at a greater speed and hence form mudras at a much quicker pace .

    atha¡¯s 12th Mudra: The Great Sword!

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham!"

    The golden sword cleaved down from the sky; a swarm of arhats shot to the sky and absorbed the blow before it could damage the pagoda . Physical attacks like shockwaves wouldn¡¯t work on the pagoda, so he had to use mudras capable of magical attacks . But now it appeared that not even long-range attacks would work . The arhats had the number¡¯s advantage, and they were indestructible . They would just throw themselves in front of his attacks to protect the pagoda .

    This wouldn¡¯t do . He needed a new strategy .

    Li Yundong twisted his body in the air and avoided a sweeping blow from the golden staff . The giant arhat was back up again .

    "Om mani padme hum!"

    The mudra blew a hole through the center of the arhat¡¯s chest . The hole, much to Li Yundong¡¯s horror, began to close up as soon as it formed . Whatever Buddhist magic this involved, it was one hell of a spell .

    While the giant was regenerating, the smaller arhats charged at him from the front .

    atha¡¯s 9th Mudra: Heavenly Fire!

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham!"

    atha¡¯s mes spewed from the side of Li Yundong¡¯s palm . The little arhats pulled up short and doubled back to avoid the colorful mes .

    Wait a minute... Those mes...

    The arhats were afraid of atha¡¯s mes .

    "Shit!"

    Li Yundong dodged another swing from the golden staff and started a count in his head .

    Fourteen, fifteen...

    Fifteen seconds . The mes wouldst fifteen seconds .

    Listen, buddy . I¡¯ve got a n, Li Yundong said to the Fan of Seven Treasures as he continued to avoid the giant arhat¡¯s attacks . You take the big guy . I¡¯ll handle the small guys . No matter what happens, don¡¯te to me . Just do whatever it takes to make sure that the big guy stays out of my way .

    When the Fan of Seven Treasures suddenly flew in and began slicing through the giant arhat¡¯s thick skin, he knew that he had gotten the message across . Li Yundong blew away another group of smaller arhats with Almighty Push . Then, he flew ahead while dodging a volley of mudrasunched at him from afar .

    He positioned himself above the center of the terrain . More arhats flew towards him from all sides .

    atha¡¯s 10th Mudra: Almighty Push!

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham!"

    The annoying arhats were repelled .

    He switched to a new mudra .

    Take this!

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham!"

    He had put everything into it this time . Colorful mes poured out from his hands, cascading towards the ground . A secondter, he heard thema¡¯s terrified scream . A loud nk sounded on his left . The Fan of Seven Treasures had just parried a swing from the giant arhat¡¯s long staff . The mes were devouring the giant arhat, but the arhat stood its ground, seemingly content with letting itself be burned . The smaller arhats, on the other hand, were scrambling away from the mes . A number of them were burned, but most of them managed to escape by flying upwards and to the side .

    Li Yundong ended atha¡¯s 9th Mudra and began the countdown inside his head .

    15 seconds .

    Time to move .

    Li Yundong flew down towards the mes . Instead of moving in to intercept his path, the smaller arhats just hovered above the mes .

    15 . . . 14...

    Once he was close to the ground, close to those tall mes, Li Yundong switched to another mudra .

    atha¡¯s 10th Mudra: Almighty Push!

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham!"

    The repulsive force flung the colorful mes aside, breaking the mes¡¯ continuity . There! Li Yundong¡¯s fingers were already moving to form a new mudra as he flew into the gap left by the mes .

    atha¡¯s 2nd Mudra: The Immovable Mountain of Treasure!

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham!"

    A golden dome surrounded his body just as those mes began to copse inwards . The mes thrashed against the dome, but the shield held . The n had worked . Now he was literally inside the mes . Inside, but protected .

    Without releasing atha¡¯s 2nd Mudra, he flew towards the base of the pagoda at full speed .

    10... 9... 8...

    None of the smaller arhats could touch him . He was engulfed in atha¡¯s mes, and those arhats were afraid of the mes .

    He reached the base of the pagoda in no time . He released the mudra and shot towards the sixth floor .

    "No!!!!!" Thema¡¯s dejected scream was music to his ears .

    "Om mani padme hum!"

    The Intelligent Fist Mudra blew the pagoda¡¯s roof right off .

    "Chan¡¯er!!!"

    The scent of burning incense hit his nostrils the moment he flew into the room . He scanned the room quickly for signs of the totem pole . He spotted it lying horizontally on the ground near the corner of the room . The top half of the pole was now gone, no doubt blown away together with the roof .

    "Chan¡¯er!!"

    He flew towards the end of the pole, where a naked womany face down .

    "No, no, no..." He kneeled down beside the woman and parted the mop of dark hair obscuring her face . "Chan¡ª"

    Li Yundong¡¯s face paled, and his hands dropped away from the woman¡¯s face .

    It wasn¡¯t her .

 Chapter 280

    Chapter 280

    <h4>The Golden Snakes</h4>

    The girl stared up at him from the floor, her lips trembling and her bloodless face etched with confusion, relief, and gratitude . As Li Yundong rose to his feet, his heart all but sank to his toes . Instead of finding Su Chan, he had just made a grave mistake .

    "It¡¯s you . " The pause in that voice allowed Li Yundong to register the astonishment it contained . "The young warrior . "

    What? Young warrior?

    He turned around to face the owner of the voice: an oldma dressed in a golden kasaya .

    The old man was seated cross-legged on the floor . Both of his hands were upied: prayer beads in his left hand; a wooden fish in his right .

    Li Yundong frowned . "You know me?"

    The oldma broke into a grin . "Of course . You¡¯re the one who¡ª"

    Thema was cut off by a blood-curdling scream . Li Yundong whipped his head to his left, towards the edge of the circr room . A man was climbing to his feet . The shackles were still attached to his wrists and ankles, but the chains were broken .

    The man¡¯s mouth suddenly dropped open .

    Li Yundong once thought that Lin Youfa¡¯s transformation was grotesque . Only now did he know just how wrong he¡¯d been . Panicked screams shook the room as the man¡¯s figure ballooned into a golden anaconda . A giant anaconda whose girth was about the same size as a standard water bucket . And as if that wasn¡¯t bad enough, the anaconda was freakishly long . Even when coiled up, its body upied about a quarter of therge room . The anaconda hissed at themas closest to it, then charged at Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong leaped aside, and the anaconda slithered past him .

    Only then did he realize that he wasn¡¯t the anaconda¡¯s real target at all .

    It was the girl . The snake was going after the girl .

    The anaconda bit off an entire chunk of the totem pole . The restraints on the girl¡¯s wrists and ankles snapped . The girl shot Li Yundong another grateful look before she, too, transformed into an anaconda .

    "No!" Li Yundong pounced just as the two anacondas slithered down the side of the pagoda . He managed to catch one of the anacondas¡¯ tail and then hold on to it with all his might .

    The anaconda twisted its body, and its scaly skin slid out of Li Yundong¡¯s grip . Two bright shes lit up the side of the pagoda secondster .

    The anacondas were gone .

    ***

    Li Yundong turned around and walked back to the center of the circr room where the oldma sat . The othermas were all watching him silently . Even the arhats, who were hovering in a circr formation above the room, were watching him .

    When he reached the oldma, Li Yundong got down on one knee and bowed his head in shame . "Venerable Master," he began . "My recklessness has caused trouble for Xiyuan Temple . " He paused to take a breath . "I am prepared to ept any punishment you deem appropriate for my wrongdoings . "

    Silence reigned .

    Li Yundong kept his head low as his cheeks burned .

    Then, the oldma startedughing .

    Li Yundong¡¯s head shot up in surprise .

    The wrinkles on the oldma¡¯s face creased further asughter shook his shoulders . At one point, the old man started to shake his head, causing his white, cheek-length eyebrows to sway from side to side .

    "U- Uh... S- Sir?" Li Yundong stammered .

    What the heck was so funny?

    Thema suddenly raised his gaze to look past Li Yundong¡¯s shoulders . He realized then that thema was about to address the rest of themas gathered in the room .

    "This kid is so funny, isn¡¯t he?" the oldma said loudly .

    Soft chuckles filled the room .

    Li Yundong nced around the room .

    The youngermas were all smiling at him .

    Okay... what?

    "Bless Wu Hua and his divination skills, truly," the oldma remarked, drawing more chuckles from the youngermas . "All these years, that boy has never gotten it right . Not even once!" The oldma chuckled to himself after that .

    "Amitabha," one of themas piped up . "It would appear that there is a first time for everything, Master . "

    The oldma released another round of mirthfulughter .

    Li Yundong stared at the old man in utter puzzlement .

    As though sensing his confusion, the oldma stoppedughing and smiled at him . "Wu Hua, one of my disciples, has recently predicted that trouble would befall the temple during the course of this ritual . " The oldma¡¯s smile crinkled his face further . "I just didn¡¯t know that it would be a cmity of such scale!"

    Li Yundong lowered his head in shame . "My actions are indeed unjustifiable . " Li Yundong sighed and shook his head . "As I said earlier, I am prepared to ept any form of punishment you deem necessary to¡ª"

    Someone burst into the room .

    "You fool! What have you done?"

    Li Yundong raised his head and saw the middle-agedma making a beeline towards him .

    "Wait," said the oldma .

    The middle-agedma pulled up short, blinking in confusion . "Master?"

    "You¡¯re dismissed," the oldma said .

    "I-I beg your pardon, Master?"

    "I said you¡¯re dismissed," the oldma repeated .

    The middle-agedma seemed aghast at his master¡¯s suggestion . "Master . " The middle-agedma took a deep breath, then exhaled . "This man had disrespected the temple by barging in here and interrupting the ritual . Please allow me to¡ª"

    The oldma raised his palm . "You¡¯re dismissed . " The old man swept his gaze around the circr room . "All of you . "

    The middle-agedma bowed slightly and retreated . The othermas rose from the floor and filed out of the room as well . Minutester, Li Yundong and the oldma were the only ones left in the room . And the dozens of arhats floating above them, of course .

    The oldma rose to his feet and put his prayer beads away . From inside his robe, he pulled out a small wooden stick with a rounded end . Then, he began a series of percussions by knocking the wooden fish with the stick . The oldma¡¯s lips moved soundlessly as he chanted a mantra . Secondster, the arhats above the roofless pagoda began to disperse .

    It took about five minutes until thest of the arhats was gone .

    "Come with me, young warrior," the oldma said, beckoning him towards the room¡¯s exit .

    ***

    After collecting the Fan of Seven Treasures, Li Yundong followed the oldma to another building behind the pagoda . The building was small but well-maintained . If he were to venture a guess, this was the oldma¡¯s personal quarters .

    As they entered the room, Li Yundong paused at the doorway and said, "I¡¯m terribly sorry about the ritual, Venerable Master . " And not to mention the damage he¡¯d inflicted on the pagoda¡¯s roof . Correction: there wasn¡¯t even a roof now, since he¡¯d blown it away .

    The oldma chuckled and said nothing .

    They walked past arge table where numerous scrolls were stacked neatly on top of each other . Eventually, they entered a smaller room with an incense pot ced at the center . A medium-sized square table was pushed against the corner of the room . He didn¡¯t see any stools under the table, which was rather strange since the table was clearly set up for guests¡ªif therge teapot and the various teacups on top of it were anything to go by .

    The oldma stopped in front of the incense pot and lit up several incenses . After that, he moved past the pot and took a seat on one of the round cushions set up on the floor .

    The oldma gestured at a second cushion on the floor . "Please have a seat, young warrior . "

    Li Yundong padded towards the cushion and lowered himself onto it . "I don¡¯t deserve to be called a warrior, Venerable Master," he said as hey the Fan of Treasures beside him .

    He was no warrior . Just another troublemaker . He didn¡¯t mean to cause trouble though . He just really thought it was Chan¡¯er .

    The oldma chuckled again . "You were willing to sacrifice your own life to punish H¨¦ Shao for his evil deeds," he said . "In my book, you¡¯re a warrior . "

    Li Yundong gaped at the oldma . "Y- You... You knew about..." He gestured his hands a few times .

    The oldmaughed . "Most of us in the Cultivation world aren¡¯t blind, you know? We managed to put two and two together . " The oldma paused in thought . "At least I did . I¡¯m not sure about other sects though . "

    "Yeah... It¡¯s probably just you, sir . "

    None of the Cultivators from the Great Six seemed to recognize his name when he introduced himself to them during the battle . Zhang Tianh¨¦ didn¡¯t even react when he told him his full name .

    The oldma¡¯s expression turned somber . "The truth is, H¨¦ Shao¡¯s name had popped up in most Cultivation sects¡¯ radars a long time ago . "

    Li Yundong stared at the old man, waiting for him to continue .

    A wry smile formed on the oldma¡¯s face . "You must be wondering why nothing was done, right?"

    "Yes," he admitted .

    "Well . The Cultivators were hesitant to take action . " The oldma held Li Yundong¡¯s gaze . "They were afraid . "

    Li Yundong kept staring .

    The oldma gave him a pointed look . "Of the consequences, I mean . "

    "They didn¡¯t have to kill him . " Li Yundong sighed . "They just had to make sure that he didn¡¯t evade thew . "

    "True . " The oldma released a wry chuckle . "But their sects wouldn¡¯t allow them to act . "

    Li Yundong frowned . Why not? Did it involve politics again?

    The old man raised a hand . Therge teapot and two teacups floated from the square table towards them .

    Li Yundong stared at the teapot¡¯s movement . "Qi Kinesis..."

    The old man smiled knowingly and took the teapot from the air .

    "Wait, sir," Li Yundong said, holding up a hand . "Please allow me . " Then, he took the teapot from the old man and began filling the two cups with hot tea .

    "So . Li Yundong zhenren," the old man said in a strange tone . "I heard you¡¯ve recently been named the new Head of the Fox Zen School . "

    Li Yundong would¡¯ve fallen t on his butt right then if he wasn¡¯t already sitting down . "Hey... I thought... B- But that was only hours ago! How could you have found out about that already?!"

    Was there a telepathic news bulletin or something?

    The oldma seemed to find Li Yundong¡¯s reaction amusing as he chuckled again .

    "Sir?"

    The oldma took a sip of from his cup, then pulled out something from his robe .

    Li Yundong nearly dropped his own teacup when he saw what it was .

    It was a smartphone .

    The oldma unlocked the screen with nimble fingers, then pulled up a messaging app with surprising adroitness .

    Li Yundong stared at the old man in wonder .

    A tech-savvyma . How about that .

    Li Yundong took the phone when it was proffered to him and read what was on the screen .

    It was a group chat, where his recent "adventure" at the Fox Zen School was announced to everyone . The announcement ended with a deration stating that Li Yundong, the man who had fought off the Great Six¡¯s army, was now the new Head of the Fox Zen School .

    Li Yundong stared at thema, stunned .

    "Who¡¯s the source?" Li Yundong shook his head a few times . "I mean, who made the announcement?"

    "No doubt someone from inside the Fox Zen School," said thema .

    Li Yundong pondered thema¡¯s words for a moment . Was it Cao Yi? Probably . It made sense though . She must have done it as some kind of deterrent . Nobody would dare attack the school again if it was made known to the entire Cultivation world that he was now the new head . After all, he had given the Great Six quite the scare during the battle .

    "Can¡¯t say I¡¯m surprised though," thema remarked .

    "I beg your pardon?"

    Thema took the phone from Li Yundong¡¯s hand . "I¡¯m not surprised that the Great Seer named you as the new head . "

    Li Yundong smiled wryly . "Even though it¡¯s totally unconventional?"

    Yeah . A human bing the leader of the Fox Zen School . To hell with orthodoxy .

    Themaughed . "Yes . "

    Li Yundong shook his head, not knowing what else to say .

    "Your strength is definitely the main factor he picked you," said the oldma .

    Li Yundong stared at thema and waited for him to continue .

    Thema sighed . "To be honest, Li zhenren... I¡¯m surprised that you couldst even five minutes against the arhats let alone get past them to reach the pagoda . " The old man gave him a serious look . "Even Zhang Tiansh¨©, the Head of the Zhengyi School himself, feared the Great Arhat Formation . "

    Li Yundong lowered his gaze to the floor .

    "Go back where you came from . That¡¯s where you¡¯ll find her . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s head shot up .

    The oldma smiled at his reaction . "You were looking for a youngdy named Su Chan, weren¡¯t you?"

    Li Yundong sat up straighter . "Y- You know where to find her?"

    "Go back where you came from . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "Where I came from? But..."

    Where? The Fox Zen School? Tiannan City?

    "Um... Could you be a bit more specific?"

    Themaughed . "I¡¯m afraid not, Li zhenren . I¡¯m just the messenger, you see . "

    "A messenger? For whom?"

    "For that disciple of mine, of course . The one with the unparalleled divination skills?"

    Li Yundong stared at the old man silently .

    The old man sighed . "My disciple warned me that an outsider would try to interfere with the ritual tonight . " The old man paused and gave him a pointed look . "Did you see those talismans outside?"

    "Yes . "

    The oldma nodded . "Nobody took Wu Hua¡¯s prediction seriously, but I did . " The oldma chuckled . "I requested my disciples to set up the Great Arhat Formation just in case . " The oldma looked into Li Yundong¡¯s eyes . "I just didn¡¯t expect this intruder to be the infamous conjurer of the Heavenly Thunder who brought retribution to H¨¦ Shao . "

 Chapter 281

    Chapter 281

    <h4>My Chan¡¯er</h4>

    Li Yundong left the oldma¡¯s quarters after apologizing profusely for all the trouble that he had caused . At one point, he had even offered to go into the mountain to track down the two serpents . The oldma denied the offer, saying that Li Yundong had more important things to focus on . When he asked thema what those "important things" entailed, a cryptic smile was all he got in return .

    Somehow, he had a feeling that thema wasn¡¯t referring to his search for Su Chan .

    Li Yundong arrived at the edge of the forest after a long walk . Surprisingly, the stretch ofnd in front of the pagoda was rtively undamaged even though it had been engulfed in atha¡¯s mes earlier . There were no signs of the giant arhat . Heck, there weren¡¯t even signs that a battle had recently taken ce .

    Weird . But he chalked it up to some super Buddhist magic .

    A minute or two after he entered the forest, Li Yundong heard something: whispersing from a thick undergrowth nearby .

    Li Yundong frowned and crept towards the hedge .

    Two loud shrieks sounded when he yanked the leaves apart . The frightened faces of two women stared back at him .

    "Hey, it¡¯s you..." Li Yundong whispered .

    Lan was there, but she wasn¡¯t the source of his surprise . The other woman was Liu Xia, the female tour guide whose life he had saved from the avnche during his pilgrimage to Tibet .

    Xiaxia . Liu Xia . Right .

    "Wait a minute... Li Yundong narrowed his eyes at the two women . "You two . . . "

    Guess he now knew who his mysterious "aplices" were .

    Liu Xia and Lan shared a nce with each other .

    "You two were following me . "

    His statement seemed to have jolted Liu Xia and Lan out of their stupor as they suddenly screamed and took off into the woods .

    Li Yundong stared after the two women .

    Well . Whatever .

    Go back where you came from...

    With a sigh, Li Yundong took off into the night sky and flew in the direction of Xiyuan temple . He had a riddle to solve and a girlfriend to find .

    ***

    Shaobing .

    Thest time she had one of these, she nearly broke a tooth . Okay . That was an exaggeration . Master¡¯s cold shaobings weren¡¯t that bad . They were just... well, cold . And maybe a bit mediocre in the taste department . They were average . They weren¡¯t bad at all .

    Really .

    Su Chan had teased Master mercilessly the other day when Master snatched the bag of shaobing out of Su Chan¡¯s hands after she hadpared them to Yundong¡¯s cooking . Then again, Master stopped calling Su Chan an ingrate after she herself had taken a bite of the shaobing . After that, the bag mysteriously disappeared, and Su Chan went back to teasing Master mercilessly .

    That was then .

    Now what she wouldn¡¯t give for a chance to taste Master¡¯s shaobing again, preferably fresh from the oven .

    "Hey, youngdy . Are you going to keep staring, or are you going to order something?"

    Su Chan nced up and saw the stall owner¡ªan old man¡ªstaring at her strangely . It was almost midnight now; it surprised her that the old man was still out on the streets, bustling about . It was like he had consumed an elixir of youth or something .

    "You¡¯ve been staring at my stall for the past thirty minutes, you know?" The old man¡¯s face crinkled when he smiled . "Would you like to order something?"

    Yeah . I would love to order something . Just that you would call me a thief afterwards and probably try to send me to those men with sticks . Why? Because the few miserable coins in my wallet says so .

    Su Chan returned the old man¡¯s smile with a charming smile of her own .

    Maybe she should just go . She shouldn¡¯t even havee out for supper . What was she even thinking?

    "Look at these!"

    The old man pulled out a tray of freshly baked shaobing . As if her stomach wasn¡¯t torturing her enough already .

    "Crispy and tasty!"

    "Oh . " Su Chan mumbled .

    Okay . Time to go¡ª

    "Give her your best shaobing, sir," a voice sounded beside her . "Put it on my tab . "

    Su Chan whipped her head around and saw a handsome man grinning at her .

    Anger rose inside Su Chan . "You again..." she growled . "Why are you here?!"

    This annoying man had been pestering her for days!

    The man shrugged . "Treating you to shaobing, apparently . "

    "No thanks!" Su Chan stormed off .

    "Whoa, whoa! Youngdy!" the stall owner shouted . "Do you still want your shaobing or not?!"

    Su Chan ignored the stall owner and kept walking .

    "Hey, wait up!" the young man yelled behind her .

    Su Chan ignored the annoying man even though he had just offered to treat her to a bunch of freshly-baked shaobings (which practically had her name written all over them), and that was saying something .

    "Go away!" Su Chan yelled over her shoulder . "And leave me alone!"

    Apparently the young man was too dense to take a hint .

    "Oh,e on... Wait up!"

    The man suddenly grabbed her arm from behind .

    Su Chan turned around and shot the man a re . "Don¡¯t . Touch me . "

    Su Chan fought down the urge to break the man¡¯s hand and then punch the smug grin off his face . But no . She shouldn¡¯t . She shouldn¡¯t get into trouble . Not when she was already in deep trouble .

    "Tsk . Tsk . So feisty . " The man chuckled and removed his hand from her forearm .

    Su Chan turned around and walked away again . Should she fly? Should she use a spell? What if there were Cultivators around?

    Argh! This is such a paaaiiiinnn!

    "Hey... I said wait!"

    The man was suddenly in front of her again, blocking her path .

    "Out of my way!" Su Chan shoved the man aside and stormed past him . "I already told you that I have a boyfriend!"

    Persistence was probably the man¡¯sst name, because he was still following her .

    "We should be friends," he said . "There¡¯s no harm in being friends, right?"

    Su Chan ignored the man and kept walking .

    The man matched her pace and kept yapping, blissfully ignorant of the Su Chan¡¯s murderous thoughts .

    "How about this," said the man when they reached the corner of a street . "Let¡¯s exchange QQ addresses . "

    She didn¡¯t even know what the heck QQ addresses were . All she had was a corn-door address . Not that she would tell him that .

    "Not even a QQ address?" the man said exasperatedly . "Well . That¡¯s a bummer . "

    God, this annoying pest!

    "Ooh! I know . What about MSN? Surely you¡¯ve got an MSN address, right?"

    Su Chan suddenly stopped walking and elbowed the man¡¯s ribs . The man stumbled slightly but caught up to her again .

    Gah!! Should¡¯ve elbowed him harder!

    "Come on, pretty girl," the man pleaded . "Won¡¯t you at least tell me your name?"

    That does it!

    Su Chan spun around and gave the man a hard shove . The guy stumbled backwards until his back crashed into one of those metal contraptions with rubber wheels . Cars! Damn it! Cars! There! She wasn¡¯tpletely clueless when ites to mortal-speak, thank you very much .

    "Leave me alone!" Su Chan screamed, then broke off in a sprint .

    "Hey! Don¡¯t go!"

    What an annoying pest .

    An annoying pest, who was still chasing after her .

    Su Chan slipped into a small alley .

    Shadow Mist!

    With that, she flew into the night sky, away from the alley .

    ***

    Su Chan floated around until she spotted a familiar sight: the semi-circr granite bridge near Mount Qili¡¯s entrance . She flew down andnded on the end of the bridge, then switched back to her normal form .

    I¡¯m hungry...

    For a moment, Su Chan entertained the thought of catching fish in the river under the bridge and then cooking the fish back at the corn-door . But then she remembered thest time she tried to "cook" fish .

    Nuh-uh .

    She wouldn¡¯t have a ce to stay if she blew up the corn-door .

    She sighed and removed her shoes . Then, she leaped off the bridge andnded on the edge of the river . She sat down and dipped her feet into the water . The water felt cool, refreshing . A smallfort on a tough day .

    As Su Chan paddled her feet in the water, her lips began to move . The soft tune of a song filled the dark space under the bridge . Master had taught her that song, saying that she could hum that song whenever she felt lonely, or whenever she missed someone dearly .

    Right now, she was missing not one, but two people .

    Su Chan paused in her humming and sniffed .

    It¡¯s going to be okay . I¡¯ll figure something out... I¡¯ll find a way to help Master . Or at least I¡¯ll die trying...

    Su Chan paddled her feet through the water and resumed humming .

    "You should sing more often," said a voice . "You sing really well . "

    The voice came from above the bridge .

    No... It... It can¡¯t be...

    Su Chan withdrew her feet from the water and stood up . She turned around and looked up at the bridge .

    "B- Beloved..." Su Chan¡¯s voice trembled . "Is that really you?"

    A loud thud sounded when the man leaped down from the top of the bridge .

    The man smiled . "Yes, it¡¯s me . Don¡¯t you recognize me anymore?"

    She might as well be incapable of recognizing him since her vision had long since been blurred by her tears .

    "Y- Yundong..."

    Yundong smiled and opened his arms . "Come here, Chan¡¯er..."

    Su Chan had never moved so fast in her life . Barely a secondter, she found herself crashing into that familiar warmth .

    And she didn¡¯t say a word .

    There would be time for wordster .

    Right now, she needed this .

    This was enough .

    "It¡¯s okay, my Chan¡¯er... It¡¯s okay..." Yundong¡¯s soothing voice matched the rhythm of his hands as he stroked her hair . "Everything¡¯s going to be alright, Chan¡¯er . I promise . Everything¡¯s going to be alright . "

 Chapter 282

    Chapter 282

    <h4>Reunion</h4>

    Their embrace came to an end when Su Chan¡¯s stomach let out a long growl of protest . And Su Chan would have a few choice words for that ursed organ of hers if it hadn¡¯t just caused Yundong tough .

    God . She missed Yundong¡¯sugh .

    She missed Yundong . Period .

    Yundong pressed their foreheads together . "Looks like my princess cheap monk is hungry . "

    Su Chan blushed . "A- A little?" Lies . She was famished .

    Yundong smirked . "I bet your stomach disagrees . "

    Out of fear that her cheeks would suddenly burst into mes, Su Chan buried her face into the warmth of Yundong¡¯s chest . "I... I ran out of money . "

    Yundong kept stroking her hair without saying anything .

    Su Chan suddenly pulled away and raised three fingers . "But I was thrifty!"

    Yundong just looked back at her with amusement . And the words just kept pouring out of Su Chan¡¯s lips . "I knew I didn¡¯t have Hello Keedee with me, so I spent my pocket money carefully . I- I- I even..." Su Chan lowered her hand and let her voice dropped into a mumble . "I even divvied up the coins..."

    She did more than that though . Drinking water to stave off her hunger . Making sure that she wouldn¡¯t pass by any Mac Doo Nurls shops in all her routes . She even considered catching fish in the river, for Heavens¡¯ sake . She wondered how long it would take before she finally gave in and let that annoying stalker buy her a meal .

    Yundong cupped her cheeks with both hands . "Don¡¯t worry, okay? I¡¯m here now . " Yundong smiled . "I¡¯ll make sure you never starve again . "

    Su Chan gripped the hands on her cheeks and held on tight . He was here . Yundong was here . She couldn¡¯t believe that he was really here .

    "Yundong..."

    "Yes?"

    "Have you... um...?" Su Chan pointed at the sky .

    Yundong smiled . "Yes . "

    Relief coursed through Su Chan, and she threw her arms around his neck . "You did it, Yundong... You really did it . " She hugged him tighter and felt the firm pressure of Yundong¡¯s hands on her waist . "I¡¯m so d..."

    "I had help . "

    The word "help" set off a dozen of rm bells in Su Chan . She ended their embrace and met Yundong¡¯s confused eyes . She had to tell him about Master .

    "Yundong... I... Master... She¡ª"

    Yundong suddenly pressed a finger to her lips . His eyes looked dead serious .

    "Not here," he said in a low voice .

    Yundong removed his finger after Su Chan nodded .

    "Where have you been staying?" he asked .

    "Master has a corn-door house in this area," Su Chan answered, trying everything to tamp down her anxiety .

    Yundong¡¯s eyes just now . It was like he knew something . Had he heard about what happened to Master already?

    Yundong nced around a few times .

    "Yundong?"

    Yundong shed her a smile . "Let¡¯s go," he said, moving forward to take her hand .

    "Oh . " Su Chan blinked a few times . "Where to?"

    Yundong looked at her strangely . "To your Master¡¯s ce . " He smiled again . "So that I can feed that noisy stomach of yours . "

    Su Chan blushed . She thought he was taking them back to Tiannan City . They could fly back pretty quickly if they wanted to .

    Su Chan squeaked when her feet suddenly left the ground . They were levitating . Her gaze snapped towards Yundong, who was grinning back at her . She shouldn¡¯t even be surprised, really . If he managed to survive the Heavenly Thunder, then he would¡¯ve reached, at the very least, the advance stages of the Shentong phase by now .

    Yundong flew them upwards until they bothnded on the granite bridge .

    Su Chan stole a nce at Yundong . He was still ncing around as though he was looking for something in their surroundings .

    Something about him felt different .

    Appearance-wise he was still the same, of course: handsome; fit; a bright and sunny expression .

    It was the way he carried himself that felt different . He seemed much calmer and less vtile than she remembered . He also seemed more serious and less yful . Before Master separated them temporarily, Yundong was the very definition of a chaotic power source, like a tempest, or a typhoon . But now, he was like the ocean¡ªcalm, yet still possessing the same capacity for power .

    Was this the result of his survival of the Heavenly Thunder?

    Yundong suddenly closed his eyes . There was a focused look on his face, like he was listening hard for something .

    Su Chan waited for him to open his eyes before she did something she hadn¡¯t done for a long, long time: tug his sleeve .

    Yundong¡¯s smiling eyes slid to her face, and for a moment, Su Chan actually forgot what she wanted to say .

    "U- Um... Eryue?"

    Yundong sighed, then nodded . "Just wanted to make sure that we aren¡¯t being followed . "

    Calm . Careful . Controlled .

    This was the new Yundong .

    To be honest, she kind of liked this version of him . Though she kind of missed his yful side too .

    "Shall we go?" Yundong asked .

    Su Chan beamed . "Mm!"

    They stared at each other for a moment . Yundong didn¡¯t move, and neither did she .

    Of course, her traitorous stomach had to interrupt their little moment by growling so loudly that she was pretty sure the whole Dongwu City could hear it .

    Yundong burst intoughter . And Su Chan found herself openly staring at him, captivated by the fact that he was here, alive and well .

    Yundong stoppedughing and cleared his throat . "You¡¯re gonna have to lead the way, you know?"

    Su Chan blinked away the remnants of her daze . "Hmm?"

    Yundong caressed the side of her cheek . "I don¡¯t know the way to your master¡¯s ce . "

    "O- Okay..."

    "Alright . " Yundong¡¯s smile broadened . "Let¡¯s go . "

    "P- Piggy, piggy," Su Chan blurted out .

    Yundong stopped mid-stride and turned his head around to look at her . He looked far too amused for Su Chan¡¯s ability to suppress her blush .

    "You want me to give you a piggyback ride?"

    Su Chan peeked up at him from under hershes . Was that okay? Was that too presumptuous?

    She nodded meekly, then turned away to hide her blush .

    There was shuffling of feet .

    "Hop on, mdy . "

    Su Chan nced down and saw Yundong kneeling in front of her with his back facing her .

    When Su Chan didn¡¯t move right away, Yundong looked over his shoulder and grinned . "Well? What are you waiting for?" He nudged her calf with his hand . "Hop on . "

    She did, by throwing her entire weight onto his back .

    Yundong yelped . "Hey, hey, hey... Easy, princess . Easy..."

    Su Chan giggled . She knew he was just joking; there was no way her measly weight could hurt his Jindan-enhanced body . Plus, she had probably lost a decent amount of weight due to the frugal lifestyle that she had recently adopted .

    "Ready to go?" Yundong asked .

    Instead of answering, Su Chan kicked her foot on Yundong¡¯s butt the same way she would when riding a horse .

    Yundong chuckled and started walking .

    Su Chan pointed with her finger to indicate the right direction to Master¡¯s corn-door, theny her cheek against Yundong¡¯s shoulders . She was so tired, and Yundong¡¯s body felt so warm .

    "Chan¡¯er..."

    "Mm?"

    "Let¡¯s not part with each other again, okay?"

    A tear slid down Su Chan¡¯s cheek . She bit her lip to stifle a sob, then quickly turned away to prevent her tear from wetting Yundong¡¯s neck .

    "Mm . " Su Chan nodded even though she knew that Yundong couldn¡¯t see her . "I won¡¯t let you go . I won¡¯t . "

 Chapter 283

    Chapter 283

    <h4>Guilt</h4>

    The journey to Master¡¯s corn-door took around fifteen minutes . It was past midnight now, so they hadn¡¯t passed by many people on their way back . Su Chan had tried her best to keep an eye out for that pest though . Thankfully, they didn¡¯t run into the guy . She hadn¡¯t seen that annoying stalker ever since she gave him the slip in that alley . Hopefully, the guy had given up on her and was now off to bother some other women .

    Yeah, right .

    He¡¯d been chasing her around for days . One time, she even found him waiting in front of Master¡¯s corn-door building!

    In hindsight, it would be better if they ran into the guy on their way back here . That way he would finally believe Su Chan¡¯s im that she was taken, that she had a boyfriend . Not that Su Chan hadn¡¯t tried her absolute best to drill that notion into that silly man¡¯s thick skull . Even after all the verbal abuse she had hurled at him, his answer was always the same: "But I¡¯ve been following you around for days, and not once did your boyfriend show up . "

    She wanted to tell him that her beloved was on a very important mission, but then she changed her mind and kept her mouth shut instead . Pretty sure saying that would only make things worse . She could already imagine the speech he would give her: "Oh? So this boyfriend of yours cares more about his mission than you? Well, if you give me a chance, I promise you that I won¡¯t do that to you... h, h, h... yada, yada, yada..."

    Ugh .

    Truth be told, she¡¯d rather just knock the guy out cold (or unleash her superb testicle-ruining skills), but then she really didn¡¯t want to deal with the consequences of such drastic measures .

    "Um... Chan¡¯er? Do you have a key?"

    Su Chan lifted her cheek from Yundong¡¯s shoulder and looked straight ahead . They were standing in front of Master¡¯s ce now . When did that even happen? Guess her mind must have wandered off after she told Yundong the room number .

    Oh well .

    "You can just open the door, beloved . It¡¯s unlocked . "

    Yundong turned his head to look at her over his shoulder . "You didn¡¯t lock the door after you left?"

    He sounded incredulous, and Su Chan wouldn¡¯t me him . But then Master was a Cultivator . Locks were redundant .

    Su Chan grinned . "There isn¡¯t much to steal, beloved . "

    Yundong opened the door and walked them both into the corn-door . Tears stung Su Chan¡¯s eyes again when Master¡¯s scent assaulted her nostrils . This was another reason why she had chosen to wander around in the city instead of spending her day holed up inside the corn-door . It was too painful to be surrounded by Master¡¯s scent yet be unable to see her beautiful face or hear her usual, "you insolent disciple!"

    Too painful . Far too painful .

    Her sensitive nose was usually a boon . But in this regard, it was a curse .

    "Whoa . What are those?" Yundong carried her into the dining room .

    Oh, those .

    Those were actually part of Su Chan¡¯s "contingency ns" if she ran out of money to buy food . Not that she was totally broke . She still had a wad or two left (maybe) . Well, those, plus a handful of coins .

    Yundong chuckled as he picked up a radish from one of the (many) rectangr nters lying around . "How long did it take Wushuang qi¨¢nb¨¨i to grow these? It¡¯s like a vegetable garden in here!"

    Su Chan bit her cheek to stifle a giggle . "Master didn¡¯t nt them . "

    The radish slipped from Yundong¡¯s fingers before he caught it with his other hand . He turned around to face her . "She didn¡¯t?"

    "Nope . " Su Chan grinned at Yundong . "I did!"

    Yundong¡¯s puzzled expression was soical that Su Chan burst into giggles .

    "But these..." Yundong pulled out a carrot from a second nter, then leaned down to study a third nter where the sweet potatoes were nted . He dropped the carrot into the nter, then turned his head to look at Su Chan . "When did you actually leave the Fox Zen School?"

    "Hmm..." Su Chan poked a finger at her chin . "More than a week ago?"

    Yundong had this strange look on his face which made him look super adorable . His jaw went ck slightly before they clicked shut . "But these vegetables would take months to mature . " He waved his hand at the nters . Suddenly, he startedughing . He turned his head around and looked at her with eyes filled with mirth . "It was a spell, wasn¡¯t it? You used a spell . "

    Su Chan broke into a grin . "Hehehe..."

    It was one of those clever spells that Master had invented . When she and Master were in hiding all those years ago, Master didn¡¯t want to risk leaving the mountains to get food, so she had put her genius to good use and invented all kinds of spells that allowed them to grow their own vegetables . The spells were amazing . Amazinglyplicated . Well, Master did try to exin the intricacies of those spells, but Su Chan didn¡¯t really understand her exnations back then . She sort of zoned out after Master said, "It¡¯s a hybrid of Water, Earth, and Wood element spells, Chan¡¯er..."

    Su Chan had dug out those old talismans from Master¡¯s room when she realized that she was running out of money .

    "Kya!!"

    Yundong had just pped her butt .

    Yundong chuckled . "My little princess cheap monk is full of tricks, isn¡¯t she?"

    Su Chan stuck out her tongue and made a face at Yundong .

    "Although I don¡¯t really see the point of having a vegetable garden if you can¡¯t even cook . " Yundong smirked . "Thest time you tried to cook, you blew up a kitchen . "

    Su Chan blushed .

    "You even med it on a talisman . "

    Su Chan pped Yundong¡¯s arm repeatedly . "Meanie, meanie, meanie!"

    Yundong stoppedughing after a while and studied the nters again . "Seriously though . What were you nning to do with all these vegetables? Sell them for cash?"

    That thought did cross her mind, actually . But in the end, she decided against it because she knew absolutely nothing about trade .

    "Don¡¯t tell me you n to eat them raw?" Yundong sounded genuinely horrified .

    Su Chan giggled . "No . Of course not . "

    Well... .

    She guess would¡¯ve figured out ways to "cook" those vegetables eventually . She wasn¡¯t totally clueless . Maybe bake them with a fire spell or something . Worsees to worst, she would just boil the vegetables in a pot until they turn into some kind of soup .

    Carrot goop . Radish goop .

    Yum .

    "Then?"

    "I was..." Su Chan struggled toe up with an excuse . "I was waiting for you toe and cook them for me!"

    There . That was a pretty clever respond, wasn¡¯t it? At least it made Yundongugh .

    Su Chan squeaked when Yundong suddenly pinched her backside .

    "Say, princess..."

    "Hmm?"

    "How long are you nning to stay on my back?"

    Forever .

    Su Chan tightened her arms around Yundong¡¯s neck . Yundong turned around and walked out of the dining room . At the living room, he came to a halt .

    "Not even a single electric appliance," Yundong observed, then chuckled . "No wonder you said there¡¯s nothing to steal . "

    "Hehehe... See? I told you . "

    Unless, of course, the thieves in question were interested in a bunch of carrots, radishes, and sweet potatoes .

    "This is your room, right?" Yundong paused in front of her room .

    "Yes . " Su Chan leaned her head over his shoulder and gave him a puzzled look . "How did you guess?"

    Yundong pinched her backside again . Was that a new hobby of his?

    Yundong suddenly turned his head and nted a kiss on her cheek . "I don¡¯t think Wushuang qi¨¢nb¨¨i has the habit of making paper dolls, Chan¡¯er . " He directed her attention to the square table inside the room where she had left Paper Yundong and Paper Su Chanst night . A nightmare had jolted her awake, and she got super lonely after that . Hence the paper dolls .

    Su Chan blushed and hid her face against Yundong¡¯s shoulder as he carried her into the room .

    He paused beside the bed and studied the room for a moment . Su Chan nced around furtively just to make sure that she hadn¡¯t left anything embarrassing lying around . The only things that fit the bill were the letters that she hadposed for Yundong but couldn¡¯t send out because birdie went missing .

    "Aren¡¯t you going to get off me?" Yundong asked in a tone of amusement .

    Su Chan loosened her grip around his neck, but she didn¡¯t get down .

    "I can¡¯t cook with you clinging on my body, you know?" Yundong chuckled a few times, then paused . "Well, I suppose I could use Qi Kinesis, but it¡¯s still a bit inconvenient . "

    Qi Kinesis .

    So Yundong had mastered Qi Kinesis as well, just like Master had .

    "Why don¡¯t you lie down for a bit while I whip something up in the kitchen?" Yundong suggested . "You¡¯re hungry, right?"

    "Mm!"

    Su Chan nodded and let the front of her body slide along Yundong¡¯s back until her feet touched the floor .

    Yundong turned around and patted Su Chan¡¯s head .

    "I¡ª"

    Su Chan¡¯s words were cut off by the press of Yundong¡¯s lips on hers .

    The kiss ended too soon . Way too soon .

    Yundong was smiling down at her .

    "Go lie down . " Yundong indicated the bed with a tilt of his head . "I¡¯ll call you when supper is ready . "

    For once, Su Chan didn¡¯t argue . She nodded and climbed into the bed .

    While her eyes slid shut, she tried not to think about Master, about where Master was being kept or whether she was even alive . She tried not to think about the fact that it was her fault that Master ended up getting caught .

    And it was .

    It was all her fault .

 Chapter 284

    Chapter 284

    <h4>Together</h4>

    She was a young girl again . A young girl who was currently being chased around by her master because she had snuck off into the woods instead of staying behind to practice her Qi control drills . She wasughing and giggling, finding joy in the familiar lilt of her master¡¯s voice . Then, it all faded . The dream was slipping away . She knew that because Master¡¯s voice was bing more and more masculine .

    "...Chan¡¯er? Chan¡¯er . "

    Yundong¡¯s concerned expression came into view when she blinked her eyes open . He was sitting on the bed, right beside where she was lying . As wakefulness slowly trickled in, she began to feel the sharp dig of Yundong¡¯s fingers on her shoulder .

    "Beloved?" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes .

    Her fingers were damp . She¡¯d been crying in her sleep .

    Yundong released his grip on her shoulder and smiled . "Are you okay?"

    Su Chan went for a smile, though she wasn¡¯t sure if it had worked . Yundong was still looking at her with concern, so she guessed it hadn¡¯t .

    Yundong pushed a few strands of her hair away from her forehead . "Did you have a good nap?" Yundong¡¯s tone was cheerful, but the look on his face was anything but .

    Su Chan nodded a few times, then stretched out her legs .

    "I made supper . " Yundong stroked her head again . "Are you still hungry? Or do you want to go back to sleep?"

    Su Chan shook her head . "I wanna eat . " She should eat . Stuffing carrots into her mouth was better than filling her mind with countless illusions that always ended up turning into nightmares .

    Yundong smiled and rose from the bed . "Come on, then . " He offered Su Chan his hand . "Let¡¯s eat before the food gets cold . "

    ***

    The food was still warm when they sat down on the square table to begin supper . Yundong had made two simple dishes: stir-fried turnips with carrots; and also vegetable soup .

    Yundong ced two steaming bowls of rice on the table and then sat down on the stool opposite hers . "Dig in, princess . " Yundong smiled and picked up his bowl of rice .

    Su Chan smiled and picked up her own bowl .

    Ten minutes into the meal, Yundong lowered his bowl onto the table . Su Chan stared at Yundong¡¯s empty bowl, then shifted her gaze to her own bowl . She hadn¡¯t even finished half of her rice .

    Wow . Yundong had actually finished his meal before she did . That had never happened before . This deserved a new entry in their Food Wars records .

    She could feel Yundong¡¯s eyes on her for the past ten minutes . She knew he was worried, but he hadn¡¯t say anything so far . He was just there, taking care of her, reassuring her with his presence . And for that, Su Chan was grateful . The truth was that Su Chan wanted so much to open up to him . She just didn¡¯t know how . She felt like she would fall apart the moment she started talking .

    "How about I feed you?"

    Su Chan looked up from her bowl .

    Yundong was stirring her untouched soup with a spoon .

    Su Chan bit her bottom lip to stop it from trembling .

    What was wrong with her?

    Just eat, Chan¡¯er . It¡¯s food . Just eat . Suck it up and eat . Gobble everything down like you used to .

    "Chan¡¯er?"

    Yundong raised the spoon .

    Su Chan opened her mouth . "Ah..."

    Yundong smiled and brought the spoon to her lips . Su Chan wrapped her lips around the spoon and slurped .

    The soup tasted nd .

    It made no sense . Sweet potatoes are supposed to be sweet . Why did it taste so nd? Why did everything feel so meaningless?

    The spoon rose to her lips again . Another spoonful . Would it taste sweeter this time? Yundong let out low humming sound, encouraging her to drink up . Su Chan parted her lips and slurped .

    nd . Meaningless . Painful .

    Her throat felt warm,fortable . Her eyes felt warm too, the stinging kind .

    The spoon didn¡¯t rise to her lips again; Yundong had stopped feeding her soup . Secondster, her half-empty rice bowl was pried off her hand . Her chopsticks ttered to the table when she let go of them .

    "S- Soup..." Su Chan¡¯s lips trembled, and her throat clenched . "I... I want . . . s-soup..."

    Lies . She wanted something, alright . But it had absolutely nothing to do with soup .

    "Oh, Chan¡¯er..."

    "I..." Su Chan buried her face into her hands and started sobbing .

    There were noises amidst her sobs: the legs of a chair scraping against the floor; footsteps; whispers offort .

    "I miss her, Yundong..." Su Chan sniveled and swallowed the lump on her throat . "God, I miss her so much..."

    Warmth enveloped her body . Someone¡¯s jaw pressed down onto the crown of her head . Her beloved¡¯s jaw .

    "I know, Chan¡¯er... I know . " Yundong patted her back gently . "You... You were calling out her name in your sleep . "

    "Oh God... Yundong... Oh God... What have I done? Yundong... What have I done?" Su Chan gripped her hair with both hands . Her voice had turned into a whisper by then . "It¡¯s my fault... It¡¯s all my fault... Everything is my fault..."

    "Hey, hey, hey..." Yundong slowly got her to loosen her grip on her hair . "Come on... Don¡¯t say that . How is any of this your fault?"

    "Master... She... She was..." Su Chan sniffed and wiped her cheeks with one hand . "She was ambushed . "

    There was a sigh .

    "Yeah . I kinda suspected that . " Yundong said, then paused . "But it isn¡¯t your fault, you know?"

    Su Chan shook her head . "I... I tried to tell her . I was... I..." Su Chan let out another sob . "I can¡¯t lose her, Yundong... I can¡¯t..."

    Yundong stopped her rambling with several taps on her shoulder . "It¡¯s okay, Chan¡¯er . It¡¯s okay . " He crouched down until they were looking into each other¡¯s eyes . "Just tell me slowly, okay?"

    Su Chan swiped her tears, then took a deep breath . "I saw, Yundong . I saw what Mo Ahshi did to Gu-sh¨©b¨® . I knew there was something wrong with... with..." Su Chan sucked in another breath when her voice turned into a choking sound . Yundong started patting her back again . Su Chan exhaled and cleared her throat . "Then, I told Master what I saw . She was furious . She didn¡¯t believe me . "

    Yundong said nothing and kept stroking her back .

    "She didn¡¯t believe me because I¡¯ve..." Another lump formed in Su Chan¡¯s throat . "I¡¯ve been disobedient . I haven¡¯t been a good girl..." Su Chan sniffed . "Running around causing trouble... I..." Su Chan blinked away more tears . "If... If only I¡¯d been more obedient... Then Master would¡¯ve listened to my warning . She would¡¯ve been ready... and... and... none of this would¡¯ve happened . "

    The words kept pouring out of Su Chan¡¯s mouth . She¡¯d been holding everything in ever since her escape from the Fox Zen School . And now that the floodgates had opened, she just couldn¡¯t stop talking .

    "...She¡¯s been so busy . Her mind was upied... Helping you... Worrying about the attack... And I didn¡¯t even help... So weak... A burden... I... I was just hiding... If only I¡¯d been a bit stronger..." Her voice turned into a wail . "Oh God, what have I done..."

    "Chan¡¯er, look at me . "

    Her hands were pried away from her face gently .

    Yundong¡¯s determined expression came into view .

    "We¡¯re gonna get her back, Chan¡¯er . I¡¯m going to do everything in my power to get her back, you hear me? Everything . "

    Su Chan exhaled tiredly and stared down at her ownp . She didn¡¯t even have the energy to nod . This was too exhausting .

    "I wanna help," she said tiredly .

    Yundong lifted her chin up . "Then we¡¯ll do it together . "

    Su Chan stared into his beloved¡¯s eyes . She didn¡¯t smile even though her heart felt a bit lighter now .

    "Together . "

 Chapter 285

    Chapter 285

    <h4>Surprise</h4>

    Supper ended after Su Chan had calmed down from her emotional breakdown . Yundong had finished his meal anyway, and Su Chan had lost her appetite . Bye-bye cheap monk .

    They moved to the living room after Yundong cleared the table with Qi Kinesis . Su Chan had watched the whole disy with subdued wonder . She had seen Master perform it countless times . But still . This was Yundong, someone who, just a few months back, knew close to nothing about Cultivation .

    Now he was performing Qi Kinesis like a master .

    Wow .

    Su Chan would be performing cartwheels in the air right now if she wasn¡¯t feeling so down .

    "Beloved?"

    Yundong looked up from the phone box and smiled . "Hmm?"

    "Who are you calling?"

    Yundong had been staring at the phone box for the past five minutes . He wasn¡¯t calling anyone on it though . He just pressed a few buttons and then went back to staring at the screen .

    "I was just texting Zi Yuan . " He smiled . "She told me to let her know as soon as I found you . "

    "Texting?" Su Chan watched Yundong put the phone box away . "Oh . Is that the thing when you press a few buttons and then Chinese characters appear on the screen?"

    It was like writing a note or a letter by clicking a few buttons .

    Yundong reached over and pinched Su Chan¡¯s cheek . Normally, Su Chan would avoid his hands and then make a face at him . But tonight, she let him .

    "Yes, princess . " He sounded very amused . "That¡¯s what texting means . "

    Su Chan didn¡¯t share his amusement though . "Um... Yundong... Is... Is Zi Yuan zhenren . . . I mean, is sheing over...?"

    Yundong shook his head . "No . She¡¯s in Tiannan City at the moment . Recovering . " Yundong nced down at the phone box again . "She asked us to meet her once we get back . " Yundong looked towards Su Chan . "She has a few questions for you . "

    Her rm must have shown on her face because Yundong quickly began to exin himself .

    "Don¡¯t worry, she¡¯s on our side . " Their eyes locked for a moment . "She¡¯s going to help you get your master back . " Yundong stared at her earnestly . "We¡¯re all gonna help . Even Ruan Hongling . "

    Warmth bloomed inside Su Chan¡¯s chest . "Mm . "

    There had indeed been asions where Su Chan had wondered about the exact nature of the rtionship between Zi Yuan and Master . Of course, she wasn¡¯t surprised that they knew each other . After all, the great prodigy Ao Wushuang and Zi Yuan zhenren of the Linggong Sect were both Cultivators of considerable fame . But no, this had nothing to do with fame . Su Chan had the impression that they didn¡¯t just know each other by name, that they were more to each other than just passing acquaintances . It was like Master and Zi Yuan zhenren respected each other, like they shared some kind of bond .

    Whatever that bond was, Su Chan was certain that it had to do with Wang Yuanshan zhenren, the former leader of the Linggong Sect . For as long as she could remember, Su Chan had never seen Master flustered . And yet Master lost all herposure the moment Mo Ahshi mentioned Wang Yuanshan¡¯s name . That was how Mo Ahshi had managed to get the drop on Master .

    "Chan¡¯er?"

    Su Chan looked up from herp . "Hmm?"

    "Are you alright?" Yundong patted her head . "You zoned out a little . "

    "I¡¯m alright, beloved," she said, leaning into his touch .

    Yundong hummed . "I¡¯m d . "

    Su Chan cleared her throat . "Recovering . You said Zi Yuan zhenren was recovering . Did she get hurt?"

    Yundong suddenly turned away, but not before Su Chan caught a glimpse of the guilty look on his face .

    Su Chan frowned . What was that about?

    "Yundong?"

    Yundong cleared his throat . "Yeah... She got hurt during the¡ª" Yundong paused as though he had just remembered something .

    Su Chan waited patiently for him to continue .

    Momentster, Yundong sighed . "It¡¯s a long story . "

    Su Chan reached over and tugged his sleeve repeatedly . "Tell me . Tell me . "

    Yundong smiled and pinched her butt again . Yup . Definitely a new hobby .

    At least she didn¡¯t squeak this time, but that probably had more to do with exhaustion than her non-existent self-restraint .

    Yundong¡¯s smile fell away, and he suddenly turned his body so that he was facing her fully . "I¡¯ll tell you everything . But I need you to know something first . "

    Something in his tone drew Su Chan¡¯s eyes to his face . Yundong¡¯s expression was gentle but determined .

    "Your master is alive . "

    Su Chan nearly leaped off her stool . "W- What?" She grabbed Yundong¡¯s hands . "A- Are you sure, Yundong?"

    A tiny smile yed on Yundong¡¯s lips . "Yes . "

    Su Chan could feel a load being lifted from her entire existence . "S- She¡¯s... alive?"

    Yundong nodded . "This intel came from Zi Yuan . "

    Su Chan stared at her beloved, stunned .

    Yundong smiled . "Like I said, she¡¯s on our side . "

    This time, Su Chan did leap out of her stool . She ran around the table until she was standing beside Yundong, and then tugged his hand insistently . "But the school... I mean, the assault! The¡ª"

    Yundong cut her off by pulling her onto hisp .

    "Slow down, Chan¡¯er . " Yundong¡¯s chest vibrated against her back when he chuckled . "I¡¯ll tell you everything from the beginning . "

    ***

    "I survived my divine punishment yesterday . " Yundong¡¯s chest rumbled against her back when he spoke . She had decided to remain on Yundong¡¯sp instead of returning to her seat .

    Right . Yundong¡¯sp versus a chair . As if it was even a choice to begin with .

    "Well . Technically, it was the day before yesterday," Yundong continued, "since it¡¯s past midnight now . "

    "Oh . "

    What had she been doing when Yundong was out there facing the Heavenly Thunder? Hmm . Most likely she was on her way back to the corn-door after another day of wandering Dongwu City . Or worst, she was busy dishing out verbal abuse to that annoying stalker .

    Something did strike her as weird though . When she was out wandering the city, she had watched the sky every opportunity she got . So howe she never noticed the arrival of Yundong¡¯s divine punishment? Was she asleep when it arrived? Probably . She usually just copsed into bad after returning to the corn-door .

    "I was in pretty bad shape after I survived . I think I went straight to bed . " Yundong paused as though he was trying to recall something . "When I woke up the next morning, I received a paper crane from Zi Yuan . She¡¯s the one who informed me about the Great Six¡¯s assault on the Fox Zen School . " There was a pause . "She told me that you and your master were missing, and then asked me to head to Mount Tianlong immediately to rescue you . "

    Su Chan turned her head around to stare at her beloved over her shoulder .

    Yundong smiled as though he had already anticipated her disbelief . "She was on our side from the start . "

    "W- Was she there?" Su Chan blurted out . "Was she...?" Su Chan winced . "Was she part of the assault?"

    "She was asked to be part of the assault . But she wasn¡¯t part of the assault . Not really . " Yundong held her gaze for a moment . "She was there at Mount Tianlong though . "

    Su Chan¡¯s mind spun . "She was... She was spying on the Great Six, wasn¡¯t she? She was secretly feeding you information . "

    Yundong nodded . "That¡¯s right . She even ordered Ruan Hongling to look all over the mountain for you . "

    "I wasn¡¯t even in the mountain," Su Chan mumbled .

    Yundong chuckled . "None of us knew that at the time . "

    "But..." Su Chan shot him a quizzical look . "How did you know where to find me?"

    "I¡ª" Yundong¡¯s brows were pinched together, and something flickered inside his eyes . Something that looked like sadness and fear . The look was gone before Su Chan could make anything out of it . Yundong cleared his throat, and the next thing she knew, he was smiling again . "Let me finish the story first . "

    "Oh . "

    "The assault had already begun when I got there . " Yundong sighed . "It was terrible, Chan¡¯er . There were hundreds of them . "

    Su Chan sat in Yundong¡¯sp quietly, letting the gravity of his words sink in . She didn¡¯t feel much fondness for the Fox Zen School, but it was still quite sobering to learn about the destruction of her ce of origin .

    "It was Yan Fang . " Yundong had uttered those words softly, but the effect they had on Su Chan was profound . "She¡¯s the mastermind of this whole scheme . "

    "Y- Yan Fang?"

    Yundong nodded . "Have you met her before?"

    Su Chan shook her head . "I know her by name only . She¡¯s the Zhengyi School¡¯s Eventide Reaper . "

    Yundong¡¯s lips pulled into a tight line . "So I¡¯ve been told . "

    "But I thought... Mo Ahshi..." So she¡¯d been right all along . The Mo Ahshi she saw the other day was an impostor .

    "Mo Ahshi is dead . " Yundong paused as though he was trying to gauge her reaction . "ording to Zi Yuan, Yan Fang visited the Fox Zen School nine years ago to look for your master . "

    Su Chan nodded . She already knew about this . She overheard the brief exchange between Master and Zi Yuan zhenren the night Yundong killed H¨¦ Shao . So this treachery had been going on for so long .

    "She must¡¯ve infiltrated the school during her visit," Yundong said .

    And then hid in in sight by posing as Mo Ahshi for over nine years? Eluding even Grandmaster Liu Ye? What an impressive feat .

    "I don¡¯t know how though . " Yundong shook his head . "Not even Zi Yuan knows the details . "

    "I think she killed the real Mo Ahshi and then took over Mo Ahshi¡¯s body with her Yin Spirit . " That was the only exnation Su Chan could think of .

    "And you would be correct . " Yundong paused . "Well, except for one thing . She did it with her Yang Spirit, not Yin Spirit . "

    Or Yang Spirit . Whatever .

    "So Yan Fang currently has Master," Su Chan snarled . "She¡¯s the one holding Master hostage . "

    "Yes . " Yundong¡¯s voice was firm . "But we have the upper hand now . We¡¯re no longer in the dark . We already know that Yan Fang is the one behind the whole scheme . She, on the other hand, probably has no idea that we know . " Yundong smirked . "We also have two allies who knew the enemy very well . "

    Su Chan nodded .

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie and Ruan Hongling would know how to track down Yan Fang . After that, they would all go and rescue Master .

    Please hang on, Master...

    Su Chan exhaled lengthily, letting her anger fade . "I guess the school is gone then?" There was no way the Fox Zen School could survive an assault of that scale without Master there to defend it .

    "Nope . The Fox Zen School is fine . "

    Su Chan turned around in Yundong¡¯sp until they were facing each other . She was hyperaware of the fact that she was currently straddling Yundong¡¯sp, of how intimate the position was, but she didn¡¯t care .

    "But they had an army," Su Chan said, finally voicing out her disbelief .

    Yundong smirked . "I fought hard . " He shrugged .

    "Y- You fought off an entire army of powerful Cultivators?"

    Just how strong was Yundong now?

    "I had help . " Yundong smiled . "Zi Yuan . Ruan Hongling . And the Fan of Seven Treasures . " Yundong paused in thought . "Technically, I didn¡¯t take on the whole army . " Yundong smiled again . "I only fought a few of them . Oh, and also theirmander, Zhang Tianh¨¦ . "

    "Y- You defeated the Jade Zhenren?!" Su Chan openly gaped at her beloved . "The wielder of the Sword of Seven Stars?"

    Yundong shrugged . "Zi Yuan had some pretty helpful tips . "

    Something flickered inside Yundong¡¯s eyes . She knew then that there was something else that he wasn¡¯t telling her .

    Su Chan cleared her throat . "Were there... Were there many casualties? On our side, I mean . "

    "There are casualties . " Yundong had a worried look in his eyes . "But not many . As far as I can tell anyway . "

    "Who?" Su Chan held her breath . "Who died?"

    The worried look in Yundong¡¯s eyes was reced by a look of sadness . His hands rose until they rested on top of her shoulders .

    "Grandmaster Liu Ye . And your sh¨©b¨® Ye Yu . "

    Su Chan¡¯s heart sank . Grandmaster Liu Ye, the kind old man who gave her the paper crane, was gone .

    "There¡¯s something else, Chan¡¯er . "

    Something in Yundong¡¯s tone made Su Chan look up . Yundong¡¯s eyes were burning with intensity .

    "W- What is it, beloved?" Su Chan stammered . "Y- You¡¯re scaring me . "

    "I¡¯m the new Head of the Fox Zen School . "

 Chapter 286

    Chapter 286

    <h4>Sce</h4>

    "Surprise, surprise!" Li Yundong said, finding a great deal of amusement in Chan¡¯er¡¯s gobsmacked expression, in particr, the adorable O-shape of her mouth . His heart still ached from witnessing Chan¡¯er¡¯s meltdown earlier, so it was refreshing to see an emotion other than sorrow and guilt on her face . He had noticed, ever since their reunion under the bridge, that Chan¡¯er had lost some her carefree and cheery disposition . They weren¡¯t gone, just buried underyers of guilt and apprehension . And he also knew that until they could sessfully rescue Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i from Yan Fang¡¯s clutches, those parts of Chan¡¯er would remain buried .

    "Princess?" Li Yundong prompted when Chan¡¯er didn¡¯t react for about a minute or so .

    "A- Are you serious?" Chan¡¯er¡¯s round eyes settled on his face . "Y- You¡¯re not just pulling my leg are you, beloved?"

    "I¡¯m serious, Chan¡¯er," Li Yundong spoke with sobriety . He wouldn¡¯t joke about this, not when an old man had all but entrusted his entire legacy to him, had beseeched him with his dying eyes to take care of a school that he himself was no longer capable of protecting .

    "But... But how?" Chan¡¯er¡¯s face scrunched up in confusion . "How did that even happen?"

    Beats the hell out of me too, princess...

    "Grandmaster Liu Ye was already dying when I arrived," Li Yundong exined . "My job was to hold off the Great Six¡¯s army while Cao Yi"¡ªChan¡¯er¡¯s eyes darted to his face at the mention of her sh¨©b¨®¡¯s name¡ª"tried to save the grandmaster¡¯s life . " Li Yundong sighed, remembering the tough battle . There were multiples times when he really thought he was screwed . The lull ended when Li Yundong shook his head and picked up where he had left off . "The grandmaster didn¡¯t make it . Before he died, I begged him to tell me where you were . " He met Chan¡¯er¡¯s eyes briefly and found that she was listening to him with rapt attention . "Zi Yuan said he has the power to find you . " He exhaled slowly through his nose . "In the end, he agreed to tell me where you are . But in return, I have to fulfill his dying request . "

    Understanding shone in Chan¡¯er¡¯s eyes . "By bing the new head of the Fox Zen School . "

    Li Yundong nodded . Grandmaster Liu¡¯s deration hade out of nowhere, but the other fox spirits were quick to acknowledge him as the new leader, no doubt out of necessity .

    "Wow . "

    "The grandmaster... he... well..." Li Yundong cleared his throat and shot Chan¡¯er a wary nce . "He told me you¡¯d be happy if I take over the Fox Zen School . "

    Chan¡¯er was still staring at him in awe, seemingly unaware of his insecurities .

    "Are you?" Li Yundong prompted when Chan¡¯er didn¡¯t react for quite a while .

    Chan¡¯er¡¯s eyes cleared a little . "Hmm?"

    "Are you okay with this? With me leading the Fox Zen School, I mean . " Truth be told, he thought Ao Wushuang was better suited to lead the school . Powerful . Strong . Knew a lot of spells . And most importantly, she was a fox spirit, someone who actually knew about the ways of fox spirits .

    Maybe he should resign and give the position to Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i after they got her back . He was the head, right? He had to power to name the next head of the Fox Zen School . He could take a page out of Grandmaster Liu¡¯s book and do that same thing the old man did .

    Soft arms wrapped around his neck, and Li Yundong resisted the urge to bury his face in that familiar warmth .

    "Are you kidding?" Chan¡¯er squealed lightly . "Of course I¡¯m okay with it! More than okay, actually! I¡¯m happy!"

    Li Yundong looped his arms around Chan¡¯er¡¯s waist and sighed in relief . "I¡¯m d to hear that . "

    Chan¡¯er ended the hug and stared down at him with a puzzled expression, the sight of which eased the tight knot inside Li Yundong¡¯s chest . He was d to see that some of Chan¡¯er¡¯s inquisitiveness had returned . He missed Chan¡¯er¡¯s silly questions and her seemingly boundless capacity for curiosity . He missed her carefree attitude and her capacity to find joy in pretty much everything . He missed her funny terminologies for daily objects . He wondered if she still called TVs talking boxes, if she missed her favorite soap shows .

    "Does that mean I have to call you Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n from now on?" Chan¡¯er¡¯s nose wrinkled adorably .

    Augh tore past Li Yundong¡¯s lips . "Of course not . " Chan¡¯er squealed when he suddenly pinched her backside . "Just call me like usual . "

    Chan¡¯er¡¯s eyes went round, and they stared at each other for a few seconds until Chan¡¯er frowned . Li Yundong felt a sudden urge to smooth out the creases on her brows .

    "But that¡¯s so disrespectful," Chan¡¯er argued . "You¡¯re the head of a sect now . "

    "Exactly . I¡¯m the head of your sect . Which means you have to listen to my orders . " Li Yundong smirked . "And let this be my first order to you . Don¡¯t use any strange honorifics when you¡¯re addressing me . "

    Chan¡¯er gaped at him .

    Li Yundong chuckled . "How about it? That¡¯s a direct order from the Head of the Fox Zen School . " Li Yundong raised a brow challengingly . "Will you obey it?"

    Chan¡¯er¡¯s cheeks puffed out as a huge pout formed on her lips . "Fine," she mumbled .

    Chan¡¯er sputtered when her cheeks deted after he poked them with his finger . "Good girl . "

    Chan¡¯er slid forward in hisp, which she had been straddling for the past ten minutes, much to his delight (or agony, depending on how you look at it) .

    "So thete Grandmaster Liu told you to look for me at the bridge?" Chan¡¯er mumbled against his chest .

    Li Yundong reached up to stroke her hair . "Not exactly . "

    "Mm?"

    Li Yundong chuckled wryly . "If only his instructions were that specific . "

    Neither of them spoke while Li Yundong¡¯s chuckles petered out . Li Yundong let out a weary sigh . "I actually made a mess of things while I was looking for you . "

    Chan¡¯er tensed up .

    For a moment, Li Yundong was unable to speak, remembering how hopeless he felt when was facing those invincible arhats .

    "Beloved?"

    Their gazes met again .

    "I thought you were dead, Chan¡¯er . "

    Chan¡¯er¡¯s mouth curved into that adorable O-shape again . He would¡¯ve kissed it right off her pretty lips if he wasn¡¯t still so shaken by the thought of Chan¡¯er being the one lying half-dead inside that pagoda .

    Li Yundong lowered his head until his chin touched his vicle . "It was a misunderstanding . " He shook his head a few times . "But at that moment, you have no idea how scared I was . "

    His head was lifted again by the soft touch of Chan¡¯er¡¯s fingers on his jawline .

    "But I¡¯m fine, Yundong! See!" Chan¡¯er beamed . "Hehehe..."

    Chan¡¯er¡¯s attempt at reassurance drew a chuckle out of him, but hisugh fell t as soon as it left his lips . "Grandmaster Liu Ye told me I¡¯d find you near some pond in Mount Qili . I took a cab here as soon as I arrived in Dongwu City, but the ce is huge . I tried calling your phone, but you didn¡¯t pick up . So I ended up looking all over the ce for you . At one point I thought you were captured by a bunch ofmas so I barged into a temple to rescue you . "

    "Temple?" Chan¡¯er¡¯s eyes went round . "Oh, you mean Xiyuan Temple . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "Yes . "

    Chan¡¯er looked adorably confused . "What gave you the idea that I was captured?"

    Li Yundong thought she sounded a little offended at the idea, but he decided not toment on it .

    "I was..." Li Yundong sighed . "I was looking for you at a ce with all these food establishments . "

    "Ooh! The famous noodle shop?" Chan¡¯er piped in .

    At least the mention of food could get Chan¡¯er excited now . She didn¡¯t seem excited at all during supper .

    Li Yundong nodded . "Yeah . " He chuckled . "I thought I¡¯d be able to find you there . " He gave her a sly nce, then pinched her butt . "Coz you¡¯re always hungry . "

    Chan¡¯er blushed .

    "I thought you¡¯d be out for supper or something . " Li Yundong rubbed the side of her arms a few times, then let his hands drop . "Anyway . I entered the noodle shop and overheard a bunch ofmas talking about burning a"¡ªHe did air quotes¡ª"demon witch alive . I listened to them for a while until they began to describe the physical appearance of this girl that they had captured . " Li Yundong stared deep into Chan¡¯er¡¯s eyes . "The description matched yours . "

    "Oh . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "I knew there was a chance that they weren¡¯t talking about you at all, but I didn¡¯t want to risk it . " He sighed . "So I decided to check it out . I followed themas to Xiyuan Temple . And then at the temple, I learned that they were actually conducting a ritual to exterminate two animal spirits . "

    Li Yundong held Chan¡¯er¡¯s gaze for a second or two . His princess seemed rather taken aback as well .

    "So you can imagine how scared I was . " Li Yundong paused to look at Chan¡¯er . "I mean, an animal spirit with physical descriptions that fit yours to a tee? What are the chances, right?" He sighed . "I tried to get more information out of themas, but they told me they had no idea what kind of animal spirit they were dealing with . I even tried to show your photo to ama, but the guy wouldn¡¯t even look at it . The whole thing didn¡¯t sit right with me . " He shook his head . "I couldn¡¯t let it go . I wanted to confirm for myself that you weren¡¯t there, so I crashed the ritual . " Li Yundong gave Chan¡¯er a wry smile . "There was a fight . "

    "A fight?"

    Li Yundong waved his hand a few times . "There were these arhats flying around . "

    Chan¡¯er gasped . "A- Arhats?"

    Li Yundong nodded . "Those things were goddamned tough . And they were indestructible . "

    "Oh my God, Yundong!" Chan¡¯er gaped at him . "That¡¯s the infamous Great Arhat Formation!"

    Li Yundong chuckled . "So I¡¯ve been told . "

    "And you got past it!" Chan¡¯er¡¯s voice sounded high-pitched . He wasn¡¯t sure if it was due to fear or excitement .

    "Barely . " Li Yundong smiled wryly . "Well, obviously neither of those animal spirits were you . The ritual must have already taken effect by the time I barged into the ce . Coz those two transformed into a pair of giant snakes and escaped . "

    "What color?"

    "Gold . "

    "Golden snakes," Chan¡¯er whispered to herself .

    "Yeah . " He sighed . "I made a mess . "

    Silence reigned .

    "I¡¯m sorry," Chan¡¯er said after a moment .

    Li Yundong patted her head gently . "It¡¯s not your fault . "

    "How did you know I was under that bridge?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "The headma of Xiyuan Temple gave me a riddle when we parted ways . "

    "A riddle?" Chan¡¯er looked so puzzled right now that she might as well have been told a riddle herself .

    Li Yundong¡¯s smile widened into a grin . "He told me to go back where I came from . "

    The look puzzlement remained on Chan¡¯er¡¯s face .

    Li Yundongughed . "Still vague, I know . " He stoppedughing and held Chan¡¯er¡¯s gaze . "Anyway . I retraced my steps and found you under the bridge . "

    "Mm . " Chan¡¯er smiled . "I missed you, beloved . "

    Li Yundong pulled her forward until her face was buried in his chest . "I¡¯m so d I found you, Chan¡¯er," he whispered into her hair . "So d . "

    They stayed like that for a while until Chan¡¯er pulled back .

    "So . What¡¯s the n now, Li"¡ªChan¡¯er poked at his cheek repeatedly¡ª"zh¨£ngm¨¦n?"

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes at her .

    Chan¡¯er kept poking his cheek . "Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n... Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n," she said in a singsong voice .

    "Why you little..."

    Li Yundong tickled her sides .

    "Kya!!! Hahaha..." Chan¡¯er¡¯s voice turned into a series of wheezes . "Stop! Stop! Please! Please!"

    Li Yundong kept tickling her . "What did I say about disobeying my orders, hmm?" he growled into her ear yfully .

    "Alright! Alright! Beloved! Beloved! Beloved!"

    Li Yundong took mercy on her and stopped tickling her .

    Then, he waited until Chan¡¯er¡¯s giggles had subsided before he began speaking again . "We need to find Yan Fang . " Li Yundong nced at Chan¡¯er, who was drying her tears with her sleeves .

    Chan¡¯er nodded .

    "We¡¯ll regroup with Zi Yuan and the others in Tiannan City . " He paused in thought . "After that we¡¯lle up with a n together to look for Yan Fang . "

    Chan¡¯er raised her palm in a salute . "Yes! Li zhang..." She gave him a sly look .

    Li Yundong wiggled his hands yfully .

    "Beloved! Beloved!" Chan¡¯er grinned . "Hehehe..."

    Li Yundong chuckled and kissed her forehead . "It¡¯s going to okay, Chan¡¯er . It¡¯s going to be okay . "

 Chapter 287

    Chapter 287

    <h4>Ning Wushuang</h4>

    When Su Chan woke up the next morning and saw that the other side of the bed was empty, she panicked . Please don¡¯t letst night be a dream... Please...

    Su Chan padded out of the bedroom, her heart in her throat .

    Relief flooded her when the smell of vegetable soup assaulted her nostrils .

    "Beloved?" she called out into the empty living room .

    A momentter, Yundong emerged from the kitchen with an apron tied to his waist . He was smiling . "Morning, princess! Did you sleep well?"

    Su Chan bobbed her head up and down . "Mm!"

    She had slept extremely well, like a tiny little fox cub .

    Her answer must have pleased Yundong greatly as his smile grew even wider . Su Chan smiled back at him . For the first time in days, she had slept through the night without having a single nightmare . Maybe Yundong had cast a spell on her .

    Yundong broke their eye contact with a quick nce to the kitchen . "Breakfast should be done in a jiffy . " He looked back towards her . "Why don¡¯t you go wash up first?"

    Su Chan nodded and padded back into her room to begin her morning routine .

    Inside the bathroom, she spent some time to really look at herself in the mirror . Guilt and remorse had taken away her usual cheeriness . Admittedly, she hadn¡¯t been taking good care of herself . Right now, she looked presentable, but she wasn¡¯t looking her best . She decided that she would spare a few extra minutes for her morning routine today .

    True to Yundong¡¯s word, breakfast was ready by the time Su Chan walked out . Two steaming bowls of rice sat on the table . A pair of chopsticksid beside each bowl . At the center of the table was arge bowl of vegetable soup . Yundong was already seated in one of the stools, waiting for her to join him . As she padded towards the table, Su Chan couldn¡¯t help but wonder if the soup would taste better today .

    ***

    "Are we heading back to Tiannan City after this?" Su Chan slurped a spoonful of vegetable soup . She really had no idea what came over herst night¡ªthis soup tasted absolutely heavenly .

    Yundong chewed his food quietly, then ced his rice bowl on the table . He was still deep in thought by the time he finished chewing .

    "Yundong?"

    "Hmm..." Yundong scratched his chin . "I was thinking we should stop by the Fox Zen School first before heading back . " He looked towards her . "Are you okay with that?"

    Su Chan lowered her own rice bowl .

    Right . Yundong had a sect to worry about now . She couldn¡¯t help the warm feeling that rose to her chest at the thought . It felt so good to see one of her many fantasiese true . She had always wondered what it would be like if Yundong took over the leadership of the Fox Zen School .

    "I think that¡¯s a great idea!" Su Chan beamed at Yundong . Plus, it would definitely be a great help if they revisited the school to look for clues that might lead them to Master¡¯s location . The Eventide Reaper probably wouldn¡¯t be so careless as to leave any breadcrumbs behind, but it wouldn¡¯t hurt to try .

    Yundong hummed . "I kinda left the school in a hurry after the Great Six¡¯s army retreated . " Yundong¡¯s eyes darted towards her face . "I need to make sure that things at the school are in order first before we head back to Tiannan City . "

    "Mm!" Su Chan picked up her bowl and began munching on her rice again . Look at him, acting like a decent leader already .

    Yundong reached over and begandling out another bowl of soup for Su Chan .

    "I¡¯m d to see that your appetite has returned," Yundong said, cing her soup bowl in front of her .

    Su Chan stared at the soup bowl for a moment, then at her tiny rice bowl .

    Gah . Might as well .

    Yundongughed when Su Chan dumped the contents of her rice bowl into her soup bowl . There . Vegetable Soup Rice . Chan¡¯er Style . Yum .

    Su Chan grabbed a porcin spoon and helped herself to her perfect homemade recipe .

    After five mouthfuls, she realized that she must¡¯ve been really out of her mindst night .

    The soup tasted heavenly .

    ***

    Breakfast conversation was interrupted by an insistent banging on their door . The noise nearly caused Su Chan to drop her spoon . She looked towards Yundong, who was already out of his stool, his back straight and his eyes alert .

    "Are you expecting anyone?" he asked without taking his eyes off the door .

    "No . " Su Chan shook her head even though Yundong couldn¡¯t possibly see her . "Master never has guests . "

    The knocks sounded again .

    "Hello!!! Anybody home?!"

    It was the voice of ady .

    Yundong shot her a questioning look .

    Su Chan shook her head again . "I don¡¯t recognize the voice . "

    Three more knocks sounded . "Hello?!"

    Yundong gave Su Chan a pointed look . "Stay sharp . "

    Su Chan nodded and got up from her stool .

    They answered the door together . Well, technically Yundong did . Su Chan hid behind his back the whole time .

    Their morning visitor was a middle-ageddy whom Su Chan had never met before . Was this one of Master¡¯s acquaintances? But how could this be? Master never had guests .

    Su Chan poked her head out from behind Yundong to take a closer look at thedy .

    Nope . Definitely never seen her before...

    "Ah . Good morning," thedy greeted .

    "Morning," Yundong answered cordially . "How may I help you, Ma¡¯am?"

    "Oh . I¡¯m just looking for Miss Ning Wushuang . " Thedy¡¯s eyes lingered on Su Chan¡¯s face for a moment before moving on to nce behind Yundong . "Is she here?"

    Yundong¡¯s body shifted . Su Chan looked up and saw the questioning look in his eyes .

    "Did your master go by an alias?" he whispered .

    "Ning Wushuang is my master¡¯s birth name," she whispered back .

    Yundong nodded and turned back around to face thedy .

    "Is Miss Ning in? I have some important matters to discuss with her . "

    "Miss Ning is currently away," Yundong said . "But I¡¯m her close rtive . Whatever you wish to discuss with her, you can discuss it with me . "

    Thedy studied Yundong for a moment or two .

    "Very well, then . " Thedy looked past Yundong¡¯s shoulder before returning to his face . "May Ie in?"

    "Of course, Ma¡¯am . " Yundong stepped aside to let thedy through .

    ***

    "I¡¯ll get straight to the point, then," thedy said, thenid her leather satchel on the living room table .

    She opened the bag and pulled out several sheets of paper .

    The papers, Su Chan noticed, were printed on both sides . And they were held together by a tiny metal fastener¡ªa cute little contraption with two prongs . What Su Chan couldn¡¯t figure out was how thedy had managed to insert the fastener into the papers without tearing the papers¡¯ edges .

    Mortals and their infinite cleverness .

    Thedy¡¯s voice ended Su Chan¡¯s reverie .

    "Miss Ning¡¯s lease for this apartment is up . "

    Yundong took the papers from thedy¡¯s hands and started reading those tiny words .

    "So you¡¯re thendy," Yundong said while keeping her eyes glued to the pages .

    "That¡¯s correct . As you can see in the contract..." Thendy pointed at the papers . "Miss Ning¡¯s lease is for two years . And if you take a look at the date on thest page..." Thendy trailed off .

    Yundong flipped to thest page and nced at the bottom of the page . "The lease is up today . "

    Panic coursed through Su Chan . What did that mean? Was Master about to lose the corn-door?

    "Indeed . " Thendy sighed . "I¡¯ve been trying to get in touch with Miss Ning for days, but she isn¡¯t picking up my calls . That¡¯s why I decided to drop by the ce with the contract to see if she wishes to extend her lease . "

    "I see," Yundong said, handing the papers back to thendy .

    Thendy took the papers and regarded Yundong for a moment . "So . Can you get in touch with Miss Ning for me?" Thendy snapped her satchel shut . "If you can¡¯t, then I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll have to terminate her lease . "

    Yundong nodded . "I understand, Ma¡¯am . " Yundong held Su Chan¡¯s gaze . "If you don¡¯t mind, can you give us both a moment to¡ª"

    KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

    Yundong¡¯s gaze snapped towards the door . After a moment, he turned back to Su Chan .

    Who? he mouthed the word to Su Chan .

    No idea, Su Chan mouthed back .

    The banging on the door sounded again .

    "Hello, pretty girl! Are you in there? Good morning! I brought breakfast for you!"

 Chapter 288

    Chapter 288

    <h4>Mr . Shen</h4>

    Gah!!! That annoying pest!

    In her mind, Su Chan envisioned strangling that man, ripping his face apart, and kicking his gonads harder than she had kicked that half-bald man from Yundong¡¯s school .

    "Pretty girl?" Yundong¡¯s voice ended her murderous thoughts .

    Su Chan stole a furtive nce at Yundong . At least he didn¡¯t look angry, so there was that . In fact, he looked rather amused at this turn of events .

    Small victories, Chan¡¯er . Small victories .

    The knocks turned into insistent bangs .

    "I know you¡¯re in there, pretty girl! I didn¡¯t see you leave the building this morning!" Two more sharp knocks sounded . "Come on, open up! I brought breakfast!" There was a pause . "Or would you prefer I take you out to breakfast? That¡¯s works too!"

    Yundong was already heading to the door before Su Chan could get a word out .

    Su Chan hurried after her beloved .

    Please don¡¯t be mad . Pretty please, please...

    Su Chan grabbed Yundong¡¯s arm just as he was about to open the door .

    Yundong turned around and shot her a questioning look .

    "He¡¯s been pestering me for days," Su Chan admitted . "He just wouldn¡¯t leave me alone . I already told him no . But he kept following me around, kept offering to buy me things . " Su Chan scowled . "Apparently, his father is some rich somebody, somebody . " She looked up at him through hershes . "A- Are you mad?"

    To her relief, Yundong smiled . "No, I¡¯m not mad . " He ruffled her hair .

    "Y-You aren¡¯t?"

    Yundong¡¯s smile widened into a grin . "You¡¯re a beautiful girl, Su Chan . " Yundong hooked a strand of her hair behind her ear . Su Chan wanted to kiss him . "So it¡¯s normal for you to draw attention . " Suddenly, Yundong smirked . "Besides, it isn¡¯t the first time we encountered guys like him . " One of Yundong¡¯s brows rose . "Still remember Liu Chuan?"

    The image of a guy being chased around by bees came to mind .

    Su Chan burst into giggles .

    Yundong patted her head again . "I didn¡¯t handle it well that time . " He smiled . "I¡¯ll do better this time . Trust me . "

    Su Chan bobbed her head up and down . "Mm!"

    When Yundong opened the door, Mr . Annoying¡¯s hand were raised as if he was about to knock again .

    Su Chan took pleasure in the look of surprise on the guy¡¯s face when he saw Yundong .

    "Can I help you?" Yundong¡¯s voice wasn¡¯t friendly, but it was still polite .

    Mr . Annoying cleared his throat . "I¡¯m here to..." He pointed at Su Chan, then raised a bag of food with his other hand .

    "Oh?" Yundong feigned a look of surprise . "Are you a friend of my girlfriend?" Suddenly, Yundong turned his head and gave her a wink .

    Su Chan feigned a haughty look . "He¡¯s the annoying pest I¡¯ve been telling you about, beloved . "

    Su Chan tried not to smirk when the bag of food nearly slipped out of Mr . Annoying¡¯s hand .

    "Is that so?" Yundong pretended to think hard about something . After a moment, he looked towards Su Chan . "I think we should call the police . "

    Mr . Annoying cleared his throat harshly . His voice sounded... well, annoying .

    "There¡¯s no need for that . Allow me to properly introduce myself . My name is Shen You . And I¡¯m¡ª"

    "Uh... Guys?"

    Su Chan turned around and saw thendy looking at them from the table . Yundong had turned around as well .

    "Can we get back to the issue with the lease, please?" Thendy gestured at her satchel . "I¡¯m afraid this can¡¯t wait . I have other business to attend to . "

    Yundong smiled . "I apologize for the dy . " Yundong stepped away from the door and moved towards the living room . "Let us continue . "

    Su Chan turned around to face the door and then red at that Shen You guy . "Go . Away," she growled . "You¡¯ve seen my boyfriend . Now leave me alone . "

    Shen You looked like he¡¯d just swallowed a dozen of flies .

    Good . Maybe he would finally get the hint and leave her be .

    Yundong¡¯s voice drifted from the living room .

    "...for the inconvenience, Ma¡¯am . I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s no way for me to get in touch with Miss Ning at the moment . " There was a pause . "Is there any other way we can renegotiate this deal?"

    "What are you proposing, then?"

    "I don¡¯t think it¡¯s my ce to make the decision on behalf of Miss Ning," Yundong said . "Would it be possible to dy the extension of the lease until Miss Ning gets back?"

    "Dy?" Thendy didn¡¯t sound too happy .

    "It won¡¯t be too long," Yundong added quickly . "A week or two . "

    Could they rescue Master within a week or two? Had Yundong alreadye up with a n?

    "A week?" Thendy sounded even less happy now . "I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s not possible, young man . "

    Seconds passed in silence .

    "If you can¡¯t get in touch with Miss Ning," thendy said, "then I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll have to terminate her lease . "

    "I¡¯ll lease it!"

    Su Chan¡¯s gaze snapped towards Shen You, who had just strode into the apartment uninvited .

    "Hey!" Su Chan growled, but Shen You was already making his way towards thendy .

    Yundong was following the man¡¯s movements with a raised brow .

    "I¡¯ll sign the lease," Shen You said, stopping in front of thendy . "How much?"

    "What do you think you¡¯re doing?" Su Chan snarled .

    Oh, she so wanted to rip his face apart . Just how big was this fool¡¯s ego?

    "Your guardian is unavable, right?" Shen You was now looking at her as though this was some kind of routine conversation . "And you need a ce to stay . "

    From the corner of her eyes, Su Chan spied Yundong doing a face-palm while shaking his head .

    "That¡¯s none of your business," Su Chan snapped .

    Shen You turned away as though he didn¡¯t hear her . "How much is it,ndy?"

    Thendy opened her mouth to speak, but Shen You interrupted her with a raise of his hand .

    "You know what? Just hand over the contract . I¡¯ll sign it right away . "

    Thendy pulled out those papers from her satchel and handed them to Shen You .

    "You really are out of your mind," Su Chan remarked as she watched Shen You scrawl his name on those papers .

    "On the contrary . " Shen You smiled and capped his pen . "I think I have just found the perfect solution for you . " He slid his pen into his pocket . "I¡¯ll lease the apartment and let you stay in it . How about that?"

    No thanks .

    Su Chan stormed past the man . "Let¡¯s get out of here, Yundong . " She slid her hand into Yundong¡¯s and shot a re over her shoulder . "I¡¯m not staying anywhere where I¡¯ll run into this guy . "

    ***

    Su Chan entered her bedroom to pack what little belongings she had . She hade to the apartment pretty much empty-handed . Most of her (and Master¡¯s) belongings were back at the Fox Zen School . When Master told her to make a run for it, she obeyed right away and snuck out through the window . She took nothing with her .

    She was about to head into the bathroom to take herb and several hairpins when Yundong suddenly took her hand .

    "Beloved?"

    "What if your master still wishes to stay here after we get her back?"

    Su Chan pondered the question for a moment . Master could easily find another ce if she wanted to . Actually, Master didn¡¯t even need a corn-door . She could survive out in the woods just fine .

    Besides... They could always just let Master stay at their home .

    "It won¡¯t be a problem, beloved . " Su Chan smiled . "Master will understand . "

    Yundong nodded . "I doubt thendy is open to further negotiations either . I bet there are other potential tenants who want to lease the apartment . " Yundong nced around the room a few times, then held Su Chan¡¯s gaze again . "Does your master keep any important belongings here?"

    Su Chan shook her head . "Nothing important . "

    Master had packed all her important belongings into her suitcase before they left for the Fox Zen School . All that was left at the corn-door were some crockeries, some old talismans from Master¡¯s past experiments, and... well, a bunch of vegetables .

    "Alright then," Yundong said with a nod . "We¡¯ll head back to the Fox Zen School after you pack up . "

    "Mm!" Su Chan nodded and strode into the bathroom to get her things .

    She wondered if she could finally call the Fox Zen School her home .

 Chapter 289

    Chapter 289

    <h4>The Dharma Shankha</h4>

    Shen You was still in the living room when Su Chan exited the bedroom with Yundong . The annoying man was arguing with thendy about something . Su Chan had no idea what the argument was about (nor did she care), but she thought she had heard a bunch of death threats being tossed around while she was still packing her things inside the bathroom . There were also repeated mentions of the name Shen Wanchai, which she assumed was Shen You¡¯s bigshot father . So somebody, somebody had a name now . Not that she cared .

    The argument stopped as soon as Shen You noticed both of their presences .

    "Good day to you, Ma¡¯am," Yundong said, smiling at thendy .

    Thendy acknowledged Yundong with a nod while Shen You just ignored Yundong . At least one of them was polite .

    Su Chan could feel Shen You¡¯s eyes on her, but she ignored him as well .

    How about a taste of your own medicine, you pest?

    "Hey, pretty girl!" Shen You¡¯s annoying voice rang out behind them when they were about to leave the corn-door . "Are you sure you don¡¯t want to stay here? You can stay herepletely for free, you know? Just say the¡ª"

    Su Chan shut the door in his face, then smiled sweetly at Yundong .

    "Shall we go, beloved?"

    Yundong returned her smile . "I thought you¡¯d never ask . "

    ***

    "What?!" Su Chan all but screamed into Yundong¡¯s ear . "Y- You¡¯re the one who injured Zi Yuan ji¨§jie?"

    They were now somewhere in the middle of Mount Tianlong, travelling along the path towards the Fox Zen School¡ªit was a bad idea to fly around in broad daylight unless someone had invented an invisibility spell . When they were at the foot of Mount Tianlong, Yundong had offered to give her another piggy-piggy, which she had dly epted .

    Her statement must have surprised Yundong because he had suddenly stopped walking . His back felt tensed and rigid under her, and he was busy scanning their surroundings .

    "Beloved?" she asked as wariness crept into her psyche . "What is it?"

    Their cheeks brushed against each other when Yundong turned his head slightly to look at her . "There¡¯s actually a story behind Zi Yuan¡¯s injury," he whispered . "But I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s safe to talk about it here . "

    They looked at each other for a moment before an idea struck Su Chan .

    "Ooh! I know!" Su Chan patted Yundong¡¯s shoulders repeatedly .

    Yundong looked a little puzzled . "What?"

    "Put me down for a sec, beloved . "

    Yundong removed his hands from the back of her thighs at the same time Su Chan loosened her arms around his neck . The front of her body slid down Yundong¡¯s back until her feet touched the ground .

    "What is it, Chan¡¯er?"

    "Gimme a sec..." Su Chan began rummaging through the stic bag she¡¯d brought away from Master¡¯s corn-door earlier . "Ta-da!" She pulled out one of the talismans she had found inside Master¡¯s drawer .

    Yundong¡¯s eyes lit up in interest . "What does it do?"

    "Hehe..." Su Chan pped the talisman a few times . "I¡¯ll show you!"

    Yundong stared at her for a moment . "Um... Do I need to step away, or...?"

    Su Chan shook her head . "No, no . Just stay where you are . " She performed a hand sign and then let the talisman go . The talisman released a red glow and floated upwards until it was hovering above their heads .

    Suddenly, the air in their surroundings began to shift as water vapor swirled and condensed . Soon, they were both enclosed within a barely-noticeable bubble .

    "Wow..." Yundong¡¯s finger paused near the bubble¡¯s surface . He looked towards her . "Can I touch it?"

    Su Chan bobbed her head up and down .

    Ripples formed on the bubble¡¯s surface when Yundong¡¯s finger came into contact with it .

    Yundong lowered his hand and stared at her . "What spell is this?"

    Su Chan beamed at him . "It¡¯s called the Sound Barrier . It¡¯s a spell from the Water Element . "

    "A sound barrier, huh?" A thoughtful look spread across Yundong¡¯s face . "Is it two-way or...?" He shot her a questioning look . "I mean... We can still hear the things outside the bubble, right?"

    "Mm-hmm!" Su Chan bobbed her head again . "But people can¡¯t hear anything from the outside!"

    "Wow . " Yundong chuckled and pinched her cheek lightly . "That¡¯s a pretty awesome spell you¡¯ve got there . Well done, princess . "

    Grinning, Su Chan took Yundong¡¯s hand and pulled him along the path . The bubble floated along as they walked .

    "It was an act," Yundong said after a while . "The oue of our fight was nned . "

    Su Chan stopped walking and stared up at Yundong . She didn¡¯t have a codename for herself yet, but she was starting to have several ideas: Su Chan, the Inquisitive Zhenren; Su Chan, the Zhenren of Puzzlement; Su Chan, the Puzzled Zhenren .

    "Yundong... I don¡¯t understand... If you were pulling your punches, then howe Zi Yuan ji¨§jie still got injured?"

    "It was..." Yundong sighed . "We agreed that Zi Yuan would pretend to lose . But then she also wanted me to hurt her for real . "

    Su Chan kept staring at Yundong .

    Yundong looked away . "Apparently, Zhang Tianh¨¦ wanted to test Zi Yuan and..." Yundong shook his head as he trailed off .

    "Yundong..."

    "Yeah?"

    "The Linggong Sect is in trouble, isn¡¯t it?"

    Yundong sighed . "I think so . "

    "Should we..." Su Chan bit her lip, then stole a nce at Yundong . "Should we do something to help them?"

    A thoughtful look formed on Yundong¡¯s face . "I want to . " He shook his head again . "But I¡¯m not sure how we can help without making things worse for them . "

    Yundong took her hand and they started to move again .

    The conversation between them had lulled, so Su Chan allowed herself to sink into her own thoughts . Would it be entirely absurd if she suddenly walked up to Zi Yuan ji¨§jie and then asked her to dissolve the Linggong Sect? With her abilities, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie could totally start her own sect . Maybe Yundong and Zi Yuan ji¨§jie could form a sect together? Wouldn¡¯t that be nice? Ooh! They could call it the Purple Cloud Zen Sect! The "Purple" would stand for Zi, and the "Cloud" would stand for Yun . Zen would, of course,e from the Fox Zen School .

    "Yundong..."

    "Hmm?"

    "How did it feel to fight Zi Yuan ji¨§jie for real?"

    Su Chan knew that Zi Yuan ji¨§jie was powerful; she just didn¡¯t know to what extent . It was rare for Master to acknowledge anyone, and yet she had acknowledged Zi Yuan ji¨§jie readily .

    "Like I was about to get my ass kicked?" Yundong chuckled .

    Su Chan hummed .

    "She¡¯s amazingly good with spells," Yundong said, then paused . "During the battle, my n was to turn it into a close-quarter fight so that I didn¡¯t have to deal with her spells, but then she was damned good at hand-to-handbat too . "

    Su Chan turned her head sideways .

    Yundong seemed thoughtful . "Based on her style, I¡¯m guessing she¡¯s a master in the Eight Trigram Palms . "

    "Oh . " Su Chan stopped walking, causing Yundong to stop as well . "So she¡¯s fast and fluid . "

    Yundong nodded and smiled . "Do you practice the Eight Trigram Palms too?"

    "A little...?"

    Master had taught her the basics of the Eight Trigram Palms because itplements her stealth spells like the Shadow Mist and would add to her offensive arsenal .

    "Did Zi Yuan zhenren use a lot of spells on you?" Su Chan asked as they continued along the trail . No piggy-piggy this time . Bummer .

    "Well..." Li Yundong stepped over a bunch of roots whereas Su Chan just floated over them . "As far as I can tell, she used spells from three elements . Earth, Fire, and Metal . "

    Su Chan guided her body forward and then did a twirl so that she was floating directly in front of Yundong . "Were you hurt by any of those spells?"

    Yundong reached up and ruffled her head . "Nah . I managed to avoid getting hit . "

    "How?" Su Chan tilted her head slightly . "With the Fan of Seven Treasures?"

    Yundong smiled . "The fan was a great help . So were the mudras . "

    Su Chan did a double take . Mudras? What mudras?

    Yundong¡¯s eyes suddenly went wide . "Oh, yeah . I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve told you about the mudras yet . " Yundong scratched his chin . "When I was in Tibet, I came across this awesome book called the Mahamudra Tantra and¡ª"

    Su Chan lost control of her spiritual energy flow and dropped to the ground, where her feet got tangled up with some vines and she fell t on her butt .

    Yundong crouched down beside her in an instant . "You okay?"

    Su Chan rubbed her backside a few times . Yundong grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet .

    "But that¡¯s the Esoteric Sect¡¯s secret!" Su Chan eximed when she finally got her jaw to function again . "I can¡¯t believe you mastered it!"

    Yundong patted the dust and dirt off her clothes and smiled down at her . "Long story short? I saved a Tibetanma¡¯s life and he gave me the book as a gift . "

    Su Chan gaped . This was unreal .

    "D- Do you still..."

    "You mean do I still have the book?"

    Su Chan bobbed her head excitedly .

    Yundongughed . "No . I returned it to the temple¡¯s Guardian Sentinel . " Yundong draped his arm across her shoulders and guided her forward . "I¡¯ve memorized its contents anyway . "

    Su Chan turned around so quickly that she nearly stumbled . "Really?"

    Yundong smiled . "Mm-hmm . "

    Su Chan threw her arms around his neck . "Heavens, Yundong! That¡¯s great!"

    Although she couldn¡¯t see his face, she knew that Yundong was smiling as well .

    "Thanks," Yundong said .

    Su Chan removed her arms around his neck and stared up at him . "Will you show them to me some day?"

    Yundong¡¯s eyes lit up with amusement . "Why, I can show you now if you want?"

    "R- Really?"

    Yundong nodded . "Not all of them though . Just the non-destructive ones . "

    Su Chan nced around a few times . "Um... Should I..."

    Yundong smiled . "It¡¯s fine . You don¡¯t have to move . "

    "Oh . "

    Yundong raised a brow . "Ready?"

    Su Chan bobbed her head up and down . "Mm-hmm! Mm-hmm!"

    Yundong smiled and raised both hands . Su Chan watched with bated breath as he curled his fingers into his palms, leaving only his index and middle fingers extended . After that, he touched his middle fingers together, and then gave the index finger of his right hand a slight bent . And then... nothing .

    Nothing happened .

    Su Chan shot a furtive nce at Yundong¡¯s face . Yundong¡¯s eyes were closed and his head was glowing in ever-changing colors . Secondster, the glowing stopped .

    The Convergence of Five Qis...

    But still, nothing had happened yet .

    "Namah samanta vajranam ham..."

    Hmm... Sanskrit .

    Yundong opened his eyes and slowly lowered his hands .

    Excitement coursed through Su Chan . She grabbed Yundong¡¯s hands . "Yundong! Not all hope is lost!" Then, she raised her fist and shook it a few times . "We¡¯ll definitely be able to save Master!"

    Heavens, yes . She felt like she could take on ten Yan Fangs right now . Bring it on!

    Su Chan raised her fist higher . "You know what? Why don¡¯t we¡ª"

    Su Chan stopped talking the moment she saw Yundong¡¯s smirk .

    "W- What?"

    Yundong reached over and pinched her cheek . "Feels great, doesn¡¯t it?"

    Su Chan frowned . Wait, what? What was going on?

    Su Chan lowered her fist and stared at her own hands . "Um... What happened?"

    "You were under the effects of atha¡¯s 11th Mudra: The Dharma Shankha . "

    Su Chan looked up from her hands .

    Yundong smiled . "It gives anyone in the user¡¯s vicinity a morale boost . "

    Su Chan looked at her hands as she tried to search for that intense feeling of courage she experienced earlier . "How long will the effectsst?"

    "ording to the Mahamudra Tantra, the range and duration will depend on the user¡¯s own willpower, so there isn¡¯t a fixed time . It depends on the user and the user¡¯s state of mind when the technique is performed . "

    "Wow..."

    "There¡¯s another one . "

    Su Chan¡¯s head shot up .

    "I can show you another one if you like?"

    Su Chan bobbed her head again .

    Yundong smiled . "Alright . But... you might want to step aside for this . " Yundong nced up . "Oh . And you might also want to remove the barrier . "

    The talisman stopped glowing and fluttered down to Su Chan¡¯s hand after she performed a quick hand sign .

    "Okay . Here goes . " Yundong sped his hands together like he was praying . "Namah samanta vajranam ham . "

    Su Chan flinched when a semi-transparent golden sheet appeared in front of Yundong . Whoa... Is that a shield?

    "Try touching it," Yundong said . He didn¡¯t let his hand drop this time .

    Su Chan stared at the barrier in wonder .

    "Go on," Yundong prompted . "Touch it . "

    Su Chan looked through the barrier and saw Yundong¡¯s encouraging smile . Then she focused her attention back at the shield . "W- Will it hurt?"

    "No . " Yundong chuckled . "Of course it won¡¯t hurt . I wouldn¡¯t have asked you to touch it if it does . "

    "O- Oh . "

    "Go ahead . Touch it and see what happens . "

    Su Chan lifted her index finger and brought it to the shield . "Whoa..." Her finger stopped moving as soon as its tip touched the golden sheet . No matter how hard she pushed, her finger just wouldn¡¯t prate the shield .

    "Um... Beloved?" Su Chan pulled her finger back . "Can you keep it the shield up for a while longer?"

    "Of course . "

    Piqued, Su Chan bent down and picked up a twig from the ground . Then, she started poking the golden sheet with the twig until the twig snapped in half .

    Su Chan tossed the broken twig aside and gaped at the barrier . "That¡¯s so cool..."

    "Nice, right?"

    "Can I try something else, Yundong?" Su Chan asked tentatively .

    Yundong smiled, then gave her an encouraging nod .

    Shadow Mist!

    When she drove herself into the barrier, her mist form spread out along the barrier¡¯s surface rather than prate it . After a few failed attempts, Su Chan switched off her mist form and stared at the barrier in awe . "I- It¡¯s imprable!"

    "It¡¯s a very useful tool . " The golden sheet vanished when Yundong lowered his hands . "Saved my life many, many times . "

    "What¡¯s it called?"

    "atha¡¯s 2nd Mudra: The Immovable Mountain of Treasure . "

    The immovable mountain... of treasure?

    "Can the barrier take any shape?" Su Chan asked, still puzzling over the meaning behind the name .

    "Yes . "

    Su Chan looked towards Yundong . Hmm...

    "The shape will be decided at the exact moment I finish chanting the mantra . And it will stay the same," Yundong continued . "Once the barrier is up, I can¡¯t shape it again . If I want one with a new shape, I¡¯ll have to release the barrier and then form it again . "

    Yundong could always just shape the barrier into a dome, or a mountain . And since the barrier was gold in color, it would look like a mountain of treasure wouldn¡¯t it?

    Ooh . So the name made sense after all .

    "And it¡¯s imprable," Su Chan mumbled . It really was . Shadow Mist could slip through pretty much anything, yet it was shown to be ineffectual against the mudra .

    "It prevents any physical object from crossing its surface as long as I have the spiritual energy to maintain the barrier . "

    Su Chan turned her head and stared at Yundong .

    Yundong smiled . "So far, I only see two problems with the technique . "

    Su Chan tilted her head to one side . "What are they?"

    Yundong sighed . "It bes difficult to keep the barrier up if the physical force exerted on it was too great . " Yundong smiled wryly . "The first time I used it was after I passed the Zhuji phase . "

    Piqued, Su Chan righted her head and stared at Yundong intently .

    Yundong chuckled . "I used it to hold back a ton of snow . "

    Snow? Oh yeah . He went to Tibet, right?

    "Wait..." Su Chan¡¯s eyes narrowed . "You were caught in an avnche?"

    Yundong chucked her under the chin . "Clever guess, princess . " He lowered his hand and sighed . "It was my first time using it, so it was kinda tough . And there was just so much snow and... Anyway . " Yundong shook his head slightly . "I could barely keep maintain the form of the mudra with my hands . "

    Hmm . Made sense . Yundong had just passed the Zhuji phase back then, right? He was only at the beginning of the Shentong phase . He probably hadn¡¯t evenpleted his first Qi Transmutation Cycle yet .

    "What about the second problem, beloved?"

    "The barrier doesn¡¯t extend underground . " Yundong¡¯s expression turned serious . "Someone could bypass the barrier by reaching up from under the ground with an Earth spell . "

    Or a Wood spell, Su Chan added internally .

    "Ooh! I know!"

    "Yes, Chan¡¯er?"

    "You already know how to fly, right?" Excitement coursed through Su Chan¡¯s veins . "Why not just levitate a bit off the ground and then form a spherical barrier!" Su Chan wrinkled her nose . "But then it would have to be called the Floating Ball of Treasure... Eugh . . . . That doesn¡¯t even¡ª"

    Yundong burst intoughter .

    Su Chan blushed . "W- What?"

    Yundong wipe away a stray tear from the corner of his eyes . "God, Chan¡¯er . . . " He ruffled her head a few more times . "You are just so... you . "

    Su Chan thought she might have just invented a Fire spell of her own¡ªthe ming Cheeks spell .

    Master would be proud .

    "Yes . " Yundong nodded . "Actually, I did think of that . But there will be times where I need to protect someone other than myself . And not everyone can fly . "

    Su Chan pursed her lips in thought . "How about..." Su Chan stole a tentative nce at Yundong . "Lift them up with Qi Kinesis?"

    Yundong did a double take, then pinched her cheek . "My, my . You¡¯re full of clever ideas today aren¡¯t you, princess?"

    Su Chan pouted . "What? It works . "

    "Yes, it does . " Yundong chuckled and took her hand in his . "Thank you so much for the suggestion, my dear little princess chipmunk . "

    "I¡¯m not a cheap monk!"

    "Sure, you¡¯re not . "

    Su Chan kept sneaking nces at Yundong as they walked side by side . He wasn¡¯t actually agreeing with her, was he? It couldn¡¯t be . He always called her a cheap monk .

    "I¡¯m not a cheap monk," she mumbled after a while .

    Yundongughed . "Alright, enough of that already . "

    Su Chan pouted .

    "Hey, you wanna hear a funny story?"

    Su Chan shot him a curious nce . "Is it funnier than those soap shows?"

    "Hmm... I don¡¯t know . Maybe?"

    "Okay! I wanna hear it . "

    "Alright . " Yundong chuckled . "Well, you see... When I first learned how to levitate, I fell down from the ceiling andnded on my . . . "

 Chapter 290

    Chapter 290

    <h4>Trek</h4>

    They continued their hike after their brief interlude where Yundong had shown her a couple of those cool mudras . They still had quite some distance to travel before reaching the school, but Su Chan didn¡¯t find the journey boring at all . Mostly because Yundong had been regaling her with interesting stories about the things he had experienced during their time apart . But still, she didn¡¯t think anything else he told her could top that story about how he had fallen on his gonads . That story was hrious .

    Su Chan giggled again .

    Yundong paused in his story about his battle against some bald man who could breathe fire .

    A secondter, Su Chan felt a light pinch on her waist .

    "Kya!"

    "You wereughing about that again, weren¡¯t you?"

    Su Chan blinked up at him innocently . "About what?"

    Yundong narrowed his eyes at her . "You know what . "

    "Hehehe..." Su Chan beamed at him . "Did you check if your..." Su Chan let her eyes wander lower before looking back up at his face . "...you know, is okay?"

    Yundong shrugged . "Why should I check?" Then, he smirked . "Isn¡¯t that your job?"

    Blushing, Su Chan gaped at him for a few seconds . "Perv!" She smacked his arm gently . Yundong chuckled and draped his arm around her shoulders before guiding them forward once again .

    When Su Chan saw a huge rock perched on the side of the path, she tugged Yundong¡¯s sleeve and pulled him to a stop .

    "Yundong..." Su Chan pointed at the rock . "Do you know that that rock leads to¡ª"

    "The secret vault of the Fox Zen School . "

    Su Chan whipped her head to the side and gaped at him . Once again, her beloved had surprised her¡ªhe had been doing that a lottely .

    Yundong was smiling down at her . "That¡¯s actually how I got into the school . "

    "B- But how did you..." Su Chan ced a finger on her chin . "Did Zi Yuan ji¨§jie tell you?"

    "Nah... I don¡¯t think she knew about the vault . "

    Su Chan frowned . "Then how?"

    Surely, it couldn¡¯t have been dumb luck? Or could it?

    Su Chan stole a nce at Yundong .

    Yundong chuckled . "You probably won¡¯t believe this, but it was actually Lin Youfa who told me about it . "

    "Lin You¡ª" Su Chan gaped at Yundong . But how on earth could Lin Youfa possibly know about the side trail?

    "Hard to believe, I know . " A wistful look formed on Yundong¡¯s face . "But it¡¯s true . " He sighed . "He had some kind of map . " Yundong shot Su Chan a look . "No idea where he got it from though . "

    In hindsight, she wasn¡¯t surprised that there was a map .

    "A lot of people have tried to get into the vault . Some of them might¡¯ve figured out how to unlock the side trail . " Not that it mattered . It was impossible for any of them to enter the vault from the outside unless the Fan of Seven Treasures did it for them .

    They moved past the rock and took the main trail .

    "He came to steal the treasures from the vault, didn¡¯t he?" Su Chan said tly .

    It made sense . He had a map .

    "Yeah . "

    "Did he... seed?" Su Chan nced sideways at Yundong . "Did he manage to steal anything?"

    "No . " Yundong¡¯s voice sounded a little strange .

    "Where is he now? Is he still here?"

    "Yes . " Yundong nced at her briefly . "But he¡¯s dead . "

    Su Chan fell behind a step . A secondter, she caught up to Yundong again . "What happened?"

    Yundong stepped over the trunk of a fallen tree . Su Chan floated over it and stared down at Yundong, awaiting his exnation . She could tell that there was a story there .

    "He tried to attack me . " Yundong gave her a wry smile . "So the Fan of Seven Treasures took care of him . "

    Speaking of which...

    "Yundong..."

    "Hmm?"

    "Where is the Fan of Seven Treasures?" Su Chan gave him a quick once-over . "Shouldn¡¯t you be carrying it around at all times?"

    Smiling, Yundong reached into his pocket and pulled out a colorful pouch, which she recognized as a spirit pouch . "It¡¯s in here . "

    Yundong shoved the pouch back into his pocket .

    "Did Grandmaster Liu gave that to you?" Su Chan asked, suddenly remembering the kind old man who gave her the paper crane .

    "No . " Yundong smiled . "Cao Yi did . She¡ª" Yundong suddenly stopped talking, his eyes sharp and alert .

    "Beloved?"

    Yundong pointed at something behind Su Chan .

    Su Chan twisted her body in midair and followed Yundong¡¯s gaze: dead bodies .

    Su Chan floated towards the corpses and then hovered above them . Something about those battered faces seemed familiar .

    Then it hit her .

    "The harpies," she mumbled .

    "Do you know these women?" Yundong¡¯s voice sounded behind her .

    Su Chan nodded . "They were Gu-sh¨©b¨®¡¯s disciples . "

    "I see," Yundong said in knowing tone . "The runaways . "

    Confused, Su Chan turned her head to face Yundong . "Runaways?"

    Yundong gestured at the dead bodies . "They were the runaways . " He lowered his hand, then held Su Chan¡¯s gaze . "Cao Yi told me that your Gu sh¨©b¨®¡¯s disciples fled the school before the assault began . "

    Su Chan turned her gaze to the dead bodies . "Must not have run far then . "

    Yundong hummed .

    Su Chan lowered herself to the ground, then bent down to examine the corpse closest to her . These women were practically half-naked¡ªtheir robes had been ripped apart . Sttered across their bodies were various physical wounds¡ªcuts, bruises, and the like . The corpse Su Chan was examining looked to be in worse shapepared to the others . The poor woman¡¯s chest waspletely bashed in . It was like her upper torso was ttened by some kind of round object . Su Chan sent a silent prayer to Buddha and straightened herself . She stepped around the corpse and moved towards another corpse, which was lying face down . She crouched down and flipped the corpse over .

    "Beloved, look at this . "

    Yundong shuffled over and crouched down beside her . "What is it?"

    "Look at this pattern . " Su Chan pointed at the stripes stered all over woman¡¯s torso . "I think it came from a melon hammer . "

    Yundong suddenly tensed up beside her . After that, she heard a low growl .

    She turned her head and immediately noticed the scowl on Yundong¡¯s face . "Beloved?"

    "Kuang Tianping," he said coldly .

    Su Chan frowned . Kuang who?

    "The Golden Hammer of the Donghai Sect," Yundong added, disdain coloring his tone .

    They shared a brief nce before Yundong continued, "One of the Great Six¡¯s Cultivators . " There was a pause . "He was there when I was defending the school . He was also the only one I saw wielding a pair of melon hammers . " Yundong shook his head . "This is most likely his doing . "

    "He will pay," Su Chan said without taking her eyes off the corpses .

    "He already did . "

    Su Chan lifted her gaze from the corpses and nced at Yundong .

    "I killed him," Yundong said emotionlessly . "But his Yin Spirit got away before I could destroy it . "

    Su Chan sighed . Hopefully his Yin Spirit would die out before he managed to possess someone else¡¯s body .

    Su Chan rose to her feet . "We should bury them . " Even though these harpies were rude and crass when alive, even though they had disrespected Master, they still deserved a proper burial . Lives were still lives .

    "I agree," Yundong said, rising to his feet as well .

    They worked silently together, Yundong digging the earth with Qi Kinesis while Su Chan did the same using a talisman she¡¯d found in Master¡¯s drawer . It was a clever Earth spell of Master¡¯s invention that would allow its user to carve out a hole on the ground . The shape of the hole could be anything of the caster¡¯s choosing . There were five corpses in total, but Su Chan only had one talisman; so she buried one while Yundong took care of the other four .

    After saying a few prayers, and adding a few makeshift gravestones, they continued their journey along the main trail .

    "Chan¡¯er . "

    "Hmm?"

    "I¡¯ve been meaning to ask..." Yundong shot her a brief nce . "How do talismans work?"

    Su Chan stopped floating and stared at him in surprise . "Zi Yuan ji¨§jie hasn¡¯t taught you spellcasting yet?"

    Yundong shook his head . "There wasn¡¯t enough time . " He paused and held her gaze for a moment . "I started preparing for my divine punishment as soon as the Fan of Seven Treasures acknowledged me as its owner . "

    "The Reckoning," Su Chan whispered . All of a sudden, images of a glowing Fan of Treasures dancing around Yundong came to mind .

    "Yeah . "

    That must¡¯ve been a sight to behold . Too bad she couldn¡¯t be there to see it for herself .

    "And you came straight here after you survived your divine punishment . "

    "Yeah . "

    "Hmm..." Su Chan floated around in circles . Secondster, she lowered herself to the ground . "What¡¯s your current understanding of spellcasting, beloved?"

    A thoughtful look formed on Yundong¡¯s face . "Well... I know it¡¯s different from the mudras . Buddhist magic is different, right?" Yundong raised his brows .

    Su Chan affirmed with several quick nods .

    The thoughtful look returned to Yundong¡¯s face again . "I think it¡¯s got something to do with the flow of spiritual energy . "

    "Mm-hmm!"

    "Also, I¡¯ve noticed that some Cultivators have to form a series of hand signs in order to cast spells . " Yundong paused to look at her . "That¡¯s pretty much all I know . "

    "Your first hunch is correct, beloved . " Su Chan smiled at him . "The key to spellcasting lies in the flow of spiritual energy . " Su Chan turned away to face the front, knowing that she was about to repeat the exact words Master had told her all those years ago . "Different flow patterns of spiritual energy will result in different spells . There are other factors involved as well, such as the amount of spiritual energy expended . Even the timing of spiritual energy release matters . " Su Chan nced at Yundong . "That¡¯s why there are so many spells out there . "

    Yundong nodded . "Because these parameters can all be altered to produce variations . "

    Su Chan bobbed her head up and down . "Mm!"

    "Wow . I see . "

    "Talismans are usually created forplicated spells where a lot of hand signs are required . "

    "Like the Five Thunders Spell . "

    Su Chan bobbed her head . "The drawings on talismans basically do the same thing as hand signs . "

    "They guide the flow of spiritual energy," Yundong said .

    "Yep!"

    "Makes sense . " Yundong paused in thought . "A spell can be cast much faster through the use of talismans because the hand signs can be omitted . "

    Su Chan shook her head . "Some talismans require hand signs too . "

    Yundong stared at her .

    "Some talismans can be activated with Qi alone . " Su Chan smiled at Yundong . "Like the one I gave youst time . "

    Yundong nodded . "The Five Thunders Spell . "

    "Yep! Those are called Qi-Activated talismans . "

    "So they are a special kind of talisman then?"

    "Yup . And they are very rare too . " A sudden tightness formed in Su Chan¡¯s chest . She lowered her gaze and stared at the ground for a moment . "Master told me that Qi-Activated talismans are very difficult to draw..." She could feel Yundong¡¯s concerned gaze on her right then, so she turned her head and forced out a smile . "Anyway . Like I said, those talismans are special . Normal talismans can only be activated by expending a small amount of the user¡¯s spiritual energy and then performing one or two hand signs . "

    "I see . " Recognition shone in Yundong¡¯s eyes . "The activation of talismans is itself a spell . That¡¯s why it needs its own hand signs . "

    "Yup!"

    "So, with talismans, you can rece the long sequence of hand signs needed for the actual spell with one or two simple ones . " Yundong chuckled . "Smart . "

    Su Chan beamed . "First, you take out the talisman . Then, you perform the right hand signs . After that, all you need to do is channel your Zhenqi into the talisman and ta-da! A spell!" Su Chan wiggled her fingers a few times .

    Yundongughed and ruffled her hair .

    "Talismans aren¡¯t perfect though . " Su Chan lowered her hand . "They can only be used once . And obviously, you have to draw them beforehand . " Su Chan wrinkled her nose . "Drawing them is no easy task . Even themon ones require a lot of skill to draw . " Su Chan shook her head . "One wrong symbol..."

    "And the spell wouldn¡¯t work . "

    Su Chan nodded . "Master is very good at it . " Su Chan nced at Yundong . "Talisman Lore . "

    Yundong smiled . "I don¡¯t find that surprising at all . She¡¯s a genius after all . "

    "Mm . " Su Chan lowered her gaze to the ground .

    "Hey . " Yundong nudged her . "We¡¯re gonna get her back, okay?"

    Su Chan lifted her gaze and gave him a weak smile .

    "We¡¯re not alone in this . " Yundong patted her head . "Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling are on our side . " Yundong smiled . "And we¡¯ve still got Cao Yi and your other sh¨©b¨®¡¯s, haven¡¯t we?"

    Su Chan¡¯s heart lightened a bit .

    "Oh, hey . Why don¡¯t you tell me more about your mist spell?" Yundong¡¯s tone sounded curious . "It¡¯s called Shadow Mist, right?"

    Su Chan smiled . "Yep!"

    "How does it work?"

    "It¡¯s actually a spell from the Water Element . We first manipte the water vapor in the air with our spiritual energy to form the mist, and then we integrate our physical bodies into the mist . Our Yin Spirit then can control and shape the mist however we want . "

    "I see..."

    "Yundong, do you know that fox spirits¡ª"

    "Are born with Yin Spirits? Yeah, I know . "

    Su Chan did a double take . Wait, he knew about that . Hmm . Zi Yuan ji¨§jie must have told him that .

    "Oh . "

    They walked for a while in silence until Yundong broke the silence with a long, contented sigh . Piqued, Su Chan looked towards Yundong .

    Yundong was smiling . "I¡¯ve missed this, you know?"

    "Hmm?"

    "I mean what we¡¯re doing right now . " Yundong¡¯s smile widened . "I¡¯ve really missed this . "

    "Oh . "

    "Yeah . It reminds me of the time when you first taught me about Cultivation . "

    "There isn¡¯t much I can teach you now, Yundong . " Su Chan smiled . "Honestly, you can learn so much more from Zi Yuan ji¨§jie or..."

    Or Master .

    Yundong patted her head . "Even so, I couldn¡¯t have gotten here without your early guidance, Chan¡¯er . "

    There was a grateful smile on Yundong¡¯s face when she turned to look at him .

    "So, thank you . "

    Su Chan smiled and¡ª

    She stopped walking and pointed at the temple in front of them .

    "Well . " Yundong stopped beside her . "Looks like we¡¯re here . "

    Su Chan lowered her hand and sighed . Hopefully, she would receive a warmer wee this time .

 Chapter 291

    Chapter 291

    <h4>The Missing Potions</h4>

    When they walked through the gates and entered the Fox Zen School¡¯s courtyard, Cao Yi was there waiting for them . Upon their approach, Cao Yi bowed . "Wee back, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n . "

    "Thank you," Li Yundong said, releasing Chan¡¯er¡¯s hand . "And what did I say about this bowing nonsense?"

    "My apologies, zh¨£ngm¨¦n . I¡ª" Cao Yi stopped talking when she realized that she had just bowed again . When Li Yundong raised his brows at her, Cao Yi straightened herself and cleared her throat . "My apologies, zh¨£ngm¨¦n . Force of habit . "

    Li Yundong smiled and waved off her apology . "It¡¯s fine . "

    "Su Chan . " Cao Yi acknowledged Chan¡¯er¡¯s presence with a smile . "I¡¯m so d you¡¯re okay . "

    Chan¡¯er dipped her head cordially . "Sh¨©b¨® . "

    A sad expression formed on Cao Yi¡¯s face . "I¡¯m sorry about your Master . "

    Li Yundong studied Chan¡¯er from the corner of his eyes . When he saw Chan¡¯er staring quietly at the floor, he knew it was time to change the subject .

    "Has Grandmaster Liu¡¯s body been taken care of?"

    Cao Yi nodded . "Yes, zh¨£ngm¨¦n . I was actually going through the grandmaster¡¯s things in his office when I sensed your return . "

    Li Yundong nodded and shot Chan¡¯er a furtive nce . The downcast look he saw earlier had abated . Chan¡¯er was now ncing around as though she¡¯d never been here before .

    Li Yundong turned to Cao Yi again . "Please take us to thete grandmaster¡¯s office . There are important matters that we need to discuss . "

    "As you wish, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n . " Cao Yi turned around and gestured at the temple¡¯s front door .

    Spending some time inside Grandmaster Liu¡¯s office was a logical first move . Perhaps Grandmaster Liu had kept written records on the school¡¯s management, things that Li Yundong could refer to for guidance .

    And so help him God he needed some guidance .

    He wouldn¡¯t lie . Right now, he didn¡¯t have a single clue how to lead the Fox Zen School . And it certainly didn¡¯t help that he knew absolute zilch about leadership in general, and about the organization he was supposed to lead .

    Regardless, the responsibility had fallen on his shoulders . Whether he liked it or not, Cao Yi and the other members of the Fox Zen School were now turning to him for leadership . And obviously, something had to be done to get the school back in order; otherwise the school would fall apart and the Great Six¡¯s agenda would¡¯vee to fruition (at least partially) even though their assault had been thwarted . And then there were also the younger fox spirits to consider . If those young fox spirits were anything like Su Chan when they first met...

    God .

    It was like being tossed into arge room with a bunch of little Su Chans running around, and then asking him to create some form of order inside the room .

    No pressure .

    The temple¡¯s front door opened to arge foyer . The hall was empty when they entered, but for some reason, Chan¡¯er¡¯s gaze kept straying towards the center of the hall even though they had already walked past it . Her eyes were sad, and she looked like she was reminiscing about something .

    Past therge foyer, Cao Yi led them to a long hallway with lots of doors on both sides .

    Halfway through the hallway, Li Yundong decided to break the silence . "Any trouble while I was away?"

    "Not at all, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n," Cao Yi answered dutifully .

    "Intruders?"

    Cao Yi shook her head . "None . " Cao Yi suddenly smiled . The smile entuated the admiration in her eyes . "Your idea of using an illusion spell worked perfectly, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n . "

    Li Yundong smirked . "That, and"¡ªHe gave Cao Yi a pointed look¡ª"the announcement you made in a certain group chat..."

    Cao Yi stopped walking, her face pale . "I... Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n . . . . I- I was just... I was . . . I was trying to protect the school and¡ª" She stopped stammering and stared at Li Yundong fearfully . "Did I overstep?"

    Li Yundong smiled and waved off her concerns . "Nah . You actually did well . It¡¯s a good strategy . " Li Yundong smirked . "I myself would¡¯ve suggested something simr if I knew that some of you actually know your way around a smartphone . "

    Cao Yi seemed surprised that he had let her off the hook that easily, but she didn¡¯tment .

    They took a right turn at the end of the hallway .

    "Did you find the others?" Li Yundong nced at Cao Yi .

    "Yes . "

    "Alive?"

    "Very much so . "

    Li Yundong stared at Cao Yi for a moment . "Okay...?"

    Cao Yi sighed . "They were drugged . "

    The statement was shocking enough to bring Chan¡¯er out of her deep reverie .

    Li Yundong frowned . "By whom?"

    "By Grandmaster Liu . "

    "Wait a minute . What?" Li Yundong shook his head in confusion . "Why on earth would he do that?"

    "To protect them, I think," Cao Yi said, then sighed . "I found them in a cer under Grandmaster Liu¡¯s quarters . "

    None of this made sense .

    "Howe you weren¡¯t drugged?" He stared at Cao Yi . "And what about the young ones who were present during the battle? They were perfectly lucid . "

    "That¡¯s just the thing, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n . " Cao Yi gave him a wry smile . "I would¡¯ve been drugged too if I had stayed inside my room before the assault began . " Cao Yi sighed . "I was with the young ones . We weren¡¯t in our quarters . We were at the backyard . "

    "That¡¯s why they weren¡¯t drugged too . "

    Cao Yi nodded .

    "Any idea why he did it?"

    "This way, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n . "

    Cao Yi turned towards a stairwell and started to climb the stairs . Li Yundong climbed after her, resisting the urge to just levitate up the stairwell . Behind him, Chan¡¯er trudged along quietly .

    "I don¡¯t know why he did it, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n . " Cao Yi sounded weary, resigned .

    "Your best guess?"

    Cao Yi paused at thending, causing Li Yundong to stop walking as well . Chan¡¯er let out an adorable squeak when she bumped into his back .

    Li Yundong regarded Cao Yi, who now had a conflicted look on her face .

    "You may speak your mind, Cao Yi . " Li Yundong paused . "What¡¯s your take on the grandmaster¡¯s actions? What does your gut tell you?"

    "That he was trying to keep the rest of us out of the way while he flushed out the traitor?"

    Li Yundong and shared a brief nce with Chan¡¯er .

    "So he did suspect something . " Li Yundong looked towards Cao Yi again .

    Cao Yi nodded after a brief nce at Chan¡¯er . "He said so himself when he confronted Yan Fang during the battle . " Cao Yi¡¯s eyes returned to Li Yundong¡¯s face . "I overheard their confrontation . "

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes . "Which means whoever he didn¡¯t drug are the ones he suspected to be the traitor . "

    "I concur, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n . "

    "Who are they?"

    "I beg your pardon, zh¨£ngm¨¦n?"

    "The ones who weren¡¯t drugged," Li Yundong said . "Who are they?"

    Chan¡¯er¡¯s eyes were bouncing back and forth between him and Cao Yi .

    "Mo Ahshi, Gu Feng, and Ye Yu," Cao Yi said .

    Li Yundong frowned . That¡¯s a little odd...

    "Two people on that list werepromised . " Li Yundong held Cao Yi¡¯s gaze for a moment . "Why did things be so devastating if both traitors were already on his radar?"

    Cao Yi¡¯s lips pulled into a grim line . "I think he suspected Ye Yu the most . "

    Realizing that they had stopped moving, Li Yundong motioned Cao Yi to lead the way . "How do you figure?" Li Yundong asked after they moved past thending to climb another set of stairs .

    Cao Yi hastened her pace . "Before you arrived, he stationed Ye Yu outside the gates to confront the Great Six¡¯s army . "

    "I see . He wanted to observe Ye Yu¡¯s interaction with the Great Six¡¯s army to see if she was the traitor . "

    "Too bad he was wrong . " Cao Yi stopped walking once they reached the top of the staircase . Then, she pointed towards a hallway . "The grandmaster¡¯s office is just up ahead . "

    Li Yundong nodded and followed Cao Yi to the hallway . Inside his chest, excitement and trepidation brewed . He wondered what he would find inside Grandmaster Liu¡¯s office . Hopefully something that would provide some sort of guidance on how to run a school of fox spirits .

    "We¡¯re here," Cao Yi said, stopping outside arge wooden door .

    For some reason, Chan¡¯er¡¯s attention wasn¡¯t focused on door in front of them . She was staring at something further down the hallway . Li Yundong followed her gaze and saw another door down the hallway, about 20 meters away from the wooden door .

    "Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n?"

    Li Yundong turned and saw that Cao Yi had already stepped through the door .

    "Is everything alright?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "Everything¡¯s fine . "

    Cao Yi held the door open as he and Chan¡¯er entered .

    The office was quite huge, though it didn¡¯t have much furniture . There were two tables: arge office desk; and a square table for guests . Arge shelf was set up against the wall . Scrolls and boxes lined the shelf . One of the boxes was filled with paper cranes .

    Chan¡¯er headed straight towards the office desk after they entered . She crouched down beside the desk and started poking her finger at arge hookah beside the desk . The hookah¡¯s presence wasn¡¯t that surprising since Grandmaster Liu was a smoker¡ªif the fancy opium pipe on the desk was anything to go by .

    Chan¡¯er seemed rather upied with the hookah, so he decided to let her be .

    He turned to Cao Yi, who was hugging a disproportionatelyrge box against her chest . He mobilized his Zhenqi and relieved her of the burden with Qi Kinesis .

    Surprise shed in Cao Yi¡¯s eyes when therge box floated out of her hands . "Oh . " She nced towards Li Yundong . "Thank you, zh¨£ngm¨¦n . But I could¡¯ve carried that . "

    Li Yundong waved her off . "Where do you want this?"

    Cao Yi nced around a few times, then pointed at the square table .

    "So," Li Yundong said after lowering the box onto the table . "Bring me up to speed . "

    Cao Yi sighed . "First of all, the grandmaster didn¡¯t leave a will . "

    Li Yundong nodded . The old man probably didn¡¯t n on dying .

    Cao Yi pointed at the box . "These are some of his personal belongings . "

    Li Yundong leaned over the box and checked out its contents: a robe; one of those spirit pouches; a bunch of scrolls; several calligraphy paintings; some kind of rack used to hold vials .

    He pulled out the rack and shot Cao Yi a questioning look .

    "Potions," Cao Yi answered . "Grandmaster Liu¡¯s personal collection of potions . "

    "Where are the rest?" He pointed at the holes on the rack where vials were missing .

    "Huh . " Cao Yi stepped forward and frowned . "They¡¯re gone . "

    Judging from the worried look on Cao Yi¡¯s face, those vials weren¡¯t supposed to be missing . Maybe the grandmaster used them during the battle . Or maybe...

    "Yan Fang might¡¯ve stolen them," he suggested .

    Cao Yi nced up from the rack . "Perhaps . "

    "Anyway . " Li Yundong put the rack back into the box . "Let¡¯s move on . What else do I need to know?"

    A troubled look formed on Cao Yi¡¯s face . She reached into the box and pulled out a thick notebook . Li Yundong took the notebook and flipped through a few pages .

    He frowned . "These are..."

    "Our finances," Cao Yi rified .

    Li Yundong looked up from the notebook and immediately noticed the crestfallen look on Cao Yi¡¯s face .

    Cao Yi sighed . "And as you can see, we¡¯re facing a huge problem right now . "

    Li Yundong lowered his gaze onto the notebook and flipped to the most recent pages . Heaviness filled his chest . "The grandmaster didn¡¯t leave you guys with much, did he . "

    Cao Yi stared down at the table and said nothing .

    He felt Chan¡¯er¡¯s presence beside him right then . Chan¡¯er, too, was in a subdued mood . Clearly, his career as the Head of the Fox Zen School had not gotten off to a cheery start .

    He scanned a few more pages of the notebook . "You guys havested this long," he said without taking his eyes off the page he was reading . "So Grandmaster Liu must have a source of ie, right?"

    Cao Yi looked up from the table . "He did . We just didn¡¯t know what it was . "

    Li Yundong stared at Cao Yi . Okay, what?

    "He always made sure we had money to use, but he never told us where he got the money from . " Cao Yi smiled wistfully . "Some of us had even tried to follow him around a few times . " She looked towards Li Yundong . "We wanted to figure out if he was running some kind of side business . " Cao Yi shrugged . "Not that we¡¯ve had any sess on that front . The Fox Zen School¡¯s ie source remains as elusive as ever . "

    Li Yundong chuckled and shook his head a few times . "Unbelievable . "

    "The grandmaster is a very secretive man, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n . " Cao Yi sighed . "None of us had a single clue about the barrier¡¯s existence until he cast the spell . "

    "Barrier? What barrier?" Li Yundong shot a quick nce at Chan¡¯er . His princess looked just as confused as he felt . He looked towards Cao Yi again .

    The surprise in Cao Yi¡¯s eyes was clear . "Wait... You... So you didn¡¯t know... . "

    Li Yundong shook his head .

    Cao Yi sighed . "The assault actually began long before your arrival, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n . The barrier is the only reason we couldst long enough for you to arrive . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "Makes no sense . " He held Cao Yi¡¯s gaze . "The enemy has quite a few users of earth spells, don¡¯t they?"

    "No . The barrier stretches underground . Nobody could get past it without the use of a counter spell . "

    Li Yundong sighed . "Alright," he said, closing the notebook and then cing it back into the box . "What are your expenses? Food, obviously . What else? Utilities? Electricity? Water?"

    "We have our own water supply," Cao Yi answered . "But we do require electricity . "

    Li Yundong hummed . He wondered if he could power the entire school by summoning lightning using the Dance of Storms...

    Nah . Probably a dumb idea . He¡¯d just end up blowing up the entire school .

    "Okay . What about food? Who handles the food?"

    "I¡¯m in charge of food," Cao Yi answered in a heartbeat . "I leave the mountain a lot to restock our food supplies . "

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Hence your tech-savviness . "

    Cao Yi smiled .

    Li Yundong shook his head . Group chat . Seriously . It took Chan¡¯er days just to learn the subtle art of texting .

    Li Yundong went silent in thought . Worsees to worst, they could just sell some of the items inside the secret vault . Then again, that would probably go against the grandmaster¡¯s wishes . The grandmaster himself would¡¯ve sold those items years ago if that was what he truly wanted . After all, anyone from inside the Fox Zen School could ess the vault . The Fan of Seven Treasures was only required when one wished to enter the vault from the outside .

    "Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n?" Cao Yi¡¯s voice pulled him out of his thoughts .

    "Yes?"

    Cao Yi¡¯s expression right then was the very definition of gloom . "What do we do now?" Cao Yi released a heavy sigh, then waved a hand across the room . "We need money to maintain the ce . " She gave him a sad look . "And I don¡¯t think any of us has the skills to get a job in the mortal world . "

    What did a fox spirit¡¯s skillset entail? Stealth? Seduction?

    An image of a bunch of fox spirits prancing around in a brothel came to mind .

    Li Yundong shuddered .

    No .

    Just . No .

    "I¡¯ll figure something out," Li Yundong said .

    "Zh¨£ngm¨¦n? Y- You have a n?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "I have a few ideas . "

    Cao Yi was visibly relieved . "Oh, thank Heavens..."

    Li Yundong tilted his head towards the notebook . "The amount Grandmaster Liu left us should be able tost in the meantime . Just make sure you use it wisely . "

    Cao Yi nodded . "Yes, zh¨£ngm¨¦n . "

    "Right now, my priority is to track down Yan Fang and rescue Wushuang qi¨¢nb¨¨i . " He felt Chan¡¯er shift beside him . When he stole a nce, he saw the hopeful look her eyes held .

    "Understood . "

    "But, I don¡¯t think I can do it from here . "

    Cao Yi frowned .

    "I¡¯ll be away . " He gave Cao Yi a pointed look . "I have to return to Tiannan City . "

    "Do you think you can find Yan Fang there?"

    Li Yundong sighed . "I¡¯m not sure yet . But I¡¯ve got a few contacts there that might be able to give us reliable leads . "

    "I see . "

    None of the fox spirits¡ªother than Su Chan¡ªwere aware that Zi Yuan was actually on their side . Considering the antagonism between the Linggong Sect and the Zhengyi School¡¯s main sect, it was probably best to keep things that way . Fox spirits tend to have rather loose tongues .

    "You and the other disciples..." Li Yundong paused to look at Cao Yi . "Where are they anyway?"

    "At their personal quarters," Cao Yi answered . "Recovering . "

    "Right . You and the other disciples are in charge of running the school while I¡¯m away . " Li Yundong paused in thought . "Keep going through Grandmaster Liu¡¯s things . " He gestured at therge shelf . "See if you guys can figure out what kind of side business Grandmaster Liu was running . Right now, we need all the funds we can get . "

    "Will do, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n . "

    "If there are any problems, send me a paper crane or give me a call . " Li Yundong paused to give Cao Yi a stern look . "If there is another attack, do not engage . Send me a message and then hide inside the vault with the other girls . " He paused again . "If hiding isn¡¯t an option, abandon the temple . "

    Cao Yi¡¯s flinch at the end of hisst statement didn¡¯t escape him .

    "Your lives are more important than your pride," Li Yundong added in a gentler tone .

    Cao Yi lowered her head slightly . "Understood, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n . "

    Li Yundong nodded and handed a slip of paper to Cao Yi . "Here¡¯s my phone number . "

    Cao Yi took the paper dutifully .

    "Those are Grandmaster Liu¡¯s magical objects, I assume?" He pointed at the desk where the brush and opium pipey .

    "Yes . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "Keep them safe . "

    Cao Yi nodded . "Will you be back for Grandmaster Liu¡¯s funeral, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n?"

    "Of course . Just let me know the exact time and date . Chan¡¯er and I will be there . "

    "Understood . "

    "Is there anything else that I should know before I go?"

    "That will be all, Li zh¨£ngm¨¦n . "

    "Good . " Li Yundong turned towards his princess . "Chan¡¯er . "

    "Hmm?"

    Li Yundong smiled . "Let¡¯s go home . "

 Chapter 292

    Chapter 292

    <h4>Home Sweet Home</h4>

    It was already afternoon by the time they arrived at Tiannan City . And when they walked into their apartment, Su Chan¡¯s cheer was loud . Too loud . Loud but forced . Affected . Contrived . A cheerless cheer which made the heaviness inside Li Yundong¡¯s heart grow .

    Li Yundong lingered at the doorway and observed Su Chan¡¯s behavior . At the moment, she was prancing around the living room, poking at any object within reach . The act would probably fool just about anyone, but not him . How could it fool him when he had already seen firsthand what she looked like when experiencing true joy?

    "Yay! How nice to finally be home!" Su Chan dove onto the couch . She hugged a throw pillow to her chest, then rolled around a few times . "Howfortable! Home is the best!"

    Li Yundong could no longer ignore the sharp tug in his chest . Facing away from the living room, he took a deep breath to keep his emotions in check . It was pointless to ask why she was doing this; he already knew why she was doing this .

    His princess chipmunk didn¡¯t want him to worry .

    Su Chan was no longer on the couch by the time he was facing the living room again . Frowning, he padded into the living room and nced around the apartment . He didn¡¯t see her in the kitchen . The door of his bedroom was open, so that was probably where she went .

    Li Yundong sighed and pulled out his phone from his pocket .

    Zi Yuan picked up after the fifth ring . "Hello?"

    "It¡¯s me," he said .

    "I know . "

    "Are you feeling better?"

    "Still not hundred percent yet . "

    Li Yundong sighed and lowered himself onto the couch .

    "Don¡¯t worry," Zi Yuan said . "I¡¯ll live . "

    Easy for you to say, Li Yundong thought, closing his eyes . She wasn¡¯t the one who had to wrestle with the guilt of hurting a friend .

    "Can we meet?" Li Yundong spoke into the phone .

    "Not right now . " There was a brief pause . "I¡¯m back at Mount Longhu . "

    Li Yundong opened his eyes . "Since when?"

    "Since this morning," came Zi Yuan¡¯s tired reply . "Linggong Sect business . "

    Li Yundong frowned . "More trouble?"

    Zi Yuan sighed . "I don¡¯t know . " A brief pause . "Maybe?"

    Li Yundong stared at his own reflection in the TV screen, letting the silence linger while he searched for something to say . Finally, he went with, "Anything I can do to help?"

    "Yes . "

    Li Yundong sat up straighter . "Name it . "

    "Byying low and not doing anything . "

    Li Yundong slumped against the couch and sighed . "I wouldn¡¯t call that helping . "

    Zi Yuan chuckled . "Seriously . You are helping me by not doing anything . "

    Li Yundong decided to let it go . "Have you heard back from Hongling?"

    "Not yet . " Zi Yuan sounded a little worried .

    "When did she leave?"

    "Latest night . "

    Which means Ruan Hongling had been gone for the whole morning . Shit . What if Ruan Hongling ran into Yan Fang? Would Yan Fang hurt the people from her own sect?

    "Can you think of any reason for her dy?"

    Zi Yuan let out a humorless chuckle . "Convincing Yan Hua no doubt . " There was a pause . "She couldn¡¯t just barge into the Yan family home and then demand to see the sword . What if there¡¯s someone inside the Yan family home with a loose tongue? The main sect will get suspicious . " Seconds passed in silence until Zi Yuan let out a heavy sigh . "Right now, it¡¯s Hongling and I against the entire Zhengyi School . "

    Li Yundong clenched his jaw . He didn¡¯t like the way things had yed out . These stupid squabbles . All for what? Could there be an underlying reason behind the main sect¡¯s hostility against the Linggong Sect? Should he ask?

    In the end, he held his tongue . Zi Yuan would ask him if she needed any help .

    "Like I said . Let me know if there¡¯s anything I can do . "

    Zi Yuan didn¡¯t acknowledge his statement at all . "How¡¯s Su Chan?"

    "She¡¯s..." Li Yundong nced at his bedroom . The door was still open, so Su Chan was probably still in there, doing God knows what . "She¡¯s okay . Physically, at least . She seemed depressed . Down in the dumps . And..." He sighed . "She tried to hide it from me by acting cheerful and all that . But..."

    "But you can still tell . "

    "Yeah . "

    Seconds passed in silence .

    "I get it though . " Zi Yuan sounded wistful .

    "Yeah?"

    "I mean I understand what she¡¯s going through . " Zi Yuan sighed . "When I lost my master, it felt like my whole world was falling apart . And Hongling was still so young back then . Both her training and upbringing became my responsibility . "

    And how old were you?

    She was just a teenager back then . A teen taking on a parenting role . If that wasn¡¯t admirable, he didn¡¯t know what was . Li Yundong felt ashamed to even think about what he was doing when he was still a young teen .

    "Must have been tough . "

    "It was . "

    "But you made it . "

    "Thanks, I guess . "

    "I¡¯ll talk to Su Chan . " Li Yundong paused . "She mes herself for Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i¡¯s capture . "

    Zi Yuan hummed . "Hopefully she pulls herself together . Because her ount of what happened the day Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i was capture could hold the key to finding Yan Fang . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s mind went nk for a second . It sounded so strange to hear Zi Yuan refer to Yan Fang by name without the use of an honorific . Then again, why bother with the honorific? Yan Fang wasn¡¯t even her sh¨©b¨® anymore .

    "Yeah . About that . " Li Yundong paused and shifted the phone to his other ear . "When do you think we can meet?"

    They definitely needed toe up with a solid n . If nothing else, Yan Fang was very good at hiding herself . After all, she had nted herself inside the Fox Zen School for nearly a decade and no one had noticed a single thing .

    "I can¡¯t say at the moment . The Linggong Sect is still being watched¡ª"

    Li Yundong frowned and nced at the screen to check whether the call was still on .

    "Zi Yuan?"

    "I¡¯m getting another call . It¡¯s from Hongling . "

    Li Yundong leaned forward in the couch . "Okay?"

    "I¡¯ll get back to youter, okay?"

    "Sure . "

    The call ended with a click . The phone floated towards the coffee table and Li Yundongy down on the couch . Hey there for a few minutes until he heard the familiar creak of his bedroom door .

    He sat up on the couch and saw Su Chan tip-toeing towards the couch .

    "Chan¡¯er?¡± He smiled . "What are you doing?"

    Su Chan stopped her movements and beamed at him . That smile seemed genuine enough .

    "Hehe... Guess what I¡¯m holding in my hands?"

    Li Yundong nced down and noticed that her hands were hidden behind her back . Heughed . "Your Hello Keedee, what else!"

    Su Chan¡¯s face fell, and she pouted . "Boo . " She pulled out the piggy bank from behind her . "You¡¯re no fun at all . "

    Li Yundongughed and patted the couch . "Come here . "

    Su Chan skipped all the way towards the couch, hugging the piggy bank to her chest like it was some kind of treasure . Then, she plopped onto the couch and leaned her head against his shoulder .

    Hello Keedee rose just an inch .

    "Do you think the money in here can help feed the Fox Zen School?"

    Li Yundong bit the inside of his cheek to stifle hisugh . He cleared his throat . "Well... It can . "

    Su Chan pulled away and looked up at him with those piteous, round eyes of hers . "R- Really?"

    "Maybe for a few days?"

    Su Chan visibly deted .

    Li Yundong reached over and ruffled her hair . "Don¡¯t worry about it, okay? I told you I¡¯ve got a few ideas . "

    "Oh . " Hello Keedee rolled on the couch when Su Chan repositioned herself .

    Secondster, Su Chan¡¯s arms were wrapped tightly around his waist .

    They sat there in silence, seekingfort in each other¡¯s presence .

    "It¡¯s gonna be alright, Chan¡¯er," Li Yundong said minutester . "Your master is strong . She¡¯ll survive until we figure out where she is . "

    Su Chan¡¯s arms tightened around him, but she stayed silent .

    An insistent buzzing ended their hug . Li Yundong nced towards the coffee table and saw his phone vibrating against the table top .

    The phone floated towards his waiting hands .

    It was Zi Yuan .

    "Hello?"

    "Li Yundong..." Something in Zi Yuan¡¯s tone made the hair on Li Yundong¡¯s neck stand on end .

    There was some background noise, like Zi Yuan was working on something .

    He sat up straighter and looked towards Su Chan .

    Su Chan was looking back at him with a concerned expression .

    "What is it?" he spoke into the phone .

    The background noise diminished . Had she moved to a quieter ce?

    "It¡¯s Liuhe . " There was a pause . "The sword¡¯s gone . "

 Chapter 293

    Chapter 293

    <h4>The Lady of the Earthly Fire</h4>

    Ruan Hongling stared at the two flower buds floating on Tianyi Pond¡¯s surface . The buds were glowing faintly, bathed in ethereal fluorescence . Embedded in their cores were the dark silhouettes of two tiny fetuses .

    Deng Yu and Deng Jiao had been reborn .

    Smiling, Ruan Hongling reached out to touch the buds but then stilled her hand at thest moment . She probably shouldn¡¯t touch them . What if she messed everything up? After all, she couldn¡¯t do anything right, could she?

    With a heavy sigh, Ruan Hongling lowered her hand and rose to her feet . Her movements stirred the Tianyi Pond¡¯s surface; the buds vibrated gently, sending out ripples across the pond¡¯s surface .

    She turned away from the pond and walked away .

    She had failed Zi Yuan ji¨§jie again . Liuhe was already gone by the time she had managed to cajole the Yan household to open their safe . Yan Hua himself was surprised when they discovered the sword¡¯s absence from the safe . That stupid idiot had even med Zi Yuan ji¨§jie for stealing the sword again, for taking what was rightfully his . When Ruan Hongling asked him why he thought Zi Yuan ji¨§jie was the one responsible for the sword¡¯s absence, he went on a spiel about he had to painstakingly "convince" Zi Yuan ji¨§jie to return the sword to the Yan family home after that disastrous performance .

    It had taken all of Ruan Hongling¡¯s self-restraint not to burn the idiot¡¯s head off with a fire spell .

    When Ruan Hongling returned to their apartment empty-handed, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie had assured her that it wasn¡¯t her fault . Zi Yuan ji¨§jie had even gone as far as to say that it was her own fault that Liuhe was now in the hands of Yan Fang . Naturally, Ruan Hongling had balked at such a notion¡ªconsidering its sheer absurdity . However, when Ruan Hongling tried to argue the contrary, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie ended the discussion by saying that she shouldn¡¯t have returned the sword back to the Yan family home in the first ce, that she shouldn¡¯t have yielded to Yan Hua incessant pestering .

    Fine . Neither of them were at fault .

    It was Yan Hua¡¯s fault .

    Ruan Hongling was just about to exit Tianyi Cave when she heard a woman¡¯s voice .

    "Zi Yuan of the Linggong Sect! Ruan Hongling! Step outside now to wee your guests!"

    Ruan Hongling frowned . What the hell is she doing here?

    "Show yourselves!"

    Ruan Hongling gritted her teeth and stormed out of Tianyi Cave . Then, she flew towards the temple¡¯s front courtyard .

    It was that annoying bitch, Zou Ping, though someone else was with her this time: a woman whom Ruan Hongling had never met before .

    Ruan Honglingnded on the courtyard and positioned herself right in front of the temple¡¯s entrance . Ignoring the mocking smile on Zou Ping¡¯s face, Ruan Hongling focused her attention on the second woman .

    The woman didn¡¯t seem to be carrying any weapon, though it might be too early to tell since both of her hands were hidden inside the sleeves of her Daopao . Did she have a concealed weapon? What could it be? A fly whisk? Needles?

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s heart stopped when her gazended on the woman¡¯s face . There was a red dot at the center of the woman¡¯s forehead . The dot wasn¡¯trge, roughly the same diameter as a typical pencil, but it was conspicuous . It was prominent, just like what it symbolized .

    Only the immediate family members of the Head of the Zhengyi School had the right to carry that mark on their foreheads .

    This woman was rted to Zhang Tiansh¨© and Zhang Tianh¨¦ .

    "You insolent girl!"

    Ruan Hongling tore her gaze away from mystery woman and looked towards Zou Ping . Zou Ping was clearly pissed off about something, if the indignant look on her face was anything to go by .

    "What are you waiting for?" Zou Ping snarled, pointing at the ground . "Kneel!"

    Anger rose inside Ruan Hongling like a volcano . "What did you say?" she growled .

    "I said kneel, you insolent girl!"

    Ruan Hongling stared at Zou Ping nkly, appalled at the woman¡¯s ludicrous demand . Kneel? Seriously? The members of the Linggong Sect shouldn¡¯t even have to bow to anyone in the main sect let alone kneel!

    This was an insult!

    "Good Heavens, this girl . " Zou Ping shook her head slowly . "You wouldn¡¯t even pay the Lady of the Earthly Fire her due respect?"

    Ruan Hongling gasped .

    The Lady of the Earthly Fire?

    Which means...

    Oh, God .

    This woman was Zhang Ling . Zhang Tiansh¨© zhenren¡¯s elder sister . Zhang Tianh¨¦¡¯s paternal aunt .

    Zou Ping was still going on a spiel about etiquette and whatnot . "I swear I¡¯ve never met anyone capable of such insolence..."

    Heavens above . The Lady of the Earthy Fire in the flesh . The Cultivator hailed as the master of the Fire Element who, ording to Zi Yuan ji¨§jie, had the power to summon the True mes of Samadhi from the earth .

    "...Linggong Sect is filled with insolent people!"

    Ruan Hongling shot a murderous re at Zou Ping . She¡¯d had enough of that bitch¡¯s demeaning attitude . "Why should I kneel?" she snapped .

    Zou Ping stared at her as though she¡¯d grown ten heads . "Are you seriously asking¡ª"

    "In terms of status, Zhang Ling zhenren and I are equals!"

    God, she was so sick and tired of this relentless bullying .

    Zou Ping gasped . "You... How absurd¡ª"

    "Absurd?" Ruan Hongling raised a brow . "How is it absurd when it¡¯s a fact?"

    "A fact..." Zou Pingughed incredulously . "You¡¯re out of your mind . "

    "Zi Yuan zhenren is the acting Head of the Linggong Sect, and I¡¯m her sh¨©m¨¨i!"

    "So?"

    "Zhang Tiansh¨© zhenren is the Head of the Zhengyi School, and Zhang Ling zhenren is his sh¨©ji¨§ . " Ruan Hongling smirked . "So, Zhang Ling zhenren and I are pretty much equals . "

    "But the Linggong Sect is just a subsidiary sect!" Zou Ping spat .

    "Whatever," Ruan Hongling growled . "I¡¯m not kneeling to anyone . "

    "You¡ª"

    "My, my, my... You have no manners at all do you, youngdy . "

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s scalp tingled . She looked towards Zhang Ling zhenren who had spoken for the first time .

    The woman smirked . "Could it be due to theck of proper disciplining?"

    Ruan Hongling took an unconscious step back .

    Zhang Ling zhenren removed her hands from her robe . "In that case, I shall teach you a lesson today . "

    It happened so fast .

    Zhang Ling zhenren¡¯s eyes shed in red, and all of a sudden, Ruan Hongling¡¯s chest and face felt as if they were burning from the inside . Ruan Hongling bit down on her lip and fought against the pain . She refused to scream, refused to cry out .

    A gentle breeze blew in from behind her . The next thing she knew, the burning sensation was gone . A soft rustle sounded behind her, followed by a gentle voice .

    "Greetings, Lady of the Earthly Fire . To what do we owe the pleasure?"

 Chapter 294

    Chapter 294

    <h4>Contention</h4>

    Ruan Hongling released a shuddering breath, grateful for Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s timely arrival . There really was no telling what would happen to her otherwise . Ruan Hongling stole a nce at Zhang Ling, who wasn¡¯t even looking at her now . Zou Ping, as usual, had a mocking expression stered on her annoying face . She looked like she was having fun, like this was all just a game to her .

    Maybe it was .

    Calmness washed over Ruan Hongling when Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s dress brushed against her side . Zi Yuan ji¨§jie moved past her to stand in front of their visitors .

    Ruan Hongling forced her feet to move . She would not allow Zi Yuan ji¨§jie to face them alone . She would not . Zhang Ling seemed to be subjecting Zi Yuan ji¨§jie to some kind of careful scrutiny . Her posture waszy, and her expression aloof . The red glow inside her eyes earlier was gone too .

    "And who might you be?" Zhang Ling asked in a tone that almost sounded flippant .

    Just like that, the calmness Ruan Hongling had felt earlier dissipated . That lying bitch! There was no way these people didn¡¯t recognize Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s appearance . Zou Ping was there during the battle, for Heavens¡¯ sake!

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie cupped her hands together in front of her chest, then bent slightly at her knees . "I am Zi Yuan of the Linggong Sect . It is an honor to meet you, venerable Lady of the Earthly Fire . "

    Ruan Hongling could feel Zou Ping¡¯s smug eyes on her then . Ruan Hongling stared at the ground, her balled fists trembling against her legs . She couldn¡¯t watch this . Her heart couldn¡¯t bear it .

    "Ah . So it¡¯s Zi Yuan zhenren then," said Zhang Ling . "You look so much better in person I must say . "

    The sudden change in Zhang Ling¡¯s attitude surprised Ruan Hongling . She looked up from the ground and quickly noticed the smile on Zhang Ling¡¯s face .

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie returned the smile . "Likewise, Zhang Ling zhenren . "

    Suddenly, Ruan Hongling felt Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s reassuring touch on the small of her back . Ruan Hongling took a deep breath and then counted to ten in her head .

    "Would you like toe in and have some tea, Zhang zhenren?" Zi Yuan ji¨§jie said . "Hongling knows how to make a good brew . "

    The mere thought of serving tea to those two brutes brought a bad taste to Ruan Hongling¡¯s mouth, but she bit her lip and forced herself to keep quiet . Let Zi Yuan ji¨§jie handle this . Let Zi Yuan ji¨§jie handle this .

    Ruan Hongling restarted her count to ten .

    "Tea sounds pleasant," Zhang Ling said .

    No, no, no...

    "...but I¡¯ll have to decline . "

    Ruan Hongling sighed inwardly . Oh, thank Heavens .

    "Too bad, then," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie said . "Some other time, perhaps?"

    How about never?

    "Perhaps . " Zhang Ling was back to being flippant again . "I¡¯m here because I have a few questions for you, Zi Yuan zhenren . "

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s back tensed up . I knew it! This was an interrogation . This was a¡ª

    "Then I shall answer them to the best of my ability, Zhang zhenren," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie said .

    "Very well . " Zhang Ling flicked the sleeves of her robe . "Here¡¯s the first one . Is it true that a man named Li Yundong has single-handedly thwarted the Great Six¡¯s assault on the Fox Zen School?"

    "Yes . "

    "Is it true that Li Yundong zhenren managed to defeat my nephew, Zhang Tianh¨¦ zhenren, with a single blow?"

    "Yes . "

    Ruan Hongling stared at the scene in stupor . What was the point of this? Was this woman stupid or what? Why on God¡¯s green earth was she asking these questions? Surely, she must¡¯ve known the answers to them already! Zou Ping was there, for Buddha¡¯s sake! Zou Ping was watching the entire battle!

    The questioning had paused, and an angry flush had spread across Zhang Ling¡¯s cheeks . Zou Ping, on the other hand, looked as smug as ever .

    There was a slight tremor in Zhang Ling¡¯s voice when she spoke next . "And is it true that this Li Yundong person has defeated my nephew with the Dance of Storms, a spell taught only to a selected few members of the Zhengyi School?"

    "Yes . "

    The slight parting of Zhang Ling¡¯s lips brought a small amount of satisfaction to Ruan Hongling, only to be shattered by Zhang Ling¡¯s next question .

    "Do you know Li zhenren?"

    Seconds passed in silence .

    Li zhenren? Who¡¯s that? Never heard of¡ª

    "Yes . "

    Ruan Hongling whirled around and gaped at Zi Yuan ji¨§jie .

    Good God! What are doing, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie?

    "See? I knew it . " Zou Ping snorted loudly . "They were in cahoots . "

    The corner of Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s lips quirked . "How can I not know the man who has defeated me in battle just a day ago?" Zi Yuan ji¨§jie¡¯s smirk was brief and subtle . "Such apse in memory would be absurd, don¡¯t you think, Zhang zhenren?"

    Relief coursed through Ruan Hongling .

    Gee... You really had me worried there, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie .

    Ruan Hongling stole a nce at Zhang Ling and regretted it almost immediately . The woman¡¯s icy expression could probably freeze the sun .

    "A no-name Cultivator defeating you . " One of Zhang Ling¡¯s brows quirked . "The most powerful Cultivator of the younger generation? I find that very hard to believe, Zi Yuan zhenren . "

    "A no-name Cultivator"¡ªZi Yuan ji¨§jie raised a brow¡ª"who could perform the Dance of Storms . "

    "Did you teach him the spell?" Zhang Ling asked coldly .

    Ruan Hongling gaped . What the heck? That was a tant usation of¡ª

    "No . "

    "Are you sure?"

    "Of course I¡¯m sure . " Zi Yuan ji¨§jie feigned a look of surprise . "Why would you think that, Zhang zhenren?"

    A tight line formed on Zhang Ling¡¯s lips . "Because you have the opportunity to do so . "

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s blood ran cold . Opportunity? What the hell was that supposed to mean? She stole a nce at Zi Yuan ji¨§jie .

    Much to Ruan Hongling¡¯s relief, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie seemed as calm andposed as ever . "Whatever do you mean, Zhang zhenren?"

    "Oh,e now..." Zhang Ling¡¯s lips curved into a sardonic smile . "Are you saying it is a mere coincidence that you and Li Yundong both own apartments in New Hongsheng District?"

    Ruan Hongling body grew taut . Oh, no... Oh, no, no, no...

    "And what about the fact that your sh¨©m¨¨i"¡ªZhang Ling flicked a nce at Ruan Hongling¡ª"is currently attending the same university as that young man?" Zhang Ling smoothed a hand over her robe . "Is that a coincidence too?"

    From the corner of her eyes, Ruan Hongling caught a glimpse of the smug look on Zou Ping¡¯s face . It made her want to throw up . For a brief moment, Ruan Hongling envisioned regurgitating her breakfast all over Zou Ping¡¯s face .

    "Consider this my warning, Zi Yuan zhenren," Zhang Ling said in a dangerous tone . "Stay away from Li Yundong and the Fox Zen School . Or else . . . "

    Zi Yuan ji¨§jie raised a brow . "Or else?"

    "I don¡¯t have to spell out everything for you now, do I?" Zhang Ling chuckled snidely . "You know what kind of fate awaits traitors . " Zhang Ling pointed towards Mount Longhu¡¯s summit .

    Ruan Hongling gasped . Wait a minute... What is she saying? Is she... Is she using Master of being a traitor? Th- This... This bitch!

    "My master was nothing but loyal to the Zhengyi School," Zi Yuan ji¨§jie said calmly .

    Zhang Ling chuckled darkly . "That¡¯s what he wants you to think . "

    Ruan Hongling couldn¡¯t take it anymore . "What is that supposed to mean?" she growled . "What are you implying?"

    That look of condescension on the bitch¡¯s face . All those veiled insults . She hated them . She hated them all .

    Zhang Ling ignored her outburst and kept her gaze focused on Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . "There is so much about your master that you don¡¯t know, Zi Yuan . " Another snide chuckle . "I¡¯m warning you now because I have great respect for your talents . You are a valuable asset to the Zhengyi School . " A cold look spread across Zhang Ling¡¯s face . "But you shouldn¡¯t take things too far, you know? Rein in while you still can . " Zhang Ling let out a dark chuckle . "I guess it¡¯s true what they say . That the apple doesn¡¯t fall too far from the tree . Let¡¯s just hope that the apple doesn¡¯t suffer that same fate as the tree . " Zhang Ling turned around with a flick of her sleeve . "Let¡¯s go, Zou Ping . "

    "Yes, mydy . "

    Two bursts of green light deprived the Linggong Sect of its visitors .

 Chapter 295

    Chapter 295

    <h4>Dilemma</h4>

    Zi Yuan stared at the empty courtyard in front of the temple, her mind still reeling from Zhang Ling zhenren¡¯s warning .

    No . Not warning .

    A threat .

    It was a veiled threat .

    "W- What does that mean, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie?" Hongling¡¯s voice was trembling a little . "What she said just now... about Master . What does that mean?"

    Exactly . What on earth did that mean?

    It meant that they were now in a dilemma . It meant that even after ten years, the truth still eluded them . It meant that everything they thought they knew about Master had just been thrown into question . Zi Yuan wasn¡¯t even surprised anymore that something like this ended up right on their doorstep . After all, they once thought they knew Yan Fang, the great Eventide Reaper, and look how that turned out .

    Hongling let out a breathless chuckle . "Ridiculous . " Hongling shook her head . "That¡¯s just ridiculous . She... She¡¯s just used Master of being a traitor . She¡¯s out of her mind, right? Zi Yuan ji¨§jie?"

    Zi Yuan didn¡¯t answer; she hadn¡¯t worked it out yet .

    Maybe Hongling was right . That was their n, wasn¡¯t it? To provoke Zi Yuan with these insinuations and then observe how she would react to them? Maybe she and Hongling were both overthinking this . Maybe they had interpreted Zhang Ling zhenren¡¯s words wrongly . Maybe it was just a mistake, a misunderstanding .

    Zi Yuan scoffed inwardly at that .

    It was no mistake . Zhang Ling had referred to Master and used the word "traitor" in the same sentence . The implication was pretty darned clear .

    Hongling suddenlyughed . "What am I even asking? Of course it isn¡¯t true!" she said . "Master¡¯s name is highly respected across the entire Cultivation world . His contribution to the Cultivation world is endless!"

    So is the Mystical Silver Fox¡¯s, a cynical voice inside Zi Yuan added .

    "And... And what¡¯s all that nonsense about the consequences of being a traitor," Hongling continued . "The fate of a traitor?" Honglingughed . "What the heck? She¡¯s speaking as though they killed Master or something . That¡¯s just ridiculous . " Hongling snorted . "As if any of them could touch Master . He wasn¡¯t known as the World¡¯s Greatest Cultivator for nothing . "

    And he was . Master¡¯s powers were unparalleled back then . But that didn¡¯t mean he was invincible . What if they found out his weakness, a weakness that had nothing to do with power? What if they threatened Master with her and Hongling¡¯s life? What if, what if, what if . So many what-ifs, not a single one of them answerable .

    "Besides, he¡¯s in the Heavenly Realm now, right?" Hongling¡¯s tug on Zi Yuan¡¯s arm felt insistent . Desperate, even . "Isn¡¯t that where he told you he was going, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie? He told you himself, didn¡¯t he? He told you that he was nning to transcend the Mortal Realm and head to the Heavenly Realm . Isn¡¯t... Isn¡¯t that why he left the Jade te and the Great Mirror to you? A- And... And the prophecy! That¡¯s also why he showed you the prophecy, isn¡¯t it? H- He... He knew what he was doing... H- He nned everything . He knew he¡¯d be gone, so he left you those things . "

    Zi Yuan draped her arm around Hongling¡¯s shoulders . "Of course, Hongling" she said, grateful that her voice wasn¡¯t trembling . "Don¡¯t take their words to heart . "

    "Right . " Hongling sighed, her body sagging against Zi Yuan¡¯s . "Master was never a traitor . He was an honorable man . "

    Zi Yuan hummed quietly . She agreed with Hongling . For the most part, anyway . Master was an honorable man, of that she had no doubt . However, the sanctimonious and self-righteous advocates of the main sect might disagree if they knew about (or at least suspected) Master¡¯s rtionship with Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i . Granted, the exact nature of said rtionship was still uncertain . But if Zi Yuan was being honest, it was starting to look more and more like Master and Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i were lovers . Was that why Zhang Ling had called Master a traitor? Was it the same old "you are in love with a fox spirit, hence you must be evil and morally corrupt" argument again? Or was something else at y here?

    Zi Yuan wanted tough at how hypocritical she sounded right now . Who was she and Hongling to judge when they themselves were the champions of the same ideology . Just months ago, they themselves had criticized the Heir for having a fox spirit as his lover! The shift in their mindset had only urred after they had witnessed how kind-hearted Su Chan truly was . Su Chan¡¯s pureness of heart as well as her capacity for kindness had astounded them, and, eventually, changed how they viewed fox spirits in general . But still, the fact remained that they had once embraced the same views Zhang Ling did, had given the same self-righteous speech . Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t even begin to imagine how disappointed Master must¡¯ve felt if he was watching them from the Heavenly Realm all this time .

    Was Master in the Heavenly Realm? Had Master really transcended like he said he would? Or . . . Or had the Zhengyi School done something to him?

    Zi Yuan shuddered at the thought .

    "Zi Yuan ji¨§jie..."

    "Yes?"

    "Why do you think she asked those questions?"

    Zi Yuan gave her prot¨¦g¨¦ a questioning look .

    "I mean all those questions about Li Yundong," Hongling rified, then shook her head . "Surely they knew the answers to them already! Zou Ping was there! She saw the whole thing!"

    "It¡¯s an interrogation tactic, Hongling . " Zi Yuan sighed . "They wanted to see how I would react to those questions . It was never about finding out the answers . "

    "You were so calm, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . " Hongling stared up at her . "You barely reacted at all . "

    Zi Yuan chuckled humorlessly . "It would be all over the moment I gave them any reaction . " She nced at Hongling . "There isn¡¯t a single doubt in my mind that Zhang Ling had been trying to detect any fluctuations in my Zhenqi throughout the interrogation . "

    Hongling looked up at her with wary eyes . "D- Do you think she got what she came here for?"

    Zi Yuan sighed . "Hopefully not . "

    Hongling turned away and gazed out into the mountains .

    "It wasn¡¯t just a warning, Hongling . " Zi Yuan paused . "It was also a threat . "

    Hongling shifted beside her .

    Zi Yuan gave her prot¨¦g¨¦ a wry smile . "Isn¡¯t the inauguration ceremony for the Head of the Linggong Secting soon?"

    Hongling sighed . "In six months . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Since the Linggong Sect is a subsidiary sect of the Zhengyi School, Zhang Ling has a say in the appointment of the Linggong Sect¡¯s new leader . "

    Hongling frowned . "But you¡ª"

    "I¡¯m just the acting Head, Hongling . " Zi Yuan shook her head . "My position isn¡¯t official . " She held Hongling¡¯s gaze . "Nor is it secure . "

    Hongling deted .

    Zi Yuan gazed at the summit of Mount Longhu, where the Obelisk of Fengchen sat .

    "Maybe they¡¯re just jealous of Master¡¯s talents and are now trying to destroy his legacy . " Hongling snorted . "They¡¯ve been bullying us ever since Master left . "

    Zi Yuan chuckled sadly . Who knows, Hongling . Who knows .

    "Say, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . Something¡¯s been bugging me . "

    "Really? I couldn¡¯t tell at all," Zi Yuan said dryly .

    Silence was all she got . No pouts . No witty retorts . No rants . No grumblings about how Zi Yuan had treated her like a child .

    Zi Yuan ded her body sideways and studied Hongling carefully . The serious expression on her prot¨¦g¨¦¡¯s face made her heart clench .

    Zi Yuan frowned . "What is it?"

    Hongling suddenly turned her head and stared at the summit .

    "Hongling . " Zi Yuan shook Hongling¡¯s shoulders . "For Heavens¡¯ sake, quit messing around and just tell me already . "

    When Hongling looked away from the summit, her eyes were filled with confusion . "Just now... When Zhang Ling zhenren mentioned Master, she pointed at the summit . "

    The ensuing silence was fraught with tension .

    "Why¡¯d she do that, Zi Yuan ji¨§jie? That¡¯s just so weird . "

    Zi Yuan¡¯s body grew taut .

    Indeed . Why did she do that? Did something happen at the summit ten years ago? Was that Master¡¯sst known location before he left the Mortal Realm and headed to the Heavenly Realm? Or... Or was that where they had murdered Master?

    Zi Yuan¡¯s head spun, and her knees grew weak . She clutched Hongling¡¯s shoulder and leaned her weight against her prot¨¦g¨¦ .

    "Zi Yuan ji¨§jie... Are you okay?"

    "H- Hongling..."

    "What? Zi Yuan ji¨§jie . What? Heavens! What¡¯s wrong? Y- You¡¯re scaring me!"

    "I... I¡¯ll be right back," Zi Yuan whispered . "I need to check something . "

 Chapter 296

    Chapter 296

    <h4>eptance</h4>

    "Beloved!" Chan¡¯er¡¯s singsong voice drifted into the kitchen, where Li Yundong was drying thest of the dishes . "Your phone box just vibrated a little!"

    Li Yundong bit back a smile . "Alright! I¡¯ll be right out!" he yelled, hanging the dish towel near the sink .

    They had finished dinner fifteen minutes ago and he was now cleaning up the kitchen . After learning of Liuhe¡¯s disappearance, Li Yundong had decided that he had had enough of all the negativity, so he had offered to take Chan¡¯er out for some fun . Chan¡¯er was still in the doldrums when he made the offer, but she agreed nheless¡ªthough he suspected that she¡¯d done that to ease his worry .

    Regardless, they ended up spending the whole afternoon at the amusement park . The trip was okay, he supposed . Chan¡¯er did have fun on the roller coaster and the Space Shuttle rides . But then something was still missing . Chan¡¯er¡¯s cheeriness, herrger-than-life attitude, was gone . She no longer swatted at balloons within reach, or pointed at random food stalls .

    She was subdued .

    The most painful part was that she had tried to hide her sadness from him: smiling whenever their eyes met; cheering whenever he drew her attention to something he thought she might find interesting, but then stayingpletely silent any other time .

    When it got too painful to watch, Li Yundong took her hand and led her out of the amusement park . After that, they took a cab back to New Hongsheng District, but stopped by a grocery store to buy ingredients for dinner .

    Chan¡¯er had cheered up a little after dinner, thank atha for that . Although he suspected that the Beer Duck Stew he¡¯d made for dinner might have yed a role in her improved mood...

    Still, this was good progress .

    So . What¡¯s next on the menu? McDonalds? Fried dumplings? He¡¯d buy her anything if it meant cheering her up .

    With onest nce at the sink, Li Yundong padded out of the kitchen and made a beeline towards the living room . The TV was on, and Chan¡¯er was watching soap operas with her feet propped up on the coffee table .

    He stopped behind the couch and patted Chan¡¯er¡¯s head . "Having fun?"

    Chan¡¯er bobbed her head without taking her eyes off the TV screen . "Mm-hmm!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart warmed .

    He spotted his phone on the coffee table andunched his Zhenqi at it . It took the device three seconds to float from the table to his hand .

    It was a text from Zi Yuan:

    Meet up tomorrow . Still being watched, but can find a way to get to your apartment undetected . Hongling will be joining . What time suits?

    Li Yundong stared at the screen for a moment . Chan¡¯er giggled at something on the TV .

    He typed out a reply:

    Come around noon . Will cook lunch .

    Chan¡¯er giggled again, which made him smile . Then, Chan¡¯er squeaked when Li Yundong leaped over the back of the couch andnded beside her .

    "Whatcha watching, hmm?" Li Yundong tickled Chan¡¯er¡¯s waist .

    "Kyaa!" Chan¡¯er twisted away from his hands . "Soap shows! Soap shows!"

    Li Yundong smiled . "You never get tired of those shows, do you?"

    Chan¡¯er bobbed her head . "I kinda missed it . " A yearning look spread across her face . "I mean, when we were..."

    Li Yundong ruffled her head . "I know . "

    His phone buzzed again . He unlocked the screen and pulled up another text from Zi Yuan:

    Should we bring anything?

    Li Yundong smiled and typed out a quick reply:

    Yes . Your appetites .

    The phone floated back towards the coffee table . "Chan¡¯er . "

    "Hmm?"

    "Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling will being over for lunch tomorrow . "

    Chan¡¯er turned away from the TV screen . "Oh . "

    Li Yundong smiled . "Do you want to try Zi Yuan¡¯s cooking?"

    Chan¡¯er¡¯s eyes sparkled a little . "Can I?"

    Li Yundong pinched her cheek . "I¡¯m sure she won¡¯t mind whipping up a dish or two . " Li Yundong let go of Chan¡¯er¡¯s cheek . "But it¡¯s up to her though . "

    The light in Chan¡¯er¡¯s eyes dimmed a little . "Um... will we..." She stole a nce at Li Yundong . "Will we be discussing Master¡¯s rescue?"

    "Yeah . " Li Yundong sighed . "We definitely need toe up with a good, solid n . " Li Yundong held Chan¡¯er¡¯s gaze . "We can¡¯t afford any mistakes . " He shook his head . "Yan Fang is too cunning . Too devious . "

    Chan¡¯er looked down and fiddled with her sleeve .

    "But something tells me that Yan Fang won¡¯t harm your master just yet . "

    Chan¡¯er¡¯s gaze snapped up . Li Yundong could hear the gears turning in her pretty little head . "Bahuang..."

    Li Yundong nodded . "When I was fighting the Great Six¡¯s army, Zi Yuan sent Ruan Hongling to look for you and your master¡¯s sword . " Li Yundong leaned towards Chan¡¯er . "But here¡¯s the thing . Ruan Hongling couldn¡¯t find the sword . " Li Yundong paused for a few seconds . "So either Yan Fang already has it, or..."

    Chan¡¯er¡¯s eyes gleamed . "Or Master had hidden Bahuang somewhere . "

    Li Yundong smiled . "Yeah . "

    Understanding and relief flooded Chan¡¯er¡¯s eyes . "I see..." She sagged against the back of the couch . "Heavens, you¡¯re right, Yundong... Yan Fang kept screaming at Master to give her the sword... So Master... She knew..." Chan¡¯er shot him a hopeful nce . "She suspected..."

    Li Yundong smiled pulled her into his arms . "Your master is a clever woman, Chan¡¯er . I think she managed to figure out that the sword was what Yan Fang was after . I don¡¯t know how, but she must¡¯ve hidden Bahuang after she got ambushed so that Yan Fang had no ess to it . "

    "So that Yan Fang would have a reason to keep her alive," Chan¡¯er whispered .

    Li Yundong nodded . "I think that was her n . " Li Yundong chuckled . "And it worked . "

    Chan¡¯er buried her face against his chest . "Oh, thank Heavens . "

    Li Yundong nted a kiss on her hair . "She¡¯s going to be alright . Have more faith in your master, okay? She¡¯s strong . "

    Chan¡¯er nodded . "Mmm!"

    They stayed like that for a while, seekingfort in each other¡¯s presence . Suddenly, Chan¡¯er pulled away .

    "Yundong..."

    Li Yundong smiled . "Yes?"

    "Do you think there¡¯s some kind of special reason why Yan Fang wanted Bahuang?" Chan¡¯er was frowning . "She¡¯s got so many magical objects already . Mo-sh¨©b¨®¡¯s hairpin . That strange box she used to trap Master..." Chan¡¯er stared at him for a moment . "Do you think she¡¯s some kind of collector?"

    Well, technically, the hairpin was now in the hands of that Zheng Yuan dude, but Chan¡¯er didn¡¯t know that . Li Yundong pondered her words for a moment . "I¡¯m not sure about her being a collector, but Zi Yuan did mention something interesting the other day . "

    Chan¡¯er slid closer to him .

    "She said that Liuhe..." Li Yundong nced at Chan¡¯er . "That¡¯s another sword, by the way . Yan Fang used to own it . " When Chan¡¯er nodded, he continued, "Zi Yuan said that Liuhe and Bahuang canbine to form another powerful sword . "

    "Another powerful sword?" Chan¡¯er stared back at him, stunned .

    Li Yundong nodded .

    Chan¡¯er suddenly grabbed his arm . "What sword? What¡¯s it capable of?"

    "I don¡¯t know, Chan¡¯er . " Li Yundong shook his head . "I don¡¯t even know the sword¡¯s name . " He smiled and padded Chan¡¯er¡¯s head . "We¡¯re gonna have to ask Zi Yuan tomorrow, I¡¯m afraid¡ª"

    His phone rang .

    "Um... Yundong... Your phone box has Zhou Qin ji¨§jie¡¯s name on it . "

    As the phone floated towards him from the coffee table, Chan¡¯er reached for the remote and turned off the TV .

    He picked up the call and put it on loudspeaker .

    "Hello," he said, giving Chan¡¯er a smile .

    Chan¡¯er smiled back .

    "H- Hi... Master?"

    Chan¡¯er¡¯s looked adorably puzzled . Li Yundong watched the quick transition of emotions on her pretty face: puzzlement; realization; understanding; surprise; then finally, joy .

    "Yundong! Y- You..." She gaped . "You¡¯ve taken a disciple?!"

    "Um... Wait... Is that... S- Su Chan?"

    "Yes, Zhou Qin . You¡¯re on loudspeaker, by the way," Li Yundong said, smiling at Chan¡¯er .

    Zhou Qin cleared her throat . "Good evening, Master, Mistress . "

    Chan¡¯er stared at him with disbelief . Mistress? she mouthed the words to Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong shrugged . "Good evening, Zhou Qin . How are you?"

    "No, Master . How are you?" Zhou Qin said incredulously . "You¡¯ve been absent from the university for days . "

    Li Yundong sighed . "First of all . Please drop the Master, okay? Just use my name . Please . "

    "As you wish, Ma¡ª I mean, Li Yundong . "

    "Thank you," Li Yundong said, rubbing his temples .

    "Are you returning to school any time soon?" Zhou Qin asked . "Feng Na xuejie has been asking me for your whereabouts . "

    Li Yundong shared a nce with Chan¡¯er, then sighed . "I¡¯m sorry, Zhou Qin . But I can¡¯t right now . "

    "Oh . Um..." Zhou Qin hesitated for a moment . "Can I ask why?"

    "I¡¯ve got things I need to take care of . " He looked towards Chan¡¯er . "Important things that cannot be dyed . "

    "I see..."

    "Yeah . "

    "Anything I can do to help?"

    "Well..." Li Yundong nced at Chan¡¯er .

    It¡¯s your call, Chan¡¯er mouthed to him .

    "Yes?" Zhou Qin asked .

    Chan¡¯er moved her lips again: I don¡¯t mind .

    Li Yundong stared at her .

    Chan¡¯er shrugged, then mouthed more words to him: She¡¯s your disciple now .

    Li Yundong nodded . "Actually, yeah . It would be nice if you can help . "

    "Really?" Zhou Qin sounded thrilled .

    "Yes . "

    "Okay . What should I do?"

    Li Yundong shared a nce with Chan¡¯er . "Come by my apartment around noon tomorrow . " He smiled at Chan¡¯er . "And make sure you show up with a healthy appetite . I¡¯ll be making lunch . "

    "Um... Okay . That¡¯s... That sounds great . " Zhou Qin paused . "I¡¯ll... See you tomorrow?"

    Li Yundong nodded . "See you tomorrow . "

    "Right . Good night, Ma¡ª" Zhou Qin cleared her throat . "Good night, Li Yundong . "

    "Good night, Zhou Qin ji¨§jie!" Chan¡¯er yelled at the phone . "Nice hearing from you again!"

    Zhou Qinughed . "Likewise, Su Chan . Good night to you both . "

    The call ended with a click .

 Chapter 297

    Chapter 297

    <h4>Financial Crisis</h4>

    Zhou Qin arrived at Li Yundong¡¯s room in the New Hongsheng District at noon the next day . A whileter, Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling arrived as well .

    After entering the room, Zi Yuan saluted Li Yundong respectfully with one hand . "Amitayus, I¡¯m Zi Yuan from the Linggong Sect . It is nice to meet you, Zhenren Li, the Leader of the Fox Zen School . "

    Wanting to join in on the fun, Ruan Hongling imitated Zi Yuan and repeated, "Amitayus, I¡¯m Ruan Hongling, from the Linggong Sect . Nice to meet you, Zhenren Li, the Leader of the Fox Zen School . "

    Li Yundongughed loudly and sized Zi Yuan up carefully . Seeing that she didn¡¯t look injured, he felt a jolt of relief . He was very sorry that he had hurt her during theirst round of practice . He waved his hand and said with a smile, "Don¡¯t make fun of me you two . "

    Ruan Hongling chuckled, but Zi Yuan continued with a serious face, "This is not a joke . Li Yundong, you are now the leader of the Fox Zen School . You bear the weight of the sect¡¯s responsibilities and your words and actions represent the Fox Zen School . You have the power to directly affect the entirety of the Cultivation World . Now that you have passed the divine punishment, have you thought about what you should do in the future?"

    Li Yundong said seriously, "That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been considering over the past two days . I¡¯ll talk to you about itter . By the way, do you know where Yan Fang is? She took Su Chan¡¯s master, Ao Wushuang, away, and now no one can find her . "

    Zi Yuan shook her head and answered, "I don¡¯t know . By the time I returned to the Linggong Sect, she was no longer there . She must have found a ce to hide . It won¡¯t be easy to find her . "

    Li Yundong pondered for a while before he said with a smile, "Well, I¡¯ll go and cook something first . We can talk about this after lunch . "

    After that, Li Yundong rolled up his sleeves and headed toward the kitchen .

    Zi Yuan returned his smile and followed him, saying, "Let me help you . "

    Zhou Qin also offered her assistance, saying, "I can help you wash the vegetables . "

    Ruan Hongling didn¡¯t want to be left out and said, "I can also help!"

    Zi Yuan looked back at her and said with a smile at the door of the kitchen, "What can you do? Can you even cook? Go and wait in the living room . "

    Hearing this, Ruan Hongling was forced to go back to the living room and sit on the sofa, where she fiddled with the TV remote dejectedly . Su Chan was excited by the idea of getting together, so she ran happily into the kitchen . However, Li Yundong stopped her as soon as he saw her and said, "Go back . Keep a distance from the kitchen!"

    Su Chan pouted and said in a loud voice, "You¡¯re so annoying . It¡¯s not like I¡¯ll make trouble for you!"

    Li Yundong walked to the entrance, smiled, and pushed her to the living room . He settled her on the sofa and said, "Just sit here and do nothing! That¡¯s how you can help me!"

    After that, he went back to the kitchen and mmed the door behind him .

    Su Chan was very unhappy, rubbing a cushion on the sofa and murmuring . Ruan Hongling, who had also been driven out of the kitchen and was now sat on the other side of the sofa, couldn¡¯t help looking at her . Both of them snorted at the same time, turned their heads in opposite directions, and edged a little further away from one another .

    Li Yundong was a good chef and Zi Yuan was also skilled at cooking . Although Zhou Qin could not cook, she had fast hands . The three of them quickly put together a table of food .

    After taking their seats at the dining table, Li Yundong was going to discuss something, but Zi Yuan kept her head down and ate without saying a word . So did Ruan Hongling, who was next to her .

    Li Yundong knew that this was their rule: keep silent while eating and sleeping .

    Seeing that Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling were unwilling to speak, Li Yundong decided to wait . They ate silently at the dining table . After finishing their silent lunch, they cleaned up the table . Once everyone was either sitting on the sofa or sitting cross-legged on the carpet in the living room, Li Yundong muted the television and said, "So, Zi Yuan, I¡¯ve thought about what you said earlier . I had never expected to be the Leader of the Fox Zen School, but here we are . I¡¯ll be apetent Sect Leader both for Su Chan and myself . The Fox Zen School didn¡¯t have a good reputation in the past, but I hope that I can change it . "

    Zi Yuan bowed and said in admiration, "Amitayus, that¡¯s a good thing for the cultivation world . "

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Zi Yuan, don¡¯t be so polite like Zhou Qin . I can¡¯t stand it . "

    Zi Yuan smiled but said nothing .

    Li Yundong kept silent for a while before he looked at Zhou Qin and Zi Yuan in turn and said, "Zhou Qin, you are both my friend and my nominal disciple . Zi Yuan, you are my teacher and friend, so I won¡¯t hide this from you . The Fox Zen School is just a shell . Rather than having funds, we are burdened with debt . Even the Taoist temple where the Fox Zen School is located is only being rented and the contract will expire in a month . If we want to keep it, we will have to rent it for another five years, and that will take more than five million yuan!"

    Upon hearing this, Su Chan couldn¡¯t help clutching Li Yundong¡¯s arm and eximing, "That¡¯s too much! How can we get so much money?"

    Zhou Qin thought about it calmly and said, "I can raise five hundred thousand yuan . "

    Li Yundong waved his hand . "No, your family had suffered a lot because of me, how can I take your money now? I invited you here to tell you about this, because on the one hand, you are my friend, my nominal disciple, and one of my closest family members . . . "

    Hearing this, Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help being shocked . Mixed feelings welled within her, both bitter and sweet . She was lost in thought for a moment until she heard Li Yundong continue, "On the other hand, you¡¯re knowledgeable, so I need you to give me some advice because I have a n!"

    In the living room, Su Chan, Zi Yuan, Ruan Hongling, and Zhou Qin all asked in unison, "What is it?"

    Li Yundong pondered for a while before he said thoughtfully, "I want to do some business involving traditional Chinese medicine . I have been thinking about this for the past few days . Over the past few decades, from the May 4th Movement to the Cultural Revolution, our traditional culture has been destroyed . Although western medicine is now the mainstream, when I was in the hospital, I came to believe that our traditional Chinese medicine still has a market . "

    Hearing this, Su Chan asked in a low voice, "Do you want to open a clinic? Like Sun Simiao?"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing . He said, "I can¡¯t be Sun Simiao . If I have to treat patients all day long, how will I be able to cultivate?"

    Zi Yuan nodded and said, "That¡¯s true . Although almost every cultivator has some medicinal knowledge, none is a professional doctor . Just look at Ge Hong from the Danding Sect, Zhong Liquan from the Jindan Sect, and Lyu Dongbin, who put on a show of using medicine to help others, none of them are professional doctors . "

    At this time, Zhou Qin began to speak, "Master . . . "

    Hearing this, Li Yundong immediately interrupted her . "Why did you call me master again?"

    Zhou Qin smiled and said, "Li Yundong, do you want to open a hospital for the promotion of traditional Chinese medicine?"

    Li Yundong answered with a sigh, "I do . But where can I get the money and power? How much does it cost to open a private hospital? I think it would be preferable to sell medicinal materials, but I don¡¯t know how to start, so I need to discuss the matter with you two . "

    After Li Yundong had finished his words, Ruan Hongling suddenly said, "Gezao Sect and many other schools are running production bases andpanies of medicinal material . I¡¯m afraid that if you attempt this, you will be an enemy of the External Alchemy Sects!"

    Li Yundong was stunned . "Really? My business has nothing to do with them . Why would they want to go against me?"

    Zi Yuan exined, "Because the External Alchemy Sects operates their own school which relies on making pills . They often sell the pills at sky-high prices on the ck market of the Cultivation World . They have formed an industrial chain by doing this, and the most primitive industrial chain is the production and control of all kinds of Chinese medicinal herbs . "

    Although Su Chan had learnt a lot about the Cultivation World from her teacher, she still knew very little about the External Alchemy Sects . Meanwhile, Li Yundong had only cultivated for half a year, so he had absolutely no idea what Zi Yuan was talking about, let alone Zhou Qin .

    Zhou Qin listened intently, then suddenly asked, "What¡¯s the External Alchemy Sect? Is it a sect that specializes in producing pills?"

    Zi Yuan smiled and exined, "From the way of cultivation, the cultivation world is divided into Internal Alchemy Sects and External Alchemy Sects . The Zhengyi Taoist school is one of the most famous Internal Alchemy Sects, along with the Jinshan Sect, Danding Sect, and so on . Gezao Sect is the biggest External Alchemy Sect, but the Maoshan Sect and Qingwei Sect are also very important . Internal Alchemy Sects cultivate with their Neidans, while External Alchemy Sects use pills and amazing medicines . "

    Zhou Qin felt like she suddenly understood, but her expression was still a little strange . Obviously, she was a bit confused because she was still new to all of this .

    She looked at Li Yundong and asked, "So are you using Neidan or pills?"

    Li Yundong was stunned . He considered himself to have started cultivating formally after eating the Renyuan Jindan, so he should belong to the External Alchemy Sect . However, his Neidan was extremely strong . It seemed that he could also be considered to belong to the Internal Elixir Sect .

    Li Yundong thought for a while, growing increasingly confused . Zi Yuan smiled and said, "Li Yundong can be considered an expert who started with Waidan and cultivates both Internal and External Strength . "

    Hearing this, Ruan Hongling suddenly snorted and said, "If you hadn¡¯t received the Renyuan Jindan or the Enneacyclic Haworthia Pill from my Sister Zi Yuan, how would you have been able to improve so quickly?"

    Her words suddenly inspired Li Yundong . Looking at Zhou Qin with his eyes shing, he thought to himself, "If only I had one more Renyuan Jindan, then I could give it to Zhou Qin to repay her kindness in helping me . "

    Zi Yuan nced at Ruan Hongling indifferently, then said to Li Yundong, "I believe that you can well imagine how important a Waidan is when one is cultivating . It is the dream of all cultivators . "

    "The External Alchemy is so important that it can provide a huge economic benefit and possess precious pill refinement technology . Therefore, in order to control the business front¡¯s profits, they have to control the upstream of the industrial chain, which consists of various precious Chinese herbs . Only by controlling this can they have sufficient raw materials to refine all kinds of medicinal pills . If this business were to be controlled by others, then the schools of the External Alchemy Sects would not be far from destruction . "

    Li Yundong suddenly understood . "I see . The External Alchemy Sects regard this as their own forbidden treasure and won¡¯t allow anyone to touch it, right?"

    Zi Yuan nodded and said, "That¡¯s correct . The Internal Alchemy group and the External Alchemy group have secretly engaged in several big fights because of this . A few months ago, the news about Renyuan Jindan sparked a bloodbath in the cultivation world, and even the Fox Zen School was involved . " As he said this, Zi Yuan shot a meaningful look at Li Yundong .

    Su Chan and Ruan Hongling both looked at Li Yundong withplicated expressions in their eyes .

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Why are you looking at me? Zi Yuan has made it very clear that it wouldn¡¯t be a good choice to sell medicinal materials . It¡¯ll stir up conflict with the External Alchemy Sects . "

    Zi Yuan said, "There is nothing that cannot be done in this world . It merely depends on whether you are strong enough to pull it off . If the Fox Zen School is the strongest sect in the world, then you can fight with the External Alchemy Sects for this deal . However, now that the Fox Zen School has undergone a great change, it will need time to rest and rebuild . If you suddenly interfere with this business, I¡¯m afraid that it will not end well for you . "

    Li Yundong sighed and said, "If I can do nothing about the medicinal materials, what should I do?"

    Zhou Qin suddenly chimed in, "Actually, I think you should think about the problem from another perspective . "

    Li Yundong turned his head to look at her . "Tell me, I¡¯m listening . "

    Zhou Qin stroked the hair around her ear and said confidently, "The biggest problem right now is money, isn¡¯t it?"

    Li Yundong nodded and said, "Yes, I can feel a migraineing on whenever I think of the five million yuan I have to pay in a month¡¯s time!"

    Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help frowning as she continued, "Except for getting lucky gambling or winning the lottery, there is no way for you to make five million in one month . But I have a good idea to make money . "

    Hearing this, Li Yundong urged her with interest, "What do you mean?"

    Zhou Qin said, "Do you remember the restaurant where we ate French foodst time?"

    Li Yundong suddenlyughed . Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly felt his arm move, and he knew that someone was poking him with their finger . Li Yundong turned his face only to see Su Chan smiling at him . Obviously, she was also recalling what she had experienced in that restaurant .

    Li Yundong and Su Chan looked at each other and smiled . Then, he turned around and stated, "Of course I remember . "

    Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes darkened momentarily but quickly returned to normal . She said, "There have been several shops up for rent recently . I wonder if you can start by opening a small shop first . After all, you can put in less of an investment in the early stages . There are a lot of people on this street . As long as you choose the right product, I believe you will make a lot of money . "

    Li Yundong thought for a moment before saying with a sigh, "There are no easy shortcuts out of this mess . You are talking about the golden rule of running a business . Rome was not built in a day . How can I possibly make five million yuan in a month?"

    At this time, Zi Yuan suddenly interjected, "I think I can guess your concerns . You are worried that you won¡¯t be able to pay the rent of the Fox Zen School¡¯s Taoist temple next month . Furthermore, you¡¯re also worried that you won¡¯t be able to feed a dozen or so people to the Fox Zen School in the future, right?"

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly and said, "You¡¯re so straightforward, it¡¯s actually embarrassing . "

    Zi Yuan smiled . "It¡¯s fine . I¡¯ll lend you six million . You can pay the rent and start your business with the rest . Will that be enough?"

    Li Yundong was shocked . "You¡¯ll lend me all of that? Do you even have that much money?"

    "Sister Zi Yuan, that¡¯s all of the savings Linggong Sect has!" Ruan Hongling eximed .

    As if she hadn¡¯t heard anything, Zi Yuan said gently, "I don¡¯t need the money for now and it has been devalued severely anyway, so it¡¯s better to take it out and give it to someone who needs it . "

    Li Yundong thought about it and did not reject the offer . He patted his thigh and said, "Well, I¡¯ll pay you back with 10% interest in the future!"

    Zi Yuan smiled, turned to Ruan Hongling, and said, "Go to my room and see how much money there is in my ount, then bring the checkbook here, Hongling . "

    Ruan Hongling tugged at Zi Yuan¡¯s arm in astonishment . "Sister Zi Yuan, what are we going to eat in the future if you do this?"

    Zi Yuan smiled and said meaningfully, "Are you afraid that the world-renowned Zhenren Li will repudiate his debt?"

    Hearing this, a wave of mixed feelings swept through Li Yundong¡®s heart . He thought to himself, "Did I, Li Yundong, save the universe in a previous life or something? Not only do I have Su Chan as my soulmate, I also have Zhou Qin and Zi Yuan as my beautifulpanions, helping me with all they have . I¡¯m afraid that I will never be able to repay them in this life . "

    Ruan Hongling stood up unhappily and red at Li Yundong . "Hey . Give me your bank ount number!"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t seem to mind this rude tone of address . He took out the credit card he was carrying with him and handed it to her .

    Ruan Hongling took the card from him, turned around, and jumped into her apartment from the balcony .

    Seeing her leave, Su Chan pulled Li Yundong close and whispered, "Yundong, how will you ever be able to pay back so much money?"

    Li Yundong pinched the little girl¡¯s nose and said, "Don¡¯t worry . I¡¯ll handle it . "

    Su Chan shook her head and said, "How can I not worry? In the past, when you owed the bank tens of thousands of yuan, we almost ended up homeless, and now we owe them millions of yuan!"

    Li Yundong spread his hands and said to Zi Yuan with a smile, "Zhenren Zi Yuan, if I fail to repay the debt, then . . . Do you need someone to sweep the floor in the Linggong Sect? Shall I pay the bill by cleaning the ground every day?"

    Zi Yuan chuckled . "I wouldn¡¯t be able to afford hiring a Sect Leader just for doing rough work . Besides, wouldn¡¯t it be a waste of talent for you, Zhenren Li?"

    Li Yundong waved his hand and said with a smile, "Don¡¯t say that . If you really felt like it was a waste, you could just improve my sry!"

    Su Chan shouted from the side, "What am I supposed to do if you¡¯re off sweeping the ground?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "What can you do with your rough hands and feet? Don¡¯t make trouble!"

    Su Chan stomped her foot and said, "You¡¯re so annoying . Don¡¯t look down on me!"

    Li Yundong put his palms together and said with a smile, "How dare I look down on you, Great Fox Immortal? Amitabha!"

    They spent a few moments chatting andughing merrily in the room, but before long, Ruan Hongling rushed in from the balcony angrily and shouted, "Bad news, bad news! Sister Zi Yuan!"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s expression darkened as she shouted, "Hongling, you¡¯re a cultivator . How can you lose yourposure like this? Where¡¯s your self-control? Has the sky copsed?"

    "Sister Zi Yuan, our bank head has been frozen by the Zhengyi Sect!" Ruan Hongling muttered darkly, her face pale .

    Zi Yuan had always been calm andposed . However, upon hearing such news, her expression immediately changed and she cried involuntarily, "What!?"

 Chapter 298

    Chapter 298

    <h4>Zhou Qin¡¯s Decision</h4>

    After receiving such bad news, Li Yundong could only force a smile . He said to the stunned Zi Yuan, "Well, now both of us are poor! Let me disband the Fox Zen School while you tear down the Linggong Sect . We can go off and build a Beggar Gang together!"

    After that, heughed joyfully .

    Ruan Hongling red at him . "Don¡¯t take pleasure in our misfortune!"

    Li Yundong spread his hands and said helplessly, "Would it help you if I squeezed out a few tears? We are in the same boat now!"

    Zi Yuan finally came to her senses . With an ugly expression marring her features, she turned to Ruan Hongling and said, "Are you sure about this? Don¡¯t lie to me!"

    Ruan Hongling jumped up agitatedly and said, "Sister Zi Yuan, when have I ever lied to you! When have I ever disobeyed your words!"

    At this point, Zi Yuan began to truly believe her . Wearing a solemn expression, she muttered to herself, "They¡¯re taking action so soon? Is the Zhengyi School so eager to annex Linggong Sect?"

    Although her voice was low, Li Yundong heard her clearly . He asked, "What¡¯s wrong? Don¡¯t your sect and Zhengyi School belong to the same school? Why do they want to annex yours?"

    Zi Yuan was flustered and her nerves were frayed, as demonstrated by the worried look on her face . For a moment, she could not answer Li Yundong¡¯s question . Instead, Ruan Hongling said loudly, "In theory, we are followers of the Zhengyi School, but in fact, the Linggong Sect is only a branch of the Zhengyi School, just like the Quanzhen Dragon Sect is . It has the Dragon Gate Blue Cave Sect and Dragon Gate Western Heart Sect as its affiliates, but it is a branch of the Quanzhen Sect . People think we are their subordinates, but in fact, we are all independent . Humph, the Zhengyi School has coveted the three magic treasures of our sect for a long time . It has long wanted to annex our sect and take the treasures!"

    "They have truly gone too far this time . To think that they would actually freeze our assets! What right do they have to do this!?" The more Ruan Hongling spoke, the angrier she became . "No, I have to reason with them . "

    Ruan Hongling stomped her foot and was about to leave when Zi Yuan stopped her . "Stop right there! Come back here!"

    Ruan Hongling said furiously, "Sister Zi Yuan, they are bullying us . This time, they are trying to back us into a corner . How long are you going to just sit by and let them do what they want to us?"

    Zi Yuan sighed and said, "What are you going to say if you go to reason with them? You must know that the money was actually donated by the pilgrims . On the surface, it belongs to our Linggong Sect . However, the truth is, the Zhengyi School also has the right to use it, because those pilgrims came in the name of the Zhengyi School . There are very few people who would be willing to actually donate to Linggong Sect . "

    Li Yundong understood her now . He suddenly interjected, "Do you mean that the money you originally wanted to lend me was actually from the believers? This money belongs to both the Linggong Sect and the Zhengyi School, but they have frozen your assets?"

    Zi Yuan nodded . In a voice dripping with irony and contempt, she said, "Many corrupt officials donate in the temples, just looking for some peace of mind . Some want to seek prescriptions to cure diseases or have a good sleep at night, while others are trying to find Tao . These people will not hesitate to donate money . We have built so many Taoist temples and their money is the lifeblood of the people . We take it for granted! If there is an opportunity in the future, we can use it to help people . "

    Having said this, Zi Yuan sighed . "It¡¯s a pity that it¡¯s now frozen . I won¡¯t be able to help you either . "

    Ruan Hongling said, "Sister Zi Yuan, wasn¡¯t there some official who was always pestering you in the past? She wanted you to teach her how to cultivate . Why don¡¯t you go and ask her to unblock the ount as a favor?"

    Before Zi Yuan could speak, Li Yundong said resolutely, "No, when you ask for something, you have to give up something in exchange . As the saying goes, he who receives a gift, sells his liberty . If Zi Yuan goes to ask this favor of her, she will definitely make various demands in return . I absolutely don¡¯t want that to happen! Even if I, Li Yundong, have to take the Fox Zen School to beg in the streets, I will absolutely not take a single penny from you!"

    His words sounded sonorous and forceful . Su Chan nodded hard, gripping Li Yundong¡¯s arm tightly as she said, "Yes, at worst, I¡¯ll go to the streets with you!"

    Li Yundong pretended to be angry and said, "Nonsense, when have I ever had you roaming the streets?"

    Su Chan giggled . "I¡¯m only kidding!"

    Li Yundong red at her and said, "I should hold an auction to sell you if I run out of money . Whoever offers me the highest price can have you for all I care!"

    Su Chan was instantly in a panic and blurted hurriedly, "No, no, you can¡¯t do that!"

    Li Yundongughed out loud and caressed the little girl¡¯s hair . "I¡¯m kidding, too!"

    Su Chan pouted childishly and covered her head with her hands before saying unhappily, "Don¡¯t imitate me!"

    Li Yundong and Su Chan¡¯sughter dissipated a lot of the tension in the room .

    Zi Yuan looked at Li Yundong with both admiration and helplessness . "I¡¯m very impressed by Zhenren Li¡¯s noble character and integrity . However, I can¡¯t help you now . How are you going to get through this crisis in front of you? Don¡¯t tell me that you are really going to be street beggars together with the people from the Fox Zen School?"

    Li Yundong sighed, his face full of sadness . Half a year ago, he had just been an ignorant indoorsman . He was a student of the worst major and had raised a fox spirit named Su Chan in his family, causing him to go bankrupt . Now, he had to raise a whole group of fox spirits . It all seemed like a headache to him .

    Li Yundong thought for a while . Suddenly, he pped the table and said loudly, "I have an idea!"

    His revtion startled Ruan Hongling and Su Chan, but Zhou Qin and Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes lit up at the same time . They questioned closely, "What is it?"

    Li Yundong waved his hand and said, "I can organize a dance troupe with the Fox Zen School and perform around the country . . . " He pointed to Zhou Qin and said, "You can be the guest-in-charge!" Then he turned to Su Chan and said, "You can be the host!"

    He then pointed at Ruan Hongling . "Since you¡¯re out of money, why don¡¯t youe with me? You¡¯re pretty, so you can be responsible for collecting money as a receptionist!" He then pointed at Zi Yuan and added, "You¡¯re mature, perfect for being the gaffer!"

    As Li Yundong spoke, Su Chan and Ruan Hongling all began tough . Even Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help showing a smile as her cheeks twitched . Zi Yuan also smiled helplessly . She knew that Li Yundong was joking, so she asked, "What about you? Do you intend to be a rich capitalist?"

    Li Yundong patted his chest and said loudly, "I will perform the act of crushing a stone on my chest! This is what I am good at!"

    Before he could finish his words, everyone else in the room fell aboutughing . Thinking of Li Yundong¡¯s performancest semester, Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help giggling, covering her mouth with one hand . She turned around, and her shoulders kept trembling .

    Su Chan produced the loudestugh of all and threw herself into Li Yundong¡¯s arms, unable to straighten her back . Her eyes curved like crescent moons as she smiled and sighed with emotion and admiration filling her heart . "My man not only has great cultivation but also great talent . What¡¯s more, he is so optimistic, open-minded, and humorous even when facing such a difficult situation . How could I not love him?"

    After this group of down-on-their-luck people had enjoyed themselves for a while, Zhou Qin finally stoppedughing and said, "Let¡¯s get down to business . Since we can¡¯t solve this matter at the moment, we¡¯d better make some preparations . "

    Li Yundong looked at her . Although her face was expressionless, there were still traces of a smile showing in the corners of her eyes, like a red stamen of wintersweet, looking charming and attractive . His heart skipped a beat . He quickly restrained himself and asked, "Why must we make preparations?"

    Zhou Qin said, "Since we can¡¯t collect so much money at the moment, let¡¯s put the matter of renting a ce for the Fox Zen School to one side for the time being . Anyway, we still have a month . But we cannot just wait since we can¡¯t afford the rent . "

    Li Yundong was inspired . "I understand what you¡¯re saying . You mean, we can run a shop so that we can make some money at least . At the same time, we should try to find more money, right?"

    Zhou Qin smiled and nodded . "That¡¯s right! Although my family¡¯s funds have been somewhat reduced, I still have some savings . If I sell my car, I will have five hundred thousand yuan, which should be enough for you to start a business . Moreover, once your store opens, you can use it as coteral it to borrow more money from the bank . Then we can discuss it with thendlord of the Taoist temple to see if we can pay it in installment . Maybe the problem can be solved easily . "

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help saying in admiration, "Wow, your family gave you a lot . A few good words from you is worth a thousand of the nonsense we usually chat about . Not bad . Let¡¯s do it! However, I can¡¯t take your money . I owe you too much . I can¡¯t use your money anymore . "

    Zhou Qin said seriously, "Since I¡¯ve be your disciple, I¡¯ll take you as my master . Consider this money as my entrance fee and apprentice fee . "

    Li Yundong refused . He shook his head and said, "No, I absolutely can¡¯t do that! I¡¯m not saying that I won¡¯t ept your kindness, but I haven¡¯t officially epted you as my disciple yet, so I can¡¯t ept such a huge gift . It wouldn¡¯t be right . Moreover, I have heard that Fox Zen School has a property . I want to see what it is . If I can, I want to use it to make cash, and then maybe I can ovee this difficulty . "

    Li Yundong said to Zhou Qin kindly, "Don¡¯t use your money now . If I really can¡¯t find a way out, I¡¯ll ask you for help . Is that okay?"

    Zhou Qin sighed internally, but nodded with a smile .

    At this time, Ruan Hongling suddenly said, "I¡¯ve listened to you all this time, but now there¡¯s something I¡¯d like to ask . "

    Li Yundong asked, "What is it?"

    Ruan Hongling asked in confusion, "Why is it that you must rent thatnd? The Fox Zen School is badly damaged now, and its location has been exposed to all of the cultivation sects in the world . Why don¡¯t you just move elsewhere?"

    Li Yundong fell silent for a while . He raised his head and looked at Ruan Hongling, then turned to Zi Yuan and said, "I have to return to the Fox Zen School . Why don¡¯t youe with me? I¡¯ll tell you why I have to keep the mountain where the Fox Zen School is located . Since I started cultivating, I¡¯ve received a lot of favors from you which I¡¯ve never had a chance to repay . Now that I think about it, I don¡¯t believe I should hide it from you anymore . "

    After thinking for a while, Zi Yuan said, "We can go back to the Fox Zen School with you, but it must be at night . It wouldn¡¯t be good if some cultivators saw me entering the Fox Zen School during the day . "

    Ruan Hongling curled her lips and muttered in her heart, "Every time you went down from the mountain, you would go and see him . It¡®s really unnecessary to do that!"

    Li Yundong nodded and said with a smile, "Well, let¡¯s go together at night . "

    Su Chan pped her hands and said with a smile, "Great, great . "

    They waited untilte at night . Before leaving, Li Yundong thought for a while and said to Zi Yuan, Ruan Hongling, and Su Chan, "Zhou Qin can¡¯t fly . You go first and I¡¯ll slowly escort her . You needn¡¯t wait for us on the way . "

    Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling nodded, then transformed into two green lights and left .

    Su Chan knew that since Li Yundong had epted Zhou Qin as his disciple, he had to teach her, so the little girl took Li Yundong¡¯s hand and whispered, "Then I¡¯ll wait for you in the sect!" After that, she reluctantly shot a nce at Li Yundong before turning into a beam of sapphire blue light and leaving .

    Although it was not the first time Zhou Qin had seen them use their magical skills, she still couldn¡¯t stop her heart from thumping violently at this time, just like when Li Yundong had seen an unknown world opening its doors to him . She felt excited and nervous .

    Although Li Yundong was gentle and approachable, he looked surprisingly serious and cold at this time . He stood on the balcony as the bright moonlight fell from the sky . It was like a beam of light on the stage cascading over him, making him seem to be illuminated by a faint white halo . His figure was straight and lofty, with an air of unassability .

    At this moment, Li Yundong was like a strict teacher looking at his student .

    Li Yundong extended a hand to Zhou Qin and asked in a deep voice, "Do you want to see the real cultivation world? Give me your hand!"

    Zhou Qin reached out her hand . She hesitated for only a moment before firmly cing her hand over Li Yundong¡¯s big and warm palm .

 Chapter 299

    Chapter 299

    <h4>Yin Spirit Traveling</h4>

    Li Yundong held Zhou Qin¡¯s soft hand and pulled Zhenqi up, wrapping both Zhou Qin and himself . The two of them floated up into the air .

    Zhou Qin immediately widened her eyes . Before she could react, she found herself being taken off the balcony by Li Yundong . In less than a few seconds, she flew out of the Hongsheng New District .

    When Su Chan had taught him how to fly for the first time, he had been told to close his eyes, because Su Chan hadn¡¯t had enough Zhenqi . Her cultivation was so limited that she couldn¡¯t take Li Yundong flying when he couldn¡¯t control his aura .

    Li Yundong thought that his Zhenqi was so strong that he was surely able to control arge copper cauldron weighing a thousand pounds with ease, let alone Zhou Qin, a graceful woman who weighed less than a hundred pounds .

    Therefore, Li Yundong did not ask Zhou Qin to close her eyes . Instead, he carefully observed Zhou Qin¡¯s reaction and expression after they had flown into the air .

    In the air, Zhou Qin felt a strange force enveloping her whole body and holding her up . At first, her nerves got the better of her and she couldn¡¯t help trembling slightly, but after a while, she calmed down and was able to look at the view beneath her feet, curiosity and excitement filling her beautiful eyes .

    She was indeed suitable for cultivation . Now aware that she had a big heart and a strong will, Li Yundong nodded and said, "Do you see that? This is the world of cultivators . "

    Zhou Qin was an intelligent woman . She quickly thought of something and said, "Do you mean that the cultivation world is superior to all beings, but it can¡¯t detach itself from them?"

    Li Yundong looked at her admiringly and said, "All the women in the world should be jealous of you . You have been blessed with both beauty and brains . Seems like God loves you too much . "

    Zhou Qin smiled slightly in response but thought to herself, "I think that Su Chan is the woman who should be envied most in the world . "

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know what Zhou Qin was thinking . He said, "You¡¯re right . That is the world of cultivators . People living in this world are often busy with intrigue, vying for power, or handling their daily trifles . They never look up at the sky above their heads . It¡¯s the same for us cultivators . We are not only living in this world, being influenced and restricted by it, but also trying to detach ourselves from the world all the time . "

    Speaking of this, he said with some emotion, "Half a year ago, I was the same as you . I never thought that there would be cultivators in the world around me . It seemed like that sort of person could only exist in movies and novels, but they¡¯re actually real! I remember that Zi Yuan once told me that Tao is hidden and nameless . The real Tao is right under our noses, but we don¡¯t pay attention to it at ordinary times . That¡¯s what the cultivation world is like too . "

    Li Yundong stared at Zhou Qin with bright eyes and asked seriously, "Zhou Qin, have you made up your mind today? Do you really want to cultivate?"

    As a member of an official family, Zhou Qin had been born with an innate desire for power and money . However, she was rebellious and felt very disgusted by the restrictions of officialdom . Therefore, when she found Li Yundong¡¯s strange behavior and power by ident, she became very curious about him .

    Zhou Qin hated worldly bondage, but she worshipped the strong . Therefore, she had approached Li Yundong step by step and almost destroyed her family . Finally, she had made her way into the cultivation world .

    In the face of Li Yundong¡¯s question, Zhou Qin took a deep breath . In the past, she had just wanted to stay with Li Yundong . Zhou Qin would have been very satisfied if she could look at him or just say a few more words to him . But now, for the first time, she felt a burning curiosity towards cultivation . She was eager to dive deeper into that world .

    This desire came from her innate feelings of reverence and yearning that she felt towards power, and also from her admiration for Li Yundong deep in her heart . She wanted to follow him .

    Zhou Qin solemnly said, "I want to cultivate!"

    Li Yundong nodded . "Although I haven¡¯t cultivated for a long time, I will teach you everything I have learned . I hope that there will be a famous female cultivator in the cultivation world in the future!"

    After that, he smiled and led Zhou Qin as they continued flying in the direction of Dongwu City .

    Although Li Yundong¡¯s Zhenqi was boundless and able to fly with heavy objects, he flew slower than the girls did, so he stayed far behind them . It wasn¡¯t until dawn that he and Zhou Qin arrived back at the Fox Zen School .

    Before he could even set his feet on the ground, Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Ruan Hongling, who had been waiting for them for a long time, came up to him .

    Ruan Hongling quipped, "I can¡¯t believe such a powerful cultivator like you can¡¯t even fly with your Yin Spirit . You can only fly with your physical body . Don¡¯t you know that it is the slowest out of the three?"

    Li Yundong asked curiously, "Oh? Which three?"

    Ruan Hongling rolled her eyes and muttered, "Are you kidding me? How could a greenhorn like you, who doesn¡¯t even know three flying methods, settle a score in secret so well? That¡¯s not fair . "

    Zi Yuan said with a smile, "The three methods of flying are physical flying, Yin Spirit or Yang Spirit flying, and weapon-controlling flying . You can already fly with your body . When you are at the Huaying phase, you can learn the second one . The third one requires special magic tools, such as Bahuang or Liuhe, which can be controlled by Yin Spirit or Yang Spirit . They can carry you as they fly . Among the three methods, the first one consumes the most Zhenqi . It is the slowest one but it can carry the highest load . The second method also costs Zhenqi, but it is the fastest . The third way is only a little slower than the second, but it doesn¡¯t consume too much Zhenqi . "

    Li Yundong nodded, then smiled at Zi Yuan and said, "Thank you for teaching me, Zhenren Zi Yuan . Come with me now . I¡¯ll tell you why the Fox Zen School can¡¯t leave Tianlong Mountain . "

    He then led them around to the secret entrance at the back mountain of the Fox Zen School, where he pushed aside the surrounding bushes and walked in .

    Upon seeing that the Fox Zen School had a secret gate, Zi Yuan was not surprised . They entered the gate, passed through the causeway, entered a stone room, and lit a candle that was sitting in a sconce on the wall . Taking a nce around, they were suddenly shocked by what they saw .

    Ruan Hongling widened her eyes as she cried out involuntarily, "Heavenly Jindan Technique!! That¡¯s a lost cultivation spell! No wonder you were so badass thest time you practiced with us! Sister Zi Yuan even said that you might have cultivated the Heavenly Jindan Technique! So it¡¯s actually true!"

    A momentter, Zi Yuan said with a shocked expression, "It¡¯s amazing . Mystical Silver Fox is a great person!"

    It was only then that Ruan Hongling realized what was going on . Her gazended on the bottom of the scroll and she sucked in a breath of cold air . "I was wondering what kind of great cultivator could carve words on such hard granite with their bare hands . So it was the Mystical Silver Fox! My god, if the cultivators of the other sects were to find out about this, it would probably trigger a bloodbath!"

    Zi Yuan calmed down a little . She walked over to the wall and touched it with her hand before shaking her head and saying, "She was able to carve so many words on such a hard stone surface . How wonderful! Moreover, from the shapes of these characters, it seems that they were all carved in one go . Mystical Silver Fox must have a terrifying cultivation level . We can¡¯tpare to her at all . No wonder she was the best at that time . No one could defeat her . "

    Su Chan said proudly, "Of course . Mystical Silver Fox is the most powerful master there¡¯s ever been in the history of our Fox Zen School!"

    Ruan Hongling retorted, "She¡¯s also the most infamous . "

    Su Chan stamped her foot in anger . "You!"

    Seeing that the two of them were about to quarrel, Li Yundong immediately interrupted them and said, "Okay, okay, let¡¯s not be ungrateful . You went into the treasure mountain but came back empty-handed . You should be thinking about how to learn such an important cultivation magic spell, but you just spend all your time quarreling instead . I¡¯m speechless!"

    Su Chan and Ruan Hongling looked at each other and turned their heads away .

    Li Yundong smiled and said to Zi Yuan, "How is it? The Heavenly Jindan Technique . How much is it worth? 50 million?"

    Zi Yuan sighed and said, "It is a priceless secret skill, but it¡¯s a pity that we can¡¯t sell it . Otherwise, you¡¯d be rich overnight . "

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Yes, I also know this, so I only told you . This technique is just a gift for you . What do you think?"

    Before Zi Yuan had a chance to say anything, Ruan Hongling opened her mouth and said, "It is not yours . You¡¯re so shameless! You have no sincerity at all!"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t take her seriously andughed .

    Zi Yuanughed and said . "Your gift is truly too great . I am unable to ept it . "

    Ruan Hongling said, "No, no, Sister Zi Yuan, for him . . . "

    Before she could finish her sentence, Zi Yuan suddenly bellowed, "Hongling!"

    Ruan Hongling was so scared that she visibly shrank back before she could even finish her words .

    Li Yundong was stunned and asked, "What? Is there something I don¡¯t know?"

    Zi Yuan replied calmly, "Nothing . We are so lucky to be able to see the Heavenly Jindan Technique today . Zhenren Li, would you like to try to travel with your spirit?"

    Li Yundong asked, "How would I go about doing that?"

    "By letting your Yin or Yang Spirit be separated and then travelling," Zi Yuan replied .

    Noticing something, Li Yundong was slightly surprised . He knew that Zi Yuan was trying to teach him something . He thought for a moment, then said with a smile, "Well, thest time I practiced the Heavenly Jindan Technique, I felt that my Neidan seemed to have turned into a small person and jumped out of my body, but this feeling didn¡¯tst long . "

    Su Chan widened her eyes and said in surprise, "Yundong, you¡¯ve entered the Huaying phase!"

    Zi Yuan also nodded and said, "Considering Li Yundong¡¯s cultivation, it would be reasonable for him to break through to the Sixth Phase . The one who jumped out of your body before was your Yin Spirit . It is in the early stage of the Huaying phase . When your Yin Spirit reaches the Yuanying phase, it will turn into the Yang Spirit . At that point, even if your body is destroyed, you will still be able to escape from death . "

    Li Yundong was very filled with desire when he heard that . He was eager to have a try and said, "Why don¡¯t I try it again and see if I can have the Yin Spirit?"

    Zi Yuan nodded with a smile . "Very well . That¡¯s exactly what I was thinking about as well . "

    She then turned to Ruan Hongling and said, "The Heavenly Jindan Technique is a Daoist supreme treasure . It is very rare in this world . You can cultivate here and help me protect Li Yundong¡¯s body . "

    Li Yundong also told Su Chan to teach Zhou Qin some basic cultivation methods before he sat cross-legged in the stone cave .

    Thanks to the powerful Yin-based Zhenqi of Zi Yuan, Li Yundong¡¯s Yang-based Neidan quickly turned into a baby and flew out of his body .

    At this time, Ruan Hongling, Su Chan, and Zhou Qin had yet to enter a meditative state for cultivation . They were all busy watching Li Yundong¡¯s Yin Spirit and Zi Yuan¡¯s Yang Spirit .

    Zi Yuan had already reached the highest stage of the Yuanying phase, which allowed her Yang Spirit to leave her body . Li Yundong had just started cultivating in the Sixth Phase, and only his Yin Spirit could leave his body . Moreover, his Yin Spirit was rtively small, resembling a ten-year-old child . From its appearance, it could be vaguely recognized that it was Li Yundong .

    When Zhou Qin saw this scene, she couldn¡¯t help but widen her eyes and was afraid to breathe . She was wondering when she could be as awesome as they were .

    When Su Chan and Ruan Hongling saw Li Yundong¡¯s Yin Spirit flying out with Zi Yuan¡¯s Yang Spirit, they couldn¡¯t restrain a flicker of envy from passing over their faces .

    Ruan Hongling thought, "When I first met Li Yundong, he was a cultivator who had only just started on his cultivation journey . He had nothing but a strong aura . But now, after less than half a year of cultivation, he has already reached the Yuanying phase . His battle techniques are even more powerful . Even Sister Zi Yuan, who has cultivated to the highest realm of the Yuanying phase, is no match for him . His cultivation has progressed so quickly . If I don¡¯t work harder, I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to catch up to him for the rest of my life . "

    Su Chan even thought, "Yundong was far from being my match when he¡¯d just started cultivating, but now even if there were ten of me together, we¡¯d still be no match for him . I have to work hard and mustn¡¯t let myself get weak . Otherwise, I¡¯ll never be able to work with him in the future!"

 Chapter 300

    Chapter 300

    <h4>To Save or Not to Save?</h4>

    After Li Yundong and Zi Yuan focused their minds, one Yin Spirit and one Yang Spirit floated into the air in unison . Li Yundong felt that like he waspletely weightless . With a thought, he was able to fly thousands of meters away in an instant . His speed was far higher than his normal physical flying speed .

    There was no difference between the Yang Spirit of Zi Yuan and her physical body . Even the clothes she was wearing were exactly the same . It was as if she had split herself into two people . After watching Li Yundong float freely in the air for a while, she suddenly asked, "Do you know the biggest difference between the Yin Spirit and the Yang Spirit?"

    Li Yundong stopped, then shook his head and said with a smile, "Although I seem pretty decent at fighting right now, I¡¯m actually still far behind in my Cultivation . Zhenren Zi Yuan, don¡¯t keep me guessing, just give me some pointers . "

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly and waved to Li Yundong . "Come with me . "

    The two quickly descended to the ground . By this time, night was already drawing in . They flew to the suburbs, unafraid of being seen as they neared the wilderness .

    After Zi Yuan hadnded, she broke off a branch with her hand and began to fiddle with it . She smiled and said, "Have a try . "

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "It¡¯s not difficult . " As he said this, he reached out to break the branch in front of him . However, rather than his hand touching the branch, it passed right through it .

    Li Yundong was stunned and said, "Can¡¯t I touch anything?"

    Zi Yuan nodded and smiled . "That¡¯s right . This is the greatest difference between the Yin and Yang Spirits!"

    Li Yundong smiled and asked, "Isn¡¯t it like a soul separated from its body?"

    "You could say that . I¡¯ve already exined how to cultivate Shentong in the fifth phase . Today, I¡¯ll exin to you how to cultivate Yuanying in the sixth phase," Zi Yuan replied .

    Li Yundong¡¯s expression was solemn . He put one fist on the t, upturned palm of his other hand, cupping it as he said, "Zhenren Zi Yuan, please enlighten me!"

    Zi Yuan was ying with a branch she had picked up from the side of the road . She said with a smile, "When a cultivator has cultivated Shentong of the fifth phase to a certain extent, God will start to prepare a divine punishment in order to kill the Cultivator . ording to the normalw of cultivation, if the Heavenly Thunder strikes a person, whether they are a Da Luo Jinxian or a Ninth Heaven Immortal, they will die for sure . This is because no matter how strong the human body is, it can¡¯t be stronger than Heavenly Thunder . There is only one kind of power that can withstand Heavenly Thunder . . . "

    Before Zi Yuan could even finish her sentence, Li Yundong¡¯s eyes lit up . He quickly interjected, "I understand . It¡¯s the Yin Spirit or Yang Spirit that¡¯s roaming outside!"

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "The Yin Spirit is only at the primary Cultivation of the sixth phase . It is an energy form spawned from the Neidan in your body . However, this energy body is rtively thin and weak, so it can¡¯t touch anything . If you use the Yin Spirit to bear the divine punishment, it will be thoroughly obliterated and you will be nothing more than a walking corpse . "

    "You can only withstand the Heavenly Thunder after you have cultivated your Yin Spirit into a Yang Spirit . You have to know that when you undergo Lightning Retribution, that is when your Yang Spirit will be ced in the rolling dark clouds of thunder and lightning, enduring countless strikes of lightning . This is called passing divine punishment .

    "The primary Cultivation of the sixth phase is called the Huaying phase . As the name implies, it means that the Neidan in your body has turned into a baby shape . You said that when you practiced the Nine Cycles Jindan, your Yin Spirit went out of your body . At that moment, your Yin Spirit, which had just turned into a baby, was separate from your body and able to look at the world . Your Yin Spirit has now grown into a teenager . This is the intermediate level of the sixth phase . In the Chengying phase means, the Yin Spirit in your body will begin to slowly take shape .

    "As your Yin Spirit gradually grows in strength and power, it will slowly turn into Yang Spirit, which means that your energy will be stronger and stronger, and you will be able to touch other things, just like any ordinary person . This mark shows that you have cultivated to the upper Cultivation level of the sixth phase, Yuanying phase, which is also the Yangshen phase .

    "Although you¡¯re better at fighting than me now, if I were to release my Yang Spirit, it would be a two-against-one situation . One-on-one, I¡¯m no match for you, but two-on-one, you¡¯ll be no match for me at all . To say the least, even if I¡¯m fighting two-on-one, I¡¯d be no match for you . I can also escape from the Yang Spirit to find a corner and a good Furnace tripod which you wouldn¡¯t be able to locate . After doing that, I¡¯d endure the humiliation and try to rise again . This is simr to Yan Fang . She¡¯s no match for Liu Ye when ites to fighting, but if she escapes by using her Yang Spirit, no matter what kind of cultivators she¡¯s against, they and even Liu Ye wouldn¡¯t be able to stop her . "

    Zi Yuan said slowly, "Those who have cultivated to the Yuanying phase have Taoed life and death and reincarnation . As long as the Yang Spirit is not dead, one can continue to live . The spirit only needs to constantly be attached to the body to be reborn . That¡¯s the strength of the highest level of the Yuanying phase . "

    Li Yundong was suddenly enlightened . "Ah, so it turns out that you still had a trick up your sleevest time! Cunning, really cunning! I will have a real fight with you some other day!"

    Zi Yuan smiled faintly . "There¡¯s no need for us to spar anymore . If I don¡¯t use a Yang Spirit, your Zhenqi will be so immense and boundless that I¡¯ll be no match for you . I¡¯ll dly admit defeat before we even take to the field . But since I can¡¯t beat you, there¡¯s no way you can wipe me out . Because you haven¡¯t cultivated to the peak of the Yuanying phase, if you meet a master level great cultivator, you won¡¯t be able to beat him and will be unable to run away by using your Yang Spirit . As such, you¡¯ll have nothing to do but to surrender .

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "I know . After cultivating to the Yang Spirit Cultivation in the sixth phase, not only can you bring one of your doppelgangers into the fight to assist you, but you can also slice your wrists when necessary, give up your physical body, and escape by Yang Spirit, right?"

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "Exactly!"

    Li Yundong then asked with iprehension in his eyes, "Now that you have cultivated the Yang Spirit, shouldn¡¯t you be able to pass the divine punishment?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head and said, "No, after a cultivator reaches Yang Spirit Cultivation, he has Taoed the cycle of life and death . However, he has not transcended the restrictions of heaven and earth . He must train his Yang Spirit to jinshen of the seventh phase before he can fight the Heavenly Thunder . Otherwise, even the strongest and most condensed Yang Spirit would not be able to withstand the might of the Heavenly Thunder . "

    Li Yundong said, "I remember something about this . When the Fox Zen School settled a score against the major sectsst time, I heard some cultivators from other sects say that no one in the world could reach jinshen?"

    Zi Yuan nodded, then shook her head . "From the perspective of the current Cultivation World, this is indeed the case . However, the Great Six and the Zhengyi School, as well as the North-South Zen Sect, Huayan Sect, and other Buddhist Sects have a wide range of roots and hidden dragons and tigers . It¡¯s hard to say whether or not there are any seniors who have been above worldly considerations for many years in the Cultivation World and who have been able to reach this Cultivation level . However, as far as I know, the Leader the Zhengyi School, Zhang Tiansh¨©, seems to have approached this Cultivation level . "

    Li Yundong thought for a moment and asked, "I seem to recall having heard someone say that only by taking the Diyuan Jindan can one cultivate to this point?"

    Zi Yuan chuckled and said, "It¡¯s just theoretical . There are three Elixirs of life in the whole world: the Tianyuan Jindan, the Diyuan Jindan, and the Renyuan Jindan . You took the lowest-ranked Renyuan Jindan and immediately became a cultivator who is famous throughout the world . If you took the Diyuan Jindan, what kind of Cultivation do you think you would reach?"

    When Li Yundong heard this, he couldn¡¯t help but be lost in thought . "I wonder how one can refine the Diyuan Jindan . . . "

    "The cultivation method for the Diyuan Jindan has been lost for nearly five hundred years . You¡¯d better not think about it . It¡¯s better to cultivate step by step . "

    Li Yundong nodded in agreement .

    While they were still talking happily, they suddenly heard a faint cry from not far away . "Excuse me . Is that Li Yundong, Zhenren Li?"

    Li Yundong and Zi Yuan were immediately shocked . The two of them turned at the same time to face the direction which the sound wasing from . They shouted warily, "Who is it?!"

    Li Yundong peered through the shadowy darkness of the night and saw a woman standing in a yellow gown . She was beautiful, slender, and aesthetically exquisite .

    In normal times, this woman would be an eye-catching beauty . But under these circumstances, a beautiful woman standing in a dark area of the wilderness could only be seen as suspicious .

    The gaze of Zi Yuan was like a torch, able to see through to the woman¡¯s original appearance at a nce . She whispered to Li Yundong, "This is a Yin Spirit that is out on a trip . The demon Qi in her is very strong . "

    Li Yundong thundered, "Who are you? How do you know me?"

    Although Li Yundong was out using his Yin Spirit, his body was still full of Yang Qi . The woman in yellow didn¡¯t dare to get too close . When she was about five meters away from him, she said slowly, "Zhenren Li, you once saved my husband¡¯s life . Have you forgotten?"

    Li Yundong was immediately confused . "How did I save you and your husband?"

    The woman in yellow looked at Zi Yuan . Her eyes were filled with vignce as she said softly, "In Xiyuan . . . "

    Li Yundong suddenly understood . "Wait, are you one of those two golden snakes that escaped?"

    Li Yundong looked at her with a face full of doubt and asked, "Why are you looking for me? Aren¡¯t you afraid that I¡¯ll take you back? Next to me is Zhenren Zi Yuan from the Linggong Sect . She is my good friend . If you have something to say, just say it . Don¡¯t beat around the bush . "

    The yellow-dressed woman sighed softly and said with tears in her eyes, "My husband and I were two golden snakes who cultivated at the foot of Donghua Mountain . A few days ago, when my husband heard that the Immortal Pen and the Medicine King Tripod were about to be above worldly considerations, he got stirred up and said that he would go to the mortal world to have a look . I tried my best to persuade him not to go but he wouldn¡¯t listen . In the end, I followed him out of the mountain .

    "However, what I didn¡¯t know was that that when we passed through Dongwu City, we would be caught by a bunch of chatans from the Xiyuan Temple . They insisted that we were evil Demons and they wanted to release us from purgatory by force . With God as my witness, I swear that my husband and I have cultivated in the deep mountains for a hundred years and never hurt anyone . I never could have expected that we would suffer such a disaster . Fortunately, Zhenren Li rescued us, so it was fortunate for us to get rid of it . "

    At this point, the yellow-dressed woman bowed respectfully, her movements graceful .

    Li Yundong lifted his hand and said, "Since you have escaped, why did youe to me? It was just an ident that day . I wasn¡¯t actually intending to save you, so you don¡¯t have to thank me . "

    The woman in yellow sobbed and said, "Although we escaped from the tiger¡¯s mouth, it seems that we can¡¯t escape from the ws of a wolf . In the past few days, we have been besieged by several cultivators of the Cultivation sects and they tried to kill us in order to take our Neidan . I was in a desperate situation . I remembered that only Zhenren Li had ever helped us in the human world, and I had heard that he saved the Fox Zen School when it was in danger . What¡¯s more, Zhenren Li didn¡¯t discriminate against demons like us who cultivated in a demon body . That¡¯s why I am being so bold as toe here and ask for help . "

    Li Yundong asked in a deep voice, "How did you find me?"

    "I wandered around the Fox Zen School until I saw Zhenren Li¡¯s breath nearby . Only then did I follow you," the woman replied .

    Li Yundong was nomittal and asked again, "You want me to save you? But how can I know whether or not you have done anything against reason and nature?"

    The woman choked with sobs as she said, "As the saying goes, heaven is merciful . My husband and I have never done anything that is harmful to heaven or earth . If I am lying, may the heavens smite me where I stand!"

    Both Buddhists and Taoists believed in karmic consequences, so Li Yundong believed the woman¡¯s oath .

    However, Zi Yuan said in a low voice, "Li Yundong, it¡¯s not that I¡¯m being too wordy and pedantic . Humans and demons are not the same, after all . As the saying goes, those who aren¡¯t of our race are bound to be different . Not all demons are as innocent and harmless as Su Chan . You have to think carefully before making a decision here . "

    The words of Zi Yuan made Li Yundong think twice, and he realized that he was in quite a dilemma .

    To help them or not? That was the question .

 Chapter 301

    Chapter 301

    <h4>Summon the Wind and the Rain</h4>

    The yellow-dressed woman saw Li Yundong¡¯s initial temptation, but after Zi Yuan had said a few words, Li Yundong hesitated again . She cried and said, "I heard that Zhenren Li is a kind, broad-minded cultivator, so I took the risk of asking you for help . I never would have expected that Zhenren Li would be the same as the other cultivators . You would rather sit and watch us legendary creatures who have never done anything bad be bullied by others, while overlooking the actual viinsmitting crimes . "

    This sentence immediately moved Li Yundong . He suddenly remembered the words he had spoken upon meeting Dorjee Tenzin in Tibet: "In fact, the most terrible thing in this world is not demons but human beings! When humans do evil, they are a hundred times more vicious than demons! Therefore, if demons do good deeds, not only will I not subdue them, I will actually protect them . If people do evil things, I will not only not repair the mistakes, but I will also enforce justice on the perpetrators on the behalf of heaven!"

    Thinking of this, Li Yundong no longer hesitated and said, "You don¡¯t have to provoke me with words . Lead the way, and I willeter . "

    The yellow-dressed woman was immediately overjoyed . She sobbed and bent her body into a bow . "Thank you for saving my life again, Zhenren Li!"

    Li Yundong waved his hand and said, "You don¡¯t need to thank me so soon . If what you said is true, maybe I¡¯ll take care of it . But if you¡¯re lying to me, you may well have brought Death upon yourself!"

    The woman dressed in yellow sighed and said, "You will find out whether or not it is true right after you arrive . " As she spoke, she turned into a beam of yellow light and flew into the air, but then remained motionless . Obviously, she was waiting for Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong turned to look at Zi Yuan and said, "This matter was caused by me . I thought that Su Chan was being besieged in Xiyuan Temple, so I forced my way in . As a result, I identally released the two snake demons . If they truly are evil demons, I will be responsible for catching them again . If they are actually innocent and kind, I can¡¯t allow some evil cultivators to kill them . You should go back to the secret room in the cave first . I will return soon . "

    Zi Yuan sighed and said, "You¡¯re more like some kind of a Robin Hood than an ascetic cultivator . Anyway, I¡¯ll go with you . You¡¯ve just entered the Sixth Cultivation and the Yin Spirit is still very weak . If someone uses Magic to attack you, you won¡¯t stand much of a chance . Let¡¯s go together so we can take care of each other . "

    Li Yundong was overjoyed by this idea . He broke out into a heartyugh and said, "I think you are the one who is cold-faced but warm-hearted . You have a mean mouth, but your heart is softer than anyone else¡¯s . "

    Zi Yuan smiled at his response and said simply, "Let¡¯s go . "

    The two people quickly turned into blue lights and rose into the air . The woman dressed in yellow, who had been waiting all this time, saw them following and quickly flew north .

    When it came to flying speed, Spirit was the fastest . In the blink of an eye, he could traverse dozens of miles . In less than half an hour, Li Yundong and Zi Yuan followed the yellow-dressed woman all the way to Xinbin, where theynded in a deep forest . There were houses at the foot of the mountain .

    The yellow-dressed woman said, "The bodies of my husband and me are hidden in this mountain, and the cultivators who besieged us are on the other side of it . Please carry out justice, Zhenren Li!"

    After that, she headed more deeply into the mountain and disappeared .

    Li Yundong frowned . When he flew to the top of the mountain, he saw some torches on the other side of it and could hear a faint voice carrying through the air .

    Following him up to the peak, Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help but frown slightly . "They seem to be cultivators from the Great Six . "

    Li Yundong said in a deep voice, "Let¡¯s go and have a look!"

    Zi Yuan nodded . They each held their breath and descended to the foot of the mountain . When they were twenty meters away from each other, they heard a clear voice .

    "Do these two stinky snakes think we won¡¯t be able to do anything to them if they hide in a hole?"

    "The people from the Jinshan Sect have been in there for two hours . Why hasn¡¯t there been any movement?"

    "Hah! Didn¡¯t the Jinshan Sect specialize in the art of earth hiding? I¡¯m afraid that they will go straight for the snake¡¯s belly this time!"

    "B*stard, why are you people from Donghua Sect rejoicing in other¡¯s misfortune? If you think you have the ability, try doing it yourself!"

    The people were getting rowdy when they heard an old voice in the crowd . Li Yundong looked through the cover of the dense forest and saw Zheng Yuan from the Yin Yang Sect based in Mount Wuhua standing among the crowd, stroking his beard . Next to him was a tall girl with a bewitchingly beautiful appearance . It was Ding Nan .

    As soon as Li Yundong saw Zheng Yuan, he said angrily in a low voice: "This bastard stole Mo Ahshi¡¯s mother¡¯s Threaded Hairpin of Traversing Soul right from under my nose! I¡¯ll just get it back from him!"

    "Calm down . Let¡¯s listen to what they are saying," Zi Yuan advised cautiously .

    Li Yundong suppressed his anger and listened carefully to Zheng Yuan¡¯s words .

    Zheng Yuan continued, "Please just calm down and listen to me . "

    Some surrounding cultivators who hailed from small sects and who were rtively weak began saying one after another, "Senior Zheng, please uphold justice!"

    "That¡¯s right . Senior Zheng, you were the one who discovered the tracks of these two snake demons . You should be in charge!"

    When the cultivators of the Great Six heard that, they shouted, "It¡¯s not Yin Yang Sect¡¯s turn to handle this!

    "Since we of the Great Six have not spoken, Yin Yang Sect should stand aside!

    "So, Senior Zheng, now¡¯s the time for you to step aside and have a rest! Allow the Great Six to show you what they can do!"

    Zheng Yuan did not get angry when he heard the mor around him . Instead, he said in a clear voice, "My brothers of the Tao, if we make a fuss here we¡¯ll keep on arguing until tomorrow morning . Why don¡¯t we try our best to kill these two stinky snakes first before getting into a quarrel?"

    His words made the other cultivators nod their heads and say, "That¡¯s reasonable enough . Let¡¯s deal with the two stinky snakes first!"

    "Right . You Great Six are always quarreling, yet you don¡¯t want to defeat each other . Are you each waiting for a chance to show your strength? Forget it, and don¡¯t mess with each other!"

    "Bastard, which sect are you from? How dare you sow discord!"

    Li Yundong saw that there were at least forty to fifty cultivators surrounding the foot of the mountain, and most of them were cultivators from the various sects that had participated in the siege of Fox Zen School . He sneered internally and said in a low voice, "Did these guyse here to enforce justice on behalf of heaven by subduing demons? I¡¯m afraid that there¡¯ll be more than a few people slyly taking advantage of the situation!"

    Zi Yuan said lightly, "It¡¯s normal for the Great Six to get involved . Moreover, these two golden snakes are precious . It¡¯s not surprising that they are walking in the secr world and attracting the greed of cultivators . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s face was transformed by an ugly sneer . He nced around and said in a low voice, "There are forty or fifty people here, and there are at least seven or eight good cultivators . In addition, Zheng Yuan is not easy to deal with . I think we may not be a match for him . Unless we fight with two golden snakes, we should have a chance at winning . "

    Zi Yuan immediately shook her head and said in warning, "No . Even if you can drive them away, in the future you will be used of colluding with the evildoers and making yourself an enemy of the Great Six . At that time, the Great Six will send out elites to attack you again . Although you are powerful, you won¡¯t be able to defeat all of them . "

    Li Yundong snorted and said, "You think I¡¯d be afraid of them?"

    Zi Yuan said, "Don¡¯t underestimate the Great Six . Although they are still very repressed, in the past few thousand years, the Great Six have been spreading their branches everywhere . No one knows how rich they are . Even our Zhengyi School doesn¡¯t dare to turn against them . Last time, when the Great Six besieged Fox Zen School, most of their people were members of the younger generation . The real Masters didn¡¯te . If you make them angry and all the Masterse over, even Zhengyi School won¡¯t be able to bear it . "

    After a pause, she continued, "The most important thing is just that you and I don¡¯t show up directly . We only need to drive them away . "

    Li Yundong asked, "How can we possibly drive these greedy guys away without showing up?"

    The corners of Zi Yuan¡¯s mouth curled up as a confident smile appeared on her face . "Golden Snakes are demons with extreme power . Even if they don¡¯t transform into their human forms, they are still very powerful when they don¡¯t use Magic . However, cultivators have one special characteristic: they don¡¯t dare use Magic or magical items for fear of attracting divine punishment . Therefore, as long as I summon a rain of lightning, these cultivators will likely not dare to use Magic or magical items . I believe that if these two golden snakes aren¡¯t stupid, they will immediately leap out and chase the cultivators away . "

    Li Yunqi said, "You can summon the wind and the rain? Why haven¡¯t I seen you use such powerful Magic before?"

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "Zhuge Liang practiced this technique for several days in a row while he was seeking the east wind . It turns out that it will take a lot of time to use this technique without using the power of a magical item . If I want to practice it, it will cost me a lot of time, at least an hour, and I must not be disturbed during the process, or my effort will go to waste . "

    Li Yundong said tly, "Then hurry up and practice that Magic . I¡¯ll protect you in the meanwhile . "

    Zi Yuan nodded and sat down cross-legged . Pinching a finger-seal with both hands, she closed her eyes and settled into her meditation .

    Li Yundong could feel that after Zi Yuan began meditating, her whole body began to exude a gentle power . Although this power was not very strong or turbulent, it was like a moistening spring rain . Bit by bit, it prated the ground and spread .

    After a while, Li Yundong found that the moisture on the ground was getting denser and denser, and the dew on the leaves in the forest was gathering more and more . Li Yundong¡¯s heart shifted, and he suddenly understood that the principle of wind and rain-summoning magic was to urge the moisture from the ground to rise into the air so that the clouds would grow heavy enough with water to swell and trigger a storm .

    Just as he was thinking this, as expected, traces of white gas from the ground began constantly forming and rising into the air . Itsted for about half an hour . Before long, Li Yundong felt a slight breeze blowing over his cheek . He thought of something and said, "It¡¯s windy!"

    The wind moved the clouds, the clouds moved the rain, then the clouds and rain moved the thunder and lightning together!

    At this moment, Zheng Yuan and the other cultivators from various cultivation sects were busy blocking the entrance to the cave, discussing what kind of Magic they should use to deal with the two stinky snakes . They did not notice the strange situation around them at all .

    One of the cultivators saw that they were still chattering endlessly, so he said impatiently, "Are you done thering on? I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the two stinky snakes have already run away!"

    Immediately, another one of the cultivators scoffed . "Don¡¯t be silly . Their Yin Spirits might be able to escape, but their bodies are trapped . If they physically move, won¡¯t all of us cultivators be aware?"

    At this time, Zheng Yuan said loudly, "My fellow Taoist friends, if we continue to talk like this, we don¡¯t know when it wille to an end . I think if we take out our Magic Treasures and have the ability to becent, we can call them to the dilemma at the entrance of the cave . What do you think?"

    When the other cultivators heard that, they all nodded and said affirmatively, "Good idea!"

    But there were also a few who didn¡¯t agree, one of whom remarked, "That¡¯s all well and good, but how are we going to divide the treasures when we catch the two stinky snakes?"

    Zheng Yuan pondered the issue for a moment before saying, "At that time, it won¡¯t be toote for us topete with each other . If we fight now, won¡¯t we be letting the two stinky snakes take advantage of the situation to sneak out?"

    When the other cultivators heard this, they could think of no good rebuttal and all responded, "Okay, that¡¯s it!"

    All of a sudden, these cultivators activated their own magic weapons and charged towards a secret cave entrance . This cave entrance was only the size of a basketball, but when the magical item hit its surface, it revealed a golden shield wall . It was as if a firm, solid barrier had appeared, preventing these cultivators from entering .

    Li Yundong saw that the colorful magic weapons at the foot of the mountain were taking turns to bombard the hole and the golden barrier was getting weaker and weaker . Obviously, it could not hold on for much longer .

    Li Yundong knew that this wasn¡¯t good . However, when he saw that Zi Yuan still needed to practice for quite some time, he hesitated over whether or not he should go and stop them .

    But at this time, Ding Nan, who had been doing nothing in the field, suddenly felt a drop of water on her face . She couldn¡¯t help but look up, touch the droplet on her cheek, and ask curiously, "Is it raining?"

    Upon hearing this, Zheng Yuan was stunned and said, "It¡¯s raining?"

    His nose twitched and he suddenly became vignt . "No, the air wasn¡¯t this wet a moment ago! Could it be someone practicing Magic nearby?"

    Zheng Yuan shouted loudly, "My brothers in the Tao, someone has been practicing Magic nearby trying to summon the wind and thunder . Please look around to see if anyone has practiced Magic! If you discover someone, kill them immediately!"

    After he had finished speaking, the cultivators immediately shouted, "Okay, let¡¯s look around!"

    Upon hearing this, Li Yundong no longer hesitated . He immediately jumped into the field and shouted, "Stop!"

 Chapter 302

    Chapter 302

    <h4>I am your Papa!</h4>

    As soon as Li Yundong jumped out, he attracted everyone¡¯s attention . However, because he was out of Yin Spirit, his appearance and figure were very different from back when he had settled a score with the Fox Zen School . Moreover, he was more than ten meters away from them and was hiding his aura . For a moment, these cultivators did not recognize him and thought he was just a local from one of the nearby viges passing by .

    Immediately, a cultivator shouted, "Little idiot, get out of here! Don¡¯t disturb our business!"

    Li Yundong had intended to stall for time and was thrilled to find that the cultivators didn¡¯t recognize him . ying dumb with them, he asked, "What are you doing here? You made such a racket that I can¡¯t sleep!"

    A cultivatorughed and said, "You little kid, Don¡¯t go running around outside sote at night . The nearest house is five kilometers away from here . How did you even get here?"

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes and said, "I was hunting with my father on the mountain and we set up camp nearby tonight . You¡¯ve bothered us!"

    One of the cultivators from the Jinshan Sect said impatiently, "Then hurry up and move somewhere quieter . Do not disturb us!"

    Li Yundong pretended not to understand and asked, "Why should we have to leave? What are you doing here?"

    This question stumped the cultivators . They looked at each other with embarrassment on their faces and did not know how to answer . It wasn¡¯t like they could just tell him, "We¡¯re catching legendary creatures here . "

    Given that the situation was not good, Zheng Yuan coughed and said kindly, "Alright, kid . It¡¯s sote . You should go back to sleep . We¡¯re going to catch some bad people hereter, and you¡¯ll get hurt if you stick around . "

    Seeing Zheng Yuan¡¯s kindly attitude, one cultivator said impatiently, "Senior Zheng, why are you being so polite to a brat?" He then pointed to Li Yundong and shouted, "Hey, you little twerp, get out of here! Do you know who I am?"

    Li Yundong raised his head and snorted . "I don¡¯t know who you are . The question is, do you know who I am?"

    The cultivators present were confused by Li Yundong¡¯s arrogant and conceited bearing . Some muttered to themselves, "He looks so proud . Is he an officialling or something?"

    Someone retorted in a low voice, "Bullsh*t, what kind of officialling would be hanging around in a remote ce like this?"

    "Hey, you don¡¯t know this, do you? Nowadays, what the officiallings like doing is chasing excitement . They actually quite likeing to this kind of remote ce for hunting!"

    "But who would bring a kid to such ce!"

    "You dunce . What if he¡¯s a bastard? Or it could just be that an official came out here with his lover and let this child wander around by himself?"

    "Well, I suppose that that would make sense . "

    "But it¡¯s not like we¡¯re just going to give up because a child said something to us, right?"

    "We can just kill the kid . No one would ever know . If anyone did ask questions, we could just put the me on these two stinky snakes!"

    "Don¡¯t you know that cultivators can¡¯t hurt ordinary people?"

    "Are you stupid? Didn¡¯t we cultivators have to use Magic to kill ordinary people? Hmph!"

    These people were whispering to each other, but their words were full of murderous intent . Hearing this, Li Yundong became quite angry .

    Zheng Yuan smiled and asked, "Little kid, what¡¯s your name?"

    Li Yundong suppressed his rage and went on with his charade of ignorance . Rubbing his nose, he said stupidly, "My surname is Ni!"

    Zheng Yuanughed,"Ni? That¡¯s a good surname! What¡¯s your first name?"

    Li Yundong deliberately spoke vaguely in a local ent, replying, "Ni Papa [Trantor¡¯s Note: Ni = You in Chinese]!"

    Hearing his words, all the cultivators present burst outughing, and their murderous intent dissipated heavily . Theyughed raucously and said, "Ni Papa? [Trantor¡¯s Note: Ni is simr to the word ¡¯dirt¡¯ in Chinese] Why don¡¯t you just call yourself Sh*t Papa? Hah! I can¡¯t stopughing!"

    Li Yundong pretended to be surprised and said, "My uncle is called Sh*t Papa!"

    After hearing his words, the cultivators standing around onlyughed harder . Zheng Yuan also turned his face away,ughing so hard that his long, white eyebrows were twitching .

    A cultivator held his stomach and said with augh, "Your family¡¯s names are so funny! Ahaha!"

    Seeing the amusement on their faces, Li Yundong was also very happy and said to Zheng Yuan, "Yes, I am Ni Papa [Trantor¡¯s Note: your father], who are you?"

    Zheng Yuan was aware of something odd about Li Yundong¡¯s words, but he couldn¡¯t quite put his finger on it . He tried to notugh and said, "My name is Zheng Yuan . We¡¯re so curious about your family . Will we get a chance to invite the elders of your family to meet us?"

    Li Yundong snorted, "You want to see my father? Do you know who I am?"

    Zheng Yuan felt a stab of suspicion upon hearing this question . "Aren¡¯t you Ni Papa?"

    Li Yundong said loudly, "Yes, I am your Papa!"

    This time, someone finally realized that something was wrong . One of the cultivator¡¯s whispered, "Ni Papa, Papa? Oh, no, no, no, this kid is making fools of us!"

    The people around him immediately understoood the true meaning of the name and shouted discontentedly, "Little b*stard, how dare you take liberties with us!"

    "F*ck you . I¡¯m your Papa!" one cultivator swore .

    "I¡¯m your ancestor!" another person shouted .

    Hearing their profanity, Li Yundong pretended to be frightened and shouted back, "Why are you swearing? I haven¡¯t said anything wrong . I¡¯m Papa!"

    The cultivators¡¯ anger intensified and they cursed, "Little brat, how dare you keep ying dumb even now!? Do you want to die?"

    Zheng Yuan saw that Li Yundong looked really terrified, so he just said seriously, "How did your parents raise you? You had better ask your parents to see us, or you¡¯ll have to deal with me being rude to you!"

    Li Yundong snorted and said loudly, "You want to see my father? Do you know my father¡¯s surname?"

    Zheng Yuan held back his anger and said, "Isn¡¯t Ni his surname?"

    Li Yundong pretended to be ovee with admiration for him . "You are amazing . You actually know my father¡¯s surname is Ni! Let me tell you, my father¡¯s name is Ni Grandpa!"

    The cultivators present took a deep breath . "Ni Grandpa? ¡¯Your grandfather¡¯? This little fool is still beating around the bush to take advantage of us!"

    This time, Zheng Yuan could no longer withhold his malice and said angrily, "B*stard, you must be tired of living!"

    These cultivators swore at Li Yundong and rushed over to him together . "How dare you try to make fools of us again and again!"

    Li Yundong quickly began escaping in the opposite direction to Zi Yuan . As he ran, he shouted in panic, "What do you want to do? Kill Ni [Your] Papa? Where is Ni [Your] grandpa? Come out quickly . Someone is trying to kill Ni [Your] Papa!"

    When these cultivators found that Li Yundong was actually trying to take advantage of his own father, they couldn¡¯t helpughing again . They were also worried that other worldly mortals would really make their way out of the mountain now . "Could this kid really have such an odd name?"

    Immediately, one of the cultivators shouted, "Hey, stinky boy, tell me honestly, what¡¯s your name?"

    Li Yundong stopped once he was a good distance away and said with a wronged expression, "I¡¯ve said that my name is Ni Papa, and my father is Ni Grandpa!"

    His words incited the cultivators¡¯ anger once again . They shouted one after another, "What should we do with this little bunny now? We ought to kill him after he¡¯s taken advantage of us again and again!"

    Zheng Yuan said madly, "Boy, I¡¯ll give you onest chance . What¡¯s your name?"

    Li Yundong replied innocently, "My name really is Ni Papa!"

    Zheng Yuan was furious . "There is nobody in the universe with this name! You¡¯re ying a joke on us!"

    Li Yundong said loudly, "I don¡¯t know . Why don¡¯t you go and ask my dad about it? Also, ents differ wherever you go, so you think that you have been taken advantage of!"

    The cultivators were stunned again by his words . They whispered to each other, "It¡¯s true!"

    "However, who would be so immoral as to give their child such a degrading name? Surely it can only mean that they want to take advantage of others? How hateful!"

    After looking at Li Yundong for a long time, Ding Nan felt oddly familiar with the young boy . "Why is it that this young man, who looks only about ten years old, seems more and more simr to the man whoughed and shouted on the stage back then?" She couldn¡¯t help but ask, "Li Yundong?"

    As soon as she asked this question, Zheng Yuan became vignt . He suddenly realized what that question would mean and took a closer look . This juvenile looked really simr to Li Yundong, who had forced back various schools at Fox Zen School . He blurted furiously, "We were wrong . This is Li Yundong¡¯s Yin Spirit!"

    Given that he couldn¡¯t conceal his identity anymore, Li Yundong immediately retreated by more than ten meters andughed, "Nonsense, I am Ni Papa! Who is Li Yundong? I don¡¯t know such a man!"

    Only then did these cultivators realize that they had been fooled by Li Yundong . They were so furious that they lost their ability to think rationally . "B*stard, Li Yundong, are you trying to get yourself killed?"

    Another cultivator shouted, "Li Yundong, I let you gost time, but you came to us again this time . Do you really think that the Great Six can be so easily bullied?"

    "Little bunny, how dare you let your Yin Spirit act so arrogantly? Do you really think that you¡¯re invincible and that there¡¯s no one in this world who can bully you?"

    These people hurled verbal abuse at Li Yundong and hit him with their powerful magical weapons, the blows falling like pouring rain .

    Li Yundong¡¯s Yin Spirit was out of his body, and he had no powerful magical weapon on him now . Furthermore, he couldn¡¯t make the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ either . All he could do at that moment was immediately drift away to dodge the powerful magical weapons .

    When the cultivators saw Li Yundong running far away, they prepared to chase after him, but then they suddenly heard a p of thunder . They were shocked and raised their heads at the same time .

    The bright moon above their heads had disappeared . Thick, dark clouds formed over their heads, filling the sky like an ominous curtain . In the clouds, thunder and lightning were shing and rolling, as if they were going to bear down on these cultivators¡¯ heads in the next second .

    Zheng Yuan suddenly flew into a rage . "We¡¯ve fallen into his trap! This guy still has aplices!"

    The cultivators were angry and shocked as well . They cursed loudly, "Curse your ancestors . You have aplices? Who? Come out if you have the guts!"

    Li Yundong put his hands on his hips and said loudly, "My aplice is Ni Grandpa!"

    These words sparked such anger in the cultivators that some of them were ready to rush forward to fight Li Yundong to the death .

    Li Yundong immediately added loudly, "Think about it carefully . The thunder ising soon . If you use Magic or magical items, don¡¯t cry when the thunder strikes you!"

    The cultivators immediately felt a little afraid . They knew that it would be quite dangerous to use Magic and magical items in a thunderstorm, especially with a bunch of other cultivators around!

    Cultivators were all huge sources of energy . Once they were in a group, they could easily be the target of heavenly thunder . If the thunder struck, everyone there would be toast .

    When Zheng Yuan saw that the lightning flickering in the dark clouds was getting more and more violent, he hesitated for a moment . At that very moment, a yellow light shot out from the cave and a giant python instantly swallowed a cultivator into its stomach .

    Zheng Yuan was shocked and spurred into making a prompt decision . He grabbed Ding Nan¡¯s hand and shouted, "Let¡¯s go!"

    Conscious of the danger of the thunder in the sky, he did not dare to fly . He simply grabbed Ding Nan and they ran away together .

    Seeing that Li Yundong had single-handedly forced back the crowd again, which was really excessive, she sighed internally . She felt a sense of loss, like this boy was someone she could see, but he was eternally drawing further and further away from her .

    These cultivators did not dare to use Magic or magical items . With just their bodies, they were not able to fight with the Golden Snake . All of them immediately scattered and fled in every direction .

    Li Yundong felt relieved upon seeing that the cultivators had been driven away . Just as he was about to talk to the python, the golden snake suddenly opened its gruesome mouth and rushed toward Li Yundong like a streak of lightning!

 Chapter 303

    Chapter 303

    <h4>Repaid the Favor with Enmity?</h4>

    Suddenly seeing that the golden python was intent on swallowing him, Li Yundong felt shocked and angry . He instantly escaped with the help of the Yin Spirit .

    The speed of this golden snake was as fast as lightning . If Li Yundong had not been in a Yin Spirit state, he would probably have been swallowed by the golden python .

    He was about to shout angrily when another golden snake came out of the stone cave and transformed into a human figure . It was the woman dressed in yellow who had led Li Yundong here . She anxiously shouted to the huge golden python beside her, "Lord, this is our benefactor! What are you doing!"

    The huge golden python abruptly stopped and stared at Li Yundong with its bell-sized eyes . It said coldly and ferociously, "He¡¯s our benefactor, so what? He came to help us to serve his own selfish interests! Humph, all of these human beings are greedy, cruel and avaricious . Why would it be unforgivable for us to kill them, when if they kill us, it¡¯s considered to be enforcing justice? Why?"

    Li Yundong said in a rage, "You b*stard, can¡¯t you tell good from evil and right from wrong? Have you cultivated for a hundred years only to stay blind and ignorant?"

    The giant golden pythonughed, "Everything in this world is born equal . Isn¡¯t that the slogan of human beings? But in the end, isn¡¯t it you who are the butchers and good people at the same time? Only fools would believe this set of tricks! In my eyes, you came here to be a supposedly good person just because you covet our Neidan . You¡¯re not exactly pure-hearted! You want my Neidan? Well,e and get it from my stomach!"

    As he said that, he shrank back and then rushed towards Li Yundong like lightning .

    Li Yundong only noticed that there was a red-crown saa on top of the golden python, and that its upper and lower jaws wererge, big enough even to swallow a tiger in an instant . Not only that, but a mouthful of poison gas was spurting from the python¡¯s mouth . Before it reached him, his senses were assaulted by a fishy smell .

    Li Yundong knew that although he was in a Yin Spirit form, if he was swallowed by python, his Yin Spirit would be refined immediately . He felt shocked and angry . When he was about to dodge, he saw that the yellow-clothed woman had also turned into a slightly smaller, shorter golden python . She anxiously entangled herself with the other python . "My lord, calm down . This is our benefactor!"

    The python shook its body and swished its tail, shaking off the smaller golden snake that the yellow-robed woman had turned into . It shouted angrily, "Go away! I¡¯ll talk about it with you after I¡¯ve swallowed this guy!"

    If Li Yundong had the Fan of Seven Treasures, he could still have fought against the golden python . But at this time, he was in Yin Spirit , he could not be a match for the golden python . He had saved the two snake monsters out of kindness, but now he was being repaid with mortal peril, which made him extremely angry . When he was about to turn into a blue light and leave, Li Yundong heard the voice of Zi Yuan saying, "Li Yundong, lead them to the entrance of the cave! You are using the Yin Spirit body now . You can go into the cave . "

    Li Yundong thought of something and turned toward the cave .

    He flew over to the entrance of the cave and headed inside . Although the entrance was small, it was very spacious inside . At first, Li Yundong¡¯s vision was blocked by the rocks and soil, but then he saw that the cave was huge, helping hime to a sudden realization .

    Once Li Yundong had entered the cave, he saw a huge golden python chasing after him like a shadow . It was extremely long, with a length of forty or fifty meters and a waist circumference of about one and a half meters . It looked like some sort of majestic golden dragon swimming over the ground!

    Seeing this python, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but take a deep breath . "No wonder people say that the snake is the son of the dragon . "

    Although the golden python was verifiably huge, it seemed smaller within the confines of the cave . After a while, its wife, another python, followed it . Though there were two snakes and a person fighting in the cave, the cave still seemed cavernous and empty .

    Li Yundong took his chance when the two golden snakes were entangling with each other again and immediately flew out of the hole .

    When the giant golden python saw that Li Yundong wanted to escape, it immediately shouted, "You can¡¯t get away from me!" The sound shook several stones down from the walls of the cave .

    Li Yundong noticed that the hole was getting narrower and narrower, and that the golden python behind him was getting closer and closer . His body jerked suddenly and he jumped out of the cave . At the moment that the golden python was about to jump out, Zi Yuan suddenly appeared at the entrance of the cave and used his index fingers to tap the entrance as quickly as lightning .

    "Boom!" Several strange runes swiftly appeared beside Zi Yuan¡¯s palm, transforming into a purple-colored barrier that firmly sealed the golden snakes within .

    Trapped in the cave, the python crazily thrashed around and hit at the bounded domain, causing the whole mountain to shake slightly . Its pair of cold golden eyes were enough to make one¡¯s flesh crawl .

    Zi Yuan loudly said to Li Yundong, "Hurry up and return to your physical body!"

    Li Yundong nodded, and the two instantly turned into cyan lights and flew back .

    By the time they had returned to their physical bodies, the sky was turning bright . Su Chan and the others had been guarding Li Yundong¡¯s physical body all night . As soon as the Yin Spirit returned, Li Yundong immediately jumped up and said angrily, "This b*stard, I will skin him alive!"

    Zi Yuan also stood up and said seriously, "We have to rush to the entrance of the cave immediately . That barrier will only be able tost for a day . The two golden snakes might break through it and hurt the innocentter . "

    Su Chan, Ruan Hongling, and Zhou Qin didn¡¯t know what had happened to them . They looked at them with confusion . Su Chan had seldom seen Li Yundong so angry . She tugged at Li Yundong¡¯s sleeve timidly and asked in a low voice, "Yundong, what happened?"

    Li Yundong snorted heavily and walked them through the whole story . Su Chan, Ruan Hongling, and Zhou Qin became angry at once . Su Chan said loudly, "How could there be such an ungrateful person in the world . Unbelievable!"

    Ruan Hongling squinted at her and sneered, "It¡¯s an ungrateful legendary creature rather than a person!"

    Seeing Ruan Hongling looking at her, Su Chan asked angrily, "Why are you looking at me?"

    Ruan Hongling retorted, "How do you know I¡¯m looking at you if you won¡¯t look at me? Maybe you¡¯re feeling guilty?"

    Su Chan was furious . She was about to roll up her sleeves plunge into a heated argument with Ruan Hongling when Li Yundong, who was beside her, shouted suddenly, "What are you arguing about? Su Chan, stay here . Zi Yuan and I will subdue these two ingrates!"

    Su Chan was not willing to do that . She shouted, "No, I¡¯m going too!"

    Ruan Hongling also chimed in, saying, "I want to go as well . Sister Zi Yuan, I can help you!"

    Li Yundong knew that Su Chan and Ruan Hongling¡®¡¯s skills were nothing to sneeze at either . Even if they could not help him, they would at least be able to protect themselves . After thinking for a while, he agreed .

    Li Yundong looked at Zhou Qin, only to see her staring at him with eyes full of desire . Li Yundong could not help but say with embarrassment, "Zhou Qin, you haven¡¯t started cultivation yet . Not to mention the Zhuji phase, you haven¡¯t even passed through First Heaven . You have to stay here and wait for us . "

    Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes were full of disappointment, but she still smiled and nodded . "Well, I¡¯ll wait for you here then . "

    Li Yundong nodded at Zhou Qin, shing her an apologetic smile, and then quickly flew away with Zi Yuan, Su Chan, and Ruan Hongling .

    Zhou Qin watched the four people leave together . There was now only her left in the stone chamber . She felt lost and mncholic . However, she had been born strong and determined . After a while, she clenched her fists and swore to herself: "Sooner orter, I will surpass Zi Yuan and be the first female cultivator in the world!"

    Not knowing of Zhou Qin¡¯s vow and bolstered determination in devoting herself to cultivation, Li Yundong just flew as quickly as he could, fuelled by his rage . By the time dawn broke, they had already reached the spot where the two golden snakes were trapped .

    The thunderstorm summoned by Zi Yuan hade quickly and left just as fast . When Li Yundong arrived, none of the dark clouds fromst night remained .

    Before Li Yundong and the othersnded, they noticed that the foot of the mountain was already surrounded by people . Li Yundong thought of something and he exchanged nces with Zi Yuan, who said in a low voice, "They seem to be people from the secr world . Let¡¯snd and take a look first . "

    Li Yundong nodded . The groupnded in a remote ce and quickly got to the foot of the mountain . Before they had even gotten close, they saw a construction team working over there . Because so many worldly people were present, most cultivators had not shown up .

    There were two people standing next to a digging machine . One of them was wearing a ssic yellow construction helmet, and the other was wearing a pair of white gloves usually worn by drivers .

    The man with the white gloves said loudly, "Foreman Zhang, I¡¯m not making excuses . I really dreamed of two golden snakes fightingst night . When I went back to bed this morning, I dreamed of a snake again, but this time it warned me not toe . "

    As he was speaking, the other vigers next to him said, "Yes, I also had that dream!"

    "Yes . Last night, the world was shaking, the wind was blowing, and the thunder was deafening . It was so scary," another viger added .

    "You¡¯d better not dig this up, foreman . It¡¯s sure to bring doom to us all!"

    The foreman shouted, "Who¡¯s in charge here, you or me? Start now!"

    Hearing this, the vigers became anxious and pressed forward to persuade him .

    While the people were mid-argument, a voice suddenly came from one side . "What¡¯s wrong?"

    The foreman surnamed Zhang looked back and saw that his leader was looking at him and armed with a briefcase . Next to him was an old man with white hair but a deceptively youthful face . Next to the old man was a tall, beautiful woman . They were Zheng Yuan and Ding Nan .

    The foreman nced lecherously at Ding Nan, and then said to his leader with a smirk, "Manager Shen, why are you here?"

    Manager Shen snorted and said, "Why haven¡¯t you started? Don¡¯t you see that the guests next to me are getting impatient?"

    The foreman Zhang smiled apologetically, took out a pack of cigarettes, and offered one to Zheng Yuan . Zheng Yuan raised his palm as a gesture of rejection, shook his head, and said lightly, "Go and start work quickly! The money I¡¯ve paid was not for you to waste your time arguing here . "

    Seeing the cigarette he handed over being refused, the foreman Zhang smiled even more brightly . He nodded and bowed . "Well, we¡¯ll start working immediately!" By the time he turned back towards the workers, his expression had already be ferocious and rude . He shouted loudly, "All of you, start working now . You won¡¯t get a sry this month if you don¡¯t get a move on!"

    His roar immediately frightened the workers in the construction team and made them slink off one by one . The driver in white gloves had to climb up into the bulldozer helplessly and start the engine .

    Li Yundong, Zi Yuan, and the others, who were watching from not too far away, were now all aware of the reason for Zheng Yuan¡¯s actions . If this excavator dug at the entrance of the cave, it would immediately dig up the barrier, allowing the two golden snakes to escape . At that time, it would definitely cause innocent vigers to lose their lives .

    The usually-calm Zi Yuan frowned and said furiously, "As the leader of Yin Yang Sect, how could Zheng Yuan be so evil and vicious!?"

    Su Chan¡¯s face was also twisted by her rage . "This man is so insidious that he even ordered innocent vigers to dig up the soil and drive the golden snakes out!"

    Li Yundong sneered and said, "The wages of sin is death . He will get his retribution!"

    Ruan Hongling also said in a huff, "Zheng Yuan is so evil . Can we just stand by and let tragedy happen?"

    Li Yundong snorted with frustration . "I¡¯ll stop him!"

    However, as soon as he had finished speaking, the droning hum of the bulldozer could be heard as it started working . When the bulldozer dug down, there was a loud bang, and a golden light shed out of the mountain!

    The driver of the bulldozer inhaled a strong smell of fish and a sharp light pierced his heart, making him feel an intense pain . He screamed and fell from the vehicle .

    He wasn¡¯t the only one . All of the surrounding vigers covered their chests and looked like they were being tortured .

    Taking advantage of everyone being too distracted to pay attention to him, Zheng Yuan raised his hand and released a thumb-sized silver shuttle . Although the silver shuttle had silver light, it could not be seen during the day . In the blink of an eye, it pierced the saas on the head of one of the escaping golden snakes .

    Suddenly, this golden snake¡¯s whole body shook and it fell to the ground with a mighty boom . Immediately after, the other golden snake turned into a golden light and disappeared from sight .

    The sudden change shocked everyone present . Some vigers were scared to the point of soiling themselves . Even the arrogant foreman Zhang and Manager Shen were so terrified that their pants became wet . Their bodies were stiff and they couldn¡¯t say a word .

    At this point, only the driver of bulldozer was still on the ground, trembling . It seemed that he was going to die .

    Li Yundong and the others were stunned by the scene . Li Yundong and Zi Yuan looked at each other and said at the same time, "Give chase!"

 Chapter 304

    Chapter 304

    <h4>I Wish to Never Be a Demon Again</h4>

    Li Yundong and Zi Yuan shouted in unison and instantly leapt to chase after the escaping golden python . Ruan Hongling and Su Chan followed closely behind .

    Li Yundong had thought that it would be a drawn out affair, but after the python jumped to the top of the mountain, it turned into a human figure and meekly stood still in front of a huge stone .

    Li Yundong made a gesture to Zi Yuan, Su Chan, and Ruan Hongling . Theynded in four different corners, effectively surrounding the golden python .

    "Gotcha!" Li Yundong snorted .

    Zi Yuan said indifferently, "Since you didn¡¯t hurt the innocent, we¡¯ll be merciful and make this quick!"

    Su Chan said angrily, "You stupid snake! Can¡¯t you tell right from wrong? My Yundong saved you out of the goodness of his heart, but you wanted to bite the hand that fed you?"

    Ruan Hongling had always abhorred evil . Without another word, she directly took out her red damask and red at it fiercely .

    It was this male golden python that had tried to swallow Li Yundong before . His human figure was that of a handsome young man . He stood still with rivers of tears streaming down his face as he looked at Su Chan, Li Yundong, and the others . Heughing bitterly through the tears, looking utterly morose .

    The golden python pointed at Li Yundong and shouted, "You humans never stop killing us! What¡¯s wrong with me killing you? My poor, kind-hearted wife had never hurt any human in her life, even though she was a demon! She knew that the human was going to dig out our nest, so she rushed forward to cover me . I never thought her life would end up being ripped away by you humans¡¯ sinister and shameless sneak attacks . How dare you try to me me instead?"

    Before Li Yundong could get a word in, Su Chan said angrily, "That was a sneak attack by someone else . It had nothing to do with us!"

    The golden python roared, "What¡¯s the difference? When one demon kills one person, you say all of us are evil creatures! In our view, aren¡¯t all humans in the world bad?"

    Hearing that, Su Chan was so shocked that she could not speak for a moment .

    After having said his piece, the gold python¡¯s resentment seemed to reside significantly . He stood in front of the huge stone and gently stroked the surface of it, then said tearfully, "I cultivated with my wife for hundreds of years . I had never expected that I would suffer such a disaster! Now my wife has died protecting me . What¡¯s the point of living alone?"

    With this, he roared, lowered his head, and dashed his skull against the huge stone, shattering the thickyer of bone in a sh . The blood and brains sshed over the stone, dying it a gruesome red and white .

    Li Yundong¡¯s face was full of shock, and his anger quickly faded . Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling beside him were also moved . They looked at the sad scene of the suicidal golden python in astonishment, lost for words .

    Li Yundong walked over to the golden python and said in a low voice, "Is there anything I can do for you?"

    Though the golden python¡¯s skull had been shattered, it was still alive . It struggled to look up at Li Yundong and whispered, "I just regret that I was greedy enough to aim for the Medicine King Tripod and the Immortal Pen . Now that I think of it . . . I truly regret it . You, you . . . If you are really a good person, please bury me with my wife . I spent my life with her, so if I can¡¯t die with her I¡¯ll never rest in peace!"

    He struggled and spat out a mouthful of blood, then said feebly, "I wish, I wish to never be a demon again . . . "

    After saying that, the golden python trembled with its eyes wide open as it breathed itsst shuddering breath .

    Seeing this, Su Chan thought of her own identity as a demon . Unable to restrain herself, she threw herself into Li Yundong¡¯s arms and said tearfully, "Yundong, just forgive him, okay?"

    With a thousand feelings swirling through his heart, Li Yundong gently held the little girl¡¯s waist and sighed, "Is there any grudge that can¡¯t be erased by death?"

    Su Chan raised her head with tears in her eyes . "I¡¯m so scared that one day, we¡¯ll also end up like this . "

    Li Yundong smiled and caressed his little girl¡¯s hair . "Don¡¯t be silly . If anyone dares to hurt you, even if it¡¯s the Yu Huang Da Di, I will make him pay for it!"

    Even though Li Yundong spoke gently, his words were full of killing intent . There was an extremely strong confidence and determination in his tone .

    Hearing this, the anxiety and sadness in Su Chan¡¯s heart eased significantly . She looked up at Li Yundong in a daze, filled with the feeling that with this guy by her side, she would not have to be afraid even if the sky copsed .

    Su Chan nodded firmly, her eyes full of attachment and affection . They looked at each other, wrapped up in their own world to the point of forgetting that there were other people around them .

    Although Ruan Hongling abhorred evil, she was not made of stone . When she saw the golden python dying for love, the anger in her heart dissipated . She walked over to Zi Yuan and whispered, "Sister Zi Yuan, what should we do now?"

    Zi Yuan raised her head and looked at Li Yundong and Su Chan with aplicated expression on her face . It took a while for her to regain her senses . She sighed softly and said emotionally, "I don¡¯t know either . "

    Ruan Hongling then opened her mouth to ask softly, "Sister Zi Yuan, have you heard of the birth of the Immortal Pen and the Medicine King Tripod?"

    Zi Yuan hesitated for a moment before saying, "I have heard some rumors, but the Immortal Pen is a magical item that belonged to Zuo Ci in the Three Kingdoms period . It has been mising for more than 1,800 years . I don¡¯t believe a magical item which has been gone for so many years will appear again . The Medicine King Tripod is even more frightening . It was Sun Simiao¡¯s magical item . It is said that Sun Simiao once used it to refine three Elixirs of life at the same time!"

    Ruan Hongling gasped and cried out, "He could refine three Elixirs of life at the same time? How is that possible?"

    Zi Yuan nodded . "I don¡¯t believe it either . After all, it¡¯s just a legend . However, the Medicine King Tripod is a necessary magical item for refining three Elixirs of life . After the birth of Renyuan Jindan, I began to suspect that the Medicine King Tripod had been created . Now, it seems that the news about the appearance of the Medicine King Tripod is very likely to be true . "

    While they were busy whispering, Li Yundong walked over with Su Chan in his arms and asked in confusion, "What¡¯s news is likely to be true?"

    After filling them in on what they had been discussing, Zi Yuan continued to say, "Whether the appearance of the Immortal Pen is true or not, we can at least know that the appearance of the Medicine King Tripod is very likely to be true . "

    Zi Yuan sighed and said, "s, since the birth of the Renyuan Jindan, the Cultivation World¡¯s peace has been torn to shreds . The experts from the major sects fought at Mount Gezao for Renyuan Jindan . Even the leader of the Gezao Sect, Wan Zhenyuan, was forced to escape Mount Gezao . I really can¡¯t even guess at what kind of bloody storm will be stirred up once the Medicine King Tripod shows up!"

    Ruan Hongling looked at Li Yundong and suddenlyughed . "I think the whole world has been in chaos since this guy stepped into the Cultivation World . Is this guy a devil heralding theing of the Apocalypse?"

    Zi Yuan shot her a sharp re and said, "Nonsense!"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t take it seriously . He thought for a while and said, "Although this golden python attacked me and was initially in the wrong, considering that he died for love, we should bury him with his wife . "

    After Li Yundong had finished his words, Ruan Hongling, who had originally been very hostile toward the python, felt no opposition . Then they flew to the foot of the mountain under the cover of the woods .

    At that time, the crowd at the foot of the mountain was chaotic . Some people were making use of a wood harvester to pick up the dead golden snake¡¯s body, and others were taking photos .

    After the foreman, the manager, and Zheng Yuan had whispered to each other for a while, the manager took out his phone and made a phone call . After a while, a truck appeared at the mountain and a driver jumped out . The foreman shouted, "Get out of the way! We¡¯re going to send this snake to a research institute . Get out of the way now!"

    Someone pointed at the wounded driver, who was still lying helplessly on the ground, and said loudly, "Let¡¯s hurry up and take him to the hospital . There¡¯s still hope for him!"

    Foreman Zhang looked at the driver and said impatiently, "Isn¡¯t he dead already?"

    A viger put a hand to the injured man¡¯s chest and said loudly, "He¡¯s alive! I can feel his heart beating! Send him to the hospital quickly . He might survive this!"

    Foreman Zhang frowned and said, "I¡¯ll send himter . I¡¯ll call an ambnce in a little while . "

    Hearing this, the vigers all felt a sh of anger in their hearts . They surrounded him and shouted, "Why do you mean? You care more about some dead snake than saving a living human being? Do you think that a person¡¯s life is less important than the body of a dead snake?"

    Seeing the anger of the crowd, foreman Zhang panicked and shouted, "What do you think you are doing? Turning against me?"

    These vigers were so angry that they surrounded the car tightly . "Don¡¯t even think about leaving if you¡¯re not going to save him!"

    Foreman Zhang was growing flustered . He turned to look at the manager, who was not far away, only to see that he was also scared to death and looking right back at Zheng Yuan .

    Zheng Yuan smiled kindly and said, "It¡¯s just one person . The truck can easily fit him . It¡¯s no big deal . "

    Only then did the vigers¡¯ anger abate at having had their demands met . When they saw Zheng Yuanhe¡¯s white hair, ruddyplexion, and sage-like demeanor, they all called him the living Bodhisattva and the living Shenxian .

    The vigers picked up the golden python, which was dozens of meters long, and carried it to the truck in a hurry . Then, they also carried the wounded driver into the truck . One of them gave the back of the truck a p and shouted, "You can go now!"

    Zheng Yuan smiled and led Ding Nan to the front seat of the truck .

    The driver started the engine, and the car roared up the mountain road .

    Li Yundong considered there to be too many mortals at the foot of the mountain, which meant that it was not a good situation for him to go and take the python¡¯s body . He said to Zi Yuan, "Let¡¯s follow them and wait for an opportunity . What do you think?"

    Zi Yuan nodded and said, "Yep, sounds good . "

    They didn¡¯t dare to get too close and maintained a good distance .

    The car drove along the mountain road . When it reached a remote and rugged ce, someone in the back of the car suddenly patted the window in front and said loudly, "This man is dead!"

    Zheng Yuan looked back and saw that the driver had indeed passed away . He said with a sigh, "He¡¯s really dead . There¡¯s no need to rush now . You¡¯ve been driving for so long, why don¡¯t we take a break and smoke?"

    The driver knew that Zheng Yuan was a big shot because the foreman and the manager were doing their best to ingratiate themselves to him . "At least he must be a rich man!" The driver was overjoyed, cutting the engine and saying, "Sure!"

    Zheng Yuan fished out a pack of cigarettes from somewhere and handed them over to the driver . The driver carefully withdrew a cigarette from the pack and took a deep drag . It was as if what he had just inhaled was not a lungful of cancerous smoke, but a breath of divine aura .

    Zheng Yuan squinted at Ding Nan and said, "Would you like one?"

    Ding Nan often went to various social gatherings with Zhou Qin, so she was not unustomed to cigarettes and alcohol . She took one out casually, then took out a lighter from the car and was about to light it .

    At this moment, Zheng Yuan pinched Ding Nan¡¯s hand and winked at her, indicating for her to stay in the car and not get out . Ding Nan did not understand what Zheng Yuan meant, but before she could even react, Zheng Yuan had already gotten out of the car . He called out to the driver and the vigers in the car and lit cigarettes for them with a smile on his face .

    These vigers all happily went over to fetch cigarettes for themselves . However, once they got closer, Zheng Yuan suddenly opened his thumb and poked them hard on their Taiyang .

    The Taiyang was one of the death acupoints of the human body . Even an ordinary child could kill a person if they poked it, let alone a cultivator like Zheng Yuan, who was poking it heavily .

    In the blink of an eye, the ignorant vigers fell to the ground without a sound, dying before they even knew what had hit them .

    Ding Nan was so stunned that she didn¡¯t even notice that the cigarette in her mouth had fallen on herself until it burned her skin . She stubbed the cigarette out and got out of the car, screaming, "Master, why did you kill them?"

    Zheng Yuan sneered, "If I hadn¡¯t killed them, how could I have taken this golden python away?"

    Li Yundong had been following Zheng Yuan from a distance . Though he had wanted to save those people, it was toote . He was instantly filled with fury, rushing to Zheng Yuan and shouting angrily, "Zheng Yuan, aren¡¯t you afraid of retribution and divine punishment?"

 Chapter 305

    Chapter 305

    <h4>Venomous As Snakes and Scorpions</h4>

    Li Yundong¡¯s sudden appearance shocked Zheng Yuan, and his feeling of shock only intensified when he saw Zi Yuan, Su Chan and Ruan Hongling . He knew that things were not going well .

    If it had been a one-on-one fight, Zheng Yuan would have had confidence in his ability to beat Li Yundong . However, if Zi Yuan was involved, Zheng Yuan could not be so sure about whether he would prevail . Moreover, there was a three-tailed fox spirit and the Zhengyi School¡¯s Ruan Hongling with him .

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s cultivation was not outstanding, but her red damask was a big threat . Zheng Yuan was experienced and knowledgeable, so he was naturally well aware of how powerful that magical item was . He didn¡¯t have the Tongzi Yuanyang blood necessary to go against this magical item . He was fighting four people alone, with Ding Nan, a burden, who couldn¡¯t do any Magic, so he wanted to retreat .

    Having been caught for the crime of murder on the spot, Zheng Yuan made no attempt to hide what he¡¯d done . He smiled at Li Yundong, "Oh, It¡¯s Zhenren Li . What, do you also want this ancient golden python?"

    He rolled his eyes and said with a smile, "How about this! Zhenren Li, you can take this golden snake¡¯s skin and scales, and I¡¯ll get to keep its flesh . What do you think? This python¡¯s skin and scales are imprable, at least by swords and spears . A true treasure! It¡¯ll be very powerful if you use them to make magical clothes or magical items . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s face darkened as the anger in his heart grew .

    When Zheng Yuan saw Li Yundong¡¯s expression changing, he thought his tricks had been revealed . He chuckled and said, "What, you don¡¯t like my offer? Alright then, how about you take the flesh? An ancient spirit python¡¯s flesh can not only be used for the refinement of all kinds of elixirs of life, it¡¯s also a top-grade nourishing medicinal material! So I¡¯ll take the less valuable skin while you get the flesh . How do you like the sound of that?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s expression was only worsening . Zheng Yuan frowned and said, "Zhenren Li, I do hope you¡¯re not think of snatching this Neidan from me? How about this, the flesh, skin, and scales of this snake can all belong to you, but the Neidan will be mine . What do you think?"

    Li Yundong was absolutely livid after listening to him bargain for the python¡¯s body like it was a bale of hay . He said angrily, "You are the Leader of a sect . How can you be so shameless, sinister, and ruthless? You kill people without blinking! Aren¡¯t you afraid of bringing divine punishment upon yourself?"

    Zheng Yuan said impatiently, "Zhenren Li, I only call you Zhenren out of respect . Don¡¯t refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit . In terms of age, I¡¯m a bit older than your grandpa . You have no right toment on me or my behavior! Besides, I¡¯m not killing people with magical items or magic . How can I bring divine punishment down on myself?"

    Li Yundong said angrily, "You heartless bastard! You have lived all this time for nothing!"

    Zheng Yuan nced at them and sneered, "What, are you think you¡¯re a good person? And you, Zhenren Zi Yuan, why did you get together with the Leader of the Fox zen Sect? Hmph, I didn¡¯t believe it when Zou Ping said that you and Li Yundong were in cahoots, but now it turns out to be true! If this gets out, I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be good for your reputation! Hey, Zhenren Li, why don¡¯t you just take a good look at yourself . You¡¯ve colluded with the fox spirit and demons, yet you still have the audacity toe here and criticize me! Ha, I say you¡¯re the one who¡¯s shameless!"

    These words almost drove Li Yundong over the edge . He took a deep breath, made a gesture behind his back, and slowly mobilized his Zhenqi to get ready tounch an attack on Zheng Yuan .

    Seeing Li Yundong¡¯s gesture, Zi Yuan and the others also quietly moved to surround Zheng Yuan and Ding Nan from all directions .

    Li Yundong shot a meaningful look at Ding Nan and said, "Ding Nan, I didn¡¯t expect you to be coborating with such a jerk! Take my advice and leave him before it¡¯s toote!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s words caused Zheng Yuan¡¯s heart to tighten . He narrowed his eyes and nced at Ding Nan, thinking, "How can Li Yundong know her when Ping¡¯er changed her body? This is not gonna end well now . If I were alone, I could at least run if I couldn¡¯t defeat them . But how can I escape with Ping¡¯er? I guess I¡¯ll just have to give her up!"

    Zheng Yuan looked at Ding Nan . If Ding Nan wanted to escape, he would kill her first and then run away .

    Ding Nan had been with Zhou Qin and had been visiting the rich and the powerful on official business for a long time . As such, she had gotten quite good at observing people¡¯s expressions and thoughts . She peeped at Zheng Yuan and found him looking at her dangerously . His fingers were repeatedly clenching and rxing, and his expression was really full of killing intent .

    Ding Nan¡¯s heart beat quickly and she immediately made a wise decision . Quietly moving closer to Zheng Yuan, she whispered, "Master, you can threaten Li Yundong by using me as a hostage . He won¡¯t do anything to us . "

    Zheng Yuan asked in a low voice, "Are you sure?"

    Ding Nan had mixed feelings in her heart as she said calmly, "Yes, because the owner of this body is his ssmate . "

    Hearing this, Zheng Yuan was overjoyed . He immediately lunged for Ding Nan¡¯s throat with his five fingers and shouted, "Li Yundong, don¡¯t push your luck! I¡¯ll strangle your ssmate to death!"

    Li Yundong had not been expecting Zheng Yuan to threaten him with Ding Nan, and shock and anger overwhelmed him . "Zheng Yuan, that¡¯s your own disciple! Are you insane?"

    Zheng Yuanughed wildly as he said, "I¡¯d rather betray the whole world than let myself be betrayed! Haven¡¯t you heard this, kid?"

    Li Yundong spat fiercely on the ground . "Bah, you don¡¯t know sh*t!"

    Ruan Hongling shouted angrily from behind Zheng Yuan, "Li Yundong, don¡¯t waste your breath talking nonsense with this viin! Just get it over with! I don¡¯t believe that he would dare to kill his disciple!"

    Li Yundong, however, saw that Zheng Yuan¡¯s eyes were full of murderous intent and his five fingers were digging into her neck like hooks . If he exerted only a little force, Ding Nan¡¯s airway would be cut off . He thought of the vigers killed by him just now and how quickly he had turned from a sage-like person to a cruel murderer . Obviously, he was ruthless and cold-hearted . If they pushed him too hard, Zheng Yuan would definitely kill Ding Nan and then run away on his own .

    Li Yundong stared fiercely at Zheng Yuan and said through gritted teeth, "You win this time, Zheng Yuan! But let me tell you, this is thest chance you¡¯ll ever get from me . Next time, I won¡¯t show you any mercy!"

    After that, he shouted at Ding Nan, "Ding Nan, you will pay for it if you do any evil things! Do you hear me? This time, I¡¯ll let him go for your sake . Next time I see you fooling around with him, I¡¯ll turn against you too!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s loud roar was like the nging of thousands of bells, making Ding Nan feel a wave of nausea .

    Zheng Yuan sneered, rolled up his sleeves, then quickly turned into a plume of ck smoke and flew into the air, catching Ding Nan . However, he didn¡¯t leave at once . Instead, he shot through the air and greedily attached himself to the golden python¡¯s body .

    Zi Yuan shouted coldly, "Zheng Yuan, are you waiting for us to go back on our words?"

    Only then did Zheng Yuan regain his senses . He let out a long roar of anger and indignation, and without so much as a second nce at the golden python, he fled .

    After he had taken Ding Nan back to the cave on Wuhua Mount, he returned to human form . The disciples in the cave greeted him joyously when they saw him and Ding Naning back . They said, "Master, sister Ding Nan, you are back!"

    Zheng Yuan still had a kind smile on his face as he nodded kindly to his disciples, but when he walked into his inner mansion with Ding Nan, his fair face suddenly changed, the expression on it bing extremely ferocious .

    Zheng Yuan picked up a teapot next to him and threw it to the ground fiercely as he shouted angrily, "Li Yundong, how dare you! You killed my adopted son and took my treasure . You really went too far this time!"

    Ding Nan was startled . Taking a moment to think quickly, she stepped forward to Zheng Yuan, gently caressed his back with a smile, and whispered, "Master, don¡¯t be angry . Is it never toote for us to take revenge! What¡¯s more, when I have achieved sess in my cultivation journey, I will be your right hand . "

    Hearing this, Zheng Yuan¡¯s anger dissipated appreciably . He turned his head, nodded at Ding Nan, and said appreciatively, "Not bad . You did well today . The time I spent on cultivating you was not wasted! From now on, feel free to take all of the the Elixirs of life that I¡¯ve collected . I¡¯ll help you improve your skills as soon as possible . In the future, you¡¯ll be in charge of dealing with Zi Yuan . That b*tch, she looks like an innocent fairy on the outside but is as lustful as a cheap harlot on the inside! Humph, Li Yundong killed my adopted son and snatched my treasure today . I must take revenge for this! When your Cultivation Quotient reaches a certain level, will they dare to be so arrogant? How dare they mess with our Wuhua Mount?!"

    After that, he suddenly thought of something . He slid a three-inch-long golden hairpin from his sleeve and handed it to Ding Nan, then smiled and said, "This is the Threaded Hairpin of Traversing Soul that I got from the Fox Zen School . Take it with you and wear down its Lingqi very day . When you have seeded at cultivation, refine it into your own magical weapon . Hehe, Li Yundong will never expect you to use the Fox Zen School¡¯s Magic item to fight against the Fox Zen School . Hahaha! At that time, his reaction will no doubt be very interesting!"

    Ding Nan took the Threaded Hairpin of Traversing Soul and said with a smile, "Thank you, Master!"

    Zheng Yuan waved his hand and said, "As long as you hurry up with improving your Cultivation, I will give you whatever you want! I can¡¯t wait to see the day of revenge arrive!"

    He stroked Ding Nan¡¯s soft hand with a smile and said, "When your Cultivation Quotient reaches a certain level, we two can revive the Yin Yang Sect based in Mount Wuhua!"

    Seeing his obscene smile, Ding Nan felt a wave of abject disgust wash over her . She suppressed her difort and smiled back at Zheng Yuan, but when she turned away from him, the smile on her face instantly disappeared and was reced by a cold expression .

    Ding Nan squeezed the Threaded Hairpin of Traversing Soul tightly in her palm . She had once witnessed Yan Fang using this magical item to destroy Ye Yu, who was so powerful that it was as if nobody on earth could have beaten her her . However, he had turned her into a pile of ashes, blood, and gore! Thinking of that, Ding Nan wanted to immediately pierce this lustful old man¡¯s throat with the Threaded Hairpin of Traversing Soul .

    But she knew that it was not the right time . She stroked the Threaded Hairpin of Traversing Soul expressionlessly and thought, "Li Yundong, sooner orter, I will make you see me in a whole new way!"

    After Zheng Yuan had escaped with Ding Nan, Ruan Hongling shouted angrily, "You let that b*stard escape just like that? Damn it! Even calling the police to arrest him would have been better than this!"

    Zi Yuan said in a low voice, "Nonsense! Issues between cultivators must be resolved in the Cultivation World!"

    Li Yundong took a deep breath and suppressed his anger before saying, "Let¡¯s take the body of this golden python back and bury her with her husband . "

    Ruan Hongling sneered, "The dead litter the ground and no one has collected their bodies yet . This dead snake demon, on the other hand, is going to be buried in a fair and just manner . What kind of world is this?"

    Li Yundong red at her . "As far as I can see, the worst one in this world is a human!"

    Seeing that the two of them were arguing, Zi Yuan broke in in a calm voice, "Stop arguing . The vigers here wille to collect the corpses . If we intervene, we will definitely get into trouble . Ruan Hongling, think twice before you speak and act . Don¡¯t be so rash!"

    Ruan Hongling snorted but didn¡¯t respond .

    Li Yundong and the others took the golden python back to the top of the mountain . When they put the two golden pythons together, Su Chan suddenly said to Li Yundong, "Aren¡¯t they a bit big to be buried? What size hole should we dig? Yundong, I think it¡¯s better if we cremate them . "

    Ruan Honglingughed and said, "This golden snake¡¯s skin is resistant to fire and water . How are we supposed to burn it?"

    When Su Chan saw the two dead golden snakes, she felt a jolt of sadness . So, for once, she didn¡¯t quarrel with Ruan Hongling and instead just said, "How about we use the True mes of Samadhi?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head . "No . If the True mes of Samadhii are ignited, this whole mountain will disappear . I think we¡¯d better dig a pit without anyone noticing . "

    Li Yundong agreed . "Makes sense . Are cultivators afraid of digging holes?"

    They rolled up their sleeves and got to work one after another . They dug a big pit with magical items and put the bodies of the two golden pythons inside . Then, they covered it with soil . Li Yundong sighed, "I didn¡¯t expect to encounter such a thing this time . Let¡¯s go back . I hope we won¡¯t run across this kind of thing again . "

    Zi Yuan¡¯s bright eyes were fixed on Li Yundong . She asked, "The Golden python¡¯s body is extremely valuable . If you want to refine the Diyuan Jindan, you must have the Golden python¡¯s Neidan . The skin and scales of it can be used to make high-quality magical items . Are you really not interested in such treasures at all?"

    Li Yundong asked in response, "What about you? Aren¡¯t you tempted?"

    Zi Yuan said indifferently, "Everything in this world is nothing more than a passing cloud to me . What¡¯s there for me to value? What¡¯s there for me to covet?"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and said, "Your Cultivation is higher . I would just feel fundamentally wrong about keeping such a thing in my pocket . Cultivators value the state of mind most . If I feel guilty, then my mind will not be firm and my cultivation will regress . Therefore, although this golden python is a treasure,pared with my cultivation, it is just a worldly possession . "

    Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help but nod in approval . "Bravo! Seems like you¡¯re truly starting to think like a cultivator now . "

    Li Yundong smiled and didn¡¯t say anything . He turned to Su Chan and waved at her, then said to Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling, "Let¡¯s go back . "

    Zi Yuan nodded and they flew off toward Mount Tianlong .

    It was not until noon that Li Yundong returned to the secret cave of the Fox Zen Sect . When Zhou Qin, who had been waiting all this time, saw Li Yundong, she immediately greeted him and asked, "How did it go?"

    Li Yundong smiled at her . "It¡¯s a long story . I¡¯ll tell you all of the detailster . Let¡¯s just go back to the Fox Zen School first . "

    They flew from the cliff to the Taoist temple . Cao Yi, who was busy cleaning up the belongings in the room of the former Leader of the sect, heard the sound . When he came out and saw Li Yundong, his face was transformed by an expression of surprise and joy, and he greeted loudly, "Leader, you¡¯re back! I¡¯ve found the property of our Fox Zen School!"

 Chapter 306

    Chapter 306

    <h4>This is the Property of Fox Zen School!?</h4>

    Cao Yi¡¯s words delighted Li Yundong, and his previous unhappiness faded significantly . He smiled and said, "Really? Which industry? Where is it? Take me there, I need to have a look!"

    At this time, Cao Yi noticed that there were other people around Li Yundong . She nced around and saw that Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling, who had participated in the siege of the Fox Zen School, were also there, along with Su Chan and Li Yundong¡¯s chief disciple, Zhou Qin .

    Cao Yi was shocked and thought to himself, "Zou Ping of the Zhengyi School said that the leader was colluding with Zi Yuan . When I saw that they were locked in a fierce battle with each other, I thought that they were just ndering me, but now it seems that it¡¯s true . "

    The sixth shibo of Fox Zen School bowed slightly to Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling and said respectfully, "Amitayus, It¡¯s a pleasure to meet a brother in the Tao from the Linggong Sect of Zhengyi School . "

    Ruan Hongling had always thought that she belonged to a noble and righteous family and thus looked down on evil demons like those from the Fox Zen School . However, she could not be arrogant just then while she was on their territory . As such, she followed Zi Yuan obediently and bowed in return .

    After giving a salution, Zi Yuan gently said, "Last time, I had no choice but to participate in the siege of the Fox Zen School . I hope my brother in the Tao will understand . "

    Cao Yi was no fool . When she saw Li Yundong and Zi Yuan together, she immediately figured out why Zi Yuan had jumped at the chance to deal with Li Yundong publicly while helping Li Yundong behind the scenes .

    If Zi Yuan didn¡¯t insist that Li Yundong only ept one opponent at one time, no matter how powerful he was, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to stop so many cultivators .

    Cao Yi thought this through before replying respectfully and with deep sincerity, "Zhenren Zi Yuan is open-minded and does not attach as much importance to the rules of the sect as some other cultivators do . On behalf of the Fox Zen School, I would like to thank Zhenren Zi Yuan for her help . "

    Zi Yuan only smiled slightly in response, putting forth noment .

    Li Yundong had originally been worried that the Fox Zen School and the others woulde to blows with Zi Yuan, so he hadn¡¯t informed Cao Yi and the others immediately . However, it now seemed that he had been worrying unnecessarily . Heughed and waved his hand, saying, "You two don¡¯t need to be polite . Shibo Cao Yi, take me to see the industry of the Fox Zen School . I am very poor now . In a few days, I am afraid that the Fox Zen School will end up being forced to go to the market to beg!"

    His words made everyoneugh . Cao Yi nodded and said with a smile, "Then let¡¯s all go now . "

    Li Yundong smiled and pointed to Cao Yi¡¯s robe . "Are you sure you want to go down the mountain dressed like that? Aren¡¯t you afraid of being photographed?"

    Cao Yi looked down at herself, and then looked at Li Yundong and others . They were all dressed in casual clothes . Even Zi Yuan was wearing a long, elegantvender dress, fashionable and ssical . Su Chan was wearing a bright yellow dress, making her look lively and lovely . Zhou Qin was wearing a casual shirt and a pair of straight jeans, which outlined her figure perfectly . Ruan Hongling was also wearing a student¡¯s suit, which made her look young and beautiful . Only Cao Yi was wearing a gray Daopao . It was not particrly eye-catching, but standing next to them, she was the most stunning of them all .

    Cao Yi smiled and said, "Leader, to tell you the truth, apart from thatst time, I have never been down the mountain, and I have no other clothes to change into . "

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Although I am but a poor leader, I can still afford a few sets of clothing . Come on, let¡¯s go down the mountain and buy you a new outfit first . It¡¯s really outrageous for you to go out like this . "

    Hearing this, Su Chan¡¯s eyes lit up and the excitement in her voice was evident as she said, "Are we going shopping for new clothes?"

    Upon hearing this, Li Yundong turned his head and pretended to be angry . He patted Su Chan on the forehead and said angrily, "Don¡¯t you go kicking up a fuss, little girl! Don¡¯t you think I¡¯m not powerful enough to go bankrupt? If you make me angry, I¡¯ll pawn you!"

    When Su Chan heard that, she immediately cuddled up to Li Yundong, her expression fearful . She took Li Yundong¡¯s arm and asked eagerly, "Pawn me dead or alive?"

    Li Yundong tried hard to hold back hisughter and deliberately tried to scare the little girl . "It depends on your performance . If you perform well, I¡¯ll pawn you alive . If you don¡¯t, humph, dead will have to do!"

    Su Chan¡¯s lips rose as she bared her teeth, and her face was full of resentment . "So I¡¯m going to get pawned? Then I¡¯ll try and do a bit better . If you want to pawn me alive, hurry up ande and save me!"

    Her words made Li Yundongugh out loud . Beside him, Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin and the others also couldn¡¯t help but smile .

    Li Yundong rubbed the little girl¡¯s cheek affectionately and said with a wave of his big hand, "Come on, let¡¯s get off this mountain!"

    The group filed out of the Taoist temple and ran into the other disciples of the Fox Zen School along the way . Li Yundong greeted them one by one and then they all went down the mountain .

    At the foot of the mountain, Li Yundong and the others waited for a few taxis, which arrived and ferried them straight to Dongwu City .

    After arriving in Dongwu City, Li Yundong first selected a set of clothes for Cao Yi in the clothing store . Cao Yi was a fox spirit and truly born to wear nice clothes . After she was all dressed up, she was such a sight that the shop assistants and customers could hardly bear to look away . Li Yundong and the others all apuded . Even Ruan Hongling couldn¡¯t help but mutter sourly in her heart: "A fox is a fox, born to be a seducer!"

    After buying the outfit for Cao Yi along with a few other bits of clothing for others members of the Fox Zen School, they went straight to the legendary estate of the Fox Zen School .

    Li Yundong asked along the way, "Where is the property of our Fox Zen Sect?"

    Although Cao Yi was a cultivator, she had followed the Leader down the mountain righteously and changed into a new outfit . She was feeling a little excited and said with a smile, "I don¡¯t know the details, but I saw in the Leader¡¯s book that it was in Mudu, 328, Hong Kong Street Square in Dongwu City . We will find it by ourselvester . "

    Li Yundong nodded, secretly guessing what the industry of the Fox Zen Sect was . Along the way, he and Su Chan spected non-stop .

    Su Chan sat in the back seat of the taxi and said with sparkling eyes, "My guess is that the industry of Fox Zen School is either a fashion store or a cosmetic store . If it¡¯s neither of those, it must be a snack store!"

    Li Yundongughed and scolded, "You foodie, I swear you only know how to eat! I guess it¡¯ll just be somepany . "

    Su Chan said with mock anger, "Could you be any more vague!"

    As the two chatted andughed together, the car turned onto Hong Kong street in the Mudu District .

    It was already five o¡¯clock in the evening . The sky was beginning to darken, and the street was already decorated with glowingnterns . At first, some hanging scrolls could be seen, but when Li Yundong got out of the car, he saw that the foot-washing room along the way was lined up in a row . There were all kinds of charming slogans hanging from the buildings, and on both sides of the road were a lot of cars . The clientele consisted entirely of male office workers who came in and out of this kind of entertainment ce after work,ughing and talking freely .

    Li Yundong was stunned and felt that something was off . He asked a man by the road who seemed to be in a hurry about the location of No . 328 of Hong Kong Street . The man smiled ambiguously and said, "Oh? Continue on thirty meters and you¡¯ll see it . "

    Li Yundong nodded gratefully and led Cao Yi, Su Chan, and Zi Yuan, who were equally stunned, forward .

    After walking for more than thirty meters, Li Yundong found that there was a luxuriously decorated entertainment city in front of him . It was headed by a glittering sign on which the words ¡¯Crystal Love International Entertainment World!¡¯ were inscribed .

    The characters on the sign were surrounded by colorful lights, all flickering and drawing attention . There were two waitresses standing before the door wearing sexy low-cut V-neck cheongsams . Their chests were open almost to the navel, and the slits on the skirts underneath their cheongsams almost went up to their upper thighs!

    Li Yundong saw that most of the people going in and out of the shop were men . Every time a man entered, the waitresses would bend down, expose their sexy bodies, and call shyly, "Hello, boss!"

    "Nice to meet you, boss! Nice to meet you!"

    Li Yundong felt as if an atomic bomb had exploded in his mind, shaking and disorienting him!

    "This, this . . . " Li Yundong¡¯s expression filled with wonder . "Isn¡¯t this the legendary red-light district? What kind of international entertainment city is this? Please, this is a city of hookers!"

    Zhou Qin had long been aware that something was wrong, but she didn¡¯t say anything . She simply pursed her lips and chuckled, as if she was ready to watch the show .

    Su Chan was so naive that she hadn¡¯t even noticed anything wrong . She pointed at the two waitresses by the door and asked curiously, "They¡¯re so scantily dressed . Aren¡¯t they afraid of the cold?"

    Although Cao Yi had led a very sheltered life, she was, after all, a sly old fox, and it didn¡¯t take long for her to realize that something was up . She said hesitantly, "Maybe we havee to the wrong ce?"

    Li Yundong forced a smile and said, "Maybe . " Then, he stopped a middle-aged man who was about to walk into the International Entertainment World of Crystal Lovers and asked, "Hello, is this 328 Hong Kong Street?"

    He felt he had no choice but to ask, but he prayed repeatedly in his heart: "Please don¡¯t let this be the estate of the Fox Zen School, not that of the Fox Zen School!"

    The man looked Li Yundong up and down before turning his greedy eyes to Su Chan and others behind Li Yundong . He said with envy in his voice, "Nonsense, of course! Brother, why have youe out to y with so many little scamps around you? Aren¡¯t you afraid of being struck by lightning?"

    After that, he flicked his sleeves and left . When he got to the door, the receptionist bent down again, revealing arge section of her powdered white flesh, and said delicately, "Hello, boss!"

    Li Yundong was stunned and thought to himself, "Damn it, this is really the f*cking industry of the Fox Zen School! What the hell is the Fox Zen School? No wonder it is called an evil sect . They¡¯re running some kind of den of sin here for crying out loud!"

    Su Chan, who was standing to one side, didn¡¯t realize what was going on . She shouted excitedly, "Did youe out to have fun? Is it fun here? I want to have fun, too!"

    Li Yundong lightly whacked Su Chan¡¯s forehead and red at her . "What nonsense are you spewing!"

    Su Chan was startled . She put her hands to her forehead and looked at Li Yundong, blinking rapidly as hurt and confusion filled her eyes . She didn¡¯t know what she had done wrong .

    Both Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling had noticed that something was very off . Zi Yuan frowned slightly, and Ruan Hongling blushed a little as she spat, "Bah, what is this ce?"

    Su Chan was not stupid . She rolled her eyes, took a look at everyone¡¯s reaction, and then turned to the beautiful waitress manning the door . She immediately realized what was going on, and her face turned red . She took Li Yundong¡¯s hand and whispered, "Yundong, did we make a mistake?"

    Li Yundong had never thought that the Fox Zen School he had taken over would not only be a rotten mess, but that their only economic source would be a damned adult entertainment business!

    He inhaled a deep breath of cold air and was secretly enraged . He ignored Su Chan and walked in on his own .

    The waitress at the door had been paying attention to Li Yundong for a long time, and they had even been making guesses about whether Li Yundong woulde in or not . "Definitely not . Look at all of the beautiful women around him, each prettier than thest . Why would hee in to y with broken flowers?" they said wonderingly .

    Someone retorted disdainfully, "You think so? Home flowers don¡¯t have the fragrance of wildflowers . Men are all cheap wretches!"

    While muttering, they saw Li Yundong rushing in aggressively . They immediately stood up and prepared to bow . However, they saw Li Yundong¡¯s eyes shing angrily, and his every move carried an aura that was unlike that of an ordinary person . In the blink of an eye, he rushed in, followed by five or six beautiful women, each with different looks in their eyes .

    The youngdies outside who were begging for food were all sharp-eyed . They immediately felt their hearts beating faster and shouted something bad internally . One of them immediately waved to a youngdy not far away and whispered, "Hurry and get Mei Niang . I¡¯m afraid this one is going to cause trouble . "

    Li Yundong came to the lobby, looked around, and asked in a deep voice, "Who is in charge here?"

    Mei Niang arrived immediately . This woman was about thirty years old and was dressed in a seductive and sexy long dress . She was quite beautiful, but there was a lot of experience visible between her brows . She walked over with a charming smile on her face and took a nce at Li Yundong . She then nced at Su Chan and the others behind him and covered her mouth with her hand, eximing, "I, Mei Niang, debuted at the age of sixteen and have been in this business for so many years, yet it¡¯s the first time that I¡¯ve seen a guest not onlye to y but bring superior goods with him! Impressive, I admire you! Boss, are you here to y or are you here to make trouble?"

 Chapter 307

    Chapter 307

    <h4>Hey, Old Acquaintance!</h4>

    Li Yundong looked at Mei Niang and felt that the woman was like a madam . He frowned and said in a deep voice, "Are you in charge here?"

    As the saying goes, women are the best business cards for men . Mei Niang, who had always been heavily involved in the circles of fame and fortune, naturally knew this very well . Seeing Li Yundong with so many beautiful women around him, she could clearly tell that he was no ordinary person . She did not dare to neglect him and said with an apologetic smile, "Thank you for choosing our business . I am the madame here . May I know your surname?"

    Li Yundong wanted to ask Mei Niang if this was the property of the Fox Zen School . However, when he looked around, he saw that the people in the hall were all looking at them, so he just said, "Let¡¯s find a ce to sit down and talk . Would that be possible?"

    Mei Niang¡¯s eyes darted sideways . She pointed to a doorway and said, "In that case, let¡¯s have a chat in a private room . "

    Mei Niang snapped her fingers and called a waitress with heavy makeup over . She said, "Go to the second floor and prepare a VIP room for us . "

    The head waitress nodded and pulled out a walkie-talkie, into which she fired off a round of instructions . Mei Niang turned around and gave Li Yundong an enchanting smile before leading the way herself .

    Ruan Hongling noticed that the woman was covered in dust and heavy with the scent of lust . She shook her slender neck and scolded in a low voice, "Shameless!"

    Mei Niang heard this clearly . However, she had heard such things many times and was already thoroughly desensitized . She merely smiled, not taking the insult to heart .

    Li Yundong followed her to the private room . He couldn¡¯t help feeling that the decoration of the entertainment city was quite luxurious . It was a western-style building, splendid all around, and there were seductive women in revealing outfits passing by asionally . Wafts of heady perfumes circted through the air and attacked Li Yundong¡¯s senses .

    After walking to the second floor, Li Yundong followed Mei Niang into an extremely spacious VIP room . This room was like a presidential suite . The living room was covered with sofa carpets and dominated by a huge sma TV . In the bedroom was a veryrge bed, and beside the bedroom was a bathroom . It could be said that everything one could ever need was avable .

    Mei Niang entered the room and politely gestured for Li Yundong and the others to sit on the sofa . She said with a charming smile, "This boss is so young . I have been in this business for so long, but I have never seen such an imposing and handsome guy as you before!"

    Her words wereplimentary and her tone seemed to inherently be one of ttery and seduction . Zhou Qin and Zi Yuan, who were beside her, both frowned .

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t beat around the bush and got straight to the point . "Hello, my surname is Li . Do you know Liu Ye?"

    Mei Niang¡¯s entire body jolted when she heard those words and her smile stiffened unnaturally . "Liu Ye? Who is he? I¡¯ve never heard of him before . "

    Li Yundong immediately caught the look on Mei Niang¡¯s face . He said, "Don¡¯t lie to me . Do you know him or not? I can tell you that we can be said to be Liu Ye¡¯s friends . We want to get some information from you . "

    Mei Ya¡¯s sharp eyes swept over Li Yundong and the others . She could see that Li Yundong¡¯s expression was not fake, so she responded, "Yes, I know Liu Ye . What¡¯s going on?"

    Li Yundong asked, "What¡¯s your rtionship with him?"

    Mei Niang became even more alert . "Why are you asking this?"

    At this moment, Zi Yuan sent a transmission to Li Yundong . "She¡¯s a human body, not a Fox Spirit . She might be an outer disciple . "

    Li Yundong understood and continued to ask, "Do you have a master-student rtionship with him?"

    Unexpectedly, Mei Niang was stunned and suddenly burst outughing, tears glittering in her eyes . She wiped away the tears and said with a smile, "He and I, master and disciple? Who told you that? Did he tell you that? Hah, what a joke!"

    Li Yundong asked in a deep voice, "What¡¯s your rtionship with him? Could it be . . . "

    Mei Niang¡¯s rolled her eyes . "Could it be something? An illicit romance? Hey, that¡¯s right . That ghost is my lover!" After exining the rtionship, she simply sat down on the sofa and crossed her legs . Then, she took out ady¡¯s cigarette and lit it skillfully . She took a deep breath and blew a smoke ring, then said, "You don¡¯t look like bad people . Tell me, what are you doing here? Don¡¯t tell me that you are Liu Ye¡¯s illegitimate childing to ask for alimony from me . I don¡¯t have that kind of money!"

    Li Yundong had originally thought that this woman was Liu Ye¡¯s outer disciple . He had not at all been expecting her to be his lover . His heart was jittering as he thought, >"That old man still has it . He¡¯s going after young women even at his age . As the Leader, he still looks for lovers outside! No one in the Fox Zen School is reliable . What the f*ck!?"

    Since they were lovers, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t put on airs as the head of the sect . He secretly wiped his sweat away and said, "That¡¯s not the case . I just came to tell you one thing, and then ask you something while I have the chance . "

    Mei Niang was casually taking drags from her cigarette . She squinted her eyes and said, "Well, what is it? Say it . Why didn¡¯t that damn devile and see me himself?"

    Li Yundong pondered for a moment before saying, "Liu Ye is dead . . . "

    Mei Niang suddenly froze, cigarette in-hand . Her face was wooden and she was unable to speak for a long time . After a while, two teardrops fell from her face . She muttered, "You damn fool, you didn¡¯te to see me for a long time . I thought that you were fooling around, but it turns out that you were already dead . . . "

    After muttering to herself for a while, she wiped away her tears and concealed the sadness on her face, as if nothing had happened just now . She then asked, "Did youe to me just to tell me this?"

    Seeing that she had recovered so quickly, Li Yundong was stunned . He thought for a moment, then stood up and said, "Yep, we¡¯re only here to tell you about this . "

    Mei Niang muttered, "Was there any need to bring so many people? Bringing in so many beautiful women will make all the youngdies here so self-conscious that they won¡¯t dare to receive guestster!"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry . He took the initiative and walked outside . Cao Yi suddenly asked, "Master . . . Li Yundong, you¡¯re leaving just like that?"

    Li Yundong looked at her and asked meaningfully, "Is there anything else to say?"

    Cao Yi didn¡¯t dare toment . She forced a smile and didn¡¯t say anything .

    When Li Yundong reached the door, he suddenly stopped, turned around, and asked, "By the way, do you know Liu Ye¡¯s true identity?"

    Mei Niang was still leaningzily on the sofa with her legs crossed . She puffed a ring of smoke and leisurely said, "The only thing we concern ourselves with in this business is the money in the customer¡¯s wallet . Why would we need to care about what they do?"

    Li Yundong frowned . "You and he are not . . . ?"

    Mei Niang didn¡¯t wait for him to finish speaking . She sneered and interrupted, "So what? In the end he left as he pleased . All I know is that he was like a ghost . If he missed me, he¡¯de and find me . If he didn¡¯t, he¡¯d throw me aside . I was even worse than an intable doll in his eyes!"

    Li Yundong secretly squirmed with embarrassment when he heard that . He didn¡¯t say anything more and turned to leave .

    After he had taken Su Chan and the others out of the entertainment city, Su Chan asked in confusion, "Yundong, why didn¡¯t you ask her about the Fox Zen School¡¯s industry?"

    Cao Yi also took the opportunity to ask, "Yes, why not?"

    Li Yundong pulled a long face and said, "Forget about whether this is the industry of Fox Zen School . Even if it is, I don¡¯t want this kind of money . As a cultivator, won¡¯t your hands burn if you use this kind of dirty money? Besides, didn¡¯t you hear what Mei Niang said? She¡¯s not a disciple of Fox Zen School, nor is she a disciple of Liu Ye, so she won¡¯t be under the control of our Fox Zen Sect . No matter how much power I have, I can¡¯t stop her from doing anything . Moreover, she¡¯s the lover of the former Head of the Sect . Didn¡¯t you hear what she said just now? Her words have deep meaning, which means she is defending us! Unless we have evidence to prove that this is the industry of Fox Zen School, we have no way to just seize it . "

    Li Yundong paused before saying, "I don¡¯t want any evidence, not to mention that there is no evidence . I wouldn¡¯t have cared before, but since I have taken over the Fox Zen School, I can¡¯t get involved in this kind of thing . Wouldn¡¯t it be shameful if others knew? What would other Cultivation sects think of our Fox Zen School?"

    Cao Yi was embarrassed by Li Yundong¡¯s words, while the little girl beside her muttered, "I said that the waimen disciples I saw when I went back to the Fox Zen School with Masterst time were all wearing heavy makeup . "

    The expression on Zi Yuan¡¯s face was strange, but she still asked with concern, "Then we have no source of funds . Li Yundong, do you have any other ns?"

    Li Yundong had just breathed a heavy sigh and was about to speak when he suddenly noticed Mei Niang chasing after him from the entertainment city . She called loudly, "Hey, handsome, wait a moment!"

    Cao Yi and Su Chan felt a jolt in their hearts . "Is this woman¡¯s conscience telling us that she should give up this estate to us?"

    But they saw the woman running over to Li Yundong with a charming smile on her face . She handed over a business card, then winked at Li Yundong and said in a charming voice, "Handsome, since we met each other today, it must be fate . This is my business card . Call me when you want toe out and y . Heh, although the quality of the girls here is not as good as that of the ones around you, as the saying goes, a homely flower doesn¡¯t have the fragrance of a wildflower . I¡¯m sure you know what I mean!"

    After that, she giggled and threw a kiss at Li Yundong . Then, she turned around and headed back .

    Li Yundong gawked at the card in his hand . "Damn, do I really look so much like a frequenter of whorehouses?"

    When Su Chan saw that the woman was trying to seduce Li Yundong in front of her and heard her say that she didn¡¯t have the fragrance of a wildflower, she couldn¡¯t help being angry . She jumped up, rushed over to Li Yundong¡¯s side, and patted Li Yundong¡¯s clothes with her hand, as if she wanted to help him sweep away the smell of makeup and perfume from his body .

    "She¡¯s really too much!" Su Chan said angrily . "How could she say something like that? Shame on her!"

    Li Yundong tossed the business card away, then pped his hands together and coughed . "Okay, okay, let¡¯s hurry up and leave . Isn¡¯t it shameful even just to stand here?"

    Several of the women red angrily at the entertainment city and left with a belly full of resentment . Ruan Hongling and Su Chan surprisingly coborated in one task along the way: shouting abuse at Mei Niang .

    After listening for a while, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but feel a headacheing on . He said, "All right, both of you, calm down . The most important thing now is thinking of a new source of wealth!"

    Hearing this, the other people became gloomy . Even Zi Yuan frowned . Zhou Qin said softly from beside her, "Why don¡¯t we buy the shop I mentioned in the first ce?"

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly and said, "It¡¯s not a bad idea, but distant water can¡¯t quench the present thirst!"

    Just as the few famous figures of the Cultivation World were at a loss over what to do with Brother Kong Fang, a youngdy suddenly appeared next to him . She held a stack of leaflets in her hand and enthusiastically greeted them before handing over a flyer .

    Li Yundong took it but didn¡¯t look at it . Su Chan, Ruan Hongling, and Cao Yi each took one casually . Only Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin were too cold to pay the girl any attention . The young woman didn¡¯t dare to offend them, so she didn¡¯t forcefully hand over a flyer .

    Li Yundong took a look and saw an advertisement for Tie Guanyin it . He suddenly didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry . "Damn, the Tie Guanyin fanatics are too powerful, aren¡¯t they? The advertisements arepletely pervasive!"

    As soon as he had finished speaking, several other people looked down at the flyer . Ruan Hongling was overjoyed and shouted, "I have an idea!"

    Everyone looked at her . Ruan Hongling pointed at the leaflets with a red face and said, "Look, look!"

    Li Yundong took a look and saw that there was a note in the middle of the leaflets which read: "The first Chinese tea and challenge tournament will be held in Dongwu City in five days¡¯ time . "

    Li Yundong went through it . It was about weing all kinds of tea artists to the art festival . The Tie Guanyin would set up an arena in Dongwu City . At that time, they would invite all kinds of famous guests to evaluate the tea products and choose the best tea art beauties in China .

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Even tea merchants have started to do eye-catching business? But what does this have to do with us?"

    Ruan Hongling pointed to the following words and said excitedly, "Look at the bonus! Look at the bonus!"

    Li Yundong took another look . Good Lord, two million yuan as prize money!

    But he still smiled and said, "This two million yuan will not be ours . The F1 form bonus is even higher . Why don¡¯t you aim for that?"

    Ruan Hongling rolled her eyes at Li Yundong . "Of course you wouldn¡¯t be able to obtain it, but sister Zi Yuan is different!"

    Zi Yuan said angrily, "Hongling!"

    Ruan Hongling didn¡¯t buy it . She held Zi Yuan¡¯s hand and said, "Sister Zi Yuan, we¡¯re so poor that we can¡¯t even afford to pay the rent! Do you still want to hold out?"

    Li Yundong looked curiously at Zi Yuan . "Zi Yuan, you know the art of tea?"

    Ruan Hongling said with a derogatory snort, "Of course! If Sister Zi Yuan¡¯s tea art is number two, then who in this world would dare to think that they¡¯re number one! If she participates in thispetition, this money will definitely be in Sister Zi Yuan¡¯s pocket!"

    Li Yundong gave Zi Yuan a thumbs-up and praised her . "Sister Immortal is Sister Immortal . She¡¯s awesome . I admire her!"

    Su Chan suddenly pulled Li Yundong¡¯s arm and raised the leaflets . She pointed to a person printed in the lower right corner and said, "Yundong, why do I feel that this person looks familiar?"

    Li Yundong took a closer look and found that the man was the organizer of the event . He had a pure, good temperament of a nouveau riche . If he was not Zheng Youming, who had been destroyed by Li Yundong, who else could it be?

    Li Yundong was happy andughed . "Gee, I know him! If we don¡¯t make money from him, we will be damned by the Heavens and struck by lightning!"

 Chapter 308

    Chapter 308

    <h4>The Aggressive Zhengyi School</h4>

    After Li Yundong had finished his words with a smile, Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin looked at him with confusion in their eyes . Ruan Hongling asked curiously, "Do you hold a grudge against him?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "It¡¯s not really a grudge, it¡¯s just that this guy is rich but far from benevolent . He¡¯s actually a total b*stard . "

    As he spoke, Su Chan, who was next to him, interrupted him and told him all about what had happened before, including the matter of Zheng Youming saying that the houses sold by him were very shoddy . Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, and Ruan Hongling all eximed in unison, "Damn it!"

    Su Chan also said that Li Yundong had destroyed Zheng Youming¡¯s building with just one punch . Zi Yuan raised her eyebrows and a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she looked at Li Yundong speechlessly . Zhou Qin smiled and looked at Li Yundong with admiration . Ruan Hongling pped andughed, saying loudly, "Well done . If I were you, I would also have torn down that shoddy building!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Speaking of which, I was afraid that Zheng Youming woulde for me, but I ended up forgetting all about it as he did not take any movement for such a long time . Anyhow, Zheng Youming must have gone to jail when all that happened . "

    Zhou Qin snorted and said, "Zheng Youming, this kind of rich but heartless guy, must have his a strong background which lets him behave as he does without punishment . Maybe he couldn¡¯t do real estate anymore, so he just switched to the tea business . "

    Li Yundong shook the leaflets in his hand and said, "I know why the Tieguanyin lovers used to be everywhere in my QQ group . It turns out that Zheng Youming is behind it all?"

    Li Yundong smiled and turned to look at Zi Yuan . "Zhenren Zi Yuan, what do you think? For yourself and the sake of others, we shouldn¡¯t miss out on this chance to make money from Zheng Youming, who is an utter asshole . "

    Zi Yuan paused for a moment, then said with a rather helpless smile, "How can cultivators like us participate in such matters? It¡¯d be a joke if anyone else found out . "

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Didn¡¯t you say that everything and everyone in this colorful world are just like passing clouds to you? If that¡¯s true, you shouldn¡¯t care about other people¡¯s gossip!"

    Hearing this, a thought shed through Zi Yuan¡¯s mind . After a moment¡¯s consideration, she nodded and agreed . "Okay!"

    Ruan Hongling suddenly cheered and said, "Hooray, we won¡¯t need to go to the streets!"

    Zi Yuan was both angry and amused as she shot a nce at Ruan Hongling . She put on a show of being angry and said, "Remember that you¡¯re still a cultivator . Looking at you, I fail to see the difference between you and a child . I¡¯m only promising to participate in the tournament, but I can¡¯t guarantee that I¡¯ll win!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "It doesn¡¯t matter . I have faith in you!"

    Zhou Qin said very cautiously, "That¡¯s not necessarily true . Zhenren Zi Yuan is right . Since they are daring to host such an event and award such a high bonus, it is very likely that they have manipted everything from top to bottom, and even the judges and referees have probably been bribed . If it were me, I would spend money on buying over all these people, and then secretly manipte thepetition in order to make my peoplee in first ce . In the end, the two million would still fall into my pocket, and I would also get to use the social resources and eye effects to advertise myself for free . "

    After hearing Zhou Qin¡¯s full analysis, Li Yundong and the others gasped . Li Yundong said, "Damn, it¡¯s too shameless . But what you say may be true, Zhou Qin!"

    Ruan Hongling was so angry that she shouted, "Shameless! Shameless! This is a tant vition of the rules!"

    Su Chan said with an anxious face, "What should we do? How much is the prize for the second ce? Let¡¯s aim for the second prize, okay?"

    Li Yundongughed and pinched Su Chan¡¯s pink cheeks . "You fool, the reward for second ce is only 300,000 yuan . The gap between the first and the second ce is too big . Just now, we may have felt normal when Zhou Qin didn¡¯t say anything, but with what she has said and the huge gap between the bonus, we can already sense that there¡¯s something fishy going on . However, I think we¡¯d better give it a try . Maybe the judge¡¯s eyes will be able to see clearly . Besides, even if we don¡¯t get first ce, it¡¯ll still be good to get the second ce and take 300,000 yuan!"

    After thinking for a while, Zi Yuan said, "That¡¯s right . Man proposes and God disposes . If we don¡¯t do anything, we will definitely aplish nothing . However, since we are going to participate in the tea artpetition, do you know what we need to do, Li Yundong?"

    Li Yundong thought for a moment and suddenly smiled bitterly . "Anyway, top-grade tea leaves and a set of high-grade tea sets are always needed, aren¡¯t they? I¡¯m afraid that I will have to spend money on buying these things . s, as the saying goes, it takes money to make money . This is really a famous saying!"

    To one side, Su Chan also sighed . "Right . Where can we get money now? These top-grade tea leaves and top-grade tea sets don¡¯te cheap . "

    Li Yundong looked at Su Chan in surprise . "Yo, you know about this stuff?"

    Su Chan was a little displeased . She stamped her feet and said angrily, "Don¡¯t patronize me . I was the one who taught you how to cultivate!"

    Li Yundongughed, then rubbed Su Chan¡¯s hair and said dotingly, "Well, my girl really is the best . "

    Su Chan¡¯s anger turned to joy, and her eyes became full of light again .

    Looking at this, Zi Yuan also couldn¡¯t help smiling slightly . It was as if she was in a kind of pure and warm atmosphere of love, and she also felt that her heart was very quiet and peaceful .

    After a while, Zi Yuan said, "In fact, there is no need for us to worry about top-grade tea leaves and top-grade tea sets . There is a collection of top-grade tea sets in the cave residence of Linggong Sect, as well as some top-grade Huangshan Maofeng tea . "

    Li Yundong asked curiously, "Huangshan Maofeng? What kind of tea is that? I can¡¯t say I¡¯ve ever heard of it . I¡¯m only aware of Tie Guanyin, Biluochun, stuff like that . "

    Ruan Honglingughed and said teasingly, "You haven¡¯t seen it before, have you? The Tie Guanyin and Biluochun are to tea what the BMW Volkswagen is to cars . Some of them are ordinary while some of them are high grade . Because there is more that is only ordinary and the output is high, everyone is familiar with them . However, even in the heyday of Huangshan Maofeng production, only a few hundred loads a year were made . Don¡¯t think that this tea is not famous . In fact, it is the Rolls-Royce of the world of tea . Not long ago, at an auction, a hundred pounds of Huangshan Maofeng were sold at a high price of 85,000 yuan!"

    Li Yundong gasped . "A couple of ounces for 85,000 yuan? The price isparable to gold!"

    Ruan Hongling snorted . "Of course . How else could we say that Huangshan Maofeng Tea is the best of the best? Thest time I begged sister Zi Yuan to make me some Huangshan Maofeng tea, she didn¡¯t even want to make it for me . You¡¯re so lucky!"

    Li Yundong said with a smile, "I¡¯m not the judge who¡¯ll be drinking it . "

    When Zi Yuan saw that Ruan Hongling still wanted to talk, she quickly shot Ruan Hongling a re . "All you¡¯re doing here is running your mouth . Why don¡¯t you hurry back to master to get it? We¡¯ll go back to Tiannan City and wait for you . "

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s face darkened and she muttered, "Why does it have to be me again? My legs are too thin to run! There is no benefit for me in doing this either . What I¡¯m always going to get are your lessons, sister Zi Yuan!"

    Zi Yuan pretended to be angry and said, "Off with you!"

    Ruan Hongling hurriedly said, "Okay, okay, I know I¡¯m wrong . I know I¡¯m wrong, okay?" Before leaving, she pulled a face at Li Yundong and cast an eye over the surroundings . When she saw that no one was looking, she turned into a blue light and rose into the air .

    Ruan Hongling flew back to Mount Longhu at high speed and returned to her cave residence . She searched the cave where Zi Yuan was doing his closed-door training and found a closed porcin jar and a tea set .

    Ruan Hongling chuckled and took out a small pouch from her breast pocket . She pinched the opening of the pouch and it then opened it by itself . The pouch glowed colorfully and Ruan Hongling carefully ced the pot and teaware inside . Then, she closed the pouch and concealed it on her person . When everything was done, she stood up and strode out of the stone chamber .

    When Ruan Hongling walked out of the stone room and passed by the pool full of lotus flowers, she turned her head and saw that there were two lotuses on the cusp of blooming floating within . There was a bright light around the flowers, and she could vaguely see the figures of two curled up human beings inside .

    Ruan Hongling thought to herself with a smile, "Good girls, I haven¡¯t seen you for a few days, but you¡¯ve been growing pretty fast!"

    She was about to turn and leave when she suddenly heard footstepsing from outside . Then, a woman shouted, "Seal up this ce!"

    Ruan Hongling was shocked . When she walked out, she saw Zou Ping and The Lady of the Earthly Fire, Zhang Ling, standing in front of the cave and loudly barking orders at the disciples of the Zhengyi School around them .

    Ruan Hongling saw these disciples of the Zhengyi School holding all kinds of seals and wooden boards in their hands . Before long, they had thoroughly pasted the Taoist temple with seals, and even the door was nailed shut . Shock and anger overcame her as she yelled, "What are you doing!"

    Zou Ping snorted and cast a sideways nce at her, her eyes full of disdain . "What are we doing? Are you blind?"

    Ruan Hongling was so angry that she was trembling . "This is the territory of the Linggong Sect . How dare you be so presumptuous!"

    Zou Pingughed loudly and said, "This is the main territory of our Zhengyi School, so how can you even call what we¡¯re doing ¡¯being presumptuous¡¯?"

    Ruan Hongling was furious and shouted, "It¡¯s enough that you froze our ount, and now you¡¯re sealing our Taoist temple? Why?"

    Zou Ping burst outughing and took out a stack of photos from her sleeve . She threw them at Ruan Hongling, who blocked it with her hand . With a snap, the photos flew everywhere . Ruan Hongling saw that the photos were all of Li Yundong and Zi Yuan together .

    Ruan Hongling suddenly flew into a rage . "How dare you follow us!"

    Zou Ping sneered and said, "If you don¡¯t want people to know about this kind of thing, then don¡¯t do it in the first ce! How can the future Sect Leader of the Linggong Sect be so shameless as to fool around with the head of the Fox Zen School? Don¡¯t they know what shame is?" After that, she waved her arm and said, "Seal everything . Seal this filthy sect away for me!"

    Ruan Hongling was so angry that she could feel herself losing control . She moved her hand and was about to take out a magical item when she saw Zhang Ling pointing at her and shouting, "Swoosh!"

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s body stiffened all of a sudden, and she could no longer move at all .

    With a wave of her hand, Zou Ping said, "Seal off the cave residence inside as well!" Following hermand, the other disciples of the Zhengyi School barged in . The Lady of the Earthly Fire followed along and entered behind them . When she caught sight of the two budding lotuses in the pond, she couldn¡¯t help but let out a gasp of surprise . "These Bingdi flowers look exactly the same, but there¡¯s actually people inside them with the same soul! How can there be people with the same soul inside? This is really rare!"

    Zou Ping, who was standing to one side, had a fawning smile on her face . "Master, if you like these, then take them with you . Wouldn¡¯t it be a waste for you to store such a good thing here in the Linggong Sect?"

    The Lady of the Earthly Fire chuckled, but as she was a proud woman, she hesitated a little . However, Zou Ping simply waved her hand, lifting the two Bingdi Lotuses into the air and using Zhenqi to prop them up . She smiled and said, "Master, if we bring them back to the Zhengyi School to recuperate, won¡¯t that be better than them staying here?"

    Zhang Ling, the Lady of the Earthly Fire, smiled and looked at the two Bingdi Lotuses with joy . She nodded and praised them, saying, "Well, your Shibo¡¯s Three-death Sword Formationcks two Sword Spirits with extreme Lingqi . I think when they grow up, it will be the perfect time for them to be the Sword Spirits of Left and Right!"

    Zhang Ling held the Bingdi Lotuses in her hand . The more she looked at them, the more she loved them . Ignoring the disciples who were busy with sealing Linggong Sect, she took the Bingdi Lotuses with her, then turned into a green light and flew away .

    Ruan Hongling watched helplessly as the Linggong Sect was sealed up and the Bingdi Lotuses, which she had cultivated for a long time, were taken away . She was so angry that she went mad . When she broke through the imprisonment and was finally able to move again, all the disciples of Zhengyi School had already left . She rushed to the gate of the Taoist temple of Mount Longhu and was about to head out when she suddenly stopped . She red at the tightly guarded Taoist sect with hatred in her eyes and ground her teeth together .

    She gnashed her teeth for a long time before eventually stomping her feet in anger and turning into a green light to leave .

 Chapter 309

    Chapter 309

    <h4>Group up to Participate in the Competition!</h4>

    Ruan Hongling went straight back to Tiannan City . When she returned to Li Yundong¡¯s home in New Hongsheng District, she arrived to find that Li Yundong and the others were talking happily in the room .

    Ruan Hongling rushed into the house from the balcony . No sooner did her feet touch the floor than she burst into tears and jumped into the arms of Zi Yuan .

    Li Yundong, Zi Yuan, and the others were shocked and stood up one after another . "What happened?"

    Normally, Zi Yuan would have reprimanded Ruan Hongling for having such a loose grip on her emotions as a cultivator . However, she could see that Ruan Hongling was distraught and her reddened face was full of anger and grievance . It was obvious that she had suffered some sort of humiliation . Zi Yuan¡¯s heart tightened . She ced her hands on Ruan Hongling¡¯s shoulders and asked in a low voice, "Hongling, what happened?"

    Ruan Hongling cried and told them everything that had urred, inciting the others¡¯ fury .

    Li Yundong said angrily, "The Zhengyi School has crossed the line . It looks like they¡¯re sh*tting down the Linggong Sect¡¯s necks!"

    The look on Zhou Qin¡¯s face was as cold as ice . She said nothing, her eyes fixed on Li Yundong as if awaiting his decision .

    Su Chan also said angrily, "Is this the so-called decent sect? How could they be so overbearing! What¡¯s the difference between them and bandits?"

    Li Yundong hurled a torrent of abuse for a while . Then, he suddenly remembered something and turned to ask Zi Yuan, "By the way, when did you take in the souls of Deng Yu and Deng Jiao? Why didn¡¯t I know about it? Those b*stards from the Zhengyi School dared to snatch the reborn souls of Deng Yu and Deng Jiao . If anything bad happens to Deng Yu and Deng Jiao, I will show them no mercy!"

    Although the others were visibly filled with righteous indignation, Zi Yuan remained very calm . After thinking for a while, she simply said, "Let¡¯s talk about thister . Although the Zhengyi School is being excessive, they are not devils . I know the temper and character of the The Lady of the Earthly Fire . She is strong-willed, but she is still a decent person . She won¡¯t do anything bad to the sisters . "

    "I heard that the leader of the Zhengyi School, Celestial Master Zhang, has been trying to rebuild the Three-death Sword Formation . The formation consumed a huge amount of manpower and material resources, and now it needs two powerful psychic sword spirits . No doubt The Lady of the Earthly Fire was thrilled to discover them and took them to cultivate into sword spirits . "

    Speaking up to this point, Zi Yuan sighed slightly . "If that¡¯s the case, this is also an unexpected blessing for them . "

    Ruan Hongling raised her head, her eyes full of indignance and resentment as she said, "Sister Zi Yuan, are you going to bear their insult again? They sealed our Linggong Sect!"

    A hint of anger shed through Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes, but it disappeared as quickly as it came . "The reason they sealed the Linggong Sect was to force me to yield to them . Now, the undercurrents in the cultivation world are surging, and there are constant conflicts between the Inner Elixir School and the External Alchemy . Outwardly, The Great Six are cooperating with the Zhengyi School, but in actual fact, they are secretlypeting for the leadership of the cultivation world . Now that the Great Six have united, their power is equal to that of the Zhengyi School . Zhengyi School are thinking about annexing our Linggong Sect to expand their power . "

    Zi Yuan said sneeringly, "Maybe they can seal the Linggong Sect, but how can they seal the mouths of all the cultivators in the world? Hongling, it¡¯s a good thing that you didn¡¯t go directly to make trouble with them . If you had, you¡¯d have been ying directly into their hands! In our current situation, if we went to find trouble with the Zhengyi School, it would be like hitting a stone with an egg . We can only swallow our anger and bear the humiliation for now . "

    "After half a year, Linggong Sect will hold the inauguration ceremony for the Leader of the sect, and it will be hosted by the Zhengyi School . By then, in the hope of legitimizing their annexation of our sect, Zhengyi School will sent golden invitations out, inviting the Leaders of the Cultivation sects across the world to attend the ceremony . When that happens, we can ask the Leaders of these sects to uphold justice for us . "

    After hearing this, Li Yundong immediately said, "I dare not say anything else, but I, Li Yundong, will be the first to support you! Our Fox Zen School also fully supports you!"

    Su Chan had always been very grateful for the help Zi Yuan¡¯s had given Li Yundong . She herself had guided Li Yundong on his Cultivation path, but Zi Yuan was the person who had helped him make great progress . If it hadn¡¯t been for Zi Yuan, Li Yundong wouldn¡¯t have such powerful abilities . She nodded firmly and said, "Sister Zi Yuan, I support you as well!"

    Zhou Qin opened her mouth and wanted to say something . Before any words escaped, however, she swallowed them back down, keenly aware of the fact that she was just a normal person and didn¡¯t know Cultivation as well as the Shentong . However, determination shed in her eyes .

    Zi Yuan smiled lightly . "Thank you for your kindness . However, if you all openly support our Linggong Sect, we¡¯ll be able to confirm their crime . "

    Ruan Hongling jumped up and said angrily, "Just do it! An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth . "

    Li Yundong also said unhappily, "Because people all over the world say Fox Zen School is a ce of evil and home to devils, I have to put in a lot of effort to make the Fox Zen Sect famous and decent! Not everyone is born to be a bad guy . Even if someone is born bad, wouldn¡¯t they also have the right to be a good person in the future?"

    Seeing that Li Yundong was angry, Zi Yuan smiled apologetically at him . "You¡¯re right . I¡¯m just being stubborn . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s anger then turned to joy . "That¡¯s right! Don¡¯t worry, I will definitely stand up for you at the inauguration ceremony for the Sect Leaders in six months!"

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly and thought to herself, "Li Yundong only got into cultivation half a year ago . Although he is already a top-notch expert among the younger generation, the gap between him and the cultivation level of the older generation is still very big . When the timees, I will have to find a way to persuade him not to stand out, otherwise, he may be besieged by the Heads of various other sects, which could only spell trouble . "

    Having made up her mind, Zi Yuan dropped the matter . She turned to Ruan Hongling and said, "Let¡¯s put this issue aside for the time being . For now, the biggest problem is attending thepetition and winning the money so we can make a life here . Have you brought the tea and tea set?"

    Ruan Hongling wiped her tears, took out a small pouch, and tore it open gently . Li Yundong and the others only saw a ball of colorful light emerging . Ruan Hongling stretched her hand out into it, and then took out a teapot and tea set .

    Li Yundong saw that the tea set was made of magnificent-looking purple sand, but the teapot looked ordinary . He asked, "How long have the tea leaves been in here? Are they moldy?"

    Ruan Hongling was so angry that she rolled her eyes at Li Yundong . "Don¡¯t ther on about things you don¡¯t understand! This is a porcin jar that sister Zi Yuan sealed with spiritual energy . Even if the highest grade Huangshan Maofeng Tea had been sitting in there for two years, it would still be fine!"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t take Ruan Hongling¡¯s rude words seriously and said with a smile, "Let¡¯s discuss it now . There must be a procedure for thepetition . "

    Then, he turned to look at Zi Yuan and said, "Do you need anyone¡¯s help in the tea artpetition?"

    Zi Yuan thought for a moment before replying, "I don¡¯t need anyone¡¯s help . I¡¯m fully capable of handling it alone . "

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Well, then we will be cheering for you from the stands . "

    Ruan Hongling couldn¡¯t help teasing Li Yundong again . "Idiot, do you think it¡¯s a sports meet? Shout and cheer? Are you kidding me? Tea art shows are based on the pairing of activity and inertia . The core of it is that you should watch the process of making a cup of tea silently and then savor the tea in a state ofplete tranquility!"

    Li Yundong knew that Ruan Hongling¡¯s master had met with misfortune, so he didn¡¯t argue with her . He made an obeisance by cupping one hand in the other before his chest before saying with a smile, "You¡¯re so experienced and knowledgeable, Perfected Immortal Ruan . I admire you so much!"

    Ruan Hongling raised her head and said, "Of course!"

    Turning to Su Chan and Zhou Qin, Li Yundong said, "Hurry up and have a good rest . We¡¯ll set off for Dongwu City before tomorrow morning before the sun rises . "

    After Li Yundong had finished speaking, Su Chan and Zhou Qin went back to their respective rooms . Fortunately, Li Yundong¡¯s ce wasrge enough, with three rooms and two living rooms . Su Chan slept in one room and Zhou Qin used another . Ruan Hongling and Zi Yuan went back to their rooms . Li Yundong himself remained sitting in the living room meditating and practicing Qi .

    At four o¡¯clock in the morning, Li Yundong roused himself from his meditation . He took a long, deep breath and let out a soft groan .

    Although this groan was not loud, Zi Yuan heard it immediately and also woke up from her meditation . She walked into the living room and said with a smile, "Even though the saying is that people who don¡¯t have money usually have no desire to cultivate, you still keep at it despite being penniless . The burden of handling our living costs is on your shoulders, but it seems like you aren`t worried about it . You can still make such progress in your cultivation?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "What the president said is right . What should be yours is yours, what should not be yours is not yours . As the saying goes, there must be a road before a car cane to the mountain!"

    The expression on Zi Yuan¡¯s face was one of shock . "Which president said that?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Chairman Mao!"

    This did nothing to relieve Zi Yuan¡¯s surprise . "Did Chairman Mao really say something like that?"

    Li Yundong waved his hand . "It was actually the chairman of the pornographic filmmittee!"

    Zi Yuan almost coughed up blood upon hearing this . She rolled her eyes at Li Yundong fiecely and said, "I¡¯m going to wash up!"

    At this time, Ruan Hongling, Su Chan, and the others had also been awakened after hearing the voices of Li Yundong and Zi Yuan . Zhou Qin was thest to rouse herself, looking sleepy . However, the Yuanqi in her body was extremely vigorous, and after a while, her spirits lifted once again .

    After washing up, they flew to Dongwu City before dawn . On the way, Li Yundong flew with Zhou Qin and said with a smile, "It¡¯s fortunate that we can fly . Otherwise, I would have been vomiting blood just for the ticket!"

    Zhou Qin took in the magnificent sight of the rivers and mountains of the mothend from high in the sky and sighed, "I really never expected that I would be able to fly in the sky one day . "

    Li Yundong smiled and said softly, "One day, you will be able to fly alone . "

    Zhou Qin nced at him with a gentle smile on her face, but she thought in her heart: "I wish you would always be here to take me flying . "

    By the time Li Yundong and the others arrived in Dongwu City, it was already around nine o¡¯clock in the morning . Li Yundong went straight to the Cultural Pce of Dongwu City, which was written on the propaganda list as the venue of thepetition .

    The Cultural Pce of Dongwu City was situated next to Renmin Road, on the main line . There was arge square inside, which was surrounded by all sorts of rockery, strange stones, flowers, and trees . The environment was undeniably elegant .

    Li Yundong looked around and pointed to a well-positioned registration office . He said with augh, "Found it . It¡¯s over there . "

    Li Yundong led everyone to the registration office . When thedy inside saw theming over, she gave them a friendly smile and said, "Hello, are you going to sign up for thepetition?"

    Li Yundong smiled and nodded . "Yes, we are . "

    The youngdy looked Li Yundong up and down, and then did the same at Su Chan, Zhou Qin, and Ruan Hongling behind him . She was inwardly amazed by them . She asked, "Would you like to participate in thepetition as individuals, or as apany?"

    "What¡¯s the difference?" Li Yundong asked .

    The youngdy smiled and said, "There¡¯s no much difference . If one takes part in thepetition, they will lose out to thepany . At that time, the organizer will present a souvenir for the person who didn¡¯t get a ce in thepetition, but thepany won¡¯t get such a boon . "

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "I see . We are going to participate in thepetition as individuals . "

    The youngdy asked again, "Then may I ask which of you is going to sign up?"

    Zi Yuan said lightly, "That¡¯d be me . "

    The youngdy looked at Zi Yuan carefully and was secretly shocked by her ethereal temperament . She thought to herself, "The appearance of the person who performs the tea art is not the most important factor . What matters is their temperament . A person with a good temperament can obviously earn a lot of brownie points in thepetition . I don¡¯t know what the tea art of this beautifuldy is like . "

    Thedy wrote down Zi Yuan¡¯s name and asked, "What tea will you use in thepetition?"

    "The Huangshan Maofeng!" Zi Yuan replied .

    The youngdy was shocked . "Huangshan Maofeng? Can I have a look?"

    Zi Yuan replied indifferently, "When ites to this kind of supreme Huangshan Maofeng Tea, I open the jar for even a second, it will lose some of its divine aura . I won¡¯t open it until the match begins . "

    With this, Zi Yuan nced at the youngdy . "What, you don¡¯t believe me?"

    The youngdy was so thoroughly stunned by Zi Yuan¡¯s temperament and self-confidence that she could not say anything . She could only mechanically write the words "Huangshan Maofeng" on the form . After asking a few more questions about Zi Yuan, she turned her head and said to a waiter next to her and said, "Go and tell the boss that there is a Master here . "

    After a while, Zheng Youming came out with a seductive-looking woman in his arms . He shouted brashly, "A master? Where is this master?"

    Immediately, a waiter quietly pointed to Li Yundong et al . Zheng Youming looked over but didn¡¯t see Zi Yuan at first nce . Instead, what drew his attention was Li Yundong!

    Seeing Li Yundong, Zheng Youming became so scared that his legs trembled, and he almost copsed to the ground .

    Since the copse of Zheng Youming¡¯s buildingst time, Zheng Youming had spent a lot of money to get out of it . After that, he had made up his mind and decided that Li Yundong, the jinx, had brought him bad luck .

    "The first time I saw Li Yundong, this useless brat, my beautiful mistress left me, and the second time I saw Li Yundong, my building actually copsed!

    "F*ck, I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m actually seeing this jinx again!"

    What was even more hateful was that Li Yundong had teamed up with others this time just to bring trouble to him! Did he think that he was raiding a dungeon in some online game?!

 Chapter 310

    Chapter 310

    <h4>Snatching Food From the Tiger¡¯s Mouth!</h4>

    Zheng Youming¡¯s heart trembled when he saw Li Yundong, especially when he saw that Zi Yuan was participating in thepetition . He couldn¡¯t helpparing her to the beauty in his arms .

    The girl in his arms could be considered a rare beauty . Moreover, though she was ady in the streets, she was a freak under the sheets . What was even more valuable was that her tea skills were extremely exquisite and could be said to be excellent both in terms of beauty and art . Otherwise, he would not have been willing to give away so much to arrange such an activity . On the one hand, it was to advertise his tea leaves, and on the other hand, he wanted to promote the beauty in his arms .

    But now,pared with the beauty in front of him, Zheng Youming suddenly felt that the woman he was embracing was not a phoenix, but a local chicken!

    "It¡¯s true that whenparing people, the inferior ones have to die . Whenparing goods, the inferior ones have to be done away with!"

    Zheng Youming suddenly felt very upset . He whispered to a staff member next to him, and the staff member nodded . He then walked over to thedy at the registration desk and took out thepetition materials of Li Yundong and hispanions .

    When Zheng Youming saw it, he was shocked again . "The highest grade Yellow Mountain Maofeng?"

    The beautiful woman next to him craned her neck to get a look at it . She was also surprised . "That¡¯s a really good tea! I¡¯m afraid that your Tie Guanyin won¡¯t be able to beat it!"

    Zheng Youming nced at her and said, "If my tea can¡¯t win over that tea, can you, a teady, win over her?"

    As he spoke, he hinted at Zi Yuan with his eyes .

    The beautiful woman nced at Zi Yuan and snorted sourly . "You like her? Then why are you still hanging around with me?"

    As she spoke, she prepared to break free from his embrace and leave .

    Zheng Youming quickly smiled and said, "Oh, don¡¯t be angry . You know that there¡¯s only room for you in my heart . "

    The girl¡¯s anger turned to joy and she said, "You men love the new and hate the old . Humph, I know this well! I don¡¯t care . You have to guarantee that I will win first ce, otherwise, I will not let you get away with it . "

    Zheng Youming smiled bitterly in his heart . "Oh my god, don¡¯t you see that these guys are determined to win? He has already taken out the best Yellow Mountain Maofeng . If the strength of both sides is too disparate, and the onlookers are not blind, won¡¯t the audience curse me to death if I brazenly manipte the game? I¡¯m going to get myself into trouble . Do you think you¡¯ll be able to get off the hook and have a good life? In the end, you¡¯ll be in trouble just like me, won¡¯t you?"

    The teady cast a few nces at Zi Yuan . Even though she didn¡¯t know much about Zi Yuan¡¯s skills, she was deeply worried just from looking at her otherworldly temperament . "Her temperament isn¡¯t something that can be faked . If she didn¡¯t have any ability, she wouldn¡¯t have dared toe here . I¡¯m afraid she has some realpetence . "

    The teady looked worried . "What should we do? Are you going to let others steal the win from us?"

    Zheng Youming snorted and said, "How could I allow the fertilizer to flow into an outsider¡¯s field? I¡¯ll handle this! This b*stard always messes up my n . How can I let him seed this time?"

    He called to a staff member next to him and whispered in his ear . The staff nodded and walked into the arena . After a while, a man and a woman came out of the club .

    The man was about forty or fifty years old . He was dressed in a sharp suit and smart leather shoes, looking energetic and extraordinary . The woman seemed to be in her twenties . Although she was in-looking, her eyes were sharp, and her eyebrows expressed her arrogance .

    Zheng Youming smiled when he saw them . He shook hands with the middle-aged man and said, "Manager Zhong, I might need your help this time . "

    Manager Zhong smiled slightly and said, "Come now, you are being too polite . We will work together often in the future! If you need anything, just let me know . "

    Zheng Youming said with a smile, "Just now, there was a contestant who had greatpetence and brought the best Yellow Mountain Mao Feng tea . . . "

    Before he could even finish his words, Manager Zhongughed and said, "The best Yellow Mountain Maofeng? Haha, Manager Zheng, congrattions! Your advertisement has worked well . It seems that even a real tea merchant has been attracted . Are you worried about this? But I remember that you have a lot of treasured Taiping Monkey King . You are the king of tea . You surely don¡¯t even need my help!"

    Zheng Youming waved his hand with a bitter smile . "No matter how good the tea leaves are, they need to be handled by an expert . Manager Zhong, don¡¯t make fun of me! Take a look yourself . . . " He then pointed to Zi Yuan not far away .

    Manager Zhong¡¯s expression immediately changed when his gaze fell upon her . He quickly exchanged a nce with the femalepanion next to him . The woman also looked at him in surprise, as if she couldn¡¯t believe her eyes .

    "What is it? You know her?" Zheng Youming saw their reactions and asked in a hurry .

    Manager Zhong chuckled and said, "We do have some connections . What do you mean by this, Manager Zheng?"

    Zheng Youming tentatively asked, "Manager Zhong, since you and her are old acquaintances, why don¡¯t you persuade her to withdraw from thepetition?"

    "Well . . . " Manager Zhong pondered for a while . After that, he said, "Alright . I will give it a try! However, this woman is not as simple as she may appear . I am not sure if I can do it . "

    Zheng Youming smiled and said, "Where there¡¯s a will, there¡¯s a way . Since we¡¯re friends, this way we won¡¯t have to damage our friendship . "

    Manager Zhong smiled slightly and walked over to Zi Yuan and the others . Once he was close, he greeted them and said, "The Spiritual Master of Zi Yuan from the Ling Pce of the Zhengyi Sect has actuallye to this small teapetition . This is really rare . "

    "Zhong Qingsong, the master of the Yellow Mountain Pine Valley Cottage? Why are you here?" The Zi Yuan turned around and looked at the woman next to Zhong Qingsong . "Could it be that you¡¯re also here to participate in thepetition?"

    Zhong Qingsong chuckled . "I¡¯m just the organizer¡¯s partner . Why is The Spiritual Master of Zi Yuan in the mood to participate in such a smallpetition?"

    Having said that, he then looked at Li Yundong and asked, "Who is this?"

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly and replied, "This is Li Yundong, the current leader of the Fox Buddhist Sect . This is my Junior Sister, Ruan Hongling . This is Su Chan from the Fox Buddhist Sect, and this is Li Yundong¡¯s chief disciple, Zhou Qin . "

    As Zhong Qingsong listened to her calmly introducing Li Yundong, he couldn¡¯t help feeling shocked and stunned . What surprised him was the fact that there had recently been a rumor circting in the Cultivation World that the Six Sects had forced them to return to Tianyuan Mountain without aplishing anything . He hadn¡¯t expected that this person would end up in front of him . He was shocked to find that the lofty and arrogant Zi Yuan was colluding with the master of the Fox Buddhist Sect!

    Zhong Qingsong subconsciously looked at Li Yundong . He saw that the boy in front of him had a calm face . The corners of his mouth were slightly raised into a subtle smile . He had an extraordinary bearing and his eyes were shining, the light in them bottomless .

    He was astounded and thought to himself, "He seems to be a capable man, but unfortunately, he hasn¡¯t gone down the right path!"

    Zhong Qingsong and the young woman next to him were looking at Li Yundong . The woman saw that there were no ordinary mortals around, so she asked directly, "Are you Li Yundong?"

    Li Yundong was neither humble nor arrogant in his response, simply nodding and saying, "Yes . "

    The young woman looked at Su Chan next to her and then at Zhou Qin . She secretly thought that Zhou Qin was a pervert and a ve to his own lust . She curled her lips and said, "It¡¯s said that you have amazing magical powers and excellent fighting skills . You even forced the six sects to retreat from their siege . . . "

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and said humbly, "I was just lucky . "

    The young woman snorted . "I know you are lucky because I wasn¡¯t there . If I had been, it wouldn¡¯t have been your turn to do it . "

    As soon as she finished speaking, Su Chan retorted, "That¡¯s right . You must have known that something was going on beforehand, hence why you purposely waited instead of going . Then, when everything had settled down, you were free to jump out and spout big talk!"

    Ruan Hongling also felt anger in her heart . "Where did this guye from? He¡¯s like some giant toad yawning . What a big mouth! Where does she put my sister, Zi Yuan, with his words?"

    Ruan Hongling couldn¡¯t help mocking her . "Anyone can talk . I just wonder if she has any real skills . "

    The young woman nced at them arrogantly and said in a tone dripping with disdain, "How dare a three-tailed Demon Fox, a little cultivator who hasn¡¯t even cultivated the Yang Qi, be so arrogant?"

    Su Chan and Ruan Hongling were both infuriated by thisment . Just as they were about to speak, Li Yundong stopped them and winked at them . Zhong Qingsong also turned his head and shouted in a low voice, "Qing¡¯er!"

    The young woman named Qing¡¯er harrumphed and turned her head away, raising her nose in the air with a look of abject haughtiness on her face .

    Zhong Qingsong smiled at Zi Yuan . "He¡¯s my disciple . He¡¯s gotten used to me spoiling him and grown a little arrogant . Please excuse him . "

    Zi Yuan faintly smiled and said, "No big deal . It¡¯s normal for young people to be proud and arrogant . "

    Qing¡¯er nced at her and suddenly asked, "Are you old? Why are you talking like you¡¯re some old woman?"

    Li Yundong noticed that the young woman was talking impudently and seemed to have no understanding of basic etiquette at all . He frowned and said without waiting for Zi Yuan to speak, "Perfected Immortal Zhong, do you have something to say? If there¡¯s nothing else to discuss, we¡¯ll take our leave . "

    Zhong Qingsong saw that the other women in their group, including Zi Yuan, were all following Li Yundong¡¯s lead . As soon as he opened his mouth, the others fell silent . Zhong Qingsong couldn¡¯t help feeling sincere amazement in his heart .

    He nced at Li Yundong, then turned his head and said to Zi Yuan with a smile, "Alright, I won¡¯t lie in front of The Perfected Immortal . I have heard that Perfected Immortal Zi Yuan has also participated in this tea ceremony . I came to ask for some respect and hope that Perfected Immortal Zi Yuan will show a little humility for me . "

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "If it¡¯s convenient, I will help you since we serve the same Tao . "

    Zhong Qingsong returned her smile and replied, "That would be great . If Perfected Immortal Zi Yuan could withdraw from thepetition, I¡¯d owe you a favor . "

    As he finished speaking, Su Chan and Ruan Hongling¡¯s faces immediately changed, and Li Yundong and Zhou Qin looked furious . Zi Yuan also frowned slightly and asked, "Why should I withdraw from thepetition?"

    Zhong Qingsong smiled and said, "Because the organizer this time happens to be my partner . In order not to hurt everyone¡¯s friendship, I think it would be better for Zhenren Zi Yuan to willingly withdraw from thepetition . "

    His words were polite, but there was a hint of threat in them that indicated that this was more than a mild request .

    The look on Zi Yuan¡¯s face was as deep as water . She did not speak, only diverted her eyesight at Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong snorted in his heart and said, "What Zhenren Zhong means is that you have already intervened in this matter and this is what you¡¯re really after . Can¡¯t others point it out?"

    Zhong Qingsong smiled politely, then opened his mouth and said, "You¡¯re too serious, Zhenren Li . However, that¡¯s indeed what I mean . "

    Li Yundong had been nning the matter in front of him for a long time . Now that he was so close, how could he give in? Heughed and said angrily, "Then if you were to get involved in everything, all the people in the world would no longer have the right to live?"

    Zhong Qingsong¡¯s expression frosted over as he looked at Zi Yuan . "Zhenren Zi Yuan, what do you think?" The meaning behind his words was: I¡¯m asking Zi Yuan, and you, Li Yundong, should stop interfering and just leave it to me .

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "What Zhenren Li thinks is what I think . "

    Zhong Qingsong¡¯s face changed, and Qing¡¯er, who was standing to one side, sneered . "Master, what¡¯s there to talk about with this self-abased woman? Just let her participate in thepetition, and I¡¯ll participate in it too . I¡¯d like to see what Zhenren Zi Yuan can really do!"

    Ruan Hongling couldn¡¯t help saying angrily, "Watch your mouth!"

    Qing¡¯er snorted and said, "What? You can do it, but I can¡¯t say it? Is there anyone in the cultivation world that doesn¡¯t know that Zhenren Zi Yuan is willing to abandon herself and hang out with the people of the Fox Buddhist Sect? The six major sects are now in an uproar . They feel that they were deceived and are discussing making trouble with you! Look, Zhenren Zi Yuan, if you have time to join in the fun, you¡¯d better think of a way to protect yourself first!"

    With that said, she nced at Li Yundong again with a look of pure disdain . "As for you, since you¡¯re so greedy and lustful, why don¡¯t you just take your mistress off to a cave and stay in there for the rest of your miserable life? What are you loitering around here for? Do you really think that you¡¯re an invincible Great Cultivator in this world?"

    Qing¡¯er¡¯s words made Li Yundong silently furious in his heart . But at this time, in public, he knew that he couldn¡¯t lose his temper . His face was indifferent, showing no trace of his inner emotion . He made a gesture to stop Ruan Hongling and Su Chan, who were about to start spewing profanity . Without looking at Qing¡¯er, he said coldly to Zhong Qingsong, "Go and tell your host friend that I will take the two million yuan from him! Even if it¡¯s a piece of meat in a tiger¡¯s mouth . I, Li Yundong, will take it this time!"

    After that, he turned around and strode away!

    As soon as Li Yundong left, Zhou Qin immediately turned around and left with Li Yundong . Su Chan and Ruan Hongling shot a re at Zhong Qingsong and Qing¡¯er at the same time, then turned to chase after Li Yundong .

    Zi Yuan opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but in the end she just sighed helplessly and followed them .

    Zhong Qingsong looked helplessly at Qing¡¯er beside him and said, "You really can¡¯t control your mouth . If I had known earlier, I wouldn¡¯t have brought you here . Now, I¡¯ve offended the cultivators of two sects!"

    Qing¡¯er snorted and said, "It¡¯s not a big deal . I¡¯ve been learning tea skills from my master since I was a child . It¡¯s an ancestral skill . Why should I be afraid of her! What¡¯s more, now the Zhengyi sect has sealed off the Spiritual Pce . The news of this matter has spread all over the world . Zi Yuan is now a stray dog . What¡¯s there to be afraid of? As for Li Yundong, he¡¯s just some scummy lecher . Nothing to be proud of there!"

    Although Zhong Qingsong was scolding Qing¡¯er verbally, in his heart, he felt that Qing¡¯er was right . After saying a few words, he did not pursue the matter seriously anymore .

    After Li Yundong and the others left the workers¡¯ Cultural Pce furiously, Ruan Hongling and Su Chan, the two little girls, couldn¡¯t bear it anymore . They shouted at each other, "You b*stard, you are so uneducated!"

    Su Chan was so angry that her cheeks puffed up . "I¡¯mpletely livid . Yundong, you have to teach her a good lesson!"

    Li Yundong snorted, "She is a female cultivator . How can I teach her a lesson? If she wins, I will be disgraced, and if she loses, people will say that I bullied her!"

    Beside him, Zi Yuan sighed and said, "Actually . . . we can make a concession . "

    Li Yundong turned his head and said angrily, "A concession? How far are we going topromise? If I can make it today, then I will make it tomorrow! Without a diamond drill, I don¡¯t need to take this porcin job . Since they are daring to host this tournament, they should also be mentally prepared to be kicked out! I want to see what skills this woman who speaks louder than heaven has! If you don¡¯t want to participate in thepetition, I won¡¯t stop you . You can teach me the tea skills, and I will participate in thepetition instead!"

    Zi Yuan sighed . "Look at how angry you are . How can you cultivate to such a level? You¡¯re truly abnormal!"

    Li Yundongughed before saying angrily, "I, Li Yundong, only pay attention to the four words of cultivation: mental state, no impedement! I don¡¯t think I¡¯m a person who makes trouble . I don¡¯t take the initiative to bully others, but if others take the initiative to bully me, they won¡¯te to a good end! Zi Yuan, I think you are too modest, making others think that you are weak and easy to bully . After seeing your sect degenerate like this, everyone is walking all over you! I¡¯m ticked off just watching it, how can you bear it?"

    Ruan Hongling, who was standing to one side, felt like a soulmate to him . She nodded forcefully and said loudly, "Li Yundong, you finally said something worthwhile today!"

    Li Yundong red at her and was so annoyed that he burst outughing . He scolded, "I¡¯m not sure your words are even human speech!"

    After being lectured by Li Yundong, not only did she no longer feel furious, she even felt a strange sensation in her heart . She smiled helplessly and said, "You¡¯re really overbearing . "

    Li Yundongughed loudly and said, "Overbearing? Didn¡¯t you hear me just now? The more modest you are, the more others will think you are weak and easy to bully! External Alchemy is involved with the Chinese medicine business, so they won¡¯t allow others to point fingers at them . This so-called Pine Valley Cottage of Mount Huangshan actually wants us to withdraw from thepetition simply because they run a little tea business? Are you kidding me? They want to leave us with no road to go down? Well, then I¡¯ll take all their roads and make them all have no way to go!"

 Chapter 311

    Chapter 311

    <h4>Hidden Rules are everywhere!</h4>

    Li Yundong¡¯s words had feeling Zi Yuan a little absent-minded for a while . Ever since she had seen the shadow of her master on this boy, she had been subconsciously chasing after the figure of her master . However, it now seemed that he and her master were really two different people .

    Her master was modest and calm, with a broader mind that enabled him to exercise self-restraint . However, the boy in front of her seemed to have trouble calming himself, hating evil as his enemy .

    Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes were filled with confusion . Seeing her like this, Li Yundong sensed that she no longer wanted to participate in the tournament . He said, "Zi Yuan, I know that you have difficulties . If you don¡¯t want to participate anymore, I won¡¯t force you . . . "

    When Zi Yuan heard this, it was as though she had just been awoken from a dream . She said with augh, "Who said that I didn¡¯t want to?"

    Li Yundong was stunned for a moment, then he was exhrated and chuckled spontaneously . "Are you willing?"

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly . "The art of tea is not something that can be learned in just a few days . Moreover, a man like you running up and performing the art of tea certainly wouldn¡¯t be delightful to watch . "

    Li Yundongughed appreciatively . "Well, I won¡¯t need to show up if you are willing to do it . "

    Although Su Chan and Ruan Hongling weren¡¯t going topete, they shared the same feeling of hatred at that moment . When they saw Zi Yuan agree to fight, they were overjoyed . Even Zhou Qin, whose face had been as cold as frost a moment earlier, couldn¡¯t help but smile .

    A few dayster, the first Chinese tea culture challenge tournament started at the workers¡¯ cultural square in Dongwu City . When Li Yundong and the others arrived to the square in groups, they saw that it was decorated with lights and streamers and that the crowds were immense .

    Reporters with camcorders and cameras were everywhere, snapping photos of sexy waitresses and elegant teadies . Many reels of film were being used up at this moment .

    Li Yundong was a little surprised . "Howe there are so many people here?"

    Su Chan was such a natural extrovert that when she saw the boisterous scene, she felt nothing but excitement . She cheered and pped her hands as she said, "It¡¯s so lively! Yundong, when will we go on stage?"

    Li Yundong looked around and saw that there were many sponsors participating in thepetition . There were beautiful, refineddies holding all kinds of tea leaves and the signs of sponsors . Those who took part in thepetition under their own private identities like them could find nothing inmon with the otherpetitors .

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "I don¡¯t know . There should be a drawter, right?"

    Zhou Qin looked around and said in a deep voice, "There¡¯s a lot of famous tea here . Look over there . There is West Lake Longjing, which is known as the first of the top ten teas in China . There is also the Dongting Biluochun, also known as ¡¯Scared of a Man¡¯s Fragrance¡¯ . Next to it is Junshan Silver Needles, which is also known as ¡¯Golden-Iid Jade¡¯ . Next to the Silver Needles is Yunpu tea, which is known as ¡¯tasteful antique tea¡¯ . . . "

    Zhou Qin listed them one by one . Suddenly, her expression changed and she whispered in shock, "Li Yundong, look!"

    Li Yundong looked in the direction she was pointing and saw that Qing¡¯er, the proud disciple of Zhong Qingsong, as arrogant as could be, was also participating in thepetition . Although they were cultivators of the Pine Valley Cottage of Mount Huangshan, they hadn¡¯t chosen to use the tea leaves of Mount Huangshan, but the Da Hong Pao of Wuyi!

    Li Yundong was rather ignorant about the world of tea, and thus was forced to ask, "Why have they chosen this?"

    It was Su Chan who answered him with a smile, "This is the best of teas, even more luxurious than the Yellow Mountain Maofeng! I heard my master say that such a top-grade red robe can be sold for more than a hundred thousand yuan with twenty grams of tea!"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t contain his amazement . "What? Wouldn¡¯t it cost more than a hundred thousand yuan just to drink a sip of tea?"

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "Tea culture has a long history . There are both high-end and low-end tea leaves . Anyone can afford low-end tea leaves, but high-end tea leaves are only enjoyed by the rich . Now there are only four red-robed tea trees on the steep cliff of the Nine-dragons Cave . Tea leaves as scarce as those are naturally as expensive as can be!"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but exim, "Christ! As a cultivator, I can¡¯t even raise my own disciples, but this bunch of people can actually drink a hundred thousand yuan in a single sip of tea? What is the worlding to!"

    Su Chan pulled on Li Yundong¡¯s hand and said with a smile, "I believe you will make a lot of money in the future . I will enjoy all the pleasure in the world with you!"

    Li Yundongughed and patted the little girl¡¯s forehead affectionately . "Okay, I¡¯ll consider your words to be my lucky charm! But you¡¯ll have to eat less . With your appetite, even if I had a mountain of gold, I¡¯d still eventually run out of cash!"

    Su Chan pouted and said with a sulky face, "You can¡¯t talk about me before you make enough money . I hate you! I¡¯m not fat . . . "

    Her innocent demeanor made both Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin smile . Li Yundong onlyughed harder and rubbed her cheek .

    They were a group made up of one man and four women . The man was handsome and the women were beautiful, and they all had different temperaments . They immediately attracted a lot of people¡¯s attention . Many reporters and tourists were taking photos of them with their mobile phones and cameras .

    Li Yundong and the others were talking andughing happily when they suddenly heard a surprising voiceing from one side of them . "Beauty, I¡¯ve found you again!"

    Li Yundong and the others turned and saw a handsome young man shouting at Su Chan with a look of pure ecstasy on his face .

    Li Yundong took a closer look . "Gee, isn¡¯t this the rich second-generation fool who chased after Su Chan and was teased by me in Shantang Street? Why is this guy here? Wait, there is a girl standing next to him . She looks familiar too!"

    Su Chan, who was standing to one side, frowned and tugged on Li Yundong¡¯s sleeve . "I¡¯ve met this guy twice now . He¡¯s so annoying . Why is he everywhere?"

    Li Yundong nced at Shen You, and then his gaze fell to the girl next to him . She was curiously taking pictures of her surroundings with the single reverse camera in her hand . When she turned her face, Li Yundong was suddenly shocked . "Isn¡¯t this Shen Hui, the woman with a child¡¯s face and huge breasts?"

    Shen Hui turned and also immediately saw Li Yundong, shock filling her heart . "Why are you here?"

    Shen You, who was next to her, nced at Shen Hui and moved in front of her . She asked curiously, "Sister, do you know this guy?"

    Shen Hui snorted . Seeing Shen Youing over, she looked at him with an expression of disgust and quietly inched away from him . She sneered and said, "Of course I know him . We¡¯re old acquaintances . " As she said that, she cast a malicious look at Li Yundong and shed him a fake smile .

    Shen Hui cast her eyes over the beauties next to Li Yundong before sneering and saying, "By the way, what are you doing here instead of staying in Tiannan City? Don¡¯t tell me that you are also here to participate in thepetition?"

    Li Yundong remembered what had happenedst time and felt a little embarrassment in his heart . He coughed and said, "What, you won¡¯t allow me to?"

    Shen Huiughed and said, "Why wouldn¡¯t I? However, if you¡¯re really here to participate in thepetition, I¡¯ll give you a chance . If you¡¯ll bend down and wipe my shoes clean in front of all of these people, I¡¯ll guarantee that you¡¯ll win the championship . If you don¡¯t agree, I¡¯ll grind your reputation into the dirt!"

    Li Yundong was so proud that he couldn¡¯t endure a girl with a temper such as this . He immediately pulled a long face and said with a sour smile, "Why don¡¯t you kneel down and kowtow to me three times in front of these people? Then I¡¯ll take you as my disciple instead of spanking you . Otherwise, I¡¯ll strip off your clothes and p your butt . What do you think?"

    Shen Hui¡¯s face immediately turned pale, and she trembled with unbridled rage . "Li Yundong, don¡¯t be arrogant!"

    Li Yundong sneered and said, "It seems that I am not the one being arrogant here!"

    Shen You, who was standing to one side, rolled her eyes and asked Shen Hui in a low voice, "Sister, did this guy offend you before or something?"

    Shen Hui red at him . "It¡¯s none of your business!"

    Shen You didn¡¯t take her too seriously . His favorite thing was making trouble for Li Yundong . It would be better to make this guy depressed so that he could win his love over more easily!

    Shen You smiled and affected a noble air . He raised his chin and said to Li Yundong, "Hey, I suggest you go back quickly . Don¡¯t participate in thispetition . "

    Ruan Hongling, who had been pressed by Zi Yuan, couldn¡¯t stand it anymore . She jumped up and shouted, "You two are simply shameless . Don¡¯t show off here . Don¡¯t you have some great father? Get out, get out of here . Without your dad, you¡¯re nothing . "

    Surprisingly, Su Chan agreed . She nodded hard and pulled a face at Shen You .

    Shen You was startled, but when he saw Ruan Hongling¡¯s furious expression, he began to feel that the girl was still interesting even when she was angry . Especially when Su Chan, who was standing to one side, made a funny face . The cute look made him feel strangely itchy .

    In the face of her beauty, Shen You was dazzled for a moment . He could not walk any further and turned into an anthomaniac .

    Shen Hui, who was watching from the side, felt a wave of nausea wash over her . She red at Li Yundong fiercely, but just as she was about to leave, she saw a familiar figureing over . She was immediately delighted and greeted him . "Dad!"

    Speak of the devil, he had reallye!

    Li Yundong and the others all shifted their attention, only to see Shen Hui, like a little bird, throwing herself into the arms of an old man in his sixties . This old man had long hair and was dressed in a sharp suit and leather shoes . He was slightly rotund, but his eyes were still sharp and bright .

    Zhou Qin frowned and whispered in Li Yundong¡¯s ear, "This is Shen Wancai, the boss of the Wancai Group in Tiannan City . He is a big shot in Tiannan City . I don¡¯t know why he¡¯s here in Dongwu City . Maybe he is doing business?"

    While they were busy specting, they saw Shen You, Shen Hui, and several bodyguards surrounding Shen Wancai as they walked to the ring . Shen Wancai greeted the host, Zheng Youming, and the others in the ring, and then sat straight down in the referee¡¯s seat .

    When Li Yundong saw this, he immediately took a deep breath . "No way! He is the referee?"

    Zhou Qin frowned . "No wonder Shen Hui was spouting nonsense . It turns out that she already knew Shen Wancai was the referee . Well, with Shen Wancai¡¯s influence, his score will directly affect the other referees . The others will probably not dare to offend him . "

    Su Chan looked worried . "You think so? Then we¡¯ll be in trouble, won¡¯t we?"

    Ruan Hongling was so angry that her face had been drained of color . "What the hell is this! A group of well-dressed guys may look morous, but their backs are covered with dirt! Bah! I¡¯ll tell everyone what¡¯s really going on!"

    Zi Yuan quickly grabbed hold of her and shouted, "Nonsense! Do you have any evidence? Thepetition hasn¡¯t even begun yet and you¡¯re already making a scene!"

    Zhou Qin also said urgently in a low voice, "What should we do now? Fight or retreat? Make a decision now!"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help hesitating for a moment . He had never thought that he would encounter so much resistance by attending a simple teapetition . He was having to deal with the dual hidden rules before the start of thepetition, plus the double threats of the hosts and judges all at the same time .

    No matter how determined Li Yundong was, he couldn¡¯t help feeling a little nervous and grimacing internally . But just as he was hesitating, he nced into the ring and saw Shen Hui looking at him with a defiant look, as if she was saying, "Get out of here, or you¡¯ll be embarrassed!"

    Next to her, Shen You¡¯sscivious eyes kept roaming over Su Chan¡¯s body .

    This time, Li Yundong was truly irritated . His face went as dark as water, and he said tly, "I once said that we cultivators should have spirit . We know that there is a tiger in the mountain, and we will march to the side of the mountain . If we retreat because of such a small thing, then what use has all of our cultivation been? We should just go home and do some kids¡¯ stuff!"

 Chapter 312

    Chapter 312

    <h4>Phoenix Nodding Heads Three Times</h4>

    Li Yundong¡¯s decisive remarks immediately refreshed the people around him, and Zi Yuan nodded . ¡°Yes, cultivators like us should be fearless in the face of danger and difficulty! Man proposes, God disposes . Having participated in thepetition, we should have all have clear consciences . "

    Zhou Qin was calm and had fallen into deep in thought . There wasn¡¯t any sign of either happiness or anger on her face at that moment . She muttered for a while and said, "Since you are taking part in thepetition, you should pay special attention to the opponents: West Lake Longjing, Taiping Monkey King, and Wuyi Da Hong Pao . Thesepetitors are very difficult to deal with as both their tea and Tea Waitress are excellent .

    Ruan Hongling blindly believed Zi Yuan and said, "This is apetition of tea art, not tea . If the one whose tea is better is going to win, why are they even bothering hosting such apetition? They should just open an auction . Am I right, Sister Zi Yuan?"

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly but didn¡¯t express any opinion .

    Su Chan didn¡¯t join in on the conversation and just looked at them . She was a little unhappy about the fact that she couldn¡¯t help .

    Li Yundong did not pay any attention to the little girl . He said to Zi Yuan, "When you go on stage, you should pay attention to your surroundings . Harbor no ill intention against others, but never let down your guard against evil-doers . Watch out for anyone getting up to dirty tricks with the instruments . "

    Zi Yuan knew what to do and said with a smile, "Of course . Don¡¯t worry . "

    They said a few words in private, and before long, the host of the tea culture and art arena took to the stage .

    At this time, the square of the Pce of Culture was full of people . Not only were there arge number of reporters from media outlets, there were also many business people . However, the majority of them were ghosts who hade to see beautiful women from nearby .

    After the host gave some perfunctory opening remarks on stage, he invited the organizer Zheng Youming to give a speech . Zheng Youming still maintained an authentic temperament of an upstart . Once on stage, his shiny golden ne, bracelet and ring all made the audience marvel .

    After reading his opening speech, Zheng Youming introduced several of the judges presiding over thepetition . Li Yudong saw them sitting in their chairs along with writers, hosts from well-known media, business tycoons and even fashion models .

    Li Yundongughed and whispered, "What kind of judges are they? Do they think just anyone can judge? Do they even know the art of tea?"

    "I have no idea about the others, but Shen Wancai definitely does," Zhou said . "As far as I know, he often attends auctions of rare tea . He bought Taiping Monkey King at a high price just a few days ago . "

    Li Yundong said with augh, "Good! The only one who knows about tea is our enemy . Perfect! "

    Li joked to himself . Delegates went on stage to draw numbers, and when it was Zi Yuan¡¯s turn, her beauty and elegance caused an uproar in the audience .

    Other manufacturers and Tea Waitresses regarded Zi Yuan as a great enemy . Ruan Hongling smiledcently as she said, "The eyes of the masses are bright!"

    Li Yundong chuckled . After Zi Yuan had stepped onto the stage, he looked at the arrangement and suddenly asked, "Umm, is Zi Yuan thest one? Then she¡¯s the grand finale!"

    Zhou Qin suddenly sneered . "This is the worst position . The most important factor in being able to taste tea is freshness . Naturally, the first contestant has the greatest advantage because the judges who taste the tea at that time will have clean mouths . They can taste the aroma of the tea, and the score will be higher . However, as time goes by, their tastebuds will be more and more tired and the scores will lower . "

    Ruan Hongling said angrily, "That¡¯s shameless! This has got to be rigged!"

    Li Yundong frowned, but when he looked at the ranking above, he saw that Qing¡¯er, who had used Wuyi Dahongpao to participate in thepetition, was unexpectedly ranked just ahead of Zi Yuan, second from the bottom . He said, "Look, Qing¡¯er from Pine Valley Cottage is ranked In front of Zi Yuan . Isn¡¯t she afraid that the referees won¡¯t give high scores because of taste fatigue?"

    Zhou Qin shook her head and said, "Wuyi Dahongpao is the champion of tea . It has a strong and mellow taste and cannot be reced by other teas . Maybe this is their trick . The extreme fragrance of Wuyi Dahongpao will exhaust the taste buds of the judges . Furthermore, Zhenren Zi Yuan¡¯s Huangshan Maofeng has a weak smell and so she¡¯ll naturally be in an unfavourable situation . "

    Hearing this, Li Yundong, Su Chan and Ruan Hongling all shouted in unison that the sponsor was despicable .

    In contrast, Zi Yuan was more open-minded . She smiled and said, "It doesn¡¯t matter . Real tea skills can¡¯t be obscured by such tricks . "

    When Li Yundong and the others saw that Zi Yuan was brimming with confidence, they also rxed and focused on the tea arena, where the event had already begun .

    They saw a young, beautiful Tea Waitress on the stage . She was wearing an ancient costume in the Gusu style of the Ming Dynasty . Her costume had a round cor button and narrow sleeves . As soon as she got on the stage, she bowed to everyone and looked at them with her bright eyes, immediately causing a burst of cheers .

    Li Yundong raised his head and noticed that the beauty was the Tea Waitress who had been clutching Zheng Youming¡¯s arm before . The Tea Waitress was the first to fight because this was all rigged, so she naturally had a great advantage . She first took her own tea set to the stage and put it on the the long redwood table . Then, she showed the tea set piece by piece to the audience .

    At this time, there was also a special cameraman on the stage . The camera was facing the table . Behind the stage was a huge sma TV screen, allowing the audience under the stage to see the the Tea Waitress performing close-up .

    Li Yundong saw that the Tea Waitress was going to choose to use Taiping Monkey King . He asked, "It¡¯s strange . Doesn¡¯t this Tea Waitress represent Zheng Youming? Isn¡¯t Zheng Youming a Tie Guanyin seller? Why is she using Taiping Monkey King? What kind of tea is this?"

    Zhou Qin was born in a rich family, so she knew a lot about tea culture . She said, "Taiping Monkey King is also a famous Chinese tea, which is simr to the West Lake Longjing Tea, Huangshan Maofeng Tea, and Wuyi Da Hong Pao Tea, which are also the highest-grade teas of the nation . Zheng Youming has the temperament of a nouveau riche and specializes in Tie Guanyin . Although Tie Guanyin is one of the best teas, there is still a gap between it and the Taiping Monkey King, West Lake Longjing, Huangshan Maofeng Tea and Wuyi Da Hong Pao . So, if they don¡¯t want to use inferior leaves, they have to choose Taiping Monkey King for the purposes of thispetition . "

    Next to her, Zi Yuan nodded and said with a smile, "That¡¯s right . Although Taiping Monkey King has not been too popr recently, it¡¯s also a great tea . Especially the mother tea produced by the authentic monkey pit . It¡¯s very expensive, costing no less than Huangshan Maofeng Tea . And you can tell from its name that it¡¯s a good tea since it can be called the King . "

    While they were talking, the Tea Waitress moved elegantly . She gracefully lit a bunch of incense sticks on a censer next to her, her posture wless . "The tea art of Chinese ck tea, green tea, and own goal tea is different . The Taiping Monkey King belongs to the category of green tea . Therefore, ording to the first procedure of green tea art, the first step is to burn incense so as to get rid of impure thoughts," Zhou Qin exined .

    At this time, the Tea Waitress gently began washing every teacup with clear water, and Zhou Qin added, "This is the second step, which is to wash a cup of ice to go to the mortal world . "

    When Zi Yuan heard this, she could not help but nce at Zhou Qin . She then smiled and said, "Are you really this knowledgeable about tea art?"

    Zhou Qin smiled slightly and said, "I don¡¯t study it . I just have some good tribute tea all year round . I used to have some contact with it when I had free time . "

    Zi Yuan chuckled and said to Li Yundong, "You have a good apprentice . "

    Li Yundongughed and waved his hand . "No, no, not at all . "

    While they were talking andughing, they watched the Tea Waitress carry out her performance all the way to the fifth step: moistening the lotus core . She poured several teacups on the square table and made tea with water . At this time, Zhou Qin suddenly said, "The highlight ising!"

    Li Yundong looked at the stage excitedly .

    At this time, people who knew about tea art all looked at the Tea Waitress with their eyes wide open . Zhou Qin exined quickly and softly, "This is the sixth procedure of the green tea art . It is also called phoenix nodding heads three times! It is not only one of the steps of the tea art process, it is also the most important one!"

    Li Yundong saw the Tea Waitress lift the teapot up high and let the water flow straight down . Then, she used the strength of her wrist to lift the teapot up and down and repeated the motion three times so that the tea leaves were turned over in the water .

    At this point, the slow motion broadcast of the Tea Waitress¡¯ s phoenix nodding heads three times appeared on the sma screen . The Tea Waitress¡¯s elbow and wrist were t, and her wrist was soft . The water poured down like a river of silver silk .

    People heard that the sound of water became louder and lower three times . The waterline became thicker and thinner three times . The water flow became higher and lower three times . The phoenix nodding heads three times was surprisingly equivalent to the same sound, the same thickness, the same height . In the end, the yield of tea in these tea bowls was exactly the same, as if they had been carefully calcted .

    At this time, the audience under the stage finally saw the key links clearly and exmations began bursting from the onlookers .

    Zi Yuan also smiled faintly and nodded slightly . "Not bad . She has put in some hard work to get where she is . "

    Although Su Chan and Ruan Hongling despised the despicable behavior of the organizer, they were forced to admit that the Tea Waitress was indeed very good at tea-making . The phoenix nodding heads three times skill she had just used was unique .

    The Tea Waitress also knew that she had performed well . The following performances she did were all smooth and she became more confident . When she finished herst act and went off stage, the audience burst into thunderous apud . The judge who tasted the tea also nodded and praised her .

    Shen Wancai had an expression of admiration on his face as he eximed, "Not bad, good tea, and good tea art!"

    So the first performance was a great sess . The following candidates felt more pressure . Although some of them performed well, no one surpassed the first girl . Some of them even made mistakes because of their nerves, which made the referee frown inwardly .

    After the performances, it was finally time for the appearance of the Wuyi Da Hong Pao, the master of tea . A in-looking but arrogant girl jumped onto the stage like a rocket .

    This arena was 1 . 5 meters high, and ordinary people would be unable to climb it if they were a little weak . However, she hurtled up onto it . All of a sudden, the sleepy audience felt refreshed and cheered enthusiastically .

    For a moment, the host on the stage was a little embarrassed by the neer . He had to say in a hurry, "The next contestant is Lin Xueqing . Wee!"

    Lin Xueqing stood there proudly, and when she opened her mouth, her words amazed those present . "Today, I¡¯ll show you what real tea art is!"

    She was young . As soon as she opened her mouth, there was uproar among the audience . Someone sneered and said, "The kid is so young, but she¡¯s certainly notcking in confidence!"

    The referees had a look of disapproval on their faces . Only Shen Wancai chuckled, "Looks like the hero is emerging from the category of teenagers . "

    When everyone saw that Lin Xueqing was so arrogant, and that the tea leaves she was using were extremely expensive, they stopped making noise for a while and waited to see her make a fool of herself .

    Li Yundong and the others also stared at her with their eyes wide open, while Ruan Hongling and Su Chan kept muttering, constantly cursing the arrogant girl and hoping that she would make a fool of herself .

    Li Yundong saw that Lin Xueqing¡¯s tea art was different from before, so he asked curiously, "She seems different from the others?"

    Zhou Qin said to Li Yundong in a low voice, "This Wuyi Da Hong Pao is an oolong tea . The tea procedure for oolong tea is different from that of green tea . They are prepared for use in a specific way . First, one respectfully wee someone to the seat of honor, burning incense and calming the atmosphere, then improving the temperature of the pot, washing the cups, and putting oolong leaves into the pot like they¡¯re a ck dragon entering its pce . A water flow should pour down to wash the leaves, softly wiping the scum away before the water is shifted into a Gongdao cup . The water should then be distributed into fragrant cups, and then phoenix nodding heads three times can be done . . . "

    Li Yundong asked, "There¡¯s also phoenix nodding heads three times?"

    Zhou Qin said, "Yes, this is an extremely important part of the tea art . Let¡¯s see how she performs . "

    While they were whispering to each other, Lin Xueqing was performing skillfully . However, she had been too arrogant before, so everyone felt it was nothing special . Some of them even booed her loudly .

    However, Lin Xueqing didn¡¯t take the hecklers seriously . She suddenly held the teapot in the palm of her hand and said loudly, "Water heated by ordinary fire will make an ordinary product after all . Watch as I use water that has been boiled with Wu Ming fire to make this tea!"

    She was holding the teapot up high . For a moment, she seemed to freeze and did not move at all .

    Seeing her weird posture, the audience all burst outughing . They all teased her, "Is this your tea art? How ugly andughable!"

    "Wu Ming Fire? I¡¯m filled with the mes of fury . Get off the stage!"

    Just as the crowd was moring, the teapot in Lin Xueqing¡¯s hand suddenly began emitting puffs of white smoke . The white smoke rolled over the arena, forming a phoenix in an instant . It was vivid and dreamlike .

    Everyone was dumbfounded for a moment,pletely speechless .

    Zi Yuan was also shocked and eximed, "Condensed Qi! That¡¯s amazing! She must have cultivated the Yin Qi in her body into pure Yang Qi to be able to control Qi so well . This is the highest Cultivation of the Yang Spirit realm . No wonder she was so arrogant!"

    Lin Xueqing lifted the teapot and with a shake of her wrist, the phoenix that had formed from steam, nodded . Immediately, a stream of hot water gushed out of the mouth of the phoenix, which was also the mouth of the teapot .

    The crowd felt that this water was like the water from the Ninth Heaven falling from the sky, and the water sshed in the tea bowl, creating a puff of steam to correspond with the phoenix, which made it even more dream-like . The sound of the water in the tea bowl was turbulent, reminscent of birds singing .

    Everyone stared nkly as Lin Xueqing shook her wrist three times . The phoenix nodded thrice in turn, and the tea bowl on the tea table was filled to the brim with three bowls of Wu Yi Da Hong Pao!

    Lin Xueqing¡¯s actions shocked the whole audience . Shen Wancai stood up excitedly and said loudly, "I didn¡¯t expect to see the real phoenix nodding heads three times here! Amazing! Hurry up and bring it over . Let me have a taste!"

    Immediately, attendants dressed in Qipaos came up and brought the tea over to the judges . The judges all tasted it and praised it enthusiastically . Even Shen Wancai praised it and said, "Good! Good!! Good!!!"

    At this time, almost everyone reacted, and the sound of raucous cheering shook the sky .

    Ruan Hongling and Su Chan were both shocked and terrified . Li Yundong and Zhou Qin looked at each other with awed expressions . Only the face of Zi Yuan was like cold, but there was a hint of worry to be seen in her eyes . She thought to herself, "Lin Xueqing is performing tea art with her Cultivation . Not only is her tea art exquisite, but her Cultivation is also no worse than mine . Can I really beat her?"

 Chapter 313

    Chapter 313

    <h4>Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea!</h4>

    Lin Xueqing¡¯s dramatic performance not only impressed the audience, but even Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but say in surprise, "Cultivation ability can also be used to perform tea skills?"

    Ruan Hongling looked at Zi Yuan with worry in her eyes . She opened her mouth, but said nothing .

    At that moment, Lin Xueqing on the stage cupped her fist at the audience and then got off the stage . The host then came up and said a few introductory words . Just as she was about to get off the stage, she bumped into the tea table and almost stumbled, making the audience burst outughing .

    She wasn¡¯t intending to, but when she stepped down, the host gave Zheng Youming a look . Zheng Youming immediately understood and nodded .

    This little exchange was supposed to go unseen, but it happened to be noticed by Zhou Qin, who had been staring at the stage . Zhou Qin felt that she had no Cultivation and knew nothing . She couldn¡¯t help Li Yundong, so she had been staring at the stage vigntly . When she saw them winking at each other, she immediately said, "Li Yundong, you need to tell Zi Yuan to be careful . I¡¯m afraid they may have done something to that table . "

    Li Yundong was stunned and blurted, "I know they are shameless, but they can¡¯t be that shameless, can they? To even tamper with the table?"

    He looked at Zi Yuan, who had already arrived at the edge of the stage, and whispered, "There¡¯s no way to warn her now . What should we do?"

    "I¡¯ll do it . I can send a voice transmission to Zi Yuan," Ruan Hongling said .

    She sent a secret message which read: "Sister Zi Yuan, you should be wary of this tea table, I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s something wrong with it . "

    Zi Yuan was startled, but she showed no outward sign of her emotions . She simply nced in the direction of Li Yundong and the others and nodded slightly .

    After the host¡¯s introduction, Zi Yuan picked up her own tea set and teapot and went on stage .

    As soon as the audience beheld her, it was obvious to them that her appearance and temperament was far better than any of the other Tea Waitresses¡¯ . Everyone around the stage suddenly took a breath and was shocked by her amazing beauty . Even the most daring man dared not think any impure thoughts . The boldest were only thinking, "Is it possible that such a beauty with such a unique temperament could exist in this world? What kind of man in this world would be worthy of her?"

    At this time, Zi Yuan was wearing a white dress made with the ssical charm of a Han costume and in a modern style . She was really like a fairy from heavening to the human world, amazing everyone around her .

    Zi Yuan took the te and bowed to the audience, then put the te on the tea table . As soon as the te was put down, the tea table suddenly tilted .

    Fortunately, Zhou Qin had noticed the signs before, and Zi Yuan had been warned . Immediately, the Zhenqi from her body silently poured out and gently held the foot of the tea table . She nced around and saw that someone had done something to the foot of the table . A mechanism had been set up on it . Once someone flipped a switch next to the table, the four corners of the table would immediately be very loose, and go crooked if even only a little thing was ced on it .

    Thanks to Zi Yuan¡¯s quick reaction, the audience did not notice anything strange . They just saw the tea table shake a little and then stabilize again .

    But at this moment, Zhenqi and energy of Zi Yuan were being used in full to support the tea table . It would be difficult for her to calmly perform the tea art under such strain . She immediately sent a voice message to Li Yundong for help . "Li Yundong, this table has indeed been tampered with . The application of even just a little bit of force will make it fall . Your Zhenqi is dense . Hold this table from a distance, and then I will be able to use it . "

    Li Yundong did not know how to use sound transmission, so without saying a word, he immediately stretched his palms in the air and lifted the table from a few meters away .

    With Li Yundong¡¯s powerful and vigorous Yuanyang surging over to assist her, Zi Yuan immediately felt much more at ease . She let out a sigh of relief, withdrew her Zhenqi, and began to focus on performing the tea art .

    Under the stage, Zheng Youming saw that the tea table was as stable as Mount Tai . His eyes suddenly widened and he immediately turned his focus to the host . The host was also stunned and made a gesture, attempting to express her innocence and indicate that she had indeed done as instructed .

    Only Zhong Qingsong, who was next to Zheng Youming, noticed this subtle exchange . He smiled and walked toward Li Yundong . When he got close to him, he secretly controlled his Qi and patted Li Yundong with his palm . He said, "Zhenren Li, why don¡¯t you shake hands with me?"

    Li Yundong was shocked and had to secretly withdraw his Zhenqi . He turned back and held out a palm toward the other party . With a light pping noise, the two of them held each other¡¯s palm, and suddenly they froze on the spot like stone statues .

    Just then, the tea table suddenly lost the support of Li Yundong¡¯s Zhenqi and began to tilt . Zi Yuan responded swiftly . Immediately, the Zhenqi in her body gushed out and held the tea table upright again . At the same time, she sent a voice message to Ruan Hongling, saying, "Hongling, help me, hurry up!"

    Seeing that Zhong Qingsong was making trouble with Li Yundong, Ruan Hongling immediately gritted her teeth . The Zhenqi in her body gushed out and propped up the tea table . However, she did not have enough Zhenqi for the task . She could not hold it up as she was a few meters away . Su Chan, who was standing to one side, noticed that things were not going well and momentarily stopped caring that she and Ruan Hongling did not get along . She immediately mobilized the Zhenqi in his body to help . They worked together to hold up the stage .

    Even the audience who was staring at the tea table didn¡¯t notice anything unusual . Only Lin Xueqing saw Li Yundong and her Master secretlypeting with their Zhenqi . She frowned and walked over, trying to separate the two .

    However, when Li Yundong saw hering over, he assumed that Lin Xueqing also wanted to take advantage of him . The fury in his heart bubbled and he snorted coldly before pping Lin Xueqing with his other hand .

    Lin Xueqing was shocked and immediately punched back . Li Yundong turned over his hand, and his five fingers firmly sped his opponent¡¯s wrist . Not to be outdone, she turned his wrist and her five fingers were like steel wire on his arm . For a moment, Li Yundong held both Lin Xueqing and Zhong Qingsong all by himself .

    Zhong Qingsong saw that when Li Yundong waspeting with his Zhenqi, he still had spare energy to fight another battle and had pulled Lin Xueqing in . He was suddenly shocked and frightened .

    Lin Xueqing¡¯s heart was also palpitating from the shock, but she felt unconvinced . She drove the Pure Yin in her body to attack Li Yundong from both sides together with Zhong Qingsong¡¯s Pure Yang .

    Li Yundong felt that it was as though half of his body was buried in snow, while the other half was being scorched by the sun, giving him a feeling of being assaulted by both ice and fire .

    He took a deep breath and forced the vigorous Jindan¡¯s Qi in his body to split into two parts, attacking both Zhong Qingsong and Lin Xueqing¡¯s bodies . It was as if they were fighting him from both sides, and at the same time, he was fighting with the Zhenqi of the two . For a moment, he was not at a disadvantage .

    The three fought fiercely with Zhenqi . After a while, a white gas rose from Li Yundong¡¯s head . At first, it was like a thread of loose gossamer, but after a while, it soared up and became as thick as a finger . On the other hand, Zhong Qingsong¡¯s face was getting redder and redder, as if he were drunk . Lin Xueqing¡¯s face became paler and paler, like an unmarked sheet of paper .

    After a while, the three were discovered by the audience . The onlookers immediately began to talk about them and whisper to each other, and more and more people turned to look at the three .

    Zi Yuan could see that the white Qi above Li Yundong¡¯s head was growing increasingly vigorous and thick, and that it was condensing and not dispersing . She suddenly had an idea . With one hand holding the teapot, and the other pressing the lid of it down, she said loudly, "Since the previouspetitor, Lin Xueqing, showed the phoenix nodding heads three times, today I¡¯ll let you see the long-lost Eight Immortals crossing the sea!"

    The voice of Zi Yuan was bright and gentle . All of a sudden, it drew the attention of the audience again . They saw that Zi Yuan had suddenly lifted the lid of the pot and made a grasping motion in the air . The Zhenqi gushing out of Li Yundong¡¯s body was grabbed by Zi Yuan .

    The audience saw the white Qi flowing like the glorious and ethereal Milky Way . Zi Yuan¡¯s hand was holding the teapot, and she quickly finished phoenix nodding heads three times . Then, at a speed that made it difficult to see with the naked eye, she used her five fingers as pens . With her fingers flying, she quickly painted on the lingering Qi in the air .

    After a while, her drawing took shape . In it, there was an old man riding a donkey in the air who was holding a wooden stick with a gourd hanging from it . This was all captured by the camera and broadcast to the sma screen . It was Zhang Guo, one of the Eight Immortals, who was riding a donkey!

    At this moment, both the referees on the stage and the audience off the stage were in an uproar . They were so shocked that they couldn¡¯t even control themselves .

    After drawing Zhang Guo, she flicked her wrist and began to draw another character . After a while, they saw a middle-aged man with a bare chest and an iron crutch in his hand . It was Iron Crutch Li!

    At this point, everyone was enraptured by the performance . They saw that the fingers of Zi Yuan instantly drew vivid immortals from the illusory white air . It was like a miracle and she was as elegant as a fairy!

    Following this, Zi Yuan used both hands to draw Han Zhongli Lan Caihe, He Xiangu, Lyu Dongbin, Han Xiangzi, and Uncle Cao one by one . For a time, everyone could see that the eight immortals in the white Qi all had different postures . They flew up to the sky as if they were floating across the sea . It was daytime during all this . When the sun shone over the Qi river, it suddenly reflected light and sent up a rainbow . It was really dazzling .

    At this moment, there was another round of exmations and appreciation from those under the stage, and everyone was stunned .

    After Zi Yuan had finished drawing all of the Eight Immortals, one of her hands suddenly gracefully and gently rolled up her sleeves . The other hand acted like Buddha¡®s hand picking up flowers . With a flick of her finger, she gently took the lifelike Zhang Guo from the long river of white Qi, then turned her wrist and lifted it up to one of the tea bowls in front of the tea tray . Suddenly, Zhang Guo froze on the tea cup and did not dissipate for a while .

    Then, Zi Yuan picked up the other seven immortals and ced them on the teacups one by one, like she was the Queen Mother picking up peaches .

    The eight immortals floated above the eight bowls of tea, and the tea in the tea bowls was steaming, which made the eight immortals look like they were in a wondend .

    Just as everyone was mesmerized by the sight, they saw Zi Yuan suddenly wave her sleeve, bringing with it a gust of wind . The mist was immediately dispelled, and the eight ethereal Immortals instantly surged into the tea .

    At this moment, Zi Yuan was standing gracefully on the stage . She said to everyone around her, "Just now we saw the phoenix nodding heads three times, and now you have witnessed the Eight Immortals crossing the sea . Pleasement on it!"

    When she finished speaking, everyone looked at her in a daze . They couldn¡¯t even react . The ce was so quiet that one could have heard a pin drop .

 Chapter 314

    Chapter 314

    <h4>You¡¯re the No . 1!</h4>

    After performing the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, the audience both on and off stage were momentarily dumbfounded . Only Shen Wancai was so excited that his face turned red . He suddenly walked up to the stage, his lips trembling . He stared at the bowl of Huangshan Maofeng Tea, and after a long time, said in a trembling voice, "This kind of tea skill really should only be found in the heavens, how can it be shown here in the human world? Graet master, can this tea make me immortal by drinking it?"

    Although Zi Yuan was not only beautiful, but also young, Shen Wancai absolutely would not dare to belittle her . He knew that only a person who was truly on the level of a master could perform such good work, so he respectfully called Zi Yuan master and did not dare to offend her .

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly and cupped her hands . "It won¡¯t make you immortal, but it will benefit the Qi and Spirit and should be fine to prolong life . "

    Shen Wancai¡¯s eyes revealed a hint of disappointment, but he quickly became excited again and respectfully asked, "Can I have a taste?"

    Zi Yuan elegantly spread out a palm and motioned, "Please . "

    At this time, it was extremely quiet on the stage . Apart from Li Yundong, Zhong Qingsong, Lin Xueqing, Su Chan, Ruan Hongling, and a few others who were dragging the tea table with Zhenqi, everyone was staring at the stage, their eager eyes fixed on Shen Wancai . All were hoping to drag the old man down, and then talk to the fairy and get a taste of the bowl of tea themselves .

    Shen Wancai was so excited that his hands were trembling . He picked up the cup of "Zhang Guo riding a donkey" tea . He held the teacup in his hand and it swayed in the air and sshed a lot of tea, causing many people below the stage to grumble internally .

    Shen Wancai brought the teacup to his mouth and carefully took a sip . He then raised his head and drank it down in one gulp . He felt that his whole body was bing hotter and more powerful as the tea slid down his throat . But when the tea reached his stomach, there was a cool and fragrant aftertaste, which made him feel refreshed .

    Even Shen Wancai himself was not sure about how amazing Zi Yuan¡¯s methods were, which gave him a strong feeling that after drinking this bowl of Immortal Tea, he could be a saint . Or maybe this Huangshan Maofeng Tea was really fragrant and elegant, and no other tea in the whole world could match it .

    After drinking the cup of tea, Shen Wancai couldn¡¯t help bursting into tears . He stood on the stage for a long time before letting out a long sigh and saying in a choked voice, "I¡¯m over halfway through my life and have gone to countless ces . It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen an immortal¡¯s tea skill like this . It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve drunk the kind of tea that an immortal can drink . It¡¯s only today that I feel that I haven¡¯t lived in vain . "

    The audience under the stage didn¡¯t know Shen Wancai¡¯s identity and only thought that this old man was a little strange, but the referees on the stage and Zheng Youming were very knowledgable about Shen Wancai¡¯s background and power .

    When the old man was sixteen, he had started from scratch . When he was around twenty years old, he¡¯d run all over the country . When he hit thirty, he went south to go to Shenzhen . In the end, he had made his first bucket of gold in Shenzhen . From then on, he had been out of control and established arge-scale light industry group all over the country . When he reached fifty years old, he moved the headquarters of the group back to his hometown of Tiannan City . He had received a warm wee from the municipal government and hid as an overlord in Tiannan City . His name was not only well-known in the business field of Tiannan City, but also renowned in other provinces .

    Some people knew more, like that this old man had founded amercial kingdom on his own, and that his business was spread all over Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Europe . He had experienced countless storms in his life . Not only was his character tough, he had also cultivated a proud and arrogant character . It was impossible for ordinary people to talk to him, let alone receive his praise .

    Seeing that he was in tears after drinking the tea, Zi Yuan smiled and said, "Elderly gentleman, happiness will hurt the heart and sadness will hurt the lungs . You¡¯d better keep a calm mind as you drink this tea, otherwise the sentiment will not be good and any panacea you consume will be rendered useless . "

    Shen Wancai was usually referred to as Mr . Shen, Old Master Shen, or something like that . When had he ever been called an elderly gentleman by a young person? Shen You and Shen Hui, who were watching from backstage, were shocked to hear it . They thought in their hearts, "Oh no, Dad is going to be mad . He hates nothing more than being called old . "

    However, when Shen Wancai heard Zi Yuan say that he was an elderly man, he surprisingly didn¡¯t get angry . Instead, he let out a long sigh and said, "You¡¯re right . I just drank this cup of tea for nothing . "

    After that, he looked at Zi Yuan and said with an ingratiating smile, "May I have another drink?"

    Shen Wancai was not an ordinary person . He was a judge and a business giant . When he said this, the audience under the stage all began cursing him in their hearts . The referees on the stage were even more angry and one of them said, "If you drink it, won¡¯t there be less for us? Let¡¯s also have a taste of this tea!"

    Zi Yuan didn¡¯t know what they were thinking, so she smiled towards Shen Wancai and said, "Go ahead . "

    Shen Wancai was overjoyed and immediately picked up another cup of tea, treating it as if it were a precious treasure . This time, he didn¡¯t drink it down in one gulp . Instead, he took many careful sips . He clicked his tongue and sighed as he recited a poem: "A friend from Yue gave me tea from Shanxi . I picked up the golden bud and poured it into the golden tripod . The scum floating in the white porcin killed the fragrance . It was like an Immortal drink . "

    From one side, Zi Yuan smiled and continued, "A drink washes away drowsiness, bringing a feeling of refreshment from all over the sky; Drinking again, I suddenly feel like rain is sprinkling over light dust; Three drinks will allow one to attain the Tao, there is no need to deal with any trouble . "

    Shen Wancai was surprised and delighted when he saw that Zi Yuan actually knew about this extremely umon tea poem . Heughed and said in a somewhat shameless manner, "Since three cups of tea can help me attain the Tao, I still need one more cup . "

    This time, Zi Yuan didn¡¯t say anything, and the audience could no longer stand it . They all began shouting, "You old man, you¡¯re really too bold! It¡¯s not enough for you to drink two cups, you still want to drink a third? You¡¯re too shameless!"

    "That¡¯s right, hurry up and get off the stage!"

    Shen Wancai didn¡¯t get angry and merely smiled . He cupped his hands, waved to the judges on the stage, and said, "Let¡¯s alle and taste it together!"

    After he called to them, the other judges dared to step down from their seats ande over to the tea table to taste the tea . After drinking it, some of them who were well-educated began to sing and praise it while others just kept fawning over it .

    Zheng Youming¡¯s eyes were filled with envy from his ce in the audience . He took advantage of the chaos on the stage to squeeze his way up . He had just reached out his hand to take thest cup of tea when Shen Wancai suddenly said, "President Zheng, will you give this cup of tea to me?"

    Zheng Youming¡¯s outstretched hand froze in mid-air . He looked up at Shen Wancai and forced a reluctant smile to show on his face .

    Shen Wancai tilted his body and cocked his head as he gave him a sidelong nce, "What¡¯s wrong? You don¡¯t want to relinquish it?"

    Zheng Youming shivered under Shen Wancai¡¯s nce and he immediately withdrew his hand as if he had received an electric shock . He cupped one hand in the other before his chest and said with an ingratiating smile, "Pardon me . Old Master Shen wants to drink tea, so I dare not snatch it away . "

    Shen Wancaiughed . He turned his head and looked at the other judges, asking, "Do you have any objection?"

    He seemed to be asking for permission, but it wasn¡¯t like anyone would dare to object . They shook their heads and began ttering him . "We are just half immortals after the sips we¡¯ve taken . Old Master Shen, if you drink three sses of wine in a row, you will be a whole immortal . Rather than having one more half immortal, it is better to have one true immortal, so that we can follow you in your rise to the heavens!"

    Shen Wancaiughed and said, "How am I an immortal . . . " He pointed to Zi Yuan and said, "This is an immortal!"

    With that, he saluted Zi Yuan . Then, he picked up his teacup and said loudly to the audience, "Since everyone wants me to drink it, I shan¡¯t disappoint . "

    Seeing that the old man was really being so bold, the audienceughed and scolded him one after another .

    Shen Wancai paid them no attention . He raised his head and drank up the third cup in one gulp . The others on the stage looked over and saw that his cup was as clean as if it had just been washed . There wasn¡¯t a single drop of tea left within . Although they were smiling, they felt lost in their hearts .

    In particr, Zheng Youming looked at the empty teacup and thought, "Even though I¡¯m the organizer of this tournament, I didn¡¯t get to taste this cup of tea . What¡¯s going on?"

    When Zi Yuan saw that Shen Wancai had just finished drinking, she smiled and said, "Since we¡¯ve already finished the tea, please let us hear yourments . Who is the winner?"

    As soon as she said that, Zheng Youming shivered and winked at Shen Wancai .

    Shen Wancai acted as if he hadn¡¯t seen anything . After drinking three bowls of tea, he had regained his calm . He looked at Zi Yuan with interest and suddenly asked, "Why didn¡¯t you ask this question when I was about to drink the third bowl of tea just now? If you had asked me at that time, I would have said that you were number one . Weren¡¯t you afraid that I would change my mind after drinking all of your tea?"

    Zi Yuan smiled, "Heaven¡¯s justice can be found in the hearts of the people! If you can give a judgement that goes against your conscience, then the Immortal Tea will be ordinary water . Even if you have be an immortal, you will be a mortal . As the saying goes, Zhenren does not lie . That¡¯s what it means . "

    Shen Wancaiughed and pped his hands, saying loudly, "Well said! First ce is yours! If you weren¡¯t victorious, I, Shen Wancai, would be the first to dispute it!"

    As soon as he¡¯d finishing saying this, the other judges who were looking at him eagerly also chimed in, saying, "Zi Yuan should be the winner!"

    Zheng Youming¡¯s legs trembled when he heard that . His face was pale, and he was filled with anger . "You old b*stard, how can you be so generous with my money? This is apetition held by me . I paid for the bonus, but in the end, I didn¡¯t get a single sip of that tea . Instead, I just paid out two million yuan for nothing . What the f*ck is going on?"

    Zheng Youming¡¯s heart was full of tears . He felt that this was the most tragic thing in the world, but the more tragic thing was . . . he had to pretend to smile and announce loudly that Zi Yuan would be the winner of thepetition .

    "What the hell is going on here? Is there any justice in this world? Are there anyws?"

    But Zheng Youming was not a simple person . The moment his felt his expression darkening, he immediately forced a smile, and then with a look of joy and pride, he said loudly, "Congrattions to Miss Zi Yuan and her Huangshan Maofeng Tea!"

    Under the stage, Su Chan and Ruan Hongling couldn¡¯t help but sigh when they saw his behavior . They felt that this man was bold and that his expressions could change so fast . He was really a rare talent .

    Zheng Youming announced the results loudly up on the stage, and the audience immediately burst into thunderous apuse . Amidst the cheers, Li Yundong, Zhong Qingsong, and Lin Xueqing suddenly decided the winner .

    Li Yundong was fighting one-versus-two, but he was not at a disadvantage . On the contrary, although Zhong Qingsong and Lin Xueqing were both at the Yang Spirit of Yuanying phase, the Zhenqi in their bodies was notparable to Li Yundong¡¯s Jindan¡¯s Qi . On the contrary, they werepletely suppressed by him .

    As he secretly fought with them, Li Yundong was listening to everything going on around him . When he heard that Zi Yuan had won first ce, his heart immediately calmed . He didn¡¯t want to fight with these two people in public, so he said, "The winner has already been determined and announced publicly . Do you want to carry on like this until you meet death?"

    Zhong Qingsong and Lin Xueqing had been using all their strength to resist Li Yundong¡¯s majestic Zhenqi all this time . They looked steadily forward and listened attentively . It was extremely difficult for them to move their eyes, let alone speak . However, they saw that Li Yundong was still able to speak while he was fighting two people by himself and his voice was as loud as usual . They were shocked and thought, "Li Yundong looks no more than twenty years old . Why does he have so much Zhenqi in his body? Why does he still have the strength to speak when fighting alone? Even if he started cultivating in his mother¡¯s womb, he shouldn¡¯t be able to have practiced to such a level!"

 Chapter 315

    Chapter 315

    <h4>I¡¯m Not Convinced!</h4>

    Seeing the fear in their eyes, Li Yundong said, "If it goes on like this, both sides will definitely suffer a lot . In front of all these people, no one will gain a good result . How about making a concession? What do you think?"

    As he spoke, he began to absorb a little of his Zhenqi .

    As soon as he pulled back, Zhong Qingsong and Lin Xueqing immediately breathed sighs of relief . It seemed that the mountain pressing down on them had been lifted by half an inch . Now they could breathe, so they also took back a little Zhenqi .

    When Li Yundong saw them returning the favor, he knew that they didn¡¯t want to make a big deal out of it . He tentatively withdrew a little more Zhenqi, and they withdrew their Zhenqi bit by bit in response . Gradually, all of them withdrew their Zhenqi .

    With that done, Zhong Qingsong looked at Li Yundong in shock and cried out involuntarily, "Who is your master? How did you cultivate such dense Zhenqi? The Fox Zen School will never be able to teach you the Cultivation Quotient of Xuanmen Sect!"

    Asking about other people¡¯s sects and cultivation methods was taboo in Cultivation World . Zhong Qingsong¡¯s question was abrupt and rude . If he had not been surprised to the extent of losing hisposure, he would never have said it .

    Li Yundong¡¯s cultivation method had been introduced to him by Su Chan and taught by Zi Yuan, so he was unwilling to reveal the details . He just nced at Zhong Qingsong and said lightly, "I don¡¯t have a master . "

    Zhong Qingsong naturally didn¡¯t believe this, but he had no good way to deal with Li Yundong . The cultivation world and the martial arts world were very simr in that whoever had the strongest cultivation and martial arts ability had the right to speak .

    Since ancient times, there had been no first ce in literature, and no second ce in martial arts .

    If schrs wanted topete, they would not be able to determine who was better, even after hundreds of years of verbal sparring . However, this was not the case in the Cultivation World . Whoever was feeling skeptical coulde and fight until they were convinced . No matter what, those involved would be able to be ranked first and second in the end .

    Why was Zhengyi School so strong? Because the predecessor of Zhengyi School was the Five-Pecks-of-Rice cult, founded by Zhang Ling . This sect had been thriving since the time of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms . Each generation was getting stronger and stronger and there were more than 100,000 disciples . In the period of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, the emperor had summoned Zhang Zhengsui, the Taoist priest of Zhengyi School . Since then, the supreme position of themander of the Three-mountain Holy Land of Zhengyi School had been firmly established .

    The cultivation sects in the world knew that they would be no match for the Zhengyi Sect alone . Therefore, they had formed a loose organization based on the alliance of the Great Six in order to resist the expansion of the Zhengyi School .

    The strength Li Yundong was showing at this time really made Zhong Qingsong, who was in the Pine Valley Cottage of Mount Huangshan, feel fearful . He also felt that Pine Valley Cottage was not a big sect like Zhengyi School, and could not evenpare with any of the Great Six . Although his sect was in charge of the tea garden business near Mount Huangshan and had earned a lot of money, when it came to fighting, Zhong Qingsong and Lin Xueqing could handle it . The others were insignificant .

    Lin Xueqing also knew this . She had already been fully convinced by Li Yundong¡¯s ability . She thought to herself, "No wonder he could make so many people in the Great Six retreat . I thought that most of the Great Six were idiots, but it seems that Li Yundong has his own unique ability . "

    So she thought in her heart, refusing to admit defeat . She no longer dared to make trouble for Li Yundong, but looked at Zi Yuan in the arena .

    By this time, the situation in the arena had been settled, and the emcee was getting ready to present an award to Zi Yuan . Lin Xueqing suddenly shouted, "I won¡¯t ept it!"

    All the people present heard her exmation clearly . In an instant, everyone had turned to look at her .

    Lin Xueqing was not afraid . She jumped into the arena and pointed a finger at Zi Yuan, then shouted, "I won¡¯t ept this . I didn¡¯t lose to you, but I lost to him!" As she said this, she pointed her finger at Li Yundong .

    All of a sudden, everyone turned to look at Li Yundong in unison . They were all puzzled, wondering why Lin Xueqing said that she had lost to someone who hadn¡¯t even participated in thepetition, instead of the person on the stage .

    On stage, Shen Wancai frowned as a thoughtful expression appeared on his face .

    Some people couldn¡¯t understand her behavior, so they all booed, "If you lose, you have to ept it!"

    "If you can¡¯t afford to lose, you shouldn¡¯t take part in thepetition!"

    Lin Xueqing had been spoiled by her master all year long, so she had never experiencing being insulted like this . Her face turned red for a moment, and she said loudly, "If it weren¡¯t for Zhenren . . . "

    Before she could get the words "Zhenren Li" out, Zhong Qingsong suddenly shouted and interrupted her, "Qing¡¯er, shut up!"

    His loud shout reverberated through everyone¡¯s eardrums painfully . Everyone unconsciously covered their ears and grimaced .

    Zhong Qingsong jumped onto the stage and red at her sternly . He said in a low voice, "Don¡¯t you think you¡¯ve made enough trouble already!? Come with me!"

    After that, he bowed slightly to Shen Wancai and Zheng Youming on the stage by way of apology, and then dragged Lin Xueqing off the stage .

    When everyone saw that Lin Xueqing had been taken away by Zhong Qingsong, they also starting shouting loudly, adding insult to injury .

    Seeing that they hadn¡¯t taken the second-ce prize or trophy, Zheng Youming felt sad but happy at the same time . "Now I can save some money . "

    At this time, the attention of the audience once again shifted from Li Yundong to Zi Yuan on the stage . They didn¡¯t know that Li Yundong, Zhong Qingsong, and Lin Xueqing had secretly been carrying out a fierce, thrilling fight . Some people who were closer to them saw the three shaking hands with one another for a while, and then letting go of each other, but that was all . They didn¡¯t know that so many other things had happened too .

    Not long after, the host and the emcee began to award the prizes to the winners .

    Two million yuan was a huge sum of money . Naturally, it was impossible to hand over the cash or checks on the spot . Therefore, he presented the winner with a symbolic giant paper board in the shape of a check, on which was written two million yuan .

    Standing to receive the award on the stage, Zi Yuan still looked calm . After she had been given the award and walked off the stage, Ruan Hongling and Su Chan saw that they no longer needed to use Zhenqi to support the tea table, so they removed their Zhenqi at the same time, and the tea table copsed with a loud bang .

    All of a sudden, there was another uproar . Some people saw that once Zi Yuan had left the stage, the tea table had copsed . The teapots and cups were smashed to pieces, as if a tea fairy had left and the teapots could no longer be left in the world, lest they dirty themselves .

    Everyone was excited and talking about this new development . Some of them even concentrated on talking about the backing of Zi Yuan .

    On the stage, Shen Wancai gazed at Zi Yuan . When Zi Yuan walked along with Li Yundong and the others, he could see that they were chatting very closely with each other and a rare smile of joy appeared on her face as she spoke to him . It was obvious that she had an extremely close rtionship with the man .

    Shen Wancai was shocked . "Is this boy the boyfriend of Zi Yuan? Who is he to be worthy of this goddess?"

    Shen Wancai nced meaningfully at Li Yundong . He wanted to go up and chat with Li Yundong, but the location was inappropriate and there were too many people around for them to talk . He controlled himself and walked down the tform .

    As soon as he got backstage, he saw Shen You and Shen Zhihui, who had been waiting impatiently,e up to him . Shen You couldn¡¯t wait to say, "Dad, why did you give the first ce to that guy? Didn¡¯t I talk to you about this?"

    Shen Wancai nced at his son and calmly asked, "Oh? Wasn¡¯t I supposed to give it to that guy?"

    Shen You waved his hands and shouted, "That woman is in cahoots with Li Yundong!"

    Shen Wancai felt a deep unhappiness heart, but he still didn¡¯t show his anger . He asked, "Who is Li Yundong? How did he provoke you?"

    Shen Hui wanted to add fuel to the fire, but she keenly noticed that her father seemed to be a little unhappy . She wisely shut her mouth, but Shen You didn¡¯t notice at all . He still said loudly, "He¡¯s the b*stard whopeted with me for a woman!"

    Shen Wancai¡¯s face darkened . He nodded and said nomittally, "Okay, I understand . Come with me . "

    After saying that, he walked forward .

    Shen Hui had already determined that her father was angry, but her brother seemed oblivious . He just followed Shen Wancai and made up stories about Li Yundong . At first, he said that he had been bullied, and then he med Shen Wancai for giving first ce to Zi Yuan . Shen Huiughed in her heart and got ready to watch the show .

    Shen Wancai didn¡¯t show any reaction along the way . He just led his son and daughter to the Culture Pce . Along the way, he greeted acquaintances warmly . When they reached a spacious office, he waited for Shen You and Shen Hui to enter the room before saying in a deep voice, "Go close the door . "

    Shen Hui was smart enough to take the initiative to close the door, but Shen You still babbled to Shen Wancai, "Dad, hurry up and talk to them . Maybe we can take back first ce . I just don¡¯t like that guy . I . . . "

    Before he could even finish his words, Shen Wancai suddenly showed his ire and mmed his palm against Shen You¡¯s cheek . The p was so hard that Shen You¡¯s body tilted and almost fell to the ground .

    Shen You was stunned by the p, and there was a ringing sound in his ears . His mind went nk, and there was only one thought left in his mind: "Why did you hit me?"

    Shen Wancai shouted angrily, "You b*stard, all you know is how to flirt withdies all day long! I can turn a blind eye in daily life, butst time I asked you toe to Dongwu City to do business, you got distracted by some woman and stayed for more than ten days, causing the business to be ruined! I, Shen Wancai, had to face up to it personally and apologize with a smile on my face to get the business back . "

    Shen You covered his burning cheek and said loudly, "What do you even expect me to do with such a small business! Can¡¯t you just send a project manager?"

    Shen Wancai was so angry that he was trembling all over . "You can¡¯t even handle a small business! And you expect me to trust you with a big one? Do you know that I started from a small business?"

    Shen You straightened his neck and shouted, "What era is it now? How can itpare with the past? The business in Dongwu City is not even enough for me to earn my monthly pocket money with, yet you asked me to look after it . Obviously, you look down on me! What¡¯s the big deal? Our Shen family doesn¡¯t take such a small business seriously . Why should we apologize?"

    Shen Wancai was furious and went to p him again, but Shen You was prepared for it this time . He raised his hand and blocked it . Seeing that he had blocked it, Shen Wancai became angrier and tried to p him once more . Shen You didn¡¯t dare to block again and just protected his face . He straightened his neck and took a few blows .

    Shen Wancai hit him and scolded, "I have told you so many times that the most important thing in doing business is reputation and credibility . Although the business is small, it can still destroy my reputation . After just a simple sentence from you, how much effort have I had to spend to make up for it? Do you even know?"

    He was old, beating and cursing . He was exhausted by the effort of expending his rage and was out of breath for a while .

    Shen Hui, who was standing to one side, saw that Shen You had been beaten to a pulp . She patted Shen Wancai¡¯s back and carefullyforted him while secretlyughing in her heart .

    Shen Wancai suddenly snapped his head around and said to Shen Hui, "You, go and find Li Yundong and Zi Yuan for me!"

    Shen Hui was shocked . "Why are you looking for them?"

    Shen Wancai said angrily, "Look at you two b*stards . One only knows how to buy famous brands and squander money, and the other only knows how to flirt with girls all day long . The Shen family will be ruined by you two brats sooner orter! I want them to be your teachers and show you a few things for self-cultivation so that you won¡¯t go out and squander money all day long!"

    Shen Hui had not been expecting her enemy to be her teacher in the end . She was shocked and subconsciously wanted to refute loudly, but when she saw Shen Wancai¡¯s sharp eyes staring at her, she trembled internally . She immediately reacted and said modestly, "Dad, even if you want to hire a teacher, you can invite the beautiful Tea Waitress . Why would you want to invite Li Yundong? What ability does he have to teach me?"

    Shen Wancai feigned a look of disgust as he said, "It¡¯s a shame that the size of your brain can¡¯tpare to the size of your chest! Is there nothing but water in your skull? What¡¯s a Tea Waitress for? Doing tea art . Do you know tea art? It¡¯s something passed down from one¡¯s ancestors for thousands of years! It¡¯s a priceless treasure! You, Shen Hui, usually think of yourself as smart, but why have you be so stupid now? Zi Yuan has an extraordinary temperament, so she¡¯s obviously not an ordinary person . With her appearance and temperament, she can be friends with Li Yundong . What does this mean? This means that Li Yundong must not be amon person! This is the concept of like attracts like . Do you understand?"

    With this, he turned to Shen You with a look of exasperation on his face . "Don¡¯t think that you can look down on all the people in the world just because you were born to a good family . There are so many capable people in the world . If you didn¡¯t have me as your father, who the hell do you think you¡¯d be!"

    He was talking fiercely, but when he saw that Shen Hui was dawdling and unwilling to move, he said angrily, "What¡¯s going on? Do you want me to invite you?"

    Shen Hui¡¯s heart was twisting with rage . She took out her anger on Li Yundong and thought to herself, "This b*stard has no good luck whenever he meets me! This is the worst!"

    Just as she was walking to the exit, she suddenly heard someone knocking on the door twice, then saw it get pushed open as someone entered .

    Shen Wancai saw that an outsider had pushed open the door ande in himself . He was about to lose his temper when he saw that the person was his secretary, and immediately his rage subsided . He asked in a low voice, "What¡¯s the matter?"

    The secretary carefully pointed to the phone and said, "Old Master, there¡¯s a call for you . "

    Shen Wancai took the phone and said into it, "Yes, it¡¯s me, Shen Wancai . " After answering the phone, he said to Shen Zhishui, who had been dawdling at the door, "Don¡¯t go . I¡¯ll give you a lot of money for hiring them when I have a chanceter . It¡¯s not dignified to leave now . "

    Shen Hui was overjoyed . He immediately ran up to Shen Wancai and massaged his back with a big smile . "Dad, I told you this wouldn¡¯t be good!"

    Shen Wancai didn¡¯t want to expose her little daughter¡¯s thoughts . He just snorted and looked at Shen You, who was looking at him angrily, then said in a low voice, "Go home now and don¡¯t go out for a month . I will freeze all your bank cards in order to let you experience how ordinary people live, in case you want to go out and make trouble for me all day long!"

    After that, he nodded to the respectful secretary beside him and walked out of the door .

    Shen Hui turned around and gave Shen You a sympathetic look, then she also slipped out .

    Shen You was left breathing heavily in the room alone . The anger in his eyes was intensifying . After a while, he suddenly roared, "I don¡¯t ept it! I am your son . What right do you have to do this to me?"

    Shen You heavily paced back and forth in the room like a violent beast, clenching his fists and trembling all over . The more he thought about it, the more he med everything on Li Yundong . He shouted to no one in particr, "Li Yundong, I won¡¯t let you get away with this!"

 Chapter 316

    Chapter 316

    <h4>Holy Crap! That Makes Sense!</h4>

    Li Yundong naturally didn¡¯t know what had been happening the backstage . Seeing Zi Yuaning down from the tform, he smiled and greeted her . He cupped his hands and said with a grin, "Congrattions on earning sess with a single move!"

    Su Chan also joined in the conversation . She cupped one hand in the other before her chest and said, "Congrattions!" Her eyes, however, were roaming over the huge check in the hands of Zi Yuan .

    Seeing her like this, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing and said, "Look at you gawking . It¡¯s fake . We can¡¯t get the money until we exchange it . "

    Su Chan didn¡¯t seem to care . She said to Li Yundong excitedly, "Do we have money now?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Even if we have money, we will need to spend it immediately . We can¡¯t hold onto it . "

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes were glued to the check, as if she was afraid that it would run away at any moment . She said in a daze, "How much is two million? How long will I need to count to reach that number?"

    Li Yundongughed and reached out to pinch Su Chan¡¯s cheek . "You¡¯re a little money-grubber, aren¡¯t you?"

    Ruan Hongling couldn¡¯t help saying, "Hey, isn¡¯t this the money won by Shijie? How did it be yours?"

    Although Su Chan and Ruan Hongling had fought with each other before, Su Chan wasn¡¯t showing any weakness at this time . She snorted and said, "If it weren¡¯t for my Yundong, would she have been able to conjure up the Eight Immortals crossing the sea?"

    Seeing that the two were about to start quarrelling again, Zi Yuan immediately said, "Don¡¯t bicker . This is a prize we earned by working together . We couldn¡¯t have done it without any of us . "

    Hearing this, Zi Yuan, Ruan Hongling and Su Chan looked at each other and turned their heads away with a snort .

    Zhou Qin was quick-witted . She thought of a new topic and said to Li Yundong, "By the way, why did Lin Xueqing say that she didn¡¯t ept it? Why did she say that she hadn¡¯t lost to Zhenren Zi Yuan, but to you?"

    Ruan Hongling opened her mouth and was about to speak some words of anger . Zi Yuan was afraid that she would say something rude, so she rushed to say, "In fact, the reason is very simple . She controlled the Fireless Hellfire to boil the water in the teapot, and then controlled the steam with Zhenqi to change it into the shape of a phoenix . Although there was only a rough outline and it was not very precise, it showed that in terms of Zhenqi control, she has already reached the realm of Yang Spirit of the Yuanying phase . She is not inferior to me .

    "When I was watching Li Yundong fight the master of Pine Valley Cottage and his disciples, there was a steady flow of steaming out of Li Yundong¡¯s head . This steam was Zhenqi that could only havee out of people whose Zhenqi is very powerful . Because this Zhenqi was not as loose as ordinary steam, which dissipates easily, I snuffed out the Eight Immortals . Moreover, the Eight Immortals didn¡¯t dissipate after they stopped on the teacup . Compared with these two, I naturally had a great advantage . The cultivators knew this very well, but the audience and the referees on the stage were unaware, so it was natural for Lin Xueqing to be unconvinced . "

    Zhou Qin had just been asking casually, but after hearing this exnation from Zi Yuan, she realized that Lin Xueqing was not unreasonable and that it was true . For a moment, she opened her mouth in surprise and looked at Li Yundong .

    When Li Yundong saw her looking over, he said with a smile, "Actually, if Zhenren Zi Yuan¡¯s control of Zhenqi wasn¡¯t exquisite and precise, my Zhenqi wouldn¡¯t be effective no matter how dense and boundless it is . "

    Zhou Qin looked at Zi Yuan and then at Li Yundong . Her heart was filled with admiration for them .

    Seeing Li Yundong and Zi Yuan ttering each other, Ruan Hongling couldn¡¯t help saying, "Well, don¡¯t just stand there praising each other . It¡¯s sickening!"

    Zi Yuan red at Ruan Hongling and said angrily, "Hongling! You¡¯re getting more and more ridiculous!"

    Li Yundong coughed drily, then changed the topic and said, "I don¡¯t know when I can get the money . "

    Su Chanughed and said coquettishly, "And you call me the money-grubber? You¡¯re the big money-grubber here!"

    Li Yundong red at Su Chan, pretending to be angry . "If I weren¡¯t a money-grubber, how could I afford to keep you!"

    They chatted andughed . After waiting for a little over ten minutes, someone came to inform them to go to the venue for their reward .

    Li Yundong and the others were all overjoyed, their faces lighting up with pleasure . Su Chan was smiling so delightedly that her eyebrows were almost squeezed together . Even Zi Yuan had a smile on her face .

    But when Li Yundong and the others got to the meeting hall, Zheng Youming and the others weren¡¯t there . Instead, an attractive female secretary showed up and handed a check over to them with a smile .

    Li Yundong took a look at the number on it and saw that it was only for 800,000 yuan . He immediately raised his head and asked questioningly, "Why is there only 800,000? Shouldn¡¯t it be two million?"

    The female secretary smiled and said, "Yes, the two million is before tax, but after tax, it should be 1 . 6 million . At present, Manager Zheng is not swimming in cash, so he only has 800,000 yuan, and aspensation . . . Uh, Manager Zheng means to rece it with goods . "

    "Goods?" Li Yundong was surprised and said with a strange look on his face, "What goods? Why do you make it sound like some shady deal in the underworld? Can you use goods to make up for it?"

    The secretary smiled helplessly and said, "There¡¯s no other way . This is all of Mr . Zheng¡¯s money, and that¡¯s what we expected at the beginning . We hadn¡¯t expected that it would be an individual winning first ce . If the winner had been somerge teapany, they could have quickly sold the goods to make cash . The otherpanies knew this, but you . . . "

    Only then did Li Yundong understand . "God, it turns out that I was going to be thwarted by this hidden rule before even participating in thepetition . Even though I got first ce, I am still being set back!"

    "Holy crap! That makes sense?" Li Yundong was going crazy . He couldn¡¯t help being angry as he asked, "Where can we go to sell so many tea leaves?"

    The secretary threw up her hands and said, "I have no idea . This is just how it is for now . You can choose to give up the tea leaves, but we¡¯ll regard you as having given up the prize . "

    Ruan Hongling said angrily, "This is all a scam!"

    Li Yundong suppressed his anger and said, "Aren¡¯t you afraid that we will sue you?"

    The secretary put on a pitiful expression . "We weren¡¯t expecting this either . Thepany never imagined something like this to happen! However, everyone knows this in their hearts . Who would have thought that you guys would win the championship?"

    Li Yundong said angrily, "And now you¡¯re ming it on us?"

    Seeing Li Yundong¡¯s anger, the secretary was so scared that she took a step back and quickly waved her hand . "I didn¡¯t mean that . "

    Zhou Qin, who was standing to one side, suddenly asked, "What kind of goods will you use topensate us?"

    Hearing this, the secretary felt relieved and hurriedly said, "Of course, only the finest Tie Guanyin tea . "

    Zhou Qin thought for a while before saying to Li Yundong in a low voice, "Zheng Youming was able to worm his way out of the building affair, so he must have a certain official background . Businessmen always collude with officials . It¡¯s useless for us to sue them . We might as well take what they¡¯re offering and find another way . "

    Li Yundong asked back in a low voice, "Do you have any ideas?"

    Zhou Qin whispered, "I do . "

    Li Yundong nodded and said firmly, "Well, I¡¯ll trust you . That¡¯s it!"

    He said to the secretary, "Okay, I¡¯ll agree to this, but you have to write a note . Otherwise, what if you deny it?"

    The secretary smiled and said, "Of course . Even if you hadn¡¯t said this, we were going to sign a contract with you . "

    With this, she waved to a staff member not far away, and then handed over two contracts . Li Yundong took the contracts and handed them to Zhou Qin without even ncing at them . Zhou Qin looked through the two contracts carefully, then handed them back to Li Yundong with a nod .

    Li Yundong began to sign his name on the contract, but when he filled in the line for the delivery address, he became worried again and couldn¡¯t help looking at Zhou Qin . "What should I write for the address?"

    Zhou Qin thought for a moment, then turned to the secretary and said, "Can you deliver the goods somewhere else?"

    The female secretary looked hesitant . "Where were you thinking?"

    "Dongwu City," Zhou Qin said .

    When the secretary heard that, she immediately shook her head like a rattle drum . "No, no, that¡¯s too far away . "

    Zhou Qin didn¡¯t hold back as she said, "Do you expect us to take back so many tea leaves? How unfair is that?! All of us know what¡¯s good for us . Since we chose to make a concession, shouldn¡¯t you alsopromise? Otherwise, we might as well be done with each other . If we leak the truth, everyone will be in trouble . "

    Seeing that Zhou Qin was ady from a respectable family and had a sharp tongue, the secretary dared not snub her . She quickly smiled and said, "Let me just check with Mr . Zheng . "

    She walked a little distance away, made a phone call, and spoke into the receiver in a low voice . Then, she came back over and said with a smile, "Mr . Zheng said it was all okay . It¡¯s fine to have a different address, we¡¯ll deliver the goods tomorrow . But we¡¯re only responsible for delivering the goods, not for unloading them . "

    Zhou Qin immediately said, "Fine, that¡¯ll do!"

    Li Yundong saw that the two of them had reached an agreement, so he signed the contract without further hesitation .

    After the group of people left the meeting hall, they looked at each other with differing expressions . Su Chan said bitterly, "Two million yuan has suddenly turned into only 800,000 . This is beyond annoying!"

    Ruan Hongling also let out a long sigh . "s, our assets are shrinking too fast, and intion can¡¯t catch up!"

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "Money is but a worldly possession . Cultivators should not care so much about financial gains and losses . "

    Li Yundong also grinned and said, "At least it is some extra cash . Eight hundred thousand isn¡¯t a small amount . Don¡¯t be greedy!"

    Seeing that Li Yundong seemed unconcerned, Su Chan asked curiously, "Yundong, weren¡¯t you very angry just now? What¡¯s changed?"

    "Zhou Qin said that there was a way out of this, so I believe her . " As he said this, he winked at Zhou Qin .

    Still smiling, Zhou Qin said, "Well, there is a method . "

    Li Yundong, Ruan Hongling, and Su Chan couldn¡¯t help but ask curiously, "What?"

    Zhou Qin said, "Didn¡¯t I say that there were a few shops in themercial street of Dongwu City? We¡¯ll rent one and set up a high-quality teahouse . There are a lot of businesses nearby, and most of them are high-quality consumer ces . We can make an elegant andfortable teahouse and it will attract customers . In addition, Zhenren Zi Yuan won first prize in this tea artpetition, so if we run some advertisements, there should be no problem . "

    Li Yundong was a rare genius when it came to cultivation, but when it came to business, he was not as good as Zhou Qin . Seeing that Zhou Qin had figured out the whole thing in detail, he couldn¡¯t help but be overjoyed and said, "Well, well, I didn¡¯t pick up my disciple for nothing . I¡¯m very happy and think we should host a big banquet . Let¡¯s go and have a feast!"

    As soon as he said he wanted to eat, Ruan Honglingughed and said, "Okay, okay, where should we go?"

    Li Yundong waved his hand andughed, "Back to the Taoist temple for vegetarian noodles!"

    As soon as he finished his words, everyone else chuckled too, except Su Chan, who was a little unhappy .

    The group of people returned to the Taoist temple of Tianlong Mountain . After the meal, they each went back to their rooms . Li Yundong went to Su Chan¡¯s room alone . Before entering, he saw that the girl was sitting alone on a stone bench in the courtyard, holding her head in her arms and looking lonely .

    Li Yundong smiled and walked over quietly . Then, he suddenly wrapped his arms around the little girl¡¯s waist and said threateningly, "Girl, I¡¯m going to kidnap you!"

    Su Chan was initially startled, but she rxed when she heard Li Yundong¡¯s voice . She turned around and giggled . "Sir, what are you doing here?"

    Li Yundong tweaked her nose with a doting expression on his face . "I¡¯m here to see my little girl!"

    The girl giggled and said, "Oh . " Then, she didn¡¯t say anything else .

    Li Yundong saw that there was sadness showing on her face and she was not as carefree as usual . He thought for a moment before asking, "Little girl, what¡¯s wrong with you?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s gentle question touched Su Chan¡¯s heart . She raised her head, her charming face full of worry, and asked "Sir, you don¡¯t like me anymore, do you?"

    Su Chan¡¯s words surprised Li Yundong . He tenderly held her in his arms and asked softly, "You silly girl, why would you even say that?"

 Chapter 317

    Chapter 317

    <h4>If You Don¡¯t Go to Hell, Who Will?</h4>

    Su Chan had asked with joy, but Li Yundong was not in a hurry to answer . Instead, he said, "I thought you had been seized by a monk from Xiyuan Temple, so I rushed over to save you . I hadn¡¯t expected to let go of the two golden snakes . Do you still remember this?"

    Su Chan blinked her eyes and didn¡¯t understand why Li Yundong was saying all this . "I remember it, but does it have anything to do with Metasamsara?" she asked .

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Of course it has something to do with that . I remember that the head of the monastery of Xiyuan Temple once said that he had a disciple who could predict the future . I hadn¡¯t been paying attention at that time, but as soon as you mentioned it just now, I remembered that the disciple of Xiyuan Temple actually cultivates Metasamsara . "

    Su Chan was overjoyed . "Then let¡¯s go and visit him now, shall we?"

    Li Yundong patted the little girl¡¯s forehead and said with a smile, "You¡¯re in such a rush! It¡¯ste now and monks also need to rest . Have a good rest tonight . We¡¯ll go there early tomorrow morning . "

    Su Chan looked cheerful and nodded vigorously .

    Li Yundong carried the girl on his back into the room andy her down on the bed . He knew that Su Chan was worried about Ao Wushuang, so he didn¡¯t joke with her too much and just covered her with a thin quilt . He said softly, "Don¡¯t worry . Your master is just sealed up . Although she hates her guts, Yan Fang is now a Yang Spirit body, so she can¡¯t use magical items or hurt your master . "

    Su Chan wriggled down under the quilt . She watched as Li Yundong tucked the quilt in for her . When Li Yundong was just about to turn around and leave, she suddenly called in a low voice, "Sir!"

    Li Yundong turned his head and smiled . "Little girl, what¡¯s wrong?"

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes darted about . Suddenly, she got up, hugged Li Yundong, and kissed him on the cheek . Then, she quickly let go of him and got back under the quilt with a smile, showing only her beautiful and clever eyes . She said with a charming smile, "I¡¯m so d that you are here!"

    Li Yundongughed and said incredulously, "You little fool!" After that, he walked out of the room .

    As the sun rose the next day, they all awakened . Zi Yuan, Ruan Hongling, Zhou Qin, and Su Chan all came to Li Yundong¡¯s room, so he told them what he had discussed with Su Chanst night .

    Li Yundong said, "I¡¯ve been thinking all night and I think the thing about Ao Wushuang shouldn¡¯t be postponed in case anything else happens . But today is the delivery day for Zheng Youming . It won¡¯t be good if no one stays in Dongwu . I think it¡¯s better for us to split up into two groups . "

    Zi Yuan nodded and said to Li Yundong, "Hong Ling and I will head back to Dongwu . Why don¡¯t you and Su Chan stay here and find out where Ao Wushuang is?"

    Li Yundong nodded and said, "Agreed . " He then turned his head and looked at Zhou Qin . "What about you? Will you stay here with me or go back to Dongwu?"

    Zhou Qin smiled slightly . "Naturally, I¡¯ll follow my master . "

    Li Yundongughed and made noment . He immediately came to a decision . "Then it¡¯s settled . We¡¯ll divide into two groups after breakfast . "

    There was nothing delicious in the Taoist temple where Fox Zen School was located, only in noodles, but Li Yundong and the others were not gluttons and they ate the simple dish with relish .

    After breakfast, Zi Yuan flew back to Dongwu with Ruan Hongling, while Li Yundong took Su Chan and Zhou Qin to Xiyuan Temple in Dongwu .

    After the three people had taken a taxi to Xiyuan Temple, Li Yundong did not choose to force his way in . Instead, he reported his name to a monk at the door and then waited respectfully at the entrance .

    While they were waiting, Li Yundong suddenly said to Su Chan, "I¡¯m really ashamed . When I barged in recklesslyst time, the head of the monastery did not me it on me, but told me your position . Even now, I don¡¯t known his name . "

    Su Chan giggled and said, "A matter rted to oneself is a matter of disorder . Though Xiyuan Temple can¡¯tpare to the temples of the four famous Buddhist mountains, it enjoys some reknown . I do know the Buddhist name of the head of this monastery . "

    Li Yundong was overjoyed . He put his palms together and said, "Amitabha, this is a matter of merit . It¡¯s better than not knowing his name . "

    Su Chan smiled . "The head of the monastery here is called Master Puren . I heard that his spiritual energy and powers are quite impressive . "

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "That¡¯s right . I almost suffered a big loss here before . "

    They carried on talking in low voices . Before long, a greeting bonze approached them and respectfully invited Li Yundong to go with him .

    Li Yundong put his palms together, returning the greeting . Then, he asked the greeting bonze to lead the way, following him a few steps behind .

    Along the way, Li Yundong saw Zhou Qin curiously look around the temple, seeming especially interested in the forest full of various kinds of talismans and the Merit Bag of Blessings . Li Yundong whispered to Su Chan and Zhou Qin about how the situation had been when he had fought against the middle-aged monk here . He was very eloquent and talked about the fierce fighting vividly in a only few words, making Su Chan and Zhou Qin widen their eyes and watch him attentively .

    Li Yundong pointed to the talisman amulets and merit bags hanging in the surrounding woods, saying in a low voice, "The talismans here have absorbed many people¡¯s psyche . They can turn them into powerful psyche power and help the monks here to increase their cultivation power . "

    Su Chan, who was listening beside him, suddenly said, "Yundong, why don¡¯t you carry some talismans with spiritual energy like they do?"

    Li Yundong chuckled and said, "Didn¡¯t I use the Five Thunders Fu that you gave mest time? There are no talismans at all . Besides, the talisman spells are the magic powers of the northern sects, such as the Jinshan Sect . My cultivation mainly belongs to the Neidan Sect, so I don¡¯t know where to learn these spells . "

    Su Chan blinked and said, "If you have an Immortal Pen, you can draw whatever talisman you want . "

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Haven¡¯t you heard from Zi Yuan that that is the magic tool of Zuo Ci, a master of Danding Sect? It has been missing for more than a thousand years . How could it still be in the world?"

    Su Chan pouted and snorted in response . "I wish all the good magical items in the world would be ours!"

    Li Yundongughed and tweaked her nose . "Little girl, you should learn to be content with what you have . "

    Looking at the talismans and bags hanging from the trees of merits, Zhou Qin sighed and said, "When I came to the temple before, I saw some people burning incense and worshipping the Buddha while some other people hung Fu for blessings . I evenughed at their superstitious ways, but now it seems that I¡¯m the one who was ignorant . "

    "God is fair to everyone . He closed the previous door to the world for you, but in return he opened a door to the cultivation world for you . "

    Zhou Qin was stunned when she heard that . She considered the deep meaning behind his words for a long time .

    While Li Yundong¡¯s group was passing through the merit woods, a middle-aged monk was standing at the exit waiting for them . Li Yundong looked over and saw that it was the middle-aged monk who hade to settle a score with himst time . He hurried forward, put his palms together, and said respectfully, "Master, we meet again . I haven¡¯t apologized for my previous offense . I¡¯m truly sorry . "

    The middle-aged monk smiled slightly and returned the gesture . "You¡¯re too polite, Zhenren Li . As the saying goes, ¡¯no harm, no foul¡¯ . Without the previous score settling, how could I have known that Zhenren Li¡¯s reputation for retreating from the siege of the six major sects was not baseless?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "I¡¯m ashamed . I haven¡¯t even asked the Great Master¡¯s name yet . "

    The middle-aged monk smiled and said, "My name is Fakong . Zhenren Li, pleasee in . The head of the monastery is waiting for you . " As he spoke, he nced at Zhou Qin and Su Chan . When his gaze swept over Su Chan, he frowned slightly, but then his brow quickly rxed . He thought to himself, "This fox spirit is really beautiful . I have been cultivating for more than forty years, but just at first nce, my foundation has almost been shaken . The danger of beauty is not to be underestimated . "

    But when his eyes fell on Zhou Qin, there was a sh of surprise on his face . He couldn¡¯t help but think to himself, "This woman is obviously a maiden, so why does she have Yuanyang in her body? It¡¯s extremely rare for there to be this kind of Yuanyang Qi in this Mysterious Yin Body . Is this woman a cultivation genius, the kind who has not been seen in a hundred years?"

    It was easy for men to cultivate but difficult for women . This was a truth recognized throughout the cultivation world . However, once a woman achieved sess in cultivation, she would be a master .

    Fakong looked at Zhou Qin for a while and sighed in his heart . He admired her talent and could not help saying, "Benefactress, do you have a master?"

    Zhou Qin was a daughter of an eminent family, so she behaved very politely . She smiled slightly as she said, "Yes . "

    Fakong was greatly disappointed . "Ah? Who is it?"

    With a smile, Zhou Qin responded, "He¡¯s right in front of us!"

    Only then did Fakonge to his senses . He put his palms together in front of Li Yundong and said enviously, "You¡¯re so lucky to have such a good disciple, Zhenren Li . I¡¯m very jealous . "

    Li Yundongughed and said, "A monk shall regard all physical existence as vanity . Are you feeling moved?"

    Fakong retorted, "Not so . The Tao of cultivation focuses on one¡¯s own cultivation, and also on the preaching of one¡¯s disciples . If the fifth ancestor of Buddhism, Hong Ren, had not found such a good disciple as Huineng, how could it have been as glorious as it was when the sixth ancestor of Huineng let Zen Sect unify the whole world in the future?"

    Li Yundong was moved by his words . "Yes, this monk is right . It¡¯s impossible for me to do everything by myself in the future, isn¡¯t it? It¡¯s fine now . If I be famous in the future and so many people challenge me day and night, won¡¯t I be utterly exhausted?"

    Li Yundong felt enlightened . He decided to teach Zhou Qin cultivation after their return . He put his palms together and said gratefully, "You¡¯re right, master . I¡¯ve learned a lot . "

    Fakong smiled and returned the gesture . "You¡¯re too polite, Zhenren Li . "

    They talked along the way and soon came to the head of the monastery¡¯s meditation room . Fakong nced at Su Chan and Zhou Qin and said, "Benefactresses, won¡¯t youe with me to the next room to have a rest?"

    As a demonic being, Su Chan was naturally wary of such an important Buddhist ce . How could she be willing to leave Li Yundong¡¯s side? She clutched Li Yundong¡¯s clothes tightly with her hands, unwilling to let go . She stared at him imploringly, afraid that Li Yundong would nod in agreement .

    Zhou Qin was good at observing people¡¯s expressions, so he asked, "Does thend of Buddhism also value men more than women?"

    Fakong was stumped when he heard this question and did not know how to reply . Just as he was feeling awkward, he heard an old man¡¯sughtering from inside the mediation room . He said, "Amitabha, Buddha has said: In this world, all living things are equal . How can there be a saying that values men over women? Fakong, you can leave and let them in . "

    Only then did Fakong put his palms together and turn to leave .

    After watching Fakong leave, Li Yundong took Su Chan and Zhou Qin into the mediation room . As soon as they entered, Li Yundong saw Puren sitting on a prayer mat, holding a string of Buddha beads in one hand and giggling at him .

    "Nice to meet you again, Zhenren Li," Puren said with a smile .

    Li Yundong bowed respectfully . "Yes, Master Puren . "

    Puren nced at Su Chan and Zhou Qin, his expression unchanging . He then looked at Li Yundong and said, "Zhenren Li, you¡¯re not here for no reason . Just tell me what you want . "

    Seeing Puren get straight to the point, Li Yundong didn¡¯t beat around the bush and simply told him what had happened . Finally, he said, "Now, as the leader of Fox Zen School, I know full well that cultivators from other sects in the cultivation world think that I¡¯m some useless degenerate . But how can they know that I¡¯m determined to reform Fox Zen School? Now that our predecessor has gone, I have to entreat Great Master Puren for help . If you won¡¯t help me, I¡¯m afraid I will be at a loss . "

    Puren nodded slightly . He chuckled, thought for a moment, then said, "Since you are determined to manage Fox Zen School and turn it into a noble and righteous sect, it will be a merit for you . If Buddha knows this, he will be very happy . Originally, the founder of Fox Zen School, Pan Shi, had some ties with Buddhism . Butter, Mystical Silver Fox interfered in it, so we two sects turned from friends into enemies . Now that Fox Zen School has been changed by Zhenren Li, it seems that there is a chance for it to be rejuvenated . I will naturally help Zhenren Li with such noble work!"

    As he spoke, he picked up a copper bell beside him and shook it gently . After a while, a young monk came through the door . He saluted respectfully and said, "Master, what can I do for you?"

    Puren smiled and said, "Faneng, take them to my disappointing disciple . "

    Faneng was shocked and looked embarrassed by themand . "Master, you want me to go? That . . . wouldn¡¯t be very good, right?"

    Puren said in a serious voice, "Buddha said, ¡¯If I don¡¯t go to hell, who will?¡¯ You have no choice . "

    Faneng¡¯s face was immediately filled with bitterness as he thought to himself, "That¡¯s right . You said that you wouldn¡¯t go to hell, so who will? Why don¡¯t you go to hell yourself? Why do I have to instead?" However, he didn¡¯t dare to say such words and openly go against Puren¡¯s wishes . He bowed and said to Li Yundong with a face full of reluctance, "Please follow me . "

    Following him, Li Yundong was very curious . He thought in his heart, "Where is the disciple of Puren who knows Metasamsara? Why did he say ¡¯If I don¡¯t go to hell, who will?¡¯ Is he really so horrible?"

 Chapter 318

    Chapter 318

    <h4>Metasamsara</h4>

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes shed as she looked up at Li Yundong . Her red lips parted slightly, as if she had something weighing on her mind, but she swallowed her words when they were about toe out of her mouth .

    Li Yundong gently pinched the tip of the little girl¡¯s round nose and said with a smile, "What¡¯s the matter? If you have something to say, just say it . We have been together for a long time . Is there anything you can¡¯t say to me?"

    Su Chan was touched by Li Yundong¡¯s gentleness . She mustered her courage and said, "Yundong, do you think I¡¯m useless?"

    Li Yundong asked curiously, "Why would you be wondering about that?"

    Su Chan said in a daze, "Sister Zi Yuan is very clever and powerful . Not only does she know how to do housework, she is also good at tea art . Without her this time, we wouldn¡¯t have been able to make so much money . Zhou Qin can also help you with running the business and give advice to you, but I . . . I can¡¯t do anything . . . "

    Finishing her words, she became so sad that her eyes filled with tears . Li Yundong felt pity at the sight . He held the little girl in his arms and said softly, "You are really a silly girl . Of course you can do things . "

    The little girl asked with tears in her eyes, "What can I do for you?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "You can make trouble for me!"

    Su Chan momentarily burst outughing, but soon pursed her lips again . With more and more tears filling her eyes, she sobbed, "You¡¯ve said so . I¡¯m really useless . . . "

    Li Yundong smiled and hugged her like he was coaxing a child . "I¡¯m just joking with you . You¡¯re a knowledgeable girl . "

    Su Chan wiped her tears . "What are you saying?"

    Li Yundong held the soft, snow-white hand of the little girl and counted on her fingers . "Look, first, you know about cultivation . Didn¡¯t you teach me cultivation at first? You¡¯re the one who led me into cultivation, so you¡¯re my introductory teacher . That was fabulous of you . "

    The little girl looked at Li Yundong without blinking . When she heard Li Yundong talking about the past, she felt warm in her heart and became slightly happy . "You were so stupid at the beginning, even stupider than me! You didn¡¯t know anything and I was exhausted teaching you . "

    Li Yundong quickly nodded and said, "Yep, I am the stupidest . Without you, my God, I would have died of my own stupidity! " As he said this, Li Yundong suddenlyughed . "Do you know how the pig died?"

    The little girl remembered the joke she had told while eating at a McDonald¡¯s with Li Yundong for the first time . She immediatelyughed and said, "Because it was too stupid!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Yes, you finally understand? Though I¡¯m so stupid, you were able to teach me sessfully . Don¡¯t you have a sense of aplishment?"

    Su Chan was happy at first, and then her lips trembled . She said unhappily, "You were so foolish at first but now you are greater than me while I¡¯m making no progress . Therefore, aren¡¯t I even stupider than you? You lied to me just now . "

    Li Yundong said coaxingly, "That¡¯s not right . It¡¯s precisely because I¡¯m stupid that I have to fly first . As a fox immortal, it¡¯s only natural for you to take a little nap to rx first, but t won¡¯t take long for you to catch up with me . "

    Su Chan knew that what Li Yundong was saying was to coax her and she was well aware of his talent . As long as he continued cultivating, she would never be able to catch up with him in her lifetime .

    Fortunately, the little girl felt that she was far less powerful than Li Yundong, which made her happier . However, Li Yundong had suddenly made progress so quickly with his cultivation that she could not help him like she used to . She felt as if she had be dispensable . That was why the little girl was sad .

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong with eager eyes and said, "Well, you don¡¯t have to coax me . I understand the situation . I don¡¯t know how to do housework or cook meals . Actually, I can¡¯t do anything . The only thing I know is how to cultivate, which you have surpassed me at already . I¡¯m useless now . . . "

    Li Yundong red at Su Chan with feigned anger and growled in a low voice, "Nonsense! You are not useless!"

    Su Chan pouted, her fingers tugging at one corner of her clothes . "What can I do? When other cultivators saw you with me, they all said that you were letting yourself go . I was so sad to hear that . "

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Others¡¯ words have nothing to do with us, you know? My girl is really capable . They are just jealous of me!"

    Su Chan raised her head and asked, "What am I capable of ?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "In the future, we will set up a shop . I can be the boss and you can be thendy! Now that I am the leader of Fox Zen School, you will be the wife of the sect¡¯s leader! In the future, I will have a lot disciples, so you will be the wife of their master!"

    Li Yundong continued to describe the future . "Think about it . In the future, we can set up one store first . If business is good, we can set up a second one . If the second one opens, a third and fourth will naturally follow . Wow, when we set up chain stores, you will be their great boss . With millions of men under your control, people will respectfully call you thedy boss when they see you . Wow, how powerful you¡¯ll be!"

    Su Chan giggled and pressed her cheek against Li Yundong¡¯s strong broad chest . She stared at Li Yundong, listening to his words hungrily .

    Li Yundong waved his hand and added, "So, don¡¯t you think you¡¯re powerful enough? I¡¯ll take on a lot of disciples in the future, and then my disciples will take a lot on of their own disciples . That¡¯ll go on for generations . They¡¯ll end up spreading their branches and leaves among their disciples . Wow, the whole country will be full of disciples . When they see you, they¡¯ll call you Mistress or Grand Mistress . Uh, what should they call wife of their master¡¯s master¡¯s master?"

    There was a slight flush in Su Chan¡¯s cheeks . She buried her face in Li Yundong¡¯s arms, revealing only a pair of crescent eyes . Then she giggled and said, "I don¡¯t know either . "

    Li Yundong thought for a moment before simply saying, "Then they can just call you Buddha! Wow, look at how majestic you are . As soon as you step outside, there will be many disciples and grand disciples scrambling to clear the way for you . Conscientious disciples will shout, ¡¯Buddha, we¡¯ll carry the sedan chair!¡¯ At that time, you will be surrounded by great numbers of people . Even the real Buddha will not be as powerful as you!"

    Su Chan giggled and said, "Annoyingly, you¡¯re the Buddha . No, you¡¯re the real Buddha¡¯s, which is to say my, Little Li!"

    Li Yundong was stunned . "Oh my god, it¡¯s so true . Don¡¯t I even have the Li surname?"

    Su Chan was delighted to see Li Yundong¡¯s dull expression . She deliberately put on a stern face, coughed, and said in a crisp voice, "Little Li, I¡¯m going to use the sedan chair!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "You fool, how can you say that? That is only to be said by others . "

    Obviously, Su Chan had already gotten well into her role . She put her hands on her hips and said, "Are you the Buddha or am I the Buddha?"

    Li Yundong saw that the little girl was very happy, so he continued to y with her . He made a reluctant face and said with an obsequious smile, "You are, of course . You are the Buddha!"

    Then, he pped his sleeves, imitating the eunuchs once can see in pce dramas as he screamed, "Buddha, please take your ce on the sedan chair!"

    Su Chan fell into a fit of giggles .

    When Li Yundong saw Su Chan settle down, he asked curiously, "Why aren¡¯t you moving, Buddha?"

    Su Chan deliberately put on a stern face and said with an affected air, "Where is the sedan chair?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart stirred . He quickly squatted down in front of the girl and turned his head to smile at her . "Come, Little Li will carry you back to Cining Pce!"

    Su Chan burst outughing . She hopped onto Li Yundong¡¯s back with a chuckle, wrapped her arms around Li Yundong¡¯s neck, and whispered in his ear, "Sir, you¡¯re so nice to me!"

    Li Yundong noticed the little girl turning serious, so heughed and said, "That¡¯s right . Who am I good to if not you?"

    Su Chan giggled and rested her head on Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder, greedily inhaling his strong masculine smell . Thinking of every little thing Li Yundong had done for her, the little girl suddenly became a little dazed . With tears in her eyes, she murmured, "Did I earn a lot of good karma in myst life so that I could meet you in this one?"

    Li Yundong knew that she was talking nonsense, so heughed and said, "No, it¡¯s me who knocked out 300 wooden fish in my past life, allowing me to meet you this time . "

    Su Chan was delighted upon hearing this revtion . "That¡¯s what my master told mest time . "

    But as she spoke of her master, her face darkened again . Su Chan said in a low voice, "I don¡¯t know how my master is now . I¡¯m living a happy life here while she is off suffering somewhere . "

    When Li Yundong heard the little girl talking about Ao Wushuang, he also felt his heart grow heavy for a moment . He couldn¡¯t help saying with a sigh, "When ites to this matter, I really don¡¯t know how to handle it . Where can I find Yan Fang in this huge world? Even Zi Yuan didn¡¯t know her whereabouts . This woman endured for nine years in Fox Zen School . I really can¡¯t imagine how long she will hold on this time . "

    Su Chan became quieter and frowned . After a long while, she finally heaved a sigh . "I¡¯m so worried about her . I feel like I can¡¯t breathe whenever I think about my master . It¡¯s so ufortable . "

    Li Yundong gently stroked the little girl¡¯s hair . "How about this? I¡¯ll ask around . I am now the leader of Fox Zen School, and Ao Wushuang is a predecessor of Fox Zen School, so I should rescue her as soon as possible regardless of whether its based on reason or emotion . "

    Su Chan said with a sigh, "It would be great if someone had cultivated Metasamsara . "

    Li Yundong was stunned and said, "Metasamsara? One of the five major spells of Buddhism?"

    Li Yundong said . Suddenly, he pped one of Su Chan¡¯s thighs and said loudly, "You¡¯re so clever! Why didn¡¯t I think of that?"

    As soon as he pped her thigh, Su Chan, who was on his back, suddenly cried out . She covered her thigh andined loudly, "Why did you just hit me?"

    Li Yundong shifted Su Chan higher up his back andughed, "Sorry, it¡¯s a little inconvenient for me to p my own thigh in this position, so I had to use yours . "

    Su Chan said resentfully, "Why would it be inconvenient? You did it on purpose!" She suddenly thought of something and asked, "Do you know about Metasamsara?"

    Li Yundongughed, "Of course I know about it . There are five major spells of Buddhism in the Surangama Sutra: the Heavenly Eye, Heavenly Ear, Heart Binding, Divine Foot, Metasamsara, and Nirvana . Metasamsara refers to the one which allows a person to see through all living beings, the unknown and the future . "

    Su Chan said with a sigh as she looked at Li Yundong, "You didn¡¯t know anything before, but somehow you are so knowledgeable now . "

    Li Yundong chuckled and said, "I do know a person who is proficient in Metasamsara . Maybe he will be able to help you find your master . "

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t contain her excitement and asked hurriedly, "Who is it?"

 Chapter 319

    Chapter 319

    <h4>This Person Is Not Wuhua!</h4>

    Puren, the head of the monastery of Xiyuan Temple, saw Li Yundong and others leave . After a while, Fakong came in with his palms together and asked, "Master, why did you help him so much? This person has been involved in a conflict with our Xiyuan Temple before, and the disciples have been very critical of him in private . Moreover, he has a terrible reputation in the cultivation world now . If we contact him, will he . . . "

    Before he could finish his words, Puren looked up at the middle-aged monk and began saying slowly, "When you entered my sect that year, I named you Fakong with the intention of making youprehend that all physical existence is vanity .

    "The cultivation of the young disciples is still shallow, and the current world is soplicated, tempting and confusing . I can understand why they wouldn¡¯t understand this . However, you have been with me for decades and still don¡¯t understand this . It shouldn¡¯t be!"

    Fakong looked ashamed . He bowed his head and said, "Master, please show me the way . "

    Puren stood up and said, "Buddhists thinks that all physical existence is vanity, including things such as the sky, the earth, the mountains, the rivers, and even one¡¯s physical body . Only the Great Tao Dharma is real! I don¡¯t care what other people think of us, but I have to consider how to inherit and carry forward our branch of Buddhism in the future .

    "I¡¯ve observed the behavior of this Zhenren Li and know he is a righteous person who abhorrs evil . Then, I observed his speech and found out he is a person who is down-to-earth and not the type to boast . Finally, I observed his appearance and found out he is a cultivator who is not greedy for beauty . He also possesses great willpower as he is still a virgin with a Primordial Yang Body even though he is surrounded by beauties and the woman by his side is also a virgin with the Core Yin yin body .

    "A person with great willpower and ambition will definitely achieve great things in the future . Regardless of his talent, as long as he has these two points, I can conclude that he will be a great cultivator in the future, and his achievements will be no less than those of the contemporary leaders of every sect . "

    As Puren spoke, he walked over to one of the windows and pushed it open . Pointing to the big tree in the garden, he said, "However, it is not enough for a person to have great willpower and ambition alone . Look at this tree, even if it can grow into a towering tree, it could still grow crooked . This is true for trees and also for people . If a person has evil intentions, his willpower and ambition will lead to sin in the future . Once such peoplemit crimes, it will be a hundred times worse than thosemitted by ordinary people . "

    Puren turned around and said, "So, I carefully observed his face again and saw him looking steadily at me twice . His eyes were clear and bright, free from any evil thoughts, and his brows were even more righteous . As such, I believe that this person will be a major cultivator in our Orthodox Path in the future . "

    Puren nced at Fakong and sighed . "Fakong, you are not the head of the monastery, so you don¡¯t understand my difficulties . Although our Xiyuan Temple is well-known in Dongwu, it is far behind the four famous temples . Moreover, the Taoist forces in Dongwu are very powerful . The forces of the Zhengyi School and the Great Six¡¯s Sect are spreading here . They hold a gathering of lotuses every four years in the cultivation world, and it will being up again soon . If our Xiyuan Temple doesn¡¯t secure some strong external aid now, we will not only be unable to cope with the erosion of these sects, but we will not be able to stay safe alone through the future Great Catastrophe of the cultivation world . "

    Fakong looked puzzled and asked, "Master, why don¡¯t we ask other Buddhists for help?"

    Puren shook his head and said, "Since ancient times, there has never been a first in literature and no second in martial arts . Buddhism has always been the same . Today, if Xiyuan Temple asks other Buddhists for help, when we beat them in the future they will gossip about us . "

    "Let me tell you a story . There once was a woman who wanted to ask Kwan-Yin Bodhisattva for help, so every day she piously recited the names of the merciful Kwan-Yin Bodhisattva to her statue . She recited it thousands, even tens of thousands of times, every day . But one day, her son suddenly asked her, ¡¯You ask Kwan-Yin Bodhisattva for help every day, but if she has a problem, who does she ask for help from?¡¯"

    As he spoke, Puren looked at Fakong with a smile . "Fukong, if you were Kwan-Yin Bodhisattva, who would you go to for aid?"

    Fakong suddenly understood . He put his palms together and said, "It¡¯s better to rely on yourself than to seek help from others!"

    Puren put his palms together and said with a smile, "That¡¯s right! Instead of humbly begging other Buddhist peers, it¡¯s better for us to find some strong reinforcements alone . Zhenren Li is now in a developmental phase . I¡¯m sure that he will be a hero and a world-shaking figure in the future . If not now, then sometime . "

    Fakong had an expression of admiration on his face as he said, "Master is much more far-sighted than Fakong . " However, he seemed to think of something and revealed a strange expression after finishing his praise . He said, "But, Master, aren¡¯t you afraid that your disciple will cause you trouble again?"

    Hearing this, Puren also felt a little embarrassed . He was stunned for a moment, then suddenly said with a wry smile, "Amitabha, Zhenren Li can only pray for himself . "

    At this time, Li Yundong was following a young disciple of Puren to the outside of the temple . He said to the monk named Faneng, "Master, where are we going? "

    Zhou Qin was one of the world¡¯s extraordinary beauties, and Su Chan was also a stunning fox spirit . They could both have a great impact on men, especially this kind of young monk whose cultivation quotient was not overly strong .

    Faneng looked steadily forward, not daring to look at Su Chan and Zhou Qin . He kept his eyes focused on his nose, wishing he could seal off all of his senses . When he realized that Li Yundong was talking to him, he had no choice but to respond . "I¡¯m not a master, you can just call me Faneng . I don¡¯t know where to go either, but my senior fellow apprentice is a libertine and has always been elusive . It will take a lot of effort to find him . "

    Li Yundong asked in confusion, "I see your monastery heads all using cell phones . Doesn¡¯t he use one?"

    Faneng said with a wry smile, "If my senior fellow apprentice gets any valuable items, he pawns them as soon as possible . "

    Li Yundong was shocked and said, "Is your senior fellow apprentice a gambler?"

    Faneng shook his head and said, "No, he doesn¡¯t like gambling . "

    Li Yundong was very puzzled . "Then what¡¯s the reason?"

    With a strange expression, Faneng said, "You¡¯ll know when we get there . "

    The group of people got into a taxi . Faneng sat in the passenger seat and said to the driver, "Master, let¡¯s go to Mudu Hong Kong Street . "

    Li Yundong was startled, thinking that he had misheard the street name . He asked quickly, "Where are we going?"

    Faneng coughed dryly and said, "Mudu Hong Kong Street . "

    Li Yundong said stammeringly, "Isn¡¯t that a red-light district?"

    Faneng¡¯s expression became more and more strange . "That¡¯s right!"

    Li Yundong was so shocked that he couldn¡¯t close his mouth . "Your senior fellow apprentice is in such a ce, isn¡¯t he?"

    Somewhat bashfully, Faneng said, "Yes, he is!"

    Li Yundong stared nkly into space and suddenly had a bad feeling . Zhou Qin, who was beside him, also looked shocked and had been struck speechless . It was Su Chan whoforted him by saying, "Yundong, not all the people there are libertines . It¡¯s possible that this Great master is there and, uh, staying there for . . . "

    At this point, she could not continue talking .

    What could a monk possibly be up to in the red-light district?

    Su Chan said with a dry smile, "Maybe he is cultivating in secr affairs . "

    When Li Yundong heard this, he nodded quickly as if tofort himself . "Well, it¡¯s possible! Of course, there are some experts who are also mavericks . "

    It was early in the morning, so there was no traffic jam on the road . After about twenty minutes, they pulled up on Mudu Hong Kong Street .

    Most of the entertainment venues there were closed in the morning . The street was quiet, which was in sharp contrast to the lights and bustle that had been present when Li Yundong hadest time . Faneng took Li Yundong to wander around for a while and said with a wry smile, "It¡¯s not time yet . I can¡¯t find him . "

    Li Yundong asked puzzledly, "Then when can we find him? "

    "Maybe after 4 or 5 pm," Faneng said, a strange expression on his face .

    Li Yundong asked curiously, "Why only then?"

    Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t stand listening to this . She pulled Li Yundong aside and said with flushed cheeks, "It¡¯s at around 4 or 5 pm that the entertainment center opens . "

    Li Yundong asked, "Why do they open for business at this time?"

    As a girl, it was really embarrassing for Zhou Qin to have to exin this kind of thing to a man . She coughed dryly and said awkwardly, "This is the time when most men get off work . At this time, even if they are questioned by their wives, they can lie about working overtime . Their families will not be suspicious . Therefore, many of these men choose this time of day . . . you should know this . . . "

    Li Yundong suddenly understood . He replied strangely, "I don¡¯t understand, but it seems like you know all about it! "

    Zhou Qin blushed and said angrily, "I¡¯m exining it to you, aren¡¯t I? Ugh, I won¡¯t tell you next time!"

    Li Yundong quickly smiled obsequiously and said, "Don¡¯t be so sensitive . I was just saying . "

    As he spoke, he suddenly remembered something and turned his head to look at Faneng . "Master Faneng, on the other hand, you know all about this!"

    Faneng was flushed with embarrassment . He originated from south of the Yangtze River and was fair and clean . This time, his face turned as red as a ripe prawn . He stammered, "I¡¯ve only heard of such things from Senior Brother . "

    Li Yundong took a deep breath of cold air and couldn¡¯t help sighing . "Your senior fellow apprentice is really a weirdo in the monk world! I don¡¯t even know how to refer to him . "

    Faneng put his palms together . "My senior fellow apprentice¡¯s original name is Ding Zonglei . His Buddhist name is Wuhua . "

    Li Yundong said curiously, "Since he¡¯s the disciple of Master Puren, shouldn¡¯t he be a member of the Fa generation?"

    Faneng replied with a wry smile, "In theory, that¡¯s should be so . However, Wuhua thought that the name given to him by my master was not a good one, so he changed it to Wuhua . He took Tang Bohu¡¯s poem ¡¯Wuhua, wineless, hoe-free, and field-free¡¯ as inspiration . "

    Li Yundong also said with a wry smile, "It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve heard of there being such a unique monk in the world . "

    Zhou Qin, who was sitting to one side, could sense Li Yundong¡¯s worry . Obviously, he was worrying that the monk was not a real master . "You don¡¯t have to worry about it . Maybe this Great master will be a first-ss figure like Jidian . The wine has prated his intestines, but the Buddha will be sitting in his heart . "

    Li Yundong felt relieved after hearing that . He nodded and said with a smile, "You¡¯re right . I¡¯m overthinking it . "

    "It¡¯s still too early now . Why don¡¯t wee again at dusk? My senior fellow apprentice has always been elusive and we can only find him here at dusk," Faneng exined .

    Li Yundong said helplessly, "Well, I suppose that¡¯s the only thing we can do . "

    They waited until four or five o¡¯clock in the afternoon before Li Yundong and the others returned to Hong Kong . At this time, the doors of all the entertainment venues were wide open, just as expected, and decorated withnterns and ribbons . Many women dressed in sexy and beautiful clothes were standing at the doors and weing the guests respectfully . The traffic on the street had increased noticeably, and the well-dressed men kepting in and out continuously .

    Li Yundong looked at the entertainment venues on the street and asked with a wry smile, "There are so many stores here . How can we find him?"

    Faneng replied with a simrly wry smile, "There¡¯s no other choice . Let¡¯s go door to door . "

    Li Yundong felt depressed . He had never dreamed that he would be returning to this red-light district and having to look for someone from door to door .

    Zhou Qin and Su Chan looked at one another with queer expressions . They donned straight faces and followed Li Yundong, trying not to gawp at their surroundings .

    Li Yundong and the others went to find Wuhua one by one . After going through about ten venues, Li Yundong became deeply troubled by the heavy smell of cosmetics on the youngdies around him . He couldn¡¯t help asking, "There are dozens of properties here . How long will it take to find him?"

    Faneng said helplessly, "We don¡¯t have any better method . When my master asked me toe here, I didn¡¯t want toe, either . "

    Li Yundong was about to speak when he suddenly heard a noiseing from a venue not far away .

    He turned his head and saw an extraordinary building . It was built like a hotel, on which were some big, glittering words: International Entertainment World of Crystal Love!

    Wow, it looked very familiar!

    Li Yundong took a closer look and saw several security guardsing out . They were carrying a man and being followed by a coquettish woman . Li Yundong looked again . "Hey, I know her . Isn¡¯t that Mei Niang?"

    As he was about to speak, he nced out of the corner of his eye and saw the nearby Faneng staring fixedly at the man being carried out .

    Li Yundong was stirred by the scene . "This guy is Wuhua, isn¡¯t he?"

    Li Yundong saw that the man was being carried out by several burly men and thrown to the ground . He was dressed in a gray frock and had a bald head on which a few ring scars could be seen .

    Mei Niang stood at the entrance of the shop with her hands on her hips and swore loudly . "You¡¯re a bald donkey ying with a woman, and you still want to charge it to an ount? You are crazy and even beg for alms from prostitutes now . Are you tired of living? If it weren¡¯t for the fact that you¡¯re always here, we would have broken your middle leg today!"

    Mei Niang¡¯s voice was sharp and clear and the monk¡¯s clothes were rather conspicuous, so they attracted a lot of attention .

    Li Yundong, Su Chan, and Zhou Qin were all stunned . The monk had been badly battered over his head and face, and hey on the ground, looking dirty . He didn¡¯t look like a master at all . Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help cursing in his heart, "F*ck, this guy cannot be Wuhua!"

    Then Faneng cried out in surprise, "Senior Brother!"

    These words sent Li Yundong over the edge . He burst into tears suddenly . "F*ck, this guy really is Wuhua! He is a master in name but not in reality! This scoundrel cannot really be him!"

 Chapter 320

    Chapter 320

    <h4>The Erotic Monk? The Eminent Monk?</h4>

    When Wuhua heard Faneng¡¯s voice, he immediately raised his head, his nose still bleeding . He was surprised and said, "Junior apprentice, Perfect timing! Lend me 600 yuan!"

    His words made Faneng want to find a hole to crawl into . Faneng¡¯s face became purple and red . For a long time, he dawdled and refused to get closer .

    Mei Niang saw Li Yundong and the others . She said with a happy face, "Hey, isn¡¯t this Boss Li? Why are you free today? Hey, you see this scene, it¡¯s really embarrassing . Wait a minute, I¡¯ll deal with the things here . "

    As she said this, she turned around and red at Faneng, "He¡¯s your senior fellow apprentice, isn¡¯t he? Does it make you proud to be a monk? Don¡¯t you want to give the girl the money? Hurry up, give six hundred yuan! There are so many people here . If you don¡¯t feel ashamed, I will feel ashamed for you!"

    While she was talking, a lot of people had gathered around on the side of the road . Many were pointing at the scene and secretlyughing . His face was as red as cinnabar and blood . He groped through his pockets and finally took out 500 yuan . He said in a low voice, "That¡¯s all . "

    Mei Niang grabbed the money and roughly counted it . Her always cold face immediately disyed a smile . "Since you have given me the money, it¡¯s easy to say . Although this amount is not correct, on ount that you are all monks, I shall give you a discount . "

    After that, she turned around and giggled at Li Yundong, "Boss Li, I¡¯ve been missing you for a long time . Why do you have time toe here today?"

    Mei Niang nced at Su Chan and Zhou Qin beside him and said coquettishly, "Why would you bring a friend when youe here to y? We don¡¯t have a ce to entertain female guests here . "

    Zhou Qin¡¯s face changed when she heard that . She red at Mei Niang, while Su Chan made a face at her . "You¡¯re so shameless! We¡¯re here to look for someone!"

    Mei Nian said in surprise, "Looking for someone? Who are you looking for here? Those who¡¯vee here are either guests or hookers . "

    As she spoke, she nced at Wuhua and rolled her eyes . "Could it be that he¡¯s the one you¡¯re looking for?"

    By now, Wuhua had already picked himself up off the ground . His cassock was crumpled and dirty . He looked as awkward as could be .

    For a moment, Li Yundong and others were embarassed and looked away . They didn¡¯t dare admit that they were looking for Wuhua .

    Mei Niang¡¯s feelings were as clear as a mirror in her heart . She sneered and rolled her eyes at Zhou Qin and Su Chan, "You¡¯re still so arrogant even when looking for a guest who can¡¯t pay . Really . . . What the hell is going on here?"

    As she spoke, she turned around and walked into the store .

    Li Yundong felt anger in his heart . "What kind of world is it? How could a hooker be so arrogant? This country is really ¡¯prosperous¡¯ with prostitute . "

    Waiting for the people around Wuhua to disperse a little, Faneng forcefully suppressed his embarrassment and said, "Senior fellow apprentice, what did you do?"

    Wuhua patted the dust off his body and let out a long sigh . His originally messy and dirty face actually revealed a dignified look . "s, I saw a benefactress with a good foundation here . Originally, I wanted to enlighten her, so I went to talk with her . I didn¡¯t expect that I needed to pay for our two hours¡¯ talking . How can I have that much money as a monk? So I had to find others to beg alms from first, and then pay them . I didn¡¯t expect to be treated like this . s, the moral degeneration of the world is declining day by day, and public morality is not what is used to be!"

    Only then did Li Yundong and the others understand what was going on . Su Chan was a simple-minded person . She looked at Wuhua with admiration and said, "Master, you¡¯re amazing . You can actually enlighten mortals who are beneath the dirt . "

    Zhou Qin said doubtfully, "Is it necessary to choose this ce to enlighten mortals? Why would you want to be a whoremonger?"

    With a serious look on his face, Wuhua said, "Buddha used to be a beggar . Why can¡¯t I be a whoremaster?"

    Li Yundong was also a little confused . He thought, "Is this guy an erotic monk or an eminent monk? He was a great erotic monk just now, but after hearing his full of philosophical words, he seems to be an eminent monk . "

    Li Yundong thought for a moment, coughed drily, and said, "Master Wuhua, I have something to ask you . Do you have time?"

    Only then did Wuhua turn his face and look at Li Yundong . He smiled slightly . "You¡¯re Zhenren Li, aren¡¯t you?"

    Li Yundong asked, "How do you know my surname? Oh, Mei Niang said it before . "

    Wuhua shook his head and said, "No, I had a divination a few days ago . I knew you woulde to find me, so I visited this area regrly since then . "

    Li Yundong was very surprised . "You guessed that I woulde here? Then why didn¡¯t I see youst time?"

    Wuhuar smiled slightly, "We couldn¡¯t meet each other until the right time . "

    Li Yundong saw that his words were full of deep meaning, and his doubts about him were reduced a little . However, he still had doubts in his heart . He asked, "Since you expected to see me here, why didn¡¯t you see yourself being thrown out in such a mess?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s words were very rude, but Wuhua still looked calm . He put his palms together and said, "Amitabha, how can a doctor heal himself? My Metasamsara can help you, Zhenren Li, but it can¡¯t help me . "

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t have any more doubts when he saw that Wuhua knew that he wasing here . He said respectfully, "Graet master, you¡¯re indeed a master like Jidian . I¡¯m the one who¡¯s overestimating myself . "

    Wuhua smiled and said, "It doesn¡¯t matter . Zhenren Li, please wait for a moment . I need a few words with the benefactress . My aim ining here this time was mainly to enlighten her . " As he spoke, he pointed to a pretty woman standing at the entrance of the International Entertainment World of Crystal Love .

    Li Yundong looked at the direction he was pointing . He saw that the woman was quite beautiful and flirtatious, but looked sad . He thought to himself, "This master is really good at picking people to enlighten . He actually chose such a beautiful and sexy woman! It seems that he is also an erotic monk!"

    But then, he couldn¡¯t help thinking, "Isn¡¯t it the same with me? Su Chan is extremely beautiful, as is Zhou Qin, not to mention Zi Yuan . What do others think of me? What qualifications do I have to criticize Wuhua?"

    As he thought of this, Li Yundong suddenly felt relieved .

    He saw Wuhua walking towards the woman and whispering to her . The woman kept wiping her face and looking at him with tears in her eyes . The two of them said goodbye to each other, as if they were reluctant to part with each other .

    Li Yundong watched with a strange feeling in his heart . He thought to himself, "Does this Great master go to enlighten people or pick up girls?"

    Su Chan, who was standing to the side, sighed with emotion in her heart . "This master is not afraid of rumors . He is really an eminent monk . "

    However, Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help looking at Wuhua and the woman . She felt deep in her heart, "This monk is not honest and talks in a high-sounding way . He can hide it from Li Yundong, but he can¡¯t hide it from me . "

    After he finished speaking to the woman, Wuhua went to Li Yundong and put his palms together devoutly . "Zhenren Li, I¡¯ve made you wait for a long time . Let¡¯s go . "

    Li Yundong thought for a moment and said, "Since I want to ask you for help, why don¡¯t youe to my ce? I hope you don¡¯t mind . "

    Wuhuaughed and said, "Haha, I can go to this nightspot . Why wouldn¡¯t I go to the fox den?"

    Hearing this, Li Yundong¡¯s doubt towards Wuhua dispelled a little more . He smiled and said, "Thank you . " He nced at Faneng standing to one side and said, "Master Faneng, do you want to go with us?"

    Faneng thought to himself, "It¡¯s bad luck for me to apany you to the nightspot to find my senior fellow apprentice . Why would I apany you to a fox¡¯s den? Senior brother¡¯s cultivation is high while my cultivation is low . Do you think I¡¯ll be able to survive if I go to a ce like that?"

    Faneng shook his head like a rattle . He begged for mercy and said, "Please spare me, Zhenren Li . I have to go back quickly . "

    He didn¡¯t wait to say goodbye to his senior fellow apprentice . He kept his head down all the way and looked steadily forward . He was reciting the scriptures quietly and ran like a wolf, escaping from the red-light street .

    Looking at his figure, Wuhua shook his head and sighed . "This is just a pink skeleton, a skeleton with pink . My Junior fellow apprentice still can¡¯t see through it . "

    Li Yundong said with admiration, "Great master, you¡¯re good at ying the mortal society and aren¡¯t bothered by them . I respect you . "

    The group of people stopped a taxi on the road and then headed for the Mount Tianlong . Before getting in the car, Zhou Qin noticed that Wuhua nced back when he got on the car . Seeing his action, she secretly smiled and became more convinced of her own judgment .

    After arriving at Fox Zen School on the Mount Tianlong, Li Yundong led Wuhua to the Taoist temple . The two little foxes, who were cleaning the hall in front of the temple, saw a bald monk following leader and looked curiously at Wuhua . They began to chatter and whisper to each other .

    "Hey, why did the leader bring a bald monk back here?"

    "I don¡¯t know, it¡¯s so strange . "

    "Is he going to do religious rites for the grandmaster?"

    "I don¡¯t know, but you should say the former grandmaster . However, if he wants to do religious rites on the seventh day, it seems that a bunch of chatans is a little bitcking . "

    Li Yundong listened to the two little foxes whispering, and the word "bald" lingered in his ears . He looked at Wuhua with embarrassment, but he saw that Wuhua¡¯s expression was normal . He then began to respect Wuhua and sighed, "These little foxes reallyck discipline . "

    He turned his head and red at the two little foxes and shouted, "What are you talking about? Go about your own business!"

    Li Yundong had already shown his authority in the back hill pavilion of the school . When he shouted, the two little foxes immediately shivered with fear . They looked at each other and ran to the other room . They closed the door, leaving only two pairs of curious and frightened eyes peering through the cracks .

    When Wuhua saw this, he smiled and said, "How awe-inspiring you are, Zhenren Li . "

    Li Yundongughed dryly and said, "My disciples are naughty . I¡¯m sorry to make youugh at them . "

    As they arrived at his residence, Li Yundong saw that Cao Yi, Liu Yuehong, Zhuang Yating and the others were also there, he smiled and greeted them . Li Yundong swept his gaze around and casually asked, "Why didn¡¯t Zhangsun Honge?"

    Cao Yi, Zhuang Yating, and Liu Yuehong looked at each other . Cao Yi quickly said, "Zhangsun shijie is cultivating in the backyard . "

    Li Yundong replied with a "oh" and didn¡¯t take it seriously . He just gave a rough exnation of the matter . Cao Yi and the others were surprised and happy . They spoke to Wuhua, "Master Wuhua doesn¡¯t mind our Fox Zen School¡¯s notorious reputation . Our Fox Zen School¡¯s people are all grateful to you . If you can help us find the whereabouts of little junior sister Wushuang, we will once again thank and reward you . "

    Li Yundongughed and said, "You guys really know how to put in a good word . As the leader of this sect, I don¡¯t have anything else to say . "

    His words made everyone around himugh .

    Li Yundong smiled, turned around, and said to Wuhua, "Master, please use your destiny skill to help us find Yan Fang¡¯s whereabouts . "

    However, Wuhua turned around, looked at Cao Yi and the others, and said, "Thew doesn¡¯t pass to six sense doors!"

    One person had two ears, two people had four ears, three people had six ears . The meaning of Wuhua¡¯s words was very obvious . Cao Yi and others immediately came to their senses and said to Li Yundong, "Leader, we will leave . "

    After Cao Yi and the others left, Wuhua still stared at Zhou Qin and Su Chan, refusing to speak .

    Zhou Qin had no choice but to say to Li Yundong, "Master, I have something to do first . "

    Su Chan was the only one who didn¡¯t want to leave because of her close rtionship with Li Yundong and this was about her master¡¯s whereabouts . However, when Wuhua saw that she didn¡¯t want to leave, he didn¡¯t want to speak either . He just put his palms together, murmuring scriptures quietly .

    Seeing that he didn¡¯t speak, Su Chan reached out and pulled Li Yundong¡¯s sleeve, looking at him pitifully .

    Seeing her like this, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but intercede for her . "Great master Wuhua, Su Chan is my girlfriend, and Ao Wushuang, who was caught by Yan Fang, is her master . She¡¯s not an outsider, so you don¡¯t have to ignore her, do you?"

    Wuhua didn¡¯t look at him and repeated, "Thew doesn¡¯t pass on to six sense doors!"

    Wuhua¡¯s attitude was firm . It seemed that it could only be talked about by two people and not three . It is up to him to decide which two!

    He couldn¡¯t help saying to Su Chan with a wry smile, "Should I leave for a while?"

    No matter how childish Su Chan was, she knew that Li Yundong had no reason to avoid the matter at hand . She said unhappily, "Then, then I¡¯ll just go . "

    She looked at Li Yundong with eager eyes and then looked at the Wuhua . She walked to the door and said pitifully, "Then I¡¯ll go . "

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "It¡¯s not like we¡¯re going through a life-and-death separation . Why are you making it so dramatic?"

    Su Chan replied with an "oh" and turned to leave .

    Li Yundong turned around and said to Wuhua, "Great master, there are only four ears left . Can you tell me now?"

    However, Wuhua smiled and looked up at the door . He said loudly, "Come out, no need to hide . Can this simple invisibility spell fool my Dharma Eyes?"

    As soon as he finished speaking, Su Chan¡¯s figure appeared at the door . She made a face at Wuhua and said, "Great master, you¡¯re really awesome . I¡¯m convinced . I¡¯ll leave now . " With that, she stuck her tongue out at Li Yundong and then ran away .

    Li Yundong looked at her and didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry . He thought to himself, "That little girl is getting naughtier and naughtier!"

    He coughed drily and said to Wuhua, "Can you tell me now?"

 Chapter 321

    Chapter 321

    <h4>I Want a Whore!</h4>

    Wuhua looked at him, raised his index finger in a meaningful way, and said, "If you want to hear the truth, you need to be sincere . " After that, he closed his eyes .

    Li Yundong¡¯s mind was nk and he was confused . "I should be sincere? How can I be sincere? I invited him and brought him here . Am I still not sincere? Does this Graet master really put on airs?"

    Li Yundong asked tentatively, "Great master, are you hungry? Do you want to eat something first?"

    With his eyes closed, Wuhua did not answer but murmured the sutras as though he had not heard Li Yundong¡¯s words .

    Li Yundong gave a hollowugh and asked again, "Master, are you tired and need a rest first?"

    Wuhua remained as he was . If it weren¡¯t for the fact that he was still reciting the scriptures in a low voice, Li Yundong would have thought that he had passed away in meditation .

    Li Yundong felt helpless and said, "Great master, do you want a good room to rest in?"

    Wuhua still ignored him, and recited the scripture, "All reality is a phantom, and all phantoms are real . " Li Yundong felt sad about this behavior . He had spent much time and effort finding Wuhua, and then invited him here, to see if Ao Wushuang¡¯s whereabouts could be determined, but Wuhua suddenly started to y a game . He continued to ask a few more questions, but Wuhua kept ignoring him . He could feel his temper starting to rise, almost ready to explode, but he changed his mind and rushed out of the room .

    Su Chan, Zhou Qin, Cao Yi and others were waiting for him outside the room . Seeing hime out, they all gathered around and asked in a rush, "Yundong, what did master Wuhua say? Where is my master?"

    "Master, what did the monk say?"

    "Leader, where is my younger sister?"

    Li Yundong had been sad and angry, and he became more upset by their questions . He raised his hand and said angrily, "Shut up!"

    As soon as Li Yundong lost his temper, the women next to him fell silent and looked at him nkly .

    Li Yundong said sadly, "This Great master is ying a mysterious game with me . He told me that if I want to know the truth, I need to be sincere . "

    Cao Yi couldn¡¯t help asking, "Leader, what did you say?"

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly and said, "I asked him if he was hungry . "

    Everyone asked in unison, "Then what did he say?"

    Li Yundong shrugged his shoulders, "He ignored me . "

    Su Chan then asked, "So Yundong, did you ask him again?"

    Li Yundong said sadly, "I have asked, I asked a dozen of these questions continuously, but he ignored me, just kept reciting the scriptures . I don¡¯t have any clue, so I had toe out . "

    They all stared at each other and Su Chan couldn¡¯t helpining, "Is Great master acting too enigmatically?"

    However, Cao Yi shook her head and said, "No, no, it¡¯s true that it¡¯s hard to hear authentic . In ancient times, the emperor Xuanyuan asked for Qi Bo¡¯s help . He went to Qi Bo several times and was rejected every time . Finally, he spent half a month fasting and had to take a bath before he was answered . Then Qi Bo taught the cultivation methods to the emperor Xuanyuan . In the end, the emperor was able to be an immortal . "

    Li Yundong took a deep breath, "Do I have to fast for half a month?"

    Cao Yi said solemnly, "The fast shows your piety, which is the rule of Buddhism . Leader, you could try!"

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly, "What¡¯s the big deal about eating vegetarian food for half a month? I can eat it for a year . The problem is that I have a lot of things to do now . How can I stay here and fast?"

    Cao Yi also felt depressed . She knew that Li Yundong was running around for the livelihood of Fox Zen School . People like her who did not produce could not help, so naturally she couldn¡¯t say too much . She then asked tentatively, " Leader, can you ask Master Wuhua that if it is what he means?"

    Li Yundong nodded and said, "Okay, I¡¯ll ask . " After that, he stepped into the room again, but it was not before long he came out again with a sad expression . As soon as he saw them, he shrugged his shoulder and said, "Still ignoring me!"

    Everyone¡¯s expressions were filled with disappointment . Su Chan could not help but ask, "Does Great Master Wuhua want money?"

    As soon as she said that, everyone looked at her . Cao Yi couldn¡¯t help but reprimand her, "Chan¡¯er, how can you say that? How could a monk be so vulgar?"

    Li Yundong also pretended to re at her angrily, "Even if you want to talk nonsense, don¡¯t you know to keep your voice down? If Wuhua hears that, he¡¯ll be angry and will leave . What should we do?"

    Su Chan lowered her head with an aggrieved look on her face, rubbing the corner of her clothes with her fingers . She muttered, "I just wanted to help and made a random guess . "

    When Cao Yi heard this, she changed her mind and whispered: "Some masters like calligraphy, painting or antiques . Leader, you might ask if Master Wuhua has such a hobby? "

    Li Yundong said, "Okay, I¡¯ll ask . "

    Before he finished speaking, he turned and walked into the room, but it didn¡¯t take long before he walked out again .

    Everyone looked at him eagerly . When Li Yundong walked up to them and sighed, they also sighed heavily with disappointment .

    Li Yundong said with a wry smile, "Why do I feel that we seem to be ying a guessing game? This Great Master is one of the Zen Sect, so has he always liked mystery? But why does he make me guess everything? How can anyone stand it?"

    He thought to himself, "Zi Yuan is good at guessing . She is smart enough to guess Wuhua¡¯s idea, but it is pity that she is not here . "

    Of course, Li Yundong knew that he couldn¡¯t say that, otherwise the little girl would me herself again .

    When everyone was at a loss, Zhou Qin who had been sitting silently to the side said suddenly, "I think I might know the thoughts of Master Wuhua . "

    Li Yundong and the others looked at her, immediately refreshed, and asked, "What is it?!"

    Zhou Qin groaned for a moment and said, "It stands to reason that people in Buddhism should be pure-hearted and have no desires, but after having followed master these past few days, I found that cultivation also requires firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea . Cultivators are like this . There is no reason that Buddhists don¡¯t have such needs . Moreover, monks do not produce, and they have to beg alms to sustain their lives .

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but say, "But I¡¯ve asked just now, Master Wuhua doesn¡¯t answer me at all!"

    Zhou Qin shook her head and said, "No, I don¡¯t think Master Wuhua can ask for this . In my previous life, some officials sought help from each other, and they had to pay for each other . I promote your person . You also have to promote mine . So, I am thinking that we are looking for Master Wuhua to help find someone, does he also ask us to find someone for him?"

    Su Chan and Cao Yi asked at the same time, "Who?"

    Li Yundong had an idea . He opened his mouth and said in surprise, "No way . Could it be . . . "

    Zhou Qin looked at Li Yundong and nodded, "Yes, I guess Wuhua wants just this person!"

    Li Yundong did not know whether tough or cry, saying, "Come on, he is an eminent monk, how can he ask a hooker to negotiate terms?"

    Zhou Qin smiled slightly, "Master, I was paying attention to Master Wuhua and the youngdy was reluctant to let him go . I found that Master Wuhua is not only impure, but also affectionate towards this hooker . His eyes were full of love when they were parting, and he looked back at her once before he left . Therefore, I think Master Wuhua is hoping that we can help him find this hooker and save her from the ??suffering . "

    Li Yundong pondered this for a while, and he was about to go to the room to ask Wuhua, but Zhou Qin stopped him and said in a low voice, "But can you ask about this kind of thing? If you ask, he will still ignore you . You just need to find her, if it¡¯s not, she can go back . It¡¯s nothing more than a trip fee . "

    Li Yundong thought for a while, and said with a weird expression, "I think what you said makes sense, but I still don¡¯t believe that Master Wuhua means this . "

    However, although he said he wasn¡¯t sure, he still decided to follow Zhou Qin¡¯s instructions . Li Yundong said, "Well, I¡¯ll go by myself . "

    Su Chan, who was standing by the side, said hurriedly, "Yundong, you can¡¯t leave here . You stay here and I¡¯ll go . I know the way . "

    Li Yundong looked at her hesitantly . "You? Do you know what kind of ce it is?"

    Su Chan put her palms together with a smile and teasingly said, "Amitabha . If I don¡¯t go to hell, who will?"

    Li Yundongughed . He knew that the little girl wanted to share some things with him, so she acted so positively . He couldn¡¯t stop her, then he pinched her cheek and said, "Be careful on the road . Do you have enough money?"

    Su Chan smiled and said, "Of course!" After speaking, she slipped away .

    After watching Su Chan leave, Li Yundong turned around and said to Zhou Qin jokingly, "If you¡¯re wrong, I¡¯ll punish you by eating vegetarian food for half a month!"

    Zhou Qin chuckled and said, "Did I have meat to eat here ?"

    Li Yundong then remembered that Fox Zen School had always supplied vegetarian dishes, so there was no meat in it at all . Heughed loudly .

    They waited for about two hours . Li Yundong was getting a little worried, he suddenly heard Su Chan¡¯s voice calling in the distance, as if the general who had returned to the court after victory . She began to announce the good news: "Yundong, I¡¯m back!"

    Li Yundong turned around, and as soon as he did, he saw the little girl rush into his arms like a gust of wind, chuckling with her arms around his waist .

    When Li Yundong realised that his little girl hade back, his heart fell back into his chest . Just as he was about to speak, he heard a very sexy voice, "s, I started my career at the age of sixteen and have done so much business for such a long time . It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen the person who is doing business here . It¡¯s so creative, so nice, so awesome and so admirable!"

    Li Yundong raised his head at the sound, and saw Mei Niang walking around in a sexy and enchanting dress, and beside her was a beautiful and pitiful woman in a white dress .

    Mei Niang walked to Li Yundong . She giggled and said, "Whew, Boss Li, I really can see a noble like you anywhere!" She looked around and said affectionately, "Could this be your property? I didn¡¯t expect that Boss Li would actually possess such property at such a young age . Impressive, I really admire you!"

    Li Yundong surprised to see the madam and said, " Mei Niang? Why are you here?"

    Mei Niang put on an expression of sadness . "Why, don¡¯t you want me toe? Forget it, I¡¯m getting old . You Boss Li are so young and rich that naturally you don¡¯t want me anymore . How can Ipare to Xiao Zhu¡¯s young and beautiful appearance? She¡¯s so delicate and attractive, she has already been on your mind after just a single nce . "

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but feel a headache when he saw her putting on an act . He said, "Mei Niang, this is a Taoist sect¡¯s ce . It doesn¡¯t seem appropriate for you to be here, right?"

    Mei Niang giggled and said: "Oh, Boss Li, look at what you said . Why can my daughtere, but I can¡¯t? You know this is a Taoist temple? But you can think of doing business here, I can¡¯tpare this mentality . Besides, Xiaozhu is my red card, and I rely on her to do business . It¡¯s the first time she came out . Shouldn¡¯t I look after her?

    Li Yundong felt depressed in his heart . "Well, it seems that I want a hooker!"

    But he changed his mind, "But it isn¡¯t just me who is calling for the hooker . "

    But what was more depressing was that before he could say that to Mei Niang, he saw Wuhua suddenlying out of the house . Xiao Zhu, in her white clothes, immediately smiled as soon as she saw Wuhua . They held hands and looked at each other with tears in their eyes . It seemed that they were infatuated with each other .

    Li Yundong and Mei Niang were both stunned by this scene .

    Li Yundong, after all, was a cultivator . He quickly came to his senses and nced at Zhou Qin . He thought to himself, "Zhou Qin actually guessed right!"

    Mei Niang couldn¡¯t help but mumble, "I began this job at the age of sixteen and have been doing business for a long time . I¡¯ve seen people do good things, but I¡¯ve never seen someone do good like this! Boss Li, did you call Xiao Zhu out just to benefit this baldy . . . Uh, a monk?"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t expect Mei Niang woulde . He almost vomited blood in his heart after hearing Mei Niang¡¯s words . He was a dignified cultivator and also the leader of Fox Zen School . In any case, he now had some reputation . He didn¡¯t expect that he would be a pimp today! If this news is spread, it would be a great joke!

    "I just wanted to ask Master Wuhua about Ao Wushuang¡¯s whereabouts . How did it turn out to be like this?"

    "This, what the hell is going on?"

 Chapter 322

    Chapter 322

    <h4>The Selfless Condom, the Lifeless Condom</h4>

    After hearing Mei Niang¡¯s words, Li Yundong¡¯s face darkened, as if the Kitchen God had been reborn . His face turned ashen and he did not say anything . Su Chan, Zhou Qin, and the rest of the people from the Fox Zen Sect were all very sensitive . When they saw Li Yundong¡¯s solemn expression, they all carefully remained silent .

    Only Mei Niang turned to look at Wu Hua and Xiao Zhu . Then she said, "Boss Li, I originally thought that you had fallen in love with Xiao Zhu at first sight, but unexpectedly, you let a monk take advantage of a prostitute and have his fun without even paying for it . Tsk, tsk, Boss Li, you are really very pious . . . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s face became darker and darker . He said in a low voice, "Don¡¯t talk nonsense . Great master Wu Hua is a monk of the enlightenment . He just wants to . . . "

    Before he could finish his words, he suddenly saw Wu Hua holding Xiao Zhu¡¯s hand . The two of them had walked into the room as a couple . Before Master Wu Hua walked into the room, he turned around, grinned at Li Yundong, and then closed the door!

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes suddenly went nk . He couldn¡¯t help but say, "Christ, what are they doing?"

    Next to him, Mei Niang curled her lips and said casually, "What else would a young man and a young woman be doing alone in a room? Tsk, Boss Li, you aren¡¯t still a virgin, are you?"

    Li Yundong was filled with a mixture of shame and rage . "You talk too much! Of course I know about that kind of thing!" He cursed in his heart . "Wu Hua, Even if you are going to enlighten this woman, don¡¯t make things look so ambiguous, okay? The current situation is like I have a piece of mud in my pants . Even if it¡¯s not sh*t, it might as well be now!"

    Mei Niang covered her mouth and looked up and down at Li Yundong . "Boss Li, are you really a virgin?" The look in her eyes made it seem as though she were looking at a peerless treasure, a rare creature .

    Li Yundong¡¯s depression deepened . Before he could lose his temper, Su Chan next to him became unhappy . She couldn¡¯t help but say in a burst of anger, "You are such a nuisance . No one is going to take you as a mute just because you don¡¯t talk!"

    Zhou Qin also said with a cold look on his face, "How much is the prostitution fee? Get the money and leave quickly!"

    Li Yundong red at Zhou Qin and said, "What do you mean the prostitution fee? This isn¡¯t prostitution, okay?"

    Seeing that everyone was getting angry, Mei Niang immediately smiled and said, "Okay, okay . Boss Li, you can say whatever you want . As long as you give me money, everything will be easy to discuss!"

    Feeling livid, Li Yundong spat, "How much? I¡¯ll pay!"

    Mei Niang rolled her eyes, then raised two fingers and said, "One price, two thousand!"

    "Two thousand?" Zhou Qin and Su Chan shouted at the same time . Zhou Qin said angrily, "Do you think this prostitute is some kind of fairy that¡¯se down from heaven to earth? She costs two thousand!?"

    Mei Niang said leisurely, "Not a fairy who hase from heaven to earth . However, Xiao Zhu dide from the Heavenly World . Earlier, the Heavenly World was sealed, so Xiao Zhu went to Dongguan, but Dongguan is not safe these days . That¡¯s why she came to my ce . So, two thousand is a very low price for a girl from the Heavenly World!"

    Zhou Qin was so angry that her face turned red . When she frowned and was about to scold Mei Niang, Li Yundong quickly stopped her . He said impatiently, "Well, here is two thousand yuan . Take the money and leave quickly . "

    After that, he fished out two thousand yuan and handed it over to Mei Niang . Then, he ordered her to leave . "Count it if you like, it¡¯ll be enough for you . Hurry up and go back to where youe from!"

    Mei Niangiang skillfully counted the bills and then slipped them into her pocket . She grinned at him and said, "There¡¯s no need for Mr . Li to be so heartless . I came with Xiao Zhu, so I will naturally have to leave with her . The Tian Long Taoist temple is quite famous . I¡¯m going to look around today and just consider this as a nice little trip . "

    Then, she walked alone to the other parts of the Taoist temple . Before going round the corner, she turned and waved to Li Yundong, saying, "Boss Li, don¡¯t worry about me . I¡¯ll just look around . "

    Li Yundong was angered by Mei Niang¡¯s words . Su Chan, Zhou Qin, and the others were grumbling and cursing in the direction Mei Niang had left in .

    But at this time, sounds ofughter from the man and woman could be hearding from the room again . Li Yundong and the others were all cultivators . Although the sound was faint, they could hear it very clearly . Cao Yi smiled awkwardly and said, "Master Wuhua is indeed an eminent monk . His way of enlightment is indeed different from others¡¯ . "

    Although Zhou Qin had not begun cultivation, the Qi of Yuanyin and Yuanyang in her body was not shallow . She also heard the voice clearly . After her cheeks had turned slightly red, she sneered and said, "What eminent monk? I think he is just a dirty monk, the first lecherous monk in history!"

    Li Yundong agreed with Zhou Qin¡¯s words, however, he also needed Wu Hua¡¯s help at this time, so he was subconsciously unwilling to regard him as such a depraved person . He said in me, "Zhou Qin, don¡¯t talk nonsense . Maybe he is really enlightening the woman now . "

    Zhou Qin was unconvinced and said, "Have you ever heard of this kind of enlightenment? Unless this Master Wu Hua practices Mandkesvara!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s expression grew dark once more and he shouted at Zhou Qin, Su Chan, and the other foxes who were watching, "What are you doing here? Make yourselves scarce . Don¡¯t keep eavesdropping here"

    With his loud shout, some little foxes who hade to watch the fun quickly fled in all directions . Only Su Chan, Zhou Qin, Cao Yi followed Li Yundong and moved further away from the house .

    Zhou Qin said to Li Yundong, "Master, it¡¯s not that I¡¯m being rude, I¡¯m just sure that Wu Hua is a dirty monk . "

    Li Yundong nced at her and said angrily, "Want to bet?"

    Zhou Qin replied, "I bet it will take a long time for him toe out . "

    Li Yundong was confused . "Why would you choose that as the bet?"

    Zhou Qin¡¯s face turned a little red as she said, "What else can a man and a woman do in a room alone?"

    Li Yundong suddenly understood . He scolded her with a smile, "That¡¯s silly . Can we even bet on such a thing?"

    Just then, he heard the door suddenly creak and saw Wu Hua walk out of the room and head straight for Li Yundong .

    Li Yundongughed, turned his head, and said to Zhou Qin in a low voice, "I said Wu Hua was not a lecher, right? Look, he¡¯se out, hasn¡¯t he?"

    When he saw Wu Hua walking toward him, he came forward and put his palms together, asking, "Master, what can I do for you?"

    With a solemn face, Wu Hua put his own palms together devoutly and looked steadily at Li Yundong . He sighed, saying nothing .

    Li Yundong asked in confusion, "What¡¯s wrong? Is there something you¡¯re not satisfied with?"

    Wu Hua shook his head, still not speaking .

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help looking back questioningly at Zhou Qin . He wanted to know whether she knew something about Wu Hua¡¯s train of thought .

    But Zhou Qin was also feeling confused . She didn¡¯t know why Wu Hua hade out half-way through the process . Zhou Qin shook her head at Li Yundong nkly, indicating that she didn¡¯t know anything .

    Li Yundong saw that Zhou Qin didn¡¯t know either . He couldn¡¯t help but turn his eyes to Su Chan and Cao Yi . They looked just as clueless and shook their heads nkly . He felt like he was losing it and thought to himself, "You are a bunch of chatans ying tricks all day long . Can¡¯t you just say everything directly? If you want something, just say it right out . I have even found a whore for you! What else do you still need!?"

    Li Yundong suppressed his anger and bowed to Master Wu Hua, putting his palms together . He said, "Master, you can be frank with me . I will do what I can for you . "

    Wu Hua let out a long sigh and said, "I was grateful to you for helping me find Xiao Zhu . I wanted to talk about the old days with her, but I hadn¡¯t considered . . . "

    Li Yundong saw him stop again at the critical moment, so he quickly asked, "You didn¡¯t consider what?"

    Wu Hua sighed with regret and said, "But I didn¡¯t consider . . . condoms!" As he said that, he looked at Li Yundong eagerly . "Zhenren Li, do you have a condom?"

    "Oh my God!"

    Li Yundong and the others was so shocked that thought they might die right on the spot .

    Li Yundong¡¯s face went nk, and he couldn¡¯t speak for a long time . Zhou Qin¡¯s expression was weird, and the corners of her mouth were twitching, as though she was trying her best to hold back herugher . Cao Yi¡¯s expression was even more bizarre . She nced at Li Yundong, and then quickly turned around, covering her mouth with one hand as her shoulders shook .

    Su Chan didn¡¯t understand at first, but she quickly realized what was going on . Her face flushed red, and she burst outughing .

    Hearing herughter, Li Yundong and Wu Hua looked at her at the same time .

    Su Chan quickly covered her mouth with both hands and widened her eyes . She looked at Li Yundong and then Wu Hua .

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes were full of resentment, but Wu Hua was looking at her with puzzled eyes and she asked, "Benefactress, what are youughing at?"

    Su Chan didn¡¯t dare to speak . She was afraid that she would not be able to stopughing if she opened her mouth . The little girl just shook her head like a rattle .

    Wu Hua sighed and said, "One of Buddha¡¯s sayings is ¡¯without my image, there are no living things¡¯ . Benefactress, do you know what this means? You¡¯re in the wrong!"

    Li Yundong had already confirmed Wu Hua was indeed a perverted monk . His resentment was soaring . He said angrily in his heart, "F*ck, you¡¯re obviously the first pervert monk since ancient times . How dare you still pretend to be some holy man? I¡¯ve discovered that you are an eminent monk only in the realm of perverted monks, and a perverted monk in the realm of the eminent monks . "

    Li Yundong pulled a long face and said, "Master Wu Hua, I only know the saying of ¡¯the selfless condom, the lifeless condom¡¯ . "

    "What the heck does that mean?" Wu Hua asked in surprise .

    Li Yundong said with a gloomy face, "It means that I don¡¯t have a condom, and neither do the others!"

    As soon as he had finished speaking, Su Chan, Zhou Qin, Cao Yi, and the others couldn¡¯t helpughing audibly . However, as soon as theyughed out loud, they felt that they were being inappropriate . They quickly covered their mouths again andughed so hard in their hearts that their intestines almost burst .

    Cao Yi choked back hisughter and said to Li Yundong, "Leader, I . . . I still have something to do, I . . . " Before she could even finish her words, she turned around quickly and walked away . As she walked, her shoulders shook and she burst outughing .

    Li Yundong nced at Cao Yi¡¯s back and saw that Su Chan and Zhou Qin had been holding back their amusement for a while . Eventually, they could not hold it in anymore . One of them was squatting on the ground, gasping for air, while the other wasughing so hard that her whole body was shaking .

    Li Yundong red at them and said, "Stopughing!"

    As soon as Su Chan and Zhou Qin heard his words, they took deep breaths and stoppedughing at the same time . However, their bodies were still trembling, their eyebrows were moving, the corners of their eyes were twitching, and their faces were distorted .

    Seeing their unruly behavior, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing despite himself . He waved his hand and shouted, "Get out of here andugh somewhere else!"

    Su Chan and Zhou Qin felt greatly relieved . They quickly scurried away, making themselves scare . After a while, he heard peals ofughter .

    Li Yundong looked in the direction they¡¯d left in, feeling both angry and amused . He turned around, sighed helplessly at Wu Hua, and said, "Master, I don¡¯t know whether you are torturing me on purpose or not, but for the sake of my sincerity, please don¡¯t make fun of me anymore . Please tell me the whereabouts of Ao Wushuang!"

    Wu Hua smiled and put his palms together . "I am not torturing you on purpose . I¡¯m just doing what I want . Taoists generals don¡¯t need to worry about cultivation, and Buddhists also have the saying that we¡¯re free to do whatever we want . It¡¯s to be expected that you¡¯d think I¡¯m a dirty monk . Since I started cultivating, I¡¯ve been doing everything based on my own will . Not only did I change the name my master gave me, I also went to all kinds of entertainment venues . I don¡¯t look like a monk at all . Heh, if othersugh at me for being too crazy, I¡¯llugh at them for not seeing through me! You want to know Ao Wushuang¡¯s whereabouts, don¡¯t you? It¡¯s simple . I can tell you now!"

    Li Yundong was overjoyed and hurriedly asked, "Where is she?"

    Wu Hua said meaningfully, "Very close, yet so far away!"

    Just then, Li Yundong suddenly heard an extremely frightened and shrill screaming from the direction of the Taoist temple .

 Chapter 323

    Chapter 323

    <h4>Complicated</h4>

    As soon as Li Yundong heard the voice, he felt a terrible stab of panic and began running to the ce it wasing from .

    After they reached the spot, Li Yundong looked at the things there and suddenly took a deep breath . He was shocked and angry .

    A coffin had been ced in the southwest corner of the Taoist temple . On the coffin was the memorial tablet for Liu Ye, the former leader . However, the lid of the coffin had been pushed open and there was nothing inside . Next to the coffin were two women¡¯s bodies . One was close and the other was a distance away . Both had been turned into dried meat . Their faces were withered and they looked like mummies which had been dead and shrivelled for thousands of years, looking extremely terrifying .

    Li Yundong saw that the body in the distance was wearing lurid, revealing clothes and they were a little messy . Based on the attire, he could suss that this person was Mei Niang . The corpse closer to him was wearing a Daopao and was probably a disciple of Fox Zen School . However, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t tell who she was at that moment, as her dried out body made her unrecognizable .

    Before long, Su Chan, Cao Yi, and others arrived as well . When Cao Yi saw what had happened, her eyes widened in shock and she cried out involuntarily, "Fourth shijie!"

    Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t use catharsis . She ran over on foot and arrivedst, everyone else having already gotten there earlier . As soon as she saw the bodies, She covered her mouth with her hands at once and her expression was one of horror .

    Li Yundong looked at Cao Yi, his face livid . "Is this Zhangsun Hong?"

    Cao Yi was terrified and said in a trembling voice, "This is my fourth senior sister¡¯s clothes . Look at the belt . There is a yellow embroidered purse beside it . This is her powerful magical weapon, the colorful brocade bag . "

    Li Yundong was both shocked and angry . He hadn¡¯t expected that someone would dare to kill his disciple right under his nose after he had taken over the sect, especially when there was an outsider!

    Li Yundong took a look at Mei Niang, who had also been squeezed dry, then turned his head and said to Wu Hua, who was putting his palms together devoutly and constantly chanting scriptures, "Great master, you just said that something was so close, yet so far away . Did you mean the thing in front of us?"

    With his eyes downcast, he said, "Amitabha . I can¡¯t tell you . "

    Li Yundong said angrily, "Now that such a thing has happened, you still want to put on an air of mystery? Don¡¯t you know the Metasamsaras? You must know everything that just happened here . "

    Wu Hua smiled and said, "Zhenren Li, if I knew everything in the world, I would have be a Buddha already! Even the Buddha himself couldn¡¯t see through all the confusing things in the world with his sacred eyes, let alone someone like me . I can only see a little . You cultivators who practice the Tao can¡¯t kill people with Magic, and nor can I . I can¡¯t reveal all the secrets of heaven, otherwise I will suffer divine punishment . "

    Only then did Li Yundong¡¯s anger dissipate appreciably . He swept his gaze over the people present and saw that everyone of the Fox Zen School was filled with fear . Those who had been on good terms with Zhangsun Hong were even secretly wiping away tears .

    Li Yundong¡¯s expression was still one of rage, and he couldn¡¯t speak for a while . Zhou Qin gently tugged on his arm and whispered, "Master, shall we call the police?"

    "Call the police?" Li Yundong sneered . "How could we? What will we say when they get here? Do you want to be jailed?"

    Li Yundong looked at Cao Yi with his sharp gaze and asked, "Why is the previous sect master¡¯s coffin here?"

    Cao Yi had been looking at Zhangsun Hong¡¯s corpse and secretly shedding a few tears . When she heard Li Yundong¡¯s question, she quickly wiped her tears away and replied, "Today is the seventh night since the former leader¡¯s death . We elders of the Fox Zen Sect discussed it in private and decided to worship the former leader, but we didn¡¯t tell you because we were afraid that you would overthink it . After your return, I originally wanted Zhangsun Hong toe and see you with us, but she said that there had to be at least one person here to protect the area, so she stayed and didn¡¯te . "

    After saying this, Cao Yi couldn¡¯t help crying, "It¡¯s all my fault . If I hadn¡¯t agreed with her, she wouldn¡¯t have died!"

    Seeing her starting to cry, the other disciples of Fox Zen School who had spent all day and night with Zhangsun Hong also started to cry loudly . For a moment, the sobbing in the backyard shook the sky, and the atmosphere became oppressively gloomy .

    Although Su Chan had left the Fox Zen School when she was a child, the corners of her eyes could not help turning red when she saw that her shibo had been killed .

    Li Yundong flew into a rage and shouted, "B*stard!"

    No one knew whether he was scolding the disciples who were crying or the murderer, but after he shouted, their crying suddenly stopped, and the disciples of Fox Zen School were so scared that they only dared to whimper .

    It was rare for Su Chan to see Li Yundong so angry . She gingerly pulled on Li Yundong¡¯s sleeve and whispered, "Yun . . . leader, don¡¯t be angry . "

    Hearing Su Chan call him leader, Li Yundong realized that they were all frightened by his behavior . His heart softened and he said gently, "Don¡¯t be afraid . I¡¯m not angry with you . I¡¯m angry with myself for failing to protect you . I¡¯m not qualified to be the leader!"

    As soon as he said this, Cao Yi and the others said one after another, "Leader, if you speak like this, we will only feel ashamed . "

    "Yes, Leader, it¡¯s not your fault," another discipline said .

    "I wonder which vicious cultivator it was that killed fourth shibo!" one discipline said in an angry and forceful tone .

    Li Yundong looked at Wu Hua and asked, "Master Wu Hua, do you really not know who killed Zhangsun Hong of my school?"

    Wu Hua put his palms together and said, "Zhenren Li, we monks don¡¯t lie . I really don¡¯t know . But what I do know is that when you find the murderer, you will also find the whereabouts of Ao Wushuang . "

    Li Yundong clenched his fists and secretly made a mental note of what he had said in his heart . When he looked at Mei Niang . he immediately felt a headacheing on and said, "This woman died in our Taoist temple, and in such a bizarre way . What should we do? If the police find out about this, it will be troublesome . "

    Just as he was worrying, a timid voice sounded beside him, saying, "I have an idea . "

    Upon hearing this, all the people immediately looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was Xiaozhu, who hade with Mei Niang .

    Xiao Zhu timidly hid behind Wu Hua and said in a low voice, "Mei Niang doesn¡¯t have any rtives . I can just tell people that she has returned to her hometown when I go back . She usually treated others harshly, so no one will ask too much about her whereabouts . "

    Li Yundong was very surprised to see that an ordinary person like Xiao Zhu was daring to speak so boldly . He looked at her once more and nodded to her, saying, "Although this is the only thing we can do right now, this is, after all, a matter of life and death . I, Li Yundong, will definitely find the murderer for the sake of Mei Nian¡¯s spirit in heaven . "

    Seeing that he was looking at her, Xiaozhu was so scared that she hid behind Wu Hua¡¯s back again and did not dare to speak anymore .

    Cao Yi looked at Mei Niang¡¯s body and couldn¡¯t help butugh bitterly . "Her body has already been sucked dry, so her soul must have also been sucked away . There¡¯s no spirit left in her body . "

    When Li Yundong heard this, he suddenly trembled and recalled something . His eyes widened as he said, "I remember that Ye Yu was once attacked by Mo Ahshi¡¯s Threaded Hairpin of Traversing Soul . The symptoms were just that the flesh and blood were sucked dry and the soul was consumed . "

    Su Chan, who was standing by his side, also said loudly, "Yes, I remember Mo Ahshi . Ah, no . I remember that when Yan Fang fought against Gu Feng, Yan Fang killed Gu Feng with the Threaded Hairpin of Traversing Soul and sucked his flesh and soul dry! Could it be that the same thing has happened to these two people?"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but say in surprise, "Could it be that Yan Fang took the Threaded Hairpin of Traversing Soul and has been lurking in this Taoist temple?"

    As soon as his words fell, everyone around couldn¡¯t help but shiver .

    Although Yan Fang had lost her physical body and couldn¡¯t use powerful magic, her character was patient and her means were extremely fierce, which really made people shudder . If it was really her, no one in the Fox Zen School would be able to restrain the fright apart from Li Yundong!

    All of the people of Fox Zen School, from the old to the young, including Cao Yi and Su Chan, could not help but think, "If Yan Fang is by my side, then . . . "

    When the people of the Fox Zen School thought of this, they all became frightened and flustered .

    Fortunately, Cao Yi remained calm . Her expression cooled a little and she said in a dry voice, "Leader, wasn¡¯t the Threaded Hairpin of Traversing Soul taken away by someonest time?"

    Li Yundong asked in reply, "Could it be that Yan Fang is the one behind it?"

    Cao Yi shook her head and said, "It was a ck smoke that took the Threaded Hairpin of Traversing Soul back then . This kind of kung fu can only be used with a physical body . Yan Fang was out of her body in Yang Spirit at that time, so she wouldn¡¯t have had the ability . What¡¯s more, ording to the situation on Mount Wuyue, Zheng Yuan, the leader of Yin Yang Sect based in Mount Wuhua, is the most likely suspect . "

    When Li Yundong heard Zheng Yuan¡¯s name, fury immediately overwhelmed him . "This b*stard,st time he made himself my enemy, and now he dared toe to our school again? Isn¡¯t he afraid that I¡¯ll trample his Yin Yang Sect in Mount Wuhua?"

    Red-eyed, Su Chan also said, "Yes, it has to have been him! Last time, we disturbed his business . This time, in order to take out his anger, he snuck into our Fox Zen School to kill us and take our treasures!"

    Li Yundong was stunned . "Grab the treasures? What treasures?"

    Su Chan pointed at the coffin and bellowed, "The coffin of the former leader has been opened . The body and the powerful magical weapon of former leader are both gone . If it¡¯s not as I said, what exnation is there?"

    Li Yundong thought of something and a contemtive expression appeared on his face . After pondering for a while, he said, "If that¡¯s the case, why didn¡¯t he also snatch Zhangsun Hong¡¯s colorful brocade bag?"

    Cao Yi sighed . "The former leader¡¯s magic powerful weapon, the Jade pole, is one of the most precious powerful magical weapons in the world . If viins wanted to steal a powerful magical weapon, they naturally would not go for fourth senior sister¡¯s bag . It is just a small magic weapon which can only be used once, just like the two purses I gave youst time . However, the other magic powerful weapon is permanent . Not only can it carry a lot of things in it, it will never be damaged . "

    Li Yundong frowned and asked again, "Can you tell whether the scream you just heard was from Zhangsun Hong?"

    Cao Yi, Liu Yuehong, Zhuang Yating and the others looked at each other and shook their heads .

    Li Yundong frowned even more deeply and didn¡¯t say anything for a while .

    Wu Hua next to him suddenly said to Li Yundong, "Zhenren Li, your school has just happened upon such a big thing . I¡¯d better not stay any longer . I n to leave first . "

    At that moment, Li Yundong was not in the mood to ask him to stay, so he said to Wu Hua, "I nned to invite you to have a meal with us, but now that such a thing has happened, it¡¯s a little inappropriate and I won¡¯t be able to apany you if you stay here . I have to apologize to you . "

    Wu Hua put his palms together and said to Li Yundong, "It doesn¡¯t matter . However, Zhenren Li, you should pay more attention . Everything in the world is connected to each other . Even if it¡¯s groundless, there must be a reason for this . That¡¯s all I can say for now . I hope it can help you, Zhenren Li . "

    After that, he turned around, patted Xiao Zhu¡¯s shoulder, and left Fox Zen School with her .

    Watching them leave, Li Yundong was a little confused for a moment . He repeatedly thought about Wu Hua¡¯s parting words . It seemed that he was on the edge of understanding them, but a fog was surging toward him and almost drowning him .

 Chapter 324

    Chapter 324

    <h4>Who¡¯s the Hidden Traitor?</h4>

    Li Yundong pondered for a while, then raised his head and said to Cao Yi and the others from the Fox Zen School, "Take the other disciples to your room first . Everyone stay together and don¡¯t get separated . "

    Cao Yi nodded and left with Zhuang Yating, Liu Yuehong, and a few other foxes from the Fox Zen School . As soon as they left, the sounds of people crying and chattering suddenly dissipated . For a moment, the backyard became almost unsettlingly quiet .

    Su Chan saw that the coffin was wide open . With two dessicated corpses lying on the ground, the surroundings were silent and frightening . She couldn¡¯t help shuddering with fear and moving closer to Li Yundong to grasp at one corner of his clothes . "Yundong, why did you ask shibo to leave?"

    Li Yundong nced at her and stroked her hair but didn¡¯t answer the question . Instead, he turned to Zhou Qin and asked . "What do you think of them?"

    With a nce at Li Yundong, Zhou Qin could tell that he was both asking and testing her, so she said, "I have an idea, but I don¡¯t know if it makes sense . "

    Li Yundong said, "There¡¯s only Su Chan and me here, no outsiders . There¡¯s nothing to worry about . Tell me . "

    Zhou Qin looked at Su Chan and seemed to be very cautious . She said, "Su Chan, if there¡¯s anything wrong with what I say, please don¡¯t be angry . "

    Su Chan blinked her eyes in confusion . "Why would I be? As the saying goes, two heads are better than one . Just tell us . "

    Zhou Qin nodded and said, "Master, I think there¡¯s something fishy going on here . "

    Li Yundong asked, "What is it?"

    Zhou Qin said, "Why did something happen to Fox Zen School when Great Master Wuhua came? Why did someone die just when he was about to reveal Ao Wushuang¡¯s whereabouts? If this is a coincidence, then this world is too bizarre . "

    Li Yundong pondered for a moment before saying, "I also feel that there is something off about all of this . Just as Great Master Wuhua told me that something was so close, yet so far away, Zhangsun Hong died along with Mei Niang . "

    Zhou Qin nodded and said, "Yes, and Master, have you noticed anything strange about the location of their bodies?"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help ncing at Zhou Qin appreciatively and saying, "You¡¯re right . In my opinion, this murderer must have killed Zhangsun Hong first . Then, Mei Niang probably strolled in, saw the mess, and screamed miserably . Then, in order to get rid of the witness, the culprit would have turned on Mei Niang . "

    At this time, Su Chan interrupted, "This murderer is so cruel . He not only killed people, he turned them into dried meat, not even letting their souls escape his wrath!"

    Li Yundong smiled gently at Su Chan and said, "That¡¯s exactly what I was going to say . If the murderer wanted to get rid of the witnesses, he could have just killed Mei Niang . Why did he have to suck her dry? Why was he so cruel that he did not even let her soul off?"

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t help ncing at the two dried corpses on the ground, then quickly looking away . She said with fear and disgust on her face, "Maybe this murderer is a pervert!"

    Li Yundong shook his head . "It¡¯s not really important to consider whether or not he¡¯s a pervert, but I think that it¡¯s more than a coincidence that both of them have been sucked dry . "

    Zhou Qin suddenly said, "Although I don¡¯t understand cultivation, is it possible that the murderer was afraid of his name and appearance being made known to us if he didn¡¯t absorb their souls? If he was worried about that, then . . . "

    Li Yundong raised his eyebrows . "Your idea is very good and very possible . However, it is not easy to suck a person dry and absorb their soul in such a short time . Based on the current evidence, Zheng Yuan is very suspicious, but there is another reason why I sent the other people from the Fox Zen Sect away . "

    Su Chan and Zhou Qin asked in unison, "Why?"

    "I suspect that there is a traitor hidden within the Fox Zen School!" Li Yundong replied in a deep voice .

    Hearing Li Yundong¡¯s words, Zhou Qin raised her eyebrows . At first, she was a little surprised, but soon she reacted with a thoughtful look . Su Chan gasped in surprise . "Ah? Could it be?"

    Su Chan knew the cause and effect of the siege in Fox Zen School . In her opinion, the main reason for Fox Zen School having suffered such a heavy blow was that Mo Ashi and others were lurking in Fox Zen School as moles cooperating with other sects .

    Hearing that there were moles in Fox Zen School, Su Chan was very frightened . The little girl grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s sleeve tightly and leaned into him . She said in a horrified voice, "Yundong, why did you say that?"

    Li Yundong pointed at where Zhangsun Hong was and said, "Although Zhangsun Hong is not good at settling scores, I¡¯ve heard from Cao Yi that he is very good at invisibility, Illusion Spells and all kinds of Seduction Spells . Although they would be no match for others, escaping is not a problem . The previous scream came from Mei Niang, not Zhangsun Hong . This means that the murderer¡¯s cultivation is either too high, or the person she knows took advantage of her surprise to make a sudden attack!"

    "Ah!" Su Chan suddenly clenched her fists . Her eyes dted as she looked at Li Yundong . "Who could it be?"

    Li Yundong thought for a moment and said, "We don¡¯t know for certain yet, but we can deduce a few points from the current situation . First, the person who killed Zhangsun Hong may be very familiar with her, or his cultivation could be much higher than hers . Secondly, it¡¯s not clear whether this person killed her for profit or revenge . But if he came for revenge, he wouldn¡¯t have needed to suck Mei Niang dry . He could have challenged us directly . "

    At this time, Su Chan interrupted, "Would he have dared? Wouldn¡¯t he have known that our Leader, Zhenren Li, is good at settling scores and basically invincible?"

    Li Yundong chuckled and red at Su Chan, feigning anger . "Nonsense . There are so many cultivators in the world . How could I be invincible?"

    Li Yundong rubbed the little girl¡¯s hair and continued to say, "I prefer the former idea that this killing was done for profit, not for revenge . Only the one who stole the powerful magical weapon would be afraid of being recognized by their opponent . But this deduction is also unreliable . . . "

    Before he could finish his words, Zhou Qin nodded and continued, "Yes, if he wanted to grab the treasure, why did he even grab the corpse of the former Leader, Liu Ye? Actually, could it be that the former Leader had ascended, so his corpse was not left behind?"

    Li Yundongughed and shook his head, saying, "No, Liu Ye died of serious injuries . In this case, it was impossible for him to go up . "

    Su Chan suddenly said in fear, "Then could it be that our Leader was resurrected from the dead?"

    Li Yundong was stunned for a moment, but then he said in denial, "I don¡¯t think so . Why would Liu Ye have killed his disciple? And I saw the injury he sufferedst time . He was so seriously injured that he couldn¡¯t have survived . "

    As he spoke, Su Chan and Zhou Qin could not help frowning and asking at the same time, "Then who on earth was it?"

    Li Yundong thought for a moment before replying, "Su Chan, I have something to say if you don¡¯t mind . Since I took over leadership of the Fox Zen School, I found that there has been an inexplicable atmosphere all around, especially with today¡¯s incident, which has revealed Evil Qi! I think there must be someone secretly watching us with evil intentions!"

    Su Chan looked worried . "Yundong, I¡¯m the one burdening you with this . Otherwise, you would have quit being the Leader of the Fox Zen School . Don¡¯t let our master¡¯s affairs trouble you . "

    Li Yundongughed . "Don¡¯t be silly . How could I retreat after encountering a few difficulties? Whether this person is an enemy or a spy, I believe that he will show his true identity sooner orter . If he is a hidden traitor, he will show his tail someday!"

    What he said was so true . The little fox could not help mumbling a few words and subconsciously touching her back, as if she was afraid that she would expose her tail right then and there .

    Li Yundong watched her movements,ughed and said, "I¡¯m not talking about you . What are you worried about?"

    Su Chan puffed out her cheeks and said, "I¡¯m worried that you will suspect me!"

    "Even if all the people in the world died, I still wouldn¡¯t suspect you . Don¡¯t be silly!" Li Yundong said with augh .

    Upon hearing this, the little girl immediately beamed with joy . She took Li Yundong¡¯s arm and was about to start being coquettish . Li Yundong coughed and said, "How dare you! Is this the time and ce for ying?"

    Only then did the little girl remember that she was still one the scene of a murder . She stuck out her tongue and peeked at Zhou Qin carefully . She saw that Zhou Qin was motionless, and there was no sullenness to be seen on her face . It seemed that she was not affected by her and Li Yundong¡¯s frolicking .

    Su Chan was relieved . She knew that Zhou Qin was very talented and that she would be Li Yundong¡¯s powerful helper in the future . Although Su Chan was Li Yundong¡¯s doting girlfriend, Zhou Qin would be Li Yundong¡¯s chief disciple, and she didn¡¯t want any awkwardness to crop up between them .

    Li Yundong was ignorant to the little girl¡¯s train of thought . "For now, we can¡¯t stay in Tianlong Mountain any longer . This ce is toorge, easy for the murderer to take advantage of . Besides, I can¡¯t keep watch here all day long," he said .

    Zhou Qin asked, "Where do you want everyone to go then? The secret chamber of the Fox Zen School?"

    Li Yundong shook his head as he replied, "No, if there is a traitor amongst us, it would be equivalent to telling him about the existence of the Heavenly Jindan Technique . I want them to temporarily live in my house in New Hongsheng District . "

    Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help opening her mouth wide and looking surprised . "You want so many female disciples to live at your ce? Can, can you bear it?"

    These words were full of meaning . Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help ring at her . "Do you think I¡¯m like Mandkesvara? I¡¯ll have them live there, and I¡¯ll take Su Chan to find another ce for us to live!"

    Zhou Qin blushed slightly and said with an awkward smile, "I was just wondering if you thought they would be noisy?"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t believe this weak excuse . He just rolled his eyes at her and said, "Come to the secret room of the Fox Zen School with me . Su Chan, go into the room to get a pen and some paper . Zhou Qin, you can go too . Each of you should make a copy of the Heavenly Jindan Technique and I¡¯ll find a way to seal the secret room . Later, we¡¯ll go back to Tiannan City together . "

    Su Chan and Zhou Qin turned around and headed to the inner room to look for pens and paper . Li Yundong frowned at the murder scene and paced back and forth . After a while, Su Chan and Zhou Qin returned . Li Yundong held Zhou Qin¡¯s wrist in his hand and nodded to Su Chan . "Let¡¯s go . "

    The three of them rose into the air . When they reached the entrance of the secret room halfway up the mountain, Li Yundong suddenly found that some of the branches and leaves of the entrance had been pulled apart, revealing the hole .

    This was a serious matter . Li Yundong shot a meaningful nce at Su Chan, getting her to fly away with Zhou Qin . He then took a deep breath, pushed away the branches at the entrance, and walked in .

    Li Yundong held his breath and concentrated . He walked lightly and slowly along the way, almost like a cat, making no sound .

    When he was just about to enter the secret room, he clearly heard a subtle, almost inaudible sounding from inside .

    Li Yundong was shocked . He knew that this person was likely to be the murderer, and that the whereabouts of Ao Wushuang likely had something to do with him!

    Without any hesitation, he rushed in .

 Chapter 325

    Chapter 325

    <h4>Provocation?</h4>

    Li Yundong rushed in, his movements swift . The moment he rushed into the stone room, he saw a short, thin man standing within . He was holding a lit torch in one hand and looking up at the characters on the wall .

    Li Yundong nced at him and suddenly felt that the man was very familiar . He shouted, "Who are you?"

    The shout shook the rocks of the stone room . The short, thin man suddenly looked back, but at the moment he turned, he seemed to find something wrong . He immediately raised his hand to cover his face with his sleeve, then transformed into a blue light and rushed toward Li Yundong .

    "Good timing!" Li Yundong shouted . After that, his Qi and blood surged, and his Zhenqi rushed out . His index fingers were touching, making a Fixed Fundamental Palm, which had the ability to move mountains and part seas .

    By this time, Li Yundong¡¯s cultivation quotient had reached the intermediate level of the sixth Hua Ying realm . As long as he cultivated Yin-based Zhenqi from the Yang Qi, he could turn from a Yin Spirit into a Yang Spirit, reaching the top cultivation of the Sixth-fold Heaven, Yuanying phase .

    His Mahamudra was more powerful than it had beenst time he¡¯d settled a score with the Great Six under siege . His palm was shining with a strong golden radiance . Obviously, the Yang Qi had flourished to an incredible level .

    The man who rushed towards Li Yundong didn¡¯t dare to face him head-on . With a strange cry, he twisted his body and moved around under Li Yundong¡¯s palm in an extremely strange way, like he was some sort of slippery loach .

    Li Yundong saw that the man was evading his attack, so he rushed to the front of him, shouted and threw a punch .

    This punch seemed ordinary, but its strength was powerful . Even if the Arhat had been hit by this punch, he would have been turned into a pile of scrap iron .

    Li Yundong¡¯s punch was fierce and fast . It was impossible for an ordinary cultivator to have dodged it . However, the man¡¯s feet suddenly made another turn and his body slipped to the side against Li Yundong¡¯s arm, as if there were no bones in his body .

    This time, the enemy seized the opportunity . Li Yundong¡¯s waist and abdomen were in range of the enemy . He was shocked and thought to himself, "How could this person¡¯s movements be so strange?"

    Although Li Yundong hit nothing twice in a row, his kung fu was extremely amazing when he was facing an enemy . Without thinking twice, he immediately sank his aura . The aura of the upper dantian on his head poured down like a waterfall . He sped his hands and pressed down, his body shaking violently, like a ck bear shaking off lice .

    This move was Li Yundong¡¯s "Heaven and earth embrace", which he had learnt from Zhang Tianhe . It was equivalent to connecting his whole body¡¯s aura and densely covering every part of his body . In an instant, he had a strong ability to resist attacks .

    Li Yundong pressed down and his body shook, causing the ground beneath his feet to tremble in turn . The air around him was violently shaking, like a majestic wave, blowing away his enemy in an instant .

    But the man didn¡¯t seem to want to fight with Li Yundong at all . He took advantage of Li Yundong¡¯s attack and jumped into the tunnel .

    "Damn, he¡¯s trying to run away!" Li Yundong thought .

    Li Yundong¡¯s feet stopped, and he swiftly began chasing his opponent .

    Although he was fast, he was no match for the man . The two men rushed out of the corridor in the blink of an eye, and as soon as they were out, the man turned into a blue light and left like lightning .

    Meanwhile, Su Chan and Zhou Qin were floating in midair . When they saw Li Yundonge out of the corridor, Su Chan rushed over to him .

    "Yundong, are you okay? Who was that guy?" Su Chan asked nervously .

    Li Yundong looked in the direction of the man¡¯s departure with hatred in his eyes and said, "I¡¯m fine . I don¡¯t know who that guy was, but judging from the situation of the fight just now, his movements are strange and cunning . I have only seen one person like him . "

    Su Chan hurriedly asked, "Who?"

    Li Yundong responded in a deep voice, "The former leader of the Fox Zen School, Liu Ye!"

    Su Chan was shocked . "That¡¯s impossible! Isn¡¯t he dead?"

    Li Yundong thought for a while, his face surprisingly grim . "I¡¯m not sure, maybe there are multiple people in the world who can move their bodies so strangely . However, the only thing I¡¯m sure of is that the secret room of our Fox Zen School has been exposed . Hurry up and copy down the Heavenly Jindan Technique . I¡¯m going to seal up this secret room . "

    Su Chan nodded and turned to look at Zhou Qin . The two quickly flew into the stone cave . When they were at the entrance, Su Chan looked at Li Yundong, who was floating outside the cave but not nearing it . "Aren¡¯t youing in?" she asked .

    Li Yundong shook his head . "The enemy is still unknown right now . I¡¯ll help you by keeping watch outside . You guys can move faster alone . Su Chan, if you find anything wrong, signal me as soon as possible . "

    Su Chan nodded obediently . The two turned around and went deeper into the cave . Both of them had been there before . Su Chan turned to Zhou Qin and said, "Sister Zhou Qin, you can copy the big one, I¡¯ll do the small one . "

    Zhou Qin nodded . "Okay . Well, this division ofbor will speed things up . "

    They worked together to copy the Heavenly Jindan Technique, and then checked their work carefully . After confirming that there were no wrong words in their copies, they came out of the stone cave .

    Seeing theme out, Li Yundong secretly breathed a sigh of relief . He looked at them and asked, "Are you two all right?"

    Seeing that Li Yundong was so nervous, Su Chan smiled sweetly and saidfortingly, "Of course! We¡¯re fine, don¡¯t worry"

    Zhou Qin also nodded and replied, "All is well . We¡¯ve finished copying it . Not a single word is mistaken . " As she spoke, she prepared to hand over the manuscript to Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong waved his hand . "You guys should hold onto them for a while . "

    However, Zhou Qin refused to . "As the saying goes, a simple man is innocent, but he will be corrupted by treasure . I don¡¯t know how to cultivate, but I can tell that these must contain some extraordinary cultivation secrets . If such a treasure were to be discovered by others, we would be in big trouble," she said grimly .

    Li Yundong was slightly stunned . He took the manuscript and put it in his pocket, then nodded and said appreciatively, "You are really thoughtful . You¡¯re right . If this thing got out, I¡¯m afraid it would immediately cause big trouble . "

    With that, he suddenly sighed and said, "However, maybe the Heavenly Jindan Technique has already been spread . I don¡¯t know how many things the person in the stone room recorded . "

    Su Chan¡¯s face was full of worry . "Yundong, will there be many sectsing after us and looking for trouble?"

    Seeing that the little girl was so concerned, Li Yundong felt sorry for her in his heart . He touched her smooth ck hair with one hand and said with a heroic smile, "Don¡¯t be afraid . I¡¯m here! I can beat them back . How can our Fox Zen School be bullied by others?"

    Looking at Li Yundong, Su Chan¡¯s heart swelled with love and pride . She couldn¡¯t help thinking, "Half a year ago, he still needed me to protect him . Now, he is protecting me and my sect!"

    Li Yundong patted the little girl¡¯s shoulder with a gentle smile on his face and said, "Take Zhou Qin outside and hide yourselves away somewhere . "

    Su Chan was a little confused, but she always listened to Li Yundong and did whatever he wanted . She controled her Qi, flying more than ten meters away with Zhou Qin, but her eyes were fixed on Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong also flew out of the cave by controlling his Qi and flew above the entrance . Then, he suddenly ran his Qi . The inside of his body crackled like a string of firecrackers, and his body suddenly expanded . His arms became as thick as his legs, his thighs became as thick as his waist, and all the muscles in his body swelled . He was like a Vajra Guardian who had descended to earth .

    Zhou Qin and Su Chan had never seen Li Yundong use such magic . Their eyes widened from their shock at the sight .

    Li Yundong suddenly raised his hammer-like arms to punch at the mountain wall .

    With a loud bang, the mountains and ground trembled violently!

    "Crash!" Countless boulders began falling down, blocking the passage in an instant .

    Su Chan and Zhou Qin saw a huge rock rolling down the mountain and heading straight toward Li Yundong¡¯s head . They eximed at the same time, "Watch out!"

    This boulder was four or five times the size of a millstone and no doubt weighed thousands of pounds . If it hit someone, they would immediately be pulverized, leaving little more than minced meat . Li Yundong heard their cry . He looked up, but he didn¡¯t panic . He just took a deep breath, waved his arm, and smashed the boulder with his bare arm, like he was swinging a baseball bat . The boulder was smashed over the sealed hole, and with a bang, the rubble sank deeply into the opening .

    At this time, the shaking of the Tianlong Mountain finally settled down, and only the scattered gravel continued to fall .

    Su Chan and Zhou Qin were struck dumb . Zhou Qin had always known that Li Yundong was a cultivator and had mastered all kinds of fantastic magic, but she had never thought that Li Yundong could be so powerful! Just now, he had easily thrown a one thousand kilogram boulder into the entrance of the cave like a cannonball, as if it were nothing more than a small mud pellet!

    Zhou Qin was so shocked that the hair on her back stood on end . She said slowly, "Can a human even be so strong? Is, is he for real?"

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong with admiration and said, "Li Yundong is now only two steps away from being one of the greatest cultivators alive . When he reaches the Cultivation of Jinshen phase, he will be even more powerful . By that time, he will have acquired earth-shattering power and be no different from a true immortal or a Shen . "

    Zhou Qin¡¯s shock intensified . She thought to herself, "I knew Li Yundong was very strong, but I never expected him to be this strong! I don¡¯t know how long I¡¯ll take to catch up with him!"

    Su Chan also thought in her heart, "Yundong¡¯s cultivation speed is too fast and far surpasses mine . I have to work harder, or I¡¯ll only be a burden to him!"

    After Li Yundong had sealed the entrance to the cave, he flew over to Su Chan and Zhou Qin . As soon as he got near, Su Chan eximed with a look of admiration and curiosity, "Yundong, you are so awesome! What kind of magic did you use just now? How are you so powerful? I almost worried that our Tianlong Mountain would bepletely decimated by you!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "That was the Heavenly Jindan Technique!"

    "Is the Heavenly Jindan Technique really so amazing? It can make you as muscr as Hercules?" Su Chan asked .

    Li Yundong began exining, "When the Heavenly Jindan Technique reaches the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Cycles, it can change a person¡¯s bones, flesh, and internal organs, which is equivalent to recreating them . When the person practices to the Seventh Cycle, it is equivalent to them gaining a second life . Thus, they are able to break through the limits of the human body and freely control the growth of their bones and flesh . "

    "I used to hear my master say that the greatest cultivator could cultivate superhuman powers . At that time, I thought it was just a fairy tale . I never expected it to be true . Can you cultivate superhuman powers, Yundong?" Su Chan asked excitedly .

    Li Yundongughed and shook his head, saying, "Not yet . The cultivation method of the Heavenly Jindan Technique is not the same as the ordinary nine dens cultivation one . It mainly improves the flesh and blood by cutivating the gall dder, stimting the metabolism of the human body, and making people more powerful . To cultivate superhuman powers, one must practice to the ninth phase of the Heavenly Jindan Technique . I have only practiced to the seventh phase, so I¡¯m still two levels away from the ninth phase . "

    Su Chan smiled and said, "Only two phases! It won¡¯t take long! When you finish learning, you have to teach me!"

    Li Yundong chuckled . "It¡¯s normal for one to advance a thousand miles along the path of cultivation in the beginning . However, the further one goes, the slower one¡¯s progress bes . Zi Yuan herself is a talent, known as the number one Master amongst the younger generation of the Cultivation World . However, once she reached the Yuanying phase, it was difficult for her to make even an inch of progress . This goes to show how difficult it will be to cultivate in the higher phase!"

    Su Chan grinned and said cutely, "I don¡¯t care . You have to teach me!"

    Li Yundong smiled at her dotingly . "Okay, okay . When we return, I¡¯ll teach you the Heavenly Jindan Technique . " As he spoke, he turned his head and looked at Zhou Qin . He saw that the girl was also looking at him, her eyes filled with hope .

    Li Yundong smiled at Zhou Qin and said, "Don¡¯t worry . I¡¯ll teach you everything I know too . I won¡¯t hide anything from you!"

    Hearing this, Zhou Qin was overjoyed . A smile shot up from the bottom of her heart and bloomed over her face .

    Li Yundong waved to Su Chan and Zhou Qin, saying, "Let¡¯s go back . There¡¯s no need to waste any more time here . "

    The three flew from the mountain to the Taoist temple . As soon as theynded in the backyard, Li Yundong heard a noiseing from the front of the Taoist temple .

    Li Yundong was slightly stunned . He exchanged nces with Su Chan and Zhou Qin, then said, "Let¡¯s go and see what¡¯s going on . "

    He quickly rushed into the front yard with the two, only to see Cao Yi and the others of Fox Zen School confronting a group of people, who were all dressed as tourists . The leader was a young man dressed in casual brown clothes and wearing a brown casquette . His face twisted with rage, the man shouted at Cao Yi, "We bought tickets at the foot of the Tianyin Mountain . Since this is a scenic spot, why won¡¯t you let us in! Is this Taoist temple your own private property or something?"

    Li Yundong was stunned . Only at this moment did he remember that the Taoist temple of Fox Zen School was still open as a tourist attraction!

 Chapter 326

    Chapter 326

    <h4>Ups and Downs</h4>

    Li Yundong stepped forward and said to Cao Yi, "What¡¯s going on here?"

    Seeing him appear, Cao Yi suddenly seemed to grow more confident . She breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Leader, thank God you¡¯re here . These people insisted on looking at the backyard . Because I refused to let them in, they began quarreling with me now . "

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help frowning . "It wouldn¡¯t matter if these people wanted to go to the backyard as usual, but two people have just died here, and now these people havee to visit . It can¡¯t be so coincidental . "

    Among this group of tourists, the young leader nced at Li Yundong and sneered . "Head of the sect? What era do you think we¡¯re living in? Do you think you¡¯re acting in some TV show?"

    He rushed forward and shouted at Li Yundong, "Hey, if you don¡¯t let us in, I¡¯ll make aint about you!"

    Spurred by his shouting, the other tourists also fell into an uproar .

    Some excited tourists even began spouting insults, which made Li Yundong and the others angry .

    Li Yundong frowned and said in a deep voice, "I¡¯m sorry, it¡¯s really inconvenient for tourists to view the backyard today . You can visit the other ces in the Taoist temple . "

    The man turned around and said loudly, "We¡¯ve paid a lot of money for this . Why won¡¯t you let us in? You are really too much! What¡¯s more, there was no indication that we couldn¡¯t go in! Forget him . Let¡¯s go in!"

    Cao Yi and the others of the Fox zen Sect were all in a mess . Although their Cultivation Quotients were not high, they would not show cowardice in the face of people from the Cultivation World . However, these people in front of them were all ordinary, so they did not know how to deal with them . At this moment, they were in quite a pickle .

    Seeing the young man rushing ahead, Li Yundong reached out his hand to block him, his expression stern . However, the young man suddenly turned over his wrist . Using his body as a shield, the man grabbed the joint of Li Yundong¡¯s wrist with one hand and poked his lower Dantian with the other .

    This move was swift and hidden . The tourists blocked behind him couldn¡¯t even see what he was doing . However, Su Chan, Zhou Qin, Cao Yi, and the other disciples of Fox Zen School, who were all next to Li Yundong, could see it clearly . They hadn¡¯t expected this tourist to be a cultivator at all . They all began eximing in session, "Be careful!" "Shameless!" "Despicable!"

    Li Yundong, however, seemed to had predicted this situation . He turned over his wrist and put five fingers on the man¡¯s wrist . His thumb urately pressed against the three key acupoints in the man¡¯s hand: Yanggu, Yangchi, and Yangxi .

    In the past, when Shi Neng had fought with Li Yundong, he had used this move to attack him . It was a hidden and dangerous move . Even if he did not grab it, he could turn the opponent¡¯s wrist to hit his chest for a further attack . It was a unique skill that could not be stopped until the opponent was defeated .

    However, Li Yundong was choosing to fight face to face . He broke the bones of the man¡¯s fingers .

    At present, this trick was being used by Li Yundong, so it was much more powerful than when it had been used by Shineng . The man who had attacked him felt like he was being handcuffed and was unable to move at all . However, one of his hands, which was aimed at Li Yundong¡¯s Dantian, was only an inch away from hitting it .

    The man gritted his teeth and relinquished the hand that had been grabbed by Li Yundong . He poured all his strength and Zhenqi into the finger that was poking into Li Yundong¡¯s lower abdomen .

    At this time, Li Yundong had cultivated to the Shentong phase . As a Great Seer, he was so observant that once someone started being hostile to him, he could immediately sense what the person was thinking and what they wanted to do .

    Li Yundong had guessed that the young man would try to sacrifice one of his arms to defeat Li Yundong . Heughed coldly and gripped the Yangchi, Yanggu, and Yangxi acupoints, then said solemnly, "Be careful, don¡¯t be so rash!"

    Hearing that, the man went stiff . Li Yundong¡¯s three fingers were on his three acupoints, blocking his Qi . His whole body was out of control, and his finger was only a centimeter away from Li Yundong¡¯s lower Dantian . However, he couldn¡¯t poke it anymore .

    Standing to one side, Zhou Qin finally breathed a sigh of relief . She was smart and studious . Seeing Li Yundong grab his wrist, it was as if the man had been fixed by an immobilizing skill and couldn¡¯t move at all . She couldn¡¯t help asking, "Why can¡¯t he move when Li Yundong grabs his wrist?"

    Seeing that Li Yundong had defused the attack, Su Chan exined in a low voice, "It¡¯s said that a slight move can affect the whole body . When I pull a strand of your hair, you have to move with me if you don¡¯t want to be in pain . That¡¯s exactly what Yundong is doing . Moreover, Yundong has seized the key acupoints of the opponent¡¯s wrist and invaded his body with Zhen Qi in order to control him . Therefore, the man has be a puppet and can¡¯t move at all . "

    Zhou Qin suddenly understood exactly what was going on .

    Su Chan, Zhou Qin, and the other members of the Fox Zen School could see Li Yundong fighting clearly, but the tourists couldn¡¯t see what was going on . When they saw LiYundong grabbing the man¡¯s hand, they shouted loudly, "Hey, what are you trying to do? Do you want to fight?"

    Before Li Yundong could even say anything, Su Chan shouted angrily, "Hey, are you blind? It¡¯s him who . . . "

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t want to expose the conflict to ordinary people . He interrupted Su Chan and shouted, "Su Chan!"

    Having been interrupted, Su Chan swallowed the rest of her words . She looked at Li Yundong only to see him winking at her and then looking at the backyard . Su Chan immediately understood what he wanted and exchanged a nce with Cao Yi . They then turned around and went to the backyard to clean away Mei Niang and Zhangsun Hong¡¯s corpses .

    Seeing that the two had taken his hint, Li Yundong was relieved . With one hand still holding onto the man¡¯s wrist, he said in a voice that could only be heard by the two of them, "Which sect are you from? Why did you ambush me?"

    The man said in a deliberately raised voice, "Hey, why are you holding onto me like this? Let me go . I¡¯m not gay!"

    After hearing his shout, some of the tourists tittered .

    Li Yundong was furious, but he kept a smile on his face . His Zhenqi gushed out secretly and flowed into the opponent¡¯s body . The man suddenly felt that his meridians were seriously suffering . He was in pain and feeling terribly hurt but was unable to speak .

    However, under Li Yundong¡¯s control, he couldn¡¯t resist, hide or even shout . The pain he was enduring was like a living death .

    Li Yundong grabbed his hands and said to the tourists with a smile, "It¡¯s really inconvenient for you to be here today, and the backyard is our own amodation . There¡¯s nothing to see there . I hope you can understand . Aspensation, our Taoist temple will treat you to some vegetable noodles today!"

    These tourists had been making a fuss because of the young man, but at the moment, he had beenpletely subdued by Li Yundong and now couldn¡¯t say a word . Li Yundong was now talking to them in a gentle tone, so there were fewer people wanting to make trouble . Therefore, they all settled down and turned to leave .

    However, one of the tourists suddenly pointed to the person being restrained by Li Yundong and asked, "Why won¡¯t you let him go?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "When I saw this man, I felt like we were old friends . I want to talk to himter . Don¡¯t tell me you want to take part in our conversation too?"

    "Are you holding him against his will?" the man asked brashly .

    Li Yundongughed and said, "How could I? If you don¡¯t believe me, you can ask him yourself . " Then, he turned to the young man and asked, "Are you willing to stay here?"

    The young man was certainly not willing, but he felt an invisible hand pressing his head down again and again, making it look like he was nodding .

    When the tourists saw him nodding affirmatively, they immediately scolded with a smile, "Huh, and you still say you¡¯re not gay!"

    "What the hell? You were like mortal enemies a moment ago, but now you¡¯ve be such good friends?"

    Zhou Qin was clever and immediately stepped in, saying to the tourists, "Please follow me, everyone . I¡¯ll take you to the restaurant to enjoy some vegetarian noodles . "

    Ordinary people love to take advantage of others . The tourists saw that they were going to get free noodles, so they stopped caring about this person¡¯s life and left one after another . Only two young people looked at each other before shooting a re at Li Yundong . They turned around and left, but they didn¡¯t go to the restaurant . Instead, they went down the mountain .

    When Li Yundong saw them leaving, he looked at the young man and ordered with a cold face, "Tell me quickly, which sect do you belong to?"

    When the young man saw that these people had been sent away by Li Yundong, leaving him alone, he simply lifted his head and shouted, "My father is the Leader of the Blue Cave Sect . How dare you hurt me?"

    Li Yundong had been cultivating for a long time, and he had read a lot of cultivation manuals, which had general information on the various cultivation sects around the world . Holding the wrist of the young man, he walked step by step to the outside of the Taoist temple, then sneered and said, "Blue Cave Sect? So, it¡¯s the cultivation sect of Qingyang Pce on Mount Qingcheng in Sichuan? Why did your Sichuan cultivation secte to Jiangsu? Why are you troubling us?"

    The young man also sneered . "I cane if I want . It¡¯s none of your business! This mountain is not your property!"

    Li Yundong was a little angry . He exerted force with his fingers, and the young man made a pained sound . The sweat on his forehead was flowing down in glittering rivulets . Li Yundong said coldly, "Don¡¯t think that I won¡¯t dare to touch you! In the past, the Great Six besieged Fox Zen School, and I killed two people and defeated nine others . You are not the only one that I will have hurt . Anyway, killing two people is murder, what difference will taking another life make! I am not afraid of the Great Six or of Zhengyi School . Don¡¯t think that I won¡¯t dare to offend the cultivation sects in Sichuan!"

    The young man was drenched in sweat . Trying to endure the pain, he said in a trembling voice, "I heard that you¡¯re the strongest master of the younger generation . Even Zi Yuan was defeated by you . That¡¯s why I¡¯m here to make trouble for you . If I can beat you, I¡¯ll be known as the strongest master of the younger generation!"

    When Li Yundong heard this, heughed loudly . "What do you mean by being first and second! Wouldn¡¯t you be ashamed to call yourself first after winning with this kind of method?"

    The young man turned his face away . He did not speak, but disapproval was written all over his face . Obviously, in his opinion, victory was all that mattered .

    Li Yundong could saw that their paths were different and that they were ipatible . He didn¡¯t want to waste time on the man, so he just led him out of the Taoist temple and then warned him with a sneer, "Today, seeing that you didn¡¯t attack anyone else and only directly attacked me, I¡¯ll let you go . When you get back, tell the cultivators of the younger generation that if they are not convinced by my strength, they can challenge me anytime . I, Li Yundong, will never refuse a challenge! However, if anyone dares to attack the people around me, or use any tricks on them, I will show no mercy!"

    After that, he waved his hand and tossed the young man away by more than ten meters .

    The man momentarily felt like he was flying, but when hended, a huge force rushed out of his body, forcing him to fall back .

    He was the kind of cultivator who began their cultivation journey in their mother¡¯s womb, so his basic skills were extremely solid . After getting free of Li Yundong¡¯s control, he immediately sank his Qi into his Dantian, trying to control his body .

    But the force was too strong . If the young man took it head-on, most of his meridians would be injured . He had to take a dozen steps back . When the force lessened, he was ready to stabilize his body again .

    However, just as he was about to control his Qi, another force suddenly came at him . It was now as if there were waves behind him, forcing him to retreat again .

    The young man felt helpless and thought, "The Leader of Fox Zen School caught me and sneak-attacked me before . It doesn¡¯t seem to be a coincidence . His covert powers are really strong . "

    He had to step back again, but after taking a dozen steps, the force suddenly gave birth to yet another wave-like power, as if there were two small wavesing one after another, and then there was a real wave!

    The young man was shocked . Although there were some cultivators who could divide their strength into two and emit it in sessive bursts, in front of him was a great force that had been hidden after the first two forces . His enemy must have an extremely authentic and extremely dense Zhenqi! How had this person cultivated? Was it really like the rumors said, that he had practiced the Heavenly Jindan Technique?

    This time, the young man had to retreat by dozens of steps before the power was counteracted . After he stopped, his body could not help but tremble, and his feet were weak, as if he was still swaying in the waves from earlier .

    Standing on a step halfway up the mountain, the young man looked up at the Taoist temple where Fox Zen School was located, and a look of legitimate terror finally appeared on his proud face .

 Chapter 327

    Chapter 327

    <h4>No Peace in the World from Now On</h4>

    Just as the young man with a cap was in a daze, two other young men dressed like ordinary people suddenly came over . They were the two tourists who had originally gone straight down the mountain .

    The two young men approached and asked with concern, "Senior fellow apprentice, are you all right?"

    The man with the cap was pale, and his forehead was slick with a cold sweat . He replied shakily, "I¡¯m fine . "

    One of the men next to him asked, "Senior fellow apprentice, have you found out whether this guy has studied the Heavenly Jindan Technique?"

    "I didn¡¯t explicitly test it, but this man¡¯s Zhenqi is so dense . I¡¯ve never seen such pure Zhenqi in someone at such a young age, except for my father and a few sect leaders! Even if this man hasn¡¯t practiced the Heavenly Jindan Technique, he is also a master . No wonder he could handle the Great Six alone . I thought that this matter was simply rumor, but now it turns out to be true!" the senior apprentice replied .

    Another personforted him, "Senior fellow apprentice, you don¡¯t have to be too discouraged . You haven¡¯t used the powerful magical weapon or talismans that Master gave you yet . If we really try to settle the score, you may beat him . "

    The man with the cap red at him and said, "I chose to go fist-to-fist with him because I thought the Fan of Seven Treasures would be overkill! My father refused to pass the Sanhuang Sword to me . How can I match his magical power? Just with a few talismans? Humph, don¡¯t speak such rot! I don¡¯t know who helped that guy get the Heavenly Jindan Technique . It was so tempting that I chose to fight him with my fists . It was humiliating!"

    "Senior brother, Li Yundong alone defeated the the Great Six, plus Yu Yang Zhenren and Zhenren Zi Yuan from Zhengyi Sect . If he hadn¡¯t practiced the Heavenly Jindan Technique, how could he be so powerful? And now the cultivation world is spreading news of this wide and fire," one of his junior brothers said .

    The man with the cap spat hatefully and stamped his feet, saying, "Fortunately, I was cautious . I only said that I was not satisfied with him . If he had known that my goal is the Heavenly Jindan Technique, I am afraid things would have been difficult to deal with today! Let¡¯s not talk about it! I have lost this battle, but I¡¯ll find a way to pay him backter! Let¡¯s go!"

    One of the junior fellow apprentices smiled sinisterly and said, "Senior Brother, you don¡¯t have to be angry . Now that news of this matter has been spread, I think there will be more and more peopleing to trouble him in the future . He will eventually get tired of dealing with it, and then you can . . . "

    Before he could finish his words, a yful smile appeared on his Senior Brother¡¯s face . The three of them burst outughing together .

    Meanwhile, in the Taoist temple, Li Yundong and the others dismissed the group of tourists, and then Li Yundong called Cao Yi, Su Chan, and Zhou Qin into his room .

    Li Yundong asked Cao Yi, "Did tourists alsoe to see Fox Zen School in the past?"

    Cao Yi sighed and said, "Of course . Back then, there were probably more than a hundred people in Fox Zen School . If we hadn¡¯t taken money from tourists, we wouldn¡¯t have survived at all . However, our Taoist temple has never been prosperous, and very few tourists came to visit . The number of today¡¯s tourists is much greater than before . "

    Li Yundong nodded . He thought for a while before saying, "I interrogated the person who caused trouble just now . He¡¯s from Blue Cave Sect . "

    "Blue Cave Sect?" Su Chan, Zhou Qin, and Cao Yi all asked simultaneously .

    Zhou Qin had never heard of this sect . She seemed curious, while Su Chan and Cao Yi were surprised . Cao Yi frowned and asked, "Isn¡¯t it a Sichuan sect? What are they doing here? Are they also trying to get involved in this mess with the the Great Six?"

    Su Chan snorted and said, "Then they are toote! The Great Six have already been sent running by Yundong!"

    Cao Yi shook her head and said, "Although the leader tried his best to turn the tide and make the Great Six retreat alone, news of this matter must have spread all over the cultivation world . Although the Great Six have retreated, there must be many people who remain unconvinced . It is hard to know whether or not some people will be angry ande to cause trouble . "

    Li Yundong nodded and said, "Yes, the guy from just now is the son of the leader of Blue Cave Sect . He said that I defeated Zi Yuan and was thus the top master of the younger generation, but he wasn¡¯t convinced, so he came to challenge me . He says he will be the top master if he can defeat me . "

    After Li Yundong had finished speaking, the three women in the room looked disdainful and all sneered at the same time . Zhou Qin didn¡¯t say anything, her mouth a thin line, but Su Chan snorted and said, "What¡¯s the meaning of this sneak attack? Even he wins the battle, it won¡¯t be glorious!"

    Cao Yi sneered and said, "Is this a so-called decent sect? The descendants of these leaders are getting worse and worse!"

    Li Yundong sighed softly and said, "If their goal is me, I should have nothing to be afraid of and nothing to worry about . I have passed through divine punishment . What¡¯s there for me to fear? However, I am afraid that they will make ns to attack you guys, and you will then have no chance to protect yourselves . "

    Looking desperately ashamed, Cao Yi said, "s, as an elder of the Fox Zen School, I can¡¯t even protect myself . I am really sorry . "

    Zhou Qin also looked sad . She bit her lip, frowned, and remained silent . Only Su Chan smiled and tugged on Li Yundong¡¯s arm, saying, "You can teach us and turn all of us into masters . Wouldn¡¯t that be best? Then when the timees, you won¡¯t need to do anything . If anyone dares to provoke us, we will help you get rid of them! Just tell us what needs to be done!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "You¡¯re right . It¡¯s true that you have to be stronger . I can protect you for a while, but not forever . When we return to Tiannan, I will teach you the Heavenly Jindan Technique . "

    As soon as he said this, Cao Yi suddenly opened her eyes wide and said in a shocked tone, "You . . . you really have the Heavenly Jindan Technique?"

    Li Yundong was stunned . "How did you know that I really have it?"

    Cao Yi seemed toe to her senses and said with a smile, "Last time I saw you settle a score with the people of the Great Six . When you took three steps, your figure became stronger by three steps . We discussed in private what kind of cultivation method you¡¯re using and all agreed that what you cultivated was the long-lost Heavenly Jindan Technique Technique . However, we never really believed that our guess would be correct . "

    Only then did Li Yundonge to a realization . He smiled and said, "Speaking of that, I learned it from your Fox Zen School . " As he spoke, he told the whole story of the process of learning the Heavenly Jindan Technique . Then, he said, "Now that I¡¯ve taught you this set of techniques, it can be considered that my debt to the descendants of Mystical Silver Fox has been repaid . "

    Cao Yi was stunned for a long time, but eventually shook her head and sighed . "Everything in the world is really a karma cycle!"

    Li Yundong nodded to Cao Yi and said, "You don¡¯t have to get emotional . Go back first, pack your things, and then you can bring the juniors to Tiannan with me . We can¡¯t live here anymore . At present, Fox Zen School is suffering from both internal and external problems . I can¡¯t handle it all alone . You, Liu Yuehong, and Zhuang Yating, please stick together in the future . . . "

    He turned to look at Zhou Qin and Su Chan . "In the future, you two must follow me closely!"

    Su Chan, Zhou Qin, and Cao Yi answered in unison, "Yes!"

    Li Yundong nodded and waved his hand, saying, "Off with you . Pack up quickly, and then we will go back to Tiannan . "

    The three of them nodded and left . Before long, everyone from Fox Zen School had been made aware that they were about to leave the sect . For a moment, their hearts were filled with sadness at the thought of leaving their homnd . At the same time, they were also filled with anticipation for their new life . They began to chatter and whisper to each other .

    Li Yundong led the way down the mountain . Su Chan and Zhou Qin had no luggage at all, so they stayed by Li Yundong¡¯s side . Cao Yi, Liu Yuehong, and Zhuang Yating, the only three seniors of Fox Zen School, followed Li Yundong down the mountain, looking back reluctantly .

    Some of the foxes were upset, sobbing to themselves quietly . Su Chan was very sad to hear their cries . She followed Li Yundong to the foot of the mountain and pulled on his arm, then looked back at the towering mountain and asked, "Yundong, must we leave? Can wee back again?"

    Li Yundong also looked back at the Tianlong Mountain, then said in a low voice, "One great man once said that if we stay in this mountain, we will all lose our lives . Leaving this ce, we can survive and will be able to keep this mountain . Right now, we are too weak to protect it properly . If we stay here, we will only be handing the enemy a chance to break through . When we are stronger, we wille back, and it will all be open and above board!"

    Su Chan nodded vigorously . "Okay! I will be stronger too!"

    Zhou Qin nced at Li Yundong and remembered Li Yundong¡¯s oath in her heart . She thought to herself, "Master, I will help you make this a reality!"

    Li Yundong and his group of more than a dozen of people took the train from Dongwu to Tiannan . Every woman in the group was gorgeous . Li Yundong was the only man amongst them, and the male travelers on the road were so envious that their eyes reddened .

    With so many beautiful women appearing together, the group was naturally extremely eye-catching . There were countless men who sidled up to them to try their luck along the way . Only Zhou Qin¡¯s face was as cold as frost, so not many men dared to hit on her . Cao Yi and the other Head of Fox Zen School also had high statuses and did not look around, so there were not many men who came to hit on them either .

    However, the little foxes, led by Su Chan, were so naive and lively that they couldn¡¯t have kept straight faces even if they wanted to . Naturally, they were unceasingly harassed by the male passengers, and it was not easy for them to get off the train . The group of little foxes rushed off the train as quickly as they could, as if they were escaping jail cells . They looked around excitedly and whispered to each other about what their new home would look like .

    At this time, Su Chan was obviously being regarded as the leader by the little foxes . She put her hands on her hips and proudly exined the process of how she and Li Yundong would look for a house together and find a good environment for their new home . However, when she said that her room was spacious, bright, and could amodate a lot of people, the young girl suddenly noticed a problem: the three bedrooms and two living rooms were indeed very spacious when amodating two people, but now there were more than a dozen . Even if Zhou Qin had a ce to live, how could they arrange to house more than a dozen people from the Fox Zen School?

    For a moment, Su Chan felt a little dizzy . She quickly shook off the little foxes, ran to Li Yundong and pulled him aside . She nervously said, "Yundong, our house is not big enough . How can we live with so many people?"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but smile bitterly . "I¡¯m also worried about this problem . I originally wanted to find a ce for them to live in separately, but even after looking for a while, I came up empty . We have to let them squeeze into our home for a few nights . Besides, we are all cultivators . It¡¯s not a big deal for us to sleep on the ground for one or two nights . "

    Su Chan thought for a while and suddenly had an idea . She said with a cheeky smile, "Then I want to sleep with you!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Aren¡¯t you afraid that your fellow disciples willugh at you?"

    Su Chan looked up at him and made a face . "I¡¯m not afraid . You are the leader . How could they dare tough at me? I¡¯ll teach them a lesson if they do!"

    Li Yundongughed and nodded at the little girl¡¯s nose, scolding her with a smile, "Look at you, this is how the hidden rules of the worlde to be!"

    The two of them were busy talking andughing when they suddenly heard a noiseing from not far away . They turned their heads and saw several male passengers with suitcases who had been looking at the beautiful women from the Fox Zen School with their heads tilted when suddenly they were knocked down by each other .

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart skipped a beat and he felt as if his head was about to explode . He thought to himself, "Su Chan was involved in the human world once and many people paid attention to her . Thest time a group of foxes from the Fox Zen School went down the mountain, they almost ended up blocking the streets of Tiannan . This time, they havee down rightfully . I¡¯m afraid that the world will not be at peace from now on! What a mess . . . "

 Chapter 328

    Chapter 328

    <h4>Let¡¯s Just Stay Here!</h4>

    Though Li Yundong himself had always tried to keep a low profile, it was hard for him to do so now as he was being apanied by so many belles . He had no alternative but to return to Hongsheng New District before various envious eyes .

    It was not too noisy when those little foxes chattered along the street . However, once they entered the quietmunity, especially when they entered the building, their babbling was reminiscent of a group of ducks, which made Li Yundong very impatient .

    After the group entered the elevator, it was immediately crowded with beautiful girls . People who wanted to get in the elevator were amazed by the scene: Li Yundong standing at the front, followed by many peerless beauties .

    The people outside the elevator were shocked to witness this . After seeing them, the men felt ashamed of themselves and almost jumped out of the building directly; the women wanted to be blind andined that their parents hadn¡¯t given them beautiful appearances . Though Li Yundong had made room for them, they were still unwilling to get into the elevator . They just shook their heads like rattles, staring at the elevator doors closing in amazement, and watched Li Yundong take those beautiful women upstairs .

    It wasn¡¯t until the elevator doors had closed that they began to wonder about the identity of this man who had been surrounded by such a group of belles .

    Li Yundong felt ufortable about being stared at like this . When he finally got out of the elevator, he cleared his throat and said: "Here we are . "

    All of a sudden, the little foxes came out of the elevator in a wave and cheered, "Hooray!"

    All of them were young and beautiful, and their voices were clear and bright . They cried out in the corridor suddenly, which immediately prompted the people in the surrounding rooms to open their doors and poke their heads out to see them .

    When one man poked his head out to take a look, he was so amazed that he began to drool . Just when he was about to go out and deliberately strike up a conversation with them, he was quickly pulled back by a hostess .

    Li Yundong pretended to be angry and red at the lively little foxes before shouting, "Be quiet!"

    Cao Yi also said to the juniors, "Don¡¯t make any noise . Don¡¯t embarrass our leader . "

    Li Yundong nodded to Cao Yi before saying, "I have something to tell youter . Don¡¯t make noise now . "

    After saying that, he opened the door .

    Pushing the door open, Li Yundong noticed a familiar smell . Before he could even pass through the door, Su Chan, his little fox, cheered, then jumped in and rolled on the sofa . With her taking the lead, the little foxes behind Li Yundong were suddenly eager to do the same .

    Seeing that the situation was worsening, Li Yundong cleared his throat and red at Su Chan .

    The little girl noticed Li Yundong ring at her . At first, she blinked her eyes in confusion, but after she saw the fellow disciples behind Li Yundong staring at her too, she immediately understood . "Oh," she said, getting up from the sofa obediently . With her head down, she rubbed one corner of her clothes between her fingers . Step by step, she went over to Li Yundong and pouted, saying pitifully, "Leader, I¡¯ve been too presumptuous . You can punish me . "

    Li Yundong red at her . "You will have to sleep in the living room at night!"

    "What?" Su Chan raised her head and looked at Li Yundong imploringly . However, when she saw Li Yundong¡¯s determined expression, she had no choice but to give another "oh" and lower her head in disappointment .

    Li Yundong acted as if he couldn¡¯t see her dejection . With a stony face, he said to the disciples of the Fox Zen School behind him, "Come on in everyone . "

    When the foxes saw that Su Chan had been reprimanded, they immediately became much more obedient . One by one, they passed through the doorway, and the spacious living room suddenly became crowded .

    Li Yundong found that Cao Yi, Su Chan, and the other seniors of the Fox Zen School were all being overly cautious now . He smiled and said, "Don¡¯t be so nervous . You¡¯re acting as if you¡¯ve entered a gangster inn . "

    After hearing Li Yundong¡¯s words, everyone burst outughing, and the tense atmosphere dissipated significantly . Li Yundong pulled out several chairs in the dining room and said, "Su Chan, Zhou Qin, you and the other sisters can sit on that sofa or the carpet . Cao Yi and the other shibos cane to the dining room and sit on the chairs here . "

    Cao Yi smiled and said, "Leader, you don¡¯t have to be so polite . We can sit with the juniors . "

    Li Yundong immediately pressed Cao Yi and the others into their chairs and said, "No, the seniors have to be respected . We have to make this clear . "

    After everyone was seated, Li Yundong found that everyone was looking at him eagerly . He said, "Since I took over as the Leader the Fox Zen School, we have been disturbed by others . I must do some self-reflection . I do not believe that I am qualified to be the Leader of our sect . "

    As he said that, he stood up and bowed to the people of the Fox Zen School by way of apology .

    Seeing his behavior, the Fox Zen School was so startled that everyone present stood up . Cao Yi and the other shibos said in session, "Sect Leader, you¡¯re being too serious . " "Sect Leader, it¡¯s not your fault!" "Sect Leader, it¡¯s you who saved the Fox Zen School from being exterminated . "

    The junior disciples of the Fox zen Sect also said, "Sect leader, we know very well how kind you are to us . The former leader wouldn¡¯t even let us go down the mountain . However, not only did you allow us to go down the mountain, you also provided us with amodation . You are too kind to us!"

    The other little foxes also echoed, "Yes, yes, you also bought us good clothes . It was so wonderful of you!"

    After hearing their words, Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry . He thought, "Oh my god, this is a group of innocent little girls who don¡¯t know anything about the real world . If they met other men, they would not only make sure these girls are eating and living, but also sleeping!"

    Li Yundong cleared his throat and said, "All right, there¡¯s no need to discuss this further . Now that I have taken you down the mountain, I¡¯ll be responsible for your food, clothing, and amodation . I¡¯ll also find a house for you in a few days, but for now you¡¯ll have to put up with staying in this room . "

    Regarding Cao Yi, Liu Yuehong, and Zhuang Yating, the three senior shibos of the Fox Zen Sect, he asked, "How about you three senior shibos sleep in Su Chan¡¯s room? Her room is the most spacious . Would that be eptable to you guys?"

    Cao Yi, Liu Yuehong, and Zhuang Yating allughed . "Sure . We¡¯ll listen to the Sect Leader . "

    Li Yundong then turned to the remaining seven juniors of the Fox Zen Sect and said, "The seven of you will sleep in the other two bedrooms, okay?"

    The little foxes of the Fox Zen Sect all nodded their heads and said in a clear, unified voice, "We will obey the leader¡¯s words!"

    Although Li Yundong did not have any improper thoughts regarding the beautiful little foxes, he was still happy in his heart to hear so many stunning girls say these words to him together . Li Yundong nodded and then said to Su Chan and Zhou Qin, "How about we three sleep in the living room?"

    Hearing his words, Su Chan could not help but let out a cry of disappointment . Zhou Qin, however, was struck by a thought . She knew that Li Yundong was showing the innocent rtionship between Su Chan and her to the people of the Fox Zen Sect .

    Zhou Qin didn¡¯t say anything . However, Cao Yi and others from the Fox Zen Sect immediately stood up, shaking their heads as they said, "No, absolutely not!"

    Li Yundong asked in confusion, "Why?"

    Cao Yi said seriously, "How can we let our leader sleep in the living room while we take the bedroom! Though Fox Zen School is only a small sect, we at least understand basic etiquette . We absolutely won¡¯t let our distinguished leader sleep in the living room! No, no!"

    Liu Yuehong nodded in agreement . "Sixth Junior Sister is right . We¡¯d rather go without sleep than have you, Sect Leader, sleep in the living room . "

    Zhuang Yating also said, "Exactly!"

    Seeing that the three shibos had spoken, the juniors of the Fox Zen Sect immediately echoed, "That¡¯s right!"

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly and asked, "Then what should we do?"

    Cao Yi said, "The Leader should have a room for himself, and then the three of us can sleep in one room together . Su Chan and Zhou Qin should sleep in the final room . The juniors of the Fox Zen Sect will all sleep in the living room . That¡¯s how it should be . "

    Li Yundong shook his head and said, "Seven people crowding the living room? How would that work?"

    Cao Yi said firmly, "We cultivators don¡¯t need much to befortable . We only need to sit in meditation to pass the night . The living room is spacious enough for seven people . You yourself said that there is a difference in age, so I think that you should also know the difference between seniority and juniority . Only in this way can we make everyone follow the order of seniority . "

    Li Yundong still shook his head . "No, I can¡¯t allow this to happen . If everyone is squeezing into the living room, how can I be expected to sleep in a room all to myself?"

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong with eager eyes, wishing he could say, "I¡¯ll share a room with my girl . " However, she clearly understood that while it was possible for Li Yundong to say such a thing privately, in front of so many people of the Fox Zen School, it was impossible .

    While she was still thinking about Li Yundong, Cao Yi suddenly said, "Leader, if you don¡¯t agree, we won¡¯t dare to stay in the room . Otherwise, even if we sit in meditation, we won¡¯t feel at ease . "

    The rest of the people from the Fox Zen Sect also replied together, "That¡¯s right, Sect Leader!"

    Seeing that they had joined forces, Li Yundong had no choice but to sigh and say, "Well, let¡¯s do as you say . I¡¯ll go and find a house tomorrow . Please can you all make do for the night?"

    The people of the Fox Zen Sect allughed . "Of course, no problem . "

    Li Yundong also smiled helplessly and said, "Well, I¡¯ve said all I should say . If you need to go out, you must go out together . Don¡¯t go alone, and please let me know in advance of your departure . "

    The rest of the people from Fox Zen School nodded in acknowledgement .

    Upon hearing Li Yundong¡¯s words, Su Chan immediately jumped up, rushed over to Li Yundong, and said eagerly, "So Yundong, I can¡¯t go to your room anymore, right?"

    Li Yundong was not willing to be overly affectionate toward his little girl in front of the disciples of the Fox Zen School . He deliberately said with a straight face, "What do you mean? As long as it¡¯s not time for you to sleep, you can go whenever you want . "

    Su Chan pouted unhappily . She thought to herself, "I just want to sleep in your room and you know it . How can you talk like that!"

    But she was quick-witted and immediately came up with an idea: "Why don¡¯t I use bilocation to conceal my real body in Li Yundong¡¯s room and put a fake body in my own room?"

    As soon as she thought of this, Su Chan was filled with tion and thought, "Little girl, you are the smartest! Recently, you haven¡¯t made any progress in your cultivation quotient with the master, but your cleverness has improved significantly!"

    Thinking of this, Su Chan immediately brightened and said with a smile, "I want to go to your room to see if you¡¯re hiding any women in there . "

    Li Yundongughed and scolded, "What the hell would I be hiding? With women like you around, do I need to have anyone else? I already have my hands full dealing with all of you!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s words were very ambiguous . The juniors of the Fox Zen Sect all turned their faces away and giggled .

    Seeing their weird expressions, Li Yundong realized that he¡¯d said something wrong . He cleared his throat and stopped talking .

    Su Chan ran over to Li Yundong¡¯s door with a cheeky smile on her face . She gripped the door handle with one hand, turned around, and said to Li Yundong with a smile, "I¡¯m going to open it!"

    Li Yundong red at her angrily and waved his hand . "Do it then!"

    Su Chan twisted the handle of the door and pulled it towards her . As soon as she pulled it, countless small stic bags poured out in a huge flood, drowning Su Chan in an instant .

    Li Yundong was startled and frightened . He immediately rushed over and asked loudly, "Are you okay?"

 Chapter 329

    Chapter 329

    <h4>A Brood of Foxes!</h4>

    All of a sudden, Su Chan was swept over by the tide of stic bags . Though she quickly struggled to stand up, her 1 . 65 meter tall body was suddenly swamped by the small stic bags in the room, leaving only half of her body exposed . She stared at the stic bags underneath herself with a stunned expression and casually picked one of them up . There were a few words written on it: Fujian Tie Guanyin!

    At this time, Li Yundong also found that his room was full of tea bags . He was stunned and asked, "What happened? Why are there so many tea bags here?"

    Just as he was feeling puzzled, he suddenly heard the sound of keys in the door . Then, the door swung open . Ruan Hongling and Zi Yuan walked in,den with big bags from the supermarket .

    The two female disciples from the Linggong Sect were shocked to see that there were so many people in the room, especially so many female disciples from the Fox Zen School .

    Ruan Hongling stared at them, momentarily frozen with shock . "What¡¯s going on?" she asked . She saw Li Yundong first and then saw that Su Chan was being drowned by Tie Guanyin Tea, and suddenly she couldn¡¯t stop herself fromughing .

    Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help butugh when she saw Li Yundong and Su Chan standing amidst the sea of Tie Guanyin bags .

    Ruan Hongling said to Li Yundong, "Hey, who allowed you to open the door? Don¡¯t you know how much effort my senior sister and I went to to pile up these tea bags?"

    After hearing her words, Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry and simply said, "And why exactly did you pile them up in my room?"

    Ruan Honglingughed and said, "How dare you even ask! You demanded that we two girlse back and do these things while you were being leisurely in Dongwu City . We worked so hard to bring these tea bags from the first floor, and now you have the gall to be picky! You should know that . . . "

    Before Ruan Hongling could finishining, Zi Yuan red at her and shouted, "Hongling, don¡¯t be presumptuous towards the Leader of Fox Zen School!"

    The meaning of Zi Yuan¡¯s words was very obvious . She was speaking to remind Ruan Hongling that Li Yundong was no longer a person who could be shouted at by her . He was the Leader of a sect now!

    It was only then that Ruan Hongling came to her senses . She snorted resentfully and swallowed the words that she had been about to say .

    Cao Yi was quick-witted and immediately realized what had happened . Walking forward and cupping her hands at Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling, Cao Yi said, "Amitayus, I¡¯m sorry to disturb Zhenren Zi Yuan and Zhenren Hong Ling . "

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly, cupped her hands, and replied, "Don¡¯t worry . There¡¯s no need to apologise . "

    When the rest of the people from the Fox Zen School saw Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling enter, most of them stood up one after another and maintained a vignt and distant attitude .

    Zi Yuan knew that although she had participated in the previous siege of Fox Zen School, she had also secretly helped the Fox Zen Sect . She could be considered to be a benefactor of Fox Zen School to some extent .

    However, the feud between the Fox Zen School and the Zhengyi School ran too deep . Furthermore, Yan Fang, who had almost caused Fox Zen School to be destroyed, was the second shibo of the Linggong Sect and had a close rtionship with her . It would be a lie to say that there was no resentment in the hearts of the people in the Fox Zen School .

    Being well aware of this, Zi Yuan did not care about their grudge and merely smiled gently at them before saying to Li Yundong, "Zhenren Li, can I have a word with you in private?"

    Li Yundong nodded and said, "Okay, wait for me to put these tea bags back first . "

    After that, he used his Zhenqi and swept the tea bags back into the room like he was sweeping the floor, piling all of the bags up tightly . Su Chan, who was next to him, closed the door with a heavy thud . She then patted her chest and said with a lingering fear, "I was so scared! Were all the tea bags sent by Zheng Youming?"

    Li Yundong threw up his hands . "Who else would it have been?"

    Su Chan rolled her eyes and asked, "Where are you going to sleep tonight?"

    Li Yundong said with a bitter smile, "I¡¯ll sleep in the living room with you . "

    At this time, Zi Yuan said, "Zhenren Li, if you don¡¯t mind, you can stay at our ce for a night . "

    Li Yundong hesitated for a moment . "Would that be all right with you?"

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "Of course . But I have some questions for you first . "

    Li Yundong nodded and went to Su Chan¡¯s bedroom with Zi Yuan . After closing the door, he asked, "Is your question about why I brought all the disciples of Fox Zen School here?"

    Seeing that Li Yundong was getting straight to the point, Zi Yuan was stunned . She had expected Li Yundong to avoid talking about this .

    Seeing her expression, Li Yundongughed and said, "I know you will be confused about this . Yes, the Fox Zen School is full of demons, and all of them are peerless beauties . It¡¯s usually enough to cause a stir when one steps out into the outside world . Not to mention there are so many of them now . So, you must have worries, and you think that I¡¯m selfish to do this, don¡¯t you?"

    Zi Yuan alsoughed and ducked her head . "Amitayus, Zhenren Li, you¡¯re so frank . I¡¯m the one who¡¯s being overly sensitive . "

    Li Yundong waved his hand and said, "If I were you, I would also have my doubts . However, I really have my own difficulties when ites to bringing them down the mountain, so even if you don¡¯t ask me, I¡¯ll tell youter . "

    Zi Yuan asked curiously, "What? Is there anything that can stump you, our famous Zhenren Li?"

    Li Yundong sighed and said, "Don¡¯t tease me . We¡¯re alone here . Considering our friendship, we don¡¯t have to be so polite . " He then told Zi Yuan what had happened to him before, and said, "Such a tragedy happened in Fox Zen School, and even a secr mortal was killed . This matter is really a thorn in my heart making me uneasy . "

    Zi Yuan said in a low voice, "Do you mean that you suspect that there¡¯s a traitor hiding in Fox Zen School?"

    Li Yundong said, "Exactly! Currently, the Fox Zen School is suffering through a turbulent period . The situation is extremely bad . Not only is our economic lifeline broken, but no one¡¯s future here can be guaranteed now . Furthermore, various other sects are still coveting the Fox Zen School . Yesterday, I also discovered a criminal who was peeking at the Heavenly Jindan Technique in the backroom . If the news that the Heavenly Jindan Technique is in Fox Zen School hands spreads, our Fox Zen School will have an even harder time . "

    "Now I don¡¯t know how many enemies are coveting us outside, and I also don¡¯t know if there is hidden traitor inside . If there is, who could it be? I took them all down the mountain so now everyone is together and it¡¯s convenient for us to monitor each other . "

    Zi Yuan nodded slightly, admiration filling her eyes . She asked, "Do the others in the Fox Zen School know about the hidden traitor in the sect?"

    Li Yundong shook his head and said, "No, I only told you, Su Chan, and Zhou Qin about the traitor . I think if the others know about it, they will start to suspect each other, which will cause the whole sect to get distracted . At that time, I, the leader of the sect, will be nothing more than a figurehead . "

    Zi Yuan sighed lightly and looked at Li Yundong sympathetically . "It¡¯s not easy for you to be the leader . "

    Li Yundong chuckled and said, "I took office at a time of crisis . What¡¯s more, for the sake of Su Chan, I have to stick with it . I can¡¯t let her master be destroyed in my hands . "

    A thought shed through Zi Yuan¡¯s mind . She gazed at Li Yundong and let out a long sigh . "You are indeed a man who possesses both love and righteousness . "

    Li Yundong waved his hand and said, "I think we may have to trouble you a lot in the future . After all, including Su Chan, there are eleven people in the Fox Zen School . Sometimes I can¡¯t handle all the things here at the same time very well . I have to find a house for them to live in tomorrow . Besides, we have to find a store as soon as possible and start it . Otherwise, we will finally run out of all our savings . Before long, the £¤800,000 will be down to £¤80 . "

    Zi Yuan chuckled . "You¡¯re right . We do need to reduce our expenditure . If a group of cultivators starved to death from poverty, it would truly be the biggest joke in the history of cultivation . "

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Well, I want to ask you for a favor tonight . "

    "What is it?" Zi Yuan asked in confusion .

    Li Yundong said, "I want to make sure the two golden snake¡¯s bodies are still there . "

    Zi Yuan asked, "Why do you want to see their bodies?"

    Li Yundong said in a low voice, "I¡¯ll tell you the reason at night . I can¡¯t give any answer until I¡¯ve see them . "

    Zi Yuan smiled and changed the topic . "Well, since we have made things clear, now we should discuss a bigger problem . "

    Li Yundong asked, "What is that?"

    Zi Yuan pointed to the door and said, "How can we feed so many people? Are we going out to eat, or at home?"

    Li Yundong was stuck between two decisions . "There are so many people . If we go out to eat, I¡¯m afraid that it will be too rowdy . We¡¯d better eat at home . "

    Zi Yuan began to roll up her sleeves and said with a smile, "Then it¡¯s time to get started . Food for a dozen of people can¡¯t be made quickly . "

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Fortunately, you are here . Otherwise, if I were alone, I would be in over my head . "

    Zi Yuan said, "Li Yundong, I don¡¯t want to criticize you, but you have to think of a way to get out of these things . Otherwise, you won¡¯t even have time to practice, and your cultivation will not advance at all . You should know that cultivation is like a boat sailing against the wind . It must forge ahead or it will only be driven back . If you don¡¯t improve yourself, someone may defeat you next time . "

    Li Yundong thought of the young man who hade to Blue Cave Sect to challenge him before, and his expression darkened . He said, "You are right . I need to solve the problem of food and clothing in the Fox Zen School as soon as possible in order to save time for cultivation . "

    Zi Yuan nodded and said nothing .

    After they left, they directly went into the kitchen to get prepared . Ruan Hongling went in to help, while Su Chan was still being banned from entering the kitchen by Li Yundong, so she had to stay in the living room and watch TV . These little foxes were curiously circling the TV and chattering, but they quickly got tired after watching for a while . More and more people began to curiously gather around Su Chan and they asked her to tell them about the different kinds of things she had encountered in the secr world .

    She was quite a crazy girl . When she found a group of people gathering around her, she decided to indulge them and talk about what she had done in the secr world . Because she had not left Li Yundong aftering to the secr world, the things she spoke about were all rted to Li Yundong . Especially when she mentioned the experience of smashing the TV, which had made Li Yundong owe a heavy debt, and the time when they had been apanying and depending on each other in that small room, her face showed a happy and sweet smile .

    After hearing her stories, the little fox suddenly understood . "Oh, it turns out that only by getting the leader in debt will he take a fancy to you!"

    The other foxes nodded at the same time, and then their eyes roamed their surroundings . They looked around the room to find something to destroy so that the leader would remember them . After looking left and right, they finally settled on the TV, and were all ready to move .

    Su Chan was frightened and hurriedly stood in front of the TV like she was an old hen protecting her chick and said, "Hey, what do you want to do?"

    The little foxes said jealously, "You caused trouble and it made the leader remember you . Why can¡¯t we do something to make him remember us?"

    Su Chan was so anxious that her forehead started sweating . She said loudly, "It¡¯s very hard for Yundong to make money . Shouldn¡¯t we help him lighten the burden? Causing trouble at this time will only make him angry and hate you!"

    Zhou Qin chuckled inwardly when she saw her reaction . However, she knew that she wasn¡¯t a member of Fox Zen School, so she didn¡¯t say anything and just stood by and watched them .

    Su Chan¡¯s words made the foxes hesitate again . Cao Yi also scolded, "You b*stard, what do you think you¡¯re doing? Aren¡¯t you afraid that the leader will drive you back?"

    It had not been easy for these little foxes to go down the mountain . After seeing such a colorful world, how could they be willing to go back? They shook their heads and gave up on the idea .

    Su Chan patted her chest with lingering fear . "These guys almost tore down this home! These scamps are so naughty, I have to help Yundong keep an eye on them!"

    At this moment, Li Yundong came out of the kitchen with a te of dishes . It was a te of shiny golden braised pork balls swimming in brown sauce . He shouted, "Girls, It¡¯s time to eat!"

    He was actually quite good at cooking, and the food he made always tasted as good as it looked . With the help of Zi Yuan¡¯s, another ¡¯professional chef¡¯, thepleted dishes they made could not be called ordinary .

    As soon as the dishes appeared, all of the Fox Zen School members¡¯ eyes were glued to them .

    As the elder, Cao Yi could still maintain the basic decorum . She just thought to herself, "How can the leader so good at cooking? The food is really delicious . It seems that we will be well fed in the future . "

    However, the little foxes almost could not show such self-restraint . They watched Li Yundong put the dishes on the table and audibly swallowed their saliva . At first, they just managed to hold on, and when Li Yundong headed into the kitchen, they suddenly shouted and rushed over to the table like thieves . They didn¡¯t even use chopsticks but reached out to grab the food directly!

    Su Chan was stunned and took a long time to react . She stomped her feet and said angrily, "B*stards, looting food is my move!" After that, she also rushed over and joined the fray .

 Chapter 330

    Chapter 330

    <h4>Eating Is Like Fighting a War!</h4>

    When Li Yundong brought out another te of dishes, he was shocked to find that there were no braised pork balls in brown sauce left . Only a dish filled with a dreary-looking soup was left lying alone on the table .

    Li Yundong asked with astonishment, "Have we been robbed? What¡¯s going on?"

    As soon as Su Chan saw Li Yundong, she turned around and pouted . Her expression was one of grief and tears were rolling from her eyes .

    Seeing her like this, Li Yundong thought that she had been bullied . He was shocked and asked, "What¡¯s happened?"

    Su Chan sobbed, "Yundong, I didn¡¯t get to taste a single one of them!"

    Hearing this, Li Yundong burst outughing . Affected by his sudden joviality, everyone else in the room alsoughed .

    Su Chan only grew more and more aggrieved . She punched Li Yundong with her little fists, stomped her feet and said childishly, "You are so annoying . Stopughing at me!"

    Li Yundong hurriedly turned back to cover the dish and said with a smile, "Hey, be careful . You¡¯ll have nothing to eat at all if you knock it over . "

    Only then did Su Chan notice that there was a braised eel on the te . She immediately began drooling and said eagerly, "I shall take the first bite this time . "

    Li Yundong looked up and saw that all of the disciples of the Fox Zen School were looking at him with longing in their eyes . They focused on the dish in his hand so eagerly, it was like they hadn¡¯t eaten anything for years . He thought in his heart, "Oh my god, this is a group of hungry demons who have not eaten for thousands of years! I bet this dish will be finished in a sh!"

    Li Yundong hurried back to the kitchen with the te . Seeing him turn and leave, Su Chan shouted, "Hey, where are you going? I¡¯m going to have my first bite!"

    Li Yundongughed and shouted back, "This fish can¡¯t take your one bite all by itself! I¡¯ll bring it back when all the other dishes are ready . Otherwise, I will bring it and you will eat it, and we¡¯ll be left with nothing again!"

    After that, he mmed the kitchen door .

    Su Chan was depressed . She rushed to the door, then pounded on it and shouted, "Yundong, I¡¯m starving to death . Let me eat something first!"

    The door suddenly opened after she had been knocking for a while . Before she even had time to close her mouth, Li Yundong stuffed something past her lips and then mmed the door again .

    Su Chan¡¯s mouth was totally full . She thought it was something delicious that Li Yundong had given her, but when she bit down on it, she found it was extremely hard and her teeth almost shattered .

    Su Chan spat out whatever was in her mouth . It turned out to be a walnut, the shell of which had not been removed!

    Su Chan stomped her feet and said, "Well, well, well! You intend to satisfy me with a hard walnut? No way! Give me something to eat!"

    At this time, Li Yundong opened the door again and asked seriously, "One is not enough? How about two?" Then, he handed over another walnut .

    Su Chan cried secretly in her heart, grabbed the walnuts, and then walked to the living room angrily to sit on the sofa alone and wallow in self pity .

    Li Yundong closed the door with a brightugh . Inside the living room, all the disciples from Fox Zen School were covering their mouths and chuckling too . Seeing Su Chan peeling the walnuts angrily, Cao Yi tried hard to hold back herughter and walked over to Su Chan . She handed her a braised pork ball in brown sauce and said, "Chan¡¯er, this is myst one . You can have it . "

    Su Chan turned her head and saw that the braised pork ball in brown sauce had already been bitten into . How could she finish it? She felt increasingly depressed in her heart and said, "No, and I don¡¯t want to eatter!"

    The disciples of Fox Zen School allughed out loud . Some little foxes whispered, high on the schadenfreude, "Great! It¡¯ll be nice to have one less person to grab the food so we can eat more!"

    Su Chan heard their words and suddenly regretted it . She thought to herself, "I¡¯m really a fool . why did I bet on myself? I will only end up hungry if I don¡¯t eat anything . "

    However, she had just said those words in anger . She was too ashamed and couldn¡¯t take back her words easily . She shifted her moist eyes, wondering about what excuse she could find to eat .

    After about half an hour, the kitchen door suddenly opened . Li Yundong, Zi Yuan, and Ruan Hongling all came out carrying two dishes in their hands each . They went in and out a few more times and eventually brought more than a dozen dishes to fill the table .

    Looking at the banquet before her, Ruan Hongling wascent . She shook her head and said, "Fortunately, I am clever and witty . I already expected this situation and hence bought so many ingredients in advance . Otherwise, humph£¡You guys would be eating nothing but the northwest wind . "

    Zi Yuanughed and said, "Would it kill you to not show off for once?"

    Li Yundong waved his hands and said, "My fellows!"

    The younger disciples of the Fox Zen School grinned and replied, "Yes!"

    Li Yundong hadn¡¯t expected them to be so interesting . He immediately chortled and said, "Get ready to eat!"

    The little foxes had been waiting to hear these words for a long time . All of a sudden, their eyes brightened and they waved their arms and rolled up their sleeves, ready to enjoy the meal .

    Li Yundong was shocked by their behavior and quickly shouted "wait!" upon seeing that they were raring to go .

    His shout could stop the master of any sect from moving, let alone these little foxes .

    Hearing Li Yundong¡¯s shout, the little foxes all stopped and looked at him in confusion . It seemed that they didn¡¯t understand why they were not being allowed to eat when the dishes were all right there on the table .

    Li Yundong said with a straight face, "It¡¯s improper for you to rush up and grab the food in a hurry like a bunch of barbarians . Girls, listen to me carefully . Go and find a chair and sit down properly!"

    The little foxes of the Fox Zen School replied with beaming smiles, "Yes!" Then they ran to the other rooms to find something to sit on . Someone shouted, "Leader, there are no chairs left, what should we do?"

    Li Yundong also shouted, "Then you¡¯ll have to stand!"

    Zhou Qin suddenly said with a teasingugh, "Master, why do I feel like you are the Golden Horn in The Journey to the West? It seems like an old legendary creature is leading a group of lesser legendary creatures?"

    As she spoke, Cao Yi and others of Fox Zen School all looked at her and smiled without saying anything . Li Yundong said with a grin, "No, no, no . I am clearly the king of the Country of Women! The one in the The Journey to the West was a female ruler . I am the male king!"

    Only then did everyone notice that Li Yundong was the only male and the other dozen or so people in the room were all stunning beauties .

    Ruan Hongling scolded gleefully, "You must have stayed a bachelor your whole life! Tut, there are so many beautiful women here and you¡¯re the only man in the room . If God found out about this kind of romantic luck, I¡¯m afraid he¡¯d strick you down with lightning!"

    Zi Yuan shouted, "Hongling, don¡¯t talk nonsense!"

    Li Yundong chuckled and said, "It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay . " He waved his hand and gestured for the crowd to sit . He was the leader of the sect, so he naturally sat at the head of the table . Cao Yi and other elders of Fox Zen School sat to his left . Zi Yuan, as the future leader of Linggong Sect and a friend of Li Yundong, naturally sat to his right on the basis of their personal rtionship and public rtions . Ruan Hongling sat next to Zi Yuan .

    Li Yundong wanted to allocate other people¡¯s seats when suddenly Su Chan walked towards him slowly . He gave a quickugh and said: "Hmmm, Didn¡¯t you say you weren¡¯t going to eat anything?"

    Su Chan had originally hoped that everyone would forget her earlier vow so that she could take the opportunity toe over and eat . When everyone saw hering, they all consistently kept silent, but Li Yundong brought it up, hitting her where it hurt!

    Su Chan stomped her feet and said angrily, "Just now I asked you for something to eat, but you pretended not to hear it . Why did you hear me clearly earlier?"

    Li Yundong deliberately wanted to tease her . He chuckled and said, "I didn¡¯t hear anything just now, but I heard you say earlier that you wouldn¡¯t eat! How can you go back on your words?"

    Su Chan snorted as if she had already prepared for this . She said triumphantly, "Humph, I only said I didn¡¯t want to eat, not that I wouldn¡¯t eat anything at all!"

    As soon as heard what she¡¯d said, everyoneughed . Li Yundong touched Su Chan¡¯s nose and said with a smile: ¡°Slick! Well, sit beside Cao Yi for dinner!¡± Then he turned to talk with Zhou Qin . ¡°Zhou Qin, you can sit next to Su Chan and the others . Just sit down at your leisure . "

    There were more than a dozen people sitting around one table, making it fully upied . Everyone looked eagerly at the dishes and then looked towards Li Yundong, their chopsticks held in mid-air . As soon as Li Yundong gave the order, they would tuck in .

    Li Yundong noticed that Zhou Qin, who was usually the most shrewd and had the strongest willpower, was constantly swallowing . It was obvious that she was hungry . He didn¡¯t make them wait any longer and said with augh, "Well, let¡¯s start!"

    He had barely finished his sentence when the crowd cheered and pounced on the food like tigers pouncing on their prey!

    Li Yundong saw that the delicious dishes and chopsticks were flying in all directions around the table at once . He gasped and thought in his heart: "God, How could this be the beginning of a meal? It¡¯s more like a war! Do these girls think they are in a battle?"

    Li Yundong saw that Su Chan had picked up a bowl of vegetables and meat and began to devour it . He couldn¡¯t help but stand up and tap Su Chan¡¯s bowl with his chopsticks . He shouted, "Hey, you¡¯re a cultivator after all! Eat slowly!"

    Su Chan mumbled something perfunctory but didn¡¯t slow down at all . Li Yundong was speechless . He knocked on her bowl again and shouted, "Hey, if you keep eating so fast, I¡¯ll take away your bowl!"

    Su Chan quickly turned around and covered the bowl with her hands greedily . She mumbled, "Zhou Qin is eating fast as well and she is your disciple . Why don¡¯t you remind her?"

    Li Yundong turned his head and saw that Zhou Qin¡¯s bowl was also filled to the brim, in a manner that was most udylike . Li Yundong stared at her and said, "Don¡¯t you want to maintain appearances?"

    Zhou Qin gave a hollowugh . "Master, I¡¯m just an ordinary person . I can¡¯tpare to your cultivators . I can only be strong when I¡¯ve eaten properly . " Following these words, she stuffed another two pieces of duck meat into her mouth .

    Li Yundong felt depressed and speechless . He turned his head to look at Zi Yuan, ready to ask for help . He said, "Zi Yuan, say something, you . . . "

    Before he could even finish his sentence, he saw that Zi Yuan had just dragged the two vegetable dishes that were in front of her towards herself after she saw everyone fighting over the dishes explosively . Fortunately, the people from the Fox Zen School were a group of starving demons who had never eaten meat before, so they were all focused on snatching the meat dishes . Zi Yuan dragged two vegetarian dishes away and no one gave her so much as a second nce .

    Though they didn¡¯t notice what had happened to Zi Yuan, Li Yundong was stunned by her behavior . He stammered, "Zi Yuan, you didn¡¯t kick up a fuss, did you?"

    Zi Yuan looked at him innocently . "Cultivators also have to eat!" As she spoke, she continued eating . Although her manner of eating was gentle, her eating speed was extremely fast . Li Yundong watched as she and Ruan Hongling quickly hoovered up the two dishes in front of them!

    Li Yundong only saw that this group of starving demons were practically throwing themselves on the table . He even couldn¡¯t see the dishes through the fray . He stared at them directly and took a deep breath, saying, "My God, you¡¯re not eating but fighting! Well, if you¡¯re not polite, then I won¡¯t be polite either! Watch this!"

    With a loud shout, he picked up the chopsticks in his hand and made two crisp sounds .

    Everyone heard his shout and raised their heads momentarily . Just as Li Yundong was about to put his chopsticks down, he saw everyone standing up and revealing the dining table . All the dishes had been swept away . There was nothing left!

    Li Yundong was astonished . "You . . . you polished everything off in less than a minute!?"

    Everyone looked at each other andughed awkwardly . Su Chan stuck out his tongue and carried a soup bowl over, saying, "Yundong, there is still some soup left!"

    Li Yundong took the bowl from her and saw that there was only broth inside, with not so much as a green onion left! He couldn¡¯t help but rant, "F*ck, you really are a group of female bandits! You didn¡¯t even leave anything for me . Did everyone forget the words you said about respecting me? This meal was made by me, but you didn¡¯t even leave anything for me!"

    Cao Yi smiled obsequiously and said, "Leader, I have a braised pork ball in brown sauce here . Do you want it?"

    Li Yundong said angrily, "Bring it here! It¡¯ll be better than nothing!"

    But when he took it to have a look, he thought, "Geez, this pork ball has already been bitten so much . How can I eat it now?"

    Li Yundong was so angry that he couldn¡¯t help but lose his temper . But suddenly, he heard Ruan Hongling say, "By the way, there¡¯s still . . . "

    A spark of hope jolted through Li Yundong . "Is there anything else left?"

    Ruan Hongling said slowly, "There are two pots of rice in the kitchen . You can take the braised pork ball in brown sauce and eat it with two pots of rice!"

    After that, all the women burst outughing .

    Tears streamed down Li Yundong¡¯s face . "My goodness, what kind of a paradise is this? This is more like some kind of hell!"

 Chapter 331

    Chapter 331

    <h4>I¡¯m Here for Warmth!</h4>

    As both the Leader and the chef, Li Yundong felt that his life was dark and dready after failing to even eat a bit of his own cooking . . .

    Li Yundong, who was feeling very gloomy, ate a bowl of dried rice and began to allocate amodation to all of the disciples .

    After a brief discussion, Zi Yuan took the initiative to say, "Why don¡¯t I stay in the living room together with the disciples of Fox Zen School? You can sleep in my room while Ruan Hongling can sleep in her own room . The others will do as usual . What do you think?"

    Li Yundong thought for a moment, hesitating . Unexpectedly, when Su Chan heard that Li Yundong could sleep alone in a room, she immediately beamed with joy and said, "Okay, okay, that¡¯ll work!"

    Li Yundong shot her a strange nce . Cao Yi and the others beside him also agreed and said, "That¡¯d be perfect . "

    Li Yundong thought for a while . Zi Yuan was a woman and there were only women in Fox Zen School . It would only be proper for these girls to live together . Li Yundong nodded in agreement, but he nced at Zi Yuan as he did so . They looked at each other and nodded almost imperceptibly .

    At night, when everyone was asleep, Li Yundong began practicing with his Yin Spirit, sending it out of his body . As soon as he left the room, he saw that Zi Yuan was already waiting for him on the balcony, standing there like a fairy .

    Li Yundong still looked like a young man when he was using his Yin Spirit out of his body . He smiled at Zi Yuan and said, "How long have you been waiting?"

    Zi Yuan smiled and replied, "Not too long . I was just out of my body with Yang Spirit . " She looked Li Yundong up and down and said with a slight sigh, "Last time your Yin Spirit was out of your body, you looked like a young man . You look the same now too . You haven¡¯t made any progress in your cultivation . "

    Li Yundong also heaved a sigh . "Yeah, I used to only need to take care of my little girl . Looking after two people was easy enough, but now a dozen of people are waiting to be fed . The burden on my shoulders is heavy . I must find a way to make money first in order to have time to concentrate on my cultivation . "

    Seeing his worried expression, Zi Yuan tried to console him in turn . "Don¡¯t worry, there¡¯s always a way through these kinds of problems . Everything will be fine . "

    Li Yundong was born optimistic . He chuckled and said, "I was just sighing casually . Let¡¯s go . We¡¯ll set off now . "

    Zi Yuan nodded . They swiftly turned into green lights and flew away .

    After flying to the top of mountain where they had buried the two big golden snakes, Li Yundong descended and took a look . He saw that the previously t ground had been dug up and the two snake bodies inside had disappeared .

    Li Yundong eximed seriously, "I knew it!"

    Zi Yuan frowned and said, "Actually, I still haven¡¯t figured out why you suddenly wanted to see if these golden snakes were still here?"

    Li Yundong said with a cold face, "I have always felt that someone is secretly spying on Fox Zen School, especially after Zhangsun Hong¡¯s death . What¡¯s more, I found a figure in the secret room peeping at the Heavenly Jindan Technique, which only made me more sure that there¡¯s someone watching us . "

    Zi Yuan suddenly understood . "I see . That¡¯s why you came here to see whether the two golden snakes were still here . If they were here, it would mean that everything might just be a coincidence . As they¡¯re not, it means that someone has been watching you from the beginning . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "Yes, exactly! It¡¯s very likely that this person has been following us all this time and saw where we buried the golden snakes . He waited until we were gone and then came back to take out the bodies . "

    Zi Yuan asked, "Could it be Zheng Yuan?"

    Li Yundong thought for a moment before replying, "It could be that he came back, but the probability is low . This mountain is so big, how could he know where we buried the golden snakes? This person who has been following us can¡¯t be found by us, which indicates his cultivation quotient is higher than ours! I feel a sense of restlessness knowing that there¡¯s such a person staring at me behind my back . "

    Zi Yuan saidfortingly, "Don¡¯t worry about it too much . Maybe a viger identally dug them up . "

    Li Yundong chuckled and said, "You know that that¡¯s impossible . This kind of mountain is so sparsely popted that no onees here ordinarily . The top of the mountain is even more rugged . Only cultivators like us who can fly can get here . How could some ordinary person climb it? What¡¯s more, we buried them so deep . Unless they saw us bury them here with their own eyes, they wouldn¡¯t have found it . "

    Zi Yuan sighed and said, "Then who could it be? Things are really gettingplicated!"

    Li Yundong pondered and said, "In my opinion, the reason that this person dug up these two big golden snakes was either to use the golden snake¡¯s leather scales or poisonous fangs as a powerful magical weapon, or to use their Neidan and flesh to improve their skills . When the timees, we¡¯ll see which powerful magical weapon above worldly considerations is rted to the snakes in the cultivation world, and then we can guess who is behind this . As long as we find this person, we can find the mysterious person that¡¯s been watching Fox Zen School!"

    Zi Yuan nodded and said, "There is another possibility . "

    Li Yundong asked curiously, "Huh?"

    Zi Yuan said, "They might want the Neidan of these two golden snakes to refine Jindan! I have said before that the golden snake¡¯s Neidan is a necessary medicinal material for refining the Diyuan Jindan . Without this medicine, it is impossible for one to refine the Diyuan Jindan . "

    Li Yundong understood and said, "Then the mysterious man might be the one who refined the three Elixirs of life at that time . "

    Zi Yuan nodded and said, "It¡¯s very likely! Moreover, this big golden snake even said that the Medicine King Tripod is about to be raised above worldly considerations . Coupled with the fact that the bodies of these two golden snakes have been stolen, I feel that there is a great storm brewing in the cultivation world . It seems that this matter will involve Fox Zen School and Linggong Sect . "

    Li Yundong nodded seriously . After a while, he sighed and said, "True . I feel the same as you . It seems that someone is setting up a conspiracy against Fox Zen School . "

    Zi Yuan gave a slight smile . "It doesn¡¯t matter . There will be a day when the truthes to light . If there is really someone scheming against the Fox Zen School, you can use unchanging tactics to deal with the ever-changing situations and wait for the enemy to reveal themself instead . "

    Li Yundong said, "You¡¯re right . First, we should solve our financial problems, and then we can find a way to strengthen Fox Zen School . As long as we grow stronger, they can¡¯t do anything to us . "

    Zi Yuan said enthusiastically, "Exactly!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Then let¡¯s go back . "

    They did not stay for long and flew back after only a couple of hours .

    At this very moment, Su Chan was secretly observing Zhou Qin in her room, trying to see if she was asleep . After watching for a long time and listening to Zhou Qin¡¯s light breathing, she was sure that Zhou Qin had fallen asleep . She slipped out of bed softly and opened the door, intending to sneak into Li Yundong¡¯s room .

    But when she reached the living room, she saw Zi Yuan sitting in meditation in the dining room and the young disciples of the Fox Zen School lying on the carpet in a big mess . Just as Su Chan was about to walk by them carefully, all of a sudden, the girls opened their eyes and looked directly at her one by one .

    Su Chan felt embarrassed . It was as if she had been caught red-handed like a thief . With cold sweat running down her back, she smiled awkwardly . She raised her head and said with a yawn, "Ah, the moon is so nice today . I¡¯ll go out to bask in the moonlight . Umm, yeah, bask . "

    "Oh," the little foxes said in unison . They then said in one voice, "We are going to bask in the moonlight too!"

    Su Chan muttered in her heart, "These girls dare to joke with me! It turns out they were just waiting here to tease me!"

    She put her hands on her hips, tightened her throat, and red at them as she said, "Girls, I¡¯m going to find my honey . If anyone has any opinion, they can say it right out!"

    The little foxes gasped in unison, then giggled and closed their eyes .

    Su Chan saw that they¡¯d settled down, so she slipped away as fast as she could .

    She knew where Ruan Hongling¡¯s room was, so she hopped over to the balcony of her house, opened the door and slipped in quietly .

    She was proficient in the art of invisibility and hiding herself . Additionally, Ruan Hongling was sitting in meditation, so she didn¡¯t notice when she sneaked in .

    When she got to Li Yundong¡¯s room, Li Yundong¡¯s Yin Spirit had just returned . Su Chan saw a young man rush into Li Yundong¡¯s body with a sh of green light, then Li Yundong woke up .

    She watched cautiously as Li Yundong roused himself after meditation, frowning eyebrows and a worried expression on his face . After a while, he sighed, then turned over and fell back on the bed, ready to sleep .

    She walked over quietly and was about to hop up onto the bed . Unexpectedly, as soon as her body touched the sheets, Li Yundong quickly turned over and said in a low voice, "Who¡¯s there?"

    Su Chan hissed and giggled . "It¡¯s me, my dear . Don¡¯t you recognize your little darling anymore?"

    Li Yundong chortled and said, "Ah, so it¡¯s you . Why are you here?"

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong eagerly and said, "Sister Zhou Qin stole my quilt while she was sleeping . I¡¯m so cold that I¡¯m having toe here for warmth!"

    As she spoke, she thought in her heart, "Sister Zhou Qin, I¡¯m sorry that I¡¯m making you take the me for this! I will definitely make it up to you!"

    Li Yundong snickered and said, "Searching for warmth? But I¡¯m also feeling cold . What should I do?"

    Su Chan didn¡¯t believe what she was hearing . She chuckled and said, "I don¡¯t believe it! My dear master is the warmest . No matter what, I¡¯m going to get under your quilt!" Having said that, she mbered into the bed .

    But as soon as she got in, she found that Li Yundong¡¯s bed was truly cold . Moreover, Li Yundong¡¯s body was even colder . She screamed and tried to climb out, scrambling with her hands and feet together . As she struggled, she shouted, "Why are you so cold? You¡¯re freezing me!"

    Li Yundongughed loudly and was unwilling to let her crawl away . He grabbed her back and said, "Where are you going, hmm? Let¡¯s share our blessings and misfortunes together!"

    Su Chan struggled and said angrily, "It¡¯s too cold! You¡¯re going to freeze me to death!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s Yin Spirit left his body, and most of the Yang Qi in his body curled up in the Dantian of the lower abdomen . The rest of his Yang Qi turned into Yin Spirit and ran out . The Yin Qi left in his body was naturally making him cold . Heughed and said, "Honey, honey, your dear master also feels very cold, won¡¯t you warm him up?"

    Hearing this, Su Chan stopped struggling . She turned her head and looked at Li Yundong pitifully . "Well, I¡¯ll warm you up, but don¡¯t freeze me on purpose!"

    Then she fell into Li Yundong¡¯s arms, opened her mouth to breathe on his chest, and rubbed her hands aganist each other for a while . She rubbed them back and forth on Li Yundong¡¯s arms, trying to warm him . As she rubbed, she looked at Li Yundong and said, "My dear, do you feel any warmer yet?"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t feel warmer, but he was feeling very moved by her behavior . He looked at the girl with affection and fondness, and the look in his eyes became more and more gentle . He immediately took the little girl into his arms and said, "My silly little girl!"

    After that, the grand Yang Qi hidden under the lower abdomen of his dantian was released, and his body became warm as well .

    Su Chan was being held tightly in Li Yundong¡¯s arms . She was afraid that she would be frozen into an ice stick if this carried on, but then she touched Li Yundong and found that Li Yundong¡¯s body was warm . She immediately grinned and said with delight, "My dear, you don¡¯t feel chilly anymore . I¡¯ve warmed you up!"

    Li Yundong looked at the little girl in his arms with a smile and said meaningfully, "Yes, you¡¯ve warmed me up! With you, I can get warm no matter how cold I am!"

    They looked at each other in the dark room and noticed that each other¡¯s eyes were shining brightly in the moonlight . They shed smiles at the same time, full of sweetness and happiness .

 Chapter 332

    Chapter 332

    <h4>Don¡¯t Stop!</h4>

    The two cuddled together, listening to each other¡¯s heartbeat and breathing over each other . After a long while, Li Yundong suddenly smiled and whispered, "My little girl, we haven¡¯t been so intimate for a long time . "

    Su Chan smiled sweetly and said softly, "Yes, and we haven¡¯t kissed each other in a long time either!"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help smiling . "Then let¡¯s have a kiss?"

    Without a second thought, Su Chan inched towards Li Yundong and gave him a hard kiss on the cheek, making a loud, wet sound as she did so . Then, she drew back her head and giggled .

    Li Yundong pretended to be dissatisfied as heined, "No, no! You can¡¯t just kiss my cheek . That is the behavior of a child . You should kiss somewhere else, you know . "

    Su Chan¡¯s petite face turned red, but during the dark night she was not afraid of being seen by Li Yundong . She asked with a giggle, "Then where should I kiss?"

    Li Yundong smiled and pointed to his mouth, "Why, here of course!"

    Su Chan rolled her eyes mischievously and said with a smile, "Then you must close your eyes!"

    Li Yundong pretended to be angry, "Silly, it¡¯s so dark here . Why should I close my eyes? If you don¡¯t kiss me right now, I will be forced to kiss you hard . Hum, it¡¯d be a serious felony to make me take the initiative to kiss you!"

    Su Chan let out a cry and asked timidly, "What will the punishment be?"

    Li Yundongughed . "I¡¯ll pull down your pants and spank you!"

    Su Chan twisted her body restlessly and said with coquettishly, "No, you are so bad! You will break my butt!"

    Li Yundong smiled evilly and ran his hand down Su Chan¡¯s body . "Let me touch it . I really want to know how I could break it . "

    Su Chan giggled and grabbed his hand . "Okay, okay . I will kiss you!" With that, she pursed her lips and kissed Li Yundong¡¯s mouth like she was a chick pecking at rice .

    Li Yundong wouldn¡¯t allow her to get away so easily . He grabbed her and kissed her hard again and again .

    At first, Su Chan still had the energy to giggle, but as Li Yundong¡¯s tongue pried open her teeth, her smooth, beautiful body became like a stream of warm water, softly melting into Li Yundong¡¯s arms . This little girl was kissed by Li Yundong again and again and she groaned as her breathing became heavier .

    When their lips parted, the little girl wiped her wet mouth and giggled . "My mouth has gone numb! You are so naughty!"

    Li Yundongughed, "Little girl, in the past, when I asked you to give your virginity to me, you said that I hadn¡¯t arrived at the Zhuji phase yet, so it might hurt me . Hah! Now I have achieved the Zhuji phase and be your leader . You¡¯ve got to give it to me, don¡¯t you?"

    As he spoke, he reached his hands out to touch the girl¡¯s soft chest .

    The little girlughed despite herself . She quickly covered her chest with her hands and shook her head like a rattle-drum, growing panicked . "You want to do it right here? No, no!"

    Li Yundong felt differently . He grabbed the girl¡¯s breasts and said with a devilish grin, "Don¡¯t you want me? Are you sure you want me to stop?"

    Su Chan struggled and said with a smile, "You¡¯re truly evil!"

    Li Yundong held the little girl in his arms, lightly nibbled her ears, and handled her with a smile . "Haven¡¯t you heard this joke? Well, let me tell you . There was a beautiful girl who was often molested by others on a bus . Later, she told her mother what was going on . Her mother told her that when someone touched her upper body next time, she should shout ¡¯don¡¯t!¡¯, and when someone touched her lower body, she should shout ¡¯stop!¡¯ When the girl heard this, she vowed to remember it . The next time she got on the bus, someone touched both her upper body and lower body at the same time, so the girl shouted, ¡¯Don¡¯t stop!¡¯"

    Li Yundong chuckled and touched the girl¡¯s most secret and precious ce with his other hand . He asked with augh, "Are you also going to shout don¡¯t stop?"

    Hearing this, Su Chan pressed her chin tightly against her chest, lowered her head, and giggled . She said with a smile, "It¡¯s you who said ¡¯don¡¯t stop¡¯, not me!"

    Li Yundong burst outughing . "Yes, madam, I will not stop!"

    Only then did Su Chan realize that she had said something wrong . She hit her first against Li Yundong¡¯s chest and scolded him with a smile, "You¡¯re so bad! You only know how to take advantage of me! No, You can¡¯t do this here!"

    Li Yundong begged with a sad voice, "My little girl, I have been gone for a long time . Don¡¯t you feel guilty about treating me like this?"

    Su Chan leaned against Li Yundong and said imploringly, "Honey, of course I¡¯m yours, but I really don¡¯t want to do it here . This is Zhenren Zi Yuan¡¯s room . I . . . I feel so embarrassed!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s face suddenly became serious . He pretended to be angry as he said, "Then why did youe here to seduce me!"

    Su Chan giggled . "I didn¡¯t! I¡¯m just here to keep warm!"

    Li Yundong said with a straight face, "You are warming up now, but what if no one puts out the fire in my body? What should I do?"

    Su Chan was so shy that she covered her face with her hands and giggled . "Well what do you want me to do? I just don¡¯t want to do that kind of thing here! I¡¯m begging you, darling . I¡¯ll give you anything you want . "

    Li Yundong said with a dejected expression, "Those are just words . You won¡¯t give me what I want most . Huh, you¡¯re just fooling me!"

    Su Chan buried her head in Li Yundong¡¯s arms and said coquettishly, "Well, honey, be good! You¡¯re in a cultivation-raising phase . You can¡¯t break the Yuanyand¡¯s primordial Yang body for me . It¡¯s really a pity!"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but be shocked . "Last time you said that you would wait until I reached the Zhuji phase realm, and now you¡¯re talking about this . Could it be that I can only look but not touch you for the rest of my life?"

    Su Chan ran her fingers along Li Yundong¡¯s cheek and said with a smile, "Shame on you . You¡¯re the leader of a sect, but all you think about is dirty things . Shame on you!"

    Li Yundong said seriously, "Nonsense, how can I be serious amongst a group of fox spirits?" He continued with a smile, "What¡¯s more, the sages also said that lust and the desire for sex are just parts of human nature! It¡¯s a romantic thing for men and women to enjoy . What is there to be ashamed of?"

    Su Chan giggled and said in a muffled voice, "Sounds reasonable, but I don¡¯t want to do it and I won¡¯t change my mind . This is the room of Zi Yuan, and Ruan Hongling is still nextdoor . I don¡¯t want to to do it here! Besides, now you¡¯re so powerful, I can¡¯t take advantage of your power to nourish my Yin . But what if we do it and you take away my Yin? Then I¡¯ll be even weaker . "

    Li Yundong let out a long sigh and said, "After all this talk, you¡¯re still giving me a ¡¯no¡¯ . God, did you deliberately send such a spirit to punish me? Zhou Qin said that I must have sacrifice my previous lives¡¯ happiness to cultivate a romance like this in this life, but I think that I must have been a yboy in my previous lives, so this time God has sent a spirit like you to torture me!"

    Su Chan giggled when she heard that . She said, "Honey, Sexual Yoga is all about you plucking my power or me plucking yours . It¡¯s very difficult for two people to pluck each other¡¯s and then improve their skills together, unless . . . "

    Li Yundong quickly asked, "Unless what?"

    Su Chan rolled her eyes and said with a smile, "Unless we have simr powers, you can take the Yin Qi in my body for your own use, and I can take the Yang Qi in your body for my own use . This would be true Sexual Yoga . The way of bnce is the best . Otherwise, one side¡¯s weakness can lead to death . You should know that when the essence realm is opened, it will be the weakest moment for one person . If one is not careful, they will get possessed and be doomed eternally .

    Li Yundong said with a sad face, "D*mn, is Sexual Yoga really that dangerous? Then when will your cultivation catch up with mine?"

    Su Chan giggled . "That depends on how well you teach me!"

    Li Yundong said bitterly, "How disturbing . . . " As he said this, he suddenly had an idea and added seriously, "Well, I¡¯ll teach you a peerless kung fu move now!"

    Su Chan faintly felt that Li Yundong¡¯s words did not bode well, but she still pursed her lips and asked with a smile, "What kind of peerless kung fu?"

    Li Yundong grabbed the little girl¡¯s hand and moved it down to his crotch . He then said with a righteous face, "The 64th form of masturbating!"

    Su Chan withdrew her hand suddenly and blushed . Sheughed so hard that she fell into Li Yundong¡¯s arms . Breathless and still giggling, she said, "You¡¯re so naughty . What kind of a magic skill is that?!"

    Li Yundong said with a serious face, "Don¡¯t look down on this kind of magic . This is a peerless magic skill for dealing with emergency situations . If you don¡¯t learn this magic skill, I¡¯m afraid that you won¡¯t even be able to protect your virginity today!"

    Seeing that Li Yundong was trying to frighten her with a straight face, Su Chan also pretended to be timid . She carefully reached out her hand and tentatively said, "In that case, I¡¯ll have a try!"

    Li Yundong saw that he had spent a lot of time talking and was finally getting somewhere with the girl . He burst outughing and said, "Well, young people like you should be open to trying new things! As the saying goes, practice leads to true knowledge . . . "

    Before he could finish his words, he suddenly took a deep breath . "Ah, stop! Do you think that you¡¯re pulling up turnips!?"

    Su Chan replied in a innocent voice, "Oh . . . then how should I do it? I don¡¯t know . You teach me!"

    Li Yundong sighed sadly . He raised his right hand and said to Su Chan, "Look, this is your Qianbei . The 64th form of masturbation has already reached the ninth level . Quick,e and say hello to your Qianbei!"

    Su Chan giggled and touched Li Yundong¡¯s right palm, then said deliberately, "Ah, I pay my respects to you, Qianbei . Ah, you have so many calluses on your face!"

    Li Yundong was furious . "You little brat, how can there be calluses! How can there be any calluses on a person¡¯s face!"

    Su Chanughed so hard that she almost couldn¡¯t breathe . She responded with a smile, "Well, there actually aren¡¯t any calluses . It¡¯s so fair and clear!"

    Li Yundong snorted and raised his right hand, acting like some sort of god . "That¡¯s more like it . I can¡¯t believe that you didn¡¯t respect a wise old man! Hurry up and kowtow to the pioneer three times!"

    Su Chan was born to be good-humored, and she had happened to meet Li Yundong, who was also a jokester . Sheughed so hard that her eyes curved into crescent moons . She then sat up seriously and kowtowed three times to Li Yundong¡¯s right hand .

    After Su Chan had kowtowed, she looked at Li Yundong with blinking, orb-like eyes and said, "That¡¯s it!"

    Li Yundong pretended to be displeased . "There was no sound at all . You¡¯ve not been pious enough!"

    Su Chan said with a look of grievance, "We¡¯re on the bed . How can I make noise by kowtowing?"

    Li Yundong snorted and turned his head away . "Don¡¯t ask me!"

    Su Chan thought for a while, then giggled suddenly and kowtowed again . Every time she kowtowed, she would make a tapping sound with her own mouth . Li Yundong almostughed when he heard that . He red at her and said, "Providing the sound yourself? Do you think you¡¯re dubbing for a television series?"

    Su Chan threw herself into Li Yundong¡¯s arms and acted coquettishly . "Come on, my dear, I¡¯ve already acknowledged you as my master . Don¡¯t make things difficult for me!" Then her eyes suddenly fell on Li Yundong¡¯s left hand . She couldn¡¯t help but ask, "By the way, your right hand has cultivated the 64th form of masturbating to the ninth level, but what about your left hand?"

    Li Yundong was stunned, but he quickly said, "My left hand is your master¡¯s wife, and she has been busy practicing another set of magic skills!"

    Su Chan grinned and asked, "And what kind of magic skill might that be?"

    Li Yundong snorted and replied, "Your master¡¯s wife has been cultivating the irresistible caress! If you don¡¯t believe me, why don¡¯t you let her try it out on you?" After saying that, he wiggled the fingers of his left hand, full of malicious intent . He looked at Su Chan¡¯s alluring body and grinned wickedly .

    Su Chan hurriedly hugged Li Yundong¡¯s right hand and said, "I¡¯ll practice the 64th Form of masturbating . "

    Li Yundong smiled as if his trick had seeded . He said with a smile, "Then hurry up and cultivate it now!"

    Su Chan replied in a weak voice, "Fine, but don¡¯t me me if I can¡¯t do it right!" She stretched out her hand to Li Yundong .

    Li Yundong closed his eyes, his expression one of ecstacy . After a while, he opened his eyes again and looked at Su Chan helplessly . "Are you ying a lute or something? Could you use a little more strength?"

    "Oh . . . "

    "Hey, be gentle, are you kneading dough?"

    "Oh . . . "

    "Hey, do you think you¡¯re chopping firewood?"

    "Oh . . . "

    After a long time, Su Chan finally seemed to get the hang of it and Li Yundong began to feelfortable . He took a deep breath and whispered, "Oh baby, don¡¯t stop . "

    Su Chan raised her head and blinked at Li Yundong . This little girl¡¯s face looked particrly charming under the moonlight . Her eyes were as soft as silk, and the corners of her eyes were curving up, making her look indescribably attractive .

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but hold the girl and kiss her passionately . Their mouths seemed to meld and be one . When Li Yundong was ready toe, they suddenly heard a sneer . "Humph!"

    The thunderous voice made Li Yundong and Su Chan jump up in shock, and the lust in them faded away at once .

 Chapter 333

    Chapter 333

    <h4>Dance of Demons!</h4>

    While Li Yundong and Su Chan were busy flirting with each other, a cold snort reminded them that Ruan Hongling was right next to them .

    Su Chan stiffened in Li Yundong¡¯s arms like a frightened deer . After a long while, she recovered from the shock and stuck out her tongue at Li Yundong, saying yfully, "This is all your fault! I feel so embarrassed now!"

    Li Yundong chuckled and muttered to Su Chan, "You were being too noisy . "

    Su Chan gently punched Li Yundong in the chest and said teasingly, "You¡¯re so naughty . It¡¯s you who was shouting too loudly . "

    Li Yundong felt aggrieved andined loudly, "It was your caressing that made me noisy, okay?"

    Su Chan retorted with shame and vexation, "You were asking for it!"

    She angrily burrowed into Li Yundong¡¯s arms, grabbing and biting at him . "Stop using me! Or I¡¯ll never y with you again . "

    Li Yundong burst outughing and covered Su Chan¡¯s mouth . "Hush, keep your voice down, or we¡¯ll get scolded . "

    Only then did Su Chan stop to make her grand retort . She conducted herself like a general who had won the battle and was returning to his court . "Humph, I¡¯ll let you off! By the way, you¡¯d better practice the 64th form of masturbation well by yourself!" She smiled cunningly and said with a chuckle, "I¡¯d better not practice it with you, or you¡¯ll me me for the noise . "

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart swelled with gloom . He thought to himself, "Why does someone have to ruin everything every time? Will I have to get my fortune told in advance next time? This is simply too much!"

    Li Yundong fell back on the bed with a long sigh . Su Chan got up with a smile and covered Li Yundong¡¯s body with a quilt . She curled her lips up into a charming arc and said, "Yundong, I¡¯m going back now!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s expression was one of sadness . "What? You want to just walk away now? How could you leave me alone? Are you going to abandon me?"

    Su Chan giggled, "I just sneaked out of the house, so now I must go back!" After that, she leaned down to kiss Li Yundong¡¯s forehead and said softly, "Honey, I will treat you well for the rest of my life . I will never abandon you!"

    Li Yundong quivered . "You have to keep your promise!"

    Li Yundong had always maintained amanding presence . This was the first time Su Chan had seen him acting like this . She immediately burst outughing and felt very happy because she knew that he truly cared for her . Her heart was almost softened by joy and it made her want to stay .

    But after a moment¡¯s thought, she chose to leave anyway . She walked to the door and said in a low voice, "Honey, I¡¯m leaving now . I will miss you!"

    Li Yundong blinked at her and said, "Oh, I will miss you too . "

    Su Chan opened the door and blew a kiss to Li Yundong, her eyes full of charm . She giggled, then turned around and walked away, leaving nothing to Li Yundong but her alluring fragrance and sweet voice drifting through the house .

    Li Yundong stared at the departing figure of Su Chan . After a long time, he chuckled, then waved his hand and closed the door . He rested his head on his arms and looked at the ceiling, as if there was a twinkle and the smile of his little lover on it . He couldn¡¯t help showing a gentle smile .

    When he came back from using his Yin Spirit, he felt that the Fox Zen School was in a pretty bad and dangerous ce right now . However, he also felt that the world was truly beautiful . It seemed that as long as Su Chan was by his side, all kinds of intrigues and mysterious enemies were not even worth bothering about . Even if the world came to an end, Li Yundong would not feel flustered at all .

    "What¡¯s there to be afraid of? If worsees to worst, we¡¯ll roll with the punches! If anyone wants to hurt the Fox Zen School, I¡¯ll destroy their sects! Hmph . . . However, I¡¯d better hurry up and find a ce for these gorgeous beauties to live . Otherwise, I¡¯ll copse cooking so much food for them every day . "

    Li Yundong thought about this and slowly fell asleep, awakening at the first light of the next day .

    Li Yundong got up, opened the door, and found Ruan Hongling practicing Wuqinxi on the balcony . She was a rare beauty with a graceful figure . At this time, she was wearing a close-fitting tracksuit, making her look even more attractive .

    Ruan Hongling heard him moving and turned back to see Li Yundong . She immediately snorted and said sarcastically, "Did you sleep wellst night, Zhenren Li?"

    Li Yundong felt very embarrassed as he murmured, "Honestly, you just had to mention that, didn¡¯t you?"

    He then lifted his head and said with a hollow smile . "What a nice day!"

    Ruan Hongling snorted . "If sister Zi Yuan finds out that you were doing that in her bed . . . "

    Fear gripped Li Yundong and he hurriedly bowed to her . He smiled apologetically and said, "Zhenren Hongling, I believe that you are a righteous girl and you will never betray me . Isn¡¯t that right?"

    This was the first time Ruan Hongling had gained the upper hand when quarrelling with Li Yundong, and it was also very surprising for her to meet Li Yundong, who was taking the initiative to show weakness . She felt proud and couldn¡¯t help but lift the corners of her mouth, but soon she put on a straight face and raised her chin high . "Hum, that depends on me!"

    Li Yundong sighed and said seriously, "Since you didn¡¯t want to let me off, I guess I¡¯ll have to tell the others that Ruan Hongling Zhenren, a disciple of the Linggong Sect of Zhengyi School, eavesdropped from the corner of the wallst night . If such a scandal spreads, you can imagine the huge sensation that will be brought about . "

    Ruan Hongling was furious and stamped her feet, shouting with anger, "I didn¡¯t listen at the corner of the wall all night, I just heard it for a short while, okay?"

    Li Yundongughed and pped his hands . "So, you admit that you did it? Haha!"

    Ruan Hongling was so mad that she yelled, "How dare you nder me like this! It¡¯s you guys who were so noisy that I couldn¡¯t help but hear it!"

    Li Yundong put his palms together, looking like an enlightened monk, and solemnly said, "Amitabha . The external rtionship is Zen, and the internal chaos is settled . The external appearance is a form of chaos, the inner heart is a form of chaos, and the external is a form of separation, a form of self-consciousness, which is only for the view of the world . The thought of the realm is chaos . If one is calm in the face of the various realms, that is Zhen Ding . Ruan Hongling Zhenren, your cultivation quotient is not high enough!"

    Hearing Li Yundong put the me on her and say that she didn¡¯t have enough concentration, she was so angry that she rolled up her sleeves and said loudly, "You are using the ¡¯Surangama Sutra¡¯ to criticize me? And bullying our Taoist people who haven¡¯t read the Buddhist Scriptures? Let me tell you, I read all of the ssics of Buddhism and Taoism at the age of fifteen! Are you going to have a debate with me today?"

    Li Yundongughed loudly . Just as he was about to speak, the Immortal figure of Zi Yuan suddenly shed and appeared on the balcony . She looked at them in confusion and asked, "Who wants to have a debate? Why are you arguing so early in the morning?"

    The Buddhists liked to y zen and debate the contents of the Buddhist doctrine with others, which was called Biannan on Buddhism . When Zi Yuan asked, Li Yundong immediately smiled and said, "I¡¯m just ying a joke on Hongling . " As he said that, he winked at Ruan Hongling and said, "Isn¡¯t that right, Hongling?"

    Ruan Hongling was so angry that she open her mouth, but just as she was about to retort, she suddenly thought of something . "Oh, no, this guy is incredibly shameless . When the matter gets out, he won¡¯t even be influenced at all . However, my reputation will be ruined by him . No, I can¡¯t allow myself to be a dog in the manger . "

    Ruan Hongling red at Li Yundong angrily, then snorted and turned her face away .

    Zi Yuan looked at her in confusion, then turned back to Li Yundong and curiously asked, "What¡¯s wrong with you guys? Why are you arguing so early in the morning?"

    Li Yundong quickly changed the topic instead of answering her . "By the way, have those little foxes woken up?"

    "They woke up before dawn . Everyone knows that you¡¯re going to take them out to see the house tomorrow, so they¡¯re all waiting for you," Zi Yuan said, smiling .

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but show a bitter smile, "I didn¡¯t say that I would take them all out to look for the house . If so many fox spirits go out, it will cause chaos in the human world . "

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "You¡¯ve made your bed, now you must lie in it . Other than the Mystical Silver Foxes, all the Sect Leaders of the Fox Zen School firmly controlled their own sects . They were all afraid that these fox spirits would run about and cause chaos in the human world . You, on the contrary, directly set all of them free, releasing them from the mountain!"

    Li Yundong looked at Zi Yuan with a strange expression . "I think that you¡¯re mocking me? Am I right?"

    Zi Yuan pursed her lips and burst intoughter . "How would you know? Is it so obvious? However, I really want to know one thing . Zhenren Li, how will you deal with this group of fox spirits?"

    As soon as she finished her words, they heard the screams of the little foxes waiting outside: "Leader, get up! Leader, get up!"

    These fox spirits all had crisp and tender voices . Their shouts were like a flock of birds singing together, and Li Yundong suddenly felt a headacheing on . Ruan Hongling gloated and said mockingly, "Li Yundong, ha, Li Yundong, you deserve it!"

    This time, it was Li Yundong¡¯s turn to re at her . He turned around and walked out to the balcony . Before people in themunity could stretch out their heads to see what was going on, he quickly jumped to the balcony . As soon as hended, he saw the little foxes kneeling neatly on the carpet, ready to call him one by one . But when they saw that he hade back, they immediately closed their mouths and looked at him obediently .

    Li Yundong pretended to be angry and said, "Why have you stopped shouting? Why don¡¯t you shout even more loudly? Go on, keep hollering!"

    These foxes looked at each other and stuck out their cute red tongues . Then, they all turned their heads and looked behind themselves . Li Yundong also looked back and saw a person hiding behind the foxes, standing with her head stuck out, looking around and rolling her eyes . When the person saw Li Yundong looking over, she found that she couldn¡¯t hide anymore . Then, she grinned and stepped out . Li Yundong looked back and found that the person was very attractive . Apparently, it was Su Chan .

    "Are you the ringleader?" Li Yundong asked angrily .

    Seeing that Li Yundong was enraged, Su Chan hurriedly walked over with her head down and pretended to be sincere . She said pitifully, "Leader, I, I won¡¯t dare to do it again . " Then, she took advantage of the fact that she had her back to the group of foxes and mouthed quietly, "I saw Zi Yuan go there . I was afraid that she would find something out, so I called you over quickly . "

    Li Yundong was suddenly enlightened . "This girl is really a fox spirit . She¡¯s so cunning! But the charade has to go on, otherwise how will I be able to lead this team in the future?"

    Li Yundong deliberately put on a straight face and said, "Forget it . Your punishment is to do theundry for me for a month!"

    Hearing this, Su Chan pulled a sad, surprised face . "Ah?"

    But when the other foxes heard this, they all couldn¡¯t help thinking, "What kind of punishment is this? This is love!"

    They couldn¡¯t bear it anymore . They got up one after another and began shouting to Li Yundong, "Please punish us too, Leader!"

    "Leader, I¡¯ll help you wash your pants!"

    "Leader, let me wash your socks!"

    There was also a good-looking little fox who said in a weak voice, "Leader, let me wash your underwear for you . . . "

    Someone who had been toote to speak and could see that everything of Li Yundong¡¯s had already been imed for cleaning by others spoke up tentatively to ask, "Leader, shall I bathe you?"

    These little foxes were all extremely beautiful and their voices were so gentle that even an iron man would be soft in the face of them . Li Yundong was speechless . He thought to himself, "God! Although I have a strong will, I can¡¯t resist the temptation of so many fox spirits!"

    Li Yundong reproached him with a righteous look, "Stop! How dare you make fun of the head of the sect early in the morning!"

    To one side, Cao Yi also said scoldingly, "Nonsense! Is this the first time you guys are seeing a man? Are you all so horny?"

    Li Yundong was just about to respond to her loudly when suddenly he felt that there was something wrong with this sentence . "Horny? What does that mean? Am I that unattractive? Cao Yi seems to be a very calm person in daily life, how can she sometimes be so stupid?"

    Li Yundong felt depressed in his heart . Fortunately, Cao Yi¡¯s next words were sensible . "Go and do your own things . Let your leader wash up! We will be ready to go outter!"

    Li Yundong thought in his heart, "I didn¡¯t say that I would take them out with me . Could it be that Su Chan told them?"

    He suddenly cast a nce at Su Chan . Sure enough, she had a guilty look on her face . When she noticed him looking at her, she quickly averted her eyes .

    Li Yundong snorted and went to the bathroom . Su Chan was smart enough to rush ahead of him and say loudly, "Leader, allow me to squeeze the toothpaste for you!"

    The rest of the foxes sighed one after another . "Oh my! I missed such a good chance to suck up to Leader . Senior sister Su Chan is really the one who is closest to him now . I¡¯m so jealous!"

    Li Yundong went into the bathroom . Seeing Su Chan smiling and handing over the toothbrush that had had toothpaste squeezed onto it, Li Yundong red at her and said, "Silly girl, why did you ask them to go out with me? Don¡¯t you think this is all a big mess?"

    Su Chan grinned cheekily and said, "You are so stupid . We¡¯re finding a house for them! Not for you! If you don¡¯t let them go, what will you do if they are unsatisfied and make trouble for you? Wouldn¡¯t it bother you?"

    Li Yundongughed and said usingly, "You are so smart! I guess it was you that wanted to go by yourself, but you¡¯re afraid that others will disagree with it, so you faked my order and encouraged them to go together!"

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes were wide open, and her face was full of amazement . "Leader, your have seen right through me! I really can¡¯t hide anything from you! You¡¯re too brilliant!"

    Li Yundong red at her and said, "Silly girl, don¡¯t do this again!" After that, he suddenly turned to look more closely at her and said, "Hey, do you mind clearing out of here? How can I take a dump if you¡¯re right there?"

    Su Chan covered her face with her hands and squealed with a smile, "Oh God, I don¡¯t want to see it . It¡¯s so hairy!"

    Li Yundongughed loudly . When he had finished his ablutions and walked into the living room, he suddenly found that not only were all of the people of the Fox Zen School dressed neatly waiting for him, but also Zhou Qin and Su Chan were dressed in gorgeous clothes as if they werepeting in fashion and beauty . Even Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling were standing in the living room and looking at him .

    Li Yundong was stunned and stuttered, "What . . . what are you all doing now?"

    Su Chan answered with a smile, "Leader, we¡¯re all waiting for you!"

    "Zi Yuan, you¡¯re going too?" Li Yundong asked in surprise .

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly, nodding as she said, "If you have time today, why don¡¯t we go and take a look at the shop together? Besides, you can¡¯t let all the disciples of the Fox Zen School live in the same ce, and you lived in a different ce by yourself . If something happens, how can you protect them? Let¡¯s find a house to live in together . "

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly . "You¡¯re right! Okay, let¡¯s go together!"

    As soon as he had finished his words, the little foxes looking at him with eager eyes suddenly cheered . They opened the door and ran out like a swarm of agitated bees . They all whooped and jumped, baring their fangs and brandishing their ws to the outside world .

    "D*mn it, this is simply a group of spirits fresh from the mountain . It¡¯s as if a host of demons is dancing in riotus revelry!" An ominous idea suddenly shed through Li Yundong¡¯s heart . "These guys will not tear down Tiannann City, will they?"

 Chapter 334

    Chapter 334

    <h4>Bullsh*t!</h4>

    Li Yundong took a look around themunity and found that there were no mansions avable . He had to set off with the Fox Zen School . Right after getting of themunity, the group of little foxes started making a big fuss . They looked around and pointed to the tall buildings around them . One of them shouted in surprise, "Wow, I saw thatst time! It¡¯s so big and gross!"

    At that moment, the little foxes who knew the other meanings of the words said seriously, "Bah, watch yournguage . What do you mean by using the words big and gross? It¡¯s called a thick building!"

    "Oh, that means big and gross!"

    "Bullsh*t! You two don¡¯t know anything . That¡¯s called a tall building!"

    "Oh, what is it used for?"

    "I don¡¯t know . Maybe it¡¯s for living in . "

    "Wow, can we live there?"

    "I don¡¯t know . It depends on the leader¡¯s will . "

    "s, our Leader is so poor that he can¡¯t afford to live here, can he?"

    When Li Yundong heard this, his anger exploded . He was subjecting one of them to discipline when another jumped up again . He couldn¡¯t keep them obedient all at the same time . They tormented him and practically sent him to meet his maker .

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t stand it anymore . He stood on the road with his hands on his waist and scolded loudly, "Brats! if you say one more word, I¡¯ll send all of you to the mountain!"

    These little foxes had been with Li Yundong for the past few days, and they had all found that although Li Yundong was domineering and fierce when facing an enemy, he was actually a very peaceful person with a gentle nature . Though Li Yundong was angry, they knew that he would not be so cruel as to to send them back to the mountain .

    The little foxes giggled and didn¡¯t take Li Yundong¡¯s words seriously at all . They said in unison, "We won¡¯t dare to do it again!"

    But soon, they began chattering noisily .

    Seeing that they had stopped taking him seriously after only a few moments, Li Yundong took a deep breath and thought, "Oh my god . I don¡¯t have any power here . It can¡¯t be like this! If it goes on like this, I will be a really unsessful leader!"

    Li Yundong red them and his face darkened . "Hey, do you really think I wouldn¡¯t dare to carry out my threat?"

    He wanted to say something more, but he saw Cao Yi and the others covering their mouths andughing . He was angry in his heart . "Good Lord, they are allughing at me!"

    Li Yundong turned around and said to Cao Yi, "Cao Yi, I think it will be better for you to lead them . I can¡¯t manage them all alone . "

    Cao Yi had been secretlyughing as Li Yundong spoke, but she was stunned and said in surprise, "You want me to do it? Leader, I . . . I don¡¯t think that¡¯s such a good idea . "

    Li Yundong waved his hand and said with a smile, "There¡¯s nothing wrong about it . You¡¯re the right woman for the job!" As he said this, he saw a little red g on the side of the road, on which was written the words ¡¯Building a Civilized and Healthy City¡¯ . He picked it up and handed it to Cao Yi, saying, "You can be at the head of the line, holding this g so that the little foxes won¡®t get lost . "

    Cao Yi was dumbfounded as she stared at the little red g in her hand . She smiled dryly and said, "S-Sect Leader, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea . " As she spoke, she turned to look at Liu Yuehong and Zhuang Yating for help, only to see that the two of them were chuckling . When they saw Cao Yi looking at them, they quickly turned around and pretended not to know her, looking like they didn¡¯t want to help her .

    Li Yundong said with a cold expression, "It¡¯ll be fine . You are an elder of the Fox Zen Sect . You should be their role-model!"

    With a bitter face, Cao Yi turned to Zhuang Yating and Liu Yuehong and said, "Then why don¡¯t they take the lead as the vanguard models? They are my senior sisters!"

    Li Yundong took out two more little red gs, handed them over, and said with a cool face, "Don¡¯t even think about being let off . One of you can go to the head of the line, one in the middle, and one to the back . Perfect! Everyone will perform their own duties!"

    At this point, the three of them had stoppedughing . They each reluctantly took one of the little red gs, smiling bitterly .

    Before long, the three beautifuldies carrying gs were walking in front of seven twittering little beauties . Li Yundongughed happily behind them . He knew that wherever the Fox Zen Sect went, they would be extremely eye-catching . It was really a moving scene . The passers-by¡¯s eyes almost popped out of their sockets when they saw them . They all said, "Wow, which tourist group is this? This is too amazing . There are so many beautifuldies!"

    "Idiots! Don¡¯t you see the little gs for building a civilized and healthy city they¡¯re carrying? I think they are city inspectors!"

    "What!? How can so many beautifuldies be city inspectors? Are you stupid?"

    "In my opinion, they must be the lovers of municipal leaders!"

    "Well, that would make sense . Yes, it¡¯s possible!"

    As the onlookers talked, Li Yundong pretended not to hear them . He took therge group of stunningdies swaggering across the market . Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin, who were beside him, realy were exceptional beauties . Ruan Hongling and the disciples of the Fox Zen Sect were also unusually good-looking . Any one of them alone was extremely eye-catching . Therefore, when they walked together, they attracted almost everyone¡¯s attention .

    Li Yundong wanted to find big houses, and it would be even better if they could find joint houses . Li Yundong, together with the beautifuldies, went around several ces to inspect the houses there . They didn¡¯t find any satisfying properties until they arrived at the sixth ce, a newly builtmunity called Hepan Garden, and found two suitable houses through an intermediary there .

    The agent called thendlord, who was a in-looking woman of about thirty years old . When she saw Li Yundong leading so many beautifuldies to the house, she was shocked and thought, "I¡¯ve seen pompous people before, but I¡¯ve never seen someone who is so abjectly showy! How much money does he have to be able to support such arge number of mistresses?! Can this man make it?"

    Although thendlord was secretly ashamed of her ungainly appearance next to these beauties, on second thought she realized that such a pompous guy had to be an extremely rich man . She would make big money from him today!

    When thendlord figured this out, the smile on her face became much more ttering . After all, no one in the world would go against money .

    And coincidentally, thendlord had two houses on her hands . These two houses were opposite each other, and both werepound mansions . There were six bedrooms and three halls in each, covering an area of more than 180 square meters . These two houses would be enough for Li Yundong and the others to live in .

    Thinking of this, thendlord couldn¡¯t help feelingcent in her heart . She thought to herself, "With so many people wanting to find a ce to live, where can you find a better ce than mine? It¡¯s so big, spacious, and convenient, and you can move in right now . Even if you searched all the houses in Tiannan City, you wouldn¡¯t find such a good ce as here! Hum, I¡¯ll make big bucks from you today!"

    The two mansions were both three stories . Although they were not too high and not very suitable for cultivation, Li Yundong¡¯s cultivation had reached a high level, so there was no need for him to live in such a tall building anyway . The main thing was to find arge enough room for the group of noisy little foxes to live in quickly .

    Li Yundong saw that the left side of the house was a dining room, and the right side was the living room . The French windows were well lit, and the floor was mahogany . There were all kinds of household appliances throughout the house, looking luxurious . It really was a mansion .

    What was even more unusual was that the two mansions were next to each other . Even if something happened in the other mansion, Li Yundong could get there immediately .

    Li Yundong mentally calcted the price, and then nced at Zhou Qin . Zhou Qin nodded slightly, indicating that the two houses were very good . Then Li Yunyang looked at Zi Yuan, and Zi Yuan also nodded with satisfaction .

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong with eager eyes, wanting to express her opinion . However, when Li Yundong¡¯s eyes fell on her, heughed and directly jumped back to ignore her . The little girl was so depressed that her expression turned sullen .

    Li Yundong wanted to rent the two houses, but when he nced at thendlord, he saw her eyes shining . She looked at him as if she was looking at a moving mountain of gold . Li Yundong thought to himself, "My God! She obviously thinks of me as amb to be ughtered! Does she need to be so obvious?"

    Li Yundong had an idea . He winked at Zhou Qin, hinting for her to talk to thendlord . Zhou Qin understood and immediately pulled thendlord aside .

    Then Li Yundong winked at Su Chan . Seeing Li Yundong winking at her, the little girl immediately cheered up and ran over . She didn¡¯t say a word and just blinked her eyes at him .

    Li Yundong chuckled, leaned down to Su Chan¡¯s ear, and whispered a few words .

    Su Chan burst outughing and Li Yundong red at her . She quickly covered her mouth with her hands and looked serious, but her eyes were smiling . She sneaked back to take a look . Seeing that thendlord hadn¡¯t noticed, she turned back and said with a smile, "Don¡¯t worry . I promise to finish the task!"

    Li Yundong smiled and tapped her nose, then said loudly to Zhou Qin, "Zhou Qin,e with me . "

    Zhou Qin smiled and turned away from thendlord . She went over to Li Yundong and looked at him in confusion, but he was not in a hurry to exin . He nodded to Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling and then took them out .

    Once they¡¯d left, they stood in the corridor . Zhou Qin asked in confusion, "Leader, what are you going to do?"

    Ruan Hongling rolled her eyes . "Yeah . You¡¯re ying tricks!"

    Li Yundong grinned and made a gesture for to them to be quiet, then said, "Keep your voice down . You¡¯ll understand soon . "

    While Zi Yuan and the others were feeling puzzled, Su Chan was taking the foxes to cause trouble for thendlord in the room .

    Su Chan rolled her eyes and thought, "Yundong wants me to find fault with thendlord, but I haven¡¯t been to many ces . Well, I¡¯ve been to an amusement park! Ah, that¡¯s right!"

    Su Chan walked around the room with her hands sped behind her back . Thendlord could tell that among this group of beauties, this girl was the closest to Li Yundong . Obviously, he favored her the most . She thought to herself, "Well, as long as I can make her happy, this rich man will give me as much as I want!"

    Thinking of this, thendlord smiled and asked obsequiously, "Beauty, what do you think? Is there anything you¡¯re not satisfied with?"

    Su Chan nodded and said tteringly, "Well, it¡¯s good . This house is so good . . . "

    Thendlord was overjoyed to hear this, smiling like a flower . But just as thendlord was about to respond, she suddenly heard Su Chan speaking in a drawling tone . "However . . . "

    Thendlord¡¯s heart dropped, but she knew that the reason why they were finding fault was to lower the price, meaning that they actually liked the mansion very much . Thendlord was a veteran . She was mentally prepared, so she asked with a smile, "But what?"

    Su Chan said with a face full of regret, "Your house is good, but it¡¯scking something . "

    Thendlord was relieved . She smiled and asked, "What¡¯s missing? I can help you add it . Of course, the rent may be a little higher . "

    Su Chan nodded and answered, "Well, the price will not be a problem, as long as you can put in what I want . "

    Thendlord beamed and said, "No problem, what else do you need? Just tell me, beauty . "

    Su Chan said with a smile, "I think there needs to be a roller coaster in this room!"

    "A, a roller coaster?!"

    The smile on thendlord¡¯s face suddenly froze as if she had been given botox . She tried to squeeze out a smile, but the muscles on her face were so stiff that she couldn¡¯t do it . She asked dryly, "A, a roller coaster?"

    Su Chan looked at her strangely . "A roller coaster . Haven¡¯t you seen one before? Well, it¡¯s no wonder that you don¡¯t know about them . You see, there is not even a roller coaster in your house . Every house has one in our hometown!"

    Thendlord was so shocked that her voice changed . "All of them? Are you kidding me?" After that, she stared at Su Chan, hoping to find some sign of lying on her face .

    But Su Chan looked serious . In fact, she looked at thendlord as if she were looking at a fool . It seemed that the fact there was no roller coaster in this room was the most incredible thing in the world .

    "Yes, can you get me a roller coaster?" Su Chan said .

    Thendlord stared at Su Chan for a long time, but she couldn¡¯t find anything strange about her . She couldn¡¯t believe what she was hearing and hesitated in her heart . "Is she talking about something else?"

    With her hesitation, the little foxes began to make noise . They all said, "If there is no roller coaster, what are you talking about?"

    "That¡¯s right! Bumpkin from the countryside!"

    "We want a roller coaster!"

    Thendlord was under a lot of pressure in the midst of this group of beautifuldies . The situation was making her sweat . She took out a handkerchief, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and said with a dry smile, "Beauty, I don¡¯t have a roller coaster!"

    Su Chan looked at her strangely and asked, "How could you not have one?"

    The other little foxes also added, "This can be achieved!"

    Thendlord didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry . "I can¡¯t make it . "

    Su Chan sighed and said, "Forget it . Then, do you have a space shuttle?"

    "A, a space shuttle? This, this is even stranger than having a roller coaster in a house!"

    Thendlord¡¯s head was in a mess, and there was cold sweat shining on her forehead . She kept wiping at her sweat and said with a hollow smile, "I can¡¯t get one of those either!"

    Su Chan asked again, "How about a three hundred and sixty degree turntable?"

    Thendlord was stunned, "No!"

    "How about a carousel?"

    "No!" The blue veins in thendlord¡¯s forehead began to bulge .

    "An electric train?"

    "No!" Thendlord seemed to be on the verge of losing her mind .

    Su Chan asked these few questions and then heaved a deep sigh . "Well, you do have bumper cars, don¡¯t you?"

    Thendlord was on the verge of tears . "We don¡¯t have that either . "

    "You don¡¯t have anything here . How can you dare to rent a house?" Su Chanmented .

    The little foxes shouted at the same time, "That¡¯s right . How dare you rent a house without anything inside!" As soon as they opened their mouths, it was really like a miniature chorus, imposing and spectacr .

    Thendlord took a deep breath, the blue veins bulging in her forehead . She finally couldn¡¯t stand it anymore and shouted, "Bullsh*t! I¡¯m renting a house, not running an amusement park!"

 Chapter 335

    Chapter 335

    <h4>Long Live Leader!</h4>

    Thendlord¡¯s hysterical roar almost made Li Yundong, who was hiding outside the door and eavesdropping,ugh herself to death . Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin alsoughed into their sleeves . Ruan Hongling was squatting on the ground,ughing and muttering in a scolding tone, "Li Yundong, you are so bad . You even instigated us to deliberately find fault with you . You b*stard! So bad from head to toe!"

    Li Yundong alsoughed and said, "It was her fault for considering me a rich man and trying to make a profit off of me . Didn¡¯t she know that I¡¯m poor?"

    "When you go out, there are always some people attending you . Everyone thinks you¡¯re rich," Zi Yuan said with a chuckle .

    Alsoughing, Zhou Qinmented, "Master, this is a brilliant move . Who can withstand the coaxing of these little foxes?"

    The room was already in a mess . The foxes had been scolded by thendlord and were all in a bad mood now . They stood with their arms akimbo, posing like ssic giant teapots and throwing curses like old fishwives .

    "You are talking nonsense . They exist in our hometown . Why can¡¯t you get them?"

    "That¡¯s right . You may not have broad horizons, but don¡¯t think others are the same as you!"

    "What¡¯s an amusement park? I¡¯ve never heard of it!"

    "Look woman, quickly settle everything or we¡¯ll tear down your house!"

    They were so noisy that the house sounded as if there were thousands of ducks and sparrows swarming in it, which made thendlord¡¯s head buzz . She wanted to refute them, but as soon as she opened her mouth, her voice was drowned out by the noise of the little foxes and she couldn¡¯t even hear herself .

    Thendlord burst into tears and thought, "Can I quit being andlord? My God! It¡¯s all my fault!"

    When it was about time, Li Yundong walked in from the door and coughed drily . It was so powerful that the whole room shook . The little foxes immediately stopped talking and looked at him in unison . "Leader, have we done wrong?"

    Li Yundong red at them . "Don¡¯t shout so loudly when we¡¯re not at home!"

    The little foxes nodded together and retreated back with aggrieved looks, while Su Chan, who was behind thendlord, winked at Li Yundong and seemed to be asking for a reward with a proud look on her face .

    Li Yundong pretended not to see her and apologized to thendlord, "I¡¯m terribly sorry . I¡¯m used to spoiling them . They have treated you too rudely . "

    When thendlord heard Li Yundong¡¯s words, she felt like she had found her savior and bosom friend . With tears in her eyes, she said, "You¡¯re so reasonable, you handsome man!"

    Ruan Hongling, who had been eavesdropping on them at the door, spat softly, "Bah, he¡¯s the worst! Thendlord was fooled by him and doesn¡¯t even know it!"

    Zi Yuanughed and said, "If it were you, you would be star-struck too . "

    Ruan Hongling rolled her eyes disapprovingly .

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know that someone was scolding him behind his back . He waved his hand and said to thendlord with a smile, "My surname is Li, you can call me Xiao Li . "

    Thendlord didn¡¯t dare to call him such a thing . She knew very clearly that a man who was surrounded by so many beautiful girls would definitely not be an ordinary person . "Call him Xiao Li? If he bes unhappy with the nicknameter, I might get myself into trouble and not even know it!"

    Although thendlord had been teased by the little foxes for a long time and her head was pounding from the noise, she still squeezed out a smile and said, "Boss Li, you were arguing just now . . . Oh, no, no, you said it for such a long time, but it¡¯s really hard for me . You know, my house was built with a duplex structure . How can I arrange rides from an amusement park to be put her? Boss Li, if you don¡¯t want to rent it, you can tell me directly . Even if we can¡¯t do business together, it¡¯ll still be good to be friends!"

    Now, thendlord had begun to suspect that Li Yundong was the mastermind behind the whole thing and just wanted to lower her price . Although she didn¡¯t want to give up the deal, she was really feeling beaten down because of the quarrelling just now from the foxes . She didn¡¯t even want to rent the house to him anymore .

    Li Yundongughed and said, "You don¡¯t have to be like this, madame . I didn¡¯t say I don¡¯t want to rent it . "

    "So you will rent it?" Thendlord looked at Li Yundong doubtfully and continued, "But I don¡¯t have the things you¡¯re asking for!"

    Li Yundong waved his hand and said with a smile, "Don¡¯t take it seriously . They were just ying around . "

    Thendlord suddenly felt that Li Yundong¡¯s words were speaking right to her heart . The idea of her renting her house was revived, and she asked directly, "How much do you want to pay?"

    Li Yundong asked back with a smile, "I want to rent it sincerely, madame, please tell me your price . "

    Thendlord had originally wanted to make big money from Li Yundong, but when Su Chan and the little foxes had made a fuss, her confidence had sunk . She calcted in the mind and said, "Eight thousand yuan per month!"

    Li Yundong considered the proposition . Although he felt that the 8,000 yuan was reasonable based on the condition of the two houses, it was still a little high for a third-tier city like Tiannan . He began to bargain with thendlord . "Madam, your price is a little high . It¡¯s almost enough to pay for a month¡¯s home loan . "

    Thendlord felt wronged . She wanted to charge 10,000 yuan a month, but the government had strictly suppressed housing prices recently . There were very few people buying homes . The two well-decorated mansions she owned couldn¡¯t be sold in a short time, and if she wanted to rent them, there were few people who would rent such properties . They were empty now, and it was not easy to meet tenants like Li Yundong who wanted to rent two houses .

    Thendlord thought for a moment and said bitterly, "Mr . Li, this price is very economical . This is apound mansion of more than 180 square meters . I had to pay the mansion tax for it . You¡¯re looking to rent two ces together, and I have them . It¡¯s not easy to find this kind of deal . "

    Li Yundong seemed to have been expecting this response . He answered with a smile, "Yes, I want to rent your two houses at one time . And it¡¯s not easy to rent here, is it? Ordinary people don¡¯te here to rent your houses, and it¡¯s not easy to find a tenant like me . Let¡¯s meet each other halfway . "

    Su Chan and the others watched Li Yundong and thendlord bargaining . One of the little foxesughed in a low voice, "One of them calls the other Mr . Li, and the other calls her madam . Heh, the head of the sect is taking advantage of her!"

    The foxes began to guffaw when they heard this . Su Chan, however, was displeased with thement and red at them for a short time . Suddenly, they were aware of her gaze and ttered her, "Shijie Su Chan, you¡¯re the mistress!"

    Su Chan snorted and raised her chin high, her face full of pride . She said, with the look of a mistress, "Let me tell you, Yundong has already said that I¡¯ll be in charge of the business when the branch opens in the future . Be good, and if you perform well, I¡¯ll let youe to the store to enjoy a luxurious life with me!"

    When the little foxes heard this, their eyes lit up and they said, "That¡¯s great! That¡¯s great! The mistress is brilliant and powerful . We hope you will live long and be happy forever!"

    Su Chanughedcently, her hands perched on her hips .

    Li Yundong heard theirughter, but he didn¡¯t know why they were so happy . He couldn¡¯t help turning his head and looking at the noisy little foxes, his expression a little strange . Thendlord worried about it . She thought to herself, "What are they doing? I can¡¯t stand them anymore . Forget it, I can rent to whoever . Although they are a little noisy, they don¡¯t seem like bad people . They are more like a group of naive children . "

    Thendlord thought for a moment and said, "Boss Li, since you want to rent them sincerely, I¡¯ll offer you my lowest price, 6,000 yuan . It can¡¯t go any lower! And you must pay the rent for the whole year in advance . If you continue to bargain, I¡¯ll take my business elsewhere!"

    Li Yundong immediately said, "Okay, we have a deal . I¡¯ll pay the rent for a year at once!"

    The foxes pricked up their ears upon hearing that they had finally made a deal . They were about to raise their arms and cheer when Su Chan red at them and said in a low voice, "Shut up . You want thendlord to know that we were deliberately making trouble?"

    Only then did the foxese to their senses . They covered their mouths, not daring to make any noise .

    After Li Yundong had signed the contract with thendlord and paid the agency fees, the little foxes cheered, "Yeah! We have homes! Hope our brilliant leader will live long andst forever!"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry . "Who taught you to say this?"

    Su Chan hurriedly ran over to tter him, "These are words straight from the depths of our own hearts . We didn¡¯t need to learn them from others!"

    The little foxes nodded, their heads bobbing like they were chickens pecking at rice, and said in unison, "Yes, yes!"

    Li Yundong felt somewhat sickened by the scene . He quickly said, "Stop, stop! If you continue, I will be Ding Chunqiu!"

    At this time, Zhou Qin made fun of him, something which was rare for her to do . "Ding Chunqiu can live as long as the heavensts . You have just said the words of Dongfang Bubai!"

    Li Yundong red at her, and then turned around and said to Cao Yi and the others who had beenughing but not saying anything, "Now we have rented these houses, let¡¯s assign the rooms, shall we?"

    Cao Yiughed and said, "As our mighty leader wishes . "

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t hesitate . He took Su Chan, Zhou Qin, and five of the little foxes to live in one mansion, then Zi Yuan, Ruan Hongling, Cao Yi, Liu Yuehong, Zhuang Yating, and two other little foxes to live in the other . After they had chosen their rooms, Zhou Qin said to Li Yundong, "Since we have found a ce to live now, let¡¯s find a facade room after lunch . I¡¯m afraid that someone will rent it if we wait any longer . "

    Li Yundong thought for a moment and nodded . "Right, let¡¯s make hay while the sun shines . But humans are iron and their meals are steel . You will be hungry if you don¡¯t eat . Let¡¯s find a ce to eat lunch first . "

    Hearing this, everyone agreed, especially the little foxes . They all jumped up and down and cheered, "We want to eat food cooked by you!"

    Hearing this, Li Yundong suddenly felt a headachee on . "Hey, what am I? Your leader or your personal chef? We¡¯ll go out and eat lunch today! How can I cook without any materials?"

    It was the first time the little foxes would be going out to eat dishes after going down the mountain . They immediately cheered, "Long live the leader! We¡¯re going out to enjoy a luxury dinner!"

    Li Yundong puffed up his cheeks and said, "What do you mean, ¡¯enjoying a luxury dinner¡¯? Why do you make yourself sound like gangsters? Who taught you that?"

    The little foxes did not say a word, but they silently turned their heads and looked at Su Chan in unison .

    Su Chan cursed in her heart, "These bastards betrayed me instantly! Brats! D*mn it!"

    Seeing that she couldn¡¯t avoid exining it, Su Chan forced a smile and weakly said to Li Yundong, "I was only joking . "

    Li Yundong red at her as a warning, then said, "Let me tell you now . When you go outter, you have to listen to mymands . Don¡¯t grab anything when you eat . If any of you are disobedient, I won¡¯t take you out again next time!"

    When the little foxes heard this, they replied together, "Yes, leader!"

    As soon as they opened their mouths, their voices were charming and pleasing to the ear . Li Yundong thought to himself, "s, if only these little guys were more obedient!"

    Li Yundong sighed secretly and waved his hand . "Alright, let¡¯s go out and eat some delicious food!"

    The little foxesughed and said, "Yay! We¡¯ll go out and have a good meal with our leader!"

    "Leader is so brilliant and cool!"

    "Our leader will live long andst forever!"

    Li Yundong red at them . "Stop yelling!"

    The little foxes responded, "Okay, then let¡¯s yell more quietly!"

    Li Yundong felt speechess . "Even if it¡¯s quiet yelling, I won¡¯t allow it!"

    The foxes looked aggrieved . "Then let¡¯s just scream in our hearts . . . "

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry . He could only wave his hand and say exasperatedly, "Forget it . I will leave you alone . Just don¡¯t make trouble while you¡¯re eatingter . "

    The little foxes immediately cheered up . "Long Live Leader!" As they spoke, they strode out in a majestic manner .

    Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling looked at each other, and then Ruan Honglingughed in surprise and said, "Why do I feel that they are going to be performing a street parade?"

    Zi Yuan also shook her head and smiled . "Something is bound to happen . Leader Li Yundong will suffer greatly in the future . "

 Chapter 336

    Chapter 336

    <h4>Stacked Pagoda!</h4>

    As the group of people went out of the door in a huge crowd, the little foxes excitedly discussed where they were going to eat . However, Li Yundong was feeling a little worried as he listened to them chatter .

    Where would such arge group of people be able to eat? If they went to a restaurant, there would be more than a dozen people needing to be seated . Except for Zhou Qin and Zi Yuan, almost everyone was a gourmand, especially these little foxes, who ate hungrily and voraciously . Although he had 800,000 yuan on hand now, he had just paid the rent, andter he would need to rent a storefront . Money was needed everywhere .

    But then again, no matter how much money he had, he wouldn¡¯t be able to afford feeding them like this!

    Li Yundong was feeling haunted when suddenly something hit him . Heughed and said, "There¡¯s an idea!"

    Zhou Qin asked him curiously, "What¡¯s the solution?"

    Li Yundong said proudly, "Let¡¯s go to a buffet!"

    Zhou Qin was smart and immediately understood the value in Li Yundong¡¯s idea . She quickly covered her mouth andughed, but said nothing .

    Su Chan had never gone to a buffet before . She asked curiously, "Yundong, what is a buffet?"

    Li Yundong chuckled and said, "It¡¯s a ce where everyone can eat as much as they want!"

    Upon hearing this, Su Chan immediately beamed with joy and said, "Really? That sounds great! Although the food you cook is delicious, I can never get enough to eat!"

    Li Yundong looked at her and said with a mysterious smile, "You can eat as much as you like this time . I promise I won¡¯t hold you back . But you¡¯d better watch yourself, or you will be a fat little pig, and then I won¡¯t like you anymore!"

    Su Chan giggled, "No, that won¡¯t happen . We cultivators will never get fat . "

    Li Yundong grinned and didn¡¯t say anything . Su Chan turned her head and exined everything to the little foxes who were looking at her eagerly . When they heard that they could eat as much as they wanted, they cheered in unison . In their opinions, Li Yundong was letting them live in a good house and treating them to delicious food, which was thousands of times better than how Liu Ye, the former leader of the sect, had looked after them .

    This time, the cheers of the little girls came from the bottom of their hearts . They shouted in unison, "Long live the leader, long live the leader!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "More like long live the buffet!"

    Zi Yuan looked at them andughed as she shook her head . "s, you¡¯re the famous Head of a sect now . Why are you still behaving like a child?"

    Ruan Hongling alsoughed and said scoldingly, "This man has never been able to be serious!"

    They arrived at the ¡¯DA-visual self-service restaurant¡¯ near the shopping street . As soon as they entered the building, they immediately attracted everyone¡¯s attention .

    Coincidentally, the owner of the restaurant was there . Looking at the array of beauties before him greedily, he was secretly delighted . "So many beauties are here for the buffet . I will make a great profit this time . "

    The best thing for a buffet was the arrival of beauties, because most of them would want to stay in shape and thus only consume a little food . Therefore, the proprietors would make a good chunk of profit .

    Li Yundong and others found two big tables and sat down . Cao Yi and other little foxes sat at one table, while Li Yundong, Su Chan, Zhou Qin, Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling sat at the other .

    As Su Chan entered the restaurant, she couldn¡¯t help looking around, almost as if she was preparing to steal something . As soon as she sat down, she said urgently, "Yundong, I¡¯m starving . Can you let me find something to eat first?"

    Li Yundongughed and said scoldingly, "Quickly wipe your mouth . You¡¯re drooling!"

    "Ah!" Su Chan hurriedly wiped at the corner of her mouth . Finding that there was nothing there, she said angrily, "You tricked me! Can I go to eat now or not?"

    Li Yundong acted like he was driving away a fly, saying, "Go ahead . Look at you, oh my god, one might think you hadn¡¯t for hundreds of years!"

    Su Chan giggled, then turned around and ran away . When she passed the little foxes¡¯ table, she waved her hand and the little foxes all stood up and followed her to the dining table .

    Li Yundong watched the flock of them and crooked his neck with a smile . He then shook his head and said, "I really can¡¯t do anything about them . s, I can¡¯t imagine how the former head handled them all . "

    Zi Yuan took a sip of tea and said meaningfully, "It¡¯s easier to go down than up! Li Yundong, you took them down the mountain and now you¡¯ll have to bear the consequences . "

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly and said, "Don¡¯t make me worry, okay? I¡¯m always with them . What kind of trouble could they possibly get into?"

    Zhou Qin suddenly said, "Master, why do I feel that something is wrong?"

    Li Yundong asked in confusion, "What¡¯s going on?"

    Zhou Qin was sitting opposite Li Yundong and said with a strange expression, "Master, do you remember when Su Chan heaped food up like a pagoda at my birthday party?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Of course I remember that . That evening, that little girl, she . . . "

    Before he got all of his words out, Li Yundong¡¯s expression suddenly changed . "You¡¯re implying that she¡¯s heaping a pagoda of food up right now as well, aren¡¯t you? Damn it, how could I have forgotten about this?"

    Zhou Qin had a strange look on her face . "See for yourself!"

    Li Yundong hurriedly looked over and suddenly gasped .

    Su Chan was carrying two big tes, one in each of her hands, and on both of them was a huge mountain of various kinds of foods . She was not very petite, but next with these two tes of food, she looked miniscule . What was even more amazing was that the little foxes behind her were all holding simr piles of food in their hands too .

    Along the way, their edible pagodas teetered as they move . But every time they were about to fall, their carriers would move like acrobats, twisting their waists and stabilizing it again .

    In this buffet, everyone, from the boss to the waiters, and even the guests, were all looking at them with their mouths open .

    Su Chan put the two huge tes on Li Yundong¡¯s desk with a heavy thump, and then turned to talk about the experience of heaping up the food with the little foxes . As they spoke, they headed to the dining area to get even more food .

    The buffet owner¡¯s legs were trembling and sweat was dripping down his back . His eyes almost popped out of their sockets .

    The waiters and guests looked at Su Chan and the other foxes as if they were seeing alien visitors . Some of them even fished out their phones to take photos .

    Li Yundong looked at the mountain of food that was half the height of an average human and thought, "Oh my god, this is really the eighth wonder of the world! How has it been stacked up like this?"

    Zhou Qin covered her face with her hand and said with shame, "Master, I feel so embarrassed . . . "

    Zi Yuan also turned her head and looked out of the window, pretending that she didn¡¯t know them . She lowered her voice and said, "Li Yundong, you are the head of a sect now . If this news gets out, you will beughed at by others in the future!"

    Ruan Hongling was dumbfounded as she watched the foxes pile up yet more food . She felt as if she were one of them, being watched by the crowd . She felt so ashamed that her ears turned red and she just wanted to find a hole to crawl into . "Oh my god, how can I be with these people? It¡¯s so embarrassing!" shemented .

    Li Yundong then realized what was happening . He rushed to the dining area in exasperation and grabbed the tes from Su Chan¡¯s hand . Then, he rushed out, carrying her body under his armpit like a rolled up carpet .

    Su Chan was shocked and struggled, shouting, "I haven¡¯t eaten yet! Put me down! I haven¡¯t eaten yet!"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but curse, "What are you going to eat? Don¡¯t you feel ashamed about taking so much food at once?"

    Su Chan yelled like she was suffering the worst possible insult, "It¡¯s you who told me that I could eat as much as I wanted!"

    Before they went out, Su Chan shouted loudly and brightly . Instantly, everyone looked at Li Yundong . Although he was usually solid and determined, at this time, he felt like his face was burning hot . He red at Su Chan and said angrily, "How can you say that! How many servings did you take!? Didn¡¯t I tell you not to go and stack up a huge pagodast time?"

    After that, he shouted to Zhou Qin, "Zhou Qin, pay the bill!"

    Zhou Qin answered affirmatively and hurriedly lowered her head, going to the counter to pay the bill before running out with her head down .

    Su Chan struggled in Li Yundong¡¯s arms and shouted, "Why pay the bill? I haven¡¯t even eaten anything yet! At least let me take some to eat at home!"

    Li Yundong was so angry that heughed loudly despite himself . "Take it home? I¡¯ll pull your head off and take that home!" As he spoke, he snapped his fingers on Su Chan¡¯s forehead and patted her round ass, then shouted, "Stand up!"

    "Ah!" Su Chan covered her forehead with one hand and her buttocks with another . She screwed up her mouth and looked aggrieved as she muttered, "You wouldn¡¯t!" As she said this, tears welled up in her eyes and were about to drip down .

    Li Yundongughed and said scoldingly, "Don¡¯t pretend to be pitiful . I¡¯ll take you somewhere else to eatter! Just stop embarrassing yourself here! It¡¯s not same as before . You¡¯ve not only shamed me, but also damaged the Fox Zen School¡¯s reputation!"

    At this time, Cao Yi and the others came out . The three shibos also nodded and said, "That¡¯s right . " Then they started to scold the little foxes .

    Li Yundong saw that the store door was beingpletely blocked by them, which was attracting a lot of attention, so he said, "Okay, let¡¯s go somewhere else to talk . "

    The group of people walked out of the restaurant . Li Yundong felt depressed when he thought about the fact that he had wasted hundreds of yuan on uneaten meals .

    Zhou Qin, who was carefully watching from one side, said in a tentative tone, "Master, I know that there¡¯s a good restaurant near the mall . Why don¡¯t we go there for a meal?"

    Li Yundong sighed . "Fine . We¡¯ll do as you suggest . You¡¯re at least more reliable . " With that, he shot a re at Su Chan .

    Su Chan pulled a grimacing expression at Li Yundong and said with resentment, "You broke your promise . You¡¯re a liar!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Well, you don¡¯t need to order anything when we orderter . Just watch from the side . "

    Su Chan was certainly not going to do that . As soon as she heard that there would be food again, her unhappiness immediately disappeared . She rushed over to Li Yundong, took his arm, and said with a smile, "Dear master, don¡¯t argue with me! You¡¯re the best!"

    Li Yundong snorted . "This all depends on your performance!" Then, he winked at Su Chan and said in a tone that only they two could hear, "Especially your performance after we get home!"

    Su Chan¡¯s cheeks immediately turned red and she muttered angrily, "You¡¯re so annoying! How dare you threaten me! I¡¯ll ignore you!"

    While they were flirting with each other, Ruan Hongling, who was standing to one side, coughed and said in a strange voice, "Hey, there are a lot of people waiting for you . "

    Li Yundong hadn¡¯t expected that a group of people could cause so much trouble by eating a buffet . He gave a hollowugh and said, "Let¡¯s go, girls, let¡¯s go to eat!" He then said to Zhou Qin, "You lead the way . "

 Chapter 337

    Chapter 337

    <h4>A Series of Bewildering Shadows</h4>

    The group of people came out of the buffet and headed straight to a restaurant in the next mall over . Along the way, the little foxes passed through many clothing and jewelry shops . The exquisite clothing dazzled them to the extent that they could barely keep walking .

    Su Chan looked at the gorgeous outfits with eager eyes . She tugged on Li Yundong¡¯s sleeve and winked at him .

    Li Yundong felt a migraineing on and didn¡¯t dare to respond . Last time he had bought clothes and jewelry for Su Chan, he had directly made himself bankrupt . This time, there were so many people to buy for . Who should he treat? Who shouldn¡¯t get anything?

    "If I buy something for all of them, I¡¯ll end up a spendthrift no matter how rich I am . If I only buy something for Su Chan, people will gossip behind my back that I¡¯m not fair as the head of sect .

    "No way! Absolutely not!"

    Li Yundong pretended not to see her eager wink and strode ahead .

    The girl had no choice but to turn back at every step, watching the beautiful clothes get farther and farther away from her .

    Finally entering the restaurant on the ninth floor, the group of people found that there was room for them all . Li Yundong was relieved and said to the waitress, "Miss, we¡¯ll order now . "

    They sat at two tables and began to order the dishes they wanted .

    But they had arrived at noon - rush hour for any ce which serves food . After ordering their dishes, they did not get served for a long time .

    Su Chan was a little restless . She was still thinking about the beautiful clothes from earlier, so she tugged on Li Yundong¡¯s sleeve and begged, "Yundong, I¡¯ll go and just have a look at them . I won¡¯t buy any . I just want to have a look . "

    Li Yundong sighed in his heart, "Honey, my everything is yours, but right now I still need to be responsible for your shibos¡¯ and shijies¡¯ clothing, food, amodation, and transportation . "

    But Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help thinking of the time Su Chan had been scared and alone on Shantang Street . She had been so poor that she had been unable to even afford to eat a pancake . However, she hadn¡¯t epted any handouts from the rich young men around her . He thought for a while and finally relented, drawing out a stack of cash and handing it to Cao Yi, saying, "I didn¡¯t let you live a good life even when I was the leader of your sect . Take these little girls to see if there are any clothes they like and buy them as gifts for them . "

    Cao Yi was shocked . "You can¡¯t do that . Leader, there¡¯s no reason for you to buy anything for us . Besides, didn¡¯t you buy clothes for usst time?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "How can a single set of clothes be enough? Don¡¯t you need to wash them? Don¡¯t refuse me, just take the little fellows and go shopping . Anyway, it¡¯s only a little money . You can buy things as you wish . "

    In a tone filled with a mixture of shame and gratitude, Cao Yi said, "Leader, we . . . "

    Li Yundong waved his hand and said, "Don¡¯t say anything . The dishes won¡¯t be served for a while anyway . You can go out and buy clothes . "

    Cao Yi felt like she couldn¡¯t refuse, so she looked at Zhuang Yating and Liu Yuehong . Liu Yuehong¡¯s face was full of hesitation and she wasn¡¯t saying anything . However, Zhuang Yating smiled and said, "The Leader is generous and understanding, we can¡¯t refuse him . Sixth junior sister, you ought to ept the offer . "

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "You could go with them . . . " Then, he turned his head and looked at Zhou Qin . "Do you want to go with them?"

    Zhou Qin was looking a little expectant . She nced at Li Yundong and asked in response, "May I?"

    Seeing that she was being so careful that she was no longer herself, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help sighing . He shook his head and said with a smile, "Of course you can . You can go if you want!"

    Zhou Qin was in the prime of her youth,pletely beautiful . The more beautiful a woman was, the more she loved to be beautiful . How could she be an exception? Hearing Li Yundong¡¯s words, Zhou Qin immediately smiled and said, "Then I¡¯ll go and have a look . "

    Su Chan was overjoyed . She pped her hands and said excitedly, "Great! Great! Let¡¯s all go together!"

    Li Yundong smiled and watched them head out to the various clothing shops . He smiled and shook his head . After a while, he saw that Zi Yuan was unmoved and still drinking tea calmly, so he asked curiously, "You¡¯re not going?"

    Zi Yuan opened her mouth and was just about to speak when she felt Ruan Hongling pulling at her clothes under the table . Therefore, she changed her mind and said, "Actually, I¡¯ll go out and have a look . "

    She followed Ruan Hongling outside and said with a frown, "Hongling, how can we cultivators enjoy owning worldly possessions? Don¡¯t tell me that you also want to buy clothes?"

    Ruan Hongling pulled on Zi Yuan¡¯s sleeves and said nervously, "It¡¯s not what you think, Sister Zi Yuan . I think I saw the second shibo just now!"

    Zi Yuan was shocked and couldn¡¯t help looking back at Li Yundong in the dining room . He seemed to sense her gaze, looking back at her . Zi Yuan nodded and smiled at him, then took Hongling into the noisy crowd and whispered, "You saw the second shibo? Where is she?"

    Ruan Hongling kept looking around . "I saw that after those guys from the Fox Zen School entered a clothing store, the second shibo appeared nearby shortly after . I also saw her nce at me . You know, she has such profound cultivation that if she deliberately looks at you, you¡¯ll definitely feel it . "

    Zi Yuan nodded slightly . "You¡¯re right . Her Yuanying phase has reached its peak . However, if she appeared nearby . . . Oh no, Fox Zen School and Su Chan must be in danger!"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s expression changed and they dashed off towards the clothing boutique nearby . As soon as she entered the store, she saw Su Chan and Zhou Qin, who were picking out clothes from the clothes racks, raise their heads . Seeing her, Su Chan beamed and asked, "Sister Zi Yuan, are you also going to buy some clothes?"

    Zhou Qin¡¯s power of observation was superior to Su Chan¡¯s . When she saw the tense expression on Zi Yuan¡¯s face, she thought something was up immediately and stared at Zi Yuan without saying a word .

    Ruan Hongling followed and rushed in as well . Just as she was about to open her mouth to ask if anyone from the Fox Zen School had seen her second shibo, Zi Yuan grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently, making her swallow back her words .

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly at Su Chan and said, "No, we¡¯re just wandering around . The clothes here are not suitable for me . Hongling and I will go somewhere else to browse . "

    Su Chan put down the milky white dress in her hand and smiled, "Sister Zi Yuan, shall I go with you?"

    Zi Yuan was stunned . As she was looking for her second shibo¡¯s whereabouts, she was unwilling to let Su Chan follow her . She could not help but frown slightly . When Zhou Qin saw this, she immediately turned to Su Chan and said, "Su Chan, could you take a look at this dress for me?"

    "Oh", Su Chan replied and smiled apologetically at Zi Yuan . "I¡¯m sorry . Guess I can¡¯t go with you since Zhou Qin needs me to pick out her clothes . "

    Zi Yuan nced at Zhou Qin gratefully, and then said to Su Chan with a smile, "It doesn¡¯t matter . Take your time . "

    Then, she left with Ruan Hongling .

    The two walked back into the crowd, chattering to each other in low voices . Ruan Hongling asked in confusion, "Sister Zi Yuan, why didn¡¯t you let me ask just now?"

    Zi Yuan sighed lightly and said, "Do you really not understand or are you only feigning ignorance? The second shibo holds such a deep grudge against the Fox Zen School . Nearly a hundred disciples from the inner and outer chambers of the Fox Zen School died because of the grudge between the second shibo and the Fox Zen School . This time, the second shibo was the one to initiate the siege of the the Great Six against the Fox Zen School . Don¡¯t you know that the entire Fox Zen School hates her guts? If the Fox Zen School knew her whereabouts, what kind of reaction would they have?"

    Ruan Hongling only became more puzzled upon hearing this . "I know that, but we¡¯re only reminding them . What¡¯s wrong with that?"

    Zi Yuan smiled bitterly and said, "You¡¯re a smart girl but you can be so dense sometimes . By rights, we and the second shibo are from the same sect, while the people from the Fox Zen School are outsiders . No matter what, we have a closer rtionship with the second shibo . Who do you think we¡¯ll help when a conflict arises?"

    Ruan Hongling sneered and said, "Humph, the second shibo used to be indifferent to us . Nine years ago, she disappeared and has stayed hidden all this time . We of the Linggong Sect have been bullied so much, but she didn¡¯t do us any favors . Now, as soon as she appeared, such a big problem has been stirred up . Humph, such a second shibo is not even worth mentioning!"

    Zi Yuan frowned slightly . Just as she was about to speak, a voice suddenly sounded in their ears . "Hongling, is this how you make up stories about your elders?"

    Zi Yuan was shocked and immediately looked in the direction of the voice . Ruan Hongling seemed to have heard it too . She looked around in shock and found the source of the voice after a moment¡¯s searching .

    The two of them stared . Sure enough, they could see Yan Fang looking at them from a hidden corner of the mall .

    Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling looked at each other and immediately began chasing after her .

    When Yan Fang saw that they were about to get close, she turned around and left . Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling followed her all the way to a remote corridor, where she stopped, turned around, looked them up and down, and said lightly to Hongling, "I haven¡¯t seen you for so many years . My, how beautiful you¡¯ve grown!"

    Then, she looked at Zi Yuan and nodded, "Zi Yuan, in the past, our senior fellow apprentice doted on you the most . And now, if he saw how beautiful you are and how high your cultivation is, he¡¯d no doubt be ecstatic!"

    Zi Yuan saw that Yan Fang was still at the Yang Spirit stage, emitting a faint fluorescent light that was hard to see with the naked eye . However, ever since she had been out of the body of Mo Ahshi for such a long timest time, the Qi throughout her body had not weakened at all, and in fact showed signs of strengthening . This really surprised Zi Yuan .

    Zi Yuan knew that no matter what cultivation she achieved, if the Yin or Yang Spirit had been out of her body for too long, it would definitely have caused the Yin Qi and Yang Qi to continuously disperse between heaven and earth . In the end, when her Yuanqi ran out, her soul would disappear along with it .

    This was why cultivators who had just begun to cultivate couldn¡¯t get the Yin Spirit out of their bodies for too long .

    The longer a person¡¯s primordial spirit left their body, the weaker it would be . However, Yan Fang¡¯s Yang Spirit had left her body for such a long time, yet it was still so exuberant and strong . It was really incredible!

    Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling couldn¡¯t help looking at each other . She also saw the shock and confusion in Ruan Hongling¡¯s eyes .

    Yan Fang saw that the two of them were standing there in a daze and did not say a word . She spoke again, saying, "What, you two really don¡¯t want to acknowledge me as your second shibo?"

    Zi Yuan was a cultivator who respected her master greatly . She lowered her head and went forward, then saluted and said, "Second shibo, I hope that you¡¯re well . "

    Although Ruan Hongling wasn¡¯t convinced in her heart, she still followed Zi Yuan¡¯s lead, stepping forward and saying with a reluctant salute, "Second shibo . "

    Yan Fangughed and said slowly, "No wonder . I have not taken care of you since you were children . Especially ten years ago, when your master left our sect with that b*tch, I also left you behind to seek revenge . s, it was right when you two needed to be taken care of that you had to take on the responsibility of guarding Linggong Sect . I don¡¯t know how you two survived it all . "

    Zi Yuan stayed calm and said emotionlessly, "What we suffered is far less than what you, second shibo, went through . You have been steeling yourself to take revenge for nine years and enduring all kinds of hardships . "

    Yan Fangughed heartily . "Zi Yuan . We haven¡¯t seen each other for nine years . You¡¯re still the same Zi Yuan as before, gentle and just and always hiding your firm side . Well, no wonder our senior fellow apprentice is so fond of you! Sure enough, you have the bearing of a great cultivator . That¡¯s right . I came to find you today for this matter . "

    Zi Yuan¡¯s heart tightened, and she thought to herself, "Finally!" She asked, "What can we do for you, second shibo?"

    Yan Fang cooled her expression and said neutrally, "Zi Yuan, Ruan Hongling, both of you are direct descendants of Zhengyi School of Linggong Sect . How can you hang around with demons and followers of the path of evil! I¡¯m here today to advise you to turn back as soon as possible! As long as you promise me that you¡¯ll help me destroy Fox Zen School, I¡¯ll let you in on a big secret!"

    Zi Yuan frowned . Just as she was about to speak, Yan Fang raised her palm and smiled . "Don¡¯t rush to answer . I can tell you firstly that this great secret, which I hid in the Fox Zen School for nine years to discover, is rted to your master! Think carefully before you answer me!"

    As Zi Yuan heard this, her heart was thrown into chaos, and she could only blurt, "My master? What¡¯s going on?"

 Chapter 338

    Chapter 338

    <h4>Put Wrong Spectrum!</h4>

    Yan Fang looked at Zi Yuan and said with a smile, "What, did you promise to help me?"

    Zi Yuan frowned, took a deep breath, and began brainstorming . After pondering for a while, she slowly said, "Second Shibo, the Fox Zen School has been taken over by Li Yundong, and he is a good, brave man . He said that he would revive the Fox Zen School and make this poorly known school be decent once again . I believe he can do it, why don¡¯t you give him a chance? There are times when a grudge is better off buried . "

    Yan Fang¡¯s face changed drastically, and she said furiously, "Asshole, what are you talking about!? That guy disturbed mest time, I haven¡¯t settled the matter with him yet, and you¡¯re actually speaking for him!? Are you mad?"

    Zi Yuan said calmly, "Second Shibo, my master once left a psalm to point out that my future practice needs to rely on Li Yundong . Therefore, I made contact with him . At that time, I discovered that he was not only a cultivation genius, the likes of which has not been seen for 500 years, but also that is an all round amazing man!"

    Zi Yuan was utterly calm, and she spoke with confidence andposure . "Second Shibo, let me ask, if a man willingly suffers divine punishment and walks the way of the Tao, can he be a bad person? If a cultivator is surrounded by beauties the whole day but still maintains the Yuan Yang body, can he be a bad person? If a man knows that his love is a fox spirit but still is infatuated, can he be a bad person? It seems that in the end he is not so bad . I believe that one day he will give up his sin, mend his ways, and finally promote our path of righteous Cultivation!"

    Zi Yuan said in a powerful voice, "Second Shibo, regardless of whether you believe it or not, I do firmly believe that Li Yundong will be able to transform the Fox Zen School, a poorly known sect, into a respectable organization that promotes righteousness! Therefore, second Shibo, I won¡¯t help you . On the contrary, I¡¯d like to persuade you to let this go . Is there any grudge in this world that cannot be resolved? You have already killed so many people from the Fox Zen School, and Liu Ye is already dead . Ao Wushuang has also been sealed away by you, Second Shibo . Let it go!"

    Yan Fangughed loudly, then looked at Zi Yuan and asked meaningfully, "Zi Yuan, are you in love with him?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s face changed drastically, and she said in a flustered voice, "Second, Second Shibo, what are you talking about!"

    Yan Fang sneered in response . "You don¡¯t need to try and hide it . As one who has been through the experience, I can naturally tell what¡¯s going on! You are going to protect this guy? Well, I can tell you that a catastrophe wille, so don¡¯t regret it!"

    The panic in Zi Yuan¡¯s heart was only momentary . After all, she was a cultivation ace, so she soon settled her mind and asked, "What catastrophe?"

    Yan Fang sneered . "Do you think I want to destroy the Fox Zen School just for personal revenge? Huh . Yes, at first I really just wanted to trouble Ao Wushuang, until I identally discovered the secret of the Fox Zen School . "

    "What¡¯s the secret?" Zi Yuan asked .

    Yan Fang opened her mouth to speak, but heard the sound of footstepsing from the stairwell . Her expression changed and she swallowed her words . "It¡¯s not good for you to know now, but let me tell you, I will destroy the Fox Zen School . It¡¯s settled! If you go your own way, don¡¯tin when I¡¯m not polite to you!" she said with a sneer .

    Then, her body shed and quickly hit the wall of the stairwell before swiftly disappearing .

    Ruan Hongling was shocked . She cried out involuntarily, "Sister Zi Yuan, Second Shibo is Yang Spirit body, isn¡¯t she? The Yang Spirit body must be a physical avatar . It¡¯s impossible for someone to pass through a wall!"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s expression was grave . "Second Shibo¡¯s soul has already been cultivated to the pinnacle state of the Yuanying phase, and now she can switch between Yin and Yang as she pleases . At the moment she is about to hit the wall, she transforms her Yang Spirit into a Yin Spirit, allowing her to pass through . "

    Ruan Hongling took a shocked breath . "Amazing! Second Shibo¡¯s primordial spirit has been out of her body for so long, and she can still be so powerful . This is too outrageous!"

    Zi Yuan shook her head and said, "No, it stands to reason that a person who is out of their body in Yang Spirit for so long cannot be too powerful . Even Zhang Sanfeng can only be out of his body in Yang Spirit for three days and his primordial spirit remains unfailing . If you want your primordial spirit to leave the body for so long but still be unfailing, you have to first cultivate to the cultivation of Jinshen phase!"

    Ruan Hongling had a brainwave . "Unless . . . "

    Zi Yuan also looked at her and nodded slightly . "Unless she has found a boarding body!"

    After saying that, Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up . She quickly turned and rushed into the clothing store where the members of the Fox Zen School had been browsing .

    When she rushed in, Su Chan just changed into a new milky-whitece dress . She looked girlish and charming . When Su Chan saw Zi Yuan, she jumped over and said with a grin, "Sister Zi Yuan, am I pretty in this dress?"

    Zi Yuan sized her up, smiled, and said, "Very beautiful! By the way, Su Chan, where are your three Shibo?"

    Su Chan blinked her eyes, pointed at the fitting room, and said, "They¡¯re over there . My sixth and third Shibo are trying out their clothes in the locker room . My fifth Shibo has been out for a long time . "

    As she spoke, the locker room door creaked open, and Zhuang Yating walked out dressed in a Qipao, looking gorgeous and brilliant . Su Chan smiled and greeted her . "Third Shibo, Sister Zi Yuan and the others are looking for you . "

    Zhuang Yating raised her head and asked, "Zhenren Zi Yuan, Zhenren Hong Ling, what can I do for you?"

    Zi Yuan smiled, shook her head and said, "Nothing . " As she spoke, she cast a meaningful look around the dressing room Cao Yi was in, and pulled Ruan Hongling out of the door .

    After Ruan Hongling had walked out with Zi Yuan, she whispered, "Sister Zi Yuan, why are you . . . "

    Zi Yuan waved her hand and interrupted her, "Don¡¯t speak of this . There are some thing you just need to know in your heart, and I can¡¯t confirm anything right now . However, this matter is very strange . We¡¯ll see . "

    Ruan Hongling nodded, then asked again, "Sister Zi Yuan, do you intend to tell Li Yundong about our encounter with the second Shibo?"

    Zi Yuan pondered for a while before shaking her head . "Forget it, it¡¯s better not to tell him . Some things can cause misunderstandings . "

    "All right," Ruan Hongling said . She secretly thought to herself in her heart: "Sister Zi Yuan, don¡¯t you want Li Yundong to know that you are in love with him? Are you really in love with this guy?"

    While they were discussing this, Li Yundong was sitting in the dining room alone, closing his eyes to rest, when suddenly he heard a voiceing from beside him . "Oh, isn¡¯t this the wine fairy?"

    Li Yundong opened his eyes and saw a middle-aged man in a suit with a dignified appearance standing in front of him . He had two beautiful women on his arms and was looking at him with a smile .

    Li Yundong took a look . "Hey, isn¡¯t this Zhao Yougen, the guy who tried to force-feed Cao Kefei alcohol when I was with herst time?"

    Li Yundongughed in his heart . "It¡¯s really a small world when ites to running into enemies . How could I be seeing this guy again?"

    Li Yundong hadn¡¯t stood up . He just raised his eyelids and looked at Zhao Yougen calmly, pretending not to know him . "Who are you?"

    Zhao Yougen seemed to have forgotten the pain he¡¯d suffered previously . He grinned, dragged a chair over, and sat down casually . Then he asked the two women beside him to also sit down . "Little brother, the world really is small . Looks like I¡¯ll meet you wherever I go . Hey, how is Mr . Cao doing recently? You made a lot of money with her, didn¡¯t you?" he said .

    Li Yundong was not a fool . Naturally, he could understand that Zhao was secretly mocking him for living off a woman . In the past, Li Yundong might have felt a spark of anger in his heart, but now, what kind of person was he? How could he be bothered by such a person?

    Li Yundong said with a smile, "Ah, I remember now, you are President Zhao, the man who was drunk and shamelessst time! What, you want me to drink with you again this time?"

    Zhao Yougen¡¯s expression changed when he heard Li Yundong drudging up the past as soon as he opened his mouth . But soon heughed again and said to the two beautiful women beside him, "Young people are really hot-tempered, aren¡¯t they?"

    Although it was nearly winter, Tiannan was in the south and the two women were dressed fashionably, showing reams of skin . Their faces were thered with heavy makeup and they looked coquettish . When they had seen Li Yundong for the first time, their eyes had lit up and they¡¯d looked him up and down with interest . At this moment, when they heard Zhao Yougen¡¯s words, they thought, "He is more than hot-tempered . He is a handsome man with a heroic spirit!"

    But they were living off of Zhao Yougen . Of course, they had to follow what he said . The round-faced beauty covered her mouth, tittering and making fun of him . "Young people are indeed hot-tempered . They can¡¯t all be as calm as you, Mr . Zhao . "

    The one on the rightughed even harder and said, "Mr . Zhao is a sessful man! Others can¡¯tpete with him . "

    Li Yundong felt strange, but he remained calm . He looked at Zhao Yougen with a smile, as if he was merely curious about what he was trying to do .

    Last time Zhao Yougen had tried to teach Li Yundong a lesson, but had ended up being humiliated by Li Yundong instead . Fortunately, he had reacted rtively quickly at that time and avoided humiliation when he was drunk . Otherwise, he would have had to live in shame from then on .

    This matter had been a source of shame for Zhao Yougen and he had always wanted to take revenge . Today, he had found two lovers with which to attend a small wine party . As they were passing by, he had noticed Li Yundong sitting alone in the restaurant . He had suddenly remembered the past grudge and brought the two beautiful women in to put on airs and show off .

    Zhao Yougen sat nobly and tapped on the teacup in front of him . The round-faced woman poured him a cup of tea obediently, while the pointy-faced woman on his left raised the cup and presented it to him . She said in a sweet voice, "Mr . Zhao, please have some tea . "

    Zhao Yougen grunted and proudly lifted the teacup in his hand . He then said to Li Yundong, sounding arrogant, "Little brother, women are still so thoughtful! Don¡¯t you think that a man would have a hard time if he tried to cater to a woman for money? Although you can ask women for money if you have good enough abilities, it still doesn¡¯t look good for you . It¡¯s better to make money by yourself to give to women and let the women cater to you instead, isn¡¯t it?"

    Li Yundong secretly snickered, and the smile on his face only deepened . He nodded and said, "Yes, you are right . "

    Zhao Yougen raised his chin and said arrogantly, "Little brother, I think you¡¯re a good-looking man . Regardless of your other qualities, you¡¯re also really good at drinking . Why don¡¯t you follow me? You can be my drinking partner in the future and I won¡¯t treat you badly . After one month, erm, I¡¯ll give you 5,000 yuan . What do you think?"

    The round-faced beauty next to him eximed, "Really? 5,000 yuan for drinking every month? You¡¯ll give him that so easily? Mr . Zhao, you¡¯re being unfair! I want it too!"

    The other beauty alsoined like a spoiled child, "Mr . Zhao, you can¡¯t treat one of us better than the other!"

    Zhao Yougen¡¯s face was full of joy . "Well, well, well, you are so greedy . I¡¯ve given you enough money already, haven¡¯t I? I¡¯ll make it up to you when I go back! Hey, I¡¯ll give you a good meal too, not only money!"

    Hisst sentence was meaningful . The two women giggled and said coquettishly, "Mr . Zhao, you are such a naughty little viin!"

    Zhao Yougen wrapped his arms around both of the women¡¯s shoulders and said to Li Yundong proudly, "Little brother, how is it? It¡¯s such a good deal . Won¡¯t you agree?"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help raising his head and bursting intoughter when he saw how arrogant it was that Zhao had asked him, a cultivator, as well as the leader of a sect, to be his hired drinking partner .

 Chapter 339

    Chapter 339

    <h4>A Viin¡¯s Heart</h4>

    Li Yundong¡¯sughter wounded Zhao Yougen¡¯s self-esteem . With a sullen face, he asked, "What¡¯s wrong? Don¡¯t you think the money is good enough?"

    Li Yundong waved his hand with a smile and said, "No, no . In fact, if I were a college student who hasn¡¯t graduated yet and only needed to keep you from drinking, then the money would be a lot for me to earn in a month . "

    Zhao Yougen¡¯s feelings turned from anger to joy as he said, "Exactly . What do you hope to gain from being with a woman? Why don¡¯t you juste with me?"

    Li Yundong refused with a smile . "It¡¯s not necessarily the case that I don¡¯t have a promising future with a woman . It¡¯s also not necessarily possible to have a promising future by working with a man . Regardless, I prefer to live alone . I¡¯m fine as is . Mr . Zhao, I appreciate your kindness!"

    Zhao Yougen looked displeased again and said, "What do you mean? You think you¡¯re too good to work for me? Humph, young people nowadays are all extremely ambitious and think highly of themselves, but in my opinion, most of them are all talk and no action!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said nothing . The two beautiful women beside him also said, "That¡¯s right . It¡¯s an honor to follow our Boss Zhao . This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

    The other beautiful woman also said coaxingly, "Handsome fe, don¡¯t miss out on this . How much money can a college graduate earn in a month? Not enough to pay the rent . Where else will you find such a good opportunity?"

    Zhao Yougenughed and said scoldingly, "You two little tramps, seeing that he is so handsome, you want to cuckold me, don¡¯t you?"

    When they heard this, both of the beauties said in an affectedly sweet voice, "Mr . Zhao, we¡¯re just infatuated with you!"

    Zhao Yougenughed without restraint and said, "It¡¯s true . You are infatuated with my money!"

    Li Yundong looked at Zhao Yougen¡¯s disgusting state with a smile . When he was about to speak, he heard a voice cut in . "Li Yundong, who is this?"

    Li Yundong turned around and saw Ruan Hongling looking at Zhao Yougen and sitting in front of the table with a strange look on her face . Zi Yuan was standing behind her with confusion in her eyes, as if there was something weighing on her mind .

    It suddenly urred to Li Yundong that when he had first met Ruan Hongling, he had already known that Cao Kefei had a grudge against Zhao Yougen . At that time, he had really been a youngd and had been so muddleheaded that he hadn¡¯t even known that he had eaten Renyuan Jindan and bewilderedly cultivated with Su Chan .

    But now, he had be both a master famous amongst the younger generation of the Cultivation World and the head of the Fox Zen School . Although he was the same person, the changes in him were vast .

    Li Yundong sighed in his heart . He had wanted to tease Zhao Yougen, but he just smiled and said to Ruan Hongling, "It¡¯s nothing, someone I used to know . He came over to say hello and offer me a job . "

    Zhao Yougen was stunned when he saw Ruan Hongling . He thought to himself, "How is this girl so beautiful? What¡¯s more, her temperament is outstanding . The two beauties I have by my side are not bad, butpared with her, they are nothing . There is simply nopetition!"

    But when his eyes turned from Ruan Hongling to Zi Yuan, his mind suddenly slowed, and his head almost exploded . He opened his mouth and practically blurted right then and there, "There is such a beautiful woman in the world! Do Goddesses walk the earth? What kind of man in the world can possess such a fairy?"

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s pride and beauty along with Zi Yuan¡¯s ethereal temperament stunned Zhao Yougen and the two beauties beside him . For a moment, they were so awed that couldn¡¯te to their senses .

    Ruan Hongling looked at Zhao Yougen impatiently and patted the table . "Hey, you¡¯re in our seats . Please move!"

    Zhao Yougen was shocked and stood up in a daze . He saw Ruan Hongling and Zi Yuan sit down opposite Li Yundong . He pointed incredulously at the women, and then at Li Yundong, then stuttered, "You, you . . . "

    Ruan Hongling was unhappy to see him looking at her so lecherously, and she snapped angrily, "What do you mean by ¡¯you¡¯ and ¡¯your¡¯? Hey, don¡¯t you have your own seats? This restaurant is so big . Shouldn¡¯t you go somewhere else?"

    Zhao Yougen could be regarded as a sessful entrepreneur . Anyone who saw him would be polite to him . Even if Cao Kefei hated him, she would speak politely for fear of offending him . When had he ever seen someone be so openly rude to him?

    Zhao Yougen was stunned by her harsh words and couldn¡¯te to his senses for a while . Moving on autopilot, he found a table next to them and sat down . However, as soon as he sat down, he fixed his eyes on Li Yundong, Zi Yuan, and Ruan Hongling . Seeing Li Yundong talking andughing with them with a warm expression on his face, Zhao Yougen felt very upset, as if a five-vored vase had been overturned in his heart .

    The two beauties next to him could certainly be considered good-looking, butpared to Ruan Hongling, they were at a disadvantage . That was to say nothing of Zi Yuan, whom they didn¡¯t even dare to look at . They were afraid that if they looked at her one more time, they would die of inferiority .

    When the pointy-faced beauty saw Zhao Yougen staring at the trio with jealousy in his eyes, she said pointedly, "Hum, they¡¯re so beautiful but still being kept as mistresses, aren¡¯t they?"

    But when the round-faced beauty saw Zhao Yougen¡¯s expression only worsen after hearing her words, she immediately said, "What? It¡¯s obviously this handsome guy who is being kept!"

    Hearing that, Zhao Yougen¡¯s expression seemed to grow much more amenable .

    But not longter, arge group of people came through the door of the restaurant . All of them were so gorgeous that they almost made the eyes of the other diners pop out of their sockets . Su Chan was at the forefront of the group .

    Dressed in a snow-white dress, Su Chan bounced over, eagerly going up to Li Yundong . She twirled on the spot and said with a smile, "Do I look pretty?"

    Li Yundong smiled and tweaked the little girl¡¯s nose . "Beautiful as ever! Sit down!" As he said that, he patted the seat next to him .

    Su Chan took Li Yundong¡¯s arm and sat down with a smile . Obviously hoping for approval, she said, "I didn¡¯t spend much of your money . I was a very good girl!"

    Li Yundong nodded smilingly and said, "I¡¯ll have to ask your Shibo to make sure . "

    Su Chan immediately turned around and pulled Cao Yi¡¯s arm . "Shibo, tell him quickly . Wasn¡¯t I very obedient?"

    Cao Yi had also changed into a new outfit that made her look more mature and sexy than usual . She chuckled and said, "Chan¡¯er really was very obedient . She didn¡¯t even buy expensive clothes and only wanted to save money for you . "

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Alright, sit down everyone . The dishes are ready and will be served in a little while . "

    Cao Yi smiled to the foxes behind her . "Hurry up and thank our generous Leader!"

    The foxes grinned . "Long live the leader, long live the leader!"

    Li Yundong smiled and waved his hand . "Stop yelling . You make me sound like the leader of a pack of gangsters . Sit down quickly . "

    Hearing that, the people of the Fox Zen School rushed to the table beside them, but then they saw Zhao Yougen and two beautiful women sitting at their table . They immediately turned around and asked Li Yundong, "Head, who are they?"

    Li Yundong nced at Zhao Yougen and asked, "Boss Zhao, do you want to eat with us?"

    Zhao Yougen suddenly flushed with shame . No matter how stupid or disbelieving he might be, he knew very well that all the beauties in front of him were followers of Li Yundong . It was absolutely impossible for him to be some sort of gigolo being kept by this swarm of stunning women .

    The two women nking him were being seriously stimted today . First, they had been shocked by Ruan Hongling¡¯s and Zi Yuan¡¯s ethereal temperaments . Then, such arge group of gorgeous girls hade and all of them were so good-looking that their eyes were dazzled just from looking at them . It was impossible to even identify an inferior girl .

    When the two saw the little foxes driving them away, they immediately looked at Zhao Yougen . Zhao Yougen had originally wanted to show off to Li Yundong and w back some of his former status, but he hadn¡¯t expected Li Yundong to no longer be an ignorant person . Zhao Yougen had been asking for trouble bying here .

    He was so embarrassed and resentful that he said through gritted teeth, "We¡¯re leaving!"

    After that, the three stood up and ran out of the restaurant as if they were running for their lives .

    Once they were out of the restaurant, their pace slowed . When the two beauties felt that they were far away from Su Chan and the others, they began to calm down . They felt so ashamed that they could barely walk properly after standing next to so many beautiful women just now .

    But now that there was some distance between them and the foxes, the two beauties became active . After all, their money still came from Zhao Yougen, and they had to live . The pointy-faced beauty saw that Zhao Yougen¡¯s face was as dark as the bottom of a pot, so she smiled cautiously and said, "Mr . Zhao, where are we going to eat?"

    Zhao Yougen suddenly became angry and threw her a tight p . "Eat, eat, eat, eat! F*ck you! Get out, both of you, get out of my sight!"

    The pointy-faced beauty was so stunned that she covered her face and couldn¡¯te to her senses . The round-faced beauty next to her quickly pulled her by the hand and took her aside . The pointy-faced beauty looked at Zhao Yougen with resentment shing in her eyes . She gritted her teeth and stamped her feet, then left the building with the round-faced beauty, leaving Zhao Yougen standing there alone, panting .

    The more Zhao Yougen thought about it, the angrier he became . "D*mn it . This guy was a wimp who looked like he was relying on a woman half a year ago . How could he have totally changed into an imposing man in only half a year? F*ck, where did he find so many beautiful women? Any one of those girls could defeat any woman I could get! How did he do it?"

    Zhao Yougen was born to be narrow-minded . Especially after he had achieved sess in his career, he had only be more arrogant . He always needed to buy the things he wanted and get the women that he liked . That was why he was so entangled with Cao Kefei and had be enemies with Li Yundong .

    Zhao Yougen stood at the door of the building with his arms crossed and thought, "D*mn, I have never been defeated by the same person twice in such a short time! No, I must take revenge!"

    But how could he get revenge?

    "Should I hire someone to beat him bloody? No, it wouldn¡¯t be easy for me, a businessman, to shake off the matter if it got out . I¡¯d be severely extorted by officials if they knew . "

    Zhao Yougen thought about it for a while, but he couldn¡¯t think of a good method . He stood under the eaves of the building to think and didn¡¯t even know how long he was in a daze for . Suddenly he heard the familiar voices of Li Yundong and the others . He was surprised and reacted with a start, then hid to one side and followed them for no reason .

    Zhao Yougen saw Li Yundong head to a more prosperous part of themercial street . When they came to a shop selling storefronts, he suddenly had an idea . "Does this guy want to rent a shop?"

    When he saw Li Yundong and the others looking up and down at the shop, he became more and more certain of his guess . Zhao Yougen was very sure that anyone who wanted to rent amercial shop like the ones on this street would have to find the local business bureau . Coincidentally, he happened to know the director of the local business bureau!

    Zhao Yougen fished out his phone from his pocket and called the director . "Director Wang, right? Haha, I¡¯m Zhao Yougen! Haha, no, no, I won¡¯t disturb your dinner, but I do want to ask you for a favor . "

    Zhao Yougen told Director Wang that Li Yundong and the others wanted to rent a shop . "I have had some conflicts with this guy . Director Wang, you ought to know . . . " he exined, exaggerating some points in his favour .

    On the phone, Director Wang asked casually, "What¡¯s the background of this Li Yundong guy?"

    Zhao Yougenughed and said, "He¡¯s just an ordinary college student who wants to start his own business . He¡¯s young and arrogant . "

    Director Wang deliberately slowed down his voice and said, "Nowadays, the country is encouraging college students to start their own businesses . Mr . Zhao, is it right and proper to get in the way of this?"

    Zhao Yougen was full of hatred . Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly heard Director Wang say in a drawn out tone . " . . . However, college students nowadays are all very impetuous . A setback or two can also help them grow up!"

    Zhao Yougen was overjoyed by this response and said excitedly, "Director Wang, you¡¯re right . You¡¯re even more thoughtful than me! I¡¯ll invite you to enjoy a sauna with me next time! Well, well, that¡¯s a deal!"

    Zhao Yougen hung up the phone and proudly looked at the shop opposite him . "You are so arrogant, proud, and offensive to me . I¡¯ll make you achieve nothing!" he thought to himself smugly .

 Chapter 340

    Chapter 340

    <h4>An Unexpected Encounter with an Old Acquaintance</h4>

    The shop that Zhou Qin took a fancy to was on the Pedestrian Street of Tiannan City . It had two floors, totalling about three hundred square meters . It had once been a small electronic appliance supermarket, but it had been unable to keep up with the trends and its business had gradually been taken byrge shopping malls, so the turnover had declined year on year . The former boss couldn¡¯t bear it, so he had considered selling the shop and doing other business .

    Li Yundong followed Zhou Qin to the shop and looked around . He whispered to Zhou Qin, "This shop is good . It is spacious, bright, and near the street . But I guess the rent will be quite high . I don¡¯t know if we can afford it . "

    Zhou Qin exined with a smile, "I¡¯ve already inquired about it . It costs 300,000 a year . "

    Li Yundong was startled . "300,000 a year? That¡¯s a lot of money!"

    Zhou Qin said, "Yes, it¡¯s not cheap . We have rented two houses before, each of which cost more than a hundred thousand a year . But these are houses, and this is a shop on the street . It¡¯s only natural that it¡¯d be more expensive . "

    Li Yundong thought for a moment, then turned to Zi Yuan and asked, "Zi Yuan, what do you think?"

    Zi Yuan had been off in her own world, and she said in a daze . "Huh? What did you say?"

    Li Yundong was puzzled . He had never seen Zi Yuan behaving like this and couldn¡¯t help but ask, "What¡¯s wrong? It seems like you have something in your mind . "

    Zi Yuan became more focused and smiled slightly . "Nothing, are you asking about the rent?"

    Li Yundong saw that she wasn¡¯t going to say anything, so he stopped asking . He nned to find a private opportunity to talk to herter . He said, "Yes, I think this price is really too high . 300,000 a year is a lot of money . Even if we pay for it once a year, it¡¯ll wipe out our coffers . Not to mention that it needs decorating . We¡¯ll really have nothing left . "

    Li Yundong continued to say, "You see, although we have a lot of tea, it is all Tie Guanyin . we can¡¯t only sell Tie Guanyin, right? We¡¯ll need to buy some other tea, and then we will need to spend money again . "

    Saying that, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but smile bitterly . "After bing a leader, I¡¯ve started to realize that there is never enough money . In the past, I always thought that cultivators could do the inedia, so they didn¡¯t have to spend a penny on eating . Now I know that it¡¯s all the other cr*p that matters!"

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "The five elements of cultivating Taosim are not allowed to be cultivated without money . Even the greatest cultivators still need to eat and drink . The theory of cultivation originated from traditional Chinese medicine, which was scientific and rigorous . Even if it mostly wasn¡¯t exined by western scientific theory, some things could be exined . Thew of energy conservation can exin thew of cultivation: people can¡¯t create new energy without any help . They must absorb and borrow surrounding energy, or store excess energy in their bodies through eating, cultivation, etc . , then release it when they use it . "

    Next to them, Zhou Qin heard the conversation between Zi Yuan and Li Yundong about cultivation . She pricked up her ears and listened intently . When she heard this, she suddenly asked, "Is inedia a lie?"

    Zi Yuan took a look at her . Seeing how studious she was being, she smiled approvingly and said, "No . No matter if it was in ancient or modern times, the Inedia skill has existed . It¡¯s just that there are some differences between the understanding of ordinary people . "

    Zhou Qin asked, "What¡¯s differences?"

    Zi Yuan looked at Li Yundong and smiled . "This is your disciple . Aren¡¯t you going to exin?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Are you testing me? Okay, then I¡¯ll exin . "

    Li Yundong said to Zhou Qin, "As the name suggests, from the literal meaning, you can see that it means that people don¡¯t eat whole grains . However, ordinary people think that cultivators don¡¯t eat anything at all . Think about it, if we cultivators all ate nothing, how much money could we save? Would I even need to worry about money?"

    Zhou Qin chuckled . "But the truth is?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "The truth is that it¡¯s a big mistake . Inedia is just for getting rid of the evil and unholy Qi in the body . When a person eats whole grains, he will inevitably have dirty defecation and urination . How can he be an immortal like that? But if he doesn¡¯t eat the five grains, where will the nutritione from? People must consume energy to live . Where does the energye from? Can one really live on without eating anything? Isn¡¯t that a big joke?"

    Zhou Qin became more and more curious . "So where does the nutritione from?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Where does ite from? From eating anything else! Inedia is just about not eating whole grains, but any other foods are fine . "

    Zhou Qin was surprised and asked, "Really? So if someone eats other things, they won¡¯t have defecate or urinate?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "It depends on what you eat! The Beiqi Book tells of a Hermit cultivator of Langya Mountain . He practiced the Inedia skill . He ate pine nuts, atractylodes macroceph and Fuling every day . The Old Book of Tang also records a person called Wang Yuanzhi, who was a cultivator who cultivated the Inedia skill . What did he eat every day? Ganoderma! He ate Ganoderma as food! Of course, he didn¡¯t have to eat whole grains as food!"

    Zhou Qin opened her mouth and said, "Really? He ate Ganoderma as food? How much did that cost at every meal?"

    Zi Yuan chuckled and said, "Now you know why money ranks second out of the five elements of cultivating . In the past, there were many cultivators who didn¡¯te from rich families and didn¡¯t have much money . However, they wanted to cultivate . They didn¡¯t have enough money to buy all the necessary medicinal materials for cultivation, so they went up the mountain and dug up herbs for themselves to cultivate in the mountains . "

    Zhou Qin sighed and said, "No wonder those cultivators in ancient times lived in the mountains and were all proficient in traditional Chinese medicine . They needed to be self-sufficient . But why don¡¯t we hear about any of this in modern times?"

    Zi Yuan nodded and said, "In modern times, the Inedia skill is alsomon . On the 7th day of the first month of the 1988 year, the People¡¯s Daily paper once reported about a 25-year-old girl from Moon Vige of Macheng City in Hubei Province . This girl was named Xiong Zaiding . When she was 15 years old, she had a serious illness and even once she was out of danger she never ate again . She hadn¡¯t eaten anything for 10 years . When she recovered from her illness, her behavior went back to normal . At that time, it was thought to be a myth . "

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Thisdy must have met a great cultivator and taken some Inedia drug or an elixir of life . "

    Zi Yuan nced at Li Yundong and nodded . "You¡¯re right! Back then, Taoist priest Zhang happened to pass by and fed her with the Immortal Inedia Elixir, thus saving her life . "

    Li Yundong asked, "Then she didn¡¯t cultivateter?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head and said, "No, a serious illness destroyed her furnace tripod . Even though she was saved, her Furnace tripod was left unusable . "

    Zhou Qin asked curiously, "Immortal Inedia Elixir? Is there even such a thing in this world?"

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "Yes, I still remember the prescription!"

    Zhou Qinqi was curious . "Tell me about it . "

    Zi Yuan said, "The Immortal Inedia Elixir is made up of herbs and foods such as yellow Essence, Polygonatum odoratum, sesame seeds, asparaginase, jujube, ck beans, Ganoderma, pine nuts, Atractylodes macroceph, mulberries, walnuts, and honey . In addition, minerals are used as medicine prescriptions, such as Cinnabar, Realgar, and Mica . "

    Zhou Qin was stunned to hear this . "Oh my god, these are all healthy foods with excellent nutritive properties! How much would it cost to eat them every day?"

    Li Yundongughed . "You see now?"

    Zi Yuan said with a smile, "Among the cultivation sects, only a few rich sects can cultivate Inedia . And only a few leaders and direct descendants can take this kind of Immortal Inedia Elixir . Even the leaders of ordinary sects can¡¯t afford it, so we have a special name for the Immortal Inedia Elixir in the cultivation world . "

    Li Yundong and Zhou Qin both asked in unison, "What do you call it?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s lips curled into a smile, and then she said, "The Elixir of Bankruptcy!"

    After that, the three of themughed in unison .

    Su Chan, who was strolling around the store, heard their amusedughs . She came over curiously, blinked her eyes, and asked, "Yundong, what are you talking about? Why are youughing so happily?"

    Li Yundong smiled and touched her hair . "It¡¯s nothing . So, what do you think about this shop?"

    Su Chan nodded excitedly . "Well, it¡¯s great . We all like this ce very much!"

    Li Yundong turned to Zhou Qin and said, "Then let¡¯s rent this ce . I have decided . "

    Zhou Qin saw that Li Yundong had been worried about the rent before . He had been hesitating for a while and consulted with Zi Yuan for a long time . But now, a single sentence from Su Chan had immediately settled things . It was obvious that Su Chan was very important to him .

    Zhou Qin sighed in her heart, but she didn¡¯t show her true emotions on her face . She nodded with a smile and took out her mobile phone . "I¡¯ll call the people from the Bureau of Business . " After that, she went to the other side of the room to make a phone call .

    Li Yundong smiled and nodded . He wondered in his heart, "Haven¡¯t Zhou Qin¡¯s official rtions been ruined because of her father¡¯s fall from power? How can she still contact the Bureau of Commerce?"

    But he quickly realized, "Even if a centipede dies, it doesn¡¯t freeze . After all, the Zhou family still holds some power in Tiannan City . "

    However, after a while, he saw Zhou Qin walking over with a livid expression on her face . Li Yundong¡¯s heart thumped, and he asked in a deep voice, "What¡¯s wrong?"

    Zhou Qin¡¯s face was cold and she did not speak for a long time . After a while, she gnashed her teeth and sneered, "Wang knows that our Zhou family has fallen and is putting on airs . " She looked at Li Yundong in confusion and said, "Master, have you offended someone? As soon as I said that you wanted to rent this store, they immediately began backpedalling . "

    Li Yundong was surprised and said, "Me? I don¡¯t think so . Wait . . . "

    Li Yundong said thoughtfully, "Actually, I¡¯ve offended a lot of people . Liu Chuan from school is one of them . I¡¯ve also offended the Great Six in the cultivation world, not to mention the Zhengyi School . On top of that, I¡¯ve offended Zheng Youming and Zhao Yougen in the business circles . "

    Zi Yuan said helplessly, "I still remember thatst time on Tianlong Mountain, I told you not to kill too many people or it would be difficult for you to take so much as a single step in the future . Do you understand now? There are too many bad people in this world . You can crush them with a single finger when you confront them face-to-face, but they are good at sabotaging you behind your back . You don¡¯t even know who is trying to harm you . "

    Li Yundong said with a wry smile, "Yes, yes, you are right! What should we do now? Zhou Qin, do we have any room for negotiation?"

    Zhou Qin shook her head and said, "If my father was still in power, it naturally wouldn¡¯t be a problem . But now . . . "

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t want Zhou Qin to feel any guilt . Although he was feeling unhappy, he still smiled and saidfortingly, "It¡¯s okay . Xuanzang encountered eighty-one difficulties while going to the West Heaven for Buddhist scriptures . Compared to that, our problems are nothing . "

    Zhou Qin sighed, "The store here is ideal . The other stores are not as good as this . "

    Li Yundong smiled and said to Su Chan, "Go and get your shibos and sisters . Let¡¯s go . "

    Noticing that things were not going well, Su Chan responded obediently and greeted the members of the Fox Zen School . Then, they left the shop together .

    When they got to the Pedestrian Street, Zhou Qin sighed . "Master, it¡¯s all my fault . If I just . . . "

    Li Yundong did not wait for her to finish, interrupting her with a smile as he said, "Don¡¯t say that . It wasn¡¯t your fault . As the saying goes, there must be a road for the car to arrive at the mountain! There had to be a way . The worst thing that can happen is that we won¡¯t get to rent this ce . Let¡¯s go to see if there are any other good shops elsewhere . "

    The others nodded one after another . When they were about to leave, they suddenly heard an elderly voice cry out in surprise and joy, "Little magic doctor?"

    Li Yundong felt that the the voice a little familiar, but he didn¡¯t pay too much attention . However, a thought came to Zhou Qin . She turned around and took a closer look, only to see an olddy wearing a dark blue jacket and a pair of multiyered cloth shoes . The olddy was looking at her with a serene smile .

    Zhou Qin recognized that the woman in front of her was the one who she had been close to while she was in hospital . She was surprised and delighted . She shouted, "Granny Xu!"

 Chapter 341

    Chapter 341

    <h4>One Good Turn Deserves Another</h4>

    Olddy Xu hadn¡¯t dared to confirm it before . She just tentatively called out to her . At this time, she saw Zhou Qin turn around . It was them . She knew Zhou Qin, so she also knew that the man beside her had to be the little miracle-working doctor who had cured her . She smiled and said, "Miss Zhou, it¡¯s you . "

    At this time, Li Yundong turned around and recognized that it was the olddy in front of him whose body he had cured of dampness in the hospital . Heughed . "It¡¯s you, olddy!"

    Olddy Xu held Zhou Qin with one hand and Li Yundong with the other, seeming very enthusiastic . A smile bloomed over her old face like a chrysanthemum . "Little miracle-working doctor, you left in a hurryst time . I wanted to thank you but I couldn¡¯t find you! God, I have finally met you today . You cured my illness . My body is making a remarkable recovery now . It¡¯s like I have be a dozen years younger than before!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Grandma, I only did what anyone else would have!"

    Olddy Xu said disapprovingly, "Well, don¡¯t say that . How can there be such a good person in the whole world? A good person must have a good reward . Otherwise, who would be motivated to be nice? If there were only bad people, wouldn¡¯t the world be in chaos? I must thank you today . Have you eaten? Let me count the number of people here . . . "

    Olddy Xu smiled and said to Li Yundong, "Gracious me, there are more than a dozen beautiful girls with you! Little miracle-working doctor, you are so lucky! Let¡¯s go and eat together . "

    Li Yundong smiled and politely declined . "We¡¯ve already eaten and we are in a hurry to see the shop!"

    Olddy Xu asked curiously, "Why are you looking at a shop? Do you want to start a business?"

    Zhou Qin exined with a smile, "Olddy Xu, we intend to open a boutique teahouse . You know, drinking tea can promote health preservation and improve longevity!"

    Olddy Xu said happily, "Well, once it¡¯s open, not only will Ie to your teashop, I will also bring my friends to drink there every day! We trust the little miracle-working doctor!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart was filled with both joy and worry . He was happy that the store would already have a group of stable customers upon opening, but he was worried that he would not find a suitable property in the first ce .

    Zhou Qin saw Li Yundong¡¯s wry smile, so she smiled and said to Old Lady Xu, "Old Lady Xu, you¡¯re so kind . We appreciate your generosity, but it¡¯s not certain that this store will be opened now!"

    Olddy Xu asked, "What¡¯s the matter? Is there some problem?"

    Zhou Qin sighed and said, "We chose a shop and made a deal with Director Wang of the Administration for Industry and Commerce, but in the end, he went back on his word . "

    Olddy Xu¡¯s jaw fell open . "He went back on it? Why? Why did he go back on his word? Why didn¡¯t he do what he promised?"

    Zhou Qin shook her head . "I don¡¯t know . When I called him just now, he didn¡¯t give any details . Maybe Li Yundong has offended someone . "

    Olddy Xu pped her thigh and said angrily, "That b*stard! Give me the phone and I¡¯ll tell him!"

    Zhou Qin and Li Yundong looked at each other in surprise . Li Yundong asked curiously, "Olddy Xu, can you help us?"

    Olddy Xuughed and said, "That little viin is my son, so what do you think?"

    Li Yundong and the others were overjoyed . Zhou Qin smiled and rang the number . Over the phone, Director Wang said impatiently, "Hey, didn¡¯t I tell you? If I say this thing won¡¯t work, then it won¡¯t work . . . "

    Zhou Qin didn¡¯t wait for him to finish his words before handing the phone to Old Lady Xu with a smile . She shouted into the cell, "Wang Dongliang, you little good-for-nothing, get over here!"

    With a tter, the sound of something falling came from the other side of the phone . Wang Dongliang eximed, "Mom, why are you using this number?"

    Olddy Xu said loudly, "Boy, I am waiting for you at No . 138, Donghe Road right now . If I don¡¯t see you within half an hour, you will not be weed into my house again this year!" After that, she hung up .

    Olddy Xu looked up with a smile and said to Li Yundong, "Let¡¯s wait here for a while . That stinky boy wille soon . "

    Sure enough, after about ten minutes, a Honda screeched onto the Pedestrian Street . A man, about 1 . 8 meters tall and seemingly 30 or 40 years old, got out of the car . He was wearing the uniform of Administration for Industry and Commerce and reeked of alcohol . It was Wang Dongliang, the director of Administration for Industry and Commerce .

    Wang Dongliang nced at Li Yundong, Su Chan, Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, and the others . He was so shocked that his eyeballs almost fell out of their sockets . "Who is this guy? How can he bring so many beautiful women with him?"

    In his opinion, Li Yundong had to be an official or a rich second-generation kid . Especially when he saw Zhou Qin standing next to Li Yundong and faintly looking to him as the leader, he became more certain of his own opinion .

    It wasmon to see someone lose their power and influence in official circles . However, although Zhou Qin had lost her power, as a daughter of the Zhou family, news of her hot-tempered personality had spread all over Tiannan City . Almost everyone was in awe of Zhou Qin¡¯s fiery temperament .

    Although Wang Dongliang was not afraid of Zhou Qin, a powerless beauty, he wondered how a powerful man could subdue a woman like Zhou Qin and make her follow him obediently .

    What was the background of this man?

    Wang Dong quickly thought, "I¡¯ve miscalcted . Zhao Yougen, that wretch, set me up! I drank too much at that time and made a promise him too quickly!"

    Wang Dongliang¡¯s eyes kept rolling as he tried to think of a way out . He smiled and greeted Li Yundong, Zhou Qin, and the others . He then said to Old Lady Xu with an apologetic smile, "Mom, why did you call me over in such a hurry?"

    Olddy Xu¡¯s expression was not one of affection . She raised her hand and pped him round the head . "You fool, don¡¯t you know what you have done?"

    Trying to dodge, Wang Dongliang said with a bitter expression, "Mom! We¡¯re in public! Think of my reputation!"

    Olddy Xu became even angrier . She bent down to take off her shoes and began hitting him with them . "Do you still care about your reputation? You brat, you made your mother look less than human . Your mother¡¯s reputation has beenpletely ruined by you!"

    Wang Dongliang covered his head with one hand and pulled his mother over to the door of the shop . With a sad face, he asked, "Mom, what have I done wrong? Please tell me . "

    Olddy Xu said breathlessly, "Didn¡¯t you promise to rent the shop to Miss Zhou in the beginning?"

    Wang Dongliang¡¯s heart thumped, and he thought, "I did, but how does Zhou Qin know my mother?"

    Wang Dongliang had been working as an official for a long time, and he had long been sly . He asked cunningly, "Mom, how do you know Zhou Qin?"

    "How do you think? From the hospital!" Olddy Xu said angrily .

    Wang Dongliang smiled bitterly in his heart and thought, "Mom, Mom, how can you cause me trouble even just by living in the hospital? When I asked you to move to a high-level nursing room, you refused, and now look at what¡¯s happening to me!"

    However, this thought could not be expressed . Wang Dongliang smiled apologetically and said, "So she was also on your ward?"

    Olddy Xu spat, "Bah, you jinx!" She pulled Li Yundong over and pointed at him as she asked, "Do you know who this is?"

    Wang Dongliang had long wanted to get to know Li Yundong¡¯s inner thoughts . He straightened up and stretched out one hand with a smile, saying, "Hello . May I have your name?"

    Li Yundong smiled, seemingly neither humble nor pushy . "It¡¯s nothing special . My name is Li Yundong . "

    Wang Dongliang thought to himself, "Sure enough, it¡¯s him!"

    Olddy Xu said, "You idiot, he¡¯s the one who cured my illness! This is the Little Miracle-working Doctor!"

    "Ah!" Wang Dongliang opened his eyes wide and gawped at Li Yundong . "You are the Little Miracle-working Doctor that my mother keeps talking about? I¡¯m sick of hearing the story! Today I finally get to meet you . You really deserve your reputation!"

    Li Yundong chuckled . "Old Madam Xu thinks too highly of me . "

    Although Li Yundong was young, he had an extraordinary temperament . Especially when he treated others with propriety, he had the demeanor of a master . Wang Dongliang felt sincerely surprised, and his face began to heat up . "Nice to meet you . I have always wanted to thank you face to face but could never find a chance . I never expected the flood to dash against Dragon King Temple! Sorry, I¡¯m really sorry . "

    Wang Dongliang saw that Li Yundong, surrounded by beautiful women, really didn¡¯t look like an ordinary person . He couldn¡¯t figure out his background . In addition, his mother was making trouble right next to them, so he could do Li Yundong a favor . He said, "You want to rent this shop, right? No problem, I¡¯ll go back and sort it out for you!"

    Li Yundong was overjoyed, but he didn¡¯t show his tion on his face . He just smiled faintly and said, "That¡¯s great . But for how many years will we get to rent it?"

    Wang Dongliang said, "Usually, it¡¯ll be for two years, or maybe even three . "

    "But I have limited money . Can I pay the rent for it year by year?" Li Yundong asked .

    Wang Dongliang¡¯s face was full of embarrassment . "This . . . "

    He hesitated for a moment, and Olddy Xu immediately patted him with her shoe and shouted, "What are you thinking? What¡¯s the difference between renting for one year and renting for two? It doesn¡¯t matter who you rent to, but if you rent it to this Little Miracle-working Doctor, he will bring benefits to society . I¡¯m still waiting to taste his tea!"

    Wang Dongliang¡¯s arm was covered with dusty shoeprints by this point, and he looked embarrassed . He smiled bitterly and said, "Mom, please stop making a fuss . We have our own rules!"

    Seeing that Olddy Xu was about to re at him again, he quickly said, "However, rules are inanimate, but a person is alive!"

    Wang Dongliang thought for a moment and said, "It wouldn¡¯t be impossible to rent it every year, but the three hundred thousand yuan of rental fees must be paid . "

    Before Li Yundong could open his mouth, Old Madam Xu next to him opened her mouth wide and eximed, "Three hundred thousand? Are you a robber or a hooligan? Last year it was two hundred thousand . You¡¯re raising it to three hundred thousand this year? No, no, two hundred thousand is okay . Don¡¯t you know that this country is suppressing the housing prices now? You are openly going against the government!"

    Wang Dongliang didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry . "Mom, these are two different things! You need to stop fooling around, okay? I beg you! Our Administration for Industry and Commerce has a goal to hit every year!"

    Olddy Xu said angrily, "What damned goal? Who are you fooling? I know what you intend . Won¡¯t the extra money be redirected right into your pocket? No, no, no, I don¡¯t care about the others . If the little miracle-working doctor wants to rent this shop, I must do my best to secure it! I can¡¯t fail to repay my obligation to him! Two hundred thousand for one year of rent! You can handle it yourself . Anyway, I said it here today . If you don¡¯t agree, you needn¡¯t call me ¡¯mother¡¯ in the future . I have no need for an ungrateful son like you!"

 Chapter 342

    Chapter 342

    <h4>Three Powerful Magical Weapons!</h4>

    Wang Dongliang waspletely speechless . He looked around, a sheen of sweat on his forehead . He pulled Li Yundong aside and said with a wry smile, "Brother, you saw it too . I can¡¯t refuse you today . If you help me, I will rent this bracelet to you, but you can¡¯t tell anyone else . Otherwise, I will be in trouble and you will lose the bracelet . "

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Director Wang, that¡¯s for sure . When my teahouse opens, I hope you¡¯lle often . I see that you don¡¯t look well . I guess that there is something wrong with your liver . If youe here to drink tea often, it will do your liver good . "

    Wang Dongliang didn¡¯t take the advice seriously at all . He just wanted to leave as soon as possible in case his mother was going to p him with the sole of her shoe again . He waved his hand and said, "When you are free, we can talk about itter . When you go to the Administration for Industry and Commerceter, I will ask someone to help you get things done . I still have something to do, so I¡¯ll leave now . "

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t ask him to stay either . He simply smiled and said, "Okay, I¡¯ll see you again someday if fate allows . "

    Wang Dongliang turned to olddy Xu and said with a ttering smile, "Mom, are you satisfied now?"

    Olddy Xu¡¯s rage turned to pleasure and she said, "That¡¯s more like it . You can go back to your work! This has nothing to do with you!"

    Wang Dongliang felt depressed in his heart . "I really am at her beck and call!" He gloomily got into the car, started the engine, and drove away .

    Li Yundong and the others left there all looked at each other and then broke out into cheers . The little foxes even pped their hands to celebrate .

    Su Chan held Li Yundong¡¯s arm with a smile and sighed . "Yundong, we finally have our own territory!"

    Li Yundongughed and said scoldingly, "You are talking as if we are a group of gangsters!"

    Olddy Xu looked curiously at Su Chan and muttered to herself, "Who is the Little Miracle-working Doctor¡¯s girlfriend? Zhou or the girl in front of us?"

    She added, muttering, "If they can get so many beautiful women in the underworld, then the benefits of being a part of this ck society are just too good . "

    Olddy Xu¡¯s voice was low, but Li Yundong and the others heard her clearly . They allughed .

    The issue of rent seemed to be looking much more positive . Li Yundong smiled and said, "Grandma, without your help today, I would have had to go through a lot more trouble . "

    Olddy Xu waved her hands with a smile and said, "No, no, no, it was just a coincidence . If it weren¡¯t for your excellent medical skills and ethics, I wouldn¡¯t have had the chance to help you, right? All in all, it¡¯s better for you to be kind . Good people in the world should be rewarded!"

    Li Yundongughed . "Yes . Granny, you¡¯re right . Why don¡¯t we find a ce to eat something? I want to show you my gratitude . "

    Olddy Xu had warmly invited Li Yundong and the others for lunch before, but now she smiled and declined the offer . "Forget it . I thought that you hade here to hang out and have fun, so I invited you, but it turned out that you came to see the shops for business purposes . Now you have to sign the contract quickly and then get busy with designing and decoration . So many things to do! I don¡¯t want to bother you anymore!"

    Zhou Qin also said with a smile, "Olddy Xu, you are our greatest benefactor . We¡¯ll be upset if we don¡¯t thank you sincerely . "

    Olddy Xuughed and said, "It doesn¡¯t matter . Don¡¯t you want to open a teahouse in the future? I wille here often . When that day arrives, you must serve me good tea! Ah, by the way, I especially like to drink Tie Guanyin . That said, Biluochun is also good . "

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Grandma, I don¡¯t have any other tea here, but there is a lot of Tie Guanyin!"

    Olddy Xu smiled and said, "Sounds perfect! I¡¯lle here often once everything is ready . Don¡¯t get annoyed with me, an old woman, for being persistent!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Of course not . I can¡¯t wait to greet a distinguished guest like you . "

    Olddy Xu looked Li Yundong up and down and nodded, praising him . "Little magic doctor, you¡¯re really too good . You¡¯re young and handsome . . . If I had a daughter, I would surely be angling for her to marry you!"

    Her words made everyoneugh, their hands covering their mouths . Ruan Hongling even teased her, "Grandma, don¡¯t you see that this guy is destined to fall in love with someone else? Don¡¯t pester him!"

    Olddy Xuughed, waved her hand, and turned away . "Well, I¡¯ll be off now . I¡¯lle to see you another day . "

    Li Yundong watched Old Granny Xu leave with a smile on his face . He then sighed at Zi Yuan and the rest . "Now, I finally believe that there really are karmic consequences in this world . "

    He looked at Zhou Qin and said, "If I hadn¡¯t seen you in the hospital, I wouldn¡¯t have treated Old Madam Xu and she wouldn¡¯t have ended up returning the favor and helping us . "

    Zhou Qin also said emotionally, "Yeah . And if you hadn¡¯t killed He Shao with the Lightning Strike, I wouldn¡¯t have been lying in the hospital . "

    Li Yundong sighed, then turned to Su Chan and said, "If I hadn¡¯t met you, so many things wouldn¡¯t have happened . "

    With that, Li Yundong gently stroked the girl¡¯s soft ck hair with one hand . "God wanted me to meet you!"

    The two of them looked deeply at one another . Su Chan smiled sweetly, her eyes curving into crescent moons . She really was incredibly beautiful .

    After solving the problem of the shop, Li Yundong and his team went straight to the Administration for Industry and Commerce . The personnel in charge of handling the affairs in the Administration for Industry and Commerce had obviously been made aware of thetest news . It was said that it was easy to deal with people in the imperial court, and everything was settled in less than ten minutes .

    After the procedures had beenpleted and the money handed over, Li Yundong said, "We have aplished a lot today . We should go back now, and then we can move to the new home tomorrow?"

    Zi Yuan nodded and said, "All right . No doubt everyone is pretty tired by now . Let¡¯s go back and have a good rest . "

    Back at home, after dinner, becaure the little foxes had been outside for the whole day, all of them were still all riled up, chattering and screaming in the living room . Seeing that they were making so much noise, Cao Yi shouted, "You brats, do you really think you were just having fun down the mountain? Don¡¯t you need to practice Cultivation arts? Go and meditate on Qi-control!"

    The foxes were frightened by her and immediately went to sit on the carpet in the living room, meditating and training their Qi . Busy with that, the whole home quieted down . Li Yundong was cleaning up the table when he saw Su Chan also following suit, meditating and practicing Qi . He stepped forward curiously and patted her on the shoulder, motioning for her toe to one side, and then asked softly, "Why are you also practicing Qi?"

    Su Chan blinked her eyes and said, "Isn¡¯t it to be expected? I¡¯m also a cultivator! My seniors are Qi-control training, so of course I¡¯m going to do the same . "

    Li Yundong smiled and nodded, looking at her small and sharp nose . "So you do remember that you are a cultivator? Seeing that you have been making so much trouble in the past few days, I thought you had forgotten . "

    Su Chan said with a smile, "I didn¡¯t feel at ease before . I hadn¡¯t even solved the problem of living every day, so I couldn¡¯t focus on Cultivation . Now everything is all right . We have a ce to live so we don¡¯t have to huddle together, and we have found a suitable shop for solving the problem of our livelihood . Finally, we can cultivate with peace of mind! If I don¡¯t cultivate soon, I won¡¯t be able to catch up with you for the rest of my life!"

    Li Yundongughed . "Yeah, my Cultivation has also slowed these days . " As he spoke, he suddenly took notice of Zhou Qin, who was busy washing dishes in the kitchen . Li Yundong¡¯s heart moved . He smiled gently at Su Chan and said, "Carry on with your Qi-control training . I won¡¯t bother you . "

    Noticing Li Yundong¡¯s gaze, Su Chan rolled her eyes and tentatively asked, "Yundong, are you going to teach Zhou Qin Cultivation?"

    Li Yundong nodded and sighed . "Yes, she has done so much for me and now it¡¯s time for me to repay her . I¡¯m going to help her with her Cultivation . "

    Su Chan nodded and said, "Yes, that would be the right thing to do . You have to teach her well . "

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "She is my chief disciple, so of course I will do my best to teach her . Do I really need you to tell me that?"

    Su Chan was a little jealous . She took Li Yundong¡¯s hand and whispered, "No, you can¡¯t only teach her . You have to teach me too!"

    Li Yundong hugged her andughed, whispering back, "Haven¡¯t I taught you already?"

    Su Chan blinked her eyes in confusion . "When?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Didn¡¯t I teach you the Five-dragons Hugging Knives Divine Skillst time?"

    Su Chan blurted angrily, "That doesn¡¯t count! You¡¯re so annoying . I want you to teach me the Heavenly Jindan Technique . "

    Li Yundong tweaked the tip of the little girl¡¯s nose andughed, "You fool, Heavenly Jindan Technique is a very powerful and unique Cultivation method . Only when your Cultivation Quotient is good enough will it be useful . If you practice it without a high Cultivation Quotient, not only will you not reach the highest level, but you will be held back by the Heavenly Jindan Technique and your Cultivation Quotient will be impeded . "

    Su Chan asked in surprise, "Why?"

    Li Yundong smiled and pointed to the little girl¡¯s abdomen, right where the galldder was . "The Golden Elixir of Nine Cycles is cultivated by cultivating Dan qi . If your original Dan qi is not strong, then your Cultivation Quotient will be very limited . This truth is that it¡¯s like lifting a barbell . If you only have the strength for eighty kilos, you can only lift eighty kilos . If you do things beyond your limit, it will hurt your meridians and bones," he exined .

    Su Chan was suddenly enlightened . "I get it . Do you mean that I can only practice once I¡¯ve improved my strength?"

    Li Yundong nodded and said with a smile, "You¡¯re a good student! It¡¯s exactly like sharpening a knife to cut firewood! Last time, Lin Youfa didn¡¯t have enough of a Cultivation Quotient and had barely practiced the Heavenly Jindan Technique . As a result, he woke up very early and couldn¡¯t cultivate anymore . In the end, he had evil thoughts of greed and harmed himself . "

    Su Chan made a face and said, "That guy was so bad . He deserved it!"

    Li Yundong smiled and patted the little girl¡¯s head . "Go and get busy with Qi-control training . I¡¯ll talk to Zhou Qin . "

    Su Chan nodded obediently . Then, she found a ce to sit down cross-legged with her senior sisters in the living room and began to meditate on Qi-control training .

    When Li Yundong saw her sitting in meditation like that, he smiled and called Zhou Qin over to his room alone .

    Ever since Zhou Qin had recognized Li Yundong as her master, she had never spent time alone with him . When Li Yundong called her into his room, it was obvious that he was intending to discuss something private and she couldn¡¯t help but feel nervous . "Master, is there anything you want to talk about?" she asked .

    Li Yundong nodded and said to Zhou Qin, "Go close the door . "

    Zhou Qin went back to close the door and then stood respectfully to one side . Seeing that she was being so cautious, Li Yundong smiled and said, "You don¡¯t have to be so nervous . I am your master and also your friend . " He pulled over a chair and said, "Sit down . I have something to tell you . "

    However, Zhou Qin was getting more and more nervous . She carefully sat down with only half of her buttocks touching the stool . She fixed her eyes on Li Yundong and unconsciously clenched her fists .

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Since you became my disciple, I have been busy and have had no time to teach you . Now, I have finally got a moment to teach you some Cultivation . The reason why I called you in today is twofold . Firstly, I want to establish a real master-disciple rtionship with you, and secondly, I want to pass on three powerful magical weapons to you!"

    Chapter 343 The Source of Cultivation

    When Zhou Qin heard this, all sorts of feelings welled up in her heart . Previously, she had wanted to be Li Yundong¡¯s disciple mainly because she wanted him to stay by her side . Even a simple sentence from him could light up her day .

    But the longer she followed Li Yundong, the more shocked she became by his magical power, and the more she felt a strong interest and yearning for the Cultivation World .

    Zhou Qin came from an aristocratic family, so her worship of power was deep-rooted . It was because of Li Yundong¡¯s superhuman power that she had originally paid attention to him, and then she had fallen in love with this mysterious boy .

    In her subconscious world, there eveny a thought that she hadn¡¯t really acknowledged: that Li Yundong would think more highly of her when she could cultivate the earth-shattering Shentong someday!

    Su Chan was worried and downcast because she felt that Zhou Qin could help Li Yundong deal with his business and Zi Yuan could help him with his cultivation, but she could do nothing . However, Zhou Qin also had her own worries .

    In Zhou Qin¡¯s opinion, Su Chan was Li Yundong¡¯s favorite . No one else could win Li Yundong¡¯s favor like her . Even if Su Chan knew nothing, Li Yundong would neverin and would still dote on her as before . Zi Yuan was a student, as well as a friend, of Li Yundong, and she could help Li Yundong with anything . Such a beautiful, powerful girl was simply a public enemy of all women .

    "What about me?" Zhou Qin felt that she was nothing but a burden as she was not good at Cultivation or kung fu at all . Once they started fighting, she would not be of any help and could only stand to one side and watch .

    Therefore, Zhou Qin made up her mind to be a great cultivator and help Li Yundong relieve his worries .

    At this moment, she could finally Cultivate . How could she not be excited?

    Li Yundong looked at Zhou Qin and said with emotion, "Aren¡¯t you curious about the kind of powerful magical weapons I will give you?"

    Zhou Qin took a deep breath and suppressed her emotions before saying respectfully, "My master taught me about the powerful magical weapons, my creator and good fortune . No matter what master taught me, Zhou Qin would take it with both hands . How dare I ask what it is?"

    Li Yundong saw that she was only growing more and more cautious and that his attempts at persuasion were useless . He sighed in his heart and did not say anything more . He took a parcel from his side, opened it to reveal a soft whip, and then handed it over with both hands .

    Li Yundong said solemnly, "When I was in the Zhuji phase, I met Lyu Fengping and Wu Hao, who were trying to steal my Fan of Seven Treasures . In the end, I killed them instead . I got Wu Hao¡¯s Beads of Gore and refined them into the Fan of Seven Treasures . I¡¯ll pass this whip on to you now . "

    "First of all, this is a powerful magical weapon which is to be used by women . While you have yet to finish your cultivation, you can use this whip to protect yourself . Secondly, the previous owner of this magic weapon was obscene, so it could be regarded as a bright pearl having been thrown into the darkness when it fell into her hands . But you are a firm, unyielding person who would rather break than bend . You can suppress the Evil Qi of this powerful magical weapon with your own Qi . I hope that you will be able to carry it forward so that it won¡¯t end up buried one day . "

    With a solemn expression, Zhou Qin stood up from her seat and respectfully knelt down . She raised her hands high and received the whip .

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t stop her . He solemnly ced the whip in her palms .

    As soon as she received the whip, Zhou Qin could feel the not-insignificant weight of it . The handle of the whip was made of the thin skin of a shark, giving it a wonderful feel . The body of the whip was a fiery scarlet color and covered with golden threads, as if the whip would burn up any second .

    Zhou Qin was shocked . She could tell that the whip was likely an extremely valuable magic treasure just from its appearance . When she was wondering about whether she should ept it or not, she saw Li Yundong take out a Zigzag Diamond Wheel from his parcel .

    Li Yundong¡¯s two fingers were gently supporting both sides of the spinning chakram . He said, "This is Ye Yu¡¯s powerful magical weapon from the Fox Zen School back from when she was alive . She relied on this powerful magical weapon to withstand the besiegement of various sects and not be at a disadvantage . Later on, the sixth shibo of the Fox Zen School, Cao Yi, passed this powerful magical weapon on to me and I passed it down to others in turn . Later on, I thought it over and over again and felt that this spinning chakram was arrogant and unruly . You were born pure and have a cold personality, and thus I believe that it is a perfect match for you . "

    With this, he handed the spinning chakram Zhou Qin and said, "This powerful magical weapon is extremely powerful and has been used to kill countless people . It is a sharp weapon used to protect the Tao . You must use it cautiously . It may be too strong and end up controlling you instead . Do remember that!"

    Zhou Qin took the spinning chakram . The shape of the wheel was unique and the workmanship of it was excellent . The picture engraved on it was of the Flying Bodhisattva . The Vajra arhat was so vivid that it was as if he could jump out at any time . What was more amazing was that as soon as Zhou Qin touched the wheel, she felt a faint fluorescent light flowing through the surface of the wheel, dreamy and illusory .

    Zhou Qin vaguely felt that this powerful magical weapon was more precious than the previous one . She looked stern and raised her head to say, "Master, I can¡¯t take these two powerful magical weapons . "

    Li Yundong asked calmly, "Why?"

    "Although I don¡¯t know Cultivation now, I do know that these two weapons must be extremely precious and powerful . I¡¯m weak now, but Master is giving such valuable treasures to me . It¡¯s like a child walking downtown with a golden bowl in his hand . How can it not arouse the avarice of other cultivators?" Zhou Qin replied .

    Li Yundong had a look of admiration on his face . He said tteringly, "I knew before that you were a smart woman, but now it seems that you are even more sober and intelligent than I had initially thought . Good, you identified this problem, which shows that you are calm and not greedy . But there¡¯s no need to overthink . If someone dares to take your magic treasures, I will not stand by and do nothing . "

    Zhou Qin felt warm in her heart when she heard this, but she still shook her head and said, "No, although I don¡¯t have any Cultivation and kung fu skills now, how can I just shelter myself under your wing all my life since I¡¯m your disciple? What¡¯s the point of being a cultivator if I carry on like this? Won¡¯t I end up hurting your reputation?"

    Li Yundongughed and didn¡¯t pressure her . He took back the two powerful magical weapons with both hands . "Then I¡¯ll hold onto them for you temporarily . When you get to the Zhuji phase, I¡¯ll give them back to you . "

    Zhou Qin nodded in agreement .

    Li Yundong then took out the third item . This time, it was a hardcover book . Li Yundong looked at it, and his expression was far more solemn than it had been when he had handled the previous two powerful magical weapons . He said, "Do you know what this book is?"

    "No . Master, please exin," Zhou Qin said respectfully .

    Li Yundong said, "When Su Chan left me, Zi Yuan began to teach me Cultivation . She saw that I was ignorant about it, so she rmended me a ssic book in the Cultivation World . It was also thanks to me reading this book that I understood the truth of cultivation and began to cultivate officially . Now, I will pass this book on to you, hoping that you will alsoprehend something useful from this book . "

    Zhou Qin took the book from him, her heart full of curiosity and solemnity . She nced at it and saw four golden characters on the book: ¡¯Canon of the Yellow Thearch¡¯!

    She flipped to the first page and saw the cover of the Xinhua Bookstore .

    Zhou Qin asked doubtfully, "Master, I understand you saying that ¡¯Canon of the Yellow Thearch¡¯ is a ssic book in the Cultivation World, but isn¡¯t it a book that can just be bought from the Xinhua Bookstore? Is it also a powerful magical weapon?"

    Li Yundong nodded and said with a smile, "No, it¡¯s only an ordinary book, but in my opinion, it¡¯s more important than any powerful magical weapon in this world, even though it can be bought at the Xin Hua Bookstore!"

    Li Yundong said with emotion, "Before I started cultivating, I felt that it was unfathomable when I heard the ¡¯Canon of the Yellow Thearch¡¯ . I didn¡¯t dare to take a look at it and even the name itself made me feel dizzy . But through reading it, I found out that our country¡¯s history is very extensive and profound, and that the world is really unique . There is no country or nation¡¯s culture in this world that canpare with ours . However, our country has been degrading to this day and is almost broken . How many people in the world can know the real meaning of the ¡¯Canon of the Yellow Thearch¡¯?"

    Hearing this, Zhou Qin was moved . She tentatively began to ask, "Master, do you mean . . . "

    Li Yundong waved his hand . "I do not mean anything in particr . I¡¯m just making just somements . Chinese culture, through five thousand years of Cultivation history to today is considered to be involved in dishonest practices and feudal superstition . As such, the ssic book ¡¯Canon of the Yellow Thearch¡¯ has been disregarded . ¡¯Surangama Sutra¡¯, ¡¯Avatamsaka¡¯, ¡¯Records of the Pure Heart¡¯, ¡¯Baopuzi¡¯, these ssic scriptures and Cultivation works now lie covered in dust with no one to care for them . As a cultivator, how can I not feel sentimental? I sometimes even think: the world of Cultivation may one day vanish from our own hands . If the world of Cultivation, passed down for five thousand years, breaks in our hands, I really do not know how our ancestors will feel . . . "

    Zhou Qin had rarely interacted with Li Yundong before . When she heard this, she couldn¡¯t help but sigh in her heart . "Li Yundong is no different from an ordinary man when he talks andughs with others in daily life . Only at this time is he showing his real ambition and broad-mindedness . This is a man who sees things differently!"

    It was the first time Zhou Qin had seen Li Yundong show the aura of a real master . Her eyes were full of respect and also admiration as she said, "Master, have you ever thought about establishing your own sect?"

    Li Yundong was stunned . "Establishing a sect? Hah, no, I haven¡¯t thought about that . I have only cultivated for a little more than half a year . How can I afford to have a sect, and how could I set one up anyway?"

    Zhou Qin said, "I don¡¯t think that matters . There¡¯s no young or old when ites to learning and teaching . Anyone who can master something can be the teacher . Whether a person is a Great Master and can establish a sect has nothing to do with their age . Most importantly, a person¡¯s knowledge and bearing affect their broad-mindedness and ability . I think that among all the young people in the world, only Zi Yuan canpare with you . However, the cultivation of Zi Yuan is limited to herself . But Master, you¡¯ve been thinking about China¡¯s rule over the past five thousand years . Your openness and bearing are far better than those of your peers . Why don¡¯t you set up a sect? Even if you can¡¯t right now, you¡¯ll be able to in the future!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "As you said just now, I am indeed outstanding amongst young people, but after all, I am still too young . My knowledge is still not sufficient, and my abilities are even more limited . Besides, now I am the leader of Fox Zen Sect, how can I leave them and start another sect?"

    Seeing that Zhou Qin still wanted to say more, Li Yundong waved his hand and said, "Well, I know what you mean . The reason why I taught you the ¡¯Canon of the Yellow Thearch¡¯ is that I hope you will treat it seriously . Although it has no spiritual energy or Shentong power and it is not a spiritual energy treasure, if you can understand it, feel it, and absorb it, it will be more useful than all the spiritual energy treasures in the whole world put together! Even if the Cultivation World vanished someday, as long as the ¡¯Canon of the Yellow Thearch¡¯ is still there, the origin of the Cultivation World will always be there too . In the Cultivation World, there is the possibility of bringing the dead back to life!"

    Zhou Qin solemnly held the ¡¯Canon of the Yellow Thearch¡¯ over her head and bowed deeply . After getting up, she said, "Master, the world of Cultivation will never vanish . With you and me around, it will never vanish . Even if I am the only one left in the world of Cultivation in the future, I will carry the way of Cultivation forward!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "You don¡¯t have to be so dramatic . Get up . This Canon of the Yellow Thearch has my detailedmentary inside . You can read it carefully . If there is anything you don¡¯t understand,e and ask me . When you finish this book, I will officially teach you the first lesson of Cultivation . "

    The two talked in the secret chamber for a long time . It was not until two or three hourster that Li Yundong came out of the room . As soon as he came out, he saw that Su Chan and the others had gathered in the living room, as if they were looking for something .

    Su Chan heard the noise in the room . She turned around and saw Li Yundong, then immediately waved her hand and said, "Yundong,e and see . It¡¯s terrible! Something big is happ

 Chapter 343

    Chapter 343

    <h4>Three Powerful Magical Weapons!</h4>

    Wang Dongliang waspletely speechless . He looked around, a sheen of sweat on his forehead . He pulled Li Yundong aside and said with a wry smile, "Brother, you saw it too . I can¡¯t refuse you today . If you help me, I will rent this bracelet to you, but you can¡¯t tell anyone else . Otherwise, I will be in trouble and you will lose the bracelet . "

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Director Wang, that¡¯s for sure . When my teahouse opens, I hope you¡¯lle often . I see that you don¡¯t look well . I guess that there is something wrong with your liver . If youe here to drink tea often, it will do your liver good . "

    Wang Dongliang didn¡¯t take the advice seriously at all . He just wanted to leave as soon as possible in case his mother was going to p him with the sole of her shoe again . He waved his hand and said, "When you are free, we can talk about itter . When you go to the Administration for Industry and Commerceter, I will ask someone to help you get things done . I still have something to do, so I¡¯ll leave now . "

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t ask him to stay either . He simply smiled and said, "Okay, I¡¯ll see you again someday if fate allows . "

    Wang Dongliang turned to olddy Xu and said with a ttering smile, "Mom, are you satisfied now?"

    Olddy Xu¡¯s rage turned to pleasure and she said, "That¡¯s more like it . You can go back to your work! This has nothing to do with you!"

    Wang Dongliang felt depressed in his heart . "I really am at her beck and call!" He gloomily got into the car, started the engine, and drove away .

    Li Yundong and the others left there all looked at each other and then broke out into cheers . The little foxes even pped their hands to celebrate .

    Su Chan held Li Yundong¡¯s arm with a smile and sighed . "Yundong, we finally have our own territory!"

    Li Yundongughed and said scoldingly, "You are talking as if we are a group of gangsters!"

    Olddy Xu looked curiously at Su Chan and muttered to herself, "Who is the Little Miracle-working Doctor¡¯s girlfriend? Zhou or the girl in front of us?"

    She added, muttering, "If they can get so many beautiful women in the underworld, then the benefits of being a part of this ck society are just too good . "

    Olddy Xu¡¯s voice was low, but Li Yundong and the others heard her clearly . They allughed .

    The issue of rent seemed to be looking much more positive . Li Yundong smiled and said, "Grandma, without your help today, I would have had to go through a lot more trouble . "

    Olddy Xu waved her hands with a smile and said, "No, no, no, it was just a coincidence . If it weren¡¯t for your excellent medical skills and ethics, I wouldn¡¯t have had the chance to help you, right? All in all, it¡¯s better for you to be kind . Good people in the world should be rewarded!"

    Li Yundongughed . "Yes . Granny, you¡¯re right . Why don¡¯t we find a ce to eat something? I want to show you my gratitude . "

    Olddy Xu had warmly invited Li Yundong and the others for lunch before, but now she smiled and declined the offer . "Forget it . I thought that you hade here to hang out and have fun, so I invited you, but it turned out that you came to see the shops for business purposes . Now you have to sign the contract quickly and then get busy with designing and decoration . So many things to do! I don¡¯t want to bother you anymore!"

    Zhou Qin also said with a smile, "Olddy Xu, you are our greatest benefactor . We¡¯ll be upset if we don¡¯t thank you sincerely . "

    Olddy Xuughed and said, "It doesn¡¯t matter . Don¡¯t you want to open a teahouse in the future? I wille here often . When that day arrives, you must serve me good tea! Ah, by the way, I especially like to drink Tie Guanyin . That said, Biluochun is also good . "

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Grandma, I don¡¯t have any other tea here, but there is a lot of Tie Guanyin!"

    Olddy Xu smiled and said, "Sounds perfect! I¡¯lle here often once everything is ready . Don¡¯t get annoyed with me, an old woman, for being persistent!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Of course not . I can¡¯t wait to greet a distinguished guest like you . "

    Olddy Xu looked Li Yundong up and down and nodded, praising him . "Little magic doctor, you¡¯re really too good . You¡¯re young and handsome . . . If I had a daughter, I would surely be angling for her to marry you!"

    Her words made everyoneugh, their hands covering their mouths . Ruan Hongling even teased her, "Grandma, don¡¯t you see that this guy is destined to fall in love with someone else? Don¡¯t pester him!"

    Olddy Xuughed, waved her hand, and turned away . "Well, I¡¯ll be off now . I¡¯lle to see you another day . "

    Li Yundong watched Old Granny Xu leave with a smile on his face . He then sighed at Zi Yuan and the rest . "Now, I finally believe that there really are karmic consequences in this world . "

    He looked at Zhou Qin and said, "If I hadn¡¯t seen you in the hospital, I wouldn¡¯t have treated Old Madam Xu and she wouldn¡¯t have ended up returning the favor and helping us . "

    Zhou Qin also said emotionally, "Yeah . And if you hadn¡¯t killed He Shao with the Lightning Strike, I wouldn¡¯t have been lying in the hospital . "

    Li Yundong sighed, then turned to Su Chan and said, "If I hadn¡¯t met you, so many things wouldn¡¯t have happened . "

    With that, Li Yundong gently stroked the girl¡¯s soft ck hair with one hand . "God wanted me to meet you!"

    The two of them looked deeply at one another . Su Chan smiled sweetly, her eyes curving into crescent moons . She really was incredibly beautiful .

    After solving the problem of the shop, Li Yundong and his team went straight to the Administration for Industry and Commerce . The personnel in charge of handling the affairs in the Administration for Industry and Commerce had obviously been made aware of thetest news . It was said that it was easy to deal with people in the imperial court, and everything was settled in less than ten minutes .

    After the procedures had beenpleted and the money handed over, Li Yundong said, "We have aplished a lot today . We should go back now, and then we can move to the new home tomorrow?"

    Zi Yuan nodded and said, "All right . No doubt everyone is pretty tired by now . Let¡¯s go back and have a good rest . "

    Back at home, after dinner, becaure the little foxes had been outside for the whole day, all of them were still all riled up, chattering and screaming in the living room . Seeing that they were making so much noise, Cao Yi shouted, "You brats, do you really think you were just having fun down the mountain? Don¡¯t you need to practice Cultivation arts? Go and meditate on Qi-control!"

    The foxes were frightened by her and immediately went to sit on the carpet in the living room, meditating and training their Qi . Busy with that, the whole home quieted down . Li Yundong was cleaning up the table when he saw Su Chan also following suit, meditating and practicing Qi . He stepped forward curiously and patted her on the shoulder, motioning for her toe to one side, and then asked softly, "Why are you also practicing Qi?"

    Su Chan blinked her eyes and said, "Isn¡¯t it to be expected? I¡¯m also a cultivator! My seniors are Qi-control training, so of course I¡¯m going to do the same . "

    Li Yundong smiled and nodded, looking at her small and sharp nose . "So you do remember that you are a cultivator? Seeing that you have been making so much trouble in the past few days, I thought you had forgotten . "

    Su Chan said with a smile, "I didn¡¯t feel at ease before . I hadn¡¯t even solved the problem of living every day, so I couldn¡¯t focus on Cultivation . Now everything is all right . We have a ce to live so we don¡¯t have to huddle together, and we have found a suitable shop for solving the problem of our livelihood . Finally, we can cultivate with peace of mind! If I don¡¯t cultivate soon, I won¡¯t be able to catch up with you for the rest of my life!"

    Li Yundongughed . "Yeah, my Cultivation has also slowed these days . " As he spoke, he suddenly took notice of Zhou Qin, who was busy washing dishes in the kitchen . Li Yundong¡¯s heart moved . He smiled gently at Su Chan and said, "Carry on with your Qi-control training . I won¡¯t bother you . "

    Noticing Li Yundong¡¯s gaze, Su Chan rolled her eyes and tentatively asked, "Yundong, are you going to teach Zhou Qin Cultivation?"

    Li Yundong nodded and sighed . "Yes, she has done so much for me and now it¡¯s time for me to repay her . I¡¯m going to help her with her Cultivation . "

    Su Chan nodded and said, "Yes, that would be the right thing to do . You have to teach her well . "

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "She is my chief disciple, so of course I will do my best to teach her . Do I really need you to tell me that?"

    Su Chan was a little jealous . She took Li Yundong¡¯s hand and whispered, "No, you can¡¯t only teach her . You have to teach me too!"

    Li Yundong hugged her andughed, whispering back, "Haven¡¯t I taught you already?"

    Su Chan blinked her eyes in confusion . "When?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Didn¡¯t I teach you the Five-dragons Hugging Knives Divine Skillst time?"

    Su Chan blurted angrily, "That doesn¡¯t count! You¡¯re so annoying . I want you to teach me the Heavenly Jindan Technique . "

    Li Yundong tweaked the tip of the little girl¡¯s nose andughed, "You fool, Heavenly Jindan Technique is a very powerful and unique Cultivation method . Only when your Cultivation Quotient is good enough will it be useful . If you practice it without a high Cultivation Quotient, not only will you not reach the highest level, but you will be held back by the Heavenly Jindan Technique and your Cultivation Quotient will be impeded . "

    Su Chan asked in surprise, "Why?"

    Li Yundong smiled and pointed to the little girl¡¯s abdomen, right where the galldder was . "The Golden Elixir of Nine Cycles is cultivated by cultivating Dan qi . If your original Dan qi is not strong, then your Cultivation Quotient will be very limited . This truth is that it¡¯s like lifting a barbell . If you only have the strength for eighty kilos, you can only lift eighty kilos . If you do things beyond your limit, it will hurt your meridians and bones," he exined .

    Su Chan was suddenly enlightened . "I get it . Do you mean that I can only practice once I¡¯ve improved my strength?"

    Li Yundong nodded and said with a smile, "You¡¯re a good student! It¡¯s exactly like sharpening a knife to cut firewood! Last time, Lin Youfa didn¡¯t have enough of a Cultivation Quotient and had barely practiced the Heavenly Jindan Technique . As a result, he woke up very early and couldn¡¯t cultivate anymore . In the end, he had evil thoughts of greed and harmed himself . "

    Su Chan made a face and said, "That guy was so bad . He deserved it!"

    Li Yundong smiled and patted the little girl¡¯s head . "Go and get busy with Qi-control training . I¡¯ll talk to Zhou Qin . "

    Su Chan nodded obediently . Then, she found a ce to sit down cross-legged with her senior sisters in the living room and began to meditate on Qi-control training .

    When Li Yundong saw her sitting in meditation like that, he smiled and called Zhou Qin over to his room alone .

    Ever since Zhou Qin had recognized Li Yundong as her master, she had never spent time alone with him . When Li Yundong called her into his room, it was obvious that he was intending to discuss something private and she couldn¡¯t help but feel nervous . "Master, is there anything you want to talk about?" she asked .

    Li Yundong nodded and said to Zhou Qin, "Go close the door . "

    Zhou Qin went back to close the door and then stood respectfully to one side . Seeing that she was being so cautious, Li Yundong smiled and said, "You don¡¯t have to be so nervous . I am your master and also your friend . " He pulled over a chair and said, "Sit down . I have something to tell you . "

    However, Zhou Qin was getting more and more nervous . She carefully sat down with only half of her buttocks touching the stool . She fixed her eyes on Li Yundong and unconsciously clenched her fists .

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Since you became my disciple, I have been busy and have had no time to teach you . Now, I have finally got a moment to teach you some Cultivation . The reason why I called you in today is twofold . Firstly, I want to establish a real master-disciple rtionship with you, and secondly, I want to pass on three powerful magical weapons to you!"

    Chapter 343 The Source of Cultivation

    When Zhou Qin heard this, all sorts of feelings welled up in her heart . Previously, she had wanted to be Li Yundong¡¯s disciple mainly because she wanted him to stay by her side . Even a simple sentence from him could light up her day .

    But the longer she followed Li Yundong, the more shocked she became by his magical power, and the more she felt a strong interest and yearning for the Cultivation World .

    Zhou Qin came from an aristocratic family, so her worship of power was deep-rooted . It was because of Li Yundong¡¯s superhuman power that she had originally paid attention to him, and then she had fallen in love with this mysterious boy .

    In her subconscious world, there eveny a thought that she hadn¡¯t really acknowledged: that Li Yundong would think more highly of her when she could cultivate the earth-shattering Shentong someday!

    Su Chan was worried and downcast because she felt that Zhou Qin could help Li Yundong deal with his business and Zi Yuan could help him with his cultivation, but she could do nothing . However, Zhou Qin also had her own worries .

    In Zhou Qin¡¯s opinion, Su Chan was Li Yundong¡¯s favorite . No one else could win Li Yundong¡¯s favor like her . Even if Su Chan knew nothing, Li Yundong would neverin and would still dote on her as before . Zi Yuan was a student, as well as a friend, of Li Yundong, and she could help Li Yundong with anything . Such a beautiful, powerful girl was simply a public enemy of all women .

    "What about me?" Zhou Qin felt that she was nothing but a burden as she was not good at Cultivation or kung fu at all . Once they started fighting, she would not be of any help and could only stand to one side and watch .

    Therefore, Zhou Qin made up her mind to be a great cultivator and help Li Yundong relieve his worries .

    At this moment, she could finally Cultivate . How could she not be excited?

    Li Yundong looked at Zhou Qin and said with emotion, "Aren¡¯t you curious about the kind of powerful magical weapons I will give you?"

    Zhou Qin took a deep breath and suppressed her emotions before saying respectfully, "My master taught me about the powerful magical weapons, my creator and good fortune . No matter what master taught me, Zhou Qin would take it with both hands . How dare I ask what it is?"

    Li Yundong saw that she was only growing more and more cautious and that his attempts at persuasion were useless . He sighed in his heart and did not say anything more . He took a parcel from his side, opened it to reveal a soft whip, and then handed it over with both hands .

    Li Yundong said solemnly, "When I was in the Zhuji phase, I met Lyu Fengping and Wu Hao, who were trying to steal my Fan of Seven Treasures . In the end, I killed them instead . I got Wu Hao¡¯s Beads of Gore and refined them into the Fan of Seven Treasures . I¡¯ll pass this whip on to you now . "

    "First of all, this is a powerful magical weapon which is to be used by women . While you have yet to finish your cultivation, you can use this whip to protect yourself . Secondly, the previous owner of this magic weapon was obscene, so it could be regarded as a bright pearl having been thrown into the darkness when it fell into her hands . But you are a firm, unyielding person who would rather break than bend . You can suppress the Evil Qi of this powerful magical weapon with your own Qi . I hope that you will be able to carry it forward so that it won¡¯t end up buried one day . "

    With a solemn expression, Zhou Qin stood up from her seat and respectfully knelt down . She raised her hands high and received the whip .

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t stop her . He solemnly ced the whip in her palms .

    As soon as she received the whip, Zhou Qin could feel the not-insignificant weight of it . The handle of the whip was made of the thin skin of a shark, giving it a wonderful feel . The body of the whip was a fiery scarlet color and covered with golden threads, as if the whip would burn up any second .

    Zhou Qin was shocked . She could tell that the whip was likely an extremely valuable magic treasure just from its appearance . When she was wondering about whether she should ept it or not, she saw Li Yundong take out a Zigzag Diamond Wheel from his parcel .

    Li Yundong¡¯s two fingers were gently supporting both sides of the spinning chakram . He said, "This is Ye Yu¡¯s powerful magical weapon from the Fox Zen School back from when she was alive . She relied on this powerful magical weapon to withstand the besiegement of various sects and not be at a disadvantage . Later on, the sixth shibo of the Fox Zen School, Cao Yi, passed this powerful magical weapon on to me and I passed it down to others in turn . Later on, I thought it over and over again and felt that this spinning chakram was arrogant and unruly . You were born pure and have a cold personality, and thus I believe that it is a perfect match for you . "

    With this, he handed the spinning chakram Zhou Qin and said, "This powerful magical weapon is extremely powerful and has been used to kill countless people . It is a sharp weapon used to protect the Tao . You must use it cautiously . It may be too strong and end up controlling you instead . Do remember that!"

    Zhou Qin took the spinning chakram . The shape of the wheel was unique and the workmanship of it was excellent . The picture engraved on it was of the Flying Bodhisattva . The Vajra arhat was so vivid that it was as if he could jump out at any time . What was more amazing was that as soon as Zhou Qin touched the wheel, she felt a faint fluorescent light flowing through the surface of the wheel, dreamy and illusory .

    Zhou Qin vaguely felt that this powerful magical weapon was more precious than the previous one . She looked stern and raised her head to say, "Master, I can¡¯t take these two powerful magical weapons . "

    Li Yundong asked calmly, "Why?"

    "Although I don¡¯t know Cultivation now, I do know that these two weapons must be extremely precious and powerful . I¡¯m weak now, but Master is giving such valuable treasures to me . It¡¯s like a child walking downtown with a golden bowl in his hand . How can it not arouse the avarice of other cultivators?" Zhou Qin replied .

    Li Yundong had a look of admiration on his face . He said tteringly, "I knew before that you were a smart woman, but now it seems that you are even more sober and intelligent than I had initially thought . Good, you identified this problem, which shows that you are calm and not greedy . But there¡¯s no need to overthink . If someone dares to take your magic treasures, I will not stand by and do nothing . "

    Zhou Qin felt warm in her heart when she heard this, but she still shook her head and said, "No, although I don¡¯t have any Cultivation and kung fu skills now, how can I just shelter myself under your wing all my life since I¡¯m your disciple? What¡¯s the point of being a cultivator if I carry on like this? Won¡¯t I end up hurting your reputation?"

    Li Yundongughed and didn¡¯t pressure her . He took back the two powerful magical weapons with both hands . "Then I¡¯ll hold onto them for you temporarily . When you get to the Zhuji phase, I¡¯ll give them back to you . "

    Zhou Qin nodded in agreement .

    Li Yundong then took out the third item . This time, it was a hardcover book . Li Yundong looked at it, and his expression was far more solemn than it had been when he had handled the previous two powerful magical weapons . He said, "Do you know what this book is?"

    "No . Master, please exin," Zhou Qin said respectfully .

    Li Yundong said, "When Su Chan left me, Zi Yuan began to teach me Cultivation . She saw that I was ignorant about it, so she rmended me a ssic book in the Cultivation World . It was also thanks to me reading this book that I understood the truth of cultivation and began to cultivate officially . Now, I will pass this book on to you, hoping that you will alsoprehend something useful from this book . "

    Zhou Qin took the book from him, her heart full of curiosity and solemnity . She nced at it and saw four golden characters on the book: ¡¯Canon of the Yellow Thearch¡¯!

    She flipped to the first page and saw the cover of the Xinhua Bookstore .

    Zhou Qin asked doubtfully, "Master, I understand you saying that ¡¯Canon of the Yellow Thearch¡¯ is a ssic book in the Cultivation World, but isn¡¯t it a book that can just be bought from the Xinhua Bookstore? Is it also a powerful magical weapon?"

    Li Yundong nodded and said with a smile, "No, it¡¯s only an ordinary book, but in my opinion, it¡¯s more important than any powerful magical weapon in this world, even though it can be bought at the Xin Hua Bookstore!"

    Li Yundong said with emotion, "Before I started cultivating, I felt that it was unfathomable when I heard the ¡¯Canon of the Yellow Thearch¡¯ . I didn¡¯t dare to take a look at it and even the name itself made me feel dizzy . But through reading it, I found out that our country¡¯s history is very extensive and profound, and that the world is really unique . There is no country or nation¡¯s culture in this world that canpare with ours . However, our country has been degrading to this day and is almost broken . How many people in the world can know the real meaning of the ¡¯Canon of the Yellow Thearch¡¯?"

    Hearing this, Zhou Qin was moved . She tentatively began to ask, "Master, do you mean . . . "

    Li Yundong waved his hand . "I do not mean anything in particr . I¡¯m just making just somements . Chinese culture, through five thousand years of Cultivation history to today is considered to be involved in dishonest practices and feudal superstition . As such, the ssic book ¡¯Canon of the Yellow Thearch¡¯ has been disregarded . ¡¯Surangama Sutra¡¯, ¡¯Avatamsaka¡¯, ¡¯Records of the Pure Heart¡¯, ¡¯Baopuzi¡¯, these ssic scriptures and Cultivation works now lie covered in dust with no one to care for them . As a cultivator, how can I not feel sentimental? I sometimes even think: the world of Cultivation may one day vanish from our own hands . If the world of Cultivation, passed down for five thousand years, breaks in our hands, I really do not know how our ancestors will feel . . . "

    Zhou Qin had rarely interacted with Li Yundong before . When she heard this, she couldn¡¯t help but sigh in her heart . "Li Yundong is no different from an ordinary man when he talks andughs with others in daily life . Only at this time is he showing his real ambition and broad-mindedness . This is a man who sees things differently!"

    It was the first time Zhou Qin had seen Li Yundong show the aura of a real master . Her eyes were full of respect and also admiration as she said, "Master, have you ever thought about establishing your own sect?"

    Li Yundong was stunned . "Establishing a sect? Hah, no, I haven¡¯t thought about that . I have only cultivated for a little more than half a year . How can I afford to have a sect, and how could I set one up anyway?"

    Zhou Qin said, "I don¡¯t think that matters . There¡¯s no young or old when ites to learning and teaching . Anyone who can master something can be the teacher . Whether a person is a Great Master and can establish a sect has nothing to do with their age . Most importantly, a person¡¯s knowledge and bearing affect their broad-mindedness and ability . I think that among all the young people in the world, only Zi Yuan canpare with you . However, the cultivation of Zi Yuan is limited to herself . But Master, you¡¯ve been thinking about China¡¯s rule over the past five thousand years . Your openness and bearing are far better than those of your peers . Why don¡¯t you set up a sect? Even if you can¡¯t right now, you¡¯ll be able to in the future!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "As you said just now, I am indeed outstanding amongst young people, but after all, I am still too young . My knowledge is still not sufficient, and my abilities are even more limited . Besides, now I am the leader of Fox Zen Sect, how can I leave them and start another sect?"

    Seeing that Zhou Qin still wanted to say more, Li Yundong waved his hand and said, "Well, I know what you mean . The reason why I taught you the ¡¯Canon of the Yellow Thearch¡¯ is that I hope you will treat it seriously . Although it has no spiritual energy or Shentong power and it is not a spiritual energy treasure, if you can understand it, feel it, and absorb it, it will be more useful than all the spiritual energy treasures in the whole world put together! Even if the Cultivation World vanished someday, as long as the ¡¯Canon of the Yellow Thearch¡¯ is still there, the origin of the Cultivation World will always be there too . In the Cultivation World, there is the possibility of bringing the dead back to life!"

    Zhou Qin solemnly held the ¡¯Canon of the Yellow Thearch¡¯ over her head and bowed deeply . After getting up, she said, "Master, the world of Cultivation will never vanish . With you and me around, it will never vanish . Even if I am the only one left in the world of Cultivation in the future, I will carry the way of Cultivation forward!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "You don¡¯t have to be so dramatic . Get up . This Canon of the Yellow Thearch has my detailedmentary inside . You can read it carefully . If there is anything you don¡¯t understand,e and ask me . When you finish this book, I will officially teach you the first lesson of Cultivation . "

    The two talked in the secret chamber for a long time . It was not until two or three hourster that Li Yundong came out of the room . As soon as he came out, he saw that Su Chan and the others had gathered in the living room, as if they were looking for something .

    Su Chan heard the noise in the room . She turned around and saw Li Yundong, then immediately waved her hand and said, "Yundong,e and see . It¡¯s terrible! Something big is happ

 Chapter 344

    Chapter 344

    <h4>The Challenge After Being Famous</h4>

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart trembled when he heard Su Chan¡¯s cry . He calmly walked over and asked, "What happened? Look at how frightened you are . "

    Li Yundong went up to take a look and found that Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling were also there . Everyone was crowding around aptop and pointing at it .

    Zi Yuan nodded to Li Yundong and said, "You¡¯re here . Come and have a look . "

    Li Yundong looked at it carefully and saw that there was a video on the screen . At first, the video was shaky, but soon Li Yundong noticed something strange . There were many trees with talisman and blessings bags in the video . He asked in surprise, "Isn¡¯t this Xiyuan Temple?"

    Su Chan pulled his arm and pointed to a figure in the video . "Yes . You recognize this person?"

    Li Yundong would have been fine if he hadn¡¯t seen it . When he saw the figure, he suddenly gasped and eximed, "Isn¡¯t that me?"

    Ruan Hongling sneered and said, "Just wait and see what happens next!" Then, Li Yundong began to fight with a middle-aged monk in the video . Their fight was like something from some SFXden movie . The fierce duel with Mahamudra and Vajra magic made everyone feel dazzled .

    Finally, Li Yundong threw out the spinning chakram and passed by the middle-aged monk . At the end of the video, the clip became very shaky, as if the man filming was fleeing in a panic .

    Li Yundong was shocked and angry . "Who did this? Why has it been posted online?"

    Su Chan blinked her eyes and said, "Yundong, everyone on earth now knows that you are a cultivator . "

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t speak, his face dark . Next to him, Zi Yuan sighed and said, "Fortunately, this video hasn¡¯t been online for long . Many people just think it¡¯s made with special effects . Look at thements below . . . "

    Ruan Hongling cooperatively scrolled down to let Li Yundong read thements below .

    There were all kinds ofments . "What is this? Which movie¡¯s special effects? Not bad, when will it be released?"

    "Come on, isn¡¯t the camera too shaky? The screen was all over the ce . What was the director thinking?"

    "Hey, where is this ce? Why does it look so familiar?"

    "Xiyuan Temple, this is Xiyuan Temple in Dongwu City . I went there a while ago, hahaha!"

    "Don¡¯t talk about what you don¡¯t understand . This is obviously a video that was secretly recorded . When I secretly filmed it, I almost lost my life!"

    "Gee, the uploader appeared? Is it a real video secretly recorded by you? Which movie did you secretly shoot for? It almost doesn¡¯t even look like a movie . The scene is so real!"

    "Haw, Iet me tell you the truth . This is just made with special effects by the CG students from Beijing Film Academy . Someone put it out deliberately to try and go viral . You must all understand that!"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry as he read thements . He smiled bitterly and said, "Fortunately, they all regard this video as a work of special effects . Otherwise, I would be insanely famous by now . "

    Su Chan giggled and said, "It¡¯s okay . They can only see the back of you, so you can¡¯t be recognized! However, Master Fakong has be famous and is being searched for by others!"

    Li Yundong said with a bitter smile, "It¡¯s my fault . Master Fakong will scold me if he finds out . "

    Zhou Qin came out with Li Yundong . After learning about the situation, she suddenly asked, "It seems that you are afraid that the truth of this video will be discovered by others . Why can¡¯t knowledge of cultivation be made public?"

    Zi Yuan exined, "The cultivation world has always been a secret world . Every cultivator is working hard to maintain secrecy, and it can be said to be a hidden rule that everyone follows . Why is it like this? Because every cultivator has very strong destructive power, we are a group of special people . It just so happens that this group of people is involved with religion . Our government is now promoting the concept of there being no gods and implementing strict control over religious beliefs and cultivators . However, because cultivators and cultivation sects are mostly arrogant, the government is afraid of making policies that will lead to arge number of cultivation sects going out in order to be used by hostile forces . Therefore, they have adopted a neutral attitude, but it is absolutely forbidden for cultivators to show off in front of ordinary people . "

    Zhou Qin suddenly understood and said, "Ah! I see . "

    Zi Yuan nodded and said, "Why is the cultivation world so weak now? The main reasons are rted to the country¡¯s policies and government¡¯sck of support for us . In the period of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Hanwen, Emperor Hanjing and the Dou Empress believed in Laozi and Zhuangzi, so the Taoists began to flourish . In the Tang Dynasty, the emperor believed in Buddhism, so Buddhism became prosperous . In the Song Dynasty, the emperor believed in Taoism, and Song Zhenzong called the 24th Celestial Master of Mount Longhu to give him the title of ¡¯Sir¡¯ . Most notably, in the period of Songhui, Zhang Jixian, the 30th Taoist priest, first received the favor and trust of Song Huizong, and built a Chongdao temple in the capital . The Shangqing Temple on Mount Longhu was also promoted to Shangqing pce . Our Zhengyi School became famous all over the whole world because of this, and ended up as one of the supreme Taoist sects in the world .

    "During the Yuan Dynasty, Genghis Khan and Kui all believed in Taoism, especially Qiu Chuji, who was a followed of the Quanzhen Dragon Sect . In the year 1127AD, Genghis Khan gave the Golden Tiger Token to Qiu and put him in charge of all Taoists in the world . Therefore, Qiu¡¯s Quanzhen Dragon Sect flourished and became a great Taoist sect that could bepared with our Zhengyi sect . "

    Following these words, Zi Yuan turned to Li Yundong and said, "The one who fought with youst time was Du Fei, the Eldest Senior Brother of the Quanzhen Dragon Sect . He¡¯s the direct sessor of Qiu Chuji . The Quanzhen Dragon Sect is also the leader of the Six Sects, and their words carry great weight . If Du Fei hadn¡¯t ordered the Quanzhen Dragon Sect to leavest time, I¡¯m afraid it wouldn¡¯t have been so easy to settle matters on Tianlong Mountain . "

    Li Yundong nodded and said, "You¡¯re right . Du Fei is an upright man . "

    Zi Yuan continued with another nod, "In the Ming Dynasty, the Emperor began to believe in our Zhengyi Sect again . Zhu Yuanzhang granted the 42nd Taoist priest Zhang the title of ¡¯Great Zhenren¡¯, and appointed the Zhengyi Sect as themander of all Taoists in the whole world until the 52nd generation . Apart from Zhang Guoxiang, the 50th Taoist priest, every other priest is known as ¡¯Great Zhenren¡¯ . "

    Hearing this, Zhou Qin acknowledged and sighed . "The imperial power is greater than everything else . That¡¯s been true since ancient times! But why has the Cultivation World declined to this state now?"

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "When ites to the Qing Dynasty, the Manchus passed Shanhaiguan [the north-east area], then intruded and established the Qing Dynasty . In any age, the rise of Buddhism has inevitably suppressed Taoism, and that¡¯s what happened there too . The emperor of the Qing Dynasty believed in Tibetan Buddhism, so Taoism was gradually suppressed, and even the Buddhism in the Central ins was affected . Until the period of the Republic of China, Taoism had the tendency to flourish . In 1912, Zhang Xiaochu, the 62nd generation¡¯s priest, set up a national church for the Zhengyi Sect in Shanghai, which was called ¡¯The Taoist Association of the Republic of China¡¯ . However, unfortunately . . . "

    Li Yundong had rarely heard Zi Yuan exin the history of the Cultivation World . He listened with relish and asked, "Unfortunately what?"

    Zi Yuan sighed softly and said, "Unfortunately, in 1919, the May 4th Movement broke out, and this activitypletely destroyed all of the things that the Cultivation World relied on to survive . Western culture greatly invaded, and the traditional culture was abandoned . The Taoist sect¡¯s prosperity was based on its culture, and so was Buddhism¡¯s sess . However, the traditional cultures of Buddhism and Taoism were destroyed, and they lost the foundation they needed for survival . How could they thrive after that? Therefore, Taoist priest Zhang Xiaochu¡¯s Taoist Association of the Republic of China only set up a Shanghai branch and otherwise came to an end . "

    Zhou Qin was suddenly enlightened . She looked at Li Yundong and became more clear of why Li Yundong had felt such feelings before .

    Li Yundong nced at her and said with an encouraging smile, "Go on, Zi Yuan . "

    Zi Yuan nodded and said, "You all know what happenedter . War broke out between the Kuomintang and Communist Party, the parties that supported atheism won, and the Cultivation World entered its darkest period . Then the events of Destroying the Four Olds, the Great Leap Forward, and the Great Cultural Revolution followed . This series of movements made the Cultivation World suffer a great loss of vitality and it almost disappeared in Jianghu . Arge number of cultivators went abroad and founded branches of various sects . The situation didn¡¯t improve until the Reform and Opening . The country¡¯s control over cultivators loosened a lot . Especially over the past two years, cultivators have slowly begun to appear in the world again .

    "Especially the sect master of the Gezao Sect, Wan Zhenyuan . After he realized that the country was beginning to rx its management of the Cultivation World, he began refining the three elixirs again in order to be an immortal . It took him two years to finally refine the Renyuan Jindan, so that you and Su Chan could meet . . . "

    Li Yundong and Su Chan looked at each other andughed . Li Yundong said, "We were brought together by fate . Everything has its own destiny . "

    Zi Yuan said, "I¡¯ve said so much because I want you to understand . Don¡¯t think that you can do whatever you want just because the country has rxed its management of cultivators . Especially you, Li Yundong . You are now a famous figure in the Cultivation World . You must pay attention to every word you say and every move you make . Do not be arrogant or high-profile because it will definitely be a disaster if you attract too much attention . With your cultivation, you¡¯d be able to escape, but what about your disciples and the disciples of the Fox Zen School? What would be of them?"

    Li Yundong looked solemn when he heard that . "Thank you for your warning . I¡¯ll keep all of this in mind . "

    Zi Yuan added, "However, this video is not enough to make authorities start watching you from now on, because the state adopts an ¡®autonomous¡¯ approach to the management of the cultivation world . Although the cultivators manage the cultivation world themselves, they can¡¯t publicize their doings, let alone make them public . Therefore, if this video is exposed, some people in the cultivation world will be unhappy with you . Besides, you are the Leader of the Fox Zen Sect, which is a controversial matter . If others take this matter up against you, you must remain passive . "

    Li Yundong had been listening with a serious expression until this point, but now he rxed . Heughed and said, "Since the Cultivation World is managed by the cultivators themselves, there is nothing to be afraid of . These people will want to challenge me as nothing more than settling a score . When ites to settling scores, I am not afraid of them . At worst, I will deal with them ording to the situation . "

    Hearing the arrogance Li Yundong¡¯s words, Zi Yuan said cautiously, "Don¡¯t be too ruthless . Last time, the people from the cultivation world were all experts from the younger generation . None of the seniors and elders from the various sects came, and there were countless cultivation sects hidden in the world . Although the May 4th Movement, the matter of getting rid of old ideas and the Great Culture Revoluton have destroyed the soil and foundation that the cultivation world relies on for survival, these cultivators have hidden very well . Now the country has rxed its grip, so they will definitelye out to take action . Now you are known as the pre-eminent expert of the younger generation in the cultivation world, there must be many cultivators who are eager to defeat you . They know that as long as they defeat you, they will immediately be famous!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart trembled . He nodded to Zi Yuan and said, "You¡¯re right . I remember that there was a person from the Blue Cave Sect ambushing mest time . If it weren¡¯t for my cultivation being higher than his, I would have most likely fallen into his trap . I¡¯ll have to be careful in the future . "

    Li Yundong then turned to Su Chan and the others and said, "Try to keep a low profile from now on . If you go out, pay attention to your surroundings and walk together . "

    Su Chan and the others replied in unison, "Yes, Leader!"

    Li Yundong smiled and nodded . He was about to speak again when he suddenly heard a knock on the door . "Who is it?" he asked, sounding surprised .

    The person at the door shouted, "I have a parcel for you!"

    Li Yundong asked suspiciously, "A courier at thiste hour? Are you kidding me? Did anyone buy something?"

    He looked at Su Chan, who shook her head like a rattle . Zhou Qin also denied it, saying, "Me neither . " Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling also said that it wasn¡¯t them .

    Cao Yi, Liu Yuehong, and Zhuang Yating all looked at each other and shook their heads . The foxes simply asked, "What is a courier?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "This is odd . Does he have the wrong address? I¡¯ll have a look . "

    He walked to the door and opened it only to be faced with a man who was about the same height as him, wearing a motorcycle helmet and a pair of sunsses that almost covered half of his face .

    There was a parcel in this person¡¯s hand . He looked at Li Yundong and asked, "Are you Li Yundong?"

    Li Yundong nodded and said, "Yep, that¡¯s me . "

    The man handed over the bag and a pen . "Your package . "

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t suspect him . He took the pen and lowered his head to sign . However, as soon as he lowered his head, the man in front of him thrust his finger like a spear toward Li Yundong¡¯s Baihui acupoint at the top of head .

 Chapter 345

    Chapter 345

    <h4>The Mastermind Behind the Scenes?</h4>

    This sneak attack immediately caused Su Chan and the rest to cry out in rm . One by one, they shouted, "Shameless!"

    Zi Yuan waspletely furious . "Stop!" she shouted .

    They shouted quickly, but Li Yundong¡¯s reaction was even faster . Only by feeling a strong wind blowing overhead did the pores around his Baihui acupoint suddenly open, making him immediately think that something was wrong . With a ballpoint pen in his hand, he plunged the nib into the opponent¡¯s chest like lightning without so much as a second thought .

    Li Yundong could feel that the blow was like a thunderbolt . It was extremely powerful, to the extent that even granite could be pierced by it, not to mention a man¡¯s skull . If he hit back all-out, he still might not have been able to withstand the blow that the opponent had nned for a long time .

    Therefore, he simply allowed the opponent to hit the top of his skull, and he himself also struck at the opponent¡¯s Huagai acupoint .

    Li Yundong infused all his Zhenqi into the ballpoint pen . At the critical moment of life and death, even diamond could have been entered by it, not to mention a human chest .

    The Huagai was the most important acupoint of the human body . If this person¡¯s Huagai was pierced by Li Yundong, he would die at once from death Qi . Li Yundong bet that the opponent would not dare to exchange a life for a life .

    Moreover, there was a ballpoint pen in Li Yundong¡¯s hand, which was much longer than his enemy¡¯s fingers . Although he had started making his moveter, he had arrived first!

    As the saying goes, an inch longer, an inch stronger .

    The man never thought that he would have ruined his n by giving Li Yundong a simple pen . He was so angry that he had to twist his feet and turn around to avoid Li Yundong¡¯s fierce thrust . His hand, which was still inserted into Li Yundong¡¯s Baihui acupoint, also quickly turned back and he pressed two fingers to the tip of Li Yundong¡¯s pen .

    As soon as his fingertips caught the pen with a snapping sound, the two men¡¯s Zhenqi crashed into each other fiercely . It was like two fierce armies suddenly colliding with each other like tides, shaking the two men¡¯s bodies violently . With a snap, the pen was smashed into countless pieces .

    Right at the moment that the pen burst, the elevator in the stairwell also opened with a crash . Li Yundong was startled and saw the fragments flying in all directions, some straight into the elevator .

    These fragments were extremely powerful . If ordinary people were hit by them, it would be no different to them being shredded by shrapnel . They would either end up dead or at least seriously injured .

    Li Yundong quickly turned his body, withdrew his arm, and instantly tucked it into his sleeve . He flung the sleeve like a long, wide whip, and swiping the fragments away .

    But as Li Yundong turned his body, he immediately turned his back to the person who attacked him . All the vital parts of his back were exposed to his opponent, putting him in the most unfavorable position possible inbat .

    Seeing Li Yundong¡¯s weakness, the opponent immediately stepped forward without thinking and hit Li Yundong with his palm . Using his full strength, even granite could have been broken into pieces .

    Li Yundong, however, seemed to have been expecting the opponent to take the opportunity to attack . He grabbed the sleeves with the pen fragments in them and swung them back .

    This time, Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes suddenly burst with brilliance . Su Chan, Ruan Hongling, Cao Yi, and the other Cultivators also cheered . Zi Yuan secretly thought to herself appreciatively, "Li Yundong¡¯s performance is excellent . His aptitude for cultivation is rare in this world, and his talent for fighting is even more shocking . He actually thought of a way to deal with this in such a short time . Moreover, he can defeat the enemy simply by relying on the environment and his own clothes . Amazing . He is really amazing!"

    Just as Su Chan and the others were cheering, there was a snap . Li Yundong¡¯s sleeve hit the palm of the opponent, and all the fragments suddenly buried themselves into the palm of his hand .

    In a sh, the two men began fighting like lightning and thunder . The man groaned and took a step back, clutching his palm . The moment Su Chan and the others¡¯ apuse began, two young women came out of the elevator chatting to one another .

    As soon as the two women walked out of the elevator, they heard the cheers of Su Chan and the others . They were shocked, their eyes wide . They looked at Li Yundong and the man in front of them, who was covering his hand and wearing a helmet and sunsses, keeping his head down . For a moment, they didn¡¯t know what was going on .

    When the person who had made the sneak attack saw secr mortals present, he immediately sped his hands and turned to walk into the elevator .

    Since the two normal women were present, Li Yundong did not give chase . He just stared at the elevator¡¯s closing doors, nced at the two stunned girls, then picked up the parcel that had fallen to the ground with his feet and headed through the door .

    After closing the door, some people gathered around and asked Su Chan, "Are you all right?"

    Su Chan patted her chest and said, "Yundong, you reacted so quickly . I hadn¡¯t evene to my senses yet . If it had been me just now, I would have died!"

    Zi Yuan also nodded and said, "Li Yundong¡¯s reaction was immediate . The sleeve flick just now was really exquisite and admirable . It seems that your kung fu skills haven¡¯t been left to rot . "

    Cao Yi and the others also chimed in with praise . "Leader is so awesome . It was really dangerous just now . I even thought that Leader might not be able to avoid it . "

    Although Li Yundong had defeated his opponent in the blink of an eye and the others were looking at him with awe, the truth was that Li Yundong himself was still scared, sweat running down his back as he calmed down .

    He said with a grim face, "This person¡¯s cultivation is definitely not inferior to mine . Just now, I didn¡¯t even notice that he was going to sneak up on me, which means that their cultivation of Qi is close to the Cultivation of Back to Basics . He must be a top master of a sect . But why would this kind of person be so despicable as to sneak up on me?"

    Zi Yuan sighed . "This is the trouble with bing famous . Everyone wants to defeat you . Once they do, they can spread the news everywhere . Since ancient times, there has been no first ce in literature and no second ce in martial arts . It is also the same in the cultivation world . After I became famous, there were many people who came to challenge me . If I had not been above worldly considerations regarding cultivation, I would have been annoyed to death . Li Yundong, you are involved in secr affairs for cultivation, so you should be more careful . "

    After hearing this, Ruan Hongling was stunned . She looked at Zi Yuan with a strange expression and opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something . However, she quickly swallowed back her response and remained silent .

    Li Yundong said with a solemn expression, "I don¡¯t know which sect he belongs to, but his behavior was despicable!"

    "This person was wearing a helmet and sunsses . Obviously, he doesn¡¯t want us to recognize him by his appearance . He also used fighting techniques to challenge you and didn¡¯t want us to recognize his sect from looking at his magic . I think it¡¯ll be difficult to know who he is . . . " Zi Yuan said with a frown .

    Li Yundong¡¯s face was neutral . He raised his head and said, "In short, everyone should be careful . Tomorrow, we will move to our new home . Later, we will live in even more scattered locations and we¡¯ll all need to be more careful . "

    Everyone acknowledged this in unison . After everyone had dispersed, Li Yundong stopped Su Chan and said, "Su Chan, the opponents¡¯ means are getting more and more nasty and shameless judging by these two sneak attacks . You must stay by my side, don¡¯t run off, and don¡¯t leave my sight . Do you understand?"

    Su Chan nodded with a smile . "Got it . Yundong, although my Cultivation Quotient is not very high, it¡¯s still not that easy for others to catch me!"

    Li Yundong smiled and patted her head tenderly .

    At this time, Zi Yuan pulled Ruan Hongling away and whispered once they were in their room, "Hongling, I think something strange is going on . "

    "Sister Zi Yuan, what¡¯s wrong?" Ruan Hongling asked curiously .

    Zi Yuan looked at her . "I keep feeling that ever since Li Yundong took over as the Leader of the Fox Zen School, there has been a mastermind manipting everything . There has been a whole series of things targeting him . Especially these sneak attacks, which are simply unbelievable!"

    Ruan Hongling said with confusion, "I was wondering why you said that many people sneaked up on you after you became famous . Your reputation was known by everyone and not earnt through fighting like Li Yundong . Moreover, you are a rare beauty and a high-level female cultivator in the Cultivation World, so you are respected as one of the top masters of the younger generation . "

    "That¡¯s right . Everyone gave way to me . For some male cultivators, it¡¯s not noble to fight a female cultivator like me, regardless of whether they win or lose . That¡¯s why no one has ever challenged me before," said Zi Yuan, nodding .

    "Then why did you say that?" Ruan Hongling asked curiously .

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly . "I¡¯m saying it not only for Li Yundong to hear, but also for the hidden traitor inside the Fox Zen School to hear . "

    Ruan Hongling was rmed . "A traitor? There¡¯s a mole among the Fox Zen School?"

    Zi Yuan nodded . "That¡¯s right . Thest time Li Yundong talked to me privately, he suspected that there was a spy in Fox Zen School . Now I am also suspicious . A series of events started happening right after Li Yundong took over the position . Firstly, Zhangsun Hong was killed, and Liu Ye¡¯s body disappeared, and two big golden snakes¡¯ bodies were stolen . Then, there were sneaky attacksing one after another . Next, Renyuan Jindan came out, and Fox Zen Sect was besieged . Recently, the Medicine King Cauldron and the Immortal Pen were supposed to appear . Moreover, the Taoist assembly, which is held once every four years in the cultivation world, is supposed to be held again soon . At that time, leaders from all sects will gather together for fierce battles . The sphere of influence in the cultivation world will be reformed . "

    Zi Yuan frowned slightly and said, "This series of events makes me feel faintly that someone in the Cultivation World is orchestrating a great conspiracy! Based on my understanding, although some cultivators from each sect will no doubt be dissatisfied with Li Yundong, they would not be so crazy . They must be being instigated by a maniptor to oppose Li Yundong . "

    Speaking of this, Zi Yuan suddenly lowered her voice, "I even suspect that if Li Yundong hadn¡¯t withstood the attack and had been killed just now, the entire Fox Zen School would have been wiped out!"

    Ruan Hongling opened her mouth in surprise and said, "Sister Zi Yuan, aren¡¯t you overthinking?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head and said, "No . Last time, you heard Second Shibo say that a Great Catastrophe was going to happen in the Cultivation World . Although Second Shibo¡¯s character is extreme, she is not a person known to bluff at random . So, I am also wondering about what will happen . What does this matter have to do with the Fox Zen School, the hidden traitor of the Fox Zen School, and Li Yundong? What does this series of events against Li Yundong have to do with this so-called Great Catastrophe?"

    Ruan Hongling suddenly yelled, "Ah! Sister Zi Yuan, I have had a thought . Do you think that the mole could be . . . "

    Without waiting for her to finish, Zi Yuan cut her off by saying, "I¡¯m not sure yet, but what I said to Li Yundong was just to paralyze the traitor . When he can¡¯t stand it anymore, he¡¯ll reveal his true colors and throw himself into the trap!"

    Ruan Hongling suddenly chuckled and said jokingly, "Sister Zi Yuan, there are only foxes in this room . At that time, every one of them will have their tails, which are their "true colors" . Wouldn¡¯t that mean that all of them are hidden traitors?"

    "I never expected that the descendants of our Linggong Sect would be in the same room as the Cultivators of Fox Zen School . This is truly extraordinary," Zi Yuan said with a smile .

    Ruan Hongling made a palm with one hand, lowered her head, and said, "Amitayus . I certainly don¡¯t know anything about anomalies, but I do know that someone is in love with someone, so she is always considerate of him, hoping she will be able to help him finish everything and achieve true fulfillment . That¡¯s why she is so condescending!"

    "Hongling, what are you talking about!" Zi Yuan¡¯s heart suddenly trembled and she blushed, ring at Ruan Hongling as she said angrily, "What nonsense are you spewing!"

    Ruan Hongling giggled and said, "Looks like i was right . I can see you blushing!"

    Zi Yuan suddenly turned solemn . With one hand spread, exposing the palm, she put her head down and solemnly said, "Hongling, in my life, my greatest wish is only to follow my master¡¯s footsteps and cultivate to be an immortal . The reason why I came to the mortal world is that Jindan has appeared in it in response to my master¡¯s psalm . To me, all of this is just like the reflection of the moon and flowers on the surface of water, a transient scene . "

    Ruan Hongling rarely saw Zi Yuan being this serious . Her smile faded and she asked softly, "Sister Zi Yuan, are you really not interested in him at all?"

    Zi Yuan lowered her eyes and replied quietly, "Does it matter if I have feelings for him or not? Hongling, the current situation is soplicated and confusing, like a tangled yarn . It¡¯s precisely the time for us to carefully analyse and prevent ourselves from getting hurt before it¡¯s toote . Let¡¯s not get entangled in these sentimental matters of love . "

    Ruan Hongling said nothing but a gentle "oh", and in her mind, she sighed lightly . "Sister Zi Yuan, you still haven¡¯t answered my question! Second Shibo has such a Cultivation Quotient, but she has never been able to get rid of the mortal world¡¯s love and hatred . Since you have chosen to be involved in secr affairs for cultivation, how can you be detached from the mortal world?"

    Thinking of this, Ruan Hongling couldn¡¯t help feeling a little dazed for a while .

 Chapter 346

    Chapter 346

    <h4>The House Is Restless!</h4>

    Early the next morning, Li Yundong woke up from his meditation. At this time, Su Chan and the little foxes were also getting up early. After seeing Li Yundong, they suddenly shouted, "Leader, good morning!"

    Although Li Yundong had nearly been killed by a sneak attack before, when he saw the group of young beauties saying hello to him early in the morning, he couldn¡¯t help but feel happy. He finally felt that he was a leader and that everything was worth it.

    "Waking up early in the morning and being surrounded by a group of beautiful girls. What more could a man ask for!"

    Li Yundong was in a good mood and he greeted them with a smile, saying, "You¡¯re all up so early! Is all the luggage packed?"

    Su Chan smiled and said, "My luggage is already ready, as for the others¡¯..."

    Before she could finish speaking, the other little foxes interrupted. "Leader, we have no luggage. Let¡¯s go, we can¡¯t wait!"

    "That¡¯s right, Leader. We want to have our own rooms. It¡¯s ufortable and inconvenient for us all to squeeze into the living room!"

    "Exactly. Sometimes you can even step on people when you get up to use the toilet!"

    "Hey, Second Shijie, the one you stepped on was me. I was wondering who it was that had stepped on me in my sleep yesterday!"

    "Fourth Shimei, I didn¡¯t me you when you stumbled into me. How could you be so wicked as to sue me first?"

    "Wow, second Shijie, you are really too much. You stepped on my arms so hard that they turned blue! Look, look for yourself!"

    "Hey, stop bickering, you two. Second Shijie, yesterday you fell right on me and it was really painful!"

    "That¡¯s right. I was crushed by you too, and your pointy jaw went right into me!"

    "Hey, what do you mean? I¡¯m also a victim. If it hadn¡¯t been for someone pressing my bellyst night, would I have been unable to stop myself from needing the bathroom?"

    "What? Who was pressing on your belly?"

    "Who slept next to you yesterday, Second Shijie?"

    "Was it you? Or you?" The little foxes looked over one by one, all shaking their heads, until finally their eyes fell on Li Yundong. They said in unison, "Leader, you must pass judgement!"

    Li Yundong suddenly felt harrassed. Though it was nice for a group of little beauties to be surrounding him, if they were screaming and chattering around him all day, it was a hell of a lot of pain.

    Li Yundong hurriedly pulled a face and said deliberately, "Nonsense, you are all from the Fox Zen School and should be courteous to each other. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s proper for you all to care about such things."

    The little foxes puffed up their mouths and bowed their heads, looking aggrieved and falling silent.

    Li Yundong could see that they were dissatisfied, but at least there was no more noise. He then said, "Okay, everyone, pack up your things and let¡¯s go!"

    When the little foxes heard that they were finally going to move to a new home, they pped and cheered again.

    Cao Yi shibo, who had been watching from one side for a while, suddenly chimed in. "Don¡¯t rush to be happy so soon. The Leader has been supporting you with free food and drink for so long. You should work harder to help the leader with your living costs."

    The little foxes had been hanging out with Li Yundong for a long time. Their awe towards him had faded as they had grown closer. They immediately ran up to Li Yundong one by one, smiling. "Master, let me rub your back!" "Master, let me massage you!"

    Su Chan saw this and immediately hugged Li Yundong nervously, then looked at the crowd of girls vigntly. "What are you nning? Yundong belongs to me! You are not allowed to touch him!"

    The little foxes yelled one after another, "Su Chan, you are too possessive! The leader belongs to all of us. What¡¯s wrong with us caring about our leader?" After that, they swarmed up to him, pounding his back and pinching his shoulders to show their great hospitality.

    Su Chan¡¯s two fists were outmatched by all those hands, and she was quickly overwhelmed. Li Yundong only felt that his field of vision had been filled with a sea of snow-white arms. The little foxes were very attractive, and he found himself a wave of pale buttocks as their cosmetic powders irritated his nostrils. Li Yundong thought to himself extravagantly, "Good Lord, no matter how firm a revolutionary fighter is, in the face of such temptation he will give in soon enough! How can it be like this?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s face was stern. With his voice hinting at the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡¡¯s achievement method, he scolded, "Stand up straight. Is it right for you to be so presumptuous with your leader?"

    When the little foxes heard this, they were thoroughly shocked and began behaving themselves.

    Upon seeing this, Cao Yi came to the rescue and said, "Alright, let¡¯s take some things. It can be regarded as helping the leader with solving his problems."

    After saying this, she opened the door to the room that was filled with tea goods and said, "We previously divided the goods into bags. Let¡¯s carry a few bags each by ourselves, and try to move them all at once."

    Li Yundong watched intently and was shocked. "There are thirty or forty stic bags here, and each of them is the size of four basketballs. These little foxes from the Fox Zen School will be totally overloaded just by carrying two of them!"

    Li Yundong inhaled a lungful of cold air. "Where did you find so many stic bags anyway?"

    Cao Yiughed, "These were brought by Zhenren Zi Yuan." Then, she said to the other juniors, "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up ande and get it!"

    After saying that, she picked up a bag with each hand.

    Li Yundong saw that Cao Yi had decided to carry four bags and that half of her body had been swallowed up, looking extremely encumbered. He was surprised and asked, "Can you manage it?"

    Cao Yi smiled. "Leader, you are underestimating us too much. Although our cultivation levels are low and our fighting skills are not advanced, we can still manage this kind of thing!"

    Li Yundong smiled. "Seeing that all of you are peerless beauties, I sometimes forget that you are all cultivators. That¡¯s right, it is impossible for cultivators to be burdened by such little things."

    Li Yundong waved to the little foxes. "Little ones, grab some bags. We¡¯re going to our new home!"

    The foxes responded withughter and rushed over to the bags. Some took two bags, others took three, and Zhou Qin came out of the room carrying one bag. It was just at this time that Zi Yuan And Ruan Hongling also arrived. Seeing this, theyughed and said, "It¡¯s so lively in here. Everyone has their lot? Well, let¡¯s carry two bags, shall we?"

    As she spoke, Zi Yuan picked up four bags, and Ruan Hongling took two as well.

    But when Li Yundong finally wanted to pick some up, he suddenly discovered that thest few bags had been swiped by Zi Yuan, Ruan Hongling, and the others. He smiled and said, "Everything¡¯s already taken. What shall I carry? By the way, I still have some luggage. Let me pick this up."

    Su Chan immediately jumped over at this time, dragged out the suitcase that had already been sorted out, and said with a smile, "I¡¯ll take it. These are ours. I want to take it myself!"

    Li Yundong threw up his hands and said helplessly, "You all have things to take. What should I have?"

    Cao Yiughed and said, "Since you are the leader of the sect, you don¡¯t need to carry anything. Just leave this to us."

    Li Yundong was a little embarrassed. He said shyly, "It¡¯s not good to let a big group of beautiful women carry everything while I sit around empty-handed. Doesn¡¯t that sound a bit shameful?"

    Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help but scoff with a smile. "Bah, look at the corners of your eyes, they¡¯re almost crinkling withughter. Stop showing off when you¡¯re already so lucky!"

    Sure enough, Li Yundongughed and waved his hand. "Okay, everyone, let¡¯s go!"

    The group of people set off from New Hongsheng District. When they were on their way, they only saw the passers-by staring at them and could hear some say in surprise, "It can¡¯t be. Such arge group of beautiful women are holding so many things while clustered around a bare-handed man? Am, am I wrong? Is this kind of thing even possible in today¡¯s society? I, I am not living in the old world, am I?"

    When Li Yundong¡¯s group came to Riverside Vige, they immediately attracted a lot of people¡¯s attention. Fortunately, thismunity was dominated by luxury houses. Many houses had been purchased by rich people and left without upants, so the upancy rate was not high and they did not attract arge area of onlookers.

    The group of people entered and divided up their rooms. Li Yundong took the second floor bedroom near the rooftop in the east, while Su Chan and Zhou Qin shared a room in the west wing. Cao Yi decided to live in the room next to Li Yundong¡¯s. The other four little foxes lived in the two rooms downstairs. Liu Yuehong, Zhuang Yating, Zi Yuan, Ruan Hongling, and the other three little foxes lived in the suite next door.

    In this way, the house suddenly appeared a lot more spacious. The little foxes had a new ce to live, and they all gathered in the living room of Li Yundong¡¯s section of the house. They were so excited that they jumped around the room, so noisy that they almost blew the roof off.

    Seeing that they were excited, Li Yundong didn¡¯t want to stifle them, as it was rare for them to be so happy. But not long after, the doorbell rang. Li Yundong remembered the experience of thest sneak attack. This time he knew how to prepare and was covered with Zhenqi. He opened the door with secret vignce, but as soon as he opened it, he saw a middle-aged woman wearing a red armband standing aggressively before him. She nced inside and saw that the house was full of stunning beauties, and she suddenly became shocked and scared. She thought that there must be an official or rich second generation kid living in the house.

    The middle-aged woman had originally wanted to denounce him, but at this time, her momentum declined. She squeezed out a smile and said politely, "Hello, I am from themunity¡¯s property office. Someone hasined that you are being too noisy, so I came to see what¡¯s going on. Can you keep it down?"

    Li Yundong suddenly understood. Heughed and said, "I¡¯m sorry, I haven¡¯t been controlling them properly. I¡¯ll give them a good talking toter."

    After that, Li Yundong turned back and scolded the little foxes, "Be quiet, don¡¯t you see that your ruckus has caused someone toe andin?"

    Frightened by Li Yundong, the little foxes suddenly quieted down a lot. They all stuck out their tongues and gestured silently before quieting down.

    The middle-aged woman saw that these beauties had immediately fallen silent as soon as Li Yundong had ordered them too. She was more and more certain of her own thoughts. "This young and handsome man must be an official or a rich second generation kid. I can¡¯t afford to offend him. I must avoid meeting him in the future!"

    The smile on the middle-aged woman¡¯s face became more and more attentive. "Haha, just be careful in the future. I have no other issue to discuss. If you want anything in the future, you cane to us and we will definitely do what we can to assist."

    "Okay, okay," Li Yundong saidughingly.

    After seeing the middle-aged woman off, Li Yundong turned around and said with a straight face, "Are you still cultivators? You were acting like a group of prisoners who have just been released from your cells! Especially you, Su Chan, you took the lead in making trouble. What does that make you look like?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s reproach made the little foxes immediately lower their heads in shame, and Su Chan¡¯s chin was almost on her chest.

    After being reprimanded by Li Yundong, the group of little foxes watched Li Yundong leave with eager eyes. They all looked at each other and said, "Well, what should we do now then?"

    After being scolded by Li Yundong, they kept their voices low, as if they were a pack of thieves.

    The little foxes turned their attentive eyes to Su Chan. "Su Chan, you¡¯ve been in the Human World for a long time. Do you know anything interesting we can do?"

    Su Chan thought for a moment and was delighted. She was about to shout, but then she quickly remembered Li Yundong¡¯s reprimand just now. She covered her mouth with one hand and said in a low voice, "I¡¯ve got it. Let¡¯s watch a soap opera!"

    The little foxes immediately beamed with joy. "Great, great!"

    Seeing that they were overjoyed and their voices were already getting louder, she immediately gestured for them to be quiet and said, "Don¡¯t be so noisy!"

    The little foxes all started chattering and repeating to one another, "Be quiet."

    Su Chan rolled her eyes and said, "I¡¯ll ask Yundong if he will let us see it."

    As she spoke, Su Chan quietly went upstairs. At the top, she tentatively pushed open the door, stuck her head in, nced around, and gently called, "Yundong!"

    Seeing Su Chan acting like a thief entering the room, Li Yundong immediately felt both angry and amused as he asked, "What are you doing?"

    "Can we watch TV?" Su Chan asked timidly.

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing. "You hardly need ask! Just don¡¯t make your voices too loud!"

    Su Chan suddenly cheered. "Master, you¡¯re the best! We love you so much!" Then, she rushed in, hugged Li Yundong, and kissed him hard on the face before rushing out again like a gust of wind.

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Hey, when watching the TV, don¡¯t make trouble! Be careful of drawingints again!"

    Su Chan¡¯s clear voice rang from outside the door. "Got it!"

    Li Yundong shook his head and was unable to stifle augh. He sat cross-legged in the room and was about to start Qi control. Suddenly, there was the sound of a TV jingle ying in the living room. Li Yundong was stunned when he heard it.

    He thought to himself, "If you are going to watch TV, at least find something good. Cartoons are fine, too, but you¡¯re choosing such old animations? You not only watch such old animations, you even sing their theme songs!"

    Li Yundong continued to hear bursts of familiar musicing from the living room. The little foxes hummed, "Cucumis! Cucumis! Seven flowers on the cirrus! Not afraid of the wind! Not afraid of the rain! La! Di di da da dong dong da! Cucumis! Cucumis! ..."(https://.youtube/watch?v=O4m_55rj-UM)

 Chapter 347

    Chapter 347

    <h4>You¡¯re Zhu Caiguai!</h4>

    Li Yundong was dumbfounded as he listened to the voiceing from the living room . He thought to himself, "No way, they¡¯re actually singing such lewd lyrics? Who taught them? Don¡¯t tell me it was Su Chan again . "

    He jumped up quickly, pulled the door open, and headed downstairs . The little foxes just had finished singing . At this moment, they were sitting in a circle, all cross-legged on the ground, and eagerly looking at the 47-inch sma TV in the living room . They were so absorbed that they even didn¡¯t notice when Li Yundong came over to them .

    Li Yundong saw them all presenting a look of innocence, as if they had not been ying pranks just now, and thought to himself, "Who taught them to sing this song? Could it be . . . that I misheard? No, surely not . "

    Li Yundong stood watching for a while, seeing that they were so fascinated that they hadn¡¯t even noticed that he was standing next to them . He thought to himself, "Good fellow, if there were a sneak attack, even a child could put you all down . Is Cbash Boys really that fascinating? Which TV station is so unpromising as to show these old cartoons?"

    Li Yundong looked up and suddenly took a deep breath, saying, "CCTV Children¡¯s Channel! Aren¡¯t you guys a bit old for this!?"

    At this time, in the video, the eponymous Cbash Brothers had been caught by a snake and scorpion demon . They took off their pants and peed to tease them . The funny thing was that there was a small mosaic censoring the key parts of the body!

    The little foxes wondered, "What is that blurry thing?"

    A little fox next to the one who¡¯d spoken immediately scolded with a smile, "Idiot, it¡¯s a man¡¯s thing . Don¡¯t you know?"

    "Oh . . . then why is it like this?"

    "I don¡¯t know either, you can ask Shijie Su Chan . She has rich experience of the secr world, so she must know about it . "

    Su Chan didn¡¯t know what the mosaic was . She saw that the little foxes were all looking at her, and she didn¡¯t want to show her ignorance in front of them . She rolled her eyes and noticed Li Yundong standing by her side .

    As if she had just seen her savior, she said with a smile,"Our Leader is here, ask him . Let him answer . "

    Li Yundong was grimacing . He secretly red at Su Chan, then coughed and said, "Well, this is actually called a mosaic, which is used to block, uh . . . to block some sensitive ces . Um, erm, that¡¯s all . "

    Li Yundong was usually sharp-tongued and eloquent, but when he had to exin the problem in front of a group of beauties, he suddenly felt embarrassed and became a stuttering mess!

    After listening to the exnation, the little foxes suddenly understood . So that was it!

    Su Chan also came to a sudden realization, but she soon looked puzzled . She unconsciously looked down at Li Yundong¡¯s lower parts and asked, "But why don¡¯t you have a mosaic?"

    Li Yundong face instantly reddened . He couldn¡¯t wait to catch Su Chan and spank her five hundred times over!

    When the rest of the foxes heard Su Chan¡¯s question, their gazes fell upon Li Yundong as well . All of them were grinning ambiguously .

    Li Yundong was ashamed to the point of anger and red at Su Chan . "Are you an idiot? How could you ask this kind of question!"

    Su Chan was full of confusion . "Ah? What¡¯s wrong with the question? Did I say something bad?"

    Seeing that she was still at a loss, Li Yundong began to lose it and couldn¡¯t help shouting, "How could you ask such a question? You are really an idiot, you are as stupid as a pig!"

    Being scolded by Li Yundong in public, Su Chan pouted unhappily . "I didn¡¯t know, so I asked . What¡¯s wrong with that? I¡¯m not a pig!"

    An angryugh burst from Li Yundong . "It¡¯s strange that you¡¯re not a pig! Yes, I¡¯ll change your nameter, and we can all call you Zhu Caiguai [TN: ¡¯It would be surprising if you were not an idiot . ]"

    Su Chan stomped and said angrily, "You are the pig! Not me!"

    Li Yundong let out a sigh of anger, thenughed triumphantly, "Zhu Caiguai! You are Zhu Caiguai!"

    Su Chan was so angry that she was about to rush towards Li Yundong but then she saw Zi Yuan, Ruan Hongling and some others from the Fox Zen School leaping over from the balcony .

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry as she said helplessly, "Can¡¯t you use the door? There is an amazing thing in this world known as a door!"

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly and Ruan Hongling made a grimace at him . "What¡¯s the difference? Isn¡¯t this also a door? It¡¯s just the back door!"

    Li Yundong sighed, "The Chinese mentality of using the ck door is really deep-rooted, even amongst cultivators! I give up!"

    His words made the small crowd of peopleugh .

    At this time, Zhou Qin, Cao Yi and the others also walked downstairs, and the spacious living room suddenly became crowded .

    Li Yundong looked at Zi Yuan and asked, "Are you here for something?"

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Yes, the shop was closed yesterday, so why not get the business license for the storefront today? By the way, we¡¯ve all been thinking about the name of the store . "

    Upon hearing this, everyone became excited, especially the little foxes, who began to chatter excitedly .

    "Hey, do you have any idea for a name?"

    "In my opinion, it should be called Fox Tea Stall!"

    "Are you an idiot? Lest others not know that this is a teahouse operated by our Fox Zen School? Aren¡¯t you afraid of drawing trouble from other sects?"

    "Just call it Monolith Tea Stall! Use our pioneer¡¯s name, okay?"

    "What¡¯s so good about? It¡¯s not as good as the former name! Monolith Tea Stall, so weird!"

    They kept talking noisily, and Li Yundong didn¡¯t even have a chance to interrupt . Cao Yi, who was next to him, coughed to attract the attention of the little foxes . She reprimanded all of them, "What¡¯s wrong with you? Do you think you should choose the name? It is absolutely decided by our Leader!"

    Li Yundong chuckled and said, "It doesn¡¯t matter . Everyone has their own suggestions . Let them all speak one by one, and then we can choose the best . "

    Li Yundong looked at Zi Yuan . "Zi Yuan, you have contributed the most to this whole thing, what name do you want?"

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly and said quietly, "I actually haven¡¯t thought about it . It would be better if you guys named it . "

    Li Yundong turned to Ruan Hongling again . "Hongling, what name do you want?"

    After thinking for a bit, Ruan Hongling was said bluntly, "I remember thest time Sister Zi Yuan performed tea art on the stage, it was like some sort of fairnd with al of the clouds and mist . How about calling it Yunwu Tea Stall?"

    Once she¡¯d finished speaking, Li Yundongughed . "Yunwu is a kind of tea . If we took this name, potential customers would think that only Yunwu tea was sold here . "

    Zi Yuanughed and said jokingly, "Then we should call it Guanyin Tea House . Most of our tea is Tie Guanyin!"

    "You¡¯re asking me to give you another name . Now that I have done what you had asked, you all gang up tough at me . You two are really a sickening couple! So annoying!" Ruan Hongling teased .

    Zi Yuan suddenly blushed and red at Ruan Hongling angrily . Li Yundong also looked very embarrassed . He coughed awkwardly and quickly changed his target, looking at Zhou Qin and saying, "Zhou Qin, what do you have in mind?"

    Zhou Qinughed, "I don¡¯t have any good ideas actually . "

    Seeing that she was refusing to tell him, Li Yundong knew that Zhou Qin had just started her cultivation, so she was being very cautious, lest she say something wrong . Understanding this, he smiled and kept his eyes off her .

    By this point, Su Chan could no longer bear it . She raised her hand high and shouted, "I, I, I have a good name!"

    Li Yundong red at her pretentiously . "Zhu Caiguai . Shut up! You are too stupid . We won¡¯t listen to your name!"

    Su Chan¡¯s face suddenly fell . She yelled in frustration, "You are so annoying . You are Zhu Caiguai!"

    Li Yundong held back hisugh, deliberately not looking at her and instead turning to Cao Yi . "Shibo Cao Yi , what name do you think we should use?"

    "Leader, this is your shop . We have no right to name it," Cao Yi replied with augh .

    "Li Yundong waved his hand and said with a smile, "That¡¯s not true . This is also the property of our Fox Zen School . In fact, it¡¯s the joint property of our Fox Zen School and the Linggong Sect of Zhengyi School . Since our Fox Zen School has a share, you do too . Shibo Cao Yi,e on . "

    Seeing that she could not refuse, Cao Yi thought for a moment and said, "Since it is a teahouse located in the secr world¡¯s downtown, I think we might as well give it an elegant and popr name . ¡¯Lin Xian¡¯ sounds good . How about that?"

    Liu Yuehong, who was standing next to her, suddenly smiled . "Lin Xian is indeed not bad . It has the meaning both of drinking tea and of entering the immortal realm . But I think ¡¯Deng Xian¡¯ is better, isn¡¯t it?"

    Zhuang Yating also chimed in, "I think it¡¯s best to call it Tong Xian . Lu Tong from the Tang Dynasty once wrote a poem, ¡¯One bowl of tea wets our throats; two bowls break our loneliness; three bowls moisturize our intestines . Four bowls make us sweat slightly . Five bowls refresh our flesh; six bowls make us immortal . ¡¯ The name of Tong Xian takes on the meaning of the poem, which is bothmon and elegant . What do you guys think?"

    After she had finished speaking, Li Yundong immediately pped his hands and said in praise, "Wow, Shibo Zhuang Yating is really well-read . What a good name . "

    At this time, Zhou Qin, who had been reluctant toment until then, also nodded slightly . Shemented, "The entrance of our shop is quite big . I think we can set up three tea rooms . One will be called Lin Xian, one will be called Deng Xian, and the other will be Tong Xian . These three names represent the three realms of tea drinking . It is just right for setting up a VIP tea room with three levels . Tong Xian will be the highest level, and the tea leaves inside will be the best, and so on . What do you think?"

    Li Yundong shot her an appreciative look and said, "Good, you aren¡¯t the daughter of an eminent family for nothing . That¡¯s really a good idea!"

    Zhou Qin was secretly happy to receive the encouragement . She added, "We can also set up three VIP cards, such as silver cards, gold cards, and diamond cards, to determine the ss of customers based on their consumption . "

    Hearing this, the others all praised her suggestion . This decision respected the opinions of the three seniors of the Fox Zen School and also clearly outlined the operating methods of the teahouse .

    Zi Yuan nced at Zhou Qin and smiled . "This is really a good idea, Li Yundong, you have a worthy apprentice on your hands . "

    Cao Yi alsoughed at thisment . "Since our leader has such a capable apprentice, he doesn¡¯t need us anymore!"

    Zhou Qinughed humbly and said, "You tter me . I¡¯m simply summarizing your ideas . and then synthesizing them . There¡¯s nothing for me to be proud of . "

    Li Yundongughed loudly, "Okay, don¡¯t get caught up ttering each other, just settle down . "

    Ruan Hongling suddenly asked curiously, "What has been settled? These are the names of the three rooms, not the teahouse itself . Is it possible that these three names will be hung outside the teahouse at the same time? Wouldn¡¯t it be a mess?"

    It was only when she said that that everyone seemed to notice the issue and looked at each other .

    Li Yundong also said in a low voice, "Uh, yeah . . . I wouldn¡¯t have thought of that if you hadn¡¯t mentioned it . "

    Standing to one side, Su Chan seized the opportunity to taunt Li Yundong triumphantly . "Look, I am not an idiot! I think you¡¯re an idiot! Stupid!"

    "Yes, I¡¯m an idiot, but you are Zhu Caiguai! Zhu Caiguai, do you have any good ideas?"

    Su Chan heard Li Yundong say this in front of so many people, and she retorted angrily and anxiously, "I told you, you are Zhu Caiguai!"

    Li Yundongughed . "You can give yourself a new name, and then I will admit that you are not Zhu Caiguai!"

    Zi Yuan and the others saw Li Yundong and Su Chan bickering with each other . Every word Li Yundong said was taking advantage of Su Chan, but before Su Chan could even react, she foolishly followed Li Yundong¡¯s words . All of them were so amused that they covered their mouths and snickered .

    Su Chan did not realize that Li Yundong was teasing her . When she saw Li Yundong asking her to give him a name, she was immediately overjoyed . She put her hands on her hips and said proudly, "You finally remembered to ask me to name it? Making use of my boundless cleverness and intelligence, I will definitely give you a good name!"

    Li Yundong held back a smile and said humbly, "Yes, yes, almighty Miss . Zhu Caiguai, give us a name quickly!"

    Su Chan stomped and yelled, "Stop calling me that already!"

    Li Yundongughed so much that his cheeks hurt . He said, "Okay, okay, I¡¯ll stop . . . definitely . "

    Su Chan didn¡¯t notice the change in Li Yundong¡¯s words . Seeing that Li Yundong had stopped talking, she shook her head and said, "The previous three shibo mentioned three Immortals . One was Lin Xian, one was Deng Xian, and the other was Tong Xian . In my opinion, this teahouse should be called Di Sanxian [Three Immortals]!"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing . "Di Sanxian[TN: It has the same pronounciation as a dish in China which is made of Saut¨¦ed Potato, Green Pepper and Eggnt]? Isn¡¯t that a dish? Do you have nothing but food on the brain? Such a gourmet! You said you are not a pig, so what are you? Oh, right, you are indeed not a pig, you are Zhu Caiguai!"

    Su Chan was convinced that the name she had chosen was very good . She looked at Li Yundong expectantly and waited for his praise . Unexpectedly, he was daring to mock her . She shouted in a fit of rage and exasperation, "I AM NOT ZHU CAIGUAI!"

    This time, everyone in the room fell aboutughing . Li Yundong thought he might die if he didn¡¯t stopughing soon .

    Su Chan looked around at the hysterical crowd . She was so stunned that she went nk . She felt wronged and sad in her heart . "Why would theyugh at me for suggesting such a good name?

    "Especially that goddamn Yundong, he¡¯s actually took the lead in making fun of me!"

    Su Chan felt aggrieved, even more miserable than Dou E [TN: A figure representative of a tragic woman in Chinese culture] . Her nose twitched as tears welled up in her eyes . She choked out, "I¡¯m not Zhu Caiguai . . . "

 Chapter 348

    Chapter 348

    <h4>Disanxian!</h4>

    Su Chan cried as she spoke, and everyone in the roomughed out loud . Li Yundong also burst outughing, shedding his image as a leader .

    Zhou Qin saw that there were more and more tears gathering in the little girl¡¯s eyes, and it was obvious that she was about to start sobbing . Zhou Qin tried hard to hold back herughter, walked over, and whispered in Su Chan¡¯s ear .

    Only then did Su Chan realize that she had fallen into Li Yundong¡¯s trap . It turned out that she had just admitted to being a pig . Her eyes immediately went nk, and after a long time, her face turned red, and she rushed over to Li Yundong fiercely . "You¡¯re so annoying . You¡¯re a pig!"

    Li Yundongughed so hard that his stomach ached . He was grabbed at and bitten by Su Chan . He hurriedly begged for mercy . "Okay, okay, you¡¯re not a pig, I am!"

    Su Chan was so angry that she shouted, "How dare you try to take advantage of me again!" Then, she jumped on Li Yundong¡¯s back with the grip of an octopus and bit down on Li Yundong¡¯s ear with her teeth .

    Li Yundong hunched himself up and put his palms together . He smiled as he said, "Yes, yes, I was wrong . Let¡¯s stop this . Get off me quickly . We still need to talk about serious matters!"

    Realizing it was time to stop, Su Chan snorted and said pompously, "I won¡¯t get off . You bullied me, so I¡¯ll bully you back . Just talk about it with me on your back . "

    With a straight face, Li Yundong said threateningly, "If you don¡¯te down now, I¡¯ll spank you!"

    Su Chan thought, "My reputation is already ruined . Now, no matter what you say, I won¡¯te down!"

    She held Li Yundong¡¯s neck tightly, buried her head in his broad back, and said shamelessly, "I won¡¯t get off, I won¡¯te down!"

    Li Yundong was at his wit¡¯s end . Could he really spank Su Chan in front of so many people?

    He looked at the people in the room and gave a helpless, hollowugh . He then straightened up and coughed as if he was carrying nothing more than a big doll on his back .

    In the room, all of the foxes from the Fox Zen School were looking at Li Yundong strangely . Everyone was trying their best to hold back theirughter . Zi Yuan smiled slightly and said, "To be honest, the name of the shop that Su Chan suggested is actually very good . Disanxian . . . First of all, it¡¯s homophonic, secondly, it is sonorous, and thirdly, it is very elegant . On top of that, it is very much in line with the situation in our shop . It¡¯s really a good name . I suggest we use it . "

    As soon as Zi Yuan had finished speaking, Ruan Hongling naturally echoed, "I agree too . "

    Cao Yi and the others from the Fox Zen School also nodded . "Yes, it¡¯s a good name . "

    Su Chan proudly poked her head out from behind Li Yundong¡¯s back and said to Li Yundong, hoping for recognition, "You see, I told you it¡¯s a good name!"

    Li Yundong turned back his hand and made a Mahamudra . With a bang, he firmly patted it against the little girl¡¯s buttocks .

    Su Chan let out a yelp, which immediately drew everyone¡¯s attention to her . The little girl¡¯s face instantly turned red with embarrassment, and she drew back her head .

    Li Yundong was still carrying the little girl on his back . His expression did not change, and he acted as if nothing had happened . He made a decision and said, "Okay, let¡¯s just use this name!"

    Zhou Qin alsoughed . "I know a very good calligrapher . We can let him write a few words and hang them up . Then we¡¯ll have our very own que . "

    Everyone praised Zhou Qin¡¯s idea, but Li Yundong smiled and said, "Why don¡¯t we use the calligrapher in front of us?"

    Zhou Qin asked curiously, "Is there a great calligrapher among us?"

    Li Yundong smiled and looked at Zi Yuan . "I unintentionally saw Zi Yuan¡¯s handwriting a while ago, and it¡¯s very good . I wonder if she would like to write it?"

    Zi Yuan immediately remembered that when she had been writing a psalmst time, she had fallen into a trance, and thus it was seen by Li Yundong . Her heart tightened and her expression looked a little unnatural .

    Obviously, Ruan Hongling didn¡¯t know the details of the matter . She immediately pped her hands and said with a smile, "Well, my Shijie¡¯s calligraphy ranks very highly in the Cultivation World!"

    At this time, Su Chan poked her head out again, but she was not behaving as arrogantly as she had been a moment ago . She said in a weak voice, "I¡¯m also good at calligraphy . "

    Li Yundong had seen her handwriting when he had been reunited with her on Shantang Street . Her handwriting was indeed very beautiful .

    Li Yundong was well aware of this, but he intended to make fun of the little girl . He sighed and said, "s, it¡¯s true that your calligraphy is very good, only a little worse than the calligraphy of Zi Yuan . "

    Obviously, Su Chan was very proud of her handwriting . Hearing that Li Yundong¡¯s tone was a little strange, she said, sounding unconvinced, "How close are our levels?"

    Li Yundong put his thumb and forefinger together, leaving only a small gap, and simply said, "This close . "

    Seeing that Li Yundong wasn¡¯t poking fun at her anymore, Su Chan snorted and said, "I¡¯m just a little worse than her then?"

    Li Yundong sighed and said, "Yes, in fact, it¡¯s just a little gap . s, it¡¯s a pity that this gap is probably hundreds of miles wide . "

    All of a sudden, the crowd burst outughing again . Su Chan was so angry that she shouted, "You are bullying me again! I don¡¯t care . I want to write!"

    It was rare for the little girl to take something so seriously . In her opinion, the start-up funds of this teahouse had been jointly earned by Li Yundong and Zi Yuan . The operation and opening of the teahouse was all based on Zhou Qin¡¯s ideas . Of these two women, one was Li Yundong¡¯s confidante, and the other was Li Yundong¡¯s chief disciple . Not only were their levels of beauty and temperaments not inferior to Su Chan¡¯s, their rtionships with Li Yundong were also very ambiguous .

    If Su Chan said she was not jealous at all, it would be an utter lie .

    The most important thing, in her opinion, was whether she, as his girlfriend, could help Li Yundong get his first pot of gold in this life . Even if Li Yundong didn¡¯t care about it, when she thought about the future, she knew she would have regrets in her heart and feel very sad if she failed .

    Seeing Su Chan¡¯s serious expression, Li Yundong was stunned for a moment, but soon heughed again . "Well, in order to be fair, we¡¯ll have apetitionter . Everyone will write, and whoever writes the best will take on the duty . How about that?"

    Cao Yiughed when he heard that . "Leader, you¡¯re in charge . You can use whoever you like . "

    Li Yundong found that as soon as he had finished speaking, the little foxes of the Fox Zen Sect all got excited and their eyes lit up . Heughed and said, "Don¡¯t be such a dictator . Everyone¡¯s interested, and what I alone say won¡¯t count . Come on, who has the Four Teasures of the Study? Hurry up and bring them over . "

    The Fox Zen School did not have much luggage as they had once lived in seclusion in the Taoist temple . However, most of them practiced calligraphy to cultivate their character, and the luggage they carried with them just happened to contain these things .

    Soon, the little foxes took out the Four Treasures of the Study as if they were hoping for Li Yundong¡¯s praise . Li Yundong pointed to the desk of the dining room next to them and said, "You can write here . Who¡¯s first?"

    All the little foxes were excited . "I¡¯ll go first!" "I¡¯ll be the first!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Don¡¯t make noise and push . Come here one by one . "

    The little foxes rushed to write the characters for ¡¯Disanxian¡¯ one by one and then presented their work to Li Yundong . After receiving his praise, they stood to one side with joy .

    At first, Su Chan watched them nervously, afraid that their writing would be better than hers . But when they finished, she suddenly breathed a sigh of relief and felt proud in her heart . "Fortunately, I used to practice calligraphy with Master . Otherwise, I would be making a fool of myself today! Although the handwriting of my fellow apprentices is good, they are still worse whenpared with me . "

    As Cao Yi and the others finished writing one by one, Su Chan only felt more relieved . She found that the calligraphy of Cao Yi and Liu Yuehong were beautiful, but they were not as flexible as hers,cking a kind of charm . On the contrary, the most coquettish character, Shibo Zhuang Yating, was written in a delicate Slender Gold, which surprised everyone .

    Li Yundong saw that everyone¡¯s calligraphy was different but that they were all beautiful . Even though he did not deeply understand calligraphy, he could see that these words were all gorgeous . He nodded and said tteringly, "Not bad, they are all well done . I really hadn¡¯t expected all of you to do good writing . "

    Li Yundong lifted his eyes to look at Ruan Hongling and asked, "Hongling, you don¡¯t want to write?"

    Ruan Hongling nodded and was about to write when she seemed to remember something . She asked purposefully, "Zhenren Li, as the Leader, why don¡¯t you write?"

    Li Yundong shook his hands . "No . No . Spare me . I am no good at this kind of thing . "

    Ruan Hongling didn¡¯t believe him . She snorted and said, "You don¡¯t want to write because you think your status is different now, don¡¯t you?"

    As soon as she said that, the others also started shouting, "Leader, you should write one!"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t refuse, so he resolved himself to doing it . He rolled up his sleeves and shouted, "Well, since you¡¯re willing to die, I¡¯m willing to bury you! Prepare to be blinded . "

    Everyoneughed when they heard that, but they became more and more curious, so they all came forward to see what was going on .

    They saw Li Yundong lift the brush pen and draw a circle on the paper attentively . However, the circle was irregr . They were suddenly speechless and wondered, "What is this?"

    After a while, Li Yundong picked up the brush and drew a circle again . This time, the circle was in a val shape and there was a note on it . Everyone was confused and only became more lost . They began to ask each other, "What is the Leader writing about?"

    Su Chan giggled and said, "Yundong, are you writing or scribbling?"

    Li Yundong ignored her and drew another circle . This time, the circle was bigger than the previous two, and it had a big head and a small tail, with a tie on its head .

    After Li Yundong had finished drawing, he threw the pen down and said loudly, "Well, I¡¯ve finished . Feast your eyes!"

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s face was full of confusion . "Hey, what are you doing? What are you writing? Whichnguage are you writing in? It can¡¯t be some aliennguage, can it?"

    Su Chan giggled and said, "That¡¯s right . If you want us to go blind by reading it, you also have to make us be convinced . "

    Li Yundong red at her and then said to Ruan Hongling in surprise, "Huh, you even know about martiannguage . You are quite knowledgeable!"

    Ruan Hongling rolled her eyes at him and said, "Just tell us . What did you write?"

    Li Yundong proudly pointed to the first irregr circle and said, "This is a potato!" Then he pointed to the second smaller circle and said, "This is a chili!" Finally, he pointed to thest one and said, "This is an eggnt!"

    Li Yundong pped his hands and said, "Isn¡¯t this the authentic Saut¨¦ed Potato, Green Pepper and Eggnt?"

    Before he could finish his words, the crowd burst outughing . Su Chan even covered her stomach with her hands, giggling wildly . "Oh my god, I wish I could go blind . This painting is too ugly!"

    Li Yundong said loudly and exaggeratedly, "What do you know? This is a painting of calligraphy, a calligraphy of painting! It can be said to be the unique work ofbining calligraphy and painting into one glorious piece!"

    Su Chan jumped over with a smile and grabbed the painting, which was essentially a scribble . She hid it behind her and said, "Okay, then I will collect your work and leave it to your disciples and followers in the future . I will let them see the stupendous handwriting of their Grandmaster, the head of the sect, so that they can worship it in the future!"

    Li Yundong scolded her with a smile, "Su Chan, make sure there are no mistakester . Otherwise, I¡¯ll beat you bloody . How dare youugh at the Leader!"

    Su Chan jumped up and snorted . "Fine, I¡¯ll write!"

 Chapter 349

    Chapter 349

    <h4>Are You Sick of Life?</h4>

    Su Chan picked up the writing brush and stood in front of the table . She closed her eyes for a moment and waited for theughter of the crowd to subside . Then, she opened her eyes and began writing the characters for "Disanxian" with a solemn expression .

    Everyone came to see Su Chan¡¯s handwriting, which was beautiful, each stroke perfectly smooth . There was an indescribable dexterity and elegance in her writing style . Li Yundong and the others were all good at writing, but when they saw Su Chan doing it, they all cheered .

    Su Chan put down the writing brush proudly and said to Li Yundong with a smile, "What do you think?"

    Li Yundong admired her in his heart, but he pretended to be angry and red at her . "What are you proud of? There are still two people that haven¡¯t written yet . "

    He then said to Zhou Qin, "My dear disciple, it¡¯s your turn . Hurry up and do me proud!"

    Zhou Qin thought of Li Yundong¡¯s scribbled "Saut¨¦ed Potato, Green Pepper and Eggnt" from earlier and couldn¡¯t helpughing .

    Li Yundong said angrily, "Hey, are you kidding me? You¡¯re actuallyughing at your master?"

    Zhou Qin quickly smiled apologetically and said, "No, I wouldn¡¯t dream of it!"

    Li Yundong looked at her doubtfully . "Really? How¡¯s your handwriting? If it¡¯s the same as mine, don¡¯t make a fool of yourself . "

    Zhou Qin chuckled and said, "It¡¯s just so-so . I¡¯m just a little bit better than you . "

    Su Chan immediately chimed in, "It¡¯s just a little bit better, by about five thousand times!"

    Everyoneughed . Li Yundong guffawed too and said scoldingly, "Su Chan, you¡¯re asking for a beating!"

    Afterughing for a while, Zhou Qin walked over to the table, concentrated, and began writing the characters for "Disanxian" . By now, everyone knew of her background and knew that Zhou Qin had originally been an officialdy . Later, she had given up everything and started to cultivate with Li Yundong . They thought that Zhou Qin¡¯s calligraphy would be mediocre, but seeing it now, they could tell that Zhou Qin¡¯s calligraphy was very good . The handwriting was dignified, stable, and majestic . It was bold and powerful, revealing a momentum that would never bow .

    Seeing this, Su Chan sighed and couldn¡¯t help admiring Zhou Qin a little more . She secretly thought to herself, "As the saying goes, characters are as good as people . Only the person who wrote this could do such a thing . "

    Zi Yuan nodded approvingly as well . "They are indeed good characters . However, even though the characters are good, they have too much professionalism andck Su Chan¡¯s spirit and rity . "

    Zhou Qin also put down the writing brush and said with a smile, "Of course . Su Chan¡¯s handwriting seems to be alive, as if the characters can jump off the page . I can¡¯tpare with her . "

    Upon hearing that, Su Chan was so overjoyed that her eyes crinkled withughter .

    At this time, apart from Zi Yuan, everyone had finished writing . Li Yundong smiled and said to Zi Yuan, "It¡¯s your turn, isn¡¯t it?"

    Zi Yuan waved her hand in refusal and said, "No, just use Su Chan¡¯s characters . Her handwriting is very good . "

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Extreme modesty is equivalent to pride . Everyone has had a go at writing, yet you won¡¯t . Do you look down on us?"

    Zi Yuan smiled helplessly and said, "Well, when you put it like that . . . "

    After that, she walked over to the table gracefully, held her sleeve with one hand, and gently grabbed the writing brush with the other .

    Li Yundong could see that her posture was elegant . The arm holding the writing brush revealed a piece of white wrist, the skin as white as snow . Before she even started writing, she began exuding a different kind of heart-wrenching charm .

    An air of calm came down over Zi Yuan, and then she quickly wrote down three characters on the paper . Everyone could see that her writing was really lively . There was a gust of earthly air that was rushing to the sky between the strokes of the characters,

    Everyone was able to tell good from bad, so they all cheered loudly .

    Zhou Qin said in praise, "The ¡¯Disanxian¡¯ are the real words of the immortals . They really are immortal, which makes people feel refreshed and happy!"

    Su Chan was still a little unconvinced . She picked up the characters Zi Yuan had written and looked at them . She nced at the back of the paper and saw that there was also clear handwriting there . She flipped through a few more bits of paper and saw that the words below were also very clear . Su Chan immediately sighed in admiration . "Zhenren Zi Yuan is indeed worthy of being the future leader of the Linggong Sect . Let¡¯s not talk about cultivation for the time being . Her calligraphy is really written in a forceful style . It¡¯s amazing!"

    Su Chan turned to Li Yundong and said sincerely, "Yundong, use the Zhenren Zi Yuan¡¯s writing . Her calligraphy is indeed better than mine . "

    Li Yundong smiled and stroked her hair . "So, that¡¯s it?"

    Su Chan nodded . Although there was a smile on her face, everyone could see the disappointment in her eyes .

    When Li Yundong saw that, he decided to do something . Waiting for the crowd to finish their short discussion, he saw that Su Chan had found an excuse to return to her room . He quietly hid Su Chan¡¯s calligraphy and went to her room .

    When Su Chan saw Li Yundong entering, she was surprised . Then, she pouted and said, "You¡¯re here tough at me, aren¡¯t you? Go on . After all, it¡¯s my fault that I¡¯m not as good as others . "

    Li Yundong walked over with a smile . He held the little girl in his arms and let her sit on hisp, then hugged her tightly and kissed her . Li Yundong said softly, "Silly girl, look at what this is . " After that, he took out a folded piece of paper .

    Su Chan looked at it and saw that it was her own writing . She said unhappily, "Isn¡¯t it just what I did earlier? It¡¯s not as good as Zhenren Zi Yuan¡¯s work, and it can¡¯t be used as a que . What are you using it for? Making fun of me?"

    Li Yundong said gently, "Silly, although Zi Yuan¡¯s work was well done and we¡¯re going to make a que with it as it was elected by everyone, in my heart, your work is the best . "

    Su Chan was stunned and looked at Li Yundong in confusion . "Why? My work is not as good as Zhenren Zi Yuan¡¯s . "

    Li Yundongughed and tweaked the tip of Su Chan¡¯s nose . "You¡¯re so stupid . These words are written by you, so of course I like them the most! Whose work I regard as best is not the same as whose work I like the most . "

    Upon hearing this, Su Chan was greatly moved . She looked at Li Yundong with tears in her eyes and said, "Yundong, you are so kind to me!" Then, she fell into Li Yundong¡¯s arms as if she wanted to melt right into his body .

    Li Yundong held Su Chan in his arms and chuckled . "You must be very touched, hm?"

    Su Chan raised her head, wiped the tears from her face, and nodded her head vigorously . "Yes!"

    Li Yundong reached his hand out and said, "Then why don¡¯t you give me back my scrawly handwriting?"

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t refrain from smiling through her tears . She struggled to extract herself from Li Yundong . "I see, it turns out that you just want your scrawly handwriting back! No way, this is my future heirloom . I¡¯m going to pass it down through the generations!"

    Li Yundong held Su Chan in his arms and didn¡¯t let her run away . He scolded her with a smile, "Su Chan, how dare you disobey me? I¡¯ll fight to the death with you today!"

    Theyughed and yed for a while . Li Yundong had finally made Su Chan happy again . By the time the two of them headed downstairs together, the little girl¡¯s unhappiness had disappeared . Li Yundong said to Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin, "Since the name of the store has been decided, I think we should split into two groups . One group will go to the store, and the other group will go to the Administration for Industry and Commerce to register . What do you think?"

    Zi Yuan nodded and said, "Yep, sounds good!"

    Zhou Qin volunteered herself, saying, "Then I¡¯ll go to Administration for Industry and Commerce . After all, I¡¯m more familiar with it . "

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Even if you didn¡¯t offer, I would make you go . There are so many people here, but you understand this kind of thing the best . If not you, who would go?"

    Zhou Qin chuckled and said, "I¡¯ll be there in a minute . "

    Li Yundong nodded . "Okay, we¡¯ll go to the store and discuss how to renovate it . "

    After the discussion, Li Yundong, Zi Yuan, Ruan Hongling, and a group of people from Fox Zen School went to the Pedestrian Street again . The shop had been cleared out and Li Yundong had already received the key after signing the rent contract yesterday . As they entered the shop, they began to talk about how to decorate it and how to design it .

    While they were having a heated discussion, not far from Pedestrian Street were a few people looking at the store from a distance .

    These people were all dressed in ordinary clothes, but one of them was rtively short and fat . He was the disciple of the Zhengyi Sect that had gone down the mountain with Zhang Tianhe and dragged the iron tower . The other was a beautiful young woman, Zou Ping . Next to Zou Ping stood a tall, thin young man . Although his appearance was ordinary, he had an extraordinary bearing and his eyes were as sharp as lightning .

    The young man looked at the store and said with a smile, "Younger sister, is this the same Zhenren Li who beat back the major sects? He doesn¡¯t look like much . How much of a cultivation quotient can he have when he¡¯s with arge group of fox spirits? I¡¯m afraid he doesn¡¯t live up to his name . "

    Zou Ping harrumphed and said, "Senior fellow apprentice, although this fellow is a lecher, his cultivation quotient is real! Isn¡¯t that right, Huyan?"

    The disciple of the Zhengyi School called Huyan said in a low voice, "Shijie Zou Ping is right . This person¡¯s cultivation isn¡¯t to be underestimated . Senior fellow apprentice, you have to be careful!"

    The young man still didn¡¯t believe it . He sneered and said, "He¡¯s hanging out with women all day . No matter how powerful he is, he can¡¯t be that strong! I¡¯m afraid even his Neidan is Pseudo Vital Orb . Ha, Zhang Tianhe actually lost to such a guy . I¡¯ll definitely beat him to a pulpter!"

    As Zi Yuan was known as the number one master of the younger generation in the cultivation world, almost all cultivators respected her to some degree . Even young people with great Shentong did notpete with her for the first ce . Firstly, they admired her beauty and temperament, and secondly, Zi Yuan herself had amazing strength . Thirdly, even if they won, there would be no glory for them in beating a youngdy .

    But now, Li Yundong had taken the top spot, and countless young cultivators were eager to challenge him .

    This young man was not a nobody . In fact, he was the direct disciple of Zhang Tiansh¨© . His name was Wang Lingfei, and he was Zhang Tianhe¡¯s senior fellow apprentice . His cultivation was no lower than Zhang Tianhe¡¯s, but Zhang Tianhe was the son of Zhang Tiansh¨©, so Zhang Tianhe¡¯s status in the sect was far higher than his . Thus, he had always been dismissive of his Junior fellow apprentice .

    Zhang Tianhe got all the benefits, learned all kinds of good achievement methods, and consumed only the best Elixirs of life and spiritual elixirs . But in the end, his cultivation quotient had not surpassed Wang Lingfei¡¯s .

    When Wang Lingfei heard that Zhang Tianhe had been defeated by Li Yundong in one round, he gloated even more in his heart and thought to himself, "Zhang Tianhe was defeated in one round . If I can defeat Li Yundong, not only will I be famous, I will also prove myself in front of the leader . Why shouldn¡¯t I do it?"

    Zou Ping knew what he was thinking . After only a little instigation from her, Wang Lingfei started following her .

    When she saw that Wang Lingfei was so arrogant that he was even belittling Zhang Tianhe, whom she secretly liked, Zou Ping was pretty unhappy . She curled her lips and looked indifferent, but the expression disappeared in a sh . She then smiled and said, "Senior fellow apprentice, let¡¯s help you keep the troops in battle formation . "

    The young man snorted . "You don¡¯t need to do that . I can do it alone . "

    Just as Wang Lingfei was about to step forward, he suddenly saw four young men who looked like gangsters opening the door casually and entering the store .

    The young man was taken aback . When he saw that there were ordinary people inside, he stopped, intending to wait for them to leave .

    These young gangsters entered the store . If they hadn¡¯t seen anything, all would have been well . However, they looked and were shocked by the number of beautiful women in the store, their mouths watering .

    Li Yundong saw that these people¡¯s hair was colorful, and their clothes were rough . Their eyes were filled with greed and they looked as though they wanted to feast on the women around them . Li Yundong was unhappy and shouted in a low voice, "Who are you?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s voice, which contained the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡, made the gangsterse to their senses .

    The leading yellow-haired gangster with bird¡¯s nest-like hair wiped the saliva from his mouth . With his hands on his waist, he pompously said to Li Yundong, "Hey, who¡¯s the boss here?"

    Li Yundong and Zi Yuan looked at each other, and Zi Yuan nodded . Li Yundong understood and said, "I am . What can I do for you?"

    The yellow-haired gangster shouted, "Nothing much . I just want to tell you that from now on, you will have to pay us a protection fee every month!"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry when he heard that . "What? Pay you protection fees every month? Who do you think you are? What age do you think we¡¯re living in? Do you think this is Hong Kong? Do you think you¡¯re Xu Wenqiang?"

    The rest of the foxes of the Fox Zen Sect also felt suspicious and thought, "They are too audacious and ignorant . They are actually trying to ckmail our leader? Do they want to die?"

 Chapter 350

    <h4>Chapter 350</h4>

    What a Ridiculous ckmail!

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing. When heughed, the rest of the people in the Fox Zen Sect also cracked up.

    The four gangster were all confused by their responses and looked at each other in puzzlement. A gangster standing at the back said in a low voice, ¡°Elder brother, they dont look like ordinary people. Let¡¯s get out of here, shall we?¡±

    The yellow-haired man felt ufortable about theughter of Li Yundong and others. He red at hispanion and said, ¡°No way. Are you going to spit out the money we¡¯d be missing out on?¡±

    Hearing this, that gangster shrank back and stopped talking.

    Most of the people who came out to make a living had good perception. Especially if someone wanted to survive in the underworld for a long time, he or she could not rely on their fists, but on their perception. Otherwise, no matter how good one is at fighting, they will be either imprisoned or forced to run away after a few days. How could one survive like that?

    Obviously,The yellow-haired man was this kind of person. He saw that Li Yundong had an extraordinary bearing and that there were many beautiful women around him. He thought to himself, ¡°F*ck, this dog, he actually did get me into big trouble! F*ck!¡±

    However, he was unwilling to let go of the cash. He got a idea and red at one of hisckeys beside him, then said in a low voice, ¡°You go ahead. Just scare them.¡±

    Thisckey, who had a Mohican hairstyle, swaggered through the door with arrogance. But by now, he had seen that most of the members of Li Yundong¡¯s group were beautiful women. However, when they saw him, they were not scared or screaming, but insteadughing with contempt. He was not a fool, and he naturally knew that they had provoked people that they couldn¡¯t afford to provoke. His momentum weakened a little. Thus, when he heard his elder brother asking him to stand up for them, he was suddenly shocked and his eyes went wide. ¡°I, I, I should go?¡±

    The yellow-haired man red at him. ¡°What, you think I should?¡±

    Mohican said sadly and fearfully, ¡°Well, big brother, why don¡¯t you go?¡±

    The yellow-haired man said indignantly, ¡°Nonsense! Are you the Big Brother or am I?¡±

    Mohican choked with sobs and said, ¡°Big brother, since you are older, you should shoulder the responsibility for us!¡±

    The yellow-haired man red at him fiercely. ¡°God, if the big brother has to do everything, no one will want to be the big brother. Do you still want to follow me?¡±

    Mohican had no choice but to take out a brick from behind him with a deep breath and shout in a tough manner, ¡°Look, I¡¯m telling you, if you don¡¯t pay the protection fee on time every month...¡±

    Li Yundong was not angry. He looked at them with a smile and simpy asked, ¡°What will happen?¡±

    Mohican swallowed his saliva and shouted, ¡°No matter what you do here in the future, you will never enjoy peace!¡±

    As soon as he had finished speaking, Su Chan and the others giggled again, as if they had heard the funniest joke in the world.

    Li Yundongughed and said, ¡°Who ordered you toe here?¡±

    Mohican was stunned and couldn¡¯t help looking at the yellow-haired man. The yellow-haired man kicked him angrily and scolded, ¡°What are you afraid of? Are we gangsters afraid of them?¡±

    Mohican plucked up his courage again and red at Li Yundong, then shouted, ¡°It¡¯s none of your business! If you don¡¯t pay the protection fee, we¡¯ll smash up your store!¡±

    Li Yundongughed and said, ¡°Well, it does need decorating. Hurry up and smash it. It will save me a lot of money if you strip everything down for me!¡±

    Mohican was dumbfounded. He had seen all kinds of people, shameless and brutal, but he had never seen anyone dressed in such good clothes, with so many beautiful women around him, being so fearless!

    Mohican subconsciously looked at the yellow-haired man again. The yellow-haired man was startled by his gaze and thought, ¡°As far as I know, aren¡¯t all rich people usually afraid of gangsters? Is it because there are so many beautiful women here that this man is pretending to be brave? Well, it¡¯s very likely! It seems I¡¯ll have to do this by myself!¡±

    The yellow-haired man kicked Mohican and red at him, then stood up. He squinted at Li Yundong and looked him up and down as if he wanted to see right through him.

    Li Yundong also looked at him up and down, thinking that he looked like Huang Bo, who had acted in Crazy Stone. The feeling of suspicion in his heart intensified. There was a smile ying around the corners of his mouth. It seemed that the people standing in front of him were not actually a group of gangsters, but rather aedic troupe.

    The yellow-haired man looked at Li Yundong for a long time. He was aware that Li Yundong was not afraid of him. In fact, the yellow-haired man felt like a mouse looking into the eyes of a cat. He knew that he must be looking at a master, but he had also had the experience of meeting this kind of person before. Seeing that he couldn¡¯t attack by force, he reached out to touch his back and sneered, ¡°Are you really not going to pay me the protection fee?¡±

    Li Yundong had been shot by Zhao Yucheng once before, so he was secretly on guard, afraid that the yellow-haired man would pull out a gun from behind him. He secretly readied his Zhenqi, waiting for the yellow-haired man to take out a gun, so he could definitely make a lightning strike first!

    After a moment, Li Yundong saw the yellow-haired man suddenly pulled out a ck thing from his back. He looked carefuly and immediately burst outughing when he saw that it was just a brick.

    Su Chan, who was behind Li Yundong, also giggled and said, ¡°Don¡¯t you have anything else? Why are you all using bricks?¡±

    There was also a brick in the yellow-haired man¡¯s hand, which was bigger than the one in Mohican¡¯s. It seemed that he was the big brother, so his brick was the biggest.

    Ruan Hongling sneered and said, ¡°If they were to take some knives when they went out, they would get caught and be locked up, but bricks are not controlled tools. Don¡¯t look down on them. They are experienced gangsters!¡±

    Li Yundong nced at her and said with a smile, ¡°Why are you so knowledgeable about this? Have you also been a gangster?¡±

    Ruan Hongling rolled her eyes at Li Yundong. ¡°Oh please! I can understand these things at a nce. Do I need to have been in the underworld?¡±

    Seeing that they were talking happily and not take him seriously at all, the yellow-haired man got angry and shouted, ¡°Hey, do you not see me?¡±

    Li Yundong turned his face and pretended to be suddenly enlightened as he said, ¡°Ah, sorry, I forgot about you. Can I help you in some way?¡±

    The yellow-haired man was very angry and said with a grim smile on his face, ¡°You really won¡¯t pay me the protection fee?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem like it.¡±

    The yellow-haired man pointed at Li Yundong and shouted, ¡°I¡¯ll ask you onest time. Will you pay me or not!?¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head decisively. ¡°No!¡±

    The yellow-haired man took a deep breath and said, ¡°Well then, don¡¯t me me for being cruel!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and looked at the yellow-haired man as if he was watching a monkey doing a trick. He wanted to see what the hell the yellow-haired man was going to do. The yellow-haired man took a deep breath, narrowed his eyes, sank his Qi into Dantian, and then shouted. He suddenly waved the brick in his hand and heavily pped... his own face!

    With a noisy bang, the yellow-haired man¡¯s face became blood-covered.

    Li Yundong stared and thought, ¡°Holy sh*t, I¡¯ve seen a selfie, but I¡¯ve never seen anyone who hit themself with a brick!¡±

    Su Chan and the others were so shocked that their eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Su Chan mumbled, ¡°Is this guy crazy?¡±

    The yellow-haired man¡¯s face was covered with blood, but he pointed at Li Yundong fiercely and said, ¡°You, you! If you have the guts, stay right where you are. You are dead meat!¡±

    After he said that, he threw the brick to the ground, turned around, pushed the door open, and went out. Then, he stood at the door and shouted hysterically, ¡°Help! Someone is being beaten, someone is being killed!¡±

    The Chinese love to watch a dramatic scene. As soon as the yellow-haired man shouted, arge group of people immediately came to watch, and many people were talking about him.

    Li Yundong winked at Zi Yuan and the others and then he went out as well.

    After a while, two men in urban management uniforms squeezed through the crowd and shouted, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    As soon as the yellow-haired man saw the urban management officers, he acted as if he was being reunited with his rtives. ¡°Officers, I am so happy to see you, these people...¡± The yellow-haired man turned back and pointed at Li Yundong. He gnashed his teeth and said, ¡°When we entered this store, this man beat me over the head with a brick like a lunatic!¡±

    After that, he turned his head again and said to the urban management officer with a sad face, ¡°Officer, you have to uphold justice for us!¡±

    Seeing that the yellow-haired man had changed his tune so fast, Li Yundong thought that it was really a waste of talent that he was not working as an actor. Against him, Huang Bo would have had no chance of being famous.

    After hearing this, the two urban management officers shouted at the silent Li Yundong, ¡°Hey, you,e with us!¡±

    As they spoke, one officer even took out a pair of handcuffs from his belt.

    Before Li Yundong could even get a word out, Ruan Hongling suddenly burst outughing. With her hands on her hips, she pointed at the two urban management officers and shouted, ¡°Hey, you two fakes. Don¡¯t you know the difference between an urban management officer and a policeman? How can there be handcuffs on an urban management officer? Only the police can use them. Do you understand?¡±

    One of the urban management officers¡¯ faces changed, and he red at the man holding the handcuffs beside him. That man¡¯s face turned red, and he bitterly put the handcuffs away. Filled with shame and anger, he shouted at Ruan Hongling, ¡°You beat people in public. Come with us!¡±

    The four gangsters also turned rowdy, and the yellow-haired man whose face was covered with blood looked even worse. It seemed like he would be taking hisst breath at any moment.

    Some of the onlookers around saw that Li Yundong was dressed in good clothes and being followed by arge group of beautiful women. They subconsciously regarded him as a rich second generation kid, and they hated the rich. In addition, these gangsters and the urban management officers had provoked them, so they also began to make noise.

    For a moment, the scene was chaotic.

    Li Yundong remained calm as he said to the urban management officers, ¡°Ask them, what brick did I beat him with exactly?¡±

    The urban management officers looked at the yellow-haired man. The yellow-haired man, who was on the brink of death, pointed at the brick in the store and shouted, ¡°He hit me with that brick! There¡¯s even my blood on it! If you don¡¯t believe me, go and do a test on it!¡±

    The urban management officers shouted, ¡°Quickly, remove that brick. We want to do a blood test!¡±

    Ruan Hongling sneered and said, ¡°You¡¯re really good at acting! It¡¯s true what they say, that eight hundred urban management officers can destroy Dongying and three thousand urban management officers can take down Taiwan. You¡¯re really domineering!¡±

    Su Chan also said to them angrily, ¡°It¡¯s painfully obvious that he hurt himself! Why are you ming us?¡±

    As soon as she spoke, the Fox Zen School became rowdy. Their voices attracted even more people. The crowd around them became more and more dense. There were so many people inside and outside. It was really a sea of people.

    Li Yundong raised his hand, gesturing to stop the noise of Su Chan and the others. He smiled at Su Chan and said, ¡°Go pick up that brick.¡±

    Although Su Chan didn¡¯t understand why, she responded obediently and ran inside to retrieve the brick for Li Yundong.

    Li Yundong raised the brick high up in front of everyone and said loudly, ¡°Everybody, look carefully. This is the weapon that they said I beat him with!¡±

    Seeing that Li Yundong was admitting that he had beaten the yellow-haired man, Ruan Hongling was shocked. ¡°Hey, are you crazy? He beat himself.¡±

    Zi Yuan also frowned slightly and said in a low voice, ¡°Li Yundong, we cultivators should not be involved in such matters. It¡¯ll be very troublesome.¡±

    Li Yundong smiled at them reassuringly to show that he had a well-thought-out n. He said to the yellow-haired man, ¡°Hey, look carefully. Is this the weapon that I beat you with?¡±

    When the yellow-haired man saw that Li Yundong was admitting to it himself, he was immediately overjoyed. ¡°Yes, yes, it¡¯s this brick. Look, there¡¯s still my blood on it...¡± He was so excited that he jumped up, but before he could finish his words, he realized that something was wrong. He quickly covered his wound and cried out, looking like he was dying.

    The two urban management officers shouted, ¡°Since you¡¯ve admitted to the crime and both the witness and the evidence are present, you muste with us now!¡±

    Ruan Hongling sneered and said, ¡°The urban management officers are so reponsible. When did they start handling the duties of the police?¡±

    One of the urban management officers red at her. ¡°Shut up! Otherwise, we¡¯ll take you away too!¡±

    Ruan Hongling was a hot-tempered person. She stared back and said, ¡°I¡¯d like to see you try!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and made a gesture to her, indicating that she should stop talking. Then, he raised the solid ck brick in front of everyone and said, ¡°Everyone, look carefully. How can this brick hurt someone?¡±

    After that, he rubbed the brick with both hands and it suddenly turned into powder, as if it was made of flour.

    At the sight of Li Yundong¡¯s demonstration, the audience fell into an uproar.

    Wang Lingfei, Zou Ping, and the others who had been watching from the sidelines, immediately sucked in breaths of cold air. Zou Ping said in astonishment, ¡°This person¡¯s Zhenqi is truly dense and concentrated. He can actually crush a ck brick into powder so easily. No wonder he was able to remain unscathed after using Heavenly Thunder to fight an Junior fellow apprentice! Amazing kung fu! How terrifying!¡±

    Wang Lingfei was also filled with awe, unable to say a word as fear overflowed in his eyes.

    Li Yundong had easily crushed the ck brick into powder. He pped his hands and pointed at the yellow-haired man and the others, shouting, ¡°Obviously, these people are ckmailing us!¡±

    The eyes of everyone present on the scene immediately turned to the yellow-haired man and hispanions. There was hatred in their eyes, and they all seemed ready to take action.

 Chapter 351

    Chapter 351

    <h4>A Ferghana Horse?</h4>

    The onlookers certainly didn¡¯t know that Li Yundong had crushed the ck brick into powder in an instant with his powerful Zhenqi . They could only assume that the ck brick was really made of flour .

    However, the four gangsters knew full well that the ck brick was real, and that it was terribly hard . Especially the yellow-haired man, who had hit himself with that brick just now . He looked at Li Yundong in fright, as if he were looking at a devil .

    He thought to himself, "Oh my god, I¡¯m not looking at the devil himself, am I? That . . . that was clearly a ck brick as hard as steel . How could it be like bean curd in his hand? Did he swap the brick just now? No, it¡¯s impossible . I saw it with my own eyes!"

    While he was thinking this, the crowd around him became rowdy . Compared with the rich second generation, they hated this kind of ckmailer even more . They shouted one by one, "These people are ckmailers . Arrest them!"

    When the two urban management officers saw that something was wrong, their legs trembled and they wished they could run away . The look in Ruan Hongling¡¯s eyes was sharp as she pointed at them and shouted, "Catch these two fakes!"

    The power of the people should not be underestimated . Immediately, some zealous people blocked their way .

    The two arrogant urban management officers immediately turned into spineless fools and wet their pants .

    The other three gangsters were also scared out of their wits . Their faces were ashen, their legs were trembling, and their teeth were chattering too . They covered their heads with their hands and squatted on the ground, fearing that they would be crippled by these rowdy people .

    When the people around them saw them like this, they became more and more stirred up . Some even shouted, "Kill them . Don¡¯t let such scum off lightly!"

    The yellow-haired man was shocked . After all, he was the leader of these gangsters . He immediately knew what he should do next . He jumped up and knelt down in front of Li Yundong, crying bitterly . "Sir, I have eyes, but I failed to see Mount Tai-shan . I was unaware that you are so powerful . I have offended you . A great man rarely stoops to pettiness or harbors grudges over past wrongs . Please just consider me as a worthless fart and let me go!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Didn¡¯t you say that I beat you?"

    The yellow-haired man quickly shook his head and said obsequiously . "No, no, it¡¯s a huge misunderstanding!" He turned around and smiled at the crowd around him . "It¡¯s a misunderstanding . It¡¯s really all a big misunderstanding!"

    Finishing this useless exnation, he turned around again and begged Su Chan and the others for mercy . "Beauties, please do us a favor and show mercy . You are so noble that it will do you no good to dirty your hands by beating us . Beauties, no, aunts, spare us, okay? If that¡¯s not enough, I can be your son . Moms, spare us, please!"

    As soon as the words came out of the yellow-haired man¡¯s mouth, the onlookers all burst outughing . Ruan Hongling even stamped her feet with a red face and said, "Bah, I¡¯m still a maiden fair . I would never have a son like you . "

    Su Chan was good-natured and kind . When she saw that the yellow-haired man was begging with these extremly humble words, even though she held resentment in her heart, it dissipated significantly . She pulled on Li Yundong¡¯s hand and whispered, "Yundong, forget it . Can you let them go?"

    Li Yundong nced at Su Chan, then smiled and patted her hand, indicating that he had his own idea . He turned his head back and said to the yellow-haired man, "Am I really not responsible for the injury on your face?"

    Seeing that things had taken a turn for the better, the yellow-haired man said in a hurry, "No, definitely not . Who said that you were the one responsible for the injury on my face? Is there even any injury on my face?" He turned his head and looked at his threepanions . "Do you see any injury on my face?"

    The three gangsters were not fools . They vehemently shook their heads like rattles .

    The yellow-haired man immediately turned back to Li Yundong and said with an ingratiating smile, "Look, they all said that there was no injury on my face . "

    Li Yundong pointed to the blood on the man¡¯s face and said with a smile, "So what¡¯s up with the blood on your face?"

    The yellow-haired man randomly touched his face and said in a tone of shock, "Is this blood? No, it¡¯s, it¡¯s, it¡¯s sweat . Yes, it¡¯s sweat . Hahaha, sweat!"

    After that, he turned to look at his threepanions and said, "Hey, am I sweating?"

    The three gangsters had strange looks on their faces . It seemed that they wanted tough, but they didn¡¯t dare to do so, so they just had to force themselves to nod .

    But the people around themughed wildly . Li Yundong alsoughed and said, "Do you normally sweat red liquid? Do you think you are a ferghana horse?"

    As soon as Li Yundong had finished speaking, the othersughed even harder . Su Chan even covered her stomach and squatted on the ground, and Zi Yuan also couldn¡¯t help giggling .

    The yellow-haired man was embarrassed by everyone¡¯s obvious amusement . Heughed and said, "Yes, yes, I¡¯m a ferghana horse . Please be merciful and let me go . I¡¯ll serve you like a steadfast horse in the future . "

    Li Yundong waved his hand and said with a smile, "Forget it . I don¡¯t have such good luck . You may go . Don¡¯t make the same mistake next time . "

    Upon hearing this, the yellow-haired man was overjoyed and hurriedly said, "You are my most distinguished guest, your excellency . As the saying goes, a prime minister¡¯s heart is big enough to pole a boat in . You are so generous, and you will definitely be a wealthy man in the future!"

    Li Yundong smiled when he heard that . He waved his hand and said, "Hurry up and clear off before I change my mind!"

    The yellow-haired man did not dare to dy . He waved to his threepanions and they all rushed into the crowd, scarpering as quickly as rodents . The remaining two urban management officers also rolled their eyes, bowed their heads, and plunged into the crowd, disappearing without a trace .

    Seeing that everyone had run away, Ruan Hongling rushed over to Li Yundong and stamped her feet, saying, "How could you let them go? If you don¡¯t teach them a lesson, everyone will think that we are easy to bully ande to make trouble for us!"

    Li Yundong only replied with a smile, "As soon as these people came in, I could tell that they were deliberately here to make trouble . Although I have a lot of enemies in the world, there are only a few people who hold a grudge against me in the secr world . If I hadn¡¯t let them go just now, how would I be able to investigate the mastermind behind them? These people are just being used as tools . Judging from their arrogant characters, they will definitely go back to make trouble with the instigator after suffering such a great loss today . When they do, we can just follow them . "

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s anger turned to joy as soon as she heard that . She gave Li Yundong a thumbs-up and said, "As expected, you¡¯re so smart and full of evil tricks!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Hey, are you praising me or insulting me?"

    At this time, the crowd saw that Li Yundong, as one party, had made concessions peacefully . Naturally, they, who were watching the fun, had no reason to linger . Some people said, "Hey, nothing happened . Let¡¯s go . The fun is over!"

    Some people were curious to see so many beautiful women in this store, so they came up to inquire about what kind of store it was . Ruan Hongling took the opportunity to advertise their business . Her voice was crisp and she was beautiful . After a while, she managed to sway arge group of people . They thought in their hearts, "This store is going to open soon, we should definitelye and see it . Even if I don¡¯t drink tea, it¡¯s enough just to see these beautiful women!"

    At this time, Li Yundong waved to Su Chan and said, "Let¡¯s chase after them and see who is behind these gangsters . "

    Su Chan replied and excitedly followed Li Yundong .

    The two people were hanging behind the yellow-haired man and the others from a distance . The yellow-haired man had not expected to not only suffer a loss, but to be humiliated in front of a crowd .

    It didn¡¯t take long for the yellow-haired man to arrive at an intersection . He met a man in a suit apanied by two beautiful women . As soon as he saw the man, he pounced on him aggressively and began scolding him loudly . His three subordinates also surrounded the man .

    Li Yundong looked from a distance and was immediately stunned . He muttered in a low voice, "It¡¯s actually him?"

    Su Chan also took a look and saw that the man was Zhao Yougen, the guy who had sat in their seats at the mall before . "Does this guy have a grudge against us?" she asked curiously .

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "He doesn¡¯t have a grudge against you, but he does have one against me . Humph, he dares to y tricks on me behind my back . Well, I¡¯ll pay him backter! Let him be afraid of me when he sees me in the future!"

    The two of them saw from a distance that the yellow-haired man and the others had surrounded Zhao Youding and were roaring loudly, threatening him . Li Yundong heard them say clearly from a distance, "F*ck you . How dare you frame me? I¡¯ve kicked the hos¡¯ nest! Do you see the injury on my face? If you don¡¯tpensate me with the medical fees and money for the emotional trauma, I¡¯ll cut you into pieces today!"

    Zhao Yougen was so scared that he shivered like a wet dog . The two beauties around him were also terrified and they almost fell to the ground .

    Before long, Zhao Yougen fished out a wallet from his pocket and took out a wad of money . He handed it to the yellow-haired man with trembling hands and said, "Here you are . All of thepensation you want . "

    The yellow-haired man took Zhao Yougen¡¯s money, then swiped his wallet and took out the rest of the money from it . His threepanions also searched Zhao Youjin¡¯s every pocket, even removing his gold rings and watches, and putting them in their own pockets .

    Seeing that his three followers couldn¡¯t get anything more out of him, the yellow-haired man sneered and spat at Zhao You, cursing, "Idiot, be smarter next time . Maybe there are some people I wouldn¡¯t dare to mess with, but I can afford to mess with someone like you!" After that, he left proudly with his threeckeys .

    Zhao Yougen didn¡¯t stand up straight until they after they had gotten a good distance away . He wore an uncertain look on his face . The two women next to him wanted to help him up, but Zhao Youen pped them and shouted, "F*ck you . When I was threatened, you didn¡¯t help me! Now that it¡¯s safe, you remember to help me up . "

    The woman happened to be the pointy-faced beauty who had been pped thest time . She turned her face away and covered her cheek with one hand . The vicious look in her eyes was chilling, but when she turned around, she was smiling once again .

    The other beautiful woman said with a hollow smile, "Boss Zhao, we were also afraid just now . "

    Zhao Yougen spat angrily, "Afraid? Sh*t . Then why should I spend money on keeping you?"

    The pointy-faced beauty whispered shakily, "Boss Zhao, we are not bodyguards!"

    Zhao Yougen was so angry that he wanted to kick her, but the other beauty beside him stopped him . "Hey, Boss Zhao, don¡¯t be angry . Calm down . Hurry up and call the police, okay? We¡¯ll call the police! There are so many people here . If they see you hit a woman, it won¡¯t do you any good . "

    Zhao Yougen raised his hand and pped her again . "I¡¯m hit women . What are you going to do about it?"

    The woman cradled her reddened cheek and didn¡¯t dare to make a sound . Zhao Yougen roared like a madman for a while . When he became a little tired, he stormed off, still cursing . The two beauties looked at each other and then slowly followed him .

    Seeing that the trio had left, Su Chan looked at Li Yundong and asked, "Yundong, shall we go and teach this guy a lesson? He¡¯s utterly disgusting!"

    Li Yundong snorted and said with a sneer, "I did want to teach him a lesson, but now it seems that I don¡¯t need to . If I beat this kind of person, it will only make my hands and feet dirty! Don¡¯t worry, someone will help me teach him a lesson!"

    Su Chan was stunned, but she quickly understood . "Ah, are you talking about the two women apanying him?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Yeah, didn¡¯t you look at the woman¡¯s eyes? I could feel the hatred and resentment radiating off of them from so far away . Just watch, Zhao Yougen will get his retribution, and it will be served to him by these two women!"

    Su Chan nodded vigorously . "This kind of person is too detestable!"

    Li Yundong patted the girl¡¯s shoulder . "Let¡¯s go back . "

    While Li Yundong and Su Chan had been chasing after the trio, the crowd had dispersed . Wang Lingfei was intimidated by Li Yundong¡¯s power, thus he didn¡¯t dare to challenge him right now . Zou Pingughed coldly in her heart and looked down upon Wang Lingfei¡¯s cowardice . "Let¡¯s go, shall we? Should wee again another day?" she asked .

    Wang Lingfei couldn¡¯t wait to return . He snorted and said, "I still have two powerful magical weapons that haven¡¯t been finished . When I have finished refining them, I wille to give this guy grief!"

    When they turned around and were about to leave, they suddenly heard an elegant and quiet voice ring out . "Brothers in the Tao from the Zhengyi School, you¡¯ve been here watching for a long time . May I know why you¡¯re here?"

    Zou Ping and the others were shocked and turned around warily . When they took a closer look, they saw a beautiful woman in a floaty white dress standing in front of them and looking like a fairy . It was Zi Yuan

 Chapter 352

    Chapter 352

    <h4>Official Break</h4>

    When Zou Ping and the others saw Zi Yuan, all of their hands immediately reached for their chests . They grabbed their powerful magical weapons and red at them like tigers watching their prey . Their entire bodies were covered with Zhenqi .

    Wang Lingfei also looked at Zi Yuan with a brilliant light glittering in his eyes . He slowly said, "Zhenren Zi Yuan really has a well-deserved reputation . Such a goddess is worthy of admiration!"

    Zi Yuan looked at him ndly, then smiled and said, "This brother in Tao must be Wang Lingfei, otherwise known as Zhenren Yuquan?"

    Wang Lingfei smiled and said, "I don¡¯t deserve such a title . I rarely leave the cultivation world . Have you heard my name, Zhenren Zi Yuan?"

    Zi Yuan smiled faintly . "It¡¯s said that there are only two disciples of the younger generation in the Zhengyi School that can be called masters . One is Zhang Tianhe, and the other is Wang Lingfei . Since Zhenren Yuquan is so famous, how could I not know of him?"

    Wang Lingfei had high self-esteem . After being praised by Zi Yuan, he suddenly felt a wave of smugness wash over him . Heughed and said, "You tter me . You are also a backbone of the Linggong Sect . Why are you going along with the evil Fox Zen School?"

    Zou Ping sneered as well . "Zi Yuan, You should think about this carefully . This is thest time I¡¯ll remind you: don¡¯t get involved with the Fox Zen School . Otherwise, Zhengyi School will view you as traitors!"

    At this moment, Ruan Hongling also came over and retorted with a sneer, refusing to show weakness, "Are you saying that we are traitors? How arrogant! Who do you think you are? The Taoist priest of Zhengyi School?"

    A spark appeared in Zou Ping¡¯s eyes the moment her gaze fell upon Ruan Hongling . She gritted her teeth and said, "It¡¯s you again . Don¡¯t think you can be arrogant just because you¡¯re sharp-tongued . I . . . "

    Ruan Hongling interrupted, "Huh? I never rely on my eloquence . I¡¯m always reasonable! Every time I scold you, you have no way to refute me . That¡¯s because you¡¯re always being unreasonable! If you were right, I wouldn¡¯t be able to make you speechless even if I had a hundred mouths . "

    Zou Ping was furious . "How can I be unreasonable? How can you be reasonable? Don¡¯t tell me that you are reasonable when you hang around with such wicked, evil people . Nonsense!"

    Ruan Hongling snorted and said, "Evil people? I used to think that the disciples of Fox Zen School were evil, but after getting along with them recently, I¡¯vee to feel that they are no different from others, and perhaps even more lovely than most of the people in the world! Instead, some of my so-called peers are aggressive and want to send us to Linggong Sect to meet with a dead end! In my view, you are the real evil!"

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s words were as sharp as daggers . Zou Ping¡¯s face turned pale with anger, and her lips trembled . Wang Lingfei and the other disciple of the Zhengyi School also paled .

    Zi Yuan was simrly shocked . She shouted, "Hongling, do not talk rubbish!"

    Ruan Hongling had been holding back her anger for a long time . She shouted at Zi Yuan, "Sister Zi Yuan, why are you still being so polite to them? No matter where we retreat, they¡¯ll chase after us! Do you think they¡¯re here to invite us back? Can we really solve this problem if we just let it go?"

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s eyebrows rose as she yelled at Zou Ping and the others, "If you guys have the guts to fight with us right here, then I¡¯ll consider you guys to be truly domineering! If you don¡¯t have the guts, then get lost! I can¡¯t bear to look at a bunch of b*stards like you!"

    Zou Ping was furious . She red at Hongling, and a bolt of lightning seemed to shoot from her eyes in an angry sh . "You think I wouldn¡¯t dare?"

    Wang Lingfei also scolded her, "Who do you think you are? How dare you talk to us like this!"

    After that, Wang Lingfei rushed forward and grabbed Ruan Hongling¡¯s shoulder, wanting to teach her a lesson .

    But as soon as Wang Lingfei made his move, Zi Yuan shouted, "Stop!"

    With a flip of her hand, her fingers also aimed for Wang Lingfei¡¯s wrist . Zou Ping and a short, fat disciple beside her shouted at the same time, and they attacked the vital part of Zi Yuan together .

    Zou Ping¡¯s fingers were like hooks, and her fingers were bent in the shape of an eagle¡¯s w . Once she had been caught by her fingers, not only would Zi Yuan¡¯s meridians be suppressed, but even her wrists could end up broken .

    The other short, fat disciple took a step forward . He held one hand in front of his chest with his palms facing up, as if he were holding an invisible iron tower . He was ready to attack, while the other hand was being held deceptively . This pose was simr to tiger ws . As long as the hand touched the body, it could take arge piece of skin and flesh, but at a nce, it was also like a crane . He gathered his fingers, and with a light tap, he could hit the human body¡¯s vital acupoints, hurting the enemy invisibly .

    Zi Yuan frowned . She knew that if she was going to save Ruan Hongling, she would not be able to protect herself . If she could protect herself, she would not be able to save Ruan Hongling .

    Thinking through the dilemma, Zi Yuan suddenly heard a familiar voiceing from beside her . "Are you going to bully those two with three people?"

    The voice faded and Zi Yuan saw a left hand being wrung forcefully . This arm was like a fierce dragon crossing a river, parting the waters . The arm pressed against Zou Ping¡¯s finger, causing her to immediately feel a majestic and vigorous load of Zhenqi rushing towards her like a tsunami . She was so shocked that she immediately pulled back .

    The short, fat disciple of the Zhengyi School took a deep breath, and his whole person swelled up like a balloon . Instead of retreating, his hands went up to intercept the punch .

    Meanwhile, Wang Lingfei had seen a figure suddenly appear in the middle of them . The man¡¯s right hand was doing Lotus boxing, his index finger rising and his upper joint slightly curving like a hook . At the same time, the man shouted, "Hon!"

    It was the Mahamudra of Taicang Buddha!

    Wang Lingfei saw that the man who had just appeared attacked first . If he retreated, not only would his momentum be weakened, but he might also be injured by the man, so he simply threw a palm at him .

    This battle was moving so quickly that even Zi Yuan could only see shadows shing past . Following which, a series of puffing sounds could be heard as Zou Ping flew back . Wang Lingfei shed head-on with Mahamudra, and Wang Lingfei¡¯s face immediately turned scarlet, as if his blood was about to burst out . He stood rooted to the spot without moving, speechless . As for the short, fat disciple of the Zhengyi School, he didn¡¯t make a sound as his body flew backward and he mmed into the street wall, causing the passers-by to exim in shock . Their gazes all turned in unison to stare at them .

    At this time, Zi Yuan realized that the person standing in front of her was Li Yundong . His back was like an iron tower as he stood still and proud, as if not even a mighty storm could knock him down .

    Li Yundong¡¯s slender body stood among them . White Qi was rising from the top of his head . One of his hands was maintaining the handprint of Mahamudra, while the other arm had several holes in it . Obviously, the short, fat disciple of Zhengyi School had just scratched Li Yundong¡¯s clothes and been sent flying .

    Zi Yuan knew that Li Yundong¡¯s Zhenqi was extremely dense and concentrated . He quickly intervened and caused the three disciples of the Zhengyi School to suffer a great loss .

    Wang Lingfei¡¯s face rapidly changed color from red to white, and then from white to red . After several moments, he breathed a sigh of relief . He looked at Li Yundong with a mixture of surprise and uncertainty and said, "Who are you? Who is your master?"

    Li Yundong snorted . "None of your business!"

    Wang Lingfei was shocked and said, "I see your Zhenqi and kung fu skills of the Xuanmen Sect . Why are you opposing Zhengyi School?"

    After helping up her junior brother who had been sent flying by Li Yundong, Zou Ping shouted before Li Yundong could answer, "He is Li Yundong, the one who forced his way up through his own depravity and by making use of the Fox Zen School!"

    Wang Lingfei was shocked again . He took a step back and looked Li Yundong up and down seriously . He put on a dignified air and said, "So you are Li Yundong?"

    Li Yundong saluted with one fist and said, "Yes, I am Li Yundong . Do you have any questions for me?"

    Wang Lingfei took a deep breath, his eyes narrowed . "No wonder my fellow student Zhang Tianhe was defeated by you . I heard that you have studied the Heavenly Jindan Technique . Is that true?" he asked .

    Li Yundong hadn¡¯t expected to encounter this upon his return . When he heard the man asking about the whereabouts of the Heavenly Jindan Technique, he was both shocked and unhappy . He snorted and didn¡¯t answer . Instead, he asked, "So, have youe to fight for your fellow student? Alright, one by one or all together?"

    Wang Lingfei had thought that he was already arrogant enough, but Li Yundong was even more arrogant than him . He was so agitated by Li Yundong that he forgot the whereabouts of the Heavenly Jindan Technique . He snorted and said, "It¡¯s rumored that Zhenren Li is unruly and unrestrained . Now I see you are worthy of your reputation . "

    The corner of Li Yundong¡¯s mouth twitched, a faint sneer hanging on his lips . "I have heard that the Zhengyi School is overbearing and aggressive . Seeing you today, it seems that you also deserve the reputation!"

    Seeing that Li Yundong was also sharp-tongued, Wang Lingfei¡¯s face changed and he shouted, "Li Yundong, don¡¯t be socent . Your Fox Zen School . . . our sect can crush it at will!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "I¡¯m afraid of everything, the heavens, the earth, and my wife, but I¡¯m not afraid of your pathetic threats! Are you threatening me?"

    By this time, all the disciples of Fox Zen School had also gathered around . Although there were not many of them, they vastly outnumbered Zou Ping and the other two . Moreover, they were so beautiful that they could attract endless attention just by standing on the street . After a moment, the crowd had once again surrounded the ce tightly .

    Zou Ping looked around and whispered to Wang Lingfei, "Shishiong, a wise man knows better than to fight when the odds are against him . Let¡¯s leave now . Sooner orter, we¡¯ll get revenge . "

    Wang Lingfei had seen Li Yundong grinding the green bricks with his palms like they were lumps of flour before . The fight just now had also been won with Li Yundong¡¯s powerful Zhenqi . He was speechless, while Li Yundong could speak with ease and there was no obstacle for him at all .

    Needless to say, it was easy to know whose Zhenqi and Cultivation Quotient was superior!

    Wang Lingfei was well aware of this . He knew that if he did not have a powerful magical weapon with which to settle the score with the man in front of him, he would lose . He thought to himself, "My two magic weapons won¡¯t be refined until next month . Why should I fight with this person until then?"

    Wang Lingfei also had thoughts of leaving, so he nodded . Zou Pingughed grimly at Li Yundong and said, "Li Yundong, I know that your Cultivation Quotient is incredible, but no matter how powerful you are, you still won¡¯t be able to defeat everyone in the whole world . Do you really think you¡¯ll be able to fend off the siege of all the cultivation sects by yourself?"

    "I, Li Yundong, have never relied on my fists to handle things . I rely on my own uprightness and stability . As the saying goes, a clean hand requires no soap . I don¡¯t believe that all the cultivation sects in the world will take personal revenge on me and be aggressive like you!" Li Yundong replied .

    Zou Ping gritted her teeth and said, "Very well then!" She then looked at Zi Yuan . "Zi Yuan, you¡¯ve already made up your mind and decided to make trouble with our Zhengyi School . Are you set on bing a great traitor to the Zhengyi School, which has been firmly established for a thousand years?"

    it was quite a heavybel for Zi Yuan to undertake . Her body trembled slightly, but she quickly said calmly, "Like I said, in my life, Zi Yuan only exists for cultivation . I don¡¯t need anyone to tell me what to do . Whether I am a traitor or not, the cultivation world has its own system of justice, and it cannot be determined by one or two people¡¯s crafty mouths . Even if the cultivation world now thinks I am a traitor, I believe that the people within will naturally give me justice after a thousand years . "

    Ruan Hongling also said angrily, "Sister Zi Yuan, there¡¯s nothing to talk to her about!"

    Zou Ping burst outughing . "Back then, Mystical Silver Fox also said something like that, but how about now? After a thousand years, isn¡¯t she still notorious? Zi Yuan, let me tell you, you can¡¯t polish a turd!"

    With this, she red at Li Yundong fiercely . "Just like Fox Zen School . A demon will always be a demon . They haven¡¯t changed for thousands of years, and they won¡¯t change in the future!"

    Li Yundong was furious . He stepped forward and shouted, " Are you asking for death?"

 Chapter 353

    Chapter 353

    <h4>Refine an Elixir Myself?</h4>

    The shout made the ss of the surrounding shops shake . Onlookers in the street felt like their ears were buzzing, like someone was pounding their eardrums with chopsticks . It was so painful that they couldn¡¯t hear any words that followed . They were all too busy covering their ears with their hands .

    Zou Ping and the others were shocked . The Zhenqi in their body was in chaos . She felt a jolt of fear, then looked at Li Yundong with hatred and said, "Let¡¯s go!"

    Now that they were downtown, Zou Ping was no longer afraid of Li Yundong¡¯s sneak attack . After saying that, she supported her fellow student and turned away .

    Wang Lingfei cast a cold nce at Li Yundong and Zi Yuan before he left . Suddenly, he said with a sneer, "Zhenren Zi Yuan, Zhenren Li, I hope that you will not be cowardly at the Taoist assembly in the near future!"

    After saying this, he held his head up high and left with augh .

    Ruan Hongling looked at their retreating figures, then spat balefully and said, "D*mn it! What they are? Treating an utterly worthless thing like an order from on high! They really think that they are the leaders of the Zhengyi School! "

    Li Yundong¡¯s face was sullen . He turned his head and saw Zi Yuan with a little frown on her face, and it looked like there was confusion in her eyes, as if she was thinking deeply about something .

    "Zi Yuan, what is a Taoist assembly?" Li Yundong asked .

    ¡°Ah!¡± The question brought Zi Yuan back to her senses . She gazed at him, thought about his question and said, "Here isn¡¯t the ce to talk about it, let¡¯s go back and talkter . "

    Li Yundong looked around and saw that the street was thick with pedestrians . Even some policemen and city management hade out to maintain order . "Okay," he said with a nod .

    They hade out happily but were returning angry . As soon as they entered the house, everyone start talking and cursing again . Ruan Hongling was really livid, as were others from the Fox Zen School .

    They felt that they have never done a bad thing in their lives . Why were these darned people just not allowing them to live in this world?

    "Some people in human form will do things worse than any beast . In the end, they will shout and kill others, saying that they are Demon Witches and shouldn¡¯t exist in this world . If they continue living, it will be the worst sin in the world . "

    Was that the reason? They thought so .

    Seeing that they were cursing together, Li Yundong did nothing to stop them . He just nodded to Zi Yuan, who took the hint and followed him into a room .

    "Zi Yuan, what¡¯s going on with this Taoist assembly? Why did the man just say that we must go as well?" Li Yundong asked .

    Zi Yuan sighed tiredly . "It¡¯s a long story . "

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Never mind . Take your time . Do you want a cup of tea?"

    Zi Yuan ignored the request and smiled weakly . "During the period of The Tsin Dynasty and Southern and Northern Dynasties, Buddhism and Taoism flourished at the same time . In particr, none of the schrs in The Tsin Dynasty were bad at Buddhism, Taoism or Confucianism . Because one of the three disciplines could not be learned as well, they could not get excellent grade qualifications in their evaluations and thus received no opportunity to be an official . Buddhism and Taoism have never again been as prosperous and powerful as it was during that period . In the period of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Emperor Wu initiated a grand gathering of Buddhists for the first time . ording to the book Annals of Biographic of Emperor Wu, ¡¯Emperor Wu attended Tongtai Temple and set up a meeting open to all¡¯ .

    "By the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Xuanzang had returned from India with scriptures . He also recorded in ¡¯Traveling Notes of the Western Regions in Great Tang Dynasty¡¯ that there was a meeting open to all that was held in ancient India every five years . "

    Li Yundong asked in confusion, "So, what is this meeting exactly?"

    "The meeting refers to a kind of fast ceremony held by Buddhists in which all people are equally treated, regardless of whether their backgrounds are noble or humble, whether they are monks ormon people, wise or foolish, good or evil," Zi Yuan exined .

    Li Yundong asked again, "What does that have to do with the Taoist assembly?"

    Zi Yuan smiled . "As I said just now, during the time of The Tsin Dynasty and Southern and Northern Dynasties, Buddhism and Taoism flourished together . But in the Tang Dynasty, especially while Emperor Tang Taizong respected Buddhism and held the meeting open to all every five years, Buddhism¡¯s forces often gathered, so Taoism naturally became marginalized and fell . But at that time, the Taoist sect was unwilling to take a back seat . They saw Buddhism holding a meeting every five years, so Taoist Zhenren Luo Gongyuan took the initiative to contact the Taoist sect masters Zhang Guo and Ye Fashan, and they too began to hold a Taoist assembly, this time one every four years . "

    Li Yundong waspletely absorbed in listening to her exnation . "And then what?"

    "Later, after several sessions of the Taoist assembly, its reputation gradually spread to the extent that it reached the ears of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang . Emperor Xuanzong of Tang summoned Luo Gongyuan out of curiosity and asked him to settle a score with Vajrabodhi in front of everyone in the court hall . In the end, Luo Gongyuanpletely trounced Vajrabodhi . From then on, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang converted to Taoism, and asked Luo Gongyuan for Taoist magic . "

    Li Yundong seemed to be getting it now . He said, "I understand . So from then on, the feud between the Buddhism and Taoism has raged on?"

    Zi Yuan nodded and said, "Yep . From then on the Taoist assembly achieved great fame . Every Taoist sect is proud of being able to participate in it . Those who are able to participate in the Taoist assembly are all top-tier sects in the Cultivation World . Even if you lose in the battle, others will look up to you, but if you can¡¯t participate, others won¡¯t even take a look at you!"

    Li Yundong replied with a sneer, "I don¡¯t care what they think of me . "

    Zi Yuan shook her head and gave some advice . "Li Yundong, that¡¯s not right . Although we often call ourselves Taoists, we are in fact Taoist cultivators . The Taoist school stresses nonaction, while Taoists stress the fighting between man and nature . The process of cultivation is to constantly fight with oneself and God . Therefore, our Taoism sect seems peaceful, but it is actually the most fierce and rebellious one around!

    "Now you have seeded the leader of the Fox Zen School, I believe that you can also feel it . That if you don¡¯t fight for it, you will starve to death within a month! If you want to open a teahouse, you will naturally havepetitors . Facing yourpetitors, will you not fight for business? If you can¡¯t, you will have no money, and then you will starve . If you are hungry, you can¡¯t cultivate . If you can¡¯t cultivate, your sect will weaken slowly and you will be bullied by others!"

    After Li Yundong heard this, he sighed and said, "Yes, how can I cultivate under these terrible circumstances all day long?"

    Zi Yuan nodded . "There is also a benefit in attending Taoist assemblies, which is that it lets all the cultivation sects around the world know what you¡¯re capable of, so that no one will dare to offend you again . And most importantly, the organizer of the Taoist assembly will take out a magical item as the prize to attract masters of each sect to participate . "

    Speaking of that, Zi Yuan suddenly asked Li Yundong, "By the way, guess who presides over this Taoist assembly?"

    Li Yundong asked in surprise, "Isn¡¯t it the Zhengyi School?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head . "No . As history develops, the Taoist assembly has be a gathering at which each sect disys their own power and attracts new disciples of the sect . Zhengyi School is already strong enough . There¡¯s no need for them to use this kind of Taoist assembly to prove their strength . "

    "Then which sect could it be?" Li Yundong muttered .

    Zi Yuan¡¯s gaze flickered and she said meaningfully, "it¡¯s the Gezao Sect of External Alchemy!"

    ¡°Eh?¡± Li Yundong said . He thought to himself, "Gezao Sect? The Gezao Sect that refined Renyuan Jindan?"

    Zi Yuan nodded affirmatively . "Yes . Do you remember that we once said that there was a puppet-master in the Cultivation World masterminding a conspiracy?"

    Li Yundong looked grave . "Yes, everything is a little odd, especially the fact that the bodies of the two golden snakes have been stolen . What¡¯s more, Zhangsun Hong¡¯s death is so confusing, I vaguely feel that there must be some connection between these things . "

    "I think so too," Zi Yuan said in agreement . "Just now, when Wang Lingfei mentioned the Taoist assembly, I suddenly remembered that the Golden Snake had mentioned the birth of the Immortal Pen and the Medicine King Tripod before it died . I couldn¡¯t help but think Gezao Sect has always been low-key, so why would they initiate the Taoist assembly this time? Furthermore, why would the master of the Gezao Sect, Wan Zhenyuan, be so high-profile, proiming that he has refined Renyuan Jindan and resulting in the theft of the Jindan?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s expression grew grave . "Do you suspect that this has something to do with Gezao Sect?"

    Zi Yuan nodded . "Yes, I even believe that the magical item for this year¡¯s Taoist assembly will be either the Immortal Pen or the Medicine King Tripod!"

    "I don¡¯t know what the Immortal Pen is for," began Li Yundong, "but as you said before, the Medicine King Tripod the magical item used to refine Diyuan Jindan, right? Since the Gezao Sect is from External Alchemy, how could they be willing to give it to others?"

    A sneer shed over Zi Yuan¡¯s face . "So, if the magical item that Gezao Sect offers as the award is the Medicine King Tripod, there must be a terrible conspiracy behind it! They would even dare to give away the magical item used to refine Diyuan Jindan, which means they¡¯re sending the lifeblood of the External Alchemy away . Since they are willing to make such a great sacrifice, there must be something big behind their actions!"

    As she said that, she looked at Li Yundong with her bright eyes, then followed up by saying, "Moreover, in ancient times, there has never been only one when Renyuan Jindan was refined!"

    Li Yundong was thoroughly shocked, gawping at Zi Yuan . "You mean . . . there is another Renyuan Jindan that exists in the world?"

    Li Yundong had never seen the magic power of the Immortal Pen and the Medicine King Tripod, so he didn¡¯t have strong feelings or hold greed towards it, but he had a deep feeling about Renyuan Jindan .

    Without Renyuan Jindan, he would still be an ordinary, homely man . How could he have be the Li Yundong he was today?

    Li Yundong thought to himself: "Although his cultivation had already reached a rather high level and he didn¡¯t need the help of Renyuan Jindan to do it, Su Chan, Zhou Qin, and the others will still need it . If they were able to consume a Renyuan Jindan, their cultivation would definitely soar by leaps and bounds as a result!"

    In particr, the Renyuan Jindan that he had consumed had belonged to Su Chan . He had taken her Jindan by mistake, causing her cultivation to stagnate . This had made Li Yundong feel terrible guilt over her .

    If he could get another Renyuan Jindan, would he be able to make it up to his little girl?

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart thumped as this thought raced through his mind . He couldn¡¯t help but shake his head and say, "No, even if he refined a few Renyuan Jindan in one furnace at the same time, the person who got the Jindan would have already used it himself . How could he have held onto it until now?"

    Seeing his eagerness, Zi Yuan quickly realized what he was thinking . "Even though there is a chance that someone has consumed Renyuan Jindan, since it has already appeared, it means that the Medicine King Tripod must has appeared as well . It¡¯s just that we don¡¯t know where it is . However, based on the current situation, it is very likely that it is in the hands of the master of the Gezao Sect, Wan Zhenyuan . Considering that Medicine King Tripod is still in the world, have you ever thought that if you obtained it, you could refine Alchemy yourself?"

    Li Yundong was surprised . "Do it myself?"

 Chapter 354

    Chapter 354

    <h4>The Highest Cultivation of Eight Turns of Fire</h4>

    Li Yundong was surprised to hear Zi Yuan say that . In his eyes, Zi Yuan has always been a quiet, elegant and humble fairy . But suddenly, she had said such a thing, provoking him into stealing the Medicine King Tripod and grabbing a powerful magical weapon . If he did grab it, he would certainly get himself into a feud with the world¡¯s foreign sects!

    "Didn¡¯t you say that it would be difficult for me to move forward in the future if I have deep grudges with others?" Li Yundong asked, looking at Zi Yuan in surprise .

    Zi Yuan said in a grave tone, "In the face of such great changes, I have a vague feeling that something important will happen in the cultivation world and we will very likely be destroyed, turned into a pile of ashes, blood and gore if our cultivation and strength are not strong enough . "

    "Since the battle in Tianlong Mountain, I have seen you be busy with worldly affairs every day with no time to cultivate . Although your cultivation is still strong, as we all know, your cultivation has not made any improvement since then . If it had, you would have reached the high realm of the Sixth Heaven long ago and been able to cultivate Yin Spirit into Yang Spirit!" Zi Yuan said, sighing softly as her eyes fixed on Li Yundong .

    Ever since Li Yundong had gained a great reputation after the battle at Tianlong Mountain and defeated Zi Yuan, she hadn¡¯t given him any guidance on his cultivation . Now that he was being lectured by Zi Yuan, he immediately revealed an embarrassed expression .

    Zi Yuan continued, "I know that as the head of a sect, you have to worry about making a living for so many people . It¡¯s difficult for you to cultivate because you¡¯re trapped in the secr world . That¡¯s why I suggest you find another way . Otherwise, if you continue to cultivate at this speed, you won¡¯t be able to reach the Yuanying phase even after a hundred years . "

    Her words roused Li Yundong¡¯s arrogance . "You reached the Yuanying phase at the age of twenty . Can¡¯t I reach the Yuanying phase by the age of one hundred and twenty? It¡¯s ridiculous! There is a limit to you looking down on me! Tonight, I will cultivate to the Yuanying phase just to make you see!"

    Li Yundong had been so busy making a living these days that he had not had the same spirit he had had when undergoing divine punishment . At this time, he had been stirred up by Zi Yuan . He made up his mind, and his temperament and momentum changed .

    Li Yundong did not intend to say any heroic words to Zi Yuan . He only wanted to return to his room, then start working on his cultivation and prove his ability to Zi Yuan with his actions .

    Being so smart, Zi Yuan naturally noticed the change in Li Yundong . She wasughing internally, but her expression remained unchanged . She continued, "I¡¯ve already said what I need to say . Participate in the Taoist assembly or not, it¡¯s up to you . Whether or not you want to steal the Medicine King Tripod is also your decision . I¡¯ll go back to my room now . "

    Li Yundong watched her leave and mused for a while alone in the room . Before long, Zhou Qin returned with a business license that had been approved . Li Yundong called her to the room and asked about the matter of getting the license signed . Then he asked Su Chan and the others not to disturb him because he was going to sit in meditation and cultivate for a while .

    Li Yundong sat cross-legged on the bed after Zhou Qin had left . Before long, the Zhenqi in his body slowly flowed out from his two kidneys, as if a warm current was flowing through his whole body . After a while, he was sitting in meditation and had turned into his own Gods¡® soul in his Spirit Space .

    Li Yundong controlled his Gods¡® soul of superhuman powers, using it to fly into the sky and go into the ground of his own Spirit Space . He could make it do whatever he wanted, which really meant that he had reached Ishvara Cultivation as the Gods¡® soul was showing up and changing ording to his will .

    But after he had manipted it for a while, Li Yundong suddenly thought, "Why can¡¯t I transform my Yin Spirit into superhuman powers?"

    Thinking about this, Li Yundong quickly concentrated all his Zhenqi into the Neidan in his lower Dantian . It didn¡¯t take long for his Yin Spirit to jump out .

    But after jumping out, Li Yundong looked at himself only to find that there was no change . Not only was his Yin Spirit not strengthened, there were also signs of it retreating .

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart froze . He tried to control his Yin Spirit with his mind, but he found that his Yin Spirit had not changed at all even after trying for a while .

    He couldn¡¯t help thinking, "Why can my Gods¡® soul make a change at willl in my Spirit Space, but my Yin Spirit can¡¯t?"

    Li Yundong thought about all the Buddhist and Taoist ssics he had read one by one . Suddenly, he remembered that the poem in the eighth phase of the ¡¯Heavenly Jindan Technique¡¯ said, "Eight Cycles Resurrection Zone, Zhou Xingtian to raise babies . Sometimes, there will be a fire in the nest of elixirs, and sometimes there will be a deep cold spring to make the red turtle . "

    Thinking of this, Li Yundong suddenly realized something . "I used to cultivate the Heavenly Jindan Technique . When I reached the eighth phase, I woke up naturally . I didn¡¯t finish the eighth turnpletely . Why don¡¯t I try to finish the eighth phasepletely today?"

    He then took back his Yin Spirit . "Previously, when my Yin Spirit was out of my body, it was the Zhenqi that was generated by the five Zangs that drove the Yin Spirit out . That is to say, my Yin Spirit came from the five Zangs, heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys . In fact, it didn¡¯t match with the Heavenly Jindan Technique at all . "

    The Heavenly Jindan Technique used Dan Qi cultivation as its base . It stimted the kidney, and then through thebination of the Yin and Yang Qi of the two kidneys and nerve training, it triggered a fire in the heart . In the end, the heart fire and the kidney water would intersect and merge into one, forming the Neidan!

    "Why don¡¯t I give it a try or just use the power of Fire and kidney water to activate my Zhenqi?"

    Li Yundong did just this . His internal organs were extremely powerful at this time . Not only could he control his heartbeat, he could also control the changes of his six viscera .

    He activated his liver and began to secrete arge amount of Dan Qi . All of a sudden, his face turned blue, just like the Dan Qi he was using . Then, Li Yundong felt that the breath of his two kidneys was being stirred up by Dan Qi and slowly moved out of his two kidneys .

    The internal organs of the human body were all connected, just like a light move, one thing to be moved while others stayed still . It was easier to say but harder to do than ascending to heaven . Only great concentration and wisdom could pull it off .

    Li Yundong had been gued by mundane matters, so he couldn¡¯t be at ease and wouldn¡¯t have been able to reach this step naturally . However, at this moment, he had been provoked by Zi Yuan . His whole body immediately calmed down and he easily aplished this step .

    Li Yundong felt like there was a light Qi slowly rising in his chest . When it reached the Dantian and the heart, it slowly became hot like a me, and the other turbid Qi slowly sank like a vast ocean .

    Li Yundong knew that this was a sign of heavenly fire and natural water!

    Then the Qi in Li Yundong¡¯s Dantian began to grow hotter and hotter, flowing from the top of him down to his right kidney slowly . Li Yundong knew that the right kidney belonged to Yang, and the left belonged to Yin .

    As soon as his right kidney merged with the heavenly fire, it immediately turned into a scorching me, as if it was burning a hole in alchemy . Then, Li Yundong tried to guide the burning Qi of his right kidney slowly toward his left kidney in order tobine Yin and Yang .

    At this time, the kidney Qi of Li Yundong¡¯s right kidney slowly came out, like a huge ck tortoise slowly stretching out its head and crawling toward his left kidney little by little .

    In stark contrast to his right kidney, his left kidney felt as cold as a cier . As soon as the zing Yang Qi was injected into it, the Qi immediately rolled and the Yin and Yang merged!

    This was none other than "Sometimes having a fever in their of the elixir, going deep to find the red turtle in the cold spring"!

    Then, the Yin Qi and Yang Qi of Li Yundong¡¯s two kidneys merged into one, rushing to the heart and Dantian . Instantly, the ground water and the heavenly fire also became one . The water and fire were mixed together, and heaven and earth were harmonious!

    Li Yundong felt as if an atomic bomb had exploded in his body, and his heart and kidneys¡¯ Qi caused a violent nuclear reaction as soon as they touched!

    His own Spirit Space exploded in an instant . Li Yundong suddenly found that his Gods¡® soul in the Spirit Space had changed its appearance .

    In the past, although he had had a three-headed and six-armed body, his appearance and skin had still been fair . As long as others did not look at his three-headed and six-armed body, he could still be regarded as a normal person . But now, his Gods¡® soul was really ck and green like iron . Two different colors of Qi were continuously being emitted from his nose . A thick ck Qi wasing from his left nostril . It was the Kidney¡¯s Qi, and a bright red stream of Qi wasing out from his right nostril, which was his heart Qi .

    The two Qi condensed and didn¡¯t disperse, spiralling around his Gods¡¯ soul like red and ck cassocks draped over his body, but also like two-colored auspicious clouds gently supporting his Fashen .

    Li Yundong was overjoyed . He knew that the final necessary performance of the eighth phase of the Heavenly Jindan Technique was to spit out red and ck Qi from his nose . He had already cultivated to the highest Cultivation of Eight Turns of Fire!

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart trembled as he mobilized the Zhenqi that was generated by the Dan Qi . Then, he immersed his Neidan in his kidney-water and mobilized his Zhenqi to draw out his Yin Spirit .

    At this time, Li Yundong felt like his body had lightened, and then a person jumped out of his body . He saw at first nce that his body was sitting cross-legged on the bed, while he himself was standing on the ground . Li Yundong found that his body was not growing bigger at this time, but smaller!

    Especially his arm, which was small and round, and just like that of a newborn baby!

    Li Yundong was stunned and tried to pick something up with this hand . As expected, he easily picked it up!

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing as he realized that he had finally reached the Yuanying phase and created his own Yang Spirit!

    Once a cultivator cultivated the Yang Spirit, he would transcend the Five Rings of Life and Death and no longer be bound by life, death, or illness and could be considered a ¡¯Zhenren¡¯!

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t have time to stop his cultivation before he suddenly heard a light knock on the door .

    Startled, Li Yundong quickly found a ce to hide with the help of his small Yuanying phase body .

    He thought to himself, "It must be either Su Chan or Zhou Qin . Let¡¯s see if we can¡¯t frighten her . "

    Li Yundong was secretly proud of himself, but he had not been expecting that when the door opened, it would reveal a stunning sight . He saw that the woman near the door was carrying a te with a bowl of soup . She had a graceful, romantic figure and a beautiful appearance . It was Cao Yi of the Fox Zen School, a woman with high prestige!

    Li Yundong wondered curiously, "What is she doing here? Didn¡¯t I tell everyone not to disturb me? It¡¯s possible that Su Chan and Zhou Qin would take advantage ande to disturb me, but Cao Yi shouldn¡¯t havee to disturb my cultivation!"

    While he was hesitating, he saw Cao Yi¡¯s eyes twinkling at the door . She hesitated for a moment, as if she was wondering whether she should enter . But just as she was about toe in, Su Chan suddenly asked curiously from behind her, "Sixth Shibo, what are you doing? Didn¡¯t Yundong say he wouldn¡¯t allow anyone to disturb him?"

    Cao Yi was startled and came to her senses . She turned around and smiled at Su Chan . "Oh, Chan¡¯er, it¡¯s you . I have made some soup for the leader . I¡¯m wondering whether I should bring it in for him . "

    Su Chan rolled her eyes and said with a smile, "Sixth Shibo, let me do this!"

    Cao Yi smiled and said, "Okay . " Then she put the te in Su Chan¡¯s hand and left in a hurry without even looking at Su Chan and Li Yundong . She was in such a rush all the way that she bumped into a woman at the corner of the stairs . The two screamed together .

    Cao Yi focused her eyes and found that it was Zhuang Yating who had bumped into her .

    Zhuang Yating rubbed her forehead andined, "Shimei, are you in such a hurry to be reincarnated?"

    Cao Yi smiled awkwardly and apologized, then carried on her way .

    Su Chan, who was at the top of the stairs, looked at them and wondered, "How strange . With Shibos¡¯ strength, there¡¯s no reason for them to bump into each other . Why are the two of them being so weird today?"

    The girl was simple-minded and didn¡¯t think too much about it . She smiled, walking through the door with the te . Because she could see that Li Yundong was doing Qi control, she kept her movements light all the way, as if she were a thief .

    When she put the soup dish down, she squatted on the bed, held her chin in her hands, and stared at Li Yundong with admiration and infatuation in her eyes .

    Li Yundong was hiding in the corner, observing the girl who was staring at his body . She didn¡¯t say a word, as if she would apany him for as long as he sat like this . Li Yundong felt a wave of warmth in his heart and wanted to tease her, so he quietly came behind her and coughed .

    Though this cough was not too loud, Su Chan was so frightened that all the hair on her body stood on end!

    Su Chan thought, "Yundong has been sitting in meditation to cultivate Qi alone in this room . Who else could be hiding here?"

    Without another word, Su Chan threw a backhand punch at Li Yundong!

 Chapter 355 The Method for Foxs Cultivation

    <h4>Chapter 355 The Method for Fox¡°s Cultivation</h4>

    Su Chan¡¯s p startled Li Yundong. He hadn¡¯t been expecting Su Chan to p him directly.

    Su Chan had always been strong in terms of speed, and this punch was as fast as lightning. However, Li Yundong was essentially a child at this time. The palm narrowly passed over his head, allowing Li Yundong to escape Su Chan¡¯s palm.

    He immediately jumped to one side and shouted when he saw that Su Chan was about to throw another p at him. "Hey, do you want to murder your boyfriend!?"

    Only then did Su Chan turn around. She saw a naked child standing not far away from her. The child was about two years old, his skin round and jade-like, giving him a faint glow, like a firefly.

    Su Chan was confounded for a moment. She widened her eyes and asked curiously, "Who are you, little brother?"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. "Silly girl, it¡¯s me, your boyfriend!"

    Only then did Su Chane to her senses. She looked pleasantly surprised. "Yundong, have you cultivated Yang Spirit body?"

    The girl rushed over to Li Yundong and squatted down, looking at him joyfully. Then she reached out curiously to pinch the arm of Li Yundong¡¯s Yang Spirit body. She looked back at the other Li Yundong, who was still sitting on the bed, then giggled and said, "It¡¯s so strange. There are two Li Yundongs!"

    Li Yundong put on a cute act. He blinked at Su Chan and said, "In fact, I¡¯m Li Yundong¡¯s younger brother!"

    Su Chan giggled and said, "Yes, yes, his little brother!" As she spoke, she actually reached out her hand and flicked Li Yundong¡¯s genitals. Then, sheughed and said, "This is indeed a little brother!"

    Li Yundong took a deep breath and said angrily, "Absolutely disgraceful, how dare you make fun of me!"

    Li Yundong threw himself into Su Chan¡¯s arms and scratched her. "Okay, I want to suck your plump breasts!"

    Su Chan giggled and ced her hands in front of her chest to protect herself. She said in a sweet voice, "My breasts only belong to Yundong. You are Yundong¡¯s younger brother. I can¡¯t allow you to touch them!"

    Li Yundong said angrily, "I¡¯m not a little boy. Look, I¡¯m bigger now!"

    As soon as Li Yundong finished speaking, his figure suddenly grew a little, changing from a two or three-year-old to a four or five-year-old.

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes widened in shock. "How... how did your Yang Spirit grow so fast?"

    Li Yundong was looking pretty proud of himself. "How¡¯s it going? I¡¯ve grown a lot, haven¡¯t I?"

    Su Chan covered her hot face with her palm, her cheeks flushing. The gap between her fingers was wide open, revealing a pair of cunning and clever eyes. She giggled and said, "Only a little."

    Li Yundong was unhappy. He secretly mobilized his Zhenqi and said, "Bigger, bigger!"

    After just a moment, Li Yun¡¯s Yang Spirit body grew a little bigger once again. By this time, he looked like a 15 or 16-year-old boy. The appearance of Li Yundong could still be seen in his face.

    Li Yundong said proudly, "Well, I¡¯m really big now, aren¡¯t I?"

    Su giggled. "Yes, yes, yes! Yundong! Hurry up and put on your clothes. You¡¯re so shameless! Shame on you!"

    Li Yundong smiled as an idea shed into his mind. His naked Yang Spirit body became immediately clothed. He was now no different from a normal person.

    Only then did Su Chan put down the hand she was usign to cover her face. She continued giggling and said, "Whew, that was close. I almost saw it."

    Li Yundongughed and said scoldingly, "Bah, the gap in your fingers was even bigger than a window. How dare you say that you didn¡¯t see it!"

    Su Chan was annoyed. "Of course I didn¡¯t! You¡¯re talking nonsense!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s Yang Spirit body shed as it returned his real body. He woke up from his meditation and said with a smirk, "You just said your breasts are only for Yundong, didn¡¯t you? That wasn¡¯t my imagination, was it?"

    Su Chan fell into Li Yundong¡¯s arms with a giggle, and her head went straight onto his chest. She had a Pure Yin Body, and Li Yundong had cultivated enough to have a Yang Spirit Body, so his Pure Yang was incredibly vigorous. Naturally, it attracted the Yin-based Zhenqi in Su Chan¡¯s body.

    When the Pure Yang and Yin-based Zhenqi moved, it would incite people¡¯s desire. The girl loved Li Yundong so much that she was willing to give him anything. At this time, her body softened and her hand unconsciously reached down to Li Yundong¡¯s crotch, ready to practice the 64th Form of Masturbation.

    Li Yundong could see Su Chan¡¯s seductive eyes glittering and sensed that her breath was full of lust. He knew that she was eager to make love, so he leaned into the girl, bit her ear, and said with a smile, "What, aren¡¯t you afraid of making love with me today?"

    It¡¯s often easy for a human to lose their mind when their lust grows. Su Chan looked up at Li Yundong, her eyes blurred with love, as if she couldn¡¯t wait to be one with Li Yundong and never leave him again. She said in a thick voice, "I¡¯ve rejected you many times. As your girlfriend, I¡¯ve always rejected you. I¡¯m so sorry!"

    Li Yundong chuckled. He gently lifted her chin with his hand and said with a smile, "You are afraid that I won¡¯t be able to control myself when you see so many beautiful women around me, aren¡¯t you?"

    Just like that, Su Chan¡¯s inner worry had been revealed. She blushed and buried her head in Li Yundong¡¯s chest as if someone had seen through her. She sneakily looked up at Li Yundong, then quickly lowered her eyes in panic, her long eyshes trembling.

    Su Chan muttered, "I... Am I really so obvious?"

    Seeing her like this, Li Yundong¡¯s love for her was overwhelming. Heughed and held her in his arms, lowering his head to kiss the girl on the lips.

    Su Chan closed her eyes, looking as if she was entirely at his mercy. Even a sage wouldn¡¯t have been able to control himself after seeing her charming appearance. However, Li Yundong just kissed her lips and gently scratched her nose, then smiled and said, "Don¡¯t think about it, silly girl. If you give your virginity to me now, you won¡¯t be able to reach the Cultivation of six-tailed fox spirit for the rest of your life."

    Su Chan¡¯s pretty face turned red. "I, I¡¯m just afraid that you¡¯ll feel dissatisfied..."

    Li Yundong tenderly held her in his arms and gently rubbed Su Chan¡¯s nose with his forehead. "So you¡¯d rather give up your own cultivation? Am I so selfish that I¡¯d ruin your cultivation just for a moment of pleasure?"

    Su Chan raised her head when she heard that. Her eyes were wide open, the tears welling up in them. She was moved to the core and fully aware that there was such a man in the world who loved her and doted on her. No matter what happened, he would think of her. Knowing this, she felt that her life had purpose.

    Tears streamed from Su Chan¡¯s eyes. As the teardrops fell, her cheeks became like the leaves of a pear blossom in the rain.

    Li Yundong saw that she was crying, so he quickly wiped her face with both hands. "Oh, why are you crying? Hey, are women really made of water? I didn¡¯t make you unhappy, did I? Hey, it¡¯s not just ¡¯cause I won¡¯t do it with you, right? Why are you crying like that? Hey, no, are you really crying because of not doing it?"

    Su Chan burst outughing and gently hit Li Yundong with her fists. She wiped her tears and said, "No, I was remembering the two golden snakes dyingst time." The girl then raised her head with tears in her eyes and said, "I remembered what the golden snake said before its death. I felt very emotional and couldn¡¯t help crying."

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Silly girl, what is there to cry about?"

    Su Chan shook her head and said with a shuddering sob, "At that time, the golden snake said, ¡¯I hope I won¡¯t be born a demon in the next life.¡¯ When I heard this, I thought in my heart, ¡¯How nice would it be if I were a human being?¡¯ Sister Zi Yuan and Sister Zhou Qin were both human beings, and no matter where they went, they weren¡¯t criticized. But I was a Fox Spirit, so wherever I went, people would say that you were willing to fall into depravity and be inferior by being wit me. But you don¡¯t dislike me and instead always think of me. I, I feel so happy. I don¡¯t know what kind of blessing I received in myst life that allowed me to be with you..."

    Li Yundong¡¯s gaze grew softer and softer as he listened. He put his arm around the girl¡¯s waist and said softly, "Silly girl, you don¡¯t need to say these things to me. I like you not because you are a fox or human being, but because of your kindness, your beauty, your innocence, and your affection for me from the beginning. Don¡¯t think too much. Didn¡¯t I sayst time that if a couple loves each other for a long time, they won¡¯t always be lying in a bed? We have such a long life to share together. You will have plenty of time to apany me?"

    At first, the look in Su Chan¡¯s eyes began growing more and more alluring, but in the end, she burst intoughter, the sound as stunning as a hundred flowers blooming in unison.

    Li Yundong patted the girl¡¯s head with a smile and said, "If you really want to make love to me, go and cultivate quickly. When you reach my level of cultivation, we can do it!"

    Su Chan giggled. Suddenly, she seemed to think of something. A pair of sharp eyes darted around in their sockets. As soon as Li Yundong saw her like this, heughed and said, "What are you thinking about? Tell me now."

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong shyly and said softly, "In fact, we do have a way to speed up our cultivation."

    When Li Yundong heard this, he grinned and asked, "What?"

    Su Chan said bashfully, "In fact, there are only three cultivation methods for us spirits. One is to absorb the Spirit of Heaven and Earth when the moon is full. At that time, our demon bodies can cultivate Neidan and we can transform into human beings."

    "You transform into human beings to seduce men?" Li Yundong asked cheekily.

    Su Chan said angrily, "You¡¯re so annoying! Humans are the source of all things. Only human beings can cultivate directly. If other creatures want to cultivate, they have to transform into human beings first."

    Li Yundong also sighed when he heard this. "Yes, I really understand this concept now. I cultivated the Heavenly Jindan Technique to the eighth phase. Suddenly, the Yin Spirit changed into Yang Spirit, and my cultivation improved a lot. In fact, I only guided the kidney¡¯s Qi to my heart, triggered the heart fire, and then led the kidney¡¯s Qi from the right to the left. But many spirit and stone monsters don¡¯t even have internal organs. How can they cultivate?"

    Su Chan also sighed. "Yes, in the way of cultivation, men¡¯s cultivation can be said to yield twice the results with half the effort, while women¡¯s cultivation can yield half the results with twice the effort. But even worse than that, it takes us female demons a hundred times the effort to cultivate. Because of this, some female demons are unable to bear the arduous and lonely process of cultivation, so one of them came up with a way to extract energy and absorb Yang to strengthen their own Core Yin. This kind of cultivation method allowed for very fast progress, but it hurts people when used out of self-interest, which will easily cause public anger and bring on divine punishment."

    Li Yundongughed and said, "There are good and evil people, and good and evil demons. We can¡¯t generalize. But the cultivation method you just said is to take essence and yang? Aren¡¯t you afraid that I will take yours away instead?"

    Su Chan blushed and shook her head, saying, "No, no, no, it¡¯s not what you think. It¡¯s me who put Yin Qi into your body to attract a little Yang Qi for my own use so that it won¡¯t hurt your foundation. When I first met you, I had been hurt by Ruan Hongling and Sister Zi Yuan. At that time, when I saw you sleeping next to me and with a Yuanyang Body, I secretly gathered a little of your Yuanqi..."

    Su Chan timidly looked at Li Yundong. "I never told you about this. You don¡¯t me me, do you?"

    Li Yundong said with a good-natured chuckle, "Well, you secretly picked my Yang Qi once!"

    After that, Li Yundong threw his head back and fell on the bed, yelling, "Hero,e and pick my Yang Qi!"

    Su Chan giggled. "You¡¯re so annoying! It¡¯s not what you think!"

    Smiling evilly, Li Yundong asked, "Then what is it?"

    Su Chan tapped her red lips and replied with a smile, "I have to suck it out with my mouth..."

    Li Yundong looked as if he suddenly understood and eximed, "It turns out that you¡¯ll use your small mouth to suck... Ah!"

    Su Chan didn¡¯t react to Li Yundong¡¯s words. She nodded and said, "Yes, the mouth is one of the seven apertures of the human head. Not only can it make people feel exhausted, it¡¯s also used to breathe, so..."

    As she was talking, she saw Li Yundong lying on the bed and holding in hisughter. Su Chan was stunned, but she quickly reacted. Her pretty face flushed a deep scarlet. She rushed over with shame and anger and shouted, "You evil man, what are you thinking about?"

    Li Yundongughed out loud, holding the girl in his arms and pulling her down to y on the bed.

 Chapter 356 Large Karmamudra and Small Karmamudra

    <h4>Chapter 356 Large Karmamudra and Small Karmamudra</h4>

    Afterughing for a while, Li Yundong choked back his guffaws and helped her sit up. "Okay, okay, stopughing. Tell me, what do you want me to do?" he asked.

    Su Chan snorted with the air of a general who had triumphed and was returning home. She said proudly, "Isn¡¯t the famous Zhenren Li begging for my mercy?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Yes. Fairy Fox, hurry up and tell me. I will do what you say!"

    "Just close your eyes!" Su Chan said with a smile.

    Li Yundong closed his eyes curiously, feeling puzzled. Before long, he could feel waves of cold airing in through his lips. This Yin Qi triggered the Yang Qi in his body. Li Yundong felt that if he didn¡¯t control it properly, the Yang Qi would automatically follow the Yin Qi and flow out.

    This continued for less than a minute, until Su Chan suddenly said with a smile, "It¡¯s done!"

    Li Yundong opened his eyes and saw that Su Chan¡¯s face was blooming. Her skin had became so tender that it seemed to be glowing. Li Yundong asked curiously, "Wow, have you been eating ginseng fruit to renew your youth?"

    "Bah, you¡¯re the old one! I only inhaled a little of your Yang Qi. Is the change very obvious?" Su Chan replied, smiling.

    Li Yundong looked Su Chan up and down and said in amazement, "Yes, the changes are obvious. You could be a spokesperson for a cosmetics line. If anyone asked you to be their spokesperson, wow, it¡¯d mean the products must be trending!"

    Su Chan blinked. "Really? Could I make a lot of money?"

    Li Yundong saw that she really wanted to do it, so he quickly said, "No, no, you are my girl. How could you step into the world of showbiz? Showbusiness is tooplicated. How could I let you be involved? No, no, absolutely not."

    Su Chan had just asked casually. Seeing that Li Yundong strongly opposed it, she didn¡¯t insist anymore. She smiled and said, "Well, I¡¯ll listen to my boyfriend!"

    Li Yundong smiled and reached out to pinch Su Chan¡¯s cheek. As soon as his hand touched it, he drew back and said in an exaggerated tone, "Wow, it¡¯s bouncy!"

    Su Chan giggled at Li Yundong¡¯s words. "You¡¯re so annoying. Why are you exaggerating?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "It has changed a lot, but I feel that you didn¡¯t absorb much Yang Qi. Why have you changed so fast?"

    Su Chan sighed slightly and said, "This is the power of demon cultivators. Yundong, do you know what the meaning of the Karmamudra is?"

    Li Yundong thought about the ssics that he had read, then replied, "I used to think that it was a kind of Lianqi kung fu that could be carried out when a man and a woman were having sex. Butter, I realized that the Karmamudra is also involved in the refinement of one¡¯s life and physical and mental properties at the same time. This is in addition to Buddhism and Taoism Karmamudra, practicing both Buddhist and Lianqi kung fu at the same time. Thus, it doesn¡¯t mean the Karmamudra when men and women are having sex."

    When it came to cultivation, Su Chan was serious. She said in a low voice, "You¡¯re right, but Karmamudra is a veryplicated and dangerous thing. When a man and a woman are having sex, they often can¡¯t control their feelings. How are they supposed to be able to control their own auras calmly? Once they can¡¯t control their own auras, their essence meridians will weaken, and the weakened aura will flow to the strong one. Then, the weak one will suffer a great loss, and the other one will gain more."

    Li Yundong also nodded. "You¡¯re right. I remember Zi Yuan once said that cultivation is extremely scientific. It has never been able to create energy out of nothing. Even if it¡¯s cultivation, it must abide by thew of Conservation of Energy. It¡¯s almost impossible for the strength of two people to grow together in Karmamudra. It¡¯s just like ying mahjong. No matter whether two people y mahjong together or four people y mahjong together, it¡¯s impossible for two parties to all win money, or four parties to all win. One must always lose!"

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong admiringly and said, "Yundong, you¡¯re really smart. You can always draw inferences. You¡¯re right. In fact, many Taoists pay attention to fangzhongshu, which is the way of taking tonics. In many Taoists¡¯ eyes, women are just medicinal materials and furnace tripods, so they don¡¯t care about women¡¯s lives. However, this method works very quickly, especially after the death of the first sect master of Fox Zen School, when the second sect master took over the position. At that time, the power of Fox Zen School waned when the first sect master passed away. Our enemies were everywhere, so the second sect master wanted to improve her strength quickly. At that time, she heard that the Mount Five Hua Shan Yin and Yang Sect had rapid Karmamudra techniques, so she snuck into Mount Five Hua Shan pretending to be a female disciple in order to secretly steal this method."

    At this point, Su Chan sighed and said, "After learning this kung fu skill, the second sect master passed it to his disciples immediately, as if he were distributing loot. In the end, almost everyone in the Fox Zen Sect practiced Karmamudra, and all of them went to the mortal world to find a boy with a Yuanyang Body for Yang Feeding. It made many cultivators think that we are dirty and evil people since they made the world into such a mess."

    Li Yundong said in amazement, "But we¡¯ve been acquaintances for a long time. I noticed that although each of them whether it¡¯s your master Ao Wushuang or Cao Yi or one of the others, has a morous face and a graceful body, they are quite dignified and ssy and never do anything immoral."

    "That¡¯s because after our Fox Zen School experienced the second and third generations of masters, the fourth master, Mystical Silver Fox, took over the position of leader of the sect. At this time, the Fox Zen School was notorious and was like a rat in the pantry, being hunted down by cultivators. The most terrible thing was that the cultivation of the Fox Zen School found that their Neidan, which they had cultivated through Yang Feeding, almost dissolved at the first touch when they encountered the Xuanmen sect¡¯s authentic cultivation Neidan!

    "At this time, Mystical Silver Fox was done with the experiences of the previous two leaders. She thought the Tao of Karmamudra could be achieved quickly, but it wouldck tempering and polishing. It was opportunistic and was not eligible to be the right path. Therefore, she left the kung fu of Karmamudra behind and turned into an ordinary female disciple to sneak into the Taoist sect and steal the Xuanmen Sect¡¯s kung fu knowledge. However, it was too easy to master the Tao of Karmamudra. She could not bear to give it up at once, so Mystical Silver Fox improved it."

    "Because the physical Karmamudra of men and women changes into the Aura Karmamudra, Karmamudra ister divided intorge Karmamudra and small Karmamudra," Su Chan said, her tone filled with fervor and assurance as she described the small andrge Karmamudra precisely in a few words. "In this way, the disciples of the Fox Zen School don¡¯t have to risk the vition of Tianhe for Yang Feeding. You know, Yundong, if therge Karmamudra for Yang Feeding is done too many times, people will be dried out, shrivelling into human beef jerky. As the saying goes, sex is an Osteotome. That is exactly what the saying means."

    Li Yundongughed and said, "I see. In fact, this principle is the same as the Foster Fire Technique I practiced. My Eight Turns of Fire alsobined the Qi of heart and the Qi of kidney water, the Yang Qi of the right kidney and the Yin Qi of the left kidney. Therefore, I refined Yin-based Zhenqi from the Pure Yang and my cultivation quotient jumped from the Yin Spirit to the Yang Spirit."

    "Your spirit Karmamudra alsobines Yin-Yang Principle, then generates the Neidan in your body to mature it, right?" Li Yundong asked with a smile.

    Su Chan nodded, grinning. "That¡¯s right. Mystical Silver Fox has transformed the Large Karmamudra into Small Karmamudra. Even though the effects aren¡¯t that obvious, it¡¯s much safer for cultivators to do it like that. At the very least, there¡¯s no need for men and women to fear beingpletely extracted by their partners. They can control their own Qi."

    Li Yundong held Su Chan in his arms and said with a smile, "So, shall we do Small Karmamudra every day in the future?"

    Su Chan hurriedly waved her hand and said in a panic, "No, no, absolutely not!"

    Li Yundong said, "Why not? You¡¯ve only taken a little bit of Yang Qi from me, but you¡¯ve already changed so much. If you take a little more, you¡¯ll soon be an immortal!"

    Su Chan shook her head like a rattle. "No, no. As the saying goes: Constant dripping wears down the stone. I sucked a little from you today, but that was all your purest Yuanyang Zhenqi. It¡¯s very difficult to cultivate the things that are the purest in your body. If I take a little, you will lose a little. You can never make up enough to rece what has been lost. The loss of Men¡¯s Primordial Essence takes only a few seconds, but then it will take days to make up for it. Simrly, the speed at which your Zhenqi is being drained must not be as fast as your speed of replenishing it. If you keep practicing like this, you cultivation will take a big step back!"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t take her warning seriously and said with a smile, "It doesn¡¯t matter. As long as my girl bes strong, won¡¯t it be okay?"

    Su Chan was moved. She held Li Yundong in her arms and said softly, "Babe, I appreciate your kindness, but you mustn¡¯t spoil me like this. It¡¯s not good. Think about it. If it is too easy for me to get the kung fu of cultivation now, I won¡¯t put in the hard work for it. Without the hard work, the Neidan will be nothing but a Pseudo Vital Orb, and it will dissolve as soon as it meets a master. Even if I refine Neidan to be extremely powerful through Small Karmamudra, it¡¯ll still be useless when I encounter an expert."

    Her words touched Li Yundong. "You are right!" he eximed. "I remember after Ipleted Zhuji phase in the Himyas, I met Wu Hao, who got his Neidan through Karmamudra of Yin-Yang Principle. As a result, I blew the Beads of Gore upside down, while he couldn¡¯t blow Beads of Gore at all. Why are these two situations totally different? It is because my Neidan was tempered through hardship, and his was practiced through Karmamudra. It¡¯s like being a veteran on the one hand and afortable soidier on the other. They¡¯re both soldiers of a sort, they can fight with guns, but once the wares, the difference reveals itself."

    As Li Yundong spoke, he lowered his head and looked at Su Chan with appreciation and affection brimming in his eyes. He gently touched her hair and said, "Okay, my girl is really thoughtful. You really know how to make progress. How wonderful!"

    Su Chan felt like Li Yundong¡¯spliments were sweeter than honey. She nodded with a smile and said, "Well, I¡¯ll work hard. When my Zhenqi is strong enough, I¡¯ll ask you to teach me the Heavenly Jindan Technique!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Okay."

    But he couldn¡¯t help thinking to himself, "Cultivation relies on the umtion of time and effort. When Su Chan¡¯s Zhenqi Internal strength is practiced to the fullest, I¡¯m afraid that she will miss all the important things. No, I have to figure out another way... It¡¯s a pity that I have already taken Renyuan Jindan. The whereabouts of the rest of Renyuan Jindan are still unknown. However, the Medicine King Tripod that Zi Yuan mentioned earlier is indeed a treasure... However, I don¡¯t know where it is, nor how to concoct pills of immortality..."

    Li Yundong thought about this for a while. Remaining unresolved, he put the issue to one side, but he remembered it in his heart.

    As dawn broke the next day, Zhou Qin came to knock on Li Yundong¡¯s door early in the morning. He opened the door and saw Zhou Qin dressed in a student suit and Ruan Hongling standing next to her, also dressed like a student. He asked curiously, "What are you doing here in this get-up?"

    Ruan Honglingughed and said to Zhou Qin, "I knew it. This guy must have forgotten his other identity, right?"

    Zhou Qin pursed her lips and smiled. "Master, have you really forgotten that you still need to go to school? You have skipped sses for many days, and so have I. If we don¡¯t go to ss now, we will be expelled!"

    Li Yundong pped his forehead and said with a smile, "I would have forgotten if you hadn¡¯t mentioned it. Wait a minute. I¡¯lle out in a sec."

    By the time Su Chan saw them, Li Yundong had just finished washing up and was about to head out with Zhou Qin and Ruan Hongling. She jumped up and down and followed them, saying with a smile, "Are you going to school? I¡¯lle!"

    As soon as she said that, the other little foxes started shouting, "Leader, we want to go too!"

    Li Yundong could feel a headacheing on. "You almost turned the school upside downst time, and now you want to go again? Are you serious? Do you think I¡¯m going on a spring outing?"

 Chapter 357 Li Yundong Comes Back?

    <h4>Chapter 357 Li Yundong Comes Back?</h4>

    Li Yundong said, stony-faced, "No, do you think I¡¯m going out to have fun?"

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong with her eager eyes, then pursed her lips and said, "You said that I should always be by your side..."

    The little foxes also began kicking up a fuss, "Yes, we must not leave our leader¡¯s side. We must always follow closely behind him!"

    Li Yundongughed and said scoldingly, "Are you a group of demons? Follow me closely? Go and do what you need to do! Don¡¯t make any trouble!"

    The foxes were clearly reluctant. They continued making a fuss and yelled, "Leader, you don¡¯t keep your word! And you treat everyone unequally!"

    Li Yundong was so annoyed that he felt as if there were countless bees buzzing around in his head. Cao Yi, who was beside him, also tried to persuade him with a smile. "Sect Leader, you should at least take them out for a walk. They have been looking forward to having fun with you."

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. "Shibo Cao Yi, why are you also on my case now?"

    The little foxes cheered, "Long live Shibo Cao Yi! Long live Shibo Cao Yi!"

    Cao Yi coughed and nced at Li Yundong awkwardly. The little foxes immediately understood and said in unison, "Long live Leader! Long live Leader!"

    With so many beautiful women pleading him together, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t endure for long. He helplessly said, "Okay, but we have to set some ground rules before we leave!"

    Upon hearing this, the little foxes smiled and said. "What regtions?"

    Li Yundong raised three fingers and folded one down as he said, "First, no one is allowed to kick up a fuss."

    As soon as he finished this sentence, the little foxes asked in unison, "What¡¯s kicking up a fuss?"

    Li Yundong red at them. "The way you¡¯re acting now is what¡¯s called kicking up a fuss!"

    The little foxes were shocked and shut up promptly. Li Yundong nodded with satisfaction and said, "Second, don¡¯t run around."

    The little foxes had no objections and nodded in unison.

    Li Yundong added, "Third, don¡¯t refer to me as Leader outside."

    Hearing this, the little foxes immediately asked, "What should we call you then?"

    Li Yundong thought for a moment before resolutely saying, "Just pretend that you don¡¯t know me!"

    Su Chan giggled and said, "It seems unlikely after what happenedst time."

    Li Yundong knew that Su Chan was referring to the incident of him giving the speech at schoolst time. He red at her and said menacingly, "Don¡¯t you dare bring that up!"

    He then thought for a moment and said, "Anywho, don¡¯t call me Leader. We¡¯re not making a period drama. It sounds strange to outsiders. If you need anything, just call me by my name."

    The little foxes looked at each other and nodded. "Okay."

    Although they were being obedient now, there was still a feeling of something strange going on in Li Yundong¡¯s heart, as if he knew something was going to happen. But now he¡¯d said his piece, and it couldn¡¯t be taken back.

    Li Yundong sighed. "Forget it. Let¡¯s go. I don¡¯t know what sin Imitted in myst life that led to me encountering you guys in this one."

    Hearing this, all the foxes in the Fox Zen School burst intoughter.

    At this time, Zi Yuan also came in from the opposite door. Seeing that Li Yundong was heading out, she asked curiously, "Where are you going? You have to go to the shop to deal with designing the decorations today."

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly and said, "I¡¯m too busy for that! How about you take over the decoration work? It¡¯s useless for me to go there anyway. I don¡¯t understand that kind of thing."

    After thinking for a while, Zi Yuan nodded and said, "Okay, I¡¯ll do it."

    Seeing this, Cao Yi said proactively, "Zhenren Zi Yuan, why don¡¯t I help you?"

    Zi Yuan looked at Cao Yi and was a little surprised by her offer, but she still smiled and said, "Well, I need a helper anyway."

    Almost immediately, both Liu Yuehong and Zhuang Yating from the Fox Zen School also said, "Let¡¯s go and help them too."

    Li Yundong smiled warmly. "Great, now we all have things to do."

    They allughed. Li Yundong led Su Chan, Zhou Qin, Ruan Hongling, and the little foxes to the school while Zi Yuan and the others went to the shop to deal with the decorations.

    When he arrived at school, Li Yundong looked around and saw a campus full of youthful spirit. Suddenly, he felt that the ce in front of him, which he had stayed at for nearly three years, was now so unfamiliar. He sighed and said, "I haven¡¯t been back for quite a while. It feels like it¡¯s been a century. I almost forgot that I was still a student."

    As soon as he said this, he heard a voice ring out from beside him, sounding angry and surprised. "You almost forgot that you are a student? Have you also forgotten that you have friends like us?"

    Li Yundong turned his head and saw Feng Na holding a textbook and looking at him with both anger and joy on his face.

    Li Yundong suddenlyughed. "What a surprise! It¡¯s been a long time. How have you been recently?"

    Feng Na red at Li Yundong, then said in a drawn-out tone, "Me? Do you still know me?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Yes, of course I know you, the prestigious president of our student council!"

    Then, Li Yundong said with his face lit up by a grin, "Madame President, I haven¡¯t seen you for a long time. Are you so busy every day?"

    Feng Na harrumphed and rolled her eyes at Li Yundong, acting like a little girl having a sulk. "I¡¯m not as busy as someone who¡¯s apparently busy enough to disappear! I¡¯m not busy at all, it¡¯s just that I go to school every day and have meetings."

    Li Yundong smiled even more brightly, "Don¡¯t be like that, Miss. President. You have to take care of yourself, you know. It¡¯s very tiring to constantly attend school and meetings!"

    The more Feng Na and Li Yundong spoke, the deeper the smiles on their face became. When she heard this, she couldn¡¯t help bursting intoughter and scolding, "Hey, where have you been these days? Why haven¡¯t I seen you? Sun Li has spoken to me several times. She said that if you didn¡¯t start going to ss soon, you were going to have to take the supplementary exam again."

    Li Yundong sighed, his face gloomy.

    Feng Na asked out of curiosity and concern, "What¡¯s wrong? What happened? You can tell me what¡¯s on your mind. If you don¡¯t tell me, I¡¯ll be forced to think that you don¡¯t see me as your friend."

    Li Yundong looked up at the sky and sighed, "Well, I can¡¯t sleep and eat well at all recently when I think of something that happened a few days ago. I¡¯m burning with anxiety."

    His words made Ruan Hongling, Zhou Qin, and Su Chane over curiously. They asked one after another, "Li Yundong, what are you thinking about? It can¡¯t be that serious!"

    "Yundong, what are you thinking about? Tell us, we can help you relieve your burden."

    "Master... Li Yundong, do you have something on your mind?"

    Li Yundong looked at them and sighed. "s, none of you can help me. Forget it." After that, he made another morose sigh.

    But the more Li Yundong hesitated, the more curious they became. They began urging one after another, "Go ahead, go ahead, there are no outsiders here."

    Li Yundong could not bear it, so he sighed and said with an expression of pity, "Every night, as long as I think about the fact that the country is not united and the world is not peaceful, I can neither sleep nor eat well!"

    Before he could finish his words, everyone burst outughing.

    Feng Na teased him with a smile, "Bah, you¡¯ve been busy saving the world these days, haven¡¯t you?"

    Su Chan giggled, but did not speak. Zhou Qin covered her mouth to conceal herughter and did not interrupt. Only Ruan Honglingughed openly and said in a scolding tone, "Li Yundong, you¡¯re too thick-skinned!"

    Her voice was clear and loud, attracting the attention of the surrounding students. Upon hearing Li Yundong¡¯s name, the other students immediately perked up their ears.

    "Li Yundong? Where is he?"

    "So this is Li Yundong, the famous Li Yundong?"

    "Wow, Zhenren Li, I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m seeing him in the flesh at this school! Am I seeing clearly?"

    "My brother in the Tao, what you¡¯re seeing is reality. This is the legend of our school, Li Yundong, Zhenren Li!"

    These students whispered to each other for a while, and some officious people directly shouted to Li Yundong, "Li Yundong, go to hell!"

    The students who had experienced thest incident on the school sports ground all burst outughing. Li Yundong was not angry. He simply turned his head and said to Feng Na and the rest with a bitter smile, "Hurry up and get to the ssroom. This ce is going to get very crowded soon."

    Sure enough, after only a short while, the news of Li Yundong¡¯s appearance in the campus spread like wildfire, and it didn¡¯t take long to gain everyone¡¯s attention.

    Many people who had not yet seen Li Yundong curiously said to one another, "My ears burn just from having heard his name so often. I¡¯ve seen piles of photos and videos on the forum, but I haven¡¯t seen him in real life. Let¡¯s go and have a look!"

    In the space of just a few moments, these students surrounded Li Yundong and followed him in a flood.

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly to himself. He turned around and looked at Feng Na. "Now you know why I wasn¡¯ting to school."

    Feng Na covered her mouth andughed. "Well, as you haven¡¯t been here frequently, when the students see you, they all feel that it¡¯s something not to be missed and areing over to see you in person."

    Li Yundongughed exaggeratedly. "Well, it seems that this lot would even look up to my corpse."

    Feng Naughed loudly. She patted Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder and said, "There¡¯s no ss for me this morning, Let me join one of your sses!"

    Li Yundong said with augh, "I think you just want to make fun of me, don¡¯t you?"

    Feng Na giggled. "You got me! Alright, making fun of you is exactly what I want to do. What? Are you going to kick me out?"

    Li Yundong sighed. "s, I¡¯m such a low-profile person, but all I hear is your apuse and adoring screams. It¡¯s really embarrassing!"

    Hearing that, the crowd around him burst intoughter again.

    The little foxes had been curiously studying the people around them. They quietly tugged on Su Chan¡¯s arm and pulled her aside, whispering, "Su Chan, the Leader seems so prestigious here!"

    "Of course," Su Chan said proudly. "Didn¡¯t you see him enjoying great poprity on the stagest time too?""

    Only then did the foxes remember the riot-like incident that had happenedst time. They said with visible pride on their faces, "It¡¯s a good thing that our Leader is so popr! It proves that our Leader is very outstanding! It seems that our Fox Zen School will definitely seed under his leadership in the future!"

    Su Chan nodded, her head bobbing like that of a chicken pecking rice. "Well, Yundong has always been outstanding!"

    Li Yundong could see that Su Chan and the little foxes were speaking into each other¡¯s ears. He suddenly became alert and quickly called Su Chan over. He asked as if he was facing a formidable enemy, "Hey, what have you guys been talking about? Do you want to do something bad again?"

    Su Chan burst out seriously, "Not at all! We were just praising you!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s face was full of suspicion. He kept looking at Su Chan as if he wanted to find some clues as to her true behavior in her face. He asked doubtfully, "Really?"

    "Of course," Su Chan said firmly. "You¡¯re thinking too much!"

    Li Yundong patted her head. "Okay then. I¡¯m afraid that you guys will make trouble for me again. You guys are just a bunch of wastrels!"

    Su Chan pouted and made a face at Li Yundong.

    Feng Na flipped her arm and looked at her watch. "Let¡¯s go. It¡¯s time for ss. We have a big ss on ssical literature this morning."

    Li Yundong saw that there were so many students around that it was like there was going to be a traffic jam. He quickly waved his hand and said, "Come on, girls, let¡¯s go to ss!"

 Chapter 358 The Relationship Between the Scholar and the Chrysanthemums

    <h4>Chapter 358 The Rtionship Between the Schr and the Chrysanthemums</h4>

    A group of people came into the ssroom and grabbed arge number of seats from the back rows. After Li Yundong had sat down, he suddenly found Ruan Hongling also sitting in the back row with him and he couldn¡¯t help but wonder aloud, "Why are you also attending this ss? Aren¡¯t you a junior?"

    "I keep feeling like something bad is going to happen to you, so I came here to watch the fun," Ruan Hongling said slowly.

    Li Yundong was so gloomy about this that he almost could have spat blood. He rolled his eyes at Ruan Hongling and said to the little foxes sitting in the back rows, "If you dare to make trouble, no one will be allowed to eat dinner when you return!"

    The little foxes were shocked. They sat up straight and fell silent immediately.

    Feng Na had always been curious about the rtionship that existed between so many beauties and Li Yundong. She could see that as soon as Li Yundong opened his mouth, the beauties would be extremely obedient. She couldn¡¯t help asking, "Li Yundong, have you been trafficking human beings these days? Where did you get so many beauties? You could start a modeling agency with this lot!"

    "Because I¡¯m so charming, they all flock to me voluntarily!" Li Yundongughed, his head turning to the sky.

    Feng Na didn¡¯t believe him and turned to ask the little foxes, "What¡¯s your rtionship with him?"

    Scared by Li Yundong, the fox girls didn¡¯t dare to speak a word. Their heads shook like little rattles. Feng Na saw them shaking their heads and realized that they wouldn¡¯t dare to say anything. She sulkily said, "If you don¡¯t want to tell me, then so be it. Li Yundong, you¡¯re such a yboy, aren¡¯t you?"

    Li Yundong coughed and thought, "yboy? I¡¯m still a virgin. Have you ever seen a yboy like me?"

    He didn¡¯t want to continue this topic with Feng Na. By this time, the teacher had alsoe in, so he quickly changed the subject and said, "The teacher is here. Let¡¯s focus."

    Feng Na burst intoughter. "What the hell? Did you bring your textbooks? No! Where¡¯s your notebook and pen? You didn¡¯t bring them either."

    Li Yundong said with an embarrassed smile, "Mr. President, please be merciful. It¡¯s time for ss! Can¡¯t you see that the ssroom is full?"

    Only now did Feng Na notice that the ssroom was already full of people and even the aisles were crammed with students. She asked in shock, "Why are there so many people here?"

    Li Yundong also smiled. "If I were to sell standing tickets, I¡¯m confident I could make a big fortune!"

    Feng Na grinned. "You could also make a lot by selling reserve tickets! However, I think that most of the people here are here for you!"

    Li Yundong looked around and saw that many of the people in the room really were looking at him. He couldn¡¯t helpughing and said, "If one day I run out of money, I can open up an exhibition hall featuring none other than myself, and then I won¡¯t starve to death."

    "That¡¯s great. Remember to call me at that time. I¡¯ll handle collecting the tickets and do some publicity," Feng Na said with a smile as she covered her mouth.

    A thought suddenly shed through Li Yundong¡¯s mind. "Right, Feng Na coulde and help out in the tea room I¡¯ve opened. Should I tell her?

    "We¡¯d better talk about itter. Wouldn¡¯t it be shameful if the tea room ended up losing money?"

    Meanwhile, the teacher who hade into the ssroom was also shocked by how full it was. He couldn¡¯t help but get excited. He had been teaching for so many years, and every time the ss had been nearly empty, not to mention that a lot of the students who did bother to show up would skip ss half-way through. When had the ssroom ever held so many people? Today was really a good day for teaching!

    What was happiness? Happiness was when you did your job with a full heart!

    Wasn¡¯t the teacher¡¯s happiness to be found in having a full ss of students listening to his lessons every day?

    The teacher of the ssical literature ss was surnamed Hua. He was an old schr with a head of silver-grey hair. He was so excited that he had be feverish, as if the youth that had long left his body had been temporarily returned.

    Teacher Hua coughed from where he was standing up by the podium, and he said excitedly, "Students, we are starting ss now..."

    The students under the podium were chatting and whispering as if they hadn¡¯t heard him at all.

    Teacher Hua was frozen and looked embarrassed. He raised his voice a little, saying, "Students, ss is beginning!"

    But not only was the sound of the students¡¯ chattering not weakening, but it was also growing even louder!

    Teacher Hua heard everything clearly from above. Some of the girls were chirping, "Hey, which one is Li Yundong?"

    "That guy, tenth from right in the back row. You can¡¯t even recognize him? It¡¯s so easy to recognize him! The one sitting among arge group of beauties is him!"

    "Ah, it¡¯s true! Now I¡¯ve finally seen him. I couldn¡¯t see him clearlyst time on the rostrum, but I heard that he objected to us eating sh*t..."

    "Bah, you¡¯re the one who eats sh*t!"

    Teacher Hua was very depressed, thinking to himself, ¡°So many students are not here because of interest in their education, but because of Li Yundong?¡±

    "Isn¡¯t this a bit too painful for my self-esteem?"

    Mr. Hua felt as if someone had poured a basin of cold water over his head, feeling freezingly cold right in his bones, but he soon felt a change of heart. "No, what is the teacher¡¯s job? Isn¡¯t it to educate students? The more there are, the better I should educate them!"

    Teacher Hua regained his confidence on the podium. ¡°I don¡¯t believe that the content of my lecture will not be able to attract you,¡± he thought confidently.

    Disregarding the noiseing from below the stage, he began to speak into a wireless microphone. The sound of his voice was so loud that the students below the stage grimaced in pain. They covered their ears and said to each other, "Sh*t, has the teacher taken drugs today? Why is he speaking so loudly?"

    Immediately, a student shouted, "Teacher, your voice is too loud for us to bear!"

    Upon the podium, Mr. Hua said leisurely, "If I don¡¯t make a loud noise, how can I win you over?"

    The students below the podium burst outughing, and after a while, the order in the ssroom really improved.

    Seeing this, Mr. Hua immediately became energetic and worked hard on the stage, talking about all sorts of things and spitting saliva everywhere.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t want to listen to the ss either. He had only attended it to avoid being expelled again for too many absences. It would be too much trouble if that ended up happening.

    It was a trivial matter for him to be expelled, but when that happened, his parents would cut off his monthly living expenses, and he had not made any money. If he lost money doing business, there would be no way out for him. At that point, he really would have to take the foxes to open a circus.

    Li Yundong was not listening to the lesson at all, but it was the first time for the little foxes to have this kind of ss, and they all felt very excited, sitting upright and listening very attentively.

    Teacher Hua could see clearly from up on the podium who was listening carefully, who was chatting away, who was putting on makeup, and who was sending text messages. He secretly said in his heart: "It¡¯s rare for such beautiful girls to be so attentive in ss!"

    Teacher Hua seemed to be growing more confident, and he started speaking about harder and harder topics. Spurred by the situation, he chanted poems with ease, shaking his head like an old schr who had taught in an ancient Chinese school.

    Although Su Chan had taken several sses like this with Li Yundong, she had always envied Li Yundong for having had the opportunity to attend such a big school, so she listened very carefully, especially when the teacher stood on the podium and began to talk about the rtionship between ancient schrs and flowers. She grew increasingly enthusiastic.

    Seeing that Su Chan was so absorbed, Li Yundong nudged her arm with a smile. "Hey, is it so pleasing to listen to?"

    Su Chan giggled. "It is great! I¡¯ve learned a lot!"

    At this time, the teacher began talking about the rtionship between schrs and chrysanthemums with great fervor. When he talked about the works with chrysanthemums of Tao Yuanming, Lu You, and other famous schrs, he began reciting a poem while shaking his head. "Autumn silk surrounds the house like pottery, the sun all around the fence edge gradually inclines. It¡¯s not that chrysanthemum is preferred amongst flowers, because there can be no flower when chrysanthemums fade."

    As Li Yundong listened to his chanting and suddenlyughed. He said to Su Chan with a wicked smile, "By the way, do you know why these schrs love to praise chrysanthemums?"

    "Of course I know!" Su Chan said confidently. "Do you think that your little girl has had no education? Chrysanthemums are fresh and elegant. They are the flowers of gentlemen. Therefore, in ancient times, schrs always used chrysanthemums to show their own noble intentions and gentlemanly heart."

    Li Yundong snickered and shook his head. "No, no, that¡¯s so wrong!"

    Su Chan opened her mouth wide and asked in confusion, "What? It¡¯s wrong? Why?"

    "Why do all schrs love chrysanthemums?" Li Yundong smirked.

    Su Chan blinked her eyes and asked, "Why?"

    Li Yundong exined word by word, "Because they are all hardcore!"

    As soon as Li Yundong finished his words, Feng Na, who was next to him, couldn¡¯t help but burst outughing.

    As soon as she startedughing, she immediately felt that she was being inappropriate. She quickly covered her mouth, turned her head to one side, andughed secretly, shrugging her shoulders.

    Li Yundong put on a fake smile and said teasingly, "ssmate Feng Na, you actually understand it? Seems like you¡¯re hardcore too!"

    Feng Naughed so hard that her stomach hurt, leaving her no chance to argue with Li Yundong.

    Su Chan was confused. She gazed at Li Yundong and kept thinking about his words, "Why is the fact that schrs love chrysanthemums hardcore? What¡¯s the meaning of that?"

    Feng Na¡¯s previousughs sounded very abrupt in the ssroom and had angered Teacher Hua, who thought, "Why are you being so naughty in ss? Look at the girls behind you, how attentive they all are!"

    Teacher Hua was in a bad mood. After he had finished reciting the chrysanthemum poem, he asked, "Do you have any idea whose poem I recited just now? What¡¯s the name of the author?"

    Many students were secretly ncing at Li Yundong and the beauties surrounding him from time to time. Some of them were sleeping; some were ying on their cell phones; some were doing make-up, and only a few were listening to the ss. For a moment, the room was quiet and almost everyone was looking at each other. In addition to this poem being almost unheard-of, no one knew who had written it.

    Teacher Hua snorted and thought to himself, "If you guys don¡¯t listen to the ss seriously, you won¡¯t be good students. Looking at those students in the back rows who are terrifically attentive, I can tell that they are good students. They must know the answer!"

    With this in mind, Mr. Hua pointed to the little foxes in the back rows and said, "The fifth student from the right in the back row, please stand up."

    Li Yundong was shocked for a moment. He looked back and saw that there was a little fox from the Fox Zen School sitting in that seat. The little fox nced nervously at Li Yundong first, then stood up, confused, and looked at the teacher nkly.

    Teacher Hua asked kindly, "Do you know where this poem came from?"

    "Indeed I know, but the leader told us not to make trouble before!" the little fox thought.

    Thus she shook her head.

    Teacher Hua was shocked, he looked disappointed and pointed at one of the little foxes next to her. "What about you? Do you know?"

    The next little fox also stood up. Seeing that her Shijie hadn¡¯t said anything before, she also felt she couldn¡¯t speak, so she shook her head in silence too.

    Teacher Hua became even more disappointed. He asked the little foxes in the row one by one, but they all shook their heads!

    Teacher Hua was so angry that he couldn¡¯t help but shout, "Why don¡¯t you know anything? Haven¡¯t you been attending sses? You may have beauty, but it looks like your brains leave much to be desired!"

    The little foxes felt wronged and thought to themselves, "We¡¯re not your students! We know the answer, but Leader forbade us to talk!"

    Teacher Hua was furious up on the podium, his breaths turning shaky from rage. Su Chan was secretly groaning about the injustice of the audience. She thought to herself: ¡±Isn¡¯t this teacher scolding my sisters equivalent to him scolding me? It doesn¡¯t matter if you scold me, but then aren¡¯t you scolding Yundong indirectly too? He is our leader. If we are scolded, he also loses face. No, I have to win this for Yundong!"

    Thinking of this, Su Chan ignored everything as she stretched out her hand and said loudly, "Teacher, I know!"

    Li Yundong was shocked and gave her a nudge. "Hey, don¡¯t talk nonsense."

    Seeing Li Yundong¡¯s action, Mr. Hua immediately shouted, "Student Li Yundong, if you won¡¯t answer yourself, why won¡¯t you let other students tell me?"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. He wanted to tell the teacher that she was his girlfriend rather than a student of the school.

    But he knew that the teacher was so furious that he might cause another storm if he spoke up, thus he swallowed his words.

    Teacher Hua pointed at Su Chan and said loudly, "Don¡¯t be afraid, student. Stand up and answer the question loudly."

    Seeing that Li Yundong was no longer stopping her, Su Chan stood up and said in a bold voice, "This poem was written by Yuan Zhen in the Tang Dynasty. The poem is called ¡¯Chrysanthemum¡¯!"

    Everyone in the ssroom looked at Su Chan in unison, talking about her answer with each other.

    Teacher Hua felt relieved. "Finally, someone who knows where this poem came from. It¡¯s so hard!"

    Teacher Hua was pleased. Seeing that Su Chan had answered the question without hesitation, he was determined to test her again. "Then do you know why ancient schrs love chrysanthemums?"

    As soon as Li Yundong heard this, his heart suddenly began to quiver. His mouth fell open in surprise and he thought: "No, it can¡¯t be such a coincidence!"

    Hearing this, Su Chan thought, "Ha, isn¡¯t this the question that Yundong just asked?"

    The little girl raised her eyebrows with joy and said with unshakeable confidence, "Because they are all hardcore!!"

 Chapter 359 Explanation of Hardcore!

    <h4>Chapter 359 Exnation of Hardcore!</h4>

    Su Chan¡¯s words instantly silenced the entire ssroom as soon as they fell. It was so quiet that one could have heard a pin drop.

    Everyone looked at Su Chan with their mouths wide open. The teacher on the stage was even more stunned, his Taiyang throbbing wildly. Li Yundong enraged in his heart. "Christ, you talk too fast, I can¡¯t even stop you!"

    The silencested only for a moment, and then there was a burst of astonishingughter that rippled through the ssroom. Theughter was like a p of thunder, almost tearing the roof off.

    Su Chan was confused by everyone¡¯s hystericalughter. She looked around in confusion and asked, "Did I say anything wrong?"

    Teacher Hua, who was on the podium, suppressed his anger and said, "Girl, If you don¡¯t know, please just tell me. Don¡¯t make trouble in ss!"

    Su Chan said loudly, "I know. It was Yundong who told me this answer!"

    After that, she pointed at Li Yundong, and all eyes in the ssroom turned to him.

    Li Yundong suddenly wanted to burst into tears. He thought, "You sted girl, I¡¯ve known you for so long. Why do you always get me into trouble every time Ie to school?"

    Su Chan hadn¡¯t reacted at first, but she soon realized that something was wrong, especially when she looked at Li Yundong and saw that looked as if he wanted to find a crack on the ground and crawl into it.

    Su Chan¡¯s heart thumped. "Oh no, did I say something wrong again? But... but I said it strictly based on what Yundong told me..."

    The little girl felt wronged and puzzled. She lowered her head, timidly cast a nce at Li Yundong, and then looked at the students around the roomughing wildly. Her head sank lower and lower, and she soon seemed to have buried herself in her chest.

    Teacher Hua was livid. "Girl, please sit down. Student Li Yundong, please stand up."

    Su Chan replied with a weak nod and sat down timidly. Then, she cast a timid nce at Li Yundong, only to find that he was looking at her with frustration written all over his face. He whispered, "Silly girl, I¡¯m in trouble because of you!"

    Su Chan lowered her head even further, repeatedly muttering in her heart, "What¡¯s wrong with me? Why is everyoneughing like this?"

    As soon as Li Yundong stood up, the students in the ssroom began cheering loudly. Not only the students in the ssroom, but also the ones crammed outside in the corridor began to cheer. They hade after hearing the news, hoping to see Li Yundong¡¯s demeanor.

    Fortunately, Li Yundong did not let them down. There was indeed a good show going on.

    For a moment, the students inside and outside the ssroom were all excited. Countless faces were pressing against the ss windows of the ssroom, and countless phones were turned on, filming everything happening in the ssroom.

    In the face of such cheers, Li Yundong felt as if he was sitting on tenterhooks. He smiled dryly and said to Mr. Hua up on the podium with a long face, "Mr. Hua, actually..."

    Before he could finish more than just a few words, Mr. Hua shouted angrily, "Shut up and listen to me!"

    Facing the angry teacher, Li Yundong sensibly shut his mouth.

    "I know that you are popr in this school, but please respect my profession and my identity! I am a teacher. As long as you learn in this ss, you will always be my student!" Mr. Hua said loudly.

    Li Yundong had a bitter smile on his face as he thought to himself, "I have never disrespected you!"

    Seeing that Li Yundong wasn¡¯t saying anything, Mr. Hua added, "Weren¡¯t you very talkative just now? Come on,e to the podium. Give your lecture, and I¡¯ll be your student, okay? Come on, please rify this issue of hardcore schrs!"

    After that, he stepped down from the tform in anger and stood at the base of the podium.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. When he was about to speak, he heard the students in the ssroom and outsideughing and calling out, "Li Yundong, we support you!"

    This wave of noisy voices swept through the school, drowning almost everyone.

    Seeing the students take up the chant, Mr. Hua became even more angry. He held the wireless microphone and said with a sneer, "Come on, make it clear. You should also experience the feeling of being a teacher. If you don¡¯te up, the whole ss¡¯s examination grade will be defaulted to zero points!"

    As soon as he said that, the students suddenly burst into an indignant uproar, especially the obedient students who wanted to get good credits from the lesson. They all looked at Li Yundong as wishfully as if they were beggars looking at Kwan-Yin Bodhisattva, the savior of the suffering and the poor.

    Seeing that he was being forced into a dead end, Li Yundong had to bite the bullet and walk to the podium. He coughed and said, "In fact, this is all a misunderstanding..."

    Under the stage, Mr. Hua interrupted him with a sneer, "We don¡¯t want to hear anything about a misunderstanding. We want to listen to the exnation of schrs, chrysanthemums, and being hardcore!"

    These students suddenly burst outughing and shouted, "We want to listen to the exnation of hardcore!"

    Li Yundong was sweating. He felt that he would rather face being besieged by all of the sects in the world than have to handle the scene in front of him!

    Li Yundong wiped the cold sweat from his brow and said immediately, "In fact, in the five thousand years¡¯ history of China, there have been many poets praising chrysanthemums, but Tao Yuanming was the most famous one among them. He wrote famous poems like ¡®While picking asters¡¯ near the Eastern fence, my gaze upon the Southern mountain rests¡¯. Bai Juyi from Tang Dynasty also wrote ¡®Only the chrysanthemum next to the fence in the east is hardy. Golden millets are beginning to bloom, giving a fresh fragrance in the morning.¡¯ Huang Chao also left us with his masterpiece ¡®The scent of chrysanthemums permeates the entire Chang¡¯an, and chrysanthemums are like golden armor covering everywhere.¡¯¡±

    Li Yundong counted the poets that had written poems about chrysanthemums one by one with great familiarity. For a moment, the students quieted down. They didn¡¯t know why Li Yundong was talking about these poets and their poems one by one. They were curious and listened to him attentively. Although Mr. Hua was still angry, he secretly nodded in his heart. "Yes, he has read a lot of books. No wonder he is so famous in this school. It seems that his debate over the Buddhist doctrine with Yan Huast time was not hearsay."

    Li Yundong continued, "There are still many poems about chrysanthemums. For example, Su Shi¡¯s ¡¯The light muscles and weak bones are scattered, and the golden core is blooming. I want to know but I am old trillium, when the herbs are destroyed, they bloom.¡¯ Another example is Li Bai¡¯s ¡¯It is a sigh that the stems are sparse leaves and tiny. Although it is different, it also has its own fragrance.¡¯ Yet another example is Du Fu¡¯s ¡¯The cold flowers are dying, and the chrysanthemum is full of branches. The old pickers are frequent, and the light fragrant wine will be with you temporarily.¡¯"

    Li Yundong was bringing up these poets who had written chrysanthemum poems without any pause. Students knew how to tell good from the bad. For a time, everyone was secretly cheering, in awe of Li Yundong¡¯s strong memory and breadth of knowledge, but at the same time, they were growing more and more curious. Why had Li Yundong brought up so many poets and poems? What did this have to do with being hardcore?

    While they were pondering this, Li Yundong said, "Look, Tao Yuanming is Chaisang people in Xunyang, Eastern Jin Dynasty, which is nowadays known as Jiangxi Province. Bai Juyi is from Henan Province, Huang Chao is from Shandong Province, Su Dongpo is from Sichuan Province, Li Bai is from Sichuan Province too, and Du Fu is from Henan Province.

    "Jiangxi cuisine is rich in color and heavy on the oil, and it tends to have a thick taste which favors chili, not to mention Sichuan cuisine. Spicy food is famous throughout the country. Shandong is famous for Shandong dishes. The characteristics of Shandong dishes are that they¡¯re salty and fresh, and salt is used to highlight the freshness of the dishes. The same goes to Henan cuisine, the fragrant, fresh vor is its special characteristic. Now that I have listed so many people. The dishes in their locations are basically thick in vor, so I have concluded that they are all hardcore!"

    After Li Yundong had finished speaking, he felt that his head was slick with sweat, as if he had fought with a hundred Yuanying phase masters for five hundred rounds.

    Hearing that Li Yundong was bringing the exnation around to the original issue after so many nonsensical words, these students suddenly burst outughing, whistling and cheering.

    At first, Mr. Hua was angry in his heart, but after listening to Li Yundong¡¯s bbering, he couldn¡¯t help but smile. He nodded and thought to himself, "Although this guy is talking nonsense, he wouldn¡¯t be able to make any sense without a solid foundation of knowledge of ancient China."

    Some of the girls who hade to the ss out of curiosity looked at Li Yundong with starry eyes and said unthinkingly, "Before today, I¡¯d only heard that Li Yundong was vigorous and brave, but now I know that he is also an elegant schr. He is really good with both the pen and the sword. Where can I find such a boyfriend? What a pity..."

    "Idiot, didn¡¯t you hear him arguing over Buddhist doctrine with Yan Huast time?"

    "Who can understand that? But, didn¡¯t you hear him reciting those chrysanthemum poems? Wow, so stylish! So handsome!"

    "Damn, are you unable to hold back your excitement as soon as you hear the word ¡¯chrysanthemum¡¯? Perhaps you¡¯re also hardcore?"

    The boy next to them who had been listening to their infatuated day-dreaming sighed. "Is this guy for real? You can win countless fans with your nonsense, making a group of beauties fall for you and be willing to give themselves to you. Unbelievable!"

    "You don¡¯t understand anything! You don¡¯t know these poems. You try making up a poem and reciting it to me!"

    "s, now I know that even reciting poems can be used as a trick to pick up girls! We have to read books. Friends, the trusty book has great value. The ancients didn¡¯t lie!"

    Li Yundong summoned up the courage to exin indiscriminately. Although he barely managed to justify himself, Mr. Hua secretly nodded from his ce below the podium. He thought that this matter should already be over, but the students who were watching the scene didn¡¯t think it was a big deal and didn¡¯t intend to let him go.

    Some students shouted, "Mr. Li, show us something exciting!"

    After a few students began heckling together, the other students in and outside the ssroom also wanted to see something more unusual. "Show us something exciting!"

    Li Yundong cursed in his heart, "Damn, you guys reallyugh at other¡¯s misfortune. I¡¯ve made sense of such a perverted thing, but you still won¡¯t let me go! Well, if you won¡¯t let me go, I won¡¯t let you go either!"

    Li Yundong made up his mind and said loudly, "You want some excitement?"

    The eyes of these people all turned fiery. They nodded excitedly and said, "Yes, we want something exciting!"

    Li Yundong waved his hand and said, "In that case, put all the books away. Let¡¯s have an exam!"

    All of a sudden, everyone was stunned. Some students in the front row stuttered, "A, an exam?"

    Li Yundong nced at them and said with great confidence, "Didn¡¯t you guys say you wanted some excitement? Isn¡¯t an exam exciting?"

    All of a sudden, these students burst intoughter. Even Mr. Hua, who had been keeping a straight face until then, couldn¡¯t help finally cracking up.

    Some curious students asked, "Mr. Li, what do you want to set the exam about?"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t even think before answering loudly, "It will be about the rtionship between schrs praising chrysanthemums and being hardcore!" After he¡¯d said that, he seemed to think of something else and added, "You¡¯re not allowed to giarize or use the exnation I just gave!"

    There was another burst ofughter from outside the ssroom. Mr. Hua also chuckled and scolded, "Craftyd!"

    Mr. Hua couldn¡¯t continue the lesson anymore. He shook his head helplessly and said, "Forget it, I¡¯ll let you all off today, but don¡¯t make trouble next time!"

    Li Yundong felt as relieved as if he had just been granted amnesty. He said seriously, "Mr. Hua, please rest assured. I will not let down the expectations of the party or the people in the future. I will study hard, improve myself every day, andpete to be one of the four neers building our country!"

    The crowd burst into raucousughter once again.

    After the disturbance of the ss, it was not easy for Li Yundong to wait for the lesson to be over. After walking out of the ssroom, Zhou Qin and Ruan Hongling kept whispering, ncing at Li Yundong and bursting intoughter from time to time.

    The little foxes all held their heads high, as if their leader had just done something truly earth-shaking.

    Only Su Chan lowered her head and nervously fiddled with the corner of her clothes, not daring to look up at Li Yundong.

    Seeing her like this, Li Yundong wanted to teach her a lesson, but he didn¡¯t know what to say. "Whatever, we can talk about it when we get back."

    The group of people filed out of the academic building. Ruan Hongling was talking to Zhou Qin when she suddenly noticed an acquaintance from the corner of her eye. She said to Zhou Qin and Li Yundong, "Wait here a minute. I have something to do but I¡¯lle backter."

    As she said this, she ran away and shouted to a boy in the distance, "Yan Hua, stop right there!"

    Li Yundong looked at her and felt a strange feeling in his heart. "Wait, hasn¡¯t she always hated and disliked this boy very much?"

 Chapter 360 Uncle and Nephew Meet Again

    <h4>Chapter 360 Uncle and Nephew Meet Again</h4>

    Yan Hua heard Ruan Hongling¡¯s shout. He turned his head to look at her, then said with surprise and joy, "Hongling? Wh-where have you been these days? You didn¡¯t answer my call! I¡¯ve been so worried about you!"

    Ruan Hongling said with a snort, "Do you think I¡¯m obligated to pick up when you call me? Who do you think you are?"

    Yan Hua smiled sheepishly and said, "Well, I¡¯m still your friend after all. It¡¯s only appropriate for me to show some concern for you!"

    Ruan Hongling snorted again. "I¡¯m fine. I don¡¯t need your care."

    Yan Hua was disappointed. "Then why did you call me? If there¡¯s nothing else, I¡¯ll just leave."

    Seeing that he was about to leave, Ruan Hongling shouted again in a hurry, "Hey, I have something I need to talk to you about!"

    Yan Hua didn¡¯t want to leave at all. He had only been putting on an act, so when he heard Ruan Hongling¡¯s words, he immediately turned around and smiled obsequiously. "What¡¯s the matter, Hongling?"

    "Where¡¯s the Six... your family heirloom magical sword? Is it still at home?" Ruan Hongling asked.

    Yan Hua felt a little surprised about her changing her words mid-sentence, but he didn¡¯t overthink it. "It¡¯s still at home. Is something up?"

    Ruan Hongling was overjoyed. Her eyes darted around and she asked, "Could I borrow it for my use?"

    Yan Hua did not hesitate and immediately said, "Of course you can. No one can borrow it except you!"

    Ruan Hongling was relieved to see him agree so readily. She said with a smile, "Really? That¡¯s great! Can you bring it to me tomorrow?"

    Yan Hua nodded. "Sure!" But then he seemed to remember something and asked, "What do you want this sword for?"

    Ruan Hongling said, "That¡¯s not important. It¡¯ll just be useful if I can borrow it!"

    Yan Hua suddenly looked puzzled. He couldn¡¯t help ncing at Li Yundong in the distance and saying with jealousy, "You don¡¯t intend to lend it to that guy, do you?"

    Ruan Hongling suddenly said angrily, "Hey, what are you saying? Do you want to lend me or not? If not, I¡¯ll leave!" After that, she stamped her feet and was about to turn and go.

    Yan Hua hurriedly pulled her back and said with an embarrassed smile, "I was only asking. I can lend it to you, but you have to promise me that you won¡¯t give it to that guy."

    Ruan Hongling frowned, still annoyed. "Yan Hua, do you know why I¡¯ve never liked you? Because you¡¯re such a sissy! Borrowing is borrowing. If you¡¯re not going to lend it, don¡¯t ask me what I want to do with it. Why are you hemming and hawing? A big man like you, don¡¯t you feel ashamed? Let me go!"

    Yan Hua smiled awkwardly and withdrew his hand. "I¡¯m only like this in your presence. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t ask anymore. I¡¯ll bring the sword to you tomorrow and lend it to you," he said humbly.

    Ruan Hongling snorted angrily. "You really want to lend it to me? Look, if you¡¯re unwilling, don¡¯t let me borrow it. I won¡¯t me you. Even if you lend it, don¡¯t expect me to appreciate it!"

    Yan Hua smiled apologetically and said, "No, no, we are friends. It¡¯s no big deal if I let you borrow it."

    Ruan Hongling harrumphed. "That¡¯s more like it. I¡¯m leaving!"

    Yan Hua saw her turn around and leave without any hesitation. He shouted weakly after her, but Ruan Hongling had already gone a good distance. Only her ponytail could be seen swishing behind her head, making Yan Hua¡¯s heart jump hard.

    "Weird, what does she want this sword for?" Yan Hua wondered in confusion.

    Yan Hua was thoroughly perplexed. When he returned home from school, after putting down his schoolbag, he went straight to his aunt Yan Fang¡¯s study.

    His family was quite rich, and he lived in a courtyard house. His aunt had been gone for nine years, but his family still kept her room in the same state and cleaned it from time to time.

    Yan Hua pushed Yan Fang¡¯s room door open and walked into the study, but he was shocked by what he saw!

    A figure was standing next to the sword rack in the room, quietly gazing at the long sword on the rack. The figure was serious and focused as if it was looking at one of its long-lost rtives.

    The figure was a graceful and charming woman, standing at about 1.7 meters. Her ck hair cascaded down her shoulders like a glossy waterfall, and she exuded indescribable tranquility.

    Yan Hua looked at the side of her face only to see that she was very pretty with a smile hovering around the corners of her mouth, looking as if she was recalling something.

    Yan Hua nced at her and asked in surprise, "... Aunty?"

    Yan Fang seemed to have sensed that he hade in, but her eyes were still focused on the magical sword on the shelf. She said without looking back, "Hua, I haven¡¯t seen you for a long time. Do you still remember me?"

    Thest time Yan Hua had seen his aunt, he had still been a teenager. At that time, his impression of Yan Fang was that she was very beautiful, but a little difficult to get close to. Now he looked back and found that her appearance had not changed at all after more than a decade. She was still as beautiful as before, like a young girl in the prime of her life.

    Yan Hua asked in surprise, "Aunt, when did youe back? Long... long time no see. You are as beautiful as ever!"

    Yan Fang suddenly smiled, but her smile was dripping with sarcasm and self-deprecation. "Beautiful? What¡¯s the use in being beautiful? I am still no match for that fox spirit."

    Yan Fang sighed and said faintly, "Hua, you must remember what I¡¯m going to say!"

    At this time, Yan Hua felt that his thoughts were in disarray. He did not know why Ruan Hongling wanted to borrow this sword from him. He also did not know why his aunt, who had disappeared for nine years, had suddenlye back, and why she suddenly wanted to tell him something?

    Yan Hua replied nkly, "What do you mean?"

    Yan Fang gently took one of the chain attackers, the Liuhe, from the sword rack. She lightly touched the shark skin cover of the sheath and said slightly, "If you like someone, you can¡¯t let others take them away. Sometimes you will even need to kill yourpetitors. You must take the initiative!"

    Yan Hua was shocked. He hadn¡¯t expected that Yan Fang would advise him to kill someone. "Although I have a grudge against Li Yundong, I needn¡¯t go to the extent of killing him," he thought.

    Yan Fang seemed to have guessed what he was thinking. She snorted and slowly unsheathed the long magical sword. In an instant, the magical sword was out and the sword Qi was shooting in all directions. "You may think that I am exaggerating, but in the future, you will know how correct my words are!" she eximed.

    The look in Yan Fang¡¯s eyes suddenly became very profound. She said faintly, "I had the same thoughts as you in the beginning. I always felt that he could not truly be so heartless and would return to my side. But in the end, he would rather go up by himself thane back to my side. He even gave his sword to that seductive fox. s..."

    Yan Hua was confused and thought to himself, "Go up? A fox? What is she on about?"

    Yan Fang snorted and infused her Zhenqi into the Liuhe. "Last time, that bastard broke my Liuhe with the boy¡¯s Tongzi Yuanyang blood. I thought that the Liuhe would fall into his hands. It wasn¡¯t easy for me to find it again, but I wasn¡¯t expecting the Liuhe to still be in its original ce! Hey, it¡¯s really an anomaly! It seems that heaven wanted this Liuhe toe back to me!"

    After Yan Fang had poured her Zhenqi in for a while, the Liuhe suddenly jumped up by itself and floated in the air. It buzzed and let out a clear and loud swishing sound.

    Yan Hua waspletely stunned. He suddenly remembered that at the school¡¯s orientation partyst time, Li Yundong had been holding this long sword. and the same thing happened back then too.

    At that time, he had been so surprised and doubtful that he¡¯d assumed it was some kind of special stunt, but now his aunt was making the sword do the exact same thing!

    This time, Yan Hua was standing so close and could see everything clearly. He was shocked and confused. He stuttered, "Au, Aunt, who are you? What, what¡¯s going on?"

    Yan Fang turned her face to him for the first time. She looked Yan Hua up and down and smiled slightly. "Do you really want to know? I¡¯ve been hiding it from family for more than ten years. You¡¯re the first one to even know my identity. But, you¡¯d better not know any more about this. Your aunt¡¯s enemies are scattered all around the world. It won¡¯t do you any good to know."

    An idea suddenly struck Yan Hua and he blurted, "Aunt, are you a Sword God?"

    Yan Fang burst outughing. "A Sword God? I suppose you could call me that!"

    Yan Hua was so excited that his entire face was flushed. "Aunt, can you teach me?" he asked loudly.

    Yan Fangughed. "Teach you? Why do you want to learn Cultivation?"

    "The reason why Li Yundong overshadows me as he does is mostly that he is a Cultivator! Aunt, if you teach me Cultivation, I will definitely be able to defeat him!" he exined enthusiastically.

    As soon as Yan Fang heard Li Yundong¡¯s name, her expression suddenly changed. "You have a grudge against Li Yundong?"

    Yan Hua gritted his teeth. "Yes! He stole my Ruan Hongling from me!"

    Yan Fang looked up at her nephew andughed, "Our Yan family is really promising! How can everyone in it have their loves stolen by others?"

    "Aunt, please teach me kung fu," Yan Hua said loudly. "I will definitely surpass him!"

    Yan Fangughed for a while, then lowered her head and looked at Yan Hua intensely. She shook her head and said, "No. Although Li Yundong and I have a grudge against each other, he is the most talented man I have ever seen in my life. Over the past 500 years, I have not once seen a Cultivator like him who can make such rapid progress. I even suspect that he is a reincarnated God, otherwise, he could not have cultivated so fast. You are no match for him, so don¡¯t ask for trouble."

    Yan Hua¡¯s face was immediately flushed scarlet and he ground his teeth loudly. "Why am I no match for him? You haven¡¯t even taught me, how can you know that I¡¯m no match for him? In what way am I inferior?"

    Yan Fang looked at her nephew sympathetically. She shook her head and waved her hand at the Liuhe which was in the air. "Don¡¯t even think about it," she said. "I can only match him fifty-fifty even with my Cultivation Quotient, which I cultivated in Xuanmen sect for more than ten years. You have had apetitive character since you were young and are eager for quick sess and instant benefits. This kind of character is not suitable for Cultivation at all. You can¡¯t surpass him. Just pretend that you didn¡¯t see me today."

    After that, the Liuhe slid back into its sheath with a ng, and then jumped into her hand. Yan Fang then went out of the house in the blink of an eye.

    Yan Hua ran out of the house only to see that it was empty all around. Even though it was broad daylight, he couldn¡¯t see the slightest trace of Yan Fang.

    Yan Hua clenched his fists as pure rage coursed through his body. He roared, "How am I inferior to him? Ruan Hongling, Aunt, I will prove to you that I¡¯m infinitely better than him!"

 Chapter 361 Four Great Dishes of Fox Zen School!

    <h4>Chapter 361 Four Great Dishes of Fox Zen School!</h4>

    After school, Li Yundong¡¯s face was frighteningly dark. Zhou Qin and Ruan Hongling couldn¡¯t help covering their mouths and snickering when they thought of what had just happened in the ssroom. Like a child who had done something wrong, Su Chan kept her head down all the way, fiddling with her clothes, and dragging her toes against the ground without saying anything. Although the little foxes all kept their mouths shut, they kept looking at Li Yundong and Su Chan with their smart eyes and internally gloated a bit.

    Finally, they entered the house. Li Yundong¡¯s face was as stiff as stone. He shouted, "Zhou Qin, Hong Ling, do you have anything to do?"

    Well, it was time to show them the door.

    Zhou Qin was clever. She quickly said, "I¡¯m going to read." She covered her mouth to hide her snigger and ran into her own room. Ruan Hongling rolled her eyes and said with a smile, "I¡¯ll go and find Zi Yuan!"

    After the two of them had left, there were only the small foxes of the Fox Zen School standing in the living room and staring at one another.

    Li Yundong opened his mouth and wanted to teach the little foxes a lesson, but he didn¡¯t know how to express what he wanted to say.

    He suddenly felt a little depressed. In his view, if one of these bad girls had spoken, Su Chan wouldn¡¯t have been so mischievous. However, the reason why these foxes hadn¡¯t spoken was because of him telling them that they couldn¡¯t.

    Seeing Li Yundong¡¯s ominous expression, the foxes looked at each other and walked over to Li Yundong in unison. They said in aggrieved voices, "Leader, please punish us! Although... we don¡¯t know what we did wrong, it¡¯s our fault for having made Leader unhappy."

    Li Yundong¡¯s gloom intensified. "Good lord, you p*ss on my leg and tell me it¡¯s raining!"

    Li Yundong was furious. He waved his hand and said impatiently, "Go away. Clear off back to your rooms."

    The little foxes had been waiting uneasily for Li Yundong to punish them and were surprised to see him back down like this.

    They were overjoyed and cheered one after another, "Long live the leader, long live the leader!"

    Li Yundong scolded, "Why don¡¯t you go back now? Don¡¯t you think you¡¯ve caused enough trouble?"

    The little foxes were shocked and immediately began scampering away like little birds or rodents.

    Su Chan was with them. She rolled her eyes, turned around, and wanted to muddle through the issue with them, but when she turned around and took a step, her ears suddenly perked up, as expected of an extremely vignt little fox. When she saw that Li Yundong didn¡¯t react to her taking a step, she was delighted. She took another step forward, and there was still no response!

    Su Chan was overjoyed. Just as she was about to flee, she heard Li Yundong say in a drawn-out tone, "Su... Chan!"

    The smile on Su Chan¡¯s face suddenly evaporated. She turned around and resentfully moved to Li Yundong with an expression of having being caught red-handed. She lowered her head and said, "What is it? I also have something to attend to."

    Seeing her like this, Li Yundong was so angry that he almost could haveughed. With a livid expression, he asked, "Oh? What are you going to do?"

    Su Chan rolled her eyes and said, "I want to practice cultivation!"

    "Why are you practicing at this hour? When Zi Yuanes back, it will be dinner time," Li Yundong responded.

    Su Chan was quick-witted. She quickly exined, "I¡¯m going to do some housework!"

    Li Yundong snorted and said, "Forget it. Do you want to break down the ceiling?"

    Unwilling to give up, Su Chan said, "Zi Yuan will be back soon. I¡¯m going to start cooking."

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Cooking? What kind of dishes can you cook? Don¡¯t tell me that you forgot what you suffered before. Did you forget how badly the kitchen was messed upst time?"

    Su Chan pouted sourly and said unhappily, "I can cook four dishes now!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s jaw dropped in surprise. "Oh? When did you learn to cook, hm?"

    Su Chan snorted and said proudly, "I learned from Cao Yi! This is true bravery after experiencing shame!"

    Li Yundongughed. "Oh, this is so rare! Cao Yi can cook?"

    Su Chan looked like she had discovered Li Yundong¡¯s weakness. "You underestimate Shibo. I¡¯ll tell her!"

    Li Yundong pretended to be angry as he said indignantly, "You dare snitch on me! I am her leader. Have you ever seen a subordinate snitch on their superior?"

    Su Chan snorted and said confidently, "Anyway, with your girl¡¯s intelligence and wit, I believe that it won¡¯t be long before a top chef appears in the world!"

    Li Yundongughed as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world. "Hah! It¡¯s so funny that I think my stomach might burst! You¡¯re really shameless when ites to ttering yourself!"

    Su Chan stomped her feet and said angrily, "You¡¯re so annoying. I really know how to cook! If you don¡¯t believe me, I¡¯ll cook something for you!"

    Li Yundong firmly denied without a moment¡¯s hesitation. "No way! For the safety of all the innocent people in this world, you can¡¯t enter the kitchen!"

    Su Chan threw herself into Li Yundong¡¯s arms and said coquettishly, "No, let me do it! I really know how to do it!"

    However, Li Yundong refused to give in. "No, one must remember history or they will be doomed to repeat it. Do you want to move to a new house?"

    Su Chan knew it was impossible to persuade him, and she couldn¡¯t help choking with tears in her eyes, "You don¡¯t like me anymore. You don¡¯t love me anymore! You don¡¯t believe me anymore!"

    Li Yundong suddenly felt a headacheing on and his heart softened. He thought for a moment and gritted his teeth as he made a decision and said resolutely, "Well, you can do it. if you really destroy this house, I will go and buy another!"

    The little girl smiled through her tears at first, but when she heard Li Yundong¡¯s second sentence, she immediately said angrily, "You¡¯re so annoying. I can really do it!"

    With suspicion creeping into his tone, Li Yundong said, "It¡¯s really weird. When did you learn how to cook? Why did I never see you learning with Cao Yi?"

    Su Chan exined with a smile, "I secretly sought her training out a few nights ago."

    Li Yundong smiled. "Show me your skills."

    "I¡¯m sure it will shock you!" Su Chan said proudly, as if she had already made a feast. She rolled up her sleeves and walked into the kitchen. When she turned around, she saw Li Yundong following her closely.

    "What are you doing here?" Su Chan immediately asked, demanding to know what he was up to.

    Li Yundong shook his head and said, "I don¡¯t trust you. so I have to follow you to keep an eye on proceedings."

    Su Chan stamped her feet and said, "You¡¯re so annoying. I can¡¯t do it if you¡¯re breathing down my neck the whole time!"

    Li Yundongughed. "You said the same thingst time, and in the end the kitchen got blown up!"

    Su Chan was both ashamed and annoyed. "That was a long time ago. It won¡¯t happen again this time. I¡¯ve already learned how to use this hearth!"

    Stillughing, Li Yundong said patronizingly, "This is called a gas cooker, you twerp! Let me see how you use it, then I will be relieved."

    With a snap, Su Chan turned on the gas cooker, turned the heat up and down, and then turned it off. She said angrily, "You can rest easy now, right? I told you I knew how to use it."

    Li Yundong thought for a moment and said in a still-uneasy tone, "Hey, do you know where the seasoning is?"

    Su Chan replied, "Of course I know. Don¡¯t worry! I¡¯m not a child anymore!" With that, she pushed Li Yundong out.

    Li Yundong was surprised and smiled. "Hey, you pushed me out the same wayst time, and then the kitchen exploded!"

    Su Chan stamped her feet yet again. "If I blow up the kitchen this time, I promise I¡¯ll go and throw myself off of a cliff or something!"

    Li Yundong was shocked. He covered her mouth and pretended to be angry, saying, "What are you babbling about? I¡¯m still waiting for you to catch up with me in terms of cultivation so we can make progress together! It doesn¡¯t matter even if it really blows up, just as long as you¡¯re fine."

    The little girl¡¯s cheeks turned red. She felt a sweetness in her heart, and her charming smile seemed to transform her face. "Don¡¯t worry! Just wait and soon you¡¯ll get to eat delicious foods!"

    Having said this, she turned around and entered the kitchen, not forgetting to close the door behind her.

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing and shaking his head. After a little while, he opened the door a crack and furtively peeked into the kitchen.

    Unexpectedly, Su Chan seemed to know what she was doing. She noticed him watching and said angrily, "You don¡¯t trust me!"

    Li Yundong smiled apologetically and said, "No, no, no. I just wanted to ask Chef Su which four dishes she¡¯s cooking? Please enlighten me."

    Su Chan walked to the door, mmed it shut, and shouted through it angrily, "I won¡¯t tell you!"

    Li Yundong shook his head and reluctantly returned to the living room, wondering what the girl would cook.

    But after a while, Li Yundong suddenly pped his thigh and said, "I¡¯m actually letting this girl muddle through it. I forgot to rebuke her!"

    On second thought, it seemed that he couldn¡¯t me her for what had happened at school. Thinking of this, Li Yundong smiled to himself.

    Only a momentter, Zi Yuan returned. Li Yundong looked at her and couldn¡¯t help taking note of the fact that although this fairy-like girl had been busy all day, her clothes and hair were still perfectly turned out.

    Li Yundong admired her in his heart. He smiled and said, "A fairy is a fairy. You have been busy all day and yet you are still so elegant. I admire you. If I were you, I would be so tired that my tongue would be hanging out of my mouth."

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly. She looked around the living room and asked curiously, "Where are the others? This room should be very lively at this hour."

    Li Yundong sighed and said, "I sent them all back to their rooms. Those little girls tortured me so much today that I almost died of anger."

    Li Yundong looked at her and asked, "Where are Cao Yi and the others? Didn¡¯t they go out with you?"

    ZI Yuan smiled gently. "They¡¯ll be there soon. They wanted to buy something and went off together. I ended uping back by myself."

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t think too much about this and instead asked, "How¡¯s the decoration going?"

    "I¡¯ve alreadye up with two ns. You can read them and share your thoughts with us," Zi Yuan said.

    "No, you can make your own decision. I trust your judgment. It must be at the level of Divine Transcendence, after all. If I join you, maybe the immortal grade will be diluted by myck of knowledge when ites to this kind of thing. If that happened, I¡¯m afraid I might die from the guilt!"

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly, showing no reluctance. She thought for a moment and it seemed she wanted to tell Li Yundong something important. "Li Yundong, there¡¯s one thing I¡¯m wondering if I should tell you."

    Li Yundong rarely saw Zi Yuan being so serious. He asked curiously, "What¡¯s the matter?"

    Just as Zi Yuan opened her mouth and was about to speak, Cao Yi, Zhuang Yating, and Liu Yuehong, the three seniors of Fox Zen School, came backden with both big and small bags. Zi Yuan looked at them, gently closing her lips and swallowing back her words.

    Li Yundong saw that their hands were full of bags, so he smiled and said, "Where did you buy so many things?"

    Cao Yi said with a smile, "In the supermarket nearby. I¡¯ve never been there before so I only found out how big it is today. It was really an eye-opener."

    Li Yundong smiled, "I¡¯m afraid that the employees and guests in the supermarket will be the ones having their eyes opened when you, extremely beautiful women, show up at the supermarket together."

    The three seniorsughed at the same time. Cao Yi covered her mouth and said with a smile, "Oh my, the leader is actually cracking jokes about us."

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "By the way, Cao Yi, I heard that you¡¯ve been teaching Su Chan how to cook?"

    Cao Yi was stunned, but soon she smiled and said almost proudly, "Yep!"

    When Li Yundong heard this, he smiled and asked, "Howe I didn¡¯t know anything about it?"

    As soon as he finished speaking, the kitchen door suddenly opened. Su Chan came out bncing four tes on her arms like an acrobat. Then she put them in front of Li Yundong one by one, hoping for praise. "Look, these are the four great dishes of our Fox Zen School!"

    "Since when has Fox Zen School had four great dishes?" Cao Yi and the others looked at each other curiously and went forward to have a look.

    Zi Yuan also curiously turned her head to take a look. Li Yundong fixed his eyes on the table and saw the four tes. The first was piled with egg fried rice, the second was more egg fried rice, the third was a te of rice, and the fourth was a te of eggs!

    He asked in confusion, "Uh, what are these four dishes?"

    Su Chan proudly gestured to the dishes and introduced them one by one, "This is egg fried rice. This is rice fried egg, this is rice fried rice, and this is egg fried egg! From now on, these will be the four great dishes of our Fox Zen School!"

    As soon as she finished her words, Cao Yi and others began cracking up. Li Yundong took a deep breath of cold air and looked as if he had been defeated. He pressed his throbbing Taiyang acupoint and managed to squeeze out a smile. "Nice, nice... the four great dishes truly look delicious!"

    Seeing this, Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help but smile. She nced around and saw Ruan Hongling standing not far away, winking at her.

    Zi Yuan turned to Li Yundong and said calmly, "I have something to do now."

    Li Yundong was still thinking about the four "great" dishes, so he didn¡¯t even register her words.

    After Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling walked into their room, Ruan Hongling closed the door mysteriously and whispered, "Zi Yuan, I have thought of a good way we can find Second Shibo!"

 Chapter 362 Locking the Enemys Track!

    <h4>Chapter 362 Locking the Enemy¡°s Track!</h4>

    Hearing Ruan Hongling¡¯s words, Zi Yuan suddenly turned serious and said, "What¡¯s your idea?"

    "I met Yan Hua today and asked him to lend me the Liuhe Sword," Ruan Hongling said proudly.

    Zi Yuan was stunned. "Why do you want to borrow that?"

    Ruan Hongling smiled. "Liuhe was Second Shibo¡¯s personal sword in the past. It¡¯s also a chain attacker of Bahuang and Liuhe. Now that Second Shibo has captured Ao Wushuang, it¡¯s very likely that she¡¯s already obtained the Bahuang. If she were to retrieve Liuhe, she¡¯d be able to achieve thebination of two swords. Once Bahuang and Liuhee together, there¡¯ll be no need for Second Shibo to hide any longer. She¡¯ll definitely appear and directly attack Fox Zen School."

    A thought shed through Zi Yuan¡¯s mind, leading her to ask in confusion, "I kind of understand what you mean, but didn¡¯t Second Shibo immediately go and retrieve Liuhe after escaping back then?"

    Ruan Hongling smiled. "I was thinking that Second Shibo might have already taken away Liuhe. But I met Yan Hua today and asked him. Guess what?"

    Zi Yuan smiled. "It must still be here!"

    Ruan Hongling pped and said happily, "That¡¯s right! I can¡¯t believe that Liuhe is still here! It¡¯s honestly incredible! We were so busy with all sorts of things that we didn¡¯t even think of seeking Liuhe as soon as possible. But Second Shibo didn¡¯t get it either! Zi Yuan, don¡¯t you think it¡¯s a bit strange?"

    A thoughtful expression appeared on Zi Yuan¡¯s face. "It is indeed very strange. Generally speaking, Second Shibo should have been the first to retrieve Liuhe. With her cultivation quotient, once she obtains Liuhe, her might should be redoubled, so why hasn¡¯t she gone to retrieve it for so long?"

    Thinking of this, Zi Yuan suddenly said, "Don¡¯t dy any longer. Go and get it from Yan Hua¡¯s house now. No matter what, we must get to Liuhe first."

    Ruan Hongling answered, turned around, and went out of the door. Sitting alone on the side of the bed and frowning deeply, Zi Yuan lowered her head and became lost in thought.

    About half an hourter, Ruan Hongling exasperatedly rushed back. Before going through the door, she shouted, "Sister Zi Yuan, this is bad!"

    Zi Yuan suddenly stood up and asked in a deep voice, "What¡¯s wrong? Is the Liuhe missing?"

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s face was a little pale. "Yan Hua, he... he said that his aunt, Second Shibo, took Liuhe away from him!"

    Zi Yuan frowned. "When?"

    "It literally just happened! I should have gone there half an hour earlier," Ruan Hongling said resentfully.

    Zi Yuan shook her head and said, "If you had gone half an hour earlier, I wouldn¡¯t have seen you ever again. In Second Shibo¡¯s current state, if anyone gets in the way of her taking revenge on Fox Zen School, she will not show mercy. If you incite her ire, regardless of whether you are her shizhi, even if you were her own child, I¡¯m afraid that she will kill you."

    Ruan Hongling sighed upon hearing this. "Although I don¡¯t like Second Shibo, I feel really ufortable about seeing her like this. What¡¯s the difference from falling into the Devil¡¯s Practice? Our Linggong Sect has actually been a bit short-handed, and now Second Shibo has made up her mind to go against Fox Zen School. You¡¯ve also made up your mind to help the Fox Zen School out. God, why we are suffering so much? Are the Gods also going to destroy our Linggong Sect?"

    With a faint smile on her face, Zi Yuan said, "Clouds form and fade, tides rise and fall. It¡¯s just natural. Hongling, everything in the world is just a fleeting puff of smoke. Don¡¯t pay too much attention to these things."

    Ruan Hongling became more and more annoyed when she heard this patronizing advice. She said angrily, "You didn¡¯t care about yourself and Linggong Sect at all, but whenever Li Yundong is involved with something, you will start treating it with caution, as if it¡¯s as important as your own life. It¡¯s hard to believe that you don¡¯t like him!"

    Zi Yuan blushed at first, but the color soon faded. She nced at Ruan Hongling lightly and said, "I¡¯m just honing my Tao in the mortal world. I¡¯m nervous about my Tao, not Li Yundong."

    Ruan Hongling approached Zi Yuan and looked at her with a searching gaze, as if she wanted to find some clues in Zi Yuan¡¯s face. She said slowly, "You¡¯re lying to yourself!"

    Zi Yuan was a little annoyed and shouted back, "You¡¯re so rude!"

    When Ruan Hongling saw Zi Yuan was angry, she secretly stuck out her tongue and changed the topic. "Well, sister Zi Yuan, why do you think Second Shibo waited ¡¯til today to get the Liuhe? Why didn¡¯t she do it earlier?"

    The expression on Zi Yuan¡¯s face suddenly became very cold. Ruan Hongling rarely saw such a look from Zi Yuan, and she couldn¡¯t help but feel a chill in her heart.

    Zi Yuan said in a low voice, "There are several possibilities for Second Shibo not getting Liuhe sooner. Firstly, she might be as busy as us."

    As soon as she said that, Ruan Hongling said, "I doubt that that¡¯s possible now. All she has to do now is one thing - revenge! But we have a lot of things to handle and there are also many things for us to think about. The enemy is in the dark, and we are in the light. It¡¯s normal that we wouldn¡¯t have thought of the Liuhe sooner, but it¡¯s impossible for Second Shibo, who is hiding in the dark, to have failed to consider it."

    Zi Yuan nodded in agreement. "You¡¯re right. So there is the second possibility, which is that Second Shibo had been searching for it all this time, but remained unable to find it until today."

    Ruan Hongling shook her head and said, "Yan Hua also told me that Second Shibo said this, but I don¡¯t really believe it, because Second Shibo was able to hide in Fox Zen School for nine years without being discovered. What kind of delicate and cautious personality does she have? I don¡¯t believe that she never thought of going to Yan Hua¡¯s house to look for the sword until now."

    Zi Yuan gave Ruan Hongling an admiring look. "You¡¯re right. If Second Shibo hadn¡¯t said this, I wouldn¡¯t have been certain of the final possibility. But now that she¡¯s said it, I can almost certainly conclude that this sentence is a diversionary tactic she¡¯s using. Her purpose is to confuse us!"

    Ruan Hongling was also an extremely intelligent girl. Her eyes lit up as she came to a realization. "Huh? Sister Zi Yuan, what do you mean?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s voice was a little cold as she exined, "It is very likely that Second Shibo has been following us! Last time, when Li Yundong and I returned to the ce where we buried the golden snake¡¯s body, we found that it had been dug up by someone. At that time, we suspected that someone was following our moves, and that their cultivation quotient level was higher than ours! Now it seems that this person was most likely Second Shibo! The reason why she did not go and take Liuhe is probably that she had been kept busy watching us and thus could not break away and get it..."

    Ruan Hongling frowned and said, "That¡¯s not right. Even if she had been stalking us, she couldn¡¯t have done it for 24 hours a day, could she?"

    Suddenly, Zi Yuan burst intoughter. She said in a cold voice, "What if she mingled with us?"

    Even the brave Ruan Hongling, who was was usually unafraid of anything, couldn¡¯t help but shudder at those words!

    Ruan Hongling opened her mouth widely and wanted to say something, but the words wouldn¡¯te. It was as if Yan Fang, who had been hiding for nine years, was standing in a dark corner and staring at her viciously at that very moment. It was seriously creepy!

    Ruan Hongling subconsciously looked left and right, her entire body turning cold as she said, "Sister Zi Yuan, don¡¯t make such distasteful jokes. Don¡¯t scare me!"

    "Didn¡¯t you notice? Last time when Second Shibo appeared, everyone from the Fox Zen School had gathered to buy clothes. They were all in the fitting room, giving Second Shibo a chance to leave her body. Coincidentally, Second Shibo appeared at this time. It just so happened to be right when the three Shibos of Fox Zen School went to the supermarket together. Well, I sure hope that was a coincidence," Zi Yuan said coldly.

    Ruan Honglin felt her scalp tingling when she heard this. "Sister Zi Yuan, Second Shibo wouldn¡¯t be so daring, would she? Could she have really snuck back into the Fox Zen School again? It¡¯s just too terrifying, isn¡¯t it?"

    Zi Yuanughed and said, "The more impossible it is, the fewer people will be willing to doubt or believe it. Second Shibo took advantage of this to make us think that she had escaped and was sequestering herself somewhere far away. But in reality, she was already back. This is called hiding in in sight!"

    Ruan Hongling felt a chill in her heart. She asked fearfully, "Who could she be?"

    After a moment of silence, Zi Yuan said darkly, "The three Shibos of Fox Zen School are the most suspicious. She should be among them!"

    Ruan Hongling jumped up and was about to rush out of the door. "No, I have to tell Li Yundong immediately! Although this guy is a little viin, he is still a good person. If Second Shibo suddenly sneak-attacked him, he would very likely die and be nothing but a pile of ashes.

    Zi Yuan grabbed her and shouted in a low voice, "Stop, don¡¯t go!"

    Ruan Hongling turned around, her eyes wide. "Why? Sister Zi Yuan!"

    Zi Yuan exined in a low voice, "Li Yundong has a pure heart and is easy-going. He is not a shrewd person. Once he finds out that Second Shibo is hiding within the Fox Zen School, he will definitely reveal the knowledge through his unconscious words and expressions. With Second Shibo¡¯s sensitivity, she will immediately notice and escape without hesitation. If that happens, it will be very difficult to find her again!"

    "But aren¡¯t you afraid that something will happen to Li Yundong?" Ruan Hongling said anxiously. "You¡¯ve always cared about him the most, haven¡¯t you?"

    Zi Yuan gave her a strange look. "It seems that you are the more anxious one now, aren¡¯t you?"

    Ruan Hongling stamped her feet. "I¡¯m really like the back-seat driver here! Kindness is considered to be ill intent!"

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly, her eyes revealing a trace of appreciation. "Don¡¯t worry. I used to provoke Li Yundong with my words before. As a result, the next day, I would see his breath. ck Qi could be seening from his left nostril, and red Qi could be seen from his right. This is the appearance that can only be seen with the highest cultivation of Eight Turns of Fire."

    Ruan Hongling couldn¡¯t help but be shocked. "Impossible. He¡¯s able to reach the highest cultivation of Eight Turns of Fire in one night? Then is he just one step away from the Nine Turns?"

    Zi Yuan also sighed and said, "If I hadn¡¯t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to believe it. How could a person¡¯s cultivation progress so quickly?"

    Ruan Hongling shook her head helplessly. "It¡¯s too terrifying. Thest time we were on the rooftop, I saw him use the Fan of Seven Treasures with ease after just one night. He used it as though he¡¯d been practicing it over the space of a few lifetimes."

    Zi Yuan nodded slightly as she replied, "So, you don¡¯t have to worry about Li Yundong. He is now in the pure Yuanying phase. In terms of his cultivation quotient and kung fu, he is above Second Shibo, not beneath her. If he fights righteously, maybe his power and Magic will not be as good as Second Shibo¡¯s, but if she wants to attack him sneakily, it will be another matter. With Li Yundong¡¯s cultivation, anyone who wants to attack him with a lower cultivation quotient will be seen by his Great Seer Shenjue. Since I can see through Li Yundong¡¯s cultivation quotient, I believe Second Shibo can also see through it, so she won¡¯t take the risk of attacking Li Yundong.

    "Moreover, since she has taken such a big risk by sneaking back, she must have some amazing scheme! Now that we have found her traces, the enemy is in the open and we are in the dark. The situation is beneficial to us right now, but if she finds out, it will be bad for us."

    Ruan Hongling thought for a moment and said, "What if Second Shibo attacks the rest of the people from the Fox Zen School? What should we do?"

    Zi Yuan smiled as she said, "That won¡¯t happen. Before Second Shibo reaches her goal, she definitely won¡¯t start acting rashly or alert the others. With her personality, if she doesn¡¯t have the confidence to win, she will not expose herself!"

    As she spoke, Zi Yuan¡¯s voice suddenly became cold. "I really don¡¯t know what Second Shibo is up to..."

    Ruan Hongling was suddenly enlightened, but she quickly frowned again and said, "Since Second Shibo took Liuhe and it¡¯s impossible for her to take it with her, where could she have hidden it? Besides, why didn¡¯t shebine Liuhe and Bahuang together? If she had both Bahuang and Liuhe in hand, there¡¯s no one in this world she would need to be afraid of."

    "I also thought of this before," Zi Yuan said, "but you have to know that Ao Wushuang was previously sealed into the Emperor¡¯s Clock by Second Shibo. Do you know what kind of powerful magical weapon this is?"

    Ruan Hongling nodded and said, "Of course I know. It¡¯s Ye Fashan¡¯s magic treasure from the Tang Dynasty. It can seal any master below the Shenxian level, including masters of jinshen and the Lightning Retribution phase."

    Zi Yuan nodded heavily. "That¡¯s right. The Emperor¡¯s Clock is very domineering, but it has one fatal w. Once it¡¯s sealed, it¡¯s very difficult to release it again. So, Ao Wushuang being sealed away by Second Shibo actually made her the safest person in the world. As Second Shibo can¡¯t break through the Emperor¡¯s Clock and release Ao Wushuang, she can¡¯t get her hands on the Bahuang Sword either!"

    Ruan Hongling sighed. "That¡¯s to say, she overreached herself. Well, what should we do now? At present, Zhengyi School is aggressive, and Second Shibo is lurking around. We are just starting to do business now, and our ability to provide for ourselves is a problem. There are so many problems. What should we do?"

    Zi Yuan said indifferently, "If others are strong, let others be strong, just as the breeze caresses a hill. If others are arrogant, let them be arrogant, just as the moon shines on the river. We just have to watch the changes and see what shows up in the end!"

    Having said this, Zi Yuan suddenly sighed and began to speak again. "I hope that our guess is wrong. Otherwise, the grievances between Second Shibo and Fox Zen School will really never be resolved."

    Hearing of the grudge between Yan Fang and Fox Zen School, Ruan Hongling couldn¡¯t help sighing. She said faintly, "Sister Zi Yuan, when the Second Shibo really wants to fight Li Yundong to the death, whose side will you be on?"

 Chapter 363 Five Thunders Spell!

    <h4>Chapter 363 Five Thunders Spell!</h4>

    This question instantly stumped Zi Yuan. Although she had long predicted that she might have to face up to the problem in the future, she had been avoiding the issue in her subconscious mind, not knowing what to do about it.

    On one side was Second Shibo. Although Ruan Hongling had not received much care from her, she had received a lot of instruction from Second Shibo back when she was a child. It was undeniable that she had received a significant amount of knowledge from Second Shibo.

    Moreover, even if the Second Shibo had not given her any guidance, she was still her Shibo in terms of seniority. ording to the natural intensity of these kinds of rtionships, the rtionship with her should be much closer than the one she had with Li Yundong.

    "Li Yundong is theoretically a person who has nothing to do with me, but my master¡¯s psalm connects my destiny to this person. After spending so many days together, even if there is no true love, there are naturally still feelings. What should I do if he fights Second Shibo, or dies at her hand?"

    For a moment, Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help but feel a little dazed. Ruan Hongling saw that Zi Yuan was in a quandary, and her brows were filled with worry. It was as if tens of thousands of thoughts were tangling together and turning into a knot that could never be undone.

    Ruan Hongling let out a long sigh. "s, on one side is the Second Shibo, and on the other side is your love. What should sister Zi Yuan do?"

    Zi Yuan seemed to have not truly registered what was being said. She couldn¡¯t help but mumble, "That¡¯s right. What should I do?"

    Ruan Hongling let out a heartyugh and pped her hands. "So, Sister Zi Yuan, you¡¯ve finally admitted that you¡¯ve fallen in love with this guy!"

    At this time, Zi Yuan snapped out of her thoughts. She blushed and stared at Ruan Hongling in shame. "What nonsense are you spewing!"

    Ruan Hongling giggled. "Sister Zi Yuan, don¡¯t try and deny it. Your subconsciousness has already answered for you just now. You can¡¯t deny it even if you want to!"

    "Hongling, you¡¯re getting more and more ridiculous by the second! If you keep talking, I¡¯ll drive you back to the mountain!" Zi Yuan said angrily.

    Shocked, Ruan Hongling hurriedly tugged on Zi Yuan¡¯s arm and said in a needling voice, "Sister Zi Yuan, our sect has been sealed off. If you make me go back now, it¡¯ll mean you have the heart to let me be bullied!"

    Zi Yuan rolled her eyes at Ruan Hongling exasperatedly. "Well if you don¡¯t want to be bullied, behave yourself!"

    After saying that, she sighed and continued, "Now that the power of Zhengyi School is expanding, they areing step by step over to the bright side. Second Shibo is like a ghost, setting up traps in the darkness. When I thought about it, I felt that we were suffering from both internal and external troubles, which stopped me from sleeping well and enjoying life. I am not worried that Zhengyi School and Second Shibo will do anything to us, but Li Yundong... maybe it is time to teach Li Yundong some powerful magic."

    Ruan Hongling was slightly startled. "Sister Zi Yuan, what are you going to teach him?"

    Zi Yuan thought for a moment before replying, "In the beginning, I asked him a question. Out of all of the Great Tao and Five Elements Magic in the world, what did he want to learn the most? He¡¯d said that in this world Taoism and thunder magic are the strongest. He wants to learn the strongest thunder magic! I didn¡¯t dare to teach him when I saw that he hadn¡¯t seeded in cultivation, but now that he has seeded, it¡¯s time to teach him!"

    Ruan Hongling let out a surprised ¡¯ah¡¯ and said with great dissatisfaction, "Sister Zi Yuan, I¡¯ve begged you many times, but you¡¯ve always refused to teach me this. Now you¡¯ve actually taken the initiative to teach this guy? You are so unfair!"

    Zi Yuan red at Ruan Hongling. "If you don¡¯t have enough cultivation and can¡¯t cultivate Yang Qi from Yin Qi, how can you hope to practice thunder magic? First, you should hone the ordinary five elements magic! You can use both bullets and nuclear weapons to kill people. Cultivators shouldn¡¯t be too ambitious!"

    "Oh, I know," Ruan Hongling replied with a pout. She didn¡¯t say anything, but in her mind, she thought, "Sister Zi Yuan, although you won¡¯t admit it verbally or even to yourself, I still know that you have fallen in love with Li Yundong. When you finally admit this one day, you will realize that he doesn¡¯t love you back, but loves that fox spirit. Let¡¯s see what you will do then!"

    ...

    While Ruan Hongling and Zi Yuan were busy talking privately in their rooms, Li Yundong was tasting the "Four Great Delicacies" made by Su Chan.

    Cao Yi and the others from Fox Zen School were very good at judging the situation and did not join in the fun, going back to their respective rooms. There was no one around. Su Chan blinked her eyes and looked at Li Yundong, who was slowly tasting the "Four Great Delicacies".

    Li Yundong was serious, chewing slowly and attentively. He nced at Su Chan and saw that she was deliberately putting on the air of a reserveddy and sitting at the table seriously, but her eyes betrayed her inner thoughts.

    The girl looked at Li Yundong eagerly, her eyes full of joy and expectation. It was as if she was asking him wordlessly, "Is it delicious? Is it tasty?"

    Li Yundongughed inwardly as he continued to eat, chewing slowly for a while. As he ate, he nodded, as if he were tasting a delicacy of the mortal world. The more he ate, the more enjoyable it seemed to be. The more he ate, the happier he felt.

    Seeing Li Yundong eating so happily, the little girl couldn¡¯t hold back anymore. The corners of her mouth tugged upwards, and her eyes curved into crescent moons. She winked at Li Yundong as if to say: Come and praise me,e and tell me how well I¡¯ve done!

    Li Yundong shook his head with a look of admiration on his face. He nodded and said, "Were these really made by you?"

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t help but reveal a row of pearly white teeth. She nodded like a chick pecking at rice. "Of course! I made everything! How is it?? Is it delicious?"

    Li Yundong was not in a hurry to answer her questions. He wiped his mouth very slowly, like an actor in a slow-motion scene in a movie. It seemed as if he was deliberately teasing Su Chan.

    The little girl was so anxious that she couldn¡¯t help but rush over to Li Yundong. She grabbed his shoulders with her hands, shook him hard, and asked eagerly, "What do you think? Tell me, tell me quickly!"

    Li Yundong tried hard to hold back hisughter. His expression grew more and more serious, and his eyes were full of surprise. He sighed and said softly, "I didn¡¯t expect these to have been made by you."

    Su Chan beamed. "Is it really that tasty? Is it really that good?"

    Li Yundong nodded vigorously. "Really..."

    Su Chan suddenly jumped up and pped her hands,ughing proudly. But after just a few delighted chuckles, Li Yundong said with a gasp, "It¡¯s really... terrible!"

    The smile on Su Chan¡¯s face suddenly evaporated. She angrily threw herself at Li Yundong, wing and biting him. "How dare you tease me!"

    Li Yundong burst outughing. He held Su Chan in his arms, pinched her cheek affectionately and smiled. "You put too much salt in it! We cultivators should eat rtively nd food. Do you want to break my Tao by putting so much salt in it?"

    Su Chan burst outughing. "Is it really so easy for the Tao of you, the leader of our school, to get messed up?"

    Li Yundong smirked at Su Chan. "As long as you¡¯re around, won¡¯t it be easy for my Tao to break?"

    Su Chan¡¯s cheeks reddened slightly. She giggled and said proudly, "It turns out that the famous Zhenren Li¡¯s greatest nemesis is me. Hum, let¡¯s see if you still dare to bully me! Be careful or I¡¯ll break your Tao!"

    Li Yundong put his arm around Su Chan¡¯s slim waist, tweaked the tip of her nose, and said with a grin, "You little fox spirit, you want to break my Tao. Be careful, or I¡¯ll break your virginity first!"

    Su Chan immediately jumped up and moved away with a shy smile. She ran to her door like a little rabbit, then poked her head out, timidly looked at Li Yundong, and giggled. "Bad guy, you just want to do naughty things!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "A bad guy who doesn¡¯t want to do bad things is not worthy of the title!"

    Su Chan grinned, then pulled a face at Li Yundong and hid in the other room.

    That evening, all the people at Fox Zen School began to cultivate. After studying hard for a while, Zhou Qin eventually fell asleep. Li Yundong was still practicing in his Spirit Space. After a long time, he began to vaguely hear a faint voice calling his name slowly.

    Li Yundong reacted inwardly. Very quickly, the Yang Spirit went out of his body and headed to the rooftop outside the room. He saw that Zi Yuan was also out of her body in Yang Spirit, dressed in a white dress and looking at him. Although she was smiling slightly, there was a veryplicated look in her eyes.

    Li Yundong smiled. "Were you calling for me?"

    Zi Yuan nodded slightly. "Yes."

    A strange feeling ran through Li Yundong¡¯s heart. "If there¡¯s something you need, you cane to me directly. Why were you calling me by using the way of the Yang Spirit to leave your body?"

    "Because direct contact with you would definitely have disturbed the others," Zi Yuan said, smiling faintly. "But I¡¯m going to give you onest lesson today. This lesson will teach you a secret method that our Zhengyi School does not teach to the outside world. This so-called extreme secret cannot be known to a third party. Only in the state of Yang Spirit can we stay floating in mid-air without consuming too much True Yuan. It stands to reason that no one cares about what happens in mid-air, and it is naturally impossible for anyone to hear what we say."

    Li Yundong¡¯s expression turned grave. "So, are you leaving? Why did you say it¡¯s thest lesson?"

    Zi Yuanughed quietly. "You think too much. The reason I called it thest lesson is that your cultivation of Great Tao has surpassed mine. The only thing I can teach you is some small magic of Tao. Once you learn that, there will be nothing left for me to teach you. From now on, no matter which angle we look at it from, you will be better than me. If we fight again, you really will have to show me mercy."

    When Li Yundong heard this, he sighed internally. He respectfully bowed to Zi Yuan and said, "Zhenren Zi Yuan, you taught me kung fu of cultivation, guiding me to officially take my first step into the world of cultivation. Half of my Shentong kung fu was taught to me by you. In my heart, I consider you as both my teacher and friend. I, Li Yundong, would dare to be disrespectful to everyone in the world, but I wouldn¡¯t dare to disrespect you in the slightest. It would be even more impossible for me to fight with you."

    Zi Yuan had always been beautiful, but as she stood under the bright moonlight, she seemed ethereal. Her figure was noble and elegant, and when she smiled slightly, everything around her seemed to brighten.

    Zi Yuan said softly, "You don¡¯t have to do this. This is your creator, as well as my cultivation. After you learn the magic, if you can work to snuff out evil and promote righteousness, it will be a blessing for our Cultivation World and every member of our generation."

    Li Yundong once again respectfully cupped his hand. "I will always remember your words. I wonder what magic you¡¯re going to teach me today?"

    Zi Yuan said solemnly, word by word, "Today you shall learn the Five Thunders Spell!"

 Chapter 364 Take You Out of the Palace!

    <h4>Chapter 364 Take You Out of the Pce!</h4>

    When Li Yundong heard that Zi Yuan was going to teach him the Five Thunders Spell, he suddenly became excited. His dream was to have the power to surpass heaven and earth so that he could protect Su Chan and the people around him and not let them be harmed by external forces.

    As for this kind of thunderous power, it was like the Gods¡¯ might!

    If he mastered the power of thunderbolts, it would be equivalent to him mastering the strongest power in the world!

    Li Yundong was overjoyed. "You know how to use the Five Thunders Spell?"

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly. "I don¡¯t know exactly, but I do know how to cultivate it."

    "It seems that you are also a genius with an extraordinary retentive memory," Li Yundong eximed. "Have you memorized all the ssics you¡¯ve read too?"

    Zi Yuan chuckled, "I do remember all of them. But many years have passed, I can¡¯t guarantee that there is not a single thing I¡¯ve misremembered. If there is a wrong word in the cultivation achievement method, the result can changepletely. Do you know the origin of the Fox Zen School?"

    Li Yundong smiled. "As the Leader of Fox Zen School, I¡¯m ashamed that I don¡¯t even know anything about its origins. I humbly request your guidance on the subject, Zhenren Zi Yuan."

    Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help but mock him. "As an outsider, you¡¯ve be the leader of Fox Zen School, and now you even want another outsider like me to tell you about the history of the Fox Zen School? Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s a bit ridiculous?"

    Li Yundong said with augh, "When two ridiculous people work together, it makes sense. As the saying goes, two negatives make a positive!"

    After that, they looked at each other and burst outughing at the same time.

    As her chuckles died, Zi Yuan began her exnation. "In the year of Emperor Xianzong in Tang Dynasty, Zen master Baizhang gave a lecture in the hall. Every time he found out that there was an old man staying and not leaving, Zen master Baizhang asked who the old man was. The old man answered, ¡¯I lived in this mountain 500 years ago.¡¯ A schr asked, ¡¯Is there any cause and effect for you bing lost in the world?¡¯ The old man said that there was no cause and effect and that in the end, he had fallen into the body of a wild fox. Today, I ask the monk to take a message for me." Zen master Baizhang said, "Please." The old man asked again, "Is there any cause and effect of cultivator lost in the world?" Zen master Baizhang said, "Don¡¯t oppose thew of cause and effect!" From then on, the old man came to a realization. He said, "I have left the body of a wild fox, just be buried behind the mountain. Master, please expiate my sins with the manner of the dead monk."

    "The next day, Zen master Baizhang ordered his disciples to search all over the mountain. In the end, they found the body of a ck fox on a big Pan Shi behind the mountain. They cremated it in the manner of a dead monk¡¯s ceremony after undergoing a vegetarian fast..."

    Li Yundong was suddenly enlightened when he heard this. "Ah, Su Chan mentioned some of Grandmaster Pan Shi¡¯s origins before, but she didn¡¯t exin it too clearly. While she was in the hospital, she also said those same words about cause and effect. At that time, I thought that she was being strangely emotional as I was unaware that there was a story behind it."

    Zi Yuan nodded and said, "That¡¯s right. ¡¯Against the karma¡¯ and ¡¯Don¡¯t go against the karma¡¯ have different meanings. ¡¯Against the karma¡¯ means that cultivators can do anything and don¡¯t have to fear the cause and effect of them. ¡¯Don¡¯t go against the karma¡¯ means that no matter how strong a cultivator is, he cannot surpass karma, and even a Bodhisattva has to be in awe of him! The former is a twisted theory, and that¡¯s why Grandmaster Pan Shi was punished by being made into a wild fox for five hundred years. Thetter is the supremew of the world. Once he gained enlightenment of thisw, he turned into an immortal from a wild fox. From this, it can be seen how big the difference is!"

    Li Yundong sighed. "You¡¯re right! However, I never know until now that the man named Grandmaster used to be a monk. No wonder his Fan of Seven Treasures is engraved with the Runes of Diamond Sutra. This powerful magical weapon is full of majestic Buddhist King Kong power."

    "That¡¯s right," Zi Yuan said. "After Grandmaster Pan Shi¡¯s Tao, hemented that he had fallen under an evil influence for the past five hundred years. He did not want to keep any of the cultivators in the whole world who had once fallen under an evil influence like him to be trapped, so he created the Fox Zen School himself. At first, he epted any disciple who came, not only fox spirits. But gradually, the fox spirits gained absolute control of and power over the Fox Zen School. Especially when it fell into the hands of the fourth generation¡¯s master, Mystical Silver Fox. By that point, the Fox Zen School be a sect solely for fox spirits. From then on, the Fox Zen School became synonymous with fox spirits."

    Li Yundong nodded thoughtfully. "I understand what you¡¯re saying, but what does it have to do with learning the Five Thunders Spell?"

    Zi Yuan smiled. "What I want to say is that the art of cultivation must be cultivated ording to what is said in the ssics. Don¡¯t easily believe the words of others. Otherwise, once you are framed, you will go the way of the devil, falling into a fox¡¯s body and unable to leave for hundreds of years."

    Li Yundongughed. "I believe you won¡¯t hurt me. Why are you worrying so much?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head. "Even you trust me, I can¡¯t trust myself. If I say something wrong, you¡¯ll be doomed. How about this? Today, I¡¯ll only teach you the basics of the Five Thunders Spell. Tomorrow, you cane back to Linggong Sect with me. I¡¯ll go to my master¡¯s Sutras Depository. I remember that he once collected a unique technique from the Shenxiao Sect, the ¡¯Five Thunders Jade Book¡¯. You can read it and study it in depth."

    "Isn¡¯t Linggong Sect sealed off? How can we go back?" Li Yundong asked.

    Zi Yuan smiled and looked up at the vast sky. "The Gods haven¡¯t allowed us to cultivate, but we have still gone against them. They can seal Linggong Sect, but they can¡¯t stop us from using our legs."

    Li Yundongughed heartily at this. "Well said. Tomorrow night, we¡¯ll go and explore Linggong Sect! However, Zhenren Zi Yuan, please tell me how to cultivate the Five Thunder Spell first!"

    That night, Zi Yuan taught Li Yundong all about how to cultivate the Five Thunder Spell. She patiently exined the theories and cultivation methods to Li Yundong. Once the sky began to turn bright, the two of them went their separate ways. They made an appointment to go to Mount Longhu¡¯s Linggong Sect the next night.

    Early that morning, Zhou Qin and Ruan Hongling called Li Yundong to attend ss. Although the two girls were proud and conceited, their temperaments were a little simr and they managed to get along well with each other. Therefore, they soon became good friends.

    When Li Yundong saw the two of them, he quickly waved his hand and shook his head, saying, "No, I won¡¯t go. You guys can ask for leave for me, or you can help me get served a temporary suspension. Either way, I won¡¯t go to school. There is too much trouble at school!"

    Zhou Qin looked disappointed. She wouldn¡¯t resign herself to the situation, so she asked again, "Why not? What will you do instead?"

    Li Yundong smiled. "Naturally, I¡¯ll go to the store to check on things. I won¡¯t feel at ease if I don¡¯t get to see it even for just one day."

    Zhou Qin thought for a moment and said, "Then I¡¯ll go with you. By the way, I can help you."

    Ruan Hongling stomped her feet and said angrily, "Zhou Qin, you promised me that you¡¯d go to ss with me, but now you¡¯re going back on your word!"

    Zhou Qin smiled at her apologetically. "Naturally, I must go with my master. Hongling, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ll treat you to dinner some other day."

    Ruan Hongling was livid as she tilted her head and said, "Ugh, I don¡¯t care!" Then, she said to Li Yundong angrily, "I won¡¯t ask for leave for you. If you want to ask for leave, you can get someone else to do it."

    After that, she turned her head and strode away, her ponytail swishing on the back of her head.

    Li Yundong looked at her back andughed. "This girl is really hot-tempered." Then, he looked up at Zhou Qin and said, "If youe with me today, we can discuss the decorations. By the way, if you don¡¯t understand something about cultivation, you can ask me and I¡¯ll try to help. I have been too busy recently and ended up ignoring you. Don¡¯t take it to heart."

    Hearing this, Zhou Qin felt a feeling of warmth creep into her heart. She smiled sweetly and whispered, "As long as I stay with you, even if you don¡¯t talk to me or ignore me, I¡®ll be satisfied..."

    When Li Yundong saw her smile, which was like a blooming flower in spring, his heart suddenly thumped. He quickly turned his eyes away and did not dare to answer her words again.

    Li Yundong coughed and changed the topic. "Alright, let¡¯s leave. By the way, let Zi Yuane with us..."

    Seeing that Li Yundong was not answering her, Zhou Qin did not force the issue. She responded softly, but just as she was about to turn and leave, she asked again, "By the way, do you want to tell Su Chan?"

    Li Yundong was about to speak when he suddenly heard footsteps approaching gently. His heart moved, and he smiled. He deliberately said loudly, "Don¡¯t let her know. This girl only knows to cause trouble for me. If I ask her toe with us, no doubt she will make trouble for me again."

    As soon as he finished these words, he saw Su Chan jump in from outside, put her hands on her hips, and say angrily in a voice dripping with displeasure, "Ha! As soon as I arrived, I heard you speak ill of me behind my back. You¡¯re reprehensible! I don¡¯t make trouble for you at all. You obviously dislike me!"

    After that, she covered her face with her hands and burst into tears.

    Li Yundong hurried forward when he saw that Su Chan was suddenly crying. However, when he took a closer look, he saw that although the little girl was covering her face with her hands, a pair of eyes were peeking through the gaps between her fingers and looking at him slyly.

    As soon as the little girl¡¯s clever eyes fell on him, she immediately dodged away in panic, and then closed her fingers again tightly. She was crying loudly, but even after crying for a while, no tears were visible on her face.

    Now Li Yundong understood that this girl was acting like a spoiled child in front of him. He tried his best to hold in hisughter and put on an indifferent expression. He looked the little girl up and down with interest but made no attempt tofort her.

    Su Chan saw that Li Yundong wasn¡¯t moving as she was unable to stop stealing nces at him through her fingers. When she saw Li Yundong¡¯s expression, the little girl immediately became unhappy. She put down her hand and pouted in frustration, then stomped her feet and said angrily, "Why won¡¯t you try tofort me?"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing. "What am I supposed tofort you for?"

    Su Chan said with a sullen face, "You only know how to bully me. You¡¯re so annoying!" Then, she looked at Zhou Qin, took her hand, and said in a pettish voice, "Sister Zhou Qin, you see, look at him now. See how annoying he is! Not only did he plot against me behind my back, but he also deliberately made me angry!"

    Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help thinking that Su Chan was really too cute. Although she was jealous of her sometimes, she couldn¡¯t hate her in her heart. She said with a smile, "Master is joking with you."

    Su Chan pulled a face at Li Yundong, and then made it clear that she would continue to act like a spoiled child. She asked Li Yundong threateningly, "Will you take me out with you?"

    As soon as Li Yundong saw her attitude, he raised his hands and smiled, "How dare I not bring you? Come on, the Buddha, Little Li, will take you out of the pce."

    Su Chan beamed with joy. She ran over to Li Yundong and joined in the charade, saying in a drawling voice, "Let¡¯s go!"

    Li Yundong quickly went into acting mode. With a wretched and humble look, he carefully took Su Chan¡¯s delicate hand and led her out of the door.

    Because Li Yundong lived on the second floor, the little foxes downstairs had already heard the noise they were making. As soon as Li Yundong left the room, he found that the little foxes were all craning their necks and staring at him.

    Li Yundong suddenly caught his breath and thought to himself, "My God, so many foxes are looking at me. It¡¯s okay that my dignity has not been restored, but If these little foxes also make trouble with me, will I still be able to live?"

    Li Yundong had a brainwave and immediately came up with an idea. He bowed to Su Chan and said, "Master Buddha, please close your eyes. Little Li will take you to a good ce."

    Su Chan didn¡¯t suspect anything. She closed her eyes and said with a sweet smile, "Little Li, where are you taking me?"

    Li Yundong was happy to hear her openness. He thought in his heart, "Hey, little girl, you¡¯re really insatiable!"

    Li Yundong tried hard to hold back hisughter as he said, "Buddha, don¡¯t worry. I will take you out of the pce."

    As he spoke, he turned and took Su Chan into the washroom. Then, with lightning speed, he turned around, ran out, and locked the door.

    Only then did Su Chane to her senses. She opened her eyes and rushed to the door, screeching, "Hey! Why have you locked me in?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Aren¡¯t you going somewhere? I¡¯m going to take you somewhere, aren¡¯t I?"

    Only then did Su Chan realize that she had been tricked by Li Yundong. She stamped her feet and shouted, "You¡¯re so annoying. I¡¯m not going ¡¯somewhere¡¯. I¡¯m going out of here!"

    At this moment, the little foxes downstairs all beganughing raucously.

    Li Yundong stood on the stairs and red at them. "Don¡¯tugh! Do you also want to go ¡¯somewhere¡¯? Should I send you all ¡¯somewhere¡¯ter?"

    The little foxes quickly jumped up one by one and scurried off into their rooms, giggling all the way.

    Li Yundong turned his head and looked at Zhou Qin. He saw that this usually unsmiling girl was so amused that her waist had bent. He quickly winked at her and said, "Idiot, why are you still standing? Run off now, or you will never get away."

 Chapter 365 It Is a Small World

    <h4>Chapter 365 It Is a Small World</h4>

    Li Yundong ran out together with Zhou Qin. They happened to see Zi Yuan leaving through the opposite door. Li Yundong smiled and said, "Ha. What a coincidence. Are you going out ¡¯somewhere¡¯ too?"

    Zhou Qin was struggling to hold back herughter. When she heard Li Yundong¡¯s words, she couldn¡¯t help but chuckle again.

    Li Yundong turned his head and red at Zhou Qin, pretending to be angry. "Be serious. We are going to leave the pce."

    Zhou Qin chuckled and said, ¡°And where is it you want to go? Out here or somewhere?"

    Li Yundong also couldn¡¯t helpughing. "I¡¯ll go where I want to go."

    As soon as they stopped at the door, Su Chan ran out shouting for someone. She threw herself at Li Yundong¡¯s back and wrapped herself around him like an octopus, grabbing and biting. "You are disgusting! How dare you y tricks on me!"

    Li Yundong turned his head to Su Chan andughed. "Ha, are you done with your ¡¯somewhere¡¯?"

    Su Chan made a face at Li Yundong. "You¡¯re so annoying, you stinky man!"

    The three onlookersughed. Zi Yuan looked at them in confusion and asked questioningly, "What are you saying? What somewhere? Is anybody going anywhere?"

    Both Su Chan and Zhou Qin pointed to Li Yundong at the same time. "He wants to go ¡¯somewhere¡¯!"

    Li Yundong quickly waved his hand and said with a smile, "No, no, I¡¯m not going to go ¡¯somewhere¡¯. We should go together."

    Zhou Qin and Su Chan spat at the same time and scolded him with a smile, "You loathsome man!"

    Li Yundongughed and waved his hand: "Good Lord, I get to take three wonderful beauties out together today!"

    Su Chan bit Li Yundong¡¯s ear and giggled. "Who¡¯s going with you? You¡¯re so shameless!"

    Zhou Qin also smiled. "You can go out by yourself. I would never go ¡¯somewhere¡¯ with a man."

    At this time, Zi Yuan seemed to have understood something. She looked at Li Yundong helplessly, then shook her head and sighed. "s, you are our leader. How can you be so yful? You¡¯re like a child. "

    Li Yundong shed a cheeky smile at Zi Yuan. "Exalted Buddha, I will go out with these two beautifuldies. Why don¡¯t youe with us?"

    Seeing Li Yundong¡¯s funny face, Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t helpughing. "I¡¯m going to our store. Where are you all going?"

    Li Yundong was overjoyed and said with a smile, "Perfect. We are also going to the store! Let¡¯s go together."

    The three of them chatted andughed as they left. In the room, Cao Yi, Zhuang Yating and Liu Yuehong stood at the door and looked at their backs. Cao Yi put her hands together and said, "Ever since the leader came to our Fox Zen School, our lives have been filled withughter. I wish that every day could be like this. It is really our great blessing."

    Liu Yuehong also nodded and sighed. "That¡¯s right. When I heard theughter of the younger generation, I also felt my heart lighten. It would be even better if Zhangsun Hong were still here."

    Zhuang Yating went quiet at this. She looked at the departing figures of Li Yundong and the others and said softly, "Let¡¯s go. We also need to intensify our cultivation."

    Li Yundong, Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin arrived at Pedestrian Street and went straight to the store. Before they entered, they saw several men holding a design drawing and pointing at the shop.

    Li Yundong asked curiously, "Who are they?"

    Zhou Qin smiled. "Oh, they must be the decorators I contacted."

    Li Yundong¡¯s surprised only grew. "Decorators? They are holding some design drawing, right?"

    "Of course," Zhou Qin said.

    Li Yundong was both surprised and pleased. "What kind of decorationpany could be so great that can whip up design drawings so fast? Are these the Ultraman of the decoration industry?"

    Zhou Qin looked at Zi Yuan and said admiringly, "This is a design made by Zi Yuan after working overtime. If you want to thank someone, thank her."

    Li Yundong was shocked. He turned his head and looked at Zi Yuan in awe. "Is there anything you can¡¯t do in this world?"

    Zi Yuan said indifferently, "It¡¯s no big deal. "

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "If your words were heard by other interior designers, I¡¯m afraid they would be depressed to death. Let¡¯s go and have a look at the work of the impable Zi Yuan."

    They walked to the door of the store, where a man in a jacket saw Zhou Qin. He came up and greeted her warmly, saying, "Miss Zhou, we meet again."

    Zhou Qin walked up to him with a smile. "Mr. Han, are you going to lead the team personally? You¡¯re so responsible."

    Li Yundong saw that Mr. Han was a middle-aged man of about forty years old. He had a little beard on his face and his appearance was nothing special, but his eyes were bright and clear. As Li Yundong looked at him, he also nced back at Li Yundong quickly. Obviously, he was an experienced businessman with very acute senses.

    Mr. Han nced at Li Yundong. He saw that Li Yundong had a gentle smile on his face but also looked dignified. He was shocked and thought to himself, "Where did hee from? I have seen countless people, but never have I seen such an extraordinary young man!"

    Mr. Han¡¯s gaze followed Li Yundong andnded on Zi Yuan. With just one nce, his mind exploded. He felt as if the woman standing in front of him was a fairy who had descended to the mortal world. Zi Yuan was so beautiful that Mr. Han couldn¡¯t even bring himself to take a second look at her.

    Mr. Han quickly moved his eyes away from Zi Yuan and looked at Su Chan. After this nce, he could feel that his heart was pounding. He could not move his eyes anymore. He yelled in his heart: "How can there be such charming and beautiful women in this world?"

    Li Yundong could see Mr.Han staring at Su Chan in a daze, as if his wits were failing him. The two young people behind Mr. Han were looking directly at Su Chan and it almost seemed like they wanted to swallow her right up.

    Li Yundong felt secretly displeased. He coughed and let Han Yongchange back to his senses. Han Yongchang thenughed awkwardly, feeling embarrassed, and said in a strong Beijing ent, "Oh, I¡¯m sorry for getting so distracted."

    Han Yongchang took the initiative to shake hands with Li Yundong. "May I have your name?"

    Li Yundong smiled and reached out his hand to hold Han Yongchang¡¯s. "My name is Li Yundong."

    Han Yongchang said with a warm smile, "Ah, it¡¯s my pleasure to meet you." But in his heart, he thought to himself, "Li Yundong? I haven¡¯t heard of this name or of his family in Tiannan. Is he from another city?"

    Li Yundong was famous in the Cultivation World now, but in the secr world, his name held no special meaning.

    Li Yundong was well aware of this, and he did not care about Han Yongchang¡¯s hypocrisy at all. He just smiled and said, "Mr.Han, on behalf of all the staff of Disanxian, I would like to thank you."

    Hearing this, Han Yongchang asked curiously, "Disanxian? Isn¡¯t that a dish made with potato, green pepper and eggnt? Mr. Li, is this ce going to be a restaurant?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "No, ¡¯Disanxian¡¯ means three immortals."

    Han Yongchang firmly believed that Li Yundong was a yboy with a great background. He had already made up his mind to tter him, so he joked, "Disanxian? What a good name! Look at the three beauties around you. No doubt they are three fairies who have descended to earth, hm?"

    When Li Yundong heard this, he was delighted. He looked at Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin. The three of them were different in appearance, but they were all uniquely gorgeous. It was a coincidence for them to have selected the name "Disanxian", which meant three fairies.

    Li Yundong nodded and said with a smile, "Yes, I hadn¡¯t been expecting the Disanxian to actually have such an interesting meaning."

    When Su Chan heard someone praising her, saying she was as beautiful as a fairy, she was so happy that she gripped Li Yundong¡¯s arm and acted like a fangirl. Zi Yuan was smiling faintly, but Zhou Qin thought in her heart, "Zi Yuan is a real fairy. Although Su Chan is a fox spirit, she can be immortal in the future with the help of Li Yundong. But what about me? When can I be a real immortal?"

    Li Yundong saw the sadness shing through Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes. He kept his thoughts in his heart, not saying a word.

    Han Yongchang still wanted to tter Li Yundong, so he said to Zhou Qin with a smile, "Miss Zhou, was this design made by Mr. Li? It¡¯s amazing. I have been working in this industry for so many years, and I have never before seen such a simple yet elegant design."

    Zhou Qin came back to herself and said with a smile, "Mr. Han, I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re mistaken."

    Li Yundong alsoughed and said, "Mr.Han, that design was done by Zi Yuan."

    As Li Yundong spoke, he pulled Zi Yuan over to his side. Zi Yuan gave Han Yongchang a slight nod but did not say anything.

    Though Han Yongchang had ttered the wrong person, he was not embarrassed. He quickly reacted and said, "Oh, so it was made by Miss Zi Yuan! How amazing. If you be a designer, I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ll all be out of a job."

    His ttery made Li Yundong and the othersugh, and even Zi Yuan smiled slightly.

    "Don¡¯t hurry to tter us," Li Yundong said with a smile. "Let¡¯s talk about the price first. I won¡¯t give you more money no matter how much you tter me. I am a real poor man."

    Han Yongchang also smiled. "Mr. Li, even the beauties around you are not on the level of ordinary people. I don¡¯t believe you are a poor man. Aren¡¯t you mocking me in a roundabout way by saying something like that?"

    Li Yundong asked curiously, "Why would you say that I¡¯m mocking you?"

    Han Yongchangughed. "Think about it. If there were an ordinary person, could any of the fairies around you be with him instead? Only an extraordinary person like you could keep these three beautiespany and take control of the ¡¯Disanxian¡¯!" As he said this, he gave Li Yundong a thumbs up.

    Li Yundong said jovially, "You tter me. Be careful with your words. If my head gets too big, I¡¯ll take my business elsewhere."

    Li Yongdong¡¯s words showed his acquiescence to the decoration cooperation with Han Yongchang, who was overjoyed. "People like you must have brilliant careers and long lives. You will a cut above the rest no matter what era you¡¯re in. "

    Li Yundong smiled. "Come on, don¡¯t tter me. I¡¯m really a poor man. Anyway, I¡¯ll name a price. Whether you ept it or not, I will not force you. It¡¯s useless to try and butter me up. If I really had so much money, would I be opening such a small store?"

    Han Yongchangughed and said sincerely, "Mr. Li, you are really a reliable person. I see that you have a great attitude and I believe that you will certainly make a difference in the future. As the saying goes, one shouldn¡¯t bully a poor young man! I¡¯m not a money-hungry man. Today, I promise you, no matter how much money you offer, I will take the job! "

    Li Yundong was pleased to hear that. "Well, in that case, I will make friends with you! However, you can¡¯t cheat me with your work."

    Hearing that, Li Yundong and Han Yongchang bothughed.

    Seeing these two people chatting happily, Zhou Qin smiled and said to Han Yongchang, "Mr. Han, let¡¯s talk inside and see how the design will y out."

    Li Yundong smiled at Zhou Qin. "Please take Zi Yuan and Mr. Han inside to take a look. I need to exchange some words with Su Chan."

    When the others entered the store, Li Yundong gently stroked Su Chan¡¯s hair and said "The man just said, ¡¯one shouldn¡¯t bully a poor young man.¡¯ It made me think of the days when we wandered homeless through the streets. Since I met you, I really have not given you afortable life. There were always all kinds of things happening to make you worry about me. Sometimes I can¡¯t help but wonder: if our store does not make money, what should we do? If I don¡¯t have enough money, how can I keep a fairy like you on the ground?"

    Su Chan held Li Yundong¡¯s arm lovingly and looked at him with her soft eyes. "Li, I¡¯m already very satisfied! We came together when we were at our poorest. I¡¯m sure that we¡¯ll get even better in the future! Even if we¡¯re still poor, we can beg for food, and I won¡¯t care about it. I believe that you will be a great and mighty hero who won¡¯t have to worry about money one day. But... at that time, will you still remember me, a little fox spirit?"

    Hearing this, Li Yundong sighed forlornly in his heart. He suddenly remembered his conversation with the little fox at the rent house and could not help saying, "As long as you don¡¯t leave me, I won¡¯t abandon you. Heaven and earth can testify to that on my behalf!"

    "Why did you say that? It¡¯s kind of weird!" Although Su Chan was angry on the surface, she felt a sweetness in her heart. She held Li Yundong¡¯s hand tightly, as if she never wanted to let go. The two of them clung to each other as if they were going to merge into a single person.

    They stood on the street and looked at each other. For a moment, they seemed to be lost in their own world, as if there was no one but them for miles around.

    While they were looking at each other deeply, an extremely harsh voice suddenly cut through their reverie. "You two haven¡¯t broken up yet?"

    When Li Yundong heard this, he immediately became angry. "Excuse me!? Who are you? How dare you curse at me and Su Chan!"

    He turned his head and saw a fat middle-aged woman standing not far away and watching them. When Li Yundong saw this woman, he immediatelyughed out of anger.

    This woman was thendy who had driven them out of the rental house and into the streets before!

 Chapter 366 Wanna Bet?

    <h4>Chapter 366 Wanna Bet?</h4>

    As soon as he saw thendy, Li Yundong thought, "It can¡¯t be this coincidental! I was just thinking about how you drove us out before, and now you¡¯re here? It¡¯s so weird!"

    Su Chan also opened her eyes as wide as she could. She pointed at thendy and said with some hesitation, "You, you¡¯re the..."

    Thendy seemed to have been recently graced by fortune. Although she was fat, she was garbed in designer clothes; she was also holding many bags in her hands. Her face was full of health; she had obviously made a small fortune, and she was particrly proud of it.

    She didn¡¯t expect that she would meet a former tenant on the pedestrian street. She also couldn¡¯t help mocking the couple when she saw that they were openly acting affectionate as if they were the only ones walking on the street.

    But what kind of person was Li Yundong?

    He wasn¡¯t the type who would willingly take a beating. His cultivation was extremely strong, and his eloquence was also decent. He immediately retorted, "It¡¯s you. You¡¯re still alive?"

    Thendy suddenly became gloomy. She was quick-tongued and just wanted to satirize him and mock him before leaving. Unexpectedly, Li Yundong was sharp-tongued to sting, which made her feel awkward.

    Thendy thought, "Good... How dare you quarrel with me? I¡¯ve been quite lucky since I drove you away... You must be a jinx. Poor devil, now you dare to challenge me!?"

    Thendy sneered and said, "Of course I¡¯m alive, and I¡¯m living quite well, thank you!" Then she struck a pose and showed off her items made by exclusive brands. She pointed at her bag and said, "Do you know what brand it is? It¡¯s Louis Vuitton! LV! It costs more than 10,000 yuan. Are you able to buy one for your girlfriend? I don¡¯t think so! I can, I have the means to buy it myself. Women should favor themselves! As for you Su Chan... Ah, by the way, you talked about how great your man was. Is he still great now?"

    Su Chan hated thendy since she had driven them out. She sneered and said, "Of course. Since you¡¯re so fat, you can only be cruel to yourself. You probably yearn for a man who could buy you that bag, but can you find one?"

    Her words struck the Landy¡¯s weakness. She was so angry that her face turned pale and her lips were trembling. She pointed at Su Chan and said, "You, you, you¡¯re such a pper. What nonsense are you saying? What else can you do besides seducing men?"

    Seeing how the Landy¡¯s eyes bulged out because of Su Chan¡¯s words, Li Yundongughed and said, "I¡¯m sorry, my little girl only knows how to seduce me, and I like being seduced by her very much. I do wonder though, who do you want to seduce and who wants to be seduced by you?"

    Thendy was so angry that she shouted, "I was also beautiful at that age. What are you showing off for! Let¡¯s see if you remain as beautiful 30 years from now."

    Her words actually spoke of Li Yundong and Su Chan¡¯s pride. Ordinary people were afraid of sickness and death, but it wasn¡¯t the case when it came to cultivators. They looked at each other and smiled knowingly.

    Li Yundong suddenly felt that it was inappropriate for cultivators to quarrel with such a shrew. He smiled at Su Chan and said, "Forget it, just ignore her. Let¡¯s go."

    Thendy thought she had won when she saw they were about to leave, so she said proudly, "Hum, you can still be proud of your youth for a few more years. Li Yundong, I¡¯m telling you, although you¡¯re young and handsome now, it¡¯s useless for a man to rely on his face. Once you be penniless, you¡¯ll see whether your girl leaves!"

    Li Yundong looked back at her and sneered, not caring about replying. However, Su Chan turned around and said earnestly, "The man I like must be a great hero. He will do his best no matter what he does! He used to be very poor, but that doesn¡¯t mean that he¡¯ll be poor in the future!"

    After saying this, Su Chan pointed at the shop behind them and said, "This is the shop that my Yundong rented. Yundong said that we will open two, three, or even more than a dozen shops like this in the future. We will open them all over the world!"

    As soon as Su Chan finished speaking, thendy burst intoughter, full of disdain. She pointed at Li Yundong and Su Chan and said, "You? You¡¯re daydreaming. Don¡¯t you notice how arrogant you are! It¡¯s so funny. Do you think running a business is that simple? How dare you boast with such a small and shabby shop!"

    Su Chan¡¯s face turned red. She yelled angrily, "What makes you think you can look down on me?"

    Thendy sneered and said, "Well, I simply don¡¯t like you! You dare to say such arrogant words even though you¡¯re so young. Who the hell do you think you are?"

    Su Chan was so angry that she wanted to keep bickering, but Li Yundong suddenly raised his hand to stop her. Li Yundong smiled and said to thendy, "Wanna bet?"

    Thendy squinted at Li Yundong. "What bet?"

    Li Yundong smiled, pointed at the store behind him, and said, "I will definitely open shops all over the country and all over the world within three years! Wanna bet?"

    The Landy was shocked to see Li Yundong acting so calmly. She couldn¡¯t help but seriously size up the boy in front of her for the first time.

    In her view, whether in terms of appearance or temperament, this boy couldn¡¯t bepared to how he was before.

    This boy was still immature when she drove him out. But at the moment he had a powerful aura surrounding his body, like a pine tree standing proudly and facing the skies, vigorous and powerful. His words were calm and confident. This was a bearing that had been through countless storms. It was definitely not something that could be feigned.

    Thendy looked at Li Yundong doubtfully and then at the store behind him. She couldn¡¯t help asking, "What kind of store are you running?"

    Although she didn¡¯t like Li Yundong and Su Chan, she wasn¡¯t stupid. She specially asked Li Yundong in case he opened an international chain. If she agreed to the wager, she could fall into his trap.

    Li Yundong smiled and was about to reply, but Su Chan interrupted him and said loudly, "Listen well, Yundong is running a tea shop called Disanxian!"

    "A tea shop?" Thendy suddenly felt relieved. She asked with a strange face, "A tea shop for drinking or distributing?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "For drinking."

    Thendyughed out loud. "I don¡¯t believe that a tea shop chain could open branches all over the world. It¡¯s ridiculous! That would be impossible!"

    Li Yundong asked, "Foreigners can open coffee shops in China, why can¡¯t Chinese people open tea shops all over the world? Our Chinese tea culture is profound and has a history of thousands of years. Tea is not only a drink, but it can also cure diseases and keep your body healthy. It is precise because no one has done this before that I¡¯m sure that I will seed!"

    How could thendy believe in Li Yundong¡¯s boasting? She sneered and said, "All right, let¡¯s bet on it. Tell me, what are you betting?"

    Li Yundong chuckled. He stretched out two fingers and said lightly, "If I lose, I will stab my eyes. If you lose, you must crawl like a dog on this street, twice!"

    Thendy¡¯s face suddenly changed after hearing this. She had never heard of a bet this vicious. Li Yundong spoke as if he would stab someone else¡¯s eyes instead of his. She thought, "Why would this guy dare to make such a bet? Is he bluffing?

    "Yes, three years from now, who knows if this boy would be dead or alive? Maybe he¡¯ll run away before the bet is due. How would he remember this bet by then! This is only him venting his anger right now. Yes, it has to be a lie!"

    Thendy made up her mind and sneered, "Well, I think we need a witness."

    After she said that, a voice was heard next to them. "I¡¯ll be the witness!"

    Li Yundong and Su Chan turned to look in the direction of the voice, only to see Zou Ping and Wang Lingfei slowly walking over from a ce nearby.

    Li Yundong frowned and thought, "Why do I run into these guys everywhere? Are they apparitions?"

    Zou Ping nced at Li Yundong, then he smiled at thendy and said, "I¡¯ll be your witness."

    Li Yundong looked at the two and sneered. "Where is your fat Shidee?"

    Zou Ping¡¯s expression changed. She said coldly, "You don¡¯t have to worry about him. He¡¯s fine."

    Thendy gave a close look at those uninvited guests, then she gave Li Yundong a suspicious nce. She asked, "Do you know each other?"

    Zou Ping sneered and said, "I don¡¯t know him. I just want to help."

    Li Yundong retorted sarcastically, "I think it¡¯s none of your business."

    Thendy didn¡¯t expect that there would be another change between her and Li Yundong, but she was happy to see him suffer a setback. So she pped her hands and said, "It¡¯s much easier now that we have a witness! Li Yundong, you have to remember what you said. Three yearster, humph, I¡¯ll wait for you to stab your eyes!"

    She didn¡¯t want to get involved with these people, so she turned and left after saying that.

    Su Chan was so angry that she shouted at her, "It will be you who will be crawling like a dog! My Yundong will never lose!"

    Li Yundong touched the little girl¡¯s hair with a smile, then straightened his face and said to Zou Ping and Wang Lingfei, "Anything else? If we¡¯re done, I won¡¯t apany you further."

    Surprisingly, Zou Ping didn¡¯t make trouble. He smiled and said, "Please go ahead Zhenren Li!"

    Li Yundong snorted and went back to the shop with the little girl.

    As soon as they entered the ce, Su Chan pulled Li Yundong¡¯s arm worriedly and asked, "Yundong, will our shop make money?"

    Li Yundong held her in his arms and said with a confident smile, "Don¡¯t worry. I have my ways. Except for the time when I met your master, have you ever seen me lose?"

    Su Chan felt at ease after hearing this. She giggled and held Li Yundong¡¯s strong waist. "That¡¯s right. Yundong is invincible in this world, even when ites to business!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "That¡¯s a little too much boasting!"

    At this moment, Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, and the others came down from the second floor. Zi Yuan walked to Li Yundong¡¯s side and noticed that Zou Ping and Wang Lingfei were outside the store. She asked in a low voice, "What happened?"

    Li Yundong smiled. "It¡¯s nothing. I just drove away a fly." After that, he asked Zi Yuan in confusion, "Are these two guys targeting us now?"

    Zi Yuan nodded slightly. She said with a soft voice, "If the Zhengyi School wants to annex the Linggong Sect, they first have to cut off our sources of ie before forcing us to submit. If they don¡¯t do that, they won¡¯t be able to force us topromise. So, Li Yundong, you have to be mentally prepared. In the past, Zou Ping was simply angry with us, but now, it¡¯s a cruel battle of interests. There¡¯s no trace of modesty between sects... Everything is filled with blood and ughter! Don¡¯t be careless, or it¡¯ll be a disaster for our entire sect!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s expression was solemn. He nodded and replied, "You¡¯re right. This can be proven with the siege of the Fox Zen School. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t be afraid if they openly attack us, but if theye in sneakily, I don¡¯t believe that those evil tricks can win against our righteous masters. Just like you said, real tea skills can¡¯t be framed with evil tricks!"

    As he spoke, he nced at Zi Yuan, Zou Ping and Wang Lingfei, who were outside. They looked at each other through the ss, immediately arousing countless sparks.

    Wang Lingfei looked at Li Yundong and snorted coldly. He said unhappily to Zou Ping, "This fellow looks really annoying! But my powerful magical weapon hasn¡¯t been refined yet!"

    Zou Ping smiled. "You don¡¯t have to fight to defeat a person! Since they want to run a business, I will satisfy them! Making money in the business world is not so easy."

    Wang Lingfei asked, "You have a good idea?"

    Zou Ping snorted, and a sinister expression suddenly appeared on his face. "It¡¯s quite easy for our Zhengyi School to cut off the source of ie! However, there¡¯s no need for us to do this right now. I want him to first open the shop, then we will destroy it! I want them to bepletely helpless. They won¡¯t even have a single customer, so they won¡¯t be able to earn a single cent! Let¡¯s go back now. My master still has to refine the souls of sword today!"

 Chapter 367 Five Thunders Jade Book

    <h4>Chapter 367 Five Thunders Jade Book</h4>

    It was already evening when Li Yundong and the others returned home. They returned to their rooms to cultivate after dinner. Li Yundong waited untilte at night to fly to the roof.

    When he reached the rooftop, he saw that Zi Yuan was already waiting for him.

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "You¡¯re here early. I deliberately came earlier."

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly. "Then, should I be like Huang Shigong, telling you to go back first ande back another day?"

    Li Yundong knew that Zi Yuan was alluding to someone else. He quickly waved his hand and said with a smile, "No, no. I¡¯m not Zhang Liang who saved the world, and you¡¯re not the mysterious Huang Shigong. There¡¯s no need to do that."

    Zi Yuan smiled. She said, "Let¡¯s go back to Mount Longhu." After she finished speaking, she turned into a streak of azure light and flew away like a bolt of lightning.

    Li Yundong also flew behind her; both were moving at a very fast speed. Tiannan City was not far from Mount Longhu. About two hourster, they arrived at the range of Mount Longhu.

    Li Yundong said to Zi Yuan in midair, "This is the Zhengyi School¡¯s domain. Aren¡¯t you afraid of being discovered by them?"

    Zi Yuanughed and said, "Longhu Mountain is veryrge, and the Zhengyi School¡¯s domain hasn¡¯t expanded beyond a hundred-mile radius. It¡¯s unlikely that they would notice us."

    Li Yundongughed. "I was thinking too highly of them, then."

    However, Zi Yuan shook her head and said, "Your thought is not undeserving! Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the power of the Zhengyi Sect has been greatly weakened. When they were at their peak, in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, there were not only magic circles everywhere inside the Shangqing Pce of Mountain Dragon-Tiger, but also the earth-shattering Three-realm Grand Formation in the Taoist master¡¯s mansion. Even immortals would be killed and turned into dust if they dared to enter! At that time, all the people in the surrounding area, including men and women, were informers of the Zhengyi School. The Zhengyi School would even know whether a passing fly was male or female, let alone have information of every person."

    Li Yundong took a breath of cold air and said, "Was Zhengyi School that powerful back then?"

    Zi Yuan sighed and said, "That¡¯s right. Their rise came with Zhang Daoling, the master of the Five-Pecks-of-Rice cult which is the predecessor of the Zhengyi School. He practiced cultivation and achieved great sess in alchemy while he lived in Mount Longhu. From Zhang Sheng, the fourth generation of the Celestial Master at the end of the Han Dynasty, all the generations of the Celestial Masters lived here. They settled down in Mount Longhu to seek immortality. They sat in the Qing Pce to preach the Tao and lived in the Mansion of the Taoist master to cultivate their character. Until today, they have inherited Taoism for sixty-three generations, guarding the world for more than 1,800 years. Moreover, almost every Taoist priest generation had been appointed by feudal dynasties. Some were first grade officials while some rose to be extremely powerful officials in our country! In our nation¡¯s history, there is only one big aristocratic family that canpare with them!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart skipped a beat and blurted out, "Saint Confucius¡¯ line?"

    Zi Yuan nodded and said, "Yes, there are only two families in the history of Chinese culture that have been passed down from generation to generation. They are known as ¡¯the south Zhang, the north Kong¡¯! Zhang Tiansh¨© is in the south, and Confucius is in the north!"

    Although Li Yundong had experienced a lot of friction with the Zhengyi School, he immediately respected the history of the Zhengyi School in his heart after hearing what Zi Yuan said. He was in awe of them. He looked down from the air and saw Mount Longhu under the stars and moonlight.

    Li Yundong only saw that the mountain range under his feet stretched for dozens of miles. The mountain range was endless, like a row made with dozens of massive dragons resting. It was as if tigers and dragons werepeting for hegemony. In between the mountains, a clear stream flowed from the east. It coursed near the mountains and circumvented the peaks of the range. Theke was white, and the pond was green.

    In this quiet mountain forest, one could asionally hear the sounds of birds and beasts, and sometimes you could even hear the sounds of Taoist priests reciting scriptures.

    Li Yundong felt refreshed; and there seemed to be an infinite heroic spirit suddenly being born in his chest. He breathed a sigh of relief, and his breath was long and leisurely, as if he were going to devour the dragon, the tiger and the bull. The Qi he had cultivated for a night was not evenparable to the Qi of Heaven and Earth cultivated by the magnificent rivers and mountains!

    "This is indeed a treasurend!" Li Yundong sighed.

    Seeing that Li Yundong was staring at Mount Longhu in a daze, she smiled and said, "Now do you know why all the cultivation sects have to be in the mountains? Don¡¯t be discouraged. When you have made enough money, Mount Tianlong will naturally return to your hands. By then, you will have your own cultivation mansion."

    Li Yundongughed. "Thank you for your kind words! Let¡¯s go down."

    Zi Yuan flew down with Li Yundong andnded on Mount Longhu. It was different from looking down from the sky. Zi Yuan took Li Yundong all the way down the mountain, introducing the beautiful scenery of the mountain to him.

    Zi Yuan said, "Mount Longhu has 99 peaks and 24 rocks. It contains the softest mountains and rivers, the masculine of the 99 dragons, the red mountain, and the green water. It is full of spirituality. Every time a Celestial Masteres to the world, the dragon and the tiger will appear, and the sky is covered with clouds."

    Li Yundongughed and said, "I just don¡¯t know why the Zhengyi School has declined while being in such a treasurend."

    Zi Yuan sighed and said, "During the period of the Republic of China (1912-1949), the warlords were in a tangled fight. After that, there was a war between the Nationalist Party and the Communist Party, including the Anti-Japanese War. Mount Longhu was also affected, and many Taoist temples were destroyed. After the founding of the Republic of China, only the gate-roofed buildings, the noon gate, the bell tower, the Durable pavilion, and the Dongyin Courtyard were left. During the Great Culture Revolution, the remaining buildings werepletely destroyed. The cultivation sects of the Taoist supreme were also affected. You can imagine what kind of impact the other sects had to endure!"

    Zi Yuan suddenly smiled and said, "Now the country has released all restraints on the cultivation world. The Zhengyi sects can¡¯t wait to restore their former glory. Therefore, the first thing they have to do is to gather all the branches that were scattered in the past. Then, they will unify the cultivation world to rule the rest of the world!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "So, they approached you, but they bumped into me. We have a feud with the Zhengyi School."

    Zi Yuan nodded slightly, and the wind blew under their feet. Before long, they arrived at a side peak of Mount Longhu. Zi Yuan walked toward the door of the Taoist temple. She looked up and saw two dazzling seals on the door.

    Zi Yuan smiled faintly, then raised her hand. The seals began to rise even though there was no wind. Soon they fell to the ground.

    Zi Yuan gently opened the door and spoke to Li Yundong with a gentle voice, "Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s head to the Sutra Depository."

    Li Yundong nodded and followed her to enter the temple. Along the way, Li Yundong saw that the temple was in a mess, as if the Red Guards had just passed by.

    Zi Yuan said indifferently, "Since the Great Culture Revolution, our Linggong Sect has never suffered such a catastrophe. I didn¡¯t expect that today¡¯s catastrophe woulde from a sister sect. What a pity."

    Li Yundong saw all this. He smiled andforted her, "It doesn¡¯t matter. We will get these things back sooner orter."

    Zi Yuan looked at Li Yundong, offered a nomittal smile and continued to lead the way.

    Li Yundong followed Zi Yuan through a cave house and then a lotus pond. Finally, they reached a stone cave. Zi Yuan turned to Li Yundong and said, "Wait a moment."

    Li Yundong nodded. He saw that one hand was grabbing his sleeve, and the other hand was flying up and down on a smooth side of the wall, as if she were drawing some talismans. After a while, a golden rune appeared on the smooth side of the wall, and then it became brighter and brighter. Then it disappeared. A crack appeared on the wall after a while, then a shelf popped up, carrying a jade te.

    Zi Yuan took out the jade te. After a while, the shelf receded automatically. There was no sign of any mechanism on the wall.

    Li Yundong said, "It¡¯s so amazing. Are all your things hidden in the wall?"

    Zi Yuan exined with a smile, "Every sect has a particr treasure location. The treasure location of our Spiritual Pce is inside the wall of the cave house. The wall is filled with invisible magic formations and talismans. If someone wants to force his way in, it will only cause the self-destruction of all the collections found inside. Only by knowing the correct opening method can a person take out what he wants."

    Li Yundongughed and said, "It¡¯s really amazing."

    Zi Yuan solemnly presented the jade te in her hands to Li Yundong, but when he reached out to receive it, she withdrew her hands and said with a serious expression, "Li Yundong, before you learn the thunder magic, you must promise me that you will never use it to do evil! Otherwise, even if the heavens don¡¯t punish you, I will!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s face was dead serious. He said word for word, "Don¡¯t worry, I, Li Yundong, will never do those evil things. May lightning strike me down if I vite this oath!"

    A smile appeared on Zi Yuan¡¯s face as she lightly ced the jade te in Li Yundong¡¯s hands. "I trust you, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t have given you this Five Thunder Jade Book. I was just passing it on to you ording to the rules."

    Li Yundong observed the jade te in his hand. It was entirely green; there was a line of words engraved with golden characters at the very center. The rest of the words were dark green; there were also vermillion patterns at the edge of the jade te, like a formation.

    Li Yundong asked, "Is this the Five Thunders Jade Book? Why is it a jade te?"

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "It can only be a book if it¡¯s made of paper? This is a magical item passed down to me by my master. It¡¯s engraved with the Five Thunders Spell of the Shenxiao Sect. I haven¡¯t learned it myself; you can take a look at it yourself. With your cultivation, you¡¯ll be able to achieve twice the results with half the effort."

    Li Yundong nodded in agreement and lowered his head to look at the jade te. He saw a fewrge words written on the first line. It read: "Thunder, the cardinal of heaven and earth. Thunder was themand of heaven, and its power was the greatest. Everything in the three realms and the nine earths was overseen by thunder!¡¯¡¯

    Even though these few characters were simple, there was a powerful and imposing aura emanating from them, which could rouse one¡¯s attention and invigorate the spirit!

    Zi Yuan stared at Li Yundong intently as she said in earnest, "Li Yundong, from ancient times to the present, any cultivator who is able to cultivate the Five Thunder Spell can be a great cultivator who can leave his mark in history. From now on, the magic you cultivate will surpass the five elements and surpass all living things!"

 Chapter 368 The Thunder Cultivation Method!

    <h4>Chapter 368 The Thunder Cultivation Method!</h4>

    When Li Yundong heard Zi Yuan¡¯s words, a ripple ran through Li Yundong¡¯s heart. However, he suppressed his excitement and asked, "Your Cultivation Quotient is about the same as mine. Why can¡¯t you cultivate the Five Thunder Skill?"

    With a smile on her face, Zi Yuan said, "Because I¡¯m a woman with a five punctures body, and also a virgin!"

    Li Yundong asked in confusion, "That has nothing to do with learning thunder magic. Ao Wushuang is a woman with a five punctures body. Why did I hear from Su Chan that Ao Wushuang knows the Five Thunder Skill?"

    Zi Yuan exined with a smile, "It¡¯s actually very simple. The ancients often said that thunder is male and electric, so we know that only men can use thunder and drive electricity."

    Li Yundong asked curiously, "Is there even any difference between thunder and electricity?"

    Zi Yuan chuckled. "Of course there¡¯s a difference! Electricity is the derivative of thunder, and thunder itself not only has the properties of electricity, but also an extremely strong destructive and explosive ability. Above the Five Thunders, there are also the Nine Thunders and Heavenly Thunders. When the Heavenly Thunders are rampant, the rivers and mountains will be blown to pieces, but electricity itself does not have such power. In other words, if you want to drive thunder, you need an extremely powerful Yang Qi as your backing and support. I am a woman with her maidenhood intact, and the Yuanyang in my body is only enough for me to cultivate Yang Spirit, not to drive the Five Thunders.

    "As for Ao Wushuang, she once had an intimate rtionship with my master. They exchanged Yin and Yang Qi, so Ao Wushuang had extremely powerful Yang Qi in her body and could use the Five Thunder Spell, but I couldn¡¯t."

    Li Yundong suddenly understood. He nodded and blurted, "So if you find a man, you will be able to..."

    After saying these few words, he realized that something was wrong. At the moment, Zi Yuan¡¯s face had already turned beet red, and she stared at him with embarrassment and anger. "I¡¯m being so kind by teaching you Magic and Cultivation, but you¡¯re making fun of me?"

    Li Yundong was used to seeing Zi Yuan¡¯s usual nonchnce, so he was already ustomed to her beauty. At that moment, seeing that she was ashamed and angry, he actually found that she looked even more charming than usual, especially when he looked at her under the moonlight, its pearly rays tripling her beauty. For a moment, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but feel his heart beating wildly. He coughed awkwardly and said with an embarrassed smile, "It was just a casual remark. Please don¡¯t think too much."

    Zi Yuan could feel that her cheeks and ears were burning. She nced at Li Yundong fiercely and said, "Hurry up with reciting the above words. We can cultivate slowly when we go back!"

    Li Yundongughed dryly and hurriedly lowered his head to read the Five Thunders Jade Book in his hand. But even after reading it for a while, Li Yundong still felt that his heart was in a mess and he could feel Zi Yuan¡¯s sharp and ashamed gaze lingering on him.

    Li Yundong simply recited the words on the Five Thunders Jade Book in order to still his mind. Holding the book in his hands, he read aloud, "Unity Qi and Spirit,e back to life, sit and sleep. If one raises his spirit, let him use it to practice their power. One can use his Zhen Qi and obey the principles of nature to create clouds, rain and thunder!"

    Li Yundong read for a while and slowly calmed down. Gradually, his spirit and Qi became mixed, and he entered a state in which he forgot both himself and others. Every word he read came out of his mouth and became clearly imprinted in his mind. When he had finished reading, he sat cross-legged on the ground and fell into a deep meditative state.

    Zi Yuan saw that he had begun to meditate on Tao. It was clear that he had had a brainwave while reading the book. Thus, Zi Yuan cast a protective spell on him.

    After reading these manuals, Li Yundong had a preliminary understanding of thunder and electricity.

    In this Five Thunders Jade Book, there was not only the original text, but also tiny notes scrawled all over the margins. One of the notes was particrly poignant to Li Yundong.

    It read: "The cultivation of thunder magic focuses on the cultivation of Neidan, and also the cultivation of Neidan and the Tao which are its foundation. When Neidan and the Tao are made use of, all kinds of magical changes and mysterious skills will be formed. Once Neidan is made, the Qi will be full. This Qi is also known as the innate ancestor Qi or the Hunyuan Qi. Our Taoist said that the Qi bes the Three Gods. The Qi is the Hunyuan Qi, and the Hunyuan Qi is the Tao. ¡¯Wang Shichen prayed for Baduanjin¡¯ had a clear exnation of the thunder magic: When heaven and earth get this Qi, the world will be full of changes and human beings will be the spirit of all things. When they get this Qi, they will feel the heaven and earth, the ghosts and gods, and breathe in the thunder and rain."

    Just underneath this smallment, someone had written: "If a person can gather Qi of Five Elements into the Five Thunders, the thunder magic will be the innate Tao, and the Thunder God will be in my spirit. From this, it can be seen that a person can actually create thunder and electricity themself with the help of Qi of Five Elements and does not need topletely borrow Primordial Unity Qi from between heaven and earth!"

    Thinking of this, Li Yundong gathered the Qi of Five Internal Organs in his Dantian, hoping to test the lightning produced by the Qi of Five Elements first.

    With a stir of Li Yundong¡¯s mind, the Qi of Five Internal Organs rushed out, like countless wild horses storming out of the gate, rushing towards the lower Dantian of his lower abdomen.

    Generally speaking, when a cultivator practiced Qi, the Qi of their organs would pass through the Neidan and then quickly flow away, forming a continuous atmosphere akin to flowing water. Li Yundong transferred all of the Qi of Five Internal Organs to the lower Dantian of his abdomen so that there was no ce for the five elements of the Qi of Five Internal Organs. All of them gathered together. The five elements of Qi of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth were surging and shaking each other.

    Li Yundong suddenly felt like the Dantian in his lower abdomen had be a big drum, and the rumbling noises inside seemed to be the sounds of thunder and lightning brewing. An extremely powerful force was surging in his lower abdomen, and there was nowhere for it to safely dissipate.

    Li Yundong had only been working on this for a short while before he felt that the power within him was getting stronger and stronger. Before long, he became unable to control himself and could feel a faint pain in his lower abdomen.

    Li Yundong was shocked in his heart. He knew that ever since he had reached the Zhuji phase, his body had been hardened to the point where it was extremely tough. In particr, his internal organs were as hard as steel. Even if every single breath he took gathered together to attack every single internal organ in his body, it would not have caused him to feel such pain.

    However, in less than a minute, his lower Dantian could no longer bear the force, and there was a sign that it was going to explode.

    Li Yundong quickly controlled his Qi and directed it to the Dantian above his head. At the same time, the Baihui on his head opened, and an extremely powerful force instantly spurted out from his Baihui, making a loud noise reminiscent of a sudden p of thunder.

    At that moment, they were in the cave again. The loud noise was truly ear-splitting. Even Zi Yuan with her profound cultivation felt a sharp pain in her eardrums from the harsh sound and she could not help but frown.

    Finally, Li Yundong woke up from his meditation. He said with lingering fear, "Amazing. Just now, my lower abdomen was almost blown up!"

    Zi Yuan gawped at Li Yundong and said, "You haven¡¯t yet learned to walk, but now you want to learn to run! You should slowly limate yourself to this power first, then gradually increase the strength of it step by step. Don¡¯t think that it will seed in one go. If there is a problem when you practice thunder magic, forget me, even Yu Huang Da Di wouldn¡¯t be able to save you!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "It¡¯s okay. I just want to try the thunder magic from the Five Elements Qi. I¡¯ll try the Primordial Qi¡¯s thunder magic and see how it works."

    Before Zi Yuan could even say anything, Li Yundong had already sat down in meditation again. Not long after, his primordial spirit left his body and shot into the air. Zi Yuan was unable to stop him.

    Zi Yuan sighed and thought, "Li Yundong, ah, Li Yundong, don¡¯t mess around! This is Mount Longhu! This is the most powerful ce in the world for Taoists. If you make any trouble, it won¡¯t be easy to deal with!"

    While Li Yundong and Zi Yuan were practicing Thunder Magic at a side peak, on the main peak of Mount Longhu¡¯s Qing Pce, The Lady of the Earthly Fire, Zhang Ling, was refining the soul of Deng Yu and Deng Jiao that she had brought back to the side pce.

    In this pce, there was arge magic circle in front of Zhang Ling.

    The magic circle was surrounded by Eight trigrams, and Yin and Yang were in its center. There were two water tforms on the two points of Tai Chi, Yin and Yang. The water tforms were full of various ck and white talisman and patterns. In the magic circle, two lotus buds of the same color and shape were floating, and within those buds were two small people faintly shining.

    Both of them curled up like babies, but they were only as big as a thumb. Through the pink lotus leaves, one could see their limbs and fingers clearly.

    The Lady of the Earthly Fire Zhang Ling looked at them with a strong sense of love and joy in her eyes. Her disciple, Zou Ping, was standing next to her.

    Zou Ping looked at her in confusion and asked, "Master, there¡¯s something I don¡¯t know whether or not I should ask."

    Zhang Ling didn¡¯t look at her, her eyes still focused on the buds. She asked, "Go ahead, is there anything you can¡¯t ask me?"

    Zou Ping cupped her hands together and asked respectfully yet somewhat doubtfully, "Master, I can understand why you¡¯re trying to use the twins¡¯ souls as the souls of the sword, but why did you put so much effort into setting up this magic circle?"

    Zhang Ling smiled slightly, but she didn¡¯t answer directly. Instead, she asked in return, "Do you know what kind of magic circle it is?"

    Zou Ping nodded and said, "Yes, it¡¯s the Five Elements Samsara Magic Circle!"

    Zhang Ling turned her head and looked at her approvingly. "Oh, then do you know the function of it?"

    "Of course I do," said Zou Ping with a smile. "This magic circle is mainly used for helping people get rid of memories of their past and present lives, allowing them to enjoy things anew."

    Zhang Ling smiled gently. "Since you know what this magic circle is used for, why did you ask me such a question?"

    Zou Ping didn¡¯t understand what she was saying. "But what¡¯s the point of doing this to them?"

    Zhang Ling snorted and said, "You only know one side of the matter, not the other! The twins¡¯ souls were stolen from the cave residence of Linggong Sect. Their origin is unknown. Do you know who they were? Do you know their real identities? Once these two souls be the souls of the sword of the Sanjue Magic Circle, the power of the Sanjue Magic Circle will bepletely controlled by them. If they retain memories of their previous lives, the Sanjue Magic Circle willpletely lose its effect when they meet someone they know! When that happens, do you intend to take responsibility for it, or shall I?"

    Only then did Zou Ping understand what was going on. She smiled and said, "Master, you¡¯re thinking too much and I was being careless. However, these twins seem like they coulde to the world at any time."

    As if triggered by these words, the flower buds suddenly emitted a colorful light and the petals slowly opened one after another, revealing two identical tender girls within.

    Seeing this scene, Zhang Ling suddenly became serious. She quickly touched her index fingers together and shouted, "Ping¡¯er, cast a protective spell on me. I¡¯m going to remove their memories of their previous lives!"

    At that moment, a deep and resonant p of thunder rumbled from the sky outside the partial pce of Shangqing Temple.

 Chapter 369 The Thunder Cleaves Longhu Mountain

    <h4>Chapter 369 The Thunder Cleaves Longhu Mountain</h4>

    While Zhang Ling was preparing to erase Deng Yu and Deng Jiao¡¯s precious memories, Li Yundong¡¯s Yang Spirit was mobilizing the Qi of Heaven and Earth in the air to drive out the thunderbolts.

    The Five Thunders Spell was too difficult to use, but as long as he was mastering these skills, it would soon be easy.

    Li Yundong used Yang Spirit body to mobilize the Primordial Qi between heaven and earth. At first, he couldn¡¯t find the Primordial Qi between them, but soon, when he mobilized the purest Zhenqi in his body, the Primordial Qi between heaven and earth began to stir. Especially when he used the Convergence of Five Qis, the Primordial Qi between heaven and earth became automatically connected to his own small universe¡¯s Qi of the Five Internal Organs.

    In that very instant, Li Yundong could feel the harmonious rtionship between man and nature, the universe and his own body. It was as if he had suddenly be infinite, his eyes were the stars of the sky, and his feet were the thickness of the earth.

    With a thought, he felt the endless water vapor between the earth and the sky begin to rise from the bottom. The water droplets gathered and collided with each other in the air, gradually forming dense, dark clouds.

    Li Yundong could feel that there was a strange power between heaven and earth gathering within the clouds. The power was connected to his own Qi of the Five Internal Organs. He could mobilize it, drive it away, andmand it.

    At first, Li Yundong was filled with excitement, but then he suddenly realized that he could drive thunderbolts and lightning, which was the most powerful magic in the world!

    But it was not long before his happiness faded.

    The speed at which the power was gathering in the clouds was far beyond Li Yundong¡¯s imagination. At first, he felt that he was riding on a fierce horse. Although the horse was fierce, he could still control it. But then, one horse became two, and the two horses became four. After a short while, it became a sea of tens of thousands of madly stampeding horses. How could he control them?

    Li Yundong suddenly felt that he was in for it now. If he gave up on controlling the power, it would backfire on himself. But if he released the power at random, he could identally hit a secr mortal. If another catastrophe happened, he would be in big trouble.

    Li Yundong thought for a moment and suddenly came up with an idea. He looked at the ce where Shangqing Temple was located on the main peak of Mount Longhu and looked down over the redecorated Shangqing Temple, which was located in the lush forest. Cornice brackets and Taoist archways were faintly visible.

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help thinking, "Zhengyi School has gone against not only Zi Yuan repeatedly but also me and the Fox Zen School aggressively. Let me give this thunderbolt to Zhengyi School!"

    As soon as this thought just crossed his mind, Li Yundong simply guided the power towards the location of Shangqing Temple on Mount Longhu.

    He had originally wanted to attack the main hall of Shangqing Temple, but since it was the first time that he was using thunder magic, something went wrong. As a result, the thunderbolt cleaved through the side of the Shangqing Temple with a roar.

    Coincidentally, this side pce happened to be the ce where Zhang Ling and Zou Ping were staying. As the thunderbolt swung through the building, it immediately tore through the roof tiles of the side pce andnded heavily on their heads.

    Zhang Ling reacted quickly. At the moment that the thunder was about to strike, all of her hairs stood on end immediately. She instantly crushed a talisman hidden in her sleeve, raised her hand and pointed to the air. "Fly!"

    With a crackling roar, a firewall appeared over their heads.

    This thunderbolt suddenly cleaved through the firewall and caused a huge explosion. A thick wave of ck smoke quickly covered them all.

    It was not long before The Lady of the Earthly Fire was covering her nose with one hand and waving her sleeve with the other. A strong gust of wind blew into the sleeve and quickly dispelled the ck haze in the great hall. She focused on Zou Ping and saw that her beautiful precious disciple had already be a Kitchen God with a ck mouth, ck face, and even coal-ck teeth!

    The Lady of the Earthly Fire gasped and quaked with rage. "Who dares to be so presumptuous in Mount Longhu! Are they tired of living?"

    Her enraged shout spread far and wide, causing shaking and echoing through the mountains.

    Zou Ping didn¡¯t even have time to react and couldn¡¯t understand at all why she had nearly suffered a blow from heavenly thunder on the main peak of Mount Longhu!

    She was still in a state of shock. With her eyes wide, she stammered, "Master, what¡¯s going on? Where did that heavenly thundere from?"

    Just as The Lady of the Earthly Fire was about to speak, she nced around and suddenly noticed the souls of Deng Yu and Deng Jiaoing into being in the formation of the main hall. They were quietly lying on the blooming Lotus Throne and sleeping peacefully.

    They were naked, and their skin was as tender as jelly. It was as if a single finger could rip right through their skin.

    The Lady of the Earthly Fire immediately sighed and said, "It¡¯s toote! The two Sword Souls have already been born. Now it¡¯s toote to wipe their memories of their previous lives! s, could it be providence?"

    Zou Ping also said angrily, "D*mn it! I don¡¯t know which crazy guy it was that dared to cleave Mount Longhu, but he¡¯s bitten off more than he can chew. He¡¯s been over-confident! Does he think our Mount Longhu can be so easily bullied?"

    Then she suddenly rose high into the air and looked around for the person who had guided the thunderbolt.

    As soon as Zou Ping ascended, she saw many people also flying into the air from the surrounding side pces and side halls. Most of them were dressed in Daoist robes. The moment these people saw her, they asked loudly, "Shizhi, what happened just now?"

    Just as Zou Ping was about to say that a thief had attacked Mount Longhu, Zhang Ling appeared and squeezed her with one hand in order to prevent her from speaking. Zhang Ling cut in loudly, saying, "It¡¯s nothing. My disciple made a mistake just now when she was cultivating thunder magic. Thanks for your concern!"

    These flying Taoists had heard Zhang Ling¡¯s roar just now, and they had a clear understanding that she was lying but wouldn¡¯t expose her. On hearing her words, some of themughed and flew back to where they hade from. Others didn¡¯t get along well with Zhang Ling and sneered, "The Lady of the Earthly Fire, your disciple should honestly go to y with your thunderbolt, not fire. Do you think that a few destroyed Taoist temples is not enough already?"

    The Lady of the Earthly Fire snorted and pulled Zou Ping back into the pce, avoiding quarreling with them.

    Zou Ping felt was surprised and whispered to her, "Master, why didn¡¯t you tell them the truth?"

    The Lady of the Earthly Fire sneered, "How can I tell them? Should I exin that our side hall has been cleaved by an unidentified person? Humph, if this matter spreads, we will be theughing stock of the cultivation world! Do you want to beughed at by others?"

    "Well, why should we bear it? We need to figure out who did it at least!" Zou Ping said anxiously.

    The Lady of the Earthly Fire sneered, "Humph, how dare he guide thunder to cleave our Longhu Mountain? This man is really the most arrogant I¡¯ve ever had the misfortune to encounter. I won¡¯t let him get away!"

    After saying that, The Lady of the Earthly Fire sat cross-legged on the ground and shouted at Zou Ping, "Send the Twin Sword Souls to the main hall. Since we can¡¯t erase their memories, don¡¯t bother trying. Such is the will of Heaven. It cannot to be forced. Now I¡¯m going to use the Magic of Soul searching to search for this arrogant man¡¯s whereabouts. After delivering the Sword Souls,e back and protect me. Don¡¯t catch someone off guard."

    Zou Ping nodded in agreement. Her figure flitted across the field like a swallow cutting through the water. With a light flick of her wrist, she sucked the souls of Deng Yu and Deng Jiao into her palm and quickly took them to the main hall.

    On the other side peak of Mount Longhu, Li Yundong had just been possessed by Yang Spirit. A figure rushed at him and shouted in horror, "Are you crazy? How dare you use thunder magic to cleave Mount Longhu!"

    Li Yundong took a closer look and saw that the shouting madman was in fact none other but the calm fairy Zi Yuan. Li Yundong asked curiously, "Is something wrong? They bullied you like this in daily life, and you still feel concerned for them? Aren¡¯t you being too kind-hearted?"

    Zi Yuan was on the verge of copse. Her face was ashen as she spoke quickly, "You¡¯re really crazy. There are so many experts who have mastered thunder magic in Zhengyi School. How dare you use thunder magic here? It¡¯s too outrageous! Hurry up and leave with me!"

    Li Yundong smiled and was about to speak when he suddenly heard an extremely angry voice roaring from the main peak. "Who dares to be so presumptuous in Longhu Mountain! Are they tired of living?"

    The roar almost made Li Yundong jump up from the ground in fright. He could even feel that the sole of his feet had gone numb from the shock!

    Li Yundong was shocked and couldn¡¯t help asking, "Who was that? Zhang Tiansh¨©, the master of Zhengyi School? Awesome!"

    Zi Yuan relinquished her usual calmness. In a hurry, she grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s arm and started pulling him away quickly. "That was Zhang Ling, The Lady of the Earthly Fire! She¡¯s a great cultivator with extremely advanced achievement methods and she¡¯s the elder sister of Zhang Tiansh¨© from the Zhengyi School. If shees to catch us, you and I will barely be able to stop her. There are countless masters in Mount Longhu and we won¡¯t be able to resist any one of them! Let¡¯s go. If we don¡¯t go now, we won¡¯t be able to get out of this alive!"

    She had already pulled Li Yundong out of the cave. After rushing for a moment, they looked up and saw that the sky was full of flying Taoists, packed as densely as stars.

    When Li Yundong saw that, he suddenly gasped and could feel sweat trickling down his back, his scalp numb.

    "D*mn it, this is bad!" Li Yundong said with a dumbfounded expression.

    Zi Yuan red at him angrily and began pulling Li Yundong down the mountain.

    There were Taoists everywhere in the sky so the pair didn¡¯t dare to fly and instead rushed out of the territory of Mount Longhu like wolves and mice. Seeing no one above them, they eventually dared to take to the sky. After making sure that there were no pursuers behind them, they headed to Tiannan City.

    After Zi Yuan had taken Li Yundong all the way out of Mount Longhu, she breathed a sigh of relief. She released Li Yundong¡¯s hand and couldn¡¯t help anxiously asking, "Was your head full of rocks just now? Why did you go crazy and guide thunder to cleave Mount Longhu?"

    Li Yundong chuckled, "I couldn¡¯t control myself!"

    Zi Yuan was on the verge of losing it. "Then don¡¯t hit the main peak! There are ny-nine peaks for you to destroy, why did you leave the main peak of Shangqing Temple?! Golly, if this thing gets around, Zhengyi School will go on a rampage and we¡¯ll be on the run tomorrow!"

    Li Yundong was startled and said guiltily, "No way. They don¡¯t know, do they?"

    Zi Yuan red at Li Yundong. "We might not have been discovered this time, but this must never happen again!"

    Li Yundong apologetically said with a smile, "No, of course not!"

    Zi Yuan snorted and looked at Li Yundong as if she were looking at a madman. She shook her head and said, "Forget it. Go back quickly. Don¡¯t talk to anyone about anything that happened tonight."

    Li Yundongughed humorlessly and said, "Of course."

    After flying for nearly two hours, they arrived back at Tiannan City. When they were about tond at home, a figure suddenly flew up from the house. The person was moving very quickly and almost collided with Li Yundong in mid-air.

 Chapter 370 Night Visit to Mount Gezao!

    <h4>Chapter 370 Night Visit to Mount Gezao!</h4>

    Li Yundong intercepted the woman and took a look, only to find that it was Su Chan.

    "It¡¯s sote, what are you flying out for?" he asked.

    Su Chan also had a look of surprise on her face. She looked at Li Yundong and then at Zi Yuan before asking curiously, "Yundong, what are you and sister Zi Yuan doing out sote?"

    Li Yundong coughed immediately and said, "I asked you first. Answer me first."

    Su Chan rolled her eyes and nced at the two of them. Although she was confused, she did not take it too seriously. "I just saw a man flying out of a residence. I thought it was strange, so I followed him out. I didn¡¯t expect to see you here," she said.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t take it to heart and said, "Maybe it was a Shibo or a little disciple of Fox Zen School going out to y?"

    "Su Chan, did you see clearly who the person was?" Zi Yuan asked.

    Su Chan thought for a moment and said, "It seems to have been Shibo Cao Yi, or maybe Shibo Zhuang Yating. Their figures look simr and I can¡¯t tell them apart too well."

    Zi Yuan paused for a moment, then said decisively, "Where was she flying out to? Let¡¯s chase her quickly!"

    Su Chan didn¡¯t think too much about it. She pointed in a direction and said, "She was flying that way."

    Zi Yuan turned to Li Yundong and said, "Let¡¯s go and have a look!"

    Li Yundong was confused. "What¡¯s the point of chasing her?"

    Zi Yuan wouldn¡¯t exin. She dragged him over and said, "You¡¯ll know once we¡¯ve caught up with her!"

    Seeing the two of them flying off quickly, Su Chan also turned into a sh of blue light and gave chase with them.

    The little girl followed them and muttered in her heart, "What¡¯s wrong with sister Zi Yuan? Why does she look like she¡¯s going toe to toe with a formidable enemy? However, I don¡¯t know whether the person in front of me is Shibo Cao Yi or Zhuang Yating. It¡¯s sote. What is she even doing out?"

    Su Chan flew quickly at the head of the trio, leading the way. Li Yundong asked in confusion, "How did you see someone flying out? It¡¯s sote, why weren¡¯t you asleep? What were you doing?"

    Su Chan stuck out her tongue and said with embarrassment, "Last time, you said that I didn¡¯t cook well, so I went to the kitchen to practice my skills in secret. I wanted to ask Shibo Cao Yi to help me, but when I went into her room, I didn¡¯t see her there. When I was about to leave, I saw a figure flying past the window. Out of curiosity, I went to catch up with her, but I hadn¡¯t expected to meet you."

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He turned his head and looked at Zi Yuan. He was thinking about something but did not deign to ask any more questions.

    After the three of them had given chase for a while, Su Chan pointed to the front suddenly and said, "Look, over there!"

    Li Yundong and Zi Yuan looked into the distance at the same time. They saw an extremely weak blue sh in the distant night and Zi Yuan and Li Yundong immediately became alert. "After it!"

    The three people focused on their target and kept hanging behind her far away. After flying for nearly two hours like this, Zi Yuan suddenly said, "Something¡¯s off here. Why do I feel that we have returned to the grounds of Jiangxi again?"

    "Jiangxi?" Li Yundong asked. "We¡¯re not going back to Mount Longhu, are we?"

    At this time, Su Chan craned her neck and asked curiously, "Again? Why did you say ¡¯again¡¯? Yundong, when did you go to Mount Longhu?"

    Li Yundong gave a hollowugh and quickly changed the topic. "We¡¯ll talk about itter. It¡¯s important for us to keep an eye on that person."

    While the three of them were busy talking, they saw a sh of blue light in the distance quickly descending.

    The voice of Zi Yuan became nervous. "Let¡¯s head down, too. We¡¯re a big target in the air like this."

    The three of them quicklynded on the ground. Li Yundong was looking around in the moonlight and saw that there were many fields at the foot of the mountains. At this point, all of the rice crops had been harvested and there were piles of rice hulls everywhere.

    Su Chan blinked her eyes and looked around, asking curiously, "Where is this ce? Is this Mount Longhu?"

    She was a fox spirit and thus naturally afraid of the Xuanmen Sect and Buddhism Sect. At the thought that she was on Mount Longhu, she shivered and felt somewhat ufortable.

    Zi Yuan swept her gaze over the surrounding peaks. She shook her head and said, "This doesn¡¯t look like Mount Longhu."

    Li Yundongughed. "I know where we are!"

    Both Su Chan and Zi Yuan asked curiously, "Where?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Zi Yuan, you¡¯re right. We¡¯re back in Jiangxi again. We¡¯re on Mount Gezao!"

    Su Chan took Li Yundong¡¯s arm. "How do you know? Have you been here before?"

    Li Yundong pointed to a sign by the side of a road about a dozen meters away and said, "Isn¡¯t it written right there?"

    Only then did Su Chan and Zi Yuan notice that there was a road sign in the distance. However, the night was dark. If it weren¡¯t for Li Yundong¡¯s high cultivation and strong eyesight, they wouldn¡¯t have been able to notice it at all.

    The two of them approached and saw a road sign with a blue background and white words printed across it, which read: "Mount Gezao National Forest Park", and there was still a distance of 2 kilometers to reach the foot of the mountain!

    Zi Yuan and Su Chan suddenlyughed, and Su Chan couldn¡¯t help but turn around and say, "I thought you knew the scenery here so well that you recognized it, so I wanted to worship you! But it turns out that you know the ce by reading the road signs. How boring!"

    Zi Yuan also smiled. "I wasn¡¯t expecting to have to follow her to Mount Gezao. However, what I want to know is why did the people of Fox Zen Schoole to Mount Gezao? This is my Taoists¡¯ sacrednd!"

    Li Yundong smiled and gestured to the two of them, saying, "Let¡¯s go. We can talk while we walk. Let¡¯s go to Gezao Sect to see what¡¯s going on. Su Chan, you¡¯re good at tracking. Lead the way."

    "Aye!" Su Chan replied in a crisp voice. Although the girl knew that this was the Taoists¡¯ sacrednd, and was a little afraid, when she remembered that her lover was by her side, she could not help but be bolder, even a little excited.

    Looking at Su Chan¡¯s shining eyes, Li Yundong felt a pang of worry for her. He was afraid that she would cause the same trouble as he had done at Mount Longhu, so he hurriedly said, "Hey, don¡¯t make trouble!"

    Su Chan looked back at him with a smile. "I won¡¯t!"

    Li Yundong turned and went to call for Zi Yuan, only to see that she had a faint smile on her face which seemed to be saying: As long as you don¡¯t cause trouble, everything will be fine.

    Li Yundong immediately smiled obsequiously and said, "Zhenren Zi Yuan? Spiritual Master? Please?"

    She gave him a meaningful look and smiled. Then, they followed Su Chan and left. In the end, she still did not discuss what had happened with Li Yundong.

    Li Yundong secretly wiped the cold sweat from his brow and thought to himself, "Zi Yuan is getting more and more difficult to deal with."

    Their climbing abilities were strong, so they quickly flew up the mountain at high speed. The asphalt road led to the top of the mountain and they soon arrived at a huge archway.

    Li Yundong looked at it under the moonlight and saw a stone door on the road. It had flying eaves, yellow tiles, and a short white wall. There were two small doors to the left and right sides. In the middle of the door was a big gate. From right to left were written two big words: Mount Gezao.

    On the left and right stone pirs of the gate, a couplet was written in a traditional style. On the right it read that this was the famous Taoist mountain Qing River Zhong Xiu, and on the left it described the wonderful medicine from the Holy Land of Medical Sect.

    Li Yundong looked at the door and could see that it was probably newly built, but it was full of marks left by the wind and rain. The zed tiles on the top of the archway were still weedy, obviously in sore need of maintenance. The two iron fences on the small doors on both sides were particrly rusty. The white lime letters on the ck boards on the right side of the travel notice were also faded and beginning to blur. He couldn¡¯t help but be shocked. "The Gezao Sect is also a big sect of External Alchemy. Why is the gateway in such bad condition?"

    Zi Yuan sighed slightly and said, "We can do nothing about it. A king¡¯s power is greater than a God¡¯s. In the Song Dynasty, there were more than 1,500 rooms, more than 500 Taoist priests and 3,000 acres of fertile farnd here. Taoists called it ¡¯the Immortal¡¯s Mansion¡¯. However, in the final days of the Qing Dynasty, Mount Gezao and Mount Longhu were in danger again and again. The temple, whichsted more than 1600 years, gradually declined. Especially when Wan Zhenyuan, the leader of Gezao Sect, seeded, he worked hard to move out of the sect and into the city. He turned the power of the sect into an invisible force, but his ancestral home declined terribly."

    Su Chan looked up at the que for the name ¡¯Mount Gezao¡¯ and sighed faintly. "That¡¯s right. Back then, our Fox Zen School was also very glorious. Haven¡¯t we also declined now? It can be said that to rise and fall is an inescapable fate. This is Kismet and reincarnation. We can do nothing about it."

    Li Yundong smiled and interrupted their sadness by saying, "Let¡¯s go up to the mountain first."

    They quickly climbed up the mountain road. On the way, they passed by the Immortal-reaching Bridge, the mountain gate, the Yi Tian gate, the Mingshui Bridge and other famous ces of interest. Although Li Yundong took only a brief look at these, these ancient ces of interest still made him feel cold and lonely, especially the Mingshui Bridge. The bridge stretched over the mountain stream which had almost dried up. The rocks on the riverbed were covered with moss and weeds, reminiscent of a lonely old man sighing over the ruthlessness of time.

    Not long after, Li Yundong, Zi Yuan, and Su Chan arrived at the main gate of Gezao Sect. They saw a big door with red walls and yellow tiles leading onto arge courtyard. The gate was two stories tall. The top floor and the bottom floor of it were both written with tworge characters on a green and gold background. Below the word "Yi" was anotherrge character, gold this time, with a ck background. It read majestically: The Greatest Immortal Chong Zhen Temple!

    Although this Taoist temple seemed very old, especially the weeds on top, the words were majestic, and they proudly showed the glory and prestige of the past to the world.

    Zi Yuan sighed softly and said, "There are countless Taoist temples in China, and there are many Taoist temples with the name Chongzhen, but among so many Taoist temples in the country, there is only one with the character ¡¯Greatest¡¯ directly preceding Chongzhen! It¡¯s a pity that the famous mountain of the Song Dynasty has declined!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Don¡¯t get emotional. Be careful lest your Linggong Sect bes the same as them. Let¡¯s go in and see what¡¯s going on. We won¡¯t be able to find her if we wait too long."

    As he spoke, he beckoned Su Chan over to enter the gate. However, just as he was about to move, he was pulled back by Zi Yuan.

    Zi Yuan said with a serious look, "Don¡¯t be careless. Although Gezao Sect has declined, it was just limited to its ancestral temple. In fact, the sect¡¯s power in the human world is still very great. Even if a centipede dies, its body won¡¯t stiffen. This is the ancestral temple of Gedong Sect. Even a rotten boat will contain a few valuable nails. Don¡¯t get careless! What¡¯s more, the major sects fought on Mount Gezao a while ago. It¡¯s impossible for Gezao Sect to be unprepared. It¡¯s very likely that there are magic circles inside. Let me use some conjuration to find out what¡¯s going on."

    Li Yundong nodded. He turned to Su Chan, who was leading the way, and said, "Can you be sure that she hase here?"

    Su Chan snorted and said proudly, "Although I am not good at settling scores, my escaping and tracking skills are first-ss. I can feel that the person we are chasing was in the The Greatest Immortal Chong Zhen Temple. I can¡¯t be wrong! But the Qi of this person is like shibo Cao Yi or Zhuang Yating. I can¡¯t tell which shibo came here or why."

 Chapter 371 The Dead and the Living!

    <h4>Chapter 371 The Dead and the Living!</h4>

    Although Li Yundong was a little confused in his heart, he still thought to himself, "Since my fellows of Fox Zen School can enter and there is nothing wrong with them doing it, why can¡¯t I?"

    Although he thought this in his heart, he was still careful and did not stop Zi Yuan. He saw her taking out a folded talisman made from yellow paper out of her sleeve. After gently opening it, Li Yundong clearly recognized that it was a yellow paper man.

    Zi Yuan gently bit the tip of her finger and quickly wrote a Bloody Rune on the paper man. Then, without asking for Li Yundong¡¯s consent, she reached over and pulled out a single hair from his head. Li Yundong whimpered softly and stared at her. "Why did you pull out my hair?"

    Zi Yuan ignored him and puffed a breath of air at it. After a while, the paper man suddenly began emitting a faint yellow light and automatically flew into the air. Not long after, it actually took on Li Yundong¡¯s appearance.

    Li Yundong was stunned. "What kind of magic is this?"

    Su Chan pped her hands gently and eximed, "Is this the Liujia Yang Spirit Fu from the Liujia Book?"

    Zi Yuan looked at Su Chan in surprise and asked, "You know about this?"

    Su Chan grinned. "This is one of the minor spells that my master knows. I don¡¯t know too much about it, but what I do know is the Talisman of Liuding Yin Spirit, which is not as wonderful as yours. Hey, Ipeted with my master in intelligence and courage, and I also used the Talisman of Liuding Yin Spirit when I escaped Yan Fang¡¯s control."

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "Considering your magical power, it¡¯s amazing that you can use the Talisman of Liuding Yin Spirit."

    Su Chan giggled and replied, "I just think that this magic is fun, so I put all my heart into learning it. Other kinds of magic are not so fun, so I can¡¯t use them well."

    Li Yundong smiled, then tweaked Su Chan¡¯s nose and said, "Aren¡¯t you ashamed to say that?"

    Then, he turned to Zi Yuan and said, "Why didn¡¯t you use your own hair? Why mine?"

    Zi Yuan said indifferently, "You are more annoying..."

    Hearing this, Li Yundong was aggrieved. He turned his head and whispered to Su Chan, "Am I really so annoying?"

    Su Chan giggled and pulled a funny face at Li Yundong. She nodded hard and said, "Yep, you¡¯re that annoying!"

    Li Yundong was so angry that he red at Su Chan and said, "Okay, I¡¯ll teach you a lesson when we get back! You are only getting more and more naughty!"

    The little girl rolled her eyes, held Li Yundong¡¯s arm with a smile, and said coyly, "Sir, you wouldn¡¯t really want to do that, would you? Your girl is the best!"

    When Zi Yuan saw that the two were being so intimate with each other without caring about their surroundings, she whispered helplessly, "Hey, do you think we¡¯re at home right now?"

    Li Yundong and Su Chan finally came back to their senses. They looked at each other and smiled at the same time.

    Li Yundong was thick-skinned. He cheekily said to Zi Yuan, "Zhenren Zi Yuan, please lead the way!"

    Zi Yuan had never seen anyone as bold as Li Yundong. She rolled her eyes at him and urged the Liujia Yang Spirit Fu to enter the temple. Then, she followed the paper man at a distance of about ten meters.

    By this time, it waste at night, and the surroundings were terribly quiet. There was only the sound of insects chirping, and even the rustling of the puppet¡¯s walking could be heard clearly.

    Li Yundong, Zi Yuan, and Su Chan followed the dummy for a while. They walked along the wall and hid in the shadows. The dummy walked aboveboard on the main road, passing the Taiji wall and the main hall. As they were walking to the side hall, they suddenly heard some faint sounds drifting over on the night wind.

    Although the voices were weak, Li Yundong could vaguely recognize that one was the voice of an old man, and the other was the deeper voice of a younger man, probably middle-aged.

    This old voice in particr sounded quite familiar to Li Yundong, as if he had heard it somewhere before.

    The hoarse voice spoke slowly, "How are you doing with refining your Diyuan Jindan?"

    "I still need some drugs!" the middle-aged man replied.

    "Weren¡¯t those tworge golden snakes enough?"

    "No!"

    "So what¡¯s missing?"

    "I still need..."

    Before the speaker had finished this sentence, Li Yundong, Su Chan, and Zi Yuan, who were listening attentively, saw a sh of white light sh in front of them at the same time. The dummy, which had been formed by Liujia Yang Spirit Fu at the front, was suddenly cut in the neck by a sharp weapon, and then the fake Li Yundong¡¯s head fell to the ground with a plop. Soon, the dummy began burning up and disintegrated with a bang.

    Although this voice was soft, it rang as clear as thunder in the darkness of the night.

    The two people who had just been talking to each other stopped mid-conversation!

    Li Yundong was so shocked that his jaw could only drop to the floor, and a burst of cool air gushed down his neck!

    Li Yundong felt a lingering fear in his heart. He couldn¡¯t help but touch his neck and secretly look at Zi Yuan with admiration. He thought to himself, "She is an experienced descendant of a well-known family. If she hadn¡¯t been careful just then, I would have died! I¡¯ve no idea what kind of magical weapon that was. It was so fierce and overbearing, so strong and sudden!"

    Zi Yuan opened her mouth and was about to speak, but her expression suddenly changed. She quickly took out another charm and infused it with her Zhenqi. Then, she waved it in front of them. Li Yundong suddenly saw a flowing transparent curtain of light be drawn around him.

    Su Chan whispered in surprise, "Seal of godness Nayan!"

    Li Yundong nced at her and said in a low voice, "What seal?"

    Su Chan leaned over to Li Yundong¡¯s ear and whispered, "It¡¯s an amulet of invisibility. We can see people outside, but they can¡¯t see us. It¡¯s one of the talismans from The Liujia Book." Then, the little girl proudly bragged, "I also know this magic!"

    Li Yundong suddenly understood. He smiled and touched Su Chan¡¯s nose softly as he said, "Little girl, you know a lot of things. Not bad. You deserve some praise!"

    The two of them were busy whispering to each other when suddenly Zi Yuan turned around and made a gesture for silence. "Don¡¯t make a sound!" she said in a low voice.

    Li Yundong and Su Chan immediately closed their mouths. They opened their eyes wide and saw a figure pushing the door open anding out of the side pce. The figure looked like a woman with a graceful figure. She was carrying antern, and her body was shrouded in dim yellow candlelight, getting closer and closer.

    Li Yundong saw that the woman¡¯s upper body was obscured by the gloomy night. He couldn¡¯t recognize her face, but her bearing seemed a little familiar. When she walked to the ce where the dummy made with Liujia Yang Spirit Fu had been killed, she stopped and looked around. The woman then bent down and picked up the Liujia Yang Spirit Fu that had been burned. She raised thentern and peered at it closely.

    At this point, Li Yundong and Su Chan could see the woman¡¯s face clearly through the moonlight. Her appearance gave off a sense of her being coquettish. If she was not the dead Mei Niang, who else could she be?

    Su Chan was so shocked that she almost cried out. Fortunately, she reacted in time and covered her mouth with both hands. Her eyes were wide open, as if she couldn¡¯t fathom why the dead Mei Niang was appearing in front of her again.

    Li Yundong was also stunned and eximed in his heart, "Mei Niang? Impossible. Wasn¡¯t she sucked dry? How could she havee here alive again? Is... is this also a fake?"

    He had just thought of this when he saw Mei Niang turning around and shouting loudly into the side hall, "There¡¯s no one here. It¡¯s just a half-burnt paper talisman!"

    Li Yundong heard her crisp voice and recognized it as none other than the voice of Mei Niang he had met before!

    Su Chan also leaned in close to him and said in a low voice, "It¡¯s Mei Niang! I remember this voice. It¡¯s Mei Niang!"

    Li Yundong took a deep breath. He felt like his mind was in a mess, but there was a faint light shining in the dark disarray. He seemed to have understood something, but when he thought about it, he felt that this light of understanding was surrounded by a thick fog of ignorance. He couldn¡¯t touch it no matter how hard he reached for it.

    Li Yundong was about to speak when he saw Zi Yuan turn her head. She red at Li Yundong and gestured for him to be quiet. Then, she sent a voice transmission, "Do you want to die? Don¡¯t speak! Now is the time for silence!"

    When Li Yundong saw Zi Yuan staring at him, he also red at Su Chan. Then, he moved his lips and silently mouthed, "Do you hear that? She is talking to you!"

    Su Chan quickly covered her mouth with her hands and stared at Li Yundong, not saying anything. Her eyes were full of grievances. The little girl thought pitifully in her heart, "You¡¯re the one Sister Zi Yuan is staring at. Why are you scolding me?"

    While the little girl was thinking this, she heard the deep voice of the middle-aged man from earliering from the wing room of the side pce. He said loudly, "It¡¯s midnight. I don¡¯t know which brother in the Tao is paying a visit. Why don¡¯t you show yourself?"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know how to use sound transmission, so he wrote on the back of Zi Yuan with his hand, "Should we reveal ourselves?"

    Zi Yuan rarely had skin-to-skin contact with men. She felt itchy on her back and was so ufortable that she instinctively wanted to twist her body to avoid Li Yundong¡¯s fingers. She waited for Li Yundong to repeat writing the message a few times before she understood what he meant, then raised her hand and waved at him.

    Li Yundong found it strange that Zi Yuan didn¡¯t agree with him, but he made up his mind to continue to lurk secretly. The three of them all hid their auras well, not letting them out at all.

    The middle-aged man asked again, but when there was no response, he simply sneered and said, "I think a person who dares to break into Gezao Sect at night will not be easy to deal with. Since you are here, why won¡¯t you dare to show yourself? Are you a turtle?"

    This middle-aged man was trying to provoke them. Upon hearing this, Li Yundong was secretly unhappy and thought to himself, "We¡¯re just here to find someone. We¡¯re not here to do anything bad. Why should we have to feel ashamed about it?"

    But as soon as this idea shed through his mind, a figure suddenly appeared in the dark, starry sky above.

    This person was holding an Obelisk of Fengchen in their hand. Her long hair was fluttering about like that of an immortal, and her skin was exquisite and translucent. Her face was as beautiful as jade, but there was a sharp glint between her brows, making her look extremely sharp and imposing.

    Li Yundong looked at her and was suddenly shocked. This person was none other than Yan Fang¡¯s Yang Spirit, which he had seen on Mount Tianlong. The Obelisk of Fengchen in her hand was also the Liuhe sword that he had used before!

    Su Chan was also so shocked that her mouth fell wide open, and her face showed a mix of strong excitement and anger. "Why is Yan Fang here? Where is my master? What did she do to my master?"

    Li Yundong and Su Chan were so shocked that their expressions changed in an instant. Meanwhile, the expression on Zi Yuan¡¯s face had turned as dark as water. She thought to herself, "As I expected, Second Shibo is hiding in our Fox Zen School. If I¡¯m not mistaken, what Su Chan saw just now was the figure of Second Shibo. However, what did Second Shiboe here for at such ate hour? Does she have any untoward intentions?"

    While the three of them were deep in thought, on the main peak of another famous Taoist mountain, The Lady of the Earthly Fire Zhang Ling suddenly opened her eyes and said with a stern look, "What a maniac. I finally found your whereabouts!"

 Chapter 372 How Many People Were There?

    <h4>Chapter 372 How Many People Were There?</h4>

    Zou Ping, who had been standing guard to one side all this time, asked hurriedly, "Master, did you find that madman?"

    Zhang Ling, The Lady of the Earthly Fire, said coldly, "Yes!"

    "Who is it!?" Zou Ping asked angrily. "Who dares to be so bold?"

    Zhang Ling said coldly, "I wondered who it was that dared to attack Mount Longhu with a lightning strike! I never expected that the man I was tracking would make a detour with me and finally return to Mount Gezao!"

    Zou Ping sucked in a breath. "External Alchemy? Gezao Sect? That is impossible!"

    Zhang Ling sneered. "Why is it impossible? Gezao Sect has always had conflicts with us, and they have beenpeting for the business of our sect. When the Renyuan Jindan appeared, some people from our sect also went to fight for it. No wonder Wan Zhen Yuan hates us. Humph, I¡¯m just amazed that Wan Zhen Yuan would do such a shameless thing!"

    "Then should we just let it go?" Zou Ping asked resentfully.

    Zhang Ling stood up and burst outughing. "How dare the little Gezao Sect bully us. Humph, Wan Zhen Yuan is literally asking for trouble! Let¡¯s go and hear his exnation!"

    At first, a happy expression spread over Zou Ping¡¯s face. However, she hesitated for a moment and asked, "Master, Gezao Sect is one of the major sects of External Alchemy. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea for us to do this. Should we inform our leader first?"

    Zhang Ling red at Zou Ping. "What¡¯s the matter with you? Do we really need to ask the sect leader about every little thing? I¡¯m the elder sister of the sect leader, so I can make decisions by myself. If Wan Zhenyuan dares toe to our Mountain Longhu, why can¡¯t we go to their Mount Gezao? If you don¡¯t want to go, I¡¯ll go by myself!"

    Then she snorted, turned into a sapphire blue light and flew away immediately.

    Zou Ping paused for a moment. Finally, she chose to chase after her master.

    On Mount Gezao, Li Yundong and the others were stunned when they saw Yan Fang. Li Yundong wrote Zi Yuan¡¯s back with his finger, "Did the Liuhe attack Liujia Yang Spirit Fu?"

    Zi Yuan looked back at Li Yundong and nodded slightly. She sent a voice transmission to Li Yundong, saying, "Yes!"

    Li Yundong wrote again, "Why don¡¯t we seize the sword, capture Yan Fang, and force her to tell us the whereabouts of Ao Wushuang?"

    Zi Yuan immediately said, "No. The details of the situation are not clear at the moment. We¡¯re better off doing nothing."

    As if to prove the words of Zi Yuan, Yan Fang looked at the side pce of Gezao Sect. She sneered and said, "Wan Zhen Yuan, when did you learn to use words to provoke others?"

    Soon, a man flew out of the side pce. He was dressed in Daopao and wearing a Tao Crown on his head, a fly-whisk in his left hand, and a curved ruler in his right. Li Yundong looked up and saw that the man was about 1.7 meters tall. He had a goatee, deep eyes, and a Roman nose, seemingly of mixed heritage. From his appearance, it seemed that he was about 40 years old.

    Li Yundong was surprised. "Could it be that this guy is the Master of Gezao Sect, Wan Zhenyuan?"

    As expected, the middle-aged man looked at Yan Fang with sharp eyes and said, "Yan Fang? You really didn¡¯t die. I didn¡¯t expect the rumors to be true! I think it¡¯s you who besieged Fox Zen School?"

    Yan Fang snorted coldly. "So what if I am?"

    Wan Zhenyuan smiled and saluted by joining his hands. "Zhenren Yan, you¡¯ve done a good job. I admire you!"

    Yan Fang snorted arrogantly.

    Wan Zhenyuan was unhappy to see her being so proud of his own territory, so he asked, "Zhenren Yan, I don¡¯t know why you are here at such ate hour. What¡¯s the matter?"

    Yan Fang nced around intentionally as the Liuhe Sword in her hand made a clear dragon¡¯s roar. She sneered and said, "I came here to catch a few mice."

    Wan Zhenyuan was furious. He frowned and shouted, "Zhenren Yan, I witnessed you endure humiliation for nine years in order to take revenge. That¡¯s why I respect you. Don¡¯t take it too far!"

    Yan Fangughed wildly. "You think I¡¯m being presumptuous? I cane to Mount Gezao whenever I want. What can you do to me?"

    Wan Zhenyuan was so angry that his face turned pale. His voice dripped with rage as he spat out the words, "Yan Fang, you are too conceited! Today, I¡¯ll make you pay for it!"

    Yan Fang only sarcastically replied, "Humph, you? Don¡¯t make meugh. I¡¯m afraid that you don¡¯t even know how many mice are infesting your mountain, do you?"

    After that, Yan Fang used her sword to point in the direction of Li Yundong, "Little sh*t,e out by yourself! Do you want me to cut off your head?"

    Hearing this, Su Chan was sincerely annoyed off and wanted to jump out. However, Li Yundong remained calm. He grabbed Su Chan and gestured at her not to be rash. Zi Yuan also nodded approvingly at Li Yundong and said over voice transmission, "Don¡¯t get overly excited. Yan Fang may not know where we are."

    As soon as she finished her words, someone jumped up from the wall behind them. This person stood on the yellow zed tiles of the wall, then saluted with joined hands and said, "Zhenren Yan, you are really sensitive. I¡¯m impressed!"

    Su Chan was shocked. As she nced up, Li Yundong and Zi Yuan also looked up. This short, fat man was Dang Qiang of Peni Sect, who had participated in the siege of Fox Zen School!

    When Yan Fang saw him, she immediately frowned. "Why are you here?"

    Dang Qiang smiled cheekily and touched his head, which had several scars on it "Why shouldn¡¯t it be me?" he asked. "Is there anyone else?"

    Yan Fang said in a low voice, "I¡¯m not talking about you!"

    Dang Qiang pped his forehead with a palm and said loudly, "Oh, I¡¯ve been fooled. I¡¯ve been fooled by your bluff. s, I¡¯m such an idiot!"

    With this, he turned around and shouted, "Hey, friends who are hiding, show yourselves quickly. I have exposed myself, so there is no reason for you guys to hide, right?"

    However, after he shouted, the sound was transmitted over a long distance, and only a series of insects responded to his voice.

    Dang Qiang turned around and said with a grin, "Zhenren Yan, look, there is no one!"

    Yan Fang sneered and said, "No one? Hum, is everyone who is hiding a ghost? Come out, don¡¯t hide! Don¡¯t make me force you toe out! It will only end up worse for you!"

    After that, she shook her hand, and the Liuhe Sword she was holding flew into the air with a buzz. One sword turned into two swords, and the two turned into four. After a short while, it turned into countless sharp swords hanging in the air, ready to strike. With a buzz, the swords made a menacing nging sound.

    Dang Qiang also turned around and howled, "D*mn it, what the f*ck are you hiding for? Do you want to show up only after ten thousand swords have pierced through your heart?"

    As soon as his voice fell, another person jumped up onto the wall not far away. Li Yundong and the others looked at him and saw that this person was slender and strong with two sword-shaped eyebrows. It was Du Fei, who was otherwise known as jade monkey-like face!

    Du Fei stood on the wall, saluted with joined hands, and said in a neutral tone, "Zhenren Yan is really domineering. You¡¯re even willing to use the ten thousand swords formation to force me to appear!"

    When Dang Qiang saw him, he immediately burst intoughter. "Yo, Zhenren Du, nice to meet you. Why are you here?"

    Li Yundong and Zi Yuan, who were standing in the corner, also felt tongue-tied and thought to themselves, "Yes, why did this guye?"

    Du Fei disliked the grin on Dang Qiang¡¯s face. He snorted and didn¡¯t look at him, just saluted to Wan Zhenyuan and said, "I¡¯m Du Fei from Quanzhen Dragon Sect!"

    One after another, they had jumped out of the walls of the Taoist temple from Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s own sect and he hadn¡¯t noticed it at all, making him feel humiliated. He reluctantly made obeisance and said with a fake smile, "Zhenren Du, why are you here at such ate hour?"

    Du Fei was a straightforward person. He was not good at socializing with people, nor was he good at beating around the bush. That said, he was not a fool. He didn¡¯t exin his purpose and instead turned to look at Yan Fang. "What are you doing here, Zhenren Yan?"

    Yan Fang hadn¡¯t realized that she had forced two unrted people toe out. It was really awkward and unexpected. She frowned and said coldly, "Why do I have to exin myself to you? Zhenren Du, did youe alone?"

    Du Fei snorted, "Of course! Do you think I still have allies?"

    Yan Fangughed and said, "How would I know!" After that, she took a quick, sharp breath and shouted fiercely, "Show yourselves!"

    This loud shout was imbued with the power of Xuanmen Sect, which caused the surrounding mountains and earth to tremble as it echoed through them!

    Li Yundong¡¯s cultivation was outstanding and his foundation was stable. Apparently, he was able to block the vocal attack, but he knew that Su Chan could not do the same. He immediately covered her ears, and Dang Qiang on the wall behind them immediately fell down. Du Fei¡¯s body also trembled, and his face suddenly turned from a reddish-gold hue to pure gold and finally to normal.

    Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s body also trembled slightly. He said with a cold expression, "Yan Fang, you are too presumptuous. This is the ancestral temple of our sect! It¡¯s not your ce to yell at!"

    Yan Fang sneered and said, "You don¡¯t know how many people havee here! Your ancestral temple is like a vegetable garden. It¡¯s ridiculous!"

    As soon as she finished speaking, people started jumping onto the wall one by one, all looking pale. Some of them thumped their chests with their hands, and some saluted and shouted out the names of their sects.

    "I¡¯m Zhang Hongcheng from Jinshan Sect!"

    "I¡¯m Chen Anji from Donghua Sect. Nice to meet you, Master Wan and Zhenren Yan."

    "Zhenren Yan, Master Wan, I¡¯m Ning Shouke from Yuyang Sect."

    Li Yundong, Su Chan, and Zi Yuan were shocked to see the cultivators jumped out from the walls one after another like that. Li Yundong thought, "Oh my god, how many people are hiding outside the sect? I thought that we were the only ones visiting Gezao Sect, but there are actually so manypanions!"

    There were about a dozen people in total. Finally, an old man with white hair and a youthful face led over a beautiful young woman and jumped on the wall with her. He saluted and said to the people around him with a smile, "I¡¯m Zheng Yuan from Yin Yang Sect based in Mount Wuhua, and this is my little disciple, Lyu Fengping."

    When Li Yundong saw him, he immediately frowned, and a murderous light appeared in his eyes. When he saw Ding Nan, who was beside him, he only frowned even more tightly. "Is Ding Nan going to go farther and farther down this wrong road of no return?" he wondered.

    When Su Chan saw Zheng Yuan, she also widened her eyes and tugged on Li Yundong¡¯s arm. Then, she wrote in his palm, "It¡¯s Zheng Yuan. What should we do?"

 Chapter 373 The Second Renyuan Jindan!

    <h4>Chapter 373 The Second Renyuan Jindan!</h4>

    Li Yundong patted Su Chan¡¯s hand and shook his head slightly, writing in reply, "Let¡¯s stay calm. We¡¯ll wait and see what happens."

    Yan Fang hadn¡¯t been expecting that she would make so many peoplee and so she was also in a daze. For a long time, she did not speak, her face gloomy.

    In contrast, Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s expression became veryplicated. He was shocked that there had been so many people hiding under his nose. With a ghastly expression, he said, "Who else is here? Come out together!"

    At this time, the stocky Dang Qiang slowly climbed up from the wall and said, "Me! Me!"

    Wan Zhenyuan was so angry that he couldn¡¯t contain himself. He immediately waved his hand, and a gust of wind suddenly burst from his sleeve, knocking Dang Qiang off the wall again.

    On the wall, the cultivators from different sects were standing in a row andughing in unison.

    However, Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s face had turned pale. He shouted, "Do you really think of our Gezao Sect as some vegetable farm? How dare you be so presumptuous! Who else is here? Come out!"

    As soon as he finished speaking, a cold voice rang through the air. A young woman and a young girl fell descended from the sky. They were both dressed in Daopao, one with her hands folded in her sleeves, and the other wearing a long sword on her back.

    The woman stared at Wan Zhenyuan coldly and said, "Wan Zhenyuan, I¡¯m the one who is being presumptuous. What are you going to do to me?"

    Wan Zhenyuan took a closer look at the woman and took a deep breath. His face was full of surprise, and the expression on Yan Fang, who was not far away, had also changed.

    Li Yundong knew that the beautiful girl next to the woman was Zou Ping, but he saw that the woman next to Zou Ping was merely in-looking with a particrly conspicuous red cinnabar mole between her eyebrows. Though Wan Zhenyuan and Yan Fang had seen so many people jump out before, they had never been so shocked. Their expressions suddenly changed when they saw this woman, which clearly indicated that she was not an ordinary person.

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but ask Zi Yuan by writing on her back, "Who is she?"

    Zi Yuan also looked serious. She said to Li Yundong using her internal power, "This is Zhang Ling, the elder sister of patriarch Zhang Tianshi of Zhengyi School. She is also known as the Lady of the Earthly Fire!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s expression suddenly transformed. He quickly wrote on Zi Yuan¡¯s back, "Is she the person who shouted loudly at Mount Longhu before?"

    Zi Yuan nodded to Li Yundong.

    Li Yundong¡¯s expression suddenly turned grave. When he had struck Mount Longhu with thunder, Zhang Ling had shouted angrily, almost making Li Yundong, who was on the side peak, jump up from the ground. This kind of cultivation quotient was truly powerful!

    Such a cultivation quotient was simply terrifying!

    Li Yundong thought to himself, "If I fight her head on, I will have less than a 30% chance of winning!"

    Su Chan, the little fox, suddenly found that there were so many masters of Taoists¡¯ cultivators surrounding her. She was so scared that she could scarcely breathe. She held Li Yundong tightly with her hands, fearing that he would disappear in the next second.

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart was beating like a drum. "Is Zhang Ling chasing me? If she took the initiative to mess with me, and Yan Fang also joined in, I¡¯m afraid that today they will take me to meet my maker right here!" he thought.

    "It wouldn¡¯t matter if I were to die, but what about my girl? What if Zi Yuan gets implicated?"

    Li Yundong ran through everything quickly in his mind. Just as he was getting lost in thought, the situation suddenly changed.

    Zhang Ling¡¯s appearance made Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s expression change. He looked at Zhang Ling vigntly and said in a low voice, "It turns out that the Lady of the Earthly Fire hase. I¡¯m sorry for my rudeness."

    Zhang Ling sneered but stayed silent. Zou Ping, who was standing next to her, yelled, "Don¡¯t try to fool us. Tell me, where were you before midnight?"

    Wan Zhenyuan had already been feeling bad enough earlier. There had been so many people hiding under his watch and he hadn¡¯t noticed, and now there was another girl pointing and shouting at him. No normal person could bear this humiliation, let alone a sect leader.

    Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s rage had reached its peak. He shouted angrily, "Who are you? How dare you shout at me!"

    Zou Ping was so angry that her face was flushed. Just as she was about to speak, Zhang Ling raised her hand and stopped her. Zou Ping red at Wan Zhenyuan angrily and then stood behind Zhang Ling, still ring at him.

    Zhang Ling kept looking at Wan Zhenyuan and asked coldly, "Master Wan, didn¡¯t you just ask me to show myself? Well, I¡¯m here now. What do you want to do?"

    Being questioned in such a strange way, Wan Zhenyuan was naturally vexed, but he was very afraid of Zhang Ling¡¯s strength, so he suppressed his anger and replied, "You must be joking, mydy. Why have youe sote?"

    With a snort, she stared sharply at Wan Zhenyuan and said, "I have no other business here than discovering where you were before midnight."

    Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s face changed, "Zhang Ling, do you think I¡¯m a prisoner?"

    Zhang Ling sneered in response and said, "If you were innocent, why would you say that?"

    Wan Zhenyuan couldn¡¯t control his anger anymore. The veins on his forehead were throbbing. He struggled to stifle his rage as he said in a low voice, "I don¡¯t need to tell you where I was before midnight."

    Zhang Ling didn¡¯t want to tell others how the thunder had struck Mount Longhu as well, in case the many people here wouldugh at her, so she kept enquiring about the whereabouts of Wan Zhenyuan during the first half of the night.

    At first, she had some doubt in her heart, but when she saw that Wan Zhenyuan was hiding something from her and directly refusing to tell her where he was before midnight, her suspicion grew. She was now sure that it was Wan Zhenyuan who had struck Mount Longhu with thunder.

    Zhang Ling raised her head and burst outughing. "If you don¡¯t want others to ask what you¡¯re up to, then don¡¯t do anything devious in the first ce! By refusing to answer such a simple question, it can be seen that you have something hidden in your heart. You must be shocked to hear that I already know what you have done!"

    Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s face changed dramatically. His Zhenqi gushed out of his body, surrounded by purple mist. He said murderously, "What do you know?"

    Seeing the fierce expression on Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s face, Zhang Ling shouted, "Wan Zhenyuan, you¡¯re finally admitting it! Well, let me try you out today!"

    After saying that, she took her red hands out of the wide sleeves of her Daopao.

    Zhang Ling pped violently. With a loud bang, the ground under her feet began breaking up into countless cracks. Through these cracks, one could faintly see dark red mes rolling and surging from under the ground. Countless mes jumped up from the ground and gathered between Zhang Ling¡¯s palms, forming a burning dragon!

    On the wall, the cultivators from different sects all took a deep breath as shock swept over them. "What¡¯s going on? Why are they fighting with each other without any build-up?"

    Zheng Yuan also began to y the part of a mediator. "The Lady of the Earthly Fire, Master Wan, may I bother you? Please don¡¯t fight now. What¡¯s going on here? Let¡¯s figure it out first."

    Zhang Ling was so arrogant that she wouldn¡¯t ept anyone except her brother. She simply shouted at Zheng Yuan, "It¡¯s none of your business. Shut up!"

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s expression changed, and a ferocious look shed across his eyes, but he quickly controlled himself. He said to Wan Zhenyuan with a big, fake smile, "Master Wan, if you have something to say, let¡¯s sit down and discuss it. Why do you have to fight?"

    Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s face was gloomy. He cast his unfriendly gaze at the row of cultivators on the wall and sneered, "Have a talk? Well, tell me what you came here for tonight. If you don¡¯t make it clear, none of you will leave alive today!"

    Hearing Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s words, the faces of these cultivators all changed. Some of the more bad-tempered ones immediately broke out cursing. With that, Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s face only became more and more ferocious and murderous.

    Seeing the worrying way things were going, Dang Qiang quickly rolled his eyes and shouted at Yan Fang, "Zhenren Yan, do you want to take advantage of us by forcing us out?"

    Yan Fang hadn¡¯t expected her shout to force so many people out. She saw that the situation on the stage was growing more and more chaotic, and she had indeed had the intention to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, taking advantage of the situation, but when she heard Dang Qiang¡¯s words, her hope was destroyed, and she was also pulled into the chaotic situation. She couldn¡¯t help cursing, "Bullsh*t! What the hell are you talking about!"

    Dang Qiang sniffed andughed loudly, "It stinks, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s bullsh*t. It was you who forced us out just now, so there were so many things happening!"

    Wan Zhenyuan couldn¡¯t help shouting, "Why have so many of youe to our Gezao Sect sote at night! Last time someone came here to snatch the Renyuan Jindan. Isn¡¯t that enough already? Do you really think our sect is so easy to bully?"

    Dang Qiang grinned and said, "Don¡¯t speak so loudly, Master Wan. You are right. We came here just for the Renyuan Jindan!"

    Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s pallor changed as he angrily spat, "You have already taken the pill! Why are you here again?"

    At this time, Du Fei suddenly opened his mouth and said, "Master Wan, to be honest, I heard recently that the second Renyuan Jindan is about to be produced in Gezao Sect, so I came to your home to discover the truth."

    As soon as Du Fei finished saying this, the cultivators from other sects also started nodded and said, "Yes, we heard the rumors, so we came to have a look. If there is a second Renyuan Jindan, we¡¯re willing to buy it at a high price!"

    "That¡¯s right. How much is it? Name a price!"

    "Yes, we can also exchange powerful magical weapons with you, whatever you want!"

    Hearing the moring of these cultivators, Wan Zhenyuan couldn¡¯t help but raise his head and burst intoughter. His smile made the purple Qi on his face denser and denser, as if he waspletely shrouded in a thick purple fog.

    He smiled for a while, then looked at Zhang Ling coldly. "You are here to make trouble over nothing!" Then he looked at Yan Fang, saying, "And you¡¯re here to get others into trouble!"

    As he spoke, he nced at the row of cultivators and sneered, "And you all, you are here to steal from me!"

    A purple mist spewed out of Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s nose. Gradually, the purple mist surrounding him slowly turned into the pattern of the Eight-Diagram-Shaped Appetizer. He shook the fly-whisk in his hand and said in a ferocious voice, "You¡¯ve stolen a Renyuan Jindan, and that cannot sate your greed! Well, very well! It seems that you really don¡¯t take me seriously! None of you will be leaving here alive today!"

    After saying that, he swung the fly-whisk in his hand, and with a loud bang, two gusts of strong wind shot fiercely towards Zhang Ling and Yan Fang at the same time.

    Zhang Ling saw that the strong wind was abnormally fierce. If she was hit, it would be no different from colliding with a steel mace. She shouted, "Come on!" With a wave of her hand, a fiery dragon suddenly pounced towards Wan Zhenyuan.

    Yan Fang sneered and didn¡¯t move at all. The Liuhe swords behind her blocked the gale with a ng, then turned into countless flying swords, lunging towards Wan Zhenyuan.

    The scene had been plunged into chaos!

 Chapter 374 Lets Watch Them Fight!

    <h4>Chapter 374 Let¡°s Watch Them Fight!</h4>

    All of the sects¡¯ cultivators were shocked at seeing the trio fighting. Some also took action, trying to persuade them to stop. Du Fei raised the golden stick in his hand and threw it at Yan Fang¡¯s flying sword and he yelled, "Calm down! Let¡¯s discuss this peacefully!"

    Seeing how chaotic the situation had gotten, Zheng Yuan smiled sinisterly and used two ox-hair needles to stab the cultivator next to him secretly.

    These cultivators hadn¡¯t expected that this kind-eyed person with silver hair and a ruddyplexion to be so cruel and ruthless, and instantly several of them fell prey to his trap.

    Some of them had a grudge against each other even in ordinary times. Having been secretly provoked at that moment, they immediately began shouting in astonishment. They looked at each other for a few seconds before all beginning to fight.

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s heart was bursting with joy, but he put on an act and shouted, "Don¡¯t fight, everybody. We¡¯re all cultivators here. Let¡¯s keep our cool." However, he was ying despicable tricks all along, making the situation more and more chaotic.

    Ding Nan observed the chaotic situation and whispered, "Master, what, what is going on?"

    Zheng Yuan said with an evil smile, "Isn¡¯t it great? The more chaotic the situation is, the easier it will be for us to fish in troubled waters! My good disciple, don¡¯t you want Renyuan Jindan?"

    Ever since Ding Nan had joined Zheng Yuan¡¯s sect, she had heard a lot of stories about the cultivation world, especially about the time when the Renyuan Jindan had been above worldly considerations and the time when Li Yundong had begun to rise to face. Ding Nan realized that Li Yundong had taken the Renyuan Jindan to make such a big change.

    "Li Yundong was suddenly able to be so powerful after taking Renyuan Jindan. What about me? If I also became an outstanding cultivator, would Li Yundong think highly of me from then on?"

    At the thought of this, Ding Nan¡¯s heart began beating wildly.

    Li Yundong was stunned. He had never thought that a chaotic situation would be caused just by him going to Linggong Sect with Zi Yuan to get the Five Thunder Jade Books and then following a Shibo from the Fox Zen School to Mount Gezao!

    He couldn¡¯t help but look at Zi Yuan, hoping to ask her what they should do now. However, when he turned his head, he could see that Zi Yuan was also dumbfounded and speechless, gawping at the scene. It was obvious that she was helpless and had no idea how to deal with the current situation either.

    Su Chan pulled on Li Yundong¡¯s arm. She was not afraid of being heard in the midst of such chaos, so she lowered her voice and risked saying, "Yundong, what should we do now?"

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly in his heart. "You tell me."

    But just as he was about to reply, he noticed that Mei Niang, who had already been weak at the knees, was taking advantage of the cultivators being distracted by fighting one another and not paying attention to her. He watched as she slowly moved to the corner and got ready to run away.

    Li Yundong considered things for a second, then pointed at Mei Niang and whispered, "Grab Mei Niang first and ask what is going on!"

    Zi Yuan nodded. "Makes sense, but it¡¯s not easy to make a move here. Let¡¯s follow her for now and wait until she is alone to take action!"

    Li Yundong agreed and began slowly walking towards Mei Niang with Su Chan.

    But Mei Niang seemed to have never experienced such a chaotic scene. She was so scared that her legs were shaking. She leaned against the wall and used it for support as she moved step by step, being extremely slow. Li Yundong saw that although she was leaning against the wall, she remained in the area of the battlefield and couldn¡¯t get out of their sight.

    Li Yundong thought, "Are you staying there to wait for death? Stupid chicken! Swords don¡¯t have eyes, let alone the ability to settle a score!"

    As he was thinking this, he suddenly saw Yan Fang give a loud shout. Her fingers quickly pinched as they cast a few spells, and Zhenqi from all over her body poured out like a waterfall, causing her ck hairs to stand up one by one and the corners of her clothes to dance wildly.

    The Liuhe behind Yan Fang shot into the vast starry sky in an instant and turned into a small star. Following that, there was an ear-piercing sound of the sword in the sky, like the roar of a dragon from the Ninth Heaven. When everyone looked up, they saw the stars in the sky suddenly begin to shake. Then, these stars turned brighter and brighter, and the distant lights turned bigger and bigger, as if all of the stars were falling down!

    Some cultivators shouted in horror at the sight of this. "This is the ultimate skill of Linggong Sect, sky-cracked sword. Run, everyone!"

    Some weak cultivators immediately made themselves scarce, while others used their powerful magical weapons to protect themselves. Wan Zhenyuan snorted and waved a curved ruler in his hand to create a long river of purple mist above his head, which was densely gathered, like a city wall.

    Zhang Ling mmed her hands, causing countless cracks to appear in the ground with a boom. A red light was rolling from between these cracks, likeva surging. She grabbed with her fingers, produced a boiling magmatic me from the cracks in the ground, and then pped her palms toward the rain of swords falling through the air!

    Faced with such a terrifying sword rain, although Li Yunddong, Zi Yuan and Su Chan were not in the court, he could still feel the sharp sword Qi approaching, and his skin was covered with goosebumps!

    This sword rain was much fiercer than the one he had encountered while fighting with Du Fei before. Besides, both the intensity and range of the attacks were not at the same level.

    "Amazing! What kind of magic is this?" Li Yundong was shocked. Although he had an extremely powerful Fan of Seven Treasures and Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡, which could be used to fight in closebat, he couldn¡¯t use this kind of magic with arge-scale, powerful level of lethality, apart from the unmastered Five Thunder Spell.

    "Sky-cracked sword was created by the Patriarch of Linggong Sect. It¡¯s one of the sword spells, which can only be used by the one holding the magical sword," said Zi Yuan solemnly.

    "Why?" Li Yundong asked, confused.

    Zi Yuan exined quickly, "Although there are numerous magical items in this world, each magic item has its own strong point. In terms of the number of powerful magical items, the immortal¡¯s sword is worthy of being called the king of magical items! Whether it is the Five Immortals¡¯ Swords of Taoists or the Four Shie Swords of Buddhism, they are all top-notch magical items."

    As they were talking, the countless flying swords in the sky continued to descend at the speed of light.

    Li Yundong and the others leaned into one corner, almost in a blind spot. They were sessfully avoiding the majority of the impact of the sword rain, but there were still a few longswords falling toward them asionally.

    Li Yundong caught a glimpse of one of the swords leaping toward his face like a streak of lightning. He subconsciously wanted to grab with his hand, but was pulled by Zi Yuan and pushed aside. Li Yundong only had time to turn his head before he heard a noisy ng. The long sword had buried itself next to his head and was swaying in the wall, making a buzzing sound.

    Su Chan was so terrified that she felt a chille over her body. She stared at the sword which was protruding from its hole less than an inch away from her face. The little girl¡¯s eyes widened with horror as she stared at this longsword, almost bing cross-eyed.

    Li Yundong was about tofort her, but he suddenly spotted that there was a white light shing towards Mei Niang. He panicked immediately and blurted, "No, Mei Niang!"

    Zi Yuan and Su Chan immediately turned their heads to see what was going on. They saw Mei Niang staring in shock at a longsword that was heading straight for her. She was too frightened to even try to dodge.

    "God, Mei Niang is dead meat!" This thought shed quickly through Li Yundong¡¯s mind. Before he could even move, he noticed a figure shing quickly beside him. This man waved his hand violently at the sword, causing a gust of wind to fly from his sleeve. With a burst of force, the long sword was blown away.

    Li Yundong took a closer look and saw that the man was strong, with a strong back and a stocky waist, standing at about 1.85 meters. He was wearing a Daopao. Although the clothes wererge, it couldn¡¯t resist the explosive force from the inside out.

    He shed over to Mei Niang¡¯s side and quickly carried her to a side pce.

    Li Yundong said without hesitation, "Follow him!"

    The three of them had no time to worry about being discovered by the others as they immediately began running after the man.

    When Li Yundong saw the man enter the side pce, he was about to follow him, but then he suddenly saw the man turn back to hit him with a palm!

    All of a sudden, Li Yundong¡¯s Zhenqi burst out. He raised his hand and made a Fixed Fundamental Palm with which to intercept the attack.

    With a boom, the two palms collided. As a loud buzzing sound began, the air around them shook sharply. Li Yundong and the man¡¯s palms began emitting red light at the same time, as if there was a sh of lightning in the side pce. Using this light, Li Yundong took in the appearance and figure of the man.

    The man looked to be about 30 years old, tall and handsome, upright and extraordinary. Although it seemed that he was a stranger, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help feeling that he was somehow familiar.

    Once Li Yundong had made another Mahamudra, the man twisted his body strangely, making Li Yundong¡¯s mind sh. He blurted loudly, "You are the person who peeked at the Heavenly Jindan Technique in the stone room of Fox Zen School!"

    The man didn¡¯t answer Li Yundong, simply slipping past him. He was holding Mei Niang in his arms, so it was inconvenient for him to exert his full strength and fight Li Yundong. Furthermore, Zi Yuan and Su Chan were also by his side.

    The man hit Li Yundong with a palm while still holding Mei Niang in his arms, then quickly took advantage of the power of Li Yundong¡¯s palm to fly backward like a cannonball. In the process of retreating, he suddenly shifted Mei Niang from carrying her horizontally to having her on his shoulder.

    Mei Niang screamed and couldn¡¯t help but yell, "You d*mned man..."

    Before she could finish her sentence, the man pointed at her and Mei Niang¡¯s voice stopped abruptly.

    Seeing that he was about to run off with Mei Niang, Li Yundong realized he wouldn¡¯t be able to find an answer to his countless questions if he was sessful. Without thinking, he immediately said to Zi Yuan and Su Chan, "Quickly, don¡¯t let him get away. Follow him!"

    Zi Yuan and Su Chan responded in unison. As soon as they moved, they saw the man suddenly turn around and throw out a golden rope.

    Li Yundong saw the rope rushing towards them. He didn¡¯t know what kind of magical item it was and just snorted at the sight of it. He quickly made the sign of Divyadundubhi Meghanirghosa with his hands, pping toward the rope.

    But as soon as he did this, Zi Yuan shouted in shock, "Stop! This is a fairy-tied rope!"

    As her words rang out, the fairy-tied rope touched Li Yundong¡¯s Mahamudra. The golden rope was shaken by the Mahamudra, and then turned into a streak of golden lightning. It quickly tied Li Yundong, Zi Yuan and Su Chan together.

 Chapter 375 Fairy-tied Rope!

    <h4>Chapter 375 Fairy-tied Rope!</h4>

    The man who had thrown out the fairy-tied rope saw that Li Yundong and others were tied up and could no longer chase after him. He snorted and headed into the backyard with Mei Niang on his shoulder, leaving quickly.

    Li Yundong had never seen this fairy-tied rope before, so he had ended up identally getting tied up as soon as he touched it. Su Chan and Zi Yuan were inevitably tied up too.

    Su Chan could see that golden light was shing in front of her eyes, then her body was suddenly pushed, and before she knew it she was being pressed together with her leader. Their faces and noses were touching. Zi Yuan also hadn¡¯t escaped this trap. Though she had tried to quickly move, she had been unable to escape the binding. Finally, she was tied together with Li Yundong and Su Chan, and they all stared at each other in shock.

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart was filled with frustration. He looked very helpless as he watched the man carry Mei Niang off and escape. He subconsciously took a step forward to chase after them, forgetting that he was tied up with Su Chan and Zi Yuan. When he took a step forward, Su Chan and Zi Yuan immediately cried out at the same time. Their bodies tangled and they all fell to the ground heavily like andslide.

    Since the time of Zi Yuan¡¯s birth, she had never once been in such an awkward situation. Fortunately, they were all tied up within the side hall. As all the side hall¡¯s doors were only half-closed, they could clearly hear the sounds of fighting outside, but the cultivators outside couldn¡¯t see what was happening to them, and so at least Zi Yuan didn¡¯t die from shame.

    Zi Yuan struggled to suppress her anger. "Li Yundong! Why were you touching this fairy-tied rope? Didn¡¯t you know that it couldn¡¯t be touched? What¡¯s the matter with you!"

    Li Yundong pressed one cheek against the ice-cold ground and forced a smile over the other side of his face. Heughed dryly and said, "I¡¯m really sorry, Zi Yuan, I really didn¡¯t know about this thing. Do you have any idea how to get us out? Please hurry up and take this fairy-tied rope away. It¡¯s almost killing me!"

    Then Li Yundong struggled for a moment. As he struggled, his hands and feet couldn¡¯t help moving, thus his hand repeatedly touched Su Chan¡¯s waist and armpits, making herugh loudly. She twisted her body and moved considerably, constantly squeezing Li Yundong¡¯s body to Zi Yuan¡¯s side. Seeing that Li Yundong¡¯s arm was getting closer and closer to her chest, Zi Yuan quickly twisted her body away in horror to avoid his touch.

    They struggled like this for a while, and the fairy-tied rope wound tighter and tighter. Before long, they found themselves being choked out of breath and feeling miserable.

    Zi Yuan was so anxious that her forehead was covered with sweat. She hurriedly shouted with difficulty, "Stop! Don¡¯t move! The more we struggle, the tighter we¡¯ll be bound!"

    Li Yundong immediately stopped and breathed heavily, "I, I wasn¡¯t moving. Su Chan! Stop moving now!"

    Su Chan¡¯s face turned red. She struggled to say, "I didn¡¯t want to move. It¡¯s you who was touching my waist and tickling me!"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpining, "Can¡¯t you just endure it for a while if something is ticklish?"

    Su Chan cried out aggrievedly, "I can¡¯t help it, it¡¯s not your waist! Besides, you should have stopped moving first!"

    Li Yundong cried in response, "Stop saying that! Whose knee was pressing into my crotch? F*ck, do you want me to die childless?"

    As he spoke, he red at Su Chan. "Is it you? Do you want to murder your dear boyfriend?"

    Su Chan quickly shook her head. "No, no, it wasn¡¯t me."

    Li Yundong felt reluctant but shifted his gaze to Zi Yuan¡¯s face. Seeing him looking at her, Zi Yuan¡¯s face turned bright red and she red back at him. "You put your elbows on my chest first. You deserve it!"

    Li Yundong was suddenly stunned. He looked down and saw that his elbow really was pressed against Zi Yuan¡¯s chest, making a concave dip in her breasts.

    Li Yundong smiled awkwardly. "I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to do it. The situation we¡¯re in is a littleplex, ahem, a littleplex, you know."

    As he spoke, he struggled to lean back and tried to withdraw his elbow. But when he moved, the fairy-tied rope only tightened further, and Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t stand it any longer. She shouted to him, "Don¡¯t move! If it tightens again, we will be strangled to death!"

    "Okay," Li Yundong said, putting back his elbow hurriedly. However, itnded exactly on a sensitive point of Zi Yuan¡¯s breast.

    Zi Yuan was ashamed and angry, and half of her body had gone limp after this touch. She said in a trembling voice, "Please don¡¯t move anymore, okay?"

    Li Yundong gave a hollowugh, and then red at Su Chan. "Did you hear that? Don¡¯t move!"

    Su Chan protested in a loud voice, "Obviously, you were the only one moving just now. You¡¯re always ming me! It¡¯s so unfair!"

    Li Yundong prodded the little girl¡¯s nose with his forehead and pretended to be angry. "Nonsense. You are my girl. All my love and me is reserved solely for you."

    Upon hearing this, Su Chan¡¯s anger immediately subsided and her heart was filled with happiness. Sheughed sweetly and said, "Bah, who¡¯s your girl? How shameless!"

    When Zi Yuan saw that they were actually flirting shamelessly in such a situation, she immediately felt a sense of hopelessness towards the situation wash over her. She even couldn¡¯t vent her anger and just helplessly said, "Please, can we get out of this fairy-tied rope before you start flirting?"

    Li Yundong turned his head, wanting to talk to her, but the rope was so tight that he couldn¡¯t even twist his neck. As soon as he turned his face, his lips rubbed against the tip of Zi Yuan¡¯s nose. Zi Yuan suddenly blushed and burned with anger. "I told you not to move, didn¡¯t you hear me?"

    Li Yundong now had no choice but to turn his face to the other side. He looked at Su Chan and said, sounding aggrieved, "My girl, you are always by my side. I can only talk to you now."

    Su Chan hadn¡¯t noticed that they were in a dangerous situation at all. She felt that it was all very fun and exciting to be tied up with Li Yundong. She said with a broad grin, "Okay, I¡¯ll never abandon you!"

    When Zi Yuan saw that they were still flirting with each other shamelessly, she couldn¡¯t help but let out a depressed groan. "Oh my God, what have I done? I can¡¯t stand this anymore!"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t dare to try moving anymore. He couldn¡¯t help but say, "Zi Yuan, don¡¯tin. We¡¯re all tied up together here. You always have some kind of n, can¡¯t you think of something to help us find a way out of this?"

    "What can I do?" Zi Yuan said angrily. "Fairy-tied rope is a strong magical weapon created by Ju Liusun. It¡¯s very, very powerful! The higher a cultivator¡¯s Cultivation Quotient is, the more he ought to fear this powerful magical weapon. Usually, cultivators will try to avoid it by any means, but you were so bold as to reach out and touch it!"

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly. "How was I supposed to know! Why didn¡¯t you tell me earlier?"

    "I didn¡¯t even get a chance to say anything before you¡¯d already touched it," Zi Yuanined.

    Li Yundong knew that his Cultivation was still shallow. He knew quite a lot of theories regarding Cultivation, but had little knowledge of magical items. Since he was in the wrong, he smiled awkwardly. He then winked at Su Chan and changed the subject. "By the way, who is Ju Liusun? Was that Ju Liusun?"

    Seeing Li Yundong winking at her, Su Chan cooperated with him and said, "Of course not. Ju Liusun is one of the Twelve Immortals of Taoism. If that man was Ju Liusun, all of us here would already have been defeated by him!"

    Li Yundong was very curious. "Then why did that guy have the fairy-tied rope?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s breasts had been being pressed by his elbow all this time and she could feel her chest going numb. There was a sensation of indescribable difort all over her body and she was growing ever more annoyed in her heart. She couldn¡¯t help giving Li Yundong a hateful expression as she said, "Don¡¯t you still have the Fan of Seven Treasures? That¡¯s the magical item of Grandmaster Pan Shi! Some of these magical items have been passed down over one or two thousand years. Isn¡¯t it normal for them to have fallen into other people¡¯s hands by now?"

    Li Yundong seemed to be aware of why Zi Yuan was annoyed. He didn¡¯t dare to answer Zi Yuan¡¯s question and only smiled dryly. "Sister Shenxian, at least you can think of a way to get us out of here. Do you want us to be tied up like this all the time? There must be a way to get out of this mess!"

    Zi Yuan tamped down her anger enough to reply, "There are only two ways to escape. One is if the owner of the magical item chants a certain incantation, which will make the rope automatically undo itself."

    As she spoke, Zi Yuan only felt her difort deepen and she struggled to take a deep breath. When she did take a breath, her chest rose sharply and her breasts touched Li Yundong¡¯s elbow again! Li Yundong could feel it clearly. He felt embarrassed and awkward, but he did not dare to show any expression on his face. He smiled bitterly as he said, "This one method can be skipped. I don¡¯t think that guy will show us any mercy. Let¡¯s just talk about the next one."

    After Zi Yuan exhaled, she felt that something was wrong. Her face turned red as she red at Li Yundong, then continued, "There¡¯s no need to say anything about the next one. The fairy-tied rope cannot be cut with any knife or sword and is impervious to water and fire. Only Heavenly Thunder can strike it. Do you think that if Heavenly Thunderes down on this rope, the poor souls who are tied up within will be spared?"

    Li Yundong inhaled a sharp breath of cold air. "Oh God. So we are just waiting here for death?"

    Su Chan¡¯s face had also turned ashen. She clutched the corner of Li Yundong¡¯s clothes tightly. "Yundong, are we going to die together?"

    Li Yundong hurriedly spat, "Bah, you jinx. Nonsense! How can you say such unlucky words! Don¡¯t talk rubbish anymore. There must be a way!" As he said this, he didn¡¯t move his neck, but his eyes were straining to look in the direction of Zi Yuan.

    The expression on his face was very funny. Although they were in trouble at that moment, Zi Yuan could not help butugh and smile at his ridiculous actions as he struggled not to offend her.

    Seeing her like this, Li Yundong was overjoyed. "Zi Yuan, you must have thought of a way. Am I right? I knew you were the smartest!"

    Zi Yuan rolled her eyes at Li Yundong. "What can we do? Didn¡¯t you hear the name of this magic item? Fairy-tied rope! It specializes in binding Shenxian. If a Shenxian can be bound, how are we supposed to escape!"

    Li Yundong smiled morosely. "But we are not Shenxian, are we!"

    "Humans are the beginning of Shenxian," Zi Yuan said to Li Yundong. "The predecessor of any Shenxian was human. Therefore, humans can also be regarded as Demigods in a way, so we are still bound by this rope!"

    Hearing this, Li Yundong felt disheartened. He asked desperately, "So what should we do now?"

    At this moment, Su Chan suddenly realized something. She blurted out, "That¡¯s wrong. I¡¯m a Fox Spirit, not a human being. I shouldn¡¯t be tied up too!"

    Li Yundong was stunned when he heard that. As if a lightbulb had blinked on in his mind, he suddenly became overjoyed and said, "Yes, little girl, you are so smart!"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes lit up as well. She looked at Su Chan and said, "That¡¯s right. If you can transform into a Fox Spirit or demonic body, you should be able to escape from danger. When that timees, we might be able to take advantage of your escape as well."

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing appreciatively. "Yes, that¡¯s it. My girl, you..."

    Before he could finish his words, Su Chan suddenly shook her head like a rattle and shouted, "No, no, I can¡¯t turn into a Fox Spirit!"

    Li Yundong and Zi Yuan panicked at the same time and asked, "What?! Why not?"

 Chapter 376 Indistinguishable and Inseparable

    <h4>Chapter 376 Indistinguishable and Inseparable</h4>

    Su Chan blushed in response to Li Yundong and Zi Yuan¡¯s questions. She felt a little embarrassed. The little girl looked at Li Yundong and said with obvious shame, "If I turn into a fox spirit, you will dislike me..."

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. How could she still care about something like that at such a critical moment? He quickly coaxed her, "Little girl, what silly words are you spewing? I have already seen your real form before. Don¡¯t be silly! Your husband won¡¯t dislike you."

    Su Chan¡¯s quick-witted eyes darted back and forth. She thought for a moment before saying awkwardly, "But sister Zi Yuan is here, I¡¯m embarrassed."

    Zi Yuan sighed, closed her eyes, and said in an annoyed tone, "Then I¡¯ll close my eyes. Is that okay?"

    Su Chan blinked a few times, but didn¡¯t say anything. She then stared wide-eyed at Li Yundong.

    Li Yundong also sighed. "So should I close my eyes too?"

    Only then did Su Chan nod her head with a smile. "Don¡¯t open your eyes likest time!"

    Li Yundong shook his head helplessly and closed his eyes with an expression of absolute indifference. "You scare me. I won¡¯t open my eyes. If I open my eyes, I¡¯ll be a wretched dog!"

    When Su Chan received Li Yundong¡¯s solemn promise, she was relieved. The girl blinked her eyes and said, "So, I can change?"

    After that, she took a deep breath and spat out a red Neidan from her mouth. Before long, she had transformed into a three-tailed fox spirit.

    The figure of a fox spirit waspletely different from that of a human. When Su Chan transformed into a fox, she immediately felt her body rx. She gazed around and moved her limbs. With a light swoosh, she escaped from the fairy-tied rope. As soon as the little girl¡¯s feet touched the ground, she turned around and swallowed the Neidan. In the blink of an eye, she turned into a human again.

    With a sigh, Zi Yuan opened her eyes and said in surprise, "Why don¡¯t you tell us before you change?" After that, she said to Li Yundong, "The fairy-tied rope is loose now!"

    Li Yundong was startled. He opened his eyes and saw that there was indeed arge gap at his waist and he was able to breathe much more easily. Li Yundong was about to move when Zi Yuan grabbed him and said, "Don¡¯t move! Let¡¯s move at the same timeter. The fairy-tied rope reacts very quickly. Just now, Su Chan pulled herself out from the middle because she was a fox spirit. In that form, the fairy-tied rope cannot detect her changes and movements, but we are both still human beings. If we move a little, the fairy-tied rope will tighten!"

    "Then I¡¯ll go down, and you go up?" Li Yundong asked.

    Zi Yuan said, "Okay!"

    Both of them were lying on their sides on the ground, and it was not easy for them to move. Just as they were about to move, the fairy-tied rope suddenly detected their intention.

    Before Li Yundong and Zi Yuan could move, the fairy-tied rope once again firmly bound the two together.

    The fairy-tied rope suddenly tightened, causing the two to collide head-on. Li Yundong and Zi Yuan cried out at the same time, covering their foreheads with their hands, their expressions contorting from the pain.

    Su Chan burst outughing and said, "You two still haven¡¯t escaped from it! You¡¯re so slow to react!"

    Li Yundong covered his smarting forehead and said angrily, "Why didn¡¯t you tell us that you were going to change? You slipped out alone and now it¡¯s toote for us to get out!"

    Zi Yuan was on the verge of going berserk. With a devastated look on her face, she yelled, "Oh my God! Well. How can we escape from it? Su Chan, why didn¡¯t you say anything to us before you changed!?"

    The smile on Su Chan¡¯s face froze. She said dryly, "I wasn¡¯t expecting..."

    Li Yundong sighed in frustration. "Wonderful. We two are tied up tightly. There¡¯s no way for us to run away no matter how badly we want to."

    As he said this, he moved a little unwillingly. He felt that although the fairy-tied rope was still tightly wound around him and Zi Yuan, it was not as suffocating as it had been a moment before.

    Their bodies were tightly pressed against each other. Zi Yuan¡¯s chest was right up against Li Yundong¡¯s and his heavy masculine aura was enveloping Zi Yuan. Zi Yuan felt her body bing hot and weak, and her heart was filled with anxiety. She couldn¡¯t help but angrily mutter to Li Yundong, "Don¡¯t move, and don¡¯t stick so close to me!"

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly as he replied, "What can I do? It¡¯s this rope that¡¯s binding us so tightly."

    Now that one of them was out of the rope, Li Yundong could finally turn his head. He said to Su Chan, "What are you waiting for? Hurry up and think of a solution!"

    Su Chan¡¯s face was full of confusion. "What can I do? How am I supposed to help?"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. "At least try to find something to cut it with."

    Su Chan felt as if she had just woken up from a dream. She quickly looked around and began to search for something.

    Zi Yuan sighed and resigned herself to her fate. "It¡¯s useless. No magical item or sword can cut the fairy-tied rope off."

    Sounding unconvinced, Su Chan snorted and said, "I don¡¯t believe it!" She looked left and right, and suddenly her gaze fell upon the mighty and tall figure of Guan Yu, who was holding the Green Dragon Crescent de in his hand, standing majestically in the side chamber.

    Overjoyed, Su Chan rushed to the statue of Guan Yu. Grasping The Green Dragon Crescent de in both hands, she jerked it with all her might!

    Su Chan pulled out half of the Green Dragon Crescent de from the hands of Guan Yu¡¯s statue with a crack. Although it was only one half of the de, Su Chan felt that her arms had be weighed down, and a great force was pushing her body, making her lean back. She was shocked and thought to herself, "Why is the Green Dragon Crescent de so heavy?"

    After taking a deep breath, Su Chan jumped up, grabbing the Green Dragon Crescent de and pulling it out with all her strength. Only then did she fully appreciate just how heavy the Green Dragon Crescent de in her hand was!

    The de was three meters long, and the hilt of it was as thick as a person¡¯s forearm. Moreover, it was made of refined steel. Su Chan stood with The Green Dragon Crescent de in front of her. She was unable to touch the tip of the de no matter how hard she stretched for it.

    Su Chan used her Qi to rise into the air. She touched the tip of the de with great difficulty, and to her surprise, she found that it was extremely sharp. It had been sharpened before!

    Su Channded on the ground and lifted the de with all her strength. She found that she couldn¡¯t lift it even when using both of her hands!

    This was no trivial matter. Before, Su Chan had lifted the 9981-pound Fan of Seven Treasures with ease. She had never expected to be unable to lift The Green Dragon Crescent de in front of her!

    Su Chan knew her abilities very well. If she used Qi to lift something, even if she could not lift a thousand pounds as Li Yundong could, she could at least wave two hundred pounds easily and lift a few hundred pounds, albeit with some difficulty.

    But when it came to the Green Dragon Crescent de in front of her, she had no way to move it at all!

    "Is this de as heavy as five hundred pounds?" Su Chan gritted her teeth and pulled at the Green Dragon Crescent de with both hands. With a loud nging sound, she finally lifted it.

    But the result of her barely raising it was that the de forced Su Chan to lean back as soon as she took its weight.

    The little girl gave a cry and almost stumbled. But, she was a cultivator after all. Once she exerted strength from her waist, she was able to swing the long de over her head and in front of her body.

    But to Su Chan¡¯s surprise, the long de was nearly three meters long. As she moved forward, she found herself being dragged by the inertia. She stumbled a few meters, and the de began moving in a downward arc toward the ground.

    At this time, Li Yundong was discussing how to sit up with Zi Yuan. The two people had been struggling on the ground for a long time. One was giving orders and the other was cooperating. Li Yundong was about to sit up when he saw white light sh past. A de was shing fiercely toward the top of their heads.

    Li Yundong was suddenly shocked. He raised his arms, and with a cracking sound, his two hands were mped over the falling de.

    Since Zi Yuan had her back facing Su Chan, she didn¡¯t know what had happened. She subconsciously raised her head to take a look and gasped. She could see a sharp de hanging over her forehead. The de was so sharp that it seemed as if it could cut through rock. Even though Zi Yuan was pretending to be calm, she couldn¡¯t help sweating.

    Li Yundong held the de in his hands and felt fear swelling in his heart as a cold sweat broke out on his back. He raised his head and said in abored voice, "Su... Chan!"

    Su Chan held the de in both hands. When she heard Li Yundong shouting at her, she smiled dryly. "I¡¯m sorry. It was, uh, a small mistake!"

    Li Yundong was stunned and asked with wild eyes, "A small mistake!? What if the de had fallen down? Do you want me to be cut in half? Even though you haven¡¯t severed my legs yet, you can see if this de falls so much as an inch more, I will be pushing up daisies. You are going to be a widow!"

    Su Chan pouted and quickly threw the Green Dragon Crescent de to the ground. Rubbing one corner of her clothes, she looked at Li Yundong with a pitiful expression and muttered, "I just wanted to help you cut off the rope, I don¡¯t..."

    Li Yundong also threw his side of the de to the ground. He said helplessly, "You are making the situation worse! Do you understand?"

    Su Chan¡¯s head was sinking lower and lower, and her chin was almost touching her chest. She looked aggrieved, her lips quivering. She whispered, "You are the one who asked me to help, and you are also the one who said that I made the situation worse..."

    Li Yundong was so angry that he burst into a fit of madughter. He red at Su Chan and said, "Forget it. Go to the door and see what¡¯s going on. Otherwise, it will be very funny if someone suddenly rushes in!"

    Su Chan made a soft, affirmative hum and rushed to the entrance, looking out through the crack in the door.

    The cultivators present were still fighting with each other. Zhang Ling¡¯s hands were lit up with zing mes. The golden mes were ferocious, but they did not burn her sleeves and hair. However, as soon as the mes left her palm, they could turn anything in their path to smoldering ashes!

    Wan Zhenyuan was sitting cross-legged on a Lotus Altars formed by purple Qi. The ruler in his hand had been thrown into the air and was slowly rotating on the Lotus Throne, on which a pattern of Eight-Diagram-Shaped Appetizer could be vaguely seen. The pattern looked faint, as if it could be punctured easily, but in the center of the Eight trigrams, it was constantly emitting purple ripples and spreading outyer byyer, like an invisible city wall.

    Among the three of them, Yan Fang¡¯s spiritual energy was the weakest, and her whole body was emitting a dazzling golden light. Obviously, the spiritual energy of her Yang Spirit body had been used to the extreme, but the Liuhe Sword in her hand was still powerful and overbearing. The sky-cracked sword rain just now had confirmed her position as the most overbearing cultivator present.

    Su Chan looked over and saw that there were flying swords streaking everywhere on the field. The Liuhe seemed to have changed into countless longswords, and each longsword was fighting with one of the cultivators.

    "Ah, Yan Fang is so powerful," the little girl shouted. "She can beat everyone by herself! Is the Liuhe really so powerful?"

    Zi Yuan was struggling to sit up. Hearing her words, she replied, "Of course, the characteristic of the Liuhe is that it is weak in one-on-one attacks, but it is extremely powerful in groupbat. Although Zhang Ling is powerful, she did not bring out a magic item, so she has suffered a great loss. The Jiuqu Huanghe Ruler in Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s hand is more of a defensive magic item, so its offensive power is not strong. Therefore, Yan Fang had to suppress everyone by herself."

    Su Chan replied with an "oh". She turned her head and was ready to watch the arena. However, she was so scared by the scene that she thought her soul might just leave her body. What she saw was a sword flying over the side hall and suddenly stopping with a buzz, and then the sword floated in the air, as if it had sensed where she was. The sword suddenly turned its de down, and the tip of the sword began lunging toward Su Chan like lightning.

    The little girl screamed, turned tail and ran. She shouted as she ran, "Help, Yundong, help!"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know what was going on and could only see her running towards him. He shouted, "What are you yelling for? Aren¡¯t you afraid of attracting attention?"

    As soon as he finished speaking, the door of the side chamber was loudly pierced by a long sword, and another flying sword broke in.

    The flying sword was like a ferocious bandit. After breaking through the door, it looked around and suddenly began streaking toward Su Chan.

 Chapter 377 Immortals Sword Cant Break the Red Treading Rope

    <h4>Chapter 377 Immortal¡°s Sword Can¡°t Break the Red Treading Rope</h4>

    When Li Yundong saw the flying sword moving toward Su Chan, he shouted in astonishment, "Honey, hurry!"

    Su Chan may not have been the strongest fighter, but her ability to escape was top-notch. When she saw the flying sword rushing toward her, she shed and narrowly dodged the sword like a slippery fish.

    Su Chan yelled as she dodged, "What about you?"

    Li Yundong said loudly, "Don¡¯t worry about me. I have my own way!"

    As soon as he finished those words, the Liuhe suddenly stopped in midair. As if it had heard his words, it seemed to be angry. The body of the long sword trembled and buzzed. After a while, the one sword divided into two, and then the two swords became three!

    "It¡¯s dividing!" Su Chan eximed.

    Zi Yuan also felt infuriated and said in a loud voice, "The magical sword is psychic, don¡¯t talk nonsense! It can understand your words! Now, the characteristic of Liuhe is that it will divide and multiply ording to how many enemies its facing! Let¡¯s see what you intend to do about it now!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes were nk and he said dryly, "How, how am I supposed to know?"

    Su Chan was about to speak when she suddenly saw white light sh in front of her. She lowered her head subconsciously, and the flying sword brushed past her ck hair. The edge of the sword was razor sharp, cutting off a few strands of her beautiful, silky locks. The shorn strands fluttered through the air before slowly falling to the ground.

    Su Chan knew that if she had been a second too slow, her head would have been cut clean off. She was so frightened that her heart was beating wildly. She wanted to escape, but she couldn¡¯t bear to leave Li Yundong behind and run away on her own.

    Su Chan thought quickly. She gritted her teeth and shouted, "This Liuhe is really a good-for-nothing magical item. It couldn¡¯t even stab me. No wonder it¡¯s thest of the Five Taoist Swords!"

    Li Yundong was shocked to hear this. "Honey, what are you saying? Are you crazy? Are you tired of living?"

    As expected, the Liuhe seemed to understand Su Chan¡¯s words. The sword trembled violently, and the two long swords that had originally been aimed at Li Yundong and Zi Yuan also stopped. They floated in midair for a moment before the tips of the swords slowly turned and began pointing at Su Chan.

    Su Chan saw that the three long swords wanted her. Although she felt fear in her heart, she still said stubbornly, "Am I wrong? If you can¡¯t hit me, a living person, and only go after two weak people who are tied up. Aren¡¯t you useless?"

    The Liuhe was utterly enraged. The three long swords let out sharp swishing sounds and instantly turned into three streaks of white lightning, rushing toward Su Chan crazily.

    Without another word, Su Chan turned into a wisp of smoke and sped off to the inner room.

    Li Yundong was burning with anxiety. He yelled at Su Chan¡¯s retreating form, "Honey, run away. Run as far as you can!"

    Su Chan¡¯s voice came from a distance. "Yep, I know!"

    But not long after he¡¯d finished speaking, Su Chan emerged from the inner room again.

    Li Yundong could only gape before shouting, "Why are you back!?"

    Su Chan yelled, "It¡¯s a dead end!"

    Li Yundong was shocked. "That¡¯s impossible. Just now, the man ran in there with Mei Niang in his arms, didn¡¯t he?"

    Zi Yuan reacted quickly, immediately saying, "There¡¯s a secret chamber!"

    Li Yundong called frantically, "D*mn, what should we do now? Honey, be careful!"

    Su Chan could have barely supported herself in evading one flying sword, so it was really asking a lot for her to dodge three. She rolled and jumped through the side hall, so fast that her figure almost turned into several blurred shadows. However, because space for her to move in was too limited, she was gradually forced into a corner by the three flying swords.

    A flying sword shot toward Su Chan¡¯s chest. She twisted her body, and although she managed to avoid being hit in any vital organs, her arm was sliced open. The girl let out a cry, but as soon as her voice left her throat, she realized that her cry could make Li Yundong worried, so she quickly closed her mouth and stubbornly continued to avoid the attack of the flying sword with great difficulty.

    Li Yundong heard this shout clearly. He saw that his girl was being left with less and less space in which to dodge, but she did not want him to be distracted or worry. He felt both anxious and angry.

    Su Chan was Li Yundong¡¯s weakness. When he saw Su Chan was in danger, he immediately pushed all other thoughts from his mind, took a deep breath, and got ready to struggle wildly.

    Seeing that Li Yundong was about to lose his temper, Zi Yuan immediately became frightened. She hurriedly said, "No, no, you can¡¯t struggle with all your strength. The more you use your strength, the more powerful the fairy-tied rope will be. In the end, all of us will be strangled to death!

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes had turned red from pure anger and frustration. He gritted his teeth and said, "That¡¯d be better than watching Su Chan die in front of me!"

    Seeing that Li Yundong was about to lose it, she made up her mind and said loudly, "Li Yundong, calm down. Let¡¯s find a way to control Liuhe first!"

    Li Yundong roared loudly, "We are tied up like Zongzi. How can we control it?"

    Seeing Li Yundong¡¯s bloodshot eyes and ferocious face, Zi Yuan took a deep breath and calmed herself. She said in a low voice, "Li Yundong, didn¡¯t you control Liuhest time? Why can¡¯t you do it again now?"

    "Bullsh*t! How can youpare this time with thest one? Last time..."

    Li Yundong was about to go on a short tirade, but an idea suddenly shed through his mind. He was quick-witted and immediately scolded Liuhe, "F*ck, this lousy sword, don¡¯t you know I am your conqueror? Last time I subdued you so that you were obedient. Well, now you won¡¯t dare toe to me again this time? Hey, I¡¯m tied up. Won¡¯t you dare to provoke me? No wonder you are thest of the Five Swords!"

    Those words seemed to have the desired effect. The Liuhe suddenly stopped. The three flying swords had already forced Su Chan into a corner, but at that moment, they reversed their directions. They buzzedbatively at Li Yundong, like an enraged warrior ring at his opponent.

    Seeing Liuhe hade to a halt, Su Chan hurriedly jumped out from the corner, put her hands on her waist, and yelled at the sword, "You good-for-nothing! You barely even scraped me. So useless!"

    Li Yundong was stunned, so was Liuhe. It seemed to hesitate for a moment and didn¡¯t know who to deal with first. Seeing this, Li Yundong quickly continued to curse it. The obscene words pouring from his mouth made Zi Yuan frown.

    Liuhe was in midair, alternating between pointing at Su Chan for a while and then at Li Yundong. It seemed to have gotten dizzy from all of the cursings and did not know who should be the first target of attack.

    When Su Chan and Li Yundong saw that Liuhe had gotten confused after being verbally abused, they felt a surge of joy in their hearts and began to curse it even harder.

    The Liuhe was ashamed into anger, emitting a sharp sound. Suddenly, two of the long swords headed straight for Li Yundong, and the other long sword shot toward Su Chan.

    Su Chan shouted and cursed, running back and circling around the side hall as the long sword followed.

    Li Yundong, however, shouted, "Good timing!"

    Both of his hands were outside the rope. When he saw the long swording straight for his waist, he saw it as if in slow motion as he reached out and flicked the sword with his finger!

    "ng." The sword was immediately bounced away, while the other sword kept going and chopped toward Li Yundong.

    Li Yundong swiftly shouted at Zi Yuan, "Zi Yuan, don¡¯t move. Cooperate with me and take a step to the left!"

    Before Zi Yuan could even register what he¡¯d said, she heard Li Yundong¡¯s words and subconsciously took a step to the left.

    "Puff!" With a muffled sound, the longsword heavily struck the fairy-tied rope around them.

    There was a loud bang in Zi Yuan¡¯s mind, and she instantly remembered the psalm that her master had left for her, "The Spirit Mirror could easily shatter the mortal world, and an Immortal¡¯s Sword could not break the red rope!"

    There was a buzzing sound in Zi Yuan¡¯s head. She opened her mouth unthinkingly but no words came out as she only shouted loudly in her heart, "Master, you¡¯re right. Your psalm is true again!"

    Li Yundong saw that Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes were staring into the distance. She seemed to have bepletely dazed and was showing no reaction. He didn¡¯t have time to wake her, so he just held her with one hand and dragged her about in an effort to awkwardly dodge the attacks of the two flying swords.

    If these two long swords cut horizontally, Li Yundong could bounce them back with his fingers, but if they cut vertically, Li Yundong would use the fairy-tied rope to block the shing of the swords. This fairy-tied rope had originally been only restraint to them, but now it was saving their lives.

    Liuhe did not seed in its round of attacks and its rage was only further incited. One of the long swords retreated a little and then stabbed toward Li Yundong like a spear.

    Li Yundong could feel that the hairs on his lower abdomen were standing on end. Relying on his amazing foresight, he pulled Zi Yuan¡¯s body backward an inch.

    "Hiss", the sword instantly thrust itself into the gap between Li Yundong and Zi Yuan¡¯s close bodies. Due to the sheer proximity, the sharp edges of this sword cut them, leaving ugly gashes on their bodies, out of which scarlet blood flowed.

    With this blood flowing, the long sword that was inserted between Li Yundong and Zi Yuan began suddenly struggling violently.

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart trembled. He realized that his own blood was Tongzi Yuanyang blood, and Zi Yuan¡¯s was Virginity Core Yin blood. How could Liuhe bear it if these two kinds of blood were mixed with one another?

    Li Yundong immediately grabbed the long sword between them with one hand, and Zhenqi began pouring out of his whole body. The Liuhe continued struggling madly, like a flood dragon rampaging through the rivers and seas.

    Li Yundong felt as if he was taming a mad beast. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that he was controlling the long sword and not letting it move freely, it would have torn them apart already!

    Li Yundong was full of Zhenqi. His Zhenqi only flowed into Liuhe for about ten seconds before Liuhe stopped moving. As soon as Liuhe in his hand returned to a subdued state, the other two long swords suddenly began to tremble violently and buzz. They then turned into clouds of smoke and disappeared.

    "Why, why did these swords disappear?" Li Yundong was shocked and asked in confusion.

    Zi Yuan was still a little dazed. Li Yundong patted her shoulder, rousing her from her trance-like state. She asked, "What happened?"

    Li Yundong pulled out the sword transversely inserted between them and said, "I got a handle on one of the swords, but why did the other two disappear?"

    As soon as he finished these words, he heard a long, angry crying from Yan Fang outside. "Which despicable person took my Liuhe!"

    Zhang Lingughed and said, "Yan Fang, your Liuhe has been subdued. Let¡¯s see how arrogant you can be now!"

    Wan Zhenyuan scoffed. "Zhenren Yan, you can rest now. You must be tired of fighting so many people, right?"

    He raised his hand, and the fly-whisk he was holding instantly shot a gang wind toward Yan Fang.

    After losing her magical item, Yan Fang did not dare to take this attack head-on. She shed and dodged, saying sternly, "Li Yundong, did you take my Liuhe? You and I have unfinished business!"

    After that, Yan Fang¡¯s figure quickly turned into a blue light and disappeared.

    When everyone present heard Li Yundong¡¯s name, they were immediately shocked and began looking around. "Li Yundong? Li Yundong, the Fox Zen School¡¯s leader? Where is he?"

    Li Yundong could feel shocked and anger surging through him. He swore in a low voice, "D*mn it, Yan Fang, that b*stard didn¡¯t forget to get me involved before she left! I¡¯m going to kick her ass!"

 Chapter 378 Jindan is Above Worldly Considerations!

    <h4>Chapter 378 Jindan is Above Worldly Considerations!</h4>

    Only then did Zi Yuan realize what had happened on the battlefield. Sheposed herself and said quickly, "Liuhe can be split into countless swords, a skill which is most suitable in a group battle. But it also has a fatal weakness, which is that once one of the swords is subdued by an opponent, the other swords will all disappear, and the controlled sword will be the true body of Liuhe."

    Li Yundong suddenly understood and said, "Then any one of the swords it splits into can be called Liuhe?"

    Zi Yuan nodded. "That¡¯s right! Now that they¡¯ve noticed us, we will have to leave as soon as possible. Otherwise, once they discover us, they¡¯ll immediately besiege us, and we¡¯ll be doomed eternally!"

    Li Yundong waved the long sword in his hand and said with a bitter smile, "How can we escape? We¡¯re still tied up over here!"

    Without even thinking about it, Zi Yuan said, "Command us to move into the inner room. There is a secret room there which we can try to find. That has to be the way out, or else when they discover us here and swarm in together, we will be sitting ducks."

    Li Yundong turned to Su Chan and said, "Chan¡¯er, go and look for the secret room. Tell me when you find it!"

    Su Chan replied with a sigh and turned to leave. "Be careful when you find the secret room," Li Yundong warned her. "Beware of any sneak attacks from the inside."

    When Su Chan had first seen that Li Yundong and Zi Yuan were so close that they were practically getting to second base, she felt faintly upset in her heart, but when she heard Li Yundong¡¯s words, she immediately became happy again. She replied affirmatively in a crisp voice, then quickly turned around and fluttered into the inner room like a little bird.

    Zi Yuan said to Li Yundong, "You canmand me. I will cooperate with you. The fairy-tied rope is getting tighter and tighter. If we move too much, it will only get worse."

    Li Yundong thought for a while and said, "No, I¡¯ve just thought of a way to get out of this sted rope."

    Zi Yuan was startled and asked with feverish excitement, "What is it?"

    Li Yundongughed darkly. "It¡¯s very simple. Attract Heavenly Thunder!"

    Zi Yuan turned pale with fright. "Huh? What! What if you hit us? How big of a target do you think this rope is? How precise must your control of thunder be for you to be sure we won¡¯t end up injuring ourselves? Your Five Thunders Spell is also unrefined. Aren¡¯t you courting death by drawing Heavenly Thunder to sever the fairy-tied rope?"

    Li Yundong said helplessly, "Well what else can we do? If we are tied up like this much longer, that group of guys will find us soon. Even invisibility is useless now, so we might as well give it a try. Besides, the worst result is that we will die together. It¡¯d be good to die with a fairy sister in my arms. As the saying goes, perish with the roses and you¡¯ll die a romantic death."

    Zi Yuan¡¯s cheeks turned slightly red as she muttered in a low voice, "Bah, I really don¡¯t want to die with you!"

    Before she could finish her retort, Su Chan rushed out of the inner room, embraced Li Yundong, and cried, "Honey, I¡¯ll be the one to die with you. I won¡¯t allow anyone else to have that honor!"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing and said, "Silly, why don¡¯t you say that you won¡¯t allow me to die in the first ce? Your words make it sound like I¡¯m certainly going to die. Don¡¯t you have any faith in me?"

    His body shook as heughed. Coupled with Su Chan holding him, the fairy-tied rope sensed the pressure and slowly tightened a little. Li Yundong¡¯sughter stopped abruptly. He took a deep breath and said, "Get off me. Don¡¯t hold me anymore. The rope is so tight that my ribs feel like they¡¯re about to snap!"

    Su Chan loosed her grip and looked at Li Yundong with tears in her eyes. She asked expectantly, "Do you really have a way out of this?"

    Li Yundong said coaxingly, "Of course, your man is omnipotent! You have to believe me. Hurry up, go back and find the secret room. I will be fine after a short while."

    Su Chan squeezed Li Yundong¡¯s hand and said reluctantly, "If you die, then I won¡¯t carry on living either. I¡¯ll die with you."

    Li Yundong was moved, but he scolded with a smile, "Bah, don¡¯t say ominous things. I will live for a hundred years and travel all over the world with you. I won¡¯t die so easily! Come on, if you keep dying then when they rush inter I won¡¯t be able to live even if I want to."

    Only then did Su Chan listen to him. With a stream of tears pouring from her eyes, she turned around and headed back into the room.

    Li Yundong shook his head helplessly and said with a smile, "She really is just a little girl."

    The eyes of Zi Yuan were fixed on Su Chan in the inner room. Suddenly, she sighed faintly and said, "In the world, there is someone willing to give all they have for you and who loves you so much. How nice that must be..."

    A gentle smile crept over the lower half of Li Yundong¡¯s face. "Yes."

    This emotion was only a sh. He quickly said, "I¡¯m going to use Qi control to attract Heavenly Thunder. You should also use Qi control to protect your body. If you don¡¯t, I can guarantee that it won¡¯t be fun to be touched by the thunder."

    Zi Yuan did not know how Li Yundong was going to attract the Heavenly Thunder, or how he was so sure that the Heavenly Thunder would not hit him, only the fairy-tied rope. However, out of her automatic trust for him, she did not refute Li Yundong¡¯s words. A momentter, she was covered with the Zhenqi of Xuanmen Sect and looking at Li Yundong with anxiety.

    Li Yundong took a deep breath. He mobilized his Zhenqi and silently cast the Five Thunders Spell. After a while, white gas began rising from the top of his head. He mobilized the Qi between heaven and earth, causing the dark clouds in the sky to roll and be denser and denser.

    At this time, all the cultivators in the field could also sense that something was wrong. Zhang Ling was even faintly aware that there seemed to be a pair of dignified eyes staring at her back in the sky, which made her feel creeped out.

    Zhang Ling suddenly raised her head and shouted, "Who is attracting Heavenly Thunder? Do you have a death wish? Aren¡¯t you afraid of striking yourself?"

    Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s expression was cold. He sneered and said, "Which of you is so reckless as to want to perish together with us?"

    After that, he cast a hostile re at every cultivator in the field. If he found out who it was the had attracted the thunder, he would immediately attack.

    When the cultivators present saw Zhang Ling and Wan Zhenyuan joining forces, they were shocked and quickly started trying to defer suspicion. "It wasn¡¯t me, it wasn¡¯t me!"

    Zhang Ling¡¯s gaze was razor-sharp, and her eyes were shining with divine light as she cast a nce around at everyone¡¯s bodies, as if she was trying to find out who it was that was attracting thunder. Next to her, Zou Ping suddenly shouted, "Master, could it be that Thunder Dragon, no, that person tonight?"

    Zhang Ling¡¯s expression turned stern, and she said resolutely, "It¡¯s very possible!" She jerked her head and yelled at Wan Zhenyuan, "Master Wan, have you really not been at Mount Longhu tonight?"

    Wan Zhenyuan sneered and said, "Of course not. I didn¡¯t so much as step foot outside of the ancestral temple tonight!"

    "D*mn it, I made a mistake!" Zhang Ling thought. But she was stubborn, thin-skinned, and unwilling to admit her mistake, so she said angrily, "Then why didn¡¯t you admit it just now?"

    Wan Zhenyuan rolled his eyes and said arrogantly, "I am the dignified master of the Gezao Sect. In terms of status and seniority, I¡¯m above you. In terms of age, I¡¯m also older than you! You started questioning me as soon as you got here. If I admit defeat and it bes known, I will be ridiculed by others."

    Zhang Ling snorted and thought, "Last time, you were hurt so badly that you escaped from the ancestral temple and even the Renyuan Jindan was taken away. Now that such a disgraceful thing has begun to be spread, how can you say that you¡¯re afraid of losing face?"

    But in the end, she was still a little afraid of Wan Zhenyuan, so she didn¡¯t say her thoughts out loud.

    She searched for a while and still could not find the person who was attracting the thunder, but the dark clouds in the sky were growing ominously thicker. Zhang Ling snorted and fell from the air so as not to hit the cultivator who was the highest in the sky first.

    However, when she thought of what had happened tonight after her descent, she felt very angry.

    First, her side hall had been broken, and the magic circle that she had been wanting to refine the sword spirit in had also been destroyed, making the perfect Big Three-realm Sword Formation fail. On top of that, she had had a hard time finding any trace of the enemy and had pursued the wrong target. She had fought randomly in the field, and now she was being forced to fall to the ground by Heavenly Thunder and could not even dare to fly.

    Zhang Ling said in her heart, "I¡¯ve been cultivating since I was in my mother¡¯s womb. When have I ever been bullied like this?"

    The more Zhang Ling thought about it, the more obvious the anger on her face became. Zou Ping, who was next to her, observed her and said, "Master, do you think it was Li Yundong who did it?"

    Zhang Ling was stunned. "Li Yundong?" She thought for a while and asked doubtfully, "Does he know how to attract Heavenly Thunder?"

    Zou Ping harrumphed and said, "With that little b*tch Zi Yuan helping him, anything¡¯s possible."

    Zhang Ling suddenly flew into a rage. "Zi Yuan, that b*tch doesn¡¯t know what¡¯s good for her. When I catch her, I¡¯ll put her in jail for a hundred years!"

    Upon hearing this, Zou Ping was overjoyed. She tried to cause further aggravation and said, "Master, let¡¯s capture Li Yundong first. Once we catch him, Zi Yuan will have no support!"

    "We can¡¯t let either of them go!" Zhang Ling said firmly.

    As she spoke, a loud noise suddenly came from the sky. The night sky, which had originally been littered with stars, was now covered with thick, dark clouds. Thunder and lightning were crackling in the clouds, and the sky was majestic!

    The cultivators present looked up at the sky in horror, all wanting to dodge subconsciously. However, most of the cultivators present had high statuses. They were afraid that if they ran, their escape would be a joke in the cultivation world and they would end up being too disgraced to lift their heads.

    With this in mind, although the cultivators present were afraid, they could only stiffen their necks and look at the sky, praying that the lightning would not head straight for themter.

    However, Dang Qiang of the Peni sect did not have such concerns. Seeing that the sky was about to rumble with thunder, he gave a dry howl, turned his head, and jumped off the red wall. "Run! Are you waiting to be struck by the lightning?"

    As soon as he finished his words, there was a rumble, and a bolt of Heavenly Thunder instantly broke through the sky and shot straight down toward the side hall of Gezao Sect.

    Li Yundong, who was attracting the thunder in the side hall, threw the Liuhe in his hand at the exact moment that the thunder was about to fall. The sword was spinning in the air, and the snow-white de lighting up Li Yundong¡¯s sweaty forehead. At the same time, it reflected the nervous expression in Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes.

    "Boom!"

    The Heavenly Thunder suddenly fell toward the side hall and fiercely rushed toward Li Yundong and Zi Yuan.

    But in mid-air, the hilt of the Liuhe hit the Heavenly Thunder. The long sword immediately guided the surging thunder from the hilt of the sword to the tip. The tip of the Liuhe flipped and fell right on the fairy-tied rope. It was only half a centimeter away from piercing their skin, and no matter which side it was, they would be hit by Heavenly Thunder!

    The fairy-tied rope immediately fell to the ground after being struck by the thunder, while the Liuhe kept violently rotating and turned into a flywheel, cutting toward the statue of Guan Yu in the side hall. With a noisy sh, the statue¡¯s head was cut off in an instant.

    Before Li Yundong and Zi Yuan could even react, they saw that the sculpture of Emperor Guan¡¯s head had fallen to the ground. It rolled a few times over the floor, and then a round golden pill fell out of it. In an instant, the fragrance of the pill filled the side hall. This pill shone with golden light, and the light went through the hole in the side hall that had been broken by the Heavenly Thunder, shot straight into the sky, and did not disperse!

    Li Yundong and Zi Yuan both eximed at the same time, "Renyuan Jindan!"

    At the same time, the cultivators outside the side hall started eximing loudly, "The Jindan has appeared!"

    At this moment, everyone¡¯s breathing was growing heavy. No cultivator could remain calm when faced with the Renyuan Jindan. Even Zhang Ling, who was a great cultivator, narrowed her eyes in an instant, her face full of greed.

    "Grab it!"

    Although none of the cultivators said this aloud, the thought came to everyone¡¯s mind at the same time. They all headed for the side hall in an insane rush!

 Chapter 379 Treasure Hunt in Danger

    <h4>Chapter 379 Treasure Hunt in Danger</h4>

    Just as Renyuan Jindan rolled out from the head of the statue of Guan Yu, Su Chan shouted from where she was in the room, "I found the entrance!"

    Hearing this, Li Yundong immediately jumped up, still looking at Renyuan Jindan rolling on the ground. As he moved, he shouted, "Zi Yuan, take the Liuhe. I¡¯ll take Jindan. Let¡¯s leave quickly!"

    Right when Li Yundong shouted, Zi Yuan rushed over to Guan Yu¡¯s headless statue like a streak of lightning, pulled out Liuhe, and then quickly rushed into the inner room.

    Li Yundong¡¯s body moved, and he did not even have time to pick up the fairy-tied rope. He rushed to the front of Renyuan Jindan with a wave of his hand and caught it in his palm. Then, he turned his feet and suddenly rushed into the inner room.

    As soon as Li Yundong entered the inner room, he saw Su Chan standing in front of a wall. She pushed aside a statue and pointed at a narrow door, which was as tall and wide as a person. "Here! There¡¯s a secret passage just here."

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t hesitate, saying decisively, "Zi Yuan, you lead the way. Su Chan can walk in the middle and I will bring up the rear!" After saying that, he threw Jindan to Zi Yuan and said, "As soon as something happens, hightail it out of here!"

    Zi Yuan turned around and rushed into the secret passage. Then, she turned around and threw the Jindan to Su Chan without hesitation. "Su Chan, you are the best at escaping. If pursuerse for uster, you can take the Renyuan Jindan and run first!"

    At this time, the Liuhe did not recognize its owner. It was no different from an ordinary long sword. Li Yundong had never learned swordsmanship, so it was a burden for him to hold a long sword and he would be easily recognized anyway, so Zi Yuan simply took the long sword.

    Su Chan hadn¡¯t been expecting this Renyuan Jindan to fall into her hands again. She was shocked and shouted, "I want to go with Yundong!"

    Li Yundong picked her up and threw her into the secret passage. "Don¡¯t talk nonsense. Just go!"

    Zi Yuan caught hold of Su Chan and led her along as they sprinted towards the secret passage.

    It was just after Li Yundong had thrown Su Chan into the secret passage that someone broke through the door of the side chamber with a thunderous crash.

    Li Yundong turned his head and slipped into the secret passage. He quickly tore off his clothes and covered his face.

    Zhang Ling¡¯s Cultivation Quotient was the highest and her speed was the fastest. She ran into the main hall, her eyes darting left and right, and immediately chased into the inner room. As soon as she entered, she saw a dark hole appear on the wall, and the statue of the Senior Moral was nting to one side.

    Zhang Ling saw that this hole would only allow one person to enter at a time. If someone guarded it, it would be hard to get in, especially considering the darkness inside. If someone did a sneak attack in there, it would be terrible.

    The other cultivators also rushed to the inner chamber of the side hall. When they saw the dark entrance of the secret passage, they hesitated for a moment and stopped. No one dared to chase after them.

    However, Zhang Ling was no coward. Relying on her high Cultivation Quotient, she stamped her feet, gritted her teeth, and rushed in.

    Li Yundong had already been expecting the other parties to chase after him. Without saying a word, he mmed his hand toward the pursuer.

    Zhang Ling shouted angrily, "Good!" Her palm pped Li Yundong¡¯s.

    "Bang!" With a muffled sound, Li Yundong and Zhang Ling both took a step back at the same time, thoroughly shocked.

    Because of the darkness of the secret passage, Li Yundong didn¡¯t know who wasing or whether the passage he had found in a hurry even had an exit. If it had no exit, he could only guard the entrance and not let anyone in. Otherwise, they would be caught like crabs in a bucket!

    Li Yundong stood guard at the cave entrance, fighting for as much time as possible so that Zi Yuan and Su Chan could escape. He relied on his geographical upper hand to defend for a while longer, but he had not expected his opponent to be so fierce, and her Zhenqi was not any less powerful than his!

    Ever since Li Yundong had entered the cultivation world, he had been fighting with cultivators of various sects and had never lost a single battle thanks to his rich, boundless Renyuan Jindan and his Neidan that was as strong as steel.

    However, after decades of cultivation, Zhang Ling had been practicing magic in Xuan Sect. She had refined her Neidan and vigorous Zhenqi. Her power was only above Li Yundong¡¯s, not below. In particr, Zhang Ling knew a lot of magic. Therefore, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t bepared with her.

    Li Yundong suddenly felt that the person in front of him was the only strong opponent he had ever encountered in his life. She was much stronger than anyone he had fought before, and he knew that if there was no exit for the girls and he was defeated and had to retreat, Zi Yuan and Su Chan would definitely die. There would be no way out for them!

    "It doesn¡¯t matter if I die, but Su Chan and Zi Yuan must survive!

    "I can only move forward. I cannot retreat!"

    Li Yundong strengthened his resolve. He suddenly took a deep breath and the desire to win surged all through his body. His eyes were shining with the light of bloodthirst.

    Zhang Ling, who was forced to take a step back by Li Yundong, was also shocked. She had roughly guessed that the person inside was Li Yundong, but she had never thought that Li Yundong¡¯s Zhenqi would be so powerful that it seemed that he was not inferior to her. Especially after throwing a punch, his eyes had burst out with two rays of light, and his momentum and Zhenqi seemed to have be much stronger than before!

    Zhang Ling took a deep breath and thought to herself, "How could there be such a master amongst the younger generation of the Cultivation World? I¡¯m afraid that even Zi Yuan is not as good as him! The most amazing thing is that this kid is so young, and yet possesses such vigorous Zhenqi! He has such a high Cultivation Quotient at such a young age like my younger brother, Zhang Tiansh¨©. What kind of background does this guy have?"

    Zhang Ling wanted to test how powerful Li Yundong¡¯s Zhenqi was, and she was even more curious to see where his lower limitsy. She immediately took a deep breath and mmed her palms toward Li Yundong. Without using any fancy skills, she did a straight-forward frontal attack with her powerful Zhenqi!

    If Li Yundong was afraid, his only option was retreat. If he wouldn¡¯t retreat, he could only defend himself against the attacks and could not dodge.

    Li Yundong saw the two bare palmsing at him. Although the palms were not big, Li Yundong felt that there was a strong and majestic Qi on his face, like a huge wave that could topple the mountains and overturn the seas. He almost couldn¡¯t breathe.

    Although he was being faced with a strong enemy, Li Yundong was not afraid at all. The Zhenqi throughout his body burst out like explosives. The Heavenly Jindan Technique in his body was running rapidly, and there was a cracking sounding from his bones. He pped his palms toward Zhang Ling!

    "Bang!" With a thunderous noise, Li Yundong and Zhang Ling both took three steps back at the same time. The secret path was shaken by their palm winds and the air had grown thick with dislodged dust. The people outside the secret passage also felt that the ground seemed to be shaking a little.

    Zhang Ling was shocked and angry when she saw that Li Yundong¡¯s palm didn¡¯t slow down at all and forced her to retreat again! She had always been proud and arrogant. Apart from her brother, she wouldn¡¯t give in to anyone in the world. But suddenly, in front of so many cultivators, she was being forced to use two palm attacks in a row. She felt ashamed and angry, so she mobilized all of the Zhenqi in her body to its peak. With a shout, she pushed her palms forward and pped again!

    This time, Zhang Ling used up all of her Zhenqi. Li Yundong felt like a high-speed train was rushing over to run him down. As long as they collided, he would be smashed to pieces in an instant!

    Li Yundong knew whether he would survive or not all came down to this moment. The Heavenly Jindan Technique in his body suddenly entered its eighth phase. His Dan Qi boiled, and the Yin and Yang Qi of his two kidneys instantly converged. A stream of ck Qi and a stream of red Qi spurted from his nostrils. One of his hands also turned red, and the other hand turned dark, like ck iron. Jindan¡¯s Qi of Yin and Yang rushed towards Zhang Ling like a beast tide!

    Zhang Ling was anxious and angry. She wasn¡¯t using her own magic, instead choosing topete with Li Yundong with only the purest internal Zhenqi. This time, she was forcing Li Yundong to show all his potential. How could the long-lost Foster Fire phase of Heavenly Jindan Technique be joking?

    "Boom!" With a loud bang, the palms of the two people touched each other. Immediately, they were blown backward like artillery shells.

    Zhang Ling couldn¡¯t stop herself and knocked down the statue of the shrine behind her with a loud bang. Zou Ping, who was standing to one side, rushed over to her and held her up. Only then did she stop moving and alleviate some of her shame.

    The cultivators who could not get in saw that Zhang Ling and the mysterious man in the secret passage had attacked each other three times in a row, but she had been repulsed every time, and thest time, she had even been sent flying. They were shocked, the fear written over their faces.

    Zhang Ling¡¯s Cultivation Quotient was very high, and she was absolutely famous in the cultivation world. In particr, the magic she had used in the chaotic battle just now was enough to make every cultivator present feel that she deserved her reputation.

    However, even with such a high Cultivation Quotient, Zhang Ling had been forcefully sent flying by someone. What would the other cultivators have done if they¡¯d been in her ce?

    For a moment, they looked at each other. Although they were eager to get Renyuan Jindan, the narrow and dark hole frightened them enough that they all stopped in their tracks, not daring to a single step forward.

    Zou Ping helped Zhang Ling to her feet and asked in a panic, "Master, are you alright?"

    Zhang Ling stood awkwardly and looked humiliated. She fiercely pushed Zou Ping away and yelled in anger, "F*ck off!"

    After that, she hit the ground with her palm. With a loud bang, countless cracks appeared over the floor. She then reached out her hands through the air and produced countless streams of moltenva. She rubbed her hands and pped again. A fierce fire dragon shot from her palm and headed straight to the secret path.

    Everyone saw the fire dragon wriggle into the secret room and instantly light up someone¡¯s figure. This person quickly touched his index fingers together and had V¨¢jra Fetter with both hands. His middle fingers were being held up in a unique shape, like needles. It was the Samayah Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ in Diamond Element of Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡!

    The man shouted a noisy mantra.

    The Mantra was like thunder, shaking the eardrums of everyone present. They felt a sharp pain starting in their ears and spreading right into their skills. The Mahamudra mmed through the air, scattering the fire dragon. The mes fell on the walls of the secret passage and could not be extinguished for a while. The person¡¯s figure was still partly visible.

    Everyone on the scene took a closer look and saw that half of the man¡¯s body was hidden in the darkness, making him look especially mysterious and majestic, and the other half of his body was being illuminated by the mes. He had covered his face, only his shining eyes still visible. His figure was like a mountain, deep and lofty. He was really majestic and heroic!

    The crowd saw Li Yundong guarding the entrance of the secret passage alone. Although they had arge number of people, they couldn¡¯t do anything to him. Even Zhang Ling, who had the highest Cultivation Quotient, had been thrown back by his three palms. They suddenly looked at each other. Although they wanted to make a grab for the treasure, they didn¡¯t dare to go advance.

    It was not the first time that Ding Nan, who was hiding at the back of the crowd, had seen Li Yundong retreating alone, but when she saw the scene in front of her at this time, she couldn¡¯t help but sigh in her heart, "What is a great undefeated hero like?

    "Just like him!¡±

 Chapter 380 He Escaped

    <h4>Chapter 380 He Escaped</h4>

    The Lady of the Earthly Fire, Zhang Ling, was using the extremely fierce Fire of the Nine Emotional Areas. Once it touched the earth, it could immediately spark a huge inferno. There was nothing in the world that could withstand the mes of the Fire of the Nine Emotional Areas other than a select few magic tools.

    However, Li Yundong¡¯s Mahamudra was an invisible and vigorous Zhenqi, which was impervious to being burnt. It could restrain Zhang Ling¡¯s Fire of the Nine Emotional Areas. Moreover, Li Yundong¡¯s location was excellent, to the extent that he could be regarded as having the geographical advantage.

    Seeing that Li Yundong easily dispelled Fire of the Nine Emotional Areas that she was most proud of, Zhang Ling was so angry that she almost spat blood. The surrounding cultivators were also looking at Li Yundong with awe.

    Seeing that her Master had suffered a loss, Zou Ping immediately shouted, "Li Yundong, are you tired of living? How dare you offend our Zhengyi School!"

    Most of the cultivators outside the secret passage had been participants of the siege of the Fox Zen School. At this point, they had also recognized that the man was Li Yundong. In particr, his Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ had left a deep impression on them. They could all see Li Yundong guarding the entrance of the cave and preventing them from moving forward. If they tried to force their way in, they were afraid that it wouldn¡¯te to any good. They remembered that Li Yundong had killed two people in a row at the Fox Zen Schoolst time, defeating seven people in session, and so they still had lingering fears.

    They all said, "Zhenren Li, let¡¯s discuss this. Are you the one who took Renyuan Jindan? How about we buy your Jindan? Name your price."

    "That¡¯s right. Let¡¯s bargain. We don¡¯t have to fight!"

    "Zhenren Li, we have a lot of powerful magical weapons in the Jinshan Sect. If you fancy any of them, just tell us. We will exchange a weapon for the Renyuan Jindan!"

    The cultivation world always followed thew of the jungle. The weak were meat for the strong to eat. Zhang Ling had tried to be tough before, but Li Yundong was even tougher than her. By this point, they had no idea what to do and could only humble themselves and be soft.

    Seeing that the mes on the wall of the secret passage were still burning, clearly illuminating his position, he swung his sleeve, swept out a fierce and overbearing gang wind, and immediately snuffed out the mes. Then he disappeared into the darkness again.

    When the crowd saw Li Yundong¡¯s figure melting into the darkness and realized he was not answering them, they became anxious and hurriedly said, "Zhenren Li, say something. There¡¯s something we can discuss!"

    Zhang Ling slowly began to calm down. She remembered when she had fought with Li Yundong just a moment ago. She had once seen a stream of red Qi and ck Qiing out of his nostrils, looking weird and powerful. She was shocked and shouted, "Li Yundong, did you get the Heavenly Jindan Technique? I never expected you to reach the eighth phase of fire cultivation at such a young age!"

    Li Yundong was shocked and thought to himself, "As expected, paper can¡¯t cover fire. She actually recognized my skill"

    Li Yundong made up his mind not to speak, remaining silent. He neither admitted nor denied it.

    But as soon as Zhang Ling¡¯s words came out, the other cultivators suddenly burst into an uproar.

    Quanzhen Dragon Sect¡¯s Du Fei eximed, "Zhenren Li, I¡¯ve long heard that you managed to obtain the long-lost Heavenly Jindan Technique. I originally thought that it was just a rumor. I never expected it to actually be true! Our Quanzhen Dragon Sect has a deep rtionship with Mr. Chen Pu. Where did you obtain the technique? Could you lend it to me?"

    When Du Fei said this, the other cultivators began to frown. Zhang Hongcheng of the Jinshan Sect said loudly, "Zhenren Du, what you¡¯ve said is inappropriate. What do you mean by saying that your Quanzhen Dragon Sect has a close rtionship with Mr. Chen Pu? Aren¡¯t you being shameless? Mr. Chen Pu is from the generation of the Late Tang Dynasty, and your Quanzhen Dragon Sect was established during thete Song and early Yuan dynasties. More than three hundred years psed between them. You dare to pretend to have a connection with Mr. Chen. Aren¡¯t you too audacious?"

    Du Fei was embarrassed. He turned his head and said, "Our Quanzhen Dragon Sect belongs to Xuanmen Sect in Taoism. Mr. Chen Pu¡¯s Heavenly Jindan Technique is also from the Xuanmen Sect. Our founder, Wang Chongyang, followed Buddhism, Taoists and Confucianists both draw on the strengths of others¡¯ sects. One of them is Mr. Chen Pu¡¯s nerve training technique. ording to the Cultivation method, we originally came from the same sect. How could it be said that we don¡¯t have a rtionship?"

    Du Fei¡¯s words made the other cultivatorsugh out loud and Chen Anji from the Donghua Sect scoffed. "In that case, our Grandmaster, Ning Quanzhen, is even closer to Mr. Chen Pu."

    Immediately, another cultivator said, "B*llshit. Ning Quanzhen is also a cultivator of the Song Dynasty. How could they be closer?"

    Chen Anji said in a strange tone, "ording to what Zhenren Du said, Ning Quanzhen of our Donghua Sect also created the kung fu methods used by the Xuanmen Sect, and our Grandmaster Ning Quanzhen is from the Northern Song Dynasty, around much earlier than Wang Chongyang. ording to this, isn¡¯t it closer to Mr. Chen Pu?"

    Everyone immediately roared withughter, all of themughing at his troubles.

    Zheng Yuan, who was standing at the back, said in a low voice with a tone full of sarcasm and disdain, "This group of good-for-nothings, they only know to criticize each other when they encounter trouble, and even strike up an alliance between the Six Sects. Bah! What the hell! What¡¯s the use of asking questions about the Heavenly Jindan Technique by just giving up the opportunity of chasing Renyuan Jindan in front of us. Will Li Yundong spit out what he has eaten? Stupid, stupid idiots!"

    Ding Nan also whispered, "Master, what is the Heavenly Jindan Technique?"

    Zheng Yuan took a look at her and said kindly, "I¡¯ll tell you about itter." As he said this, his face suddenly changed to show an expression of dissatisfaction and anger. "However, Li Yundong got Renyuan Jindan and the Heavenly Jindan Technique. I¡¯m afraid that the chances of revenge are very slim... s, I originally wanted to fish in troubled waters tonight and see what I could get from it, but I hadn¡¯t been expecting Li Yundong, this man, to take advantage of me. D*mn it, really d*mn it!"

    While he was whispering to Ding Nan, the cultivators of the various sects began quarreling. Zhang Ling was incensed when she heard that, yelling, "What¡¯s there to bicker about? Do you think you can get a result just by arguing like this? How can you make the other party willingly return the rare treasure you want just by relying on your glib tongues? Dream on!"

    With her high seniority and strength, Zhang Ling¡¯s words were very authoritative. The cultivators united as one to fight theirmon enemy as if awakening from a dream. They all said, "Li Yundong, hurry up and hand over Heavenly Jindan Technique. It¡¯s a Taoist supreme treasure. Every cultivation sect in our cultivation world has a share. How can you keep it all for yourself?"

    "That¡¯s right. Do you think that you alone can defeat so many of us? Do you think the little Fox Zen School can resist the joint attack of so many sects?"

    "Don¡¯t talk nonsense. If Li Yundong was the kind to bow his head and admit defeat, he would have left Tianlong Mountain a long time ago. Does this kind of person look like someone who is easily threatened?"

    "Then what should we do? He¡¯s keeping watch in there, and we can¡¯t get in. Are we going to just wait here?"

    "Why not? With so many of us standing here, he¡¯ll eventually be exhausted!"

    "Oh, no, what if this secret passage has an exit?"

    "Oh, d*mn it. If there is an exit, what should we do?"

    "Hey, Li Yundong hasn¡¯t uttered a word for a long time. Could it be that he has already made his escape?"

    "That¡¯s possible. One of you should go in and take a look!"

    "D*mn it, why don¡¯t you go in and have a look?"

    Each of the cultivators started making excuses, all angling for the next man to go in, but no one was willing to take the initiative to go forward. Even Zhang Ling was stunned. She thought in her heart, "I didn¡¯t get any benefit from him just now, so it¡¯s also unclear if I can get any benefits from him now. This little b*tch Zi Yuan, how much magic has she taught this guy? How many abilities does this guy still have up his sleeve? It¡¯s not a big deal that I can¡¯t defeat him, but it¡¯s a big deal to lose my face and the sect¡¯s face."

    At that moment, a cultivator suddenly said loudly, "By the way, where¡¯s the master, Wan Zhenyuan? Hurry up and ask him if there¡¯s an exit leading out of the secret passage, and if so, where does it lead?"

    At this time, the cultivators in the side hall suddenly remembered that they were on the grounds of the Gezao Sect. They looked around quickly and found that the leader of the Gezao Sect, Wan Zhenyuan, was not there!

    "D*mn it, where is Wan Zhen Yuan?"

    "Has there been an opportunity for him to run away like he didst time?"

    "Didn¡¯t he just say that he wanted to keep all of us here? He spoke such harsh words. Why isn¡¯t he here now?"

    "Nonsense, who doesn¡¯t know how to spew a few harsh words? With so many sects joining forces to steal the Renyuan Jindan, how could he hope to stop them? If he doesn¡¯t run, he will disgrace himself."

    "Bah, Wan Zhen Yuan is nothing but a piece of sh*t! He actually abandoned his ancestral temple after swearing a solemn vow just now!"

    When Zou Ping saw that the situation was devolving, she shouted loudly, "Brothers in the Tao, stop arguing. Every second we spend quarreling gives Li Yundong more time to escape. Since no one wants to go in and investigate, let¡¯s see if we can release our powerful magical weapons and have them attack together. I believe that no matter how powerful Li Yundong is, he won¡¯t be able to withstand the attacks of so many powerful magical weapons at once! Once he fights back, we¡¯ll know that he¡¯s inside. If he doesn¡¯t fight back, he¡¯ll definitely die! We can also take back Renyuan Jindan!"

    When the crowd heard that, some cultivators immediately pped their thighs and said loudly, "That¡¯s right. It¡¯s such a simple method. Why didn¡¯t I think of it?"

    "Zhenren Zou deserves to be an excellent disciple of The Lady of the Earthly Fire. That¡¯s a good idea. We¡¯ll do as you say!"

    Zheng Yuan, who was from Yin Yang Sect based in Mount Wuhua, looked at Zou Ping with a cold smile. He said to Ding Nan in a low voice, "Good disciple, you have to remember this woman. She¡¯s ruthless and quick-witted. If she bes sessful in the future, she¡¯ll definitely be your strong opponent!"

    At this time, all of the cultivators on the scene drew their powerful magical weapons out one after another, and then aimed toward the secret passage, creating a storm of attacks. Everyone could only hear tinkling sounds in the secret passage. Their powerful magical weapon seemed to have collided with a wall of steel, their strength was useless. They immediately shouted, "That guy is still inside! Let¡¯s work harder!"

    After confirming that Li Yundong was still inside, the cultivators of each sect rushed to attack him again with their powerful magical weapons.

    But no matter how hard they tried, there was always only a tinkling sounding from inside. After a long time, they couldn¡¯t help but be suspicious. "What¡¯s going on? Is something wrong?"

    Zhang Ling was also confused. "I¡¯ll do it!" she shouted. After that, she pped her hands and released a monstrously fierce fire dragon again, which rushed into the secret passage.

    Wherever the fire dragon went, it immediately illuminated its surroundings. Everyone took a look and saw that there was an iron wall covered with golden Sanskrit characters in the secret passage. It was the fan of Seven Treasures.

    Sensing the fire dragoning for it, the Fan of Seven Treasures did not dare to intercept. It immediately withdrew its leaves and fled deeper into the secret tunnel in the blink of an eye.

    Everyone was suddenly shocked and cried out in unison, "Oh no, we¡¯ve fallen right into his trap! Li Yundong has escaped!"

    Zhang Ling roared angrily and took the lead in chasing Li Yundong into the secret passage. Now with someone taking the lead, the others were also emboldened and rushed in.

    Along the way, Zhang Ling ran forward with great vignce, and the fire dragon she had released led the way. After running for a while, the fire dragon suddenly rushed out of the hole with a bang, burning up all branches and leaves that were growing in all directions.

    Zhang Ling suddenly rushed out of the hole. She looked around and saw that she hade out at the foot of the mountain. She snorted and waved her hands. The spreading mes immediately retracted back to her palm. Zhang Ling rubbed her palms and the mes instantly became nothing more than a cloud of smoke which swiftly disappeared.

    At this time, the cultivators of the other sects rushed out of the secret passage one after another. They all said in shocked and angry tones, "D*mn it, he ran away!"

    "A monk can run away but a temple cannot! I know where hisir is. Everyone, follow me!" Zou Ping said, her voiceced with fury.

 Chapter 381 A Scheme

    <h4>Chapter 381 A Scheme</h4>

    When everyone heard Zou Ping¡¯s words, they immediately started moring and shouting, "Alright, let¡¯s go and teach him a lesson!"

    "Let¡¯s show him there¡¯s nowhere to hide!" one man shouted.

    At that moment, everyone felt as if they had been toyed with. They were furious and roused to action. Following Zou Ping¡¯s lead, they quickly flew away from Mount Gezao and shot towards Tiannan aggressively.

    But after reaching Tiannan, Zhang Ling suddenly shouted, "Wait!"

    By this time, Yan Fang had already escaped, and Wan Zhenyuan was also gone. Zhang Ling had be the leader of this group of cultivators. As soon as her words fell, everyone immediately stopped in midair.

    They asked in confusion, "What¡¯s wrong, Zhenren Zhang?"

    Zhang Ling turned to Zou Ping with an icy expression on her face. "Does Li Yundong live in this kind of downtown area?"

    Zou Ping nodded automatically. "That¡¯s right. He lives in a very high-grade area and has opened a store on the busiest pedestrian street in Tiannan."

    Zhang Ling sneered coldly. "Hmph, there are so many cultivators here. What are we going to do? Start a fight with Li Yundong and go on a killing spree?"

    Her words made the cultivators of the other sects tremble fearfully, all falling silent.

    They knew that there was an unbreachablew that could never be vited in the cultivation world. Thisw said that magic and magical items were forbidden to be used for the purposes of killing ordinary people. Along with this ironw, there was also an unwritten rule in the cultivation world, which was that they were not allowed to use magic that could be detected by ordinary people.

    The cultivation world, thanks to the Reform and Opening-up Revolution of the country, had gradually recovered its vitality over the years, but almost every cultivator was still deeply afraid of the Great Culture Revolution, in which all the Taoist temples on Mount Longhu had been smashed to pieces by the Red Guards, and the ancestral grave of Wang Chongyang, the founder of the Quanzhen Sect, had also been dug up by the Red Guards. Wang Chongyang¡¯s bones were scattered in the wild mountains. If one of the vigers of Zu An Vige, Zhao Maozhong, had not kindly picked the remains up, the current Wang Chongyang¡¯s coffin in Chongyang pce would still be an empty tomb!

    That disturbance had dealt a fatal blow to the cultivation world, almost leading it to total destruction.

    Therefore, the old generation of cultivators, which had spent a long time recovering, had learned a lesson from this: under the current government¡¯s control, cultivators had to keep a low profile. They could not use magic in front of ordinary people lest they attract attention again. This would avoid bringing terrible disasters to the cultivation world once more.

    Therefore, the cultivators of the older generation had repeatedly reminded their disciples of this unwritten rule. At present, these cultivators were all disciples of the inner sect and most of them were busy cultivating in the mountains. They had chased Li Yundong to Tiannan in a frenzy only to find that he lived amongst ordinary people, and his neighbors were allmoners. If they took action, with Li Yundong¡¯s strength and the power of the Fox Zen School, it would definitely not end well. It would cause a big event on the level of Mars colliding with earth.

    While they had been in Mount Tianlong, which was sparsely popted, the disciples of the outer sects had sealed the area off, so the intense fighting at the top of the mountain had not attracted the attention of the secr world.

    But if they fought in this downtown area, the trouble caused would be immense. The consequences were definitely not something they could afford.

    "Then what should we do?" one of the cultivators immediately asked. "Are so many of us just going back in disgrace?"

    Zhang Ling snorted and said, "A problem between cultivators should be solved in the cultivation world! Isn¡¯t he going to open a store? We can definitely find him. The Taoist assembly will be held soon. Send him an invitation to see if he wille or not! If he doesn¡¯t, all the cultivation sects in the world will look down on him and there will be no need for us to take action. Other sects will cause trouble for him. If he goes, we will just deal with him then!"

    The cultivators of all sects were overjoyed and said, "Zhenren Zhang, that¡¯s a good idea. Let¡¯s do it!"

    But one of them asked doubtfully, "But there¡¯s still a long time before the Taoist assembly. Are we just going to let Li Yundong get away with the Renyuan Jindan?"

    Zhang Ling squinted at him and said, "Do you think he will hold onto the Renyuan Jindan for you to grab at your leisure? If you want to go, go by yourself. Don¡¯t get our Zhengyi School involved if you cause any trouble!"

    The cultivator who had just spoken suddenly shrank back and looked unhappy.

    Zheng Yuan had been following them from not far away, flying with his disciple Ding Nan. He didn¡¯t want to stay with this group of people, but he didn¡¯t want to split off from them either. After hearing what everyone had said, he turned to Ding Nan and said, "Let¡¯s go. We can¡¯t do it tonight. It¡¯s a shame that so many people are letting a young man get away with the Renyuan Jindan."

    Having said that, he took Ding Nan and flew back to Wuhua Mount without saying goodbye.

    As soon as Zheng Yuannded on the ground with Ding Nan, he sneered and said, "Humph, the Great Six are a bunch of useless kids! I really don¡¯t know what their leader is thinking!" After that, he turned his head to Ding Nan and continued, "By the way, didn¡¯t you say that you used to be ssmates with Li Yundongst time? So, why don¡¯t you go..."

    Ding Nan suddenly got riled up and shouted, "I¡¯m not going! If you want to go, you can go by yourself!"

    Ding Nan was afraid that she would lose face in front of Li Yundong and worried that he would look down on her. How could she even show her face to him before she hadpleted her cultivation journey, let alone go and beg him humbly?

    Seeing Ding Nan¡¯s intense reaction, Zheng Yuan remembered that his disciple, Lyu Fengping, had had her body destroyed. He had no choice but to say helplessly, "I haven¡¯t said anything. Why are you so agitated?"

    "I can¡¯t do anything," Ding Nan said loudly. "I don¡¯t want to talk to him!"

    Zheng Yuan had no choice but to coax her. "Well, I¡¯ll have to think of another way. However, Li Yundong¡¯s cultivation level is already high. Now that he has a Renyuan Jindan, I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to beat him in the future!"

    After taking a few deep breaths, Ding Nan gradually calmed down and said, "You don¡¯t have to worry about this. As far as I know, Li Yundong won¡¯t take the Renyuan Jindan himself and will instead give it to Su Chan or Zhou Qin."

    Upon hearing this, Zheng Yuan was puzzled and said, "Why? He doesn¡¯t want to take the Renyuan Jindan for himself but for the sake of others? Isn¡¯t he a fool?" But soon, Zheng Yuan understood and said, "I see. Does he want to raise these two women as furnace tripods for yin feeding so he can improve his cultivation? Yes, that must be so! Humph, this guy is really lucky!"

    Ding Nan sneered and thought, "Li Yundong is a genuinely upright gentleman. Do you think he is the same as you? You are a despicable person, so you think all people in the world are just as despicable as you!"

    While the cultivators of all the sects were following Li Yundong to Tiannan, Wan Zhenyuan was standing alone in the Gezao Sect of Mount Gezao with his hands behind his back. He was standing in the courtyard where the battle had taken ce, looking up and watching the dark clouds disappearing. He was as silent as a statue.

    Not longter, a tall, strong man came up slowly from behind him. He was holding a jade pole with one hand and the fairy-tied rope with the other. His voice was surprisingly old and hoarse as he said, "Has the Renyuan Jindan been taken away?"

    Wan Zhenyuan did not even turn his head. He said coldly, "You¡¯d better make sure that your wishful thinking doesn¡¯t go awry. Otherwise..."

    The manughed and said, "For decades, I reckoned urately. Is there anything in the world that can escape my scheming?"

    Wan Zhenyuan had a mocking expression on his face. "Oh? If you really wanted Li Yundong to steal the Renyuan Jindan, why did you use the fairy-tied rope to tie him up so tightly? Weren¡¯t you afraid that he wouldn¡¯t be able to get away with it and you¡¯d end up in trouble?"

    The man snorted and said, "Since Chan¡¯er¡¯s Renyuan Jindan was taken by him, I¡¯ve been watching him for a long time. The person I have chosen won¡¯t be so useless. If he can¡¯t escape, it means that he is not what I¡¯m looking for anyway. Worsees to worst, I will choose another one!"

    Wan Zhenyuan suddenly turned his head and said furiously, "B*stard, do you think the Renyuan Jindan I refined is a Six vor Rehmannia? It¡¯s so precious that it can¡¯t be wasted at will."

    The man responded rudely, "Don¡¯t talk nonsense. I helped you collect the panaceas needed for your Renyuan Jindan. If I hadn¡¯t helped you get these two golden snakes, you wouldn¡¯t have been able to refine the Diyuan Jindan for the rest of your life!"

    A tinge of anger shed through Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s eyes, but he quickly suppressed it and said in a calm voice, "Diyuan Jindan is stillcking the most important ingredient. As long as I have this ingredient, I will be able to refine the Diyuan Jindan!"

    The man thought for a moment and said, "Once the Diyuan Jindan has been refined, more than half of our n will have already been sessfullypleted. At that time, it won¡¯t be long until your Gezao Sect of External Alchemy will be able to rise again!"

    There was a strong yearning in Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s eyes. He thought for a while and suddenly asked, "Where¡¯s your woman?"

    "Still asleep!" the man replied.

    Wan Zhenyuan snorted coldly and said, "Those who achieve great things don¡¯t worry about trifles. I think you¡¯d better kill her as soon as possible. You always bring an ordinary person with you. Aren¡¯t you afraid that she might spill the beans?"

    The man snorted and said, "I can betray everyone in the world, but I can¡¯t betray her! If you suggest such a thing again, it¡¯s you I¡¯ll be killing!"

    Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s face changed momentarily, but he soon returned to normal. Heughed and said, "I didn¡¯t expect an old fox like you to fall in love with someone. It¡¯s funny, really funny!"

    "It¡¯s none of your business," the man said coldly. "You just need to do your job well! The Taoist assembly will be held soon. You¡¯d better make sure that nothing goes wrong. Otherwise, you can expect the Gezao Sect to never rise again in this life!"

    Wan Zhenyuan sneered as well. "Don¡¯t always threaten me with this. You¡¯re working with me because you want Fox Zen School to rise again, aren¡¯t you? If we work together, we both stand to gain something, but if we fight, we¡¯ll both lose out. So don¡¯t threaten me with this thing again!"

    The man fell silent for a while, and then he said, "In short, you should get thest drug as soon as possible, otherwise everything will be in vain! I will arrange the rest." After that, he turned around and walked into the side hall.

    Wan Zhenyuan snorted and continued to raise his head. As he gazed at the vast starry sky, he smiled meaningfully and muttered slowly, "The cultivation world will not be peaceful for long..."

 Chapter 382 Stripping out of the Cocoon

    <h4>Chapter 382 Stripping out of the Cocoon</h4>

    Just as Zhang Ling and the others arrived furiously in Tiannan. Zi Yuan and Su Chan were on the roof of a building next to their residence, looking around vigntly and feeling uneasy.

    Knowing that the other party would definitely be able to find this ce, they did not dare to go home directly. If they really insisted and followed them directly into the house, it would be a massacre.

    Su Chan looked around anxiously on the roof, searching for Li Yundong and saying to Zi Yuan, "Sister Zi Yuan, Yun Dong wille back, right?"

    The pressure in Zi Yuan was significant. She knew that tonight they had deeply offended several of the most important Taoists cultivation sects in the world. As the saying goes, an innocent man is not guilty, but his wealth will bring him trouble. Li Yundong had stolen the Renyuan Jindan and allowed others to discover his footprints. That was an unthinkable thing.

    Zi Yuan was inwardly criticizing Li Yundong for insisting on snatching the Renyuan Jindan. "With his strength and willingness to follow the prescribed order of cultivation, it shouldn¡¯t take long for him to be an extremely powerful Great Cultivator. Why would he take a risk by stealing the Renyuan Jindan?"

    Zi Yuan did not refute Li Yundong¡¯s opinion and had followed his advice in that urgent situation, but now she did not know what to do and could not wait to discuss it with Li Yundong.

    But neither of them waited for Li Yundong¡¯s return. Even though Zi Yuan was usually calm, she couldn¡¯t help having a sort of panic at this moment. However, Su Chan was even more flustered than her, so she had to pretend to be calm andfort Su Chan, saying, "Don¡¯t worry. Li Yundong is very alert and can settle a score extremely well. He will definitely escape."

    Su Chan paced around anxiously. "Then why hasn¡¯t hee back yet? I¡¯m so worried. Maybe I¡¯ll go find him!"

    Saying this, Su Chan got ready to fly up and look for Li Yundong¡¯s whereabouts.

    Zi Yuan hurriedly stopped her and said coaxingly, "Don¡¯t worry. Maybe Li Yundong is afraid that they will find him in the house, so he is leading them around in circles. If so, where will you be able to find him?"

    Su Chan was so anxious that she was on the brink of tears. "But, but I¡¯m just worried," she said, her lip quivering.

    When Zi Yuan saw that Su Chan was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, unable to be persuaded, she couldn¡¯t help bing more and more anxious herself. She thought, "Could it be that something really has happened to Li Yundong?"

    Su Chan patiently waited for a while, then gritted her teeth and said, "No, I¡¯m going to find him. Sister Zi Yuan, you wait here, lest he misses us when hees back. He¡¯ll be worried again."

    Zi Yuan thought for a moment before responding, "No, let me go. You already have too many enemies in the cultivation world. It¡¯ll be slightly safer if I go."

    Su Chan hesitated for a moment and was about to speak when a green light shed and a figure suddenly appeared not far from them. Su Chan focused her eyes and saw that there was a handsome boy carrying a big ck fan as tall as a man standing not far away and looking at her with a smile. If it wasn¡¯t Li Yundong, who else could it be?

    Su Chan was ovee with joy. Like a little swallow returning to its nest, she threw herself into Li Yundong¡¯s arms and yelled, "You scared me to death!"

    Li Yundong spread his hands, took her into his arms, and said with a smile, "What¡¯s wrong?"

    Su Chan cried andughed simultaneously. "Why didn¡¯t youe back for so long? It¡¯s almost dawn. I was so afraid that something had happened to you."

    Li Yundong rubbed her hair and said softly, "Silly girl, how could I have gotten hurt?"

    As he spoke, he noticed that Zi Yuan was staring at him from not far away. He smiled and nodded at Zi Yuan, asking, "Did everything go smoothly?"

    Zi Yuan didn¡¯t want to disturb Li Yundong and Su Chan¡¯s reunion and had just been stood watching off to one side. When she saw Li Yundong talking to her, she stepped forward and said, "We are all fine. Just now, Su Chan wanted to leave and find you. Why did youe back sote? How did you know we were here?"

    Li Yundong chuckled. "I was waiting at the entrance of the cave for a long time. Since I didn¡¯t get any news from you, I thought you must have escaped, so I brought the Fan of Seven Treasures to protect me. I was lucky to have escaped, but I didn¡¯t go far after escaping the cave, just stayed hidden in the mountain. When I saw these guys rushing to Tiannan aggressively, I followed them from a distance."

    Zi Yuan was shocked. "They¡¯re here? Where?"

    Li Yundong continued smiling and said, "They¡¯vee, but they went back again. They must have been afraid of alerting the ordinary mortals around us, so they didn¡¯t dare to fight with us and went back the way they came."

    A contemtive expression appeared on Zi Yuan¡¯s face as she thought this over. "That¡¯s very likely!" As she spoke, she looked at Li Yundong and couldn¡¯t help but sigh. "Why were you so reckless this time? Why did you steal Renyuan Jindan whilst among so many cultivators? Didn¡¯t you ever consider what consequences your sect might face?"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t try to justify himself. He touched Su Chan¡¯s hair, then turned to Zi Yuan and said, "I¡¯m sure they won¡¯te tonight. It¡¯s windy here. Let¡¯s go back and talk."

    Zi Yuan had no choice but to nod. As long as Li Yundong was by Su Chan¡¯s side, even if the sky copsed, she would only be using it as a quilt. The little girl was nodding like a chicken pecking at rice. She giggled and said, "Yundong, you¡¯re so imposing today. You managed to fend off and slip away from so many pursuers alone!"

    Li Yundong chuckled and didn¡¯t say anything. He flew back to his own balcony with Su Chan and Zi Yuan.

    Since Li Yundong and the other two families near him were all cultivators, they had no habit of going through the main door and were instead used to leaving the balcony door open. Li Yundongnded in his residence and pushed his way inside. He looked around and saw that the room was dark and frighteningly quiet. The little foxes and the others seemed to have fallen asleep.

    Li Yundong nodded to Su Chan and Zi Yuan. The three of them tiptoed through the door and then headed into Li Yundong¡¯s room together.

    After Li Yundong had signaled for Su Chan to close the door, he said to Zi Yuan, "You just asked me why I wanted to grab the Renyuan Jindan, didn¡¯t you?"

    Zi Yuan nodded. "That¡¯s right. You¡¯re getting yourself into trouble!"

    Li Yundong was not angry. He smiled slightly and asked, "Then I want to ask you, if I hadn¡¯t grabbed the Renyuan Jindan, would the Zhengyi School let you go?"

    Zi Yuan was stunned and did not speak.

    Li Yundong asked again, "Then, will the Zhengyi Sect let us go?"

    There was a thoughtful expression on Zi Yuan¡¯s face. After a moment of silence, she still chose to remain silent.

    Li Yundong said, "As you¡¯ve seen before, the Zhengyi Sect coerced you and me again and again. They were so aggressive that they didn¡¯t want to give us a chance to live at all. In their eyes, the members of the Fox Zen School are a different species and should be wiped out, while you¡¯re a traitor who is helping the rebels. Do you think we can make them reconsider?"

    Zi Yuan sighed softly and said, "There¡¯s no need to offend so many cultivation sects in this world."

    Li Yundongughed and asked, "You¡¯re acting strange. Last time, you encouraged me to grab the Medicine King Tripod. This time, I stole the Renyuan Jindan, but you¡¯reining so much. What¡¯s on your mind?"

    Zi Yuan sighed and said, "How could that be the same? With the Medicine King Tripod, it¡¯s equivalent to having a chickenying eggs. You won¡¯t starve to death in the future. Whatever happens, no matter how hungry you are, you will have eggs to eat. It¡¯s normal for people to grab a chicken when they are about to starve. However, the Renyuan Jindan is just an egg. Before you even became very hungry, you offended almost all of the sects of cultivation in the world just by grabbing an egg. Do you think that was a good deal?"

    Li Yundong shook his head and said, "But we can¡¯t even deal with the Zhengyi School, so why should we need to care about the other sects? Anyway, offending one is also an offense, and offending many is also an offense. These cultivators have nothing to say when they get all the benefits in the world, but if someone takes some benefits for themselves, they will be jealous and secretly look to make trouble with you! Wasn¡¯t the best proof to be found when we participated in the teapetitionst time? If we don¡¯t fight for ourselves, do you expect the other sects to give us a way out?"

    The more Li Yundong spoke, the tougher his tone became. He said unceremoniously, "Zi Yuan, don¡¯t be silly! You and I can¡¯t turn back anymore. It¡¯s better to grab Renyuan Jindan and improve our own strength! These days, only the strong survive. It¡¯s absolutely impossible to rely on other people to be merciful!"

    The longer Su Chan stayed with Zi Yuan, the more she respected Zi Yuan¡¯s character. When the little girl saw that Li Yundong¡¯s words had struck Zi Yuan speechless, she couldn¡¯t bear it. So she gently pulled Li Yundong¡¯s arm and said, "Yundong, don¡¯t talk to sister Zi Yuan like that. She said it for your own good."

    Li Yundong hadn¡¯t expected Su Chan to take the initiative to speak up for Zi Yuan. He chuckled and tweaked the tip of the little girl¡¯s nose, then said in a gentle voice, "Give us a minute. I have something to ask Zi Yuan about one-on-one. I¡¯ll call you inter, okay?"

    Su Chan replied with a nod and looked at Li Yundong with eager eyes. "Okay, but don¡¯t be angry with sister Zi Yuan. Talk it over nicely."

    Having said that, she then turned her face and said to Zi Yuan, "Sister Zi Yuan, Yundong has a sharp tongue but a soft heart. Don¡¯t mind him."

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but reach out and p her round butt before scolding her with a smile. "It¡¯s you who acts like an innocent old man and pretends to be good on both sides. I¡¯m going to be a bad guy. Hurry up ande inter!"

    "Ah!" Su Chan cried. She covered her butt with both hands and pulled a face at Li Yundong, then turned around and went out. Before the door had fully closed, she stretched out her head and looked at him worriedly. Her eyes turned round and round, seeming to say: "Yundong, don¡¯t be angry with sister."

    How could Li Yundong not understand the little girl¡¯s thoughts? Heughed and said sternly, "You still want to see what¡¯s going on? If you look in here again, I¡¯ll p you again!"

    Su Chan stuck out her tongue and closed the door.

    With a smile on her face, Zi Yuan watched the door click shut. She sighed softly and said, "You¡¯re so lucky to have an intimate partner like Su Chan."

    Li Yundong nodded, also sighing. "I sure am."

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "If you have anything to ask me, just say it."

    Li Yundong¡¯s expression turned grave and he asked, "Let¡¯s start with when we went to Mount Gezao."

    Zi Yuan nodded in acknowledgment.

    "I have a few questions," Li Yundong began. "Why did you go after Su Chan when she had juste out of the room and you heard that it was Cao Yi or Zhuang Yating?"

    Zi Yuan sighed softly. "I knew that with your intelligence, this matter wouldn¡¯t stay hidden for long, but I wasn¡¯t expecting it to be discovered quite so soon."

    Li Yundong¡¯s expression was solemn. "Tell me quickly, this thing is very important and very strange. We followed this person to Gezao Sect. Why would Yan Fang appear again! I can understand that Yan Fang has the Liuhe, but why did Yan Fang appear when we pursued the senior uncle of Fox Zen School to Gezao Sect? If it¡¯s just a coincidence, it doesn¡¯t make any sense. Is Yan Fang also Cao Yi or Zhuang Yating?"

    Zi Yuan nodded slowly. "You¡¯ve got it. Back when we were eating in the mall, Su Chan and the others went to buy clothes. I didn¡¯t want to go with them, but Ruan Hongling told me that she had seen Second Shibo Yan Fang nearby. I was shocked, so I followed her out. Later, I found that Shibo Yan Fang¡¯s Yang Spirit was extremely vigorous. She had been out of her body in Yang Spirit for such a long time. It was impossible for her to be so vigorous without her body. Moreover, she seemed to be well aware of our actions. It¡¯s very likely that she has been lurking around us for a long time."

    Li Yundong thought of something and said, "On top of that, she has been possessed by Mo Ahshi before, so you suspect that she is hiding in the Fox Zen School?"

    "That¡¯s right!" said Zi Yuan. "That¡¯s why I rushed to the locker room right away. I wanted to see who was with everyone and who was alone. Second Shibo¡¯s Yang Spirit had just possessed her, so she should not have been able to skillfully go out of her body in Yang Spirit and remain unaffected. She would have had to have hidden in a ce where no one could see her. While everyone was outside, only Cao Yi and Zhuang Yating were in the locker room. At that time, I began to suspect them."

    Li Yundong frowned when he heard that. He said hatefully, "Yan Fang really wants to destroy my Fox Zen School! Not only did she kill Mo Ahshi, but she¡¯s also possessed Cao Yi or Zhuang Yating. She¡¯s really detestable! Why didn¡¯t you tell me about this earlier?"

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "My reason is the same as yours when you asked Su Chan to leave."

    Li Yundong fell silent. He had sent Su Chan away because he was afraid that her words and deeds would leak out after hearing about this. He was also afraid that the little girl would not be able to take such an emotional blow.

    Li Yundong thought for a moment and said reluctantly, "Su Chan can¡¯t control her words, I can understand that, but I wouldn¡¯t make such a careless mistake, right? How could you hide such a big thing from me? If Yan Fang does harm to others, how will I exin it to others?"

    Zi Yuan sighed. "I was sure that Yan Fang would not make a move. She had gone through great pains to hide right under our noses. She must have a n, and it must be a good one! However, this matter is indeed my fault. I¡¯ll apologize to you now."

    Li Yundong waved his hand and said, "Forget it. Since it¡¯se to this, it¡¯s useless to apologize. I¡¯ll ask you a second question."

    However, Zi Yuan smiled and asked in reply, "You must have a lot of questions. Why don¡¯t we ask one each? That¡¯ll be fairer."

    Li Yundong thought for a moment before saying, "Well, okay. If you have any questions, you can ask me."

    Zi Yuan nodded and asked, "How are you going to deal with the Renyuan Jindan that you snatched back? If I¡¯m not wrong, you will give it to either Su Chan or Zhou Qin. But which of the two do you want to entrust it to?"

    This sentence suddenly made Li Yundong fall silent and be lost in thought.

 Chapter 383 Zi Yuans Concerns

    <h4>Chapter 383 Zi Yuan¡°s Concerns</h4>

    Zi Yuan¡¯s question left Li Yundong speechless. After a long time, Li Yundong sighed and asked, "Why don¡¯t you want this Renyuan Jindan?"

    Zi Yuan smiled faintly and said, "Taking more Elixirs won¡¯t do much for those who have already reached the Yangshen phase like us. Firstly, we need to gradually cultivate on our own. Secondly, we won¡¯t be able to break through the bottleneck in a short period of time and enter the Jinshen phase unless we take the Diyuan Jindan. Thus, it would be a waste if you give me that Renyuan Jindan."

    Li Yundong thought for a moment and said with embarrassment, "In fact, I have an inclination, but now it¡¯s hard to say. I need to talk to them and ask for their opinions before making the decision."

    Zi Yuan felt sorry about putting him on the spot because of this. Thereupon, she said, "Forget it. What about your question?"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t stand on ceremony. He immediately asked, "Do you think that Yan Fang wanted to make use out at that time?"

    Zi Yuan thought for a moment, then said, "That¡¯s very likely!"

    Then he asked, "Do you think she deliberately led us to Mount Gezao tonight?"

    Zi Yuan paused for a minute. Then, she chose her words carefully and replied, "That¡¯s possible!"

    Li Yundong frowned and said as if talking to himself, "Why would she want to lead us to Mount Gezao? If that¡¯s what she had intended, why would she force us out of hiding? What was the benefit of that?"

    Zi Yuan pondered for a moment and said, "Have you ever thought about why the dead Mei Niang would appear in front of us again? If the one we saw was the real Mei Niang, then who was the one who died before?"

    Li Yundong pped his hands together and said in a deep voice, "You found the key! I suspect the dead Mei Niang might be a substitute or Liujia Yang Spirit Fu! Since Liujia Yang Spirit Fu can create a living person, why can¡¯t it create a corpse that has been sucked dry?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s face was radiant with admiration. "You¡¯re right! It¡¯s very possible!"

    Li Yundong was inspired. Zi Yuan¡¯s words cheered him up and then he continued, "Moreover, we saw a mysterious man save Mei Niang and trap us with the Immortal-Binding Rope. I saw this person in the secret room at the Fox Zen School. Who do you think that person is?"

    Zi Yuan knitted her pretty eyebrows imperceptibly. She hesitated for a fraction of a second before responding while shaking her head, "I can vaguely guess, but it¡¯s hard to say."

    Li Yundong said, "Why don¡¯t you write down his name in your palm, I¡¯ll write one as well. Let¡¯s see if our thoughts are the same."

    Zi Yuan nodded and said, "Okay." After that, she picked up a pen from Li Yundong¡¯s room and wrote a word in her palm. Then she handed the pen to Li Yundong. After he was done writing, they opened their palms at the same time.

    Li Yundong took a closer look and saw the word "Liu" in Zi Yuan¡¯s palm. There was a "Ye" in his!

    Li Yundong and Zi Yuan looked at each other andughed at the same time.

    Li Yundong withdrew his hand and said, "Things would get ratherplicated if this man is the former leader of our sect, Liu Ye."

    Zi Yuan¡¯s other hand gently rubbed the palm where she had written, and then the word disappeared. Zi Yuan nodded and said, "You¡¯re right. Why did Liu Ye stage his death at that time? Why did he pass on the Fox Zen School to you? Why did he end up together with Wan Zhenyuan of the Gezao Sect? Why did his appearance change so much? Why create the illusion that Zhangsun Hong and Mei Niang had been killed? Why did he save Mei Niang? Why did he tie us together with the fairy-tied rope?"

    Faced with so many "whys," Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but sigh with a rueful smile. He said, "I didn¡¯t expect that leading the Fox Zen School would cause this much trouble."

    Zi Yuan said coldly, "Li Yundong, don¡¯t look down on these things. Yan Fang Shibo once warned me many times that a Great Catastrophe was going to take ce in the cultivation world. Didn¡¯t you ever suspect that someone had always been following us? What¡¯s more, this person stole the bodies of two golden snakes. Now it seems that the person is Liu Ye! If I¡¯m right, there must be a Great Catastrophe brewing in the cultivation world. And it¡¯s either my Shibo Yan Fang who initiated the disaster, or Liu Ye and Wan Zhenyuan!"

    Li Yundong muttered, "You¡¯re right. It¡¯s very likely that Liu Ye stole two big golden snakes and gave them to Wanzhen Yuan to have him refine a Diyuan Jindan. But why does he want to refine one? For his own consumption? How would he benefit from doing so many things?"

    As Li Yundong spoke, a strong sense of displeasure suddenly rose in his mind. He had taken over the Fox Zen School, a responsibility that he apparently had to abruptly assume due to the circumstances. But after their conversation, he found that he had actually been manipted. This matter really made him feel very unhappy.

    Zi Yuan seemed to notice what Li Yundong was going through, so she softlyforted him and said, "If you don¡¯t want to be used by others, then don¡¯t be the Leader."

    Li Yundong let out his breath in a long sigh and said, "I don¡¯t want to be the leader on my own ount. Although it¡¯s true that it¡¯s cool to bring such a group of beautiful foxes out, I would have never be the leader of the sect if it hadn¡¯t been for Su Chan. Now that she has lost her master, I really don¡¯t know how to face her if the Fox Zen School was also destroyed by my hand. Moreover, although Liu Ye escaped by ying dead, he probably didn¡¯t do it for evil purposes. And I believe that the other members of the Fox Zen School know nothing about Liu Ye¡¯s fake death. Most of them are just like Su Chan, who have no ill intentions and are just innocent little spirits. I¡¯m afraid they¡¯ll be doomed if I leave them behind!"

    Zi Yuan was stunned; her eyes couldn¡¯t help but show strong appreciation and admiration. She said, "Yes, you are a righteous man! After getting along with you these days, I can feel that the entire Fox Zen School is very dependent on you. If you leave them behind at this time, they definitely won¡¯t ept this fact and the repercussions thate to your decision!"

    Li Yundong nodded and said, "Yes, I can only hide the truth from them and protect them in secret, especially Su Chan and Zhou Qin. I owe them the most. I won¡¯t let them get hurt anymore."

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "Then, what do you want to do in the future? The cultivators we offended tonight didn¡¯t immediatelye back to fight with us, which means that they have already epted the fact that the Renyuan Jindan was snatched by us, but they will definitely let things go. ording to my spection, if they want to retaliate, there are a number of ways."

    Li Yundong looked stern. "Go on, I¡¯m listening."

    Zi Yuan stretched out a slender finger and said, "First, a battle challenge in a secret ce to settle our resentment. This is unlikely because they can¡¯t do anything to us as long as we remain in a ce where there are many mortals. We could just refuse their challenge."

    Li Yundong nodded and said, "Yes. What about the second one?"

    Zi Yuan stretched a second finger and said, "Second, that would be to sneak on you, as you¡¯ve seen before."

    Li Yundong snorted. "Then let theme, as long as they don¡¯t approach others from the Fox Zen School."

    Zi Yuan said, "All the cultivators we¡¯ve offended tonight are respectable people. Although some of them are shameless and wretched, they wouldn¡¯t degrade themselves to do such a thing. Otherwise, their reputation would be ruined if that were to spread."

    Li Yundong was a little relieved. "If so, that¡¯s fine. What about the third way?"

    Zi Yuan stretched the third finger and said, "Third, the uing Taoist assembly. They will most certainly invite us, and all the Taoist sects and schools wille to bother us if we don¡¯t participate, because everyone thinks that you¡¯re weak and cowardly. Most cultivation sects only care about the coldw of the jungle. There¡¯s no kindness to eliminate the bullies and help the down-trodden chivalrously. They¡¯ve always done things akin to beating a drowning dog. But if we willingly attend the Taoist assembly, all of them will attack us directly. This is also the dilemma I am most worried about!"

    Li Yundongughed and pped his hands. He said, "There¡¯s nothing to worry about. As the saying goes, walk towards the mountains knowing that there are tigers to be found! These people are looking forward to us not attending, so I would rather go. Aside from this, I also want to show them that I¡¯m not an easy target to bully, and our Fox Zen School is not a soft persimmon!"

    Zi Yuan nodded slightly and said, "The fourth issue, and also thest. If they can¡¯t use force, then they will definitely use other kinds of plotting, such as suppressing us in business. They will push us around and cut off our wealth sources!"

    Li Yundong frowned and said in a low voice, "That¡¯s what worries me most. Other sects have great power, and your former connections and power have been cut off by the Zhengyi School. In this aspect, we are at an absolute disadvantage and may very likely suffer a big loss!"

    Seeing that Li Yundong was worried, Zi Yuan persuaded him in a soft voice, "Actually, we don¡¯t have to worry about it. As the saying goes, you only have to deal with that when it happens. As long as they don¡¯te to us in a rude and unreasonable manner, we will find a way to deal with them. What¡¯s more, if this shop has to close, we can find other ways to make money. There are many ways to make money in the world, so we don¡¯t have to fight with them."

    After Li Yundong heard her words, he chuckled and said, "It¡¯s not that easy for them to trouble my business. The mortal world isn¡¯t like the cultivation world. This world asks for reason and rules. How can they be allowed to act recklessly?"

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly. "It¡¯s good if you think that way. I¡¯m just afraid that you¡¯ll do something wrong out of impulse because you can¡¯t get over it."

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Am I such a kind of person?"

    Zi Yuan nced at Li Yundong. "Aren¡¯t you? You were so impulsive while at the Gezao Sect that you almostmitted suicide. You even shouted at me. You¡¯ve forgotten that already?"

    Li Yundong yawned andughed. "That was an ident, an ident!" As he spoke, he sized up Zi Yuan¡¯s pretty face with interest. Heughed and said, "Will fairy sister also settle ounts with me?"

    Hearing this, Zi Yuan paused and angrily rolled her eyes at Li Yundong. "How? Am I not human? I have never been shouted like that in my entire life!"

    Li Yundong smiled apologetically and replied, "Okay, okay, it was indeed awful of me. Fairy sister please forgive me this time, I can¡¯t repay your great kindness!"

    Zi Yuan snorted. She wanted to taunt Li Yundong, but suddenly felt that it was improper for her and Li Yundong to talk like that, as if they were a flirting couple. Zi Yuan¡¯s ears suddenly became a little hot. She didn¡¯t dare to stay any longer, so she walked to the door and turned her head, saying, "I¡¯m going to call Su Chan in. If you have something to say, you can tell her. I¡¯m leaving."

    Li Yundong saw that Zi Yuan¡¯s expression was a mixture of joy and anger, and her cheeks were rosy. There was a rare charm flowing in the corners of her eyes, which was really moving. He was flipped by this, opting to swallow back the words that were about toe out of his mouth. He saw Zi Yuan out but he couldn¡¯t say a word.

    On her way out, Zi Yuan saw Su Chan sitting on the living room sofa. Su Chan bowed her head and shook her legs gently. She looked at her toes, as if she were thinking about something.

    When Su Chan heard that the door upstairs had been opened, she raised her head and saw Zi Yuaning out. Her eyes lit up and she went to meet her. "Sister Zi Yuan, Yundong didn¡¯t scold you, did he?"

    As she looked at Su Chan¡¯s innocent face, Zi Yuan suddenly had an inexplicable feeling. At this time, she didn¡¯t want to face this girl.

    Zi Yuan dodge her eyes lightly. "No. Well, Li Yundong is expecting you upstairs." With that, she quickly left Li Yundong¡¯s dwelling, entering her residence by jumping to the balcony like a thief, going straight to her room.

    As soon as she closed the door, Zi Yuan heaved a long sigh of relief. With her back against the door, her chest heaved up and down, and her eyes twinkled.

    A strange feeling seemed to be emerging from her soft chest and beating heart. It was a feeling that she had never experienced in all of her life. It was like the wild grass growing rapidly in spring, which filled her chest with a strange sensation.

    Especially since she and Li Yundong had been previously tied together... Li Yundong¡¯s strong and broad chest pressed against her soft chest made her feel hot and weak. That feeling attacked her again, which disturbed her usually calm mind.

    Zi Yuan ced her hands on her chest and whispered the poem of fate, "The spirit mirror is fragile, and the fairy sword has difficulty cutting the red rope. Master, what does your psalm mean?" She was lost in thought. She stared nkly at the empty room and was a little bewildered.

 Chapter 384 Su Chans Decision

    <h4>Chapter 384 Su Chan¡°s Decision</h4>

    After Zi Yuan left, Su Chan acutely detected the strangeness of Zi Yuan¡¯s behavior. She watched as Zi Yuan left, then quietly entered Li Yundong¡¯s room, carefully closing the door behind her.

    The girl said to Li Yundong as if she were a thief, "Hey, your girl is here!"

    Seeing her like this, Li Yundong suddenlyughed and waved at her. "Girl,e to your boyfriend."

    Su Chan smiled sweetly. She snuggled up to Li Yundong like a sweet and helpless bird. She blinked and looked at herpanion affectionately. The girl whispered, "Yundong, did you quarrel with Sister Zi Yuan just now?"

    Li Yundong chuckled. "Don¡¯t be silly. Zi Yuan is my master and friend. She has done too much for me and she has all my respect. How could I quarrel with her? Even if she were wrong, I would give in to her."

    Su Chan was relieved to hear that. She smiled sweetly and said, "That¡¯s good. Sister Zi Yuan¡¯s sect was closed off. I dreaded the idea of her bing homeless after a fight between you. I have been kicked out, so it¡¯s not good to when I see that someone is homeless."

    When he heard this, Li Yundong sighed in his heart. He gently held Su Chan in his arms and stroked her ck hair gently with his big hands. "That¡¯s so kind of you. You are quite considerate."

    Su Chan blinked, "It¡¯s Sister Zi Yuan who deserves such praise! She cares about everyone, except herself. Therefore, I also respect her a lot. I try my best to learn from her."

    Li Yundong chuckled. "Good, good. Then you should take Zi Yuan as your master as well. That way the Linggong Sect will also have another disciple."

    Su Chan twisted her body and said coquettishly, "No, I want to acknowledge Zhenren Li as my master." Then, she grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s right hand and pretended to bow. "Master, I, Su Chan, pay my respects to you!"

    Li Yundongughed and held the girl in his arms. He said softly, "Girl, let¡¯s stop this. I have something to discuss with you."

    Su Chan giggled, wrapping her arms around Li Yundong¡¯s waist and burying her face in his chest, greedily sniffing his masculine scent. She said, "Go ahead, I¡¯m listening."

    Li Yundong knew that she was naturally naughty and yful. In addition to practicing cultivation, it was almost impossible for her to stay quiet for even one minute. He smiled but didn¡¯t force her; he just held her in his arms and whispered, "Can you help me decide who should I give this Renyuan Jindan to?"

    Upon hearing this, Su Chan was immediately rooted to the spot. Countless scenes shed across her mind.

    After her master had snatched the Renyuan Jindan and handed it over to her, she had been hunted down by Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling. Then she had fled without stopping until she met Li Yundong. In order to escape the pursuit, she threw the Jindan into his mouth. However, Li Yundong ended up taking Renyuan Jindan by mistake.

    She had made up her mind to squeeze out Li Yundong at that time, but then she slowly fell in love with him. The scenes over the past few days shed in front of Su Chan¡¯s eyes. Her mind was as clear as a mirror, thus she knew that the reason why she could fall in love with Li Yundong in this life was all because of the Renyuan Jindan!

    She had lost her Renyuan Jindan, but got Li Yundong in exchange; thepanion she loved so deeply. The gains and losses could not be exined clearly in a short time.

    Since a Renyuan Jindan had once again appeared in front of her, what choice would she make?

    Su Chan was lost in thought. Li Yundong didn¡¯t rush her. He just looked at her tenderly, like a powerful patron saint: silently guarding her, so that she wouldn¡¯t be hurt in the slightest.

    Gradually, her eyes became clear. She retreated from Li Yundong¡¯s embrace and sat up straight, looking unusually serious. She grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s hand and said, "Yundong, you¡¯ve made up your mind, haven¡¯t you?"

    Li Yundong smiled. "I just have a general idea, but I haven¡¯t decided yet. I want to listen to your opinion."

    Su Chan said seriously, "Let me offer my perspective first."

    Li Yundong nodded. "Well, I¡¯m listening."

    Su Chan fixed her eyes on Li Yundong and said word for word, "I want to give this Renyuan Jindan to Sister Zhou Qin."

    Li Yunqi said, "Why didn¡¯t you keep it for yourself? You know, you should have it. Back then, I took your Renyuan Jindan by mistake. As a result, you couldn¡¯t turn from a three-tailed to a six-tailed fox spirit. This should have been your thing! Now it¡¯s just returning to its original owner."

    However, Su Chan shook her head, her grip on Li Yundong became tighter. "No, I don¡¯t think so. In the beginning, I really coveted it very much, especially before I met you. Every day, I yearned to be a cultivator like Mystical Silver Fox. But when I met you, I gradually realized that there was another thing in this world that was more interesting than cultivation. That is, to have someone in this world who loves you."

    The girl¡¯s eyes were a little blurred. She said in a daze, "I think, this must be a blessing that I have cultivated for several generations. God made me lose my Jindan, but allowed me to find you. This is fair. Anything you gain requires something to be paid in exchange. So, if I get the Jindan now, I¡¯m afraid that I would lose you at once..."

    Su Chan threw herself into Li Yundong¡¯s arms and murmured, "Master, you can¡¯t leave me alone. I can¡¯t live without you."

    Li Yundong was moved by Su Chan¡¯s words. He suddenly remembered the dark days when he was with Su Chan at his lowest point, and when he had been forced to leave her... Back then, the girl shouted in a heart-wrenching manner, "Yundong, you must be stronger!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes stung a little, and were a bit moist. He smiled and patted her on the back, then said softly, "Don¡¯t be silly. I¡¯m very strong now. No one can separate us. You don¡¯t have to worry about this."

    Su Chan shook her head and continued to say, "No, it¡¯s not just this. There is another reason why I want to give the Renyuan Jindan to Sister Zhou Qin."

    Li Yundong asked while bewildered, "Then, what else do you want to say?"

    Su Chan said again, "If I take the Renyuan Jindan, it will take me three months to digest it. Even with your help, it will take at least two months. Yundong, you sent me away before. Although you don¡¯t say it verbally, I know what you¡¯re thinking. You¡¯re just afraid that I will worry about you because of the many strange things that happened tonight. Moreover, we robbed the Renyuan Jindan in front of so many cultivators, which will definitely attract a lot of enemies. Therefore, we should give the Renyuan Jindan to a person who is able to absorb it as soon as possible, to be the most powerful cultivator."

    Su Chan said seriously, "I¡¯m a Fox Spirit. My cultivation speed is naturally slower than that of a human being¡¯s. Besides, I¡¯m not as talented as Sister Zhou Qin, who was born to be a Virgin Container with Full Yin Qi. Also, with your Jindan¡¯s Qi in her body, the consumption of the Renyuan Jindan willplement her well, which will in turn help her gain twice the result with half the effort. I believe that Sister Zhou Qin will definitely be able to break through to the Zhuji phase within a month, with both your assistance and the help of the Jindan. Then, when the Taoist assembly begins, she will certainly be your most powerful assistant!"

    Li Yundong was deeply moved by her words. He looked at Su Chan with aplex look in his eyes and thought, "My girl seems to have been normally born to be careless and a little slow-witted. But in fact, she¡¯s not inferior to anyone. In the current situation, she knows this better than anyone else; her mind is as clear as a mirror."

    Li Yundong said softly, "Don¡¯t you feel regret and envy because of this, at all?"

    Su Chan smiled sweetly. She held Li Yundong¡¯s arm and said with a smile, "She should be jealous of me! Because I have you! With you by my side, I will be content with everything and have nothing else to ask for."

    Saying this, the girl stuck out her tongue and yfully said to Li Yundong¡¯s right hand, "Master, it¡¯s only been hard on you. I¡¯m afraid that you¡¯ll have to practice the 64th Form of Bajiquan for a longer period of time."

    Li Yundongughed. He pinched her nose and scared her with a straight face, saying, "Nonsense, it¡¯s obviously you who practiced the 64th Form of Bajiquan!"

    Su Chan¡¯s cheeks turned red. She giggled and buried her head in Li Yundong¡¯s arms, refusing to look up. "You only know how to bully me. You¡¯re so annoying!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Don¡¯t worry. Since you¡¯re generously giving that Jindan to Zhou Qin, I won¡¯t let you suffer a loss. We heard Wan Zhenyuan say that he wanted to refine a Diyuan Jindan. We can rob the Diyuan Jindan again the moment it appears in the world. You can¡¯t push it to others anymore at that time! I¡¯m still waiting for you to seed in cultivation and we fly together. Can you bear to watch me live like a widower for the rest of life?"

    "A Diyuan Jindan? It¡¯s too hard to refine. I don¡¯t believe he can do it," Sain Su Chan and giggled.

    Li Yundong smiled nomittally. After being intimate with her for a while, he said to her softly, "Since you have made up your mind, I will give the Jindan to Zhou Qin. It¡¯s not toote for you to go back on your word now."

    Su Chan took out the Renyuan Jindan from her arms. In an instant, the room shone with bright golden light. She handed it to Li Yundong, then she shook her head and said seriously, "No, Sister Zhou Qin has paid a lot on your behalf, far more than I have done. She deserves that. If I¡¯m destined to take it, there will be more in the future!"

    Li Yundong nodded slowly, openly praising. He sighed and said, "I was afraid that you would take things too hard in your heart, but I didn¡¯t expect my girl to be so righteous and open-minded. It¡¯s quite rare. I¡¯m really lucky to have you."

    Su Chan giggled and said, "You should cook more delicious food for me to make up for it, then!"

    Li Yundongughed. "You foodie! All right, stay in the room. I¡¯ll go find Zhou Qin and see if she¡¯s asleep."

    With this, Li Yundong squeezed the Renyuan Jindan in his palm and turned to leave through the door.

 Chapter 385 Quarrelsome Lovers

    <h4>Chapter 385 Quarrelsome Lovers</h4>

    Zhou Qin and Su Chan shared the same room, which was not far from Li Yundong¡¯s. After arriving at their room door, Li Yundong knocked gently.

    Over the past few days, Zhou Qin had been picking up some basic cultivation methods from Su Chan. She already had some Yuanqi in her body, which was much better than that of ordinary people. Therefore, Qi-control training came much more easily to her.

    Although Zhou Qin hadn¡¯t cultivated for many days, her five senses were much sharper than before, and her body had gotten lighter and stronger, so her energy was more abundant.

    As soon as Li Yundong knocked, Zhou Qin was immediately awoken from her meditation. She asked in a low voice, "Who is it?"

    Li Yundong answered in a whisper, "It¡¯s me."

    Although he didn¡¯t say his name, Zhou Qin was so familiar with Li Yundong¡¯s voice that she naturally knew it was him. She couldn¡¯t fathom why Li Yundong was looking for her sote when she was all alone in her room.

    Zhou Qin jumped up, feeling both surprised and suspicious. With a fluttering heart, she walked to the door and opened it gently. As expected, she saw Li Yundong standing at the door with his hands sped behind his back and looking at her deeply.

    "What, what is he doing here?" Zhou Qin thought, panicking and standing at the door in a daze.

    Li Yundong looked at Zhou Qin dressed in white pajamas and standing gracefully at the door, looking like a water lily beginning to bloom, extremely delicate. She didn¡¯t have her usual cold and reserved manner at that moment.

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Aren¡¯t you going to invite me in?"

    "Ah!" Zhou Qin felt as if she had just woken up from a dream. She blushed and stepped aside to make way for Li Yundong.

    Li Yundong entered the room and nced around. He saw two beds and two boudoirs, one pair of each set on each side of the girls¡¯ room and emitting a delicate fragrance. There was a desk between the beds. All kinds of Taoist ssics were neatly ced on it. One of them had been opened, and its paged were thoroughly covered withments. Obviously, it was the notes Zhou Qin had made during her daily reading.

    Li Yundong chuckled. He picked up a book and flipped through it. It was "Canon of the Yellow Thearch". Zhou Qin had added her own insightfulmentary beside Li Yundong¡¯s notes. Li Yundong secretly nodded and said to Zhou Qin, "Not bad, you¡¯ve been diligent."

    Zhou Qin didn¡¯t know what Li Yundong wanted to do in her room at midnight. She was a little uneasy and said in a fluster, "Master, master, it¡¯s sote. What¡¯s going on?"

    Li Yundong then realized that it was indeed inappropriate for him to havee to her room alone sote at night. He coughed awkwardly and said, "I do have something to do here. Close the door and I¡¯ll tell you"

    Zhou Qin¡¯s heart was throbbing violently. A strange feeling that had been suppressed intensely within her was suddenly bursting out uncontrobly. This proud and beautiful girl¡¯s face flushed. Her body trembled slightly as she closed the door. Her heartbeat quickened as she trilled. "Ma...ster, what¡¯s the matter?"

    Seeing Zhou Qin like this, Li Yundong felt a little regretful. He felt that he shouldn¡¯t havee to her at such an hour and made her so panicky. However, thinking of Zhou Qin¡¯s deep affection for him, he was so moved that he couldn¡¯t bear it.

    Li Yundong sighed lightly. He stretched out his hand, which was wrapped around the Renyuan Jindan, then spread his fingers and said to Zhou Qin, "Come on, eat this."

    Zhou Qin saw a round pill rolling in Li Yundong¡¯s palm. The pill was shining with golden light, gently illuminating the room. She suddenly widened her eyes. Although she felt a shimmer of doubt in her heart, she still picked up the Jindan from Li Yundong¡¯s palm and swallowed it without any hesitation.

    This Renyuan Jindan was around the size of a thumb and she swallowed it without water, making her cough and her face go red.

    Li Yundong patted her back, feeling a mixture of amusement and anger. His finger tapped the Renying acupoint near Zhou Qin¡¯s throat, rxing the surrounding muscles all of a sudden, and the Jindan finally slid down into Zhou Qin¡¯s stomach.

    Although Zhou Qin had consumed the Jindan, she was still choked to tears and kept patting her own chest.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether to start crying orughing at this point. "Are you taking medicine ormitting suicide? You need to take water with a pill that big!"

    Zhou Qin stood up and reluctantly smiled at Li Yundong, her eyes dimming. She whispered, "Master, did youe to me sote just to make me swallow that?"

    Li Yundong saw that Zhou Qin did not know what she had eaten. He shook his head and said, "Don¡¯t you know what that was? And you just swallowed it? What if it had been poison?"

    Zhou Qin smiled slightly, her heart full of both bitterness and sweetness. "I¡¯d willingly take poison if you gave it to me."

    Hearing this, Li Yundong suddenly fell silent. He sighed gently, pulled out the chair in front of the desk and sat down. Then he patted her bed and said softly, "Zhou Qin, sit down. Listen to me."

    Zhou Qin sat down softly and fixed her eyes on Li Yundong without saying a word, silently waiting for him to speak.

    After thinking for a while, Li Yundong began to talk about how he had met Su Chan and how he had taken the Renyuan Jindan by mistake. He described all of the events that had led up to tonight, when they had snatched Renyuan Jindan during the tangled battle of the Gezao Sect.

    "It can be said that the reason why I, Li Yundong, turned from an ordinary person to a well-known cultivator now is all thanks to me having taken the Renyuan Jindan that you just consumed."

    Only then did Zhou Qin realize how precious and magical the thing she had just swallowed was. She subconsciously touched her throat with her hand and said in a choked voice, "Why did you give it to me? Why didn¡¯t you give it to Su Chan? Isn¡¯t it supposed to be hers?"

    "No, I talked about it with Su Chan," Li Yundong said softly. "We both think that you are the best person to take this Jindan. You have good aptitude and are talented. After taking it, you will improve faster. Moreover..."

    Zhou Qin suddenly said in a rough voice, "Besides, you think you owe me a lot, don¡¯t you?"

    Li Yundong fell silent again. After a while, he slowly nodded. "Yes, Zhou Qin, I really owe you too much. So, this is the onlypensation I can give you. It also fulfills my promise to you that I will give you a new life and a new world. Renyuan Jindan has given me a new life and world. Now it¡¯s time for you toe to this world."

    Hearing this, Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes suddenly twitched, and the tears in her eyes began to multiply. She stared at Li Yundong as her tears fell. This girl, who was known for having too much dignity, sobbed and said, "It¡¯s not fair, it¡¯s unfair! Why didn¡¯t you ask me? You just made the decision for me!"

    Li Yundong opened his mouth and said in a daze, "But it¡¯s a treasure that every cultivator yearns for. You, you don¡¯t want it?"

    Zhou Qin suddenly threw herself into Li Yundong¡¯s arms and hugged him tightly. She cried bitterly, "I¡¯d rather not have taken it. I¡¯d rather you owed me all your life. I didn¡¯t want you to pay me back!"

    Zhou Qin¡¯s cry was like a hand ripping Li Yundong¡¯s heart apart. His body suddenly froze, allowing Zhou Qin to hold him. His hands froze in mid-air, unsure whether to push the girl away or hold her tightly.

    After a while, after Zhou Qin¡¯s tears had soaked the material of Li Yundong¡¯s top, she slowly calmed down. Zhou Qin wiped her tears away and withdrew from Li Yundong¡¯s arms. She said bitterly, "Master, I¡¯m sorry I made such a scene."

    Li Yundong looked at the charming Zhou Qin, and his heart was heavy. He sighed softly and said, "Zhou Qin, you are a good..."

    Zhou Qin didn¡¯t wait for Li Yundong to finish his words. She immediately covered Li Yundong¡¯s mouth with her hand as her tears began to fall again. "Stop, don¡¯t give me a nice-girl speech!"

    Before Li Yundong could finish his sentence, he heard what Zhou Qin said and couldn¡¯t help but smile bitterly.

    Zhou Qin looked at Li Yundong with tears in her eyes and said, "I have given you a nice-guy speech once before. You don¡¯t have to give it back to me."

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly and said, "I didn¡¯t mean that."

    Zhou Qin suddenly whispered, "Did you think I rejected you before, so..."

    Li Yundong quickly shook his head and said, "No, no, absolutely not."

    Zhou Qin was silent for a long time. Eventually, she murmured in a low voice, "We must have been quarrelsome lovers in our past lives, so we are quarrelsome lovers in this one too..."

    Zhou Qin¡¯s voice was extremely soft, like a mosquito¡¯s chirp. Li Yundong didn¡¯t hear her clearly and asked, "What?"

    Zhou Qin bit her plump red lips with her pearly white teeth. Her eyes were overflowing withplicated emotions, full of love, aggrievance, anger, and obsession. She said word by word, "Quarrelsome lovers!"

    Li Yundong seemed extremely embarrassed. He looked away and didn¡¯t say anything.

    Zhou Qin stared at Li Yundong closely. Gradually, her sad expression disappeared, reced by strength and stubbornness. She wiped her tears away with her palm and found a hair clip beside the bed. She used it to tie her hair up high, revealing her snow-white neck.

    Zhou Qin took a slight breath and said calmly, "Master, I understand. I will make good use of this Jindan. I won¡¯t let you down. What should I do next?"

    Seeing that Zhou Qin was no longer angry at him, Li Yundong relieved in his heart. He said, "Meditate first, then I¡¯ll teach you Qi control."

    "Now?" Zhou Qin asked.

    Li Yundong nodded and said, "That¡¯s right. Even now, the Curative power of Renyuan Jindan is dissipating very quickly. Something will happen in just a while."

    Without saying a word, Zhou Qin turned around and quickly tidied up the bed. She then sat cross-legged on it and faced Li Yundong, ready to use Qi control to meditate.

    However, Li Yundong interjected. "No, you¡¯re supposed to face the wall with your back to me. I¡¯ll help you get Qi controlter."

    Zhou Qin immediately turned around, making her back face Li Yundong. She was about to sit down to use Qi control when she suddenly felt a wave of heat in her lower abdomen, as if there was a small mouse in there running back and forth.

    Zhou Qin was stunned. She thought that she had be aroused because of her affection towards Li Yundong, so she subconsciously did not dare to say anything. But not long after, the Qi within her started getting stronger and stronger. Gradually, Zhou Qin felt as if her whole body had fallen into a big furnace, and all of her burning up.

    At first, Zhou Qin gritted her teeth and struggled to hold on, but it wasn¡¯t long before she finally couldn¡¯t help moaning.

    Li Yundong was shocked and quickly checked Zhou Qin¡¯s pulse with his hand. He immediately found that the Qi in her body was running wild, just like an untamed horse out of control.

    Li Yundong immediately sent his Zhenqi into Zhou Qin¡¯s body to help her separate from the Qi in her body.

    Li Yundong knew that when he had taken the Renyuan Jindan before, it had been time for him to sleep. At that time, the Renyuan Jindan had attacked his body, but he hadn¡¯t felt pain or sadness because he didn¡¯t have any other emotions or desires at that time, so he had been able to easily ovee the pain of the attack.

    However, Zhou Qin was different. Firstly, her emotions were always on an up or down, and when she was conscious, she went through the difficulty of Jindan Fati. Then, when her Qi had begun to run wildly, she had not dared to tell Li Yundong because of her reservation. As a result, the Qi in her body was in total chaos now. She could not stand it anymore, and so Li Yundong had inevitably found out about it.

    Fortunately, at this time, Li Yundong¡¯s Zhenqi was far beyond the Curative power of Jindan¡¯s Qi in Zhou Qin¡¯s body, so he was able to control the Qi within her and make it return to their respective meridians. Therefore, the Qi would no longer run around and they could avoid the danger of Zouhuo Rumo.

    As he controlled the Qi in Zhou Qin¡¯s body, Li Yundong whispered, "That was a close call!"

    Li Yundong thought to himself, "Why is it that there has been a rule that there must be a good master apanying someone cultivating since ancient times? Why is a trusted training partner ranked third in the Five Elements of Cultivating Taosim? That¡¯s the reason! If it weren¡¯t for me being here just now, and if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that my Zhenqi cultivation is stronger than the Curative power, Zhou Qin would have be disabled and I would have hurt her."

    While Li Yundong was thinking about this rming potential consequence brought about by the attack of Jindan Fati, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a chill in his heart as it fluttered with fear. Thinking of this, he became more and more serious about protecting Zhou Qin¡¯s cultivation.

    Just like when Su Chan had guarded Li Yundong, Li Yundong, staying dressed and holding his palms against Zhou Qin¡¯s back, stayed by Zhou Qin¡¯s side without rest for two days and two nights!

 Chapter 386 Jindan Rebuilding Body

    <h4>Chapter 386 Jindan Rebuilding Body</h4>

    While Li Yundong was sorting out the Qi pulse for Zhou Qin, Su Chan waited outside until dawn. Li Yundong still hadn¡¯te out, so she was a little anxious, wandering back and forth in the corridor.

    The other little foxes of Fox Zen School had also woken up early that morning and were all in the living room meditating.

    Zi Yuan arrived at Li Yundong¡¯s residence early. She saw Su Chan spinning around, so she asked curiously: "Su Chan, what¡¯s wrong with you? Are you practicing Wu Qin Xi already?"

    When Su Chan saw Zi Yuan, she immediately stepped forward and pulled Zi Yuan to one side, then whispered to her in a low voice, "Sister Zi Yuan, Yundong went to Zhou Qin¡¯s roomst night and said that he was going to give her the Renyuan Jindan, but he still hasn¡¯te out yet."

    Seeing Su Chan being so anxious, Zi Yuan thought that she was worried that Li Yundong would not be able to behave, so she smiled and saidfortingly, "After taking the Jindan, Li Yundong, as Zhou Qin¡¯s master, has to remain with her to cast a protective spell. You don¡¯t need to worry about it. Li Yundong is a gentleman, he would never betray you."

    Su Chan stomped her feet angrily. "Sister Zi Yuan, what the hell were you thinking! I am not worried about him doing anything like that! Of course, I trust Yundong, but I am worried about what will happen to him while he¡¯s protecting Zhou Qin. I used to help Li Yundong when he faced the difficulty of rebuilding the body with Jindan, and both of us almost became unhinged. I didn¡¯t dare to push the door open to check, for fear of disturbing him. Sister Zi Yuan, your cultivation quotient is higher, can you help me see what the situation inside is like?"

    Zi Yuan smiled faintly. "Don¡¯t worry, Li Yundong¡¯s Zhenqi is vigorous and condensed. There will be no problem. As long as he doesn¡¯t encounter someone with a higher cultivation quotient, he should be able to control the Qi in his opponent¡¯s body."

    "It is always wise to y it safe and prepare for every possibility," Su Chan said anxiously.

    Zi Yuan groaned for a moment before saying reluctantly, "Okay, I¡¯ll help you check on the situation inside."

    As she was worried that the sound of her pushing the door might disturb Zhou Qin in her meditation and Li Yundong while he was casting a protective spell, Zi Yuan chose to get into the room by using her Yin Spirit.

    As soon as she entered, Zi Yuan found that the whole room was filled with clouds and mist. Carried on a thin vapor, a faint fragrance was wafting through the room, its scent somewhat medicinal yet also reminiscent of the delicate fragrance of virgins.

    Zi Yuan looked at the figures in the room intently. Zhou Qin was sitting on the bed cross-legged with her back to Li Yundong. White Qi was flowing from the top of her head, and her sweat had rendered her clothing sodden. Li Yundong was standing behind her with one palm pressing the Baihui on her head. His other hand was moving like a flying butterfly, quickly taping or poking, pressing or kneading the various acupoints of the Du Meridian on Zhou Qin¡¯s back.

    At this time, Li Yundong also had a steaming white line of Qi rising from the top of his head, but his line was so condensed that it was only one finger thick, and it rushed to the ceiling before spreading. Meanwhile, the white Qi from Zhou Qin¡¯s head was rising like uncooked bread dough, rising only an inch before spreading.

    Zi Yuan knew that Li Yundong was taking advantage of the opportunity of rebuilding the body with Jindan to help Zhou Qinplete her cultivation of Sutai of the first stage and Kuojing of the second stage. As long as she made it through this stage, Zhou Qin wouldplete all the basic kung fu of ordinary people¡¯s cultivation, and then directly enter the intermediate level of the second stage. She could begin to observe Gods¡¯ soul of herself and enter advanced cultivation of the second stage.

    Zi Yuan¡¯s Yin Spirit looked behind Li Yundong for a while. Just as she was about to leave, Li Yundong suddenly said, "Is that Zi Yuan?"

    Seeing that Li Yundong was fully engrossed in Famai and Kuojing for Zhou Qin, Zi Yuan hadn¡¯t been expecting him to have enough spare energy to speak to her. Thus, she couldn¡¯t help admiring him in her heart. "Yep, it¡¯s me. Su Chan saw that you didn¡¯te out for the whole night, so she was afraid that something bad had happened to you and Zhou Qin. She asked me toe and see."

    Li Yundong said in a deep voice, "I know. Have you seen the way Zhou Qin is sweating?"

    "I see. It¡¯s normal to sweat so much when one is going through rebuilding the body with Jindan," Zi Yuan said with a nod.

    "Yes, Zhou Qin has a special physique," Li Yundong began saying. "She has strong kidney fire and heavy Yin Qi in her body. Jindan¡¯s Yang Qi attacked her body very powerfully, which caused a fierce battle between the Yang Qi and Yin Qi in her body. The Qi in her body is in utter chaos because of the battle, so she is sweating heavily. Also, as this room is airtight, the sweat on her body does not have much chance to evaporate. I am afraid that the moisture will cling to her and bring some disease that might make her future cultivation difficult. Please find some towels for me."

    As a cultivator, Zi Yuan had experienced simr situations before. Thus, she naturally knew how much impact moisture could have on one¡¯s cultivation. She nodded in agreement, and her Yin Spirit quickly left the room and returned to her physical body.

    As soon as Zi Yuan opened her eyes, she said to Su Chan, "Don¡¯t worry, Li Yundong is doing the Kuojing and Famai for Zhou Qin. I¡¯ll find some towels. You should stay here and wait."

    Su Chan stopped her and said, "I¡¯ll go!"

    Not long after, Su Chan found three dry towels, handed them to Zi Yuan and said in a soft voice, "Sister Zi Yuan, you may go."

    Hearing that Su Chan¡¯s voice had be a little lower, as if she was afraid of disturbing Li Yundong, Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help but smile and say, "You can push the door open and go in. It¡¯s okay. He noticed me when I entered the room by my Yin Spirit and we even exchanged a few words. But you should be gentle. Don¡¯t disturb Zhou Qin."

    Su Chan blinked slowly and hesitated for a while. Then, she boldly pushed the door open and peeked inside.

    As soon as she opened the door, she saw a stream of mist welling up around the room, and the figures of Li Yundong and Zhou Qin were looming within the vapor.

    Li Yundong could sense that a person at the door was being brave enough to peek at him, but wouldn¡¯t dare to walk in. He immediately realized that this person must be Su Chan, so he said solemnly, "Chan¡¯er? Did Zi Yuan ask you to bring towels?"

    Su Chan saw that Li Yundong wasn¡¯t turning back but already knew what was happening outside through the wall. She secretly stuck her tongue out and said admiringly in a soft voice, "You are so amazing, you already know what¡¯s going on without needing to look or listen."

    She walked into the room lightly and whispered, "How do you want to use these towels?"

    "Help me wipe the sweat off her body. Be gentle and don¡¯t disturb her." Li Yundong stared at Zhou Qin¡¯s neck meridians intently, seemingly able to detect the changes of Qi in her body through the beating meridians under her skin.

    Su Chan stuck out her tongue and said, "How gently? I can¡¯t do it, you should do it yourself."

    Li Yundong replied, his voice a low rumble, "Didn¡¯t you do it for me before?"

    "You were a man, and you had fallen asleep at that time, so you couldn¡¯t feel anything. But now Zhou Qin is just meditating. How is that the same? What¡¯s more, you hold her meridians now, you know the exact strength to use, so you¡¯d better do it. Besides, she¡¯s your apprentice. It¡¯s to be expected that you do it yourself," Su Chan said in a low voice.

    Li Yundong frowned slightly, but he knew that this was not the time to hesitate. After a moment, he replied tly, "Well, you lift her clothes."

    "Eh?" Su Chan blinked her eyes and looked at Li Yundong in surprise, but when she saw his serious expression, she immediately knew that she was wrong.

    The little girl stuck out her tongue and reprimanded herself in her mind. "Su Chan, how could you not trust Yundong? When cultivating, the teaching of kung fu between masters and their disciple is inherently very private and intimate, don¡¯t you know?"

    Su Chan walked over gently, put the towel down within Li Yundong¡¯s reach, and then gently helped lift Zhou Qin¡¯s clothes.

    Zhou Qin was wearing loose pajamas with no underwear underneath. Lifting her clothes up, Su Chan suddenly revealed her white back.

    Although Su Chan was also a peerless beauty, she could see that Zhou Qin¡¯s back was smooth and unblemished, like a piece of natural, wless white jade. The body hair on her back was so fine that it was hard to see with the naked eye, and the curves of her back were extremely soft and beautiful. Even when Su Chan saw it, she felt moved, gasping in admiration.

    Su Chan looked on in awe, but Li Yundong was as impassive as stone. He quickly reached out and picked up the towel, then quickly swept it over Zhou Qin¡¯s back.

    At this time, Li Yundong was focusing his whole body and mind on the Kuojing and Famai for Zhou Qin. In his eyes, he could only see the Qi flowing inside the human body, not the graceful appearance of the woman before him. After he had wiped off the sweat on Zhou Qin¡¯s back, he threw the towel out the door, saying neatly, "Bring a new one!"

    Zi Yuan caught the towel at the door and could instantly feel that the towel was heavy and soaked with sweat. She was shocked and thought, "Li Yundong¡¯s move just now was so wonderful that it not only wiped off the sweat from Zhou Qin¡¯s back but also did not disturb her. He must have moved as sensitively and elegantly as a flying swallow across the water. It¡¯s really amazing. No wonder he was able to use the Liuhe to deliver thunder in an instant and urately hit the fairy-tied ropest time. I thought it was a fluke back then, but it seems like Li Yundong¡¯s control of strength really has reached an astonishing level!"

    Thinking of this, Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help but look at Li Yundong in admiration. Then she turned around to go to the bathroom to wash and change the towel, only to see that the others from the Fox Zen School and Ruan Hongling had all gathered at the foot of the stairs and were staring at her as a group, as if they wanted to know what was going on upstairs.

    Zi Yuan whispered to the crowd, "Li Yundong is doing the Kuojing and Famai for Zhou Qin. Don¡¯t speak loudly lest you disturb him."

    Everyone came to a sudden realization. They began whispering to each other. Ruan Hongling winked at Ziyuan and said under her breath, "Sister Zi Yuan, where did you gost night? I went to your room to find you, you were not there."

    Zi Yuan looked around and saw that the three Shibos were standing together with the little foxes of Fox Zen School. They all raised their heads and looked toward Li Yundong¡¯s room nervously.

    She whispered in response to Ruan Hongling, "I¡¯ll tell you about itter. It¡¯s not convenient now."

    Ruan Hongling nodded. Then, she added, "In that case, I¡¯ll go to Li Yundong¡¯s room to take a look. I won¡¯t say anything. Is that okay?"

    Zi Yuan nodded and advised her in a low voice, "You must be careful. Li Yundong is fine, but Zhou Qin must not be disturbed. Otherwise, all efforts will be in vain!"

    Ruan Hongling made a gesture to Zi Yuan to indicate that she understood. She went up the stairs softly and cracked the door open to look inside. She could see Su Chan removing the pajamas from Zhou Qin¡¯s upper body, standing to the side of Li Yundong and helping him with the towel.

    Li Yundong was still staring intently at Zhou Qin¡¯s neck pulse. He took the towel from Su Chan and swept it over Zhou Qin¡¯s back, then threw it to the door without looking and said in a deep voice, "Bring a new one!"

    Ruan Hongling saw the towel flying towards her and quickly caught it, feeling somewhat annoyed. "It¡¯s fine that this guy can¡¯t get along with me in daily life, but now he is daring to use me as his maid?!"

    But she also knew that now was not the time to be angry. She snorted in her heart and turned around, wanting to go downstairs.

    Just as Ruan Hongling was about to leave, she suddenly found that there was a faint smell of medicineing from the towel, and at this time Zhou Qin¡¯s body suddenly began to burst with explosions of five-color brilliance.

    Ruan Hongling was immediately shocked, blurting out, "Rebuilding the body with Jindan? This, this is Renyuan Jindan?"

    Her exmation caused amotion among the people of the Fox Zen School downstairs. All of the foxes, old and young, were stunned, but especially the little foxes, who said one after another, "Renyuan Jindan?"

    "Who is taking the Renyuan Jindan upstairs? Is it the leader?"

    "What is Renyuan Jindan like?"

    "Shall we go and have a look?"

 Chapter 387 Trouble Is Coming

    <h4>Chapter 387 Trouble Is Coming</h4>

    Just as these foxes were about to swarm upstairs, Cao Yi suddenly chided them in a low voice, "Fools! Do you want the leader to go Zouhuo Rumo?"

    At this time, Zhuang Yating also stood up and red at the little foxes. "You are reallycking judgment if you can be mischievous at this time!"

    Just in time, Zi Yuan came out of the bathroom. She cast a meaningful nce at Cao Yi, then at Zhuang Yating, nodded slightly to them and went upstairs. She took the towel from Ruan Hongling¡¯s hand and whispered, "Give it to me. You can keep watching here. It¡¯s unnecessary to close the door. After all, we are all women. Zhou Qin is not afraid of being exposed and it¡¯s better to let the air circte."

    Ruan Hongling took a look at Zhou Qin, her eyes full of envy. She thought to herself, "My life is really different from hers. She is so lucky. She has taken the Renyuan Jindan and has two masters to escort her. My life sucks byparison!"

    Zi Yuan poked Ruan Hongling¡¯s forehead with her finger and red at her. She hissed at Ruan Hongling, "Aren¡¯t you ashamed to say such a thing? You¡¯ve been fed spiritual herbs and medicinal soup since you were young. Do you think you¡¯ve eaten less than her? It was fate that allowed her to eat the Renyuan Jindan. The first thing that can change a person is fate! If something in your life is predestined, It¡¯s useless to try and change it. Are you sure that you are a cultivator? Why don¡¯t you even understand this?"

    Ruan Hongling made a face. "Of course I¡¯m a cultivator! It was just a casual remark, why are you being so serious? Humph, boring!"

    While they were talking, Li Yundong threw another towel and shouted at them in a low voice, "Another one!"

    Zi Yuan quickly threw the dry towel to Su Chan, who went to the bathroom to wash it, drying it afterward with her Zhenqi.

    After repeating this over and over again a few dozen times, Zhou Qin¡¯s sweat stopped pouring, and the colorful light on her body slowly weakened.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t allow himself to left out a sigh of relief at this time. Instead, he became even more focused. He whispered in Zhou Qin¡¯s ear, guiding her consciousness to pay attention to her own breath and let it begin to visualize the things in the Spirit Space.

    By the time two days had passed, Li Yundong had helped Zhou Qin advance by leaps and bounds all the way to the third dan of Yin Ling, Manifest and the Ishvara high-level realm. After that, Zhou Qin¡¯s was exhausted, and she fell into a deep sleep from meditation.

    Only then did Li Yundong let out a sigh of relief. At this time, he also felt a sense of fatigue washing over him, and his waist was a little stiff.

    Li Yundong loosened his grip, which had been adhered to Zhou Qin¡¯s Baihui, and then covered her with the quilt. He put her on the bed and tucked her in before leaving the room.

    What surprised him was that over the past two days, there had always been someone waiting at the door of the room in case he needed help. But at this time, there was no one there.

    When he walked out of the door and reached the corridor, Li Yundong found that everyone was in the hall discussing something anxiously in a low voice.

    When Li Yundong came out, he immediately drew everyone¡¯s attention. They all looked up at him. As soon as Zi Yuan, Su Chan, and Ruan Hongling saw Li Yundong, they were overjoyed. Su Chan eximed in surprise, "Yundong, you¡¯re out? Where¡¯s Sister Zhou Qin?"

    Zi Yuan smiled too. "Are you done with your work?"

    Li Yundong nodded to everyone with a smile. He walked down the stairs and said in a tired voice, "Yes, Zhou Qin has already fallen asleep. What are you talking about?"

    At this time, Su Chan¡¯s expression immediately turned from one of happiness to one of anxiety. She grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s hand and said worriedly, "Something¡¯s happened, something¡¯s happened at the store!"

    Li Yundong was surprised and quickly asked, "What is it?"

    Standing to one side, Zi Yuan said softly, "Actually, it¡¯s not important. Don¡¯t worry. You¡¯ve been tired for two days. It¡¯s not so urgent that you can¡¯t take a break first."

    Su Chan understood her point and thought, "Yun Dong has been staying by Zhou Qin¡¯s side for two days. He kept doing Kuojing and Famai for her and he¡¯s exhausted now. Why didn¡¯t I just stay calm? Now I¡¯ve made him worried?"

    Su Chan also nodded and pulled on Li Yundong¡¯s arm. "Yes, Yundong, you¡¯d better take a rest first."

    Li Yundong sighed slightly and said in a deep voice, "I¡¯m fine. What happened?"

    Seeing that she wasn¡¯t going to be able to stop him now, Zi Yuan exined, "Some certificates were blocked in the course of approval. Also, in the decorationpany, boss Han¡¯s staff have been poached, and now it¡¯s impossible for us to continue with the renovation."

    Li Yundong was stunned. "Ah? What¡¯s going on?" After he said that, the foxes of the Fox Zen School began to chatter. They seemed worried and kept looking at Li Yundong, hoping that he coulde up with some grand idea.

    Observing their worry, Li Yundong winked at Su Chan and Zi Yuan. He then turned to Cao Yi and said, "Cao Yi Shibo, take your disciples to practice martial arts first. I have something to talk about with these two in private."

    Cao Yi nodded and led the little foxes to Zi Yuan¡¯s residence. Li Yundong, along with Zi Yuan and Su Chan, went to his own room.

    Entering the store, Li Yundong did not even wait for Zi Yuan to close the door before asking, "Our certificate was blocked? What happened? Do we need an approval certificate to open a store?"

    Because Zhou Qin had been in fully handling the matter before, and Li Yundong had given full control of it to her, he had not kept an eye on proceedings. But at this time, Zhou Qin was sleeping, so Li Yundong did not know what the root of the matter was.

    Zi Yuan exined, "Opening a store requires a business license..."

    Li Yundong asked in surprise, "Didn¡¯t we get one previously? Didn¡¯t old madam Xu ask her son to help us acquire one?"

    Zi Yuan sighed. "Li Yundong, it¡¯s not that simple. Last time, old madam Xu mainly helped us solve the problem of the shopfront and rent. However, it will not be easy if we want to get a business license. To get a business license, we first need a shopfront, and then we need your various certificates, as well as the rental contract for the real estate..."

    At that point, Su Chan interrupted and said, "Did Sister Zhou Qin go to the real estate officest time to write the contract?"

    Zi Yuan nodded. "Yes. In short, we need the official copies of the business licenses, the code certificates, thend tax certificates, the tax certificates, and the license for opening ounts..."

    Li Yundong felt a migraineing on as he listened to this. "Wait, why are there so many things? I thought Zhou Qin had settled everythingst time."

    Zi Yuan shook her head helplessly and sighed. "Don¡¯t you know where you are? This is China, these officials are waiting for redundant things toe up to torment you over. Not only that, we also need the hygiene certificate of the Sanitary Bureau to open a teahouse. Besides, the most important thing and the biggest problem is that... we need a bank ount to store registered funds in."

    Li Yundong smiled ruefully. "This is freaking nuts. It¡¯s so troublesome to open a store! I have a headache just from listening to it! How much does the registered capital you mentioned cost?"

    "At least one million!" Zi Yuan said.

    Li Yundong sucked in a breath of cold air. "One million? Sh*t, where am I going to get one million from at this point in time?"

    Zi Yuan said helplessly, "Well, this is not a rigid rule. The standard of registered funds can be very high but can also be very low. However, now someone is making things difficult for us, so the Trade and Industry Bureau has set a high standard."

    "Who stabbed us in the back?" Li Yundong asked angrily. "Director Wang?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head. "I don¡¯t think so. I called him before and asked him about the situation. He said that one of the higher-ups is looking to trap us and he couldn¡¯t do anything about it."

    "Did he say who¡¯s behind it?" Li Yundong asked.

    "He doesn¡¯t dare to, but I can make a guess."

    "Who do you think it is?" Li Yundong asked quickly.

    Zi Yuan sighed. "Li Yundong, just think about it. You offended so many sects before, and these sects more or less all have some amount of influential power. Now our country has rxed its management of the Cultivation World, so the cultivation world has started to expand into business and political circles. The officials and the businessmen can collude with each other, so the officials and the cultivators can collude with each other too! You have to know that the things an official is most afraid of are death and aging! What is the most valuable skill of a cultivator? Health preservation and longevity!"

    Li Yundong suddenly understood and said, "Got it! No wonder the Taoist priest Li Yi had such a big effect a while ago. Those Qigong masters and numerous famous national doctors have been praised by countless rich businessmen and high-ranking officials. It¡¯s because of this!"

    "Previously, you offended so many sects," Zi Yuan said. "Although they won¡¯t dare to cause trouble for you openly, if you intend to open a store in the secr world, they have countless ways to hamper you. For example, they¡¯re blocking your path to the approval certificate right now."

    Li Yundong snorted disbelievingly. "Then what about the decorationpany? Is it also because of those guys?"

    "I can¡¯t be sure," Zi Yuan answered.

    Li Yundong thought for a moment and said, "I¡¯m going to the store to see what¡¯s going on."

    Zi Yuan said, "All right. I¡¯ll go with you."

    Su Chan also smiled and volunteered to apany them.

    Li Yundong was relieved to see the yful smile on the little girl¡¯s face, as if what they had been discussing a moment ago was nothing but a trifle.

    Li Yundong tweaked the tip of the little girl¡¯s nose with a smile, "How can you still beughing? Aren¡¯t you worried?"

    The little girl held Li Yundong¡¯s arm and said coquettishly, "What¡¯s there to worry about? Last night at Mount Gezao, you managed to pull through such a dangerous situation. My Yundong will definitely turn danger into safety and reverse the situation!"

    Li Yundongughed, "You¡¯re right. There must be a way. There¡¯s nothing to worry about."

    The group of people all headed out the door and took a taxi to the Pedestrian Street. When they arrived at the shop, Li Yundong saw that the premises, which had been in the process of being decorated, was inplete disarray. There were fragments everywhere, especially around one of the walls which had been partly smashed, revealing a twisted and glinting steel bar.

    Zi Yuan slightly frowned. She looked around and said, "I called Mr. Han before. He said that he needed to recruit someone else, but it would take a long time. I¡¯m afraid it will be quite a while before we can open for business."

    Li Yundong grinned mischievously. "Are there no other decorationpanies?"

    At this time, Zi Yuan said even more helplessly, "I have already contacted several decorationpanies in Tiannan City, but they are all busy now..."

    Li Yundong was tongue-tied. "It can¡¯t all only be a coincidence, can it?"

    "You¡¯re right. Someone must be ying tricks behind the scenes, it can¡¯t be such a coincidence!" Zi Yuan replied.

    Li Yundong was about to speak when he suddenly heard the door of the shop being pushed open. An arrogant and harsh voice rang in his ear, saying, "Yo, little bro, you are here! Hahaha, what¡¯s up? Is the decoration going well?"

    Li Yundong turned around and saw a middle-aged man holding two coquettish women in his arms and gazing down at him arrogantly. "Who else could it be but Zhao Yougen?"

 Chapter 388 Plant Hidden Danger

    <h4>Chapter 388 nt Hidden Danger</h4>

    When Li Yundong saw Zhao Yougen at a nce, his eyebrows suddenly drew together. He said sarcastically, "Mr. Zhao, what brought you here? Don¡¯t you need to drink with the others?"

    Zhao Yougen acted as if he hadn¡¯t heard Li Yundong¡¯s ironic tone at all. He smiled like a viin, pinched the butt of the pointy-faced beauty next to him, and said with a sinister grin, "As a neighbor, of course, it is only right for me toe and say hello to my little brother!"

    When Su Chan saw Zhao Yougen, she couldn¡¯t conceal the disgust on her face. However, she had been dealing with the Human World for a long time, so she had gradually be more ustomed to it. Especially when she was with Li Yundong, the little girl knew not to interrupt or cause trouble for him through her words and deeds.

    Therefore, Su Chan tugged on Li Yundong¡¯s arm and whispered, "Yundong, this guy is so annoying. Do you want me to drive him away?"

    Li Yundong pinched Su Chan¡¯s hand and winked at her, whispering, "It¡¯s all right. I¡¯ll deal with it. Don¡¯t talk."

    Li Yundong turned his face and said solemnly to Zhao Yougen in a deep voice, "Neighbor? What neighbor?"

    Zhao Yougen pointed to a shop on the opposite side and said with a chuckle, "Didn¡¯t you notice, little brother? I, your eldest brother, have opened a shop opposite yours, and just so happen to be doing business with you on the opposite street!"

    Li Yundong could see that some workers were busy decorating the opposite shop. At this time, Zi Yuan suddenly sent a voice message to Li Yundong. ¡°Li Yundong, I know these renovation workers. They were previously employed by Boss Han!¡±

    Li Yundong was stunned, and then fury overcame his surprise. He red at Zhao Yougen menacingly. "Did you snatch the decorators from our shop?"

    When Li Yundong red at Zhao Yougen, Zhao Yougen¡¯s heart jumped with fright. As if there was an invisible hand around his heart and squeezing it forcefully, his blood rushed to his face, turning hisplexion pig-liver red.

    He involuntarily took a step back, but soon gritted his teeth and stood still. He raised his head and said in a deliberately ambiguous manner, "Oh, little brother, my little brother, how could you say such a thing and be so unreasonable! These decoration workers came out to make an honest living. Naturally, where they are paid more, they will go! Besides, I just offered them a high sry, how was I supposed to know that they were working for you?"

    Li Yundong could hear that Zhao Yougen¡¯s tone was full of provocation, so he was inwardly angry. His eyebrows rose and he clenched his fists hard. Seeing that his condition was worsening, Zi Yuan immediately transmitted a voice message to him. "Li Yundong, don¡¯t be impulsive! This is the human world, we can¡¯t solve everything by force! Can¡¯t you see his confidence? He¡¯s expecting you to beat him. He must have a trap waiting for you, so don¡¯t be foolish!"

    Ever since Li Yundong started cultivating, he had experienced many things. He was no longer the inexperienced youth he had once been and no longer felt the same he anger or impulsiveness. Ever since taking over the position of Leader of the Fox Zen School, Li Yundong¡¯s growth had been even more astonishing. After hearing Zi Yuan¡¯s words, the anger in his chest immediately subsided and his face became as calm as ake. "Oh? Is that so?" he said. "I was wrong about you, President Zhao! However, I do wonder what kind of shop you, a star entrepreneur in Tiannan City, are opening here? Is such a small business worth you getting involved with, President Zhao?"

    When President Zhao saw Li Yundong¡¯s anger turning to amusement, his heart suddenly froze, as if he couldn¡¯t believe that what he thought was a young and energetic person could actually hold back his anger. He snorted in his heart and said to Li Yundong with a fake smile, "Well, I heard that you were going to open a tea shop, and I suddenly became interested in it, so I wanted to open one too. All the better for ying with my little brother, hm?"

    When Li Yundong heard this, he sneered. "Oh? President Zhao, you¡¯re also opening a tea shop? Not everyone can open a tea shop. President Zhao, do you know the first thing about tea? You¡¯d better not mess this up!"

    Zhao Yougen smiled proudly and said, ¡°Can¡¯t you open a tea shop if you don¡¯t understand tea? I can ask those who do understand it to help me! Anyway, I have so much money that I don¡¯t even know what to do with it. If I mess it up, I can just close the store and open another one! This little bit of money, for a boss like me, tsk tsk, it¡¯s barely a drop in the bucket, not even worth mentioning! But you have to be careful. If your shop fails, it will not end well for you!"

    Li Yundong sneered disgustedly. "President Zhao knows me very well. It seems that I¡¯m destined topete with your shop, huh?"

    Zhao Yougen tightened his arms around the women next to him, smiling arrogantly. "Little brother, you¡¯ve said too much. I¡¯m just ying. I never thought aboutpeting with you, my little brother! However, they say the battlefield is ruthless, and the same is true in business. Although I call you brother now, when the shop opens, I won¡¯t be merciful! However, I am a very generous man. If one day you are desperate and run out of food, you cane and beg me. I, Zhao Yougen, will definitely give you a job!"

    When Li Yundong heard this, he threw his head back andughed loudly. Hisughter was loud and sonorous, revealing a sense of pride and anger, like the roar of a tiger in the mountain, or a lion in the wilderness.

    Li Yundong was full of Zhenqi. The door of the store was shut, meaning that they were in an enclosed space. Li Yundong¡¯sughter suddenly made echoes in the store, which made Zhao Yougen¡¯s eardrums hurt and his brain buzz. The two women apanying him also covered their ears in pain.

    Su Chan and Zi Yuan were cultivators. They acted as if nothing was wrong with Li Yundong¡¯sughter and looked at Zhao Yougen and the others mockingly.

    The pointy-faced woman beside Zhao Yougen couldn¡¯t stand it and screamed, "Stopughing, my eardrums are about to burst!"

    But as soon as her voice left her throat, it was immediately drowned out by Li Yundong¡¯s echoingugh. Her words were like a small boat being drowned by the surging waves of Li Yundong¡¯s torturous guffaws.

    After enduring for a while, Mr. Zhao finally couldn¡¯t bear it anymore either. He covered his ears with both hands, his face contorted in pain and his body teetering on the verge of copse.

    Just then, the door of the shop suddenly swung open. Four to five men in police uniforms rushed in and shouted, "What¡¯s going on in here?"

    When the door was pulled open, Li Yundong immediately stoppedughing and looked coldly at the policemen who had rushed in.

    One of the police officers said to Zhao Yougen with a teasing smile, "President Zhao, what happened to you? Did these guys offend you? Do you want me to arrest them?"

    Li Yundong sneered inwardly. He nced at Zi Yuan and thought to himself, "Zi Yuan¡¯s prediction was right. Zhao Yougen has a trapid that he¡¯s waiting for me to jump into."

    Su Chan then said loudly, "Hey, you are being unreasonable. Can¡¯t you see that Yundong is so far away from your President Zhao? Don¡¯t make irresponsiblements and confuse right and wrong!"

    The leader of the police turned his head and was about to reprimand Su Chan with a sneer, but when he caught sight of her, his eyes widened and he practically started drooling. He looked so infatuated that he had lost the ability to form words.

    Zhao Yougen saw that the policemen were so shocked that they couldn¡¯t speak after seeing Su Chan and Zi Yuan. He snorted inwardly and gritted his teeth. "I¡¯m fine! Just get out!"

    Those policemen finally came to their senses, as if being awoken from a dream. They obediently walked out, but once they¡¯d left, they stayed by the door. Through the transparent window of the shop, they stared at Su Chan, unwilling to tear their eyes away.

    Zhao Yougen nced at Li Yundong with a malicious look on his face and said, "Little brother, I hope you¡¯ll still be able tough like this in the future!" After that, he pulled on the two beauties who had not yet recovered and was about to go out.

    When Li Yundong saw that he was about to leave, a defiant aura spurted from his nose. He said with a derisive snort, "President Zhao, don¡¯t rush away. I still have something to say!"

    Zhao Yougen turned around and said coldly, "What is it?"

    Li Yundong snorted and said, "Since you are so broad-minded, I naturally can¡¯t be narrow-minded. If you are in a desperate situation one day, you maye to my school for a hot meal. Although I think I am not Mengchangjun, I am also not Fan Ju, who will seek revenge for the smallest grievance. I still have the ability to support a few robbers."

    Zhao Yougen¡¯s face flushed red immediately. He snorted and said, "Young man, don¡¯t be so arrogant. Be careful or see if I won¡¯t let your shop close down in less than three months!"

    Li Yundong was extremely angry inwardly, but he showed only a faint sneer on the surface. "An old man like you should keep his age in mind and note out to show off. I promise that I will uproot your influence within three months! You¡¯ll end up worse than a wild dog on the roadside!"

    "You! How bold!" Zhao Yougen was furious. He gritted his teeth and stamped his feet. Ignoring the two women behind him, he turned tail and rushed out of the shop.

    These two beautiful and lusciously dressed women looked at each other awkwardly and secretly shot nces at Li Yundong. They had seen Li Yundong being provoked and humiliated by Zhao Yougen several times. Although he got angry, he was always able to control his emotions. Not only was he able to control himself, but he was also sharp-tongued. In contrast, Li Yundong made Zhao Yougen lose hisposure by humiliating and insulting him. Not to mention anything else, Li Yundong¡¯s self-control and bearing alone was far better than that of any of their peers, and even more stable than some of the sessful people who looked morous on the surface but were weak underneath.

    Especially when Li Yundong stood steadily in ce, not angry but looking naturally prestigious, exuding a kind of momentum that no one could reach. Su Chan and Zi Yuan stood behind him, like a couple of stars apanying the moon.

    For a moment, the two women, who had long been ustomed to various situations, did not dare to take a step back. They stood there at a loss and did not know what to do.

    Li Yundong could see their embarrassment. Although he didn¡¯t approve of their depravity, he also sympathized with their current situation. "Why are you still standing here? Are you waiting for me to treat you to a meal?" he yelled.

    The two women scurried out of the store as if they had been granted amnesty. After they got out of the store, they looked around and couldn¡¯t see Zhao Yougen anywhere. The pointy-faced woman suddenly shouted, "This son of a b*tch, is he even a man? He¡¯s such a d*mn good-for-nothing. He actually left us two weakdies in that situation. F*ck, you son of a b**ch! God will teach you a lesson sooner orter!"

    The round-faced woman was more gentle. She helplessly advised, "Forget it, it¡¯s not the first time we¡¯ve seen his true colors like this. We just want money, don¡¯t we?"

    The pointy-faced woman spat fiercely on the ground. "What the hell! He has no abilities himself. He only uses us to vent his anger!"

    The round-faced woman sighed and helped the pointy-faced beauty walk slowly along the pedestrian street. As she walked, she said slowly, "We are just poor prostitutes, no one will be sincere to women like us... s, in fact, this path was also chosen by us. When I was in college, my ex-boyfriend was very good to me, but he was too poor. At that time, I thought he was incapable and could not support me, so I kicked him out and somehow ended up on this road. I used to think that the term ¡¯gold digger¡¯ was very prestigious and admirable. Hey, now it seems that those rich men don¡¯t see us as human beings at all. We¡¯re just toys to them. Just like today, they¡¯ll all throw us away and abandon us easily!"

    The pointy-faced woman¡¯s beautiful eyes shed with resentment and hatred. She ground her teeth in anger and said, "Hum, don¡¯t let this guy fall into my hands in the future, otherwise..."

    When the round-faced woman saw the fierceness in her eyes, she was shocked and hurriedly said, "Don¡¯t be silly. What¡¯s the point of us weak women fighting a man like him? Just let him fight with that handsome Li boy! We¡¯ve both seen that this handsome man must have an extraordinary temperament. President Zhao may not be able to defeat him!"

    The pointy-faced woman sneered, "Nonsense! Mr. Zhao only knows to bully the weak and fear the strong. He can¡¯t even hold a candle to this handsome guy. Humph, if this handsome guy wants me, I will immediately throw myself and my dowry at him without hesitation!"

    The round-faced woman sneered. "You must be joking. Didn¡¯t you see that the two super beauties around him are still virgins? He¡¯s not taking advantage of the situation even with two super beauties around him. Why would he want us? We are nothing but damaged goods!"

    The pointy-faced woman was furious at first and gave herpanion a fierce stare, but soon she softened like a deted ball. She said with a faint sigh, "s, if I could only have a night with this handsome guy, I¡¯d be willing to die ten years sooner."

    As soon as she finished her words, Zhao Yougen suddenly appeared beside her like a ghost. He said coldly, "What did you say just now?"

    The pointy-faced woman and the round-faced woman cursed Zhao Yougen in their hearts and gnashed their teeth with hatred. Still, they had been with Zhao Yougen for a long time, so when they suddenly saw him, they were so scared that they couldn¡¯t say a word.

    The pointy-faced woman saw that Zhao Yougen¡¯s eyes were full of malice and anger. Subconsciously, she covered her face with her hands and cried, "Don¡¯t p me in the face, don¡¯t p me in the face!"

    Zhao You knocked her down to the ground with one fist and growled, "B*tch, all you have is your face. I just want to p you in the face. F*ck, take your hand away, I want to kill you! I have money, I canpensate you if I destroy your face!"

    The pointy-faced woman curled up into a ball, shielding her face with her hands, and allowed Zhao Yougen to punch and kick her.

    The round-faced woman cried loudly and begged, "President Zhao, stop beating her, you¡¯ll kill her!"

    There were also passers-by who couldn¡¯t bear to see such a scene. They all began yelling, "Hey, how could you hit a woman!"

    Zhao Yougen jerked his head, his eyes bloodshot. He roared, "It¡¯s none of your business whether or not I hit my own woman!"

    The onlookers saw that he was arrogant and terrifying. For a time, no one dared to say anything to persuade him.

    Seeing that the onlookers wouldn¡¯t stop him, the round-faced woman suddenly threw herself over the pointy-faced woman and cried, "President Zhao, if you want to vent your anger, you can hit me, but you must stop hitting her or she¡¯ll end up dead!"

    Zhao Yougen was so angry that he kicked the round-faced woman in the face, causing blood to stream out. He spat angrily, "You two shameless b**ches, get out of my sight! I don¡¯t want to see you again!"

    After saying that, he snorted angrily and left.

    After a long while, the two women, who were lying on the cold ground, slowly got up. They supported each other with their hands and limped away amid the onlookers¡¯ gesticting, leaving only a pool of blood and dozens of pairs of hard, indifferent eyes.

 Chapter 389 The First Fox Zen School Conference

    <h4>Chapter 389 The First Fox Zen School Conference</h4>

    After Zhao Yougen and the others had left, Su Chan spat at Zhao Yougen¡¯s figure with a look of utter hatred. "What a disgusting fly!"

    Zi Yuan sighed lightly at Li Yundong. "Actually, this kind of person should not be on your mind. There was no need to quarrel with him."

    Li Yundong snorted coldly. "Who says I¡¯m angry because of him? It¡¯s obvious that this guy wants to bring my store down. Last time I let him off the hook, but I wasn¡¯t expecting this guy to be so reckless as to provoke me. If I don¡¯t do anything, won¡¯t it be easy for anyone else toe and bully me? A cultivator cannot live like a coward!"

    Zi Yuan smiled. "I¡¯ve never seen a cultivator like you in the entire Cultivation World. Anyway, just forget it. As the saying goes, luck is not a cmity, but the cmity is just hiding. If President Zhao wants to go against us, let him."

    Li Yundongughed. "You¡¯re right!"

    Zi Yuan shook her head and said with a rueful smile, "You¡¯d better solve the problem of the decoration of our store first."

    "Can¡¯t I decorate it without Mr. Zhao? Are you kidding me? Well, I have a n. Don¡¯t worry!" Li Yundong repliedughingly.

    Su Chan widened her eyes and asked curiously, "Yundong, what kind of n?"

    Li Yundong said with a mysterious expression, "God¡¯s design must not be revealed!" He waved his hand and said loudly, "Let¡¯s go home. I¡¯m calling for a temporary meeting."

    After that, Li Yundong turned around and strode straight out of the store.

    Su Chan and Zi Yuan exchanged nces with each other and smiled at the same time, then chased after Li Yundong.

    After returning home, Li Yundong saw Ruan Hongling and immediately asked with concern, "How¡¯s Zhou Qin?"

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s mouth twitched and she said, "There¡¯s a person with Renyuan Jindan helping her to dredge her meridians, and two great masters are taking care of her. What could possibly be wrong with her?"

    Seeing Ruan Hongling¡¯s jealousy, Li Yundonggughed, "Come on, don¡¯t be like that. I will always remember your kindness."

    Ruan Hongling jumped up like a dog whose tail had been stepped on. "Who¡¯s jealous? As a direct disciple of the Linggong Sect, I have had countless Elixirs of life since I was a child. Why should I be jealous of a rookie who has not yet crossed the threshold of Cultivation?"

    Li Yundong deliberately sighed and said, "s, do you only have this kind of Cultivation Quotient because you¡¯ve been eating countless Elixirs of life since childhood?"

    Ruan Hongling suddenly flew into a rage. She put her hands on her hips and said angrily, "Li Yundong, what did you just say? If you don¡¯t make yourself clear right now, I will never forgive you. What do you mean ¡¯this kind of Cultivation Quotient¡¯? Do you think everyone can be like you, an extremely talented cultivator?"

    Seeing that Ruan Hongling was truly annoyed, Li Yundong smiled apologetically. "I was only joking. Don¡¯t take it so seriously!"

    Zi Yuan also tried tofort Hongling. "Hongling, why don¡¯t you just tell us what happened to Zhou Qin directly?"

    Ruan Hongling red at Li Yundong. "She¡¯s not dead yet! Are you satisfied?"

    "What a strong smell of gunpowder!" Li Yundong said, smiling bitterly.

    Su Chan rolled her eyes, hoping to ease the situation, and volunteered to go, "I¡¯ll go and have a look!" Having said that, she jumped upstairs lightly, craned her neck and looked inside. Then, she made a gesture to Li Yundong and whispered, "She¡¯s sleeping very well!"

    Li Yundong nodded and lowered his voice a little as he said, "Well, inform everyone we¡¯re having a meeting in Zi Yuan¡¯s room. I have something to say."

    Su Chan nodded and told the others to go one by one. Ruan Hongling showed the whites of her eyes and said angrily, "A meeting? Do you think you¡¯re the president of the student council or something?"

    Li Yundong was not angry, and even smiled as he said, "You don¡¯t have toe..."

    "That¡¯s great! Thank God!", Ruan Hongling said, her tone dripping with irony.

    Li Yundong added slowly, "... your absence will be regarded as consent to me I assigning you any task and work as I see fit."

    "What tasks? What work?" Ruan Hongling said angrily. "Do you think you¡¯re some unscrupulous boss who can run their employees ragged?"

    Li Yundong said with a fake smile, "Seems like you studied well in politics ss! I¡¯m going now. Please don¡¯te to the meetingter!"

    Saying this, he walked to the opposite door of Zi Yuan¡¯s room. Since Li Yundong and Zi Yuan had exchanged keys for the door when they first moved in, Li Yundong took out his key and walked through directly.

    Ruan Hongling looked at Li Yundong¡¯s back and stomped her feet in anger. She took Zi Yuan¡¯s hand and said angrily, "Sister Zi Yuan, look! This guy is bullying me again. You have to help me!"

    Zi Yuan rubbed her temples in exasperation. "Can¡¯t you guys stop quarreling?"

    Still livid, Ruan Hongling said loudly, "It¡¯s not that I want to quarrel. He¡¯s the one trying to start something!"

    Zi Yuan asked helplessly, "Why didn¡¯t you just answer him honestly at the beginning? Why did you have to make a fuss about what to say?"

    Ruan Hongling snorted disgustedly. "Whenever I see him, talking gently is thest thing I want to do!"

    Zi Yuan sighed and shook her head. "Then there¡¯s nothing I can do to help you."

    Ruan Hongling saw the little foxes of the Fox Zen School walking out of the room in high spirits and heading to the Zi Yuan¡¯s living room. Ruan Hongling¡¯s eyes turned and she pulled Zi Yuan aside, whispering, "Sister Zi Yuan, You don¡¯t want to go to that stupid meeting, do you?"

    Zi Yuan looked at Ruan Hongling as if she were looking at a three-year-old child, not saying a word.

    Ruan Hongling was a little scared by Zi Yuan¡¯s gaze. She stamped her feet and said, "Well, whose side are you on? Are you on the side of your Shimei, who has always stuck with you and helped you through your difficulties, or are you on this bastard¡¯s side?"

    Zi Yuan was still silent and her gaze was growing more and more sympathetic, as if she was looking at a troublesome two-year-old.

    Ruan Hongling couldn¡¯t help but freak out. "I knew it. You¡¯ve always been on this guy¡¯s side! You¡¯ve been doing this ever since you found out that he¡¯s Jindan¡¯s Heir! I¡¯m really the biggest idiot in the world. Why did I even ask you this!"

    After that, she rushed into her living room angrily, and then sat down on the sofa in a huff.

    The little foxes of Fox Zen School were excitedly making guesses about what Li Yundong was going to say next. However, when they saw Ruan Hongling rushing in, they were all shocked and whispered to one another, "What¡¯s wrong with her?"

    Su Chan also tugged on Li Yundong¡¯s sleeve. "Yundong, were you quarreling with her again?"

    "Nuh-uh!" Li Yundong said with a look of grievance.

    "Then why is she so angry?" Su Chan asked, blinking slowly.

    Li Yundong winked. "Girls are always in a bad mood during a certain ¡¯period¡¯ once a month. You know!"

    Su Chan burst intoughter. "You¡¯re so annoying. She¡¯s a cultivator, after all. A female cultivator after the Zhuji phase doesn¡¯t have those little ¡¯periods¡¯!"

    Ruan Hongling saw Li Yundong and Su Chan talking andughing with each other. She immediately stood up, raised her eyebrows, and shouted in a loud voice, "What are you talking about so secretively over there? Just say what you want to say! "

    "We are talking about the fact that female cultivators don¡¯t menstruate after reaching the Zhuji phase," Li Yundong said with a cheeky grin.

    It was not easy for Ruan Hongling to sneer at Li Yundong. "When a female cultivator has menstruation, it means that she has a punctured body. Only by cultivating an unpunctured body can she sessfully reach the Zhuji phase. You don¡¯t even know this principle. How did you cultivate?"

    Li Yundong tried hard to hold hisughter in. "Then have you seeded in reaching Zhuji phase?"

    "Oh please!" Ruan Hongling eximed. "If I hadn¡¯t reached Zhuji phase, how could I have spiritual energy?"

    Li Yundong could no longer hold back his amusement. "But I saw you being angry just now, just like the few days before a woman starts her period every month. I thought you hadn¡¯t seeded in reaching the Zhuji phase, or you were a unique female cultivator who still has menstruation after reaching the Zhuji phase!"

    Everyone burst outughing at his words.

    Ruan Hongling was ovee with both shame and anger. "Li Yundong, shut up!" she shouted.

    Li Yundong covered his stomach andughed hysterically. Ruan Hongling was furious, and when she saw Zi Yuan walk into the living room, she immediately pointed at Li Yundong and shouted, "Sister Zi Yuan, look, your lover only knows how to bully me!"

    In an instant, theughter in the living room died. Everyone stared at Ruan Hongling in astonishment and then turned to look in the direction of Zi Yuan.

    All the people looked at Zi Yuan with strange expressions. All couldn¡¯t help but wonder, "Why has Linggong Sect¡¯s Zhenren Zi Yuan helped our Leader so much? Now we finally know! Because Zhenren Zi Yuan likes our Leader! Our Leader¡¯s charm is really too great!"

    Zi Yuan hadn¡¯t been expecting Ruan Hongling to say this. Her face suddenly turned red and she red at Ruan Hongling with rage in her eyes. "What¡¯s wrong with you?" she yelled.

    Her sharp eyes immediately made Ruan Hongling¡¯s heart tremble. She knew that she had said something wrong and she immediately sat down with her head lowered and mumbled silently, "I didn¡¯t say anything wrong! He only knows how to be mean to me!"

    Li Yundong saw that Zi Yuan was standing at the entrance of the door and knew it was rare for her to be at a loss. He coughed and said loudly, "Sit down, everyone. Today, the first conference of the Fox Zen School is officially being held!"

    There was dead silence.

    Li Yundong looked around awkwardly, then red at Su Chan, who stared right back at him without any reaction. "p, guys! Why are you all in a daze!?"

    Su Chan came to her senses as if awakening from a dream and began pping hard. The little foxes of Fox Zen School also started cheering along with her.

    The sparse burst of apuse had at least broken through some of the tension. Li Yundong forced a smile and said to Zi Yuan, "Zhenren Zi Yuan, please sit next to me."

    Zi Yuan had finally found an excuse to argue. She red at Li Yundong and shouted, "I won¡¯t sit with you!"

    After that, she turned her head away and sat down on the sofa sullenly with Ruan Hongling.

    Seeing Zi Yuan sitting down with her, Ruan Hongling was overjoyed. However, when she looked up, she saw that Zi Yuan was gazing at her with a murderous expression. Ruan Hongling shivered all over and lowered her head once more.

    The little foxes secretly looked at Zi Yuan one by one and whispered into each other¡¯s ears. There were constant rustling soundsing from the living room.

    Li Yundong now finally understood what it felt like to be a teacher. There were only a dozen people in the living room, and only Su Chan was looking at him with eager eyes. Cao Yi, Liu Yuehong, and Zhuang Yating, the three Qianbei Shibos of Fox Zen School, were sitting still and upright. Everyone else¡¯s thoughts were running away with them.

    Li Yundong cleared his throat and said seriously, "In view of recent events, I have decided to hold a meeting. Since this is the first meeting I have presided over as the head of the Fox Zen School, I hope we can treat it seriously."

    Then, Li Yundong said to Su Chan, "Chan¡¯er, you¡¯ll be the secretary and have the responsibility of taking notes during the meeting."

    Su Chan nodded excitedly and rushed to Li Yundong¡¯s room to retrieve a pen. But when she returned and found that she hadn¡¯t taken any paper, she had to go back to Li Yundong¡¯s room and grab a notebook in a rush.

    Li Yundong helplessly watched Su Chan run out twice before settling the matter. He shook his head and said to Cao Yi and the others, "Cao Yi, you guys are responsible for discipline during the meeting."

    Having no idea what Li Yundong was going to do, Cao Yi and the others nodded with a chuckle.

    The little foxes liked boisterous events best. Their attention finally shifted from Zi Yuan to Li Yundong and all of them looked at him with great anticipation, as if he was going to announce some amazing news in the next second.

    Li Yundong saw that everyone¡¯s attention was finally focused on him, so he no longer beat around the bush. He coughed dryly and said, "A few things have happened today, and I don¡¯t want to waste my breath talking about unimportant things. The main thing is that our store can¡¯t be decorated now because the workers have been lured away by our enemy..."

    Before Li Yundong could finish his words, the little foxes started to shout angrily, "Who?"

    "How dare those people poach our men!"

    "Curse him!"

    "It¡¯s no use cursing him alone! I¡¯m going to curse his whole family!"

    "That¡¯s right. Add to that his forefathers!"

    "Bah, what¡¯s the use of cursing people! Let me say that only using force is effective!"

    "Wow, Fourth Shijie, are you going to kill that man? A cultivator will be punished with a Heaven Strike if they kill someone!"

    "D*mn it, who¡¯s going to kill people? I¡¯m so beautiful and smart. Why would I do such a horrible thing as killing someone?"

    "Then, Fourth Shijie, what do you intend?"

    "Hmph, we should find this person¡¯s birth date and a strand of his hair, then make a paper man and a straw doll. Nail him! Curse him!"

    "Yes! Curse him for the rest of his life!"

    "You cowards, do you dare to kill a real person? In my opinion, we should wait for a dark and windy night and put a sack on his head, then beat him violently! We¡¯ll beat him so hard that even his mother and the mother of his mother could not motherf*cking recognize him!"

    "The mother of his mother¡¯s mother? Isn¡¯t that his great grandmother? If his great grandmother hasn¡¯t seen him before, what will we do?"

    "Idiot! The first "mother" is a dirty word, meaning ¡¯motherf*cker¡¯, don¡¯t you understand? I mean that I will beat him so hard that even his grandmother will not motherf*cking recognize him!"

    "Oh! Second Shijie is really smart! Brilliant, too brilliant!"

    "Oh, no, this sentence seems to have two dirty words. Look, it¡¯s mother f*cking, and grandmotherf*cking..."

    "Whatever! It¡¯s enough that you understand what I mean! Why are you taking it so seriously?"

    At the beginning of the meeting, Li Yundong had just said a few words, and now the little foxes were gathering and beginning to discuss the issue excitedly. The meeting was already going in an uncontroble direction.

    Li Yundong¡®s temples began to twitch. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly heard Su Chan add excitedly from one side, "If you ask me, I would kick his balls!"

    "Sh*t!"

    Li Yundong lost it at once. He jerked his head and red at Su Chan.

    The little foxes immediately fell silent, all of them staring at Su Chan in astonishment.

    Su Chan had originally been very proud and excited, but when she saw everyone looking at her with strange eyes, she immediately drew back her head and said in a weak voice, "I, uh, I was just saying..."

    Before she could finish her words, the little foxes suddenly yelled together, "Yeah, kick him right in the balls!"

    A feeling of helpless swept over Li Yundong. All he could think was, "What the hell? Is it really so hard to hold one godd*mned meeting?"

 Chapter 390 Get Ample Food and Clothing by Working with Our Own Hands!

    <h4>Chapter 390 Get Ample Food and Clothing by Working with Our Own Hands!</h4>

    After the little foxes started shouting in a chorus, Su Chan lifted her head again and said proudly and excitedly, "Really? Do you think my method is good?"

    The foxes all nodded and echoed, "It¡¯s a great idea!"

    Su Chan was so happy that she turned to Li Yundong, hoping for praise. However, when she saw Li Yundong¡¯s gloomy face and the blue veins throbbing in his forehead, she suddenly felt nervous and lowered her chin, looking like a good wife who knew she had done something wrong. Rubbing her clothes with her hands, she said timidly, "I, I didn¡¯t say that on purpose..."

    His expression dark, Li Yundong pointed to the notebook and paper on the table and shouted, "Do your job!"

    "Okay!" the girl responded, lowering her head with a face full of grievance and anxiety. She rolled her eyes and peeked at Li Yundong from time to time. When she saw Li Yundong look at her, she quickly withdrew her gaze, behaving like a frightened deer.

    Seeing Su Chan¡¯s reaction, Li Yundong was both annoyed and amused. With a straight face, he said to the foxes, "What I said just now was all a waste of time? Can¡¯t I, the Leader, continue to keep my word?"

    Although he seemed to be addressing the little foxes, he was in fact saying this to Cao Yi and others. Cao Yi quickly stood up to maintain order and said loudly, "All of you, keep quiet and listen to the leader!"

    After that, she turned to Li Yundong and said apologetically, "Leader, please go ahead!"

    Li Yundong noticed that the others¡¯ expressions were strange, as if they wanted tough but didn¡¯t dare to. He felt depressed, but he knew it was not a good idea for him to vent his anger. He could only let it go and continue, "The first rule of the next meeting is that you must raise your hand before you speak. You are not allowed to speak without the permission of the host! You are too noisy for a formal meeting!"

    Ruan Hongling snorted and mumbled in a low voice, "This is a dictatorship!"

    Unexpectedly, Li Yundong red at her and said, "If you want to scold someone, you should raise your hand and get approval first!"

    Ruan Hongling was clearly enraged as she raised her hand high and ground her teeth in anger.

    However, Li Yundong acted as if he couldn¡¯t even see her. He said slowly and methodically, "Next, the second rule of the meeting is that the host has the right to ignore the speaker."

    Still boiling with rage, Ruan Hongling pointed at Li Yundong with one hand on her waist and yelled, "You¡¯re too overbearing!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s tone remained grave. "Please raise your hand before you speak!"

    Ruan Hongling raised her hand high again an instantter. Li Yundong immediately said, "We shall continue to ignore you!"

    "You!" Ruan Hongling was so angry that she almost pass out. The little foxes of the Fox Zen School couldn¡¯t help chuckling at the scene. Cao Yi, Zhuang Yating, and Liu Yuehong also had strange expressions on their faces. The corners of their mouths were twitching as if they were trying to hold back theirughter, and Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help but turn around and secretly chuckle.

    Su Chan, who had been keeping her head down throughout, burst outughing, but soon covered her mouth with her hands. She nced at Li Yundong timidly. Seeing that he wasn¡¯t paying attention to her, she was relieved and secretlyughed.

    At this point, Ruan Hongling was so angry that she thought her lungs might explode. She sat down and ground her teeth so hard, it was as if she wanted to fry Li Yundong and put him in her mouth and chew him into little pieces.

    Li Yundong decided to use a spoon as a makeshift gavel. He tapped on the table and attracted everyone¡¯s attention again. "Attention please. Now let¡¯s get down to business! Someone has poached our decorators, and now we can¡¯t find any other decorators in the entirety of Tiannan City! What should we do?"

    Everyone looked at each other, not saying a word.

    Li Yundong looked around at the silent audience and pretended to be angry as he said, "You were so excited just now, why so quiet all of a sudden?"

    Cao Yi raised her hand gingerly. "Cao Yi Shibo, do you have something to say?" Li Yundong quickly asked.

    Cao Yi asked tentatively, "My Leader, if we can¡¯t find a decorator, maybe we can save a sum of money by not having decorations put in?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s expression was one of despair. He asked in reply, "Are you suggesting that if the Taoist temple where Fox Zen School is located changes to a temple without decoration, the monks will move in to improvise?"

    Cao Yi smiled embarrassedly. "That¡¯s not what I meant."

    Li Yundong shook his head helplessly and asked, "Then what?"

    All of the members of the Fox Zen School were unreliable. Li Yundong¡¯s question had no effect. The foxes looked at each other in dismay, shaking their heads like rattles.

    In fact, Li Yundong was only pretending to be angry. He hadn¡¯t been expecting the foxes of the school toe up with any good ideas. He said seriously, "Since no one has a good idea, I¡¯ll tell you mine."

    Ruan Hongling, who had been sulking, couldn¡¯t help but snort again. "Why didn¡¯t you tell us all your idea earlier? Why did you dy so much?"

    Li Yundong red at her. "Raise your hand!"

    Ruan Hongling raised her hand, but Li Yundong immediately said, "Ignored!"

    At this point, Ruan Hongling didn¡¯t even have the energy to be angry. She just rolled her eyes.

    Li Yundong could see that Ruan Hongling, who was non-violent and not cooperative, was no longer being naughty. He coughed and said, "My idea is for us to get ample food and clothing by working with our own hands!"

    "With our own hands?" Everyone was shocked.

    Zi Yuan had been so distracted by Ruan Hongling saying ¡¯lover¡¯ that she had not been paying attention to the meeting. But at this time, she asked with surprise, "Do you mean that you want us to decorate the ce ourselves?"

    Ruan Hongling opened her mouth wide and said, "I always thought that there was a limit to your arrogance. I never knew that it ran so deep! Just because you¡¯re crazy, you don¡¯t need to drag us all into your schemes, okay?"

    Su Chan also raised her head and stammered, "Yundong, we don¡¯t know the first thing about decoration!"

    The little foxes looked at each other in dismay. "You want us to do it on our own? What do you mean?"

    "Are we going out to work?"

    "What kind of work?"

    "Will it be fun?"

    "Don¡¯t worry about whether it¡¯s fun or not. Let¡¯s just go. It¡¯s boring to stay in the house all day long!"

    At this time, the little foxes all agreed that it would be fine as long as they could go out to y. It didn¡¯t matter what they had to do!

    Their eyes lit up as they nodded in unison. "Great! What are we going to do, Leader?"

    Li Yundong saw that things were getting chaotic again. He quickly knocked on the ss table with the spoon and said loudly, "Silence, raise your hand. Remember to raise your hand!"

    Everyone suddenly shut up and looked at Li Yundong.

    He said seriously, "Why, is decoration difficult? It is just carpentry, mud-tiling, and decoration and design work? The most difficult thing in the world is cultivation. Is decoration more difficult than cultivation? Which one of you is not a cultivator? Who has no confidence? Speak up!"

    Everyone¡¯s eyes were fixed. No one was willing to admit to this. They all shook their heads.

    "Since you all agree with me, it¡¯ll be easy! I¡¯ll arrange work in a while to ensure that everyone can do their best!" Li Yundong said.

    His words made Su Chan, Zi Yuan, Ruan Hongling, and the others curious. Su Chan secretly poked Li Yundong¡¯s arm with a pen and whispered, "Yundong, give me a good job!"

    Unexpectedly, Li Yundong only red at her impartially. "Raise your hand!"

    Su Chan raised her hand, looking aggrieved. Li Yundong nodded with satisfaction and said, "Go ahead!"

    The girl asked, "Can you give me a good jobter?"

    Li Yundong thought about it for a moment before saying, "Okay, I will!"

    When the little foxes heard this, they immediately started shouting, "No fair! We want good jobs too!"

    Li Yundong yelled over them, "What are you arguing about? I have my own way of doing things!"

    Cao Yi and the other Shibos also started shouting, "Don¡¯t be so noisy. Listen to Leader. It won¡¯t be toote for us to quarrelter if his arrangement is not good!"

    "Huh?! What are you talking about?"

    Li Yundong looked at Cao Yi and the other Shibos speechlessly. He was about to speak, but then he saw Ruan Hongling raising her hand with a bitter face. It seemed that if Li Yundong did not address her, she would immediately throw herself at Li Yundong and perish with him.

    Li Yundong had no choice but to ask, "Hongling, what do you want to say? There is no need to scold me."

    Ruan Hongling snorted and said loudly, "Do you think I¡¯m like you? I just want to ask if there is any need for me to participate in this stuff considering that I¡¯m not from the Fox Zen School."

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Okay! But if this store makes money in the future, you shan¡¯t see a penny!"

    Ruan Hongling proudly said, "It doesn¡¯t matter. Sister Zi Yuan has shared and we can split the profits." Then, she turned around and asked with a proud smile, "Sister Zi Yuan, am I right?"

    Zi Yuan looked at Ruan Hongling with a faint smile, not saying a word. They looked at each other for a long time. Ruan Hongling was frightened by her gaze and looked as if she had been defeated. She lowered her head despondently and turned to Li Yundong, saying, "Well, I¡¯ll do my job. What should I do?"

    Li Yundong said with an earnest expression, "That¡¯s right! As the saying goes, ¡¯Heaven has endowed me with talents for eventual use¡¯. Ruan Hongling, you are experienced, smart and full of energy. I¡¯ll appoint you as the Art Director and CEO of Disanxian!"

    Ruan Hongling had been holding a deep grudge against Li Yundong at first, but when she heard these words, she was immediately delighted. She deliberately put on airs and said, "Hum, it sounds good. However, everyone knows that the title of a manager, president, and so on are a dime a dozen these days. They¡¯re as worthless as cabbages now."

    Li Yundong¡¯s face darkened. "If you are unwilling, I will appoint another in your ce!"

    Ruan Hongling immediately interjected, "I¡¯m willing!"

    Li Yundong rolled his eyes at her and said to the little foxes, "You are all shop assistants, maybe you will be bosses and shareholders in the future!"

    The little foxes were still young, so they didn¡¯t know that Li Yundong¡¯s words were purely a joke. Seeing Li Yundong¡¯s serious attitude, they felt that what he¡¯d said was amazing. All of them beamed with joy.

    Li Yundong tried hard to hold back hisughter and said to Cao Yi and the others, "Shibos, could you please be the lobby managers?"

    Cao Yi and the others didn¡¯t know what the lobby manager was supposed to do, so they had no choice but to agree first, confused.

    Then, Li Yundong turned to Zi Yuan and said, "Zi Yuan, you¡¯ve contributed the most, and you¡¯re also a major shareholder. You can be the general manager of Disanxian!"

    Zi Yuan smiled. She did not let on that she knew what Li Yundong was up to, merely smiling and agreeing without saying a word.

    Seeing that Li Yundong was talking so excitedly but had never said anything about her, Su Chan anxiously waved her hand in front of his eyes.

    Li Yundong¡¯s vision was filled by the hand swinging in front of him. At first, he pretended that he couldn¡¯t see it, but he hadn¡¯t been expecting the girl to be so anxious. She jumped over to Li Yundong and blocked his sight.

    Li Yundong had no choice but to ask, "What¡¯s the matter?"

    Su Chan stomped frustratedly. "You promised that you would give me a good job!"

    Li Yundong pretended to be enlightened. He pped his forehead and eximed, "Oh, look at me. I almost forgot!"

    Su Chan giggled. "It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay. Come on, what¡¯s my position?"

    Li Yundong sighed. "s, you are so young, but you are so addicted to being an official. It¡¯s unseemly!"

    Su Chan acted coquettishly. "Come on, tell me! Say it quickly!"

    Li Yundong had no choice but to say, "Then I appoint you asmander-in-chief of decoration!"

    At first, Su Chan was overjoyed, and her eyebrows jerked up. But a momentter, she began thinking, "That¡¯s not right. Commander-in-chief of decoration? What about in the future? No, I want to be a permanent officer of Disanxian, just like them!"

    Li Yundong tweaked her nose and said with a smile, "You idiot, haven¡¯t I told you before? If I be the boss, you will be thendy. Isn¡¯t the position of thendy enough for you to show off with?"

    Su Chan was overjoyed. Ignoring the watchful eyes of the others, she flung her arms around Li Yundong¡¯s neck and kissed him.

    Ruan Hongling secretly nced at Zi Yuan. She didn¡¯t know if Zi Yuan was averting her gaze intentionally or not. Ruan Hongling thought, "Li Yundong simply has no conscience. It was Sister Zi Yuan who helped him set up this shop in the first ce! How could he say that in front of so many people! He¡¯s really out of line!"

    Ruan Hongling couldn¡¯t help mocking him. "Commander-in-chief? Landy? What kind of position is that?"

    Su Chan knew there was a hidden meaning in Ruan Hongling¡¯s words, but she thought that Ruan Hongling was just being jealous because her position was higher, so she showed off proudly and said, "Who cares? I¡¯m your boss!"

    Ruan Hongling snorted and said, "Can you tell me what you are responsible for?"

    When Su Chan heard that, she was dumbfounded. How was she supposed to know?

    The girl quickly tugged on Li Yundong¡¯s sleeve and asked, "Yundong, What am I responsible for?"

    Li Yundong tried hard to hold back hisughter and said, "Don¡¯t you know? Themander-in-chief doesn¡¯t really do anything. It¡¯s a superfluous position!"

    The girl¡¯s eyes went nk. "What about thendy? What is thendy responsible for?"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing. "Counting the money! You can count the money we make in the future."

    Hearing this, Su Chan became delighted once more. "Then, how much money can I take?"

    "Not even a penny!" Li Yundong said seriously.

    Hearing this, the crowd couldn¡¯t helpughing.

    Su Chan stamped in anger and tears welled up in her eyes. She took Li Yundong¡¯s arm and said angrily, "How can you do this! No, I won¡¯t ept it!"

    Li Yundongughed and squatted on the ground, his hands covering his belly. Su Chan tried to pull him up for a long time but failed. Seeing that Ruan Hongling was being so hostile, she said with dissatisfaction, "Then what¡¯s your position? Do you know what you are responsible for?"

    Ruan Hongling snorted and was about to boast proudly, but she realized something as soon as she opened her mouth. "An Art Director and CEO? This position sounds impressive, but what am I actually supposed to do exactly?"

    Ruan Hongling thought for a while, but she still couldn¡¯t figure it out. "My job was assigned by Li Yundong. You can ask him!" she said.

    Su Chan immediately turned to look at Li Yundong with tears in her eyes, "Tell me, Yundong, hurry up!"

    Trying hard to hold back hisughter, Li Yundong stood up and said, "As for the Art Director and CEO..."

    Ruan Hongling and Su Chan nodded at the same time and asked in unison, "Yes, what kind of job is it? What is she responsible for?"

    Li Yundong gave a dry cough and said seriously, "It¡¯s a little difficult to exin. How should I exin it..."

    Ruan Hongling sneered, "You don¡¯t even have any idea about the position you appointed. Good for you!"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t even look at her. He said slowly, "Let me put it this way. I will give an example and then you will understand! The Art Director and CEO, rtively speaking... is the same as a carpenter and mason!"

    As soon as he finished speaking, everyone burst outughing.

    This time, it was Su Chan¡¯s turn to be satisfied. Sheughed herself into convulsions, her waist moving like a willow in the wind. Ruan Hongling was shamed into anger and screeched in annoyance, "Li Yundong, I¡¯m not done with you!"

 Chapter 391 Thats Crazy!

    <h4>Chapter 391 That¡°s Crazy!</h4>

    The next morning, Zhao Yougen got up early and arrived soon after at the store that he had just purchased on the pedestrian street.

    Although he was narrow-minded and arrogant, he wasn¡¯t a fool. When he had first met Li Yundong, he had just been Cao Kefei¡¯s little errand boy, young and naive. But now that he was seeing him again, Li Yundong¡¯s bearing couldn¡¯t bepared to the one he had had back in those in the past days. On top of that, there was arge group of beautiful women around him.

    If a man could attract a rich beauty and get her to fall in love with him, he could live as a kept man. But if he could attract a group of gorgeous women with different temperaments to surround him and obey him, he was definitely not the one being kept.

    Zhao Yougen subconsciously knew that Li Yundong was not an ordinary man, but he didn¡¯t want to ept it. He would rather believe that with his skills and strength, he could easily defeat this guy whom he didn¡¯t like.

    But it was not until something happened that Zhao Yougen finally became alert. "How dare this young man speak so wildly? What is his background?"

    After Zhao Yougen returned, he carefully look into Li Yundong¡¯s background but found nothing. He was unwilling to give up, so he carefully investigated the woman that had been by Li Yundong¡¯s side. After that, he was shocked. He couldn¡¯t find anything about Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Ruan Hongling, but when he investigated Zhou Qin, he was shocked to find that Zhou Qin was the sessor of a senior official!

    People in China never fought with officials. In the public¡¯s eyes, Zhao Yougen was a rich businessman, but in the eyes of an official, he was nothing more than a fart. As for whether that was true or not, it depended entirely on the attitude of the officials.

    Fortunately, Zhao Yougen soon found that Zhou Keqiang, Zhou Qin¡¯s father, had stepped down. Now he was tending to flowers and walking his dog at home. It seemed that he had adapted to the life of a second-tier retired person and didn¡¯t want to stage aeback.

    He was relieved and thought to himself, "It¡¯s so dangerous. If Zhou Qin¡¯s backer hadn¡¯t fallen, I would have had to immediately go and ask for forgiveness. But now, the situation is totally different."

    As the saying goes, ¡¯The tea cools down as soon as its drinker is gone.¡¯ How much power could an official who was removed from court due to corruption still have?

    But Zhao Yougen had been in the business world for a long time. He knew that the business was official, so he didn¡¯t dare to be careless and risk the other side taking drastic measures to deal with him. Therefore, he went to the shop in the early morning.

    At this time, it was just past eight o¡¯clock, and there were not many pedestrians on the street, but Zhao Yougen¡¯s store had already been busy. When a foreman saw Zhao Yougen, he immediately greeted him with a smile on his face. "Mr. Zhao, what brings you here so early?"

    Zhao Yougen saw that the shop was bustling. He nodded approvingly, put his hands behind his back, and pretended to look around. Then he said with a smile, "It¡¯s too early for you!"

    The foreman all smiled. "It¡¯s all because Mr. Zhao paid a lot of money, so we¡¯re all extra motivated!"

    Zhao Yougen patted the foreman¡¯s shoulder with satisfaction and said, "Well, you must do a good job. I still have money to pay you! By the way, if someone wants to hire you, tell me first and I¡¯ll raise your sry!"

    The foreman felt this was a little odd, but he stillughed from his heart. He said happily, "Mr. Zhao, you are such a good boss! I have been in this industry for so many years, and most bosses only think about how to deduct the workers¡¯ money. I have never seen a boss who thinks about how to give more to their workers."

    Being ttered by the foreman, Zhao Yougen feltfortable and said with a smile, "Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t treat you badly as long as you do well!"

    The foreman nodded and bowed, saying, "Don¡¯t worry, Mr. Zhao. We will do your job well even if it costs us our lives!"

    Zhao Yougen was relieved. He withdrew out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, squinted and said, "You want one?"

    The foreman was ttered. He carefully slid a cigarette from the case and lit it happily. He then took a deep breath and said, "I only regret not meeting Mr. Zhao earlier! It¡¯s really difficult to meet a good boss like you in this world!"

    Zhao Yougen smiled nomittally. He pointed to Li Yundong¡¯s store and said, "Well, it¡¯s over there. If you do it, how long will it take to finish?"

    The foreman suddenly looked a little embarrassed. He thought to himself, "Didn¡¯t I do the decoration of this store before? What does he mean?"

    Zhao Yougen saw that the foreman¡¯s expression was one of uncertainty, so he said with a smile, "Don¡¯t worry. I didn¡¯t mean anything. I was just asking casually."

    Only then did the foreman rx. He smiled obsequiously and said, "In my opinion, it¡¯s impossible for this shop to bepleted without a month. It can¡¯t open for business in any less than two months."

    "You can decorate it in a month?" Zhao Yougen asked. "That fast? What about my shop?"

    The foreman thought for a moment and said, "Should take about one and a half months."

    Zhao Yougen immediately flew into a rage. "What? The decoration of this b*stard¡¯s shop will only take a month, while mine needs a month and a half? Are you kidding?"

    The foreman was shocked and somewhat offended. He thought to himself, "I heard you say that a month is fast. I was afraid that you might think that the project waspleted too quickly and suspect that we cheated you. Isn¡¯t that what you mean?"

    The foreman had no choice but to ask, "How long do you want it to take, Mr. Zhao?"

    Zhao Yougen snarled angrily, "Whatever, just be faster than the shop opposite! Do you want me to see them open their shop before me? Do you think that I, a boss with who can produce hundreds of thousands of dors at a moments¡¯ notice, has nothing to do excepte here to open a small shop because I¡¯m purely bored? I just want to crush the opposite shop, so you can decorate more slowly than any other shop in the world, but not that one!"

    Only then did the foreman realize what was going on. He thought to himself, "I was wondering why this big bosse to open a tea shop and offer us high sries. It is to beat the opposite party! I thought this guy was a long-term owner, but unexpectedly it¡¯s a one-off business! This is too bad!"

    The foreman felt rueful it in his heart, but on second thought, he thought, "Now that the die is cast, why don¡¯t I kick this guy¡¯s ass? Forget this ce, we can go to other premises to work!"

    The foreman made up his mind and said to Zhao Yougen, "Please rest assured, I can finish it in fifteen days at the soonest! We¡¯ll work overtime every night, but as for the money, well..."

    Zhao Yougen immediately said, "You needn¡¯t worry about money as long as you can guarantee the quality of this project! If you dare to cheat me, I promise that you won¡¯t see a penny!"

    The foreman immediately thumped his chest and said, "Don¡¯t worry, President Zhao!"

    Zhao Yougen finally felt relieved. He took a drag from his cigarette and looked at Li Yundong¡¯s store, sneering in his mind, "Hum, you want to fight with me, rookie? I have hundreds of ways to deal with you in the business world!"

    While he was feeling pretty good about himself, suddenly the foreman next to him patted him on the shoulder and said, "Mr. Zhao?"

    Zhao Yougen was immersed in his daydreaming. He shrugged his shoulders impatiently and said, "What?"

    Pointing to the left of Zhao Yougen, the foreman stared and said, "Look!"

    Zhao Yougen turned around. At first nce, he was so shocked that his eyes bulged out of their sockets and he almost fell to the ground.

    They saw a group of young peopleing up in the middle of the pedestrian street. The leader was a young man, dressed in ordinary gray-white casual clothes, but he looked elegant and had an extraordinary temperament. Behind him was a gaggle of more than a dozen women in different clothes. They had different appearances, but all of them were extremely beautiful, stunning the surrounding passers-by.

    This group of people was none other than Li Yundong, Zi Yuan, Ruan Hongling, and the fox spirits of the Fox Zen School. What surprised people the most was not their appearances, but what they were carrying in their hands.

    Su Chan was carrying arge bundle of snakeskin bags in one hand, and a bucket filled with pure water in the other. The bucket weighing more than twenty kilograms was being held by Su Chan¡¯s with one hand, as if it were nothing. She chatted andughed with Li Yundong as they walked.

    Next to her was Ruan Hongling, who was also holding a bucket of pure water in one hand and carrying another on her shoulder with the other hand. She was dragging a huge ck stic bag with each step. Every time she took a step, there would be a tinkling sounding from inside the bag. It seemed that it was the sound of a lunch box and chopsticks colliding. The proud, arrogant beauty from Linggong Sect looked ominous. She red unkindly at Li Yundong, who was not far from her. She seemed to want to smash the bucket in her hand over this guy¡¯s head.

    In the hands of Zi Yuan were a further two huge stic bags, which were bulging and had distinct edges and corners. No one could guess what was inside.

    Behind them were Fox Zen School¡¯s little foxes and three Shibos. Each of them was happily carrying wooden nks that even two men wouldn¡¯t have been able to manage. Cao Yi and the others were carrying boxes of dozens of kilograms of tiles in their hands. They were walking fast and chatting happily, as if they were strolling into the countryside.

    Zhao Yougen was so shocked that he couldn¡¯t close his mouth. The cigarette fell from his lips to his clothes, burning a big hole in his shirt. The foreman next to him was also stunned. He stared nkly and said, "My God... What, what the hell is going on? Am I dreaming? Why are there so many beautiful women doing such rough work?"

    At this time, Li Yundong and the others all arrived at the door of the shop. The movement of their group attracted the attention of almost everyone around. The workers who were in the opposite shop also heard the movement and ran out to watch the eye-catching scene. After a single nce, they were suddenly dumbfounded, rooted to the spot like the rest.

    "I¡¯ve seen people order people around like animals... But I¡¯ve never seen anyone order so many beautiful women like they¡¯re pack mules!" Zhao Yougen felt like he was about to lose it. He knew that he was a person who often tortured beautiful women, but he had never imagined that there would be someone who was even more ruthless than him in this world!

    Once it was all over, the foreman reacted. He was stunned and asked, "What, what are they going to do?"

    Zhao Yougen also said in a daze, "I, I don¡¯t know!"

    The onlookers around also whispered to each other and secretly guessed at Li Yundong¡¯s intention and purpose for being here. But not long after, they saw the little foxes stack up the wooden boards one by one, and then open the package of the tiles, putting them in the corner one at a time.

    Li Yundong nodded with satisfaction and said to Zi Yuan, "Zi Yuan, when will the other materials, like cement and sand, be delivered?"

    It was obvious that Zi Yuan was not used to this kind of situation. Her expression was a little strange as she said, "Probably in the afternoon. Li Yundong, are you sure you want us to do this ourselves?"

    Li Yundong smiled encouragingly. "Of course! Is there a problem?"

    A rare girlish expression appeared on Zi Yuan¡¯s face, but then she pursed her lips and rolled her eyes at Li Yundong. "It¡¯s toote even if I startining now."

    Li Yundongughed and said, "d you understand! Girls!"

    The little foxes loved jollification most. When onlookers saw that they were doing the kind of heavybor that was even hard for men, they thought that Li Yundong was persecuting these girls. However, they did not know that the little foxes were enjoying themselves. All the girls thought was that it was exciting and fun. It was much more fun than cultivating in the mountains or at home!

    When the little foxes heard Li Yundong¡¯s shout, they immediately replied crisply, "Yes!"

    The crowd watching the scene felt extreme envy and jealousy and cursed in their hearts, "What a shame! How difficult it is to find a beautiful girlfriend these days! And even if you find one, you still have to worry her leaving for someone else someday. How hard it is to secure a beautiful wife! D*mn! There are so many beauties here! Forget cherishing them, he treats them like they¡¯re servants! However, these beauties seem so happy, as if they¡¯re the ones taking advantage of him!

    "It¡¯s so bizarre! How can there be such a thing in the world!"

    "Who on earth is this man?"

 Chapter 392 The Best Decorating Team in History

    <h4>Chapter 392 The Best Decorating Team in History</h4>

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t seem to feel the overwhelming resentment around him at all. He smiled and said to the little foxes, "Later on, you will be responsible for cleaning up the things in the store, packing them up and clearing out the room. Do you understand?"

    The foxes answered, "Yes, sir!"

    Li Yundong handed a note to Cao Yi and the others with a smile and said, "You three Shibos will be in charge of logistics. First, go and buy three sets of work suits and a few sets of cleaning tools."

    Smiling, Cao Yi and the others agreed.

    Li Yundong then turned his head and looked at Su Chan who was looking at him eagerly and at Ruan Hongling who was looking him fiercely, saying, "I¡¯ll have other arrangements for you twoter. By the way, Chan¡¯er, you should get the stic cover we brought here first and cover the transparent parts of the shop outside. It¡¯ll be bad to let the opposite know about our actions."

    Li Yundong pped his hands and said, "Let¡¯s go. Everyone, go and perform your own duties!"

    After that, Su Chan smiled and turned to pick up the stic cover. Cao Yi and the others went out of the store and went straight to the mall, while the little foxes were busy working inside the store.

    Seeing that they all had jobs except her, Zi Yuan asked in bewilderment, "What about me?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "There is a position for you. You will know when the timees."

    They were busy at the store. Zhao Yougen and a group of decorators were staring at them with their mouths wide open because they had no idea what was going on.

    After all, the foreman and the others were specialized in decoration. After watching for a while, the foreman said with shock and doubt, "Are they going to do the decoration?"

    "Ah? Who? They?" It was as if Zhao Yougen had heard the funniest joke in the century. His mouth was so wide that he could almost stuff his own fist inside. He suddenly turned his head to look at the foreman and then pointed to Li Yundong¡¯s store across the street. "You, are you kidding me? A young man who hasn¡¯t graduated from college... With a group of delicate beauties, they¡¯re going to decorate it? Are you crazy, or am I crazy?"

    The foreman had a strange look on his face. He stammered, " Pre... President Zhao, I, I also think I¡¯m crazy... But, but what they did is clearly rted to decoration!"

    While he was talking, a decoration worker suddenly pointed to Cao Yi and the other people who went back and said, "Look, the big bucket they bought is used to soak the tiles!"

    Zhao Yougen saw that Cao Yi and the others had brought a few red barrels as tall as a person and went inside the store. After a while, they put down their things and went out again, as if they were carrying out the second shopping round.

    At this time, Su Chan jumped up and down, covering the ss windows with an opaque stic cover. The people outside could only see the figures inside swaying, but they couldn¡¯t see the details. They suddenlymented, "Beauty, don¡¯t cover it up, let us see it! We don¡¯t want to look at the mosaic!"

    Zhao Yougen only felt that his brain was in a mess. Li Yundong was straying to far frommon sense, making him feel as if he had fallen into a mess.

    "No, I have to go and have a look!" Zhao Yougen suddenly gritted his teeth and strode to Li Yundong¡¯s shop across the street.

    The foreman was so curious that he felt as if he had swallowed twenty-five kittens in one breath, and they were all scratching his heart at the same time. He quickly said, "I¡¯ll go and have a look, too."

    However, as soon as he said that, the workers behind him also said in unison, "I¡¯ll go too!"

    Zhao Yougen suddenly turned his head and red at the foreman, saying, "You have to stay and work!"

    The foreman shivered; he turned his head and red at his men. "Go to work!"

    Those workers went back to the shop while sulking. They did their jobs listlessly and looked at the opposite side from time to time.

    Li Yundong was working on theyout and interior decoration order of the whole store with Zi Yuan. Suddenly, he saw Zhao Yougen push the door open. He frowned slightly and folded the design blueprint; then he handed it to Zi Yuan. He said, "President Zhao, what¡¯s the matter?"

    Zhao Yougen looked around. He was tongue-tied so he could only ask, "Little brother, what are you doing?"

    Li Yundong said lightly, " You can¡¯t tell what¡¯s going on? The movie ¡¯Southern Mud Bay¡¯! President Zhao!"

    "Southern Earth Bay?" Zhao Yougen was dumbfounded.

    The foreman next to him responded quickly and whispered in his ear, "It means that they have to do it themselves, and they will find ample food and clothing on their own!"

    Zhao Yougen looked with an exaggerated expression and cried out, "Brother, do you really want to decorate this store by yourself?"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly. "Can¡¯t I?"

    Zhao Yougen suddenlyughed himself into convulsions, as if he had heard that Yao Ming, a basketball star, had turned into a singer and Obama was roasting sweet potatoes on the street. Heughed for a while, tears welling up in his eyes.

    Zhao Yougen¡¯sughter sounded harsh to Su Chan and the others. They felt that they had been mocked and looked down upon, so they looked at Zhao Yougen unkindly, waiting for Li Yundong¡¯s order to throw him out.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t get angry. Instead, he looked at Zhao Yougen with a grin on his face, as if he were looking at a yful monkey.

    Zhao Yougenughed for a long time before he finally got back up. He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and said, "Oh, little brother, little brother, you really are quite the character. No wonder you¡¯re still a college student. Great! Do you know what decoration is?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "So what if I don¡¯t know?"

    At that moment, Zhao Yougen only regarded Li Yundong as a whimsical and unbridled boy. His eyes were full of disdain and contempt. He said, "Little brother, little brother, you really don¡¯t know the immensity of heaven and earth!"

    Zhao Yougen turned around and walked to a wall that had been torn down less than a halfway. He said, "Little brother, let¡¯s not talk about anything else. It¡¯ll take you two or three days to knock down this wall and ask two professional decorators to do it. Look at you, there is no one who can do such a rough job!"

    Hearing Zhao Yougen¡¯s words, Su Chan and the others immediately flew into a rage and said in unison, "What did you say?"

    Zhao Yougen was startled. He shrank his head and looked at the surrounding little foxes in horror.

    Li Yundong raised his hand and signaled to Su Chan and the others to keep quiet. Then, he walked over to the wall and touched it with his palm. With a smile, he asked, "Will this wall take two days?"

    The foreman next to President Zhao moved closer and said, "It¡¯ll be about two days!"

    Li Yundong nced at him, and then said to Zhao Yougen, "Oh? But why do I think it can be done in two minutes?"

    "Two minutes?" Zhao Yougenughed wildly. "Young people are really good at bragging. Little brother, what you said is too exaggerated!"

    As he said this, he raised his hand, nced at his watch, and made the affected pretense to say, "It¡¯s 8:27 p.m. right now. I¡¯ll give you one more minute. Let¡¯s see how you deal with it. You boast too much little brother. I think you..."

    Zhao Yougen wasn¡¯t able to finish speaking. Suddenly, Li Yundong patted the wall lightly with his palm, causing numerous cracks to appear on the wall. Then Li Yundong gently patted on the four corners of the wall. The wall copsed in less than a second.

    Zhao Yougen¡¯s words came to an abrupt end. His eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets, and the foreman next to him almost dropped his chin on the ground.

    When Su Chan and the little foxes saw Zhao Yougen and the foreman¡¯s expressions, they felt very happy and burst outughing.

    Li Yundongughed. He pped his hands and said to Su Chan and the little foxes, "Girls, don¡¯t stand there foolishly. Let¡¯s get to work!"

    After that, the little foxes answered in unison and swarmed in. They passed by Zhao Yougen and knocked him down on purpose, shouting, "Good dogs don¡¯t block the way!"

    "What are you looking at? I¡¯ll dig out your eyeballs if you look again!"

    "Get out!"

    "Humph, now you know how powerful our leader is!"

    Zhao Yougen stumbled to the door. When he straightened up, he found that some young and beautifuldies threwrge pieces of bricks and stones to theirpanions as if they were lighter than pebbles, while their partners quickly ced the stones inside the trash bags. Some of them even saw that some bricks and stones hadn¡¯t been cleaned up, so they simply pulled out the remaining bricks piece by piece!

    They worked together like an assembly line. It didn¡¯t take long for the wall to be cleaned up. Even the gravel had been collected into a garbage bag and piled up.

    "Oh, my lord..." Zhao Yougen only felt that everything in front of him was unreal. He was stunned as he muttered in a daze, "Am I dreaming?"

    At the moment, Su Chan approached Zhao Yougen with two huge trash bags filled with bricks and stones in her hands. She red at him and said, "Get out of the way!"

    Only then did Zhao Yougene to his senses. He only felt that his face was burning with pain. He walked out of Li Yundong¡¯s store in a daze, and then nkly watched as Su Chan quickly threw two bags of garbage that weighed dozens of kilograms into the dustbin located one or two hundred meters away.

    "Isn¡¯t it too exaggerated?" Zhao Yougen even suspected that the bricks in the two stic bags were made of bubbles. After Su Chan entered the shop, he immediately turned around, ran to the garbage can, pulled open the stic bag, picked up a piece of broken brick inside, and pulled it hard!

    It nearly broke his finger!

    Zhao Yougen took a deep breath and quickly threw away the brick in his hand. He looked at the direction of Li Yundong¡¯s shop in shock. He suddenly felt a terrible sense of threat and shivered in broad daylight.

    Although he didn¡¯t know what had made him so fearful, he obviously felt that he had underestimated Li Yundong. His previous arrogant words were about to be a joke.

    Zhao Yougen rushed back to his store and shouted like a madman, "Everyone, do your best. Don¡¯t lose to them! I¡¯ll give you more money!"

    The workers became excited when they heard the magic word. Each of them was full of enthusiasm.

    At the same time, Li Yundong, who was inside the shop, said to Ruan Hongling with a smile, "It¡¯s your turn now!"

    Ruan Hongling rolled her eyes at Li Yundong. "I won¡¯t let you off if you tell me that you want me to do this kind of rough work!"

    Li Yundongughed. He pointed to the thick wooden boards on the ground and said, "Show me your talent. Let¡¯s see what you can do."

    Ruan Hongling said angrily, "How do you know that I can do carpenter work? Even if I can, do I have tools? I don¡¯t have wood nes, saws, or things like that, do I?"

    Li Yundong said strangely, "Don¡¯t you have your magical item? That thing is controlled by your will. Isn¡¯t it better than any other tool?"

    Ruan Hongling was at a loss for words. She stammered, "What, what? You, you want me to use a magical item for carpentry?"

    Li Yundong said with a grin, "Yeah. I have to say, what can¡¯t be carved and made by your magical item?"

    Only then did Zi Yuan understand what Li Yundong was up to. She pursed her lips to smile, then she shook her head slightly and a thought came to her, "Only Li Yundong woulde up with such a thing!"

    Ruan Hongling looked at Li Yundong as if she were looking at an outsider. Her eyes were wide open and filled withplicated emotions. There was both shock and a hint of admiration in her gaze. She thought to herself, "In the entire cultivation world, I¡¯m afraid that this is the only person who has ever used a magical item to do carpenter work, regardless of whether we consider the ancient times or the recent era. If my master were to find out... he¡¯d go crazy!"

 Chapter 393 Exchange Three of My Things for Two of Yours!

    <h4>Chapter 393 Exchange Three of My Things for Two of Yours!</h4>

    Li Yundong answered disapprovingly, "Oh? What business?"

    Du Fei took no notice of Li Yundong¡¯s disinterested expression. He removed a colorful pouch from his pocket and gently pulled at its tied ribbon.

    In an instant, the Seven Treasures Sachet emitted a brilliant light. Du Fei put his hand into the bag and snatched at the contents, then withdrew a faded thread-bound book. He tugged the bag with one hand, held the book with the other, and blew air over it. Then, he lifted the book into the air and faced Li Yundong vertically.

    Li Yundong took a closer look and could see that the pages of this book had be a little worn due to its age, but the handwriting on the cover was very clear. The tworge words on it read: Implement Encyclopedia!

    "Implement Encyclopedia?" Li Yundong read it aloud softly. Although he had read a lot of books rted to Buddhism and Taoism, most of them had been books on cultivation theories rather than specific magical powers and magical items.

    Li Yundong knew full well that the true magical seal hadn¡¯t been able to be printed and inherited by Buddhists or Taoists since ancient times. Even if there had been a way, it was only an extremely secret sect treasure.

    So even though Li Yundong had read so many books on Buddhism and Taoism, he was still unaware of what the book in Du Fei¡¯s hand was.

    But after a moment, Ruan Hongling and Su Chan, who were on the second floor, stuck their heads in at the same time and eximed, "Implement Encyclopedia?"

    Su Chan stared at this book and blurted, "Could this be the legendary Implement Encyclopedia written by Taoist Binzhu and his followers in the Ming Dynasty?"

    Li Yundong slightly tilted his head and asked, "Do you know about this? Could you exin?"

    Just as Su Chan was about to speak, Ruan Hongling cut in, "Li Yundong, you¡¯re the leader of a sect but you don¡¯t even know ¡¯Implement Encyclopedia¡¯! Now listen carefully. ¡¯Implement Encyclopedia¡¯ was written by King Qin Zhu Chengyong, who was the fifth grandson of Zhu Yuanzhang in the Ming Dynasty, along with the followers he had had for over ten years. It records many things such as the magical items used by all of the various sects to date, their attributive characteristics, ratings and patterns."

    Li Yundong was shocked, aware that he had suffered greatly at Mount Gezao because of his ignorance over the fairy-tying rope. If a powerful magical weapon was unknown by an opponent, they would be at a big disadvantage in a fight.

    Moreover, there were so many magic items in the world. If people didn¡¯t fight, there was no way of seeing the opponent¡¯s magical items and knowing their characteristics.

    So if someone had the Implement Encyclopedia, they would be able to gain the upper hand in a fight with anyone!

    Du Fei looked up at Ruan Hongling in surprise and smiled sarcastically. "Zhenren Li, does your disciple know more than you?"

    Li Yundong smiled faintly and said, "First, she is not my disciple. Second, don¡¯t pretend to know what you actually don¡¯t. The only thing worse than being ignorant is being ignorant and pretending to be wise. Third, I don¡¯t know as much as you do because I have cultivated less than half a year. There¡¯s nothing for me to be ashamed of."

    There was a hint of contempt and ridicule in Du Fei¡¯s smile at first, but he grew shocked upon hearing thetter part of Li Yundong¡¯s speech. "Zhenren Li, are you kidding me? You¡¯ve only cultivated for half a year?"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly, looked up at Su Chan and said, "Little girl, how long have we known each other?"

    Su Chan smiled and winked at Li Yundong on the second floor. She replied sweetly, "More than half a year, right?"

    Li Yundong lowered his head and said to Du Fei with a slightly contemptuous smile, "Okay, let me correct myself. More than half a year."

    Du Fei looked at Li Yundong in shock. After a while, he cupped his hand respectfully to Li Yundong with an air of disbelief and said, "Zhenren Li, I admire you so much!"

    Li Yundong also cupped his hand and said with a smile, "Thank you very much. Shall we continue?"

    Du Fei came to his senses and stared at Li Yundong in awe for a moment more before taking out the second item from the colorful brocade pouch. He said, "I believe that with your, Zhenren Li¡¯s, intelligence, you surely already know what the ¡¯Implement Encyclopedia¡¯ means to a cultivator!"

    Li Yundong nodded slowly and said, "Of course I know! You can continue. But what¡¯s this you¡¯re taking out now?"

    He smiled and steadied a in bluish-gray colored ze bowl bnced on his hand as he said, "If Zhenren Li had the Implement Encyclopedia, he¡¯d know what magic item it is in my hand."

    Li Yundong smiled thinly. "Since you are well aware that I don¡¯t have the Implement Encyclopedia yet, please just tell me."

    Du Fei exined with a smile, "This is a burning thumb pot!"

    "A burning thumb pot?" Li Yundong was confused and didn¡¯t know what kind of magic item it was.

    But Ruan Hongling and Su Chan both eximed at the same time, "Burning thumb pot?"

    And this time it was Cao Yi and Zhuang Yating who could not help poking their heads in surprise from the second floor and crying out involuntarily, "This is a Buddhist magic item! The burning thumb pot?"

    Li Yundong saw them looking at the dirty grey colored ze bowl with shocked expressions. He spread his hands and asked them, "Who wants to exin?"

    Su Chan said first, "Yundong, this is Fahai¡¯s magic item!"

    "Fahai?" Li Yundong was awestruck. "Is that the same Fahai as is in Legend of the White Snake? Is there really such a person? Does he still have any magic items left in the world?"

    Ruan Hongling began exining quickly, "Fahai is the disciple of Huineng, who was the sixth ancestor of the Zen Sect of Buddhism. He is also the son of Pei Xiu, who was the Tang Xuanzong¡¯s Minister of Personnel during the Dazhong Period. After bing a monk, Fahai lifted the burning thumb pot to make a pledge to the Zexin Temple. Therefore, the carried magic item was called the burning thumb pot!"

    Li Yundong was shocked and looked at the burning thumb pot in Du Fei¡¯s hand in amazement. "F*ck, is this the magic item that subdued Bai Suzhen?"

    Du Fei said with a smile, "Zhenren Li, you must be joking. Legend of the White Snake is just a legend mixed up with some romance! Don¡¯t take it seriously."

    Li Yundong¡¯s lips curved slightly. "You¡¯re right. It¡¯s said that Zhu Bajie is The Canopy Marshal In The Journey to the West."

    Theyughed and suddenly their vignce and grievance began to fade away.

    Du Fei lifted the burning thumb pot in the air and let it float abreast the Implement Encyclopedia. He said, "Zhenren Li, I won¡¯t say too much here, but since it¡¯s Fahai¡¯s personal magic item, it must be powerful. And I believe they understand that very well!"

    Saying that, he pointed at Su Chan and the others, who still had their heads poking out from the second floor.

    Li Yundong looked up and saw the girls ogling the burning thumb pot curiously, looking awestruck. Cao Yi and Zhuang Yating wordlessly looked at the magic item withplicated, strange expressions. Meanwhile, Liu Yuehong, who was the senior master of the Fox Zen School, looked at them with a nk expression, unaware of how shocking this magic item really was.

    Li Yundong transferred his gaze to Du Fei and said, "Since this is Fahai¡¯s magic item, how did it fall into your hands?"

    Du Fei smiled mysteriously and said, "That¡¯s our sect¡¯s secret. Zhenren Li, if you¡¯re interested, please wait until I have taken out the third item, which will be thest."

    Li Yundong felt a little curious and expectant after seeing Du Fei take two items out in session, thetter even more amazing than the first. What would the third item be?

    Seeing Li Yundong¡¯s interest, Du Fei smirked and pulled the ribbon of the treasure bag, which immediately sent out hard, navy-blue, thread-bound books one after another.

    Li Yundong saw these books flying out. After a short while, they upied almost half of the hall and had piled up into a mound. He was unable to stifle augh and said, "What is this? Are these the Siku Quanshu [TN: Collection of books gathered during the Qing dynasty]?"

    Du Fei revealed a proud expression. He opened the first book and shoved it towards Li Yundong, saying, "Zhenren Li, please read it!"

    Li Yundong saw that there were four big golden characters written on this book in a golden seal script and he whispered, "Dao Fa Hui Yuan?"

    "What? Dao Fa Hui Yuan!!!" Apart from Li Yundong, all the others eximed in unison and craned their necks even further.

    Hearing this, Zi Yuan changed her expression, rushed over to Li Yundong in a sh, stared at the scripture in front of him, and said in a trembling voice, "Is this really the Dao Fa Hui Yuan written by Zhao Yizhen during the turn of the Yuan and Ming Dynasty?"

    Li Yundong and Zi Yuan had been living together for a long time. Even though he knew that this fairy could lose herposure sometimes, he had never seen her be so shocked that she was taken aback like this. He wondered to himself, "What kind of treasure book could it be to cause Zi Yuan to be so shocked?"

    Du Fei also knew that Li Yundong didn¡¯t know much about these things because of his limited cultivation experience and exined, "Zhenren Li, you see..." As he started speaking, he pointed to the pile of books in front of him and said, "There are a total of 268 books here. These books record the most glorious period of Toaism, including almost all of the Taoist Magic and secret history from the Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty."

    Du Fei pointed to a pile of books which were nearly as high as an average human being and said, "The 1st to the 55th volumes are all about the Taoist Magic of Qingwei Sect; the 56th to 154th volumes are all on the Taoist Magic of Shenxiao Sect; the 155th to the 268th are about the Taoist Magic of Zhengyi Sect, Tianxin Sect, Donghua Sect, and Jingming Sect, as well as all the Taoist Magic of the small sects!"

    Du Fei¡¯s tone was understated, but the effect of his words was no less powerful than detonating an atomic bomb amongst Li Yundong and the others!

    The shock made Li Yundong¡¯s scalp tingle. He stared at the book, dumbfounded, and said, "Do you mean that almost all Taoist Magic is in here?"

    Du Fei said with a light smile, "Exactly!"

    Li Yundong was stunned. Although he had won every battle since reaching the Zhuji phase, he knew very well that what he needed the most now was Taoist Magic. It was like someone had just sent him a pillow when he was feeling sleepy!

    "Isn¡¯t this nuts? Almost all Taoist Magic?"

    Zi Yuan looked at Du Fei disbelievingly and asked, "Isn¡¯t this the scripture that was lost? How do you have it?"

    Du Fei exined with a congenial smile, "It¡¯s not I that owns it, but our Quanzhen Dragon Sect! Ever since the Tartar entered the pass and the Taoists were suppressed, this scripture has been constantly snatched away and damaged. For the future of Taoists, our Quanzhen Dragon Sect did everything we could to preserve this scripture from being destroyed. However, in modern times, especially during the Great Cultural Revolution, Taoists have suffered a great decline. Our grandmaster¡¯s bones have been gouged out, the ancestral temple of Zhengyi Sect has been destroyed, and the cultivation world has suffered a devastating blow."

    "At this time, the head of Quanzhen Dragon Sect decided to transfer the sect¡¯s forces to foreign countries. Therefore, he dismissed many disciples and asked them to take away some of the scriptures of the Dao Fa Hui Yuan. At the time of the Reform and the Opening-up Revolution, the head of the sect ordered his disciples to reconnect with the disciples who had left previously and regather this scripture."

    Du Fei was proud as he said, "Ever since the Reform and Opening-up Revolution, every sect has shown signs of revival. Zhengyi Sect is busy dominating the Cultivation World, Gezao Sect is busy refining elixirs of life, and our Quanzhen Dragon Sect is busy collecting Taoist scripture in order to preserve their bloodline and make an extra effort for the Cultivation World."

    With a solemn expression on her face, Zi Yuan cupped her hands in admiration and said, "Zhenren Du, you¡¯re so broad-minded. I truly admire you!"

    Du Fei cupped his hands and said with a smile, "It¡¯s nothing. I¡¯m just a pawn in a bigger game and don¡¯t have the right to receive such praise. However, some disciples of the sect have hidden deeply and they were in a hurry back then. Our sect had to struggle for nearly thirty years before we finally managed to bring Dao Fa Hui Yuan to the world!"

    Li Yundong was shocked when he heard that. He was sure that it had been a huge project to find things which had been scattered all over the world forty years ago! How much manpower and material resources would something like that have taken?

    Li Yundong could hardly imagine. He had been quite proud of the beauties of the Fox Zen School before, but now he knew what a real sect and real power was like!

    At the moment of crisis, they could immediately scatter all over the world and hide away like undetected dragons staying in undergroundirs. Now that was a sect!

    At the peak of their prosperity, they could find intact people and things that had scattered outside and been hidden under the ground for decades. Now that was power!

    Moreover, the Dao Fa Hui Yuan, painstakingly collected by Quanzhen Dragon Sect over thirty years, was now ced in front of him and ready to be exchanged!

    He would have to offer something seriously good to get such an important item. What did Du Fei want?

    Li Yundong looked at the books piled up into a hill. He calmed himself and asked seriously, "You have taken out three things, each of which was more shocking than thest. So the thing you want must be even more important. What is it you¡¯re after?"

    Du Feiughed, pped and said, "Zhenren Li is really straightforward! Well, I¡¯ll get straight to the point! I¡¯d like to exchange two items with you, Zhenren Li. That is, for the books including the Implement Encyclopedia, the burning thumb pot and the Dao Fa Hui Yuan. To exchange three of my things for two of yours. I promise you you won¡¯t lose out!"

 Chapter 394 To Punish Me?

    <h4>Chapter 394 To Punish Me?</h4>

    "Three for two?" Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help narrowing his eyes, which were shining with a sharp light. "Which two things should I exchange?"

    Du Fei confidently raised two fingers and said, "Renyuan Jindan and the Heavenly Jindan Technique!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart tightened. He thought to himself, "Naturally it would be these two things!"

    At this time, there was a burst of exmations and sighs from the members of the Fox Zen School. They all knew that the Renyuan Jindan had been eaten by Zhou Qin, so it was impossible to exchange it.

    Li Yundong stared at Du Fei and said solemnly, "Zhenren Du, it¡¯s said that we must not lie in front of the Zhenren. We can¡¯t make this deal!"

    Du Fei was shocked. His mood worsened and he asked, "Zhenren Li, are you dissatisfied with these three things?"

    Li Yundong shook his head and replied, "No."

    Du Fei said in a deep voice, "Then do you look down on these three items? Just tell me what it is you want. As long as our Quanzhen Dragon Sect has it, or even if we just have the ability to obtain it, we will definitely bring it to you!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "That¡¯s not it either."

    Du Fei¡¯s eyebrows tightly furrowed together. "Then, Zhenren Li, what do you mean exactly?"

    Li Yundong replied lightly, "Nothing. It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t have what you want."

    Du Fei¡¯s expression changed and he said, "Zhenren Li, I have shown you my sincerity, why won¡¯t you treat me with the same sincerity in response? Do you look down on me?"

    Li Yundong waved his hand dismissively and said, "No, Zhenren Du, you¡¯re thinking too much. Since you have treated me with sincerity, I will treat you with sincerity, too. Since you have taken out three such precious things to make a deal with me, I won¡¯t hide anything from you. Indeed, I snatched the Renyuan Jindan, and I have practiced the Heavenly Jindan Technique."

    Du Fei asked puzzledly, "Then why are you unwilling to make a deal? Could it be that... the Renyuan Jindan has already been consumed by you?"

    Li Yundong nodded slowly and replied, "Yes. Well, it was not consumed by me, but by my disciple."

    Du Fei raised his head and couldn¡¯t hide the abject disappointment and envy on his face "Who was the lucky person? May I be acquainted with her?"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and said, "She¡¯s not here. Sorry to disappoint you."

    Du Fei let out a long sigh and looked extremely downhearted. He lowered his head and did not speak for a long time. After that, he took a deep breath and waved his hand to take back the Dao Fa Hui Yuan, the burning thumb pot and the Implement Encyclopedia.

    Li Yundong looked at the depressed Du Fei and consoled him, saying, "Zhenren Du, don¡¯t be so discouraged. Perhaps there¡¯s still a third Renyuan Jindan?"

    Du Fei forced a smile and cupped his hands. "Zhenren Li, you needn¡¯t try to persuade me. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any chance of that." He walked to the door with heavy footsteps and turned around with a forced smile on his face. "Zhenren Li, I have a final question."

    Li Yundong smiled faintly and said, "Please go ahead."

    "When ites to the Heavenly Jindan Technique, can you not impart it to other sects?" Du Fei looked at Li Yundong beseechingly.

    "Of course!" Li Yundong replied.

    Du Fei breathed a sigh of relief and said, "A man¡¯s word is past recalling. Zhenren Li, if you get your hands on any other Renyuan Jindan in the future, please contact me."

    As he spoke, he took out a gliding business card from his pocket. With a wave of his hand, the business card flew lightly over to Li Yundong.

    Li Yundong caught it with both hands and nced at it. He saw the words written on it: "The President of Quanzhen Dragon Sect Limited, Du Fei, the Asian CEO." Li Yundong smiled and said, "What an impressive name. What kind of business do you run?"

    Ever since Du Fei had discovered that Li Yundong had snatched Renyuan Jindan, he had been preparing these three things. However, now that he¡¯d finally gotten ready toe looking for Li Yundong, he had realized that he was toote. Especially after he heard that the Renyuan Jindan had already been consumed, he had be dispirited. But out of courtesy, Du Fei still forced himself to say, "It¡¯ll make youugh. It¡¯s just a small business. However, I¡¯m a disciple. Although I joined the sect early, I couldn¡¯t enter the inner room and be an inner disciple, so even though I¡¯m the Eldest Senior Brother, my cultivation is actually the lowest out of everyone in the Quanzhen Dragon Sect."

    Li Yundong asked curiously, "Can you tell me how many people there are in the Quanzhen Dragon Sect? Who are the masters?"

    Du Fei thought for a moment before replying, "Zhenren Li, this is our sect¡¯s secret, I can¡¯t spread it around. However, I can tell you that there are many masters in our sect, and there are countless people who are more powerful than me. You will see them at the Taoist assembly."

    Li Yundong understood clearly and said with a smile, "Understood. Zhenren Du, I won¡¯t see you out."

    "Farewell!" Du Fei cupped his hands and pushed the door open. Just as he was about to go out, he nced outside and suddenly stopped. He turned around and said, "Zhenren Li, there is something I don¡¯t know whether or not I should say."

    "Please go ahead!" Li Yundong said.

    Du Fei nced out of the door at the surroundings and said, "You want to build a tea shop, but as far as I know there are many people just waiting for an opportunity to punish you."

    Li Yundong burst outughing. His guffaws were so loud that they leaked out of the shop door. "To punish me?" he said. "Well, I¡¯m afraid that day won¡¯t be interesting!"

    Du Fei smiled and cupped his hands in admiration. "Zhenren Li, you are so heroic. I truly admire you! Farewell!"

    Li Yundong returned the gesture by cupping his hand and said, "Farewell!"

    Their actions made many tourists on the street wonder to themselves, "What era does he think he¡¯s in? He spoke so politely and even made an obeisance? They¡¯ve watched too many stupid costume dramas and be idiots!"

    However, some cultivators who were hiding amongst the ordinary mortals sneered in their hearts at the scene. They took a long look at Li Yundong and then melted into the crowd.

    Zhao Yougen, who was standing opposite Li Yundong¡¯s shop, also heard Li Yundong¡¯s words clearly. He sneered and felt riled up."Yes, if I could make his opening ceremony cold and cheerless, I¡¯m sure it¡¯de as a big blow to him! Yes, I¡¯ll just do it! If anyonees to congratte you, I¡¯ll find a way to drive them away! Even if it¡¯s a banquet, I¡¯ll ruin it!"

    Having thought of another way, Zhao Yougen suddenly felt rxed. Heughed proudly and even hummed a tune lightly.

    In Li Yundong¡¯s shop, there was a greatmotion. Ruan Hongling shouted at Li Yundong, "Li Yundong, why didn¡¯t you exchange your Heavenly Jindan Technique with him? You should have exchanged it for Dao Fa Hui yuan!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Heavenly Jindan Technique is just a kind of Taoist cultivation magic, but the Dao Fa Hui Yuan records almost all Taoist magic. You are exchanging a sapling for a forest. Do you think Du Fei is as stupid as you?"

    Ruan Hongling was enraged and wanted to say more, but Su Chan got there first and said, "Yundong, it¡¯d be fine even if you exchanged for the Implement Encyclopedia!"

    Cao Yi also nodded and said, "Leader, you already have a copy of the Heavenly Jindan Technique, why don¡¯t you use it to make a deal with Du Fei? You could even exchange it for the burning thumb pot? It¡¯s a famous and powerful magical Buddhist item!"

    Li Yundongughed as he exined, "There are some things that can¡¯t be exchanged as I wish. Du Fei clearly wants the Renyuan Jindan and Heavenly Jindan Technique. He won¡¯t trade without one of those. If it really doesn¡¯t work..."

    Li Yundong smiled at Su Chan and said, "I¡¯ll use you as a bonus and ask Du Fei if he wants to exchange."

    Su Chan pulled a face at Li Yundong, and her little nose wrinkled cutely. She said coyly, "You¡¯re so annoying. Have you gotten bored with me? I¡¯m not cargo!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Normal goods don¡¯t have legs, but you do. You can run back by yourself in the future!"

    Su Chan blinked her eyes and looked at Li Yundong innocently, asking, "But what if I don¡¯t know the way back?"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help cracking up when he saw the cute girl¡¯s expression.

    At this time, Zi Yuan suddenly winked at Li Yundong and whispered, "Li Yundong, I have something to tell you."

    Li Yundong nodded and went over to a corner with Zi Yuan, who whispered, "Li Yundong, if you had the Renyuan Jindan in your possession, would you trade it?"

    Li Yundong mumbled faintly, "No."

    Zi Yuan asked with interest, "Oh, why not?"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly. "It seems like I¡¯d be getting the better half of this deal, but in fact, that¡¯s not so."

    A glimmer of admiration appeared in Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes as she asked, "Why is that?"

    Li Yundong said, "Since Quanzhen Dragon Sect has collected so many Taoists¡¯ magic, why are they still no match for the Zhengyi School? There are a few possible reasons. First, this Dao Fa Hui Yuan could be fake. Second, it may not beplete. Third, maybe it really is genuine, but it is not as powerful as people imagine."

    Zi Yuan nodded and praised him, "Not bad. For you to be able to think so in-depth in such a short period of time is really good."

    Li Yundong also asked curiously, "Since you know these points, why were you so shocked just now?"

    Zi Yuan sighed lightly and said, "The Taoist ssics have been scattered around, and Taoist magic has been lost to an even greater extent. Dao Fa Hui Yuan is undoubtedly a big powerhouse out of the Taoist magic. As a cultivator, I was naturally excited to hear that someone had restored the Dao Fa Hui Yuan. However, what you said before was not actually right."

    "Then why did you praise me?" Li Yundong asked, chuckling.

    Zi Yuan smiled and said softly, "It¡¯s not like that. Listen to me. There are thousands of Taoist spells, but from ancient times until now, no one has been able to learn all of them. Being able to master several great magical methods is enough to be regarded as a great cultivator. As the saying goes, ¡¯Better to master one than engage with ten.¡¯ If you have mastered the Five Thunders Jade Method, that¡¯s enough for you to use in battle. Don¡¯t bite off more than you can chew."

    "Thank you for your guidance," Li Yundong said solemnly. "Is that why you came to me alone?"

    Zi Yuan became serious and said, "Of course not..." She lowered her voice and said, "Did you notice anything strange today?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly as he asked, "Such as?"

    Zi Yuan nced at Cao Yi, Zhuang Yating, and Liu Yuehong, who were on the second floor. She said via voice transmission, "Didn¡¯t you notice that when Du Fei took out the Burning Thumb Pot, Cao Yi and Zhuang Yating were very shocked but Liu Yuehong seemed indifferent?"

    Li Yundong was stunned. He thought for a while without speaking. After a few minutes, he whispered in a voice that could only be heard by Zi Yuan, "I think I know what you mean. But now Yan Fang is probably aware that we have found her whereabouts, but she still has not chosen to escape. This means that she may be nning to create chaos among us and make us suspect each other. In that case, I will y with her slowly!"

    There was a cold smile in his eyes as he added, "I would like to see what she¡¯s going to do."

    Zi Yuan also smiled lightly and said, "I will help you keep an eye on her. However, there is one more thing I need to discuss with you."

    "What is it?" Li Yundong asked.

    Zi Yuan smiled mysteriously and said, "If you handle this matter well, I believe that she will definitely give herself away!"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but be very curious. "What the heck do you mean?"

    Zi Yuan whispered a few words to Li Yundong, who immediately fell silent. However, after thinking for a moment, he raised his head and nodded slightly to Zi Yuan. "Okay, but I have an idea," Li Yundong said before whispering an additional few words to Zi Yuan.

    A thought shed through Zi Yuan¡¯s mind. She looked at Li Yundong with admiration and nodded slightly, saying, "Yes, that¡¯s just what I was thinking!"

    The two of them looked at each other and smiled, suddenly feeling like bosom friends.

 Chapter 395 Natural Talen

    <h4>Chapter 395 Natural Talen</h4>

    In this afternoon, while Li Yundong, together with Su Chan, Zi Yuan, Ruan Hongling, and various other disciples of the Fox Zen School, were busy renovating the shop, Zhou Qin finally awoke from her deep sleep.

    Zhou Qin¡¯s long eyshes trembled slightly. Shey motionless on the bed, staring at the ceiling with her beautiful eyes as if trying to recall what had happened when she had been sitting in meditation recently.

    But what she thought about most was not the way she had changed after taking Renyuan Jindan, but that after she had taken Renyuan Jindan, Li Yundong had taken care of her and even helped her gently wipe the sweat from her body.

    Thinking of this, Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help feeling a little hot. She gently swept her satin-like skin with her fingers, and the spots her fingertips touched were burning hot.

    "Destined love..." Zhou Qin bit her lip and sighed softly.

    After an unknown period of time, she slowly sat up and put her hands on the corners of the bedside table, trying to stand up. But as she tried to pull herself up, there was a sudden click as the foot of the bedside table was broken by the pressure.

    Zhou Qin was shocked. She looked at the piece of wood that had broken off in her palm in surprise. She was a little puzzled, but soon she understood what had happened.

    She suddenly remembered a series of incredible things she had seen Li Yundong do. Li Yundong had broken the marble table with his hands as he bled from all seven openings, dodged Zhao Youjin¡¯s shots in the ssroom, and then he had fallen from the sky, and bombarded the extended Lincoln car in the air...

    At this moment, Zhou Qinchi felt a superhuman force flowing through her body. She was dazed, confused, and even at a loss.

    Suddenly, there was a burst of chattering and footsteps that could be hearding from outside the door, and then Zhou Qin came to her senses. She put on her clothes and walked out of the door only to see Su Chan talking with Zi Yuan and walking into the house.

    Su Chan saw Zhou Qin at once and shouted in surprise and delight, "Sister Zhou Qin, are you awake?" The little girl had been quite busy over the past few days. Her delicate face was covered in dust, making her look like a little tabby cat. Her straightforward and innocent smile did not affect her beauty at all, only making her more lovely.

    Zi Yuan was still as pure and clean as a fairy. She looked Zhou Qin up and down carefully, then nodded slightly with a smile on her face, saying, "Good, you look brighter, and the look in your eyes is profound. Good, good!"

    Zhou Qin didn¡¯t know if Zi Yuan¡¯s words meant that her current condition was good or that the Renyuan Jindan was good. She smiled politely and asked, "Where is everyone? Why aren¡¯t they here?"

    Su Chan said with a smile, "We¡¯ve been busy with the decoration of the shop!"

    Zhou Qin was stunned. She asked, "A shop? Ah, Disanxian? Have you guys started decorating already? But, decoration, you, how could you..."

    Su Chan looked at her and felt like she was looking at a y doll. The little girl stuck out her tongue and said with a smile, "We decorated it ourselves. We just moved the cement and gravel, so my clothes are a little dirty. Yundong let mee back and wash."

    Zhou Qin¡¯s puzzled gazended on the spotless Zi Yuan and said, "Then you..."

    Zi Yuan smiled and exined, "Yundong was worried about Su Chaning back alone, so he asked me to apany her."

    Zhou Qin nced at Su Chan, but before she could even sigh with envy, Su Chan took her hands and said with a smile, "Sister Zhou Qin, you¡¯ve changed a lot. You look like a different personpared to before."

    Zhou Qin was unable to stifle augh and asked, "Is it that obvious?"

    Su Chan nodded vigorously before turning to look at Zi Yuan and asking, "Sister Zi Yuan, what do you think?"

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "Well, right now, Zhou Qin is full of energy, and her aura is shockingly strong. I estimate that she¡¯ll be able to reach the Zhuji phase after cultivating for a few more days."

    Su Chan looked at Zhou Qin enviously and said, "Sister Zhou Qin, your cultivation speed is really fast, even faster than Yundong¡¯s!"

    Zhou Qin smiled unnaturally, then changed the topic and asked, "Where¡¯s Master? Is she also in the shop?"

    Su Chan told her with a smile, "Yes, Sister Zhou Qin, do you want to go and have a look?"

    Zhou Qin answered brightly, "Okay, let me change into another set of clothes."

    Su Chan stuck out her tongue. "I¡¯m going to take a shower!" she said, then rushed into the bathroom.

    Zhou Qin smiled at Zi Yuan. She turned around and wanted to go to her room to change her clothes, but Zi Yuan stopped her, calling her name.

    Zhou Qin stopped and turned around, looking at Zi Yuan with aplicated expression in her eyes. She had never spoken much with this ethereal beauty. In the depths of her heart, Zhou Qin could ept the innocent Su Chan, but she was a little unwilling to get close to Zi Yuan. Not only could this woman be said to be the most beautiful in the world, but Zhou Qin subconsciously felt that she was superior to Zi Yuan.

    She was an outstanding woman in every aspect. It was obvious that Zi Yuan was the same. Moreover, Zi Yuan was one of Li Yundong¡¯s cultivation masters, which made Zhou Qin inferior to her. She did not like this feeling very much.

    Zi Yuan could sense a strongpetitive desireing from Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes. She chose to give in quickly. This dignified and gentle woman, who usually treated people kindly, smiled and said, "It¡¯s nothing. Just get on with your work. I won¡¯t disturb you anymore."

    Zhou Qin looked Zi Yuan meaningfully, then smiled at her and entered the room by herself.

    Looking at Zhou Qin¡¯s figure, Zi Yuan shook her head. At first, she had wanted to ask Zhou Qin what she had been thinking about while sitting in meditation, but now the sense of alienation that Zhou Qin had given her made Zi Yuan decide to leave the question to Li Yundong.

    After standing in the same spot for a while, Zi Yuan turned around and left. However, when she walked out of the door she saw Li Yundong returning with the others from the Fox Zen School.

    Zi Yuan asked with a smile, "You¡¯re back already?"

    Li Yundong was walking at the front. Heughed and said, "We finished everything, so there was no reason to stay."

    Zi Yuan asked in confusion, "Didn¡¯t you say that you were going to do the tiles today?"

    Li Yundong spread his hands helplessly and said, "The tiles need to be soaked for a while before they can be used. We¡¯ll do them tomorrow."

    Zi Yuan nced at the group, but she couldn¡¯t see Ruan Hongling. She asked curiously, "Where¡¯s Hongling?"

    "She said that when she saw Zhao Yougen leave in the morning, he looked angry. She thought that he¡¯d probably take the opportunity to make trouble tonight, so she decided to stay there," Li Yundong informed her.

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "No way. Hongling has always been careless. Why would she pay attention to this? It must be that you said something to her and made her stay willingly."

    Li Yundong pointed at Zi Yuan and smiled, saying, "The ones who gave birth to me were my parents, but the one who knows me best is Zi Yuan!"

    By this time, all the little foxes had entered the house together. Once they were safely inside, they all began to chatter and yell, "I¡¯m so tired! I¡¯m so tired!"

    "Leader, is there any water we can drink?"

    "Leader, when will we have dinner?"

    "Who¡¯s in the bathroom? I want to take a shower!"

    "Idiot, don¡¯t you have a bathroom in your room?"

    "But there¡¯s no bathtub in mine!"

    When Li Yundong saw them entering the room, he immediately felt as if he was being swarmed by a raucous group of ducks. He raised his hands and made a downward gesture, saying, "Stop making such a racket, quiet down!"

    As soon as Li Yundong said that, the little foxes immediately shut their mouths and looked at him obediently.

    At this time, the bathroom door opened with a whoosh. Su Chan had wrapped herself in a bath towel and rushed out with bubbles sparkling in her hair. She said in surprise, "Yundong, you¡¯re back?"

    But as soon as she moved, the remaining shampoo on her head flowed into her eyes. The girl suddenly jumped up and rushed back into the bathroom, saying, "Agh, it hurts so much!"

    The little foxes immediately burst intoughter. Li Yundong shook his head, looking defeated. He coughed and said, "Everyone has worked hard today! Zhenren Zi Yuan and I will cook a delicious meal as a reward tonight!"

    "Hooray!" the little foxes screeched, cheering in unison.

    Li Yundong smiled and said to Zi Yuan, "Zhenren Zi Yuan, you don¡¯t have any objections, do you?"

    Zi Yuan said helplessly as she turned to leave, "You¡¯re shooting first and askingter. Why are you even checking with me?"

    Li Yundong hurriedly said, "Hey, you don¡¯t have to leave if you¡¯re angry, you know."

    Zi Yuan turned around and said with a smile, "I¡¯m just going to buy groceries."

    Li Yundong was suddenly relieved. Looking at the graceful and charming back of Zi Yuan, he suddenly felt that she would be a perfect wife that any man in the world would be eager for. It seemed like she would neverin and would always just support him silently.

    "But, if she were my wife, what would Su Chan be?" Such a question popped up in Li Yundong¡¯s mind. He was shocked and quickly shook his head, as if he wanted to get rid of this idea.

    As Li Yundong was shaking his head, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a familiar figure leaning against the door and silently looking at him. He turned his head and saw Zhou Qin standing there. Her graceful body was leaning against the doorway, like a willow in the wind, making people feel pity for her.

    Li Yundong was stunned, then said in surprise, "Zhou Qin, you¡¯re awake?"

    As soon as he finished his words, the whole living room fell quiet. All the members of the Fox Zen School looked at Zhou Qin in unison, looking at the luckydy who had received the Renyuan Jindan.

    Zhou Qin gazed at Li Yundong adoringly. She unconsciously held her hands tightly in front of her chest and curled her fists up into balls.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t notice Zhou Qin¡¯s obsessive eyes. He waved his hand to the little foxes, indicating that they should go and do their own things. Then he went upstairs and waved to Zhou Qin, beckoning her into his room.

    Li Yundong let Zhou Qin in, then closed the door behind him. He looked Zhou Qin up and down carefully, his eyes were full of appreciation. He nodded repeatedly and said, "Good, you¡¯ve shown your spirit. The Qi in your body is even more vigorous than before! Excellent! By the way, while you were sitting in meditation, I once warned you to do some visualization. Have you done it?"

    Ever since Zhou Qin had entered Li Yundong¡¯s room, her heart had been beating like a drum. She was afraid that Li Yundong would mention the embarrassing moment when he had taken off her clothes. However, when she saw that Li Yundong was asking her about her cultivation, she felt relieved, but also immediately felt a twinge of disappointment.

    Zhou Qin sighed slightly in her heart, then cheered up and said, "Master, I have done visualization."

    Li Yundong asked with concern, "Did you see yourself as a God?"

    Zhou Qin lowered her eyes slightly, as if she was recalling the scene at that time. After a while, she said with some embarrassment, "I visualized myself as a fairy..."

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Do you even need to meditate on that? You¡¯re already a fairy!"

    Zhou Qin blushed. She nced at Li Yundong secretly and felt happy in her heart, then whispered, "I don¡¯t know what kind of visualization it was. Anyway, it was beautiful and out of this world. But the spirit I saw had a sword on its back and a red whip around its waist. There was also a silver moon hanging behind it. It seemed to be the spinning chakram that you gave me."

    Li Yundongughed and said, "That¡¯s right. That¡¯s your magical item for the future. But after that, I¡¯ll let you try to visualize the Lotus Throne. Have done it before?"

    Zhou Qin nodded. "Yes!"

    Li Yundong continued to ask, "Ah, so how many Lotus Thrones were in your visualization?"

    "Just a Nine-stage Lotus Throne," Zhou Qin replied casually.

    Li Yundong was shocked. His eyes widened and he cried out involuntarily, "Nine-stage?"

    Zhou Qin looked at Li Yundong nkly and asked, "Yes, what¡¯s wrong?"

    Li Yundong pped his hands andughed out loud. Overjoyed, he said, "Good, good! Back then, I also saw the Nine-level Lotus Throne. Su Chan praised me for being a rare genius. Master Fakong also said that the hardest part of cultivation was to find a good disciple. I never expected my first disciple to be a rare genius like me. Haha, it¡¯s really amazing!"

    Zhou Qin looked at Li Yundong with amusement and asked, "Master, are you praising yourself or me?"

    Li Yundongughed merrily and said, "Both!"

    While he was talking, he suddenly saw the door being pushed open. Su Chan poked her head into the room. She nced at Li Yundong and Zhou Qin and asked softly, "Yundong, can Ie in?"

    Seeing that she hadn¡¯t knocked, Li Yundong pretended to be angry and told her, "No, I¡¯m giving a lesson to my disciple!"

    Su Chan¡¯s mouth suddenly fell open. She wrinkled her nose, made a grimace, and retracted her head resentfully.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t close the door after Su Chan left, leaving it ajar. He smiled and said loudly, "Why are you eavesdropping at the door? If you are worried about me, juste in and listen to us out in the open!"

    Su Chan immediately snapped back, "Who¡¯s worried about you? Humph, I¡¯ll ignore you. I¡¯ll go and find Sister Zi Yuan and ask her to teach me how to cook!"

    After that, the sound of footsteps getting quieter could be heard as the girl ran away quickly.

    Li Yundong shook his head andughed. He said to Zhou Qin, "You are only one step away from the Zhuji phase. In the next two days, you can consolidate your foundation and prepare to reach it."

    Zhou Qin had read a lot of cultivation manuals over the past few days. She more or less knew about the Zhuji phase. She also knew that Li Yundong had once walked to the Himyas to get to the Zhuji phase and had refined his Neidan Zhenqi into a vigorous and hard iron-like state. That was why he had an invincible fighting spirit after reaching the Zhuji phase.

    Zhou Qin asked in a tone filled with uneasiness and yearning, "Shall I go to Tibet, too?"

    Li Yundong nodded and said, "Of course, I will help you prepare everything. You don¡¯t have to worry."

    "When should I leave?" Zhou Qin tentatively asked.

    Li Yundong thought for a moment and said, "In two days¡¯ time should be fine!"

    Zhou Qin hesitated for a moment before asking, "Could I wait another few days, until after the store opens? I¡¯m a little worried."

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "We are all here. What are you worried about?"

    Zhou Qin just shook her head and looked at Li Yundong with a pleading expression, saying nothing.

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He thought to himself, "Does Zhou Qin want to be present for such an important thing?"

    Thinking of this, he nodded and said, "Well, I¡¯ll teach you some basic cultivation kung fu and Shentong Magic over the next days. Once you have reached the Zhuji phase, you can start to practice by yourself."

    Zhou Qin was overjoyed and a bright smile suddenly spread over her face. "That¡¯s great! When will you start teaching me?" she said excitedly.

    Li Yundong thought for a moment before responding, "Let¡¯s startter. At midnight tonight,e to my room."

 Chapter 396 The Liuhe Sword Recognized Its Owner!

    <h4>Chapter 396 The Liuhe Sword Recognized It¡°s Owner!</h4>

    After Li Yundong and the others had enjoyed a lively dinner, they went back to their rooms to cultivate.

    When it waste at night, Zhou Qin, who shared a room with Su Chan, opened her eyes quietly. She looked over at Su Chan, who was sleeping with her. This girl, who was always so vivid and lively, was now sleeping like a baby. She was wearing pink pajamas withce and had curled up into a ball. She was holding a pillow tightly in her arms, as if she was afraid that someone would grab it from her. She was also snoring softly, looking adorable.

    Although Zhou Qin was jealous that Su Chan was the object of Li Yundong¡¯s affection, she simply couldn¡¯t bring herself to be hostile to this innocent girl. She gently got out of bed, pulled the quilt over Su Chan, and then quietly walked out of the room. In order not to disturb Su Chan, Zhou Qin deliberately didn¡¯t close the door, leaving it half-shut.

    But when Zhou Qin went out of the door, Su Chan secretly opened her eyes. She also quietly got out of the bed, ran to the door, and peeked through it.

    Su Chan watched Zhou Qin gently knock on Li Yundong¡¯s door and heard Li Yundong¡¯s maic voicee from within as he said, "Come in." Zhou Qin pushed open the door and walked through.

    Su Chan¡¯s mouth suddenly fell open. She knew that Zhou Qin was going to Li Yundong¡¯s room sote at night because he wanted to teach her how to cultivate. However, even though she knew this, she was still a little jealous. She wanted to go to the door to eavesdrop on their conversation, but considering that she had eavesdroppedst time and had been discovered by Li Yundong, she rejected the idea as soon as it came to her mind.

    Su Chan gently closed the door and leaned back against it. She stared at the ceiling and sighed to herself, "If you keep being disobedient, I¡¯m afraid Li Yundong will really dislike you!"

    Su Chan plonked herself down on the ground. She supported her chin with one hand and rested her elbow on her knees, bending her fingers with the other hand. She said to herself, "Look, now that Sister Zhou Qin has taken the Renyuan Jindan, she will be very powerful in the future. She also understands business and has good handwriting, which can help Li Yundong a lot. Sister Zi Yuan is even more excellent. She is the best and can do everything. Ugh, why can¡¯t I do anything? The only thing I am good at is handwriting, but it¡¯s still not good enough topare with Sister Zi Yuan."

    Su Chan sighed, filled with self-pity as she pouted tightly. She thought to herself, "Why do you only know how to make trouble? You used to help Li Yundong cultivate, but now you can¡¯t do anything!"

    Su Chan carried on thinking like this for a while, but suddenly she was cheered up by something. "No, I¡¯d better go to find Cao Yi Shibo and have her teach me how to cook. I might not be able to do anything else, but at least I can learn to cook!"

    Wit that, Su Chan jumped up, gently opened the door, and quietly walked out.

    After walking to the door of Cao Yi¡¯s room, Su Chan was about to knock when she suddenly remembered what had happened before on Mount Gezao. Cao Yi Shibo was probably Yan Hua, who had led them to Mount Gezao. Thinking of this, Su Chan suddenly shivered and turned to leave. But at this moment, she heard a vague voiceing from the room. It seemed that two women were quarreling, and the voice was a little familiar.

    Su Chan leaned her ear against the door to listen and could hear Cao Yi Shibo arguing with someone in a low voice. "What are you doing here?"

    "Can¡¯t I be here?"

    "Hmph, I¡¯m warning you, don¡¯t get too arrogant, or...!"

    "What? Hey, just try exposing me! Hah..."

    Hearing this, Su Chan suddenly felt a chill run up her spine, as if a pair of predatory eyes was staring at her coldly through the door.

    Su Chan straightened her back. As soon as she did so, the door opened. Cao Yi looked at Su Chan doubtfully and asked her in a low voice, "Chan¡¯er, it¡¯s sote. What¡¯s the matter?"

    Su Chan quickly pushed past Cao Yi and looked inside. She saw that the window was open and a cool breeze was blowing through the gauze window. There was no one else in the room. She looked at Cao Yi again. Just as she was about to say something, she suddenly noticed the murderous look in Cao Yi¡¯s eyes.

    Su Chan shivered suddenly. She opened her mouth but did not know what to say. Just then, a loud buzzing came from Li Yundong¡¯s room.

    Su Chan got an idea and immediately said, "Sounds like there are noisesing from Yundong¡¯s room. I wanted to ask you toe and see what¡¯s going on."

    Although there was still suspicion hidden in Cao Yi¡¯s eyes, her murderous look finally lessened. She smiled and said, "Perhaps Leader is refining magic tools."

    Su Chan pretended to be enlightened. She pped her forehead lightly and said, "Yes, Cao Yi Shibo, you are so smart. I am going back to sleep!"

    Saying this, Su Chan scurried back to her room without looking back. As soon as she closed her own door, she leaned against it, her heart pounding. She whispered to herself, "How does Cao Yi Shibo know that Yundong has a new magic item?"

    While Su Chan was feeling anxious in her room, Li Yundong was with Zhou Qin in his bedroom and both were unaware of what had happened outside.

    When Zhou Qin opened the door, she first saw Li Yundong sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room. Behind him was a floor-to-ceiling window with the curtains pulled open. The moon could be seen hanging through the center of the window. The moonlight was pouring over Li Yundong like water, covering him with a silver cassock.

    At this moment, Zhou Qin suddenly felt that Li Yundong¡¯s whole body was exuding an unspeakable Lingqi. It was as if Li Yundong would ascent to heaven in the next second.

    Zhou Qin stood stunned at the door until Li Yundong smiled and said to her, "Why are you in such a daze? Come in."

    Zhou Qin felt as if she had just woken up from a dream. She walked further in but didn¡¯t see any movementing from Li Yundong even though the door had been closed gently.

    Zhou Qin looked at Li Yundong sitting cross-legged in the room. She took a deep breath and also sat down with her legs crossed, then said respectfully, "Master, what are you going to teach me today?"

    On Li Yundong¡¯s knee was an antique sword. He gently stroked the de with his hand and said, "Do you recognize this sword?"

    Naturally, Zhou Qin recognized it at a nce. It was the one that Yan Hua had brought to schoolst time. She nodded and said, "Yes, isn¡¯t this Yan Hua¡¯s patrimonial magical sword?"

    Li Yundong smiled, his eyes twinkling. "Yes, but not exactly. You must be curious as to why this sword is in my hand."

    Zhou Qinughed and nodded with some embarrassment.

    Li Yundongughed and said, "I haven¡¯t cultivated for a long time, but you have progressed even less than me, sopared to you, I am a sophisticated Cultivator. Do you still remember that I told you about Mount Gezao a few days ago?"

    Zhou Qin nodded and Li Yundong continued, "On Mount Gezao, I snatched the Renyuan Jindan and gave it to you. But there¡¯s one thing I didn¡¯t tell you. I also snatched Yan Fang¡¯s magical item, the Liuhe Sword!"

    As he spoke, Li Yundong drew out the Liuhe and gently stroked it. Immediately, the sword emitted a soft buzz and a wave of faint light.

    Li Yundong said softly, "The original Zhenqi of the sword waspletely expelled by me, and then it was struck by thunder. I thought it would be broken, but in fact, not only is it not broken, it has absorbed a lot of thunder power and be stronger."

    Li Yundong sighed lightly and said, "This is the chain attackers¡¯ sword of Bahuang and Liuhe. It is especially for women to use. However, you haven¡¯t achieved the Zhuji phase and Neidan now, and you only have the Qi of Core Yin and Yuanyang, so this sword can¡¯t recognize you as its master. So today I will only teach you how to make the magical item recognize you as its master. This is also what Zi Yuan taught me."

    As he spoke, Li Yundong¡¯s Zhenqi suddenly gathered into a ball, rushed to his fingertips momently, and quickly rushed to the Liuhe Sword.

    Zhou Qin stared at Li Yundong. At first, she could only see Li Yundong¡¯s Qi surging, his hairs floating one by one, and the corners of his clothes fluttering even though there was no wind. Sitting opposite Li Yundong, she could feel a strong wind gusting toward her, as if it wanted to blow her away.

    As far as Zhou Qin could see, the sword didn¡¯t move at first. Li Yundong¡¯s Zhenqi disappeared without any effect. But after a while, the sword began to shake slightly. This shaking became more and more intense, and eventually, the Liuhe Sword gave out a fierce sound.

    This sound was like the cry of a dragon or a phoenix. It was clear, sonorous and powerful, and sounded particrly loud in the silence of the night.

    After a while, the Liuhe began shaking so violently that Zhou Qin felt that there were several Liuhes in front of her, and that there were many residual shadows on them. It seemed that in the next second, this sword would fly right out of Li Yundong¡¯s hand.

    At this moment, Li Yundong suddenly shouted, "Stop!"

    The Zhenqi in his body flooded into the Liuhe. The violently shaking Liuhe suddenly stopped, and many shadows instantly merged into one.

    At this moment, Zhou Qin saw the Liuhe suddenly emit an extremely dazzling white light. She subconsciously shielded her eyes with her hand as the room turned as bright as it would be on a summer¡¯s day, but then in an instant, the light disappeared, and the whole room fell into darkness.

    After putting down her hand, Zhou Qin looked at the Liuhe. She could see that the sword, which was about one meter long, had a faint silver light flowing around it, and it was exuding a mysterious and quiet aura.

    Li Yundong smiled, looked at the Liuhe, and loosened it. The de did not fall. It remained floating in the air like a newborn baby, looking around with curiosity and vignce. After a while, the sword suddenly changed direction and pointed toward Li Yundong, as if it was looking at an enemy.

    Zhou Qin could sense that the Qi of the Liuhe was sharp and aggressive. Although the sword was not facing her, she still felt creeped out.

    When Zhou Qin saw that the Liuhe was pointing at Li Yundong, she couldn¡¯t help but be worried and whispered, "Master, you..."

    Li Yundong raised his hand and stopped her with a smile. He shook his head gently and said softly, "It¡¯s okay. It can¡¯t hurt me."

    As if it had heard Li Yundong¡¯s words and wanted to prove them, after observing Li Yundong for a while, the Liuhe suddenly jumped up and shuttled around happily in the room.

    Zhou Qin could hear the sounds of the Liuhe cutting through the air in the room. The sword¡¯s speed was so fast that she couldn¡¯t even keep up with it. She could only see a few silver lights shing back and forth around her. After a while, the Liuhe suddenly stopped and the silver light in the room disappeared. The weapon then stopped behind Li Yundong and looked around arrogantly.

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Magic items are psychic, and out of all the magic items in this world, the strongest is this sword. Don¡¯t underestimate it. It has its own thoughts. Just now, it was trying to judge whether I am its master or not."

    Zhou Qin¡¯s expression was one of shock. She was tongue-tied. It was not until a long timeter that she eximed, "It turns out that there are really immortal swords and flying swords going around killing people in this world!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "It¡¯s incredible, isn¡¯t it? I¡¯ll ask Zi Yuan to tell you the story of the Liuhe so you can hear about how these magic items were made and where the principlese from."

    Zhou Qin said with a smile, "But Master, I want you to teach me."

    Li Yunqi said, "Zi Yuan knows more than I do about this."

    Zhou Qin shook her head and said, "No matter how much she knows, she¡¯s not my master."

    Li Yundong gave Zhou Qin a meaningful look. He nodded and said, "Okay. Well, you can go back to your room and sleep now. You don¡¯t need to go out with us tomorrow, you can just cultivate at home."

    Zhou Qin was about to say something, but Li Yundong raised his palm and said in a deep voice, "Whatever you¡¯re going to say next, I¡¯m not going to discuss it with you now."

    Zhou Qin didn¡¯t say anything. She was a strong woman, but no matter how strong and domineering a woman was, in the face of the man she loved, she would always show her soft side. She smiled helplessly and said, "Well, Master, don¡¯t get too tired."

    Li Yundong had indeed consumed a lot of Zhenqi to make the Liuhe recognize him as its owner. At this time, his face had gone a little pale. He smiled and said, "I¡¯m fine. Go to sleep."

    Zhou Qin went out of Li Yundong¡¯s room. When she returned to her own room, she secretly nced at Su Chan, only to see that the girl had turned over and was facing the wall, her body all curled up.

    Zhou Qin smiled slightly and sank down onto the bed, but her eyes were still wide open. Li Yundong¡¯s handsome figure in the moonlight seemed to be shimming before her eyes, making her feel too excited to rest.

    Meanwhile, Su Chan stared at the snow-white wall. Her extremely beautiful eyes were flickering with confusion, vignce, and a trace of craftiness.

    These two stunning girlsy on their own beds and were consumed with thinking about their own affairs. They tossed and turned, and it was hard for them to sleep at all that night.

 Chapter 397 How to Deal with it?

    <h4>Chapter 397 How to Deal with it?</h4>

    In the early morning of the next day, when Li Yundong left his room, he found that the living room was already full of people. The little foxes were all ready to set out. Zi Yuan was quietly reading a book on one corner of the sofa, while the three senior Shibos - Cao Yi, Zhuang Yating and Liu Yuehong - had gathered together and were chatting with each other quietly. Su Chan, who usually liked to y with the little foxes, was sitting alone in the dining room, slowly eating porridge and looking around.

    As soon as the girl saw Li Yundong, her face lit up. She jumped up, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and prepared to throw herself into his arms with a grin.

    Seeing her wiping her mouth with her hands, Li Yundong smiled and said, "Hey, don¡¯t wipe your hands on me!"

    Before Su Chan had had a chance to hug Li Yundong, she had been intercepted by him. She said with a sullen expression, "You¡¯re so annoying. I just want to hug you."

    Li Yundong saidughingly, "Yes, but wipe your hands first!"

    Su Chan stuck out her tongue and said, "Darn, you got me."

    Li Yundong tweaked Su Chan¡¯s nose and said with a smile, "I know exactly what you are thinking."

    While the two of them wereughing together, Liu Yuehong, who had been quiet all this while, suddenly asked with a smile, "Leader, what were you busy withst night? There was a loud noiseing from your room!"

    Li Yundong turned his head with a friendly expression and said, "Nothing interesting. I¡¯ve been using a new magical item recently."

    Liu Yuehong smiled and asked, "Really? It¡¯s going to be an eye-opener when we find out what it is."

    Some of the little foxes were excited and chattered, "I thought Leader was collecting magical itemsst night. You guys still didn¡¯t believe us!"

    "Hey, we all believed it! We were just guessing what kind of magical item the leader had gotten!"

    Li Yundong ignored the whispering of the foxes. His eyes inadvertently turned to Zi Yuan, and then he quickly looked away as if nothing had happened. He smiled and said, "Well, it¡¯s okay for you to have a look."

    As he spoke, a three-foot-long sword suddenly jumped out from behind him. The de of this sword was covered with engraved lines and patterns, and a red tassel hung from its hilt, making it look antique.

    Cao Yi¡¯s expression did not change as she looked at the weapon. However, there was a sharp glint in her eyes. Beside her, Zhuang Yating¡¯s expression changed slightly, showing her surprise. Liu Yuehong was the one who seemed the most shocked, crying out involuntarily, "This... Could this be the legendary Liuhe?"

    "Liuhe Sword?" The little foxes eximed at the same time. They all gathered around the exciting new object and wanted to have a careful look at it.

    But the sword could feel the beings crowding around it. The sword felt the foxes¡¯ demon auras and immediately ascended away from them. The sword edge trembled slightly and pointed at the little foxes with vignce and hostility. The poor foxes were all so scared that they screamed and immediately scattered.

    Li Yundongughed and waved his hand. The Liuhe instantly flew back behind him and disappeared.

    Only then did the little foxes, who were still in a state of shock, gather in the living room again. They looked at Li Yundong in awe and whispered, "Leader is so powerful. He has gained yet another incredible magical item!"

    "That¡¯s right. It would be great if I could get also get my hands on the Bahuang."

    "I wonder when our Leader got the Liuhe."

    "How stupid you are! You can just ask him now!"

    "That¡¯s right! Let¡¯s ask Leader!"

    Seeing the girls whispering to each other for a while before suddenly rushing over like a tidal wave, Li Yundong quickly took a few steps back and pointed at Su Chan. "You can ask Su Chan if you have any questions. She knows all about it."

    All at once, the little foxes switched directions to hurry over to Su Chan. They surrounded her like stars surrounding the moon, waiting for her to spill the beans. The girl proudly raised her head and said, "It¡¯s a long story!"

    Seeing that Su Chan was keeping them in suspense, the little foxes hurriedly urged, "Shimei Su Chan, ah no, Shijie Su Chan, can we call you Shijie? Tell me now, please!"

    "Yes, please!"

    Su Chan¡¯s status at Fox Zen School was low, and she was always the one who called others sister, but now arge group of people was suddenly calling her sister. The girlughed loudly and said, "Do you want to hear what I have to say? Then settle down!"

    Seeing that she was beginning to tell the story, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing and shaking his head. He said to Cao Yi, Zi Yuan, and the others, "I¡¯ll go and clean up, then head out."

    When he came out of the washing room, Su Chan was talking about how they had gone to Mount Gezao and been forced to show up by Yan Hua, but identally caused embarrassing scenes for other people from different sects. The little foxes were listening carefully, and when they heard this part, they suddenly burst outughing.

    Li Yundong nced around and saw Liu Yuehong tittering with her mouth covered. Even though Cao Yi and Zhuang Yating wereughing as well, their smiles were a little unnatural.

    Li Yundong thought to himself, "It¡¯s normal for Cao Yi or Zhuang Yating to act weirdly, but I wonder why they¡¯re doing so now?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s gaze lingered on Cao Yi for a little longer. Cao Yi seemed to sense him looking at her, so she turned around and said with a smile, "Leader, what¡¯s up?"

    Li Yundong smiled back and said, "Nothing. Let¡¯s go."

    The group of people chatted andughed as they went out. Su Chan was articte, so she recounted what had happened on Mount Gezao that night vividly. The little foxes sometimes eximed, sometimes held their breath, and none dared to interrupt.

    It wasn¡¯t until they arrived at the pedestrian street that Su Chan finally finished telling them everything that had happened.

    After hearing this, the foxes eximed and started chattering. One of them asked Su Chan in confusion, "Su Chan, how did you meet Leader and Zhenren Zi Yuan that night?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart trembled. He turned his head and looked back to see that, coincidentally, Zi Yuan was also looking at him. Their gazes met and then they both turned to Su Chan at the same time.

    Su Chan rolled her eyes and said with a smile, "I was bored in my room that night, so I went out for a walk, hoping to get some fresh air. As a result, I met them!"

    When Li Yundong heard this, heughed in his heart, "Oh, my girl, you¡¯ve learned to lie so well! Without a moment¡¯s hesitation!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s gaze quickly swept over Cao Yi and the others, but he didn¡¯t see anything unusual. He frowned and was about to speak, but suddenly he saw Su Chan pointing ahead in surprise and asking, "What¡¯s going on ahead?"

    Li Yundong and the others looked ahead and could see that many people had gathered at the top of the pedestrian street. The crowd was gesticting toward where Li Yundong¡¯s Disanxian was.

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart tightened. He thought to himself, "Is there something wrong with the shop? Where¡¯s Ruan Hongling? Has something happened to her?"

    He immediately stepped forward and pushed through the crowd. Once he¡¯d made his way through, he didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry and had no idea what he should do.

    There were seven young men dressed like gangsters kneeling on the ground. Each of them was holding a wooden board in their hands. Judging by the fact that onlookers outside were pointing at them, it seemed that there were some words on the wooden board, but these people had their backs to Li Yundong, so he couldn¡¯t see what the words were.

    Ruan Hongling, however, was in front of them. Sitting atop a pile of red bricks, she casually pointed at them and said, "Hey, your order is wrong. Why can¡¯t you make it appropriate even after changing it so many times? You¡¯re so stupid! You can only get it into an S-shape or B-shape tonight? How can I let you go if you line up like this?"

    The leader of the gangsters cried out with a sad face, "Miss..."

    As soon as he opened his mouth, Ruan Hongling red at him, threw a small stone at him, and shouted, "What?"

    "Missy, missy!" The gangster was hit so hard that he bent over, and the board in his hand fell to the ground with a tter, showing a single character written with paint. The character was ¡¯Li¡¯.

    The gangsters next to him immediately poked their heads out and looked at each other. They then quickly winked at each other, stood up at the same time, rearranged their positions, and knelt down again.

    All of a sudden, the people around burst outughing and began whispering to each other.

    "Who is Li Yundong?"

    "I don¡¯t know, nor do I know how the guy has managed to offend this barbaric beauty!"

    "s, I¡¯ve watched too many Korean movies, and barbaric girlfriends are really trending. It¡¯s terrible! Agh!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s expression was really weird. He quietly moved through the crowd to be in front of the gangsters. He took a look at them and suddenly became furious.

    The boards held by the gangsters read: "Li Yundong, you son of a b*tch!" Thest one was holding a board with only a huge, thick, bright red exmation mark on it!

    Li Yundong was livid. He rushed over to Ruan Hongling, lowered his voice, and spat, "Hey, what is wrong with you! What¡¯s going on here?"

    Ruan Hongling had already seen Li Yundong, but she had pretended not to notice him. When Li Yundong rushed over, she pretended to suddenly recognize him and said naturally, "Oh, have you seen? I caught a few thieves who came to make trouble this evening, and then I expended a lot of effort on educating them. I told them why I was still here sote, and who exactly it was that made me stay here."

    Ruan Hongling stood up, acting innocent. She said to Li Yundong, "Then I asked them, ¡¯Tell me, is Li Yundong a bastard?¡¯ They nodded their heads to show their agreement! s! Just as a great man once said, ¡¯the eyes of the people are clear¡¯. What do you think?"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing in spite of his anger. He pointed to the boards held in the hands of the men and said, "Well, you win! So what are you doing with them?"

    Ruan Hongling rolled her eyes at Li Yundong and said, "What? What else can I do? I¡¯ll just mess with them! How else do you expect me to pass the long night?"

    Li Yundong was bbergasted and asked her, "Are you kidding me?"

    Ruan Hongling suddenly showed a yful expression. She pointed to the boards and said, "Of course! Here¡¯s the game: I¡¯ll give each of them a board, but I won¡¯t tell them what¡¯s on them. Then, they¡¯ll line up. If they¡¯re wrong, they have to reorder themselves. I¡¯ll only let them go once they¡¯re right!"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether to cry orugh at this point. He just said, "You blow me away! Well, now that they¡¯re finally in the right order. Let them go! Don¡¯t you see how many people are here? Do you want to call the police?"

    Ruan Hongling snorted and said to the gangsters, "Hey, you¡¯ve got it right. Look at yourselves!"

    Obviously, the gangsters had lost their temper after enduring Ruan Hongling¡¯s torment, and none of them dared to look at their boards. They just shook their heads hard.

    Ruan Honglingughed and scolded them, "You¡¯re a group of idiots and cowards! I¡¯m not lying to you this time. Look at the boards!"

    Sensing that Ruan Hongling wasn¡¯t lying to them like before, the leading gangster dared to raise his head. When the others saw that someone had taken the lead, they all turned their heads to look at their boards. When they saw what they read, they immediately shouted, "Damn it, who the hell is this Li Yundong? He has made me so miserable all night! If I see him, I¡¯ll kill him!"

    Ruan Honglingughed so hard that she put her hands on her belly and almost rolled on the ground. Su Chan and the others alsoughed themselves into convulsions. Even Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help covering her mouth and giggling.

    Li Yundong walked up to the gangsters and kicked the one who had just shouted. He said menacingly with a dark face, "I am Li Yundong! What do you want to do to me, hm?"

    The gangsters were shocked. They hadn¡¯t been expecting the man they had cursed all night to be right in front of them. They were all stunned for a moment, staring straight at Li Yundong and not saying anything.

    Ruan Hongling, wanting to stir up trouble, tried hard to hold back herughter as she said, "Hey, here is the man you are looking for. If you have a grudge, you¡¯d better take revenge!"

    These gangsters were not stupid. They had seen Li Yundong talking to Ruan Hongling before and it was clear to them that they were close friends. Ruan Hongling had bullied them for the whole night, so how dare they make trouble?

    The leader of the gangsters said shamelessly, "Bro Li, no, no, Mr. Li! Would you mind telling me where you work?"

    The leader of the gangsters just wanted to say something nominal so that he could maintain his prestige in front of hisckeys. However, Ruan Hongling said shamelessly, "Don¡¯t you know who he is? Are you blind? Take a good look at his name!"

    The leader of the gangsters widened his eyes and looked back at the board with therge character "Li" on it in his hand. He tentatively asked, "Mr. Li, I wonder if your father is Li Gang?"

    As soon as he said this, the crowd around him suddenly burst into an uproar. They pointed at Li Yundong and began whispering in a frenzy.

    Li Yundong red at Ruan Hongling angrily and said, "Let¡¯s see how you deal with it!"

    Ruan Hongling snorted and said indifferently, "Just watch!" Then, she put her hands on her hips and shouted at the crowd, "Can you all hear me clearly? His father is Li Gang. If you are not afraid, stay here. If you are, clear off! Otherwise, you will be smashed to death!"

    All of a sudden, the crowd dispersed in all directions, as if they were scattered birds and beasts. Even the gangsters fled with the crowd, leaving Li Yundong and the others standing alone in an instant, like they were a few bare stones on the beach after the ebb of the tide.

    Ruan Hongling spread her hands and said proudly, "Look, aren¡¯t I capable!"

    Li Yundong red at her and said, "You¡¯ve really pushed it this time!"

    Ruan Hongling red back without showing any weakness and said, "It¡¯s you who left me alone here to manage the shop. It¡¯s like a haunted house. Do you want to scare me to death?"

    Li Yundong said with an angry leer, "Are you kidding me? You, scared of ghosts? Once the ghosts meet you, they¡¯ll be lucky if they¡¯re the ones who don¡¯t get scared to death!"

    Seeing that the two of them were about to begin quarreling again, Zi Yuan prepared to step forward to mediate when suddenly they heard a noise and the pattering of footstepsing from not far away.

    Li Yundong and the others turned their heads only to see a group of people rushing in like a tsunami. One woman amongst them shouted, "Where is he? Where is Li Gang¡¯s son?"

    Another voice rang out from the crowd, saying, "He¡¯s there, over there!"

    Li Yundong was stunned and had a headache once more. He said, "Damn it! This is too much, isn¡¯t it? How am I supposed to deal with this?"

 Chapter 398 You Will Be Mine!

    <h4>Chapter 398 You Will Be Mine!</h4>

    Seeing this group of people swarming over, Li Yundong hesitated for a moment and wondered if he should get away from them at first. However, when he thought about how he would have to turn his head and avoid them, he felt very ufortable. "I am the leader of the Cultivation World, if I can be driven away by a group of mortals and it bes known to others, how will I be able to show my face again?"

    "But if I don¡¯t run away, can I beat this group of people down? Won¡¯t it be chaotic?"

    Just as Li Yundong was hesitating, he suddenly heard a clear, familiar voice ring out from the group of people. "Where? Where is the person you are talking about?"

    Li Yundong could tell that the voice very simr to Feng Na¡¯s. He was stunned and looked in the direction it hade from. Sure enough, he saw a round-faced beauty holding a microphone among the crowd. She brashly rushed to the front, followed by a middle-aged man with a camera on his shoulder.

    "Feng Na?" Li Yundong¡¯s eyes widened. Baffled, he asked, "What are you doing here?"

    Feng Na was also stunned when she saw Li Yundong. She eximed with surprise and joy, "Li Yundong! Why are you here?"

    After Feng Na had finished speaking, she quickly came to her senses and said, "Could it be that the people who were talking about Li Gang¡¯s son just now were in fact referring to you?"

    A wry smile settled over Li Yundong¡¯s face. "You¡¯ve misunderstood!" he said. He then pointed to Ruan Hongling next to him and said, "She is making trouble, so you don¡¯t need to join in the fun."

    Ruan Hongling rolled her eyes at Li Yundong. "I dare you to make me guard the shop!"

    "Guard the shop?" Feng Na blinked. "What does that mean?"

    Li Yundong nced at the cameraman behind Feng Na and said sardonically, "It¡¯s a long story. What¡¯s going on with you?"

    Feng Na smiled at the cameraman behind her and said to him, "There¡¯s been a mistake. This is my ssmate. He¡¯s not one of the officiallings." After saying that, she shouted to the crowd behind her, "Everyone, you¡¯ve all made a mistake. This is my college ssmate. He¡¯s a third-year student from Tiannan University, not an officialling. It¡¯s just a mistake!"

    The crowd burst into a roar andined for a while, but eventually began to slowly disperse.

    Feng Na walked up to the middle-aged cameraman and said, "Uncle Xin, may I have a word with my ssmate? Could you go back first?"

    The middle-aged man nced at Li Yundong and then at Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and other beauties behind him with a strange face. Obviously, he regarded Li Yundong as a yboy. He whispered to Feng Na, "Nana, your father entrusted you to me. You mustn¡¯t do anything stupid. Nowadays, boys are very fickle in love. Please be careful."

    Feng Na couldn¡¯t help but show a forced smile. "Uncle Xin, you¡¯re overthinking! I can¡¯t say I¡¯m not interested in him, but he doesn¡¯t care about me!"

    The middle-aged man was relieved to hear it. "That¡¯s good!"

    Feng Na stomped her feet and said angrily, "Uncle Xin, what are you saying? Shouldn¡¯t you be wishing me luck?"

    The middle-aged manughed and patted Feng Na¡¯s head patronizingly. He looked at Li Yundong meaningfully before turning to leave.

    Feng Na only turned around after the man had left. She was about to speak up when she heard Li Yundong cough unnaturally. Su Chan, Zi Yuan, Ruan Hongling, and the others were also looking at her curiously, keeping their mouths shut.

    Feng Na¡¯s heart skipped a beat as she thought to herself, "Oh crud, everyone must have heard what I just said! D*mn it! This is so embarrassing!"

    Feng Na¡¯s face instantly flushed scarlet. She was somewhat at a loss and felt so embarrassed that she didn¡¯t know what to say.

    Seeing this, Li Yundong quickly asked, "Feng Na, are you a reporter now?"

    As soon as Li Yundong spoke, the awkward atmosphere began to dissipate. Feng Na tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, calmed down and said, "Yes, I¡¯ve not had many tasks in my senior year, and there is nothing to do in the student council, so I got my dad to ask someone to arrange an internship for me at Tiannan TV Station. Didn¡¯t you say that I would make a good reporterst time?"

    Feng Na smiled yfully at Li Yundong. "You weren¡¯t just trying to tter me, were you?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "No, look how sensitive you are! There was only a little movement here, but youe immediately. You are toopetent as a reporter!"

    Feng Naughed happily. "Okay, are you trying to say that I have a dog¡¯s nose in a roundabout way?"

    Li Yundong winked at Su Chan and the others, indicating that he wanted them to enter the store first. He turned his face and waved at Feng Na with a smile. "How could I, big reporter! I mean, wouldn¡¯t you happen to be here to interview someone?"

    With her hands behind her back, Feng Na looked at Li Yundong with a smile. Although she was one year older than him, she always felt that she had to look up to the boy in front of him, whether based on his appearance or any other aspect.

    This boy was too mysterious to contact. Even if she tried hard to find his whereabouts, she could never find any trace.

    Feng Na looked at Li Yundong for a moment and smiled. "It¡¯s not like that anyway. How could it be such a coincidence? Someone called the television station and reported something, so my master brought me here. Anyway, the station isn¡¯t far from here so it didn¡¯t take long to get here, but I wasn¡¯t expecting to see you."

    "Who called?" Li Yundong asked. "When did it happen?"

    Feng Na thought for a while and said, "About ten minutes ago."

    Li Yundong frowned and thought, "Ten minutes ago? Wasn¡¯t that right when I arrived? Who called her?"

    While he was feeling confused, he suddenly nced around to see Zhao Yougen standing in the shop opposite and staring at him like a wolf staring at its prey. After Zhao Yougen saw the look in Li Yundong¡¯s eyes, he immediately turned around and walked further back into the shop.

    Li Yundong sneered in his heart. "It¡¯s probably him ying tricks again!"

    Feng Na didn¡¯t notice Li Yundong¡¯s sneer. She curiously looked at the store next to Li Yundong. Through the gap in the stic blinds, she saw that Su Chan and Zi Yuan were busy working inside and asked curiously, "By the way, didn¡¯t you just say that you were guarding this store? Li Yundong, don¡¯t tell me that this store is yours!"

    Li Yundong withdrew his gaze, chuckled and said, "I opened it with my friends."

    Feng Na was both surprised and delighted. She threw a friendly punch at Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder and said, "Amazing! I wondered why I hadn¡¯t seen you these days. Last time, you went to school to exin the rtionship between schrs and chrysanthemums, then disappeared again. It turns out that you¡¯ve been busy gathering a bunch of beauties to open a shop outside!"

    Feng Na was excited and her voice inadvertently grew a little loud, making the passers-by look at Li Yundong with strange expressions, as if they were looking at a procuress in the red-light district.

    Li Yundong said with a wry smile, "Miss President, would you mind lowering your voice? Don¡¯t be so surprised."

    Only then did Feng Na realize how inappropriate what she¡¯d just said sounded. She covered her mouth andughed, saying, "No, it¡¯s because you didn¡¯t tell me about such important news. You haven¡¯t even been answering my calls!"

    Li Yundong pped himself on the forehead and said, "Well, if you hadn¡¯t just said that and reminded me, I would have forgotten I even have a cell phone. I haven¡¯t used it for days."

    Feng Na waspletely speechless. She made an obeisance by cupping one hand in the other before her chest. "I¡¯m impressed! Good for you!"

    Li Yundong chuckled and said, "We should encourage tech-free living!"

    Feng Na rolled her eyes at Li Yundong. "If you¡¯re really such a hippie, don¡¯t take the car when you go out. Then you¡¯d be living what¡¯s called a low-carbon life!"

    Li Yundong said in his heart, "Come on, I¡¯m flying everywhere I go. I only take a taxi when I can¡¯t fly. Of course, I¡¯m living a low-carbon life!"

    But he couldn¡¯t say that to Feng Na, so he justughed and changed the topic. "By the way, can youe and visit after my store opens?"

    Feng Na snorted, "Do I need you to ask me? You¡¯re such a bad friend! You didn¡¯t even tell me such big news. I once told you that if you start apany, you have to hire me to help. You agreed quickly, but what happened in the end?"

    Li Yundong knew that he was in the wrong, so he did not retort. Heughed embarrassedly and said, "I¡¯m just afraid that the shop will lose money and end up failing, so I didn¡¯t dare to tell you. What if I had called you over and the shop ended up losing money? Wouldn¡¯t that be bad for you?"

    Feng Na curled her lips and said disapprovingly, "Why would you think that in this era? I¡¯m capable. Even if your shop really closed down, would it mean I had to starve to death in the future? I really can¡¯t stand your male chauvinism! Well, what kind of shop is this? It¡¯s on a pedestrian street with arge flow of people, so there shouldn¡¯t be any losses."

    Li Yundong exined with augh, "It¡¯s a tea shop."

    "A tea shop?" Feng Na¡¯s eyes widened. She asked curiously, "Why would you want to open a tea shop?"

    Li Yundong spread his hands and said with a wry smile, "It¡¯s hard to say. Anyway, you now know that it is a tea shop, and you cane here when you have time in the future."

    Feng Na appraised the shop with wonder and surprise. She looked around at her surroundings and nodded her head, saying, "Well, the location is pretty good. I wonder how your tea shop will look in the future and what its niche will be."

    Li Yundong said with a smile, "We¡¯ll be catering to middle and high ss guests, mainly aiming for those who are rich."

    Feng Naughed and shouted, "Good for you, Li Yundong. You haven¡¯t even be a rich man yourself yet, and you¡¯ve already abandoned usmoners! What are we going to do when we want to drink tea in the future?"

    Li Yundongughed loudly and said, "Listen to what you¡¯ve said. If youe to drink tea, I will definitely give you a discount." As he spoke, Li Yundong winked at Feng Na and said, "We are friends, aren¡¯t we?"

    Feng Na nodded her head in satisfaction. "Okay, I¡¯m much more at ease after hearing your words. However, our organization will continue to investigate you in the future! Anyway, I already know about your shop, so you can¡¯t escape from me now! Cheng Cheng has been talking about you nonstop these past few days. Humph, I¡¯ll bring her to take advantage of you together next time!"

    Li Yundong chuckled, "No problem. I¡¯ll wee you. By the way, when our shop openster, you cane and see. I needn¡¯t send you an invitation, eh?"

    Feng Na smiled yfully, "No, it¡¯s too insincere! You must write the invitation yourself, otherwise, we won¡¯te!"

    Li Yundong gave an awkward smile and said, "Stop joking around. My calligraphy is far from elegant!"

    Feng Na patted Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder and said, "Are you a true friend? We¡¯ll settle it like this. I¡¯ll take your invitation to school to spread it around. Otherwise, I won¡¯t be able to prove it¡¯s real and make others believe me!"

    Li Yundong suddenly had a brainwave and said happily, "Right, we can publicize it at school! That¡¯s also a group of customers that can be targeted!"

    Feng Naughed and said, "What do you think, Li Yundong? Your store is not open yet, and I¡¯ve already found a customer group for you. Don¡¯t you think you should thank me?"

    Li Yundong made an obeisance by cupping one hand in the other before his chest before saying with a smile, "All respect goes to you, Miss President. You are indeed a genius in the business world. If you be an entrepreneur, Bill Gates will have no choice but to give up and sell hot dogs by the road."

    Saying that, they burst outughing at the same time.

    Feng Na covered her mouth andughed. "You naughty boy. I¡¯m not that great! It¡¯s you who¡¯s the popr one at school. If it were my ce, there wouldn¡¯t be guests even if I wore out my tongue advertising to them. Be prepared for the day you open, I¡¯m going to persuade all of our ssmates!"

    Li Yundong was quite taken aback by her words and quickly said, "Hey, are you kidding? There are thousands of people in the school. If you invite them all, this street will be totally blocked! How can I still open a business by then? Fifty, no, twenty handsome men and beauties should be enough. It can¡¯t be deste when it¡¯s opened. It¡¯d be too ominous."

    Li Yundong has no doubt about Feng Na¡¯s abilities. She would definitely be able to persuade all the students in the school toe over. He had experienced it many times before. If all of the students really came, his shop would close down on the first day!

    "Are you kidding me? How could I afford to close on the first day?"

    Feng Na giggled,ughing herself into convulsions. It seemed like she had got something on Li Yundong as she smiled triumphantly and said, "It¡¯s a deal. If you don¡¯t post an invitation, I will bring all of the students and ruin your business!"

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly and could say nothing.

    Feng Na checked the time and waved her hand at Li Yundong. She said with a smile, "Alright, I¡¯m leaving. I¡¯lle and see you again next time!" As she spoke, she gestured for him to make a phone call, then added "Hey, find your phone when you get back. Let¡¯s stay in touch. You must answer my calls! Otherwise, humph!"

    Feng Na made a threatening expression towards Li Yundong before turning around, then left with augh. Her face was full of pride as she thought to herself, "Li Yundong, let¡¯s see how you intend to avoid me this time! Humph, you will be mine!"

    Li Yundong shook his head with a wry smile, pushed the door open, and walked into his shop.

    Seeing hime through the door, Su Chan walked towards him curiously. "Yundong, what did you talk about with Feng Na for so long? Why is sheughing?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Well, she threatened me, saying that she would invite all the students of the school to the opening day."

    When Su Chan heard this, she was instantly delighted. She pped her hands and said, "Great! That¡¯d be very lively!"

    Li Yundong red at her. "Nonsense! There would be thousands of people! That¡¯s not just being lively, that¡¯s a challenge!"

    Ruan Honglingughed and said, "Li Yundong, you¡¯re always high-profile, and it seems hard for you to keep things on the down-low. Now, let¡¯s see what you can do on an opening day!"

    Zi Yuan also chuckled and said, "No, she is just joking with you. When the dayes, we can just find some acquaintances to support us, so as not to look too quiet and ominous."

    Li Yundong said to Su Chan and Ruan Hongling, "Look, that¡¯s what a good strategy is. You two are only motivated by a desire to see the world in chaos! Get to work!"

    Su Chan and Ruan Hongling pulled faces at Li Yundong at the same time, then turned around and went upstairs.

    Li Yundong rolled up his sleeves and said loudly to the little foxes who were looking at him eagerly, "Girls, let¡¯s get started!" After that, the little foxes answered affirmatively in loud, clear voices and got busy.

    While Li Yundong was busy with his work at the tea store, an uninvited guest suddenly appeared in Zhao Yougen¡¯s shop.

 Chapter 399 The Call of Zhou Keqiang

    <h4>Chapter 399 The Call of Zhou Keqiang</h4>

    Zhao Yougen had called the TV station in the hopes of making trouble for Li Yundong, but he hadn¡¯t expected it to turn out that the girl was Li Yundong¡¯s admirer. Now Zhao Yougen felt really sick, as if he had swallowed a fly.

    "Fortunately, it seems that Li Yundong hasn¡¯t figured out that those people who were kneeling before the door of Disanxian were actually hired by me to make trouble for him."

    Thinking of this, Zhao Yougen couldn¡¯t help wiping at the sheen of sweat on his brow. Early in the morning, when he had seen those gangsters kneeling before the door of Disanxian, he had been so scared that he¡¯d almost ran away. Actually he would have run away if there had not been so many onlookers standing outside his store.

    Zhao Yougen ground his teeth in anger and thought, ¡¯¡¯Li Yundong! You b*stard! Why do you have to be so hard on me every time!¡¯." He hadn¡¯t realized that he himself was the major viin in all of this, and he didn¡¯t feel guilty at all. His heart was filled with nothing but a strong sense of failure and frustration.

    But after these two lessons, Zhao Yougen hadpletely given up on the idea of hiring more gangsters to make trouble for Li Yundong. He began to think about how to ruin Li Yundong¡¯s opening celebration. If he seeded and Li Yundong failed to open his business, he would go wild with joy.

    Besides, what Zhao Yougen had been expecting was that he would open his store earlier than Li Yundong could open his. In that case, Zhao Yougen¡¯s opening celebration would be the highlight. Meanwhile, Li Yundong, as the loser, would open his store bleakly and only be able to cast envious nces at him. Then he would be able tough at this b*stard for years toe!

    But now, it seemed that this kind of wish was nothing more than an extravagant hope.

    It was supposed to be a joke that Li Yundong was decorating his store with a group of beautiful girls, but Zhao Yougen couldn¡¯tugh at all now. The decoration speed of Li Yundong¡¯s girls was triple that of Zhao Yougen¡¯s professionals! They could finish three days of a professional¡¯s work in just one day!

    It was the most incredible thing in the world!

    Zhao You was so angry that he almost ground his teeth to stubs, but he didn¡¯t know what to do next. He didn¡¯t want to see the opening celebration of Disanxian being carried out while he was still busy with his decoration work.

    "I¡¯m a famous entrepreneur in this city, but I even can¡¯t beat this group of novices!" Zhao Yougen raged around angrily in his store like a trapped beast.

    Just as he was about to lose his temper, a woman quickly walked in. She stood at the door and asked in a low voice, "Is Zhao Yougen here?"

    Ever since Zhao Yougen had be well-known, no one had called him by his name. Even the mayor would politely call him President Zhao. But this woman had just called his name directly, only intensifying his rage. "Who are you?" he roared.

    He turned around and found a graceful woman standing at the door of the shop. She was very attractive with ster looks and a level of nobility that outshone his. She looked at him as if she was the only dominant creature on the.

    Zhao Yougen had seen many beautiful women in his life, but when he had first seen Su Chan and Zi Yuan, he had been totally surprised by their beauty. After that, he had started to look down upon ordinary women who were always smeared with heavy makeup and had tacky temperaments.

    But looking at this woman, he could tell that she was very simr to Zi Yuan. Both of them looked at others with pity and indifference, as if they were goddesses, while he, just a so-called entrepreneur, was nothing to them at all.

    Faced with Zhao Yougen¡¯s question, the woman just gave a cold snort and didn¡¯t say anything.

    Zhao Yougen didn¡¯t like this feeling very much, but he knew that this woman was not an ordinary person. Her temperament must have been built up over time, and only the truly strong could have one like it. The pride she showed made Zhao Yougen feel that he was intruding into her territory, like it was an act of charity for her to even say a word to him.

    Zhao Yougen tried to suppress his temper and asked in a deep voice, "Who are you, madam?"

    Only then did the woman stare at Zhao Yougen directly. She didn¡¯t hide her disdain for him at all and just coldly said two words: "Zou Ping." She must think it would be a waste of her breath to say more.

    Zhao You frowned and asked coldly, "What business do you have with me?"

    Zou Ping casually looked around the shop that was being decorated. She snorted and said arrogantly, "You got a problem with Li Yundong?"

    Zhao Yougen suddenly became more alert. "What do you mean? He is just a college student. Why would I have any problems with him?"

    Zou Ping sneered. "You¡¯re a famous entrepreneur, yet you choose to just open a little teahouse here that happens to be on the same street as Li Yundong¡¯s. Do you think I¡¯m a fool?"

    Zhao Yougen¡¯s heart was beating fast. He murmured, "Is this Zou Ping a friend of Li Yundong? That b*stard!"

    Zhao Yougen braced himself and asked, "What do you want from me, huh? Hey, let me tell you, you can¡¯t hurt me here!"

    Seeing Zhao Yougen¡¯s fierce look, Zou Ping sneered disdainfully. "Don¡¯t be afraid. I¡¯m just here to ask you about it because I also have a grudge against Li Yundong. I want to see if you can be my ally."

    Zhao Yougen let out a long breath and began to feel at ease, but the indifference and disdain showed by the woman had greatly damaged his self-esteem. He frowned and refused her by saying, "I don¡¯t need your help. You can go now."

    Zou Ping snorted andughed ironically. "Your decoration speed is so slow, I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t be able to finish this ce even by next year!"

    These words hit Zhao Yougen¡¯s weak point. He snorted and straightened his neck, not saying a word.

    Zou Ping chuckled. "How about I decorate it for you? I¡¯m sure I can get it done faster than Li Yundong!"

    Zhao Yougen froze for a moment. He looked Zou Ping up and down in surprise and asked doubtfully, "You?"

    When the taskmaster and workers in the store heard Zou Ping¡¯s words, they immediately flew into a rage and gathered around her, yelling, "You b*tch! What are you talking about? Can¡¯t you see that we¡¯re in charge of this project? Where the hell did youe from? How dare you steal our work directly in front of us! Shame on you! Watch out or we¡¯ll teach you a lesson!"

    Zou Ping ignored them and stared at Zhao Yougen coldly. "You don¡¯t believe me?"

    Zhao Yougen shook his head. "How could I believe such a thing!"

    Zou Ping snorted. She used her tiptoes to pick up a hammer from the ground, then clenched her fingers around its head and threw it to Zhao Yougen.

    Zhao Yougen caught it in a fluster, and when he took a proper look at it, he gasped!

    He could see that Zou Ping had forcefully pressed a deep hand-print into this big iron hammer, and all of her fingerprints could be seen very clearly!

    The nearby decorators gathered around to get a better look and their faces all suddenly turned pale due to their terror. Some of the workers who didn¡¯t believe what they were seeing took the iron hammer over and touched it with their hands over and over again until they were sure that they really were holding hard steel. They finally believed Zou Ping¡¯s words and all looked at her in shock, as if they were seeing a demon.

    Zhao Yougen stammered fearfully, "Who, who are you?"

    Zou Ping snorted. "None of your business! You just need to answer my question. Will you be my ally or not?"

    In order to keep his job, although the taskmaster was afraid, he still braced himself to take a stand. However, he didn¡¯t dare to speak to Zou Ping anymore. Instead, he turned to Zhao Yougen and begged, "Mr. Zhao, we¡¯ve already signed the contract. I think..."

    Zhao Yougen thought for a moment before saying firmly, "I¡¯ll pay all your wages!" Then he said to Zou Ping, "And how much do you want?"

    Zou Ping burst outughing. "Money? Do I look like I need it? I just want to make trouble for Li Yundong. Otherwise, do you think I¡¯d be wasting my time talking to you like this?"

    Zhao Yougen was furious, but he suppressed his anger and asked, "Then how can you promise that you¡¯ll finish the decoration before they do?"

    Zou Ping snorted and said in a sarcastic tone, "I don¡¯t have to guarantee anything to anyone. If you don¡¯t believe me, just forget it!" With that, she started walking straight towards the door.

    Uncertainty was written over Zhao Yougen¡¯s face. Just as Zou Ping was about to leave, he suddenly shouted, "Okay, I believe you! When will we start?"

    Without looking back, Zou Ping said, "This afternoon! And you¡¯d better prepare a lively opening celebration that¡¯ll defeat Li Yundong, or I¡¯ll tear down your store first!"

    After saying that, she swaggered away.

    Zhao Yougen looked at her departing figure and gritted his teeth hatefully. He even suddenly felt that Li Yundong was not so abominable. This woman was much more annoying and arrogant than him!

    While Zhao Yougen and Zou Ping were secretly colluding with each other in the store, Zhou Qin, who was cultivating at home, suddenly heard her phone ringing.

    She exhaled a long breath, and a clear white pir of Qi came out of her mouth. Her Aura was not as condensed as Li Yundong¡¯s. When Li Yundong exhaled, it was like a sharp arrow that could shoot more than ten meters away without scattering; when she exhaled, it could only travel about two or three meters.

    Zhou Qin stood up, picked up her phone and looked at it. She frowned at the familiar name shing on the screen: Zhou Keqiang, her father!

    Zhou Qin hesitated for a while, wondering if she should answer this call. While she was still thinking, the ringing suddenly stopped. After a while, she received a text message.

    It read: "Qinqin, I have something important to tell you. Return home as soon as possible! Zhou Keqiang."

    Zhou Qin frowned more deeply. She knew that her father would never cheat her. If he said the thing was very important, it had to be a true emergency. Moreover, she had been away from home for so many days and had not had any contact with her family. However, her father wasn¡¯t forcing her. He obviously showed great tolerance and understanding towards his daughter.

    Zhou Qin bit her lip gently and hesitated for a while. Eventually, she turned around, found a dress and rushed out of the door to head home.

    Although the rtionship between her and her father had always been poor and even weird, he was still her father. Especially when it came to dealing with Li Yundong, she was capricious to the extreme. She had risked the entire political destiny of her family, but her father still did not me her too harshly.

    Thinking of this, Zhou Qin felt a sense of guilt in her heart.

    With a trace of worry and doubt welling up within her, Zhou Qin soon arrived home. As soon as she got through the door, she saw two gray-haired elders sitting in the spacious living room. One was her father, and the other was Li Yuanbo, the secretary of the provincial partymittee who had once helped to resolve the conflict between the Zhou family and the He family.

    When the two elders saw Zhou Qin, they looked at each other and stubbed out the cigarettes they¡¯d been holding at the same time. Zhou Keqiang said seriously, "Qinqin,e here. I have a very important thing to ask you. You must answer me honestly!"

    Although Zhou Keqiang had stepped back from the political world, he still had the air of a high-ranking official. When he spoke, he naturally had a kind of inherent dignity and the bearing of a superior. Zhou Qin¡¯s heart beat faster for a moment and she thought confusedly, "What the heck has happened? What is so serious?"

 Chapter 400 Zhou Keqiangs Comeback!

    <h4>Chapter 400 Zhou Keqiang¡°s Comeback!</h4>

    Zhou Qin looked at Li Yuanbo and her father, Zhou Keqiang, feeling confused and frightened. She was like a nervous deer caught in the headlights. If there was any sign of trouble, she would immediately run away.

    Zhou Qin looked at Zhou Keqiang and asked in a low voice, "Daddy, what¡¯s going on?"

    Li Yuanbo, who was next to Zhou Keqiang,ughed. "Old Zhou, you have scared Qinqin!"

    Hearing that, Li Yuanbo waved to Zhou Qin and said, "Qinqin,e on. Don¡¯t worry about this old guy. Come and sit next to me."

    Zhou Qin had grown up in apound and had a good rtionship with Li Yuanbo, who had always regarded her as his own daughter as well. She calmed down a little, walked over, gently sat down beside him, and asked, "Uncle Li, what¡¯s going on?"

    Li Yuanbo smiled and asked, "Qinqin, answer me honestly. What have you been busy with recently?"

    Zhou Qin was stunned and didn¡¯t know how to answer this question. She replied with embarrassment, "Uncle Li, do I really have to answer this?"

    "Hey!" Li Yuanbo said in an exaggerated tone. He pretended to be angry and replied, "Yes, you must!"

    Zhou Qin thought for a second and asked tentatively, "Uncle Li, are you interrogating me on behalf of the organization?"

    "Qinqin, how can you talk to your Uncle Li like this?" Zhou Keqiang said seriously. "If it weren¡¯t Uncle Li, would you have been able to live a peaceful life with your lover like this?"

    Zhou Qin¡¯s face turned red in an instant. She retorted angrily, "Why do you ask me this when you know everything already? You¡¯re so annoying!"

    Zhou Qin immediately stood up, and Li Yuanbo, who was next to her, began trying to smooth things over. "Oh, sit down! Qinqin, why are you so angry with your uncle? I have watched you grow up, and now you¡¯re going to make me look bad?"

    Zhou Qin finally sat down again. Although she was ashamed, she inhaled deeply and secretly used Qi control to adjust her breath. Slowly, the flush on her face faded, and she became as calm as water.

    Li Yuanbo was amazed as he watched her do this. He looked at Zhou Qin and said appreciatively, "Qinqin, I haven¡¯t seen you for a long time. You¡¯ve changed a lot! You¡¯re so good at Qi-refining now. Where did you learn it? From your lover?"

    When Zhou Qin heard these words, the technique she has used to make her heart calm down was rendered useless. She blushed again and said angrily, "Uncle Li! If you say such a thing again, I¡¯ll leave."

    Li Yuanbo burst outughing and said to Zhou Keqiang, "Just now I saw Qinqin do Qi-cultivation very well, so I thought she¡¯d grown up. Well, it seems that she¡¯s still the same girl I¡¯ve known after all!"

    Zhou Keqiangughed. He slid a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed it to Li Yuanbo, who signaled that he didn¡¯t smoke. Zhou Keqiang then took out one of the cigarettes, lit it, took a drag, and said, "Her temper will never change. I used to wonder if any man could make her surrender. Now, it seems that there really is a man who can conquer her, but his status is not good!"

    After Zhou Qin heard her father¡¯s words, she was not angry at all. Instead, she just stared at the cigarette in his hand nky. Her eyes were shing as she thought about something, looking pensive.

    Li Yuanboughed and said, "Qinqin, when will you bring your lover to see us?"

    Zhou Qin still kept quiet. She continued to look at the cigarette in Zhou Keqiang¡¯s hand in a daze.

    Zhou Keqiang said with faint annoyance, "Qinqin, Uncle Li is talking to you!"

    Zhou Qin finally came to her senses. She looked at her father meaningfully and asked slowly, "You¡¯re in power again, right?"

    This question immediately made Zhou Keqiang and Li Yuanbo freeze. The two elders, who were ustomed to heavy storms, looked at Zhou Qin in shock, unable to speak a word for a while.

    Not until after the cigarette ash in Zhou Keqiang¡¯s hand had fallen down did he ask in surprise, "How did you know? Who told you?"

    Li Yuanbo also said curiously, "Qinqin, you are very well-informed! Even I didn¡¯t know about this until just now. How did you know?"

    Zhou Qin sneered, her smiled chilly. She pointed to the cigarette in Zhou Keqiang¡¯s hand and said, "Ever since I could remember, he has never asked for other people¡¯s permission to smoke. The only time he asked was when he went off-stage and apanied me to the hospital. After his resignation, even if he wanted to smoke, he would hide to one side to do it. At that time, he still cared about my feelings. But now, he casually began smoking without regarding others. It can be seen that he has regained his pride as an official again, and will no longer consider others¡¯ feelings."

    Then, Zhou Qin said to Zhou Keqiang with a sneer on her face, "So, you asked me toe back today. You want to force me to do something with your power again?"

    Zhou Qin¡¯s words were like a sharp knife, slicing a shameful wound open in Zhou Keqiang¡¯s heart.

    Zhou Keqiang stubbed out the cigarette in a hurry, looking embarrassed. "Qinqin, how could you say that about your own father?"

    Li Yuanbo also sighed and said, "Qinqin, this is an old habit. It¡¯s understandable that it¡¯d be hard to change immediately."

    Zhou Qin smiled indifferently. "Rome was not built in a day. Don¡¯t beat around the bush. Tell me, why did you call me here today?"

    Zhou Keqiang and Li Yuanbo looked at one another. They hadn¡¯t been expecting Zhou Qin to guess the matter of Zhou Keqiang¡¯seback from such a small thing, and they hadn¡¯t expected her to be so indifferent and hostile.

    They smiled bitterly at the same time. Zhou Keqiang shook his head helplessly.

    Li Yuanbo smiled and said, "Qinqin, you don¡¯t have to be so nervous. After the matter of the He family, who would dare to force you to do anything? They¡¯d have to be unafraid of getting people killed, eh? You, Miss Zhou, are hot-tempered and unyielding. I¡¯m afraid that half of the officials in China have heard about you. Who doesn¡¯t admire you? Everyone says that you are definitely out of the jurisdiction of the current officialdom."

    He continued, "We asked you toe here today for a few reasons. First, the organization has re-entitled your father. He has been promoted and transferred to another province. It will take about ten days for the entitlement notice to be sent down. We want to know whether or not you want to go to the office with your father."

    Zhou Qin¡¯s expression was cold, as if the person who had staged aeback was not her own father but someone who had nothing to do with her. She answered in a lukewarm tone, "Why would I go with him?"

    Zhou Keqiang said in a hurry, "What do you mean? You are my daughter! If you don¡¯t go with me, who will you stay with?"

    Zhou Qin replied coldly, "That¡¯s none of your business!"

    Zhou Keqiang was extremely angry. He said to Li Yuanbo, "Old Li, look at this child. She¡¯s deliberately trying to p*ss me off!"

    Li Yuanbo tried to smooth things over with a smile. "Old Zhou, take it easy! Be patient. Kids these days are full of rebellious thoughts. Don¡¯t be so rude!"

    Zhou Keqiang snorted and sat in his chair, sulking. Li Yuanbo smiled and said to Zhou Qin, "Qinqin, what you said just now wasn¡¯t right. Your father is going elsewhere to be an official. How could you say it has nothing to do with you? After all, you are his daughter. No matter how many conflicts there may be, you are rted by blood."

    Zhou Qin simply sneered. "It¡¯s he who will be the official, not me! It¡¯s correct for me to say that, isn¡¯t it?"

    Li Yuanboughed and said, "You¡¯re already talking about the second thing I wanted to bring up! Let me ask you, have you ever thought of bing an official?"

    Zhou Qin immediately went on high-alert. Her eyes were filled with hostility as she asked in a low voice, "What? You¡¯ll find me another fiance?"

    Zhou Keqiang was so angry that he jumped up. "Are you a hedgehog? Can¡¯t you talk politely?"

    Zhou Qin did not show any weakness as she retorted, "If you had not looked for a husband for me in the first ce, none of those things would have happened!"

    Seeing that the father and daughter pair were going to start quarreling again, Li Yuanbo quickly cut in by saying, "Don¡¯t quarrel you two! Old Zhou, sit down! Qinqin, don¡¯t talk back! Listen to me!"

    Zhou Keqiang forced himself to sit down in a sulk. Subconsciously, his hand moved to his pocket as he wanted to smoke, but as soon as he took out the cigarette, he remembered what Zhou Qin had said just now and immediately threw it away.

    Zhou Qin also turned her head away, a stubborn and indifferent look on her face. She didn¡¯t look at her father, just stared at the door and didn¡¯t say a word.

    Li Yuanbo smiled bitterly and said, "Qinqin, you have been overthinking. We just feel that it¡¯s a pity that you won¡¯t devote yourself to politics considering your talent and wisdom! Look! You deduced that Old Li is making aeback from a small detail just now. It shows that your observation skills are extremely keen, and your reaction and reasoning ability are also very strong! You were born blessed with these talents. It¡¯d be kind of a waste if you didn¡¯t be a government official!"

    Zhou Qin was silent for a while before she slowly said, "Uncle Li, if you¡¯d said this to me before, I would definitely have taken your kind advice, but now..."

    "What now?" Li Yuanbo asked quickly.

    Zhou Qin subconsciously clenched her fists. She could feel a power beyond what was ordinarily flowing through her veins. She was no longer the ordinary Zhou Qin. She had stepped past the boundaries of the cultivation world. How could she turn back?

    Zhou Qin shook her head and said, "I can¡¯t do it now. Uncle Li, don¡¯t ask me why. Anyway, I can¡¯t do it. I don¡¯t want to be in politics. I just want to go my own way."

    The road Zhou Qin was referring to was the road of cultivation. Li Yuanbo and Zhou Keqiang looked at each other disappointedly, thinking that Zhou Qin was talking about the road of love.

    The two old men sighed at the same time. Zhou Keqiangughed disappointedly and said, "I said it wouldn¡¯t work. You must call her back."

    Li Yuanbo smiled bitterly and said, "Young people always like to try out some special paths. s, if it were my child, I would definitely drive them back from this road, but you are different. You are so hot-tempered that even I don¡¯t dare to control you. I don¡¯t want to see you stay in bed for the rest of your life. Forget it! The road has been chosen by you, and we won¡¯t force you. One day, if you want toe back, remember that you can tell me anytime!"

    Zhou Qin smiled and stood up. "Uncle Li, thank you for your concern. As you said, I have chosen my own path. No matter how lonely I get, I will go on. I will never regret it." Then, she nodded to Zhou Keqiang and said, "If there is nothing else, I¡¯ll leave now."

    Zhou Keqiang said, "Won¡¯t you at least have dinner here?"

    Zhou Qin shook her head slightly and replied, "No, I have something to do." Then, she turned around and went out of the door, not once looking back. She was unrestrained, showing no sign of hesitation or sloppiness.

    Zhou Keqiang let out a long sigh. "I told you, but you didn¡¯t believe me! Her character is not suitable for politics! What is politics about? Compromise! Have you ever seen herpromise? I haven¡¯t! Especially when she met that boy called Li Yundong! It really annoys me. She came and left as she pleased."

    Li Yuanboughed and said, "You¡¯re wrong. Who was born to be a government official? Qinqin was also well-behaved in the past! However, love can change a person. s, it¡¯s her destiny. There¡¯s no other way!"

    Zhou Keqiang snorted and stood up. He put his hands on his hips and muttered darkly, "Hum, Li Yundong, you¡¯d better not fall into my hands in the future, or I¡¯ll teach you a lesson!"

    Li Yuanbo nodded at him and said with a smile, "You see, that viinous temper is back again! Before you were reinstated, you always told me how good he was, but now it¡¯s backfired. All the good things have be bad. You can¡¯t be like this. I have to criticize you!"

    Zhou Keqiangughed. Right when he was about to speak, he suddenly heard someone knocking on the door. Zhou Keqiang called in a loud voice, "Come in!"

    "Excuse me!" A secretary dressed in military uniform came in with a file in his hand. "Chief, I¡¯ve brought the file you requested."

    "Hmm," Zhou Keqiang said and pointed to the table. "Put it down here!"

    After putting down the file, the secretary saluted to Zhou Keqiang and turned to leave.

    Li Yuanboughed. "Oh, what treasure is it? Let¡¯s have a look!" He did not wait for Zhou Keqiang¡¯s consent and went ahead to open it by himself. He took a closer look and asked in surprise, "Huh? Are you investigating Li Yundong?"

    Zhou Keqiangughed and replied, "Naturally. Who is my daughter spending all this time with? How can I rest assured if I don¡¯t check it out?"

    Li Yuanbo looked at the information for a while before suddenly smiling. "Your future son-inw seems to be in deep trouble now."

    Zhou Keqiang let out a cry of surprise and asked, "What¡¯s going on? Let me have a look."

    He snatched the file and only looked at it for a few seconds before he sneered and said, "Hum, this group of b*stards. When they saw that I was about to step down, they turned their backs on me? How dare they embarrass the one my daughter has taken a fancy to?"

    Li Yuanboughed and said, "Old Zhou, you just said you were going to teach him a lesson!"

    Zhou Keqiang snorted and said unreasonably, "This group of b*stards bullied my daughter¡¯s favorite boy. Isn¡¯t that practically the same as bullying my daughter? And bullying my daughter means they¡¯re bullying me! Hum, these wretches. They thought that if I fell, I would never stand back up again! Well, I¡¯d like to see who dares to bully me!"

 Chapter 401 Who Are You Inviting?

    <h4>Chapter 401 Who Are You Inviting?</h4>

    On the way back, Zhou Qin thought constantly about a certain question: "Should I tell Li Yundong about my father¡¯seback?"

    This news would be reassuring to Li Yundong and the others. It could put him more at ease to deal with other things, and he would no longer have to worry about being secretly scolded all day.

    As the saying goes, It¡¯s easy to cultivate in Six Gates.

    If a sect had a background in official circles, no matter how weak the sect was, the other sects would not dare to casually suppress it.

    Li Yundong¡¯s current situation meant that he wasn¡¯t afraid of others making trouble for him in the cultivation world, but he was wary that they would trouble him in the mortal world by all kinds of means.

    Zhou Qin clearly understood her father¡¯s temper. Although Zhou Keqiang was domineering and rarely thought of others, he was at least extremely protective over his daughter. Zhou Qin firmly believed that even if he often quarreled with her, Zhou Keqiang would still love her deeply.

    Even if only for her own sake, Zhou Keqiang would protect Li Yundong more or less. With this big backer, if others wanted to make trouble for Li Yundong in the worlds of business or politics, they had to think twice.

    But after thinking about it for a while, Zhou Qin decided not to tell Li Yundong so as not to make others feel that she was asking for credit and showing off.

    While Zhou Qin was rushing back, Zi Yuan suddenly answered a call in the shop. When she put down her phone, she winked at Li Yundong, her face full of misgivings. They went over to stand in the corner and she whispered to him, "Li Yundong, I have some good news."

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Good news! Then why are you still being so mysterious? Spit it out!"

    Zi Yuan shook her head. "No, there¡¯s something fishy about this matter."

    "What is it?" Li Yundong asked.

    Zi Yuan whispered, "Didn¡¯t I tell youst time that someone was out for us over the certificate and registration funds?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s face darkened. "Someone is up to no good again?"

    Zi Yuan said with a strange expression, "No. Just now, the people of the Administration for Industry and Commerce called me and said that we have sessfully passed all formalities and that the certificates have all beenpleted."

    Li Yundong was deeply confused. "What¡¯s going on?"

    Zi Yuan said, "I don¡¯t know. They just called me to tell me that it has been done. Last time I called, they were still beating around the bush and dying."

    Li Yundong pondered for a while and said, "Could it be that another sect is helping us out?"

    Zi Yuan smiled helplessly. "We only have enemies now. How could another sect be assisting?"

    "Perhaps it was Du Fei? Maybe he helped us?" Li Yundong suggested.

    After thinking for a while, Zi Yuan shook her head. "If it is him, we should be more cautious. There is no such thing as a free lunch."

    Li Yundong nodded. "Yes, we don¡¯t know what¡¯s really going on! However, generally speaking, we won¡¯t have to worry about the future anymore. The thing we were worried about has mostly been solved. Let¡¯s get to work!"

    Zi Yuanughed and said, "You¡¯re right."

    Li Yundong turned and shouted over to the little foxes, "Guys!"

    The little foxes were all busy with their work. After hearing his shout, they raised their heads one after another, looking at him with dirty faces. They said in unison, "Yes!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "We have got all of the certificates we need, so we now have nothing to worry about. Let¡¯s work even harder from now on!"

    After he said that, there was a burst of joyous cheering in the store, and the little foxes began to busy themselves once more.

    Li Yundong looked at them with an affectionate smile. He nced around and saw that Su Chan was leaning against a crack in the opaque stic cloth over the ss window, looking out. Her butt was raised high, looking plump and juicy.

    Li Yundong quietly walked over and pped her butt, making her jump up and cover her behind with her hands like a frightened rabbit.

    Li Yundongughed proudly, as if he had done something extraordinary.

    Su Chan rubbed her lower cheeks, her face flushing a deep scarlet. She said angrily, "What was that for?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "What are you doing waving your ass so high in the air like that?"

    Su Chan suddenly forgot that she had been spanked. She grabbed Li Yundong and muttered to him, "Yundong, look!"

    Li Yundong went over to the crack and saw that Zhao Yougen¡¯s store opposite had also been decorated with an opaque stic like theirs. People were moving around inside, but no one could see what they were doing.

    Li Yundong straightened up, not knowing whether tough or cry. "That¡¯s what you¡¯re staring at? Why are you being so sneaky? Like a thief!"

    Su Chan blinked her eyes. "The windows are all covered with stic. If I don¡¯t get into the gap like this, I won¡¯t be able to see it clearly!"

    Li Yundong pulled her to the door, pushed it open and said, "Babe, can¡¯t you just look from here?"

    Su Chan¡¯s face turned red with embarrassment. She said angrily, "You¡¯re so annoying. I didn¡¯t think of that in such a short time!"

    Li Yundong patted her head and said earnestly, "Honey, you won¡¯t be reincarnated if you¡¯re too stupid. You should reincarnate quickly and hope that you¡¯lle back smarter in your next life since you¡¯ve been so stupid in this one!"

    Su Chan rushed at Li Yundong¡¯s back, wing and biting him. "You dislike me. You do dislike me! I knew it! Don¡¯t even think about it! Humph, I will follow you forever. Even if you want to drive me away, I won¡¯t leave!"

    Li Yundong cupped Su Chan¡¯s round butt with both hands. Heughed and said catingly, "Okay, okay!" Then, he took her on his back and carried her into the store.

    In the shop across the street, Zhao Yougen was also standing by the window and nudging a corner of the stic aside. He looked at Li Yundong coldly and thought, "Hum, show off. Let¡¯s see how long you can maintain your arrogant attitude!"

    He turned around and saw Zou Ping looking at him coldly. "If you dare to say a word about what you¡¯ve seen today, I¡¯ll rip off your head!" she shouted menacingly.

    Zhao Yougen shivered and quickly turned his head to take out all of the anger that was building up from Zou Ping¡¯s abuse on Li Yundong. He gritted his teeth, and his eyes were as cold as poisonous snakes hissing in a dark corner.

    Days passed quickly. Li Yundong kept himself busy with purchasing all kinds of tea sets, tables, chairs, and interior decoration materials for the shop together with the members of the Fox Zen School. Meanwhile, Zhou Qin was doing her basic cultivation exercises at home. In the blink of an eye, half a month passed and the decoration of Disanxian had beenpleted. Since they had chosen to use non-toxic paint with no side effects, Li Yundong, Zi Yuan, and the others decided to hold the opening ceremony the next day after finishing thest bit of decoration work in the shop.

    After confirming the opening date, Li Yundong and the others returned home and began writing invitations. When they were ready to write the cards, Li Yundong and the others began to worry again. "When someone wants to entertain, they worry about whether to invite someone or not, but when ites to Li Yundong, he worries about who¡¯d like to be invited by him."

    Counting on his fingers, Li Yundong found that the number of people he could invite did not even reach a total of ten.

    "Feng Na counts as one. Cheng Cheng can alsoe. Well, the ss rep Sun Li too..." Li Yundong calcted and realized that he had few friends in school. Most of the people he knew were girls. He turned his head and said to Zi Yuan, "Has me going to college been a failure??"

    Ruan Hongling responded mischievously, "Quite a failure!"

    Zi Yuan red at her. "Hongling, don¡¯t make trouble! Carry on with your invitations!"

    Ruan Hongling snorted. "How many people are there in total? We don¡¯t need to write invitations."

    Su Chanforted her lover, saying, "Yundong, you¡¯re thinking too much. You could invite thousands of students from the school. If you want to invite them, there¡¯s no limit on their number!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Forget it. If you are talking about the kind of people who just want to watch the fun, they¡¯d better note." As he said this, he simply took out twenty nk invitation cards and mixed them together with Feng Na¡¯s. "Let her be in charge now and fill in the invitation cards. We needn¡¯t bother ourselves."

    Zi Yuan saw that this group of people had been thinking for a long time but most of the names on the invitation cards were only those of students. She thought, "This can¡¯t be right. After all, it¡¯s a big shop. How can it possibly start sessfully without a few socialites to support it?"

    Zi Yuan hesitated for a moment before saying, "How about letting me find some people?"

    Li Yundong refused instantly, saying, "No, I know exactly what your friends are like. They either covet your beauty or ask you for favors. If you invite them, it¡¯ll be exactly what they want."

    For some reason, Zi Yuan felt a slight warmth in her heart upon hearing this. She smiled and said, "Not all of them."

    Li Yundong shook his head and wanted to speak, but Su Chan next to him stuck out her neck and tried to say something, making him smile and say, "Chan¡¯er, if you have something to say, just say it."

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong and asked weakly, "Yundong, do you need to send an invitation to President Cao?"

    "President Cao? Cao Kefei?" Li Yundong was stunned for a moment. Only then did he remember the strong, morous woman who was exceedingly beautiful but also worryingly ill.

    Li Yundong asked with deep curiosity, "What made you suddenly think of her?"

    Su Chan blinked her eyes and replied, "Well, weren¡¯t you thinking about who you can invite? I think President Cao can also be considered a friend, right? If she is not a friend, she is at least still an acquaintance, isn¡¯t she?"

    Su Chan¡¯s words reminded Zhou Qin, who had been silent all this while, of something. Recently, Zhou Qin had been immersed in cultivation and paid almost no attention to the outside world.

    Upon hearing Su Chan¡¯s words, Zhou Qin suddenly remembered that she had some friends in Tiannan City who could also be called for support. She opened her mouth and was about to speak when Li Yundong began saying, "I won¡¯t bother President Cao again. I¡¯ve caused her a lot of trouble, which I¡¯m not too proud of."

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong in confusion. "Why? I think she cares about you quite a lot."

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. He thought to himself, "Honey, I¡¯m not calling her because of you. How can I not know what Cao Kefei is thinking? If I provoke her, who knows what might happen? You really don¡¯t have any cunning."

    Li Yundong tweaked the little girl¡¯s nose out of both anger and amusement. He pretended to be annoyed as he shouted, "Don¡¯t say that! This issue depends on me."

    Su Chan pouted, her high spirits dashed. She replied with a faint ¡¯oh¡¯ before lying her head on the table unhappily.

    Hearing Li Yundong¡¯s words, Zhou Qin, who was to one side, also shut up. She didn¡¯t mention the matter again, but it remained in the back of her mind.

    After finding an excuse to go to the bathroom, Zhou Qin found her cell phone, which she had not used for a long time, and looked up Yin Mengfan¡¯s number.

    Zhou Qin hesitated for a moment before typing out a message.

    At this time, Yin Mengfan was signing a document in her office. When the cell phone next to her vibrated, she picked it up casually and nced at the message. After realizing what it said, she immediately tossed the pen in her hand away and dialed back. However, after dialing for a long time, no one answered.

    Yin Mengfan angrily sent a message which read: "Zhou Qin, what¡¯s wrong with you? You haven¡¯t been in touch with me for so long. Why weren¡¯t you answering my calls?"

    After a while, Zhou Qin¡¯s response arrived: "It wasn¡¯t convenient, let¡¯s talk about it over text."

    Yin Mengfan sighed. She felt that Zhou Qin hadn¡¯t picked up her calls probably because she hadn¡¯t gone to check on Zhou Qin when she was in trouble and it had made her a little resentful.

    Yin Mengfan sent a message back, saying: "Zhou Qin, are you still angry with me? There was a reason that I didn¡¯t go to see you back then."

    After a while, Zhou Qin¡¯s response arrived. "I know, the He Family was being arrogant. It¡¯s natural that you would want to protect yourself. You don¡¯t have to say it or apologize. I understand. I¡¯m contacting you today for something else."

    Yin Mengfan was slightly relieved. At this point, she was unaware of the news of Zhou Keqiang¡¯seback. She asked guiltily, "What¡¯s the matter? As long as I¡¯m able, I will help you."

    Zhou Qin¡¯s reply read: "On the pedestrian street tomorrow, there¡¯s a tea shop called Disanxian that will open. It¡¯s Li Yundong¡¯s store. I want to invite you toe and support us."

 Chapter 402 He is as High as the Sky!

    <h4>Chapter 402 He is as High as the Sky!</h4>

    "Li Yundong?"

    As soon as Yin Mengfan saw the name, she was stunned. Every member of the upper ss of Tiannan knew that Li Yundong had almost gotten Zhou Qin paralyzed and that Zhou Keqiang had been dragged down by him.

    "Is Zhou Qin still with me? Wasn¡¯t that guy been killed by the He family?"

    Yin Mengfan was full of questions. She had originally thought that Li Yundong was just an intelligent man and she had been nning to invite him to treat Shen Wancai. However, a series of things that had happenedter had made her stunned and caught her off-guard. Li Yundong had also mysteriously disappeared from her world.

    Yin Mengfan had initially believed that Li Yundong must have been killed by the He family as he had sopletely disappeared from the world, but now it seemed that Li Yundong was not only alive, he was living afortable life!

    "This Li Yundong is not all that he appears to be!"

    Yin Mengfan muttered to herself for a while. Then she texted Zhou Qin back quickly: "Okay! I¡¯ll be there on time!"

    After a while, Zhou Qin replied: "Thank you."

    Yin Mengfan could sense feelings of alienation and estrangement from these two simple words on her screen. She secretly sighed, knowing that she could no longer be as close to Zhou Qin as she had once been.

    At this time, Yin Mengfan had no intention of doing business. She fell back in herrge office chair, put her hands in front of her chest, looked at the ceiling, and frowned.

    While she was thinking everything over, the door was suddenly pushed open. A beautiful girl with a youthful, slightly chubby face poked her head in and said with a smile, "Cousin, I¡¯m here to see you!"

    Yin Mengfan looked at her and suddenly felt a headacheing on. She smiled bitterly and asked the neer, "What are you doing here?"

    The girl was Shen Hui, and she replied with disappointment and grievance seeping into her tone, "You won¡¯t wee me? Then I¡¯m leaving!" As she spoke, she turned her head and looked at Yin Mengfan. Though she had said that she was going to leave, her feet seemed to have be rooted to the ground and couldn¡¯t move.

    Yin Mengfan was both angry and amused. She half-heartedly red at her and said, "Don¡¯t be like that. Get in here!"

    Shen Hui cheered and rushed in. She nced at the document on Yin Mengfan¡¯s desk, then brushed it away and pulled at her with both hands, shouting, "Cousin, I was locked up by the old master for half a month. I seriously thought I was going to die from the boredom! Let¡¯s go out and have some fun!"

    Yin Mengfanughed and scolded, "You¡¯re a grown-up, but all you know how to do is y!"

    Shen Hui snorted and said, "Whatever! If you won¡¯t y with me, I¡¯ll stay here and never leave!"

    Yin Mengfan put one hand to her forehead and said with a pained expression, "Oh God, I swear you¡¯re some kind of demon. Don¡¯t bother me anymore! Go and y with someone else! I still need to work!"

    Shen Hui turned to leave but looked back, smiled mischievously and said over her shoulder, "Then I¡¯ll go and mess with President Cao!"

    Yin Mengfan shouted hurriedly, "Stop! Mrs. Cao has gone to Hainan. She¡¯s not there!"

    Shen Hui was a little disappointed. "What? She¡¯s not here? That sucks!" She spun around in the room restlessly. Suddenly, she gave a strange smile and said, "Oh fine, I¡¯m going to y with the handsome guys in herpany instead then!"

    Yin Mengfan smiled bitterly and said, "Don¡¯t bother them!"

    Shen Hui smiled slyly and said, "Those guys are so pretentious and seem to think that they are the most handsome men in the world. They just want to sleep with a rich girl like me. Hmph, it¡¯s only right to y tricks on them!"

    Saying this, she rushed out like a gust of wind, not waiting for Yin Mengfan¡¯s consent.

    Yin Mengfan groaned and buried her head in her hands. She could already imagine the disaster that was soon going to take ce in Cao Kefei¡¯spany.

    Thinking of this, Yin Mengfan suddenly had an idea. She picked up her cell and fired off a text message to Cao Kefei: "Feifei, are you free now? I have something to tell you."

    After a while, Cao Kefei sent a text message back, which read: "I¡¯m shooting now. What¡¯s up?"

    Yin Mengfan hesitated, wondering whether to tell Cao Kefei about it or not.

    Since Li Yundong had disappeared, Cao Kefei had been crazily searching for him all over the world. But no matter what she did, she had not been able to find any trace of this boy.

    Cao Kefei seemed to have lost all of her energy after the first month. Even work could not spark Cao Kefei¡¯s interest. It was like she had lost her soul.

    It had taken her two months to slowly recover, but she eventually began to forget Li Yundong and put herself back into her work again.

    "It¡¯s not been easy for Feifei to move on from this. What if I tell her and she falls into a rut again?" Yin Mengfan was not optimistic about the rtionship between Cao Kefei and Li Yundong. However, Cao Kefei had repeatedly told her that she needed to inform her of the whereabouts of Li Yundong if she ever got hold of any information.

    Yin Mengfan had seen how much Cao Kefei valued and was infatuated with Li Yundong. Moreover, Li Yundong was about to open a store on the pedestrian street and she had to go and support him. How could this kind of thing be kept from her? If Cao Kefei found out about it, would they fall out with one another? She didn¡¯t want to lose a friend!

    Yin Mengfan struggled with this dilemma for a while. Finally, she gritted her teeth and said to herself, "Forget it. If he really is your nemesis, you can¡¯t just run away."

    Yin Mengfan gritted her teeth and sent the text: "I have something important to tell you."

    Cao Kefei obviously did not know what Yin Mengfan was about to say. She replied simply: "Go ahead."

    Yin Mengfan typed back: "I know where Li Yundong is."

    At this time, Cao Kefei, who was at Hainan Sanya filming site, suddenly stood up from her chair, her expression one of shock and ecstasy. Beside her was a staff member holding sses, props, and tes.

    The staff member was shocked by Cao Kefei¡¯s sudden movement. The tes got tilted, and the wine ss and bottle were smashed to pieces on the ground, which caused the surrounding people to look at them in surprise. Cao Kefei, however, did not seem to notice at all. Her face flushed and she excitedly began dialing on her phone. When the call connected, she immediately shouted before Yin Mengfan could even speak a word, "Where is he? Where is that heartless guy?"

    Yin Mengfan replied with a wry smile, "Feifei, look at what you said. He is not your boyfriend. How could he feel no guilt toward you?"

    Cao Kefei gnashed her teeth and said, "I did so much for him, but he disappeared without saying a word. He clearly has no conscience."

    Yin Mengfan said with a moan, "I shouldn¡¯t have called you. I¡¯m already regretting it!"

    Cao Kefei snorted and threatened, "Hey, tell me his whereabouts, or you can consider our friendship to be over!"

    Yin Mengfan smiled bitterly and said, "Alright, yeesh. This guy has purchased a tea shop on Tiannan Street. Tomorrow, he will open for business and has invited me toe and show support."

    Cao Kefei was irritated by these words. "What? He really has no conscience! He doesn¡¯t want to invite me? How ridiculous!"

    Yin Mengfan felt so deeply regretful that she could have kicked herself. She said angrily, "Hey, what are you talking about? He used to be my employee, and I¡¯m his boss! In terms of distance, I¡¯m closer to him than you!"

    Cao Kefei retorted unreasonably, "I met him first!"

    Yin Mengfan was so angry that she couldn¡¯t helpughing. "Do you think we¡¯re like hunters in a primitive society? Anyway, he didn¡¯te to invite me in person. It was Zhou Qin who sent me a short message asking me to go there."

    Cao Kefei¡¯s anger faded significantly upon learning this. She snorted and said, "Anyway, this guy is heartless. He didn¡¯t tell me such an important thing and just disappeared. Damn it!"

    Yin Mengfan sighed heavily. "Anyway, I have told you the news. It¡¯s up to you what you decide to do." Then, she hung up the phone.

    Cao Kefei frowned slightly and ignored the curious gazes of the people around her. She shouted to the director sitting next to the camera, "Excuse me, Liu, I have something to do. I have to leave now!"

    The director¡¯s face turned gloomy and he said loudly, "Hey, you are the producer. You can¡¯t leave!"

    Cao Kefei quickly packed up her belongings. She didn¡¯t even raise her head as she called loudly, "What difference do I make? Aren¡¯t you the director? You will have the final say when I am not here. Haven¡¯t you been waiting for the day I leave?"

    As she spoke, she turned to her assistant, who was looking dumbstruck, and said, "Hey, book me an air ticket to Tiannan as soon as possible. Hurry up! If you keep me waiting, I¡¯ll fire you!"

    The female assistant snapped out of her stupor and responded in a panic, "Yes, President Cao! Should I bring the flight ticket to your room?"

    Cao Kefei exhorted impatiently, "Nonsense, I¡¯ll go to the airport myself. Just book a flight for me! If I don¡¯t get the ticket when I arrive at the airport, I¡¯ll fire you!"

    The assistant was so frightened that she began sweating all over. She quickly fished out her phone and made a call, nervously grinding her teeth.

    Cao Kefei packed her things and waved to the people on set. "Goodbye, everyone. I¡¯ll be back before you know it!" After that, she rushed out in her high heels.

    The director shouted after her despondently, "Hey, how long will you be gone?"

    Cao Kefei waved her hand and called back loudly, "I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s up to you!"

    While the director was left in a funk, a beautiful young girl suddenly rushed off of the movie set. She shouted at Cao Kefei, "Sister Cao, where are you going?"

    Hearing her voice, Cao Kefei turned her head, grabbed her hand, and said excitedly, "Do you remember that boy named Li Yundong I told you about?"

    The beautiful girl nodded and smiled ambiguously. "Oh, but of course! Sister Cao, you are going to see your old lover?"

    Cao Kefei snorted, "Bah, what do you mean by old lover? Do you want to see a real master with me?"

    After thinking for a while, the beautiful girl rolled her eyes and said with a smile, "Well, it¡¯s never a bad idea to broaden one¡¯s horizons. Let¡¯s see if the guy you¡¯ve bragged about so much is as powerful as you say!"

    Cao Kefei was overjoyed. She pulled her hand and the pair ran out together. As Cao Kefei ran, she said, "Humph, that wasn¡¯t bragging. He¡¯s even better than I said! You¡¯ll understand when you see him!"

    Having said this, the two beauties, one old and one young, disappeared from everyone¡¯s sight in the blink of an eye.

    The onlookers, whether it was the guy responsible for the cameras, the woman doing the lights, or the actors, were all dumbstruck. They looked in the direction that Cao Kefei and the beauty had gone in with dull eyes and then turned to look at the director in unison.

    Blue veins were bulging in the director¡¯s forehead and he seemed to be going crazy. One actor next to him asked timidly, "Director Song, do you want to continue filming?"

    Director Song flew into a blind rage and threw the director¡¯s mug in his hand to the floor with a crash as he yelled, "What the hell are we filming? The producer has run away. The leading actress went with her! How are we supposed to shoot this scene now? I told everyone not to hire a big shot, but Cao Kefei didn¡¯t listen. Now, everyone has to rest and wait for her alone. No, wait for the two of them!"

    The actors on the stage suddenly burst into an uproar and began yelling to everyone, "Stop shooting, stop shooting. It¡¯s over!"

    Some people joined in the fun and said, "Come on, let¡¯s go and see who this master is, too!"

    Director Song sat in his director¡¯s chair, boiling with rage. When he heard that, he jumped up and said loudly, "Hmph, master? What kind of master? Can he be more of a hotshot than I am? Can he be taller than me?"

    Someone nearby immediately muttered, "Even Zeng Zhiwei [TN: a Chinese male actor who is the only 160cm] is taller than you!"

    Although the voice was low, everyone was able to hear it clearly. All of a sudden, they all burst outughing.

    Director Song was absolutely livid and hisplexion instantly reddened. He shouted angrily, "Who said that? Show yourself!"

    No one dared to stand up, and instead everyone rain away in an instant. The director became the only person left and his rage only deepened. He thought to himself, "Hum, what master! F*ck this so-called master! I don¡¯t believe there is such a master in this world!"

    While the director was cursing angrily, Cao Kefei was arriving at the airport with the beautiful girl in tow, and they soon boarded a ne. As soon as theynded, Cao Kefei and the girl began heading to Li Yundong¡¯s store. But on second thought, Cao Kefei stopped in her tracks. "Humph, Li Yundong, ah, Li Yundong. I couldn¡¯t find you before. You are so mysterious! Now that you have opened a store, I am not afraid that will run away anymore! Hah, even if you want to run, you know you can¡¯t leave the shop alone!"

    Thinking of this, Cao Kefei snapped her fingers and said, "Let¡¯s go and stay at a hotel!"

    The girl was a little surprised. "So we¡¯re going to his shop?"

    Cao Kefei tapped herpanion and then herself. "We¡¯re only two people, and look at what we¡¯re wearing! Aren¡¯t you afraid of beingughed at? He will open the shop tomorrow, so we will go tomorrow! Today, we need to go back to do our hair and be pampered!"

    When the girl had left the studio, she had been wearing a pair of big sunsses. She covered her mouth and said with a smile, "Sister Cao, didn¡¯t you always say that you were born beautiful and don¡¯t need to rely on that kind of thing? Why do you want to get all beautified today?"

    Cao Kefei¡¯s pretty face turned red. She red at the girl. "How dare youugh at your sister Cao! Don¡¯t follow me if you¡¯re going to be like this! Humph!"

    When the girl saw Cao Kefei turn to leave, she quickly smiled and chased after her. "Sister Cao, don¡¯t, I left my agent behind and followed you here. If you leave me behind, I will have no one to rely on!"

    Cao Kefei then broke into a smile and said, "Then listen to sister Cao¡¯s words and I will take you to see the master tomorrow!"

    The girl blinked heavily and said, "How amazing can one master be?"

    Cao Kefei was stunned for a moment, and she suddenly became a little emotional. "He is beyond all expectations!"

 Chapter 403 A Face-to-Face Confrontation

    <h4>Chapter 403 A Face-to-Face Confrontation</h4>

    The next day, Li Yundong got up early in the morning. Although he was already a cultivator who should be calm and collected, today was the day of the opening ceremony of Disanxian, and a delightful opening would undoubtedly greatly increase the confidence of Li Yundong and the others.

    The Chinese were a superstitious lot. Especially after Li Yundong began to cultivate, he became convinced of certain things.

    Although he had gotten up very early, when Li Yundong walked through his door, he found that Su Chan, Zhou Qin and the others were already busy in the living room.

    The moment Zi Yuan caught sight of Li Yundong, she smiled and greeted him. "You¡¯re up?"

    Li Yundong smiled with some embarrassment. "I¡¯m really ashamed. Seems like I¡¯m the only idler around here."

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "These guys were so excited that they couldn¡¯t sleepst night. They got up before dawn and started to work, but you were so deep in meditation that you didn¡¯t get disturbed."

    Li Yundong chuckled. "So, have you gotten everything prepared?"

    Just then, Su Chan said loudly to Li Yundong with a smile, "We¡¯ve already prepared everything! We were only waiting for you!"

    Li Yundong waved his hand and said enthusiastically, "Alright, everyone, let¡¯s go! Today, Disanxian officially opens!"

    At this time, Su Chan, Ruan Hongling, and the little foxes of the Fox Zen School all cheered in unison, crying, "Hooray, it¡¯s open!"

    Li Yundong shouted over them, "But before that, let me brush my teeth and wash my face first!"

    The crowd burst outughing and shouted back in unison, "Go quickly!"

    After Li Yundong had finished washing up, he deliberately changed into the suit he had purchased with Su Chan before. His suit and leather shoes made him look energetic and manly. Su Chan also changed into the dress that Li Yundong had bought for her. She looked so beautiful, like a princess who should be doted on by tens of thousands of people.

    She wasn¡¯t the only one. The three Shibos and little foxes of the Fox Zen School solemnly changed into their formal attire, all beautifully dressed. Although Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin did not don formal outfits, both of them were wearing in yet elegant long dresses, making them look like a water fairy and an orchid.

    Even Ruan Hongling, who usually didn¡¯t pay much attention to her appearance, put on a red Qipao for the asion. The high, V-shaped cor added a bit of mature charm to her.

    Li Yundong gazed at the sharply-dressed crowd and said with a smile, "There are so many beauties here. Do we even need to invite guests? As long as you are here, Disanxian will be able to shine, but..."

    "But what?" Su Chan asked curiously.

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "But I am afraid that the guests will note in to drink tea but rather just to see our beauties. That would kind of defeat the point of having a tea store!"

    Ruan Hongling snorted and said, "Nowadays, the economy of beauty is very important, and they¡¯re at eye-catching ages. Since so many beautiful women are with you, you must secretly be enjoying yourself. What a lucky dog you are!"

    Zi Yuanughed and said, "All right, all right. Stop talking. Everyone, let¡¯s set off quickly. We can¡¯t bete."

    They took a taxi to the pedestrian street. As soon as they got out of the car, they attracted the attention of countless citizens.

    Li Yundong was masculine and handsome. Modern effeminate men couldn¡¯t bepared with his elegance and ethereality. As soon as he appeared, he immediately attracted the attention of many women on the street. What attracted even more people¡¯s attention was the gaggle of stunning women around him.

    Su Chan, Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, Ruan Hongling and the rest of thedies from the Fox Zen School all had unique appearances, but all of them were peerless beauties.

    With so many gorgeous women gathered together, the passers-bys¡¯ eyes were dazzled. They couldn¡¯t help but secretly wonder, "Who are these beautiful women? Who is this boy surrounded by these girls?"

    Li Yundong could see that the street was getting congested, so he quickly winked at Su Chan and the others. "Hurry up. Let¡¯s go to the store first. We¡¯d better not cause any traffic idents again!"

    Right when they were about to leave, they heard a cry of surprise. "Li Yundong!"

    Li Yundong looked in the direction of the voice and saw Feng Na standing in the distance and wearing a coffee-colored dress. She looked at him in surprise and waved her hands enthusiastically at him.

    Li Yundong waved back and said with a smile, "What a coincidence!"

    Feng Na jogged over in a pair of high heels. She first warmly greeted Su Chan and Zhou Qin, then politely nodded at Zi Yuan, Ruan Hongling, and the rest of the beauties. Finally, she smiled at Li Yundong and said, "I was worried that I would get here too early. Your shop hasn¡¯t opened yet! Heh. how is the opening ceremony going? You¡¯ve been busy for a few days, haven¡¯t you?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "No! You know, it¡¯s only a small ce, and just a few acquaintances will being to waste their time here. It¡¯s just for fun! By the way, why are you alone? Where¡¯s Cheng Cheng? Where¡¯s the ss rep? Where are the others?"

    How could Feng Na believe him? In her opinion, Li Yundong was simply an omnipotent superman. Even if he opened a small store, it would definitely not be a simple business.

    She covered her mouth and said with a smile, "They are busy with make-up. Cheng Cheng went to the hair salon early in the morning to do her hair. Unfortunately, the hairdressers were woken up by her before they opened for business, and now several hair salons near the school are crowded."

    Li Yundong was slightly surprised. "How many people? Is it really that many?"

    Feng Na yed with her fingers and said, "Apart from Cheng Cheng, Sun Li, and me, there are still twenty other people. There are only two corridors near our school and neither is big enough. Think about it, how could there not be a long line?"

    Li Yundong said in surprise, "Didn¡¯t you say that including you, there are twenty people in all?"

    Feng Na spread her hands helplessly and said, "That¡¯s what I intended, but once the news of you opening a shop on the pedestrian street spread, the school forum immediately exploded. Everyone wanted one of those twenty invitation cards! Do you know that someone actually paid 500 yuan for one?"

    Feng Na shook her head and sighed as she said, "s, if I had been more ruthless and sold these twenty cards, I could have easily obtained ten thousand yuan! Why am I so soft-hearted?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Don¡¯t exaggerate. But I guess you must have sold your own cards, right?"

    Feng Na stuck out her tongue and smiled slyly, "You caught me! Thanks to you, I made a small fortune! I bet that you wouldn¡¯t even be able to guess the price of an invitation personally written by you!"

    Li Yundong asked curiously, "Eh, really! How many did you sell?"

    Feng Na rolled her eyes and gave a sly smile. "I won¡¯t tell you! Guess it yourself!"

    Li Yundong pretended to be angry and said, "You little witch! Let me tell you, people who don¡¯t have invitations will not be allowed to enter today!"

    Feng Na smiled cheekily. "You won¡¯t uphold that. You speak harshly, but your heart is very soft!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s expression was one of rage. "Hum, just be arrogant then! Let¡¯s go. Don¡¯t stand here. Don¡¯t you see the people gathering around us?"

    While they had been speaking, more than a hundred people had umted at the side of the road. Seeing that there was about to be threeyers of people, Li Yundong and others hurriedly walked along the pedestrian street.

    On the way, Su Chan grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s arm and asked in a low voice, "Yundong, you can sell such ugly calligraphy for money?"

    Although she had spoken rtively quietly, her words were still heard clearly by Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, and the others around them. Li Yundong¡¯s face turned red. He red at Su Chan and said, "What are you talking about? Ugly words can bring in money, which is a real skill!"

    Su Chan saw that Li Yundong was a little annoyed, so she quickly said with a smile, "Of course! My master is the most capable!"

    Li Yundong raised his head and yawned. Then, he lowered his chin and looked at himself carefully, touching himself again and again. Su Chan asked in confusion, "Yundong, what¡¯s wrong with you? Do you feel ill?"

    Li Yundong said with a serious expression, "Since I can sell a few ugly words, I think if our business fails one day, I will be able to sell some of my organs so you beauties won¡¯t starve to death!"

    Su Chan immediately covered Li Yundong¡¯s mouth with her hand and spat, "Bah, bah, don¡¯t say that! It¡¯s unlucky!"

    Ruan Hongling rolled her eyes, shook her head and said, "You¡¯re so useless. Do you really want to die before you even get started? Are you the one who wrote Memorial to the Throne on his Expedition?"

    Zi Yuan also smiled and said, "Li Yundong, it¡¯s the day of the opening ceremony. You can¡¯t talk like that, it¡¯ll bring bad luck."

    Li Yundong looked at the pair and then at Zhou Qin, who was silent. He said gloomily, "My disciples really are the best. You all know how to teach me a lesson!"

    Only then did Zhou Qin begin whining, "Master, it¡¯s just that I haven¡¯t made up my mind yet. When I¡¯ve made up my mind, I¡¯ll tell you."

    "You naughty girl," Li Yundong said, wagging his finger. "How can you do what they did?"

    Zhou Qin tried hard to hold back herughter and said, "I love my teacher, but I¡¯d rather hear the truth!"

    The crowd burst outughing at once.

    Li Yundong also chuckled and scolded, "Do you think you are Aristotle? Even if you are, I am not to!"

    The group of people chatted and made merry, soon arriving at the store.

    Feng Na raised her head and saw that the store was two stories high. The roof was covered with golden zed tiles, beneath which were flying eaves and arches. In the corner of the house were four carved wooden lions painted gold. Underneath the lion¡¯s ws was a red wooden ball. These lions looked imposingly to the front, appearing out of the ordinary.

    Feng Na couldn¡¯t help but nod and say admiringly, "Not bad, very bold and it has ancient charm! It¡¯s amazing!"

    When she looked down, she saw a row of red, ssless wooden windows on the second floor. The patterns on the windows were different, but most of them depicted gods from ancient Chinese myths. Feng Na looked at them one by one and saw familiar figures like Nvwa, Kua Fu, Pan Gu, Great White ne, Yu Huang Da Di, Queen Mother of the West, etc. After seeing so many magical things in connection to Li Yundong, she didn¡¯t think these were exaggerated. She felt that the decoration was beautiful and elegant, which was refreshing.

    After Feng Na had looked at the store up and down, she suddenly felt that something was missing and couldn¡¯t help but ask, "Strange, I can¡¯t see your que? That¡¯s right, where¡¯s your store¡¯s que?"

    Li Yundong chuckled and winked at Su Chan and the others, who ran off with smiles on their faces. After a while, they came back out with a huge que covered with a red cloth.

    Feng Na could tell at a nce that the que was even bigger than Su Chan¡¯s body. Though Su Chan was not short, she looked like a little child with the enormous que in her hands.

    She said in a loud, nervous voice, "Be careful, don¡¯t damage it."

    Li Yundongughed cheerily. "It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay!"

    Su Chan stopped in front of her and pulled a face at her mischievously. Then, with a shake of her hands, she threw the huge que into the air and grabbed it with ease. She giggled mischievously and said, "Don¡¯t worry, nothing will happen!"

    When Feng Na saw that Su Chan was ying with the que as if it were a child¡¯s toy, she was amazed and reached out to pick up the que.

    Attempting to lift it, she could immediately feel that the que in her hands was extremely heavy. It probably weighed at least twenty to thirty pounds!

    Feng Na was startled. Just as she was about to ask about it, her gaze wandered and she saw something behind Li Yundong. She asked curiously, "Li Yundong, the guy opposite you is also opening a tea shop?"

    Li Yundong snorted in his heart. "Yes!"

    Feng Na couldn¡¯t help but frown. "This is asking for it! Who would dare to do such a thing? Open a shop doing the same business directly opposite?"

    Li Yundong said lightly, "It rains when heaven deems fit, and mother remarries when she wants to. He wants to open a store, so what can I do? Just let him go ahead and do whatever he wants!"

    Feng Na suddenly eximed in shock, "They¡¯re also opening for business today?"

    This time, Li Yundong and the others were the ones feeling surprised. They looked back together and saw a group of people filing out of the opposite building. The leader was Zhao Yougen, who had his nose in the air. Behind him stood a group of slim, exquisite women in Qipao. Together, these beautiful women were carrying a que with the same red cloth on it. They lined up behind Zhao Youjin obediently with professional smiles on their faces.

    Li Yundong frowned and thought to himself, "It can¡¯t just be a coincidence, can it?"

    Feeling sick, he saw Zhao Youjinughing and walking toward him. Once he¡¯d gotten near, he began saying brashly, "Little brother, I didn¡¯t expect us to be so fated. We chose the same kind of store and opened them on the same day. What a coincidence, hahaha!"

 Chapter 404 How About Interviewing You Too?

    <h4>Chapter 404 How About Interviewing You Too?</h4>

    Although Li Yundong was always convinced that the world was wonderful and the lives of human beings were happy, he knew very well that no matter how wonderful the world was, there would always be some flies appearing in his sight.

    It appeared to Li Yundong that Zhao Yougen was undoubtedly apetent fly. He always showed himself on inappropriate asions and in inappropriate ces.

    "This guy is so annoying!" whispered Su Chan, who was standing beside Li Yundong, her face full of resentment.

    Li Yundong patted her arm and motioned for her not to be impulsive. He stepped forward and said in a lukewarm tone, "Is this really all just a coincidence? How could everything just happen to turn out the same like this?"

    Zhao Youjin acted as if he hadn¡¯t heard Li Yundong¡¯s words. ncing around at Li Yundong, Su Chan, Zi Yuan and the others, Zhao Youjin smiled and said proudly, "Little brother, you managed to decorate really fast. How I admire you! Fortunately, my decoration speed was not too shabby either. Hah, I happened to finish it at the same time as you, hahaha!"

    When Li Yundong and others looked over at Zhao Youjin¡¯s teahouse, they saw that Zhao Youjin had decorated the entrance of his property with floor-to-ceiling ss windows, and the entire building was splendidly decorated both inside and outside. Two rows of beautiful tea waitresses in Qipao were standing at the door with their skirts slit almost up to their crotches.

    Ruan Hongling snorted and said in a low, mocking voice, "This shop feels like it¡¯s owned by a nouveau riche from the inside and outside. How can a person drink tea in such a ce?"

    Zhou Qin also shed an ironic smile. She whispered, "Is this ce dealing in tea or sex?"

    Li Yundong heard their remarks. He smiled and agreed with them. He didn¡¯t want to be entangled with Zhao Yougen, so he simply said, "Boss Zhao, you¡¯re going to open today, and so are we. Why don¡¯t we just go our separate ways?"

    There was no way for Zhao Yougen to let Li Yundong go. After all, he hadn¡¯t shown off enough yet. He hurriedly said, "Hey, little brother, don¡¯t leave! Don¡¯t you hope for good luck on the first day of the opening ceremony?"

    With that, he pped his hands. Behind him, a beautiful youngdy in a Qipao walked over with a te and a stack of bright red packets in her hand.

    Zhao Yougen grabbed a handful of red packets from the te and generously stuffed them into Li Yundong¡¯s hands. He then said loudly, "Little brother, this is a little token of my appreciation for you. It¡¯s a gift for good luck. You must ept it!"

    But Li Yundong did not want to ept such a gift.

    He took a step back calmly and said with a smile, "Mr. Zhao, you shouldn¡¯t give me something which I cannot repay you for!"

    Zhao Yougen¡¯s n had failed. His expression quickly changed, but he forced a smile a momentter. He waved to the increasing number of onlookers around him and threw the red envelopes in his hand up into the air. Heughed and said, "Come on, today my small store has opened and this shop is asking for somepliments. I hope everyone will find joy when they look up, that they¡¯ll open the door and get involved in lucky things!"

    The surrounding crowd immediately started scrambling for the envelopes. The people who got the one held it in their arms and then turned around and scurried away, as if they had stumbled upon a great treasure. Some people who didn¡¯t get anything stood where they were and cursed loudly, while others simply went around Zhao Yougen to ask him for an envelope directly.

    Zhao Yougenughed proudly and said, "The red envelopes are issued in the morning and again in the afternoon. Everyone,e on time at two o¡¯clock in the afternoon, and there will be another distribution!"

    The surrounding people were overjoyed, all of the cheering greedily.

    Li Yundong and the others looked at the scene and sneered. Li Yundong turned his head and smiled at Zi Yuan. "Isn¡¯t he like a feudal lord giving money to beggars on the street in ancient times?"

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly and said, "The Chinese have never changed. Everyone has a deep-rooted desire to be a lord or a rich man. It¡¯s just that some people are very obvious about it, while some people don¡¯t even get the chance to show off."

    Li Yundong feigned anger as he said, "Hey, which side are you on? Are you scolding us too?"

    Zi Yuan smiled calmly. "Well, this guy is a vulgar upstart, a lord living in the olden days. Are you satisfied with this?"

    Li Yundong nodded andughed. "That¡¯s more like it!"

    At this time, they saw that after distributing the red envelopes, Zhao Yougen had started asking a group of beautiful women to hang a string of firecrackers from the windowsills of the teahouse, and then ordered them to light them up.

    In an instant, there was a burst of crackling sounds spreading through the air of the street. Smoke filled the sky and scraps of paper were flying everywhere. All the onlookers covered their ears to protect themselves from the earth-shaking firecrackers and fled far away, grinning.

    Even the little foxes, who were cultivators, couldn¡¯t help covering their ears and frowning.

    The sound of firecrackers was so loud that it drowned out every other noise on the entire pedestrian street. The firecrackers kept on going like rumbling thunder. After a while, they finally stopped.

    The crowd saw thick smoke billowing through the street, and they could not see anyone through it even if they were five meters away from them!

    Zi Yuan frowned slightly. She waved her sleeves and a gentle but strong wind blew down the road, dispelling the surrounding pungent smell of smoke.

    Covering her nose, Su Chan spat on the ground and cursed, "It¡¯s so noisy! And I¡¯m going to die from this stench!"

    The little foxes also shouted, "What¡¯s so great about setting off firecrackers?"

    "Yeah! What¡¯s the big deal!"

    Feng Na also covered her nose with both hands and said in a sulky voice, "This fe is so annoying, so vulgar! Doesn¡¯t he know that there¡¯s an environmentally friendly electronic firecracker out now!? Was he trying to kill someone by letting off so many firecrackers!?"

    As soon as they finished their words, they saw a few firecrackers being hung up on the second floor opposite them, and then the air was filled with irritating crackling sounds once again.

    Su Chan and the others¡¯ expressions immediately changed. They cried out involuntarily, "You¡¯re still fighting them? We can¡¯t stand it anymore!"

    Li Yundong was furious in his heart. While everyone was covering their ears and twisting their eyebrows, he extended his fingers. When a few bursts of True Energy shot out and urately hit the middle of the string of firecrackers, it broke the line in two. The rest of the firecrackers fell to the ground, and the firecrackers hanging on it made a fewst splutter before dyingpletely.

    Zhao Yougen didn¡¯t know what had happened. He was furious and stamped his feet, saying, "What¡¯s going on? Why have they broken? It¡¯s not auspicious, don¡¯t you know? Ugh! Fix it up quickly!"

    The blood drained from the face of the beautiful woman upstairs. She quickly ran downstairs, picked up the firecrackers, and hung the string back up. When she was about to light it, Li Yundong flicked his fingers again. These firecrackers didn¡¯t even get lit before falling to the ground again.

    Zhao Yougen¡¯s face darkened, and he shouted angrily, "You don¡¯t want to work for me anymore, do you? Today is my big day, and you¡¯ve disappointed me again and again! If I didn¡¯t want to make my luck even worse today, I would have asked you to pack up and leave immediately!"

    The beauty being scolded came back downstairs, looking pale and terrified. She picked up the firecrackers and ran back. As she ascended, her eyes were full of tears.

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t bear to see her suffering, so he decided not to break the line for the third time.

    After Zhao Yougen had finally finished setting off the firecrackers, he waved his hands and shouted to the beautiful woman in the store, "Hurry up, all of you are ready. The leader ising!"

    While he was ordering the beauties under hismand to line up, he heard several surprised voicesing from not far up the street. "Li Yundong? You are here!"

    Li Yundong turned his head and saw Cheng Cheng, Sun Li, and the other students from school greeting him with excitement.

    Li Yundong was overjoyed. He waved to them genially and called, "Here, over here!"

    These were all students of Tiannan University. A girl at the front ran all the way up to Li Yundong and said with a big smile, "You made us look for you pretty hard! If it weren¡¯t for the sound of firecrackers, we wouldn¡¯t have been able to find you in a short time!"

    Feng Na walked up to her and said with a smile, "Why couldn¡¯t you find us? Didn¡¯t I tell you where we were going to be?"

    Cheng Chengchong stuck out her tongue at her. "You know that I¡¯m a road idiot, don¡¯t you?"

    Feng Na smiled and said, "You¡¯re a road idiot. Could it be that they¡¯re all road idiots?" She smiled good-naturedly and greeted Sun Li and the others.

    Among the group of people, apart from Cheng Cheng and Sun Li, who were quite close friends with Li Yundong, the others had alle just because of his fame. They gaped at Li Yundong in awe and then looked around curiously, unconceble admiration and envy sparkling in their eyes.

    Sun Li looked at Li Yundong with an angry expression and shouted, "Li Yundong, you haven¡¯t been to school for a long time. I will mark you down as having skipped sses!"

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly and made an obeisance by cupping one hand in the other before his chest. "Monitor, big sister, hero! Please be lenient with me! Don¡¯t you know that if you do that, once I go to school, I will get into deep trouble?"

    Sun Li snorted, and a smile was hovering around the corners of her mouth. "Let¡¯s see how you¡¯re going to treat me then."

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Alright, alright. Everyone, pleasee in!"

    They began walking in, all chatting andughing. Cheng Cheng looked at the teahouse across the street curiously. She asked directly, "Hey, Li Yundong, what¡¯s that shop over there? It was so lively just now. It¡¯s like they¡¯re having an opening ceremony? Why don¡¯t you make it more lively?"

    As soon as she said that, the expressions of Su Chan, Ruan Hongling, and the others immediately changed. All of them pulled a long face.

    Feng Na quickly pinched Cheng Cheng¡¯s arm and red at her fiercely. "You know, sometimes it¡¯s really better for you to keep your mouth shut!"

    Only then did Cheng Cheng realize that she had said something wrong. Feeling awkward, she lowered her head and said, "Oh."

    Li Yundong and Zi Yuan had also discussed whether the opening ceremony should be grand or kept small. Zi Yuan felt that cultivators opening a store in the market was already a vition of the rules. If they made things too noisy, it would be too ostentatious and eye-catching. It was not appropriate. It was better for cultivators to keep a low profile.

    Li Yundong thought about it and agreed with Zi Yuan¡¯s sentiments, so he had only invited some people he was familiar with. They would just have fun on a small scale.

    But he hadn¡¯t expected that Zhao Yougen, who was on the opposite side, would be in the same boat as him and be throwing his weight around. He was so arrogant, it was as if he wanted to be known by all the people in the world.

    Li Yundong felt deep unhappiness, but he still maintained a faint smile on his face. He said to Cheng Cheng with a smile, "It¡¯s nothing. We¡¯ll have our own fun while they make their own trouble."

    Cheng Cheng could see that Li Yundong¡¯s smile was gentle and he did not seem to be angry. She then rxed and said weakly, "I¡¯m a stupid person. Don¡¯t take it to heart, okay?"

    Li Yundongughed and waved his hand. "Old friend, don¡¯t be so cordial."

    Feng Na also came up with an idea. She tried to smooth things over, asking quickly, "By the way, Li Yundong, why don¡¯t I call my master and ask him toe over for an interview? It could also be considered support?"

    Li Yundong smiled and waved his hand. "No, we should keep a low profile! Don¡¯t bother yourself with anything like that."

    Before he could say anything more, Zhao Yougen said loudly, "A reporter¡¯s interview? Well, I also invited a reporter and cameraman toe and interview me. Little brother, would you like to join us?"

    Hearing Zhao Yougen¡¯s obvious arrogance, everyone frowned. Li Yundong smiled and said, "Forget it, Mr. Zhao. I¡¯m not that kind of person. I¡¯m afraid I wouldn¡¯t be able to bear the attention!"

    Seeing Li Yundong showing weakness, Zhao Yougenughed proudly. It seemed that all his unhappiness had been alleviated. Just as he was about to speak, he saw a car pull up. A young woman holding a microphone and a young man carrying a camera on his shoulder got out of the car.

    Li Yundong was stunned and asked disbelievingly, "They came right as we were speaking of them?"

    Feng Na frowned when she saw the two of them, trying to hide amongst the crowd.

    However, when the young man got out of the car and saw Feng Na, he shouted in surprise, "Nana, you¡¯re here!"

    As he spoke, he tightened his grip on his camera and began running over to her.

    Li Yundong felt strange and thought to himself, "Who is this person? Feng Na¡¯s boyfriend?"

 Chapter 405 Many Guests of Exalted Rank Were Presen

    <h4>Chapter 405 Many Guests of Exalted Rank Were Presen</h4>

    Feng Na had no choice but to force a smile when she saw that she could not avoid him. "So, Han Lin, why are you here?"

    Han Lin replied with a smile, "I¡¯m here for an interview! Why are you here?"

    Feng Na pointed at Li Yundong. "I¡¯m here to attend my ssmate¡¯s..."

    Before she could finish her sentence, Han Lin interrupted her, "I asked you to have an interview with me, but you refused. It turns out that your ssmate is more important than me!"

    After that, Han Lin raised his chin as if he had only just noticed Li Yundong, and shouted at him arrogantly, "Hey, who are you?"

    Li Yundong frowned inwardly. He was about to speak when Han Lin interrupted him, saying impatiently, "Whatever, you needn¡¯t say. I won¡¯t remember even if you tell me."

    After that, he turned his head and said to Feng Na, "Hey, I¡¯ll buy you dinner tomorrow night. You have toe!"

    Feng Na¡¯s eyebrows furrowed and she was about to say something when she saw Han Lin turn around and leave before she could get a word in. He shouted back at her as he walked away, "That¡¯s settled then. See you tomorrow night!"

    Feng Na was so angry that she muttered in a low voice, "I never epted your offer! I don¡¯t want to eat with a narcissist like you!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Who is he? Your boyfriend?

    Feng Na rolled her eyes at Li Yundong and said, "Bah, are you trying to make me angry? If he were my boyfriend, I¡¯d jump off a bridge. He is the son of the chief operator of our TV station and has a mighty fine opinion of himself. He always thinks that he is superior and talks in a condescending way. Ugh, he is worthless!"

    Since the incident with He Shao, Li Yundong had developed some immunity to the rich second-generation kids and the officiallings. He smiled and did not say anything.

    Feng Nanded a punch on Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder, then red at him and said angrily, "Hey, I¡¯ll ask you again. Are you still looking to hire staff for your store?"

    Li Yundong smiled and was about to speak, but Feng Na added forcefully, "Don¡¯t say no!"

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly. "You know, you really should get together with Han Lin. You two make a perfect match. Why won¡¯t you let people talk?"

    Cheng Cheng, who was next to him, giggled and added, "Nana, you¡¯re so lucky that you don¡¯t know. Didn¡¯t you see the hostess re at you when the chief operator¡¯s son was talking to you just now? Seems like she really hates you!"

    Feng Na pinched her angrily. "That¡¯s enough! If you like him, you can go after him yourself! I¡¯m fed up with this guy, yet you¡¯re still making fun of me! Why don¡¯t you go with the boss of yourpany, huh?"

    The two started bickering noisily. After the TV station¡¯s car had driven away, another Audi A6 with the city government¡¯s license te started honking loudly behind the crowd. The people who were watching the scene automatically stepped aside to make way for this car.

    Cheng Cheng looked at the slow-moving car and asked curiously, "That¡¯s strange. Aren¡¯t vehicles prohibited on the pedestrian street?"

    Ruan Hongling sneered and said, "Look at the license te! This car belongs to someone from the municipal government. This license te shows that it is the mayor¡¯s car!"

    Su Chan was a little confused. She blinked and asked dumbly, "The municipal government¡¯s car? The mayor¡¯s car? What is he doing here!?"

    While they were talking, the car stopped. As soon as Zhao Yougen saw the car, he immediately walked over to it with a smile, opened the door and shouted, "Mayor Zeng, we are deeply honored by your presence."

    A middle-aged, big-bellied man in Western clothing and leather shoes got out of the car. He took Zhao Yougen¡¯s hand and said with a smile, "President Zhao is in a leisurely and carefree mood today. Tell me, why do you want to open such a teahouse?"

    Zhao Yougenughed and said, "It¡¯s just for fun! Let¡¯s go inside, Mayor Zeng!"

    As he spoke, Han Lin stood in front of him, nodding and bowing with a smirk. This arrogant and rude young man was acting as humble as a grandson. He said loudly, "Mayor Zeng, President Zhao, look here!"

    The young hostess with him was also very clever. She immediately shoved the microphone in the mayor¡¯s face and began asking a lot of irrelevant questions.

    Mayor Zeng seemed enthusiastic, holding Zhao Yougen¡¯s hand and mumbling into the microphone, answering the string of irrelevant questions fired at him.

    Su Chan looked curiously at Mayor Zeng. She felt like she knew the definition of every word that the mayor was saying, yet she couldn¡¯t understand what he meant when he used the words together.

    Su Chan turned to Li Yundong and asked in confusion, "Yundong, what the heck is this person talking about?"

    Li Yunyang smiled and said, "Nothing. It¡¯s normal that you wouldn¡¯t understand. Officials like him are not used to speaking humannguage."

    Ruan Hongling, who was standing to one side,ughed and patted Li Yundong on the shoulder cheerily. "That¡¯s right. You¡¯re finally speaking humannguage."

    At this time, the surrounding little foxes and Li Yundong¡¯s ssmates all beganughing.

    Li Yundong red at Ruan Hongling angrily and said, "We should be uniting as one right now. Are you stupid? Why cause internal strife at a time like this!"

    While they were quarreling, Zhao Yougen and the others surrounded Mayor Zeng and walked into the store. After a while, when the mayor¡¯s car had left, another car rolled up, from which a fat, middle-aged man got out.

    President Zhao came out, surprised. "Yo, Director Fang," he called, "nice to meet you! We are greatly honored by your presence. Pleasee in!"

    Then, the cars behind followed one after another. For a time, this pedestrian street, which had few people on weekdays, was congested with heavy traffic.

    The onlookers around were all stunned. At this time, even a fool could have seen that the neers were all officialsing to support the new teahouse¡¯s owner.

    "What is this store?"

    "I don¡¯t know, but I guess the boss of it is very powerful. Otherwise, how could he have so many officials dropping by?"

    "That¡¯s right! Since this guy has invited so many officials, he must not be an ordinary person, so why is he running such a small teahouse here?"

    "Hey, who knows how a rich person thinks?"

    "Hey, do you know who these officials are?"

    "No idea. Who cares? All anyone cares about is their position. What does it matter who they are?"

    While the crowd was discussing this, another eye-catching BMW X6 suddenly pulled up.

    When Cheng Cheng saw the silver-gray BMW X6 driving over slowly, her eyes lit up. She stuttered, "That¡¯s an SUV, my favorite!"

    Feng Na rolled her eyes at Cheng Cheng, "Of course. As long as it has four wheels, it is your favorite!"

    Cheng Cheng couldn¡¯t help but roll her eyes at Feng Na and say, "Can¡¯t I think about it if I can¡¯t afford it?" Then she sighed and said, "Ah, I wonder if I¡¯ll ever get a car like that..."

    Feng Naughed. "It¡¯s easily done. Just find a rich man to look after you!"

    Cheng Cheng suddenly turned her head, and there was a sh of adoration in her eyes. She looked at Li Yundong in a daze and said, "Boss Li, please take me as your lover!"

    Li Yundong knew that Cheng Cheng was joking with him. He coughed dryly and pointed at Su Chan, Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin and the many other foxes from the Fox Zen School behind him, saying solemnly, "Please queue up and wait for your number to be called!"

    Immediately, Feng Na and Cheng Cheng burst outughing. Zhou Qin¡¯s face turned slightly red as she silently looked at Li Yundong with hidden bitterness. Zi Yuan also nced at Li Yundong unnaturally, seeming unhappy about his joke.

    Cheng Cheng patted Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder, gave him a thumbs-up, and said, "D*mn killjoys! Do you have to think about who you want to sleep with every night?"

    Having said this, she burst outughing again.

    Her words were a little too direct. Li Yundong nced at Su Chan awkwardly, gave a hollowugh, and did not answer her.

    Su Chan felt that the opening ceremony was supposed to be a happy event, but it had been interrupted by Zhao Yougen. Now, hearing Cheng Cheng¡¯s words, Su Chan felt even more frustrated. She couldn¡¯t help pouting and whispered, "Yundong, let¡¯s go back."

    Li Yundong nodded. "Alright. Let¡¯s go in, everyone!"

    As he spoke, other students suddenly pointed to the BMW and eximed, "Look! That¡¯s Wang Li! She often appears on TV!"

    The students all recognized her and eximed in surprise, "It sure is! She is so beautiful in person!"

    "Oh my God, this teahouse invited a TV star? Isn¡¯t that wild?"

    "Is this an opening ceremony or some kind of grand show?"

    "Idiot, is there any difference between the two?"

    Li Yundong saw an enchantingly dressed woman getting out of the car. The woman waved at the crowd around her, who all seemed to recognize her, and greeted them enthusiastically.

    Since the people recognized Wang Li, they had suddenly gotten excited. Su Chan asked curiously, "Yundong, who is she? She seems very famous."

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Wang Li is a TV star. Recently, she acted in quite a popr movie. Don¡¯t you often watch soap operas? Why don¡¯t you recognize her?"

    Su Chan puffed out her cheeks and said, "A person can be pretty different in realitypared to how they are on a screen! They are basically two people! How could I recognize her?"

    Li Yundong suddenlyughed. "Yes, you speak the truth!"

    Su Chan didn¡¯t understand what he meant. She asked foolishly, "What? What did I say? What¡¯s the truth?"

    Li Yundongughed. He touched Su Chan¡¯s hair and said, "Nevermind. It doesn¡¯t matter. Let¡¯s go in so we don¡¯t have to see these nasty people anymore."

    He was about to turn around and go in, but the crowd around him started buzzing once again. The guests who had entered the teahouse previously all came out together, surrounding Mayor Zeng. Then, some of the beauties in Qipao carried out the que, pulled the red rope tied with safflower, and another beauty carried out a te with a pair of scissors on it. Obviously, the intention was for Mayor Zeng and Zhao Yougen to cut the ribbons together.

    Zhao Yougen was standing side by side with Mayor Zeng. He nced at Li Yundong proudly, his eyes full of provocation and disdain. After greeting Mayor Zeng, he went straight over to Li Yundong, tore off his disguise, and said proudly, "Hum, boy, look carefully. This is what a real man can do! What¡¯s the use of being handsome? Power is the standard by which a man should be measured!"

    Having said his piece, he left directly.

    Zhao Yougen¡¯s words made all the people around Li Yundong angry. Li Yundong narrowed his eyes into a line and maintained a neutral expression. No one could tell whether he was happy or angry.

    Ruan Hongling sneered and whispered to Zi Yuan, "I¡¯ll turn those scissors into flintsticks!"

    Zi Yuan was shocked. She quickly stopped Ruan Hongling and muttered hurriedly in a low voice, "Are you crazy? In front of so many people? How do you know that there are no people from other sects in this crowd? Not to mention, the mayor is here! It doesn¡¯t matter if you offend him, but do you know how many powerful people are behind him?"

    Ruan Hongling snorted and stamped one of her feet resentfully. "Do you want to just watch this b*stard show off in front of us then?"

    While she had been talking, Zhao Yougen and Mayor Zeng had finished cutting the ribbons. Suddenly, eight beauties began to toss flowers from upstairs, making the scene reminiscent of a wedding ceremony.

    Zhao Yougen and Mayor Zeng removed the red cloth from the que again. When everyone looked closely, they saw four big, glittering words: "Tea Shop of Zhao".

    Cheng Cheng asked softly, "Who is Zhao?"

    Li Yundongughed. "Don¡¯t you know? It¡¯s Zhao of The Orphan of Zhao."

    After that, everyoneughed and secretly admired the fact that Li Yundong could still make jokes in such a situation. That kind of attitude was not easily found amongst ordinary people.

    At this moment, the beauties in the opposite building start working together to hang the que on the second floor, stringing it with red silk. The guests clustered around Zhao Yougen, and Mayor Zeng entered the teahouse.

    As soon as they disappeared inside, the crowd lost their enthusiasm. They unconsciously looked at Li Yundong and others, and one of them saw that there were many beautiful women around Li Yundong, so he shouted, "Hey, what is the que you are holding? Show it!"

    As soon as the man spoke, the other members of the crowd followed suit. "Yes, don¡¯t keep it from us!"

    Li Yundong frowned. He looked coldly at the noisy teahouse on the opposite side of the street. Feng Na and the others beside him were also feeling frustrated.

    However, Su Chan took Li Yundong¡¯s hand and whispered, "Yundong, it¡¯s all right. I believe that our Disanxian willst longer and be more popr than that stupid Tea Shop of Zhao!"

    Zi Yuan also smiled and said, "Good point! Li Yundong, although his teahouse is very busy now, is arrogant and will definitely have an ident in the future! I¡¯m sure it won¡¯t be long before he and his business are in trouble!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "You don¡¯t have tofort me. I¡¯m fine. I invited you here today, but I haven¡¯t been treating you well. I¡¯ll punish myself with three sses of wine when we have dinnerter!"

    Everyone said sympathetically, "Don¡¯t say that. Li Yundong, you¡¯re too polite!"

    Li Yundongughed brightly. "Ah, well, don¡¯t wait around. Let¡¯s all go in."

    The crowd burst outughing and went inside. Zhou Qin, who was at the door, nced at her watch anxiously. She took out her cell phone from her pocket. Just as she was about to open it, she suddenly saw a Lincoln Limousine driving over from a distance.

    When Zhou Qin saw the license te of the car, she immediately turned to Li Yundong and yelled, "Master,e and see this!"

 Chapter 406 A Big Name Shows Up!

    <h4>Chapter 406 A Big Name Shows Up!</h4>

    Li Yundong turned his head and saw the Lincoln Limousine arriving at the door. He said lightly, "I¡¯ve been watching luxury cars arriving one after another all day. Are you trying to provoke me?"

    But at this time, Feng Na and the others, who had gone into the shop earlier, came out curiously again and looked at the extremely cool Lincoln Limousine. However, considering what had happened before, Feng Na and Cheng Cheng both shut their mouths tightly, fearing that they would irritate Li Yundong again.

    But a momentter, a young woman in a professional suit got out of the car. She walked directly to the back of the vehicle and opened the door respectfully.

    Everyone opened their eyes wide and watched as a beautiful woman in a formal dress stepped out of the car. This woman had an oval face and dark eyes. Her hair was tied up high, making her look solemn and noble. She had the air of a daughter of an eminent family, and the people around whispered appreciatively and made guesses as to her identity.

    Li Yundong took in the appearance of the woman at a nce and was stunned. He said in amazement, "Isn¡¯t that Yin Mengfan, President Yin?"

    With this, Li Yundong suddenly understood something. He looked back at Zhou Qin only to see a smile at the corner of her mouth. But as he looked over, the smile immediately disappeared and Zhou Qin also started acting surprised.

    Li Yundongughed darkly. He red at Zhou Qin and whispered, "I¡¯ll get you for thister!"

    Zhou Qin stuck out her tongue childishly, looking unusually girlish.

    Su Chan tugged on her hand and asked softly, "Sister Zhou Qin, did you invite President Yin here?"

    Zhou Qin hesitated for a moment. She knew that this kind of thing could not stay hidden forever, and she was afraid that the little girl would overthink things, so she nodded lightly, feeling tense.

    Unexpectedly, Su Chan was overjoyed. She gave Zhou Qin a thumbs-up and said, "Sister Zhou Qin, you¡¯re so capable!"

    Zhou Qin was stunned and felt shame creeping into her heart. She smiled faintly and didn¡¯t say anything.

    After Yin Mengfan had gotten out of the car, she looked around with her beautiful eyes. When she saw Zhou Qin, she smiled and was about to walk over. However, she suddenly heard a cry of surprisee from behind her. It was Zhao Yougen, who had seen her and was hurrying up to greet her. "Yin Mengfan? President Yin?"

    Yin Mengfan turned around helplessly and said, "Hello, President Zhao!"

    Zhao Yougen enthusiastically extended his hands and said, "President Yin, you¡¯re also here to support me? Well, it¡¯s really my pleasure! Last time I specially invited you toe, but unfortunately, you refused, saying that you didn¡¯t have the time. How is it that you¡¯re suddenly free today?"

    Yin Mengfan gently shook hands with Zhao Yougen, then quickly pulled away. "Actually, I¡¯m afraid that I¡¯m here to attend a friend¡¯s opening ceremony today," she said apologetically.

    Zhao Yougen felt sopliant that he had not realized the truth. "Opening ceremony? Someone else is having an opening ceremony today? Ha, what a coincidence!"

    Yin Mengfan turned back and pointed at Li Yundong and others behind her. She smiled politely and said, "Indeed. It¡¯s happening over there."

    Zhao Yougen was gobsmacked, looking like he couldn¡¯t believe his ears. "President Yin, you, you are joking, right? I have to say, this joke is not a funny one!"

    Yin Mengfan leaned over and waved at him. "I¡¯m not kidding. President Zhao, you can go back to your work now. I would like to say hello to my friends."

    As she spoke, she began walking gracefully over to Li Yundong and the others.

    Zhao Yougen¡¯s face suddenly turned red and his veins bulged. He red at Li Yundong with pure malice, as if he wanted to tear Li Yundong¡¯s flesh off right then and there!

    Yin Mengfan felt sorry about Zhou Qin, so she was particrly enthusiastic to Li Yundong. She said with a smile, "Li Yundong, not bad. You¡¯re a clever young man and you know how to y your cards well!"

    As she said this, the woman next to her smoothly presented a one-square-foot gift box. Yin Mengfan took it with both hands and then handed it to Li Yundong ceremoniously. She smiled and said, "This is just a little something. I hope you¡¯ll ept it!"

    Li Yundong smiled and took the gift, then handed it off to Su Chan. He turned around and said to Yin Mengfan, "President Yin, you are treating me like a stranger. Even if you hade here with nothing, it would be my pleasure!"

    Yin Mengfan covered her mouth and said with a smile, "Really? I always think that you are like a supermundane expert, very mysterious! Why do experts like you also value these things?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "You¡¯d better not say that! A monk still pays attention to the fact that all physical existence is vanity. However, look at Shaolin Temple, how many projects done by them are just window dressing? Where in the world can there be a person who ispletely detached from the world? If there is such a person, he or she would starve to death!"

    Yin Mengfan said appreciatively, "Li Yundong, your words are free and easy. I like it! You are a self-made man and still so young. I believe that you will definitely achieve great things in the future. When you achieve sess and be famous a few years from now, I hope you won¡¯t forget me!"

    Li Yundong made an obeisance by cupping one hand in the other before his chest before saying with a smile, "You tter me. President Yin, pleasee in!"

    Yin Mengfan walked over to Zhou Qin¡¯s side and said in a low voice, "How¡¯s it going? How about the words that I used to tter him? I didn¡¯t let the cat out of the bag, did I?"

    Zhou Qin looked steadily forward, but said in a low voice, "Come on, Li Yundong is much smarter than you think. He already knows!"

    Yin Mengfan was shocked. She eximed in a low voice, "Are you kidding me? When did I expose myself?"

    While they were talking quietly, Su Chan and the other foxes were wondering what Yin Mengfan¡¯s gift could be.

    They weren¡¯t the only ones. The onlookers on the pedestrian street were all whispering to each other and guessing Yin Mengfan¡¯s identity.

    "Who is this woman? She¡¯s so beautiful!"

    "I don¡¯t know. Seems like she¡¯s the boss of apany."

    "The boss of apany? When she¡¯s so beautiful? Are you kidding me? Are you sure she¡¯s not a movie star?"

    As they were talking, another car suddenly rolled onto the pedestrian street. It was a fiery red Lamborghini that looked extremely cool.

    As soon as Li Yundong saw the Lamborghini, he was stunned and thought, "Why is she here?"

    Feng Na, Cheng Cheng, and Su Chan all recognized this car. They were also shocked and blurted in surprise, "President Cao?"

    Sure enough, before the car had even stopped, the roof of the car slowly rolled back, revealing two beautiful women. One of them was sitting in the passenger seat, wearing a pair of sunsses that almost covered half of her face and looking around curiously at everyone.

    The woman sitting in the driver¡¯s seat also had a pair of sunsses resting on her nose. After she stopped the car, she looked in Li Yundong¡¯s direction, then took off her sunsses and looked at Li Yundong with a faint smile, not saying a word.

    When Li Yundong saw the woman looking at him with such an expression, he immediately became jittery and asked, "President Cao, why are you here?"

    Cao Kefei was wearing a low-cut dress, which was very formal and solemn, as if she was going to attend a big banquet. Her plump breasts and plunging cleavage were embedded with a fiery red gemstone ne, contrasting with her snow-white skin and making it look even more charming.

    When she heard his voice, she trembled slightly. She suddenly felt that tears were about toe out of her eyes. Fortunately, she had been struggling in the entertainment industry and business circles for many years, and her control over her emotions had been greatly honed. She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

    Cao Kefei then looked at Li Yundong angrily before ncing at the door and asking, "Are you just going to stand there throughout?"

    Li Yundong knew that it had been really inappropriate for him to disappear without saying a word before. What¡¯s more, he had caused a lot of trouble back then, and it was Cao Kefei who had helped him solve everything. He couldn¡¯t help feeling a little guilty over how he¡¯d acted.

    "Doesn¡¯t the door of your car open automatically?" Li Yundong said with a grin.

    Cao Kefei whined like an angry little girl, "I want you to open it for me!"

    Li Yundong smiled helplessly, saying catingly, "Okay! Okay!" Then, he reached out to open the scissors door.

    Cao Kefei gracefully got out of the car, then pointed to the girl who was curiously looking at Li Yundong from the passenger seat and said to Li Yundong, "And for her!"

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly and said, "Well, allow me to open the other one!"

    Cao Kefei smiled. "I can tell you that there are many men wanting to open the door for her, but they¡¯ll never even get the chance!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Well, I suppose I can count this as my good luck today!" Then, he went to the other side of the Lamborghini.

    At this time, Zhao Yougen was feeling a little dumbfounded. He stood there like a wooden sculpture as numerous questions bubbled in his mind. "Why is Cao Kefei here? Isn¡¯t she filming in Hainan? Who is the girl beside her? Why does she look a little familiar?"

    Seeing Zhao Yougen standing to one side and blocking the way, Li Yundong ordered impolitely, "President Zhao, please make way!"

    Zhao Yougen was at a loss and took two steps back, still looking at the girl in confusion.

    The girl didn¡¯t take off her sunsses like Cao Kefei had, but her ck eyes behind the coffee-colored lenses were looking carefully at Li Yundong. After Li Yundong opened the car door, she gently extended her snow-white hands. Her movements were graceful and natural, and it was obvious that she was used to such scenes.

    Li Yundong was slightly stunned when he saw her reach out of her hand, a sense of confusion creeping over him.

    However, he was no longer the same inexperienced boy who had once attended Zhou Qin¡¯s birthday party for the first time. Soon, he came to his senses. He gently took the girl¡¯s palm with one hand and said with a smile, "May I have your name?"

    The girl¡¯s lips curved into a smile and she said softly, "Myst name is Liu."

    Li Yundong nodded and took her into the store. After the girl had nodded in acknowledgment to everyone, she found an opportunity to whisper to Li Yundong, "Your hands are so broad and warm!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said politely, "Thank you!"

    The girl saw that Li Yundong was very enthusiastic toward others, but very polite to her. She asked curiously, "Are you and President Cao lovers?"

    The girl¡¯s voice was very soft, but she used it to ask very harsh and tricky questions. Li Yundong smiled bitterly to himself and said seriously, "No!"

    The girl asked again, "Well, do you have a girlfriend?"

    "Yes," Li Yundong said with a nod.

    "Ah!" the girl replied. She saw that Li Yundong was looking steadily forward and didn¡¯t nce at her for even another second. She looked at Li Yundong and asked curiously, "Don¡¯t you want to know who I am?"

    Li Yundong smiled and asked, "Who are you?"

    The girl gently took off her sunsses, put her hands behind her back, and said with a broad, graceful smile, "Have you recognized me now?"

    After she had taken off her sunsses, Zhao Yougen, who had been watching her from outside, suddenly said in a tone of surprise, "That¡¯s Liu Fei¡¯er! Why is she here?"

    When the crowd heard this, they immediately became agitated. "Liu Fei¡¯er? Where¡¯s Liu Fei¡¯er?"

    But there were also some who remained dazed and asked uprehendingly, "Liu Fei¡¯er? Who is she?"

    Someone in the crowd immediately replied, "Idiot! You don¡¯t even know Liu Fei¡¯er? She¡¯s a famous movie star! You don¡¯t even watch TV or movies? Are you an alien?"

    Li Yundong also recognized Liu Fei¡¯er now, but he said to deliberately tease her, "I know, you¡¯re Li Bingbing!"

    The smile on Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s face froze all of a sudden.

    Li Yundong tried hard to hold back hisughter and said, "So, you are Fan Bingbing?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er red at him angrily before walking up to Cao Kefei. Holding Cao Kefei¡¯s arm, she whispered in her ear, "President Cao, I don¡¯t think that he is as great as you made him out to be before."

    Cao Kefei smiled and said, "What is not great about him?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er snorted. "There¡¯s nothing special about him at all!"

    Cao Kefei tried hard not tough and said, "You¡¯ll see just how great he is soon!"

    While the two of them were busy whispering, an iparably loud voice suddenly rang out from outside. "Liu Fei¡¯er, please give me your autograph!"

    "Fei-er, I love you so much!"

    "Liu Fei¡¯er, I love you!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er and Cao Kefei were shocked. Cao Kefei quickly snatched the sunsses from Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s hand and put it on her face again. She said angrily, "I told you not to take off those sunsses! Now we have to leave!"

 Chapter 407 Senior Officials Come Together!

    <h4>Chapter 407 Senior Officials Come Together!</h4>

    Cao Kefei immediately pulled Liu Fei¡¯er to the door with her. But at this time, the way out had beenpletely blocked by the crowds. Cao Kefei could see that there were huge crowds of people out there and that she and Liu Fei¡¯er had no way of escape!

    Cao Kefei smiled wryly, then turned to Li Yundong and said, "Sorry for causing you trouble, but what should we do now? Call the police?"

    Li Yundong smiled faintly and said, "No need, I¡¯ll do it!" With that, he unhurriedly went to the door with his hands outstretched.

    Looking at Li Yundong¡¯s figure, Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s face turned pale with fear. She whispered to Cao Kefei, "Sister Cao, what is he doing?"

    Cao Kefei shook her head with a nk expression. "I don¡¯t know."

    She nced around and saw Su Chan, Zhou Qin, and the others covering their ears with their hands. Meanwhile, Zhou Qin was exchanging a few words with Feng Na and Cheng Cheng and gesturing, asking them to cover their ears.

    Although they didn¡¯t know why, when Feng Na, Cheng Cheng and the other students saw that all the beautiful girls of Fox Zen School were covering their ears, they also copied these girls¡¯ movements.

    "What¡¯s going on?" Liu Fei¡¯er looked puzzled.

    Su Chan ordered them firmly, "If you don¡¯t want to go deaf, cover your ears quickly!"

    Cao Kefei suddenly remembered the way Li Yundong had roared thest time he¡¯d met a hooligan. She quickly covered her ears.

    Liu Fei¡¯er, however, only asked with an odd expression, "Could it be that he wants to suppress them with a roar? Is he mad?" She pointed at the wild crowd outside and shouted, "What¡¯s the use? Can his voice drown out so many people?"

    She then turned to Cao Kefei and said usingly, "Sister Cao, you¡¯ve boasted this guy to heaven. How high is the sky, that¡¯s how high he is! I don¡¯t know if he¡¯s great or not, but I think he¡¯s got a screw loose!"

    As soon as she finished her words, Li Yundong suddenly put his index fingers together, then shouted a mantra in a low voice: "Om!!¡¯

    The Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ was not only powerful enough to hit people, its Mantra also had a strong ability to deter and a natural lethality. If one shouted it in a loud voice, it could instantly destroy people¡¯s livers and galldders.

    In order not to cause any harm to the crowd, Li Yundong deliberately lowered his pitch, making his voice low and deep.

    The fans in front of him all felt as if they had been covered by a huge copper bell, which someone then struck hard. In an instant, the essence, Qi, and blood in their chests surged and buzzed in their minds. All of them immediately covered their ears and winced in pain, unable to take another step forward!

    Cao Kefei had once been shocked by Li Yundong¡¯s roar, to the point that she had almost suffered a heart attack. Wiser this time, she had covered her ears early.

    Liu Fei¡¯er, however, had not covered her ears in time. She let out a loud cry. She was the first to be hit by the mantra and felt as if someone had punched her in the chest and her eardrums had been pierced by thrusting chopsticks.

    Liu Fei¡¯er clutched at the sides of her head in agony, but there was an inescapable buzzing sound in her ears. She saw Cao Kefei looking at her with concern. Her mouth opened and closed, as if she was saying something, but Liu Fei¡¯er couldn¡¯t hear a word.

    Li Yundong then made the second sound of Mantra. "B¨¥i!"

    This Mantra was like countless ringing bells and gongs. The sound was deep and resonant. Although it was not especially harsh, it still made everyone feel suffocated and nauseous. Some people gathered at the door and yelled in tormented voices, "Stop, stop shouting!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s chest had been shaken so badly that her essence, Qi, and blood were churning. Now, she was shocked again. She felt such intense pain that her body curled up slightly. Her brows were tightly furrowed and she looked like she was being tortured.

    She covered her ears tightly and also screamed, "Stop it!"

    However, as soon as her words left her throat, they were quickly drowned out by Li Yundong¡¯s voice, just like the voices of the others outside the door. It was like a wave rising from a flood, instantly disappearing without a trace.

    Soon Liu Fei¡¯er felt that she could not breathe. She was rasping in pain. Just as she was about to die from the unbearable feeling, a hand suddenly reached out from beside her. When the hand touched her shoulder, Liu Fei¡¯er immediately felt her breathing normalize, and the pain in her chest disappeared soon after.

    She turned her head in surprise, only to see Zi Yuan standing beside her like a fairy. Zi Yuan smiled and said, "Are you all right?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er wanted to shout, "I¡¯m fine!" But she couldn¡¯t even hear her own voice. She was shocked and thought, "It¡¯s strange. Why can I hear her voice, but I can¡¯t hear mine? She didn¡¯t cover her ears. Doesn¡¯t this deafening voice affect her?"

    At this time, Liu Fei¡¯er finally realized that the things and people around her were all a little strange. She turned her head in surprise and looked at Li Yundong, muttering in her heart, "This guy seems to be a little magical."

    After a while, Li Yundong finished producing the second sound, and then he opened his mouth and got ready to shout the third. The people at the door were trembling with fear by now. Seeing that he was going to shout for a third time, they became so scared that their legs quaked and they fled in all directions.

    Seeing that he had dispersed the crowd, Li Yundong smiled, turned around, and swaggered back. He smiled at Liu Fei¡¯er, who was still covering her ears, and said, "They¡¯re gone."

    Liu Fei¡¯er was tongue-tied as she looked at Li Yundong, and she remained speechless for a good while.

    Zhao Yougen, who was standing outside the shop and also clutching at his ears, also gawked at Li Yundong¡¯s back. The buzzing echoes of the mantra were still running through his mind. He looked around and found that the crowded street had suddenly be empty.

    Some guests who were near the window of Zhao Yougen¡¯s teahouse whispered to each other, gesticting at Li Yundong.

    Zhao Yougen still hadn¡¯te to his senses. A beautifuldy in a Qipao came out of the shop behind him and whispered in his ear. Zhao Yougen replied perfunctorily, "I¡¯m going back. I¡¯m going back now."

    Zhao Yougen was about to turn around when he saw a policeman in uniform strolling over. The policeman pointed to the Lamborghini parked by the door and shouted, "Whose car is this? Hurry up and take it away!"

    Seeing this, Cao Kefei replied loudly, "That¡¯s my car. I¡¯ll drive away now!" Then she turned to Li Yundong and asked, "Where is the parking lot?"

    Li Yundong spread his hands helplessly and said with a bitter smile, "How would I know? I don¡¯t have a car, so why would I care about that?"

    Zhou Qin chuckled and said, "Miss Cao, let me help you move your car."

    Cao Kefei was overjoyed. She chucked the car key to Zhou Qin and said with a grateful smile, "Thank you so much!"

    Zhou Qin hopped into the car. As soon as she started the engine, Cao Kefei suddenly remembered something. She quickly stopped Zhou Qin and shouted, "Wait!"

    Zhou Qin turned her head in confusion, only to see Cao Kefei rushing to the side of the car and grabbing a gift box from the back seat. Cao Kefei gripped it in her hands and smiled at Zhou Qin. "I forgot to take the gift."

    Zhou Qin smiled, started the engine, and left.

    The nearby policeman saw that there were so many beautiful women in Li Yundong¡¯s store. He stared nkly at them and thought to himself, "Who the hell is that guy anyway? This scene is simply nuts!"

    Cao Kefei presented the packaged gift box to Li Yundong with both hands and said with a smile, "This is just a little token to show my respect to you. Please ept it, Mr. Li!"

    Li Yundongughed. "Don¡¯t make fun of me, Miss Cao!" He took the gift box and handed it off to Su Chan. Su Chan took it, beamed with joy, and then happily ran aside with the foxes to guess at what kind of gift might be inside the box.

    Although Cao Kefei had a lot of words that she wanted to say to Li Yundong, she saw that there were more and more people gathering in the shop now, so she was afraid that it was not a very good time. As such, she forcibly suppressed her feelings and said with a smile, "I wish you sess in your business and pray that you will ride on the crest of good fortune!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "I wish the same for you, too!"

    The arrival of Cao Kefei and Liu Fei¡¯er finally made Li Yundong¡¯s opening ceremony look a little better. The ssmates who hade to join in the fun were all whispering in each other¡¯s ears, "When I saw Wang Li just now, I thought the opening ceremony on that side was good, but I had no idea Li Yundong would be inviting Liu Fei¡¯er secretly. Now his ceremony is even better!"

    "Yeah, that crazy Li Yundong. He invited such a bigshot, almost causing a riot!"

    "Impressive! This is indeed my idol!"

    "It¡¯s a pity that there aren¡¯t many officials, otherwise it would be even more lively."

    "Tut, what are you talking about? How could Li Yundong know any officials? Besides, what¡¯s the point of an officialing?"

    "Don¡¯t you understand? How many officialse and what kind of officialse can show whether his background is strong enough or not and whether his business will seed in the future! How can you survive after graduation if you don¡¯t even understand that?"

    "Ah, you¡¯re right. I¡¯ve learned a lot!"

    As they were busy talking, another car suddenly pulled up on the street. Everyone took a look and saw that it was a Honda, but its license te showed that it came from the provincial capital.

    By this point, Zhou Qin had also parked the car ande back to the shop. When she saw the license te, she was suddenly stunned.

    Cao Kefei, who was chatting in the shop, nced out curiously. She was shocked when she saw the new vehicle and cried out, "Isn¡¯t that the car of the Provincial Party Committee?"

    After shouting this, Liu Fei¡¯er and Yin Mengfan, who had put on their sunsses again, came over to take a look out of curiosity. They were also stunned and said in wonderment, "Yep, it is. I wonder who¡¯s inside."

    Li Yundong was also confused. He nkly watched the car drive over to the entrance, and then saw a short, fat, middle-aged man step out of the car.

    Zhao Yougen, who was not far away, saw the middle-aged man and suddenly shivered. He called out, "Minister Wang?"

    Minister Wang looked back at him and asked in confusion, "Uh, do you know me?"

    Zhao Yougen greeted him excitedly, shaking both hands. "Minister Wang, I went to the Provincial Party Committee Organization Departmentst year, but unfortunately I didn¡¯t get a chance to talk to you... I¡¯m Zhao Yougen!"

    Minister Wang was stunned for a few seconds. Obviously, he had no memory of Zhao Yougen, but he still shook hands with him politely and reservedly. He pulled his hand away and said, "Ah, it¡¯s you. Hello."

    Zhao Yougen asked excitedly, "Minister Wang, are you also here to attend the opening ceremony of my small shop today?"

    Minister Wang asked curiously, "You have a business here, too?"

    Zhao Yougen was momentarily stunned and said, "Too? What do you mean? Minister Wang, haven¡¯t youe to attend my opening ceremony?"

    Minister Wang chuckled and said, "Sorry, I¡¯m here to attend the opening ceremony of that store across from yours." Saying that, he turned around, bent down, and opened the car door. He took out a gift box, walked over to Li Yundong, and said with a smile, "So, you are Li Yundong?"

    Li Yundong was utterly perplexed, but he stood his ground and answered automatically, "Yes, I am."

    Minister Wang took the gift bag with both hands and said with a smile, "I heard that you have opened a shop, so I bought a little gift for you. Please don¡¯t think less of me for skimping out!"

    Li Yundong simply gaped at him, thinking, "Who the heck is this? I don¡¯t know this guy! Is this some mistake?"

    To one side, Zhou Qin could see that Li Yundong was in a daze and not epting the gift. She hurried over and took the gift with both hands, saying with a smile, "Uncle Wang, you look to be in rude health!"

    Minister Wang frowned when he saw that Li Yundong hadn¡¯t taken the gift, but when he saw Zhou Qin, he immediately said with a warm smile, "Qinqin, you¡¯ve grown even prettier than you werest time I saw you. Tut-tut, it¡¯s true that a girl changes eighteen times when she grows up! What a change! Wonderful!"

    Zhou Qin beamed at Minister Wang. Her eyes quickly swept around, only to see that the people around her were all staring at her with dumbfounded expressions. She secretly nudged Li Yundong with her elbow and whispered, "Anybody alive in there? Wake up and say something!"

    Only now did Li Yundong realize that that man was a high-ranking official from the provincial partymittee and that he was very likely to be here because of Zhou Qin.

    Li Yundong smiled to Minister Wang and said, "Minister Wang, doe in!"

    Cao Yi, Shibo of the Fox Zen School, hurriedly said, "I¡¯ll take you upstairs." With that, she turned around and led Minister Wang into a room.

    Liu Fei¡¯er blinked her eyes and watched the whole process unfold. She whispered quietly, "This Li Yundong guy really does have some background!"

    Her words made Cao Kefei and Yin Mengfan, who were next to her, tremble at the same time. They were both smart people and had immediately realized the political meaning of this matter.

    Yin Mengfan and Cao Kefei looked at each other and whispered in shock, "Has Zhou Keqiang risen to power again?"

    At this time, Minister Wang poked his head out of the stairs on the second floor and said with a smile, "I forgot to drive the car away. I came out in a hurry and didn¡¯t bring a driver. Is there anyone who could help me park my car?"

    Zhou Qin offered with a smile, "Uncle Wang, let me do it!"

    Cao Kefei shivered and thought, "Oh my god. Just now I asked Zhou Qin to park the car for me! D*mn it!"

    She quickly said to Zhou Qin with a somewhat strained smile, "I¡¯ll do it, Zhou Qin. I¡¯m so embarrassed that I asked you to park my car just now! It happens that you¡¯re more needed here, so you don¡¯t have to rush about."

    Zhou Qin smiled and gave Cao Kefei a meaningful look, making no move to stop her.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t understand what was going on at all. Seeing Cao Kefei driving away, he whispered to Zhou Qin, "Hey, I don¡¯t know him. Why has hee to celebrate with me? Did you invite him?"

    Zhou Qin smiled slightly. She shook her head and said, "I didn¡¯t invite him. He came by himself!"

    Li Yundong red at her. "Only ghosts would believe you!"

    Zhou Qin smiled and said, "I¡¯m being honest. If I¡¯m lying, may I be struck down by five lightning strikes from the heavens!"

    Li Yundong looked at her strangely. "Forget it, you don¡¯t have to make such a fierce oath. I believe you. But anyway, who is this guy?"

    Zhou Qin whispered, "He¡¯s Wang Ke, the minister of the Provincial Party Committee¡¯s Organization Department!"

    Li Yundong frowned and was about to reply when he saw another car approaching. This one also had the license te of the provincial partymittee. The driver got out of the car and opened the passenger door, allowing a slightly balding middle-aged man to get out. This man was holding a delicate gift box in his hands. He nced around and saw Li Yundong. He was slightly stunned, but when he saw Zhou Qin, he immediately smiled and went up to her.

    At this time, Zhao Yougen, who was on the other side of the street, opened his eyes wide in amazement. He recognized the middle-aged man and stuttered, "Isn¡¯t that Director Zhang of the Provincial Health Department? What is he doing here?"

    For a moment, Zhao Yougen¡¯s face was written with uncertainty. He felt surprised and envious, and his eyes almost popped out of his skull from jealousy.

    He couldn¡¯t understand at all. Why would such high-ranking officials be attending the opening ceremony of a youngd like Li Yundong?

 Chapter 408 There are Few Visitors in His Shop!

    <h4>Chapter 408 There are Few Visitors in His Shop!</h4>

    It wasn¡¯t only Zhao Yougen who recognized this Director Zhang, but also some of the guests from the top floor of his tea shop. An official sitting by the window whispered, "The minister of the Provincial Party Committee¡¯s Organization Department and the director of the Health Department have alsoe. Awesome! Two senior cadres havee! Who is the guy who runs that tea shop?"

    Although Mayor Zeng had been sitting steadily in one spot, he was a little worried in his heart. He thought to himself, "Should I go over the street and say hello?"

    He was listening to the officials next to him and counting the guests on the opposite side, who said, "Hey, look, it¡¯s a car from the Provincial Party Committee Military Region! Wow, there¡¯s a golden star on his shoulder, doesn¡¯t that mean he¡¯s a major general?"

    "Hey, isn¡¯t that Major General Luo?"

    When Mayor Zeng heard this, he could not help but feel a small jolt of fear run through him. He thought to himself, "He even has a military background? That¡¯s amazing!"

    "Hey, this time it¡¯s a car from the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection!"

    "What¡¯s more, the car of the Provincial Department of Culture is behind it!"

    "Why are there so many provincial officials? What is the background of the owner of the other tea shop?"

    As the official cars all shuttled past Li Yundong¡¯s shop one by one, the guests in Zhao Yougen¡¯s teahouse lose their ability to sit still. They felt as if they were sitting on pins and needles, all of them whispering fervently to each other.

    "Hey, do you want to go over and take a look?"

    "Yes, so many higher-ups areing. It¡¯d be inappropriate not to say hello to them! What if they remember and punish youter?"

    "Bah, who are you to say such a thing? You think these high-ranking officials would remember you?"

    "Hey, don¡¯t say that! Isn¡¯t that the way to be an official in China? Being careful is always a good thing!"

    "Everyone shut up. If Mayor Zeng goes into the opposite shop, we¡¯ll go too!"

    Mayor Zeng¡¯s heart was also shaking severely at this time. While he was hesitating, the officials next to the window suddenly eximed in unison. One of them stammered, "The... the car of the Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee. Mayor Zeng. Come and see quickly!"

    At this point, Mayor Zeng could no longer sit still. He jumped up and went to the window to take a look, suddenly inhaling sharply.

    A middle-aged man in a gray Chinese tunic suit with some wispy grey hairs dotting his head walked out. He looked very dignified. He was Li Yuanbo, the Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee.

    "It¡¯s really Secretary Li!" Mayor Zeng turned his head and ran downstairs. After a few steps, he steadied himself and neatened his clothes before he legging it downstairs as fast as he could.

    When the other officials saw Mayor Zeng leading the way, they looked at each other and got up one after another, pattering down the stairs noisily.

    The guests upstairs were not only officials from the government of Tiannan City, there were also some celebrities from the business world, and there were even some second-tier stars like Wang Li who was involved in the entertainment business.

    When they saw Mayor Zeng heading downstairs in a hurry, they began to hesitate and wondered if they should also go downstairs to have a look.

    Wang Li in particr had attracted everyone¡¯s attention as soon as she appeared. After all, even a hundred officials couldn¡¯t be more sensational than a movie celebrity.

    But it hadn¡¯t take long for Liu Fei¡¯er to beat her down. How could she not be feeling angry and jealous? At the same time, she was also curious about the background of the opposite shop¡¯s owner. "How could they have invited such a big star? Was she also lured in by money like me? But Liu Fei¡¯er, such a famous star, really came to such a small shop? Isn¡¯t it said that she is a notable youngdy of a wealthy family? Why would she be short of money now?"

    At this time, Zhou Qin alsoid eyes on Li Yuanbo. She asked in surprise, "Uncle Li, why are you here?"

    Li Yuanbo chuckled and said, "Shouldn¡¯t I havee? Do you think I¡¯m an old man and not worthy of wee? Well, in that case, I¡¯ll leave now!"

    Zhou Qin said in a hurry, "No, no, Uncle Li, pleasee in. I don¡¯t mean that!"

    Li Yundong had also realized that Li Yuanbo was not an ordinary person. This middle-aged man had an air of superiority simr to Zhou Keqiang¡¯s, but he was more elegant and modest. He whispered to Zhou Qin, "Who¡¯s this guy?"

    Zhou Qin fixed his eyes on him and said, "The Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, the top leader!"

    Li Yundong was shocked. He knew that if they were in the ancient world, the person in front of him would be a militarymander in charge of an entire province. He was extremely powerful.

    Li Yuanbo¡¯s gaze fell on Li Yundong. He looked Li Yundong up and down and nodded slightly, thinking "Well, he has a heroic spirit. I wonder whether his character is also worthy of praise."

    Li Yuanbo smiled at Li Yundong and stretched out his hand. "And you must be Li Yundong?"

    Li Yundong shook hands with themander. He smiled, looking neither humble nor overbearing. "Yes, Uncle Li, it¡¯s nice to meet you. I¡¯m Li Yundong."

    Li Yuanbo could feel that Li Yundong¡¯s palm was warm and powerful, not giving the slightest sense of fear. He thought in his heart, "Well, newborn calves are not afraid of tigers. He has courage and guts."

    Li Yuanbo had seen many young people. Especially if they were aware of his identity, almost none of them could face him calmly like Li Yundong was doing.

    Li Yuanbo smiled and nodded to Li Yundong. He turned his head and said to Zhou Qin, "Qinqin, you have good taste!"

    Hearing his words, Zhou Qin¡¯s face immediately reddened. She nced at Li Yuanbo and said, "Uncle Li, Li Yundong is my master. Of course I have good taste!"

    "Master?" Li Yuanbo looked at Li Yundong in surprise and asked, "What did you teach her?"

    Li Yundong smiled and replied, "Ah, nothing much. I just train her in some martial arts of cultivation."

    "Martial arts of cultivation?" Li Yuanbo asked with interest. "Could you tell me what kind of martial arts they are?"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and said, "Every flower and leaf is a world, and every word and action is all about cultivation!"

    Li Yuanbo¡¯s eyes lit up, as if he had recognized the boy in front of him. He took a step back and looked at Li Yundong more carefully, then nodded slowly. "Well! Well said!"

    Li Yuanbo took a serious look at Li Yundong and said, "There are few young people who can keep calm as you. No wonder Old Zhou can¡¯t stop praising you."

    As he said this, he looked at Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and the others behind Li Yundong and suddenly smiled. "He said that you are good at everything and your only w is that there are too many girls who are around you. It¡¯s not seemly!"

    After that, he burst outughing, and his voice was tinkling and bright.

    Seeing that Li Yuanbo was standing at the door and keeping speaking without going through, Zhou Qin hurriedly grabbed his arm and said, "Uncle Li, are you finished? The people behind you can¡¯t get in!"

    Li Yuanbo looked back and saw that there were still several cars behind him who couldn¡¯t drive in. Because the front car was the Provincial Party Committee¡¯s No. 1 car, they didn¡¯t dare to press the horn to urge them. They could only obediently line up at the rear and not say anything.

    Li Yuanbo couldn¡¯t helpughing awkwardly. "Okay, okay, let¡¯s go in and talk!"

    He was about to leave when he heard a surprised and anxious voice call from behind him, "Secretary Li, please wait!"

    Li Yuanbo secretly frowned. He looked back and saw that Mayor Zeng was running towards him.

    Mayor Zeng had swept away his previous air of reservation, his face full of excitement. He rushed forward and reached out to take Li Yuanbo¡¯s hands in his. He shook hands passionately and said, "Why didn¡¯t Secretary Li tell us in advance that you would being to Tiannan City? It¡¯s our fault that we didn¡¯t even wee you upon arrival."

    Li Yuanbo smiled civilly, staying reserved. Heughed lightly and said, "Oh, Little Zeng, it¡¯s you. You don¡¯t have to be so polite!"

    Mayor Zeng said excitedly, "No, no, no. I know you¡¯re so busy, Secretary Li, but you¡¯re still taking the time toe to Tiannan City to guide our work. This is Tiannan¡¯s..."

    Li Yuanbo directly interrupted him before he could finish. "Little Zeng, it¡¯s not your fault. I¡¯m actually not here for inspection or guidance today. I¡¯m just here to attend a little friend¡¯s opening ceremony."

    Mayor Zeng looked at Li Yundong and said with a grin, "As soon as I saw this young man, I thought he was extremely extraordinary, nothing like a normal person!"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly, not exposing what he knew. He just shook hands with him politely and said with a smile, "Thank you for your praise, mayor!"

    Li Yuanbo smiled and asked Mayor Zeng knowingly, "So, Little Zeng, where do you want to eat?"

    Mayor Zeng shivered and immediately smiled. "As your subordinate, of course, I¡¯ll follow your lead!"

    Li Yuanbo turned to Li Yundong and said, "Li, do you have enough seats here?"

    He replied without thinking, "Yes, of course!" Then he turned back and said to Su Chan and the others, "Go and tidy up the tables!"

    Su Chan nodded and led the little foxes upstairs.

    Zi Yuan pulled on Li Yundong¡¯s sleeve and whispered, "There are too many people here now. We weren¡¯t expecting this many guests. I¡¯m afraid that there really aren¡¯t enough tables!"

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly and said, "Are we going to drive them out then?"

    After thinking for a while, the corners of Zi Yuan¡¯s mouth suddenly curled up. She winked at Li Yundong, indicating for him to look outside.

    Li Yundong followed her gaze and looked out, only to see Zhao Yougen standing at the door of the shop with nk, staring eyes, looking like a statue.

    Li Yundong asked in confusion, "What¡¯s wrong?"

    "His store has a lot of empty tables!" Zi Yuan said.

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help cracking up. "No way, is he willing to lend them to us?"

    A smile slowly spread over Zi Yuan¡¯s face. "Would he dare not to?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Your idea is ruthless! It¡¯ll offend himpletely!"

    "His store is already finished!" she said derisively. "Don¡¯t you know that it¡¯s human nature to give a push to someone who is going down-hill?"

    After she had finished speaking, she saw that almost everyone with at least a little fame rushed out of Zhao Yougen¡¯s teahouse. They all wanted to greet Li Yuanbo. Even if they couldn¡¯t speak to him, they at least wanted to show up in front of him!

    But by this time, the smile on Li Yuanbo¡¯s face had disappeared, and his expression had be dignified and a little angry, making people afraid to approach him. He said to Zhou Qin beside him, "Qinqin, your father wants me to tell you that he has taken office and can¡¯te to celebrate your and Li Yundong¡¯s opening ceremony, so he asked me to give you a gift instead. I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ve forgotten it."

    As soon as he said that, the people around him were shocked and thought, "Sure enough, Zhou Keqiang is back! The Zhou family has turned things around! No wonder there are so many high officials and noble lords here!"

    As Li Yuanbo spoke, the driver next to him smoothly handed him two red packets decorated with gilded letters.

    Li Yuanbo took them and solemnly handed them to Li Yundong, saying, "This is a small gift. Please pay it no mind. After all, it¡¯s the thought that counts!"

    Li Yundong looked at the two red envelopes being offered to him and hesitated for a moment. "Are you kidding me? The Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee is sending red envelopes to me?"

    When the people around them saw that Li Yundong hadn¡¯t answered, they swore in their hearts. "D*mn it! There are some who are desperate to get close to the Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and will never have such a chance. You are daring to put airs on now!?"

    Seeing this, Zhou Qin subtly tugged on Li Yundong¡¯s clothes, urging him. Li Yundong then took the gift with both hands and said with a smile, "Secretary Li, pleasee in!"

    Li Yuanboughed and walked inside.

    Mayor Zeng had wanted to follow them in, but as soon as he took a step, he suddenly realized that he had brought no gift at all. How could he enter the door without anything to give the host?

    Mayor Zeng quickly turned around and called over his driver, who quickly took a gift box out of the car and handed it to Mayor Zeng.

    The mayor secretly wiped away the sweat from his brow and thought to himself, "Fortunately, there are some gifts from my subordinates in the car. Otherwise, it would have been seriously embarrassing today!"

    Mayor Zeng presented the gifts to Li Yundong and said with a face full of smiles, "Little brother, I hope these are to your taste!"

    Li Yundongughed in his heart when he saw the dignified mayor actually presenting a gift to him with both hands, but he didn¡¯t give him a hard time. He just smiled and said, "No, no, no. Our small shop is honored just by your presence. Pleasee in!"

    Mayor Zeng still felt a little uneasy. He had been working in the official world for many years, so how could he not see the misgivings between Zhao Yougen and Li Yundong? He was also afraid that he would be hated by this mysterious young man because he had chosen the wrong side, but at the moment, he felt that Li Yundong was very magnanimous!

    Mayor Zeng was truly overjoyed. "This young man is really a nice person!"

    Smiling broadly, Mayor Zeng walked in. Outside the store, Zhao Yougen was staring at him with eager eyes, his neck craned, but Mayor Zeng didn¡¯t even look back.

    Zhao Yougen¡¯s heart was contorting with hatred, but what irked him most was the ruthless attitude of Mayor Zeng. However, he didn¡¯t dare to hate Li Yundong anymore.

    By this point, he fully understood that he had kicked a powerful person this time. He had provoked someone that he could not afford to offend!

    In Zhao Yougen¡¯s mind, he kept going over a few questions. "Why did the Zhou family suddenly rise again overnight? Why did I have to go and provoke Li Yundong?

    "In China, those who have offended an official are more pitiful even than those who offended King Yama, especially when it¡¯s a local businessman like him. Unless he can abandon his family and escape to a new city, it¡¯ll be easier for them to kill him than it would be for them to crush an ant!"

    The more Zhao Youjin thought about this, the colder his heart grew, and the more scared he became. Although the sun was shining brightly above his head, he felt as if he were in a dank ice cer as a chill ran over him from head to toe.

    The beautiful women in Qipao, who had witnessed everything behind him, looked at Zhao Yougen¡¯s drooping figure and sighed secretly. Some of them looked back at the cold and cheerless teahouse, and then looked at the lively building opposite. They all sighed secretly to themselves, thinking, "The ups and downs in business are so fast!"

    At this time, Li Yundong suddenly nced at the teahouse opposite, and then looked at Zhao Yougen. He suddenly whispered to Zi Yuan with a smile, "You¡¯re right!"

    Zi Yuan was distracted by greeting the endless guests and asked in confusion, "What?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "We watched him raise the building, entertain the guests, and now we¡¯re witnessing his building verge on copse!"

    Only then did Zi Yuan realize that Li Yundong was talking about Zhao Yougen. She gave him a meaningful smile and didn¡¯t say anything.

    Li Yundong sighed and said, "His teashop was busy in the morning, but now there is nobody there at all. What is retribution? It¡¯s this! He deserves this!"

 Chapter 409 This Bullying is Too Much!

    <h4>Chapter 409 This Bullying is Too Much!</h4>

    Zhao Yougen stood in a daze, feeling regretful while Li Yundong was at the door, too busy to breathe. Especially, after the Governor came to Li Yundong¡¯s store, the news spread in an instant through the official circles of Tiannan City, leading almost all of the officials to drive over. For a time, Li Yundong¡¯s store was so busy that there was a continuous stream of vehicles stopping in front of his store. Li Yundong nodded and smiled until his cheeks ached.

    Su Chan and the others even became a little tired of receiving the endless stream of gifts. They had been excited at the beginning, but then they had be numb, and now they were just impatient. The little girls muttered, "There are so many things. Where can we even put them?"

    Cao Kefei, who was standing to one side, covered her mouth andughed. "If there is no other way, just pile everything in my car!"

    Su Chan looked back at the gifts piled up like a mountain and sighed. "All right! I guess that¡¯s the only way!"

    Cao Kefei smiled and said, "Come on, it was quiet just a moment ago. Isn¡¯t it a good thing that we have so many customers now?"

    Su Chan thenughed. She proudly raised her head and said, "Indeed, my Yundong is the best!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er suddenly approached Cao Kefei and whispered, "Sister Cao, shall we sit down? If we don¡¯t sit somewhere soon, all the seats will be taken!"

    It was only then that Cao Kefei noticed that the upstairs was already crammed with people. There was a noisy mor of voices, and the greetings and ttering lines of the officials could be heard everywhere.

    Cao Kefei secretly covered her mouth and said with a smile, "Has Li Yundong really opened a teahouse? This is clearly a restaurant!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er also said in a low voice, "Li Yundong has a very strong background! Almost all the officials in Tiannan City, including from the provincial partymittee and the provincial government are here. It¡¯s so scary!"

    Cao Kefei quietly pointed to Zhou Qin and whispered, "You don¡¯t know her, do you?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er also noticed Zhou Qin, a girl with extraordinary temperament and pretty looks. Li Yuanbo had beenmunicating actively with her just now, making people feel awed by her real identity.

    Liu Fei¡¯er whispered, "One of the officiallings?"

    Cao Kefei nodded slightly and said in a low voice, "Do you still remember the girl I told you about, the one who jumped off a building for a boy?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s eyes lit up. "Oh my God! It¡¯s not her, is it?"

    Cao Kefei whispered, "Of course!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er said curiously, "Didn¡¯t you say that she was paralyzed? But she seems fine now? Besides, I feel like she¡¯s different from ordinary people. She¡¯s like someone who¡¯s trained in martial arts. She has sharp eyes and stands tall, like a pine tree."

    Cao Kefei¡¯s face had gone a little pale, and a trace of sadness shed across her eyes as she whispered, "I don¡¯t know much about what happened back then, but I think it must have something to do with Li Yundong."

    Liu Fei¡¯er asked in confusion, "What on earth could it have to do with him?"

    Cao Kefeiughed and said, "Don¡¯t you remember me telling you that he cured my disease? He saved my life!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er giggled. "So you¡¯re going to give your heart to him in return, Sister Cao?"

    The tips of Cao Kefei¡¯s ears turned red. She nced at Liu Fei¡¯er angrily and said, "Nonsense! Let¡¯s go upstairs. I don¡¯t know if there are even any seats up there!"

    While they were still talking in a low voice, Cao Kefei raised her head and peered upstairs. She saw three pairs of eyes staring back at her, belonging to Cao Yi, Zhuang Yating, and Liu Yuehong.

    Cao Kefei saw the trio staring at her with their eyes full of shock. She was stunned for a moment and smiled politely at them, then lowered her head and muttered, "Do they know me?"

    She felt a twinge of surprise, but she soon forgot about it.

    Coincidentally, Li Yundong, who was also hectically busy, shouted to Cao Kefei and the others, "President Cao, I¡¯m not going to greet you. Help yourselves to seats!"

    Cao Kefei smiled at him and greeted Yin Mengfan, "Hello, President Yin, shall we go upstairs?"

    As if awakening from a dream, Yin Mengfan responded with a hum. She nced at Zhou Qin with aplicated expression, then at Li Yundong, and then went upstairs with Cao Kefei gracefully.

    As soon as they got upstairs, they saw Li Yuanbo and the others standing in front of a wooden carving on the second floor with their hands sped behind their backs, all praising it enthusiastically.

    "Very good. The sabre is vigorous and powerful, and its skill is elegant. I can see the stupendous basic skill that has gone into it!" Li Yuanbo nodded repeatedly, his face bright with admiration.

    Cao Kefei, Yin Mengfan, and Liu Fei¡¯er also looked to the side. It was a piece of Chinese catalpa that was nearly two meters long and one meter wide. On it was carved a picture of eight immortals crossing the sea. The reliefs on it were lifelike, as if the eight immortals could jump out of the wood carving at any second.

    Cao Kefei and the others were all people who understood the true value of goods. Suddenly, their eyes lit up and they praised, "Wow, what a perfect piece!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er asked curiously, "Which great master¡¯s work is this? It¡¯s extraordinary!"

    At this time, Ruan Hongling, who was busy upstairs, heard his appreciative words and said proudly, "My Shijie carved it!"

    "Your Shijie?" Li Yuanbo, Cao Kefei and the rest all turned to look at her.

    Ruan Hongling showed no fear, saying boldly, "Yes! Is there any problem?"

    Li Yuanbo smiled and said, "Who¡¯s your Shijie? Could you introduce her to me? This is a master¡¯s work. It¡¯s amazing! Truly exquisite!"

    Ruan Hongling looked downstairs, pointed to Zi Yuan, who was standing directly next to Li Yundong, and said, "That¡¯s her!"

    Li Yuanbo looked down and was immediately shocked. "So young... and so beautiful? How long, how long did it take her to carve? A year? Half a year?"

    Ruan Hongling proudly raised a finger and said, "Just one day!"

    "One day?" Li Yuanboughed out loud and shook his head, not saying anything. Obviously, he didn¡¯t believe what Ruan Hongling had said.

    The surrounding officials alsoughed and said, "Little girl, Secretary Li is an expert in this field. If you¡¯re going to brag, you have to n what you¡¯ll say in advance!"

    Ruan Hongling red at the speaker and said, "Who¡¯s bragging? This store was renovated by us in the space of half a month. If you don¡¯t believe me, check it out!"

    "Half a month?" Li Yuanbo and the others were slightly surprised and kept looking around. "How could you have decorated the whole building in half a month?"

    Someone looked at the paint on the table and asked worriedly, "Little girl, has the paint dried? You know, some paint is toxic and is only safe to be around after a while!"

    Ruan Hongling snorted and said, "We don¡¯t use that kind of thing! These are highly polished, we did it ourselves! Just like the relief you all saw!"

    Everyone was shocked. Li Yuanbo said in surprise, "Such a big project, how did you manage it in just half a month?"

    Hearing this, Ruan Hongling was stunned. She thought, "Uh... I can¡¯t tell you that this wood carving was done by Sister Zi Yuan using a magical item and then polished using my magical item, right?"

    Ruan Hongling turned her eyes, pointed to Li Yundong downstairs, and said, "You can ask him. He is the proprietor and the one who led us to renovate this store."

    Li Yuanbo was surprised and said, "Oh? Yundong? Did he decorate the store himself? He knows how to do that kind of thing?"

    Ruan Hongling snorted and said, "Of course not. He forced us to learn how to do it. We were worked to the bone every day!"

    That was very ambiguous, and some people couldn¡¯t help but show a strange smile on their faces. But Li Yuanbo was present, so they didn¡¯t dare to say anything, just exchanged dubious looks privately.

    Li Yuanbo nced at Li Yundong and nodded and praised him. "Not bad. Doing it yourself, starting from scratch again, all pretty impressive!" Then, he turned to Mayor Zeng and said, "Mayor Zeng, our government should encourage young people to start their own businesses like this."

    Mayor Zeng nodded and said with a smile, "Yes, we will definitely support them!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er looked around at the exquisitely made tables and chairs, as well as theyout of the store, then whispered to Cao Kefei, "Sister Cao, I now believe that the Li Yundong you love to fawn over is not totally ipetent."

    Cao Kefei chuckled and said, "Anything but!"

    Yin Mengfan, who had been silent all this time, nudged her and said in a low voice, "Stop standing there chattering! Hurry up and find a ce to sit"

    Cao Kefei looked up, smiling bitterly. "There are no seats left. They¡¯re all taken!"

    Yin Mengfan red at Cao Kefei, looking disgruntled. "It¡¯s all your fault. I saw an empty seat just a second ago! You wouldn¡¯t stop talking!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er stuck out her tongue and whispered, "Well, let¡¯s go downstairs and sit somewhere down there. It¡¯s too weird up here with all the officials. Also, I feel like some people are leering at us, it¡¯s making me ufortable!"

    After discussing it for a while, the three beauties went back downstairs. When they got downstairs, they saw a young man with a camera in his hands talking to a round-faced beautiful woman, saying, "Nana,e on. We were colleagues once. Can¡¯t you do me a favor?"

    This round-faced beauty was Feng Na. She replied to Han Lin in a neutral tone, "Han Lin, how were you speaking to people just now? Just do it for them. You reap what you sow, you know. I can¡¯t help you."

    Han Lin¡¯s face changed. He knew that he had offended Li Yundong before and that if he kept pushing, he would definitely be in trouble. However, the governor was here! If he didn¡¯t interview him now, he would definitely be scolded by his father when he went back. He was not willing to just leave, so he stood at the door, his eyes flickering with uncertainty.

    Cao Kefei and the others came down at this time. She walked over to Li Yundong, nced at Han Lin, and asked, "Who is he? A reporter?"

    Li Yundong nced at Han Lin and the frustrated hostess beside him, then said lightly, "I¡¯ve no idea."

    "Oh," Cao Kefei said quietly, not pursuing the matter. Instead, she said, "Hey, there are no seats upstairs. Let¡¯s sit downstairs."

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Okay, but there are not many seats downstairs either. We weren¡¯t expecting so many people toe, so we didn¡¯t arrange enough tables and chairs."

    Cao Kefei smiled and said, "Isn¡¯t it better for the ce to be lively? It¡¯s better than being cold and cheerless, isn¡¯t it?" Then she pointed to the Tea Shop of Zhao opposite and sighed, "Look. There is still a red flower on the que, but there is almost no one inside. It¡¯s so cold and deste!"

    Cao Kefei didn¡¯t know what was going on between Li Yundong and Zhao Yougen. She hadn¡¯t meant to say anything particrly significant, but Li Yundong and the others listened attentively.

    Li Yundong and Zi Yuan looked at each other and smiled,ing to a tacit understanding in silence. Zhou Qin, who was standing to one side, suddenly sneered. "There must be guestsingter. I don¡¯t think these tables and chairs are enough. I¡¯ll borrow a few tables and chairs from the ce opposite."

    At this time, Su Chan was traipsing down the stairs. The wild, reckless girl already hated the disgusting guy who owned the shop opposite. When she heard Zhou Qin¡¯s words, she was so happy that she jumped over, pping her hands and saying with a smile, "Yeah, yeah, I¡¯ll help you!"

    After being encouraged by Su Chan, Zhou Qin turned around and left without even waiting for Li Yundong to agree. Even when Li Yundong called to her from behind, she pretended that she couldn¡¯t hear him.

    Su Chan, who had caught up with her, took her arm and asked in a low voice, "Sister Zhou Qin, Yundong is calling you. Why aren¡¯t you answering him?"

    Zhou Qin tilted her head and said to Su Chan with a smile, "Master¡¯s heart is the softest. He must have been thinking about dealing with this guy for a long time, but there are so many people around, so it¡¯s not convenient for him to say anything. If I look back, I won¡¯t be able to avenge Zhao Yougen for him."

    Only then did Su Chan realize what was going on. She giggled and said, "You¡¯re right. Let¡¯s move all the things out of his shop!"

    Zhou Qin pursed her lips and said slyly, "It¡¯s unnecessary to empty the ce. Besides, we¡¯d have no ce to put everything. We¡¯ll just teach him a lesson!"

    While they were talking, the two of them walked into Zhao Yougen¡¯s teahouse, striding straight past the threshold. They moved the tables and chairs as if they couldn¡¯t see Zhao Yougen at all.

    Both of them were cultivators and thus had great strength. It was easy for them to hold a heavy mahogany table with one hand. One of the beautiful women in Qipao in the teahouse was stunned. When they got to the door, she chased after them, yelling, "Hey, what are you doing? Those tables and chairs belong here!"

    Zhou Qin didn¡¯t even look at her, just squinted at Zhao Yougen and said coldly, "President Zhao, we don¡¯t have enough tables and chairs in our store, so we want to borrow a few from you. You won¡¯t be stingy, right?"

    Su Chan added insult to injury him by chiming in, "That¡¯s right. Look at how few people there are in here! It¡¯d just be a waste to leave this furniture unsued. Why don¡¯t you just lend them to us?"

    Zhou Qin looked at Su Chan with appreciation, and Su Chan gave her a quick thumbs-up. The two girls winked at each other, treating Zhao Yougen as if he didn¡¯t exist.

    Zhao Yougen¡¯s face turned from red to blue. He wanted to say no, but he didn¡¯t have the courage to deny them. He took a deep, painful breath and forced out a smile, saying bitterly, "Fine. Take them!"

    "Hmph!" Zhou Qin and Su Chan raised their heads at the same time, adjusted the tables and chairs in their arms pompously and began heading back. They were like generals who had won a battle and were returning to the imperial court with their spoils.

    Li Yundong and Zi Yuan looked at the two of them. One smiled bitterly, and the other chuckled, but both of them were equally speechless.

    Feng Na, however, burst outughing and gave Zhou Qin and Su Chan a thumbs-up. "Hah, awesome! That was too ruthless and arrogant! But I like it. This guy is so arrogant and annoying that he said all those insulting words to Li Yundong! Bah, why doesn¡¯t he look in the mirror and see what kind of person he really is!"

    Li Yundong deliberately put on a straight face and pretended to be angry, saying, "Don¡¯t you know you are taking advantage of another person¡¯s peril? He is already miserable enough. All the guests who came to support him turned tail and ran over to us. Why do you have to sprinkle salt on other people¡¯s wounds?"

    Most people downstairs had seen how Zhao Yougen had humiliated Li Yundong. They looked at each other as if they didn¡¯t understand why Li Yundong was speaking up for him now. While they were pondering it, they saw Li Yundong¡¯s face suddenly rx. He said slowly, "Although I don¡¯t like kicking a man when he¡¯s down, or dropping a stone on a man who has fallen down a well, I, as a bystander, still feel pretty chill!"

    Saying that, he burst intoughter.

    Zhou Qin and Su Chan looked at each other and smiled. Then they lifted the tables and chairs back up in high spirits, and the other Tiannan University students who hade with Cheng Cheng all good-naturedly went to help.

    Feng Na scolded Li Yundong with a smile, "Li Yundong, your words just now were really unkind. It¡¯s like you are only pretending to be a good person. Zhou Qin and Su Chan are ying bad guys?"

    Standing nearby, Zhao Yougen clearly heard Feng Na¡¯s words. He felt as if he had been pinched hard in his heart. He felt so suffocated that he almost couldn¡¯t breathe, his heart overtaken by feelings of rage, fear, hate and aggrievance.

    "How can a boss of apany get humiliated like this? How could it be?"

    "It was one thing for Li Yundong to steal his limelight, but he even poached his guests. Stealing the tables and chairs in his own shop is just excessive!

    "There is no kind of bullying harsher than this!"

    The more Zhao Yougen thought about it, the more pained and sad he became. He finally couldn¡¯t help screaming in anguish.

    When Li Yundong heard Feng Na¡¯s words, heughed and was about to say something. Suddenly, he heard Zhao Yougen burst into tears. He turned around and saw him kneeling on the street with water running from his eyes. Zhao Yougen cried loudly, "Oh my god, I¡¯ve seen bullies before, but I¡¯ve never seen someone as reprehensible as this!"

 Chapter 410 Are Kumquats also Citrus Fruits?

    <h4>Chapter 410 Are Kumquats also Citrus Fruits?</h4>

    In Zhao Yougen¡¯s opinion, Li Yundong was just a poor student. He didn¡¯t know where he had scraped together the money to open such a store. As long as he casuallypeted with him, it wouldn¡¯t be long before the nasty brat went bankrupt on his own.

    It was with this kind of mindset that the waiters recruited by Zhao Yougen were all high-paid beauties, and their sries were enviable.

    At first, these beauties in Qipao had thought that they had met a generous boss, especially after the previous opening ceremony, which had been very lively and glorious.

    At this moment, the Tea Shop of Zhao was full of people, and it was very lively. The Lord Mayor hade in person, and everyone attending felt proud, all walking around with their heads upright.

    However, after their boss had run to the opposite side and said a few harsh words, the whole situation had taken a nosedive, going from being bustling to deste, while the opposite side turned from being deste to bustling.

    There was no way that this could have been foreseen!

    The beauties in Qipao felt that their shop had been robbed of its limelight by theirpetitor, which was very embarrassing. There was probably nothing in life more embarrassing and depressing than being suppressed by one¡¯s opponent during a confrontation.

    But soon, something even gloomier happened!

    Their enemies hade to their shop to take tables and chairs, just like they were moving their own things!

    This was equivalent to a situation where after a sex worker had provided a service, their client not only refused to pay the bill, but even robbed them!

    "This is so fu*king absurd!"

    But soon the beauties in Qipao realized that the most embarrassing thing was not yet over. What was even more embarrassing was that their boss was actually kneeling on the street and weeping!

    The beauties in Qipao almost fell to the floor themselves. Some of them even whispered in private, "Is the other teahouse still hiring? I want to go over there!"

    "Me too... I¡¯m too embarrassed to stay here!"

    "The boss opposite is young and handsome and has such a strong background. Ah, I¡¯d be willing to throw myself at him!"

    "Wake up, look at how many beauties he has around him! You¡¯d have to queue for a hundred years to get your turn!"

    These beauties in Qipao were all secretly pointing at Zhao Yougen behind him, and Li Yundong and the others opposite were also watching Zhao Yougen and whispering.

    Li Yundong looked at Zhao Yougen and frowned suddenly, asking in a low voice, "Are we behaving too excessively?"

    "Excessively?" Feng Na snorted. "This kind of person bullies others once they have some power, and then if they lose it, they will pretend to be pitiful. Humph, I think it¡¯s not excessive just to move their table and chairs! If it were me, I would have emptied his shop right out! Then demolished the whole building!"

    Her best friend Cheng Cheng nodded hard. "Yes, yes! That¡¯d be ideal!"

    Li Yundong smiled ruefully. "You two are no fun!"

    Zi Yuan also smiled slightly and said, "Yes, this guy is done for. There is no need to carry on tormenting him. Aren¡¯t you afraid of hurting your reputation? Moreover, one should be lenient whenever possible!"

    At this time, Zhou Qin and Su Chan, who had set up the tables and chairs, also walked over. The little girl pped her hands and hummed, "Would it be possible to spare him like this? This guy has been acting against us for more than ten days!"

    A smile appeared at the corners of Zhou Qin¡¯s mouth. "It¡¯s okay, there will be opportunities to properly get rid of him in the future! It¡¯d be better to let it go for now and draw out his defeat!"

    Li Yundong looked at her helplessly and said, "Is this your original appearance?"

    Zhou Qin smiled slightly, tossing her silky ck hair as she said faintly, "I just think it¡¯s good to make people know that if they want to bully us they will have to pay the price! Master, since it¡¯s not convenient for you to do anything, I¡¯ll do it for you!"

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly and shook his head. Before even opening his mouth to speak, Feng Na on the side began saying persuasively, "Hurry up and let President Cao and the others take their seats. They have been waiting for a long time!"

    Only then did Li Yundong notice that Cao Kefei, Yin Mengfan, and Liu Fei¡¯er were staring at them in astonishment. He quickly shed a grin and said, "Mr. Cao, you can sit anywhere you want!"

    With that said, Li Yundong pointed at the tables and chairs that Zhou Qin and Su Chan had brought over. "Why don¡¯t you sit here?"

    Cao Kefei hurriedly waved her hand and said with a smile, "No, no, this is your trophy, we can¡¯t sit here." She took Liu Fei¡¯er and Yin Mengfan to another nearby table and sat down.

    Li Yundong just looked at them mildly and didn¡¯t insist.

    After a while, the upper and lower floors became full of people. Zi Yuan whispered to Li Yundong, "Can we start the opening ceremony now?"

    Li Yundong nodded and said, "Okay!"

    "Then let¡¯s ask Uncle Li to cut the ribbon for us?" Zhou Qin asked tentatively.

    "Is everything prepared?"

    "We can make the preparations now," Zhou Qin said. "We happen to have some red silk and satin that has not been used up in the store. It can be used in a pinch."

    Li Yundong thought for a moment before saying to Su Chan, "Chan¡¯er, you¡¯re the master of ceremonies. You will be responsible for serving the dishester."

    Su Chan blinked her eyes. "Dishes?"

    Li Yundong smiled and tweaked the tip of her nose. "Didn¡¯t you see how they held the opening ceremony opposite? Can¡¯t we do the same thing?"

    Su Chan suddenly understood. "Ah, okay. I¡¯ll go prepare for it!" she said with a giggle.

    Li Yundong patted her head affectionately. "Don¡¯t make a mistake!"

    Su Chan replied obediently, "Got it!" Then, she turned and ran into the storage room of the tea house.

    Li Yundong then turned to Zhou Qin. "Go with Feng Na and Cheng Cheng to prepare the red silk. I¡¯ll ask Secretary Li toe downter."

    Zhou Qin nodded affirmatively, gestured to Feng Na and Cheng Cheng, and turned away.

    Li Yundong then smiled at the other schoolmates who hade with Cheng Cheng and said, "Everyone, take your seats. Don¡¯t stand at the door with me. Those who don¡¯t know any better will mistake you as my bodyguards!"

    The students from Tiannan University chuckled and slid into their seats on the first floor.

    After Li Yundong had finished arranging everyone, he whispered to Zi Yuan, "Will you cut the ribbon with meter?"

    Zi Yuan asked suspiciously, "Why are you asking me this suddenly?"

    "If you hadn¡¯t been here, this shop would not have even opened. If shares were calcted based on individuals¡¯ contributions, you would have at least 35% of the shares, and I would also have 35%. The others would all share the remaining 30%."

    With a light smile on her face, Zi Yuan shook her head and said by way of rejection, "Li Yundong, since you know full well that we have been working together as a whole, you shouldn¡¯t say such things. If wecked any one of them, we would have failed! Think about it. Could we havecked Su Chan whilepeting with others¡¯ tea art? Or Ruan Hongling? If I am the only one to cut the ribbon, they will feel like it¡¯s unfair even if they don¡¯t say it!"

    Li Yundong fell silent for a long time. Eventually, he sighed lightly and said, "Zi Yuan, this is really unfair to you."

    Zi Yuan smiled gently, "I don¡¯t think so. I don¡¯t want to stand out, and you are the only man amongst us. Naturally, it¡¯d be best if you showed up."

    Li Yundong smiled and nodded slightly. Just as he was about to speak, Su Chan suddenly rushed out of the storage room and yelled, "Yundong, we only have one pair of scissors!"

    Li Yundong was stunned. "Only one? I¡¯m afraid that won¡¯t be enough, right? Is it toote to buy more now?"

    Su Chan blinked slowly. "Yeah, probably."

    Li Yundong thought for a moment and said, "Let¡¯s find something else to use instead then. You can alwayse up with a way!"

    Su Chan nodded and turned away. At this time, Zhou Qin, Feng Na and the others came out with a three-meter-long red ribbon. "Is it long enough?" Zhou Qin asked.

    Li Yundong nodded. "Should be enough. Zhou Qin, go and invite Secretary Li toe down. We¡¯ll start cutting the ribbons."

    Li Yundong then turned to the little foxes. "You are responsible for setting off the firecrackers!"

    Upon hearing this, the little foxes felt a rush of excitement. They ran over to the storage room and pulled out a few bundles of firecrackers. Li Yundong said to them, "Hang them up on the roof and set them offter. It will be the perfect chance for us to put on a good show!"

    Each of the little foxes had bright, prating eyes and pearly white teeth. No matter how strong the men they encountered might be, they could extract their souls. They answered in unison, immediately attracting the attention of many people upstairs.

    Each of the four young girls was holding a firecracker in her hands. Without even making any preparations, they jumped up to the top of the building. After hanging the firecrackers, they descended back down lightly like swallows.

    At this time, the guests upstairs were stunned, and it took a long time before boisterous cheering broke out, and they pped until their palms were raw.

    Liu Fei¡¯er, who was downstairs, widened her eyes and eximed, "That¡¯s amazing! How can they jump so high? Are they using invisible wires?"

    Cao Kefei grinned and said, "How could that be? Do you think this is a film set? They have real skill!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er shook her head with an incredulous expression on her face and said, "How is that possible? Some of the girls look younger than me, how could they jump so high? If they are really relying on their own strength, their jumps would qualify them to set new Olympic records.

    Cao Kefei smiled meaningfully. "I had doubts before, but after meeting Li Yundong, I now believe that there are experts in this world!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er looked closely at Li Yundong, asking suspiciously, "Is he really so powerful? He doesn¡¯t look like an expert!"

    At this time, Zhou Qin invited Li Yuanbo to cut the ribbon for the opening ceremony of the Disanxian. As the owner of the shop, Li Yundong stood shoulder to shoulder with Li Yuanbo.

    Li Yuanbo has been observing Li Yundong silently all this time. He had watched Li Yundong in the midst of all this drama, but it seemed that no matter who he met, he would not change his face, remaining humble and behaving very calmly. Hisposure not only surpassed that of his peers, but even many of the well-informed old politicians.

    "How did this young man cultivate such a temperament? Amazing, incredible!"

    At this time, Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, and Feng Na started temporarily acting like ceremonialdies, standing on each side of the red silk.

    Li Yuanbo saw that the clothes of the three were different, and he said with a smile, "Are you serving as ceremonialdies? How unprofessional!"

    Zi Yuan smiled faintly, as if a breeze was blowing on her face. Feng Na was a little nervous and did not dare to receive the words of the Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee.

    Only Zhou Qin said with a smile, "Uncle Li, are the decoration workers professional enough? Seems like their decoration is not as good as ours! These days, you have to select people based on multiple skills!"

    Li Yuanbo nodded at Zhou Qin. "You¡¯re so sharp-tongued, little girl!"

    With this, he smiled and said to Li Yundong, "Li, I am willing to cut the ribbon, but where are the scissors?"

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly. "A moment, please!" He then turned his head and rushed into the storage room, shouting, "Su Chan! Have you found it yet?"

    "I¡¯ming!" Su Chan¡¯s voice rang out before she showed her face. After a while, she hurried out holding a te covered with two pieces of red cloth.

    Li Yuanbo took in Su Chan¡¯s beautiful appearance and was struck by how cute she looked rushing about. He couldn¡¯t help smiling and saying, "What a beautiful girl. Slow down! Don¡¯t fall!"

    Su Chan looked at Li Yuanbo and grinned brightly, raising the te as she said, "Secretary Li, please remove the red silk cloth on the right."

    Li Yuanbo saw that there were two pieces of red cloth on the te. He smiled and said, "Oh, what¡¯s this custom?" Then he uncovered the red cloth and saw a pair of scissors lying underneath, which he picked up with a smile.

    Su Chan brought the te over to Li Yundong again, winking at him repeatedly.

    Seeing Su Chan¡¯s unusual behavior, Li Yundong felt suspicious and asked in a low voice, "Chan¡¯er, what¡¯s wrong with you?"

    When Su Chan opened her mouth to speak, Li Yuanbo looked at Li Yundong puzzledly and asked, "Li, why haven¡¯t you removed the other cloth?"

    Su Chan immediately mped her mouth shut, stared at the red cloth, and continued winking at Li Yundong.

    Li Yundong gaped at the little girl¡¯s behavior and thought that she was hinting at him to quickly remove the red cloth, so he unhesitatingly lifted it.

    What was beneath was amazing!

    Su Chan immediately lowered her head with a pained look on her face, and Li Yundong was struck dumb in surprise, his eyes wide open!

    There was a file lying there on the te!

    Li Yuanbo stared at Li Yundong in a daze. He nced at him curiously, seemingly thunderstruck. This Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, who had experienced countless dramatic scenes, was rooted to the spot for a while, and could not say any word!

    Li Yundong picked up the seven-inch-long file from the te, his hand trembling. He stuttered, "What, what is this?"

    Su Chan lowered her head as low as she could, so that her chin was almost touching her chest. She said in a low, muffled voice, "The file!"

    Li Yundong looked mad and said, "Didn¡¯t I ask you to find a substitute? You couldn¡¯t have even gotten a knife? What is this? Can this be used to cut the ribbon?"

    Su Chan raised her eyes and nced at Li Yundong, muttering in a low voice, "Files are also knives!"

    Hearing this, Li Yundong almost copsed. "Files are also knives? Is the kumquat citrus?"

 Chapter 411 A Small Trick!

    <h4>Chapter 411 A Small Trick!</h4>

    At this moment, seeing this scene. Zhou Qin, Zi Yuan, and Feng Na, who were serving as hostesses, felt embarrassed and also wanted tough.

    However, they did not dare to show amusement at the scene in front of them, so they could only force themselves to refrain fromughing and look steadily forward. They gritted their teeth, tensed their faces, and put on bitter, hateful expressions.

    In contrast, Li Yundong¡¯s ssic joke about the file and kumquats made Zhou Qin and Feng Na burst outughing at the same time, but they quickly stifled themselves and put on straight faces while the corners of their mouths twitched.

    Only Zi Yuan remained truly calm. She looked up at the sky with a serene face, but Ruan Hongling, who was most familiar with her, could see that Zi Yuan¡¯s hand was gripping the satin tightly, and her shoulders were slightly shaking, as if she was holding backughter.

    Li Yundong¡¯s loud yell made Su Chan lower her head. She looked aggrieved and whispered, "Because I couldn¡¯t find anything else to rece it with. This is all your fault! You forced me to do it!"

    Li Yundong took a deep breath and thought, "Oh, so it¡¯s my fault now!?"

    Li Yuanbo also tried his best to hold back hisughter as he asked, "Li, what¡¯s wrong?"

    Li Yundong smiled hollowly. "Never mind, Secretary Li. Let¡¯s cut the ribbons as nned!"

    Li Yuanbo pointed to the file in Li Yundong¡¯s hand andughed, "I have cut many ribbons. but it¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen anyone attempt to do it in this way. Very creative!"

    Li Yundong heard what he said, and was suddenly struck with some ideas. He smiled, "Secretary Li, do you mind if I perform a little trick for you?"

    Li Yuanbo asked curiously, "A trick? Li, you know how to do tricks?"

    "It¡¯s nothing impressive, just good for amusing Secretary Li."

    Li Yuanboughed, "Then by all means, allow me to see what kind of trick it is!"

    Li Yundong raised the file in his hand and passed it to Li Yuanbo. "Secretary Li, look at this. Is this a normal file?"

    Li Yuanbo suddenly grinned and said, "I don¡¯t need to look at it. It¡¯s a normal file for sure!"

    "Since it¡¯s a file, Secretary Li, won¡¯t you try to see if it can cut this satin?"

    "Hah, of course, it can¡¯t!"

    Li Yundong nodded. "Secretary Li thinks it¡¯s just a file and can¡¯t cut the satin, so what do you think?" he said loudly, holding the file high and showing it to the people upstairs and downstairs.

    All the people in the building were looking at him. One of them shouted, "It¡¯s a file. We can see it clearly!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er whispered to Cao Kefei, "Sister Cao, what¡¯s wrong with this guy? What does he want to do with the file?"

    Cao Kefei gently patted her hand, stared at Li Yundong, and whispered, "Be quiet, look carefully!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er wrinkled her nose and snorted, then opened her eyes wide and peered at Li Yundong carefully.

    Li Yundong put the file under the red satin in front of the crowd. "In fact, this file is a peerless magical sword. Once I pull on the red cloth, the file will cut it cleanly!"

    Li Yuanboughed, "Oh? Is that so?"

    Su Chan, who was standing to one side, also stared at Li Yundong, wide-eyed. She couldn¡¯t figure out what he was intending to do.

    Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, Feng Na, and everyone else was also staring at Li Yundong,pletely enraptured. They wanted to see what kind of trick he was going to y.

    Li Yundong held the file in one hand and the red satin in the other. He took a deep breath and suddenly shouted, stamping his foot.

    The crowd felt like Li Yundong¡¯s loud shout was suffocating, exerting pressure in their chests and making them feel faint. When Li Yundong stamped his feet, even the ground trembled slightly, shocking everyone.

    When they regained their concentration, they saw that the red satin in Li Yundong¡¯s hand had been neatly cut into two pieces.

    Li Yuanbo was closest to Li Yundong, but all he had seen was a white light shing in front of his eyes and then the red satin was divided into two. The incision was very smooth, and the break was right where the file had been positioned.

    Li Yuanbo stared at the file for a second or two, then broke out into a smile. "It¡¯s indeed a peerless sword. Good, awesome!"

    At this time, the crowd also cheered. Some of them were praising Li Yundong¡¯s "little trick", while others were cheering for Li Yundong¡¯s ability to adapt to the situation.

    Only cultivators like Su Chan, Zi Yuan, Ruan Hongling, Zhou Qin, and the rest of the Fox Zen School knew that Li Yundong had shouted and stomped his feet just to distract everyone¡¯s attention, allowing him to cut the red satin with the Liuhe while no one was looking.

    But the speed of the Liuhe was so fast that it almost exceeded what normal people could see with their naked eyes. Others noticed a sh of white light and thought they were hallucinating, but in fact, it was Li Yundong being so bold as to use his sword in front of the militarymander in charge of an entire province!

    Seeing this, Zi Yuan secretly frowned and thought to herself, "Li Yundong is getting bolder and bolder. Last time he struck Mount Longhu with lighting and now he is actually using his magical sword in front of the Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee! I really don¡¯t know what kind of trouble he will cause next time!"

    Su Chan didn¡¯t understand the severity of this matter. Seeing that Li Yundong had worked through the crisis, her admiration for him only grew. She looked at Li Yundong with awe and whispered, "Yundong, you¡¯re so amazing! I love you so much!"

    Li Yundong secretly shot a re at her and whispered back, "Get down quickly!"

    Su Chan blinked. "But Secretary Li hasn¡¯t cut the ribbon yet!"

    Only at this moment did Li Yundonge to his senses. He smiled at Li Yuanbo and said, "Forgive me, Secretary Li, I was so engrossed in the trick that I forgot the ribbon-cutting! I actually cut it before you. I¡¯m so sorry!"

    Li Yuanboughed. "It doesn¡¯t matter. After all, you¡¯re the owner of this shop. I¡¯m only a guest." As he spoke, he used his scissors to cut the red silk ribbon.

    When the crowd saw that the two of them had finished cutting the ribbons, they burst into thunderous apuse to celebrate.

    Su Chan quickly tucked away from the red satin, then pulled a face at Li Yundong and hurried into the storage room.

    Li Yundong looked at the little girl helplessly and shook his head ruefully, thinking to himself, "She is so naughty! She almost ruined the whole thing at a time like this! It¡¯s a good thing I have quick reactions, otherwise, it would have been very embarrassing!"

    While he was thinking this, Li Yuanbo smiled and said to Li Yundong, "Li, could you give me the peerless magical sword in your hand?"

    Li Yundong smiled. "Of course," he said, handing it over with both hands.

    Li Yuanbo took the file, fiddling with it in his hand and saying with a smile, "Interesting, really interesting!"

    Li Yundong was a little confused. "Secretary Li seems to be a sophisticated person. Why is he so interested in this file?"

    Li Yuanbo carried on ying with the file for a while. Suddenly, he said to Li Yundong, "By the way, I still don¡¯t know the name of your store. Where is the que for it? It hasn¡¯t been hung yet, right?"

    "I was actually going to invite Secretary Li to unveil it!" Li Yundong exined.

    Li Yuanbo grinned. "It sounds like I¡¯m involved in all the good things! Don¡¯t speak ill of me behind my back!"

    Li Yundong could tell that even though Li Yuanbo was a high-ranking official of the provincial partymittee, he wasn¡¯t the kind to put on airs at all and he always spoke kindly. He was amazed in his heart and didn¡¯t respond for a while.

    Zhou Qin then chimed in, "Uncle Li, it¡¯s our honor for you to unveil our que. Let¡¯s not dy. We¡¯ve been waiting for it for so long!"

    "Alright, then I won¡¯t waste time!" Li Yuanbo said, turning to Li Yundong and shing his teeth. "Little Li, let¡¯s go together?"

    Li Yundong grinned back at him. "Naturally, I¡¯ll ept your offer!"

    At this time, Ruan Hongling and Zi Yuan held one side each and carried out the que. Li Yundong and Li Yuanbo walked over to them and they opened it together.

    Li Yuanbo took a closer look and saw the exquisite characters written on the board: Disanxian! Li Yuanbo¡¯s eyes lit up and he shouted, "These are excellent characters, really excellent! Which master wrote this?"

    Li Yundong smiled and pointed to Zi Yuan, saying, "This is the work of Zi Yuan, the second fiddle of our Disanxian!"

    Li Yuanbo looked at Zi Yuan in shock and shouted involuntarily, "Is the Eight Immortals Painting on the upper floor also one of your works?"

    "Indeed, I carved it," said Zi Yuan.

    Li Yuanbo widened his eyes and kept shaking his head. "Incredible! It¡¯s really incredible! How did you learn to do that at such a young age?"

    Zi Yuan showed an elegant and dignified smile, like she was Guanyin in the mortal world, amazing people and making them not dare to offend her. "The cultivation of things depends not on time but on one¡¯s heart! If your heart is enough, your kung fu will be enough. If your heart is not enough, then your kung fu will not be enough!"

    Li Yuanbo¡¯s expression changed, turning solemn. "You are right, Master Zi Yuan. I¡¯ll remember your words!"

    Then he turned his head and said to Li Yundong, "Little Li, I wasn¡¯t expecting to see immortals here today. I didn¡¯te here in vain!"

    Li Yundong asked deliberately, "Immortals? Where?"

    Li Yuanboughed and pointed at Zi Yuan. "Isn¡¯t she one? She has the looks of a fairy, gestures like one, does fairy calligraphy and fairy paintings. If she is not a living immortal, then what is she?"

    Zhou Qin knew that Li Yuanbo was shrewd and deep and would not praise others easily. But at this time, he had made such ament over Zi Yuan, which obviously showed that he admired her in the extreme. While she also admired Zi Yuan secretly, she was a little unconvinced and wanted topete with her in the future.

    Li Yundong did not know what Zhou Qin was thinking. He said with a smile, "Secretary Li, please take a seat inside. I¡¯ll hang this que."

    "Well, hang it up quickly for me to get a look at!" Li Yuanbo said. Then he looked at the people around him and added, "Take this que upstairs and hang it up quickly. Will you usedders or ropes?"

    As he spoke, he saw that Zi Yuan, Ruan Hongling, and Zhou Qin were all motionless. Zhou Qin said, "Uncle Li, Li Yundong can do it alone."

    Li Yuanbo gave her a reproachful look and said, "What nonsense are you spewing? This que is made of mahogany and I¡¯m afraid it weighs over forty pounds. How could a person carry it alone?"

    As soon as he finished his words, Li Yundong suddenly grabbed the que. He shook his arm and pped the bottom of the que with his palm, making it fly into the air and hang right in the middle of the teahouse.

    Li Yundong¡¯s acton was very neat and restrained, and all who saw it immediately cheered.

    Liu Fei¡¯er, who was slowly munching on some snacks, also widened her eyes. The snack in her hand fell to the ground, and she said in an obsessed tone, "He¡¯s so handsome!"

    Cao Kefei snortedcently as if she was the one who had been in the limelight just now. "So handsome? He¡¯s not all that!"

    Li Yuanbo looked up at the que hanging steadily, and then turned to Li Yundong with a shocked face. "How did you get such a heavy que up there?"

    Li Yundong smiled. "It¡¯s an insignificant skill that is not worthy of mentioning!"

    Li Yuanbo¡¯s eyes suddenly shed with a trace of doubt, but he quickly suppressed it. He turned around with a smile, intending to go into the teahouse with Li Yundong.

    At this time, Han Lin, who had been hiding and filming everything not far away, suddenly ran over and said loudly, "Secretary Li, can I do a brief interview with you?"

    Li Yuanbo secretly frowned and said lightly, "I¡¯m here today to attend a friend¡¯s ceremony. Don¡¯t you think you¡¯re being a bit pushy?" He then turned and went into the teahouse.

    Although this was an interrogative question, his tone was clear and non-negotiable. Although Han Lin was arrogant, he was not a fool. He looked embarrassed and thought to himself, "If all I get is a photo of him but no interview, I¡¯ll be scolded when I go back!"

    Han Lin had no choice but to turn around and say humbly to Li Yundong, "Boss Li, I was stupid just now and offended you. Please don¡¯t take it to heart. Could I briefly interview you, just for one minute?"

    Li Yundong smiled and asked, "Who exactly are you?"

    Han Lin could tell that Li Yundong was not going to deliberately embarrass him. He was instantly overjoyed and began saying, "I am..."

    But Li Yundong only waited for him to get out these two words before raising his palm and saying, "I¡¯m sorry, I won¡¯t remember it even if you tell me. Please go away!"

    Then he turned around and left.

    Han Lin¡¯s face immediately turned pig-liver red. He stood alone, gasping for breath for a long while, before eventually gritting his teeth and leaving, utterly defeated.

    After Li Yundong had gotten upstairs and settled everyone down, he breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his brow surreptitiously. He thought in his heart, "There should be nothing wrong. These officials have to be handled with extreme care. It¡¯s so stressful to serve them!"

    While he was thinking this, he suddenly saw Su Chan run upstairs in rm.

    As soon as Li Yundong saw her, he smiled bitterly and said, "What¡¯s wrong with you now, my deardy?"

    Su Chan hurriedly waved her hand and pulled Li Yundong to one side, whispering frantically, "Yundong, bad news!"

    Li Yundong asked curiously, "What¡¯s wrong? Look how scared you are!"

    "There are two more guestsing!"

    Li Yundongughed. "If more guests show up, we¡¯ll just add seats. What¡¯s the big deal?"

    Su Chan stomped her feet and said, "I don¡¯t mean that! The new guests are Zhang Ling and Zou Ping!"

    Li Yundong was shocked. "The Lady of the Earthly Fire, Zhang Ling, and her disciple, Zou Ping!?"

    Su Chan nodded, her head bobbing like that of a hen pecking at rice. "Yes, yes, it¡¯s them!"

    Li Yundong gasped. "What are they doinging to today¡¯s opening ceremony? Are they here to stir up trouble?"

 Chapter 412 Coming Uninvited

    <h4>Chapter 412 Coming Uninvited</h4>

    Li Yundong and Su Chan hurried down the stairs. Sure enough, upon reaching the first floor they saw Zou Ping and Zhang Ling, both dressed in Daopao, standing at the door. Li Yundong¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He slowed down and walked over.

    Most of the people sitting in the tea room on the first floor were students, friends of Li Yundong, Liu Fei¡¯er and the others. When they saw the two Taoist nuns standing at the door, they all turned their heads curiously. Only Zhou Qin, Zi Yuan, and Ruan Hongling were feeling nervous.

    Liu Fei¡¯er picked up a cup of tea as she curiously sized up Zhang Ling and Zou Ping. She asked in a low voice, "Why are there still Taoistsing out to beg alms now?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er was a simple-minded person. She didn¡¯t notice Li Yundong, Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin¡¯s vignce and hostility. However, Cao Kefei had some brains and could tell that something fishy was going on.

    Cao Kefei winked at Liu Fei¡¯er and whispered, "Stay quiet. There will be a good showter."

    Liu Fei¡¯er said curiously, "They¡¯re just two Taoists. What¡¯s the...?"

    When she was talking in a low voice, she suddenly saw Zhang Ling turn around and nce at her casually. This nce was not very sharp, but when it swept across Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s face, her words died in her throat. Her heart beat wildly, as if there was a hand pressing down on her chest, making her feel a little breathless.

    By this point, Li Yundong had already walked downstairs. Feng Na turned her head and smiled when she saw him. "Li Yundong, there are two Taoists here to beg alms. Do you want to...?"

    "They do not aim to beg alms!" said Li Yundong.

    After saying that, he cupped his hands and said to Zhang Ling and Zou Ping in a deep voice, "Zhenren Zhang, why are you here today?"

    Zou Ping stood to one side. For once, she wasn¡¯t saying anything, just staring at Li Yundong with unfriendly eyes. Zhang Ling formed a palm with one hand and said, "Amitayus, Zhenren Li. How have you been since we left Mount Gezao?"

    Li Yundong saluted her back and said lightly, "Zhenren Zhang, you look just as good as before. But I don¡¯t know how you have the free time to visit our shop today."

    The people next to them watched Li Yundong and Zhang Ling bow to each other and speak in a gentle way, like people from the ancient world. They all felt strange inwardly and their feelings of curiosity intensified.

    Zhang Ling nced around indifferently and said, "I heard that you had opened a tea shop. As a friend with the same Tao, how could I note to celebrate?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart trembled. He cupped his hands and said, "You¡¯re too polite, Zhenren Zhang. I¡¯m embarrassed by this undeserved praise. Distinguished guests have gathered upstairs and downstairs. I wonder how Zhenren Zhang intends to celebrate?"

    Zhang Ling suddenly smiled and said meaningfully, "Since you have been so bold as to use your sword in public just now, you must be very confident in your own magic and cultivation quotient. Am I right?"

    Li Yundong narrowed his eyes slightly, but he soon broke outughing. He deliberately yed dumb and said, "I used a sword in public? What do you mean? Sounds odd."

    Next to him, Zou Ping couldn¡¯t help but mutter in a low voice, "Li Yundong, don¡¯t y dumb. You dared to use your powerful magical weapon in front of the Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee. Are you insane?"

    Li Yundong nced at her lightly. "I don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re saying!"

    Zhang Ling snorted disdainfully. "Zhenren Li, it¡¯s okay for you to y with fire, but don¡¯t let us get involved in it."

    Li Yundong drawled, "Hm? What do you mean?"

    Zhang Ling¡¯s voice was like ice. "No one is allowed to use magic in front of mortals. This is aw of the cultivation world. Don¡¯t you even know that?"

    Li Yundong just smiled faintly. "Is that so? I¡¯m aware that we can¡¯t let ordinary mortals find out that we use spells, so tell me, aside from you guys, did anyone else discover anything just now?"

    Zhang Ling shot daggers at Li Yundong. Her eyes were fixed on him, and her expression was very unfriendly. Li Yundong was also on high alert, his body full of Zhenqi, and he was on the verge of erupting.

    At this time, Feng Na and the others could tell that there was something wrong between Zhang Ling and Li Yundong. Although they didn¡¯t know what Li Yundong had said to her, they felt like a big fight was about to break out.

    Feng Na said to Zhou Qin nervously, "Hey, what¡¯s going on? Are these two Taoists going to make trouble? Call the police!"

    Zhou Qin was even more nervous than Feng Na, but she was the descendent of a rich family after all. Having experienced so many dramas already, she was able to respond calmly in a low voice, "It¡¯s okay. With Li Yundong here, it will be okay."

    At this time, Liu Fei¡¯er grabbed Cao Kefei¡¯s arm and said excitedly, as if she wanted to see the world plunged into chaos, "Hey, hey, sure enough, it seems that they are going to fight! Wow, you¡¯re a master, aren¡¯t you even going to beat a woman?"

    Cao Kefei¡¯s expression was strange. Although she felt ufortable, she defended Li Yundong verbally. "Li Yundong is not that kind of person. However, you have to know that there are some women in this world who are really disgusting."

    Yin Mengfan turned around and red at them. "Shut up! I can¡¯t hear them!"

    The two girls immediately fell quiet and continued to look at Li Yundong and the others with great interest.

    Zhang Ling stared at Li Yundong for a long time. Suddenly, she burst outughing. "You¡¯re really brave. Very well, I admire you! Since you said so, I¡¯d like to have a try at fighting in public!"

    A sharp look suddenly appeared in Li Yundong¡¯s eyes. He said coldly, "Zhenren Zhang, today is Disanxian¡¯s opening ceremony. Must you make trouble today?"

    Zhang Ling snorted coldly. "Zhenren Li, I think you are mistaken. Before you showed your sword in public, I didn¡¯t want toe to you. But since you dared to show a powerful magical weapon in public, it means that you must be very confident in your ability to fight in public. As such, any cultivator around should be able to challenge you in order to uphold thew of the cultivation world! Even if you were not discovered this time, what about the next time, hm?"

    Li Yundong frowned, tilting his head slightly as he whispered to Zi Yuan, "Is there such aw?"

    Zi Yuan replied swiftly in a low voice, "Yes! There¡¯s an unwrittenw in the cultivation world. If any cultivator uses a powerful magical weapon or magic in public, the cultivators around them have the right to deal with it. The purpose of this rule is to prevent people from maliciously publicizing magic and the weapons of the cultivation world and causing chaos or attracting the government¡¯s vignce and suppression."

    Li Yundong nodded slightly. Seeing that he wasn¡¯t going to be able to avoid this fight, he calmed down and said in a deep voice, "Well, how do you want to settle a score, Zhenren Zhang? How about we find a remote ce with no one around?"

    Zhang Ling smiled. She looked around and said, "Why do we have to find an empty spot? Since you dared to show your powerful magical weapon in front of so many people, why don¡¯t we justpete ording to the practices of the cultivation world? Let¡¯s see who will be discovered first by the surrounding people when we fight!"

    At this time, Zi Yuan whispered in Li Yundong¡¯s ear again, "This is a duel between high-leveled cultivators. Whenever they rely on their high-level magic, they often do bold things. They use magic skills and magic treasures in public, but won¡¯t let people discover what they¡¯re doing. People around only think that they are ying with magic, but if one of them gets destroyed by the other side or is seen by the people, they will be regarded as having lost."

    Li Yundong smiled gratefully at Zi Yuan and nodded. "I understand." He then said to Zhang Ling, "In that case, how should we fight?"

    Zhang Ling pondered for a moment. Just as she was about to speak, she heard an old man¡¯s voice. "Haha, what a coincidence. It turns out that Zhenren Zhang is also here!"

    When they heard this, they looked in the direction of the sound to see an old man with white hair and a ruddyplexion dressed in a Taoist robe. A slender Taoist nun was walking by his side.

    When Li Yundong saw them, he immediately frowned. These two people were Zheng Yuan and Ding Nan!

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s face was glowing, looking kindly and amiable. Those who didn¡¯t know him would feel close to him as soon as they saw his appearance. Ding Nan next to him was wearing a Taoist robe for the first time. Although it wasrge and covered her graceful figure, she somehow looked even more attractive by wearing the robe thanks to her height and beautiful face.

    Li Yundong shot a searching look at Ding Nan and said in a deep voice, "What are you doing here?"

    Ding Nan smiled. "Li Yundong, we are ssmates. I heard that you have opened a shop here. As a ssmate and fellow Daoist, I¡¯vee to congratte you. Won¡¯t you wee me?"

    Zheng Yuan also said with a kind smile, "My beloved disciple is really nostalgic. As she wanted toe so much, I could hardly stand in her way. Zhenren Li, you won¡¯t be unreasonable, will you?"

    Li Yundong snorted secretly. Just as he was about to speak, he heard a surprised voice nearby saying, "Hey, Head Zheng, you are here too? Ah, Zhenren Zhang, you as well?"

    Everyone looked over and saw that Du Fei of the Quanzhen Dragon Sect was also there and dressed in a Taoist robe. He looked at Li Yundong and the others in surprise.

    Li Yundong was equally taken aback. "Zhenren Du, why are you here?"

    Du Fei¡¯s face was full of smiles. He cupped his hands in obeisance and said, "Amitayus, Zhenren Li didn¡¯t tell me that you had opened a shop. Obviously, you don¡¯t consider me as a friend, so I had toe without an invitation."

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly in his heart. "I just didn¡¯t want to involve the people of the cultivation world. I wanted to keep a low profile. Well, the people who shoulde and the people who shouldn¡¯t havee are all here just the same now!"

    As if Zi Yuan had read Li Yundong¡¯s thoughts, she said in a low voice, "Li Yundong, you¡¯re a cultivator. Since you¡¯ve chosen to open a store in a noisy area, there¡¯s no way you won¡¯t be disturbed by your fellow Daoists. You should have been aware of this and gotten mentally prepared."

    Su Chan tugged on Li Yundong¡¯s arm and whispered, "Yundong, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ve caused you trouble again!"

    Li Yundong nced at Zi Yuan and smiled at her. Then, he patted Su Chan¡¯s head and said gently, "Dear girl, don¡¯t be silly. Even if you weren¡¯t around, trouble would stille and find me."

    Beside them, Zhang Ling nodded to Zheng Yuan and Du Fei by way of greeting. She then said, "Since Zhenren Du and Head Zheng are here, they can also act as witnesses."

    Head Zheng and Du Fei asked in unison, "Witnesses?"

    Meanwhile, Liu Fei¡¯er, Cao Kefei, and Yin Mengfan, who were in the teahouse, were craning their necks trying to listen to them. Liu Fei¡¯er said, "Hey, I heard them say something like ¡¯witnesses¡¯. What did you hear?"

    Yin Mengfan said with a strange expression, "I didn¡¯t hear it clearly. It¡¯s too noisy in here, especially with the people upstairs. I can even hear the sounds of them drinking and ying some stupid finger guessing game. Do they really think the teahouse is a restaurant?"

    Cao Kefei also sighed. "I just heard something about ¡¯Zhenren¡¯. I didn¡¯t hear the rest clearly."

    Liu Fei¡¯er blinked slowly. "Why don¡¯t we go over and listen properly?"

    Cao Kefei hesitated for a moment before saying, "That¡¯s not a good idea. Don¡¯t you see that they are all Taoists? Maybe they have something private they need to discuss."

    Liu Fei¡¯er pouted and said unhappily, "You¡¯re so annoying. You asked me toe and see a master, but there isn¡¯t one here. Instead, all I see is a group of stinky officials and a group of smelly Taoists!"

    As soon as she had finished speaking, Cao Kefei and Yin Mengfan opened their eyes wide and stared out of the door. They could see a luxurious Mercedes-Benz approaching slowly, which a young man and a young woman stepped out of. The man was handsome, but his eyes were somewhat lustful. The woman had a baby face but her figure was hot and sexy.

    Yin Mengfan asked hesitantly, "Isn¡¯t that the young master of the Shen family and Shen Hui? What are they doing here?"

    When Li Yundong saw the two of them, he suddenly felt a headacheing on and secretlyined, "Why have these twowless guyse? This is getting more and more chaotic!"

 Chapter 413 Settling a Score in Public!

    <h4>Chapter 413 Settling a Score in Public!</h4>

    Shen You and Shen Hui got out of the car. They looked up at the tea house of Disanxian and showed simultaneous expressions of disdain. However, when an old man behind them got out of the car, they started nodding andmenting, pretending to admire what they saw.

    This old man was Shen Wancai. He nced at Shen Zhihui and Shen You, who were overacting. "Stop pretending. You two idiots can¡¯t understand the mystery of calligraphy," he said, snorting derisively.

    Shen You huffed and turned his head away in disapproval, while Shen Hui stomped her feet angrily and said to Shen Wancai, "Old Master, how could you say that about me in front of so many people?"

    Shen Wancai gave a grunt. "What do you want me to say? Look at him, he started from scratch at such a young age and now he¡¯s here. Now look at yourself. What else can you do but make trouble all day long?"

    His tone disyed hisck of regard for Shen You and Shen Hui. He then took the lead in walking towards the Disanxian Teahouse.

    Shen Hui gritted her teeth angrily and red at Li Yundong as if he was the source of all of her discontent. However, Shen You suddenly leaned over and said with a smile, "Little sister, why don¡¯t we go together..."

    Shen Hui immediately turned her head and shouted at him, "Get lost. Who would want to go with you!" Then, she immediately traipsed after Shen Wancai.

    Shen You¡¯s face darkened, and he stood there for a while with an uncertain expression before eventually following.

    Shen Wancai¡¯s gaze quickly swept around the surroundings. When he saw Zi Yuan and Li Yundong, he immediately chuckled and happily walked up to them. "Miss Zi Yuan, I was too busy to say goodbyest time at Dongwu. I didn¡¯t have time to say a word to you. I recently heard that you¡¯d opened a tea house in Tiannan, so I came uninvited to express my respect."

    With a slight smile, Zi Yuan leaned to one side and spread out her palm, pointing to Li Yundong and saying, "This is not my teahouse. The owner is Li Yundong. You should congratte him, Mr. Shen."

    Chen Wancai chuckled, and his gaze was meaningful as he looked at Zi Yuan and then at Li Yundong. "Congrattions, Young Master Li, you¡¯re young and promising. You¡¯ve managed to open an extraordinary tea house at such a young age. Amazing!"

    Li Yundong smiled humbly and said, "It¡¯s nothing. We all opened this tea house together. It¡¯s definitely not solely due to my own contributions. Besides, it¡¯s also thanks to you, Mr. Shen."

    Shen Wancai asked curiously, "Oh? What do you mean?"

    Li Yundong grinned. "If you hadn¡¯t awarded first ce to Zi Yuanst time, we wouldn¡¯t have been able to afford to open this tea house. So, Mr. Shen, you have made a great contribution!"

    Shen Wancaiughed heartily. "Back when Miss Zi Yuan won first ce, I only handled it impartially. However, if you think that, it was right for me toe even if I was not invited!"

    "Mr. Shen, you¡¯re too polite. Disanxian is honored by your visit. Pleasee in!" Li Yundong said happily.

    Chen Wancai smiled and looked at Zhang Ling and the others beside Li Yundong. Seeing that they were dressed in Daopao, he asked curiously, "Are you here to beg alms?"

    Zou Ping red at him without any trace of politeness. "You¡¯re the beggar here! We were just about to..."

    Before she could finish her words, Zhang Ling stopped her, red at her, and then said lightly, "Are you Mr. Shen of the Wancai Group?"

    Although Zhang Ling¡¯s appearance was ordinary, Shen Wancai could see that the look in her eyes was deep and bright. In particr, the cinnabar port-wine stain between her eyebrows was conspicuous, making her look very unusual.

    Shen Wancai was secretly amazed and asked, "I am Shen Wancai. May I ask who you are?"

    "It doesn¡¯t matter who I am, but I have heard that Mr. Shen is not only a business genius but also an elegant person, so I would like to take the opportunity to invite you to be our notary, Mr. Shen. What do you think?" Zhang Ling asked, her eyes crinkling slightly.

    Shen Wancai asked curiously, "A notary?"

    Zhang Ling pointed at Li Yundong and said, "I have just made an appointment with Zhenren Li to y a few little tricks, so I would like to invite Mr. Shen to be the notary and judge the winner!"

    Shen Wancai was astonished. "A little trick? Zhenren Li?" He looked at Li Yundong and smiled. "Young Master Li is also a cultivator?"

    Li Yundong made an obeisance by cupping one hand in the other before his chest. "I¡¯m really sorry to get you involved in this, Mr. Shen."

    Shen Wancaiughed congenially. "I was wondering why you looked so extraordinary. Being a cultivator exins it!" He turned his head to look at Zi Yuan and asked, "So, you are too, Miss Zi Yuan?"

    Zi Yuan bowed deeply and nodded.

    Shen Wancai turned his head and looked at Shen You and Shen Hui, thinking, "I wanted to find two teachers for these two good-for-nothings, so I took the initiative toe here. First, I wanted to see how the tea house was going, and second, I wanted to show my sincerity. I really wasn¡¯t expecting them all to be Taoist priests. Isn¡¯t it a little inappropriate to ask them to be teachers?"

    But then he quickly thought, "I should take things as theye. It¡¯ll be good to see them y some little tricks! I just don¡¯t know if what happened at the tea ceremonyst time was also a trick."

    Thinking of this, Shen Wancaiughed and said to Zhang Ling, "I don¡¯t have any other hobby but upholding justice. Very well, I will be your notary. Where do you want to do this?"

    Zhang Ling looked around and said lightly, "The hall downstairs should be fine. What do you think, Zhenren Li?" Zhang Ling looked at Li Yundong with a hint of provocation.

    Li Yundong smiled slightly. "As you wish, Zhenren Zhang!"

    Seeing that Li Yundong and Zhang Ling were about to settle a score, Du Fei frowned secretly. Suddenly, he smiled and said, "How about me being a notary too, Zhenren Li?"

    Li Yundong nced at him for a moment, not knowing what this monkey-faced guy wanted to do and hesitating a little.

    Just as he was hesitating, Du Fei turned around and said to him in a low voice, "Zhenren Zhang specializes in neen kinds of major spells and forty-three minor ones. Zhenren Li, be careful of her five-ghost magic and her heaven fairy descending to the world magic!"

    Zi Yuan also sent a sound transmission to Li Yundong, saying, "The Quanzhen Dragon Sect and Zhengyi School are polite on the surface. While they appear united outwardly, they are divided at heart and secretlypete with each other. Li Yundong, you might as well let Du Fei be the notary. He is asking us for help now, so he shouldn¡¯t make trouble behind our backs, and if Shen Wancai makes a mistake, he can help you correct it."

    Although Li Yundong secretly wondered what five-ghost magic and heaven fairy descending to the world magic was, he already had some idea. He smiled and said, "Well, since Zhenren Du has been so warmhearted, I am sorry to trouble you at this time."

    Hearing this, Zheng Yuan¡¯s eyes crinkled as she said, "I also want to join in the fun and be a notary. How about that?"

    Li Yundong frowned and looked at Zheng Yuan unkindly, not saying anything. Zhang Ling, however, pondered for a while before saying, "Well, since Zhenren Du is a notary, Head Zheng can also be one."

    Zheng Yuanughed aloud. "Very well. Zhenren Zhang is a frank person! I wonder what kind of trick you¡¯re going to use topete with Zhenren Li in the first match."

    Zhang Ling said lightly, "There are too many people here, so we can¡¯t disy our full powers. Let¡¯s just use some little magic tricks." Then, she said to Li Yundong, "Please bring over a table, a tea bowl and a non-transparent cover, Zhenren Li."

    Li Yundong turned his head and was about to give Su Chan an order, but he saw that she had already run to the opposite side to move another table. Zhou Qin, on the other hand, turned to get a teacup from the storage room, also picking up a huge teapot with a long spout.

    By this time, everyone upstairs and downstairs had taken note of the noisesing from below. Some of them were curious, leaning against the railings on the second floor to look down. Li Yuanbo and the others were sitting next to this railing, drinking tea and watching the situation unfold.

    Mayor Zeng of Tiannanughed and said, "Haha, everyone wants to see your tricks. Little Li¡¯s opening ceremony is turning out to be quite unique! Young people nowadays are creative and promising!"

    Although Mayor Zeng¡¯s words were said mockingly, he was actually cottoning up to Li Yuanbo in secret.

    As a man who had been involved with politics for a long time, Mayor Zeng had certainly noticed Li Yuanbo¡¯s intimacy with Zhou Qin, and Zhou Qin¡¯s intimacy with Li Yundong in turn. Therefore, he was ttering Li Yundong in a roundabout way, as it was also beneficial to him to be close to a leader.

    How could Li Yuanbo not understand this? He nced at Mayor Zeng and chuckled, saying nomittally, "Well, he is still a young man. Young men all love to y."

    His words made Mayor Zeng a little confused, and he wondered in his heart, "Is he praising Li Yundong or belittling him?"

    Just as he was pondering this, Liu Fei¡¯er tugged on Cao Kefei¡¯s arm and whispered, "Hey, Sister Cao, what kind of tricks do you think they¡¯ll yter?"

    Cao Kefei stared at the scene and shook her head. "No idea. Whatever they do, it should be a good show."

    "Could it be magic? This Li Yundong guy can do magic?" Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s face was full of curiosity and expectation.

    "He is not Liu Qian. Just pay attention to himter and he won¡¯t let you down," said Cao Kefei with a conspirational wink.

    At this time, Zhang Ling¡¯s gaze turned to the square table in front of her. She gently patted a corner of the table and made it slide two meters away, then said, "Please check the cups and teapots and confirm whether they are ordinary."

    Shen Wancai didn¡¯t know what they were going to y. He was curious in his heart, but he still went forward and inspected the teacup and teapot carefully. He knocked them from side to side and even reached inside the teapot before dering, "No problem, they¡¯repletely ordinary."

    Zhang Ling then said to Du Fei and Zheng Yuan, "And the two Zhenrens, please check these."

    Du Fei said with a smile, "There¡¯s no need." Zheng Yuan added, "It¡¯s not even worth checking."

    Zhang Ling turned her face and said to Li Yundong lightly, "Zhenren Li, although this is your tea set, do you want to check it?"

    Li Yundong was full of doubts and he didn¡¯t know how Zhang Ling was going topete in front of so many people in a way that could not be noticed by them. He frowned slightly and said, "No. Zhenren Zhang, how are you going topete with me? How will you judge who wins or loses?"

    Zhang Ling smiled faintly. She was like a juggler. All of a sudden, a fly-whisk appeared in her hand, which she shook and swung, hitting the bottom of the tea table with a snap. The teacup and the lid of the teapot jumped up from their ces on the table. When the teacup turned, it happened to fall into the teapot next to it while the lid was in the air, making a crisp tinkling sound.

    Zhang Ling¡¯s move was graceful and beautiful, immediately attracting cheers from the people in the tea house. Shen Wancai¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t help but light up. He was just worried that the teacup might have broken after falling into the teapot, so he went forward to lift the lid and took a look. However, he could see that the teacup had justnded in the middle of the teapot,pletely unscathed!

    Shen Wancai immediately raised his head, gave a thumbs up to Zhang Ling, and said loudly, "That kung fu was so delicate! Truly admirable!"

    As he spoke, he took three steps back and surveyed the scene with shining eyes.

    Shen You and Shen Hui looked at each other. Although they were filled with disdain regarding Li Yundong, they were still young, and it was inevitable for them to feel yful. As such, they all looked curiously and wanted to see how Li Yundong and Zhang Ling would perform their tricks.

 Chapter 414 The War of the Yang Spirits

    <h4>Chapter 414 The War of the Yang Spirits</h4>

    On the first day of the opening of Disanxian, celebrities from all walks of life were in attendance. There were businesswomen like Yin Mengfan and Cao Kefei, movie stars like Liu Fei¡¯er, political officials like Li Yuanbo, and billionaires like Shen Wancai.

    With so many people gathered together, it would have been a lie for Li Yundong to say that he was not feeling nervous about settling a score in front of them all.

    Although Zhang Ling had said politely and cleverly that she just want to do some magic tricks in public, the truth was that this was no different from challenging the dojo. If Li Yundong lost, the people around would not understand it, but the news would spread immediately in the Cultivation World.

    If he failed on the day of his opening, it would be a great shame.

    Li Yundong knew that he couldn¡¯t lose, and he had no way to get out of it. However, considering that he had only cultivated for a little more than half a year, he was extremely strong when it came to fighting one-on-one in private, and there was no cultivator of the younger generation that would be able to defeat him. Unfortunately, fighting in public was different from fighting in private. Li Yundong had not cultivated for a long time, so he didn¡¯t know the important points about fighting in public.

    Feeling alert, he heard Zhang Ling saying in a loud voice, "Li Yundong and I will perform a little trick. Please observe closely!"

    She pointed to the teapot and said, "Everyone saw just now that there was a small teacup in the teapot. What I will doter is make it disappear without touching the teapot. What Li Yundong will do is find a way to get the teapot back! If he manages it, I¡¯ll lose. If he can¡¯t, it¡¯ll be my win!"

    As soon as she said that, the people around were startled. They whispered with great interest, "This is getting interesting!"

    "How can she make it disappear without touching it?"

    "Maybe it¡¯s already gone?"

    "That¡¯s impossible. Shen Wancai saw it just now, and no one else got close to it!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er also asked curiously, "Sister Cao, how could the teacup inside disappear without anyone touching it?"

    Cao Kefei frowned and shook her head. "I don¡¯t know. If I did, I would have participated in the Spring Festival G."

    Yin Mengfan said in a low voice, "Alright, be quiet. Just look. Who knows if the teacup will disappear or not?"

    After hearing Zhang Ling¡¯s words, Li Yundong was also surprised. "What kind of fighting method is this? Isn¡¯t it just like magic? Is it really magic?"

    While Li Yundong was wondering this, Zhang Ling swung her fly-whisk and threw out a talisman which was painted with a strange pattern. It hung in the air without moving or falling, but after a while, it slowly began to burn, bing nothing but ashes.

    At this time, the people looking on from outside suddenly felt very surprised and they all clicked their tongues.

    Zhang Ling smiled and showed a hint of arrogance. She swung her fly-whisk and swept it over the teapot, then cried, "I have taken away the teacup inside!"

    The crowd began to mor, and many people asked, "Mr. Shen, is the teacup still in there?"

    Only then did Shen Wancai return to his senses. He walked over to the teapot, lifted the lid, and peered inside.

    At this time, Shen You, Shen Hui, Liu Fei¡¯er, and Cao Kefei, who were sitting close to the table, also craned their necks unconsciously and looked into the teapot.

    As soon as they saw inside, they were stunned. There was nothing in the teapot, not even a hair!

    Their eyes went as round as saucers. "It¡¯s gone! The teacup is gone!"

    The crowd burst into an uproar. "Are you sure? Let me see!"

    Although many people upstairs were high-ranking officials and celebrities, they couldn¡¯t help but tter down the stairs. When they got close to the teapot to have a look, they had no choice but to believe it.

    They all stared at Zhang Ling with their eyes wide open, shook their heads, and asked in amazement, "Incredible! It¡¯s really amazing! How did you do it?"

    Zhang Ling lowered her eyes as if she didn¡¯t see them at all, saying nothing.

    The people who had been asking questions suddenly felt embarrassed, so they had to go back to their seats and whisper to each other after being ignored. For a time, there was a lot of discussion going on upstairs and downstairs, and most of the people were discussing how Zhang Ling had made the teacup disappear.

    Li Yundong was also dumbfounded. He hadn¡¯t cultivated for a long time, so he didn¡¯t understand what was going on. "Damn it, I didn¡¯t even see it clearly. How am I supposed to fight with her? Where did she put the cup? How can I know?"

    He wasn¡¯t the only one wondering what had happened. Su Chan and the other disciples of the Fox Zen School could do nothing about it. Su Chan had not discovered any clues even though she had cultivated since she was a child, and Zhou Qin was no better. Zhou Qin kept looking at Li Yundong, her heart thumping anxiously.

    Even Ruan Hongling, who was of noble heritage, did not understand the profundity of the scene. Her brows were tightly furrowed as she said to Zi Yuan through a voice transmission, "Sister Zi Yuan, what¡¯s going on? I don¡¯t understand"

    Zi Yuan frowned and sent a voice transmission back. "That¡¯s to be expected. Those who dare to fight in public without fearing that ordinary people will discover them are all top-notch Great Cultivators. Their magic is extremely marvelous. Even I can¡¯t understand how they¡¯re doing this..."

    As she spoke, she suddenly had an idea. She turned to look at the talismans that were still hanging in the air. After observing them for a moment, she suddenly smiled.

    Zi Yuan swiftly sent a sound transmission to Li Yundong. "Li Yundong, this talisman in front of you is the posture of the goddess Nayan, which means the Amulet of invisibility. Just now, Zhang Ling must have released her Yang Spirit and used the amulet of invisibility so that people wouldn¡¯t see it. The instant the Yang Spirit removed the teacup from the teapot, it turned into a Yin Spirit and passed through the teapot, thus taking away the teacup. Zhang Ling swung her fly-whisk just now to attract the attention of the surrounding people and cover what she was doing the moment the teacup was taken out."

    Li Yundong suddenly came to a realization. Just as he was about to turn around and address Zi Yuan, he heard another voice transmission. "Don¡¯t turn around. Otherwise, it¡¯ll be regarded as cheating. When you release the Yang Spirit, I will release the posture of Goddess Nayan. After that, you must use the Yang Spirit to fiercely attack the talisman floating in front of Zhang Ling. Once the talisman is destroyed, her Yang Spirit will definitely be exposed. Therefore, she will have no choice but to withdraw it. Once the Yang Spirit is withdrawn, the teacup will automatically appear!"

    After hearing Zi Yuan¡¯s words, Li Yundong nodded almost imperceptibly, indicating that he understood. Seeing that, Zi Yuan sent yet another sound transmission. "I will count to three, then we¡¯ll move at the same time! I¡¯ll stick the talisman onto your sleeve. The moment you release your Yang Spirit, throw the talisman and stick it onto the Yang Spirit."

    At this moment, Zi Yuan was standing behind Li Yundong. With a flip of her five fingers, she removed a talisman from her sleeves. Concealing herself with Li Yundong¡¯s figure, she quickly drew a posture of Goddess Nayan. Then, she said over sound transmission, "One, two, three!"

    Upon counting to three, Li Yundong instantly released his Yang Spirit. At the same time, Zi Yuan swiftly pasted the talisman onto Li Yundong¡¯s sleeve. With a swing of Li Yundong¡¯s arm, the talisman immediately shot out in front of him, just onto his Yang Spirit.

    Li Yundong and Zi Yuan movedpletely in sync, as if the magic was being performed by one person. At this time, no one saw anything wrong. All they could feel was that Li Yundong¡¯s had body shaken slightly, and then he threw out a talisman like Zhang Ling. The talisman was also suspended in the air and did not fall to the ground. After a while, it burned into ash.

    Although they saw that Li Yundong¡¯s action was the same as Zhang Ling¡¯s, they were all in high spirits. They wanted to see how Li Yundong would use this method to retrieve the cup.

    Only Zhang Ling secretly frowned and shot a meaningful look to Zi Yuan behind Li Yundong.

    Li Yunyang¡¯s Yang Spirit had left his body. Although he couldn¡¯t see Zhang Ling¡¯s Yang Spirit, he knew that Zhang Ling couldn¡¯t see his either. He secretly made a handprint, a Fixed Fundamental Palm, and suddenly chopped toward Zhang Ling.

    Li Yundong¡¯s invisible Yang Spirit made a big handprint, and everyone felt a sudden movement in the air. Suddenly, there was a loud bang in the teahouse, as if someone¡¯s palm had collided with another, and the air trembled.

    The people on the first floor felt like there was an invisible wave of air rushing toward them, making them hold their breath.

    When Li Yundong¡¯s Mahamudra got blocked, he immediately cheered up because he knew for sure that Zhang Ling¡¯s Yang Spirit was right in front of him, just as Zi Yuan had said it would be. He immediately controlled his Yang Spirit and pushed it forward. At the same time, his hands quickly made a Divyadundubhi Meghanirghosa¡¯s hand sign and went to p the space in front of Zhang Ling.

    When Li Yundong¡¯s Mahamudra pped, he also felt a strong gust of wind blowing in front of him. The two forces met. In an instant, Li Yundong vaguely saw a gorgeously dressed woman with fluttering clothes in front of him. He couldn¡¯t see her face clearly, but he could clearly feel that the belt of her clothes were pulling toward his Yang Spirit body like a steel whip.

    Li Yundong stepped back. After making a Mahamudra, he immediately made a defensive block in the direction of the strong wind with both hands.

    This block instantly forced the two of them to engage in hand-to-handbat, and both of them could see the other¡¯s Yang Spirit.

    Li Yundong was extremely shocked. He thought that both of their Yang Spirits had been exposed. His heart trembled, and his Yang Spirit was also affected. He hesitated for a moment.

    With this hesitation, Zhang Ling¡¯s Yang Spirit¡¯s clothes immediately tied Li Yundong up, having the effect of countless fairy-tying ropes. In the blink of an eye, Li Yundong waspletely bound.

    Li Yundong was shocked. He wanted to struggle, but he was afraid that the sound would be heard. If he didn¡¯t do something, he would definitely lose. Just as he was in a dilemma, he heard Zi Yuan¡¯s urgent sound transmission saying, "Li Yundong, don¡¯t worry, you didn¡¯t expose yourself! If two postures of Goddess Nayan touch each other, they will cancel out each other¡¯s invisible attributes. But this is only for cultivators who actually have the posture of Goddess Nayan - the others can¡¯t see your Yang Spirits! Hurry up and run out. It¡¯s narrow here, and it¡¯s suitable for Zhang Ling to exert her power, but not for you!"

    Hearing this, Li Yundong suddenly had a brainwave. He immediately activated his Yang Spirit and rushed out of the door with the violent energy of a raging bull.

    Zhang Lingyang, who had bound Li Yundong with her clothes, was also dragged out, and the two of them shot into the air.

    As soon as Li Yundong became airborne, he lost all inhibition. With a loud shout, his Zhenqi surged out of his body, and his Yang Spirit body began swelling rapidly and violently. In a short time, he became an Iron Tower Arhat that was more than three meters high.

 Chapter 415 Stunning Fairy From the Heavens Battles the Immovable Wisdom King!

    <h4>Chapter 415 Stunning Fairy From the Heavens Battles the Immovable Wisdom King!</h4>

    Li Yundong¡¯s Yang Spirit was getting bigger and bigger, shocking Zhang Ling¡¯s Yang Spirit. She looked serious and said coldly, "It¡¯s rare to see someone reach your level of cultivation at such a young age!"

    At this time, Li Yundong was looking at Zhang Ling¡¯s Yang Spirit in the air and thinking that she was like a beautiful fairy from heaven. He sneered and said, "Your Yang Spirit has transformed into a very good-looking one. Is it to make up for the shorings of your ownck of beauty?"

    Zhang Ling¡¯s eyes shed with anger, but soon she wasughing once again. "The physical body is just a skin bag. We cultivate Yang Spirits, which are the most worthwhile things to cultivate. Only the Yang Spirit can transcend aging, sickness, and death, but the body can never surpass it! Li Yundong, you have earnt a great reputation for yourself, but you can¡¯t see through this point? What do I care about this stinky pile of flesh? Moreover, the body of Yang Spirit represents your real soul, and I didn¡¯t deliberately conjure it! You don¡¯t understand this, so how can you cultivate yourself?"

    Zhang Ling shouted, "My Original Spirit is a stunning fairy from the heavens. Li Yundong, you are no match for me. Surrender now!"

    After that, Zhang Ling¡¯s Zhenqi surged and her body shook slightly. In the space of only a few moments, she split from one person into two, and then from two into four.

    Li Yundong was shocked. He could see Zhang Ling¡¯s Yang Spiriting at him from all directions, and he knew that he couldn¡¯t defeat all of them with just his two fists. For a time, he couldn¡¯t hold on and was too tired to deal with them.

    "Dammit, what kind of magic is this? If you have the guts, I¡¯ll fight you one by one!" Li Yundong roared, gritting his teeth.

    Zhang Ling controlled her four avatars, beating Li Yundong so relentlessly that he had no room to fight back. Sheughed and said, "Li Yundong, the mystery of our Zhengyi Sect¡¯s magic arts can¡¯t be understood by a beginner like you!"

    Hearing this, Li Yundong¡¯s heart was stirred. He suddenly remembered that back when he had just reached the Yangshen phase and his Yang Spirit had gotten out of his body, he and Su Chan had beenughing and ying in the room. He had turned from a baby into a teenager, and then into a young man. He had been able to do whatever he wanted. It could be said that he could change as much as he wanted, as long as his Zhenqi could support him.

    At this moment, Li Yundong suddenly felt like there was a door in his mind that had been pushed open, and he had gone through it to enter into a new world. The things that he didn¡¯t understand in the past had all integrated.

    When Li Yundong had been cultivating in the beginning, he had felt that cultivation was very unreliable, because the purpose of continuous cultivation was to escape the burdens of aging, sickness, and death, stepping past the inevitablews of nature to achieve immortality.

    However, the more cultivation books Li Yundong read, the more he found that almost no cultivator¡¯s body was immortal. No matter whether it was the founder of Dragon Gate Sect, Wang Chongyang, or Sun Lutang of the Republic of China, their death was recorded in history, especially Wang Chongyang¡¯s. After his death, his body had been dug out and abandoned in the wilderness.

    In Li Yundong¡¯s opinion, if even such great cultivators could not escape death, what was the point of cultivation?

    But now, this question had suddenly enlightened Li Yundong!

    Although Zhang Ling had reprimanded him just now, her words had revealed the secrets of the cultivation world: The ultimate purpose of cultivation was not to cultivate the physical body and reach immortality, but to cultivate the Yang Spirit to reach immortality! The physical body would die, but it was only a vessel for the Yang Spirit, which was eternal.

    Li Yundong said in his heart, "Yang Spirit is a spiritual body, and it can change ording to one¡¯s mind! Since Zhang Ling can be four people as once and turn the Yang Spirit into a god, why can¡¯t I?"

    As soon as this thought came to mind, Li Yundong¡¯s Yang Spirit began to transform significantly. His whole body emitted a jet-ck aura, making him look like a dark cloud. His skin turned as dark as steel, and his nose spurted a puff of red air and a puff of pitch-ck air.

    Zhang Ling didn¡¯t know that her casual words had inadvertently made Li Yundong realize the Tao. All she could see was that Li Yundong¡¯s Yang Spirit had suddenly be extremely ferocious and was exuding two different colors of air. She was secretly shocked and said coldly, "You have practiced the Heavenly Jindan Technique and reached the eighth phase! It¡¯s rare for someone to be able to reach this kind of cultivation level at such a young age! However, do you think you can deal with me just because you¡¯ve reached the eighth phase?"

    When Zhang Ling spoke, the four avatars spoke at the same time. Their voices came from all directions, sounding extremely powerful and oppressive. The air around them was constantly shaking, as if a stunning fairy from the heavens was berating the mortals below.

    But as soon as Zhang Ling finished speaking, Li Yundong¡¯s Yang Spirit body made a crashing sound. Another person appeared on one of Li Yundong¡¯s shoulders with one head and two arms. A secondter, another person appeared on the other side of him with another head and two arms.

    This time, Zhang Ling was suddenly shocked. She fixed her eyes on Li Yundong¡¯s Yang Spirit and whispered in horror, "The Immovable Wisdom King? This, this is impossible. You are obviously a cultivator of Taoism. How could your soul turn into a Buddha and Wisdom King?"

    Li Yundongughed and asked, "So there¡¯s something you don¡¯t know? Take this!"

    After that, Li Yundong rushed over to one of Zhang Ling¡¯s doppelgangers like a ck whirlwind.

    Zhang Ling was shocked and filled with uncertainty. Her fighting ability had been greatly reduced, and her doppelganger was beaten back. The other three avatars shouted at the same time and all rushed towards Li Yundong.

    The two Yang Spirits fought fiercely in mid-air, but their physical bodies weren¡¯t moving at all in Disanxian, as if they were two stone statues.

    The customers in the shop were all confused and began to whisper, "What¡¯s going on? Why is there no movement?"

    "Yeah, Young Master Li, what are you doing?"

    "Why is he frozen?"

    "Is there no way for him to get the cup back?"

    "He hasn¡¯t even moved. How do you know he can¡¯t get it back without even trying?"

    "Maybe he is trying to think of a solution?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er said to Cao Kefei in a low voice, "Sister Cao, what are they doing? Why are they just staring at each other like that?"

    Cao Kefei red at her and snapped, "Don¡¯t be so noisy!" She was also worried about Li Yundong in her heart. She was wondering whether, if Li Yundong started to lose, she could help him save some face.

    However, Cao Kefei was too concerned, especially now that the upper and lower floors were crammed with celebrities from all walks of life. No matter who it was, she could not afford to offend anyone present. Her words were deliberately light. After all, how could she speak freely? For a moment, Cao Kefei was so anxious that she clenched her fists, and her palms grew slick with sweat.

    As for Zi Yuan, Su Chan, Zhou Qin, and the other cultivators, they were even more nervous than the people around them. They were staring at Li Yundong with wide eyes and ncing at Zhang Ling from time to time, trying to judge the progress of the situation by their expressions.

    When they saw Li Yundong¡¯s angry expression from the very beginning, their hearts couldn¡¯t help but skip a few beats. They thought to themselves, "Oh no, Li Yundong is definitely at a disadvantage!"

    After a while, when they saw Li Yundong still gnashing his teeth, they couldn¡¯t help their eyes flicking to Zhang Ling anxiously, only to find that she was also frowning and ring at her opponent, as if they were going in for the kill.

    Zhou Qin hadn¡¯t had much time to cultivate, so she couldn¡¯t help whispering to Su Chan, "Su Chan, what¡¯s going on? Why are the two of them standing still?"

    Su Chan replied in a low voice, "My guess is that the two of them must be secretly fighting each other, so the two of them arepletely focused on manipting their Yang Spirits right now and don¡¯t dare to rx a bit."

    Zhou Qin was shocked. "They¡¯re using Yang Spirits to settle a score? How? Why can¡¯t I see them?"

    Su Chan exined in a low voice, "Didn¡¯t you see both of them throw out a charm just now? Although I didn¡¯t see the pattern on them clearly, I guess it was the posture of Goddess Nayan, the amulet of invisibility. These two amulets of invisibility secretly hid the figure of the two Yang Spirits, so we can¡¯t see them fighting now."

    Hearing this, Zhou Qin¡¯s heart was filled with awe and curiosity. She looked around and whispered, "So are they somewhere around us?"

    Su Chan shook her head and said, "I don¡¯t think so. I guess they¡¯re fighting in the air."

    Zhou Qin sighed and said quietly, "Su Chan, you know so much!"

    Su Chan giggled. "Sister Zhou Qin, you¡¯re the one with a lot of knowledge!"

    Zhou Qin smiled and didn¡¯t say anything.

    While the two of them were busy chatting, Zi Yuan frowned slightly next to them. She raised her head and looked at the sky outside before ncing at the surrounding people. When she saw that their gazes were fixed on the battleground, she quietly walked out.

    Seeing her move, Du Fei and Zheng Yuan also followed her out.

    At this time, in mid-air, Li Yundong and Zhang Ling had advanced to a stage of all-out, white-hot fighting.

    Li Yundong had three heads and six arms, and his defensive skills were impable, leaving Zhang Ling¡¯s four avatars unable to hit him at all. Her other magic arts were also pped away by Li Yundong¡¯s big handprint, making Zhang Ling gnash her teeth in rage and hatred.

    In particr, Li Yundong¡¯s original body, the Immovable Wisdom King, was a man with superhuman powers. He uttered a mantra, and his nose exhaled two breaths. It was really like the Immovable Wisdom King had descended to the human world. He punched using the Immovable Wisdom King Gesture, and Zhang Ling did not dare to take it. Li Yundong¡¯s palm print shed with a golden radiance, then disappeared after it had flown into the sky, invisible to the naked eye. Its power was really terrifying!

    The more Zhang Ling fought, the more frightened he became. She thought to herself, "Could it be that Li Yundong is the reincarnation of the Immovable Wisdom King? How could he be so powerful?" But a momentter she rejected her own opinion. "No, that¡¯s impossible. The Immovable Wisdom King is a benevolent and wise man who can control all phenomena! Li Yundong is extremely abominable. How could he possibly be the reincarnation of the Immovable Wisdom King?"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know what Zhang Ling was thinking, but when he saw that Zhang Ling¡¯s offense was getting weaker and weaker, he became more and more excited in turn. The True Energy throughout his body was like a long river, surging endlessly, and the big handprints made by his six arms were like cannonballs,pletely stopping Zhang Ling¡¯s four avatars from getting close.

    At first, Zhang Ling had still wanted to rely on her agility to dodge Mahamudra and consume Li Yundong¡¯s Zhenqi. However, she saw Li Yundong make more than a hundred Mahamudra in a row, and not only did his Zhenqi not show signs of being exhausted, but the big handprints only grew fiercer and his Zhenqi¡¯s vigor intensified!

    Zhang Ling secretlyined bitterly in her heart. For a moment, she regretted picking a fight with Li Yundong using Yang Spirits. After a cultivator reached the top realm of Yang Spirit, it was difficult to separate their cultivation realms. In terms of the realm, Zhang Ling was the same as Li Yundong - both were at the top realm of Yang Spirit. However, in terms of magic skills, she was far stronger than Li Yundong, especially when it came to the divine way and martial arts she knew.

    However, Zhang Ling was best at the Divine Sense of Earth Fire. She took out the True Fire from the nine earths and fought with her opponent. This was her most powerful martial art, especially when she used her unique skills to take out the True mes of Samadhi from the nine earths, which could burn anything in its path. Even the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ could not be broken like this.

    However, she was fighting with Li Yundong in mid-air, so she had no way to borrow strength. She couldn¡¯t even use the magical power of earth fire, and Li Yundong was smashing her other magic arts, so she couldn¡¯t do anything to him at all.

    Zhang Ling was gritting her teeth in hatred, her attention distracted. Suddenly, one of her Yang Spirit forms moved a little too slowly and became caught by Li Yundong.

    Li Yundong grabbed Zhang Ling¡¯s avatar with his six arms and pulled on it hard, immediately tearing it to shreds.

    The remaining three avatars of Zhang Ling suddenly let out shrill screams. The avatar that had been shredded by Li Yundong turned into a wisp of smoke at the same time, escaping Li Yundong¡¯s grasp. It then quickly gathered together and returned to its original appearance.

    Zhang Ling roared in pain, "Li Yundong, how dare you hurt my Yang Spirit!"

    Li Yundong sneered and said, "If you won¡¯t admit defeat, I¡¯ll keep tearing you to pieces until you can no longer recover! Let¡¯s see how much Zhenqi you can waste!"

    "You insolent bastard! How dare you be so arrogant!"

    Zhang Ling¡¯s Spiritual Qi was extremely strong. Feeling desperate, she subconsciously wanted to fly back to the ground and use the Fire of the Nine Emotional Areas against Li Yundong, but before she could move, she suddenly saw arge dark cloud hanging in the sky. The dark clouds above their heads began to roll and a bolt of lightning struck.

    Li Yundong and Zhang Ling both felt jolts of shock run through them. They could feel that a pair of extremely terrifying and majestic eyes were staring at them.

    Zhang Ling yelled angrily, her voice strained, "Li Yundong, you cheated and used such a dirty trick. Aren¡¯t you afraid of attracting thunder that will hurt innocents?"

    Li Yundong was simrly shocked and confused. "I didn¡¯t do this. Do you think I¡¯m crazy?"

    Zhang Ling was stunned. "Well if it¡¯s not you, then who is it? Is there anyone who would want to take advantage of the situation?"

 Chapter 416 Everyone Has Their Own Confession

    <h4>Chapter 416 Everyone Has Their Own Confession</h4>

    Just as the two of them were feeling uncertain and beginning to make guesses about each other, Zi Yuan suddenly appeared not far away. She said in a loud voice, "Don¡¯t guess. Let¡¯s go down first. Yang Spirit is flying so high and fighting so fiercely. Aren¡¯t you afraid of being struck by Heavenly Thunder?"

    Zhang Ling turned her head andughed coldly, her gaze unkind. "Zi Yuan, we just so happened to cultivate a traitor like you. This is truly a pleasant surprise!"

    Li Yundong also snorted. "The oue hasn¡¯t been decided yet. What if this guy goes back on his word when we get down?"

    "Li Yundong, in terms of age, I¡¯m older than your parents," Zhang Ling said angrily, "and in terms of seniority, I¡¯m much older than you. How dare you humiliate me like this?"

    Li Yundong replied in a simrly annoyed tone, "Since you have grown older, how is it that you have allowed your disciple toe and provoke you time and time again and humiliate Zi Yuan? Is this how noble sects do things? Come,e, there¡¯s no victor today. We¡¯ll never give up. Let¡¯s see if the heavenly lightning will choose to strike you or me!"

    Zhang Ling was livid. She was about to fight Li Yundong again when she saw Zou Ping, Du Fei, Zheng Yuan, and the others flying over as well.

    Zou Ping caught sight of Zi Yuan and shouted, "Would you prefer to bully me with more people or with fewer?"

    Li Yundong sneered and said, "Do you think we are like you?"

    Zou Ping was so angry that she was about to retort when Du Fei, who was standing to one side, nced at the sky worriedly. "Zhenren Zhang, Zhenren Li, I saw both of your duels just now. One of you is a famous Daoist cultivator, the other is a rising rookie. This should be a blessing to Daoists like us, so why don¡¯t we distinguish between the dead and the living? As the saying goes, it¡¯s better to get rid of enemies than to get together. Furthermore, fighting under these rolling, thunder-like dark clouds is really a bit unreasonable. I think we¡¯d better give up on the battle for the time being!"

    Zheng Yuan also stroked his beard and said with a face full ofpassion, "You¡¯re right, Zhenren Du! I think the Heavenly Thunder ising in a weird way, so let¡¯s give it up for the time being."

    Li Yundong responded tly, "No, you ruined my teahouse on the first day of its opening. How am I supposed to do business in the future? The must be a victor today!"

    Zhang Ling also sneered spitefully. "Well, I¡¯d like to see if you, the Immovable Wisdom King, have some real skills!"

    Seeing that the two of them were about to get into an altercation again, the few people next to them became anxious and Zi Yuan said, "Since there is a notary, why don¡¯t we let them decide the winner?"

    As soon as these words came out of Zi Yuan¡¯s mouth, Du Fei and Zheng Yuan¡¯s faces suddenly froze, and they cursed in their hearts, "Damn it, Zi Yuan really knows how to make use of the current situation to cause trouble! If I had known this would happen, I wouldn¡¯t have joined in on the fun or be a notary!"

    Li Yundong turned his head and looked at Du Fei. He cupped one hand in the other before his chest and asked, "What do you think, Zhenren Du?"

    Du Fei looked embarrassed. He thought for a moment, and then his eyes narrowed. He gritted his teeth and said, "In my opinion, Zhenren Li did have the upper hand just now, and one of Zhenren Zhang¡¯s Yang Spirits was destroyed. If you continue to fight, it will be difficult to guess the oue, but judging from the situation just now, it should be considered Zhenren Li¡¯s win."

    Zhang Ling immediately sneered and said, "Well, Quanzhen Dragon Sect has shown its true colors! Zhenren Du, you¡¯re right!"

    Du Fei cupped one hand in the other before his chest and said, "Zhenren Zhang, I¡¯m just telling the truth!"

    Zhang Ling snorted, then turned to look at Zheng Yuan and said in an icy tone, "What did Head Zheng say?"

    A thought came to Zhang Ling. "It seems that today is not my day. Last time I offended Zheng Yuan, and now I¡¯m afraid that he wille back for revenge."

    But while Zhang Ling was thinking this, Zheng Yuan said, "What you said is wrong, Zhenren Du. Since it is a battle, how can we decide the winner based on only temporary gains and losses? In my opinion, if we continued to fight like this, Zhenren Zhang would definitely be able to reverse the situation by relying on her profound cultivation foundation and various divine Taoist methods. Therefore, I think that Zhenren Zhang should win, because her cultivation skills are better than Zhenren Li¡¯s!"

    Hearing this, Zhang Ling was both surprised and delighted. She thought to herself, "Zheng Yuan doesn¡¯t care about the past? Was I wrong about him?"

    Li Yundong, however, was secretly furious. He says with a coldugh, "Zheng Yuan, I haven¡¯t taken revenge on you forst time. Do you want to die?"

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s eyes shed with a hint of light, his face motionless. He slowly and methodically stroked his beard as he said, "Zhenren Li, I don¡¯t understand what you mean. I¡¯m just speaking frankly. You can ask others. If it¡¯s about the higher level of cultivation, who is better, you or Zhenren Zhang?"

    Li Yundong said angrily, "Is the high-leveled fighting method destined to win? In that case, the ones who should have died at the foot of the Himyas should not have been Wu Hao and Lyu Fengping, but me!"

    Zheng Yuan immediately flew into a rage and spat ferociously, "Li Yundong, what did you say?!"

    Seeing that Li Yundong¡¯s words had hit Zheng Yuan¡¯s weak spot, Zi Yuan knew that if Zheng Yuan joined the battle as well, the Heavenly Thunder would definitely strike faster, attracted by the cultivators¡¯ True Energy. If the Heavenly Thunder really fell, the consequences would be unimaginable!

    Zi Yuan immediately said, "Since the two judges are equally insistent, we should let the other witness determine who is the winner and who is the loser!"

    Hearing this, Du Fei immediately said, "Zhenren Zi Yuan Lin is right. Shen Wancai should be the one to decide the victor!"

    Zheng Yuan rolled his eyes and nodded in agreement.

    Zhang Lingughed coldly. "He¡¯s just a secr mortal and can¡¯t even see our battle. How is he supposed to determine the victor?"

    "Zhenren Zhang is right," Zi Yuan said. "But since he can¡¯t see the battle between the two of you, why don¡¯t you fight another battle that he actually can see and use it as proof to determine the winner?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart skipped a beat. "Zhenren Zhang, you¡¯ll be the first one to fight. I¡¯ll be the one to set the rules for the second one!"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change, but in her heart, she was praising Li Yundong¡¯s intelligence and tacit understanding.

    Zhang Lingyi was bold and conceited. When she saw the lightning and thunder in the ominous dark clouds above her head bing increasingly fierce, she nodded and said, "Well, if you have the ability, just do it!"

    After that, her figure shed and she quickly shot down to the ground.

    Li Yundong and Zi Yuan nced at each other and also quickly flew back down.

    As soon as Li Yunyang¡¯s Yang Spirit returned to his body, he saw Zi Yuan and the others filing through the door one after another. All of the guests in Disanxian stared at him as if they were anxiously waiting for him to make a cup of tea.

    Li Yundong thought to himself, "I can¡¯t exactly announce that I was just in a draw with Zhang Ling, so I¡¯ll have to fight again. But now everyone is watching me, waiting for me to produce a teacup. What should I say?"

    Li Yundong thought about it and soon had an idea. He cupped one hand in the other before his chest and said, "Sorry to keep you waiting. I¡¯ll bring out the teacup in a while!"

    Then, he turned to Su Chan. "Chan¡¯er, you can find a water jar, or even a big mug. Just make sure that it¡¯s big. The bigger, the better!"

    Su Chan rolled her eyes. Although she didn¡¯t know what Li Yundong was going to do, she was very clever and said, "I actually just bought a big tea tank to store things in. Looks like it¡¯lle in handy today!"

    With that, she quickly ran into the storage room and emerged a momentter with a tea jar in one hand.

    Everyone looked curiously and was immediately shocked. They could see that the two tea tanks in Su Chan¡¯s hands were as thick as the waists of two strong men, and they went up to Su Chan¡¯s waist, making them more than one meter high. Theyughed in amazement and said, "How is that a tea tank? That¡¯s obviously a rice jar!"

    "It¡¯s strange. How could there be such a big vat in this teahouse?"

    Su Chan put the pot on the ground easily. As soon as the pot touched the floor, there was a dull thud. Only then did everyone truly understand the heavy weight of the pot. They immediately looked at Su Chan in surprise and thought, "How could such a lovely, beautiful girl be so strong? How could she carry such arge water tank with one hand? There are so many beautiful women in Disanxian, do they all have unique skills? It¡¯s amazing, really amazing!"

    When Li Yundong saw the tank, he nodded to Su Chan and said, "Go and fill it."

    Su Chan nodded and turned back into the back room. Zhou Qin also said, "I¡¯m going to help."

    Hearing this, Cao Kefei observed the situation said, "I¡¯ll go too!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er rolled her eyes and followed them with a smile.

    After the beauties had all entered the back room, Su Chan looked back curiously and asked, "Why are there so many people here? I can do it just fine by myself."

    Zhou Qin smiled and said, "Well, you¡¯re the only one in the limelight. Can¡¯t I also help my master?"

    Su Chan giggled. "In that case, Sister Zhou Qin, could you fetch me two buckets of waterter?"

    Cao Kefei and Liu Fei¡¯er had no time to look around the back room of Disanxian. They saw Su Chan and Zhou Qin each fill two buckets of water, then walk outughing. The buckets in their hands were deep and heavy, each filled with 20 or 30 litres of water. However, they lifted the buckets as if they weighed nothing. Moreover, the water in the buckets did not shake at all, not a drop escaping.

    Cao Kefei and Liu Fei¡¯er were amazed. Cao Kefei winked at Liu Fei¡¯er and muttered in a low voice, "See that? They really are masters, aren¡¯t they?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er nodded and looked at Su Chan and Zhou Qin admiringly. She said in a low voice, "Their figures are so slim and they look so fragile. I never would have expected them to be so strong!"

    Cao Kefei whispered, "This is not only possible with great strength. Look at them, their buckets are full and their walking speed is so fast but they¡¯re not spilling even a little water. This is the power of kung fu!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er eximed in wonder, "I really don¡¯t know how they learned it!"

    Cao Kefei smiled. "Didn¡¯t you hear what Zhou Qin said? She learned it from her master."

    Liu Fei¡¯er asked curiously, "Who¡¯s her master?"

    Cao Kefeiughed good-naturedly. "You are a star and yet your observation abilities are so poor? Didn¡¯t you see that Zhou Qin called Li Yundong master when she was talking about him? Her master is Li Yundong!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er blinked rapidly. "No way. How old is he? He¡¯s about the same age as me, isn¡¯t he?"

    Cao Kefei smiled and said, "Only one who is capable is worthy of being a teacher! The disciple has supernatural power, so the master can¡¯t be worse than them. Just watch!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er pulled a face and said, "Humph, I¡¯d like to see what he¡¯s going to do with that vat of water and how he¡¯ll get the cup back."

 Chapter 417 The Divine Dragon Absorbs Water!

    <h4>Chapter 417 The Divine Dragon Absorbs Water!</h4>

    The guests throughout Disanxian saw Su Chan and Zhou Qin strolling out with two big buckets and then using them to fill up the huge tea mug.

    Li Yundong stood next to the water tank and said loudly, "Everyone, please watch carefully! Just now, Zhang Ling performed a little trick that made the cup in the teapot disappear without her even touching it. Now, I will perform the trick of absorbing all the water in this mug without touching it."

    Shen Wancai said with a smile, "Young Master Li, your trick has nothing to do with conjuring the cup back. Even if you can drink it all up, how can you conjure the cup?"

    "Mr. Shen, don¡¯t worry," Li Yundong began. "After I have drunk all the water in the pot, it will then be Zhang Ling¡¯s turn to attempt drinking it. If she can finish it, the cup won¡¯t be conjured. If not, the cup will be conjured!"

    Shen Wancai was astonished and said, "Where is the sense in this? This is just too odd!"

    Shen You beside him sneered and turned his head, whispering scornfully, "You¡¯re ying tricks!"

    Shen Hui had seen some of Li Yundong¡¯s magic. She looked at him curiously and for once didn¡¯t say anything to mock him.

    Then the surrounding guests also started whispering to each other and talking about the situation.

    "Well, what do you think drinking water has to do with a teacup?"

    "I don¡¯t know, but I¡¯m really curious. How can he drink water without touching the pot?"

    "You¡¯re stupid. Can¡¯t I use cups without touching the pot?"

    "That¡¯s right! But even if you were to drink it with a cup, how could you possibly drink up such arge quantity of water?"

    "Can¡¯t you just drink it slowly? It can always be finished eventually!"

    "Oh no. Are we going to have to watch Young Master Li drinking water slowly here? What¡¯s so good about a trick like that?"

    "This, this... Hello? Are you really taking me seriously? Just wait and see what Young Master Li will do!"

    "Yes! Wait, you¡¯re the one taking me seriously!"

    Li Yundong ignored the murmuring crowd and asked Zhang Ling gravely, "What do you think, Zhenren Zhang?"

    Zhang Ling frowned secretly, but she was so conceited that she thought she easily could do anything Li Yundong could, so she eximed proudly, "I shall do what you ask!"

    Li Yundong nodded. "Okay!" He then cupped his hands and said loudly, "Please watch carefully everyone!"

    In an instant, silence fell throughout Disanxian. All of them fixed their eyes on Li Yundong.

    Li Yundong stood in front of the huge mug and breathed deeply, sending out a force from the bottom up, which he then shook away from his hands like he was a bear shaking off lice.

    Li Yundong raised his hands above the water mug by about one foot, gave it a swipe, and slowly pushed it like he was doing Tai Chi. At first, all of them thought that Li Yundong was performing some tricks, but soon their eyes went wide as they saw the water in the tea mug swirling slowly by itself.

    The water in the tea mug began whirling faster and faster with Li Yundong¡¯s actions. When the vortex in the water mug had be so turbulent that it almost sshed out, Li Yundong suddenly stopped and pped both sides of the mug fiercely!

    With a bang, a water column suddenly rose from the center of the tea mug and went into Li Yundong¡¯ mouth, where he sucked it all up at once.

    Although none of them knew of Li Yundong¡¯s n, they immediately cheered upon seeing his wonderful trick.

    The cheers were intermittent at first. They soon realized that Li Yundong was constantly absorbing the water, lowering its level by two fingers¡¯ distance in a short time!

    Li Yundong inhaled constantly for a whole minute. At this time, the onlookers were all shocked. They stood up one after another and stared at Li Yundong, breaking out into thunderous cheers and continuous apuse.

    Li Yundong¡¯s aura and Zhenqi had reached an incredible realm. When white Qi was rising from the top of his head, he was like an immortal (a Shenxian) descending to the mortal world, his clothes fluttering even though there was no wind!

    All of them saw this continue for a while, and Li Yundong¡¯s Qi had still not stopped even two minutester, and by this time half the water in the mug had already been absorbed!

    They were so shocked that they all forgot to apud and just stared at Li Yundong, utterly dumbfounded. "Is he still human? How is he doing this?" they wondered.

    The distance between his mouth and the mug was about two feet. How was he absorbing the water? How could he do ti for such a long time without stopping? How was he absorbing it so quickly considering that half of the mug probably contained around twenty liters? Could he finish it all?

    At this time, Zou Ping and Zhang Ling¡¯splexions also slightly changed and they looked at Li Yundong in horror. As cultivators, they naturally knew that Li Yundong was reliant on his iparably powerful Zhenqi.

    It was not difficult to do this. The difficult thing was that he could go at a high speed for such a long time!

    Seeing her master¡¯s abject unhappiness, Zou Ping said with a forced smile, "He won¡¯t hold out much longer."

    Zhang Ling snorted, not speaking. Unfortunately for her, after a minute, Li Yundong¡¯s aura was still there!

    Now all of the onlookers thought that Li Yundong should have died of suffocation, but he still seemed to be continuing to absorb water from the mug, making everyone almost believe that he was not a man but some kind of divine dragon from the nine heavens!

    At this time, everyone in Disanxian was stunned. They had seen not only someone who could absorb water in the air, but also someone who could drink more than half of an oundishlyrge mug of water fairly quickly. Moreover, they had never heard of anyone who could inhale for two minutes without rest!

    In ordinary people¡¯s minds, Li Yundong¡¯s continuous two-minute inhtion was not something that a normal human was capable of. No matter how strong a person¡¯s lungs were, they couldn¡¯t be sorge. But they didn¡¯t know Li Yundong had stopped his external Qi, so what was supporting him was the internal Qi in his body. That was the so-called ¡¯fall of the Fan Qi and rise of the Zhen Qi as they unwittingly tangle¡¯.

    It was his powerful Neidan (Inner Elixir) that was driving Li Yundong¡¯s aura. The Neidan (Inner Elixir) within his body was rotating at an amazing speed, thereby constantly driving the Zhenqi in his body to flow out.

    Ordinary people¡¯s Neidan (Inner Elixir) belonged to fire, but Li Yundong¡¯s Neidan (Inner Elixir) had both thunder and lightning properties because it had been refined by the power of thunder and lightning when he had built the foundation on the Himyas Mountain. As such, it could be called a Thunder-Fire Neidan (Inner Elixir).

    Thunder came into water, and fire could quickly turn water to steam, so the moisture that Li Yundong absorbed into his body was quickly dissolved by his Neidan into arge amount of water vapor, which then came out of the Baihui on top of his head.

    In this way, another minute passed. The water mug was about to be emptied and Li Yundong¡¯s head was steaming with white Qi. A white line rushed to the roof and quickly spread out behind it, looking like three mist flowers, like a crown of blossoms.

    Li Yundong¡¯s clothes were fluttering in the mist, and his ck hair was being tousled by the wind. He really looked like an immortal, omnipotent and awe-inspiring.

    After an unknown period of time, Li Yundong suddenly sucked up thest drop of liquid in the mug. Everyone let out a sigh of relief, as if the past few minutes had been as long as several centuries. They all looked at Li Yundong stupidly and couldn¡¯t say a word. What had happened just now had already exceeded their imagination.

    The restaurant of the Earth Three Immortals was so silent that one could have heard a pin drop.

    Li Yundong hadn¡¯t touched the mug and had still sucked up all the water in it. His stomach hadn¡¯t swollen, and his body didn¡¯t seem to be tired or heavy at all. He lifted the mug with one hand and turned it upside down, then turned to the people around him to show them that there was not a drop of water left within.

    At this time, everyone came to their senses as if they had just woken up from a dream. They let out an earth-shattering cheer, almost lifting the roof of the teahouse with their enthusiasm.

    All the celebrities sitting on the second floor were so excited that their apuse was like thunder. They whispered to each other excitedly, "This is incredible!"

    "It¡¯s not a magic trick! It¡¯s immortal magic!"

    "Immortal! He¡¯s definitely an immortal!"

    "Do another one, Immortal Li!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er was so excited that her little palms turned red from her apuse. Cao Kefei, on the other hand, was still able to maintain herposure. She gracefully and politely pped her hands, but her elbow was still firmly touching Liu Fei¡¯er beside her. She kept saying, "What do you think? He¡¯s a master, isn¡¯t he? A master, right?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er admired Li Yundong to the extreme. She kept pping her hands, but she was not convinced by Cao Kefei¡¯s words. "The cup hasn¡¯t turned up yet!" she said.

    Yin Mengfan looked at Li Yundong with suspicion, and from time to time, she would nce at Shen Wancai and Shen You, who were too shocked to speak. She seemed to be thinking about something.

    Su Chan, Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, and the others also looked at each other, their eyes filled with a mixture of intense joy and admiration. They were all people who knew their stuff and were well aware how terrifying and daunting Li Yundong was to be able to do this.

    They weren¡¯t the only ones. Zheng Yuan and Du Fei were also looking at Li Yundong withplicated expressions. Ding Nan gaped at Li Yundong in shock, a strong sense of worship and desire in his eyes.

    Although Zou Ping had seen Li Yundong¡¯s abilities several times, Li Yundong¡¯s move today made her hair stand on end. She naturally knew how powerful and condensed his true essence had to be for him to be able to do that. How terrifying and powerful did one¡¯s internal core have to be for them to be able to separate so much water in an instant?

    Zou Ping looked at her master uneasily, only to see her ring at Li Yundong with an extremely ugly expression. She didn¡¯t say a word. After a long while, her eyes narrowed slightly, as if she hade to a big decision.

    Li Yundong turned around for the crowd and let them see that there was indeed no water in the mug in his hand. He turned around and was about to address Zhang Ling, when suddenly a teacup fell from the sky.

    The speed of the teacup falling was so fast that it looked as if someone had deliberately thrown it to the ground in a rage.

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes were quick and his hands were fast. He turned his body like a spinning top and ced the pot on the ground with one hand. His other hand was lowered like a monkey fishing for the moon. His wrist turned gently and he caught the teacup steadily in his upturned palm.

    Everyone saw a sh of white light and an object in the shape of a teacup quickly falling through the air. Then Li Yundong turned around. When he stood up again, he was gripping the teacup in one hand and standing proudly, his other hand behind his back.

    Li Yundong cried in a loud voice, "Everyone, please take a look. I¡¯ve brought the cup back!"

    At this time, everyone felt as if they had just witnessed a Hollywood blockbuster, packed with suffocating ups and downs. At that point, they finally breathed out all their Qi, felt the weight on their chests be lifted, and started to cheer like thunder.

    Li Yunyang held the teacup high, asking Zheng Yuan and Du Fei, "Do you want to confirm whether it is the original?"

    Zheng Yuan and Du Fei were both shocked by Li Yundong¡¯s action and shook their heads. He turned around again and said to Shen Wancai, "Mr. Shen, do you want to have a look?"

    Shen Wancai walked up, trembling with excitement. He was looking at Li Yundong as if he was looking at a living immortal. He cupped his hands around the teacup in Li Yundong¡¯s hands and inspected it carefully before shouting a few momentster, "That¡¯s right, this is the teacup!"

    Shen Wancai excitedly gave a thumbs-up and shouted, "I, Shen Wancai, have traveled extensively and seen countless extraordinary people, but Young Master Li, you are the most powerful man I have ever seen! I ampletely convinced!"

    At this time, the oue of the battle was self-evident. Zhang Ling snorted spitefully. She knew that she couldn¡¯t have produced such a long breath of True Energy. Unless she used magic, she couldn¡¯t just absorb it with True Energy like Li Yundong had done. Her face was pale, and she strode out without saying a word. Zou Ping immediately followed her when she saw that the situation was not good. Once they were gone, Zhao Yougen was helped up by the beautiful women in cheongsam, but he then just stood there in a daze like a stone statue.

    Before leaving, Zou Ping nced at her and secretly spat in her heart, cursing, "If it weren¡¯t for this damn thing being so useless, would we have to force our way out? Hmph!"

    The two of them walked out of Disanxian, but they could still hear the people inside still cheering loudly, especially the cheers of Li Yundong¡¯s ssmates, which were the loudest.

    When Zhang Ling heard these ear-piercing sounds, her face turned ashen and she told Zou Ping, "No matter what it takes, you must think of a way to get the Heavenly Jindan Technique for me!"

    Zou Ping paused. "The Heavenly Jindan Technique?"

    Zhang Ling berated angrily, "Are you deaf? If Li Yundong hadn¡¯t practiced the Heavenly Jindan Technique, how could his aura be so long? How could his Neidan be so powerful? Now he has cultivated to the eighth phase and is so powerful. In the future, if he breaks through the ninth phase, will there still be a ce for us in the world?"

 Chapter 418 Visiting Masters in Public!

    <h4>Chapter 418 Visiting Masters in Public!</h4>

    As soon as Zhang Ling and Zou Ping left, everyone in the Disanxian teahouse felt great joy. Zheng Yuan, who had been unable to get along with Li Yundong before, also cupped his hands and said to Li Yundong with a bright grin on his face, "Congrattions on the sessful opening of your teahouse, Zhenren Li. Congrattions!"

    Li Yundong nced at him and said coldly, "Thanks."

    Ding Nan also had mixed feelings at this time and said to Li Yundong, "Li Yundong, I know you have your own opinion about me, but no matter what, we used to be ssmates. For what it¡¯s worth, I wish you good luck with your business."

    Li Yundong sighed in the heart when he heard that. He looked at the tall girl in front of him with aplicated expression, then sighed again and said, "Ding Nan, I know I can¡¯t persuade you now, but... Well, take care of yourself!"

    The light in Ding Nan¡¯s eyes faded. She lowered her head as if she didn¡¯t want Li Yundong to see the affection in her gaze. "Then I¡¯ll leave first," she whispered.

    After that, she left quickly. Zheng Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly and said meaningfully to Li Yundong, "Zhenren Li, your rtionship with my disciple... is pretty good."

    Although Li Yundong didn¡¯t know why Ding Nan had be Zheng Yuan¡¯s disciple, he guessed that there must be some secret motive behind it. He also knew that Zheng Yuan was a cunning and cruel person, so he said deliberately vaguely, "There is no hatred in the world that cannot be reconciled, and there is no grievance that cannot be resolved. What¡¯s more, your disciple used to have a strong rtionship with me. What¡¯s the matter? Head Zheng, is there something you can¡¯t figure out?"

    Zheng Yuan put on a fake smile and said civilly, "It¡¯s nothing, Zhenren Li. The Taoist assembly will be held in a month¡¯s time, so I¡¯ll see you then." After that, he cupped his hand and left with a wave of his sleeves.

    Ding Nan couldn¡¯t help letting some of her true feelings show in front of Li Yundong, but once she was out of sight, she secretly regretted it. She was very sure about Zheng Yuan¡¯s thoughts and methods. If she made a mistake and let him know that she was not Lyu Fengping, she would surely die!

    Ding Nan stood still for a while after she had gone out. She waited until Zheng Yuan came up to her before murmuring, "I¡¯m sorry, Master."

    Zheng Yuan sped his hands behind him and asked lightly, "Oh? What makes you say that?"

    Ding Nan said in a low voice, "I know you will overthink what I said just now, but I have no choice."

    Zheng Yuan said indifferently, "Really?"

    Ding Nan suddenly cried, "Master, you have seen this Li Yundong guy. He¡¯s too strong! I really dare not even hope for sess with my revenge. I only hope that my master will not bear him any hatredter. If this strong manes to the door, he will handle Master... Then I will have no one to rely on in this world."

    Ding Nan had been getting along with Zhou Qin for a long time, and her acting skills had been well honed, allowing her to put on a truly pitiful show of crying. Zheng Yuan¡¯s face, which had been taut, suddenly rxed. He said, "Then you don¡¯t have to talk to him so affectionately. People who don¡¯t know may think... Humph!"

    Ding Nan continued, "Master, in this way, we can paralyze Li Yundong and make him let down his guard. Secondly, we can resolve the grievances between him and us. In the future, if something happens, we will then have a powerful ally..."

    Zheng Yuan nodded slightly. "You¡¯re right. Li Yundong¡¯s cultivation speed is really terrifying. I¡¯ve never seen such a powerful young man in my life. If he¡¯s a friend rather than an enemy, it can only be good..."

    Ding Nan couldn¡¯t help but feel happy, but soon he changed the topic and asked, "But do you think Li Yundong is a fool? Do you think you can turn an enemy into a friend by saying that?"

    Ding Nan scolded in his heart: "This old goat is really hard to fool!"

    Ding Nan sobbed again, "Master, my physical body used to be one of Li Yundong¡¯s ssmates, and they had a deep rtionship. He didn¡¯t know that I was upying this physical body, so he didn¡¯t know the secret behind it. He thought I was his ssmate. I know that, so I said those words boldly. I wasn¡¯t expecting it to make you have doubts. Please punish me."

    After saying that, Ding Nanying prepared to kneel down.

    Although Zheng Yuan was cruel and merciless, he was also a man who was particrly fond of women. He stopped her and said with a smile, "There are so many people here. What are you doing? Let¡¯s go. Since you have not intended to do anything nefarious, I won¡¯t doubt you, but if you have any ideas in the future, you should inform me in advance. Otherwise, it will be bad if there is a gap between the masters and their disciples."

    Ding Nan broke outughing. "Thanks for your magnanimity, Master."

    Zheng Yuan took Ding Nan¡¯s hand with a smile and said, "Let¡¯s go back. The Taoist assembly will be held in a month and I have many preparations to make."

    As soon as Ding Nan¡¯s hand was held by Zheng Yuan, goosebumps sprang up all over her body. She couldn¡¯t get rid of him, so she forced herself to smile and said, "Master, I hope you can show your strength at the Taoist assembly and suppress all the heroes."

    Hearing this, Zheng Yuan couldn¡¯t helpughing. He touched Ding Nan¡¯s hand lightly and said with a smile, "I¡¯ll need your help!"

    Ding Nan felt disgusted. She forced a smile and thought to herself, "This lecher is only getting worse. I have to find a way!"

    Although Zheng Yuan¡¯s face was also full of smiles, there was still a trace of doubt pulsating in his heart. "Since Ping¡¯er got possessed, she has been a little strange. Although she¡¯s been talking like this today, I still feel there¡¯s something off. No, I have to test her again if I get a chance in the future!"

    The two of them had chatted andughed happily throughout, but in fact, they were both heartless and mischievous, seemingly alienated from one another.

    In Disanxian, Li Yundong immediately became the focus of everyone¡¯s attention.

    Many celebrities from various fields hade to attend the opening ceremony of this small teahouse for the sake of the Zhou family. If the Zhou family hadn¡¯t recovered, Zhou Qin wouldn¡¯t have been able to call these people together even if she begged. But now the Zhou family had made aeback, and a swarm of people had rocked up uninvited. Nothing could surpass the fickleness of this world.

    At the beginning, many people had subconsciously regarded Li Yundong as the Zhou family¡¯s son-inw. Therefore, although they were polite, they still had such thoughts in their hearts, such as ¡¯this lucky guy has hooked up with a high-ranking family¡¯ and ¡¯he must be a gigolo¡¯.

    But now, it seemed that they were all looking at Li Yundong with fresh eyes. Some people understood what it meant when Zhou Qin respectfully called Li Yundong ¡¯master¡¯.

    It turned out that this young man was really a great master!

    Looking at Li Yundong with excitement and enthusiasm, Liu Fei¡¯er grabbed Cao Kefei¡¯s clothes hard and said urgently, "Sister Cao, Sister Cao, this guy is really a master. He¡¯s so great!"

    Cao Kefei also looked at Li Yundong with awe. She had been aware that Li Yundong was a strange person before, but in her opinion now, Li Yundong was a master of kung fu. What she had not expected was that his kung fu would be far beyond her expectations and imagination, out of the scope of what was possible for human beings, making people feel awed.

    Cao Kefei was pulled back by Liu Fei¡¯er. She withdrew her gaze from Li Yundong and scolded with a smile, "Are you convinced now?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er nodded like a chick pecking at rice. "I¡¯m convinced, utterly convinced! How did he do it?"

    Cao Kefei smiled prettily. "I don¡¯t know. Why don¡¯t you ask him?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s eyes lit up at first, but when she remembered the attitude Li Yundong had shown towards her before, her face immediately fell. "Humph, not only does this guy¡¯s eyes grow on top of his head, he¡¯s also shortsighted! He doesn¡¯t care about me!"

    Covering her mouth with her hand, Cao Kefei said with a smile, "Wow, it¡¯s useless even if a big star steps out."

    Liu Fei¡¯er whined, "Sister Cao, I came with you today out of kindness. How could youugh at me like this!"

    Cao Kefeiughed and said, "Obviously, it was you who wanted to skip work. You even threw your agent aside and turned off your cell phone, didn¡¯t you? Hum, I¡¯ll see what you do when you turn on your cell pher!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er said with a smile, "Who asked her to take care of me all day long? She can go! Hmph! However, Sister Cao, you can¡¯t do this. At least let me figure out what¡¯s going on! Otherwise, I won¡¯t be able to sleep tonight!"

    Cao Kefei snorted, "I have no choice. Although he is young, he has a lot of ideas. Didn¡¯t you see that I was looking for him like crazy before? How could this cruel man have disappeared without so much as a goodbye! It¡¯s useless to beg him!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s expression was one of intense disappointment. "Ah? If I had known that this would happen, I wouldn¡¯t havee! Isn¡¯t this deliberately making me depressed?"

    Yin Mengfan suddenly let out a peal ofughter. "Don¡¯t worry, Liu Fei¡¯er. I guess my uncle will invite Li Yundong to be Shen You and Shen Hui¡¯s teacher."

    Cao Kefei asked, "Eh, why do you think that?"

    Yin Mengfan looked at Shen Hui, then turned her head back to Cao Kefei and said with a smile, "Shen Hui told me secretly that the old master wanted to invite Zi Yuan and Li Yundong to be Shen You and Shen Hui¡¯s family teachers. I think the old master brought both of them here today, so it is very likely that he wants them to be apprenticed in public."

    "Then what does it have to do with me?" Liu Fei¡¯er interjected.

    Yin Mengfan smiled and said, "Shen Hui and Shen You are both your fans. If Li Yundong takes them on as his students, you can work in an indirect way and get something out of them!"

    Liu Fei¡¯erughed, "That¡¯s a good idea! However, will Li Yundong ept them as his disciples?"

    Cao Kefeiughed and said positively, "My guess is that he will. Old Master Shen¡¯s reputation is pretty great."

    As they were talking, they saw Shen Wancai calm down quickly after his moment of excitement. He said very seriously and sincerely, "Mr. Li, you and Miss Zi Yuan left a deep impression on me when we parted in Dongwu cityst time. I admire you very much. I wanted to visit you earlier, but I couldn¡¯t find your whereabouts. Yesterday, I happened to hear that Mr. Li was going to open a teahouse in Tiannan City. I came without an invitation as a pleasant surprise. On the one hand, it was to celebrate the opening of the business, and on the other hand..."

    As he spoke, he pulled on Shen You and Shen Hui, who were standing behind him and looking awkward. "This is my son and my daughter. I believe that Mr. Li is already familiar with my son. Heh, he and Mr. Li also had some misunderstandings before, but I believe that Mr. Li will be broad-minded and not mind it too much. Moreover, young people can¡¯t get to know each other by fighting! As for my daughter..."

    Shen Wancai looked at Shen Hui, but the baby-faced girl suddenly snorted and turned her face away, feeling utterly ungrateful.

    The smile on Shen Wancai¡¯s face froze, but only for a beat. "Ahah, this girl is still shy!"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly, not answering Shen Wancai. He looked at him calmly and didn¡¯t seem to be ttered at all.

    Shen You looked at him and snorted in his heart. In his opinion, his father Shen Wancai was a man who could make people tremble just by stamping his feet in Tiannan City. The reason he had invited Li Yundong to be his teacher was to show respect to him and acknowledge him as being wise and talented!

    "This guy is showing off just because he can do a little trick. Humph, what¡¯s the big deal!"

    Shen Wancai didn¡¯t know what his son was thinking. He beamed at Li Yundong and said, "I believe that Mr. Li also knows my daughter. Hehe, I, Shen Wancai, have a presumptuous request to make. I hope that Mr. Li will do me a favor."

    By this point, Li Yundong had already guessed that Shen Wancai wanted him to take Shen You and Shen Hui on as his disciples, but he muttered in his heart: "Disciples are not like cabbages at the market. Moreover, Shen Hui has always been set against me. If I take them in, won¡¯t the worlde to chaos? What¡¯s more, Shen You¡¯s character is so bad that I cannot bring myself to like him. How am I supposed to ept him?"

    However, though he didn¡¯t intend to ept them, Li Yundong didn¡¯t know how to make Shen Wancai step down. He hesitated for a moment and hoped that Shen Wancai wouldn¡¯t say anything about acknowledging him as their master.

    Unfortunately, his fear was realized. Shen Wancai immediately said, "Mr. Li, won¡¯t you ept my son and my daughter as your disciples? They needn¡¯t learn anything special, I only hope they can follow you and serve tea. Learning from Mr. Li¡¯s grace and kung fu of Qi-refining, that¡¯ll be enough!"

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly in his heart, thinking to himself: "Yep, here we go. Should I ept them or not?"

 Chapter 419 Envy the One who Returns to Nanshan

    <h4>Chapter 419 Envy the One who Returns to Nanshan</h4>

    As soon as Shen Wancai said this, a silence immediately fell over Disanxian. Everyone gazed at Li Yundong, all wanting to see how he would make a decision.

    Shen Wancai also looked at Li Yundong with bright eyes. He had a smile on his face and his eyes were full of confidence.

    The word impossible did not exist in his dictionary. He had always worked hard to seed, and now Li Yundong had no other choice but to agree.

    Besides, he had given Li Yundong enough leeway. Out of sensitivity to his feelings, he would agree.

    But Shen Wancai hadn¡¯t expected that Shen Hui would suddenly secretly step on Shen You¡¯s shoes and quietly stuff a paper ball into his hand.

    Shen You nced at Shen Hui, secretly opened the note, and suddenly his face changed. The note read: "I don¡¯t care if you want to call this guy master in the future, but do you also want to refer to your dream lover as your mistress?"

    Shen You suddenly felt like he had been stabbed in the heart with a knife. He jumped up and shouted, "I don¡¯t want to be his disciple!"

    In this quiet teahouse, Shen You¡¯s voice rang out loud and clear, sparking an uproar amongst the crowd as everyone began to talk excitedly.

    Shen Wancai narrowed his eyes slightly, but the smile on his face didn¡¯t fade. Heughed mockingly. "Brat, what nonsense are you spewing?"

    Shen You straightened up and shouted, "I¡¯m not talking nonsense!" He then pointed at Li Yundong and said angrily, "How could he be my teacher? Learning Qi refinement? Bah? What era do you think we¡¯re in? Do I have to learn this? Dad, you¡¯re getting old and senile. What¡¯s the use of learning this in the modern world?"

    Shen Wancai trembled slightly, and his smile began to disappear little by little. He asked coldly, "What did you say? Say it again if you have the guts!"

    Shen Wancai was usually extremely dignified at home. His face darkened, and Shen You¡¯s heart suddenly trembled. He didn¡¯t dare say what he wanted to, but his face still turned red. He turned his head and gasped for breath, refusing to acknowledge him as his teacher.

    Seeing such an embarrassing scene unfold before them, everyone stopped talking, and they observed the changing situation with keen eyes.

    Shen Wancai suppressed his rage and said in a deep voice, "I¡¯ve already decided on this matter, so it¡¯s settled!"

    Shen You jumped up and yelled disobediently, "No, I won¡¯t take him as my master even if it means I have to die!"

    Shen Wancai¡¯s whole body shook as he clenched his fists. If it weren¡¯t for his high level of concentration and shrewdness, he would have lost his temper right then and there.

    Shen Hui rolled her eyes and quickly said, "Dad, I¡¯ll persuade him." Then, without waiting for Shen Wancai¡¯s consent, she pulled on Shen You¡¯s hand and whispered, "Stop talking. Get out of here unless you want to die."

    Shen You was not a fool, and he immediately understood. He pushed Shen Hui away and said angrily, "Why are you pretending to care? I don¡¯t need you to worry about me!" After that, he turned around and ran away.

    The entourage who followed Shen Wancai saw that things were not good, and they subconsciously wanted to catch up, but he called out in a deep voice, "Don¡¯t chase after him, let him go. He won¡¯t enter the house, he hasn¡¯t got the guts!"

    The entourage stood there awkwardly, gazing at the back of Shen You, who was leaving quickly, and then he turned back to Shen Wancai.

    Shen Wancai¡¯s expression was one of extreme anger. He nced at Shen Hui meaningfully and said faintly, "Well, well. What a good job you did!"

    Although Shen Hui was smiling, she felt a chill in her heart, and she thought to herself, "It¡¯s over, he¡¯s going to punish me again now! Hmph, it¡¯s all this Li Yundong¡¯s fault. Every time I meet him, nothing good happens to me. Damn it, damn it!"

    Shen Wancai hadn¡¯t expected that this matter in which he had had so much confidence would end up like this. Although he felt ashamed, he still forced a smile to Li Yundong. "Master Li, my son is ipetent. Please forgive us."

    Li Yundong breathed a sigh of relief in his heart and said with a smile. "It¡¯s normal for young people to be proud and arrogant. They always desire to excel over others."

    Shen Wancai sighed and said like an old man, "Master Li, you are young and elegant. This is the first time I have ever seen such a forgiving person like you in my life. Just now, I was lucky enough to witness your truly shocking godly technique. It¡¯s a pity that it¡¯s not appropriate now, otherwise, I would take tea instead of wine and have a few sses with you but today I¡¯ll be leaving. Master Li, I wish you prosperity in your business and the sess of all parties!"

    After that, he didn¡¯t look around further. He just cupped his hands to Li Yuanbo, who was upstairs, and said in parting, "Secretary Li, goodbye!"

    Li Yuanbo smiled and raised his teacup to show his respect.

    Feng Na, who had been thoroughly enjoying the show, saw the old man walking away with his daughter. When Shen Wancai faced the dignitaries in this house, he only greeted Secretary Li, ignoring the others. She stuck her tongue out and whispered, "How dare he ignore the mayor!"

    Cheng Cheng chuckled. "So what if he¡¯s bold? He¡¯s still asking for Li Yundong¡¯s help now, isn¡¯t he?"

    Feng Na sighed softly and looked at Li Yundong with admiration. "When I first saw him at school, I could tell that he wasn¡¯t an ordinary person, but now more than half a year has passed and he has be someone I can barely even recognize. I wonder what he will be like in another half a year?"

    Cheng Chengughed. "What else can he be? Will he stop being our ssmate or friend if bes the President of the United States? It¡¯s not like he¡¯s someone who can¡¯t be approached just because he¡¯s rich."

    Feng Na nodded and smiled. "Yeah, that¡¯s where his charm lies. Look at the people he¡¯s dealing with right now. You can tell that his status has already earned our admiration, but he is still not arrogant and can take a joke."

    The two of them discussed him in low voices. Li Yuanbo, who was upstairs, nced at his watch, then got up and said with a smile. "It¡¯s gettingte! I feel like I got to see something interesting today. It¡¯s really been a worthwhile trip. I¡¯ll be heading out now."

    As soon as he moved, the guests upstairs all stood up to see him off.

    He went downstairs, shook hands with Li Yundong, and said with an appreciative grin. "Your kung fu is rather special. How did you practice it?"

    Li Yundong chuckled. "Ah, it¡¯s just a hobby."

    Li Yuanbo saw that he was unwilling to say anything, so he didn¡¯t press him. "Well, I¡¯ll go back and practice blindly then. Let¡¯s see if I can achieve something like you!" he said with a chuckle.

    Li Yundongughed good-naturedly. "Hah! Secretary Li, you must be joking."

    Li Yuanbo released his hand and said to Zhou Qin beside him, "Qin Qin, won¡¯t you see me off?"

    Although she was a little surprised, she quickly smiled and replied, "Okay, Uncle Li!"

    Li Yuanbo nodded and turned to leave. He didn¡¯t get into his car and just walked slowly down the pedestrian street with his hands sped behind his back.

    The driver who hade with him saw that he was not going to get back in the car, so he had to drive very slowly behind him.

    After a while, Li Yuanbo suddenly came to a standstill. He was fiddling with the file that he had received from Li Yundong. He smiled to Zhou Qin meaningfully and said, "Qin Qin, tell me honestly, what is it that you¡¯re learning from Li Yundong?"

    Zhou Qin was stunned. Although her wits were sharp and she had a way with words, she still didn¡¯t know how to answer him for a while.

    Li Yuanbo stared at her. "You don¡¯t want to tell me? Well, I¡¯ll tell you!

    "He is a cultivator, isn¡¯t he?" he said, looking up at her leisurely.

    She was shocked. "Uncle Li, have you been monitoring him?"

    He grinned. "That bold guy dared to y such a trick in front of me! Did he think I wouldn¡¯t be able to see it?"

    "Uncle Li, in fact, Li Yundong is not what you think. He..." she began exining nervously.

    Without waiting for her to finish speaking, he raised his hand to interrupt her and said, "Don¡¯t be nervous. I don¡¯t have any prejudice against cultivators. Moreover, the destruction of our four old ways and the events of the Cultural Revolution caused great damage to the cultivation world. The older generation feels very sorry about it, so they have turned a blind eye to the development of the cultivation world over the past few years. Still, you have to tell him not to cross the line. He can¡¯t do such a thing as Young Master He did, or no one will be able to protect him."

    She shed a relieved smile. "Uncle Li, don¡¯t worry. He won¡¯t."

    Li Yuanbo could tell that although Li Yundong was young, he acted with propriety and was quite calm. He had said this to get her to remind Li Yundong, and then he followed up by asking, "How long have you been with him?"

    There was some ambiguity in his words. She blushed slightly and whispered, "About a month or so."

    Li Yuanbo looked at her and sighed. "Your cultivation developed so much in just a month. You have changed so much!"

    Zhou Qin blinked slowly, her expression nk. "Have I really changed a lot?"

    Li Yuanbo shook his head and smiled lovingly. "You can¡¯t see your changes with your own eyes! Compared to how you were in the past, it¡¯s like you¡¯ve been reborn! I don¡¯t even know what Li Yundong cultivates. How did he make such rapid progress? I saw some old friends..."

    At this point, he suddenly realized that he had said too much. He immediately shut his mouth and changed the subject. "Hey, don¡¯t practice any evil kung fu with him. How would I be able to exin it to your father!"

    She was a little confused at first, but then she quickly reacted. Her cheeks blushing, she said in a huff, "Uncle Li, how can you say this as an old man? It¡¯s not exactly respectable!"

    "Forget it. Go ahead and follow your own path! s, you don¡¯t want to be a politician, but you¡¯re choosing to take such a difficult and dangerous path instead," he said with augh.

    She smiled affectionately at him. "Uncle Li, as the saying goes, infinite glory lies at the peak of danger! What¡¯s more, cultivation is the most inspirational thing in the world. It doesn¡¯t have so many intrigues and trickery as politics. It can also allow one to ascend from the world of mortals, transcending life, old age, illness, and death. Who wouldn¡¯t want to give it a try?"

    Hearing this, he sighed with emotion in his heart. "Yes, to be able to get out of the mortal world and escape old age, illness, and death, why not?"

    She nced at his graying temples. Obviously, he was used to working hard in his daily life. She asked tentatively in a low voice, "Uncle Li, how about I secretly teach you some cultivation kung fu?"

    Hearing this, he immediately waved his hand dismissively and said, "No, no, there are rules in our system. We are secr. You can¡¯t hurt me! Those who have anything to do with that kind of thing will be swiftly deposed. Those who have something to do with cultivation all upy nominal positions. If people like us have something to do with it, we will be demoted."

    She sighed disappointedly. "Why do they even have rules like that? You¡¯d be better off not being an official!"

    "It¡¯s easy to go up the mountain but it¡¯s not so simple getting back down. When you climb to a certain height, you can¡¯t just say that you¡¯d like to go back! Forget it, forget it. It¡¯s gettingte. I should head home," Li Yuanbo said with a wry smile before turning and walking over to his special car.

    Zhou Qin gazed at his old figure and suddenly asked, "Uncle Li, if you were to redo things from the beginning, which path would you choose?"

    He stopped and fell silent for a while. Eventually, he turned around and said, "The mortal world is a mess. How could I be at ease? I envy you so much."

    After that, he turned around and left, leaving only the echoes of his carelessughter.

    Zhou Qin was lost for words. She thought to herself, "Uncle Li, you¡¯re a high-ranking official. Do you truly envy me so much?"

 Chapter 420 Why Is No One Here?

    <h4>Chapter 420 Why Is No One Here?</h4>

    After Li Yuanbo¡¯s car had driven far away, Zhou Qin came to her senses and slowly started walking back.

    At this time, most of the guests had already left Disanxian. Li Yundong saw that the students from the school who hade to support him had all left one by one. Now, there were only a dozen people remaining, including Feng Na, Cheng Cheng, Cao Kefei, Liu Fei¡¯er, and Yin Mengfan, who would stay temporarily.

    Although there were a lot of people, it was much quieter than it had been with all seats upied just now.

    Li Yundong looked around and saw that after everyone was gone. There were leftover fruit skins and discarded shells littering the floor, and the tea tables were all in a mess.

    He pped his hands to attract everyone¡¯s attention, then smiled and said, "Well, the opening ceremony is finally over. Let¡¯s clean up first. Maybe some guests willeter."

    Zi Yuan took the lead in clearing away the cups on the tables. As she moved, Ruan Hongling also joined in with her cleaning. Su Chan pitched in happily, and then all the members of the Fox Zen School started getting involved.

    Feng Na and Cheng Cheng smiled and said, "Let¡¯s do it together!"

    At this moment, there were three people, Cao Kefei, Yin Mengfan, and Liu Fei¡¯er, who were sitting at the table with nothing to do. Cao Kefei said awkwardly, "I¡¯ll also lend a hand."

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "That¡¯s okay. Ms. Cao, please just sit. You are a guest. How could we trouble you to clean?"

    Cao Kefei smiled and didn¡¯t insist. Liu Fei¡¯er, who was next to her, had been curiously looking at Li Yundong¡¯s belly. Finally, she couldn¡¯t help but ask, "Immortal, can I ask you a question?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Okay, but if you¡¯re going to ask me where I hid that mug of water, you¡¯d better not speak."

    As soon as Liu Fei¡¯er heard this, she immediately said indignantly, "How do you know what I was going to ask?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "You¡¯ve been staring at my belly non-stop. If I couldn¡¯t guess such an obvious thing, wouldn¡¯t I be stupid? Besides, you call me an immortal. I should have the insight of an immortal!"

    In the past, no matter where Liu Fei¡¯er went, she had always been praised by others. No matter how outstanding and proud a man was, he would still be polite to her. Li Yundong, on the contrary, didn¡¯t care about her at all and even made fun of her casually!

    "This is really unbearable! I can¡¯t bear it! I can¡¯t bear it!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er felt rage stirring in her heart. "You think you know everything?"

    Li Yundong had defeated Zhang Ling, and the opening ceremony had been unprecedentedly sessful, so he was naturally in high spirits. He smiled and shook his head, saying, "No, no, no. But I know astronomy and English, the history of civilization over the past 5,000 years, and I also know plenty about the present world!"

    His words made Feng Na and the othersugh loudly. Liu Fei¡¯er also joined in. However, her face hardened again a momentter. Pointing at Cao Yi and the others, she said, "They are still staring at Sister Cao. What can you understand?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s gaze swiftly swept over Cao Yi and others. Upon hearing Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s words, the expressions of Cao Yi and the rest were immediately transformed. They all turned their heads, the look on their faces unnatural.

    He felt strange in his heart, but he smiled and asked, "Cao Yi Shibo, don¡¯t you think President Cao looks familiar?"

    Cao Yi smiled and said, "You are right. When I saw President Cao, I felt that she was like a certain someone."

    Zhuang Yating, who was standing to one side, replied, "I feel simrly. That is why I have been staring at her. Please don¡¯t mind me, President Cao."

    "Do I look like a friend of yours?" Cao Kefei asked.

    Liu Yuehong said, "I feel a sense of familiarity when I look at Cao."

    At this time, Su Chan said, "Yes, yes, I also had the same feeling when I first met her."

    The little foxes of the Fox Zen School also chimed in unison, "Yes, we did too!"

    Cao Kefei got up. She unconsciously touched her face and asked with a shy smile, "Really? Who do I look like?"

    Su Chan shook her head and said, "I don¡¯t actually know, but I know you seem very familiar."

    Li Yundong also smiled at this time. "Cao Yi Shibo, you have the same family name. Are you and President Cao members of the same family?"

    Cao Yi chuckled. "I think we might have been family a thousand years ago." Hearing that, they allughed together.

    Liu Fei¡¯er took Cao Kefei¡¯s arm and winked at her, saying, "Sister Cao, I¡¯ve found you a rtive. Won¡¯t you thank me nicely?"

    Cao Kefei smiled and said, "How would you like me to repay you? How about taking you for a ten-day tour in Hainan?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s felt depressed at once. "You want to make me be part of the crew again? Hmph, no way! I¡¯ll follow you wherever you go! Don¡¯t even think about leaving me behind! If you die, we¡¯ll die together!"

    Cao Kefeiughed and said scoldingly, "What are you talking about? We are holding an opening ceremony!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er also realized that she had said something inappropriate. She gently patted her own mouth and then said to Li Yundong with a smile, "Immortal Li, I¡¯ll punish myself with three cups of wine!"

    As she spoke, she picked up a teacup in front of her and poured some wine into it, then proceeded to down it and repeat the process for a total of three times.

    Li Yundong gave her a thumbs-up sign and said with a smile, "You are too great!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er giggled with her hands sped, pretending to be bashful. "Oh please!"

    The twoughed and the hard feelings between them faded rapidly.

    After Liu Fei¡¯er had taken a seat, she whispered to Cao Kefei, "Sister Cao, this person is very interesting. He¡¯s capable and funny. Much better than the guys in our circle!"

    Cao Kefei squinted at her and said with a faint smile, "Oh? Are you interested in him?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er snorted. "No, there are so many beautiful women around him. How could I ever have a chance?" As she said this, she pointed to Zi Yuan in front of Li Yundong and said, "Look at this, this is the reincarnation of a fairy. She has such a good temperament, is such a beautiful girl, and she is also so virtuous! Is this Li Yundong guy the reincarnation of Dong Yong?"

    Cao Kefei also looked at Zi Yuan jealously, not speaking. After a long time, she sighed softly.

    At this time, Zi Yuan whispered to Li Yundong in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "Li Yundong, have you noticed anything strange?"

    "I have," he replied, "but I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s the same as what you¡¯ve found."

    In a low voice, Zi Yuan replied, "Did you notice that Cao Yi and Zhuang Yating both said that Cao Kefei feels like a person they know? But what Liu Yuehong and Su Chan said was that Cao Kefei felt very familiar, but they couldn¡¯t tell who it was she reminded them of. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s a little strange?"

    "It is indeed a little strange, but it doesn¡¯t mean anything. Still, I wonder why Cao Yi and Zhuang Yating have the same feeling?"

    Zi Yuan thought for a few moments. "I don¡¯t know. We just need to pay more attention to it."

    "Well, I will keep an eye on them. However, the most important thing at this moment running Disanxian smoothly. We have solved the problem of money, so now we can talk about other things."

    Zi Yuan smiled brightly. "Yes. Today was a good start. I believe that the business of Disanxian will really take off."

    Li Yundong nodded and said enthusiastically, "I¡¯m also confident."

    They whispered to each other for a while. Meanwhile, Feng Na, Cheng Cheng, and the people of the Fox Zen School had already cleaned up everything upstairs and downstairs.

    When Feng Na saw Li Yundong standing to one side and talking to Zi Yuan, she smiled. "Li Yundong, you¡¯re really an immortal! Unfortunately, you¡¯re azy immortal, also known as an idler!"

    Li Yundong felt like they had done everything well. He respondedughingly, "Are you done? Well, I¡¯m going to openter!"

    He then went to the center of the teahouse. With one hand on his waist and the other waving, he cried proudly, "Comrades, today¡¯s opening ceremony for Disanxian has been a grand one. It was a sess and aplete victory! On behalf of the chairman of Disanxian¡¯s International Liability Company, I¡¯d like to show our sincere appreciation toward you and your hard work!"

    As he spoke, the crowd kept chuckling. When Su Chan saw that the opening ceremony of the teahouse had been so sessful, she felt a jolt of happiness run through her and took the lead to apud.

    The foxes immediately joined in the fun. Feng Na and Cheng Cheng yelled with broad grins, "We are not tired. Our leader has been working hard!"

    Li Yundong was happy. He extended his hand, affecting the air of an almighty leader as he said, "Well, although the leader has worked hard, hisrades have worked harder!"

    When the crowd saw Li Yundong making fun of them, their amusement only deepened.

    Cao Kefei saw Liu Fei¡¯er holding her cheeks and looking enviously at Su Chan and the others. She whispered, "You¡¯re jealous, right?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er whispered sadly, "Well, this person is so interesting that I can¡¯t helping envying them. They must be living happily together, unlike me. I have been running around all day and struggling for fame and fortune. Some people may think I look morous, but in fact, I am bored to death."

    Li Yundong was unaware of Cao Kefei and Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s conversation, so he continued to say seriously, "In view of everyone¡¯s good performance today, I have decided to reward everyone after finishing their work!"

    As soon as he finished speaking, the little foxes raised their hands at the same time and shrieked, "Leader is the best!"

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes lit up. "Are we going out to eat delicious food?"

    The little foxes followed with, "Are we going out to buy new clothes?"

    "Can I buy a new bag?"

    "I want to buy a pair of new shoes..."

    Hearing this, Li Yundong quickly reached out his hands, pretending to be angry. "You¡¯ve not made any money, but all you can think about is how to spend it? How can you do that?"

    "Li Yundong, you just said that you wanted to reward us," Ruan Hongling reminded him. "It¡¯d be too mean for you to go back on your words now, wouldn¡¯t it?"

    "That¡¯s right, it¡¯s too mean!" the little foxes dered simultaneously.

    They shouted in crisp voices, and the passers-by outside the teahouse peered inside one after another, their eyes overflowing with envy.

    Li Yundong was a little overwhelmed. He turned to look at Zi Yuan and gave her a fierce re. "Hey, you are also a major shareholder. At least say something!"

    She simply smiled serenely. "I¡¯m a big shareholder? Aren¡¯t you afraid of beingughed at in front of President Cao and President Yin? Besides, those were your own words. Don¡¯t look at me."

    Li Yundong said exaggeratedly, "So, you stab me in the back at the critical moment! Are you kidding me?"

    Su Chan and the others burst intoughter. At this time, Zhou Qin returned. Li Yundong saw her and immediately said, "Zhou Qin, you came at just the right time. They haven¡¯t earnt a penny, but now they¡¯re moring to eat delicious food. They also wanted to buy clothes and bags. Isn¡¯t that unreasonable?"

    Zhou Qin was immediately amused. She smiled and said, "It¡¯s definitely unreasonable. How can you expect to eat, drink, and wear new clothes without earning anything?"

    Li Yundong was overjoyed by his newfound ally. He proudly said to the little foxes, "Did you hear that? Those are words of wisdom!"

    Zhou Qin rolled her eyes and said as her eyes crinkled, "However, when we make money today, we will be able to eat, drink, and wear new clothes! We need to go to Shangri-La to eat, and we should go to Chanel¡¯s LV and Kade¡¯s Fanni to buy clothes!"

    Li Yundong took a deep breath and said, "Wow, those are all the world¡¯s top famous brands. Do you want me to go bankrupt?" With that, he walked over to Cao Kefei¡¯s table, stretched out his hand, and said, "President Cao, can I use your eyebrow pencil?"

    Cao Kefei wasughing. When she heard Li Yundong asking for her eyebrow pencil, she picked up her bag and snapped open her make-up case. She took out an eyebrow pencil and asked with amusement, "What do you want this for?"

    Li Yunyang just snapped angrily, "Give it to me quickly." He took the eyebrow pencil and then used it to draw the position of the five Zangs and organs on her clothes. He then said with a yful face, "How much do you think I can sell these for? We¡¯ll take as much as you can bear. I can also make contributions to the development of our country. How about this?"

    When the crowd saw that Li Yundong was acting like a scoundrel and did not have the aura of an immortal anymore, they allughed.

    Zi Yuanughed and scolded him. "Look at you. What¡¯s the difference between you and a rogue?"

    Li Yundong had only been joking. He smiled and threw the eyebrow pencil back to Cao Kefei, who was stillughing at the table. He said, "Forget it, I¡¯m being serious. Let¡¯s get started. If business is good today, I¡¯ll treat everyone to a good meal!"

    Su Chan and the little foxes immediately cheered simultaneously, "Wow! You¡¯re the best!"

    Zhou Qin whispered, "Master, don¡¯t you know how much they eat? Aren¡¯t you afraid of being eaten out of house and home?"

    Li Yundong said reluctantly, "We¡¯ll go to a buffet. I¡¯m happy today, and I am not afraid of being in an embarrassing situation!"

    Zhou Qin immediately burst outughing. "You may be shameless, but I¡¯m not. I won¡¯t go!"

    Li Yundongughed and scolded, "You dreadful girl, you are still my disciple. Not only did youin, you also took the lead in talking back! Come on, do your job. If there are guestster, then we¡¯ll see how happy you are!"

    Zhou Qin spat, "Bah, don¡¯t say such a thing! I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be able to see many guests immediately!"

    Li Yundongughed. "Thank you for your kind words!"

    After the group of people had had enough of fighting, they finished the fun of the opening ceremony. At this time, they all slowly started to calm down and prepare to do real business.

    After waiting for a while, Li Yundong and the others could see that there were many people bustling outside. There were quite a lot of peopleing into Disanxian, but none of them were there to drink tea.

    What puzzled Li Yundong was that in the afternoon, not a single guest hade into the Disanxian teahouse. There were a few who had seemingly wanted toe in for tea, but after ncing inside, they immediately turned their heads and hurried away, as if the room was full of legendary monsters.

    Meanwhile, a few people were drinking tea at Zhao¡¯s teahouse opposite, which had pleased Zhao Yougen no end.

    Li Yundong was puzzled and asked, "Is Zhao Yougen going to reopen his business? Why is no oneing to us for tea?"

    The ck eyebrows of Zi Yuan were slightly knitted, but she remained silent. Su Chan and the others also looked at each other in confusion.

    "Why hasn¡¯t anyonee to my teahouse, but there are people at Zhao Yougen¡¯s?

    "What¡¯s the cause of this?" Li Yundong wondered.

 Chapter 421 I Know Who the Hidden Traitor Is!

    <h4>Chapter 421 I Know Who the Hidden Traitor Is!</h4>

    Li Yundong and the others were still immersed in the sessful and enthusiastic opening ceremony, none of them expecting that they would soon be weed.

    Although there were some officials of Tiannan City who hade to congratte them after hearing the news, they were not guests. After handing over their gifts, they turned around and left.

    Li Yundong frowned and asked, "What¡¯s going on? Why are there no guests?" He looked at Zi Yuan. "What¡¯s happened?"

    Zi Yuan was silent for a moment. She shook her head and said, "I don¡¯t know yet either."

    Li Yunyang then turned to Zhou Qin again. "Miss Zhou, do you know?"

    Zhou Qin also shook her head, sayingfortingly, "Master, don¡¯t worry. There¡¯s no rush in business."

    Li Yundong smiled. "You¡¯re right, but there shouldn¡¯t be no guests at all, right? On the first day of the opening ceremony, there were a lot of celebrities from all walks of life that attended, but now there¡¯s no guests at all. What¡¯s going on?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er suddenly raised her hand and shouted, "Who said that there¡¯s no guests? Am I not a human being? Waiter, serve me some tea, now!"

    Li Yundong turned his head and grinned at Su Chan. "She¡¯s calling you. Go and serve tea."

    "Yes sir!" Su Chan replied obediently and walked over to Cao Kefei¡¯s table. She asked with a charming smile, "Sisters, how may I serve you?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er wanted to tease Li Yundong, so she deliberately said with a straight face, "You¡¯re not the waiter. Ask the waiter to pour tea for us."

    Su Chan blinked her eyes and looked back at Li Yundong.

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing in spite of his anger. So, it turned out that this girl was still holding a grudge. He snorted and said, "There are no waiters here!"

    Cao Kefei secretly kicked Liu Fei¡¯er under the table, whispering with a smile, "Hey, don¡¯t make trouble."

    Pretending not to have felt anything, Liu Fei¡¯er kept her chin raised, as if she were settling a score, and said slowly, "Well, no one here knows why the business is not going well, but I know. It¡¯s really embarrassing."

    Hearing this, Li Yundong immediately ran over to Liu Fei¡¯er, bowed, and said with a smile, "Sir, your waiter is here to serve you. What would you like to drink?"

    All of a sudden, everyone burst intoughter. Ruan Honglingughed and scolded, "Behaving like this when you are still the manager of the store, it¡¯s too shameful!"

    Li Yundong turned around and said fiercely, "What nonsense are you spewing? I¡¯m working hard to earn money for the sake of a bunch of ck sheep like you." After saying that, he turned his head back and said with a dazzling smile, "Dear guest, please ignore this impudent person. What would you like to drink? I¡¯ll prepare it for you right now."

    Liu Fei¡¯er tried her best to hold back herughter. After thinking for a moment, she said, "I¡¯ll have an Oolong Tea!"

    Li Yundongughed and said proudly, "We have Da Hong Pao, Tie Luo Han, Bai Ji Guan, Shuijin turtle Wuyi cinnamon. These are all Oolong teas. Which one would you like to drink?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er opened her mouth and said in surprise, "You have Wuyi Da Hong Pao? That¡¯s a good one!"

    Li Yundong nced at Zi Yuan and smiled. "These were all traded for by Zi Yuan. This was her doing, and I don¡¯t dare to take credit for it."

    Liu Fei¡¯er rolled her eyes and said seriously, "Well, I want to drink... the Oolong tea from the supermarket!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s smile froze. He thought to himself, "She must be messing with me!"

    Cao Kefei, who was standing to one side, tried to mediate the dispute with an ingratiating smile and said coaxingly, "Alright, stop it. Hurry up and tell him!"

    Yin Mengfan matched her smile and said, "That¡¯s right. This isn¡¯t a good sign on the first day of the teahouse¡¯s opening."

    Liu Fei¡¯er chuckled merrily. "Do you want to know why no one is here?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Dear Goddess, don¡¯t keep me guessing!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er giggled and said, "Because you just said that there were no guests, so now it¡¯se true!"

    Su Chan and the others cracked up, but Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. "Am I truly such a doomsayer?"

    Su Chan giggled and said mischievously, "Yundong, this is all your fault!" The other little foxes also started to shout, "That¡¯s right!"

    Li Yundong was annoyed, a bitter smile taking over his features. He suddenly heard the voice of an old womaning from the door. "Hey, it¡¯s really here. Is there anyone here? Doctor, I¡¯m sorry for beingte!"

    Li Yundong turned around and saw an olddy standing at the door, wearing a blue cotton-padded jacket with ck cotton shoes. She seemed to be in high spirits and had a friendly smile on her face. She carried a gift basket in her hand. It was none other than olddy Xu, who had been cured by Li Yundong and helped him open his business.

    Li Yundong beamed at her and said, "Oh, Lady Xu! Come in, please!"

    Zhou Qin also greeted Lady Xu with a smile and said, "Granny Xu, what brings you here sote this afternoon?"

    Granny Xu smiled and said, "Actually, I came here in the morning, but when I saw so many officials¡¯ cars parked all over and realized that all of them were high status guys, I, amoner, could not bring myself toe in. So, I went back home again and thought that I woulde back in the afternoon."

    She then turned to address Li Yundong. "My doctor, you are really too good at hiding your strength. I hadn¡¯t expected you to be such a powerful person. Even the No.1 car of the Provincial Party Committee was here. You¡¯re too impressive!"

    Li Yundong smiled and pointed to Zhou Qin. "That was thanks to her. I don¡¯t have the ability to move such a great god."

    Granny Xu took Zhou Qin¡¯s hand and said with twinkling eyes, "I know that you are not an ordinary girl. You must be the daughter of a rich family. You are obviously different from ordinary people in terms of your speech and behavior. It seems that you are really unusual, hah."

    Zhou Qin smiled and pulled Granny Xu over to a chair, saying cheerfully, "Granny Xu, sit down. What do you want to drink?"

    Lady Xu waved her hand dismissively. "Ah, I won¡¯t sit down. I have to go and watch a yter."

    Li Yundong then chimed in, "Lady Xu, please have some drinks here. At least let me open my shop!" As soon as he finished his words, all the people around him chuckled.

    Lady Xu asked curiously, "What¡¯s wrong? Hasn¡¯t anyonee for tea?"

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly and said, "Not a soul, and I don¡¯t know why."

    Lady Xu patted her thigh thoughtfully, "You don¡¯t know why? Hey, your restaurant is so grand and high-ss, and there were swarms of high-ranking officials here this morning. What ordinary person would dare toe in after that? Besides..."

    She then nodded from Zhou Qin to Su Chan, and then to Zi Yuan and finally to Liu Fei¡¯er, Feng Na, and the others. "Look at your room," she said. "Everyone in this room is an unearthly beauty. Although your teahouse is small, there are many immortals here. How could ordinary people dare toe in and drink tea?"

    Li Yundong listened with a strange look on his face and said, "Nowadays, isn¡¯t beauty an advantage? The eyeball economy? Why is it not good to have too many beauties?"

    Lady Xu grinned from ear to ear. "But this is a little too much. I can count, one, two, three... Wow, my god, eighteen beautiful women are here, each as lovely as thest! With so many beautiful women, who wouldn¡¯t tremble upon entry? They¡¯ll think: My God, there are so many beautiful women here. How much is it to have a cup of tea in a ce like this? I can¡¯t afford it, I¡¯m sure I can¡¯t!"

    Lady Xu¡¯s words dispelled all of Li Yundong¡¯s doubts. He looked up and let out a bark ofughter, then pped his hands and said, "It¡¯s true what they say that those who are involved will be confused, while those who are watching from outside will see clearly!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said to Zi Yuan, "You, a living immortal, also didn¡¯t expect things to turn out like this, right?"

    Zi Yuan pursed her lips andughed. "Indeed, the older, the wiser!"

    Lady Xu smiled and said, "I¡¯m not going to sit! Doctor, I wish you luck in developing a rich and prosperous business. I¡¯ll bring some friends here to have tea some other time. You¡¯ll have to give me a discount when I do!"

    Li Yundong grinned at her readily. "Okay, sure!"

    He then escorted Lady Xu out. Upon his return, he thought for a while. He simply waved his hand and said, "Well, I won¡¯t bother you anymore today. The opening ceremony was already very lively. I can¡¯t expect to make a pile of cash on the first day, right? Let¡¯s go. We¡¯re done today!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er whispered to Cao Kefei, "Who in the world does business like this? He¡¯s done in the afternoon?"

    "There is no other actor like you in the world," Cao Kefei replied. "You just disappeared while acting."

    Liu Fei¡¯er said angrily, "Sister Cao, who are you helping? Him or me?"

    Yin Mengfan, who had been quiet all this while, suddenlyughed and said, "It¡¯s obvious that you value your crush more than your friend! Didn¡¯t you see that after she came, she barely spoke to me and just stared at her dream lover?"

    Cao Kefei¡¯s blushed and red at the two of them. "Hey, what are you saying? If you spout this garbage again, I will turn against you!"

    Yin Mengfan picked up her bag and said with a forced smile, "I¡¯ve been with you for the whole day. Forget it, I¡¯m leaving now"

    She stood up gracefully and went over to Zhou Qin. "Zhou Qin, I¡¯ll go back first. I¡¯ll be looking for you when I¡¯m free. Call anytime."

    Zhou Qin smiled and said to Li Yundong, "Master, I¡¯ll see her off."

    Li Yundong nodded. "Yes, of course. Ms. Yin has given us a good start today."

    Hearing this, Yin Mengfan¡¯s heart skipped a beat. She smiled and said, "In that case, I¡¯ll ask Master Li to do me a favor in return someday. You can¡¯t refuse me when that timees!"

    Hearing that she had called him Master Li, Li Yundong was obviously shocked. He sighed at the power in his heart and said with a warm smile, "If there¡¯s anything you need help with, just tell me."

    "That¡¯s a deal!" Yin Mengfan said, turning to head out with Zhou Qin.

    Cao Kefei then also stood up and looked at Li Yundong with aplicated expression. She said, "Well, we¡¯re leaving too. We can have tea another day!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Okay, thank you foring to support us today."

    Liu Fei¡¯er, who was standing to one side, suddenly decided to reveal some information. "Sister Cao was filming in Hainan. When she heard that you were opening a store, she immediately flew back."

    Cao Kefei red daggers at Liu Fei¡¯er and then at Li Yundong, her ears red. "Who made this wretch not tell me the news?"

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly and asked, "Are you going back today?"

    "No, we¡¯re staying at the Di Hao Hotel today. Would you like toe? Sister Cao misses you so much!" Liu Fei¡¯er said quickly.

    Cao Kefei was so angry that she covered her mouth and yelled in a low voice, "Will you die if you don¡¯t say anything?" As she spoke, she pulled Liu Fei¡¯er out, not daring to cast another nce at Li Yundong. However, he looked at her and could see that her neck waspletely red.

    As Liu Fei¡¯er struggled, she turned her head and said with a grin, "Hey, Immortal Li, you¡¯d bettere!"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry as he watched the two of them leave. When he turned around, he saw Su Chan looking at him suspiciously. Her eyes were darting around, and everyone else had ambiguous looks in their eyes too.

    Li Yundong said defensively, "Hey, why are you looking at me? I¡¯m innocent!"

    "Oh! You¡¯re innocent, are you!? Well, I believe you used to be!" Ruan Hongling dragged out her words, her tone sarcastic.

    Li Yundong said angrily, "What do you mean by ¡¯used to be¡¯? I have always been innocent!"

    Li Yundong turned to the little foxes and said, "Hey, hurry up and back me up!"

    The foxes immediately crowed, "Leader, we believe that you are innocent!"

    Li Yundong looked at them suspiciously. "Why do I feel like you are being sarcastic?"

    Helen chuckled and said in a voice dripping with irony, "You¡¯re what we call a thief with a guilty conscience!"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but lose it. Su Chan, who was next to him, suddenly gripped his arm with a smile and said in a coquettish voice, "Yundong, I believe you are innocent!"

    Hearing this, Li Yundong felt a twinge of warmth in his heart. He smiled and said, "My girl is the best! Hum, my girl, I¡¯ll take you to eat some delicious food tonight. As for the others, they¡¯re not invited!"

    With that, he took the girl in his arms and went out.

    Ruan Hongling was stunned and hurriedly shouted after them, "Hey, what about the store?"

    Without looking back, Li Yundong yelled, "I¡¯ll leave it with you!"

    Ruan Hongling stomped her feet and whined, "Damn it, this guy is the worst! He¡¯s actually willing to be a hand-off shopkeeper! Sister Zi Yuan, what should we do?"

    Zi Yuan turned around and walked out of the door with a smile. "It¡¯s up to you!"

    Ruan Hongling was dumbfounded. She looked at her senior sister and thought, "Am I hallucinating? Since when has Sister Zi Yuan acted like a rogue?"

    She quickly chased after her as well, leaving the other members of the Fox Zen Sect to look at one other in dismay, their eyes wide open.

    At this time, Zhou Qin came back. Looking at the back of Li Yundong, she asked curiously, "Where are they going?"

    The little foxes and the three senior Shibos also opened their eyes and ran out one after another, leaving Zhou Qin confused and shouting helplessly, "Hey, where are you going? Hey, say something! Hello!? Don¡¯t you want to run the store anymore?"

    Zhou Qin was so angry that she balled her fists, locked the door quickly, and rushed to catch up with them.

    After the group had finished having a good meal, they finally returned home. Once Li Yundong had returned to his room, he calmed down and began to think about some things that happened during the day.

    What puzzled him most was why there was Heavenly Thunder when he and Zhang Ling had been fighting in the air. Theoretically, there should not have been any clouds for thousands of miles at that time, so there should not have been any Heavenly Thunder either. Had someone been observing them?

    If there was, who could it be? Moreover, if the thunder was attracted by someone, why hadn¡¯t he been hit at the beginning? Was it supposed to be a deterrent to make Zhang Ling and him stop?

    These questions came one after another, making Li Yundong feel as if he had fallen through miles of clouds. He sighed softly.

    While he was struggling, feeling troubled and confused, he heard someone knocking at his door.

    He called in a deep voice, "Pleasee in."

    With a creak of the door, a woman came in. The tall and pretty neer was none other than Zhuang Yating, the Third Shibo of the Fox Zen School.

    Li Yundong was stunned and asked curiously, "Shibo, what can I do for you?"

    With a surprisingly serious look on her face, she said, "Leader, I have something important to tell you."

    "Can¡¯t you tell me something important tomorrow?" Li Yundong asked with a weary smile.

    Zhuang Yating shook her head and said, "Leader, I know who the traitor in Fox Zen School is!"

 Chapter 422 Rush into Di Hao Hotel

    <h4>Chapter 422 Rush into Di Hao Hotel</h4>

    Li Yundong was stunned upon hearing what Zhuang Yating¡¯s words. He jumped up quickly, then sat down again slowly and said without turning a hair, "Really? How do you know there is a hidden traitor in Fox Zen School?"

    A worried expression came over Zhuang Yating¡¯s face. She sighed lightly and said, "Leader, do you think I¡¯m truly blind? I actually heard everything when you were talking to Zhenren Zi Yuan in private. At that time, I started paying attention to the suspect, but I was not sure. That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t talk to you before."

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Do you know that Zi Yuan and I also suspect you?"

    Zhuang Yating nodded. "Yes, I know! So I also know that I have to prove my innocence."

    Li Yundong asked in reply, "And how do you intend to do that?"

    She said in a hushed tone, "Once you go to Cao Yi¡¯s room and take a look, you will understand."

    Li Yundong was surprised by this suggestion. He stood up and said in a low voice, "What¡¯s wrong with Cao Yi¡¯s room? Take me to have a look!" Just as he was about to go out, his cell phone suddenly rang loudly.

    Since Feng Na had reminded him, he had started carrying his phone on him again. He picked it up and saw that it was a call from Cao Kefei. Feeling suspicious, he pressed the answer button and immediately heard a woman panicking and shouting loudly, "Li Yundong, is that Li Yundong?"

    Li Yundong could hear that the woman was so terrified that her voice was a little hoarse. He asked in a low voice, "Who are you?"

    The woman shouted loudly, "It¡¯s Liu Fei¡¯er. Li Yundong,e and save me. Sister Cao has been killed!"

    Li Yundong was deeply shocked. He hurriedly asked, "What¡¯s going on? Calm down. What happened?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er sobbed, "Someone wants to kill Sister Cao. Come quickly, she¡¯s dying!"

    Li Yundong was about to ask for the address when he heard the sound of the phone being hung up. He immediately panicked and hurried out of the room, no longer paying attention to Zhuang Yating. He walked to the balcony and shouted over to the balcony next to him, "Zi Yuan! Zi Yuan!"

    Hearing the anxious yells, Zi Yuan rushed out onto the balcony. She asked curiously, "What happened? Why are you in such a hurry?"

    He exined in a rush, "Someone wants to kill Cao Kefei. I need to go and check. Get everyone together and tell them not to move."

    Zi Yuan was startled at the words but quickly collected herself and nodded. "Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be here."

    Li Yundong nodded. He nced at Zhuang Yating and said, "Let¡¯s talk about the details when I get back." Then, he moved his body and shot into the air. He turned into a blue light and flew toward Dihao Hotel.

    After Li Yundong had left, Su Chan came to the living room in her pajamas and asked inquisitively, "Sister Zi Yuan, what happened?"

    Zi Yuan smiled faintly and said, "Nothing. Li Yundong just has something to deal with. Ask everyone toe over."

    Although Su Chan did not understand why, she still knocked on everyone¡¯s doors one by one, calling for everyone in the Fox Zen School. When she got to Cao Yi¡¯s room, she knocked on the door for a while, but she did not hear any voices from within.

    "Strange. Isn¡¯t Shibo Cao Yi here?" she wondered.

    Zhuang Yating sneered all of a sudden. "It would be strange if she were here!"

    Su Chan blinked rapidly and inquired, "Shibo Zhuang Yating, how do you know that Shibo Cao Yi is not here?"

    Zhuang Yating snorted again, staying silent.

    Su Chan rolled her eyes. After thinking for a while, she was about to knock on the door again, but as soon as she raised her hand, the door opened with a squeak. Cao Yi, who was dressed in a loose Daopao, came out and asked with a perplexed expression, "What¡¯s up? What¡¯s happened?"

    Su Chanughed. "Shibo, you¡¯re truly here. Shibo Zhuang said you weren¡¯t."

    Cao Yi shot a quick nce at Zhuang Yating. "Shibo Zhuang might have thought that I had gone out."

    Su Chan asked with amusement, "Where would you have gone sote?"

    Cao Yi smiled slightly. "Right? Anyway, what¡¯s the matter now?"

    Su Chan said, "Leader said we should all stay together in the living room."

    "Huh? What happened?" Cao Yi asked curiously.

    Su Chan shook her head and said, "I don¡¯t know either. I just heard him say that we have to do this."

    Cao Yi nodded. "Since Leader has given the order, I¡¯ll do as he says." As she said this, she began heading downstairs with a smile.

    When Su Chan passed by Cao Yi, her nose suddenly twitched slightly and she sniffed. She wondered in her heart, "It¡¯s strange. How could there be a smell of blood on Shibo Cao Yi?"

    Su Chan pondered this in her heart. Moving on autopilot, she chased after Cao Yi, trying to figure out if the smell was really blood. When she began to follow her, Cao Yi immediately turned around and looked at her suspiciously. "Chan¡¯er, what¡¯s wrong with you?"

    Su Chan was keenly aware of the fact that Cao Yi¡¯s was being abnormally sensitive at this moment. She immediately smiled and said, "Nothing. I¡¯ll go over and call the other Shijies." With that, she hurried past Cao Yi. When she passed by, she sniffed again and detected a faint but definite smell of blood.

    Su Chan was extremely proud of her sense of smell and knew that it was impossible for her to misidentify a scent twice in a row. She shuddered in her heart and thought, "Where did the smell of blood on Shibo Cao Yie from?"

    While Su Chan was guessing alone, Li Yundong had already flown to the Di Hao Hotel. Before descending, he scouted out a deserted ce tond in, then quickly rushed to the gate of the Di Hao Hotel.

    Li Yundong had been feeling anxious all the way. He knew that Cao Kefei was kind to him. It was more or less unreasonable that he had disappeared on her in the past, and he felt guilty about it in his heart. His pace quickened until he became like a galloping horse. When he crossed the road, he did not look at the cars on either side at all. Like a monkey, he jumped from one end of the road to the other side with only a few leaps.

    Li Yundong moved without worry, but the drivers were unlucky. They saw a figure flying past their cars in the space of a few moments. The figure was so agile that it didn¡¯t look like that of a human. They were shocked and turned their heads to look at the person.

    All of a sudden, there were sounds of people chasing each other over the road, and the way becamepletely blocked.

    Li Yundong had no time to figure out what was happening behind him. Dialling Cao Kefei to ask for the specific room number, he continued rushing to the hotel.

    Dressed in a white shirt and ck trousers, the security guard could tell that Li Yundong was nervous and in a hurry, which triggered his suspicion. At that moment, someone went up to Li Yundong and said, "Sir, please wait. Please show your certificate."

    Li Yundong was holding his phone in one hand while the other dug around in his pocket. He immediately said in a daze, "I didn¡¯t bring it!"

    The security guard said gravely, "Then I¡¯m afraid you can¡¯t go in."

    Li Yundong held out his phone and said to the security guard, "Something has happened to my friend. If you don¡¯t believe me, will you at least listen?"

    The security guard looked at him suspiciously and took the phone to listen, but soon returned it to him and said, "Busy tone."

    Li Yundong became anxious all of a sudden. "I called just a second ago. What¡¯s the matter? Look, I really have a friend who has had an ident!"

    However, the security guard simply shook his head and said stubbornly, "Sorry, you can¡¯t go in."

    Li Yundong was more than a little annoyed. "Saving people is like putting out a fire. Are you f*cking going to let me in or not?"

    The guard sneered and said, "Where? I¡¯ll go and save her! But you can¡¯t go in!"

    Li Yundong spat back spitefully, "If I knew where, would I be here talking nonsense with you!?" Then, he shoved the security guard away and muttered threateningly, "Get out of my way!"

    How could Li Yundong¡¯s strength beparable with an ordinary person¡¯s? With a simple push, the security guard flew back. The other security guards on both sides of the hall noticed that the situation was serious. They immediately called the police and began waving their batons, rushing in from all directions.

    Li Yundong snorted angrily, headed straight to reception and made the security guard close to him fly back without saying anything. The guests in the hall saw these strong security guards being immediately thrown back as soon as they approached Li Yundong. The furthest one was sent more than ten meters away, like he had taken a ne. They were all stunned and stood rooted to the spot. They didn¡¯t dare to take a breath for fear that they would provoke this devil and have to suffer his ire.

    Thedy at reception pressed the silent rm bell under the counter with one hand, while the other hand was gripping the counter tightly. Her body was trembling, but she still maintained a professional smile.

    Li Yundong rushed to reception and saw that the girl was so scared that she couldn¡¯t standstill. He was taken aback, and his face rxed slightly. "Is there anyone named Cao Kefei staying at your hotel?"

    Seeing Li Yundong¡¯s expression soften, the receptionist¡¯s heart also subconsciously rxed a little. She thought to herself, "This person is quite handsome, but I¡¯m afraid he¡¯s here to get revenge. I¡¯m sure he¡¯s not a good guy!"

    So she plucked up her courage and shook her head, telling him, "No! There¡¯s no one with that name!"

    Li Yundong suddenly became furious. "You said without even checking, you f*cking bullsh*tter. She called me just now and said she was here! Check your books and find her quickly, then tell me where she is!"

    Even cultivators would have been in awe of his roar, let alone a young and beautiful receptionist!

    The receptionist suddenly shivered, and her hands rapidly flew to the keyboard. While she was searching, she saw a security guard behind Li Yundong swing the electric baton in his hand toward him.

    Without looking back, Li Yundong grabbed the electric baton.

    As soon as he held the electric baton, the receptionist and the security guard felt smug. They all knew that the electric baton could send out tens of thousands of bolts in an instant, enough to make people tremble and lose their ability to move.

    But as soon as the smile appeared on their faces, it froze again.

    Li Yundong gripped the electric baton and stared at the security guard who had attacked him from behind. He kept quiet but still managed to project a natural dignity and power.

    The security guard was stunned for a moment. He thought it was because he hadn¡¯t pressed the switch and he immediately pushed it down a few more times. He could hear the crackling sound of the baton, but Li Yundong didn¡¯t move at all, staring at the guard like a statue.

    Li Yundong was not in the mood to dally with them. He suppressed his anger and muttered in a low voice, "Had enough?"

    The security guard instantly released the electric baton, raised his hands, and looked at Li Yundong with abject fear, as if he were looking at a devil.

    Li Yundong red at him and pped the baton down on the front desk with a thud. He then shouted to the receptionist, "Have you found it?"

    The smile on the receptionist¡¯s face had not faded. The expression on her face a mixture of scared and terrified as her smile became gruesome. She said in a shaking voice, "Room 19035."

    Without saying a word, Li Yundong turned his head and rushed upstairs. No one dared to stop him in the hall. Everyone just gaped at his figure stupidly, staying motionless.

    After Li Yundong had left, the receptionist curiously picked up the electric baton and pressed the switch, only to see that the baton was still buzzing. She whispered to herself, "That¡¯s impossible. Why didn¡¯t the electricity work? Is it an inferior product?"

    Several other receptionists, who were just as frightened, came back to their senses and said angrily, "It must be an inferior product. Otherwise, how could that guy have been left unscathed after touching it?"

    The girl who had directly spoken to Li Yundong tentatively touched the security guard at the counter with the electric baton. As soon as the security guard¡¯s hand touched the electric sparks, he began trembling violently and shivered all over. He fell to the ground, his movements reminiscent of a goat suffered from epilepsy, frothing at the mouth.

    Then all of the girls came back to their senses. It turned out that this electric baton was not broken. Li Yundong just wasn¡¯t an ordinary person at all!

 Chapter 423 Who Do You Think You Are?

    <h4>Chapter 423 Who Do You Think You Are?</h4>

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t wait for the elevator toe down and decided to run up the stairs wildly by himself. He rushed to the 19th floor in only a short time, then tried to find the Cao Kefei and Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s room as quickly as possible, shouting in the corridor worriedly, "Ms. Cao, Ms. Cao! Liu Fei¡¯er, where are you!?"

    His noisy yelling startled the entire floor. Some curious people leaned out of their doorways and muttered in confusion, "Liu Fei¡¯er? Does he mean that superstar, Liu Fei¡¯er?"

    Just as they were making guesses, a door suddenly opened and a girl ran out. She was wearing a bathrobe and her hair was disheveled. She waved at Li Yundong with a panicked expression and shouted to him, "Li Yundong, in here! President Cao is almost dead. Come quickly!"

    Li Yundong immediately rushed over to her and asked urgently, "What¡¯s going on? Where is President Cao?"

    Before Liu Fei¡¯er could stop worrying about being discovered. She grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s arm and pointed to the room. Her voice was filled with fear and thick with sobs as she said, "I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on either. I found President Cao like this after taking a shower!"

    Li Yundong walked into the room and took a look. It was a spacious, luxurious double room, filled with all kinds of appliances, even a bathroom and balcony.

    The French windows of this balcony had been left open, and the curtains were gently fluttering in the night wind. The bedsidemp was dimly lit, and the faint glow of it outlined Cao Kefei¡¯s figure. She was lying prone on a bed, her eyes closed, her hands tightly sped over her chest, and her expression was one of extreme pain.

    Li Yundong rushed over to her and checked her pulse only to find that it was very weak, almost undetectable.

    Li Yundong checked her breath with the palm of his hand and found that she was no longer breathing.

    His heart suddenly twisted. He asked Liu Fei¡¯er in a low voice, "Do you know that President Cao has had a heart attack?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er could see that Li Yundong was still calm andposed, so she felt slightly relieved as she responded, "Yes, I know."

    Li Yundong asked usingly, "Then why didn¡¯t you give her any medicine?"

    With tears in her eyes, Liu Fei¡¯er exined, "I tried giving it to her, but she couldn¡¯t swallow it. I attempted to get her to take it with water, but it didn¡¯t work."

    Li Yundong frowned unhappily. "And you didn¡¯t try calling 110 for help? What about 120?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er wiped her tears away and shook her head. "No. She was still conscious when I came out. I could see her covering her chest tightly and the pain on her face. I thought that she had had a heart attack and quickly found the medicine for her. After trying to get it down her, she struggled to say that someone wanted to kill her and asked me to find you immediately. She said that you could save her."

    Li Yundong¡¯s frown deepened. He could see not only a pool of water around Cao Kefei, but also a few drops of blood not far away. One of his hands was also marked with flecks of blood. He lifted his hand to his nose and inhaled, then pressed Cao Kefei¡¯s pulse with the other hand and asked in a deep voice, "Did you catch what she said? Who was trying to kill her?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er shook her head with resignation.

    He asked again, "Did you see the murderer?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er shook her head desperately. Her eyes were full of fear, as if she was saying, "If I had seen him, then wouldn¡¯t I be lying right here as well?"

    Li Yundong thought for a moment. "Do you guys have any enemies?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er promptly shook her head.

    "Think about it carefully. I¡¯m talking about some very special enemies. Someone like... like me, who would have a special little skill."

    Liu Fei¡¯er couldn¡¯t help choking with sobs again. "President Cao is a good woman who is good for people. How could she have any enemies?"

    Li Yundong felt a twinge of confusion at this response. "But a while ago I saw someone asking to collect a debt from her?"

    "She had paid off that debt early. It was those unscrupulous people who were just trying to cheat her."

    Li Yundong fell silent for a while. He slowly sent his Yuanyang Qi into Cao Kefei¡¯s body, trying to help her keep her Qi alive. He asked Liu Fei¡¯er again, "Well, didn¡¯t you guys return to Tiannan City privately? Does anyone else know of your whereabouts?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er answered sorrowfully, "My crew may well be aware that we¡¯ve returned to Tiannan City, but I doubt that they¡¯d know where we live."

    Li Yundong¡¯s brows drew ever more tightly together. He was about to ask yet another question when Liu Fei¡¯er suddenly sobbed and yelled, "Hurry up and save her! Please save her!"

    Li Yundong smiled confidently and saidfortingly, "Don¡¯t worry. She¡¯ll be fine, it just..."

    Li Yundong was about to expound upon the details of Cao Kefei¡¯s current situation when he suddenly heard a noise from outside, "What? Liu Fei¡¯er is here? Where? Where is she?"

    The tourists outside were rmed. When some of the fans had heard of Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s whereabouts, they had immediately gathered ande to look around the door. Some people pointed to Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s and shouted, "That¡¯s right, it¡¯s Liu Fei¡¯er!"

    "Ah, Liu Fei¡¯er, I love you!"

    "Liu Fei¡¯er, please give me your signature. I¡¯m so addicted to watching your movies and TV shows!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er had dealt with countless fans before, but it was the first time that she had had to deal with her fans under circumstances like these. She was momentarily dumbfounded and at a loss as to what to do. She just didn¡¯t know how to cope with the present situation.

    ¡¯If she agreed to let the fanse in, they¡¯d onlyplicate matters. How could she deal with the crazy fans in this situation?

    ¡¯But if she didn¡¯t let them in, there would be malicious gossip soon spreading around about her ignoring her supporters.

    Liu Fei¡¯er stood there with a nk look on her face, seemingly frozen as she watched her fans swarming towards her.

    Just as she was about to be surrounded by this swarm of fans, Li Yundong suddenly shouted, "Stop right now!"

    Although his shout was not loud, it was full of majesty and power, making the crowd suddenlye to a standstill.

    They looked in the direction of the voice only to see a young man squatting on the edge of the bed, looking at them coldly, as if he were a lion looking down at a hundred little antelopes. Though his demeanor was calm and there was no expression on his face, there was a majestic pressure exuding from him, showing that he was in control.

    Li Yundong said with a touch of anger, "There¡¯s someone here who is in mortal danger. Can¡¯t you see? Get out now, all of you! If she dies, you will be the ones taking responsibility for it!"

    Only then did the peoplee back to their senses. They looked at the beautiful Cao Kefei on the bed, and then at Liu Fei¡¯er, who was in a panic. Finally, their eyes fell on the young and handsome Li Yundong. Countless imaginings suddenly appeared in their minds, and in that split second they derived countless interesting pieces of gossip about the trio.

    Chinese people love to join in on the fun and cause trouble. When the onlookers saw what was going on, they were all excited. Although they did not dare to press forward again, they did not retreat either. They piled up at the door and excitedly snapped photos on their cellphones.

    Li Yundong frowned when he saw this. He muttered to Liu Fei¡¯er in a low voice, "Get them all out!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er was stunned for a while before she stammered, "Wh-what?"

    Li Yundong red at her. "Do you want President Cao to die? Hurry up and get them all out of here!"

    It was a wake-up call for Liu Fei¡¯er, who hurriedly began to plead with her fans. "Make way, my friends. I¡¯ll definitely sign autographs for all of youter."

    Everyone smiled and made noises of agreement, but their feet seemed to have turned to lead, and they didn¡¯t move at all.

    Liu Fei¡¯er was so anxious that tears began to spring from her eyes. Just as she was about to speak again, she suddenly heard a woman shouting her name loudly outside. Liu Fei¡¯er was stunned and automatically answered, "Sister Hong? I¡¯m in here!"

    A momentter, a tall woman dressed in a ck business suit and a pair of ck-framed sses squeezed her way through the crowd. When this woman saw Liu Fei¡¯er, a furious expression immediately appeared on her face. However, she looked at the crowd and forcefully suppressed her rage. She continued to walk up to her and said in a low voice, "Fei¡¯er, you¡¯ve gone too far this time! You actually snuck away from the crew! Do you know how bad the impact has been? Now the entire crew is talking about how you¡¯re putting on airs!"

    This woman was Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s agent, Sister Hong. When Liu Fei¡¯er saw her, she immediately rushed over as if she had justid eyes on her savior. She took her hand and asked in surprise, "Sister Hong, how did you find me?"

    Seeing that she was not answering her question, Sister Hong snorted and put what had happened to the back of her mind for the time being. "I have my ways! Anyway, where¡¯s that Cao Kefei? Why does she so badly behave? It¡¯s enough for her to run away by herself, but she also dragged you away! Where is she?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er worriedly pointed at Cao Kefei, who was lying on the bed, and said sadly, "Someone tried to kill her. She¡¯s dying now."

    Sister Hong was really shocked, but she still said rudely, "This woman is the worst troublemaker I¡¯ve ever met. Hmph, this is her just deserts!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er pulled on her arm and whispered pleadingly, "Sister Hong, please don¡¯t say things like that. It¡¯s me who wanted to go out with her, so you mustn¡¯t me her."

    Sister Hong red at her. "You¡¯re still sticking up for her!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s tears were about to start falling again. She choked up and begged, "Stop saying that. Just scold me if you want to vent your anger. It¡¯s all my fault for causing President Cao to suffer like this."

    The anger in Sister Hong¡¯s eyes dissipated a little. She nced at Li Yundong, who was concentrating on transferring his Zhenqi to Cao Kefei, and asked, "Who is he?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er whispered, "President Cao¡¯s friend."

    Sister Hong frowned. "What kind of a friend is he?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er hesitated for a while before saying, "Just an ordinary friend."

    "Is he a doctor?" asked Sister Hong.

    Liu Fei¡¯er was tongue-tied. "I don¡¯t know."

    Sister Hong frowned deeply and said to Li Yundong, "Hey, are you a doctor?"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t turn back and said faintly, "No."

    Sister Hong suddenly became angry and shouted to him, "You are not a doctor! Do you know what you are doing here? Do you know that you will probably end up killing Cao Kefei? If she really dies, who will take responsibility? Hey, you, get out of the way. If you¡¯re not a doctor, what are you doing here? Hey, hey..."

    Li Yundong turned his head slightly and nced at the agent faintly. "Well, are you going to find someone else to treat her?"

    Hearing this, Sister Hong was stunned, but soon she became angry from embarrassment and yelled, "Who do you think you are? How dare you talk to me like this?" She quickly took out her cell from her bag and added angrily to Liu Fei¡¯er, "Have you called for emergency treatment?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er was stuck in the middle. She looked at Li Yundong and then at her agent, feeling like she was in a real pickle. She shook her head helplessly.

    Sister Hong red at her fiercely. Just as she was about to dial, she heard someone shouting outside loudly, "I am a doctor, I am a doctor!"

    Upon hearing this, Sister Hong was overjoyed. She pressed her phone into Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s hand and said quickly, "Call emergency services quickly! Don¡¯t let this unknown guy do us a disservice! When Cao Kefei dies, we will all be in trouble!"

    She then quickly strode up to the crowd and asked loudly, "Which one of you is a doctor?"

    At this time, a tall, upright young man came out of the crowd and said with a smile, "I am." Then, he took out a certificate from his pocket and imed, "This is my Physician¡¯s Qualification Certificate."

    Sister Hong nced at it and asked in surprise, "You graduated from Harvard?"

    The young man quickly swept his gaze Liu Fei¡¯er, then he quickly and carefully hid his amazement, smiling and saying, "Yes, I¡¯m a Ph.D. of Harvard¡¯s science and neurology department. I¡¯m currently working at North Kaka¡¯s hospital and know a little about medicine. I think I can help you out."

    Sister Hong immediately disyed a strong smile on her face. She giggled and said, "A double-purity Ph.D. and you¡¯ve only mastered a little medicine? Haha, you are really modest. Unlike some people who only want to pretend to understand and make trouble!" As she said this, Sister Hong turned her head and gave Li Yundong a fierce look.

    The young man smiled slightly and asked in a gentlemanly voice, "May I go in and have a look?"

    Sister Hong quickly made way and said with a polite grin, "Of course, of course. Come in!"

    The young man walked over to Li Yundong. He unconsciously nced at Liu Fei¡¯er again, coughed dryly, and asked her, "Hello, may I take a look? I¡¯m a doctor, a professional doctor."

    Li Yundong looked up at him and asked weakly, "Do you know what¡¯s wrong with her? Is she dead or alive?"

    This young man suddenly felt angry. He thought to himself, "You¡¯re obviously not a doctor. How dare you pretend to be? I am a graduate of Harvard Medical College, but you¡¯re just some unknown nutjob. Who do you think you are? How dare you be so arrogant in front of me? You¡¯re showing off before an expert! You are trying to teach a fish how to swim!"

 Chapter 424 A Short-sighted Person Cannot See the Big Picture

    <h4>Chapter 424 A Short-sighted Person Cannot See the Big Picture</h4>

    Li Yundong¡¯s casual words seemed to be testing his medical skills, but it made the proud and arrogant young overseas returnee choke on his rage.

    He felt a surge of anger. Subconsciously, he wanted to retort, but as soon as he was about to speak, he became alert. He secretly stole a nce at Liu Fei¡¯er, who was beside him, and thought to himself, "This bastard is so uncultured. I¡¯m an outstanding student who has returned from Harvard, so I can¡¯t lower myself to the same level as him."

    The young man tidied up his clothes with a polite smile on his face and said, "How can I know if she is dead or not if you won¡¯t let me check her?"

    The agent, Sister Hong, looked at him and secretly praised him. "He is a well-educated person after all! His behavior is so refined!" Thinking of this, she couldn¡¯t help rolling her eyes at Li Yundong and thinking, "Meanwhile, some other Chinese are really uneducated. This has nothing to do with him, but he still wants to interfere. Humph, doesn¡¯t he know that it¡¯s he himself who is losing face?"

    Li Yundong nced at the young man and suddenly asked, "Hey, what¡¯s your surname?"

    There was a sense of superiority and arrogance present in the reserved look of the young overseas returnee. Like a city man who had broadened his horizons, he looked at the rustic countryman and said, "My name is Xohuade D. Smith!"

    Li Yundong smiled lightly and said, "Well, Mr. Shi, since you are a doctor, pleasee and have a look."

    The proud and reserved smile on "Mr. Shi"¡¯s face suddenly froze. He blurted, "It¡¯s Mr. Smith, not Mr. Shi!"

    Li Yundong nodded and smiled. "I know, Mr. Shi!"

    When Liu Fei¡¯er beside them saw Li Yundong toying with this fake foreigner, somehow she recalled Li Yundong¡¯s act of serving as a waiter in the teahouse and couldn¡¯t help cracking up at the memory.

    As sheughed, the fake foreigner and the agent, Sister Hong, turned to look at her in surprise, not understanding how she couldugh in such a situation.

    Liu Fei¡¯er also noticed that she was being impolite. She quickly turned her face and lowered her head, and her expression was tight, as if her mother had just died. Even so, her eyes kept slipping to Li Yundong¡¯s face from time to time.

    Although she had been feeling very scared and flustered, when she found that Li Yundong could be so calm, especially in this case, where he could even make fun of this fake foreigner with a faint smile at the corners of his mouth, she felt relieved. "He must have a solution, right?"

    Although she hadn¡¯t known Li Yundong for a long time, she had always felt that there was an inexplicable power in the man, making her feel at ease.

    The expression on the face of "Mr. Shi" became a little ugly in response to Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s sneer. He stared at Li Yundong unkindly and said, "I¡¯m a doctor. Let me check her!"

    Li Yundong let go of Cao Kefei¡¯s hand and said neutrally, "Go ahead."

    The fake foreigner frowned and said, "I am not a doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine. I don¡¯t know how take her pulse!"

    Li Yundong looked at him strangely. "There are plenty of Western doctors who check the pulse through the wrist. You don¡¯t even know how to do that?"

    The fake foreigner¡¯s face turned a little red. He red at Li Yundong and reached out to touch Cao Kefei¡¯s neck artery. He felt it for a while before suddenly eximing, "My God! She has no pulse!"

    Li Yundong suddenlyughed. "Oh! So it turns that you do know how to take someone¡¯s pulse!"

    The fake foreigner spat angrily, "Are you kidding me? This person has no pulse. You have to do chestpressions quickly!"

    The smile on Li Yundong¡¯s face slowly faded. He looked at the fake foreigner with a little sympathy and said, "Forget it, Mr. Shi. Let me handle this. You can¡¯t do it."

    When the fake foreigner heard this, he immediately forgot to keep up his polite act and asked angrily, "What did you say? I can¡¯t do it? I¡¯m a Ph.D. in medical science at Harvard. Who are you? Do you have a medical license? Do you know how to cure diseases and save people? This is a life, and you don¡¯t have the right to interfere! Get out of the way, and don¡¯t make trouble if you don¡¯t know medicine!"

    The agent, Sister Hong, also said to Li Yundong with a cold face, "Yeah, get out of the way. Why can¡¯t you understand this? It¡¯s true that a short-sighted person cannot see the big picture! Do you know what medicine is? Do you know what¡¯s wrong with Cao Kefei? She was born with heart disease. Get out of the way. If she really dies, you will be responsible for it!"

    The fake foreigner added threateningly, "If you don¡¯t get out of the way, you will be responsible for her death. You will be spending the rest of your life in prison when she passes!"

    Li Yundong nced at him and sighed helplessly. "You think you understand her condition, but do you know what¡¯s going on with her?"

    The fake foreigner sneered, "Are you deaf? Didn¡¯t you hear that it was heart disease just now? This needs treatment in a hurry and we need to maintain the venttion in the room. Her heart has already stopped beating. It¡¯s essentially murder to dy treatment for even one more second!"

    Li Yundong shook his head and said, "No, she hasn¡¯t had a heart attack."

    The fake foreignerughed spitefully. "What the hell do you mean?"

    Li Yundong still did not let go of Cao Kefei¡¯s wrist, and he kept transferring Yuanyang Qi into her body to maintain her vitality. "I have just found out that Cao Kefei¡¯s innate soul is missing. Normal people have three transcendentponents and the seven materialponents of the human soul, but she only has one transcendentponent and three material ones. Because of her congenitalck of souls, shecks Essence, which has caused her heart disease. Moreover, the remainingponents have been broken up, and her currentponents are wandering outside, so her body is almost dead..."

    The agent, Sister Hong, and the fake foreigner couldn¡¯t helpughing when they heard this.

    Sister Hong tried to stifle herughter enough to say, "What a joke. How can you believe such superstitious things? The three transcendentponents and the seven materialponents of the human soul! Ridiculous! You don¡¯t know medicine, do you? How dare you try to fool us with such childish nonsense! Hey! Tell us, which transcendentponent and materialponents of the human soul does Cao Kefei have?"

    Li Yundong took no notice of Sister Hong¡¯s sarcasm and mockery. He added seriously, "The Heaven-Soul of people is made up of the Divine Soul, the Earth Soul, and the Fate Soul. There is Qi-Soul. The first Soul is the Divine Rush, and the second Soul is the Wise Spirit, and the third Spirit is the Qi, and the fourth Spirit is the Power, and the Five Soul is the center, and the sixth soul is the Spirit, and the seventh soul is the YIng. Of the Heaven-Soul, President Cao only has the Fate Soul. The Divine Soul and the Earth Soul are not in her body. Among the Qi-Soul, the Qi, the Power, the Spirit, and the Ying are not in her body."

    Sister Hong sneered upon hearing this. She said, "How can you be so reasonable as to say this? It¡¯s a pity that a short-sighted person cannot see the big picture! I hadn¡¯t expected you to be so young and to be even more superstitious than an old man!"

    The fake foreigner could not helpughing and saying, "Hey, are you still living in the Qing Dynasty? Where¡¯s your braid?"

    Li Yundong was furious in his heart. In the past, if he had used his full eye power to stare at someone in front of him, it would have made the person¡¯s heart beat violently and spit out a mouthful of blood. But now, not only had Li Yundong¡¯s cultivation improved, but his temperament had also slowly mellowed out. He just nced at the fake foreigner indifferently.

    Although it was only a nce, Li Yundong, who had experienced several battles and experienced all kinds of hardships, had a majestic momentum, and that look was enough to sweep away the fake foreigner¡¯sugh and made him not dare to make a sound again.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t want to waste attention on him and the agent. He let go of Cao Kefei¡¯s hand and ced his palm on her head. His other hand reached out and undid her cor button, revealing arge patch of snow-white skin.

    Seeing this, Sister Hong couldn¡¯t help but be angry and she asked, "What do you want to do?"

    The fake foreigner looked at the bewitching sight of Cao Kefei¡¯s chest. He couldn¡¯t help but be dazzled for a moment, but he soon heard Sister Hong¡¯s reproach. He immediately came to his senses and stepped forward. He imitated Sister Hong like a parrot as he said, "What are you doing?"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t look back. He simply snorted and said, "Watch carefully!"

    As he said this, all the Zhenqi in his body rushed from his palm into Cao Kefei, and his other hand was like a bee gathering pollen from flowers. His five fingers all quickly began pointing and poking at each of Cao Kefei¡¯s acupoints on her chest.

    The fake foreigner wanted to stop Li Yundong, but he was intimidated by Li Yundong¡¯s power and didn¡¯t dare to go forward. The same went for Sister Hong, the agent. She turned to Liu Fei¡¯er and asked in a low voice, "Where did this mane from? How did he know you were here?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er didn¡¯t know how to tell her. Seeing her hesitation, Sister Hong couldn¡¯t help but scold angrily, "Did you ask him toe here?"

    Seeing that she couldn¡¯t hide the truth, Liu Fei¡¯er just bit her lip and nodded her head gently.

    Sister Hong immediately went crazy and began berating her angrily. "How do you know such a person? Did Cao Kefei introduce you? Why did you ask him toe here?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er began exining quickly, "No, Sister Hong. President Cao asked me to call him here. Moreover, he¡¯s very powerful. Really, very powerful. I¡¯ve seen what he can do with my own eyes!"

    Sister Hong suddenly turned around, pointed at Li Yundong, and said angrily, "Is that so? Just pretending to be some magic man?"

    As she spoke, she saw Li Yundong¡¯s palm press against Cao Kefei¡¯s head. Without much effort, Cao Kefei actually slowly stood up. However, her eyes were still tightly closed and her face was as pale as a sheet of paper. Her skin was frighteningly pale, as though she had been drained of blood.

    Sister Hong was at a loss for words for a while, and the people who were watching the crazy scene from the door also became excited, whispering, "Hey, this is like magic!"

    "F*ck, is this real? What is going on?"

    "Are we on a film set?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er also widened her eyes and looked at the scene in front of her with an excited expression. At this moment, she was certain that the superior who Cao Kefei had always praised was definitely someone who was extremely knowledgeable. He would definitely be able to save Cao Kefei!

    Liu Fei¡¯er couldn¡¯t help gripping Sister Hong¡¯s hand as she whispered excitedly, "Look, Sister Hong! look! I said that he had great magical power!"

    Sister Hong just spat back, "Bullshit! This is magic? This is superstition, and these are tricks!" She pointed to the people who were watching from the doorway and shouted, "Do you believe this cr*p? In this era, why are you still doing this? This kind of person just belongs in a jail cell!"

    She was talking loudly when Li Yundong suddenly shouted "ha!" and "humph!". He then shouted for a third time, saying, "Cao Kefei, your soules back! Your spirites back!"

    In the blink of an eye, everyone saw the curtains on the balcony suddenly be lifted up high. Cao Kefei¡¯s body trembled violently, and after a while, she let out a groan. Her long eyshes fluttered slightly and she slowly woke up.

    The crowd burst into an uproar!

    The fake foreigner was stunned, and his eyes almost popped out of their sockets. He couldn¡¯t understand why thisdy, who had not had any pulse just a moment ago, hade back to life in a sh without any treatment.

    Sister Hong was even more stunned and gaped at Cao Kefei. She couldn¡¯t say a word.

    Li Yundong supported Cao Kefei with one hand and propped her against the bed. Then, he nced at the fake foreigner and said, "You, a foreigner in the Chinese style, don¡¯t understand all of this. I can understand your ignorance..." As he said this, he turned his head to look at Sister Hong and shook his head slightly. "But you, as a Chinese person, think that the ways of our ancestors are all just superstition. I can¡¯t understand it!"

    Sister Hong¡¯s expression suddenly turned ugly. She opened her mouth and was about to retort when she heard Li Yundong sigh, "s, but you are right!"

    Sister Hong asked automatically, "What do you mean?"

    Li Yundong said meaningfully, "A short-sighted person cannot see the big picture!"

 Chapter 425 Dont Let Anyone Go!

    <h4>Chapter 425 Don¡°t Let Anyone Go!</h4>

    Li Yundong¡¯s words made Lady Hong¡¯s face redden, and her eyes were full of shame and indignation, but she had no way to refute Li Yundong. After all, Cao Kefei, who had almost died a moment ago, had been rescued by this young boy in the twinkling of an eye. After all, no matter how eloquent she was, she could not refute iron-like facts.

    But on the other hand, the fake foreigner was very unconvinced and snorted, "What good luck! But you may not be so fortunate next time!"

    Li Yundong nced at him and smiled. He was toozy to argue with him, so he just turned his head and whispered to Cao Kefei, "President Cao, how do you feel?"

    She frowned slightly and covered her heart with one hand, looking lovely despite her pain. She forced a smile and said softly, "Li Yundong, you saved my life again. What can I do to repay you?"

    Li Yundong chuckled. "What are you talking about? We are friends! Don¡¯t speak like that!"

    "Friends..." Cao Kefei¡¯s plump red lips gently spat the words. Her eyes were blurred and her expression wasplicated as she looked at Li Yundong, as if she had a thousand words to say, but didn¡¯t know where to begin.

    At this time, Liu Fei¡¯er also rushed over and grabbed Cao Kefei¡¯s hand tightly. Her eyes were full of tears, and she cried out, "Lady Cao, you¡¯ve finally woken up. You scared me to death!"

    Cao Kefei smiled. "Yeah, I dreamed that I was flying. I flew so high and so far. When I was flying in the sky, I suddenly heard someone calling my name, so I couldn¡¯t help flying back. When I opened my eyes again, I woke up here."

    Liu Fei¡¯er smiled despite her tears still falling. "It was Li Yundong who called your soul back just now!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "By the way, President Cao, do you know what¡¯s going on?" With that, he lowered his voice and added, "Who wanted to kill you?"

    Cao Kefei¡¯s eyes suddenly shed with fear. She opened her mouth and was about to speak when she suddenly heard a noiseing from outside. Someone was yelling in the corridor, "Get out of the way!"

    The people who had been blocking the door all turned their heads and immediately dispersed.

    Li Yundong and Cao Kefei turned their heads and saw several policemen rushing in, shouting, "Where are the criminals?"

    Several security guards behind them saw Li Yundong and immediately pointed to him. "It¡¯s him! He¡¯s the one who hurt so many of us!"

    Li Yundong smiled and asked simply, "You say that I hurt a lot of you? Who exactly did I hurt?"

    Several of the guards said at the same time, "All of us are injured!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Where are your wounds? Can you show me?"

    These security guards suddenly stopped. Subconsciously, they touched themselves and found that there were no injuries anywhere on their bodies. Although they had been sent flying earlier by Li Yundong, they hadn¡¯t felt much pain when they had fallen to the ground!

    At that time, they had been so nervous and scared that they hadn¡¯t even noticed. Now, Li Yundong was pointing at them and they were surprised to find that they had not been injured at all!

    The angry security guards suddenly rxed. The leader of the police snorted and shouted, "It¡¯s not up to you to decide whether someone has been beaten or not!"

    Li Yundong asked in reply, "Then who is it up to?"

    Another policeman sneered and said, "Idiot, it¡¯s up to us!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Do you mean that it¡¯s for you to say whether I hurt them or not? Even if I didn¡¯t hurt them, you can still say that I hurt them?"

    Hearing this, the policeman couldn¡¯t help but be angry. "What do you mean? Be careful with your words before I arrest you for libel!"

    Li Yundong looked at the two of them and shook his head secretly. He thought for a moment before saying to the security guards, "Tonight is actually a misunderstanding. I came to save my friend in a hurry, but you stopped me, so there was a conflict. If possible, I¡¯d like to settle it privately."

    At this time, a lobby manager in a suit strolled out of the crowd. He snorted coldly and said, "Privately? Do you know how bad the impact of this matter has been on our Di Hao? No, this matter can¡¯t be handled in private!"

    The two policemen were also very cooperative. One took a step forward and stared at Li Yundong fiercely while the other took out a pair of handcuffs and shed them to him.

    Lady Hong and the fake foreigner suddenlyughed at the other¡¯s troubles, thinking, "Catch him, catch him!"

    Seeing that things were not going well, Cao Kefei suppressed her difort and said loudly, "I can testify that he really came to save me. Is it illegal to save people now?"

    One of the policemen said coldly, "It¡¯s against thew for you to hurt people in the process of saving another!"

    Cao Kefei couldn¡¯t help but retort angrily, "It¡¯s no different from doing a favor. Why are you all being so unreasonable! Law enforcement is about human nature. How are you doing it? Who is your leader?"

    When the policeman saw Cao Kefei¡¯s angry look, he was dumbfounded for a while and almost started drooling.

    When he came to his senses, he shouted with a straight face, "Cut the crap ande with us!"

    Cao Kefei was shocked and angry, but she was also someone who was used to seeing big scenes, so she forcibly suppressed her anger and calmly began to look through her cellphone.

    The apanying policeman had better eyesight than hispanion. He saw that Cao Kefei¡¯s bearing and momentum were different from that of an ordinary person. He hesitated and felt that this matter could be big or small. If he was unlucky and the other party had a strong background, he, an insignificant policeman, would be in serious trouble. He turned around and whispered a few words to the lobby manager behind him.

    The lobby manager snorted. He thought for a moment and was about to speak when he suddenly heard a dignified voice say from not far away, "Liu, what are you doing here?"

    The policeman named Liu turned his head and saw a middle-aged man in casual clothes looking at him in a dignified manner. He was suddenly shocked and ran over, then saluted respectfully and said loudly, "Director Gong, I am on a mission!"

    Director Gong frowned. "What mission is it that has caused such amotion? Take me to have a look!" he instructed.

    Liu smiled apologetically and said, "It¡¯s just a little thing. It¡¯s not worth you worrying about."

    Director Gong snorted, "Even a small thing made a big racket. If there really is something serious going on, will you tear the earth down?"

    With that said, Director Gong walked out of the corridor with his hands sped behind his back. He walked out of the corridor like he was a beast king patrolling the mountains. The people who had been watching the bustle from the corridor made way for him in awe.

    At this time, the lobby manager¡¯s face was full of smiles. He produced a pack of cigarettes from nowhere and handed it over with a smile. "Director Gong, I¡¯m sorry to bother your rest. I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ll order someone to send you two tes of supperter."

    Director Gong pushed away the cigarette in his hand with a righteous look and said in a deep voice, "I don¡¯t smoke! What¡¯s going on here?"

    The lobby manager said with an obsequious smile, "It¡¯s nothing. Someone broke into Di Hao and injured someone, but now the two policemen are going to arrest him."

    Director Gong snorted. "So arrogant? Dihao is one of the few five-star hotels in Tiannan City. How dare he do this? Dows and regtions not exist in this person¡¯s eyes? Punish him severely!"

    The lobby manager smiled ever more brilliantly. "Director Gong, you are so wise! This shouldn¡¯t be dragged out. Otherwise, Di Hao will lose face, and you will lose your face, won¡¯t you?"

    Director Gong shouted with a straight face, "You¡¯re talking rubbish. What does my face have to do with Di Hao?"

    The lobby manager kept smiling, but secretly sneered in his heart "Keep pretending, keep pretending! You have so much money to live off of every year, you can continue to pretend!!"

    Director Gong pretended to look around everywhere, and another policeman who had proposed to arrest him also came over at this time. He saluted and said, "Director Gong, this suspect has aplices. Do you want to arrest them together?"

    Director Gong looked at the policeman and nodded. "It¡¯s Zhang! What, there are aplices involved? Arrest them all! We can¡¯t let go of any criminal!"

    Zhang was overjoyed. He turned around and was about to enter the room to take the suspect into custody when suddenly he heard Director Gong ask, "Is the suspect inside? Who is so arrogant?"

    Zhang quickly turned around and weed Director Gong into the room. Then, he pointed to Li Yundong and shouted, "This person is the suspect!"

    Director Gong fixed his eyes on the man and saw that he was looking at him coldly. There was no fear or uneasiness in his eyes. Instead, his gaze was full of ridicule and disdain. Director Gong subconsciously felt angry, but soon he realized that the man in front of him seemed to be a little familiar. He was shocked in his heart. He opened his eyes and looked at Li Yundong carefully.

    After looking for a long time, Director Gong tentatively asked, "Are you Li Yundong?"

    Li Yundong was stunned. "You recognize me?"

    Director Gong immediately showed an extremely bright smile on his face. Others could not have imagined that this dignified and cold middle-aged man could actually burst into such a cheerful smile, like that of a baby. He quickened his pace, grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s hands tightly with both hands, shook them up and down, and shouted, "Childe Li, you are really forgetful! We met during the day! I have been dropping by your teahouse for a long time!"

    At this time, everyone in and outside the room was sweating. Zhang, the policeman who had shouted to arrest them earlier, was sweating so much that his whole body seemed to be melting, as if he was sitting on wax.

    Lady Hong and the fake foreigner, who had been gloating a moment ago, looked at Li Yundong with their mouths wide open, as if they were looking at some kind of alien.

    Li Yundong had opened the teahouse today, and there had been about 70 or 80 celebrities from all walks of life waiting for him. Just the names of these people and their official positions were enough to make him dizzy. How could he remember who the middle-aged man in front of him was?

    But Li Yundong saw that he was so enthusiastic, and the smile on his face was as bright as a sunflower, so he could not lose his temper. As the saying goes, ¡¯You can¡¯t hit a person who has apologized to you¡¯.

    Li Yundong pretended to be suddenly enlightened and said with a smile, "Ah, I remember now. I¡¯m sorry, Director Gong, how do you do?"

    Director Gong smiled enthusiastically. "Why are you here today, Childe Li?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "I came to save a friend, but I got into a misunderstanding with Di Hao." As he said this, he nced at the policeman who was moring to arrest him.

    Li Yundong¡¯s gaze swept over the ce, and the people there immediately broke out into a cold sweat, especially the lobby manager who had refused to settle the issue privately. He was so regretful that he wanted to p himself in the face!

    What kind of background could make the director of the Municipal Public Security Bureau act so familiarly and even show some ttery and ingratiation?

    Now that he had provoked such a demon, how could he show his face in Tiannan City anymore?

 Chapter 426 Who In this World Doesnt Know You?

    <h4>Chapter 426 Who In this World Doesn¡°t Know You?</h4>

    Her temperament was extraordinary, and she looked at him with a casual and charming gaze, a faint smile ying around her lips. "Why are you in such a daze? I¡¯ve called you a few times."

    Li Yundong returned to his senses. Without thinking, he smiled and said, "I¡¯ve just been thinking that it¡¯s really strange recently. I seem to meet people I know wherever I go."

    Cao Kefei looked at Li Yundong with infatuation brimming in her eyes. In her opinion, this man had looked childish a few months ago. Although he had all kinds of magical skills, he had still been an ordinary person after all, and she had been able to look down on him.

    But now, she had to stand on her tiptoes and raise her head just to look into his eyes!

    "How can a person grow up so fast? How strong will he be in the future?"

    Thinking of this, Cao Kefei couldn¡¯t help but be stunned for a moment. She sighed faintly. Everyone in the world was aware that the lobby manager was thinking about how to deal with it, but Director Gong asked the two policemen behind him loudly, "Are you here to arrest Young Master Li?"

    The policeman named Xiao Zhang was tongue-tied and his forehead was slick with sweat. His tongue seemed to have been tied into a knot, leaving him unable to speak. The other policeman, Xiao Liu, was obviously much smarter. He shouted, "Director, we are here to learn about the situation!"

    Director Gong nced at him and was secretly satisfied by his quick-wittedness and speedy reaction. He nodded and said, "Yes, so what do you know about the situation?"

    Xiao Liu became a little nervous and couldn¡¯t help sweating. He looked at Cao Kefei and then at Li Yundong,ining to himself, "Oh my god, how can I take back what I just said? Am I pping myself in the face here?"

    However, when his eyes fell on the lobby manager, an idea suddenly came to his mind. "Got it, I¡¯ll sacrifice another so I can survive! I¡¯ve found someone to take the me!"

    Xiao Liu pointed at the lobby manager and said loudly, "Manager Wang knows best. Let him tell us!"

    Manager Wang was so angry that he almost began flinging curses. "F*ck! Not only do you often traipse around with a few whores and ckmail people for money, but you also want to make trouble and frame me now!? You son of a b*tch!"

    Although he was fuming, he still had to say something. He wiped the sweat from his brow and said in a low voice, "In fact, this is just a small misunderstanding. Young Master Li is eager to save people. Hah, it¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay. It¡¯s only a small matter!"

    As he spoke, he suddenly had an idea. "Damn, these two bad cops want to push this problem onto me. Why can¡¯t I push it to others instead?"

    With this, he turned his head and shouted to the several security guards behind him, "Are you injured?"

    The security guards were dumbfounded. They hadn¡¯t expected that this great responsibility would be shunted onto them one after another and they began cursing under their breath. Unfortunately, this lobby manager was the younger brother of Di Hao chairman¡¯s new lover, soo matter how much they wanted to grumble, they didn¡¯t dare to offend him.

    The security guards all said with forlorn faces, "No, we are not injured!"

    Manager Wang snapped angrily, "Well, if you¡¯re not injured, why are you yelling? Don¡¯t you idiots see what¡¯s going on!? You almost caused us to be misunderstood."

    The security guards felt so wronged that they were on the brink of tears. They lowered their heads and dared not say anything despite their rage.

    Seeing this, Li Yundong chimed in, "Don¡¯t me them. It¡¯s my fault. Let¡¯s just forget it."

    Unexpectedly, Director Gong suddenly shouted loudly in response, "No, this matter absolutely can¡¯t be left like this!"

    At this time, no one could stop themselves from looking at the director with great curiosity. They thought to themselves, "Is this director going to go crazy again and enforce thew impartially?"

    Director Gong said righteously, "What does Young Master Li mean bying to Di Hao sote to save people? This is the spirit of self-sacrifice! This is a kind of chivalrous spirit! And this is a kind of disy of dedication that is missing in our modern society! This kind of character must be strongly publicized and promoted! We should let everyone in Tiannan City know of Young Master Li¡¯s chivalry!"

    Hearing this, everyone around him almost vomited on the spot. They all looked at Director Gong with a strange look in their eyes and thought to themselves, "It was you who wanted to arrest him before. Now it¡¯s enough that you haven¡¯t arrested him, but you¡¯re ttering him shamelessly? Isn¡¯t it just disgusting?"

    Cao Yi couldn¡¯t help but look disdainfully at the head of the Public Security Bureau, who was clearly a grand champion master of using the poker-face, and curse secretly.

    Everyone liked to be ttered, and Li Yundong was no exception, but he couldn¡¯t bear such heavyweight ttery. He didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. "Director Gong, is it totally unnecessary?"

    Director Gong thought that Li Yundong was just pretending to be polite. He dragged out his words and said, "Hey! Young Master Li, what are you talking about? Why is it unnecessary? This is a great opportunity for us to publicize and educate the general public!"

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly to himself. He muttered in his heart, "I guess after you publicize it, I will be a crown prince in the eyes of themon people!"

    Li Yundong quickly waved his hand and said, "No, no, it¡¯s really unnecessary. I should keep a low profile!"

    Director Gong suddenly understood. With admiration written all over his face, he said, "Ah, well, Young Master Li¡¯s realm is high. I really admire you!"

    Li Yundongughed dryly and replied, "You tter me, Director Gong. Actually, I have a favor to ask of you." After that, he whispered directly into Director Gong¡¯s ear. Director Gong was immediately overjoyed when he heard whatever Li Yundong had said. He patted Li Yundong¡¯s chest and said, "No problem. When do you want this report? I¡¯ll bring it straight to you."

    Li Yundong thought for a moment before replying, "You¡¯d better hand it to me as soon as possible. Other than that, I¡¯ll settle the matter here privately with Manager Wang. We don¡¯t need to make things difficult."

    He spoke casually, but Director Gong and Manager Wang both listened with sincerity.

    Director Gong chuckled and said, "Well, well, you can make your own agreement. If you encounter any problems during negotiation, Young Master Li, you can tell me!" As he said this, he shot a deliberate nce at Manager Wang.

    Manager Wang immediately shivered and ground his teeth in anger. "Damn it, this son of a b*tch, Director Gong is threatening me! I¡¯m going to lose money again today! How much will it take to satisfy him!"

    Thinking of this, Manager Wang pinched his trouser pocket tightly with his hand. He forced a smile over his face and said to Li Yundong, "Young Master Li, may I speak to you alone?"

    Li Yundong nodded and walked over with Manager Wang to an empty corner of the corridor. Just as he was about to speak, Manager Wang rushed to say, "Young Master Li, I know that I was blind today and inadvertently offended you. Please be merciful and give me a chance. How much do you want aspensation? Name a price. As long as I can afford it, I will send it to you without hesitation!"

    Li Yundong was stunned when he heard that. He thought to himself, "No way. I was the one who caused all of the problems. How could it be that he¡¯s the one who¡¯s going to pay for my mistakes?"

    When Manager Wang saw that Li Yundong¡¯s expression was one of stupefaction, his heart trembled, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Young Master Li, how about one hundred thousand yuan? What do you think?"

    Li Yundong was shocked and thought to himself, "Oh my God, I can get one hundred thousand yuan for such a small thing? This is more powerful than running scams!"

    Manager Wang saw that Li Yundong was still silent, and his heart flooded with hatred at the sight. "Young Master Li, it¡¯s not easy for us to do business. Please try to be considerate of me. I¡¯ll offer you two hundred thousand yuan. What do you think?"

    Li Yundong saw that Manager Wang¡¯s eyes had gone bloodshot and his gaze was as ferocious as if he wanted to bargain with his own mother. He quickly shook his head and said, "No, no, I didn¡¯t mean that!"

    Manager Wang¡¯s face turned pale and he cried in his heart. "Damn it, what do you mean? Don¡¯t you want money? Then what do you want? The woman beside you is so beautiful and a freaking celebrity. I don¡¯t need to find a woman for you, right!? You want neither money nor women, so what do you actually want? Ah, right, Director Gong said that this guy opened a teahouse before, didn¡¯t he? Could it be possible that...

    ¡°Yes, it must be so. If I directly give him money, he¡¯ll be afraid of owing me, so he definitely wants me to buy his teahouse coupons instead. Humph, what a good n!"

    This idea came to Manager Wang, who then said, "Young Master Li, I know that you have a teahouse. How about I publicly use about two hundred thousand yuan to purchase your teahouse coupons every year?¡±

    Li Yundong waspletely dumbfounded. "Is this guy out of his mind? Is he so rich that he doesn¡¯t know what to do with his cash?"

    Manager Wang saw that Li Yundong was still not saying anything. He thought that Li Yundong was rejecting him, so he tentatively asked, "Three hundred thousand yuan? Young Master Li, please respond to me! Oh, I beg you. Four hundred thousand, four hundred thousand and not a penny more! I won¡¯t be able to exin myself to my superior!"

    Only then did Li Yundonge to his senses. With a strange look on his face, he thought to himself, "Is this guy treating me like a spoilt prince who likes to ckmail others?"

    Manager Wang¡¯s heart trembled when he saw Li Yundong¡¯s strange expression. Suddenly, he gritted his teeth and said, "Five hundred thousand yuan. Young Master Li, I¡¯m being very sincere! Please respond to me!"

    Li Yundong saw that Manager Wang was being pushed over the edge. If he didn¡¯t say anything more, this guy might even go ahead and dig up his ancestral grave in order to show his sincerity. He quickly said, "Enough, that¡¯s enough."

    Manager Wang finally breathed a sigh of relief. At that moment, he only wanted to get this viin away as soon as possible. He did not care about anything else.

    Manager Wang immediately said, "Young Master Li, I am a man of my word! Tomorrow, I will send someone to your teahouse to handle the formalities. Don¡¯t worry, I dare not lie to you!"

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly and said, "No, no."

    Manager Wang trembled with fear. His legs trembled as he thought to himself, "What else does he want from me? Oh my god, I¡¯d better run away while I still can! As I can¡¯t offend to him, can I at least hide?"

    He didn¡¯t wait for Li Yundong to speak again. He grabbed and shook his hand hard, saying forcefully, "It¡¯s settled. Young Master Li, I need to deal with some other things now. I will apologize to youter!"

    After that, he turned around and scurried off as if someone had lit a fire beneath his buttocks.

    Li Yundong was stunned, rooted to the spot. He didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. "Damn it, am I so terrible? Will I never have a chance to be a good person?¡°

    But on second thought, he couldn¡¯t help but secretly sigh at the strength of secr power. "A misunderstanding is enough to solve the teahouse¡¯s business problem. It¡¯s equivalent to signing a five hundred thousand yuan business order!

    ¡±Should I ept the money or not?"

    Li Yundong could do nothing but smile bitterly.

    Just as he was hesitating over whether to return the money or not, he suddenly heard Cao Kefei shouting his name from behind.

    He looked back and saw her dressed in fur clothing, looking graceful and noble.

    Li Yundong was stunned. He didn¡¯t know what she was thinking. He felt like her words were dripping with irony and mockery.

    Li Yundong recalled a certain sentence and couldn¡¯t help butugh out loud. "It¡¯s lucky that not everyone the world knows the king!"

    Afterughing for a while, he noticed that Cao Kefei was carrying a bag with her. Liu Fei¡¯er and her agent, Sister Hong, were also standing next to her, as if they were all going out together. He asked curiously, "Where are you going?"

    Cao Kefei smiled and said, "So many things have happened, and Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s whereabouts have also been discovered by her fans. We have to hurry back to Sanya."

    Li Yundong smiled. "Ah, in that case, please be careful on your way back!"

    Sister Hong nced at Li Yundong with a strange look. After everything she had experienced, she no longer dared to stare directly at him.

    Liu Fei¡¯er looked at Li Yundong with some reluctance, then waved her hand and smiled sweetly. "Hey, Immortal Li, I¡¯m leaving now. You cane to visit me and the crew when you¡¯re free!"

    He smiled and waved his hand at her. "Sure, I¡¯lle when I¡¯m free!"

    Then Li Yundong suddenly said to Cao Kefei, "By the way, President Cao, could you stay for a couple of days to help me with something?"

    Cao Kefei didn¡¯t want to leave, but she hadn¡¯t been able to find a reason to stay. When she heard Li Yundong¡¯s words, she was immediately delighted and said without hesitation, "Okay!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er snorted. "You¡¯re boy crazy! Sister Cao, you¡¯ve gone too far. I¡¯m not talking to you anymore!"

    Cao Kefei smiled and pinched her cheek as she said, "Aw,e on. I¡¯llpensate you when I get back! Be a good girl. The crew is waiting for you to go back and shoot the film. They can¡¯t do it without you, but I¡¯m not important!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er snorted. Beside her, Sister Hong also tried to persuade her. "Fei¡¯er, listen to President Cao. You should go back. Do you want to stay here and see the headlines of Tiannan Daily¡¯s entertainment section tomorrow?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er then said resentfully, "Well, you two don¡¯t have to back each other up! I get it!" After that, she felt downhearted and stepped into the elevator.

    Li Yundong watched her and her agent¡¯s figures disappear from sight, and then he whispered a few words to Cao Kefei.

    She was slightly surprised and unthinkingly blurted out, "You want me to continue pretending to be dead?"

    Li Yundong smiled. "No, so many people have already seen that you are actually alive. I just want you to continue pretending to be half-dead!"

    "Eh? Why?" Cao Kefei asked uprehendingly.

    Li Yundong smiled confidently. "It¡¯s very simple. Don¡¯t you want to know who wants to kill you? Hum, this is called ¡®giving someone a taste of their own medicine¡¯!"

 Chapter 427 Its Really Her?

    <h4>Chapter 427 It¡°s Really Her?</h4>

    By the time Li Yundong had returned home, it was alreadyte at night, but the house was still brightly lit, and everyone was waiting for him.

    Zi Yuan sat cross-legged in a corner, resting with her eyes closed. The three Shibo of the Fox Zen School were also sitting cross-legged on the carpet near the sofa, as if they were meditating.

    Zhou Qin paced back and forth at the door of the balcony, her head lowered as she thought about something.

    Ruan Hongling and the little foxes of the Fox Zen School were sitting on the carpet in the center of the living room, watching the evening news on TV. Su Chan was perched on the edge of the balcony with her arms around her knees and her chin resting on her knees. Although her face was toward the TV, her eyes were sweeping out of the balcony from time to time.

    After staying in the mortal world for a while, the little foxes were no longer surprised by what the television had to offer. They also had a general understanding of what the usual TV content was. As they watched the news, they whispered, "Hey, do you think we¡¯ll be on the news?"

    "I don¡¯t know. We should be. I saw a guy taking pictures for a while."

    "Fourth Shimei said that she saw it when she came back to see the news in Tiannan at night. Can we see it after reying it now?"

    "Idiot, the evening news is not a rey! Don¡¯t you even know that!?"

    "Yes, you¡¯re smart. You can watch the news broadcast as a TV series!"

    Just as they were whispering, a little fox suddenly pointed at the TV in surprise and said loudly, "Look, it¡¯s our Disanxian!"

    As soon as she said this, the little foxes immediately huddled around the front of the TV. Zhou Qin also stopped and looked at the screen. Even the three Shibo of the Fox Zen School opened their eyes and leaned over to watch curiously.

    Only Zi Yuan opened her eyes slightly, revealing a smile. Then, she once again lowered her lids.

    Su Chan pointed at the TV and shouted in surprise, "I¡¯m there too! Look, I¡¯m there too!"

    The little foxes also excitedly pointed at themselves on the TV and cried, "Me too!"

    The little foxes who couldn¡¯t find themselves on the TV shouted woefully, "It¡¯s so annoying! I can¡¯t see myself, and now the picture is gone!"

    Ruan Hongling saw that the foxes were almost squishing their noses against the TV¡¯s ss, and their heads were shaking so much that she couldn¡¯t see herself on the screen for a long time. She couldn¡¯t help butin sourly, "You¡¯re really ignorant. There¡¯s nothing interesting about being on TV!"

    As soon as she finished her words, she saw Su Chan turn back and say with a smile, "Hongling, I see you!"

    Hearing that, Ruan Hongling immediately leaned over and widened her eyes eagerly, saying, "Where? Where?"

    Su Chan put on a yful smile, stuck out her tongue and said with a smile, "Toote!"

    Ruan Hongling suddenly said angrily, "Are you kidding me?"

    Su Chan shook her head and said, "Well, it¡¯s no big deal. Hong Ling, you¡¯re right. What¡¯s so unusual about being on TV? It doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯t get to see yourself, right?"

    Ruan Hongling was so angry that she stared at Su Chan with her eyes wide open. "Well, this is a battle of wits and courage between the two of us! It¡¯s okay that this fox spirit can¡¯t get along with me at ordinary times, but now she¡¯s daring to challenge me at this time?"

    The two of them were staring at each other like angry bulls. Zhou Qin suddenly pushed open the door of the balcony and said with a glittering smile, "Master, you¡¯re back."

    Su Chan suddenly turned her head and asked in surprise, "Yundong¡¯s back?"

    At this time, everyone in the living room stood up and looked at the balcony together. They saw Li Yundonging in from the balcony with a gloomy expression.

    Everyone could tell that Li Yundong was in a serious mood. As soon as he entered the living room, the ambient temperature seemed to drop a few degrees. They looked at each other for a while, none of them knowing what had happened and feeling secretly anxious.

    Seeing him like this, Su Chan was a little nervous, but she still dared to ask, "Yundong, what happened?"

    Li Yundong nced at her and patted the girl¡¯s head, then smiled and said, "Nothing. President Cao was attacked by someone."

    "Ah?" All of a sudden, everyone gasped, startled.

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t stop herself from holding Li Yundong¡¯s hand tightly and asking with concern, "What¡¯s going on? Yundong? Is President Cao all right?"

    Li Yundong quickly swept his gaze over everyone. He shook his head and said, "It¡¯s all right now. I took her to the hospital."

    "Is President Cao being pursued by creditors again?" Zhou Qin asked.

    Li Yundong shook his head. "No, someone is really after her life now."

    Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help frowning. "But who would want to kill her? What enemies does she have?"

    He replied in a low voice, "I don¡¯t know, but I want to wait until President Cao wakes up, then she can tell us herself."

    Cao Yi could not help but exim, "Is she all right?"

    Li Yundong nced at her and said with a smile, "She¡¯s still under observation at the hospital but she should be fine."

    Cao Yi couldn¡¯t help patting her chest and saying with a relieved smile, "Amitabha, that¡¯s great!"

    Li Yundong smiled nomittally and said, "Yes, it¡¯s only temporary. The police have arranged for someone to protect her. Nothing will happen to her now."

    After saying that, he nodded to Zi Yuan and then shot a nce at Zhou Qin. "Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin,e to my room. Everyone else, go to sleep. It¡¯s veryte."

    All of a sudden, they scattered and started heading back to their rooms one after another.

    Su Chan saw that Li Yundong had asked Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin to talk, but he had not spoken to her. Obviously, he felt that she was unreliable and not a suitable person for discussing things with. She pouted, a little unhappy, but soon her mood turned, and a sly smile appeared at the corners of her mouth.

    After Li Yundong entered the room, he looked at Zhou Qin closing the door and said in a low voice, "Zhou Qin, today¡¯s opening ceremony is over. Would you consider going to the Zhuji phase?"

    Zhou Qin hadn¡¯t expected Li Yundong to call her in to say this. She looked at him bitterly and sighed slightly in her heart, saying faintly, "Are you in such a hurry to drive me away?"

    He was stunned for a moment by her question, but then he burst intoughter. He waved Zhou Qin over and whispered a few words in her ear. After hearing then, she said in surprise, "Is that okay?"

    Li Yundong smiled confidently and said, "Don¡¯t worry. It doesn¡¯t matter whether you can do it or not. If you can¡¯t, you can continue to move forward to the Zhuji phase. If you can, you can extract the poison from your heart!"

    Zhou Qin thought about it for a moment before nodding and saying tly, "Okay! I¡¯ll go prepare!"

    Having listened to Li Yundong¡¯s words, Zhou Qin¡¯s attitude actually changed greatly. After Zhou Qin left, Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help but smile and say, "What did you say to her? Is it really so mysterious?"

    Li Yundong grinned and said, "It¡¯s top secret! But you¡¯ll know soon."

    Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help but feel a little spark of annoyance. "Then why did you call me in? You just wanted to keep me guessing?"

    Li Yundong smiled soothingly. "Don¡¯t be angry. It¡¯s true that I want to discuss something with you."

    She red at him. "What is it then? Speak quickly!"

    Li Yundong saw that the usually elegant Zi Yuan was showing such an impudent manner, which was rare for her. Her beautiful eyes were full of anticipation, and her fairy-like appearance was both pleasant and charming. It was as if a young bride was ticked off at her husband.

    Li Yundong was a little stunned. His gaze made Zi Yuane to her sense and she awkwardly turned her head away, her ears red and her gaze flickering.

    For a moment, both of them were feeling a little embarrassed and speechless. There seemed to be a touch of ambiguity hanging in the air.

    After a while, Li Yundong coughed and told the story of the night¡¯s events to Zi Yuan. "When we targeted Zhuang Yating and Cao Yi, Zhuang Yating first took the initiative to expose Cao Yi. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s too much of a coincidence?"

    Zi Yuan gradually calmed down. She stroked the hair on her temples and narrowed her eyes. After thinking for a while, she said, "From what you¡¯ve just told me, several coincidences urred tonight, which brings several questions. First, why would Cao Kefei be attacked? And why did the opponent try to kill her by dispelling her soul? This means that the culprit must be a cultivator! Why would a cultivator risk being struck to death by Heavenly Thunder just to try and kill a mortal like Cao Kefei?"

    Li Yundong nodded thoughtfully. "That¡¯s right. The second coincidence is, how did this person know where Cao Kefei and the others were staying?"

    "Unless this person has kept an eye on Cao Kefei from the very beginning and has been following her wherever she goes..." said Zi Yuan in a very natural manner.

    Li Yundong continued, "There is another possibility, which is that this person heard Cao Kefei mention hernding ce before she left Disanxian!"

    A bright light shed in Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes. She smiled coldly and said, "Hey, did you notice who in the Fox Zen School showed the most unusual emotions when Cao Kefei first came here?"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and said, "You were the one who told me this! Cao Yi and Zhuang Yating were the most unusual. They looked like they were seeing a guest from another world, and their faces were full of shock and disbelief."

    Zi Yuan nodded slightly. "It¡¯s a pity that their emotions only showed for a moment before being hidden once more. I wasn¡¯t paying much attention to their other emotions. However, ording to their reactions and our previous spection, the identity of the murderer who attacked Cao Kefei is obvious! It¡¯s very likely that Yan Fang was behind it!"

    Li Yundong nodded slowly, then gently sighed and said, "This is the thing I least understand. If it was really Yan Fang, why would she do anything to Cao Kefei? Moreover, she has ten thousand ways to kill her. Why would she choose to shatter Cao Kefei¡¯s soul?"

    After thinking for a while, Zi Yuan said, "If an ordinary person is killed, their three transcendentponents and the seven materialponents of their human soul will stay in their body for a while and not dissipate, just like the former Deng Yu and Deng Jiao. At that time, cultivators can give them new lives by restraining their three transcendentponents and the seven materialponents of the human soul. However, if the souls of the other side are forced out of the body, within an hour, if the soul does not return to the body, although the body will still be alive, the victim will actually be in a vegetative state. In this way, the perpetrator does not have to take the risk of killing someone and attracting Heavenly Thunder, but then no one will be able to gather the soul to resurrect the victim. This is because when the soul is scattered, the person¡¯s spiritual energy will be scattered between the universe and the world, unless..."

    Li Yundong was absorbed in her exnation. When he heard thest sentence, he saw that Zi Yuan hesitated slightly and trailed off. He asked casually, "Unless?"

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly. "It¡¯s nothing. In short, this person actually wants Cao Kefei to be a vegetable. They don¡¯t intend to kill her."

    Li Yundong did not take Zi Yuan¡¯s hesitation seriously. He continued to ponder what had happened earlier that night. After thinking for a while, he said, "In short, this matter is very strange. Why did Yan Fang attack Cao Kefei? The motive behind it is very confusing." As he said this, Li Yundong seemed to realize something and he asked, "By the way, why did Cao Kefei only have one transcendentponent and three materialponents of the human soul?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head and smiled helplessly. "I don¡¯t know either. It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve encountered such a person."

    Li Yundong thought for a while and had no choice but to say with a smile, "Forget it, don¡¯t think about it too much. The truth will eventuallye out! Moreover, I feel that for the next few days, Yan Fang will be restless! Tomorrow, Zhou Qin will..."

    Before he could finish his words, he heard a series of knocks on the door.

    He called in a deep voice, "Come in."

    With a squeak, Su Chan poked her head in and asked tentatively, "Yundong, may Ie in?"

    Li Yundongughed and said scoldingly, "Half of you are already inside. Can I stuff you back again? Come in, what¡¯s the matter?"

    Su Chan squeezed in with a smile, threw herself into Li Yundong¡¯s arms, and said coquettishly, "I have something to discuss with you!"

    When Zi Yuan saw this, she smiled knowingly and said, "Well, I¡¯ll head out now. We can talk about this tomorrow."

    Li Yundong nodded. "Okay, let¡¯s see Zhou Qin off tomorrow."

    After Su Chan watched Zi Yuan leave, she blinked her eyes and asked curiously, "Is Sister Zhou Qin going to the Zhuji phase tomorrow?"

    Li Yundong nodded affirmatively. "Yes, her cultivation has improved by leaps and bounds. She can travel a thousand miles a day down the road of cultivation. Tomorrow, she will also be on the road to the Zhuji phase. By the way, what on earth do you want to discuss with me?"

    Su Chan giggled and said mysteriously, "Yundong, there¡¯s something I don¡¯t know if I should say."

    Li Yundongughed incredulously and said, "Is there anything you can¡¯t say to me? Tell me, stupid girl!"

    Su Chan nodded, tiptoed over, leaned into to Li Yundong¡¯s ear, and whispered a few words.

    At first, Li Yundongughed at her behavior. "There¡¯s only the two of us here. Why are you still so mysterious?"

    But soon, the smile on Li Yundong¡¯s face disappeared. After a moment, he asked gloomily, "Are you telling the truth?"

 Chapter 428 Zhou Qin was Given Powerful Magical Weapons

    <h4>Chapter 428 Zhou Qin was Given Powerful Magical Weapons</h4>

    In the face of Li Yundong¡¯s question, Su Chan nodded vigorously and said, "It is true! I confirmed it twice! Andst time I heard someone quarreling with her in Cao Yi¡¯s room!"

    "Who else knows about this?" Li Yundong murmured, frowning for a moment.

    Su Chan blinked slowly. "Only me."

    A smile flitted across Li Yundong¡¯s face and he touched Su Chan¡¯s hair with satisfaction. "My little girl knows how to share burdens for me."

    Su Chan smiled sweetly and put her arms around Li Yundong as she said, "I feel bad for always messing up things and inconveniencing you, so I want to be able to help you in other aspects!"

    Li Yundong smiled appreciatively. "You have done a good job, but don¡¯t let others find out."

    Su Chan nodded obediently, and then asked curiously, "So, Yundong, what are you going to do?"

    He smiled faintly. "I have my own ways. You go back first, don¡¯t let other people notice that anything¡¯s up."

    Su Chan giggled and said, "I know, I know. Though I might give you trouble sometimes, you should know that your little girl is not a fool."

    Li Yundongughed. "Hmmm, indeed, my girl is the smartest!"

    Hearing his praise, Su Chan beamed with joy. She walked to the door, turned around to wave, and said with a soft, sweet voice, "Well, I¡¯m off then!"

    Li Yundong waved at her while smiling. After the door had closed, the smile on his face faded little by little, his expression turning thoughtful.

    Illuminated by the moonlight, Li Yundong¡¯s figure was reminiscent of a cold and motionless rock.

    At dawn the next day, after everyone at the Fox Zen School had awoken, they were surprised to find that Li Yundong was standing in the living room.

    He was standing facing the east balcony, with one hand holding the other and one foot ced on top of the other. The balcony curtains and floor-to-ceiling windows were open, and the morning breeze was blowing through his clothes as the golden morning light fell over him like a tulle, making him look like a shining golden stupa, full of mystery and majesty.

    The little foxes of the Fox Zen School gazed at this figure. They all held their breath for a while, looking on in admiration. It was like as long as they were standing behind him, there would be nothing to worry about and they could live peacefully and happily forever.

    Zhou Qin and Li Yundong had arranged to start the Zhuji phase today, so they hade to the living room early in the morning. Seeing the little foxes in a daze in the living room, Zhou Qin followed their gazes curiously.

    Zhou Qin was immediately stunned. She looked at Li Yundong in amazement and her breathing seemed to stop.

    At this time, Li Yundong was no longer as angr and sharp as he had once been when he was cultivating. Instead, he was calm and had be more shrewd than before. In Zhou Qin¡¯s opinion, he used to be like a dazzling golden sun which could not be looked at directly, but now he was like a high mountain, so towering that she was forced to look up at him.

    "He has progressed so quickly!" Zhou Qin sighed slightly in her heart, and there was even a trace of sweetness and joy within her. She was not like Su Chan, who had endured the most difficult times with Li Yundong, but she had been there to witness the boy¡¯s slow transformation from immaturity to maturity.

    In her opinion, nothing was more worth it than being able to watch Li Yundong growing and maturing. This kind of joy exceeded even the joy of her own cultivation.

    Gradually, more and more people filed into the living room. They were all startled by Li Yundong¡¯s different temperament today, and none of them dared to take a breath.

    After everyone had arrived, he turned around, nodded slightly, and said in a deep voice, "You must be wondering why I am behaving like this so earlier in the morning?"

    Hearing Li Yundong¡¯s words, the little foxes couldn¡¯t help giggling.

    However, Su Chan and Zi Yuan knew what he intended to say, so they didn¡¯tugh. They just held their breath and waited for him to speak again.

    Li Yundong nodded to the crowd and motioned for them to sit down. He stood before them and said in a low voice, "Recently our Fox Zen School has experienced a big event. That is, we have finally created our own source of wealth. Disanxian has opened sessfully, and now I believe that after the opening ceremony of the first day, no other sects will dare to pinch the neck of Disanxian. That is to say, from now on, our Fox Zen School will no longer have to depend on others when ites to the provision of food and shelter. We will no longer have to be scared and anxious about the necessities!"

    The little foxes were used to Li Yundong¡¯s casual and easy-going mannerisms, so it was strange for them to be seeing him so serious and solemn now. They looked at each other and didn¡¯t know whether to apud or not at this time.

    Li Yundong ignored them and went on saying, "What¡¯s more, in addition to the opening ceremony, there is another big thing worthy of congrattions!"

    Li Yundong nodded to Zhou Qin and motioned for her toe to him. "Zhou Qin is about to start her Zhuji phase, and I will impart to her several magical weapons. I hope everyone will bear witness."

    As the Leader, Li Yundong had absolute control over the powerful magical weapons in the sect, so none of the Fox Zen School offered any objection.

    The little foxes all looked at Zhou Qin eagerly, envy glittering in their eyes. They all thought in their hearts, "She¡¯s so lucky! She got a Renyuan Jindan and now she will own a powerful magical weapon given to her by Leader! I envy her so much!"

    Li Yundong saw that they were all gazing at him with eager eyes. He smiled slightly, as if he understood what they were thinking, and said, "Don¡¯t be jealous. I promise you that in the future, there will be immortal pills and elixirs of life aplenty, and there will be no shortage for you. Moreover, these powerful magical weapons and benefits will certainlye to you as well in time!"

    Hearing this, joy immediately appeared on their faces, and they all shouted "Excellent!"

    Li Yundong nodded and raised his hand slightly, at which the little foxes immediately fell silent and stopped making a din.

    Watching from the side, Zi Yuan sighed in her heart. Since Li Yundong had be the leader of the Fox Zen School, he had won the favor of many foxes. However, the little foxes didn¡¯t have the authority to get close to them. Thus, the three senior Shibo were required to discipline them. Now, however, it seemed that Li Yundong was enough to suppress thewless little foxes.

    At this time, Li Yundong said to Zhou Qin seriously, "Zhou Qin, kneel down. I present this powerful magical weapon to you as your master. I hope that you will make good use of it once you reach the Zhuji phase."

    Zhou Qin¡¯s face was shining with respect. She knelt down solemnly, raised her hands, lowered her head slightly, looked at Li Yundong¡¯s shoes, and said, "Master, please entrust me with a treasure!"

    Li Yundong took out the cold saw-tooth Diamond Wheel from his colorful brocade pouch and handed it to her. "This is the powerful magical weapon of the Fox Sect School¡¯s Ye Yu. Originally, it was called the cold-toothed saw-tooth Diamond Wheel. Now, I¡¯m going to call it Chiyue and pass it on to you. It is my desire that you will cut off all the thorns on the road of Cultivation with it!"

    Zhou Qin took it respectfully and put it to one side. Following that, Li Yundong withdrew a fiery red whip from his brocade pouch and rumbled in a deep voice, "Zhou Qin, take this treasure!"

    Zhou Qin raised her hands again and said respectfully, "Master, please hand it to me!"

    Li Yundong said in a low voice, "This is the powerful magical weapon of Lyu Fengping of Yin Yang Sect based in Mount Wuhua Mount. I don¡¯t know its original name, but from today it shall be known as Vulcan¡¯s Whip. I hope that it can be carried forward in your hands!"

    Zhou Qin received it respectfully and ced the whip beside her.

    At this time, Ruan Hongling, who had been watching the scene unfold, suddenly whispered to Zi Yuan, "Sister, it¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve ever seen Li Yundong looking so decent and serious!"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s gaze was fixed on the man. Without turning her head, she replied with a smile, "Wasn¡¯t he unperturbed when he was on Tianlong Mountain?"

    Ruan Hongling snorted. "This guy is like some hippie smiling all day long, never behaving properly. All I remember is that he made fun of me. Who still remembers what happened so long ago?"

    Watching Li Yundong hand over the powerful magical weapons to Zhou Qin with such solemnity, Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes suddenly became a little blurred, as if she wanted to see the scene in front of her and see the distant picture in the depths of her memory. She murmured dreamily, "I remember it..."

    Li Yundong¡¯s voice suddenly echoed strongly in Zi Yuan¡¯s ears, as if from a distant ce.

    This majestic and grave voice reminded her of her master. As if that gentle figure was swaying in front of her eyes, and as if that mellow and water-like voice was flowing through her ears.

    Just as Zi Yuan was in a daze, Ruan Hongling suddenly stretched out her hands and waved them violently in front of her eyes. She muttered in a low voice, "Hey, Sister Zi Yuan, what¡¯s wrong with you?"

    As if awakening from a dream, she suddenly returned to her senses. The blurry figure from the depths of her memory disappeared, reced by Li Yundong.

    There was a strong sense of bewilderment and confusion in Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes, and she couldn¡¯t helpparing her master to the boy in front of her.

    Her impression of her master was that he was as natural as the clouds and wind. She had never seen him lose his temper. He was always so calm and his eyes seemed to have seen through the world and everything.

    And this boy, sometimes he was as hot as fire, and sometimes he was as bold as brass. Regardless, he was always majestic and unpredictable.

    Zi Yuan thought to herself and whispered, "These two arepletely different people. Why do I always feel like they look so simr?"

    Ruan Hongling sighed in her heart when she heard this. She knew that it was because her Shijie admired her master so much that she had such a deep impression of him. No matter what, she was chasing after her master, pursuing his figure and footsteps.

    "Sister Zi Yuan used to have an inexplicable affection for Master, but now she has obviously fallen in love with this guy, but she just refuses to admit it. s, I don¡¯t know when this silly facade will be seen through," Ruan Hongling thought, looking forlorn.

    Ruan Hongling knew that once Zi Yuan was immersed in pursuing her master¡¯s footsteps again, she would regain her otherworldly fairy-like appearance. It was fine that she looked like this, but what if her Sister Zi Yuan also imitated her master and ignored everything and ascended? What would she do then?

    Wouldn¡¯t it mean that she would be left all alone?

    Ruan Hongling didn¡¯t want Zi Yuan to be this. However, she didn¡¯t have any good ideas. She said casually, "Sister Zi Yuan, what do you think of this Li Yundong guy as the head of the Fox Zen School? If he established his own sect, it doesn¡¯t mean that he won¡¯t be able to be a master of his generation!"

    At this time, Zi Yuan came to her senses. She sighed softly and said, "With Li Yundong¡¯s talent, wit, and opportunities, if he set up his own sect, he would definitely be a master in the future!"

    "Master? You really think he¡¯s all that?" Ruan Hongling didn¡¯t take her seriously, but she didn¡¯t argue with her either.

    Whilst the two of them whispered, Li Yundong slid out the third powerful magical weapon from his brocade pouch. When everyone saw this weapon, they immediately cried out in surprise, "Liuhe Sword!"

    Ruan Hongling opened her mouth wide and whispered, "It can¡¯t be. He¡¯s even giving her the Liuhe? Isn¡¯t he afraid that someone will kill her just to take the weapon?"

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly, not saying anything.

    At this time, Li Yundong held the Liuhe in both hands and said, "Zhou Qin, you may receive this treasure!"

    Zhou Qin raised her hands and said respectfully, "Master, please honor me with this weapon!"

    "This is the powerful magical weapon of Yan Fang of the Linggong Sect," Li Yundong said gravely. "I will pass it on to you now. I hope that you will make good use of it in the future!"

    Zhou Qin reverently received the Liuhe. At this moment, the eyes of the little foxes of the Fox Zen School had gone so red that they looked like albino rabbits.

    It was already pretty impressive for ab ordinary cultivator to possess one powerful magical weapon, and Zhou Qin had actually received three at once! Furthermore, all of them were extremely powerful magical weapons for the purposes of cultivation!

    Wasn¡¯t it just excessive?

    "Is being Li Yundong¡¯s disciple really so profitable?"

    Li Yundong acted as if he couldn¡¯t see the shining eyes of the foxes. When he was about to speak again after having handed everything over, he suddenly heard the doorbell ring. Li Yunyang looked up, and Su Chan said smartly, "I¡¯ll go and have a look." Then, she trotted over to the door, pulled the handle and took a look. She turned to Li Yundong and shouted, "Yundong, it¡¯s a woman. She says she¡¯s looking for you!"

    Li Yundong was stunned for a moment and thought, "A woman? Who? Who knows I am here?

 Chapter 429 Cultivation in Six Gates

    <h4>Chapter 429 Cultivation in Six Gates</h4>

    Li Yundong turned around and walked to the door, where he saw a tall woman in a professional suit standing. He asked curiously, "Who are you?"

    When the woman saw him, a bright smile immediately appeared on her face, and she said tteringly, "Childe Li, right? I am an employee of Di Hao. My manager has asked me to deliver something."

    Li Yundong realized that he had identally ckmailed some money in Di Hao yesterday. Now, early in the morning, this sucker hade to give money to him!

    He didn¡¯t know whether to start crying orughing at this point. He simply shook his head and said, "Forget it. Take all of this back."

    The woman¡¯s face suddenly changed, and her voice trembled a little as she said, "Childe Li, how can you refuse the money? Didn¡¯t we agree?"

    He shook his head and said, "I really can¡¯t ept it. Please just take it back."

    The woman was so anxious and scared that she almost burst into tears. "Childe Li, don¡¯t embarrass me. I¡¯m just an employee. You can¡¯t make me lose my job!"

    Li Yundong frowned and was about to speak when he saw Zi Yuan walk out. She looked at them and asked softly, "What happened?"

    In a quick whisper, Li Yundong exined the matter, and Zi Yuan suddenlyughed. She looked at the distressed woman and whispered to Li Yundong, "You sure gained a lot from going out yesterday. Howe I didn¡¯t know about it?"

    He smiled broadly and said, "I forgot to tell you yesterday. What¡¯s more, it¡¯s not something I¡¯m proud of! I didn¡¯t have the nerve to say it. I didn¡¯t expect that the other party woulde to me today!"

    Zi Yuan said with a smile, "Can¡¯t peoplee to our home? How cruel you are! You stole half a million from him without even opening your mouth. If you ever do decide to open your mouth, you¡¯ll send Bill Gates begging for food!"

    He smiled bitterly at this. "Come on, don¡¯tugh at my troubles. What should I do?"

    "Well, why don¡¯t you just take it?" she asked, her tone slightly incredulous.

    Li Yundong was shocked. "Did I hear wrong? Shenxian ji¨§jie is actually encouraging me to ept such money?"

    She gave a bright, tinklingugh. "Have you ever seen Buddhists refuse to take money for incense? Do you think these monks don¡¯t know that there is a lot of money that is not clean? It doesn¡¯t matter whether money is clean or not, only who uses it! If you think that the money is unclean, you can just use it in a clean ce. Haha, if cultivators all thought like you, Amitayus, we would starve to death!"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help chuckling. He thought for no more than a moment before saying decisively, "Okay, I¡¯ll do as you say."

    When the woman saw Li Yundong and Zi Yuan muttering to each other in low voices, she craned her neck to listen, but could catch only a few vague words, such as a cultivator, incense money, etc., which made her confused.

    When Li Yundong turned around, the woman immediately looked at him. If he said no, she would immediately use her ability to turn on the water works. Anyway, she would never be able to go back if she could notplete the task.

    Seeing the woman¡¯s resolve, he smiled and said, "Okay, I¡¯ll take it. Don¡¯t pretend to be so upset. It feels like I¡¯m bullying you!"

    The woman immediately breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Childe Li, you¡¯re so kind and generous. I really admire you!"

    Li Yundong shook his head secretly when he heard this. "What kind of world is this? The one who gives money is the grandson, but the one who takes money bes an uncle instead? s, this kind of world is just too emotionally moving!"

    He then turned to Zi Yuan and said, "Since you have agreed to ept the money, you can handle the matter. I¡¯ll go first."

    Zi Yuan red at Li Yundong, feeling slightly ticked off. "You¡¯re asking me to clean up your own mess? Shame on you!"

    Li Yundong was stunned. Subconsciously, he looked at Zi Yuan¡¯s hand and asked, "Which hand will you use to wipe for me?"

    Zi Yuan was so embarrassed by this vulgar question that she gave Li Yundong a hard look and then strode over to her own residence. Without looking back, she said to the beauty who had brought the money, "Follow me."

    After Li Yundong had finished speaking, he also felt that what he had said was inappropriate, but he simply gave a hollowugh and walked back to his room.

    When he had calmed down, he began saying to Zhou Qin, "Zhou Qin, when I was in the Zhuji phase, I walked to the Himyas and finished my Zhuji training on the snowy mountain peaks. Are you also willing to go through this long and dangerous journey?"

    In Li Yundong¡¯s view, although Zhou Qin had a resolute character, she had been born to a rich family after all, and she loved to be clean and tidy. It would be really difficult for her to go to Tibet as he had.

    Zhou Qin seemed to understand Li Yundong¡¯s concerns. She smiled and said, "Master, I heard that when Zi Yuan was in Zhuji, she had to journey two thousand miles to reach her destination and finish her Zhuji phase. I think I can do what she can."

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes were full of appreciation. He nodded and said, "Well, take these powerful magical weapons with you and don¡¯t expose them."

    She nodded seriously, holding the powerful magical weapons in her hands solemnly.

    "Go and pack up now. You can leave in a minute."

    She nodded affirmatively, then turned around and was about to enter the room when she heard the doorbell ring. Su Chan immediately jumped up to answer the door. When she did, she was immediately shocked and ran back to Li Yundong¡¯s side, where she whispered in his ear, "Yundong, there are two policemen at the door. Are they looking for you?"

    Li Yundong thought to himself, "In the past, Su Chan would have shouted as soon as she saw the policeman. Now, this little girl is getting wiser."

    He walked over to the door alone and saw two policemen standing there. They were the two policemen he had metst night. As soon as he came out, they immediately saluted to him. Officer Zhang, who had previously been moring to catch Li Yundong, said with an apologetic smile, "Mr. Li, we meet again."

    Li Yundong looked him up and down and asked curiously, "Why are you here?"

    Xiao Zhang¡¯s smile suddenly froze and he couldn¡¯t get any words out. He wanted to say something to soften the atmosphere, but he didn¡¯t know how.

    Xiao Liu, the policeman next to him, was more clever. He quickly handed over a sealed bag in his hand and said with an obsequious smile, "Mr. Li, this is what Director Gong asked us to send."

    Li Yundong calmly took the sealed bag from him and said casually, "Did Director Gong send you here?"

    Officer Xiao Zhang suddenly began hurling abuse in his heart. "Nonsense, if the director had not ordered me to send you this sealed bag, I would not havee! It¡¯s just that you have a great father. Why are you so proud of it?"

    Xiao Zhang was not happy, but Xiao Liu¡¯s smile became more and more brilliant and he said, "Mr. Li¡¯s guess is right. Director Gong really asked us toe. He said that we offended Mr. List night and that we ought to apologize today. We are here to express our regret."

    Li Yundong smiled, nced at them, and said, "In the future, you should be more humane as members ofw enforcement. The rights that people give you are not for you to just show off with."

    Xiao Liu nodded heavily at once. "Mr. Li is right." Xiao Liu then poked Xiao Zhang secretly with his elbow, making him force a smile and say dryly, "Yes, Mr. Li, you are right!"

    Li Yundong saw that his smile was more of a grimace, and that Xiao Liu beside him highly embarrassed. He couldn¡¯t help but sigh in his heart. He didn¡¯t want to embarrass them further, so he simply waved his hand and said, "Forget it, you can go. I still have something to do, so I won¡¯t entertain you."

    Xiao Liu quickly smiled and said, "Mr. Li, you¡¯re busy, so we won¡¯t bother you any longer!" After that, he took hispanion next to him and saluted. After seeing Li Yundong turn and return to his room, they also dared to turn and leave.

    Once they were out of themunity, Xiao Zhang said disdainfully, "Li Yundong is younger than I am, and he thinks he can teach me a lesson!"

    Xiao Liu shook his head and said, "Although Li Yundong is young, his bearing is really nothing to sneeze at. You saw his backgroundst night, and even Director Gong ttered him politely. If he wanted to embarrass us, it would have been easy, but he didn¡¯t. That¡¯s what¡¯s called being broad-minded!"

    Xiao Zhang sneered and said, "Hum, if I had powerful parents, I would also have a broad mind!"

    Xiao Liu couldn¡¯t help sighing when he heard this. "Agh, you can¡¯t hate your father for not being strong."

    They talked all the way out of the area. Li Yundong was naturally ignorant of the discussion between them. He held the sealed bag in his hand. Thinking of the words and attitude of the two policemen just now, he suddenly felt a little emotional.

    At this moment, hepletely understood why all sects had tried their best to get close to royalty since ancient times. Emperor Wu of the Northern Wei Dynasty had put Kou Qianzhi in an important position. Therefore, the rise of the Northern Tian-shi Taoism had urred. Emperor Song Hui of the Song Dynasty had believed in Mount Longhu. Therefore, Zhengyi School had dominated the whole country. Genghis Khan and Kui had held Qiu Chuji in high esteem, so the Quanzhen Sect had be famous all over the world.

    When a sect and secr powers merged into one, the energy thebination created would be immeasurable.

    In the past, when he had encountered such a thing, he would definitely have suffered a great loss. But now, even the director of the Public Security Bureau ttered him, and the policeman, who had been pompous before, also bowed and scraped.

    Where had all thise from?

    Li Yundong was very sure that all of this hade from Zhou Qin¡¯s family power and background, but why did Zhou Qin favor him?

    It was cultivation. She was attracted to the power of cultivation.

    "Cultivation is easy in the Six Gates..." Li Yundong gripped the sealed bag in his hand and suddenly sighed softly in his heart. He shook his head and threw this little episode out of his mind, then opened the sealed bag and took a document out of it. After taking a look at it, he became lost in thought.

    It was not until Li Yundong returned to his senses that he noticed that Su Chan and the others were looking at him, not daring to take a breath.

    Seeing that Li Yundong was no longer deep in thought, Su Chan asked, "Yundong, what¡¯s wrong with you?"

    He smiled and said, "Nothing." Then, he added to her in a whisper, "Come with me to my room."

 Chapter 430 Alarming the Enemy!

    <h4>Chapter 430 rming the Enemy!</h4>

    The little girl¡¯s eyes darted around. Although she was puzzled, she responded obediently. Like a shadow, she followed Li Yundong into the room.

    Li Yundong entered the room and sat on the edge of the bed, patting his palm with a sealed bag. He did not speak to Su Chan, but his expression was solemn. No one could have known what he was thinking about at that moment.

    Although she was used to ying with him, when she saw Li Yundong frowning and his face darkening, she didn¡¯t dare to mess around with him anymore. She just stood to one side and didn¡¯t say anything to disturb him.

    After a long while, the girl could feel that the atmosphere in the room had be so heavy that the air had almost frozen. She was feeling like shouting when Li Yundong suddenly said, "Chan¡¯er, I¡¯ll ask you again. Can you be sure about what you told me before?"

    She nodded vigorously. "Yes, I¡¯m sure!"

    Li Yundong was silent for a long time, and then he sighed.

    Seeing his sad face, Su Chan asked cautiously, "Yundong, I¡¯m worried about you. I¡¯d like to see your big, cheerful smile again."

    Li Yundong shook his head, showing only a strained, bitter half-smile. "I can¡¯tugh at the thought of one of the three seniors of our Fox Zen School being a hidden traitor. I want to find her myself and kill her!"

    Su Chan was shocked, but she didn¡¯t show it. Instead, she thoughtfully took Li Yundong¡¯s arm and said softly, "Yundong, don¡¯t think too much about it. If you are troubled, you can share the burden with me. I feel really sad that you didn¡¯t tell me about these things before."

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and said, "What are you sad about?"

    Su Chan pouted tightly and said lugubriously, "Isn¡¯t it obvious? You told Zhou Qin and Zi Yuan, but you didn¡¯t tell me! It¡¯s unfair! If I hadn¡¯t been smart enough to find some clues, I still wouldn¡¯t know now! Humph. I know that you just think that I¡¯m stupid and often spill the beans and make trouble for you, but, but I¡¯m really trying hard to change!"

    Li Yundong saw that her eyes had filled with tears while she spoke. His heart softened and he held the little girl¡¯s hand and said softly, "Silly girl, do you know what I like the most about you?"

    She wiped her tears. After thinking for a while, she blinked and said stupidly, "My beauty?"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing. "Silly girl, look at the women in this house. Which one of them is not beautiful? Isn¡¯t Zhou Qin? Isn¡¯t Zi Yuan? So why do I only like you?"

    Su Chan was secretly delighted and felt a deep, rich burst of sweetness in her heart when she heard this. She beamed with joy and said, "Then what do you like about me? You¡¯re not going to say that you like me being naughty, right?"

    Li Yundongughed, pinched the tip of the girl¡¯s nose with his hand, and said softly, "I just like your cuteness and purity. Do you still remember how after we finished our cultivation, we flew together and traveled around the country?"

    Su Chan¡¯s thoughts wandered. She suddenly remembered the days just after she and Li Yundong had first met, her smile instantly turning gentle. "Of course I remember. Although we lived a hard life at that time, we were very happy."

    When Li Yundong heard this, he sighed and said, "Yes, now I am the master of the Fox Zen School, and we have also established our own foundation. But we have been on tenterhooks throughout the entire process! Now our situation seems to be peaceful, but in fact, I feel like every step I¡¯m walking on thin ice. At present, the Fox Zen School¡¯s internal and external troubles are also troubling me. I am struggling with this anxiety, so how can I bear to let you worry about this kind of thing too?"

    As he spoke, Li Yundong touched the girl¡¯s cheek with his hand lovingly before continuing, "My little girl, if you lose that beautiful smile and your happiness because of these things, what will happen?"

    Su Chan was moved and held Li Yundong¡¯s hand tightly as she said, "Even if I lose my smile, you mustn¡¯t dislike me. You can¡¯t abandon me!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Silly girl, don¡¯t say such silly things. I will make you happy forever, and I will never leave you, no matter what you be."

    Su Chan¡¯s heart overflowed with tenderness, and she leaned softly into Li Yundong¡¯s arms. She looked at her lover affectionately and said in a sultry voice, "Yundong, kiss me!"

    Li Yundong held the beautiful and charming face of the girl, and gently pressed his lips her rosy red ones. Although their mouths parted immediately, they both felt a rush of excitement.

    Li Yundong and Su Chan both knew that it was not right the time for them to be together yet. They looked at each other and smiled. Although the kiss had been shallow, the sweetness in their hearts was deep. It was as if the world could end at this moment and they would still be satisfied.

    Li Yundong held Su Chan in his arms. After a while, he patted the girl¡¯s shoulder and whispered, "Well, Chan¡¯er, help me call Shibo Cao Yi here."

    Su Chan straightened up and said softly, "Yundong, why do you need Shibo Cao Yi?"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly. "Don¡¯t you want to help me with stuff? I¡¯m creating an opportunity for you now!"

    Su Chan blinked her eyes and asked, "What do you want me to do for you?"

    Li Yundong beckoned Su Chan over and whispered something in her ear.

    Upon hearing this, Su Chan was a little surprised. "Huh? Really? Yundong, are you sure?"

    Li Yundong smiled slyly. "The current situation of our Fox Zen School is like that of a hidden snake in the weed. We know that there is a snake, but we don¡¯t know where it is. Therefore, if we keep sitting here and waiting for the snake to appear, we will only end up hurting innocent people by our inaction. For example, with President Cao, I still don¡¯t understand why she was attacked..."

    Su Chan said thoughtfully, "So Yundong, you¡¯ve decided to..."

    Li Yundong nodded. "Yes, I want to startle the snake!"

    Su Chan nodded. "Got it. I¡¯ll go and ask Shibo Cao Yi toe inter." Then, she looked at Li Yundong worriedly and said, "Yundong, take care of yourself. Be careful..."

    When the girl was halfway through saying this, she suddenly swallowed back her words, as if she thought she was being a little oversensitive.

    "Don¡¯t worry about me. I¡¯m fine. Go on now," Li Yundong said soothingly.

    Su Chan went out and whispered to Cao Yi. Cao Yi was stunned and wore a strange expression, but she still smiled at Su Chan, then went upstairs and entered Li Yundong¡¯s room.

    The little foxes of the Fox Zen School did not pay attention to this situation. As they saw it, it was very normal for their leader to talk to their Shibo, and they carried on talking andughing ignorantly.

    Noticing that they were not paying attention, Su Chan snuck into Cao Yi¡¯s room.

    After entering the room, Su Chan twitched her nose slightly, searching for the smell of blood she had noticed before. Her sense of smell was extremely sensitive, and after only taking a few sniffs in the room, she found she could detect a faint scent of blood drifting in the air.

    The odor cheered her up, and she immediately followed it and found a small package tightly wrapped in a stic bag secreted in a hidden corner at the foot of the bed. She opened it up and found that it was the Daopao that Cao Yi had worn before.

    She nodded inwardly and hid the pouch in her bosom, then quietly jumped away from the balcony of the room.

    She hopped over to the balcony of Li Yundong¡¯s room and hid outside quietly. Eventually, Li Yundong coughed and called in a low voice, "Little girl, don¡¯t hide. Come in."

    Only then did Su Chan gently push the balcony door open. She said with a smile, "Yundong, you¡¯re so powerful now. You can even sense the aura I¡¯m hiding."

    He pointed outside the balcony with a smile and said, "I think the majority of people will notice any attempt you make to hide. It¡¯s your shadow that betrayed you!"

    Su Chan looked back and saw the long silhouette of herself cut out by the sun¡¯s rays. The little girl patted her head and said with some annoyance, "So that¡¯s what happened!"

    Li Yundong smiled and prompted her, "So, have you found it?"

    She withdrew a package which Li Yundong took and opened. It was Cao Yi¡¯s usual Daopao. He looked at it carefully and noticed a faint bloodstain under the cuffs and the rib area of the Daopao.

    Li Yundong nodded and didn¡¯t say a word, his face dark.

    The girl tentatively asked, "Yundong, what are you thinking about? Shibo Cao Yi, could she really be... a hidden traitor?"

    Li Yundong was silent for a long time before he eventually sighed softly and said nomittally, "I think I already know who it is."

    Su Chan immediately asked curiously, "Shibo Cao Yi?"

    Li Yundong nced at her, touched her soft ck hair, and said softly, "Don¡¯t ask about such things. You shouldn¡¯t get involved in these intrigues. You have done all that you can, but now you should leave it to me. I will drive the snake out of our Fox Zen School."

    Su Chan curled her lips and said, "But I¡¯m always worried about you. You should at least tell me some of your ns. It¡¯s not a big deal for me to make a fool of myself, but if I ruin your n, it will be a big deal."

    Upon hearing this, Li Yundong felt that was indeed sense to be found in Su Chan¡¯s words. It was time for him to reveal the truth. There was no need to hide it any longer. He thought for a moment before saying to her with a smile, "Do you know why Zhou Qin has moved to the Zhuji phase at this time?"

    Su Chan blinked her eyes uprehendingly and said, "Isn¡¯t it just because her cultivation quotient has reached the right level?"

    Li Yundong shook his head and said, "Well, she could also go tomorrow. She could go the day after tomorrow or the day after that. Why is she in such a hurry to go today?"

    Su Chan was an extremely intelligent girl, and Li Yundong¡¯s words immediately reminded her of what had happened to Cao Kefei. Her eyes lit up and she let out a cry.

    Li Yundong snorted and continued, "Chan¡¯er, do you think Yan Fang has chosen to continue trying to kill Cao Kefei, or to snatch back Zhou Qin¡¯s Liuhe?"

 Chapter 431 Yan Fang Snatched the Sword!

    <h4>Chapter 431 Yan Fang Snatched the Sword!</h4>

    Hearing Li Yundong¡¯s words, doubts swelled within Su Chan. She asked in confusion, "If it were me, of course, I would snatch the Liuhe. Isn¡¯t my personal magical item more important? Why wouldn¡¯t I snatch the Liuhe, which is so powerful?"

    Li Yundong nodded slightly. "That¡¯s what I mean, so I asked Zhou Qin to get going now with the Liuhe. I¡¯m trying to draw the snake out of its hole."

    Su Chan suddenly asked, "But I still don¡¯t get it. Why would Yan Fang Shibo even want to kill Cao Kefei?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s face darkened slightly at this time. "Soon we will have the answer."

    Looking at his confident and thoughtful face, Su Chan somehow felt a little worried, but as she had absolute faith in Li Yundong, she buried the worry in her mind.

    She had no idea. It was okay that Yan Fang couldn¡¯t get along with the Fox Zen School, but why would she be annoyed by such a weak, insignificant woman as Cao Kefei? Moreover, every time Su Chan saw Cao Kefei, she always felt a sense of familiarity, as if she knew her.

    "It¡¯s so weird..." The little girl pouted slightly, her head tilted. "It seems that I am not the only one who has this feeling. Don¡¯t the other Shibos feel as I do?"

    While she was puzzling over this, Zhou Qin had already sorted out her luggage and was getting ready to set out on the long and dangerous road to Zhuji phase.

    Zhou Qin walked over to the door with her luggage on her back. She turned back to take a look, only to see that the little foxes in the living room were all gazing at her with envious eyes. Li Yundong looked at her from the stairs of the second floor, standing tall like a pine.

    In Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes, this young and handsome boy already had the air of a true master. He stood high as he looked at her, like a dignified elder watching a member of the younger generation going out for a long journey.

    Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes were fixed on Li Yundong. She hesitated for a moment before calling softly, "Master, I¡¯m leaving."

    Li Yundong looked at his ssmate, this beautiful apprentice who had a somewhat ambiguous rtionship with him, withplicated emotions swirling in his heart. He had embarked on his own journey to Zhuji phase a month or two ago, so he understood the difficulties well. In a moment, his first apprentice would embark on her dangerous journey to the Zhuji phase in the Himyas.

    Half a year ago, she had just been a pampered and rich youngdy. "Will she be able to withstand the test of this journey of more than 2,000 kilometers?"

    As if she understood the worry in Li Yundong¡¯s eyes, Zhou Qin, who was feeling a little nervous, suddenly smiled and said bravely, "Master, don¡¯t worry about me. I wille back safely. I can do what you can do. I won¡¯t disgrace you!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s worries were heavily diluted by her words. He smiled slightly and nodded to Zhou Qin. "In that case, I won¡¯t see you off."

    Zhou Qin nodded, turned around, and headed out, leaving the others of the Fox Zen School very sad.

    Zhuji phase was the most important threshold for cultivators. Countless changes urred within it. Even those who had cultivated Metasamsara were unable to predict what would happen on one¡¯s way to Zhuji phase.

    Since ancient times, countless geniuses had fallen on the road of cultivation during the Zhuji phase. No one knew whether Zhou Qin would be next to fail.

    Su Chan ced a hand on Li Yundong¡¯s arm and whispered, "Yundong, do you think Sister Zhou Qin can sessfully pass through the Zhuji phase? Isn¡¯t it too hash for her to go to such a dangerous ce to do Zhuji for her first time?"

    Li Yundong sighed softly and said, "The fragrance of plum blossoms sharpens in the bitter cold. Zhou Qin is proud and arrogant. It¡¯s not suitable for someone like her to be cultivated in a greenhouse. She should face the cruelest and most dangerous challenges in the world. Only in this way can sheplete her self-transformation and be a great cultivator. I believe that she can ovee this obstacle, and I also believe that she can defeat herself."

    While he was still talking with Su Chan, Zhou Qin left the housing estate. She trotted along the road in the direction of Tibet.

    It was winter now. Although Tiannan City was in the south, because of the sudden cold snap, most of the citizens had already put on their winter clothes and were looking a little bloated.

    However, Zhou Qin was the only one wearing light clothing. Her shoulder-length hair was also tied up, revealing arge area of her snow-white neck.

    This rich youngdy was carrying a cloth bag containing a change of clothes, a long sword wrapped in a piece of ck cloth, and a thousand yuan in her pocket. Besides those few possessions, there was nothing else.

    Zhou Qin trotted along with this bag on her back. Her pretty face and strange attire attracted the attention of countless passers-by. People began to guess where this beautiful woman, who seemed to be going somewhere far away, was heading?

    At first, there was a man who was shocked by Zhou Qin¡¯s appearance. Some men who were lusting after Zhou Qin had designs on her, but Zhou Qin herself was the virginity Dark Yin Furnace tripod. She was one of the best cultivation furnace tripods in the world. Moreover, she had the help of the Renyuan Jindan. Since the Renyuan Jindan had transformed her body, it was now no less powerful than Li Yundong¡¯s.

    In addition, with Li Yundong¡¯s careful guidance, she had opened up the Eight Extraordinary Meridians in her body when she was Fati. Now, she could run like a small roadster. She was so strong that she didn¡¯t feel tired at all even after running for more than ten kilometers.

    The several men who had followed her at the beginning only ended up following her for about ten minutes before having to give up, left watching her retreating back as they caught their breath.

    Zhou Qin ran all the way out of Tiannan City and before slowing down. Just like Li Yundong¡¯s Zhuji phase in the past, she stood on the edge of the city, looked back at the bustling metropolis, and then turned to the road in front of the deste suburbs. Zhou Qin suddenly had an inexplicable swell of feelings and mncholy in her heart.

    For the first time, she was going through the mood and feelings that Li Yundong had experienced when he was in Zhuji phase.

    "On the road with an uncertain future and in this vast world with no one to rely on. Looking up at the sky, bending down to see only soil, how small a person is!

    "And it is in this dangerous way that cultivators try to conquer the world and surpass life and death!

    "What kind of lofty ambition does a person need? What kind of courage and energy?

    "I went to Tibet to cultivate. At least, I had my own family backing me up, and Li Yundong, my strong master, was supporting me. However, Li Yundong had no one to rely on, and the only one who was close to him, Su Chan, was forced to separate from him.

    "How did he ovee this kind of lovesickness and surpass the danger of the world toplete the Zhuji phase?"

    The further Zhou Qin went on her road of cultivation, the more she admired Li Yundong. There were some things about horror and hardships that one could not understand until they had experienced them for themself.

    Zhou Qin stood tall and lean by the road, gazing at Tiannan City. There were fast cars zipping by her from time to time, and some of them even stopped and asked her if she needed to take a ride, but she turned a deaf ear to them. She just looked at the city she was familiar with, and then step by step moved away from the bustling mortal world.

    Zhou Qin followed in Li Yundong¡¯s footsteps and continued west. Night fell before she even knew it.

    At this time, the moon was bright and the glittering stars were few. Zhou Qin had already gotten off the highway and made her way into an unknown deserted mountain. She found a remote ce and tidied up the surrounding environment, then sat down cross-legged and prepared to start Qi control.

    But as soon as she settled into meditation, she suddenly felt her blood run cold and her hair stand on end. It seemed that there was a pair of eyes staring at her through the dark night.

    Zhou Qin abruptly lifted her lids, and her beautiful eyes were shining. She called loudly, "Come out, who is it?"

    In this quiet night, Zhou Qin¡¯s voice covered a good distance. For a moment, the birds and insects were all quiet, and there was nothing but dead silence, no response.

    Zhou Qin looked into the darkness of the night. She snorted and took out the Liuhe from the package. "You still won¡¯t show? Do you want to force me to use my powerful magical weapon? My master gave this to me personally. I don¡¯t even need to drive it to kill the demons. Once I release it, it will never return without having spilled some blood. I advise you to show yourself now to avoid any misunderstanding!"

    As soon as she finished her words, she saw a woman appear from the darkness. This woman had a graceful figure, her clothes were fluttering, and she seemed to be some kind of elegant and otherworldly being.

    Zhou Qin took a look at her under the moonlight, only to see the woman¡¯s extremely beautiful face. Her eyes were as razor-sharp, and when she looked at her, Zhou Qin felt her eyes sting.

    Zhou Qin shivered. She knew that the cultivator in front of her had to be impressive. At the very least, her Cultivation Quotient was not lower than Li Yundong¡¯s.

    Zhou Qin frowned and asked, "Who are you? Why are you following me in the middle of the night?"

    The woman didn¡¯t look at Zhou Qin, just stared at the Liuhe in her hand thoughtfully. After a long time, she sneered and said, "You said that this sword was given to you by your master?"

    Zhou Qin replied in a low voice, "That¡¯s right!"

    The woman threw back her head andughed. "Do you know that this sword was personally handed down to me by my master?"

    Zhou Qin¡¯s face froze. "So you are Yan Fang?"

    Yan Fang sneered, "So you¡¯re quick-witted! Humph, Li Yundong is such a little brat, how dare he let you swagger through the street with the Liuhe on your back? He thinks too highly of you!"

    Zhou Qin didn¡¯t say a word. She just held the magical sword in her hand and slowly slid it out.

    The Liuhe rubbed against its scabbard, making nging sounds and filling the air with a murderous aura. After Zhou Qin hadpletely pulled out her sword, the Liuhe made bursts of buzzing sounds by itself, seeming eager to fight. It jumped into the air and pointed at Yan Fang, on the alert.

    Zhou Qin said coldly, "Yan Fang, I know you¡¯re also a pitiful person. You¡¯ve been hiding your identity for nine years to seek revenge. Now that Ao Wushuang has been sealed by you and Liu Ye was killed by you, and the Fox Zen School has be unrecognizable, why not give up? As the saying goes, if you give up on killing, you will be a Buddha. The sea of ??suffering is endless, just repent and salvation is at hand. It¡¯s not been easy for you to cultivate for so many years. Don¡¯t be blinded by your hatred and lose your cultivation in one day!"

    Yan Fangughed coldly. "Li Yundong is a sharp-tongued guy. I hadn¡¯t expected that his disciple would also be like him. Your master and you are perfect for one another!"

    Yan Fang continuedughing for a while, and suddenly her face became serious, her eyes full of killing intent. She bit out ferociously, "Zhou Qin, don¡¯t think that you can talk to me with your back straight when you have a strong background! Let me tell you, you are already a cultivator now. If I kill you, I won¡¯t need to be punished by a Heaven Strike! Moreover, this powerful magical weapon belonged to me originally, it¡¯s just that your master had the cheek to take it for himself. Today I will take back what¡¯s rightfully mine!"

    Zhou Qin stood firm and said caustically, "The magical items in this world should all belong to the person who can use them the best! You couldn¡¯t look after it, but now you say such sarcastic words? Can you even be regarded as a cultivator?"

    Yan Fang could not help but fly into a rage. She yelled, "The magical items in this world should all belong to the person who can use them the best!? What nonsense! If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll just snatch it back right here and now!"

 Chapter 432 Zhou Qinâ€˜s First Battle

    <h4>Chapter 432 Zhou Qin¡®s First Battle</h4>

    Yan Fang quickly touched her index fingers together and threw out two talismans. The two talismans flew in the air and began burning themselves up. The burning mes of the two talismans grew stronger and stronger, and two people surrounding by glittering golden radiance quickly emerged from the mes.

    Zhou Qin saw the two men dressed in golden armor. One was holding a steel whip, and the other was propping up an iron tower. Their faces were majestic, as if they were descending from the heavens. She had never before fought with a man, so she couldn¡¯t help but feel her heart tighten as her nerves overwhelmed her.

    What a powerful person Yan Fang was. She immediately sensed the uneasiness that shed through Zhou Qin¡¯s heart andughed heartily, saying, "Oh, are you afraid now? Hmph, do you think I can¡¯t do anything to you just because you have the Liuhe in your hand? Even if you have a powerful magical weapon, what matters is how you use it! Even though the Liuhe has fallen into your hands, you can barely use 30% of its power! You¡¯d better surrender obediently, and then I¡¯ll spare your life! I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll take the Liuhe!"

    Zhou Qin pinched her arm hard with her fingers. She took a deep breath and gradually settled her thumping heart. With a jerk of her arm, she shook off the baggage behind her. With one hand on the Chiyue, and the other holding the Vulcan¡¯s Whip, she red at the two golden warriors with sharp eyes and stared at Yan Fang.

    Seeing her like this, Yan Fang couldn¡¯t help but sneer. "You really won¡¯t give up until you¡¯re lying in the ground! You haven¡¯t even built the Zhuji phase, so you don¡¯t even have the slightest bit of spiritual energy! If Ye Yu were to use this spinning chakram, it could be considered a powerful magic weapon, but if you use it now, you¡¯ll just hurt yourself!"

    Zhou Qin didn¡¯t want to waste her breath talking nonsense with her. With the sound of spring thunder crackling in the air, she held the Vulcan¡¯s Whip like a halberd and pointed at Yan Fang, shouting, "Liuhe, eliminate all evils!"

    The magical sword was psychic and bound by Li Yundong¡¯smand to protect Zhou Qin. Therefore, once Zhou Qin gave the order, the Liuhe hummed and roared like a dragon. In an instant, it split into two long swords, which further turned into two beams of white light and rushed towards the two golden-armored warriors like streaks of lightning.

    The two golden warriors gave out mighty battle roars. One waved the steel whip in his hand and began fighting one of the Liuhe. The other shook his arm fiercely, and the iron tower in his hand rose up high. In an instant, the Liuhe that was pouncing on him had been covered by it.

    The golden-armored warrior with the tower quickly touched his index fingers together and muttered incantations. Soon, a burst of red light rose from the tower, as if there were mes refining the Liuhe.

    The sword was like a wandering dragon trapped in a. It struggled madly and collided with the tower, causing a series of rumbles. The earth trembled for a period of time. From afar, one could see that there was a continuous stream of red light gushing out of the foot of the mountain.

    Yan Fang saw that the two Liuhes were entangled and trapped. She suddenlyughed proudly and asked mockingly, "Oh, Zhou Qin, why don¡¯t you just surrender?"

    But as soon as she finished her words, she heard a whooshing sound in front of her. Yan Fang fixed her eyes ahead and could see that the spinning chakram was making a sharp sound as it tore through the air, rushing toward her at a high speed.

    Zhou Qin was following closely behind. With a shake of her arm, the Vulcan¡¯s Whip in her hand headed straight to her enemy¡¯s face with a snap.

    Yan Fang suddenly flew into a rage. She had never thought that Zhou Qin, a woman who had not yet reached the Zhuji phase, would take the initiative to attack her!

    She didn¡¯t know the immensity of heaven and earth at all! She was too proud!

    Without thinking, Yan Fang grabbed the spinning Chiyue with one hand, catching it urately. With the other hand, she pinched the tip of the Vulcan¡¯s Whip between two fingers, trapping it.

    Yan Fang knew that Zhou Qin had still not reached the Zhuji phase. Although these two powerful magical weapons were great, they were no different from ordinary weapons when used by her. Therefore, she dared to intercept them with her bare hands.

    As soon as Yan Fang caught them, she couldn¡¯t help feeling proud. She thought to herself, "Let¡¯s what else you can do!"

    As soon as Yan Fang came up with this idea, she saw Zhou Qin suddenly let go of the Vulcan¡¯s Whip in her hands. She stamped on the ground and shot over to her like a cannonball, then two fingers were fiercely stabbed into her own eyes!

    Yan Fang waspletely livid. She hadn¡¯t expected Zhou Qin to be so tough as to fight hand-to-hand with her!

    What she didn¡¯t know was that that Zhou Qin had seen Li Yundong fight hand-to-hand with others several times. She had been shocked by his amazing skills and had developed a strong curiosity about him, then she had slowly fallen in love with the man.

    As the saying goes, an aplished disciple owes his achievements to his great teacher.

    Li Yundong was a cultivator who was good at hand-to-handbat. He had used his strength to defeat the weak several times and turned defeat into victory through his indomitable hand-to-handbat skills!

    As his chief disciple, Zhou Qin had naturally inherited his tough style. Furthermore, she was resolute and bold, though she usually wouldn¡¯t show it. Once she did it, she would immediately use cruel and fierce killing moves.

    Li Yundong knew that Zhou Qin was going out for a long trip. He was afraid that she would meet someone with bad intentions along the way, so he had specially taught her some self-defense skills before she left. The weakest part of a person¡¯s body was not their genitals, nor was it their Taiyang acupoint. It was, in fact, their eyes!

    Cultivators could cultivate themselves to be extremely powerful. Although they could not say that they were impervious to bullets or immune to fire and water, their ability to withstand attacks was far beyond that of an ordinary person. However, no matter how powerful someone was, it was impossible for him to cultivate all his magic into his eyes.

    Those who had undergone special cultivation would be able to withstand the hits of a metal hammer or even the sh of a steel knife. However, their eyes would still be extremely weak. A child who used a bit of strength to poke their eyes would still blind them!

    Zhou Qin¡¯s move was done with the intent of attacking the enemy and killing her. It was really vicious!

    Although Yan Fang was an experienced cultivator, she was shocked by her cruelty. She immediately let go of the hand she had been using to hold the tip of the Vulcan¡¯s Whip. She swiftly lifted her hands and put them in front of her face. A split secondter, her palms were stuck by Zhou Qin¡¯s two fingers, but they sessfully protected her eyes.

    Yan Fang hated Zhou Qin for being so vicious. Her other hand, which was holding the spinning chakram, immediately rubbed at her waist and abdomen. As long as the edge of the sharp sawteeth scraped her even a little, Zhou Qin¡¯s belly would be immediately cut open!

    But when Zhou Qin saw that Yan Fang was going straight for her waist and abdomen, she gritted her pearly teeth and did not dodge, punching towards her heart again.

    Almost all of Zhou Qin¡¯s strength was in this punch. With a whoosh, her fist made a faint sound as it broke through the air. In an instant, the idea of this punch being like a cannonball shot from a cannon¡¯s barrel shed through Yan Fang¡¯s mind. If her chest got hit, even though she was using the Yang Spirit body, she would be blown to pieces!

    At this time, Yan Fang couldn¡¯t help but be frightened. She knew that Zhou Qin was fighting desperately, willing to die as long as she could take Yan Fang with her! Although her Yang Spirit would be defeated, she could reshape her soul sense. Her cultivation would be greatly reduced, but she would not die. However, Zhou Qin had not yet reached the Zhuji phase. If her body was destroyed, she would die!

    If she killed ten thousand enemies, she would lose three thousand allies. This was a way of fighting where the gains outweighed the losses. However, if Zhou Qin killed three thousand enemies, she would lose ten thousand allies!

    Yan Fang was shocked and thought to herself, "Is this girl crazy?"

    Due to her surprise, her hand was a little hesitant. When the Zigzag Diamond Wheel in her handnded on Zhou Qin¡¯s waist, it was a fraction toote. As a result, Zhou Qin¡¯s fist had already hit her heart.

    Yan Fang¡¯s body suddenly shook, and she quickly took a step back, alleviating more than half of Zhou Qin¡¯s fist strength. However, the spinning chakram in her hand also went back with her. The sharp de passed through the smooth, white skin between her waist and abdomen, and the cold knife Qi pierced Zhou Qin¡¯s skin, causing the hair on her body to stand on end.

    Zhou Qin had just passed through the Gates of Hell, but she was not afraid at all. Instead, she twisted around and caught the tip of Yan Fang¡¯s Vulcan¡¯s Whip with one hand. With the other hand, she flipped her palm and her five fingers, like knives, ferociously stabbed toward the space between Yan Fang¡¯s legs.

    It was the most important and weakest part of the human body. Cultivators needed to refine their essence into Qi, and all the Qi came from the Huiyin acupoint. If Zhou Qin used her Jindan body to remake it, it would be no different from being stabbed with a steel knife. From then on, the unpunctured body would be a body with five punctures. Even if she did not die, she would be rendered useless.

    Yan Fang flew into a rage and immediately kicked at Zhou Qin¡¯s back. If she got a good kick in, Zhou Qin¡¯s spine would immediately shatter, and she would be paralyzed, doomed to being bedridden and unable to move anymore.

    Hearing the sound of the air breaking from behind her, Zhou Qin did not worry at all and still made no move to avoid her attack. Instead, she sped up by swinging her hand at Yan Fang¡¯s genitals.

    Seeing her fighting like this again, Yan Fang was so angry that she spat blood in her heart and was forced to withdraw her foot halfway. The spinning chakram in her hand chopped down at Zhou Qin¡¯s arm like an axe.

    At this time, Zhou Qin suddenly turned over andshed out with the Vulcan¡¯s Whip, which entangled her Chiyue. She then pulled on it hard and shouted, "Scatter!"

    As she yelled, she quickly turned around and thrust her two fingers like halberds toward Yan Fang¡¯s exposed eyes!

    Yan Fang could feel a huge forceing from her hand and heard Zhou Qin¡¯s shout. She immediately sneered and thought to herself, "Are youpeting with me in terms of strength? Do you still want to make me let go?"

    However, as soon as she tried to seize the spinning chakram, Zhou Qin turned around and thrust her fingers into her eyes!

    Yan Fang was overwhelmed with feelings of shock and rage. She knew that she had fallen for the other party¡¯s trick of a diversion! Zhou Qin had told her to let go, as if she wanted to grab the spinning chakram in her hands, but in fact, she was just using this as cover to continue to blind her eyes!

    Yan Fang saw her cut in, dig out her heart, and hit the yin. Every move hit a vital part of the human body that had to be protected. Every move was dangerous and vicious, extremely fierce and done with lethal intent. These moves would never be seen from a woman who had just started to cultivate!

    Yan Fang was shocked. Not only was she startled by Zhou Qin¡¯s fierce attacks, but she was also shocked by her desperate fighting. She had dozens of kinds of magic that could easily kill Zhou Qin, but she was actually being put at a disadvantage because everything was being done up-close.

    Yan Fang couldn¡¯t help but feel a jolt of hatred in her heart. She took a quick look at the Liuhe and thought to herself, "When I was holding the Liuhe in my hand, I alone was able to suppress all the heroes in Mount Gezao. How powerful! I never could have imagined that I would be beaten down by a young girl today!"

    However, Yan Fang was an experienced cultivator after all. She made a prompt decision and immediately threw down the spinning chakram in her hands. With a sharp, forceful kick, she instantly floated back by more than twenty meters.

    Although Zhou Qin was fierce, she still had not reached the Zhuji phase, and she had not reached a high level of cultivation kung fu. In hand-to-handbat, she had to fight with everything she had. The more desperate she was, the more likely it was that she would win. This was one step further than desperation, which was even more dangerous!

    But Yan Fang decisively relinquished the magic item in her hands. In an instant, she drifted away, and the distance between them was suddenly widened. Zhou Qin wanted to chase after her, but she didn¡¯t have as good a chance as before.

    The distance of twenty meters was like a Heaven Strike chasm, which was also what the gap between Zhou Qin and Yan Fang¡¯s cultivation levels was like. No matter how fast Zhou Qin rushed, no matter what kind of fierce and desperate moves she used, Yan Fang could easily kill her with her own magic!

    As the saying goes, while the priest climbs one post, the devil climbs ten!

    After Yan Fang had distanced herself from the battlefield, she looked at Zhou Qin with surprise and uncertainty. Finally, there was no longer contempt on her face. She knew that her cultivation talent would probably be outstanding, but she had not expected that Zhou Qin, who had been raised by a rich and powerful family, could be so fierce and desperate when fighting with others. Even a powerful man could notpare with her!

    At this time, Yan Fang faintly regarded Zhou Qin as a very tough-to-beat enemy in her heart, and she no longer saw her as just a rookie who had not yet reached the Zhuji phase.

    Yan Fang¡¯s face was serious, and her eyes were glittering with killing intent. Yan Fang thought to herself wryly, "Once this person seeds in cultivation, she will definitely be Li Yundong¡¯s right-hand man, and thus also be my biggest enemy!

    ¡°She must not be allowed to live. She must die!

 Chapter 433 Diversion

    <h4>Chapter 433 Diversion</h4>

    Once Yan Fang got serious, Zhou Qin would have no chance to win. After all, the gap between their strengths could not be made up for by her risking her life.

    This Spiritual Pce cultivator was known as the most outstanding female cultivator in the cultivation world in the past hundred years. At twelve years old, she had reached the Foundation Establishment, and then she had reached the Sun God realm at fourteen years old. At that time, her talent was already legendary throughout the cultivation world.

    She and Wang Yuanshan had once been regarded as the most enviable Shenxian couple in the Cultivation World. In the future, they would be a couple and be each other¡¯s trusted training partner, ever harmonious. Yan Fang, who was in Linggong Sect, had been famous at that time. She had been expected to be the first female cultivator in the future!

    However, no one had expected that Wang Yuanshan would meet Ao Wushuang in the end. Since then, Linggong Sect had fallen apart, and Wang Yuanshan disappeared. In order to take revenge, Yan Fang had hidden her name for nine years. The glorious days she had enjoyed in the past had gradually faded from the minds of the people.

    Now, the former genius was carefully studying the young woman in front of her, who had only cultivated for one month, and her eyes were full of shock and hostility.

    To Yan Fang, Zi Yuan¡¯s talent was not inferior to hers, but she was indifferent and aloof when it came to worldly affairs. She only wanted to seek immortality. Although her cultivation would be limitless in the future, Zi Yuan was her shizhi after all. It was impossible for Zi Yuan to deal with her harshly. In fact, she would not pose much threat to her at all.

    Although Li Yundong was a genius, it was difficult for him to survive alone. With her sniping at him in the dark, it was difficult for him to carry the Fox Zen School forward.

    However, Yan Fang hadn¡¯t been expecting Zhou Qin to appear all of a sudden. The talent she disyed in cultivation andbat was shocking!

    The scariest thing was that this girl was the daughter of a rich and powerful family, the descendant of officials!

    Once she grew up, with her background and strength, it was undoubtedly that she would be a formidable figure in the cultivation world!

    When the power of cultivationbined with the power of noble blood, the result would be something no one could imagine!

    Yan Fang looked at Zhou Qin carefully and seriously, then said slowly, "Zhou Qin, apart from Zi Yuan, you are the most talented female cultivator I have ever seen. Honestly, the cultivation world is not very prosperous now. It would be a great blessing for the cultivation world to have a talent like you, but..."

    Yan Fang took a deep breath and said with a slight sigh, "But unfortunately... I have to kill you with my own hands! Because you are standing on the side of evil!"

    Zhou Qin sneered, "Do you think that you are the only one in the world who is righteous? Is everyone else evil? Why do you think that what you have done is right?"

    Yan Fang snorted coldly. "I won¡¯t waste my breath on arguing with you. If you have anyst words, tell me quickly!"

    It was the first time that Zhou Qin had faced such a strong enemy, but it did not make her panic at all. Instead, she stood tall and strong, looking at Yan Fang calmly. She held her Vulcan¡¯s Whip in one hand and the Chiyue in the other and said proudly, "Come on!"

    "Humph, do you think I¡¯ll give you a chance to get close to me?" Yan Fang said mockingly. "Let me tell you, with your current Cultivation Quotient, even a hundred of you would not be my opponent!"

    As soon as she finished her words, she heard an elegant, quiet voice traveling through the thick night. "What if I¡¯m included in that number?"

    As soon as Yan Fang heard the voice, a bright light shed in her eyes. "Zi Yuan?"

    She turned her head and saw a woman in white slowly walking out of the darkness. This woman was wearing a long dress with her silky ck hair piled up like a cloud. Her figure was as ethereal as that of an immortal, and it really was none other than Zi Yuan.

    There was a threatening chill in Yan Fang¡¯s voice as she said coldly, "Zi Yuan, are you really determined to do something to me? Have you ever considered what Shishiong would think if he knew what you¡¯d done?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s gaze was somewhatplicated as she looked at Yan Fang. She sighed softly and said, "Shibo, sometimes, a grudge is best left buried. I think you¡¯d better let this go."

    Yan Fang burst outughing. "You¡¯re talking nonsense again! You¡¯re a good person, but you¡¯re so girlishly fussy about things! Zi Yuan, let me tell you, when I uncover the big conspiracy of Fox Zen School one day, you¡¯ll see if I¡¯m right or wrong!"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s face was as cold as ice. "Shibo, whether it¡¯s a conspiracy or not is a different issue. However, what did Zhou Qin do to make you want to get rid of her permanently like this?"

    Yan Fang said sternly, "This woman doesn¡¯t know right or wrong, nor can she distinguish good and evil. Doesn¡¯t everyone have the right to punish someone who helps evildoers carry out their dark work?"

    Zi Yuan asked a question in response, "Shibo, may I ask who this person is? Who is helping a tyrant? Also, in what way did she do it? If there is evidence, please show me. I will not be partial in helping any side!"

    Yan Fang sneered coldly. "Assisting an evildoer is a great sin. There is no need to have evidence!"

    Zi Yuan sighed lightly and said, "Shibo, this is your fault. As cultivators, we naturally have to be reasonable as we go about our business. As the saying goes, reason rules all over the world. Shibo, although you are my senior, please forgive me for being rude in this matter. You must not touch a hair on Zhou Qin¡¯s head!"

    Yan Fangughed and said furiously, "Oh, fine! I¡¯ve been thinking about learning your kung fu for a long time already! I don¡¯t know if your kung fu has improved, but, to put it in an arrogant way, I couldn¡¯t be more certain about your Shentong kung fu. Do you know what kind of Shentong kung fu I¡¯ve cultivated over the past nine years?"

    Zi Yuan said indifferently, "Shibo, you used Liujia Qingshen Fuan to invite the gods toe to the human world. This kind of high-level talisman is obviously the martial arts of the Maoshan Sect. I think that you have already mastered the two sects of Taoism in the north and south. Even if you didn¡¯t have the Liuhe, you could already be regarded as a great cultivator."

    Yan Fang snorted. "It¡¯s good that you understand that. Do you think I can¡¯t do anything to you just because you¡¯vee to help her?"

    Zi Yuan suddenlyughed. "Shibo, do you know why I am here?"

    Yan Fang frowned slightly. She narrowed her eyes and said coldly, "Could it be that this was all arranged by that man, Li Yundong?"

    Looking at the Liuhe that was still fighting with the two great heavenly troops, she smiled and said, "Shibo, you¡¯ve fallen into Li Yundong¡¯s trap. The reason why he gave the Liuhe to Zhou Qin was not only for the sake of self-defense, but also to lure you out!"

    Hearing this, Yan Fang was not angry. Instead, she simplyughed and said, "What wonderful bait to draw the snake out of its hole! He even used his chief disciple for his trap. This master is reallypetent!"

    Seeing Yan Fang trying to drive a wedge between them, Zhou Qin snorted and said, "My master told me everything beforehand. Do you think I didn¡¯t know it would be dangerous? Humph, with a thorn-like you in his side, my master wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep well. As long as I can help him get rid of you, don¡¯t talk about personal danger. Even if it were a sea of fire, I¡¯d still break through it!"

    Yan Fang suddenly looked at Zhou Qin with some emotion. At this moment, she seemed to be looking at the younger her, the infatuated woman who was willing to do anything for the man she loved!

    For a moment, Yan Fang¡¯s heart swelled with mixed feelings. She felt a little emotional about Zhou Qin as she recalled the past, and she could see that Zhou Qin was willing to give up her life for Li Yundong. If she tried again to drive a wedge between them, it would only bring shame to herself.

    When she understood that, Yan Fang snorted and stopped trying to provoke them. Instead, she sneered and said, "So what if I fall into your trap? What can you do for me?"

    However, Zi Yuan asked, "Shibo, you said that to lure you out, we put in so much effort to set up such a trap. How could we not have put a perfect n together? My skills are indeed not as good as yours. Even if I worked together with Zhou Qin, we would not necessarily be your match. But... why do you think that Li Yundong wouldn¡¯t be involved in such a big matter?"

    Yan Fang¡¯s face changed drastically as she eximed in shock, "Has that little bastard Li Yundonge as well?"

    As soon as she finished her words, a figure emerged from the thick night behind Zi Yuan and stared at Yan Fang. It was from Li Yundong!

    When Yan Fang saw him, she was slightly shocked. She gritted her teeth and said, "So, the little bastard is really here!"

    The expression on Zi Yuan¡¯s face was one of confidence. She smiled and said, "Shibo, do you think you still have a chance to win now?"

    Although Yan Fang was furious, she knew very well that if she were to fight Li Yundong, her chances of winning would still be fifty-fifty. However, if Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin were added to the mix, then she would have absolutely no chance of winning at all!

    Moreover, recently, Yan Fang had been lurking around Li Yundong, so she knew very well about Li Yundong¡¯s cultivation at this time!

    Besides, just during the opening ceremony of Disanxian, Li Yundong¡¯s Dragon ying with Water Spell had scared off The Lady of the Earthly Fire, Zhang Ling. When she had witnessed it from upstairs, she had also been shocked to the point that her scalp went numb!

    At that time, the ordinary people who were watching the fun in the teahouse didn¡¯t know how awesome it was, but she, Yan Fang, understood it well. She knew how incredible it was for someone to be able to do this!

    In the face of such a powerful opponent, she was too discouraged to even put up a fight!

    When Yan Fang¡¯s momentum weakened, Zhou Qin was keenly aware of it. She immediately shouted aggressively, "Yan Fang, hand over the Emperor¡¯s Clock and release Ao Wushuang. Otherwise, you will die today!"

    Yan Fangughed bitterly and said, "You, a rookie that has just joined the sect, yet you dare to yell at me?" As she spoke, she turned her face towards Zi Yuan and sneered. "Zi Yuan, do you think your n to scare the snake out of the cave is really so very brilliant?"

    "It¡¯s notplex, but it works well enough! Zi Yuan said.

    Yan Fang sneered, her face distorting. "Do you think I can¡¯t see through your lousy tricks? Hand the Liuhe to a little girl who hasn¡¯t even reached Zhuji phase, and do it right in front of me? Do you think I didn¡¯t know what Li Yundong was nning?"

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly. "Even if that¡¯s the case, you still showed yourself, didn¡¯t you? The Liuhe is too important to you. You knew that it was a trap, but you still jumped into it!"

    Yan Fang gave a coldugh. "So what if I showed up? The world is so big that I cane and go whenever I want. Who can keep me here? Besides, if you can make use of this n to lure the snake out of its hole, can¡¯t I just y my own trick to lure the tiger away from the mountain and attack the west?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s expression shifted rapidly. "Shibo, what do you mean by that?"

    Yan Fang smiled proudly and eximed, "Zi Yuan, you don¡¯t understand anything at all! Compared to the Liuhe, Cao Kefei¡¯s life is even more important to me! I don¡¯t want the Liuhe, but she must die!"

    Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help feeling a little angry as she yelled, "Shibo, Cao Kefei is just a mortal. Why can¡¯t you ever get along with her?"

    Yan Fang¡¯s tone was one of mockery as she spat, "Secr mortals? Have you ever seen a secr mortal with only one soul and three spirits? As far as I know, the great conspiracy of the Fox Zen School is closely rted to Cao Kefei! Humph, the reason why I came here to take the Liuhe today was for no reason other than to get you away from Cao Kefei and make it easier for me to kill her"

    "Shibo, even if you can get us away temporarily, we can still fly back with you! We¡¯ll only arrive together in the end. How do you n to avoid that, hm?"

    "Zi Yuan, you just saw me using the talisman technique of Maoshan Sect. You have been reading the ssics of cultivation since you were thirteen years old. Don¡¯t you know that there is a talisman technique called Shrinking Spell in Maoshan Sect?"

    After that, Yan Fang suddenly slid out a talisman from her sleeve. She shouted and drew a spell with both hands. The talisman burned itself up suddenly, emitting a dazzling yellow light.

    This burst of yellow light was blinding, and Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help but cover her eyes with her hands and close her eyes tightly. When she saw the yellow light fade, she opened her eyes, only to find that there was no one in front of her. Even the two Liujia Tianbing summoned by Yan Fang were gone.

    Zhou Qin was shocked at once. "Oh crud, she¡¯s gotten away!"

 Chapter 434 Answer a Trick with a Trick

    <h4>Chapter 434 Answer a Trick with a Trick</h4>

    Zhou Qin yelled and subconsciously turned around to look in the direction of Tiannan City, then eagerly looked at Li Yundong, and cried loudly, "Master, give chase! Yan Fang ran back to kill President Cao!"

    However, Li Yundong stood where he was, ignoring her and not moving at all.

    Zhou Qin was very anxious and rushed over to Li Yundong. She grabbed his shoulders with both hands and shook him hard, imploring loudly, "Master, we have to do something!"

    But as soon as her voice fell, Li Yundong¡¯s body suddenly shook, and bursts of mes began igniting all over his body. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared, leaving only a burning talisman floating down in the air.

    Zhou Qin was stunned. She stared at the talisman that had been burned to ashes on the ground and muttered, "What the...?"

    Zhou Qin turned her face to look at Zi Yuan and said loudly, "Ziyuan, what exactly is going on here?"

    Zi Yuan, who was standing nearby, couldn¡¯t help but chuckle softly and say, "Zhou Qin, it¡¯s a fake!"

    Zhou Qin gaped. "A fake? Is this magic?"

    Zi Yuan nodded slightly. "Yes, this is the Liujia Yang Spirit Fu. Li Yundong and I discussed it in private and decided to lie in wait for Yan Fang to appear, but we knew that if I was the only one who appeared, Yan Fang would not be scared. As such, I got a fake Li Yundong to help out. Yan Fang, as I expected, she fell into my trap immediately!"

    Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help asking, "But why is Yan Fang bothering Cao Kefei?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s eyebrows drew into a slight frown. She thought for a while before saying, "I don¡¯t know about it too well, but when I first met Cao Kefei, I thought this woman was too coquettish, and she only had one transcendentponent and the three materialponents of the human soul, making her different from ordinary people. At the moment, Cao Kefei seems to have a rtionship with the Fox Zen School, and when I saw the three Shibos of the Fox Zen School, they were shocked by the sight of Cao Kefei. It was obvious that they knew her!"

    Zhou Qin opened her mouth wide, her face full of disbelief. "Really? So President Cao has always been a member of the Fox Zen School? Then, she is also a..."

    The word "fox spirit" had derogatory associations, and Zhou Qin decided not to say it in the end.

    But Zi Yuan shook her head in denial. "No, if she were a Fox Spirit, I would easily have detected it. But what makes me suspicious is that Cao Kefei doesn¡¯t have a trace of an evil spirit within her. So then why is she involved with the fox Zen Sect? Why is there one transcendentponent and the three materialponents of the human soul in her body? It¡¯s wild!"

    Zhou Qin thought for a while before asking tentatively, "Well, I¡¯ll go and ask President Cao some other day?"

    Zi Yuan smiled faintly. "Zhou Qin, the most important thing for you now is to pass through the Zhuji phase. You don¡¯t have to worry about other things. When your master Li Yundong was at the Zhuji phase, he even sold his own cellphone to stop himself from missing Su Chan too much. You can¡¯t leave with cares weighing down your heart, or you will be half-hearted, and it will definitely end up with you getting trapped in delusions!"

    Zhou Qin¡¯s expression hardened. "Got it. I understand now. Then, I will ask you to help deal with this matter next."

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly. "You¡¯re wee. If nothing unexpected happens, we should be able to capture the hidden traitor of the Fox Zen School tonight."

    Zhou Qin seemed to suddenly think of something and asked, "But Yan Fang has the Yang Spirit body and is free toe and go as she pleases. Her speed is extremely fast, and she killed Cao Kefei with her Yang Spirit body. How can you even know which is her real body?"

    A confident smile spread over Zi Yuan¡¯s face. "We have our ways to force her true body to reveal itself!" she said mysteriously.

    Zhou Qin subconsciously wanted to ask, but she didn¡¯t want Zi Yuan to think that she didn¡¯t know anything, so she quickly resisted asking and said instead, "I know, but it¡¯s a pity that I can¡¯t help Master."

    Zi Yuan shook her head slightly and chuckled. "No, you have put yourself in danger and helped Li Yundong a great deal. Although he didn¡¯t say anything, he knows very well what you¡¯ve done. Moreover, no matter whether it¡¯s Li Yundong or me, we can¡¯t help you with the rest of the journey. You¡¯ll have to continue by yourself," she said.

    Zhou Qin knew that the fairy-like Zi Yuan in front of her had been begging alms for thousands of miles, and had finally seeded in her Zhuji phase after enduring numerous hardships. She thought in her heart, "If Zi Yuan can do it, why can¡¯t I?"

    Thinking of this, Zhou Qin¡¯s heroic spirit stirred. She smiled and said, "Please tell my master to wait to receive my good news. I will definitely seed in Zhuji phase!"

    Zi Yuan nodded slightly, a small smile on her face. Then, she turned into a sh of blue light and left in an instant, leaving Zhou Qin alone in the darkness of the barren mountains. She looked up in the direction Zi Yuan had left in and became lost in thought.

    Just as Zhou Qin was resuming her cultivation journey, in the senior care ward of the Second People¡¯s Hospital of Tiannan City, Cao Kefei was texting with Liu Fei¡¯er on her cell, feeling utterly bored.

    The text from Liu Fei¡¯er read: "Sister Cao, I have returned to the crew, and the director is scolding you!"

    Cao Kefei smiled, tapped with her fingers and quickly wrote a text message back: "When does this guy not scold people? Besides, I don¡¯t believe that he would only scold me but let you off!"

    "Of course, everyone in the crew was scolded by him once, and I was scolded twice. It was a bloodbath!" came the reply.

    Cao Kefei smiled and typed back: "So, do you regret it? Who asked you toe with me?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er sent a grimacing emoji. "I don¡¯t regret it. I¡¯ve learned a lot from this trip. From now on, we will be regarded as knowledgeable people. Knowing that there is a master like Li Yundong in this world, it wasn¡¯t in vain for me to be scolded! In my opinion, these crew guys are the frogs at the bottom of the well. Humph, they¡¯re all clueless!"

    Cao Kefei gave a hollowugh. "You just saw him, and now you feel that you are knowledgeable? Do you know how he even got his skills? I don¡¯t know, and I don¡¯t dare to im that I am knowledgeable!" she typed.

    Liu Feier replied: "Hmph, sometimes you only need to read things once. In any case, I feel like I¡¯ve spent a lot of time and gained a lot of experience!"

    Cao Kefei smiled as her fingers flew over the keyboard. "This is called long-term knowledge. Don¡¯t get embarrassed here!"

    Liu Feier sent a grimacing emoji again. "Ah, then I don¡¯t care about you. Sister Cao, you have to be careful, don¡¯t lose your soul or you¡¯ll have to let Li Yundong help you get it back!"

    After Cao Kefei read this text message, the smile on her face gradually disappeared. There were countless suitors going after this strong, morous woman. Among them were excellent business elites and handsome dandies, but she only had eyes for this young boy who was fashionable and a bit green.

    When Li Yundong disappeared, she had felt lost every day, and it had taken a long time for her to recover.

    "Until I met him again, it seemed that my soul was really lost. In the first two days, I really lost my soul, and Li Yundong was the man who found it!"

    "This guy, is he some enemy from my previous life? If I lose my soul, I have to have him find it for me?" Cao Kefei suddenlyughed, and her plump lips revealed a certain word: "Fate!"

    As soon as she finishedughing, she felt a cold wind blowing through the ward, and the curtains on the balcony fluttered high.

    This frigid wind lifted the curtains like a cold current, rushing towards Cao Kefei.

    At this moment, Cao Kefei felt a chill all over her body, as if something had prated her skin. It was like there was a hook digging into her soul as hard as it could, pulling it out.

    This feeling was exactly the same as when Cao Kefei had encountered in Di Hao before. She had opened her mouth wide and wanted to shout and struggle desperately, but all her strength had disappeared at this moment.

    Cao Kefei felt cold all over, and she thought with horror, "Who on earth wants to kill me? Who have I offended?"

    As soon as she started thinking about it, she suddenly saw herself floating up and down, and she could see her body lying in the hospital bed as she towered above.

    Immediately afterward, there was a sudden fierce sound of fightinging from in front of her hospital bed, as if there were two invisible people battling there. The fight between these two people was so passionate that the surrounding air was shaking.

    "Is Li Yundong protecting me? If it¡¯s him, why won¡¯t he show himself?"

    As soon as this thought came to her mind, she heard the loud, low voice of the Mantra Buddha¡®s intone, "Ah!"

    This shout was like the ng of big bells from the dying river in the cold winter, or the sound of the Buddha¡¯s majestic horn reverberating through a quiet, lonely, empty mountain.

    This sound shocked Cao Kefei to the core. She could feel that there was an invisible hand in the air around her, pulling at her soul again, and causing her to slowly drift towards her body.

    After her soul had returned, she opened her eyes and saw Li Yundong standing like a mountain at the end of her hospital bed.

    His hands flew, quickly making the Fixed Fundamental Palm and the Baoxiang Ri Palm, and patted the empty space in front of him. Only a muffled sound was heard, and a person seemed to have been instantly knocked into the air by him. The room was shaken by the shock of someone hitting the wall, and when the person appeared, it was clear that it was Yan Fang.

    With disheveled hair and blood dripping from the corner of her mouth, Yan Fang looked at Li Yundong in shock and said loudly, "This is impossible, how were you able toe back so soon!?"

    Li Yundong snorted and said solemnly, "Yan Fang, this ends here! I advise you to hand over the Emperor¡¯s Clock and release Ao Wushuang, otherwise, I will extinguish your soul!"

    When Yan Fang heard his words, she suddenly began shaking and quickly understood what was going on. She said bitterly, "I actually fell into your trap! The version of you next to Zi Yuan was a decoy!"

    "Exactly!" Li Yundong said smugly.

    "Unexpectedly, I yed right into your hands! Well done!"

    Li Yundong sneered. "Why do you want to kill Cao Kefei? How did she offend you?"

    Yan Fangughed loudly. "Her? She hasn¡¯t offended me at all, but she is a sinner and she must die!"

    "Bull. What has she done? How has she sinned? You are going to borate right now!"

    Yan Fangughed and said, "Li Yundong, when you participate in the Taoist assembly, you will understand everything!" After that, she began moving and rushed out of the window like a sh of lightning.

    The Yang Spirit was the fastest in the sky. Li Yungdong knew that it was absolutely impossible for him to catch up with her with his body, so he immediately groaned loudly. The Yang Spirit left his body and chased after her like a shadow.

    There was silence in the ward at this time. Although Cao Kefei had known that he was going to use her as bait to lure out the real murderer, she had never expected that she would witness this kind of scene like something from a fantasy movie before her.

    She had originally thought that what she had seen in Li Yundong before was incredible enough, but she had not expected that what she would see today wouldpletely subvert her understanding!

    While she was still in a daze, Cao Kefei¡¯s cell phone rang again. She came back to her senses, picked up her cell phone and nced at it. It was a text message from Liu Fei¡¯er, which read: "Sister Cao, you haven¡¯t replied for ages. What are you doing? I¡¯m so bored on the crew!"

    Feeling drained, Cao Kefei sent a text message back: "Fei¡¯er,e with the director to see God!"

 Chapter 435 A Hidden Traitor has Appeared!

    <h4>Chapter 435 A Hidden Traitor has Appeared!</h4>

    Li Yundong¡¯s body remained in the ward, but his Yang Spirit followed Yan Fang closely.

    He had already reached the apex cultivation of his Yang Spirit. His Yang Spirit body could now transform at will and change as he wished it to. When he changed his mind, his Yang Spirit immediately transformed into an Immovable Wisdom King with superhuman powers. His six arms continued to form Mahamudra, and like a moving cannon, he chased after Yan Fang and bombarded her with wild explosions.

    In the beginning, she had thrown out a few talismans to summon the celestial troops and try to hamper Li Yundong¡¯s movements, but as soon as she summoned the celestial troops, he immediately made a fierce Mahamudra, smashing the troops to pieces!

    Seeing that the celestial troops had been smashed into pieces in a single blow, Yan Fang couldn¡¯t help but feel horrified. She paused for a moment and saw Li Yundong attacking her with a Samadhi Vajra Seal. She subconsciously dodged, and the gang wind of the Mahamudra whipped past her back.

    Although Yan Fang had a Yang Spirit Body, she still felt a burning pain on her back, as if she had been struck by a steel whip!

    The gang wind had only grazed the outer surface of her back and yet it was so painful. What kind of torture would it be if the Mahamudra hit her body?

    If Yan Fang had a magical item, she would still be able to fight against Li Yundong. However, she didn¡¯t have one and her talismans had all been used up. How could she defend against his extremely powerful Yang Spirit body?

    Yan Fang was so frightened that her heart was thumping wildly. She didn¡¯t dare to stay and ran away while cursing, "Li Yundong, you little b*stard, don¡¯t you want to know the whereabouts of Ao Wushuang?"

    He sneered, "As long as I catch you, I¡¯ll have plenty of ways to make you talk!"

    Yan Fang was furious. She gnashed her teeth and spat, "You will regret this. Li Yundong, you will regret this for sure!"

    He stayed silent, simply ring at Yan Fang intensely. His Yang Spirit flew quickly, following Yan Fang¡¯s figure closely.

    It waste at night. The two of them were zipping through the air as two beams of blue light. The cyan light that Li Yundong had transformed into would sometimes be tinged with a golden light, and these several colors of lights would chase after one another, sometimes entangling and giving out a dazzling brilliance.

    Yan Fang and Li Yundong tangled with each other for a while. She was shocked to find that she couldn¡¯t shake him off at all. It looked like no matter how far she ran, he would still be chasing after her!

    Yan Fang gritted her teeth, descended rapidly, and quickly shot towards the residential area of the Hepan new district.

    Seeing that Yan Fang was suddenly fleeing home, Li Yundong was enraged. He shouted, "Yan Fang, I¡¯ve already set up a tight encirclement at home. Do you want to go back and die?"

    Yan Fang paused slightly, seemingly frightened by Li Yundong¡¯s words. However, she quickly elerated again and rushed into Li Yundong¡¯s residence like lightning.

    Li Yundong shouted and made three Mahamudra in a row, blocking Yan Fang¡¯s way.

    But she didn¡¯t dodge. As if she hadn¡¯t notice the Mahamudra behind her, she still rushed straight to the residence. But when she was one or two hundred meters away from the residence, his Mahamudra caught up with her and pped her heavily on the back.

    She let out a bloodcurdling scream as her Yang Spirit body shattered into countless tiny beams of green light that all rushed into the residence together.

    Li Yundong also zoomed into the house, hot on her heels. At this time, the little foxes of the Fox Zen School were all watching TV in the living room. They saw a sh of blue light and countless tiny lights going straight to Cao Yi¡¯s room. Before they could even react, Li Yundong suddenly rushed in and went straight to Cao Yi¡¯s room with a murderous look shing in his eyes.

    Li Yundong broke through Cao Yi¡¯s door like a rampaging beast. He looked inside and saw that the French window of Cao Yi¡¯s bedroom was open, the curtains were fluttering in the wind, and there was no one in the room.

    The little foxes were all stunned to see Li Yundong kick open Cao Yi¡¯s room with a bang. He looked inside and then turned his head and said coldly, "Where is your Shibo, Cao Yi?"

    The foxes were so frightened by Li Yundong that they couldn¡¯t speak. Liu Yuehong, who was sitting with them, asked boldly, "Leader, what¡¯s going on? Hasn¡¯t Sixth Shimei been in her room doing Qi-control training?"

    Li Yundong pointed to the empty room and said darkly, "You said she was doing Qi-control training. In that case, where the hell is she?"

    Liu Yuehong was shocked by Li Yundong¡¯s predatory expression. She stammered, "Sixth Shimei isn¡¯t there? Perhaps she, she¡¯s gone out...?"

    He responded in a voice like ice, "What business could she have at this hour?"

    Liu Yuehong was speechless. Li Yundong¡¯s gaze swept across everyone¡¯s faces like a sharp knife. "Where¡¯s Shibo Zhuang Yating? Where is she?"

    As soon as Li Yundong finished his words, the door of Zhuang Yating¡¯s room creaked open. This enchanting, coquettish Shibo of the Fox Zen School, who was wearing her pyjamas, came out yawning and asked with sleepy eyes, "What¡¯s wrong? What¡¯s going on?"

    Li Yundong stared at her for a long time before eventually asking coldly, "Third Shibo, have you been sleeping in your room all this time?"

    She replied queerly, "Of course."

    Li Yundong squinted slightly, and his eyes seemed sharp enough to prate a person¡¯s heart. He asked in a deep voice, "Who here can verify that?"

    Zhuang Yating smiled slightly and said, "Everyone here can testify to it. I have been in my room all this time and have nevere out."

    Li Yundong turned to look at the little foxes in the living room. Seeing him looking at them, the little foxes all immediately nodded.

    Li Yundong nodded back slightly, then snorted and asked, "Then do you know where Cao Yi went?"

    Zhuang Yating was stunned. "I don¡¯t know..." However, she quickly followed up by asking probingly, "Leader, what happened?"

    Liu Yuehong, who had always kept a low profile in the Fox Zen School, keenly noticed that Li Yundong no longer addressed Cao Yi as Cao Yi Shibo. Instead, he called her by her name. This was something that had never happened since he had taken over as leader!

    "Oh no, something must be wrong!" An ominous idea shed across Liu Yuehong¡¯s mind. She stood up and asked, "Leader, what is going on?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s sharp eyes swept over them, his gaze filled with doubt and suspicion. His cold eyes made the little foxes shudder and shiver in their hearts.

    At this time, hearing the noise, Su Chan came out of her room. She rubbed her eyes and asked in a daze, "Yundong, what happened?"

    Hearing Su Chan¡¯s voice, Li Yundong turned his head. When his cold eyes fell on the girl, the look on his face gradually became soft and warm.

    He closed his eyes and sighed slowly. After a while, he opened his eyes again and said, "There is a traitor hidden in our Fox Zen School."

    The foxes were astonished. "A hidden traitor? Who is it?"

    Liu Yuehong was also startled by the news. "Leader, who are you talking about? Do you have any proof?"

    But Zhuang Yating had a mocking look on her face. She snorted coldly and said, "Leader, the truth has been revealed now, right? I¡¯ve already said that Cao Yi is the traitor!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s face was sullen and he did not speak, but Liu Yuehong¡¯s face was distorted by her anxiety. She red at Zhuang Yating and shouted, "Third Shijie, how could you say that! How could Sixth Shimei be a hidden traitor!?"

    Zhuang Yating smiled coldly and looked at Li Yundong. "Leader has alreadye to a conclusion in his heart. Listen to him!"

    Li Yundong looked around at the panic-stricken little foxes. He could see that these normally carefree little foxes were looking at him with doubt and worry in their eyes.

    He sighed and beckoned to the foxes, indicating for them to sit down. Then, he waved to Su Chan, indicating that she was to take her ce next to him.

    After they had all sat down, he sighed softly and said, "Zhuang Yating Shibo is right. Cao Yi is indeed the Fox Zen School¡¯s hidden traitor! To be precise, she is no longer the Cao Yi Shibo that you know. She only has Cao Yi¡¯s physical body, but her soul and Yang Spirit are that of the traitor."

    Liu Yuehong¡¯s body swayed slightly and her face turned pale. She had grown up with Cao Yi since she was a child. Although they were not actually blood-rted sisters, they might as well be. When she heard Li Yundong¡¯s words, she was extremely shocked, as if she had been striked by lightning. She asked in a quivering voice, "Leader, what did you say? Who has taken over Sixth Shimei?"

    Li Yundong looked at her sympathetically. "It¡¯s Yan Fang."

    The crowd instantly burst into a big uproar. The little foxes were so shocked that they all jumped up immediately, their hair standing on end!

    They couldn¡¯t believe Li Yundong¡¯s words, but they had to believe them because the facts were in front of them!

    The foxes clearly remembered the time when they had been at Mount Tianlong. It was Yan Fang who had killed their powerful Shibo, Ye Yu, and it was also Yan Fang who had single-handedlye up with the n to destroy the Fox Zen School!

    If it hadn¡¯t been for Li Yundong, the entire Fox Zen Sect would have been destroyed by the various sects!

    Yan Fang, for them, was not only the name of a mortal enemy, but also a nightmare!

    None of them had expected that Mo Ashi, the Eldest Shijie of the Fox Zent School, whom they most respected and held in the highest esteem, was actually Yan Fang!

    And now, Cao Yi, who had been with them day and night, was actually Yan Fang again!

    This was just too terrifying!

    But what was even worse was that she had escaped again!

    For a moment, every fox was thinking in a panic, "Since Yan Fang can take over Cao Yi Shibo¡¯s body, she must be able to take over me, and in the future, she could also take over other Shijie and Shimei!"

    The little foxes looked at each other in the same instant with suspicion and vignce, as if the most familiar person next to them might turn into a terrible Yan Fang in the next second!

    Seeing the suspicion and vignce swallowing up the little foxes, Li Yundong frowned and said, "Don¡¯t worry. Yan Fang has been seriously injured by me. Even if she escapes, she won¡¯t be able toe out andmit any crimes for a while. If she doesn¡¯t want to die, she will definitely recover after a period of time."

    Li Yundong thought for a while before saying, "What¡¯s more, the reason Yan Fang was able to do that to Cao Yi is probably because Cao Yi was once alone in the Tian Long Mountain, so Yan Fang had a chance to do it. From today on, no one can be out alone. In this way, Yan Fang will not dare to take action rashly!"

    The little foxes finally felt a little relieved, but all of them frowned and still looked worried. Some of them could not help but choke with sobs. "Cao Yi Shibo was originally fine. How could she have be that viin, Yan Fang?"

    When one of them started crying, the others couldn¡¯t help themselves either. Someone said with a whimper, "Leader, you have to avenge Cao Yi¡¯s death!"

    Tears streamed down Liu Yuehong¡¯s cheeks as well. She plopped down on her knees in front of Li Yundong and cried, "Leader, I know you¡¯re powerful. You¡¯ll definitely be able to find Yan Fang and avenge Sixth Shimei!"

    Li Yundong sighed and reached out to help her up. "You don¡¯t have to do this. As your leader, I bear responsibility over everything that happens within the sect. I will definitely give you an exnation! I will hunt Yan Fang until the bitter end!"

    Zhuang Yating gritted her teeth and said resentfully, "Leader, if there¡¯s anything you need me to do, just let me know!"

    Li Yundong nodded to her, then sighed softly and said, "All of you should go and rest. We have to open the teahouse as usual tomorrow. No matter what, this thorn will be pulled from our sides at some point. We can live a peaceful and leisurely life for a while."

    After hearing Li Yundong¡¯s words, the foxes wiped away their glittering tears and went back to their rooms. Liu Yuehong and Zhuang Yating also said their goodbyes and headed to their rooms.

    Only when Su Chan saw that all the people around had left did she allow a sad look to creep over her face. With tears sparkling in her eyes, she whispered, "Yundong, Yan Fang ran away again. I¡¯m afraid she won¡¯t show her face again now. Does this mean that we won¡¯t be able to find my master anymore?"

    Li Yundong gently stroked her dark hair and said gently, "No, I¡¯m sure that Yan Fang will appear at the Taoist assembly! Although her Yang Spirites and goes very quickly, I have found a way to deal with her!"

    Su Chan raised her head and looked at Li Yundong with tears in her eyes. She whimpered doubtfully, "Are you serious?"

    Li Yundong said with a soothing smile, "Of course! Zhenren never lies!"

    Su Chan wiped her tears, broke into a grin, and said confidently, "Then I believe you!"

    Li Yundong tenderly stroked the girl¡¯s long hair with one hand and ced the other behind his back. He looked thoughtfully at the endless night outside the window and said slowly, "Chan¡¯er, just wait, it¡¯s definitely going to be a very interesting Taoist assembly..."

 Chapter 436 Catch the Yang Spirit!

    <h4>Chapter 436 Catch the Yang Spirit!</h4>

    When Zi Yuan returned to her residence, she found that Li Yundong had been waiting in the living room for a long time.

    The young, handsome leader sat on the sofa in the living room like a statue, not moving as he thought about something quietly.

    The moment Zi Yuan caught sight of Li Yundong, she immediately asked, "What¡¯s happened? Have you found Second Martial Uncle?"

    Li Yundong looked up at her and said, "I found her. It¡¯s Cao Yi!"

    Zi Yuan was slightly shocked. "It¡¯s really her? Where is she?"

    Li Yundong sighed softly and frowned. "I don¡¯t know. She got away."

    Zi Yuan turned pale with fright. "Again? This is really not good!"

    Li Yundong looked worried. He thought for a while and said, "The only thing I am d about now is that just before Yan Fang got away, I managed to seriously injure her Yang Spirit body with my Mahamudra. Now, although she is still on the run, at least she can¡¯t do anything evil for a while."

    Zi Yuan could not help but ask, "Then do you know why Second Shibo insisted on killing Cao Kefei?"

    Li Yundong shook his head and said, "The only thing I can conclude is that Yan Fang will definitely appear again, so all we have to do now is find a way to catch the Yang Spirit of that cultivator! Otherwise, the next time she appears, we won¡¯t be able to catch her Yang Spirit, and all will be in vain!"

    The dark eyebrows of Zi Yuan were tightly knitted. She looked around and winked at Li Yundong, and he instantly understood her hint. The two of them went out to the open space of the roof. After confirming that there was no one around, she whispered, "There is one of the five ancestors of Taoism, Zhang Boduan. You should know that, right?"

    Li Yundong nodded. "I know. You mentioned him before. He was the Great Master of the Southern Jindan Sect, who rmended ¡¯Life-Karmamudra¡¯. He was also the founder of the Ziyang Sect."

    Zi Yuan nodded slightly. "In Zhang Boduan¡¯s ¡¯Wuzhen Book¡¯, it was written, ¡¯you don¡¯t know what¡¯s good for you, and you can¡¯t understand what¡¯s good for you. You raise a white tiger at home, and give birth to a bright pearl like a full moon. You guard the medicinal furnace to see the fire, but keep your mind at ease and let nature take its course. All the Yin is stripped, and the Dan matures. We jump out of confinement and live for tens of thousands of years.¡¯ You can now be regarded as a master in the cultivation world, so you should know what this cultivation poem means, right?"

    Li Yundong was a little curious as to why Zi Yuan had suddenly begun to recite the poem from a ce thousands of miles away from the question, but he still replied, "I know that the first two sentences of this poem refer to the cultivation of the Zhuji phase. Refining the Neidan in the True Fire of the Dantian is like producing lotus seeds. The following two sentences refer to the cultivation of the Neidan after the Zhuji phase. The final sentence refers to when the cultivator¡¯s Yin Spirit has been cultivated and the Neidanpletely matures and reaches the top level of cultivation, which is the Yangshen phase."

    "Once a person has cultivated to the Yangshen phase, he can escape from his confinement and not be bound by life, aging, illness, or death. He can live for ten thousand years or longer, enduring for as long as the heavens."

    Zi Yuan gave a slight smile that hinted at her admiration. "That¡¯s right. You are someone who has cultivated to the Yangshen phase. Since you understand the Yang Spirit¡¯s way of cultivation, you should also be aware that the Yang Spirit is an evolutionary step after the mixed Spirit Qi. The Yang Spirit has no substance, but it is useful to the body. If you can ¡¯gather¡¯ it, it will be the right shape, and if you cannot, it will be Qi. It can be hidden and dispersed, and it can be changed in any way! With a person with such a level of cultivation, if you want to catch their Yang Spirit, it will be more difficult than reaching the heavens! Unless..."

    Li Yundong was a little disheartened at first, but when he heard thest word, he became energetic again and hurriedly pressed, "Unless?"

    Zi Yuan thought for a bit, hesitated for a moment, and eventually said, "Unless there is a special magical item, as well as a magic circle!"

    "What special magical item and magic circle?" Li Yundong asked.

    "Actually, you¡¯ve seen this magical item before. It was the burning thumb pot that Du Fei wanted to exchange with your Renyuan Jindan!"

    Li Yundong was slightly shocked. "The burning thumb pot? Are you talking about Fahai¡¯s magical item?"

    Zi Yuan nodded. "That¡¯s right. This is a very, very famous Buddhist magical item. It was very sly for Du Fei to exchange it with you. Because he is a cultivator of Taoism, he can¡¯t use the Buddhist magical items, so he sold it at a cheap price and gave it to you as a bonus. His keeping this magical item was like a pearl being hidden in the dark. It¡¯s easy for the cultivation masters of Buddhism to covet something like that. But if this magical item fell into your hands, its power would be redoubled!"

    "You¡¯ve been talking for a long time, but you still haven¡¯t revealed what function this magical item has. How can it capture the Yang Spirit of cultivators?"

    Zi Yuan chuckled. "The burning thumb pot is a magic treasure that Fahai used to subdue demons. When it¡¯s used, not only can it unleash a strong Buddhist power with which demons and Evil Qi can be subdued, it can also capture the Spiritual Qi of the world! Back then, Fahai relied on the burning thumb pot to subdue demons and evil energy, as well as to capture the spirit Qi of Heaven and Earth. That¡¯s how he managed to subdue the thousand-year-old White Snake!"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but ask, "Didn¡¯t Du Fei say that it was only a legendst time? Why does it sound like it¡¯s actually real?"

    Zi Yuan smiled mysteriously. "The Legend of the White Snake was a story created to make Fahai sound like a big rebel. But in fact, in the history of cultivation, Fahai was a famous demon-subduing master. Pei Xiu, the prime minister of the Tianbao years of the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem at that time, which went: ¡¯I sent my son to Buddhism with sorrow. After a long time as an official, I should nt good roots.¡¯ This poem was about his son, Fahai! Therefore, his son Fahai was also called Pei Toutuo, and these records were also written by the Seng Yingzhi of the Southern Tang Dynasty¡¯s ¡¯Toutuo Rock Note¡¯. It said that ¡¯Jinshan used to be called Fuyu, but because of Pei Toutuo finding gold by the river, in the Zhenyuan 21st years of the Tang Dynasty, general Li Qi reported to the emperor, so he was renamed to Jinshan.¡¯

    "At the same time, there was a record in the ¡¯Jinsan Monograph¡¯. ¡¯The Python Cave, on the side of the right peak, is steep and dangerous. Once upon a time, the white python swallowed people, and Pei Toutuo tamed the Python to rebuild the Jinn.¡¯ Zhang Shangying¡¯s poet in the Song Dynasty wrote, ¡¯The half stone room is Zennd. It is a name that cannot be worn down. The white python turned into a dragon and returned to the sea, leaving an old Toutuo in the rock.¡¯"

    Speaking of this, Zi Yuan smiled. "From this, it can be seen that the tale of Fahai subduing the white snake is indeed true!"

    Li Yundong listened to Zi Yuan exin the history in detail. She was very familiar with what she said, sounding really knowledgeable and amazing.

    He secretly sighed at Zi Yuan¡¯s profound knowledge, then said, "I understand! The Yang Spirit is a spirit body. Spiritual Qi is extremely strong, and the burning thumb pot can capture the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, so as long as the Yang Spirit gets close to it, the Yang Spirit¡¯s spiritual Qi will also automatically be absorbed?"

    Zi Yuan nodded and said appreciatively, "Yes, that¡¯s right! However, it¡¯s not enough for us to rely on the burning thumb pot, because the spiritual Qi between heaven and earth is often loose, and naturally, it¡¯s easily caught. The Evil Qi of those demons is likewise restrained by the burning thumb pot¡¯s Buddhist power, so their spiritual Qi can be easily caught. However, the Yang Spirit of cultivators is an extremely powerful spiritual energy body. There¡¯s no Evil Qi in them, and cultivators are naturally not restrained by the burning thumb pot. Moreover, the Yang Spirit is often condensed and vigorous, and it¡¯s really difficult for one to use the burning thumb pot¡¯s spiritual energy to grab it. Even if you were to use all your strength, it¡¯s not 100% likely that you¡¯d be able to catch the other¡¯s Yang Spirit."

    Li Yundong asked again, "Then is there any other way?"

    "Yes!" Zi Yuan said with a confident nod.

    "What is it?"

    "Last time, when you identally broke into Xiyuan Temple, you broke a magic circle and let two golden snakes loose. Do you remember?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes lit up. "Ah, you mean..."

    Zi Yuan nodded. "Yep! The magic circle you destroyedst time was the Bafang Killing Circle of the Buddhism Sect! That magic circle has an extremely powerful imprisonment effect. As long as the cultivation level of the person entering the circle is not above double that of the cultivator maintaining the circle, they will find themselves imprisoned!"

    Li Yundong suddenly understood and said, "Got it. So as long as we lure Yan Fang into the Bafang Killing Circle and use the burning thumb pot to extract her Spiritual Qi, she will be forced to surrender?"

    Zi Yuan nodded slightly. "Exactly!"

    Li Yundong pped his hands and said loudly, "Well, I¡¯ll go and find Du Fei now and then go to Master Puren of the Xiyuan Temple! I¡¯ll exchange the Heavenly Jindan Technique with Du Fei for the burning thumb pot. I believe he will be willing to trade. Besides, Master Puren of the Xiyuan Temple is righteous and will definitely want to help us!"

    Seeing that Li Yundong was full of confidence, Zi Yuan hesitated for a moment before saying, "Li Yundong, can I ask you for a favor?"

    Li Yundong had known Zi Yuan for a good while now. He had always been going to her for favors, but he had never seen her begging him before. He immediately shivered and said in a serious tone, "Zi Yuan, feel free to ask. As long as it¡¯s within my capabilities, I will definitely do it!"

    Her eyes were fixed on him, and her heart was churning. It could be said that she had watched him develop from a novice little by little. In the past, he had just been a reckless boy, and she had not liked him at all.

    But now, his growth speed was utterly amazing. Even when her Shibo saw him, she hadn¡¯t dared to fight and had fled in a panic!

    Zi Yuan knew that her idea was the equivalent of tying a rope around Yan Fang¡¯s neck. If Yan Fang delivered herself to their door, Li Yundong would tighten the noose, and Yan Fang would have no way to escape!

    Although the Zi Yuan had determined that Yan Fang had already entered the Devil¡¯s Tao and her mind had been blinded by hatred, she still couldn¡¯t bear it. After all, she was her own Shibo and they came from the same sect!

    Zi Yuan said softly, "Li Yundong, can you promise me that if Yan Fang is willing to let go of the past, and if she is willing to hand over Ao Wushuang, you will let her live?"

    Although he had already guessed what she would say, when he heard this, he still hesitated. After a while, he looked up and said seriously, "Zi Yuan, you are my half teacher. If I really catch Yan Fang and she is willing to hand over Ao Wushuang, I will spare her life. Consider this a return of the kindness you have shown me as my master."

    Zi Yuan sighed lightly. "Then I¡¯ll thank you on behalf of the Linggong Sect. No matter what, she¡¯s still my Shibo. If you¡¯re willing to let her off, I¡¯ll be very grateful to you."

    Li Yundong smiled and said wryly, "However, I believe that she is the kind of person who will not give up until the bitter end!"

    Zi Yuan was filled with worry, and she frowned slightly. "Then there¡¯ll be no other way. This is her fate, and the fate of our Linggong Sect!"

    Seeing her unhappiness, Li Yundong frowned. Suddenly, his heart softened and he sighed. "Forget it. As long as she is willing to hand over Ao Wushuang, I will let her go regardless of whether she repents or not. But this will only happen once. There won¡¯t be the next time!"

    Zi Yuan knew that the grudge between Yan Fang and the Fox Zen School was very deep. The fact that Li Yundong was able to be so lenient... it could be said that he had made the biggest concession possible. She was a little moved in her heart, and she whispered softly, "Thank you."

    The two looked into each other¡¯s eyes before quickly avoiding each other. It was as if two small sparks had suddenly collided in the dark night, lighting up a little bit and quickly fading away.

    Li Yundong felt that there was something off with the atmosphere. He coughed and quickly changed the subject. "By the way, I have another important thing to trouble you with!"

    Zi Yuan had been worried that Li Yundong and her Shibo would fight to the death, and the idea filled her with difort. Now that she had received Li Yundong¡¯s promise, she felt relieved and had rxed a lot. She smiled and said in a voice as soft as spring grass, "What can I do for you, Xianren Li? I can do anything you want."

 Chapter 437 The Madams Might!

    <h4>Chapter 437 The Madam¡°s Might!</h4>

    Su Chan was as beautiful as the early spring, sometimes looking cute, adorable, charming, and fascinating, and at other times, she was attractive from the inside, like a spring rain lingering in one¡¯s bones. Sometimes, she could also be naive beyond allprehension and made one think of the mottled, pleasant sunshine breaking up under the shallow shade of trees.

    The beauty of Zhou Qin was like thebination of summer and winter. When she was grim, her temperament was like the coldest winter, the atmosphere around her was just like a thousand miles of a frozen wastnd, devoid of any trace of vitality. This zone was deste and heartless, showing a kind of sad and resolute beauty. However, when she was in love with someone, she would seem to be burning at all times and wish to burn herself just to warm her sweetheart up.

    The beauty of Zi Yuan was like silent autumn. When she was serious in speech and manner, she was just like the line ¡¯Autumn¡¯s period in the sky is near, and the moon¡¯s shadow is clear on earth¡¯. There was a kind of otherworldly elegance exuding from her body. But when she smiled slightly, it was as if she was ¡¯Osmanthus inte autumn and the flourishing lotuses¡¯, making people feel refreshed and dazzled.

    This was not the first time Li Yundong had seen Zi Yuan smile at him, but her smile at that moment made his heart palpitate more than ever before.

    At this instant, Li Yundong had no reason to think of a poem: "Sparse shadows reflect horizontally and tilt in the clear and shallow water, and light fragrance floats around under the dusky moon."

    There were no shadows from the trees or shallow sounds of flowing water under the bridge now, but on the rooftop, under the moonlight, there was a kind of dark fragrance and charm that made his heart beat faster. It seemed that the moonlight in the sky was much softer and more beautiful than usual.

    Li Yundong could even imagine that the fairy in front of him was Chang¡¯e, who had descended from heaven. She was so breathtakingly beautiful that no one would dare to spheme her.

    He did not speak for a moment, just stared at Zi Yuan in a daze. Sometimes, the beauty of a woman had the power to seduce people¡¯s souls and make even the greatest hero in the world be a gawking fool, like a puppet made of mud.

    It seemed that Zi Yuan had also noticed the inappropriate atmosphere at this time, but she couldn¡¯t leave. This fairy who had descended to earth gently bit her cherry-red lips and blushed deeply. Her eyes were brimming with a wave of light anger which only intensified her allure.

    Seeing this, Li Yundong became even more stunned. Although he had a deep love for Su Chan, he did not have some immovable heart of stone. If he could still remain indifferent upon seeing a fairy smile at him, there would have to be something wrong with him.

    Under Li Yundong¡¯s fixated gaze, Zi Yuan felt a little ufortable. She felt like wherever Li Yundong¡¯s gaze lingered on her, the area felt numb and itchy, just like the feeling she had hadst time when she had been tied up with him. In this kind of sensation, there was a strange feeling that made her heart ripple. It was as if someone had thrown a small stone into a calm pool, causing waves of intensity.

    The two of them were frozen in ce. Time seemed to have stopped when suddenly Su Chan¡¯s voice rang beside them.

    "Yundong, so you¡¯re here! I was looking for you!" Su Chan jumped onto the rooftop and shouted from a distance.

    Su Chan¡¯s voice immediately brought Li Yundong back to reality. He withdrew his gaze as if he had just awoken from a dream and smiled awkwardly at Zi Yuan. However, Zi Yuan didn¡¯t even look at him. She quickly turned around and took a deep breath to calm the shuddering of her heart.

    Li Yundong looked at the back of Zi Yuan with embarrassment. He could see that her ears were red, and her neck had turned an attractive pink color. He was a little flustered and thought with a bitter smile, "Damn it, this fairy girl is getting more and more charming. I can¡¯t resist her!"

    Li Yundong turned around and coughed, then said to Su Chan, "Little girl, it¡¯s sote. What can I do for you?"

    Only then did Su Chan notice that Zi Yuan was beside Li Yundong. She blinked curiously and asked, "Sister Zi Yuan is here, too. Do you need to discuss something? Should I leave you guys alone?"

    Su Chan said this casually, but Zi Yuan understood her meaning. Her body stiffened slightly, and she wanted to say something, but for some reason, she swallowed her words.

    Seeing that Su Chan was about to leave, Li Yundong didn¡¯t dare to remain alone with Zi Yuan. He quickly stopped Su Chan and said, "It¡¯s nothing. I was just discussing something with her. If you have anything to say, just say it."

    Su Chan said, "Oh, it¡¯s nothing. I was just wondering; since Yan Fang ran away again and sister Zhou Qin has taken the Liuhe to the Zhuji phase, will she be in danger on the way? Will Yan Fang recover and go to grab the sword?"

    Li Yundong could tell that Su Chan was still thinking about Zhou Qin¡¯s safety at this time. Her kindness and consideration were clearly far beyond others¡¯. He saidughingly, "Silly girl, I have already thought of this. I just wanted to ask Zi Yuan for help."

    With that, he turned his face to Zi Yuan. "Actually, I wanted to ask you for help just now."

    Only then did Zi Yuan calm down a little. She smoothed out her beautiful hair and said, "Do you want me to protect Zhou Qin?"

    He nodded and said with some embarrassment, "It¡¯s supposed to be my turn, but now I really can¡¯t leave the Fox Zen School, so... I have to ask you for a favor."

    Zi Yuan also knew very well that a cultivator¡¯s journey to the Zhuji phase was iparably dangerous. If something went wrong on Zhou Qin¡¯s journey, it would be impossible to imagine..

    Just like when Li Yundong had been in Zhuji phase, Zi Yuan had secretly protected him all the way. It was not until he had sessfully reached the Zhuji phase that she had shown herself and taken him back.

    It was the same with her. When she had tried to reach the Zhuji phase, she had secretly been protected by Wang Yuanshan.

    In order to prevent disciples from relying on their master and being unable to get a True Elixir, a master will never tell their disciples that they had to protect them all the time.

    Zi Yuan hadn¡¯t told Li Yundong at that time. Now, he wouldn¡¯t tell her either.

    Hearing Li Yundong¡¯s request, she agreed without hesitation. "Okay, that won¡¯t be a problem."

    Li Yundong was overjoyed, "Then I¡¯ll have to trouble you! The journey of Zhuji phase will be very long. I¡¯ll have to trouble you to take good care of Zhou Qin."

    Su Chan alsoughed happily. However, she suddenly said with some worry, "But Sister Zhou Qin has been walking for a whole day. How can we know which way she is going? What if we can¡¯t find her?"

    Zi Yuan smiled. "That won¡¯t be a problem! I have already told Hongling to secretly follow Zhou Qin. She will leave a trail for me along the way. Even if Yan Fanges again, Hongling will help Zhou Qin, and Zhou Qin also has the Liuhe. Without a powerful magical weapon, Yan Fang will not be able to hurt her."

    "Ah!" Li Yundong looked at Zi Yuan with admiration and said, "Why haven¡¯t I seen Hongling for a whole day? You¡¯ve already arranged it? Even if I hadn¡¯t asked you, you would help, wouldn¡¯t you?"

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly and did not answer Li Yundong¡¯s question. She changed the topic and said, "Li Yundong, you don¡¯t have to worry about Zhou Qin. Nowadays you have to take care of things at home and look after the store. I¡¯ll leave in a while."

    Li Yundong smiled and nodded at Zi Yuan, then watched her leave. He turned his face and said to Su Chan, "By the way, Chan¡¯er, I also have something that I need to trouble you with."

    Su Chan was afraid that Li Yundong would avoid her. When she heard Li Yundong¡¯s words, she immediately beamed with joy and held Li Yundong¡¯s arm with a big smile, saying eagerly, "Well, well, your Chan¡¯er is not afraid of trouble. What can I do for you?"

    Li Yundong saw that the girl was beautiful when she was angry and happy. He loved her very much in his heart, but he was still a little worried. "But you have to promise me first. Don¡®t do me a disservice, or I won¡¯t be able to go out with ease!"

    Su Chan suddenly became nervous. She clutched at Li Yundong tightly as she asked, "Master, are you going out? Won¡¯t you take your girl with you?"

    Li Yundong chuckled. He stroked Su Chan hair with his hand and said softly, "Silly girl, I have something to do outside. Just now I was discussing how to catch Yan Fang¡¯s Yang Spirit with Zi Yuan. When dawnes, I will have to find Yan Fang¡¯s powerful magical weapon and go to Xiyuan Temple to ask Master Puren for help."

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong with some disappointment. She begged unwillingly, "This silly girl also can go with you! Don¡¯t leave me alone at home! You can ask others for help!"

    Li Yundong smiled down at her. "Silly girl, in Fox Zen School now, the only person I can trust is you. Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling have gone out, and Zhou Qin has gone on her Zhuji phase journey. Before long, I will also go out. Although there are still two Shibos left in the Fox Zen School, I feel that they are unreliable, and the rest of the little foxes can¡¯t do anything right. I really have no one to rely on here. If not you, who else could I ask for help?"

    Su Chan was unhappy to hear that. She pursed her lips and muttered in a low voice, "So it¡¯s just because there are no alternatives? You still think I can¡¯t do anything! If there were anyone else, you would go to them, right?"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. He pretended to be angry and tweaked the tip of Su Chan¡¯s nose, rumbling in a low voice, "Be obedient! Do you still want to have your mastere back? What¡¯s more, haven¡¯t you always been moring to be the proprietress? I¡¯ll give control of the Disanxian to you now and let you manage it. You¡¯re getting more and more aplished, aren¡¯t you?"

    Hearing this, Su Chan was so happy that her eyes curved into crescents. "You want me to be the proprietress? Heh, who is the boss here?"

    Li Yundongughed and scolded her, deliberately goading, "Why do you ask when you know the answer? Do you really want to be the proprietress? If you don¡¯t, I¡¯ll let someone else hold the position!"

    Su Chan quickly grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s arm and said with an ingratiating grin, "I didn¡¯t know that you wanted me to do this. Well, well, well, of course! You¡¯re so annoying. You promised me that only I could be the proprietress, so no one else can do it!"

    Li Yundong smiled and shook his head ruefully. "You¡¯re incorrigible! Hey, I tell you, I¡¯m not asking you to make money, just help me manage the store. It doesn¡¯t matter even if you don¡¯t earn a penny. Don¡¯t do anything else!"

    "You¡¯re so annoying!" Su Chan cried angrily. "Am I so useless?"

    Li Yundong said seriously with a straight face, "You¡¯re useful. Of course, you are. It¡¯s just that my girl¡¯s talents do not lie in this area!"

    Su Chan asked curiously, "So what are my talents?"

    Li Yundongughed out loud. "Bringing destruction and causing trouble!"

    Su Chan was so angry that she shouted, "You¡¯re so annoying! How dare youugh at me? You really look down on me!" Then, the girl jumped on Li Yundong¡¯s back and bit him.

    Li Yundongughed and carried her around on his back. At the same time, he was afraid that she would fall down, so he held her round buttocks with his hands. "All right, all right. Anyway, don¡¯t make trouble. Otherwise, I won¡¯t be able to leave with a carefree heart!"

    Su Chan yed with Li Yundong for a while, then said angrily, "Hum, I¡¯ll have to achieve some good stuff for you to see!"

    Li Yundong was shocked. He looked back at Su Chan and found that she was looking serious and didn¡¯t seem to be joking. He quickly straightened his face and said, "Hey, I¡¯m serious. You have to promise me first that even if the store doesn¡¯t open, you won¡¯t make trouble!"

    Su Chan was so angry that she made threatening gestures. "Do I look like a person who just gets into trouble wherever she goes?"

    Li Yundong nodded seriously. "You don¡¯t look like a troublemaker. You yourself are the trouble!"

    Su Chan looked like she was on the verge of crying. "You¡¯re bullying me. You¡¯re really bullying me!"

    Li Yundong had a headache and quickly beganforting her, "Well, your man won¡¯t dislike you! You just have to be obedient and not make trouble, okay? I¡¯m begging you!"

    Su Chan¡¯s tears began trickling down and she said pitifully, "I¡¯ve never wanted to make trouble for you!"

    Li Yundongughed, "Yes, yes, my little girl is the best. Why would she want to make trouble for me? You were just being careless all those times before! Little girl, could you be careful this time? Even if we don¡¯t make money, just don¡¯t make trouble. Don¡¯t cause any more problems now!"

    Su Chan wiped the glittering tears from her face with her hands, lowered her head, and said in a muffled voice, "I know!"

    Li Yundong felt a little burst of relief after hearing her say this, but he didn¡¯t see that the little girl was lowering her head and rolling her eyes with a secret unconvinced expression on her face. Her eyes seemed to be saying: "Humph, you look down on me, but I¡¯ll make piles of money to show you my ability!"

 Chapter 438 The Little Ghost Master the Home!

    <h4>Chapter 438 The Little Ghost Master the Home!</h4>

    The next day, Li Yundong and the little foxes all awoke early. Zi Yuan had already set off to protect Zhou Qin, but nobody saw Li Yundong off.

    After the disturbance,st night, the normally very naughty little foxes had be much quieter. Because they had undergone such huge changes, each of them was feeling a little listless.

    Li Yundong looked into their eyes and sighed in his heart. Before going out, he asked Su Chan in a low voice, "Chan¡¯er, I won¡¯t be here long. You¡¯ll be in charge as the master, so you have to show nerve and be courageous enough to solve some things on your own. If you¡¯re not sure, you can call me."

    Su Chan blinked slowly, and there was a sly glint in her eyes.

    Li Yundong looked into the little girl¡¯s eyes. Suddenly, he felt a little uneasy and told her, "You have to take good care of the tea house. Don¡¯t get into trouble. We don¡¯t even have to make money because we are already rich. Do you understand?"

    Su Chan giggled and pushed Li Yundong out, urging him by saying, "You¡¯re so annoying. I know all this! Hurry up, I promise I¡¯ll take good care of this tea house!"

    Li Yundong was pushed out by Su Chan. He couldn¡¯t help but turned to look at her and say with a strange expression, "Hey, you promised me. Don¡¯t get yourself into trouble!"

    Looking displeased, Su Chan said, "Of course I won¡¯t! Do you look down on me? Do you really dislike me?"

    Li Yundong saw Su Chan getting to the bottom of the matter and had no choice but to smile. "Okay, forget it. Even if you really get into trouble, I¡¯ll take the me. I¡¯m just asking you to watch yourself!"

    Su Chan was overjoyed and said with a smile, "That¡¯s right. This attitude is better! Humph, I don¡¯t believe that I, Su Chan, won¡¯t be able to take care of the Disanxian!"

    Seeing that Su Chan was feeling pretty confident, Li Yundong was shocked. He couldn¡¯t help but ask in a low voice, "Hey, you¡¯re still so excited, aren¡¯t you? Do you think that if I give you the sword, you¡¯ll be able to confuse the world?"

    Su Chan pulled a grimace at Li Yundong and said, "You are so irritating. I just want to do business. You are too worried about me and don¡¯t support me at all!"

    When Li Yundong heard this, he thought to himself, "That¡¯s true! Although the girl is a little naughty, her starting point for everything is usually good. It¡¯s only because of some coincidences that she eventually screwed things up before. Sooner orter, she will learn to take charge of this tea house. What¡¯s wrong with letting her start the trial now? If something goes wrong, I¡¯ll consider it as the cost of tuition!

    "Besides, if I love someone, I should support her and let her do what she wants to do. It¡¯s not like it¡¯s a bad thing that goes against my conscience! Even if she causes trouble, will it be more difficult to deal with than the fact that I killed He Shao?

    "In the past, I was poor and constantly dealing with all sorts of troubles. Could it be that I, as the head, can¡¯t handle these issues anymore?

    Thinking of this, Li Yundong came to a decision. He rubbed the little girl¡¯s hair and said, "Little girl, what you said makes sense. It¡¯s me who misunderstood! Do whatever you want! I will fully support you. If in the end it really goes sour or we even go bankrupt, I will pretend that I just never opened the DisanxianTeahouse!"

    Su Chan was grinning and felt moved at first, but after hearing thest sentence, her face darkened. She flung Li Yundong¡¯s hand off her hair, then covered her messy hair with her own hands. She stamped her feet and said frustratedly, "You still don¡¯t believe that I can make money!"

    Li Yundong could onlyugh. "Even you sold yourself, you¡¯d still just be counting money for others! Okay, forget it. You can do whatever you want. Anyway, our background is strong enough now. You don¡¯t have to worry about other cultivation sectsing to make trouble. Even if you get the Disanxian to close down, I¡¯ll still have a way to get it back to its peak!"

    Su Chan was livid. She ground her teeth and thought, "Damn, Yundong still looks down on me. He doesn¡¯t believe that I can make money! I just want to earn some cash to prove my worth to him! Humph!"

    Li Yundong chuckled for a while, then waved his hand at Su Chan and said, "Well, don¡¯t get riled up. I¡¯m going out."

    Su Chan¡¯s mind was consumed with ideas for making money, making more money, and then making Li Yundong look at her with admiration. There was no pain or love-sickness in her heart at that moment. She lowered her head and rolled her eyes, just waiting for Li Yundong to leave so she could get on and do a good job.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t see Su Chan¡¯s expression. He was worried, but he couldn¡¯t identify what was wrong. Moreover, he had already made up his mind and mentally prepared himself for the worst oue. "There couldn¡¯t be anything worse than the copse of Disanxian, could there?"

    Li Yundong issued a few more instructions to the two Shibos and other little foxes of the Fox Zen School, then left to find Du Fei.

    After watching Li Yundong walk away, Su Chan closed the door. First, she asked her Shibo Liu Yuehong innocently, "Shibo, are you going toe to the tea house with uster?"

    Liu Yuehong was still immersed in her grief. She shook her head morosely and said, "Chan¡¯er, I don¡¯t want to go. If I do, I will only cause chaos, so I won¡¯t join you."

    Su Chan looked at Zhuang Yating and asked, "Third Shibo, what about you?"

    Zhuang Yating sighed and said, "Chan¡¯er, now that our Fox Zen School has undergone major changes, the only person left in charge is the leader. Although the leader is wise and powerful and has a high level of cultivation, he can¡¯t do much. Every time something happens, I can¡¯t help him and I feel so bad! I think I¡¯d better stay at home and cultivate. Even if I can¡¯t actively help, I at least don¡¯t want to be a burden to everyone in the future."

    Su Chan blinked and watched the two Shibo going back to their own rooms. She then turned to the little foxes and asked, "What about you?"

    The little foxes looked at each other and a few said, "We¡¯ll also stay with Third Shibo and cultivate at home!"

    Some others said, "Shijie, let me apany you to the teahouse."

    Yet others added, "Sister Su Chan, I¡¯m not in a good mood. I don¡¯t want to go anywhere!"

    Seeing them babbling like this, Su Chan suddenly put her hands on her hips and yelled, "Shut up, everyone!"

    Su Chan had always been a lovely girl out of the members of the Fox Zen School. She was kind to others, rarely arguing or quarreling with her peers. Her roar gave the little foxes a fright, causing them to look at each other in shock. They did not understand why this girl had suddenly be so stern.

    With her hands still on her hips, Su Chan raised her head and puffed out her chest, looking just like a general inspecting troop. She shouted, "Do you know what¡¯s going on right now? Why are you still moping around?"

    The little foxes looked at each other in confusion and shook their heads at the same time. Someone ventured to ask, "Su Chan Shimei, what¡¯s happened? Has something more serious than Shibo Cao Yi¡¯s deathe up?"

    Su Chan nodded vigorously and said loudly, "Yes, of course! Shibo Cao Yi is a cultivator. Although she¡¯s dead, it might just be a kind of detachment for her! But what about us? We¡¯re struggling in the secr world, but we can¡¯t detach ourselves from worldly affairs. If we can¡¯t live happily, we¡¯ll have to endure living a miserable life, won¡¯t we?"

    The little foxes became more and more puzzled. "But we are very happy in daily life!" they cried.

    Su Chan stomped her feet and spat, "Bah! You don¡¯t know anything!"

    The little foxes had never seen Su Chan lose her temper like this before. They were all clever and mischievous and they were well aware that Su Chan was the closest to Li Yundong and the one he trusted the most. She must have heard some gossip that they hadn¡¯t heard yet. As they thought of this, they gathered around and asked in a rush, "What happened?"

    "That¡¯s right. Chan¡¯er Shimei, just say it!"

    "Su Chan Shijie, hurry up and tell us!"

    Su Chan snorted and said evilly, "Don¡¯t you know? The leader has begun to dislike us!"

    When the little foxes heard this, they burst into an uproar. "What? No way! The leader always treats us very well!"

    "Yeah, since when has Leader disliked us?"

    Su Chan put her hands on her hips and said bewitchingly, "Just now, Leader was thinking that we only know how to make trouble and said we couldn¡¯t earn a penny. He thinks we¡¯ll just make him go bankrupt!"

    Hearing this, the little foxes suddenly looked at each other in dismay. They remembered that they had indeed caused a lot of trouble for Li Yundong while they were in the Fox Zen School. Suddenly, all of them began to feel uneasy. "Leader really dislikes us?"

    Seeing that her act had worked, Su Chan decided to strike while the iron was hot and said, "Now that Leader is gone, he has handed Disanxian over to us. This should be a good thing, but do you know what he said before he left?"

    The foxes pricked up their ears and asked, "What?"

    Su Chan said indignantly, "He said that Disanxian has been handed over to us and that he thinks that the Disanxian should have never been opened. If it is destroyed by us, he will just set up another one! How much do you think our Leader despises and dislikes us if he can say something like that!"

    Su Chan¡¯s previous words had all been an excuse to take advantage of the situation, and some of what she¡¯d said had even been fabricated. However, this sentence was based on the truth, so when she said it, she appeared to be extraordinarily reasonable and confident.

    Hearing this, the little foxes were full of resentment. They stamped their feet and said angrily, "Leader is really too much! Are we honestly so useless?"

    Su Chan snorted. "Was thatpletely over the top? That¡¯s not all!"

    By this point, the little foxes were already angry. They all shouted, "What else? Say it, say it!"

    Su Chan said loudly, "¡¯Do we really look like troublemakers to you?¡¯ I asked him. He replied, ¡¯No, you yourselves are the trouble!¡¯"

    This time, her audience fell into an uproar! The little foxes jumped up one by one, looking enraged.

    As the saying goes, people are always keen on face-saving and anxious to keep up appearances. Even these little foxes wanted to save face!

    ¡°How could the Leader look down upon us so much?

    "No, no, I have to do something to prove my worth to the Leader!"

    When Su Chan saw that these little foxes had been bewitched by her, she waved her hand and imitated Li Yundong¡¯s usual imposing manner, saying seriously, "Now that Yundong is gone, he thinks we are useless and only know how to make so much trouble. Don¡¯t you think that we should do something to prove him wrong?"

    The little foxes were unprecedentedly united. They all said in unison, "Yes! We must prove ourselves to the Leader. We¡¯re not troublesome!"

    Seeing that she had managed to trick all of the little foxes with only a few words, and they were no longer sad, Su Chan triumphantly said, "Then let¡¯s go to Disanxian! Yundong said that we can¡¯t make money, so we have to prove that we can!"

    The little foxes all replied in unison, "Yes, yes, yes! We¡¯ll make piles of cash to prove it to him!"

    After saying that, Su Chan waved her hand, and the group of little foxes responded with a thunderous roar and aggressively began rushing to the Disanxian Teahouse!

 Chapter 439 One Is Not as Wise as Many

    <h4>Chapter 439 One Is Not as Wise as Many</h4>

    The little foxes all rushed to the Disanxian Teahouse, but just as the little girls were ready to do something, they were suddenly stumped by a problem: It was easy to talk about making money, but what should they actually do?

    Knowing is easy and doing is hard, this is always an unbreakable truth.

    "Su Chan Shimei, What do you think we should do?" None of the foxes could make a decision, so they all turned to look at Su Chan with eager eyes, hoping she¡¯d point them in the right direction.

    But Su Chan was also not the kind of person who coulde up with good ideas.

    She had all the prior steps through well, but when the real test came, she was suddenly at a loss.

    The little girl looked around at the empty teahouse¡¯s upstairs and downstairs floors, thinking in a daze, "When Yundong was there before, no guests came to the teahouse to drink tea. Now it¡¯s our turn to run it. What should we do?"

    Having been with Li Yundong for a long time, Su Chan subconsciously had a strong sense of dependence on him. She never needed to worry about anything since Li Yundong would always make the final decision.

    But now that Li Yundong had left, the little girl suddenly was at a loss. Although she wanted to prove herself and had the ability to incite the little foxes to help her, she had no idea what to do specifically.

    When Su Chan looked back at the eyes boring into her, she didn¡¯t feel flustered at all. Anyway, at this time, she knew it was toote for regret.

    Su Chan didn¡¯t know what to do. She was trying to think about how Li Yundong had dealt with these things in the past. She quickly came up with an idea and said seriously, "Disanxian Teahouse doesn¡¯t belong to me alone. We have to find a way to manage it together. "

    When the little foxes heard this, they all looked at each other and said, "Su Chan, you can make up your mind."

    The little girl was not willing to do it. She shook her head like a rattle. "No, no, no. One brain will never be able to outdo many brains working together. Let us all take action, we must be able toe up with something!"

    While she was speaking, she could see that the Tea Shop of Zhao across the street was attracting a lot of customers while their own shop was empty.

    The little girl pointed at the Tea Shop of Zhao opposite Disanxian and said, "We greatly suppressed their limelight when we opened, so now we can¡¯t have our prestige weaken! They have guests, so why don¡¯t we? We must all think about it. Why won¡¯t the guestse in?"

    At that moment, a little fox raised her hand and said, "Hasn¡¯t Leader said this before?"

    Su Chan was stunned. "Huh? Yundong has already said something about this?"

    The little foxes immediately began nodding and saying, "Yes, yes. An olddy came before. She told us the reason."

    Su Chan pped her forehead and said with some annoyance, "Ah, I remember now. It¡¯s because there are too many beautiful women and officials here, so the guests think it¡¯ll be too expensive toe in, right?"

    The little foxes nodded like chickens pecking at rice. "Yes, yes!"

    Su Chan stamped her feet angrily and said, "That¡¯s not right! I was born beautiful. Could it be that guests wille after I make myself ugly?"

    The little foxes all burst outughing and nodded in agreement, "That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right!"

    Seeing that they were stillughing and had note up with any ideas, Su Chan suddenly said angrily, "Why are you stillughing? Hurry up! If the guests won¡¯te voluntarily, we have to find a way to make them step through that door!"

    Hearing this, the little foxes all stopped talking. One of them lowered her head and rolled her eyes. Some of them looked at each other with vacant expressions. The eyes of some were staring at their feet, like there was a flower growing between their toes.

    Seeing that they had fallen silent as soon as they encountered an issue, Su Chan groaned. "Not talking anymore? Weren¡¯t you guys being very imposing just now? "

    At this time, a little fox said boldly, "Su Chan Shijie, you were the one who got us stirred up just now!"

    Su Chan was so enraged that she snapped, "Don¡¯t you have any sense of shame? Can my behavior be called incitement? It is called... ahem, a provocation for the people!"

    She could see that none of the little foxes had any ideas. She made up her mind and pointed at one of them, saying, "You, youe and think of an idea for me!"

    The fox¡¯s name was Ling Yue, and she had a palm-shaped face. Atop her glittering eyes were eyebrows as pretty as a picture, and her lips were a rich vermilion color. When she saw Su Chan pointing at her, she said in surprise, "Me?"

    Su Chan nodded, "Yes, you! I need you toe up with a good idea!"

    Ling Yue nced at the others and saw that Shijie and Shimei, who usually had a good rtionship with her, all quickly looked away. The one who was closest to her simply moved away and acted as if she had nothing to do with what was going on.

    Ling Yue felt wronged and muttered, "There are so many people here, why did you pick on me?"

    Su Chan heard her muttering clearly, but she simply pretended not to have heard properly and asked, "What did you just say?"

    Ling Yue¡¯s smiled apologetically as she said, "Su Chan Shijie, I really can¡¯t think of any good ideas!"

    "Even if you can¡¯t think of one right now, you have to try!" Su Chan retorted.

    Ling Yue¡¯s face was full of anger as she said "Why?"

    "Because I¡¯m the proprietress!" Su Chan yelled.

    This sentence immediately made Ling Yue feel discouraged. ¡°A higher-ranking official can crush a person to death!¡°

    She lowered her head in annoyance and subconsciously looked at her Shijie and Shimei. One by one, they covered their mouths to hide their amusement at another¡¯s troubles. She felt a sense of depression weigh down her heart.

    But then Ling Yue suddenly heard melodious musicing from the Pedestrian Street. It was music being yed by some other shops to attract customers¡¯ attention.

    She suddenly had an idea, raised her head, and said excitedly, "There is a way, there is a way!"

    Su Chan asked hurriedly, "What is it?"

    Seeing that she hade up with a solution, the other little foxes all turned to look at her curiously, asking in a rush, "Say it, Ling Yue!"

    "Oh, I knew Ling Yue Shimei was the smartest. As expected, she is living up to everyone¡¯s expectations. Ahahaha, Shijie thinks highly of you!"

    Ling Yue rolled her eyes and said to Su Chan, "Su Chan Shijie, look outside at the shops ying music to attract customers. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯d be a good idea for us to also y music to attract customers?"

    Upon hearing this, Su Chan was thrilled. "This is definitely a good idea!"

    Seeing that Lingyue¡¯s method was being adopted, the rest of the foxes breathed sighs of relief. They no longer had to worry about being interrogated by Su Chan. They gathered around her and said noisily, "That¡¯s right. I thought of this method a long time ago. It¡¯s just that I didn¡¯t want to speak of it!"

    Su Chan indignantly turned her head and red at them. "Don¡¯t be sarcastic. I¡¯ll make youe up with one more idea!"

    This time, the little foxes immediately shrank back and covered their mouths, afraid to say anything more.

    Seeing that the little guys¡¯ arrogance had been suppressed, Su Chan turned around and said to Ling Yue, "Well, that¡¯s a good idea, but we don¡¯t have audio equipment."

    The little girl had been in the mortal world for a long time, and she knew plenty about how it all worked. She had quickly identified the difficulty of this approach.

    Ling Yue tentatively asked, "Then shall we buy one?"

    Su Chan was taken aback. "Huh? Buy one? How much would it be?"

    Next to her, a little fox raised her hand and shouted eagerly, "I know, I know! Last time I went shopping, I noticed that some of them were cheap and some were expensive! The cheap ones were only a few hundred yuan!"

    Su Chan thought for a while and said, "Hm. Well, this teahouse has been visited by the governor, so we can¡¯t lose face by buying something tacky. Tell me how much the expensive ones are. If we want to buy one, it had better be an expensive one!"

    The little fox immediately announced the price like she was letting off a firecracker. "168,000,88 yuan!"

    As soon as the price was announced, Su Chan and the other foxes all gasped in horror.

    Su Chan shook her head like a rattle. "No, no, we can¡¯t afford that! We couldn¡¯t make that kind of money even if we sold ourselves. Besides, we haven¡¯t earned a penny yet, so how can we spend so much cash? Can we earn it back?"

    When the foxes saw that Ling Yue¡¯s idea wasn¡®t feasible, they became afraid that Su Chan would ask them for ns again, so they began to tter her. "Su Chan, you¡¯re right. You¡¯re truly wise and intelligent!" They pointed at Ling Yue and said, "Ling Yue, what a bad idea you came up with!"

    Ling Yue was so annoyed that she shouted back, "Then why don¡¯t you guyse up with an idea, huh?"

    These little foxes immediately distanced themselves from her and drew a clear line between her and them. "You¡¯re the one who came up with the first bad idea. Naturally, you have to be responsible foring up with a second good one now. You have to be a good fox and see things through from beginning to end!"

    Ling Yue was extremely angry. She bared her fangs and brandished her ws, wanting to rush over and fight the wicked girls who were saying this.

    Su Chan saw that this group still hadn¡¯t weed even a single guest and was about to start a civil war. She hurriedly appeased Ling Yue and said, "Ling Yue, you came up with a good idea, but it¡¯s just not easily done. You should think of a viable solution."

    Ling Yue spat angrily, "What can I do? Su Chan Shijie, aren¡¯t you being unreasonable and making me do something beyond my abilities? You are forcing me!"

    Su Chan coaxed her and said, ¡°I am being perfectly reasonable! You can quickly think of another way. When Yundonges back, I¡¯ll ask him to give you more pocket money and give none to these guys!"

    When Ling Yue heard this, she was overjoyed. She pped her hands,ughed and said, "Hah, that¡¯s more like it!"

    However, when the other little foxes heard this, they felt indignant and said, "No way, no way! How could you!"

    Su Chan put her hands on her hips and said angrily, "Then you guys should try thinking of a way too!"

    Pocket money was a big deal and the little foxes dared not risk losing it, so all of them tilted their heads, furrowing their eyebrows and thinking.

    After a period of silence, Ling Yue was the first toe up with a new idea. She asked tentatively, "Su Chan Shijie, since we can¡¯t afford any audio equipment, why don¡¯t we just sing by ourselves?"

    The little foxes brightened up and shouted, "Yes, yes, I think so too!"

    "Yeah, why don¡¯t we sing by ourselves?"

    "Yes, yes, we can always rely on ourselves. Leader said that if we can do things ourselves, we will get the food and clothing we need!"

    Su Chan was ecstatic and said, "Too right! That¡¯s a good idea! But what should we sing?"

    Ling Yue smiled and said, "What else can we sing? Of course we will sing some of the songs we learned! Anyway, we only know a few.¡°

    Su Chan hurriedly asked, "Which ones do you know?"

    Without thinking, Ling Yue blurted, "Mrs. Wang Misses Her Husband!"

    Su Chan was dumbfounded. With her mouth agape, she stammered, "What, what? Mrs. Wang... Mrs.Wang Misses Her Husband?"

    The little foxes then added, "There is another song too!"

    Su Chan asked in a daze, "What else?"

    The little foxes were very proud. They shook their heads and said in unison, "The Little Widow Worships the Grave!"

    Although Su Chan was a little clumsy sometimes, she no fool. When she had gone back to Tianlong Mountain with Li Yundongst time, she had seen Li Yundong beingpletely embarrassed by the Fox Zen School¡¯s songs to the extent of almost losing his mind.

    Although she didn¡¯t know what was wrong with singing these songs, she felt that in such a dignified and elegant teahouse, singing "Mrs.Wang Misses Her Husband" and "The Little Widow Worships the Grave" seemed to be a little inappropriate!

    However, the little foxes didn¡¯t think so much. From their perspective, they could deal with Su Chan¡¯s demands now!

    As for their previous anger, it was long forgotten, and Li Yundong¡¯s contempt was still far away. When their leader came back, he could make a fuss about it if he wanted, but Su Chan had forced them toe up with ideas, and this was all they had!

    Thinking of this, the little foxes all yelled, "Su Chan, don¡¯t think so much, just let us sing this!"

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes focused. She said in a low voice, "We¡¯ll sing Mrs. Wang Misses Her Husband and Little Widow Worships the Grave in the Disanxian Teahouse. This... this doesn¡¯t seem to be very good, does it?"

    The little foxes all cried in unison, "It¡¯s good, very good! If you don¡¯t believe us, listen to us and we guarantee you that many guests wille!"

    When Su Chan saw that the foxes were getting a little out of control, she cursed inwardly, "Sh*t! Sh*t! Sh*t! Something must have happened! Ugh, I shouldn¡¯t have let theme up with such an idea! I had thought that one would not be as wise as many, but seeing this scene, why does it seem like many people are not as wise as one?

 Chapter 440 Shangri-La? Or Just Pull It In!

    <h4>Chapter 440 Shangri-La? Or Just Pull It In!</h4>

    Seeing that the little foxes were going to sing "Little Widow Worships the Grave" and "Mrs. Wang Misses Her Husband", which were very harmonious folk songs, Su Chan suddenly felt a headacheing on and began to regret it. "The masses can¡¯t be left to their own devices! What should I do?"

    Just when she was feeling at a loss over what to do, a fiery Lamborghini sports car suddenly rushed to the front of the teahouse. A morous woman in a ck uniform with a short skirt jumped out of the car. Before she got into the building, she shouted angrily, "Li Yundong,e out!"

    Su Chan took a closer look and asked curiously, "Isn¡¯t this President Cao, Cao Kefei?"

    Su Chan stopped the little foxes who were about to burst out singing and rushed over to Cao Kefei as if she had seen a great savior. "Oh, President Cao, why are you here? Come in,e in!"

    Seeing Su Chan¡¯s unusual enthusiasm in response to her arrival, Cao Kefei was stunned for a moment. She then asked casually, "Where¡¯s Li Yundong? Where is he? Hurry up and make hime out here. That b*stard has gone too far!"

    Su Chan weed Cao Kefei into the teahouse and sat down with her. She poured tea for her enthusiastically and asked, "President Cao, what has Yundong done this time?"

    Cao Kefei looked around the teahouse as if she was searching for Li Yundong. She angrily told Su Chan, "He tormented mest night and ran away without saying a word. Am I nothing to him? He thinks he can juste and go as he pleases?"

    Cao Kefei spoke without thinking. The little foxes smiled ambiguously and looked at Su Chan, saying, "Oh! So Leader went out to find a lover and have an affair?"

    Although Su Chan knew that that was impossible, she still felt a little embarrassed. "President Cao, what are you talking about?" she asked.

    Cao Kefei finally came to realize what she¡¯d just said. She quickly patted her forehead and smiled apologetically at Su Chan. "I¡¯m sorry, I was too angry! Last time I saw Li Yundong, he asked me to pretend to be injured and lie in the hospital, and he said he was going to bring the real murderer! He caught the man but his soul escaped. His body stayed there like some useless mannequin for a long time! Finally, he came back to himself and then ran away without saying a word! I couldn¡¯t get through to him on his phone either. What do you think about this?"

    With this, Cao Kefei became riled up again. She stood up and looked around, "Where is Li Yundong? Ask him toe out and give me an exnation! Why did he do this?"

    Only then did Su Chan understand why Cao Kefei was annoyed with Li Yundong. She quickly smiled and said, "President Cao, Yundong left early this morning."

    "Is he hiding from me? Am I so scary?" Cao Kefei asked bitterly.

    Su Chan quickly exined what had happened yesterday with an obsequious smile, making sure that she didn¡¯t let on about their true identities.

    After listening to her story, Cao Kefei gradually became less angry. She slowly sat down and sighed softly. "It turns out that I was being unreasonable. I had no idea so many things had happened."

    Su Chan brought a teacup over to Cao Kefei and said with a smile, "Yes, Yundong didn¡¯t want Yan Fang to hurt you again, so he left early in the morning."

    Cao Kefei had always felt suspicious about that. "I have no grudge with Yan Fang, why does she want to kill me?"

    Cao Kefei took the teacup and drank its contents down in one gulp. She asked in a confused tone, "Has this matter been reported to the police?"

    Su Chan shook her head. "President Cao, you know we¡¯re not ordinary people. We¡¯re cultivators. Cultivators have to be dealt with in the cultivation world. We can¡¯t involve ourselves with mortal authorities."

    Cao Kefei said with a light sigh, "When I first saw Li Yundong, I thought he was not an ordinary person. Now I know for certain that he is really not an ordinary person!"

    Su Chan poured another cup of tea for Cao Kefei. She smiled and said, "When I first saw him, I didn¡¯t think he was anything special."

    Cao Kefeiughed and gave Su Chan a meaningful look. Looking into Su Chan¡¯s young and beautiful face, she suddenly felt sad. She thought to herself, "Why did God let me meet Li Yundong, my enemy? This damned guy alwayses and goes like a shadow. When he needs my help, he appears. When he¡¯s done with me, he disappears without a trace. Damn it, damn it!"

    Thinking of this, Cao Kefei couldn¡¯t helpining. She looked around and asked again, "So today is the day of the opening ceremony? And Li Yundong didn¡¯t even show up? Did he leave such a big shop for you to handle alone? He¡¯s going too far!"

    When Su Chan heard that, she thought to herself, "Wait a sec, President Cao is a sessful businesswoman. She can certainlye up with a better idea than us!"

    Su Chan immediately asked, "By the way, President Cao, we¡¯re all worried because the tea house hasn¡¯t had a single guest since it opened. I¡¯m so anxious that my hair is going to turn white! Could you help us?"

    Cao Kefei¡¯s mind was still on Li Yundong, her enemy. She replied casually, "Sure, should be easy. The hardware facilities in your tea house are good, but the software facilities arecking, so naturally, the guests won¡¯te."

    Su Chan blinked her eyes and asked, "Software facilities?"

    The rest of the little foxes were relieved when they saw that Su Chan had finallytched onto someone else and had stopped asking them to offer advice. They quickly gathered around Cao Kefei and looked at her eagerly, waiting to hear her ideas.

    Cao Kefei acted as if she couldn¡¯t see them, saying casually, "It¡¯s just service. If you sit here foolishly, of course, no customers will be interested ining in! The hardware of your shop is at the level of Shangri-La, but the software... it¡¯s iparable! It should be matched with the level of Shangri-La!"

    Su Chan stared at Cao Kefei in bewilderment. Though she had not fully understood what Cao Kefei was saying, she did know what she meant by "asking a guest toe over"!

    "But, but how can we attract customers?"

    Su Chan wanted to ask more, but Cao Kefei seemed distracted. She swallowed her words, feeling a little too awkward to disturb her again.

    But after thinking about it for a while, she still didn¡¯t know what to do, so she turned to discuss the matter with the little foxes.

    "You guys, what is Shangri-La?" Su Chan asked in a low voice.

    The little foxes looked at each other and no one could provide an answer. Only Ling Yue was brave enough to ask, "Does it mean we should try to pull the guests in with our enthusiasm?"

    Su Chan was stunned for a moment, but before she even had time to speak, she saw the little foxes all pretending to understand, nodding their heads and saying, "Yes, it¡¯s very possible!¡°

    ¡±That¡¯s what it means!"

    Su Chan felt something was wrong, but she couldn¡¯t think of a better answer. She turned back and asked Cao Kefei in a low voice, "President Cao, what¡¯s the meaning of Shangri-La?"

    Cao Kefei didn¡¯t hear Su Chan¡¯s words clearly at all. She was too deeply lost in thought, so she just answered casually, "Yes, you need to be enthusiastic and proactive in doing business!"

    Su Chan was suddenly enlightened. "Oh, does Shangri-La mean enthusiastically pulling customers into the tea house?"

    After understanding this, Su Chan turned around and said to Ling Yue, "Go to the gate and do Shangri-La!"

    Ling Yue was dumbfounded. She widened her eyes and pointed at the nose. "Me?"

    Su Chan widened her eyes. "Of course. Who else? You want me to do it?"

    Ling Yue¡¯s face was full of aggrievance as she looked around at the other little foxes. "Why don¡¯t they have to go?"

    The other little foxes immediately separated themselves from her and said, "So that¡¯s what you meant by ¡¯Shangri¡¯. Of course, you need to go!"

    Ling Yue screeched at the top of her voice, "Why do I have to do everything!"

    Seeing this, Su Chan hurriedlyforted her, "All right, all right. When Yundonges back, I¡¯ll ask him to give you extra pocket money."

    Ling Yue¡¯s expression was still one of pure rage. "I expect double the usual amount!"

    Su Chan began to get annoyed. "A guest hasn¡¯t evene in yet and you¡¯re asking for so much money! If you don¡¯t bring in any guests, I will punish you for by making you pay double your pocket money allowance!"

    Ling Yue cursed in her heart, but the status and prestige of the proprietress couldn¡¯t be ignored. "If she makes a pernicious usation to Li Yundong, how can I justify myself?" Ling Yue didn¡¯t dare to argue and could only secretlyin in her heart. She walked over to the door with an unhappy face.

    As soon as she reached the door, she saw a middle-aged man dressed in a suit and wearing leather shoes looking around at the teahouse. Ling Yue was immediately overjoyed. She hurriedly ran over and said in a sweet voice, "Sir, would you like toe in and have a cup of tea?"

    The man was shocked. He could see that Ling Yue was unusually beautiful, and there was the kind of seductive look in her eyes that ordinary women did not have. His heart immediately thumped wildly and he began to stutter, "S...Sir?"

    Ling Yue quickly corrected herself, saying, "Guest, would you like to enjoy a cup of tea?"

    The little fox¡¯s voice was so tender that the man¡¯s heart softened a little. He asked dumbly, "How... how much is a cup of tea?"

    How would Ling Yue know? She turned her head and shouted at Su Chan, "Proprietress, how much is one cup of tea?"

    Su Chan was also stunned. It was her first day running the teahouse. Forget the price of a cup of tea, she didn¡¯t even know how many types of tea they sold!

    Having seen this, Su Chan was unwilling to miss the first business opportunity the teahouse had had. She trotted out and said with a smile, "It¡¯s cheap. Come in and have a drink!"

    As soon as she left, the other little foxes all ran out too and said, "Yeah,e in for a drink!"

    The man looked at the beautiful girls who had just poured out of the teahouse. Although they were all different in appearance, they were all undoubtedly peerless beauties!

    He was suddenly shocked and thought, "Oh my god, there are so many beautiful girls in one tea house. How, how much does it cost to drink a cup of tea here? I might go bankrupt. Besides, I won¡¯t be able to exin it to my wife when I get back. I¡¯d better leave quickly!"

    But even with this thought in his mind, how many men could be calm and leave when faced with such beauties?

    The man half turned away, but he suddenly could not move, as if roots had grown under his feet.

    Seeing this, Su Chan quickly winked at the other foxes. They all understood and said with a smile, "Sir,e in and have a cup of tea!" After that, they held the man in their arms and dragged him inside.

    Being surrounded by so many little fox spirits, the man¡¯s reaction speed slowed down and his IQ dropped considerably, so he allowed himself to be dragged inside in a daze.

    At this time, Cao Kefei, who was sitting in the hall, came to her senses when she heard the noise. She saw that this group of little foxes had almoste in with a man in their arms. The man couldn¡¯t help turning his head back, the look in his eyes panicky and disturbed. However, he still got pulled in. His footsteps were faint, as if he was stepping on clouds!

    Cao Kefei was startled. After Su Chan and the others had taken the guest to the second floor and sat down, she addressed Su Chan and whispered, "Hey, what are you doing?"

    Su Chan blinked her eyes and said in confusion, "We¡¯re bringing the guest in."

    Cao Kefei was shocked and stuttered, "Are... are you pulling this guest in?"

    Su Chan giggled. "Didn¡¯t you say to do that? Shangri-La means pulling guests in with great enthusiasm."

    Cao Kefei almost broke down. "Is this the meaning of Shangri-La? Where did you find this meaning? Besides, even if it is the meaning, you are forcibly soliciting customers!

 Chapter 441 Su Chan Makes Tea

    <h4>Chapter 441 Su Chan Makes Tea</h4>

    Looking at Cao Kefei¡¯s desperate expression, Su Chan asked in confusion, "What? Is something wrong?"

    Cao Kefei didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. "Of course there is!"

    Su Chan was tongue-tied. "But... but I¡¯m just doing what you told me a moment ago!¡°

    Cao Kefei was stunned. "Told you? How is that possible?"

    Su Chan quickly turned her head to look upstairs, hoping for backup. She shouted, "Hey, did President Cao just say that Shangri-La means to pull the guest in enthusiastically?"

    Her voice was crisp and bright, and all the little foxes poked their heads out in response to it. They looked down and shouted in unison, "It¡¯s President Cao who said it. We all heard it!"

    Cao Kefei looked up. This row of beautiful girls with bright eyes, white teeth and red lips really made for a soul-stirring scene. The only disharmonious thing amongst them was the guest who had been forced toe in. He was also poking his head out, wanting to see the initiator of his woes, his face full of resentment.

    Cao Kefei quickly withdrew her gaze. Sheughed and said, "Su Chan, this is a misunderstanding! The Shangri-La is a noun, not the concept of attracting guests. And... even if that were what it meant, you can¡¯t force guests inside like this! You and the customer have to both be willing to do business."

    As soon as she finished speaking, the middle-aged guest upstairs suddenly shouted, "Yes, yes, let me go, I can¡¯t afford the tea here!"

    Hearing this, the little foxes were unhappy. They thought in their hearts, "It¡¯s not easy to acquire a guest. How can we let him go? No, no, we must have at least one deal!"

    Ling Yue grabbed the middle-aged man and said with a smile, "Sir, ah, no, I mean, honored guest, you should take opportunities as theye. Why don¡¯t you drink some tea before you leave?"

    The other little foxes also stepped forward with a smile and began coaxing him to stay. This middle-aged man had never encountered such a bizarre situation.

    These little foxes were all beautiful girls in good shape. When they acted like spoiled children, even Li Yundong couldn¡¯t ignore them, let alone this middle-aged man.

    The middle-aged man felt like all the blood in his body was flowing to his head, and his face turned pig-liver red. He stammered, "Well, just one cup then?"

    Ling Yue and the rest of the girls were overjoyed. They pped their hands and saidughingly, "Good, good! Finally, our first transaction!"

    Su Chan was pleasantly surprised and quickly trotted upstairs.

    Cao Kefei looked up at the upper floor and felt sorry for the middle-aged man. She thought to herself, "I have been in the entertainment business for some time, but I have never seen so many beautiful and charming young girls in one ce. An ordinary man couldn¡¯t resist one, let alone so many of them all at once. If he was able to say no under such circumstances, he would have to either be the Buddha or dead inside."

    Thinking of this, Cao Kefei shook her head secretly and said, "I came to see Li Yundong today, but I wasn¡¯t expecting that I would say something wrong and cause such a thing to happen. If my little enemy finds out about itter, he may me me... I¡¯d better get going!"

    Cao Kefei quietly picked up her pouch and keychain and walked outside with ease.

    At this time, the little foxes¡¯ attention was entirely focused on the middle-aged man, and no one noticed that the one who had led them to this point was about to slip away.

    Cao Kefei was still feeling a little guilty at first. She sneaked to the door, but no one stopped her. She mustered up the courage to look back, only to see that the middle-aged man on the second floor was so fascinated by the bewitching array ofdies before him that he couldn¡¯t see anything. She muttered in a low voice, "Good luck man, I¡¯ll get out of here first..."

    She then ran out of the teahouse quickly, hopped into her car, stepped on the gas pedal, and drove away without leaving a trace.

    At this time, the middle-aged man was in the teahouse and all he could see was young and beautiful girls moving in front of him. They scrambled to set up a tea set for him and put everything around him.

    He looked around and saw that in addition to these little beauties, the teahouse itself was stunning. The decorations are very high-grade and the whole ce was full of antique charm. At first nce, he knew that the design had been done by a master.

    The middle-aged man became even more panicked. He thought to himself, "It seems that I can¡¯t escape today. I don¡¯t know how much a cup of tea in this high-level tea house is going to cost me!"

    Thinking of this, he cautiously asked the most enthusiastic person, Ling Yue, "Excuse me, how much is a cup of tea here?"

    Ling Yue blinked and turned to look at the other little foxes. The other little foxes also blinked and turned to look at Su Chan in turn.

    Seeing that everyone was looking to her, Su Chan automatically looked down at Cao Kefei, wanting to ask her opinion. However, she saw that there was no one downstairs. Cao Kefei had already disappeared.

    Su Chan whined bitterly in her heart, but then an idea came to her. She said with a smile, "It¡¯s very cheap. What kind of tea do you want to drink, honored guests?"

    When the middle-aged man heard these words, he became even more upset. He thought to himself, "Cheating businessmen always say this kind of thing."

    He asked tentatively, "Well, what kind of tea do you have?"

    Su Chan¡¯s heart leaped with joy. "I know this!" she said as she started counting on her fingers. "We have Junshan Silver Needle tea here, as well as the highest grade of Baekho Silver Needle tea. Of course, if you¡¯re not interested in either of them, we have Xinyang Silver Needle tea and Zhenghe Silver Needle tea..."

    Su Chan was speaking with fervor and assurance as she opened the tea set. She looked at the middle-aged man and asked, "Would you like to try some Baekho Silver Needle tea?"

    Su Chan was not just gorgeous, she waspletely enchanting. Her voice was soft and innocent, which was bewitching to the soul. The middle-aged man was fascinated by Su Chan, so he nodded subconsciously, but as soon as he nodded, he regretted it and asked, "How much is it?"

    Su Chan said with a smile, "It¡¯s not expensive. It¡¯s cheap!"

    After that, she asked the little foxes to get to work boiling the water immediately. After a while, when the small teapot was filled with hot water, she began to make the tea.

    The little girl was very talented and had learned some tea skills from Zi Yuan recently. Besides, she was the kind of beauty that could lead to the downfall of a country. Even if she did not know how to make tea, just her sitting there would add a refreshing fragrance to any drink.

    While making the tea, Su Chan said in a low voice, "Here, this is manufactured Baekho Silver Needle tea. Look at this plump bud. It¡¯s covered with silver and as straight as a needle. How about it? Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s high-quality?"

    The middle-aged man stared at Su Chan, nodding and saying, "Yes, it is, it is!" He didn¡¯t know if he was talking about the tea or Su Chan. After nodding, he subconsciously asked, "So, how much is it?"

    Su Chan was a little unhappy about his question. She nced at him and said, "You¡¯re so annoying, always asking for the price. It¡¯s a very elegant and artistic thing to drink tea. Don¡¯t ruin it with vulgar questions, okay?"

    The middle-aged man smiled awkwardly and said, "Yes, yes..." But in his heart, he felt very wronged and muttered, "If it is really so elegant, don¡¯t force a random man like me toe in!"

    How could Su Chan know of the unspoken criticism in the middle-aged man¡¯s heart? "Look, this Baekho Silver Needle is unique in shape, color, and quality," she said. "It¡¯s really a precious product. It has a special vor when you try it. Look, there¡¯s even a silver light shining in the tea, and the silver needle is standing straight. It¡¯s like a long spear, rising and falling. Isn¡¯t it beautiful?"

    The middle-aged man craned his neck to have a better look, and sure enough, he could see the silver needles and tea leaves in the tea cup standing upright, looking like a forest of pikes. He couldn¡¯t help but nod and say appreciatively, "Yes, it¡¯s beautiful!"

    Su Chan put the cup down in front of him with a smile and said, "It tastes even better than it looks!"

    As the middle-aged man inhaled the tea¡¯s scent, he felt a sense of having been refreshed washing over him. For a moment, he forgot his aggrievance over being forced into the teahouse and the uneasiness of being cheated at any time. He picked up the teacup, blew on it gently, and then began drinking.

    After drinking this cup of tea, the middle-aged man¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up, and he couldn¡¯t help but exim, "Good! Amazing tea!"

    He subconsciously touched his wallet and asked cautiously, "After drinking this tea, will you let me go?"

    However, Su Chan had seen him drink the tea like he was a pig at a trough. She was annoyed and said, "How can you drink tea like this! Besides, how can you be satisfied with a single cup?"

    The middle-aged man was stunned. He put his hand down from his wallet and said timidly, "Ah, should I have another drink?"

    Su Chan said reproachfully, "Of course! The first cup of tea is not the most delicious. The first cup is like virginity. Although delicate, it is still a little immature. The second cup of tea is the most delicious, like a young married woman, it is the most charming one and has an endless aftertaste!"

    After that, Su Chan made another cup of tea and brought it over to the middle-aged man.

    Just by listening to Su Chan¡¯s words, the middle-aged man could feel his imagination running wild. He sipped at the tea in a daze and carefully finished it. Then, he smacked his lips and said with a satisfied sigh, "The taste is indeed different!"

    Su Chan smiled at the foxes on her left and right, then beckoned to them to change the tea leaves. The middle-aged man watched them change the leaves and couldn¡¯t help wondering what they were doing, so he asked, "Why did you change the tea leaves? You only use them twice?"

    Su Chan exined with a smile, "The third cup of tea is like an olddy. Although it still has its charm, it¡¯s no longer avable for entertaining guests."

    Before the middle-aged man realized what was going on, Su Chan continued, "You¡¯ve drunk the silver needle tea. We still have Maojian varieties of tea here. Among them, we have Xinyang Maojian Tea, Maoping Maojian Tea, Duyun Maojian Tea and Huangshan Maojian Tea. Sir, which would you like to drink?"

    The middle-aged man was dumbfounded. "Ah? You still want me to drink? Uh, how much is this Maojian tea?"

    Su Chan red at him. "Why are you asking for the price again?"

    The middle-aged man immediately shrank back and said with an apologetic smile, "I was just asking casually."

    Su Chan turned her frown into a polite smile and said, "Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s cheap. I won¡¯t charge you too much."

    When the middle-aged man heard this, his heart started beating like a drum. "Oh my god, the more she says that, the more expensive the price must be! Will I still be able to walk out of this gate alive today?"

    He saw Su Chan make another cup of Xinyang Maojian Tea of her own ord, then bring two cups over to him.

    The middle-aged man took a sip and thought that the tea was pleasant, able to make people feel as if they were floating in the sky. Although this feeling was wonderful, the more he drank, the more flustered and frightened he became.

    Just as Su Chan was about to make him a third cup of tea, the middle-aged man finally couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. He stood up abruptly and put on a calm, fearless look as he shouted, "I can¡¯t drink anymore unless you tell me how much the tea costs!"

    In the face of his surprisingly tough attitude, Su Chan was a little discouraged. After thinking for a while, she tentatively extended one finger and said, "This much?"

    As soon as the middle-aged man saw this finger, his legs suddenly began trembling, and he fell back down into his seat. He howled with a pale face, "10,000 yuan? [TN: In Chinese, 10,000 is counted as one ¡¯wan¡¯] My God, you don¡¯t want me to live?!"

 Chapter 442 The Gangster Inn, The Gangster Inn!

    <h4>Chapter 442 The Gangster Inn, The Gangster Inn!</h4>

    The middle-aged man howled, suddenly frightening Su Chan and the little foxes.

    The little foxes all looked at each other. Ling Yue couldn¡¯t help but shout, "Do you know that these tea-leaves are of only the finest quality? Ordinary people can¡¯t taste this kind of thing, let alone be present to watch a tea ceremony from our proprietress!"

    The middle-aged man felt like weeping but no tears came out. "But that¡¯s too expensive!"

    What Su Chan had originally wanted was to symbolically charge 100 yuan. It had just been an opening bid, she had never thought that the man would mistake it for 10,000 yuan!

    Su Chan hurriedly waved her hands and exined, "No, no, it¡¯s not 10,000 yuan."

    The man trembled and asked with a pale face, "So... it¡¯s 100,000?"

    Ling Yue and the other little foxes did not know what was really going on. When they heard this man raising the price higher and higher, they were overjoyed and thought to themselves: "The more he offers, the more we¡¯ll get!"

    The little foxes, who were apt to just making things worse, all began to stir up trouble and said, "It¡¯s only to be expected that it would cost 100,000 yuan. In this world, only our gourmet tea house provides the best tea, and someone who wants to have a chance to drink it needs to have luck on their side!"

    The middle-aged man looked at the girls surrounding him, pale-faced. He finally figured out that he had indeed entered a gangster¡¯s shop.

    He quickly withdrew a stack of bank notes from his wallet and said in a trembling voice, "Here is all my money. Ladies, please let me go."

    As soon as the middle-aged man¡¯s money touched the table¡¯s surface, it was snatched up by the little foxes, and they began counting it with big grins on their faces.

    Su Chan felt that something was wrong. She snatched the money back and put it on the table, saying, "No, no, this isn¡¯t right. Don¡¯t take it."

    However, the foxes misunderstood. They quickly put the remaining bills back on the table and said loudly, "Yes, this isn¡¯t the right amount!"

    The middle-aged man¡¯s eyes were full of tears. He took out everyst penny on his person and choked, "Beauties, that¡¯s all I have. I don¡¯t have more."

    The little foxes stretched out their necks and looked at the little pile of cash. It was partly made up of coins, partly of bills. They didn¡¯t know how much it totaled to, but the colorful paper money dazzled their eyes, making them a little dizzy.

    Seeing that their attention had been temporarily diverted, the middle-aged man quickly turned tail and fled down the stairs.

    Seeing this, Su Chan hurriedly chased after him, calling in a loud voice, "Hey, you don¡¯t need to give us so much money!"

    The middle-aged man finally escaped from the den of female demons. How could he believe the deceiver¡¯s words? He ran out without looking back.

    Su Chan saw him quickly rush onto the street, and she knew she couldn¡¯t drag him back, so she just shouted helplessly, "You haven¡¯t even finished your tea yet!"

    The middle-aged man immediately staggered, almost falling. He let out a hissing sound, and his voice was full of grief and indignation. "I won¡¯t drink anymore! I can¡¯t afford it!"

    His pitiful howl instantly drew the attention of passers-by. Noticing that the crowd was gesticting, Su Chan hurriedly disappeared back inside the tea house.

    After re-entering the shop, Su Chan looked around at the little foxes who were happily counting the money. She felt that something was off and could not help saying, "Did we do something wrong? Why do I feel that something isn¡¯t right here?"

    The foxes did not feel that they had done anything wrong at all. They all smiled and said, "Proprietress, aren¡¯t you happy that we¡¯ve made money? There¡¯s several thousand yuan here. Today we can even close up early! If we can make so much money every day in the future, our lives will get so much better!"

    Su Chan shook her head vigorously, her teeth biting her tender red lips. She tilted her head and muttered to herself, "No, it seems that we have done something wrong..."

    What Su Chan and the foxes didn¡¯t know was that they had triggered a catastrophe for Li Yundong through this incident...

    Meanwhile, the middle-aged man was still frantically running away. It was not until a whileter that he dared to turn around and take a look at the beauty-filled inn. As soon as he looked back, all kinds of feelings welled up in his heart.

    He had gone into the tea house once only, but he was desperately poor! He had thrown away all the sry he had just earned in the space of a few minutes!

    "Gosh, even if I had gone to a casino, I wouldn¡¯t have wasted so much, would I?

    "Do they think that they can do whatever they want just because they are beautiful?"

    The more the middle-aged man thought about it, the angrier he became. "No, I have to expose them! That teahouse ismitting daylight robbery against its innocent customers!"

    Thinking of this, the middle-aged man immediately fished out out his cell phone and dialed the TV station¡¯s number, quickly rying what had just happened to him.

    It didn¡¯t take long for a news interview car from the TV station to roll up to the street, and a young man and a beautiful woman in uniform got out of the car.

    When the middle-aged man saw them, he immediately went forward to greet them. He was like a poor farmer who had been bullied and startedining constantly, "That¡¯s great, you¡¯re finally here! You have to help me! The sry I just received is gone. How will I exin this to my wife when I get home?"

    This young man who had stepped out of the vehicle was Han Lin, who had pursued Feng Na before. He adjusted the camera and asked excitedly and curiously, "Where is the gangster in you mentioned? We must definitely expose illegal and evil-minded businessmen like the one you¡¯re describing!"

    The middle-aged man, as if he had just met his savior, prostrated himself in worship. He held the young man¡¯s hand and said excitedly, "Perfect! I am so relieved to hear your words!"

    Han Lin thumped his chest andughed. "Where is the tea house? Take us there now!"

    The middle-aged man led the way in a hurry. Han Lin winked at his partner. After parking the car, they quickly followed.

    Along the way, Han Lin started feeling that something was wrong. He could see that the shops were bing more and more familiar, and he remembered that the middle-aged man had said that he had been ripped off in a tea house. He couldn¡¯t help but stop the middle-aged man and ask, "Hey, where is the tea house you mentioned? What¡¯s its name?"

    The middle-aged man pointed ahead of himself and said indignantly, "Look, it¡¯s right over there!"

    Han Lin looked over and saw a two-storey teahouse in the direction of the middle-aged man¡¯s finger. The building had high eaves and arches, and it was decorated in a ssical style. There was a golden que hanging from the front of the shop, on which there was a title written in a lively and graceful style: Disanxian!

    Han Lin suddenly cursed in his heart, "What the f**k! Do you think this store can be messed with? Do you know what kind of people came to the opening ceremony of this tea house?"

    Han Lin¡¯s face suddenly darkened. He shot a quizzical look at the man and thought, "Is he trying to trap me somehow?"

    The middle-aged man didn¡¯t notice the change in Han Lin¡¯s expression. He pointed at Disanxian with a bitter expression and said, "Comrade, look, look, it¡¯s this tea house. It¡¯s so evil, so evil!"

    Han Lin said with a dark look, "Are you sure about this?"

    The middle-aged man nodded hard. "Yes. It¡¯s absolutely true!"

    Han Lin snorted and turned back to tell with the TV host, "Come on, let¡¯s go back!"

    The beautiful host had also met setbacks here with Han Lin before. Upon seeing the Disanxian, her expression had soured instantly. She immediately rolled her eyes at the middle-aged man and snorted, "What a nuisance. This kind of prank is not even worth being called a prank!"

    The middle-aged man saw them ring at him, turning around and leaving. He was stunned and said, "Hey, what¡¯s wrong with you? Won¡¯t you expose them? What¡¯s going on here?"

    Han Lin was too embarrassed to talk to him directly about the background of the Disanxian, and besides, he couldn¡¯t afford to offend them. He rolled his eyes at the middle-aged man and said simply, "You can call 12315 toin about them if you want. We can¡¯t deal with this matter."

    After that, he took the beautiful host, got back into the car, and the pair left.

    The middle-aged man was bbergasted and didn¡¯te to his senses for a long time. "Why did he say that he wanted to expose the gangster inn so firmly at first? But then they ran away in such a hurry?"

    The middle-aged man¡¯s stupor did not dissipate for quite some time. The more he thought about it, the more wrong he felt and the angrier he became. He pped his thigh and dialed the number. When he spoke of the matter from the beginning, the people on the phone were filled with indignation and swore to expose and ban the gangster shop. However, once they heard the name and location of this shop, they immediately turned hostile. Their emotions, like roller coasters, changed from ming mountains of passion to snow-covered teaus of ice thousands of miles away.

    After being hung up on once again, the middle-aged man looked at his cell phone with a dull expression on his face. He finally thought in his heart, "Could it be that the background of this gangster shop is extremely strong?"

    As soon as this idea came to mind, the middle-aged man couldn¡¯t help but feel sad. "That must be right. Otherwise, how could they dare to cheat their guests in broad daylight?"

    Thinking of this, the middle-aged man finally epted the situation. He began walking back dejectedly. Fortunately, he still had a few coins, enough to take the bus home.

    Back at his house, the middle-aged man could not help but shudder when he thought of how he was about to face his wife¡¯s scolding. His wife was a Sichuan girl, and her hot temper was nothing to joke about.

    It was not easy for him to get upstairs. When he reached the entrance of the home, he took out the key and was about to unlock the door when his wife suddenly swung the door open and said with a surprised smile, "It¡¯s you!"

    The middle-aged man was stunned for a while. "How did you know I was here?"

    The middle-aged woman clearly looked after her figure. She was well-proportioned and had a dignified appearance. She was wearing a leisure suit while at home and an apron around her waist. Sheughed and said, "My nephew has just arrived. He said that you woulde back soon and asked me to open the door for you. I opened the door, not really expecting anything, but oh, you¡¯re back!"

    The middle-aged man looked into the house and saw three young, handsome men sitting in the living room. The clothes of these three young men were quite fashionable, but the middle-aged people felt that they were somehow ipatible with the modern, urban atmosphere, as if there were actually men from ancient times sitting there wearing modern clothes.

    When the young leader of the three saw the master of the house, he stood up with a smile. He cupped one hand in the other before his chest and said, "Nice to meet you, uncle. My name is Zhang Cunyi."

    The two boys next to Zhang Cunyi also stood up and said, "Nice to meet you, uncle. We¡¯re Zhao Ping and Qian Tong!"

    The middle-aged man felt wary. Even though he was now seeing new faces, he was not in the mood to say hello to them. He just nodded and sat down dejectedly.

    Seeing this, his wife secretly kicked him and said angrily, "Hey, what¡¯s wrong with you? Why are you being so rude? These are my distant rtives who came to see me here in Tiannan City. Why aren¡¯t you greeting them?"

    The middle-aged man forced himself to cheer up and nodded with a fake smile at the three young men.

    Zhang Cunyi, the leader, did not care. He nodded politely back. Seeing the middle-aged man¡¯s unhappy face, he thought that his arrival had upset him, so he said with a smile, "Aunt, I still have something to do, so mypanions and I shall take our leave."

    His wife immediately pulled a long face and said unhappily, "You just came and are now you¡¯re leaving already? You look down on me, your distant rtive, don¡¯t you? Sit down. No matter what, you have to finish your meal before you leave!"

    With that, she pressed Zhang Cunyi back down onto the sofa and dragged her husband into the bedroom.

    As soon as they entered the room, the woman turned on him. "What¡¯s wrong with you today? Are you out of your mind? Do you know how strong the background of my distant nephew is? He is a local celebrity in Chengdu, known as Demigod Zhang! Do you know how much respect he enjoys? Even the mayor is polite to him when he sees him, but you¡¯re so callous. Why are you showing your mourning face to him?"

    The middle-aged man was being scolded heartily by his wife. He knew that he could not hide what had happened, so he made up his mind and told his wife the whole story.

    Hearing this, his wife jumped up in the air. She immediately pinched his ear and shouted, "F**k. You only went there because you saw that the girls were beautiful, right? Did you throw away all of your sries from this month? Hey, what do you want our family to live on for the next few weeks? F**k!"

    The middle-aged man seemed to shrink, not daring to talk back. He cowered by the bedside and endured the reprimand. He sighed and was about to say something when he suddenly heard Zhang Cunyi ask in a deep voice at the door, "Aunt, is what uncle just described rted to the Disanxian teahouse on the pedestrian street of Tiannan City?"

    Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man raised his head and asked in surprise, "You know of this gangster inn?"

 Chapter 443 A Xiuzhenist is also Pursuing a Star?

    <h4>Chapter 443 A Xiuzhenist is also Pursuing a Star?</h4>

    The middle-aged man¡¯s wife jabbed at his forehead angrily. ¡°Do you think my nephew is as useless as you are? Is there anything he doesn¡¯t know?¡±

    As she said this, she turned her face and forced a smile at Zhang Cunyi. ¡°I¡¯m sorry that you have to witness this. Cunyi, you¡¯re so capable. Do you have a way to deal with that group of shameless b*tches? At least get back my money!¡±

    Zhang Cunyi pondered for a moment and did not reply immediately. One of the men next to him gently touched his arm and winked at him.

    Zhang Cunyi understood and went to one side with him. The man asked in a low voice, ¡°Leader, is this the Disanxian that Li Yundong owns?¡±

    Zhang Cunyi nodded. ¡°It should be!¡±

    The man opened his mouth wide. ¡°So it¡¯s that Li Yundong who runs the tea house and invited half of the province¡¯s leaders to his opening ceremony? Please don¡¯t tell me he¡¯s the Li Yundong you fought with at Fox Zen School on Tianjiao Mountain?¡±

    A cold chill shed through Zhang Cunyi¡¯s eyes. He snorted and said, ¡°It must be the same person! Only he would be running around with a group of fox spirits. Only they could do such a thing! Hmph, I don¡¯t know how Li Yundong, the leader, controls his disciples. He shouldn¡¯t ask them to bring chaos to the world especially when he knows full well that they are fox spirits!¡±

    A trace of anger appeared quickly on his face, and he continued in a deep voice, ¡°I¡¯ve only heard that the Fox Zen School is harmful to the human world, but I¡¯ve never seen it for myself. I hadn¡¯t expected that we would meet at this time! Li Yundong can¡¯t control this group of fox spirits, and I¡¯ll help him!¡±

    The man next to Zhang Cunyi whispered, ¡°Leader, are we really going to take it over?¡±

    Zhang Cunyi said without hesitation, ¡°Of course! Otherwise, why have we been learning kung fu?¡±

    The man said cautiously, ¡°But leader, we are no match for Li Yundong. Last time...¡±

    A defiant look shed over Zhang Cunyi¡¯s face. He snorted and said, ¡°I¡¯ll go back to ask my father for his Sanhuang Sword. Humph, he used to be afraid that I would do something evil with it. This time, I¡¯ll kill demons with that sword and enforce justice on behalf of heaven. He won¡¯t discipline me, will he? I don¡¯t believe that I will lose to Li Yundong with the Sanhuang Sword!¡±

    The man was immediately overjoyed. ¡°Great! The Taoist assembly of our Qingcheng sect will increase its chances of winning!¡±

    Almost at the same time, Li Yundong, who had flown to Dongwu City, was still unaware that Su Chan and the little foxes had caused a big disaster. He followed the name card Du Fei gave him and found the location of the Quanzhen Dragon Sect in Long Men Building, Dongwu City.

    Li Yundong came to the towering building and looked up at it. He could see that it was about twenty floors high, with a unique shape and an extraordinary style. In particr, the two imposing words ¡°Long Men¡± at the top were very conspicuous.

    Seeing this, Li Yundong sighed in his heart. ¡°It¡¯s worthy of being the secondrgest Taoist sect. It has such a magnificent building in this downtown area where every inch ofnd is worth its weight in gold! It¡¯s amazing!¡±

    As soon as Li Yundong stepped through the entrance, he saw that the front hall was decorated magnificently. The huge chandelier above his head was bright and elegant, like an inverted gxy, dazzling all of the visitors. Under his feet was ayer of high-hanging ss, under which there was a mist surrounded by clouds, making everyone feel like they were stepping on clouds and stepping into a fairnd.

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart was filled with wonder as he walked further in. After taking a few steps, he heard a noiseing from the front desk of the hall. Three gorgeous women were gathering around the front desk and shouting, ¡°He is not free? Are you kidding? Last time we came, you said we needed to make an appointment. When we asked you about an appointment, you told us that you had already made an appointment for the month after next! Well, we¡¯vee again the month after the next. Isn¡¯t it now the month after the next? You¡¯re actually telling us again to wait until the month after the next? Hey, you can¡¯t make fools of us like this, okay? Where¡¯s Du Fei? Have hime out. It seems he doesn¡¯t dare to take our business!¡±

    Thedy at the front desk was being besieged by these women. There was a trace of disdain in her eyes, but she still maintained a polite and respectful smile on her face as she said, ¡°Mrs. Li, Mrs. Ma, Mrs. Sun, we didn¡¯t lie to you on purpose, the appointment book really is full, and it is simply packed until the month after the next. Mr. Du is not avable, there is nothing we can do!¡±

    Li Yundong looked over and saw that Mrs. Li in a mink coat was obviously a person with authority. She was about thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old, but because she was well-maintained, she looked like she was twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. Although her figure was tightly wrapped in the mink coat, he could still see the exquisiteness beneath. Out of the three women, she looked the youngest, her voice was the highest, and she was the most open-minded.

    Mrs. Li shouted, ¡°I don¡¯t care. Let me take a look at the appointment. I can¡¯t believe that I came here twice and you¡¯re still fobbing me off. How can anyone be that busy?¡±

    Thedy smiled and replied, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mrs. Li. We have a rule that says we can¡¯t reveal Mr. Du¡¯s appointments. They¡¯re his own private affairs.¡±

    Mrs. Li was furious. Her voice was so loud that everyone in the hall turned to look at her. ¡°What can¡¯t be revealed? I think you are making fun of us! We came all the way from Tiannan City to Dongwu City because of his reputation. Why does Du Fei treat us like this? Do you even know who I am?¡±

    Thedy smiled reservedly and said, ¡°I know. You are the fourth concubine of the chairman and president of Shen Wancai from the Wancai Group. Am I right, Mrs. Li?¡±

    Hearing this, Li Yundong, who was standing to one side, almostughed aloud.

    It turned out that she was an acquaintance, Shen Wancai¡¯s fourth wife... Mrs. Li? What was going on? If she was Shen Wancai¡¯s wife, why was she called Mrs. Li?

    Li Yundong thought for a while, but soon understood. ¡°Oh, fourth concubine. She has no status. She can¡¯t be called Mrs. Shen like the eldest wife, so she can only be called by her surname¡ª¡ªMrs. Li...¡±

    Upon understanding this, Li Yundong smiled and thought in his heart, ¡°You don¡¯t need to make fun of others in this way. Thedy at the front desk is so eloquent! Awesome!¡±

    This title ¡°Mrs. Li¡± obviously dug at Shen Wancai¡¯s fourth concubine¡¯s sore spot. It was understandable for someone to call her this in daily life, but she hadn¡¯t expected to be humiliated by a receptionist!

    Mrs. Li was suddenly filled with anger, so enraged that she trembled all over. She pointed at the receptionist and said in a shaky voice, ¡°What, what did you say? I want to see your boss Du Fei. I willin about you!¡±

    Thedy¡¯s face remained unchanged, and she simply smiled politely. ¡°Mrs. Li, I wee yourints about me, but you have to make an appointment in advance and then tell them to Mr. Du directly!¡±

    Mrs. Li¡¯s voice suddenly rose by an octave. ¡°Why do I need to make an appointment just toin?¡±

    The receptionist carried on smiling politely as she said, ¡°That¡¯s just the way it is. He¡¯s fully booked until the end of next month!¡±

    Hearing this, Li Yundong finally couldn¡¯t helpughing loudly.

    His obvious amusement immediately made Mrs. Li and the others look at him unkindly. Mrs. Li angrily shouted at Li Yundong, ¡°What are youughing at? Who are you?¡±

    Li Yundong calmed himself, turned serious, and said gravely, ¡°Myst name is Li. Hello, Mrs. Li.¡±

    As soon as he said that, he unconsciously took advantage of the richdy and the receptionist couldn¡¯t helpughing. The two women beside Mrs. Li also couldn¡¯t help cracking up, but soon as they stopped. ¡°What nonsense are you spewing! You can¡¯t make such a joke!¡± Mrs. Sun spat.

    Li Yundong looked aggrieved. ¡°I¡¯m not talking nonsense. Myst name is Li...¡± After that, he smiled at Mrs. Li and said, ¡°Mrs. Li, am I right?¡±

    The receptionist couldn¡¯t help tittering again. She covered her mouth and turned around, trying to hide her response. Mrs. Li, however, was trembling with anger. She pointed at Li Yundong and said angrily, ¡°You, you, you little b*stard! who do you think you are? How dare you humiliate me like this? Just wait for me to get my revenge!¡±

    With that, she pointed to the receptionist and said, ¡°You may also wait for my revenge!!¡±

    Mrs. Li took out her phone from her small bag and dialed while shivering and cursing. ¡°Deep breath. You are brave. Keep it in mind!¡±

    The receptionist nced at Mrs. Li with deep contempt in her eyes, then turned to Li Yundong and said with a smile, ¡°Mr. Li, how can I help you?¡±

    Li Yundong responded good-naturedly, ¡°I¡¯m here for Du Fei.¡±

    Mrs. Li, who was dialing and waiting for the call to connect, suddenly interjected with a sneer, ¡°You need to make an appointment! I can¡¯t even see him, so forget it!¡±

    Thedy on the front desk ignored her and asked with the same courteous smile, ¡°Do you want to see Mr. Du Fei? Have you made an appointment?¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head with a smile. ¡°No.¡±

    The receptionist could only say apologetically, ¡°In that case, I¡¯m sorry, Mr. Li. I can¡¯t let you see Mr. Du without an appointment. Why don¡¯t you register and I¡¯ll make an appointment for you?¡±

    At this time, Mrs. Li interrupted abruptly, ¡°You¡¯ll have to wait two months!¡±

    Li Yundong nced at her, shook his head wryly, and said to the receptionist, ¡°Seeing Du Fei sure isn¡¯t easy. This guy, next time hees to find me, I will also make him book an appointment and have hime back the month after next!¡±

    Standing next to him, Mrs. Li heard Li Yundong¡¯s proud tone. It was as difficult as climbing up to the sky for an ordinary person to see Du Fei. He was actually acting as if he was talking about some small vendor at a roadside stall. He hade to Du Fei because he looked up to him.

    Mrs. Li couldn¡¯t help but sneer. ¡°You? Why don¡¯t you take a good look at yourself? Who do you think you are?¡±

    Li Yundong turned around and smiled politely. ¡°I¡¯m Li Yundong, Mrs. Li. Nice to meet you...¡±

    Mrs. Li hadn¡¯t been expecting to be taken advantage of by this guy again. She was so angry that she rolled her eyes and almost stopped breathing.

    At this time, the receptionist suddenly stared at Li Yundong with wide eyes, asking tentatively, ¡°Mr. Li, just now you said your name is... Li Yundong?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Yes, Li Yundong, meaning cloud from the east.¡±

    The receptionist suddenly became excited. She quickly rushed out from the front desk, producing a notebook and a pen from behind her like a magician. She smiled and said, ¡°You are the famous Zhenren Li. Oh, I have heard a lot about you! I had thought that you looked a little familiar just now! I admire you so much! Hurry up and sign this for me, please!¡±

    Li Yundong was stunned. He looked at the notebook and pen being proffered to him and asked in confusion, ¡°What, what do you mean? Do you know me?¡±

    The receptionist winked at Li Yundong and whispered, ¡°Our Great master Du Fei has told me about you. He says he admires you very much, and the battle of Mount Tianling made you known to all, let alone at Mount Gezao. Ah, we all feel the yearning for these things! No matter what, you have to give me your autograph. You are the most popr person in our generation now!¡±

    Only then did Li Yundong realize that the receptionist at the front desk, who was dressed professionally and looked beautiful, was actually practicing Xiuzhen!

    But, a Xiuzhenist was also pursuing a star?

 Chapter 444 A Tall Tree Catches the Wind

    <h4>Chapter 444 A Tall Tree Catches the Wind</h4>

    Li Yundong hadn¡¯t been expecting the beautiful receptionist in front of him to actually be a cultivator. What was even more ridiculous was that she was his fan!

    Li Yundong was unable to stifle augh. ¡°Why would a cultivator also be pursuing a star?¡±

    The receptionist quickly nced at Mrs. Li. She smiled, lowered her voice slightly and said, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with a cultivator doing it? Aren¡¯t cultivators human? Cultivators also have the right to like and pursue someone! It¡¯s just that what cultivators pay attention to is different from the things ordinary people care about.¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and asked, ¡°So what¡¯s the difference?¡±

    The receptionist smiled back as she said, ¡°Ordinary people are chasing singers, movie stars, and international celebrities. These people are nothing in the eyes of cultivators, so we don¡¯t care about them. What we care about is which sect has a young, handsome, or beautiful master.¡±

    As she spoke, the receptionist became more and more excited and her eyes glittered. ¡°In the beginning, I admired our great master the most. Although his cultivation is not very good, his ability to make money is top-notch. Half of our sect¡¯s savings were earned by him. In the cultivation world, the people who are better than him can¡¯t make more money than him, and the people who can make more money won¡¯t be better than him. Don¡¯t you think our great master is very good?¡±

    Li Yundong nodded, still smiling. ¡°Zhenren Du is really talented.¡±

    ¡°Indeed,¡± the receptionist acknowledged. ¡°Butter, Qingcheng Sect in Sichuan had Zhang Cunyi, who was a rare genius, the kind whoes about once a century. This guy could use the Sanhuang Sword at the age of thirteen. Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s impressive? Wow, I heard that this guy is quite handsome! So, I started to worship this Young Master of the Qingcheng Sect!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s smile became a little forced. ¡°You changed so fast!¡±

    The receptionist waved her hand dismissively. ¡°Not yet. I worshipped him for less than two years. Zhang Tiansh¨© suddenly appeared in Zhengyi School, so I moved onto worshipping him. After Zhang Tianhe, Ziyuan Fairy of Linggong Sect became famous. Oh, she is really amazing! She almost wiped out the cultivation records of all the female cultivators in the Cultivation World, and she also is the most beautiful woman in the world!¡±

    As she said this, the receptionist held her hands in front of her chest, looking lovely in spite of the craziness she was showing. Her eyes glittered with infatuation. ¡°Oh, if only I could be half as powerful and half as beautiful as Fairy Zi Yuan!¡±

    When Li Yundong heard someone praising Zi Yuan, he felt even happier than if someone had praised him. Heughed and said, ¡°Zi Yuan is indeed like a heavenly being who has descended to the mortal world. She is very beautiful. No mortals canpare with her.¡±

    As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the receptionist looking at him with starry eyes. She then said, ¡°However, before I had a decent length of time to worship Zhenren Zi Yuan, you, Li Yundong, appeared. Not only did you defeat Yu Yang Zhenren in the battle at Tianlong Mountain, you also defeated Zhenren Zi Yuan in public! Wow, that was really big news, the likes of which had not been heard in the Cultivation World for more than 20 years! Andter, you actually defeated Zhang Ling, the Lady of the Earthly Fire! Oh my god, Zhang Ling, she is the sister of Zhang Tiansh¨© in the Zhengyi School! She is a great Cultivator, but you defeated her! You make the younger generation of cultivators feel proud!¡±

    The receptionist¡¯s words started flowing so quickly that shepletely forgot her identity and the fact that there were richdies next to her.

    Mrs. Li and the others were still listening attentively to her. After listening for a while, although they knew the meaning of every word that the receptionist said, when they heard these words were together, they could not understand what she was saying. What they did know was that the boy seemed to have a very strong background, even stronger than Du Fei¡¯s!

    Li Yundong could stay calm and listen to the receptionist talking at first, but after listening for a while, he couldn¡¯t help but smile bitterly.

    The receptionist blinked her eyes and looked at him curiously, then asked in confusion, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°I just think that every idol you worship has been idolized by you for only a short period of time. It can be seen that there are so many talents in the Cultivation World in every generation, and each one has been famous for only a few years. As your current idol, I feel stressed!¡±

    The receptionist giggled and said in a voice like the tinkle of a silver bell, ¡°You are so funny!¡±

    At this time, the chiming sound of the elevator in the hall rang, and a loud voice came out. ¡°Wei Qing Shijie, what are youughing about? Why are you so happy?¡±

    As soon as the man¡¯s voice sounded, the whole hall started buzzing, as if he was talking through a loudspeaker. The noise shocked everyone in the hall and made them cover their ears subconsciously.

    When Li Yundong heard this voice, he was suddenly stunned and thought to himself, ¡°This person has such a strong aura!¡±

    Li Yundong looked in the direction of the voice and saw a maning out of the elevator. He was dressed in a ck Tang Costume and a pair of white cloth shoes. He was unexpectedly short, standing at only about 1.6 meters tall. He had a crew cut and looked capable, with bright, sharp, eyes that seemed to burn with an internal fire. Whoever he looked at had to avoid his eyes unconsciously.

    When Wei Qing saw him, she smiled and greeted him. ¡°Yue Sheng Shidi, you¡¯vee at the right time. Do you know who this person is?¡±

    Shidi Yue Sheng¡¯s eyes slightly narrowed, and the light in his eyes shot towards Li Yundong like a knife. Li Yundong could see that this person¡¯s eyes had suddenly lit up, and his eyes really seemed to shoot two daggers into his own eyes. His eyeballs actually felt a slight pain!

    This was no small matter!

    Li Yundong knew that it was verymon for an ordinary cultivators¡¯ eyes to be sharp, because the eyes were connected to the liver, and the liver contained blood. If a person¡¯s eyes were sharp, it meant that the liver and the kidney were very vigorous. The liver and the kidney had to function strongly, and the Kidney¡¯s Qi would be full.

    And cultivators cultivated Essence, Qi, and Blood. Therefore, it was natural for cultivators¡¯ Essence, Qi, and Blood to be more vigorous than those of ordinary people. So it was normal for their eyes to be sharper and brighter than ordinary people¡¯s.

    Moreover, the eyes were the windows to the soul. If a person was brave, their eyes would be fierce. If a person was weak, their eyes would show their temerity. Li Yundong was a person who was soft on the outside but tough on the inside. He was usually gentle and approachable, but if he became angry and used all his focus to stare, even the most vicious viins would be deterred by his gaze and not dare to move.

    However, although their eyes were brighter and sharper than ordinary people¡¯s, it did not mean that their eyes could really be used as weapons to kill their opponents.

    However, the cultivator in front of him had obviously broken through that limit. His eyes were really lethal!

    Li Yundong knew that he had been reborn from the Jindan. Every one of his internal organs was much stronger than those of ordinary cultivators, even his eyes.

    However, if they were hurt by the re, an ordinary person would probably go blind!

    Li Yundong was surprised. He couldn¡¯t imagine what kind of cultivation one would have to go through in order for their eyesight to reach such a realm. One nce could blind the other person?

    But Li Yundong didn¡¯t know and was just surprised. Yue Sheng was even more shocked!

    When the cultivator named Yue Sheng red at him, Li Yundong subconsciously narrowed his eyes slightly, then acted as if nothing had happened.

    Yue Sheng was bbergasted!

    He knew that his master had chosen him from thousands of children thanks to his unique eyes! This pair of eyes had been cultivated since he was three. Every morning and evening he would heavily smear the Dragon Gate Sect¡¯s secret medicine over them. At noon, when the sun was at its peak, he would look straight up at the sun and train his the duration he could hold his gaze.

    In the beginning, it had been just a few seconds, but with the passing of time and his cultivation training, he became able to look directly at the dazzling sun for four hours and act as if nothing had happened!

    If he were to use his eyesight to stare at his opponent, he would be able to blind anyone who had a bad Cultivation Quotient, let alone an ordinary person!

    But this person had just narrowed his eyes slightly and been fine! This meant that this person¡¯s Cultivation Quotient was definitely not lower than his!

    Yue Sheng knew that he had met a real Master, so he immediately looked Li Yundong up and down, his face stern. After he had looked at Li Yundong for a while, he cupped his hands and asked, ¡°May I have your name, please?¡±

    Li Yundong saw that his attitude had be noticeably more respectful and polite. He also smiled and cupped his hands in response, but before he was about to speak, Wei Qing rushed over to introduce him. ¡°This is Li Yundong, who is famous in the cultivation world. Haven¡¯t you wanted to see him for a long time? The real person is in front of you, but you don¡¯t know him.¡±

    After that, Wei Qing covered her mouth andughed.

    Yue Sheng¡¯s expression turned solemn. ¡°Ah, you¡¯re Zhenren Li from Tianlong Mountain? I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t recognize you!¡±

    ¡°You tter me.¡± Li Yundong smiled and cupped his hand.

    Wei Qing seemed to be very warm to Yue Sheng. She smiled and said, ¡°Shidi, you¡¯ve always been proud of your high cultivation. Well, you¡¯ve finally met your match today! Hum, let me tell you, my new idol is very strong. I don¡¯t think you can defeat him!¡±

    Although Yue Sheng was not tall and stood half a head shorter in front of Wei Qing, he saw that Wei Qing had a look of affection on her face. He chuckled and said, ¡°Zhenren Li is well-known all over the world, I think you deserve your reputation.¡± When he said this, however, he looked at Li Yundong with eyes that glinted with jealousy.

    Wei Qing did not notice the jealousy on his face. She continued to add fuel to the fire by saying, ¡°Shidi, that¡¯s right. You should know that there will always be someone better than you. You¡¯re arrogant. Do you know how powerful he is? I saw that when you stared at Zhenren Li just now, nothing happened. Are you losing your edge?¡±

    Li Yundong, who was listening just next to her, smiled bitterly. Was this woman trying to make a scene? Was she praising him or mocking him?

    Yue Sheng listened to Wei Qing¡¯s words with a smile on his face, making no refutation. He inadvertently nced at Li Yundong, his eyes full of disbelief.

    After Wei Qing had finished speaking, Yue Sheng smiled and replied, ¡°I wasn¡¯t using my full strength just now. And besides, you¡¯re a guest. I can¡¯t be impolite, can I?¡± As he said this, he turned to Li Yundong. ¡°Why did youe to our Dragon Gate Company, Zhenren Li?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here to find Mr. Du Fei,¡± Li Yundong said, smiling in a friendly manner.

    ¡°What a coincidence,¡± Yue Sheng replied. ¡°Shixiong just told me that if youe, you can go upstairs and look for him directly, no appointment necessary.¡±

    Li Yundong was overjoyed. He cupped his hands and said, ¡°That¡¯s great. Could you please lead the way?¡±

    Yue Sheng smiled and was about to turn around and lead the way when Mrs. Li, who had been standing to one side in a daze all this time, suddenly asked loudly, ¡°Why is it okay for him to do it but I can¡¯t?¡±

    Yue Sheng tilted his head and nced at her. His face was full of disdain as he said with an arrogant sneer, ¡°You? Just wait for your appointment obediently! Don¡¯t you know that some people are a cut above?¡±

    After that, he simply walked away, making Mrs. Li so angry that she almost passed out.

    Li Yundong looked at Mrs. Li sympathetically and then followed Yue Sheng into the elevator.

    As soon as the elevator door opened, several young men and women dressed in professional attire rushed into the hall at the same time. Obviously, they were all employees working in this building.

    Among them, some of the female members of staff looked curiously at Li Yundong, thinking him strange. From time to time, their eyes would secretly sweep over his handsome face. They wondered which floor this handsome man worked on.

    When they reached the fifth floor and the elevator doors opened, many more young, beautiful women in professional clothing swarmed in. These beautiful women wereughing and talking beforeing into the elevator and seemed a little shrewish. However, when they saw Li Yundong standing in the elevator with his hands sped behind his back, they suddenly quieted down and stood in the elevator very elegantly. They all stayed silent and kept looking at Li Yundong.

    Li Yundong saw that there were a lot of lovelydies in the elevator with him. He remembered what he had encountered before in this building where Cao Kefei worked. He suddenly smiled and couldn¡¯t help thinking that things had changed over time.

    But before he had too much of a chance to think about this, a hand suddenly reached out from the side. Its forefinger was like a long spear, stabbing toward the Quchi acupoint on his arm secretly and quickly!

 Chapter 445 Settling a Score Frighteningly!

    <h4>Chapter 445 Settling a Score Frighteningly!</h4>

    The Quchi acupoint on a person¡¯s arm was not an important one, but it was located on the Hand-Yangming Large Intestine Meridian. It could provide the arm with Yang Qi. If this acupoint was hit, it would not be life-threatening, but it would render the arm unusable for a long time, essentially paralyzing it.

    It was because Yue Sheng had attacked the Quchi, not any other important acupoint, that Li Yundong knew that he was jealous and secretly asking for a fight. It was obvious that Yue Sheng didn¡¯t want them to fight at the cost of their lives as soon as they met, and he didn¡¯t want the others in the lift to discover them either. As such, when he pointed his finger, he nted his body slightly to cover his actions.

    When Li Yundong saw one of Yue Sheng¡¯s fingersing at him, he also leaned to one side, and then half of his body blocked the lines of sight of the others in the elevator. His fingers quickly hooked over Yue Sheng¡¯s fingers.

    Li Yundong¡¯s grasp just happened to borrow the tactics of Shi Neng, which he had neverpeted with before. His little finger and ring finger were buckled inward, his index and middle fingers were slightly bent, and his thumb prated the fingertips. His whole hand was like an eagle¡¯s w.

    Yue Sheng wanted to attack his Quchi, but Li Yundong dodged sideways. He then used his other hand to grab three of Yue Sheng¡¯s acupoints: Yangchi, Yanggu, and Yangxi, which were near the other party¡¯s wrist, with his thumb, index finger and middle finger.

    Yue Sheng was also a cultivator. He knew what it meant if the three acupoints became locked. Before he could stab Li Yundong with his finger, he immediately flipped his wrist and grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s fingers with his own, as if he were holding a tower.

    Li Yundong saw that the other party did not dodge but rather collided with his fingers. It was obvious that the strength of his hands was very strong. He was very confident in the strength of his fingers. His heart was slightly cold, and he thought to himself, ¡°I have never failed before. Even if I use Shi Neng only a little bit, his finger bones will be broken immediately.¡±

    Li Yundong also used his full strength and hit his opponent¡¯s fingers.

    Suddenly, a loud crunching sound could be heard as the two of them mmed their finger bones together. The sound it produced was like steel colliding, but the steel was wrapped in ayer of flesh, making the sound a little dull.

    The white-cor workers in the elevator were all stunned by the sound. They felt that it was very odd and couldn¡¯t help looking around, as if they were trying to find the source of the noise.

    Li Yundong saw that Yue Sheng was hiding his strength. Obviously, he was afraid because there were ordinary people in the elevator, but he was still daring to fight with him in front of the ordinary people and relying on his courage, so actually, he was not afraid of being discovered by the others around him. Therefore, Li Yundong did not counterattack, obviously. When his fingers collided with Yue Sheng, he saw that Yue Sheng did not be injured at all. Instead, Li Yundong¡¯s own fingers were aching!

    Li Yundong was stunned. He knew full well that he had encountered a strong opponent. If he continued to fight recklessly, he was afraid that their secret little duel would be a big fight, which would be noticed by the surrounding people. Therefore, he immediately grabbed his opponent¡¯s wrist with his snake-like fingers, trying to capture and suppress him.

    Li Yundong was surprised, but Yue Sheng was even more shocked. He was from a famous and authentic family, and he was also an inner-disciple. Since he was a child, he had always been soaking in potions and taking elixirs of life. The intensity of his body¡¯s cultivation was no weaker than what could be achieved with the re-creation of Jindan.

    He had originally thought that even if Li Yundong was able to make it through, he would have to react slowly at one point, but what he hadn¡¯t expected was that Li Yundong would not only defend himself quickly, but even counterattack a bit faster than before!

    Instead, he felt a sharp pain in his fingers, and his reactions became a little slower than before, so his wrist was immediately touched by Li Yundong.

    All of the hairs on Yue Sheng¡¯s body were standing to attention. After all, he was the best member of the younger generation in Quanzhen Dragon Sect. His reaction speed was fantastic. Seeing that his three acupoints, Yangchi, Yanggu, and Yangxi were about to be seized, he twisted his arm and got two acupoints away. Then, he turned his wrist and put his finger on the Yangxi acupoint of Li Yundong¡¯s arm.

    The fight between them progressed as fast as lightning. The white-cor beauties in the elevator could only hear the continuous muffled sounds of collisions happening as they sped hands, pinched each other¡¯s acupoints, and tangled with each other.

    After the white-cor workers in the elevator had looked around, they all suddenly turned to Li Yundong and Yue Sheng at the same time.

    At this moment, the two of them were facing the people in the elevator with their backs. One hand of each person was hanging by the sides of their bodies, and the other hand was being blocked from sight by their back. No one knew what they were up to.

    But judging from their postures, the white-cor workers assumed that they were shaking hands, especially as the two men had narrowed their eyes and were looking at each other. Their eyes were motionless, like they were two stone statues.

    Some of the active white-cor workers thought, ¡°What¡¯s the rtionship between these guys? Is it necessary for them to be so intimate in the elevator?¡±

    Some of the workers with dirty minds thought slyly, ¡°These two people are so intimate. Are they gay? Oh my god, is it possible that such handsome men could be gay? What a waste!¡±

    While they were having these kinds of thoughts, Li Yundong and Yue Sheng began mobilizing their Zhenqi at the same time to attack each other fiercely. As soon as they mobilized their Zhenqi, they immediately began fighting with each other, like two huge armies. The battlefield was their clenched arms and palms.

    The Essence, Qi, and Blood of cultivators were extremely vigorous, so their strength was amazing. When Li Yundong and Yue Sheng used their Zhenqi, they would usually extract force from the ground, but right now they were in an elevator. If they borrowed force at the same time, their force would amount to more than 5,000 kilograms.

    The elevator suddenly let out a horrible buzzing sound as the steel bars strained, and their upward momentum also slowed down.

    The workers in the elevator thought that there was something wrong with it, so they immediately began screaming in horror. Some held their heads and shouted, some desperately pressed the button for the nearest floor, and others took the emergency phone off the hook and began shouting hysterically into it.

    Li Yundong and Yue Sheng observed the chaos. They were aware that they as Shenxian were fighting while ordinary people were suffering, but at this time, they had no choice but to carry on. Their Zhenqi converged in their wrists and palms like a flood pouring in. How could they retreat now?

    They hesitated for a moment, and then there was a horrible creaking sound in the elevator as if the steel bars attached to it were snapping one by one.

    For those white-cor workers who didn¡¯t know what was going on, the sound was agony. To them, it was ferocious and horrible, like the mumble of Death.

    All of them were so scared that they almost went crazy. They cried and shouted hysterically. Some of them copsed to the floor of the elevator and burst into tears.

    Li Yundong knew that if he continued topete with Yue Sheng like this, the elevator wouldn¡¯t be able to take it. If they fell, they woulde to no harm, but the rest of the people in the elevator would die.

    Li Yundong muttered in a low voice while controlling his Zhenqi, ¡°Stop?¡±

    Yue Sheng¡¯s eyes darted to the side and he nodded slightly. Both of them retracted their strength at the same time. A momentter, their Zhenqi was gone.

    When they had finished withdrawing their Zhenqi and were just about to breathe a sigh of relief, the top of the elevator suddenly made a loud bang, and then the elevator suddenly began to crash down madly!

    For a moment, the other people in the elevator could do nothing but scream, and their voices were so shrill that even the steel and concrete walls around them couldn¡¯t contain the noise.

    Li Yundong was shocked. He immediately released his Yang Spirit, then changed from Yang Spirit to Yin Spirit. After getting out of the elevator, he immediately changed back to Yang Spirit and grabbed the falling steel chain of the elevator.

    But as soon as he grabbed the chain, his Yang Spirit body dropped down and was staggered by the sheer weight of the elevator.

    Although Li Yundong¡¯s Yang Spirit body was strong, he had nowhere to borrow strength from in mid-air and was thus dragged down madly. He saw the elevator falling, causing countless sparks. It wouldn¡¯t take long for it to reach the bottom, smashing everyone in the elevator into nothing more than a meaty paste.

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart tightened. He gritted his teeth and was about to use his Zhenqi to erge his Yang Spirit when suddenly he saw a sh of golden light. With a nging sound, a golden halberd pierced through the middle of the broken steel chain of the elevator, the tip of it going straight through the opposite wall.

    The falling elevator was immediately stopped by the halberd¡¯s strength, and it froze in mid-air with a buzz.

    Li Yundong turned his head and saw a man in golden armor holding the golden light halberd not far from him. The man was as tall as an iron tower. He was handsome and had a Heavenly Eye, making him look awe-inspiring.

    Li Yundong was stunned and thought, ¡°Damn, is this Yue Sheng¡¯s true Spirit Eng God?¡±

    He was slightly stunned. The heavy momentum of the elevator was pulling the halberd down. The tip of the halberd broke through the hard cement wall and kept falling down.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t have time to think. He quickly used his Zhenqi, and his Yang Spirit turned into an Immovable Wisdom King with superhuman powers. His body was huge, and alone it upied almost all of the elevator. His arms grabbed the steel chain, and his other four arms grabbed the four sides of the elevator respectively. The six arms exerted force suddenly, and the muscles of his Yang Spirit body began bulging like the roots of a tree. Li Yundong¡¯s Yang Spirit exhaled two streams of red and ck breath at the same time, and its appearance was extremely shocking.

    Li Yundong finally stopped the momentum of the elevator with his ungodly strength.

    The elevator had finallye to a stand-still. The white-cor workers in the elevator were still crying andughing wildly. They didn¡¯t know that they had almost be the victims of Li Yundong and Yue Sheng¡¯s fighting!

    Li Yundong was still in a state of shock as he looked at Yue Sheng¡¯s Yang Spirit. He could see that Yue Sheng was sizing up his Yang Spirit with a face full of shock and doubt and he seemed eager to try fighting. The Heavenly Eye between his eyebrows suddenly opened wide, spewing out a sense of fanatical excitement. The air around them seemed to have be hot.

    Li Yundong suddenly began cursing in his heart, ¡°Damn, this bastard, he still wants to fight? Does he really have a bloodlust?

 Chapter 446 Yama Is Easy to Meet but Troubled with Ghosts

    <h4>Chapter 446 Yama Is Easy to Meet but Troubled with Ghosts</h4>

    Li Yundong saw that Yue Sheng was eager to try his luck, ignoring the safety of the others, and seemed bent on settling a score. He immediately shouted in a low voice, ¡°Zhenren Yue, do you really want to watch this elevator drop and crush its passengers to death?¡±

    Yue Sheng narrowed his eyes. After a while, the fighting spirit in his eyes gradually dissipated, and one of the Heavenly Eyes between his eyebrows slowly closed.

    Staring at Li Yundong, Yue Sheng said in a deep voice, ¡°Zhenren Li, I hadn¡¯t been expecting you to cultivate both Buddhism and Taoism. Are you a descendant of the Wuliu Sect?¡±

    Li Yundong looked around. ¡°Do you think this is the time or ce to talk about such things?¡± he said, anger seeping into his tone.

    Yue Sheng also took a look at the elevator and saw the four arms of Li Yundong¡¯s Yang Spirit clutching the cement wall of the elevator shaft tightly. His fingers, like iron hooks, kept peeling the cement from the wall and jagged pieces were falling down onto the top of the elevator, making numerous nging sounds.

    The harsh sound echoed through the elevator shaft, making the white-cor workers in the elevator unable to stop themselves from screaming in horror once again.

    Yue Sheng snorted. ¡°Fine. We¡¯ll decide the winner another day!¡±

    Li Yundong also nodded and said, ¡°Agreed!¡±

    The two men looked at each other, finally at ease. They had now decided to save people together.

    The two Yang Spirit Masters worked together to stabilize the falling elevator. While Li Yundong controlled his Yang Spirit, he also moved his body over to the elevator door. He forcibly opened the iron door of the elevator with both hands, then turned back and shouted, ¡°Get out quickly.¡±

    At this time, the elevator had been stopped halfway up the ninth floor. Outside the doors were two white-cor workers waiting for the elevator toe, talking andughing. When the elevator doors opened and they were about to absentmindedly enter, they suddenly noticed that they could see only half of the elevator!

    Then they saw someone from this half of the elevator crawling out of the half-door sized gap desperately. The people inside were just like the ghosts being released from hell, crying for help. Some people copsed to the ground as soon as they got out of the elevator, tears in their eyes, all in a state of shock.

    The two men were stunned. They had no idea what was happening, but they began subconsciously pulling their colleagues out of the elevator with their hands.

    Some of the workers in the elevator had willpower that was nothing to sneeze at. After escaping from the elevator, they remembered that there were still two people stuck inside. They turned their heads and saw that Li Yundong was pushing people out one by one, seemingly with no regard for how he would escape.

    They all secretly admired this calm andposed man, who was even sacrificing himself to save others!

    But when Li Yundong pushed out thest worker, the people outside the elevator all extended their hands to Li Yundong and Yue Sheng and shouted anxiously, ¡°Come out quickly, we¡¯ll help you!¡±

    Li Yundong felt apologetic when he saw their frightened and worried expressions. He smiled and turned his head to Yue Sheng. Their gazes met as if they understood each other¡¯s lines of thought. ¡°What kind of joke is this to make cultivators like them crawl out of such a dog hole? If other cultivators knew, wouldn¡¯t it be a huge joke?¡±

    Li Yundong and Yue Sheng nodded at the same time and withdrew their Yang Spirits, which were pulling on the elevator, at the same time.

    As soon as the elevator lost its support, it began crashing down like a meteorite. The people who had been rescued cried in horror at the same time, every one of thempletely stunned.

    The people who were waiting for the elevator on the first floor did not know what had been happening upstairs until the elevator crashed to the ground with a thunderous smashing sound. Endless clouds of dust burst out from the cracks in the elevator shaft. They were shocked and stared at the elevator that had fallen down in a daze.

    All of a sudden, everyone in the hall gathered together and whispered into each other¡¯s ears, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°It seems that the elevator has fallen somehow!¡±

    ¡°How horrible. I wonder if there¡¯s anyone inside.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s someone! I saw someone go in just now!¡±

    ¡°Gosh, call the police, call an ambnce!¡±

    While they were all in disarray, the door outside the elevator suddenly opened, and two men emerged from the smoke.

    The crowd took a closer look and saw that the two men, one tall and the other short. Neither looked like they were hurt, their faces were calm and rxed, as if they had not just stepped out of a falling elevator but rather were stepping out of a luxurious car to attend a banquet.

    At this time, Wei Qing, who was on duty at the front desk, also hurried over, looking at Li Yundong and Yue Sheng with astonishment. ¡°Zhenren Li, Shidee, what happened?¡±

    Li Yundong dusted off his clothes and nced at the people around him, then smiled at Wei Qing and said, ¡°The elevator broke down.¡±

    The people all around heard their words. When they heard Li Yundong say this, they all said uproariously, ¡°Sure enough, the elevator is broken. Fortunately, no one died!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, these two are really lucky. They¡¯re not hurt at all! Unbelievable.¡±

    Wei Qing nced at Li Yundong and Yue Sheng suspiciously, then lowered her voice and asked tentatively, ¡°You two... Were you guys fighting?¡±

    Li Yundong looked at her helplessly. ¡°You are right. Zhenren Yue wanted topete with me, but the ce was a little inappropriate.¡±

    Wei Qing was obviously the kind of madwoman that desired to see the world plunged into chaos. Not only was she not worried about the reputation damaged brought about by the broken elevator, but she pulled Li Yundong¡¯s sleeve excitedly and asked in a low voice, ¡°Who won? Tell me quickly, who won?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly and said, ¡°Can¡¯t you just ask your Shidee?¡±

    Wei Qing nced at Yue Sheng and chuckled, ¡°My Shidee was born strong. Even if he lost, he¡¯d never admit it.¡±

    Li Yundong also nced at Yue Sheng and happened to see Yue Sheng looking right back at him. Yue Sheng was a short but arrogant young man. He huffed rebelliously, snorted and turned his head away.

    Li Yundong shook his head and smiled bitterly. ¡°We two have made a draw, and the winner hasn¡¯t been decided yet,¡± he said.

    A trace of disappointment shed in Wei Qing¡¯s eyes, ¡°Ah? A draw?¡±

    At this moment, Yue Sheng suddenly said in a cold voice, ¡°We will decide the winner at the Taoist assembly!¡±

    Facing the aggressive Yue Sheng, Li Yundong wouldn¡¯t allow himself to be provoked. He smiled and nodded as he said agreeably, ¡°Of course! But before that, may I ask you to take me to see Mr. Du Fei?¡±

    Yue Sheng snorted, put his hands behind him, turned around and walked away, looking at the people around him like they were nothing. Seeing that Yue Sheng was going into another elevator, Li Yundong quickly said, ¡°Don¡¯t take the elevator anymore, go up the stairs!¡±

    Yue Sheng stopped in his tracks upon reaching the elevator doors, then turned around and walked toward the stairwell.

    Wei Qing watched from behind and couldn¡¯t help muttering in a low voice, ¡°It¡¯s amazing. Except for Master, my Shideee has never listened to anyone, but he is actually listening to Zhenren Li? It seems that Li Yundong shocked him a lot when they were fighting just now, otherwise it would never have been possible to get him to take the stairs!¡±

    Seeing the two men turn around and enter the stairwell, she couldn¡¯t help but chase after them and shout, ¡°Hey, you two, don¡¯t go breaking the stairs this time!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly when he heard that. ¡°Am I really like a guy from the demolition department?¡±

    As they ascended, they heard the sound of footstepsing from upstairs, as if someone was rushing down anxiously.

    When they were about to reach the third floor, the surrounding people who saw them were immediately stunned.

    Li Yundong looked over to see the people who had escaped from the elevator rushing down anxiously, as if to see what had happened at the bottom.

    These white-cor workers were still in shock when suddenly, they saw Li Yundong and Yue Sheng unscathed, walking up the staircase if nothing had happened. They were all bbergasted.

    They looked at Yue Sheng and Li Yundong, dumbfounded, and their minds were frozen for a while, as if they couldn¡¯t understand how the two men had fallen from the ninth floor and emerged unhurt.

    Yue Sheng put on an arrogant air and didn¡¯t even look at them. He continued to walk forward with his hands sped behind his back. As he passed them, he regarded them as nothing but a pile of firewood.

    But Li Yundong smiled and nodded to them, asking in a gentle voice, ¡°Are you all right?¡±

    These workers had once been famous in their workce, and they looked at Li Yundong with dull expressions, shaking their heads mechanically like y puppets.

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Climb stairs instead of in the future. It¡¯s safer.¡±

    The workers again nodded in a daze, then watched Li Yundong continuing to climb upstairs unhurriedly with a serene smile on his face.

    Once Li Yundong had walked away, they seemed to regain their senses, all breathing a sigh of relief. Their bodies leaned against the wall, but their heads were all lifted. Their eyes remained on Li Yundong, who kept climbing higher and higher.

    After a long time, one of them sighed and said, ¡°Ah, I have seen countless men, but I have never seen one like that...¡±

    As soon as she finished speaking, someone also sighed like they were star-struck. ¡°Yes, he was so charming and handsome! I wonder if he has a girlfriend...¡±

    The others immediately teased, ¡°Dream on! How could a handsome, gentle, brave man like that not have a girlfriend? Are all the women in the world blind?¡±

    After saying that, the white-cor workers all sighed sadly. They were all worried and beginning to pity themselves.

    But none of them knew that this disaster that had almost taken their lives had been partially caused by the exact man they were swooning over.

    Li Yundong followed Yue Sheng all the way to the 19th floor. Yue Sheng pointed to a room at the end of the corridor and said in a deep voice, ¡°Shixiong is in that office. Go and find him by yourself.¡±

    After that, he turned and left. When he got to the stairwell, he stopped again, turned his face, and said to Zhenren Li in a deep voice, ¡°Zhenren Li, I¡¯ll see you again at the Taoist assembly!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and cupped his hand at him, then watched him disappear. He shook his head helplessly and thought, ¡°Now I¡¯m really infamous. Wherever I go, there are guys who want to beat me!¡±

    Li Yundong quickly threw these trivial thoughts behind him. He knocked on Du Fei¡¯s door and heard a familiar voice ring out inside. ¡°Come in!¡± Du Fei cried.

    Li Yundong opened the door and went in. ¡°Zhenren Du, it sure ain¡¯t easy to see you!¡±

    Du Fei was busy, practically lying across his desk. He heard Li Yundong¡¯s voice and suddenly raised his head, looking shocked, ¡°Zhenren Li? Why are you here?¡±

    Li Yundongughed and said, ¡°Why can¡¯t Ie? You¡¯re like the King of Hell with all of your troublesome minions! Your Shidee is too difficult to deal with!¡±

    Du Fei was wearing a brand-name suit and looking like a sessful businessman, and there was no trace of a Xiuzhen¡¯s aura on him at all. He chuckled, stood up and enthusiastically greeted Li Yundong, ¡°Please sit down!¡±

    Du Fei pressed a button on the table. After a while, a young and beautiful woman strode in. Du Fei smiled at her and ordered, ¡°Su Huan, pour tea for our esteemed guest quickly!¡±

    Obviously, this woman had never seen Du Fei greet such a young person so warmly and politely before!

    She looked curiously at Li Yundong, then responded quietly and left.

    After Li Yundong watched her leave, he smiled, waved his hand, and said, ¡°Mr. Du, you don¡¯t need to be so polite. I still have something urgent to deal with, and I have to rush elsewhere. I came here to ask you for help. ¡±

    Du Fei chuckled, but the smile on his face remained unchanged. Heughed and said, ¡°If you need anything, just tell me and I will definitely help you do it!¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll get straight to the point then. I want to exchange the burning thumb pot with you!¡± Li Yundong smiled and said.

    When Du Fei heard this, his entire body froze. He was stunned, the smile on his face fading little by little as his brows furrowed.

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart thumped, and he asked tentatively, ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Zhenren Du? Is there a problem?¡±

    Du Fei sighed and smiled bitterly. ¡°Zhenren Li, this burning thumb pot was borrowed just a day ago!¡±

 Chapter 447 What a Coincidence!

    <h4>Chapter 447 What a Coincidence!</h4>

    ¡°It¡¯s been borrowed?¡± Li Yundong was shocked and asked quickly, ¡°Who borrowed it? How could he borrow such an important magical item?¡±

    Seeing Li Yundong¡¯s anxiety, Du Fei could only tell him with a bitter smile, ¡°Zhenren Li, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll tell you everything.¡±

    Li Yundong calmed himself down, feeling surprised and uncertain in his heart. ¡°This can¡¯t just be a coincidence. Right when I was about to catch Yan Fang¡¯s Yang Spirit, the burning thumb pot was borrowed by someone, and that was only a day ago! Could it be that Yan Fang took it away? If so, I¡¯ll be in trouble!¡±

    Li Yundong hurriedly asked, ¡°Did Yan Fang borrow it?¡±

    Du Fei was stunned. ¡°Yan Fang? Of course not. It was Master Puren from Xiyuan Temple who borrowed it.¡±

    Li Yundong felt a little relieved and asked curiously, ¡°Why did Master Puren ask you to lend him the burning thumb pot?¡±

    Du Fei slightly sighed. ¡°Zhenren Li, sit down and listen to me.¡± While he was talking, the young and beautiful secretary pushed the door open and came in, carrying a te with a steaming cup of tea on it.

    Du Fei smiled and said, ¡°Zhenren Li, you¡¯re the one who opened a teahouse, so I won¡¯t show off in front of you. This is Y¨¹-chien Longjing tea. Try it and see if it¡¯s authentic or not.¡±

    Knowing that the burning thumb pot had not fallen into Yan Fang¡¯s hands, Li Yundong collected himself and took the cup with both hands. He smiled gratefully at the beautiful secretary, then took a sip of the tea, slightly nodding and praising, ¡°Good, the tea is pure and the fragrance is rich. It¡¯s excellent tea!¡±

    Du Fei chuckled and nodded at the secretary, who was standing by and waiting for instructions. ¡°You¡¯re done here. You can leave now.¡±

    The secretary shot a curious nce at Li Yundong before picking up the tray and leaving the room.

    After Du Fei had closed the door behind her, he sat down in front of Li Yundong. He pped his thigh and said with a slight sigh, ¡°This matter started in the past. You also know that this burning thumb pot of Fahai fell into my hands simply by chance. At that time, many Buddhist cultivation masters wanted to trade for such a magic item, but I wouldn¡¯t agree. However, I cultivate Tao magic, so I couldn¡¯t use the Buddhist artifact. Therefore, holding onto this burning thumb pot seemed like a waste. ¡±

    ¡°A few days ago, I found out that you had obtained the Renyuan Jindan, so I came up with the idea of swapping three things for your two things. But I hadn¡¯t expected to have already missed my chance for the Renyuan Jindan!¡±

    Du Fei let out a long sigh. His eyes were full of loneliness and bitterness as he continued, ¡°Although I am the Shishiong of the whole Dragon Gate Sect, I am inferior to the others. I am not a pure inner-door disciple. I can only be an outer-door disciple. No matter how hard I practice, I will never get the favor and true inheritance of a Master. If I could not make money, I am afraid that the Dragon Gate Sect would have no ce for me!¡±

    Li Yundong saw that Du Fei was depressed and sad, so he couldn¡¯t help but tell himfortingly, ¡°Zhenren Du, everyone has their own fate, and Zhenren Zhang, Zhang Sanfeng, only achieved sess when he was old. He was ate bloomer, but you¡¯re still in the prime of your life, why are you so depressed?¡±

    Du Fei¡¯s spirits lifted slightly. He smiled at Li Yundong and said, ¡°Zhenren Li, you¡¯re right. But sometimes when I see that all of you cultivators, who are much younger than me, have such astonishing Cultivation Quotients, I feel very upset. Especially knowing that you, Zhenren Li, actually cultivated for around half a year to reach the Yangshen phase! This cultivation speed is truly shocking and unprecedented!¡±

    Du Fei gave Li Yundong a thumbs-up. ¡°Zhenren Li, you have a high level of Cultivation Quotient and a supremely fast cultivation speed, the likes of which I¡¯d never seen before in my life! In my opinion, if you continue to cultivate at this speed, you will be the number one in the whole world in a few years and catch up with our Taoist Master Zhenren Zhang from 500 years ago! Haha, there was Zhang Zhenren in ancient times and now there¡¯s Li Zhenren today. This is also a good thing!¡±

    Li Yundong chuckled and waved his hand. ¡°You¡¯re too polite, Zhenren Du. You tter me. If the people of Zhengyi School heard this, they¡¯d question it.¡±

    Du Fei sneered. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m not talking about Zhenren Zhang from the Zhengyi School. I¡¯m talking about Zhenren Zhang Sanfeng! Although the past generations¡¯ Taoist priests from the Zhengyi School have been powerful, there is still a gap between them and Zhenren Zhang Sanfeng!¡±

    Li Yundong listened to Du Fei ndering Zhengyi School. He didn¡¯t know whether Du Fei was trying to just say what he really wanted to, or if it was because of a mutual squabble between the sects. He smiled slightly and didn¡¯t reply, sipping his tea quietly.

    Du Fei knew that for Li Yundong and Zhengyi School, there had always been hatred between them. Seeing that Li Yundong could hold back and not speak badly of the Zhengyi School, he couldn¡¯t help but have a higher opinion of Li Yundong in his heart. ¡°Li Yundong has such amazingbat abilities at such a young age, that¡¯s one thing, but I hadn¡¯t expected him to be so sophisticated! As a matter of fact, young and powerful masters like him have a right to be proud and arrogant. My Shidee looks down on everyone all day long. Even I, his Shishiong, am not worth his consideration! Zhenren Li is not only approachable and gentle, but what is even rarer is that he is also quite sophisticated, I don¡¯t know how he cultivated! Amazing!¡±

    Du Fei thought quickly. He could see that Li Yundong was not reacting to his words, so heughed again and said, ¡°That¡¯s a little far-fetched. Let¡¯s get back on topic. Do you know which temple Fahai belongs to, Zhenren Li?¡±

    Li Yundong thought for a while. ¡°Last time I remember looking through relevant books and records after the incident. If I remember correctly, Fahai became famous at Jinshan Temple in Jiangsu Zhenjiang, which was originally called Zexin Temple. Fahai tamed the thousand-year-old white python there and dug out a lot of gold from the mountain behind the temple. He then handed the gold over to Li Qi, the governor of Zhenjiang. Li Qi wrote this to Tang Xuanzong, and Tang Xuanzong gave the gold to Fahai, asked him to repair the temple and renamed it to Jinshan Temple. Am I right, Zhenren Du?¡± Li Yundong said.

    Du Fei nodded and said appreciatively, ¡°You¡¯re certainly well-informed. I really admire you!¡±

    ¡°I only learned about it recently. I was ignorant until a few days ago,¡± Li Yundong saidughingly.

    Du Fei also chuckled and said, ¡°Zhenren Li, you are so straightforward and honest. I respect you! What you said is right. Fahai is the famous demon-subduing master of Jinshan Temple in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, and his magic item fell into my hands by chance. A while ago, the head of the monastery of Jinshan Temple came to me to trade for it, but I refused politely. At that time, I thought it was over, but I hadn¡¯t expected that yesterday, Puren, the head of the monastery of Xiyuan Temple, would be entrusted by the head of the monastery of Jinshan Temple toe and discuss the burning thumb pot with me.¡±

    Li Yundong asked suspiciously, ¡°Why did he borrow it instead of trading?¡±

    Du Fei smiled darkly. ¡°Because they know that I won¡¯t trade anything for it. They don¡¯t have what I want.¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing. ¡°Zhenren Du, you¡¯re probably the best cultivator in the business world, but in the Cultivation World, you¡¯re probably the best businessman! Your strategy is impable!¡±

    Du Fei grinned and said, ¡°Zhenren Li, you must be joking. Although our Quanzhen Dragon Sect is all over the world, we don¡¯t make as much money as we spend. If I hadn¡¯t been carefully supporting it, I¡¯m afraid that we, the old and young members, would all have long ago been rendered unable to make a living. ¡±

    ¡°But why did you lend this to Puren? Why did Master Puren borrow this magic item?¡± Li Yundong asked curiously.

    At this time, Du Fei¡¯s smile faded as he said, ¡°Master Puren said that he wanted to use the item and Bafang Killing Formation to eliminate demons. There are many eminent monks in the world who deceive the world in the pursuit of fame, but there are only a few truly moral eminent monks, and Master Puren is one of them. He said that he wanted to eliminate demons, so he had to do it. He would never lie to me! Therefore, as he wanted to borrow it, I lent it to him. He would never borrow it and fail to return it!¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help looking solemn. He saluted with joined hands and said, ¡°Zhenren Du, you¡¯re so generous and broad-minded. I truly admire you!¡±

    Du Fei shed him a bitter smile. ¡°Zhenren Li, don¡¯t make fun of me. If you want to exchange for the burning thumb pot, you¡¯d better wait for Master Puren to return it to me first. My words sound heroic, but in fact, I¡¯m still trepidant!¡± he said.

    After that, the two men began guffawing together.

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Zhenren Du, since the burning thumb pot is not here, I won¡¯t disturb you. I¡¯ll go to Master Puren¡¯s ce to have a look.¡±

    Du Fei also saluted with joined hands and smiled, ¡°Zhenren Li, I¡¯m sorry to have made youe here in vain today. If you want to find me one day, just give me a call. There is a phone number on my business card. I¡¯lle to visit you in person.¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head slightly and smiled, ¡°That won¡¯t do. If I need help, I should be the one going to trouble for others. How could I ask for help and have others visit me?¡±

    Du Fei chuckled good-naturedly. ¡°Zhenren Li, you¡¯re young, but you¡¯re very experienced. I really admire you!¡±

    Li Yundong got up to leave, but when he walked to the door, as if he¡¯d thought of something, he turned to ask, ¡°By the way, Zhenren Du, do you know that there is a Mrs. Li downstairs who wants to see you but can¡¯t make an appointment?¡±

    Du Fei was momentarily surprised, then asked curiously, ¡°Mrs. Li? Is she your wife, Zhenren Li? Oh, how could there be such a rude thing? What is Wei Qing doing? She even stopped your wife? She... Oh, wait, Zhenren Li, when did you get married?¡±

    Li Yundong could hold back hisughter initially, but after a moment he really couldn¡¯t help cracking up. He waved his hand and said with a smile, ¡°Zhenren Du, don¡¯t joke. Mrs. Li is not my wife. There are tens of millions of women named Li in this world. Are they all my wives?¡±

    Du Fei realized his mistake. Heughed, walked over to the table, pressed the phone button, picked up the receiver and asked Wei Qing at the front desk about the matter. After he had put down the phone, Du Fei said, ¡°It¡¯s Shen Wancai¡¯s second wife. When she gave birth to their child, Shen Wancai came to ask me for fortune-telling. At that time, I was still young and performed some divination for him, saying that he would have a son, but that this son could not inherit his property in the future, and then I let him go back. After that, Shen Wancai did not believe in me. He was angry for a long time and did not contact me. I¡¯ve no idea why his second wife ising to me again now.¡±

    As he said this, Du Fei snorted arrogantly. ¡°When he doesn¡¯t believe me, he tosses me away like trash. Now that he has a favor to ask of me, she¡¯se knocking on my door. Isn¡¯t that degrading? Just let her wait! Besides, I know that this woman is selfish, mean, greedy and ungrateful. It¡¯s okay to have her be a little frustrated sometimes, or she would just be too arrogant all day long. Ugh, are you kidding me? Only the officialse to beg cultivators for help, when have we ever asked smelly ordinary people for help?¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help giving a thumbs-up and said in praise, ¡°Zhenren Du is a proud man. I love to hear that. I¡¯d like to toast to these words one day!¡±

    Du Feiughed and saluted with joined hands, ¡°Well, when will you get married, Zhenren Li? I will definitelye and have a drink then. And I won¡¯t leave until we are both blind drunk!¡±

    Li Yundong chuckled and said, ¡°That¡¯s settled then!¡± However, he couldn¡¯t help thinking in his heart, ¡°Marriage? Does Su Chan have an identity card? I¡¯m afraid she¡¯s unregistered. Can she even get married? I¡¯m a human, but that girl is a spirit. If we really get married, what will she give birth to? A half-blood?¡±

    Li Yundong secretly snickered in his heart. Du Fei enthusiastically sent Li Yundong downstairs and ordered a car to take Li Yundong to Xiyuan Temple. Du Fei didn¡¯t turn back until the car was far away.

    Li Yundong sat in the special car arranged for him by Du Fei for about 20 minutes, eventually arriving at Xiyuan Temple. After getting out of the car, he politely said goodbye to the driver and then went to the greeting bonze. When he was about to talk to him, he saw the greeting bonze staring at him for a while, then suddenly smile and ask, ¡°Are you Mr. Li Yundong?¡±

    Li Yunqi asked suspiciously, ¡°Do you know me?¡±

    The greeting bonze smiled and leaned to one side, making a gesture as it said, ¡°Amitabha Li, our head of the monastery has instructed me to wait for you here.¡±

    Li Yundong was very surprised. ¡°Master Puren actually knew that I woulde? What a coincidence!¡±

 Chapter 448 Getting the Burning Thumb Po

    <h4>Chapter 448 Getting the Burning Thumb Po</h4>

    Hearing Li Yundong¡¯s words, the greeting bonze smiled and saluted with one hand. "You¡¯ll know if you follow me."

    Li Yundong put his palms together and saluted back. "Please lead the way."

    The greeting bonze nodded and turned to show him the way.

    Li Yundong knew that the day was neither a weekend nor a holiday, but there were still many guests who hade to Xiyuan Temple to visit and view ces of interest. Incense was burning in front of the Great Buddha¡¯s Hall, and many guests from Japan and Korea were taking pictures in front of the temple.

    Seeing this, Li Yundong secretly sighed in his heart. "This is an 800-year-old ancient temple. Its foundation is so deep that it can¡¯t bepared with the other sects. Although Zhengyi Sect, Dragon Sect, School of Musicals and other sects are powerful and also have deep foundations, most of their ancestral temples are declining. Ifpared by the intensity of their incense, they are very inferior to the Buddhist temple.

    "If I return to Mount Tianlong someday, I will have a chance to manage my own Zu Ting well. I can¡¯t lose my grip on the fundamentals."

    But while Li Yundong was thinking of this, an idea suddenly popped into his mind, "If I hadn¡¯t be the leader of the Fox Zen School, I wouldn¡¯t know which school to join in the future instead. If I never joined one, would I end up as a lonely ghost without a sect? Although I am the leader of the Fox Zen School, I still have a feeling of living under someone else¡¯s roof. Moreover, Liu Ye is still alive. I don¡¯t know when he wille back. If he doese back, should I let him be the leader?"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t stop thinking about this along the way, until suddenly the greeting bonze smiled and said, "Amitabha Li, we¡¯ve arrived. The abbot asks you toe in."

    Li Yundong came back to his senses as if he had just been awoken from a dream. After bowing to the greeting bonze, Li Yundong stepped into Master Puren¡¯s meditation room.

    As soon as he got through the door, Li Yundong saw Master Puren sitting cross-legged under a spirit shrine of Buddha¡¯s statue. He pointed to the futon in front of him and chuckled, his eyelids drooping. "Zhenren Li, your brows are furrowed. It seems that you have a lot of things on your mind."

    After Li Yundong had respectfully bowed to him, he also sat down cross-legged on the futon and asked, "Who amongst the living can say that they do not have anything on their mind?"

    Master Pu Ren chuckled. "Amitabha Li, are you trying to argue with me?"

    Li Yundong alsoughed. "I wouldn¡¯t dare to show off in front of you, a great master. However, I have just heard from the greeting bonze that you seem to have already known that I wasing?"

    Puren nodded slightly. "Yes!"

    Li Yundong smiled with some respect. "Buddhism¡¯s Metasamsara Kung fu is really powerful. Can you predict everything with it?"

    Purenughed and didn¡¯t answer, asking instead, "Zhenren Li, do you know why the Cultivation World fell?"

    Li Yundong was a little surprised that Puren¡¯s question had digressed, but he replied, "As far as I know, it¡¯s because after the Qing Dynasty entered Guanyuan, Tibetan Buddhism severely suppressed Buddhism in the Central ins, along with Taoism. During thete Qing Dynasty, the turmoil of the country coincided with the outbreak of the May 4th Movement, the Great Leap Forward, the Movement for the Destruction of the Four Old Ways, and the horrible Great Cultural Revolution. During this period of time, both Buddhism and Taoism in the Cultivation World suffered extremely severely. Moreover, the cultural soil of the Buddhist and Taoist families almost disappeared, and the Cultivation culture rooted in this soil naturally found it difficult to survive. Is that right, Master Puren?"

    "You are only partly right, there are deeper reasons of which you are unaware."

    Li Yundong respectfully asked, "In that case, Great master, please enlighten me!"

    Puren smiled and began exining. "Since ancient times, if someone has wanted to convey information, they have had to use fast horses or homing pigeons. We cultivators can be able to use Yin Spirit out of our bodies through cultivation. The soul can fly to the sky and, in a short time, we can transmit a piece of information to a recipient at a very fast speed, or we can use powerful magical weapons to deliver messages."

    "But cultivating to that point is not something that just anyone can do. One must work hard, and they must have both the talent and the opportunity to do it!" While saying this, Puren¡¯s thin hands took out a cell phone from his sleeve. He shook it and continued, "However, in this age, any ordinary person can do something simr with the help of science and technology."

    Puren ced his phone in front of him and sighed slightly. "Current technological power is extremely advanced, particrly with the emergence of various weapons which have made even our cultivators¡¯ most awe-inspiring and powerful magical weapons inferior. You Taoist cultivators had spent more than ten years cultivating to the realm of Feijian phase. You can kill a person in a few moves without leaving a trace from many miles away. This should be very powerful, right? But now, with a gun in your hands, you can also kill a person in a few moves and without leaving a trace. There are even some people who can press a remote control and trigger deaths and injuries in remote ces! Such an ability is much more powerful than our powerful magical weapons!"

    Puren peered at Li Yundong closely and asked, "Zhenren Li, We have worked hard on cultivation for a lifetime, but others can do these things without practicing. So, why do they still want to cultivate?"

    Li Yundong was stunned when he heard that. He secretly felt that Master Puren was right. He sighed and replied, "You¡¯re not wrong. Not only in the Cultivation World, but also in the areas of martial arts and medicine in China! Medical skills are supported by cultivation, and martial arts defend cultivation. It¡¯s a pity that they are almost gone now!"

    Puren immediately asked, "So, Zhenren Li, since ordinary people can do what we can do without cultivation, why should we still cultivate? We could just give up on it all!"

    Li Yundong immediately retorted without thinking, "I don¡¯t agree with your reasoning!"

    A hint of a smile appeared in Puren¡¯s eyes. "Why?" he asked.

    "Buddhism doesn¡¯t pay attention to the final result, but rather on the process of cultivation itself, which is the meaning of walking and experiencing. Buddhism¡¯s cultivation is designed to achieve self-enlightenment and ascendence through continuous cultivation, so as to transcend into the sacred, return to the basics, and finally be a Buddha! Simrly, the Taoists¡¯ cultivation is called Xiuzhen. It focuses on the word ¡¯True¡¯, which emphasizes finding one¡¯s true self and staying authentic. What is the true self, falseness, and reality? In recent days, I have felt that the Yang Spirit is the true self, and everything else is artifice!"

    Facing the respected Master Puren, Li Yundong continued eloquently, "Ordinary people can do what cultivators can do without cultivation, but that refers to means of killing. We cultivators choose cultivation or Xiuzhen not to learn the methods of killing, but to surpass the restraints of this world, to escape the cycle of rebirth, old age, sickness and death! Ordinary people will always be trapped in the rise and fall of honor and disgrace, birth, old age, sickness and death, but we have long surpassed this point. As long as our Yang Spirit exists, we will be in harmony with heaven and earth, with the sun and the moon!

    "The goal of us cultivators is to transcend birth, old age, sickness and death, and to detach from the mortal difficulties of the world!" Li Yundong said, his voice passionate and his expression energetic. He was in high spirits, firm, brave and powerful.

    Hearing this, Master Puren eximed loudly and pped his hands. "Good. Well said!"

    When he was pping, another person came out from the back of the meditation room. It was an old monk dressed in a golden cassock with a face full of wrinkles. His white eyebrows were so long that they almost reached his cheekbones.

    Master Puren smiled at the old monk and said, "Are you happy now? Can this magic weapon be handed over to him?"

    The old monk smiled but did not answer. He put his palms together and bowed deeply to Li Yundong, asking, "Amitabha Li, if you had a chance, how would you help the Cultivation World to regain its former glory?"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t dare to be rude. He quickly got up and saluted back, smiling as he said, "I can make friends with talents from all over the world, help others everywhere, and gain recognition and support from everyone in the future. Then I¡¯d be able to regain glory."

    Seeing that Li Yundong¡¯s answer was rather vague, the old monk chuckled. "What will you do if you meet demons who want to ruin our Cultivation World in the future?"

    Li Yundong replied without hesitation, "Naturally, I would eliminate the demons and guard our ways!"

    The old monk¡¯s eyes narrowed as he asked, "But if this person were your acquaintance, then what would you do?"

    This question immediately made Li Yundong vignt. He turned to look at Master Puren and asked, "Who is this great master?"

    The old monk smiled. "This is Abbot Xincheng of Jinshan Temple."

    Li Yundong saluted. "Abbot Xincheng, I wonder who the acquaintance you are referring to might be?" he asked.

    "Is it important who she/he is?" Xincheng replied wryly.

    Li Yundong¡¯s vignce intensified. He thought to himself, ¡°Isn¡¯t this person mocking me and setting up a trap? It¡¯s okay to deal with other people, but if he¡¯s trying to goad me into dealing with Su Chan, I¡¯ll p him!¡±

    Li Yundong frowned and said, "Of course it¡¯s important. If they are a loved one, then I will never do anything. But anyway, I believe that a loved one of mine would not do this kind of thing. Even if they wanted to, I would stop them."

    Xincheng chuckled. "It¡¯s not that serious. Amitabha Li, you are too worried. Who doesn¡¯t know that you¡¯re a spoony who loves beauties and doesn¡¯t care about the country? I was merely asking, if this person was someone you knew, what would you do? Would you protect them and be biased?"

    Li Yundong thought for a while before saying seriously, "I would find out the truth first. If they really did something wrong, I would handle it impartially!"

    Xincheng smiled with satisfaction and nodded to Puren.

    Puren chuckled and withdrew a purple-gold colored ze bowl from his sleeve. "Amitabha Li, Du Fei called me just now and told me your purpose ining. Although I don¡¯t know what you want this bowl for, I believe you possess an upstanding temperament and a kind heart, so you won¡¯t use this powerful magical weapon to do things that go against reason and nature. Besides, you are in such a hurry to use it, so perhaps there¡¯s something important you need it for. I¡¯ll give it to you now."

    Li Yundong was overjoyed and took this Buddhist magic weapon with both hands respectfully. After taking it, he thought for a moment and said, "But Master Puren, I still have something I must ask you for."

    Puren smiled at him encouragingly. "Amitabha Li, you can speak directly."

    "I want to ask you how to arrange the Bafang Killing Formation!" Li Yundong revealed.

    Pu Ren was slightly surprised. "The Bafang Killing Formation? Amitabha Li, do you know that this is the most guarded magic circle of our Xiyuan Temple, which has not been passed down for 800 years? But..."

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart thumped, and he was thinking to himself, "Oh no, I¡¯ve gotten the magical item, but it seems I won¡¯t be able to learn the magic circle! What should I do..."

    But when he heard thest word from Puren, his hope was reignited. He quickly asked, "But what?"

 Chapter 449 Fiend

    <h4>Chapter 449 Fiend</h4>

    Puren looked at Li Yundong and said slowly, "But... I still want to hear your reason for wanting to learn the Bafang Killing Formation."

    Li Yundong knew that it was impossible for him to get Puren to teach him such an important magic circle without exining his need clearly. It would be an idiot¡¯s daydream. Actually, Li Yundong hadn¡¯t really been expecting Puren to teach him such an important circle, but he thought that he could at least get him to personally arrange one in the ce he wanted.

    Li Yundong told him about the feud between the Fox Zen School and Yan Fang and then spoke of his ns. Finally, he said, "Master Puren, as the saying goes, there are no lies in front of Zhenren. I must catch Yan Fang, but I won¡¯t kill her, and after thinking about it, I have decided to ask you for help. Please teach me Bafang Killing Formation so that I can trap Yan Fang. I will definitely thank you in the future."

    Puren lowered his eyes, his face void of expression. After thinking for a long time, he said, "Amitabha Li, I¡¯m aware of the issues of which you speak. However, this Bafang Killing Formation is too big of a deal. I can¡¯t make the decision to teach it to you."

    Li Yundong had been expecting this, so he was not discouraged. "Master Puren, could you please mobilize the Bafang Killing Formation to help me catch Yan Fang?" he implored.

    Puren still shook his head. "Sorry, I can¡¯t."

    "Why?" Li Yundong asked with a frown.

    "Yan Fang is an internal disciple of Linggong Sect, which is one of the first sects, the Zhengyi School of Taoist sects. She became famous very early, and all of the cultivators of the older generation knew her name. She was pretty much considered a celebrity of the Taoists Cultivation World. If I were to use the Bafang Killing Formation to capture her, the Zhengyi School would find an excuse to threaten me. If that happens, there will be frequent fights between the Buddhist and Taoist sects. It would be fine if it was just a fight. If the state gets involved, it will spell trouble for the Cultivation World."

    Li Yundong looked disappointed. "Can we only watch Yan Fang behave recklessly then?"

    Puren put his palms together and sighed. "Amitabha, I can¡¯t help you, but you don¡¯t have to worry. As the saying goes, there must be a road before the mountain, and the boat will go straight to the bridge. You already have the burning thumb pot. When the timees, there will no doubt be a wonderful way to deal with Yan Fang."

    Li Yundongughed bitterly. "wonderful ns. If even one of them is missed, it will be a failure. How could I have any to deal with Yan Fang? It¡¯s okay that this old monk doesn¡¯t want to lend it to me, but he needn¡¯t use such words to fob me off."

    Seeing Li Yundong¡¯s face full of disappointment and a wry smile, Puren thought for a while and finally said, "Amitabha Li, in fact, you should think about why I would lend the burning thumb pot at a time like this."

    Li Yundong suddenly had an idea and asked, "Master Puren, do you want to...?"

    Puren turned to look at the head of the monastery of the Jinshan Temple, Master Xincheng, and the two men smiled at the same time. Puren bowed and said, "Amitabha Li, you have a high level ofprehension. However, you want to understand the grievances of the sects, but we want to catch a fiend!"

    Li Yundong asked tentatively, "Great masters, who is the fiend you want to catch?"

    Puren shook his head. "Some things can¡¯t be known by a third person! You¡¯ll know when the timees."

    Li Yundong was a little dissatisfied, so he asked again, "When will that be?"

    Puren thought for a while. "On the eighth of the next lunar month."

    "The eighth?" Li Yundong was stunned for a moment, but he then thought of something and asked, "When is the Taoist assembly?"

    Puren and Xincheng looked at each other again, smiled at the same time, and said in unison, "Yes, it¡¯s also on the eighth!"

    Li Yundong was shocked!

    "Are these two old monks going to eliminate demons at the Taoist assembly?

    "That¡¯s not right. The people who participate in the Taoist assembly are all cultivators from various Taoist sects. What demons are these two old monks nning to catch?

    "Are they going to try and capture the fox spirits who cultivate in my sect?"

    Li Yundong was surprised by the direction of his own thoughts. "That can¡¯t be right, they would have gone after them long ago. Why wait until the Taoist assembly?"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help asking again, "Great masters, which fiends are you intending to catch at the Taoist assembly?"

    Puren said with his eyes downcast, "We can¡¯t say!"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but give a bitter chuckle. "Master Puren, you are so mysterious. What are you going to do?"

    "As the saying goes, If the emperor speaks carelessly, he will lose the support of the minister. If the minister is not careful, he will lose his life; if the affairs in progress are not kept secret, they will be unsessful. Amitabha Li, don¡¯t ask any more questions. Since you already have the burning thumb pot, you ought to be satisfied. Maybe when the timees, we will be able to join hands to eliminate demons together!"

    After he had finished speaking, he shouted the name of a Buddhist monk again and pped his hands. After a while, a greeting bonze emerged from the end of the corridor. "Fajian," Puren said. "Take Amitabha Li to the guest room to rest. I¡¯m a little tired."

    ¡°Alright, looks like I¡¯m being made to leave!¡± Li Yundong thought to himself.

    Li Yundong had no choice but to bow and say goodbye to Puren and Xincheng. At least his trip had not been in vain. Although he hadn¡¯t received the Bafang Killing Formation, he had finally gotten his hands on the burning thumb pot. He was now a little more confident about catching Yan Fang¡¯s Yang Spirit.

    But when Li Yundong followed the bonze back, he was still troubled. "Judging from the situation just now, it is obvious that Jinshan Temple and Xiyuan Temple have been working together to catch the fiend. But what kind of fiend could it be?

    "Judging from the fact that I broke into Xiyuan Temple before and found that they had released two big golden snakes, it seems that these monks could not amodate the outsiders? Otherwise, why would they have been refining these two big golden snakes?

    "What did those two snake monsters have to do with them? Why would these great monks have had to deal with a couple of snakes?

    "If snake demons can¡¯t be allowed to exist in this world, what about a fox spirit like Su Chan? Is she also forbidden?

    "Judging from the events of the past five thousand years, fox spirits can be even more harmful to the world than snake demons!

    "However, based on my contact with Master Puren of Xiyuan Temple, he does not seem to have any opposition to Su Chan and the others. He seems to have persuaded himself to be kind.

    "Besides, what kind of monster is Su Chan?

    "Still, if these monks really want to go after her, what can I do?"

    Having thought of this, Li Yundong stopped, and his expression was strangely solemn.

    The greeting bonze looked back in confusion and asked, "Amitabha Li, what¡¯s the matter?"

    Li Yundong had a cold expression, his eyebrows were full of malice, and he said in a cold voice, "Nothing. You go first. I¡¯ll look at the surrounding scenery alone."

    Seeing that Li Yundong was looking ominous, the bonze wanted to ask him a few questions. However, it was put off by Li Yundong¡¯s evil spirit and did not dare to speak even though he was worried that something would happen to Li Yundong, so he simply nodded and hurried towards the backyard, going to report to the head of the monastery.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know what the greeting bonze was thinking, he just stood there alone, his eyes strangely grim.

    When the question from before surfaced in his mind, Li Yundong realized that he would not hesitate to help Su Chan. In his opinion, no matter who wanted to hurt his favorite person in the world, whether it was Buddha or Kwan-Yin Bodhisattva, he would only be able to say one thing: "Let¡¯s fight!"

    "But the question is... who are they trying to capture? Who is this fiend? Obviously, it¡¯s not Yan Fang!

    "If it¡¯s someone else from the Fox Zen School, what should I do? If they really want to catch Su Chan, what could their reason be?"

    These questions rushed into Li Yundong¡¯s mind one after another, sinking him into a depressed fugue for a while. Although the surroundings were of antique temples and the scenery was beautiful and elegant, Li Yundong was not in the mood to appreciate them at all.

    While he was deep in thought, he suddenly heard the voices of two women talking not far away, and the content of the conversation immediately caught Li Yundong¡¯s attention.

    "Hey, Xiaxia, why are the groups led by you made up of so many weird people this time? I¡¯ve seen odd Japanese people before, but never like this. They didn¡¯t take pictures of any of the scenery, just of the talismans in these trees, and then they took photos of the monks in the Mahavira Hall. Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s strange?"

    "Lan, you haven¡¯t seen anything yet! Did you see those Japanese pointing and talking about the Sutra Depository of Xiyuan Temple?"

    "Yeah?"

    "Do you know what they were talking about?"

    "I¡¯m not as good as you at Japanese, and my listening is pretty bad. Xiaxia, tell me what you heard."

    "Well, those Japanese people were pointing the Buddhist scripture pavilion out to the little girls with them, and they said,¡¯Tachibana Wakako, you see, this is the best preserved Sutra Depository in any of the Buddhist temples in South China. The fact that it¡¯s so rich andplete makes it famous throughout Asia.¡¯ Then do you know what the little girls said?"

    "I don¡¯t know, just tell me quickly. Don¡¯t always make me guess what it is!"

    "The little girl asked, ¡¯But why do other temples that are much older than Xiyuan Temple not have as many scriptures as Xiyuan Temple?¡¯"

    "Yes, her question was very interesting! Although Xiyuan Temple is not exactly young, there are other temples much older than this in our country!"

    "Listen to me! The old man told her, ¡¯Tachibana wakako, there was a terrible catastrophe in this country forty years ago. This catastrophe was no less than burning books and burying schrs of the Qin dynasty. During this catastrophe, many temples and Taoist temples were destroyed, and many scriptures were burned. At the time, the head of the monastery of Xiyuan Temple, Master Mingkai, led the monks to fight back and guard the temple gate day and night so that they could protect the Buddhist scriptures of Xiyuan Temple.¡¯"

    "Wow, the Japanese know a lot about our country¡¯s history! I didn¡¯t even know this stuff."

    "Yes, I often lead groups around Xiyuan Temple, but even I don¡¯t know that. The Japanese seemed to know everything about it. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s weird? And there is even more weird stuff!"

    "Like what?"

    "Well, that old man also said, ¡¯After a while, the famous Taoist assembly will begin. At that time, we will have to go and recognize the cultivation masters of the Taoists. Lan, who do you think these Japanese are? I saw that some of them were wearing monks¡¯ robes in their residences."

    "What is the Taoist assembly? They weren¡¯t just crazy, right?"

    The more Li Yundong listened, the more strange and shocked he felt, especially when he heard them mention the Taoist assembly. He finally couldn¡¯t help himself and walk behind the two women whispering to each other, asking in a deep voice, "Excuse me..."

    Hearing him cut in, the two women were shocked. They turned their heads at the same time, and the three of them all stared at each other, all surprised. Li Yundong and the two women blurted at the same time, "It¡¯s you?!"

 Chapter 450 The Japanese Enemy

    <h4>Chapter 450 The Japanese Enemy</h4>

    The two women standing in front of Li Yundong were none other than the tour guides Liu Xia and her friend Lan Lan who had secretly photographed Li Yundong before.

    When Liu Xia suddenly saw Li Yundong appearing behind her, she was shocked and took an involuntarily step back. ¡°You, are you a ghost? How can you walk without sound?¡± she stammered.

    Lan pulled her arm and whispered nervously. ¡°Xia Xia, isn¡¯t this guy here to get even with us?¡±

    Although her voice was small, it couldn¡¯t escape Li Yundong¡¯s ears. Li Yundong frowned and asked, ¡°Get even?¡±

    Ever since Lan had seen that Li Yundong¡¯s skills and performance were not like those of a human being, she had been very afraid of this mysterious boy. In addition, she had been the one to urge Liu Xia to upload the video she had shot to the inte. She had wanted to expose Li Yundong, but she hadn¡¯t been expecting that their video would be automatically deleted after only a few days of exposure.

    Regarding this matter, Lan had even contacted the customer service of the videowork, but herints and information had all been deleted, and she had never received a response.

    Over and over again, Lan Lan and Liu Xia had confirmed one thing: Li Yundong was very likely to have a powerful background, which would exin why that video had been so quickly deleted!

    Lan, who had thought that she had provoked a powerful person, had been in a panic for a while, fearing that Li Yundong would return for revenge.

    But after a few days, she had found that her life remained peaceful, and she had gradually forgotten all about the matter.

    But suddenly Lan was being faced with the man again, and a jolt of fear ran through her.

    Lan grabbed Liu Xia¡¯s arm, then turned to Li Yundong serenely. ¡°I sent the video. I will take responsibility for what I did! Xiaxia had nothing to do with it!¡±

    ¡°The video? What video?¡± Li Yundong asked curiously.

    When Lan and Liu Xia heard this, they groaned inwardly. ¡°Oh no, now we¡¯ve gone and exposed things ourselves. It turns out that this guy didn¡¯t even know about the video!¡±

    Li Yundong quickly remembered that someone had posted a video of him settling a score with master Fakong online. He wondered to himself, ¡°Was it these two women who did it?¡±

    Li Yundong was unable to stifle augh. He hadn¡¯t expected that he would find this out from just asking casually. They were so guilty and proactively confessed, resolving one of his doubts. He deliberately asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you know that your behavior is an invasion of privacy?¡±

    Liu Xia¡¯s eyes were filled with temerity, but she deliberately forced a fierce look on her face and said, ¡°Didn¡¯t the video get deletedter?¡±

    Li Yundong red at her. ¡°Do you know what trouble this video could have brought me?¡±

    Although Lan Lan was not tall, her personality was quite straightforward and righteous. She put her hands on her hips and stood in front of Liu Xia. ¡°What are you doing? I know you are powerful, but if you get closer, I will scream that someone is assaulting us here!¡± Lan shouted at Li Yundong.

    Li Yundong took a look at her, thinking to himself, ¡°Although this tour guide is good-looking, she is far worse than any of the women usually around me. I am surrounded by beauties and am still able to remain calm on weekdays. Am I going to assault her in a Buddhist temple? What a ridiculous notion.¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing. He was not in the mood to talk to the two tour guides in-depth. ¡°I won¡¯t hold you ountable for this matter, but you have to tell me about the Japanese people you were just chatting about, okay?¡±

    Liu Xia and Lan looked at each other. Seeing that Li Yundong didn¡¯t want to find fault with them, their resolve suddenly weakened. Liu Xia nodded and asked, ¡°Ah, you overheard us just now?¡±

    ¡°You two were bbering so loudly that I couldn¡¯t help but hear you,¡± Li Yundong said with a carelessugh.

    Liu Xia nudged Lan, feeling a little annoyed, and whispered, ¡°It¡¯s all because of you. You have such a loud voice. It attracted him!¡±

    Lan muttered back angrily, ¡°Did I have a loud voice just now? You¡¯re the one that¡¯s always running their mouth, okay?¡±

    ¡°You started talking first!¡± Liu Xia said indignantly.

    Seeing that the two women were getting caught up scolding each other, Li Yundong quickly cut in. ¡°Don¡¯t quarrel. First, tell me where the Japanese people are, or you can just take me to have a look.¡±

    Liu Xia peered at Li Yundong closely. ¡°What are you nning? As a tour guide, we are obliged to protect the privacy of our tourists.¡±

    Li Yundong nced at Liu Xia. He had never had a good impression of this tour guide who fawned over foreigners, but at this time, he patiently said to her, ¡°The Taoist assembly is an event held by Chinese Taoists once every four years. It will be held on the eighth day of next month. These Japanese tourists said that they were going to attend. I believe they may have some bad intentions. You know, you are also citizens of China, so you shouldn¡¯t help these Japanese.¡±

    Liu Xia recalled the behavior of the Japanese people before, and she believed what Li Yundong said in her heart. She raised her brows and asked, ¡°What do you want to do?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled slightly. ¡°Nothing, I just want to check.¡±

    Liu Xia and Lan looked at each other and nodded slightly. Lan nced at Li Yundong and eximed a little uneasily, ¡°Are you a young ruffian? You¡¯d better not hit people! You feel very happy when you hit someone, but the person hit won¡¯t! ¡±

    Li Yundong smiled. ¡°As long as they don¡¯t cause trouble, I won¡¯t bother them.¡±

    Lan whispered and then turned around to lead the way. Liu Xia nodded to Li Yundong and said, ¡°Come with me. Don¡¯t talkter. If you want to know something, ask me quietly and I¡¯ll ask for you.¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s lips twitched upwards. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t get you into trouble.¡±

    Liu Xia was relieved, quickly caught up with Lan, and began walking side by side with her. The two female tour guides whispered and cast nces back at Li Yundong from time to time, but when Li Yundong looked at them, they quickly looked away.

    Li Yundong walked all the way down the corridor with white walls and ck tiles and came to the front of the Arhat Aquarium. He saw four people pointing in Arhat Aquarium, three men and one girl.

    Li Yundong looked over and saw that one of the three men was wearing a gray suit with an ochre tie around his neck and golden cherry blossom on his chest. He had gray hair on his temples, deep wrinkles on his face, and an overall very dignified look. He was obviously a person who had enjoyed being on top for a long time.

    Next to him were two young men, one of whom was slightly shorter than average. Although he was wearing a mix of clothing styles, he was dressed luxuriously and had an extraordinary temperament. This man was holding a handheld camera and seemed to be turning a blind eye to the warning prohibiting shooting in the temple as he kept snapping pictures.

    Next to this man stood a tall, burly gentleman. This man had his back to Li Yundong and was talking with the little girl, making Li Yundong unable to see his appearance.

    But Li Yundong only had to look at the back of this man to feel that he was like a towering mountain, exuding a sense of righteousness from all over his body.

    As soon as Li Yundong¡¯s eyes fell on the tall man¡¯s back, the man shrugged his shoulders and immediately turned around, staring sideways at Li Yundong as if he had sensed his gaze.

    The stare he gave Li Yundong was terrifying!

    Suddenly, Li Yundong had a vision, feeling as if he had encountered a fierce and terrifying beast in the jungle, and all the little hairs on his body stood to attention.

    At this time, Li Yundong¡¯s Cultivation Quotient had been practiced to the highest realm of Yang Spirit. It could be said that his whole body¡¯s Qi was proficient. He could hide in the Internal Orifice, then burst out in front of his body in an instant. He was like a divine dragon, sometimes remaining hidden under the nine earths, sometimes soaring through the vast sky.

    In the past, Li Yundong hadn¡¯t known how to hide his Qi, so wherever he went, his deep Qi had drawn attention. In addition, his Qi was extremely masculine. When a woman got close to him, she would be unconsciously attracted to him and quickly develop a strong affection for him. Conversely, when a man looked at Li Yundong, he would subconsciously feel repelled by him, and have a strong resistance to Li Yundong.

    This situation had caused more than a little trouble for Li Yundong. As his cultivation had improved, his outside Qi had lessened. Disregarding his outside Qi, he now looked no different from ordinary people.

    But at this time, one of the Japanese men took a close look, and Li Yundong felt an extremely terrifying and dangerous Qi on his face. The sense of threat was even stronger than that of Yue Sheng of the Quanzhen Dragon Sect from before!

    Li Yundong¡¯s Qi hidden in his body had been roused by the man all at once, bing overwhelming. Liu Xia and Lan standing next to Li Yundong suddenly felt that there was an invisible hand beside them, pushing them hard, and they almost staggered.

    Liu Xia and Lan looked at Li Yundong in astonishment, only to see that his clothes were fluttering despite theck of wind, and that his ck hairs were all standing up one by one, like he was a fierce tiger meeting danger in the jungle, suddenly puffing out its mane!

    As soon as Li Yundong¡¯s Qi burst forth, the light in the Japanese man¡¯s eyes suddenly exploded, and countless ck patterns spread rapidly around his neck and quickly crawled up over his face, continuing to gush out in the palms of his hands. ck Qi constantly poured from his, gathering in his hands and not dispersing, like a mass of dense ink condensed by countless ghosts. Li Yundong could even see the ferocious face in it.

    The two men looked at each other fiercely, and the Qi around them was somewhat out of control, especially as the tall Japanese man stretched, bending slightly like a cheetah, and stared at Li Yundong like a falcon. His eyes were covetous, and his whole body was eager to fight.

    Li Yundong saw that the Japanese man¡¯s Qi was cold and powerful, and his eyes were full of hostility, as if he were ready to fight at any time. He narrowed his eyes slightly, his expression remaining unchanged, and the bulging aura all over his body became much stronger than before. He stood there peacefully, looking at Li Yundong calmly, but his heart was pounding like a roll of thunder in spite of his serene expression.

    Seeing that the two were about to fight, the old Japanese man next to him suddenly shouted, speaking in a torrent of Japanese, and then the tall Japanese man squinted at Li Yundong for a while, unwilling to withdraw his Qi. He then turned around and stood behind the old man respectfully, his brows low and a humble expression on his face. It was hard to imagine that this person could have released such a cold and domineering Zhenqi just a moment ago.

    As soon as he turned around, he saw the little girl behind him. She looked to be about 13 or 14 years old. Although she was young, she was quite tall, about 1.65 meters. She was wearing avender dress and white socks, and she had a beautiful face even without makeup. She looked at Li Yundong curiously, then gently pulled on the sleeve of the tall Japanese man next to her, asking in a low voice, ¡°Shinsyu, who is this?¡±

    Shinsyu stared at Li Yundong closely, then bowed slightly. ¡°Miss Tachibana Wakako, I don¡¯t know who this person is, but... he is a master.¡±

    Tachibana Wakako looked up at the old man next to him and giggled. ¡°Master Cinian, are there any masters in maind China?¡±

 Chapter 451 Is There A Master in China Too?

    <h4>Chapter 451 Is There A Master in China Too?</h4>

    Li Yundong saw the little girl smiling innocently, but he didn¡¯t understand Japanese, so he didn¡¯t know that she actually said something insulting. He was even less aware of the fact that the majestic Master Cinian had also said a few insulting words.

    Master Cinian smiled at Tachibana Wakako and said in Japanese with a Kyoto ent, "Tachibana Wakako, 300 or 400 years ago, there were masters in thisnd. At that time, no matter whether they were Buddhists or Taoists, there were so many great people in China. We couldn¡¯tpare with them. But since the Qing dynasty, the Han people of thisnd have been controlled by the ethnic minorities of Manchu. Since then, their Cultivation World has been in decline. At this point, the Chinese Cultivation World haspletely fallen to the bottom, and its power is far inferior to ours. Even the whole Chinese Cultivation World can¡¯t bepared to the strength of our Rigoino Tantra.

    "Furthermore, Tachibana Wakako, think about it. How powerful could that sect be? It couldn¡¯t even protect its Zu Ting and scriptures, and even civilians were unwilling to believe in and support it. How good could the disciples taught by such a sect even be? Our Mount K¨­ya was appointed Master Konghai by Mikado in the seventh year of Hirohito. Grandmaster Konghai established the Zhenyan Sect after that. It hasn¡¯t changed since 816 AD to the present, and no matter what kind of war we have endured, no matter how dynasties have changed, our Gaoye Mountain has remained unmoved! Only sects like ours can produce real masters. Chinese sects that have endured 200 years of suffering... Humph, I¡¯d like to believe that there were masters in Xiyuan Temple. As for other sects, they only have fake masters. In front of our true masters, they are nothing!"

    Tachibana Wakako nodded as if she understood, but she quickly nced at Li Yundong again. "Is this person Shinsyu was talking about a master?"

    Master Cinian also nced at Li Yundong, then nodded slightly. "Well, this person has very strong eyesight and a wealth of energy. His Yuanqi is understood and his explosive power is very strong. What¡¯s even more unusual is that this person is very young and will most likely be a hero. Still, I think the Qi in his body is very strange, unlike any of the cultivation Qi from the various Chinese sects that I am familiar with. As such, I don¡¯t think he is a cultivator from any major cultivation sects in China. Guess there really is no such master in the Chinese cultivation world!"

    Tachibana Wakako couldn¡¯t help looking at Li Yundong curiously again and asking, "Which sect does this person belong to? Is he Chinese?" Then, she whispered to Shinsyu beside her, "Shinsyu, can you look into his background?"

    After hearing her words, Shinsyu¡¯s expression changed. He lowered his head and raised his eyes, and an aggressive gleam immediately shone from below his brow, aimed at Li Yundong.

    His figure suddenly changed from that of an ordinary servant with lowered brows to that of an extraordinary master.

    Shinsyu looked at Li Yundong, who seemed to be responsive, his eyes also turned toward Shinsyu. Their gazes met, and it immediately felt like Mars colliding with the earth, seeming to trigger countless zing sparks in the air.

    "Shinsyu!" Cinian cried out solemnly. "Stop!"

    Shinsyu immediately lowered his head and bowed respectfully. "I¡¯m sorry, Master Cinian. I was being too impulsive."

    Cinian patted Tachibana Wakako on the top of the head kindly and said softly, "Tachibana Wakako, have you forgotten our agreement? This time we are here to collect some information about the Chinese Cultivation World, not to make trouble. This person¡¯s cultivation kung fu seems to be from a Chinese Taoist sect. If that¡¯s correct, he should be attending the Taoist assembly next month. If he does go, you will know his background."

    Tachibana Wakako smiled. "Okay!" Then, she took the initiative to say to Li Yundong in Japanese, "Hey, you must go to the Taoist assembly!"

    Li Yundong watched ignorantly from one side. All he knew was that they were talking quickly in Japanese. Finally, the little girl had said something to him with a smile, but he didn¡¯t know what it meant.

    He was about to turn around to ask Liu Xia, but he saw the old Japanese man who seemed to be the leader murmur a word to the other Japanese man who was constantly taking pictures. He respectfully put away the camera, and they turned around and left slowly.

    Before leaving, Tachibana Wakako looked back at Li Yundong one final time and shouted again, "You must go!"

    Shinsyu nced at Li Yundong and then said to Tachibana Wakako, "Miss Tachibana Wakako, you don¡¯t actually need to pay attention to this person at all."

    Tachibana Wakako looked at Shinsyu in confusion and asked, "Why?"

    He smiled slightly. "Although this person¡¯s cultivation and kung fu are strong, there is still a gap between him and me. He is far inferior even to you."

    "Ah? Not as good as you? If youpete with him, what would your odds of winning be?" she asked.

    Shinsyu thought for a moment before saying proudly, "Seventy percent!"

    Tachibana Wakako¡¯s face fell. "Well, that¡¯s boring! This is the first master I have ever seen in maind China."

    Shinsyuughed. "Miss Tachibana, Master Cinian just said that there are no real masters in maind China!"

    Tachibana Wakako nodded. "I know!" After that, she turned her head and shouted back at Li Yundong, "Hey, since you can¡¯t even beat Shinsyu, you don¡¯t have to go to the Taoist assembly. I don¡¯t want to see you!"

    Having finished yelling, she then followed Cinian, Shinsyu, and the others and they all left.

    Li Yundong watched them leave, feeling utterly confused. He turned his head and asked Liu Xia with a puzzled expression, "What did they say? Didn¡¯t you say that you would trante for me? Why weren¡¯t you interpreting?"

    Liu Xia was dumbfounded by this point. Just now, she had heard these Japanese people seemingly talking about stuff from fantasy novels, such as Rigoino, the sect of cultivation, masters and fake masters. What were they talking about? Were they talking about a Xianxia TV series?

    Liu Xia was in a daze. When Li Yundong urged her, she came to her senses. She stared at him with her onyx, orb-like eyes as if she was looking at an outsider. She thought to herself, "Is this man truly wise?"

    As soon as this thought came to mind, she remembered all kinds of strange scenes she had seen involving this man before. She couldn¡¯t help but believe it, so her shock only grew.

    Li Yundong saw the woman staring at him nkly, looking as if she had seen a ghost. He couldn¡¯t help frowning and said, "Hey, I¡¯m talking to you. What were those Japanese people talking about just now?"

    Liu Xia collected her thoughts and recalled what the Japanese had said before. She tranted sentence by sentence to Li Yundong.

    He listened to it all carefully. At first, he nodded repeatedly, but when he heard Liu Xia¡¯s trantion of Tachibana Wakako¡¯s sentence ¡¯Are there any masters in maind China?¡¯, he suddenly became furious!

    He muttered in an irritated tone, "Even a young girl would dare to be so proud? Does she really think that there are no real masters in our country?"

    But when Liu Xia finished tranting the words of Master Cinian, although Li Yundong had been growing enraged, he immediately calmed down.

    The young cultivator pressed his lips together tightly, and his handsome, masculine face was clouded over in contemtion. His eyebrows were furrowed, and there was a deep, imposing pressure visible on his brow. The air around him seemed to freeze, and Liu Xia, who was beside him, felt as if there was a big stone on her chest, making it hard for her to breathe.

    After a long time, Li Yundong turned to look at her and asked coldly, "That¡¯s it? They didn¡¯t say anything else?"

    Liu Xia felt that when he spoke, the air around them began to flow again. The big stone on her heart was lifted.

    She let out a sigh of relief and said, "It¡¯s not over yet! Just before she left, the little girl said something to you."

    Li Yundong asked seriously, "What was it?"

    Liu Xia nced at him timidly and carefully tranted the final conversation between Shinsyu and Tachibana Wakako.

    Before she finished speaking, Lan, who was beside her, got annoyed even before Li Yundong did. She spat wrathfully, "These people really don¡¯t know the immensity of heaven and earth!"

    After hearing her words, Li Yundong unexpectedly did not fly into a rage as Liu Xia had imagined. Instead, he raised his head andughed out of extreme indignation.

    As he guffawed, his Qi swelled like the tide of a stormy sea, as if there was a torrential river surging.

    As soon as Li Yundong beganughing, the copper bells in the entire Xiyuan Temple started ringing and making buzzing sounds. This sound mixed with Li Yundong¡¯s loud and amazingugh, the crescendo swelling straight to the sky.

    Liu Xia, Lan, and the other tourists around all covered their ears with pained expressions. Some of them were weak and even squatted on the ground, their facial features contorting.

    At this time, Cinian, Shinsyu, Tachibana Wakako, and the others who had already walked out of Xiyuan Temple, also heard the voice. They suddenly stopped and turned their heads to look back in unison.

    They saw a straight pir of Qi from Xiyuan Temple rushing into the sky, apanied by a burst ofughter, which shot straight into the nineyers of clouds, stirring up the wind and clouds and changing the sky!

    Tachibana Wakako looked curiously at the rolling clouds above. She gently pulled on Shinsyu¡¯s sleeve, asking, "Shinsyu, is this man challenging you to a duel?"

    Shinsyu narrowed his eyes, and his face became unusually dignified.

    Cinian looked at the changing sky and listened to the proud, thunderousughter. At first, he was still a little unconvinced. "After all, young people are young people. They can¡¯t retain theirposure."

    But he carried on listening to the ceaselessughter for five whole minutes. It was like a wave, wave after wave, tide after tide,yer uponyer, each wave bing stronger than thest.

    Cinian finally got a little panicked. He opened his eyes slightly and remained silent for a long time, and only when theughter finally stopped did he slowly let out a long breath of relief.

    He turned his head and said to Shinsyu, "This person will be a strong opponent!"

    Shinsyu did not refute him. The corners of his mouth lifted into a smile as he responded, "We just have to wait for thepetition to see who¡¯ll win and who¡¯ll lose!"

    With an innocent expression, Tachibana Wakako pped happily and said, "Great, great. It turns out that I underestimated him. There will be a good show at the Taoist assembly after all!"

    She giggled and turned to Master Cinian. "Master Cinian, I think there are masters in China too!"

    Cinian didn¡¯t even turn his head. He chuckled and said, "Oh really? Well, we¡¯ll know when the timees!"

 Chapter 452 Lost for Words

    <h4>Chapter 452 Lost for Words</h4>

    Li Yundong burst outughing. On the one hand, he was showing contempt and disdain for these Japanese people¡¯s arrogant words. On the other hand, he was formally submitting a challenge. However, afterughing for a while, he stood and waited for a response but none of the Japanese turning back to fight him. He knew that they must have left.

    He sneered secretly, then turned his head and apologized to Liu Xia and Lan, who were in great pain from his fearsomeugh. After that, he quickly left Xiyuan Temple.

    Once he was gone, two elderly monks walked out of the backyard of Arhat Aquarium. They were, of course, Xincheng and Puren.

    The two old monks looked at each other and said in chorus the name of a Buddhist monk. Xincheng sighed sincerely. "Jindanes to the world. King Ming descends to the world. The Lightning Retribution phase falls from the sky. All the foxes go down the mountain. The bells of the temple ring at the same time. The demons fight. The Mysterious Fox reappears, and the whole world is in chaos! Puren, your disciple¡¯s words... were truly urate!"

    Puren looked troubled. He breathed a long sigh and said, "Amitabha, I hope that the cultivation world will be able to safely pass through this disaster!"

    The two elderly monks sighed together, and the already deep lines on their faces only deepened further.

    After Li Yundong had left Xiyuan Temple, he began walking quickly and aimlessly. The words of Japanese went around and around in his head, as if something was blocking his heart, making him very ufortable.

    But when Li Yundong pondered it all carefully, he had to admit that the old Japanese man¡¯s words had been very reasonable.

    "How powerful could a sect that can¡¯t even protect its Zu Ting and scripture be? How powerful could a sect that can¡¯t obtain the support of a nation be? How powerful could a sect that can¡¯t even be supported by civilians be? How powerful could a disciple that was taught by such a sect possibly be?"

    These three sentences were like daggers piercing Li Yundong¡¯s chest, making him feel jolts of sadness and helplessness which mingled with his indignation.

    "It¡¯s no wonder that Grandmaster Puren asked about the true meaning of cultivation so solemnly, and it¡¯s no wonder that Zi Yuan has repeatedly beenmenting about the cmity that befell the cultivation world..."

    Li Yundong was standing on a bustling street. Although the pedestrians around him were flowing in a constant stream and the traffic was pretty heavy, he felt like he was in an empty, colorless world, and that the faces of everyone around him were a dull gray, absent of vitality!

    Li Yundong clenched his fists, and his eyes burned with unreconciled anger. He thought to himself, "These Japanese looked down on our Chinese cultivation world, but when the Taoist assembly starts, that¡¯s when they¡¯ll really see whether there are any masters in maind China!"

    As soon as he thought of this, he began walking swiftly to a quiet ce. There, he turned into a bright light and quickly flew towards Tiannan City.

    By the time Li Yundong returned home in Tiannan City, it was alreadyte at night. After entering the house, he saw the little foxes gathering together, happily counting money, and distributing their spoils one by one.

    The little foxes had originally wanted to distribute the money in private, but when they saw Li Yundong enter the room with a cold expression, they suddenly felt as if they had been doing something criminal and been caught red-handed. They looked at each other guiltily. Ling Yue stood up and said with a forced smile, "Leader, you¡¯re back. I, we are counting the money we made today... Ah, by the way, Leader, do you know how much we¡¯ve earned?"

    Li Yundong was frustrated, but faced with these little beauties who were smiling like flowers, the anger in his heart dissipated greatly. He suppressed his unhappiness, smiled faintly and asked, "How did it go? Did you make money today?"

    Seeing Li Yundong smiling, the little foxes immediately became boisterous. They giggled and rushed over to Li Yundong, twittering merrily, "Leader, you can¡¯t despise us anymore. We made a lot of money today!"

    Li Yundong chuckled. He was about to speak when he saw Su Chan suddenly pop her head out of her room in surprise. "Yundong, you¡¯re back!"

    After that, she ran barefooted to Li Yundong like a swallowunching itself into the forest. She plunged into his warm arms.

    Li Yundong held Su Chan firmly in his embrace, gently rubbing her head with tenderness in his heart, and smiled. "Have you been naughty while I wasn¡¯t home?"

    Su Chan rolled her eyes and thought of the middle-aged man who had thrown out 10,000 yuan. She darted her eyes away guiltily and stuck her tongue out secretly, saying nothing for a while.

    Li Yundong was too worried to notice Su Chan¡¯s actions. The little foxes beside him also happily said, "Leader, today our proprietress guided us, helping us to make a lot of money. Look!"

    Immediately, one of the little foxes carried the money over to Li Yundong, hoping for praise. He looked at it briefly and found that there were several thousand yuan there. "Well, you have made thousands on your first day. That¡¯s good. I suppose that there must have been a lot of guests!"

    These words made the little foxes secretly stick out their tongues, but unfortunately a stupid one blurted, "Actually, there was only one..."

    Before she could finish her sentence, the other little foxes beside her covered her mouth and hurriedly dragged her to the back.

    Li Yundong was stunned for a moment, not sure what he had heard. He asked casually, "One what?"

    Ling Yue rolled her eyes and quickly came to the rescue. "We earned so much money over the course of just one day. Leader, aren¡¯t we very able?"

    Li Yundong was unable to stifle augh as he said, "Do you still want to do business at night? I swear you¡¯re obsessed with money!" After that, he patted Su Chan¡¯s head and said, "Chan¡¯er, you¡¯re a good girl. You didn¡¯t make trouble for me. In fact, you¡¯re worthy of praise. By the way, you guys were sharing the money just now, right? Well, Well, you can just distribute the money by yourselves. Consider it a reward for a hard day¡¯s work."

    Upon hearing this, the little foxes immediately cheered in unison. "Long live Leader. Leader is great!"

    Li Yundong chuckled. He nodded at Su Chan and motioned for her toe to his room.

    She anxiously followed him into his room. Once she had gotten through the door, she began rubbing the corners of her clothes with both hands, wondering whether she should tell Li Yundong about what had happened today.

    She was not stupid. Although she had not reacted to what had happened earlier in the beginning, she had thought for a while and finally understood and confirmed one thing. "I did something wrong. I must have caused trouble again!

    "But I¡¯ll get into trouble. Should I tell Yundong?

    "If I tell him, he¡¯ll me me again. The praise he gave me just now will be taken back!

    "But if I don¡¯t tell him, I¡¯ll feel anxious, because something will be on my mind all the time."

    She thought all of this in the blink of an eye, but Li Yundong didn¡¯t notice her vexation. He said softly to her, "Chan¡¯er, I¡¯ve already borrowed the burning thumb pot. You can have a look."

    As he spoke, he took out the burning thumb pot from his pocket and raised it in front of Su Chan.

    Her eyes lit up, and she saw that the burning thumb pot was dark green in color. Even from a distance, she could see that it was colorful and gorgeous, and she could tell that it was definitely not an ordinary item. When she got closer, she saw that the light of the room was shining on the burning thumb pot, reflecting a colorful light. On everyyer of the colored ze, Su Chan could see her charming face, as if this burning thumb pot were actually a Spirit Space, reflecting countless images of herself.

    For a moment, Su Chan was a little dazed by the exquisite vibrations of the burning thumb pot. She subconsciously reached out to touch it, but as soon as her fingers made contact with it, her whole body shook and she retracted her hand as swiftly as if she had been electrocuted.

    Li Yundong smiled. "What¡¯s wrong? What are you afraid of? If you like it, you can hold it and take a proper look."

    Su Chan¡¯s head shook like a rattle, and she looked at the colored ze bowl with both envy and fear in her eyes. "No, this burning thumb pot has so much spiritual energy that I can¡¯t touch it. I just tried and it was very ufortable like I was being electrocuted."

    Li Yundong thought that this was a little strange. He yed with the burning thumb pot in his hand and asked, "Really? Why can¡¯t I feel it?"

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong enviously and said, "Yundong, you are a human being, so naturally you can¡¯t feel it, but I¡¯m a fox spirit. The burning thumb pot is a Buddhist artifact, and its power is solemn and majestic, especially used to restrain the demon Qi like me. Moreover, colored ze is one of the seven treasures of Buddhism, and it is the embodiment of the monks¡¯ thousand years of cultivation. In all Buddhist scriptures, colored ze is regarded as the highest realm for a Buddhist to cultivate to. In the Sutra of Medicine Veluriyam Gautama, it says that when I am willing to get the Bodhi-like Buddha, my body will be colored like colored ze, and my insides and outsides will be bright and pure. From this, it can be seen that colored ze is the purest thing in the world, and a dirty demon body like mine can¡¯t touch it."

    Hearing this, Li Yundong cracked up. He hugged her and affectionately rubbed her forehead with the tip of his nose, smiling broadly. "You little fool. In my opinion, you are the purest person in the world. As for this..."

    Li Yundong held the burning thumb pot high in one hand and smiled. "This is just a magic item. No matter how important it may be, how can it bepared with the worth of people?"

    Su Chan felt a warm rush in her heart. She thought to herself, "Yundong loves me so much, but I haven¡¯t been honest with him. I am concealing something in my heart. How can I be worthy of Yundong¡¯s feelings when I¡¯m like this?"

    Thinking of this, she opened her mouth and was about to tell Li Yundong about what had happened earlier, but he held her with one hand and looked at the burning thumb pot, saying with a sigh, "Chan¡¯er, I only borrowed the burning thumb pot this time. I still don¡¯t have the Bafang Killing Formation. I don¡¯t know if this pot alone can catch Yan Fang¡¯s Yang spirit."

    As he said this, he lowered his head, looking apologetically at Su Chan. He added softly, "But don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll do my best to help you find your master, Ao Wushuang."

    Su Chan had been cut off by Li Yundong before getting a chance to talk. She nodded obediently and wanted to speak again, but Li Yundong touched her hair and said, "Well, I know what you want to say, but you needn¡¯t thank me. We don¡¯t need to speak such polite words to one another. You go out first. I¡¯m going to mobilize my Zhenqi to take the burning thumb pot for my own use."

    "But, Yundong, I have something to tell you," Su Chan blurted.

    "Is it important?" Li Yundong asked puzzledly.

    Su Chan was stunned. She lowered her head with a guilty conscience and said in a weak voice, "Well... maybe it¡¯s not important."

    Li Yundongughed. "Then wait until I have tamed the burning thumb pot. You can go out and wait until I¡¯m finished."

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong hesitantly before finally swallowing the words on the tip of her tongue. She thought to herself, "I think it¡¯s better for Yundong to gain control of the burning thumb pot first... If I tell him the truth now, he will be angry. What if it affects his use of the magic item?"

    Thinking of this, Su Chan timidly nced at Li Yundong and whispered, "Well, Yundong, I¡¯m going out."

    He nodded at her with a smile, but once she had left, the smile on his face slowly faded. He sighed softly and murmured to himself, "I heard from Master Puren and Master Xincheng that a great catastrophe is reallying to the cultivation world... What¡¯s more, the Japanese are here to join in the fun. I really don¡¯t know what¡¯s going to go down. What will happen to me and Chan¡¯er? What will happen to the Fox Zen School?"

    Thinking of this, Li Yundong suddenly felt his thoughts grow chaotic. He calmed himself down and slowly felt his mind be quiet. He sat down with his legs crossed, then held the burning thumb pot with both hands and poured his Zhenqi into it, ready to conquer this Buddhist artifact.

    At first, Li Yundong could feel that there was a powerful force in the burning thumb pot resisting his Zhenqi. He knew that it was the power of the burning thumb pot¡¯s own magical item.

    Li Yundong felt that this magic item had a strong resistance. Instead of being shocked, he was actually happy because taming a magic item was like taming a horse. The more powerful a magic item was, the stronger its resistance would be, and the harder it would be to tame it. However, the methods of taming a magic item were different.

    Li Yundong was excited. He mobilized all his Zhenqi, moving it into the burning thumb pot. As he used more and more Zhenqi, the resistance of the burning thumb pot became weaker and weaker. But just as this resistance was about to disappear, he suddenly felt a huge force pounce on him.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t even have time to react. The force was like a tsunami that could overwhelm the sky, instantly engulfing his soul and making him fall into endless darkness.

 Chapter 453 Chaotic World!

    <h4>Chapter 453 Chaotic World!</h4>

    The difficulty of cultivation was harder than reaching the sky!

    Cultivating was like climbing to the sky. One would slowly climb up by stepping on an invisible and rugged path. The higher the cultivation level, the worse the cultivator would fall when they took a misstep one day.

    Therefore, the greater the cultivator, the more cautious they would be in improving their cultivation. They were afraid that if they took a wrong step, they would fall into a bottomless abyss and be doomed eternally.

    If a mortal who had not yet contacted the dharma wanted to cultivate, he would have to strengthen his own beliefs and pursue the ¡°true dharma¡± between heaven and earth with all his might. He had to find a ¡°real master¡± who could guide him into the cultivation world.

    As for tho rookie cultivators who had already contacted the dharma, if they wanted to cultivate further, they would have to solve a big problem like that of ¡®riches¡¯. Even if they solved a big problem like that, they would still also have to continue to solve other big problems like panionship¡¯ and ¡®prefecturalnd¡¯.

    Even if all the above problems were solved, they would still be faced with so many magical items in the cultivation world.

    Each magic item had its own unique properties and characteristics, and the methods of subduing them were also different. Li Yundong had previously subdued the Fan of Seven Treasures and the Liuhe. It could be said that he had seeded in one go and could achieve whatever degree he wanted. Therefore, he had rxed his vignce on the matter of subduing magic items.

    After all, he had only been cultivating for a short period of time. When he had been subduing magic items, he hadn¡¯t received any help from Zi Yuan, who had a lot of experience in practice, and he didn¡¯t know what sort of situation would ur when subduing a famous Buddhist magic item like the burning thumb pot.

    The burning thumb pot was the personal magical item of Fahai, a famous monk of Buddhism. Although Fahai had passed away in meditation, his magical item had been left to his descendants, but it was not without use. For generations, there had been countless famous monks who had used the burning thumb pot to subdue demons and evil spirits. One of the most famous users was Master Haideng, who was born in the 28th year of Guang Xu in the Qing Dynasty and was originally known as Fan Wubing!

    After Master Haideng passed away in 1989, the Buddhist magic item finally ended up in the hands of Du Fei from the Quanzhen Sect. It had only been around twenty years since then, but not much of the Zhenqi in the item had dissipated. Furthermore, there was a big difference between burning the thumb pot and the Fan of Seven Treasures.

    That was, after Emperor Xianzong in Tang Dynasty passed away, the Fan of Seven Treasures had never been used by anyone else. Therefore, the Zhenqi of this Buddhist magic item had always been in decline.

    However, the burning thumb pot was different. It had been used in the Fahai for more than 30 years. The spiritual energy of the Fahai had protected and supported it for more than 30 years. Coupled with the close protection and use of the famous monks of each generation, the spiritual energy of the magic item had not weakened. Instead, it had only grown stronger as time went on. Each famous monk had left their imprint on the thumb pot in order to test the next user, thus preventing it from falling into the hands of bad people.

    Besides, the burning thumb pot was made of colored ze, while the coloured ze was a Buddhist artifact, it was bright and pure both inside and out. Therefore, if a cultivator wanted to subdue such a pure magic item, he had to first be ¡°total and pure¡±. Otherwise, it would cause the rebound of Zhenqi imprints left by eminent monks over the generations, and then the burning thumb pot couldunch a fierce counterattack.

    While Li Yundong had been talking with Master Puren and Master Xincheng in the Xiyuan Temple before, the suspenseful thoughts had raced in his mind. In addition, after leaving, he had encountered the rampant Japanese men, further increasing his rage.

    Although Li Yundong held his breath and calmed down before sitting in meditation, after all, the negative emotions in the depths of his mind could not be expelled so easily. In such a situation, he subdued the burning thumb pot, and the hostility and anger in his body were detected by the burning thumb pot, so Li Yundong was judged as a ¡°vicious viin¡±. The Zhenqi marks of the past eminent monks began to fiercely counterattack, pulling Li Yundong¡¯s apparition into the spirit space of the burning thumb pot.

    Although Li Yundong had been sitting in meditation at this time, his apparition was extremely clear. He could feel that he was in a boundless dark world. He seemed to be in a vast, illusory world, and it was like the real world haspletely ceased to exist.

    The physical body did not exist, and neither did Zhenqi!

    It was as if he was only left with an illusory, non-existent soul!

    But though none of these existed, he could still feel the existence of his own apparition. No matter what he did, he could not get out of this situation. This development shocked Li Yundong to the core.

    He suddenly recalled what Su Chan had once said. ¡°Cultivation has three great terrors. They are the great terrors between life and death, the great terrors between heaven and earth, and the great terrors between reality and illusion!¡±

    Li Yundong had experienced these three terrors more or less. He thought that after he had experienced them, they would no longer bother him.

    But what he had not expected was that the three terrors were the demonic gue of all cultivators in the world since ancient times. Countless cultivators had to suffer under these three terrors. As long as their minds were slightly rxed, these three terrors would take advantage of the situation and pull them into illusions. They would make these high-ranking cultivators fall into the mortal world and be trash that was not evenparable to an ordinary person writhing in the mud.

    When Li Yundong first reached Zhuji phase, he had encountered such a great horror between reality and illusion. At this time, his apparition had been dragged into the Spirit Space of the burning thumb pot. It was as if his apparition was imprisoned in another vast universe. He not only couldn¡¯t distinguish between reality and illusion, but was also unable to break free from cultivating nothingness.

    He was like a tiny speck of dust floating endlessly in the boundless universe. No one could know when he would reach the shore and when he would be able to escape.

    While Li Yundong was trapped in this non-existent world, Su Chan returned to her room. She was lying on the bed, tossing and turning, her beautiful eyes wide open and her heart full of worries.

    She had been thinking about the incident in the teahouse, and she repeatedly told herself, ¡°When Yundong surrenders to the burning thumb pot, I will tell him about it.

    ¡°But... but what if Yundong gets angry? What if he dislikes me? He entrusted the teahouse to me, but I made such trouble for him.

    ¡°Would it be okay if I didn¡¯t tell him? It seems like that guy didn¡¯te to make trouble!¡±

    She couldn¡¯te to a decision. She tossed and turned in bed all night, not sleeping properly until the light of dawn broke.

    After dawn, the noise of the little foxes came into the living room, and Su Chan groggily roused herself.

    She stood up, raised her head and yawned, then walked over to Li Yundong¡¯s room with sleepy eyes, dressed in a long nightgown and a pair of slippers.

    She had been dreaming all night, thinking about the problem before going to bedst night, and now she could no longer stop herself from going to Li Yundong.

    As she walked, she mumbled, ¡°No, I have to Yundong soon, otherwise, it will torture me to death...¡±

    Su Chan walked to the door of Li Yundong¡¯s room. She put her ear to the door only to find that there was no noiseing from inside and no sound of movement at all.

    She was slightly stunned, thinking to herself, ¡°Is he sleeping? Or subduing the item?¡±

    She then looked to the sky. ¡°It¡¯s already past eight in the morning. Hasn¡¯t it been a whole night?¡±

    Thinking this, she tentatively knocked on the door and called weakly, ¡°Yundong, are you there?¡±

    But her cry was like a stone sinking into the sea, eliciting no response. ¡°What¡¯s happened? If he was sleeping, he should be awake and have heard this sound.

    ¡±Cultivators have very shallow sleep. They just to meet the body¡¯s need for rest. If they hear even a little shout, they will immediately wake up.

    ¡°Could it be that he¡¯s really subduing the burning thumb pot? If he¡¯s really subduing it, I can¡¯t interrupt him. What if he¡¯s caught in illusions?¡±

    Thinking of this, she tiptoed away from the door of Li Yundong¡¯s room. She walked to the bathroom with a sad face and looked at herself in the mirror, seeing that her hair was a little loose and messy. She rubbed at it anxiously and muttered, ¡°Oh, I hate this. I feel so ufortable holding a secret in my heart!¡±

    At this time, Li Yundong, who was drifting endlessly in the illusory world, seemed to hear a soft, familiar voice calling his name from the other side of the distant world.

    He was suddenly refreshed, like someone had straightened him out. He suddenly swam in the direction of the sound.

    But in this vast spirit space, no matter how he swam, he could not reach the other shore. After a long time, he almost stopped in despair. He gazed into the endless darkness in front of him in horror and thought to himself, ¡°No, I may never reach the other side this way!¡±

    But he suddenly came to a realization. ¡°I clearly heard Chan¡¯er¡¯s voice on the other shore. She must be there! How can I leave her alone?

    ¡°In this world, no one can stop me from being with Chan¡¯er. Even if the Buddha stands in my way, I will kill Buddha. If God stands in my way, I will even kill God!

    ¡°How can this spirit space stop me?¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s determination suddenly arose in his heart, and all of the Zhenqi in his body seemed to suddenly surge. He could feel that his illusory body had be tangible again. In an instant, he turned into an Immovable Wisdom King with superhuman powers. As he raised his hand, the thunder made a big ssh, and the lightning was crackling with anger!

    At this time, Li Yundong was violently struggling within the spirit space. At first, all the power he had released had been absorbed by the vast dark chaotic world, but as time went by, his anger became more and more intense. He seemed to have turned into a furious Immovable Wisdom King, and both heaven and earth were shaking from his anger!

    Slowly, the spirit space began to shake violently. The originally lifeless dark chaos world began to be stirred by a flowing wind, as if an eggshell of darkness had been smashed by Li Yundong¡¯s power. As a result, there was a crack in the world, and the light of the outside world began to leak in bit by bit.

    He could see that there were more and more lights appearing around him. He struggled ever more crazily to vent his anger, as if he wanted topletely smash the cage that was trapping him.

    But just as he was about to smash the spirit space, Li Yundong suddenly heard a distant and majestic voice slowly booming, as if the Buddha himself was speaking from the west. ¡°What is the meaning of cultivation?¡±

    Li Yundong was stunned when he heard the question. He stopped destroying the spirit space and looked around with his eyes wide open, as if he was looking for the source of the voice. ¡°Cultivation refers to cultivating the mind!¡± he called out.

    The voice quickly boomed again from all directions. ¡°Then what is the cultivation of mind?¡±

    Li Yundong replied impatiently, ¡°Cultivating the mind is the fundamental principle of being immobile, not irritable, not happy, not greedy, not hateful!¡±

    The voice continued, ¡°Since you know what cultivation of the mind is, you should know that your heart is full of obsession. An obsession is an unwarranted thought, and you are a person with wild fantasies, so I can¡¯t let you go. ¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but yell angrily, ¡°F*ck! Why do you cultivate Buddhism? Isn¡¯t it because you want to be a Buddha one day? Isn¡¯t that kind of wish also an obsession? Is this kind of obsession to be a Buddha also an unwarranted thought?¡±

    After a moment of silence, the voice continued, ¡°Amitabha, you¡¯re right, but also wrong. Anyway, you can go ahead and see how far your obsession will take you.¡±

    After that, the voice did not sound again even after Li Yundong had waited for a long time. Finally, he waved his fists and violently released the lightning in his hands, shooting it toward the spirit space.

    With a rumbling sound, the spirit space in the darkness was instantly smashed by Li Yundong, and his eyes suddenly shone with light, as if he hade from a world of the pr night to a world of pr day.

    Li Yundong squinted slightly, and after adjusting to the harsh light, he took a closer look.

    After seeing what was before him, he was utterly shocked.

 Chapter 454 The Worlds of The Trichiliocosm, Tens of Billions of People!

    <h4>Chapter 454 The Worlds of The Trichiliocosm, Tens of Billions of People!</h4>

    What Li Yundong saw was an extremely huge world right in front of him. This world was even bigger than the chaotic universe he had been in just now!

    There was a huge mountain standing in the center of this world, looking majestic and connecting the sky and the earth.

    The mountain was sat upon a round ck wheel. Underneath the wheel was a golden wheel, and then a red one, and then a cyan one. Underneath the cyan wheel was a vast, boundless nothingness.

    The mountain was huge at the top and bottom, but the middle section thin. The sun and the moon were hanging over the mountainsides at the same time, and the sky beside the sun and the moon seemed to have been cut into four parts, each of which were located on one of the four sides of the mountainside.

    When Li Yundong saw this mountain, he was shocked. He suddenly remembered the Buddhist scriptures he had seen, and he could recall that the scene in front of him was recorded in the scriptures.

    This was Xumi Mountain. These four pieces of the sky were the Caturmaharajakayika from the Buddhist scriptures.

    Above the Caturmaharajakayika were the Trayastrimsha, Suyama, Tusita Heaven, Nirmanarati, and Paranirmitavasavartin. Above were the material world and the formless phase.

    At the foot of Xumi Mountain were sevenyered golden mountains surrounded by sevenyered perfume seas. Each sea was separated by a mountain. Outside the seventhyer of the golden mountains was an alkali sea, and outside the alkali sea was arge iron fence.

    There were four Buddhistnds separately located in four areas of the aral seas, namely East Spirit Continent, South Mountain Continent, West Bulls He Continent, and North Lu Continent. All could collectively be called the whole world. Each continent was surrounded by two middle continents and hundreds of smaller ones.

    Li Yundong carefully looked at every piece of sky and continent, and he saw that there were nine mountains and eight seas, one sun and one moon, four Buddhistnds, and six pieces of sky!

    He knew that this was exactly the ¡°the worlds of the trichiliocosm¡± described in the Buddhist scriptures!

    Li Yundong was stunned when he saw it all, and suddenly there was another majestic voice in the sky of this world. ¡°Since you insist on your obsession, why don¡¯t you go to the worlds of the trichiliocosm to find your true self and your own obsessiveness. As long as you achieve that, you can escape from this world.¡±

    After hearing the voice, Li Yundong immediately turned into a long rainbow. In the blink of an eye, he arrived at Xumi Mountain. He looked up and saw that there were countless people in the worlds of the trichiliocosm, and every world had a version of him and Su Chan!

    Li Yundong was shocked and thought to himself, ¡°In a world of trichiliocosm with tens of billions of people, how am I supposed to find the exit? How can I get out?¡±

    When Li Yundong broke through the chaotic world and came to the words of the trichiliocosm, he didn¡¯t know that he had been absorbed in the Spirit Space of the burning thumb pot for a full day and night.

    In the evening, the little foxes who had been busy ripping off guests in the teahouse happily returned to their homes one by one. The little foxes were still counting the day¡¯s gains in a carefree way. They had not expected that their own leader would be tragically trapped inside a powerful magical weapon¡¯s spirit space.

    It wasn¡¯t until the little foxes became desperately hungry that they thought of something: ¡°Why hasn¡¯t Leader made a meal yet?¡±

    One of the little foxes touched her stomach and shouted, ¡°Proprietress, I¡¯m starving to death! When can we eat?¡±

    At this moment, Ling Yue suddenly had an idea. She said to Su Chan, ¡°By the way, Su... proprietress, please go and ask Leader about how to deal with the money. Haha, if it can be the same as yesterday, that would be great!¡±

    Su Chan felt very suspicious. She had never seen Li Yundong staying in his room all day long withouting out.

    She nodded to Ling Yue, then stood and went upstairs to Li Yundong¡¯s door. She gently rapped on the door and asked tentatively, ¡°Yundong, are you inside?¡±

    But even after knocking for a while, there was still no reaction from inside.

    Su Chan was confused. ¡°Has he gone out?¡±

    The longer Li Yundong was the leader of the Fox Zen School, the more majestic he became, and now no one dared to open his door without permission.

    Only Su Chan dared to open the door and have a look as she enjoyed such a close rtionship with Li Yundong.

    After pushing the door open, Su Chan cautiously poked her head through. After ncing around the room, she was immediately startled. She saw Li Yundong sitting cross-legged on the floor of the room with the burning thumb pot in his hands. His whole body was soaked in sweat, and the expression on his face was in flux. Sometimes, he ground his teeth in anger, and sometimes, he looked sad.

    Su Chan was shocked. She knew that this was a sign of Zouhuo Rumo. She quickly opened the door and rushed over to him.

    But just as she was about toe into contact with Li Yundong, she came to a standstill. She knew that Li Yundong was in Zouhuo Rumo at this time, so if she rashly touched him, she would end up hurting him.

    She began pacing around, flustered. Ling Yue, who had been waiting impatiently downstairs, quietly came up to the door and nced inside. ¡°Oh no, our leader is in Zouhuo Rumo!¡± she blurted.

    It was a terrible cry. The little foxes downstairs suddenly panicked and rushed upstairs to see what was going on.

    Su Chan saw them swarming up and couldn¡¯t help thinking that they were like a thousand sparrows, and they kept chattering non-stop. She turned back for fear that they would disturb Li Yundong and immediately gave them a rare re. She shouted at them in a sharp voice, ¡°Why are you being so noisy? Be quiet!¡±

    The little foxes were used to ying around with Su Chan, so they had never seen her be so indignant like that. When they saw her sharp eyes at this time revealing a bit of murderous intent, they were all frightened and did not dare to speak anymore.

    At this moment, the little foxes all realized something clearly. ¡°Although Su Chan usuallyughs innocently and treats people kindly, when ites to Li Yundong, she can be ruthless!¡¯

    Su Chan¡¯s fierce expressionsted for only a moment. After stabilizing the situation, she quickly returned to her usual appearance.

    She knew that at this time, Zhou Qin had gone out to pass through the Zhuji phase, apanied by Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling. Li Yundong, as their leader, was trapped in the situation of Zouhuo Rumo, absorbed in an illusion. Apart from the remaining two Shibo, Zhuang Yating and Liu Yuehong, there was no one in the entirety of the Fox Zen School who could make decisions!

    Su Chan subconsciously thought of her own Shibo. After she chased all the little foxes out of the door and carefully closed the door of Li Yundong¡¯s room, she asked anxiously, ¡°Where are Shiboo Zhuang Yating and Shiboo Liu Yuehong? They may be able to help. Go and find them!¡±

    Some little foxes immediately ran to the Shibo¡¯s rooms. Without knocking on the door, they pushed in. However, they came out a momentter disappointedly. ¡°They are not here!¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s heart thumped. ¡°None of them?¡±

    The little foxes nodded at the same time. ¡°None of them are here!¡±

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t help frowning. ¡°Where could they be at such an important time? Why aren¡¯t they all here?¡±

    Ling Yue also stamped her feet. ¡°I¡¯m so worried. What¡¯s wrong with Leader? What should we do?¡±

    At this time, everyone who would have been able to control the situation was gone, and the little foxes were all looking to Su Chan.

    Seeing their eyes on her, Su Chan suddenly felt that the pressure had increased a lot, but she knew that she couldn¡¯t shirk responsibility like she had done in the teahouse.

    She took a deep breath, and her charming face showed unprecedented calmness. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, guys. It¡¯s very likely that Yundong has failed in the process of subduing the magical item. His apparition is now trapped in the magical item. At this time, none of us are able to help him. All we can do is quietly wait for him to break out of the trap. What we need to do is take care of ourselves and not make trouble for Yundong. Don¡¯t disturb him!¡±

    The little foxes all looked at Su Chan admiringly, all of them seem to feel that this inattentive girl had grown up a lot. She actually had the demeanor of a proprietress in her every action and speech, and she was demonstrating her ability to control the situation!

    The little foxes thought that Su Chan was right, and they nodded in agreement, but Ling Yue frowned and sighed softly. ¡°Why are there so many disasters in our Fox Zen School? We finally got a good leader, but now he¡¯s in such a dangerous situation. I really hope that Leader will be able to get out of this without any risk! If he does, I¡¯ll be a vegetarian and pray every day and worship Buddha faithfully in the future!¡±

    As soon as she said that, the other foxes answered in unison, ¡°Yes, if Leader can get through this, we will also worship Buddha!¡±

    Su Chan forced a smile. ¡°What¡¯s the use of thanking the Buddha after someone has been rescued? That is worse than kissing the Buddha¡¯s feet temporarily only to make an effort at thest moment!¡±

    As she spoke, she slowly knelt down. She put her palms together devoutly and faced westward, murmuring, ¡°Buddha, Buddha. Our Grandmaster Pan Shi of the Fox Zen School was trained by Zen Master Baizhang to be an immortal. Our sect has some predestined rtionship with Buddhism. Please keep this in mind and save Yundong, and I, Su Chan, will keep worshipping Buddha!¡±

    After saying that, Su Chan¡¯s pretty face was full of devotion and dignity. She put her palms together and kept reciting the Great Compassion Mantra. ¡°Kwan-Yin Bodhisattva¡¯s words: The world is supreme. If all human beings recite the Great Compassion Mantra and the three evil ways, I will not be able to feel it. I will recite the Great Compassion Mantra. If I don¡¯t give birth to the people of the Buddhist Kingdom, I will not be able to feel it. If I recite the Great Compassion Sutra, I will not be able to feel it. If I don¡¯t have endless Samadhi, I will not be able to sense it...¡±

    The little foxes next to her were infected by Su Chan¡¯s piety, and they all knelt down beside her. They put their palms together devoutly and recited the Great Compassion Mantra together with her in a chorus. For a time, the solemn sound of sutras being chanted reverberated through the luxurious and modern living room. The sound came from the window of the balcony next to the living room, floating far away and not disappearing for a long time.

    The sound of chanting continued for the whole night. It wasn¡¯t until dawn the next day that Su Chan slowly opened her eyes and stopped chanting the scriptures.

    She looked back and saw that the little foxes were already lying in a heap in the living room and sleeping soundly. Obviously, they had tired of chanting the scriptures all night and fallen asleep one after another.

    She got up cautiously, careful not to disturb them. She went to Li Yundong¡¯s room, opened the door and took a look. She could see that Li Yundong¡¯s expression was still changing, but the sweat on his body was no longer pouring out. It seemed that the Zhenqi in his body had slowly calmed down and was no longer rushing as fiercely as before.

    Su Chan put her palms together in surprise and sighed in her heart, ¡°Praise be to Buddha for the blessing. Yundong¡¯s situation hasn¡¯t worsened! It seems that reciting the scriptures is still useful. I¡¯ll continue to recite them for Yundong all night long!¡±

    When she thought of this, she didn¡¯t feel tired but actually refreshed. She was full of enthusiasm and motivation.

    In her eyes, as long as she continued to recite scripture like this, Yundong would break the barrier by himself sooner orter!

    But what Su Chan didn¡¯t know was that Li Yundong was fated to remain trapped for eighteen days!

 Chapter 455 Zhou Qins Zhuji phase

    <h4>Chapter 455 Zhou Qin¡°s Zhuji phase</h4>

    While Li Yundong was still trapped in the worlds of the trichiliocosm, Zhou Qin, who was still trekking, finally reached Tibet.

    Although she was following Li Yundong¡¯s original westbound route, by the time she entered Tibet, she had already deviated from the path. Li Yundong had originally departed from Tiannan City and finally arrived at the Bailonggou area of Baiyu County in western Sichuan. He had then entered Tibet from the Kathok Monastery, while Zhou Qin had entered the Zhuji phase area from the Kashan district of Shannan Langkazi County.

    Along the way, Zhou Qin¡¯s original travel shoes had developed two holes in the front, and the soles had almost been worn t. At this time, she was wearing a dull, dark gray top that had slightly faded, and a pair of straight pants.

    This rich youngdy was carrying a bag. Although she was looking a little messy, Zhou Qin was still very pure and looked quite clean. At this moment, she was still incredibly energetic. The Qinghai-Tibetan teau was covered in silver and in clothes, but she was dressed in simple clothes and trousers. Her face was tender and rosy. Even though she was fatigued, her exhaustion could not hide her innate beauty.

    In the cold winter of Tibet, Zhou Qin made progress on foot, rarely seeing pedestrians on the road. asionally, she would see a few Tibetans riding a yak cart slowly down the road. They were all insted with cotton-padded jackets and trousers to withstand the harsh winter.

    When these Tibetans saw Zhou Qin¡¯s thin clothes and pants, and that her slender figure was as soft as a waxberry in the cold wind, they thought that she would freeze in the next second, and they all cast surprised looks at her.

    Some Tibetans kindly took out some warm cotton-padded clothes from their yak cart and were about to hand them over to her, but by the time they were ready, they saw that this extremely beautiful woman with a slim figure had already gone far away.

    They watched her walk into the extremely cold snow region of the Qinghai-Tibetan teau in her singleyer of clothing and head towards Kari Holy Mountain. She was so fast that she didn¡¯t look like a mortal at all. They all turned around and got out of their carts in horror. Looking at Zhou Qin¡¯s distant figure, they murmured and worshipped her.

    Zhou Qin trudged all the way, suffering even more than Li Yundong had before. At this time, her temperament had undergone a drastic change.

    In the past, she had always made people thought that she was filled with indifference, arrogance and conceit, like a noble and proud swan, always inessible.

    After the long journey, the Qi in Zhou Qin¡¯s body was condensed like molten steel after being refined thousands of times. When it surged, it was vigorous likeva. When it solidified, it was like raw iron and hard steel that could not be destroyed. There was a kind of persevering determination in her eyes, and she was like a magical sword that was about to be drawn from its sheath, ready to attack at any time!

    Ruan Hongling and Zi Yuan, who had been following Zhou Qin all the way, stared at her. Although they had not observed her too closely, they could feel that the powerful energy contained in her body was no less than what was within Li Yundong.

    Zhou Qin had still not yet reached the Zhuji phase, so she did not know how to cover or restrain her strength. Wherever she went, thick clouds followed her. There seemed to be a pair of majestic eyes hiding in the clouds, watching her every move.

    Ruan Hongling looked at Zhou Qin¡¯s figure and couldn¡¯t help but sigh. "I wasn¡¯t expecting her to persist all the way! It¡¯s incredible! I saw her shed tears several times at night, so I thought she would give up. I hadn¡¯t expected that she would insist on carrying on the next day. For a rich and powerful girl like her, this is really rare andmendable. It¡¯s amazing, really amazing."

    Zi Yuan also smiled with a sigh. "That¡¯s right, the fragrance of plum blossoms is intensified by the bitter cold. The edge of the sword has been honed. This magical sword is about to be honed to a level that¡¯s out of this world!"

    Ruan Hongling looked at Zhou Qin enviously. "I am really envious of her. She has a good Furnace tripod, good opportunities, a good master, good luck and a good disposition. She was born to be a cultivator!"

    Zi Yuan shook her head slightly and solemnly said to Ruan Hongling, "No, Hongling, there¡¯s no one in this world who was born to cultivate. If Zhou Qin didn¡¯t have this kind of perseverance, she wouldn¡¯t have been able to survive on the Zhuji phase road. Even you haven¡¯t experienced the difficulty of running two thousand kilometers toe all the way to Tibet to cultivate!"

    Ruan Hongling snorted and said unconvincedly, "If I had the Renyuan Jindan, I could do it too!"

    Zi Yuan red at Ruan Hongling and was about to scold her, but she suddenly saw Ruan Hongling¡¯s eyes widen. She pointed to Zhou Qin in the distance and said, "Look, what¡¯s wrong with her?"

    Zi Yuan looked in the direction of her fingers only to see Zhou Qin standing in an endless snowfield, motionless like a statue. After a long while, her body moved slightly, as if she had moved to sit cross-legged with great difficulty. As soon as she settled down, she seemed to enter a meditative state, unmoving.

    Ruan Hongling asked in surprise, "Is she going to start to build Zhuji phase now?"

    Zi Yuan frowned. She bit her lip gently and said in a low voice, "Damn it, Zhou Qin is the Virgin Container with Full Yin Qi, there is both Xuanyin Qi and Yuanyang Qi in her body, and she is also the Jindan-remaking body, It could be said that these are the perfect conditions for cultivation, but she doesn¡¯t know how to control her aura. At this time, the aura in her body is boiling and tumbling uncontrobly, forcing her to start to build Zhuji phase here!"

    Ruan Hongling gave a wry smile. "Why? It was not easy for her to reach the foot of the Holy Mountain, and now she¡¯s about to build the Zhuji phase. What¡¯s the difference between this and a pregnant woman who is about to go to the hospital but her amniotic fluid has broken?"

    When Ziyuan heard Ruan Hongling¡¯s metaphor, she couldn¡¯t help but smile bitterly. "Although the way you said it was a bit vulgar, the metaphor was very appropriate. Building the Zhuji phase is indeed like giving birth to a child. Ordinary people give birth to children, while we give birth to Neidan in Dantian. Moreover, you don¡¯t know when the Neidan will suddenly jump out."

    Ruan Hongling asked Zi Yuan, "So what should we do now? It is inappropriate for Zhou Qin to build her Zhuji phase on this teau. What if someone suddenly disturbs her half-way? What should we do?"

    Zi Yuan sighed helplessly. "We can only protect her from being attacked by gangsters along the way, but we can¡¯t interfere in her cultivation. Even if she fails to build her Zhuji phase, we can¡¯t interfere. Otherwise, once she finds out that someone is protecting her, she will subconsciously start relying on us. Once a cultivator has this kind of dependence, they¡¯re useless. She won¡¯t ever be able to build Zhuji phase for the rest of her life."

    Ruan Hongling was shocked. "Then we¡¯ll just watch her build her Zhuji phase here?"

    Zi Yuan sighed. "There¡¯s no other way. This is her fate. Let¡¯s see if she can sessfully do it. Even if she fails, she can still try again."

    The two women looked at Zhou Qin with anxiety. Although their rtionship with her was not very close, they had watched her go through numerous hardships along the way and they didn¡¯t want her to fail miserably at thest moment.

    Zhou Qin was also full of helplessness at this time. She wanted to climb up to the side of the snow mountain in front of her and learn to build the Zhuji phase like Li Yundong had. However, she had not expected that as soon as she climbed this vast, snow-covered teau, she would feel an incredible openness, and like all the breath in her body was being pulled by the Qi of Heaven and Earth, leaving her unable to control the violent outburst.

    In the beginning, she had not paid much attention to it, but as she got further and further away, the Qi in her body had be more intense. In the end, she had obviously felt that the Qi throughout her body was like a big whirlpool, crazily surging into the lower dantian of her lower abdomen.

    It was as if a vortex had appeared, and the core of the vortex was the exact spot where the Neidan was about to be formed!

    The environment was not good at this time, and Zhou Qin did not dare to try holding on. She knew that if she continued in this way, all the meridians in her body would burst open. She didn¡¯t dare to be careless, so she immediately sat cross-legged and entered deep meditation.

    When she sat in meditation, it suddenly began to snow. The flying snowkes of Qingzang teau were as big as goose feathers. In only a short time, Zhou Qin¡¯s whole body seemed to have been covered with a thickyer of white hair.

    But before long, the Qi in Zhou Qin¡¯s body began flowing. A stream of ice-cold Yin Qi went from the left kidney to the lower Dantian, and another stream of hot Yuanyang Qi went from the right kidney to the lower Dantian. When the two Qis collided with each other, they suddenly shook and rubbed against each other, creating a zing Qi. Gradually, Zhou Qin could feel that the Qi was getting stronger and hotter, and there seemed to be an invisible fireball spinning rapidly in her lower abdomen.

    The hot air kept rising and quickly melted the snow that had settled over Zhou Qin¡¯s body. But when the snow turned into water and slid down her body, freshly falling snow covered it again. It continued to melt and pile up again and again. Soon, Zhou Qin¡¯s body became encased within a thinyer of ice, and she looked like a sculpture covered with ice armor.

    In the distance, Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling watched the scene with worry in their hearts. Zi Yuan frowned. "This is bad. Zhou Qin should be looking for a ce to shelter herself from the wind and snow! The true fire within her body is too strong. It keeps melting the umted snow, causing the cold to seep into her body through her pores. Even if she seeds in building the Zhuji phase, there will still be a lot of moisture and cold air left around her, which will be unfavorable for her cultivation in the future. Her current Zhuji phase won¡¯t be able to make up for the loss!"

    Ruan Hongling also worried. "Sister Zi Yuan, let¡¯s go and interrupt her process of building Zhuji phase. It would be better to have her fail this time than let her leave a root of illness!"

    "No! I¡¯d rather let her leave a root of illness than let her be dependent on us!" Zi Yuan gritted her teeth and shouted. "It¡¯s easy to cure external diseases, but it¡¯s not so simple to cure one¡¯s heart!"

    Ruan Hongling looked at Zhou Qin and sighed with a bitter smile. "This girl... I originally thought she was lucky, but that¡¯s because I didn¡¯t know that there would be such trouble in this situation! s!"

    Sighing emotionally, she suddenly heard a melodious voiceing from the vast snowfield.

    "First, It¡¯s best for us not to see one another, so that we won¡¯t fall in love with each other.

    "Second, it¡¯s best not to know each other. In this way, we won¡¯t miss each other.

    "Third, it¡¯s best not to apany each other. In this way, we won¡¯t owe each other anything.

    "Fourth, it¡¯s best not to cherish each other. In this way, we won¡¯t have to remember each other.

    "Fifth, it¡¯s best not to love each other, so that we won¡¯t end up leaving each other."

    This song was being sung by a woman. Her voice was as melodious as a silver bell, and it was reminiscent of the flowing water at the foot of Dan mountain. In particr, there was a strong sense of yearning and sorrow in the singing, making people feel moved.

    Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling hadn¡¯t expected such a moving voice to suddenlye from the vast snowfield. They felt as if a thin string had been gently plucked in their hearts, and they were a little stunned for a while.

    Especially Zi Yuan. For some reason, she somehow suddenly saw Li Yundong¡¯s figure in her mind, and for a moment, her heart trembled slightly.

    For a moment, the world fell extremely quiet. Only this beautiful voice could be heard through the whirling wind and snow flurrying through the sky. This song seemed to represent the purest and most beautiful thing in the world. Even the ruthless wind and snow could not stop it.

    These two young women looked into the vast vast wind and snow at the same time, as if they wanted to see clearly who was singing such a sad and moving song, and who was tugging at the strings of love in their hearts.

 Chapter 456 Meeting Meiduo Again!

    <h4>Chapter 456 Meeting Meiduo Again!</h4>

    Goose feathers and heavy snow fluttered down through the vast sky, and the space between the sky and the earth seemed boundless. From this boundless snowfield, a team slowly emerged.

    Most of the team was made up of wooden carts pulled by yaks and extremely cold-resistant teau horses. Some Tibetans had dressed in their traditional uniforms and wrapped themselves up tightly, leaving only their eyes peeping out. There were old Tibetans sitting on wooden carts pulled by yaks and making their way slowly.

    In this team, there was one girl riding on a yak. Although the snow was very heavy at this time, she was still singing to her heart¡¯s content, as if she wanted the snow to carry her song far away, all the way to the ears of her lover, taking away his bitterness over missing her.

    None of the Tibetans in this team spoke. They seemed to just be quietly listening to the girl¡¯s singing. Everyone¡¯s face was full of emotion and remembrance as if all of them were recalling long-forgotten emotional memories.

    When the team reached an area not far from Zhou Qin, a Tibetan at the front suddenly said loudly, ¡°Changbag, look! Look! There seems to be someone here!¡±

    The headed Tibetan was exactly none other than uncle Changbag, who had been saved by Li Yundong back when he was in his Zhuji phase. At this time, he had been taking his nsmen back from the holy Kari mountain on a pilgrimage, but they had happened to encounter Li Yundong¡¯s disciple, Zhou Qin, on their way here.

    When Changbag heard the shouts of his nsmen, he peered carefully through the flurry and saw a figure sitting cross-legged at the side of the road. Her whole body was frozen and she wasn¡¯t moving at all.

    Changbag released a soft sigh and said, ¡°I fear that she has already frozen to death!¡±

    By the time he finished his words, the singing girl stopped her song. She spurred her horse on to the front of Changbag. Her delicate face was full of sadness, and there was a feeling of haggardness in herrge, watery eyes.

    This girl was Meiduo. She asked softly, ¡°Changbag, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Changbag raised his whip and pointed to Zhou Qin at the roadside. ¡°She is so pitiful. I¡¯m afraid that she has already frozen to death!¡± he said as he sighed withment.

    He then turned and shouted at his nsmen, ¡°Go and carry her into a carriage. When the snow stops, we¡¯ll find a good ce to bury her.¡±

    Meiduo curiously looked at this supposedly frozen passer-by on the roadside. She could see that the woman was dressed differently from the Tibetans, who looked like original Han people from the maind.

    Since Meiduo had met Li Yundong and fallen in love with him, she had been pining after him in her heart, and he had a special affection for the Han people. She grabbed Changbag and whispered, ¡°Changbag, let me go and see. Maybe this Han person is not dead yet.¡±

    Changbag looked at Meiduo. As if he knew what she was thinking, he couldn¡¯t help but sigh secretly. He thought to himself, ¡°Are you kidding me? In this world of ice and snow, wearing such a small amount of clothes, a person could freeze to death in less than five minutes, not to mention that her whole body is already covered with such a thickyer of ice.¡±

    But Changbag didn¡¯t stop Meiduo. ¡°Okay, Meiduo, go and have a look, but be careful not to touch the ice with your hands, or you¡¯ll be frozen.¡±

    Meiduo shed him a slight smile. ¡°I know, Changbag! I¡¯m not a child anymore!¡±

    When he looked at her horse, he couldn¡¯t help but release a sigh. ¡°Ugh, you really aren¡¯t a child! Your heart already no longer belongs to the snowy mountains!¡±

    Meiduo spurred her horse on and stopped next to Zhou Qin. She jumped down gently and bent down to take a look, only to be shocked by what she saw.

    She could see that the person wearing ayer of ice armor was actually a beautiful Han sister. What surprised her most was that although this woman¡¯s whole body was frozen, her cheeks still looked pink and rosy!

    ¡°This Han sister is really still alive?!¡±

    Meiduo was shocked. Subconsciously, she reached out her hand and lightly touched the space under the woman¡¯s nose. With this touch, she discovered that the woman was indeed not breathing at all!

    She couldn¡¯t help but be confused again. She thought to herself, ¡°What¡¯s going on? If she¡¯s frozen to death, how can her face be so ruddy? But if she¡¯s still alive, why isn¡¯t she breathing?¡±

    Not far away, Changbag could see Meiduo staring nkly at Zhou Qin, not making a move. He couldn¡¯t help shouting, ¡°Meiduo, what¡¯s going on?¡±

    She turned her head back and shouted, ¡°Changbag, I don¡¯t know. This Han girl doesn¡¯t seem to be dead, and yet she seems to be dead!¡±

    Changbag couldn¡¯t help butugh. ¡°Meiduo, you must be wrong. How could it be possible for a person to be dead and at the same time not dead? She is actually dead, and if she is not dead, there must be signs of life!¡±

    Meiduo shouted with a weird expression on her face, ¡°Changbag,e over and take a look at yourself!¡±

    Changbag shook his head with a smile, then rode forward and dismounted to take a look. Even though he was experienced and knowledgeable, he couldn¡¯t help but also be shocked by what was before him. He eximed in surprise, ¡°This is truly queer!¡±

    Changbag also checked for breathing from Zhou Qin¡¯s nose with his hand. He became more and more shocked. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why does her face look so ruddy when she¡¯s not breathing?¡±

    Meiduo looked at Zhou Qin curiously. After watching attentively for a while, she found that the blood vessels under the delicate white skin of her neck seemed to still be moving slightly. Meiduo suddenly eximed, ¡°She is still alive. I can see her blood vessels twitching!¡±

    After that, Meiduo stretched out her hand to touch her face, seemingly intending to verify her own words.

    But as soon as Meiduo¡¯s hand touched her, her whole body immediately started shaking. The powerful Qi in Zhou Qin¡¯s body instantly poured into her, and Meiduo shook continuously, just like when Zhou Qin had touched Li Yundong in the Zhuji phase. She was dragged into Zhou Qin¡¯s Spirit Space.

    In her trance-like state, Meiduo felt like she was in a prosperous and modern metropolis. She was like a bystander, observing Zhou Qin¡¯s growth from a child to an adult, and looking at the rich youngdy¡¯s history unfold bit by bit.

    Meiduo watched her grow up slowly, going from a lonely and stubborn child to a proud and conceited rich youngdy, and she watched her encounter Li Yundong, who confessed to her on campus, but the girl had refused him without any consideration for his feelings.

    At first, Meiduo thought that Li Yundong, who hadn¡¯t obtained the Renyuan Jindan, seemed a little familiar. She didn¡¯t recognize that the man who had once been a little fat was the Han man she now thought about day and night.

    But when Meiduo saw Li Yundong once he had taken the Renyuan Jindan and undergone aplete transformation, she couldn¡¯t help eximing in her heart, ¡°Ah, this is the Han man! Why is he here? Does this Han girl know him too? Ah, wait, the Han man once told me that he used to love a girl deeply. Did he mean this woman? Is she¡­ is her name Su Chan?¡°

    For Meiduo, Su Chan was an unforgettable name. The Han man had rejected her for the sake of this girl.

    With such doubts bubbling in her mind, Meiduo continued to quietly watch the scene shing quickly through Zhou Qin¡¯s Spirit Space. She looked at the details of Li Yundong in the depths of her memories and saw that this man sometimes looked majestic and sometimes humorous, so she sometimes admired and fell in love with him, while at other times she giggled and trembled withughter.

    ¡°It turns out that the Han man is such an interesting person¡­¡± Meiduo looked at the scene in front of her with a smile. She couldn¡¯t help but feel a tenderness grow in her heart and she murmured fondly, ¡°I really envy that Han girl who can be so happy with my dream man.¡±

    But soon, Meiduo found that in Zhou Qin¡¯s memories, there was actually another girl always hanging around Li Yundong. This girl was so beautiful that any woman would envy her. She always snuggled against Li Yundong like a sweet, helpless bird and was extremely intimate with him.

    When Meiduo saw this, she couldn¡¯t help but wonder in her heart, ¡°Could it be that this Han girl Su Chan? Is this extremely beautiful girl really her?¡±

    Soon, Meiduo saw Li Yundong mobilize the Heavenly Thunder and hit He Shao angrily, yelling the sentence ¡°If God doesn¡¯t punish you, I will!¡± All of a sudden, the girl¡¯s eyes filled with tears, and she was so excited that she trembled all over!

    Meiduo bit her lips tightly and cried crazily in her heart, ¡°This is a real hero! This is my beloved Han man!¡±

    But soon, when she saw that Li Yundong had no choice but to separate from Su Chan, she couldn¡¯t help shedding tears. At that moment, she could feel that the love between Li Yundong and Su Chan was so deep that nothing could keep them apart for long.

    ¡°It turns out that he can also be so gentle¡­¡± Meiduo suddenly felt that she hade into contact with the real Li Yundong, his heroic and gentle self.

    She didn¡¯t know how long it took for her to wake up from Zhou Qin¡¯s Spirit Space. When she came to her senses, she found that her nsmen had all gathered around her at this time, staring at her in surprise.

    Changbag looked at Meiduo with widened eyes. He asked tentatively, ¡°Meiduo, are you okay?¡±

    She blinked slowly and found that the corners of her eyes were cold. She raised her hand to touch them and realized that she had already burst into tears inadvertently. The tears flowing down her cheeks had quickly formed into solid ice crystals.

    She smiled weakly and said to Changbag, ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±

    He pointed at the tears that had already frozen over on her face and asked in bewilderment, ¡°What were you crying about just now?¡±

    She smiled. ¡°Oh, was I crying? Changbag, you must be mistaken. I was justughing!¡±

    The expression on Changbag¡¯s face became even more strange. He asked, ¡°Then what were youughing at?¡±

    She smiled gently. ¡°I¡­ I wasughing at¡­ the fact that I really never loved the wrong person! This Han man¡­ he is really worthy of love!¡±

    When he heard this, he smiled bitterly in his heart. ¡°Meiduo is really crazy. She is too sick to recover! Her soul has already been stolen by that darn Han man! Even if she were a living Buddha now, her soul would not be able to be recalled!¡±

    She said in a daze, ¡°Changbag, I¡¯ve decided¡­ I¡¯m going to Tiannan City to look for him. I¡¯m going to study at school!¡±

    Changbag shed a bitter smile. ¡°You said these words in the snow mountains to God above ten thousand times! So what if you go and find him? Do you intend to break him and his lover up?¡±

    ¡°No. All I need to do is to look at him from a distance. I¡¯ll be very satisfied just with that!¡± Meiduo¡¯s eyes turned as she giggled, and there was a different kind of brilliance between her eyebrows. At this time, Zhou Qin woke up and made a sound.

    Meiduo was overjoyed and eximed, ¡°Oh, she¡¯s awake!¡±

 Chapter 457 Searching for Buddha

    <h4>Chapter 457 Searching for Buddha</h4>

    Seeing Zhou Qin slowly awaking, Meiduo cheered in surprise. The surrounding Tibetans also gathered around curiously and couldn¡¯t help eximing, ¡°She is really blessed by God. She has actuallye back to life!¡±

    Changbag turned around and waved his hand, saying loudly, ¡°Hurry up, bring the hignd barley wine and let her drink a little to get warmed up.¡±

    Before long, a young Tibetan brought a warm cowhide bag over for Zhou Qin to drink. However, everyone was momentarily stunned when they saw that Zhou Qin was extremely beautiful. Although she was wearing only a singleyer of clothing in this cold and snowynd, her face was bright with a cold and morous rosy color.

    The Tibetans were extremely shocked. The young ones holding the hignd barley wine were even more shocked by Zhou Qin¡¯s beauty. Not daring to offend her, they handed the wine to Meiduo.

    Meiduo took it with a smile and enthusiastically put the cowhide bag to Zhou Qin¡¯s lips. ¡°It¡¯s cold, right? Come on, drink some wine to warm your body!¡± she said encouragingly.

    At this time, Zhou Qin had not yet fully awoken from her meditation. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw the group of Tibetans crowded around her. In front of her was a beautiful Tibetan girl holding a cowhide bag and looking at her in surprise.

    Zhou Qin was stunned for a moment. She had walked all this way to build the Zhuji phase. She was a beautiful, young woman traveling alone, so she couldn¡¯t even count how many boorish men she had encountered on the road. As such, she was extremely vignt. She looked at the cowhide bag with rm, then leaned back slightly and shouted in a low voice, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Meiduo wanted to get closer to Zhou Qin in order to get more information on Li Yundong. When she saw Zhou Qin looking at her with hostility and vignce, she couldn¡¯t help but feel anxious. She said in Tibetan, ¡°You fainted on the side of the road. When we saw you, we thought you were dead. We were all pretty shocked to find out that you¡¯re alive. Now you¡¯ve woken up and we want you to have a sip of hignd barley wine to warm yourself up. We¡¯re not doing anything nefarious. Please rest assured. We¡¯re all kind people.¡±

    As she spoke, Meiduo turned around and pointed to her nsmen around her. ¡°This is the hignd barley wine brewed by Lamu. It¡¯s mellow and the taste is good. If you drink it, your body will be warmed!¡±

    Zhou Qin saw that Meiduo was saying a lot to her with an anxious expression, and she did not understand why this girl was being so enthusiastic about her, so she became even more vignt.

    Zhou Qin moved, and the ice armor on her body shattered into fragments that fell to the floor. Some of the pieces of ice were stuck to her clothes, so she reached out her hand and brushed them off with a calm expression.

    The Tibetans could not help but feel even more reverent when they saw this woman with a delicate figure dressed in a singleyer of clothing in the cold wind and snow looking like she waspletelyfortable.

    When Meiduo saw that Zhou Qin was ignoring her, she was stunned and thought to herself, ¡°Why is this girl ignoring me? Ah, I know, she must not understand my words!¡±

    She immediately repeated what she had just said in Chinese. After hearing it in a tongue she understood, Zhou Qin smiled. ¡°Thank you for your kindness. I¡¯m not cold and I don¡¯t need to drink this, but I appreciate your concern. I¡¯m fine.¡±

    After that, Zhou Qin patted off thest shards of ice on her body, ready to turn around and continue on to Mountain Kari Holy.

    Zhou Qin¡¯s indifference made all the Tibetans stunned. They looked at each other and were speechless. They had never met such an unreasonable woman before.

    However, many of the Tibetans were extremely aware of the fact that Zhou Qin was wearing only a singleyer of clothing, and that her clothing was fluttering in the cold wind. Still, her face was as ruddy as usual, her beauty was extraordinary, and her posture and temperament emitted a sense of coldness on the cliff shore. Not only did they not feel that she was rude, but they felt that a person like her actually ought to have an attitude like this.

    Meiduo watched Zhou Qin walk away step by step. She gripped the hignd barley wine and stood there for a while until her figure slowly disappeared into the snow flurry. She couldn¡¯t help shouting after her in Chinese, ¡°Han Sister, do you know Li Yundong?¡±

    This shout immediately stopped Zhou Qin.

    She suddenly turned around, looked at Meiduo in surprise, and shouted back, ¡°How do you know him?¡±

    Meiduo quickly ran over and said in surprise, ¡°Han Sister, you really do know him? What¡¯s your name?¡±

    Zhou Qin didn¡¯t answer, just frowned slightly and asked, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±

    Meiduo took no notice of Zhou Qin¡¯s attitude. She smiled and said, ¡°My name is Meiduo. What about you?¡±

    When Zhou Qin heard this name, she was immediately startled. She remembered that Li Yundong had mentioned Meiduo, the Tibetan girl, when she had been chatting with him once before. However, she also knew that Tibetans shared many simr names. She dared not be careless and asked with a smile, ¡°How do you know Li Yundong?¡±

    When Meiduo heard Li Yundong¡¯s name, she couldn¡¯t help but show a trace of tenderness in the corners of her eyes. She said softly, ¡°When I first saw him, I thought that he was dirty and sloppy! But then he saved Changbag¡¯s life!¡±

    Hearing this, Zhou Qin no longer felt any doubt. The vignce on her face disappeared, and a smile appeared in its ce. ¡°It¡¯s you. I¡¯ve heard of you.¡±

    Meiduo couldn¡¯t help pping her hands andughing. ¡°Do you really know Li Yundong? Ah, what a coincidence!¡± As she spoke, Meiduo turned around and waved her hand at Changbag. ¡°Changbag, she really knows Li Yundong. Come quickly!¡±

    Changbag also walked quickly over to Zhou Qin. He was overjoyed and said, ¡°Han Sister, what¡¯s your rtionship with Li Yundong? Are you his girlfriend?¡±

    A hint of sadness shed quickly through Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes. She formed a palm with one hand and made a Taoist salute, then correct him by saying, ¡°Amitayus, I¡¯m his disciple.¡±

    Changbag stared nkly for a moment, but soon after, heughed and said, ¡°No wonder, no wonder! Last time, when I saw his astonishing skills, I felt that he was definitely not an ordinary person. I guessed right. Only today when I saw you did I realize that that Han saying is correct: A great teacher produces a great disciple. This sentence really makes sense! Only someone as capable as he could produce a disciple as powerful as you!¡±

    ¡°Han Sister, are you here for cultivation?¡± asked Changbag.

    Zhou Qin nodded slightly. ¡°Yes, but unfortunately, I encountered some trouble along the way and it almost put an end to my cultivation.¡±

    Changbag raised his thumb. ¡°I¡¯ve lived for several decades, but this is the first time I¡¯ve seen a young, pretty girl like you dare to go out alone wearing clothes like this in this season to cultivate in Kari Holy Mountain! Impressive, truly formidable! The people of the Central ins really are outstanding stock!¡±

    Hearing the Tibetan man in front of her praise her, Zhou Qin smiled slightly and said in a reserved way, ¡°Actually, it¡¯s not worth mentioning. If it weren¡¯t for you, I¡¯m afraid I would have been in deep trouble.¡±

    Meiduo smiled. ¡°How will you thank us, Han Sister?¡±

    Zhou Qin looked searchingly at Meiduo. ¡°Just tell me what you want and I¡¯ll do whatever I can.¡±

    Meiduo and Changbag didn¡¯t know her identity and background, let alone that her words could change someone¡¯s life, or even that of numerous people.

    Changbag red at Meiduo, then shouted, ¡°Meiduo, how could you ask our distinguished guest for repayment!? Hurry up and apologize!¡±

    Meiduo pouted and pulled a face at Changbag. ¡°I¡¯m not asking for anything too much!¡± As she said that, she turned to Zhou Qin and smiled. ¡°I just have a few questions for you. Answer me, and it will be regarded as you have repaid us!¡±

    When Changbag heard this, he rxed and only pretended to be angry. He red at Meiduo and cursed with a smile, ¡°When will you be able to represent all of us, hm?¡±

    Meiduo didn¡¯t seem to hear Changbag¡¯s words. She just looked at Zhou Qin, her eyes full of expectation, and asked, ¡°Can I?¡±

    Zhou Qin looked at this Tibetan girl. She could see that her eyes were so pure that there were no ws in them, and she could practically see to their depths at a nce.

    Zhou Qin took this in and thought to herself, ¡°She¡¯s really a lovely girl. No wonder Master mentioned her to me several times when he came back.¡±

    Zhou Qin replied with a smile, ¡°Of course, you can ask.¡±

    Meiduo was delighted and said, ¡°Then I¡¯ll ask my first question. What¡¯s your name? Su Chan?¡±

    ¡°No, my name is Zhou Qin, but I know the girl called Su Chan,¡± Zhou Qin said, shaking her head.

    Meiduo immediately asked, ¡°You know Su Chan? Is she Li Yundong¡¯s lover?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Zhou Qin said with a mncholic sigh.

    Meiduo let out a whimper, and her expression was a littleplicated. ¡°Can I ask you another question?¡±

    ¡°Okay, but I have something to ask youter,¡± Zhou Qin said.

    Meiduo chuckled. ¡°Okay. Sister Zhou Qin, you can go first.¡±

    After thinking for a moment, Zhou Qin directly asked, ¡°Where are you from? How did my master meet you when he came here? And why have I met you now aftering here?¡±

    When Meiduo heard this, she looked at Changbag. They knew that there was still a trace of doubt in Zhou Qin¡¯s heart, and they allughed.

    ¡°Han Sister, we all go to Kari Holy Mountain to pay our respects every four years. Last time we went there, we ran into him. You should know that we all use ox-drawn carriages. Whenever we encounter temples, we worship at them, which wastes a lot of time along the way. So, after more than a month, we areing back from Kari Holy Mountain, on the way to our hometown,¡± Changbag smiled and exined.

    Zhou Qin suddenly understood everything clearly. She smiled apologetically and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m just a little suspicious.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, if a young and beautiful girl like you isn¡¯t careful, she can easily encounter bad people!¡± Changbag said, waving his hand with a hearty smile.

    Meiduo broke in, saying, ¡°Han Sister, can you answer my question now?¡±

    ¡°Sure, shoot,¡± Zhou Qin said.

    ¡°What would you think of me going to the university Li Yundong goes to? Would I be able to attend it?¡±

    Hearing this, Zhou Qin¡¯s heart was filled with mixed feelings. ¡°Li Yundong, you are really popr with girls! You make others fall in love with you wherever you go. It doesn¡¯t matter that you hurt my feelings, but you¡¯ve actually made such an innocent and lovely Tibetan girl falls in love with you!¡± she thought bitterly.

    The corners of Zhou Qin¡¯s mouth twitched into a pained smile. For a moment, she didn¡¯t know how to answer the innocent girl in front of her.

    Just as she was hesitating over her response, a tinkling sound came from the wind and snow around them. It sounded like a camel¡¯s bell, or like the sound of Tibetans turning scriptures.

    When Changbag and Meiduo heard this voice, they were both stunned, and then they turned their heads in unison to look into the wind and snow.

    A squad slowly walked out of the flurry. This squad roughly consisted of ten people, each riding a yak or two-humped camel.

    ¡°A two-humped camel? Aren¡¯t they only found near Lhasa? Why would anyone ride one of those here?¡± Meiduo asked.

    After having a careful look at this squad, Changbag could that all the people were wearing red-bottomed, yellow Buddhist clothing, and the man sitting on the camel was wearing a long, yellow-feathered monk¡¯s hat on his head.

    ¡°Ah,¡± he eximed, ¡°is this a Buddhist squad? Why are they out here?¡±

    At this time, Meiduo also recognized that the young head monk of the squad was Dorjee Tenzin, a man she knew. She couldn¡¯t help waving her arm and calling loudly, ¡°It¡¯s me, Meiduo!¡±

    When Dorjee Tenzin saw Meiduo, he was very surprised. He turned back and spoke with the elder monk behind him for a while, then pushed the yak¡®s head and slowly headed over to Meiduo.

    After Dorjee Tenzin had gotten closer, Meiduo asked with a smile, ¡°Dorjee Tenzin, why have youe out in such heavy wind and snow?¡±

    ¡°Banchan Buddha said that Lak?m¨© hase to the world and asked us toe out to look for her!¡± Dorjee Tenzin said, looking at Zhou Qin curiously.

 Chapter 458 Lak?mÄ«!

    <h4>Chapter 458 Lak?m¨©!</h4>

    "Lak?m¨© hase to the world!" Meiduo and Changbag cried out in surprise at the same time.

    Dorjee Tenzin smiled. "That¡¯s right. This is a great event!"

    "Dorjee Tenzin, aren¡¯t you the guardian sentinel of Kathok Monastery? Why have youe to help Buddha Banchan look for Lak?m¨©?" Meiduo asked in confusion.

    Dorjee Tenzin smiled, not saying anything, but a monk beside him spoke up and said, "Dorjee Tenzin has now been transferred to Vajra Mountain and be one of the eighteen monks tasked with protecting the mountain!"

    Meiduo and Changbag were overjoyed. "What great news! The mountain-protecting monks from Kathok Monastery are amazing!

    "This is all thanks to the good will of Buddha. I¡¯m just lucky to have this opportunity," Dorjee Tenzin said neutrally.

    Meiduo smiled. "How did you manage to get such an opportunity?"

    Dorjee Tenzin sighed deeply. "I have to thank Li Yundong, that man of the Han people. He returned the Mahamudra Tantra of Kathok Monastery. After I took it back to Kathok Monastery, the head of the monastery was overjoyed and rmended that I visit the Buddha. The Buddha saw me and said that I had a certain talent and wisdom, so he kept me by his side and I became a mountain-protecting monk."

    "What a coincidence. Dorjee Tenzin, do you know who she is?" Meiduo smiled, gesturing to Zhou Qin beside her.

    Dorjee Tenzin had already been paying attention to Zhou Qin. In his eyes, Zhou Qin¡¯s Qi was incredibly strong and vigorous, and she was dressed like a person of the Han people. Amongst the Hans, he had only ever seen Li Yundong have this kind of powerful Qi.

    He put his palms together and said, "We haven¡¯t met. Meiduo, please introduce it to me."

    "This is Li Yundong¡¯s disciple. Her name is Zhou Qin," Meiduo said with a smile.

    Dorjee Tenzin¡¯s eyes lit up and he couldn¡¯t helpughing. "Ah, so you¡¯re Master Li¡¯s disciple. He is a famous teacher and can teach a talented student. Your master is a famous person in the Central ins, so it¡¯s natural that his disciple would also be outstanding. I admire you!"

    Zhou Qin had also heard of Dorjee Tenzin from Li Yundong. She smiled and returned the salute as a Taoist. "Master Dorjee Tenzin, you are ttering me. Although my master¡¯s cultivation is good, he will be ashamed to hear the title of master."

    Dorjee Tezin smiled. "Although he is not a master yet, he¡¯ll definitely be one in the future. What¡¯s more, I¡¯m ashamed that you would call me a master."

    "If you are not a master now, you will be one in the future," Zhou Qin said with an amused grin.

    After that, they allughed.

    Seeing that Zhou Qin and Dorjee Tenzin were having a good conversation, Meiduo smiled. "I remember that there was a poem in the book of Han family that said, ¡¯People will always meet again after parting¡¯. I think I truly understand its meaning now. Han Sister, you don¡¯t have to leave tonight. Let¡¯s go drinking and singing together!"

    The Tibetans were passionate and hospitable. Whenever they met a guest they liked, they would enthusiastically persuade them to stay and dance with them through the evening, eating meat and drinking wine.

    Zhou Qin shook her head with a smile and refused Meiduo¡¯s kindness. "I have to go to Kari Holy Mountain to cultivate. I will drink hignd barley wine in the future if I ever get another chance."

    Meiduo¡¯s disappointment was obvious. "Ah? Can¡¯t you stay here tonight? Han Sister, the dark is already closing in. Do you know how cold it gets here? Don¡¯t leave tonight. Just spend the night with me in my tent. I have a lot of things to discuss with you."

    With this, Meiduo involuntarily reached for Zhou Qin¡¯s hand, shook it gently, and begged in a low voice.

    Zhou Qin was stubborn and tough, but when she saw Meiduo begging earnestly like this, she really pitied her and could not bear to refuse her. She felt her heart soften and was about to sigh when she suddenly heard the ringing of a scripture tube not far away, and a maic voice boomed out, "Dorjee Tenzin, call Meiduo here with me."

    Dorjee Tenzin looked back and saw a holyma, who was sitting on a two-humped camel, nodding to him.

    Dorjee Tenzin smiled at Meiduo. "Sounds like Master Erdeni wants to see you."

    "Ah, is that Master Erdeni from Pot Pce?" Meiduo asked, slightly surprised.

    Dorjee Tenzin smiled. "Yes!"

    Meiduo was still startled, and her hands flew about tidying her clothes in a panic. "Why does the master want to see me?" she asked.

    Changbag looked at Meiduo with clear envy shining on his face and said, "You are so lucky to have been summoned by Master Erdeni. I¡¯ve lived so long and have only seen him a few times from a distance while I was on a pilgrimage!"

    Meiduo became more and more nervous. She tidied herself up several times, but she still felt nervous and asked Zhou Qin, "Do you think I look okay?"

    Although Zhou Qin did not know the position Master Erdeni held in the minds of the Tibetans, she knew that he must be someone well-known and respectable. "Meiduo, piousness cannot be shown on one¡¯s clothes, but from within your heart!" she said encouragingly.

    Master Erdeni in the distance also clearly heard Zhou Qin¡¯s words. He looked at Zhou Qin with appreciation and smiled, "You¡¯re right. Meiduo,e here. I¡¯m not a vulture. I don¡¯t eat people."

    The monks who had been following him all began to chuckle. Meiduo¡¯s heart shook as well, and she gathered up her courage to walk over to Master Erdeni. Blinking slowly, she curiously sized up this great master from Pot Pce.

    Erdeni sized up Meiduo carefully, then nodded and smiled kindly. "Meiduo, when were you born?"

    Meiduo was a little confused by the question, but she still reported her birthday obediently.

    Erdeni pinched his fingers and calcted. "Meiduo,e closer," he ordered with a smile.

    She took two steps forward curiously, only to have Erdeni hand the prayer wheel in his hand over to her. He said with a kindly smile, "Meiduo, hold this. Can you move it?"

    "What¡¯s so difficult about this? Isn¡¯t everyone able to move it?" she asked.

    "Ah, so you don¡¯t know. Do you even have any idea what¡¯s in your hand?" Dorjee Tenzin couldn¡¯t help but interject with a twinkle in his eye.

    She blinked confusedly. "Isn¡¯t it a mani wheel? What¡¯s so special about it?"

    Tibetans called this the mani wheel. It was a kind of prayer wheel, and every devout Tibetan Buddhist had one. Tibetans would be convinced to gain merit by turning the prayer wheel.

    One rotation was equivalent to reciting the Great Collection Scripture. Two rotations were equal to reciting all the Buddhist scriptures. Those who rotated it three times could eliminate the zuizhang from their body, mouth, intentions, and sins. Those who rotated it ten times could remove the zuizhang like the Xumi Mountain King. Those who rotated it a hundred times could have the same merit as Yama.

    A person who rotated it a thousand times would be able to im Fashen; one who rotated it ten thousand times would be able to free themselves from the physical world; one who rotated it a hundred thousand times would be able to travel to the holy ce of Kwan-Yin Bodhisattva; one who rotated it a million times would be able to bring peace to all living creatures living in the six paths of samsara; one who rotated it a thousand million times would be able to expel all living beings from the six paths of samsara; one who rotated it a hundred million times would have the same merit as Kwan-Yin Bodhisattva.

    Although Meiduo¡¯s words were naive, they made sense, and the monks andmas around her allughed. Dorjee Tenzin said, "Meiduo, the wheel in your hand belongs to Master Erdeni. Only people with great merit and strong spiritual energy can turn it. If an ordinary person were to try, they wouldn¡¯t be able to turn it no matter how badly they wanted to."

    Meiduo was shocked. She quickly looked at the prayer wheel in her hand and saw that it was made of pure gold. The cylinder was engraved with the six-word mantra of Tibetan Buddhism. The middle of the cylinder was also engraved with mantras. Around the incantations were a lot of delicate patterns of birds and beasts. These beasts were decorated with colored paint and iid with corals and gems. They were far from ordinary.

    She could feel that the prayer wheel in her hand was heavy. She couldn¡¯t help raising her head and saying, "Master Erdeni, I¡¯m afraid that I won¡¯t be able to do it. Can I not turn it? I don¡¯t want to make a fool of myself."

    "It¡¯ll be fine," he said with a wave of his hand. "Turn it."

    When Meiduo saw him smiling kindly to her, she slowly became emboldened and thought, "So be it!"

    She gently shook the prayer wheel and saw that the golden chain bell on the prayer wheel slowly started to move. After a while, the prayer wheel started to turn, emitting a clear sound.

    She giggled. ""Haha, I¡¯m turning it! I must also be a person with great merits and strong spiritual energy!"

    Dorjee Tenzin and the other monks were all shocked. They all looked at Meiduo with their mouths agape and couldn¡¯t say a word. They were shocked and thought, "This is impossible. When I turned Master Erdeni¡¯s prayer wheel, I tried my best, but the prayer wheel didn¡¯t move an inch!"

    Dorjee Tenzin looked at Erdeni and said slowly,, "Master, what¡¯s going on?"

    With a serious look on his face, Erdeni jumped down from the camel¡¯s back and kowtowed devoutly to Meiduo, shouting loudly, "I¡¯ve finally found you, Banda Lam!"

    As soon as he kowtowed and shouted, Zhou Qin, who was not far away, was stunned. But her shock was nothingpared to that of the Tibetans. In their eyes, it was just like the explosion of an atomic bomb!

    All of the Tibetans were dumbfounded. They all stared at Meiduo, who was also rooted to the spot. "No, no, it can¡¯t be. Is Meiduo Banda Lam?" some of them stammered.

    Changbag widened his eyes so much that his eyeballs almost fell out. He couldn¡¯t help but mumble, "This is impossible, isn¡¯t it? Master Erdeni is making a joke, isn¡¯t he? How could Meiduo be Banda Lam?!"

    When he shouted, the other Tibetans who were friends with Meiduo all eximed. "That¡¯s right, how could Meiduo be Banda Lam?"

    "Master, you must be mistaken," Dorjee Tenzin whispered to Erdeni, looking shocked.

    He turned a deaf ear to him. After bowing several times, he stood up and patted off the snow on his body. He then respectfully reached out his hand to Meiduo and said, "Banda Lam, please hand the prayer wheel over to me."

    At this time, Meiduo seemed to have lost her ability to think, and she nkly handed the prayer wheel in her hand over to Erdeni.

    After respectfully taking it with both hands, he turned around and nced at Dorjee Tenzin. "Would you like to try and turn it?"

    Dorjee Tenzin immediately took a step back. "Master, I have neither great merits nor strong spiritual energy. Of course, I won¡¯t be able to move it."

    Erdeni nodded, then walked over to Changbag. "Can you give it a try?"

    Changbag swallowed and looked at Meiduo, gritted his teeth, and picked up the prayer wheel. No matter how he tried to turn it, the prayer wheel was like a piece of pig iron, unable to be moved at all.

    After shaking it for a long time, Changbag returned the prayer wheel to Eedeni in low spirits. "Master, I can¡¯t move it," he said.

    After that, he turned to the other Tibetans and asked, "Who else would like to have a try?"

    The Tibetans all looked at one another in dismay. Two young people jumped out to have a try, but then they lost their nerve and retreated with depressed faces.

    Now they truly believed that the prayer wheel in Erdeni¡¯s hands could only be moved by those who possessed great merit and strong spiritual energy!

    Facts speak louder than words. The situation at this time had proved everything. The Tibetans all looked at Meiduo withplicated expressions, then bowed and shouted reverently, "Banda Lam!"

    Hearing them chatter in Tibetan, Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help tugging on Changbag, who was in a daze, and asking in a low voice, "What happened? Why did you call Meiduo Banda Lam?"

    "Han Sister, do you know what Banda Lam means?" Changbag asked with a strange expression.

    Zhou Qin shook her head. "Nope, that¡¯s why I¡¯m asking you."

    He forced a wry smile on his face and said, "Banda Lam means... Lak?m¨©!"

    "You mean... Meiduo is Lak?m¨©?!" Zhou Qin asked, startled.

 Chapter 459 Be Freed from Lovesickness by Dying

    <h4>Chapter 459 Be Freed from Lovesickness by Dying</h4>

    Before Zhou Qin met Li Yundong, she had only known about Tibetan Buddhism from films and stuff she had seen on TV. But when she had be Li Yundong¡¯s disciple, she had begun to read a lot of ssic works of Buddhism and Taoism from both ancient and modern times. Li Yundong was especially good at one kind of kung fu, which was the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡, so she had also looked into Tibetan Buddhism.

    Although she did not know that Banda Lam referred to the Lak?m¨©, she knew that the Lak?m¨© was an important guardian of Tibetan Buddhism and also known as the merits guardian.

    Zhou Qin was dumbstruck as she stared at Meiduo, who was not far away. She had never thought that this Tibetan girl who had spoken to her so intimately before would turn out to be the reincarnation of the Lak?m¨©!

    She was stunned for a while, and she couldn¡¯t help feeling confused. She turned to Changbag and said, "That¡¯s not right. Tibetans are looking for reincarnated spirit children. Aren¡¯t you looking for newborns? Is Meiduo already eighteen? She doesn¡¯t look like a reincarnated spirit child."

    He replied with a wry smile, "Only the reincarnation of gods or living Buddhas require newly born spiritual children, and living Buddhas can figure out where they reincarnate. Banda Lam is a very special Gods¡¯ soul with two faces and two forms. One was the quiet and beautiful Brahms, which symbolized purity and kindness, while the other was the ferocious Tsing Lam, which symbolized anger and majesty. When Tsing Lam revealed her true form, no matter who looked at her, they would die. I heard that sometimes, hoping to find Banda Lam, there were several spiritual children who identally took a look at Tsing Lam and died with her."

    Zhou Qin asked puzzledly, "So what does that mean?"

    "So... looking for Banda Lam is the hardest thing imaginable, especially when she hasn¡¯t revealed her real body. No one can know where she is. I hadn¡¯t expected that... Meiduo would be Banda Lam!"

    Zhou Qin saw that Changbag¡¯s face was written with worry and that he kept sighing. She could not help but ask, "Isn¡¯t it a good thing that Meiduo is the reincarnation of a god? Why are you so sad?"

    Changbag nced at Zhou Qin. He wanted to say something, but stopped himself and sighed. "Well, I can¡¯t tell you everything now. You¡¯ll know when the timees. I have to start worshipping Banda Lam as soon as possible. If I make her angry, it will be terrible!"

    After that, Changbag followed the actions of his nsmen and kowtowed. They respectfully crawled in the snow in obeisance to Meiduo.

    Meiduo was thunderstruck. She looked at the worshipping crowd surrounding her and was rendered speechless.

    After a long while, she stammered, "Master Erdeni, you¡¯ve got it all wrong, haven¡¯t you? How could I be Banda Lam? You must be joking, right?¡±

    Erdeni put his palms together and said with a solemn face, "You think I would dare to lie in front of the true god? Can this kind of thing even be joked about? The mani wheel you just turned, its full name is ¡¯the great merits mani wheel¡¯. Even if I wanted to turn it, I would have to make full use of all my spiritual energy to barely nudge it. But Banda Lam, you turned it so easily. Doesn¡¯t it mean that you¡¯re the reincarnation of the true god?"

    Meiduo was stunned. She looked down at her hands, which were as white and smooth as jade, and then looked back at her nsmen who were still crawling all over the ground. Even Dorjee Tenzin, who had been talking andughing with her just now, was now prostrated respectfully on the ground, and he did not dare to look up at her.

    Meiduo bent down, wanting to pull him up, but he seemed to have eyes on the top of his head and he immediately crawled down deeper, avoiding her hand.

    Meiduo¡¯s hand froze in midair. Unwilling to give up, she turned around to pull at her nsmen and yelled, "Get up everyone. I¡¯m not Banda Lam. I¡¯m just the same old Meiduo. Don¡¯t do this."

    The nsmen were pulled at by Meiduo, but they all shook their hands in panic and kept shaking their heads, not daring to look at her directly.

    She felt as if her heart had been pinched by someone. She walked to the front of Changbag and choked out in a strained voice, "Changbag, are you also ignoring me?"

    Changbag was prostrate on the ground, and he remained unmoving, but he released a light sigh and said, "Banda Lam, what do you mean by this?"

    Meiduo¡¯s tears streamed down in glittering rivers. "Changbag, I¡¯m Meiduo, not Banda Lam. Why do you even believe them?" she asked sadly.

    After a long silence, Changbag raised his head slightly to take a look at Meiduo, and then he released a weary sigh. "Meiduo, if the great master says you are Banda Lam... then you are Banda Lam. Whether I believe it or not... it doesn¡¯t matter."

    After that, he buried himself ever deeper into the snow. No matter how Meiduo whimpered, he wouldn¡¯t look up again.

    For a moment, everyone on the snow-covered teau fell into silence. There was a heavy stillness hanging over the vast teau, with only the sounds of Meiduo crying mixing with the whistling of the cold wind to be heard, making people feel sad and sympathetic.

    Meiduo looked at Zhou Qin beside her and saw that all the people around were pressed to the ground, apart from this Han girl, who was still standing in the snow, looking at her with aplicated expression.

    Meiduo didn¡¯t know why, but when she saw Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes, she felt an overwhelming sadness and couldn¡¯t restrain herself anymore. She threw herself into Zhou Qin¡¯s arms and burst into tears. "Han Sister, I¡¯m Meiduo. I¡¯m not Banda Lam!"

    Although Zhou Qin did not understand why Meiduo was so upset, she could not help but feel a little sympathetic when she heard her pitiful wailing. She patted Meiduo¡¯s back gently and said softly, "I know you are Meiduo, not Banda Lam. No matter what kind of reincarnated god you are, you are still Meiduo in my eyes, okay?"

    Meiduo cried even harder. She sobbed deeply, and the tears fell from her eyes like broken pearls. She hugged Zhou Qin tightly and cried, "But they don¡¯t believe I¡¯m Meiduo!"

    Zhou Qinforted her in a soft voice. "Meiduo, what¡¯s wrong with being the reincarnation of a god? Isn¡¯t that a good thing?"

    Meiduo shook her head vigorously and said in a strangled voice, "If I am Banda Lam, I won¡¯t be able to leave Pot Pce for the rest of my life. I won¡¯t be able to go to Tiannan City. I won¡¯t be able to enter that Han man¡¯s university. I won¡¯t be able to see him ever again!"

    "Ah!" Zhou Qin gasped in understanding. It was as if Meiduo¡¯s word had hit the softest ce in her heart. "If I were her, I wouldn¡¯t be able to see Li Yundong again. I wouldn¡¯t be able to see the person I love more than life itself. What would I do?"

    For a moment, this resolute, strong girl seemed to feel the same as the girl she wasforting and she shed tears silently. She suddenly made up her mind, as if she had had a spell cast over her. She patted Meiduo¡¯s shoulder lightly and whispered, "Meiduo, do you want to be Banda Lam? If you don¡¯t, I¡¯ll try my best to get you out of it!"

    Meiduo, who had still been sobbing, was so stunned that she suddenly forgot to continue crying. As soon as Erdeni heard Zhou Qin¡¯s words, he raised his head and red fiercely at her, shouting, "How dare you say such a thing!"

    His loud shout caused the mountains to tremble, and his sound reverberated through the sky. His power was so mighty that it could even cause mountains to copse, and the clouds to change color!

    The monks andmas who had lowered themselves to the icy ground also jumped up one by one and looked menacingly at Zhou Qin with fierce eyes.

    Even the Meiduo¡¯s nsmen raised their heads and looked at Zhou Qin with hostility. All of them were eager to have a battle.

    Changbag raised his head in horror and shouted at Meiduo, "Meiduo, are you crazy? Do you want your Han Sister to get killed?"

    Meiduo trembled. She hugged Zhou Qin and said sadly, "Look, please don¡¯t do anything stupid. I¡¯m just sad and want to cry a bit. When I stop crying, I¡¯ll be fine..."

    After saying that, Meiduo could not help but burst into tears again. Droplets trickled down her round face and fell into the snow.

    Zhou Qin quickly nced at the monks around her before her eyes turned to Meiduo. She said calmly, without changing her expression, "Meiduo, I just want to ask you one thing. Do you want to be Banda Lam or not?"

    Meiduo gawked at Zhou Qin, this Han Sister who had only met her once but was willing to protect her at all costs!

    Everyone held their breaths and did not dare to make a sound as they looked at Meiduo. They were all quietly waiting to hear her decision.

    Meiduo looked at Zhou Qin for a while. Suddenly, she smiled sadly and quickly wiped away her tears. She forced a smile and said, "Han Sister, thank you. I¡¯m not going to Tiannan City. Would you please help me tell that Han man that I, I can¡¯t enter his school..."

    Speaking of this, Meiduo couldn¡¯t help but sob. "Han Sister, when you go back, remember to tell him that a girl named Meiduo is thinking about him in Pot Pce. When he is free in the future, he cane and see her..."

    Zhou Qin was stunned for a moment. Silent, unconscious tears had begun to run down her face too. She was a poor woman who loved Li Yundong deeply but couldn¡¯t get his love in return. Now, she was meeting another girl that was even worse off than her. Although she was always firm and resolute, and on the way to building the Zhuji phase she had cultivated her mind to be harder than steel, at this time, she couldn¡¯t help but feel tender and cry with pity.

    Meiduo saw that Zhou Qin was crying and she thought that she was sympathizing with her, so she forced a smile and saidfortingly, "Don¡¯t be sad for me. I¡¯m fine. And I¡¯m very strong! In fact, it¡¯s good to be Banda Lam. Although many Tibetan girls dream of it, they don¡¯t get the chance!"

    When Erdeni saw that Meiduo had already decided to be Banda Lam, he retracted his fierce gaze and once again became friendly. He lowered his eyes and gently shook the prayer wheel, beginning to recite scripture.

    The other monks were still surrounding Meiduo, as if they were subtly urging her to continue on the way.

    Meiduo nced at them, then turned back and ran to her yak cart to pull out a woolen cotton-padded jacket. She ran back over to Zhou Qin and pressed it into her hand. Meiduo smiled and shed tears as she said gratefully, "Han Sister, I have to go now. You have to be careful along the way. It¡¯s very cold on the top of Kari Holy Mountain. Keep yourself warm."

    Zhou Qin gripped the soft wool-padded jacket, unable to refuse. She sighed lightly and asked, "What else do you want me to tell Li Yundong?"

    Meiduo smiled and shook her head. "Nothing, I¡¯ve thought it through. If fate wills it, I¡¯ll meet him again someday. We¡¯ll talk about it then!"

    Zhou Qin cast a lingering look at Meiduo as she turned away. Her delicate figure looked particrly sad in the snow. When Zhou Qin watched Meiduo on Dorjee Tenzin¡¯s yak, she could hear her gently singing the song that she had not finished before.

    "... Sixth, it¡¯s best not to be rtive. In this way, we won¡¯t be able to meet each other.

    ¡±Seventh, it¡¯s best not to dy each other, so that we won¡¯t betray each other.

    "Eighth, it¡¯s best not to promise each other. In this way, we won¡¯t be able to continue.

    "Ninth, it¡¯s best not to cuddle up to each other. In this way, we won¡¯t have to rely on each other.

    "Tenth, It¡¯s best not to meet each other. In this way, we won¡¯t get together again.

    "Just meet and fall in love at first sight, knowing that our lives will be entangled, it is better for us to never meet each other.

    "Enjoying peace in my heart by breaking up with you, I will be free of suffering lovesickness by dying."

    Both Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling, who had witnessed all of this from a distance, watched in a daze as Meiduo, Dorjee Tenzin, and the others gradually walked farther away. Then, Changbag took his nsmen and headed in the opposite direction.

    For a time on the Qinghai-Tibetan teau, only Zhou Qin stood silently in the snowfield, her figure standing tall and alone like a solitary ice sculpture.

 Chapter 460 Go to The East!

    <h4>Chapter 460: Go to The East!</h4>

    Looking at Zhou Qin¡¯s distant figure, Ruan Hongling sighed softly. ¡°Unexpectedly, Zhou Qin, who is usually so cold, can still be so warm-hearted. However, she almost caused a catastrophe. If Meiduo had really said that she didn¡¯t want to be Banda Lam, I¡¯m afraid we wouldn¡¯t have been able to just sit by and do nothing. If we did, the Esoteric Sect and the Taoists would have to have a fierce battle again¡­¡±

    Zi Yuan also sighed. ¡°Even though Meiduo doesn¡¯t know much about the affairs of the Cultivation World, she knows that if she doesn¡¯t agree, Zhou Qin would probably have died there, so she agreed. However, what impressed me was that Zhou Qin was able to remain calm andposed when faced by several mountain protection monks. Regardless of anything else, just her kung fu skills and bearing already make her superior to many cultivators who have cultivated for a long time.¡±

    ¡°No matter what Cultivation Quotient Li Yundong reaches in the future, he can rest assured. His Cultivation Quotient and kung fu will definitely be inherited by Zhou Qin someday! She will be a world-shaking female cultivator! With Li Yundong and Zhou Qin in the sect at the same time, it¡¯s impossible for the sect to not be glorious!¡±

    For some reason, Ruan Hongling suddenly thought of her own Linggong Sect and began to feel morose about its degression. She couldn¡¯t help but mutter jealously, ¡°There is no use in just having a powerful disciple. If the disciples he takes in the future are all powerful, that¡¯d show his true power!¡±

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know where Li Yundong¡¯s next disciple wille from.¡±

    While Zhou Qin was building the Zhuji phase at Kari Holy Mountain, many miles away, a girl called Kris, who had been to Tiannan city as an exchange student, was wandering around under the warm sunshine of the campus, preparing her graduation thesis at Pennsylvania State University.

    Pennsylvania in December was suffering from a harsh cold snap, and the students were all usually dressed up in thick clothing, wrapping their faces tightly with scarves to prevent the cold wind from sneaking down their clothes.

    But today was a rare sunny day. The sun was shining warmly down over the evergreenwn of campus, and many beauty-loving female students had removed their thick down jackets, showing off their graceful figures to their heart¡¯s content.

    Kris was wearing a yellow hand-made sweater and a id velvet dress. There was a pair of warm, flesh-colored, close-fitting trousers covering her legs. She looked exquisite and sexy as her golden hair scattered down over her shoulders. No matter where she went, with her porcin, doll-like face, she would inevitably attract the admiration and love of men.

    She carried a few books over to a rtively clean spot of grass. Then, while enjoying the warm winter sunlight, she began flipping through the books in her hands.

    However, not long after she had started reading, she suddenly heard someone shouting loudly at her, ¡°Kris, hey, Kris!¡±

    She raised her head and looked in the direction of the voice. At this moment, the sunlight was slightly ring and she couldn¡¯t help but tilt her face to one side. Her beautiful golden hair fell over her cheeks, making her face, which was already beautiful, look even more feminine and soft.

    Using her hand to shield her eyes, she squinted slightly. It was John, who she hadn¡¯t seen for two or three months. She suddenlyughed and cried, ¡°It¡¯s you, John! I haven¡¯t seen you for a long time. How have you been recently?¡±

    Even though John and Kris, these two good friends, were in frequent contact on weekdays, John was still shocked by her beauty. He slowed down as if he was afraid to disturb the loveliness of the scene, which was like an oil painting.

    He could not help but sigh. ¡°Kris, ever since you returned from China, you¡¯ve only be more and more beautiful!¡±

    She smiled faintly and tucked a curly strand of hair behind her ear. ¡°Really? But I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any difference.¡±

    John shook his head. ¡°No, you have a mysterious and quiet aura around you now. It¡¯s enough to really make people hold their breath!¡±

    She closed the book with a smile and said, ¡°John, are you here just topliment me today? If so, thank you. If not, please get to the point, because,¡± she shook the book in her hand, ¡°I still have to prepare my graduation thesis.¡±

    John took a closer look and found that what was held in Kris¡¯s hand was a Chinese book filled with Chinese characters. He smiled and said, ¡°Ha, I know these words¡­¡±

    As he spoke, he positioned himself next to Kris and carefully squinted at the words in the book.

    He stared at them for a long time. Though he felt that the characters were familiar, he couldn¡¯t speak the words, which made him so anxious that he scratched his head.

    Kris pursed her lips into a smile and said in Mandarin, ¡°I already said that your Chinese is far from good, you still don¡¯t believe me!¡±

    John stared at her suspiciously. Unconvinced, he also retorted in somewhat stunted Chinese, ¡°Nonsense, I am now the student who has made the fastest progress in the Chinese sses at the Confucius Institute. Even the teachers praise me for my fast progress!¡±

    Kris chuckled. ¡°Well, Mr. Fastest Improver, why can¡¯t you recognize these four simple words?¡±

    Out of anger, English came out of John¡¯s mouth. ¡°Why do they look so strange? Damn it, what exactly are these four words?¡±

    Kris could se that John was so worked up that the veins on his forehead were sticking out and she couldn¡¯t help butugh. ¡°I¡¯m kidding you. These words are ¡¯huangdineijing¡®, which means Canon of the Yellow Thearch. They are written an ancient seal script. Even many Chinese can¡¯t recognize them! It¡¯s my grandmother¡¯s treasured book. Back when she gave it to me, I couldn¡¯t even recognize these words.¡±

    John breathed a sigh of relief and patted his chest. ¡°That¡¯s good. That means it¡¯s not a problem with my level of Chinese. Kris, you scared me just now. I thought my Chinese must suck, but if it were really that bad, my teacher would have to give up on me!¡±

    Kris looked at John with a smile. Her beautiful eyes suddenly revealed a trace of puzzlement. ¡°John, do you really want to learn kung fu?¡±

    He nodded forcefully and without hesitation. ¡°Of course! Kris, when you came back a few months ago, you were obsessed and wanted to learn from your master. Why are you asking me such a question now?¡±

    A troubled expression came over Kris¡¯ face. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about it. My grandmother supports me, but my father won¡¯t allow me to go and my mother wants me to finish my studies first. After thinking about it by myself, I also feel that it¡¯s a bit unrealistic¡­¡±

    John said with exaggerated expression, ¡°Gosh, Kris, you¡¯re still doubting my master¡¯s ability, aren¡¯t you? Have you ever seen anyone in the world who can dodge bullets within a distance of five meters? Have you ever seen anyone who can jump down from the fourth floor with a person in their arms like it¡¯s nothing? Have you seen anyone who could send me, who weighs nearly 200 pounds, flying through the air with only a punch?¡±

    All of a sudden, his expression turned serious. ¡°I know that your parents wish for you to inherit the family business in the future and that¡¯s why they want to keep you by their side, but I¡¯m definitely going to China again. Plus, I¡¯ve already arranged my visa! The reason I¡¯m here now is just to ask if you want toe with me?¡±

    Kris lowered her head with aplicated expression on her face. She couldn¡¯t help but recall the memories of attending Tiannan University as an exchange student.

    In Kris¡¯s opinion, Tiannan University was far behind the University of Pennsylvania in every aspect. The quality of students and teachers varied as well. Even the teachers and officials of the ce had given her a bad impression of bureaucracy.

    However, what had impressed Kris the most was that incredible Chinese man. Every time she closed her eyes, it was as if she could see Li Yundong dodging bullets like some sort of demon or god.

    It was a memory that she would never forget for the rest of her life!

    Especially when her grandmother had told her that Li Yundong might be a cultivator from the legends and that he might have the art of immortality Kris¡¯ heart had thumped even harder, and she had wished that she could beg Li Yundong to teach her the art of immortality.

    But as the days had gone by, this impulse had gradually calmed down. In the end, she had chosen to study instead of doing cultivation.

    However, just when Kris had thought she was about to forget all about it, John had appeared again. As always, he worshipped the mysterious and powerful Eastern man, and was still determined to go to the far East to learn from him!

    The memory that Kris had almost forgotten was once more brought to the fore. Her heart suddenly began to pound. She lowered her head and remained silent, quietly caressing the exquisite cover of the book in her hands.

    Seeing the excitement in Kris¡¯ eyes, John tried to convince her. ¡°Kris, what are you hesitant about? Do you know how old you are? Please, you¡¯re only twenty years old, but you act like an 80-year-old grandma who¡¯s always overly cautious!

    ¡°Do you know what being twenty means? You¡¯re at the right age for wandering around. We still have the courage to travel around while we¡¯re young. If you don¡¯t go out now, when will you? Will you regret it when you¡¯re old and can¡¯t walk anymore?¡±

    Kris¡¯ heart suddenly trembled. She remembered what her grandmother, Lin Guoying, had once said to her. ¡°Kris, if you meet Zhenren, don¡¯t hesitate. You must think of every way possible to get him to be your teacher. Otherwise, in the future, you¡¯ll be like me, watching your youth drift away from you until it¡¯s out of sight. By that time, it¡¯ll be toote for regrets!¡±

    Her words had caused the adventurous spirit inherited from her grandpa, a sailor, to be ignited in her veins. She slowly raised her head, her eyes sparkling.

    John saw the look in her eyes. ¡°Kris,¡± he eximed in surprise, ¡°have you decided toe with me to China?¡±

    She smiled and sighed. ¡°Oh John, you ought to be a politician in the future. Your eloquence is stunning!¡±

    John¡¯s lips formed into a grin. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m no Arnold Schwarzenegger!¡± he said.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, he is not as good as you at fighting!¡± Kris said, pursing her lips and smiling.

    John imitated the movements of a bodybuilder, then did a fewbat moves. He was so excited that his eyebrows seemed like they might fly off his forehead. ¡°Kris, when are we going to set off? I can¡¯t wait to get to China and start a new life!¡±

    Kris shook her head and smiled. ¡°You¡¯re really an optimist! You have to learn Chinese better. I¡¯m sure you know, that b*stard doesn¡¯t seem very willing to ept us as his disciples!¡±

    John waved his hand, not taking her seriously. He said word by word in Chinese, ¡°Kris, as the saying goes, when sincerity rises, even gold and stone can be torn asunder! I don¡¯t believe that my sincerity can¡¯t move my master! I will definitely make him take me on as his disciple!¡±

    Kris smiled and spoke back in Chinese, ¡°Praise be to God. These few sentences are pretty standard, it seems you have practiced for a long time!¡±

    Johnughed and switched back to English. ¡°I have to practice dozens of times a day! Damn it, it¡¯s too difficult to learn Chinese! But I¡¯m going to continue studying in China soon, hahaha!¡± As he said that, he excitedly flipped over. He was as excited as a child and shouted with joy, ¡°Haha, we are going to China. Kris, let¡¯s¡­ go to the East together!¡±

    Kris smiled. Just as she was about to speak, a voice suddenly rang out from beside them, ¡°Go to the East? What East? Are you guys going to elope? Haha, if you¡¯re going to elope, you should take me with you!¡±

 Chapter 461 Come with Me if You Dare!

    <h4>Chapter 461: Come with Me if You Dare!</h4>

    Hearing these words, Kris and John turned their heads at the same time, only to see a tall, plump, beautiful girl with brown hair and blue eyes looking at them with a cheery smile on her face.

    The woman was about 5¡¯7" tall with long legs. It could be said that she had the figure of a supermodel thanks to her height and a waist so slim that it seemed as if she would snap just by taking a step. However, her chest was so generous that she could show off a plunging line of cleavage down between her pink and snow-white breasts, which was highly eye-catching.

    John recognized her at a nce. "Isn¡¯t that the captain of the cheerleaders, Alba? Isn¡¯t she always making things difficult for Kris? Why is she joining us?"

    Kris was the president of the student council, and also the famous campus belle. Her family background was very good, and everyone appreciated her kind personality. Almost every boy acknowledged Kris to be the best girl around and thought that it would a great blessing for any man to marry her.

    As a result, Kris was very popr in school and she was known as the ¡¯Goddess of Pennsylvania¡¯. She had even been named as ¡¯Best Young Lady at the University of Pennsylvania¡¯ for three consecutive years.

    But the more outstanding a girl was, the more she would attract the affection of surrounding men, and with it the surrounding women¡¯s hostility. Cheerleader Alba was Kris¡¯ well-known rival at the University of Pennsylvania.

    In the three consecutive ¡¯Best Young Lady at the University of Pennsylvania¡¯ selections, Kris had defeated Alba by a weak margin and won the championship.

    Alba had angrily gritted her teeth over this, and more than once in private had cursed Kris as an arrogant and beautiful b*tch. In her opinion, Kris already had everything, yet she still wanted topete with her for the title of ¡¯Best Young Lady at the University of Pennsylvania¡¯, which was just the icing on the cake to Kris, but would be a timely help to her.

    Being able to earn such a title many times at a well-known university would work as a generous boon to an ordinary girl like Alba, who had no power or rich background.

    But this honor, which should have fallen on her head, had been repeatedly snatched by Kris. How could Alba not grind her teeth in anger?

    Alba was now looking at Kris very jealously. She said in a sarcastic tone, "Kris, I hadn¡¯t been expecting you to be so wild. You¡¯re thinking of eloping now?"

    Ignoring the unhappiness in his heart, John raised his hands and said, "Hey, Alba, can you stop implicating me in your feud?"

    Alba took a good look at John, then suddenly winked at him and said with a smile, "Ah, I know you. You¡¯re John from the Fighting Club. You performed pretty well at the partyst time!"

    Although John was a big guy, he was not a durd. He knew that Alba wanted to snatch him and make him her boyfriend just to humiliate Kris. Once she¡¯d done that, she would abandon him.

    John quickly took a step back and said, "Alba, I have something personal to discuss with Kris. Could you give us some privacy?"

    Alba was quite beautiful, with sultry South American features. She giggled and said, "What could you possibly need to discuss? Why are the two of you so weird when I¡¯m here? What are you talking about?"

    As she spoke, Alba swept her gaze over the pair and saw the Canon of the Yellow Thearch in Kris¡¯ hands. Sheughed and said, "What book is this? Some ancient tome of magic and witchcraft?"

    Kris knew that Alba had always hated her and would always trouble her every time they met. She knew that if she stopped being able to tolerate Alba, everyone would immediately say that she was using her power to bully others, which was why she had always been enduring her and giving in. No matter what Alba said, she remained silent.

    When Alba saw Kris ignoring her, she felt a little bored, but she was still unwilling to leave. Kris wasn¡¯t taking any notice of her, so Alba quickly snatched the Canon of the Yellow Thearch from her hands and began to read it. She flipped it open and nced at it, but was dazzled by the densely-packed words inside.

    Alba curled her lips, threw the book to the ground disdainfully, and said, "What trash. Kris, are you really wasting your time looking at these things every day?"

    Kris frowned slightly as she bent down and picked up the book on the ground, then carefully and seriously patted the dust off it. She said solemnly, "Alba, you can be rude to me, but you shouldn¡¯t disrespect this book!"

    Alba snickered. "What sort of witchcraft book is it that makes you value it so much?"

    John couldn¡¯t hold back his anger and burst out, "Alba, this is the book that Kris¡®s grandma gave her!"

    Kris shook her head at John, indicating for him not to speak. She turned to Alba and said earnestly, "Alba, this book is called Canon of the Yellow Thearch, and ites from China. It¡¯s the earliest medical book recorded in the history of this! You can be disrespectful to people, but please respect history and science!"

    Alba pursed her lips and said usingly, "Tsk, the earliest medical book? From China? Science? In my opinion, it¡¯s a ck book full of backward witchcraft and superstition."

    Ever since John had witnessed Li Yundong¡¯s magic, his heart had been filled with yearning and longing for China, that mysterious Eastern country. He could not bear to hear anyone denigrate this country, so he could not help being enraged. "Alba, what the hell are you doing here? Is it your time of the month? Or perhaps you¡¯ve been dumped by your boyfriend? Why are you doing this? We were talking just fine before. It¡¯s none of your business!"

    Alba¡¯s face changed greatly, and she screeched at him, "This is a free country. It¡¯s none of your business where I go. Do you want to go to some autocratic feudal country? Then go, don¡¯t stay in thisnd of freedom!"

    "What the hell does it have to do with you where I am?" John roared.

    Displeasure shed across Kris¡¯ face as she muttered in a low voice, "Alba, we don¡¯t want you here. Please leave!"

    Alba gritted her teeth and said, "Well, I want to stay. What are you going to do about it?"

    Kris had never seen such arrogance before. She shook her head with a wry smile and said to John, "Forget it, let¡¯s go."

    He gave a sharp, angryugh. "Alba, we¡¯re going to China. If you have the guts,e with us!"

    Alba had a strange look on her face. Watching Kris and John turning around and leaving, she ground her teeth and shouted, "Fine, if you have the guts, tell me when you¡¯re going!"

    John burst outughter, and without even turning his head around, he yelled, "Tomorrow!"

    Kris jumped in fright and immediately tugged at John¡¯s sleeve. "Hey, you¡¯re crazy. Are we really leaving tomorrow?"

    "Don¡¯t you have a passport that means you can go abroad at any time? I¡¯ve handled everything. If you want to leave, you should go as soon as possible. Of course, this kind of thing needs to be done sooner rather thanter. Otherwise, you won¡¯t want to go anymore if you dy for a few days, right?"

    Although Kris felt a little rushed, she could see sense in John¡¯s words. Thanks to the wild, adventurous spirit flowing through her veins, she was a little excited. She nodded slightly and said, "Alright then, I¡¯ll go back and pack up my things, then book a ticket for tomorrow!"

    John burst outughing. "It¡¯s a deal then!" After that, he turned back andughed loudly at Alba. "We will go to China tomorrow. You can follow us, if you dare!"

    Seeing Johnugh arrogantly as he left, Alba stamped her feet, cursed him, and then stormed off angrily.

    The next day, John and Kris made an appointment to meet at the airport. The two of them were about to board the ne when they suddenly saw a familiar figure dragging a suitcase behind her and looking at them with a proud expression. It was Alba!

    Kris and John were both dumbstruck. Kris stared at Alba with wide eyes and mumbled. "Alba, you... you... what are you doing?"

    Alba stroked her brown hair and retorted proudly, "You told me that I coulde with you if I dared. Ha, well here I am!"

    John¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Alba, are you crazy?" he stammered. "Do you know how far China is? Aren¡¯t you afraid that your family will worry about you?"

    Alba rolled her eyes at John. "What does that have to do with you? Anyway, I¡¯m here now. Can¡¯t get rid of me now, can you?"

    Kris was bbergasted. "But, you... how did you even know which flight we booked?" As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly understood and turned to re at John. "John, did you tell her?"

    John rxed his shoulders and spread out his hands with a wry, helpless smile. "I didn¡¯t think she would really follow us. And even if she wanted toe, I didn¡¯t think she would have a passport. But I hadn¡¯t expected... Damn it. Is this woman crazy? Why is she here? Is she just angry with us?"

    Alba paid no attention to the pair of them. She dragged her small suitcase over to the boarding gate and said, "Guys, it¡¯s time to board. Now we¡¯re all going to be in the same boat!" With that, she walked ahead on her own, as if she were the captain of the team.

    Kris couldn¡¯t help but rub her temples with her forefingers and moan. "Gosh, what the heck is going on?"

    With a bitter smile, John said in a low voice, "How about we get rid of her by secretly changing our flights?"

    As soon as he finished speaking, Alba turned her head and shouted angrily, "Don¡¯t even think about trying to run off!"

    Kris and John looked at each other, smiled bitterly and shook their heads, and then dragged their luggage to the boarding gate. Kris couldn¡¯t help but sigh. "John, I have a bad feeling that our trip to China is going to end up very, very bad..."

    "I agree! I can¡¯t imagine what will happen if my master sees the three of us... God, he will definitely kick me out!"

    Kris eyed him suspiciously. "Has he even take you as an apprentice yet?"

 Chapter 462 The Trio

    <h4>Chapter 462 The Trio</h4>

    It was originally intended to be a very beautiful and exciting trip, but now a third wheel had appeared. Kris and John felt very ufortable about the whole thing, and Alba¡¯s seat was between the two of them, which made the three of them all feel pretty embarrassed.

    Kris and John sighed to themselves and closed their eyes. They didn¡¯t want to try and make conversation with Alba, so they decided to just pretend to be dead all the way to China.

    But after the ne took off, Kris, who was resting with her eyes shut, suddenly heard Alba begin to sob quietly next to her.

    Kris opened her eyes curiously, only to see that Alba really was lying on the seat of the ne, sobbing and wiping away her tears.

    Although Kris didn¡¯t know what was wrong, she still kindly handed over a tissue.

    When Alba saw this proffered tissue, she took it without raising her head and scrunched it up in her hand. Instead of wiping away her tears, she just continued crying.

    Kris couldn¡¯t help asking, "Alba, if you want to go home, why don¡¯t you book a ticket back when we arrive? I¡¯ll help you pay for it."

    Alba raised her head. The tears were streaming down her face and ruining her heavy makeup. She choked out, "Why are you pretending to be a good person?"

    Kris sighed helplessly. "No matter what, we¡¯re still ssmates. You followed us to China, and I can¡¯t just leave you behind, right? What¡¯s the matter with you?"

    Alba stared nkly at Kris, then suddenly pouted. With an aggrieved expression, she threw herself into Kris¡¯ arms and started to wail. "Kris, that asshole Jack dumped me for some b*tch!"

    Kris suddenly let out a bitterugh. "So John was right after all? You couldn¡¯t be sulking about going to China with us just because of this, right?"

    Alba continued wailing loudly. "I¡¯m just a big joke. How could he treat me like this!"

    Kris sighed helplessly. She restrained her temper andforted her nemesis. "It¡¯s okay. Hey, maybe you can start a new rtionship in China."

    Seeing her like this, John¡¯s hostility against Alba dissipated heavily. He winked at her and said, "By the way, Alba, I know many handsome Chinese guys. Would you like me to introduce some to you?"

    Kris shot a fierce re at John. "Shut up. Who else do you even know besides your master?"

    "Hey, I¡¯ll have you know that I even know the mayor!" he said proudly.

    Kris remembered Mayor Luo, whom John had once greeted cordially. Sheughed brightly and said, "That¡¯s right. Aren¡¯t you afraid of being caught and thrown into jail? Go find him!"

    Alba continued crying for a while before eventually calming down. She wiped her tears as she said to Kris, "Kris, I¡¯m sorry. I was abandoned by Jack yesterday and I was in a bad mood and only wanted to find someone to vent my anger on. I offended you yesterday for no good reason, so I apologize."

    Kris generously extended her hand to Alba. "Let¡¯s not get caught up in the past. We can be friends now, can¡¯t we? Even if it means we¡¯re just friends in China, and we will still be sworn enemies when we return?"

    Alba looked at the hand that Kris had extended. She suddenlyughed, then stretched out her own hand for a handshake. "Fine, let¡¯s make a truce for now."

    This beauty, oozing with South American style, had emotions that came and went quickly. She quickly sat up straight, and after wiping away the tears on her face, she opened up her carry-on bag and carefully redid her make-up, gazing into her pocket mirror. When she was all done, she said to John excitedly, "Hey, are you really going to China to elope? Wow, it¡¯s so romantic!"

    John looked at her andughed. She seemed to switch between moods even faster than Hollywood actors. He couldn¡¯t help but say with a bitter smile, "Alba, stop joking around. Kris and I are just friends. We¡¯re going to China to be apprenticed!"

    Alba blinked her eyes and asked curiously, "Eh? Who will teach you?"

    Thinking of being apprenticed, John was a little excited. He turned around and said with joy, "We¡¯re going to have a really powerful Chinese guy as our teacher!"

    Alba became more and more curious. "How powerful? In what way?"

    John said excitedly, "He can dodge bullets within five meters, catch people falling from the fifth floor with his bare hands, and deal with dozens of gangsters single-handedly!"

    Alba couldn¡¯t helpughing incredulously. "John, you are talking about some kind of Superman. He only exists in Hollywood, not China!"

    "Alba, I¡¯m not joking with you!" John said, feeling a little annoyed.

    Alba¡¯s smile disappeared, and she looked at John with a strange expression. "Hey, I¡¯m not joking with you either. Superman is indeed only in Hollywood!"

    "What I said just now is totally true," John retorted. "If you don¡¯t believe me, you can ask Kris!"

    When Alba saw the anger on his face, she could see he wasn¡¯t faking it, so she turned her head and looked at Kris, then asked probingly, "Is that true?"

    Kris nodded very seriously. "It¡¯s true, we¡¯ve seen it with our own eyes. Originally, I used my phone to capture everything, but unfortunately, the memory card was confiscated by the teacher at the university where I was an exchange student. If that hadn¡¯t happened, I could have won the Pulitzer Prize!"

    Alba couldn¡¯t stop shaking her head andughing in disbelief. "Impossible. I don¡¯t believe that there¡¯s such a person in this world."

    Kris smiled. "Alba, when you see him, you¡¯ll see that it¡¯s all real!"

    Albaughed. ¡°If there really is such a person, I¡¯ll worship him as my master as well!"

    As soon as she finished her words, Johnughed unkindly. "Impossible!"

    Alba asked doubtfully, "Impossible? Why?"

    John looked at Kris, who stared back at him, and the two broke out into smiles. "Because you can¡¯t speak Chinese!"

    Alba said with her blue eyes sparkling, "Does speaking Chinese have anything to do with whether or not I can worship him as my master?"

    John smirked at her and said, "This is a rule set by him. He said that if you want to learn his kung fu skills, you must learn Chinese first, otherwise, he won¡¯t teach you!"

    Alba frowned. "Can¡¯t I just ask for an interpreter?"

    Johnughed and wagged his finger. "Of course not!"

    Alba was a little taken aback and asked, "So, is it toote for me to learn now?"

    John¡¯s arrogance grew. "Well, probably. It¡¯s very difficult to learn Chinese, you know! What¡¯s more, even if you can speak it, my master may not ept you!"

    She frowned. "Why?"

    John pointed at Kris. "You think Kris¡¯ Chinese is good? Well, Master refused to ept even her. He said that he only takes men as his disciples!"

    Alba had a stubborn and extreme personality and was thoroughly entrenched in modern feminist ideology. When she heard this, she suddenly became angry, and regardless of the fact that they were on a ne, she jumped up and yelled, "What kind of a man is he? In this age, he¡¯s still being so discriminatory? You guys still want to worship him as your master? My god, you guys aren¡¯t out of your minds, are you?"

    She was tall that when she stood up on the ne she stood out like a crane amongst a flock of chickens. The other people on the ne all looked at her in surprise and a stewardess immediately walked over her and whispered with a smile, "Hello, Miss, please speak in a lower voice, thank you!"

    Alba looked around awkwardly and forced a smile. She sat down, still enraged, and continued to mutter in a low voice, "What¡¯s so great about that guy? He¡¯s obviously sexist!"

    Sheined under her breath for a while, then turned her head to look at Kris and asked in confusion, "Hey, you know you¡¯re unlikely to be his apprentice, so why are you still going to China?"

    Kris was still focused on reading the Canon of the Yellow Thearch in her hands. Her expression was calm as she replied in Chinese, "Nothing is impossible for a willing mind!"

    Alba waspletely confused when she heard this. "Uh, what?"

    Johnughed and tranted the sentence for her, then said with a smile, "There¡¯s another sentence, which goes..."

    He continued in Chinese, "... Complete sincerity can affect even metal and stone!"

    Alba¡¯s eyes widened, as though she was looking at an alien. "What do you mean? Say it again."

    John repeated the phrase word by word. Alba copied him, like a parrot, but no matter how hard she tried, it still difficult for her to grasp.

    After repeating it several times, Alba buried her face in her hands and sighed. "My God, I feel like my tongue has a knot in it! I¡¯m starting to regret deciding to go to this country with you! How can I talk to these Chinese people with their crazynguage when I get there?"

    Kris held back herughter and said faintly, "After arriving in Shanghai and getting off the ne, I¡¯ll buy you a ticket, and you can take the next flight back."

    Alba immediately put down her hand, opened her eyes wide, and said, "Hey, don¡¯t try to get rid of me! I won¡¯t run away at thest minute. I¡¯d like to see what this damn sexist b*stard looks like! I¡¯ll scold him for his old ideas and backward thinking! He should know that he lives in the 21st century, not medieval times!"

    John¡¯s face went pale when he heard her n. "No, no, no. Master will get mad at you. He¡¯s a tough guy. You can¡¯t p*ss him off like that!"

    Alba nced at him. "Why are you so nervous?" Very quickly, her face lit up as she continued, "Oh, you are afraid that I will make him angry and then he won¡¯t ept you as an apprentice, right?"

    John nodded sheepishly, a wry smile on his face.

    Albaughed smugly at his expression. "Hah, from now on, I¡¯m the leader of this small team. If either of you doesn¡¯t listen to me, I¡¯ll make trouble for you! I¡¯ll make you unable to be his apprentice!"

    Using his hand to p his forehead, John groaned in pain. "Oh my God. Why did I ever send you the itinerary?"

    John turned his head and nced at Kris with a pained expression, only to see that the blonde-haired beauty was just calmly studying her book. He could not help but ask, "Kris, aren¡¯t you worried?"

    Kris sighed. "What¡¯s there to worry about?"

    Alba had her nose in the air. "Exactly! Hey, John, from now on, you¡¯re my subordinate. You have to listen to me, or else..."

    Before she could finish her sentence, she heard Kris say slowly, "I¡¯ve heard that the number of missing people in China every year is very high... no doubt no one will notice one missing American."

    The smile on Alba¡¯s face froze, and Johnughed wildly beside her. After guffawing for a while, he suddenly said to Kris with a straight face, "Kris, why don¡¯t we bury Alba behind the airport after wend?"

    Kris snapped the book shut and said in a serious tone, "No, I think it¡¯s better to chop her up and put her in a suitcase."

    John frowned. "Alba is too tall. Her skeleton is so big and she has a lot of flesh to boot. What if we can¡¯t put her in?"

    Thinking of something, Kris snapped her fingers. "Haven¡¯t you seen Texas Chainsaw Massacre?"

    Alba looked at the two people beside her and couldn¡¯t help but be enraged. "You two murderers, when you¡¯re nning to kill someone, don¡¯t you know you shouldn¡¯t do it right in front of your intended victim?" As she said this, Alba¡¯s voice suddenly rose a few degrees. She pointed at John and whined, "John, exin it clearly to me. What do you mean by saying I have a big skeleton and a lot of flesh?"

    Kris finally couldn¡¯t hold herself back any longer. Sheughed until her stomach ached.

    Alba gnashed her teeth and said defensively, "You two b*stards, don¡¯t try to scare me. When I see your stupid master in front of me, I¡¯ll scold him so badly he won¡¯t even dare to speak back."

 Chapter 463 Finding the Real Trace

    <h4>Chapter 463 Finding the Real Trace</h4>

    The three of them chatted andughed along the way. After a day¡¯s flight, they finally arrived at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport. As soon as they got off the ne, Alba was tired and started moring to find a hotel to stay in. However, Kris and John were both in high spirits upon having returned to China.

    John denied Alba¡¯s requests and said, "No, no. It¡¯s still morning time. We have to get to my master¡¯s city as soon as possible, and it¡¯s quite a journey from here!"

    Kris also nced at her watch and said, "Yes, This country now has the fastest high-speed railway in the world. I believe we should get to Tiannan City at noon if we leave from Shanghai, and then we¡¯ll be able to catch up with lunch at Tiannan University."

    John shouted exaggeratedly, "Oh my god, the food in that ce is terrible! I might as well just starve to death!"

    Kris shrugged. "Then we can find somewhere to eat nearby."

    Johnughed. "Good idea. My treat!"

    Alba couldn¡¯t help but say angrily, "Are you two still ignoring me? Aren¡¯t you worried about me making trouble?"

    Kris and John turned their heads simultaneously and looked at Alba strangely. Suddenly, they began to chatter to one another in Chinese. John said, "Kris, I think we¡¯d better use the methods from the movie Saw!"

    Kris shook her head. "No way, too bloody!"

    John said in an exaggerated tone, "Isn¡¯t the Texas Chainsaw Massacre bloody too?"

    "I think you¡®d better teach her a few curse words and then ask her to ¡¯greet¡¯ the government officials. If she does that, she¡¯ll get thrown into some deep, dark dungeon, or be immediately deported," Kris said in a serious tone.

    John smiled cheekily. "Hah, good idea. I like it!"

    Alba could see them chatting furtively in Chinese andughing insidiously from time to time. Although she didn¡¯t understand what they were talking about, she still felt creeped out. She raised her hands and surrendered. "Well, I won¡¯t cause any trouble for you guys. Stop whispering in Chinese and plotting to murder me or something."

    Johnughed. "Oh Alba, you¡¯re so smart!"

    Alba was so angry that she gave John a hard kick. "You b*stard, I hope you fall off a cliff and die!"

    John chuckled darkly. "I¡¯m not interested in mountaineering or bungee jumping!"

    Alba rolled her eyes sardonically. "I know. Otherwise, would I dare to curse you like that? My curses are very effective, I¡¯ll have you know!"

    Kris stepped in to try and smooth things over. "Alright, alright, let¡¯s take the high-speed railway. It¡¯s gettingte."

    They began quickly making their way towards the train station with their luggage in-hand. The man was tall and the women were beautiful, so the trio automatically attracted many people¡¯s attention.

    They hailed a taxi when they arrived in Tiannan City. After Kris was safely sequestered in the car, she said, "Sir, please go to Tiannan University."

    When the taxi driver heard the beautiful girl speaking Chinese so fluently, he was shocked and didn¡¯t dare to try ripping her off, so he obediently drove the car to the gate of the university as requested.

    By the time they got there, the sses were just breaking up for lunch. They stood in the crowd of dark-haired people and looked really eye-catching, attracting the surrounding teachers¡¯ and students¡¯ attention.

    Alba looked appraisingly at the school gate and architecture of Tiannan University. She kept shaking her head and saying, "Oh my god, this school is at least fifty years behind ours! Can this school really produce a superman? I don¡¯t believe it!"

    Just the thought that he would be able to see Li Yundong soon filled John¡¯s heart with excitement, to the extent that he even chose not to bicker with Alba. Instead, he just looked around as if he was hoping to catch sight of Li Yundong.

    To one side, Kris was standing on her tiptoes and peering around. After looking for a while, she suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure. She immediately waved her arms in pleasant surprise and shouted, "Feng! Feng!"

    She shouted a few times, but she was ignored. Only then did she realize that she had yelled the wrong thing, so she shouted again, "Feng Na!"

    With this shout, Feng Na, who was walking outside the school and chatting with Cheng Cheng, heard her. She raised her head and curiously looked in the direction of the sound. Upon taking a look, she was instantly stunned. "Kris? Why is she here? Is the university taking exchange students again?"

    Cheng Cheng, who was standing to one side, rolled her eyes and said with an ambiguous smile, "Hey, this foreign woman hase here to snatch your lover!"

    Feng Na red at her. "What lover? I¡¯m not involved with anyone!"

    Cheng Cheng said with an evil grin, "Ohe one, stop pretending. You know who your dream man is!"

    The smile on Feng Na¡¯s face immediately faded, and she let out a soft sigh. "How could I even hope he¡¯d look at me? Stop joking, I don¡¯t dare to dream about it. Let¡¯s go and see Kris. I don¡¯t even know why they¡¯re here."

    Feng Na and Cheng Cheng had attended Zhou Qin¡¯s birthday party with Kris and the others. Their rtionship was actually pretty good, so they had exchanged gifts before leaving.

    Feng Na walked over to her with a smile and said in English, "Kris, why are you here?"

    Kris, however, replied in Chinese with a smile, "I¡¯m here for Li Yundong."

    Hearing this, Cheng Cheng quietly pinched Feng Na¡¯s arm.

    Feng Na nced at Cheng Cheng and sighed internally, but still politely replied in English. "Kris, you¡¯vee so far just to find Li Yundong?"

    Kris didn¡¯t know that the girl in front of her was already feeling a little jealous. She blinked nkly and said, "That¡¯s right, I came to make him my master."

    John then approached and said, "I¡¯m here to be apprenticed too!"

    Alba didn¡¯t want to be left out so she leaned over and said seriously, "And I¡¯m here to scold him!"

    Feng Na looked at Alba with a suspicious expression, thinking to herself, "Who the heck is this? Is she nuts?"

    Although Feng Na felt suspicious, she still smiled at Alba politely, then said to Kris, "Li Yundong hasn¡¯te to ss for a long time."

    Kris and John eximed at the same time, "What? Has he dropped out of uni?"

    Feng Na shook her head. "No, he¡¯s just deferred his studies!"

    Johnughed bitterly. "Damn it. Then what should we do? Where did he go?"

    Kris quickly added, "Yeah, what¡¯s he doing now?"

    A strong light of admiration glittered in Feng Na¡¯s eyes as she said proudly, "He has opened his own teahouse now. I was there when it opened a while ago."

    Cheng Cheng was also excited to show off, although she had already used this topic to boast with more than once. "Do you know who else went to the opening celebration? The Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, the top leader! Ah, it¡¯s equivalent to a governor in your country!"

    "A governor!" Kris, Alba, and John eximed at the same time, looking at each other in shock.

    Although it wasmon for politicians in the United States to make a show of being friendly, and meeting or talking to the governor was not a big deal, it was not a trivial matter to invite the governor to the opening of a business, which was a manifestation of resources and contacts.

    Kris knew that Li Yundong was extraordinary and had superhuman strength, but she had been unaware that Li Yundong had such a weighty political background. She was immediately stunned and asked again, "Where is this teahouse? Could you take us there?"

    Feng Na and Cheng Cheng looked at each other, then Feng Na said with a smile, "I¡¯ll call him to check if he¡¯s there."

    She fished out her phone and dialed a number, but no one picked up. Feng Na couldn¡¯t help but whine, "That scoundrel, I told himst time not to use his phone as andline, but he just doesn¡¯t listen!"

    She helplessly said to Kris, "Forget it, let¡¯s go and look for him directly. His teahouse has been open for less than a month and I expect he¡¯s there every day to take care of business. We should be able to just rock up and meet him. This could be considered stealing from the rich and giving to the poor!"

    Kris smiled faintly. "Sure!"

    John cried in a loud, excited voice, "Master has opened a teahouse. Wow! I¡¯m going to have tea there, too!"

    Only Alba, who was dragging her luggage, shouted unhappily, "Hey, hey, are we going to have to drag our luggage around with us?" However, afterining for a while, she saw Kris, John, Feng Na, and Cheng Cheng getting further and further away from her and talking amongst themselves, totally ignoring her. She immediately stomped her feet resentfully and chased after them angrily.

    When they arrived at the Disanxian on Tiannan City¡¯s pedestrian street, Feng Na was surprised to find that the door of the teahouse was tightly shut and it was obviously not open for business!

    Feng Na was shocked and quickly went to ask the receptionist of the Tea Shop of Zhao across the street. "Hello, why hasn¡¯t the teahouse across the street been opened?" she asked.

    The receptionist said with obvious relish, "It¡¯s been closed for the past sixteen days!"

    Feng Na was shocked. "What happened?"

    The receptionist shook her head slightly. "I don¡¯t know."

    Feng Na stood rooted to the spot. It took her a while to react, but eventually, she forced a smile at the receptionist and said, "Thank you, sorry for the trouble." Just as she turned around and started walking back, she heard the receptionist at the entrance whispering, "Considering the way they carry out, it would have been strange if they hadn¡¯t closed!"

    "That¡¯s right. How can they attract guests like that!"

    Feng Na felt that something was odd after hearing their words. She turned around to look at them, but could see that the receptionists were looking straight ahead, as if they hadn¡¯t said anything at all.

    Her heart was filled with doubt. Beside her, Kris asked suspiciously, "Feng Na, what happened?"

    Feng Na¡¯s face was filled with worry as she shook her head, "I don¡¯t know, but something must be going on! Damn it, I don¡¯t know where Li Yundong lives, and he never answers his cell. What should I do? What am I going to do?"

    Alba saw that they were speaking Chinese, so she asked John to trante. After finding out what they were saying, she sneered. "This guy named Li Yundong must be afraid of me scolding him, so he¡¯s hidden like a coward!"

    Upon hearing this, Feng Na and Cheng Cheng immediately flew into a rage and red at Alba. Just as Feng Na was about to retort, she suddenly heard two people walking past and whispering to each other, "Zhenren Li is really careful. For the Taoist assembly, he actually handed the shop over to that bunch of coquettish foxes and let them manage it. Now, he¡¯s even closed the shop! Hey, do you think he¡¯s preparing some kind of powerful magical weapons?"

    "That¡¯s possible, but no matter how much he prepares, it won¡¯t do anything! Hey, Shishiong, don¡¯t worry about it. Once his powerful magical weapon has been refined, even if Li Yundong has great abilities, he¡¯ll have to admit defeat!"

    "That¡¯s not necessarily true. Zhenren Li¡¯s skills are not just for show, he¡¯s built them up over numerous battles."

    "Tch, what do you mean by fighting? This guy has a swarm of coquettish foxes around him. Even if he can fight, his skills must be weak. When the Taoist assembly begins, his legs will turn to jelly. How can he fight?"

    Saying this, they both chuckled in low voices.

    When Feng Na heard the two of them talking about Zhenren Li, she suddenly thought of something. Hadn¡¯t someone called Li Yundong ¡¯Zhenren Li¡¯ at the opening ceremony?

    She secretly thought to herself, "Is the ¡¯Li Zhenren¡¯ these two guys are talking about actually Li Yundong?"

    Thinking of this, Feng Na couldn¡¯t help but step forward and ask, "Hello, may I ask if the Zhenren Li of which you speak is also known as Li Yundong?"

    The two men had not expected Feng Na to overhear their casual conversation. Suddenly they were slightly startled, and they looked Feng Na up and down and said with a wary look, "Who are you?"

 Chapter 464 Eyeing Covetously!

    <h4>Chapter 464 Eyeing Covetously!</h4>

    Feng Na smiled and said, "I¡¯m Li Yundong¡¯s friend..." Then, she turned around and pointed at Kris and John. "Mypanions and I have something urgent to discuss with him."

    The two men looked at each other, then one of them sneered. "Why are you looking for Li Yundong?"

    Hearing this, John leaned forward and said, "I¡¯m looking for my master. I¡¯m his disciple!"

    The two men¡¯s expressions shifted at the same time, and they both eximed, "You are Li Yundong¡¯s disciple?!"

    John had had the audacity to assert that he was his disciple right in front of Li Yundong before, and now he was doing it again in front of two unknown people. He nodded forcefully and said, "Yes, I am his disciple!"

    The two were both shocked and angry. They looked at each other and thought, "Li Yundong dares to break the rules of the cultivation world and ept a foreigner as his disciple? He is really too much."

    One of the men suppressed his anger and said, "He may have gone to Dongwu City to attend the Taoist assembly. Go and find him yourself!"

    When John heard that, he was overjoyed. "Okay, okay. I¡¯ll go and look for my master right away!" Then, he got ready to leave.

    Kris was attentive, and she hurriedly asked, "May I ask where the Taoist assembly in Dongwu City will be held?"

    The two of them took in Kris¡¯ blonde hair, blue eyes, dainty and exquisite body, and her skin, which was as white as fresh milk. She was a rare beauty and they were instantly shocked. One of them asked subconsciously, "Are you also his disciple?"

    Before she could respond, John cut in to say, "Yes, yes, she is!"

    The two men gasped, and thought with envy and anger, "That b*stard even epted such a beautiful woman as his disciple! Has he no shame? Damn it, some people have all the luck!"

    One of them sneered and said, "The Taoist assembly will be held on the cruise ship docked in the moat of Dongwu City in two days¡¯ time. You will know when you arrive at Xinshiqiao Wharf!" Having said that, he snorted and sauntered off.

    The other man chased after him and whispered, "Shishiong, why did you tell them about the Taoist assembly?"

    "Don¡¯t you see that they are all Li Yundong¡¯s disciples? Since they are both cultivators, why try and hide it from them? What¡¯s more, that Li Yundong b*stard isscivious. He broke the rules of the cultivation world by taking foreigners in as disciples! How can I not teach him a lesson!"

    The other man asked curiously, "What does helping them go to the Taoist assembly have to do with teaching Li Yundong a lesson?"

    The man shed an ugly sneer. "When Shishiong Wang Lingfei¡¯s powerful magical weapon is refined, he will definitely teach Li Yundong a lesson! Hey, is there anything more humiliating than losing face in front of your own disciples? Hmph, Li Yundong needs to take a good look at himself. How dare he break the rules of the cultivation world? Even if we want to break the rules, it should be us at the Zhengyi School who do it first. It¡¯s not his turn!"

    Hispanionughed coldly. "That¡¯s right. This guy is not afraid of having too many women at home. He raises fox spirits and now he¡¯s training a foreign woman. I don¡¯t know if he¡¯ll be able to handle it all."

    "It doesn¡¯t matter. If he can¡¯t handle it, when Shishiong Wang defeats him, his disciples - especially his female disciples - will definitely scatter everywhere. When that happens, we can help him share the burden!"

    After that, both of them burst outughing mirthlessly.

    Feng Na and the rest didn¡¯t know what the two Zhengyi School scoundrels were nning. They thought that the two of them had just kindly pointed them in the direction of Dongwu City. Feng Na nced helplessly at Kris and said, "Li Yundong should be attending this Taoist assembly in Dongwu City. Otherwise, there would be no reason for him to stop caring about the teahouse. You guys can go and find him in Dongwu City."

    Kris asked, "Feng Na, aren¡¯t youing with us?"

    Feng Na shook her head and smiled bitterly. "No, Dongwu City is quite far away and we still have other stuff to do, so we can¡¯t go. You guys can go by yourselves. I don¡®t have the time. If you are concerned, we can keep in touch with our cell phones."

    Kris thought for a moment before saying, "Alright then, tell me your phone number."

    After exchanging numbers, they parted ways and headed off.

    Alba hadn¡¯t expected that she would get so exhausted. Not only could she not rest at the hotel now, she even had to go to another city. She couldn¡¯t help but sigh andin as she dragged her luggage, cursing Li Yundong ten thousand times in her heart.

    Kris ignored her and just took John¡¯s hand, whispering, "John, how could you say that we¡¯re Li Yundong¡¯s disciples in public?"

    He said proudly, "Kris, being concerned about face-saving is an important part of Chinese culture. When I say this, everyone will know that I, John Schelter, am his apprentice, and he won¡¯t be able to deny it! Hey, you are in the same boat, so you should actually thank me!"

    Kris rubbed her Taiyang acupoint with her hands and said in Chinese with a forced smile, "You have brawn butck brains. You¡¯ll definitely cause trouble carrying on like this! Don¡¯t you know that Chinese people are very serious about apprentices? You¡¯re acting first and leaving the thinking ¡¯tilter. It is very rude and stupid behavior! Li Yundong will definitely be angry! Clever people can be victims of their own cleverness, you know!"

    John was startled, and said with some fear, "Really? Then why didn¡¯t you stop me just now?"

    Kris red at him. "How am I supposed to stop you when you blurt things out like that!"

    John bitterly smiled and said, "Then what should we do? What if our master gets really angry and doesn¡¯t take me on as his disciple? Should we go to Dongwu City?"

    Kris rolled her eyes at him. "You have alreadye all the way from faraway America, and now you won¡¯t go to the nearby Dongwu City? Don¡¯t you know that there is a saying that you have to be bold when opportunitiese along?"

    The two of them whispered, but Alba, who was just behind them, couldn¡¯t understand their conversation in Chinese. She couldn¡¯t help shouting, "Hey, what are you talking about? Stop speaking in Chinese, okay? Can you use somenguage I can understand? Hey, I¡¯m talking to you! Hey, what are you talking about? What do you mean by ¡¯shi dao lintou xu fangdan¡¯? Why can¡¯t I understand?"

    The three foreigners walked all the way to Dongwu City. Meanwhile, on the distant Mount Wuhua, the leader of the Yin-Yang Sect, Zheng Yuan, was carefully guarding the front of a furnace, staring at the mes within.

    Standing beside him was Ding Nan, who was holding a golden silk palm-leaf fan.

    The fire tform in front of Zheng Yuan was about two meters high, and the bottom part was a tripod. The middle section was a round, gourd-shaped body, and the outside of it waspletely dark, as if it was made of ck iron. Therge, round body of the gourd was filled with zing mes. There was an air vent in the furnace, inside which was a powerful magical weapon that was suspended in the air and being refined.

    Exquisite patterns were engraved on the furnace. In its center was a transparent ss window, allowing people to look inside.

    Zheng Yuan observed what was going on inside the furnace with full attention. He saw that there was a burning fire and a ck Aura around the Ruyi Jade. The ck Aura was constantly twisting within the burning fire. From time to time, it would transform into a ferocious face and linger on the Ruyi Jade, changing into a cluster of strange ck lines that were engraved on the Ruyi Jade.

    However, more ck Auras were always lingering around the Ruyi Jade, refusing to wrap themselves around it. They were like vengeful spirits constantly struggling to escape hell.

    After looking at it for a while, Zheng Yuan shouted without looking back, "Wind!"

    When Ding Nan heard this, she immediately used all her strength to wave the golden palm-leaf fan in her hand at the air vent.

    Ding Nan had been cultivating with Zheng Yuan for a while. With her excellent attitude and the help of elixirs of life from Zheng Yuan, the dark Yin Yuanqi in her body had been strengthened to the point of no longer being weak, and she was just one step away from reaching the Zhuji phase. Using her fan, the whole room became filled with strong wind, as if there was a mad whirlpool. This whirlpool stirred up the air in the room, making it swirl wildly, and then gathered into a fist-sized ball of wind, whipping into the air intake vent.

    As soon as this wind slipped inside, the mes in the furnace became more vigorous and forced back the ck mist that had been trying to escape. Furthermore, the wind swallowed up the Ruyi Jade and the ck mist. zing mes shot towards Zheng Yuan¡¯s eyes, making him subconsciously cover his eyes with his hands.

    When he put his hands down, he saw that all the ck mist around the Ruyi Jade had dissipated, and the treasure was still floating in mid-air in the furnace.

    Ding Nan curiously approached to take a look and asked, "Why is there no movement? Master, do we still need to fan it?"

    Zheng Yuan nervously waved to Ding Nan and said, "No, wait, let me have a look first."

    Zheng Yuan opened the fire hole of the furnace and extracted the Ruyi Jade from it with his Zhenqi. He took a closer look and saw that the Ruyi Jade was glowing a faint red all over, but the strange ck lines that had been imprinted on its body before were no longer visible.

    He immediately said to Ding Nan, "Quick, fetch the Nine Earths Mystic Yin Water and pour it over!"

    Ding Nan immediately picked up the wooden bucket beside her and poured it over the jade. As it made contact with the liquid, the Ruyi Jade let out a shrill scream, and in an instant, countless ck apparitions were released. The face of each apparition was twisted and ferocious, and they all opened their mouths wide and roared madly.

    Ding Nan was so scared that she subconsciously took three steps back, and her three transcendentponents and the seven materialponents of her soul were almost frightened right out of her body.

    But it only took a moment for the apparitions to jump out, and they soon flew back. When Ding Nan looked again, she saw that the Ruyi Jade had returned to its original form, but from time to time, its whole body would be covered withyers of strange ck patterns.

    Zheng Yuan took the Ruyi Jade in his hand andughedcently, "I¡¯ve refined it. Finally! I¡¯ve been refining it for forty-nine days with the fire of the Nine Suns, assisted by apparitions of eighty-one boys and girls, and I¡¯ve finally refined it with the help of this powerful magical weapon, which was itself refined with the Nine Earths Mystic Yin Water!"

    Ding Nan¡¯s eyes widened as she looked at the item in Zheng Yuan¡¯s hands. She knew that he had killed many young children in various extremely cruel ways and used their Yin Spirits to refine this powerful magical weapon. She could not help but ask, "Master, This magic weapon you refined... what power does it have?"

    Zheng Yuan carefully sequestered the Ruyi Jade somewhere within his clothes. He smiled smugly and said, "Heh, the Taoist assembly will be held in two days. You¡¯ll find out then!"

    Ding Nan asked tentatively, "Is it very powerful?"

    Zheng Yuanughed. "Of course!"

    Ding Nan asked again, "How powerful is it? Will... will it be more powerful than whatever Li Yundong uses?"

    Zheng Yuan sneered disdainfully. "Li Yundong? Hmph, with this powerful magical weapon of mine, even if Zhang Tiansh¨© of the Zhengyi School came personally, he could only flee at the prospect of battling me! Li Yundong is a little bunny who has only cultivated for a few days. Who does he think he is? Just watch how I deal with him at the Taoist assembly and take revenge for you!"

    Ding Nan was a little worried, but she did not dare to show her anxiety. She said with a ttering smile, "Master, of course, Li Yundong will definitely lose to you. But there will no doubt be many masters from various sects at the Taoist assembly. Will you be able to deal with them all when the timees?"

    Zheng Yuan smiled proudly. "My weapon can¡¯t be said to be invincible. If I onlypare powerful magical weapons, there will be many others which are much more powerful than this one, like the Sanhuang Sword of the Qingcheng Sect, the Seven-Star Sword of the Zhengyi School, the Bahuang and Liuhe sword of the Linggong Sect, the lost Xuanyuan Sword, and the Shie Sword of Buddhism. All of those are all magic weapons that can definitely beat my powerful magical weapon."

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s tone changed and he continued arrogantly, "However, when we talk about a single magical item, the magic is in the front and the item is in the back, so what we fight with is magical power not the item itself! No matter how powerful a magical item is, it will be limited by its user! Humph, my dear disciple, when the Taoist assemblyes, I¡¯ll show you what a real Shentong is and you¡¯ll see how a score is settled!"

    Ding Nan pretended to be happy when she heard that. She forced a smile and said obsequiously, "I hope you can show your full power and defeat all the masters!"

    Zheng Yuan burst outughing. He stroked his beard and pretended to be modest as he said, "Of course, each sect has a few masters, such as Yue Sheng, who is known as the top master of the younger generation in the Quanzhen Dragon Sect, Zhang Tianhe, Wang Lingfei of Zhengyi School, and Zhang Cunyi, Hang Cunyi, the future head of the Qingcheng faction, who said that they would be taking first ce a while ago. Most of them have powerful magical weapons, which mustn¡¯t be underestimated!"

    Ding Nan smiled and said, "Even though they are powerful, they won¡¯t be able to measure up to Master¡¯s magic weapon, right?"

    This ttery worked effectively to stroke Zheng Yuan¡¯s ego, and he smiled proudly. "Good disciple, let¡¯s go now. I can¡¯t wait to attend the Taoist assembly!"

 Chapter 465 A Great Cultivator!

    <h4>Chapter 465 A Great Cultivator!</h4>

    After trudging through the snow and wind for a whole night, Zhou Qin finally arrived at the foot of the Kari Holy Mountain.

    Located in the south of Lhasa, at the north bank of the Yarlung Zangbo River at the junction of China and Tibet, Kari Holy Mountain was one of the four famous sacred mountains of Tibet. Standing tall among the mountains and forests, it rose into the sky like a sharp sword. Reaching to the heavens, it was majestic and splendid, so it was called ¡¯Kari¡¯, meaning ¡¯touching the sky¡¯.

    Zhou Qin raised her head and looked up at this majestic sacred mountain. She gazed up from the foot of the mountain and saw a mark that looked like had been cut by a knife near the top of the mountain. Recalling the ancient books she had read, Zhou Qin clearly remembered that this had been left by the Roc, a legendary bird that had been shot to death with an arrow by the famous Tibetan hero King Gesar. Therefore, it was called "Diedong", meaning ¡¯sheath¡¯.

    Although Zhou Qin had failed to reach the Zhuji phase before, the violent Xuan Yin Qi in her body had eased over time, and most of it had run into Meiduo¡¯s body, not causing much damage to Zhou Qin¡¯s meridians. Furthermore, because she was firm and strong, she was not at all discouraged by her failure with the first Zhuji phase. On the contrary, upon reaching the foot of the Kari Holy Mountain, the majestic sight of it stretching between heaven and the earth had given her unlimited pride. "I want to conquer this holy mountain!"

    At the beginning of the ascent, from the foot of the mountain, there were many trees and stone paths that had been made for worshippers to walk and show respect on, so it was not difficult to climb.

    But when Zhou Qin climbed to a certain point up the mountainside, the slope of the mountain suddenly increased, and the snow on the ground was deep enough to make almost half of her body invisible, but it was not too hard to bear. After Zhou Qin had climbed more than a thousand meters, there was almost no way to continue to the top of the mountain, and the gradient became so sharp that the slope was almost vertical.

    If she were an ordinary person, she might have given up at this time, but Zhou Qin only wanted to climb to the top. She used her hands and feet to drag herself up the almost vertical cliff.

    Kari Holy Mountain was the highest of the four sacred mountains of Tibet. Zhou Qin was climbing at an altitude of several kilometers and being hammered by the bitingly cold wind. A gust of it was almost enough to make her fingers freeze and have her lose consciousness.

    But Zhou Qin ignored it, still climbing up with her teeth gritted. Her delicate body was almost like a strand of grass dangling from the cliff, about to be blown away at any time.

    Ruan Hongling and Zu Yuan, who were watching Zhou Qin climbing up the mountain range from a distance, couldn¡¯t help but break into a cold sweat at the sight. They didn¡¯t even dare to breathe too heavily.

    Ruan Hongling said nervously in a low voice, "Sister Zi Yuan, is she nuts? Why is she trying to climb so high? There is no need to get to the top of the mountain when building the Zhuji phase!"

    Zi yuan was also wearing a nervous expression as she looked at Zhou Qin. She knew that if Zhou Qin got injured, even if she were rescued, she would never again expect to build the Zhuji phase for the rest of her life.

    "Zhou Qin is challenging the limits of cultivation..." Ziyuan murmured. She could vaguely understand why Zhou Qin suddenly wanted to climb the top of Kari Holy Mountain.

    "What on earth is hidden in this girl¡¯s heart that makes her so desperate to surpass everything?"

    The two of them widened their eyes and watched Zhou Qin climbing upward little by little. From a distance, they could see only a small ck spot on the snow-white Kari Holy Mountain, crawling and squirming around.

    Although Zhou Qin was a recreated Jindan body at this time, and her strength and aura had surpassed that of an ordinary person¡¯s by several or even dozens of times, but when faced with the world, she was as small as a speck of dust!

    Despite her rtive smallness, she still wanted to conquer the peak between heaven and earth!

    There were several moments where Ruan Hongling thought that Zhou Qin was about to fall into the valley and she hurriedly wanted to save her, but then she would find that Zhou Qin had repeatedly turned back and been blown by the strong wind, losing her center of gravity, and it seemed impossible for her to survive.

    The expression on Zi Yuan¡¯s face changed as she looked at Zhou Qin. She simply couldn¡¯t imagine how a delicate woman like Zhou Qin could withstand the ferocious power of heaven and earth in such a severe cold. How could her body withstand such harsh torture?

    They didn¡®t know how long it took, but when Ruan Hongling saw Zhou Qin finally climb to the top of the mountain, she couldn¡¯t help but sigh in shock. "Sister Zi Yuan, all my life, apart from you, there has never been anyone worthy of my admiration. Today, I admire Zhou Qin! She is so powerful that she could climb such a high mountain with her bare hands without even reaching the Zhuji phase!"

    After Zhou Qin reached the top of the mountain, she opened her arms as if she wanted to embrace the sky. Zi Yuan saw this and shook her head slightly. "Zhou Qin must have been encouraged by Meiduo. Maybe it¡¯s the first time she¡¯s felt powerless, full of pain and grievance, so she wanted to reach the highest peak and the highest level of cultivation! What we cultivators need are brave and fearless hearts like her. I believed that Zhou Qin will seed in passing the Zhuji phase this time!"

    As if to prove Zi Yuan¡¯s words, Zhou Qin, with her arms wide open, suddenly let out an extremely wild scream. It was the kind of sound that would have made it hard to believe that she was the daughter of an eminent family who usually smiled without showing her teeth!

    This cry was earth-shattering, and the clouds in the sky seemed to be shaken, constantly spinning, turning into a seven-colored vortex. In the center of the vortex, a pair of majestic eyes loomed.

    Zi Yuan was startled, and her face changed drastically as she said, "Oh no, Zhou Qin has shocked the Gods¡¯ soul of the Ninth Heaven Spirit!"

    Just as Zi Yuan was about to move, Zhou Qin unconsciously found a small hole at the top of the mountain for her shelter from the wind in. As soon as she sat down with her legs crossed, she immediately entered a state of meditation.

    Zhou Qin had just entered a meditative state when the wind and clouds above her began to rumble and the sounds of thunder could be heard everywhere. Before long, bolts of lightning began to whip down towards the summit of the mountain, one after another.

    But as soon as these thunderbolts fell, a seven-colored golden wheel appeared on the top of the Kari Holy Mountain. In this golden wheel was a zing red sun. The golden wheel kept spinning, and the red sun in the middle was like a huge vortex, sucking in thunderbolts one after another.

    Ruan Hongling was stunned. She mumbled, "What¡¯s this?"

    Zi Yuan said solemnly, "It¡¯s the red golden wheel of Tibetan Esoteric Sect! It was the power of the Gods¡¯ soul of those who have beening to Kari Holy Mountain for thousands of years to worship. This power is automatically resisting divine punishment!"

    Ruan Hongling was shocked. "Has Zhou Qin triggered divine punishment?"

    Violet Garden nodded. "Zhou Qin¡¯s aura is so strong, and she has climbed so high, and then she even let out such a loud shout. This is nothing more than a provocation to the Gods of the Nine Heavens! If the heavenly thunder didn¡¯t attack her, others would think that God is easy to conquer."

    Ruan Hongling was surprised andughed. "So Zhou Qin just escaped a catastrophe?"

    Zi Yuan said rather helplessly, "This may be God¡¯s will, but I don¡¯t know why the Gods¡¯ souls of Kari Holy Mountain would help Zhou Qin avoid this divine punishment."

    Ruan Hongling shook her head and said. "Thunder is the mighty power of heaven and earth. Every thunder and lightning will leak out the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. There was a burst of heavenly thunder above Zhou Qin¡¯s head, how much Spiritual Qi would have leaked out from that? But Zhou Qin¡¯s Zhuji will not be struck by heavenly thunder this day. It¡¯s a really great opportunity! How much spiritual energy can she absorb when she builds her foundation?"

    Zi Yuan sighed deeply. "This is called destiny and fate! If it weren¡¯t for Zhou Qin¡¯s insistence on climbing to the top, would she have attracted thunder? If it wasn¡¯t for her climbing to the highest point of Kari Holy Mountain, would she have gotten the Gods¡¯ soul to help her resist divine punishment?"

    Both were silent for a while, sighing in their hearts.

    After an unknown period of time, the heavenly thunder above Zhou Qin¡¯s head gradually ceased, and the clouds hanging in the sky slowly dissipated.

    However, just as thest of the clouds were about to dissipate, a muffled explosion of thunder rumbled from the top of the Kari Holy Mountain. A huge st burst out from where Zhou Qin¡¯s was sitting and building the Zhuji phase. A ring of Qi began to spread outward, ever-growing, like a wave.

    Watching from afar, Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling could see that a white halo seemed to have appeared on the top of the mountain, looking extremely beautiful.

    At this time Zhou Qin let out a long sigh, she stood up in the cave and let out a loud, drawn out howl.

    This long roar gradually became clearer, like the howl of a phoenix in the Ninth Heaven. It waspletely different from the previous scream, as if a magical sword had finally been tempered and was screeching into the sky!

    Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling listened to Zhou Qin¡¯s roar from a distance, and both looked solemn and said nothing. Although they were forerunners on the path of cultivation, they were still shocked by the amazing momentum of thister, Zhou Qin.

    After Zhou Qin had finished building the Zhuji phase, she seemed to still be unsatisfied, so she sat down again and began to try to subdue the Chiyue and Vulcan¡¯s Whip with the method that Li Yundong had taught her.

    Zhou Qin herself was the Virgin Container with Full Yin Qi. It was a furnace tripod that was one in a million. In addition to the Jindan Fati, there was also Li Yundong¡¯s Yuanyang Qi in her body. When she reached the Zhuji phase, the yin and yang hadbined, and the air of heaven had been tempered and beaten outside. In terms of the power of Neidan after the Zhuji phase, she was no longer under the power of Neidan that Li Yundong had cultivated when he had just built the Zhuji phase.

    At this time, she chose to subdue the magic tool, like she was a new master taking advantage of the situation. Naturally, she got twice the result with half the effort. In addition, she took the Chiyue and Vulcan¡¯s Whip with her along the way. These two magic tools had already been contaminated by Zhou Qin¡¯s Spiritual Qi, so she was quite familiar with them.

    After a while, the Chiyue made a clear sound, indicating that the magical item that had once disyed its power in Mount Tianlong had finally regained a new vitality. It flew into the sky with a swish and began circling Kari Holy Mountain excitedly. After a fewps, it suddenly stopped in front of Zhou Qin with a ttering sound and began emitting a faint silver light from all over its body, like a silver arc moon, and making a gentle buzzing sound of recognition.

    The Vulcan¡¯s Whip in Zhou Qin¡¯s hand also jumped fiercely, instantly transforming into the shape of a red python which burnt with furious mes, as if a fire snake crawling out of hell was sticking out its ferocious and horrible serpent¡¯s tongue.

    Zhou Qin shook her wrist, and the snake disappeared in an instant, then the whip shook out a whip flower, which turned into a zing red light, enveloping Zhou Qin¡¯s whole body.

    When the light disappeared, the Vulcan¡¯s Whip was tightly wrapped around Zhou Qin¡¯s slender waist. It was like a tight belt which made her look heroic, as if she had been reborn, and every pore of her body was exuding a sharp spirit!

    Even though she was far away, Zi Yuan could still feel this sharp aura that was akin to a magical sword. It was as though a single touch of it was enough to cause the pores on her skin to open!

    Zi Yuan was horrified and could not help but exim, "From now on, there will be one more great cultivator in the Cultivation World!"

 Chapter 466 Zhou Qin Goes Down The Mountain!

    <h4>Chapter 466 Zhou Qin Goes Down The Mountain!</h4>

    After Zhou Qin had sessfully built the Zhuji phase, she got ready to go down the mountain. However, she saw ama with a yellow crown and a red robe standing at the peak. There was a golden-feathered eagle as tall as a man standing next to thema. The eagle¡¯s eyes were sharp and its spirit was flying, looking extremely majestic.

    Zhou Qin looked carefully and recognized that thisma was Dorjee Tenzin, whom she had encountered before. She was stunned and said, "Master Dorjee Tenzin? Why are you here?"

    Dorjee Tenzin gave Zhou Qin a respectful and inscrutable look. Then, he put his palms together and said, "Zhenren Zhou, I am one of the eighteen god monks of the mountain guardians. There is an abnormality in the Kari Holy Mountain, so naturally I had toe and check it. "

    Zhou Qin understood and smiled apologetically. "I¡¯m really sorry, I was working on reaching the Zhuji phase here and disturbing the holy mountain gods, which has caused you trouble. I will especiallye to apologize on another day."

    Dorjee Tenzin shook his head. "No, Zhenren Zhou, I am not here to trouble you. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m just here to convey Master Erdeni¡¯s words."

    Because Zhou Qin had had a conflict with Master Erdeni before, she frowned slightly and asked, "What is it?"

    Dorjee Tenzin could see that Zhou Qin¡¯s expression was faintly hostile. He didn¡¯t rush to exin himself and just said, ¡°Master Erdeni wants me to tell you five things and ask you a question. The first thing is ¡¯You are actually the Banda Lam, not Meiduo¡¯!"

    Even though Zhou Qin had just finished building the Zhuji phase and her mind was as firm as steel, she was shocked by this. She opened her eyes wide and said, "What did you say? I am the Banda Lam? If that¡¯s true, what about Meiduo?"

    Dorjee Tenzin sighed softly and said, "This is the second thing that Master Erdeni asked me to tell you. He said, ¡¯Meiduo was stained by your lingqi, so she was able to turn the Mani wheel¡¯."

    Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help but ask again, "Then why did you make Meiduo be the Banda Lam? Why didn¡¯t you tell me it was me?"

    "Master Erdeni asked me to tell you the third thing. He said that if he told you at that time that you were really Banda Lam, and Meiduo wasn¡¯t, you might not go to Pot Pce," Dorjee Tenzin exined.

    Zhou Qin shook her head without hesitation. "You¡¯d have to kill me first!"

    Dorjee Tenzin smiled, as if admiring Master Erdeni¡¯ s foresight. "The fourth thing he wanted to say is that, ¡¯Banda Lam is the God of Freedom, and she would rather die than be restricted.¡¯ That¡¯s why Master Erdeni knew that he couldn¡¯t force you to go to Pot Pce, but he also needed someone to be his Erdeni. That¡¯s why he used Meiduo!"

    Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help but say angrily, "So you¡¯re going to sacrifice Meiduo¡¯s freedom and happiness like this? Do you think she is Cangyang Jiacuo?"

    Meiduo¡¯s favorite poem had been written by the Di Lama and was called Cangyang Jiacuo from the six eras in Tibet, while Cangyang Jiacuo was a famous tragic poet in the history of Tibet. She had been an ordinary fifteen-year-old, but she waster recognized as a reincarnated spiritual child by Sangjie Jiacuo. He forcefully separated Cangyang Jiacuo from her lover and brought Cangyang Jiacuo to Pot Pce, which eventually led to Cangyang Jiacuo dying of heartbreak.

    Dorjee Tenzin smiled and said, "The fifth thing that Master Erdeni asked me to convey is ¡®The current Banchan is not the same as the one in the past, and Meiduo is not Cangyang Jiamo either. Meiduo is only a temporary Ben Dharma. She is a devout Buddhist believer, and she is receiving a great chance to meet the real reincarnated Banda Lam, so she is obliged to help with avoiding a big disaster for our Esoteric Sect. When she finishes her mission, she will naturally regain her freedom!"

    Zhou Qin was slightly surprised and asked, "Does Master Erdeni know what I really want to ask you?"

    Dorjee Tenzin smiled. "Master Erdeni is one of the few monks in the Esoteric Sect who has possessed great merits and spiritual energy in recent years. He can predict a lot of things."

    Zhou Qin thought for a moment before asking doubtfully, "In that case, can Master Erdeni guess what I¡¯m going to ask next?"

    Dorjee Tenzin smiled. "Yes, he guessed it, so he also instructed me to ask you, ¡¯Are there racial requirements for Buddhists?¡¯"

    This question immediately aroused Zhou Qin¡¯s respect because he had so exactly asked Zhou Qin the question that had been in her heart.

    From Zhou Qin¡¯s point of view, she was clearly a Han person. How could she be the reincarnation of Banda Lam of the esoteric sect of Tibet? However, Master Erdeni had asked this question to quell her confusion. Were there racial requirements for Buddists£¿

    Gautama Buddha had originallye from India, but the Buddhism he founded was respected by Buddhists all over the world. Gods and Buddhas were also from different races. It was not required that you believe in a certain religion ording to your race, but all the gods of this religion had evolved from people of this race.

    Only then did Zhou Qin believe that this Master Wangderney was really a man with great merits and magical power!

    However, Zhou Qin still felt a little worried. She asked again, "When will this great catastrophee? Will Meiduo be hurt by it?"

    Dorjee Tenzin put his palms together and said, "Master Erdeni wants me to tell you something else, and he wants you to pass the message on to Zhenren Li."

    Zhou Qin¡¯s feelings of shock only intensified. "Master Erdeni also knows my master?"

    Dorjee Tenzin said with a smile, "Great Master knows everything!"

    Zhou Qin asked, "So what does the great master want me to convey?"

    "The great master said you shouldn¡¯t go to the east when you go up the snow mountain in the future," Dorjee Tenzin replied.

    Zhou Qin asked in confusion, "What does that mean?"

    Dorjee Tenzin said with an apologetic smile, "Even I do not know. I¡¯m only responsible for delivering his words."

    Zhou Qin thought for a moment before nodding eptingly. "I¡¯ll keep it in mind. What about the second thing?"

    "Master said that Zhenren Li has only learned half of the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡, not the true Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡!"

    Zhou Qin looked serious. She was aware that Banda Lam was indirectly reminding Li Yundong. Although she didn¡¯t know why the master wanted to help Li Yundong, she said with a calm expression, "Understood. Was there anything else he wanted me to know?"

    Dorjee Tenzin shook his head with a smile and said, "Nothing."

    Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t helpughing a little at this time. "So there are things that the master can¡¯t guess! I actually still have something to ask!"

    Dorjee Tenzin said with a knowing smile, "Nobody is perfect. If you have any questions, go ahead and ask."

    "How could Master Erdeni be so sure that I¡¯m Banda Lam? I haven¡¯t even touched the wheel. Besides, if he had already determined that I¡¯m Banda Lam, why was he so fierce when I said I was going to take Meiduo away?"

    Dorjee Tenzinughed. He put his palms together devoutly and said, "Zhenren Zhou, I myself once asked the master this question out of curiosity. He said that the mani wheel was just a cover-up. The living Buddha has never used this method when choosing a reincarnated spiritual child! He was searching for your Lingqi all the way, but when he saw you, he could tell that you were a Han person, and that there was an unyielding temperament between your eyebrows. What¡¯s more, he found that Meiduo beside you also had traces of your Lingqi on her, so he had to take a step back and let Meiduo rece you."

    "But he hadn¡¯t expected that you would want to stand up for her. If the Esoteric Sect doesn¡¯t have a Banda Lam to help them ovee the great catastrophe, they will suffer an unimaginable blow. So, he could tolerate your departure, but he absolutely couldn¡¯t tolerate the departure of the fake Banda Lam!"

    Zhou Qin suddenly understood. She bowed and said, "I see. I see. Thank you for helping Master Erdeni let me know the truth. I must thank him on behalf of my master!"

    Dorjee Tenzin smiled. He patted the big eagle next to him, which seemed to be growing a little impatient, and said, "Damour is eager to go. I have finished delivering the information. Zhenren Zhou, we¡¯ll meet again!"

    She nodded to him with a smile, and then watched him blow a clear whistle and jump down the cliff.

    As he began to fall, the golden-feathered eagle spread its wings and dived down like a bomber, urately catching him mid-air.

    When this great golden eagle spread its wings, its wingspan was an astonishing five meters. Although there was a burly adult man sitting on it, the great eagle still let out a very rxed cry, pping forcefully and disappearing around the edge of the mountain.

    Zhou Qin watched Dorjee Tenzin leave and looked enviously at this particrly majestic eagle. She thought to herself, "If only I had such a big eagle, then I would be able to save energy wherever I went."

    Zhou Qin looked down at the foot of the ice mountain, which was like a cliff that was ten thousand feet tall. She muttered to herself with a wry smile, "It¡¯s easy to go up the mountain, but difficult to go down. Although I have seeded in building the Zhuji phase, I can¡¯t fly. How can I get down now?"

    Just as she was feeling dejected, she heard a familiar voice beside her saying with a smile, "Do you need a lift, Zhenren Zhou?"

    Zhou Qin turned her head and saw Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling standing not far away and smiling at her.

    Zhou Qin was overjoyed. "Zi Yuan, Ruan Hongling? What are you guys doing here?"

    Ruan Hongling beamed at her. "We have been escorting you the entire way! Why do you think we¡¯re here? "

    Zhou Qin was stunned. "You¡¯ve been following me all this time?"

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly and said softly, "Yes, Li Yundong was afraid of an ident befalling you on the way, so he asked us to watch over you. However, out of fear of affecting your Zhuji phase, so as long as you didn¡¯t encounter any malicious murderer or something, we decided not to show up, so please forgive us."

    Zhou Qin was moved when she heard that. A tender smile naturally appeared on her resolute, defined face. "Master, was he so worried about me...?"

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "We¡¯ve been out here for almost a month now. It¡¯s time for us to go back. I think tomorrow is the Taoist assembly. Zhenren Zhou, are you prepared to go to the Taoist assembly and show everyone what you can do?"

    Zhou Qin grinned at her and did a salute with one hand. "As you wish! But I¡¯m afraid that I will embarrass my master if I perform!"

    Zi Yuan smiled and was about to speak, but Ruan Hongling couldn¡¯t help but urge them. "Let¡¯s head back now and talk about itter. It¡¯s really not a good idea to chat on this ice mountain that¡¯s frostier than hell frozen over."

    The trio of beautiful women looked at each other andughed in unison.

    Zi Yuan walked over to Zhou Qin¡¯s side, grabbed her wrist and said, "Zhenren Zhou, are you ready to go down the mountain?"

    Zhou Qin stood on the Kari Holy Mountain and looked down at the vastnd spreading out below her. She never dreamed that she, as an official¡¯s daughter, could one day be a cultivator, standing on such a high ground and towering over themon people!

    At this moment, Zhou Qin felt that there was an unprecedentedly strong power flowing through her body. She shouted proudly, "Let¡¯s go down the mountain!"

 Chapter 467 Zi Yuan to the Rescue

    <h4>Chapter 467 Zi Yuan to the Rescue</h4>

    Just as all the heroes were getting ready to show their strength at the Taoist assembly, the sound of Buddhist scriptures being read could be heard and aromas wafting around could be smelled in Li Yundong¡¯s home.

    When people living in the Hepanmunity passed by Li Yundong¡¯s house, they could hear Buddhist scriptures being chanted almost unceasingly.

    Sometimes it was being done by a group of young women, and sometimes it was from a lone girl, but without exception, these voices were very pleasant to listen to. Even if they were just chanting Buddhist scriptures, people couldn¡¯t help but stop and look at the building with curiosity.

    Although Li Yundong lived in seclusion with the disciples of the Fox Zen School and people like Zi Yuan, who was very humble, such a handsome man living with a group of beautiful women was naturally a matter of gossip. Even if there was nothing going on, people would still discuss it.

    The identity of him and these beauties, as well as the rtionship between them all, was one of the most talked-about topics in themunity.

    Among this group of people, two women with extraordinary auras were indifferently watching the onlookers as they gesticted and talked about Li Yundong and hispanions. One of them whispered to a beautiful woman next to her, "Shijie Zou Ping, they all went to the Taoist assembly today. What are we doing here?"

    Zou Ping¡¯s outfit today was not much different from that of any other girl who enjoyed dressing up. She was wearing a dark gray windbreaker, which showed off her slender figure while also concealing a hidden magical sword within. Her curly hair was coiled behind her head, and her ck hair, which looked like a dark cloud, hung over the handle of the magical sword behind her cor.

    Zou Ping expression was calm as she said, "This is what Master ordered. He heard that Li Yundong had borrowed the burning thumb pot from Master Puren, so he asked me toe and see if he had managed to subdue it. From the looks of it, this guy must have failed and his entire apparition and soul have been sucked into it."

    Although Zou Ping¡¯s Shimei was inferior to her in terms of appearance, she looked extremely youthful, as if she was only fifteen or six years old. Furthermore, her oval face was small and cute. She asked curiously, "The burning thumb pot? Is it from Fahai?"

    Zou Ping looked at her Shimei with aplicated expression and said, "That¡¯s right!"

    Shimeiughed, shing her canine teeth. "Hehe, then Li Yundong is going to lose this time! This burning thumb pot is no ordinary magical item. The difficulty of subduing it is no less than rebuilding the Zhuji phase!"

    Zou Ping harrumphed. "Although this lunatic¡¯s Cultivation Quotient is formidable, he¡¯s only been at it for a short period of time. He just happens to have some short-term luck, and let¡¯s not forget that he¡¯s a lecher. It¡¯s no wonder he¡¯s so shameless! Master, you really think too highly of him. You even told me to pay attention to him! Hmph!"

    The younger sister giggled. "Master Haideng spent thirty days on subduing the burning thumb pot. Even if he¡¯s powerful, he won¡¯t be able to get out within thirty days! It seems that this guy won¡¯t be able to make it to the Taoist assembly!"

    Zou Ping sneered. "It¡¯s better that way. If he gets out, I¡¯ll be annoyed just by looking at his face!"

    The younger sister smiled and said, "That¡¯d be annoying. I specially asked the master to let mee down the mountain in order to see his kung fu as he¡¯s known as the number one expert of the younger generation in the Cultivation World. If he doesn¡¯te, what¡¯s the point in meing to watch the Taoist assembly?"

    Zou Ping snorted. "There¡¯s no point in him even if he¡¯s here. There are as many experts as there are clouds in the Taoist assembly this year. The strongest fighters of all the sects are all moring to win the tournament. Even If hees, he¡¯ll only beughed at and humiliated."

    The younger sister was a little disappointed and asked, "Is this guy really that unbearable?"

    Zou Ping said earnestly, "Shimei, you think too highly of him. In the past, when Li Yundong settled a score with others, he relied on his own strength to beat his opponents, so he was always lucky to get a win. Winning like that can¡¯t be considered an ability at all. Even if he has real talent, he¡¯s still a far cry from the cultivators who¡¯ve been cultivating for more than ten years in our Xuanmen Sect! The Taoist assembly is aparison of the effects of magic, not of Zhenqi and strength! We have tens of thousands of Taoist magic arts, and the important things are the ¡¯spirit¡¯ and how wonderful they are, not their strength."

    The younger sister nodded. "Shijie Zou Ping, I understand. Thank you for your guidance. Let¡¯s make a move."

    Zou Ping nodded back and said, "Yeah, let¡¯s go. There¡¯s no need to waste time here."

    Just as the two of them were about to leave, they suddenly heard amotion nearby.

    Zou Ping and her younger sister turned their heads to look, only to see three women off in the distance, each dressed differently. One of them was wearing a student¡¯s uniform, and she was extremely beautiful. Her eyebrows were as ck as ink, and her ck hair was scraped back into a ponytail, revealing her full and smooth forehead. She looked confident and proud. It was none other than Ruan Hongling.

    Next to her was a woman in white. Her hair cascaded down her shoulders like a waterfall, and every strand of her hair was soft and straight. Just looking at her back, people could sense that every move of hers exuded an ethereal divine aura. She possessed Wave-like Subtle Steps and seemed to tread lightly.

    The moment Zou Ping set eyes on the twodies, she gritted her teeth in anger and sneered. "It¡¯s these two useless b*tches again!"

    The younger sister looked at Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling curiously, then asked in a low voice, "Is that the same Zi Yuan who used to be called the top master of the younger generation? She¡¯s so beautiful!"

    Zou Ping grimaced. "Look at her, she might look all pretty and dignified, but in reality, she¡¯s just a degenerate sl*t. No one decent would hang out with a bunch of fox spirits all day long. I feel ashamed just looking at her!"

    Younger sister saw that there was no trace of Evil Qi in Zi Yuan, let alone an obscene aura. In particr, there was an elegant and otherworldly aura between her eyebrows, and her eyes were as clear as mountain springs,cking even a glimmer of human malice.

    She couldn¡¯t help saying, "How could such a woman be so unbearable? Shijie, are you sure you¡¯ve not made a mistake?"

    Zou Ping flew into a rage. She red at the girl beside her and spat in a low voice, "You little fool, what do you mean by that? Don¡¯t think that I won¡¯t teach you a lesson just because you¡¯re the daughter of third Shibo!"

    When the younger sister saw Zou Ping¡¯s rage, she quickly forced a friendly smile and changed the topic by pointing at the woman next to Zi Yuan. "Then who is this woman? I¡¯ve never seen such a spirited female cultivator before!"

    Zou Ping harrumphed angrily. She looked over and studied the valiant woman standing next to Zi Yuan. This woman was also extremely beautiful, and her two dashing eyebrows were as sharp as swords. Her ck eyes were like stars, flickering with a glint of light, and there was an indescribable coldness and look of disdain in her gaze.

    Zou Ping was shocked. She couldn¡¯t help but mumble in a low voice, "Isn¡¯t that Zhou Qin? Has she finished building the Zhuji phase?"

    The younger sister asked curiously, "Zhou Qin? Who is she? She seems very powerful."

    Zou Ping sneered, full of contempt. "How powerful can someone who has just built the Zhuji phase really be? Hmph, let¡¯s go!"

    The younger sister blinked and looked at Zhou Qin, then muttered in her heart, "I wonder if Zhou Qin will attend the Taoist assembly. If she does, I must observe how powerful she really is."

    The two of them turned and were about to leave, but before they left, Zou Ping couldn¡¯t help but turn her head to look at Zhou Qin. She felt a little shocked in her heart. "The old saying goes that after three days of separation, the other person will change. I hadn¡¯t expected that Zhou Qin could have improved so much in the past few days! It¡¯s almost scary! No way, I have to tell Master immediately. Otherwise, once she grows up, she¡¯ll be just another enemy for the Zhengyi School!"

    Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, and Ruan Hongling walked out under everyone¡¯s gazes. When Ruan Hongling saw where they were heading, she couldn¡¯t helpughing and said, "Peace in the Tao, we are finally home now, and we can atst end our miserable days of no hot baths and no TV watching."

    Zi Yuan chided with a smile, "Are you still a cultivator? Why are you so addicted to amusing yourself?"

    Ruan Hongling made a face and said, "That¡¯s not totally true. Sister Zi Yuan, don¡¯t you also dream of takingfortable hot baths?"

    Zi Yuan gave Ruan Hongling a look, but before they could say anything more, Zhou Qin cracked upughing. "Stop fighting. I don¡¯t know if Zhenren Zi Yuan wants to take a shower or not. In any case, I can¡¯t wait anymore. I¡¯ve lived so long and I have never before gone for so many days without taking a hot bath! These days, I¡¯ve been secretly washing in theke and the river, but it¡¯s so ufortable!"

    Ruan Hongling couldn¡¯t help pping her hands andughing after hearing this, and Zi Yuan shed an amused grin as well.

    The three of them chatted andughed as they walked downstairs. Suddenly, they heard the sound of scripture being chanteding from their home. Zi Yuan could not help but be stunned. "This is the Great Compassion Mantra. Who¡¯s reciting it?"

    Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t helpughing. "It seems to be Su Chan¡¯s voice. Maybe she¡¯s doing something weird again."

    Ruan Hongling was not known for her patience, and she immediately grabbed the key to open the door. As soon as she saw inside, she was shocked. The room was filled with smoke and there was a strong smell of sandalwood everywhere. Su Chan was kneeling in front of a Kwan-Yin Shrine and had her palms together as she recited the Buddhist scriptures devoutly.

    Ruan Hongling eximed, "Su Chan, what are you doing? Since when did you be a Buddhist?"

    When Su Chan heard this voice, she looked back. She had suddenly found someone with whom she could cry fearfully after more than ten days. She couldn¡¯t help weeping as she said, "Sister Zi Yuan, Sister Zhou Qin, Hong Ling, do you know that Yun Dong, he..."

    Zhou Qin¡¯s heart suddenly thumped, and her face changed greatly. She couldn¡¯t help but step forward quickly, grab Su Chan¡¯s arm, and ask in a trembling voice, "What¡¯s wrong with Master?"

    Zi Yuan also trembled slightly, and she asked in a shaking voice, "What happened to Li Yundong?"

    Su Chan said with tears in her eyes, "He still hasn¡¯t woken up after surrendering the burning thumb pot. It¡¯s already the 18th day!"

    "What?" Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling were shocked.

    Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help but stomp her feet and say, "Ugh, it was my fault for leaving in such a hurry and not telling him. This burning thumb pot is a powerful magical weapon used by the past eminent monks. It¡¯s extremely difficult to subdue. If one¡¯s mind isn¡¯t pure, it¡¯s easy to fall into the worlds of the trichiliocosm. Damn it, damn it!"

    Zhou Qin had sessfully finished reaching the Zhuji phase. She had originally wanted to give Li Yundong a surprise, but she had never expected that she would encounter such bad news upon her return. She said with a pale face, "What should we do now?"

    Zi Yuan took a deep breath andposed herself. She said in a low voice, "Don¡¯t worry. Take me to have a look!"

    Su Chan wiped away her tears and took Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, and Ruan Hongling to Li Yundong¡¯s room.

    Zi Yuan opened the door and saw that Li Yundong was sitting cross-legged on a futon like a stone statue, holding a shining ming burning thumb pot in his palm. He looked like he usually did, but he wasn¡¯t moving at all. If Su Chan hadn¡¯t told her that he hadn¡¯t woken up for 18 days, she would have thought that he was just sitting in meditation.

    Zi Yuan approached him and observed him for a while. She then turned back and said to Su Chan, "Go and get the golden needles."

    Su Chan had been staring at the Zi Yuan eagerly, hoping that she would be able to find a solution for this mess. Therefore, when she heard the order from Zi Yuan, she immediately responded and quickly hurried off to her room to retrieve the golden needles.

    At this time, the little foxes in their own rooms also heard the movement. They knew that Zhou Qin had returned after sessfully reaching the Zhuji phase, so they all went out of their rooms to say hello to him. Then, they crowded together and looked at Li Yundong in with a concern, all wanting to know how Zi Yuan could wake him up.

 Chapter 468 Seeing an Old Man in The Sea of Clouds

    <h4>Chapter 468 Seeing an Old Man in The Sea of Clouds</h4>

    After a while, Su Chan brought over a small cloth bag and handed it to Zi Yuan. Once Zi Yuan had flipped it open, she took out a three-inch-long golden needle and pricked it into Li Yundong¡¯s Lingtai acupoint.

    Feeling the stab, Li Yundong¡¯s body trembled slightly. Following which, she pricked another needle into his Shenting acupoint.

    Su Chan nervously watched Zi Yuan¡¯s movements. Su Chan had followed Ao Wushuang for a long time, so she knew some medical skills. She knew that the two needles were being used on the vital acupoints of the human body. If they deviated even a little, he would be in danger.

    Following that, Su Chan saw Zi Yuan poke another needle into Li Yundong¡¯s Baihui acupoint on the top of his head. She was so shocked that she let out a dismayed yelp.

    The Baihui acupuncture point was one of the fatal points on the human body. The needle Zi Yuan was using frightened Su Chan so much that she felt the life drain from her.

    Su Chan¡¯s face was ashen as she looked at the shining golden needle sticking out of Li Yundong¡¯s Baihui acupoint on the top of his head. She couldn¡¯t help but wonder in fear, "Why has Sister Zi Yuan pricked the Baihui acupoint? If she¡¯s not careful, Yundong will die!"

    Zi Yuan turned to look at Su Chan and exined in a low voice, "Su Chan, don¡¯t worry. Li Yundong¡¯s consciousness is now trapped in the burning thumb pot, and the pot is now connected to his Zhenqi.

    "If you want him to wake up, you must use your own Yin Spirit to sneak into his body, then enter the burning thumb pot along with his Aura. However, Li Yundong¡¯s body is now in a closed state, and his Zhenqi is like a self-reincarnation universe that has connected with the burning thumb pot. It is very difficult for external things to enter it. If you want to forcibly break in, it will cause Li Yundong¡¯s Spirit Space to copse, and from then on, he will be a soulless invalid.

    "The reason why I used a needle on his Shenting, Lingtai and Baihui acupoints is to break his perfect and unpunctured body and create a gap in it so I can supply my own Yin Spirit into his body."

    When Su Chan heard her exnation, realization dawned on her. She nced at Zi Yuan and asked in a low voice, "May I try entering?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head and shot Su Chan a helpless look. "Su Chan, you¡¯re not a Yang Spirit body, you can¡¯t go in."

    Su Chan¡¯s face was written with disappointment. She suddenly thought in her heart, "Years ago, I was the most powerful person around Li Yundong, but now the cultivation Quotient of Zi Yuan is far higher than mine. Zhou Qin, who didn¡¯t have any cultivation Quotient in the past, has already reached the Zhuji phase. The vigorous Zhenqi she has is far from my own. Even Ruan Hongling¡¯s Cultivation Quotient is higher than mine!"

    Su Chan looked at Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, and Ruan Hongling, a hint of sadness shing in her eyes. She couldn¡¯t help but regret that she had been too busy ying with Li Yundong in the past to practice hard. Now her Cultivation Quotient was the lowest out of everyone¡¯s.

    Thinking of this, Su Chan came to a conclusion. She thought to herself, "Even if I can¡¯t beat Sister Zi Yuan, I can¡¯t let Zhou Qin surpass me. I¡¯m not an idiot. If I really put in a lot of effort, can¡¯t I be better than the others?"

    At this time, Zhou Qin and the others looked at Zi Yuan and Li Yundong with concern. No one was paying any attention to Su Chan¡¯s thoughts. After watching the three golden needles be pricked into Li Yundong¡¯s body, three extremely pale white lines appeared slowly from the Baihui Acupoint on top of his head, the Shenting Acupoint on his forehead, and the Lingtai Acupoint on his back. These three fine lines rose up and did not disperse, floating straight to the ceiling and then spreading.

    Zi Yuan sat cross-legged in front of Li Yundong. After a while, she entered a meditative state and the Yang Spirit came out of her body.

    After the Yang Spirit came out of Zi Yuan¡¯s body, she said to Zhou Qin and the others with a serious expression, "If I haven¡¯te back within fifteen minutes, you can prepare a funeral for me and Li Yundong. Don¡¯t try to save him, and don¡¯t even think about saving me!"

    Zhou Qin and the others were shocked to hear that, and goosebumps popped up all over their bodies at the same time, but before they could dissuade Zi Yuan, she had already shed and her Yang Spirit had begun quickly rushing toward Li Yundong.

    Just as her Yang Spirit was about to touch his body, it instantly turned into a Yin Spirit and became countless blue spots of light, rushing into his Baihui, Lingtai, and Shenting acupoints.

    The Yang Spirit in Li Yundong¡¯s body had been absorbed into the spirit space of the burning thumb pot. As such, his body was like an ownerless house, and Zi Yuan was able to go in without any resistance.

    Zi Yuan felt that there seemed to be a great dragging force in Li Yundong¡¯s body that was constantly pulling at her, as if a vortex was constantly devouring all the life around it with its consciousness.

    She didn¡¯t resist. Following the Aura in Li Yundong¡¯s body, she quickly rushed toward the burning thumb pot. Before long, she could feel that the dark, boundless world around her was shining brightly. In an instant, she arrived in a vast and empty world.

    There was a strangely shaped mountain in this world. Zi Yuan, who was proficient in Buddhist Sutras, knew that this was the Xumi Mountain.

    Without hesitation, Zi Yuan flew to the mountainside of the Xumi Mountain. Upon closer look, she could see Li Yundong and Su Chan everywhere in the worlds of the trichiliocosm around the mountain. However, she didn¡¯t know which world contained Li Yundong¡¯s real body.

    She took a deep breath. She knew that ten years in this Spirit Space was equivalent to a minute in the outside world. Thus, she patiently started going through the worlds one by one.

    However, there were tens of billions of people in the worlds of trichiliocosm. How could it be so easy to find Li Yundong¡¯s real body?

    Zi Yuan busily jumped from one Spirit Space to another. She kept moving ceaselessly, ignorant to how much time had passed. Even Zi Yuan didn¡¯t know how many Spirit Spaces she had passed through, much less how many years had passed. The only clue she had was that each time she reached a Spirit Space, she would use her fingernails to make a seal on her sleeves.

    This was repeated over and over again for many years. By the time Zi Yuan finally felt a trace of exhaustion and despair creep over her, she found that her sleeves were covered with dense marks made by her nails. Some parts of her clothes were torn due to the repeated force.

    "Will he really be impossible to find?" Zi Yuan stood in the midst of this boundless mortal societies, trying to resist despair.

    But if she couldn¡¯t find the whereabouts of Li Yundong, everything she had done before would be in vain, and what her master had said would be...

    Thinking of this, she couldn¡¯t help but feel lost. This woman who normally had her own strong opinions couldn¡¯t help but be a bit absent-minded as well. She slipped away from the Spirit Space naturally, then entered another one in a daze.

    She had looked through more than 2,000 Spirit Spaces but found nothing. By this point, she was already discouraged. Just as she was thinking about the words left by her master, she suddenly found herself in a Spirit Space in a vast sea of clouds.

    This Spirit Space was filled with a sea of clouds that stretched as far as the eye could see. On top of this sea of clouds was only a mountain, standing tall within. The mountain peak itself was covered with lush green pine trees, and a white-haired old man was sitting below the tallest tree, which was asrge as a huge umbre.

    The vast sea of clouds before Zi Yuan was simply too magnificent and beautiful. When she looked at it, she could feel her heart opening and the depression from before began to fade.

    Zi Yuan cheered up and flew over to the old man under the pine tree. Just as she was about to speak, she saw the man silently watching two people who were bending over and seemed busy in a greendder field not far from the top of the mountain.

    Zi Yuan followed his gaze curiously and saw that the figures were Li Yundong and Su Chan, who were dressed as a farmer and a farmer¡®s wife, and that they were busy sowing.

    Although the two of them were working hard, they wereughing and ying from time to time, getting thoroughly dirty. The sound of theirughter was one of authentic joy. Even from a distance, Zi Yuan could hear Su Chan¡¯s tinkling bell-like giggles and Li Yundong¡¯s heartyughter. A warm atmosphere came over her.

    Zi Yuan was shuttling back and forth through the worlds of trichiliocosm. No matter which world she went into, Li Yundong and Su Chan would be in it living happily together. Zi Yuan had already seen such a scene numerous times, so she turned her face away and asked the old man in a clear voice, "Sir, have you seen..."

    Before she could finish her words, she saw the old man start shaking all over. He suddenly raised his head and eximed, "Zi Yuan?"

    Although the man was old, it was the first time that Zi Yuan had met someone who could recognize her in this Spirit Space. Her eyes suddenly widened as she carefully observed the grey-haired old man in front of her.

    She saw that although his long hair was almost trailing over the ground, and his beard was so thick that it almost concealed his face, she could still faintly sense something familiar from the eyebrows of the old man in front of her. She asked tentatively, "Li Yundong?"

    Li Yundong suddenly stood up and dusted himself off. He opened his eyes wide and looked at Zi Yuan, asking, "Why are you here?"

    Zi Yuan had journeyed through more than 2,000 Spirit Spaces and spent decades toiling, but now she had finally found Li Yundong. Even though she was rtively calm, she couldn¡¯t help but be overjoyed. She grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s hands and shouted, "Thank God, I¡¯ve finally found you!"

    Li Yundong was stunned. "Are you here specifically to find me?"

    Zi Yuan nodded with a smile on her face. "That¡¯s right. Your apparition has been trapped in the burning thumb pot¡¯s Spirit Space for 18 days. I came here just to look for you!"

    Li Yundong let out a cry. With the look in his eyes shifting, he sighed and said, "I remember... I seem to have been here for so many years!"

    After expending so much effort, Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help butugh and say, "Ten years in the Spirit Space is equivalent to a minute outside. You have been in here for tens of thousands of years, haven¡¯t you? No matter which Spirit Space you are in, you must be tired of it. Now, it¡¯s time to go back, okay?"

    Li Yundong shot a prative nce at Zi Yuan. He smiled and shook his head. Then, he slowly sank back down, flicked his sleeves and said lightly, "Zi Yuan, you can go back, but I won¡¯te with you."

    Zi Yuan was stunned. "Why on earth not?"

 Chapter 469 Being Good at All Buddhist Instruments!

    <h4>Chapter 469 Being Good at All Buddhist Instruments!</h4>

    Li Yundong was sitting cross-legged under the pine tree, silently watching the other version of him and Su Chan working in the countryside. On his face was a quiet and serene smile, as if as long as he could look at them from a distance, he would be satisfied and happy.

    "Zi Yuan, why do you want to cultivate?" he asked.

    Zi Yuan had not been expecting to receive a question in return for hers. After thinking for a while, she answered, "To ascend from the suffering of the mortal world and reach wondend."

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Yes, it¡¯s very in line with your cultivation standard. When I first saw you, I thought, ¡¯Ah, how could there be such a beautiful woman in this world? Is she a fairy from heaven?¡¯ At that time, I thought that you were a fairy who would sooner orter go to the wondend, so you were seeking immortality through cultivation."

    She quietly listened to his words. The old Li Yundong in front of her was not as handsome as he had once been, but his hoarse voice was full of wisdom.

    Li Yundong tenderly looked at Su Chan from the Spirit Space and said to Zi Yuan softly, "But have you ever wondered, even if you be a Shenxian, what will you do? Will you feel happy because you will have no experience of birth, old age, sickness and death, and then you can jump out of the cycle of rebirth? Or... do you just want to follow your master and go to wondend to find him?"

    Li Yundong had been right about Zi Yuan¡¯s subconscious wish, which had been hidden in her heart for a long time. Her body stiffened slightly, and she couldn¡¯t help but say in her mind, "Yes, I followed my master¡¯s footsteps like this, and even regarded his psalm as the truth. Why? Is it just because I want to follow him and be with him forever?

    "But... Master loves Ao Wushuang, not me..."

    Zi Yuan had been with her master since she was a child. In her eyes, her master was omnipotent. Not only was he the most handsome man in the world, but he was also the most extraordinary. Because of this, Wang Yuanshan¡¯s mark could be found in every aspect of her life!

    Thinking of her past, Zi Yuan vaguely felt that her master Wang Yuanshan seemed to have noticed her feelings for him, so he had left her a psalm and told her that Li Yundong was the one for her.

    "It was because of my master¡¯s psalm that I came to the Spirit Space without hesitation."

    But... even if the Li Yundong in front of her was really her soulmate, he loved Su Chan, not her!

    ¡°The purpose of my cultivation was to enter the Immortal Realm, and the purpose of entering the Immortal Realm was to find my master. In order to enter the Immortal Realm, I had to save my lover. In conclusion, my cultivation is all for the sake of... love?

    ¡±However, neither my master nor my supposed lover loves me back...

    ¡°So what is the purpose of my cultivation?¡±

    This question utterly stumped Zi Yuan, almost consuming her mind. She just stood there without saying a word, her expression changing constantly.

    It was as though Li Yundong¡¯s eyes could see through the mortal world. He smiled and said, "Zi Yuan, you cultivated for the purpose of bing Shenxian, but do you know what I cultivate for?"

    At this time, Zi Yuan was so enraptured that she could only listen to Li Yundong¡¯s words, while her mind was in a mess.

    Seeing that Zi Yuan had not spoken, Li Yundong didn¡¯t look back. He continued to say, "The purpose of my cultivation was very simple. I just wanted to protect Su Chan from harm, and then I wanted to protect myself as well, so that she and I can live happily."

    Li Yundong pointed to the other version of himself and Su Chan at the foot of the mountain. He said, "Look, they are so happy now. I searched for my true self by walking through the worlds of the trichiliocosm and Spirit Space. During this period, I experienced countless live and death experiences and ovee countless strong enemies to protect myself from being separated from Su Chan in the Spirit Space. When I came to this Spirit Space, I realized that there was no one else in this world, only me and Su Chan. Therefore, I chose to stay and quietly sit on this sea of clouds and watch them. I want to see if they will get tired of this kind of simple life, and whether their love will begin to fade with the passing of the years."

    Li Yundong smiled wistfully. "As an onlooker, I can see myself getting older and older, and yet they are still happy. You know, I cultivate only in order to see myself finally get married to my lover. Now that they are living a happy life, what else could I wish for?"

    Hearing this, Zi Yuan¡¯s heart was filled with mncholy, and she let out a sigh. "But he isn¡¯t really you..."

    Li Yundong turned around and asked with a serene smile, "What¡¯s the difference?"

    Zi Yuan opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but when she looked into Li Yundong¡¯s bottomless ck eyes, she couldn¡¯t seem to produce any words. She sighed again softly and sat down beside him. "In that case, I also won¡¯t leave. I¡¯ll stay here and apany you."

    Li Yundong was slightly stunned. "You¡¯ll stay? How could you do that?"

    A pitiful smile appeared on Zi Yuan¡¯s face. "Why can¡¯t I do it? What¡¯s the difference between me leaving or staying? Whether it¡¯s my master or..." Zi Yuan paused and swallowed back her words. A crimson flush crept over her otherworldly and beautiful face.

    Li Yundong said seriously, "No, what will Ruan Hongling do if you don¡¯t return? What about the Linggong Sect that your master left for you? Do you want to leave Ruan Hongling there and let the other disciples of the Zhengyi School bully your younger sister?"

    A thought struck Zi Yuan, and she intercepted Li Yundong¡¯s words to say, "You¡¯re right, but have you ever thought about it? If you stay here, you¡¯ll be happy to see yourself and Su Chan in the Spirit Space. Have you ever thought about what will happen to the real Su Chan outside the Spirit Space, who¡¯s been waiting for you toe back and fulfill your promise to her?"

    When Li Yundong heard these words, his whole body suddenly shook, and his eyes widened.

    Seeing this, Zi Yuan immediately said, "Even if you think that the Su Chan outside is no different from the Su Chan in front of you, have you ever thought about anyone else? How about Zhou Qin? She has just returned from building the Zhuji phase. Do you know that? Do you want to lead her down the path of cultivation and then abandon her? My master left Hongling and me at that time too, you can¡¯t do that!"

    Zi Yuan spoke of the sadness in her heart, every word and sentence immediately moved Li Yundong.

    She went on to say, "Forgetting Su Chan and Zhou Qin for a moment, what about those little foxes who have such a strong dependence on you? Will you just leave them alone after taking them down the mountain? Do you know what will happen to them if you aren¡¯t there to care about them? Since ancient times, all the vixens going down the mountain and getting involved in the mortal world have been extremely miserable. If you do this, won¡¯t you hurt them? Do you have no conscience? Can you be at ease here?"

    When Li Yundong heard this, his expression changed. He looked at Zi Yuan in a daze, and after a long while, he finally couldn¡¯t help but let out a long breath. He stood up and flicked his sleeves, letting out a loudugh. He said loudly, "Buddha, I think I now know what my true self is!"

    In this vast world, the name of a Buddhist monk suddenly rang out. The clouds quickly gathered together and turned into a huge statue of the Buddha, which said in a dignified manner. "Amitabha, what is the true self?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s expression was full of enlightenment. His countenance had be clear and bright, and he said in a sonorous voice, "Ordinary people who make the Five Imprints prefer to be themselves. In fact, they are only decoys. Only when I have the Eight selves like the Buddha does can I be my true self."

    The statue of the Buddha asked in a booming voice, "What are the Eight selves?"

    Li Yundong replied in a loud voice, "First, by showing that one¡¯s body is multiple, it can be small like a tiny speck of dust; Second, by revealing that one¡¯s body is spread throughout the Vast Worlds, it can be big enough to let one¡¯s own changes be like an infinite void world; Third, a big body is able to gently lift one¡¯s body far away, showing that one¡¯s changes can be as light as a feather; Fourth, when one¡¯s body is stationary, it can be free and able to change size at will!

    "Fifth, the roots use each other, and the meaning is to have a master. It can freely change into an adult or a child and can take over everything. Sixth, it has nothing to think about. The meaning is that it can go anywhere as it pleases; Seventh, through no Cultivation Tribtion, it can move, and can make six or eighteen tremors in the earth. Eighth, it covers the entire world, like the void, and it can do many things. It can walk on a steep mountain, walk over fire and water, and walking through the void. It also can turn the earth into water, and is able to go for as long as he wants!"

    Li Yundong spoke with confidence andposure. Zi Yuan stood beside him, and she was slightly shocked after listening to him. She wondered, "When did Li Yundong manage to research the Buddhist doctrine so thoroughly? He¡¯s amazing!"

    Unexpectedly, Li Yundong seemed to hear her thoughts. He looked back and smiled, "How do you think I spent all my time in these three thousand Spirit Spaces? I have been in the worlds of the trichiliocosm and Spirit Spaces for countless years. I have almost finished all the books that can be hidden in the worlds of the trichiliocosm and Spirit Space and learned almost all of their magic! It is because I have experienced so many things in the worlds of the trichiliocosm and Spirit Spaces that I finally feel tired. I don¡¯t want to leave this quiet Spirit Space. If you hadn¡¯te to wake me up, I would have stayed forever."

    When Zi Yuan saw that Li Yundong¡¯s voice and expression had returned to their former state, and that he no longer looked as old as before, she couldn¡¯t help feeling happy in her heart. She smiled and was about to reply, but the statue of Buddha suddenly said, "Since you know the Eight Ishvaras, why don¡¯t you show them to me?"

    Li Yundong raised his eyebrows and asked, "What¡¯s difficult about that?"

    After that, Li Yundong shook his sleeves and shouted, "Small!"

    In the blink of an eye, Li Yundong¡¯s figure disappeared into thin air and he cried, "I exist on every tiny speck of dust in this Spirit Space!"

    Zi Yuan heard Li Yundong¡¯s voiceing from all directions at the same time. It was as if countless drops of water had gathered into tidal waves that were pouring into her ears. Even though her cultivation level was high, she couldn¡¯t help but frown and cover her ears.

    Soon, Li Yundong¡®s figure reappeared and he shouted again, "Big!"

    His figure suddenly became bigger than before. Zi Yuan looked up and could not even see where Li Yundong¡¯s knees were! Compared with Li Yundong, the statue of Buddha had be like a minuscule little ant.

    Li Yundong quickly returned to his original state. "Whisper!" he cried, and his body actually floated up. Li Yundong smiled and said to Zi Yuan, "Zi Yuan, please blow on me."

    Zi Yuan curiously blew a breath towards Li Yundong. When she did so, she saw that he was like a feather, floating far away in the blink of an eye.

    Li Yundongughed and shouted, "I can grow!" He stretched out his arm, and it suddenly became very long, as if it could reach across the sky. Soon, he shouted, "And I can shrink!" His other arm became very short, almost disappearing.

    Li Yundong quickly demonstrated the arts of free transformation one by one. He changed from an old man to a child with his mind, and there was nothing he couldn¡¯t change!

    When he showed his seventh Ishvara, he shouted, "It can move!" He turned his hands over, as if the Buddha had turned his own five fingers over. The Spirit Space suddenly shook violently, and the top of the mountain seemed to be about to copse at any time.

    Su Chan and Li Yundong, who were in the Spirit Space together, both panicked and held each other, yelling loudly.

    Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t bear to be shaken by the violent vibrations, so she had no choice but to fly up and shout, "Don¡¯t shake, if you shake any more of this Spirit Space, it will copse. Even if it doesn¡¯t copse, this mountain will!"

    Li Yundongughed. "If this mountain bes a piece of gold, how can it copse?"

    After that, Li Yundong pointed at the peak of the mountain. With a crash, the whole thing turned into a shining golden mountain in the blink of an eye, and the shaking of the world suddenly stopped!

    Although she was an experienced and knowledgeable figure in the Cultivation World, she couldn¡¯t help but be dumbfounded by Li Yundong¡¯s magical ability.

    At this time, Li Yundong cried to the statue of Buddha in a loud voice, "What do you think? Are the Eight Ishvaras my true self or not?"

    The statue of Buddha gave a boomingugh. "Good. You have been through the worlds of the trichiliocosm, and have indeed learned the magical effects of these Eight Ishvaras! You really deserve your identity as the Fashen of the Immovable Wisdom King! Now I can trust you and give you the burning thumb pot! With your experience and the power of the Fashen of the Immovable Wisdom King, from now on, you can use all the magic tools of Buddhism at will. Nothing will stand in your way! Ha ha ha..."

 Chapter 470 The Fashen of the Immovable Wisdom King!

    <h4>Chapter 470 The Fashen of the Immovable Wisdom King!</h4>

    With a heartyugh, the statue of the Buddha immediately turned into countless clouds and flew in all directions.

    In the blink of an eye, the Spirit Space began to buzz and vibrate as if it might copse at any time, and a swirl began to slowly form in the sky. The clouds and everything else in the world started flying toward this swirl.

    With his hands sped behind his back, Li Yundong smiled at Zi Yuan and said, "This Spirit Space is about to copse. Zi Yuan, you may leave."

    Zi Yuan was aware that the area was about to copse. If she couldn¡¯t escape before it did, her Yang Spirit would bepletely stuck in the burning thumb pot. If that happened, she wouldn¡¯t be able to leave even if she wanted to.

    She nced at Li Yundong and couldn¡¯t help but say, "What about you? Won¡¯t you leave?"

    He wiped his face with his hand, and in the blink of an eye, he transformed from an old man with long hair and a wispy beard to his previous state of being a handsome young man. Heughed and said, "Don¡¯t worry, I have to get out and fulfill my promise to Su Chan!"

    Zi Yuan finally felt a burst of relief. Her figure rapidly flew toward the swirl above her head, but just before she entered, she couldn¡¯t help stopping and looking back at Li Yundong.

    She could see that the man was calm andposed even as he stood in a world that was about to copse. His eyes seemed to see through everything, he seemed to master everything, and control everything. Even if this world was to be destroyed in a moment¡¯s time, he might as well have the ability to turn the tide!

    At this moment, Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t helpparing the Wang Yuanshan in the depths of her memory to the man in front of her who had finally lost his innocence and childishness and was beginning to show the temperament of a true cultivator. In front of Zi Yuan, the figures of the two people gradually ovepped and she could no longer distinguish between them, unable to find any difference between them.

    At this moment, Zi Yuan¡¯s heartbeat quickened. She didn¡¯t dare to look at him anymore, for fear that if she took one more look, she would be just as reluctant to leave as Li Yundong had been before.

    "Li Yundong, remember, Su Chan... is waiting for you!" Zi Yuan finally shouted. She closed her eyes, turned around, and flew into the swirl.

    Li Yundong smiled as he watched Zi Yuan leave. His gaze was gentle as he watched Su Chan and the other version of himself hug each other tightly within the Spirit Space. They snuggled up to each other, and like the countless clouds in this Spirit Space, the two of them also flew into the swirl and disappeared.

    Li Yundong sighed softly and said, "It¡¯s time for me to wake up from this dream. My Chan¡¯er is waiting for me to return! These illusions will disappear, but I and Chan¡¯er are eternal. We will be together forever..."

    After Zi Yuan had just returned from the burning thumb pot of the Spirit Space, thousands upon thousands of Yang Spirits apparitions also finally escaped from Li Yundong¡¯s Lingtai, Baihui, and Shenting acupoints, and they instantly gathered together and returned to her own body.

    As soon as she opened her eyes, she heard Su Chan and the little foxes cheering. One of the little foxes shouted excitedly, "Fourteen minutes and fifty-nine seconds! It¡¯s so close! She was almost a goner!"

    Although Zhou Qin had experienced countless risks along the way as she built the Zhuji phase, she couldn¡¯t help but be shocked at this moment. She clutched at her chest with her hands and shook her head with a smile. "Zi Yuan, you scared us to death! Just now, when I saw that you¡¯d been in there for fourteen minutes and fifty-nine seconds, I was in despair!"

    Ruan Hongling hugged Zi Yuan tightly, crying andughing, and said, "Shijie Zi Yuan, you scared me to death just now! I thought you wouldn¡¯t be able toe back! If you¡¯d gone, what would have been the point in me continuing to live?"

    With a gentle smile on her face, Zi Yuan gently stroked Ruan Hongling¡¯s back and said softly, "Don¡¯t be silly. I¡¯m back now, okay?"

    Zhou Qin saw that although Zi Yuan had regained consciousness, Li Yundong was still sitting cross-legged and motionless. She could not help but ask in confusion, "Zi Yuan, what about Li Yundong?"

    Zi Yuan looked at Li Yundong with aplicated expression and said, "He should wake up in a while..."

    Su Chan shot a nervous nce at Zi Yuan. "Is he all right?"

    Zi Yuan also looked at Su Chan and sighed internally. "Don¡¯t you know that Li Yundong almost got stuck there because of you?"

    But in the end, Zi Yuan didn¡¯t voice this thought. She smiled andforted her, saying, "He¡¯s fine. Not only is he fine, but he has also even mastered the Buddhist doctrine. He¡¯s now a master of both Buddhism and Taoism. He has the bearing and demeanor of a great cultivator. He¡¯s truly iparable to his former self!"

    Su Chan blinked her eyes confusedly. "Is it possible to master the Great Buddhist doctrine by subduing the burning thumb pot?"

    As soon as she finished her words, she suddenly saw Ling Yue pointing at Li Yundong and heard her exim, "Look!"

    Everyone turned to look at Li Yundong and couldn¡¯t help but be stunned.

    The three golden needles on his body were constantly trembling. They were being pushed out little by an invisible force, and eventually, this forcepletely pushed them out and they all fell to the ground gently with dinging sounds.

    Soon, the burning thumb pot being held by Li Yundong jumped into the air, and its body burst into colorful light. It was incandescent as if there were countless colorful ribbons fluttering around it, each one of them decorated with countless Vajras and Arhats chanting scriptures.

    These ribbons quickly shot into Li Yundong¡¯s body, and then the Baihui acupoint on the top of his head suddenly opened up. A white gas rose from the top of his head, echoing with the colorful ribbons released from the burning thumb pot and tightly twining together.

    Everyone in the room was dumbfounded. They all held their breaths and didn¡¯t dare to move a muscle.

    These lights intertwined with one another like countless wild vines. They quickly formed Vajras one after another in different postures. These Vajras then quickly rushed into Li Yundong¡¯s body, and every time one of them jumped into him, the lights outside would quickly form another.

    After this had been going on for a while, Su Chan and the others saw that there were a total of eighteen Vajras in total. Before long, the lights formed another 108 statues of Arhats which also rushed into Li Yundong¡¯s body.

    After the 108 Arhat statues had all jumped into him, the lights finally gathered together and quickly shot into the space between Li Yundong¡¯s eyebrows.

    After this, a seven-colored light gathered between Li Yundong¡¯s brows. The lights kept squirming and twisting and slowly turned into a vertical pupil shape.

    Before Li Yundong had even opened his eyes, the vertical pupil slowly opened itself, emitting a divine white light. Wherever his eyes turned, the sharp gazeing from them would make people¡¯s hearts beat faster, filling them with awe!

    Su Chan, Zhou Qin, and the little foxes were all dumbfounded. Ruan Hongling was also struck dumb. Only Zi Yuan was slightly startled and managed to say in a low voice, "Just as I expected!"

    Su Chan¡¯s ears were very sensitive, and when she heard this, she immediately asked in a low voice, "Sister Zi Yuan, what did you say?

    Zi Yuan looked at Li Yundong and said in a tone of pure awe, "In the Spirit Space of the burning thumb pot, the apparitions left by past generations of eminent monks said that Li Yundong was the reincarnation of the Immovable Wisdom King. It seems that their ims were true!"

    Zhou Qin looked at Li Yundong with a shocked expression. She thought in her heart, "Master Erdeni said that I am the reincarnation of the Lak?m¨©, and that Li Yundong is the incarnation of the Immovable Wisdom King... If we are both reincarnations of gods, might someone else be too? What are so many gods supposed to do? Could we be destined to deal with the legendary catastrophe?"

    Just then, Su Chan eximed in a low voice, "No wonder when he was meditating, he could see that his own Gods¡¯ soul was the Immovable Wisdom King of Buddhism. I was wondering how it was possible that he could cultivate magic when his Gods¡¯ soul was the Buddha! It turns out that he is the reincarnation of the Immovable Wisdom King!"

    The little foxes were also amazed. They whispered to each other, "It turns out that the leader of our sect is the reincarnation of the Immovable Wisdom King? That¡¯s amazing. We have such a good sect leader!"

    "Haha, let¡¯s see who¡¯ll dare to bully us now! Our sect leader is the reincarnation of the Immovable Wisdom King!"

    "That¡¯s right, the Immovable Wisdom King is the top of all Wisdom Kings, and he¡¯s the head of the five Wisdom Kings. He¡¯s so powerful that he¡¯s able to subdue all demons! Apart from the Buddha himself, he is the most powerful being in the world!"

    The little foxes chattered excitedly in low voices. Suddenly, Ling Yue craned her neck and said, "But... aren¡¯t we fox spirits and demons? Don¡¯t tell me that the leader of our sect, Immovable Wisdom King, has actually subdued us all?"

    Her words made the little foxes all shrink back and look at Li Yundong with fear brimming in their eyes.

    Su Chan¡¯s heart could not help but skip a beat. She thought to herself, "That¡¯s right. Li Yundong really could be the reincarnation of the Immovable Wisdom King, but I¡¯m still a fox spirit and a demon. Humans and demons are already enemies, and there¡¯s even an absolutely irreconcble hatred between Buddha and demons! What should I do in the future?

    ¡±Yun Dong must know that he is the reincarnation of the Immovable Wisdom King. He... is he going to stop liking me, a demon?¡°

    She thought about it and couldn¡¯t help but feel a tendril of sadness curl around her heart. Her eyes turned red and tears sprang to them, unbidden. She wanted to rush into Li Yundong¡¯s arms and ask him what was going on.

    While she was thinking about this, the vertical pupil on Li Yundong¡¯s forehead finally closed, and then the dazzling light slowly stretched into a straight line and disappeared in an instant.

    When the vertical pupil disappeared, the burning thumb pot in Li Yundong¡¯s hand also slowly began falling. As soon as it fell to his palm, his body trembled slightly. He hissed and took a deep breath, which was intense enough to make everyone feel as if a dragon had suddenly sucked up all the air in the room. Everything around him seemed to be being hoovered up.

    Then, after this deep inhtion, he let out a long breath. At this moment, everyone felt that there was a strong wind in the room and thought they might be blown away in the next second.

    Zhou Qin stared at Li Yundong. She had originally thought that the speed at which she had built the Zhuji phase was extremely amazing, especially considering that the time Li Yundong had spent building the Zhuji phase was almost twice as long, so she should be able to catch up with him.

    However, it now seemed that Li Yundong had reached a cultivation level beyond her reach. She didn¡¯t even know how high his level was!

    After Li Yundong breathed in and out, he slowly opened his eyes. At this time, everyone felt like Li Yundong¡¯s eyes were like a deep, vast and bottomless sea. With one more look, it seemed that they would be sucked into his eyes.

    After he opened his eyes, he looked around at the crowd and said with a serene smile, "How long have I been sitting in meditation?"

    At this time, none of the women in the room dared to speak. Only Zhou Qin boldly answered, "Master, you have been in meditation for eighteen days."

    He took a look at Zhou Qin with a look of admiration in his eyes. "You seeded in building the Zhuji phase. Ah, the powerful magical weapons have also been subdued! Congrattions are in order! And wee to the world of cultivators!"

    He saw that Zhou Qin was dressed like a servant. It was obvious that she had been nervously staying by his side aftering back and that she hadn¡¯t had the time to take a bath. He smiled and said, "Hurry up and get washed. Don¡¯t stay here. I¡¯m fine."

    Zhou Qin¡¯s face reddened. She felt that if she lingered for another second longer, he would dislike her for being sloppy. She quickly turned tail and headed out of the room.

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes then shifted to Ruan Hongling again. He nodded to her and said with a grateful smile, "Hongling, thank you for escorting Zhou Qin on her journey. I will remember your kindness and repay it in the future!"

    Ruan Hongling put her hands on her hips and said angrily, "I don¡¯t want you to repay me for it! If I¡¯m willing to help, it¡¯s none of your business. If you really want to pay me back, pay me more. I¡¯ve been busy all this time. I¡¯ve worn all of the few clothes I have and they¡¯re all dirty!" After that, she sniffed at herself and said with a frown, "Eugh, I reek!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "It still smells better than the stench of a man."

    Ruan Hongling pulled a face at him. "d to see your tongue¡¯s still sharp! I¡¯m going to take a shower!"

    Li Yundong smiled and watched Ruan Hongling leave, and then his eyes fell on Zi Yuan. "Zi Yuan, you¡¯re the one most worthy of thanks..."

    Zi Yuan was looking at the man in front of her with aplicated expression. Although she felt that his appearance had not changed, there was something within him that had changed dramatically. It seemed that the great master had begun to grasp things.

    When Zi Yuan heard his words, she didn¡¯t know why but she suddenly blushed, saying in a panic, "You have to thank Su Chan. She has been chanting Buddhist scriptures for you day and night, begging Buddha to bless you. She hasn¡¯t stopped for eighteen consecutive days! You should thank her!"

    After saying that, she turned her head and fled the room in a panic.

    Li Yundong watched the departing figure of Zi Yuan in confusion. He shook his head exasperatedly, then looked at Su Chan. When he saw her looking at him with eager eyes, his own gaze suddenly became iparably gentle.

    At this time, seeing Li Yundong looking at her, Su Chan, who was worried about her situation, couldn¡¯t help but think nervously, "Ah, he¡¯s looking at me. He is the reincarnation of the Immovable Wisdom King, and I am a fox spirit, a demon. Buddha and demons don¡¯t coexist. Will he dislike me? Will he... kill me because I am a demon?"

 Chapter 471 Deep Love

    <h4>Chapter 471 Deep Love</h4>

    Li Yundong could see her watching him with a pitiful look, standing still and not daring to step forward. If these were normal times, she would have cried out in a sweet voice and thrown herself into his arms when no one was around.

    He asked curiously, "Chan¡¯er, what¡¯s wrong?"

    When Su Chan heard him call her name affectionately, she couldn¡¯t help but tremble a little, and a hint of eagerness appeared in her eyes. She took two steps forward, but when she was only a few inches away from him, she couldn¡¯t help but stop. She looked at him hesitantly and whispered, "Are you the Immovable Wisdom King... or my Yundong?"

    Only then did he understand what she was worried about. His heart couldn¡¯t help but soften, and he wrapped his arms around her slim waist.

    He pinched her nose intimately and said softly, "Silly girl, what are you making blind and disorderly conjectures for?"

    She greedily inhaled his familiar masculine aura. She was slightly relieved and thought to herself, "He¡¯s still being so intimate with me. Was I worrying over nothing?"

    She pouted and made a face at him, then said with a look of grievance, "Don¡¯t you know that the Buddha and demons cannot coexist? You are the reincarnation of the Immovable Wisdom King. What if you exorcise me someday?"

    Heughed and kissed her face, saying affectionately, "Silly girl, I don¡¯t know what happened in my past life, but I know one thing for certain in this life. I am an ordinary person, and you are a little spirit. I, an ordinary person, really like you, but do you like me?"

    She looked up at him and rolled her eyes. Suddenly, she smiled mischievously and said, "Well said. I needed to hear your true feelings!" Then, she pressed her cheek to his chest and said in a small voice, "Tell me the truth. If you are lying, I¡¯ll know!"

    Heughed, then gently lowered his head and gazed at her as she stood before him. He said softly, "Darling, do you know what I did in the worlds of the trichiliocosm and the Spirit Space of the burning thumb pot?"

    She tilted her head, blinked slowly, and asked, "What did you do?"

    He stroked her cheeks and said softly, "I journeyed from one Spirit Space to another to look for my true self, but no matter which one I visited, I found that you and I could live happily together. In the end, I chose a world that didn¡¯t contain anyone else but you and me. Then, I quietly watched us live a happy life without envy. Year after year, day after day, you and I never tired of one another, and I didn¡¯t feel any sense of monotony either. On the contrary, when I looked at the two of us and saw how happy we were, and thought of the hardships we had gone through together before, I felt that my heart was full of sweetness and joy."

    With that, he held her hands in his broad palm and said with a smile, "I wouldn¡¯t leave you even if all the Spirits and Buddhas objected to it. And you, little spirit, will you leave me?"

    She was deeply moved by his words and her eyes were brimming with tears. Suddenly, she smiled, but a river of tears flowed down her cheeks. She said in a daze, "I won¡¯t leave you unless you detest me and abandon me someday! Even if you want to exorcise me one day, I will let you do it!"

    He chuckled and squeezed her tightly in his arms. As if coaxing a child, he said, "Silly girl, if I wanted to exorcise you, would I have to wait? I¡¯ll do it right now!" After that, he made threatening gestures and touched her chest.

    She burst outughing, clutched her chest tightly with both hands, and giggled. "You¡¯re so annoying. Just a moment ago, you looked so solemn, but now you have be so nasty all of a sudden. You¡¯re the worst!"

    He kept a straight face and said in a serious and righteous manner, "Nonsense, I am also serious now! This is an important thing in the human world. We should have children and carry on our ancestral lines. Is there anything nasty or noble about that? Don¡¯t tell me that the upper-ss people in the world wouldn¡¯t do such a ¡®nasty¡¯ thing?"

    She covered her chest with one hand and rubbed his face with a slender finger from the other hand, giggling. "You¡¯re such a thick-skinned monk. Aren¡¯t you ashamed?"

    Li Yundong smiled and suddenly opened his mouth. Like a nipping bird, he took her finger into his mouth, then gently pecked her finger with the tip of his tongue.

    The warmth made her tremble. She squealed and subconsciously wanted to withdraw her hand. However, as soon as she moved to do so, she restrained herself again, as if she couldn¡¯t bear to pull back.

    Her cheeks had gone scarlet, and her pretty face was buried in his arms. She seemed to want to avoid something due to her shyness, but she turned her face to the side with one of her eyes wide open. She quietly peeked at his face, and the corners of her eyes were twinkling with a charming shyness.

    He was provoked by her inborn coquetry. His lower body was as hard as a Vajra or a rock, pressing against her.

    With a quiet gasp, she quickly realized what was going on. All of a sudden, her body became hot and soft, as if she was going to turn into a pool of spring water and disintegrate into his arms. Her small cherry mouth parted slightly and she nced down at his bulging pants. She stared at the majestic mound intently and thought in her mind, "Yundong has been with me for so long, but he has never had any real satisfaction. Has it been too hard for him?"

    She thought of her shyness, and her body became hotter and hotter. Her ears seemed to be on fire, but the spring water in the corner of her eyes was only rippling more and more. She boldly raised her head and her charming eyes were like silk while her breath was like an orchid. She said softly, "Monk, let me help you get rid of the fire, okay?"

    The fox spirits were the most Yang beings in the world, and Su Chan was the most charming of all fox spirits. Even the Buddha would fall off his lotus throne in such a situation, let alone Li Yundong, who had fallen in love with Su Chan a long time ago.

    Li Yundong suddenly felt a raging fire rushing right up to the top of his head. He put his arm around her with a sudden force and tried to hold her up. However, just as he was about to get carried away, he heard Zhou Qin shouting outside, "Master, we¡¯re all ready to attend the Taoist assembly. We¡¯re all waiting for you!"

    This inconvenient interruption made Li Yundong¡¯s raging passion fizzle out, and his eyes suddenly became clear again. His strong grip became soft and light, and he pinched Su Chan¡¯s nose and said with a smile, "Little spirit, do you want to destroy my Fashen or my Yuanyang Body? Aren¡¯t you afraid that I will really do something to you?"

    She wriggled her soft and charming body and said shyly, "I don¡¯t know. I only want to make you happy. As for the others..." Then, she slipped further into Li Yundong¡¯s arms and said shyly, "...I don¡¯t care about them."

    He knew that Su Chan loved him so much that other concerns were insignificant byparison. She just wanted to make love to him and enjoy the most beautiful and happy sensations in the world.

    But he was also well aware that this was caused by the strong sense of oppression and insecurity rooted in Su Chan¡¯s subconscious mind. In her eyes, she was able to give herself, and that was quite a lot. She would rather be a three-tailed fox spirit for the rest of her life. She was willing to have sex with him, but she was unwilling to lose his affection.

    He was touched and smiled bitterly. He didn¡¯t speak of what he knew of her. He just hugged her lovingly and rubbed the tip of her nose with the tip of his. He said affectionately, "Well, even if you want to do it, we¡¯ll have to wait until the end of the Taoist assembly, okay? If we do it right now and my Yuanyang Body breaks, I¡¯ll make a fool of myself at the Taoist assembly."

    Su Chan¡¯s head was lowered, and she was a little unhappy. "But... is it going to be like this for the rest of my life? If I can never catch up with you in terms of cultivation, what can I do?" she said bashfully.

    Heughed and said, "Do you think that I want to be a widower? In fact, I have already thought about it. In the worlds of the trichiliocosm, I read countless ssics and realized that as long as a cultivator reaches the Jinshen phase, they can defend their Yuanyang. No one can take away my Yuanyang Body, even if they¡¯re a peerless fox spirit or peerless demoness. What¡¯s more, you can¡¯t destroy my True God Fashen! Think about it, there is a kind of kung fu called Vajra Unbreakable Body in Buddhism major spells. Its cultivation is equivalent to the Jinshen phase of the Taoists."

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes lit up. She abruptly raised her head and said joyfully, "That¡¯s right. The seventh level of a cultivator is the Jinshen phase. The highest level of the Jinshen phase is not bad, undecaying, and imperishable! Once you¡¯ve cultivated it, then..."

    Heughed, pointed at Su Chan, and said teasingly, "Look at you! When ites to this, you get excited and wisen up! You, little spirit, what are you thinking about!"

    Su Chan was so embarrassed that she started wriggling in Li Yundong¡¯s arms. She said angrily, "Ugh! You¡¯re the anxious one! I, I¡¯m just..." As she spoke, she noticed Li Yundong looking at her with a smile. His clear eyes seemed to see right through her. Suddenly, she couldn¡¯t continue with her words. She blushed and simply said boldly with a blushing face, "Well... I was just thinking about it. What¡¯s wrong with that? Is it wrong to want to have sex with you?"

    He chuckled affectionately. "Silly girl, when I reach the Cultivation of the Jinshen phase, even if my essence leaks out, it won¡¯t break my Yuanyang Body. At that time, you¡¯ll not only get my Yuanyang, but also get to do real Sexual Yoga with me!"

    Upon hearing his words, Su Chan could not help ring her nostrils and winking at him. It was as if her entire body had been set on fire. She wanted to get it on with him right then and there.

    Seeing this, Li Yundong stretched out his hand and gave her round buttocks a light p. He smiled and said, "Well, let¡¯s go quickly before the people outsideugh at us!"

    Su Chan covered her butt with her hands and jumped up. Standing, she couldn¡¯t help but turn her head and ask worriedly, "But... when will you reach the Cultivation of the Jinshen phase? I heard that it¡¯s impossible for cultivators in the world to reach the Cultivation of the Jinshen phase just by relying on the power of their Neidan. They must take the Diyuan Jindan, or else they can¡¯t reach it."

    Heughed and said, "Of course I knew that, but I¡¯ve discussed it with Zi Yuan before. The betrothal gift for the Taoist assembly is very likely to be a peerless powerful magical weapon like the Medicine King Tripod. If it really is such a powerful magical weapon, then I¡¯ll risk my life to get it. Once we have it, we¡¯ll be able to refine the elixir of life by ourselves. The Renyuan Jindan will be refined in a furnace, and everyone can have one. The Diyuan Jindan will be refined into thirty pills, and each person will be able to take one, and throw one away! Hahaha!"

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t help giggling. "Do you think these three elixirs of life are Six vor Rehmannis?"

    He alsoughed, held her in his arms and answered, "Well, you¡¯ll have to trust me! I am the reincarnation of the Immovable Wisdom King. The Cultivation of the Jinshen phase will be a piece of cake for me!"

    "Yes! You are very powerful. You¡¯ll have to take care of me in the future!" Su Chan responded, nodding her head vigorously.

    Li Yundongughed and rubbed her hair with one hand. "You used to take care of me, but now it¡¯s my turn to be the caretaker! Don¡¯t worry. In the future, if someone bullies you, no matter if he is the Buddha or Guanyin Bodhisattva, I will beat him up for you!"

    The two of them looked at each other and chuckled for a while, then left the room holding hands.

    Li Yundong went through the doorway and saw that Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, Ruan Hongling, and the other little foxes were all ready and waiting in the living room. When they saw himing out, they all stood up and looked at him in unison.

    Zhou Qin asked excitedly, "Master, can we go to the Taoist assembly now?"

    Li Yundong smiled and waved his hand. "Of course. Let¡¯s go!"

 Chapter 472 The Heroes Gathered!

    <h4>Chapter 472 The Heroes Gathered!</h4>

    The three foreigners, Kris, John, and Alba, followed in Li Yundong¡¯s footsteps all the way to Dongwu City. They knew that the Taoist assembly would be held the next day, so they first found a hotel to have a good sleep at.

    Early before the Taoist assembly began, the three of them left. They walked along the ancient canal of Dongwu City and headed for the New City Bridge pier.

    Along the way, the three constantly snapped photos with their cameras and mobile phones, admiring the beautiful scenery of the thousand-year-old city.

    As she took pictures with her mobile phone, Alba sighed sincerely. "It¡¯s so gorgeous. This city is so wonderful. I hadn¡¯t been expecting there to be such a beautiful city in China."

    John nodded and said appreciatively, "I have been to Tiannan City before. In my opinion, Tiannan City is a developed, modern city. It is making fast economic progress, but it feels no different from the cities back in America. If the citizens within behave like westerners, you can¡¯t tell whether it¡¯s a Chinese city or an American one. But Dongwu is different. This city has a strong oriental style, which makes me feel like I have returned to ancient China."

    Since Kris had been teased by her grandmother when she had returned to Americast time, she had put in a lot of hard work on studying various aspects of China¡¯s culture, history, and customs. She smiled and acted as a temporary tour guide.

    She said with a grin, "Dongwu is a city rich with resources, outstanding people, and stunning locations. In 514 AD, Fu Chai King Wu founded this city here. Since then, this city has been a famous cultural, economic and political hotspot for the country. "

    The three foreigners, with their deep-set eyes and high noses, walked slowly along the willow bank of the moat of Dongwu City. John and Alba were listening carefully to Kris¡¯ introduction to this famous Chinese city.

    Kris had an outstanding appearance and a tall frame. As she walked along the embankment, she spoke with fervor and assurance, attracting the attention of quite a few people. She said in a clear voice, "Dongwu City has always been very prosperous and has been developed since ancient times, so it¡¯s sometimes referred to as paradise on earth. Furthermore, it has always been famous for its beautiful scenery and elegantndscapes and architecture. Everyone admires Jiangnan architecture and recognizes it as the best in the world, and Dongwu¡¯s architecture is the best in Jiangnan."

    Kris pointed at the bridge that spanned over the moat, as well as the arc bridge that could be seen from anywhere along the road. "In the 13th century, Marco Polo came here just because he had seen the characteristics of the river vige in this ancient city, and he praised Dongwu City as the Oriental Venice in The Travels of Marco Polo."

    Alba then said with a smile. "I¡¯ve been to Venice before. It¡¯s beautiful there too. The style there is certainly different from here, but I¡¯d be hard pressed to say which is better."

    The three talked andughed as they strolled a few kilometers down the moat. Eventually, they arrived at the pier of the New City Bridge.

    As soon as they arrived, the three of them saw that the pier was surrounded by various luxurious clubs and entertainment venues and didn¡¯t at all seem like a gathering ce for cultivators.

    Alba looked around and couldn¡¯t help but ask curiously, "Is this really the venue for the Taoist assembly? It¡¯s being held in... a dance bar?"

    John was also confused. He looked left and right, and couldn¡¯t help but ask wonderingly, "Didn¡¯t that guy say the Taoist assembly was held on a cruise shipst time? So where¡¯s the boat now?"

    Kris couldn¡¯t help but smile bitterly. "John, don¡¯t joke around. Look carefully. This is a moat. Where would you find a luxurious cruise ship here? Do you think a tanker like the Titanic can get into such a moat? The Titanic wouldpletely block it, you know?"

    John nced around and suddenly saw a medium-sized cruise ship docked near the pier of the New City Bridge. The cruise ship had two floors. There was arge terrace on the upper floor, which was obviously built for the purpose of tourists enjoying the scenery near the river. Below it was a closed passenger cabin, which could amodate about three or four hundred people.

    John pointed at the cruise ship and asked curiously, "Hey, is that it?"

    Kris and Alba looked in the direction he was pointing, then nodded at the same time. "Could be. We can ask them!"

    The three of them quickly started to move. Just as they were about to pass the pier, they suddenly they saw two people dressed up as tourists approaching them. One was fat and the other was thin, and the two of them looked them up and down and then blocked their way.

    Seeing this, Kris immediately asked in fluent Chinese, "Hello, may I ask if the Taoist assembly is being held here?"

    The two men were stunned, they looked at each other in disbelief and eximed at the same time, "Who are you? How do you know about the Taoist assembly?"

    John quickly leaned over and started to say shamelessly, "We are..."

    Fearing that he might be about to act rashly, Kris quickly stomped on John¡¯s foot with the point of one of her high-heeled shoes, causing him to scrunch up his facial features from the pain.

    Kris then pulled the aggrieved but tearless John behind her and said with a smile, "I¡¯m Phdelphia Daily¡¯s intern reporter, Kris. These two are my colleagues. We heard that today the ancient Taoist assembly is going to be held by the Chinese Taoists. We wanted to interview you, but we don¡¯t know..."

    Before she could finish her exnation, the two men said impatiently, "What is the Taoist assembly? We¡¯ve never heard of such a thing! Go away. It¡¯s not open today. Didn¡¯t you see the sign?"

    With this, he pointed to the sign hanging in the ticket office that read, "Closed for Business".

    Kris was stunned. Just as she was about to say something else, the two men started swinging their arms and chasing them out. At the same time, a luxury Benz stopped by the road near the pier, and several men and women in suits and shoes hopped out.

    As soon as the two men saw these people, they were immediately stunned and greeted them with smiles. They cupped their hands and said humbly, "May I ask which sect of the Tao is here?"

    The leader was a square-faced man with sword-shaped brows. He cupped his hands and said, "I¡¯m Du Fei from the Quanzhen Dragon Sect!"

    The two people who weed the guests smiled and carried on cupping their hands. "It turns out to be monkey-face Zhenren Du. I¡¯m sorry, it¡¯s an honor to meet you!"

    Du Fei introduced the short man next to him and said, "This is my Shidee, Yue Sheng, who is known as the Eng with three eyes!"

    "Ah!" One of the fat men said with a serious look. "It turns out that the Zhen Ren Three-eyed is here! Forgive me!"

    Yue Sheng was not tall, but his arrogance was excessive. He nced at the two of them proudly and snorted. Then put his nose in the air and no longer looked at them.

    The two of them seemed to know about Yue Sheng¡¯s temperament, so they didn¡¯t take any notice and just smiled.

    Du Fei then introduced a woman wearing a smart suit beside him. He smiled and said, "And this is my Shimei, Wei Qing."

    Wei Qing¡¯s face was daubed with light makeup. She smiled sweetly and said, "I¡¯m not a famous cultivator. I¡¯m just here to join in the fun with my Shishiong. I don¡¯t have any special nickname; you can just call me Wei Qing."

    Seeing that she was young, beautiful, optimistic and approachable,pletely contrasting with Yue Sheng¡¯s arrogance, that two peopleughed heartily and said in friendly tones, "No problem, no problem!"

    Wei Qing approached the two of them very familiarly and asked curiously, "Hey, are the other sects here yet?"

    The thinner oneughed and said, "The Yin Yang Sect from Mount Wuhua has arrived, and so have the Qingwei Sect. There are also people from the Donghua Sect, the Donghai sect, the Peni Sect, the Jinshan Sect, the Louguan sect, the Qingshui Sect, and a few others."

    When Yue Sheng heard this, he snorted and sneered in a low voice, "They¡¯re just a bunch of nobodies..."

    The two of them nced at Yue Sheng as secret anger roiled in their hearts, "So, in this world, only your Quanzhen Dragon Sect is arge sect, and you, Yue Sheng, are a famous cultivator. Aren¡¯t the rest worth anything?"

    Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Wei Qing rolled her eyes and tried to calm the situation with a smile. "Oh, so many amazing people are here. It¡¯s so lively! I was thinking we¡¯d be here early! I wonder if Zhenren Li has arrived yet?"

    The two people in charge of weing the guests looked at each other in confusion. "Zhenren Li? Who¡¯s that? Which sect is Zhenren Li from?"

    At this time, Yue Sheng couldn¡¯t help snorting derisively. "Who in the world deserves to be called Zhenren Li?"

    The two weers were inner disciples of the External Alchemy¡¯s Gezao Sect. Their strength was extraordinary, so they had been sent to receive the guests. Otherwise, if they were seen by other sects¡¯ cultivators, they would think that the Gezao Sect¡¯s cultivators were unbearable!

    However, neither of them had expected that even though they had such a Cultivation Quotient, Yue Sheng would not think highly of them. In fact, no cultivator surnamed Li could be influential in his eyes!

    There was no end to his arrogance!

    The most annoying thing was that the both of them were surnamed Li, so this sentence was like a p in the face for them£¡

    The fat man suppressed his anger and said, "I haven¡¯t asked you, Zhenren Yue, which person surnamed Li in this world is qualified to be called Zhenren Li?"

    When Wei Qing saw that the two of them were about to get into an altercation, she quickly cut in with a smile, "Oh, of course it¡¯s Li Yundong. It¡¯s my fault that I didn¡¯t ask clearly. It¡¯s Li Yundong!"

    Upon hearing this, the expressions of the two members of the External Alchemy¡¯s Gezao Sect suddenly changed. The fat one asked seriously, "Is it Li Yundong, the leader of the Fox Zen School from Mount Tianlong?"

    The skinny man asked, "Is it Li Yundong, who made a scene in our Zu Ting on Mount Gezao?"

    Hearing this, Wei Qingined in her heart, "Oh crud, how could I have forgotten that Li Yundong holds a grudge against the Gezao Sect? Why did I just rub it in?"

    Wei Qingughed awkwardly, "Ah, I guess it¡¯s that Li Yundong, ah, haha..."

    The two men snorted and the fat man sneered. "So it turns out that it¡¯s that Zhenren Li. I was wondering who could catch Zhenren Yue¡¯s eye! I heard that Zhenren Yue and Zhenren Li had a fightst time, and Zhenren Yue suffered a little loss. Is that so? No wonder you can¡¯t forget him!"

    The thinner man scoffed as well. "It¡¯s fine if he doesn¡¯te, but if he does, I¡¯ll let him have a taste of the real strength of our External Alchemy. Does he really think that there are no powerful people in our Gezao Sect?"

    Yue Sheng nced at the two of them andughed coldly to himself. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly heard a clear voice ringing out from afar. With a strong Sichuan ent, that manughed heartily and said, "Which one of you is audacious enough to look down upon the Gezao Sect of External Alchemy¡¯s leader? Don¡¯t you know that an outsider, however strong, should always respect the locals?"

    They looked in the direction of the voice and saw three young men in Daopaos walking over slowly. The leader was tall and slender. He was handsome and had an extraordinary temperament. A longsword wrapped in gray cloth was on his back, looking unremarkable.

    The fat man cupped his hands and asked, "May I know who you are?"

    The leading man formed a palm with one hand, bowed, and said with a smile, "I¡¯m Zhang Cunyi from the Qingyang Pce of Chengdu in Sichuan province!"

    When everyone heard this, they were suddenly shocked. They all looked at Zhang Cunyi and thought, "Is that Zhang Cunyi, the future leader of the Qingcheng Sect who said he would win first ce at the Taoist assembly?"

    They looked the man up and down, only to see that he was in good spirits and his eyes were shining. He stood before them, and he was really dignified and had the demeanor of a master from a noble and decent sect. He could be called a first-ss master of the cultivation world.

    But there were many sects in the Taoist assembly, and there were many masters. Zhang Cunyi had dared to boast that he would win first ce because there was no doubt that he was relying on the most powerful magical weapon of the Qingcheng Sect, the Sanhuang Sword!

    Everyone¡¯s eyes finally fell on the item wrapped in gray cloth on Zhang Cunyi¡¯s back. It was the inconspicuous Sanhuang Sword. They thought to themselves, "Is this the famous Sanhuang Sword, known as the best magical item in the world?"

 Chapter 473 The Masters Have Gathered!

    <h4>Chapter 473 The Masters Have Gathered!</h4>

    After the two ushers from the Gezao Sect sized up the Sanhuang Sword Zhang Cunyi was carrying with him, they smiled at the same time, cupping their hands, then said, "It turns out to be the fellow disciples of the Qingcheng Sect. Pleasee in. Pleasee in!"

    Zhang Cunyi also cupped his hands and smiled. He looked at Du Fei and the others. "Who is this?" he asked curiously.

    Without waiting to be introduced, Du Fei smiled and saluted with one hand. "I¡¯m Du Fei from the Quanzhen Dragon Sect!"

    Wei Qing also smiled and saluted. "I am Wei Qing!"

    Zhang Cunyi smiled and returned the salutes. Finally, his eyes fell on Yue Sheng. When their eyes met, his body immediately shook slightly. He subconsciously frowned, narrowed his eyes, and said, "Then this must be Three-eyed Zhen Ren, Yue Sheng!"

    Yue Sheng snorted and sped his hands behind his back, saying calmly, "Indeed!"

    Zhang Cunyi saw that Yue Sheng was arrogant, a person filled with pride. How could he bear to see someone be even more arrogant than him? He snorted and said, "I heard that Zhenren Yue settled a score with Zhenren Li before and almost harmed mortals. I don¡¯t know who won and who lost."

    Yue Sheng frowned and nced at Wei Qing unhappily as if he was annoyed that she had made this matter a hot topic and caused it to spread throughout the Cultivation World.

    When Wei Qing saw Yue Sheng ring at her, she guiltily stuck out her tongue. She was about to say something in his defense, but Zhang Cunyiughed and said, "In fact, victory or defeat is not important. What¡¯s important is that we don¡¯t let ordinary people find out anything about our fighting, and we can¡¯t hurt others. Otherwise, the Shentong of our cultivators¡¯ fights will be in vain."

    With this, Zhang Cunyi smiled at Du Fei, "Zhenren Du, you are the big brother. You need to supervise your Shidees when they practice kung fu. Otherwise, they will harm others and themselves eventually!"

    His words made all the people of the Quanzhen Dragon Sect so livid that they almost lost their tempers right then and there. Yue Sheng even widened his eyes, stared at Zhang Cunyi, and clenched his fists tightly.

    As soon as the chunky usher from the Gezao Sect took in the scene, he immediately tried to smooth things over and said, "Oh, we are all friends here. Even if you have a grievance, let¡¯s board the ship first. How can we be so angry now? Zhenren Du, Zhenren Zhang, Zhenren Yue, pleasee aboard!"

    His skinnypanion also tried to persuade them. "That¡¯s right. Two thousand years ago, we all came from the same roots. Why should we quarrel with each other?"

    Yue Sheng wanted to excel over others. He sneered and said, "Who says we¡¯re the same? Is that appropriate?"

    Zhang Cunyi sneered. "Yes, of course it¡¯s not appropriate for you!"

    Yue Sheng¡¯s eyes widened and he was about to lose control of his temper. Wei Qing saw a few people wearing Daopaos walking over from a distance. She quickly changed the topic and said, "Hey, look, there are some other people over there. Hey, why are they wearing Daopaos?"

    Du Fei couldn¡¯t help but exim, "Yeah, it¡¯s been many years since I¡¯ve seen a fellow dressed in a Daopao attend the Taoist assembly."

    The Taoist assembly had been held for more than 1,300 years, ever since Emperor Xuanzong had ruled in the Tang period. In the beginning, it had been a grand gathering of the world¡¯s Taoist cultivators. Non-Taoist sects could not participate. Naturally, all of the people who participated were Taoists in Daopao.

    However, with the passing of the years, in order to adapt to the development of the new dynasty and re-enter the Taoist assembly, many cultivators had chosen to wear casual clothes so as to avoid being noticed by the mortal world and avoid taboos of the government. Gradually, this had be a tacit rule amongst the major sects of the Taoist assembly.

    But today, more than a dozen Taoist cultivators dressed in Daopao had suddenlye all the way here. How could they not be surprised by the sight?

    Even Zhang Cunyi and Yue Sheng, who had been ring at each other since the beginning, couldn¡¯t help but be stunned and marveled in their hearts.

    But when these people approached and they got a closer look, they found that the leader of the group had a dignified appearance with a cinnabar mole between her brows. She was the leader of the Zhengyi Sect, Zhang Tianshi¡¯s sister, Zhang Ling. They then knew that this group of people wearing Daopaos were actually fellow disciples from the Zhengyi Sect!

    Although the Gezao Sect and the Zhengyi Sect were involved in many shady affairs behind closed doors, they were still very noble on the surface. The two Taoist ushers immediately went up to greet them. The fatter one saluted with one hand and said, "It turns out that the Zhengyi Sect¡¯s fellow members havee. Pleasee inside, pleasee inside!"

    A dozen people followed Zhang Ling, and the one who followed the most closely was her disciple, Zou Ping. Next to Zou Ping was the imposing Wang Lingfei and a well-behaved little girl who was also dressed in a Daopao. She was the one who had monitored Li Yundong¡¯s younger sister with Zhang Ling before.

    Zhang Ling didn¡¯t even look at the two of them, nor did she nce at the other people from the Quanzhen Dragon Sect and the Qingcheng Sect, simply raising her head and walking inside. Since the leader was adopting such a manner, the others naturally followed. Only the younger sister looked at Du Fei, Yue Sheng, Zhang Cunyi and the others curiously. Then, she stuck out her tongue and quickly followed them.

    The behavior of the Zhengyi Sect made them, who had originally wanted to patronize the people of the Zhengyi Sect, feel embarrassed. The people of the Gezao Sect were angry in their hearts and grumbled, "Oh, I thought Yue Sheng was arrogant enough, but I hadn¡¯t expected that Zhang Cunyi of the Sichuan Chengdu would be even more arrogant than Yue Sheng! Now it seems that the most arrogant person is yet toe! The Zhengyi Sect simply ignores everyone! Are they so arrogant just because they can rely on their own sect?"

    Yue Sheng and Zhang Cunyi also stared at the Taoist priests of the Zhengyi Sect. Just as they were about to start sneering and mocking them, another Taoist priest in a Daopao suddenly followed up. Although the Taoist priest was in a hurry, he had a handsome face and his eyes were as bright as stars. At a nce, one could tell that he was a powerful young master.

    They took a closer look and saw that his Daopao was iid with golden lines, and there was a ck-and-white Eight Trigrams pattern on his chest.

    Du Fei looked over and found that the man was none other than Zhang Tianhe, Yu Yang Zhenren, whom he had met once on Mount Tianlong!

    "Hmm? Zhang Tianhe? Has he recovered from his injuries?" Du Fei was slightly stunned. He took the initiative to step forward and make a polite salute. "Zhenren Zhang, how have you been?"

    Zhang Tianhe stopped with a smile and said, "It¡¯s you, Zhenren Du. Nice to meet you!"

    Du Fei said with a smile, "Why are you walking behind them?"

    Zhang Cunyi, who was standing to one side, was very unhappy after being treated coldly by Zhang Ling and others. At this time, he decided to take out his anger on Zhang Tianhe. He sneered and said, "Is it because you haven¡¯t recovered from your injury after the battle at Mount Tianlong?"

    Zhang Tianhe regarded the battle at Mount Tianlong as a great blot on his honor. When he heard Zhang Cunyi mention it, his face changed slightly. He made a palm salute with one hand and asked, "May I ask who you are?"

    Zhang Cunyi snorted and said, "Zhang Cunyi! I¡¯m from Qingyang Pce, Cheng Du!"

    Zhang Tianhe shed a cold smile and said sarcastically, "It¡¯s Zhang Cunyi who was sent down the mountain by Li Yundong. So sorry I didn¡¯t recognize you!"

    Zhang Cunyi had fought with Li Yundong in private and suffered a loss. He had always thought that this had been kept under wraps and no one knew about it. He hadn¡¯t expected Zhang Tianhe to speak out like this.

    Zhang Cunyi¡¯s face changed, and he was shocked in his heart. "How does he know?! Could it be that Li Yundong has been running his mouth about it everywhere? Humph, it must be so! This despicable man, I must teach him a lesson today!"

    As the saying goes, people fight throughout their lives, and Buddhas fight for the thirty minutes required to burn a stick of incense. Although cultivators needed to be ascetic and indifferent to fame and wealth, their reputation for victory and defeat was more important than anything else.

    And this was the beginning of the Taoist assembly. If he admitted to it, wouldn¡¯t that mean he was inferior to Li Yundong? How could Zhang Cunyi, who certainly thought highly of himself, do something like encourage others and ruin his own prestige?

    Zhang Cunyi sneered. "You¡¯re spouting nonsense! I really don¡¯t know what you¡¯re on about!"

    Yue Sheng, who had been satirized by Zhang Cunyi before, took the opportunity to add insult to injury and sneered. "If you don¡¯t want others to find out, don¡¯t do it in the first ce! Well, Zhang Cunyi, haven¡¯t you read any books? Oh, I really don¡¯t know how your father can even let youe out in good conscience. Isn¡¯t he afraid that you will make a fool of yourself?"

    Zhang Cunyi suddenly became furious and red at Yue Sheng wide-eyed. Yue Sheng did not show weakness, and his eyes were as sharp as knives. Zhang Tianhe, who was beside them, saw them ring at each other like tigers about to strike, and heughed amusedly. "Please do as you wish, I¡¯m leaving now!"

    Zhang Cunyi and Yue Sheng immediately turned their heads and said in unison, "Don¡¯t go!"

    Zhang Tianhe turned his head and grinned grimly. "What, do you want me to stay?"

    "I¡¯m just trying to see how powerful you are, Yu Yang Zhenren!" Zhang Cunyi sneered.

    The Taoists of Gezao Sect, Du Fei and the others were all dumbfounded. The fatter Taoist said in a low voice, "Shishiong, what should we do? It seems that the situation is getting out of control!"

    The thinner Taoist whispered back, "Forget it, let¡¯s see how this dogfight unfolds!"

    Meanwhile, when Wei Qing of the Quanzhen Dragon Sect saw that they were about to fight, she persuaded them, "Well, zip it. All of you have suffered losses from Li Yundong. As the saying goes, there is no grievance without a perpetrator. When Li Yundongester, it won¡¯t be toote for you to fight!"

    Hearing this, Zhang Cunyi, Yue Sheng, and Zhang Tianhe were stunned at the same time. Suddenly, they all felt the same hatred. Zhang Cunyi said sneeringly, "Will this Li Yundong guy even dare toe?"

    Yue Sheng also said coldly, "If he does, I will make him thoroughly convinced this time."

    Zhang Tianhe was silent, but a sharp light shed in his eyes. Since he had been defeated by Li Yundong¡¯s Heavenly Thunderst time, he had gone back to cultivate in seclusion. His cultivation kung fu was not like it had once been. He had been waiting for the day when he could wash away his disgrace.

    Kris, John, and Alba, who were watching all of this from a distance, also stared at the Taoists in different outfits. Alba couldn¡¯t help but ask, "Kris, what¡¯s going on? Who are these people wearing long robes? Are they monks?"

    Kris didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. "Don¡¯t joke around. They¡¯re Taoists, cultivators of Taoism. Buddhismes from India, while Taoism is one of the local religions of China."

    Only now did Alba understand. "Oh, so that¡¯s how it is! But why are some of them dressed like that, while others are dressed differently?"

    John shrugged and said, "This is a free country... at least, you can wear whatever clothes you want, right?"

    Alba rolled her eyes at him. "Thank you for your exnation. I¡¯m so satisfied with it! Then, Mr. Liberalism, can you tell me how we can enter and watch this so-called Taoist assembly? Could it be that we¡¯ll be watching it from the shoreter?"

    John said with a bitter smile, "I can¡¯t see it from the shore. You know, this ship is going to move!"

    Alba turned her head to look at Kris. "Kris, hurry up ande up with some good idea!"

    Kris spread her hands helplessly. "What can I do? We¡¯re not Taoists!"

    Alba couldn¡¯t help but shout, "We came all the way from the United States to be here. Could it be that we¡¯re really going to get stuck now?"

    The three foreigners were staring at each other, all at a loss. Suddenly, Kris heard a familiar voice say, "Yundong, is it that ship? Why is the Taoist assembly being held here? It¡¯s so strange!"

    Kris turned her head to look, only to see a beautiful and lovely girl pressing herself against a tall, imposing man. She was speaking with a charming smile. Even though they were far away, Kris could still recognize her at a nce. This beautiful girl was none other than Su Chan, and the man next to her was Li Yundong himself!

    Even though Kris came from arge family and had undergone a strict education, she couldn¡¯t resist tugging at John¡¯s arm in excitement. "John, look, who it is!"

    At first, John didn¡¯t have the energy to take a look, but when he did, his eyes suddenly widened and he jumped with excitement. Heughed and said, "It¡¯s my master. My master is here!"

    Alba blinked. "Master? Who? Could it be the Li Yundong guy you¡¯ve been talking about? Is that b*stard here? Where? I¡¯m going to scold him to death!"

    John shouted excitedly into the distance, causing many passers-by to look at him. Du Fei and the others also looked at the foreigner, and then he had a wry smile. He couldn¡¯t help but re at his younger sister. "Speak of the devil. Here hees! Wei Qing, Wei Qing, you really are a jinx!"

    Wei Qing acted as if she didn¡¯t see Du Fei. She also saw Li Yundong at a nce and excitedly shouted, "Look, Zhenren Li is here!"

    Zhang Cunyi, Yue Sheng, and Zhang Tianhe immediately looked at Li Yundong at the same time. There was a strong st of Zhen Qi which enveloped them, like Mars hitting the earth. The wind was strong, the murderous aura was fierce, and the killing intent was raging. It seemed that they would break into a fight in the next second.

 Chapter 474 The Refined Weapon of the Country!

    <h4>Chapter 474 The Refined Weapon of the Country!</h4>

    Seeing that the Taoist assembly had not yet begun, they were about to fight. The two Taoist ushers from the Gezao Sect were so anxious that they were covered in a fine sheen of sweat. They tried to persuade them, but failed. This is what¡¯s called solving one problem only to find another cropping up.

    Furthermore, Wei Qing, a guy whose desire was to see the world plunged into chaos, stirred up ill intent from time to time. Especially when she saw Li Yundong, her eyes shone, and her excited look seemed to say, ¡°Fight, fight, hurry up! Let me see who is the most powerful!¡±

    Du Fei had been involved in the mortal world for a long time for the sake of cultivation. As the big Shixiong of the Quanzhen Dragon Sect, he was quite prudent. Feeling a headacheing on, he thought, ¡°Isn¡¯t this younger sister too weird? Why is she sometimes stopping him from fighting and sometimes causing trouble?¡±

    The fatter Taoist usher said with a wry smile, ¡°Dear Zhenren, today is a special day in our cultivation world which onlyes one time every four years. There is nothing serious about fighting here, but it is a big deal to make the officials unhappy. Even if you win, you¡¯ll get into trouble. What¡¯d be glorious about that?¡±

    The thinner Taoist usher also hurriedly advised, ¡°If you have any grievances, can¡¯t you settle them at the Taoist assemblyter?¡±

    Zhang Tianhe withdrew his gaze, then smiled and said, ¡°The two Tao brothers are right. Let¡¯s see which of us is more powerful at the Taoist assemblyter!¡±

    After that, he walked toward the docked cruise ship.

    Zhang Cunyi and Yue Sheng looked at each other and also boarded the ship.

    Only Du Fei and Wei Qing had a good rtionship with Li Yundong, so they stayed and watched him approach.

    Wei Qing watched him approach surrounded by a gaggle of little foxes from the Fox Zen School. Beside him stood Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, Su Chan, and others like stars surrounding the moon. She couldn¡¯t help saying with augh, ¡°It¡¯s said that Zhenren Li is a romantic saint. Now it seems that it¡¯s true. He is indeed famous, but he is also modest, calm, funny, humorous, and handsome, and his cultivation of kung fu is extremely good. No wonder so many people like him.¡±

    Women look at men from one angle, and men look at men from another, so Du Fei paid attention to Li Yundong¡¯s bearing and spirit.

    It had been more than a month since they hadst bidden farewell. Li Yundong had appeared at this time having obviously subdued the burning thumb pot. Du Fei knew how difficult it was to subdue, so he had held onto it and not used it for a long time.

    Du Fei carefully looked at Li Yundong. He couldn¡¯t help but ask Wei Qing, ¡°Younger sister, do you think there¡¯s anything different about Li Yundong?¡±

    Wei Qing looked Li Yundong up and down and nodded with a smile. ¡°Yes!¡±

    Du Fei couldn¡¯t help but smile back as he nodded, ¡°Yeah, I thought so. What do you think is different?¡±

    Wei Qing smiled and said, ¡°He has be even more handsome and more mature!¡±

    Du Fei was so angry that he couldn¡¯t helpughing. ¡°Why do you only pay attention to that kind of thing?¡±

    Wei Qing looked at him in confusion. ¡°Well, what should I pay attention to?¡±

    Du Fei shook his head and said helplessly, ¡°Master kindly let you get involved in the mortal world for cultivation, but you just read fashion magazines all day long. Today you like one idol, tomorrow you like another. What¡¯s the use of just paying attention to people¡¯s appearances? We, cultivators, practice internally, not externally!¡±

    Wei Qing retorted defiantly, ¡°I¡¯ve been paying attention to his inner qualities too, okay?¡±

    Du Fei red at her. ¡°How dare you talk back! What have you been paying attention to, hm?¡±

    Wei Qing red back without showing weakness. ¡°I think he has matured. Isn¡¯t it inside that he has matured?¡±

    Du Fei was so angry that he chuckled bitterly. Just as he was about to teach his younger sister a lesson, he saw that Li Yundong and others had alreadye to the front.

    Li Yundong smiled and made an obeisance by cupping his hands. ¡°Zhenren Du, we meet again!¡±

    Du Fei had no choice but to indicate that he would let Wei Qing off for the time being, shooting her a nce. He turned his face,ughed, and cupped his hands. ¡°Zhenren Li, I haven¡¯t seen you for a few weeks. Your cultivation has improved a lot! When you came over just now, I could see that you already had the temperament of a grandmaster. Congrattions!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled modestly and said, ¡°Thank you for your help, Zhenren Du!¡±

    Du Feiughed. ¡°Nonsense, we are fellow Taoists, there¡¯s no need to be so polite!¡±

    Li Yundong and Du Fei were chatting when a sudden cry came from not far away. A foreign man with a strange ent shouted, ¡°Master, master!¡±

    Li Yundong was slightly stunned when he heard the voice. He felt like it was a little familiar, but he couldn¡¯t remember who the man was at that moment. However, when he turned his head and looked at him, he was truly shocked.

    Li Yundong saw John, Kris, and a tall, beautiful foreign girl with South American charm running over. He asked curiously, ¡°John? Kris? Why are you here? Is there an exchange student program running again this year?¡±

    John looked excited, and he said loudly in stilted Chinese, ¡°Master, you said you¡¯d take me on as your student as soon as I became able to Chinese!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly, thinking to himself, ¡°Oh, no. I just said it casually. This guy is stubborn. Seems like he took me seriously!¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t reply. He turned his head and looked at Kris, asking, ¡°Then why are you here?¡±

    Kris flicked her curly golden hair,ughed, and said in fluent Chinese, ¡°I¡¯m also here to have you be my master!¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head and said with a smile, ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell youst time that I only take males as my disciples?¡±

    Kris seemed to have been expecting him to say this. She pointed at John and said, ¡°Then you should ept him, because you promised him that as long as he could speak Chinese, you would ept him as your disciple! There¡¯s a Chinese saying that one word is as heavy as nine sacred tripods. For the sake of your promise, we came all the way from the far-off United States. You should keep your word!¡±

    John was also very cooperative, puffing out his chest and belly like a boy soldier waiting to be inspected by the chief. His face was filled with tension and excitement. From time to time, he nced at Li Yundong. His hands, which were by his sides, kept sweating, so he grabbed at his trousers to wipe them.

    Li Yundong smiled wryly. He hadn¡¯t expected Kris to trap him so tightly that he wouldn¡¯t be able to resist at all. He sighed and said, ¡°Kris, if you guys want to learn basic kung fu, I can teach you. No problem...¡±

    John quickly shouted, ¡°No, master, I want to learn your Kryptonian kung fu. This kind of kung fu can send people flying through the air and make them dodge bullets! If I wanted to learn basic kung fu, I could study it in the United States. Why would I have toe here?¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head. ¡°No, John...¡±

    John was so anxious that he asked in English again, ¡°God, why can¡¯t I? Aren¡¯t I speaking Chinese now?¡±

    To one side, Alba had been listening to them continuously speaking Chinese, and she was confused. Now, she was finally hearing something she could understand. She immediately said to Li Yundong, ¡°Hey, are you still living in the old times of thest century? Why are you so full of bad thoughts at such a young age? Come on, it¡¯s the twenty-first century! Look around you. Yourpatriots are so open. They are no different from the USA in many aspects. Why are you so old-fashioned? Why can¡¯t John be your disciple? Why can¡¯t Kris be your disciple? Is it just because she¡¯s a woman? What¡¯s wrong with women? What can¡¯t a woman do?¡±

    Alba spoke hurriedly and quickly, like a light machine gun, making a lot of cracking sounds. Li Yundong was stunned. After a while, he turned his head and looked at Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin. ¡°Does anyone understand what she said?¡±

    Zhou Qin¡¯s English was good, but after all, there was a difference between her and a native American English speaker. Alba spoke so fast that even an American with slow reactions would not have been able topletely understand it. So Zhou Qin just smiled bitterly and said, ¡°I only understood one or two sentences...¡±

    Zi Yuan shook her head andughed as well. ¡°I understood even less!¡±

    Su Chan blinked her eyes and said, ¡°Well, she¡¯s just a barbarian. Why should we care about her?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and tapped Su Chan¡¯s nose. ¡°You¡¯re even more xenophobic than I am!¡±

    ¡°How about letting me trante?¡± Kris said.

    Before Li Yundong could speak, he saw Wei Qing covering her mouth and giggling. Li Yundong turned around and smiled at her. ¡°Zhenren Wei, do you understand?¡±

    Wei Qing quickly waved her hand. ¡°You don¡¯t need to call me Zhenren. I¡¯m not worthy. I understand a little bit of English. If it¡¯s okay, I¡¯ll trante it for you.¡±

    Li Yundong smiled. ¡°Sure. Please trante it quickly.¡±

    Wei Qing tranted Alba¡¯s words with a smile and Li Yundong listened to her very carefully. After listening, he said to Wei Qing, ¡°I also have a few things to say. Please trante it back to English for me.¡±

    Kris said indignantly, ¡°Hey, why won¡¯t you let me do it?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Kris, I know you have a good understanding of Chinese culture, but the culture you understand is only rtively simple stuff for Americans. You are far from truly understanding real Chinese culture! There are so many things that mean your trantion may not be as urate as Zhenren Wei¡¯s!¡±

    Wei Qing smiled and grimaced at Kris, which made her turn her head away in anger.

    Li Yundong said politely to Alba, ¡°Beautiful Americandy, I¡¯m very grateful for your kind reminder. But if you had read our Taoist Lao Tzu¡¯s Tao Te Ching, then you would know this sentence: ¡®A fish cannot escape from the abyss, the sharp weapon of a country cannot be revealed to humans.¡¯ What does this mean? It means that the most important thing in a country must never be shown to outsiders! Tell me, if I wanted to read your country¡¯s ssified information, would the people in your country show it to me?¡±

    Wei Qing looked at Li Yundong with admiration and secretly gave Li Yundong a thumbs-up. She whispered with a smile, ¡°Well said!¡±

    Wei Qing smiled and tranted Li Yundong¡¯s words, then said to John with sympathy, ¡°Give it up! Hurry back to the United States. If you are a true Taoist, we appreciate it. However, if you want to learn our cultivation skills, I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s impossible!¡±

    Li Yundong alsoughed then. ¡°It¡¯s not impossible,¡± he said.

    Wei Qing and Du Fei were both stunned, and Du Fei blurted, ¡°No, Zhenren Li. Over the past 2000 years in the Cultivation World, no one has ever dared to ept a foreigner as a disciple. If you ept them, you will be the Cultivation World¡¯s target!¡±

    Li Yundong waved his hand with a smile and said disapprovingly, ¡°Zhenren Du, there is something wrong with your statement. In my opinion, the master of the Gezao Sect, Wan Zhenyuan, is a half-blood!¡±

    The fatter Taoist usher, who had been silent all this time, responded unhappily, ¡°Zhenren Li, our master is from Xinjiang, so he just looks like a foreigner.¡±

    Li Yundongughed. ¡°That¡¯s right. People from Xinjiang are also Chinese, but what about hundreds, or even thousands of years ago? Before Xinjiang became part of the history of our Chinese territory, weren¡¯t they the so-called barbarians of Yidi?¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s question stunned everyone, and they all fell into deep thought.

    Li Yundong said again, ¡°Besides, China always calls itself the Central Kingdom. For thousands of years, countless foreign people who are called barbarians of Yidi have invaded the Central ins and been assimted, bing part of the Chinese nation. In the end, we all admit that they are part of China. What does this mean? It means that as long as you can speak Chinese, learn Chinese culture, believe our Chinese faith, and have Chinese nationality, you will be part of the Chinese people. At that point, I can teach you cultivation skills!¡±

    Du Fei was fascinated by his words, especially when he heard the words ¡®if you have Chinese nationality¡¯. He couldn¡¯t help cheering in his heart and he thought, ¡°Zhenren Li is really cunning. He is too embarrassed to reject them right to their faces, so he¡¯s actually given such a problem to these foreigners!

    ¡°Will these foreigners really be willing to change their nationality for the sake of cultivation?¡±

 Chapter 475 Making Trouble, We Must Make Trouble!

    <h4>Chapter 475 Making Trouble, We Must Make Trouble!</h4>

    For the other cultivators, it was not difficult to speak Chinese, learn about Chinese culture, or believe in the Chinese faith. But if one had to change their nationality, it was another issue altogether!

    If Kris, John, and Alba wanted to learn cultivation, then they had to first switch nationality from American to Chinese!

    Let alone whether they were willing or not, even if they were, if other sects wanted to use it as an excuse to attack Li Yundong, it would not be an easy start.

    Du Fei secretly gave Li Yundong a thumbs-up and praised in his heart, ¡°I did not read Li Yundong wrong. He has high cultivation even at such a young age, not to mention that he is highly intelligent. He¡¯s able to solve such a big problem in the blink of an eye. Amazing, what a good method!¡±

    Wei Qing also looked at Li Yundong with admiration as she tranted. Once she was done, John stood frozen to the spot, and he was dumbfounded as if he had lost his soul.

    John, who thought very simply, had believed that as long as he showed up, Li Yundong would ept him as an apprentice, just like in the movies, and then he would start on a magical journey.

    But what he hadn¡¯t expected was that Li Yundong¡¯s skill was the most important treasure in China and couldn¡¯t be shared easily. He couldn¡¯t ept apprentices rashly.

    John¡¯s face was ashen. He stood rooted to the spot as if he had just lost his parents. Kris also stared at Li Yundong incredulously. She said in shock, ¡°You actually want us to change our nationalities?! You, you¡¯re forcing us to do what we cannot do. You¡¯ve gone too far!¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head as usual. ¡°Kris, you¡¯re the one forcing others. You can¡¯t understand what you really want to learn at all. It¡¯s definitely not some random kung fu skills like you¡¯ve seen in movies and TV shows. This kind of kung fu surpasses life and death, transcends the heavens and the earth. If you can¡¯t do the four things I asked, I definitely won¡¯t take you as my disciples!¡±

    Kris looked at Li Yundong¡¯s resolute expression. She couldn¡¯t resist shouting, ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you make it clear at the beginning?¡±

    Li Yundong sighed and smiled bitterly. ¡°I thought you would forget all of this when you went back. It¡¯s my fault. I apologize to you. I hadn¡¯t expected you guys toe back!¡±

    Kris felt as if she had been humiliated. Her face flushed red immediately, and her eyes kept darting about in their sockets.

    Seeing this, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help sighing in his heart. He shook his head and said to Su Chan, who was being very obedient and keeping silent, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    The little foxes nced at Kris and the others gloatingly, then sauntered past them one after another.

    Zhou Qin nced at Kris. In her heart, she felt a little sympathy for this girl who had traveled thousands of miles to China. The girl¡¯s stubbornness and perseverance reminded her of herself. She purposely wentst, then said to Kris, ¡°We Chinese have a saying, ¡®Good things are a long timeing¡¯. Also, if you¡¯ve seen The Journey to the West, you should know that Sun Wukong and Xuanzang, after going through eighty-one tribtions, finally obtained the Sutra. If you really want to learn kung fu, then don¡¯t give up in the face of these difficulties. Take these trials as your tests. Only true hardship will help you stand out!¡±

    After that, she sighed softly and followed Li Yundong onto the ship.

    However, although Kris heard Zhou Qin¡¯s words, she had no way to understand her at this moment. Beside her, John lowered his head dejectedly, muttering repeatedly, ¡°What should I do? What should I do? Master won¡¯t ept me!¡±

    After hearing Wei Qing¡¯s trantion, Alba shouted angrily, ¡°Damn it, damn it! How can there a man socking in gentlemanly demeanor! Are all Chinese men such chauvinist pigs? He is a chauvinist, a detestable authoritarian totalitarianism supporter! There is no reason in the world that people should change their nationality to be epted as apprentices!¡±

    Alba cursed loudly for a while, then suddenly shouted angrily at Kris, ¡°Kris, It was not easy for us toe to China, it can¡¯t all be in vain! Humph, if he doesn¡¯t ept you as his disciple, then I will ruin their Taoist assembly!¡±

    Hearing this, John started and said, ¡°Alba, don¡¯t do anything stupid!¡±

    Alba retorted angrily, ¡°Bullsh*t, what stupid thing would I do! What you¡¯ve done is the stupidest thing ever. You flew from the United States to China like a fool to be taught a lesson. For God¡¯s sake, is there anything more stupid than that?¡±

    ¡°Bullsh*t,¡± John spat. ¡°The stupidest thing in the world is that you were f*cking dumped by Jack, and then f*cking ran out here with us!¡±

    Pulsing with rage and shame, Alba¡¯s long, shapely eyebrows shot up in anger. ¡°What did you just say?!¡±

    Next to them, Kris finally couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. She said angrily, ¡°All of you, shut up!¡±

    Alba and John turned their heads at the same time to look at Kris. The two of them frowned and red furiously.

    Kris red right back at the two of them, not showing any sign of weakness, then pointed to the side of the road and said, ¡°Do you want these Chinese tough at us?¡±

    Alba sneered and said, ¡°Chinese? Can you be Chinese just to be able to cultivate?¡±

    Kris said angrily, ¡°Just shut it, Alba!¡±

    Alba snorted and turned her head away. She looked at the people who were lining the side of the road and pointing at them. Suddenly, an idea urred to her. Sheughed loudly and said, ¡°I know how to spice things up a bit!¡±

    With that, she pointed at Kris. ¡°You¡¯d better not get in my way, or I¡¯ll turn against you!¡±

    Kris looked at Alba, her face filled with determination, then put a palm to her forehead and shook her head. ¡°Do whatever you want. Just leave me alone for a while.¡±

    Alba snorted coldly. She ran to the roadside call station, threw a one yuan coin in, and dialed a number. When she put down the phone and proudly walked back over, Kris couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Alba, who did you call? ¡±

    Alba couldn¡¯t help butugh out loud. ¡°The police!¡±

    Kris and John were dumbfounded as they gaped at Alba. ¡°Wh-What?¡± they stuttered. ¡°You called the police?¡±

    Albaughed heartily. ¡°They won¡¯t allow us to participate in the Taoist assembly, so I won¡¯t let them seed either! I just called the police station and told them that some people were holding an illegal gathering!¡±

    Thoroughly shocked, Kris eximed, ¡°Alba, are you crazy? Don¡¯t you know that lying to the police is illegal? Do you want to be deported?¡±

    Albaughed. ¡°Sure, they can repatriate me so I can save money on a return ticket!¡±

    ¡°Oh please, they¡¯ll send you to some remote hellhole to dig sand. When you earn enough money for flight tickets, then they¡¯ll send you home! Considering the low wages in China, you¡¯ll die of old age before you earn back the flight money!¡± John said bitingly.

    The United States media was always demonizing China¡¯s totalitarian rule. When John said that, Alba felt nervous and a little scared. She stared at him and said, ¡°No way! Could they really?¡±

    John decided to add fuel to the fire. ¡°Think about it. You, such a young, beautiful, sexy, and lovely girl, living on a construction site in the wilderness. There are only barbarian and vulgar men there. What kind of scary, inhuman torture might you suffer every night?¡±

    Alba¡¯s face changed a little as she listened to his menacing description. ¡°John, don¡¯t scare me!¡± she stammered.

    Kris could see that Alba was really scared, so she red at John and said consolingly, ¡°Alba, did you use English on the phone just now?¡±

    Alba nodded, then pointed to her tongue. ¡°Of course, am I like one of you flexible-tongued weirdoes who can speak Chinese?¡±

    Johnughed out loud. ¡°You idiot, if you call the police in English, you think they¡¯ll understand?¡±

    Alba patted her chest, slightly relieved. ¡°It¡¯s for the best if they don¡¯t!¡±

    Kris suddenly thought of something. ¡°It seems that China¡¯s current emergency system makes recordings?¡±

    Alba was nervous again. ¡°What? Then let¡¯s get out of here quickly?¡±

    Kris nced at Alba with both anger and amusement. She thought for a moment before saying, ¡°Let¡¯s go somewhere farther off and wait. We¡¯ll take a look at the situation before deciding on the next step.¡±

    John and Alba looked at each other and nodded at the same time. Then, they fled the scene as fast as they could, like guilty thieves.

    Just as Kris and the others began anxiously looking at the white ship from a far, Li Yundong and the others were preparing to board.

    Before boarding the ship from the dock, Li Yundong saw a yellow-faced man with a yellow beard standing at the entrance of the deck. This man saw Li Yundong at first, and then he noticed the many beautiful women behind him. He was slightly stunned and secretly frowned to himself, then called in a low voice, ¡°Please report to the sect and show your golden invitation!¡±

    Zi Yuan said to Li Yundong in a low voice, ¡°This is Sun Baitian, the Shibo of Wan Zhenyuan, the leader of the Gezao Sect. He is a great reclusive cultivator, whose cultivation of kung fu is definitely no less impressive than that of Zhang Ling of the Zhengyi School. I hadn¡¯t expected that he woulde out today and act as an usher! It seems that the Gezao Sect has really attached great importance to the Taoist assembly today!¡±

    Li Yundong nodded slightly. He leaned to one side and said to Du Fei, who came in with him, with a smile, ¡°Zhenren Du, please go first!¡±

    Du Fei was slightly stunned but he didn¡¯t think too much about it. He cupped his hands respectfully and smiled at Li Yundong. Then, he quickly walked over to the front and handed over a golden invitation.

    Sun Baitian opened it to take a look, and a warm smile soon appeared on his face. ¡°So it¡¯s Zhenren Du of the Quanzhen Dragon Sect,¡± he said. ¡°Pleasee in!¡± He took a deep breath and announced in a loud voice, ¡°Zhenren Du of Quanzhen Dragon Sect and Zhenren Wei have arrived!¡±

    At this time, there were already more than a dozen cultivators from more than a dozen sects aboard the ship, totaling about two or three hundred people. They were all chatting with each other, but when they heard a cry outside, they immediately quieted down and looked at the door.

    As the First Shixiong of Quanzhen Dragon Sect, although Du Fei¡¯s cultivation of kung fu was not top-notch, he was straightforward and held economic power in the sect, so he had a high status in the cultivation world. When he arrived, everyone turned to look at him. Some of those who had never seen Du Fei wanted to see what the world-famous ¡°monkey-face¡± looked like.

    They looked over and saw a tall, beautiful girl striding in first. When the girl saw that everyone was looking at her, her face turned red and she turned her eyes away. Then she saw Yue Sheng and the others from the Quanzhen Dragon Sect, and she quickly ran to sit down beside them.

    Du Fei was the only one who did not hurry to take his seat after entering the room. Instead, he smiled and cupped his hands towards the crowd.

    The crowd could see that Du Fei was still being neither humble nor arrogant on such an asion. His smile was calm and his bearing was extraordinary. They all secretly praised him in their hearts, thinking, ¡±As the big Shixiong of Quanzhen Dragon Sect, his bearing is indeed incredible!¡±

    After seeing Du Fei enter, Li Yundong smiled at Zi Yuan and said, ¡°You go in first.¡±

    Zi Yuan asked curiously, ¡°Do you want to take part in the grand finale?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°I want to wait for them to get tired of looking at people. Then, when I re-enter, they won¡¯t be looking at me anymore.¡±

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, ¡°You are so powerful now, are you really still afraid of people watching you?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled. ¡°The stronger a cultivator is, the more afraid he is of being seen. Otherwise, why would those great masters have to hide? Gotta keep a low profile!¡±

    Ruan Hongling giggled. ¡°It¡¯s useless. A man like you will attract attention wherever he goes!¡±

    Li Yundongughed, and Zi Yuan shook her head with a quiet smile. Then, she handed over the golden invitation with Ruan Hongling.

    Sun Baitian opened it up and looked at it. He nced at Ziyuan, quite moved, and said, ¡°So it turns out that this is Wang Yuanshan¡¯s disciple! Extraordinary. Pleasee in!¡±

    After that, he announced loudly, ¡°Zhenren Zi Yuan and Zhenren Ruan Hongling, the disciples of Wang Yuanshan from the Zhengyi School of the Linggong Sect have arrived!¡±

    When the cultivators in the ship heard this, they began whispering to each other. ¡°Could it be Zi Yuan, the famed beauty?¡±

    ¡°Could it be Zi Yuan, the top master of the younger generation?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s have a look, this is definitely worth our attention!¡±

    Many of the cultivators of these sects were above the cares of the mortal world. They only got involved in the mortal world once every few years at the Taoist assembly, so they had heard Zi Yuan¡¯s name but had not seen her appearance. At this moment, some of the young men who were curious stood up to take a look at her.

    At this time, Ruan Hongling stepped onto the ship. This woman was extremely beautiful, and her deep, dark eyes were very impressive. They couldn¡¯t help but nod and say appreciatively, ¡°Yes, she is truly beautiful!¡±

    But then, another woman in a white dress came in. She seemed to be shrouded in a thinyer of mist, like smoke rolling over cold water and moonlight flowing down over sand. Everyone present held their breath for a moment, not daring to even inhale.

    At this time, an idea came to everyone¡¯s mind, ¡±Ah, this must be Zi Yuan! How could there be another woman so ethereal in this world?¡±

    Zi Yuan had long been ustomed to the stares of the crowds. She walked over to a corner with a cold expression. When she sat down with Ruan Hongling, there were still many unrestrained young cultivators craning their necks to peek at her.

    Outside, Li Yundong saw that Zi Yuan had entered, and he calmed down a little. He turned his head and told Su Chan and the little foxes, ¡°Don¡¯t make any troubleter. If you do, I won¡¯t take you out again!¡±

    Su Chan blinked slowly and covered her mouth with her hands. She said in a muffled voice, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t say anything even you beat me to death!¡±

    The little foxes all imitated her. ¡°We won¡¯t say anything even if you mangle us!¡±

    Li Yundong was unable to stifle augh despite himself. He walked over to Sun Baitian and handed over his invitation.

    Sun Baitian seemed to be rather disgusted by Li Yundong being surrounded by so many beautiful women. He secretly sneered and casually took the golden invitation. Suddenly, he was stunned, raised his head and asked, ¡°Are you Li Yundong, the leader of the Fox Zen School?¡±

    Li Yundong nodded with a smile. ¡°That¡¯s me!¡±

    Sun Baitian opened his eyes wide and sized up Li Yundong carefully for a while. Then, he asked, ¡°Are you the same Li Yundong that caused trouble in Mount Gezao Zu Ting?¡±

    As they say, good news never goes beyond the gate, but bad news spreads far and wide!

    Li Yundong smiled helplessly and said, ¡°Yep, that was me.¡±

    Sun Baitianughed furiously. ¡°I was afraid that you wouldn¡¯te today. I wasn¡¯t expecting you to turn up right on our doorstep. Good, good, good!¡±

    After that, Sun Baitian announced again in a clear voice, ¡°Li Yundong, the leader of Fox Zen School, has arrived with his disciples!¡±

    At this time, most of the people on the ship were still immersed in appreciating the unparalleled beauty of Zi Yuan, but when they heard Sun Baitian¡¯s shout, they were all startled.

    Zhang Ling, in particr, suddenly jumped up, her eyes wide open. Her eyes lit up as she looked at the door. As soon as she stood up, Zou Ping and the other members of the Zhengyi School also stood and looked at the doorway with unfriendly eyes.

    Zhang Cunyi, Yue Sheng, Zhang Tianhe and Wang Lingfei, who had all been involved in conflicts with Li Yundong, stood up at the same time and stared at the door.

    Even though some of the cultivators who were detached from the physical world had not seen this young cultivator, and they had been in the limelight recently, they had heard about what Li Yundong had done on Mount Tianlong and Mount Gezao, and all were secretly surprised and curious. They stood up at the same time and thought to themselves, ¡°What¡¯s so great about this Li Yundong? Does he possess superhuman powers?¡±

    And so every passenger on the ship stood there staring, waiting to see what the world-renowned Li Yundong looked like!

 Chapter 476 The Taoist Assembly

    <h4>Chapter 476 The Taoist Assembly</h4>

    When everyone craned their necks and looked ahead, they saw a slender woman suddenly appear in front of them. She was extremely beautiful, and there was a cold temperament showing on her face. After she came in, she nced at everyone indifferently. Although she looked unfamiliar, she did not shrink back under everyone¡¯s gaze. On the contrary, some of the cultivators avoided her bright eyes subconsciously.

    Everyone looked at her and wondered in their hearts, "What sect does this female cultivator hail from? Why does she have such a strong aura? What¡¯s more, her appearance and temperament are simply outstanding! Is there another female cultivatorparable to Zi Yuan in the cultivation world?"

    Seeing this, Ding Nan, who had been standing next to Zheng Yuan, became even more shocked. She gritted her teeth and thought to herself, "Damn it, I thought I was cultivating quickly, but I hadn¡¯t expected Zhou Qin to develop even faster. Damn it! Why am I always one step behind her? Am I not as good as her? Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

    Zheng Yuan stared at Zhou Qin closely. His face showed a hint of shock as he thought to himself, ¡¯¡¯How is this possible? She has actually reached the Zhuji phase! How could her cultivation speed be so fast!! Damn it, it must be down to Li Yundong giving her the Renyuan Jindan to consume!¡¯¡¯

    As the two of them thought this, they suddenly saw a girl with roaming eyesing from behind Zhou Qin. Her eyes were bright and attractive, and she was beautiful. There was a hint of immaturity in her charming appearance. However, when she looked around, there was a kind of seductive aura emanating from her, which made people think that this girl would no doubt grow up to be gorgeous!

    This girl was none other than Su Chan. She saw that everyone was staring fixedly at her. Many male cultivators were showing streaks of greed and possessiveness in their expressions that could not be concealed. She was startled, and then shrank back, hiding behind Li Yundong as if she felt safe only behind him.

    Li Yundong patted her head with an encouraging smile and then walked in alone.

    As soon as he entered the ship, he could feel that everyone¡¯s eyes were boring into him. This ce was like a battlefield packed with weapons and surrounded by murderous intent!

    If this was the past, Li Yundong¡¯s aura might have been stimted and burst out like a bomb. But now, his aura had changed from being uncontroble to being able to be restrained. He was no longer the impulsive man he had once been.

    In the past, Li Yundong had been a Furious River. As soon as he met any obstacle, he would roar majestically and call forth huge waves to sweep away anything in his path. But now, he was a towering mountain. No matter how strong the opponents were, the wind could not blow a mountain away!

    Facing this aggressive and suffocating gaze, Li Yundong smiled and made an obeisance by cupping his hands. Then, at a leisurely pace, he led Su Chan and the other little foxes over to where Zi Yuan was sitting.

    The cultivators on the boat saw that Li Yundong¡¯s temperament was calm and stable. He didn¡¯t seem to be as wild as the rumors said, nor did he have an aggressive aura. They couldn¡¯t help thinking, "Is Li Yundong afraid?"

    Only a few cultivators like Zhang Ling, Zhang Tianhe, and some others vaguely felt that Li Yundong¡¯s whole aura had changed, but they couldn¡¯t put their finger on how.

    Zhang Cunyi of the Qingcheng Sect looked at Li Yundong swaggering around with his group of fox spirits and sitting down beside Zi Yuan in front of everyone. Zhang Cunyi couldn¡¯t help snorting and saying derisively, "What a weirdo. Nowadays, the bullies are rampant, and demons as well as the witches are still hanging around him. Hey hey!"

    Zhang Tianhe, who was not far from Zhang Cunyi, listened to his words and nced at Zhang Cunyi, then secretly snorted and looked at Li Yundong unkindly. Especially when he saw Li Yundong talking very intimately with Zi Yuan, he couldn¡¯t help showing a sh of jealousy and hatred in his eyes.

    He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his flesh, but he didn¡¯t even seem to notice the pain.

    Most of the cultivators around Zhang Tianhe were paying attention to Li Yundong and this group of iparably eye-catching fox spirits. Only Zou Ping looked at Zhang Tianhe affectionately. However, when she saw Zhang Tianhe staring at Zi Yuan and making uncontroble movements, she couldn¡¯t help but feel a stab of pain in her heart. She secretly gritted her teeth and thought to herself, "If it weren¡¯t for that little b*tch Zi Yuan, my shidee would be with me! It¡¯s all because that cow Zi Yuan not only took away my shidee¡¯s heart, but is now sitting with Li Yundong in public. This is a betrayal! Does this woman truly have no shame? Humph, I will definitely ruin her reputation!"

    Although Li Yundong¡¯s cultivation was well-developed, he was not a Shenxian after all. How could he understand everyone¡¯s thoughts from every sect?

    After boarding the ship, he secretly looked around. He could see that there were about twenty or thirty square tables arranged on the ship. Beside each square table was ten stools, and an incense burner was ced on the table. In the middle of these dozens of smaller square tables was arger square table. This one was set against the wall, above with Lao Tzu, the ancestor of Taoism, also known as the statue of Senior Moral. On both sides of the statue were other statues of Primus and Tianzun Lingbao.

    Besides Primus was a statue of the founder of the Taoist assembly, Great Zhenren Luo Gongyuan, and one of Ye Fashan during the era of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. Beside Tianzun Lingbao was the statues of Yu Huang Da Di and the Queen Mother of the West.

    There was a huge Eight Trigrams of Yin and Yang hanging on the wall behind the statues. On both sides of the Eight Diagrams were couplets. The upper line on the right read: Tao gave birth to one, one gave birth to two, two gave birth to three, and three gave birth to all things. The lower line on the left read: Humans follow earth, earth follows heaven, heaven follows Tao, Tao follows nature. The horizontal batch of couplets read: Great Tao is invisible!

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help cheering in his heart when he saw this pair of couplets. He turned to Zhou Qin and said, "Zhou Qin, you see that this couplet exins the mystery of our cultivation? You should engrave these words on your heart!"

    Zhou Qin nodded her head. She pointed at the statues in front of the couplet and asked in confusion, "I know some of these statues, but some are unfamiliar to me. Master, could you tell me about them?"

    Aftering out of the small worlds of the trichiliocosm, Li Yundong was no longer an ignorant man. At this point, he had already read the ssics of Buddhism and Taoism. He smiled and exined them one by one. Beside him, Su Chan and the little foxes also listened with great interest.

    Just as they were whispering to one another, they suddenly heard a crisp dinging sound ring out.

    It sounded like a bell being rung. Everyone looked in the direction of the noise, including Li Yundong and the others.

    Li Yundong saw a cultivator about 1.7 meters tall with a pair of deep-set eyes and a high-bridged nose and a goatee on his chin. He was Wan Zhenyuan, the master of the Gezao Sect and the host of Taoist assembly!

    He was dressed in a Daopao and his long sleeves fluttered in the wind, making him look ethereal and above all vulgarity. His eyes were sharp as he looked over the crowd. When his gazended on Li Yundong¡¯s table, he paused for a moment and then quickly shifted his focus away.

    Wan Zhen Yuan walked over to the front of the square table, made an obeisance by cupping his hands, and said, "Brothers of the Tao, I¡¯m honored by everyone attending the Taoist assembly! Truly! This year¡¯s Taoist assembly will be..."

    Before he could finish his words, he heard someone shout impatiently, "Master Wan, hurry up and show us the reward for this year¡¯s Taoist assembly. We¡¯re here to win a prize, not listen to you ther on!"

    Hearing this, Li Yundong smiled knowingly because the person was none other than Dang Qiang of the Peni Sect, whom he had met several times.

    Dang Qiang was sitting at a table with one of his feet on the stools beside him, noisily eating seeds and shouting loudly. His behavior was really drawing attention from the crowd and making others roll their eyes at him.

    Wan Zhen Yuan was so choked by Dang Qiang¡¯s words that he could not continue. He was furious in his heart and nced at Dang Qiang angrily, but he still smiled and said, "It turns out to be the Peni Sect¡¯s brother of the Tao. Nice to meet you!"

    Dang Qiangughed heartily and said, "Master Wan, you must really want to p me to death. Last time you certainly considered doing so on Mount Gezao. This time, you must want it even more! Don¡¯t pretend to be polite. The most important thing is that we get to the point quickly!"

    Although this fool was like a hooligan, his words were not vulgar. The cultivators in the cabin couldn¡¯t help butugh and say, "He is right. Master Wan, let¡¯s get down to business! We are all waiting impatiently!"

    "That¡¯s right. We¡¯ve been cultivating for more than ten years. Are we here to listen to your nonsense? Let¡¯s start fighting!"

    "That¡¯s right, Master Wan, what¡¯s the reward this time? Bring it out so we can have a look!"

    Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s expression was a little awkward. He forced a smile and was about to speak when Zhang Ling of the Zhengyi School suddenly mmed the table and stood up. She said sternly, "Nonsense, do you think of this ce as a vegetable market? You¡¯re cultivators, but those who don¡¯t know would assume that you¡¯re a bunch of hooligans. They would think this is a gang!"

    Zhang Ling was a famous Great Cultivator in Jianghu and she was also the elder sister of Zhang Tiansh¨© from Zhengyi School, so she had a very high bearing and considerable prestige. As soon as she shouted, the hall suddenly became silent, and no cultivators dared to speak again.

    Wan Zhen Yuan looked at Zhang Ling with an unnatural expression. He thought to himself, "The prestige of the Zhengyi School is really high. Is Zhang Ling trying to shake things up and take control of me at the Taoist assembly?"

    As he was deep in thought, Zhang Ling spoke to him, "Master Wan, the Taoist assembly that urs once every four years is extraordinary. This is a good opportunity for our Taoists to recover our strength and go back to basics, as well as a good opportunity for us to cast aside all of our grudges and work together..."

    When Wan Zhenyuan heard this, he suddenly became vignt. He thought to himself, "Humph, go back to basics? What basics? To abandon our previous grudges and work together? Hah, Zhengyi School really can¡¯t bear this. They¡¯re going to show their true colors! They¡¯re trying to unify the Taoist sects!"

    Thinking of this, Wan Zhenyuan couldn¡¯t help interrupting Zhang Ling¡¯s words. He asked with a fake smile, "Then may I ask what you mean by basics?"

    Zhang Ling snorted and waved her hand, and then all the people wearing Daopao from the Zhengyi School stood up. Zhang Ling pointed at their outfits and said, "This!"

    This sentence was meaningful, as it satirized others for betraying their roots and forgetting their ancestors by not even wearing the clothes that Taoist priests should wear at a Taoist assembly. At the same time, it also implied that Zhengyi School was the most orthodox sect of the world.

    Wan Zhenyuanughed heartily. "Is wearing a Daopao orthodox?" He waved his hand and bellowed, "Come out, all of you!"

    Then, a group of Taoist priests in Daopao filed out of the hold, all looking at the people in Daopao of the Zhengyi School with unfriendly eyes.

    Zhang Ling saw the Taoist priests blocking the ship and surrounding them. She sneered and said, "What¡¯s wrong? Are you going to catch us all in one fell swoop, Master Wan?"

    Even though everyone could understand the intent behind her words, none of them could stifle their rm. Their gazes were filled with hostility as they looked at the other Taoist priests of the Gezao Sect.

    Just as the battle was about to begin, a cheeky, leisurely voice said, "If wearing a Daopao is orthodoxy, then I¡¯m also orthodox!"

    Everyone turned their eyes and saw that Dang Qiang was talking with a mischievous smile pasted over his face again.

    Someone next to him sneered. "You¡¯re wearing a vest. Where¡¯s your Daopao, huh?"

    Dang Qiang jumped up with augh and said casually, "Brothers of the Tao, please watch carefully!" After that, he quickly took off his clothes and stood naked before them.

    The male cultivators in the cabin allughed in horror, while the female cultivators blushed and turned their faces away.

    Wan Zhenyuan was both shocked and furious as he shouted, "Dang Qiang, what are you doing!"

    Dang Qiangughed wildly. He picked up a cup of tea with one hand and said, "I¡¯m putting on a Daopao to show you!" As he said this, he poured the tea over himself and quickly smeared it all over his body with his hands.

    The crowd realized that there seemed to be ink hidden in Dang Qiang¡¯s palm. Wherever it was smeared, it would leave behind a mass of darkness. After a while, Dang Qiang had smeared a close-fitting Daopao on himself as if he were ying at body painting.

    After that, Dang Qiang pped his hands together and said with augh, "What do you think? Is this a Daopao?"

    Everyone could see that Dang Qiang¡¯s chest had been painted to look like a Daopao, but underneath was a white body. They were shocked andughed. "Dang Qiang, what kind of Daopao is this?"

    "What about your ass? Why is your ass not covered by the Daopao?"

    "Dang Qiang, what¡¯s that thing in front of your body? A handle?"

    Dang Qiang did not feel ashamed at all as he said, "What is a Daopao? Can it hide your shame? If it could, would you quarrel like this at a Taoist assembly?"

    His words were a pun, suddenly attracting cheers from all the cultivators from the other sects at the same time. All of a sudden, the tense atmosphere ckened heavily.

    Li Yundong also smiled and nodded to Zi Yuan. "Dang Qiang is a ruffian, you needn¡¯t take notice of him!"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s face turned slightly red. She whispered, "He doesn¡¯t need to... be naked like this, right?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "When you were born, you were naked, and when you die, you¡¯ll leave naked. That¡¯s what it is to be human!"

    Zi Yuan angrily red at Li Yundong. "Then why don¡¯t you go and do the same thing he¡¯s doing?"

    Li Yundong chuckled and did not answer. At this time, Wan Zhenyuan snorted and waved his hand again. The Taoist priests disappeared in an instant, as if they had never been there at all. He nced at Dang Qiang, then sneered at Zhang Ling and said, "I¡¯m just telling you, Zhenren Zhang Ling, that you are not the only one who remembers the orthodox ways of Taoists!"

    Zhang Ling sneered as well. "I¡¯m doing this out of goodwill to remind all of the cultivators not to forget their roots at this Taoist assembly!" With that, she led her sect¡¯s cultivators to sit down.

    The people from the other sects watched Wan Zhenyuan and Zhang Ling fighting secretly, but in reality, this was a battle between thergest sect of the Neidan Sect and the first sect of External Alchemy. They frowned at the same time and thought to themselves, "Is this conflict in the cultivation world really so white-hot? Why can¡¯t they control themselves? Fighting before the Taoist assembly even begins, tsk!"

    Su Chan tugged at Li Yundong¡¯s sleeve curiously and asked in a low voice, "Yundong, why do I feel like they are going to fight?"

    Li Yundong chuckled and whispered in a low voice, "Don¡¯t worry about it. Let¡¯s see how they bite each other!"

    As they were conversing quietly, Wan Zhenyuan started saying, "... Since no one wants to listen to my nonsense, I shall keep it brief. Let¡¯s get someone to bring out the prize for this Taoist assembly!"

    After that, he shouted, "Bring forth the powerful magical weapon!"

    Su Chan and Li Yundong concurrently stopped talking and looked toward the field. They all wanted to see what the Taoist assembly¡¯s reward would be this time.

 Chapter 477 The Immortal Pen

    <h4>Chapter 477 The Immortal Pen</h4>

    Wan Zhenyuan yelled. Soon, two beautiful female Taoist priests in Daopao strode in from the hold, carrying a nearly two-meter-long writing brush together.

    When the crowd saw the enormous writing brush, someone who didn¡¯t know what it wasughed mockingly. "Master Wan, what is this?"

    Dang Qiang, who had put on his clothes again, yelled, "Master Wan, why are you trying to use such a thing to fool us? This is an extrarge mop, isn¡¯t it?"

    Everyone burst into raucousughter.

    Wan Zhenyuan was so mad at Dang Qiang that he gritted his teeth, but his face showed nothing but a charming smile. "Zhenren Dang Qiang, you are so witty! Fellow brothers of the Tao, do you know what kind of powerful magical weapon this is?"

    There were also cultivators on the scene who were knowledgeable about such things. Carefully looking at this huge writing brush, Zi Yuan could vaguely see some clues as to its nature. She whispered to Li Yundong, "It seems to be an immortal pen?"

    "Immortal pen?" Li Yundong looked at it carefully and nodded slightly. "It does seem a bit like it!"

    Su Chan, who was standing to one side, straightened up and said in a low voice, "Is it the magical item used by Zuo Ci during the Three Kingdoms Period in ancient China, the immortal pen?"

    Zi Yuan looked at her with a smile. "It seems to be!"

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes were wide open, and she eximed, "Could it be the immortal pen that can write all the talismans in the whole world and the five-element thunder that can be used at will?"

    Li Yundong smiled and pinched her nose. "Yep, should be none other!"

    Su Chan was suddenly excited. "Woooow, Yundong, that is such an amazing treasure! You must get it! You must get it!"

    Even though Zhou Qin had reached the Zhuji phase, her understanding of these powerful magical weapons was as shallow as a thimble. She could not help but ask Su Chan, "What kind of treasure is it? What are you all worked up for?"

    Su Chan grabbed Zhou Qin¡¯s arm, widened her eyes, and asked, "Sister Zhou Qin, do you know the author of the Baopuzi, Ge Hong?"

    Zhou Qin nodded in confusion. "I know him! He¡¯s a cultivator who wrote a book and told the world that Gods couldn¡¯t cultivate, but immortals can!"

    Su Chan asked again, "Do you know who Ge Hong¡¯s master is?"

    Zhou Qin had also read a lot of Taoist ssics, and such a question was not difficult for her. She replied uprehendingly, "Sure, it¡¯s Cheng Yin!"

    "Then do you know who Cheng Yin¡¯s master is?"

    Zhou Qinughed, "Of course I know. It¡¯s the Immortal Taiji, Ge Xuan, who is Ge Hong¡¯s grandfather. Su Chan, are you testing me?"

    Su Chan widened her eyes and pressed on, "And do you know who Ge Xuan¡¯s master is?"

    Zhou Qin was stunned for a moment. "Is it... Zuo Ci?"

    Su Chan shook Zhou Qin¡¯s arm excitedly. "Yes. Zuo Ci is the master of the Immortal Taiji! And he is also the founder of the Danding Sect! This Immortal Pen is his personal magic item! Think about it. Fahai¡¯s personal magic item was already so powerful, won¡¯t this immortal pen be even more powerful?"

    Zi Yuan also nodded and added, "Yes, it is said that the Immortal Pen can write any talismans freely. Even if you just write the word ¡¯thunder¡¯, you can attract heavenly thunder from the sky!"

    Li Yundong saw that Zhou Qin still did not understand the mystery of the immortal pen, so he exined to her with a smile, "Zhou Qin, you are full of Zhenqi now, which makes you equivalent to a great master from a Wuxia novel. However, you don¡¯t know kung fu moves, so when you settle a score with others, you may not be able to defeat those who have less Zhenqi but know a lot of kung fu. Those cultivators who use talismans are especially fast, urate and fierce because they use talismans when they use magic."

    "In the past, Su Chan gave me a Thunder Talisman. When I used a talisman to cast spells, it only took me a few seconds and I could hit whoever I want. I didn¡¯t have to worry about hitting myself at all. But if I don¡¯t use a talisman and just rely on my Zhenqi to cast spells, it takes at least a minute, perhaps even longer. The most important thing is that you have to worry about striking yourself!"

    Zhou Qin was suddenly enlightened when she heard this. "Oh, I understand! So, is it hard to get these talismans usually?"

    Zi Yuan took over the conversation, nodded, and said, "Yes, they¡¯re very rare. It¡¯s no exaggeration to say that one is worth a thousand pieces of gold!"

    Zhou Qin looked at the immortal pen, her eyes filled with horror, "So if someone has the immortal pen, isn¡¯t it equivalent to having infinite talismans?"

    Zi Yuan chuckled. "Not quite. If you want to use a magic item like the immortal pen, writing a talisman will consume a lot of essences. I¡¯m afraid that if I were to write two talismans, I¡¯d run out of Zhenqi."

    Zhou Qin frowned and said, "Then what¡¯s the use of having it?"

    Su Chan interrupted with a smile. "Sister Zhou Qin, you¡¯re so stupid! You can write with it for self-defense! Moreover, talismans aren¡¯t something that everyone can write! The process of learning to write a talisman is veryplicated and difficult to understand. My master can only write heavenly thunder talismans. I can only write the amulet of invisibility myself. I can¡¯t write anything else!"

    Zhou Qin smiled and said, "I see, so I was being ignorant." Then, she turned her head to look at Li Yundong and instigated, "Master, why don¡¯t you grab this immortal pen? Your might will be doubled if you have it!"

    Li Yundong had thought that Wan Zhenyuan would bring out the Diyuan Jindan or Medicine King Tripod, but he hadn¡¯t been expecting the immortal pen. Although it was also an extremely powerful magical weapon, he wasn¡¯t interested in it at all.

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "I have enough powerful magical weapons. Why would I need another? What¡¯s more, powerful magical weapons are the same as magic. The most valuable thing is the essence, not the quantity! I haven¡¯t used the burning thumb pot well yet. If I get an immortal pen now, aren¡¯t you afraid that I will attract people¡¯s attention?"

    Zi Yuan opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something. However, even though she had something on the tip of her tongue, she held back.

    Su Chan was unwilling to give up. "Yundong, I remember that you once visualized the Immovable Wisdom King. You have six magical items in your hands, and one of them is the immortal pen! It means that it will be your powerful magical weapon sooner orter!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Since it will be mine sooner orter, I need not be in a hurry! Haven¡¯t you seen that so many people here are looking at this immortal pen? Since so many people want it, I won¡¯t join in the fray! If it¡¯s really mine, even if I don¡¯t want to grab it now, it wille to my hands in the end!"

    Ruan Hongling, who had not spoken all this while, muttered in a low voice, "You have a powerful magical weapon to use. But Shijie Zi Yuan..." Before she could even finish her sentence, her foot under the table was stepped on by Zi Yuan, who then red at her, not saying anything further.

    Hearing this, Li Yundong looked at Zi Yuan in confusion and asked, "Zi Yuan, what¡¯s wrong with you?"

    Zi Yuan smiled. Just as she was about to speak, she saw a loudmotion nearby. Someone was yelling loudly, "Master Wan, this is an immortal pen. This powerful magical weapon hasn¡¯t appeared in the world for over a thousand years. How did you get it?!"

    Wan Zhenyuan had a smug look on his face. He chuckled and stroked his goatee. "That¡¯s right. This is the exact same immortal pen that Taoist Zuo Ci used! If you don¡¯t believe me, brothers of the Tao, you can take a look!"

    After that, he pressed his hand onto the huge brush. Immediately, the brush shrank magically, and in the blink of an eye, it had turned into a small brush that was only twenty centimeters long.

    Wan Zhenyuan picked up the Immortal Pen. Beside him, the beautiful female Taoist from the Gezao Sect obediently picked up a cup of tea with both hands. Wan Zhenyuan raised the pen and dipped it into the tea, then wrote the word "Hua" [TL: ¡¯Hua¡¯ means flower in Chinese] in the air.

    The word "Hua" floated in the air and did not disperse. After a while, it started emitting a dazzling seven-colored brilliance, then quickly turned into blooming flowers in front of everyone.

    Wan Zhenyuanughed heartily. With a flick of his sleeves, he shattered the flowers that were hanging in the air. In a sh, petals floated through the air and the fragrance of flowers permeated the ship.

    Zhou Qin was stunned. She asked in surprise, "You can produce flowers just by writing the character "Hua"?"

    Su Chan also looked at the immortal pen with greed in her eyes, saying, "How about the character ¡¯Qian¡¯?" [TL: ¡¯Qian¡¯ is the character for ¡¯gold¡¯ in Chinese]

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing. He snapped his finger on Su Chan¡¯s forehead and said, "You covetous woman, you only pay attention to money!"

    Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help butugh. "Flowers are the fruits of wood. The immortal pen can only write things like Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, the five elements, Earth lightning, and so on. It can¡¯t create money. If you write the character ¡¯Qian¡¯, it won¡¯t turn into gold!"

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t help feeling disappointed. She held her forehead and pouted.

    At this time, all the people in the cabin believed that this pen was the real immortal pen. Their expressions became extremely enthusiastic and excited, and they all secretly rubbed their hands together. After a while, the Taoist assembly would be held and they would have the opportunity to fight for the treasure!

    Although Zhang Ling of the Zhengyi School was experienced and knowledgeable, she was still shocked by the reward offered by Wan Zhenyuan, and she couldn¡¯t help but ask, "Master Wan, you are so willing to bring such a precious treasure out as a reward?"

    Wan Zhenyuanughed generously and said, "For the prosperity of our Taoists culture and for the prosperity of our cultivation world, our Gezao Sect will not hesitate to destroy another sect to achieve this!"

    His words caused everyone to cheer in unison. One after another, they cried, "Master Wan, you have guts!"

    "Master Wan, you are so broad-minded!"

    Zhang Ling frowned and thought, "No, Wan Zhenyuan is not the kind of person who would be willing to give up on his own interests. If he¡¯s willing to take out such a powerful magical weapon, he must have a big n! But what does he want? Could it be that... he is trying to gain popr support? But the price is too high, isn¡¯t it?"

    Zhang Ling was thinking secretly, but he could see that some cultivators in the cabin were already growing impatient. They all shouted, "Don¡¯t talk nonsense. Let¡¯s settle the score. Let¡¯s see who can take away this immortal pen!"

    Wan Zhenyuan pressed his hands together and said loudly, "Everyone, calm down. Listen to me!"

    As soon as Wan Zhenyuan spoke, the moring people shut their mouths. The reason was either than his forceful remarks had aroused everyone¡¯s respect for him, or that the immortal pen that he had brought out was suppressing everyone.

    "Everyone, we are all respectable cultivators," Wan Zhenyuan said. "Of course, we can¡¯t set a score like hooligans. Even if we want to battle, we have toe up with some rules!"

    Immediately, one of the cultivators said with a smile, "Master Wan, you¡¯re thinking too much. What¡¯s been the procedure for the Taoist assembly in the past? That¡¯s what the procedures are now!"

    Wan Zhenyuan said, "No! The Taoist assembly used to be held in the deep mountains, and no one would have known about it even if we had an earth-shattering fight, but this time, we are holding it in a downtown area. On both sides of the moat are residential areas, shopping malls, and entertainment venues. Once we fight, the outside world will hear the noise. Do you want to turn the world upside down?"

    The two hundred cultivators in the cabin were dumbfounded when they heard that. One asked, "Master Wan, how can we settle a score without fighting?"

    Wan Zhenyuanughed and said, "Look, the rule this time is: You have to fight while keeping the worldly mortals outside from noticing! What do you think?"

    The cultivators of all the sects looked at each other. Some who had low cultivation quotients secretly retreated, while others who thought that they had high cultivation quotients said loudly, "Master Wan, we¡¯ll do as you say!"

    Soon, there was a response from those who were taking the lead, and most of the cultivators nodded in agreement.

    Wan Zhenyuan nodded and said with a smile, "Very well. Now that everyone has agreed, I wonder which Zhenren will show first?"

    As soon as he said this, a young man dressed in a Tang suit stood up. He cupped his hands and said, "Master Wan, I¡¯ll go first!"

    Wan Zhenyuan looked over and saw a man with a pair of tiger¡¯s eyes and a lion¡¯s nose showing a majestic look on his face. Wan Zhenyuan cupped his hands and said, "Ah, so it¡¯s Zhenren Chen Yunyan from the Qingwei Sect. Forgive us for our disrespect!"

    Chen Yunyan looked around with his fierce eyes and asked, "Master Wan, could I call someone¡¯s name and have theme andpete?"

    Wan Zhenyuan nodded and said smilingly, "As long as you follow the rules, of course, it¡¯s okay!"

    Chen Yunyan nodded, then suddenly turned his head and looked at Li Yundong with eyes like lightning. He pointed at him with his sword-like finger and said, "Li Yundong, do you dare to ept my challenge?"

 Chapter 478 A Storm in the World Is Like a Thunderbol

    <h4>Chapter 478 A Storm in the World Is Like a Thunderbol</h4>

    Li Yundong saw Chen Yunyan, who had never seen him before, was the first to challenge him. He was suddenly stunned and wondered in his heart, "Why me?"

    Zi Yuanughed softly. "Of course it¡¯s you. You are so pushy now, who wouldn¡¯t want to defeat you and be the number one master of the younger generation?"

    Li Yundong shook his head and smiled. "A false reputation is harmful!" He stood up, cupped his hands, and said with a smile, "Zhenren Chen, you tter me. Naturally, I, Li Yundong, will ept the challenge, but before it begins, can you tell me why, when there are so many cultivators, you picked me?"

    Chen Yunyan sneered and said, "Zhenren Li, do you still remember that you defeated my Shidee in the battle of Mount Tianlong?"

    Li Yundong thought for a moment and vaguely remembered that he had defeated a cultivator of the Qingwei Sect. However, the cultivator had left without so much as telling him his name because he had done a sneak attack. Even Li Yundong didn¡¯t know who he had defeated.

    He smiled and said, "I vaguely remember it. How do you want to fight, Zhenren Chen?"

    Chen Yunyan was wearing a long robe and a buttoned mandarin jacket. He swished his robe and walked over to the crowd with two heavy steps, then cupped his hands to Wan Zhenyuan and said, "Master Wan, please give me an empty table!"

    Wan Zhenyuan smiled and said, "No problem! Come on, bring a table over for Zhenren Chen!"

    Two Taoists from the Gezao Sect dashed over. One of them supported the upper part of the table and the other carried its legs. They quickly put together the table, bowed to Wan Zhenyuan, and then left quickly.

    Everyone could see that the square table was about 1.5 meters in diameter and made of Mahogany, carved with exquisite patterns. Chen Yunyan took eight cups of water and a kettle from his table and put them on this table. Everyone was whispering with each other and trying to guess how Chen Yunyan would fight with Li Yundong.

    Chen Yunyan made an obeisance by cupping his hands to Li Yundong, then said, "Zhenren Li, there are eight cups here. In a moment, I will fill each cup with water, and then we will each perform our own Shentong and stimte thunder by using the water. Let¡¯s see whose Shentong is more profound. What do you think?"

    Hearing this, everyone became so excited that they chattered to each other in low voices, "This fight is getting interesting! But we don¡¯t know what effect the thunder will have!"

    Some of the more clued-in cultivators also nodded slightly and said, "Well, thunder is the most difficult magic in the whole world. Controlling thunder in such a small space will be extremely difficult. If they¡¯re careless, they¡¯ll hurt others. I don¡¯t know whether the two people¡¯s cultivation quotients are high enough. If they¡¯re not, they are just asking for trouble!"

    Ding Nan couldn¡¯t help saying to Zheng Yuan in a low voice, "Master, they want to fight using thunder magic, why do they need to put four cups here?"

    Zheng Yuan stroked his white beard and narrowed his eyes at Chen Yunyan, saying, "There are several ways to attract thunder in this world. The first method is by using Qi. Remember what happened on Mount Tianlong? Zhang Tianhe and Li Yundong used Qi to attract thunder. The second method is by using a talisman. The Jinshan Sect (Maoshan Sect) mainly uses this method. The third method involves water. Because lightninges first from water, it is used to drive thunder through the magic that is proficient in the water. This is also a kind of thunder-drawing method."

    Zheng Yuan looked Chen Yunyan up and down, then nodded to himself and praised him. "Chen Yunyan is not old, but he is quite thoughtful. Among the cultivation sects in the world, the Qingwei Sect is the best at using water to attract thunder. He must have heard that Li Yundong used Qi to attract thunder before, so he wants to utilize his strong points to attack the enemy¡¯s weak points! He sure is calcting!"

    Ding Nan suddenly understood and looked at Li Yundong with worry bubbling in his heart.

    However, Li Yundong seemed to be unaware of Chen Yunyan¡¯s thoughts. He smiled and said, "Why would I need to go forward? I can settle a score with you right here."

    His words came to easily that the crowd burst into an uproar, especially the cultivators of the Qingwei Sect, who started ring at Li Yundong one by one.

    Chen Yunyan asked with an awkward expression, "Zhenren Li, are you really so conceited?"

    Zhou Qin frowned and whispered to Su Chan, "Su Chan, why are they getting so angry?"

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong worriedly and said in a low voice, "Although it is said to be a water-drawing thunder technique, in fact, it still uses a person¡¯s Zhenqi to catalyze the water. In the end, the water will be stirred into thunder, so the closer a person stands, the better. Yundong is stood so far away. If his Zhenqi gets transported far away, it¡¯ll be like a person fighting on his ownnd. Yundong first had to go through a long journey in order to enter the battlefield, so he¡¯ll be disadvantaged from the beginning."

    Zi Yuan also said in a low voice, "Li Yundong, don¡¯t be arrogant. Although the Qingwei Sect has declined and is now only a small sect, it was once a great sect during the Yuanming Age. Dao Fa Hui Yuan was written by Zhao Yizhen of the Qingwei Sect, so it can¡¯t be underestimated! The Qingwei Sect focused on cultivating thunder in particr. In this world, only the Lingxiao Sect and the Zhengyi School canpete with this sect in thundersmanship! Chen Yunyanpetes with you in thundersmanship, so you must not underestimate him!"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s words fell fast and urgent. In the process, she reminded Li Yundong not to underestimate the enemy three times in a row. Although Li Yundong didn¡¯t believe that Chen Yunyan would be his match, he still smiled at Zi Yuan gratefully and walked over to the table.

    Seeing Li Yundonge forward, Chen Yunyan¡¯s face also cleared up a little. He snorted, picked up a teapot, and filled the eight cups on the table following the etiquette of a tea ceremony.

    After putting down the teapot, Chen Yunyan cupped his hands and said, "Zhenren Li, I have set the rules. How about you pick up the teacups first?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "I¡¯ll take the four left by you, Zhenren Chen!"

    Seeing that Li Yundong was being so arrogant, Chen Yunyan frowned and sneered internally. He quickly touched several teacups and then put the four teacups in front of himself. He said loudly, "I¡¯ve made my choice. Zhenren Li, it¡¯s your turn!"

    Li Yundong nced at Chen Yunyan and smiled. With a wave of his sleeve, the four teacups became neatly arranged in front of him, as if an invisible hand was fiddling with them.

    Li Yundong¡¯s smart move immediately attracted a lot of cheers from the cultivators.

    Among them, the apuse of Wei Qing, the female cultivator who had a good impression of Li Yundong, was the loudest. Yue Sheng could not help but frown and say, "Shijie, is it really necessary to shout so loudly? What¡¯s so great about this?"

    Wei Qing said with a smile, "It¡¯s not a big deal, but I just think that Zhenren Li is very handsome when he uses it. If you are not convinced, why don¡¯t you try using it?"

    Yue Sheng rolled his eyes and snorted, saying nothing.

    Wei Qing was used to her Shidee¡¯s temper. She pulled Yue Sheng¡¯s arm and whispered, "Hey, do you think either of them will win?"

    Yue Sheng answered without thinking, "Of course, it¡¯s Li Yundong! The Qingwei Sect is weak, it was almost extinguished during the Qing Dynasty! Who is Chen Yunyan? I¡¯ve never heard of him. He¡¯s just a nobody! He¡¯s not worth mentioning!"

    Wei Qing replied downheartedly, "Ah? So there won¡¯t even be any suspense? I thought that since Chen Yunyan dared to take the initiative to challenge Li Yundong first, he must have some skills!"

    Yue Sheng snorted and was about to speak when he suddenly saw Chen Yunyan cupping his hands and saying loudly, "Brothers of the Tao, please watch carefully. I will use these four cups of water as a medium to attract thunder so that everyone can see what a small divine punishment looks like!"

    Yue Sheng was stunned when he heard that. Before he could even react, he saw Chen Yunyan suddenly shout, his voice like that of a tiger roaring!

    The shout was so loud that the four teacups in front of him jumped into the air!

    Chen Yunyan waved his hand above the four cups of water and channeled his Zhenqi to draw the water from the cups.

    Everyone saw that four water columns seemed to have suddenly appeared out of thin air in the four teacups, and the liquid tea seemed to turn into solid pirs in an instant.

    At the moment that the water columns rose up, Chen Yunyan cut off the root by using his other hand, and then he gathered the four water columns in his hands. He suddenly shouted and the Zhenqi of his whole body instantly shot toward the palms of his two hands.

    The four water columns were quickly squeezed into a fist-sized water ball. This ball became smaller and smaller under the pressure of his Zhenqi, and ripples caused by the squeezing could be faintly seen in the center of the ball.

    The crowd could see Chen Yunyan mobilizing his Zhenqi to slowly squeeze the fist-sized water ball down to the size of a thumb. The ball constantly emitted waves of mist around him, which then rose up and slowly dispersed in front of him, forming a small cloud and filling the air with vapor.

    Although they didn¡¯t know what he was going to do next, they knew that he hadpressed the fist-sized water ball into a thumb-sized water droplet, which was not an easy thing even for an extremely powerful and condensed Neidan to do!

    Yue Sheng¡¯s face turned dark when he saw this. Wei Qing also widened her eyes and whispered, "Little Shidee, you were wrong! This is a great master!"

    Then, Chen Yunyan¡¯s hands shook. Suddenly, the thumb-sized water droplet jumped up of its own ord and shot into the clouds floating in the air.

    As soon as the waterdrop entered the cloudyer, the cloudyer began to gradually thicken in color, like a dark cloud wasing over the top. The clouds slowly rumbled with thunder, and even the sky outside the ship turned dark, as if it had suddenly turned from a sunny day to an overcast one.

    Chen Yunyan¡¯s index fingers were touching and he shouted quickly, "Objects are created in heaven and earth, operate in water and fire, and are enlightened by gods, the master of all sects!" After reciting thest word, he suddenly yelled, "Thunder!!!"

    "Crack!!!"

    Everyone felt as if someone had pierced their eardrums. It was as if a bomb had suddenly exploded in the air, and they were so shocked by the sudden sounds of thunder in the cabin that their blood churned in their chests. They felt like their heads might split apart!

    "Rumble! Rumble!"

    Then there was a roll of deafening thunder outside the cabin. Everyone was shocked and thought, "It¡¯s winter thunder? Chen Yunyan¡¯s water-thundering actually attracted winter thunder!"

    Zi Yuan looked at Chen Yunyan in awe and thought, "This is a secret method that has been lost for a long time! It¡¯s impressive enough that this person can call lightning using his magic, but he can even attract Heavenly Thunder! This kind of thunder cultivation is really scary!"

    Chen Yunyan looked at them proudly and proimed loudly, "Please look. Heavenly Thunder is here!"

    As soon as he finished speaking, a small thunderbolt rumbled and shed down from the clouds in front of him. The thunderbolt struck the teacup, which shook fiercely.

    Then another thunderbolt struck the other three teacups. What was horrifying was that every time a thunderbolt struck down from the clouds in front of Chen Yunyan, there was a thunderous sound ringing from outside the ship, as if echoing it.

    Eighty-one thunderbolts rained down from the clouds in the blink of an eye. The speed was so rapid that they couldn¡¯t take their eyes off it!

    The crowd felt as if there was an invisible hand covering their noses and mouths, rendering them breathless. They couldn¡¯t help thinking, "What if the thunder strikes me next?"

    After thest bolt of heavenly thunder, the people suddenly saw the dark clouds gradually disappearing, and the sky outside the ship slowly cleared up. The four teacups in front of Chen Yunyan were still standing in their original positions.

    Chen Yunyan cupped his hands to everyone in the cabin and said, "Everyone please look!" After that, he gently waved his hand over the four teacups. After a very light breeze, the four teacups were crumbled into four piles of fine powder! He then knocked on the mahogany square table in front of him with his hand, making a dull rapping sound. The mahogany table was still hard!

    Everyone was shocked. They knew that the eighty-one heavenly thunders had already smashed the teacups into powder, but there had been so many lightning strikes, all of them concentrated on these four teacups, and none of them had hit the mahogany table. Therefore, the teacups had been turned to dust, but the table was safe and sound!

    Not only could Chen Yunyan use water to draw the thunder, but he could actually trigger the heavenly thunder outside to make all the thunder resonate at the same time to increase its power. At the same time, he could control the lightning strikes in front of him enough to urately hit the four small teacups!

    Heavenly thunder was the hardest thing to control, but this man could control it as urately as a guided missile! What an exquisite and terrifying power to be able to control thunder!

    Most of the people in the cabin were very knowledgeable, but they were all struck dumb for a while. They all looked at Chen Yunyan with their mouths agape. There was only one thought in their minds, ¡°When did such a great master emerge from the Qingwei Sect!?¡±

    After Chen Yunyan had performed his Shentong magic, he proudly cupped his hands to Li Yundong and said, "Zhenren Li, now it¡¯s your turn!"

 Chapter 479 Conjuring Rain and Clouds to Support the Sky!

    <h4>Chapter 479 Conjuring Rain and Clouds to Support the Sky!</h4>

    There was a moment of silence in the cabin of the ship. Everyone stared at Chen Yunyan nkly, as if they couldn¡¯t understand who Monkey Sun was!

    After all, Zhang Ling was a Qianbei of the Zhengyi School who was experienced and knowledgeable. She looked Chen Yunyan up and down in surprise and couldn¡¯t help but ask, "Which department¡®s sessor of the Qingwei Sect are you from? What¡¯s the rtionship between you and Zhang Yunyan?"

    Chen Yunyan looked at Zhang Ling in surprise. He made an obeisance by cupping his hands and said, "Zhenren Zhang, you¡¯re really awesome. You can tell who my master is at a nce! My original name is Chen Xing. I¡¯m the sessor of grandmaster Zhang Yunyan from the Qingwei Sect!"

    When the cultivators in the hall heard this, they burst into an uproar. Zhang Tianhe also couldn¡¯t help but exim, "Zhang Yunyan has a sessor even in this day and age? Impossible!"

    Du Feiughed and whispered to Yue Sheng, "Turns out to be one of the nsmen. It¡¯s great, great!"

    Yue Sheng snorted and did not speak, but there was no longer any hint of contempt lurking in his eyes.

    Wei Qing next to him whispered, "Come on, what nsman? Isn¡¯t it just a little bit like the origin of our master? It¡¯s been almost a thousand years, who would recognize him now?"

    Zhou Qin was not far from where Wei Qing was standing. When she heard Wei Qing¡¯s words, she was puzzled and asked Zi Yuan, "Zi Yuan, who is Zhang Yunyan? Why did Du Fei say that Chen Yunyan is his nsman just now?"

    With a serious expression, Zi Yuan exined in a low voice, "Zhang Yunyan is also known as Zhang Daogui, from Changsha, Hunan. He entered Mount Wudang from 1264 AD to 1294 AD. He became a disciple of Zhenren Wang Zhenchang of the Quanzhen Sect at that time andter he became a disciple of Master Huang Shunshen of the Qingwei Sect. As you can tell, Zhang Yunyan was both a great cultivator of the Quanzhen Sect and the Qingwei Sect. So, Du Fei said just now that Chen Yunyan is the sessor of Zhang Yunyan¡¯s branch, which would mean that he is a real nsman."

    Zhou Qin nodded sagely, as if she understood. She asked again, "Is this Zhang Yunyan guy very powerful? Why are you so amazed when you talk about him?"

    Zi Yuan nodded slightly. "Zhang Yunyan is known as Lei Weng. As his name suggests, his thunder magic is rather powerful, and he was in fact the best cultivator in the Tang Dynasty! Moreover, Zhang Yunyan had many disciples at that time, which greatly elevated the reputation of the Qingwei Sect. Chen Yunyan probably wanted to carry the sect forward, so he changed his name to Chen Yunyan. From this, it can be seen that he is a truly ambitious man!"

    After hearing this, Zhou Qin looked at Li Yundong with a worried face. Although she had just reached the Zhuji phase and the Zhenqi in her body was vigorous, she was like a bodybuilder, muscle-bound butcking moves. She only had the brute force and did not know how to settle a score.

    In her view, Chen Yunyan¡¯s Shentong just now had simply been a miracle. She couldn¡¯t imagine how someone could do something like that!

    "Master, will he win?" Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help biting her lip and asking anxiously.

    Zi Yuan frowned slightly. After a moment¡¯s silence, she took a deep breath and said solemnly, "A strong opponent! This is a rare, strong opponent! This person¡¯s ability to control thunder is probably no lower than that of Leiweng Zhang Yunyan! I don¡¯t know if Li Yundong will be able to resist it!"

    Su Chan also stamped her feet anxiously. She looked at Chen Yunyan with a bitter face and whispered, "Why is it that the first person toe out is so powerful? What are we going to do next?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head andughed. "There are many powerful people in this Taoist assembly, it¡¯s just that Chen Yunyan has been holding back for so long and his schemes are bound to be great. He definitely wants to raise his reputation by defeating Li Yundong today! What a scumbag!

    Zhou Qin clenched her fists tightly and looked at the battlefield with her eyes wide open. Suddenly, she hated that her Cultivation Quotient was still too low for her to be of any help to Li Yundong. As she was, she could do nothing to relieve his worries!

    Zhang Cunyi from the Qingcheng Sect alsoughed in a low voice. He whispered to hispanion, "It seems that I won¡¯t even need to do anything. Maybe Chen Yunyan will defeat Li Yundong! It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve even heard of someone who can control thunder, let alone seen one! In terms of thunder alone, I¡¯m afraid that no one canpare with him! Li Yundong is too careless. He fell into Chen Yunyan¡¯s trap. Seems like he¡¯s really looking for trouble for himself!"

    At this time, some of the cultivators on the field were looking at Li Yundong with their hearts full of schadenfreude, while others were looking at him with worry, feeling anxious for him deep down.

    But Li Yundong stood where he was with a smile, as if nothing had happened just now. He made an obeisance by cupping his hands to Chen Yunyan and said, "Zhenren Chen has good tactics, but now it¡¯s my turn?"

    Chen Yunyan suddenly peered suspiciously at Li Yundong. He said with a faint smile, "Zhenren Li, it¡¯s not toote for you to admit defeat now! You can always step down decently!"

    Li Yundong acted as if he hadn¡¯t heard what he¡¯d said, still smiling gently. Aftering out of the small worlds of the trichiliocosm, the anger in his body seemed to have dissipatedpletely. He was no longer like the inexperienced and reckless young man he had once been, and he now no longer got angry easily.

    Li Yundongughed. "Zhenren Chen¡¯s thunder control kung fu is really good. I¡¯m not talented, but I¡¯d like to imitate you!"

    After that, he waved his hands at the teacups in front of him.

    However, as soon as the palm wind in his hands made contact with the four teacups, they immediately cracked and broke into pieces, their contents gushing over the table.

    The cultivators in the ship suddenly burst into an uproar. Their ridiculingments rang incessantly.

    "Zhenren Li, you can¡¯t do that? Just a few teacups?"

    "That¡¯s right. The teacups have been broken, how can he show what he can do now?"

    Zhou Qin also suddenly stood up and said in surprise, "How could the teacups be broken?"

    Ruan Hongling, who had remained silent all this time, gnashed her teeth and said, "Shame on you! It must have been Chen Yunyan who secretly and forcefully broke the teacups in Li Yundong¡¯s hand when he touched them just now! How shameless!"

    Zi Yuan frowned and bit out aint. "Chen Yunyan is a cultivator with a high Cultivation Quotient. How could he do such a despicable thing? In order to win, he did everything he could!"

    Su Chan was so angry that her face had flushed scarlet, and she couldn¡¯t stop herself from cursing loudly. However, before she could say anything, Zi Yuan stopped her. She shook her head at Su Chan and whispered, "Nothing¡¯s decided yet, so don¡¯t worry. Let¡¯s see how Li Yundong will deal with this!"

    Su Chan gave Chen Yunyan a fierce look and plonked herself back down.

    Li Yundong saw that the teacups were broken and that the tea was flowing all over the table. He was not surprised at all, as if he had already known that such a thing would happen. He smiled and gave Chen Yunyan a meaningful look. "Zhenren Chen, good idea!" he said.

    Chen Yunyan made an obeisance by cupping his hands with a fake smile. "You praise me too much. I just wanted to deal with you in the way you deal with other cultivators!"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t want to argue with him. He looked around and saw that there was a skylight on the roof of the cabin. He pointed to it and said to Wan Zhenyuan, "Zhenren Wan, it¡¯s a little stuffy in here. Could you please open the window?"

    Just as Li Yundong finished speaking, a cultivator who didn¡¯t like him mocked sarcastically, "Zhenren Li, are you guilty and sweating because you are scared?"

    "That¡¯s right. A true cultivator should remain calm even when Mount Tai copses in front of him. It¡¯s useless for you to break out into a sweat when you encounter such a trivial matter, isn¡¯t it?"

    As the crowd heard this, a roar ofughter rippled through the cabin.

    Beside Zou Ping, a younger sister from the Zhengyi School who had been looking at Li Yundong with curious eyes couldn¡¯t help but gently say to Zou Ping, "Shijie Zou Ping, what do you think Li Yundong is opening the skylight for?"

    Zou Ping sneered and said, "Who knows? Maybe he wants to find an escape route so that he won¡¯t lose face?"

    The younger sister pulled a face at Zou Ping. "I think he¡¯s got a n. Don¡¯t you see how calm he is? He looks like our shishiong!"

    Zou Ping said derisively, "Shimei, only our Shidee Tianhe from the Zhengyi School is truly calm. Zhang Tianhees from a noble and righteous sect, and he¡¯s also the descendant of Zhang Tiansh¨©, and his cultivation kung fu is earth-shattering, and he¡¯s already hidden his demeanor as the Head. That¡¯s how he¡¯s calm andposed! Li Yundong is just a tactless and impulsive person. Who the hell is he? Does he even deserve to bepared to our Shidee?"

    Wan Zhenyuan was also secretly puzzled by Li Yundong¡¯s words. "Why isn¡¯t he thinking about how to settle a score, but instead cares about the window? Is he really starting to break a sweat because of his guilty conscience?"

    He didn¡¯t think too much about it. With a wave of his hand, he ordered a janitor to open the skylight at the top of the cabin.

    The crowd saw that the skylight was only about half a meter square. Just then, a beam of light shone from the outside down onto the mahogany tea table in front of Li Yundong.

    He smiled and said, "You just watched a simted divine punishment. Now I¡¯ll show you a real one. How does that sound?"

    The crowd was stunned and before they even had time to react, they saw Li Yundong suddenly pressing his hands down!

    With this motion, everyone could suddenly feel that the ship under their feet was beginning to sink.

    It was as if the ship had suddenly be a submarine, plummetting desperately!

    Before the crowd even had time to panic, they saw Li Yundong smiling again. His two palms facing the ground fiercely turned into palms facing the sky, and then he pushed his hands up again, shouting as he did so, "Water!"

    With a thunderous boom, a huge wave rose around them. It covered the entire ship and they were all instantly plunged into darkness!

    The water around them surged as if it were going straight up to the sky. In the blink of an eye, everything had be turbulent.

    On the bank of the river, Kris, John and Alba had been keeping watch over the cruise ship from afar, and they were stunned to see that the peaceful moat had suddenly turned into a raging river. Standing together, they stared straight at the rolling river¡¯s surface. John said amazedly, "God, what¡¯s going on?"

    Alba opened her eyes wide and stammered, "Shouldn¡¯t the moat be stagnant? How can there possibly be such a big storm?"

    Kris vaguely felt that this storm might have something to do with the wise and powerful Li Yundong, but she still couldn¡¯t believe it. Her mouth was agape and she found herself unable to even speak for a moment. All she could do was stare at the ship where Li Yundong was. A voice filled with curiosity was shouting in her heart, "For God¡¯s sake, who can tell me exactly what¡¯s going on?"

    At this time, the pedestrians on both sides of the river also stopped and were struck dumb, looking at the river and gesticting wildly. Some people even picked up their cell phones and began to film.

    Before long, they heard the sound of thunder rumbling through the sky. They were dumbstruck. Someone couldn¡¯t help but exim, "Damn, the winter thunder is shaking! What¡¯s left is only rain and snow!"

    Other people also nodded and said, "Yes, there¡¯s been a miscarriage of justice!"

    As the pedestrians whispered to each other, they suddenly heard a cracking sound in the sky.

    The sound was terrifying, enough to make anyone¡¯s heart beat violently. They couldn¡¯t help looking up at the sky, and their eyes were full of horror and fear.

    At this time, the sky was dark and full of rolling grey clouds. The mass of clouds hung down so low that people could touch the clouds simply by raising their arms!

    There were bursts of lightning rolling in this cloudyer, like the clouds were a cage imprisoning a thunder and lightning beast. It seemed that the gate would be opened at any time to release the monster within, destroying everything in this world!

    When everyone saw the terrifying dark clouds and thunder and lightning, they began to panic. Suddenly, another loud sound came from the sky.

    "Crack!!!"

    The sound of the explosion made everyone feel like they were in a nightmare!

    The sky was going to copse!

    At this moment, all the cultivators in the cabin could not help but stand and look at Li Yundong in horror. They began yelling at him in terrified voices, "Li Yundong, are you crazy? Do you want to die and take us out with you?"

    "Li Yundong, do you want to attract divine punishment?"

    "Li Yundong, do you want to die together with us?"

    These voices constantly rushed toward Li Yundong in a raging flood. But then, there was a deafening p of thunder from the sky, making everyone¡¯s ears buzz. No one could even hear what the person in front of them was saying, they could only see their mouths moving and hear a buzzing sound in their ears.

    Li Yundongughed lightly. "Don¡¯t panic, Brothers of the Tao. Even if the sky really falls, I¡¯ll lift it back up!"

    At this time, a bolt of thunder fell from the rolling dark clouds and struck right at the skylight of the cruise ship!

    Li Yundong, however, acted as if he hadn¡¯t heard the ominous sound. Heughed and raised his right palm upward. Suddenly, he held it up to the sky!

    As soon as Li Yundong lifted his hand into the air, this thunder urately struck above his palm and exploded with a bang!

    Everyone looked up and saw dark clouds rolling in the sky outside the skylight, so low that they seemed to be attached to the window. The thunder and lightning were wildly tearing at the clouds, as if they would rend them apart in the next second!

    Before they had time to panic, they saw the thunder and lightning striking toward the skylight like rain!

    Li Yundong stood there as if nothing was going on. He raised his hand and held it high. The thunder and lightning collected above his head and disappeared only three inches in front of his hand, as if he was really supporting the sky with one hand!

    For a moment, everyone was shocked. They looked at Li Yundong, dumbfounded, and thought, "What the hell is this madman doing?"

 Chapter 480 A Battle of Taking Turns to Challenge The Master!

    <h4>Chapter 480 A Battle of Taking Turns to Challenge The Master!</h4>

    Li Yundong stood still in the midst of the thunderstorm, like a towering mountain. He seemed to think that everyone was not shocked enough. His other hand waved over the broken teacup, collecting up all the pieces in the sky, and he threw them toward the skylight window!

    With his throw, a bolt of lightning coincidentally struck, uratelynding in the middle of these pieces.

    Everyone could see that there was a sudden light in front of them, as if a me had sparked. For a moment, every shark of the broken teacups was shining and rolling through the air.

    But without even waiting to see how far the shards would go, another bolt of Heavenly Thunder fell and smashed around the teacup fragments, causing them to gather together in the air.

    These fragments almost seemed to be being controlled by an invisible hand, which could keep them out of the skylight. Moreover, as the Heavenly Thunder continued to strike, every fragment was not directly hit by it, so they were not directly shattered. Instead, they were all covered with the spirit of Heaven and Earth from the Heavenly Thunder. It looked as if they were ted with ayer of colored ze, shining brilliantly in the air.

    Only then did the cultivators in the cabin understand that Li Yundong was the one making the Heavenly Thunder smash the fragments of these tea cups, not only preventing the thunder from directly hitting them, but also precisely controlling it to prevent the fragments from leaving the bombardment range!

    This was more than a hundred times more difficult than what Chen Yunyan had done!!

    Ding Nan¡¯s time with Zheng Yuan had not been short, but she hadn¡¯t even thought that someone could do magic so miraculous! The Heavenly Thunder was like his ve! It was too sensational!!

    Zheng Yuan was also dumbfounded as he looked at the broken pieces of skylight. He was so shocked that he didn¡¯t even have time to think about anything else. He didn¡¯t even know that his beloved disciple was looking at Li Yundong as if he were a god.

    Wei Qing looked at Li Yundong with dull eyes. She couldn¡¯t help whispering, "Oh my god... this is impossible, isn¡¯t it? How can a person control Heavenly Thunder so skillfully? This is Heavenly Thunder, isn¡¯t it caused by magic?! How is he doing this?"

    Beside her, Yue Sheng heard her words, and he said subconsciously with a shocked face, "No, this is not real Heavenly Thunder. The real divine punishment of Heavenly Thunder can¡¯t be controlled by anyone! This is just simted Heavenly Thunder created by Li Yundong, but... it¡¯s too realistic!"

    All the cultivators present were rendered speechless. They stared in a daze at the raging Heavenly Thunder and the rolling fragments at the skylight.

    After an unknown period of time had psed, when thest bolt of Heavenly Thunder suddenly struck, these pieces seemed to suddenly be pinched together by an invisible hand, turning into four intact teacups!

    Li Yundongughed and loosened his grip on the sky. Immediately, the surroundings lit up, and the rolling dark clouds in the sky slowly drifted away. After a while, they dispersed in all directions, and the sky became clear again.

    Li Yundong waved his other hand toward the four teacups hanging in the air. They automatically flew over to him and lined up in a row.

    He ced the four teacups on the tea table and held each one in turn with one hand. Then, he flicked it gently with his finger. He heard a crisp dinging sound ring from the teacup, and a colorful light flowed out into the surroundings. It was dazzling.

    Everyone widened their eyes and stared at the cups, awed. They didn¡¯t understand how Li Yundong had put the broken teacups back together again. How had he managed to control the lightning so urately?

    The cultivators present were not fools. They were all educated people who understood magic well. Naturally, they knew that Chen Yunyan had used Heavenly Thunder to break the teacups, and Li Yundong had used the Heavenly Thunder to repair the cups again. Neither was an easy feat!

    Zhou Qin had just begun working with the Tao not too long ago, so she couldn¡¯t see understand the profound theories behind the match. Seeing everyone staring foolishly at Li Yundong, Su Chan and Zi Yuan¡¯s faces lit up with delight. She could vaguely guess that Li Yundong had already won, but Zhou Qin still couldn¡¯t resist saying to Zi Yuan, "Zi Yuan, how does it look? Hurry up and tell me, how is it? Has Li Yundong won?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s face was brimming with uncontroble joy and admiration. She nodded and said, "Li Yundong won!"

    Zhou Qin¡¯s eyebrows immediately flew up. "How did he win?" she asked.

    Zi Yuan nced at Chen Yunyan and saw the young cultivator standing there with a dejected look on his pale face. She couldn¡¯t help but sigh in her heart, "Since this world already has a master, how can there be another? If this person hadn¡¯t picked a fight with Li Yundong, he wouldn¡¯t have been defeated so miserably!"

    Zi Yuan sighed softly. She exined to Zhou Qin in a low voice, "Chen Yunyan is actually a rare thunder-controlling master in the world. In terms of thunder control, no one can be his opponent except Li Yundong. Chen Yunyan just used the water to simte a small-sized divine punishment in front of him and controlled the lightning to hit four water cups, so that the cup was broken into a fine powder. But Li Yundong also used the water to attract thunder, and he used the moat of the moat in Dongwu City as a medium, which is very simr to the thunder and lightning. Its scale and power were many times greater than that of Chen Yunyan just now!"

    "It should be known that the more powerful the thunder is, the harder it is to control! Chen Yunyan was able to urately hit the teacups just now because of the small size of the thunder, but Li Yundong has just simted Heavenly Thunder. Such powerful thunder and lightning and he could actually control it urately? And the degree of uracy was far above what Chen Yunyan achieved! It was shocking and fantastic!"

    Zi Yuan looked at Li Yundong in awe. She then continued, "Besides, it¡¯s always easier to destroy something than to repair it! Regardless of anything else, Chen Yunyan shattered the teacups with Heavenly Thunder and turned them into a fine powder. What was implied was there being no life under the pressure of the Heavenly Thunder. However, Li Yundong was able to fix the shattered teacups with the Heavenly Thunder. Through that, he showed the idea that although Heavenly Thunder is powerful, it can also bring vitality. This is in line with the principles of us cultivators passing through divine punishment and experiencing righteous Cultivation. Therefore, if Chen Yunyan is not blind or stupid, if he still has even a hint of shame, he should immediately admit defeat! Their abilities are not even at the same level!"

    Hearing this, Zhou Qin let out a sigh of relief. She chuckled and followed the gaze of Zi Yuan as she looked at Chen Yunyan.

    At this time, it was not only Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin who were looking at Chen Yunyan, others were too. The cultivators in the cabin were all staring at him. Almost everyone was silently convinced that Chen Yunyan was the loser. They were just waiting for him to admit defeat.

    At this point, Chen Yunyan¡¯s body trembled slightly. He had never imagined that he, who had racked his brains for a good strategy, would lose in the end. Furthermore, he had lost so thoroughly that he had no chance to defend himself!

    His face was pale and his lips were trembling. He seemed to be mustering all his strength to say the words "I surrender", but just as the words were about toe out, they formed a lump in his throat.

    While Chen Yunyan was struggling, a man suddenly jumped up next to him and said loudly, "My Shishiong should have won this battle!"

    Looking over, everyone saw that he was a cultivator from the Qingwei Sect. They immediately burst into an uproar and said, "Do you think we are all blind simpletons? If your Shishiong deres himself victorious, we¡¯ll eat these teacups!"

    "Kid, stop fooling around. If you lose, you should admit it gracefully. Can¡¯t the Qingwei Sect afford to fali?"

    Li Yunyang looked at him and saw that he was the man from the Qingwei Sect who had nned a sneak attack on him in Mount Tianlong. He smiled and said with cupped hands, "Brother of the Tao, it¡¯s time for you to tell me your name, okay?"

    The man nced at Li Yundong and couldn¡¯t help but be shocked by his bearing. His cheeks turned slightly red, and he braced himself to say, "Is it important that you know my name? Let¡¯s talk about the issue at hand!"

    Li Yundong said with a smile, "Oh? What are you trying to say?"

    The man straightened up and said, "My Shishiong conjured small-scale Heavenly Thunder, but you didrge-scale Heavenly Thunder. This was not fair. It was cheating! Anyway, I¡¯m not convinced!"

    The crowd listened to the man¡¯s unreasonable exnation, and it was only thest sentence that revealed his true nature. "It seems that he really can¡¯t afford to lose the battle!"

    Although most of the cultivators present did not have a good impression of Li Yundong, and most of them even felt disdainful and jealous of the leader of the Fox Zen School being surrounded by so many beautiful women, they could not reverse the facts and tell lies.

    Li Yundong was not angered by the man¡¯s pestering. He turned to Wan Zhenyuan and said with a smile, "Master Wan, you¡¯re the host here. Please pass your fair judgment of the matter!"

    Wan Zhenyuan was shocked by Li Yundong¡¯s Cultivation Quotient methods. At this time, when he saw that Li Yundong was being very polite to him, he stroked his beard and said gravely, "This matter can be said to be a fierce battle between dragons and tigers. Both sides have performed extremely wonderful thunder-controlling methods. They can be said to be orchids in spring and chrysanthemums in autumn, both exuding their own charm, but as the saying goes, there is no first ce in literature, and no second ce in martial arts. It is the same for our cultivation of battle abilities. If you want me to dere an oue, I still think Zhenren Li is slightly better!!"

    His words were very tactful. He not only gave Chen Yunyan the face to step down, but also came to a conclusion. He hadn¡¯t offended anyone. When everyone heard what he said, some people nodded to themselves, admiring Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s sophisticated foresight, while others sneered in their hearts. They didn¡¯t like his ttery.

    After hearing Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s words, Chen Yunyan breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing that his Shidee was about to say something, he scolded him in a low voice, "Shidee, don¡¯t say anything more. In this battle... I¡¯m a loser!"

    Chen Yunyan made an obeisance by cupping his hands to Li Yundong, then said reluctantly, "Zhenren Li, you are truly excellent. I¡¯m convinced!"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and saluted him back. "Zhenren Chen, your cultivation kung fu skills are also nothing to sneeze at, but it¡¯s a pity that you used some of your skills in the wrong ce. If you can concentrate on the Tao, I believe you¡¯ll continue to improve!"

    If these words had been spoken by a senior cultivator, Chen Yunyan might have listened respectfully, but in Chen Yunyan¡¯s view, Li Yundong was younger than him, but he had actually taught him a lesson in front of everyone!

    So Chen Yunyan was furious and snorted in his heart. He made an obeisance by cupping his hands at Li Yundong with an embarrassed expression and sitting back in his seat.

    Wan Zhenyuan smiled and cupped his hands at Li Yundong. "Zhenren Li, ording to the rules of the Taoist assembly, it¡¯s now time for you to stand guard! You will be challenged by members of all sects until you are defeated! But you can take a break between each battle. Would you like to take a rest now?"

    Zhou Qin, who was not far away, was shocked when she heard this. She couldn¡¯t help whispering, "What kind of rule is this? Isn¡¯t he forcing him? Why does he have to keep epting challenges as the champion? What if he exhausted all his energy in thest round and gets defeated by someone?"

    Zi Yuan smiled helplessly and said, "The tradition of taking turns to challenge the master is an established part of the Taoist assembly! If you aren¡¯t powerful enough to suppress the crowd, you won¡¯t be able to take away the prized powerful magical weapon!"

    Zhou Qin was stunned and whispered, "That¡¯s simply too harsh!"

    Next to her, Su Chanforted Zhou Qin in a low voice, "Sister Zhou Qin, don¡¯t worry. Yundong will keep winning! He¡¯s powerful now!"

    The women whispered to each other in private, while Li Yundong on the field smiled slightly. He didn¡¯t answer Wan Zhenyuan. Instead, he cupped his hands and said to the cultivators from all the other sects, "Are there any brothers of the Taoing to battle?"

    The cultivators were all shocked and terrified after seeing Li Yundong¡¯s Shentong methods just now. For a moment, no one took the initiative to challenge him. They all expected others to stand up so that they could challenge himter, once he¡¯d already been weakened.

    Wan Zhenyuan frowned secretly when he saw how the crowd was seemingly paralyzed. He said loudly, "ording to the rules, if no one fights within thirty minutes, Zhenren Li will win by default!"

    Hearing this, the crowd went into an uproar. No one was willing to let Li Yundong take the immortal pen, but they were even more unwilling to go out first and take the full force of Li Yundong¡¯s Zhenqi, then get taken advantage ofter!

    For a time, everyone just looked around and encouraged each other to move forward, showing that they would rather let their brothers of the Tao die than let themselves die.

    Wan Zhenyuan saw that everyone was so petrified of Li Yundong that they would not dare to step forward. He frowned and quickly nced at Sun Baitian, who was not far away.

    As Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s gaze swept over him, Sun Baitian immediately understood what he wanted. He slowly walked over to the front of the stage and said loudly, "Zhenren Li, your thunder-controlling skills are very powerful. I wonder how well you¡¯ve performed your five elements Shentong?"

    "It gets me by!" Li Yundong yelled, smiling slightly.

    Sun Baitianughed and said, "That¡¯s good. I know a little bit of the five elements¡¯ kung fu. Come on, Zhenren Li, let¡¯s fight it out!"

    The cultivators from the various sects secretly heaved sighs of relief, and they were all excited when they saw Sun Baitian taking the initiative to challenge him.

    Li Yundong¡¯s thunder controlling ability just now was so powerful that it had made everyone fearful. However, no matter how powerful a person was, it would be impossible for them to master all magics. Everyone was wondering how the Shentong of Li Yundong¡¯s five elements was. Sun Baitian was the Qianbei of the Gezao Sect, and twenty years ago, he had been a famous great cultivator. He was the best at five elements fighting methods!

    "Li Yun¡¯s lightning control skills are stupendous. There¡¯s no reason for his five elements to be so abnormal, right?"

 Chapter 481 Casting Soil to Form Troops to Attack the City!

    <h4>Chapter 481 Casting Soil to Form Troops to Attack the City!</h4>

    Li Yundong looked at Sun Baitian and made obeisance with his hands. He smiled and said, "I wonder how you intend to fight against the Five Elements, Zhenren Sun?"

    Sun Baitian chuckled and walked up to the table. He rapped on it and said, "Zhenren Li, why don¡¯t we use this table as the arena? We¡¯ll disy our Shentongs and see who¡¯s more mysterious. Let¡¯s see who wins. What do you think?"

    Li Yundong was very curious and asked, "How can we disy our Shentong abilities on this arena table?"

    Sun Baitian slid five bags out from the folds of his clothes, each of which was about the size of a fist, and put them down on the table. Everyone saw that the bags were filled with soil, but the color of each soil was different: cyan, white, red, ck, and yellow.

    Sun Baitian ced the five piles of soil on the table and wiped them with his hands. These five differently-colored piles were mixed together and formed a circr Eight Tiagrams pattern.

    Zhou Qin looked at them curiously and asked, "Zi Yuan, what are they doing here?"

    Zi Yuan responded with a serious expression, "I¡¯m not sure either. However, the five bags Sun Baitian took out no doubt contain soil for the five directions, east, west, north, south, and central. I don¡¯t know why he took the soil out and arranged it into an Eight Trigrams pattern like that though. What is he going to do?"

    After Sun Baitian had set up the Eight Tiagrams pattern, half of it was aimed towards himself, and the other half was aimed towards Li Yundong. "Zhenren Li," he said, "the Eight Diagrams pattern is like a battlefield between the two sides. The middle Yin-Yang Principle line is the battle line between the two sides. We might as well take out our Shentong and use this Eight-Diagram pattern as the battlefield. Each of us will attack the other side. If one of us pushes the frontpletely to the Yin-Yang Principle points of their opponent first, they¡¯ll lose. What do you think?"

    Li Yundong looked down and saw two prominent Yin and Yang points on both sides of the Eight Trigrams of Yin-Yang pattern, one ck and one white. They were like two castles in the middle, facing each other eagerly.

    Li Yundongughed. "What an interesting method. Well, let¡¯s do as you say!"

    Hearing his agreement, Sun Baitian immediately burst intoughter and said, "Great!"

    The cultivators in the cabin began discussing amongst themselves. "What kind of a battle is this? Why haven¡¯t I heard of it before?" they wondered.

    "That¡¯s right. How are they doing this?"

    "Li Yundong has been too bold. He hasn¡¯t even grasped the rules and yet he¡¯s dared to agree!"

    "Haven¡¯t you heard the saying ¡¯The talented and skilled are generally boldest¡¯?"

    "Bullsh*t, he¡¯s still so young. It¡¯s impossible for him to be proficient with thunder magic and all five elements magic even if he had started cultivating in his mother¡¯s womb."

    Su Chan and Zhou Qin saw that everyone was discussing the fight, and they couldn¡¯t help worrying for Li Yundong. Ruan Hongling looked at the arena. She gently tugged Zi Yuan¡¯s sleeve and whispered. "Sister Zi Yuan, do you understand this? What does this all mean? Why can¡¯t I understand it?"

    Zi Yuan frowned slightly. She stared at the arena without blinking, as if she was thinking about something hard. Hearing Ruan Hongling¡¯s words, she said without turning her head, "Although I don¡¯t know how Sun Baitian wants to battle this out, the fight of the five elements can¡¯t escape the principle of mutualplementarity. Sun Baitian is using five-colored earth for the east, south, west, north and center as cities and territories. The earth itself contains different attributes for these five directions."

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s eyes lit up and she said in a low voice, "Yes, the corresponding color in the east is cyan, which belongs to wood; the corresponding color in the west is white, which belongs to the mind; the corresponding color in the south is red, signifying fire; the corresponding color in the north is ck, representing water; the corresponding color in the middle is yellow, which is for earth! This soil was originally an element of earth, but the earth element has been mixed with the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, which has greatly increased theplexity of the difficulty of mutual generation and mutual restraint amongst the five elements!"

    Zi Yuan nodded slightly. Just as she was about to speak, Sun Baitian suddenly cupped his hands and said, "I¡¯ll invite everyone to watch a good show!"

    After that, he waved his hand and took some soil from the Eight Tiagrams in front of him into his palm. Then, he quickly took out a talisman from his pocket with the other hand and stuffed it into his palm, quickly exhaling.

    When Sun Baitian opened his hand again, the soil in his palm fell over the Eight Tiagrams pattern on the round table. Immediately, they turned into y figures about the size of small fingernails.

    These y figures had faces, arms, and legs, as if they were living little people!

    When everyone saw this, they were shocked. Some cultivators even jumped up and eximed, "You¡¯re making troops out of the soil!"

    Zhou Qin was also shocked. "What kind of magic is this?" she asked. "I¡¯ve only heard of people who can use beans to form troops, but this is the first time I¡¯ve heard of people using soil to do it!"

    Zi Yuan frowned and quickly exined. "This is a kind of talisman magic. Just now, Sun Baitian must have used an earth-style summoning magic. This kind of talisman requires the spirit of Heaven and Earth to be gathered in it every day, allowing it to naturally possess intelligence. As time passes, it will catalyze all things that it cane into contact with. Even if it¡¯s soil, it can still turn into a y figure."

    Zhou Qin was shocked. "It¡¯s such unusual magic? Can it be anything else?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s gaze was glued to the arena as she responded, "It¡¯s not impossible. However, humans are the primacy of all things. Naturally, they will turn things into the most intelligent things they can. Could anyone turn something into a lower-level being?"

    The two of them were still whispering to each other when Sun Baitian waved his hand again and summoned a mahogany stool from one side. He held the stool with both hands and, with a wave of his hand, this mahogany stool was crushed into countless small shards of wood as easily as if he were pressing tofu.

    Sun Baitian gathered the wood shavings with one hand and muttered to himself for a while. Then, he released the wood scraps, which instantly turned into small wooden blocks of varying shapes and sizes.

    But when everyone took a closer look, they saw that these small pieces of wood were in factdders, chariots with turrets, catapults, Fen Wans and other siege weapons!

    Everyone turned pale with fright and let out involuntary gasps of shock!

    To make these small wood chips into such small, precise siege weapons by using his Shentong, what tremendous wood-controlling magic!

    But before the crowd could even recover, Sun Baitianughed and waved his hand again, and a bronze censer on the table next to him appeared in his hands. He held the censer with both hands, only to show that it was being deformed bit by bit, as if it was made of water. After a while, he kneaded it into a ball of mud!

    Everyone in the cabin could scarcely believe what they were seeing. They all eximed, "He¡¯s turning iron into mud?!"

    Zhou Qin had seen Chen Yunyanpressing a fist-sized ball of water with the power of the Neidan within his body into a thumb-sized ball before. She had thought that alone was an extremely terrifying skill and ability. However, she had not expected him to be able to turn a Furnace tripod into a pile of mud like he was kneading dough!

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this just insane!?¡±

    For a moment, everyone from the Fox Zen School was too horrified to even utter a word. Su Chan¡¯s eyes widened and she gaped at Sun Baitian in panic. She asked in a trembling voice, "What kind of cultivation is this? It¡¯s too scary, isn¡¯t it?"

    The color of Zi Yuan¡¯s face was a little pale as she said, "Sun Baitian is indeed a Qianbei of the Gezao Sect. He is a great cultivator who earned his fame twenty years ago. During the past twenty years, he kept himself hidden. I hadn¡¯t expected his cultivation to have improved to such a level!"

    Ruan Hongling also said with a face full of fear, "Shijie Zi Yuan, do you think it¡¯s possible that there¡¯s something hidden in his palms? Otherwise, how could he be strong enough to pinch metal into mud?!"

    A thought shed through Zi Yuan¡¯s mind. Her eyes lit up as she said, "That¡¯s right. If there¡¯s fire-type magic hidden in the palm of one¡¯s hand, considering that fire is the nemesis of metal, once the temperature rises, naturally the metal will soften!"

    Hearing this, everyone breathed a sight o relief and eximed, "It must be so!"

    Patting her chest, Su Chan was still in a state of shock. "I was scared to death. I thought he was so strong that he was able to squeeze hard bronze as if it were made of mud with his bare hands!"

    Zi Yuan shook her head. "Even if that¡¯s not true, we can¡¯t underestimate Sun Baitian¡¯s ability. Think about it. To hide fire-style magic in the palm of one¡¯s hand without showing any sign of it, one must have extremely strong fire-element control. Moreover, he must be able to control power without hurting himself. In particr, when the bronze has reached its melting point, he is able to hold it with his own hands. Not only will he not be scalded, but he will also be able to freely use it! What a powerful ability this is!"

    When the crowd heard this, they couldn¡¯t help but frown and look at Li Yundong with concern.

    At this time, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but show a little shock on his face. He watched Sun Baitian digging a little piece from the iron and throwing it on the table. As soon as itnded on the table, it began splitting and bing multiple weapons - knives, spears, halberds, axes, and so on! Everything was there!

    These y men picked up the weapons quickly, and then moved into battle formation. Every step they took made a neat rumble on the table, as if they were a real army marching, putting out a kind of pressure that could not be underestimated. When they walked to the dividing line of the Yin-Yang Principle pattern, the leading y man came out. As soon as this y man raised his hand, the others behind him suddenly stopped in an impable disy of obedience.

    The leading y man raised his sword, and then the soldiers behind him also immediately raised their weapons. It was as if a forest of steel had just sprouted out of the table.

    Although the cultivators in the ship felt that there was a distance between them, they still could feel the murderous aura being produced!

    They were all stunned. It was as if an army had suddenly appeared on the table and was going to attack the city in the next second!

    At this point, the ship was so quiet that it was as if they could hear a needle being dropped.

    Sun Baitian looked at Li Yundong arrogantly and said, "Well, Zhenren Li, shall we start?"

    As soon as he finished speaking, the leading y man, who was standing in the Eight Tiagrams pattern on the round table, suddenly shed his longsword through the air before him!

    These dense y men roared loudly. They fiercely broke through the dividing line of the Yin and Yang Principle Eight Trigrams and rushed toward Li Yundong¡¯s critical point!

    For a moment, everyone felt that the round table was like a real battlefield, and that the y men were warriors bathed in blood. They roared and rushed forward like fierce beasts, murderous and unstoppable!

    Zi Yuan was stunned by the astonishing auras of these little y men. She had never seen such a battle before, and she hadn¡¯t the faintest idea of how to deal with such a battle!

    Her eyes widened, and she stammered out, "Wh-What should we do now? How on Earth can we deal with this?"

 Chapter 482 The Invulnerable City Walls!

    <h4>Chapter 482 The Invulnerable City Walls!</h4>

    Although Li Yundong had stayed in the small worlds of the trichiliocosm of the burning thumb pot for many years, and he had been through almost all of the ssics of Buddhism and Taoism, as well as learned almost every kind of magic, he seldom used his powers for actualbat, especially for a fantastic match like this!

    Facing the swarming y soldiers, Li Yundong was shocked but he soon began to use his magic.

    Li Yundong pointed at the table, and the mud particles of the Yin-Yang Principle began frantically jumping around. Each grain of mud was constantly expanding, forming a high wall that soon blocked the path of the y soldiers.

    But these y soldiers did not give up at all when they hit the wall. They separated quickly and stood in a line, and the y soldiers at the back pushed up the siege carts made by Sun Baitian¡¯s magic one by one.

    These y soldiers were in groups of thirty or fifty and surrounding a Fen Wen cart. More than a dozen of them were carryingdders one after another, rushing over to the mud wall like ants.

    Li Yundong could see that although the y soldiers had been stopped by the mud wall for the meanwhile, they were using siege weapons, constantly attacking the mud wall with magical weapons. Every time they crashed into the wall, a low rumble would sound, and the wall would then emit waves of faint yellow light.

    Li Yundong looked at the table with a frown. He knew that the wall alone could not stop these y soldiers from moving forward. It was already teetering under the fierce impact of the siege carts controlled by the y soldiers. In particr, some y men climbed thedders, ascended to the top of the wall, and then began to jump down like little bombs.

    He saw more and more y soldiers scaling the wall, and more and more cracks were appearing in the defenses. His frowned deepened. Seeing that these y soldiers were about to rush to his stronghold, he suddenly had an impulse to smash them all into mud biscuits with a single p!

    Sun Baitian, who was opposite Li Yundong, seemed to read Li Yundong¡¯s mind. He smiled and said, "Zhenren Li, we can¡¯t fight directly. We can only use our magic to fight with the five elements. Otherwise, you will be considered to have cheated and you will lose!"

    Li Yundong quickly raised his eyes and nced at Sun Baitian, then smiled slightly and lowered his eyes again, thinking quickly about possible countermeasures.

    "The y mene from earth magic. Wood can suppress earth, so should I use wood magic to deal with them?"

    Thinking of this, Li Yundong quickly mobilized his liver Qi. His liver and organs were of wood. As soon as he mobilized his liver Qi, his face turned a shade of dark green. He pointed to the table, and countless tiny vines quickly sprouted over it, binding the little y men in ce one by one.

    At this time, the audience had already left their original positions. They gathered around the round table one by one to watch the eye-opening battle more closely.

    Su Chan and the others were even more anxious. They clenched their fists and looked at the table with their heads raised, wishing they could just pounce onto it and start brawling.

    When they saw Li Yundong using wood magic to trap the y soldiers on the spot, they couldn¡¯t help cheering in unison. But just as their voices left their mouths, they saw the y soldiers waving their weapons and cutting at the vines wrapped around them. They cut the wooden vines up in a few moves and then quickly rushed forward.

    Li Yundong was slightly surprised. He hadn¡¯t expected that the weapons in these y people¡¯s hands could be strong enough to do such a thing. He was stunned and saw that the y soldiers had rushed into his stronghold.

    Li Yundong saw that he was about to lose. Suddenly, he heard Zi Yuan sending a transmission to him, "Li Yundong, blindly suppressing the five elements is not enough. Sun Baitian has used the soil of the five elements. Although these y soldiers are earth elementals, they also have other elements mixed into them. Moreover, the weapons in the y soldiers¡¯ hands are gold. The mental element can suppress wood, it¡¯ll naturally restrain your wood element magic! You have to find a way to use the mutual generation of five elements to deal with these y weapons. Otherwise, just relying on one kind of elemental magic alone will not be enough!"

    Li Yundong had a good idea. He first quickly mobilized his earth magic and built a thick, tall mud wall around his stronghold. Although this wall was only as high as a forearm, it was already high enough that it could not be climbed by these nail-sized y soldiers.

    After Li Yundong blocked the y soldier¡¯s advance, he temporarily breathed a sigh of relief and began to think carefully about what Zi Yuan had said before.

    He thought to himself, "Zi Yuan is right. Theoretically, Sun Baitian is attacking me with three kinds of magic: earth, mental, and wood. How can I resist them all with only earth and wood? Only bybining five kinds of magic can I find a way to deal with this effectively!"

    Li Yundong saw the y soldiers meet with the wall he had built with earth magic, and they were preparing to use the same siege weapons anddders to break through the wall in a two-pronged way.

    He saw the city wall shaking ceaselessly under the attack of the siege carts. He thought to himself, "Is there any way to make this city wall imprable?"

    Thinking of this, Li Yundong suddenly had an idea. He thought to himself, "Fire can nourish earth in the five elements. If I use fire to generate earth, I think the earth magic will be more powerful!"

    Li Yundong quickly figured out a solution. As he rubbed his fingers together, a fireball appeared at his fingertips. Most of the cultivators around were discerning people. They could guess what he was going to do as soon as they saw him start to move.

    Immediately, one of the cultivators in the crowd nodded and whispered, "That¡¯s right. Using fire to generate the earth can make the wall more stable! Furthermore, fire can restrain metal. It can also restrain the mental-element weapons in the y men¡¯s hands!"

    However, there were other cultivators who scoffed and said, "Don¡¯t be silly. Sun Baitian¡¯s y men are also of the earth element. Once the fire is over, the y figurines will be stronger!"

    Su Chan saw that Li Yundong¡¯s territory had already been whittled down to a very small area on this round table. Sun Baitian¡¯s main forces had already arrived at the city and surrounded the stronghold.

    She couldn¡¯t help but worry, but she could do nothing but stare at the small battle at the round table like everyone else.

    Seeing that Li Yundong was going to use fire magic to deal with him, Sun Baitian grinned. He waved his hands and summoned a water ball from the teacup next to him. As soon as Li Yundong released his fire magic, Sun Baitian would use water magic to restrain it.

    Seeing Sun Baitian¡¯s movements, Li Yundong smiled slightly and made a move with his other hand. He ced the tea in the teacup on the desk into his palm, holding a fireball in one hand and a water ball in the other. His face was written with contemtion and concentration. It was clear that this fight was no longer dependant on whose spiritual energy was more powerful and whose five elements magic was more proficient. This was a battle of wits!

    Everyone could see that Li Yundong could control the magic of water and fire with ease. Before they had time to marvel, they saw him suddenly throw the water polo in his hand onto the table.

    With a crash, the table suddenly transformed into a pool of water, and all the y soldiers were immersed in it.

    Sun Baitian frowned and threw the water ball in his hand into the air. At the same time, he quickly summoned a ball of fire with the other hand and drew out a talisman with the character "Earth" written on it. Immediately, he threw the fireball and talisman toward the y men on the table.

    These y men were strengthened by the earth magic and stimted by the fire magic. Suddenly, their bodies became bigger, going from the size of a small fingernail to that of a thumb.

    These y men had been fully submerged, the water going over the top of their heads. At this time, the water could only reach their waists. They shouted and quickly dug up the soil on the table with the weapons in their hands. In only a few moments, they dug out one river after another, and water on the table quickly flowed through these river channels.

    The cultivators around nodded and discussed the scene with each other. "Li Yundong clearly knows earth can suppress water, but he still used water. Isn¡¯t he asking for trouble?"

    But as soon as their voices sounded, they saw Li Yundong throw the fireball in his hand at the wall of earth. The wall of earth immediately burst into zing mes. In those violent mes, this earthen wall swelled and rised as if it had its own vitality. From the height of a forearm at the beginning to that of a full arm and thick palms!

    To an adult, this was just a small y castle built by children for fun, but for y men who were only the size of a thumb, this was an indestructible super stronghold!

    Only then did everyone understand that Li Yundong had deliberately used water to attack Sun Baitian in order to attract his attention. At the same time, he had used fire to drive the wall to be taller and thicker. This was a deceptive tactic!

    Sun Baitian frowned secretly and quickly nced at Li Yundong, snorting. "Zhenren Li, you know how to use fire. You think I don¡¯t?"

    After saying that, he rubbed his hands together, and the palms of his two hands lit up with zing mes. He waved his hand and threw the mes toward the dense mass of y soldiers on the table.

    But as soon as he moved, Li Yundongughed and raised his own hand, and the tea in the cup automatically jumped up. Like a high-pressure water column, it rushed toward the mes thrown by Sun Baitian, causing them to scatter.

    Sun Baitian frowned, then reluctantly mobilized some wood magic again and created a siege weapon several timesrger than the previous one to attack Li Yundong¡¯s stronghold again.

    Li Yundong also cleverly responded to his tricks. He used the magic of the mental element and imitated Sun Baitian¡¯s way of pinching a bronze censer into an iron paste. Then, he threw the iron mud around his stronghold. As soon as the iron mud fell on the table, it immediately turned into a tight iron wall, as if it would cover the stronghold with ayer of hard armor.

    Without saying anything, Sun Baitian immediately mobilized the fire magic once again and directed it towards the hard metal armor around Li Yundong¡¯s stronghold. In response, Li Yundong swiftly used water to put out the fire.

    But this time, before Sun Baitian¡¯s fire came into contact with the water, he suddenly manipted all the y men on the table, getting them to throw all the previous wooden siege weapons into the fire. This time, the wood fed the fire, making it extremely vigorous. Although the water could have restrained the fire, because the water¡¯s momentum was too weak, Li Yundong could not resist it for a while, so the fire burned the metal wall.

    When the wall was licked at by the fire, it immediately went red all over, and there were signs of it softening and being about to copse.

    Seeing the intensity of the attack, Li Yundong immediately removed the iron wall and led the fire into his own stronghold, which was then burned. Because the fire drove the earth, Li Yundong¡¯s stronghold was strengthened once again, growing everrger and stronger.

    By this point, everyone in the cabin had been watching Li Yundong and Sun Baitian fighting for a while. Their speed was so high that people couldn¡¯t catch their eyes. In particr, the round table was like a battlefield. It was like a small-scale attack on the table, making some cultivators who had no time to think just feel like they were watching a fantasy movie unfold right in front of them.

    As the saying goes, theymen watch the fun, while the experts see the way. Some cultivators felt like the scene was very lively, but they could not keep up with the movements and thoughts of the two. Some cultivators could faintly see that Li Yundong and Sun Baitian were racking their brains and continuing to use the five elements magic to attack and defend. In particr, the two of them were taking time to think about how to use the five elements magic, and they not only showed superb five elements controlling skills, but also excellent reactions and wisdom.

    What was even more exciting was that in the face of Sun Baitian¡¯s preemptive offense, Li Yundong had moved from a position of absolute inferiority to the beginning to gradually establishing a superior foothold. Although facing the bad situation of the suppression of the army, he had responded calmly and sessively defeated Sun Baitian¡¯s offensive. Not only had he stabilized his position, but he had also secured an invincible position for the time being.

    The cultivators present saw this and were secretly impressed. They could not help but think, "If I were Li Yundong, would I be able to stop Sun Baitian¡¯s attack like that?"

 Chapter 483 Striving to Win

    <h4>Chapter 483 Striving to Win</h4>

    Although Zhang Ling from the Zhengyi School looked down on the Gezao Sect and secretly regarded Li Yundong as her enemy, she couldn¡¯t help but sigh to Zou Ping at this moment. ¡°During the Warring States period, King Chu summoned Lu Ban to produce a lot of siege weapons to attack the Song Kindom. When Mo Zi heard the news, he rushed to the Chu Kingdom andunched a siege duel on paper with Lu Ban. In this battle, Mo Zi used his belt as the city wall tounch an attack and defend against Lu Ban. As a result, Lu Ban used his nine siege techniques, but Mo Zi dealt with them easily! Unexpectedly, after more than 2,000 years, those tactics have reappeared in such a way today! What a miracle!¡±

    Zou Ping stared at Li Yundong with a veryplicated look in her eyes. She felt extremely aggrieved and said, ¡°Master, how Li Yundong could have cultivated for such a short period yet know so much magic? It¡¯s enough that his thunder magic is so powerful, but why is he so proficient in the magic of the five elements too?¡±

    Zhang Ling also looked at Li Yundong and shook her head gently, whispering, ¡°This man must have had some sort of fortuitous encounter. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to have improved his magic Cultivation Quotient so quickly in such a short time!¡±

    Zou Ping looked worriedly at Zhang Tianhe, who was standing next to her with a grave expression on his face. She said to Zhang Ling in a low voice, ¡°Master, so Shidee, he...¡±

    Although Zhang Ling didn¡¯t like Li Yundong very much, she was also the kind of great cultivator who was rare in the Cultivation World, so she naturally understood reality. She would not give a false ount of the facts to her apprentice.

    Zhang Ling frowned slightly and shook her head at Zou Ping, asking her not to say anything in the meantime.

    Zou Ping immediately shut her mouth. She knew that even her master was no longer optimistic about Zhang Tianhe being able to defeat Li Yundong.

    Zou Ping inwardly gritted her teeth. ¡°Since thest time he was humiliated and returned to the mountain, the younger Shidee has been working hard on cultivation. This time, his Cultivation Quotient has improved a lot and he wants to wash away his shame, but I hadn¡¯t expected Li Yundong¡¯s improvement to be even faster! I really don¡¯t know how sad Younger Shidee must be feeling in his heart!¡±

    Zou Ping looked at Zhang Tianhe worriedly, but Zhang Tianhe¡¯s eyes were fixed on the battlefield. His body trembled slightly, and he unconsciously clenched his fists. Although there was no expression on his face, there was a strong sense of jealousy and unwillingness shining in his eyes.

    Just as everyone was absorbed in watching this rare and wonderful duel, a sparrow suddenly descended to the skylight of the ship. This sparrow craned its neck and looked into the skylight. After a while, a paper crane fell down next to the sparrow.

    The paper crane and the sparrow stared at each other for a while, then turned their heads at the same time and looked into the cabin.

    At this time, the battle in the cabin was running white-hot, and Li Yundong had begun to switch from being on the defense to being on the offense. He was getting more and more proficient in his control of the magic of the five elements, and his understanding of the mutual generation and restraint of the five elements had be deeper and deeper.

    At this time, the round table was no longer the scene of arge number of y soldiers attacking the city. Li Yundong¡¯s stronghold had be a fortress that was impregnable. Under Sun Baitian¡¯s fierce attack, not only was this stronghold not weakened, but it was getting even stronger and bigger thanks to Li Yundong¡¯s ingenious use of force.

    However, as Li Yundong¡¯s fortress had be even taller andrger, Sun Baitian had no choice but to upgrade his y soldiers and weapons. The y weapons, which had originally been the size of a fingernail, had now be the size of a baby¡¯s fist. The cultivators around them even felt like if the two of them continued to fight like this, sooner orter, the fortress in front of Li Yundong would be a real ultimate fortress, and Sun Baitian¡¯s y soldiers would be real human-sized y soldiers in the end!

    While Sun Baitian was busy fiercely attacking the fortress, Li Yundong also began to formte his own army tounch an attack on Sun Baitian¡¯s stronghold.

    The crowd could see that Li Yundong was using all his Zhenqi to fight Sun Baitian, and their y soldiers were locked in a conflict. The magic spells of Metal; Wood; Water; Fire; and Earth were flying around them. Sometimes Li Yundong would gain an advantage on one battlefield, and sometimes Sun Baitian would fight back on another battlefield. The two of them seemed to be in a stalemate.

    By this point, Li Yundong had mobilized his Zhenqi to the peak state. Although his face looked normal, white steam was rising from the top of his head. Sun Baitian¡¯s face turned red or green from time to time. The colors of his face were changing back and forth, making him look like some kind of chameleon.

    Sun Baitian could see that Li Yundong¡¯s fortress was bing more and more solid. He had been attacking it for a long time and had be weaker than before due to the draining of his Zhenqi. However, his opponent, Li Yundong, was still full of energy. His eyes were shining and unfathomable as if he still had a lot of vitality left!

    Sun Baitian was secretly rmed. He thought to himself, ¡°I¡¯ve never seen such a strong person with powerful and exhaustive Qi in all my dozens of years of cultivation! Moreover, he¡¯s so young! How did he get like this? Furthermore, he¡¯s the leader of Fox Zen School. I heard that he has a bad reputation as some kind of womanizer!¡±

    ¡°However, how could a womanizer have such a strong and majestic Qi?¡±

    Sun Baitian was secretly shocked. He gritted his teeth and struggled to hold on, but he was helpless because he had used too much Zhenqi onunching a fierce attack before. At this time, Li Yundongmanded his army to attack. They were like beasts flooding out of their cages, and they stormed past the gate. The battle line was immediately pushed back to the Yin-Yang Principle, but his y men were beaten into retreating!

    At that moment, some sharp-eyed cultivators knew that Sun Baitian¡¯s power had already been exhausted, and he could no longer resist Li Yundong¡¯s fierce attack like a raging tide. They shook their heads and sighed to themselves, ¡°Sun Baitian has lost. What a pity! Who could have imagined what kind of person this Li Yundong guy is? Even his Five Elements magic is so powerful that he can actually win against Sun Baitian! Terrifying, truly terrifying!¡±

    But just as they were sighing over this, Li Yundong and Sun Baitian¡¯s armies collided with each other in the middle of the round table. Suddenly, the table was finally overwhelmed, and it split into two parts with a click, falling in opposite directions.

    Li Yundong and Sun Baitian were stunned at the same time. They looked at each other and did not speak for a while. Li Yundong looked at Sun Baitian as if he was asking him if he wanted to continue. However, Sun Baitian seemed not to sense his gaze, quickly looking away and trying to adjust his breathing.

    Everyone could see that Sun Baitian was drenched in sweat, looking as if he had just been fished out of a water tank. Even though Li Yundong was panting slightly, his expression was calm and was showing no other signs of strain. Comparing the two, it was easy to know who would win!

    Wan Zhenyuan frowned when he saw the end of the battle. Soon, he came up with an idea and pped his hands with a heartyugh. ¡°Wonderful, it¡¯s really wonderful!¡±

    At this time, everyone in the field seemed to awaken from a dream, bursting out into apuse and cheers.

    Although this battle was not as earth-shattering as the previous one had been, this time, not only were theyparing their cultivation levels and understanding of the five elements magic, but they were alsopeting on their strategy and wisdom. It was the perfect application of military strategy in a battle. Everyone couldn¡¯t help but be unconvinced!

    Just as everyone was cheering loudly, the sparrow that had been watching from the skylight suddenly spread its wings and flew off.

    It pped its wings and flew into the sky, going in one direction for a while before finallynding in the palm of an old man.

    This old man was wearing a ck kimono and had a pair of wooden clogs on his feet. He was Master Cinian of Zhenyan Tantrism, Rigoino, whom Li Yundong had met once at the Xiyuan Temple.

    He gently touched the sparrow in his palm with one wrinkled hand. He sighed softly and said, ¡°s, I hadn¡¯t expected that this great country, China, which ims to be the country of the Celestial Dynasty, to fall to such a low level! So many cultivators have be clowns! What a pity!¡±

    The one standing next to him was Shinsyu, who had confronted Li Yundong before. The young monk was still wearing a brand-name suit and standing humbly behind a little girl. After listening to Master Cinian¡¯s words, he said, ¡°Master Cinian, you worry too much! These cultivators who need to secretly settle a score have no real ability.¡±

    Tachibana Wakako, dressed in a red dress with a floral print, looked like a lovely doll. She looked up at Cinian and said with a smile, ¡°But Master Cinian, I think that their battle just now was quite interesting!¡±

    Cinian shook his head and sighed. ¡°Tachibana Wakako, you¡¯re still a child after all, so of course you think it¡¯s interesting. In my opinion, it was a farce. In the Cultivation World of our great Japan, this is simply unheard of! Settling a score is a sacred and solemn thing. How could it be done in such a trifling manner? In the Cultivation World, fighting is serious. If you can¡¯t defeat the enemy, you will die!¡±

    Tachibana Wakako blinked her eyes, seeming to understand, and asked sincerely, ¡°Master Cinian, do we still have to attend their Taoist assembly?¡±

    Cinian hesitated for a moment. Just as he was hesitating, he heard Shinsyu cut in and say, ¡°Master Cinian, please allow me to go to the Taoist assembly topete with Li Yundong! I will let these Chinese cultivators understand the true meaning of a fight!¡±

    Cinian shook his head without even thinking. ¡°No, we¡¯re not here to cause trouble this time!¡±

    Shinsyu was greatly disappointed, but he didn¡¯t say anything else and just lowered his head obediently. Like a servant, he respectfully stood behind Tachibana Wakako and kept silent.

    However, Tachibana Wakako was not satisfied with this. She tugged on the sleeves of Cinian and pleaded like a spoiled child, ¡°Master Cinian, it wasn¡¯t easy for me toe out here and I happened toe across such a fun Taoist assembly. Let me go and take a look! Please, please!¡±

    Cinian looked at Tachibana Wakako with a loving expression. He thought carefully for a moment, then smiled helplessly. ¡°Alright, Tachibana Wakako, I really can¡¯t refuse you!¡±

    Upon hearing this, she was overjoyed and cheered, ¡°Hooray, Master Cinian! Don¡¯t worry, I will be very obedient and won¡¯t cause any trouble!¡±

    Hearing this, Cinian sped his hands in his sleeves and said proudly, ¡°What if you cause trouble? These cultivators who treat duels as child¡¯s y are not worthy of being our opponents.¡± After that, heughed loudly. Hisughter was like thunder, making the little sparrow in his hand fly up in fright and flee into the distance.

 Chapter 484 Win? Lose? Or Draw?

    <h4>Chapter 484 Win? Lose? Or Draw?</h4>

    When Cinian, Shinsyu, and Tachibana Wakako decided to go to the Taoist assembly, Li Yundong had already be the target of everyone¡¯s attention on the ship.

    Although there were only two rounds of fighting, the strength that Li Yundong had shown was enough to make the cultivators of all sects deeply afraid.

    Since ancient times, there had been "no first ce in literature and no second ce in martial arts". Everyone envied and hated the person who upied first ce, and they all want to beat the champion and climb to first ce by themselves.

    Dang Qiang of Peni Sect shook his head and shouted loudly, "Zhenren Li, Zhenren Sun, it¡¯s really been a good fight! I¡¯ve lived for so many years, and this is the first time I¡¯ve seen such a unique battle. It¡¯s wonderful, really wonderful! However, although it is wonderful, there must always be a winner and loser, so now, who has won?"

    These words immediately touched everyone¡¯s hearts. Regardless of how wonderful the fight had been just now, everyone was now hesitating again. They thought to themselves, "Li Yundong was proficient in Thunder Magic and the Five Elements Magic as well, so he was basically a real great Cultivator!

    ¡°Moreover, the most terrifying thing is that he is still so young!¡±

    ¡°If I let him arrogantly go on like this, there will be no chance for me to stand out.¡±

    Ding Nan looked at Li Yundong in shock. She couldn¡¯t help but mumble, "He¡¯s too strong... How can he be so strong?"

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s face was gloomy, and his vignce toward Li Yundong had reached its peak. It was the first time he had felt that a person¡¯s threat could be so great and terrible to him!

    This kind of vignce and tension made him not even realize that Ding Nan¡¯s tone was filled with a strong sense of admiration. He even thought that his disciple, Lyu Fengping, had let out a moan of despair because she could not get revenge.

    There was a chill in Zheng Yuan¡¯s eyes. He thought to himself, ¡¯¡¯No, I can¡¯t let this man get the immortal pen. Otherwise, although the world is vast, there will be no ce for our sect to stand!¡¯¡¯

    He nced around and saw that the cultivators of all sects were looking at Li Yundong withplicated expressions. Their eyes were full of jealousy. His heart thumped and a smile appeared on his face. He said to a cultivator of Shenxiao Sect in a tone of appreciation, "Zhenren Zhang was the best five hundred years ago, but Zhenren Li is the best now! Good! I really hadn¡¯t expected that we would have such an amazing cultivator in our cultivation world. He¡¯s so young. He¡¯s amazing. He¡¯s really amazing!"

    The cultivator next to him couldn¡¯t help ncing at Zheng Yuan, as if to distinguish whether he was praising sincerely or just reluctantly ttering him. An older cultivator of Shenxiao Sect snorted after hearing that. He said with some dissatisfaction, "Zhang Sanfeng is indeed a great Zhenren, but I don¡¯t know whether Li Yundong is a real great Zhenren or not. I think he can¡¯t be considered as a great Zhenren now as he¡¯s just too young!"

    Zheng Yuan saw that there were indeed people among the surrounding cultivators who were unconvinced. He felt a sense of joy in his heart and continued to stir up trouble by saying, "There. As the saying goes, young heroes have emerged from ancient times. With such a young man, we old men can rest assured!"

    The elder cultivator was Liu Yuqing, an older member of the Shenxiao Sect. He and Sun Baitian were of the same generation, both of them reclusive great cultivators. He had wanted to show off at the Taoist assembly with his disciples, but he hadn¡¯t expected that he would be shocked by Li Yundong before he could even show up. His disciples all looked frightened and none dared toe on stage.

    Hearing this, Liu Yuqing immediately frowned and gave Zheng Yuan a very unkind look. He said in a sinister voice, "Head Zheng, what do you mean by this?"

    Zheng Yuan stroked his beard and chuckled. "Zhenren Liu, don¡¯t you think so? Cultivators¡¯ speeds of cultivation are too fast these days. We¡¯re too old to catch up with them! In a few years, the whole world will be under their control!"

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s voice was not loud, but almost everyone on the ship heard what he said. Su Chan, Ruan Hongling, and Zheng Yuan had once confronted each other face to face. They knew that this kind-hearted old man was a viin with a vicious heart and evil intentions hidden behind his smile. When they saw Zheng Yuan actually praising Li Yundong in such a manner, they looked at one another immediately.

    Ruan Hongling asked curiously, "What horrible motivation in this old guy¡¯s stomach is making him tter Li Yundong so much?"

    Su Chan also blinked her eyes and looked at Zheng Yuan with a puzzled face. "Could it be that he sees Yundong as too powerful and wants to reconcile with us?"

    Ruan Hongling sneered. "Hum, this man¡¯s heart is full of evil schemes! In my opinion, he must be nning something. Could he really be kind? I don¡¯t believe it!"

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s unbridled words were said in a voice so loud that she attracted the attention of cultivators from the other sects nearby. Zi Yuan frowned secretly and gently stepped on Ruan Hongling¡¯s foot under the table.

    Ruan Hongling felt a pain in her toes and quickly shrank back. She looked at Zi Yuan with dissatisfaction and grunted twice, but in the end, she didn¡¯t say anything worse.

    Zi Yuan¡¯s temperament was calm and low-key. She did not want to cause any trouble, but Zhou Qin had just reached the Zhuji phase. At this moment, when her aura was overflowing with vigor, she heard Ruan Hongling and Su Chan¡¯s words. After thinking for a while, she sneered and said, "This is a strategy for buttering Li Yundong up in public and framing him secretly! Zheng Yuan wants to incite other sects to have the same hatred against Li Yundong and then attack him together."

    When Su Chan and the others heard this, they couldn¡¯t help but look at the cultivators of the other sects. They really saw many hidden and profound gazes in the eyes of everyone, many of whom were jealous and resentful. They were shocked and said angrily, "It must be so. D*mn it! He is really shameful!"

    Su Chan said anxiously, "Sister Zi Yuan, what should we do now?"

    After thinking for a while, Zi Yuan said in a low voice, "It¡¯s better to let Li Yundong admit defeat or settle it as a draw. It¡¯s really not worth offending all the sects in the cultivation world for an Immortal Pen!"

    But as soon as she finished speaking, Ruan Hongling and Zhou Qin blurted out at the same time, "No!"

    Ruan Hongling said anxiously, "Shijie Zi Yuan, what nonsense are you spouting now! This is the Taoist assembly, it¡¯s held once every four years! You think he should give up and listen to you?"

    Zhou Qin also raised her eyebrows and said, "Zi Yuan, I don¡¯t agree with your words! Does a person who is too powerful need to work hard to hide his or her own strength? How could there be such truth in this world?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head slightly and smiled bitterly, "You don¡¯t know... My master, Wang Yuanshan... He was also like Li Yundong when he was young. His strength was too outstanding, and he didn¡¯t know how to restrain himself. As a result, he was despised wherever he went, so he became a lonely person, to whom no one willing to get close, and everyone spoke ill of him."

    Su Chan was slightly surprised. She quickly thought to herself, "Ah, so Wang Yuanshan is that kind of person. Isn¡¯t my master the same? He¡¯s arrogant and aloof. No wonder the two of them felt like old friends upon first meeting. This was the reason! Yundong can¡¯t be like that. I don¡¯t want him to be!"

    The girl thought of this and suddenly whispered tentatively, "How about letting Yundong admit that this is a tie? Anyway, it seems like one!"

    Although Zhou Qin valued winning or losing, she was also a very sensible person. She hesitated for a moment and said, "I don¡¯t know what Master would think..."

    While they were talking in private, Wan Zhenyuan smiled and cupped his hands at Li Yundong and Sun Baitian. "Zhenren Sun, Zhenren Li, in my opinion, this battle should be a draw. How about that?" he said.

    When Sun Baitian heard this, he darted a quick nce at Wan Zhenyuan and blushed. He knew in his heart that the leader was defending his reputation and wanted to draw a tie for himself. Otherwise, when the news got out, he, an old cultivator who had been cultivating five elements¡¯ magic for decades, would not be able to deal with a young man who had only been cultivating for half a year. How could he bear it? How could he face others?

    The cultivators from the other sects were also well aware of the situation. Many cultivators were unwilling to see Li Yundong winning two rounds in a row. Therefore, most of them remained silent.

    Du Fei and the rest, who had wanted to say a few words of justice, swallowed their words. They were afraid that they would offend more of theirrades by speaking further.

    Only Dang Qiang jumped up, shook his head, and said loudly, "No, no!"

    Wan Zhenyuan frowned when Dang Qiang was talking, but then he stretched out quickly and smiled. "Dang Qiang, what¡®s your opinion?"

    Dang Qiang said in a powerful tone, "In my opinion, it¡¯s Sun Baitian who won in this battle. Zhenren Sun is the victor!"

    When the crowd heard this, they were suddenly very surprised and al looked atl Dang Qiang.

    Wan Zhen Yuan was also stunned. He hadn¡¯t expected that Dang Qiang would speak for him. He was overjoyed and said with a fake smile, "Zhenren Dang, what do you mean by that?"

    Although Sun Baitian¡¯s expression was a little unnatural, he still looked at Dang Qiang curiously and wanted to see what kind of wise idea this guy, who liked to jest, woulde up with.

    Dang Qiang proudly pointed at Sun Baitian and said, "Everyone, Zhenren Sun is sweating all over, but Zhenren Li didn¡¯t break a sweat at all. Just now, Zhenren Sun had been regting his breathing for a long time and didn¡¯t dare to say a word, but Li¡¯s breath was calm. Inparison, didn¡¯t Zhenren Sun Baitian win?"

    When everyone heard this, they thought to themselves, "Well, this guy has a point!"

    Sun Baitian¡¯s face turned green as he heard this. He was so angry that his entire body convulsed. Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s face turned purple as well. He yelled indignantly, "Dang Qiang, you¡¯ve gone too far! You have no respect for your elders!"

    Dang Qiang opened his mouth wide and said with a look of ignorance, "What¡¯s wrong? Did I say something wrong?"

    Wan Zhenyuan was furious. He could not point out Dang Qiang¡¯s words clearly. If he did, he would be directly admitting that Sun Baitian had lost. He was so angry that he shouted, "What, what did you mean by that?"

    Dang Qiang said with grievance and innocence, "Didn¡¯t you just decide the winner based on whoever worked the hardest? I see that Zhenren Sun¡¯s forehead is full of sweat. Obviously, he is the most hardworking!"

    Everyone burst outughing. Wei Qing, who was the kind of person who desired to see the world plunged into chaos, also added in a low voice, "Then wouldn¡¯t the brick breaker be the best fighter in the world?"

    Du Fei suppressed hisughter and red at her, saying in a low voice, "Shut up, don¡¯t talk nonsense!"

    Ruan Hongling, who was sitting not far from them, heard this and said in a strange tone, "Nonsense.The coal miner is the best!"

    After that, there was a peal ofughter in the hall.

    In fights between cultivators, the most important thing was being unrestrained, calm, and free. The more powerful a cultivator was, the more ethereal and immortal-like he would be when he used magic. In their view, only low-level people would find themselves extremely embarrassed.

    Dang Qiang¡¯s words were like a p in Sun Baitian¡¯s face. Sun Baitian snorted angrily and stomped his foot, causing the ship to tremble. Then, he turned around and rushed out.

    Wan Zhenyuan was in a hurry. He took two steps forward and shouted after him, "Shibo, Shibo!"

    But no matter how hard he shouted, Sun Baitian covered his face with his sleeves and quickly hurried away, refusing to look back.

    Wan Zhenyuan was so angry that he gnashed his teeth. His eyes shed with killing intent, and his face suddenly turned extremely sinister, but when he turned around again, his expression was calm. Heughed and said, "Shibo left first. For the previous battle, I let Zhenren Li win!"

    Zhou Qin and the others sneered in their hearts after hearing that. "Li Yundong really won. What does it mean that you ¡¯let¡¯ him win?"

    Wan Zhenyuan smiled and made an obeisance by cupping his hands to Li Yundong. "Zhenren Li, congrattions on winning another round. Are you ready for the next one?"

    Li Yundong had been standing in the same spot with a smile. In the face of all kinds of eyes and private discussions, he was like a gentle breeze blowing over a hill,cking any emotional fluctuations. He saluted Wan Zhenyuan and said with a smile, "I¡¯m ready, Master Wan! But who¡¯s next?"

    The crowd looked around at each other for a while and thought to themselves, "Since Sun Baitian has lost, if I go up by myself, will I be guaranteed to win?"

    For the moment, the ship was in dead silence. Only Zheng Yuan shook his head and said with a sigh, "Zhenren Li is really young and vigorous. After two consecutive fights, he will consume a lot of Zhenqi. Unexpectedly, he doesn¡¯t know to recuperate well and then go on stage. s..."

    Although his words seemed to be a kind reminder, everyone was shocked. "Right, Li Yundong has fought twice in a row. No matter how powerful he is, he must have consumed a lot of Zhenqi. If I challenge him now, won¡¯t I have the advantage?"

    Su Chan, Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, and the others couldn¡¯t help but fly into a rage. They cursed in unison, "D*mn that Zheng Yuan!"

    Su Chan said anxiously, "Zheng Yuan is up to no good. He¡¯s trying to encourage everyone to exhaust Yundong to death through attrition warfare!"

    The brows of Zi Yuan were tightly furrowed. She said, "That¡¯s right. I just don¡¯t know if anyone wille out to be the cannon fodder!"

    As soon as she finished speaking, an elder of Shenxiao Sect stood up and said loudly, "I¡¯m Liu Yuqing from Shenxiao Sect. Zhenren Li, shall we have a duel?"

    Su Chan was shocked. "Someone¡¯s really volunteering to be cannon fodder?"

    Ruan Hongling sneered and said, "You think that he is cannon fodder, but he thinks that it¡¯s possible for him to take advantage of the situation! It doesn¡¯t matter if he loses. Anyway, Chen Yunyan and Sun Baitian have lost before, so he won¡¯t be embarrassed if he loses now. However, if he wins, he will win back everything!"

    Hearing that, all the girls gritted their teeth and muttered curses.

    Zhou Qin saw Li Yundong smiling and that he was about to make obeisance to receive Liu Yuqing when she suddenly felt an impulse in her heart. She stood up and shouted, "This one, let me fight it!"

    Her voice was loud and sudden, it attracted everyone¡¯s attention.

    Liu Yuqing looked her up and down and asked with a frown, "Who are you? Why are you fighting me?"

    Zhou Qin took a deep breath and calmed herself down. She cupped her hands and said, "It is said that when the master has something to do, his disciples will take his pains!"

    Liu Yuqing was slightly shocked and said, "You are Li Yundong¡¯s disciple?"

    Zhou Qin said loudly, "Yes, I¡¯m Li Yundong¡¯s chief disciple, Zhou Qin!"

 Chapter 485 Counterattacks!

    <h4>Chapter 485 Counterattacks!</h4>

    Zhou Qin¡¯s words immediately turned the cabin quiet. The cultivators from every sect looked at her strangely. Liu Yuqing even raised his head andughed out loud. The young cultivators of Shenxiao Sect that were apanying him also burst into mockingughter.

    Zhou Qin was a little annoyed by theirughter, so she said loudly, "What¡¯s so funny?"

    Liu Yuqing chuckled and didn¡¯t say anything. A disciple of Shenxiao Sect next to him eximed, "You¡¯re so shameless. How can you im to be the chief disciple of your sect yourself? Li Yundong is just the leader of the Fox Zen School. How dare you boast that you¡¯re the chief disciple of your sect? Which sect do you belong to?"

    After that, theyughed again.

    At this time, the cultivators of the other sects in the ship also started making fun of Zhou Qin and gesticting at her.

    Li Yundong saw Zhou Qin standing there with a flushed face. She was so angry that her body was trembling slightly. He walked over to her and patted her on the shoulder, whispering, "Zhou Qin, we cultivators need to do self-cultivation, so we have to pay attention to controlling our emotions and temper. Forget it, I¡¯ll be fine, and I can fight him. You..."

    However, before Li Yundong could finish his words, Zhou Qin acted as if she hadn¡¯t heard him. She suddenly took a step forward, pointed at Liu Yuqing, and shouted excitedly, "Don¡¯t talk so much nonsense. Do you dare to fight me or not?!"

    Li Yundong was stunned. He looked at his ssmate and proud disciple in confusion. He didn¡¯t understand why Zhou Qin, who had always listened to him, had suddenly lost control of her emotions and turned a deaf ear to his words?

    Li Yundong was about to say something when he suddenly felt someone gently pinch the tip of his finger. He turned his head and saw Zi Yuan shaking her head at him.

    Although he was puzzled, out of his trust in Zi Yuan, he swallowed back what he had been about to say to Zhou Qin.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know that while Zhou Qin could tolerate others¡¯ contempt and mockery of her, she absolutely couldn¡¯t tolerate others¡¯ contempt and ridicule of him.

    In the face of Zhou Qin¡¯s challenge, Liu Yuqing¡¯s eyes revealed a hint of disdain and sarcasm. However, he didn¡¯t lose his mind because of this. He knew that even if he defeated Zhou Qin, it wouldn¡¯t do him any good. On the contrary, he would end up with a reputation for bullying the young as a senior, bullying the weak as a strong person, and bullying women as a man.

    Liu Yuqing snorted and sneered. He turned his face away and looked at Wan Zhenyuan.

    Li Yundong also cupped his hands to Wan Zhenyuan and said, "Master Wan, ording to our usual practices, can he send his own disciples to participate in the battle himself?"

    Wan Zhenyuan looked at Zhou Qin and chuckled. "Of course! ording to the rules of the Taoist assembly, a disciple can take on a battle for their master. However, the oue of the battle should also be considered. If the disciple loses, it is deemed that the master has lost. From then on, the master will lose the right to participate in thepetition and win the treasure."

    Zhou Qin was shocked about this. She immediately nced at Li Yundong, a little hesitant in her heart to give up.

    In Zhou Qin¡¯s view, it didn¡¯t matter if she lost, but if she made Li Yundong lose the right to participate in thepetition, it would be a grave sin!

    When Li Yundong saw Zhou Qin looking at him, he suddenly felt tense because he knew that Zhou Qin had lost the confidence to win and her aggressive spirit from before, and she was now beginning to be overcautious and indecisive, worrying about gains and losses.

    Whether cultivators cultivated or settled a score, they always had to focus on advancing forward, surpassing all obstacles with great fearlessness and oveing all difficulties. Their biggest fear was to fall into a dilemma.

    And once they were trapped in it, if they epted the challenge, it would be fine if they won, but if they lost, they would fall into endless self-me and regret. It was extremely unfavorable for cultivation. It could even be said that without great luck and superior concentration, no matter how talented the cultivator was, he would basically be second-rate.

    Moreover, if Zhou Qin refused to fight, her Taoist heart would be broken. Because no matter when she cultivated in the future, as long as she thought about today¡¯s matter, she would regret that she had retreated and fallen under an evil influence.

    Zheng Yuan also understood this logic, and he sneered. He gave Zhou Qin a meaningful look and then nced at Wan Zhenyuan.

    Ding Nan, who was standing by the side of Zheng Yuan, was extremely concerned about Zhou Qin¡¯s affairs. Hearing Zheng Yuan¡¯s sneer, she hurriedly asked, "Master, what are youughing at? Are youughing at Zhou Qin overestimating her capabilities?"

    Zheng Yuan shook his head and said in a low voice, "No, I¡¯mughing at Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s evil intentions! He could have not said thetter sentence at all, but he just said it out. Think about his motivation. This sentence set a trap for Zhou Qin. No matter what she chooses, it will be difficult to escape this trap, otherwise, she will fall under an evil influence. From then on, it¡¯ll be hard to make progress in cultivation!"

    Ding Nan looked at her former "good sister" with aplicated look in her eyes, biting her lip slightly. "Is there no other way for Zhou Qin to win?" she asked.

    Zheng Yuan sneered and said, "Yes! Zhou Qin has to ept the challenge, and she must win! Otherwise, her cultivation journey will be over!"

    Ding Nan took a deep look at Zhou Qin and suddenly whispered, "She will definitely win!"

    Zheng Yuan sneered and said, "Are you kidding me? At best, Zhou Qin is only a cultivator who has just finished building the Zhuji phase. How could she beat Liu Yuqing? Do you know who Liu Yuqing is? He is Shidee of the leader of Shenxiao Sect. His Shentong kung fu already became famous all over the world more than a decade ago! How could Zhou Qin be his match? Hey, no matter which path Zhou Qin chooses, she is almost self-sufficient with her cultivation! Wan Zhenyuan is really good at scheming. He¡¯s really powerful!"

    After saying that, Zheng Yuan said to Ding Nan earnestly, "Ping¡¯er, you have to study seriously. Settling a score is not only based on the powerful spiritual energy of the cultivation base, nor is it just about seeing whose magic weapon is powerful. You see, Wan Zhenyuan almost destroyed a cultivator with great potential with just one sentence. This is why they say the pen is mightier than the sword!"

    But Ding Nan didn¡¯t seem to hear it. She looked at Zhou Qin intently, insisted and stubbornly repeated, "She will win. She must win!"

    Zheng Yuan was curious and asked, "Oh, why?"

    There was a strange light in Ding Nan¡¯s eyes. She gritted her teeth and said word by word, "Because she must be defeated by me!"

    Zheng Yuan was stunned and thought to himself, "Why is Ping¡¯er so strange? Why does it seem that she hates Zhou Qin so strongly?"

    While they were whispering, Li Yundong cast a meaningful look at Wan Zhenyuan, then turned his face to Zhou Qin with a gentle expression and said, "Zhou Qin, do you know what this battle means?"

    Although Zhou Qin had had a serious fight with Yan Fang before, it was now a decision of life and death, so she had no choice, she had to work hard. As such, she could Inspire all her own potential.

    But at that moment, things were very different. She could choose not to fight, so as to keep Li Yundong¡¯s right to continue to participate in thepetition.

    In this situation, Zhou Qin just felt that it would not be good whether she chose to fight or not. She couldn¡¯t help but whisper nervously, "I know, if I lose, Master, you will lose the chance to get the Immortal Pen."

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing. It was rare for him to show intimacy with Zhou Qin in public. He reached out a hand and patted Zhou Qin¡¯s shoulder gently. Then he took her hand and said earnestly, "Zhou Qin, you¡¯re wrong! For me, the Immortal Pen is indeed a very important powerful magical weapon, butpared with you, it¡¯s worthless! There are so many powerful magical weapons in the world. Do I have to take them all? I think that as long as the magic weapon is usable, I will be satisfied. What¡¯s more, if I lose it, I can take it back in the future."

    Li Yundong looked at Zhou Qin with a gentle gaze, as if it was only him and her there, no one else. "But if your cultivation falls under an evil influence here, there will be no way to remedy it! Therefore, for me, what I most care about is whether you can defeat your inner devil, and as for the immortal pen or anything else, I don¡¯t care at all. Besides, no matter how powerful magical weapons are, they are just lifeless objects. In this world, no one values lifeless objects over living people. Haha, let alone the immortal pen, even if all the powerful magical weapons in the world were piled up here, they would not be as important as you. Do you understand?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s words rendered everyone speechless for a moment. In particr, the female cultivators from various sects looked at him with starry eyes, full of adoration.

    Wei Qing folded her hands in front of her chest, like she was praying. She said adoringly, "Oh my god, it¡¯s so touching! Li Yundong is really a peerless saint of love. If I were Zhou Qin, it would be worth it even if I died in the next moment!"

    On the other hand, Yue Sheng rolled his eyes and snorted. "Gimme a break. Are you still a cultivator? You¡¯ve watched too many idol dramas, haven¡¯t you?"

    Wei Qing immediately rolled her eyes hard. "What do you know? How could there be women in the world who wouldn¡¯t want men to think highly of them? What¡¯s wrong with female cultivators? Aren¡¯t female cultivators still women?"

    Although Zhang Ling and the others of the Zhengyi School had always had a grudge against Li Yundong, as female cultivators, their impression of him had changed greatly after listening to his words. Zhang Ling couldn¡¯t help but think to herself, "Although Li Yundong has opposed us again and again, he is still an extremely affectionate person. s, I was as stupid as a brick back then. If I had half the affection of Li Yundong, I wouldn¡¯t be lonely for the rest of my life!¡°

    The younger girl next to Zou Ping couldn¡¯t help tugging at her sleeves and whispering, "Shijie, Shijie! Li Yundong doesn¡¯t look like a bad guy at all. How could someone who could treat his own disciple so well in this world be a bad guy?"

    Hearing Li Yundong¡¯s words, Zou Ping suddenly felt emotional and looked at Zhang Tianhe sadly. She thought to herself, "If my proud Shidee could talk to me like Li Yundong, even if it¡¯s only one sentence, I would die withoutint!"

    Zou Ping let out a heavy sigh, but didn¡¯t answer her question. She smiled bitterly. "Younger sister, you don¡¯t understand... when you grow up a little, you¡¯ll get it!"

    The girl blinked her eyes and nodded as if sheprehended, but not yet.

    The female cultivators, who had nothing to do with these words, were greatly moved after hearing this. Zhou Qin was even more excited after hearing it. In an instant, tears almost burst out of her eyes.

    At this moment, Zhou Qin only felt that her persistence and effort seemed to have been rewarded. For a moment, she looked at Li Yundong with tears in her eyes. This usually strong and indifferent woman was looking at Li Yundong with great affection, and tears kept rolling from her eyes. It seemed that as if in the next second, if Li Yundong asked her to jump off a cliff, she would do so without hesitation

    Ruan Hongling saw that Zhou Qin was so moved that she was almost crying in public. She couldn¡¯t help sighing in her heart, "You know that she likes you, but you still say such words to her! s, Li Yundong, how many people are you trying to hurt? Is it true that as long as women see you, they will fall in love with you and no longer love others, thus affecting the rest of their lives?"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t seem to see the various eyes and reactions of the people around him. He smiled, stretched out his hand, and wiped away the tears from the corner of Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes with his generous and soft palm. ¡°There is a saying ¡¯Go to war! Attack the heart, break the opponent¡¯s Tao heart, and defeat the enemy without a fight.¡¯ This is the best way to settle a score! Zhou Qin, don¡¯t disarm without fighting! It won¡¯t matter even if you lose. The most important thing is not to leave any regrets in your heart! Things you lose can be found again, and the battle can be won back again. But once regrets are left, there is no way to make up for them!¡±

    Zhou Qin only felt that Li Yundong¡¯s palm was warm and soft. When his skin touched the corners of her eyes, she trembled slightly, as if she had been shocked by thunder. His words made her heart surge with a warm power, which quickly poured into her four limbs and internal organs, making her feel as if she had endless strength!

    Zhou Qin looked at Li Yundong deeply and suddenly smiled brightly. She nodded hard and said, "Master, I understand! I won¡¯t let you down!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "I¡¯ve never been disappointed in you." After that, they looked at each other and smiled.

    Zi Yuan, who had been staring at Li Yundong with aplicated expression, saw Zhou Qin taking a deep breath and slowly closing her eyes. She knew that Zhou Qin was going to do the final adjustment and go on stage, so she whispered, "Liu Yuqing¡¯s cultivation is not trivial. Zhou Qin, you fight with him. Remember not to let him make the rules here. Also, try your best to fight with him using fighting skills or a powerful magical weapon. Don¡¯tpete with him using magic, otherwise you¡¯ll have no chance of winning!"

    Li Yundong also nodded in agreement and said, "Yes, Zhou Qin. The cabin here is narrow and this ce is more suitable for fighting. You should try your best to fight hand-to-hand with him to narrow the gap between you and him in Cultivation Quotient and magic! In a contest of magic, even ten of you would be no match for him. In aparison of fists and feet, you¡¯ll be equals!"

    After the two of them finished speaking, Zhou Qin slowly let out a breath. This breath was like a straight arrow, spreading out until the couplets hanging on the cabin met the wall, making the papers rustle.

    Zhou Qin opened her eyes. She no longer looked back at Li Yundong, nor did she look at Zi Yuan. She just stared at Liu Yuqing, as if everyone in the surrounding world had disappeared, leaving only Liu Yuqing and herself!

    Zhou Qin took a leisurely step forward. She cupped her hands and said in a sonorous voice, "I am Zhou Qin, Zhenren Liu, please enlighten me!"

 Chapter 486 How Will the Life-and-Death Fight Go?

    <h4>Chapter 486 How Will the Life-and-Death Fight Go?</h4>

    Liu Yuqing hadn¡¯t expected that Li Yundong would actually support Zhou Qin in public like this. What was even more unexpected was that when Zhou Qin opened her eyes again, there was no fear or worry there. By this time, Zhou Qin had entered the Cultivation of no-self and no living creatures. There was no one else in her eyes but him.

    Liu Yuqing sneered secretly, very disdainful of Zhou Qin¡¯s irresponsibility. He thought somewhat mockingly, "A serious sheep is just a sheep. Do you really expect to defeat me? You¡¯re just a baby. Even if I fight with you, others willugh at me for bullying you!"

    Liu Yuqing snorted coldly and turned his head to Li Yundong. "Zhenren Li, if you send your disciple to fight, then I¡¯ll also send my disciple. Lest I be said to be bullying young people by virtue of being older!"

    When the cultivators from the other sects heard that, they allughed in their hearts. They thought to themselves, "Liu Yuqing isn¡¯t dumb. He knows that it¡¯s dishonorable to fight with a girl. If he wins, he will appear harsh, but if he loses, he will feel shame. Sending out his proud disciple is the best choice. No matter what, his disciple¡¯s cultivation is better than that of the girl named Zhou Qin."

    When Li Yundong heard Liu Yuqing¡¯s words, he smiled and cupped his hands. "Zhenren Liu, I don¡¯t have any objections. I just don¡¯t know if your disciples have any objections? Don¡¯t they fear that they will lose your right to continue with thepetition after losing the game?"

    As soon as he said this, everyone cheered in secret. Su Chan evenughed and said, "Awesome! Yundong is really smart. This is called giving him a taste of his own medicine! Liu Yuqing wants to break sister Zhou Qin¡¯s Taoist heart, so Yundong wants to break his disciple¡¯s Taoist heart instead! Let us see how he handles it!"

    As expected, Liu Yuqing¡¯s expression changed drastically. He looked at Li Yundong with an unfriendly gaze and said in a deep voice, "Zhenren Li, what do you mean by that? Do you think that my disciples are not as good as yours?"

    Li Yundongughed. "Well, you¡¯ll have to ask them!"

    Liu Yuqing turned his head and looked at his disciples. He shouted with a serious face, "Who dares to fight me?"

    His disciples saw Zhou Qin¡¯s beautiful appearance. She stood gracefully in the square with an extraordinary heroic bearing. As the saying goes, a gentleman is fond of beauty. Zhou Qin¡¯s beauty naturally attracted the admiration of these young male cultivators.

    One of the handsome young men stepped forward and said, "Master, I¡¯m willing to fight for you!"

    Only then did Liu Yuqing¡¯s expression improve a little. He nodded slightly and said, "Alright, you can also be considered a cultivator who has cultivated to the Yangshen phase. I¡¯ll be a little more at ease when you fight."

    When the young, handsome male disciple heard this, he turned his head and smiled at Zhou Qin with what he thought was his most charming look. "You¡¯re asking, Zhenren Zhou?"

    Unexpectedly, Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes moved, and her eyes turned to the male disciple like lightning. Zhou Qin¡¯s character had originally been firm and strong. Her own aura was vigorous and strong. In addition, she had honed her aura and character in the Himyas along the way. At this time, when she red at him, her momentum was really extraordinary!

    Zhou Qin stared at him fiercely, and said coldly, "Aren¡¯t you afraid of death?"

    The young and handsome man felt like he was being stared at by a beast. He trembled. There was a panic in his heart for no reason, and he couldn¡¯t speak for a while.

    Seeing the man¡¯s eyes suddenly reveal a hint of fear, Zhou Qin immediately sneered with disdain. "Zhenren Liu, it seems that your disciple is not so good!"

    Liu Yuqing immediately flew into a rage and shouted at his disciple, "You waste, are you trembling after just hearing a sentence?"

    The young male disciple¡¯s face turned red, and he lowered his head, not daring to refute.

    Zhou Qin looked back and said coldly, "Zhenren Liu, I think it¡¯s better for you to fight yourself. Don¡¯t waste everyone¡¯s time!"

    Liu Yuqing¡¯s expression was one of embarrassment. He gritted his teeth and sneered. "I¡¯ve never seen a junior as arrogant as you! Very well, since you¡¯re determined to seek death, I¡¯ll fulfill your wish!"

    Zhou Qin was not angry. She slowly adjusted her breathing and tried to adjust her body to its best state. She said faintly, "Zhenren Liu, since you are older than me and have cultivated for longer, we won¡¯tpete on magic. Otherwise, people will say that you are bullying the young. Let¡¯s have apetition of kung fu, fists and feet. Do you agree to that?"

    Liu Yuqing saw that Zhou Qin was obviously showing off her cleverness after taking advantage of him. He was so angry that he startedughing. "Kung fu with fists and feet? Hmph, you actually dare topete with me in kung fu with fists and feet? Do you know what kung fu I¡¯ve learned?"

    Zhou Qin said coldly, "I don¡¯t know. I just want to know, after talking for such a long time, will you choose to fight or not?"

    Liu Yuqingughed in anger. "Fine, fine, fine. Come, let me see what impressive kung fu you¡¯ve learned!" With that, he crossed his arms and lifted them from below his chest. Suddenly, he let out a loud shout. His entire body shook and a burst of Zhenqi burst forth from within him. The clothes on his body made a crisp sound as the corners of them fluttered even though there was no wind!

    Liu Yuqing frowned and widened his eyes. He swung his sleeves, and as soon as they touched the edge of the table next to him, they suddenly pped like a sharp sword and cut the legs of the hard mahogany table!

    As the saying goes, medicine is to carry the Tao, kung fu is to defend it. Nine out of ten Taoists knew kung fu, and the cultivators in this cabin were also knowledgeable about fist and feet kung fu. They were suddenly shocked, and some cultivators couldn¡¯t help but whisper, "So strong!"

    Liu Yuqing had swung his sleeves and disyed a powerful, fierce move. Su Chan, Ruan Hongling, and the others gasped when they saw this.

    Ruan Hongling couldn¡¯t help but ask Zi Yuan, "Sister Zi Yuan, what kind of kung fu can he use?"

    Zi Yuan saw Liu Yuqing standing alone like a golden rooster with one fist facing upwards, while the other hand was stretched out behind him. Although he was standing on one leg, he seemed at ease, and there was a deadly move hidden in his posture.

    Zi Yuan was slightly shocked. She whispered, "Oh no, this seems to be the Baji Fist!"

    Ruan Hongling was shocked. "Ah? Baji Fist? Then won¡¯t Zhou Qin be in danger?"

    With a serious expression on her face, Zi Yuan looked at Li Yundong, shook her head at Ruan Hongling, and she didn¡¯t say anything more, but her face was filled with worry.

    There were also young cultivators who had followed their Qianbeis to attend the Taoist assembly not long after starting cultivation. When they saw Liu Yuqing¡¯s odd posture, they could not help but ask, "What kind of fist is this? It looks so weird!"

    Some experienced cultivators exined, "It¡¯s Baji Fist!"

    "Baji Fist? Is it the Baji Fist that Emperor Kangxi personally nominated as ¡¯There is Tai Chi in the literary world to stabilize the whole world, and there is Baji Fist to stabilize the universe¡¯?"

    "Exactly!"

    "The Baji Fist is known as the supreme skill of Waijiaquan. Tsk, it seems that Zhou Qin will be in real danger this time!"

    "I hadn¡¯t expected that Liu Yuqing from the Shenxiao Sect could use the Baji Fist. I originally thought that he practiced the Neijiaquan! In Waijiaquan, isn¡¯t it all the Buddhist fists that dominate?"

    "That¡¯s not true. Ding Faxiang, who was famous for his Baji Fist, was taught by our Taoist sect. The person who taught him kung fu is Zhenren Huang Jue, who is known as the Sloppy Taoist!"

    "I wonder what Zhou Qin will do this time. Will she be able to defeat Liu Yuqing?"

    While the crowd was talking about it, Liu Yuqing suddenly red at Zhou Qin and shouted, "Come on!" After that, he moved and was about to step forward.

    Zhou Qin suddenly raised her palm and said, "Wait!"

    Liu Yuqing forcefully suppressed the strength in his body and said unhappily, "What else do you want to say?"

    Zhou Qin said, "Since it¡¯s a life-and-death fight, we naturally won¡¯t have to take responsibility for the death and injury. Is that right?"

    Liu Yuqing sneered and said, "Of course. Girl, if you¡¯re afraid, it¡¯s not toote to retreat now! You haven¡¯t cultivated the Yin Spirit out of cultivation yet. If you die, you¡¯ll be snuffed out. There¡¯s nothing we can do for you!"

    Zhou Qin smiled as if she hadn¡¯t heard Liu Yuqing¡¯s words. "I see. Let¡¯s get started!" she said.

    Liu Yuqing took a deep breath and was about to step forward again. However, just as he moved, he heard Zhou Qin saying, "Wait!"

    Liu Yuqing¡¯s Qi had just gushed out like a flood from the opening of a gate, he had no choice but to retract it immediately. He was very depressed in his heart and shouted impatiently, "What do you want to do now?"

    Zhou Qin smiled. "There is something that we have to make clear first."

    Liu Yuqing said angrily, "Why can¡¯t you say it all at once?"

    Zhou Qin smiled. "Didn¡¯t you talk for a long time before? Why are you suddenly getting impatient now?"

    Liu Yuqing only felt that he, as a Qianbei of the Shenxiao Sect, was entangled with a junior here. He didn¡¯t know where to use his strength. His fire of destruction rushed to the top of his head and he spat out angrily, "This time, it¡¯s different now. How can it be the same? What on earth do you want to say? Tell me quickly!"

    Zhou Qin smiled and said, "I want to say that no matter who wins or loses, no one will be allowed to take responsibility. What do you think of it?"

    Liu Yuqing said angrily, "Of course! Do you still want to fight or not?"

    Zhou Qin calmed down and stood still. "Come on!" she said.

    Liu Yuqing snorted angrily and got into position again. Just as he was about to activate all his strength, he heard Zhou Qin shouting, "Wait a moment!"

    At this time, the people around them couldn¡¯t help butugh softly. Liu Yuqing suddenly flew into a rage and said, "You, a girl, why do you have so many tricks? Just get out if you won¡¯t fight!"

    Zhou Qin was not angry. She smiled and said, "I have to say a few words to my master." After that, she ignored Liu Yuqing and walked over to Li Yundong¡¯s table.

    When Li Yundong saw Zhou Qin walking over, he took the cover of his body and secretly gave Zhou Qin a thumbs up. Heughed softly and said, "That¡¯s right. Liu Yuqing has been irritated and made impatient by you. He¡¯s gone down the drain again and again!"

    Zi Yuan also whispered. "Zhou Qin, remember to use gentleness to ovee toughnesster on. You can¡¯t take Liu Yuqing head-on. He practices Bajiquan. This type of fist method is strong and fierce, very terrifying!"

    Zhou Qin nodded, indicating that she understood. She picked up the cup and took a sip, then turned her head and walked to the battlefield.

    At this time, Liu Yuqing was already getting impatient to the extreme. In his heart, a beautiful and delicate girl like Zhou Qin, even if she knew kung fu, was just a showy and impractical fighter. It was not worth mentioning at all. She would be defeated as soon as she was touched by his Baji Fist!

    Zhou Qin moved her wrists and ankles, saying to Liu Yuqing, "Zhenren Liu, are you ready?"

    Liu Yuqing didn¡¯t want to wait anymore. He looked at Zhou Qin impatiently and said, "I¡¯ve already prepared it. As for you, are you ready?"

    Zhou Qin smiled, her right foot slightly forward and her body slightly leaning forward. She raised her back and said, "I¡¯m ready too!"

    Liu Yuqing waved to Zhou Qin and said, "Come on then!"

    Zhou Qin took a deep breath and said slowly, "Well... Okay!"

    After that, her eyes suddenly widened, and the strength of her whole body burst like a violent explosive!

    Zhou Qin stomped down hard with her right foot, obviously tilting the ship, and her body, like an artillery shell, rushed toward Liu Yuqing!

    The people on the sidelines only felt a strong wind blowing over their faces. It was like a fierce tiger carrying an unstoppable force, suddenly jumping down the mountain stream!

    Liu Yuqing was stunned. He had never expected Zhou Qin¡¯s sudden attack to be so powerful. In the blink of an eye, she was already in front of him!

    If it were an ordinary person, he might have been in a flurry and caught off guard by Zhou Qin. However, Liu Yuqing¡¯s Baji Fist could fight from afar and be under-handed. The name of the Baji Fist in full was "Baji Fist, which means that the power can reach extremely far in eight directions on four sides".

    Liu Yuqing shouted, "Good timing!" With one hand behind his back, he put his five fingers together like a bird¡¯s beak, and with his other hand in front of himself, he mmed his palm towards Zhou Qin¡¯s head!

    This was the Baji Fist¡¯s move called "Chao Yang Rotating Palm".

    Liu Yuqing¡¯s punch hit Zhou Qin¡¯s head like a strongman waving a hammer. If it hit her, her brain would burst and she would die on the spot.

    However, Zhou Qin did not dodge. Her eyes were wide open. With an explosive shout, she sent a vicious punch towards Liu Yuqing¡¯s throat!

    This was exactly the same move she had learned from Li Yundong when he had been fighting Huang Yifei in school. It was a move of straight attacking, bridging of the three gates, and using thunderbolt momentum to fight the enemy and save oneself.

    When the crowd saw that Zhou Qin and Liu Yuqing were about to fight to the death as soon as they touched, they were all shocked and stood up in shock. They opened their eyes wide and surveyed the field!

    One was an older, veteran cultivator, and the other was a beautiful youngdy. The two were fighting each other to death. Who would win and who would lose?

 Chapter 487 Good with his Fists and Achieving Fame in One Battle!

    <h4>Chapter 487 Good with his Fists and Achieving Fame in One Battle!</h4>

    Zhou Qin¡¯s punch was like the roar of a cannon, and with this one move, the air around her seemed to be squeezed away, like a thunderstorm, rushing to Liu Yuqing¡¯s eyes in a split second.

    Liu Yuqing was slightly startled. He had never expected such a beautiful woman to fight so desperately!

    Although Liu Yuqing was surprised, he had cultivated kung fu for many years and had reached the Cultivation of strength following his mind. With a thought, he withdrew the palm that was aimed at Zhou Qin¡¯s head, and his body floated away like a ghost. Zhou Qin hit nothing.

    Zhou Qin missed. Following that, she felt a strong gust of winding from her waist and abdomen. Liu Yuqing took advantage of the opportunity to turn around and aim a backhanded palm at her waist and abdomen.

    This palm seemed to not be as fierce as the previous Chao Yang Rotating Palm, but the force was feminine, and it touched the vital parts of the human waist and abdomen. If he touched the kidney, the force would immediately drill into her body and cause great damage to the kidney.

    Zhou Qin gritted her teeth and twisted her slender waist. Her whole body seemed to coil into hemp. She moved her hand to her side and tried to push away Liu Yuqing¡¯s hand that was around her waist. She clenched her other hand into a fist and smashed it towards Liu Yuqing¡¯s chest with a whoosh.

    Liu Yuqing sneered. As soon as his hand touched Zhou Qin¡¯s body, he immediately flicked his wrist and moved his arms towards Zhou Qin¡¯s waist like they were loaches. His fingertips quickly brushed the side of Zhou Qin¡¯s waist.

    This was the Horse Palm, the Vajra Eight of the Baji Fist!

    Zhou Qin felt that as soon as his fingertips touched her body, an extremely cold breath suddenly filled her long. She felt as if she had been hit by an electric current, and half of her body had gone numb!

    If it had been someone else, they would have directly lost their ability to resist. However, when Zhou Qin climbed Kari Holy Mountain, she had climbed through the snow with her bare hands and survived the frigid conditions. At this time, how could she not bear it?

    Zhou Qin had suffered a great loss in the first round with Liu Yuqing. However, she gritted her teeth, and her entire body erupted with an extremely powerful force, like she was a wounded tiger. She suddenly took a step forward and burrowed into Liu Yuqing¡¯s embrace, then raised her arm and used her elbow to hit Liu Yuqing¡¯s chest. She lifted her knee and mmed it down towards Liu Yuqing¡¯s body.

    Liu Yuqing was shocked. He hadn¡¯t expected that Zhou Qin wouldn¡¯t retreat after being hit by his palm. Instead, she would suddenly go crazy ande up to him to fight hand-to-hand!

    In hand-to-handbat, it was important to maintain momentum. Liu Yuqing thought that he was good at kung fu and he was a Qianbei. How could he give in to a young person, especially a young and beautiful woman? Without thinking twice, he immediately used his elbow to hit Zhou Qin¡¯s arm. At the same time, he also lifted his knee and hit Zhou Qin¡¯s knee.

    Everyone could see that Zhou Qin and Liu Yuqing¡¯s elbows and knees were touching. They collided with each other, making two dull thuds. It was as if someone was using a hammer to smash sandbags together.

    When Liu Yuqing bumped into Zhou Qin, he felt that her bones were as hard as steel. Although his cultivation was high, he was not a master of the Jinshen phase. After all, his physical body was only an ordinary physical body. The impact made his elbow and knee feel a sharp pain.

    However, Liu Yuqing saw that she did not seem to be feeling any pain at all. Her face was as hard as steel, and the muscles in her cheeks were twisting together like metal bars. She gritted her teeth and elbowed towards his head.

    Liu Yuqing couldn¡¯t believe that her elbow and knee would not be injured at all, so he immediately jabbed his arm hard toward her elbow.

    The elbow joints of the two people collided heavily with a crisp, bloodcurdling sound.

    Su Chan was also skilled with her fists and feet, and she was especially proficient with the joints and bones of the human body. When she heard the voice, she couldn¡¯t help shivering and said with a pale face, "Oh no, their bones are broken! I don¡¯t know whose though."

    Both Ziyuan and Ruan Hongling didn¡¯t seem to hear her. They both stared nervously on the arena, not daring to blink for fear that the oue would be decided without them seeing.

    After Liu Yuqing¡¯s head-on collision with Zhou Qin, he felt like his elbow had been mmed with a hammer, and the pain made him see a darkness in front of his eyes!

    But before he could react, he saw Zhou Qin hitting his face with a hammer again.

    When Liu Yuqing saw it, he was shocked and furious. He thought to himself, "How could she hit me so unreasonably! What kind of kung fu is this!?"

    No one had expected that the beautiful and cold-looking Zhou Qin would use a headbutt, which was like a street rogue¡¯s move. What¡¯s more, her collision had a wild momentum behind it, as if she couldn¡¯t defeat him, she would die!

    The headbutt had no warning signs, and it was fierce. Liu Yuqing knew that he only had two choices: either he could choose to fight recklessly, or he could dodge. There was absolutely no third option.

    Liu Yuqing was experienced. He knew that the braver one would win in a narrow escape. Whoever dodged first would be at a disadvantage in terms of momentum. The punches of young people were often more powerful. As long as he fought back, Zhou Qin¡¯s momentum would decline, and he could win the fight!

    As soon as Liu Yuqing thought of this, he was quick to react and controlled his Qi to the extreme immediately. He also punched at Zhou Qin.

    With this loud bang, the two people¡¯s foreheads came together. When everyone heard the sound, their hearts trembled. Many cultivators touched their foreheads subconsciously as if they also felt iparable pain.

    Liu Yuqing was mmed by Zhou Qin¡¯s headbutt, and he really saw stars. He leaned back and felt a burning sensation on his forehead. He knew that he must be injured and that there had to be marks of injury on his face!

    Liu Yuqing was both shocked and angry. "This girl really hurt me and made me bleed?"

    When he took a closer look, he saw that Zhou Qin, who was opposite him, was also leaning back. Her forehead was also covered with blood!

    But at this moment, Zhou Qin forcefully halted her momentum. She gritted her teeth, ignoring the blood on her face, and threw another punch at Liu Yuqing¡¯s face.

    Liu Yuqing was furious. He gritted his teeth and threw another punch at Zhou Qin¡¯s fist again. When their fists collided, there was another cracking sound, like a hammer smashing uncooked beans.

    Liu Yuqing had crashed head-on with Zhou Qin several times in a row. He was in so much pain that he could not control his trembling body. However, Zhou Qin, who was standing opposite him, seemed to have turned into an uncontroble monster. Her hair was disheveled, and her face was covered with blood. With extreme ferocity, she sent another headbutt at Liu Yuqing!

    Everyone looked at Zhou Qin on the battlefield and their hairs stood on end. They couldn¡¯t believe their eyes!

    ¡°How could such a beautiful woman be so fierce and desperate? Is she crazy?¡±

    Some people couldn¡¯t help looking at Li Yundong and secretly specting,"Was it Li Yundong¡¯s words that inspired Zhou Qin to do her best like this?¡±

    But Li Yundong fixed his eyes on the field. His face was calm, and no emotion could be seen in his eyes. Only he knew that this was Zhou Qin¡¯s true character. She would rather be injured than sumb, and if she could not win, she would rather die in battle!

    This girl could still be calm when facing a pistol. She dared to fight to the death with people in tall buildings. Even in desperation, she would jump from the tall building without hesitation. She would rather destroy herself than give in.

    The seemingly weak girl had an extremely terrible power hidden within her body. It was enough to destroy all her enemies as well as herself!

    Liu Yuqing saw Zhou Qin aiming another headbutt at him. The beautiful woman had alreadypletely transformed into a ferocious-looking Banda Lam. Anyone who was her enemy would be dragged by her into the bloody, cruel abyss and perish together with her!

    Zhou Qin¡¯s madness was far beyond Liu Yuqing¡¯s expectations and imagination. Facing her fierce attack again, he finally hesitated and became timid. He stepped back and finally chose not to fight head-on but to avoid her attack.

    Liu Yuqing thought to himself, "Zhou Qin can¡¯t keep up such a fierce attack forever. As long as I can hold on, she will copse soon enough!"

    However, when he chose to retreat, an old cultivator shook his head and sighed in a low voice. "It¡¯s over. The opportunity has been lost. Liu Yuqing can¡¯t reverse the situation in his favor anymore! From now on, there is only Zhenren Liu in the cultivation world!"

    Some young cultivators that had not understood asked in a low voice, "Why? Zhou Qin is crazy. She will definitely notst for long. As long as he avoids her, once she gets tired, won¡¯t he be able to win when he counterattacks?"

    The elder cultivator said earnestly, "That¡¯s not right! Haven¡¯t you heard the saying ¡¯powerful young men are good with their fists, experienced old men are good with clubs¡¯? If the two of them were topete with weapons, then it would depend on who was more skilled. Liu Yuqing¡¯s victory would be without a doubt. But when they fight hand-to-hand, what they fight with is courage, internal strength, and endurance! Don¡¯t look down on how they were fighting just now. Although they fought for a short time, it consumed a lot of energy. These few fights are even more tiring than your three consecutive fights!

    "Although Zhou Qin is a woman, she¡¯s full of energy and she¡¯s at peak condition. Furthermore, she¡¯s so young. Her endurance is definitely better than Liu Yuqing¡¯s! If he wants to waste time with her, he might not be able to use up her energy! Besides, one of the rules of the Baji Fist is to require a cultivator to control his heart correctly. Next, it needs those who practice martial arts to be brave and then have great strength. Liu Yuqing studies the Baji Fist himself. Once he loses his courage, his power of kung fu will be reduced by at least half. How can he win?"

    The young cultivators did not think much of it when they heard that. However, the sudden change in the situation left them convinced.

    At this moment, when Zhou Qin saw that Liu Yuqing had chosen to back down, she suddenly became more and more frantic on the offensive, hitting, beating, twisting, kicking, breaking, biting, and smashing. She didn¡¯t go easy on him for even a moment.

    Liu Yuqing had lost his momentum, so he had not dared to confront Zhou Qin head-on. He tried to dodge every time and thought that Zhou Qin should be exhausted. However, she was not exhausted. On the contrary, she was only getting fiercer and stronger!

    Liu Yuqing was beaten to the point of having to step back, but after all, he was powerful. Although he retreated, he hadn¡¯t lost his bnce. After dodging for a while, he saw that Zhou Qin¡¯s attack was like a storm which showed a sign of stopping. On the contrary, he himself was a little out of breath.

    Liu Yuqing was anxious. He knew that if he continued wasting time like this, it was very likely that Zhou Qin would exhaust him to death. Heposed himself and when he saw her punching at him, he suddenly turned around and fled.

    Without thinking, Zhou Qin immediately stepped forward to give chase. As soon as she caught up, she saw him suddenly turn around and use his elbow to sweep across the air. It was as if he was doing a fierce and powerful Trailing de sh!

    This move suddenly exploded and she was caught off guard. It was the Snapping Skill that came from the battlefield. Back then, the saint of war, Guan Yu, had relied on this move to kill countless vengeful souls.

    Someone in the crowd who knew immediately cheered loudly, but as soon as their voices rose, they saw Zhou Qin suddenly lean forward at a fast speed, as if she couldn¡¯t control her momentum because she was rushing too fast. So she simply leaned forward to avoid Liu Yuqing¡¯s attack, but as soon as she dodged, she exposed her entire back to Liu Yuqing.

    Liu Yuqing¡¯s elbow swept across Zhou Qin¡¯s back. When he saw Zhou Qin opening herself up like this, he was instantly overjoyed. He raised his hand and flung it at the back of her head.

    However, just as he lifted his hand, one of Zhou Qin¡¯s feet suddenly turned over and kicked out from behind her head, like a scorpion wagging its tail, and rushed towards Liu Yuqing¡¯s face like lightning!

    Liu Yuqing hadn¡¯t expected that Zhou Qin, who had been fighting in such a rough and simple way, would use such a subtle and clever movement. He couldn¡¯t even react, so he was firmly kicked in the face by her foot.

    Liu Yuqing felt a sharp pain in his face. He had almost lost his breath. He immediately closed his eyes and retreated quickly. His hands were half closed in front of his body, like two doors waiting for Zhou Qin to break in.

    Zhou Qin did not hesitate to go forward and chase him immediately. She patted Liu Yuqing¡¯s ear with a very big palm. However, he was experienced. He stretched out his hands like a venomous snake and touched her neck. As long as he exerted some strength, her delicate neck would be twisted off by him!

    As Liu Yuqing grabbed Zhou Qin¡¯s neck, he felt her fingers touch his eyelids at the same time. A chilling feeling went straight through his head, as if her two slender fingers would prate his eye sockets and go straight into his brain in the next second!

    Although Liu Yuqing was threatening Zhou Qin¡¯s life, he did not feel like she was going to give up. He had not doubted that if he twisted her neck, this woman would definitely prate his eye sockets and pierce right into his brain before he did so. She would die together with him!

    "Is it worth risking my life for this fight?"

    At that moment, Liu Yuqing had even forgotten that he was a Yang Spirit master. Zhou Qin¡¯s crazy and terrifying mutual destruction hadpletely destroyed his will to resist. Without thinking, he immediately released his grip on her neck and shouted in horror, "Stop! I give up, I admit defeat!"

    At this time, he felt her fingers stop on his eyelids, as if the muzzle of the gun was against his forehead, making him feel cold!

    Zhou Qin maintained her posture of two dragons grabbing pearls, and her two fingers seemed like strong steel hooks. Her hair was disheveled, and her face was covered with blood. She gritted her teeth and asked ferociously. "Do you really admit defeat?"

    Liu Yuqing nodded without hesitation. "I really do admit defeat!"

    At this time, the ferocious expression on Zhou Qin¡¯s face slowly faded away. She withdrew her hand and took a deep breath, then looked around sharply and shouted, "Even my master is not a master today. He will definitely be a master in the future! Anyone who dares to question my identity as a chief disciple cane out to speak!"

    At this time, everyone understood and thought to themselves, "Zhou Qin was so fierce and desperate just to seek justice for Li Yundong and herself!?"

    ¡°But for the sake of justice, and for a few words of contempt from everyone, was it worth it to fight so ferociously and desperately?¡±

    For a moment, all the cultivators in the cabin were dumbfounded as they looked at Zhou Qin. No one answered her or stepped forward!

    Zhou Qin stood proudly in the field and shouted at the crowd three times in a row. Seeing that the crowd was not responding, she walked towards Li Yundong slowly.

    Zhou Qin walked over to Li Yundong¡¯s side, and her originally ferocious face suddenly became tender and emotional. She smiled and said softly, "Master, I didn¡¯t shame you, right?"

    Li Yundong fixed his eyes on Zhou Qin. All kinds of feelings welled up in his heart. He slowly nodded and said, "No, you did a good job, a very good job!"

    Zhou Qin smiled. Everyone could feel that the woman was no longer fierce. She had turned from a blood-stained steel knife into a blood-stained peony. She was a cold beauty, peerless and ethereal.

    After Zhou Qin smiled, her body suddenly tilted and fell softly towards Li Yundong!

    Everyone knew that she had already exhausted all her strength, and she had only been able to sustain it until then with a single breath!

    The cultivators of all sects sighed emotionally. Du Fei from the Quanzhen Dragon Sect shook his head and sighed, "After this battle, all cultivators in the world will know of Zhou Qin¡¯s bravery. They all know that Li Yundong has a chief disciple who cannot be underestimated! From now on, no one will dare to look down on Li Yundong, and no one will dare to look down on Zhou Qin, a cultivator who has just joined the sect."

 Chapter 488 Troublemaker

    <h4>Chapter 488 Troublemaker</h4>

    Li Yundong took two steps forward and held Zhou Qin in his arms. He mobilized his Zhenqi and swept it through her body. Suddenly, he was shocked. ¡°The vital qi in her body is in a mess, and the bones of her elbows, knees and fists have been broken to pieces!¡±

    Li Yundong took a deep breath, squinted, and shot Liu Yuqing a bad look. He saw Liu Yuqing standing on the spot in a daze. Since he had admitted defeat, he had lost his energy. He stood rooted to the spot like a zombie and had not moved at all. He seems extremely regretful and thought to himself, "Why didn¡¯t I persist a little longer?"

    Li Yundong knew that Liu Yuqing¡¯s Tao heart had been broken. From now on, his cultivation was over. So the anger in Li Yundong¡¯s heart had dissipated a lot. He sighed slightly and gently wiped the blood from Zhou Qin¡¯s face with one hand. "Do you feel pain?"

    Zhou Qin forced a smile. The tearing pain made her unable to speak for a while. At this time, the Qi in her body was still very vigorous and powerful, but the physical injury she had sustained was too serious. In particr, the fierce collision just now had seriously injured her flesh and bones.

    Seeing this, Zi Yuan hurriedly came forward and stretched out her hand to take Zhou Qin¡¯s wrist. When she felt Zhou Qin¡¯s Qi, the nervous look on her face suddenly rxed a lot. She took a breath and whispered. "Fortunately, her life is not in danger, but the bones have been broken in many ces." After that, Zi Yuan asked Zhou Qin in a low voice. "How do you feel?"

    Zhou Qin¡¯s lips trembled, and she said with a forced smile. "It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m just a little dizzy."

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "You are such a fool. It would be weird if you didn¡¯t feel dizzy after you hit him with your head like this!" He turned back and said to Su Chan, who was looking at Zhou Qin with concern, "Chan¡¯er, take Zhou Qin to see a doctor, okay?"

    Before Su Chan could speak, she saw Zhou Qin struggling to stand up and she rushed to say loudly, "No!"

    She shouted, immediately affecting the injury, and the pain made her almost faint.

    Li Yundong quickly pressed Zhou Qin¡¯s shoulder and said, "Don¡¯t move, you have been hurt like this, what else do you want to do now?"

    Zhou Qin grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s clothes tightly with one hand and begged with a pleading face, "Master, don¡¯t let me go, I¡¯m fine, let me watch from one side, okay?"

    Li Yundong nced at Zi Yuan with a wry smile, wanting to ask her for advice.

    Zi Yuan knew that Zhou Qin was stubborn. She sighed softly and nodded slightly. "It¡¯s okay. Let her stay here. Her internal organs have not been injured, and her meridians are not damaged. As long as she doesn¡¯t exercise violently, it won¡¯t matter."

    Li Yundong sighed, helplessly assisted Zhou Qin to the side table, asked Su Chan to hug her gently, and then said, "Well, I can¡¯t stop you. You can just watch from here."

    Zhou Qin showed happiness on her face, stopped talking, and looked at Li Yundong quietly. Sitting like a herbaceous peony, she was quiet and beautiful. It was impossible for others to rte her to the fierce and desperate madman just now.

    When the crowd saw Li Yundong, Zhou Qin, and the others talking as if no one else was around, they were all shocked by Zhou Qin¡¯s bravery and toughness. For a while, they did not say anything provocative. Even Wan Zhenyuan looked at Zhou Qin in shock and thought to himself, "Li Yundong has a disciple like this. This is really with his energy rejuvenated! Zhou Qin will surely be a great master one day! Why can¡¯t I have such a disciple? D*mn it!"

    Thinking of this, Wan Zhenyuan made an obeisance by cupping his hand to Li Yundong and said, "Zhenren Li, your Fox Zen School has won three rounds in a row. Would you like to continue?"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly. "Of course. Which fellow Taoist wants to challenge me?"

    The cultivators of all sects looked at each other for a while. They were still immersed in the intense shock and impact brought on by Zhou Qin and could note to their senses. Moreover, Li Yundong had already taken a break. He was full of breath and energy. If anyone challenged him again at this time, wouldn¡¯t it be for others to take advantage of?

    The cultivators of all sects turned to look at the people who were known as the strongest in the field. They also looked at the people who had grudges against Li Yundong. At this time, Zhang Tianhe of the Zhengyi School looked down at the ground as if there was a flower growing there. Wang Lingfei looked down at his slender and delicate hands as if he was appreciating a peerless treasure. Yue Sheng of the Quanzhen Dragon Sect closed his eyes as if he had fallen asleep. Zhang Cunyi, who had said that he wanted to take first ce at the beginning, was drinking tea slowly, as if on vacation!

    For a time, everyone cursed in their hearts. "D*mn it, at first they were so arrogant that their noses were turned up to the sky, but now they are horrified?"

    Zhang Tianhe, Wang Lingfei, Yue Sheng, and Zhang Cunyi seemed to know what everyone was thinking. They invariably nced at each other, and then reconciled themselves to their own things, looking at the floor and drinking tea.

    Wan Zhenyuan chuckled when he saw that there was going to beplete silence. He said, "Congrattions, Zhenren Li. You¡¯ve raised a good disciple, but unfortunately, there¡¯s only one of them. If another disciple like that were to exist, I¡¯m afraid that the Taoist assembly would no longer be held. I¡¯ll just hand the award to you, haha!"

    Wan Zhenyuan spoke in a heroic tone, and his words ttered Li Yundong. However, Zhou Qin and the other sophisticated people knew that Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s words were not said with good intentions. His subtext was to tell everyone that Li Yundong only had one disciple who was strong. Now that she was out of action, she could no longer fight! As long as everyone continued to fight, Li Yundong would not be able to withstand it, even if he was an iron-forged Vajra or a bronze-forged Arhat!

    Zhou Qin took a deep look at Wan Zhenyuan and thought to herself, "Master Wan has been secretly provoking people with his words. What is he trying to do? Is he trying to bnce things, or is he just targeting my master? If he¡¯s trying to bnce things, then he must be trying to weaken the strength of the cultivators from the various sects with the help of the immortal pen. If he¡¯s just targeting my master, then..."

    Zhou Qin suddenly had a lot of thoughts in her mind, and she even forgot the pain in her body.

    She could understand this problem, and most of the cultivators present were not stupid. They could more or less understand it as well. When Wan Zhenyuan said this, the entire ce stayed silent. Everyone was just doing their own things, but none of them stepped forward.

    Wan Zhenyuan sighed when he saw this. He cupped his hand and said to Li Yundong, "Zhenren Li, I concede! Since Zhenren Luo Gongyuan and Zhenren Ye Fashan established the Taoist assembly during the Tianbao years of the Tang Dynasty, there has never been a young cultivator like you winning the title of a best cultivator in the world! Today you have set a record!"

    After that, he waved his hand to a subordinate and shouted, "Give me the immortal pen!"

    When the people who were hiding heard this, they immediately pricked up their ears. "What? Does this mean Li Yundong wins?"

    Dang Qiang, who had been joking around, shouted in surprise, "Is the Taoist assembly over? It can¡¯t be like this! Last time, it took three days and three nights to decide the winner!"

    Wan Zhenyuan made an obeisance by cupping his hands to Li Yundong and said with a broad smile to everyone. "Zhenren Li¡¯s Shentong is amazing, and his fighting skills are amazing. Moreover, he has a good disciple. No one was willing toe forward to fight with him, so he naturally won! Hehe, Zhenren Li is truly a young hero. I admire you. It seems that from now on, you will be No. 1 amongst the young cultivators in this world!"

    When the crowd heard this, their hearts suddenly surged. "But if the Taoist assembly ends in this way, that is, if we let Li Yundong easily take away the immortal pen, it will be absolutely impossible!"

    Zhang Tianhe, Wang Lingfei, Yue Sheng, and Zhang Cunyi, who had originally not been involved in the matter, suddenly opened their eyes wide. As if they had reached a tacit understanding, they stood up, unanimously shouting, "I want to challenge him!"

    Everyone was shocked, and then they were all excited.

    "Well, either they won¡¯t fight, or they¡¯ll fight together! Well, these four people are the best amongst the younger generation in the cultivation world. If they fight, they should be able to defeat Li Yundong."

    Zhengyi School was aiming to re-establish its dominance in the cultivation world, so they were unhappy to see a strong cultivator leading an enemy sect to win the first prize in the Taoist assembly. The other sects were even more unwilling to see a sect with a bad reputation rise suddenly because it indirectly affected their interests.

    "Why can Fox Zen School be so glorious? Why should they surpass us?"

    No one would think of themselves as inferior to others, especially cultivators!

    These four people stood up and spoke at the same time. They were also stunned and looked at each other, then snorted and turned their faces away, looking down upon each other in their hearts.

    When Wan Zhenyuan saw that he had finally provoked these four people, he was overjoyed. With a smile on his face, he said to them, "Good, you¡¯re indeed the descendant of the League of Strong Families. You have guts! I just don¡¯t know who¡¯s going to take part in thepetition first."

    Zhang Tianhe and the other three all looked at each other. There was a hint of wariness in their eyes, so they all kept silent.

    Wan Zhenyuan had an idea and said, "How about we decide through a lottery?"

    The crowd was delighted to hear this. They all smiled. "That¡¯s a good idea, Master Wan. We¡¯ll do what you said!"

    These cultivators didn¡¯t want to fight anyway, so they joined in the mor. They caused Zhang Tianhe and the others to be unable to get out of the arena and froze on the spot.

    As a Sichuan native, Zhang Cunyi always thought of himself as being the best in the whole world. He was the first to say loudly, "Okay, Master Wan, let¡¯s do it!"

    As soon as he spoke, the other three people had to follow him.

    Wan Zhenyuan was overjoyed and immediately ordered some men to bring paper. After he had finished writing, he then ordered a man to bring an airtightrge jar and toss the paper inside. "Please, the four of you, don¡¯t use any Shentong magic, otherwise you will be considered to be cheating and get disqualified!"

    Zhang Tianhe was mild-mannered. He smiled slightly, not speaking. He reached out and took a piece of paper from the jar first. He opened it up and saw that there was not a single word on it.

    Wan Zhenyuan smiled. "Congrattions, Zhenren Zhang!"

    Zhang Tianhe took a piece of nk paper. He breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, but as soon as he took a breath, he became vignt. "Why didn¡¯t I draw the note that said I had to fight first, and it made me feel rxed? Am I really afraid of Li Yundong?"

    Zhang Tianhe looked serious for a moment, and said loudly in his heart, "No, that¡¯s impossible. I¡¯m better than him. I¡¯m much better than him!"

    Then it was Zhang Cunyi from the Qingcheng Sect who came to pick up the note. He curiously nced at Zhang Tianhe, who was standing to one side. Without thinking too much, he reached out and also touched a piece of nk paper.

    Everyone saw that both of them had touched a piece of nk paper, so the next person to fight would either be Yue Sheng or Wang Lingfei.

    Wang Lingfei narrowed his eyes slightly and said to Yue Sheng, "Zhenren Yue, you go first please."

    Yue Sheng snorted and said, "It¡¯s a fifty-fifty chance. What¡¯s there to be afraid of?" After that, he no longer touched the note and said loudly, "I¡¯ll do it this time!"

    Everyone immediately cheered, "Good job, Zhenren Yue!"

    Li Yundong smiled and made an obeisance by cupping his hands to Yue Sheng. "Zhenren Yue, we¡¯re going to fight again. On what basis will wepete?"

    Yue Sheng walked to the field unhurriedly, cupping his hand. "Zhenren Li, I admire you for your powerful magic and powerful magical weapon. I admit that I¡¯m not as good as you. Therefore, I want topete with you to see whose Yang Spirit is more powerful. What do you think?"

    Li Yundongughed. "As you wish!"

    Everyone was overjoyed when they heard that, and they thought to themselves,"They knew that only a battle between Yang Spirit would consume the most Zhenqi. After the battle, most of the Zhenqi of a cultivator will be used up, and only a little Zhenqi should be left. If Li Yundong agreed to fight Yue Sheng, wouldn¡¯t he have been killed? Even if he won, he would definitely suffer a great loss in the next battle. Then, if I fightter, won¡¯t I be able to take advantage?"

    Everyone thought of their dirty tricks. The cabin of the ship was in disarray up after Zhou Qin and Liu Yuqing¡¯s fight. Wan Zhenyuanughed. "Let me get someone to clean up the ce, then the two of you can fight. What do you think?"

    As soon as he finished his words, a disciple of Gezao Sect suddenly ran in hurriedly and whispered something to him.

    Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s expression changed when he heard this. He bellowed, "How could this happen? Who are they?"

 Chapter 489 Full of Doubts

    <h4>Chapter 489 Full of Doubts</h4>

    Hearing the disciple from Gezao Sect who hade to inform him, he whispered another two words into his ear, and Wan Zhenyuan said angrily, "What did you do before? You didn¡¯t get in touch with them in advance, did you?

    The disciple muttered with a look of grievance, "We didmunicate with them in advance, but this time it seems to be a few newly-appointed police officers."

    When Wan Zhenyuan heard this, he felt a migraineing on. He knew that a new official always applied strict measures. They loved to stir up trouble and they would often do a few things even if nothing happened. There were many cultivators here who were not afraid of these policemen. However, the Cultivation World did not like dealing with the judicial department. The fact that the police woulde to look for them during this Taoist assembly held by the Gezao Sect really caused Wan Zhenyuan to lose face.

    When the crowd heard the conversation between Wan Zhenyuan and his disciple, they all burst into an uproar. "Master Wan, what are you doing? Why are you attracting the police?"

    Wan Zhenyuan smiled bitterly and cupped his hands. "Don¡¯t worry, brothers of the Tao. This must be an ident. It¡¯ll be fine as long as I exin it to them clearly!"

    Someone said in a deliberately ambiguous tone, "Exnation? How will you exin it? If you exin, go by yourself. We won¡¯t apany you!"

    "That¡¯s right. Now that even the police cane, who else willeter?"

    When Wan Zhenyuan saw that everyone was arguing, he stretched out his hands, feeling a headacheing on, and said loudly, "Everyone, please be quiet. Be quiet. I have alreadye up with a n!"

    When everyone heard this, they temporarily quieted down and looked at Wan Zhenyuan unkindly. It seemed that as long as they were dissatisfied with what he said, they would immediately curse him.

    Wan Zhenyuan said loudly, "I¡¯ve already prepared a quiet and secluded ce at the Mysterious Temple. I wanted to invite all of you to go and take a look tomorrow, but I hadn¡¯t expected something like this to happen today. We might as well head there together now. What do you think?"

    The cultivators on the ship looked at each other. They were very unhappy, but there was nothing they could do. After a moment of hesitation, they heard the sound of an rming from outside, at which they could only nod helplessly. Wan Zhenyuan smiled and cupped his hands at the crowd. "So I will meet all of you at the Mysterious Templeter. I will send disciples there to lead the way."

    The disciple of the Zhengyi School, Zhang Ling, took the lead and walked out of the ship. Then, the other disciples of the Zhengyi School also filed out. The other cultivators on the ship shouted and followed suit.

    Su Chan widened her eyes and said, "What? How could the Taoist assembly turn out like this?"

    Ruan Hongling didn¡¯t know whether to start crying orughing. "Why does it look like an underground party meeting? What are they doing?" she said.

    Li Yundong smiled and said to them, "Well, don¡¯t say anything. Everyone go. Let¡¯s go with them too." He turned his head and whispered to Zhou Qin, "Can you move?"

    Zhou Qin smiled gently and nodded. "It¡¯s okay." After that, she struggled to stand. As soon as she moved, she felt a sharp pain in her body and could not help frowning.

    Li Yundong sighed. "Don¡¯t force yourself. Forget it. I will carry you on my back."

    As he said this, he took Zhou Qin on his back without hesitation, and then smiled at Zi Yuan. "Zi Yuan, where is the Mysterious Temple?"

    Zi Yuanughed and said, "Do you really think that I¡¯m a well-informed person? Do you think I know everything?"

    Li Yundongughed. "Is there anything you don¡¯t know in the world?"

    Zi Yuan smiled at him. "There is no end to learning, and there are many things that I don¡¯t know! However, coincidentally, I do happen to know where this Mysterious Temple is located."

    Ruan Hongling, who was standing to one side, interrupted smugly, "My Shijie Zi Yuan knows everything, whether it is astronomy or geography, so she must know such a trivial thing! "

    Li Yundong smiled. "Then please lead the way, Zhenren Zi Yuan."

    The group of people talked andughed as they headed out of the ship. Sure enough, when they got off the ship, they saw several police cars parked on the side of the road. Several young policemen in uniforms shouted at the Taoist priests rushing out of the ship, "Hey, stop, all of you stop!"

    But these cultivators were all equipped with unique skills. Theyughed, and their feet were not very fast, but after taking a few steps, they left the policemen far behind.

    When Li Yundong and others came out, these policemen turned their heads and looked at them. They saw a young, handsome man leading a group of beautiful women out of the ship. They had never seen so many beauties appear in front of them, and they were all stunned!

    A policeman looked at them dazedly for a while, then turned to ask his boss, "Captain Zhang, what should we do?"

    Captain Zhang scratched his head and swore, "D*mn it, whoever they are, go up and arrest them first. Bring them back and interrogate them slowly!"

    These policemen were so excited that they stepped forward and shouted, "Stop!"

    Li Yundong turned his head and smiled. He said to the Zi Yuan and others, "Let¡¯spete on the speed of our feet. Let¡¯s see who runs the fastest. What do you think?"

    Apart from Zhou Qin, who was quietly lying on Li Yundong¡¯s back, all the womenughed and jumped forward. After taking a few steps, all trace of them was gone.

    These policemen saw the beautiful women jump like swordsmen and disappear in a few moves. They all stopped immediately and stood there, dumbfounded and speechless.

    Only Li Yundong was still standing there with Zhou Qin on his back. He smiled at the policemen and said, "Hey, what are you here for?"

    Captain Zhang, as if awakening from a dream, said, "Someone called the police to say that you were having an illegal gathering!"

    Li Yundong asked, "Who called the police?"

    Captain Zhang looked serious and said with a dignified face, "I can¡¯t tell you that. You should go back with us first. Everything will be fine after you exin yourselves."

    Li Yundong was not stupid. Everyone had left, but if he stayed, wouldn¡¯t he end up as the scapegoat? Heughed and said, "Forget it, I¡¯ll go to your ce to drink tea some other day. I still have something to do. I¡¯m going!"

    Captain Zhang was anxious and shouted, "Stop, don¡¯t go!" After that, he yelled to his subordinates, "Why are you standing there? Catch him!"

    These policemen came to their senses and quickly rushed forward to pounce on him.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t want to get involved with them. Heughed and carried Zhou Qin on his back. His body was as light as a swallow¡¯s, and he jumped from one side of the moat to the other and then went far away.

    These policemen were struck dumb, standing by the river, and their eyes almost fell out. "What the hell? Is he shooting a movie? How did he do that?"

    At this time, Kris, John and Alba who had been in the distance, also watched Li Yundong in astonishment. The three foreigners looked at each other. Alba said, "This is not an illusion, right? He... he just jumped from one side of the river to the other?"

    "He did," John stammered. "God, he¡¯s even carrying an adult on his back! Although she¡¯s a woman, but... but she¡¯s also an adult. How did he jump over it?"

    Kris widened her eyes. Once again, she had seen a power that didn¡¯t look like a human being¡¯s in this young man¡¯s body. This made her even more certain of what her grandmother had once said to her: "There are some mysterious people in this world who possess mysterious and powerful powers!¡±

    Alba¡¯s face turned pale and she said, "If he¡¯s going to attend the Olympic Games, he¡¯ll probably be able to take charge of all the track and field projects by himself, won¡¯t he?"

    For some reason, Kris sighed softly and said, "My grandmother is right. China is really a ce full of people who have unnoticed talent. I don¡¯t know how many sagacious people are hiding among themon people."

    Alba said with her eyes wide open, "Why don¡¯t theye out to fight for glory and service for their country? Aren¡¯t the Chinese the most dedicated to contributing to their country?"

    Kris shook her head. "They¡¯re very special. They can¡¯t be measured by the minds of ordinary people."

    Alba thought for a moment, then nodded. "That¡¯s true. That Li Yundong is a chauvinist b*stard!"

    John said sadly, "Ladies, the point is... What are we going to do next?"

    Kris frowned. "Let¡¯s follow them and see what¡¯s going on!"

    Johnughed bitterly. "But how do you follow and who are you going to follow?"

    At this time, the three foreigners looked at each other and found that almost all the people on the ship had run away. How could they be seen on the street?

    On the road opposite Kris, Cinian, Shinsyu, and Tachibana Wakako were shocked to see this scene. Tachibana Wakako innocently said, "Master Cinian, why did they run away? Could it be that they knew we wereing?"

    Cinian did not speak, just looked at the policemen who were in a daze with strange eyes. It was Shinsyu who sneered and said, "These useless Chinese cultivators, a few empty-handed policemen have scared them away!"

    Tachibana Wakako said with disappointment, "Ah? Then we can¡¯t enjoy the fun?" As she said this, she reached out to pull on the sleeves of Cinian and begged, "Master Cinian, what should we do?"

    After thinking for a while, Cinian waved his hand. After a while, a sparrow fell from his palm. He murmured incantations, then shook his arm. The sparrow flew up with a swoosh.

    Cinian turned to smile at Tachibana Wakako and said, "There¡¯s no need to worry. We will be able to find them soon! These Chinese cultivators are too funny. They actually moved somewhere else to hold a Taoist assembly. Hehe, it¡¯s really incredible. What a joke!"

    Just as the sparrow sent out by Cinian was flying through the air, Li Yundong, Zi Yuan, and the others had regrouped. They soon arrived at the Mysterious Temple in front of Guanqian Street of Dongwu City.

    Li Yundong saw that Guanqian Street was a bustlingmercial pedestrian street, but there was an antique Taoist temple along with it. The Taoist temple was full of incense and people were weaving around in it. He asked curiously, "Is this the ce?"

    Zi Yuan nodded. "Correct. This is the Mysterious Temple. This street is in front of the Mysterious Temple, so this street is also called Guanqian Street."

    As soon as she finished speaking, a man suddenly came over and asked them, "Excuse me, are you Zhenren Li Yundong and Zhenren Zi Yuan?"

    Li Yundong turned his head and saw a young man dressed like an ordinary person talking to him. He asked curiously, "Are you from the Gezao Sect?"

    The young man smiled slightly and said, "Zhenren Li, in the downtown area, please forgive me for not carrying out the usual niceties of Taoism so as not to attract people¡¯s attention. Our master asked me to pick you up here. Pleasee with me."

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Well, you lead the way."

    The group of people slowly walked behind the young man.

    Li Yundong looked around carefully and saw that although the street was full of branded fashion shops, they weren¡¯t all tall. The highest was only five floors. The whole area still maintained a ssical charm. In particr, the young man led them to take a few detours from the Mysterious Temple and came to a narrow alley paved with bluestone. ssical garden buildings with white walls and ck tiles were everywhere, making people feel as if they had stepped into a quiet, elegant paradise from the mortal society.

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help wondering aloud, "There is such a quiet ce in this noisy Dongwu City where every inch ofnd is worth an inch of gold. Is this a ce that belongs to the Gezao Sect, or are they borrowing it?"

    The young man leading the way smiled and said proudly, "Our Master has several gardens in Dongwu City. This is just one of them!"

    Li Yundong turned his head and whispered to the Zi Yuan, "Is the Gezao Sect so rich?"

    Zi Yuan also whispered, "The External Alchemy is the wealthiest sect among the cultivation sects, because they sell medicine for a living! Haven¡¯t you heard the saying: Next to thievery, there¡¯s medicine-dealing! Robbery and medicine are the most profitable businesses in the world."

    Li Yundong sighed secretly, "It¡¯s true, and selling medicine is equivalent to a legal robbery!"

    The group of people followed the young man for a few more steps when he suddenly stopped in front of a round, arched wooden door and smiled. "Here we are, Zhenren Li and Zhenren Zi Yuan. Pleasee in!"

    As he spoke, he walked to the wooden door, pushed it open, and respectfully invited Li Yundong and the others in.

    Li Yundong carried Zhou Qin on his back and led Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and the others into the garden. Li Yundong looked around and saw himself in an elegant garden filled with blooming flowers. He was surrounded by grass, green trees, rockeries, and strange stones. In front of him was a gravel path paved with pebbles. In the distance, there were cornices and arches, and in the long corridor with red pirs and white walls, the garden was full of antiques and had an artistic atmosphere.

    What was even more unusual was that in the depths of the garden, there was the melodious sound of Pingtan. A tender female was singing a song in the Dongwu dialect. For a moment, Li Yundong and others were stunned when they heard it.

    Seeing such beautiful scenery, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help sighing. "It¡¯s said that thendscapes and architecture in Jiangnan is the best in the world, while thendscapes and architecture in Dongwu are the best in Jiangnan! It really lives up to its reputation! Master Wan is really good at enjoying life!"

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t help but say with a look of yearning, "Yundong, when can we live in such a garden?"

    Li Yundong smiled and pinched the tip of her nose. "Well, even if we had such a garden, who would sing a song for me?"

    Su Chan beam with joy and pointed at herself. "Me, me, I can sing!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "You can sing songs? This is really a rare thing. When we go back, you can sing for me!"

    Li Yundong and Su Chan had always ignored their surroundings when they started flirting with each other. Zi Yuan helplessly nced at the young man who was leading the way. She smiled apologetically and said, "We can go in by ourselves. This is nothing to do with you. Thank you."

    The young man nodded with a smile and turned to leave.

    Ruan Hongling looked at his figure, and there was something strange in her eyes. Li Yundong saw her and couldn¡¯t helpughing. "What¡¯s wrong? Are you stunned by seeing a handsome guy?"

    Ruan Hongling rolled her eyes at Li Yundong. "What did you just say? I just find this guy a little strange!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "What¡¯s strange about him?"

    Ruan Hongling said suspiciously, "It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen a man react to so many beautiful women still with a calm face. He¡¯s not surprised at all and not in a daze!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Aren¡¯t you subtly boasting now?"

    Ruan Hongling scoffed. "Bah! A cracked bell can never sound good! Don¡¯t say unnecessary trash. Let¡¯s go quickly!"

    Li Yundong smiled and took Zhou Qin on his back, then walked forward. Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and the others admired the garden¡¯s ingenious arrangement of flowers and nts. They couldn¡¯t help making gasps of admiration.

    Only Ruan Hongling thought about what had happened just now. The more she thought about it, the stranger she felt. For a moment, she fell to the back of the team unconsciously.

    When she reached the corner of a corridor, she suddenly felt that someone was looking at her. She turned her head and saw a figure quickly shing into the corner.

    Although they moved quickly, she still recognized the person. She was shocked and asked in her heart, "Why does this figure look like Cao Yi, Shibo of the Fox Zen School?"

 Chapter 490 The Profound Theory in Song!

    <h4>Chapter 490 The Profound Theory in Song!</h4>

    Ruan Hongling just took a brief nce for only a moment. When she looked carefully again, she found that the man had disappeared without a trace.

    Li Yundong walked ahead for a while and saw that Ruan Hongling was missing. He looked back and saw her looking back behind her.

    Li Yundong asked curiously, "Ruan Hongling, what are you looking at?"

    She turned her head and said with a look of uncertainty, "I seem to have seen someone just now."

    Li Yundong smiled. "How rare, don¡¯t you see many people here?"

    The little foxes by Li Yundong¡¯s side burst outughing. Ruan Hongling said anxiously, "No, I think I saw Cao Yi from the Fox Zen School just now!"

    "What?" This time, the little foxes couldn¡¯tugh anymore. All of them widened their eyes. "Shibo Cao Yi? Where is she?"

    Li Yundong frowned and asked in a deep voice, "Are you sure?"

    Ruan Hongling hesitated for a moment before saying, "The figure passed quickly just now. Maybe I didn¡¯t see him clearly. But I feel that it resembled Zhuang Yating. Oh, anyway, the figures of both of them are very simr!"

    Zi Yuan knew that this was not a trivial matter. Yan Fang was hiding in the darkness and peeping at the Fox Zen School, which was already a thorn in Li Yundong¡¯s heart, making him sleepless and ufortable.

    Zi Yuan asked seriously, "Hongling, you can¡¯t say you are not sure about this. Have you seen who she really is?"

    Ruan Hongling thought about it seriously and said, "In fact, I didn¡¯t see her clearly, but when I saw this person, she seemed to be hiding from me deliberately. Then I looked at her back, and the name ¡¯Cao Yi¡¯ came to my mind subconsciously."

    After hearing this, everyone felt a chill run down their backs, as if Yan Fang was peeping at them from a dark corner.

    Su Chan pulled Li Yundong¡¯s sleeve with a look of horror on her face and said, "Yundong, did Yan Fang sneak into the Taoist assembly?"

    Zhou Qin was lying on Li Yundong¡¯s back, and she whispered, "Master, I have always felt that this Taoist assembly is a trap..."

    Upon hearing this, the little foxes were so scared that they looked around as if they couldn¡¯t wait to escape the area.

    After thinking for a while, Zi Yuan frowned slightly and said, "Isn¡¯t Wan Zhenyuan crazy to use the Taoist assembly as bait? You have to know that most of the people whoe here are masters from the younger generation. Even if all of them die here, the foundation of the sects will not be shaken. Because the lifespan of cultivators is almost limitless, if their disciples die, they can cultivate others, but if Wan Zhenyuan does so, it will only lead to the crazy revenge of those Qianbei Masters. The Gezao Sect will suffer. Although he is ambitious, he is not that stupid!"

    Li Yundong also nodded. "Zi Yuan¡¯s right. Zhou Qin, I know what you¡¯re thinking. If Wan Zhenyuan wants to use this Taoist assembly to bnce the strength in the cultivation world and suppress the various sects, making them fight each other, so his Gezao Sect will reap the benefits, then I believe that he has the intention. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have instigated the cultivators of various sects. Besides, I believe that not all of the cultivators in the world are fools. They¡¯ll keep their guard up."

    Zi Yuan smiled in agreement. "Exactly. I don¡¯t believe that Wan Zhenyuan will have the guts to set up such a huge trap."

    Li Yundong patted Su Chan¡¯s head and said with a smile, "I¡¯m here. Don¡¯t worry. Even if it¡¯s a trap, they won¡¯t be able to do anything to me!"

    Su Chan was obsessed with the boy in front of her. When she had first met him, he had just been a little boy who knew nothing about cultivation, but now he had grown into an indomitable master. As long as he was there, she wouldn¡¯t need to be afraid even if the sky fell down!

    Su Chan nodded heavily and looked at Li Yundong with great dependence. She said with a smile, "Yes, my Yundong is now a great master. Even if there are intrigues, you won¡¯t be afraid, right?"

    Li Yundongughed. "This is how one person can beat ten people! In the face of strength, intrigues and trickery can¡¯t stand firm! It¡¯s okay if Yan Fang doesn¡¯te, but if she does, I¡¯ll make sure she can¡¯te back!"

    When the little foxes of the Fox Zen School heard this, their anxious hearts immediately rxed, and they chattered, "That¡¯s right, we have our leader here, there¡¯s no need to be afraid!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Let¡¯s go. Don¡¯t waste any more time here. We just need to pay more attentionter."

    The group of people passed through the long corridor and followed the sound of Pingtan. After walking about ten meters, they stopped in front of a two-floor building.

    Li Yundong looked at it and found that it was an ancient building with ck roof tiles and white walls. There were four spirit beasts standing on the flying eaves of the first and second floors: the Azure Dragon, Baihui, Vermilion Bird, and the ck Tortoise. There was a bell hanging under the four spirit beasts. When the breeze blew, it caused bursts of crisp sounds, which were particrly pleasant to listen to with the soft and pleasant sound of Pingtan.

    Li Yundong looked around and saw that although the courtyard in front of the building was not big, thekes and rockeries were all avable. Moreover, the shape was realistic, the structure was rigorous, theyout had the main part and a second area, so the level was clear. As long as one looked at it, they would know that it was from the mind of a big designer. The most unusual thing was that Li Yundong did not see any identical bits of scenery along the way. It was true that these rockery roads, caves, ravines, valleys, dangerous roads, and cliffs were all over the ce. It really gave a feeling of "walking in the mountains, every side of the mountain is different, and the scenery seen with each step is different."

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but praise it with a smile. "Even if there is a trap here, the person who designed it must be elegant."

    After that, he walked inside with the girls. As soon as he got through the door, he saw two pieces of couplets jumping into his eyes. The first one read: "The hills and ravines are in the chest, looking at the thin stones and springs, there is a natural painting book." The next one read: "The Landscape Architecture here is the best in Wudong City, people are willing to carry the zither and the wine, and be an out-of-the-world traveler."

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but cheer, "This is so well written!"

    His voice was so loud that Wan Zhenyuan heard him and went downstairs. He cupped his hands and said with a smile, "Zhenren Li, there are better ones upstairs. Pleasee in!"

    Li Yundong chuckled, then made an obeisance by cupping his hands at Wan Zhenyuan and said, "Master Wan, your aesthetic is so good. Why didn¡¯t you pick this ce for the Taoist assembly before?"

    Master Wan chuckled, then he lowered his voice and said, "We¡¯re always hiding the good treasures and refusing to take them out!"

    After that, he winked at Li Yundong and said, "You¡¯ll know the real reason when you go upstairs."

    Li Yundong was curious in his heart. When he stepped upstairs, he saw that the upper floor was already full of people, cultivators from all sects who had been on the ship.

    These cultivators were focused in one direction. Some of them closed their eyes and shook their heads with enchanted expressions. Others nodded slightly with smiles on their faces. Unexpectedly, none of them were looking at Li Yundong.

    Li Yundong was curious, he looked up and saw two women sitting there. One of them was about thirty years old, wearing a purple cheongsam with a golden hem and holding a three-stringed instrument in her hand. She had a beautiful face. Sitting next to her was a young woman whose face was concealed. She was wearing a crisp cyan floral cheongsam, holding a pipa in her arms, and was strumming it slowly.

    Li Yundong heard that her voice was clear and soft. Her Suzhou dialect was sweet and pleasant to listen to, the sound was as crisp as therks in an empty valley screaming in the mountains, as if it could continue for three consecutive days, and when it was soft, it was like making wine with honey, so sweet that every pore seemed to ooze sweet and soft feelings.

    Li Yundong was stunned upon hearing this. He turned and saw that Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, and the others were all in a daze as they listened to this song. No one was actually urging him to go forward.

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help wondering in his heart, "Which famous artist is singing the Pingtan? The song is so beautiful. Although I don¡¯t understand Suzhou Dialect, I can feel a kind of bone-chilling charm when she sings. I wonder what the woman with such a beautiful voice looks like."

    He couldn¡¯t help but quickly walk up the stairs and crane his neck to take a look.

    He saw that the girl was about sixteen or seventeen years old and extremely beautiful. Her appearance was not inferior to that of Su Chan, Zi Yuan, or Zhou Qin. What was even rarer was that her lips were red, her teeth were white, and she was extremely delicate. Her eyes were like Foshan mountain streams flowing down, making people feelfortable like they were drinking wine, but there was no evil intention in her heart.

    Seeing this, Li Yundong secretly felt amazed. He turned to Su Chan and the others, who were listening in a daze, and said, "Hey, how long are you going to stand on the stairs?"

    Su Chan and the others, as if awakening from a dream, followed Li Yundong up and sat down on their seats.

    At this moment, the cultivators at the neighboring table finally noticed the arrival of Li Yundong and the others. However, they only took a few nces at him before quickly looking away. They then focused on listening to the girl¡¯s continued singing.

    Li Yundong sat down and looked seriously at the two women singing. He saw that the woman with the three-stringed instrument in her arms had heavy makeup on her face, and her eyebrows were full of charm. The girl next to her was wearing a pair of bright pearl earrings on her ears, and a pair of jade bracelets on her hands. Her fingers plucked the strings, and the bracelets were clinking brightly, like faint green shadows, looking really beautiful.

    Li Yundong listened for a while and suddenly found that Su Chan and the other little foxes of the Fox Zen School didn¡¯t look well. He whispered to Su Chan, "What¡¯s wrong with you?"

    Su Chan said to Li Yundong in a low voice with an unhappy face, "I don¡¯t like to hear that sound!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Why? Is it because she is beautiful and sings well?"

    Suchan said angrily, "No, she sang The Legend of Deification, which happens to be about Jiang Taigong conquering Daji and eliminating demons and monsters!"

    Li Yundong said, "What? Really? This is quite suitable for the scene! It just so happens that there are you little fox spirits here!"

    Su Chan made a face at Li Yundong. "You¡¯re so annoying. I don¡¯t like people calling me a fox spirit! We are wronged, and we don¡¯t seduce anyone. Why should we bear this bad reputation?"

    Li Yundong leaned over to her ear and whispered with a smile, "But you are such a fascinating little fox spirit and I love you so much."

    Su Chan¡¯s ears itched from Li Yundong¡¯s breath. She giggled and said, "You¡¯re so annoying. Just now, you acted like a great cultivator, but now you¡¯re acting like a hooligan. Don¡¯t you see what ce this is and who is around? How embarrassed will you be if you are seen by others?"

    Li Yundongughed. "Sweetie, I just want you not to make blind and disorderly conjectures. I¡¯m here, you don¡¯t have to think about what others think. If someone dares to get rid of you, I¡¯ll get rid of him first!"

    Su Chan¡¯s heart warmed when she heard that. She smiled sweetly at Li Yundong.

    The two of them talked as if there was no one else around. Suddenly, they heard the cheers and apuse in the small building. It turned out that the girl had finished singing.

    Li Yundong then looked at the stage and saw a young girl standing up with a pipa in her arms. She was really graceful and beautiful. She smiled at the crowd shyly and then turned into the back room.

    After the girl entered the dressing room of the back room, the smile on her face immediately disappeared. She looked around alertly, then turned and went out through the back door. She came to a remote corner and whispered, "Master, are you here? They havee!"

    At this time, a person walked out of the corner. Her figure was hidden in the shadows, and her appearance could not be seen clearly, but when she opened her mouth, it was a woman¡¯s voice. She said coldly, "Have they alle?"

    The girl nodded, and there was some fear in her eyes. She said softly, "Yes, all of them!"

    The woman snorted and said, "Perfect. I¡¯ve been nning for nine years and this day has finallye! Today, I¡¯m going to wipe out the entire Fox Zen School and let all the cultivators in the world know the true colors of these fox spirits!"

 Chapter 491 Thousands of Changes Hidden in the Intention to Kill

    <h4>Chapter 491 Thousands of Changes Hidden in the Intention to Kill</h4>

    After the cultivators on the small building left, they didn¡¯te to their senses for a while, as if they could still hear the moving singing sounds around their ears. After a long time, they sighed, "It¡¯s true that this song only exists in heaven, but the world gets to hear it a few times! Good singing, good singing!"

    Li Yundong also smiled andforted Su Chan, "Maybe it¡¯s just a coincidence, I didn¡¯t mean anything against you!"

    Su Chan put her hands on the table and rested her chin on the palms of her hands. She pouted and said, "Maybe. Anyway, it¡¯s ear-piercing."

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Really? I feel calm after hearing this ditty. The killing intent and bloody smell of the Taoist assembly have been washed away."

    Su Chan suddenly smiled and whispered to Li Yundong, "Yundong, shall I sing a song for you?"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing. "Really, here? By the way, you said you could sing a ditty, but can you sing Pingtan?"

    Su Chan said with a smile, "My master taught me! She knows a lot of things. She can do almost anything! What¡¯s more, I lived with my master in Dongwu City for a while, so I learned the dialect there as well as Pingtan. Yundong, you must listen to me sing for you when you go back. You have to listen!"

    Li Yundong chuckled. Just as he was about to speak, Wan Zhenyuan cupped one hand in the other before his chest and said to the cultivators from all sects, "Everyone! I¡¯m truly sorry for what happened during the Taoist assembly. I apologize to everyone here!"

    The cultivators from the various sects roared withughter. One of them said loudly, "Master Wan, you should have brought us to such a good ce a long time ago!"

    "That¡¯s right, Master Wan. Your ce isn¡¯t bad, much better than that shabby yacht! We¡¯ll forgive you!"

    "Master Wan, you¡¯re so mean. There¡¯s a mistress hiding in a golden house! These two beauties are big and small. If you want to have one, you have to get one!"

    Dang Qiang¡¯s voice was especially loud as he said, "Master Wan, call that little girl out again. At least let us know her name!"

    Some people next to him immediately teased, "Dang Qiang, do you still want to be an old cow and eat tender grass?"

    Dang Qiang patted his head and said loudly, "Am I very old? I¡¯ve lived for so long, but I don¡¯t have any white hair. Where am I getting old?"

    Everyone looked at the bald head of Dang Qiang andughed out loud. "Dang Qiang, you don¡¯t have a single hair on your head!"

    Someoneughed loudly and said, "Dang Qiang, when you took off your clothes just now, I saw that the hair you have below is white!"

    Hearing this, everyoneughed so hard that they fell to the ground. Li Yundong was listening to them with a smile, but when he heard this, he almost spat out a mouthful of tea.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether to start crying orughing at this point. "Aren¡¯t these people being too rude?"

    Zhou Qin suddenly pursed her lips and said with a smile, "Master, you used to talk much more than they did."

    Li Yundong pretended to be surprised and said, "Really? I was so crude?"

    These words were full of meaning. Zhou Qin immediately blushed and whispered, "Don¡¯t be so direct! You¡¯re so annoying!"

    Su Chan, Ruan Hongling, and the little foxes allughed heartily. Zi Yuan was also quite amused. She said, "You¡¯re now only one step away from being a great cultivator. Naturally, you can¡¯t act as freely as you did in the past. Moreover, what you cultivate is your body and Qi. If you still practice like before, then your kung fu will be in vain."

    Li Yundong smiled and said to Zhou Qin, "Did you see that? Zi Yuan is kinder than you. How could my apprentice tear down my reputation in public?"

    While they were talking, they saw Dang Qiang arguing about the color of his hair and flushed with shame. A cultivatorughed loudly and said, "Dang Qiang, don¡¯t fool around. We are waiting to listen to a song!"

    "That¡¯s right! Master Wan, ask the little girl toe up and sing another song! It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve heard such a beautiful song!"

    Wan Zhenyuan chuckled and said, "Everyone, don¡¯tugh at me. Of course, you can hear her. But don¡¯t we have to continue the battle? Or should we have a fight and sing a song at the same time?"

    The crowd burst intoughter, and for a time, the hostility of all the sects seemed to disappear.

    Wan Zhenyuan took a nce at Li Yundong and Yue Sheng and said with a smile, "Zhenren Li, Zhenren Yue, please?"

    Yue Sheng stood up with no expression on his face. He walked to the field, made an obeisance by cupping one hand in the other before his chest to Li Yundong, and said, "Zhenren Li, shall we spar?"

    Li Yundong chuckled. He looked around and said, "Zhenren Yue, the ce upstairs is narrow, and there is a lot of antique furniture. If we fight here, I¡¯m afraid this building will be destroyed. It¡¯s a pity that this ce is so quiet and elegant. It¡¯s a pity that it¡¯s ruined. What¡¯s more, it¡¯s too bad for us to fight here. I think it¡¯s better for us to do it sitting down. How about that?"

    Yue Sheng was stunned. He asked, "How can we sit and have a battle?"

    Li Yundong stood up, cupped one hand in the other before his chest, and said to Wan Zhenyuan, "Master Wan, please give us an empty table."

    Wan Zhenyuan smiled and said, "No problem." After that, he directed his subordinates to set up an empty table in the middle of the hall.

    Li Yundong walked to this table and said to Yue Sheng with a smile, "Zhenren Yue, we have agreed to fight with Yang Spirit bodies, but since it is Yang Spirit body, there are myriads of changes. Why don¡¯t we use this table as a Spirit Space, and the two of us can use our own Yang Spirit bodies to change our fighting methods on the table?"

    Yue Sheng also walked up to the table and asked in confusion, "What do you mean, change our fighting methods?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Yang Spirits can change as we want them to. Let¡¯s see whose changes are more subtle and whose changes are more powerful. What do you think?"

    Yue Sheng thought for a moment before decisively saying, "Okay! We¡¯ll do as you say!"

    Li Yundong smiled. He didn¡¯t move, but soon a palm-sized small man jumped out of the Baihui on the top of his head. The small man, like a miniature version of Li Yundong, looked at everyone with a smile from where he stood on the table.

    Yue Sheng did not even bat an eyelid. He quickly manipted his Yang Spirit body to turn into a small man as he jumped onto the table.

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Zhenren Yue, why don¡¯t you go first?"

    Yue Sheng did not stand on ceremony and immediately transformed his Yang Spirit into a white tiger. Although this tiger was small, it had the word ¡¯king¡¯ prominent written on its forehead. Its mane was majestic, and no one dared to look down upon it.

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "What a white tiger! Look at me!" While speaking, Li Yundong controlled the Yang Spirit, making it turn around and turn into an Azure Dragon to fight with Yue Sheng¡¯s white tiger.

    At this time, the cultivators on the scene were all staring at the battle between the two Yang Spirits on the table. Even the woman who had been singing before also came back and looked up with curiosity.

    Seeing Zhou Qin looking at the table in confusion, as if she didn¡¯t understand what was so special about this fight, Zi Yuan exined with a smile, "Zhou Qin, do you still remember that Eng God in The Journey to the West used to settle a score against the Monkey King?"

    Zhou Qin was very excited about this, and she tentatively asked, "Could it be that the two of them kept changing, and then Sun Wukong was caught by the Eng God?"

    Zi Yuan nodded and smiled. "Exactly! The battle between Li Yundong and Yue Sheng is aparison of their Yang Spirit Transformations. It depends on who changes more and who has a better ability to do so. This battle seems to be less intense than before, but it¡¯s consuming more Zhenqi than the previous few. Moreover, you see that Yue Sheng has transformed into a White Tiger, Li Yundong has chosen to turn into an Azure Dragon. White Tiger on the ground, and Azure Dragon in the sky. Since ancient times, the rank of Green Dragon has always been above that of the white tiger, so Li Yundong¡¯s transformation just so happens to be able to suppress Yue Sheng."

    As she was talking, Yue Sheng¡¯s white tiger fought with Li Yundong¡¯s azure dragon for a while and gradually lost its strength, just as she had expected. Yue Sheng frowned, and the white tiger immediately jumped out of the battle. It shook its body and turned into a big man. The muscles all over the man¡¯s body were like those of a bodybuilder. He was broad-chested, with two wings on his back and three eyes on his forehead. His face was red like a monkey¡¯s and his feet were like an eagle¡¯s. His left hand was holding a wedge, his right hand had an awl, and his hands were fiercely hitting the giant drum hanging between his waist and abdomen.

    There was a loud cracking sound from the table. A small lightning bolt came crashing down on the azure dragon formed by Li Yundong.

    Zi Yuan was shocked. "This is Thunder God! Yue Sheng¡¯s Yang Spirit is indeed powerful. It¡¯s a good change!"

    Zhou Qin was startled. "Can Thunder Gods beat Azure Dragons?"

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "Of course! The Azure Dragon is a divine beast, while the Thunder God is a Gods¡¯ soul. We said the ¡¯divine¡¯ beast, so the divine is in front of the beast. Therefore, when Gods¡¯ soul appears, all the divine beasts have no choice but to surrender. Moreover, since ancient times all divine beasts have been ridden by Shenxian."

    Zhou Qin said anxiously, "Then, master will also be a Gods¡¯ soul?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head and said with a smile, "Then it turned into a head-on fight. It¡¯s rare to see who is superior and who is inferior. If we want to determine who is inferior, we¡¯ll have to fight head-on. Both of them are masters. If we really fight, I¡¯m afraid that this building won¡¯t be able to be saved."

    As they were talking, Li Yundong suddenly shook his body and the Azure Dragon instantly turned into a small earthworm which drilled into the table.

    Zi Yuan immediately gave a slight nod and said approvingly, "Not bad, Li Yundong truly has the demeanor of a great cultivator."

    Zhou Qin was surprised. "Master has been aggrieved to the point of turning into an earthworm. How could he have the demeanor of a great cultivator?"

    Zi Yuan said with a smile, "What is a dragon? A dragon can soar above the Ninth Heaven or hide under the Nine Earths. Although Thunder Gods are powerful, their art of thunder and lightning can¡¯t hit the earthworm hidden underground. That¡¯s the mutual restriction of everything in the world, and one thing subdues the other!"

    On the stage, Yue Sheng saw that all the thunder and lightning from his Thunder God had failed. He snorted and immediately changed the Thunder God into a fierce chicken again. He lowered his head and pecked Li Yundong, who was hiding on the table.

    However, he hadn¡¯t been expecting that when he pecked at it, Li Yundong would change from an earthworm to a python in the blink of an eye, tightly tangling with the rooster.

    Yue Sheng reacted very quickly. He immediately turned into a cat, turned around, and began to bite Li Yundong.

    The crowd saw that Li Yundong and Yue Sheng had changed a lot, and each change did notst for even five seconds. Sometimes, they even changed several times in the blink of an eye, making the onlookers dizzy and unable to react.

    Everyone present stared at the table with wide eyes, afraid that a change would ur. Even Wan Zhenyuan looked at the scene with a shocked expression. He thought to himself, "This Yue Sheng is indeed powerful. No wonder he¡¯s known as one of the best among the younger generation of the entire Quanzhen Dragon Sect. But why is this Li Yundong guy¡¯s Yang Spirit also so powerful? He¡¯s still young and has not been cultivating for a long time. How did he reach this point?"

    While he was muttering in his heart, a subordinate next to him came over and whispered a few words in his ear.

    Wan Zhenyuan looked at him unhappily. His gaze was full of me for disturbing his exciting viewing.

    But when he heard the words of this subordinate, he was immediately stunned and could not help but ask, "They are foreigners? They want toe and watch our Taoist assembly?"

    The man nodded. "Yes, they said so."

    Wan Zhenyuan waved impatiently and said, "No, I don¡¯t care how they know about the Taoist assembly, foreigners can¡¯te!"

    But as he spoke, he heard footstepsing from the stairwell, and three people came up slowly from downstairs.

    The leader was a naive-looking little girl in gorgeous clothes with a pretty face. Behind her was an old man with a long face and a short figure. Behind the old man was a tall, but pleasing-looking, young man.

    These three people were none other than Cinian, Shinsyu, and Tachibana Wakako from the Zhenyan Tantrism of Mount K¨­ya in Japan!

 Chapter 492 A Sudden Upheaval!

    <h4>Chapter 492 A Sudden Upheaval!</h4>

    Wan Zhenyuan was momentarily stunned when he saw Cinian and the rest. Even though he was unhappy, he still went forward politely to say, "I am the master of the Gezao Sect, Wan Zhenyuan. You havee to uninvited. May I know why you are here?"

    Cinian also put his palms together very politely. He bowed and in fluent Chinese said, "Amitabha, I am Cinian, from Zhenyan Tantrism of Mount K¨­ya in Japan. This time, I have brought my disciples, Shinsyu, and Tachibana Wakako, to the Hanshan Temple in Dongwu City to pay respects to our founder, Kobo Daishi. I heard that the Taoist assembly is held here every four years, so I came here especially to pay my respects!"

    Wan Zhenyuan said calmly, "Master Cinian, Buddhism and Taoism belong to two sects. I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s not appropriate for you to take part in the Taoist assembly without being invited, okay?"

    Cinian chuckled. "Ohe on! Even though Buddhism and Taoism are two different sects, they share the same origin of cultivation! I¡¯ve heard people say that the sect leader of the External Alchemy¡¯s Leader, the master of the Gezao Sect in China, is a wise cultivation leader. I¡¯m sure you understand this logic, don¡¯t you, sect Master Wan?"

    When Wan Zhenyuan heard this ttery, he immediately felt very happy and felt like his face was shining. However, when he looked around, he saw that the attention of many cultivators had already been attracted. He hesitated for a moment, thinking about whether to let the three Japanesee in or not.

    At this time, Cinian sighed. He touched Tachibana Wakako beside him and said, "Look, I told you that they wouldn¡¯t agree, right? I told you that the Chinese continent has hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Their world is the best at cultivation. The rules of various sects and schools are very strict. Especially in this Taoist assembly, outsiders are not allowed toe in! You didn¡¯t believe me, you just whined toe here. Now look. Have you been refused a favor?"

    The Tachibana Wakako also knew Chinese. At this time, her eyes were wide open, and her dark pupils were full of surprise and grievance. She pouted and whispered in her heart, "It¡¯s true that I was whining toe here... But you hadn¡¯t said that cultivation is best in China!"

    When Wan Zhenyuan heard this, he saw that the little girl was staring at Cinian with eager eyes and then at himself. He suddenly smiled, nodded, and said, "Master Cinian¡¯s words make sense. What¡¯s more, the Sage said ¡¯a friend who hase from afar will be very happy!¡¯ Since the three of you havee all the way here to witness our event, then we of Zhihong Country must show decorum! However, the three of you must abide by the rules and just watch the battle from the side!"

    Upon hearing this, Tachibana Wakako was immediately overjoyed. She deeply bowed to Wan Zhenyuan and said, "Thank you very much!"

    Cinian also smiled as she paid her respects to Wan Zhenyuan and said, "Thanks for making an exception for sect master Wan to visit our Mount K¨­ya some other time. I will definitely treat you generously!"

    Wan Zhenyuan chuckled and ordered his subordinate to lead the three of them over to a table and sit down.

    At this time, Cinian, Shinsyu, and Tachibana Wakako had just sat down at Li Yundong¡¯s table. As soon as they were seated, Tachibana Wakako said to Cinian in Japanese with an unhappy face, "Master Cinian, how can you wrong me? I am not the only one who said that I woulde to the Taoist assembly. What¡¯s more, as a monk, you lied and lied. When did you say that cultivation was the best in the whole world in China?"

    Cinianughed, but he was not angry. He only patted the innocent girl¡¯s head and said with a smile, "You saw it, kid. These Chinese cultivators don¡¯t have much ability, but they have bad tempers. They have been immersed in the beautiful dreams of their own country, and immersed in the most glorious period of Taoist history in the Song Yuanming period. So when I gave them some bootlicking, they were so proud that they forgot everything. If I hadn¡¯t praised them, would they have let us in?"

    Tachibana Wakako suddenly understood. She smiled and made a face at the kindly man, whispering, "Master Cinian, you¡¯re so talented. You¡¯ve deceived these self-righteous Chinese cultivators!"

    Cinian chuckled and waved his hand. "If it weren¡¯t for you, why would I do such a thing? Tachibana Wakako, didn¡¯t you want to watch the Taoist assembly¡¯s battle? Now, you can enjoy it to the fullest!"

    Tachibana Wakako looked at the field and saw that Li Yundong and Yue Sheng were sitting in front of a square table at this time. Each of them had their own small Yang Spirit on the table, which was constantly changing. Sometimes they fought with each other, and sometimes they just chased after each other.

    Tachibana Wakako had a child¡¯s temperament. She was delighted at the sight of this. She turned to Shinsyu and said with a smile, "Shinsyu, that guy is the guy we met at Xiyuan Temple! What do you think of his ability?"

    Shinsyu nced at the field, quickly lowered her eyes, and said mildly, "I¡¯m not interested."

    Tachibana Wakako pouted and said, "You are so annoying! I think it¡¯s really interesting!" After that, she ignored the beautiful scenery around her and looked at it with great interest.

    At this time, Su Chan, Zhou Qin, Zi Yuan, and the little foxes, who were sitting to one side, all heard their conversation in Japanese. They all turned their heads and looked at them, and Su Chan whispered, "Why are Japanese people here?"

    Ruan Hongling whispered to Zi Yuan, "Zi Yuan Shijie, what are they saying?"

    The expression on Zi Yuan¡¯s face was a little unpleasant. She looked meaningfully at Cinian and said in a low voice, "It¡¯s nothing. Let¡¯s ignore them and continue watching Li Yundong and Yue Sheng¡¯s battle."

    The crowd then turned their heads and continued to look at the field.

    At this time, Li Yundong and Yue Sheng¡¯s fighting was intense. The two of them were controlling their respective Yang Spirits to constantly change based on the opponent¡¯s changes. Every time they changed, they immediately changed again in less than a second. In just a few minutes, the round table had been changed dozens of times!

    Yang Spirit¡¯s transformation consumed a lot of Zhenqi. Before long, they saw white steam rising from each other¡¯s heads. Yue Sheng¡¯s forehead was covered with sweat and his face was pale. Li Yundong¡¯s face had gone as red as if he had been drinking strong wine.

    The two changed very quickly at first, but gradually Yue Sheng¡¯s pace slowed down. His face became paler and paler, as if it was a thin sheet of paper. Li Yundong¡¯s face got redder and redder, lobster-like inplexion. Although he had a strange appearance, his eyes were still crystal clear and deep, like the sea. He still had an endless amount of energy. His changes were not slow, but rather, they were showing signs of eleration!

    When everyone saw this, they were shocked in their hearts. In the first fight, Li Yundong hadpeted with Chen Yunyan on the control of thunder, on the explosive power of Zhenqi. In the second fight, Li Yundong hadpeted with Sun Baitian on the five elements, on the delicate control of Zhenqi. In the third fight, Li Yundong hadpeted with Yue Sheng on the godly changes of the Yang Spirit, on the endurance of Zhenqi!

    Li Yundong¡¯s explosive, controlling power had reached an abnormal level after three rounds in a row. Why was his endurance so strong and his Zhenqi so dense?

    When Tachibana Wakako at the side saw that Li Yundong and Yue Sheng¡¯s appearances were different, she couldn¡¯t help but ask curiously, "Master Cinian, why are the two of them so red-faced and the other so white-faced? Hehe, it¡¯s like they are performing a show!"

    Cinian chuckled and said, "The white-faced man turned pale because he¡¯s consumed too much of his Zhenqi. The red-faced man¡¯s face turned pale because the Zhenqi in his body flowed too quickly and too vigorously."

    Tachibana Wakako asked puzzledly, "Then why?"

    Cinian knew that although Tachibana Wakako was also a cultivator, she was practicing witchcraft and possessed the body by Gods¡¯ Spirit Possession. This waspletely different from the cultivation methods of cultivators in China, so she could not understand thesebat techniques at all.

    He exined with a smile, "The Chinese Taoists¡¯ cultivation methods are different from ours. They practice Essence, Qi, Blood and they refine the three essences of the human body through special Qi control to turn them into Zhenqi. Due to the excessive consumption of Zhenqi, this white-faced man had to desperately mobilize the essence blood in his body and quickly turn the three essences into Zhenqi to ensure that he can hold on in battle. But this is to quench his thirst. He can¡¯t hold on for a long time, so the Essence, Qi, and Blood in his body suddenly lost a lot of strength, which led to a pale face."

    Then, Cinian pointed at Li Yundong and said, "Look at this red-faced man. His face is so red because the Zhenqi in his body is too majestic."

    Tachibana Wakako said half-understandingly, "Would it make your face red if your Zhenqi ran too fast?"

    Cinian nodded and said, "That¡¯s right, because Zhenqi is very illusory. It exists in the meridians of the human body, but its transfer is driven by Qi and Blood. Blood is moved by qi, we called it Qi and Blood. Qi is themander of blood. In order to mobilize Zhenqi, Qi control is the first thing to do. After that, Qi control will push the flow of blood in the body, mobilizing Zhenqi. When Zhenqi flows to a certain intensity and height, the flow of blood in the human body will get faster and faster, thus turning the skin redder and redder."

    Tachibana Wakako suddenly understood and said, "Ah, I know, is it the same as a marathon?"

    Cinian nodded slightly. "Even though it¡¯s not correct, it isn¡¯t far from the truth."

    Tachibana Wakako pped her hands and said with a smile, "So, the winner of this battle will soon be decided?"

    Cinian chuckled. "If I¡¯m not wrong, the oue will be decided within 10 seconds!"

    As soon as he said that, Yue Sheng finally couldn¡¯t hold on any longer. Hisst change happened to be transforming into a white tiger, while Li Yundong immediately changed into an Azure Dragon. At this time, Yue Sheng¡¯s Zhenqi was almost exhausted, and he couldn¡¯t change any more.

    Yue Sheng¡¯s Zhenqi was severely depleted. His body swayed and his lips were dry and cracked. He forced a smile at Li Yundong as he cupped one hand in the other before his chest and said, "Zhenren Li, I concede defeat!"

    Li Yundong also smiled and withdrew his Yang Spirit. He chuckled and said, "Zhenren Yue, you¡¯re too modest!"

    Yue Sheng waved his hand. After withdrawing the Yang Spirit, he took a deep breath and slowly adjusted his Qi. After taking a following small breath, he said, "Zhenren Li, there¡¯s one thing that I don¡¯t understand. I¡¯d like to ask you for advice."

    Li Yundong saw that although Yue Sheng was proud and arrogant, he was also a straightforward person. Unlike the first two, who had been up to many evil tricks, he had a good impression of Yue Sheng in his heart, so he smiled and said, "Go ahead, Zhenren Yue."

    Yue Sheng asked uncertainly, "Zhenren Li, you also changed a hundred and eight times just now. I want to ask you, if I don¡¯t admit defeat, how many times can you continue to change?"

    Li Yundong smiled and made his Yang Spirit jump onto the table again. Without another word, he continued to change. This time, he changed the things that had been changed by their fighting methods again. In the end, he said with a smile, "Zhenren Yue, I could go on changing like this for three days and three nights!"

    The moment these words left his mouth, the cultivators from the various sects and schools present turned pale with fright!

    Yue Sheng was also an expert in the Cultivation World. When he hadpeted with Li Yundong for the Yang Spirit Transformation, he could only hold on for five minutes before he was exhausted. But Li Yundong was actually saying that he could hold on for three days and nights?!

    Was this true or not?

    The more he fought, the more energetic he seemed to be. It didn¡¯t seem like he was lying!

    But if it was true, he was too formidable! He had consumed all his Zhenqi and finally won. Now it seemed like everyone had been daydreaming!

    For a moment, everyone had their own thoughts in their hearts. Quanzhen Dragon Sect¡¯s Du Fei drank tea calmly, but there was a storm in his heart. He thought, "Li Yundong has only cultivated for half a year, and I can understand his vigorous Zhenqi. After all, he is recreating his body with the Jindan. He is good at magic, and I can also understand that. Maybe there has been some kind of adventure. But his Zhenqi is so dense and his aura is so long that his Yang Spirit Transformation canst for three days and nights. This means that he has reached the realm of Oneness of Heaven and Men. The big and small universe is self-sufficient, and he is only one step away from the Jinshen phase! How can he be so powerful at such a young age?

    "He must have practiced the Heavenly Jindan Technique which has been lost for a long time. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to be so powerful!"

    Seeing Li Yundong¡¯s miraculous skill, Du Fei couldn¡¯t help but wonder about how to exchange the Heavenly Jindan Technique with Li Yundong!

    Although Zou Ping from the Zhengyi School disliked Li Yundong, she couldn¡¯t help eximing in a low voice, "Three days and three nights? How is that possible? How could his Qi be so strong?"

    Zhang Ling, who was standing aside, snorted and said, "He must have practiced the Heavenly Jindan Technique and cooperated with the Renyuan Jindan. That¡¯s why he is so powerful!"

    "Master, I have a way to get hold of the Heavenly Jindan Technique!" Zou Ping turned her head and whispered something into Zhang Ling¡¯s ear. Zhang Ling narrowed her eyes and revealed a thoughtful expression, then slowly said, "We¡¯ll talk about this when we get back. We need to work out a n first!"

    Wan Zhenyuan saw that all cultivators of all sects were showing fear and despair on their faces after witnessing this battle. Li Yundong¡¯s strength had far exceeded everyone¡¯s expectations.

    It was not terrible for a person to be proficient in the five elements, but if a person was proficient in both power and the five elements, and his Zhenqi was iparably majestic, his Qi was long and drawn-out like a vast river, never drying up, that person simply had to be an invincible monster!

    Wan Zhenyuan looked at Li Yundong in shock and thought, "This guy¡¯s cultivation speed is too fast. His current cultivation strength has far surpassed that of cultivators of the same age. He is almost as strong as the old guys in the Cultivation World! Horrible, really terrible! Can the old fox really control such a terrible guy?"

    At this point, Yue Sheng smiled bitterly. He made an obeisance by cupping one hand in the other before his chest to Li Yundong and said, "Zhenren Li, I admire you. You¡¯re awesome. I¡¯m not as good as you! Although today I¡¯m not as good as you, it doesn¡¯t mean that I won¡¯t be as good as you in the future! One day, I¡¯ll surpass you!"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly. "Zhenren Yue, you¡¯re too kind!"

    Yue Sheng forced a smile and walked to his seat. He lowered his head and remained silent. No matter how Wei Qing tried to humor him, he didn¡¯t even say a word to cheer him up.

    Wan Zhenyuan couldn¡¯t help but smile bitterly when he saw how arrogant Yue Sheng was being. He cupped one hand in the other before his chest and said to the cultivators from the other sects, "So, who else wants to fight?"

    At this time, no cultivator dared to go up to the arena. All of them were afraid, their eyes evasive.

    When Wan Zhenyuan saw this, he could only force a smile and say, "Everyone, if no onees up to fight, I¡¯ll have to announce Zhenren Li as the winner!"

    Sitting in one corner, Ding Nan whispered to Zheng Yuan, "Master, do you still want to fight Li Yundong? He... he is so strong!"

    Zheng Yuan chuckled, and a sinister smile appeared on his face. He whispered, "If I want to defeat him, I won¡¯t need to fight at all! Look at me..."

    With this, he was about to stand up, but as soon as he moved, he suddenly saw a person in the field stand up and say loudly, "Wait! I have something to say!"

 Chapter 493 Trouble Starts!

    <h4>Chapter 493 Trouble Starts!</h4>

    Everyone looked in the direction of the voice, only to find that it was Zhang Cunyi of the Qingcheng Sect.

    Zheng Yuan, who had originally wanted to make things difficult for Li Yundong, was stunned for a moment. Then he sat up straight again and wanted to see what Zhang Cunyi was going to say.

    Zhang Cunyi stood tall. He made an obeisance by cupping one hand in the other before his chest to Li Yundong and said, "Zhenren Li, there is one thing I don¡¯t understand. I want to ask you for the advice!"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and said, "Zhenren Zhang, please say what you want to say."

    Zhang Cunyi said loudly, "I want to ask you, Zhenren Li, do you think this Immortal Pen is a powerful Taoist magical weapon?"

    Li Yundong was stunned and didn¡¯t know what Zhang Cunjian meant. He said, "Zhenren Zhang, the Immortal Pen is the magical item that Zuo Ci, the founder of the Taoist Danding Sect, carried. Of course it¡¯s a powerful magical weapon!"

    Zhang Cunyi nodded, then asked, "Does such a weapon have earth-shattering power?"

    Li Yundong became more and more confused. "This powerful magical weapon can write Taoist Talismans out of thin air. Of course it has earth-shattering power. Zhenren Zhang, what do you mean by asking me this?"

    Zhang Cunyi turned a deaf ear to Li Yundong¡¯s question and said, "Then, Zhenren Li, I want to ask you, if such a powerful magical weapon falls into the hands of evil people, what will you do?"

    Li Yundong raised his eyebrows and said, "Then we people of righteous Cultivation should enforce justice on the perpetrators on the behalf of heaven and take back our Taoist powerful magical weapon! Such powerful magical weapons must not fall into the hands of evildoers!"

    Zhang Cunyi asked again, "But what if this person is too strong and we can¡¯t beat them?"

    Although Li Yundong felt strange, he knew that he had a clear conscience, so he said loudly, "What are you talking about? Do we have to bend our knees if evil forces are too strong? If one can¡¯t fight, then two, if two can¡¯t fight, then we fight together. We can¡¯t let the world be evil and innocent people be bullied, can we?"

    Zhang Cunyiughed. He pointed at Li Yundong and said loudly, "Zhenren Li, I advise you not to get the Immortal Pen!"

    Li Yundong was stunned. "What do you mean?"

    Zhang Cunyi sneered and said, "If you do, you will be the viin who attacks us!"

    Although Li Yundong had been in the Spirit Space for many years and his temper had almost worn off, when he heard someone ming him out of nowhere, he couldn¡¯t help but be angry. He red at him and said angrily, "Zhenren Zhang, don¡¯t nder me!"

    "nder you?" Zhang Cunyi snorted. He turned around and said loudly to the cultivators of the various sects and schools, "You can be witnesses here so that we can see the true face of this wicked man!"

    At this time, everyone was stunned. They hadn¡¯t expected that Zhang Cunyi would suddenly attack Li Yundong by using him of being a viin!

    They immediately came to their senses. All of them stared with their eyes wide open and pricked up their ears to listen.

    A cultivator who wanted to see the world plunged into chaos shouted, "Zhenren Zhang, tell us quickly. We are listening!"

    "That¡¯s right. What the hell is going on?"

    Zhang Cunyi snorted and asked Li Yundong loudly, "Spiritual Master Li, did you open a teahouse on the pedestrian street of Tiannan City?"

    Li Yundong felt strange in his heart. He nodded and said, "Yes, this matter should be known by the cultivation world. Why are you asking me?"

    Zhang Cunyi sneered and said, "Yes, everyone in the cultivation world knows that you, Zhenren Li, have opened a teahouse on the pedestrian street of Tiannan City. But how many cultivators in the world know that your teahouse is actually unscrupulous, using swindlers and bullying to make a living?"

    When the crowd heard this, they suddenly burst into an uproar and looked at Li Yundong in surprise.

    At this time, Su Chan¡¯s head suddenly exploded with a buzz. She couldn¡¯t help but open her mouth wide, and a wild voice shouted in her head, "Oh no, that event is really causing trouble for Yundong! What should I do? What should I do!"

    The little foxes were also dumbfounded. They looked at each other with fear in their eyes and trembled all over.

    When Li Yundong heard this, he was shocked at first, and then he became angry. He shouted, "Zhang Cunyi, make it clear, or you won¡¯t be ending well today!"

    Zhang Cunyi sneered and said, "Zhenren Li, don¡¯t you dare to admit what you have done?"

    With this, he turned around and loudly told everyone that his uncle-inw had once been robbed in Disanxian Teahouse. He gnashed his teeth and said with a look of pure jealousy and hatred, "Brothers of the Tao, Zhenren of all! I think everyone knows that when Zhenren Li opened Disanxian Teahouse a month ago, it was really spectacr and lively. How many senior officials came, how many prominent people attended? I, Zhang Cunyi, can still remember it vividly. I remember that there were not even so many high officials and noble people at the inauguration ceremony of the leader of Qingyang Pce, but Li Yunyang opened a small teahouse and so many people showed up. How mighty is he? What a great thing!"

    He said these words ironically. For a moment, everyone was whispering to each other, all talking about it. "Yes, the Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee came that day. It¡¯s a big deal!"

    "Well, it¡¯s true. Li Yundong¡¯s power is nothing to sneeze at!"

    Zhang Cunyi changed his tone and sneered. "But you don¡¯t use your power on the right side, you just want to do evil, unorthodox things! Zhenren Li, do you use your powerful background and influence to bully people like this?"

    At this time, everyone looked at Li Yundong unkindly. Originally, they had been afraid of Li Yundong being too aggressive, but now they¡¯d finally found an excuse to vent their anger. The emotions hidden in their hearts suddenly burst out.

    Everyone shouted, "This scum is really a blight on the cultivation world!"

    "Kill him! Enforce justice on the perpetrators on the behalf of heaven!"

    "Hey, can you kill him?"

    "I can¡¯t do it alone. Since there are so many people here, it¡¯ll be okay, won¡¯t it?"

    "Forget it. If you die, I¡¯ll die. If you want to be cannon fodder, I won¡¯t apany you!"

    There were also some mature and prudent cultivators who loudly said to Li Yundong, "Zhenren Li, is that true?"

    "Zhenren Li, say something!"

    Wan Zhenyuan saw the situation changing drastically from one extreme to the other!

    This was not what Wan Zhenyuan had wanted. He had no choice but to stand up and shout, "Don¡¯t argue, everyone. I believe that Zhenren Li will give us an exnation!"

    After that, he said to Li Yundong, "Zhenren Li, whether there is such a thing or not, I think you should say a few words."

    At this time, Li Yundong didn¡¯t show any joy or anger on his face, but he was both shocked and angry in his heart. He had never thought that he would encounter such a thing on such an asion. Moreover, he had heard the details clearly from Zhang Cunyi and the time matched. Based on his understanding of Su Chan, this girl could really do such a thing, so he believed half of it in his heart.

    Li Yundong turned his head to look around his table, only to find that Su Chan was looking at him with a frightened and uneasy face. Li Yundong¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He knew that it had to be true!

    Not far away, Zheng Yuan observed Ding Nan¡¯s expression. He grinned and whispered to Ding Nan, "Hey, this Zhang Cunyi seems to have a rough temper. I didn¡¯t expect that he would agree to my n! I thought I was the only one who collected these things!"

    Ding Nan suppressed the worry in her heart and said, "But there is no evidence for it. How can it be assumed without evidence?"

    Zheng Yuanughed and said, "No evidence? I have a lot of evidence! Zhang Cunyi must have irond evidence to dare tounch an attack on such an asion! Otherwise, he would never dare to do so! No wonder he dared to say that he would take first prize. It turns out that he has prepared such a backup n!"

    Ding Nan looked at Zhang Cunyi with disdain. She sneered and said, "Even if he gets what he wants, will he be able to take first ce?"

    Zheng Yuan also sneered and said, "Zhang Cunyi has the Sanhuang Sword, and Yue Sheng has been eliminated. Now he has a great chance of winning! Hey, hey, I have to help him again to light up the fire."

    After that, he stood up and said to Zhang Cunyi with a smile, "Zhenren Zhang, you¡¯ve said so much, but it¡¯s all empty talk without evidence. You can¡¯t wrong a good person! Zhenren Li really doesn¡¯t look like such a viin."

    When Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and the others heard Zheng Yuan stand up to speak on Li Yundong¡¯s behalf, they were so shocked that their mouths fell wide open. They looked at each other in dismay. Ruan Hongling was at a loss for words but she asked in a low voice, "What¡¯s this guy up to?"

    Only Zhou Qin thought for a moment and immediately became furious. She gnashed her teeth and said, "This person deserves to die. He is stirring the pot!"

    Sure enough, Zhang Cunyi cast a nce at Zheng Yuan. He grimaced and took out a piece of paper from his chest pocket. He shook his hand and shook the paper open, saying loudly, "I have recorded the confession of all the witnesses who have been victims, and they are now in Dongwu City. Do you want me to ask them toe here and confront us?"

    The crowd burst into an uproar, and everyone believed what Zhang Cunjian said in their hearts. Especially when they looked at Li Yundong¡¯s table, they saw that Su Chan and the other little foxes were trembling all over. They were so frightened, looking like they had guilty consciences. They no longer had any doubts. They red at Li Yundong and shouted loudly, "Zhenren Li, tell us what to do!"

    "Li Yundong, I hadn¡¯t expected you to be such a shameless person!"

    Zheng Yuan also said loudly to Li Yundong with a pained expression on his face, "Zhenren Li, I hadn¡¯t thought that you¡¯d be so uncouth as tomit such a despicable act! This may look like a small matter, but what if a small evil goes unpunished and turns out to be a big evil in the future?"

    As soon as he said this, everyone immediately responded in loud voices, "That¡¯s right!"

    Seeing that the crowd was furious, Zhang Cunyi felt proud in his heart, so he continued to say, "Zhenren Li, you¡¯re such a viin, bullying ordinary people. Do you have the right to take a Taoist supreme treasure of ours? Do you deserve to use such a Shenxian powerful magical weapon?"

    At this time, Su Chan finally couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. She stood up, trembling all over, and her eyes were full of tears. She shouted wildly, "It¡¯s none of Yundong¡¯s business. It was all my idea. Don¡¯t pressure him like this! I¡¯ll take responsibility for what I¡¯ve done alone!"

    Ling Yue, the initiator, couldn¡¯t take it anymore. She also stood up and shouted, "It was my idea, not Su Chan¡¯s. If you want to me someone, me me!"

    The little foxes also stood up and shouted, "It¡¯s our fault. It has nothing to do with our leader. Don¡¯t force him!"

    Seeing so many beautiful little foxes protecting Li Yundong in a group, some people were surprised and envious, jealous and resentful. Some of them said in a strange tone, "Oh, they are so united. Zhenren Li, you have taught the sect well!"

    "Humph, these foxes have not had a single good thing happen to them since they entered the mortal world. Doesn¡¯t Li Yundong care about his disciples?"

    Zhang Cunyiughed and said, "Zhenren Li, you have a group of good disciples. I didn¡¯t expect them to sacrifice themselves to protect you!"

    Su Chan was so riled up that her whole body trembled. She said loudly, "When this happened, Yundong just went to Dongwu City. He didn¡¯t know about it. He was afraid that I would get into trouble, so he repeatedly told me to be careful! But, but I still caused him trouble!" As she said this, the girl finally couldn¡¯t help crying, and her tears fell down like beads.

    When the crowd saw Su Chan, the beautiful little girl, crying so pitifully, they were all speechless for a moment. As the saying goes: "A beauty¡¯s tears are the most pitiful things in the world. A person who has pity for a beautiful girl can¡¯t bear to me her or push her anymore."

    But Zhang Cunyi sneered and said, "What¡¯s the difference between you and him? Even if what you say is true, if Li Yundong hadn¡¯t spoiled you, would you have dared to do such a thing? You haven¡¯t heard that the master has something to do and the disciple should take the initiative to help? And if the disciple makes a mistake, the master also needs to take responsibility for it. What¡¯s more, Li Yundong is the leader of your Fox Zen School. If this matter is not on him, who is it to me? Hmph, do you think crying can make us softhearted? Su Daji messed up the Shang Dynasty and was still crying before she died, but Jiang Ziya had not been softhearted? Why he was enforcing justice on the perpetrators on the behalf of heaven!"

    Zheng Yuan was secretly amazed when he heard this. "Amazing, these words are really amazing! Li Yundong is in deep trouble now!"

    Sure enough, at this point, everyone¡¯s eyes became fierce again. They all shouted, "Li Yundong, you have to give us an exnation!"

    Su Chan also shouted, "Don¡¯t push him. I¡¯ll give you an exnation!"

    Li Yundong had been standing quietly in the field before. At first, he was furious and clenched his fists, but then he calmed down and loosened his hands. He turned his head, red at Su Chan, and shouted, "Shut up and sit down!"

    Su Chan was startled by Li Yundong¡¯s re, so she sat down unthinkingly.

    Li Yundong then turned his head and looked coldly at the angry crowd. He said to Zhang Cunyi, "Zhenren Zhang, what do you think I should do?"

 Chapter 494 Sacrificing a Powerful Magical Weapon to Protect the Weak Caused the Furore

    <h4>Chapter 494 Sacrificing a Powerful Magical Weapon to Protect the Weak Caused the Furore</h4>

    "What should we do?" Zhang Cunyi snorted and said to the crowd. "Everyone, what should we do then?"

    When the agitated cultivator heard that, he shouted, "What should we do? Hand over the perpetrator and punish him severely. He must be severely punished!"

    Another cultivator said sarcastically, "Fox spirits are Demon Witches, to begin with. It¡¯s fine that you¡¯re in cahoots with them, but I can¡¯t believe you don¡¯t even know how to discipline them. Now that such a thing has happened, I think Zhenren Li, you, the leader of Fox Zen School, should be done away with!"

    When Zou Ping from the Zhengyi School, saw that such a great opportunity could be used to vent her anger, she said loudly, "There are two ways to sort this. The first way is for Zhenren Li to destroy his rtionship in the name of justice. The second way is to resign from being the leader of the Fox Zen School and withdraw from the Taoist assembly. You¡¯ll never be allowed to participate in it!"

    When everyone heard that, they all turned to Zou Ping and thought to themselves, ¡¯¡¯The most venomous thing of all is a woman¡¯s heart. Not bad! This Zou Ping is really ruthless!¡¯¡¯

    Zhang Cunyi sneered and said, "Is that all? What about those who were bullied and cheated on? Zhenren Li, your Disanxian Teahouse must be closed, and you¡¯ll have to pay ten times thepensation! Moreover, you¡¯ll have to apologize to everyone publicly and swear that you will never have any contact with these Demon Witches again!"

    Only then did everyone realize that this Zou Ping wasn¡¯t the cruelest but rather Zhang Cunyi!

    Zou Ping just let out a sigh of relief, but Zhang Cunyi had just cut off Li Yundong¡¯s money and pped his face!

    Cultivators valued reputation above all else. If his reputation was gone, what would happen even if he became an immortal?

    At this time, everyone¡¯s eyes were fixed on Li Yundong, waiting for the young cultivator to make a choice.

    At this point, Zi Yuan also involuntarily clenched her fists. Her eyes went wide as she looked nervously at the battlefield. At this moment, she felt like she¡¯d returned to ten years ago!

    Wasn¡¯t it because her own master Wang Yuan had fallen in love with Ao Wushuang of Fox Zen School that he eventually turned against all the sects in the world of cultivation?

    Why was that scene... happening again?

    ¡¯¡¯That¡¯s how those people forced my master back in those days. Why are they nowing to force Li Yundong? Why are things so strikingly simr?¡¯¡¯

    Zi Yuan¡¯s heart was in a state of panic and chaos. This normally calm fairy was inplete disarray. She couldn¡¯t help but think, ¡¯¡¯Back then, for Ao Wushuang, Master didn¡¯t hesitate to leave the sect and turn against the world of cultivation. This Li Yundong... What will he do?¡¯¡¯

    Li Yundong listened to Zou Ping and Zhang Cunyi¡¯s words with no expression on his face. After they had finished speaking, he fell silent for a while. Suddenly, heughed softly, and then hisughter gradually became louder. There seemed to be disdain and ridicule brewing in his throat. Gradually, hisughter became louder and louder, as if the thunderclouds in the Ninth Heaven were rolling and rumbling, shaking the teacups on the table. The tea was rippling round and round.

    Zhang Cunyi heard that Li Yundong¡¯sughter was full of mockery. He shouted angrily, "Li Yundong, what are youughing at? Are you so arrogant that you think you can be the enemy of all the cultivation sects in the world?"

    Li Yundong burst outughing. Without looking at Zhang Cunyi, he said to the crowd, "Is that everyone¡¯s opinion?"

    The crowd looked at each other for a while. Most of the cultivators did not want Li Yundong, an extremely powerful rookie, to appear and steal the limelight from everyone else. Du Fei, Wei Qing, and the others who sympathized with Li Yundong, still would not dare to stand up for Li Yundong due to the unfavorable situation. Therefore, they chose to remain silent.

    Seeing that everyone was adding insult to injury, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing wildly. Hisughter was even more arrogant than before.

    The crowd was provoked into anger by Li Yundong¡¯sughter. Someone said loudly, "Li Yundong, what are you so arrogant about? Do you think you are invincible?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "I¡¯mughing because of nothing. I¡¯mughing because you¡¯re really innocent. Do you think that you can force me to be obedient by saying these words?"

    Hearing this, everyone became furious. Some hot-tempered people stood up and hurled abuse at Li Yundong. Some of the more mature ones were also angry and looked at Li Yundong with a scowl.

    Li Yundong acted as if he couldn¡¯t hear their words and didn¡¯t see their threatening eyes. He looked coldly at Zhang Cunyi and said, "Zhenren Zhang, I already know what you said and I believe you! Since someone in my sect made a mistake, I will punish myself. It¡¯s not up to you to tell me what to do. This is a private matter concerning the Fox Zen School. What right do you have to decide what I should do and what I shouldn¡¯t?"

    After that, Li Yundong pointed to Su Chan, Ling Yue, and the other foxes, and said, "I¡¯ll bear the me for the mistakes they made because I¡¯m their leader! I¡¯ll pay for what they did, but I won¡¯t close the teahouse! I¡¯ll definitely apologize for what I have to, but I¡¯m not apologizing to you, but to the victims! As for the Taoist assembly, humph, aren¡¯t you just hoping for me to withdraw from it? Fine, I won¡¯t fight for this Immortal Pen. I¡¯ll let you have it!"

    Li Yunyang looked at the crowd with a sneer and said, "Well, are you satisfied?"

    Everyone looked at each other. Some of them, who had evil intentions, saw that their purpose to make Li Yundong withdraw from thepetition had been achieved, so they no longer made a fuss. In contrast, some of them, who was open and kind, said, "Li Yundong, you are taking care of your own people!"

    Li Yundong looked coldly at the person who spoke. "I am protecting my own people. What do you want?"

    His words made the man speechless. Some cultivators who couldn¡¯t bear to watch supported him and said, "Li Yundong, you are helping the wicked. As a cultivator, you should enforce justice on behalf of heaven and kill your own rtives. Stop being evil and let bygones be bygones!"

    Su Chan was Li Yundong¡¯s weakness. His words touched Li Yundong¡¯s negate scale and Li Yundong immediately flew into a rage. He red at the man and roared, "If you have the guts, say that again!"

    This roar was like a p of thunder out of nowhere, and it instantly made everyone¡¯s ears buzz. Everyone felt like there was a fierce tiger growling angrily in front of them!

    The man who had spoken before was almost scared out of his wits by Li Yundong¡¯s roaring. He was so frightened that his face turned pale and he muttered quietly, but no one heard what he said.

    At this time, Li Yundong was so angry that his hair stood on end. His eyes had gone as big as copper bells, and the bones throughout his body were cracking. He was like a fierce beast who could choose to eat someone at any time. He nced at the crowd fiercely and coldly and said in an icy voice, "Who else wants to enforce justice on behalf of heaven and have me destroy my own rtives? Stand up and speak!"

    The crowd had seen Li Yundong¡¯s gentle and modest appearance before. He was not only handsome, but also elegant and schrly. Several times, he had only smiled when someone provoked him, as if there were a cool breeze stroking his face.

    But at this time, Li Yundong suddenly became furious. He shook his body wildly and turned into a behemoth. For a moment, everyone was so shocked that they subconsciously raised the Zhenqi in their bodies to guard against Li Yundong¡¯s sudden attack!

    They had seen Li Yundong¡¯s ability and means before, and no one dared to reach out to touch his reverse scale when he was so angry.

    "Enforce justice on the perpetrators on the behalf of heaven? Destroy rtives?"

    "Come on! As the saying goes, even a rabbit bites people when pressed, and a dog jumps over a wall in desperation. This is a fierce tiger. If he is pressed into a corner, who knows what terrible things he will do!"

    When everyone saw that Li Yundong had agreed to withdraw from the Taoist assembly, they had the intention to settle the matter peacefully. The cultivators who were open-minded and kind-hearted were so shaken by Li Yundong¡¯s roar that they did not dare to say another word.

    Zhang Cunyi also sighed at this time. He said hypocritically, "Zhenren Li, you must think that I am against you, but have you ever thought that you are so strong and powerful? Others naturally can¡¯t do anything to you. No one dares to sue you! But have you ever thought about how angry those who have been oppressed by you and your disciples must be?"

    Li Yundong looked at Zhang Cunyi with cold eyes. "Zhenren Zhang, what else do you have in mind? Just say it straight and don¡¯t fake it!"

    Zhang Cunyi was shocked by Li Yundong¡¯s gaze. He snorted and said, "I have no good idea. I just said what I wanted to say! Zhenren Li, since you agree to withdraw from the Taoist assembly, please sit down in your own seat. I hope that you¡¯ll restrain your disciples from now on. Otherwise, although the world is big, there will be no ce for your Fox Zen School to live!"

    Li Yundong took a deep look at Zhang Cunyi and stopped talking. He then turned around and walked to his desk to sit down.

    At this time, Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, and Ruan Hongling, who were sitting around the table, all looked at Li Yundong with aplicated look in their eyes. They felt both admirations and sigh for Li Yundong. They admired Li Yundong because he was indeed a man of responsibility. He had put all the me on himself, but they sighed because Li Yundong had definitely offended most of the cultivation sects in the world.

    When Su Chan saw Li Yundong sit down, she couldn¡¯t help looking at him with tears in her eyes. Her eyes were full of fear. She couldn¡¯t help but say in a trembling voice, "I¡¯m sorry, Leader, I¡¯ve caused you trouble again. I, I didn¡¯t want to..."

    Seeing the girl crying like a pear blossom in the rain, Li Yundong¡¯s anger suddenly dissipated. He reached out under the table, gently grabbed the girl¡¯s hand, and said softly, "I know, you want to prove yourself, don¡¯t you? It¡¯s my fault. I shouldn¡¯t have put you under so much pressure. Don¡¯t cry. This time, we haven¡¯t done it well. We¡¯ve learned our lesson. We can do better next time."

    Su Chan had been under a lot of pressure before, especially in the face of Zhou Qin and Zi Yuan, who could help Li Yundong. She was even more worried that she would hold Li Yundong back all day long, and she wanted to help Li Yundong and prove herself.

    But in the end, she had still failed to help him!

    When the girl heard Zhang Cunyi¡¯s sudden attack, she had a strong feeling that the end of the world wasing, as if the sky had copsed!

    What made Su Chan panic most was that she was afraid that Li Yundong would abandon her in a rage. But at this time, after hearing his words, she realized how much Li Yundong loved her and what a superfluous thought she was having.

    Upon hearing Li Yundong¡¯s calm words, Su Chan could not help but burst into tears. The girl choked with sobs and said, "In order not to trouble you, Zhou Qin ji¨§jie broke her bones to get the Immortal Pen. But I always did you a disservice and you couldn¡¯t get the pen. I, I¡¯m really useless!"

    Li Yundong smiled gently. He reached out his hand and stroked the little girl¡¯s cheeks affectionately. "Silly girl! Didn¡¯t I say before that a dead object can¡¯t rece a living thing? How can an immortal penpare with you? Besides, if I were still the poor boy I was in the past, would you still be with me?"

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong with tearful eyes and nodded.

    Li Yundongughed and said, "See, isn¡¯t that enough? When you liked me, it was because I treated you well, not because I had money or ability; When I first liked you, it was because of your naivety and naughtiness, and you never looked down on me. So, even if you break the sky, as long as you are still that innocent, lovely little girl, I will help you repair it! If you love someone, you can¡¯t require them to change just because you change. Since I love you, then I have to ept all the advantages and disadvantages of you from back then. You don¡¯t have to think about changing, and there is no need to change, because I love you!"

    Su Chan was moved and burst into tears. She sobbed, "I understand. I won¡¯t hold you back anymore!"

    Li Yundong chuckled and reached out to wipe away the tears on the little girl¡¯s face. He said with a smile, "Don¡¯t cry. There are so many people watching. Isn¡¯t it embarrassing?"

    Su Chan stretched out her hand and kept wiping her tears. She wanted tough, but when she smiled, more tears flowed out. She wiped her tears whileughing, "What should I do if I can¡¯t control myself? I, I just want to cry. What should I do?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Thene into my arms and cry, okay?"

    Finally, Su Chan couldn¡¯t bear it anymore. She threw herself into Li Yundong¡¯s arms and burst into tears. "Yundong, why are you so nice to me?"

    He stroked the girl¡¯s smooth ck hair lovingly and said softly, "Silly girl, if I didn¡¯t treat you well, who would I be good to?"

    They talked intimately, as if no one was around. For a moment, the people in the small building all heard them clearly. They sat there in a daze and couldn¡¯t speak for a long time.

    Everyone fixed their eyes on this intimate couple. They snuggled up with each other, as if heaven and earth had copsed, and no one could separate them...

 Chapter 495 Nobody will Defeat the Sanhuang Sword!

    <h4>Chapter 495 Nobody will Defeat the Sanhuang Sword!</h4>

    The situation was constantly changing. Li Yundong had given up on the Immortal Pen for Su Chan, which made the cultivators of various sects sigh in their hearts thinking that though Li Yundong loved his career, he cared for his lover more. If it had been ancient times, maybe he would be another lecherous tyrant!

    Li Yundong and Su Chan chatted in confidence, as if there was no one else around them. Zhou Qin and Zi Yuan watched them from the side, feeling all sorts of emotions.

    Ruan Hongling nced at her Elder Sister and suddenly said, "Li Yundong, since you don¡¯t want to participate in the Taoist assembly, why don¡¯t we just leave?"

    Li Yundong gently put his arms around Su Chan¡¯s slim waist and said with a smile, "I¡¯m not here to fight for the powerful magical weapon at the Taoist assembly. More importantly, it¡¯s a chance for the disciples of the Fox Zen School to see this kind of high-quality fighting method, which is particrly important for my disciple Zhou Qin. She should see how cultivators settle a score."

    Zhou Qin sighed softly and said in a low voice, "Master, without your participation, there¡¯s nothing special about a fight at their level."

    Li Yundong shook his head and said, "No, each sect has its own magic and fighting methods, especially when ites to the powerful magical weapon that they may use. Powerful magical weapons are equivalent to secret weapons for every cultivator. It will be helpful for you to see more of them. If one day you meet a foe, maybe these experiences will help you beat them! Moreover, the Taoist assembly has gathered almost all the masters of Taoism in the whole world. Such arge-scale battle would not be easy to see at ordinary times. It¡¯s silly for you to leave just because of a little setback."

    After hearing this, Zhou Qin and Zi Yuan admired him in their hearts. This young man was only 20 years old, but he was as thoughtful and magnanimous as if he had lived for several lifetimes.

    Zhou Qin didn¡¯t say anything about leaving. Su Chan, Ruan Hongling, and the little foxes also temporarily put aside their grievances and decided to focus on the scene.

    Beside them, Cinian was silent. Sipping his tea, Cinian watched Li Yundong and others. He sneered and said in a low voice, "Huh, Tachibana Wakako, the person you wanted to see most is already out and can never y again. Do you want to keep watching?"

    Although Tachibana Wakako could understand Chinese, she was still young and not very proficient, which had shown especially in the previous quarrel. Everyone had spoken in a hurry and at high speed. Although she had vaguely guessed some things based on the circumstances, she still had a lot of doubts. She asked, "Master Cinian, why did these people do this to Li Yundong?"

    Cinian snorted. "That¡¯s what the Chinese are like. They are fond of infighting! This country will forever be embroiled in internal strife. It will always be intriguing against itself, fighting for power and profit! Tachibana Wakako, I don¡¯t think the fight of the cultivators below will be interesting anymore. Do you want to leave?"

    Tachibana Wakako looked at Li Yundong with some disappointment and said, "Master Cinian, I don¡¯t think it will either. But I still want to stay for a while. If it doesn¡¯t look good, then we¡¯ll leave, okay?"

    Cinian smiled. "Alright, we¡¯ll do as you say."

    At this time, Li Yundong noticed that the person sitting at the table next to him was none other than the arrogant Japanese whom he had met at Xiyuan Temple. He was shocked and frowned deeply. Subconsciously, he wanted to make trouble for them.

    However, as soon as he came up with this idea, he remembered that he was in attendance at the Taoist assembly and had lost his right to fight again. If he caused trouble, who knew what else might happen.

    Moreover, the Japanese had gone very quiet now. Even if they wanted to be arrogant, there were so many cultivators from all kinds of sects here. Couldn¡¯t they deal with a few of them?

    Thinking of this, Li Yundong reluctantly gave up on the idea.

    At this time, Wan Zhenyuan looked at Li Yundong and shook his head secretly. He was a little worried and anxious, but he didn¡¯t show it on his face at all. He said to the crowd, "Now that Zhenren Li has withdrawn from the Taoist assembly, who will appear next?"

    Although the cultivators on the field had managed to take down Li Yundong, who was the most powerful person there, they were not ready to fight. They looked at each other and hesitated.

    At this time, Zhang Cunyi said loudly, "Since no one is ready, then let me do it." After that, he walked onto the field and cupped his hands, saying to everyone, "Which cultivator would like to give me a try?"

    After Zhang Cunyi finished speaking, a young man jumped up and said loudly, "I¡¯m Zhao He from the Donghua Sect. Zhenren Zhang, please?"

    When the foxes saw Zhang Cunyi step forward, they ground their teeth in bitter anger and cursed in low voices, "Prepare to lose, you shameless b*stard!"

    "Right, you¡¯re going to be beaten to death!"

    Li Yundong red at them and scolded in a low voice, "Stop talking! Don¡¯t you think you¡¯ve caused enough trouble already?"

    The little foxes were startled. They instantly straightened up and put on aggrieved expressions, looking like a bunch of battered wives.

    Zhou Qin surveyed the field and asked Li Yundong in a low voice, "Master, who do you think will win between Zhang Cunyi and Zhao He?"

    Li Yundong nced at the two of them and whispered, "Zhang Cunyi!"

    Zhou Qin asked in wonderment, "The battle has not yet started and you already know that? How can you tell?"

    Li Yundong said, "Apart from prejudice and grievances, Zhang Cunyi himself is a very strong cultivator. I once fought with him on Mount Tianlong. At that time, he wanted to attack me secretly, but I was on guard against him. Later, I fought him several times, and I could feel the tremendous Zhenqi in his body. He is indeed from a famous sect, and he¡¯s not an opponent to be sneezed at. Moreover, you can see the Sanhuang Sword behind him, which is a very powerful magical weapon..."

    While he was talking, Zhao He cupped his hands to Zhang Cunyi and said with a smile, "Zhenren Zhang, I¡®ve always heard that the Sanhuang Sword of your Qingyang Pce is powerful, and I hope I¡¯ll get to see for myself today. What do you think?"

    Hearing this, everyone was stunned and wondered inwardly, "The Sanhuang Sword is one of the five spirit swords of the Taoist world. How dare this man actually go to fight Zhang Cunyi with this powerful magical weapon. Isn¡¯t he asking for death?"

    Zhang Cunyi was also stunned for a moment. He thought for a while before saying straightforwardly, "Okay, as you wish!" After that, he patted the ck cloth scabbard behind him, and drew out a three-foot-long sword from it.

    Most people had heard the name of the Sanhuang Sword, but very few of them had seen the real deal. When they saw this sword, one of the Five Great Spirit Swords in the Taoist Cultivation world, appears in front of them, they all widened their eyes and gawped at it.

    The sword was white in its entirety, save for a red tassel on its hilt, and it actually looked quite unremarkable. This longsword stood steadily in mid-air, making neither sound nor provocative motions. It was so in that everyone almost thought that it could not be the Sanhuang Sword and was just another ordinary sword.

    Zhao He took a careful look at it before quickly showing his own powerful magical weapon, which was two hooked swords.

    Zhou Qin saw that the two hooked swords were simr to longswords, but there was a prototype hook at the tip of the sword. She couldn¡¯t help but wonder, "What kind of powerful magical weapon is this?"

    All of a sudden, Zi Yuan, who was standing to one side, burst intoughter. "No wonder Zhao He dared to settle a score with Zhang Cunyi with powerful magical weapons. It turns out that he is relying on the mutual restriction of the weapons!"

    Li Yundong nodded and said, "Yes, the hooked swords can restrain longswords. This kind of hooked swords can lock longswords, so the enemy can¡¯t fight back."

    While they were talking, they saw the two men bow to each other. Suddenly, there was a sh of white light in the field, and there was a nging sound from the ground. It was Zhao He¡¯s powerful magical weapon, which had been defeated. His hooked swords had just locked onto the Sanhuang Sword, but then it was twisted by the Sanhuang Sword and instantly cut into two halves, which fell to the ground.

    The crowd suddenly burst into an uproar, and everyone on the scene eximed! Zhao He stood still with shock, as if he couldn¡¯t believe his eyes!

    Li Yundong was shocked. "The Sanhuang Sword is so sharp? I thought the Sanhuang Sword had a chance of winning, but I didn¡¯t expect it to do it so quickly."

    Zhou Qin looked at the Sanhuang Sword with her eyes wide open. At this time, the Sanhuang Sword was blooming with three colors: green, yellow, and ck. She couldn¡¯t help but say in shock, "The color of this sword is changing?"

    Li Yundong exined in a low voice, "This is the original appearance of the Sanhuang Sword. The three colors represent three different kinds of forces. You know that the Sanhuang Sword is the most precious powerful magical weapon of the Qingyang Pce in Sichuan. They are usually enshrined in the Yuhuang Temple of Qingyang Pce, and downstairs in the temple are the three righteous gods of the Sanhuang Sword, the Three Great Emperor-Officials!"

    "Three Great Emperor-Officials?" Zhou Qinqi asked, "Who are they?"

    "The Three Great Emperor-Officials include the heavenly official who is in charge of the sky," began Li Yundong, "thend official who is in charge of the earth, and the water official who is in charge of water. Heaven, earth and water are the mainponents of this world, so the power of the Sanhuang Swordes from these three gods¡¯ souls. You see, cyan refers to the heaven official, yellow refers to thend official, and ck refers to the water official."

    Zi Yuan also nodded and added, "Right. It is said that Primus took the nine Qis of Shiyang in the universe, the seven Qis of Qingxu in Jiutuyang Cave, and the five Qis of Chenhao in Dongyang Fengze, and finally finished it on the fifteenth day of the lunar calendar in the first month of autumn. It was refined after ny-nine and eighty-one days. Primus once passed this divine sword that had gathered the power of the Three Great Emperor-Officials to Yao Shun Yu. Therefore, these three emperors have all used this divine sword, so our cultivation world also calls this sword the Sanhuang Sword!"

    Zhou Qin suddenly understood. She looked at the magical sword with three divine lights around it in awe and thought, "If my powerful magical weapon were to go against his, would it be a match? I¡¯m afraid that it would also be cut apart in an instant."

    Li Yundong seemed to know what Zhou Qin was thinking. Heforted her softly, "Zhou Qin, don¡¯t think too much. No matter how amazing a powerful magical weapon is, it¡¯s just a dead object that can possess supernatural powers. The critical factor is who is using it. If the person using it is strong, then the weapon will also be strong. If the person using it is too weak, then the power of the powerful magical weapon will be greatly reduced."

    Zhou Qin nodded slightly and kept these words in mind.

    Looking at the shining Sanhuang Sword, Tachibana Wakako opened her mouth wide and couldn¡¯t help but remark aloud, "Wow, this sword looks very powerful?"

    Cinian nced at the Sanhuang Sword and chuckled. He pointed at Shinsyu and said, "Shinsyu can take this magical sword with his bare hands!"

    Upon hearing this, Tachibana Wakako was immediately disappointed. "What? No way? Isn¡¯t that just to look cool?"

    Shinsyu, who has always looked like a servant, said in a low voice: "Tachibana Wakako, no matter how amazing the powerful magical weapon is, it is dependant on its user. These Chinese cultivators only have poor cultivation quotients, and it is useless for them to get the powerful magical weapon, no matter how strong it is!"

    The three Japanese muttered in low voices. Hearing what they had said, Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help looking at them again and frowning.

    Li Yundong was keenly aware of her strangeness and asked, "Zi Yuan, what¡¯s wrong?"

    Zi Yuan thought for a moment before whispering to Li Yundong, "Nothing. These Japanese people look down on us Chinese cultivators."

    Li Yundong snorted coldly. "They said that there were no masters on the maind of China before. I just wanted to teach them a lesson. It¡¯s a pity that no good opportunity has arisen."

    Zi Yuan snorted, and she said with a rare disy of anger, "How dare this group of people from Dongying, who have an exaggerated opinion of how bad our abilities are, be so presumptuous here! Forget it. Let¡¯s ignore them and continue to watch the fight!"

    At this time, Zhang Cunyi shouted at Zhao He. He had his nose in the air and cupped one hand in the other before his chest as he said, "Well, who else wants to try the spirit power of the Sanhuang Sword? Anyone?"

    The crowd was shocked by the sharp divine power of the sword. They were all afraid that if they went up, their own powerful magical weapons would be cut apart at first sight, just like Zhao He¡¯s had been. If this happened, it would be really painful.

    For a moment, everyone hesitated and didn¡¯t dare to step forward. Cinian sneered from the side. He finally couldn¡¯t bear it any longer and said to Shinsyu, "Shinsyu, why don¡¯t you give it a go?"

    When Shinsyu heard this, he was overjoyed. He straightened his back and seemed to transform from a lowly, unremarkable servant into a grand master with an imposing appearance and a pair of sharp eyes.

    He took a bold step forward and said loudly, "I¡¯ll do it!"

 Chapter 496 Defeated in Three Moves!

    <h4>Chapter 496 Defeated in Three Moves!</h4>

    Shinsyu¡¯s loud shout attracted everyone¡¯s attention.

    When everyone heard it, they were immediately stunned but thenughed. "Where is this Hinomoto Oniko from?"

    Someone shouted at Wan Zhenyuan, "Master Wan, why did you let Japanese in?"

    Wan Zhenyuan hadn¡¯t expected these Japanese to be so unwilling to be alone. He frowned and went forward to say to Cinian, "Master Cinian, didn¡¯t we make an agreement about it? Why didn¡¯t you keep your promise?"

    Cinian smiled faintly and said, "Master Wan, my disciple, Shinsyu, can¡¯t help but disy his skill and he wanted to go up on stage. This shouldn¡¯t be regarded as breaking promises, right? What¡¯s more, I didn¡¯t promise anything back then anyway."

    He then turned to Zhang Cunyi and said loudly, "Friend, I have a new disciple who wants to ask you about kung fu. Would you like to teach him?"

    Zhang Cunyi saw that this Japanese was extraordinary. He stood there like a fierce beast, cold and unruly. He was obviously a master, but with the Sanhuang Sword in his hand, Zhang Cunyi definitely would not look the Japanese in his eyes. Heughed and said, "Well, when hees, I will show you!"

    Wan Zhenyuan was furious, but since Zhang Cunyi had agreed, he had no reason to stop him. So he had to put on a fake smile and said, "In that case, I have nothing to say."

    Shinsyu was dressed in a well-ironed suit and tie and a pair of leather shoes. He looked like the kind of handsome white-cor worker who often appeared in Japanese TV dramas rather than a cultivator that was about to settle a score.

    When Shinsyu walked onto the field, he bowed to Zhang Cunyi and said, "Zhenren Zhang, what are we going topete on?"

    Zhang Cunyiughed and said proudly, "You canpete with whatever you want. Magical items, power in magic, close-to-handbat, or controversy in writing, I am capable of them all!"

    Shinsyu smiled, and there was a trace of cunning and contempt hidden in his eyes. He said very humbly, "Zhenren Zhang, if we settle a score, I¡¯m afraid this building will not be able to stand. I think we¡¯d betterpete with kung fu. What do you think?"

    Zhang Cunyi waved his hand, returning the Sanhuang Sword back to himself, and then slung it behind his back. He stood proudly with his hands sped behind himself and said, "Well, let¡¯s fight!"

    Shinsyu smiled again. "Please show some mercy, Zhenren Zhang."

    Zhang Cunyiughed and said, "Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t be too hard on you!"

    Everyoneughed and said, "Zhenren Zhang, don¡¯t make him cry!"

    Li Yundong, who was watching from the side, felt that something was wrong when he saw that everyone was underestimating Shinsyu. He whispered, "Oh, crap, Zhang Cunyi has underestimated him too much! I have met this Japanese guy once before. His aura is strong and cold, and he is a very difficult opponent to deal with. Even if Zhang Cunyi does not underestimate his enemy, he might not be his opponent, not to mention that he has taken him so lightly at this time!"

    Zhou Qin sneered and said, "Then let¡¯s see him make a fool of himselfter. It¡¯s all because he¡¯s been so arrogant."

    Li Yundong red at Zhou Qin immediately and shouted in a low voice: "Asshole! Zhang Cunyi had a personal grievance with me. He was fighting against the Japanese, that is the national body! If he loses, he will not lose only his reputation. It will damage the reputation of the entire Chinese cultivation world. How can youugh at other¡¯s troubles regardless of whether you¡¯re doing it in public or private?!"

    Zhou Qin was stunned for a moment. She had never been scolded like this by Li Yundong. Her face suddenly turned red and she whispered, "I¡¯m sorry, Master. It¡¯s my fault."

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t look at her. He stood up and said loudly, "Zhenren Zhang, be careful. It¡¯ll be very difficult to deal with this guy!"

    Zhang Cunyi looked at Li Yundong disapprovingly. He sneered and said, "Zhenren Li, why don¡¯t you go on stage? Oh, I just remembered that you can¡¯t! You, stand aside and watch quietly!"

    The moment he finished speaking, everyone, including Zi Yuan, Ruan Hongling, and the people of the Fox Zen School, suddenly became furious.

    Su Chan pulled on Li Yundong¡¯s sleeve and whispered, "Master, some people misunderstand a kind-hearted person. You¡¯d better not say it."

    Ruan Hongling was so angry that she shouted, "Zhang Cunyi, how could you be so ungrateful?"

    Zhang Cunyi nced at her and sneered. "Zhenren Li, I think you¡¯d better take care of your subordinates first!"

    Ruan Hongling was so angry that she cried out. Subconsciously, she wanted to stand up and shout abuse at Zhang Cunyi. From the side, Zi Yuan immediately pulled her back and scolded her in a low voice, "What are you doing? Do you want to lose face? Sit down. If Zhang Cunyi doesn¡¯t appreciate it, then let him die on his own. We can¡¯t mess with it ourselves."

    Ruan Hongling snorted heavily. "I¡¯ve never seen such a narrow-minded man! Damn it!"

    Li Yundong shook his head. He slowly sat down, sighed, and said, "s... Zhang Cunyi is so careless. I¡¯m afraid he will be in danger!"

    Ruan Hongling said angrily, "Then let him make a fool of himself. If he loses, will there be no one left in the Chinese cultivation world?"

    Li Yundong sighed and said, "These Japanese have always looked down on the Chinese cultivation world. If we lose, they won¡¯t fight with us again. They¡¯ll just go back to publicize how they defeated the masters of the Chinese cultivation world. What will you do?"

    Ruan Hongling was stunned. She stammered, "They wouldn¡¯t be so shameless, would they?"

    "It¡¯s very much possible. This happens frequently in the martial arts world, and it has also happened in the cultivation world!"

    At this point, everyone let go of their prejudices and looked at the scene with anxiety.

    At this time, Zhang Cunyi made an obeisance by cupping one hand in the other before his chest to Shinsyu and said loudly, "May I have your name, my friend?"

    Shinsyu bowed and said, "I¡¯m Shinsyu, the forty-fifth generation disciple of Rigoino of Zhenyan Tantrism. Please give me some advice!"

    When everyone heard this, they allughed and shouted, "Shinsyu? Hey, why did you take the name of Great Master Shinsyu, the founder of the North China Zen Sect?"

    Shinsyu ignored them. With a slight smile on his face, he fixed his eyes on his opponent.

    Zhang Cunyi smiled and said, "I¡¯m Zhang Cunyi, the 56th descendant of Qingyang Pce in Sichuan. Please give me some advice!" After that, he bent over and gently touched the ground with his toes, showing the posture known as the Dragon Eight Trigrams Palm.

    Everyone could only see that Zhang Cunyi¡¯s foundation was solid, like an old tree root, and his clothes were fluttering in the wind, as if there was a cool breeze. Obviously, he had learned the essence of the Eight Trigram Palms.

    Li Yundong saw this and nodded slightly. "Fortunately, Zhang Cunyi has good talent. No wonder he is the descendant of an established family."

    Zi Yuan also agreed and said, "He¡¯s really something, I wonder what kind of kung fu this Shinsyu uses."

    While the two of them were talking, Shinsyu went into an arrow stance. His right hand was in front of him, his four fingers were sped together, and his thumb was high, like a steel knife. His right hand was bent forward and clenched into a fist, like a big cannon that could explode at any time.

    Seeing that he was waving his arms like a Japanese karate¡¯s Daoshou, Zhang Cunyi smiled and said, "It turns out to be karate. This kind of punching skill is strong and hard. There is really a congenital w. Today, I¡¯ll show you why the Eight Trigram Palms is known as abination of hardness and softness!"

    After that, he waved to Shinsyu and said with a smile, "You¡¯re a guest who hase from afar. Please go first!"

    Shinsyu didn¡¯t stand on ceremony. He suddenly shouted, stepped forward quickly, and his right hand by his waist sted towards Zhang Cunyi with a fierce punch.

    The power of this punch was so great that it was as fast as lightning and thunder. Zhang Cunyi only felt dizzy for a moment, and then Shinsyu¡¯s fist headed towards him.

    Zhang Cunyi was a little surprised and thought, "This Hinomoto Oniko¡¯s strength is so strong and his fist is so fast?"

    Although he was surprised, he had practiced martial arts since he was a child and had a solid foundation. His subconscious posture seemed to fall and turn around, like a burst of smoke passing behind Shinsyu, turning his hands toward Shinsyu¡¯s abdomen.

    The crowd saw that Zhang Cunyi¡¯s change was really beautiful and elegant, and they suddenly couldn¡¯t help but cheer loudly.

    Li Yundong was also a little relieved. He nodded and said, "Yes, it¡¯s the so-called ¡¯Vigorous Eight Limits, Thiefy Eight Diagrams, Evil Tai Chi, Poison Form.¡¯ Zhang Cunyi¡¯s sliding move really gains the mystery of the slippery Eight Trigram Palms."

    Eight Trigram Palms is the heaviest to wander, and more than half of the kung fu is under his feet. Zhang Cunyi¡¯s circumvention immediately went to the advantage of the enemy¡¯s back. He was overjoyed, thinking that he was sure to win, and his hand was about to touch the opponent¡¯s body. Suddenly, a vague face suddenly appeared on the back of Shinsyu¡¯s head. This face was fierce, like a ghost¡¯s, and his eyes were red, revealing a terrible murderous aura.

    The face red at Zhang Cunjian. In an instant, Zhang Cunjian felt his whole body stiffen, as if an extremely cold breath was gushing into his bones, chilling his blood almost to the point of freezing!

    The Zhenqi and strength of a cultivator were derived from essence, qi and blood, and Zhang Cunyi¡¯s whole body¡¯s essence, qi and blood flow had suddenly been blocked. The power and speed in his hands also suddenly slowed down.

    Then, behind Shinsyu, there was some ck Qi that was visible to the naked eye. Like a madly growing vine, it wrapped itself around Zhang Cunyi¡¯s hand.

    Zhang Cunyi was shocked and immediately wanted to leave Shinsyu.

    But at this time, Shinsyu suddenly turned around. He shed at Zhang Cunyi¡¯s neck with a turn of his fist.

    Zhang Cunyi¡¯s essence, qi and blood were frozen, and his speed was greatly reduced. He wanted to escape, but his feet seemed to be filled with lead. He had no choice but to lower his head and dodge the palm.

    But as soon as he lowered his head, the Sanhuang Sword behind him was exposed.

    As Shinsyu¡¯s hand swept over his head, he flicked his wrist and immediately took the Sanhuang Sword.

    Zhang Cunyi felt a chill at the back of his head, and his heart suddenly thumped. He was shocked and angry, anxious and flustered. He immediately rushed forward, regardless of everything, and shouted angrily, "Give my Sanhuang Sword back to me!"

    But his rush was exactly what Shinsyu wanted. He fiercely punched at Zhang Cunyi.

    At this time, Zhang Cunyi was in chaos, and his aura was stagnant. How could he escape the thunder-like punch? He screamed, spat out a mouthful of blood, and flew out.

    The crowd¡¯s cheers had not yet ended, but the situation on the field had suddenly been settled. Everyone was shocked. Only Shinsyu, holding the Sanhuang Sword in his hand,ughed wildly. "What a bullsh*t master! You can¡¯t even take three moves and yet you dare to call yourself a master? Master, you¡¯re right. There are no masters in the Chinese cultivation world! Hahaha!"

 Chapter 497 Teng Qingshanâ€™s Green Face, Ferocious Yaksha!

    <h4>Chapter 497 Teng Qingshan¡¯s Green Face, Ferocious Yaksha!</h4>

    No one had expected that Zhang Cunyi would be defeated in three moves. Furthermore, he was defeated so miserably!

    Even Li Yundong hadn¡¯t expected Zhang Cunyi to be defeated so quickly that even the sect-protecting powerful magical weapon, the Sanhuang Sword, would be taken!

    Although the cultivators of all sects had always had grudges against each other and no one looked down on one other, they could not help but get angry at the arrogant words of Shinsyu. They stood up and yelled, ¡°Bastard, what did you say?¡±

    ¡°If you have the guts, say it again!¡±

    ¡°Son of b***h,e here. I¡¯ll show you if there are any masters in the Chinese Cultivation World!¡±

    Shinsyu gave them a disdainful look. Then he proudly said to Zhang Cunyi, who was lying on the ground with his hands covering his chest and coughing up blood, ¡°I heard that there is a saying in the Chinese Cultivation World that the magical items belong to the capable. Now I¡¯m more powerful than you. I¡¯ve defeated you. Does this powerful magical weapon belong to me?¡±

    Zhang Cunyi hadn¡¯t expected that he would be seriously injured due to underestimating the enemy, and that the powerful magical weapon of his sect would be taken. He was ashamed and angry at this time. He was so angry that he spat out a mouthful of blood again.

    Although the little foxes of the Fox Zen School were not ashamed of his character, they could not help but feel pity for him at this time. They all turned their heads away and did not dare to look at his miserable situation again.

    Zhang Cunyi¡¯s two Shidees quickly grabbed it and held Zhang Cunjian. One mobilized his Zhenqi to save him, and the other roared angrily at Shinsyu, ¡°How dare you hurt our Young Master? Give us back the Sanhuang Sword quickly, or we will never let Qingyang Pce off!¡±

    Shinsyuughed wildly and said, ¡°Is this the strength of the Young Head? If it is, then what does it have to do with me being unwilling to give up?¡±

    Hearing his words, Zhang Cunyi was ashamed and angry. Suddenly, everything went ck in his eyes, and he fainted.

    The surrounding cultivators suddenly eximed. Zhang Tianhe and Zi Yuan also jumped to Zhang Cunyi¡¯s side, disregarding the opinions of the sect. Each of them grabbed a hand to check on Zhang Cunyi¡¯s situation.

    As soon as the two of them raised their hands, they looked at each other. Zhang Tianhe looked at Zi Yuan with an admiring gaze and whispered, ¡°Zhenren Zi Yuan, we meet again!¡±

    Zi Yuan gave him a faint smile, nodded, and then focused on checking Zhang Cunyi¡¯s condition.

    Zhang Tianhe saw that Zi Yuan had only greeted him politely but otherwise ignored him. He felt a sense of loss in his heart and sighed sadly.

    After Zi Yuan had checked his injury, she said to Zhang Cunyi¡¯s Shidee, ¡°It¡¯s okay. He¡¯s angry and fainted. However, Zhenren Zhang¡¯s injury is a little serious. I¡¯m afraid that he will have to recuperate for a while.¡±

    This Shidee, who was full of anxiety, was slightly relieved upon hearing this. He nced at the insolent Shinsyu and wanted to take back the Sanhuang Sword, but he was afraid that he would be no match for Zhang Tianhe, so he said humbly to Zi Yuan and Zhang Tianhe, ¡°Zhenren Zi Yuan, Zhenren Zhang, this Shinsyu is so arrogant. He also took the most precious powerful magical weapon of our Qingyang Pce. For the sake of the fact that we are both Taoist friends, please help us take back the Sanhuang Sword. What do you think?¡±

    Zi Yuan said without hesitation, ¡°Of course. How could our Taoist treasure fall into the hands of the Japanese?¡±

    Zhang Tianhe also cupped one hand in the other before his chest and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll go up on stage and snatch the Sanhuang Sword from you soon!¡±

    After that, he stood up and said loudly to Shinsyu, ¡°Shinsyu, return the Sanhuang Sword to me quickly, or don¡¯t get angry when I¡¯m rude to you!¡±

    Shinsyu nced at him and sneered. ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Zhang Tianhe said coldly, ¡°Zhengyi School¡¯s Zhang Tianhe!¡±

    Zhengyi School had been a supreme sect in the country since the Song Dynasty. Although Shinsyu was a Japanese cultivator, the name Zhengyi School was still well known. He suddenly felt a little cold in his heart, and the arrogant expression on his face faded a lot. He snorted and said, ¡°Are you going to stand up for him?¡±

    Zhang Tianhe raised his eyebrows and said, ¡°Correct!¡±

    Shinsyu sneered and said, ¡°I¡¯m a fair match with him and I¡¯m willing to admit defeat! Furthermore, the powerful magical weapon he had with him was snatched by me, so it naturally now belongs to me. What right do you have to stand up for him?¡±

    After that, he raised the Sanhuang Sword in his hand and said with a smile, ¡°I¡¯m reluctant to return such a good powerful magical weapon!¡±

    Zhang Tianhe was stunned when he heard that, but he soon added, ¡°Well, I¡¯ll fight with you. If you lose, you¡¯ll return the Sanhuang Sword to its original owner. If you win, I¡¯ll give you my Seven-Star Sword!¡±

    Everyone gasped in surprise. Zou Ping couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°Shidee, are you crazy?¡±

    On the other side, Zhang Ling grabbed Zou Ping¡¯s wrist and said in a deep voice, ¡°Don¡¯t talk. Cultivators should not be overcautious. Don¡¯t turn back when you¡¯ve made your decision! Since Zhang Tianhe dares to do this, he must have the will to win. Let¡¯s just wait.¡±

    When Shinsyu heard that Zhang Tianhe wanted to make a bet with him for the Seven-Star Sword, he was slightly surprised. He looked Zhang Tianhe up and down and thought, ¡°The Seven-Star Sword in this man¡¯s hand is said to be one of the five divine swords of the Chinese Cultivation World. How does itpare with the Sanhuang Sword? Hey, if I use the Sanhuang Sword to fight with him, the expressions of these arrogant Chinese cultivators will no doubt be very interesting!¡±

    Thinking of this, Shinsyu tried to transmit his Zhenqi into the Sanhuang Sword in an attempt to subdue the powerful magical weapon.

    But as soon as he injected his Zhenqi into it, he felt the sword start struggling fiercely. There was a wave-like powering from it. This power was like the huge pressure of a Gods¡¯ soul, pouncing on the Shinsyu with unstoppable momentum.

    Shinsyu was suddenly shocked. He knew that the power of the Sanhuang Sword was counter-attacking. He clearly felt that this power was like the pressure of Mount Tai, and he couldn¡¯t stop it at all. He thought about in a sh and quickly pointed the Sanhuang Sword in his hand toward the ground. With a bang, he shoved the Sanhuang Sword into the ground and shouted, ¡°The Sanhuang Sword is a really amazing powerful magical weapon in your eyes, but in my eyes, it¡¯s like a broken piece of iron! It is under my feet now. If you have the guts,e and take it!¡±

    Hearing this, everyone was furious and roared, ¡°Zhenren Zhang, go and teach this guy a good lesson!¡±

    ¡°Zhenren Zhang, will you go? If you won¡¯t, then I will!¡±

    Zhang Tianhe was also angry. He stepped forward and put his Seven-Star Sword on the ground, then said loudly, ¡°If I defeat you with my magic sword, I don¡¯t think you will be convinced. You just defeated Zhang Cunyi with kung fu, so I will fight with you with kung fu. I will make you convinced!¡±

    Hearing this, everyone cheered and said loudly, ¡°Zhenren Zhang, teach him a good lesson. Show them the kung fu of our Chinese sect!¡±

    Shinsyu nced at the crowd with disdain, then snorted and said proudly, ¡°Okay!¡±

    Zhang Tianhe stepped forward and stopped three meters away from Shinsyu, but Li Yundong said loudly, ¡°Zhenren Zhang, be careful of his Zhenqi being strange!¡±

    Zhang Tianhe turned his head and nced at Li Yundong. Li Yundong had reminded Zhang Cunyi before. Everyone thought that he was thinking about something, and Zhang Tianhe thought so too. But at this time, he realized that Li Yundong was warning him out of kindness. Zhang Tianhe nodded to him. He took a step forward and set up a Taijijia with his hands half closed, then said in a deep voice, ¡°Shinsyu, you go first!¡±

    Shinsyu released a chuckle. He didn¡¯t act too politely either, stepping forward on the high of a great victory to deliver a fist.

    Zhang Tianhe snorted and put his right hand on Shinsyu¡¯s arm. With a move like grasping a peacock¡¯s tail, he yanked Shinsyu¡¯s fierce punch to one side.

    Zhang Tianhe was from a well-known family. Although he was young, his Tai Chi kung fu was perfect. As soon as he put his hand on Shinsyu¡¯s arm, all his strength burst out like a great river.

    Everyone pointed out that Zhang Tianhe was waving his arms, but always keeping them on Shinsyu¡¯s arms. They kept turning him like two children pulling each other, and their postures were funny and strange.

    But none of the people in the ringughed. They all knew that Zhang Tianhe had already entangled Shinsyu with the Taijimian, so his opponent had nowhere to use his strength.

    It was like a sharp magical sword, but it couldn¡¯t cut through water. The rock was hard, but it could slice through drops of water and stone!

    Zhang Tianhe was a cultivator. He was strong and full of Zhenqi. When he used his strength, not only did he have a strong force, but his power was like a spider web. Shinsyu felt that his arms were getting heavier and heavier, and his steps were bing more and more light and flexible. The strength of his center of gravity began to be pulled by the opponent, and he felt like he was in a turbulent sea.

    Shinsyu was secretly shocked. He thought to himself, ¡°Is this Tai Chi? Wasn¡¯t it said that Tai Chi didn¡¯t have the ability for actualbat? How could it be so powerful? I didn¡¯t even have a chance to use my hands!¡±

    Zhou Qin, who was standing nearby, also widened her eyes. She couldn¡¯t help asking Li Yundong, ¡°Master, is Tai Chi so powerful? I used to see an olddy doing Tai Chi in the park. I thought it was just a fancy punching skill.¡±

    Li Yundong saw that Zhang Tianhe was not looking down on his enemy like Zhang Cunjian. At this time, he had the upper hand. He was relieved and said with a smile, ¡°Are you kidding? Tai Chi Fist, Eight Trigram Palms and Will-Shaping Fist are the three supreme punching skills of Neijiaquan. What¡¯s more, there is a saying that if you don¡¯t go out for ten years, you will seed in killing people when you finally leave. It¡¯s very difficult for you to get to the upper level of this punching skill, but it will be very powerful once you do. It¡¯s amazing!¡±

    Zi Yuan also said with a smile, ¡°In the Qing Dynasty, Yang Luchan, the Great Master of Tai Chi, built the capital city alone and defeated many masters with Tai Chi. Later, all of the masters from all over the country came to challenge Yang Luchan. Yang Luchan had never been defeated, so he was given the title of Yang Wudi! Think about it, if Tai Chi was so powerful, how did Yang Wudi get the title?¡±

    Zhou Qin suddenly understood. She smiled and looked at the field, saying, ¡°It seems that Zhang Tianhe is bound to win this battle. Now Shinsyu is like a bug falling into a spider web. No matter how hard he tries, he won¡¯t be able to get out.¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head and said, ¡°You can¡¯t say that. At the end of the day, it¡¯s still a question of whose strength is better. Many people think that Tai Chi is soft and powerless and can¡¯t hit people at all, but in fact, they misunderstandpletely. Tai Chi also needs strength, but it can have the force of 100 kilograms with only 10 kilograms of strength. If you don¡¯t have the strength of 10 kilograms, you won¡¯t be able to hit the strength of 100 kilograms. But if you have the strength of 10 kilograms, the force on the other side will be of 200 kilograms, or even 1,000 kilograms. You will lose no matter how hard you fight!¡±

    As soon as Li Yundong¡¯s voice fell, he heard a loud shout from the field. Shinsyu, who was irritated by Zhang Tianhe¡¯s strength, suddenly burst into countless thick ck auras. Strange ck lines quickly spread all over his body. Before long, his skin had turned blue and ck. Two ck, curved horns were growing from the top of his head. His bones cracked and his body suddenly expanded. His clothes were also ripped and he turned into a monster with a blue face and sharp fangs standing at more than two meters tall.

    Behind the disguised one, Shinsyu gave a grim smile and suddenly grabbed Zhang Tianhe with her five fingers. As if throwing a sack, she lifted Zhang Tianhe up and then smashed him to the ground!

    Zhang Tianhe suddenly saw that the other side had turned into such a monster. He was shocked and only felt a strong force. This force was so intense that it was instantly beyond his control. His body was caught by the other side in an instant and then he fell heavily to the ground.

    With a scream, Zhang Tianhe¡¯s bones were broken and he passed out in an instant.

    In the blink of an eye, Shinsyu turned around and stepped on Zhang Tianhe¡¯s body with one foot. Heughed wildly and said, ¡°Can this soft, slow fist technique be used to hit people? It¡¯s so funny!¡±

    The cultivators were in an uproar. Some Qianbei of the sects got up and said angrily, ¡°Yaksha? How dare you, a little Yaksha, be so presumptuous here! Are you suicidal?¡±

 Chapter 498 Zi Yuan is Going to Fight!

    <h4>Chapter 498 Zi Yuan is Going to Fight!</h4>

    "Yaksha?" Su Chan stared at Shinsyu with her eyes widely open. Surprised, she said, "This person is actually a Yaksha?"

    The expression on Zi Yuan¡¯s face was solemn. She said in a low voice, "I didn¡¯t expect that there would be a Living Yaksha walking in the world! How dare he appear in broad daylight!"

    When Zou Ping, from the Zhengyi School, saw Zhang Tianhe lying unconscious on the ground, she was both angry and anxious. She scolded him loudly, "Hurry up and let go of my Shidee!"

    Shinsyuughed and picked up Zhang Tianhe¡¯s body like he was picking up a cloth bag. Heughed loudly and said, "Take it!"

    His kick was extremely powerful. Like a cannonball, Zhang Tianhe mmed into Zou Ping in the blink of an eye.

    Zou Ping¡¯s face drained of color and she subconsciously tried to grab it with both hands. However, Zhang Ling suddenly stretched out her right hand, causing Zhang Tianhe¡¯s body to go upright in mid-air. It was as if a pair of invisible hands had caught hold of him.

    Zhang Ling disyed her powerful Zhenqi and exquisite control. The crowd couldn¡¯t help but cheer secretly.

    Zhang Ling turned to look at Zou Ping. In a low voice, she said, "Take him away!"

    Only then did Zou Ping realize what was going on. She brought Zhang Tianhe down from the air, red hatefully at Shinsyu, and turned around to examine Zhang Tianhe with concern.

    Zhang Ling nced at Zhang Tianhe. She turned her head and said to Shinsyu angrily, "How dare you, a little Yaksha ghost, run amok in our country. Are you tired of living?"

    Shinsyu snorted and said, "What, do you also want to teach me? Okay!"

    Zhang Ling was furious. She raised her eyebrows, and the bright red cinnabar mole between her brows suddenly seemed to be like a small fireball burning. There was a zing me in her hands out of nowhere. The mes were so hot that the air around was twisted by it!

    Zhang Lingren was known as "the Lady of Earthly Fire". Not only was his nature as fierce as fire, but his control over fire magic could also be said to be the best in the world. At this time, in her anger, she had taken out her trump card!

    Everyone could see that the mes in Zhang Ling¡¯s hands were boiling. In the blink of an eye, they jumped out of her palms, then wrapped around her whole arm. Suddenly, her whole body was covered in mes.

    Zhang Ling frowned. She looked like an angry god of fire as she shouted angrily, "You¡¯re courting death!"

    After that, she turned her wrist, and the fireball in her palm became bigger!

    Everyone could only see that the fireball in Zhang Ling¡¯s hand was constantly tumbling and growing, making a rumbling sound. It was like an atomic bomb that was about to explode. The pressure was amazing, and they were shocked by the zing breath even from a distance.

    Zhou Qin felt as if she was in a big oven, and her hair was being curled up by the heat. She eximed, "What kind of magic is this?"

    Zi Yuan said with a pale face, "This is the Samadhi Thunder God Fire! Is Zhang Ling crazy? She will destroy this ce!"

    When the crowd saw Zhang Ling suddenly be angry and use this extremely destructive and lethal magic, they were all shocked and shouted, "Zhenren Zhang, what are you going to do? No, you will cause trouble!"

    But at this time, Zhang Ling¡¯s mind was full of revenge for Zhang Tianhe. The most important thing was to recover the face lost by the Zhengyi School. She turned a deaf ear, and the murderous intent in her eyes became more and more intense.

    Shinsyu felt a terrible heat blowing over his face from a distance. In an instant, he smelled death, but he was even more excited and enthusiastic. The ck Qi around him was getting thicker and thicker. It gradually condensed in front of him, bing a ck fog.

    The crowd only felt that this fog was like a ck abyss, and they could vaguely see ck dead souls howling in it, emitting a creepy sound.

    When Zhang Ling saw this, she became even angrier. "Demons and ghosts dare to be arrogant!" After that, she turned her wrist and threw the fireball from her hands.

    Shinsyu roared wildly, and the ck mist in front of him suddenly turned into a ferocious ghost with a blue face and fangs, rushing toward Zhang Ling¡¯s fireball.

    The malicious ghost opened its bloody mouth and suddenly swallowed the fireball. In an instant, the malicious ghost¡¯s whole body started burning.

    Everyone immediately cheered loudly, "Zhenren Zhang, good job! Burn this Yaksha ghost to death!"

    Zhou Qin and Su Chan were also beaming with joy. They gritted their teeth and said, "Burn him, burn this bastard!"

    Li Yundong shook his head and said, "The Yaksha is famous for its ability to devour everything. Moreover, the Yaksha is not a real human body. I¡¯m afraid that Zhang Ling¡¯s divine-fire of Samadhi won¡¯t be able to do anything to him."

    While he was speaking, Shinsyu on the field suddenly burst into wildughter. Her figure was actually much bigger than it had been before, as if she had absorbed the power of the the True mes of Samadhi!

    Everyone was shocked and eximed, "That¡¯s impossible! The True mes of Samadhi burn everything. How could the Yaksha be able to absorb it?"

    Zhang Ling¡¯s expression also changed drastically. She shouted sternly, "What kind of a monster are you!? How can you swallow my the True mes of Samadhi!"

    Just as she finished her words, Cinian, who was standing to one side, suddenly chanted the name of a Buddhist monk. He said, "Amitabha, please allow me to say something!"

    Zhang Ling turned her head and sneered. "What do you want to say?"

    Cinian smiled and said, "Fellow Taoists from the Chinese cultivation circle, my disciple Shinsyu is neither demonic nor evil. He is the guardian sentinel of our Mount K¨­ya. He is also the descendant of the Eight Demi-Gods of Sky Dragon Sect. He is the protective spell on of Gods¡¯soul of Buddhism. How could he be a demon or a ghost?"

    She continued in a clear voice, "Zhenren Zhang, although your True mes of Samadhi is powerful, it can¡¯t protect the gods and Buddhas! Moreover, this is a fair practice of fighting, and it is a matter between juniors. As your elder, why are you intervening with it? Is it because you lost and got angry? I didn¡¯t think the dignified Zhengyi School was so narrow-minded."

    Zhang Ling red at her with anger. She secretly thought for a moment, "This Japanese guy is right. If I lose as well, our school will suffer a big loss this time!"

    Thinking of this, the mes on Zhang Ling¡¯s body gradually subsided. She turned her head and said coldly, "Is there any cultivator willing topete with this Shinsyu?"

    At this time, the crowd saw that the blue-faced, long-toothed, ferocious-looking Yaksha ghost was even swallowing Zhang Ling¡¯s True mes of Samadhi. They were all frightened for a while and looked at each other.

    When Shinsyu saw this, he sneered and said, "Humph, are you afraid toe up as you want?"

    Everyone was provoked by him and they were all furious. Among them, Wang Lingfei suddenly stood up and shouted, "I¡¯ll do it!"

    The cultivators of the Zhengyi School shouted loudly, "Shishiong Wang, teach this arrogant guy a lesson!"

    Zhang Ling nced at him, nodded secretly, and whispered to him, "The Yaksha has infinite strength. Don¡¯t get close to him, and don¡¯t hit him with magic. The Yaksha is a mountain-protecting god. I suspect that he has an immune body of magic. I think only powerful magical weapons can kill him!"

    Wang Lingfei nodded. Before he went on the stage, he turned to look at Li Yundong and thought, "I didn¡¯t expect that I would have to use a powerful magical weapon to deal with this yaksha. What a pity!"

    Wang Lingfei snorted in his heart. He walked to the stage and took out a short sword that was only half a foot long from his back.

    The sword was red all over, shorter than a longsword but longer than a dagger. Apart from that, it didn¡¯t seem to have any other extraordinary features.

    When Shinsyu saw this, heughed aloud and said, "Such a short sword? Your Sanhuang Sword and Seven-Star Sword are already in my pocket. Are you going to give me another one now?"

    Wang Lingfei didn¡¯t get angry. He simply looked coldly at Shinsyu and said, "What powerful magical weapon do you have? Bring it out and let¡¯s have a fight!"

    Shinsyu sneered and said, "Why should I use a powerful magical weapon when fighting with you?"

    Wang Lingfeiughed angrily and said, "Hah! Then don¡¯t me me for bullying you!"

    Then, he turned into a bolt of lightning and pounced on Shinsyu. He held the shortsword in his hand and stabbed it toward Shinsyu like lightning and thunder.

    Zhang Ling was so shocked that she couldn¡¯t help stamping her feet and saying, "Damn it. Didn¡¯t I tell him not to get too close?"

    As the saying goes, one inch longer, one inch shorter, one inch of danger!

    Wang Lingfei brandished the short sword in his hand and waved it down toward Shinsyu like it was a shower of mercury from every corner of the world. A ball of silver light danced wildly among the crowd, almost covering Shinsyu¡¯s whole body. Even Wang Lingfei¡¯s figure was covered by the silver light, partly hidden and partly visible!

    Someone recognized this move and secretly nodded, saying: "What a move from Luanpifeng! However, this Yaksha has great strength, why does it have to fight with him in close quarters? Is it not good topete with powerful magical weapons?"

    Just as everyone was feeling doubtful, Shinsyu suddenly let out an angry roar. He pped his palms and pped Wang Lingfei¡¯s dagger right into his hand, thenughed wildly and said, "Let¡¯s see what else you can do!"

    Instead of being shocked, Wang Lingfei was delighted. He sneered and shouted, "Sword Qi river!"

    Wang Lingfei suddenly moved. He split into two, then three, and then countless parts!

    In this battle, it seemed that there were countless Wang Lingfeis. Each of them held a short sword, and the short sword in their hands gave out dazzling red light. It was like a surging river, and the sword Qi was madly stabbing toward the Shinsyu from all directions!

    In the blink of an eye, a thousand des pierced Shinsyu¡¯s body. Immediately, blood gushed out of him, and with a roar, he unconsciously let go of his hands. Wang Lingfei, who was among them, immediately widened his eyes and rushed forward. He shouted, "It¡¯s over!" The sword in his hand immediately sunk firmly into Shinsyu¡¯s chest!

    Seeing this, everyone was overjoyed and immediately cheered.

    Shinsyu let out a wild roar. Endless ck Qi immediately swirled out from her chest and swiftly spread toward him along with the sword in Wang Lingfei¡¯s hand.

    Wang Lingfei was shocked. Just as he was about to loosen his grip, he saw Shinsyu, whose chest had been pierced, give a hideousugh. His hands quickly pinched his fingers, and he yelled out the secret skill of the Zhenyan Tantrism like thunder: Nine-Character truth!

    The crowd saw that as soon as the Yaksha uttered a word, its hands quickly pinched into a handprint.

    This handprint was the Aryaatha seal, the Mah¨¡-cakra seal, the external lion seal, the inner lion seal, the external binding seal, the internal binding seal, the Wisdom Fist Seal, the Sun Wheel Seal, and the vase seal!

    Shinsyu quickly pinched these handprints, recited the Mantra, and shouted, "Soldiers! Battles! Warriors! All! Formations! Stand in line! Front!"

    Wang Lingfei saw the nine Mantra words quickly appear in the ck mist in the air, covering him from top to bottom. He thought to himself that something was wrong. Just as he was about to withdraw, the nine words suddenly exploded with a bang!

    The crowd only heard this loud bang as if a bomb had exploded in the field. In the blink of an eye, Wang Lingfei was blown to pieces and fell to the ground without a sound!

    "What!" Everyone was so shocked that they couldn¡¯t help but widen their eyes. For the first time, they looked at Shinsyu with fear in their eyes. They couldn¡¯t understand why Shinsyu hadn¡¯t died even though the powerful magical weapon had pierced his body. Instead, he could recite a mantra and seriously hurt Wang Lingfei!?

    Shinsyu kicked Wang Lingfei away with a kick. He pulled out the short sword from his chest with a grim smile and pushed it to the side. With a nging sound, the short sword was inserted in front of the Sanhuang Sword, showing off to the crowd as if it was a trophy.

    Shinsyu¡¯s pierced chest was surrounded by a ck fog. Gradually, the ck fog settled, and his chest became as t as before. Only a hole was left in his clothes.

    Shinsyuughed wildly and said, "So weak, so weak!"

    The cultivators from all sects gasped. They wondered to themselves, "What should we do? Even Zhang Cunyi, Zhang Tianhe, and Wang Lingfei were defeated! The three of them are the top experts of the young generation in the Cultivation World. Even if the other sects were powerful, they won¡¯t be stronger than them! Even they were defeated in one move. Who else could defeat this crazy Japanese?"

    Everyone was in a panic for a while. Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help but say to Li Yundong, "Master, go ahead. We can¡¯t let this Japanese continue to be so arrogant!"

    Li Yundong was as deep as water in the east. He nodded and was about to enter the arena when he saw the Zi Yuan next to him suddenly reach out and press down on his hand.

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "Let me do it!"

    Li Yundong was startled. "Zi Yuan, you?"

    She asked in reply, "What, you don¡¯t have confidence in me?"

    Li Yundong was stunned when he heard that. "But..."

    Zi Yuan faintly smiled and said, "Don¡¯t worry, since I dared to enter the battlefield, I definitely have confidence in winning! You have to know that before you defeated me, I was the younger generation¡¯s... number one master in the Cultivation World!"

    After that, Zi Yuan stepped onto the ground gracefully. Her figure was as ethereal as an immortal as she appeared in front of everyone¡¯s eyes. She said in a cold voice, "I¡¯m from the Zhengyi School of Linggong Sect, Zi Yuan! Please give me some pointers!"

 Chapter 499 Peerless Glory!

    <h4>Chapter 499 Peerless Glory!</h4>

    Zi Yuan stood. She was dressed in a long-sleeved white dress with her hands crossed gently in front of her. She was as beautiful as a fairy from the Pure Shadow Pceing from the sky to the mortal world. As soon as she stepped onto the field, everyone could not help holding their breath.

    When Shinsyu saw Zi Yuan at a nce, his eyes suddenly shone with brilliance. He couldn¡¯t help but be stunned. He thought to himself, "How can this woman be so beautiful?"

    Although Shinsyu was arrogant, he was shocked by the amazing beauty and temperament of Zi Yuan. The arrogance on his face obviously dwindled. He sneered at the people on the scene and said, "There is no one in the Chinese Cultivation Field. Why did you send a woman here?" After that, he turned to Zi Yuan and said, "I don¡¯t fight with women. You can leave now!"

    Zi Yuan smiled, not saying anything. She dropped her hands, and her sleeves suddenly drooped. Her sleeves were so long that they almost reached her knees. In her hands was a three-finger-wide purple gold silk ribbon hanging down from her sleeves.

    With Zi Yuan not speaking, some cultivators from other sects couldn¡¯t help but stand up for her. "Hey, do you know who this is? This is Zhenren Zi Yuan, a great master in our Chinese Cultivation World, known as the first master of the young generation!"

    Shinsyu took a look at Zi Yuan and said with some emotion, "You are actually the first master?"

    Zi Yuan lowered her eyes, as if she were a jade goddess statue. She said with a calm face, "No!"

    Shinsyu was puzzled. "Why do they say you are the first master?"

    Zi Yuan said lightly, "There are many hidden talents in the Chinese Continent. There are so many masters. How could I, Zi Yuan, be called the first one?"

    Shinsyu hurriedly asked, "Then who is the first one? Let them fight with me!" Saying this, he pointed to Li Yundong, who was sitting to one side, and said, "Is it him?"

    Zi Yuan nced at Li Yundong and said, "Whether he is the first or not doesn¡¯t matter. The most important thing is that you can¡¯t beat him, let alone me!"

    Shinsyu was furious. "F*ck! How dare you look down on me!"

    Zi Yuan smiled gently. "It¡¯s the opposite. I know you¡¯re very powerful, but I have a way to defeat you. As for Li Yundong, he has countless ways to defeat you!"

    Shinsyu was so angry that he shouted, "Let Li Yundong fight with me. I¡¯d like to see how many ways he can defeat me!"

    After saying that, Shinsyu shouted at Li Yundong, "Li Yundong, won¡¯t you dare to go up on the stage? You coward, do you only dare to hide behind a woman?"

    Li Yundong drank tea slowly as if he couldn¡¯t hear what was being said. He turned his face and whispered to Zhou Qin, "Zi Yuan is good at mind-maniption, which is making Shinsyu so impetuous. You cooperate with me. Let¡¯s p*ss off this arrogant little devil and help Zi Yuan."

    Zhou Qin¡¯s face had not changed, but she winked at Li Yundong, indicating that she understood.

    Li Yundong took a sip of tea and deliberately said solemnly, "Zhou Qin, why do I feel like someone was shouting at me just now?"

    Zhou Qin cooperated with him and said in surprise. "Really? Where? Why didn¡¯t I hear that?"

    "No way, didn¡¯t you hear loud shouting just now?"

    Zhou Qin was at a loss. "I really didn¡¯t hear it, Master!"

    Li Yundong said usingly, "You¡¯re a cultivator. I heard someone screaming just now. How can you say you didn¡¯t hear it?"

    Zhou Qin suddenly came to a realization and smiled. "Master, you made a mistake. There¡¯s no one screaming!"

    Li Yundong asked strangely, "What¡¯s that?"

    Zhou Qin said with a grin, "That was obviously a dog barking, not a human howling?"

    Li Yundong patted his forehead and suddenly understood. "So that¡¯s what it was. I heard it wrong. Your ears are so good!"

    Everyone saw that the two of them were chatting easily. There was no insult in their words, and they had not named him. However, each word was attacking Shinsyu. They suddenly burst intoughter.

    Shinsyu was not a fool. He was so angry that his face turned red. He shouted at Li Yundong angrily, "F*ck, I want to fight with you. Come up if you dare. I want to battle with you!"

    Li Yundong still ignored him. He smiled and continued chatting with Zhou Qin while drinking tea. He said, "Oh, on such a cold winter day, there is some dog tied up. How can it be barking like this?"

    Zhou Qin alsoughed. "Not only is it barking, but it¡¯s also biting people everywhere!"

    Everyoneughed wildly, and the veins on Shinsyu¡¯s forehead jumped with anger. He cursed Li Yundong in Japanese.

    Beside him, Cinian couldn¡¯t help but frown. He shouted in a deep voice. "Shinsyu! You¡¯re here to settle a score, not to bicker!"

    Cinian¡¯s shout was like a blow to the head, shaking the teacups upstairs. Everyone was shocked. "This old Japanese monk is amazing!"

    Cinian¡¯s shout shook Shinsyu¡¯s whole body, and soon the anger on his face dissipated. His ragged breath gradually settled down. He nced at Li Yundong and said, "Li Yundong, I¡¯ll ask you again, do you dare to fight with me?"

    Li Yundong looked at Cinian and thought, "This old monk is really a wise man." He turned to Shinsyu and said, "If you beat Zi Yuan, I¡¯ll fight with you!"

    Shinsyu took a deep breath and turned to Zi Yuan again. "It seems that I have to fight with you then."

    Zi Yuan said with a faint smile, "It seems so. Unless you admit defeat and return the powerful magical weapon you took!"

    Shinsyuughed. "There¡¯s no reason to return the things I grabbed. Don¡¯t be ridiculous! Come on, let me see what¡¯s so great about you, the best in the whole world! When I defeat you, I¡¯ll see what Chinese cultivators can do!"

    Zi Yuan smiled as if she didn¡¯t care about what Shinsyu said. She put her hands in front of herself and asked faintly, "Can we start now?"

    Shinsyu snorted, surrounded by a dark aura, and said, "Come on!"

    Zi Yuan nodded and said, "Okay!"

    As she spoke, she suddenly moved and rushed to the side of Shinsyu like a meteor streaking to the moon. Her hands shook and the fabric in her hands rushed to Shinsyu like a continuous river.

    Shinsyu sneered in his heart. Without hesitation, he reached out one hand and grabbed this sleeve. He suddenly put forth his strength and threw Zi Yuan to the ground as he had done in the previous battle, then shouted, "Get up!"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s sleeve was caught. Not only had she not dodged, but the purple gold-rimmed silk belt in her sleeve had been quickly wrapped around Shinsyu¡¯s arm like vines. As soon as Shinsyu used his strength, she flew up with this force. Her body passed over the top of his head lightly, and the tip of her foot was like a dragonfly skimming over the water.

    The crowd immediately burst intoughter, and Shinsyu was so angry that he grabbed the top of his head with his other hand. However, Zi Yuan moved very fast, and she flew to the other side of him like a frightened swan.

    At this moment, a cultivator in the field asked in a low, confused voice, "Why didn¡¯t Zi Yuan break the top of the Japanese dog¡¯s skull?"

    The experienced cultivator shook his head. "This person from Dongying is very strange. Zi Yuan may not be able to kill him easily. What¡¯s more, if she gets caught using too much strength, it will be troublesome! Look, don¡¯t ask. There is no reason for Zi Yuan to im to be the top master of the younger generation!"

    Shinsyu saw that Zi Yuan¡¯s movement was surprisingly fast, and she moved as if she had a residual shadow. He reached out his hand to catch it, and it seemed that he could touch it. In his grasp, it would be a residual shadow!

    Shinsyu¡¯s reaction was very fast. He immediately pulled the purple ribbon in his hand with his other hand and released the ck aura all over his body. The ck aura flowed along with the purple ribbon toward Zi Yuan.

    However, Zi Yuan was not in a hurry. Her feet were either pointing, or turning, and her figure was either spinning lightly or bending. The crowd could only see that Zi Yuan was like a dancing Cold Pce Fairy. She swung her sleeves and moved like a cloud!

    Everyone was stunned. None of them had expected that this thrilling battle would be so elegant and without a trace of murderous aura!

    Everyone felt that Zi Yuan was not settling a score at this time. She was just dancing alone in the field, as if there was no one around. It was cold and quiet.

    Li Yundong was stunned. He stared at the pair of light, flexible feet on Zi Yuan and sighed in his heart, "They don¡¯t look like a pair of fairy feet that should step into the mortal world, but the woman with this pair of feet can only walk over the thorns of the mortal world!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He couldn¡¯t help but whisper softly, "She was tripping lightly like a startled swan, like a flying dragon. It¡¯s like a chrysanthemum in autumn, like a blooming pinaster in spring. It¡¯s like a light cloud covering the moon, like the snowing back in the wind."

    Everyone was stunned. They all knew that Li Yundong was using words from Cao Zhi¡¯s Roselle Fu to praise Zi Yuan. When they heard it, they couldn¡¯t help but cheer in their hearts. They felt that these words were a perfect description of her!

    Zhou Qin, who was next to him, immediately said. "She is very beautiful, like the rising sun casting a morning glow, but also like a water lotus, rippling in the blue waves"

    Seeing that Zi Yuan had the upper hand, Su Chan couldn¡¯t help but feel happy in her heart. She said with a smile, "She is not fat or thin, her height conforms to aesthetic standards. Shoulders as sharp as a knife¡¯s edge, waist as soft as silk. The neck is long and white. No makeup, no powder. Her hair is beautiful and her eyebrows are slender and curved."

    At this time, Ruan Hongling and the little fox also smiled and joined in the following words one by one. After Ling Yue had finished herst word, Li Yundong smiled and continued, "Sighing for the loveless of the Lagenaria Siceraria Standl,menting for the solitude of the Pharbitis. Sometimes raised with the wind fluttering coat, with long-sleeved light overlooking, standing for a long time. Sometimes the body is as light as flying!"

    When he finished thest word, he saw Zi Yuan suddenly stop. She shook her hands, and the purple ribbon suddenly spread out like a waterfall. Her sleeves fluttered in the air, gently waving, fluttering, and moving like a wisp of fresh smoke in the eyes of the people who were still free.

    At first, Shinsyu wanted to tug the ribbon, but it seemed that the purple ribbon in her hand could never be pulledpletely. He pulled one meter, another meter, two meters, and then another two meters.

    But the more he pulled, the faster Zi Yuan circled, like a spider weaving a. The fments wrapped around Shinsyu one by one, gradually causing him to have more and more ribbon on his body.

    By the time Zi Yuan hadpletely stopped, he had already be a big rice dumpling. There was nothing but divine power and strange Yin Qi in his body, but it was useless.

    Shinsyu struggled angrily. No matter how strong his power was, he couldn¡¯t get out of such bondage.

    Shinsyu struggled a few times and found that the ribbon around his body hadn¡¯t moved at all. He said angrily, "You¡¯re cheating. I don¡¯t ept it!"

    Zi Yuan smiled faintly. "You don¡¯t ept it?"

    Shinsyu said angrily, "Let me go, and then we¡¯ll fight again!"

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "Okay!"

    At this time, the cultivators of the Zhengyi School and Qingcheng Sect shouted, "Zhenren Zi Yuan, don¡¯t let him go back!"

    But as soon as they finished their words, they saw that Zi Yuan had suddenly raised her arms, and the ribbons suddenly fell in!

    Shinsyu felt as if he was being pinched in the palm of a giant¡¯s hand and then squeezed hard. He suddenly screamed, and all his bones were cracking!

    Zi Yuan shook her wrist and threw Shinsyu high up. The purple ribbon in her hand was pulled away in the blink of an eye.

    Shinsyu fell to the ground, bleeding from all seven openings, his mouth leaking blood.

    Zi Yuan nced at him indifferently and said, "I told you that I had a way to defeat you, which is to defeat toughness with softness! If you are not convinced, you can heal your wounds and then go to Li Yundong to see if he really has the countless methods that I have told you about!"

    At this time, everyone came to their senses, as if they had just woken up from a dream, and they burst into thunderous cheers.

    Tachibana Wakako cried out in surprise and rushed to Shinsyu. She checked Shinsyu¡¯s injuries and found that none of his bones wasplete. Besides, his internal organs had all been damaged under the fierce force just now. Even if he recovered, there would be serious aftereffects!

    Tachibana Wakako couldn¡¯t help but blush. She stood up and shouted at Zi Yuan, "You beat Shinsyu like this. D*mn it! I¡¯m going to challenge you now!"

 Chapter 500 The Witch Tachibana Wakako

    <h4>Chapter 500 The Witch Tachibana Wakako</h4>

    Zi Yuan easily defeated Shinsyu, which led to an impulsive shout from Tachibana Wakako.

    Zi Yuan looked at Tachibana Wakako in surprise and asked, "You want to challenge me? On what basis?"

    Tachibana Wakako angrily said, "Shinsyu is our Mountain Protecting God of Rigoino. You beat him like this, he won¡¯t be able to recover his strength in the future! This is a provocation and invasion of our Rigoino!"

    Although Tachibana Wakako was rather tall, she was only 13 or 14 years old. Her thoughts and actions were still simple. Her words immediately caused cultivators from various sects to say in loud, mocking voices, "If you beat our people, it¡¯ll be in vain. If we beat your people, then you won¡¯t be happy. Do you think there¡¯s such thieving logic in the world?"

    "That¡¯s right, little sister. Bring this useless guy back quickly!"

    "Get lost! Don¡¯t make a fool of yourself!"

    Being scolded by the crowd, Tachibana Wakako¡¯s face turned red. Shinsyu, who was seriously injured, struggled and whispered to her in Japanese, "Tachibana Wakako, forget it. These Chinese cultivators are ying shameless tricks. You are the witch of our Rigoino, and also the person who is most likely to be the sessor of the Goddess in the future. Don¡¯t make any mistakes here like me."

    Hearing this, Tachibana Wakako didn¡¯t give up. Instead, she became even angrier. Suddenly, she took out a golden-silver folding fan from her wide kimono. The fan¡¯s bones were dark, and it was carved with exquisite patterns. Tachibana Wakako took out this fan and opened it with a snap. It was painted with images of countless ghosts and gods.

    Then, she took out a one-foot-long white g from her sleeve. There were dense white talismans hanging on it, each of which was painted with strange patterns and runes.

    After these two things were taken out, Tachibana Wakako¡¯s figure changed. She seemed to have turned from an innocent girl into a holy, elegant young woman. She chanted an incantation, with one hand moving the fan and the other twirling a streamer. At this time, a bracelet with a silver bell slipped from her wrist, making a crisp sound along with her dance.

    Everyone could see Tachibana Wakako humming and dancing. The ghosts and gods in the gold and silver fan in her hand seemed toe alive, and they turned into shadows one after another and sneaked into the white g in her other hand.

    The spirit energy in the g umted, gradually turning ck from top to bottom. The runes on each piece of talisman were emitting a strange red light.

    After dancing for a while, Tachibana Wakako suddenly waved the white g at Shinsyu. The red runes on it suddenly gave off a dazzling light and gathered the ck mist. In the blink of an eye, it was absorbed into Shinsyu¡¯s body.

    He roared, and his body shook violently. After a while, he turned over and got up on his own. However, because of his serious injuries from before, he staggered a little when he got up.

    Shinsyu red at Zi Yuan with hatred in his eyes. He retreated to Cinian¡¯s side and whispered in Japanese, "Master Cinian, let¡¯s go. Zi Yuan¡¯s powerful magical weapon is very strange. We can¡¯t let Tachibana Wakako get hurt. She will only listen to you."

    Cinian nced at him and said with a smile, "Shinsyu, there¡¯s no need for you to belittle yourself. Zi Yuan¡¯s powerful magical weapon can just restrain you. It¡¯s called one thing subduing the other. However, no matter how powerful she is, she¡¯s still no match for Tachibana Wakako. There¡¯s no need for you to worry about her!"

    Shinsyu frowned and said, "But..."

    Cinian nced at Shinsyu unhappily and said, "Why, are you questioning me?"

    Shinsyu¡¯s body trembled, and he lowered his head. "Yes! I understand!" After that, he stood behind Cinian, his figure returning to its original appearance.

    After watching Tachibana Wakako dance, Shinsyu miraculously stood up again. All were amazed. Someone whispered, "What kind of magic is this? It¡¯s so strange. This Japanese dog is seriously injured. How can he still stand?"

    A cultivator who understood the situation whispered, "This is the divine music dance of Japanese witchcraft. This little girl must be a witch."

    Zi Yuan looked at Tachibana Wakako seriously and suddenly asked, "What¡¯s your name?"

    Ever since Tachibana Wakako had started the divine music dance, she had be like a witch. Her bearing had suddenly grown by ten years of age. She said with a cold expression, "I¡¯m Tachibana Wakako, a witch from Rigoino!"

    Zi Yuan was slightly taken aback. "You¡¯re the witch of the Tachibana branch?"

    Tachibana Wakako looked at Zi Yuan in surprise. "You actually know of our branch?"

    Zi Yuan frowned slightly, her eyes full of wariness, as if there was a formidable enemy standing in front of her. "What is a witch of the Tachibana branch doing here?"

    Hearing this, Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help saying to Li Yundong, "Master, does this Tachibana Wakako have a good background?"

    Li Yundong nodded and said with a serious face, "Japan is a very special country. The level of this country is very strict, and its family name is veryrge. There are four great noble families in Japan, namely the Minamoto n, the Tachibana n, the Taira n, and the Fujiwara n! The four great noble ns represent the four great families. The Fujiwara n is the Gongsun family of Japan, and it is the most traditional noble family. The Minamoto n and the Tachibana n respectively represent the two most powerful families in Japan. The founder of Minamoto n is Yuai Chao, who was the first shogunate general in Japan. And the founder of the Tachibana n is Pingqing Sheng, who founded the era when warriors ruled Japan."

    "In thete period of Japan¡¯s Warring States, almost all the big shots in Japan belonged to the Minamoto n and the Tachibana n. For example, Oda Nobunaga belonged to the Tachibana n, while Tokugawa Ieyasu belonged to the Minamoto n. The whole history of Japan¡¯s Warring States was almost about the contending histories of the Minamoto n and the Tachibana n. As for the Taira n, it represented the spirits and the witches of the Japanese religion. Since the rise of the witches, no matter whether it was the Minamoto n or the Tachibana n in power, the Taira n has gone through the history of Japan from beginning to end. Among them, Taira Yuan from the Taira n is the famous witch of Gods¡¯ soul, and this Tachibana Wakako should be the direct descendant of the Taira n. Such a person is born with spiritual power and can summon Gods¡¯ soul to possess them."

    "But isn¡¯t there an ordinary person surnamed the Taira who came to be a witch?" Zhou Qinqi asked.

    Li Yundong shook his head and said, "No! There are rules to make names in Japan, especially for the Japanese nobles. It¡¯s definitely not random to name them. In the past, there was an unwritten rule in Japan that only people from Tachibana n and Minamoto n could be generals. The other surnames definitely can¡¯t. That¡¯s why Toyotomi Hideki, who unified Japan and ended the war country, couldn¡¯t get the title of general even at the cost of his life. It¡¯s just ¡¯¡¯Kanpaku!"

    Su Chan, who was listening from the side, couldn¡¯t help but ask, "What is Kanpaku?"

    Li Yundong touched her hair with a smile and said, "Kanpaku is equivalent to the Prime Minister of China. Toyotomi Hideki defeated all the famous feudal princes at that time and unified Japan. In fact, he was equivalent to the emperor at that time. But a person like him can¡¯t be a general. You can imagine how strict the noble family naming system in Japan is!"

    Only then did Zhou Qine to a realization. She looked at Zi Yuan with some concern. "This Tachibana Wakako has such a strong background. Will Zi Yuan be in danger?"

    Li Yundong looked serious and said, "I don¡¯t know, but even if Zi Yuan is no match for her, she must have a way to protect herself."

    Zhou Qin knew that Li Yundong had been cultivating for a long time, and his character had be more and more steady. Even he was not optimistic about Zi Yuan¡¯s chances. He was afraid that this battle would be dangerous.

    In the field, Tachibana Wakako stood like peony and walked like a herbaceous flower. She looked at Zi Yuan and said in a loud voice, "Do you dare to duel with me?"

    Zi Yuan knew that she wouldn¡¯t lose the array even if she lost. She smiled faintly and said, "Since you¡¯re the descendant of the witch of the Taira n, as well as the descendant of Mount K¨­ya, I¡¯ll naturally y along. Let¡¯s see if your Rigoino is stronger, or if our Linggong Sect is stronger!"

    Tachibana Wakako snorted coldly. "It¡¯s Rigoino, not Mount K¨­ya!"

    Her words confused many people. Zhou Qin whispered to Li Yundong, "Master, is there any difference between Rigoino and Mount K¨­ya?"

    Li Yundong nodded. "Yes, there are two religious mountains in Japan, one is Mount Hiei, the other is Mount K¨­ya. In terms of religious power, Mount Hiei is thergest and strongest. Almost all famous monks in Japane from Mount Hiei. However, in terms of fighting power, Mount K¨­ya is the strongest. Although all Japanese monkse from Mount Hiei, all of them are buried in Mount K¨­ya in the end, and all of them are buried in the Ao Academy in the innermost part of Mount K¨­ya.

    "Rigoino is full of towering trees. Even though it¡¯s daytime, there¡¯s not a single ray of light that gets in. It¡¯s dark all day, and it¡¯s always gloomy. In this hundred-year-old ancient forest, tombstones are everywhere. Every ancient tower grave represents almost all the most famous people in Japan, such as Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideki, Yoshihima morisugi, Takeda Shingen, Mitsuhide Akechi, and almost all the eminent monks in Japan!"

    Zhou Qin was stunned. "That means..."

    "It means that people who can enter the Rigoino of Mount K¨­ya," Li Yundong said, "are the best masters in the Japanese cultivation world. Therefore, all the cultivators in Mount K¨­ya in Japan feel honored to be able to enter the Ao Academy of Rigoino."

    Su Chan, who was standing to one side, eximed, "They wouldn¡¯t mean that this Tachibana Wakako is also very powerful?"

    Li Yundong nodded and said, "Of course! The magic of the witch from the Taira nes from Gods¡¯ soul and vengeful spirits¡¯ souls. Rigoino¡¯s Yin Qi has been gathering for thousands of years, and there are divine monks¡¯ sacrificial tablets and generals¡¯ graves everywhere. The murderous aura and Lingqi inside must be extremely terrible!"

    Zhou Qin saw Li Yundong speaking with confidence andposure, and as for knowing the history of the Japanese cultivation world well, she couldn¡¯t help sighing. "Master, how do you know so much?"

    Li Yundong chuckled and said, "If you were imprisoned in a Spirit Space for more than ten thousand years, I¡¯m afraid you would know a lot too!"

    As they were talking, they saw Tachibana Wakako chanting spells. She gently shook the g, and the silver bell on her wrist rang. Soon, the runes on the g began to shine again, and a thick ck air swirled from it, gradually forming a human image in front of Tachibana Wakako.

    The crowd saw that this man seemed to be wearing a Japanese warrior¡¯s armor. This armor waspletely red, as if there was a thickyer of blood on it. There were various strange talismans hanging in the blood, and there was a strong smell of death wafting over from a distance.

    This man seemed to be holding a warrior saber in his hand. His face was hidden in the armor, which revealed only a pair of bloody red, ferocious eyes. His eyes were as cold and horrible as those of the devil in hell, making people tremble with fear at first sight!

    Zhou Qin was shocked when she saw this. She cried out involuntarily, "What kind of monster is this?"

    Li Yundong took a closer look and saw that the various talismans hanging on the warrior¡¯s body were actually the demon-subduing seal talismans of Buddhism. He was suddenly moved and said, "This man has such a heavy smell of blood and so many Buddhist talismans on him. Is it possible that he was once the demon king of the sixth sky, Oda Nobunaga, who once washed Mount Hiei with blood?"

    As soon as he finished speaking, he heard Tachibana Wakako coldly say to Zi Yuan, "Zhenren Zi Yuan, please!" After that, she waved the g in her hand.

    The horrible, ferocious demon king roared toward Zi Yuan!

 Chapter 501 The Three Ghosts and the Ferocious Divine Lady Appeared

    <h4>Chapter 501 The Three Ghosts and the Ferocious Divine Lady Appeared</h4>

    When Zi Yuan saw the terrifying devil rushing toward her with a roar, she did not panic at all. With a gentle tap of her foot, her figure was as graceful as a swan. She circled around the demon king of the sixth sky¡¯s apparition and quickly swam around. The purple silk in her hand was so soft, piercing through the gaps of the devil¡¯s armor.

    As soon as the magic treasure silk of Zi Yuan entered the armor of the devil king, endless Yin Qi quickly rushed to Zi Yuan along the silk, like a ck poisonous snake crawling along a vine, making people feel terrified.

    When Zi Yuan saw that the ck Qi was spreading at an extremely fast speed, twice as fast as Shen Xiu¡¯s, she was shocked in her heart, and then she immediately shouted loudly, her Genuine Vitality surging all over her body. In an instant, the purple silk in her hand became like a torrent of raging water, pouncing fiercely toward the other side. In the blink of an eye, it tied the devil up firmly.

    Zi Yuan then shook her wrist and shouted, ¡°Break!¡±

    With a loud bang, the Demon King¡¯s armor was torn into pieces by the purple silk.

    After the armor had been broken, everyone saw that there was no one inside, only a ck mist that kept surging. In this ck mist were countless ferocious ghosts, all screaming and yelling.

    The ck Qi kept twisting and howling, as if angrily reciting an incantation of hell to Zi Yuan.

    Although Zhou Qin was not afraid of anything, when she looked at the scene in front of her, she felt cold all over and her hair stood on end. She even felt that if she were in the field, she would tremble and not be able to use even half of her strength, let alone fight!

    Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help asking in a low voice, ¡°Why is this Oda Nobunaga so horrible?¡±

    Li Yunyang said, ¡°Mr. Oda Nobunaga is a famous figure in Japan. He has been fighting for his whole life. He once led his troops to wipe out Mount Hiei, Japan¡¯s divine mountains. Therefore, his bad reputation shocked the entirety of the Japanese cultivation world, and after he died, the tombstone was stood on Rigoino. The cultivators of Buddhism thought that his soul was too evil, so they added countless seal talismans to suppress and curse him. Therefore, for hundreds of years, the soul of Mr. Oda Nobunaga has been like this, full of resentment and all kinds of malicious curses. Anyone who fights with him will be cursed by him, and then theirbat capability will be greatly reduced.¡±

    There was a look of fear on Zhou Qin¡¯s face. She said anxiously, ¡°Fortunately, Zi Yuan has already killed him.¡±

    Li Yunyang frowned slightly and shook his head. ¡°No, these evil spirits have umted the power of hundreds of years in Rigoino. They can¡¯t be destroyed by magic and magical weapons. It could even be said that they are immortal!¡±

    As he was talking, he saw that Tachibana Wakako waving the g in her hand. The armor that had been broken by her magic treasure on the ground actually gathered itself again and became a horrible armored warrior again. It stared at Zi Yuan with a ferocious look.

    Zhou Qin was shocked and couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°The devil is alive again! What should we do?¡±

    Zi Yuan also frowned slightly, and the purple silk in her hand slipped back into her sleeves. She stared at the soul of Oda Nobunaga and frowned, as if she was thinking of a way to deal with it.

    As she was thinking, she saw that Tachibana Wakako was waving the g again and reciting an incantation. Soon, the ck fog in her hand surged, and a ck-armored warrior appeared in front of her. This ck-armored warrior was wearing heavy armor, a sharp helmet, holding a Chrysanthemum character Bushido in his hand, and had a long-handled military g on his back. On the g were four awe-inspiring Chinese characters: Wind Forest Fire Mountain!

    Everyone saw that as soon as the ck-armored warrior appeared, a terrible sense of oppression came over their faces, forming a sharp contrast with the Yin Qi of Oda Nobunaga.

    Two zing fireballs danced within the warrior¡¯s ck armor. It was as if a war soul that had died with its eyes open was eager to walk towards the battlefield. As soon as it appeared, it released a terrifying roar. The surging battle intent made almost every cultivator¡¯s hair stand on end!

    Although Zhou Qin didn¡¯t know much about Japan¡¯s history, she was shocked when she saw the military g on the back of this ck-armored warrior. She whispered, ¡°Is this Takeda Shingen?¡±

    Li Yunyang nodded and said, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the tiger of Kai, Takeda Shingen!¡±

    Zhou Qin said worriedly, ¡°One cannot be defeated, and now there are two. What should we do?¡±

    Li Yundong said in a deep voice, ¡°If you want to fight recklessly, there are two ways. One is to use more powerful Divine Power to destroy the opponent¡®s Rancorous Spirit, and the other is to use your Zhenqi to exhaust the opponent! The opponent also needs to use up their spiritual energy to summon the Rancorous Spirit. As long as the opponent¡¯s spiritual energy is consumed, she can win!¡±

    As they whispered, Oda Nobunaga and Takeda Shingen, the two famous generals of Japanese history, roared at the same time and rushed to Zi Yuan.

    Oda Nobunaga rushed at a fast speed, and wherever his body passed, ck fog filled the air, as if it had swallowed the space behind him. It seemed like if one got close to him and touched him, one would be dragged into the abyss of hell.

    As for Takeda Shingen, he was surrounded by zing mes. Although he was alone, everyone felt that when he rushed forward, the military g behind him was chilly, and the words ¡°Wind Forest Fire Mountain¡± were like four dancing mes. Behind him, there seemed to be thousands of troops and horses. It was like a cavalry attack, and there was a horrible murderous aura and pressureing toward her!

    Zi Yuan was slightly shocked. In the blink of an eye, the purple silk in her hand flew out and formed a huge purple in front of her. The two Grudge Spirits crashed into the, and she immediately waved her wrist and controlled the magical weapon to twine the two Grudge Spirits together quickly.

    Oda Nobunaga and Takeda Shingen were tied together, struggling and roaring crazily. The magical silk in Zi Yuan¡¯s hands kept hissing, and the golden silk threads on it also burst into dazzling golden light.

    Zi Yuan felt that there seemed to be two wild beasts trapped in her. She struggled with great force, knowing that if she was careless, she would break the and die!

    She did not dare to keep these two vengeful spirits around. With a rare shout, she shook her hands, and the purple silk in her hands became like a sharp de. In an instant, the two vengeful spirits were cut into countless pieces.

    The crowd cheered when they saw that Zi Yuan had managed to repel Tachibana Wakako¡¯s attacks twice in a row, especially the young male cultivators. They looked at Zi Yuan with a fervent gaze, full of admiration.

    Zou Ping, who had been making things difficult for Zi Yuan, couldn¡¯t help but frown. She whispered, ¡°Master, what kind of magic treasure is that in Zi Yuan¡¯s hand? I haven¡¯t seen her use it before. How could it be so powerful?¡±

    Zhang Ling smiled and said, ¡°Wang Yuanshan once picked two pieces of the Ninth Heaven Ray in the Heavenly Lake of Xinjiang. One of them was made into a small square handkerchief, which is the portable magical item used by Ruan Hongling. It is called the heavenly red silk. The other one is a long one, which is now used by Zi Yuan. It is called the Ninth Heaven Zi Yuan Silk. These two magical items were originally the Celestial Clouds, and the clouds were tangible but invisible in the world. They could change into any shape ording to the mind of the spell-user, like the Yang Spirit. Therefore, this kind of magical item can be used to attack and defend. When attacking, they are like raging waves and unstoppable. When defending, they are like iron locks across the river, and they are as solid as golden soup!¡±

    Zou Ping frowned and said, ¡°But didn¡¯t you see how Zi Yuan used it before?¡±

    Zhang Ling snorted. ¡°Ziyuan has been precocious ever since she was a child. She is talented and outstanding, a rare genius with cultivation. Wang Yuanshan himself is even more talented. He is the kind of great genius thates once in a hundred years. It¡¯s not without reason that he chose Zi Yuan as the sessor of the Linggong Sect. The reason why she doesn¡¯t use it is to guard against us so that she can surprise us at the inauguration ceremony of the leader in the future! Hey, I didn¡¯t expect that this little witch would force her to use her skill now!¡±

    Zou Ping said in a low voice, ¡°It¡¯ll be best if Zi Yuan loses. Humph, let¡¯s see how arrogant this b*tch is!¡±

    Zhang Ling was furious when she heard this. She raised her eyebrows and scolded Zou Ping in a low voice, ¡°B*stard! Do you think it¡¯s a battle between different sects in the cultivation world? Now it has turned into apetition between the Chinese cultivation world and the Japanese cultivation world. It¡¯s a national war! It¡¯s a small matter if she loses. It¡¯d bring shame to the entire Chinese cultivation world! What¡¯s more, although there are many things wrong with Zi Yuan. In theory, she is still a member of our Zhengyi School. At this time, we should focus on national affairs in front of the national war. and focus on the sects under the national affairs, and then personal grievances! I didn¡¯t expect that you would say such words! Have you forgotten all the books you read?¡±

    Zou Ping¡¯s face immediately turned red from the scolding and she did not dare to retort. She red hatefully at Zi Yuan, lowered her head, and stopped talking.

    At this time, everyone was looking at the scene with concern, and no one noticed the conversation between Zou Ping and Zhang Ling next to them.

    After seeing Zi Yuan break through the joint attack of her two War Soul Undead, an expression of surprise appeared on Tachibana Wakako¡¯s face and she said, ¡°Not bad, you¡¯re worthy of being the number one in the Chinese cultivation world. You really have something!¡±

    As she spoke, she chanted the incantation again. The two armored warriors who had been crushed by Zi Yuan gathered together again, and then another War Soul Undead appeared next to her.

    The crowd saw that this one was different to the previous two Fighting Souls. He was not wearing armor, but a white T-shirt. However, his clothes were torn and stained with blood. He was full of long spears and swords, like a grotesque hedgehog. In front of him were seven swords of different lengths, each of which had a gap. It seemed that he had experienced countless battles, letting off a strong and fierce aura!

    As soon as Zhou Qin saw the Undead appear, her heart suddenly felt as if it was being pinched by a pair of invisible hands and almost stopped beating. A sharp murderous intent, almost tangible, forced her to subconsciously want to escape!

    Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help but ask in surprise, ¡°What kind of monster is this?¡±

    Li Yunyang frowned and said, ¡°This is the brave general with the best sword skills among all the generals in Japan, Ashikaga Yoshiteru. It¡¯s said that he fought against the rebels before he died. He fended off their continuous attacks with his own strength. After three hours, he lost seven swords and died in the end!¡±

    As he spoke, he saw the long sword in front of the undead buzzing and making a ringing sound. It jumped up itself, was suspended in the air, and pointed its sharp de at Zi Yuan. It was ready to fight, and it was full of murderous intent!

    Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help but suck in a breath of cold air. She said, ¡°There¡¯s one more. What should we do? Will Zi Yuan be able to defeat the opponent with energy consumption?¡±

    Li Yunyang¡¯s face darkened. He shook his head slightly and said, ¡°The power of this Tachibana Wakako girles from the power of this g. As long as it is someone with the bloodline of the Tachibana family, it can be used, and the power of this magical itemes from the obsession power formed by Rigoino¡¯s generals and eminent monks who have been buried here for hundreds of years. This power is not trivial. If you intend to use it up, it¡¯ll be as difficult as climbing to heaven!¡±

    Zhou Qin asked worriedly, ¡°Master, if we can¡¯t defeat him, what should we do?¡±

    Li Yundong said without hesitation, ¡°It¡¯s simple. Let¡¯s go straight ahead. Let¡¯s catch the leader first! Even if he has an army of thousands of War Spirit Undeads, I won¡¯t care. I¡¯ll just rush to the opponent and take the leader¡¯s life!¡±

    When Li Yunyang said this, Zi Yuan seemed to make a spiritual connection. She suddenly moved, and without waiting for Tachibana Wakako to take the initiative tounch an attack, she rushed toward her like lightning.

    With a movement of her body, the three War Soul Undeads roared and pounced towards Zi Yuan.

    Everyone saw that Zi Yuan¡¯s figure was like a wandering dragon and a flying phoenix. The three dead souls were fierce and murderous, and wherever they passed, it was like a fierce hell. The air was full of the pungent smell of blood, and Zi Yuan was like a fairy rushing into the battlefield of the underworld. Her feet were not stained with any blood, and her clothes fluttered without a trace of murderous intent.

    In the face of the joint attack of the three undead, Zi Yuan¡¯s pace was ethereal, and her figure moved like a shadow. Everyone saw that every time the Undead¡¯s long saber was going to hit Zi Yuan, she could turn around and bend her waist in an incredible way. It was thrilling and wonderful to watch, making everyone¡¯s heart beat wildly and their blood boil!

    Zi Yuan was entangled with the three Undead for a while. The Ninth Heaven Zi Yuan Silk in her hand had unknowinglypleted the arrangement and tied the three Undead together.

    Zi Yuan shouted, ¡°Break it again!¡±

    With a few nging sounds, like those made by sharp des cutting steel, the three Undead were instantly cut to pieces by Zi Yuan.

    But at this time, Zi Yuan didn¡¯t stop and flew down. She ran fast, like an arrow, and rushed at Tachibana Wakako. With a flip of her hand, she grabbed at Tachibana Wakako¡¯s face.

    When everyone saw that Zi Yuan was about to capture the leader, they couldn¡¯t help cheering excitedly. But when their voices passed their throats, they suddenly saw Zi Yuan¡¯s hand stop two inches in front of Tachibana Wakako.

    The soft ck hair behind Tachibana Wakako suddenly rose up like a waterfall, and a witch in a white and red dress appeared out of nowhere in front of her. This witch was about two meters tall and had a very beautiful appearance. There was a white light condensed like a knife in her eyes. Her face was cold, and her whole body exuded an invible pressure.

    The witch towered over and looked down at Zi Yuan, she shouted in a voice that shook the world, ¡°A mere mortal dares to offend Tachibana n¡®s God? You¡¯re courting death!!¡±

    After that, she turned her wrist and pressed her hand down on the top of Zi Yuan¡¯s head.

    At this time, Zi Yuan was enveloped by the power of the powerful Goddess witch¡¯s spirit. She felt like her opponent¡¯s power was like a huge wave that could split the sky. With great power, she pounced on her as a ck mass!

 Chapter 502 The Real Strength of Zi Yuan!

    <h4>Chapter 502 The Real Strength of Zi Yuan!</h4>

    Zi Yuan felt that this force was so powerful that she could hardly move. Behind her, the three War Soul Undeads were blocking all the ways for her to retreat.

    When everyone saw that all the directions around Zi Yuan were sealed, and she was on the brink of death, they all cried out in horror and stood up.

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. He jumped to his feet, as if all his Zhenqi would surge out at any time.

    Just when Zi Yuan was in a desperate situation and couldn¡¯t move forward or retreat, the Ninth Heaven Zi Yuan Silk in her hand suddenly turned quickly under her feet like a sharp sword, forcibly cutting a hole in the floor. In the blink of an eye, she fell from the second floor to the first and narrowly escaped.

    No one had expected Zi Yuan to think of such a way to escape. They immediately let out an earth-shattering cheer. At this moment, everyone marveled at her wisdom and calmness.

    Even Cinian nodded slightly and said to Shinsyu, "This Ziyuan girl is quite smart."

    When Tachibana Wakako saw that Zi Yuan hade up with such a method to escape from the ground, she was stunned and hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should go after her.

    But at this moment, she suddenly felt movement under her feet, followed by the sound of the floor being cut.

    Zi Yuan¡¯s powerful magical weapon spurted out from her feet like a fountain, pouncing on her like countless sharp arrows!

    In a sh, Tachibana Wakako was furious. She suddenly floated into the air and waved down the banner in her hand. In an instant, the purple silk tip became as sharp as a drill and stopped in front of her. It kept trembling and struggling, but it couldn¡¯t move an inch further.

    Tachibana Wakako¡¯s eyebrows shot straight up, and her whole body was filled with awe-inspiring pressure. She said sternly, "You¡¯re courting death!"

    She waved the g in her hand toward the hole under her feet, and countless malicious ghosts emerged from the g and rushed to Zi Yuan downstairs.

    However, as soon as Wakako waved the banner, Zi Yuan suddenly came out of the hole through which she had fallen before. She widened her eyes and roared. The purple silk in her hand instantly condensed into a ball, and then quickly stretched out, as if it had be a sharp spear!

    At this time, Zi Yuan seemed to have transformed into a warrior who was charging onto the battlefield with a sharp spear in her hand. She rotated her feet, twisted her body, held the purple spear in both hands, and suddenly stabbed it over at Wakako!

    This move made everyone want to strike the table and shout bravo!

    From Zi Yuan¡¯s brainwave in an impossible situation, to the fact that she had pretended to attack the feet of Wakako, and then suddenly appeared in front of her, this movement was really beautiful!

    Furthermore, even a blind cultivator would have been able to tell that this Wakako was Gods¡¯ Spirit Possession now. Zi Yuan was fighting against a descending Gods¡¯ soul with her own cultivation power. If it had been anyone else, they would have been defeated long ago. They wouldn¡¯t have even been able to move in the face of this soul¡¯s oppressive might!

    However, not only was Zi Yuan able to ovee this kind of powerful pressure, she was even able to fight back so calmly and smartly. Her strength was weaker than Wakako¡¯s, but she had been able to fight against the strength with weakness. She was not at a disadvantage at all!

    What an outstanding talent for fighting!

    The crowd cheered loudly, and Zhang Ling¡¯s eyes lit up. She shook her head repeatedly and sighed, "Wang Yuanshan really has a good disciple! What a pity, what a pity!"

    Zou Ping knew that her master, Zhang Ling, had fallen in love with talent and regretted that she didn¡¯t have such a good disciple. She felt increasingly upset in her heart. When she looked at Zi Yuan, the hatred in her eyes became even more intense.

    Cinian¡¯s eyes widened as he looked at Zi Yuan, and he could not help but exim, "What a genius strike! Interesting! It¡¯s really amazing! Among the Chinese cultivators we met today, this Zi Yuan is the strongest. She deserves to be the number one cultivator in the Chinese cultivation world! What a pity! What a pity!"

    Cinian sighed over the fact that such a powerful opponent was still going to be defeated in front of him. This kind of sigh was filled with both contempt and sympathy toward the victor, as if Tachibana Wakako had already won the final fight.

    Shinsyu also looked at the scene in surprise. What he was surprised about was not the performance of Zi Yuan¡¯s fighting method, but the strength that Wakako was disying.

    Shinsyu whispered in surprise, "Master Cinian, when will Wakako be able to summon the Goddess to possess her?"

    Cinian smiled smugly. "Among the witches of the Tachibana family, I have always been optimistic that she will inherit the position of the Divine Goddess in the future. She has always had this potential, but she is very yful and doesn¡¯t want to do hard work. She doesn¡¯t have the awareness. But this time around, when she came to watch the Taoist assembly, I felt that it was a good opportunity, so I brought her here. Especially when she was about to go up to the stage just now, I had a thought that maybe I could force her potential out and let the True God show up! Now it seems that my decision was right. Haha, Shinsyu, it¡¯s all thanks to your injury that you managed to force out Wakako¡¯s potential!"

    Shinsyu looked at Cinian with admiration. He bowed and said, "After all, you¡¯re Master Cinian. You¡¯re worthy of being Rigoino¡¯s most intelligent divine monk! It¡¯s my honor to be able to contribute a little bit of strength to Miss Wakako!"

    At this time, all the people around the field were talking, while Zi Yuan on the scene was fiercely attacking Wakako like a tidal wave.

    Everyone saw Zi Yuan thrust the long purple spear in her hand, but the banner in Wakako¡¯s hand blocked her. It was as if an invisible wall had appeared in front of her. The long spear suddenly stabbed into the wall, causing a wave that was visible to the naked eye to spread out in all directions.

    Zi Yuan¡¯s determined move was in vain. The three Undead behind her also pounced on her, like maggots digging into the bones. Zi Yuan was not discouraged. The powerful magical weapon in her hand instantly moved with her mind, and in the blink of an eye, it turned into a shield and blocked the attacks of the undead from three directions.

    At the moment of blocking, Zi Yuan controlled the weapon in her hand, and with a violent shake, the ribbon pushed away the three Undead like a raging wave.

    As soon as Zi Yuan forced the three Undead away, Wakako mmed her palm toward Zi Yuan. She was so aggressive that it was hard for Zi Yuan to block the pressure!

    In the blink of an eye, the weapon in Zi Yuan¡¯s hand turned into a sharp purple sword and stabbed towards Wakako¡¯s palm.

    Although Zi Yuan¡¯s weapon was made of silk, the sharp tip of the sword was filled with killing intent that pierced straight through her bones! Although Wakako possessed Gods¡¯ Spirit, she didn¡¯t dare to use her body to block it.

    Wakako had no choice but to withdraw her palm and wave the g in her hand to block the attack.

    As soon as she retreated, Zi Yuan immediately won the space for herself. In an instant, she turned into flying dragons and phoenixes andunched fierce attacks toward Wakako from all directions, and the magic weapon in her hands changed many times. Everyone saw that the weapon in Zi Yuan¡¯s hands was constantly changing, from knives, spears, axes, and forks, dazzling them!

    For a moment, the cultivators kept cheering and pping like thunder.

    Su Chan widened her eyes and said in astonishment, "Sister Zi Yuan is so powerful! Is she so strong?"

    Zhou Qin was so shocked that she could not speak. Ever since her Zhuji phase, she had developed an extremely arrogant feeling. She firmly believed that she would surpass Zi Yuan and be the best female cultivator in the world!

    Especially in the previous battle, although Zhou Qin had been seriously injured, she had felt that this was a battle of self-satisfaction!

    But at this time, when Zhou Qin saw that Zi Yuan was using weakness to fight against Wakako, her calmness and wisdom, her strategy to adapt, and her control over the magic weapon, especially her use of the magic weapon in closebat, was all so wonderful that it made people want to thump the table and praise her!

    "Genius!" No matter how proud and conceited Zhou Qin was, in the face of such a person, she had to admit, "She is really a genius!"

    The little foxes also stared at the scene with their eyes wide open. Most of them had heard Zi Yuan¡¯s name, but normally she was a little cold. However, because of Li Yundong, they felt that Zi Yuan was being easy to get along with. She was an elegant and modest woman, not like a great cultivator at all, not like a master of fighting.

    But at this time, they understood that Zi Yuan was so powerful!

    The little foxes couldn¡¯t help thinking, "Did Leader lose to Zi Yuanst time... Did she give way to him? Otherwise, judging from her current performance, how could Leader have defeated her at that time?"

    Su Chan was surprised and delighted when she saw that Zi Yuan had the upper hand in the fight. She pulled Li Yundong¡¯s sleeve and said, "Yundong, is Zi Yuan going to win?"

    But Li Yundong frowned. He shook his head and said, "On the contrary, Zi Yuan has been defeated!"

    Su Chan and the others were shocked when they heard this. They quickly asked, "Why? Zi Yuan has already beaten up Wakako that she couldn¡¯t hit back!"

    Li Yunyang said in a deep voice, "That¡¯s because Zi Yuan knew that she was in a weaker position, so she took the initiative tounch an attack. This is thest resort!"

    Su Chan asked curiously, "Why? If I were weak, wouldn¡¯t I defend myself and fight back?"

    Li Yunyang shook his head and said, "No! It¡¯s said that fighting methods are like using weapons, or like running water, shapeless and changeable. The best method is to make the opponent unable to track you! In the period of the three kingdoms, Shu dynasty was the weakest, but the state policy Zhuge Liang created for Shu kingdom was that the weaker they were, the more they would take the initiative to attack. They would ignite wars in other kingdoms and make the other kingdoms have no energy to retaliate! Because once these kingdoms who were stronger than themselves recovered and took the initiative to attack them, they¡¯d have the momentum of Mount Tai. It must be difficult for them to resist! That¡¯s why Zhuge Liang left Qi Mountain six times, and then Jiang Wei attacked the Central ins nine times!"

    Zhou Qin listened carefully. She was like a beginner who was suddenly entering a strange world. She was greedily learning and absorbing all the knowledge rted to fighting methods. She asked, "Is that Zi Yuan trying her best to make Wakako notunch a full-force attack, so she attacked with all her might?"

    Li Yunyang nodded and said, "Yes! But after a long period of attack, Zi Yuan gradually lost her sharpness. Moreover, her attack seemed fierce, and she didn¡¯t hit Wakako once, not to mention the vital parts. If Wakako hit Zi Yuan, it would be over!"

    Zhou Qin sighed and said, "In the end, the difference in their strength is still a problem."

    Li Yundong¡¯s face was serious. "This Wakako is Gods¡¯ Spirit Possession at this time, and her strength is several times stronger than that of Zi Yuan. If it were anyone else, I¡¯m afraid that they would have surrendered long ago and lost without fighting. However, Zi Yuan is so weak that she can fight like this. It¡¯s really amazing!"

    While they were talking, the situation in the field became increasingly obvious. Zi Yuan¡¯s offensive had greatly weakened. The three War Soul Undead controlled by Wakako became more and more fierce. Every time they were repelled by Zi Yuan, the counterattack speed got faster and faster. Zi Yuan almost couldn¡¯tunch an attack on Wakako.

    At this time, even a blind man could have seen that Zi Yuan was bound to lose. They all felt heavy in their hearts. They looked at each other and thought to themselves, "How can this Wakako be so powerful? Zi Yuan is so powerful but she is still no match for her. Who can defeat her here? Is our Chinese cultivation world going to be humiliated like this?"

    Wakako, who had been suppressed by Zi Yuan before, saw that Zi Yuan¡¯s crazy attacks had basically stopped. This woman, who was as quiet and elegant as a fairy, was also a little breathless at this time. Her hair was messy, and it was obvious that she had lost her Zhenqi.

    Wakako smiled coldly. "It¡¯s time to end it!" With a flip of her left hand, she waved the banner she was holding, and a thick ck fog emerged from it. In the ck fog, ferocious undead appeared one after another, like a ck wall of monsters, blocking all the paths in front of Zi Yuan and pushing toward her. Behind Zi Yuan, three Undead Fighting Souls also rushed up from behind, and one jumped high to prevent Zi Yuan from escaping. The other one was short, waving the long saber to chop at Zi Yuan¡¯s legs and prevent her from escaping from the shell again.

    This time, Zi Yuan was really sealed. She shouted for help but it was totally in vain!

    The crowd let out a cry of surprise. Zhou Qin, Su Chan, and Ruan Hongling also stood up abruptly and eximed, "Oh no!"

    There was also a hint of despair in Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes. She couldn¡¯t help thinking in her heart, "Am i going to die in the hands of this Japanese?"

    Zi Yuan gritted her teeth and was ready to fight to the death when a figure suddenly appeared in front of her.

    This person gripped atha Print with both hands as he shouted out his mantra, "Chirp!"

    With a push of his palm, his hands, like a shining golden wall, pushed toward the ck Undead Wall.

    When the two walls collided, there was a loud rumble. The ck Qi fled in all directions, leaving only the shining golden wall standing still!

    Before Zi Yuan could even react, she heard the crowd shouting, "Watch out!"

    The man turned around and wrapped his arms around Zi Yuan¡¯s waist, pulling her behind him.

    Zi Yuan turned around at this time, only to find that the long knives in the hands of the three Undead controlled by Wakako had already shed front of the man¡¯s face, just an inch away from the tip of his nose!

    Zi Yuan was shocked. Just as she was about to help, the man suddenly shouted!

    This loud shout was like the roar of a Vajra. The roar of Arhat was so loud that the air seemed to be shattered into countless pieces and fall to the ground!

    In the blink of an eye, the three Undead were shattered by this loud shout. The ck Qi howled as it fled in all directions.

    Everyone covered their ears with their hands subconsciously at this loud shout. They only reacted after the Undead had fled in all directions. All of them stared nkly at the battlefield, their hearts filled with shock!

    The three Undead who had been unable to do anything for Zi Yuan earlier were actually shattered by this person¡¯s loud roar. What kind of frightening cultivation was this?

    At this time, Zi Yuan also stared nkly at the young man in front of her, who was holding her waist gently. She saw the young man smiling at her with concern on his face. Who else could it be but Li Yundong?

 Chapter 503 The Argument for the Source

    <h4>Chapter 503 The Argument for the Source</h4>

    Zi Yuan looked at Li Yundong in a daze. This boy stood in front of him like a towering mountain, able to shelter her from the wind and rain, and stand upright to the sky!

    Once upon a time, he had asked all sorts of cultivation questions, and once upon a time, he had been contemptuously full of immaturity and naivety.

    But now, he had grown up to be such a powerful cultivator. He had fought so hard for a long time, and the soul of the Resentment Spirit had been scattered by his aura with a roar!

    At this moment, Zi Yuan thought of his master. His master had been so powerful and reliable in the past, as if looking at his back, a kind of warmth would appear.

    With him around, the sky would not copse!

    Li Yundong looked at Zi Yuan with concern. He saw that this fairy-like woman was staring at him in a daze and thought that she must have suffered some injuries, so he asked with concern, "Zi Yuan, are you alright? Where are you injured?"

    It was as if she had just woken up from a dream. She looked around quickly, only to see that everyone was staring at the two of them in a daze. She blushed and said in a low voice, "Let go of your hands."

    Only then did Li Yundong realize that it was really inappropriate for him to hold her in front of people like that. He coughed drily and immediately let go of the hand around her waist, his expression a little unnatural.

    But at this time, everyone only noticed that Li Yundong had easily resolved the fierce attack of Tachibana Wakako, but they hadn¡¯t noticed Zi Yuan¡¯s expression.

    Tachibana Wakako looked at Li Yundong in surprise. She shouted, "It¡¯s you? Haven¡¯t you already withdrawn from the Taoist assembly? Howe you have the skill of the Mahamudra kung fu of our Zhenyan Tantrism?"

    Li Yundong nced at her lightly and asked, "Aren¡¯t you Japanese? It¡¯s an exception that Master Wan asked you to participate in the Taoist assembly. Why did you Japanese cultivatorse to the Taoist assembly of our Chinese cultivation world to make trouble?"

    At this time, Tachibana Wakako was Gods¡¯ Spirit Possession and her personality had changed drastically. The previous innocence had long disappeared. Instead, it was now reced by the arrogance and conceit of the Sorcerer Goddess of the Tachibana. She smiled coldly and said, "These cultivators treated you like this just now. How will you stand up for them now?"

    Li Yundong nced at the people on the court, but he could see that most of the cultivators were ashamed. He smiled slightly and said, "I¡¯m not making a stand for them, I¡¯m just making a stand for Zi Yuan and the Chinese Cultivation World. And, I seem to remember you once saying that we have no masters in the Chinese Cultivation World, right? There is such a saying, right?"

    Tachibana Wakakoughed heavily and said, "Isn¡¯t that so? Even the so-called number one in the cultivation world, Zi Yuan, is no match for me! Is there anyone who would dare toe up now?"

    As she spoke, she looked down at the crowd with a proud and arrogant expression, as if nobody on earth could beat her.

    Although the cultivators of each sect were angry, the strength that Tachibana Wakako had shown just now was at the level of a major cultivator, and they couldn¡¯t deal with her at all. Even Zhang Ling had a worried look. She thought to herself, "This kid is young, but her fighting ability is so strong. If we really fight, it¡¯s hard to say who will win or lose, and this ce will be razed to the ground! If I lose, the Zhengyi School will really lose face! It seems that Li Yundong is going to stand out, so I¡¯ll let him out. If he wins, it¡¯ll be good to show the power of our Chinese cultivation world. If he loses, it¡¯ll be none of our sect¡¯s business."

    The cultivators of each sect had their own minds. Especially when Zhang Cunyi, Zhang Tianhe, and the others were defeated, none of them epted the challenge.

    Seeing this, Li Yundong raised his brows and said, "If no one goes up, I¡¯lle! I will show you if there are any masters in our Chinese cultivation world!"

    Tachibana Wakako sneered and said, "Do you have the right to participate? Haven¡¯t you been deprived of permission? Humph, you Chinese only know about internal strife!"

    Li Yundong snorted and did not respond, then turned to Zi Yuan and nodded, indicating that he was going to go on stage and let Zi Yuan go down.

    Zi Yuan looked at Li Yundong with aplicated look in her eyes. She also knew that this was not the time to be indulged in love. She nodded and said with concern, "You have to be careful. She is really strong, and she didn¡¯t use all her strength just now!"

    Li Yundong nodded slightly and smiled at Zi Yuan, indicating for her to rest assured. After Zi Yuan had sat back, he cupped his hands to Wan Zhenyuan and said, "Master Wan, ording to the rules of the Taoist assembly, can I go on stage now?"

    Wan Zhenyuan had been watching silently. When he heard Li Yunyang asking him, he coughed and said, "Since the Japanese don¡¯t follow the rules, why should we have to?"

    When everyone heard this, they immediately shouted loudly, "Yes. It¡¯s not a big deal that you Japanese came uninvited, but you¡¯re actually fighting with each other. Do you really think that we have no ce in the cultivation world?"

    "Zhenren Li, teach these Japanese a lesson!"

    "Zhenren Li, it¡¯s your time!"

    When Tachibana Wakako heard this, her face was filled with mockery. She swept her cold gaze over everyone and scoffed. "You Chinese cultivators treated him like an enemy just now. Now, it¡¯s as if you¡¯ve seen a savior. I feel ashamed on behalf of you!"

    When everyone heard this, they also felt ashamed in their hearts. They had scolded Li Yundong so badly that they felt embarrassed.

    Seeing this, Li Yundong said in a loud voice, "It¡¯s our Chinese cultivation world¡¯s own business how I¡¯m treated. It¡¯s not up to you to tell us what to do next, and it¡¯s not up to you to judge!"

    After hearing this, Tachibana Wakako was stunned. She said angrily, "Then let me ask you, why did you learn the Mahamudra kung fu of our Zhenyan Tantrism? Did you steal it from your master?"

    Hearing this, Li Yundongughed as if he had heard the most incredible joke in the world.

    Tachibana Wakako spat angrily, "Asshole, what are youughing at?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "A disciple said that her master¡¯s kung fu was secretly learned from her. Isn¡¯t that joke ridiculous? It¡¯s so funny!"

    The look on Tachibana Wakako¡¯s face was as cold as ice, and her eyes were full of murderous aura. "Our Zhenyan Tantrism was founded by Kobo Daishi for seven years, which is A.D. 816. At that time, we had the kung fu of Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡. How dare you say that we secretly learned it from you?"

    Li Yunyangughed and said, "Do you know the origin of the Master of Buddhism? Who did he learn from? Where did he learn Zhenyan Tantrism?"

    Upon hearing this, Cinian, who was standing to one side, thought, "Oh no, that¡¯s not good. At this moment, Tachibana Wakako has been possessed by the Tachibana Gods¡¯ soul. She¡¯s not good at arguing. Why did she start this topic? Isn¡¯t she asking for trouble?"

    Cinian was about to change the topic when seeing Li Yundong say loudly in the field, "You¡¯re the descendant of Zhenyan Tantrism and the Magus Maiden of Mount K¨­ya, but you don¡¯t know the origin of your pioneer, nor the origin of your kung fu? It¡¯s so ridiculous!"

    Li Yundong spoke with confidence andposure, "Let me tell you! Kobo Daishi, the founder of the Zhenyan Tantrism of Mount K¨­ya, was born in Hong Tian Vige, Ping Feng Pu of Tado-gun in Japan. It¡¯s also the current Zentsuji, Kagawa Prefecture, Shikoku Ind. His father is Mr.Tian, and his mother is Ah Dao. Am I right?"

    Tachibana Wakako said angrily, "Don¡¯t I know that? Do I need you to teach me?"

    Li Yundong nced at her and said with a smile, "Kobo Daishi has been smart since he was a child. When he was five or six years old, he had a reputation for being a child prodigy. When he was 15 years old, he went to the capital city, Shang Gang Jing, and followed his uncle-inw, Ah Dao, to learn from Chinese texts such as The Analects of Confucius, The Book of Filial Piety, and Historical Biography. At the age of 18, he entered Jing Cheng University¡¯s Ming Jing Department and studied The Book of Songs. He also devoted himself to creating Buddhist Confucianism, which was also a book named ¡¯Guide to the Three Religions, which is rted to Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism."

    Tachibana Wakako was impatient when she heard that. She shouted, "You¡¯re babbling. What do you want to say?"

    Li Yunyangughed and said, "Don¡¯t worry, I haven¡¯t gotten to the point yet! When Kobo Daishi was 20 years old, he shaved and became a monk in the Tail Temple. At that time, his Buddhist name was Jiao Hui. Two yearster, he changed his Buddhist name to Kong Hai. When he was 30 years old, Kobo Daishi found Mahavairocana Tantra under Kumi Temple for a long time. He studied it hard and couldn¡¯t understand it, so he decided to go to the Tang Dynasty to learn real martial arts!"

    "So, Kobo Daishi came to China in the 23rd year of Yanli in Japan, and in the first year of the Tang Dynasty Yongzheng, he paid homage to Huiguo Ali, the seventh patriarch of Tang Mi, as his teacher. In early June of that year, Kobo Daishi gave birth to the Tibetan Maha Mand. In early July, Maha Mand of the Vajra Realm received five initiations. In early August, he received the initiation of the Dharma position. In March of the second year, Great Master Huiguo gave two secret mysteries and altars to Kobo Daishi, and then the painted tenrge Maha Mands, Vajrasekhara Sutra and 15 secret scriptures along with new props to Kobo Daishi. Kobo Daishi obtained the true biography of our Chinese Buddhist school Tang Mi, so he is also known as the eighth-generation patriarch of our Chinese Tang Mi!"

    Li Yundong spoke eloquently in the field, clearly describing the life of Kobo Daishi. Although many cultivators of the Taoist Sect were very well-regarded in the history of the cultivation world, most of them were from the Taoist sect, especially in the history of the cultivation world in Japan. Some of them knew a little about it. When they heard this, they suddenly understood. "Oh, it turns out that the pioneers of this Hinomoto Oniko were our primary school students!"

    Some peopleughed loudly and said, "Little Hinomoto Oniko, you learned your kung fu from us. What are you going to show off for?"

    Hearing this, Tachibana Wakako was a little stunned, as if there was ayer of frost on her face. Cinian felt bad in her heart. He chanted the name of a Buddhist monk and said loudly, "Zhenren Li, what you said before is right, but after Great Master Huiguo Ali passed on the truth to the Kobo Daishi, Tang Wuzong began to lift the ban on Buddhism. The Taoist sect was prosperous, but Buddhism suffered a long-standing disaster. From then on, Zhenyan Tantrism declined in the Tang Dynasty and disappeared from China. Instead, it prospered in Mount K¨­ya in Japan! The Chinese Cultivation World has always known about the internal strife, but not cherished it. We have kept the inheritance for you until now. Don¡¯t you know that you should be grateful to us?

    Li Yundong smiled coldly, then said loudly: "Oda Nobunaga in the Warring States Period in Japan burned Mount Hiei. He ordered his army to kill at first sight, and he could report to him without discussing monks, women, children, and some first-level leaders. Slightly beautiful women and children were left to reward the army, and all the rest were killed. In this catastrophe, as many as four to five thousand people were killed, and the whole mountain was littered with corpses. Oda Nobunaga also set fire to Enryaku-ji Temple¡¯s Konpuchodo and Sanno¡¯s twenty-one shrines. The Buddha statues and scriptures that had been collected for more than a hundred years were burntpletely. Your Japanese Buddhist sacred site, Mount Hiei, has been burned to ruins! Such a great difficulty in our Chinese Cultivation World is unheard of. Aren¡¯t you embarrassed to use us?"

    Cinian was furious, but he knew that Li Yundong¡¯s words were not wrong. He wanted to refute but could not. He could only say, "The Nine-Character truth is an art created by our Zhenyan Tantrism. Zhenren Li, how do you exin it?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Are you sure that it was you who created the Nine-Character truth?"

    As soon as he turned around, he shouted to everyone present, "I believe everyone knows that the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ is not limited to Tang Mi, and there are also some hidden secrets. The Japanese Zhenyan Tantrism are East Mi, and they also have it! The Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ are divided into six-sybled Mantra and Nine-Character truths. The six-sybled Mantra is self-evident, most of which are hidden secrets and used by Tang Mi. The Nine-Character truth is respectively arranged in front of the enemy, mainly for the use of the East Mi! The six-sybled Mantraes from the Great Ci Ai, Kwan-Yin Bodhisattva Bodhisattva Mantra, so it is also known as The six-sybled Mantra! And do you know where the Nine-Character truthes from?"

    When everyone heard Li Yundong quoting scriptures to the court, they felt that his words were eloquent, and his arguments were irrefutable. Although they had been nasty with Li Yundong just before, at this time, they were all facing the same enemy, and they responded, "Zhenren Li, just speak up, don¡¯t keep us in suspense!"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and said to Cinian loudly, "The proudest Nine-Character truth in Zhenyan Tantrism, but it originated from us Taoists!"

    His words caused an uproar among many cultivators. Some were struck dumb as they said, "Really? The Nine-Character truth of Zhenyan Tantrism originated from us Taoists?"

    "Ha, how funny! The son beat his father up!"

    "It¡¯s not the funniest thing. The funniest thing is that father was beaten by his son, and the father didn¡¯t realize that he was the one who taught his son how to hit!"

    "Oh, it¡¯s unjust, it¡¯s really unjust, this fight is too unfair!"

    "Damn it, these Japanese are really a bunch of wimpy chumps. They even beat their father!"

    All of a sudden, the crowd fell aboutughing.

    After hearing Li Yundong¡¯s words, Tachibana Wakako, Shinsyu, and Cinian were all furious. The trump card created by their Zhenyan Tantrism Kobo Daishi was actually said to have originated from Taoists by Li Yundong. How could that be?

 Chapter 504 The Goddesss Rage and a Hundred Ghostss ferocity!

    <h4>Chapter 504 The Goddess¡°s Rage and a Hundred Ghosts¡°s ferocity!</h4>

    Cinian¡¯s face was filled with anger as she shouted at Li Yundong, "Asshole, how dare you say that the Nine-Character truth created by our grandmaster Kobo Daishi is from you Daoists! It¡¯s ridiculous and shameless to im such a thing!"

    Tachibana Wakako also angrily rebuked, "How dare you! You are insulting our Mount K¨­ya. You must pay the price!"

    Li Yundong was contemptuous of their usation and anger. He cupped his hand in the other before his chest and said, "Everyone, have you read a book about Immortal Ge Hong¡¯s Baopuzi?

    The cultivators of each sectughed loudly. Some of them were angry despite their mockingughter. "Zhenren Li, you look down on me too much! Baopuzi is an introductory book for cultivation. It¡¯s only beneath the Canon of the Yellow Thearch. Since we are cultivators, how could we not have read it?"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and said, "Since everyone has read it, I believe that you should know that there was a statement in the article Baopuzi: There are Liujia Mizhu, everyone knows that. When you are going to fight, lining up and moving on, you should use Mizhu to supply. Have you guys heard about that?

    Immediately, one cultivator said in wonder, "There¡¯s indeed such a saying, but Zhenren Li, what does this have to do with the cause of Jiuzi Zhenyuan?"

    Li Yundong said with a smile, "The Japanese Kobo Daishi came back from China with a lot of ssic books. When he was studying in China, he was also deeply influenced by the Taoists, so he copied the internal part of Baopuzi from Immortal Ge Hong, but who knows that he was dazzled, copied the sentence "All linbing fighters are arranged moving on" into "Linbing fighters are arranged in front"! so identally, there was a lucky hit on Nine-Character truth on Dongmi. There¡¯s No Story without Coincidence."

    Li Yundong¡¯s words made everyoneugh out loud, and some cultivators evenughed stumbling.

    They all knew Ge Hong¡¯s words, but none of them had expected that Li Yunyang would say the origin of the Nine-Character truth of Dongmi.

    Zhang Ling looked at Li Yundong with anger and amusement. She shook her head and said, "You are really young and fearless. You dare to say anything. It¡¯s ridiculous!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s words made everyone burst outughing, but Cinian, Tachibana Wakako, and the others were so angry that they trembled all over.

    Ci Nian saw that Li Yundong¡¯s words were really unrestrained and infinite. He even said that their Kobo Daishi, the founder of the Zhenyan Tantrism, was blind and his hands were crooked. The most terrible thing was that he had even introduced the ssics and some people believed him!

    Cinian said angrily, "You Chinese cultivators should be careful of what you say. There are some things that cannot be spoken casually! You said that our Kobo Daishi copying the Nine-Character truth was wrong. Do you have any proof of this?"

    Li Yundong replied with a smile, "No! But do you have any evidence that the Kobo Daishi didn¡¯t make a mistake?"

    When Li Yundong said that the Nine-Character truth hade from the book Baopuzi, there were some experienced and prudent cultivators that shook their heads in silence. But at Li Yundong¡¯s words, even some serious people could not help but shake their heads andugh, and some other young practitioners were also chuckling.

    Ruan Hongling, who was sitting not far away,ughed until her stomach started hurting. She took Zi Yuan¡¯s arm and whispered, "Shijie Zi Yuan, Li Yundong is making trouble again! I thought that his cultivation would make him look more like a great cultivator. I hadn¡¯t expected him to change his nature so easily! Thest time he asked the cultivators present to hand over the evidence of Ao Wushuang and the Renyuan Jindan, he almostughed at me. I didn¡¯t expect that he would do such a shameless thing this time."

    Zi Yuan also broke into a smile and said, "This is the nature of a major cultivator. Freedom is the real way. It¡¯s an immortal¡¯s way to do whatever they want!"

    Ruan Hongling whispered with a smile, "Is this rascal also following the real immortal way? Shijie Zi Yuan, I think you hold him in your heart. Of course, what he said is the real way. Everything he does is the immortal way, hehe!"

    Zi Yuan immediately red at Ruan Hongling with shame and annoyance, and scolded in a low voice, "Shut up! Is this the ce to say such a thing?"

    Ruan Hongling pulled a face at her and said, "Well, we¡¯ll talk about it when we get back then!"

    Zi Yuan was so abashed that her neck turned red. She turned her head away and stopped looking at Ruan Hongling, but when she looked at Li Yundong, her eyes could not return to being calm.

    After hearing Li Yundong¡¯s words, Cinian could not help but be so angry that he almost snorted fire. Even though he had high cultivation and a great cultivation Quotient, he was almost enraged by Li Yundong. He immediately became furious and said with a wave of his sleeve, "You¡¯re an ignorant kid who only knows how to take advantage of words. Damn it!"

    The two willow-shaped eyebrows of Tachibana Wakako rose on her forehead, and she shouted at Li Yundong with a murderous look in her eyes, "How dare you speak carelessly?"

    Li Yundong also sneered, showing no weakness. "Then how dare you say that there are no masters in China?"

    Tachibana Wakakoughed angrily. "Hah, the cultivators who im themselves to be experts on the Chinese continent can¡¯t withstand even a single blow. Even Zi Yuan, who is known as the number one, is no match for me. How dare she call herself an expert?"

    Li Yundong snorted and said, "Our China has a history of thousands of years, there are many undiscovered talents and countless masters cultivating in seclusion. How dare you be so arrogant after just defeating several young descendants? You are so arrogant, you are like a frog at the bottom of a well! If our Chinese cultivation sect really sent out masters, they could crush you with one finger!"

    When the cultivators of each sect saw that Li Yundong wasn¡¯t caring about the past and trying to smooth things over for them, they felt both grateful. They couldn¡¯t help but cheer loudly, "Zhenren Li, well done!"

    Tachibana Wakako sneered, "So if I defeat you, it¡¯ll prove that there are no masters in China?"

    Li Yundong sneered back and said with a mocking smile, "Even if you defeat me, it won¡¯t prove anything. There are a lot of talents and heroes in China. I believe that many reclusive masters are much stronger than me, so how could you im to be top? Besides, with your kung fu, you can¡¯t defeat me, let alone those Great Cultivators who stand aloof from the world!"

    Tachibana Wakako was furious. She snorted and said angrily, "Fine then, I¡¯d like to see how you¡¯re better than me!"

    After that, she opened the gold and silver fan in her hand and threw it in front of her. The countless ghosts and spirits painted on the fan began to move with the ck mist flowing on the fan, as if the fan was a door connecting to theherworld. The ck mist seemed to guide the demons and ghosts, and they all walked down the ck mist one by one from the fan.

    All of a sudden, hundreds of ghosts surged out and evil spirits were everywhere. Ghosts were screaming everywhere, and ghouls were moaning, making bloodcurdling noises.

    When the cultivators saw that Li Yundong had gained the upper hand, they felt extremely relieved, but at the same time, they were a little worried about Li Yundong¡¯s fighting ability. It was indeed strong and abnormal, but this Tachibana Wakako had the power of Gods¡¯ soul! No matter how powerful Li Yundong was, how could he possibly be a match for her?

    Zhang Ling, Du Fei, and the other elderly cultivators saw that Tachibana Wakako was constantly releasing demons and ghosts to the field. They all shouted at Li Yundong, "Zhenren Li, attack the inside. Don¡¯t let her release all these ghosts!"

    Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help but shout, "Li Yundong, be careful!"

    However, Li Yundong acted as if he had heard nothing. His eyes were slightly squinting as he looked at Tachibana Wakako, as if he wanted to wait for her to use all her strength up so that she could be thoroughly dealt with.

    Seeing Li Yundong being so arrogant, Tachibana Wakako only became angrier and angrier. The sound of incantations being recited shook everything around her.

    Under the chanting of Tachibana Wakako¡¯s incantation, not only did the Fighting Soul Undeads that she had summoned be more and more ferocious and terrible, but also the demons and ghosts who hade down from the fan became red-eyed and stared at Li Yundong in unison, as if they were a group of demons who could devour people at any time!

    When the crowd saw so many demons and ghosts standing on this battlefield, they forgot fighting and rushed back, crushing others around themselves to death!

    The timid ones must have been scared out of their wits long ago. How could they have the strength to resist?

    Tachibana Wakako shouted and waved the g in her hand, pointing at Li Yundong and yelling, "Die!"

    In an instant, all kinds of demons and ghosts of different colors roared and rushed to Li Yundong. Although the people at the edge of the field knew that these ghosts were not aiming for them, they could not help but be so frightened that their faces turned blue and they took a few steps back.

    Some powerful cultivators couldn¡¯t help but think, "What if so many demons wereing at me? How could I resist them?"

    Li Yundong sneered. He quickly pinched his index fingers together, and then his five fingers turned into several shadows. He quickly pushed forward with his palm, making three Mahamudra in session!

    These three Mahamudra were the Divyadundubhi Meghanirghosa¡¯s hand signs, the Samayah Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ in Diamond Element and the Fixed Fundamental Palm!

    Li Yundong only pped the three Mahamudra in front of him. His hands were shining with golden radiance. As he pped forward, a handprint stopped in the air, as if it was frozen and hanging. It was shining with a dazzling golden radiance, like a golden wall of light!

    As soon as the many ghosts and monsters that Tachibana Wakako had summoned came into contact with the powerful Buddha¡¯s Emblematic Mahamudra, they immediately wailed over and turned into a wisp of smoke, as if the snow had met with the scorching sun, melting as soon as it touched it!

    Tachibana Wakako was shocked. She eximed, "Impossible! How could you break my Night Parade of One Hundred Demons!"

    Li Yundongughed loudly and said, "I am the body of the seven treasures of the Buddhist doctrine, and I have the power of the Taoists. The righteousness of heaven and earth is gathered in my heart, and the power of Buddhism is hidden in the Lingtai. How could I be afraid of you, a little demon or ghost? Not to mention a hundred ghosts, even if thousands of ghosts were toe together, I would stand still and steady!"

    A terrifying light burst out of Tachibana Wakako¡¯s eyes and she snapped, "How dare you! How dare you be so arrogant!" After that, her long ck hair suddenly flew backward, and she waved the g in her hand again.

    This time, there were many Vajra arhats who appeared in front of her one by one, shining with golden radiance. These Vajra arhats all had different postures. Some of them were holding Vajra in their hands, while others were holding Demon-subduing Rods. All of them were powerful and looking at Li Yundong with murderous intent.

    Su Chan, who was surveying the scene with concern, couldn¡¯t help but ask in surprise, "What is this? How could she have summoned the Arhat and the Vajra?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s brows were tightly furrowed. She sucked in a breath of cold air and said, "Her branch¡¯s power is divided into three types. One is for summoning the Fighting Soul Undead and the Hundred Ghosts Ghost Soul to fight for themselves; the other is rtively superior. It is for summoning the Guardian Arhat of Rigoino to fight for him. The most superior is for directly summoning the Vajra Arhat to bow down and personally participate in the battle!"

    Su Chan asked worriedly, "Will Yundong win?"

    Zi Yuan had always been very confident in Li Yundong, but she couldn¡¯t help but waver at this time. She said nervously, "I don¡¯t know. If it was the past, he wouldn¡¯t have even a chance to win, but since he came out of the Spirit Space, I don¡¯t know how strong he¡¯s gotten. So, I don¡¯t know either!"

    Su Chan, Zhou Qin, Zi Yuan, and the others clenched their fists as they watched the scene. They were extremely worried. The cultivators from all sects present also looked horrified.

    They could only see these Arhats and Vajra chanting scriptures. It was as if this small building had suddenly be a ce of Buddhism filled with Buddha¡¯s name. The weapons in their hands were shining, and their entire bodies were exuding a pure and majestic power of Buddhism. This was the power that Rigoino had gathered from the powerful minds and spiritual energy of the past generation of eminent monks which he had worshipped for twelve hundred years!

    Wei Qing, from the Quanzhen Dragon Sect, was staring at the scene with his eyes wide open. She said hungrily, "It¡¯s already exaggerated that Li Yundong could resist hundreds of ghosts, but how can he resist so many Vajra Arhat right in front of him?"

    Yue Sheng also took a deep breath and said, "As long as one¡¯s heart is firm and his mouth contains a gulp of Primordial Zhen Qi, it¡¯s understandable that he wouldn¡¯t be harmed by Yin Qi. But the one in front of him cast a protective spell on Vajra of Buddhism, a Shentong Arhat! How can we fight against such pure Buddhist power?"

    Du Fei looked at the scene with a shocked expression and murmured, "This seems to be the Buddhist Vajra Subduing Evil Array... Why is this Japanese girl using such magic? Is today¡¯s Chinese cultivation world going to be truly humiliated by this?"

 Chapter 505 Crying from the Punch!

    <h4>Chapter 505 Crying from the Punch!</h4>

    Seeing the majestic golden Vajra Subduing Evil Array, Li Yundong was unimpressed. He put his palms together with a smile, and then his fingers flew together like a blooming lotus. A small vermilion ball of light rolled in his palm.

    It seemed that Li Yundong couldn¡¯t feel the amazing pressure of the array. He smiled and said, "Give up. Your array may subdue others, but it won¡¯t work on me."

    Tachibana Wakako sneered and did not believe it. With a wave of the g in her hand, a Vajra immediately pounced on Li Yundong aggressively.

    The Vajra was covered in golden armor and holding two pestles. He was about two meters tall. With a movement, he became like a copsing mountain, crashing down with a rumble!

    The Vajra red at Li Yundong with a ferocious expression. He waved the King Kong Pestle, mmed it at Li Yundong. His strength and momentum scared the cultivators present from a distance. They didn¡¯t dare to fight with him.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t dodge. He stood with one hand pushed forward, as if he wanted to block the attack of the pestle with his bare hand.

    The cultivators present turned pale in horror when they saw this. All of them shouted loudly, "Zhenren Li, be careful!"

    When Cinian and Shinsyu saw this, they were both overjoyed. As for Tachibana Wakako, she evenughed out loud. "The King Kong Pestle of the Treasure Sect is invincible. It specializes in destroying all the defenses in the world. Are you courting death?"

    But as soon as she finished speaking, she saw that the pestle was less than an inch away from Li Yunyang¡¯s palm, where it had stopped abruptly.

    No matter how much the Vajra roared, the pestle seemed to bump into an invisible wall and could not get further at all!

    Cinian and Shinsyu were shocked at the same time. Shinsyu was startled, saying, "That¡¯s impossible! What cultivation method is this person using? How could he possibly be able to withstand the King Kong Pestle of the Tribe of Wisdom?"

    Cinian¡¯s face was also filled with shock. "No way? Who exactly is he? How could he possibly be able to withstand the powerful attack of our Guardian Sentinal?"

    When Tachibana Wakako saw that Li Yundong had blocked the attack so easily, she was stunned for a moment, but soon turned angry from embarrassment. Shemanded the surrounding Vajra Arhat to pounce on Li Yundong like a tide.

    Some of them were shing fiercely with knives, some were doing Mahamudra, some were pping at Li Yundong one by one, while others were chanting spells, releasing five-element magic to attack Li Yundong one after another.

    This storm-like attack almost engulfed Li Yunyang entirely. It seemed that there was a terrible tsunami out of thin airing from upstairs, one wave after another, as if it would never stop until the enemy was destroyed!

    Li Yundong was in the midst of this storm. His expression didn¡¯t change, and there was a faint smile around the corners of his mouth. He kept one hand in front of his chest, his palm facing upward, his palm dragging along the rolling red bead, and his other hand standing in a palm. He kept moving like a wall to block attacks from all directions.

    Everyone could see that Li Yunyang¡¯s reactions were extremely fast. He kept going with one hand, but he was able to block the tide-like attacks, as if he had countless arms all over his body!

    Wherever Li Yunyang¡¯s raised palm moved, the Vajra Arhat would not be able to attack. It was as if his palm was a chasm that they could not cross!

    Although so many Vajra Arhat were attacking Li Yundong, he didn¡¯t move at all. He stood steadily, like a mountain, as if he didn¡¯t need to use his full strength at all!

    Tachibana Wakako was shocked and angry. With a shout, she mmed the banner in her hand to the ground. In an instant, all the long banners on the banner stood up, and the surrounding Vajra Arhat¡¯s whole body twisted in an instant, changing from big to small. They turned into small balls of light and flew in front of her at a high speed.

    Soon, these balls of light gathered together and suddenly turned into a big Buddha standing at about two and a half meters tall!

    The crowd saw that this big Buddha was wearing a white cassock, had a golden crown on his head, had four arms, was riding a golden peacock, and had a fanning peacock tail behind him. This Buddha was colorful, like a beautiful Buddhist stupa.

    Some people who knew him cried out in horror, "This is Mahamayuri!"

    Zi Yuan also widened her eyes and said with a shocked expression, "This is Mahamayuri of the Kongobu-ji Temple of Mount K¨­ya! Oh my god, she can summon such a powerful god?! Isn¡¯t this too much?"

    The crowd saw that the Mahamayuri had a benevolent and peaceful expression on his face. He had formed the Emblematic Gesture of Bhaisajyaguru Buddha with both hands, and his appearance was solemn. There was not a trace of evil energy in his body, which made people feel a sense of awe at first sight. How could they dare to show any hostility?

    At this time, all the cultivators present were extremely frightened and thought, "Is this really the end of the Chinese cultivation world? This little Japanese girl can even summon him?! She is just a small witch, but what about the goddesses above her? What will they summon?"

    By this time, Shinsyu, who was standing at the edge of the field, had already knelt down with a thud. Her face was full of excitement, and her eyes were fanatically looking at Mahamayuri. Beside him, Cinian was so excited that his whole body was trembling. He put his palms together devoutly, recited the Buddha¡¯s name in a low voice, and said, "Amitabha, I didn¡¯t expect that Tachibana Wakako would perceive such profound theory at this time and stimte all her bloodline potential! It¡¯s true that God has blessed our Esoteric Sect!"

    At this time, she was like a god looking down at the small world. She shouted in a cold voice, "In front of your True God, kneel down!"

    Her voice buzzed as if countless eminent monks were reciting Buddhist scriptures at the same time, shaking the air around them until ripples became visible to the naked eye!

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t move at all. He smiled and asked, "What is a true God? What is a false God?"

    She was furious. She sneered and said, "So, you¡¯re not going to repent!" She pointed at Mahamayuri, who had suddenly appeared in front of Li Yundong. With a flip of her hands, she patted the top of Li Yundong¡¯s head!

    As soon as Mahamayuri¡¯s palm turned, it was as if the Buddha had turned his own palm, and the sky seemed to copse. Some people even subconsciously shrank back, fearing that this palm would hit their heads!

    Li watched the Skythrowing Palming toward him, but he still didn¡¯t dodge. With a smile, he lifted his palm up!

    "Boom!!"

    Everyone felt that the sky was waving and the earth was shaking. The Mahamayuri¡¯s palm stopped an inch away from Li Yundong¡¯s palm, as if it was being blocked by the invisible wall of Qi in front of Li Yundong, and couldn¡¯t continue for a second!

    Li Yundong smiled and looked at Mahamayuri in front of him. His smile was as calm as ake on a windless day, as if he had blocked a petnt child instead of a horrible god!

    This time, everyone widened their eyes and looked at Li Yundong in disbelief.

    They could understand how Li Yundong had protected the Lingtai with his powerful True Energy and prevented the Hundred Ghost Yin Qi from approaching him. They could also understand how Li Yundong had managed to block all of Vajra Arhat¡¯s attacks with his astonishing Dou Qi. However, they could not understand how Li Yundong was able to block such a powerful Mahamayuri so easily!

    Mahamayuri was one of the famous Kings of Power, and he represented the power of Buddha. How could Li Yundong block it?

    "This... this is too horrible, isn¡¯t it?"

    Tachibana Wakako was also shocked by Li Yundong¡¯s excellent performance. She said in horror, "That¡¯s impossible! Who the hell are you?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "I¡¯m Li Yundong, a nobody in the Chinese cultivation world!"

    She yelled angrily, "Bastard!" She then gritted her teeth and let out a fierce roar. Mahamayuri, in front of Li Yundong, instantly turned into a colorful flowing light and rushed into her body.

    In the blink of an eye, her figure suddenly rose into the air. Her clothes fluttered in the wind, and her eyes glowed with dazzling white light. The air around her was constantly twisting and rubbing against itself, making crackling sounds of electric currents and explosions.

    Everyone was instantly shocked. They knew that she was about to risk her life!

    Zi Yuan clenched her fists, gritted her teeth, and said, "This is the highest-level Spirit Summoning Skill of the Witch!"

    Su Chan and Zhou Qin opened their eyes wide subconsciously. They clenched their fists tightly and pressed their fingernails deeply into their own flesh, feeling no pain at all.

    At first, when Cinian and Shinayu saw Li Yundong block the shocking attack from Mahamayuri, they had shouted in horror, "Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!"

    But now, seeing that Tachibana Wakako had actually summoned the power of Mahamayuri and achieved the highest realm of Summoning the Gods, all of them were overjoyed and burst intoughter.

    Cinianughed wildly, "This is God¡¯s will! It¡¯s God¡¯s will!"

    At this time, Tachibana Wakako was being possessed by Mahamayuri. When she opened her mouth, her voice was a mix of both a man¡¯s and a woman¡¯s. It was like the voice of Buddhaing from the distant sky. With a rumbling sound, she said, "In front of the True God, why don¡¯t you kneel down?" After that, she moved her body and waved her hands, and in the blink of an eye, her two arms became four, then the four became eight, and soon she had countless arms. She held a long sword, a precious wheel, a pestle, a steel whip, a trident, and other weapons, and began rushing toward Li Yundong aggressively.

    Li Yundong anticipated the repeated attacks of hers. He showed mercy to her, but she not only didn¡¯t know how to retreat, but she also became more aggressive. She attacked again and again. He eventually became furious and shouted, "You don¡¯t know what¡¯s good for you!"

    His True Energy burst out from all over his body. A crack instantly appeared on his forehead, and a golden vertical pupil revealed itself. In an instant, his Yang Spirit came out of the vertical pupil, turned into the Immovable Wisdom King with three heads and six arms, and widened its eyes in anger!

    The Immovable Wisdom King sat on the Lotus Throne, burning with zing mes. His entire body was wrapped in a ball of green mes, making him look furious and terrifying!

    When she saw this Immovable Wisdom King, she was shocked and made no movement. She gaped at him, the Head and the King of all Wisdom Kings, and couldn¡¯t say a word.

    Li Yundong was angry about her not knowing what was good for her. With a flip of his hand, he mmed his palm toward her forehead!

    Although Mahamayuri was also an extraordinary Wisdom King, the Immovable Wisdom King was the incarnation of the Gautama Buddha and was in charge of everything in the world. He suddenly collided with the Immovable Wisdom King, as if he had seen his natural enemy. In the blink of an eye, his divine power dissipated and turned into countless colorful flowing lights that gushed out of Tachibana Wakako¡¯s body and returned to the g standing on the ground.

    Even Mahamayuri wanted to retreat, not to mention the Witch Goddess¡¯s spirit in her body.

    In the blink of an eye, the spirit of the former ancestor of the witches fled to the depths of her Divine Sense. Tachibana Wakako did not dare to raise her head again, and she instantly turned back into the innocent little girl from before. She looked at the angry Immovable Wisdom King with fear and horror and immediately lost all will to resist. Subconsciously, she curled her lips and burst into tears out of fear.

 Chapter 506 The Big Crisis Is Not Outside

    <h4>Chapter 506 The Big Crisis Is Not Outside</h4>

    Li Yundong had originally wanted to take Tachibana Wakako¡¯s life, but when he patted her on the head, she was so scared that she burst into tears.

    Li Yundong¡¯s anger dissipated a lot in response to this. His palm stopped in front of her forehead, and his face was as cold as an icyke. He looked at her sternly and asked, "Are you convinced?"

    Tachibana Wakako¡¯s face was full of horror, and her tears kept running down. She nodded like a chicken pecking at rice and squealed, "I surrender, don¡¯t hit me!"

    He didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. Tachibana Wakako¡¯s yelping made it seem like he was bullying a child, but his expression was still dignified. He stared at her coldly and asked, "Is there any master in China?"

    She raised her head and looked at the horrible but majestic vertical pupil on Li Yundong¡¯s forehead. Her teeth were chattering as if she were a little sheep that had seen a lion or tiger. She stammered and cried, "Yes, you are the master!"

    Only then did he nod. He withdrew his palm, and the Yang Spirit, which had turned into the Immovable Wisdom King, quickly followed his ring vertical pupil and returned.

    As soon as the spirit entered his body, the vertical pupil on his forehead closed and gradually disappeared. Tachibana Wakako saw that his forehead was smooth, as if the horrible King¡¯s Eye had never been there at all.

    But she didn¡¯t dare to look down on Li Yundong anymore, and she didn¡¯t dare to show any disrespect to him. She looked at him as if she was seeing her natural enemy, and her eyes were full of awe and fear.

    In Buddhism, Gautama Buddha was the most powerful. Although Gautama Buddha had infinite Buddhist power, he was merciful and would even feed an eagle with his own body. Therefore, Gautama Buddha did not personally fight. Even if he met Monkey Sun, he could only turn over his palm to teach him a lesson. However, if Buddha met with the attack of a demon or the terrible difficulties of Buddhism, his anger would be a Wisdom King, which would subdue demons for him and save Buddhism from jeopardy.

    In the cultivation world of Buddhism, whether it was the ancient Buddhism of the Celestial Empire, Chinese Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, or Japanese Buddhism, the Buddhas of different sects were recognized as the most powerful of their respective faction. The one who had the strongest fighting skills was the Immovable Wisdom King, and anyone who saw him had to show some respect!

    The Japanese had always worshipped the strongest, so most of the Rigoino enshrined in the Vajra Peak Temple were Immovable Wisdom Kings. In Rigoino Temple, all of the statuesbined were still not as numerous as the statues of Immovable Wisdom Kings. Even the statues of Buddha, the highest-ranking Buddhist, were not as popr as those of the Immovable Wisdom Kings. It could be said that Mount K¨­y was a divine mountain of Immovable Wisdom Kings!

    Tachibana Wakako had grown up in Mount K¨­ya, and the respect and awe she felt for Immovable Wisdom Kings had been deeply rooted in her heart. Therefore, when she suddenly saw King Ming¡¯s Fashen, she was so scared that she lost all ability to resist. The most critical point was that the vertical pupil on Li Yundong¡¯s forehead shone with a majestic light, which represented a kind of power that could overwhelm everything. Even if she wanted to go against him, she wouldn¡¯t be able to move!

    In her subconscious mind, an idea shed: Could this person be the reincarnation of the Immovable Wisdom King? If not, how could he possess such power?

    In the face of Li Yundong, Tachibana Wakako could see King Ming¡¯s vertical pupils, but the others behind Li Yundong couldn¡¯t. They didn¡¯t know that it was the King Ming¡¯s Eye on Li Yundong¡¯s forehead that was really frightening her.

    All they could see was Li Yundong¡¯s Yang Spirit body suddenly turn into a three-headed and six-armed statue, which pped at Tachibana Wakako, and then she had be so scared that she burst into tears.

    Everyone was stunned and burst into raucousughter. "Are you kidding me? You¡¯ve been beaten to tears?" they cried.

    "What are you doing? You don¡¯t even know how to bleed without turning on the waterworks? What kind of cultivator are you?"

    "But she¡¯s just a little girl..."

    "Bah, what little girl? Have you ever seen a little girl with that kind of power before?"

    "I don¡¯t think so. Seems like Tachibana Wakako is strong on the outside but soft on the inside. Otherwise, how could she be so scared that she¡¯d cry before Zhenren Li even hit her?"

    "Bullshit. If you have the ability, why don¡¯t you go up and try it yourself?"

    "Hey, I wish I could, but isn¡¯t Zhenren Li already busy?"

    "Damn it, you only know how to talk. Go and challenge Zhenren Li right now if you dare!"

    "What, what are you talking about? The guns are all aiming outwards. We shouldn¡¯t fight amongst ourselves, you know?"

    "Pooh, who was yelling about Zhenren Li just now?"

    A momentter, everyone burst into an uproarious discussion at once. They had been nervously watching Su Chan, Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, and the others in the field. When they saw that Li Yundong had subdued this extremely powerful witch, Tachibana Wakako, with just one palm, they immediately shouted excitedly. The little foxes were even more riled up and mored as if the Leader of the sect had made a big ssh, which was more enjoyable than them doing it themselves.

    It was unknown which one of the little foxes shouted, "Long live the Leader! Leader has lived for thousands of years and unified the Jianghu!"

    The little foxes were used toughing with each other. Although they had been scolded by Li Yundong before, at this moment, they were suddenly enjoying a big victory. They were so proud that they shouted in unison, "Long live Leader. Leader has lived for thousands of years and unified the Jianghu!"

    Su Chan and Ruan Hongling did not feel anything wrong when they heard the cry. Instead, they smiled. As for Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin, they were both taken aback. They quickly looked at the cultivators from various sects.

    Fortunately, at this time, the cultivators were all immersed in the joy of a great victory. Few people paid attention to this shout, so Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin breathed a sigh of relief.

    After Li Yundong withdrew his palm, he said to Tachibana Wakako, "Let me tell you, there are countless masters hidden in China. Actually, I¡¯m not a master, you haven¡¯t seen a real master yet, and I haven¡¯t seen them either, so don¡¯t look down on China. If you do, you¡¯ll only humiliate yourself!"

    She wiped away her tears and nodded subconsciously. "I know, I won¡¯t do it again in the future..."

    Li Yundong saw that she was crying pitifully. He had always been the kind of man who cared about women. He felt his heart soften and sighed secretly, then turned around and said to the cultivators of each sect, "Guys, I think today¡¯s matter is done. What do you think?"

    The cultivators all looked at each other and thought to themselves, "You¡¯ve won this battle, Zhenren Li. You can do whatever you want!"

    The crowd responded loudly, "Zhenren Li, it¡¯s as you say!"

    Although the people of the Qingcheng Sect and the Zhengyi School, who had been beaten to the worst end, were unwilling to let things end like this, Zi Yuan had also taught Shen Xiu a good lesson. Li Yundong had even beaten their witch to tears on the spot. Cultivators valued their reputations the most, so they would rather die than lose face. Therefore, they agreed and said, "Zhenren Li, you can make your own decision!"

    Li Yundong nodded, then turned to Wan Zhenyuan and said, "Master Wan, what do you think?"

    Seeing Li Yundong¡¯s great victory, Wan Zhenyuan did not pursue him with his previous pressure. Instead, he stayed silent and surveyed the faces of all the major sects. The most surprising thing was that he was not only not proud of being praised by everyone, but he had also turned around to ask for his opinion. It could be seen that this person¡¯s heart was brilliant and shrewd, and he could not be ignored!

    Wan Zhenyuan was very vignt. "I¡¯m afraid that the old fox chose the wrong person! Li Yundong is young, but he has a high bearing. I have never seen such a person in my life who is so willing to be manipted by others and be their puppet!"

    Although Wan Zhenyuan was internally on high alert, he said with a smile on his face, "Zhenren Li, you are so polite. Your divine power has not only saved the face of all the sects in our Cultivation World, it has also won glory for our Chinese cultivation world. As a spectator, I, Wan Zhenyuan, am unqualified toment on this."

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Master Wan, you are the host of this Taoist assembly. Of course, we must listen to your opinion."

    Although Wan Zhenyuan was wary of Li Yundong, he still felt happy after hearing these words. Heughed and said, "Well, I¡¯ll just say one sentence for you as a tip."

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Master Wan, please do so!"

    "Let the Three Pure Ones turn into the Three Pure Ones and the Buddha return to the Buddha. Let them go back to where they came from!"

    Everyone burst outughing. They chuckled loudly at Tachibana Wakako, Shinsyu, and Cinian. "Little Demons, just go back!"

    Cinian and Shinsyu were both ashamed and angry. They stood where they were, their faces red and their ears bright pink. Cinian shouted loudly at Tachibana Wakako, "Come on, let¡¯s go!"

    She lowered her head, put away her powerful magical weapon, and walked toward Cinian. After a few steps, she turned back and muttered to herself, as if she wanted to ask Li Yundong something, but then she swallowed back her words and remained silent.

    She looked at Li Yundong in awe for a moment, and finally turned her head back, walked over to Cinian, lowered her head, and followed him down the stairs.

    As she walked, she repeatedly muttered in her heart, "Is he the reincarnation of the Immovable Wisdom King?"

    Cinian¡¯s face was ashen and her hands were hidden in her sleeves. After the three of them had gotten a good distance away, Cinian turned around and chided Tachibana Wakako with an ugly expression, "Ugh! How could you have lost without fighting! How could you have been scared to tears by him! It¡¯s such a disgrace to our Mount K¨­ya! Did you learn nothing in ck-Corner College? Can¡¯t the power of our ancestors and Gods¡¯ souls give you the courage to fight? If I were you, I would have cut my wrists andmitted suicide on the spot. I haven¡¯t seen anything so disgraceful for a hundred years!"

    Being scolded by Cinian, and with tears in her eyes, she couldn¡¯t help but retort loudly, "But that guy is just too strong. I¡¯m no match for him!"

    Cinian felt an explosion of rage. "How strong can he really be? Isn¡¯t he just a Yang Spirit divine statue with superhuman powers? That¡¯s what he visualized. Taoist cultivators¡¯ Yang Spirits can transform into anything, but it¡¯s only a case of their appearance, they don¡¯t have divine power! You¡¯re actually so easily frightened that you fell to the ground. You¡¯ve disappointed me too much!"

    Shinsyu, who had been silent all this time, couldn¡¯t help but say usingly, "Look, Tachibana Wakako, I¡¯m not ming you. Although you have the body of a witch, you are also the cream of the crop who inherited the spirit of our great people¡¯s warriors. How could you have been defeated like this?"

    "But, there¡¯s a vertical pupil on his forehead!" Tachibana Wakako cried. "The Gods¡¯ soul of Mahamayuri that I summoned, upon seeing this vertical pupil, went back to the Eight Divine Caves on its own. Even our ancestor¡¯s Goddess didn¡¯t dare toe out. What could I have done?"

    Cinian was taken aback. "There was a vertical pupil on his forehead?"

    Tachibana Wakako shouted, "Yes, the look in the vertical eye on his forehead was too scary. I just took a look and I couldn¡¯t even move!"

    "Why didn¡¯t I see it?" Cinian asked, shocked.

    Being scolded by Cinian, Tachibana Wakako felt wronged. She shouted at him, "You were behind him, of course, you weren¡¯t able to see it!"

    Cinian looked at her, startled, and could not help but suck in a breath of cold air. "A vertical pupil can actually appear on him? Could... could this be the Wisdom King¡¯s Fashen?"

    Tachibana Wakako wiped her tears and said, "I think so, but I didn¡¯t dare to ask!"

    Cinian¡¯s face darkened as he said in a low voice, "What you have described is not impossible. If it were, why would so many ghosts and Vajra not have been able to get close to him just now? Furthermore, the Mahamayuri actually disappeared automatically when he got close to him! If he weren¡¯t the Immovable Wisdom King, how could he possibly have been able to withstand the might of a true deity like the Mahamayuri?"

    Shinsyu was dumbstruck. He could not help but shudder when he thought of how he had wanted to challenge this Wisdom King¡¯s Fashen. "Is this Li Yundong really the reincarnation of the Immovable Wisdom King? How could the Immovable Wisdom King of the Unmoving King, who was worshipped by the Zhenyan Tantrism, be reincarnated into the Chinese cultivation world? Is the world going to kill our Rigoino?"

    Cinian looked unhappy and said by way of advice, "Shinsyu, don¡¯t think too much. Even if there are masters on the Chinese continent, you don¡¯t have to worry. No matter how powerful Li Yundong is, someone will help us deal with him. The Chinese¡¯s preference for internal strife is a deep-rooted habit and part of the character of the people. For them, the real threat to their trusted subordinateses not from outsiders like us, but from within their own people, and even this Li Yundong!"

    After that, he sighed, stroked Tachibana Wakako¡¯s hair, and said softly, "I¡¯m sorry, I misunderstood you. Since Li Yundong is the reincarnation of the Immovable Wisdom King, no matter how powerful you are, it won¡¯t make a difference. Let¡¯s go back first and tell General Mountain the news of the reincarnation of the Immovable Wisdom King, and then we¡¯ll figure out a n!"

    Just as Cinian, Tachibana Wakako, and Shinsyu were discussing countermeasures, the cultivators who had evaded the external threat suddenly realized that they were in a dilemma.

    They had forced Li Yundong to withdraw from the Taoist assembly before, but then the three Japanese had beaten them to pieces. If Li Yundong hadn¡¯t turned the tide in the end, the Taoist assembly would have been utterly humiliating!

    But what if Li Yundong, in the name of this great victory, threatened them into taking part in the Taoist assembly again?

    This guy¡¯s fighting ability was incredible, and he also had such a powerful magical weapon. From now on, who in the world could stand against him? He was already so powerful at such a young age. What would happen if he cultivated for a few more years? Could it be that it was really like what the group of fox spirits had shouted, "To unify Jianghu for thousands of years"?

    The joy of victory for all of the cultivators gradually dissipated. Everyone fell into deep thought and internal strife...

 Chapter 507 The Real Trouble is Starting inside the House

    <h4>Chapter 507 The Real Trouble is Starting inside the House</h4>

    As soon as Cinian and his fellows left, Li Yundong felt a dramatic change of atmosphere. The people present focused their eyes on him and, in their eyes, doubts, fear, awe, respect, and admiration were all are shown.

    For a moment, no one spoke. The cultivators of other sects were afraid that Li Yundong would ask to continue to fight, but none of them was willing to stand out and be a viin as he had just extended a helping hand.

    Li Yundong thought for a brief moment and figured out their worries. He smiled and cupped his hands to Wan Zhenyuan beside him. ¡°Sect Master Wan, since the Japanese have left, let¡¯s carry on with the Taoist assembly! The fight can continue now and I¡¯ll watch from the side!¡±

    Hearing Li Yundong make the request, Wan Zhenyuan immediately had a higher opinion of him. He said with admiration, ¡°Zhenren Li, are you really going to quit?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Since we made an agreement before, I shall keep to it and not participate in battles, no matter what happens. Moreover, every Chinese cultivator is obliged to defeat his Japanese counterpart. It¡¯s a matter of national security. However, not all of us must y a part in the Taoist assembly¡¯s decision; that is just a matter of personal concern. We should not abandon private affairs in favor of public ones, but the opposite is even more true!¡±

    Hearing his words, Wan Zhenyuan couldn¡¯t help holding up a hand and bowing to him courteously, praising, ¡°Amitayus, you are young and promising. You possess marvelous strength, and what¡¯s even rarer is your broad-mindedness and generosity. Incredibly admirable!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and returned the salute. ¡°Thanks for your kind words, Master Wan!¡± Having said that, he walked off the stage sedately.

    When he got back to his seat, he saw Su Chan, Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, and the others all smiling brightly, as if they were weing the return of a victorious general. Su Chan even gave him a thumbs-up with a smile and said, ¡°Yundong, you are so powerful! It¡¯s just a shame for you to miss out on the opportunity to obtain an Immortal Pen!¡±

    Ruan Hongling also said with a sigh, ¡°That¡¯s right. Those people are so ungrateful and cynical. They bite the hand that feeds them. Without Li Yundong, they would not have been able to retain their elegance and dignity. Now they have forgotten it entirely and even want to contend for the Immortal Pen. Humph, who do they think they are!¡±

    Li Yundong said with a disapproving grimace, ¡°What they¡¯re doing is understandable. The Immortal Pen is far less important to me than it is to them. I stood up for Zi Yuan as well as the world of Chinese Cultivation, not for the magic item. You should not misunderstand me!¡±

    Zi Yuan nodded in admiration. ¡°You have handled this matter very well. In the process, you¡¯ve shown generosity and magnanimity, acting as a great cultivator.¡±

    Ruan Hongling blinked slowly, nced at Zi Yuan, and then at Li Yundong before smiling behind her hand. ¡°Well, you always speak up for him! Okay, I¡¯m the only viin, right?¡±

    Zi Yuan red at Ruan Hongling, saying with a slightly red face, ¡°Enough!¡±

    Ruan Hongling cried out, ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything. Can¡¯t I call myself am a viin?¡±

    Suddenly filled with shame and anger, Zi Yuan stamped on Ruan Hongling¡¯s foot under the table, causing her to immediately scream and yell, ¡°Someone stepped on me. Li Yundong, avenge me!¡±

    Li Yundong coughed and said, ¡°Keep your voice down. People are looking at us!¡±

    She quickly nced around. As expected, she found that they were the focus of many eyes which shone with mixed feelings. She turned serious and whispered to Li Yundong, ¡°Hey, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s much to see here any more. Why don¡¯t we just leave?¡±

    Zhou Qin also whispered, ¡°Yes, Master. After so many rounds of battle, I do not think there will be lots of high-level battles left for us to see. Let¡¯s just leave. I feel that there is something wrong with the way these people look at us. It¡¯s weird.¡±

    He looked around and thought for a moment before saying, ¡°Well, since you all think so, let¡¯s go back.¡±

    He was just about to stand up when Wan Zhenyuan said to everyone with a sigh, ¡°Brothers of the Tao, I would like to apologize to you for today. If I hadn¡¯t let these Japanese people attend, such a thing wouldn¡¯t have happened.¡±

    Although every cultivator present thought so, they all said forgivingly, ¡°Master Wan, that¡¯s not true. Those Japanese came uninvited. If we had forced them out, they may have used us Chinese cultivators of pettiness.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master Wan, it¡¯s not your fault. You don¡¯t have to me yourself!¡±

    Wan Zhenyuanughed and said, ¡°Thank you for your generosity, but I¡¯m more or less responsible for this. There¡¯s no reason for me not to apologize.¡±

    The people around himughed as well, then Dang Qiang chimed in and said, ¡°Master Wan, since you feel so guilty, then let¡¯s ask the little girl who just sang the song to do a couple more!¡±

    The crowd burst outughing and shouted, ¡°Yes, Master Wan, let¡®s do it!¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan chuckled and saw that the little girl who had sung to Little Qu was shyly standing in the corner near the back door with a pipa in her arms. She looked like a frightened deer, looking around at the cultivators with vignce and nervousness.

    Wan Zhenyuan waved at her with a smile, saying, ¡°Little Qiao,e here. Everyone is waiting for you to sing Pingtan.¡±

    The girl named Little Qiao came over timidly with the pipa in her arms. She looked around at the crowd with her watery eyes and immediately lowered her eyes in a panic, like a stalk of mimosa.

    Fang Qiangughed and said, ¡°Little Qiao? Is she the namesake of the beauty mentioned in Chibi by Du Mu, the famous poet of the Tang Dynasty?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan chuckled and addressed the girl. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to introduce yourself to the seniors here?¡±

    Little Qiao lowered her head and stared at her shoes. She was too shy to raise her head, so with is still down, she said in a crisp voice, ¡°My name is Song Yuqiao. Qiao means bridge, and it is a bridge over flowing water, not like the Little Qiao from the poem...¡±

    Her crisp, delicate voice immediately made the cultivators feel refreshed, as though they had eaten a ginseng fruit.

    Fang Qiang pointed at Song Yuqiao and said with a smile, ¡°You didn¡¯t seem timid a moment ago. Why are you being so shy now?¡±

    Song Yuqiao trembled imperceptibly. She looked up at the crowd momentarily before lowering her head again to an even lower position.

    Everyone people burst outughing. Although Wan Zhenyuan felt a little strange, he still smiled and helped to smooth things over, saying, ¡°This is an outer disciple of our sect. She is inexperienced, so she might be a little scared by seeing you fight. Don¡¯t feel offended!¡±

    The crowd said generously, ¡°Of course we won¡¯t. It¡¯s already wonderful of her to sing Pingtan straight after seeing such scary battles!¡±

    ¡°Sect Master Wan, let the girl be my apprentice!¡± one cultivator cried.

    Wan Zhenyuan nced at the man with a smile and said, ¡°Are you looking for an apprentice or a wife?¡±

    All the people around fell aboutughing, and Song Yuqiao¡¯s face turned even redder.

    Wan Zhenyuan smiled and said, ¡°Please let go of my little apprentice. If you want to listen to the song, let her sing it. We needn¡¯t talk too much.¡±

    Everyone settled down. Dang Qiang touched his own bald head with a deepugh and said to Song Yuqiao, ¡°Little Qiao, Little Qiao, what are you going to sing?¡±

    ¡°It depends on what you want to hear,¡± she whispered.

    Her voice was as soft as a mosquito¡¯s. Had the people present not been good cultivators, they would not have heard what she said.

    An idea came to Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s mind. He said to the crowd, ¡°Zhenren Li used his great power to drive away those unwise Japanese. We haven¡¯t expressed our thanks to him yet. Why don¡¯t we let Zhenren Li request a song?¡±

    Everyone immediately said in unison, ¡°That¡¯s a good idea!¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan said to Li Yundong with a smile, ¡°Zhenren Li, please go ahead. Just choose a song!¡±

    Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Li Yundong didn¡¯t decline. He smiled faintly and said, ¡°Well, which are you best at?¡±

    Li Yunyang¡¯s gentle voice give Song Yuqiao a feeling of warmth like there was a warm current flowing into her heart, which easily earned Li Yundong her trust. She summoned her courage and looked up, only to see the man who had been so godlike in battle smiling at her, and she felt like his eyes were as warm as sunshine in April.

    She couldn¡¯t help but feel a little curious. She thought to herself, ¡°My master says Li Yundong is the worst viin in the world; he is greedy, lustful, and violent. But why do I feel the opposite? I feel like he is a great man who is courageous, loyal, and skillful? Is my master wrong? No, he can¡¯t be wrong... Maybe I am mistaken.¡±

    She stared at him, lost in thought. For a moment, she forgot to reply. Seeing her stupor, everyoneughed and said, ¡°Master Wan, your little apprentice is falling in love with someone!¡±

    Song Yuqiao suddenly came to her senses after hearing this mockery. She was so shy that her cheeks were on fire. She whispered, ¡°The song I am best at is Legend of the White Snake.¡±

    When Li Yundong heard this, he thought to himself, ¡°Why does this girl always sing songs with the theme of subduing demons?¡±

    However, he didn¡¯t think any further and simply said with a smile, ¡°Well, you can sing that then!¡±

    Song Yuqiao didn¡¯t dare to look at Li Yundong again. She held the pipa in her arms and bowed to everyone before sitting down. At this time, another girl with a three-string sanxian in her arms came through the back door and sat down beside her.

    When Wan Zhenyuan saw that everyone¡¯s attention was focused on the two girls, he smiled slightly, turned around, and walked through the back door.

    As soon as he got outside, he turned around, passed through two corridors, and walked up to a ssical wooden house. He pushed the double doors open and walked in.

    Inside, he saw a tall man leaning against the window. His eyes were fixed on something outside, seemingly staring at the small building where the cultivators were gathering. After a while, a paper crane flew over to his hand.

    Wan Zhenyuan asked in a low voice, ¡°Did you see it?¡±

    The man nodded slightly and did not turn around. His figure was like a silent mountain, making him an oppressive presence.

    Wan Zhenyuan snorted coldly before saying, ¡°Do you have confidence in your ability to control such a person? Can you imagine how strong a cultivator who can dispel a Mahamayuri in battle is?¡±

    The man kept silent for a long while before signing softly. ¡°Since the day he first stepped onto the Qinghai Tibet teau, I have been able to faintly feel his enormous potential, but I still underestimated him!¡±

    ¡°Are you sure that your n is going to continue as designed?¡± Wan Zhen asked.

    The man did not respond directly, instead of saying in a deep voice, ¡°The arrow is on the string, so I must release it! Don¡¯t worry, I have got an idea!¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan looked at the man¡¯s back, saying with an alternating expression of anger and excitement on his face, ¡°You¡¯d better handle the situation, otherwise... if you fail, I will fall out with you!¡±

    After that, he snorted and strode out.

    The mysterious man was alone in the room. He stared smilingly at the paper crane on his palm. With a shake of his hand, the paper crane took off with a whoosh and flew in the direction of the melodious sound of Pingtan being sung.

    A meaningful smile appeared at the corner of the man¡¯s mouth as he muttered, ¡°The show is just beginning!¡±

 Chapter 508 An Unexpected Change!

    <h4>Chapter 508 An Unexpected Change!</h4>

    As Li Yundong had chosen Legend of the White Snake, he turned to Su Chan and the others and said with a smile, "He addressed me by name and asked me to sing a song. I can¡¯t leave after choosing it, can I? I¡¯ll finish listening to it at the very least."

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "Well, it¡¯s rare to hear such a high-level Pingtan. This girl must have learned it since childhood, and I¡¯ve no idea which famous teacher she was apprenticed to."

    "Why did she be a disciple of the Xuan Pavilion Sect again?" Zhou Qinqi asked.

    "All the sects are now secretly expanding their strength," Zi Yuan said. "Zhengyi School is busy gathering the side branches of the faction. Quanzhen Dragon Sect is busy collecting ancient books and magic scattered throughout the Cultivation World. As for Gezao Sect, they are trying their best to make money to develop their believers. Although there are not many masters in this year¡¯s Taoist Assembly, in the cultivation world, Gezao Sect is the richest. Moreover, they have the most disciples. It can be said that they are brimming with talented members."

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t help sighing. "Yundong, when will we be able to sell medicine? It¡¯ll be good for us to make money and buy a big garden."

    Li Yundong red at her, pretended to be angry, scratched the tip of her nose with his fingertip, and whispered with a smile, "You damned girl, you are so greedy! We used to live only in a small rental apartment, but didn¡¯t we also have happy hearts there? Later on, we lived in a bigger ce. Weren¡¯t you very happy there? Later, we changed into argeposite house. Now you, little girl, have your eye on a garden! Do you think I¡¯m running a real estate business?"

    Su Chan grabbed his arm and said with a coquettish smile, "I¡¯m just kidding! As long as I¡¯m with you, I¡¯ll be happy even if I¡¯m on the streets. If I can¡¯t be with you, every day will seem like a year to me even if I lived in the Imperial Pce."

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing. He tweaked the tip of the little girl¡¯s smooth, pale nose and said with a smile, "You¡¯re a smooth talker! But no matter how useless I am, I won¡¯t let you live on the streets, okay?"

    Su Chan nodded with a smile and said, "Yes! You are my great hero!"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but think of the time when the two of them had been at their lowest. Su Chan had once shouted at Rong Guo, thendlord¡¯s wife and his lustful lover, saying that he would definitely be a great hero in the future. Thinking about the scene on that day and the scene in front of him now, Li Yundong really felt as if he was in a different world.

    He smiled gently and caressed the girl¡¯s hair tenderly, saying with crinkled eyes, "You little loon, what kind of a great hero am I?"

    However, Su Chan said seriously, "How are you not a hero? No one here could have beaten the Japanese. You alone beat them away and won glory for the Chinese cultivation world. Isn¡¯t that heroic?"

    Zhou Qin also nodded and looked at him with admiration, saying, "That¡¯s right. If it weren¡¯t for you, Master, who turned the tide, we would have lost face this time!"

    He shook his head and said with a smile, "I just got lucky. There are countless masters in our Divine Land. Even if we lost today, we could have won again tomorrow. The Japanese cultivation world has a natural and stable cultivation environment. Especially this time, they were well prepared, so we were caught off-guard. After all, they have a small poption and a small territory, and their cultivation world began in the Tang Dynasty. Our cultivation world can be traced back to the time of Peng Zu and Lao Zi, two thousand years earlier than theirs!"

    He then sighed and continued, "Although our cultivation world has suffered all kinds of setbacks and has been weak until now, it has been passed down for thousands of years. As the saying goes, a starving camel is bigger than a horse. In terms of foundation and talent, the Japanese cultivation world can¡¯tpare with ours. They can win for a while, but they can¡¯t win for a lifetime!"

    Zi Yuan also nodded and said, "Yes, as far as I know, most of the experts from the Orthodox Path this time are experts from the younger generation. The only one who represents the older generation is Zhang Ling, and her spells must be earth-shattering when she fights. If she had fought just now, she might not have lost to Tachibana Wakako. It¡¯s just that in this downtown area, not a tenth of her power can be used, so she had a lot of concerns and didn¡¯t go up. Moreover, it¡¯s not only Zhengyi School, the Quanzhen Dragon Sect, Qingcheng Sect, Jinshan Sect, and other sects¡¯ cultivators are very powerful, but most of them cultivate in seclusion and almost never venture into the world."

    Li Yundong nodded in acknowledgment. "Yes, old institutions die hard. What¡¯s more, there are a lot of talents in the cultivation world now. I believe it won¡¯t be long before a few great cultivators appear."

    When Li Yundong said this, he looked at Zhou Qin. Obviously, he was encouraging and praising her.

    Zhou Qin¡¯s heart warmed and she nodded vigorously. Beside her, Ruan Hongling smiled and said, "Li Yundong, you¡¯ve even praised yourself, haven¡¯t you? After this Taoist assembly, you¡¯ll also be considered a great cultivator, right? Zi Yuan Shijie, don¡¯t you think so?"

    Zi Yuan smiled and replied, "In terms of fighting strength and reputation, Li Yundong is indeed well-trained."

    He waved his hand dismissively, saying, "Don¡¯t tter me. I haven¡¯t even reached the Jinshen phase, so how would I dare to call myself a Great Cultivator? A person who has reached the Jinshen phase is the real Indestructible Body with Yang Spirit. No magic treasure in the world can kill them. Only such a cultivator can be a Great Cultivator. I¡¯m still far from being one!"

    Su Chan said seriously, "Yundong, you will definitely be a great cultivator, and your speed will be very fast! Think about it, how long have you been cultivating? You are already so powerful now!"

    "To reach the Jinshen phase, you must have the help of Diyuan Jindan," he replied, his eyes shining. "Without great opportunities, one can¡¯t cultivate it."

    As they spoke, Song Yuqiao adjusted the strings of her instrument. She coughed softly, cleared her throat, and began to sing softly.

    When everyone heard her voice, they immediately quieted down. For a moment, the small building was silent save for her singing. Everyone looked at Song Yuqiao with bright, shining eyes and held their breath.

    Song Yuqiao¡¯s five fingers gently closed, and her rhombus-shaped little red lips gently parted. She sang in a soft, melodious voice, "The West Lake is back today, and the past is painful. The wind, rain, and thunder are on the same boat. It¡¯s rare to see Xu Hanwen. It¡¯s rare for an official to have a good rtionship, and it¡¯s unusual to be respectful to each other. A good flower encounters the ruthless rain, and the bright moon watches from a distance. Now the flowers have fallen, and the moon is obscured. It¡¯s unbearable to recall old feelings. I hate monks who interfere in the affairs of other people and separate the mandarin ducks from the monks of Fahai..."

    Song Yuqiao¡¯s voice was soft but clear, charming but bright. A moment ago, she had been shy, but when she began singing, she suddenly forgot all her shyness. Her expression was sad and her eyes were full of sorrow. Even if she didn¡¯t understand the lyrics, she could grasp the emotional essence in an instant.

    Li Yundong could see that Song Yuqiao had chosen part of the Legend of the White Snake. He couldn¡¯t helpughing and saying, "What a coincidence. I have Fahai¡¯s burning thumb pot in my hand. I think it was this burning thumb pot that defeated the white snake, and now it¡¯s in my hand. Who do you think I will deal with?"

    Su Chan pulled a face at Li Yundong and said with a smile, "Well, don¡¯te to deal with me!"

    Li Yundongughed, leaned over to Su Chan, and whispered, "Little girl, if you don¡¯t listen to me, I will make you obedient!"

    Su Chan¡¯s ears turned red. She giggled and said, "You¡¯re so annoying!"

    The two of them talked intimately, acting as if there was no one around them. On the stage, Song Yuqiao finished her show. At this time, the people upstairs started cheering loudly.

    Some cultivators who yelled loudly, "That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. It¡¯s just that that song is too sad. Let¡¯s sing something happy!"

    After Song Yuqiao finished singing, she became extremely shy again. She lowered her head and whispered, "Well, I¡¯ll go in and change my clothes beforeing back out..."

    As she spoke, she gently took a few steps and headed towards the back door.

    The crowdughed and said, "This little girl is not young, but she is quite pretentious. She even needs to go in and change her clothes after singing a single song!"

    After a while, Song Yuqiao returned. Everyone could see that she hadn¡¯t changed her appearance much, but she was now wearing a set of gold hairpin jewelry on her head. There was a bright flower tied to the hairpin, which was colorful and made with all kinds of colors. It looked bright and dazzling. Moreover, when she walked over gracefully, there was a fragrance wafting from her body, making the audience feel intoxicated.

    She sat down with the pipa in her arms. After a while, she said, "Everyone wants to listen to a cheerful song, but I have only learned one cheerful one, and the master who taught me to sing it told me that if I want to sing this song, I have to worship her first before I may do so."

    Everyone in the cultivation world respected their masters above all else, so when they heard this, they became respectful and said one after another, "Ah, a filial disciple!"

    "It¡¯s rare, really rare!"

    After Song Yuqiao got up, she said apologetically to Wan Zhenyuan, "Master Wan, I¡¯m really sorry. May I burn a stick of incense?"

    Wan Zhenyuan had never heard Song Yuqiao mention this before. Although he felt a bit strange about it, he did not think about it too deeply. He smiled and said, "Of course."

    Song Yuqiao stood up again, walked to the back hall with a censer in her hands, and walked in. Everyone could see that there were three incense sticks on the censer, from which tendrils of green smoke were curling, emitting a pleasant fragrance.

    Song Yuqiao bowed to the censer, and then sat back in her seat. She gently plucked the strings with her fingers and began to chant softly, "The clothes are beautiful, and the spring breeze is strong. If I hadn¡¯t seen you on the top of the jade mountain, I would have met you at the foot of the moon. A drop of red dew is fragrant, and the rain breaks through the clouds. Who is simr to you in the Han Pce? Poor Feiyan relies on her new makeup. The famous flowers love each other, and the emperor looks at her with a smile. The spring breeze is full of hatred, and the North of the Agarwood Pavilion is leaning toward the south."

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t seem happy at all when he heard her singing this, as if she were a resentful woman in her boudoir.

    He couldn¡¯t help but wonder, "What kind of song is this? Why doesn¡¯t it sound cheerful at all?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s face was also full of doubt. "This is ¡¯Warbler Worships the Moon¡¯. It¡¯s a strange choice. This song is very bitter. How could it be cheerful?"

    Not only did Li Yundong and Zi Yuan feel off, but the cultivators upstairs were also very surprised. They asked one after another, "Hey, why are you so happy over such a sad song? Little girl, are you singing the wrong song?"

    Wan Zhenyuan couldn¡¯t help frowning. "Little Qiao, what are you doing?"

    Song Yuqiao lowered her head and did not speak, but suddenly a cold woman¡¯s voice came from not far away. "Aren¡¯t you happy? But I feel very happy!"

    Everyone looked over and saw a beautiful woman standing at the back door and looking at them all with a sneer on her face.

    Li Yundong, Su Chan, and the others were shocked as soon as they saw the woman. Su Chan asked in surprise, "Isn¡¯t that Zhuang Yating Shibo? Why is she here?"

 Chapter 509 The Reappearance of the Black Fox?

    <h4>Chapter 509 The Reappearance of the ck Fox?</h4>

    All of a sudden, the disciples of the Fox Zen School saw Zhuang Yating, and they stood up in shock. Some of them even showed a look of surprise.

    But soon they came to their senses. There was a cold, mocking smile on Zhuang Yating¡¯s face, the kind that made their hearts beat fast. They thought to themselves, "No, what¡¯s wrong with Shibo Zhuang?"

    When the little foxes made eye contact with Zhuang Yating, they screamed in their hearts, "No, this is not Shibo Zhuang!"

    This Zhuang Yating was full of hatred. It seemed like she was anxious to kill them all!

    The little foxes looked at her in horror. They somehow realized something, but no one dared to speak of it.

    At this time, the cultivators upstairs didn¡¯t know the huge changes that had happened in the Fox Zen School. Some of them didn¡¯t know about Zhuang Yating, so they frowned and scolded her, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

    Some cultivators who had once been to Mount Tianlong to join the siege of the Fox Zen School recognized Zhuang Yating at once. They said loudly to Li Yundong, "Zhenren Li, how did you subdue your subordinates?"

    Li Yundong looked at Zhuang Yating with a cold face and said in an icy voice, "She is not my subordinate, nor is she a member of the Fox Zen School."

    They were stunned and didn¡¯t understand his meaning.

    Wan Zhenyuan frowned and said to Zhuang Yating, "You are Zhenren Zhuang of the Fox Zen School, right? For the sake of Zhenren Li, I won¡¯t argue with you today. Please hurry up and sit on the sideline."

    Zhuang Yating burst outughing and said, "Wan Zhenyuan, don¡¯t yell at me. I beat you so hard that you couldn¡¯t raise your head when you were in Mount Gezao. Have you forgotten?"

    Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s heart skipped a beat. Suddenly, he opened his eyes wide and eximed, "You¡¯re Yan Fang?!"

    Hearing this, the crowd burst into an uproar. "Yan Fang? Yan Fang from the Linggong Sect?! No way!"

    There were also some young cultivators who did not know about Yan Fang. They hurriedly asked, "Who is Yan Fang? Is she very powerful?"

    Immediately, an experienced cultivator said, "Hey, kid, listen up! Yan Fang was a famous female cultivator back then! Before she disappeared, she had always been known as the number one female cultivator, as well as the most beautiful. It was only when she suddenly disappeared that the title fell to Zi Yuan."

    "Then why did she suddenly disappear?"

    "Well, Yan Fang is very picky. She didn¡¯t even care about any of the men in the world, except for her Shishiong Wang Yuanshan, who secretly fell in love with her. However, Wang Yuanshan fell in love with Ao Wushuang of the Fox Zen School in the end. This is what we called unrequited love! As a result, in a fit of anger, Yan Fang unveiled their rtionship to Leader Zhang Tiansh¨©, the head of the Zhengyi School, who forced Wang Yuanshan to break up with Ao Wushuang by being a leader of a powerful sect. Yan Fang thought that this would save her rtionship, but on the contrary, Wang Yuanshan would have rather died than chosen her."

    "Ah? If Yan Fang is so powerful and known as the most beautiful woman, why didn¡¯t Wang Yuanshan choose her? Why did he choose a fox?"

    "Hey, kid, you don¡¯t understand! Look at those foxes around you. Which one of them is not gorgeous? Hey, if you could be with one of them, you would be as happy as a Shenxian. The feeling is really indescribable!"

    "Shibo, you¡¯re so obscene when you speak like this..."

    "Ahem, shut up! Yan Fang realized that Wang Yuanshan still didn¡¯t love her, so she thought that it was these foxes of the Fox Zen School that had bewitched her Shishiong and robbed her of her marriage. Therefore, Yan Fang was so angry that she infiltrated the Fox Zen School for nine years. A while ago, she suddenly appeared on Mount Tianlong!"

    "Ah, I see! So that¡¯s Yan Fang! Did she n to besiege Mount Tian Longst time?"

    "That¡¯s right! You¡¯re not as stupid as you look! If Li Yundong hadn¡¯t rushed out at that time, I¡¯m afraid that the Fox Zen School would have been exterminated!"

    "Ah, Yan Fang is so vicious. In order to take revenge, she hid for nine years and tried to destroy the whole sect!"

    "Haven¡¯t you heard the saying, the most vicious thing is a woman¡¯s heart? Hey, this is the internal strife of the Fox Zen School. Let¡¯s enjoy the show!"

    For a moment, everyone was talking about it. Some people who knew Yan Fang greeted her loudly, but she seemed didn¡¯t hear them and just stared at Li Yundong.

    Zhang Ling, who had had an intense fight with Yan Fang at Mount Gezaost time, also had an unusual look in her eyes. She looked at the woman in front of her who was determined to destroy the Fox Zen School, with surprise and doubt.

    Zou Ping whispered to Zhang Ling, "Master, there is internal strife in the Fox Zen School. At least Yan Fang is a member of the Zhengyi School. Should we interver?"

    Zhang Ling shouted in a low voice, "Shut up, Yan Fang is a scheming woman. Since she is daring to show up now, it means that she has a backup n and a perfect strategy! At this moment, the best thing to do is to wait and see!"

    Li Yundong looked at ¡¯Zhuang Yating¡¯ with a shocked face and said, "It turns out that you are Yan Fang!"

    Yan Fangughed and said, "Yes! Li Yundong, Li Yundong, you didn¡¯t think of it, did you?"

    He said in a cold voice, "What about Cao Yi? What did you do to her?"

    Yan Fang snorted and said, "You¡¯d better take care of yourself first!"

    Du Fei, a member of the Quanzhen Dragon Sect, was very knowledgeable about the grudge between Yan Fang and the Fox Zen School. He stood up and said to Yan Fang, "Zhenren Yan, as the saying goes, sometimes a grudge is best left buried! The grudge between you and the Fox Zen School has gone on for so long, and both sides have suffered a lot. Linggong Sect is now in decline, and Zhenren Zi Yuan can¡¯t support herself alone. Fox Zen School has even left its hometown and suffered countless casualties. To this extent, it¡¯s worth it, isn¡¯t it? Why don¡¯t you just let it go?"

    Yan Fang suddenly turned her head and red at Du Fei fiercely. She scolded him harshly, "Du Fei, what benefits did Li Yundong give you to make you talk for him?"

    Du Fei said unhappily, "Zhenren Yan, I think you see only the trees, not the woods. Your eyes have beenpletely blinded by hatred! Zhenren Li is open and above-board, selfless, generous and elegant, the only person like that I have seen in my life! And you are also one of the freaks in the cultivationmunity. I just want to save some vitality for the cultivation world, so I said something fair. Your words are an insult to me!"

    Yan Fang stared coldly at Du Fei, then suddenlyughed out loud and said, "You idiot, you still don¡¯t know that he has deceived you! Moreover, do you really think that I just want to take revenge? You just misjudged me!"

    Du Fei said with a frown, "Then why did you do these things, Zhenren Yan?"

    Yan Fang suddenly pointed at Li Yundong and said loudly, "Brothers of the Tao, today I will let you know the true nature of Li Yundong."

    Zhou Qin saw Yan Fang pointing at Li Yundong and scolding him loudly. She was so angry that she trembled and gnashed her teeth. Her eyes were full of anger and hatred. In her opinion, anyone who offended Li Yundong was her enemy. She swore in her heart that she would make Yan Fang pay the price!

    Su Chan and the little foxes were also shocked and upset. They didn¡¯t know what Yan Fang was up to this time, and they didn¡¯t know what kind of price they would have to pay!

    Li Yundong looked at Yan Fang coldly and said in a deep voice, "Yan Fang, you can have an open discussion if you have something to say. I¡¯d like to see what you are going to do this time!"

    Yan Fang sneered and said, "It¡¯s hard to say who will be ying tricks!" Then, she said to the people present, "Brothers of the Tao, I admit that I hid in the Fox Zen School nine years ago and only wanted to take revenge. I wanted to destroy the Fox Zen School because of my own personal resentment!"

    When they heard this, everyone sighed secretly. It was precisely because of this grudge that the two sects had withered, almost being entirely wiped out.

    Seeing that everyone was listening to her, Yan Fang continued, "But in the third year, I identally found the secret treasure site of the Fox Zen School in Mount Tianlong. Once, I identally sneaked in and found the Heavenly Jindan Technique engraved on the rock wall by the Mystical Silver Fox!"

    Everyone was shocked. Zou Ping and Zhang Ling looked at each other and then Zou Ping immediately asked loudly, "Shishoo Yan Fang, have you memorized the Heavenly Jindan Technique?"

    Yan Fang nced at her quickly, and there was a hint of sarcasm in her eyes. She said simply, "No!"

    Zou Ping was a little annoyed by Yan Fang¡¯s gaze. She said loudly, "How is that possible! A cultivator like you can go back on your word even if you¡¯ve seen it once. Even if you didn¡¯t write it back then, you could have written it down when you got back. How could you have forgotten it?"

    Yan Fang sneered and said, "Brothers of the Tao, if the Heavenly Jindan Technique was ced in front of you, would you practice it?"

    The cultivators from all sects looked at each other in dismay. None of them spoke. As cultivators, if they saw the Heavenly Jindan Technique just in front of them, it would be absolutely impossible for them to stop cultivating. No cultivator in the world could control such a desire.

    Yan Fang saw that everyone was silent. She sneered and said, "By the way, when cultivators like us see this, we will definitely think of a way to cultivate. However, once I practice the Heavenly Jindan Technique, with Liu Ye¡¯s ability, how won¡¯t he be able to detect it? Therefore, I didn¡¯t look at it at all. I just watched it for a while and then refrained from looking at it!"

    Hearing this, everyone was shocked. They all looked at Yan Fang in shock and thought in their hearts, "Under the temptation of the Heavenly Jindan Technique, Yan Fang is actually able to resist the temptation! It can be seen how strong her mind is and how firm her will to take revenge is! Horrible, it¡¯s really terrible! Whoever has such an opponent must lose sleep over it!"

    Du Fei said at this time, "Zhenren Yan, you said you found a secret cave in Fox Zen School and found the Heavenly Jindan Technique. But what does that have to do with Zhenren Li? What does it have to do with the Fox Zen School? Everyone knows that the Mystical Silver Fox was invincible at that time, and she happened to live in the period when Mr. Chen Pu, the author of the Heavenly Jindan Technique, was around. If she wanted to get the Heavenly Jindan Technique and carve it on the stone wall of the sect, what would be strange about that?"

    Yan Fang nced at him and said with a sneer, "Zhenren Du really defends Li Yundong in all aspects. Hey! Well, when I saw the Heavenly Jindan Technique, I was so shocked that I couldn¡¯t help but look at it. But then I saw that thest two sentences were written on the stone wall by the Mystical Silver Fox."

    Everyone became curious and asked, "What did it say? Tell me quickly!"

    Yan Fang shouted, "The first line said that in the 15 years of the Tang Xunzong, the Mud-pill Master, Chen Pu, created the Heavenly Jindan Technique. This skill takes away the natural creator of heaven and earth. It is a secret treasure of cultivation. Your heart yearns for it, but you can¡¯t get it. However, you have spent more than ten years going back and forth in the Divine Land. It has been recorded here by theter Liang Qianhua for three years."

    Everyone was amazed when they heard that. Some of them whispered, "It¡¯s said that there are a few fiends in the history of the Cultivation World. The Mystical Silver Fox is one of them. I hadn¡¯t expected that the lost Heavenly Jindan Technique would be recorded by her. It¡¯s wild!"

    Li Yundong also nodded slightly. He said to Yan Fang in a deep voice, "There is indeed such a sentence, but so what? Does it exin anything?"

    Yan Fang sneered and said, "I haven¡¯t finished yet. There¡¯s one more sentence!"

    Li Yundong frowned and asked, "What else do you want to say? I didn¡¯t see anything else at that time!"

    Yan Fang sneered and said, "Are you blind? There¡¯s another sentence below!"

    Everyone then said loudly, "Zhenren Yan, say it quickly, what else is there?"

    Yan Fang sneered. "That is, although I have practiced the Heavenly Jindan Technique to the ninth level, I have vited divine punishment. I think I will experience the punishment in a few days. If I fail, my remaining soul will be divided into five parts! Therefore, the remaining Heavenly Jindan Technique is here. I hope that the heir of our Fox Zen School will seed in the future and save my soul from being scattered, allowing me to reappear in the human world!"

    When these words came out, it was as if an atomic bomb had been detonated on the spot!

    The crowd was so shocked that their faces changed greatly. Everyone suddenly stood up, and the people on the scene immediately began yelling in a great crescendo!

    "What? The Mystical Silver Fox wants to reappear in the human world?"

    "Is there such a scheme in the Fox Zen School?"

    "Zhenren Li, tell us straight. Is there really such a thing?"

    Even though Li Yundong was very calm, he was shocked and standing still. But soon he retorted angrily, "It¡¯s impossible. There¡¯s no such thing. If you don¡¯t believe me, you can go back to Mount Tianlong with me now!"

    Yan Fang sneered and said, "You didn¡¯t see it? I think you pretended not to see it! Li Yundong, don¡¯t try to deny it. You are Liu Ye¡¯s aplice. Now that he is dead, it¡¯s your turn to inherit his will. You just want to resurrect the Mystical Silver Fox, don¡¯t you?"

    As she spoke, she did not wait for Li Yundong to catch his breath. She said harshly, "Since ancient times, every Mystical Silver Fox has brought great disaster to the world. It was because of Mo Xi, the sister Daji, that the Shang dynasty was in chaos. Furthermore, because of the Mystical Silver Fox, the five generations and ten countries, as well as Buddhism and Taoism, fought fiercely against each other! We cultivators sealed the Mystical Silver Fox, but we didn¡¯t expect that you would never change your mind and still want to release it at all costs. Are you trying to destroy the world and bring disaster to the people?"

    Yan Fang¡¯s words were just too powerful. They were as forceful as a dagger being thrown into a spear. All the cultivators from various sects looked at the disciples of Fox Zen School with cold eyes.

 Chapter 510 The Immortal Fall

    <h4>Chapter 510 The Immortal Fall</h4>

    The little foxes looked at each other in horror and confusion. Su Chan was so angry that she was trembling all over and she shouted, "You¡¯re spewing nonsense. We¡¯ve never had such an idea!"

    Yan Fang was contemptuous as she sneered and said, "Of course, the thief would not announce that he¡¯s a thief!"

    Ruan Hongling also whispered to Zi Yuan with a shocked face, "Zi Yuan Shijie, this... is this real or not?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head and said, "You have been dealing with Li Yundong for so long. Don¡¯t you know what kind of person he is? He is definitely not that kind of guy. I believe him!"

    Ruan Hongling nodded as well. "I believe him too, but the problem now is... This is an issue that could offend all the cultivators in the world. What should we do? Should we help him?"

    Zi Yuan gazed at Li Yundong with aplicated look. She sighed softly and whispered, "I don¡¯t seem to have any other choice..."

    Ruan Hongling also seemed to have made up her mind at this time. She gritted her teeth and said, "Anyway, our Lingong Sect is used to being alone now. At worst, we¡¯ll be enemies with the whole world. What¡¯s so great about it!"

    After saying that, she raised her breath and tried to use her Zhenqi to protect her body from any possible changes.

    But as soon as Ruan Hongling raised her head, her face changed dramatically. She cried out in surprise, "I can¡¯t mobilize my Zhenqi anymore!"

    The cultivators of the other sects were frozen for a second by her shout. They subconsciously channeled their Zhenqi, but then they suddenly realized that the Zhenqi in their bodies was as deep as cement. No matter how hard they tried, they were unable to move as they wished!

    This was a great shock and everyone turned pale with fright. "I can¡¯t mobilize my Zhenqi either!"

    "Me too!"

    "What¡¯s going on?"

    "Have we been poisoned?"

    Everyone was there for the tea and food which had been supplied by the Gezao Sect. Hence, when they discovered that they had suddenly been poisoned, they immediately looked at Wan Zhenyuan.

    However, when they saw Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s face, pale with shock, and the anger in his eyes, they couldn¡¯t help but be stunned.

    Wan Zhenyuan said slowly to everyone, "Don¡¯t look at me, I can¡¯t mobilize my Zhenqi either!"

    The crowd suddenly burst into an uproar and asked one after another, "What¡¯s going on?"

    Zou Ping said to Zhang Ling with a pale face, "Master, can you mobilize your Zhenqi? Why do I feel tired all over?"

    Zhang Ling¡¯s face darkened. She shook her head slightly and said in a low voice, "No, my Zhenqi seems to have solidified and I can¡¯t move it at all! I feel the same as you."

    Zou Ping was both shocked and angry. "Who poisoned us? How dare they?"

    Zhang Ling looked at Zhuang Yating coldly, thenughed and said, "Who else could it be but her? Don¡¯t talk, try your best to get Qi control!" As she said this, she closed her eyes, ignoring the mess around her, and started to use her own Qi.

    When Zi Yuan and the others mobilized their Zhenqi, they also found that the Zhenqi in their bodies was as heavy as a stone weighing a thousand pounds. They couldn¡¯t mobilize it at all. Even if they did manage to, it was extremely slow, like a crawling worm.

    Zi Yuan saw that Li Yundong¡¯s eyes were closed and there was no expression on his face. She couldn¡¯t help asking, "Li Yundong, how are you feeling?"

    After a while, he opened his eyes and whispered, "Well, my Zhenqi seems to have solidified. I can¡¯t mobilize it at all."

    Zhou Qin could not help but exim, "Master, even I can use a little bit of Zhenqi. Why can¡¯t you?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s face was cold and he didn¡¯t speak. Zi Yuan suddenly thought of something and said, "Is it because the higher the cultivation, the deeper the poison? Is, is this the Immortal Fall?"

    "The Immortal Fall? What¡¯s that?" Zhou Qin, Su Chan, and the rest asked in shock.

    Zi Yuan looked at Yan Fang in surprise and said, "Hasn¡¯t the Immortal Fall been lost? How did she get it again? This poison doesn¡¯t cause much harm when it enters one¡¯s body, but it will slow down a person¡¯s blood flow and aura. Zhenqi is driven by blood and qi. If one¡¯s blood and qi are slowed, the Zhenqi will slow down too. Therefore, this poison is the nemesis of cultivators. The more high-level a person is, the deeper they will be poisoned!"

    Ruan Hongling said in surprise, "Could it be that the poison was in the tea?"

    Zhou Qin immediately said, "I didn¡¯t drink tea, but I was poisoned!"

    Beside her, Su Chan had an idea. She shouted, "I know!" The girl pointed at the incense burner that was curling with smoke and said, "That¡¯s it, right?"

    By then, most of the people hade to their senses. They had not expected that so many cultivators would fall into the hands of Song Yuqiao, a little girl!

    Everyone red at her. "Little girl, did you light the Immortal Fall?"

    Song Yuqiao trembled with fear at being red at by so many cultivators. She held her pipa and hid behind Yan Fang, not daring to show her face or speak.

    Wan Zhenyuanughed angrily and said, "I didn¡¯t expect that! Really! Yan Fang, you actually turned my disciple! Good, really good!"

    Yan Fang sneered and said, "Your disciple? Hahaha, Xiaoqiao has been my disciple since she was five. It¡¯s just that nobody knew!"

    Wan Zhenyuan was shocked. "From then on, you had been nning to set a trap?"

    Yan Fang sneered and said, "I just arranged it casually. I hadn¡¯t expected that this unintentional n would lead to such a result. Haha, it¡¯s God¡¯s will!"

    Wan Zhenyuanughed angrily and said, "Good means, really good means! However, this is a grudge between you and the Fox Zen School. Why are you involving us in it?"

    Yan Fangughed and said, "If I didn¡¯t, how could I have schemed against these evildoers from the Fox Zen School?"

    When everyone heard this, they all burst out cursing. For a time, all kinds of nderous words could be heard.

    However, Yan Fang pretended not to hear them. She snorted and said, "If the monarch does not keep secrets, he will lose his courtiers. If courtiers do not keep secrets, they will lose their jobs or even their lives, and if secret matters are not kept secret, it will cause disaster. I think you¡¯d better save some strength. The more you use your strength, the more potent the Immortal Fall will be. Be careful, or else your cultivation will be greatly reduced after the effect of the druges. If that happens, you can¡¯t me me!"

    When everyone heard this, they became angrier and angrier, but they weren¡¯t speaking loudly anymore. All of their eyes were filled with anger, but they didn¡¯t dare to say anything. They were beginning to concentrate on mobilizing their Zhenqi.

    Seeing that everyone had quieted down, Yan Fang said to Li Yundong and the others, "Li Yundong, you are now a turtle in a hole. If you have anyst words to say, say them quickly!"

    Su Chan, Zhou Qin, and the others were all furious. They red at Yan Fang, but Li Yunyang¡¯s face was calm, and he said coldly, "How is Ao Wushuang?"

    Yan Fangughed and said, "You¡¯re a y Bodhisattva crossing the river. You can¡¯t even protect yourself, but you¡¯re still thinking about that b*tch, Ao Wushuang?"

    Li Yunyang was not angry. He fixed his eyes on Yan Fang and said, "I just want to know what you¡¯ve done to her."

    Yan Fang snorted. She turned her wrist and took out a small purple bell from her bosom. Li Yundong looked at it and saw that it was about the size of a palm. It was entirely purple and carved with exquisite patterns. It was the Emperor¡¯s Clock!

    Yan Fang sneered and said, "Ao Wushuang is among them. Do you want to save her?"

    Li Yunyang nodded and said, "Since you have the Emperor¡¯s Clock, I¡¯m relieved!"

    Yan Fang was stunned, and she said with some vignce, "What do you want to do?"

    As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Li Yundong suddenly open his eyes, which were shining brightly. His body was like a fierce tiger, pouncing on Yan Fang like thunder.

    Yan Fang was so shocked that her face turned pale and she eximed, "Impossible! How can you still use Qi control?" As she spoke, she subconsciously blocked with her palms in front of her.

    The two men¡¯s palms collided with each other, and suddenly there was a loud bang. Yan Fang¡¯s body shook violently, and her whole body seemed to be hit by an electric current. As for Li Yundong, he quickly lowered himself and poked at Yan Fang¡¯s Qihai with his fingers.

    Yan Fang had suffered losses by Li Yundong¡¯s hands one after another before, and her fear of him had been rooted deep in her subconsciousness. She was numb all over because of Li Yundong¡¯s palm strength. In a short time, her reactions became slightly slower, and she was poked in the Qihai in her lower abdomen by Li Yundong¡¯s finger.

    Qihai was arge acupoint of the human body¡¯s Ren meridians. Once touched here, one¡¯s whole body would go numb and be unable to exert strength.

    Yan Fang suddenly fell to the ground softly. She looked at Li Yundong in shock and anger and said, "This is impossible. How can you still move?"

    Li Yunyang was also slightly short of breath at this time. His face was pale, but he stared at Yan Fang and did not speak.

    Seeing this, Yan Fang suddenly had a thought. Sheughed and said, "You really deserve it. You can¡¯t live. You¡¯re courting death! You even tried to struggle with Qi after being hit by my The Immortal Fall. Now, look! You¡¯re finding that you can¡¯t move at all, right?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s forehead was covered with ayer of sweat. He said coldly, "Can you move?"

    Yan Fang sneered and said, "Hum, everyone is about equal, I can barely differentiate them. But don¡¯t forget, I still have my apprentice here!"

    As she spoke, she shouted at Song Yuqiao behind her, "Xiao Qiao,e and kill this evil man!"

    Zhou Qin and Su Chan were so shocked that they wanted to stand up, especially Zhou Qin, but her bones were broken. When she tried to move, she was in so much pain that she broke out in a cold sweat and almost copsed on the spot with a snort.

    Zi Yuan was quick-witted and immediately grabbed Su Chan and Zhou Qin. She said in a low voice, "Don¡¯t do stupid things. Don¡¯t move after being hit by The Immortal Fall. You will recover after the effects of the drug. If you force yourself to move, you will be like Li Yundong, who can¡¯t move at all. Moreover, your recovery time will be greatly extended."

    Zhou Qin did not speak. She gritted her teeth as if she was enduring intense pain, and Su Chan¡¯s face was full of shock and anger. She shouted, "Am I just going to watch Yundong be killed?"

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "Don¡¯t be silly. Li Yundong has been preparing for this day. However, he wasn¡¯t expecting Yan Fang to use the poison of The Immortal Fall. He will be fine. Don¡¯t worry."

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes widened in shock. "What? Did Yundong already know that Shibo Zhuang Yating was Yan Fang?"

    Zi Yuan nodded gently and said, "That¡¯s right!"

    Su Chan and the others were shocked. They couldn¡¯t help but look at the scene.

    Zi Yuan sighed softly. "It¡¯s just that I hadn¡¯t expected the Taoist assembly to end up like this. Too many idents happened... The situation has already be chaotic and out of control."

    At that moment, the cultivators from the various sects present were closing their eyes and testing their Qi. They could hear what was going on clearly but did not have the mind to help in any way.

    "What if they move? Their cultivation will be greatly reduced in the future?"

    There were dogs snapping at each other from both sides. It was just a good time for them to watch the fire from the shore. They would not do a thing that would hurt themselves and benefit others!

    After shouting at Song Yuqiao, Yan Fang couldn¡¯t sense any movement behind her. She endured the intense pain and turned around only to see Song Yuqiao trembling all over and looking at Li Yundong with fear in her eyes. She was so timid that she didn¡¯t dare to go forward.

    Yan Fang suddenly became furious and scolded her, "Are you deaf? Come and kill this scum!"

 Chapter 511 Twice Stung!

    <h4>Chapter 511 Twice Stung!</h4>

    Hearing Yan Fang¡¯s roar, Song Yuqiao trembled with fear. Her eyelids kept twitching, and her long eyshes trembled slightly. Her eyes were full of fear. She was weak and introverted. Usually, she would have been sad for a long time just for stepping on an ant. Now, if you asked her to kill someone, she would really be scared out of her wits. What¡¯s more, the person she had killed was Li Yundong, who had shown his divine power and driven away the Japanese.

    Song Yuqiao¡¯s teeth were trembling. She looked at Li Yundong. Forgetting whether she was willing or not, or whether Li Yundong had the ability to resist her, when she just thought about Li Yundong¡¯s awe-inspiring power before, she felt her legs go weak and her whole body went limp.

    The poor little girl said in a trembling voice, "Master, I, I dare not..."

    Yan Fang was so angry that her eyebrows shot up. "B*stard, I¡¯ve taught you for such a long time. What¡¯s there to be afraid of?"

    Song Yuqiao¡¯s eyes were full of tears, shock, and fear. She said in a trembling voice, "But I don¡¯t dare! Master, he is human. How can you make me kill him?"

    Only then did Yan Fang remember that the nominal disciple she had epted was very weak. It was too hard for her to kill someone. She suppressed her anger and said softly, "Stupid disciple, this person is a great viin. If you kill him, you will save many people, including you and your master. You will be bringing justice to the perpetrators on the behalf of heaven. Not only will everyone in the world not me you, but you yourself will even thank you."

    Song Yuqiao¡¯s parents had died when she was a child, and she had been adopted as a disciple by Yan Fang. Yan Fang was like a parent or a master to her, so her words had a great influence on her, and could be said to be as heavy as a mountain. After listening to her, Yuqiao couldn¡¯t help but be a little more courageous. She asked timidly, "Is it true, master?"

    Seeing that Song Yuqiao was moved, Yan Fang was overjoyed and continued to say softly, "Of course, it¡¯s true. When have I ever lied to you? When you kill this person, I will take you away to a ce where no one can find you. Let¡¯s live happily, okay?"

    A look of surprise appeared on Song Yuqiao¡¯s face. She asked tentatively, "Master, are you serious? You, you won¡¯t leave me again?"

    Yan Fang sighed softly and said, "Silly girl, how could I leave you alone? I was forced to do so before. Think about it, if your beloved man were taken away, would you want to take revenge? If you found such a big conspiracy, would you want to stop them and save the world?"

    Song Yuqiao thought very seriously. She bit her red lips hard with her snow-white teeth, and it seemed that there was a fight going on between heaven and earth in her mind.

    Su Chan, Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin and the others looked at Song Yuqiao nervously, waiting for this weak little girl to make the decision.

    Song Yuqiao¡¯s eyes were fixed on Yan Fang. After hesitating for a long time, she suddenly gritted her teeth. She took the golden hairpin from her hair, clenched her hands, and walked toward Li Yundong, trembling all over.

    Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin eximed at the same time, "Stop!" "No!" "How dare you!"

    The little foxes also eximed at the same time, "Don¡¯t kill him! Master is the best person in the world. Don¡¯t kill him. Kill us if you want to!"

    Hearing their shouts, Song Yuqiao couldn¡¯t help trembling and stood still again. She looked at Su Chan and the others, only to see them looking back at her in horror and pleading, as if they themselves would rather die than Li Yundong.

    Song Yuqiao hesitated for a moment. As soon as she hesitated, Yan Fang behind her said loudly, "What are you hesitating over? These are all fox demons. They can do nothing but bring disasters to the world. Do you want to watch the world be in chaos? Do you want to be the one helping the wicked? In the future, when the world is in chaos and the people suffer, you¡¯ll be to me!"

    Song Yuqiao was shocked. She gritted her teeth, looked away, and walked toward Li Yundong.

    Song Yuqiao walked up to him. She lowered her head and said in a crying voice, "You, you mustn¡¯t me me. I don¡¯t want to do it!" As she spoke, she raised the golden hairpin up high.

    For a moment, the people who were controlling their Qi couldn¡¯t help opening their eyes wide. They couldn¡¯t believe that Li Yundong, who could dispel even the Mahamayuri, would die at the hands of such a weak girl.

    Everyone saw the golden hairpin: long, thin, and extremely sharp. The sharp tip reflected the dazzling light with the help of the sunshine outside the building. For a moment, everyone¡¯s eyes were dazzled.

    Song Yuqiao, trembling all over, held the golden hairpin and was about to jab it forward. But at this time, her eyes couldn¡¯t help but meet Li Yundong¡¯s. She saw him staring at her. There was no hatred or anger in his eyes. Instead, they were very soft and full of sympathy.

    This kind of gaze was like warm sea water, wrapping Song Yuqiao up tightly. She couldn¡¯t help but think, "Why, why doesn¡¯t he hate me? Why does he look at me with such eyes?"

    Song Yuqiao said in a panic, "Why are you looking at me?"

    Li Yundong smiled, sighed, and said, "How do you know I¡¯m looking at you if you won¡¯t look at me?"

    Song Yuqiao immediately looked away in horror. "I won¡¯t look at you anymore. Don¡¯t look at me!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "It¡¯s not me. It¡¯s your heart! Even if you look away, it¡¯s useless because you can¡¯t face your own heart. You don¡¯t believe that I¡¯m a bad person, do you?"

    This sentence hit Song Yuqiao like lightning. Her whole body trembled, and she couldn¡¯t help but open her mouth wide. She shouted loudly in her heart, "He would rather withdraw from the Taoist assembly by himself than take the Immortal Pen. He would also take responsibility for his disciples. He was forced to lose the qualification to participate in thepetition by everyone, and he didn¡¯t say any evil words. Instead, he turned the tide at the critical moment. Could such a responsible, brave man be a bad person? Could he be a bad person with such a gentle and kind look?

    Song Yuqiao stood still like a statue. Behind her, Yan Fang couldn¡¯t see her expression, but her heart suddenly thumped, and she couldn¡¯t help shouting, "Xiaoqiao, don¡¯t listen to his demonic words, they¡¯re meant to confuse the public! This person is best at enchanting people¡¯s minds! You have to control yourself, so many people are waiting for you to save them!"

    Song Yuqiao couldn¡¯t help but turn back to look at Yan Fang, and then turned to look at Li Yundong. Suddenly, the golden hairpin in her hand fell to the ground with a tinkle. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed, "Master, I can¡¯t do it. I really can¡¯t do it! I¡¯m sorry!" As she said this, she quickly ran downstairs.

    Yan Fang was furious and shouted, "Useless thing,e back! Come back quickly!" But no matter how she shouted, Song Yuqiao didn¡¯t look back. Only Yan Fang¡¯s angry roars echoed in the small building.

    Only then did Su Chan and the others let out a sigh of relief. Ruan Hongling sneered and said, "Humph, let¡¯s see if Yan Fang has any tricks up her sleeve!"

    After Zi Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, she closed her eyes and said in a low voice, "Don¡¯t talk. Focus on your Qi control!"

    Ruan Hongling looked around only to see that everyone upstairs had closed their eyes and was controlling their Qi silently. At this time, whoever could recover first would be the strongest master in the field, the one with power of life and death!

    Even Yan Fang had suppressed her anger and stopped talking. She closed her eyes and concentrated on controlling her breath. A thought came to Ruan Hongling¡¯s mind. She whispered to Zi Yuan, "Zi Yuan Shijie, what if someonees here at this time?"

    Zi Yuan didn¡¯t open her eyes. She just said, "The Immortal Fall in this censer is still a little bit special. If you smell it, your cultivation will be reduced to its lowest level. You can¡¯t control Qi, and you¡¯ll be even worse than an ordinary person who hasn¡¯t the strength to tie a chicken. But if an ordinary persones at this time, it will be terrible, because ordinary people won¡¯t be affected by the Immortal Fall."

    Hearing this, Ruan Hongling immediately closed her eyes. She thought to herself, "If an ordinary person came and killed everyone here with a steel knife, that would be the most ridiculous thing in the world! I can¡¯t die at the hands of an ordinary person!"

    At this time, everyone upstairs was focused on their Qi control. The atmosphere was dull and quiet, and the originally elegant building had turned as silent as a cemetery, which was bloodcurdling.

    All the cultivators upstairs were motionless, like stone statues. The air around them seemed to have solidified as well. Only the Immortal Fall that was lit by censers were slowly burning, emitting wisps of faint smoke that spread in all directions.

    Time passed bit by bit. The sky slowly changed from bright gold to a dim blue, darkening bit by bit.

    Far away from the garden building, a person hiding in the corner of the dark alley couldn¡¯t help but say to an old man next to him, "Master Puren, it¡¯s almost dark. How long will we have to wait?"

    Master Puren of Xiyuan Temple was dressed in ordinary clothes. He lowered his eyes, as if he was standing in meditation, and whispered, "Fakong, why are you in such a hurry? The Great Devil hasn¡¯t taken action yet, so we naturally can¡¯t move either!"

    Fakong looked a little anxious. "But how long will it take?"

    Puren smiled slightly. He opened his eyes and said, "When the great devil can¡¯t help but take action, we¡¯ll naturally activate the Bafang Killing Formation and subdue this great devil!"

    Fakong took a deep breath and asked, "And what if he doesn¡¯t take action?"

    Pren smiled and closed his eyes again. He put his palms together devoutly and chanted Buddha¡¯s name. "Amitabha. If he doesn¡¯t do it today, he will do it sooner orter!"

    Fakong had no choice but to calm down again. He put his palms together and silently recited the scripture.

    After an unknown period of time, the Immortal Fall in the incense burner on the small building suddenly dimmed. This peerless poisonous smoke, which had made many cultivators surrender, was finally used up.

    Just as thest wisp of fragrance gradually dissipated in the air, two figures suddenly floated into the small building.

    The two of them stood side by side. Their figures were graceful under the moonlight, and their figures were alluring but one could not see their appearances clearly. The taller one quickly swept their eyes across the small building. With a slight smile, she said faintly, "Yan Fang, you didn¡¯t expect that it would be like this today, did you?"

    The one next to her gnashed her teeth and said with a sneer, "Junior Sister, stop thering. Kill her quickly!"

    When Yan Fang heard the voice, she immediately opened her eyes. When she fixed her eyes on the person, she was shocked. "It¡¯s you?"

 Chapter 512 A Trap Within a Trap

    <h4>Chapter 512 A Trap Within a Trap</h4>

    At this time, one of the two women standing in the field was petite but graceful. She was Liu Yuehong from the Fox Zen School, and next to her stood a charming woman, Cao Yi, who had disappeared before!

    Yan Fang was shocked when she saw them. She asked in surprise, "Why are the two of you here?" But she quickly reacted and looked at Li Yundong, gnashing her teeth. "So you already knew?"

    Li Yunyang had no expression on his face. He didn¡¯t even open his eyes and didn¡¯t speak.

    On the scene, Liu Yuehong, who was as cold as frost, said, "Yes! The leader has known it for a long time!"

    Yan Fang said loudly, "It¡¯s impossible. When did you know that I was possessed by Zhuang Yating?"

    Liu Yuehong snorted and said, "You put on a good act, but the of heaven is vast and boundless!"

    Yan Fang sneered and said, "You two and Li Yundong saw it, did you?" As she said this, she suddenly turned her head and red at Zi Yuan. She said angrily, "You must have noticed it, right?"

    Zi Yuan also opened her eyes at this time. She nodded slightly and said, "Yes, I noticed it, but Li Yundong confirmed it!"

    Yan Fang shouted angrily, "It¡¯s impossible. When did I expose myself?"

    Zi Yuan said slowly, "Thest time we went to have a meal, Li Yundong asked us to buy clothes, and you took the opportunity to show up, so I had some doubts. At that time, your Yang Spirit was extremely strong. Unless you were the host, it would have been impossible for you to have no power to retreat. So I immediately went to the ce where everyone in the Fox Zen School changed clothes and checked. At that time, everyone was outside. Only you and Cao Yi were in the changing room. By that time, I had already targeted the two of you."

    Yan Fang stared at Zi Yuan with a cold smile and her eyes were mocking.

    Zi Yuan quickly added, "Of course, I also guessed that you might have appeared on purpose to arouse our suspicion, so that all the members of the Fox Zen School would kill each other."

    Yan Fang¡¯s expression changed. She snorted and did not speak.

    Zi Yuan knew that she was right, so she said, "But what I don¡¯t understand is that you had been hiding well since then. Then one day, you suddenly appeared and led us to Mount Gezao. You also wanted to expose Li Yundong in front of everyone and kill him. Why?"

    Yan Fang stared at Zi Yuan for a long time. Suddenly, she burst intoughter and said, "Finally, there is something you don¡¯t know. Zi Yuan? It¡¯s really amazing!"

    In the face of Yan Fang¡¯s sarcasm, Zi Yuan didn¡¯t get angry. She just smiled faintly and said, "My life is limited, as well as my knowledge. It¡¯s normal that I wouldn¡¯t know everything. What¡¯s so strange about it? Shibo, don¡¯t you always think that you¡¯re scheming? Don¡¯t you want to know when Li Yundong found out that Zhuang Yating was you?"

    Yan Fang¡¯s face changed greatly, and she immediately asked, "When?"

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "When Disanxian was established, CEO Cao came to offer congrattions. When you first saw her, you were extremely shocked. Later, CEO Cao left and told us where she was going that night. She was almost killed that evening, and only we knew where she lived. So, the murderer could only be among us! At that time, Li Yundong went to the crime scene and found some evidence there. This evidence was exactly the ce where you were smart and confused for a while!"

    Yan Fang said with a sullen face, "Evidence?"

    Zi Yuanughed and said, "Although there was not much blood left, it was the same as on the bloody dress found by Su Chan in Cao Yi¡¯s room. Then Li Yundong used a method to find that the two kinds of bloodstains that were on the bloody clothes and the murder scene were different. One belonged to Cao Yi, and the other was yours!"

    Yan Fang said in surprise, "How is this possible? How did you figure it out?"

    Zi Yuan looked at Yan Fang sympathetically. She sighed slightly and said, "Shibo, you were really smart for a while! Have you forgotten that in modern society, there are things called blood tests and DNA tests?"

    Yan Fang was shocked. She opened her mouth slightly, and her face was full of disbelief. It seemed that she hadn¡¯t expected that she would make a mistake in this simple part!

    Zi Yuan sighed and said, "When the police sent the report the next day, Li Yundong knew that you and Cao Yi had gone to CEO Cao¡¯s residence at the same time, but you imed that you hadn¡¯t left. Wasn¡¯t that self-defense? You tried so hard to frame Cao Yi, but you hadn¡¯t expected that you would be killed for it, had you?"

    Yan Fang¡¯s face changed a few times. She gnashed her teeth and said, "No wonder Li Yundong appeared there again! Humph!" She looked at Cao Yi unwillingly and sneered, "You must be very proud now, right?"

    Cao Yi stared at Yan Fang coldly and said nomittally, "You¡¯re dead. What else do you want to say?"

    Liu Yuehong, who was standing to one side, was waiting for Yan Fang with anger in her eyes. She said sternly, "Shimei, need you to talk more with this kind person? How many people did she hurt? From Shijie Mo Ahshi, Ye Yu, to Zhuang Yating? Today, I will make you pay with blood!"

    After saying that, Liu Yuehong let out a fierce howl and pounced on Yan Fang angrily. Her five fingers were like hooks, as if she wanted to take out Yan Fang¡¯s heart with one hand.

    But seeing that Liu Yuehong¡¯s hand had just touched Yan Fang¡¯s body, Yan Fang suddenly moved, grabbed Liu Yuehong¡¯s arm with both hands, and twisted it hard. Then, she kicked Liu Yuehong heavily under her feet.

    Liu Yuehong hadn¡¯t expected Yan Fang to still be able to move. She immediately let out a bloodcurdling scream. With a cracking sound, her arm¡¯s bones were broken, and her body flew back like a sandbag.

    This sudden change shocked everyone present. They had not expected Yan Fang to be the first one to recover!

    The expressions of Su Chan, Zhou Qin, and the rest changed drastically. Zi Yuan¡¯s expression also suddenly darkened.

    Yan Fangughed wildly and said, "Was there anyone expecting this!?" As she said this, she looked at Li Yundong with murderous eyes. Yan Fang knew that as long as she killed him, the Fox Zen School would copse without fighting!

    Cao Yi saw him and immediately said coldly, "If you want to kill the leader, you¡¯ll have to pass this test first!"

    Yan Fang red at Cao Yi fiercely and said, "You always go against me! Hum, do you think you are so mighty? Well, let¡¯s settle the old and new grudges with you!"

    After saying that, she screamed and was about to rush forward.

    Unexpectedly, at this time, Li Yundong suddenly opened his eyes, and an extremely sharp gaze shot at Yan Fang like a sharp arrow.

    Yan Fang¡¯s heart suddenly trembled. She thought to herself, "Damn it, has this guy recovered?"

    In her subconscious, she was extremely afraid of Li Yundong and immediately gave up on the idea of going forward. She quickly thought, "It doesn¡¯t matter even if this viin recovers. As long as I get the immortal pen, even if he has great ability, he can¡¯t do anything to me!"

    Thinking of this, she suddenly stopped rushing forward. She twisted her body and rushed toward Wan Zhenyuan instead.

    At this time, Wan Zhenyuan was poisoned by the Immortal Fall, so he didn¡¯t take any precautions at all. He could only watch Yan Fang approach him and p him in the chest.

    Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s mind was like lightning, and he was crafty. He immediately understood Yan Fang¡¯s meaning, so he gathered all his strength and threw the Immortal Pen to the field.

    Then, he ran away like a wisp of smoke!

    Yan Fang sneered in her heart. Without looking at Wan Zhenyuan, she turned her head and grabbed the immortal pen. However, she saw it rolling through the air and falling to the ground with a click, and then a girl bent down and reached out to pick up the pen.

    This girl was tall and well-dressed. Who else could it be other than Ding Nan?

    Yan Fang was shocked. She hadn¡¯t expected that someone would recover. She immediately shouted with a ferocious face, "Put down the immortal pen!"

    Ding Nan¡¯s cultivation was behind Zhou Qin¡¯s, and she didn¡¯t have the help of Jindan. In particr, she didn¡¯t have the Zhuji phase, and hadn¡¯t even stepped into the threshold of cultivation, so her cultivation was the lowest there.

    However, the Immortal Fall was quite powerful and fierce. The higher one¡¯s cultivation was, the deeper they would be poisoned. On the contrary, the lower the cultivation was, the easier it would be for him or her to recover!

    Seeing the immortal pen flying toward her, Ding Nan had reached for it subconsciously, but it had immediately aroused Yan Fang¡¯s killing intent. For a moment, she was a little scared and hesitant. "Should I throw the immortal pen out or keep it as mine?"

    Unexpectedly, Zheng Yuan suddenly opened his eyes and shouted, "Ping¡¯er, run!"

    Without thinking about it, Ding Nan subconsciously turned around and ran away.

    Yan Fang was extremely angry and shouted, "Stop!" Her figure was like lightning, and in the blink of an eye, she had caught up with Ding Nan. Like a tiger catching a sheep, she grabbed Ding Nan¡¯s neck with one hand.

    At this time, only Yan Fang and Ding Nan could move, and Cao Yi, who was protecting Li Yundong, was extremely alert.

    Cao Yi was focusing on Li Yundong. As long as he was fine, even if all the people around her were dead, her face would not change.

    Seeing that Yan Fang was about to grab Ding Nan, Zheng Yuan suddenly took out a Ruyi Jade. He quickly bit his index finger and smeared the blood on the handle of the Ruyi Jade, then shouted, "Yan Fang!"

    As soon as the Ruyi Jade was stained with blood, a burst of ck Qi immediately emerged. It was horrible and ferocious, and an invisible ck fog instantly pounced on Yan Fang¡¯s body.

    Upon hearing Zheng Yuan¡¯s words, Yan Fang¡¯s heart suddenly jumped violently, as if someone was pinching it. She almost couldn¡¯t breathe and lost all her strength!

    Yan Fang lost control of her body for a moment and fell to the ground in the blink of an eye. But soon she regained her strength and got back up. She looked at Zheng Yuan in shock and anger and shouted, "What kind of magic treasure did you use?"

    Cultivators often fought with lightning and thunder. In the blink of an eye, Yan Fang almost lost control of her body at this moment. It was incredible that a cultivator like her would fall to the ground!

    If it weren¡¯t for the fact that Zheng Yuan hadn¡¯t fully recovered at this time and had no way to make it up to her, Yan Fang would have already died at this time!

    From Yan Fang¡¯s point of view, the powerful magical weapon in Zheng Yuan¡¯s hand was simply sinister and vicious. If she was caught off guard, even a Master would suffer a great loss, or even be doomed eternally!

    After Zheng Yuan shouted, his face suddenly turned snow-white, and ayer of sweat appeared on his forehead. He turned to Ding Nan and said, "Ping¡¯er, you go first, I¡¯ll drag her!"

    At this time, Ding Nan was standing on the railings on the second floor, staring at everyone present with horror and vignce. Once there was any movement, she would immediately jump over the railing and run away.

    However, Ding Nan, who was scheming, also knew that she didn¡¯t have a Zhuji phase. Even if she could escape, she couldn¡¯t get far. Holding an immortal pen, she was like a child carrying gold ingots in her arms and walking downtown. There was sure to be a disaster!

    Therefore, she was not in a hurry to escape. Instead, she pretended to be worried and shouted at Zheng Yuan, "Master, I won¡¯t leave even if you don¡¯t!"

    Zheng Yuan was greatly moved, and thest doubt he had about Ding Nan disappeared. He took a deep breath, and his snow-white face suddenly became a strange ruddy color. He sneered at Yan Fang and said, "Zhenren Yan, I¡¯m going to take this immortal pen today! If you don¡¯t want to die,e up!"

 Chapter 513 The Fight Between Two Rebel Armies

    <h4>Chapter 513 The Fight Between Two Rebel Armies</h4>

    Yan Fang hadn¡¯t expected Zheng Yuan to suddenly interfere recklessly. She immediately sneered and said, "Zheng Yuan, your powerful magical weapon is indeed useful, but do you think you can stop me?"

    Saying this, Yan Fang suddenly took out a talisman. She poured Zhenqi from all over her body into it, which immediately burned. In an instant, it turned into a ck shadow and rushed toward Ding Nan.

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s facial expression changed. He knew that this was the Liujia Yin Spirit Fu. This ck shadow had been formed from the Rancorous Soul. His magic treasure could be used to deal with living people, but it couldn¡¯t deal with such a Rancorous Soul.

    His countenance changed. He turned his eyes and immediately shouted Yan Fang¡¯s name.

    As soon as Zheng Yuan called Yan Fang¡¯s name, she immediately lost control of her whole body and fell to the ground again. She was shamed into anger and soon let out a sharp roar. The ck shadow she sent out immediately rushed toward Ding Nan even more fiercely.

    Ding Nan was so shocked that her eyes suddenly widened. Just as she was about to turn around and run away, she suddenly heard Zhou Qin shouting, "Ding Nan, do you want to die? Throw the immortal pen away quickly!"

    Ding Nan was shocked. The long-term impact left by Zhou Qin on her heart made her subconsciously throw the immortal pen in her hand out of the field.

    As soon as she threw it out, Yan Fang roared again. When the ck shadow rushed to Ding Nan, it suddenly turned around and pounced on the immortal pen.

    Ding Nan only felt a bone-chilling coldness passing in front of her, and all the hairs on her body stood up in an instant. She knew that she had just made a turn in front of the Gate of Hell. If it had not been for Zhou Qin¡¯s warning, she would have died!

    But Ding Nan had no more time to think about it before she saw the situation on the field suddenly change again!

    After the Immortal Pen was thrown by her, it happened tond in front of a Taoist priest of the Qingwei Sect, whose eyes lit up. He immediately reached out and picked up the Immortal Pen, then pinched his index fingers and pped at the Liujia Yin Spirit Fu that Yan Fang had released. He shouted, "Thunder!"

    With a loud boom, the thunder in his palm was suddenly released from his hand, turning the resentful ghost into a cloud of smoke.

    However, he was just happy for a while, and someone behind him suddenly pped him on the back, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood and the immortal pen in his hand to be dropped.

    He turned his head and saw that it was a Taoist priest from the Jinshan Sect. He took the Immortal Pen in one hand andughed wildly before he could withdraw his other hand. "The Immortal Pen! I got the Immortal Pen!"

    But as soon as he finished his words, a sh of white light suddenly came, and the immortal pen suddenly fell to the ground.

    The Taoist priest from Jinshan Sect raised his broken wrist and howled. A figure immediately swept past him and snatched away his broken hand and the immortal pen.

    When the disciples of the Jinshan Sect saw this situation, they immediately scolded, "The Donghua Sect¡¯s beast dares to sneak up on us!" After saying that, they pounced on him. The disciples of the Donghua Sect did not show any weakness and immediately pulled out their swords to fight with them.

    In just a few moments, the young cultivators from various sects on the upper floor had be engaged in a huge battle!

    At this time, Ding Nan and Yan Fang were stunned. They hadn¡¯t expected the cultivators of each sect to be so difficult to deal with. Many of them had already recovered, but they had been waiting patiently for this situation. Then they suddenly burst out and wanted to be the fisherman who would get the final catch!

    The crowd on the spot was in disarray. For a moment, the quiet, elegant building became full of sword radiance, sword shadows, and murderous aura. The cultivators of all sects, who had been calm before, looked ferocious now, and their eyes were red!

    Just when everyone present was fighting with each other, Yan Fangughed and said, "Ridiculous, it¡¯s really ridiculous! This group of people is usually full of the faces of Mr. Tao, but now they have quarreled with each other one by one. It¡¯s so ridiculous!"

    Saying this, she rushed into the crowd as fast as lightning.

    Most of these fighting cultivators were young people whose cultivation was low, but they recovered quickly. Some advanced cultivators, who forced themselves to attack, were weaker than Yan Fang, while others were barely forcing themselves to control Qi and their cultivation was greatly reduced, so how could theypete with Yan Fang?

    For a moment, Yan Fang was like a fierce tiger amongst a herd of sheep, beating everyone.

    Everyone cursed her, but there was nothing they could do about her. They could only watch helplessly as she snatched the Immortal Pen back.

    However, as soon as she got the immortal pen, before she could feel proud and use it, she heard Zheng Yuan shouting her name, "Yan Fang!"

    Yan Fang immediately fell to the ground again with a thud, and the immortal pen also fell to the ground. In the blink of an eye, it was snatched away by Zheng Yuan.

    The cultivators, who had just suffered greatly from Yan Fang, allughed wildly when they saw her fall into such a sorry state. Some of them even added insult to injury while she was down, wanting to go over and make up for it.

    Yan Fang was extremely angry. She got up and knocked the people who were close to her to the ground, then red at Zheng Yuan with extremely ferocious eyes and said, "You old b*stard, are you tired of living? Be careful that I don¡¯t burn your Mount Wuhua down!"

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He knew that Yan Fang was a hot-tempered person. Once they became enemies, it would definitely end badly. If she really did what she said, it would make it hard for him to sleep or eat.

    Since ancient times, there had only been a thousand days for one to be a thief. How could there be a thousand days for one to guard against a thief?

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s evil thoughts rose in his heart. He wanted to kill Yan Fang, but just as he was about to mobilize his Zhenqi, his breath suddenly became short and he couldn¡¯t breathe. A strange ruddy color crept over his face. His breathing became extremely rapid, and he coughed violently twice, then spat out some blood.

    Yan Fangughed and said, "You deserve it. You forced yourself to use Qi control, and now you¡¯re going to regret it! Die!" After saying that, she moved and was about to go forward.

    But as soon as she finished speaking, she heard a young man shouting coldly, "Yan Fang, you can¡¯t even protect yourself now. You¡¯d better take care of yourself!"

    When Yan Fang heard the voice, she was shocked all over. She turned her head and saw Li Yunydong looking at her with a sneer on his face, slowly walking toward her step by step.

    At this time, Yan Fang was almost scared out of her wits, and she was so regretful that her intestines almost turned green!

    Yan Fang suddenly realized that Li Yundong had not fully recovered before. He had just stared at her and dispelled her killing intent, which had made her think that he had a chance to fight back. Therefore, she had had some concerns in her heart and hadn¡¯t dared to attack Li Yundong. But now he hadpletely recovered!

    As this viin had recovered his Zhenqi, how could she fight them? She could only hate herself for not having a firm will and not decisively attacking him. Now, things had gotten tricky.

    Yan Fan thought quickly and let out a scream of unwillingness. Soon, her face became extremely ferocious and horrible, and her ck hair stood up all over her body. She said sharply, "Li Yundong, there is no end between us!"

    After that, her Yang Spirit went out of her body in an instant, and her originally ferocious and sad face suddenly froze. Her body fell to the ground like a stone, and her Yang Spirit turned into a blue light and quickly shot out of the small building.

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes widened and he shouted, "Where are you running!" He immediately went out of his body with his Yang Spirit and chased after her with the burning thumb pot!

    In this small building, Li Yundong, who had recovered the fastest, left with Yan Fang in a blink of an eye. For a moment, everyone¡¯s eyes were fixed on Zheng Yuan, who was holding the immortal pen. Before long, they shouted in unison and rushed at Zheng Yuan like crazy.

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s face changed greatly. He gritted his teeth, pointed to the people at the front, and shouted their names.

    Immediately, the bodies of these people shook violently. Zheng Yuan¡¯s powerful magical weapon was the apparition-taking soul. If he shouted the other party¡¯s name, the ghost in the Jade would instantly jump into their body to hook their soul.

    If the other party¡¯s cultivation was profound and his Neidan was dense and condensed, the ghost would not be able to hook the other party¡¯s soul. It could only temporarily cause the other party¡¯s essence to pause, allowing the other party to suffer the effect of falling and losing the ability to resist.

    If this person¡¯s foundation wasn¡¯t deep enough, then his three transcendentponents and the seven materialponents of their human soul would immediately be lured out of them by the ghost. In the blink of an eye, he would be killed by Zheng Yuan¡¯s magical item!

    After Zheng Yuan shouted the names of these people, they fell to the ground like wooden stakes. Their faces turned pale, and in the blink of an eye, they dropped dead.

    Among the people who had fallen to the ground, a mass of colorful Qi was pulled out of their bodies by a mass of ck Qi, and then rushed toward Zheng Yuan¡¯s Jade Ruyi. As soon as the Jade Ruyi lured back these people¡®s three transcendentponents and seven material, the ck Qi around it immediately increased, as if it had swallowed the other party¡¯s three souls and seven spirits, and its power had increased greatly.

    When everyone saw this, they were immediately shocked!

    Someone pointed at Zheng Yuan in horror and scolded harshly, "Zheng Yuan, you actually refined such a sinister powerful magical weapon privately? Aren¡¯t you afraid of retribution?"

    "Zheng Yuan, do you want to die? You actually used such a dirty magical weapon. Aren¡¯t you afraid of the Heavenly Strike?"

    "You actually killed my fellow disciples. Zheng Yuan, the Jinshan Sect won¡¯t let you off!"

    Zhou Qin looked at the Magic Treasure in Zheng Yuan¡¯s hand in horror. She said in fear, "What kind of magical weapon is this? Why is it so powerful? People died as soon as the name was called by Zheng Yuan?"

    Zi Yuan was also shocked with a hint of fear in her eyes. She said, "Is this the Wuzhang Enchanting Jade? Wasn¡¯t this magical weapon destroyed in the Ming Dynasty Zhengde Period? How could it have been refined again?"

    Su Chan looked at Zheng Yuan in horror, fearing that if she turned her head and called out her name, she would die. She said in a trembling voice, "How could there be such an evil magical weapon in the world? If it fell into evil people¡¯s hands and someone kept calling people¡¯s names to hook their souls within 50 feet, the magical weapon would be stronger and stronger. One day, the power of this weapon would exceed the power of the strongest person in the cultivation world. At that time, if anyone was called by someone holding the magical weapon, she or he would die! Who could stand up to this?"

    Ruan Hongling also looked at Zheng Yuan with a pale face. "Fortunately, Zheng Yuan was poisoned by the Immortal Fall at this time. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable! If he was not poisoned, I¡¯m afraid that even if Celestial Master Zhang Tiansh¨© of the Zhengyi School came, he would not dare to confront Zheng Yuan face to face. He could only retreat and run away! This magical weapon was known to be invincible within 50 feet in the period of Zheng De! I thought it was bragging, I never imagined it to be so horrible now!"

    The girls were shocked by Zheng Yuan¡¯s magical weapon, and so were the cultivators of other sects. Even Zhang Ling, who had always been hot-tempered and jealous of evil, suddenly opened her eyes and looked at Zheng Yuan with horror and anger. She dared not speak, fearing that Zheng Yuan would shout her name in rage!

    Zheng Yuan saw that everyone was ring at him. Most of them were angry but dared not speak. No one dared to go forward.

    Zheng Yuanughed wildly. He waved his sleeves, grabbed the immortal pen with one hand, and quickly rushed over to Ding Nan. He shouted, "Let¡¯s go!" Then he turned into a mass of ck smoke and left the small building in the blink of an eye.

    Zheng Yuan was taking Ding Nan away, but no one dared to chase him. After flying for a long time, he finally returned to his own cave in Mount Wuhua. As soon as hended on the ground, he knelt down and spat out a mouthful of blood.

    Ding Nan was shocked and hurriedly asked, "Master, are you okay?"

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s face was as white as a piece of paper. Heughed bitterly, raised his trembling hand, and said to Ding Nan, "Come on, get the Nine Revolutions Rejuvenating Pill. It¡¯s in the No. 7 purple bottle in the third row of the closet!" After that, he spat out another mouthful of blood.

    Ding Nan knew that this was the result of Zheng Yuan¡¯s forceful Qi control before. She immediately got up and hurriedly found the pill. But when she walked back to Zheng Yuan¡¯s side, she saw the white hair and ruddyplexion of an old man lying on the ground and spitting out blood. His back was turned to her, defenseless. Ding Nan¡¯s heart suddenly jumped, and a bold idea suddenly came to her.

    "Now he has the Immortal Pen, the Wuzhang Enchanting Jade, and I also have the Threaded Hairpin of Soul Traversal!"

    "As long as I kill this lecherous old man, with these three magical weapons in my hands, I will be invincible. Will Li Yundong still look down on me then?"

    Thinking of this, Ding Nan¡¯s heart suddenly beat violently!

 Chapter 514 A Hex?

    <h4>Chapter 514 A Hex?</h4>

    As soon as this thought came to Ding Nan¡¯s mind, her heart suddenly started beating wildly, as if it would jump out of her throat in the next second.

    Desire was like a demon. It was hard for it to go when it came.

    Especially when Ding Nan saw Zheng Yuan turn his back to her weakly and coughing up blood, she gritted her teeth and clenched her fists.

    Her hand touched the Threaded Hairpin of Traversing Soul by her waist. When she was about to grip it, she suddenly noticed that although Zheng Yuan had his back to her, one of his hands had been tightly holding the Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade and not letting go.

    Ding Nan suddenly thought of something. "No, this old pervert has always been scheming and is wary of me everywhere. What¡¯s more, he¡¯s always had a backup n Zhuji phase. If I fail to kill him, it will be death for me! What¡¯s more, even if I kill him now, I¡¯m not at the Zhuji phase, so I can¡¯t use these three powerful magical weapons. In the end, maybe the other people of the Yin Yang Sect will take advantage of this opportunity to rob me!"

    No, it was not the time to kill this lecher!

    In an instant, Ding Nan made a decision. Such a violent psychological activity was only a matter of a moment. She quickly left the Threaded Hairpin of Traversing Soul and bent down to help Zheng Yuan stand up. She poured the medicine into her palm and fed it to Zheng Yuan.

    After Zheng Yuan took the divine pill, he ran out of Qi for a while, and there was a trace of normal blood on his face. He took a deep breath, nced at Ding Nan with a meaningful look, and said, "Ping¡¯er, if you had any evil intentions just now, I¡¯m afraid you wouldn¡¯t have survived!"

    Ding Nan¡¯s heart suddenly trembled, and she said in her heart, "He¡¯s so dangerous. This old pervert is indeed on guard!"

    Ding Nan was shrewd and didn¡¯t show any fear on her face, but cried angrily, "I didn¡¯t expect you to still be wary of me at this time. Is there no meaning to being your disciple?" After that, she got up and was about to leave.

    Zheng Yuan quickly pulled her back with an apologetic smile and said softly, "Good disciple, ever since you got into this woman¡¯s body, your temperament has changed greatly. It¡¯s inevitable for me to have some concerns in my heart! This time you did a good job, and I¡¯m very touched. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t have any doubts about you in the future!"

    Ding Nan¡¯s acting skills were excellent. She cried bitterly and said, "You said thatst time, but in the end, you still suspect me!"

    Zheng Yuan quickly promised her, "If my words are false, I¡¯ll be struck by lightning!"

    Ding Nan wiped her tears and asked tentatively, "Really?"

    Zheng Yuan nodded vigorously and said, "Absolutely! Don¡¯t you trust me, Ping¡¯er?"

    Ding Nan then turned her anger into joy, broke into tears and said with a smile, "Ping¡¯er naturally trusts you. Today, you have shown great power and snatched the immortal pen. Congrattions!"

    But soon Ding Nan said with a worried face, "But Master, aren¡¯t you afraid of offending all the cultivation sects in the world because of this? What if these peoplee to Mount Wutai?"

    Zheng Yuan said proudly, "With the Wuzhang Enchanting Jade and the Immortal Pen in my hand, who in the world can be my opponent? Why should I be afraid of them? What¡¯s more, the Cultivation World is in chaos now. How can they find the time to make trouble for me? When Ie out after ten days of closed-door meditation, I will be invincible in the world!"

    Ding Nan said with a smile, "Then I¡¯d like to congratte you in advance. At that time, You¡¯ll show the power of the Yin-Yang Sect!"

    Zheng Yuanughed out loud, while Ding Nan smiled charmingly from one side. However, her eyes were constantly shing with a hint of coldness.

    Meanwhile, after Wan Zhenyuan had escaped from the small building, he had immediately taken a spirit pill and quickly rushed into the backyard.

    Wan Zhenyuan rushed into the room angrily, suppressed his anger, and said, "Liu Ye, what¡¯s going on? Why did everything turn out like this? Didn¡¯t you say that everything was under your control?"

    Liu Ye, the former head of the Fox Zen School, was standing by the carved wooden window and looking at the dark sky. He smiled and said, "Yes, everything is under control!"

    Wan Zhenyuan said angrily, "Bullsh*t! Even I fell into the trap of the Immortal Fall. The Taoist assembly has be a joke. Zheng Yuan took away the Immortal Pen. Is this also under your control?"

    Liu Yeughed and said, "I know all of Yan Fang¡¯s ns. She suspected that I wasn¡¯t dead, so she tried to lure me out. Last time, in the Gezao Sect, she attacked Li Yundong because she wanted to lure me out. This time, in the Taoist assembly, if you were not the Immortal Fall, how would Yan Fang have believed that you were an outsider who didn¡¯t know anything? How could you have evaded the suspicion of all the sects in the future?"

    Wan Zhenyuan was both shocked and angry. "You even schemed against me?"

    Liu Ye smiled and said, "I had no choice!"

    Wan Zhenyuan was about to lose his temper, but he managed to restrain himself. He suppressed his anger and said, "Well, even if what you said makes sense, what about the Immortal Pen? How can you watch Zheng Yuan take away the Immortal Pen? Don¡¯t you see that he has the Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade in his hand? Now that he also has the Immortal Pen, can you imagine how powerful he will be?"

    Liu Ye smiled disdainfully. "How powerful can a cultivator who relies on his magic treasure to dominate the world be? When the silver foxes back to life, he won¡¯t be worth mentioning at all!"

    Wan Zhenyuan said angrily, "Bullsh*t! When you resurrect the Mystical Silver Fox, he will kill all of us and dominate the world!"

    Liu Yeughed and said, "Don¡¯t worry, Master Wan. Haven¡¯t you noticed that his disciple has a heart-to-heart rtionship with him?"

    Wan Zhenyuan was stunned and said, "How do you notice that?"

    Liu Ye sneered and said, "There are two possibilities for letting Zheng Yuan escape. One is that he wants to dy the enemy and let Ding Nan escape. The other is that he wants Ding Nan to be the target of everyone so that she can be a scapegoat. With Zheng Yuan¡¯s personality, he would definitely not do anything harmful to himself, so he must want his disciple to die so that he can benefit from it."

    Wan Zhenyuan said with a cold face, "But his disciple didn¡¯t run away at all. Instead, she stayed very loyal. Zheng Yuan was deeply touched because of this!"

    Liu Yeughed and said disapprovingly, "Master Wan, in general, you are smart and resourceful. I hadn¡¯t expected you to be so confused at this time! Didn¡¯t you see that when Zheng Yuan¡¯s disciple heard that Zheng Yuan asked her to run away, she subconsciously did so? But she soon stopped, which means that she soon understood Zheng Yuan¡¯s intention. If she is really loyal to Zheng Yuan at this time, she should run away immediately and lead everyone away. But she didn¡¯t do that, instead, she said something seemingly loyal. Hey, Zheng Yuan¡¯s disciple is really scheming!"

    "If my guess is right, Zheng Yuan will definitely test his apprentice again when he returns. If he finds that his apprentice had the intention of taking advantage of his serious injuries to offend him, he will definitely kill her. But if his disciple can escape that, Zheng Yuan will definitely be in great trouble!"

    Wan Zhenyuan was moved when he heard that. He said, "Liu Ye, you¡¯re indeed an old fox. You¡¯re so meticulous and perceptive that you seem to have seen everything happen with your own eyes! But why do you say that Zheng Yuan¡¯s apprentice will be in great danger if he can hold back?"

    Liu Ye snorted and said, "This woman has a scheming look on her face. The look in her eyes is exactly the same as that of Mo Ashi, who was incarnated by Yan Fang. I have lived with Yan Fang for nine years, so how could I not see that? This disciple of Zheng Yuan is so patient that she must have a great n. As long as she can endure this, Zheng Yuan will definitely be unprepared for her! And when a man can¡¯t guard against the most beautiful woman beside him, he is usually in danger!"

    Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s anger turned to joy. Heughed and said, "Awesome, really amazing! I hope it¡¯ll be as you said. If the Immortal Pen and the Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade fall into this woman¡¯s hands, I will be much more relieved!"

    Liu Ye smiled and said, "That¡¯s not for sure. I saw that this woman had an excellent aptitude and was good material for cultivation. If Zheng Yuan passed his cultivation to her, she might be even more powerful than him!"

    Wan Zhenyuan snorted and said with a sneer, "Zheng Yuan is a smiling tiger with a knife behind his grin. He has always been selfish and self-centered. If he does such a thing, he will exhaust his disciple¡¯s True Energy!" Then he said impatiently, "Let¡¯s not talk about them. How about Yan Fang? That woman always spoils our business. What should we do?"

    Liu Ye smiled confidently and said, "Didn¡¯t Li Yundong catch up with her? With his cultivation quotient and strength, how could Yan Fang escape his clutches even if she fled to the ends of the earth?"

    Wan Zhenyuan sighed and said, "It¡¯s better like this. Otherwise, it would be very bad for that crazy woman to be entangled all the time!"

    Liu Ye¡¯s eyes suddenly became very deep. He looked at the dark sky and said slowly, "Don¡¯t worry, the sky is about to change!"

    While Liu Ye and Wan Zhenyuan were having a talk in private, Kris, John, and Alba were listening to the Dongwu Pingtan on the yacht and admiring the beautiful night view of Dongwu City.

    Alba leaned against the antique bamboo railing, sighed softly, and said, "What a beautiful night scene. I was bullied during the day, but now I¡¯m on a sightseeing boat at night. I didn¡¯te to China for nothing."

    John was also enjoying the night view, which was brightly lit and had the vor of an old city. He suddenly said in surprise, "Alba, do you want to go back?"

    Alba looked at him with a strange expression. "Do you still want to stay here? Haven¡¯t you been humiliated enough by that Chinese?"

    John Doe immediately lowered his face and muttered, "Maybe it¡¯s really hard to be apprenticed in China. I think... I shouldn¡¯t give up like this. Zhou Qin is right. We should be able to take the test! Besides, Master is quite capable. We can¡¯t expect him to casually teach us."

    Alba released augh. She pressed down on her forehead and shook her head. "You really are crazy, John! You still won¡¯t give up!" With this, she said to Kris next to her, "Hey, Kris, what do you think?"

    At this time, Kris was sitting by the window. She was turning her head to look at the beautiful scenery outside the window, looking at the bright lights all around. The cool night wind blew at her long blonde hair, making her look particrly beautiful. Many people on the boat were secretly looking at her.

    When Kris heard Alba¡®s words, she turned her head, sighed softly, and said, "I also think John is right. We came all the way here, and we can¡¯t give up easily. What¡¯s more... Zhou Qin¡¯s words are very reasonable. How could there be anything in the world that could seed without experiencing trials and setbacks? I think... this is the suffering that God gives us!"

    Alba released a bitter cry. "You two are both crazy! Forget it, you two can be nuts together. I don¡¯t want to go crazy, I have to go back! Moreover, are you really determined to change your nationality? Do you have anyst words that you want me to take back to your families?"

    While she was speaking, she suddenly saw that Kris¡¯s eyes had gone wide open as she looked behind her.

    Alba asked in confusion, "What¡¯s going on behind me?"

    Kris stammered, "Eleven o¡¯clock behind you... The table just now clearly didn¡¯t have anyone at it! Why is there suddenly another person?!"

    Alba had a rough personality, so she naturally wouldn¡¯t notice if there was anyone in the seat behind her. She looked back and saw a woman there with her back to her. She smiled and said, "Maybe someone from the next table sat there."

    At this time, John turned his head and looked over. He said strangely, "That¡¯s not right. I remember there were only five people there. Why are there six people now?"

    Albaughed and said, "Could it be that not only are there people singing on this yacht, there are also people who can magically turn up?" However, as soon as she finished her words, her eyes popped out, and she turned her head to look in the direction behind her with an expression as if she had seen a ghost.

    Kris and John were also stunned to find that another man had appeared in front of the woman who had suddenly appeared, and this man was none other than Li Yundong!

 Chapter 515 No Way Out

    <h4>Chapter 515 No Way Out</h4>

    Yan Fang¡¯s Yang Spirit fled away as fast as the wind, and Li Yundong¡¯s Yang Spirit chased after it tightly.

    No matter how hard Yan Fang¡¯s Yang Spirit tried to escape, she couldn¡¯t escape Li Yundong. She wanted to turn into countless doppelgangers and flee in all directions, but just as she was about to move, Li Yundong flicked the burning thumb pot with his finger.

    Yan Fang was shocked. She knew that the Burning Thumb pot had been specially designed to absorb Lingqi. The reason why it wasn¡¯t absorbing her Lingqi now was that she had a strong Yang Spirit aura which was as condensed as steel. The Burning Thumb Pot couldn¡¯t absorb it at all.

    However, if her Yang Spirit turned into thousands of avatars, it would be equivalent to shattering a piece of ice into countless pieces. The burning thumb pot could easily suck away the incarnations of her Yang Spirit!

    Yan Fang wouldn¡¯t dare to try it again. She wanted to run downtown, but Li Yundong blocked her way. She wanted to run farther, but she couldn¡¯t escape his palm. Desperately, she suddenly had a thought and went onto a yacht. This time, Li Yundong didn¡¯t stop her and followed her onto the yacht.

    Yan Fang sat in her seat, motionless. She sneered and whispered, ¡°Li Yundong, do you want to fight here?¡±

    As soon as he sat down, he found that Kris, John, and Alba were staring at him in shock. He was slightly stunned but soon retracted his gaze as if he hadn¡¯t seen them. He said, ¡°Yan Fang, you have no way to escape. Surrender! Hand over Ao Wushuang and swear that you won¡¯t work against the Fox Zen School anymore. I¡¯ll let you live for the sake of Ziyuan.¡±

    Yan Fang sneered and said, ¡°You must be dreaming!¡±

    Li Yundong sighed and shook his head slightly, ¡°You really won¡¯t repent? Then don¡¯t me me for being cruel!¡±

    Yan Fang sneered and said, ¡°I want to see how you fight with so many people here.¡±

    Li Yundong smiled slightly. He didn¡¯t move, but his fingers pinched a spell out under the table. Suddenly, colorful balls in the sky exploded one after another. They were colorful and dazzling as if thousands of flowers were blooming in the night.

    The travelers on the yacht didn¡¯t notice Li Yundong and Yan Fang at all except Kris, John, and Alba. They suddenly saw the fire outside and the colorful meteors all over the sky and immediately stood up in surprise, walking to the deck of the yacht and pointing at the sky with a smile.

    For a moment, the cabin of the yacht became almost empty. Only Li Yundong and Yan Fang looked at each other coldly, and the three others, Klis, John, and Alba, stared at them with wide-open eyes.

    The little girl who had sung the Pingtan on the yacht saw that the people in the cabin had suddenly run out to watch the fireworks. No one was listening to her Pingtan, so she had immediately be dispirited and ended the song hastily.

    Li Yundong nced at the little girl in Qipao holding a pipa and found that she wanted to stand on her feet to wear her coat and was no longer singing a song. He said, ¡°Could you sing another song for me?¡±

    The little girl was stunned and said, ¡°You should pay more for that.¡±

    Li Yundong nodded and said, ¡°Okay!¡±

    The little girl beamed. ¡°Sir, what do you want to hear?¡±

    Li Yundong nced at Yan Fang lightly. ¡°No Way Go Out!¡±

    Seeing that Li Yundong was not taking her seriously, Yan Fang was so angry that her lungs almost burst. However, she was extremely afraid of Li Yundong¡¯s strength in her mind, but she did not dare to lose her temper for fear that he would suddenly attack her.

    When the little girl heard that Li Yundong had actually asked to hear the ¡°No Way Go Out¡± song, she immediately smiled bitterly and said, ¡°Sir, I¡¯m a singer of Pingtans, not a yer of them.¡±

    Li Yundong asked, ¡°You don¡¯t know how to y?¡±

    The little girl saw Li Yundong¡¯s imposing manner and deep temperament. He was young and handsome, and when he spoke, there was a hint of arrogance in his tone, which could not be questioned. Obviously, he was not an ordinary person. She didn¡¯t want Li Yundong to look down on her, so she said, ¡°I can y it, but...¡±

    Li Yundong interrupted her and said, ¡°You need more money? Well, I will pay!¡±

    The little girl said doubtfully, ¡°Then, can you give it to me ahead of time?¡±

    Li Yundong touched his pocket and suddenly frowned. He remembered that his Yang Spirit was out of his body, penniless.

    ¡°Li Yundong, I¡¯ll pay for you!¡± said Kris beside him, immediately taking out a few bank notes from her pocket to the little girl. ¡°Consider this his payment. Is it enough?¡±

    The little girl took a look at the notes and immediately snatched them away. She quickly hid them, as if she was afraid that Kris would regret it. Her face was full of smiles, and she thought to herself, ¡°This little brother is beautiful and generous, but there is such a beautiful foreign girl who wants to help him pay. Ah, I really don¡¯t know what kind of background he has! If I could marry a wealthy guy, then I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about finances for the rest of my life!¡±

    The little girl¡¯s mind made blind and disorderly conjectures, but she didn¡¯t dare to dy. She spared no efforts and began to y ¡°No Way Go Out¡±, one of the top ten ssical songs in China!

    Although the girl was a little greedy, she was good at kung fu. She lowered her eyes and soon got into the mood of ying. She flicked her fingers, and a string ofpact and intense notes quickly jumped out. The tension and intense atmosphere of the first song, ¡®No Way Go Out¡¯, suddenly arose.

    John and Kris, who had been watching the fun from one side, couldn¡¯t help but follow the music and suddenly became nervous.

    Only Alba sneered in a carefree manner. ¡°Kris, are you crazy? You¡¯re paying the bill for a chauvinist like him? You¡¯re humiliating us feminists!¡±

    Kris didn¡¯t look at her, only saying softly, ¡°Why do I feel like there¡¯s something wrong with the two of them?¡±

    John also red at Kris and said, ¡°Alba, if you don¡¯t want to take him as your master, I¡¯ll have him! Shut up!¡±

    Alba sneered and said, ¡°Oh, John, I think you¡¯d better think of a good Chinese name before you change your nationality. I have several good names to rmend to you. I¡¯ve learned some Chinese in the past two days. What do you think of... Ma, a tterer?¡±

    John instantly became furious. He turned his head and wanted to argue with Alba, but Kris quickly kicked John under the table and said, ¡°John, shut up!¡±

    He stared at Alba and was so angry that he was sick of the sight of her. Alba made a face at John and muttered in a low voice, ¡°You¡¯re really crazy. You have to change your nationality after being apprenticed to a master? If I were you, I would...¡±

    While she was mid-sentence, Li Yundong suddenly sighed and said to Yan Fang, ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡±

    After that, he turned his hand and reached out to grab Yan Fang.

    Yan Fang¡¯s face changed, and her body immediately changed from a Yang Spirit to a Yin Spirit. She seemed to have prated the chair behind her and wanted to escape in an instant.

    However, Li Yundong snorted and moved like a shadow. In the blink of an eye, he appeared behind Yan Fang and hit her on the head with his palm.

    He moved so fast that it was as if Yan Fang had bumped into his palm.

    Yan Fang also saw her opportunity. In an instant, her figure became only the size of a hand. She twisted her body and jumped out of the window.

    Li Yundong smiled coldly. He pointed at the window and saw that there were many tiny vines growing out of the woven window, making a slight hissing sound. A small was woven out of the vines. The was surrounded by blue light, waiting for Yan Fang to fall into it.

    Yan Fang immediately turned her head and rushed to another window. Li Yundong did the same thing and used wood magic as he wished. Soon, tiny vines grew out of the window of the boat quickly and weaved into more smalls.

    Yan Fang had no choice but to show her true figure again. She ground her teeth in anger and rushed back to Li Yundong. Her ferocious eyes seemed to say, ¡°If you won¡¯t let me live, you can¡¯t live either!¡±

    Yan Fang was fierce and her fingers were like hooks. Li Yundong slightly leaned to one side and avoided her grab. He put one of his hands on her wrist and pulled her back to her original position with a little force, then whispered, ¡°Sit down!¡±

    Yan Fang felt a huge force pushing down on her. She couldn¡¯t help bending her knees and sitting on the chair.

    As soon as she sat down, the chair under her creaked, and many vines burst out, winding around her one by one.

    Seeing that she was going to be caught, Yan Fang immediately took a deep breath and wanted to shout loudly to attract the attention of others. In this way, Li Yundong would not dare to use the magic so unscrupulously.

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes were sharp and his hands were quick. He immediately pped Yan Fang with his palm, and a stream of Zhenqi pressed down on her like a huge wave.

    Yan Fang suddenly felt suffocated. As soon as she opened her mouth, she felt a gust of wind rushing inside. Let alone shout, she couldn¡¯t even breathe.

    She immediately coughed twice and her index fingers quickly touched. Her finger tapped a vine on her body, and the vine immediately ignited itself and broke with a snap.

    Yan Fang struggled with all her might to free herself.

    As soon as she got free, she exerted force in an almost impossible ce. Under the table, her leg flew up and kicked at Li Yundong¡¯s lower abdomen.

    This kick was sinister and cunning, done without any warning. Under the cover of the table, it was really invisible and impossible to defend against. If it had been another person, they would have been hit immediately.

    However, as soon as Li Yundong felt a strong wind, he immediately kicked back as well. But he knew that he couldn¡¯t be faster than Yan Fang at such a close distance, so he kicked her on the back of her foot. The angle from which he lifted his foot just blocked the momentum of Yan Fang¡¯s kick.

    Both of them collided with each other¡¯s feet. Li Yundong immediately stepped on Yan Fang¡¯s back and stomped hard on the ground. Then he used his knee to separate the inside of Yan Fang¡¯s legs. As long as they were separated, Yan Fang would lose her center of gravity. Li Yundong then punched out with a heavy hand. Yan Fang had no chance to dodge and fight back since she had lost her center of gravity.

    After all, Yan Fang was also a master who had been practicing for many years, and her reactions were also very fast. When she saw Li Yundonging to push her inside leg, she took advantage of the moment and immediately shrank back to avoid the attack before turning back.

    The two people crossed their legs and arched at each other under the table, squeezing and pressing each other. They looked very awkward, but there was a hidden killing intent between them. Their hands on the table did not stop, and they were fighting fiercely at a fast speed. They were grabbing, pinching, grabbing, and beating. Their arms kept colliding with each other, making dull sounds, as if they were beating drums.

    At this time, the little girl who was ying the ¡°No Way Go Out¡± seemed to have also entered a state of trance. Her eyes were closed, and she quickly finished ying the second part of ¡®An Ambush¡¯, which was part of ¡®The Battle of Jimings¡¯.

    This piece of music was very intense. The yer¡¯s five fingers flew up and down, almost turning into shadows. The violent music happened to be the background music of the fight between Li Yundong and Yan Fang. The atmosphere was suffocating, as if two armies were fighting against each other. The des and spears were hitting each other, and the atmosphere was full of killing intent!

    Kris, John, and Alba were stunned and dazzled. Kris and John had seen some incredible things in Li Yundong, but they were still able to hold on. Alba couldn¡¯t help but murmur, ¡°Oh, my God... Am I watching a movie?¡±

 Chapter 516 Yan Fangs Broken Wris

    <h4>Chapter 516 Yan Fang¡°s Broken Wris</h4>

    Li Yundong and Yan Fang were fighting fiercely in the cabin, sometimes using magic, sometimes using fists and kicks. Every time Yan Fang wanted to disturb others to protect herself, Li Yundong always had a way to force her down, so she had to obediently fight with him like this.

    After fighting for a while, she also noticed that he deliberately wanted to exhaust her Zhenqi and spiritual energy. As long as her Zhenqi was consumed to a certain extent, Li Yundong could use the burning thumb pot to absorb all of her spiritual energy and Zhenqi.

    This was like a blunt knife that could kill people. It could cut through flesh. Although it was not fierce, its purpose was extremely vicious.

    The more Yan Fang fought, the colder her heart became. "Could it be that I, Yan Fang, who has been famous for 20 years, is today going to be defeated by this kid?"

    Thinking of this, Yan Fang couldn¡¯t help but grieve, but she was not willing to give up. She made up her mind to fight to the death and gritted her teeth. Suddenly, she turned her wrist and threw a talisman at the three stunned people beside her, including Kris, John, and Alba.

    This talisman quickly began to burn in the air, as if it was a zing fireball. In the blink of an eye, it appeared before Kris¡¯s eyes, burning her face until it waspletely red.

    "Damn it!" Li Yundong was furious when he saw that Yan Fang was being crazy enough to attack an ordinary person. He quickly shed and appeared in front of Kris and the others like a mountain. With a wave of his hand, he put the fireball into his palm.

    He pped his hands and shattered the fireball in the palm of his hand. Instantly, countless tiny sparks appeared in his hands, like the mes of stars.

    Li Yundong waved his hand, and these small mes immediately pounced on Yan Fang.

    Yan Fang took a deep breath and suddenly exhaled. This breath of hers was truly the orthodox kung fu of the Xuanmen Sect, which had existed for more than twenty years. Her aura was dense and heavy. It was as if a sharp arrow had pierced through the sparks of the fire, still stabbing straight towards Kris and the others.

    All three of them only felt a wave of aura approaching them. It was as if a galloping knight was holding a long spear in his hand, his red tassel flying everywhere as his horse rode through the camp. This bone-piercing sharpness seemed as if it was going to go right through their bodies!

    Seeing Yan Fang attacking the three of them one after another, Li Yundong became angrier and angrier. His eyes widened, and his whole body burst with Gang Qi, which instantly shattered Yan Fang¡¯s Qi Arrow.

    This condensed aura seemed to have smashed against a great mountain, surging in all directions. A strong wind blew through the cabin with a howl, blowing through the hair of Kris and the others until they couldn¡¯t open their eyes.

    At this time, the little girl ying the pipa also happened to y the "The Battle of Jiulishan" of "No Way Go Out". She sometimes drew lines, sometimes yed two strings, sometimes pulled, and sometimes flicked her fingers up and down. The music was passionate and tense, and there seemed to be the sound of horseshoes, machetes, and shouts woven into it. The sound was sonorous and full of killing intent!

    Kris, John and Alba had never seen such a strange fight before. It was like a Hollywood fight.

    The three of them didn¡¯t know that they had fought several times before the Gate of Hell. If it weren¡¯t for Li Yundong, they would have died long ago.

    Kris and the others stared at the fierce battle. Listening to the passionate and fierce "No Way Go Out", they were really intoxicated. They all opened their mouths wide and their eyes bulged, as if they were seeing an alien from outer space.

    Yan Fang attacked Kris and the others twice in a row. Finally, she got Li Yundong away from her. She immediately shrank her body, and then exploded like a fireball, turning into countless green lights and flying in all directions.

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes suddenly widened, and his body instantly changed from Yang Spirit to Yin Spirit. He flew into the air and hovered in space. He then recited the Diamond Sutra, held the burning thumb pot in his left hand, and flicked the middle finger of his right hand gently at the weapon.

    Suddenly, the pot made a "ding" sound, and the air around it was shaken as countless ripples and spread in all directions, like soundwaves visible to the naked eye.

    Fortunately, it was still dark at this time, and Li Yundong was flying high, so the world didn¡¯t notice him.

    Only, Yan Fang¡¯s Yang Spirit avatars, which had fled in all directions, suddenly heard the sound of the burning thumb pot. Immediately, her body went sluggish, and then the soundwaves caught up to Yan Fang¡¯s avatars. Each time he caught up with her, he pulled her clone back a little bit.

    Li Yundong then flicked his finger at the burning thumb pot again. With a ding, the pot released anotheryer of soundwaves, pulling back Yan Fang¡¯s avatars that had fled in all directions.

    Yan Fang was scared out of her wits. She knew that the burning thumb pot was like a huge fishing, enveloping all her avatars. The more he pulled, the tighter it got. As long as he pulled closer, Li Yundong would withdraw the. At that time, it would be impossible for her to fight to the death.

    Yan Fang thought like a sh of lightning. She immediately screamed and said loudly, "Li Yundong, do you still want to save Ao Wushuang?"

    Li Yundong was instantly stunned, but while he was stunned, Yan Fang¡¯s Yang Spirit avatar immediately fled far away in every direction.

    He became furious at once and shouted, "You still won¡¯t repent until you die. You¡¯re courting death!" After that, he vigorously flicked the burning thumb pot in his hand.

    This sound shook all of Yan Fang¡¯s avatars. They fled as far away as they could and then were pulled back as much as they could be.

    Yan Fang said in horror, "Li Yundong, are you crazy? How can you save Ao Wushuang if you kill me?"

    Li Yundong snorted. He had fallen into this trap once, so he didn¡¯t want to be fooled again. Without saying a word, Li Yundong flicked his finger again.

    Yan Fang could only hear the ringing of the burning thumb pot. It sounded like a soul-stirring bell, pulling her into the abyss again and again.

    Yan Fang was horrified and didn¡¯t dare to y any more tricks. She said sternly, "Li Yundong, do you want to save Ao Wushuang or capture me?" After that, Yan Fang immediately threw out the hidden Emperor¡¯s Clock.

    He could see that the Emperor¡¯s Clock had been thrown away by Yan Fang and flown into the sky in an instant, drawing a purple light streak. Yan Fang¡¯s avatars fled in all directions like madmen.

    Li Yundong snorted and flicked the burning thumb pot again. This time, the burning thumb pot pulled many of Yan Fang¡¯s avatars to the front. As soon as these avatars got within ten meters of the burning thumb pot, they immediately turned into cyan lights and flew quickly toward the inside of the burning thumb pot.

    As for Li Yundong himself, he instantly turned into a beam of cyan light and chased after the Emperor¡¯s Clock.

    Although he did these things one after another, his speed was so fast that it seemed as if they were carried out at the same time.

    Nearly half of Yan Fang¡¯s avatar was pulled over by the burning thumb pot and then quickly refined by it.

    The Yang Spirit was equivalent to a cultivator¡¯s second physical body. His physical body was devoured by half in one go, and his injuries were unimaginable to cultivators.

    Yan Fang immediately let out a miserable scream. Her pain was no less than that of being lynched, and her cultivation was greatly reduced.

    Yan Fang¡¯s angry voice came from afar. No one heard her roar clearly, but her voice disappeared into the dark night. It was like a wild wolf had fled back into the deep mountains and forests, and there was no trace of it.

    Li Yundong instantly returned to where he had been before. He held the burning thumb pot in one hand and the Emperor¡¯s Clock in the other, then looked in the direction where Yan Fang had gone. He could feel Yan Fang¡¯s hatred and anger.

    At thest moment, Yan Fang not only threw the Emperor¡¯s Clock and tried to lure the tiger away from the mountain, but also broke her wrist. She would rather be refined by Li Yundong than be caught by him.

    After the wolf was caught in the wolf trap, in order to escape, it would even bite off its own foot!

    For cultivators, their cultivation and Cultivation Quotients were more important than their reputations. In order to escape, Yan Fang would rather consume half of her cultivation. What kind of great determination and courage did she have?

    "She ran away again. What a terrible opponent..." After Li Yundong came to a standstill in the air, he snorted in his heart. Soon, his body turned into a blue light and flew back in the direction of Su Chan and the others.

    In the yacht, the girl had already yed the part of "The Defeat of The King of Xiang." The chorus of the rhythm and the tight melody of the horse¡¯s hooves melded together. Then, she waved her five fingers, and the four strings rang at the same time, stopping the music abruptly.

    At this time, the people on the deck were still enjoying the night view, and the cabin was extremely quiet. The little girl who was ying opened her eyes, but she couldn¡¯t see the figures of Li Yundong and Yan Fang anymore, as if they had never even been there. She couldn¡¯t help but be stunned. She looked around, but she didn¡¯t see any of them and couldn¡¯t help wondering, "Strange, this yacht didn¡¯t stop. Where did they go?"

    Only then did Kris and John let out long breaths, as if they had been watching a thrilling Hollywood scene.

    But they knew that the Hollywood scenes they had seen before were fake, while what they had seen with their own eyes was real!

    Kris secretly pinched her thigh, and then she immediately felt a wave of intense pain. She grimaced, and only then did she believe that everything before her eyes wasn¡¯t a dream.

    A sentence that her grandmother had once said echoed in her mind. "If you see those cultivators one day, you must find a way to take them as your masters. Otherwise, when you grow old, you will regret it like me!"

    John¡¯s mouth was wide open, and his face was full of excitement and fanaticism. His expression was exaggerated, as if he wanted to shout and tell the whole world what he had just seen but didn¡¯t know how to say it.

    John was like a dancing long-haired monkey scratching his head. He excitedly said, "Kris, did you see that? I want to be a Shenxian, I want to be a Shenxian!" Then he said to Alba with excitement and pride, "How about that then? Isn¡¯t my master powerful? Alba, I want to worship him as my teacher. Are you jealous?"

    John was proud of himself, as if the fierce fight just now had been won by him.

    Alba was dumbfounded, as if her whole body was frozen and petrified. After a long time, she came to her senses, her eyes wide open. She looked at Kris and then at John. Suddenly, she spoke quickly and said decisively, "What procedures do I have to go through to get Chinese nationality? I¡¯m going to do it right now!"

 Chapter 517 Super Li!

    <h4>Chapter 517 Super Li!</h4>

    When Li Yundong returned to the small building, he found that apart from the Zhengyi Sect, the True Dragon Sect, and the Xuan Pavilion Sect, the cultivators of each sect had already left, such as the Qingcheng Sect, the Qingwei Sect, the Jinshan Sect, and especially the cultivators of some small cultivation sects. Most of them were gone.

    At this time, Zi Yuan and the others had recovered from the Immortal Fall. When they saw Li Yundong, Su Chan, Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, Cao Yi and the little foxes, who were taking care of Liu Yuehong, they immediately stood up to greet him.

    Su Chan and those little foxes stared at Li Yundong with wide eyes and asked with concern, "Did you catch her?"

    Li Yundong shook his head, and the little foxes suddenly sighed. Cao Yi ground her teeth in anger and said, "This guy ran away again!"

    Zi Yuan looked very worried. "Second Shibo is stubborn and patient. I don¡¯t know when she will appear again."

    Li Yundong also sighed and said, "In the end, Yan Fang would rather lose half of her strength and run away with a broken wrist. Although she is an enemy, I admire her bravery very much..."

    Liu Yuehong, who was seriously injured, was delighted to hear that Yan Fang had lost half of her strength. She said, "Leader, since Yan Fang has been seriously injured, I think she won¡¯t make things difficult for us for a while. Isn¡¯t that right?" As soon as she spoke, her injury was immediately affected and she began to cough violently again.

    Cao Yi couldn¡¯t helpining to her, "Shijie, there are a thousand days to be a thief. How can there be a thousand days to guard against a thief? You¡¯d better take it easy!"

    Liu Yuehong forced a smile and said, "Younger sister, I want to take advantage of this time to search for Yan Fang everywhere for once and for all!"

    When Li Yunyang saw Liu Yuehong call Cao Yi ¡¯younger sister¡¯, he couldn¡¯t help but ask, "Liu Yuehong Shibo, Cao Yi Shibo is only sixth, not the youngest. She has Ye Yu and Ao Wushuang below her. In theory, Ao Wushuang is the youngest, so she should be called younger sister. Why do you call Cao Yi Shibo that?"

    Liu Yuehong sighed and said bitterly, "Leader, Ye Yu is dead, and Ao Wushuang is also in danger. Now in the Fox Zen School, Cao Yi is the youngest. If I don¡¯t call her younger sister, who else can I call younger sister?"

    Li Yunyang smiled and said to Cao Yi, "Cao Yi Shibo, I¡¯m afraid that your younger sister apprentice will not be able to be your younger sister."

    His words stunned everyone in the Fox Zen School. Su Chan was the smartest and she suddenly looked ecstatic. She grabbed Li Yundong with both hands and said loudly, "Yundong, did you save my master?"

    Li Yundong smiled, patted her hands and nodded: "Yep!"

    All the members of the Fox Zen School were overjoyed and cheered loudly.

    Liu Yuehong couldn¡¯t help but be thrilled. "Younger sister was rescued? Where is she? Where is she?"

    Cao Yi was also surprised and couldn¡¯t help chanting the name of Buddha. "Amitabha, thank God, younger sister is finally saved? The Fox Zen School finally doesn¡¯t need to hold on alone. This is great news!"

    The little foxes rolled their eyes and looked Li Yundong up and down from head to toe, as if they wanted to see where Ao Wushuang would crawl out of in the next second.

    Li Yundong turned his wrist, took out the fist-sized Emperor¡¯s Clock from his arms and said, "Ao Wushuang is inside. We can save her when we go back."

    Everyone could only see that the entire body of the Emperor¡¯s Clock was purple, and that there was a golden glow inside. All kinds of runes and characters were engraved on it, one after another.

    Su Chan saw that the woman¡¯s appearance and figure were very simr to Ao Wushuang¡¯s. She pointed at the picture on it and said, "This is my master!"

    Li Yundong looked at it and said with a smile, "I¡¯m afraid so. Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll see your master when you go back."

    Su Chan looked up at Li Yundong with admiration in her eyes. This man had promised to save her master, and now he had done it!

    Cao Yi couldn¡¯t help but urge, "Leader, shall we go back now?"

    However, Li Yundong waved his hand and said, "There¡¯s no hurry. Let me say hello to the cultivators from other sects."

    After that, he walked up to Du Fei of the True Dragon Sect, cupped his hands, and said, "Zhenren Du, I really didn¡¯t expect the Taoist assembly to be like this. Thank you for your righteous words at the Taoist assembly. If there¡¯s anything you need in the future, just let me know."

    Du Fei also cupped his hands and said with a smile, "Zhenren Li, although the Taoist assembly has be a farce and Zheng Yuanyu has benefitted from it and gotten the Immortal Pen, Zhenren Li, you have shown great power and defeated masters from all sects. Then, you turned the tide and drove Li Gaoye¡¯s master out of the conference. Such prestige will be forever remembered in this world. In the future, it will definitely be a popr tale!"

    Li Yundong smiled nomittally and said, "It¡¯s just an empty victory. It¡¯s not worth mentioning. Zhenren Du..." Then he looked at Yue Sheng and Wei Qing, cupped his hands, and said, "Zhenrenl Yue, Zhenren Wei, I¡¯d like to go now, goodbye!"

    At this time, Yue Sheng hadpletely lost his temper toward Li Yundong. He was convinced and cupped his hands to Li Yundong, saying, "After this battle, Zhenren Li, you¡¯ll have no objection to your reputation as the best amongst the younger generation, I¡®m convinced!"

    However, Yue Sheng quickly changed the topic and said, "But, Zhenren Li, there are so many cultivation masters in the world. Every sect has a senior who has cultivated in seclusion. I¡¯m afraid that it will be difficult for you to be the real number one cultivator in this world!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "I just want others not to make trouble for me. I don¡¯t care whether I¡¯m first or not."

    Yue Sheng admired him more and more. "You¡¯re so modest. Respect!"

    Wei Qing¡¯s eyes widened. She quickly took out a notebook and a pen from her arms and handed them over to Li Yundong eagerly. She said, "Super Li, give me your autograph, please."

    Li Yundong asked, "What are you calling me?"

    Wei Qing had always been afraid that things would go wrong, and her words were shocking. She giggled and said, "I called you Super Li! I wanted to call you Zhenren Li 500 years ago, and then Zhenren 500 yearster! In the past, Zhenren was conferred by the emperor, but now there is no emperor, and everyone calls themselves Zhenren, so they call you Super Li! So I simply call you that too! Anyway, Zhang Sanfeng was also known as Super 500 years ago. Just 500 years ago, Super Zhang, 500 yearster, Super Li!"

    Wei Qing was enraptured and said proudly, "Haha, in the future, if anyone asks who gave the title, they may mention my name! Super Li, I¡¯m also famous with you. Haha! Sign quickly! Hee hee!"

    Li Yundong found this both funny and annoying. Du Fei, who was beside him, also held back hisughter. He red at her and shouted, "Ugh, don¡¯t you know the word ¡¯Pengsha¡¯?"

    Wei Qing made a face at him and said, "I don¡¯t know what Pengsha is. No one in the Lotus Gathering defeated that Tachibana Wakako, but Li Yundong¡¯s palm scared her to tears. Isn¡¯t he invincible? Is he invincible?"

    Yue Sheng said seriously, "It¡¯s not true that he is invincible in the whole world. At least, Master is not weaker than Zhenren Li."

    Wei Qing rolled his eyes. "How old is Master? How old is Zhenren Li? After a few more years of cultivation, if Li Yundong is not invincible, you can dig out my eyes!"

    Yue Sheng thought for a moment and nodded. "That¡¯s true."

    Wei Qingughed again, then handed the signed notebook and pen over to Li Yundong and said with a smile, "Sign it quickly! please!"

    Li Yundong took it with a smile. When he opened it, he saw the signature that he had signedst time and said, "Didn¡¯t I sign this for youst time? Why sign again?"

    Wei Qing smiled and said, "Thest time was thest time, this time is this time!"

    Li Yundong signed helplessly and asked, "Why did you bring this to the Taoist assembly?"

    To the side, Yue Sheng held back hisughter and said, "She said that she wanted to collect the signatures of all the famous cultivators in the world so that she could sell them for money in the future."

    Wei Qing immediately stepped on his foot and red at him fiercely. "You talk too much!" As she said this, she turned to look at Li Yundong with a smile on her face and said, "Super Li, you won¡¯t give it all to me, will you? Shishiong is stingy. Although he has money, he won¡¯t give it to me. So I have to make my own money!"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing. "Gossip Wei has a good, creative idea!"

    Wei Qing said, "Gossip Wei?"

    Li Yundong also pretended to look at Wei Qing with a strange face. "Aren¡¯t you surnamed Wei?"

    Wei Qing quickly came to his senses and said with a smile, "You¡¯re the gossiper!"

    Li Yundong, Du Fei, and Yue Sheng allughed at the same time.

    Not far away, Zhang Ling, Zou Ping, and the others of the Zhen Yi Sect saw Li Yundong talking happily with Du Fei and the others of the True Dragon Sect. Zou Ping couldn¡¯t help but sneer and said, "Humph, they¡¯re really colluding with each other! The Quanzhen Sect is really determined to make a hard time for us! I don¡¯t think they want to be the leader of the Six Leagues! And Super Li? Bah! It makes me sick to listen to this ttery!"

    As she spoke, Zou Ping could not help stepping forward to sneer loudly.

    However, Zhang Ling immediately grabbed her with one hand and shook her head. She said in a low voice, "Li Yundong is very popr now. Let¡¯s not have a conflict with him first. What¡¯s more, he turned the tide and drove away the master of Rigoino. All the sects owe him."

    Zou Ping said anxiously, "But didn¡¯t Yan Fang say that he was part of a big conspiracy to resurrect the Mystical Silver Fox?"

    Zhang Ling looked at Li Yundong with a gloomy face and said, "Yan Fang has no evidence to prove it. Now Li Yundong is back, but Yan Fang has vanished without a trace. It is very likely that she is hiding or has been arrested."

    Zou Ping said, "That¡¯s just right. Yan Fang is also a member of our sect. We can take advantage of this opportunity to ask him to hand Yan Fang over. If he can¡®t, it¡¯ll ruin his prestige!"

    Zhang Ling red at Zou Ping and sneered. "If he insists that Yan Fang is not here, what will you do? Force him? If there¡¯s a fight, can you beat him? Hum! This Li Yundong has be so powerful that you and I can¡¯t deal with him! If you get into trouble with him now, you will be asking for humiliation!"

    Zou Ping said angrily, "What should we do? Can we only look at him being more powerful than our sect? Humph, he¡¯s called Super Li at such a young age. If he is allowed to cultivate for another two years, I¡¯m afraid that the head of our sect will salute him! Bah, I don¡¯t want to admit that he is invincible!"

    Zhang Ling sneered and said, "Hum, Super, Super... What a good Super Li! Zou Ping, you are wrong. We just want to admit that he is invincible! Not only do we want to admit it, but we also want to publicize it so that all the people in the world will know his reputation!"

    Zou Ping asked in surprise, "Why? Master, are you trying to boost other people¡¯s morale and destroy your family¡¯s prestige?"

    Zhang Ling sneered and said, "There are many cultivation sects in the world. How can they all be willing to let Li Yundong overwhelm them? What¡¯s more, although Yan Fang¡¯s words have no evidence, baseless lies can still have legs! I believe that soon, the Fox Zen School will be the target of the world, and Li Yundong will definitely be the most suspicious person around. The title of Super Li... hahaha, I¡¯m afraid it will arouse the suspicion of the cultivators of all sects!"

    Zou Ping¡¯s eyes lit up, and she said to Zhang Ling, "Master, you are so clever. What a good n!"

    Zhang Ling waved her sleeves and shouted in a low voice, "Li Yundong is also a rare talent. He is no less talented than Wang Yuanshan. It¡¯s a pity that he is against us everywhere! Hurry up and take Zhang Tianhe and Wang Lingfei back. Don¡¯t waste any more time here."

    Zou Ping nodded and hold the unconscious Zhang Tianhe, then asked her younger sister not far away to hold up Wang Lingfei.

    Zhang Ling smiled and said to Li Yundong, "Super Li, goodbye. Thank you very much for your kind attention to Zhengyi School in the Taoist assembly. I¡¯ll keep it in my heart!"

    After that, she quickly turned into a beam of cyan light and left with the disciples of the Zhengyi School.

    All the members of the Fox Zen School suddenlyughed and said to Li Yundong, "Congrattions, Sect Leader. The Zhengyi School has also recognized your invincible position. This is really a happy thing for our Fox Zen School!"

    Li Yundong did notment, but he was neither surprised nor unhappy. He looked in the direction in which Zhang Ling and the others had left, and his eyes flickered. After a long time, he said, "Let¡¯s go back. It¡¯s time to save Ao Wushuang, who has been trapped for a long time."

 Chapter 518 Ao Wushuangs Escape

    <h4>Chapter 518 Ao Wushuang¡°s Escape</h4>

    When Li Yundong and the others returned home, the little foxes couldn¡¯t help feeling happy as soon as they entered the house.

    "Finally, we¡¯re back again..." Su Chan sighed with emotion. She looked around at the familiar environment. She felt like even though the Lotus Harvester had onlysted for a day, it had been as long as a century.

    Li Yundong handed Zhou Qin on his back over to Ruan Hongling and told her to apply medicine to Zhou Qin. Then, he began to prepare to save Ao Wushuang.

    This time, although the Taoist assembly was full of dangerous twists and turns, Li Yundong had turned the tide with his extraordinary cultivation and strength. In the end, Cao Yi had returned, and Yan Fang had also been caught from the Linghuchan Sect. When she hade out, although she had finally gotten out, her cultivation had been reduced by half, and it was impossible for her to pose a threat in the near future.

    The most important thing was that Li Yundong had saved Ao Wushuang, which was a piece of exciting news for all the members of the Fox Zen School.

    Whether it was Su Chan or the little foxes, when they saw Li Yundong fighting against the heroes at the Lotus Gathering, they had all wanted to help him, but their cultivations were too low. If they had gone up, they would not only not have been of help, they would have been a burden. Even in the whole Fox Zen School, except for Li Yundong, there was no one who could fight, which would have made the othersugh out loud.

    However, Ao Wushuang had be famous early, and settled a score extremely powerfully and fiercely. In the past, she had been known as the top master of the Fox Zen School. Once she got out, the strength of the Fox Zen School would be self-evident.

    Li Yundong took out the the Liuhe casually and was ready to cut through the Emperor¡¯s Clock. However, as soon as he was about to move, he saw Zi Yuan frowning and thinking about something. He couldn¡¯t help but stop and ask, "Zi Yuan, what¡¯s wrong with you? Is there anything wrong?"

    Beside him, Zi Yuan frowned. She opened her mouth and seemed to have something to say, but swallowed it back down.

    Li Yundong saw her hesitation, so he smiled and said, "If you have anything to say, just say it. We are so familiar with each other, you can say anything to me."

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "In fact, it¡¯s nothing. I was thinking... about what Shibo Yan Fang said."

    Li Yundong was stunned for a moment but soonughed again. He said, "Are you worried that we will resurrect the Mystical Silver Fox?"

    Zi Yuan looked at him and smiled. She quickly looked at Su Chan, Cao Yi, and the others from the Fox Zen School and said, "I believe you are not such a person, but..."

    Su Chan was smart. She immediately said, "Sister Zi Yuan, I am very happy as long as I am with Yundong. I will do whatever he does. If he won¡¯t allow me to do anything, I won¡¯t do anything..." As she said this, she took Li Yundong¡¯s hand with a smile and said coquettishly, "Is that right, Leader?"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing. He pretended to be angry with a straight face and said, "I told you not to get into trouble. Won¡¯t you be obedient?"

    Su Chan¡¯s face immediately fell. She lowered her head, rubbed the corner of her clothes with her fingers, and muttered in a low voice, "I didn¡¯t do it on purpose..."

    Cao Yi also said seriously, "Zhenren Zi Yuan, don¡¯t worry. The Mystical Silver Fox has been dead for more than 1,200 years. Don¡¯t mention whether you want to resurrect her or not. Even if you wanted to revive her, how could you find her soul? What¡¯s more, the era has changed now. What would we do after reviving her? Our school has been excluded for more than a thousand years. Now it¡¯s the right time for Li Yundong to be Leader. It¡¯s time for us to clean up our hearts and rebuild our sect¡¯s reputation. How could we do such a bold thing?"

    Zi Yuan smiled gently and said, "It¡¯s because I worry too much..."

    When Su Chan saw that Zi Yuan no longer cared about this matter, she didn¡¯t want to have conflicts between the two sides because of the Mystical Silver Fox, so she said to Li Yundong, "Save my master quickly. I want to kill her!"

    Seeing that Zi Yuan wasn¡¯t pursuing the matter further, Cao Yi of the Fox Zen School was relieved and looked at Li Yundong attentively.

    Only Ruan Hongling, who was standing to one side, knew her Shijie the best. If there was a doubt or suspicion in Zi Yuan¡¯s heart, she would not give up until she had figured it all out. Moreover, it would be impossible for her to let Cao Yi¡¯s words dispel her doubts.

    Ruan Hongling quietly reached out to pull the corner of Zi Yuan¡¯s clothes and wink at her. Zi Yuan nced at her and also shook her head slightly, indicating that she should not say anything and should go back to talk.

    Ruan Hongling understood, nodded, and looked at Li Yundong.

    Li Yundong threw the Emperor¡¯s Clock straight, and then he controlled the Liuhe to make it sh at the Emperor¡¯s Clock in an sh.

    With a ng, the Emperor¡¯s Clock suddenly trembled and emitted waves of purple light. Faint figures appeared on the Clock one after another.

    With sharp eyes, Su Chan pointed to one of them and said in surprise, "That¡¯s Master!"

    The little foxes also twittered, "Oh, I see Shishoo!"

    "Thank goodness, I hope she¡¯s fine!"

    "But, this is our junior Shishoo. Who are the others?"

    The little foxes were suddenly stunned and looked at each other. Zi Yuan also frowned and said quickly, "Li Yundong, stop!"

    However, she was toote. The Liuhe shed down again. With a ng, the Emperor¡¯s Clock shook violently, and a crack appeared on the top of it.

    In an instant, an intense, dazzling seven-colored light burst out from inside, and then in an instant, blue lights flew out one after another, like countless meteors going in all directions.

    In an instant, there seemed to be a typhoon in the living room, almost blowing up the tea table.

    Su Chan and the others were stunned. They all got blown upside down.

    Li Yundong¡¯s Zhenqi was vigorous. In other people¡¯s eyes, the hurricane was so fierce that they couldn¡¯t open their eyes, but in his opinion, it was just a breeze. He suddenly opened his eyes wide and thought, "Oh no! The other people sealed in the Emperor¡¯s Clock were also released! Damn it, I just wanted to get rid of Ao Wushuang. Why didn¡¯t I predict this?"

    In an instant, Li Yundong took out the burning thumb pot in his hand and was about to use it to catch the people who had just escaped from it again. However, when he was about to flick his finger, he suddenly remembered what would happen if he also sucked Ao Wushuang into the burning thumb pot.

    Unlike the Emperor¡¯s Clock, the burning thumb pot was a powerful magical weapon for sealing, and it specialized in suppressing demons and ghosts. It was arge furnace. Once caught, a person would be refined beyond their limit, leaving nothing behind. They would not even have a chance to reincarnate!

    After Li Yundong¡¯s hesitation, the scattered light of the Emperor¡¯s Clock disappeared in an instant. After a while, the purple halo around the Emperor¡¯s Clock disappeared bit by bit and fell to the ground with a bang.

    Li Yundong shed a wry smile in his heart. "This is great. The great cultivator¡¯s personal magic treasure was destroyed just like that! Besides, who knows who is sealed inside it?"

    `Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help but widen her eyes. She subconsciously wanted to ask Li Yundong to use the burning thumb pot. However, when she saw him taking it out, about to y, she couldn¡¯t help but stop herself. Zi Yuan changed her mind and immediately knew Li Yundong¡¯s scruples. She but stomped her feet secretly. "Damn it, let Ao Wushuang out. I didn¡¯t expect that so many sealed cultivators would be released. I wonder how many good people and bad people there are in there?"

    Soon, Su Chan, Ruan Hongling, and the others also understood the key point. For a moment, the living room was quiet. They all looked at Li Yundong with stunned eyes, not knowing what to do.

    The little foxes looked at each other, and the joy they had felt over Ao Wushuang¡¯s escape disappeared in an instant.

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes were wide open, but then she couldn¡¯t help bursting intoughter.

    Li Yundong red at her. "What are youughing at?"

    She giggled and said, "Yundong, it turns out that you are also in trouble. I thought I was the only one who could do it!"

    After hearing that, the little foxes also began to giggle.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. He shook his head helplessly and said, "This really is a coincidence! I hadn¡¯t been expecting such a situation to happen."

    Zi Yuan smiled bitterly and said, "There must be something wrong with every wise man¡¯s n. This... is also something that can¡¯t be helped. However, where is Ao Wushuang? We didn¡¯t see her."

    Everyone immediately looked around, but as they were looking around, they heard a faint sigh next to them. A beautiful woman in a dark red pce maid¡¯s dress appeared in front of them.

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes widened, and a look of ecstasy came over her face little by little. She looked at the woman for a while before suddenly bursting into tears. She threw herself into the woman¡¯s arms and shouted, "Master!"

    Li Yundong saw that Ao Wushuang was standing there with her ck hair falling down like a dark waterfall. Although she had been sealed away for a long time, now she was released, she still remained calm and arrogant, showing a cold temperament all over her body.

    Ao Wushuang hugged Su Chan tenderly and caressed her hair gently with one hand. She quickly looked around. When she saw that she was in a modern house and that all the members of the Fox Zen School were there, she couldn¡¯t help but be stunned. But soon, she saw that Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling were also there, and they seemed to be getting along well with each other. She couldn¡¯t help but show a surprised look on her face.

    However, when Ao Wushuang¡¯s eyes fell on Li Yundong, they suddenly lit up. She opened her mouth in surprise and couldn¡¯t help pushing away Su Chan, who was in her arms. She widened her eyes, took two steps forward, and said tentatively, "You... you are!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i, we meet again!"

    At this moment, Ao Wushuang almost regarded the young man in front of him as Wang Yuanshan. He was tall and strong, but at the same time, he exuded an elegant and calm air of a grandmaster. But when she heard Li Yundong¡¯s voice, she came to her senses, took a deep breath, looked him up and down, and said in surprise, "I haven¡¯t seen you for a few months, and you, you made such great progress in your cultivation!? This, this is too exaggerated!"

 Chapter 519 Now... Its a Melancholy Scene

    <h4>Chapter 519 Now... It¡°s a Mncholy Scene</h4>

    Li Yundong smiled without saying a word. He remembered that when he had been beaten by Ao Wushuang in the past, he had had no way to fight back. But now... he could defeat her just by holding the burning thumb pot. What¡¯s more, he also had the Dharmakaya Fashen, which was the nemesis of all demons and spirits in the world.

    Ao Wushuang looked Li Yundong up and down, and her eyes were shining. She nodded secretly and couldn¡¯t help saying, "Yes, as I expected. Chan¡¯er, you found a good partner!"

    Su Chan put her arms around Li Yundong with a proud face and raised her little face high, saying with a smile, "Of course!"

    Li Yundong also said with a grin, "Predecessor Ao Wushuang, how were you in the Emperor¡¯s Clock? I heard from Chan¡¯er that you were injured before you were sealed. Are you all right?"

    Ao Wushuang chuckled. "Senior Shijie, if you hadn¡¯t sealed me in the Emperor¡¯s Clock, I would have died, and my soul would have been sucked clean by the Threaded Hairpin of Soul Traversal. But she sealed me within the Emperor¡¯s Clock, which saved my life. Don¡¯t worry, as long as the Threaded Hairpin of Soul Traversal doesn¡¯t suck my soul, this injury will be nothing at all."

    At this time, Su Chan hurriedly said to Ao Wushuang, "Master, I have a lot of things to tell you! First, it¡¯s not your great master, Shibo, Mo Ahshi, who attacked you, but Yan Fang. Second, Yundong is now the leader of Fox Zen School! Third, Yundong has already seriously injured Yan Fang¡¯s Yang God. Her cultivation has been reduced by half, so she is no threat to us."

    All of these things surprised Yan Fang. She stared at Li Yundong and said with a slight smile, "It seems that you have a long story to tell me."

    Li Yundong also smiled and said, "I¡¯m going to make dinner. Let¡¯s talk while we eat."

    When the little foxes heard this, they immediately cheered, "The Leader of Fox Zen School is going to cook. Hooray! There¡¯ll be delicious food!"

    Ao Wushuang saw that the little foxes of the Fox Zen School were very enthusiastic with Li Yundong, and their faces were filled with deep affection. Obviously, they loved this leader very much. Especially when they heard that he was going to cook, they were even more overjoyed than when they had seen that she had escaped. She couldn¡¯t help but be curious and muttered to herself, "What magic does Li Yundong have?"

    Su Chan rolled her eyes as if she understood what her master was thinking. She said with a smile, "Master, do you want to know why Yundong is so popr?"

    Ao Wushuang red at her, pretending to be angry. "You are so smart. You know everything! Tell me now!"

    Su Chan mysteriously leaned into Ao Wushuang¡¯s ear and whispered, "Because the food he makes is very delicious. It¡¯s too delicious! No, no, you don¡¯t know how to cook! You only buy me hard, cold noodle cakes!" After that, the little girl giggled and ran away on her own.

    Ao Wushuang suddenly raised his eyebrows and said, "Viin, say that again. I just got out of trouble, but you dare to fight with me?"

    Su Chanughed out loud and hid behind Li Yundong, making a face at Ao Wushuang.

    Ao Wushuang was so angry that she burst outughing. Cao Yi and the injured Liu Yuehong also came over. They took Ao Wushuang¡¯s hand and couldn¡¯t help chuckling. "Our little Shimei, you¡¯re finally free. We were very worried about you!"

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s face was cold but his heart was warm. She couldn¡¯t help but feel warm in her heart. She also took Cao Yi¡¯s and Liu Yuehong¡¯s hands and said with a smile, "Shijie, why are you two here? Where are the others? Where is the Shibo of the Fox Zen School Leader?"

    Liu Yuehong immediately burst into tears. She sobbed, "Eldest Shijie, Ao Wushuang, Second Shishiong, Gu Feng, Third Shijie, Zhuang Yating, Fifth Shimei, Zhangsun Hong, Seventh Shimei, Ye Yu, they... they¡¯re all gone!"

    Ao Wushuang was shocked. "Ah? They, they¡¯re all dead? Then, how about the Shibo of the Fox Zen School? How is he? He¡¯s so powerful, he shouldn¡¯t have..."

    Liu Yuehong cried, "The leader was ambushed by Yan Fang and besieged by cultivators from all schools. In the end, she was also gone!"

    When Ao Wushuang heard this, her body suddenly trembled, and she stood rooted to the spot for a long time without saying a word.

    Cao Yi, who was standing by the side, sighed and said to Ao Wushuang, "If Li Yundong hadn¡¯t arrived at that time, I¡¯m afraid that our Fox Zen School would be in trouble now."

    Seeing their sadness, Li Yundong said, "Don¡¯t mention that. Let¡¯s talk about something happy. What do you want to eat tonight? If you have a request, say it quickly!"

    Su Chan also cooperated with him and said with a smile, "Yundong, everything you make is delicious. We will eat whatever you do."

    The little foxes also said, "Yes, Leader, hurry up and get something to eat. The Taoist assembly has been held for a whole day. Apart from tea, we haven¡¯t eaten anything! We¡¯re starving to the point of keeling over!"

    Li Yundong said with a smile, "I don¡¯t know what to do if you don¡¯t order."

    Liu Yuehong also beamed and said, "Leader, you can do whatever you want."

    Li Yundong rolled up his sleeves and said loudly, "Well, I¡¯ll cook the four famous dishes of the Fox Zen School today!"

    When everyone heard this, they immediately eximed in unison, "No!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "You eat whatever I cook, don¡¯t you?"

    Su Chan scolded him with a smile, "You¡¯re so naughty. That doesn¡¯t count!"

    Ao Wushuang said, "The Taoist assembly was held? What are the Four Great Delicacies of the Fox Zen School? Why didn¡¯t I know this stuff?"

    Su Chan pulled Ao Wushuang to the side and sat down with a smile, saying, "Master, listen to me slowly." She told her about how she had been sealed by Yan Fang, and then fled down the mountain. Then she said how Li Yundong had begun to fight with all Schools in Mount Tianlong. Along the way, she embellished heavily. Li Yundong¡¯s face went red, so he immediately went into the kitchen.

    Seeing that the entire Fox Zen School was filled with joy, Ruan Hongling couldn¡¯t help but turn her head to look at Zi Yuan. She saw that Zi Yuan was still lowering her head, frowning and looking worried. She whispered, "Shijie Zi Yuan, what are you thinking about?"

    Zi Yuan said in a deep voice, "I¡¯m wondering... what kind of people are imprisoned in this Emperor¡¯s Clock."

    Ruan Hongling smiled and said, "We¡¯ll know when we ask Ao Wushuangter."

    Zi Yuan nodded. She had a bad feeling in her heart, but now the rare atmosphere of the Fox Zen School was full of joy and excitement, so she didn¡¯t say it out loud.

    After Li Yundong had done a full table of dishes, the group of people sat down around the table. Even Zhou Qin was helped up by Li Yundong and sent to her ce.

    Li Yundong had been chosen to sit in the top position by everyone. Zi Yuan sat in the first seat on the left, followed by Ruan Hongling, Zhou Qin, and the little foxes. On the other side were Ao Wushuang, Cao Yi, Liu Yuehong, Su Chan, Ling Yue, and the others.

    Li Yundong saw that everyone was gathered together, and that the Fox Zen School had not been so lively for a long time. He couldn¡¯t helpughing and said, "Although I didn¡¯t get the Immortal Pen in the Taoist assembly, in my opinion, I found our predecessor, Ao Wushuang, again. This is far better than getting ten good powerful magical weapons!"

    Everyone praised his magnanimity. For a moment, the table was full of women chattering together pleasantly andughing. From Ao Wushuang to Ziyuan, from Su Chan to the little foxes, all of them were beautiful. This table was really full of blooming flowerspeting on their looks.

    While they were having dinner, Ao Wushuang saw Zi Yuan sitting opposite and frowning, as if she was thinking about something. She couldn¡¯t help but smile and ask, "Ziyuan, what are you thinking about?"

    When Ao Wushuang had heard what had happened in the past few days from Su Chan, she had known that if it weren¡¯t Zi Yuan, even the roots of the Fox Zen School would have been destroyed. In addition, Zi Yuan and Wang Yuanshan were the closest people to each other, so she had a better impression of Zi Yuan.

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "Wushuang-qianbei, I have a question for you."

    Ao Wushuang smiled and said, "Just say it."

    Zi Yuan asked, "Qianbei, do you know who is locked up in the Emperor¡¯s Clock?"

    Ao Wushuang was stunned for a moment. Se couldn¡¯t help frowning and asking, "What¡¯s wrong? Is there someone else who has been released?"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help coughing when he heard this matter being revealed. He pulled a wry smile and said, "It¡¯s my fault. If I hadn¡¯t been reckless, I wouldn¡¯t have released others..."

    Ao Wushuang nced at him. She knew that he was protecting her reputation. The Emperor¡¯s Clock was Ye Fashan¡¯s personal powerful magical weapon, and Ye Fashan had been one of the great cultivators of the Tianbao years of the Tang Dynasty. How could his powerful magical weapon be a joke? If he hadn¡¯t split it open, how could he have released the sealed person from inside? But after that, the sealed person would naturally have run out with him.

    Ao Wushuang thought to herself, "Chan¡¯er, you really have good taste. Li Yundong¡¯s cultivation is so high now, but he can still put down his pride and cook for you. You are so considerate when you talk, and you are so kind. It¡¯s very good!"

    Ao Wushuang said seriously, "Leader, you don¡¯t have to exin it to me. It¡¯s all because of me. If I hadn¡¯t believed Chan¡¯er, I wouldn¡¯t have been attacked by Yan Fang, and there wouldn¡¯t have been such things happening. Leader, don¡¯t worry, I will take responsibility for the whole thing."

    Seeing that Ao Wushuang was ming herself, Su Chan immediately said anxiously, "No, I didn¡¯t make it clear. Master, it¡¯s not your fault!"

    Ao Wushuang touched Su Chan¡¯s head with a smile and said, "It¡¯s none of your business, fool."

    Zhou Qin, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly smiled and said, "But I don¡¯t think so. If Qianbei Ao Wushuang hadn¡¯t been caught, Li Yundong wouldn¡¯t have gone to Mount Tianlong, and nothing would have happenedter, and then he wouldn¡¯t have be Super Li!"

    Everyoneughed when they heard this. Zi Yuan also smiled and said, "This is the cycle of karma."

    Ao Wushuang smiled and went back to the main topic. "When I was sealed by Yan Fang, almost all my six senses were sealed, and I felt as if I had been filled with cement. When I came back through the air, I was already here, so," she smiled and said to Zi Yuan, "I really don¡¯t know who was locked up in the Emperor¡¯s Clock."

    Li Yundong saw Zi Yuan¡¯s worried face and couldn¡¯t help saying, "Zi Yuan, don¡¯t think too much. Even if there are demons and ghosts, I¡¯ll catch them again."

    However, Zi Yuan bit her lip, looking as if she wanted to say something but stopped on second thought. Seeing this, Ao Wushuang said, "Zi Yuan, if you have anything to say, just say it."

    Zi Yuan thought for a moment. She nced at Li Yundong and said softly, "Is the Great Catastrophe that Yan Fang mentioned... rted to this?"

    Everyone at the table was stunned by these words. For a moment, the room was quiet, and no one was saying a word.

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He thought to himself, "If this so-called Great catastrophe in the cultivation world is because I release the sealed good and evil cultivators in the Emperor¡¯s Clock, then... it will be too sad!"

 Chapter 520 Famous in All Ways

    <h4>Chapter 520 Famous in All Ways</h4>

    While Li Yundong and the rest of the Fox Zen School were happy for Ao Wushuang¡¯s escape and worried about the bad cultivators escaped from the Emperor¡¯s Clock, most of the cultivators from other sects had returned to their own sects.

    Among them, Zhang Cunyi and the others had been taken back to the Qingyang Pce by his Shishiong Qian Tong and Zhao Ping. When they entered the gate, they shouted, "Help, help!"

    It waste at night. They shouted, which immediately startled the birds in the mountains and made them scream. Several Taoists ran out quickly. "What¡¯s going on in the middle of the night? Who is it?"

    But when these Taoist priests saw Zhao Ping and Qian Tong, they immediatelyughed and said, "Haha, so it¡¯s you! I thought it was someone else. What¡¯s wrong? The Taoist assembly is over? Where¡¯s Shishiong? How¡¯s he?"

    The person who spoke was suddenly hit by the shoulder of the Taoist next to him. He immediately reacted, only to see that Zhao Ping and Qian Tong¡¯s faces were gloomy, especially Zhao Ping¡¯s, who was carrying a person on his back. He lowered his head and leaned on his shoulder. It was unknown whether he was alive or dead. A fool could have guessed who this person was, even though it was hard to see their face from the side.

    The Taoist¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He asked tentatively, "Is, is that Shishiong?"

    When they got closer, they saw Zhang Cunyi clenching his teeth and lying on Zhao Ping¡¯s back with his eyes closed. He didn¡¯t move at all. They didn¡¯t know whether he was dead or alive.

    All of a sudden, these Taoists panicked. One of them quickly ran inside, opened the mountain gate, and shouted all the way, "Help! Young Master is hurt!"

    Qingyang Pce was the first Taoist temple in the west of Sichuan, which had a steady stream of visitors and many Taoist priests. When they heard the voice, many Taoist priests immediately came over and said, "Oh my, what¡¯s wrong with the eldest Shishiong?"

    "Has the fight been lost?"

    "I don¡¯t know. However, the eldest Shishiong is holding the Three Emperor Sword. Which son of a b*tch can defeat him?"

    ¡°You are right. Could he have fallen into someone¡¯s trap?"

    "Yes, that¡¯s possible!"

    Seeing that these Taoist priests were blocking his way, Zhao Ping and Qian Tong couldn¡¯t help but shout, "Get out of the way! Get out of the way! What are you doing here! Hurry up and call the head and the Master of the Hall! Hurry up!"

    After that, they went to the backyard of Sanqing Hall and ced Zhang Cunyi in a small room. Giving him with the magic medicine brought by others, they nervously looked at hisplexion.

    The other Daoist priests of the Qingyang Pce all raised their heads to look at the situation in the house. Their hearts were full of suspicion, but they didn¡¯t dare to ask. For a moment, the backyard was so quiet that only the sound of insects in the middle of the night could be heard.

    After a while, someone suddenly said in a low voice, "The head of the sect is here, and so is the Master of the Hall!"

    While they were talking, the Taoist priests made way for them. A middle-sized Taoist with a yellow face and cyan beard, dressed in a navy blue Daopao, with tiger eyes and a lion-like nose upon a bearded face, and a tall Taoist in a dark green Tai Chi Daopao, both came in.

    The yellow-faced, cyan-bearded Taoist walked in front, and his appearance was quite simr to Zhang Cunyi¡¯s. He was Zhang Tongtian, the head of the Qingcheng Sect. The other Taoist was a little behind him. He was Zhang Huashui, the head of the Qingyang Pce.

    Although Zhang Tongtian was not tall, he had a square face and deep wrinkles between his brows. The lines around the corners of his mouth were deep and majestic. He looked around and shouted coldly, "What are you doing here? Do you think this is a show? Go back!"

    Hearing his words, these Taoist priests suddenly became serious. After saying goodbye to Zhang Tongtian and Zhang Huashui, they left slowly, whispering to each other.

    Zhang Huashui, the head of the hall, was Zhang Cunyi¡¯s uncle. He had brought Zhang Cunyi up since he was a child, so he doted on him a lot. When he saw that everyone had left, he couldn¡¯t help but rush forward and check Zhang Cunyi all over in front of Zhang Tongtian. A trace of anger suddenly shed in his eyes, and he said in the standard Sichuan dialect, "Which one of you did such a thing? We are all in the same boat, how could they not be merciful?"

    Zhang Tongtian also fixed his eyes on Zhang Cunyi. There were grief and pity in his eyes, but more than that, he was angry at Zhang Cunyi¡¯s failure. He sneered and said, "You deserve to be a loser. He asked for it."

    However, Zhang Xieshui acted as if he didn¡¯t hear this. He red at Zhao Ping and Qian Tong, who were still standing there.

    Zhang Rongshui¡¯s appearance was fierce. With a re, the Daoists of the Qingyang Pce became so weak that their legs trembled. Zhao Ping and Qian Tong were no exception. They looked at each other and tried to convince each other to tell the truth.

    Zhang Huashui shouted angrily, "F*ck! Qian Tong, tell me what happened?"

    Zhao Ping let out a sigh of relief, as if he had escaped a disaster. But Qian Tong, with a sad face, told him what had happened in the Taoist assembly. However, he concealed the fact that Zhang Cunyi had used a scheme to drive Li Yundong out of the Taoist assembly and that Shinsyu had borne away the Three Emperor Sword. He simply said that Shinsyu had defeated Zhang Cunyi.

    Hearing this, Zhang Shui couldn¡¯t help but be furious. "What? You¡¯re saying that there was a Japanese guy who beat him like this at the Taoist assembly! Damn it, where did these Japanese guyse from? I¡¯ll go and kill them!"

    Zhang Tongtian sat down at this time. He sat steadily, like a mountain, with his eyes slightly narrowed and the corners of his mouth drawn down. He asked in a very dignified tone, "Did Wan Zhenyuan just let these Japanese run riot?"

    Qian Tong whispered, "These Japanese... they¡¯re too powerful. No one has ever defeated them."

    Zhang Huashui couldn¡¯t help but curse again, "Bullsh*t, let go of your f*cking fart. Call them over, I¡¯ll deal with them with one finger!"

    Zhang Tongtian asked again, "Hasn¡¯t Zhang Cunyi defeated the Sanhuang Sword?"

    Qian Tong couldn¡¯t help looking at Zhao Ping, then saying timidly, "Shishiong Zhang was defeated before he pulled out his sword."

    Zhang Xieshui couldn¡¯t help but curse again, "What? It must be a trick by this Japanese! Call him over, I¡¯ll show his what¡¯s for!"

    Qian Tong and Zhao Ping smiled bitterly in their hearts when they heard this. They thought to themselves, "Where can we find them?"

    Zhang Tongtian suddenly asked, "What about the other sects?"

    Qian Tong whispered, "The other sects... They all failed."

    Zhang Rongshui suddenly widened his eyes and said with anger, "Such a waste. Damn it!"

    Zhang Tongtian couldn¡¯t help but widen his eyes and say in surprise, "You¡¯ve all been defeated? Did these Japanese humiliate our Chinese cultivators at the Taoist assembly?"

    Qian Tong and Zhao Ping couldn¡¯t help but look at each other again. At this time, Qian Tong lowered his head and refused to say anything more. Zhao Ping had to say in a low voice, "Leader,ter this Shinsyu was defeated by Zi Yuan..."

    Zhang Huashui and Zhang Tongtian were both stunned. Zhang Huashui nodded and said, "Well, this girl I know. very good!"

    Zhang Tongtian also nodded slightly. He stroked his beard and said, "Fortunately, our Chinese cultivation world didn¡¯t lose face in front of the Japanese. Zi Yuan did a good job. She deserves to be Wang Yuanshan¡¯s disciple."

    Unexpectedly, Zhao Ping whispered again, "But...ter, Zi Yuan was defeated by their witch, Tachibana Wakako..."

    Zhang Huashui and Zhang Tongtian suddenly eximed at the same time, "What?!"

    Zhang Huashui¡¯s eyes were as wide as copper bells. "Then what happened afterward?"

    Zhao Ping nced at Qian Tong, as if he was reluctant to say what he was going to say next. However, it seemed that Qian Tong could not see him. He lowered his head, as if he was a dull gourd with its top cut off.

    Zhang Huashui was a hot-tempered person. When he saw this scene, he became so angry that he pped his thigh. "Do you two sons of b*tches want to kill me? Tell me what happened. Zhao Ping, tell me!"

    Zhao Ping had no choice but to say, "Then,ter, this Tachibana Wakako was defeated by Li Yundong."

    "Li Yundong?" Zhang Huashui was stunned, as if he had just heard the news that aliens had attacked the earth. He opened his mouth and said, "The head of the Fox Zen School? No, no way! How did he defeat them? Tell me!"

    Zhao Ping swallowed. He had to describe the fight in a simple way and had omitted many things that were unfavorable to Zhang Cunyi. He had exaggerated the strength of Tachibana Wakako and downyed Li Yundong¡¯s strength. He said that the fight between the two people had been extremely difficult. In the end, Li Yundong had been lucky to win.

    Zhang Huashui gnashed his teeth and said angrily, "If it weren¡¯t for the little Japanese envoy¡¯s trick and Zhang Cunyi¡¯s Sanhuang Sword, it would have been a doddle. Damn it!"

    Zhang Tongtian didn¡¯t say a word, just stared at Zhao Ping and Qian Tong. He saw that the eyes of the two people were flickering, and some things were unclear. Obviously, they were hiding something. He suddenly mmed the table, got up, and shouted, "No, you¡¯re lying! Tell me everything! What¡¯s going on? If I find out that there¡¯s a lie, I¡¯ll kick you out!"

    Zhao Ping and Qian Tong trembled. They knew that Zhang Tongtian¡¯s eyes were like torches that could see through people¡¯s hearts. However, they had also thought that they were lucky and that they could muddle through the difficulties and avoid this great shame. But now, they had finally been discovered by their sect leader. They had to tell the whole story clearly.

    When they heard what he said, Zhang Huashui¡¯s mouth grew bigger and bigger, ¡¯til he could almost stuff his fist into it. However, Zhang Tongtian¡¯s face became darker and darker, and his eyes glittered with malice.

    When they were done, Zhang Tongtian sneered again, but he didn¡¯t say a word. Zhang Huashuiughed angrily and said, "Super Li, very good, there are talentsing out from generation to generation!"

    Zhao Ping and Qian Tong looked at each other. Zhao Ping whispered, "Shibo, I think there is something wrong here."

    Zhang Huashui red at him and asked, ¡°What?"

    Zhao Ping whispered, "How could so many people not defeat this Japanese witch? But when Li Yundong hit her, the Japanese witch admitted defeat? Why did these Japanese peoplee here coincidentally?"

    Zhang Huashui frowned and asked, "You mean..."

    Qian Tong also came over and whispered, "We discussed it on the way back. They all think... maybe Li Yundong colluded with these Japanese!"

    Zhang Tongtian couldn¡¯t help but say angrily, "What are you talking about? What¡¯s the point in them colliding with each other?"

    Zhang Huashui sneered and said, "Shishiong, you¡¯re a gentleman. I¡¯m afraid you don¡¯t know how to hook up with such a viin, do you? This b*stard Li Yundong colluded with the Japanese and then disyed his divine power at the Taoist assembly. In this way, this b*stard can be said to have gained both fame and fortune! If Zheng Yuan hadn¡¯t taken the immortal pen, hmph... I¡¯m afraid that Super Li would be invincible!"

    Zhang Tongtian frowned and said to Zhao Ping, "You can leave now!"

    After Zhao Ping and Qian Tong had left, he said to Zhang Huashui in a deep voice, "Shidee, the whole thing is not clear yet. Don¡¯te to a conclusion in a hurry. I know what kind of person he is. He has been proud and conceited ever since he was a child. He will definitely lose this time. Hum, this is his own fault!"

    Zhang Huashui waved his arm and said angrily, "My nephew¡¯s been beaten up like this, but I still feel distressed. As a father, how can you not feel distressed? Why should our Qingyang Pce be defeated? As a crooked sect, how can the Fox Zen Schoot be so powerful? Humph, how can a sect full of spirits be so strong? There is no trick in this, I don¡¯t believe it! I will seek justice!"

    Zhang Tongtian looked down at the unconscious Zhang Cunyi. Although he was speaking harshly, he was his biological son. In particr, it also involved the face of the Qingcheng Sect. He couldn¡¯t help sighing in his heart and asked, "What do you want to do?"

    Zhang Huagshui sneered and said, "A Yang Spirit Master dares to call himself invincible? It¡¯s so ridiculous. I¡¯ll show him what a real master is! You asked me how to seek justice? I¡¯ll fight with him! This pair of fists of mine is good enough!"

    Zhang Tongtian couldn¡¯t help but say angrily, "Nonsense! Whether Li Yundong colluded with the Japanese or not, now the whole cultivation world owes him a favor. What do you think others will think of us when we make such a scene? Besides, if he really won¡¯t work with us, what are you going to do next?"

    Hearing this, Zhang Huashui was stunned. He straightened his neck and said, "If I ask him topete with me, would that be okay?"

    Zhang Tongtian suppressed his anger and said, "Shidee, listen to me, and hold it for the time being. I will write a letter to Zhang Ling, who is from the Zhengyi School, to find out what she was thinking, and then make ns! Even if you want to take action, you¡¯re not in a hurry now. In another month or two, the inauguration ceremony of the head of the Linggong Sect will be held. At that time, it won¡¯t be toote for you to make ns! These days, it¡¯s just the right time for us to find out the truth!"

    Zhang Huashui thought for a moment and nodded. "Shishiong, you¡¯re the one who is more considerate. It¡®s up to you¡¯!" After that, he strode over to the nearby study, wrote a few lines down on some paper, and folded it. He whistled with his fingers in his mouth, and suddenly, a crane came to the window.

    Zhang Huashui put the letter into a bamboo tube and hung it under the crane¡¯s wings. Then, he patted it on the head and said with a smile, "Well, let¡¯s go to Mount Longhu to find Zhang Ling of the Zhengyi School and send the letter to her. I¡¯ll wait for your news!"

    As if he understood, the crane gave a long cry, spread its wings, and disappeared into the sky in the next second.

 Chapter 521 The Top Ten Jinshen

    <h4>Chapter 521 The Top Ten Jinshen</h4>

    Mount Longhu in Jiangxi, at Zhengyi School¡¯s Shangqing Temple:

    Zhang Ling returned to the mountain with the Taoist priests and nuns of the younger generation of the Zhengyi School. She ordered sternly, ¡°Whoever dares to talk nonsense will die on the mountain!¡±

    Although they were cultivators, these disciples, who were still young, longed for the outside world and often gathered together to discuss it. For example, which Shishiong or Shidee went down the mountain, which Shijie or Shimei would buy a beautiful new set of clothes outside?

    Zhang Ling also knew that these people usually liked to talk nonsense when they had nothing to do. Sometimes, a good thing could be distorted by thempletely. They could spread the thing throughout the whole Zhengyi School in a few minutes.

    Hearing Zhang Ling¡¯s scolding, the younger members of the Zhengyi School all stuck out their tongues and left one after another.

    Zhang Ling suddenly stopped the youngest Shimei of the middle-aged generation and said, ¡°Liufang, wait a minute.¡±

    Zhang Liufang stopped. She looked back at Zhang Ling in confusion and asked curiously, ¡°Shibo, what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Zhang Ling hesitated for a moment. ¡°Call your master here, I have something to say to him.¡±

    Zhang Liufang smiled slightly and said, ¡°Okay.¡± Then she jumped away.

    Zou Ping looked at her retreating figure and asked in a low voice, ¡°Master, why are you calling Third Shishoo?¡±

    Zhang Ling sighed. ¡°The current situation in the Cultivation World needs Jinshen masters to control it. We have three Jinshen masters in Zhengyi School. One is Leader Wang Yuanshan, and the other is Zhang Kongyun, who¡¯s the master of Zhang Liufang.¡±

    Zou Ping opened her mouth wide and said in surprise, ¡°Zhang Kong... Ah, Third Shishoo is a Jinshen master? I just can¡¯t believe it. You never told me!¡±

    Zhang Ling snorted and did not speak. Zou Ping immediately understood and said, ¡°My master is not a Jinshen master, why should I tell her about the other Jinshen Masters?¡±

    Zhang Ling¡¯s face darkened. After a while, she said slowly, ¡°Although my third Shidee has a strange temperament, he is a rare cultivation genius in Zhengyi School. He is not inferior to anyone. When he reached the Jinshen Phase, you were not born yet!¡±

    Zou Ping smiled awkwardly. ¡°Didn¡¯t I hear that Third Shibo¡¯s personality is entric?¡± As she spoke, she became more and more curious. A master at the top of the Yang Spirit was already so powerful, so what about a master at the Jinshen phase?

    After a while, Zhang Liufang came over with someone. In the distance, Zhang Liufang waved her arms and shouted, ¡°Hey, Shibo, I¡¯ve called my master here!¡±

    As she spoke, she pulled the sleeve of the person next to her.

    Zou Ping took a closer look and saw that the man was extremely short, about 1.5 meters tall, with his back crooked and waist bent, as if he was carrying a huge stone which weighed ten thousand pounds on his shoulders. His face was full of wrinkles, and he looked as old as if he had lived for hundreds of years. His eyebrows were long and white, drooping to his cheeks, and the goatee under his chin was sparse, making him look funny.

    Zhang Liufang pulled Zhang Kongyun¡¯s sleeve and urged him as she walked, ¡°Oh, Master, hurry up, hurry up and leave!¡±

    Zhang Kongyun sighed and said, ¡°Girl, what are you doing? I¡¯m busy!¡±

    As soon as he walked in, Zou Ping detected a fishy smell. She couldn¡¯t help frowning and covering her nose, saying, ¡°Third Shishoo, what were you doing just now? It¡¯s so stinky!¡±

    Zhang Liufang also pinched her nose and made a face. She said with a grimace, ¡°Master was nurturing the cabbage with fertilizer just now!¡±

    Zou Ping almost fainted. She didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry as she said, ¡°Third Shishoo, why are you doing this again? Didn¡¯t you say you were going to be a carpenterst time? Why have you be a vegetable farmer again?¡±

    Zhang Kongyun¡¯s hands were covered with ck mud. He rubbed his hands, and the old mud fell away. Heughed and said, ¡°It¡¯s always good to learn more. Ah, hahaha! I¡¯ll have the skill to feed myself in the future!¡±

    Zou Ping didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. ¡°Third Shishoo, you¡¯re really funny. With your cultivation, you could go anywhere in the world.¡±

    When Zhang Kongyun heard Zou Ping praising him, his eyebrows immediately twitched happily. He smiled proudly and said, ¡°Yes, these cabbages I raised are white and big, and so crisp! Ordinary people couldn¡¯t have raised them!¡± As he said this, he went to pull Zou Ping¡¯s sleeve and said with a smile, ¡°Little Shizhi,e with me and have a look. You¡¯ll know when you see them!¡±

    Zou Ping was shocked when she saw that his dark hands were touching her clean clothes. All the hairs on her beautiful body stood on end, and she quickly shrank back.

    However, Zhang Kongyun seemed to have expected her to react like that, and he firmly grabbed her arm, leaving a five-finger ck mark on her clean sleeve.

    Zou Ping was so angry that she shouted, ¡°Third Shishoo!¡± However, due to the age difference, she was too embarrassed to scold him and her pretty face turned red.

    Zhang Ling couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. She sighed and said, ¡°Third Shidee, don¡¯t torment my disciple as soon as you appear, Okay? What are you doing? Let her go. How impolite you are!¡±

    Zhang Kongyun smiled awkwardly. He let go of her and scratched his hair with his ck and dirty hands. ¡°I was a little excited when I saw you, junior Shizhi. By the way, old Shijie, why did you call me?¡±

    Hearing the word ¡°old sister¡±, Zhang Ling immediately pulled a long face. ¡°I¡¯ve told you many times, don¡¯t call me old Shijie. I¡¯m the first senior Shijie!¡±

    Zhang Kongyun nodded, bowed, and said with a ttering smile, ¡°Yes, old Shijie, you¡¯re right!¡±

    Zhang Ling was so angry that she was almost frothing at the mouth. She took a deep breath and thought to herself, ¡°If it weren¡¯t for my Shidee¡¯s closed-door meditation, who would have wanted to deal with you? Damn it!¡±

    Zhang Ling suppressed her anger and told him about the Taoist assembly. Then, she said, ¡°Third Shidee, now Wang Yuanshan has been carried out of the mountain gate and the head is in seclusion, the only one who can suppress Li Yundong is you. You can¡¯t just sit there and watch us being bullied by others!¡±

    Zhang Kongyun blinked, and his eyes, which were as small as ck beans, turned around. He suddenly turned to Zhang Liufang and asked, ¡°Is this Li Yundong so powerful? Has no cultivator from any school defeated him?¡±

    Zhang Liufang couldn¡¯t help showing strong admiration on her face. She nodded hard and said, ¡°Yes, he¡¯s amazing! He is nicknamed Super Li!¡±

    ¡°Super Li... Super Li?¡± Zhang Kongyun stroked his beard and thought for a moment. He nodded slightly and said, ¡°Oh, he has reached the Jinxian phase at such a young age?¡±

    Zhang Ling was stunned when she heard this. She said angrily, ¡°How is that possible? He is at most at the top level of the Yang Spirit phase.¡±

    Zhang Kongyun said in surprise, ¡°Then why should he be called invincible? I know of the Jinshen masters in this world, and there are five Lighting Retribution masters! I don¡¯t know if there are any living beings in the Jinxian phase. When did he reach the Jinxian phase? It¡¯s not toote to call him invincible!¡±

    Zhang Liufang suddenly asked, ¡°Top ten Jinshen masters? Who are they?¡±

    Zhang Kongyun stroked his beard and said, ¡°Among the top ten Jinshen masters, three are from the Zhengyi School. Two are from the Quanzhen Dragon Sect and Qingcheng Sect. The other three are scattered in the Jinshan Sect, Lou Guan Sect, and Donghua Sect. Well, these ten people will definitely be able to defeat any Yang Spirit masters. Li Yundong is overestimating himself. How dare he call himself invincible in the Yang Spirit phase?¡±

    Zhang Ling sneered and said, ¡°He reached the top realm of the Yang Spirit phase at such a young age. Who knows what level he will reach in the future?¡±

    Zhang Kongyun tilted his head and thought for a moment. Then, he said, ¡°Well, let¡¯s wait until he¡¯s reached this phase.¡± After that, he turned around and was about to leave.

    Zhang Ling hurriedly stopped him and said anxiously, ¡°Third Shidee, what¡¯s your opinion of this?¡±

    Zhang Kongyun turned his head and asked in surprise, ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Zhang Ling said angrily, ¡°Will you stand by and watch a junior bully us?¡±

    Zhang Kongyun grinned and said, ¡°You think I¡¯d do that? When hees to Mount Longhu,e and find me!¡±

    After that, he shook his head and slowly walked away.

    As Zou Ping wiped at the dirty handprint on her sleeve, sheined to Zhang Liufang, ¡°Why is your master like this? He is so annoying!¡±

    Zhang Liufang smiled at Zou Ping and said cautiously, ¡°Shijie, you know his temper, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Zou Ping snorted and said to Zhang Ling, ¡°Master, what should we do?¡±

    Zhang Ling¡¯s face was full of uncertainty. She gritted her teeth in her heart and said, ¡°I knew I couldn¡¯t rely on him! Damn it!¡±

    After a while, Zhang Ling snorted. Just as she was about to speak, she heard the crisp sound of a crane in the sky. After a while, a crane suddenly pped its wings and stopped not far away.

    Zhang Liufang caught sight of the elegant, beautiful crane. She immediately ran over with a smile, put her arms around its neck, and said with a smile, ¡°It¡¯s so strange. Why is there a crane here?¡±

    Zhang Ling frowned slightly and said to Zou Ping, ¡°Go and have a look.¡±

    Zou Ping walked over. After just a little observation, she noticed that something was tied to the crane¡¯s wings. She opened them up and took a look. Then, she took out a small bamboo tube and handed it to Zhang Ling.

    Zhang Ling looked at the note inside and couldn¡¯t help sneering.

    Zou Ping leaned over and couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Master, what¡¯s this?¡±

    Zhang Ling sneered and handed the note to Zou Ping. ¡°Look at it yourself! Hey, Zhang Huashui, a rough old man, hasn¡¯t changed at all. He¡¯s so peremptory!¡±

    Zou Ping took a look and saw the words scrawled on the note. There was a hint of arrogance in the tone of the words, and she couldn¡¯t help but be furious. ¡°What the hell is Qingcheng Sect? A thousand years ago, it was just a branch of our sect. How dare they order us like this and shout at us?¡±

    Zhang Ling had already calmed down by this time. She suddenlyughed and said, ¡°They want an answer... Hey, well! Although Zhang Huashui turned out to be rude, he must know that these words will provoke a fight between the two families. I see, he is looking for trouble with Li Yundong, and his senior Shishiong, Zhang Tongtian, is a cautious person. He must have suppressed Zhang Huashui and asked him to find out the truth so he could cause trouble with Li Yundong. So, hee hee, Zhang Huashui sent a letter with such arrogant words.¡±

    Zou Ping asked tentatively, ¡°Then, Master, what should we do?¡±

    Zhang Lingughed and said, ¡°Zhang Huashui is one of the top ten Jinshen masters around. If he wants to make trouble for Li Yundong, why don¡¯t we help him? Give him a reply!¡±

    Zou Ping asked again, ¡°Shall I reply?¡±

    Zhang Ling couldn¡¯t help but say angrily, ¡°Nonsense, need I do such a small thing in person?¡±

    Zou Ping was being scolded, but she was not angry. Instead, she took the letter and left in high spirits.

    The junior Shimei, Zhang Liufang, looked at Zou Ping strangely, and then couldn¡¯t help looking at Zhang Ling. She couldn¡¯t understand why her senior Shibo and senior Shijie wanted to make trouble for Li Yundong.

    Zhang Liufang blinked her eyes and thought to herself, ¡°Amitayus, I heard that Zhang Huashui of Qingcheng Sect is known as the fierce Zhang Fei in the Cultivation World. If he goes to find trouble with Li Yundong... there will be a good show!¡±

 Chapter 522 An Evil Disciple!

    <h4>Chapter 522 An Evil Disciple!</h4>

    Just as the forces of each sect were surging secretly, a clear, calm atmosphere came over the Fox Zen School.

    In the early morning, Ao Wushuang awoke from her meditation. She gently exhaled, and a stream of white air spurted from her ruddy red lips like a sharp arrow, rushing straight to the wall and then scattering.

    The beauty breathed like a fairy. For a moment, the room was filled with a delicate, sultry smell.

    Ao Wushuang opened her eyes and looked around. What she saw was a forty-inch sma TV hanging on the wall. When she spat it out just now, the TV, which was four meters away from her, was covered with ayer of mist.

    Next to the TV was a luxurious sound system, and underneath her was a spacious, luxurious bed. The whole room was decorated in a fashionable and gorgeous style.

    Ao Wushuang couldn¡¯t help sighing in her heart, "I have been cultivating my whole life. I used to live in a wooden bed, which served as a home. I wasn¡¯t expecting that I would end up in such a luxurious ce now. It¡¯s really unusual."

    While she was sighing with emotion, she suddenly saw a small piece of the mist on the opposite television screen being wiped away. She couldn¡¯t helpughing in her heart and said lightly, "Come out, don¡¯t hide!"

    The room was silent.

    Ao Wushuang snorted and said, "Go back and look at yourself. You¡¯re on TV! Stop pretending!"

    At this time, a figure appeared in the room. The person was smiling and her eyeballs were rolling. There was something lovely and smart about her. If it was not Su Chan, who else could it be?

    Su Chan said with a smile, "Master, it¡¯s better for you to observe the waters clearly!"

    Ao Wushuang snorted and said, "Is it necessary for us to do this? Is there anything you can¡¯t tell me directly? And you even used invisibility? Are you afraid that Li Yundong won¡¯t let youe to see me?"

    Su Chan quickly shook her hand and exined in a hurry, "No, no, Yundong is good to me. Don¡¯t talk nonsense."

    Ao Wushuang looked at Su Chan strangely. "Then what are you doing secretly? Do you want topete with me on wisdom and courage again?"

    Su Chan sat near Ao Wushuang with an apologetic smile on her face. She took her arm and said coquettishly, "Master, how could I hope topete with you? Who is not as beautiful as you in the world, and who is not as smart as you? You are really the most beautiful woman there¡¯s been since ancient times. You are so intelligent!"

    At first, Ao Wushuang listened with a smile, butter, she couldn¡¯t help but get goosebumps all over her body. As the saying goes, no matter what you do, you can¡¯t tter someone, but you can¡¯t stand a p!

    Ao Wushuang red at her and said, "Get to the point. What¡¯s the matter? Tell me quickly. If you don¡¯t tell me, I¡¯ll drive you out!"

    Su Chan¡¯s face was full of grievances. She said tearfully, "Master, you want to drive me out as soon as you get here?"

    Seeing that she was about to cry, Ao Wushuang started teetering on the border of tears andughter, "Silly girl, I mean this door!"

    Su Chan burst into tears and smiled. She wiped her eyes with both hands and said, "I knew you were the best!"

    Ao Wushuang pressed her forehead and shook her head helplessly. "Stop pussyfooting around. Tell me what¡¯s going on..."

    Su Chan blinked her eyes and said cautiously, as if she had gathered a great deal of courage, "Master, could you continue to teach me how to cultivate?"

    Ao Wushuang was stunned and said in surprise, "Zi Yuan and Li Yundong haven¡¯t taught you anything in the past few days, have they?"

    Su Chan was stunned. She pretended to be pitiful and said, "They¡¯re all too busy..."

    Ao Wushuang chuckled and said, "You¡¯re not willing to learn, are you? Well, Zhou Qin¡¯s cultivation is almost higher than yours now. When Li Yundong enforced justice on behalf of heaven, she was still a weak mortal. Now she seems to have the temperament of a cultivator. Are you anxious?"

    After saying that, Ao Wushuang couldn¡¯t help raising her head. She remembered that she had threatened Su Chan a few days ago in order to make her cultivate well. However, this little girl had refused to learn. Now, she regretted it and wanted to learn it?

    Ao Wushuang only felt proud, as if her serfs were singing her praises. Sheughed and said, "Do you want to learn now? Ha, I won¡¯t teach you anymore!"

    Su Chan was so anxious that she quickly tugged Ao Wushuang¡¯s arm and shook it hard. "Master, Master! You can¡¯t do this! I am your only disciple. How can you regard me as a burden!"

    Ao Wushuang burst intoughter and said, "You also know it¡¯s a shame to be a burden, don¡¯t you?"

    Su Chan smiled apologetically and said, "Yes, when the timees, I will be useless and lose not only my face, but also yours! Am I right, master?"

    Ao Wushuang nced at Su Chan and snorted. She wanted to put on airs. Otherwise, it would be too easy for the girl to get what she wanted, and she wouldn¡¯t cherish it.

    Ao Wushuang thought for a moment before saying, "Su Chan, in fact, when you were young, I did divination for you. This divination showed your life."

    When Su Chan heard this, her eyes widened and she quickly asked curiously, "What did it say? Tell me quickly!"

    Ao Wushuang said seriously, "You have been lonely since you were a child, but your cultivation improved markedly when you were young. You didn¡¯t meet your lover until the age of 16. Butter, your cultivation will be difficult to improve, and you will beughed at by others after you are twenty..."

    When Su Chan heard that she met her lover at the age of 16, she thought to herself, "Isn¡¯t that Yundong? Hehe, did Master really calcte divination, or did she just say that casually?" But when she heard that her cultivation would be difficult to improve in the future, the little girl suddenly became anxious and asked in a hurry, "How will it be after I¡¯m 20? Will I make great progress after I¡¯m 20 years old? Ah? Will I have to wait four years? But, Master, what realm will I reach after I¡¯m 20?"

    Ao Wushuang cleared her throat and said mysteriously, "When you¡¯re over 20 years old..."

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes widened, and her heart was beating wildly. She asked nervously, "So? Can I practice to the stage of the six-tailed fox? Or the stage of a seven-tailed fox spirit? Maybe even an eight-tailed earth fox?"

    Ao Wushuang said seriously, "After you are 20 years old... you will slowly get used to being a burden!" After that, she couldn¡¯t helpughing.

    Su Chan was exasperated. "Master, why are you like this?"

    Ao Wushuang smiled for a while, then held back herughter, red at Su Chan, and said with a smile, "Isn¡¯t that right? I¡¯ve been away for so many days. Have you made any progress in cultivation?"

    Su Chan seemed to be really a little angry. She jumped out of bed and stormed out angrily. As she walked, she muttered, "Bad Master, damn Master, I hate you so much! You don¡¯t even want to teach your own disciple. I hate you so much!"

    When Ao Wushuang saw Su Chan approaching the door, she didn¡¯t slow down her pace. She hesitated and rubbed her feet, unable to helpughing in her heart.

    Seeing that it was about time, Ao Wushuang said, "If you really want to cultivate, you can¡¯t give up halfway this time. Otherwise, I won¡¯t be at all pleased!"

    Su Chan immediately turned around like a gust of wind and pounced over to Ao Wushuang. Her eyes were wide open, and her long eyshes were fluttering like two small brushes. Her small head nodded vigorously, like a chicken pecking at rice. "Well, Chan¡¯er is the most obedient!"

    Ao Wushuangughed and said, "You¡¯re the most disobedient of all!"

    Su Chan giggled, shamelessly pulled Ao Wushuang¡¯s arm, and said with a smile, "Anyway, I¡¯m your only disciple. You can¡¯t find anyone more obedient than me, so you can make do with it, master!"

    Ao Wushuang nced at Su Chan with a smile, her eyes full of love. She stroked Su Chan¡¯s hair and said, "Don¡¯t talk about such useless things. Sit down and meditate. Let me see how your cultivation is now."

    After saying that, Su Chan replied with an "oh" and sat down obediently. However, as soon as she sat down, the expression on her face settled and she heard a cheering from outside the room. It was the shouts of the little foxes.

    Among them, Ling Yue¡¯s crisp voice rang clear, and she said in surprise, "Leader, you bought a lot of delicious food today!"

    Su Chan opened her eyes as soon as she heard that voice. Her eyes were wide open and her eyes were darting around. She raised her head and unconsciously looked out of the door. Her neck craned and her feet were eager to move. She wanted to rush out and see what delicious food Li Yundong had bought.

    However, as soon as Su Chan moved, she heard Ao Wushuang cough hard from beside her.

    The little girl turned her head and saw that Ao Wushuang was looking at her with a cold face. Her eyes were full of threat, as if she was saying, "You dare to go out and have a try!"

    Su Chan immediately shrank back and sat back down submissively. However, she was still unwilling to give up, so she muttered, "Can¡¯t I go out and take a look? Maybe something was bought for me."

    Ao Wushuang said angrily, "No. Cultivators should be clear-hearted and devoid of desire. How can you cultivate like this?"

    Su Chan was being scolded so hard that she shrank back and said with a grievance, "I was only asking..."

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s eyebrows suddenly rose, and she couldn¡¯t help but say angrily, "Do you want to tick me off? Just now, you said that you would cultivate well, but in less than a minute, you¡¯ve be distracted!"

    Su Chan¡¯s face turned red from the scolding. She had no choice but to sit upright and meditate seriously. However, no matter how hard she tried, the sounding from outside the door never stopped. It was like mercury pouring into her ears, going all the way to her head.

    After Su Chan heard the cheers of the other little foxes outside the door, she shouted, "Oh, I like this!"

    "Don¡¯t be noisy. This was brought for me, and that is yours!"

    "Nonsense, Leader brought this for me. If you don¡¯t believe me, you can ask him!"

    "Leader, tell me, who did you buy this for?"

    Outside the door, Li Yundong was obviously being harassed. He shouted, "Don¡¯t make any noise. This is for Su Chan. These are for you!"

    Su Chan immediately opened her eyes again, a look of surprise on her face. She subconsciously wanted to rush out of the door, but as soon as she moved half of her body, she tilted and saw a ck shadow pping her forehead.

    Su Chan covered her forehead with her hand, only to see Ao Wushuang staring at her. "Evil disciple!"

    Su Chan whined with a face full of grievance, "Yundong¡¯s brought me something. I¡¯ll go and have a look. It won¡¯t take long."

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s face was full of anger. "Brat! You dare have the guts say it again! We cultivators give priority to being calm. Do you think you deserve to be called a cultivator like this?"

    Su Chan was startled and muttered to herself in a low voice, then closed her eyes and said, "Maybe you still have something..."

    After saying that, she felt ufortable. The voice outside the door was like twenty-five little mice rolling in her heart and scratching her heart. The little girl couldn¡¯t help opening her eyes again.

    As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw that Ao Wushuang was looking like a Bodhisattva with angry eyes and raised eyebrows. If she opened her mouth, she would be hit.

    Su Chan was shocked and didn¡¯t dare to speak again. She responded with an "oh" and closed her eyes again quickly.

    Seeing that she had finally calmed down, Ao Wushuang snorted and said, "Can¡¯t I control you?"

    But as soon as she finished her words, she heard the voice of a little fox outside the door clearly say, "Oh, there¡¯s something for junior Shishoo!"

    "That¡¯s right, little Shishoo. Leader bought you something!"

    The sound outside the door was intense, but the room was quiet. Su Chan could not help opening one of her eyes quietly, only to see that Ao Wushuang was staring at her angrily.

    The two of them stared at each other, saying nothing.

 Chapter 523 Qingcheng Secret Record

    <h4>Chapter 523 Qingcheng Secret Record</h4>

    Su Chan looked at Ao Wushuang eagerly and said in a low voice, "Master, if I don¡¯t go, you have to. That¡¯s Yundong¡¯s invitation."

    Ao Wushuang said angrily, "I won¡¯t go, and neither will you! I know what you¡¯re thinking. You¡¯re..."

    But before she could finish her words, she heard Li Yundong shouting at her from outside the door, "Qianbei Wushuang, Zi Yuan has selected a suit for you. Would you like to see if it suits you well?"

    After hearing this, Su Chan rolled her eyes and said tentatively, "Master, if you don¡¯t want Yundong¡¯s suit, you can¡¯t refuse Shijie Zi Yuan¡¯s, can you? You have to give her face, right?"

    Ao Wushuang was so angry that she said, "No, no, no! I don¡¯t want any of it."

    As soon as she finished speaking, she heard Liu Yuehong knocking on the door andining, "Younger sister, what are you doing? What¡¯s so important? Didn¡¯t I hear that you had made up your mind a few minutes ago? You aren¡¯t epting the leader¡¯s and Zhenren Zi Yuan¡¯s kindness. This is not right."

    Ao Wushuang was helpless. She red at Su Chan fiercely, rushed to the door, opened it, rushed to Li Yundong like a gust of wind, grabbed the bag from his hand, gnashed her teeth in anger, and said, "Thank you!"

    Then she rushed back like a gust of wind.

    Li Yundong and Zi Yuan were stunned and looked at each other. Li Yundong said with his eyes wide open, "What¡¯s wrong with her? Who offended her?"

    Zi Yuan also said, "That¡¯s mine. Your stuff is in my hands..."

    When Ao Wushuang returned to his room with a cold face, he saw that the little girl was sitting on the bed and meditating, as if she had entered a trance-like state.

    Ao Wushuang was stunned and couldn¡¯t help nodding. He thought to himself, "You¡¯re worth teaching!"

    She wanted to test Su Chan, so she shook the bag in her hand and said, "Chan¡¯er, do you want to know what¡¯s inside?"

    However, Su Chan remained motionless, like a rock.

    Ao Wushuang was stunned. She knew her disciple¡¯s nature very well, and she knew that Su Chan would not have any reaction. She couldn¡¯t help but be moved in her heart, but then she became furious and pointed at Su Chan, asking, "Who are you?"

    Sure enough, Su Chan¡¯s body suddenly disappeared with a whoosh, leaving only a Liujia Yin Spirit Rune slowly falling from the sky.

    Ao Wushuang was furious. "Viin, how dare you can fight with me!"

    She suddenly turned around and wanted to rush out to pull Su Chan back, but she thought, "It¡¯s not sweet to forcibly twist a melon. Su Chan is so greedy for fun. Cultivation is really a headache. How can she go on like this?"

    Thinking of this, Ao Wushuang couldn¡¯t help but be annoyed. An idea suddenly shed through her mind, and she thought to herself, "Do I have to use this method?"

    Su Chan used a crafty escape n and sneaked out. But soon after she got out, she felt a little regretful. When she secretly saw what Li Yundong had bought for her, she sneaked back.

    As soon as she got through the door, she saw Ao Wushuang sitting cross-legged on the spot, motionless like a y Bodhisattva.

    When Su Chan saw her Liujia Yin Spirit Rune lying quietly there, she knew that her trick had been exposed. Her heart skipped a beat. Just as she was about to throw herself at Ao Wushuang andy bare her bad intentions, she heard a sigh from Ao Wushuang.

    Ao Wushuang opened his eyes, full of disappointment. She said to Su Chan with disappointment, "Chan¡¯er, do you still want to continue down the path of cultivation? Do you really want to see yourself being a burden to Li Yundong?"

    Su Chan knew that she was wrong. She lowered her head, rubbed the corner of her clothes, and whispered, "I don¡¯t want to, I don¡¯t want to..."

    Ao Wushuang sighed and said, "As Li Yundong¡¯s partner, you haven¡¯t made any progress with cultivation. Have you ever thought about what you would do if you were attacked by enemies in the future? If you get caught, even if Li Yundong has great power, he¡¯ll only be able to submit to arrest and be at the mercy of others!"

    At this point, Ao Wushuang¡¯s eyes suddenly turned red. She sobbed and said, "Do you know how Wang Yuanshan was caught in the end? At that time, he was the youngest jinshen master in the world, and everyone said that he would go on to be the best in the world. But it was because of me that my cultivation was too low, so I was caught by the Zhengyi School in the end, and used by them to lead Wang Yuanshan into a trap. In the end, I had to live alone for the rest of my life, and he..."

    At this point, Ao Wushuang could not help but burst into tears.

    Only then did Su Chan know why her master had been forcing her to cultivate. She also seemed to feel the same. She felt sad and couldn¡¯t help reaching out to grab Ao Wushuang¡¯s hand as her tears fell.

    Ao Wushuang sighed and said, "Chan¡¯er, do you know why I only favored you in the Fox Zen School at that time? It¡¯s because you are simr to me! You are as greedy and naive as me! I just don¡¯t want you to go the same way as me and Wang Yuanshan!"

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t help but burst into tears. She threw herself into Ao Wushuang¡¯s arms and cried, "I¡¯m sorry, Master. It was my fault. I¡¯ll cultivate well in the future."

    Ao Wushuang grabbed Su Chan¡¯s hand and said, "If you want to cultivate, you have to go back to the mountain with me and stay away from mortal society. Only in this way can you calm down and cultivate peacefully. Can you do that?"

    Su Chan stopped crying when she heard that. She widened her eyes and thought to herself, "Am I going to separate from Yundong? How, how can I do that? Without Yundong, how can I live?"

    Su Chan widened her eyes and looked at Ao Wushuang with tears. She cried, "Master, I... I can¡¯t do it without Yundong. Without him, I would feel empty in my heart, as if I¡¯d lost my soul. Then I won¡¯t be able to cultivate well."

    Ao Wushuang looked at Su Chan. After a long while, she sighed and shook her head, saying, "This is retribution! I knew it would be like this. But you can¡¯t go on like this. You have been ying around with him and are not in the mood for cultivation. Now that you¡¯re away from him, you can¡¯t cultivate either. What should we do?"

    Su Chan was stunned and lowered her head. After hesitating for a long time, she slowly raised her head and said with a blushing face, "As long as Yundong cultivates to the Jinshen phase, we, we can..."

    Su Chan stammered. Ao Wushuang couldn¡¯t help snorting and said, "Then you can cultivate together, right?"

    Su Chan¡¯s cheeks immediately turned red as she hummed softly, like a mosquito. She nodded slightly and said, "Yes."

    Ao Wushuang couldn¡¯t help sighing. "Jinshen, hey, Jinshen! There are hundreds and thousands of cultivators in the world, but how many people are in the Jinshen phase? You can count them on your hands! He has only cultivated for a bit more than half a year. When do you expect him to cultivate the Jinshen phase?"

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t help but raise her head and say to Ao Wushuang, "But, but Wang Yuanshan also reached the Jinshen phase at such a young age, didn¡¯t he?"

    Ao Wushuang sneered and said, "Wang Yuanshan began to cultivate in his mother¡¯s womb. He was injected with panacea before he was born. He reached the Advanced Level of Yang Spirit at the age of 14, and only cultivated his jinshen at the age of 30. Do you know how many elixirs he has taken in the past 16 years? Just the dregs of medicine piled up together, and they piled up to form a whole Mount Tianlong! If it weren¡¯t for his great perseverance and wisdom, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to cultivate it if he had given up two elixirs!

    "Furthermore, do you think that the Jinshen phase is so easy to cultivate? Since ancient times, if one could reach the Jinshen phase, it meant they had extraordinary cultivation talent. With the help of arge number of spirit pills and panaceas, one may seed. Even if one¡¯s talent iscking, there is no use for a pill unless it is a Diyuan Jindan! Humph, if an idiot were to consume a Diyuan Jindan, he would still be able to reach the Jinshen phase. However, is it not easy to refine the Diyuan Jindan?

    "If Li Yundong wants to reach the Jinshen phase, he will have to either take a pile of medicine or take the Diyuan Jindan! In order to reach the Jinshen phase, Wang Yuanshan almost lost all of the family property of the Linggong Sect. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that he showed Celestial Master Zhengyi School that he was young and promising and had been supporting him all the time, and his Shimei was working hard to make money, how could he have done what he did?"

    Su Chan felt dejected when she heard that. "Then what should I do? Do I really need to get used to being a burden when I¡¯m only 20...?"

    Ao Wushuang looked at Su Chan, sighed, and said, "There are other ways to improve your cultivation, but..."

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes lit up when she heard that. She quickly asked, "What¡¯s the solution?"

    Ao Wushuang hesitated for a moment before saying, "Karmamudra!"

    Su Chan suddenly looked like a deted ball and said dejectedly, "Isn¡¯t that the same as not saying? Now that Yundong¡¯s cultivation is so much higher than mine and he hasn¡¯t reached the Jinshen phase, how can we cultivate to the Jinshen phase?"

    Ao Wushuang red at Su Chan and said, "Where do you think you¡¯re going? I¡¯m talking about the Karmamudra!"

    Su Chan was stunned for a moment, but soon she said with disappointment, "I¡¯ve also thought about it, but every time I take Qi from Yundong. If he continues like this, his cultivation will be sucked away by me."

    Ao Wushuangughed angrily. "What do you know? There are many sects among the two minor Karmamudra. Among them, the Taoist sect of Shuzhong has a secret method of dual cultivation, such as the Yin and Yang use of the Sexual Yoga in the secret record of Qing City, the Universal Return Method, the Big and Small surgical Method, the Divine Design Method, the Three Wen Cauldron Techniques, the Nine Wen Cauldron Techniques, the Secret-Seeking Method, etc. These two Karmamudra methods are both suitable for men and women, and they both benefit from the same method, which can be called the Spirit Skill."

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes lit up when she heard that. She couldn¡¯t help but ask happily, "Master, you can do this, can¡¯t you? You can, can¡¯t you?"

    Ao Wushuang shook his head and said firmly, "I won¡¯t!"

    Su Chan was disappointed. "Ah? You don¡¯t know how? Why don¡¯t you know? If you don¡¯t know how to do it, then how can your cultivation..."

    Before Su Chan could finish her words, Ao Wushuang couldn¡¯t help but cut in angrily, "Fool, what are you talking about! My cultivation was taught by Wang Yuanshan after he was caught! Wang Yuanshan gave me his Bahuang Sword because he saw that my cultivation was too low. Otherwise, he would have escaped when he was caught with the Bahuang the Liuhe Sword. Do you think my cultivation was obtained by Karmamudra?"

    Su Chan lowered her head and looked at Ao Wushuang pitifully. "I¡¯m sorry, Master... If you don¡¯t know how to do it, who does? What should I do?"

    Ao Wushuang shook his head and said, "Nonsense. Since it¡¯s the secret record of Qing City, of course it¡¯ll be the Qingcheng Sect!"

    Su Chan was stunned. "Ah? Qingcheng Sect? We seem to have a grudge with this sect. If they don¡¯t lend it to us, what should we do?"

    Ao Wushuang chuckled and said, "You¡¯re so silly to say that! If they don¡¯t lend you money, humph, won¡¯t we just go and get it ourselves?"

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes lit up. The big fox and the small fox looked at each other and snickered.

 Chapter 524 The Past of Mystical Silver Fox

    <h4>Chapter 524 The Past of Mystical Silver Fox</h4>

    After the two fox spirits decided to go to Mount Qingcheng to steal the Qingcheng Secret Record, they to look at each other with mischievous eyes andugh.

    Su Chan kept fiddling with Ao Wushuang with her arms and said with a sneaky smile, "Master, How did I not know that you were a thief? What if others find out about this?"

    She then added nervously, "What if Yundong finds out? What should I do?"

    Ao Wushuang was stunned, but she quickly snorted and said, "If he knows, just tell him that this is the tradition of our Fox Zen School!"

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes were widen open. "Stealing is a tradition of the Fox Zen School?"

    Ao Wushuang said disapprovingly, "Our founding master, Grandmaster Pan Shi, is the master of the Fox Zen School. His ability is to learn skills from others. Why is the Mystical Silver Fox so powerful? Is it because she is good at stealing from others? What¡¯s more, we didn¡¯t steal these cultivation methods to do bad things. Why can¡¯t we have them?"

    When Su Chan saw how self-righteous her master was being, she didn¡¯t take it to heart. Instead, she asked excitedly, "When are we going?"

    Ao Wushuang looked at the sky and said, "Let¡¯s go at night."

    Su Chan jumped up and pped her hands, saying, "That¡¯s great. We can also have a dinner cooked by Yundong!"

    Ao Wushuang scolded angrily, "Do you think of nothing but food!"

    Su Chan pulled a face at Ao Wushuang and said, "Well, Yundong¡¯s cooking is so delicious. It¡¯s not like yours!"

    Just as Ao Wushuang was about to get angry, she saw Su Chan rushing out of the room with a smile and could only shake her head helplessly.

    When Su Chan walked out of the room, she saw that the little foxes were gathering in the living room. Suddenly, there was a burst of deafening cheers.

    Su Chan was shocked. She covered her ears and asked in confusion, "What¡¯s wrong? What happened?"

    Ling Yue grabbed Su Chan with a face full of joy and shook her arm hard. "Leader has decided to pass on the Heavenly Jindan Technique to us!"

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t help but open her mouth and gape. "Ah? Is he going to teach us the Heavenly Jindan Technique?"

    Liu Yuehong also said to Li Yundong in surprise, "Leader, why do you suddenly want to pass this Heavenly Jindan Technique to us?"

    Li Yundong said with a smile, "Although this is a magic created by Mr. Maru Chen Pu, it is also one of the legacies of the Mystical Silver Fox. It can be passed to you and you¡¯ll be owners."

    For a moment, the entire Fox Zen School cheered. Beside them, Zi Yuan was also smiling, but there was a trace of confusion and worry in her eyes.

    While the two of them were busy in the kitchen, Zi Yuan asked while washing vegetables, "Why do you want to spread the Heavenly Jindan Technique now?"

    Li Yundong skillfully cut the radish. He sighed softly and said, "The Fox Zen School has been the target of everyone at the Taoist assembly. Although some of the Japanese have resolved the crisis, Yan Fang¡¯s appearanceter made the Fox Zen School stop at the top of the storm. In addition, I identally cut the Emperor¡¯s Clock and released a lot of cultivators. I have been thinking about what you said before. If a disaster in the cultivation world happens because of me, I think..."

    Li Yundong suddenly stopped his work and continued with worry, "... If I really cause a disaster, I think I will resign from the position of leader of Fox Zen School."

    Zi Yuan was also stunned and her body stiffened slightly. She turned her face and asked in surprise, "Are you afraid of getting Su Chan and the others into trouble?"

    Li Yundong nodded. "That¡¯s right. If it was just me, I wouldn¡¯t be afraid. However, it involves Cao Yi, Liu Yuehong, Su Chan, and the little foxes in the Fox Zen School, who can¡¯t protect themselves. Fortunately, Ao Wushuang hase back. With her strength, she should be able to protect the whole Fox Zen School. But I was afraid that there would be powerful cultivators, so I¡¯ve decided to teach them the Heavenly Jindan Technique. No matter how many levels they reach, they¡¯ll finally be able to have the strength to protect themselves."

    Zi Yuan sighed slightly and said, "In fact, have you ever thought about why Yan Fang wanted to kill Cao Kefei? Yan Fang would rather not take back the Liuhe Sword than try her best to kill Cao Kefei? Moreover, when she first attacked, why did Cao Yi appear? Was she going to save Cao Kefei? If so, why did she go there?"

    Li Yundong said with a serious look, "I¡¯ve thought about it, and I had a private talk with Cao Yi, but she said that she suspected Zhuang Yating at that time, so she always paid attention to her actions, especially when she found that Yan Fang had secretly sneaked out to kill Cao Kefei, so she helped."

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "Do you believe her words?"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯tment and continued to use his knife. The knife in his hand flew up and down, and the radish was cut very thin and long. Every slice of it seemed to have been cut by a machine. He said, "Until I confirm whether Liu Ye is really alive or if he has any ulterior motives, I¡¯m skeptical about this."

    Zi Yuan also turned her head and continued to do the work at hand. She suddenly said, "Have you ever thought about..."

    Li Yundong saw that Zi Yuan had stopped halfway through her words. He turned his head and said with a smile, "What¡¯s wrong? What are you thinking about? Why are you so hesitant today?"

    Zi Yuan looked at Li Yundong seriously and said without blinking, "Have you ever thought about... setting up another sect on your own?"

    Li Yundong was shocked. "A new sect? Why?"

    Zi Yuan turned around and said with a serious face, "Li Yundong, I know that you are very affectionate, but you should understand that the Fox Zen School will always be associated with evil spirits. No matter how hard you try, someone will talk about this. Moreover, the damage and trauma of the Mystical Silver Fox to the entire cultivation world is too serious. You can¡¯t imagine it! If the Mystical Silver Fox really gets resurrected, the whole cultivation world will regard you as a public enemy. At that time, no matter whether you are a good person or what great deeds you have done in the past, they will attack you crazily until you, the leader of the Fox Zen School, are destroyed and the Mystical Silver Fox is sealed again!"

    Li Yundong also turned around. After thinking for a while, he said, "I can understand why they are hostile to the Fox Zen School, but I don¡¯t understand why the whole cultivation world is so hostile and vignt toward the Mystical Silver Fox. What did she do before?"

    Zi Yuan hesitated for a moment and her eyes were full of reluctance. After thinking for a while, she sighed and said, "Forget it. You should have always known about these things."

    Zi Yuan stroked her hair and said, "You¡¯ve been in the Spirit Space for more than ten thousand years and read all kinds of books. Have you found any records about the Mystical Silver Fox?"

    Li Yundong was also surprised and said, "I didn¡¯t pay attention to it until you said that. I just remembered that in the books in the Spirit Space, there was no book that once mentioned the Mystical Silver Fox, and most of it even ndered the Fox Zen School. It was just a piece of cake done by Grandmaster Pan Shi, the founder of the Fox Zen School."

    Zi Yuan nodded and said, "That¡¯s right! Back when Grandmaster Pan Shizi established the Fox Zen School, he defeated many cultivators with a Fan of Seven Treasures. Later, these cultivators felt ashamed of being defeated by the fox demons in secret and began to ruin the reputation of the Fox Zen School. Later, the two generations of sect masters who inherited the throne were disappointing and made the school a mess. But at this time, the school¡¯s reputation was only bad. Although it had a slightly bad reputation, it was not some monster that everyone could talk about."

    Li Yundong cut in, "Until the Mystical Silver Fox appeared?"

    Zi Yuan nodded slightly. "That¡¯s right! The Mystical Silver Fox was the fourth-generation sect master of the Fox Zen School. When she had just taken the throne, the Fox Zen School was in a state of chaos. Furthermore, ever since the Fox Zen School became a leading n, most of the people in the sect have been female. As for the Mystical Silver Fox, most of them learned Buddhist magic. Most female cultivators were unable to learn the masculine and powerful Buddhist magic. Therefore, after two generations, almost all the Buddhist magic of the Fox Zen School became lost. In order to change the situation, the Mystical Silver Fox secretly disguised herself as a nun and sneaked into Mount Wutai to study Buddhist doctrines."

    "Did she learn it secretly?" Li Yundong asked.

    Zi Yuan nodded. "Mystical Silver Fox turned into a nun and learned the Vajra spell secretly. However, when she practiced this spell, because it was cultivated for men, her female body would be burned by the fire. Therefore, Mystical Silver Fox went overboard and became obsessed. Later, she was saved by a passing Buddhist monk, Master Huifa, with the body of Tong Yang. Later, Mystical Silver Fox felt that she saved her life and was willing to serve her. However, she was severely rebuked by Master Huifa, who said that it was a kindness to lose Tong Yang by saving people. Although they did evil together, they were kind. If they were greedy for beauty, they would lose their Buddhist hearts. Although you did a good deed to repay a kindness, it ended with a bad result!

    "After that, Master Huifa drove the Mystical Silver Fox down the mountain. The Mystical Silver Fox was ashamed, resentful, and angry. She felt that Master Huifa hated her because of her fox demon body and her six impure roots. Therefore, the Mystical Silver Fox vowed to cultivate into an immortal and humiliate Master Huifa."

    Li Yundong was fascinated by her words and couldn¡¯t help sighing. "How could the rtionship have been so bad?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head with a wry smile and said, "That was nothing. Later, the Mystical Silver Fox turned into a beautiful female Taoist and sneaked into the sacrednd of Taoism, Mount Longhu, to learn Taoist magic arts. Later, because of his natural fox charm, Zhang Guang became obsessed with her and fell in love with her. Zhang Guang was obsessed with the Mystical Silver Fox, and he even abandoned his fiancee, Mao Jiao, who had been willing to marry him. Zhang Guang¡¯s behavior irritated her father, who was the great grandmaster of the Maoshan Sect, Mao Kong. From then on, Mount Longhu stopped ying nice, and they attacked for more than ten years. Since then, the southern Taoist sects haven¡¯t gotten along with each other."

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but ask in surprise, "Is there such a thing? I only know that the southern Taoist sect is seemingly in harmony but actually in disarray, but I don¡¯t know why. Why haven¡¯t I heard of this before? I haven¡¯t seen any records in the spirit space!"

    Zi Yuan sighed and said, "The two major Taoist sects became enemies over a fox spirit. Both sides suffered heavy losses and were ashamed of each other. Of course, they didn¡¯t discuss the matter. The Zhengyi School even abolished the position of Sect Leader Zhang Guang and erased any evidence of him, as if this person had never appeared."

    Li Yundong was stunned when he heard that. He couldn¡¯t help but ask again, "What about thetter part?"

    Zi Yuan said again, "The Mystical Silver Fox provoked a big war between the southern Taoist sects alone. After that, the two sects suffered heavy losses. Mao Kong and Mao Jiao were killed in a battle of martial arts, and their bodies and spirits were destroyed. Zhang Guang and his disciples also died miserably. After the battle between the one sect and the Maoshan Sect, the two big sects issued an order to kill the Mystical Silver Fox at the same time. From then on, most Taoists in the world killed the people of the Fox Zen School when they saw them!

    "In order to save his life, the Heavenly Mystery Fox became stronger. She turned into an old woman and sneaked into the ck Sect of the Mount He Tao Pavilion. She stole the supreme elixir of Taoism, Diyuan Jindan and The Three-Dan ssics. From then on, shebined Buddhist and Taoist magic arts together and became a master of both Buddhism and Taoism. After the Mystical Silver Fox had reached an advanced stage of cultivation, she came to Mount Wutai and challenged Master Huifa in public as she wished. Master Huifa¡¯s power was greatly reduced because his body was broken and his fighting skills were overwhelmed. After humiliating him for a while, the Mystical Silver Fox left.

    "Three days after Master Huifa was injured, his disciple Wuneng announced that the Mystical Silver Fox was a great enemy of Buddhism and began to smear the Mystical Silver Fox and her sect on various asions. Therefore, over time, the world came to think of the Fox Zen School as wild. After the Mystical Silver Fox reached the peak realm of Buddhism and Taoism, she was still unwilling to ept it. At that time, she finally did something that almost destroyed the cultivation world."

    Li Yundong¡¯s expression froze when he heard that. He quickly asked, "What¡¯s was it?"

    Zi Yuan was about to say something, but suddenly the kitchen door opened with a crash. Su Chan stood at the doorway and said in surprise, "Yundong, there are guests here!"

    Li Yundong was stunned. "Who?"

    Su Chan said with a strange expression, "Wan Zhenyuan!"

    Li Yunyang and Zi Yuan looked at each other and asked, "What is he doing here?"

 Chapter 525 Seemingly Great Deal

    <h4>Chapter 525 Seemingly Great Deal</h4>

    Li Yundong wiped his hands and walked out of the kitchen. As expected, he saw Wan Zhenyuan standing in the living room in a suit and leather shoes with a small suitcase in his hand. The little foxes in the room looked at this uninvited guest with vignce and confusion.

    ¡°Master Wan!¡± Although Li Yundong did not know the purpose of Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s visit, he still cupped his hands. He smiled politely and said, ¡°How have you been since the Taoist assembly?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan waved his hand and said with a wry smile, ¡°Zhenren Li, don¡¯t be so genteel. There are no outsiders here. You don¡¯t need to be so polite.¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Then why are you here, Master Wan?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan looked around and saw that the living room was full of people, all looking at him with bright eyes. He thought for a moment and said, ¡°Zhenren Li, can we find a quiet ce to talk?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°How about going to my room?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan slightly saluted. ¡°Amitayus, please lead the way, Zhenren Li.¡±

    Li Yundong went to the room with Wan Zhenyuan under everyone¡¯s curious gaze. After closing the door, he asked, ¡°Master Wan, there are only the two of us here. What¡¯s the matter? Can you tell me now?¡±

    However, Wan Zhenyuan was not in a hurry. He looked around and said with a smile, ¡°Zhenren Li, you are so carefree! In this paradise, beauty is all around you, and you are as happy as a Shenxian!¡±

    Li Yundong remained calm and said nothing. He just stared at Wan Zhenyuan.

    After looking around for a while, Wan Zhenyuan found that Li Yundong wasn¡¯t answering, so he coughed a little awkwardly and said, ¡°Zhenren Li, let¡¯s get straight to the point! I came here to ask you for help!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and said, ¡°Master Wan, you really know how to joke. As thergest sect in the External Alchemy, your Gezao Sect has plenty of money and influence. Is there anything you can¡¯t solve? You need toe and ask me for help?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan raised his head andughed. ¡°Zhenren Li, you can¡¯t say that. As the saying goes, Fengshui revolves around the world. Who never needs to beg for help?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Well, Master Wan, what can I do for you?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan nodded slightly. He stroked his goatee with one hand and said with a smile, ¡°Zhenren Li, if what I know is right, the Heavenly Jindan Technique should be with you?¡±

    Li Yundong was shocked and thought to himself. ¡°It¡¯s reallying!¡±

    Li Yundong nodded and said, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right!¡±

    Wan Zhenyuanughed. ¡°Then Zhenren Li, I, Wan Zhenyuan, have a presumptuous request... Well, could you lend me the Heavenly Jindan Technique?¡±

    Li Yundong frowned slightly. Seeing this, Wan Zhenyuan immediately said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Zhenren Li. I will never use it against you! If you have any requirements, just tell me! As long as I can do it, I will fulfill your request!¡±

    Li Yundongughed in his heart. ¡°The best Immortal Pen in your hand has been taken, and I have stolen the Human Gold Core in the past. What good things do you have now? Even if you had something good, how could you guarantee that you wouldn¡¯t be robbed again?¡±

    Li Yundong chuckled and said, ¡°Master Wan, you must be joking. The Heavenly Jindan Technique is a secret of the Mystical Silver Fox. How can I decide on my own and lend it to others?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan stared at Li Yundong with his bright eyes. He suddenly smiled meaningfully and said, ¡°Zhenren Li, since you have made yourself clear, let¡¯s talk frankly. I believe you also understand that the Heavenly Jindan Technique is not the original work of the Fox Zen School. It is the legacy of Cheng Pu, Mr. Niwan. By rights, it is a Taoist treasure, and our Gezao Sect is an orthodox Taoist sect. Generally speaking, I have a reason to ask to take a look.¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan saw Li Yundong¡¯s smile, and his expression was a little unfriendly. He immediately grinned and said, ¡°Of course, since the Heavenly Jindan Technique can be passed down to this day, the Mystical Silver Fox has made a lot of contributions. The fact that the Fox Zen School has such a secret skill has been set in reality, so I specially came to make a deal with you, Zhenren Li!¡±

    Li Yundong said with a smile, ¡°What is a sure deal that won¡¯t be lost?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuanughed. ¡°Zhenren Li, the Heavenly Jindan Technique is of no use to you now. You¡¯ve already memorized what you ought to. But for us who haven¡¯t cultivated it before, it¡¯s priceless. If you lend it to me, I¡¯m willing to give you the garden that was used in the Taoist assembly as a gift. What do you think?¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart slightly moved. He remembered that Su Chan had once said that she liked the garden and hoped to live in such a ce in the future. At that time, he had thought that it was unlikely. After all, thend prices in Dongwu City were high, and this garden was located in the center of the city. It could not be bought without tens of millions of yuan. This Wan Zhenyuan was willing to spend tens of millions on buying the Heavenly Jindan Technique?

    Not to mention other things, if he sold this garden, he would be rich! There would be no need to worry about the food problem at the Fox Zen School at all.

    Li Yundong hade from a poor family and knew the hardships of making money very well. There was a huge sum of money in front of him. For a moment, no matter how strong Li Yundong¡¯s willpower was, he couldn¡¯t help but be affected.

    However, Li Yundong had a good temper in the Spirit Space. Although there were waves in his heart, his expression was as deep as water.

    Wan Zhenyuan saw that Li Yundong was calm and thought for a while. He thought that Li Yundong didn¡¯t like the garden, so he said with a smile, ¡°Of course, Zhenren Li, you are so high and mighty, so you don¡¯t like it. However, I know that because of yourck of money, you don¡¯t live in Mount Tianlong anymore, so...¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan smiled and took out a stack of documents from the small suitcase he carried with him. He said, ¡°I rented Mount Tianlong again. As long as Zhenren Li agrees, I can transfer this document to you immediately, and the Fox Zen School will be able to return to the mountain today!¡±

    Li Yundong was suddenly moved. He couldn¡¯t help but take a look at the stack of documents and be shocked in his heart. ¡°Wan Zhenyuan is really good at trickery. To cater to my pleasure, he unexpectedly did this!¡±

    Seeing that Li Yundong was indeed tempted, Wan Zhenyuan felt proud in his heart. He threw out another trump card and said, ¡°Zhenren Li, if you think this is not enough, I still have something to exchange with you!¡±

    Li Yundong calmed down slightly and asked, ¡°What is it?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan smiled and said, ¡°A Diyuan Jindan!¡±

    When Li Yundong heard this, despite strong his willpower was, he couldn¡¯t keep calm anymore. He took a deep breath and said in surprise, ¡°Diyuan Jindan? You have Diyuan Jindan?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan smiled and asked nomittally, ¡°So, Zhenren Li, are you willing to exchange for it?¡±

    In Li Yundong¡¯s view, either of the two items that Wan Zhenyuan was offering was enough to exchange for the Heavenly Jindan Technique. Although the Heavenly Jindan Technique was a priceless treasure, it was only a rare treasure for cultivators who had not cultivated it. For Li Yundong, who had already cultivated it and had its copies, it just like a raremodity.

    However, Wan Zhenyuan was not only offering a garden worth tens of millions of yuan and Mount Tianlong for it, but also the Diyuan Jindan?

    No matter how precious the Heavenly Jindan Technique is, it¡¯s still not as valuable as the Diyuan Jindan!

    Moreover, Li Yundong had heard that Wan Zhenyuan wanted to refine the Diyuan Jindan, but he had failed because he was short of a guiding drug. But after a month, had he seeded?

    The other party¡¯s bid was too high and the conditions were ridiculously generous, making Li Yundong vignt. He asked, ¡°Master Wan, as far as I know, no one has ever refined a Diyuan Jindan since Liu Bowen in Ming Dynasty. Where did you refine it? Even if you could refine one, you must have other requirements besides the Heavenly Jindan Technique, right?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan chuckled and said, ¡°You¡¯re right, Zhenren Li! I do have something else to ask of you!¡±

    Li Yundong felt a little relieved when he heard Wan Zhenyuan admit it. He asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan said, ¡°I am refining the Diyuan Jindan now. As long as you¡¯re willing to give me the Heavenly Jindan Technique and find a guiding drug for me, I will give you the garden of Dongwu City and Mount Tianlong. On top of that, I will give you one Diyuan Jindan that will be refined in the future!¡±

    Li Yundong was shocked, but he soon calmed down. ¡°You¡¯ll give me one? What kind of elixir of life is the Diyuan Jindan? How many pills can you refine in one furnace? What will you do if there is only one pill?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuanughed and said, ¡°Zhenren Li, you worry too much. If it was External Alchemy refining it, one Diyuan Jindan could be refined in one furnace, which would already be a great skill. However, when our Gezao Sect refines it, there will be at least two Diyuan Jindans in one furnace. Sometimes, there can even be nine Diyuan Jindans in one furnace!¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but say with admiration, ¡°Awesome, you really deserve to be the leader of External Alchemy! Good means and good magic!¡±

    Wan Zhenyuanughed proudly and said, ¡°Thank you for yourpliment, Zhenren Li. I don¡¯t dare to ept it!¡±

    Li Yundong suddenly asked again, ¡°But, Master Wan, what is this guiding drug? Where is it? Why are you ordering so many people to look for me?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan smiled and said, ¡°Zhenren Li, I was expecting you to ask such a question. This tool is a 1,000-year-old snow lotus. It can only be found in the snow-exterminating sacred mountain in Tibet!¡±

    Li Yundong asked in confusion, ¡°Since you know what this guiding drug is and where it is, why don¡¯t you go and get it yourself?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan couldn¡¯t help sighing and said, ¡°Zhenren Li, do you really not know, or are you only pretending not to know?¡±

    Li Yundong cupped his hands and said, ¡°Master Wan, please exin?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan stared at Li Yundong for a while before saying, ¡°Zhenren Li, ever since the Manchu were in charge of the Qing government, the central ins of Buddhism and Taoism have been suppressed one after another. The power of the Cultivation World has been declining, and the power of Tibetan Buddhism has been flourishing. Although the power of Tibetan Buddhism returned to Tibet after the founding of the PRC, everyone knows that the three parties are secretly colluding with each other. This thousand-year-old snow lotus is the halidom of the Esoteric Sect in Tibet, and is growing up high on the sacred mountain. With the protection of the holy monk and the mountain god of the Esoteric Sect, do you think just anyone can go up there and take it away?¡±

    Li Yundong became more and more surprised. He asked, ¡°So, how do you know that I can do it?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan looked at Li Yundong meaningfully and said with a smile, ¡°Zhenren Li, I heard that the newly found Banda Lam from the Esoteric Sect in Tibet... is your good friend!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart suddenly froze. He suddenly shouted, ¡°How did you know that?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuanughed and said, ¡°Zhenren Li, when you were unknown in the past, no one knew what you did. Now that you are famous all over the world, you have nothing to hide. How could no one know?¡±

    Li Yundong stared at Wan Zhenyuan doubtfully and asked, ¡°You mean, I give you the Heavenly Jindan Technique and the 1,000-year-old snow lotus, and you¡¯ll give me the garden and Mount Tianlong in Dongwu City along with one Diyuan Jindan, right?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan smiled and said, ¡°Yes! But, Zhenren Li, even if you don¡¯t go to get the 1,000-year-old snow lotus, I¡¯ll be willing to use the garden and the Mount Tianlong to exchange for the Heavenly Jindan Technique with you. As for the Diyuan Jindan, it depends on whether Zhenren Li is interested in it or not!¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but fall into deep thought. He thought to himself. ¡°Du Fei wants to exchange for the Heavenly Jindan Technique with me, and now Wan Zhenyuan also wants to trade with me, and the conditions are so generous!

    ¡°Could life really be so good?¡±

 Chapter 526 Visit Mount Qingcheng at Night

    <h4>Chapter 526 Visit Mount Qingcheng at Night</h4>

    After sending Wan Zhenyuan away, Li Yundong knew that both Su Chan and Zi Yuan were very curious about Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s purpose, but Li Yundong still calmly brought the matter over. After dinner, he saw everyone return to their own rooms, then called Zi Yuan off the balcony and told her the purpose of Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s visit.

    After hearing Li Yundong¡¯s words, Zi Yuan was a little surprised and asked, ¡°You refused?¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head and said, ¡°No, I just said that I needed to think about it. But, like Du Fei, Wan Zhenyuan didn¡¯t want me to transfer the Heavenly Jindan Technique to others, either.¡±

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly. The corner of her mouth contained a mocking smile. ¡°They all don¡¯t want the opponents of their own sects to grow stronger! This ¡®Heavenly Jindan Technique¡¯ has now be a hotmodity. Are you nning to wait for the highest bidder?¡±

    Li Yundong sighed lightly. ¡°No, I¡¯m just doubtful of Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s purpose. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s too coincidental?¡±

    Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Are you worried about...?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I have always felt that these things areing one after another, one upon another, which is very strange and too coincidental! The Diyuan Jindan of Wan Zhenyuancks a kind of guiding drug, and this drug happens to be the 1,000-year-old snow lotus. Moreover, this snow lotus happens to be on the holy mountain in Tibet, and the Esoteric Sect in charge of the holy mountain has now been taken over by Banda Lam. And this Banda Lam happens to be Meiduo, who I knew when I was in Zhuji phase! Isn¡¯t this too weird?¡±

    Zi Yuan thought for a moment and also frowned slightly. ¡°Indeed, these things are like exquisite mechanical elements, all working together. But the possibility of coincidence can¡¯t be ruled out.¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head and said, ¡°But all this seems so coincidental that it¡¯s as if someone deliberately made such a situation, and as if there is a pair of hands behind adding fuel to the fire! Do you still remember the two big golden snakes that were stolen? Once you told me that if I wanted to refine the Diyuan Jindan, I would have to use the Neidan of the big golden snake as a guiding drug. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t seed. Do you still remember?¡±

    Zi Yuan nodded. ¡°Yes, I do!¡±

    ¡°Wan Zhenyuan must have something to do with the person who stole the big golden snake! And this person who stole the snake must have some clues in connection with what¡¯s happening in the Fox Zen School! If this person was Liu Ye, why would he do that? Because he wanted to resurrect the Mystical Silver Fox? If so, what is the rtionship between the Diyuan Jindan and the Mystical Silver Fox? Why did Yan Fang desperately want to kill Cao Kefei before? Could it be...¡±

    Zi Yuan pondered for a while before saying, ¡°When I saw Cao Kefei for the first time, I felt that there was something wrong with her. Ordinary people have three transcendentponents and seven materialponents of the human soul, but she only had one transcendentponent and three material ones. Yan Fang once said that the soul of the Mystical Silver Fox had been destroyed, and she had always wanted to kill Cao Kefei at all costs after seeing her. Do you think there is any connection between them?¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s face was gloomy, and he didn¡¯t speak for a long time. Eventually, he said in a gloomy voice, ¡°Do you mean... President Cao... No, Cao Kefei is the Mystical Silver Fox?¡±

    Zi Yuan shook her head and said, ¡°No, that¡¯s not necessarily true. I just think that the Mystical Silver Fox must have something to do with Cao Kefei, but it may not necessarily be her. It may be the remnant soul of the Mystical Silver Fox that escaped, or maybe she was born weak, so she has fewer souls than others.¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯tment. He was silent for a long time and didn¡¯t say a word.

    Zi Yuan saw him frown and she almost frowned together with him. She couldn¡¯t help but sigh slightly and said, ¡°Others call you incredible Li and see that you are surrounded by beautiful women. You even showed your divine power in the Taoist assembly and made a name for yourself in the world. But who could imagine that even though you seem to be very glorious now, in fact, you are walking on thin ice over an abyss, and you are in danger of being doomed eternally at any time?¡±

    Li Yundong let out a long sigh and looked at the tightly closed rooms of Su Chan and others. He sighed and said, ¡°Those who know me say I am worried, those who don¡¯t know me ask what I want! You still know me the best!¡±

    Zi Yuan listened to his sigh. For some reason, she suddenly felt good in her heart, as if there was a faint warmth flowing in her chest, as if she could share the burden of this young cultivator. She felt very gratified and happy. She smiled lightly and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, so many troubles have gone before. Have you be timid since you¡¯ve be so strong now?¡±

    Li Yundong alsoughed when he heard that. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly saw two beams of green light sh across the roof, quickly crossing the sky and disappearing into the horizon.

    He was stunned. ¡°Who was that?¡±

    Zi Yuan was also surprised and said, ¡°Judging from the figure just now, it seemed to be Su Chan and Ao Wushuang?¡±

    Li Yundong was surprised. ¡°It¡¯s sote. Why are they going out?¡±

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, ¡°Maybe since the two of them have met again, they want to go out for rxation. Don¡¯t worry. With Ao Wushuang around, Su Chan won¡¯t be able to turn the world upside down.¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing. ¡°You¡¯re right. I wanted to follow them to have a look, but now it seems that I was being too worried.¡±

    Zi Yuanughed and said, ¡°Su Chan is still young and has a child¡¯s personality, but she has grown up a lot. She will gradually be more mature and sensible. You don¡¯t have to worry about her.¡± Speaking of this, a thought suddenly shed across Zi Yuan¡¯s mind. ¡°If Su Chan grows into a Mystical Silver Fox in the future, and the Cultivation World wants to kill her, what will you do?¡±

    However, just as Zi Yuan was about to say this to Li Yundong, she saw that his face was full of doting and sweet smiles as he spoke about Su Chan. She swallowed back the words at the tip of her tongue and sighed in her heart.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know what Zi Yuan was thinking. He looked in the direction in which Su Chan and Ao Wushuang had left with a smile, and said, ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s go in. Anyway, Su Chan was taken by her master. Her master couldn¡¯t take her to make trouble, could she?¡±

    Li Yundong and Zi Yuan didn¡¯t know that what Su Chan and Ao Wushuang wanted to do was far more than just causing trouble.

    The two fox spirits, one big and the other small, turned into two beams of blue light and flew into the air in the blink of an eye. It was winter, the least rainy season. The two were not afraid of anything, so they flew very high.

    They flew for a long time. When theynded, they were in the western region of Sichuan. Ao Wushuang took Su Chan¡¯s hand and slowly put it down. She said with a smile, ¡°Chan¡¯er, how long has it been since west flew together like this?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while!¡± Su Chan said with a smile. She looked around and found that she was already in a lush forest. She asked curiously, ¡°Is this Mount Qingcheng?¡±

    Ao Wushuang also looked around. She couldn¡¯t help sighing and said, ¡°That¡¯s right! Look at the verdant trees all around, the peaks are ringed around each other, like a city outline, like a forest city, so it¡¯s called Mount Qingcheng by the world. s, I¡¯ve been here for a long time ago. I hadn¡¯t expected there to be no change here at all!¡±

    Su Chan took Ao Wushuang¡¯s hand and asked curiously, ¡°Master, have you been here before?¡±

    Ao Wushuang nodded slightly. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve been here before.¡±

    Su Chan asked again, ¡°So what were you doing here?¡±

    Ao Wushuang sighed softly and said, ¡°I came with Wang Yuanshan to tour the scenic spots...¡±

    Su Chan immediately shut her mouth sensibly and didn¡¯t ask any more questions, hoping to avoid bringing back the sad memories of the past to Ao Wushuang.

    However, Ao Wushuang sighed emotionally and said, ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to bring you here, but it¡¯s a pity that I never had the time. Look, the Shangqing Temple is located in the depths of Mount Qingcheng. From the foot of the mountain to the Taoist temple, there are thousands of stairs, and the path is deep and secluded. Therefore, Mount Qingcheng has a beautiful reputation as ¡®Mt. Qingcheng the World Quiet¡¯.¡±

    Su Chan followed Ao Wushuang¡¯s gaze and saw a Taoist temple sign looming in the deep mountains. The cornices of the Taoist temple were arched in the green forest, revealing a small horn under the faint starlight and moonlight.

    She could only see that Mount Qingcheng was surrounded by green mountains. The peaks were undting up and down, and a valley and Taoist temple were reflected in it. At first nce, although it was not as majestic as Mount Longhu, in such an environment, it could make people feel peaceful.

    The little girl took a deep breath and couldn¡¯t help sighing, ¡°What a good ce! No wonder it is as famous as the precipice of Jianmen Pass, the elegance of Mount Emei and the majesty of Kuimen Gate! Cultivating in such a ce will yield twice the result with half the effort! It¡¯s good that our Fox Zen School has such a good cultivation ce!¡±

    Ao Wushuang also sighed and said, ¡°Don¡¯t even dream about it. For thousands of years, the pioneer of every sect in the Cultivation World had to upy a mountain before establishing a sect! After so many years, almost all the sacred ces have been robbed! It wasn¡¯t easy to get Mount Tianlong, and now we can¡¯t live there anymore. s, there have been too many disasters in our Fox Zen School.¡±

    Su Chan also sighed with a sad face, but she was optimistic and cheerful. Soon, she took Ao Wushuang¡¯s arm and said with a smile, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Yundong said that he would bring back Mount Tianlong again!¡±

    Ao Wushuang chuckled and said, ¡°I don¡¯t doubt his ability, but I suspect that you don¡¯t have the ability to control him.¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s mouth immediately swelled, and she felt unhappy in her heart. But soon, she pulled Ao Wushuang¡¯s arm anxiously and urged, ¡°So, master, you have to teach me Sexual Yoga! Otherwise, I will be a burden and Yundong won¡¯t want me anymore!¡±

    Ao Wushuang was experienced. She knew very well that Li Yundong¡¯s character and temper were the same as Wang Yuanshan¡¯s, who was generally affectionate. However, Wan Yuanshan was more elegant and never lost his temper. From Su Chan¡¯s description of Li Yundong, Ao Wushuang had learned that he was quite emotional. Although he was usually gentle and elegant, once someone crossed his bottom line, he would be furious.

    Ao Wushuang knew this well. She was also confident that her eyes would not be wrong. People like Li Yundong would never dislike Su Chan on the basis that her cultivation could not keep up with his own. However, Ao Wushuang was very happy to see Su Chan forcing herself to cultivate and improve her strength because of this unnecessary sense of crisis.

    Therefore, Ao Wushuang knew it very well, but she deliberately didn¡¯t say it out. On the contrary, she smiled and said, ¡°Now you know why you should be in a hurry? Don¡¯t worry. Let me think about where the Qingcheng Secret Record will be hidden.¡±

    When Su Chan heard this, her anxious heart immediately turned cold. She eximed, ¡°Ah? Don¡¯t you know where the Qingcheng Secret Record is? Then why are we here? To search the mountains?¡±

    Ao Wushuang thought for a moment and said, ¡°Is it hidden in Jianfu Pce? Or in the Supreme Old Lord Temple? Could it be hidden in Yuanming Pce? No, such an important thing should be hidden in the Shangqing Temple! Hey, could it be in the Tianshi Cave?¡±

    The little girl listened with her eyes wide open, and she couldn¡¯t help but say in her heart, ¡°Oh my god, I thought I was unreliable, but I hadn¡¯t expected... master would be even more unreliable than me.¡±

 Chapter 527 Murderous Intent!

    <h4>Chapter 527 Murderous Intent!</h4>

    As soon as Ao Wushuang saw Su Chan¡¯s expression, she could guess what she was thinking. She couldn¡¯t helpining, ¡°What are you making blind and disorderly conjectures for?¡±

    Su Chan came back to her senses and said with a hollow smile, ¡°Master, don¡¯t tell me that you don¡¯t remember where the Qingcheng Secret Record is hidden?¡±

    Ao Wushuang scolded her with a smile, ¡°You wench, how could I not remember that? I was deliberately teasing you! When I came with Wang Yuanshanst time, he told me that the books of the Qingcheng Sect are usually hidden in the Supreme Old Lord Temple, but I don¡¯t know if they have changed the ce after so many years.¡±

    Su Chan pouted and muttered in a low voice, ¡°Is there any difference? Isn¡¯t it unreliable?¡±

    Ao Wushuang couldn¡¯t help but say angrily, ¡°Nonsense, ten years have passed. How can I guarantee that the Qingcheng Secret Record will be there? Do you want to learn or not?¡±

    Su Chan saw her master¡¯s anger, she immediately smiled obsequiously. ¡°Don¡¯t be angry, Master. Let¡¯s go take a look at the Supreme Old Lord Temple first, alright?¡±

    Ao Wushuang snorted and took out the Goddess Nayan Mudras from her chest pocket. After using it, she pretended to be angry and red at Su Chan. ¡°Hurry up and adjust your aura! Don¡¯t expose it. If others know that someone from our Fox Zen School has been here, the world will be in chaos!¡±

    Su Chan made a face at Ao Wushuang and said proudly, ¡°I don¡¯t have any other skills, but my ability to hide and escape is the best in the world.¡±

    Ao Wushuang snorted and said solemnly, ¡°Don¡¯t be careless! Mount Qingcheng is one of the best ces of our Chinese Taoist sect, and it is also the base of the Zu Ting of the Zhengyi School and the Qingcheng Sect! Although the forces of the Qingcheng Sect have been forced to move to the Qingyang Pce by the Zhengyi School, the forces of Mount Qingcheng are far more powerful than that of other sects! If there is any hidden expert who finds any trace, we will be doomed eternally! Don¡¯t you want to cause trouble for Li Yundong?¡±

    Su Chan had been listening carelessly all this time, but herst word suddenly moved her. She was shocked and thought to herself, ¡°I can¡¯t make trouble for Yundong again! Otherwise, even if he forgives me, I won¡¯t forgive myself.¡±

    The smile on the girl¡¯s face faded away, but it was soon reced by an extremely cautious expression.

    When Ao Wushuang saw this, she was relieved. She knew that her disciple was very talented, but she often couldn¡¯t concentrate on one thing because of her fun-loving nature and spontaneity. Once she could concentrate all her strength and attention on one thing, she could do better than anyone else.

    Otherwise, she would not have escaped from Yan Fang.

    Su Chan and Ao Wushuang looked at each other and nodded seriously, then they both climbed all the way up the thousand-rankdder with the help of the invisible effect of the Goddess Nayan Mudras.

    When they were halfway up the mountain and passing by the building sign of Mount Qingcheng, Ao Wushuang whispered to Su Chan, ¡°We¡¯re close there. I rememberst time I came, there were two pine trees in front of us. Later, you should be more careful. These two pine trees were transformed by the Taoist priests of the Qingcheng Sect, and their function is to monitor passers-by! Once you find any uninvited guests, you should inform the Taoist temple immediately.¡±

    Su Chan said in surprise, ¡°Master, you are so amazing that you can even find it?¡±

    Ao Wushuang said with a self-deprecating smile, ¡°I didn¡¯t find it! It was Wang Yuanshan who did so. He is a jinshen master of the Xuanmen Sect. In his eyes, this kind of illusion is an insignificant skill.

    Su Chan secretly stuck out her tongue and couldn¡¯t help but wonder, ¡°How powerful is a master in the Jinshen phase?¡±

    Both of them continued to walk up the stairs, but after walking for a while they arrived at a building with cornices and hooks, only to find that the building was standing alone on thedder, with no trees on either side of it.

    Su Chan said in surprise, ¡°Master, there aren¡¯t the two pine trees you mentioned!¡±

    Ao Wushuang couldn¡¯t help but be stunned. ¡°How strange. How did these two pine trees disappear?¡±

    Su Chan chuckled and said in a low voice, ¡°Master, did you remember wrongly?¡±

    Ao Wushuang shook her head and said, ¡°That¡¯s absolutely impossible! At that time, Wang Yuanshan even broke the illusion of these two Taoist priests. How could I have remembered wrongly?¡±

    Su Chan rolled her eyes and said with a smile, ¡°Do the Taoist priests of the Qingcheng Sect feel that they have lost face after being pointed out by Wang Yuanshan, so they no longer wee guests?¡±

    Although Ao Wushuang didn¡¯t really agree with Su Chan¡¯s guess, she couldn¡¯t find any other good exnation. She had to say, ¡°Maybe that¡¯s the case. Let¡¯s carry on.¡±

    Both of them climbed up the stairs and finally arrived at Peng Zufeng Mountain, the number one peak of Mount Qingcheng.

    In front of her stood a round tower that was about 400 square meters wide, with a total of six floors. There were eight corners on each floor at the top and bottom of the tower, which represented the meaning of the Eight trigrams of Heaven and Earth. It was shaped like a tower, with three ingots on top and the meaning of Heaven, Earth, and Man.

    There was a grey stone tablet at the bottom of the tower. By the moonlight, it could be clearly seen that there were three golden characters engraved on it. It was the Supreme Old Lord Temple!

    Su Chan only felt a solemn auraing over her face. She couldn¡¯t help but hide behind Ao Wushuang and whisper, ¡°Master, is this the ce?¡±

    However, Ao Wushuang just looked around in surprise. She whispered back, ¡°That¡¯s not right. Why is there no one here?¡±

    Su Chan also asked curiously, ¡°It¡¯s sote. Shouldn¡¯t we go back to sleep?¡±

    Ao Wushuang shook her head like a rattle drum and said ¡°Are you kidding me? This is Mount Qingcheng, a ceparable to Mount Longhu! Even if we restte at night, there should be Taoist priests on duty! How could there be no one here?¡±

    Su Chan blinked and said, ¡°But... Master, if there is really no one here, wouldn¡¯t it be more convenient for us to steal... Well, no, to take it. Well, isn¡¯t it more convenient for us to take this Qingcheng Secret Record?¡±

    Ao Wushuang said in a low voice, ¡°You¡¯re right, but why do I feel that something is wrong in my mind?¡±

    The fox was naturally suspicious. Hearing what Ao Wushuang said, Su Chan became alert. She said in a low voice, ¡°Shall we wait and see what¡¯s going on first?¡±

    Ao Wushuang nodded, and they stood quietly in a remote corner, looking around warily.

    But they stood there for more than an hour only to see that there was no movement around them. Only the sounds of insects in the jungle could be heard, and the forest was so quiet that it was almost eery.

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t help asking in a low voice, ¡°Master, is there really no one?¡±

    Ao Wushuang said firmly, ¡°That¡¯s not right! The Supreme Old Lord Temple is the most important ce in the Qing City Sect¡¯s scriptures. It¡¯s absolutely impossible that there would be no one here! How could a Taoist priest who watches the night not pass by even after more than one hour?¡±

    Su Chan said in a low voice, ¡°Then, Master, could it be that the Taoist priest who is on duty at night... is neglecting his work?¡±

    Ao Wushuang was stunned for a moment. ¡°That¡¯s possible. But... I still feel that something is wrong. Chan¡¯er, you wait here for a moment. I¡¯ll go and have a look!¡±

    Su Chan knew that her master was much more capable than her. Even if there was a trap around, she would find a way to escape. She nodded and said nervously in a low voice, ¡°Master, you have to be careful!¡±

    Ao Wushuang nodded and said, ¡°If I have any problemter, please don¡¯te to save me. Just find a way to escape. If you escape, someone else wille to save me. If both of us are trapped here, we¡¯ll be stuck and it will be toote to shout.¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s heart tightened when she heard that. She grabbed Ao Wushuang¡¯s hand and whispered, ¡°Master, why don¡¯t we stop trying to take the Qingcheng Secret Record¡¯?¡±

    Ao Wushuang red at Su Chan and said, ¡°You¡¯re already here, how can you turn around and leave now? Don¡¯t you understand why you have to shoot an arrow when it¡¯s on the bowstring? Besides, if you don¡¯t go into a tiger¡¯s den, how will you get a tiger cub?¡±

    After that, Ao Wushuang jumped out in an instant.

    Su Chan saw that her master was borrowing the cover of the Goddess Nayan Mudras. The air around her twisted a little, and then she could no longer see her master.

    Su Chan looked around anxiously and her eyes opened widely. She felt like time was flowing so slowly that every second was as long as a century.

    Just as she was about to go after Ao Wushuang, she suddenly felt a gust of wind blowing toward her.

    Su Chan was shocked. She was about to take precautions when Ao Wushuang appeared beside her.

    Su Chan was overjoyed. She quickly grabbed her hand and said in a low voice, ¡°Master, you¡¯re back! I¡¯ve been so anxious! Have you found it yet?¡±

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s face was full of suspicion. She shook her head and said, ¡°No! In the past, the Qingcheng Sect hid the ancient records in the Supreme Old Lord Temple. When I went in, I tried to find them, but they were all empty. It¡¯s obvious that someone had taken away all the ssics.¡±

    Su Chan asked curiously, ¡°Master, how did you know these ancient books were hidden there?¡±

    Ao Wushuangughed and said, ¡°When I traveled with Wang Yuanshan here before, at that time, I loved ying just like you. I was not afraid of heaven and earth, so I proposed going to the Qingcheng Sect to explore. As a result, we found the hiding ce of the ancient books of the Qingcheng Sect. However, at that time, the defenses were very tight, and there were often Taoist priests patrolling at night. Besides, there were magic circles around.¡±

    Ao Wushuang gradually became serious. ¡°But this time, not only are there no Taoist priests watching through the night, but also the magic circles both seem to have lost their effects.¡±

    Su Chan thought for a while before whispering, ¡°Master, what should we do now?¡±

    Ao Wushuang thought for a moment. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the Taoist priest Cave again. If Qingcheng Sect wants to transfer the ancient records, they should be hidden in the Taoist priest Cave.¡±

    Su Chan whispered, ¡°Will they be transferred to Qingyang Pce?¡±

    Ao Wushuang shook her head and said, ¡°No, the ssics will never leave the Ancestral Shrine. This is the Ancestral Behest of every cultivation sect. People can leave, but these kinds of ssics will not be moved unless there is a great disaster or the extermination of the family!¡±

    Su Chan blinked and said, ¡°Shall we go to the Taoist priest Cave again?¡±

    Ao Wushuang nodded, and then they got up and ran down the mountain, arriving in the vicinity of the Taoist priest Cave in Qing City.

    Su Chan saw that the Taoist priest Cave was surrounded by mountains on three sides. One was facing the stream, while the other was the main hall and the Sanqing Hall. Behind the Sanqing Hall was the Three Emperor Hall, behind which was the Taoist priest Cave. In front of the cave was an ancient tree that was more than 50 meters tall, towering and spectacr.

    Su Chan sighed in her heart when she saw this. However, just as she was sighing at the magnificent beauty of this blessed paradise, she suddenly smelled a bloody scent in the air.

    Su Chan was stunned and couldn¡¯t help asking in a low voice, ¡°Master, did you smell anything?¡±

    Ao Wushuang also frowned. ¡°Isn¡¯t that blood?¡±

    The two looked at each other and saw the surprise in each other¡¯s eyes. ¡°How could there be a smell of blood in the Taoist priest Cave of this Blessed paradise?¡±

    Su Chan looked around. At this time, she felt that the silence around her was terrifying. The little girl whispered in a panic, ¡°Master, let¡¯s go back. Don¡¯t go to the Qingcheng Secret Record. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s right!¡±

    Ao Wushuang looked serious and said in a low voice, ¡°It is exactly because something is wrong that we need to find out more! There is no reason for there to be no Taoist priest near the Taoist priest Cave! Come on, follow me to have a look!¡±

    As she spoke, she took the lead and walked in front. Su Chan held on tightly to the hem of Ao Wushuang¡¯s clothes and carefully followed behind her. Her eyes were vignt and nervous as she looked around.

    The two walked forward for a while, and then Ao Wushuang suddenly stopped. She squatted down and scratched the bluestone pavement with her hand. Then she put her hand in front of her nose and sniffed.

    Through the moonlight, Su Chan could see that there was a patch of ck on the tip of Ao Wushuang¡¯s finger. It was obviously blood!

    Su Chan asked in surprise, ¡°Is it blood?¡±

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s face darkened as she nodded. ¡°Indeed!¡±

    After that, Ao Wushuang walked forward with Su Chan. They walked along the wall and saw that the censer was overturned. The broken longswords and fly-whisks and messy bloodstains were everywhere. The deeper they went in, the more blood there was, and the messier the scene became.

    Su Chan was so shocked that her face turned pale. She aped Ao Wushuang¡¯s every move and didn¡¯t dare to look around. She just lowered her head, but she saw more and more blood on the bluestone ground, as if there was a thick blood-red carpet on the ground. The two of them seemed to be walking from the human world into hell step by step.

    The little girl was getting more and more scared, and she couldn¡¯t help trembling. When she was about to start persuading Ao Wushuang to leave, she suddenly found that Ao Wushuang was standing still.

    Su Chan was stunned. She tugged on Ao Wushuang¡¯s hand and whispered, ¡°Master, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    However, Ao Wushuang didn¡¯t say a word, as if she had been petrified.

    Su Chan boldly poked her head out from behind her and took a look. Upon seeing this, Su Chan was so shocked that her entire body shook violently, and her teeth were chattering.

    She seemed to have seen a scene from hell. She said in a trembling voice, ¡°How, how could this be?¡±

 Chapter 528 The Real Body of the Seven-tailed Fox Spiri

    <h4>Chapter 528 The Real Body of the Seven-tailed Fox Spiri</h4>

    In the deep night, the cold moonlight shone in front of the Taoist priest Cave of Mount Qingcheng. Su Chan and Ao Wushuang were standing still like two stone statues.

    About 20 meters ahead of them was a mountain of corpses. Most of them were dressed in Daopao and covered with blood. Their bodies were piled up into the Jingguan Tower where the blood flowed like a stream below. The shadow of the moon reflected in the blood river looked particrly ferocious and horrible.

    Su Chan and Ao Wushuang were stunned by the scene in front of them. Ao Wushuang said in horror, "Who has the guts to massacre in Mount Qingcheng? Did he think of the consequences? This, this is a shocking tragedy in the Cultivation World! Which has the guts tomit such a big murder?"

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t help but tremble. She clutched the corner of Ao Wushuang¡¯s clothes tightly. Her teeth chattered and she was about to speak when Ao Wushuang suddenly covered her mouth.

    Ao Wushuang quickly pulled Su Chan to hide in a corner, then whispered into Su Chan¡¯s ear in a low voice, "Someone ising!"

    As soon as she finished speaking, she saw a ck shadow quickly go up the mountain.

    Su Chan stared at the figure with her eyes wide open, only to find that the figure was tall and strong, dressed in ck, and carrying two bodies covered in blood on his shoulders.

    Although the man was carrying two adults on his shoulders, he was still moving quickly. In just a few steps, he arrived in front of the Jingguan Tower. He shook his arms and then threw the corpses from his shoulders down.

    Su Chan was so scared that her whole body was trembling. She quietly wrote words on Ao Wushuang¡¯s back. She was so scared that her arms were trembling and her fingers went crooked several times. Only then did Ao Wushuang just about recognize what she wanted to say: "Master, what¡¯s going on?"

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s face was as dark as water. She waved her hand at Su Chan, indicating for her not to speak. Su Chan trembled on her back and wrote, "Master, shall we go? I¡¯m so scared!"

    Ao Wushuang said in a low voice, "We can¡¯t go! This man dares to massacre Mount Qingcheng. He¡¯s definitely not easy to deal with. If we move, I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ll attract his attention! Don¡¯t move at this moment, or we¡¯ll be killed!"

    Su Chan knew that what Ao Wushuang said was right. She calmed down slightly and looked at the mysterious man in ck with her eyes wide open. Her cautious look made it seem like she would escape at all costs if the man in ck showed any signs of discovering her.

    After the man in ck piled up the corpses, he looked around and sneered. He bent down, stepped on a corpse, and forcibly pulled off a broken arm from the body. Then he used the blood flowing from the wound of the broken arm as a pen and ink, and began to write characters on a golden wall at the entrance of the Taoist priest Cave.

    Seeing that the man in ck hadn¡¯t detected them and had turned his back to them, Ao Wushuang pulled on Su Chan¡¯s arm and whispered, "Chan¡¯er, hold your Aura. Let¡¯s go!"

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t wait to get away. Therefore, when she heard Ao Wushuang¡¯s words, she immediately nodded her head like a chicken pecking at rice.

    They were about to leave, but Su Chan was shocked. She was full of doubts and thought to herself, "Who is this person? Does he have such a deep blood feud with the Qingcheng Sect? Not only did he kill people, he¡¯s also piling up the corpses like Jingguan Tower?"

    When Su Chan thought of this, she couldn¡¯t help but turn around to take a look.

    Su Chan was almost scared out of her wits as soon as she saw what was there.

    The man had used blood as ink, and the broken arm as a pen. He wrote a few big words on the wall: "The ck Fox has appeared again, and the world is in chaos!" Immediately after that, he wrote a few small words below: "Killer, Li Yundong!"

    Su Chan was so shocked that she couldn¡¯t help screaming, "Impossible!"

    Her shout immediately drew the ck-clothed man¡¯s attention. The man¡¯s face was covered with a ck scarf, and his cold, strict eyes were like those of a devil from hell. He was full of murderous intent, and his gaze was like an arrow as he red at Su Chan!

    When he red at Su Chan, his two lightning-like eyes seemed to prate the space. Like two daggers, his sight instantly stabbed into Su Chan¡¯s eye sockets. Instantly, she screamed in pain, closed her eyes, and squatted down with her hands on her chest.

    The man in ck stamped his foot, and the hard bluestone ground under his feet suddenly sank with a rumble. It was as if a giant had stepped heavily on the ground out of thin air. Countless cracks were spreading in all directions, while the man in ck was rushing to Su Chan like a cannonball!

    Ao Wushuang was shocked. She immediately blocked Su Chan, pushed her away with one hand, and sent her five fingers flying with the other. She pinched the Lotus Finger and cast an earth-style spell. In the blink of an eye, a stone wall made entirely out of bluestone appeared before her.

    However, the man in ck continued to move and mmed into the stone wall. The wall of hard bluestone, which was more than a foot thick, was as brittle as a gauze window made of paper, and it was easily broken by his stabbing!

    The man in ck suddenly pped his palm toward where Ao Wushuang was!

    At this time, although Ao Wushuang was still being protected by the Goddess Nayan Mudras, the position of the palm force of the man in ck almost covered all her dodging angles, so that she had nowhere to hide, and could only resist with her palms.

    With a bang, Ao Wushuang felt as if she had been hit by a high-speed Mercedes-Benz, and she flew back without saying a word.

    The man in ck had pped Ao Wushuang away with one palm, but he was stunned. "Huh?"

    However, this kind of surprise onlysted for a split second before he suddenly red at where Su Chan was.

    At this time, Su Chan had been pushed by Ao Wushuang and fallen to the bloody bluestone floor. She was weak all over and wanted to escape from this ce, because the man in ck in front of her was too horrible. His powerful aura and Zhenqi were like giant invisible hands pressing into the air above her, making her like a mosquito in a spider web. No matter how hard she struggled, she could not escape.

    Seeing that Ao Wushuang had been sent flying through the air by the man in ck with one palm, Su Chan said desperately in her heart, "This man is too strong! He is more powerful than Yundong! Even Yundong couldn¡¯t send my master flying with one palm! What should I do? Am I going to die here?"

    Just as she was in a state of panic, she heard the man in ck shouting, "Show yourself!"

    The man in ck roared fiercely. In an instant, it was as if an air cannon had exploded in front of him. He drove away the Goddess Nayan Mudras of Su Chan in a sh. A beautiful girl who was beautiful, delicate, and wearing a long dress appeared before him.

    When the man in ck saw Su Chan, he was stunned for a moment. But before he could react, he heard a sharp shout, "You¡¯re courting death! How dare you even touch a strand of her hair!"

    As soon as he finished speaking, a strong wind came. Even the man in ck felt his hair stand on end, as if there was a giant beast pouncing on him!

    Without thinking about it, the man in ck stepped back lightly. Almost in an instant, his original position was crushed by a three-meter-tall, snow-white fox with seven tails!

    The seven-tailed white fox was indeed arrogant. She was desperate to save her disciple and had desperately shown her true form. At this time, her teeth were bared and her mane was standing on end. Her golden eyes were staring at the man in ck in front of her fiercely and angrily. Her cold, sharp teeth looked ferocious and cold under the chilly moonlight.

    It was the first time that Su Chan had seen her master reveal her true body. She suddenly widened her eyes and shouted in surprise, "Master!"

    Ao Wushuang shouted without looking back, "What are you doing? Run away!"

    Su Chan said in a trembling voice, "Master, what are you going to do?"

    Ao Wushuang was furious. "Shut up. Just run away as I said!"

    After that, she roared and pounced on the man in ck.

    However, the man in ckughed loudly. He moved and dodged in the blink of an eye. His figure was as fast as lightning in the field, and although Ao Wushuang attacked him fiercely, he still kept dodging like a storm, as if there were dozens of him on the field.

    Ao Wushuang wanted to stall for time for Su Chan. However, what made her feel strange was that the man before her just now was full of murderous aura, but he only kept dodging, and his aura no longer had murderous intent.

    The Seven-tailed Fox spirit¡¯s Cultivation could be called the top level of the Yang Spirit. As long as she did not meet a jinshen master, even if she met someone stronger than her, the Fox Spirit could turn into her real body and strength her power greatly so that she could overwhelm her opponent with powerful physical strength.

    This was especially true after the Seven-tailed Fox spirit revealed her true form. Even if she encountered a jinshen master, she would still be able to fight him!

    However, after Ao Wushuang revealed her true body, the man just dodged and did not fight back. Moreover, he was good at evading her. He was like a cat catching a mouse, toying with her.

    Ao Wushuang was shocked and angry. Then she gritted her teeth fiercely, and suddenly a blue light shed behind her. In the blink of an eye, the Bahuang sward turned into a bolt of lightning and went straight to the face of the man in ck!

    This move was as fast as lightning, as fast as thunder, and came without any warning. It was really the killer¡¯s trump card!

    If others hadn¡¯t known that Ao Wushuang had such a powerful magical weapon, ten of them would have been hit!

    But the man in ck seemed to have expected her to have such a backup n. He suddenly pped his hands, and suddenly and steadily patted the sword in his palm, making it stop at the tip of his nose, unable to move an inch further.

    When Ao Wushuang saw that he had actually stopped her killing move, she was excited and shouted, "You¡¯re courting death!"

    In an instant, the Bahuang nged and then split into two swords, three swords, countless swords which turned into fast rotating iron lotuses. Each petal of the iron lotus seemed to be a sharp, rotating sawtooth, and anything that touched it would be mercilessly crushed.

    The man in ck grabbed the Bahuang and was sucked into the rapidly spinning iron lotus in a second. Then, his body was quickly crushed.

    "Okay!" Su Chan, who was about to escape, suddenly saw this scene and eximed with joy.

    However, as soon as she stopped talking, she heard a cold snort. "What a cheap trick!"

    Su Chan and Ao Wushuang turned their heads and saw the man in ck standing quietly not far away, his hands behind his back as he looked at them calmly, as if he was just a residual image of his doppelganger.

    "How is this possible?!" Su Chan was shocked and her pretty face turned pale. For a moment, she was so scared that her mind went nk. She wanted to disappear in the next second, but her feet had seemingly be as heavy as ten-thousand-pound boulders, and she couldn¡¯t move no matter how hard she tried.

    Ao Wushuang took a deep breath. She believed that she had encountered a formidable enemy whom she had never met before. She narrowed her eyes slightly and adjusted her position, still aiming to protect Su Chan.

    She then asked calmly, "Who the hell are you?"

    The man in ck looked at Ao Wushuang coldly. He suddenly snorted and sneered in a voice that only Ao Wushuang could hear, "Wushuang, you¡¯ve retreated! I¡¯m very disappointed!"

    When Ao Wushuang heard this voice, which was particrly old and familiar, her whole body trembled. Suddenly, she widened her eyes and cried out involuntarily, "You..."

    "Go back and train hard. If you don¡¯t be stronger, you and your precious disciple will be doomed eternally!" The ck-clothed manughed loudly. His figure shed and he disappeared instantly, as if he had never even been there.

    Su Chan and Ao Wushuang stood there in a daze and couldn¡¯te to their senses for a long time.

    After a long time, a cold night breeze blew over. Su Chan couldn¡¯t help shivering, and she finally came to her senses.

    The little girl looked around in fear, only to find that it was extremely quiet. No matter where she went, there was no trace of the horrible ck-robed man. Only the corpses of the Jingguan Tower were still piled up as before, and the blood-stained and ferocious words on the wall were still staring at them coldly...

 Chapter 529 Demon Aura Rising to the Sky!

    <h4>Chapter 529 Demon Aura Rising to the Sky!</h4>

    After a long time, Su Chan walked over to Ao Wushuang¡¯s side and said in a low and trembling voice, "Master, who is this man? Why did he massacre at Mount Qingcheng? And why had he framed Yundong?"

    Ao Wushuang moved and returned to her human form. Her brows were tightly furrowed and her lips were pursed together. Her eyes were filled with shock and uncertainty, as if she had not heard Su Chan¡¯s words. It was only when Su Chan asked her a third time that Ao Wushuang returned to her senses finally.

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s look was surprisingly cold. She said to Su Chan, "Chan¡¯er, we can¡¯t stay here for long. Let¡¯s go!"

    When Su Chan saw that Ao Wushuang was about to leave, she immediately grabbed her arm and said anxiously, "Master, you can¡¯t go. You have to erase these words first!"

    Ao Wushuang turned her head and saw a few malicious words written on the golden wall. She couldn¡¯t help saying in a low voice, "It¡¯s impossible. Why did he do that?"

    Hearing Ao Wushuang¡¯s words, Su Chan couldn¡¯t help asking, "Master, what are you talking about?"

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s face became serious and she said coldly, "Don¡¯t ask! Hurry up and wipe these words away. We¡¯ll leave then! Be careful not to leave any trace!"

    "Ah!" Su Chan responded. Like a little swallow, she flew lightly to the front of the golden wall and stretched out her hand to wipe the blood away.

    Ao Wushuang immediately appeared beside her, grabbed her arm, and scolded her, "Are you stupid? Do you want to leave your fingerprints and handprint?"

    Su Chan seemed to have just woken up from a dream. She immediately picked up a broken sword and wiped the words with it.

    When she saw the two lines of words, she noticed that the words at the bottom were the most dazzling. She gritted her teeth and began to dig at the words at the bottom. She ground her teeth in anger and said, "Big viin, how dare you do such a thing to Yundong! When I be stronger in the future, I will definitely not spare you!"

    After she had scratched at Li Yundong¡¯s name for a while, Ao Wushuang suddenly appeared in front of her again. She grabbed the broken sword from her hand and shouted, "Idiot! Step back and see what the effect is!"

    Su Chan took a few steps back in confusion and was suddenly dumbfounded. She saw that she had gotten off the three words "Li Yundong", but she had followed the strokes of these three words and also wiped off the lime powder from the wall, revealing the white wall beneath. Therefore, Li Yundong¡¯s three blood-red words had suddenly turned into three big white words. On this golden wall, they were even more conspicuous than the blood-red words from before!

    Su Chan cried out in surprise and rushed over to the wall immediately. She picked up a broken sword again and used all her strength to shovel the wall without any pattern. Finally, she got rid of all three words.

    The most important three words had been removed by Su Chan. Just as she was about to scratch off the other words, she heard Ao Wushuang beside her say nervously, "Oh no, someone¡¯sing. Chan¡¯er, let¡¯s go!"

    Su Chan responded in a panic and said loudly, "But, I haven¡¯t finished with the words yet!"

    Ao Wushuang grabbed her and ran out without saying anything. Su Chan kept struggling. She shouted, "Master, if we don¡¯t remove these words, the Fox Zen School will be doomed! Yundong will also be implicated!"

    However, Ao Wushuang didn¡¯t look back. She pulled Su Chan and ran away. Su Chan turned her head and kept looking behind. Suddenly, she saw a sh of green light. The sword Buahuang turned into an iron lotus and shed around the wall a few times. In an instant, the wall copsed and crumbled into countless pieces.

    The sword instantly turned into a green light and returned to Ao Wushuang¡¯s back. Ao Wushuang red at Su Chan and said, "Are you satisfied now?"

    Su Chan forced a smile. As she ran, she whispered, "Master, why can¡¯t we fly away?"

    Ao Wushuang sneered and said, "If you want to die, just fly away! These people must be the reinforcements from the Qingcheng Sect. If they¡¯ve appeared, they must have flown here from the top. If we fly up at this time, we will definitely be discovered by them and will be regarded as murderers. At that time, we will definitely die!"

    Before she could finish her words, Su Chan suddenly saw more than a dozen green lights sh, looking iparably eye-catching across the night sky as they fell into the vicinity of the Taoist priest Cave like meteors.

    As soon as theynded, they let out an earth-shattering roar. Immediately, more than a dozen people turned into cyan lights and flew up in all directions, as if they were looking for the murderer.

    If Su Chan and Ao Wushuang escaped from the sky at this time, the cyan light produced by their Yin and Yang Spirits would be seen clearly in the air. They were caught at precisely the right time.

    Su Chan shivered inwardly and could not help but say with admiration, "Master, you¡¯re so good! What should we do now?"

    Ao Wushuang said in a low voice, "Run, run out of the sphere of influence of Mount Qingcheng first!"

    Su Chan nodded, and the two dashed away without saying a word.

    The two didn¡¯t dare to walk the Pill Mountain Path. They chose the remote jungle and dense forest and ran for a long time. It wasn¡¯t until dawn that the two got out of the sphere of influence of Mount Qingcheng.

    At this time, Ao Wushuang raised her head and took a look. She sighed softly and rxed a little, saying, "It¡¯s okay!"

    Only then did Su Chan stop. She bent down, held her knees with one hand, and covered her chest with the other. She gasped and said, "Master, I don¡¯t understand why. Who is this person? Why did he frame Yundong? Why did he frame our Fox Zen School? What kind of hatred does he have against us?"

    There was a strange look in Ao Wushuang¡¯s eyes. She suddenly snorted and said with a sneer, "Chan¡¯er, there is no need to hate someone deeply to frame them!"

    Su Chan was getting more and more confused. "Then why? Master, do you know this person?"

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s face changed. She suddenly scolded Su Chan sternly, "Don¡¯t ask anymore. Just pretend that you didn¡¯t see anything happened tonight! You hear me?"

    Su Chan was so anxious that she shouted, "Master, but..."

    The veins on Ao Wushuang¡¯s forehead stood out. She said sternly, "Don¡¯t ask! If you really want to help Li Yundong, don¡¯t ask any more and don¡¯t tell him about this!"

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes widened. "Why can¡¯t I tell...?"

    However, before she could finish her words, she saw Ao Wushuang¡¯s eyes getting more and more fierce. She rarely saw Ao Wushuang so riled up. The little girl was shocked and swallowed her words.

    Su Chan had no choice but to lower her head and look back in the direction of Mount Qingcheng. Then, she followed Ao Wushuang out of Mount Qingcheng suspiciously.

    At this time, in Mount Qingcheng, Zhang Huashui was pacing back and forth in front of the Taoist priest Cave like a furious lion. His hair was stood on end, and his eyes were as wide as copper bells. His eyes were full of bloody tendrils that were almost bursting with anger, and the veins on his forehead were rolling like small snakes.

    The more than a dozen Taoists around him didn¡¯t dare to take a breath for fear of angering him and drawing great ire.

    Zhang Huashui paced dozens of times. Suddenly, he stopped and shouted at a middle-aged man of medium height, "Head Shixiong, haven¡¯t you found him yet?"

    A Taoist priest with a short beard at the side advised, "Shixiong, don¡¯t worry. The head still needs some time."

    Zhang Huashui suddenly turned his head, as if he wanted to eat the man in one bite, and yelled angrily, "Time! It¡¯s dawn!"

    Just as he was roaring, Zhang Tongtian suddenly opened his eyes. He nced sideways at Zhang Huashui and said calmly, "Shidee, calm down!"

    Zhang Huashui waved his fist, which was as big as a sand bowl, and roared, "Calm down? How can I calm down? Our Qingcheng Sect¡¯s ancestral court has been washed in blood! It¡¯s not only because of the blood, but also because of the pile of corpses of our disciples in front of the Taoist priest Cave! This kind of shame has never been heard of or felt for thousands of years. I¡¯ve never seen it before! What kind of crazy beast has done such a heartless thing? I¡¯ve had it. I must tear him to pieces!"

    After Zhang Huashui roared for a while, he suddenly turned his head and red at Zhang Tongtian angrily. "Shishiong, have you found any clues?"

    Zhang Tongtian did notment. With a cold face, he turned to the Taoist next to him and said, "Arrange the corpses first. The dead will be numerous. They should be buried in peace."

    The Taoist asked cautiously, "Head, do you want to call the police over such a big murder case?"

    Before Zhang Tongtian could say anything, Zhang Huashui rushed to the Taoist in a rage and picked him up with one hand like he was picking up a chicken. "Call the police? Are you nuts? Do you want the cultivation world tough at us?"

    The Taoist¡¯s face turned red, and he shouted angrily, "Zhang HuaShui, are you crazy? Put me down! In terms of seniority, I¡¯m no lower than you. How can you treat me like this! How can you hide such a big thing? Can you hide it?"

    Zhang Tongtian couldn¡¯t help scolding loudly, "Shidee, put him down!"

    Zhang Huashui turned his head and said angrily to Zhang Tongtian, "Head Shishiong, am I right?"

    Zhang Tongtian suddenly red and said angrily, "Are you the head or am I?"

    Zhang Tongtian¡¯s appearance was very dignified, and he enjoyed high prestige in the Qingcheng Sect. When he got angry, everyone was shocked into silence. Even Zhang Huashui didn¡¯t say a word. He snorted and put down the Taoist in his hand, then turned his head away and didn¡¯t say a word.

    Zhang Tongtian nced at the crowd coldly and said, "Such a tragedy has happened in our Qingcheng Sect. It means that we need to be united and help each other. How can we mess up when we are in danger? This matter happened suddenly, but we can see that the other side was prepared, while we were caught off guard. How to make up for the deaths of our friends? As for calling the police, my opinion is..."

    Zhang Tongtian let out a long sound and scanned the crowd with his majestic eyes. Everyone also looked at him with different eyes.

    Zhang Tongtian paused for a second before saying, "...I suggest that this problem of the cultivation world should be solved in the Cultivation World. Now the situation in the Cultivation World is very unusual. We can¡¯t attract the attention of the country anymore. Otherwise, if we get involved in the suppression, we will lose more than we gain."

    The crowd immediately started talking about it and whispering to each other. Zhang Huashui pped his thigh and said loudly, "Head shishiong, you¡¯re right!"

    Zhang Tongtian red at him. "Shut up!"

    As a master of jinshen, being scolded by his shishiong, Zhang Huashui moved his head back and muttered in a low voice, not daring to speak loudly.

    A middle-aged Taoist stepped forward and said, "Master, if our Qingcheng Sect is unable to speak out about their grievances, how will other sects think of us if this matter spreads?"

    Zhang Tongtian said coldly, "Did I say that I¡¯d just let it go? Humph, I will make the murderer pay with blood!"

    Immediately, another Taoist asked loudly, "Head, do you know who the murderer is?"

    Zhang Tongtian sneered and said, "I¡¯m not sure, but I¡¯ve got some idea..."

    The crowd immediately gathered around and shouted angrily, "Who is it? Head, tell us now!"

    Zhang Tongtian looked around with a sneer and said, "Before the murderer left, he destroyed the scene and a wall. He thought that he could hide something, but he hadn¡¯t expected the Sk to be so vast!"

    Zhang Huashui was so anxious that he couldn¡¯t help shouting, "Head shishiong, just tell me who it is! I¡¯ll kill them right now!"

    Zhang Tongtian snorted and said angrily, "B*stard, you have no evidence. What are you going to do?"

    Zhang Huashui straightened his neck and said, "I don¡¯t know who it is!"

    Zhang Tongtian sneered and said, "Fellow Taoists, don¡¯t you think that the surrounding area... is rather sinister?"

    The taoists from Qingcheng Sect were all stunned. They soon noticed that there was indeed a strange aura around them. With sharp eyes, one of them suddenly pointed at the blood on the ground and said, "Look!" As he spoke, he picked up a long, soft white hair from the pool of blood.

    The man quickly ran up to Zhang Tongtian, handed the long white hair to him, and said, "Leader, this seems to be... fox fur?"

    Zhang Tongtian twisted the fox fur in his hand and narrowed his eyes into thin lines. He sneered and said, "Sure enough, the demon aura is soaring to the sky!"

    Zhang Huashui immediately flew into a rage. "Is that from the group of fox demons from the Fox Zen School? Are they tired of living? I¡¯ll kill them!" After that, he moved and turned into a beam of cyan light, rushing to the sky in the blink of an eye.

 Chapter 530 Did Your Lunar Issue Come?

    <h4>Chapter 530 Did Your Lunar Issue Come?</h4>

    As soon as Zhang Huashui flew into the air, he saw Zhang Tongtian suddenly appear in front of him and stop him. "Junior Brother, take it easy!"

    Zhang Huashui said angrily, "Don¡¯t be impulsive? Senior brother, our Qingcheng Mountain has suffered such a disaster. How dare you tell me not to be impulsive?"

    Zhang Tongtian also said angrily, "What will other sects think of us if you are so impulsive without any evidence? Fox Zen School lives downtown. What if you alert the world? Once something happens, it will not be the Qingcheng Sect that gets into trouble, but the whole cultivation world!"

    Zhang Huashui¡¯s face turned red, and the blood vessels on his neck stood out. He roared, "Do you want to leave the murderer alone?"

    Zhang Tongtian suppressed his anger and said, "There is something wrong. I feel that it¡¯s not that simple. Don¡¯t worry, just wait until I find out!"

    Zhang Huashui was extremely angry. "When you find out the truth, the murderer will already have been out of control!"

    Zhang Tongtian put his hands on Zhang Huashui¡¯s shoulders and said in a deep voice, "Junior brother, don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t let anyone off who dares to hurt our people. Blood must atone for blood! But it¡¯s not the right time for us to carry out our n. It¡¯s not toote to take revenge after we figure it out!"

    Zhang Huashui took a deep breath, swallowed his anger, and said, "Okay, Senior Brother, I¡¯ll listen to you!"

    Zhang Tongtian said with a cold face, "Someone wants to stir up the cultivation world... Hum, that¡¯s good. Our Qingcheng Sect will apany him to the end!"

    After that, the two Golden-Body masters of the Qingcheng Sect turned into blue lights and flew back in the blink of an eye.

    At the same time, when the Qingcheng Sect encountered a terrible murder, Li Yunyang¡¯s family received an unexpected invitation.

    "Shen Wancai wants to invite you to the dinner party? Who sent it here?" Zi Yuan opened the golden invitation card in her hand, took a look at it, and handed it back to Li Yundong.

    Li Yundong nodded. "Yin Mengfan passed it to Zhou Qin, and Zhou Qin handed it to me. He also invited you, do you want to go or not?" As he said this, Li Yundong handed over another invitation.

    Zi Yuan frowned. She didn¡¯t take the invitation, just shook her head and said, "Forget it. I don¡¯t want to deal with these businessmen. You go by yourself. I won¡¯t go."

    Li Yunyang smiled and said, "You don¡¯t want to go with me? There¡¯s no point in me going to the dinner party alone."

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "I guess he is still thinking about the Apprentice n. What am I going to do?"

    Li Yunyang replied with a smile, "Be my disciples? Do those two guys want to be my disciples? Are you kidding me?"

    Zi Yuan said, "You can¡¯t say that. He hasn¡¯t made much progress now, but it doesn¡¯t mean that he won¡¯t in the future. Besides, if a cultivation sect wants to strengthen its power, the best way is to ept disciples as widely as possible. It¡¯s not enough for you to rely on Zhou Qin alone as your disciple. If you ept Shen Wancai¡¯s two children as apprentices, at least you won¡¯t need to be so worried about funds in the future. You don¡¯t even need to make a deal with Wan Zhenyuan, do you?"

    Li Yundong sighed and shook his head. "Do you have a cultivation method that doesn¡¯t require money? Why is it always the money issue when we talk about cultivation now?"

    Zi Yuanughed and said, "When Zhang Daoling, the founder of our sect, established the Five-Pecks-of-Rice cult, he had to pay the fee. What¡¯s more, now? If you think these two guys are useless, you should ept only one."

    Li Yunyang said with a serious face, "One can¡¯t be careless with taking a disciple. If I open up a path, it won¡¯t be easy to refuse the next one. I have my own n for this matter."

    Zi Yuan nodded. "Fine, as long as you have your own ns. Do you want to go to dinner tonight?"

    Li Yundong thought for a moment before saying, "I¡¯ll go to this dinner party, not for others, but for Zhou Qin ."

    Zi Yuan smiled and looked towards Zhou Qin¡¯s room. "How is she now? Is she feeling better?"

    Li Yundong nodded. "She wanted to go with me, but she is practicing the Heavenly Jindan Technique now. She is at the key moment for changing bones and blood, so she can¡¯t go."

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "Then you can find anotherpanion, but I don¡¯t want to go."

    Li Yunyang saw that Zi Yuan still insisting on not going, so he didn¡¯t force her. He smiled bitterly and said, "Well, I¡¯ll find Chan¡¯er and have her go to the dinner party with me. However, I don¡¯t know where she is. She still hasn¡¯te back now."

    While they were talking, they saw two figures rushing across the balcony mountain. It was Ao Wushuang and Su Chan, who had returned from Mount Qingcheng to Tiannan City.

    Li Yunyang saw Su Chan and Ao Wushuang andughed. "I haven¡¯t seen your guys all night. Where did you go?"

    Su Chan was still in a state of shock. Although before they got back, Ao Wushuang and she had cleaned up their clothes, her heart still could not help beating wildly.

    Hearing Li Yundong say hello to her, Su Chan opened her mouth. She subconsciously wanted to tell Li Yundong about the horrible thing that had happened during the night, but she heard Ao Wushuang cough intentionally to stop her. She swallowed back the words that were about toe out from her mouth.

    Su Chan took a deep breath and shed a grudging smile. "I didn¡¯t go anywhere."

    Li Yunyang saw that her expression was stiff, and he couldn¡¯t help but be stunned. He asked curiously, "What¡¯s wrong with you?"

    Su Chan looked at him, tongue-tied and speechless. Although she was usually cunning and chatty, she had suddenly changed a lot now. Facing Li Yundong, whom she loved deeply, she opened her eyes and lied. It was really a little hard to say the words. What made Su Chan most pained was that she didn¡¯t understand why her master wouldn¡¯t let her tell Li Yundong these things.

    This mysterious man in ck wanted to frame the Fox Zen School. As the head of the school, shouldn¡¯t Li Yunyang know?

    However, Su Chan also knew that her master no doubt had her own reasons for asking her to do this. Still, when she asked her master, she refused to say them. She was really worried!

    Su Chan forced herself to smile, which was uglier than crying. She had no choice but to turn her head back and look at Ao Wushuang.

    On the other hand, Ao Wushuang¡¯s expression was the same as usual. She chuckled and said, "I¡¯m worried about you, Sect Leader. I¡¯m taking Su Chan out to practice."

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t doubt her and said with a smile, "Alright."

    Su Chan was afraid that Li Yundong would ask her questions, so she said in a panic, "Yundong, I, I¡¯ll go back to sleep now."

    He saw her running to her room as if she was running for her life, so he hurriedly stopped her and said, "Hey, Zhou Qin is practicing inside. Go to my room instead. But you can¡¯t sleep for long. We will go out to attend dinnerter."

    Su Chan suddenly stopped, turned her face, and looked at Li Yundong pitifully. "Where are you going? Can I not go with you?"

    Li Yundong was angry and said, "No! If Zi Yuan doesn¡¯t want to go, Zhou Qin won¡¯t be able to go. Only you can go with me. Why don¡¯t you want to?"

    Su Chan rolled her eyes. After thinking for a while, she covered her stomach andined, "I, I have a stomachache!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes widened. "It didn¡¯t hurt just a moment ago. Now it hurts?"

    Su Chan put on a bitter face and cried out, "It only just started hurting!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart stopped beating for a while when he saw Su Chan¡¯s pained expression. He thought that Su Chan really had a stomachache, so he couldn¡¯t help asking, "What¡¯s going on? Why does your stomach hurt for no reason?"

    Su Chan¡¯s mind was in a mess. She said without thinking, "Isn¡¯t it normal for your stomach to hurt?"

    Li Yundong was stunned and asked subconsciously, "Is it that time of the month?"

    When Su Chan heard that Li Yundong had found an excuse for her, she nodded subconsciously and said, "Yes, yes, my period ising. My stomach hurts a lot!"

    As soon as she said this, Zi Yuan burst intoughter and immediately turned her head, her shoulders shaking.

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing. "Come on, you are a Foundation Building Realm cultivator. You have an unpunctured body! How can you be on your period?"

    Su Chan was instantly dumbfounded. Her eyes were wide open. It was only then that she realized that any man who had reached the Foundation Building Realm would never have the physical phenomenon of an ordinary person. Women would not have menstruation every month. It was also because of this that cultivators who had reached the Foundation Building Realm would all have unpunctured bodies. They would be able to be perfect and to the greatest extent ensure that their essence, Qi, and blood would not leak out.

    Su Chanined in her heart, "How could I have forgotten about this?"

    The little girl smiled awkwardly and said, "Well, maybe there is an exception to every rule?"

    Li Yundong red at Su Chan and said, "Don¡¯t talk nonsense! Go and rest and take care of yourself. Come out with meter!"

    Su Chan had no choice but to reply with her cheeks puffed out, "Oh!"

    Li Yundong watched her enter his room, turned his head back, and said to Ao Wushuang with a smile, "I don¡¯t know where she was all night."

    However, as he spoke, he saw Ao Wushuang lowering her head and blinking her eyes. She seemed to be thinking about something and turning a deaf ear to him.

    Li Yundong was stunned and couldn¡¯t help but raise his voice. "Senior Ao Wushuang?"

    Only then did Ao Wushuang wake up as if from a dream. She suddenly raised her head and replied, "Ah? I took Chan¡¯er out to practice at night. Head, you don¡¯t have to worry." After that, she forced a smile at him and rushed into her room like a gust of wind.

    He looked at Zi Yuan, his eyes full of confusion. "What¡¯s going on between that master and disciple?"

    Zi Yuan looked at Ao Wushuang doubtfully. Suddenly, her nostrils twitched, and she frowned slightly. In a low voice, she asked, "Do you smell anything?"

    Li Yundong also sniffed and shook his head. "No, what¡¯s the smell?"

    Zi Yuan pondered for a while before saying, "It seems to be the smell of blood, but it¡¯s very light."

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing and said, "Is it possible that Chan¡¯er¡¯s strength has really regressed a lot?"

    Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t helpughing. "Nonsense! Don¡¯t you talk rubbish about such things!"

    They were chatting outside the door. Although their voices were being clearly transmitted around the room, Su Chan couldn¡¯t hear them at all. She kept pacing back and forth in Li Yundong¡¯s room like an ant on a hot pot.

    "What should I do? What should I do?" Su Chan bit her lip, and the back of her right hand kept patting the palm of her left hand. "After such a big event, why won¡¯t Master ask me to tell Yundong? I¡¯m so anxious! Why does this person want to frame our school again? What blood feud do we have with him? If others find out that this thing was done by the Fox Zen School, it will be a disaster! No matter how powerful Yundong is, he can¡¯t bear such a huge disaster!"

    Su Chan was lost in thought. She bit her red lips and made two deep teeth marks. Blood oozed out. She didn¡¯t even notice, feeling as if she had plunged into a dark fog. She was in a dangerous situation, but she didn¡¯t know where the danger wasing from. Moreover, she couldn¡¯t shout or open her mouth. She couldn¡¯t warn Li Yundong of such horrible danger.

    There were thousands of thoughts swirling in her mind, but after thinking for a while, she finally narrowed her focus down to a few questions: Who was this person? Why did he want to massacre Mount Qingcheng? And why did he want to frame the Linghuchan Sect?

    Su Chan was puzzled. Thinking restlessly, she couldn¡¯t help stamping her feet and whispering, "Is it just because we are from Fox Zen School and we are fox spirits? Can just anyone sully us in this world?"

    Su Chan thought for a while and suddenly made a decision: "No, I still have to tell Yundong, I don¡¯t care!"

    As soon as she made up her mind, she heard a knock on the door. Li Yundong shouted from outside, "Chan¡¯er, have you had a good rest? We¡¯re going out! It¡¯s getting dark!"

    Su Chan turned around and saw that it was almost dark outside. She had been in the room with a sad face for a long time, but she hadn¡¯t noticed at all!

    As soon as Li Yundong said this, he pushed the door open and came in. Dressed in a Tang suit with dark red and gold threads on it, he stood at the door proudly. He saw Su Chan standing in the room in a daze and looking at him nkly. She looked like she wanted to say something but stopped on second thought. He couldn¡¯t help wondering aloud, "You didn¡¯t rest? Why haven¡¯t you changed your clothes? Didn¡¯t I tell you that you were going out?"

    Su Chan opened her mouth and wanted to speak, but she saw Li Yundong wave his hand and smile. "Forget it. Anyway, you were born with natural beauty. Even if you don¡¯t dress up, you will be a beautiful little girl. Let¡¯s go. The car is waiting outside."

    Su Chan was about to say something, but for some reason, she suddenly remembered Ao Wushuang¡¯s stern warning and swallowed her words. The girl showed a smile and said, "Let¡¯s go."

    Li Yundong was praising her. Normally, she would smile and act like a spoiled child, but today she was very quiet. She walked as if she was Xi Shi, a beauty of ancient China.

    Li Yundong said curiously, "Have you changed your character today? Do you want to be ady?"

    Su Chan lowered her head, full of worries, and walked out of the door on her own.

    Li Yundong was full of doubts, but he didn¡¯t think too much about it. He walked over with a smile, gently hugged Su Chan, walked out of the door with her, and got into the car.

    After getting into the car, she didn¡¯t dare to look at him again. She was afraid that she would be discovered by him if she took one more look, so she just turned her head and gazed out of the window.

    It was winter. Although Tiannan City was in the south of the country, it was already a little dark at this time. The street lights were lit, and the city was a flourishing scene of red and green lights.

    Through the window, Su Chan looked at the bustling view outside, which was like a horsemp. What appeared in her mind was the horrible corpse-viewing tower of Mount Qingcheng. She looked at the busy pedestrians outside the window with a nk look in her eyes. Looking at the high-rise buildings with lights all around, Su Chan suddenly shivered for no reason, as if there were a terrible ferocity and murderous intent in this otherwise familiar world.

    No one knew what was about to happen, nor did they know what kind of terrifying storm was brewing. Everything was as calm as before, the quiet before the storm.

 Chapter 531 Meeting Madam Li Again!

    <h4>Chapter 531 Meeting Madam Li Again!</h4>

    Li Yundong and Su Chan sat in the car that Shen Wancai had specially sent to pick them up. After about 30 minutes, they finally entered a heavily-guarded, upscalemunity. After passing through ake and garden, they stopped in front of a two-story vi.

    Before he got through the door, Li Yundong saw several luxury cars parking in front of the vi. The man who hade from the car was dressed in a suit, and the woman was gorgeously dressed.

    Li Yundong pulled Su Chan out of the car. At this time, Su Chan, who was confused, found that she was wearing a very ordinary long dress and she hadn¡¯t evenbed her hair. She said in a panic, "Ah, I haven¡¯t dressed up yet. Why have you taken me to such a ce?"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. He pinched Su Chan¡¯s nose and said with a smile, "You silly girl. You didn¡¯t dress up at home for so long, and didn¡¯t say anything when you went out. Do you regret it now? What are you thinking about? You are out of your mind today!"

    Su Chan lowered her head and muttered, "Nothing..."

    Seeing that Su Chan was full of worries, Li Yundong thought a lot. He raised her chin and asked, "Chan¡¯er, what¡¯s wrong with you? You are so strange today?"

    Su Chan raised her head and looked at Li Yundong eagerly. She wanted to say something, but on second thought, she closed her mouth. Finally, she shook her head firmly.

    Li Yundong saw that she was refusing to say anything, so he smiled and said, "Did you somehow make trouble again? It doesn¡¯t matter. I won¡¯t be angry."

    Su Chan quickly waved her hand and said, "No, no! I am very obedient. I didn¡¯t get into trouble, and I won¡¯t get into trouble in the future! But..."

    Li Yundong asked, "But what?"

    Su Chan thought for a while before saying, "If someone wanted to frame you, what would you do?"

    Li Yundong was stunned, and then he burst intoughter. "Is there anyone who would want to frame me? Hahaha, I¡¯m upright, and I¡¯m not afraid of those tricks. Why would someone want to frame me?"

    Su Chan said anxiously, "No, it¡¯s..." She still wanted to say something more, but he smiled and said to her, "Forget it, let¡¯s talk about it when we go back. Don¡¯t talk about it here. Didn¡¯t you see people around us are looking at us?"

    Su Chan looked around and saw many people looking at them with curious eyes.

    Snuggling close to Li Yundong, she whispered, "Are theyughing at me for not dressing well?"

    Li Yundong knew that Su Chan had once been chased out by He Shao because of her clothing, so she paid special attention to this matter when she attended banquets.

    Li Yundong patted the girl¡¯s head dotingly. "Silly girl, they are envious of your beauty!"

    Only then did Su Chan feel warm in her heart. She smiled sweetly at Li Yundong.

    The two walked through the garden path in front of the vi. When they arrived at the door, they saw a middle-aged man in a tuxedo standing there. The middle-aged man stood upright, with an obelisk folded in his chest pocket and a golden brooch on it, making him look noble and reserved.

    The middle-aged man was slightly stunned when he first saw Li Yundong and Su Chan, as if he was surprised by the temperaments of these two people. But he quickly greeted them with a smile and said, "Hello, please show me your invitation card."

    Li Yundong handed over the invitation card with a smile. He opened it and looked at it, then said with a bright smile, "Ah, it¡¯s Mr. Li. Please!"

    Li Yundong nodded to him and walked inside with Su Chan. When they entered the hall, they saw an extremely spacious living room. In the center of the living room was a long table which was full of different kinds of delicious food. On the long table were silver tableware and copper candlesticks. Those decorations were more luxurious when considering the gold ceiling decorations on the ceiling above.

    There were about 40 or 50 well-dressed men and women standing around the hall. Among them, attendants holding wine trays kepting and going.

    Although Li Yundong had also been to a high-grade hotel, he was still surprised by the luxurious and rich scene of Shen Wancai¡¯s house. Su Chan couldn¡¯t help opening her mouth to show her surprise and she whispered, "What is he going to do? Why is he holding this banquet?"

    Li Yundong whispered, "His youngest daughter, Shen Hui, is celebrating her birthday!"

    Su Chan asked in surprise, "Shen Hui? Isn¡¯t she the little girl who wanted to worship you as her master on the opening day of our Disanxian?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Not quite. First of all, it¡¯s not Shen Hui who wants to take me as her teacher. It¡¯s Shen Hui¡¯s father, Shen Wancai, who wants her to take me as her teacher. She hates me. Secondly, she¡¯s not a little girl. It¡¯s just that she looks young."

    Su Chan didn¡¯t take him seriously and asked, "Do you want to take her as your disciple?"

    Li Yundong shook his head and said, "If I wanted to ept a disciple, I would have to choose one who focuses on Taoism. I can¡¯t make people like me. Besides, people like her are not suitable for cultivation."

    Su Chan blinked and tried to persuade him, "But you could ept her as an unofficial disciple, not to cultivate her as a major cultivator. You know, even Zhang Daoling, the founder of our Chinese cultivation world, was only responsible for supporting someone at that time, but he didn¡¯t receive a true disciple. In addition, in recent times, Minister Zhou once epted Han Muru as his teacher, but he didn¡¯t be a Master Xingyi!"

    Li Yundong knew that Han Muxia was a martial arts master who had once been as famous as Huo Yuanjia in the Republic of China, and he was the chief national martial arts instructor of the former Huangquan Military Academy. He used to be the leader of the world-renowned team, Dadao.

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Girl, you tricked me into epting her. What do you want to do?"

    Su Chan asked in confusion, "But, using your own disciple¡¯s money is better than using other people¡¯s money, isn¡¯t it? As the saying goes, people are short-mouthed, and people are soft-hearted. Isn¡¯t that right?"

    Li Yundong was stunned. "Did you hear me talking to Wan Zhenyuan?"

    Feeling a little embarrassed, Su Chan lowered her head and whispered, "You were talking in such a loud voice that it was hard for you not to be overheard."

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "It doesn¡¯t matter. There is nothing shameful in that. However, you are right. The reason why I didn¡¯t promise Wan Zhenyuan is that his conditions were too generous. I don¡¯t want to owe him anything. He seems generous and broad-minded, but in fact, he is deep-minded and sophisticated. It¡¯s a pity that today¡¯s world is not chaotic. If he wants to seed, he must disturb the overall situation, but once he does so, he will definitely cause trouble. Therefore, I don¡¯t want to have too much contact with him."

    "To disrupt the overall situation?"

    When Su Chan heard Li Yundong¡¯s words, a thought suddenly shed across her mind. It was as if a bolt of lightning had suddenly descended from a dark fog, lighting up this shadowy world and allowing her to see her surroundings clearly. However, this bolt of lightning was simply too fast. In a sh, it had disappeared. Even though Su Chan felt she had understood something, she quickly discovered that her surroundings had once again sunk into darkness. It was as if she didn¡¯t understand anything at all.

    The little girl opened her mouth and stood there in a daze, her eyes shing.

    Li Yundong looked at her and couldn¡¯t help asking, "What are you thinking about?"

    Before Su Chan say anything, she saw a person suddenly walking towards her. A strong smell of perfume wafted into her nostrils.

    "Hey, who is this? What a strange face!" A voice dripping with sarcasm and mockery sounded beside Li Yundong and Su Chan.

    Li Yundong turned his head and suddenlyughed quietly. He saw a woman in her thirties standing in front of him and dressed in a luxurious fur,den with jewels. She was extremely beautiful. She was the fourth concubine of Chen Wancai, Madam Li, whom he had met in Dragon Gate Building.

    The fourth concubine hadn¡¯t heard that Shen Wancai had invited Li Yundong before, so when she suddenly saw him at her family¡¯s banquet, she was surprised and excited. She secretly thought that there was finally a chance for her to humiliate this young man who had once humiliated her.

    The fourth concubine thought proudly in her heart, "I will let him know who is the most important person in the Shen family in case he doesn¡¯t know the immensity of heaven and earth!"

    Li Yundong turned around and pretended to be respectful. "Ah, it¡¯s Madam Li. Nice to meet you!"

    When the fourth concubine saw that Yundong was taking the initiative to call her Mrs. Li, she was so angry that her nostrils red. She couldn¡¯t help but raise her eyebrows and said sarcastically, "Housekeeper Zhang, I don¡¯t know what you are doing. Why are all kinds of trashing in? Hum, although Shen is broad-minded, not everyone can tolerate it. What are you doing here?"

    Su Chan was very unhappy when she heard that. Just as she was about to speak, she felt Li Yundong put one hand on her shoulder and saw him motion for her not to speak. She snorted and turned away angrily.

    Li Yundong was not angry. Heughed and said, "Mrs. Li, I¡¯m really sorry. It was Shen Wancai who invited us here."

    Fourth concubine was surprised, "What did he invite you for?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Well, you should ask Shen Wancai about that, shouldn¡¯t you, Mrs. Li?"

    Fourth concubine was so angry that she said, "How dare you call Shen by his full name?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Why can¡¯t I? Isn¡¯t the name just a symbol? You can call me, I can call you, and everyone can call me. Is it because of the money that your name has be noble?"

    The fourth concubine was extremely angry. She red at Li Yundong fiercely and gritted her teeth, saying, "You sharp-tongued kid, I¡¯ll remember this!" After that, she turned around and left.

    Su Chan looked at her figure and then at Li Yundong helplessly. She asked, "Yundong, why are people alwaysing to make trouble for us wherever we go?"

    Thinking for a moment, Li Yundong patted the little girl¡¯s head and said, "Maybe it¡¯s because we are noteworthy people." After that, he alsoughed.

    The fourth concubine of the Shen family had had a hard time with Li Yundong. Her angry look had been seen by a handsome young man, who walked over to her with a smile and asked, "Aunt Shen, what are you so angry about?"

    The fourth concubine turned her head. Seeing the young man, the anger on her face dissipated a little. She smiled and said, "Ah, Mr. Rong. Nice to meet you."

    When Mr. Rong saw that she was still looking at another person indignantly after talking to him, he also followed her gaze and looked in the direction of Li Yundong. He asked in surprise, "Who is he?" But when he saw Su Chan next to Li Yundong, his whole body trembled and his eyes widened. He opened his mouth and was tongue-tied, his saliva almost dripping down and showing his surprise. "How could there be such an enchanting woman in this world?"

    The fourth concubine sneered and said, "Humph, he¡¯s just an ill-bred young man!"

    Mr.Rong rolled his eyes andughed. "Aunt Shen, do you want me to teach him a lesson for you?"

    Hearing this, the fourth concubine was delighted. Even though she frowned, she still pretended to hesitate and said, "Isn¡¯t that a bad idea?"

    Mr. Rong chuckled. Just as he was about to speak again, he saw a gorgeously dressed girl surrounded by a group of young people suddenly walking down the stairs. At first sight of this girl, he immediately looked happy. He smiled and said to the fourth concubine, "Ah, Aunt Shen, Xiaohui ising out. I¡¯ll go and talk to her. I¡¯ll give the guy who offended you a lessonter."

    The fourth concubine smiled at Mr. Rong. It could be seen that after he turned his face away, he immediately turned his face down. He looked at Shen Hui with hatred, gritted his teeth, and said in a low voice, "You little fox, why are you so proud? No matter how beautiful and capable you are, the family business can¡¯t be passed on to you!"

    At this time, most of the young and beautiful girls had gathered around Shen Hui. When they saw Mr. Ronging over, their eyes lit up and they said in surprise, "Hey, it¡¯s Rong Jun. He also came? Wow, Shen Hui, you are so amazing that you can even invite him!"

    Although this banquet was being held for Shen Hui, she seemed to be a little listless. She was wearing a white dress, the bottom of which was fluffy like an umbre, and her waist was tightly fastened, outlining her slender waist with a shocking curve. There was a bright ruby ne on her chest, which was dazzling. She was wearing a small tinum crown with diamonds on top of her head, looking like a noble princessing down from a western oil painting.

    Shen Hui pretended to be a gracefuldy. She nced at Rong Jun, who was walking toward her, curled her lips and said, "It¡¯s not that I have a big face, but my father does!"

    The girls didn¡¯t take her seriously and said with a smile, "What¡¯s the difference? Hey, Shen Hui, I heard that Mr. Rong has been chasing you very fiercely recently."

    Shen Hui sighed. "Yeah, he¡¯s like a fly, so annoying!"

    The girls tut-tutted and sighed. "Please, Mr, Rong is handsome. He also is a brilliant student from Harvard. Besides, he is the Eldest Young Master of the Rong Family. He is pretty good, but you don¡¯t like him?"

    Shen Hui sneered and said, "If you¡¯re interested in him, he¡¯s all yours."

    The girls allughed. "That¡¯s great! I¡¯m just afraid that you¡¯ll go back on your word when the timees!"

    Shen Hui smiled and wanted to say something. But when she looked around and suddenly saw Li Yundong, she was shocked and said, "Oh my god, why is he here? Is my father nuts? Why did he invite him?"

    The girls saw that Shen Hui seemed to have seen a ghost with a frightened face, and she didn¡¯t look like a dignifieddy at all anymore. They all looked at Li Yundong curiously.

    At this time, Rong Jun had already walked up to Shen Hui. He said with a smile, "Xiaohui, you are looking very beautiful today!"

    However, Shen Lan acted as if she hadn¡¯t heard what he had said. She just said in a panic, "It¡¯s over. My father must be bringing up the Apprentice n today! I hate him. I don¡¯t want to worship him as my teacher!"

    Rong Jun looked at Li Yundong strangely. He frowned secretly and asked, "What¡¯s wrong with him?"

    Shen Hui suddenly had a thought and came up with a good idea. She grabbed Rong Jun and pretended to be pitiful, saying, "Rong Jun, can you do me a favor?"

    Rong Jun was stunned. He rarely saw Shen Hui being so intimate with him, let alone asking him for help. "What¡¯s the matter?" he asked.

    Shen Hui pointed to Li Yundong and whispered, "Could you drive him away for me?"

    Shen Hui was already very beautiful, and her appearance was not inferior to Su Chan¡¯s. Today, she was dressed in such gorgeous clothes that even an iron man would be soft-hearted when looking at her. Furthermore, Rong Jun had been pursuing Shen Hui desperately.

    Now that this beauty was asking for help, how could he not agree? In addition, the fourth concubine of the Shen Family also hated this person very much. He could please the two important people of the Shen Family at the same time if he taught Li Yundong a lesson, so he directly epted the request. If he didn¡¯t do such a good thing, he would be a fool!

    Rong Jun was delighted for a moment. Without thinking about it, he patted his chest and said, "Okay, I¡¯ll teach him a lesson for you! And make him get out of here!"

 Chapter 532 Do Me A Favor?

    <h4>Chapter 532 Do Me A Favor?</h4>

    Seeing that Rong Jun was volunteering, Shen Hui felt happy, but her face was full of embarrassment. She said, ¡°Don¡¯t cross the line. After all, he is also a guest invited by the old master.¡±

    Rong Jun smiled slightly and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will make him turn back from difficulties.¡±

    Seeing him turn around and leave, Shen Hui looked at Li Yundong with a smile, and her eyes were glittering with schadenfreude. The femalepanions around her asked curiously, ¡°Huihui, who is this? He¡¯s so handsome. Why don¡¯t you introduce such a handsome guy to us? Why do you drive him away?¡±

    Shen Hui rolled her eyes at them angrily. ¡°Idiot, that¡¯s a teacher my father wanted to give me! Humph, if I don¡¯t drive him away, won¡¯t I suffer in the future?¡±

    Most of Shen Hui¡¯s femalepanions were her ssmates. Most of them were young girls, who were at the age of idolizing celebrities. Some girls couldn¡¯t help saying with shining eyes, ¡°Huihui, he is such a handsome tutor. If you don¡¯t want him, to avoid wasting him, you can give him to me!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve never seen such a handsome tutor before!¡±

    Shen Hui tilted her head and looked at Li Yundong. He was wearing a Tang costume and a pair of cloth shoes on his feet, and his clothes were not in line with those of anyone around him. If others dressed up like him, he or she would seem absurd. However, on Li Yundong, the outfit exuded a strong ssical elegance, especially when he stood amongst the crowd with a rxed and imposing posture. No matter how much she hated this guy, she had to admit that he was indeed a man who was very attractive to girls.

    Shen Hui snorted. She pursed her lips and said, ¡°Tutor? He asked me to acknowledge him as my master. He¡¯s some kind of teacher from ancient times!¡± As she said this, she couldn¡¯t help sighing. She pressed her forehead with her hand and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what the old master is thinking. What era is he in?¡±

    ¡°Apprentice?¡± The girls asked together with excitement, ¡°Sounds fun! What can you learn from it?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to learn!¡± Shen Hui said with a look of madness, ¡°Can you not be obsessed with any handsome man you see? There are so many hot guys in this world. Aren¡¯t you afraid that one day you will be obsessed with one of them and be a fool?¡±

    The girlsughed and said, ¡°We aren¡¯t afraid, but we¡¯re worried that there are not enough handsome men!¡±

    The girlsughed together, and their voices immediately attracted the attention of the men in the hall.

    Li Yundong also looked at them strangely, only to notice a handsome young maning toward him. This boy was about 1.8 meters tall and dressed in famous brand clothes. He was handsome. Although he had a smile on his face, one could see that there was a sense of nobility exuding from him.

    Rong Jun walked up to Li Yundong and looked at Su Chan with amazement and lust. Then, he smiled at Li Yundong and said, ¡°Hello, may I know yourst name?¡±

    Although Li Yundong didn¡¯t know why Rong Jun hade, he still nodded politely and said, ¡°My family name is Li.¡±

    Rong Jun nodded. Although he wanted to make trouble for Li Yundong, he had some scruples. He asked, ¡°Hello, Mr. Li, what do you do?¡±

    After thinking for a while, Li Yundong turned to Su Chan and said with a smile, ¡°What do I do?¡±

    Su Chan was also stumped by this question. She blinked, thought for a moment, and said to herself, ¡°He can¡¯t say he is the leader of Fox Zen School, can he? He can¡¯t say he is a cultivator, either.¡±

    The little girl asked tentatively in a low voice, ¡°You¡¯re the owner of the teahouse?¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing. He winked at Su Chan and whispered, ¡°How vulgar!¡±

    After that, Li Yundong turned back his head and said to Rong Jun with a smile, ¡°I¡¯m a vagrant!¡±

    Su Chan burst outughing, pinched Li Yundong¡¯s arm, and whispered, ¡°That¡¯s more vulgar than being the owner of the teahouse!¡±

    Although Rong Jun didn¡¯t hear what they said, he felt a little sad when he saw Li Yundong and Su Chan talking so intimately. He smiled and asked, ¡°A vagrant? Mr. Li, you like to joke too much.¡±

    Li Yundong said seriously, ¡°I¡¯m not kidding. I used to study in school, but now I don¡¯t. I opened a teahouse which was nearly shut down.¡±

    Rong Junughed. Seeing that Li Yundong was serious and didn¡¯t seem to be joking, he gradually rxed. He said with a smile, ¡°Well, Mr. Li, do you know where this ce is?¡±

    Li Yundong said with a smile, ¡°It seems to be the Shen Mansion?¡±

    Rong Jun nodded and said, ¡°So could you do me a favor?¡±

    Li Yundong asked, ¡°What can I do for a young master like you?¡±

    Rong Jun smiled and slid out a stack of money from his wallet. He pointed at the door and said, ¡°Can you buy something for me?¡±

    Li Yundong was stunned. ¡°Buy something? For what ?¡±

    Rong Jun nodded and said with a smile, ¡°As long as you are willing to help, these are all yours. Moreover, Old Master Shen likes the freshest lotus seeds from West Lake. Can you buy some for me?¡±

    Su Chan, who was standing to one side, suddenly asked in surprise, ¡°Lotus seeds from the West Lake? That¡¯s in Hangzhou and far away from here! What¡¯s more, where could the fresh lotus seedse from in this season?¡±

    Rong Jun smiled at Su Chan, then looked at Li Yundong seriously and asked modestly, ¡°Please?¡±

    It was not until then that Li Yundong realized that Rong Jun was beating around the bush to drive him away! How could he buy fresh lotus seeds in thiste winter season? Even if he could buy fresh lotus seeds from West Lake, it would be toote to get from Dongwu City to Hangzhou, and the banquet would be over.

    Li Yundong had almost lost his anger during cultivation in his Spirit Space, but his nature had not changed. If others were polite to him, he would be polite back. But if someone had a problem with him, he would be worse than anyone else.

    Li Yundong was not angry. He smiled and said to Rong Jun, ¡°Ah, but I know that Shen Wancai likes to eat something else more.¡±

    Seeing that Li Yundong was serious, Rong Jun frowned secretly and asked, ¡°What is it?¡±

    Li Yundong said seriously, ¡°This is a good thing. Old Master Shen must have dreamed of eating it. It is said that after eating it, you can renew your youth and even live forever!¡±

    Rong Jun looked at Li Yundong with a strange expression. He vaguely felt that Li Yundong seemed to be ying a trick on him. However, when he saw that Li Yundong was serious and didn¡¯t seem to be joking, he asked, ¡°What the hell is it?¡±

    Li Yundong said with a smile, ¡°A dragon¡¯s liver and a phoenix¡¯s gall!¡±

    Rong Jun¡¯s face suddenly changed. Just as he was about to get angry, Li Yundong reached out to touch his pocket and took out a coin from it. He said with a smile, ¡°Can you help me buy a dragon¡¯s liver and phoenix¡¯s gall? And then, I¡¯ll help you buy the lotus seed of West Lake.¡±

    Rong Jun wanted to get angry, but after hearing Li Yundong¡¯s words, he suddenly thought of something and suppressed his rage. He said with a smile, ¡°I¡¯ll help you buy the dragon¡¯s liver and phoenix¡¯s gall, and you¡¯ll help me buy the lotus seeds of West Lake? Okay!¡±

    Li Yundong was overjoyed. He took the notes from his hand without hesitation and handed over the coin. ¡°Here you are. This is the money to buy the dragon liver and phoenix gall!¡±

    When Rong Jun saw that Li Yundong seemed like a beggar, he sneered in his heart and said with an unnatural expression, ¡°Forget it, would I be short of such little money?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Then I won¡¯t stand on ceremony. No matter how scarce mosquito meat is, it¡¯s still meat!¡±

    With this, he unceremoniously put the coin back into his pocket, and then put a stack of red notes into Su Chan¡¯s hand, acting careless. He said, ¡°Girl, your lord is rich today. Count the money. How much is there?¡±

    Su Chan and Li Yundong had been together for a long time, so she knew very well that her lord loved to y tricks on people. Even though he had be a great cultivator, he still hadn¡¯t changed this habit. At this time, she also put aside the troubles in her heart, took the money with a smile, and counted it dly.

    Li Yundong saw Su Chan counting. After looking at her for a while, he noticed that Rong Jun had been standing beside him and looking at him with hostility. He said strangely, ¡°Hey, why are you still here? Aren¡¯t you going to buy a dragon¡¯s liver and phoenix¡¯s gall?¡±

    Rong Jun snorted and sneered, ¡°Let¡¯s talk about it when there are dragons and phoenixes in the world! Aren¡¯t you going to buy the lotus seeds of West Lake? Why haven¡¯t you gone?

    Li Yundong held back hisughter and said seriously, ¡°I did agree, but maybe I will go for it in ten minutes, or maybe ten yearster.¡±

    Su Chan, who was standing to one side, burst intoughter. She suddenly remembered the scene of Li Yundong ying with Liu Dakai before. For a moment, she was trembling withughter.

    Rong Jun was instantly angered by theughter. Finally, he couldn¡¯t help losing his temper and said, ¡°Are you kidding me?¡±

    Li Yundong looked at Rong Jun with a strange face. ¡°It¡¯s strange. I didn¡¯t mess with you. I promised you that I would buy the seeds for you, but I didn¡¯t say when!¡±

    Rong Jun took a deep breath and said angrily, ¡°Do you know who I am? How dare you mess with me?¡±

    Li Yundong said with a smile, ¡°I haven¡¯t asked for your name yet.¡±

    Rong Jun wanted to give his name and identity, but he also felt that it was too impolite. He forced a sigh and said angrily, ¡°You don¡¯t even know me. How dare youe to such a dinner party?¡±

    Li Yundong asked in surprise, ¡°Your surname is Shen?¡±

    Rong Jun said angrily, ¡°My surname is Rong!¡±

    Li Yundong said with a smile, ¡°This banquet is for Shen Hui¡¯s birthday. You are not a member of the Shen family. Why should I have to know you? And even if you are from the Shen family, why should I have to know the people from there?¡±

    Su Chan also made a face at Rong Jun and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go. You¡¯re so annoying! We don¡¯t want you around!¡±

    Rong Jun was furious. Just as he was about to speak, he saw the fourth concubine of the Shen family suddenlye over and say with a cold smile, ¡°It should be that we don¡¯t wee you, right? It seems that in this family I have the right to speak and make decisions, right?¡±

    The fourth concubine had been eavesdropping on the trio¡¯s conversation from one side. At this time, she had finally caught the handle of the conversation and interrupted.

    Seeing that the most favored fourth concubine of the Shen family had spoken, Rong Jun couldn¡¯t help being excited and he smiled, ¡°Aunt Shen, it¡¯s very kind of you toe!¡± He pointed at Li Yundong and said, ¡°How could Uncle Shen have invited such a person to the banquet? They¡¯re so rude and impolite!¡±

    The fourth concubine snorted and said deliberately, ¡°Maybe Steward Zhang¡¯s eyes were dazzled, so he brought in some riffraff. Hum, Zhang Xiaoquan, Zhang Xiaoquan!¡±

    Fourth Concubine¡¯s voice was sharp. Her shout immediately attracted everyone¡¯s attention in the hall.

    Zhang Xiaoquan, the housekeeper who was weing the guests at the door, immediately came over and said respectfully, ¡°Fourth Aunt, are you calling me?¡±

    The fourth concubine¡¯s face was full of sarcasm. She pointed at Li Yundong and said, ¡°Are you too old to see clearly? Why did you let them in?¡±

    Steward Zhang nced at Li Yundong, who was standing to one side, and said hesitantly, ¡°That¡¯s right. He is holding an invitation letter written by the old master himself!¡±

    Fourth concubine raised her eyebrows. ¡°Did he fake it?¡±

    Steward Zhang was stunned. He knew that it would be difficult to settle this matter today. This Fourth Concubine was used to running amok at home because of her son. If he did not follow her wishes, he was afraid that he would be in trouble in the future.

    Steward Zhang turned around and said to Li Yundong and Su Chan helplessly, ¡°I¡¯m really sorry... Maybe, I was wrong. You two, how about...¡±

    Although Li Yundong was in full view of everyone, his expression didn¡¯t change at all. He just looked at Steward Zhang with a smile, as if he were just an ordinary passerby who was watching the fun. He smiled and said to Su Chan, ¡°Forget it. Someone here doesn¡¯t want us. Let¡¯s go. Anyway, we have already given Zhou Qin face.¡±

    Su Chan also nodded hard and made a face at the concubine. She snorted and said, ¡°You look down on me!¡±

    The fourth concubine looked at the backs of Li Yundong and Su Chan, feeling that this was not the ce to vent her anger. She immediately turned her head and shouted at Steward Zhang, ¡°Keep your eyes open wide in the future. Don¡¯t let such a shameless person in again!¡±

    Shen Hui, who was upstairs, saw that Li Yundong and Su Chan had finally left. She gloated andughed with joy. ¡°Great! They¡¯re gone! Really gone!¡±

    ¡°Xiaohui, who¡¯s gone?¡±

    As soon as she finished speaking, an old man came out with a smile. It was Shen Wancai!

 Chapter 533 If I Had Known This Would happen, Things Would Be Different

    <h4>Chapter 533 If I Had Known This Would happen, Things Would Be Different</h4>

    Shen Hui suddenly saw Shen Wancai at a nce, and her heart suddenly thumped. She secretly cried, ¡°Oh no!¡± Her eyes turned quickly, and she said with a smile, ¡°Nothing, sir. You misheard, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    Shen Wancai had started from nothing and had been fighting with others all his life. He was the best at observing people¡¯s expressions. He nced at Shen Hui, snorted, and said, ¡°You¡¯ve appeared so unnatural. What¡¯s wrong with you? Tell me what you said just now. What made you so happy?¡±

    Shen Hui forced a smile and said, ¡°It¡¯s really nothing!¡± As she said this, she turned around and winked at herpanions. ¡°Right guys?¡±

    The girlsughed dryly and said, ¡°Yes, nothing serious.¡±

    Shen Wancai was not willing to believe them. He nced at these girls and then at the field quietly. Suddenly, he had a thought. He narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Shen Hui with unkind eyes. ¡°Did Li Yundonge just now?¡±

    Shen Hui opened her mouth and subconsciously wanted to refute, but when she saw Shen Wancai¡¯s sharp, eagle-like eyes, her heart suddenly trembled. When the lie came to her mouth, she couldn¡¯t say it out loud. She forced a smile and knew she had to tell the truth. ¡°He came just now, but then left again.¡±

    Shen Wancai narrowed his eyes again. The look in his eyes grew sharper. ¡°The banquet hasn¡¯t started yet. Why did he leave?¡±

    Shen Hui looked up at the sky and said insincerely, ¡°Who knows? Don¡¯t you know that that guy has a strange temperament?¡±

    Chen Wancai snorted. ¡°His temperament is entric? Young Master Li is the kind of talent that I¡¯ve never seen before in my entire life. He¡¯s a calm and generous person. I think you¡¯re the one who has a strange temperament, right?¡± As he spoke, he paused and said in a meaningful tone, ¡°Did you drive him away again?¡±

    Shen Hui was stunned. ¡°Again? What do you mean? I didn¡¯t drive him away. He left by himself!¡±

    Shen Wancai¡¯s anger gradually rose in his heart. He nced at the girls beside Shen Hui and said in a low voice, ¡°You guys stay away from me for a moment.¡±

    The girls looked at each other, forced a smile and nodded to Shen, then slipped to the other side.

    Shen Wancai took a deep breath and walked up to Shen Hui. He lowered his voice and said, ¡°Today is your birthday. I don¡¯t want to get angry. I¡¯ll give you a chance. Hurry up and get him back, and I¡¯ll pretend that nothing has happened. Otherwise¡­¡±

    Shen Hui braced herself and said, ¡°I really didn¡¯t drive him away. If you don¡¯t believe me, you can ask anyone here!¡±

    ¡°You are still stubborn and reluctant to admit your mistakes or defeats.¡± Shen Wancai¡¯s eyes suddenly widened. Although he was old, he still had his aura. Immediately, Shen Hui was so frightened that she took two steps back.

    Shen Hui calmed down, and she made up her mind. Pointing at Rong Jun, who was not far away, she said, ¡°It was him and my fourth aunt who drove Li Yundong away. It wasn¡¯t me!¡±

    Shen Wancai was slightly taken aback. ¡°Young Master Rong? Xiaoxian? They have no feud with Young Master Li. Why would they chase him away?¡±

    Shen Hui sneered and said, ¡°How would I know? Go and ask them.¡±

    While the father and daughter were talking, a voice suddenly came from the side. It was Shen You, the youngest son of Shen Wancai, who hade over. He said unhappily, ¡°Dad, I don¡¯t understand why you think so highly of Li Yundong. What¡¯s so great about him? Isn¡¯t he just a gangster who relies on Nepotism? On Shen Hui¡¯s birthday, do you need to offend your rtives to please a stranger?¡±

    Shen Wancai was furious, but he wouldn¡¯t lose his temper when he was at the banquet. He just nced at Shen You coldly and scolded him in a low voice, ¡°You know nothing!¡±

    After that, he walked up to Rong Jun and asked in a deep voice, ¡°Mr. Rong, Xiaohui said that you persuaded Young Master Li, who just invited me, to leave?¡±

    When Rong Jun saw Shen Wancai walking towards him, he got ready to perform well as a future father-inw in his heart. However, he had not expected Shen Wancai to say such a thing. He was instantly stunned and subconsciously looked at Shen Lan.

    Shen Hui immediately red at him, and her eyes were full of threats, as if to say, ¡°If you dare to give me away, you will die!¡±

    Shen Wancai did not even need to turn around. It was as if there was a pair of eyes in the back of his head. He chuckled coldly and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry about the little runt. If it¡¯s her who ordered you, there¡¯s no need to cover up for her.¡±

    Rong Junined in his heart. He had to brace himself and said, ¡°No, I wanted to ask him to do me a favor, but he yed a trick on me instead. In the end, Aunt Shen couldn¡¯t stand it anymore and spoke up for me. Then the man left, shamed.¡±

    Shen Wancai couldn¡¯t help butugh out loud, as if he had heard the most absurd joke. ¡°He left, shamed? Hahahaha!¡±

    Shen Wancai¡¯sughter attracted everyone¡¯s attention for a moment. The hall suddenly quieted down. Only Shen Wancai¡¯s exaggeratedughter kept echoing in the room.

    Rong Jun¡¯s heart beat wildly. He was flustered by Shen Wancai¡¯sughter, so he passed the buck to the fourth aunt, Li Xiaoxian, and said, ¡°Uncle Shen, if you don¡¯t believe me, you can ask Aunt Shen.¡±

    Shen Wan stoppedughing. He turned his head to look at Li Xiaoxian, his eyes filled with impatience and suppressed anger.

    Li Xiaoxian¡¯s face was not the only reason to keep the status firmly in the Shen family. She saw that Shen Wancai was like a volcano about to erupt and could get furious at any time. She trembled in her heart and rushed forward, but she did not dare to trick Shen Wancai at this time as Shen Hui had done. She immediately confessed and said, ¡°Old Shen, I drove him away, but he was too rude and even disrespected me. Why did you invite such a person toe here?¡±

    Shen Wancai suppressed his anger and said in a low voice, ¡°Do you know why I invited him here?¡±

    Li Xiaoxian said disapprovingly, ¡°You just wanted to find a tutor for Shen You and Xiaohui, didn¡¯t you? Oh, Old Shen, there are so many good teachers in the world. Why were you looking for him?¡±

    Chen Wancai could barely control his anger anymore and trembled a little, but he still remained calm. ¡°Tutor? I could get some fresh Harvard graduate no problem, but do you know how much effort I had to put in to invite someone like Li Yundong? I am afraid that my face was not enough, so I specially asked Yin Mengfan, who has a good rtionship with him, to find Zhou Qin. That¡¯s why he came here and how he was invited!¡±

    Shen Wancai¡¯s entire body trembled as he said, ¡°You actually managed to chase him away with a simple sentence? Do you know how difficult it is to invite someone like him? Do you know how arrogant he is?¡±

    Li Xiaoxian felt bad in her heart, but in front of so many people, she refused to admit defeat. ¡°Old Shen, today is Xiaohui¡¯s birthday. What are you doing? If it doesn¡¯t work, you can find him again.¡±

    Shen Wancai let out a coldugh. ¡°Alright, you have driven him away. Go and invite him back! Remember, it¡¯s you who invited him!¡±

    Li Xiaoxian¡¯s smile froze. She said in a low voice, ¡°Old Shen, it¡¯s Xiaohui¡¯s birthday today. There¡¯s no need to embarrass me in front of so many people, is there?¡±

    Shen Wancai also sneered impolitely, ¡°Have you ever given me face? Did you ever think about me when you drove him away?¡±

    Li Xiaoxian¡¯s smile suddenly turned extremely ugly. Shen You couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°Dad, are you kidding me? Is it just because an outsider is making things difficult for my mom?¡±

    Shen Wancai finally couldn¡¯t bear it anymore. His anger burst out like a volcano and he roared at Shen You, ¡°Are my words worthless in this house?!¡±

    This roar frightened everyone!

    Li Xiaoxian immediately pulled Shen You aside and forced a smile at Shen Wancai. ¡°Old Shen, don¡¯t be angry. I¡¯ll invite him back right away.¡±

    Saying this, she quickly ran out.

    At this moment, the people in the hall began to whisper to each other. Most of these guests knew Shen Wancai very well. They knew that the Old Master of the Shen family doted on their fourth aunt the most. They had never seen him lose his temper in front of so many people. They could not help but gossip about Shen Wancai. Who on earth was the guest that Shen Wancai had invited?

    When Li Xiaoxian walked out of the door, she felt extremely aggrieved. She had never been roared at like this in public before in her life. She was about to cry, but in the rich and powerful family, she had already realized this. In an instant, this emotion disappeared. She reorganized her feelings, quickly asked the servants where Li Yundong and Su Chan had gone, and then chased after them.

    Li Yunyang and Su Chan hadn¡¯t gone far at this time. After walking more than 200 meters, he heard an anxious crying from behind. ¡°Master Li, please stay. Please stay!¡±

    Li Yunyang turned his head with a smile and said to Su Chan, ¡°Well, I said someone woulde to find you, didn¡¯t I?¡±

    Su Chan pouted and said unhappily, ¡°Do we still have to go back?¡±

    Li Yunyang patted the girl¡¯s head with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ll listen to you. If you say we should go back, we¡¯ll go back. Okay?¡±

    Su Chan smiled and nodded. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll give her a good scolding, and then we¡¯ll leave. I¡¯ll tick her off!¡± As she said that, the girl turned around and looked at Li Xiaoxian, who was running toward her with a malicious look.

    Li Xiaoxian was not an ordinary person. She could tell at a nce that Su Chan was determined to make things difficult for her. On the other hand, Li Yundong, who was standing next to her and watching the scene, suddenly had an idea.

    Li Xiaoxian apologized to Su Chan and Li Yundong with a smile and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m really sorry. It is totally a misunderstanding. I don¡¯t know if you were honored guests invited by my Old Shen.¡±

    Su Chan snorted. ¡°And now you know? It¡¯s toote! What have you been doing?¡±

    Li Xiaoxian forced a smile and said, ¡°As the saying goes, arguments lead to understanding. Little sister, you are so generous. Please forgive me this time, okay?¡±

    Su Chan pulled a face at Li Xiaoxian and said angrily, ¡°I won¡¯t forgive you. I hate people like you most. You bully others with your power and look down on others!¡±

    Li Xiaoxian saw that Su Chan was so determined that she didn¡¯t want to go back. She was anxious. She felt wronged, but she was afraid that she wouldn¡¯t be able to fetch Li Yundong back and be able to face Shen Wancai. She was ashamed. For a moment, tears fell down her cheeks.

    Su Chan was stunned and couldn¡¯t help ncing at Li Yundong. She was kind and soft-hearted. When she saw the woman crying, her heart softened and her anger dissipated a lot. Su Chan looked at Li Yundong eagerly and whispered, ¡°Yundong, what should we do?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said to Li Xiaoxian, ¡°Don¡¯t cry. Let¡¯s talk about it.¡±

    Li Xiaoxian wiped away her tears and said, ¡°I know I went too far just now, but please forgive me this time for Old Shen¡¯s sake. Even if it¡¯s not for Old Shen¡¯s sake, for Yin Mengfan and Zhou Qin¡¯s sake, let¡¯s just go back, okay?¡±

    Li Yundong sighed lightly. ¡°If I had known it would happen today, why would I havee back? To be honest, I was actually not willing toe to such a banquet. However, back then, Yin Mengfan and General Manager Yin did me a great favor. I have never paid them back for it. When my teahouse opened, she gave me a major gift and added a lot of color to the ceremony. I have no way to return the good deed. Therefore, it is not for the sake of Shen Wancai or Zhou Qin, but for the sake of General Manager Yin. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for you to catch up with me.¡±

    Li Xiaoxian saw that there was a turning point in Li Yunyang¡¯s words, and she immediately broke outughing. She quickly smiled and said, ¡°Yes, Young Master Li, it¡¯s good that you don¡¯t mind and don¡¯t get angry. I¡¯ll apologize to youter and propose a toast to you.¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and waved his hand. ¡°Forget it. I don¡¯t drink.¡± He then smiled and said to Su Chan, ¡°How about it? Will you go back?¡±

    Although Su Chan knew that Li Yundong had already made up his mind, she was very satisfied with him taking care of her opinion in front of outsiders. She smiled sweetly and said, ¡°I¡¯ll go wherever you do. Why are you asking me?¡±

    Li Yundong nodded with a smile and said to Li Xiaoxian, ¡°Lead the way.¡±

    Li Xiaoxian nodded hurriedly and led the way carefully in front of her.

    In the vi hall, Shen Hui felt like every day was as long as a year. She was afraid that Li Xiaoxian would not be able to find Li Yundong. At that time, Shen Wancai was furious. It was a great thing, and she would definitely not be able to escape. But what Shen Hui was more afraid of was: if Li Xiaoxian really found Li Yundong, wouldn¡¯t she have to be apprenticed to him?

    Just as Shen Hui was pacing around like an ant, she suddenly heard a cry of surprise from the femalepanions who had gathered around him again. ¡°Oh, this handsome guy is back again!¡±

    Shen Hui immediately looked up and saw Li Xiaoxian leading Li Yundong and Su Chan back. Sheined bitterly, ¡°It¡¯s over. We can¡¯t run away this time!¡±

    The girls next to her were puzzled and asked, ¡°Is it really so painful to worship such a handsome guy as your teacher?¡±

    Shen Hui gnashed her teeth and said, ¡°You don¡¯t know that this man is a lecher!¡±

    The girlsughed and said, ¡°A lecher? Well, I like lechers like him!¡±

    Shen Hui said with a look of madness, ¡°Please don¡¯t make trouble! What¡¯s so good about having a tutor? There¡¯s no freedom at all!¡±

    The girls looked at each other and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s true. But what did you learn from him?¡±

    This sentence also stopped Shen Hui. She couldn¡¯t help but think, ¡°Yes, the old master always wanted me to be his disciple. What on earth did he want me to learn from him?¡±

    Thinking of this, Shen Hui suddenly had a thought in her mind. With a hint of cunning in her eyes, she turned to the girls next to her and said with a smile, ¡°Do you want to know what he can do?¡±

    These girls had long wanted toe forward to hit on him. When they heard Shen Hui¡¯s words, they immediately nodded hard.

    She smiled and said, ¡°In fact, he can do magic tricks! You can ask him to show youter. No matter how difficult the magic tricks are, he can do them. The most unusual thing is that whatever you ask him to change, he can transform!¡±

    When the girls heard this, their eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°Is he so powerful? Isn¡¯t he more powerful than Liu Qian?¡±

    Shen Hui raised her head andughed. ¡°Yes, if you don¡¯t believe me, you can try it yourselfter!¡±

    After that, Shen Hui thought proudly, ¡°Humph, if this guy bes famous, I¡¯ll ept it. If he doesn¡¯t, hehe, I won¡¯t have to worship him! Hahaha, I¡¯m really a genius!¡±

 Chapter 534 Can It Be Turned in

    <h4>Chapter 534 Can It Be Turned in</h4>

    After Li Yundong returned to the banquet, Shen Wancai immediately greeted him warmly. His face was full of smiles and he said apologetically, ¡°Young Master Li, I¡¯m really sorry to have made you suffer this kind of grievance.¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t take it seriously andughed. ¡°It was nothing!¡± He turned to look at Su Chan and said with a smile, ¡°Did I suffer?¡±

    Su Chan blinked and said very cooperatively, ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡±

    Shen Wancaiughed out loud and praised, ¡°Young Master Li is young, yet he has such a heart. It¡¯s not simple, not simple!¡±

    As he spoke, he turned to look at Su Chan with a smile. ¡°Who is this?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°This is my girlfriend.¡±

    Su Chan stretched out her hand graciously and said with a smile, ¡°Hello, Mr. Shen.¡±

    Shen Wancai grinned and shook hands with her. He said in surprise, ¡°I thought that Zi Yuan was your girlfriend. So I was mistaken! Oh right, where is she?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°She had something to do, so she couldn¡¯te.¡±

    Shen Wancai sighed with regret. ¡°What a pity. I wanted to ask her to do some tea art today.¡±

    Su Chan wanted to introduce herself, but when she remembered that she had caused such big trouble in the Disanxianst time, she felt uneasy and swallowed back her words for fear that Li Yundong would be unhappy.

    Li Yundong noticed this. He smiled, put his arm around the girl¡¯s shoulders, and said with a smile, ¡°Su Chan can also do tea, and it¡¯s not bad. Mr. Shen, if you¡¯re interested, you can ask her.¡±

    Shen Wancai looked at Su Chan in surprise. He nodded and said, ¡°Sure, sure. Pleasee in.¡±

    The guests all saw Shen Wancai warmly wee Li Yundong in. They were confused in their hearts. Who on earth was this young man? How could he be held in such high esteem by Shen Wancai?

    Shen You stared at Su Chan greedily for a while, and then at Li Yundong with hatred. He turned to Li Xiaoxian, who was next to him, and gritted his teeth, and said, ¡°Mom, did you really invite this guy back? Isn¡¯t there anything wrong with that?¡±

    Li Xiaoxian¡¯s face darkened, and she gave him an unfriendly look, not saying a word.

    Shen You sneered again and said, ¡°I really don¡¯t know what dad was thinking. Is he senile and confused? He just wants to get me a teacher. What a mistake! I really don¡¯t know what¡¯s so great about this guy. It¡¯s just that he has some tricks up his sleeve. As the heir of the Shen family, I don¡¯t want to learn from him.¡±

    Li Xiaoxian¡¯s eyes shed, and she scolded Shen You with an unfriendly look, ¡°If you had made a little progress, would the old master have paid so much attention to you?¡±

    Shen You suddenly cried out, ¡°I¡¯ve made a lot of progress. I¡¯ve just made a business deal for five million yuan, okay?¡±

    Li Xiaoxian snorted. ¡°So what if it¡¯s five million? How much money belongs to us? Isn¡¯t it all in the old man¡¯s pocket?¡±

    Shen You stopped talking. He looked at Li Yundong with malicious eyes, as if he wanted to swallow him up. He gritted his teeth and said, ¡°I really don¡¯t know what Dad was thinking. Before I met this guy, he had been very kind to me and didn¡¯t care about me at all. Since I met him, he has been dissatisfied with me!¡±

    Li Xiaoxian sneered and said, ¡°You¡¯d better pay attention to yourself, otherwise¡­¡± Then she turned to look at Shen Hui and said coldly, ¡°If the old man is not satisfied with you and changes his will, leaving all the assets to him, you won¡¯t even have time to cry!¡±

    Shen You jumped up at once. ¡°That¡¯s impossible. I¡¯m the only male heir in the family. Why should the family property go to a woman?¡±

    Li Xiaoxian sneered and said, ¡°Given the old man¡¯s current state of mental disorder, nothing¡¯s impossible!¡±

    Shen You¡¯s face suddenly became very ugly, and even his eyes turned vicious as he looked at Shen Hui. He whispered to Li Xiaoxian, ¡°Mom, what should we do?¡±

    Li Xiaoxian said coldly, ¡°The old man has a stubborn temper. You can¡¯t disobey him. Just listen to him more. If he asks you to acknowledge him as his master, you should be obedient!¡±

    Shen You said angrily, ¡°No, absolutely not!¡±

    Li Xiaoxian also said angrily, ¡°Why not?¡±

    Shen You snorted and didn¡¯t say a word, but he still looked at Su Chan with resentment and unwillingness.

    When Li Xiaoxian saw this, she immediately yelled, ¡°For a woman? Or someone else¡¯s woman? Are you crazy? Are all the other women in the world dead? Why are you jealous?¡±

    Shen You¡¯s temper was very simr to that of Shen Wancai when he was younger, especially this stubborn temper. He straightened his neck and said, ¡°Among all the women in the world, I only like her!¡±

    Li Xiaoxian was furious. ¡°Are you trying to make a fool of yourself? The more you get, the more you¡¯ll want. Are all men so cheap?¡±

    Shen You pulled Li Xiaoxian¡¯s arm and pleaded, ¡°Mom, please help me. I really like her!¡±

    Li Xiaoxian suddenly broke free of his arm and said angrily, ¡°Nonsense, how can I help? Kill her boyfriend?

    Shen You¡¯s face lit up. ¡°That would work! I know a few killers, and I promise I won¡¯t leave any trace behind!¡±

    Li Xiaoxian was furious. ¡°If you kill him, are you sure she wille to you? If the old man finds out, do you know what will happen?¡±

    Shen You couldn¡¯t help ncing at Shen Wancai, who was chatting with the crowd. Suddenly, he became like a deted balloon. He said sulkily, ¡°Hmph, when will it be my turn to make decisions in this family? Humph, one day when the old man goes crazy and passes the family property onto Shen Hui, we will be bullied for the rest of our lives, won¡¯t we?¡±

    These words touched Li Xiaoxian¡¯s heart. She looked at Shen Wancai with sparkling eyes and thought in her heart, ¡°I have endured humiliation in the Shen family for more than ten years. I thought that I would stand out soon, but I didn¡¯t expect Old Shen to not give me face today and teach me a lesson in front of so many outsiders! If it can happen once, there will be a second time. What should I do in the future? You¡¯re right. The Old Master dotes on Xiao Hui far more than Shen You. If he really gives his family property to Shen Hui, what¡¯ll I do?¡±

    Li Xiaoxian gritted her teeth and put her fingers together, saying in a low voice, ¡°No, I can¡¯t watch this happen!¡±

    Just as Shen You and Li Xiaoxian were secretly plotting something, Shen Hui¡¯s femalepanions began to pester Li Yundong and ask him all kinds of questions.

    A tall and beautiful girl asked Li Yundong with a smile, ¡°Hey, handsome man, what¡¯s your name?¡±

    Li Yundong said politely and reservedly, ¡°Li Yundong.¡±

    ¡°Li Yundong?¡± These girls secretly remembered the name. They smiled and said, ¡°I heard that you can y tricks? Is that so? Can you do one for us to see?¡±

    He didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. ¡°I don¡¯t know how.¡±

    On the side, Su Chan was also very unhappy. In her opinion, Li Yundong, as a cultivator and the leader of a sect, was being regarded as some sort of cheap magician!

    This was too insulting!

    However, she couldn¡¯t argue. She could only look at the girls around her with an unfriendly look.

    These girls felt Su Chan¡¯s hostility, but they thought that she was reprimanding them instinctively because they were rivals, so they became more and more enthusiastic.

    A girl simply leaned close to Li Yundong, boldly reached out to pull his arm, and said with a smile, ¡°Handsome guy, change something. We know you can do it.¡±

    The other girls also smiled and echoed, ¡°Yes, do it!¡±

    At this time, Shen Lan also hid behind them to fan the ghost fire. ¡°Yes, yes, he can transform stuff. I¡¯ve seen it! It¡¯s wonderful and beautiful!¡±

    Li Yundong quietly leaned to one side and avoided the girls¡¯ hugs. He smiled and was about to speak when he saw Shen Wancai next to him holding a cup of wine, who suddenly came over and said with a smile, ¡°It¡¯s so lively. What¡¯s up?¡±

    Li Yundong said with a smile, ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Someone wants me to do a magic trick. I said I wouldn¡¯t.¡±

    Shen Wancai smiled and said, ¡°Who wants you to y a magic trick?¡± As he spoke, he looked at the girls around him.

    Since these girls had seen Shen Wancai fly into a rage just now, they were a little scared and nervous. They subconsciously retreated to one side and exposed Shen Hui in an instant.

    Shen Hui smiled dryly, hurriedly waved his hand and said, ¡°It¡¯s not me. Don¡¯t look at me!¡± She secretly pinched the girl next to her and whispered, ¡°Hey, do you want to die?¡±

    The girl had no choice but to brace herself and say, ¡°Uncle Shen, we heard that this handsome guy could do magic, so we all wanted to have a look. This is¡­ not excessive, right?¡±

    Shen Wancai suddenly came to a realization. ¡°So that¡¯s how it is! That¡¯s right, Young Master Li does know how to do magic. Thest time he was in the Disanxia, I saw it clearly!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly in his heart and said, ¡°Mr. Shen, that wasn¡¯t a y.¡±

    Shen Wancai nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s right, that was the magic of a Shenxian. It¡¯s the magic of Shenxian! Oh right, I¡¯ve always been confused. Young Master Li, how did your Shenxian magic work? I can¡¯t even figure it out. Can you reveal it?¡±

    Li Yundong said with a smile, ¡°That won¡¯t do.¡±

    Shen Wancai didn¡¯t take it to heart. Heughed out loud and said, ¡°Understood, please just pretend that I never asked about it.¡±

    While they were talking, the people around them also came over curiously. Someone asked Shen Wancai, ¡°Old Shen, what kind of magic have you seen?¡±

    Shen Wancai clicked his tongue and sighed, ¡°Last time, you weren¡¯t lucky enough to be able to see the true Shenxian magic spells. I was lucky enough to see them, haha!¡±

    He then smiled extremely proudly. The people around became more curious and asked one after another, ¡°Mr. Shen, where did you see it? What kind of y was it?¡±

    Shen Wancai waved his hand mysteriously and said with a smile, ¡°I can¡¯t say, I can¡¯t say.¡±

    Seeing that Shen Wancai was refusing to say anything, everyone looked at Li Yundong and said, ¡°Young Master Li, why don¡¯t you tell us?¡±

    Shen Hui also added fuel to the fire, ¡°Yes, transform something. Isn¡¯t it embarrassing for so many people to ask you like this?¡±

    Li Yundong frowned secretly and said helplessly, ¡°What do you want me to change?¡±

    At this time, Rong Jun suddenly thought of something. He remembered that he had wanted to make things difficult for Li Yundong before, but he had been beaten by him instead. The most ridiculous thing was that this person had shamelessly epted all his money but not done anything!

    How could there be such a scoundrel in the world?

    When Rong Jun heard Li Yunyang¡¯s words, he immediately stepped forward and said, ¡°Can you change a dragon¡¯s liver and phoenix¡¯s galldder?¡±

    His words immediately made the people aroundugh out loud. ¡°Childe Rong is so humorous. How could that be done?¡±

    But Li Yundong stared at Rong Jun. He suddenly smiled and said, ¡°Sure!¡±

 Chapter 535 Whoâ€™s the Mortal Society among the Three Thousand Mortal Dusts?

    <h4>Chapter 535 Who¡¯s the Mortal Society among the Three Thousand Mortal Dusts?</h4>

    Li Yundong¡¯s words immediately aroused everyone¡¯s curiosity. Rong Junughed, and his eyes were full of ridicule. ¡°Where do the dragon liver and phoenix gall exist in this world?¡±

    Shen Wancai also curiously asked, ¡°Young Master Li, can you create a dragon liver and phoenix gall?¡±

    Li Yundong replied with a smile, ¡°Why not?¡± After he said that, he turned over his palm, and everyone saw a small, thumb-sized, dark pill in his palm.

    ¡°This is Dragon¡¯s liver and Phoenix¡¯s galldder!¡± he said.

    Everyoneughed. ¡°Are you kidding? What kind of dragon liver and phoenix gall could this be?¡±

    Rong Jun was also contemptuous and said, ¡°Is this a Dragon¡¯s liver and Phoenix¡¯s galldder? Do you think we are all fools?¡±

    However, Li Yundong said seriously, ¡°Has anyone ever seen a dragon before?¡±

    Everyone was stunned and looked at one another, not saying anything.

    Li Yundong asked again, ¡°Has anyone seen a phoenix before?¡±

    Rong Jun said unhappily, ¡°Have you seen one before?¡±

    Li Yundong raised the pill in his hand and said with a smile, ¡°Yep. This is the elixir of life made of dragon liver and phoenix gall. Eating it can prolong your life.¡±

    How could anyone believe him? They just shook their heads andughed. Some people didn¡¯t have the nerve to say harsh words because of Shen Wancai. Only Rong Junughed and said, ¡°This thing is too dark. Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s going to kill people?¡±

    Su Chan, who was standing to one side, blinked at the pill. She thought to herself, ¡°Isn¡¯t this Sister Ziyuan¡¯s Enneacyclic Haworthia Pill?¡±

    After hearing Rong Jun¡¯s words, Li Yundong was not angry. He just smiled and said to everyone, ¡°Will it kill people? Someone will know if they try it.¡±

    Everyone saw that the pill was dark but they didn¡¯t know where it hade from. They didn¡¯t even know what it was made of. Although this ¡®Young Master Li¡¯, who was highly valued by Shen Wancai, said that this pill was made with a dragon¡¯s liver and phoenix¡¯s galldder, who would believe it?

    Rong Jun was contemptuous and thought, ¡°I even said that I grew up eating dragon livers and phoenix galls! Who are you trying to fool?¡±

    Li Yundong saw that no one dared to test the medicine themselves. Even Shen Wancai just smiled and didn¡¯t go forward. Li Yundong grinned and put away the pills again.

    Su Chan looked at the people around her with disdain. She snorted secretly and muttered, ¡°Dragon¡¯s liver and Phoenix¡¯s galldder can¡¯tpare with Enneacyclic Haworthia Pill! In addition to the three top-grade elixirs of life, the Enneacyclic Haworthia Pill is the first-grade elixir of life. It¡¯s hard to buy such a thing with money! These people don¡¯t want such high-grade elixirs of life. They really can¡¯t see through gold and jade!¡±

    Seeing Li Yundong put away the pill, Rong Jun couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°You¡¯re not going to use the medicine?¡±

    Li Yundong said in surprise, ¡°I transformed it! That was Dragon¡¯s liver and Phoenix¡¯s galldder just now!¡±

    Rong Jun sneered and said, ¡°Do you think we are three-year-olds? If this is an immortal method, I can do it too!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said meaningfully, ¡°It is precisely because no one has seen Dragon¡¯s liver and Phoenix¡¯s galldder that when I took out the real Dragon¡¯s liver and Phoenix¡¯s galldder, no one was willing to believe me. Can you me me?¡±

    Rong Jun sneered and was about to speak again when Shen Wancai couldn¡¯t help butugh loudly. He tried to smooth things over and said, ¡°Alright, alright. Young Master Li has made a joke. Everyone, please don¡¯t mind.¡±

    When the crowd saw Shen Wan open his mouth, they allughed and then dispersed.

    Shen Wancai saw that Li Yundong was looking at everyone with interest, and there was no embarrassment or anger on his face. Instead, his eyes were full of meaningful sighs and extraordinary sympathy. It was as if the gods in the sky were looking down at the people in the world. They were sighing over mortal ignorance.

    This kind of gaze touched Shen Wancai. He thought of something and asked subconsciously, ¡°Young Master Li, is this¡­ really the dragon liver and phoenix gall you are talking about?¡±

    Li Yundong looked at Shen Wancai with a smile and said, ¡°Mr. Shen, have a try if you don¡¯t believe me.¡±

    Shen Wancai hesitated for a moment, but as soon as he hesitated, Li Yundongughed and said, ¡°Forget it, I was only joking. Mr. Shen, please pay it no mind.¡±

    Shen Wancai also chuckled and said, ¡°Young Master Li is really funny¡­¡± However, not long after, he spoke again. ¡°Young Master Li, I have something to ask. I don¡¯t know if I should.¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Is there anything you can¡¯t ask?¡±

    Shen Wancai thought for a moment before saying very seriously, ¡°Is there a Shenxian in this world?¡±

    Li Yundong was stunned. ¡°Mr. Shen, why are you suddenly asking this question?¡±

    Shen Wancai said with some emotion, ¡°After attending the Disanxian¡¯ Ceremonyst time, I was lucky enough to witness Young Noble Li¡¯s amazing spirit skills. Only then did I learn that the whole world is vast and that there are all kinds of strange things in it. There are so many capable people, crouching tigers and hidden dragons! Ever since I came back, I¡¯ve been thinking about what I saw that day. I¡¯ve also asked some mages privately. They all told me that these things could not be done through magic. That¡¯s why I thought that this was Shenxian magic and should not exist in this world.¡±

    ¡°But I just happened to see them happen in front of me! So, I now suspect that there are immortals in this world, and you and Zi Yuan are both immortals!¡± Shen Wancai said to Li Yundong seriously, ¡°Childe Li, can you tell me if I¡¯m right?¡±

    Li Yundong sighed with emotion in his heart. Once upon a time, he had been just like Shen Wancai. When he had suddenly seen this power in the world, he had been suspicious and confused about his previous understanding.

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Ge Hong once said, ¡°There are all kinds of things. The people of Kuang Lixian are as simple as bamboo. The Way of Immortality means that there is nothing in the world, let alone Shenxian. We can¡¯t specte about the infinite world with our limited cognition and think that what we have never seen does not exist.¡±

    Shen Wancai sighed and nodded slightly. ¡°What you have said makes sense! In the past, if I had heard such words, I might have refuted them as being paradoxical. However, ever since I saw the abilities of Zi Yuan Immortal in the tea artspetition and saw your abilities, I finally realized that I was being like a frog at the bottom of a well with limited outlook!¡±

    With this, Shen Wancai said to Li Yundong in an extremely serious tone, ¡°Then¡­ Childe Li, are you an immortal?¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing. ¡°Me? Of course not!¡±

    Although Shen Wancai had expected this answer in his heart, he was still a little disappointed as he asked, ¡°Then, who is? Childe Li, who did you learn your skills from?¡±

    Li Yundong pulled Su Chan in front of him with a smile and said, ¡°This is my teacher!¡±

    Shen Wancai found it hard to believe that Su Chan, the delicate and beautiful girl, was Li Yundong¡¯s teacher. However, when he saw that he was serious, he was a little surprised and said, ¡°You can¡¯t judge a person by their appearance. You can¡¯t learn from a young age. Those who are capable can be taught!¡±

    Su Chan was a little embarrassed. She smiled and said, ¡°No, I didn¡¯t teach him anything!¡± As she said this, she looked at Li Yundong with admiration and continued, ¡°In the past, I only taught him a few martial arts, but now he has be very strong, far better than me!¡±

    Shen Wancai sighed and said with a smile, ¡°That¡¯s because a famous teacher can produce a brilliant disciple!¡±

    Su Chan was not greedy for merit. She said with a smile, ¡°No, Sister Zi Yuan is the famous teacher. If there is an immortal in this world, I think it must be her!¡±

    Shen Wancai pped his hands and said with augh, ¡°I agree! I absolutely agree! Miss Zi Yuan does seem like an immortal! I¡¯ve seen Chang¡¯e before, but she must be more beautiful than Chang¡¯e!¡±

    Li Yundongughed and said, ¡°Mr. Shen, thank you on behalf of Zi Yuan. But, Mr. Shen, why did you suddenly ask about the Shenxian?¡±

    The smile on Shen Wancai¡¯s face gradually disappeared. He subconsciously touched his chest and sighed deeply. ¡°Young Master Li¡­ you don¡¯t understand! Why are there so many rich and powerful people in the world who believe in gods and devils? I, Shen Wancai, started off with nothing and never believed in the tricks of gods and devils. I saw them as superstition! But the richer I get, the older I get, the more I believe in them! Why?¡±

    Shen Wancai said with a sigh, ¡°Because we are afraid of death!¡±

    Shen Wancai pointed at the magnificent hall in the vi and the scene of wealth and prosperity. He said, ¡°When I was young, I had nothing. Even if I died, it would not have been pitied. But now, I have everything that a man can have¡­ However, time and the illness can take it all away! I have no way to escape or resist it! Even the Emperor, who is in a high position, like Emperor Yanwen, will still feel a pity for half the night and sit in the front seat without asking about themon people or gods because he is afraid of death!¡±

    Li Yundong listened silently and did not say a word.

    Shen Wancai continued, ¡°I heard that Lao Tzu lived for more than a hundred years, Peng Zu lived for eight hundred years, and Li Babai in Qingcheng City also lived for eight hundred years. Do you think that is true?¡±

    Before Li Yundong could say anything, Suchan, who was beside him, rushed to say, ¡°Of course it¡¯s true! There are records of all kinds of historical materials. How could it not be true?¡±

    Shen Wancai smiled, ¡°In the past, I definitely would have said that the historical materials might not necessarily be true. But now, even if they are fake, I still hope that they are real! Childe Li, I know that you are definitely not an ordinary person. If you know of anything that can prolong your life, ah, even if it is just a method, please tell me, I will definitely thank you!¡±

    With this, he turned around and waved to Shen Hui and Shen You, who had been listening to their conversation with their ears pricked not far away, and said, ¡°You two,e here.¡±

    Shen You and Shen Hui looked at each other and walked over reluctantly.

    Shen Wancai solemnly said to Li Yundong, ¡°Childe Li, I have a presumptuous request. I hope you will agree to it on my ount.¡±

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly in his heart and thought, ¡°He¡¯s here again. Is he going to be apprenticed again?¡±

    Shen Wancai said, ¡°Young Master Li, no matter whether you are an immortal or not, I admire your abilities greatly. I hope that you¡¯ll ept them as students, even if you just make them serve tea to you every day¡­¡±

    Shen You¡¯s heart skipped a beat when he heard that. ¡°I¡¯m the heir of the Shen family. How could I serve tea to someone? Isn¡¯t that wrong?¡±

    Shen You couldn¡¯t help but say angrily, ¡°Dad, how many times have I told you? I don¡¯t want him to be my teacher!¡±

    Shen Hui immediately echoed, ¡°That¡¯s right. Dad, can you respect us a little?¡±

    Shen Wancai¡¯s gaze was unfriendly as he red at the two of them. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of this family!¡±

    Li Yundong also sighed and said, ¡°Mr. Shen, I understand what you mean, but it¡¯s not sweet to force them like this. If neither of them wants to do it, it¡¯s useless for others to force it.¡±

    Shen Wancai was anxious and about to say something, but Shen You interrupted him and said, ¡°Did you hear that? I¡¯m right. It¡¯s not good to force things. Dad, don¡¯t be too meddlesome, okay?¡±

    Shen Wancai was so angry that his face turned purplish red. He coughed violently and said angrily, ¡°Do you want to p*ss me off?¡±

    At this time, Li Xiaoxian saw Shen Wancai¡¯s reaction and immediately rushed over. She stroked Shen Wancai¡¯s back carefully and scolded Shenyou, ¡°Can¡¯t you go along with your father just once?¡±

    Shen You said angrily, ¡°Has he ever respected my wishes?¡±

    Shen Wancai was furious. He roared, ¡°You want me to follow you? Alright, let¡¯s talk about it after I die!¡±

    Shen You¡¯s words made his face turn red, and he immediately vented his anger on Li Yundong. He said angrily, ¡°It¡¯s all your fault. Nothing will happen if you don¡¯te! Why do you always go against me? You want to annoy me!¡±

    Shen Hui was a little upset and echoed, ¡°That¡¯s right! It¡¯s better if you don¡¯te!¡±

    When Su Chan saw that the two of them were besieging Li Yundong, she immediately stood in front of him and shouted angrily, ¡°Don¡¯t talk about him like that! If you didn¡¯t invite him, would Yundong havee? You guys don¡¯t know what¡¯s good for you. You¡¯ve been targeting Yundong again and again. How hateful!¡± As she said this, she took Li Yundong¡¯s hand and said, ¡°Yundong, let¡¯s go. Don¡¯t argue with such people!¡±

    Li Yundong was not angry. He patted Su Chan with a smile and said, ¡°Peopleugh at me for being too crazy. Iugh that people can¡¯t see through me. Little girl, let¡¯s go!¡±

    After that, the two of them walked away hand in hand.

    As Shen Wancai watched Li Yundong and Su Chan leave, he suddenly felt a surge of anger rushing to his head. He started coughing violently. When he coughed, his breathing did not recover. His face instantly swelled to a purplish-red color. Everything before his eyes went ck and he fell to the ground!

    For a moment, there was a burst of exmations in the hall.

    Shen You rushed over to Shen Wancai and said in surprise, ¡°Oh no, my dad is having a heart attack! Mom, go get the medicine!¡±

    Li Xiaoxian ran upstairs in a panic. At this time, Shen Wancai¡¯s second and third wives heard the noise and also came down in a panic.

    Li Xiaoxian rushed into Shen Wancai¡¯s bedroom and opened the medicine cab. However, just as she was about to rush down with the medicine, she froze.

    The anxious expression on her face faded away bit by bit. Instead, it was reced by a sinister and cold smile.

    Li Xiaoxian unscrewed the bottle cap, walked to the bathroom next to the bedroom, opened the toilet lid, poured all the medicine from the bottle into the toilet, and then reached out her slender fingers to flush!

    With the swirling water, the life-saving pills immediately disappeared¡­

 Chapter 536 Hurry to Save Her!

    <h4>Chapter 536 Hurry to Save Her!</h4>

    When Li Yundong and Su Chan walked to the door of the hall, they heard the chaos behind them, and screams came one after another.

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t help but stop. She looked back and saw everyone around Shen Wancai in a panic. She stretched out her head and said in surprise, "Yundong, it seems that someone has fallen ill. It¡¯s Mr. Shen!"

    Li Yundong looked back and shook his head secretly. "Mr. Shen is too overbearing and strong. I saw that his face was yellow and his eyes were ck, and most of his hair was white. At his age, he shouldn¡¯t have so much white hair. Obviously, there is something wrong with his liver and liver. And I just saw him drink so much wine and be bad at controlling his emotions and temper. Wine hurt his liver, and the essence, Qi, blood in his body are weak, which has led to a rpse of heart disease..."

    Su Chan hesitated for a moment before asking, "Yundong, should we save him?"

    Li Yundong sighed and said, "The Enneacyclic Haworthia Pill I took out just now is an elixir of life that can save his life. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t want it..."

    Su Chan was slightly startled. "So you won¡¯t save him?"

    Li Yundong looked around the hall where people were tossing and turning, and sighed to Suchan, "This is his life. We can¡¯t force him!"

    Su Chan looked at the people in the hall sympathetically. Through the gaps in the crowd, she saw Shen Wancai with his eyes closed. She sighed in her heart, "You didn¡¯t take the pill that was more potent than a dragon¡¯s liver and phoenix¡¯s gall just now. Now it¡¯s all right... Perhaps Yundong is right. This is his life, isn¡¯t it?"

    Just as they were about to go out, they suddenly saw a red Lamborghini driving over. Li Yundong was stunned when he saw this car. "Ms. Cao? She¡¯s here too?"

    But soon, the car stopped in front of him and Su Chan. It was Yin Mengfen who got out of it in a hurry. She saw Li Yundong and Su Chan, who were about to leave, and said, "Ah, Li Yundong, you¡¯re here? Am Ite? Are you leaving?"

    Li Yundong looked back and shook his head. He smiled sympathetically and said, "It¡¯s not toote. I can still say goodbye to Mr. Shen for thest time."

    Yin Mengfen was confused. She nced at the hall and was shocked. "What¡¯s going on?"

    Li Yundong smiled and didn¡¯t answer. Instead, he pointed at the red Lamborghini and said, "Why are you driving Cao¡¯s car here? Where is she?"

    Yin Mengfan said anxiously and quickly, "I¡¯ve sent my car for repairs, so I¡¯m borrowing hers. Hey, what¡¯s going on?"

    Su Chan exined, "Mr. Shen has had a heart attack. You should go and have a look. Maybe... this is yourst chance!"

    Yin Mengfan turned pale with fright. She wasn¡¯t even in the mood to me Su Chan for speaking so straightforwardly. "What? How did this happen?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Mr. Yin, go and have a look. Su Chan and I have to go now."

    Yin Mengfan had seen Li Yundong¡¯s extraordinary skills several times. She knew that Li Yundong was definitely not an ordinary person, and she saw that he had saved Cao Kefei, who had had a heart attack. When she saw that Li Yundong was going to leave at this time, she immediately said anxiously, "Li Yundong, you can¡¯t go. Hurry up and save that person!"

    Li Yundong shook his head and said with a meaningful smile, "I¡¯m not wee. I can¡¯t save him."

    Yin Mengfen stamped her feet and said, "What time is it? How can you say that?"

    At this time, Su Chan couldn¡¯t help but exin what had just happened to Yin Mengfan quickly. Yin Mengfan understood, but she still said unwillingly, "Li Yundong, I know you are a strange man. You are broad-minded and won¡¯t make a fuss like a child, right?"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and said, "They are not children. They are about the same age as me."

    Yin Mengfan said anxiously, "But you can¡¯t just stand by and watch! Do you know why we went to see youst time when you and Su Chan were in the small hotel? It¡¯s because I saw that you had cured Cao Kefei and knew that uncle¡¯s heart was not good, so I asked you to take a look at him. But I forgot to tell you about it for some reason. Can you help me now?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart skipped a beat. Only then did he understand why Zhou Qin and the others had appeared in the small inn when he and Su Chan had first reached the Foundation Building Realm.

    Su Chan was also enlightened. She pulled Li Yundong¡¯s arm and whispered, "Yundong, in that case, we owe Mr. Yin a great favor... If it weren¡¯t for her, I¡¯m afraid that we would have already..."

    Li Yundong smiled and patted the little girl¡¯s hand, indicating that he understood. He turned to Yin Mengfan and nodded. "Mr. Yin, let¡¯s go in and have a look."

    Yin Mengfen was overjoyed. She quickly pulled Li Yundong and rushed inside.

    After the three entered the hall, they found that everyone was tightly surrounding Shen Wancai, and no one paid any attention to Li Yundong¡¯s return.

    At this time, a woman, who was still old and charming, was kneeling on the ground and resting Shen Wancai on her knees. She raised her head and said to Shen You in a loud voice, "Hasn¡¯t Xiao Xian gotten the medicine yet?"

    Shen You seemed to be very afraid of this woman. He said in a low voice, "Maybe there¡¯s too much medicine. We¡¯re looking for her, aren¡¯t we?"

    The woman sneered and said, "Is it that difficult to find? In my opinion, she just wants to see the old master die early, so she can do whatever she wants, right?"

    Shen You¡¯s face turned red. He looked around at the guests and suppressed his anger, asking, "Aunt Zheng, how can you say that?"

    The Third Madam named Aunt Zheng said sarcastically, "Isn¡¯t that right? In this family, aren¡¯t you and she the ones who count on the death of the Old Master the most?"

    Shen You was like a mouse whose tail had been stepped on. He screamed, "Bullsh*t, we don¡¯t!"

    Li Yundong saw that Shen Wancai was panicking as his family began to scold him in front of outsiders. He frowned secretly and said to Yin Mengfan, "Who is this?"

    Yin Mengfan whispered, "This is Shen Hui¡¯s mother, as well as Shen Wancai¡¯s third wife."

    As she spoke, she saw a woman about 50 years old beside her. She couldn¡¯t help but say in a low voice, "There are so many outsiders here. Don¡¯t talk too much."

    Li Yundong asked again, "Who is this?"

    Yin Mengfan exined in a low voice, "This is Uncle-inw¡¯s second wife, whose surname is Ma. Uncle-inw¡¯s wife was paralyzed in bed 30 years ago due to a stroke. She was like a vegetable. She was unconscious and had lost her mind. However, Uncle-inw thought of the benefits of starting a family with her and never divorced her. But he had no children, so he found this second wife. Second Madam gave birth to three children for him, one male and two female. Unfortunately, two of them died. The other girl has gone abroad and rarely contacts the Shen family.

    "In order to pass on the torch, Shen Wancai married Third Aunt, the one who spoke. Third Aunt was very beautiful when she was young, and Shen Wancai liked her very much. Unfortunately, her fertility was disappointing and she couldn¡¯t give birth to a child. In desperation, Shen Wancai had to find another one, which was Li Xiaoxian. Li Xiaoxian was verypetitive. She gave birth to a male for Shen Wancai, which was Shen You. But two yearster, Third Aunt also gave birth to a child, Shen Hui. Because Shen Hui has been smart and cute since she was a child, she is most favored by her uncle..."

    Li Yundong heard this and sighed slightly. "The rtionships in this big family are reallyplicated!"

    The two of them were whispering to each other, but there was still a loud quarrel going in the field. Aunt Zheng sneered and said, "Could you talk less? Aren¡¯t you being an unfilial son? Why is the old man so angry?"

    Shen You couldn¡¯t help but say angrily, "It¡¯s all my fault? Is it because Shen Hui didn¡¯t say anything that made my dad angry?"

    Shen Hui was already extremely remorseful at this time, and his eyes were full of tears of horror. When she heard Shen You¡¯s words, she couldn¡¯t help crying and shouting, "I know I¡¯m wrong, don¡¯t quarrel!"

    Shen You was instantly very pleased. "Did you hear that? She admitted that she was wrong. What does this have to do with me?"

    Aunt Zheng said angrily, "Bullsh*t. You were the first one to provoke her. Do you think I didn¡¯t hear you?"

    The Second Madam advised with a sad face, "Oh, don¡¯t quarrel, don¡¯t quarrel!" She turned to look at Housekeeper Zhang and said with a sigh, "Go and see Xiaoxian. Has she got the medicine yet? What¡¯s taking so long?"

    Housekeeper Zhang nodded and was about to go upstairs when he saw Li Xiaoxian shouting before he could say anything. "She¡¯sing!"

    Hearing this, everyone immediately looked up at the stairs at the same time.

    Li Xiaoxian rushed over to the railings of the stairs with a pale face and said in horror, "He¡¯s taken all the medicine! I can¡¯t find it!"

    The crowd burst into an uproar!

    The second wife was the most gentle person and could not bear such a blow. Her eyes darkened and she fell backward. Housekeeper Zhang was quick-witted and immediately supported her.

    Aunt Zheng was stunned for a moment. She immediately frowned and shouted angrily, "Li Xiaoxian, what the hell are you talking about? I saw half a bottle of medicine yesterday. How could it be gone today?"

    Li Xiaoxian also said angrily, "Zheng, clean up your mouth. If you don¡¯t believe me, you can go and see for yourself! Since when have you spoken so boldly?"

    Aunt Zheng was furious and threw Shen Wancai to the ground. She stood up angrily and said to everyone, "It¡¯s just in front of so many people today. Everyone is watching! This woman has been coveting the Shen family¡¯s property as far back as I can remember. She has been looking forward to the Old Master¡¯s early death so that she can monopolize his property! Today, she took this opportunity to kill him! Everyone can recognize her beast-hearted face! I swear to God that I saw half a bottle of medicine in the Old Master¡¯s medicine bottle yesterday. If I¡¯m telling a lie, I will be a whore and lie with thousands of people in my next life!"

    The crowd burst into an uproar. "How bold of a woman to curse herself as a whore in her next life!" They all looked at Li Xiaoxian in confusion.

    Li Xiaoxian¡¯s face turned red from Auntie Zheng¡¯s words. She gnashed her teeth and said, "You¡¯re ndering me! Since when did this family belong to you? I, Li Xiaoxian, swear in front of everyone that if I¡¯m lying, I¡¯ll be struck by lightning!"

    When Su Chan saw this scene, she subconsciously remembered the internal strife that had happened when she had first returned to the Fox Zen School. The little girl had been thinking about something, but now she was growing more and more nervous when she came into contact with the situation. She grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s hand and became lost in thought.

    Li Yundong noticed the abnormality of the little girl, but he didn¡¯t think too much about it. He just turned to Yin Mengfan and said, "If they continue to quarrel like this, I¡¯m afraid that Mr. Shen will really die!"

    Yin Mengfan had originally thought that he was not a direct rtive, but an outsider. He should not have interrupted Shen Wancai. However, at this time, Shen Wancai¡¯s life was unknown. The Third concubine and Fourth concubine, who usually didn¡¯t get along well with each other, had actually ignored Shen Wancai and sworn at each other in public. This was really disgraceful!

    Yin Mengfen couldn¡¯t hold it in anymore. She stepped forward and hugged Shen Wancai. She shouted angrily, "Stop arguing. Do you want your uncle to die?"

    Everyone was stunned when they saw Yin Mengfan. It was only then that Third Madam¡¯s expression softened a little. "Little Yin, you came at the right time. You were here yesterday as well. Is there medicine in the old man¡¯s medicine bottle? Tell me, tell me quickly!"

    Li Xiaoxian¡¯s heart tightened, and she immediately scolded, "How could she know? She¡¯s just an outsider, why did she make such irresponsible remarks here?"

    Yin Mengfen couldn¡¯t help but say angrily, "Shut up. Do you really want your uncle-inw to die?"

    Li Xiaoxian hoped that Shen Wancai would die immediately. In this way, the Shen family¡¯s property would undoubtedly fall to Shen You. At that time, her mother would be noble because of her son, so she would get what she wanted.

    However, the third concubine did not wish for Shen Wancai to die. If the Old Master really died, it was not certain how much of the Shen Family¡¯s assets she could get. Moreover, she always thought that the Old Master doted on Shen Hui and might hand over the family property to her. Therefore, there had always been a hidden thought in her heart. How could Shen Wancai die before the big n was realized?

    The third concubine heart tightened. She immediately rushed over to Shen Wancai nervously. While massaging his chest, she shouted at Steward Zhang, "Old Zhang, call the old man¡¯s private doctor. Hurry up! If there¡¯s any more dy..."

    Before she could finish her words, she suddenly opened her mouth wide, and the following words got stuck in her throat.

    The third concubine stood rooted to the spot. Her hand, which was on Shen Wancai¡¯s chest, trembled and moved to the pulse near his neck. Suddenly, her whole body trembled and she said in a frightened and desperate voice, "Old, old man, he, he... he¡¯s dead!"

    All of a sudden, everyone was shocked!

    At this time, the second concubine had just woken up. When she happened to hear this sentence, she passed out without saying a word.

    For a moment, the hall was in chaos. Yin Mengfan was the only one who was calm. She shouted, "Don¡¯t be noisy, the old man still has a chance to live!"

    As she spoke, she shouted to Li Yundong, "Li Yundong, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and save him!"

    His words made everyone look at Li Yundong at the same time.

 Chapter 537 To Revive the Dead and Make Bones Grow Flesh

    <h4>Chapter 537 To Revive the Dead and Make Bones Grow Flesh</h4>

    When Li Xiaoxian and Shen You saw Li Yundong return, they were shocked. Shen You couldn¡¯t help but say angrily, "What are you doing here? It¡¯s all because of you that my father has be like this!"

    Li Xiaoxian¡¯s heart skipped a beat and she also yelled, "That¡¯s right. You¡¯re the jinx. It¡¯s all because of you that Old Shen is like this!"

    Although her third aunt-inw was always making things difficult for Li Xiaoxian, she also felt that it was because of Shen Wan that Shen You and Shen Qian were being apprenticed to Li Yundong. If it weren¡¯t for Li Yundong, Shen Wancai would not be lying here like this. Therefore, she also shouted, "Go, go, no one asked you toe here!" As she said this, she turned to the frightened housekeeper and shouted, "What are you still doing there? Call quickly!"

    As she spoke, she realized that if Shen Wancai had really died, this family would no longer listen to her words. In the future, she would definitely be bullied by Li Xiaoxian. At that time, the scene would be bleak and unimaginable.

    Thinking of this, the third concubine cried tearfully. Tears flowed down her face. She hugged Shen Wancai and burst into tears.

    Yin Mengfan could not help but say angrily, "Don¡¯t cry. I invited Li Yundong to treat my uncle. He is a master. When Cao Kefei had a heart attack, he saved her on the spot! If it weren¡¯t for him, Cao Kefei would have died long ago!"

    The crowd suddenly trembled, and their eyes were full of surprise andplexity as they looked at Li Yundong. They saw that although he was dignified and calm, he was so young that he was a little arrogant. How could he be an experienced doctor?

    Rong Jun looked at Li Yundong in surprise and couldn¡¯t help asking, "Are you a doctor?"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly. "No."

    Rong Jun was even more surprised. "Then what right do you have to practice medicine?"

    Yin Mengfan couldn¡¯t help but re at him and said angrily, "Don¡¯t you believe me? At that time, Cao Kefei had a heart attack, and all of us were helpless. What¡¯s more, coincidentally, Cao Kefei had finished off her medicine. I thought she was doomed to die then. In the end, Li Yundong just massaged her with his hands and saved her! I saw it with my own eyes, and it was also seen by Cao Kefei¡¯s employees. Do you need me to find someone to testify?"

    Yin Mengfan was an able woman of strong personality. She had been in the workce for a long time and held a high position. When she got angry, everyone present could not help but think, "Yin Mengfan admires this young man so much, and Shen Wancai has been very enthusiastic about this young man before. One may misjudge him, but both of them think highly of him. Maybe he is really a mysterious person with hidden talents?"

    Li Xiaoxian¡¯s heart trembled. She knew that Yin Mengfan was a woman of her word. If what Yin Mengfan had said was true, and this young man really had the ability to save Shen Wancai, she would be in great trouble!

    Li Xiaoxian immediately moved closer to Shen You and hooked her fingers around his arm. She lowered her voice and said, "You need to say something. Do you want to see hime back to life and make things difficult for us?"

    As if awakening from a dream, Shen You immediately jumped up and shouted, "No, what if my father was really killed by this man even though he could have been saved? What¡¯s more, this man doesn¡¯t have a medical license, and he¡¯s not a doctor. Last time, he got lucky. Should I also let him try this time? My dad is not the test-subject of this weirdo con artist!"

    Li Xiaoxian also pretended to be sad. She squatted down, took Shen Wancai¡¯s hand, and cried, "Old Shen, it¡¯s all my fault. It was me that didn¡¯t discipline our son well and made you so angry. Don¡¯t worry, I will find the best doctor to treat you. You will definitely recover!"

    Although Li Xiaoxian didn¡¯t openly object, she didn¡¯t say anything to show that Shen Wancai could still be saved. She couldn¡¯t let this young man act recklessly.

    What she wanted was to dy things. The longer it dragged on, the more exhausted Shen Wancai would get.

    Others didn¡¯t know whether Shen Wancai was dead or not, but Li Yundong and Su Chan knew it very well, and they were even more clear about Li Xiaoxian¡¯s tricks.

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t help whispering to Li Yundong, "Yundong, this woman is so vicious!"

    Li Yundong shook his head, indicating for her not to speak.

    The two of them were keeping a low profile, but the others were not willing to let them go. Shen You once again took the initiative to lead the war against Li Yundong, trying to transfer the conflict.

    Shen You yelled, "Get out of here, you two! I don¡¯t want to see you anymore! Every time I see you, nothing good happens!"

    At this time, Rong Jun also took the opportunity to make trouble. He took revenge for being yed by Li Yundong before. He said in a high voice, "Yes, it was fine. But as soon as you arrived, an ident happened!" Then he said to Li Xiaoxian, "Aunt Shen, don¡¯t worry. I know a very good doctor. I¡¯ll call him right away!"

    Rong Jun took out his cell phone only to see Su Chan staring at him angrily. He became more and more unhappy and then vented his anger on Li Yundong. He shouted, "Why are you still standing there? Don¡¯t you want to leave? Don¡¯t you see that people here don¡¯t want you to stay?"

    Su Chan had experienced the murder case in Mount Qingcheng before, so she had been suppressing a question in her mind. "Why do people in this world have to make things difficult for others, especially for Li Yundong? Some people even want to frame him for causing such a big crime? Why?"

    The girl saw the crowd taking turns to me Li Yundong. Although he had remained good-tempered with a slight smile, she finally couldn¡¯t help hold back.

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t help screaming angrily, "Why do you always want to make things difficult for Yundong? Why?"

    Her shout scared everyone so much that they stopped talking. Even Li Yundong was stunned and looked at her strangely.

    The girl was so riled up that she trembled all over. She went forward and cursed loudly, "You blind idiots always look down on others! Our Yundong is a first-ss genius and a first-ss good person in the world. He has never offended anyone, and has never made trouble for anyone. But why are there always some people in the world who want to make things difficult for him? Why?"

    As she said this, she angrily pointed at Shen Wancai, who was lying on the ground, and continued, "With such a person, not to mention that he is not dead, even if he were dead, my Yundong could save him! You want to let go of such a divine doctor who can make dead people live again and make bones grow new flesh, and seek a person from afar? Humph, it serves you right that your family member is dying!"

    The beauty went mad, and her anger was like a bomb. When a beauty like Su Chan blew up, it made everyone speechless. There was dead silence in the area.

    The more Su Chan spoke, the more excited she became. She turned her head and angrily pulled Li Yundong¡¯s hand. With tears in her eyes, she said, "Yundong, let¡¯s go. Don¡¯t pay attention to these blind guys!"

    As she spoke, he took Li Yundong¡¯s hand and walked out.

    Only then did the crowde to their senses. Li Xiaoxian was so angry that she was trembling. She could not help but say angrily, "Who does she think she is? How dare she teach us a lesson like this?"

    Yin Mengfan knew that Li Yundong was faithful to Su Chan. At this time, Su Chan was pulling him away, so Li Yundong would definitely leave without saying a word. He would not care about their friendship at all. She suddenly turned pale with fright and couldn¡¯t help grabbing the third concubine and shouting, "Aunt Zheng, do you want to watch uncle die? Go and beg Li Yundong. Only he can save uncle!"

    At this time, the third concubine calmed down slightly. She was still a little skeptical and said, "Can he really save him? But, but he is not a doctor!"

    Yin Mengfan stamped her feet and said, "How can you care about that now? If we wait for a doctor toe, uncle will die! Isn¡¯t it the time to make every possible effort?"

    Her sentence suddenly shook everyone awake. The third concubine was not easy to deal with. She wanted to catch up with him, but when she moved, she felt that it was not serious enough for her to go alone. She immediately pulled Shen Hui out of the crowd and said while running, "Come on, go and beg him. If the old man really dies, how will we live in the future?"

    Shen Hui was just a spoiled youngdy. When such a big change happened, how could she be stirred? At this time, she was being dragged out by her mother in a daze, but her mind was in a mess.

    The third concubine quickly caught up with Li Yundong and pleaded loudly, "Young Master Li, please hold on. Please hold on!"

    At this time, Li Yundong didn¡¯t turn around. Instead, it was Su Chan who turned around. She scolded with a cold face, "What do you want? Can¡¯t we leave?"

    Seeing this, the third concubine¡¯s heart suddenly sank. At the moment, she regarded Li Yundong as her lifesaver. If herst life-saving straw left her, she really wouldn¡¯t know what to do.

    The third concubine was flustered and her trembling legs softened. She knelt on the ground with a thud and cried, "Childe Li, you are so generous. Don¡¯t argue with them. It must be them that want to kill the old master, so they tried every way to stop you. Please don¡¯t be fooled! I believe in your medical skills very much. Really, if you don¡¯t believe me, you can ask Xiaohui..."

    The third concubine was desperate. She pulled Shen Hui hard and said loudly, "Xiaohui, don¡¯t you think so? Tell me, say something!"

    Shen Hui finally came to her senses. She looked at Li Yundong with tears in her eyes, only to see the young and handsome boy turn around and look at her with a smile. He seemed to have a well-thought-out n, as if he knew he could turn the tide even if the sky fell.

    The first reason why Shen Hui couldn¡¯t get along with Li Yundong was that her impression of him was too bad, and the second reason was that Yin Mengfan admired him so much, and his father wanted him to be her teacher, which aroused the little girl¡¯s rebellious mentality.

    But with such a huge change suddenly urring in front of her, Shen Hui seemed to have be much more mature. She had seen Li Yundong¡¯s magic more than once before. In the past, she had subconsciously not wanted to believe in this boy¡¯s extraordinary skills, but now, her heart was as bright as a mirror!

    The only person in the world who could save her father at this time was probably the boy in front of her!

    Shen Hui did not hesitate any longer. She also knelt on the ground with a thud and cried, "Li Yundong, I know you are an extraordinary person. Please forgive my previous offense and ignorance. Please save my father!" As she said this, she stayed on the ground and sobbed.

    Li Yundong had always been a gentleman. When he saw Shen Hui kneel down and admit her mistake, he sighed softly in his heart. He gently raised his hand, and a strong Zhenqi lifted Shen Hui and the third concubine up as he said, "Forget it. Those who don¡¯t know will not be guilty!"

    Shen Hui and the third concubine saw that Li Yundong, who was one meter away from them, could lift them up as soon as he raised his hand. It was so magical that it was like special effects from a movie or TV. They were suddenly surprised and delighted.

    The third concubine had been a little skeptical about Yin Mengfan¡¯s words before, but now shepletely believed her words. "This boy must be something extraordinary!"

    She said excitedly, "Childe Li, are you willing to save our old man? That¡¯s great. You¡¯re so kind. Kwan-Yin Bodhisattva bless us!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "It¡¯s not right to think of Buddha at this time." As he said this, he turned his head, stroked the little girl¡¯s hair with a smile, and said softly, "Chan¡¯er, can I go and save Mr. Shen?"

    Su Chan¡¯s heart had gone soft because of their crying, but she still raised her head and said with tears in her eyes, "Yundong, I have no objection to saving people. But do you know that in my heart, you are a first-ss hero and first-ss master in this world? How can you be bullied like this without saying a word? You have to promise me that you won¡¯t let others look down on you, okay? I¡¯m very sad to see others look down upon you!"

    Since Li Yundong hade out of the Spirit Space, he was no longer the irritable and impatient boy he had once been. Therefore, he did not lose his temper in the face of everyone¡¯s attacks. However, now, when he saw the tears in the girl¡¯s eyes, he couldn¡¯t help but reach out his hand to wipe them. Li Yundong said seriously and solemnly, "Okay, I promise you! For you, from now on, I will never let anyone crush me! Today, I want them to see what divine skills can make dead peoplee back to life and make bones grow new flesh!"

 Chapter 538 If I Said I Can Save Him, I Will!

    <h4>Chapter 538 If I Said I Can Save Him, I Will!</h4>

    Li Yundong returned again, only to see the chaos in the hall. Everyone was at a loss. Li Xiaoxian even threw herself on Shen Wancai and cried loudly.

    Li Yundong frowned and said with a meaningful smile, "Mrs. Li, if you continue to cry over Mr. Shen¡¯s body like this, I¡¯m afraid that even God won¡¯t be able to save him."

    Li Xiaoxian was stunned when she heard that. She stood up straight, looked at Li Yundong in shock and anger, and stammered, "You, why are you back?"

    At this time, the third concubine acted like she was the master of the house. She rushed over to Li Xiaoxian and scolded her harshly, "Why don¡¯t you get out of the way? What are you doing?"

    Li Xiaoxian straightened her neck and said, "What can I do for you? I just don¡¯t want this con-artist doctor to kill Old Shen!"

    The third concubine trembled as she said, "The Old Master doesn¡¯t have any pulse now. Are you still thinking about this? I think you really want to kill Old Shen, so you¡¯re trying every means to stop him, right?" As she said this, she shouted at everyone, "Look, if it weren¡¯t for her guilt, why would she be trying to stop Young Master Li from saving the Old Master?"

    Li Xiaoxian felt guilty in her heart. Seeing that everyone was looking at her suspiciously, she thought to herself, "After so long, the old man¡¯s heartbeat has stopped. I¡¯m afraid that even if Li Yundong is such a miracle-working doctor, he can¡¯t do anything about it! Humph..."

    She stood up and said to the third concubine without showing any sign of weakness, "Am I such a person? I think you want to kill the old man, so you¡¯re insisting on finding a fake doctor to treat him!"

    At this time, the third concubine rushed over to Shen Wancai, checked his pulse, and touched his chest. She had no time to argue with Li Xiaoxian. She just said to Li Yundong in a trembling voice, "Childe Li, the old man... He, he has no pulse at all. After so long, can he still be saved?"

    Yin Mengfan, who was standing to one side, was also drenched in sweat as he urged, "Li Yundong, save him quickly! Use, use your massage method!"

    Hearing this, Li Xiaoxian, Shen You, and Rong Jun sneered and said, "A massage can save people? Are you kidding me?"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t look at them. He smiled confidently at the third concubine and said, "Of course I can save him. Mr. Shen has just died, and his soul is still in his body. How could we not save him? What¡¯s more, I just gave him the panacea before it happened. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t take it. As a result..."

    With this, he turned his wrist, took out the Enneacyclic Haworthia Pill, and said to Shen Hui with a smile, "Go and get a ss of water, put this inside, and then give it to Mr. Shen to drink."

    When everyone saw Li Yundong take out this ck pill again, they were all surprised and thought, "Isn¡¯t it too reckless? What is this? Is this guy a quack?"

    Although the third concubine regarded Li Yundong as a savior, she saw the ck pill that was made of mud and couldn¡¯t help feeling anxious. She asked cautiously, "Childe Li, can... can it save people?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "It¡¯s made of dragon liver and phoenix gall. Of course, it can save people."

    Rong Jun sneered and said, "Dragon liver and Phoenix gall? You are really brave!" He turned to Li Xiaoxian and said, "Aunt Shen, do you really want to see this guy make trouble?"

    Li Yundong nced at him, smiled slightly, and said to Shen Hui beside him, "Why don¡¯t you take it to save people?"

    Shen Hui seemed to have just woken up from a dream. Without hesitation, he immediately grabbed the Enneacyclic Haworthia Pill from Li Yundong¡¯s hand and ran away quickly. The third concubine also knew that at this time, the arrow had to be shot from the string. She had to fight this one, otherwise, it would be unimaginable in the future.

    The third concubine scolded Rong Jun harshly, "Shut up. It¡¯s not your turn to speak here. If there¡¯s anything to say, I¡¯ll do it on my own!"

    These words immediately made Li Xiaoxian, who wanted to stir up trouble again, freeze. She swallowed back what she had been about to say, crossed her arms in front of her chest, and looked at the situation in front of her with a sneer.

    After a while, Shen Hui rushed over with a ss of water in her hand and shouted, "Coming,ing! Here¡¯s the medicine!"

    Everyone saw Shen Hui was holding transparent ss in his hand. The ss was steaming hot and the color of the water was green. Before it even got close, it gave off a pleasant fragrance.

    They were shocked and said, "It smells good! So good!"

    As soon as the third aunt smelled it, she felt much more rxed, as if all the breath in her body had been cleared. She was shocked and said excitedly, "Is it really a panacea?"

    At this time, everyone also opened their eyes wide and looked at the ss in Shen Qian¡¯s hand. They urged him one after another, "Give it to Mr. Shen!"

    "Ah!" Shen Hui responded in a hurry. She rushed over to Mr. Shen and was about to pour the medicine into his mouth.

    Li Yundong stood aside and said, "It¡¯s so hot. Mr. Shen is not dead, but he will be burned to death by you!"

    Shen Hui was shocked. With a shake of her hand, the water in the cup immediately sshed over her tender skin, and she suddenly cried out in surprise. As soon as the cup tilted, the liquid inside seemed to be about to spill all over the ground.

    Everyone cried out in surprise. Li Yundong, who was standing to one side, was quick-witted. He immediately raised his toes and picked up the ss of water, then reached out his hand and caught it steadily.

    Li Yundong nced at Su Chan, who had been watching him silently. He smiled slightly and wanted to show off to the crowd so that these ignorant people would no longer look down on him. He pulled out the Yin Qi from his right kidney and gathered it into the hand holding the cup. Immediately, ayer of frost formed on the cup.

    Everyone was stunned and speechless.

    In the blink of an eye, the cup in Li Yundong¡¯s hand was covered with ayer of ice. He used his other hand to flick the outside of the cup. The externalyer of frost immediately fell to the ground with a tinkle. In the blink of an eye, it turned into a mist.

    Li Yundong smiled and handed the cup to Shen Hui, who was in a daze, and said, "Be careful, don¡¯t spill it. This is an elixir of life."

    Shen Hui took the ss of water stupidly, squatted down, and approached Shen Wancai. Beside him, the third concubine also carefully lifted Shen Wancai¡¯s head and opened his mouth. Then Shen Hui poured the medicine into his mouth bit by bit.

    But at this time, Shen Wancai had stopped breathing. His muscles were stiff and he couldn¡¯t swallow the potion in his mouth. The third concubine couldn¡¯t help but be anxious. She looked up and said to Li Yundong, "Childe Li, what should we do?"

    He smiled slightly and squatted down to press the Lianquan acupoint on Shen Wancai¡¯s throat gently. All of a sudden, the potion flowed in.

    The people around breathed a sigh of relief and said happily, "Drink it, drink it!"

    Li Xiaoxian and Shen You couldn¡¯t help but feel nervous. They looked at each other and at Shen Wancai nervously, and were afraid that he woulde back to life in the next second.

    But everyone looked at Shen Wancai helplessly. After swallowing the medicine, he did not respond at all. He was just the same as before.

    The third concubine looked at him for a while and couldn¡¯t help but look up at Li Yundong anxiously. "Childe Li, why won¡¯t he respond?"

    Shen You and Li Xiaoxian breathed sighs of relief. Li Xiaoxian pretended to cry. She wailed loudly and said, "Old Shen could have been saved, but now you¡¯ve really killed him!"

    Everyone was shocked when they heard this and asked, "What? He¡¯s dead?"

    The third concubine and Shen Hui also went to check Shen Wancai¡¯s pulse in horror, but there was still no response. The two of them immediately fell to the ground like y puppets, and their eyes were full of horror and despair.

    Shen You immediately pointed at Li Yundong and shouted angrily, "You¡¯re a murderer!"

    Rong Jun didn¡¯t want to be left out, so he sneered and said, "I told you long ago that this kind of quack is unreliable! But no one believed it!"

    Li Yundong watched the people on the stage perform one by one. He couldn¡¯t helpughing and said, "How could the drug work so quickly? It needs at least one day! However, if you want to see him wake up immediately, you¡¯ll still need a kind of medicine guide!"

    The third concubine¡¯s body trembled as if her soul had returned to her body. She hurriedly asked, "What medicine guide?"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly. "The fresh lotus seed of West Lake!"

    Rong Jun couldn¡¯t helpughing out loud. "I¡¯m so amused. How can we find the fresh lotus seed of West Lake in this season?"

    Li Yundong said with a smile, "If I say you can, then you can!" Then he said to Shen Hui, "Go and bring a basin of water and half fill it."

    Shen Hui wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and immediately stood up. She rushed to the bathroom and took out a red basin of water, which she half filled. She ran to Li Yundong and couldn¡¯t help begging, "Li Yundong, you must save the old master!"

    Li Yundong took the basin with a smile and nodded. "Don¡¯t worry. With me here, he won¡¯t die even if he wants to!"

    With this, he took the basin. He rolled up his sleeves and reached into it, then said with a smile, "I¡¯m going to get the fresh lotus seeds of West Lake. Be patient, everyone. Wait for me."

    After that, he closed his eyes, and his Yang Spirit instantly went out of his body and turned into green light.

    Everyone¡¯s attention was focused on the basin. No one noticed the green light shing behind Li Yundong.

    For a moment, the hall was quiet. Everyone held their breath and looked at Li Yundong¡¯s basin, as if they wanted to see where he would get the fresh lotus seed of West Lake from.

    Although Rong Jun didn¡¯t believe that Li Yunyang could make a fresh lotus seed of West Lake out of thin air, he didn¡¯t dare to incite the public¡¯s anger at this time. He just looked at the scene with a sneer on his face.

    But after waiting for a minute, they still didn¡¯t see any movement from Li Yundong. They waited for another five minutes patiently, but Li Yundong still hadn¡¯t moved, as if he had fallen asleep.

    At this time, everyone was feeling a little impatient. Rong Jun sneered and said, "What are you doing? Are you ying tricks?"

    The crowd also began to chatter. The third concubine and Shen Hui were as anxious as ants on a hot pan. They wanted to urge Li Yundong, but they didn¡¯t dare to.

    Su Chan, who was standing to one side, knew that Li Yundong was out of his physical body, flying to the bottom of West Lake to get the lotus seeds. She said loudly to the third concubine and Shen Qian, "Don¡¯t worry. If Yundong says he can save her, he will definitely save her!"

    The third concubine and Shen Hui were slightly relieved when they saw Su Chan¡¯s confident expression. But after waiting for a few more minutes, Li Yundong was still the same as before. At this time, Li Xiaoxian couldn¡¯t help but say loudly, "I knew that this guy was unreliable. Don¡¯t wait anymore. If we wait any longer, Old Shen will be hopeless!" Then, she pointed at Third Aunt¡¯s wife and said sternly, "I think you want to kill Old Shen! It¡¯s toote to send him to the hospital now. Now that we have been dyed for so long, even an immortal can¡¯t save him!"

    The Third Aunt hadn¡¯t expected that Li Xiaoxian would take the opportunity to frame her. Her face turned pale and she panicked. For a moment, she forgot to refute. When she saw that everyone was looking at her in confusion, her mind buzzed. Her body fell to the ground and she cried desperately.

    At this moment, everyone suddenly heard a chuckle, and a gentle voice came clearly into their ears. "What are you crying for? I¡¯m back, aren¡¯t I?"

    Everyone was shocked. They turned around and saw Li Yundong looking at them with a smile, still holding his hand in the basin.

    The third concubine suddenly shivered and quickly got up. She looked at Li Yundong with hope and said in a trembling voice, "Childe Li, you¡¯re back? Where is the lotus seed of West Lake?"

    Li Yundong raised his hand from the basin and said with a smile, "It¡¯s here!"

    Everyone fixed their eyes and saw Li Yundong holding a ck old root full of mud like the vines in his hand. They were stunned and thought in their hearts, "Is this the lotus seed of West Lake? No way! Is he kidding?"

    Rong Jun couldn¡¯t helpughing out loud. "If this is the lotus seed of West Lake, then I¡¯m the queen of France! It¡¯s so funny! This kind of root can also pass as the lotus seed of West Lake to save people? Oh, please!"

    Li Yundong was not angry. He smiled and said, "If I say it is the lotus seed of West Lake, then it is. If I say it can save people, then it can save people!"

 Chapter 539 Amazing Divine Skill!

    <h4>Chapter 539 Amazing Divine Skill!</h4>

    Seeing Li Yundong talking confidently, Rong Jun couldn¡¯t help sneering, ¡°You killed Mr. Shen, and you are still so stubborn. I¡¯d like to see how this muddy root of yours will be a fresh lotus seed of West Lake!¡±

    Everyone also looked at Li Yundong with aplicated look. Their eyes were full of suspicion, ridicule, and disdain.

    Even the third concubine and Shen Hui looked at Li Yundong in horror, and the look in their eyes showed that they didn¡¯t believe his words at all.

    Only Su Chan knew that Li Yundong had quietly disyed his Divine Transcendence magic cultivation just now.

    In Chinese history, Zhang Boduan, the founder of the Ziyang Sect, one of the five Taoist ancestors in the Northern Song Dynasty, had once visited Yangzhou with a monk. They had made an appointment with each other and gone to Yangzhou to enjoy the sumptuous flowers.

    A while after their souls went out of their bodies, they came back at the same time. The monk talked about the scene of the flowers. When he asked Zhang Boduan, Zhang Boduan smiled without saying anything. He took out a flower he had picked from his sleeve. The monk was shocked. He felt inferior because of Zhang Boduan¡¯s magic cultivation, so he asked Zhang how he did it.

    Zhang said with a smile, ¡°I cultivated both life and nature, so I cultivated the Yang Spirit Body and could touch the real thing. But you only cultivated your nature and did not cultivate your life, so you cultivated the Yin Spirit and could not touch the real thing.¡±

    In front of him, Li Yundong flew to West Lake in an instant with the help of Yang God. But because it was winter at this time, there were no lotus flowers on theke, let alone lotus seeds, so he flew to the bottom of West Lake and took a piece of lotus root.

    He was already at the top realm of the Yang Spirit. He changed as he wished and everything was natural. It was just a matter of mind for him to turn this lotus root into a lotus seed.

    Seeing that everyone was suspicious, he didn¡¯t get angry. He just smiled and put his hand into the water basin again, burying the lotus root in the water. He quickly mobilized the purest Primordial Yuanyang Qi in his body and poured it into the lotus root.

    Everything was born in spring. The reason why life grew was because of the Yang Qi that began to grow in spring. Although there was a lot of Yang Qi in heaven and earth, it was sparse and thin. How could itpare with the extremely pure Yang Qi of the cultivators stored in the Dantian for days and months?

    As soon as Li Yundong¡¯s wisp of supreme Yang Qi between heaven and earth was absorbed into the lotus root, it stimted the original vitality of the lotus root to grow rapidly.

    At first, there was no movement, but soon, roots and rhizomes slowly grew out of the water basin, and then got longer and longer. In the blink of an eye, roots and leaves of the lotus were bursting out of the water basin!

    For a moment, everyone was stunned. They couldn¡¯t help but open their mouths wide, and their eyeballs almost popped out of their eye sockets.

    But what was even more shocking was that after the lotus leaves grew, the water basin became filled with ayer of green lotus leaves. The leaves were so green that it made people feel like they were in a warm spring instead of the cold winter!

    Before long, the crowd saw a tender pink lotus quickly emerging from the lotus leaves. Then the lotus grew at a speed visible to the naked eye. It swayed and became bigger and bigger. In the beginning, it was as big as a little finger, delicate and replete, until suddenly it became the size of a fist, waiting to bloom.

    When the crowd eximed in surprise, they saw the lotus suddenly bloom. Petals were peeledyer byyer, revealing a bright green lotus te in the middle. The lotus seeds on the te were clearly visible, like drops of crystal clear water gathering on it.

    At this time, Li Yundong turned his wrist and took the te. He held it in front of everyone and said with a smile, ¡°How about it? I said it¡¯s a fresh lotus seed from the West Lake, so it¡¯s a fresh lotus seed of West Lake, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Only then did the crowde to their senses, and they all eximed in shock, ¡°Oh my god, am I seeing things? Is this, is this magic?¡±

    ¡°No one in the world can perform such a magic trick! Didn¡¯t you hear what Mr. Shen said before? It¡¯s an immortal skill! It¡¯s an immortal skill!¡±

    ¡°Then, is this guy an immortal? Isn¡¯t it too exaggerated?¡±

    Some people like Rong Jun still didn¡¯t believe it. He said loudly, ¡°Is this lotus seed real or not?¡±

    Li Yundong handed the lotus te to the third concubine with a smile and said, ¡°Go and pick it up. Break it and give it to Mr. Shen.¡±

    The third concubine was so excited that her whole body trembled. She had seen the miracle of Li Yundong. Only now did she understand why Shen Wancai admired this young man so much and even said that he knew magic arts. He had even ignored his family¡¯s opposition and invited him to the banquet!

    The third concubine had already respected Li Yundong like he was a god. She firmly believed that a god-like person like Li Yundong could save Shen Wancai. She immediately took the lotus te with both hands and said to Shen Nu with a trembling voice, ¡°Come on,e with me to peel the lotus seed!¡±

    Although Shen Hui had seen Li Yundong¡¯s amazing skills several times already, he had never given her such a strong shock as he had now. She suddenly understood the intention of her father to make her take this young man as her teacher.

    But now was not the time to think nonsense. Shen Hui quickly calmed down and ran into the kitchen with her mother.

    Before long, the two of them came out quickly with a bowl in their hands.

    Shen Hui held the bowl with both hands, as if there was a Yu Huang Da Di golden pill in it. Beside him, the third concubine stared at the broken West Lake lotus seed in the bowl, as if she wanted to take a bite of it herself.

    Not only her, but most of the people in the room had seen Li Yundong¡¯s magical skill. They couldn¡¯t help but think, ¡°This lotus seed of West Lake must not be an ordinary thing. Although it can¡¯tst for a hundred years, it can prolong one¡¯s life. It¡¯s good for beauty and health care, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Shen Hui poured the broken lotus seed into Shen Wancai¡¯s mouth bit by bit. After only two mouthfuls, he suddenly saw Shen Wancai¡¯s body tremble. He spat out the lotus seed soup in his mouth and shouted, ¡°It¡¯s so bitter, so bitter!¡±

    When everyone saw that the lotus seeds had just fallen and that Shen Wancai, who seemed to have been dead a moment ago, hade back to life, they immediately widened their eyes and eximed, ¡°He¡¯s alive, he¡¯sing back to life!¡±

    The third concubine and Shen Hui suddenly hugged each other and cried with joy. At the same time, Li Xiaoxian and Shen You looked at each other in horror. Both of them trembled with fear.

    Li Xiaoxian thought like a sh of lightning and immediately burst into tears. She threw herself at Shen Wancai and cried loudly, ¡°Old Shen, you scared me to death! Fortunately, you¡¯re all right. You have to prove my innocence!¡±

    Li Yundong saw Li Xiaoxian cry so easily. Her acting skills were so exquisite that many movie stars in the film and television industry would have felt inferior to her. He couldn¡¯t help admiring her in his heart.

    Yin Mengfan and Shen Wancai had finally woken up, and Yin Mengfan could not help heaving a long sigh of relief. She put her palms together and said, ¡°Thank goodness, Amitabha, I was really scared to death! Li Yundong, I thought you couldn¡¯t save me! Thest time I saw you, I had saved Yin Mengfan in a few moves. Why is it so troublesome this time?¡±

    Li Yundong said with a smile, ¡°President Cao is not very old, and his body is just a punctured body. The Essence Qi and blood in his body are not weak. It¡¯s just that it happened so suddenly that the Qi and blood aren¡¯t enough. That¡¯s why his life is in danger. I used the massage method to transfer the vigorous Qi and blood out of her body, so I can save him immediately.

    ¡°But Mr. Shen is in his sixties. His body is already weak and his Qi and blood are very weak. If I also use massage techniques to adjust his Primordial Qi that was originally low, even if I tried to save him for a while, he would be harmed in the end. Not long after, his Qi and blood would be exhausted and he would die. Therefore, I must nourish his Qi with Dragon¡¯s liver and Phoenix¡¯s galldder, and then use the fresh lotus seed of West Lake, which is full of Yang Qi, to strengthen his Yang Qi. Therefore, at this time, not only will I have saved him, but I¡¯d dare to say that Mr. Shen will have ten more years to live because of this!¡±

    With this, Li Yundong suddenly turned his head and said with a smile to Rong Jun, who had been unable to get along with him all this time, ¡°Your excellence Rong, I said this is a dragon liver and phoenix gall, and I said this is the lotus seed of West Lake. What do you think? Am I right?¡±

    If Li Yunyang¡¯s words had been said more than ten minutes ago, no one here would have believed them except Su Chan. But just now, in the water basin, a lotus root had changed from nothing, and then rotted through magic, turning the lotus root into a lotus seed. If such an amazing magical skill was put in front of everyone, who would dare not believe it?

    No matter how unconvinced Rong Jun was, how could he dare to deny it?

    At this time, everyone looked upon Li Yundong as a god. Some of the older distinguished guests rushed over to Li Yundong, regardless of their identities, and shouted, ¡°Childe Li, no, Immortal Li, as well as the dragon liver, phoenix gall, and West Lake lotus seeds? Can you give them to me? Ah, no, no, I¡¯ll pay a lot of money to buy them. You can pay as much as you want!¡±

    For a moment, the hall was full of noise, and Li Yundong was tightly surrounded.

    Shen Wancai, who had just woken up, was confused. He looked around and patted Li Xiaoxian¡¯s back, indicating for her to get up. Then he raised his hand and said to his third concubine, ¡°What¡¯s going on? What¡¯s going on?¡±

    The third concubine pulled Shen Wancai¡¯s hand and stood up. She smiled and said while crying, ¡°Thank God, Old Master, you¡¯ve finally returned to us. You have to thank this living god!¡±

    Seeing the old mane back to life again, Shen Hui, who was standing by the side, regained her usual wits, as if her brain had kicked back into gear. She quickly exined what had just happened, but because she was worried about the old man¡¯s health, she cleverly omitted the part of the intrigue between her mother and Li Xiaoxian.

    Shen Wancai listened for a long time and did not speak. The third concubine saw that Shen Wancai¡¯s face was ruddy, and he did not look like he was almost dying from the illness. She nced at the lotus seed of West Lake next to her and said eagerly, ¡°Old Shen, what¡¯s eating this fresh lotus seed of West Lake like? Is it bitter?¡±

    Shen Wancai only nced at the third concubine and knew what she was thinking. He wanted to ask her, ¡°Are you even going to steal my medicine?¡±

    However, when Shen Wancai¡¯s gaze swept across Li Yundong, who was not far away, he suddenly had an idea. As if he had thought of something, he pushed the bowl in front of his third concubine and said with a smile, ¡°You¡¯re the best judge and saved my life. This is for you!¡±

    The third concubine was so excited that she trembled all over as if she was afraid that Shen Wancai would go back on his word. She immediately took the bowl into her arms and did not even let others look at it.

    At this moment, everyone¡¯s eyes were red with envy. They thought to themselves, ¡°This Shen Wancai was like a corpse just now. In the end, he only ate two or three mouthfuls of this lotus seed and immediately came back to life. From this, one can see just how wonderful this lotus seed is! If he eats a whole bowl of it, won¡¯t he be an immortal?¡±

    The third concubine was being stared at by the crowd. She immediately stood up warily and found an excuse to run upstairs. At first, she was just walking in a dignified manner, like a noblewoman, but after a few steps, she finally couldn¡¯t help running away like a refugee.

    The third concubine rushed into her room, holding a bowl and drinking it. She cried and shouted as she drank. Her voice came from the room, ¡°It¡¯s so bitter!¡±

    At this time, Su Chan couldn¡¯t help bursting intoughter. These people didn¡¯t understand the key point, but she knew that the real panacea was the Nine Revolving Jade Dew Pill, which was the least conspicuous one from before. Without the Nine Revolving Jade Dew Pill to nourish Shen Wancai¡¯s Qi and blood, no matter how many lotus seeds there were, they wouldn¡¯t save him.

    However, everyone only believed what they saw with their own eyes. When they saw that Shen Wancai had just eaten West Lake¡¯s lotus seed, they immediately became alert. They thought that West Lake¡¯s lotus seed was the best medicine for spirit pills. Therefore, they all viewed it as a supreme treasure.

    However, the little girl would not remind everyone about this, and she knew that it would be useless to say it. She just looked at Li Yundong with admiration and thought in her heart, ¡°That¡¯s right. A capable person like Yundong should be respected wherever he goes, not despised, bullied, and even framed by others!¡±

    Seeing that everyone was being respectful to Li Yunyang, the little girl felt proud in her heart.

    Li Yundong seemed to have noticed what she was thinking. He smiled and reached out to scratch her nose. Su Chan smiled and made a face at Li Yundong.

    The two of them were acting as if there was no one around them. At this time, Shen Wancai walked over to Li Yundong¡¯s side, sighed softly, and said, ¡°Childe Li, thank you for your great kindness! I don¡¯t know if I can take this opportunity to talk to you. I have a few private words to say.¡±

    Li Yundong said with a smile, ¡°Okay!¡±

    Shen Wancai chuckled. ¡°Let¡¯s go upstairs and talk!¡±

    To one side, Li Xiaoxian and Shen You ignored them after seeing that Shen Wancai had just woken up. With their guilty consciences, they became more and more uneasy and frightened. Li Xiaoxian couldn¡¯t help shouting, ¡°Old Shen...¡±

    However, without looking back, Shen Wancai went upstairs with Li Yundong, leaving Li Xiaoxian shivering in panic.

    After entering the room, as soon as Shen Wan closed the door, he immediately knelt down in front of Li Yundong and said respectfully, ¡°Young Master Li, I know that you are an immortal in this world. You don¡¯t have to hide anything. Please ept me as your disciple!¡±

 Chapter 540 Do You Want to Do Your Best to Cultivate?

    <h4>Chapter 540 Do You Want to Do Your Best to Cultivate?

    </h4>

    Li Yundong hadn¡¯t expected that Shen Wancai would serve as his apprentice after his survival. He was stunned and immediately helped Shen Wancai stand up, then smiled and said, ¡°Mr. Shen, what are you doing? Get up, get up!¡±

    However, Shen Wancai said shamelessly, ¡°Immortal Li, if you don¡¯t promise, I won¡¯t get up!¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. He had never expected that as a rich older man, Shen Wancai would be so shameless.

    Using force, he pulled Shen Wancai up without any exnation. Li Yundong said, ¡°Mr. Shen, we can discuss it. Why do you have to do this? If you have any issues, just tell me. If I can help you, I will try my best to. Don¡¯t kneel!¡±

    Shen Wancai seemed to have expected that Li Yundong would not ept him as his disciple. He sighed with a wry smile, saying, ¡°It¡¯s said that when people are dying, their heavenly eyes will brighten. When they see what has happened to them in their whole lives, they will instantly understand what they didn¡¯t understand before. Today, I made a turn at the gates of Hell. I really understand the saying deeply now!¡±

    Shen Wancai sighed, ¡°When I was dying, my heart was as clear as a mirror. Childe Li, you are definitely an immortal on this earth. There must be immortals on earth, right? If it weren¡¯t for this, how could you save me?¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing and said, ¡°Mr. Shen, you go to extremes. I don¡¯t know if there are immortals on the earth, but I know that I am definitely not one of them. As for how I can save you, it was actually through a very scientific medical method.¡±

    Seeing that Li Yundong wasn¡¯t admitting to it, Chen Wancai couldn¡¯t help but say anxiously, ¡°Scientific medical methods? You can produce a fresh lotus seed of the West Lake in winter. How can that be scientific? Besides, I heard Xiaohui say that you gave me an ordinary elixir, so I got better. If that¡¯s not an immortal¡¯s method, what is it?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Mr. Shen, just as I told you before, Ge Hong said that nothing is too strange in this world, let alone immortals. At the same time, he also said that the gods in the world can¡¯t be cultivated directly into gods, but immortals can be immortals through cultivation. Cultivation is very scientific. Its theory is based on the scientific theory of traditional Chinese medicine, so what saved you was traditional Chinese medicine, not magic arts. As for how I could turn out the lotus seed of the West Lake, it was just a small trick, not even worthy of mentioning.¡±

    Shen Wancai asked again, ¡°Then how did you learn this cultivation method? Can I learn it?¡±

    Li Yundong hesitated for a moment before saying seriously, ¡°Everyone can cultivate, the only difference is in the level of cultivation.¡±

    Shen Wancai no longer hesitated and knelt down again. ¡°Immortal Li, you must ept me as your disciple!¡±

    Li Yundong immediately stopped him and said with a wry smile, ¡°Mr. Shen, why do you want me to ept you as my disciple?¡±

    Shen Wancai said seriously, ¡°Because I want to learn cultivation!¡±

    Li Yundong asked, ¡°Mr. Shen, have you ever thought about why you want to learn cultivation?¡±

    Shen Wancai thought for a moment and said, ¡°Because I want to be an immortal!¡±

    Li Yundongughed. ¡°Mr. Shen, you¡¯re kidding. If you want to be an immortal, I won¡¯t ept you as my disciple, because your body is declining and it is toote for you to cultivate into an immortal. If you say that your purpose is to be an immortal, when you realize it¡¯s toote in the future, you will hate me.¡±

    Chen Wancai hurriedly said, ¡°No, no, Immortal Li, I actually want to live forever! I can live for more than a hundred years. Peng Zu and Qingcheng could live for 800 years in ancient times, while I cannot, why?¡±

    Li Yundong saw the excitement and seriousness on Shen Wancai¡¯s face. He nodded slightly and said seriously, ¡°Mr. Shen, don¡¯t rush to have me as your master. Listen to my story first.¡±

    Only then did Shen Wancai calm down a little. ¡°Immortal Li, go ahead!¡±

    ¡°Mr. Shen, do you know Wang Chongyang?¡±

    Chen Wancai chuckled. ¡°Immortal Li, you look down on me too much. Everyone knows Wang Chongyang. Even if someone has never been to school, they will still have read Jin Yong¡¯s books! He¡¯s a Shentong!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Mr. Shen, just call me Li Yundong. You don¡¯t have to call me Immortal Li. I am not an immortal.¡±

    Shen Wancai had no choice but to change his form of address. However, he was not willing to call him by his name. He still showed his respect, saying, ¡°Childe Li, please go ahead, I¡¯m listening.¡±

    So Li Yundong began, ¡°That year, Wang Chongyang established the Quanzhen Sect. He met Ma Yu, who was very rich at that time. Ma Yu wanted to serve an apprenticeship to Wang Chongyang, but Ma Yu was old and he couldn¡¯t let go of his property as well as his wife and children, so he was hesitant. Finally, Wang Chongyang used ways of Shentong to enlighten him, which made him not hesitate any longer. So, he donated his money and property. Then, he and his wife, Sun Bu¡¯er, served an apprenticeship to Wang Chongyang¡¯s sect. That¡¯s why there were seven people who were subsequently called Northern Qi Zhen of the Quanzhen Sect.¡±

    When Shen Wancai heard what Li Yundong was saying, he suddenly thought of something and thought to himself, ¡°What does Childe Li mean by telling me this story? Is he hinting at something?¡±

    Li Yundong saw that Shen Wancai¡¯s eyes were thoughtful. He knew that Shen Wancai must think that he had ulterior motives in saying this. He smiled and exined, ¡°Mr. Shen, I am telling you this story not because I want to guess what you are hinting at, but because I want to tell you that if you want to cultivate, you have to cultivate with all your heart and soul, especially as you¡¯re someone who wants to cultivate for eternal life.¡±

    Shen Wancai was stunned. He blurted, ¡°Young Master Li, do you mean¡­ you want me to give up all my family property?¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head and said, ¡°Mr. Shen, what I mean is that you must have a peaceful cultivation environment and a strong will to cultivate. Otherwise, you will only get yourself into trouble. It definitely wouldn¡¯t be a good thing!¡±

    Shen Wancai was extremely anxious, so he said, ¡°Then what exactly should I do to be your disciple?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Mr. Shen, you are a smart person. You will understand in the future, but I can¡¯t tell you now. Due to your current situation, I won¡¯t ept you as my disciple.¡±

    Chen Wancai saw that although Li Yundong¡¯s face was full of smiles, there was an unquestionable determination in his voice. He couldn¡¯t help but be disappointed. But after all, Chen Wancai was an old businessman. Although he was unhappy, he still forced a smile and said, ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, then I won¡¯t force you. Young Master Li, if you change your mind at any time, you must tell me!¡±

    Li Yundongughed and said, ¡°The oue is not in my hands, but yours.¡±

    A thought came to Shen Wancai¡¯s mind. ¡°Is Li hinting to me¡­ that I have to pay a huge apprentice fee?¡±

    Li Yundong nced at him and knew that Shen Wancai was thinking something wrong. He smiled slightly and did not say anything. He went to the door, opened it, and said, ¡°I¡¯ll leave first. Mr. Shen, think about it yourself.¡±

    In a low mood, Shen Wancai replied with a ¡®hmm¡¯. He lowered his head, his mind full of doubts. In his opinion, it was absolutely impossible for him to use all his fortune in order to be Li Yundong¡¯s disciple. Not mentioning other things, what would he do with his big family? Shen You was a good-for-nothing, and Shen Hui could not take charge on her own. Who would take over such a big dynasty? What about the four wives? Could it be that he would also take four wives to Li Yundong¡¯s sect to be disciples like Ma Yu?

    ¡°No kidding! I¡¯ve always been irritated by their intrigue against each other. If they all be disciples in the same sect, I¡¯ll die.¡±

    Shen Wancai¡¯s mind was filled with wild thoughts. After a while, he came down from the main building. His eyes swept the hall, but he couldn¡¯t see Li Yundong or Su Chan. He couldn¡¯t help but be shocked. ¡°Where¡¯s Young Master Li?¡± he asked.

    Shen Hui said curiously, ¡°He left. We just went out to see him off. I also asked him why you hadn¡¯te out. He said that you were thinking about something in the room. I thought you knew.¡±

    Shen Wancai fell to his knees and said, ¡°Damn it, Young Master Li must be angry with me! I haven¡¯t repaid him for saving my life yet! Hurry up, go and get him back!¡±

    Steward Zhang responded immediately and ran out quickly. But before long, he came back panting and said, ¡°Old Master, we can¡¯t see him anymore.¡±

    Shen Wancai said regretfully, ¡°This is my fault. I¡¯ve slighted our distinguished guest!¡±

    The third wife persuaded Shen Wancai with a smile, ¡°Master, don¡¯t worry. Anyway, you know where Childe Li lives. You can visit him in person another day and give him an expensive gift, can¡¯t you?¡±

    Chen Wancai looked out of the doorway and sighed deeply, ¡°Sure, but¡­ to send an expensive gift¡­ how expensive should it be?¡±

    After Li Yundong and Su Chan left Shen Wancai¡¯s home, the girl asked in confusion, ¡°Yundong, why did you leave during the party?¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head and said, ¡°Shen Wancai didn¡¯t force me to ept Shen You and Shen Hui as apprentices this time, but he wanted to be my apprentice himself! What do you think I should do?¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes brightened and she said happily, ¡°It¡¯d be great to have such a rich disciple!¡±

    However, Li Yundong shook his head and said, ¡°No, if you ept a disciple, you must be responsible for him or her. Furthermore, he wants to cultivate immortality. As a cultivator, you also know that if you want to cultivate to immortality, you must cultivate to the Jinshen phase. How many people have been able to cultivate to this phase since ancient times? He, Shen Wancai, is a declining body. He stands to lose if he cultivates at an old age. Also, he has such a huge family business that he has countless secr affairs to deal with day and night.¡±

    Only then did Su Chan realize something. She let out an ¡°ah¡± and said, ¡°Yes, I understand! His wives are fighting very hard, and his sons and daughters are not at ease. He won¡¯t be able to calm down and cultivate at all. If he cultivates in such a situation, he will definitely be possessed by the devil!¡±

    Li Yundong nodded and said, ¡°Yes, I told him the story of Wang Chongyang, the leader of the Quanzhen Sect, taking Ma Yu as his disciple. I don¡¯t know if he can understand.¡±

    Su Chan sighed. ¡°s, what a pity! I thought that a rich disciple would mean no more worrying about food and clothes from now on!¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing. He pinched the little girl¡¯s nose and said, ¡°Don¡¯t be silly. You don¡¯t need to worry about food and clothing. All you need to do is to manage our teahouse well! You can¡¯t count on others, but you can count on yourself forever!¡±

    Su Chan pped her hands and said in surprise, ¡°Oh, Disanxian hasn¡¯t been open for a few days. We¡¯ve lost a lot of money!¡±

    Li Yundongughed and said, ¡°Okay, we can open the business tomorrow! You¡¯d better be a goodndy!¡±

    Su Chan said with some embarrassment, ¡°I¡¯ve made such a big mess. I can¡¯t be thendy anymore¡­¡±

    Li Yundong said curiously, ¡°I am the boss of this store. Are you sure you don¡¯t want to be thendy?¡±

    Only then did Su Chane to her senses. She hugged Li Yundong tightly and said nervously, ¡°Yes, yes, I want to be thendy!¡±

    Li Yundongughed and patted the girl¡¯s head, saying, ¡°Silly girl, let¡¯s go home!¡±

    She leaned in close to Li Yundong, inhaling his strong masculine scent, and gradually calmed down. Walking with Li Yundong for a while, Su Chan thought to herself, ¡°Yundong is so kind to me, why do I have to conceal something from him? Why does my master want me not to tell him?¡±

    The girl was struggling all the way, and Li Yundong didn¡¯t know what she was thinking about. On their way home, his cell phone suddenly rang in his pocket.

    Li Yundong took out his phone and said with a smile, ¡°I almost forgot that I had a phone. Who¡¯s calling me?¡± He nced down and saw Feng Na¡¯s phone number on the screen. ¡°Why does she want to call me today?¡±

    As soon as Li Yundong answered the call, he heard an urgent voice via the cell phone, saying, ¡°Li Yundong, help! Help!¡±

 Chapter 541 Line Up for an Apprenticeship

    <h4>Chapter 541 Line Up for an Apprenticeship</h4>

    Li Yundong felt surprised to have received Feng Na¡¯s call, asking, "Feng Na? What¡¯s wrong? What happened?"

    Feng Na said in an exaggerated voice, "Oh, someone died. Come to school quickly!"

    Li Yundong thought that something big had happened, so he hurriedly asked, "What happened? Don¡¯t worry. Slow down!"

    Feng Na said quickly, "You¡¯ll know when youe. I¡¯ll wait for you to save me!" After that, the line was cut.

    Li Yundong frowned and turned to look at Su Chan. "Did you hear that?"

    The girl nodded and asked with a worried face, "What¡¯s happened?"

    Li Yundong pondered for a moment before saying, "I don¡¯t know, but sounds serious. Shall we go and have a look now? But, tsk, that girl didn¡¯t tell me where exactly she is at school. How can we find her?"

    Su Chan thought for a moment. "Let¡¯s talk about it when we get there. Maybe there¡¯s really something urgent. What if it¡¯s a school shooting again? We should get there in no time."

    "Then, shall we fly to school?"

    Su Chan looked around and saw that the upscale district, though opulent, was located in the suburb of the city, in a rtively remote area. The road was almost empty, except for a few luxury cars sporadically passing by.

    The girl nodded and said, "Well, they should be breaking for lunch about now. I haven¡¯t been back for a long time."

    Li Yundong sighed slightly and said, "Yes, it¡¯s been a long time! Let¡¯s go. Although I¡¯ve only been away from school for about a month, it feels like I haven¡¯t been back for hundreds of years. By the way, I haven¡¯t been there for so long. I don¡¯t know if I have been expelled."

    Su Chan snorted. "That would be their loss if they really did that!"

    Li Yundong chuckled. He used to value his education and degree highly, just because he could get an extra sum of money from his parents if he was a student. But now, he was a person who ran a teahouse, and many rich businessmen wanted to give him money. How could he care about the allowance from his parents anymore?

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and said, "Let¡¯s go. We can¡¯t wait any longer. Let¡¯s go back and have a look."

    Seeing that there was no one around, they quickly leaped into the air and flew toward Tiannan University. After arriving, Su Chan, in order to save time, used Goddess Nayan Mudras to hide their figures as they descended.

    Su Chan looked at the familiar surroundings of the campus. It was dawn. Many students were carrying their textbooks and shuttling through the shaded paths of the campus to the teaching building for self-study. Many young men and women were going in pairs, cuddling and flirting. Some vigorous students were ying football on the yground. The scene was full of passion.

    The girl couldn¡¯t help sighing, "It hasn¡¯t changed at all! It feels so familiar! However, has something serious happened?"

    Li Yundong also felt a little strange, but when he nced around, he saw a familiar figure passing by not far away. He fixed his eyes on it and saw a round-faced beauty in a long purple dress carrying two stic bags filled with snacks. Listening to an mp3 yer, she was walking to the academic building leisurely, listening to music and humming a little tune.

    Who else could it be but Feng Na, who had been in such a hurry earlier?

    Li Yundong and Su Chan looked at each other in dismay. The girl opened her mouth wide and said, "Were we fooled? Why does Feng Na look like she¡¯s going to have a pic?"

    Li Yundong was also a little surprised. He couldn¡¯t help but say, "I know, right? Given that she made plots against me before, I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s another trap!"

    He remembered that he had been "fooled" by Feng Na several times before. She had taken advantage of him in speech or implored himself to make a statement as a student representative on the stage. Those things never ended without making him look foolish.

    Thinking of this, he couldn¡¯t help shaking his head andughing. He said, "Forget it. This chick loves to y first. Let¡¯s go and see what she is doing."

    The two people followed Feng Na stealthily, and Feng Na didn¡¯t sense them. She carried her bags of snacks and walked into the teaching building.

    After she went up to the third floor and came to a ssroom, she immediately greeted a busty beauty, Feng Na¡¯s best friend, Cheng Cheng.

    Cheng Cheng cried out in surprise, as if she had seen a life-saving Bodhisattva. "Wow, that¡¯s a lot of food!"

    After she eximed, another scream came from beside her. A boy with blond hair and blue eyes sprinted over like a hungry dog. He shouted, "God, there¡¯s final food!"

    Then, a girl with brown hair and blue eyes followed him and said in Chinese, "Thank God, I¡¯m starving to death!"

    Li Yundong was stunned when he saw them. Su Chan couldn¡¯t help asking in surprise, "Yundong, aren¡¯t they the two who wanted to be your apprentices? Why are they here?"

    Li Yundong also felt a little weird. "Why are John and O¡¯Brien here?" he wondered. But he pinched Su Chan¡¯s soft cheek, indicating that she should not speak. The ssroom was empty except for Feng Na, Cheng Cheng, Kris, John, and Alba. Any noise would be particrly ear-piercing.

    Li Yundong and Su Chan silently followed Feng Na into the ssroom, standing behind her and listening to their conversation.

    Feng Na looked speechlessly at the two bags in her hands that had been snatched away by the Cheng Cheng and John. She shook her head, turned around, and said to Kris, who wasparatively reserved, "Have you guys been robbed? Why do you look like you¡¯ve been starving for a few days?"

    Kris smiled and didn¡¯t answer. Instead, she asked, "Have you contacted Li Yundong? Where does he live?"

    Feng Na smiled proudly and said, "I called him over!"

    John, who was eating Oreos, was suddenly shocked. Ignoring the fact that his mouth was full of food, he shouted, "What? You¡¯ve already called my master here? Oh my god, I, I haven¡¯t finished my meal yet!"

    Feng Naughed and said, "Surprised? Don¡¯t worry, eat slowly. They will need a little time to get here, and he doesn¡¯t know where we are."

    Cheng Cheng nudged her with his elbow and said, "Hey, Nana, it¡¯s not kind of you to lie to Li Yundong!"

    Feng Na snorted in disapproval. She tore a bag of steamed buns open and said, "Am I not kind? Of course, I am not the unkind one. It¡¯s okay that he doesn¡¯t attend sses, right? The problem is that he didn¡¯t even log into QQ. Yesterday, when he went to Disanxian, his store didn¡¯t even open! What the hell is he doing? Is he running some kind of conspiracy? I was forced to lie."

    Cheng Cheng thought for a moment and nodded. "That makes sense!"

    At this time, when John was concentrating on eating, he saw that Alba, who was sitting beside him, had already gobbled up the food and made the food into a mess. He couldn¡¯t bear it anymore, saying in English, "Hey, Alba, watch yourself!"

    Alba was gobbling a bag of potato chips. She shoveled a handful of them into the mouth, saying, "What¡¯s the matter? Anyway, I¡¯m representing the Chinese now!"

    Johnughed and scolded, "Be careful not to let Master hear this. Otherwise, he will definitely be angry! Besides, you only have a temporary residence certificate! Haven¡¯t you always been reluctant to be Chinese before?"

    Alba was eating in such a hurry that she suddenly choked and rolled her eyes. Kris handed her a bottle of coke, and she quickly gulped down a few mouthfuls and patted her chest forcefully. Only then did she gasp and say, "John, what you said is wrong. I actually have a secret that I haven¡¯t told you!"

    "What secret?" asked John.

    Alba said seriously, "In fact, I¡¯ve always thought that I was Chinese in my previous life!"

    John couldn¡¯t helpughing out loud. "Don¡¯t make fun of me, Alba, you said a few days ago that this was a barbaric country that had not yet evolved into a new one!"

    Alba had been exposed, but she was not angry. She pursed her lips and said, "You have to know that sometimes mysterious is synonymous with barbaric."

    Feng Na¡¯s English was good, but she was confused by the conversation. She said to John, "John, what are you talking about? Why don¡¯t I understand? Are you going to live in China for a long time?"

    John said with excitement, "More than that. I¡¯ve also applied for a transfer to Tiannan University. In the future, I will settle down in this country and marry a Chinese woman. How about that? Isn¡¯t it cool?"

    Feng Na grew more and more surprised. She opened her mouth and said, "Ah? Why have you suddenly decided to transfer from the prestigious University of Pennsylvania to Tiannan University? You... you¡¯re smart... Ah, no, why did you make such a decision?"

    John knew what Feng Na meant even though she had not finished the sentence, but he didn¡¯t mind. He imitated an action he had seen in a martial arts movie and said mysteriously, "I want to take Li Yundong as my teacher and be a superman who can save the world!"

    Feng Na looked at him with a strange expression and said, "I can understand that you want to have Li Yundong as your teacher, but can you save the world? Are you kidding me?"

    John snorted and kept putting on a stance. "Just like Superman, Spider Man, Iron Man, or the Green Giant!"

    Feng Na finally couldn¡¯t stand John¡¯s exaggerated western style. She said to Kris with a suspicious face, "Are you sure that thispanion of yours... is not out of his mind?"

    Although she had also been hungry for a long time, Kris was still eating very slowly, maintaining the demeanor of a nobledy. With a biscuit in one hand and holding a packet in the other, she chewed and said slowly, "He has always been like this. You will learn that when you have been around him longer."

    Feng Na shook her head and said, "Kris, you suddenly asked me about where Li Yundong is. I helped you find him. It¡¯s fine, but we¡¯re after all friends, aren¡¯t we? How can you keep all the gossip secret from me?"

    "Gossip?" Although Kris¡¯ Chinese was good, she was very confused about this unfamiliar word.

    Feng Na exined, "It means inside information."

    Kris came to a realization, saying, "After hearing that John and I were going to China for an apprenticeship, Alba decided to follow us. Afterward, we met Li Yundong. He said that he would not ept our request before we got Chinese citizenship. So... we have been busy with that these days. Today, we even went the entire day without eating anything!"

    Feng Na was stunned, saying "You even changed your nationality for an apprenticeship?"

    Alba immediately said, "Yes, it¡¯s excessive, right?"

    John immediately red at her and said, "Stop, be careful not to be heard by Master!"

    Alba waved her hand disapprovingly and said, "How could he hear me?"

    John said with seriousness, "Master is not an ordinary person. What if he can hear sounds from thousands of meters away?"

    Alba recalled the marvels she had seen, and her face paled. She immediately covered her mouth with a hand and said carefully, "Then can I take back my words now?"

    Cheng Cheng, who had been silent all the time and doing nothing but eating, couldn¡¯t resist interrupting. She said to Feng Na in Chinese, "Nana, speaking in Chinese before me is kind of bullying me as I am such a bad Chinese speaker. What are you saying?"

    Feng Na smiled bitterly and told Cheng Cheng what she had just said. Cheng Cheng replied in surprise, "So that¡¯s why you¡¯re looking for Li Yundong. I thought there was something going on. Li Yundong is so awesome. Foreigners even need to queue up to be his apprentices?"

    John said to Feng Na with some worry, "Feng, do you think Master wille? I am afraid that he will hide from us when he hears that we are here!"

    Feng Na waved her hand and said with a smile, "Leave it to me. I¡¯m definitely reliable! He wille to answer my call!"

    Kris asked curiously, "Are you that close to him?"

    Feng Na smiled proudly, saying, "Of course. A friendship built in battle is incredibly solid. If I ask him toe, he will definitelye right away. What are ¡¯close friends¡¯? We¡¯re that!"

    Overjoyed, John said. "Then, Feng, can you implore Master to ept us as disciples?"

    Feng Na said, "Don¡¯t you already call him Master?"

    John said awkwardly, "He hasn¡¯t agreed yet..." But he quickly and seriously continued, "However, in my heart, he is my teacher. I must take him as my teacher!"

    Feng Na was delighted to hear that. "This guy is the same as me, ustomed to acting first and questioningter?"

    John put his palms together devoutly and said, "Feng, you have such a good rtionship with our master. Please help us. We really want to be his apprentices!"

    Kris even put down the things in her hands. She looked at Feng Na seriously and said, "That¡¯s right. Feng Na, if you really can help, then help."

    Feng Na felt very proud. She waved her hand casually and said, "Well, I¡¯ll take care of it! If I ask for help, Li Yundong will definitely agree!"

    No sooner had she finished speaking than she heard a snort behind her and a voice saying, "Oh? Is that true?"

    As soon as Feng Na and herpanions heard the voice, they froze. They all looked behind Feng Na at the same time. The temperature in the ssroom plummeted, and the air seemed to turn chilly. A tall, handsome boy was looking at them with a faint smile. Who else could it be other than Li Yundong?

 Chapter 542 Fate is A Lack of

    <h4>Chapter 542 Fate is A Lack of</h4>

    While Feng Na and the others stared in disbelief, they saw Li Yundong standing behind them with a faint smile. At the same time, Su Chan beside him looked at Feng Na sympathetically and shot her a helpless expression.

    Feng Na was so shocked that she suddenly jumped up and her eyeballs almost popped out. Then she stammered, ¡°You, why are you here? Are you ghosts?¡±

    Besides Feng Na, Kris, John, and Cheng Cheng were also scared to death. Alba was eating, and she got so scared that she almost choked and even rolled her eyes. She was beating her chest loudly, and it was not easy for her to recover her breath. She immediately turned to John and slowly said, ¡°God, is he a human being? When did he get here? How long has he been here?¡±

    Li Yundong put on a straight face and pretended to be very angry. He went over to Feng Na and took a bag of snacks. As he tore it open, he said leisurely, ¡°I am not an ordinary person. It is normal for me to suddenly appear here?¡±

    Feng Na was tongue-tied and said, ¡°But, but¡­ I didn¡¯t see you just now! Were you hiding in the ssroom? No, no, if that¡¯s the case, I would have been able to hear your phone ring and voice!¡±

    Next to her, John suddenly shouted in an excited mood, ¡°I got it. Master suddenly appeared likest time on the ship, like the Japanese ninjas!¡±

    John¡¯s eyes glowed and he said to Li Yundong, ¡°Is that right, Master?¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t prefer to argue with them on this matter. He coughed dryly, eating snacks, and said to Feng Na with a meaningful smile, ¡°I seemed to have heard that someone acted first and reported afterward under my name, was it right?¡±

    As expected, Feng Na and the others present were attracted by Li Yundong¡¯s topic. She smiled awkwardly, and soon said to him with a big smile, ¡°Oh my dear. Can¡¯t you see I¡¯m just kidding? By the way, it¡¯s not a big deal for friends to help each other¡­ right?¡±

    Cheng Cheng also added, ¡°Yeah, Li Yundong, Kris and John are quite sincere and they came all the way to China to learn from you. It¡¯s a great honor for you. Why don¡¯t you agree?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled, ncing at them, and then said, ¡°Come off it. I have a sense of propriety.¡±

    Cheng Cheng was always righteous and straightforward. She couldn¡¯t help wanting to speak again, but Feng Na immediately stopped her. She rushed to interject with a smile, ¡°Well, we don¡¯t care, but they¡¯ve traveled a great distance here. You have to give everyone an ount, right?¡±

    At this time, the astute Kris immediately stood up and said with a respectful mood, ¡°Master, you asked us to change our nationality. We have already done it, but we still need some time¡­¡±

    Li Yundong was a little surprised. He had only spoken casually, and hadn¡¯t expected John to really change his nationality!

    But what he said couldn¡¯t be changed now. Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry in his heart. After thinking for a while, he decided to use dying tactics and said, ¡°Let¡¯s talk about itter.¡±

    Kris said with a little disappointment, ¡°But, we¡¯ve waited a long time!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled. ¡°Take it easy. Haste makes waste. If God gave you a talent for cultivation, everything will work out!¡±

    Kris and John looked at each other, then Kris said sadly, ¡°Just as I expected, he won¡¯t agree!¡±

    John said in a low voice, ¡°Master, do you think our sincerity is not enough?¡± He suddenly thought of something and immediately said to Li Yundong with an excited face, ¡°Master, in the next few days, I¡¯m going to get my new identity and new nationality, so I did an earth-shattering thing!¡±

    Although Li Jiandong felt that John addressing him was a little harsh, he still asked curiously, ¡°Oh? What earth-shattering event? Did you hold a press conference to announce your new identity?¡±

    John waved his hand and said with a big smile, ¡°No, no, I gave myself an imposing Chinese name!¡±

    Li Yundong said with a smile, ¡°What name? How awe-inspiring is it?¡±

    Su Chan also came over and reached for the snack bag in Li Yundong¡¯s hand to get something to eat. She looked at John while eating and asked curiously, ¡°Yes, what¡¯s your name?¡±

    John said proudly, ¡°You all know this name. If I say it out loud, it will definitely make you feel refreshed!¡±

    Li Yundong was unable to stifle augh, ¡°Pretty good, John, now you can use Chinese idioms. It seems that I won¡¯t have to teach you how to greet people again in the future!¡±

    The foreigner chuckled and said, ¡°Master, can you guess what Chinese name I have?¡±

    Li Yundong scolded with a smile, ¡°Don¡¯t call me master. I¡¯m not your master. Go on. Don¡¯t keep us guessing!¡±

    Only then did John wave his arm and proudly say word by word, ¡°The Chinese name I have is¡­ Mao! Ze! Dong!¡±

    Even though Li Yundong¡¯s cultivation was profound and his willpower was strong, when he heard this name, he almost couldn¡¯t breathe. He almost choked and rolled his eyes!

    If a top-level Yang Spirit expert like him was choked to death, it would truly make it the greatest joke in the past five thousand years!

    Feng Na was drinking coke. Hearing John¡¯s words, she immediately spewed out a mouthful of her drink, covering Cheng Cheng¡¯s whole face.

    Su Chan bent over inughter and clutched her belly hard.

    Seeing that Li Yundong and the others had such a big reaction, John suddenly said with a puzzled look, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Isn¡¯t this name good?¡±

    Li Yundong came to his senses. He suppressed hisughter and said, ¡°Okay, of course, this name is good! But you can¡¯t use it.¡±

    John said anxiously, ¡°Why not?¡±

    At this time, Feng Na helped wipe the coke off Cheng Cheng while suppressing herughter. She exined, ¡°This is the name of the founding leader of our country. You can¡¯t use it.¡±

    John said curiously, ¡°But there are also many people in our country who have the name Washington! What does it matter?¡±

    Cheng Cheng, whose face was dripping with Feng Na¡¯s coke, said angrily, ¡°You can¡¯t use it. There is no reason. Don¡¯t you know the ways of different countries? Anyway, you can¡¯t use the name of our national leader!¡±

    John couldn¡¯t help muttering, ¡°I hate politics!¡± But soon, his eyes lit up again and he said, ¡°Then, I¡¯ll take another one. How about Renmingongshe [TL: Means ¡®people¡¯smune¡¯]?¡±

    At this time, Cheng Cheng was so angry that she couldn¡¯t helpughing out loud. ¡°No, no, that name is too strange!¡±

    John said with a little disappointment, ¡°That¡¯s not okay? Then¡­ how about Da Yuejin [TL: means ¡®the great leap forward¡¯]?¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing and said, ¡°John, why do you keep going with weird old terms? Can¡¯t you find something that can keep up with the times?¡±

    John pped his hands and said proudly, ¡°Then, call me¡­ Gaigekaifang [TL: means ¡®the reform and opening-up revolution¡¯]!¡±

    Here Li Yundong finally couldn¡¯t helpughing. Even Su Chanughed so hard that she almost rolled on the ground.

    When John saw Li Yundong and the othersughing so hard that they were out of breath, particrly Feng Na and Cheng Cheng, who were nearly dying ofughter, he said with suspicion, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Is this name not good? It¡¯s very popr!¡±

    Feng Na rubbed her belly and said with a smile, ¡°John, if you really want to be Chinese, you can¡¯t randomly choose a name. You have to choose a surname first, and then a given name. Isn¡¯t it the same for your country when you guys choose names?¡±

    John scratched his messy blonde hair and said, ¡°My father gave me my grandfather¡¯s name directly. How could I have had a say?¡±

    At this time, Kris couldn¡¯t help but say with a smile, ¡°John, Chinese people are very particr about their names. Some of them even consider feng shui.¡±

    Li Yundong looked at her in surprise. ¡°You know about this?¡±

    Kris smiled faintly and said in a reserved manner, ¡°I know a little bit. I heard Grandma mention it before. She said that in ancient times, when Chinese people picked a name, they would first calcte their dates of birth by examining their Birth Chart. Next, ording to what their lifecked, they would find a fitting name, right?¡±

    Li Yundong suddenly looked at Kris with new eyes. He nodded and praised her, ¡°Pretty good, it¡¯s unusual for you to know this kind of thing!¡±

    John said to her curiously, ¡°Then do you know what I¡¯mcking? What name should I be called?¡±

    Kris said helplessly, ¡°I don¡¯t know this¡­ This is something only those who understand Zhouyi can understand.¡±

    Li Yundong said with a smile, ¡°It¡¯s good that you know these things.¡±

    John looked at Li Yundong eagerly and said, ¡°Master, please help me!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled, patted Su Chan¡¯s shoulder next to him, and said, ¡°You can ask her. She is an expert.¡±

    Su Chan held back herughter and said to John with a smile, ¡°Do you want to have a Chinese name? Then you should choose a surname first. Only then can you choose a Chinese name!¡±

    John asked, ¡°What family names do you have?¡±

    Su Chan counted on her fingers and said, ¡°Uh, a lot. There are more than a hundred surnames in China. Almost every surname has its own origin and meaning.¡±

    John was shocked by her words, ¡°So many? Then, I¡¯ll have the same surname as my master!¡±

    Su Chan turned to Li Yundong and noticed that he didn¡¯t seem to mind. She said with a grin, ¡°So your surname will be Li? Zhao, Qian, Sun and Li. The surname Li not only ranks fourth out of the hundreds of family names in China, but it¡¯s also an emperor¡¯s surname. Not bad! However, if you want to calcte your Birth Chart based on your birth date, you have to tell me the specifics of the year and month first.¡±

    ¡°I was born in May 1990¡­¡± John said.

    Su Chan counted on her hands and said, ¡°Then you were born in Gengchen month, the year of Geng Wu¡­What about the specific date and time?¡±

    After John said the time, Su Chan calcted again and said, ¡°Ah, your fate is full of fire, and the five elementsck wood, so you have to choose a name with wood.¡±

    When John heard this, he was confused. Although he could understand every word she said, he didn¡¯t know what it meant when connecting them together. However, when he heard that he was going to make up for wood, he immediately understood and said happily, ¡°My name is Li Mu!¡±

    Cheng Cheng beside him smiled maliciously, ¡°Why don¡¯t we call you¡­ Shan Mu?¡±

    Feng Na burst intoughter and red at Cheng Cheng. ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense. You shouldn¡¯t joke around.¡±

    Cheng Chengughed in a low voice and said, ¡°He is already stupid. If he¡¯s making up for wood, what kind of wood should it be?¡±

    As they spoke, the two of them began to chuckle.

    John didn¡¯t know what they were talking about, so he just smiled. Su Chan said with a grin, ¡°Is there the word for wood in your name? Are you sure? You should know that the more weck in the five elements, the more words there should be in the name. For example, if youck a piece of wood, you can be called Lin, because that contains two Mu! [TL: the character for ¡®lin¡¯ is made up of multiple ¡®mu¡¯ trees]¡±

    John said immediately, ¡°My name is Li Lin! Ah, call me Linlin!¡±

    Cheng Cheng couldn¡¯t help but tease, ¡°But in Chinese characters, the É­ (sen) of É­ÁÖ (Senlin) consists of three Ä¾ (mu). Isn¡¯t that even more?¡±

    John soon added, ¡°Then my name is Li Sensen!¡±

    Feng Na and Cheng Chengughed. ¡°What a strange name!¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing and said, ¡°Forget it, don¡¯t tease him. the name Li Sensen feels gloomy. Call him Li Sen. It¡¯s good!¡±

    John was overjoyed at once. ¡°Li Sen? Okay, I like it! Haha, I have a Chinese name!¡±

    Kris couldn¡¯t control her curiosity. ¡°Then can I have one too?¡±

    Su Chan said with a smile, ¡°Of course. Do you have any idea for your surname?¡±

    Kris thought for a moment and said, ¡°My grandmother¡¯s surname is Lin. I¡¯ll use that as my surname.¡±

    Su Chan nodded. ¡°Okay. What about your date of birth?¡±

    Kris quickly told her. Su Chan counted on her fingers and said with a smile, ¡°Your life flourishes with the earth, and the five elementsck water.¡±

    Kris¡¯ reaction was very fast. ¡°Then my name is Lin Miao?¡±

    Su Chan pped her hands and said with a smile, ¡°Lin Miao? Good name, not bad!¡±

    Although Alba hade to China and studied Chinese for a while, at this moment, she only looked at Kris, John, Li Yundong and the others, who were talking in Chinese. How could she understand?

    She felt like she was listening to aliens talk. She was both angry and anxious. She gnashed her teeth and thought to herself, ¡°D*mn it, John. He must be speaking Chinese on purpose. Ugh!¡±

    Alba couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Can anyone tell me what you areughing at?¡±

    Feng Na was a bit closer to Kris. Sheughed and then exined what had happened just now, saying, ¡°Kris and John both have Chinese names. Do you want one?¡±

    Alba couldn¡¯t help being delighted and said, ¡°Can I do it too? Okay, okay!¡± Then, she quickly told her the date of her birthday.

    Feng Na smiled and tranted Alba¡¯s words to Su Chan. Su Chan counted on her fingers and was suddenly stunned. She turned to Li Yundong and said, ¡°Yundong, her Birth Chart is a little strange.¡±

    Li Yundong silently calcted with his fingers, and he was also slightly stunned. He couldn¡¯t help but nce at Alba in surprise.

    When Alba saw Su Chan and Li Yundong looking at her with strange eyes, she couldn¡¯t help but feel anxious. She tentatively asked in stiff Chinese, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Su Chan said to Alba with confusion, ¡°Your birth destiny is very strange. It¡¯s actually full of the five elements, especially the Yin Qi, which is very heavy. It¡¯s really strange!¡±

    Feng Na tranted the words directly to her, but Alba asked in a strange tone, ¡°Five elements? What is it? What does she mean by too much Yin Qi?¡±

    Feng Na frowned. It was really hard to trante these words. ¡°The five elements are the five elements of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth. The Yin Qi is too heavy¡­ Well, it¡¯s just that the Yang Qi in your body is less than the Yin Qi¡­¡±

    Alba listened with nk eyes. ¡°What is the Yang Qi?¡±

    Feng Na¡¯s back was sweating. She didn¡¯t know how to trante the words, but she quickly had an idea. She pointed to the sky and said, ¡°It¡¯s the meaning of the sun and the moon. The Yang Qi corresponds to the former, and the Yin Qi corresponds to thetter.¡±

    At this time, John asked curiously, ¡°Alba, since your Yin Qi is so strong, what do you need?¡±

    Alba was confused at this time. She didn¡¯t fully understand, but she didn¡¯t want to lose face in front of everyone. She thought to herself, ¡°This man says that Ick Yang Qi. Isn¡¯t that just ack of sun?¡±

    She pped her hands and said in awkward Chinese, ¡°I¡¯ve got it!¡±

    Everyone was stunned and looked at her one after another. Alba was so proud, shaking her head as she said, ¡°Ick the sun!¡±

 Chapter 543 Do You Want to Be Stronger?

    <h4>Chapter 543 Do You Want to Be Stronger?</h4>

    Alba¡¯s words almost caused Li Yundong, Feng Na, and Cheng Cheng to burst intoughter. Su Chan also cracked up. Even Kris¡¯s face went red from trying to avoidughing, seeming to be too embarrassed.

    Only Alba looked at everyone in confusion and said in English reluctantly, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did I say something wrong?¡±

    Blushing deeply, Kris whispered to Alba, ¡°You said something wrong. In Chinese, the word ¡®Ri¡¯ means ¡®f*ck¡¯...¡±

    Alba¡¯s face immediately turned red, and she muttered in embarrassment, ¡°Shit, damn Chinese! The man just told me that it means sun, didn¡¯t he?¡±

    Kris held back herughter and said, ¡°A Chinese character can have a lot of different meanings, especially when it¡¯s in a different context...¡±

    Alba couldn¡¯t help but cover her face and sigh. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever learn Chinese well...¡±

    Li Yundong held back hisughter and said, ¡°Alba, your birth chart is really different. I have never heard that someonecks nothing of the five elements butcks Yang...¡±

    Standing nearby, Feng Na tried to hold back herughter and tranted it to Alba. Alba asked curiously, ¡°Is that good or bad?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled slightly. ¡°There are both strengths and weaknesses. The strength is that your birth chart is very good and suitable for cultivation. It could be said that you were born to cultivate because your five elements talent distribution is very bnced. However, bnce also means that you are mediocre and not particrly prominent. Therefore, it is possible for you to be a carefree cultivator.¡±

    Having heard what Feng Na said, Alba asked nkly, ¡°So?¡±

    Su Chan could not help but attempt to exin, ¡°So, you¡¯ll either be a great cultivator mastering powerful the spells of the five elements, or amon cultivator aplishing nothing!¡±

    Alba couldn¡¯t helpughing aloud with an extremely proud expression.

    Su Chan was stunned. She couldn¡¯t help asking curiously, ¡°Is there something wrong with her? What¡¯s so funny about that?¡±

    Alba patted John on the shoulder and said proudly, ¡°John, did you hear that? She said that I might be a great person! My talent is better than yours!¡±

    Full of envy, jealousy, and hatred, John said viciously, ¡°Don¡¯t just suck up theirpliments. She also said that you might be amon cultivator and aplish nothing!¡±

    Not minding what John said, Alba waved her hand casually and said, ¡°As a genius, I must be the former, not thetter!¡±

    John snorted and was about to speak while Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Whatever, if you want to have a Chinese name, I suggest you select a family name first.¡±

    Alba thought for a while. ¡°What¡¯s the first among the Chinese family names?¡±

    Feng Na said with a smile, ¡°Zhao Qian and Sun Li, the first one is Zhao.¡±

    Alba said immediately, ¡°Then my surname is Zhao!¡±

    Having heard that, Cheng Cheng couldn¡¯t helpughing again and whispered into Feng Na¡¯s ear, ¡°Ah, because her birth chartcks Ri, and her surname is Zhao. Therefore, her full name is Zhao Ri? Zhao Ri? It seems to go with her birth chart well!¡±

    Feng Na couldn¡¯t help but burst intoughter. She quickly stopped smiling and red at her. ¡°Come off it. Be nice to our foreign friends!¡±

    Li Yundong also heard Cheng Cheng¡¯s words. He tried to hold back hisughter and said, ¡°Then I¡¯ll call you Zhao Jing.¡±

    ¡°Zhao Jing? Zhao Jing!¡± Alba repeated the name twice and said with an odd expression, ¡°It sounds hard to pronounce. But...¡± Soon, this woman who bore exotic beauty in a South American style, smiled and said, ¡°But, I like it very much!¡±

    While speaking, Alba walked over to Li Yundong with enthusiasm, trying to hug and kiss him.

    Li Yundong was quick-witted and immediately took a step back quietly, while Su Chan stood in front of her, looking at her with hostility.

    Alba smiled awkwardly, saying, ¡°I just want to thank him. I don¡¯t have other intentions... Well, I know that the Chinese are conservative. Just forget it!¡±

    Li Yundong turned to Feng Na and said, ¡°Did you ask me toe here just to give them names?¡±

    Feng Na smiled awkwardly. Just as she was about to say something, there was a boy¡¯s voice outside. ¡°Feng Na, you¡¯re here! I¡¯ve been looking for you...¡±

    As soon as the boy entered the ssroom, he saw Li Yundong and was stunned, frowning at once.

    Li Yundong saw the boy carrying a schoolbag with a book in his hand. His eyebrows were full of pride and conceit. It was none other than Yan Hua.

    When Yan Hua saw Li Yundong, immediately, he felt somewhat awful. He pretended to not see him and didn¡¯t go further into the ssroom either. He said to Feng Na, ¡°Feng Na, what were you looking for me for this afternoon? I went to the Students¡¯ Union looking for you just now but didn¡¯t find you there. Someone said that you were here, so I thought I¡¯d drop by.¡±

    Feng Na knew that there was a grudge between Yan Fang and Li Yundong. She didn¡¯t want to put Li Yundong on the spot, so she walked out of the ssroom quickly and said, ¡°A couple of freshmen want to join us in the Students¡¯ Union. Besides, other three foreign friends want to transfer to our university and join too.¡±

    Yan Hua was a man of utilitarian views. As the deputy president of the Students¡¯ Union, upon hearing that three foreigners wanted to join in the Students¡¯ Union, he became a little excited, saying, ¡°Really? That¡¯s good. We can take this chance to make a big deal out of it. We will be d and proud! It can verify that our Students¡¯ Union has made some achievements. What we publicized long ago was not in vain! Of course, this also means that Tiannan University¡¯s status and the image has improved due to some foreigners wanting to enter the university to study and even taking the initiative to join the Student Union!¡±

    Feng Na pretended to cough and said, ¡°They¡¯re here not for Tiannan University, they¡¯re the exchange students who took part in the exchange with foreign universitiesst time.¡±

    Yan Hua was even more surprised. ¡°You mean the University of Pennsylvania?¡±

    Feng Na nodded. She looked back at Li Yundong, pointed at him, and said, ¡°Well, these three came back to serve an apprenticeship with Li Yundong, so they decided to settle down and enroll in China. They were all the core of the Students¡¯ Union of their previous school, so they¡¯re just trying to fit in here. They came to me to join the Students¡¯ Union.¡±

    Yan Hua was very upset when he heard that. He nced at Li Yundong, only to find that wherever the boy went, he was like a sun always shining splendidly. Anyone who stood beside him would be overshadowed by his light. What made him jealous was that these foreigners were doing this just because Li Yundong was at Tiannan University!

    ¡°I thought it was because of me, but in the end, it turns out to be because of Li Yundong!¡±

    If this could be endured, what couldn¡¯t be!?

    Yan Hua felt ufortable like countless ants were gnawing at his heart. He just tried hard not to show it. All his feelings had faded a lot. He smiled reluctantly and said, ¡°I know... I will arrange for it when Ie back next week. If you have nothing else to do, I will go home.¡±

    Feng Na didn¡¯t know what Yan Hua was thinking. She smiled and said, ¡°Okay, see you next Monday.¡±

    Before leaving, Yan Hua snorted to himself. In the end, he nced at Li Yundong with hatred, saying to himself: ¡°Without this guy, I would be the most outstanding person in the school!¡±

    Yan Hua cursed indignantly all the way home, then locked himself in the room. His fist punched the wall, causing a thump. He couldn¡¯t help roaring in a low voice, ¡°Why didn¡¯t this guy die? Why can¡¯t I be stronger and surpass him?¡±

    Suddenly, a woman¡¯s voice came from Yan Hua¡¯s room: ¡°Do you want to be stronger?¡±

    Hearing this, Yan Hua was shocked and immediately turned his head back.

    It was already eight or nine o¡¯clock in the evening. After Yan Hua entered the room, he did not turn on the lights. A person standing quietly by the window of his bedroom was lit by the moonlight. Her figure was graceful and beautiful. Though her appearance couldn¡¯t be clearly seen, she was obviously a very charming woman.

    Yan Fang asked warily, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Saying this, he quickly turned on the light in the bedroom.

    But when he did so, he was stunned. ¡°Aunt?¡±

    It was Yan Fang. She had escaped from Li Yundong¡¯s clutches, but her Yang Spirit had been greatly reduced, so her cultivation had fallen from the Yangshen phase to the Yinshen phase.

    Yan Fang wanted to find a host with an excellent talent to cultivate again, intending to make aeback. However, she had failed to find a suitable host. On the contrary, her magic power and cultivation were declining day by day, especially her zhenqi, which she was losing every day.

    Time was passing. Yan Fang painfully felt that as wide as the world was, she had nowhere to go. There was no ce for her. Being sad and in pain, she returned home in a curious coincidence.

    However, soon after her return, she heard Yan Hua¡¯s painful roar in her room. There was a temptation, and Yan Fang couldn¡¯t help but appear and ask. But when Yan Hua was looking at her, she froze on the spot and asked again, ¡°Do you want to be stronger?¡±

    Yan Hua could not understand why his aunt, who had always been mysterious, would suddenly appear in his room. And something odd was that when Yan Hua looked at Yan Fang, it seemed that her body was transparent.

    After Yan Fang asked again, Yan Hua said as if waking from a dream, ¡°Aunt, how did you be like this? You, you seem to...¡±

    Yan Fang looked at herself. She smiled bitterly and said, ¡°I don¡¯t look like a person, but I¡¯m not like a ghost either, right?¡±

    Yan Hua was subconsciously going to nod, but he quickly reacted and said awkwardly, ¡°Aunt, what happened?¡±

    Thinking that she had lurked in Fox Zen School for nine years, but in the end, all her effort had been in vain, Yan Fang couldn¡¯t help being sad and angry. She sneered and said, ¡°You wouldn¡¯t understand even if I told you. I just want to ask you, do you want to be stronger?¡±

    Yan Hua knew of some tricks of Yan Fang¡¯s. Suddenly, his eyes brightened and he said, ¡°Aunt, you, you¡¯re willing to teach me kung fu?¡±

 Chapter 544 Yan Fang Possessed Yan Huas Body!

    <h4>Chapter 544 Yan Fang Possessed Yan Hua¡°s Body!</h4>

    Nodding slowly and walking towards Yan Hua, Yan Fang looked him up and down seriously. She thought to herself: "Although Yan Hua is not a sage as talented as Li Yundong or Zhou Qin, he is still a talented man. Besides, he is still a boy with a seven-treasure body. With my guidance, he will improve his cultivation in a few days... Humph, now that Li Yundong can teach Zhou Qin to be an excellent woman, I won¡¯t be inferior in cultivating a superior."

    Yan Hua said excitedly, "Aunt, I¡¯ve always known that you are extraordinary. Li Yundong is also extraordinary, right? He has learned what you¡¯ve learned, right? Are... are you really a Sword God?"

    Yan Hua bombarded her with a series of questions, while Yan Fang just said nothing. She focused on Yan Hua¡¯s bones and sensory organs, and asionally reached out for his limbs, joints, and acupoints.

    Receiving no answer, instead of being disappointed, Yan Hua asked more excitedly, "Aunt, am I talented internally?"

    Yan Fang nodded slightly. "Not bad..."

    Yan Hua¡¯s aunt seemed to Yan Hua to be a serious person, and she seldom smiled. She even took no initiative to praise someone. When Yan Fang praised him, Yan Hua was overjoyed and said, "Aunt, can I defeat Li Yundong?"

    Yan Fang was stunned for a moment, but she quickly sneered and said, "You? You are far worse than him!"

    Yan Hua was a little disappointed, but he soon braced himself again and said, "It doesn¡¯t matter. He began to cultivate earlier than me, so it¡¯s only natural that he is sharper than me. But aunt, you will teach me better kung fu, so that I can be better than him. Am I right?"

    Yan Fang¡¯s directness meant she never spoke in a roundabout way. She couldn¡¯t help sneering and saying, "Although you are talented, it¡¯s impossible for you to catch up with Li Yundong. You¡¯re daydreaming."

    Thinking of Li Yundong¡¯s cultivation, Yan Fang was scared and jealous. She secretly thought, "If this guy continues to cultivate like this, sooner orter he will reach the Jinshen phase in advance of my Shixiong. If I decide to teach Yan Hua to cultivate, I¡¯m afraid... we¡¯ll never catch up with Li Yundong!"

    Yan Hua was very disappointed. "Aunt? Then, how long will it take for me to catch up with him?"

    Yan Fang¡¯s expression was one of anger and she did not speak.

    Yan Hua asked tentatively, "Three months?"

    Yan Fang red up as she said, "Three months? Do you think you are the Great Emperor of Three Pure Ones or Ancestor Hong Jun? You even don¡¯t know Li Yundong¡¯s cultivation phase and you can¡¯t imagine how strong he is! Even I, who has been cultivating since childhood and has practiced kung fu of Xuanmen Sect for decades, was defeated so badly by him. You, a little kid who knows nothing, want to surpass him in three months?"

    Hearing this, Yan Hua paused but was still ticked off in his heart. He tried to swallow his anger and asked tentatively, "How about... half a year?"

    Yan Fang was still in a rage, so Yan Hua immediately corrected himself and said, "One year? Two years? Could it be... three years?"

    At the end of the sentence, Yan Hua couldn¡¯t help ring up and saying, "That¡¯s to say, I am going to be crushed by him for four whole years, right?"

    Yan Fang sneered and said, "You won¡¯t surpass Li Yundong for the rest of your life, unless you get some great opportunity!"

    Yan Hua immediately asked for an exnation. "Well, what kind of great opportunity?"

    Yan Fang thought for a moment and said, "Not only was Li Yundong¡¯s body rebuilt by Jindan, but he is a once-in-a-century genius of cultivation... Unless you get the Di Yuan elixir of life, it is absolutely impossible for you to surpass him!"

    Disappointed, Yan Hua was still unwilling to give up and asked, "Then... what is the Elixir? Where can I get it?"

    Yan Fang smiled coldly. She was about to say something, but swallowed back her words. She turned her head, looked at Yan Hua coldly, and said, "Don¡¯t worry about this. Since it¡¯s an opportunity, it is not something that you can strive for. Otherwise, we wouldn¡¯t call it an opportunity. I just want to ask you... Since you hate Li Yundong so much, can you hold back your anger?"

    Yan Hua asked in confusion, "How can I hold back my anger?"

    Yan Fang said, "It means you can¡¯t expect to surpass him in a short time. You must disguise yourself as his friend and put up with him until your kung fu surpasses his and you have 100% confidence that you can defeat him! Otherwise, you can¡¯t show any hostility to him. Not only can you not do that, but you have to tter him! Can you do that?"

    Yan Hua¡¯s face suddenly changed, and he said angrily, "How is that possible? I¡¯m a man, how could I do such a humble thing! It¡¯s absolutely impossible!"

    Yan Fang¡¯s facial expression immediately changed. She scolded harshly, "What did you say? How humble?"

    Yan Hua said angrily, "Aunt, it¡¯s not like you don¡¯t know that I have a grudge with Li Yundong. How can you make me bow to him? Isn¡¯t it humiliating?"

    Yan Fang said angrily, "Do you know what kind of hatred I feel for Li Yundong? He ruined my whole n, but I still have to pretend to smile when I should. When I pretend to be a grandson, I still have to pretend to have a grandson! He is only one year older than my nephew! But so what? It¡¯s not toote for a gentleman to take revenge if he waits for a decade! I can endure for nine years. As a man, don¡¯t you have any tolerance for such things?"

    Yan Hua roared, "That¡¯s you. How can a woman like you understand the self-esteem of a man! As a six-foot-tall man, I would rather be beaten to death than do such a shameful thing!"

    Yan Fang was so angry that she was trembling all over. She angrily rushed over to Yan Hua, trying to grab his cor and screeching. However, as soon as she stretched out her hand to grab him, the Yin Spirit state of her body passed through Yan Hua¡¯s body.

    Yan Fang was stunned, and her Qi of Mystic Yin was prating Yan Hua¡¯s five Zangs, which made him feel cold all over, as if he had fallen into an ice cave. He screamed and trembled from the pain all over his body.

    Yan Fang¡¯s heart skipped a beat. She looked at Yan Hua with sparkling eyes and thought to herself, "My nephew¡¯s talent is not bad, and he has a grudge against Li Yundong. I thought he would have inherited my mantle, but I didn¡¯t expect him to be so useless! However, Yan Hua¡¯s Yang Qi is so strong in his body, and his talent is not bad... If my current cultivation is added..."

    Thinking of this, Yan Fang¡¯s eyes shed with ferocity, but the expression passed fleetingly. She slowly withdrew her hand, stared at Yan Hua, and said in a tender tone, "Do you really want to surpass Li Yundong?"

    After waiting for Yan Fang¡¯s Yin Qi to leave his body, Yan Hua recovered a little bit. He shivered and looked at Yan Fang with some fear, but his face still showed a strong desire to be stronger, and he nodded hard.

    Yan Fang narrowed her eyes and asked in a deep voice, "Apart from kneeling down, you¡¯ll pay the price, won¡¯t you?"

    Yan Hua thought for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Yes!"

    Yan Fang narrowed her eyes again, as if she didn¡¯t want her nephew to detect the fierceness in her eyes. Her voice was as chilly as the cold wind in an ice cave of hell. "Don¡¯t you regret it?"

    Yan Hua shouted, "I don¡¯t regret it!"

    "That¡¯s great!"

    Yan Fang¡¯s eyes suddenly widened. Her eyes were shining with piercing coldness. Her face suddenly became extremely distorted and ferocious. With A sharp roar, her body turned into a green light and shot into Yan Hua¡¯s body in the blink of an eye.

    Yan Hua had been caught off guard. He roared aloud and shrank painfully into a ball. Then, he fell to the ground and kept struggling and twisting.

    However, Yan Fang was well prepared, and she was a master of cultivation. In addition, she had stabbed Yan Hua¡¯s heart and soul with Yin Qi before, which made him full of panic for a moment. He could not concentrate on fighting Yan Fang, who had invaded his sense of perception.

    What¡¯s more, Yan Hua didn¡¯t dare to believe that his aunt wanted to take over his body. In a panic, his apparition was swallowed by Yan Fang bit by bit. Gradually, all of the parts of his soul were swallowed by Yan Fang.

    Time flowed by, and Yan Hua, who was twisting and struggling on the ground, gradually calmed down. In the end, hey quietly on the floor and had no reaction at all.

    After a while, there was a sudden knock at the door of Yan Hua¡¯s bedroom. It was Yan Hua¡¯s mother, who shouted through the door, "Hua? Are you okay?"

    At this time, Yan Hua, who was lying on the floor, suddenly opened his eyes. He sat up stiffly, like a zombie. He looked down at his hands without any expression on his face and just said loudly, "I¡¯m fine!"

    Yan Hua¡¯s mother yelled back, "I heard you talking to someone in the room? Who¡¯s there?"

    Yan Hua shouted, "I¡¯m talking on the phone!"

    Yan Hua¡¯s mother did not doubt him. She muttered something at the door, then her footsteps gradually faded away.

    At this time, Yan Hua stood up slowly. His hands and feet were somewhat uncoordinated. With stiff and rusty movements, he went over to a full-length mirror to look himself up and down.

    Suddenly, Yan Hua - no, it should be ¡¯Yan Fang¡¯ - burst intoughter. Sheughed, but tears flowed down her face. Sheughed for a while, then suddenly covered her face and burst into tears again, crying like a ghost. The sound was utterly creepy.

    After crying for a while, Yan Fang began to giggle weirdly. Looking at her extremely strange self in the mirror, she couldn¡¯t help but giggle and say, "I used to hate myself due to being a woman of five punctures, but now it¡¯s all good. I¡¯m a man of seven treasures. It won¡¯t take long for me to recover all my strength, and I¡¯m going to be far stronger than before!"

    Yan Fang sneered and said, "Li Yundong, just wait and see! I won¡¯t let you seed!"

    She then turned her head and looked out of the window coldly. At this time, her figure was casting a shadow on the ground in the moonlight, distorted and weird.

    Outside the window which she was standing by, there was a silver crescent moon hanging high in the sky. It seemed to be the eye of the sky, staring coldly at the vast earth and the grievances in the world...

 Chapter 545 Everything is Chess

    <h4>Chapter 545 Everything is Chess</h4>

    Just as Yan Fang was about to take over the house, Li Yundong and Su Chan left the school and bid farewell to Kris, Feng Na, and the others.

    Along the way, while holding Li Yundong¡¯s arm, the girl rubbed her belly and said sadly, Yundong, I¡¯m starving! I haven¡¯t eaten all day!"

    Li Yundong was stunned for a moment, and then he remembered that the girl hadn¡¯t eaten anything aftering back with Ao Wushuang in the morning. He had thought that she would be able to eat something at the banquet at night, but she hadn¡¯t.

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help patting the little girl¡¯s head and saying, "Well, I¡¯ll get you something delicious when we get back home! What do you want to eat?"

    She looked up and said with a smile, "I like everything you cook!"

    Li Yundong thought about it and found that they had just returned to themunity and passed by a supermarket. He smiled and said, "Okay, I¡¯ll cook seafood for you today!"

    Hearing this, the girl¡¯s index finger moved, and she beamed with joy, "Okay, okay, I want to eat crabs!"

    He waved his hand and said, "Okay!"

    They turned around and went to the supermarket. After buying a few pounds of crabs in the seafood section, Su Chan was so happy that she took the basket of crabs and skipped home.

    After entering the house, they saw that the little foxes were watching TV in the living room. When the little fox Ling Yue saw Li Yundong, she immediately shouted, "Leader is back!"

    The other foxes also started to mor. "Leader, you took Su Chan out for dinner, while we didn¡¯t have anything to eat at home. It¡¯s so unfair!"

    Li Yundong asked in wonderment, "You haven¡¯t eaten yet? Where¡¯s Zi Yuan?"

    Su Chan thought to herself, "Zhenren Zi Yuan has be the chef of the Fox Zen School? Why is Yundong¡¯s first reaction to ask for her when they have no food to eat? No, I have to learn how to cook so that Yundong can think of me first in the future!"

    Ling Yue said, "Zhenren Zi Yuan has gone out. No one knows where she went after you left!"

    Li Yundong asked curiously, "Didn¡¯t she get you something to eat before leaving?"

    Ling Yueined, "No, she left in a hurry, so each of us just ate a bowl of instant noodles!" As she said this, she noticed the crabs in Su Chan¡¯s hand and immediately said happily, "We will eat seafood tonight?"

    Su Chan quickly hid the basket behind her back. "Yundong bought it for me!"

    The faces of Ling Yue and the little foxes suddenly changed. They looked at Li Yundong with bitter expressions and said, "Leader, you can¡¯t be so mean to us!"

    Li Yundong smiled awkwardly and said, "Okay, okay, I¡¯ll cook for you now!" Then, he turned back and said to Su Chan with a smile, "Well, there are so many crabs, and you can¡¯t eat them all. Besides, crabs are cold because of yin. It¡¯s not good for you to eat too much of them. Can you give some to your Shijie and Shimei?"

    Su Chan pouted and didn¡¯t want tough. She thought for a while before saying, "Then you have to teach me how to cook so that I won¡¯t have anything to eat when you¡¯re gone. It¡¯s pitiful to eat instant noodles like them!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Okay, I¡¯ll teach you!" He then said to the little foxes, "You can watch TV while I make dinner."

    The little foxes immediately cheered, "Long live Leader!"

    Li Yundong shook his head and couldn¡¯t help butugh. He put on his apron and entered the kitchen. Su Chan followed him closely, watching his every move with her big eyes, and secretly recording it all in her heart.

    When she saw Li Yundong washing the crab and boiling the water in the pot next to him, she was ready to throw the crab in and cook it. The girl couldn¡¯t bear to let out a cry.

    Li Yundong looked back and saw that she had put her hands in front of her eyes. Through her fingers, a gap appeared through which she watched the crabs being cooked timidly.

    Li Yundong knew that Su Chan was kind and soft-hearted, so he smiled and said, "Don¡¯t worry. They will be at peace soon." As he said this, he threw the crabs in one by one.

    Su Chan saw that the crabs could still struggle at first, but soon their shells turned red. She couldn¡¯t bear it, so she softly recited the Great Compassion Mantra. But after a while, she saw a crab stepping on the body of itspanion and struggling to climb out of the pot. Seeing that it was about to climb out, she quickly stepped forward and reached out her hand. With a flick of her finger, the crab bounced back into the pot.

    The poor crab, which had tried its best to escape, immediately rolled back into the pot and turned over in the water. After a while, it waspletely cooked.

    Li Yundong turned to look at Su Chan and said with a faint smile, "Amitabha, how cruel you are!"

    Su Chan made a face at Li Yundong, put her palms together, and said, "Amitabha, the earlier you die, the earlier you can be reincarnated!"

    Li Yundongughed and pinched the little girl¡¯s nose intimately.

    After they had been busy in the kitchen for a while, the girl went out with the dishes, and she suddenly met Ao Wushuanging out of the room. Su chan immediately smiled and said, "Master, dinner is ready. Let¡¯s eat together!"

    Ao Wushuang frowned. She forced a smile at Su Chan and said, "You guys eat. I have something to do, so I¡¯m going out for a while."

    With this, she went to the balcony alone. Without saying goodbye to Li Yundong or the little foxes of the Fox Zen School, she turned into a beam of green light and left quickly.

    At this time, it waste at night, and no one noticed Ao Wushuang flying through the air. She flew all the way to Dongwu City. When she arrived at the familiar Shantang Street, she found a ce where no one was around andnded.

    Although it waste at night, Shantang Street was still brightly lit. The antique buildings were full of colorful lights. From a distance, it looked like a colorful dragon lingering by the moat. The people in the streets were still flowing like silk, the fragrance of snacks was lingering, and the voices of peddlers could be heard.

    Ao Wushuang walked quickly through this ancient street and came to her former residence. When she got to the door, she suddenly froze for a moment. Her outstretched hand also stopped in mid-air, as if she was hesitating about something.

    However, Ao Wushuang secretly pinched a paper crane in her other hand. She gritted her teeth, pushed the door open, and walked in.

    As soon as she went through the door, she saw a tall, burly man sitting with his back to her. In front of this man was a square table, next to which were two stools. One of them sat a fashionable woman with a charming face. She was holding an oilmp and looking at Ao Wushuang with interest.

    The man seemed to be aware of Ao Wushuang¡¯s arrival. Without looking back, he pointed at the empty stools opposite him and said in a hoarse, old voice, "Here you are! Come and sit down!"

    Ao Wushuang took a deep breath and walked slowly over to the man. She saw a set of Go in front of him, with two jars of ck and white chess pieces ced in front of it. He was following her with his eyes. Ao Wushuang was not in a hurry to sit down. She asked in a low voice, "Why did you ask me toe here?"

    The man smiled slightly, threw down a ck chess piece, and said, "Don¡¯t you have anything to ask me?"

    Ao Wushuang frowned. "Yes, I have many questions to ask you! But will you answer me?"

    The man smiled and said, "If you don¡¯t ask, how will you know whether I will tell you or not?"

    Only then did Ao Wushuang sit down and say coldly, "Liu Ye, why are you pretending to be dead? What are you going to do?"

    Liu Ye smiled and pushed the white chess piece in front of himself over to her. He answered absent-mindedly, "Don¡¯t be in a hurry, y a game with me."

    Ao Wushuang stared straight at him. Without looking at the chess pieces, she immediately pushed them back. "I¡¯m not good at Go. I won¡¯t y with you."

    Liu Ye didn¡¯t mind. He smiled and said, "I forgot." He then turned to the coquettish woman beside him and said, "Mei Niang, get me a set of chess."

    Mei Niang smiled seductively and walked away, her hips swishing. After a while, she came back with a set of chess pieces.

    Liu Ye slowly put away the Go board in front of him, and thenid out the chessboard. He put the pieces on the board with Ao Wushuang and said, "I can¡¯t understand why you like ying chess, but you don¡¯t like ying Go?"

    Ao Wushuang said lightly, "It takes too much energy to y Go. I just don¡¯t like it."

    Liu Ye sighed lightly and said, "Go is the military way, and every step contains the ways of martial arts, so every move is easy to deal with, and every move is full of the intention to kill! Masters make ns, and control the overall situation quietly. When the people in the game find out, they have no way to reverse the situation!"

    Ao Wushuang sneered and said, "Hum, so I don¡¯t like Go. I don¡¯t like the feeling of being manipted." Then she raised her head, looked around at her previous residence, and said, "Did you buy this ce?"

    Liu Ye nodded slightly and said, "I just rented it again. You lived here for so long. If you let others rent it, you will be very sad even if you don¡¯t say it."

    Ao Wushuang was expressionless. She held a cannon with her slender fingers and put it in the middle of the chessboard with a snap. "You want to y the emotions card? Well, let me ask you, why did you pretend to be dead? When you came to me, you had already nned it all, hadn¡¯t you?"

    Liu Ye smiled slightly. He pressed his finger on his horse and gently moved forward to solve Ao Wushuang¡¯s attack. "In fact, with your intelligence, you should have guessed it when you saw me in Mount Qingcheng," he said.

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. She quickly moved a pawn and said coldly, "It was you! It¡¯s okay that you ughtered Mount Qing City, but why did you frame Li Yundong? Don¡¯t you know that will bring great trouble to the world and Li Yundong?"

    Liu Ye smiled faintly and checked against the pawn on the other side. "Since when did you start to care about Li Yundong like this?"

    Ao Wushuang agreed and said in a cold voice, "He is the partner that my disciple likes. I did this out of consideration for my disciple."

    Liu Ye sighed and shook his head slightly. "You are too emotional. You¡¯re cold outside but warm inside! This is your Achilles¡¯ heel!"

    Ao Wushuang snorted coldly and did notment. She continued rapidly ying chess with Liu Ye.

    The two of them fought with each other at a fast speed, which soon came to a showdown. However, Liu Ye¡¯s skill in chess was obviously superior. After a while, Liu Ye formed a situation of two pieces vying for the throne. Ao Wushuang had various thoughts in her mind, so she forced herself to y along. She frowned slightly and had no choice but to lead the attack.

    Liu Ye smiled and said, "You asked me why I wanted to frame Li Yundong? Hey, look at the current situation. Li Yundong is like this oldmander-in-chief. He¡¯s always only active in his own territory and almost never goes beyond the thunder pool... If I don¡¯t force him out of his hole, will he leave by himself?"

    Ao Wushuang frowned and said coldly, "You don¡¯t even forget to manipte others when you y chess, do you? Is he also one of your chess pieces?"

    Liu Yeughed and said, "The sky is the curtain, and the earth is the chessboard. All the creatures on earth are chess pieces!"

    Ao Wushuang said coldly, "Then how can you be sure that he is the king? How can you be sure that you can win?"

 Chapter 546 The Mirror of Heaven and Earth!

    <h4>Chapter 546 The Mirror of Heaven and Earth!</h4>

    No sooner had Ao Wushuang said it than she maneuvered an unshackled pawn aggressively toward Liu Ye¡¯s base step by step.

    Liu Ye gave a quick nce at the pawn of Ao Wushuang. He smiled and said, "If the co-ordinated attack of two rooks does not work, well, what about the knight?" As he said this, he suddenly used a knight that had been hidden for a long time, posing a double threat to the Ao Wushuang¡¯s king and leaving her in a dangerous situation.

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s face was as cold as frost. Trying to defuse the situation, she moved her pawn ahead from time to time.

    Mei Niang watched from one side as the two yers ced their pieces quickly and produced cks on the chessboard. Even though the two yers were old friends, behind their words lurked sharp edges. They were fighting to the death on the chessboard.

    When Mei Niang¡¯s eyes moved from the two people to the chessboard, she suddenly eximed, "Oh, God. The pawn is going to attack the king!"

    Ao Wushuang looked up at her and sneered. "A gentleman would say nothing when observing chess. Don¡¯t you understand?" As she spoke, she raised her hand and move the pawn forward. It was now only one move away from attacking Liu Ye¡¯s king.

    Ao Wushuang said coldly, "You only focus on your half of the board, and didn¡¯t notice that the pawn had already crossed the river and moved to your base for the assassination of your king! How can you be sure that Li Yundong will not force you to y the same role of the pawn?"

    Liu Ye burst intoughter. He lifted his knight and ced it, saying, "What if I kill your king before you get mine! Check!"

    Ao Wushuang looked at the chessboard and found that she was bound to lose. Her king had nowhere to hide, but her soldier had to take another step before getting Liu Ye into check.

    Ignoring the danger in her own base, she stubbornly moved her pawn a straight forward and approached the king of Liu Ye.

    Liu Ye shook his head and said with a smile, "You haven¡¯t changed at all, just as stubborn as before. You choose to do things even though it is clear all the effort will produce no result."

    As he said that, he moved his horse and killed Ao Wushuang¡¯s king. He said, "You lose."

    Ao Wushuang was silent for a long time. She stood up and walked out without saying a word. When she reached the door, she suddenly turned around and said, "You won the game just because a pawn can only take one step forward each move even after crossing the river, ording to the rules of chess. Although you can also design a rule for all creatures, which in your eyes are only chess pieces, and force them to follow your n... "

    Ao Wushuang sneered and continued, "Don¡¯t forget, a pawn is dead, and a person is alive! Even if Li Yundong is but a pawn that has already crossed the river, he has always been strong enough to change the rules and the situation. He is no longer the novice we once knew! Do you think that when he can only take one step, he is likely to take two steps in session and kill you!? Besides... Li Yundong is as talented as Wang Yuanshan, but far less pedantic and stubborn than thetter. If you want to take advantage of him, your n may backfire!"

    As she spoke, Ao Wushuang seemed to sigh with emotion. She looked up at the vast starry sky and said, "This kind of person is usually unknown, but when you suddenly give him an opportunity, he will take advantage of it and morph into a dragon! Now, although he is crouching in this world and busy with mundane tasks, one day when he suddenly soars into the sky, the entirety of heaven will be shocked, and your so-called situation will be turned upside down by him!"

    Ao Wushuang lowered his head and said sarcastically, "When that dayes... you will find that the situation had never really been grasped by you! Moreover, think about it carefully. Has he always act as you wanted him to?"

    Liu Ye smiled and said, "Let¡¯s wait and see!"

    Ao Wushuang snorted, and a sharp light suddenly shed in her eyes. "I don¡¯t care what you are going to do or whether you are going to resurrect the Heavenly Mystery Fox, but if you dare to get my apprentice involved, I will definitely kill you!"

    Liu Ye remained calm. After Ao Wushuang had disappeared into the night, he frowned. Her words kept echoing in his ears like a big bell.

    Liu Ye muttered to himself, "Will the situation... develop ording to my n?"

    Liu Ye thought of all the horrible talents and incredible fighting abilities that Li Yundong had shown since he started cultivating. At this moment, his heart could not help but waver. But at this time, a middle-aged man with a goatee came out of the inner room. This man was Wan Zhenyuan. He looked in the direction of Ao Wushuang¡¯s departure and said in a low voice, "What¡¯s the matter? Do you want to continue? Even your apprentice has to be right with you!"

    Liu Ye¡¯s hesitation onlysted for a moment. He quickly focused his eyes again and said in a low voice, "I¡¯ve been working hard for 15 years, and I¡¯m about to seed. I can¡¯t give up now! Since I did such a big thing on Mount Qingcheng, how can I stop halfway? There¡¯s no turning back!"

    With this, Liu Ye turned his head and looked coldly at Wan Zhenyuan. "Contact the six major sects and the Zhengyi School. Also, put the news out to Mount Qingcheng! Next month, the inauguration ceremony of the Spirit Pce Sect will be held. At that time, the Zichun House will take over the position of the head of the Spirit Pce Sect. The Zhengyi School will definitely not let her take over easily. Moreover, since Li Yundong has such a close rtionship with the Zichun House, he will definitely not stand idly by. Hey, the Zhengyi School regards this ceremony as an event that they nned to unify the cultivation world. At that time, the ten golden bodies will definitely be gathered together, which will be our best opportunity!"

    Wan Zhenyuan snorted and said, "To unify the cultivation world... They¡¯re dreaming!" Then he turned around and walked into the shadows again.

    At the same time, Zi Yuan was quietly standing beside a pine tree in the Taoist field of the Spirit Pce, which was located on the side of Mount Longhu. The pine tree beside her leaned off the cliff. Under the lush and thick canopy, there was a mirror-like stone lying quietly, engraved with a few words which read: Obelisk of Fengchen.

    Zi Yuan stood silently in the moonlight, leaning against the stone and pine. Her figure was ethereal and elegant, and her clothes fluttered. She looked like an immortal.

    While she was quietly looking at the sea of clouds outside the cliff, she suddenly heard footsteps behind her. She didn¡¯t look back and asked lightly, "Have you found it?"

    Ruan Hongling shook her head in disappointment. "No, Senior Sister Zi Yuan, did you remember wrongly?"

    Zi Yuan suddenly turned her head and said with a surprised expression, "No? Impossible. My master told me that this magic treasure is hidden under the mountain spring of the Spiritual Pce Temple behind the Obelisk of Fengchen!"

    Ruan Hongling frowned and said, "I¡¯ve searched all of them and even turned into a Yin Spirit to search the ground. If I continue going through it, I¡¯m afraid that the Earth God wille out to find trouble with me. Senior Sister Zi Yuan, why did you call me out in the middle of the night? What on earth are you looking for?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s dark brows furrowed slightly. She pondered for a moment, and her brows were full of sadness.

    Ruan Hongling took a step forward, took her arm, and said, "Senior Sister, at least tell me! I am your little sister!"

    Zi Yuan raised her eyebrows and said with a smile, "Is there any rtionship between you and me? You fool! What I asked you to find is a magic treasure that my master secretly left behind before."

    Ruan Hongling immediately smiled in surprise and said, "Really? Did you save a trick before your ascension? Well, well, well, the three major magic treasures of our Spirit Pce Sect have been destroyed. The Sky-reaching ss Mirror and the purple gold and jade te have been destroyed, and only the Vast Universe Sword is left. But such magic treasures are still in the hands of Li Yundong and Ao Wushuang. The three magic treasures of our Spirit Pce Sect are real, and it will be a great loss if word gets out. At that time, the head will take over the ceremony. If the sect wants us to take out these three ancestral magic treasures and we can¡¯t do so, we will be in big trouble!"

    Zi Yuan nodded slightly and said, "It¡¯s not if, but when. A real sect will definitely make us take out these three magic treasures. If we can¡¯t take them out, they will take the opportunity to intervene in the internal affairs of our sect and take away my right to take over as head, and then annex our Spirit Pce Sect."

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s expression changed drastically. "Ah? So what should we do?"

    Zi Yuan said, "So, I have to find a magic treasure left by my master. He once told me to take out this magic treasure if there were any terrible dangers or difficulties. But don¡¯t let others know, otherwise, there will be a great disaster."

    Ruan Hongling became more and more curious. "What kind of magic treasure is it?"

    Zi Yuan paused before saying in an extremely solemn tone, "The Mirror of Heaven and Earth!"

    Ruan Hongling was shocked. She took a deep breath and said in horror, "What? Does that magic weapon really exist? Isn¡¯t, isn¡¯t that the magic weapon used by Primus in the legends?"

    Zi Yuan sighed slightly and said, "I used to think that the Immortal Pen was a legendary magic treasure and did not exist. But now?"

    Ruan Hongling couldn¡¯t help but ask, "Then why is this magic treasure no longer around? Is it because I didn¡¯t find it? I¡¯m going to look for it again!"

    Ruan Hongling was impatient. After saying that, she immediately turned around and ran away.

    But after a long time, she came back dejectedly. When Zi Yuan saw her, she knew that she hadn¡¯t found it. She sighed slightly and said, "Forget it, if you can¡¯t find it, then you can¡¯t find it. More than nine years have passed, maybe it has been taken away by some fated person. I just hope... s!"

    Ruan Hongling asked with interest, "What do you only hope for?"

    Zi Yuan sighed slightly and said, "I only hope that the person who obtained it will keep a low profile. Otherwise... he will definitely bring about a great disaster!"

    Ruan Hongling asked casually, "Why? Is it okay to have such good magic treasure?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head and said, "The Mirror of Heaven and Earth is known as a supreme Taoist magic treasure. It is known for being the best cultivation tool in the world. Although no one has used it, it is enough to attract countless cultivators to fight for it. Innocent men get into trouble because of their wealth!"

    Only then did Ruan Hongling understand, but she quickly asked curiously, "But, Senior Sister Zi Yuan, why are you looking for the magic treasure at this time?"

    Zi Yuan sighed softly, and her eyebrows were full of sadness. "There is still one month before the inauguration ceremony for the head of the sect. At that time, there will definitely be a new round of open and secret struggles, and there will certainly be a contest of martial arts. How can the Orthodox Sect, the Qingcheng Sect, and other sects all be willing to suffer such a big loss? Next time, they will definitely send out jinshen masters in the sect, and I¡¯m afraid that the world¡¯s famous ten jinshens will also appear! Moreover, the world is so big. Apart from the ten jinshen masters, how many jinshens are hidden around? Only the seventh-level jinshen masters, the eighth-level lightning retribution masters, and the ninth-level jinxian masters are above the lightning retribution masters?"

    "At that time, our Spirit Pce Sect will invade and there will be no strong reinforcements outside. It would be difficult for the two of us alone. How could we deal with it?"

    Ruan Hongling couldn¡¯t help but ask, "But Li Yundong will help us, won¡¯t he?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head slightly and said, "That¡¯s what I¡¯m worried about! Although Li Yundong¡¯s temperament changed after he came out of the Spirit Space and he changed from a young and inexperienced kid to a man with a calm, grandmaster-like temperament, his temperament of loyalty and righteousness has not changed. With his character, he will definitely help, but if he takes action, will he defeat a jinshen master?"

    Ruan Hongling was stunned. She was also a cultivator with high cultivation, and she knew that although Li Yundong¡¯s cultivation was powerful and abnormal, he was facing a bottleneck, which was the gap between the Yang God Realm and the Golden Body Realm. After passing this barrier, he would be a renowned Great Cultivator, a Great Spiritual Master, a Great Master!

    No matter how powerful a Yang Spirit Master was, he would still suffer a great loss if he encountered a jinshen expert! In the cultivation world, it was even said that ten Yang Spirits would be unable to defeat a jinshen master!

    Ruan Hongling tentatively asked Zi Yuan, "So... you want to find the mirror and give it to Li Yundong?"

    Zi Yuan sighed softly and said, "Yes, I believe that with such a magic treasure, he should be able to pass this bottleneck... Unfortunately, human will is not as strong as God¡¯s will!"

    Ruan Hongling asked curiously, "But, Senior Sister Zi Yuan, why didn¡¯t you use it yourself before?"

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "My master once said that I can¡¯t use this magic treasure because I¡¯m not a lucky person. Only those who have the Dharmakaya of gods or have the fortune of heaven and earth can use it. Otherwise, there will be a great disaster."

    Ruan Hongling sighed and said, "Isn¡¯t Master a scourge? Fortunately, Master didn¡¯t tell me the news. Otherwise, if I had known that I had such a powerful magic treasure and didn¡¯t use it, I would definitely go crazy! Senior Sister Zi Yuan, you are still so powerful that you can bear it and don¡¯t want to use it!"

    Zi Yuan smiled faintly. She subconsciously touched the Wind Dust Rocks beside her and said, "Since we haven¡¯t found it, let¡¯s go back."

    Ruan Hongling couldn¡¯t help but ask in surprise, "What about the inauguration ceremony for the head of the sect in a month¡¯s time?"

    Zi Yuan slightly frowned and said, "I don¡¯t know... If it doesn¡¯t work, the Linggong Sect will die in front of me!"

    Ruan Hongling suddenly jumped up and said, "How could that happen?"

    Zi Yuan sighed lightly and smiled helplessly at Ruan Hongling, "Even the sun, moon, mountains, and rivers will be extinct one day, let alone a sect. If God wants to destroy our sect, no one can stop it."

    Ruan Hongling said without thinking, "Li Yundong must have a way!"

    Zi Yuanqi asked, "What can he do?"

    Ruan Hongling was stunned and said with a little anger, "I don¡¯t know, but I think he must have a way."

    Zi Yuan shook her head andughed. "Don¡¯t be silly. How can he get involved in the affairs of our sect? Let¡¯s go back!"

    After that, she pulled Ruan Hongling, and they turned into beams of green light and flew into the air.

    When In the air, Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help but look down at the Obelisk of Fengchen that had turned to gravel under her feet. She couldn¡¯t help but wonder, "Li Yundong, does he really have a way?"

 Chapter 547 Letâ€™s Go To Tibet Again!

    <h4>Chapter 547 Let¡¯s Go To Tibet Again!</h4>

    While Zi Yuan and Ruan Hongling were looking for a powerful magical weapon ¡ª the Mirror of Heaven and Earth, which was left by Wang Yuanshan in Mount Longhu ¡ª Li Yundong was checking Zhou Qin¡¯s cultivation progress in his room.

    Zhou Qin closed his eyes. After circting the Great Heavenly Cycle 16 times, she slowly exhaled and opened her eyes. She saw Li Yundong gently smiling at her and saying, ¡°Good, your current cultivation is almost close to the Yangshen phase. Your cultivation speed is even faster than before. Amazing! Your Nine Cycles Golden Elixir has also been cultivated to the seventh transformation and is only one step away from the eighth transformation of the ¡®Fire Creation¡¯. Now your cultivation is already very impressive, you only need some experience of fighting in the formation and using magic treasures and magic arts. In a few days, I will teach you some magic, and you will be a very good cultivator!¡±

    Usually, Zhou Qin was serious, but at this time, when she was being praised by Li Yundong, she only felt warm and sweet. The smile on her face was like a spring flower blooming. She smiled and said, ¡°Really? Why do I feel that my cultivation is so slow?¡±

    Li Yundong could not help butugh. ¡°Your cultivation is still slow? Then what should other cultivators do? Your speed is faster than mine. Are you mocking me?¡±

    After the Taoist assembly, Zhou Qin¡¯s awe and respect for Li Yundong had reached an extreme level. She quickly said, ¡°No, Master, how could I dare to satirize you? My cultivation is far lower than yours!¡±

    Li Yundongughed and said, ¡°I¡¯m kidding. You don¡¯t have to be so nervous.¡±

    As the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Though Li Yundong had spoken it casually, Zhou Qin felt that his words and deeds were full of maturity and stability, as well as ease that a boy of his age should not have. She said with admiration, ¡°Master, can I ask you a question?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°You can.¡±

    ¡°Master, are your fighting skills the best in the world now?¡±

    Li Yundongughed and said, ¡°How could that be possible!¡±

    ¡°But they all call you Super Li!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Why do you believe these people¡¯spliments? How could I be invincible?¡±

    Zhou Qin¡¯s brows furrowed slightly. ¡°But I saw that no one in the Taoist assembly could defeat Tachibana Wakako. However, Master, when you struck out with your palm, she was so frightened that she started crying. If that¡¯s not invincibility, what is?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled. ¡°Tachibana Wakako¡¯s kung fues from Zhenyan Tantrism, and the master of Zhenyan Tantrism worships the Immovable Wisdom King. When I showed the King¡¯s Fashen, it was like a gangster seeing a Gangster boss. How could she not have been afraid? Therefore, no matter how fierce she is, she won¡¯t dare to fight with me. If she really fights with me, the actual gap won¡¯t be as big as you think. After all, it¡¯s the Mahamayuri who drove her away. If she was a goddess instead of a witch, she would invite the Mahamayuri toe down to the human world, and even I would be no match for her then.¡±

    Zhou Qin was shocked and asked, ¡°Is there anyone more powerful than Tachibana Wakako in Japan?¡±

    Li Yundong nodded. ¡°Of course! There is a Divine Lady above the Witch, and the Divine Lady is divided into three levels: the Aoyuan Goddess, the Dizang Goddess, and the Tianzhao Goddess. Among them, the Aoyuan Goddess is a powerful cultivator who can directlymunicate with the gods. She is equivalent to a jinshen Master in our cultivation world. The Dizang Goddess is equivalent to a Master of the Lightning Retribution phase, while the Tianzhao Goddess is equivalent to a Jinshen Master.¡±

    Zhou Qin¡¯s expression was a little strange. ¡°Are there such powerful figures in this group of Japanese?¡±

    Li Yundong said, ¡°There should be a goddess at the level of the Okunoin, which is equivalent to a sect-guarding master. I don¡¯t know about the Dizang Goddess or the Tianzhao Goddess. I know there are jinshen masters in the world, but I¡¯m not sure if there is a Lightning Retribution phase master or a real jinshen master.¡±

    Zhou Qin thought for a moment before asking, ¡°Master, I¡¯ve always been confused. Didn¡¯t many cultivation ssics say that the Yang Spirit is the pinnacle realm of cultivators? Even Zhang Sanfeng said that the Yang Spirit is the pinnacle. Why is there a third Firmament cultivation above Yang Spirit?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°I knew that you would ask this question. I had the same question as you back then. I always had all kinds of doubts about cultivation. In fact, what you said is not wrong. The Yang Spirit is indeed the top realm of cultivators. It¡¯s because people rely on their own strength to cultivate with their Neidans. As long as they can sessfully build a foundation, they will be able to reach a realm sooner orter.¡±

    ¡°However, once a person¡¯s physical body has been cultivated to the Yangshen phase, if they want to break through again, there will be no way for them to do so. This is because human strength is sometimes exhausted! No matter how powerful one¡¯s physical body is, it¡¯s impossible for it to be limitless! Think about it: no matter how strong a person is, can they really carry a mountain on their own? Impossible, right? Because physical strength is limited, people only rely on their physical strength to cultivate. When one¡¯s cultivation reaches the Yangshen phase, it will be the limit. But at this time, if a person wants to cultivate again, they must borrow the power from heaven and earth!¡±

    Zhou Qin asked curiously and confusedly, ¡°Borrow power from heaven and earth?¡±

    Li Yundong nodded. ¡°Yes, cultivation focuses on the unity of man and nature. You use your Zhenqi as a medium to mobilize the power between heaven and earth, and use all kinds of magic tools and magic arts. If you want to cultivate from the Yang Spirit to the jinshen, you have to take pills. The fastest way is to take Diyuan Jindan of the three elixirs of life. If you don¡¯t have the Diyuan Jindan, you have to take other kinds of pills to help you. Think about it, where do the medicinal materials of these pills grow?¡±

    Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes lit up. She seemed to have thought of something and suddenly said, ¡°Deep mountains and old forests?¡±

    Li Yundong said with appreciation, ¡°Yes! The medicinal materials of the elixirs of life grow in the forest. They gather the Spiritual Energy between heaven and earth. When a cultivator takes it, it will be very beneficial. It will greatly enhance the power of the Neidan and constantly strengthen his True Energy. Therefore, to reach the Jinshen Realm, one must take pills to constantly absorb the Spiritual Energy between heaven and earth.¡±

    Zhou Qin asked again, ¡°Then what¡¯s the matter with the realm of the Lightning Retribution phase? Does it also borrow force from heaven and earth?¡±

    Li Yundong nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right! The cultivation of jinshen is mainly about borrowing strength from earth because medicinal herbs grow on it, while the Lightning Retribution phase is about borrowing strength from the heavens, because lightninges from the ninth firmament. Cultivators can only constantly strengthen themselves by putting jinshen in the sky where the lightning rises. This is the way to borrow strength from the heavens! That¡¯s why cultivators have the saying of transcending Lightning Retribution. However, even though crossing Lightning Retribution can greatly strengthen cultivators, it¡¯s also extremely dangerous. If one is careless, they will be destroyed. There¡¯s no room for regrets.¡±

    Hearing this, Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help but be shocked. She asked, ¡°Then, Master, you must be careful when you are undergoing Lightning Retribution!¡±

    Li Yundongughed and said, ¡°Lightning retribution? I¡¯m not even in the jinshen phase. How can I go through the Lightning Retribution phase? It¡¯s courting death to go through Lightning Retribution with a Yang Spirit body. Let¡¯s wait until I reach the top of the cultivation.¡±

    Zhou Qin had another question. She asked, ¡°Master, how long will it take you to reach the Jinshen phase?¡±

    Li Yundong frowned slightly. He sighed and said, ¡°This is a rare thing. Wan Zhenyuan told me before that as long as I find the 1,000-year-old snow lotus, he can refine the Diyuan Jindan. If I have the Diyuan Jindan... I think I can reach the Jinshen phase sessfully.¡±

    Zhou Qin asked curiously, ¡°A 1,000-year-old snow lotus? Where is it? I¡¯ll find someone to buy it for you!¡±

    Li Yundong nced at Zhou Qin with a smile and said, ¡°Don¡¯t be silly. You can¡¯t buy it. It grows on the top of Mount Athos in Tibet and has the protection of the Mountain-protecting Monk. Don¡¯t think you can buy it with money. Even if you traded a gold mountain with those Lamas, they wouldn¡¯t trade with you.¡±

    Hearing this, Zhou Qin suddenly yelped.

    Li Yunqi asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? Why you are surprised?¡±

    Zhou Qin seemed to have remembered something. She smiled awkwardly at Li Yundong and said, ¡°Master, I forgot to tell you something.¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Zhou Qin said with a wry smile, ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell youst time that I met Meiduo when I was building my foundation in Tibet?¡±

    Li Yundong asked, ¡°I remember. What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Zhou Qin sighed and said, ¡°After meeting her, I climbed to the top of Kari Holy Mountain to build my foundation. After I seeded, I met Dorjee Tenzin Master. He said that Master Erdeni asked him to deliver a message.¡±

    ¡°Did he send it to you?¡±

    Zhou Qin shook her head and smiled embarrassedly. ¡°No, it was sent to you. However, when I came back at that time, you happened to be cultivating in the Spirit Space. Before I could tell you, you went to the Taoist Assembly. So many things happened there, so I forgot to say it for a while.¡±

    Li Yunyangughed and said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. What¡¯s up?¡±

    Zhou Qin said, ¡°Master Erdeni said that you only learned half of the Mahamudra. He also said that when you go up the mountain in the future, you must go to the east.¡±

    Li Yundong was surprised. ¡°I only learned half of it? But I went to school ording to books! Don¡¯t tell me... the books are notplete? In addition, why do I have to go to the east to go up the mountain?¡±

    Zhou Qin shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know either. That¡¯s what Master Erdeni told Dorjee Tenzin. And that¡¯s what Dorjee Tenzin told me.¡±

    Li Yundong nodded slowly. After thinking for a while, he said to himself, ¡°Does Master Erdeni expect me to go to the Mount Athos? Wan Zhenyuan... Does he also think that I will go to Mount Athos, so he proposed this deal to me? It couldn¡¯t be so coincidental, could it?¡±

    Zhou Qin heard Li Yundong talking to himself. Although she was a little confused, she still vaguely thought of something and asked tentatively, ¡°Master, are you going to Tibet?¡±

    Li Yundong thought about it seriously, as if he was a little hesitant. Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°Master, what are you hesitating over?¡±

    Li Yundong said in a deep voice, ¡°Wan Zhenyuan is an ambitious man. I am worried that this is a trap nned by him, so I have been worried about whether I should go or not.¡±

    Zhou Qin, however,ughed and said, ¡°Master, this doesn¡¯t seem like you. Haven¡¯t you always said ¡®Amongst thousands of people, I forge ahead¡¯? Moreover, nothing ventured, nothing gained. What¡¯s more, Diyuan Jindan is such a precious thing. I¡¯ve met Master Erdeni. He¡¯s indeed an eminent monk. I believe he won¡¯t collude with Wan Zhenyuan to frame you, will he? And now Meiduo is the new Banda Lam, and she¡¯s your friend. It¡¯s even less likely that she¡¯ll harm you. I believe that you¡¯re destined to take this thousand-year-old lotus.¡±

    Li Yundong felt reasonable when he heard that. He looked at Zhou Qin in surprise and couldn¡¯t helpughing. ¡°You¡¯re right! You¡¯re right! I¡¯m too worried!¡±

    Seeing that Li Yundong had listened to her persuasion, Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help but smile and said, ¡°Master, you have too many things to consider all day long. All the heavy burdens of the Fox Zen School are on you. Besides, you have to worry about our safety, so there are many things to consider. It¡¯s normal for you to be careful.¡±

    Li Yundongughed and said, ¡°Yes, you are right. You must remind me more often in the future!¡±

    Hearing this, Zhou Qin felt warm. She looked at Li Yundong with affection and said to herself, ¡°Master, I will apany you and remind you all the time.¡±

    She looked at Li Yunyang¡¯s handsome profile in a daze, and she was a little lost for a moment.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know Zhou Qin¡¯s thoughts at this moment. He thought for a moment and said, ¡°Since the decision has been made, let¡¯s not dy. I¡¯ll set off tomorrow.¡±

    Zhou Qin packed up her thoughts and couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°Master, I¡¯ll go with you.¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and shook his head. ¡°No, it¡¯s more convenient for me to go alone. If there is really a trap, I can escape alone. You stay at home and hold down the fort. Tomorrow, the Disanxian will reopen. I need you there.¡±

    Zhou Qin was a little disappointed, but she still nodded with a smile. ¡°Well...¡± She turned around and took the Liuhe Sword from Li Yundong and handed it to him. She said, ¡°Master, this is your powerful magical weapon. Take it with you, or I won¡¯t be at ease.¡±

    Li Yundong said with a smile, ¡°I don¡¯t need this thing. You¡¯d better keep it!¡±

    However, Zhou Qin stubbornly shook her head and said, ¡°Master, this Liuhe is your magic treasure. If I use it, it will be greatly reduced, but if you stay with it, it will be with your might redoubled. And if you take it with you, I can rest assured. Otherwise, even if the Liuhe is by my side, I will be restless every day. Even if I had an omnipotent ability, I would not be able to exert it.¡±

    Li Yundong knew that Zhou Qin¡¯s words were reasonable, so he nodded with a smile. He reached out to take the sword, but at the moment he did so, the two of them touched each other¡¯s fingers, skin-to-skin. Instantly, their bodies seemed to be flowing with an electric current, and they trembled.

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help looking at Zhou Qin, only to see that his beautiful disciple was staring at him. Although his eyes were calm, Li Yundong could clearly feel the raging passion behind the calmness.

    Li Yunyang¡¯s heart trembled, and he immediately stood up. He coughed awkwardly and said, ¡°I¡¯ll take the Liuhe with me. You... you have to take care of yourself. I¡¯ll be back soon.¡±

    As he spoke, he quickly ran out of the room.

    Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help thinking behind him and shouting, ¡°Master, this is your room!¡±

    But before she couldment further, Li Yundong was gone.

    Zhou Qin sighed quietly. Her eyes were blurred as she looked in the direction Li Yundong had gone in. For a moment, she was lost in thought.

 Chapter 548 Itâ€™s a Coincidence

    <h4>Chapter 548 It¡¯s a Coincidence</h4>

    After saying goodbye to Su Chan, Zhou Qin, and the others early in the morning, Li Yundong went to Tibet alone.

    Since he was ready to go back as soon as possible, he not only refused Zhou Qin¡¯spany but also did not take Su Chan with him. He did not even take any luggage. He flew to Tibet alone.

    Because the altitude was much higher than in most ces in China, the winter in Tibet was particrly cold.

    Unlike Zhou Qin, who traveled thousands of miles to cultivate Zhuji, when Li Yundong came to Tibet again, the sky was not snowy, but there was some haze around. The ice and snow piled up on the teau of the Snow Region covered the magnificent teau in silver, especially the undting mountains between heaven and earth. It was like a silver dragon winding and wandering, and in the next second, it would wake up.

    As soon as he flew into the sky above the Qinghai Tibet teau, Li Yundong immediately felt that the earth was much closer to him, and the sky seemed to be much lower. There seemed to be a pair of eyes hidden in the dark, thick clouds, staring at him silently, dignified and solemn.

    After flying for a while, Li Yundongnded on the ground again. Fortunately, there were few people on the Qinghai Tibet teau, so no one found him.

    Li Yundong slowly walked into a mountainous area, which was the center of Tibetan society.

    When the first sign appeared, Li Yundong clearly saw that the traffic on the road was dense. There were many off-road vehicles and cars running across the wide road. Most of these cars were private cars of backpackers or travel groups.

    These tourists curiously looked at Li Yundong from the window. In their opinion, it was really rare for someone like him, who had no luggage and was dressed like a Han man, to be alone on the road. Many people were pointing at him.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t mind. When someone waved to him, he smiled politely and nodded to them. Then he continued to walk unhurriedly toward the downtown area.

    As he walked, he admired the magnificent winter scenery in Tibet. Wherever he looked, he only felt that everywhere could be a scene in a painting. Even themest cameraman, with his eyes closed, could take the camera and shoot the most beautiful scene on earth.

    Li Yundong looked around at it all and sighed in his heart. He thought to himself, ¡°If it weren¡¯t for the fact that this ce¡¯s Tibetan Buddhism is too powerful and too deep-rooted, I¡¯m afraid that Daoist cultivators would have snatched such a sacrednd a long time ago. Cultivating in such a ce would give twice the result with half the effort.¡±

    Thinking of cultivation, Li Yundong suddenly saw arge-scale bus passing by. As usual, there were many warm-hearted tourists on the bus who curiously poked their heads out the window to see the strange traveler. Li Yundong smiled and nodded at them. But soon after, the bus suddenly stopped. A woman in sunsses and a down jacket got out of the car.

    After the woman got out of the car, she waved at Li Yundong enthusiastically and cried, ¡°Hey, hey!¡±

    Li Yundong was stunned for a moment and looked at the woman. He saw that the woman had long ck wavy hair and wore sunsses, which made her look very fashionable and western. Although her voice and figure looked a little familiar, he couldn¡¯t remember who the woman was for a while.

    Only then did the woman take off her sunsses. She waved at Li Yundong with a smile and said loudly, ¡°Hey, don¡¯t you know me?¡±

    Li Yundong looked at her and suddenlyughed. Wasn¡¯t this the tour guide Miss whom he had met in Tibet and Xiyuan Temple before?

    He walked over with a smile and said, ¡°It¡¯s you. I thought it was you.¡±

    Liu Xia, the tour guide, saw that Li Yundong had recognized her, so she put on her sunsses again. She said with a smile, ¡°Why are you here? Why are you alone? Where is your car? Have you lost it?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled slightly. ¡°I don¡¯t have a car.¡±

    Liu Xia suddenly understood, ¡°Ah, I almost forgot. Thest time I saw you, you were running like a wild horse in front of me. I almost couldn¡¯t catch up with you when I was driving.¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and changed the topic. ¡°Did you bring a team out again this time?¡±

    After chatting with Li Yundong in the Xiyuan Temple for a while, Liu Xia¡¯s vignce and hostility toward him decreased a lot. At this time, suddenly seeing Li Yundong in Tibet, she was even more surprised and asked the car to stop for a while. She began to talk with him enthusiastically.

    Liu Xia said with a smile, ¡°Yes, this time I¡¯m leading the team. I just took the tourists around the Mu District next to the mountainous area. Now I¡¯m ready to go back. What about you? Where are you going? I¡¯ll take you there.¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need to do that. I can walk by myself.¡±

    Seeing that Li Yundong refused her, Liu Xia was slightly disappointed, but she still smiled and said, ¡°Well... Are you traveling again? Ah, since I became a tour guide, I have seen a lot of people, but I have never seen someone like you. Why do you have to use your legs instead of your car? Are you superman?¡±

    As she spoke, the car behind her suddenly honked its horn. It was the driver urging Liu Xia to get in the car quickly.

    Liu Xia immediately asked Li Yundong, ¡°Are you really not going toe?¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head with a smile, but he immediately seemed to think of something. He asked, ¡°By the way, do you know where Master Erdeni lives?¡±

    Liu Xia was stunned. ¡°Master Erdeni? Are you talking about... one of the three Living Buddhas in Tibet?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°It seems to be this person.¡±

    Liu Xia asked with a strange look, ¡°Why are you looking for him?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s just a small matter. Can you tell me where he is?¡±

    Liu Xia rolled his eyes and smiled cunningly. ¡°Okay, but you have to get in the car. I can¡¯t tell you clearly in a short time. Come on, I can be a tour guide and take you there.¡±

    Li Yundongughed and said, ¡°I¡¯m penniless. If I don¡¯t have money, I can¡¯t pay the tour guide!¡±

    Liu Xia waved her hand generously and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ve met several times, this is fate. I won¡¯t charge you! Hurry up and get in the car. All the people are waiting for you.¡±

    When Li Yundong saw the other party¡¯s enthusiastic invitation, he no longer put on airs. He nodded with a smile and said, ¡°Well, I owe you one then.¡±

    Liu Xia was overjoyed. ¡°That¡¯s a deal. I¡¯ll show you around the beautiful mountainous cityter!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and got in the car with Liu Xia. He saw that the group of tourists was looking at him curiously as if they wanted to see the appearance of the man who had suddenly asked the tour guide Liu Xia to stop the car and rush out.

    When they saw that Li Yundong was handsome and arrogant, they immediately looked at Liu Xia with various kinds of ambiguous expressions.

    Liu Xia¡¯s cheeks turned a little red under these gazes. She coughed awkwardly and said to Li Yundong, ¡°Go to the back row and have a seat. We¡¯ll be arriving soon.¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t seem to feel these gazes. He nodded lightly, went straight to the back, and sat down.

    Liu Xia saw that Li Yundong was calm as if he was not affected at all. She was both disappointed and curious. She couldn¡¯t help looking down at herself and thinking, ¡°Who is this guy? Is he only pretending to be so calm, or does he really care about nothing?¡±

    Liu Xia had seen Li Yundong several times, and several times she had seen some magical and incredible things. It was impossible for Li Yundong not to have left a deep impression on her.

    Sometimes, she would even make private guesses with her close friends about who Li Yundong was, why he was so mysterious, and why he could do so many incredible things.

    These questions had been lingering in Liu Xia¡¯s heart for a long time. This time, meeting him again, she suddenly had a feeling that she could not meet him anywhere else in the world. It seemed that she was destined to meet such a magical man again and again.

    After thinking about it for a while, Liu Xia expelled the distracting thoughts from her mind. She calmed down and continued to exin the local customs to the tourists along the way.

    About half an hourter, the bus finally drove into the downtown area of the city. When the bus stopped, the tourists got off in a hurry. Li Yundong calmly waited for everyone to get off, and then he got out slowly.

    As soon as he got out of the bus, Li Yundong saw the tour guide Liu Xia standing next to it. She stood at the door with a smile and said to him, ¡°We¡¯re here. Wait for me in the hall. I¡¯ll go back and take care of it.¡± After that, without waiting for Li Yundong¡¯s consent, she quickly went into the hotel.

    Li Yundong cried out. Before he could say ¡°no need to dress up¡±, Liu Xia had already run away.

    It was not until half an hourter that Liu Xia came out of the hotel in a hurry. When she saw Li Yundong at the door, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief. She patted her chest and said with a smile, ¡°Why are you still here? Didn¡¯t I ask you to wait in the hall? I just looked around and didn¡¯t see you. I thought you had left impatiently.¡±

    Li Yundong saw that although Liu Xia was still wearing a pair of big sunsses, she had taken off her down jacket that covered her curves and changed into a hand-made brown id sweater. Under her shirt, there was a pair of jeans that hugged her long legs tightly, perfectly outlining her beautiful figure.

    Li Yundong noticed that Liu Xia had even deliberately painted her crystal lips. He couldn¡¯t help but smile bitterly and said, ¡°It¡¯s just a road. Do you need to change clothes from top to bottom?¡±

    Liu Xia adjusted the sunsses on her nose and said with a chuckle, ¡°You can¡¯t entertain distinguished guests casually. Let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll take you to a shopping mall!¡±

    Li Yundong hurriedly said, ¡°I don¡¯t have time to go shopping. Just tell me where Master Erdeni is. I¡¯ll go and find him myself.¡±

    Liu Xia immediately giggled. ¡°Don¡¯t be silly. You won¡¯t be able to see him! Master Erdeni lives in Pot Pce. An ordinary person like you can¡¯t see someone like him!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. You just need to take me there.¡±

    Liu Xia looked at Li Yundong strangely and said, ¡°Well, since you insist... However, this ce is really beautiful. Don¡¯t you want to look around? Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t take you to the store and force you to buy things.¡±

    Li Yundongughed and said, ¡°It¡¯s useless for you to take me away, because I...¡±

    Liu Xia did not wait for Li Yundong to finish his words, and said in unison with him, ¡°You don¡¯t have any money! Am I right?¡±

    Li Yundong was stunned for a moment, and then he burst outughing with Liu Xia.

    Liu Xia giggled, pushed her sunsses back to her nose, and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll take you to the pce.¡±

    Although the two of them had met several times before, they had not spoken much. However, this time around, they seemed to be very friendly with each other due to their unexpected encounter. As a tour guide, Liu Xia had excellent eloquence and was very good at observing people¡¯s expressions. In addition, she enthusiastically introduced the scenic spots and history of the area. As they walked, they arrived at the Jokhang Temple near the Pot Pce.

    The two of them had just entered the lively timple when they saw a sea of people on the streets. Countless residents flocked on the streets, looking in one direction, as if they were waiting for someone to arrive.

    Li Yundong was stunned and asked curiously, ¡°What are they doing?¡±

    Liu Xia stood on tiptoe and looked into the distance carefully. Suddenly, she was surprised and excited and said, ¡°Oh, how lucky you are! You¡¯ve actually run into the Divine Guardian¡¯s dance on the street! This is a rare sight!¡±

    Li Jiandong asked curiously, ¡°Guardian Dance?¡± As he spoke, he turned his head and looked into the distance. He saw a group of people walking on the street and taking heavy breaths. Some of them were holding musical instruments and walking while ying them. Some of them were wearing various ghost-like masks and dancing as they walked.

    Among this group of people, a few strong young men with bare upper bodies were carrying a well-dressed woman and walking slowly.

    Wherever the woman went, the Tibetan people would bow to her reverently in waves.

    Li Yundong was very far away. At first nce, he saw that although the woman was wearing an exaggerated ghost mask, her figure seemed to be familiar.

    While he was feeling a little strange in his heart, he heard Liu Xia say excitedly, ¡°Oh, it¡¯s Banda Lam! It¡¯s a true God¡¯s journey! It¡¯s rare, it¡¯s so rare!¡±

 Chapter 549 Meiduo! Meiduo!

    <h4>Chapter 549 Meiduo! Meiduo!</h4>

    When Li Yundong heard Liu Xia¡¯s words, his heart suddenly moved. He thought to himself, ¡°Banda Lam? Isn¡¯t that Meiduo?¡±

    Thinking of this, he became more and more serious as he looked at the personing.

    At this time, there was a sea of people on the most prosperous Bakuo Street street in Lhasa. Countless Tibetan people crawled down like ants, making the people in the distance see the believers who were dancing the Guardian Dance more clearly.

    They saw a group of people walking in front of them, dressed in colorful Tibetan clothes. They were wearingrge masks made of y and painted with the shapes of gods and ghosts, and a snow-white khada was tied to the top of the masks.

    At first nce, Li Yundong saw that these masks were exquisitely made out of pure gold and fine powder. Some were calm, some were fierce, some were ck, and some were ugly and ferocious with fangs. They were decorated with skulls, giving people a strong and deep impression. The big sleeves and wide robes of believers had beautiful patterns. The ribbons were fluttering and colorful, and there were human faces and skulls on the back and the front of the clothes.

    Lamas were holding Buddhist conches in both of their hands. Some of them were carrying the Buddhist conches on the shoulder of the person in front of them, while others were blowing on the road behind them. The sound of the Buddhist conch was full of deterrence, making people feel respected.

    When the crowd got closer, Li Yundong saw a tall bun on the top of the leading woman¡¯s head. She wore a bright crown, a big ring in her ear, and a mask on her face. Her appearance could not be seen clearly. There were three slender eyes on the mask, which seemed to reveal a kind look. The woman was wearing a white coat, a big red robe, and a pair of red boots. She was sitting on the lotus throne on a high tform, holding a long arrow with a white rod in her right hand, and a bowl full of jewelry in her left. In the midst of the chanting, she really had the majesty of a True God.

    Liu Xia, who was watching nearby, was fascinated. She could not help but click her tongue and sigh, ¡°It¡¯s really unusual. Isn¡¯t it the tenth day of October when the Spring Festival urs, ording to the Tibetan calendar? Why did theye out today?¡±

    Out of curiosity, she took the initiative to grab a Tibetan next to her and ask them quickly in Tibetan. After the Tibetan politely answered with a few words, Liu Xia suddenly realized something. She excitedly pulled Li Yundong and said, ¡°Hey, you¡¯re lucky! As soon as you arrived, you saw such a grand celebration that has not been seen for a hundred years. I heard that the Living Buddha found the reincarnation of Banda Lam, and that¡¯s why she has the Guardian Dance on a trip! Come on, kneel with me!¡±

    Bakuo Street was the most prosperousmercial pedestrian street in Tibet, and it was also the most famous Holy Street. Because it was built around the Great Zhao Temple in Tibet, it passed through Pot Pce, Yaowang Mountain, and the Ramoche Temple, so it was named Bakuo Street. In Tibetannguage, the meaning of Bakuo Street was to transfer the channel and the central circle. Every day, countless believers came and went around Bakuo Street Street for a pilgrimage.

    It seemed that they had heard the news of Banda Lam¡¯s trip, so there were a lot of Tibetan believers on this day. Some of them hade from the northern pasturing area in white robes, some from the Tibetan groups of heroes from Mount Kangba, and some were the Tibetan people living on Bakuo Street wearing gorgeous and luxurious clothes. They gathered together and made the ce very noisy and crowded. But as soon as they left, the noise level fell down like a tide, and the voices disappeared immediately. The originally lively Bakuo Street became quieter and quieter, with only waves of majestic Buddhist voices lingering in the air.

    As most of the Tibetan people were kneeling on the ground, many tourists who came to Bakuo street were also kneeling on the ground as usual. This was even more so for Liu Xia. After getting down, she was just about to kneel on the ground in a decent manner. However, when she turned her head, she saw that Li Yundong was still standing behind her in a daze. He held his head high and looked at the scene before him, as if he was in a trance.

    Liu Xia was very anxious. She quickly pulled Li Yundong¡¯s hand and said, ¡°Hey, what are you doing? We can¡¯t look directly at her, otherwise, it will be regarded as offensive.¡±

    However, Li Yundong didn¡¯t seem to hear what she said. His eyes were still fixed on Banda Lam, who was sitting on the Lotus Throne.

    At this time, Li Yundong was sure that the person sitting on the Lotus Throne was the innocent Tibetan girl he knew, Meiduo. At this moment, he seemed to have a feeling of being separated from the world.

    ¡°The Meiduo who once surrounded me with sweet smiles and called me ¡®Brother Han¡¯ has now be a high-ranking Lak?m¨©?

    ¡°The Meiduo that once dared to show her love to me in the moonlight and cried after being rejected by me. Is she now wearing a divine robe and sitting high on the Lotus Throne?¡±

    Li Yundong suddenly sighed in his heart and thought, ¡°It¡¯s true that I have been looking for this person thousands of times in the crowd. When I suddenly look back, that person is at a high and cold ce!¡±

    What kind of expression would the innocent, lovely, simple and kind Meiduo have under the mask of Banda Lam now?

    Was she sad? Was she joyful? Was she happy? Was she mncholy?

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but feel sad. He thought to himself, ¡°The one sitting here should be Zhou Qin! But if it really were Zhou Qin, I would not agree, not to mention she doesn¡¯t agree. But, but... if Zhou Qin can¡¯t be this Banda Lam, why must she make Meiduo be it?¡±

    Thinking of this, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help shouting, ¡°Meiduo!¡±

    At this time, the whole street was extremely quiet. Li Yundong¡¯s shout immediately made everyone raise their heads to look at him. They saw that all living creatures on both sides of the street were kneeling except for him. He was standing upright and shouting at Banda Lam sitting on the Lotus Throne.

    The scene in front of him shocked everyone, including Liu Xia, who was next to him. She was afraid that these angry Tibetan people would rush up and tear them to pieces in the next minute.

    Sitting on the Lotus Throne, Banda Lam trembled all over and slowly turned her head away. Her eyes seemed to follow the voice in disbelief.

    Through the mask of Banda Lam, Meiduo saw Li Yundong standing proudly in the crowd, towering above the rest. Her mind suddenly rumbled, and an excited and crazy voice shouted in her mind, ¡°He¡¯sing! He¡¯sing!¡±

    At this moment, Meiduo subconsciously reached out her hand to her face. She wanted to remove her mask and shouted at Li Yundong with surprise, ¡°Brother Han!¡±

    However, as soon as Meiduo put her hand on her mask and lifted half of it, the prayer wheel she had in her arms suddenly buzzed.

    Meiduo¡¯s body suddenly trembled, and her originally excited mood suddenly cooled down. A mournful voice could not help shouting in her mind, ¡°So what if he¡¯s here? So what?¡±

    Meiduo¡¯s body stiffened bit by bit. Her hand, which was holding the mask, froze in the air, revealing only half of her jade-like face and a small red-cherry mouth that was as red as a dragonfly¡¯s finger.

    Li Yundong saw Meiduo looking at him nkly through her mask. The look in her eyes gradually turned from surprise and excitement to sadness and finally became as cold as ashes. Under her mask, her red lips gently mouthed something. Although Li Yundong didn¡¯t hear what she said, he could clearly tell from Meiduo¡¯s mouth shape that she had said two words silently, ¡°Brother Han...¡±

    At this moment, Li Yundong and Meiduo looked at each other silently. The distance between them was less than five meters, but they might as well have been as far apart as the sky and the earth. Time stopped, and space was frozen. The originally flowing Bakuo street instantly became a picture of a Tangka.

    Li Yundong looked at Meiduo nkly. He wanted to shout her name and pull her down from the Lotus Throne, making her be the carefree andughing Meiduo he had known before. Though he wanted to reach out his hand, he didn¡¯t know where to start. More importantly, if Meiduo was pulled down by him, what about Zhou Qin? What would she do?

    Was he going to sacrifice Meiduo for Zhou Qin?

    Li Yundong was fighting in his heart. When he was hesitating, he suddenly saw a crystal teardrop rolling down Meiduo¡¯s snow-white cheeks to the corner of her mouth. At this time, Meiduo no longer hesitated. She took advantage of the action of raising her hand to wipe her tears and put on her mask fully again, covering her snow-white, beautiful face under the mask of Banda Lam.

    After speaking a few words to the dancers around her in a hiddennguage, the people began to move forward slowly again.

    Li Yundong watched Meiduo pass by him. Behind her was another image of Banda Lam, the image of Tsing Lam.

    There were five skeletons on this Tsing Lam¡¯s red hair. There was a small lion ornament on her right ear, a small snake hanging on her left ear, and an ount book on her waist that specifically recorded the names of evil people. She was holding a skull stick in her left hand, and a bowl full of blood in her right hand. She looked ferocious, horrible, cold, and ruthless.

    Li Yundong suddenly trembled, and he couldn¡¯t help shouting, ¡°Meiduo, do you really want to be this Banda Lam? Answer me. If you don¡¯t want to, I¡¯ll take you away!¡±

    Hearing Li Yundong¡¯s shout, the Tibetan people who knew Chinese suddenly burst into an uproar. Liu Xia was almost scared to the ground by Li Yundong. She whispered in a trembling voice, ¡°Oh my god, what¡¯s wrong with this guy?¡±

    Meiduo, who was sitting on the Lotus Throne, trembled again. She slowly turned around and stared at Li Yundong with aplicated look.

    Li Yundong saw that when Meiduo turned her body, half of her mask was white, half was cyan, half symbolized a horrible and ferocious Tsing Lam, and the other half symbolized a kind and beautiful Brahms, as if a living person had been cut in half.

    Meiduo looked at Li Yundong nkly for a while, and then she whispered something to a believer next to her. The believer looked at Li Yundong strangely, and then said to him in stiff Mandarin, ¡°She said that she is fine, so you don¡¯t have to worry about her. Herpatriots need her. In addition, she said that she doesn¡¯t know you, so please go away.¡±

    Li Yundong was stunned and thought, ¡°Meiduo¡¯s words are contradictory! Does she really not want to leave?¡±

    After Meiduo finished her words, she said a few more words to the believers, and those guarding her continued to walk forward.

    This time, Li Yundong didn¡¯t say anything to stop them. He just watched Meiduo go away slowly, and the image of Tsing Lam also slowly disappeared from the street...

 Chapter 550 Budala Palace!

    <h4>Chapter 550 Bud Pce!</h4>

    It was not until the team of Guardian Dancers had gone far that the street became lively again. However, many Tibetans were still looking at Li Yundong with strange eyes, whispering and gesticting secretly.

    Liu Xia, who was beside Li Yundong, finally couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. She pulled him to a corner and almost went crazy, saying, ¡°What were you doing just now? Are you crazy? Do you know who that is? That¡¯s Banda Lam, the Lak?m¨©, the reincarnated True God recognized by Living Buddha! How dare you offend her like that! Aren¡¯t you afraid that these believers will tear you into pieces?¡±

    Li Yundong had stayed in the Spirit Space for more than ten thousand years. He thought that he had been through all joys, sorrows, and vicissitudes of life in that world. Unexpectedly, when it came down to it, he still felt mncholy and his face was bleak.

    He sighed softly and said, ¡°I only know that she is Meiduo... or Banda Lam... I don¡¯t care.¡±

    Liu Xia freaked out and said, ¡°What? You don¡¯t care? Do you know how scary the Tibetans are when they go crazy? Do you know how fanatical the Tibetan believers are? If you made the public angry now, I¡¯m afraid you will be crushed into dregs in the blink of an eye! Yes, I know you are definitely not an ordinary person. You can run away. But what about me?¡±

    Li Yundong acted as if he hadn¡¯t heard what she had said. He just sighed softly and said, ¡°That¡¯s Meiduo... How could she be Banda Lam?¡±

    Liu Xia said angrily, ¡°Hey, I¡¯m talking to you! Don¡¯t always talk about Meiduo! Hey, I... Eh? Meiduo? Why does that name sound so familiar? Hey, which Meiduo are you talking about? There are many Tibetan girls named Meiduo.¡±

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly. He shook his head and said to Liu Xia, ¡°What do you mean, which one? It¡¯s the girl that we met before.¡±

    Liu Xia was stunned. She asked tentatively, ¡°Is it the one that loves singing very much?¡±

    Li Yundong sighed and said, ¡°Yes, but I think... I will have no chance to hear her singing anymore.¡±

    Liu Xia suddenly opened her mouth wide and said, ¡°What? Meimei is Banda Lam? Are you kidding me? I, I talked to her? Oh my god... I heard that those who have seen her true body will all die. I, I won¡¯t die, will I?¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head and said, ¡°It won¡¯t happen. Only when Tsing Lam decides to perish together with others will she show her true body and take the enemy to hell with her. She wouldn¡¯t have done that to you when you saw her.¡±

    Only then did Liu Xia feel relieved. She patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°That¡¯s good!¡± But soon, she asked curiously, ¡°But how do you know this?¡±

    Li Yundong had a gloomy look on his face. After a moment of silence, he said, ¡°Let¡¯s go. Let¡¯s go to Pot Pce. I¡¯m going to look for Master Erdeni.¡±

    Liu Xia muttered in a low voice, ¡°It¡¯s a question of whether we can find him...¡± When she saw Li Yundong looking at her, she immediately smiled and said, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll take you there. Anyway, don¡¯t me me if you can¡¯t find him.¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said nothing more. He took the lead and walked out of the end of the alley and onto the crowded street.

    Liu Xia shook his head, sighed helplessly, and chased after him.

    In order to get along with Li Yundong for a little more time, Liu Xia deliberately took him on a big detour from Bakuo Street. Along the way, they passed by the gate of the Great Zhao Temple, then went to Yaowang Mountain and the Ramoche Temple. After wandering around for a while, they finally arrived at Pot Pce.

    Li Yundong observed and knew Liu Xia¡¯s intentions very clearly, but he didn¡¯t speak of it. He just listened to Liu Xia¡¯s vivid and lively introduction of these famous Buddhist scenic spots while enjoying the surrounding scenery.

    Along the way, Li Yundong passed by the princess willows in front of the Great Zhao Temple, and then passed through the prayer wheel street. Under the low eaves, there was a long row of golden prayer wheels. Countless Tibetan believers were holding small prayer wheels in one hand, while the other hand was making therge prayer wheels on the wall rotate with iparable piety.

    When the two arrived at the foot of Pot Pce, it was already after noon. Li Yundong looked up and saw that Pot Pce was sitting steadily between heaven and earth. It was built on a mountain and ovepped with many buildings. The pce was lofty and majestic, with a kind of momentum that could prate the sky.

    In particr, Li Yundong looked at it from a distance, only to see a solid white granite wall, a loose, t white grass wall cor, a magnificent golden rooftop, a giant gold bottle, a stone Buddhist pir and a streamer withvish decoration. The sharp contrast between red, white, and yellow made people feel awe at first sight.

    Liu Xia looked at the majestic Pot Pce with awe in her eyes. She could not help but put her palms together and say, ¡°Every time Ie here, I feel that this ce is very sacred. There seems to be an incredible power around me.¡±

    Li Yundong looked around, only to see countless believers falling to the ground everywhere. They knelt down slowly along the mountain road and bowed to Pot Pce, like they were part of a gray river slowly flowing up the mountain.

    Li Yundong sighed and said, ¡°The power that has been gathered here for hundreds of years, of course, it¡¯s sacred! However, it¡¯s a pity that Srongtsen Gampo didn¡¯t respect the God of Heaven and built a thousand pces and houses in Pot Pce. In the end, he incurred divine punishment... If it weren¡¯t for the fact that the Divine Tribtion had once dispelled the faith power that Pot Pce had gathered, the power would have grown and would have been much stronger now.¡±

    Liu Xia could not help but ask curiously, ¡°Hey, what are you talking about? What are you praising? What do you mean by saying Songtsen Gampo incurred divine punishment? Why don¡¯t I know that?¡±

    Li Yundong looked at the magnificent and majestic Pot Pce. Suddenly, he felt a sense of ancientness in his heart. He sighed and said, ¡°In the past, in order to celebrate his marriage to the princess of Chi Zun in Nepal, Srongtsen Gampo was praised for his future life. He built Pot Pce, here which consists of as many as 999 pces...¡±

    Liu Xia said curiously, ¡°I know that, but what does it have to do with divine punishment?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Do you know why there are only around 900 pces and houses in the Forbidden City of the Forbidden City?¡±

    Liu Xia eximed as realization dawned on her, ¡°Ah, I understand! It¡¯s only for the sake of not exceeding a thousand pces and houses of the Jade Emperor¡¯s Pce, so as not to anger the God of heaven, right?¡±

    Li Yundong nodded and said with a smile, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡±

    Liu Xia asked in confusion again, ¡°But didn¡¯t you just say that Srongtsen Gampo only built 999 pces? It means that he was still in awe of the God of heaven.¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head and said, ¡°Unfortunately, he also built an extra cultivation pce, which made it one thousand in total!¡±

    Liu Xia said in surprise, ¡°Ah! Why did he build that cultivation pce? There are so many houses, any one of them could be used for cultivation.¡±

    Li Yundong sighed and said, ¡°He had eyes bigger than his stomach! Srongtsen Gampo praised himself for thinking that he was the reincarnation of Guanyin Bodhisattva, so he specially built a cultivation room for him to watch the world from... As a result, Pot Pce, which contains a thousand pces, incurred the Heavenly Thunder. The pces were destroyed and burned by lightning. The Tubo Empire, established by Srongtsen Gampo, was also destroyed. That was the result of not respecting the Gods...¡±

    Liu Xiaughed as she listened. ¡°You¡¯re talking quite descriptively, but this is just a legend. It¡¯s a superstition. You can¡¯t trust it.¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head and said to Liu Xia seriously, ¡°Then why does the Forbidden City only have more than 900 but no less than 1,000 pces and houses and have not been destroyed yet?¡±

    Liu Xia said, ¡°This has something to do with the Qing Dynasty choosing Beijing as its capital city and the following war, right?¡±

    Li Yundong pointed to the sky and said, ¡°The heavens have eyes, and people should be afraid of them! When the world doesn¡¯t know how to respect the heavens, all living things will be punished!¡±

    Liu Xia was stunned by what Li Yundong had said. She subconsciously looked up at the sky and saw that there seemed to be a pair of eyes staring at her from above with serious pressure.

    She shivered. She quickly put her palms together and said, ¡°Amitabha, I¡¯m very respectful. Don¡¯t punish me!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and was about to speak when he suddenly heard a sneer from the side. ¡°Superstition!¡±

    Li Yundong and Liu Xia turned their heads and saw a boy dressed in fashionable clothes with a smart, beautiful girl in his arms looking at them with distaste.

    Liu Xia said somewhat unhappily, ¡°Hey,rade, who are you talking about?¡±

    The boyughed and said, ¡°Comrade? Don¡¯t tease me. How can you call me that in this century?¡±

    Liu Xia said with a strange look, ¡°Aren¡¯t you a Comrade?¡± [TL: Comrade is ng for gay in Chinese]

    Only then did the boy realize that there was something wrong with Liu Xia¡¯s tone. He said angrily, ¡°You are gay. Your whole family is gay. Don¡¯t you see that I am a man?¡±

    Liu Xia covered her mouth in surprise and said, ¡°Ah? You are a man? I didn¡¯t see it. I¡¯m sorry! Ah, I made a mistake. If you were really gay, I should have called you lesbian just now!¡±

    Since Liu Xia was a tour guide, she was naturally sharp-tongued. With just a few words, she made the boy speechless.

    Li Yundong just nced at him lightly, as if he didn¡¯t want to argue with such a little boy. He smiled and said to Liu Xia, ¡°Forget it, the concepts are different. There¡¯s nothing to say. Is Master Erdeni here?¡±

    Liu Xia had taken advantage of the guy verbally and turned back as if she had returned to court. She smiled at Li Yundong and said, ¡°Yes, but I don¡¯t know which pce he lives in.¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Thank you for bringing me here. I¡¯ll go in and find him by myself.¡±

    Liu Xia was very disappointed. ¡°Ah? You don¡¯t need me to take you in? Aren¡¯t you afraid of getting lost inside? It¡¯s very big in there!¡±

    Li Yundong said with a smile, ¡°It¡¯s okay. I can ask someone for help.¡±

    As soon as he finished speaking, the boy next to him couldn¡¯t help butugh out loud. Hisughter was full of sarcasm and ridicule. ¡°You¡¯re killing me here. Ask someone? Hey, country bumpkin, do you know who the master is? Do you think you can meet him as you wish? People like me can¡¯t even meet him. Who do you think you are...¡±

    Before Li Yundong could respond, he saw a Lama wearing a yellow robe and a high hating over. He walked over to Li Yundong with a smile, put his palms together, and said, ¡°Zhenren Li, we meet again!¡±

 Chapter 551 Four Great Vajras!

    <h4>Chapter 551 Four Great Vajras!</h4>

    At first nce, Li Yundong could see that the Lama standing in front of him was tall and strong, and his appearance was rough. It was Dorjee Tenzin, and he didn¡¯t even know if he had fought with him. He immediatelyughed and made a palm with one hand. He returned a Taoist salute and said, "So it¡¯s Dorjee Tenzin, Master..."

    Li Yundong looked him up and down. He saw that in the extremely cold winter, he was only wearing thin yellow clothes, and even half of his muscle-covered arms were exposed. He didn¡¯t feel cold at all.

    Especially when Li Yundong saw that the Dorjee Tenzin¡¯s eyes were bright, it was obvious that his cultivation had improved a lot more than thest time he had met him. He immediatelyughed and said, "I haven¡¯t seen you for a long time. You have be much stronger!"

    Dorjee Tenzin also looked at Li Yundong seriously. Different from the feeling he felt when he had met Li Yundongst time, at this time, Li Yundong was no longer as sharp and aggressive. At this time, his breath was gradually restrained, and his aggressive Aura was hidden within. Obviously, he had begun to cultivate from the outside to the inside, and then began to enter a realm of returning to the original state.

    Dorjee Tenzin put his palms together and eximed with admiration, "Zhenren Li, I haven¡¯t seen you for a few months, and your cultivation has really impressed me. I thought that I had been enlightened by the Maha Mand, and my cultivation has improved a lot. I hadn¡¯t expected that there would still be a great difference between you and me! You are so powerful, you deserve to be a grandmaster!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "You¡¯re too polite, Master. I¡¯m still far from being a master!"

    Dorjee Tenzin added with a smile, "Not far, not too far. With your current cultivation speed, I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be long before you be a Master of Cultivation."

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m not here for this matter. I don¡¯t know where Master Erdeni is. Can I meet him?"

    Dorjee Tenzin added with a chuckle, "Master has been waiting for you for a long time. Just now, he specially asked me toe down the mountain to pick you up."

    Li Yundong was slightly surprised and asked with a smile, "You already knew that I wasing? Master¡¯s Metasamsara is really powerful. Amazing!"

    It was not until then that Li Yundong turned his head and wanted to tell Liu Xia that she should go back first. However, when he looked at her, he saw Liu Xia staring at him with a stunning look, as if he had seen an alien.

    Li Yundong was slightly stunned, but he soon realized that his conversation with Dorjee Tenzin had frightened her. Li Yundong smiled and said gently to Liu Xia, "You go back first. Thank you for bringing me here. I will go in with Master Dorjee Tenzinter."

    Liu Xia woke up as from a dream. She said subconsciously, "Ah, then, are you not going back to the hotel?"

    As soon as Liu Xia asked this question, she regretted it. Her cheeks went a little red and she thought to herself, "Nonsense. I don¡¯t live there. Why should I go back?"

    Sure enough, Li Yundong shook his head slightly and said, "No, if everything goes well, I will go straight back to Tiannan City."

    Liu Xia¡¯s heart skipped a beat and she thought to herself, "He lives in Tiannan City? Hey, finally, I know where that mysterious guy lives! It¡¯s not easy!"

    Although Liu Xia was reluctant to part with him, she still smiled at Li Yundong and said, "Then I won¡¯t send you in. Please don¡¯t be rude when you see the master. Don¡¯t go against Benda... uh, don¡¯t be like you were with Meiduo! Otherwise, I won¡¯t be able to save you."

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and did not speak. However, Dorjee Tenzin, who was next to him,ughed and said, "It¡¯s hard to say who is the one being saved."

    The two of them smiled at each other and exchanged pleasantries. Then, they walked side by side down the mountain path towards Pot Pce.

    Liu Xia looked at Li Yundong and Dorjee Tenzin¡¯s disappearing figures, and her heart raced. But when she looked around and saw the boy who had just sneered at Li Yundong¡¯s disappearing figure, she suddenly turned proud again. She said, "Now you know what it means to be blind, don¡¯t you? Do you think he¡¯s you? You can¡¯t see the master of hell, so he personally sent someone down the mountain to pick you up! He¡¯s dumbfounded! Haha!"

    The boy red at Liu Xia angrily, but he could not refute him directly. He just whispered, "Why can¡¯t I see him? This guy can see him."

    On the other hand, the girl beside him whispered, "Well, it¡¯s okay if you can¡¯t see him. He¡¯s just an old monk. What¡¯s so great about him anyway?"

    Hearing this, Liu Xia could not help but sneer. "An old monk? Ha, do you know who this old monk is? He is the real Buddha! If the Tibetan people heard your words, they would beat you so hard that you wouldn¡¯t be able to return home, and throw you directly into the tomb of the holy mountain!"

    The girl was shocked and quickly looked around herself in fear, as if she was afraid that these Tibetan people would hear what she said.

    The boy next to her patted her on the back and said sarcastically to Liu Xia, "Why are you so proud? Can¡¯t you see? If you have the ability,e and show me!"

    Liu Xia was a little embarrassed, but she quickly thought of something. She rolled her eyes, snorted, and said, "Do you think I can¡¯t see him? Wait and see! I¡¯m following him. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll get to see him!" As she said this, she also quickly followed him and hung back far behind Li Yundong.

    The boy was tongue-tied. He looked at her for a while, then suddenly jumped up. "If she can see me, why can¡¯t I? No, I want to go too!" As he said this, he followed her. The girl next to him sighed, but she couldn¡¯t stop her malepanion, so she had to follow him helplessly.

    Li Yundong and Dorjee Tenzin walked side by side. The two of them walked along the wordless stone tablet at the foot of the mountain. They continued along the mountain path paved with rocks until they reached the eastern gate where huge murals were drawn. Only then did they arrive at the entrance of Pot Pce.

    Li Yundong looked up and saw that there were four Buddhist Vajras painted on the murals. From left to right, there was the King of the north, King of the south, King of the east, and King of the west. He could see that the four Vajra were in different postures, holding their powerful magical weapons in their hands and looking down at all the people who were going to Pot Pce.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t even need to control his Qi. He could feel that the four Vajras were surrounded by a powerful force, majestically guarding the eastern gate of Pot Pce. In the face of this force, Li Yundong seemed to feel that there was a giant standing in front of him and looking down on him. The difference in strength between them was so great that Li Yundong was surprised.

    At this moment, Li Yundong suddenly felt a little creeped out. He remembered the mountain-protecting Spirit power he had once offended when he hade to the Kathok Monastery for the first time. That kind of power had left a deep and strong impression on him.

    Li Yundong had originally thought that this force was the peak power of faith, but he hadn¡¯t expected that when he came to the door of Pot Pce, the pressure and shock brought by the four Vajras would far exceed that of before!

    He suddenly thought of how strong the power of faith condensed by Songtsen Gampo when Pot Pce was just established had been. But this kind of power was easily destroyed by the Lightning Retribution phase!

    One could see how terrifying the Lightning Retribution phase was! One could see how terrifying divine punishment was!

    Could cultivators really survive the Lightning Retribution phase?

    Li Yundong clearly felt that his Tao was a little shaken at this moment, as if there was a hole in the solid core of the elixir.

    However, his mind was as firm as steel. He immediately took a deep breath and focused his Qi on his Dantian, then gathered his Spirit to Lingtai. He closely guarded his apparition and stepped inside.

    At this time, Dorjee Tenzin couldn¡¯t help but praise with a smile, "You really live up to your name, Zhenren Li. You¡¯re amazing!"

    Li Yundong asked, "What¡¯s wrong?"

    Dorjee Tenzin continued, "These are the Four Great Vajra Spirit statues of our Pot Pce. It has the supreme power of a True Spirit Buddhist doctrine. In the face of such power, no matter how powerful a cultivator is, he will have a feeling of being in a vast world. It¡¯s difficult for a person to surpass the sky. Only the most determined cultivator can summon the courage to take a step forward and enter Pot Pce. Back then, I stood at the entrance for three days and three nights before I finally steadied myself and gathered the courage to walk in. However, Zhenren Li, you only stayed for a few seconds before you immediately recovered yourposure. That kind of determination is truly respectable!"

    Li Yundong suddenly understood. He smiled and said, "It¡¯s just a fluke, not a big deal. But... why do I feel that the postures and gestures of the four Vajras are a little strange?"

    As he spoke, Li Yundong pointed at the painting on the wall of Pot Pce. A furious Vajra holding a Mahamudrat said, "Take this, for example. Isn¡¯t this the Wisdom Fist Seal?"

    Dorjee Tenzin said with a smile, "That¡¯s right!"

    Li Yundong asked with a puzzled face, "By the way, why did the master say that I only learned half of the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡? I learned from books. What about you? Have you learned all of it?

    Dorjee Tenzin began to chuckle. "Zhenren Li, you¡¯ll have to ask Master Erdeni about this."

    Li Yundong said with a grin, "Actually, I secretly learned the magic of your Esoteric Sect. I¡¯m really sorry."

    Dorjee Tenzinughed. "Zhenren Li is a fated person. There¡¯s no need to worry about it. When you see Master Erdeni, you¡¯ll understand."

    As he spoke, he led Li Yundong all the way through the East courtyard, the porch of the White Hall, the Ji Yuanman Hall, the Southeast Sun Pce, Maitreya Hall, and so on. When the two of them arrived at the Copper Hall, Dorjee Tenzin finally stopped and said, "Zhenren Li, wait here for a moment. I¡¯ll go and call Master Erdeni right away."

    Li Yundong smiled and bowed to Dorjee Tenzinl. After watching him leave, he looked around curiously.

    He saw himself in a very spacious hall. There were countless copper Buddha statues around him. The one in the lead was the image of Sakyamuni. Li Yundong saw that it was holding a Sakyamuni Buddha¡¯s seal in its hand, and there were two rows of words printed under the Sakyamuni¡¯s seal, in Chinese and Tibetan.

    Li Yundong nced at it only to find that the line of Chinese characters were written in a strange and bitter way, "N¨£ng m¨° s¨¡n m¨£n du¨­ b¨® tu¨® n¨¢n f¨´ s¨¤ f¨´ ch¨© l¨© sh¨§ ni¨¨ s¨´ n¨¤ n¨£ng s¨¤ f¨´ d¨¢ m¨® f¨´ sh¨« du¨­ b¨­ lu¨­ b¨­ du¨­ ¨¦ ¨¦ n¨£ng s¨¡n m¨® s¨¡n m¨® su¨­ f¨´ h¨¨!

    Li Yundong only took a look at it and felt a little dizzy. Not only was this passage of text awkward and iprehensible, but some of the words were extremely rare.

    He secretly shook his head with a smile, then shifted his eyes to a statue next to him.

    Next to him was a statue of the King of the south, one of the Four Great Vajras. The Vajra held the Divyadundubhi Meghanirghosa¡¯s hand signs. Under this were still two rows of characters written in Chinese and Tibetan. The order was ¡°N¨£ng m¨° s¨¡n m¨£n du¨­ m¨¦i tu¨® n¨¢n ¨¡w¨§i lu¨­ h¨­ng qi¨¤n!¡°

    Li Yundong looked at it word by word and immediately smiled bitterly. He thought, "This is a little better. At least I saw the hong in the Six-word Mantra! When I used the Divyadundubhi Meghanirghosa¡¯s hand signs before, I only used the mantra Yi! It was enough. Why is it so long here?"

    Thinking of this, Li Yundong suddenly froze for a moment, and a thought shed through his mind. He opened his eyes wide and looked at the lines of words in shock. He shouted in his mind, "Master Erdeni said that I only learned half of the skill of the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ kung fu. Is the other half of the skill on the remaining one? Is this the real,plete Mantra of the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡?"

 Chapter 552 Tianzun Is Alive!

    <h4>Chapter 552 Tianzun Is Alive!</h4>

    Li Yundong looked at the Vajra statue in front of him in shock as if he couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. ¡°The Buddhist doctrine Mantra kung fu of the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ is actually engraved under the statue? Is it true? Aren¡¯t the people of the Esoteric Sect afraid that someone will steal it?¡±

    Li Yundong suddenly turned his head and looked at the other statues in the copper hall. There were hundreds of statues there, each of which was holding a Mahamudra. There were two rows of characters below each statue, respectively written in Chinese and Tibetan.

    Li Yundong was surprised and uncertain. Regardless of the fact that great master Banda Lam hadn¡¯te yet, he had begun to practice the kung fu Mahamudra, and then recited the true Mantra of these Mahamudra in a soft voice.

    But Li Yundong had clenched the Mahamudra, and as soon as he had recited these mantras, he felt the blood in his body boiling, as if a huge stone had been thrown into a calmke, stirring up a thousand waves. Especially when he continued reciting them, the water in theke became boiling. Especially at the end, Li Yundong felt that all his Zhenqi seemed to have transformed into a volcanovake that was about to burst out at any time, and in the next second, it would rush into the Mahamudra.

    Li Yundong was shocked and immediately let go of the Mahamudra. In an instant, the strength slowly dissipated.

    At this moment, Li Yundong was finally sure that the words were indeed theplete mantra of the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡.

    But what puzzled Li Yundong was how these mantras had taken such a long time. Just now, he had recited the mantras, and the time had been so long, it was as if he were reciting magic. If he recited the mantras in a fight, he would have been knocked down more than ten times by the opponent. Besides, wasn¡¯t that the six-word mantra of the Esoteric Sect Kung fu? How could there be so many mantras?

    Just as Li Yundong was feeling puzzled, he suddenly heard a burst ofughter behind him. ¡°The Six-word Mantra is a secret of our Esoteric Sect, but people only know the Six-word Mantra of ¡®Ba-La-Ba-Ba-Ba¡¯. They don¡¯t know that the Six-word Mantra is actually a rough mantra Kung fu.¡±

    He heard the voice behind him and looked back in surprise. With his current cultivation Quotient, it was absolutely impossible for an ordinary person to get within ten meters of him.

    However, eight meters away from Li Yundong stood an old man in yellow, wearing a red robe and a yellow Lama cap. The old man¡¯s face was full of wrinkles and he had long eyebrows. Two gleaming eyes looked at Li Yundong with kindness, as if they were smiling.

    Li Yundong only took a nce, and he felt that the divine light in the other side¡¯s eyes was as deep as a vast sea. He knew that this must be the Master Erdeni. He turned around, bowed respectfully, and said, ¡°Master Erdeni, I¡¯ve been looking forward to this for a long time.¡±

    With a smile, Master Erdeni put his palms together and returned the greeting. ¡°No, no. Zhenren Li, I¡¯ve heard a lot about you.¡±

    Li Yundong smiled modestly and said, ¡°Master, how did you know what I was thinking just now?¡±

    With a smile, he mysteriously pointed to the sky and said, ¡°If God knows, the Buddhas know too. If the Buddhas know, I know too.¡±

    Li Yundong was unable to stifle augh. ¡°As expected of Master Buddha, he deserves his reputation. However, since you know what I am thinking, why are there two different versions of the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ kung fu?¡±

    Erdeni smiled and said, ¡°In fact, this is thenguage used by Buddha, also known as Buddha¡¯snguage. Only when these mantras of Buddhanguage are fully recited can the Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ exert its full power. However, because the Buddha¡¯snguage can¡¯t be used by ordinary people, or when you recite it, it is very difficult. Therefore, in order to pass down the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡, the disciples of the Buddha thought of a simplified version of the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡, which is the Six-word Mantra you are using now.¡±

    Li Yundong suddenly understood, but he still asked with a puzzled face, ¡°Master, I¡¯m a Han man. Why would you pass this kind of secret kung fu to an outsider like me?¡±

    He looked at Li Yundong with deep eyes and said meaningfully, ¡°Because Buddha doesn¡¯t discriminate based on race!¡±

    Li Yundong was stunned. ¡°Buddha doesn¡¯t discriminate based on race? What do you mean? But I¡¯m not a member of your Esoteric Sect.¡±

    He said with a smile, ¡°When I heard Dorjee Tenzin talk about you, he admired your talent in cultivation. At that time, I just sighed with emotion over there being so many hidden talents and heroes in the Central ins. But when he said that it only took you a few days to learn the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡, I was immediately shocked by what he said and immediately thought of one thing. Do you know what it was?¡±

    Li Yundong asked, ¡°What?¡±

    In a meaningful manner, Erdeniughed. ¡°I immediately realized... that the True God had been reincarnated!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He asked in surprise, ¡°Can you judge it just by this?¡±

    Erdeniughed and said, ¡°Zhenren Li, you¡¯re really a mystery! People with great strength can easily carry a heavy burden of a thousand pounds. They must be very unusual. Why can¡¯t most people carry it? Because they are talented and can¡¯t bepared with ordinary people! Do you know even if it is a disciple of Gautama Buddha who learns Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ kung fu, how long it takes for them to learn itpletely?¡±

    Although Li Yundong had read ssics all over. He knew nothing about these secrets that were not recorded in the old books. He asked curiously, ¡°How many years?¡±

    Erdeni raised three fingers,ughing without saying a word.

    Li Yundong asked tentatively, ¡°Three days?¡±

    He asked again:¡±Three months?¡± Master Erdeni shook his head andughed.

    He still shook his head and smiled. Li Yundong was slightly surprised and said, ¡°It can¡¯t be three years, can it?¡±

    Erdeni began tough loudly. ¡°No, it¡¯s thirty years!¡±

    Li Yundong suddenly sucked in a breath of cold air. ¡°Thirty years? Is it so difficult to practice?¡±

    Erdeni nodded. ¡°Yes, the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ is extremely difficult to practice. That¡¯s why the abbot of the Kathok Monastery dared to give you the treasure book, because he thought you wouldn¡¯t be able to learn it. But what he hadn¡¯t expected was that you would not only learn it, but also learn it easily in just a few days, as if you had been immersed in it for decades! Do you know what¡¯s wrong with that?¡±

    Li Yundong was silent and serious.

    Seeing that he didn¡¯t want to say anything, Erdeni smiled and said, ¡°Zhenren Li, you¡¯re the reincarnation of a True Spirit. Otherwise, it¡¯d be impossible for you to learn the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ kung fu so quickly! Did you just feel that these Mantra incantations were very familiar? Have you ever felt tired when reciting them yourself?¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but nod. He said, ¡°But I feel a little slow and not very natural when I do it. Besides, I recited the incantation for so long. In a real fight, I feel that the real martial art of the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ kung fu is not very practical.¡±

    Then, he chuckled and said, ¡°Zhenren Li, do you know how long it would take to cast a protective spell on Vajra of our Esoteric Sect to finish reciting theplete version of the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ when he learns theplete version of the incantation?¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t guess this time, so he simply asked, ¡°How long?¡±

    He raised a finger and said, ¡°Ten years! Because every word of these mantras takes a lot of Zhenqi to recite. Unless you have profound magical power, you can¡¯t recite itpletely! And Zhenren Li, your cultivation is not much higher than that needed to cast a protective spell on Vajra of our Esoteric Sect, but you can recite it easily. This means that you are a real Buddhist God. Apart from that, there is no other exnation that can be found!¡±

    As he spoke, he pointed to a Vajra statue next to him and said, ¡°Zhenren Li, give it a try. Can you recite this paragraph of Mantra incantation?¡±

    Li Yundong looked in the direction of his finger, only to see the Vajra holding the Amituofo Print. The mantra looked frightening, and there were three rows of it!

    Li Yundong looked at it and saw that although these words were hard to pronounce, when he tried to recite them, they were a little slow, but they still came fluently. He recited in a low voice, ¡°Zuimo¡¢Zui Mo, Lao Da Lao Da Luo Ye Ye, Nam Mo, A Li Ye, Mi Da Po Ye, Heng Ta La Duo Ye, Lao Tong Di, San Liao San Bo Tu Ye, he you also him, An, Ami, Emperor, Jealous Napo Bark, Duo San Po Bark, Duo Tiller Bark, Duo Si Di, Duo Di Ji, Multi-tailed Phosphorus Emperor, Multi-tailed Phosphorus Duo Xing Mi Ning, Duo Xing Piao Ji Jia Li, Du Nen Na Pisuo Lai, Savurato Sathonen, Savva Karma, La Ritual, Begging for Pregnancy Kali, Shaha! ¡±

    When he had finished reciting, he felt that he was sweating all over, as if he had exhausted all his strength. Especially when he recited thest syble, he felt like he was going to run out of breath, as if he had to use all his strength and Zhenqi to recite it with every syble he said.

    Seeing that Li Yundong had finished reading, the master couldn¡¯t help butugh out loud.

    Li Yundong thought that the master wasughing at him when he finished reciting the incantation. He smiled bitterly and said, ¡°Master, don¡¯tugh at me.¡±

    The master shook his head. Laughing, he said, ¡°Are you kidding me? No, no, I¡¯m just bing more and more certain that you are definitely the reincarnation of a True Spirit! Because you actually know how to crack the words of these mantras!¡±

    As he spoke, he walked up to the Vajra Buddha statue, pointed at the mantra below, and said with a smile, ¡°There are no symbols on it. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that you were born to understand the Buddhistnguage, you wouldn¡¯t have known where to start. However, each of your broken positions was a true mantra. Furthermore, this is the most difficult part of all the Mahamudra kung fu. Even I may not be able to recite it in one breath, but you can! Moreover, this Mahamudra is divided into nine levels, which are Nine-level Amitabha. You can recite the ninth in one breath. Zhenren Li, are you still not willing to admit it?¡±

    Li Yundong was silent for a long time before he slowly said, ¡°Even if I am, what does that have to do with your Esoteric Sect?¡±

    Master Erdeni pped his hands andughed loudly. ¡°Very well, very well. You¡¯ve finally admitted it! It has everything to do with you, of course!¡± As he spoke, he respectfully leaned down and prostrated himself on the ground, saying, ¡°Master Erdeni pays his respects to Buddha!¡±

    Li Yundong quickly helped him up and shook his head, saying, ¡°You¡¯re too polite, master. I¡¯m embarrassed. You¡¯re the reincarnation of Living Buddha, so I should salute you. However, I only know that I have the spirit of the Immovable Wisdom King, not the Buddha Fashen.¡±

    He stood up and said with a smile, ¡°Immovable Wisdom King is the incarnation of Buddha. It¡¯s used to subdue demons. It has great divine power and supernatural power. No wonder Living Buddha can recite these mantras so easily!¡±

    Li Yundong said with a wry smile, ¡°Don¡¯t call me Living Buddha. It sounds weird. Besides, in front of you, Master, how dare I call myself Living Buddha?¡±

    However, Erdeni shook his head, taking a step back, and then said seriously, ¡°That won¡¯t do!¡±

    Li Yundong also said seriously, ¡°Master Erdeni, I¡¯m a Daoist cultivator. Even if I were to be reincarnated from an Immovable Wisdom King, I would have other cultivations and destinies in my life. Calling me Living Buddha is too absurd. I¡¯ll beughed at.¡±

    He thought for a moment, then said, ¡°Alright then! However, how can Tianzun address you as an ordinary man? I¡¯ll just address you as a Tianzun! You don¡¯t have to call me by your surname because you¡¯re the only Tianzun in this world!¡±

    Seeing that he couldn¡¯t dissuade her, Li Yundong had no choice but to change the subject and said, ¡°Master Erdeni, I heard you say that there are also nine levels in Amitabha. May I ask which nine are avable? Can you teach me?¡±

    Erdeni smiled slightly. ¡°If the Tianzun wishes to learn, of course, I can help!¡±

    Li Yundong was happy to hear this. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly heard a ¡°plop¡± in the distance, followed by a cry. He was immediately shocked and turned his head sharply. His sharp eyes were like lightning as they flicked in the direction of the sound. He shouted, ¡°Who is it?!¡±

 Chapter 553 Reincarnation Nine Prints

    <h4>Chapter 553 Reincarnation Nine Prints</h4>

    Li Yundong shouted, and he immediately rushed out like a p of thunder. But as soon as he rushed out, he saw Liu Xia rubbing her ankle outside and sitting on the ground with a pained expression. Behind her was a young boy with a contorted face who was shouting, ¡°Get up. Are you going to kill me!? Get up!¡±

    The girl next to the boy wanted to help him up, but when she saw Li Yundong rushing out with a fierce expression, she was immediately shocked and took a step back like a frightened deer.

    Liu Xia saw Li Yundong at first nce and immediately squeezed out a smile. She waved at him and said, ¡°Hey! We meet again!¡±

    Li Yundong was stunned. ¡°Why are you here?¡±

    Liu Xia was embarrassed to say what had happened just now. Trying to peek at the situation inside the copper hall, she had fallen down. Fortunately, there had been a follower underneath her, otherwise, she would have hit the floor!

    For a while, her eyes were darting around. But fortunately, she was wearing sunsses, so no one could see her panic. She quickly came up with a lie, pulled the boy next to her, and said, ¡°I am his tour guide. I brought him here. We just happened to meet you again.¡±

    Li Yundong looked at the boy and found that he was the one who had ridiculed him just now. He couldn¡¯t help frowning slightly and asked, ¡°Him? Are you his tour guide?¡±

    Liu Xia secretly stretched out her hand and squeezed the boy¡¯s arm. This boy was smart enough to discard his old hatred with Liu Xia and said quickly, ¡°Yes, yes, she is the tour guide I invited! Any problems?¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t see Liu Xia¡¯s little actions, but he saw the change in the boy¡¯s expression. He said with a faint smile, ¡°Better to make friends than enemies!¡±

    Liu Xia realized that Li Yundong wouldn¡¯t pursue the matter further. She quickly stood up, rubbed her ankles, and smiled stiffly, ¡°That¡¯s right. No one can go against money!¡±

    The boy also got up and said, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Are you not convinced? You¡¯re the only one who cane here? I can¡¯t?¡±

    Li Yundong nced at him and passed over his words. He turned his head and walked out of the copper hall. ¡°Master, what do you think?¡±

    Master Erdeni nced at them with a smile, not speaking. Liu Xia felt excited. She asked with a watchful, reverent tone, ¡°Excuse me, are you Master Erdeni?¡±

    He nced at Liu Xia with a smile, nodded slightly, and said, ¡°Yes!¡±

    Liu Xia was excited and shouted, ¡°Wow, I¡¯ve seen the real Buddha, oh my God!¡± Then she asked cautiously, ¡°Well... Master Erhard, may I take a photo with you?¡±

    Master Erdeniughed and put his palms together, then said, ¡°Since we¡¯re destined to meet each other, why not?¡±

    Liu Xia had never expected that the Master Erdeni, who enjoyed a high position in the hearts of the Tibetan people, would be amiable and easy to approach. She immediately took out her cellphone and timidly approached him. She put on an unusual pose that made use of her selfie-taking skills, holding her phone high in front of her and trying to prepare herself to take pictures.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. He couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°Hey, please be more professional, okay? If you don¡¯t have an SLR camera, at least you can get a camera. You¡¯re a fool. If you only have a cellphone, what¡¯s this unconventional pose for? If you make this pose, won¡¯t the selfie be weird? You should let others take a great photo for you! Can you figure out the person who took a photo with you?¡±

    Liu Xia let out a soft gasp and looked at the master with some embarrassment. ¡°Master, I¡¯m really sorry. I only have this device...¡± Then, she red at Li Yundong angrily. ¡°I¡¯m not going to travel. Why would I bring a camera with me?¡±

    The boy next to them came to his senses as if he had just woken up from a dream. He murmured subconsciously, ¡°Is this Living Buddha? No, it doesn¡¯t look like him! I haven¡¯t seen anyone apart from us!¡±

    Then, he burst intoughter. ¡°That¡¯s right. A real Buddha wouldn¡¯t have more heads or arms than you guys! He¡¯s just an ordinary person.¡±

    Li Yundong also said with a smile, ¡°Buddha said that Buddha is an experienced person, and people are future Buddhas! But that¡¯s all.¡±

    He nced at Li Yundong with appreciation, put his palms together devoutly, and said to him, ¡°Amitabha!¡±

    Li Yundong also smiled and bowed back. The boy next to him was stunned and said, ¡°Am I back in ancient times? Can you stop being so wordy? It¡¯s so strange!¡±

    Hearing his rude words, Liu Xia could not help but re at him. She kicked him and said, ¡°Hey, hurry up and bring me your camera. Take a picture!¡±

    This boy came to his senses. He quickly asked his partner, who had been dumbfounded for a long time, to take out a small camera. Then he cheekily approached Master Erdeni and shouted to his partner, ¡°Hey, help us take a few pictures!¡±

    As if awakening from a dream, she took out a camera and got ready to take photos for them.

    At this time, Master Erdeni turned his head and said to Li Yundong, ¡°Tianzun, don¡¯t you want to take a photo with me?¡±

    Before Li Yundong had time to speak, he heard the boy muttering in a low voice, ¡°What¡¯s the point of taking photos with him?¡±

    Master Erdeni immediately became angry. He took a step back and said in a low voice, ¡°Impudent! How dare you speak to the Tianzun in such a manner! Do you know who he is?!¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t want others to know his true identity, so he cut in with a smile, ¡°I don¡¯t need this. Great Master, you can do it yourself.¡±

    Liu Xia saw that the boy had said something wrong again. She red at him angrily, then smiled and said, ¡°Great Master, the child is immature. Don¡¯t be angry.¡±

    ¡°If he won¡¯t respect the Tianzun, then I won¡¯t take a photo with him!¡± Master Erdeni said solemnly.

    The boy¡¯s face suddenly flushed, and he stood there silently. Liu Xia saw that the atmosphere had gone stiff and awkward. She squinted at the girl and said, ¡°Why are you still in a daze? Take a photo now!¡±

    Regardless of whether Master Erdeni agreed or not, the girl immediately picked up the camera and took a picture. With a snap, she took a picture of Liu Xia, the stiff-faced Master Erdeni, and the embarrassed and annoyed little boy, as well as Li Yundong.

    Then, she cheered and pulled the boy who was standing beside her and ran outside. As she ran, she turned back and said to Li Yundong, ¡°Hey, let¡¯s have dinner together next time. I still have something to do now, so I¡¯ll go first!¡±

    Seeing her running away, Li Yundong secretlyughed and shook his head. Master Erdeni could not help sighing. ¡°Tianzun, I never thought that your cultivation would be so great at such a young age. It¡¯s rare for you not to get angry like this!¡±

    Li Yundongughed and said, ¡°In fact, you don¡¯t have to argue with them like that. The world is full of this kind of person. If you argue with them every time, won¡¯t you just end up exhausted?¡±

    Master Erdeni shook his head and said, ¡°I¡¯m not concerned, I¡¯m just sighing with emotion. Although the Hans in the Central ins are full of hidden talents and heroes. It¡¯s a pity that theyck faith and don¡¯t understand the importance of being reverent. It¡¯s going to be a big problem! Just now, I saw that he was a fated person, so I agreed to take a photo with him, but I hadn¡¯t expected that he wouldn¡¯t respect the true Spirit. He¡¯s so stupid and disdainful. That¡¯s why I sigh.¡±

    Li Yundong was unwilling to discuss this with him, so he changed the topic and said, ¡°By the way, Great Master, you just said that the Mahamudra is divided into nine levels. May I ask what they are? Can you teach me carefully?¡±

    Master Erdeni didn¡¯t continue to delve into the issue either. Heughed and said, ¡°Of course. However, let¡¯s go back to the main hall first.¡±

    Then, they were on the way back to the Hall of Copper Sound.

    He pointed at a row of Amitabha statues and said, ¡°Tianzun, please take a look. Here are the nine Mahamudra of the Reincarnation Nine Prints. Please look at them carefully.¡±

    Li Yundong looked at them and saw the three statues lined up from left to right. The three Amitabha statues had two hands folded and three fingers stretched over their thighs. The first one¡¯s right hand was ced under their left, and the next had two hands on its chest, the two palms juxtaposed. Thest one had its palm outward, right hand up, left hand down.

    Standing to one side, Master Erdeni exined, ¡°The first three Mahamudra are Upper Level Prints, also known as the Mituo Prints; the three in the middle are Medium Level Prints, also known as Shuofa Prints; thest three are Low Level Prints, also known as Wuwei Prints!¡±

    Li Yundong nodded. He looked at the Buddhist statue carefully and found that there was a slight difference between the three kinds of Upper Level Prints. The upper print was the thumb and tip of the index finger; the medium print was the thumb and the middle finger was the fingertip; the low print was the thumb and ring finger. Li Yundong asked curiously, ¡°Are these three skills different?¡±

    He nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. The skills of the first three Mahamudra are different. They are Upper Grade Life Seals, Medium Grade Life Seals, and Lower Grade Life Seals!¡±

    Li Yundong looked at the other Buddha statues and said, ¡°The others should be middle-upper ss, middle-middle ss, low-upper ss, low-middle ss, low-low ss, and the other nine-ss seals?¡±

    Master Erdeniughed. ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±

    Li Yundong remembered the method of pinching these Mahamudra in his mind and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the use of this Mahamudra kung fu?¡±

    Master Erdeni smiled and said mysteriously, ¡°Tianzun, you can slowly experience it yourself in the future. Let me keep it a secret for now!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and didn¡¯t ask any more questions. But when he remembered the Mahamudra and wanted to remember the corresponding mantras of these Mahamudra, he found that there was no true mantra under the nine-level Mahamudra!

    Li Yundong was stunned and said cautiously, ¡°Hey, why don¡¯t these Nine-level Mahamudra have corresponding mantras?¡±

    Master Erdeni burst outughing. ¡°Tianzun, have you finally discovered it? Now, do you know why the Buddha can subdue the demons by relying on this set of mantra incantations with extremely long great fingerprints?¡±

    Li Yundong thought it over. He blurted out subconsciously, ¡°Don¡¯t you need to tell me the truth?¡±

    He pped his hands and said with a smile, ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±

    Li Yundong was suddenly excited and said in surprise, ¡°it¡¯s not necessary to recite the mantra. Is it also the Matra Mahamudra?¡±

    Master Erdeniughed and said, ¡°It is precisely because the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ kungfu takes too long to recite that the Buddha specially created the Reincarnation Nine Print that doesn¡¯t need to be recited! Although the power of the Reincarnation Nine Print is far less than that of other Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡s, and they require the chant of the mantra because its moves are concise and fast, you can create the Reincarnation Nine Print to fight against the enemy when you are talking about the mantra. When you finish reciting the mantra, you can form a corresponding Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ to perfectly connect the other martial arts of the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ kungfu!¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but be stunned. He was shocked and thought, ¡°The iplete version of the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ kungfu I used to practice is ridiculously powerful. So how powerful is theplete version of the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡, which is more than a dozen times more powerful? In addition to the almost instantaneous Reincarnation Nine Prints, how powerful is this whole set of Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ kungfu?¡±

 Chapter 554 I Cant Speak a Word

    <h4>Chapter 554 I Can¡°t Speak a Word</h4>

    Only then did Li Yundong know that the essence of Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ was Reincarnation Nine Prints. He asked questioningly, "Master, aren¡¯t you afraid that someone will secretly learn the Reincarnation Nine Prints?"

    Cena chuckled. "Tianzun, you worry too much. This Reincarnation Nine Prints isn¡¯t a thing that an ordinary person can do. Only a God with great power and great virtue can do it. Even our Esoteric Sect¡¯s Guardian Vajra is unable to do so."

    Li Yundong suddenly understood. He didn¡¯t ask any more questions, just turned his head and silently looked at the many deities and Buddhas in the copper pce.

    As the saying goes, ordinary people look at the scenery, and it is just scenery. When a master looks at the scenery, he won¡¯t miss the bigger picture. Even from a flower and a leaf, he can see the whole world and even themon people in the universe.

    This was exactly what Li Yundong was doing at this time. After he finished reading the Vajra Deity Buddhas with big handprints, he even looked at other deities and Buddhas with magic tools in their hands and different postures. He also vaguely felt that their positions seemed to have a deeper meaning. His heart moved and he could not help imitating them.

    Seeing Li Yundong walking around the copper pce and waving his hands and feet from time to time, he knew that Li Yundong had entered a state of cultivationprehension. At this time, Li Yundong was doing the kind of subconsciously enlightened behavior of a cultivator. He smiled slightly and didn¡¯t go forward to disturb Li Yundong. He left silently.

    The Copper Hall was one of the tourist attractions opened by Pot Pce. After stepping out of the hall, many tourists went in to have a look, but then they saw a man dancing in front of the divine statues like a madman. He even imitated the movements of these divine statues. Some of them were ferocious, others were kind and amiable.

    All these tourists were shocked by Li Yundong¡¯s strange behavior. Some of them didn¡¯t dare to stay in the Hall of Sound and ran out one after another. Some of them were bold enough to take out their cameras or cellphones to film him at a distance.

    However, these tourists changed wave after wave until the sun went down behind the mountain. Li Yundong was still immersed in meditation and could not extricate himself from it.

    When it waste at night, several Lamas came to the Hall of Copper. They lifted the wallmp for Li Yundong so that he could still observe the mystery of every Buddha¡¯s position without any obstruction.

    Li Yundong had no perception of anything around him. At this time, he had entered a state where there was no one around him. He waspletely immersed in the profound understanding of the divine power of Buddhist doctrine.

    In this series of enlightenment, Li Yundong clearly felt that every posture of the divine Buddist statue had a special power and solemnity. For example, the postures of King Ming and Vajra were mainly focused on majesty, horror and victory. The key functions were to wake up all living things, to frighten all enemies, to eliminate fear and to drive away ghosts and demons.

    As for the other Gods and Buddhas, their poses appeared to be much more gentle. One of them was Bhaisajyaguru Buddha¡¯s posturebined with Mahamudra, allowing Li Yundong to feel vigorous energy swirling around him.

    This power seemed to represent the power of sunlight and moonlight. It could cure deadly diseases, make the sick be healthy physically and mentally, and make already healthy people feel at ease.

    For a long time, Li Yundong changed from one position to the other. After he had looked at all the postures of the hundreds of statues and imitated them, he found a ce in the hall and sat cross-legged on the floor. He entered his Spirit Space and silently recalled the martial arts of the Mahamudra he had learned and the postures of Buddhism he hadprehended.

    The meditationsted for a day and a night. When Li Yundong woke up the next day, it was already dawn. He opened his eyes at this time and let out a long breath. Suddenly, he looked up and let out a long roar.

    Different from the previous long roar, the one contained the power of the Buddhist mantra. It was like countless eminent monks reciting scriptures and countless Buddhist bells echoing at the same time.

    For a moment, all the bronze statues in the copper hall were shocked by Li Yundong¡¯s voice, making a ringing sound. Then, after his voice came out of the copper hall, the other statues in the other pces also buzzed, such as in the Silence Hall, the East Sun Hall, Maitreya Hall.

    In an instant, all the statues in the pce were shaken by Li Yundong¡¯s long roar, making buzzing sounds. It was like the Unmoving Heavenly Lord of Light, as well as Gods and Buddhas and the King of all Yamas, giving out a heaven-shaking Buddha¡¯s name. It was majestic and earth-shattering, like a group of waves echoing. The waves piled up one after another, forming an iparable mega-wave, and it covered the sky and the earth, rushing straight upwards!

    At this time, the pilgrims who were advancing towards Pot Pce, as well as the tourists who were ying, were all stunned by the strange scene in front of them. All of a sudden, the pilgrims prostrated themselves on the ground in awe, thinking that this was the manifestation of deities and Buddhas. As for the tourists, they all looked left and right, as though they were searching for direction and the source of the voice.

    After Li Yundong let out a long howl, he stood up. Although he had been practicing for two days, he still felt energetic. When he opened his eyes, he saw that Cena was standing at the door of the main hall, looking at him with a smile and not saying a word.

    Li Yundong walked over with a grin and said, "Master, you must have waited for me for a long time. How long have I been in meditation?"

    He put his palms together devoutly and chanted the name of a Buddhist monk. "Amitabha, it wasn¡¯t long. Just two days."

    Li Yundong was slightly surprised. "Two days? Why do I feel like it was two hours?"

    Cena chuckled. "Two hundred years is nothing more than a flick of a finger, let alone two days. it¡¯s not surprising for you to have this feeling."

    Li Yundong alsoughed and returned the salute. "You¡¯re right, Master. Although two days¡¯ time is short, for some people, it feels as long as a few centuries. Although I don¡¯t care, I can¡¯t ignore other people¡¯s feelings."

    Li Yundong hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he added, "Master, I have a presumptuous request. I don¡¯t know if I can ask it of you."

    The master nced at Li Yundong with his eyes that seemed to be able to see through everything, and he said with a smile, "Tianzun, you don¡¯t have to say it. I have already answered you."

    Li Yundong was stunned and asked in surprise, "What?" As soon as he finished speaking, he had an idea and asked tentatively, "Do you mean to persuade me not to go up the mountain from the east?"

    Cena began to chuckle. "What else could it be?"

    Li Yundong was shocked. "Master, do you know that I¡¯m going to the Bright Mountain to get the 1,000-year-old snow lotus?"

    With a smile, he pointed to the sky and said, "The 1,000-year-old snow lotus is gathering the spirit of Heaven and Earth, and it is also a treasure of our sect. Of course, I know its fate!"

    Li Yundong asked in confusion, "But, Master, won¡¯t you ask me what I¡¯m going to do with the 1,000-year-old snow lotus? Why did you give it to me for nothing?"

    Erdeniughed and said, "Buddha can feed an eagle with his flesh. What¡¯s more, you are the reincarnation of the Wisdom King. Besides, everything in the world has its own destiny. What can I do to stop it by force? If it is destined to be yours, no matter how hard I try to stop it, it will be useless."

    Li Yundong sighed, bowed respectfully, and said with admiration, "Master really has the temperament of Buddha. You deserve to be a Living Buddha in the world. I admire you! But what do you mean by persuading me not to go up the mountain from the east?"

    After a long silence, Erdeni said to Li Yunyang meaningfully, "Tianzun, in fact, I already knew what you would choose and what the result will be. But the reason why I¡¯m still talking to you like this is that I hope you won¡¯t go this far..."

    Li Yundong was confused. He asked in confusion, "Master, what do you mean by this? Did you know that I would definitely go up the mountain from the east? What will happen if I do that? What will happen if I go up the mountain from another direction?"

    With a smile, Erdeni lowered his head and chanted the name of a Buddhist monk. "Buddha says I can¡¯t say!"

    Li Yundong suddenly smiled bitterly in his heart and thought, "Why are all the eminent monks who are proficient in fate like this? Will they be killed if they don¡¯t keep me guessing?"

    As if knowing what Li Yundong was thinking, Erdeni said with a smile, "It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to say it, it¡¯s that it¡¯s useless to do so. On the contrary, it would reveal the secrets of heaven and I would be punished by heaven. So, please forgive me."

    Li Yundong was slightly shocked, but he quickly understood. Since the master knew the Metasamsara, he must have known the Heart Binding! Of course, he knew what he was thinking.

    Li Yundong had no choice but to salute with a bitter smile and said, "Master, I¡¯ll leave and get the snow lotus. I¡¯lle back to thank youter."

    He returned the greeting with a smile and said, "There are three holy mountains in Tibet. Do you know on which holy mountain the snow lotus grows?"

    "Master, please give me some advice."

    With a smile, Erdeni said, "The thousand-year-old snow lotus is a spiritual creature of the universe. It will hide and transfer itself. It doesn¡¯t always grow in a holy mountain. Only when fated people show up will it appear. Therefore, any holy mountain can reveal its true body. But what is certain is that it will appear on the holy mountain that has the most predestined rtionship with fated people."

    Li Yundong thought for a moment and asked, "Is it Kari Holy Mountain?"

    Erdeniughed. "Well, you¡¯ll have to investigate by yourself."

    Seeing that he didn¡¯t want to exin in detail, Li Yunyang didn¡¯t force him. After he said goodbye to Erdeni with a smile, he went out of the Hall of Sound.

    As soon as he walked out of the copper pce, he saw a lot of tourists talking, whispering to each other about the abnormality of the divine statues. Li Yundong saw them, but he just smiled and didn¡¯t care about it. After he left Pot Pce, he ran in the direction of Kari Holy Mountain.

    Li Yundong flew at a low altitude when there was no one on the way. When he met someone, he fell to the ground and ran wildly. A few hourster, he arrived at the foot of Mount Kari.

    Li Yundong looked up and found himself at the foot of Mount Kari, which was located to the west of Mount Athos. He only saw the Holy Mountain, which was the tallest ce in Tibet. It stood majestically as if a sharp sword had been inserted straight into the clouds.

    Li Yundong was surprised. Looking at the hillside in the west, he couldn¡¯t help but think of what Erdeni had said. He was full of doubts in his heart. "Why can¡¯t I go up from the east? Is there anything wrong with the east?"

    Thinking of this, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing. As the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat. "Why not listen to the advice of the Living Buddha? If I don¡¯t go up the mountain from the east, I¡¯ll just go to the other side of the mountain."

    Thinking of this, Li Yundong was about to climb up the mountain when he suddenly heard a shouting through the weak wind. Li Yundong was suddenly stunned and subconsciously turned his head in the direction of the sound.

    The voice came from the east of the Kari Holy Mountain. He was surprised and hesitated for a moment, thinking to himself, "I¡¯ll go and see what¡¯s going on. If there¡¯s nothing else, I can turn back and go up the mountain from another ce."

    Thinking of this, he quickly walked to the east side of the Kari Holy Mountain. As soon as he turned to the east, he heard clear sounds of fighting and shoutinging from the mountainside through the wind.

    He looked up and saw several figures entangled on the snow-white hillside. Two men in gray Daopao were attacking four Lamas. The four Lamas were standing around a woman.

    Li Yundong activated his super vision to take a look, only to see that this woman was in white clothes, a red robe, and a pair of red boots. It was none other than Meiduo in Banda Lam¡¯s dress!

 Chapter 555 Spirit and Sky Zhenkongism

    <h4>Chapter 555 Spirit and Sky Zhenkongism</h4>

    Li Yundong was stunned when he saw Meiduo on the eastern hillside of the Kari Holy Mountain. He couldn¡¯t help wondering, "Why is she here?"

    But at this time, the two Taoists on the hillside surrounded Meiduo very fiercely. He had no time to think about this question for a moment. He immediately rushed to the hillside like lightning.

    Li Yundong exerted force and jumped to the mountainside in a few leaps. He took a closer look and saw that one of the two Taoists was tall and thin, with a mustache under his wolf-eyed and eagle-like nose, and he had a ferocious look on his face. The other Taoist was short and fat, with mouse-like eyes and a stubby nose. He looked wretched and funny, but the light from his small eyes was like that of a hyena, sinister and vicious.

    Of the two Taoists, one was tall and thin, holding a horsetail whisk and a long ck sword. The other one was short and fat, putting his hands under his sleeves, so that no one could see what powerful magical weapon he was using.

    The long ck sword in the tall skinny Taoist¡¯s hand was exquisite. Sometimes it appeared in his hand, sometimes it turned into a magic treasure and suddenly appeared behind Meiduo. It was fierce and hard to defend against. The fly-whisk in his hand was even more powerful. As he waved it, there seemed to be countless strong winds blowing in the air. Each of them was like a sharp flying knife, and anyone who was hit by it would be either dead or injured.

    As for the pudgy Taoist, he continued to wander around Meiduo and the others, as if to prevent them from escaping. As he wandered, he sneered in a sharp voice, "Hand over the snow lotus, or I will kill you!"

    Meiduo was surrounded by four guardian sentinels and several Lamas who were lying in the snow. The snow under their bodies was dyed red by blood. It was obvious that they were dead. Among the remaining four guardian sentinels, one of them was Dorjee Tenzin.

    When Li Yundong saw this scene, he was shocked. He knew that Dorjee Tenzin had been cultivated by the Living Buddha, Maha Mand, and that his power had increased greatly. It was at least equivalent to that of an expert of Yin Cultivation. However, he hadn¡¯t expected that even though they had so many guardian sentinels, they had been beaten by the two Taoists and had no power to fight back. Besides, only one person hadunched a fierce attack, and the other one had been wandering around to watch the battle!

    Li Yundong was shocked. Seeing that he couldn¡¯t hold on any longer, he immediately rushed to them like lightning. He quickly pinched Mahamudra in his hand, which was still the same as the one he was most familiar with before: Fixed Fundamental Palm!

    With a loud shout, he mmed Mahamudra toward the tall skinny one.

    The tall skinny Taoist only felt a gust of wind blowing toward him, as if a high-speed train was crashing into him, causing his hair to stand on end.

    He was shocked and immediately retreated more than ten meters in an instant. The pudgy one appeared almost at the same time beside him. The two people moved so fast that they seemed to sh by in an instant, shocking Li Yundong!

    As the saying goes, the moment a professional makes a move, he¡¯ll know if there¡¯s anything wrong with it!

    Li Yundong knew that the situation just now had almost been a sneak attack. The Mahamudra was fast and fierce, and it had been hidden all of a sudden, but the other side had still easily dodged it. Obviously, his cultivation was very high!

    Li Yundong¡¯s Mahamudra hit nothing but the mountain, causing the snow on the hillside to fall down, and the snow-capped peak of the mountain shook slightly.

    Meiduo and Dorjee Tenzin looked at him and they were both happy. They eximed, "Brother Han!" "Zhenren Li!"

    Li Yundong nodded slightly to them, then turned around and looked at the two gray-robed Taoists with unkind eyes. He said coldly, "Who are you? Why do you want to kill them?"

    The tall and thin one and the short and fat one also looked at Li Yundong with bright eyes. The tall one snorted and did not speak. The short one said sharply, "Who are you? Are you also from the Secret Sect? Why are you dressed like this?"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t answer, but asked, "It doesn¡¯t matter who I am. What matters is why you want to kill my friends."

    "Your friends?" The short, fat Taoist nced at Meiduo and Dorjee Tenzin behind him. Heughed and said, "My junior brother and I were looking for the 1,000-year-old snow lotus here. Unexpectedly, these people appeared and stopped us from looking for it. They also said that the 1,000-year-old snow lotus belonged to their Esoteric Sect! Ha, everything in the world is ownerless. Why should they say that it belongs to their sect? It¡¯s ridiculous! What¡¯s more, it was not their business"

    The short, fat Taoist said with a wild smile, "If you know what¡¯s good for you, ask your friends to hand over the lotus as soon as possible. Maybe I¡¯ll let you go if I¡¯m in a good mood, otherwise... Humph!"

    The pudgy one snorted heavily, causing the air around him to tremble. The thickyer of snow on the mountain slope seemed to jump up.

    Li Yundong was shocked again. He could see that although the Taoist was arrogant, his cultivation was definitely not inferior to his.

    "One is fine, but if both of them fight with me, how can I win?" Li Yundong¡¯s face was as cold as water, and he quickly calcted the countermeasures in his mind.

    At this time, the tall, skinny Taoist on the opposite side suddenly lowered his head and said something to his Senior Brother. The short, fat Taoist was stunned for a moment. He narrowed his eyes and looked at him seriously, saying, "Hey, did you split the Emperor¡¯s Clock before?"

    Li Yundong was stunned. "Yes, are you..."

    The pudgy Taoist burst intoughter. "So it¡¯s you who let us out! Why do you look so familiar?"

    The pudgy Taoist put his hands on his hips andughed. "Hey, do you know who we are?"

    Li Yundong was unhappy when he heard that his words were so frivolous and arrogant, but he didn¡¯t lose his temper. He just frowned slightly and said, "Haven¡¯t you asked for advice yet?"

    The pudgy Taoist pointed at himself and said, "My name is Xu Lingzi..." Then he pointed to his junior brother and said, "And my junior brother is called Xu Kongzi! You can also call us Xu Ling and Xu Kong. Hum, in the early years of the Republic of China, our names were famous. Haven¡¯t you heard of them?"

    Li Yundong said in a low voice, "No!"

    Xu Ling jumped up and said angrily, "What? You haven¡¯t heard of us!? How dare you! I want to..."

    Before he could finish his words, Xu Kong beside him bent down and whispered a few words to him.

    Xu Ling immediately suppressed his anger, snorted and said, "Forget it. For the sake of saving the two of us, I¡¯ll forgive you this time! You¡¯re lucky enough to escape this disaster! Hey, I¡¯ll give you a great opportunity. Do you want it?"

    Li Yundong asked calmly, "What opportunity?"

    Xu Ling pointed at his feet and said, "You have a good foundation, and your cultivation Quotient is not bad. Although you are a master of martial arts, I don¡¯t want to argue with you because you saved us. If you kneel down and kowtow three times, I will ept you as my disciple and pass on all my skills to you. What do you think?"

    Before Li Yundong could say anything, Dorjee Tenzin and Meiduo behind him were shocked. The other three mountain-protecting divine monks looked at him with unkind eyes and were eager to try to sneak up on him.

    Meiduo shouted in a secretnguage, "Don¡¯t do it. Brother Han won¡¯t hurt us. He¡¯s definitely not with these two Taoists!"

    As for Dorjee Tenzin, he immediately shouted at them in Mandarin, "Stop! Zhenren Li is not such a person!"

    Li Yundong looked back at them, smiled at Meiduo, and nodded to assure her. After he turned around, he looked at Xu Ling with a sneer in his eyes and said, "Do you want me to be your disciple?"

    Xu Ling put hands on his hips and said proudly, "Of course, do you know how many people want to be my disciple, but I won¡¯t take them?"

    Li Yundong smiled and asked, "Since you want me to be your master, you¡¯ll have to tell me which sect you belong to, right?"

    Xu Ling snorted and said, "Listen carefully. Dao Master, I¡¯m the left custodian of Zhenkongism, while my junior brother, Xu Kong, is the right custodian. What do you think? What a powerful background!"

    "Zhenkongism?" Li Yundong frowned slightly and asked, "Was it established by Liao Di in Mount Huanglu in the early years of his reign in the Qing Dynasty?"

    Xu Ling looked at Li Yundong in surprise. "You know what? Hey, you¡¯re not honest. Did you just say that you hadn¡¯t heard of the two of us?"

    Li Yundong said with some sarcasm, "I really don¡¯t know, but I know that Zhenkongism is gradually declining. The members can only be found in Fujian, and in other ces they are almost extinct."

    Xu Ling was stunned on the spot, with a disappointed look on his face. "Ah? Is that so? How many years have I been locked up for? When our Zhenkongism was in its heyday and developing, in the 15 years of the Republic of China, more than ten thousand people from domestic and foreign sects gathered in Mount Huangju in Shenzhen. At that time, the world was really one big family. How powerful it was! All the sects in the world respected us, and all the sects were inferior to us! I hadn¡¯t expected that now..."

    Xu Ling sighed for a while, then suddenly became energetic again. He looked at Li Yundong with bright eyes and said, "But now, it¡¯s okay. With my cultivation and martial arts, as long as I shout, Zhenkongism will rise again. At that time, I will be Master. My junior brother will be Deputy Master, and I will appoint you as the left custodian. I promise that you will be invincible and dominate the world. What do you think?"

    Li Yundong finally couldn¡¯t helpughing.

    Xu Ling heard Li Yundong¡¯s ear-piercingughter and said unhappily, "Hey, what are youughing at?"

    Li Yundong said to him with a smile. "You¡¯re talking nonsense. Weren¡¯t you sealed in the Emperor¡¯s Clock? If I hadn¡¯t cut open it and let you out, you would still be locked up inside! Take you as my master? What if you¡¯re locked up again? Since I have the ability to release you, it means that I¡¯m more powerful than you..."

    With this, Li Yundong pointed to the front of his feet and said, "Why don¡¯t you kowtow three times to me and I¡¯ll take you as my disciple and make you my servant. I promise you that you won¡¯t have to worry about food and clothing for the rest of your life and won¡¯t get sick. What do you think?"

    As Li Yundong said this, he turned his head and pointed to the Lama who was lying in the pool of blood behind him. He said, "Of course, you¡¯ll have to ask them how they will settle ounts with you, and then we can talk about finding a coach. What do you think?"

    Xu Ling¡¯s body trembled and his face turned purplish red. He gritted his teeth and said word by word, "I¡¯m being so kind to you, but you dare to tease me! You¡¯re courting death!"

    As he spoke, the tall and thin Xu Kong stared at Li Yundong like an eagle. He slowly walked over to his side and formed a horn attack with his Senior Brother Xu Ling.

    To one side, Dorjee Tenzin immediately shouted, "Zhenren Li, we¡¯re here to help you!"

    However, Li Yundong raised his arm and palm to them, saying, "No need!"

    Li Yundong stared sharply at Xu Ling. The smile on his face gradually disappeared, only to be reced by a cold look. He slowly said, "You surrounded my friends and tried to kill them. I think you are the ones who are looking for death!"

    As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Ling and Xu Kong shouted angrily at the same time and pounced on Li Yundong from two directions!

    Li Yundong snorted. His five fingers flipped and he quickly pinched out a Mahamudra. He recited the mantra and punched. It was the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ he had just learned in the Hall of Sound Copper!

 Chapter 556 Five Ghosts and Five Plagues in Yuhuang Xiandu

    <h4>Chapter 556 Five Ghosts and Five gues in Yuhuang Xiandu</h4>

    Facing an attack from both sides, Li Yundong did not panic. He made a Vajra Fist with both hands, and the index finger of his left hand stood straight. He held the first part of his left index finger with the little finger of his right hand, and the first part of his left index finger was supported by the right thumb. It was the Wisdom Fist Seal, an Emblematic Gesture that could destroy all the unknown darkness in the Divyadundubhi Meghanirghosa¡¯s hand!

    He performed the Divyadundubhi Meghanirghosa¡¯s hand and recited the mantra. The Wisdom Fist Seal was one of the shortest movements in the mantra. There were only three small pieces of the mantra in total. He recited them quickly, and in the blink of an eye, he finished it. "Hey! Sun-Touching Talisman! "

    As soon as Li Yundong finished reciting, all the Zhenqi in his body rushed out like a volcano eruption, and a majestic force instantly gathered in his hands. With a boom, the Wisdom Fist Seal rushed toward Xu Ling like a cannonball.

    The power Mahamudra was far beyond that of Li Yundong¡¯s previous six-word mantra. In the past, when he had done a Mahamudra, it had shone with golden light, like a golden palm. But at first nce, it could still be seen that this handprint was illusory and transparent. But at this time, when Li Yundong struck out, all the Zhenqi in his body seemed to be condensed into this move. At first nce, it was like a real palm, and even the air and light could not prate it!

    Xu Ling felt that the Mahamudra hade to him in the blink of an eye, as if a Vajra Buddha had suddenly appeared in front of him and pped him!

    This fierce, domineering wind made all the hairs on his body stand on end. He immediately let out a scream and disappeared.

    Li Yundong¡¯s big handprint forced Xu Ling, who was rushing toward him, to retreat again, but Xu Kong next to him rushed over in the blink of an eye. With a flick of the fly-whisk in his hand, he threw it at his face like a steel whip.

    Dorjee Tenzin and Meiduo, who were not far away, heard the horrible sound breaking through the air, and they felt afraid. They knew that if this hit was true, even solid ice would be smashed to pieces, let alone a human body.

    Seeing that Li Yundong had done Mahamudra to drive away Xu Kong, but had been attacked by him, they immediately let out a cry of surprise.

    But Li Yundong didn¡¯t notice. Suddenly, white light flew out from behind him. It was the Liuhe Sword¡¯s guardian. It cut fiercely and sharply at the head of the fly-whisk!

    Xu Kong frowned and immediately turned his wrist, and the fly-whisk he had thrown came back. He turned his body, and the fly-whisk in his hand went soft. The soft beard avoided the fierce cleave of the Liuhe, but with the power of the rotation, it climbed to the handle of the Liuhe Sword like a vine. Then, Xu Ling turned over with the momentum of turning and made a sword. The ck longsword stretched out from his core in an instant and went straight to his waist.

    It was impossible for him to defend against this attack. Li Yundong¡¯s Liuhe was entangled with the fly-whisk in an instant. If it had been anyone else and he hadn¡¯t had enough powerful magical weapons, he would definitely have died in an instant.

    But Li Yundong instantly stretched out his hand and quickly pinched a colorful embroidered purse. In the blink of an eye, the Psychic Fan of Seven Treasures jumped out.

    Every leaf of the treasured fan was like a saw wheel nging, and it fiercely chopped toward Xu Kong¡¯s ck long sword.

    Xu Kong was stunned. He hadn¡¯t expected that Li Yundong would have a magical weapon beside him. When he saw the leaf of the Psychic Fan spinning rapidly, ayer of golden Sanskrit appeared on it, and the edge of the fan became even sharper. If he fought it head-on, his sword might be damaged.

    He did not dare to fight recklessly against the Fan of the Seven Treasures. With a flip of his wrist, he released the Liuhe in his hand and wrapped it around the tail of the fan like a group of vipers.

    In the blink of an eye, this fly-whisk wrapped tightly around the tail of the fan like a tree vine. The rapidly spinning leaves of the fan stopped spinning and Xu Kong let out a loud shout. With a violent shake of his wrist, he threw the whisk in his hand into the air and pulled the fan into the air.

    The two magic treasures flew up, then immediately stopped. They fought each other like two strong men. The Fan of Seven Treasures struggled madly, trying to break free from the entanglement of the whisk. However, this whisk fought back hard, desperately trying to wrap itself around the fan, getting tighter and tighter.

    When Li Yundong saw that his weapon was entangled, he had an idea and immediatelymanded the Liuhe to attack the other side fiercely.

    The two of them fought as hard as thunder and as fast as lightning. However, by the time Xu Ling was driven away by the Mahamudra, the two of them had already finished several rounds of fighting.

    When Xu Ling reappeared, he suddenly opened his eyes wide and eximed, "The Fan of Seven Treasures? You little kid, your magical weapon is not bad! What¡¯s your rtionship with the Fox Zen School?"

    But before he had time to be surprised, he saw a sword that was attacking Xu Kong suddenly split into two and rushing toward him.

    Xu Ling was shocked and asked, "The Liuhe? What¡¯s the rtionship between you and the Linggong Sect?"

    As he spoke, the Liuhe rushed in front of him like lightning. Xu Ling saw it clearly. He stretched out his finger and flicked the sword hard. With a ng, it was thrown far away.

    Xu Ling saw Li Yundong¡¯s gloomy face and did not speak. He looked at these powerful magical weapons, and his eyes suddenly showed strong greed. Heughed and said, "You don¡¯t want to tell me, do you? It doesn¡¯t matter. When I get it, it will be my magical weapon!"

    As he spoke, he suddenly stretched out his hands from his sleeves. A ck jade pendant was in his hand.

    Xu Ling threw the jade pendant into the air and immediately stopped. The Liuhe also stopped in front of him in an instant, and it was difficult for them to take half a step further.

    Li Yundong looked over and recognized that it was the board in the hand of the ancient ministers. The board was erected in the air, as if there was an invisible god holding a jade coffin, making the Liuhe unable to move anymore.

    Li Yundong suddenly felt a chill in his heart. He frowned and thought, "What kind of magic weapon is this? How can it make the Liuhe unable to move? Even I feel that my connection with it has been cut off?"

    Xu Ling seemed to know his thoughts. He said proudly, "Humph, no matter how powerful your sword is, it¡¯s worthless in front of me. Humph, let me tell you, my Yuhuang Xiandu specializes in all magic tools in the world. No matter how powerful your weapons are, you¡¯re powerless when you meet mine!"

    Only then did Li Yundong understand. He thought in his heart, "This Jade-ying Immortal is probably a powerful magical weapon of the same type. If I trade one for one, I won¡¯t have much attack power, but using this powerful magical weapon can offset a powerful magical weapon of his. If I use it properly, this powerful magical weapon will really be a bit abnormal. If I have such a magic treasure, I don¡¯t have to be afraid of the Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade in Zheng Yuan¡¯s hand."

    Xu Ling saw that Li Yundong was silent, so heughed wildly and said, "Boy, there is a way in heaven, but you¡¯re not taking it, and there¡¯s no door in hell! I have given you a chance to live, but you won¡¯t cherish it! Hum, let¡¯s see what powerful magical weapon you have now!"

    After that, he roared and took out a powerful magical weapon from his sleeve. It was a jade seal.

    Xu Ling held the jade seal in his hand and covered it in front of him. Suddenly, two ck characters were clearly drawn by him in the air. They were the words ¡¯Five Ghosts¡¯ from the ancient seal book.

    The two ck characters ¡¯Five Ghosts¡¯ hung in the air for a while, and then slowly twisted and drifted away, as if the condensed ink had been scattered.

    The ckness slowly dispersed into five human figures. These five people were wearing colorful robes and each of them had an item. One of them was holding a piece of cloth and a jar, one had a leather bag and a sword, one had a fan, one had a hammer, and the other had a firepot. The five people¡¯s faces were green, and their eyes looked hollow. They were exuding a ck aura of death all over their bodies.

    With only one nce at them, Li Yundong was greatly shocked. He recognized that they were the five gue ghosts of the sky and earth. They were Zhang Yuanbo of the Spring gue, Liu Yuanda of the Summer gue, Zhao Gongming of the Autumn gue, Zhong Rengui of the Winter gue, and Shi Wenye of the Historical gue.

    Usually, only one of these ghosts would appear, and then there would be a terrible gue in the world. No one could imagine what would happen if all five ghosts appeared together!

    Li Yundong was both shocked and angry. "Five ghosts? How, how can you summon such vicious ghosts?"

    Xu Lingughed loudly and said, "Vicious? Are you kidding? They are the gods of the immortal ss! Don¡¯t you know that Emperor Suwen once conferred the title of general to them? Look at this cyan-robed man who was given the title of General of Xian Sheng, the red-robed man who was given the title of General of Xian Ying, the white-robed man who was given the title of General of Perception, the ck-robed man who was given the sense of General, and the yellow-robed man who was given the title of General of Juewei! You are just a kid who don¡¯t know the immensity of heaven and earth. When you see the Five Ghosts, shouldn¡¯t you surrender yourself?"

    After that, he flicked his sleeve, and the ghosts immediately waved the powerful magical weapons in their hands together. The one holding the hooks hooked the jar¡¯s mouth, releasing cyan smoke in an instant. The one holding the leather bag and the long sword split the leather bag open with the sword in their hands, and the leather bag immediately released red smoke.

    The gue ghost held the hammer and mmed it hard against the ground. With a loud noise, a crack appeared on the ground, and wisps of ck mist flew out from it. The gue ghost took a deep breath from the firepot, and then spat a mouthful of yellow smoke at Li Yundong.

    The four wisps of smoke surged in the air. At first, they were not fast, like four crawling pythons of different colors in the air, but the gue ghost holding the fan suddenly waved the fan in his hand hard. In an instant, on the hillside of Kari Holy Mountain, a strong wind blew and whistled.

    Within one blink of an eye, the four wisps of smoke turned into crazy dancing snakes, and then into a huge whirlpool, pouncing on Li Yundong from all directions.

    Li Yundong was shocked. He knew that these four auras respectively represented the most terrible four kinds of Death Qi in the world. They were the Qi of Death, of gue, of Ghost, and of Poison. As long as ordinary people touched a little of it, they would immediately turn into rotten water, their bones gone.

    Even an expert at the top level of Yang Spirit like him would rot and die if he inhaled a little bit, let alone touched it!

    Li Yundong knew that Xu Ling was vicious, but he hadn¡¯t expected that the Taoist in front of him would be quite so vicious. He had never heard of such a thing!

    He was furious and shouted, "With such a harmful powerful magical weapon and magic, aren¡¯t you afraid of divine punishment?"

    Xu Lingughed wildly and said, "Just worry about yourself first!" After that, he pointed at Li Yundong and sneered, "This is the result of going against me!"

 Chapter 557 The Wind Does Not Stir the Mighty King Kong!

    <h4>Chapter 557 The Wind Does Not Stir the Mighty King Kong!</h4>

    Seeing the gueing at him from all directions, Li Yundong immediately held his breath and entered a state of True Breath from his mortal breath. At the same time, the Yang Spirit instantly went out of his body and turned into the Wisdom King with superhuman powers. He also made three Mahamudras in his hands and took out the burning thumb pot from his arms and flicked his fingers, making a dinging sound.

    The burning thumb pot was made for restraining the Evil Qi of demons and ghosts. Although the five ghosts were gods, the bad spirits released by them were sinister and vicious, so they were also restrained by the burning thumb pot.

    Li Yundong flicked his finger, andyers of halos immediately spread out from the burning thumb pot. These halos spread constantly, like ripples, instantly blocking the poisonous winding from all directions around him. Moreover, as soon as this halo made contact with the four-colored smoke, it immediately absorbed a part of the smoke and bounced back, as if it had absorbed a part of the evil Qi.

    Xu Ling was shocked and looked at Li Yundong in disbelief. He said in surprise, ¡°A burning thumb pot?! How is that possible? How could you have such a magical item? You have three powerful magical weapons?¡±

    Powerful magical weapons were the weapons of cultivators. However, not every cultivator had one. Each powerful magical weapon had its own unique uses. As long as they were used properly, they would have the strength to change the tide of battle. Such things were naturally extremely rare. It was extremely impressive for ordinary cultivators to have a powerful magical weapon. If they could have two at the same time, they would be awe-inspiring and no one would dare to offend them.

    However, if a cultivator had three at once, hisbat strength would increase by more than double. Any challenger would have to settle a score with the cultivator and his three powerful magical weapons, which meant one versus four!

    After the surprise, Xu Ling soon showed strong jealousy and greed in his eyes. He said with a grim smile, ¡°Okay, okay. What powerful magical weapons do you have? Take them out all at once! I¡¯m lucky to have you now!¡±

    Once he had finished talking, he wrapped his sleeves and quickly disappeared from where he was. His shrillughter came from all directions in the wind. At this time, Xu Kong was entangled with the Liuhe, and he suddenly threw the long sword in his hand into the air, making his sword and the Liuhe fight. He also rolled up his sleeves and concealed himself in an instant, disappearing from the same ce.

    Li Yundong saw that there was a four-colored poisonous wind around him. Although the burning thumb pot could block the evil Qi outside, because every time the alms bowl emitted a stream of light, a part of the poisonous gas would be absorbed. This part of the poisonous gas was different from the Yuanqi of the demons and ghosts, so it could not be directly absorbed by the burning thumb pot. Therefore, the burning thumb pot had to spend a lot of Lingqi to fight the evil Qi that had invaded the inside of the magical item. Every time the alms light was released by the burning thumb pot, it would weaken a little bit, and the surrounding wild wind and evil Qi would be stronger and fiercer.

    Li Yundong saw that things were not going well, but he wasn¡¯t shocked at all. His face was as calm as water, and he closed his eyes. As soon as he closed his eyes, the Yang Spirit¡¯s eyes opened, and the vertical pupil on his forehead opened, emanating blinding light!

    He controlled his Yang Spirit Fashen, and his six arms pinched three Mahamudras one after another. One of his hands was tied inside, and his two index fingers were vertical. His wrists were two to three inches apart, and his two fingers were bent three times. It was the Tathagata Print, which could remove all the miasma!

    Li Yundong¡¯s other two hands were made in V¨¢jra Fetters, and his two middle fingers were as vertical as needles. They were in unique shapes. It was the Samayah Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ of Diamond Element that couldn¡¯t be moved by the eight winds!

    As for the remaining two, he put his palms together humbly. His two little fingers, such as the two nameless fingers, merged into his palms. The two index fingers were attached to the back of the two middle fingers, and his thumb was erect. It was the shape of three eyes, which could destroy all obstacles and subdue all the ghost-like light at the top of the Mahamudra!

    These three Mahamudra seals were extremely powerful. They were aimed at the evil Qi from the surrounding poisonous winds, the ferocious attacks from all directions, as well as the defense and counterattack of the Five Ghosts that had been summoned.

    Li Yundong¡¯s previous Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ had been extremely powerful. Now,bined with all these mantras, its power was terrifying.

    Although the crazy evil wind around him was fierce, Li Yundong¡¯s Apothecary Buddha¡¯s Emblematic Gesture, together with the burning thumb pot, immediately forced the wind around him back, as if there was a barrier in the air around him.

    Li Yundong struck out with the Samayah Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ of Diamond Element, which instantly turned into countless Vajras and scattered around him. As soon as Xu Ling and Xu Kong appeared around Li Yundong tounch a sneak attack, a golden radiance Vajra appeared automatically. He mmed his palm toward the two Taoists, forcing them to retreat, as if thousands of troops and horses were surrounding him.

    He then recited the mantra and used two Mahamudras in session. He immediately reversed the situation and put himself steadily in an invincible position. When he recited the mantra, he pped out the third Light Gathering Mahamudra. In an instant, the sky and earth changed color, and all the light seemed to gather on Li Yundong¡¯s Mahamudra.

    This strong white light seemed to pierce all the dark evil forces. It squeezed the air around it and rushed toward the five ghosts in a fierce torrent!

    How could these five ghosts dare to take such a horrible Buddha-gathering Mahamudra? They immediately let out screams like night owls and rose into the air in an instant.

    Li Yundong snorted and pped them again with the Light Gathering Buddhist Mahamudra. The five ghosts were immediately driven away by Li Yundong. They didn¡¯t have the time or strength to stimte the Evil Wind Qi.

    Meiduo, Dorjee Tenzin, and the others were already stunned. Although Meiduo was the heir of Banda Lam and had seen Li Yundong¡¯s divine power many times, she still hadn¡¯t expected Li Yundong to be so powerful!

    The two Taoists had killed several of them in less than a few seconds, and the ones who had been killed were all powerful guardian sentinels!

    However, Li Yundong was fighting two people alone, but he was not at a disadvantage at all!

    This kind of strength was more than frightening!

    Dorjee Tenzin also widened his eyes and couldn¡¯t help sighing, ¡°Great, great. Zhenren Li really can¡¯t be moved by the wind. He¡¯s mighty and fierce! He¡¯s so powerful, so powerful!¡±

    But as soon as he opened his mouth, Xu Ling, who had been unable to attack for a long time, suddenly looked at them with anger. He rolled his eyes and smiled gloomily. ¡°Boy, I didn¡¯t expect you to be this good at Mahamudra kung fu! However, even if you can guarantee that you won¡¯t be affected by these five ghosts, can you guarantee that the others will be fine as well?¡±

    After saying that, he roared and pointed at Meiduo, Dorjee Tenzin, and the others. The five ghosts in the air immediately released a gust of evil wind and rushed towards them.

    Li Yundong suddenly became furious. He lit up his Mahamudra and drove the five ghosts away so that they didn¡¯t have time to fan the dark wind. But even this little bit of dark wind and evil air had shocked Meiduo and the others.

    Dorjee Tenzin shouted again, ¡°Making the Vajra Formation!¡±

    The remaining three Lamas immediately sat cross-legged. The four of them were upying one of four directions, one in the east, one in the east, one in the west, and the other in the west. Each of them pinched Fixed Fundamental Palms with their hands, and they chanted the scriptures quickly.

    For a moment, their bodies emitted a faint golden radiance. The golden radiance slowly connected together and formed a golden barrier, blocking the evil Qi outside.

    However, the Vajra Formation could block the poisonous miasma and evil Qi, but it could not stop Xu Ling and Xu Kong. The two of them instantly appeared next to Dorjee Tenzin and the others. They mmed their palms toward the top of their heads!

    Li Yundong shouted angrily, and the Yang Spirit appeared between Xu Ling and Xu Kong in an instant. Relying on his six-armed Yang Spirit, he blocked the palms of the two at the same time, and at the same time, each of them punched at the other.

    Immediately, the two of them were hit by Li Yundong¡¯s lightning-fast fists, and their bodies were shattered in an instant.

    Meiduo¡¯s face was filled with horror when Xu Kong and Xu Ling appeared in front of Li Yundong. They attacked Li Yundong from both front and back. She was shocked and cried out involuntarily, ¡°Watch out!¡±

    Li Yundong had been fooled by Xu Ling and Xu Kong¡¯s trick of luring the tiger away from the mountain. Suddenly, he had lost the protection of the Samayah Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ of Diamond Element and was being attacked from both sides.

    However, Li Yundong was not in a hurry. He leaned to one side and quickly formed two Mahamudras of Reincarnation Nine Prints, one on the left and one on the right. He patted Xu Ling and Xu Kong.

    Xu Ling and Xu Kong hadn¡¯t expected Li Yundong¡¯s two Mahamudras to be this fast. They hadn¡¯t even heard him recite the mantra and had hit themselves in the face.

    The two of them had been caught off guard and sent flying. Xu Ling had been hit in the chest and couldn¡¯t help taking a breath of poisonous air. Xu Kong had been hit in the chest by Li Yundong¡¯s palm and spurted out a mouthful of blood. When he fell to the ground, he immediately trembled and coughed violently.

    Li Yundong snorted and said coldly, ¡°You deserve it. I¡¯ll let you have a taste of the poisonous miasma yourself!¡±

    As soon as Xu Lingnded on the ground, he rubbed his chest. With a wave of his sleeve, he summoned the five ghosts back in an instant. The four-colored evil Qi hovering in the air also disappeared instantly. He quickly rushed to the side of Xu Kong and asked in concern, ¡°Shidee, are you okay?¡±

    As he spoke, he raised his head. His face was full of ferocity, and his eyes were full of murderous aura. ¡°Little kid, how dare you hurt my Shidee! You have provoked me!¡±

    Seeing him take a breath of poisonous miasma, Li Yundong was totally nonchnt!

    He was actually slightly stunned, and a hint of foreboding appeared in his heart. He thought to himself, ¡°The poisonous miasma is fierce and horrible. Any Yang Spirit Master would decay and die if he touched it. This Xu Ling not only touched it, but also took a breath. How is he not dead?¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart suddenly stirred. ¡°Could it be that he turned the Yang Spirit into Gang Qi and covered his whole body to form an invisible barrier to iste the poisonous miasma?¡±

    However, if he wanted to do this, he would not have been able to do it just by relying on the Yangshen phase. Furthermore, the Yang Spirit¡¯s Yuanqi was not enough to withstand this terrifying poisonous miasma. Even though the Yuanyang Qi in the Yangshen phase was dense and thick, it was still not substantial.

    Only... the Yuanqi of the Jinshen phase could be condensed thickly enough that not even the slightest bit of aura could prate it!

    Thinking of this, Li Yundong looked at Xu Ling in horror and thought to himself, ¡°He can¡¯t be a jinshen master, can he?¡±

    Just as he was thinking about it, Xu Ling suddenly shouted, and the bones all over his body cracked. His figure, which had originally been short and fat, gradually became taller and longer, and he became a man as strong as an iron tower. Xu Ling¡¯s originally-wretched face also became valiant, but the fierce light in his eyes became more intense, as if he were a hyena. He shook and turned into a horrible wild beast.

    Xu Ling stomped on the ground, causing the entirety of Kari Holy Mountain to tremble. Then, he rushed toward Li Yundong like a cannonball!

    Li Yundong immediately made a Fixed Fundamental Palm with both hands and quickly recited the mantra. Then, he made a Mahamudra toward Xu Ling.

    This time, Xu Ling did not dodge at all. With a grim smile, he mmed into the Mahamudra.

    With a bang, the power of Xu Ling was slightly blocked, and a golden figure appeared behind him in an instant, as if another person had been knocked out of his body by the Mahamudra.

    However, in the blink of an eye, the golden figure flew back into Xu Ling¡¯s body, not damaged at all!

    Li Yundong immediately took a deep breath. He knew that the golden figure that had just been forced out was the Yang Spirit of Xu Ling!

    As for the cultivators in the Yangshen phase, no one in the world would have been able to withstand this Mahamudra from him and not dissipate!

    Xu Ling in front of him had taken his palm head-on, but the Yang Spirit had been only slightly separated from his body by the blow. In the blink of an eye, it had returned to normal. This showed that he was definitely a fearsome jinshen master!

 Chapter 558 Tsing Lams Appearance!

    <h4>Chapter 558 Tsing Lam¡°s Appearance!</h4>

    Ever since Li Yunyang had reached the top cultivation of the Yang Spirit, it had been difficult for him to make further progress. Although his mana was constantly growing, it was caused by the growth of magic tools, magic arts, and moves. Especially after learning theplete version of the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡, Li Yunyang¡¯s actualbat strength had been multiplied.

    However, he knew very well that his cultivation would not reach the next state. The umtion of quantitative changes did not result in qualitative changes. Still, he could rely on his powerful magical weapons, moves, and talents to defeat all the masters below the Jinshen phase.

    But what would he do when met a master of the Jinshen phrase?

    How great was the gap between the top realm of the Yang Spirit and the Jinshen phase?

    He used to think that the Yangshen phase represented people beginning to transcend life and death. Even if their bodies were destroyed, their spirits could swim out of their bodies and find another one to start their cultivation again.

    Although people in the Yangshen phase had transcended life and death, they could be destroyed, smashed, or even captured and killed actually. Li Yundong had once shattered Yan Fang¡¯s Yangshen with palm power, which had reduced her strength by half in an instant. It could be seen that the Yangshen was actually a powerful energy body. It was powerful, but not condensed enough to be invincible after all. When faced with the fierce attack of Zhenqi, it could easily copse.

    However, once one reached the Jinshen phase, the Zhenqi of their Yang Spirit would increase exponentially. With that, a person could resist all kinds of powerful external energy attacks. Besides, with the increase of cultivation, the Yang Spirit of the Jinshen phase could not be destroyed by any magic arts or magic treasures in the world and a cultivator could be indestructible and imprable.

    At this state, a top level jinshen master could only defeat them by improving their cultivation, and couldpletely destroy them with arge magic circle and terrifying lightning retribution phase.

    After taking Li¡¯s palm directly, the jinshen Yang Spirit of Xu Ling was made to fly out of his body a little bit, and then continued to pounce on him, unscathed. Li Yundong was shocked and quickly made a Vajra Fist Seal again. Xu Ling, relying on his Jinshen phase, still did not dodge and rushed toward Li Yunyang with a grim smile.

    With a loud bang, Xu Ling¡¯s body shook slightly, and he rushed toward Li Yundong like a whistling cannonball.

    Li Yundong felt a horrible auraing at him, like the grim smile of the god of death!

    At this moment, Li Yundong felt that he was very close to death for the first time since he had started cultivating. The situation was so critical that it was even more terrible than the first time he had been faced with a pistol!

    There was a swoosh behind Li Yundong¡¯s back, and all the hairs on his body stood on end. He immediately stamped his feet and retreated madly. At the same time, he kept doing big handprints with his hand and rushing to Xu Ling like a storm.

    But Xu Ling seemed to want to show off his Jinshen phase. He still didn¡¯t dodge and kept chasing Li Yundong with a grim smile, like a maggot attached to his bones.

    The power of Li Yunyang¡¯s Mahamudra was terrifying, but whether it was the Fixed Fundamental Palm, the Wisdom Fist Seal, the Vajra Fist Seal, or the Divyadundubhi Meghanirghosa¡¯s hand signs, when these moves hit Xu Ling, they were like great waves in the sea, ferocious. They mmed into the cliff bank, and then quickly shattered, but the huge stone of the cliff bank didn¡¯t move at all!

    "Is the Jinshen phase so strong?" Li Yundong was shocked. He retreated in a hurry and exerted his speed to the extreme. At the same time, his hands were frantically releasing spells one after another.

    However, Xu Ling seemed to be encased in invisible armor. No matter which kind of magic elements he used - gold, wood, water, fire or earth - when they hit him, it only made a slight golden ripple. Even the powerful Mahamudra only slightly shook his golden body away from his physical body, but it was just a momentary w. When Li Yundong attacked him again, Xu Ling would be back to his original state.

    After Li Yundong used the magic arts and the Mahamudra, he suddenly found that almost all of his magic arts and moves were useless against Xu Ling!

    "Could it be..." Li Yundong¡¯s heart suddenly sank, and an ominous thought shed through his mind. "Master Erdeni told me not to go up the mountain from the east, because he knew that there would be an enemy on this mountain that I couldn¡¯t defeat?"

    Li Yundong knew that if he wanted to retreat, although Xu Ling and Xu Kong were masters in the Jinshen phase, they might not be able to stop him. But if he ran away, Meiduo and Dorjee Tenzin would definitely die!

    Li Yundong was thinking quickly about how to deal with a tough situation. At this time, Dorjee Tenzin and the other three guardian sentinels saw that although Li Yundong¡¯s magic arts and Mahamudra were being sent at Xu Ling wildly, Xu Ling was acting as if nothing had happened even after Li Yundong had hit him several times, but Li Yundong didn¡¯t dare to take Xu Ling¡¯s magic arts!

    Dorjee Tenzin was shocked. He knew that if Li Yundong was defeated, they would definitely die. He gritted his teeth and immediately shouted in Tibetan, "Zhenren Li can¡¯t stand it anymore. Buddha is watching us from the sky. Now it¡¯s time for us to take action!"

    The three Lamas stood up, and a trace of sadness and courage shed through their eyes. They knew that they could not even defeat the previous Xu Ling. Now that Xu Ling has jinshen to protect himself, they would be cannon fodder if they went forward. They would definitely die.

    Although they knew that they were going to die, the three Lamas still silently tidied up their red robes and put the yellow crowns on their heads. They screamed in unison and rushed toward Xu Ling.

    Dorjee Tenzin raised his voice and shouted at Li Yundong, "Zhenren Li, we¡¯ll hold him back. You take Meiduo and run!"

    Li Yundong saw three figures sh by his side quickly. Like moths to a me, they rushed to Xu Ling without hesitation.

    But Xu Ling didn¡¯t even look at them. He sneered and shook his arms, like a python chasing away small pests. In an instant, the three strong Lamas were sent flying.

    They rolled far away on the snow ground and spat out mouthfuls of blood. However, they immediately got up again. While shouting scripture, they pounced on Xu Ling again. They were fanatical enough to die, which was horrifying.

    It really concerned Li Yundong, who immediately said to Dorjee Tenzin, "Don¡¯t fight head-on. Hold him for a while and buy me some time!"

    Although he didn¡¯t know what Li Yundong wanted to do, he rushed toward Xu Ling without hesitation. In the blink of an eye, he was sent flying by Xu Ling. As soon as hended on the ground, he jumped up like a spring and madly rushed toward Xu Ling again.

    The four guardian sentinels attacked Xu Ling again and again with wolf-pack tactics. Although they couldn¡¯t hurt him at all, he was surely disturbed by their attacks. Therefore, he stopped chasing Li Yundong.

    Xu Ling saw Li Yundong fly more than ten meters away from him in the blink of an eye and make a Mahamudra with both hands. This time, Li Yundong recited the mantras for a particrly long time, and as he recited more mantras, a shining golden Buddha of infinite life slowly appeared in front of him. Its hands were together, and his two middle fingers were erected to support each other. The thumbs were crossed like lotus leaves.

    This Mahamudra was the longest Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ and the most powerful Amituofo print. It was also known as the Buddha of infinite life print!

    Xu Ling felt that this Buddha was gathering an extremely powerful force. This force faintly revealed the power of the True God, and even made the Yang spirit, who was in the Jinshen phase, tremble slightly. The hair on his back stood on end, as if he could sense a terrible power rapidly condensing.

    Xu Ling¡¯s heart trembled, and he frowned slightly. Although he was a master of the Jinshen phase, he did not dare to be careless in the face of such a heavy blow from a God.

    At this time, Xu Kong quickly rushed over to him and whispered a few words.

    Xu Ling looked up, only to see that the wind and clouds had gathered overhead. Countless dark clouds had grouped in the sky, and they seemed to be stuck to the peak of the Kari Holy Mountain.

    The dark clouds kept spinning, forming a huge vortex. Lightning shed in this vortex, as if divine punishment woulde at any time.

    Xu Ling immediately cursed, "Damn it, I knew I shouldn¡¯t have used Jinshen in such a high ce. Damn it, I¡¯ve really provoked lightning retribution!"

    Xu Kong attached himself to Xu Ling again and whispered a few words. Xu Ling immediately turned to him and said unhappily, "Are you kidding? Do you think I don¡¯t want to deal with this guy quickly?"

    As he spoke, a Lama rushed over from the side. Xu Ling suddenly turned his arms and expanded. Instantly, his five fingers grabbed the head of the guardian sentinel and picked him up as if he were a chicken. Xu Ling said with a ferocious smile, "You are begging for death!"

    After saying that, he clenched his five fingers, and the head of the guardian sentinel suddenly split like a watermelon, spraying red and white goop in all directions.

    Meiduo, who had been staring in terror at the scene, let out a scream. She hadn¡¯t dared to imagine that after she arrived at the Bud Pce, the guardian sentinel, who had been by her side this entire time, would die so tragically.

    Meiduo was so stirred up that she shouted, "Stop, don¡¯t fight anymore!"

    Xu Ling nced at her and smiled coldly. With a flick of a finger, a strong gang wind blew toward her.

    The gang wind seemed to be light, but it moved along a visible trajectory toward Meiduo like an invisible bullet.

    Dorjee Tenzin¡¯s face turned pale with fright. He immediately rushed over to Meiduo like crazy, and his burly figure was in front of hers in the blink of an eye.

    With a puff, a bloody hole immediately appeared in his chest. The gang wind continued to blow at Meiduo again and again, hitting the prayer wheel in her arms.

    Meiduo shuddered, and she stared nkly at Dorjee Tenzin¡¯s chest, which was full of blood, as hey in front of her. The prayer wheel, which warded a critical strike for her, developed a dent.

    Meiduo stared nkly at the wheel on the ground and picked it up mechanically. When she looked up, she saw the rest of the guardian sentinels pouncing on Xu Ling like a me, but they were killed in an instant, dying miserably.

    Li Yundong, on the other hand, was still chanting the mantra. His voice shook the sky and the earth. It seemed that Kari Holy Mountain also felt the power of the mantra, and the whole peak was shaking slightly.

    Seeing that no one could stop Xu Ling, Meiduo could not help putting her palms together and whispering with her eyes closed, "Buddha, if I am really the reincarnation of Banda Lam, please give me the power of Banda Lam and let me help my brothers of the Han to defeat the enemy in front of me!"

    As soon as she finished speaking, the wheel in her hand trembled slightly, and then began to spin quickly. The wheel rotated faster and faster, and countless cyan lights appeared around Kari Holy Mountain, flying toward the wheel in Meiduo¡¯s hand.

    This was the power of pilgrimage that had gathered in Kari Holy Mountain for thousands of years, and at the same time, it was the powerful strength of the Mountain God!

    With each turn of the wheel in Meiduo¡¯s hand, the gathered power increased a little. Since she had entered the Bud Pce, she had been enlightened by the Nine Sects of the Vajra of the Living Buddha¡¯s Tibetan Realm. At this moment, she already possessed the power of Buddha. This power quickly poured into Mei¡¯s body along the prayer wheel. In an instant, she felt as if a violent torrent had appeared in her body.

    This powerful force made Meiduo suddenly raise her head and let out a sharp whistling sound. The sound seemed to tear through the air and pierce the sky. Even Xu Ling, who was in the Jinshen phase, could not help but frown.

    At this time, the power in Meiduo was getting stronger and stronger, and the skin all over her body was getting more and more terrifying green and ck. Her long ck hair also turned a bloody red, as if she had been soaked in a blood pool in hell!

    Meiduo¡¯s red hair flew about in the wind. Her originally beautiful and quiet appearance became extremely horrible and ferocious. She was wearing a sheet of human skin, holding a skull stick made of pure magic power in one hand, and a skull bowl in the other hand. It was full of blood, and there was a string of horrible skulls hanging from her chest, like a deviling out of hell. She looked extremely horrible!

    This was the other form of Banda Lam, which symbolized death and anger!

 Chapter 559 Seeking Life in Death!

    <h4>Chapter 559 Seeking Life in Death!</h4>

    With the sudden appearance of Tsing Lam, the entire Kari Holy Mountain seemed to have be shrouded in ayer of ck Death Qi. Coupled with the rolling thunder clouds and lightning in the sky, the whole mount seemed to be getting more and more horrible and creepy.

    Compared with the current situation, Xu Ling summoning the Five Ghosts and Five gues to bring the evil wind had been like a child ying house. It seemed that the real god had now woken up and was roaring at the world in anger. It was angry at their offense to the holynd and the disrespect to the gods.

    Xu Ling and Xu Kong were stunned. Xu Ling saw that the beautiful, delicate Meiduo with white skin had turned into a monster in human skin, skeletal all over, ck-masked and with red hair, looking like a demon. He looked at her carefully and suddenly remembered something. He couldn¡¯t help eximing, "You are the reincarnation of Banda Lam? No way!"

    Banda Lam had the image of Brahms and Tsing Lam. The former represented kindness, quietness, and elegance, but thetter symbolized death and anger. Meeting a strong enemy, the beautiful Brahms would transform into a horrible Tsing Lam to protect and subdue them!

    Although Xu Ling and Xu Kong had been sealed in the Emperor¡¯s clock for nearly a hundred years, they were old cultivators who naturally knew the horror of Tsing Lam.

    In the seventh century of Dais, when Songtsan Gambo, the king of Tibet, had built the Great Zhao Temple, he had invited Banda Lam to be the guardian of the Great Zhao Temple. In the future, Banda Lam would be promoted to the guardian Sovereign of Tibet. What was different from the methods used by Immovable Wisdom King and others to subdue demons was that once Banda Lam appeared, no matter how powerful the enemies were, as long as they were stared at by the eye of rage, they would definitely be dragged into hell together with Banda Lam!

    However, Tsing Lam had originally been the chiefmander of the three realms in Tibetan Buddhism, so she could be resurrected from hell infinitely, but her opponent¡¯s soul would remain trapped in the blood-filled skull bowl in her hand.

    For thousands of years, the invasions of foreign tribes and foreign religious cultures had been numerous. However, Tibetan Buddhism had always stood firm, and Banda Lam¡¯s contribution was second to none. Therefore, in order tomemorate her contribution as a guardian, the Tibetan people held the auspicious Heavenly Mother Phantom Festival on the 10th day of October every year.

    Xu Ling and Xu Kong naturally knew of the horrible legends of Banda Lam, but they still stared at Meiduo. It seemed that they could not believe that the Tibetan girl who had been as beautiful as a flower a moment ago had now turned into a horrific devil.

    After Tsing Lam¡¯s transformation, she closed her eyes, raised her head, and let out an earth-shattering roar. Only then did Xu Kong recover from the panic. He quickly leaned in to Xu Ling¡¯s ear and said a few words. Although Xu Ling could not help but take a step back with a frightened look on his face, his eyes were still full of unwillingness and greed. He quickly nced at Li Yundong and said, "Go? Are you kidding me? I haven¡¯t got this guy¡¯s magic treasure yet, and I haven¡¯t got the 1,000-year-old snow lotus either!"

    Xu Kong looked anxious. He pulled Xu Ling¡¯s arm hard and kept whispering in his ear.

    Xu Ling couldn¡¯t help but say angrily, "Don¡¯t I know that there is no need worry about firewood? Now we¡¯ve seen the light again, is our first action going to fail? No, no, how can we show our faces in the future and revive the glory of the Zhenkongism?"

    As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a terrible chill rushing toward him.

    Xu Ling couldn¡¯t help but look in the direction of the aura. Upon seeing it, his body shook violently.

    He saw that Tsing Lam was facing him. She slowly opened her eyes, which were round and full of a blood-red fog. A Heavenly Eye was slowly opening between her eyebrows. There was a horrible ck lighting out of the deep and bottomless ck eye in-between her eyes, going straight toward Xu Ling.

    As soon as the light shone on Xu Ling, his whole body trembled and he couldn¡¯t move.

    Countless ck undead flew out from the skull stick in one of Tsing Lam¡¯s hands. They howled and pounced on Xu Ling. Blood was boiling in the skull bowl in her other hand. Dark red blood flowed out of the bowl likeva and dripped to the ground in a waterfall.

    As soon as the blood touched the ground, it immediately melted the snow and made a sizzling sound. The ground turned ck, the color quickly spreading to the ce where Xu Ling was standing, as if the Gates of Hell were opening little by little.

    Although Xu Ling was in the Jinshen phase, he had no way to fight back against the powerful and horrible Tsing Lam. He could have escaped in time, but because of greed, he had been immediately caught. The undead flying out of the skeleton stick even trapped his Yang Spirit, making it impossible for him to escape.

    In an instant, Xu Ling was terrified to the extreme. He wanted to struggle desperately and howl crazily, but he felt as if his whole body was being grabbed by an invisible hand. Not to mention struggling, even moving his little finger was a vain dream!

    Seeing that his Senior Brother had been instantly bound by the furious stare of Tsing Lam, Xu Kong was shocked and madly pulled Xu Ling, trying to pull him out of the constraint.

    However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not shake it at all. It was as if Xu Ling had been petrified and integrated into the whole of Kari Holy Mountain. He now seemed as heavy as a thousand pounds.

    Xu Kong saw the blood flowing out of the skull bowl of Tsing Lam approaching his senior brother little by little. He was shocked and anxious, scared and afraid, and could not help but let out a desperate roar.

    During the roar, Li Yundong finally finished reciting the mantra. At this time, a three-meter-tall Immeasurable Longevity Buddha stood in front of him. It was shining with golden light, and it was holding the Limitless Longevity Buddha¡¯s fundamental seal in its hand. It was majestic and awe-inspiring, making people fearful at a nce and not dare to fight with it.

    When Li Yundong recited the mantra, his apparition was no longer like the realm where he had no life. He turned a deaf ear to it and did not even look at it. When he finished reciting the mantra, his apparition recovered. Just as he was about to release his Mahamudra, he was shocked to find that Meiduo had turned into Tsing Lam!

    Of course, Li Yundong knew that if Tsing Lam showed up and red at anyone with his Third Eye of Anger, any one of them could be pulled into hell by her. At the same time, her incarnation would die with her. This was the ultimate move of Tsing Lam, exchanging one life for another!

    It was a good thing to kill Xu Ling, but Li Yundong didn¡¯t want Meiduo to exchange her life for Xu Ling¡¯s!

    Li Yunyang suddenly shouted, "Meiduo, don¡¯t!"

    However, Mei Duo had already turned into Tsing Lam and lost her apparition. How could she hear his words? The fierce and ferocious light in her eyes grew stronger and stronger, spurred on by the blood flowing from the skull bowl in her hand touching Xu Ling¡¯s body. Suddenly, hell seemed to be connected with Xu Ling in an instant. From the skull bowl in the hands of Tsing Lam, countless undead who had been pulled out of hell by her boiled up.

    The undead roared and rushed to Xu Ling.

    For thousands of years, Banda Lam had fought countless battles. It was unknown just how many powerful enemies she had killed with her death stare. Almost every single one of the undead in the skull bowl in her hand had a much stronger background than Xu Ling. Just one of them would be enough to pull out Xu Ling¡¯s three souls and seven spirits, not to mention when so many of them were charging at him together.

    At this moment, heaven and earth began to rumble, and the wind and clouds changed color. The sky seemed to have lost all its light, and only the whistling dark red undead rushed toward Xu Ling!

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart was burning with anxiety. He knew that once these undead pulled out the three souls and seven spirits of Xu Ling, they would turn back and pull out Mei Duo¡¯s three souls and seven spirits, and then they would go to hell and perish together.

    If this was the case, there would be no turning back. Even if he appeared with the true body of the Immovable Wisdom King, he would not be able to change reality.

    Li Yundong thought quickly, and immediately mmed his Mahamudra toward Xu Ling.

    A golden light suddenly lit up the dark sky. This golden light was like a sharp sword shooting through a thickyer of dark clouds from the sun. It pierced through the whistling dead soul and mmed heavily into the body of Xu Ling.

    At this time, Xu Ling was so restrained by Banda Lam¡¯s undead power so that he couldn¡¯t move. Like a wooden stake, he firmly took Li Yundong¡¯s most powerful handprint.

    All of a sudden, Xu Ling¡¯s body shook violently, and the restrained undead power in his body was instantly dispelled by Li Yundong¡¯s majestic and powerful saint spirit power. In an instant, Xu Ling regained his ability to move.

    Although Xu Ling had been released, Li Yundong¡¯s Mahamudra was not a joke. His body-protection jinshen was instantly blown out of his body and flew into the air, shattering into countless golden light spots.

    Seeing that his Shishiong¡¯s Yang spirit of the Jinshen phase had been smashed by Li Yundong¡¯s move, his body cracked, and his bones seemed to be broken. He almost copsed to the ground for a moment. Under the shock, he looked at Li Yundong with fear. Without saying a word, he wanted to pull his senior brother away from this terrible ce.

    However, as soon as the figure of Xu Kong moved, he heard a shrill roaring at him.

    Xu Kong turned around subconsciously, only to see that Tsing Lam had just tried to pull Xu Ling into hell with her Death Eyes, but failed because of Li Yundong¡¯s intervention, so she was now subconsciously aiming at Xu Kong again.

    He saw a lifeless ck eye staring at him. He was so shocked that his whole body turned cold.

    When Xu Kong saw that his Shixiong had almost lost his life after being nced at by Tsing Lam, he was shocked. Without thinking, he raised his hand and stuck two fingers into his eye sockets!

    With a squelch, Xu Kong was immediately blinded. He let out a pained roar, and his Shixiong Xu Ling, who was pulling him, instantly rose into the air and fled to the sky.

    "You want to run away?" Li Yundong gritted his teeth and was about to chase after him, but he heard a shrill screech, and a cold, horrible aura locked him in an instant.

    Li Yundong¡¯s body suddenly trembled, and an ominous feeling shed through his heart. "Could it be that Tsing Lam is staring at me?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s body was stiff, and he slowly turned his head. As expected, Tsing Lam was staring at Li Yundong with her horrible ck Death Eye, and a horrible aura was rushing toward him!

 Chapter 560 The Appearance of the Snow Lotus

    <h4>Chapter 560 The Appearance of the Snow Lotus</h4>

    Li Yundong hadn¡¯t expected that as soon as Xu Ling and Xu Kong escaped, Tsing Lam would target him again. He was shocked and immediately turned his head and closed his eyes.

    However, although he had closed his eyes, he could still clearly "see" that the eyes of the death of Tsing Lam were staring at him. A lot of undead flew out of the skull stick on her wrist and rushed toward him.

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart trembled. When he gritted his teeth and was about to resist with his Mahamudra, he heard a loud roar: "Dorjee Tenzin, you are the king of all Wisdom Kings, the reincarnation of Immovable Wisdom King, and also the incarnation of Buddha¡¯s power of anger. The only one in the world who can subdue and fight Banda Lam is you! Don¡¯t do anything, otherwise, Meiduo will die! Wake her up with your Mantra!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart skipped a beat. Suddenly, his yang spirit emerged from his body, and superhuman powers of Immovable Wisdom King¡¯s fashen appeared in front of him in an instant.

    This Immovable Wisdom King suddenly appeared. His six hands formed three Fixed Fundamental Palms: atha Print, Amituofo Print, and Tathagata Print!

    As soon as these three basic seals were pinched out, a golden barrier appeared in front of Li Yundong¡¯s Wisdom King¡¯s Dharmakaya. The undead released by Tsing Lam mmed into the golden barrier with a loud bang, causing the entirety of Kari Holy Mountain to shake violently. This ck undead seemed to be scattering in all directions, instantly surging in all directions, hovering and howling between heaven and earth.

    Although Tsing Lam was powerful, because it represented the power of the undead, it was born to be restrained by the power of the Saint Spirit of Immovable Wisdom King. In addition, the two were both heavenly deities. As soon as the two forces collided, Tsing Lam¡¯s whole body trembled, and her angry eyes revealed a trace of confusion as if she didn¡¯t understand why the man in front of her couldn¡¯t restrain his own power.

    When Li Yundong saw the anger in Meiduo¡¯s eyes stop, he immediately made a Mahamudra with his hands. It was the Buddha of the Heavenly Drum¡¯s Mahamudra. He shouted fiercely, "Nan! He¡¯s muttering! Hanhe! Svaha!"

    Buddha of the Heavenly Drums, Thunder Buddha, was one of the five Buddhas hidden in the womb. He used the roar of thunder to wake up all living things. He would not let them go astray and fall into the Devil¡¯s Practice.

    Li Yundong¡¯s roar shocked Tsing Lam so much that her whole body trembled, and the fierce light in her eyes became ever fainter.

    At this time, Meiduo felt like she was in boundless darkness, surrounded by boiling Qi, as if she was in theva of a volcano.

    When she was in a panic, she heard a faint sound like a morning bell and evening drum in the distant dark sky, which attracted all her attention.

    Meiduo raised her head and looked in the direction of the voice in the dark sky, only to see a trace of distant light. Although the light was weak, she felt a refreshing and peaceful aura around her, which made her feel cold all over. She was no longer being tortured by the burning mes like before.

    Li Yundong saw that the fierce light in Tsing Lam¡¯s eyes was getting dimmer and dimmer, so he immediately became energetic and shouted, "Meiduo, can you hear me? Meiduo!"

    As Li Yundong kept shouting, the horrible smell of the death of Tsing Lam became weaker and weaker. The undead she had released slowly returned to the Skeleton Staff, and the ck blood that had stained the sacred the Kari Holy Mountain slowly flowed back into the skull bowl, and the horrible Eye of Death between her brows slowly closed.

    Gradually, Tsing Lam¡¯s red hair, which had risen up to the sky, fell down and turned back into normal ck hair. Her ck skin and face also became snow-white and delicate, and she turned back into the beautiful Meiduo.

    Li Yundong saw that she had gradually recovered. She was stood quietly on the spot, her eyes closed, and her long eyshes were trembling gently, like budding lotuses.

    Li Yundong was surprised and also withdrew his Yang Spirit fashen. He quickly stepped forward and shouted softly, "Meiduo? Wake up!"

    Meiduo¡¯s eyshes fluttered for a while, and then she slowly opened her eyes. This time, there was no more horrible sense of death in her pupils. Instead, there were only pure and prating eyes.

    Meiduo looked at Li Yundong with a flicker in her eyes, as if she was a little obsessed. She looked at Li Yundong with infatuation and asked tentatively, "Brother Han, am, am I still alive?"

    Li Yundong was overjoyed. He looked up andughed, then grabbed Mei¡¯s arm with both hands and said with a smile, "Of course, you are alive and well!"

    As soon as he finished speaking, he remembered something. He turned his head and looked at Dorjee Tenzin next to him, only to see that he was lying on the ground, struggling to stand. His chest was covered with blood, but his face was filled with a smile of undying disaster.

    Li Yundong immediately threw himself in front of him. His fingers quickly tapped on his chest to help him stop the bleeding and check the wound.

    Dorjee Tenzin covered his chest with one hand and said with a smile, "It¡¯s okay. The wound is far from the heart. I won¡¯t die."

    Li Yundong looked at the injury and saw that the attack had passed through the two lung lobes. It hadn¡¯t hurt his internal organs, just skin and flesh. He suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. "Fortunately, it didn¡¯t hurt his vital parts!"

    Dorjee Tenzin burst outughing. "I told you I wouldn¡¯t die!" His smile immediately affected the wound, and then he coughed up blood again.

    Meiduo bent down anxiously and said with concern and me, "Dorjee Tenzin, don¡¯t talk!"

    Dorjee Tenzin took a look at her, and his eyes were full of awe. He struggled to move his body, as if he wanted to turn over and lie on the ground. She immediately put her hands on his shoulders and eximed, "What are you doing? What do you want to do when you¡¯re in such a state?"

    Dorjee Tenzin breathed heavily and forced a smile. "Banda Lam, I can¡¯t speak to you in such a disrespectful manner. This is so rude."

    Meiduo said anxiously, "What are you talking about? Without you, I would have died long ago!"

    However, Dorjee Tenzin stubbornly shook his head and said, "No, my life has been dedicated to the Buddha for a long time. It¡¯s my duty to protect you. I¡¯m even more responsible for protecting the gods."

    After that, he turned over again. As he moved, a lot of blood flowed out of his chest.

    Li Yundong pressed his hand down on Dorjee Tenzin¡¯s chest and said in a deep voice, "Master, what you said is wrong! Since you said that it¡¯s your duty to be respectful of the gods, shouldn¡¯t you obey her order if she asks you not to do anything?"

    Dorjee Tenzin was stunned. "But..."

    Li Yundong continued, "If you think that Banda Lam alone is not enough, then you could say that I am the reincarnation of Immovable Wisdom King. What if I also asked you not to move?"

    Dorjee Tenzin didn¡¯t say anything. He sighed, staying still. He put his palms together, closed his eyes, and began silently chanting scriptures.

    Seeing that he had convinced Dorjee Tenzin, Li Yundong breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at Meiduo, who was also looking back at him. The two of them stared at each other and immediately smiled.

    Mei nced at Li Yundong with adoration. Suddenly, she looked away shyly. As soon as she saw the bloody body of a guardian sentinel in the snow, she immediately looked sad and knelt down piously. She put her palms together and recited some Buddhist scriptures in a low voice.

    Li Yundong silently apanied her. After she had finished reciting the Sutras and stood up, he sighed softly and said, "That¡¯s what they wanted, and they have entered reincarnation. I believe that they will live a good life when they are reborn."

    Meiduo¡¯s eyes shed with holiness and sadness. She looked toward the west and whispered, "I hope they can live happily in the next life."

    Li Yundong and Meiduo stood side by side. After a moment of silence, he asked softly, "Why are you here?"

    "After the Heaven Mother went out on a trip," began Meiduo, "the Living Buddha went back to the pce to help me made Vajra and the ninth division of the Hidden Embryo Realm. Then asked me to go to the Kari Holy Mountain to get the approval of the God of Heaven and the divine power of Banda Lam. So I came with the guardian sentinel."

    With this, Meiduo looked sadly at the dead guardian sentinel and sighed, "I hadn¡¯t expected to see these two evil Taoists on the mountain. They asked us where the 1,000-year-old snow lotus was when we met. Dorjee Tenzin told them that it was a treasure of the Esoteric Sect. They couldn¡¯t pick it up, so they quarreled with each other and started fighting."

    After hearing this, Li Yundong sighed and said, "If you hadn¡¯t incarnated into Tsing Lam, I¡¯m afraid that you wouldn¡¯t have been able to drive away these two Taoists... The Jinshen phase is really terrible!"

    Meiduo turned her head and looked at Li Yundong searchingly. She suddenly smiled, as if a water lily were opening. "When I saw youing, I felt safe. I knew you could save me."

    Hearing this, Li Yundong felt ashamed in his heart. He thought to himself, "It¡¯s you who saved me! It seems that I really have to find a way to get Diyuan Jindan. Otherwise, if I meet a jinshen master, I will be defeated. Although the power of the Endless Longevity Buddha¡¯s fundamental seal is amazing, no matter how powerful it is, I have to hit the right person! If it weren¡¯t for the fact that Tsing Lam constrained Xu Ling, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to hit Xu Ling."

    Li Yundong sighed. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "Meiduo, do you know that you... are actually not the real Banda Lam?"

    Meiduo smiled and said softly, "I know..."

    Li Yundong was stunned and asked in surprise, "You know? How?"

    Meiduo smiled and said softly, "When Living Buddha served as the head of the Nine Sects of the Vajra Realm, he told me everything."

    Li Yundong said in surprise, "But you are not Banda Lam, why would Living Buddha still do that for you?"

    Meiduo looked at him with a flicker in her eyes. For a moment, she couldn¡¯t help but hold his hand and put her other hand on his chest. She whispered, "Brother Han, do you know? When I was in a spirit state, I heard your voice calling me. At that time, I was so happy that my heart was about to fly out of my chest. But, but... soon the wheel in my arms spun..."

    As she spoke, Meiduo withdrew her hand from Li Yunyang¡¯s chest. She touched the prayer wheel in her arms and whispered, "I know that this is my mission. Since mypatriots all agree that I am Banda Lam, then I am her. I should do something for my friends."

    When Li Yundong heard this, he couldn¡¯t help sighing. "No wonder people say that the will of the people is God¡¯s will! When people think you are a God, no matter who you are, you are already a God! It was the same with Tsangyang Gyatso. He was originally just a young, ordinary teenager, but when he was chosen to be the Buddha of the sixth generation¡¯smas, he was destined to take an unusual path! But Meiduo..."

    Li Yundong looked at her with pity and said softly, "Do you really have the confidence to take this path?"

    Meiduo looked at him adoringly and said softly, "At the most unexpected time in my life, I can always meet you... Brother Han, don¡¯t worry, I will definitely do it well. Because I know that when I am in danger, you will definitely appear, won¡¯t you?"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help sighing in his heart as he thought, "Since ancient times, love has been the most torturous word. Now it seems that it¡¯s really true!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said softly, "Fool! You almost lost your life just now! Don¡¯t fight with others so easily in the future, understand?"

    It was the first time Meiduo had seen Li Yunyang show concern for her. She was extremely moved. She smiled sweetly and was about to speak when she saw a ray of sunshine suddenly fall from the dark sky.

    The sun was extremely conspicuous in the dark sky. Meiduo looked at it and was stunned. She took Li Yundong¡¯s arm with surprise and shouted, "Look!"

    He followed her gaze and saw a white snow lotus, which was surrounded by a few green leaves, swaying gently on the surface of the iceberg. It was crystal clear.

 Chapter 561 Gaining the Snow Lotus, Gaining Enemies

    <h4>Chapter 561 Gaining the Snow Lotus, Gaining Enemies</h4>

    Meiduo looked at the snow lotus that had suddenly appeared, and her eyes were full of surprise. She asked happily, ¡°Is this the 1,000-year-old snow lotus? It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen it!¡±

    Saying this, she quickly ran over to the side of the lotus, squatted down gently, and touched its petal. She turned her head and said to Li Yundong with a smile on her face, ¡°I have heard many old people say that this flower is the guardian treasure of the Holy Mountain, but no one has seen it before. Today, I¡¯m finally getting to see it.¡±

    Li Yundong fixed his eyes on the swaying lotus, only to see that the snow around it was soaked with blood. After absorbing human blood, the snow lotus seemed even more gorgeous and dazzling.

    He sighed and said, ¡°Many people died for the sake of this flower!¡±

    Mei Duo also stood up. She put her palms together and silently recited a passage of scripture, then sighed softly and said, ¡°Yes, the old man said that the 1,000-year-old snow lotus is holy, but also ominous. Every time it appears, it inevitably brings on a bloody war.¡±

    Li Yundong was silent. Thinking of past events, he couldn¡¯t help but feel frightened. If it weren¡¯t for all kinds of lucky coincidences, he would have been killed by Xu Ling and Xu Kong. And though Taoist Xu Ling was arrogant and seemed brainless, his strength was nothing to joke about. For the first time in his life, he understood how terrible the Jinshen phase was.

    Although he could be said to be unparalleled in the Yangshen phase, the masters in the Jinshen phase were difficult even for him to deal with. When the two sides fought, regardless of their powerful magical weapons and magic, the jinshen masters could guarantee their invincibility only with powerful body-protection jinshen skills.

    As the saying goes, fighting is like directing troops. Fighters consider the concept of failure instead of victory first. When a jinshen master met a Yang Spirit master, he did not have to consider failure at all, as his body-protection jinshen could not be broken no matter how powerful the Yang Spirit master was!

    When they fought in this way, one side would be afraid of being savaged, while the other would be fearless and rush forward. After all, how could they not win?

    The gap between Yang Spirit and jinshen was only cultivation, but the difference was like the distance between heaven and earth!

    Since Su Chan had been taken away by Ao Wushuangst time, Li Yundong felt that he was not strong enough to protect the people around him. However, as his cultivation had improved by leaps and bounds, he could be said to have be invincible. Even if he met someone stronger than him, he could defeat them by exploiting their weaknesses.

    However, when a cultivator reached the Jinshen phase, a weak opponent defeating them would be nothing but a fairytale. Once the gap between Yang Spirit and jinshen was pulled apart, it would be an insurmountable chasm. No powerful magical weapon or magic could bridge the gap between the two sides.

    This was the so-called ¡°might that can defeat ten practitioners of martial arts!¡±

    ¡°I have to reach the Jinshen phase...¡± Li Yundong thought silently, a wish intensified by the remembrance of the escape of Xu Kong. He would rather be blinded by his own fingers than be caught with his Shixiong. This kind of determination and decisiveness in an enemy was really terrifying and disturbing.

    Thinking of this, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but think of Yan Fang again. He felt a little worried and thought to himself, ¡°My enemies seem to be multiplying. It was already hard for me to sleep and eat with someone like Yan Fang lurking in the shadows. Now, there¡¯s Xu Ling and Xu Kong, and one of them is a jinshen master! I don¡¯t know how Xu Ling was injured. How did my Mahamudra hurt him? If he was injured, it¡¯d be okay. I finally know how to deal with a jinshen master. If he was not injured, it¡¯ll be dire. None of my magic can hurt him, so I have to reach the Jinshen phase immediately!¡±

    As Li Yundong fell into deep thought, Mei Duo, who was standing beside him, looked into his pensive face.

    At this time, Xu Ling, who had been using jinshen, had already left Kari Holy Mountain. Meiduo had returned to her true self from Tsing Lam. Kari Holy Mountain slowly returned to its usual calm, quiet state. The thick, dark clouds that had been hovering in the sky slowly dissipated and sunlight shone down over the snow-crested mountain, shining over Li Yundong¡¯s cheek and making his handsome and thin face look a little dazzling. When Li Yundong turned his head, Meiduo suddenly felt that although he was against the light, his whole body was shining with a golden glow, as if he was wearing a golden cassock.

    Mei Duo couldn¡¯t help but feel her heart beating wildly. She thought to herself, ¡°No wonder the Living Buddha said that this guy was the reincarnation of the Immortal Wisdom King. He, he is so powerful... I¡¯ve definitely fallen for the right guy!¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know the girl¡¯s thoughts. He was hesitating over how to ask Meiduo for the 1,000-year-old snow lotus. Clever Meiduo could see that he had been staring at the snow lotus, and she sensed that he was about to speak but saying nothing. She immediately understood and squatted down to pick up the snow lotus. She held it out to him with both hands and said with a warm smile, ¡°Here you are!¡±

    Li Yundong was stunned and found that the words he had been agonizing over for a long time had been rendered unnecessary. Even though he was usually eloquent, he became a little speechless and said falteringly, ¡°Meiduo, this...¡±

    Meiduo looked at Li Yundong strangely. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Didn¡¯t youe here for this? The Living Buddha said that you came here for this.¡±

    Li Yundong sighed inwardly. He had always been afraid that Meiduo would be sad if she found out, so he now couldn¡¯t say anything. When he saw Meiduo cleverly offering the 1,000-year-old snow lotus of her own volition, he was moved and grateful. Unpretentiously, he took the snow lotus carefully with both hands. Just as he was about to take it in his arms, Meiduo suddenly stopped him.

    ¡°Hey!¡± she said loudly. She withdrew a snow-white handkerchief from her pocket, then reached out her hands to carefully wrap it around the snow lotus in Li Yundong¡¯s palm. ¡°Well, that¡¯s better. This is the treasure of our Holy Mountain. Don¡¯t damage it.¡±

    Li Yundong fixed his eyes on Meiduo. He couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°Meiduo, aren¡¯t you going to ask me what I want this 1,000-year-old snow lotus for?¡±

    She shook her head and smiled. ¡°What¡¯s that got to do with me? Anyway, you won¡¯t use such a treasure to do bad things like those two evil Taoists.¡±

    Li Yundong nodded slightly. He stopped talking and put the 1,000-year-old snow lotus away before turning back to her. ¡°Let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll take you back to Lhasa, okay?¡±

    Meiduo¡¯s face lit up with joy. She was just about to agree but she bit the words back. She looked at the guardian sentinel, who was lying on the ground, and said softly, ¡°No, I have to help the dead Vajra by carrying out a celestial burial. I¡¯m afraid it will take me one or two days.¡±

    Li Yundong hesitated for a moment. He figured that it would take him one or two days for a round trip to Tibet at the most, but he had not been counting on being dyed for three days. Now that the Fox Zen School was suffering from internal and external troubles, and he had just provoked two powerful friends, if he dyed for one or two days and stayed away for so long, things could turn sour!

    Meiduo studied Li Yundong¡¯s expression. Seeing the lingering worry between his brows, she said with a smile, ¡°Brother, if you have something to do, you can go now. It doesn¡¯t matter.¡±

    Meiduo was so considerate that he felt a wave of relief, but he was also a little ufortable as if he had done something sinful. He sighed in his heart and said, ¡°Meiduo... I¡¯ll see you some other time when I¡®m free, okay?¡±

    Although she had tried to persuade him to leave, in her heart, she hoped that he would stay. When she heard that he was leaving, her chest suddenly ached. She was so sad that she almost burst into tears right then and there. She looked at Li Yundong with infatuation in her eyes, but she was still smiling. ¡°Okay, as long as youe to see meter!¡±

    Li Yundong nodded. He thought for a moment before saying, ¡°Meiduo, if... I mean if one day you are no longer Banda Lam... What will you do?¡±

    Meiduo¡¯s heart skipped a beat. She looked at Li Yundong, her eyes flickering, and almost blurted something unwise. However, when the words came to her lips, she suddenly stopped. She hesitated for a moment, and finally said with a smile, ¡°If I weren¡¯t Banda Lam... Well, let¡¯s talk about it next time.¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t sense the way the girl was feeling. He smiled slightly and said, ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be off then. I¡¯lle and see youter.¡± After that, he nodded at Meiduo and Dorjee Tenzin, then quickly turned into a beam of green light and flew away.

    Meiduo saw him disappear instantly into the horizon, and her body suddenly went rigid. She subconsciously stretched out her hand, as if she wanted to touch him. However, as soon as she reached out into the air, she went rigid again, as if she had turned into a stone statue, standing still where she was.

    After a long time, she looked at the distant sky with tears in her eyes. She suddenly yelled in the direction in which Li Yundong was leaving, calling loudly, ¡°Brother, I want you to stay! If I¡¯m not Banda Lam one day, I wille to you. Will you let me?¡±

    Meiduo¡¯s cry echoed over Kari Holy Mountain and rippled through the sky. Li Yundong had disappeared without a trace. No one could answer her. The sky was indifferent and silent, and the earth was solemn and quiet.

    Dorjee Tenzin beside her couldn¡¯t help sighing in his heart. He put his palms together silently and sighed softly. ¡°Amitabha!¡±

    After a long time, Meiduo turned around and wiped away her tears. She forced a smile and said, ¡°Master Dorjee Tenzin, let¡¯s go.¡±

    Just as Meiduo and Dorjee Tenzin were descending the mountain, Xu Kong and Xu Ling were hiding at the hidden foot of the mountain and healing their wounds.

    Xu Kong had been blinded by his own fingers. Although the pain was unbearable, he was, after all, a cultivator with an extraordinary Cultivation Quotient and a master of Yang Spirit. He went out of his body using his Yang Spirit and guided himself, carrying his almost paralyzed Shishiong to an inconspicuous ce.

    After shaking off the death stare of Tsing Lam, Xu Ling had stayed in a stiff state for a long time, especially after getting hit by Li Yundong¡¯s Peace in the Tao Fundamental Seal. His body was seriously injured, and it was difficult for him to even move.

    However, as he had broken free of the restraint of the power of death, although his body was injured, his meridians and internal organs were not injured. In particr, the Essence, Qi, and Blood in his body were still functioning as usual.

    Xu Ling slowly mobilized his breath. After a short period of recuperation, the bones throughout his body started making chaotic sounds, as if the meridians were being adjusted. A few hourster, he gradually returned to his short, fat appearance.

    After finishing the final round of Qi cirction, he jumped up and looked at his Shidee, Xu Kong, nervously.

    Although he had been so frightened by the power of Tsing Lam that he had been unable to move, his mind had been very clear. He remembered what had happened before very clearly, especially when his Shidee had destroyed his eyes to save him, which had made him even more pained and angry.

    Xu Ling grabbed Xu Kong¡¯s shoulder and looked at his two bloody eyesockets in shock and anger. He couldn¡¯t help roaring, ¡°Shidee, I will definitely help you get revenge!¡±

    After Xu Kong found a ce to settle down, he hid his Yang Spirit and carefully restrained his breath, lest the enemy found him. Then, when he heard the voice of Xu Ling, he knew that his Shishiong had made a recovery. Heughed and leaned over to Xu Ling¡¯s ear to say a few words.

    Xu Ling suddenly became so furious that he yelled, ¡°That won¡¯t do! I¡¯ll take an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth! I¡¯ll avenge you!¡±

    Xu Kong looked anxious and whispered a few more words into Xu Ling¡¯s ear.

    Xu Ling¡¯s livid expression froze. He bit back his anger and said, ¡°What should I do? Must I just rein in my anger? Humph, although Tsing Lam is terrible, the bastard¡¯s just a soft persimmon. When I regain my power, I¡¯ll dig out his eyes to take revenge for you!¡±

    Xu Kong shook his head, then carried on whispering into Xu Ling¡¯s ear.

    Xu Ling was stunned and said, ¡°They¡¯re working together? Well, it¡¯s possible. It seems that these guys are indeed in cahoots! Damn it, so what if they¡¯re with the Esoteric Sect? When has Zhenkongism ever been afraid of those guys?¡±

    With this, Xu Ling seemed to think of something. He said with a dark grimace, ¡°Shidee, let¡¯s find the current Master of Zhenkongism and kill him. Once that¡¯s done, we can reorganize Zhenkongism. At that point, we won¡¯t have to be afraid of Esoteric Sect or Tsing Lam, and we can avenge your eyes!¡±

 Chapter 562 The Challenge Letter

    <h4>Chapter 562 The Challenge Letter</h4>

    Li Yundong flew all the way back to Tiannan City from Tibet. When he got home and opened the door, he saw everyone from the Fox Zen School sitting around the living room. Even Su Chan, Zhou Qin, Ziyuan, and Ruan Hongling were there. All of them were gathered together with grave expressions, the atmosphere solemn.

    Li Yundong was stunned for a moment before asking in surprise, ¡°Are you all here?¡±

    Su Chan heard the noise at the door and turned her head. Seeing him enter, she happily rushed over like a young swallow flying into the forest, saying delightedly, ¡°Yundong, you¡¯re finally back!¡±

    He smiled and was about to take her into his arms, but he suddenly remembered that there was a 1,000-year-old snow lotus on his person, so he immediately sped her shoulders, stopped her from rushing into his arms, and said with a smile, ¡°Don¡¯t be naughty. It will be terrible if you break it.¡±

    Su Chan blinked slowly and couldn¡¯t help looking at Li Yundong¡¯s arms. She asked in surprise, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± But hardly had she finished her words before she thought of something and said with tion and amazement, ¡°Have you gotten the 1,000-year-old snow lotus back?¡±

    Li Yundongughed, took out the snow lotus wrapped in a white handkerchief from his pocket, and said with a smile, ¡°Aren¡¯t you clever!¡±

    Hearing the words ¡®1,000-year-old snow lotus¡¯, the others in the room all stood up at the same time. They started moring and surrounded Li Yundong curiously. Even Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help looking curiously at Li Yundong¡¯s hands.

    The 1,000-year-old snow lotus was an extremely important guiding herb of the Diyuan Jindan. Its appearance wouldrgely determine thepletion of the Diyuan Jindan.

    Since the Ming Dynasty, no one had ever refined the Diyuan Jindan. On the one hand, the cause was closely rted to the loss of the Medicine King Tripod and The Three-Dan ssics. On the other hand, it was also rted to the 1000-year-old snow lotus that had not shown up in the world for hundreds of years.

    Li Yundong had obtained the 1,000-year-old snow lotus at this time, meaning that he was only one step away from the Diyuan Jindan!

    Even though Zi Yuan was usually calm and indifferent, not caring about anything, she was still a little surprised by this and said, ¡°You got it? That¡¯s great! Since ancient times, External Alchemy has had sayings like, ¡®it is easy to refine a Renyuan Jindan, but hard to find the thousand-year-old snow lotus!¡¯ Now that you¡¯ve got the thousand-year-old snow lotus, Wan Zhenyuan shoulde begging!¡±

    Zhou Qin, Ruan Hongling, and others also approached Li Yundong curiously and carefully looked at the snow lotus in his hands.

    Zhou Qin could see that there was a handkerchief wrapped around it, and a corner of the handkerchief was embroidered with two rows of Tibetan and Chinese characters, one of which was two delicate Chinese characters which read: Meiduo.

    Zhou Qin¡¯s heart skipped a beat and she couldn¡¯t help ncing at Li Yundong. She asked softly, ¡°Master, did you meet Meiduo?¡±

    Li Yundong nodded and told her what he had gone through in Tibet. When he mentioned that he had met Xu Ling and Xu Kong on the snow mountain, and that Xu Ling was a jinshen Master, everyone in the room couldn¡¯t help eximing.

    ¡°A Jinshen Master?¡± Ruan Hongling gasped, her eyes widening. ¡°Which sect did he belong to? Why did the top ten jinshen masters attack so soon? How... how did you defeat them?¡±

    ¡°Defeat them?¡± Li Yundong shook his head andughed. ¡°A Jinshen Master is not someone that can be defeated by someone in the Yangshen phase like me...¡±

    Although Su Chan knew that since Li Yundong was standing safe and sound in front of her and that it must have been a threatening but not dangerous battle, she still nervously grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s sleeve and asked, ¡°Then, Yundong, how did you win?¡±

    Li Yundong sighed and said, ¡°If it weren¡¯t for the fact that Dorjee Tenzin and the others fought desperately, slowing Xu Ling¡¯s pace, and Meiduo reincarnated as Tsing Lam, I¡¯m afraid that things would have been difficult to deal with!¡±

    Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help letting out a startled cry and asking, ¡°Meiduo turned into Tsing Lam? Isn¡¯t, isn¡¯t she...¡±

    Li Yundong looked at her and nodded meaningfully. ¡°Yes, Meiduo is indeed not the reincarnation of Banda Lam, but she¡¯s still able to inherit the power of Banda Lam, isn¡¯t she?¡±

    Zhou Qin nodded, her face full of surprise and suspicion. ¡°It seems so, but why?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Taoists and Buddhists have been part of two different cultivation sects since ancient times. The reason why they are different isrgely reflected in their inheritance of cultivation power. The growth of Taoists¡¯ poweres from External Alchemy and Neidan. Once the Neidan is formed and turns into a Yang Spirit, its user can transcend the five elements and jump out of the Samsara. They can constantly inherit power through the Yang Spirit¡¯s transfer until they don¡¯t want to live in this world anymore and decide to ascend to the sky.

    ¡°The inheritance of the power of Taoism is straight like running water, while the power of Buddhism is folded like a storage cab, paying attention to inheritance and opportunities. As long as the Living Buddha and the people think you are the inheritor, you can inherit this power. As for whether you have really been reincarnated or not, it doesn¡¯t matter!¡±

    Beside him, Zi Yuan also nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. Why can Guan Yu be a saint of war, but Lu Bu can¡¯t? It¡¯s because Guan Yu has been respected and worshipped for his loyalty for generations. The powerful faith and incense power he possesses allowed him to ascend to the sky and be a saint of war, ranking amongst the immortals!¡±

    Li Yundong said with admiration, ¡°That¡¯s right! During the Tang Dynasty, Kobo Daishi of Zhenyan Tantrism from Japan came to China to seek Buddhism. At that time, the seventh founder of Tang Tantrism in China, Huiguo Ali, predicted that there would be a catastrophe for Buddhism in the future, and only an outsider could save Tantrism. Therefore, he decided to teach all his skills and give his powerful magical weapons to Kobo, who hade to study for less than half a year. Therefore, Kobo soon became a top-level cultivator aftering to China, returning to Japan, he immediately established a sect and became the founder of Zhenyan Tantrism, whichsted for 1,200 years!¡±

    Listening to this carefully, Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°How about Master Huiguo Ali?¡±

    Li Yundong sighed slightly. ¡°Not long after Kobo Daishi left China, Wuzong of Tang triggered a well-known catastrophe in Buddhist history, which was so intense that it was difficult for Buddhism to survive. At that time, 4600 temples were demolished in the Tang Dynasty. Shortly after Huiguo Ali handed over his power, he died. However, because he had predicted the consequences urately before his passing, Tantrism was thus cut off from China from then on, and the incense of Tantrism took root and sprouted in Japan under the leadership of Kobo Dashi.¡±

    Li Yundong then sighed and said, ¡°Zhou Qin, even if you are the reincarnation of Banda Lam, if you have not been recognized by the Living Buddha and the people in Tibet, you will not be able to inherit the power of Banda Lam. Since ancient times, the person chosen by Buddhism has not been the person with the most lineal or reincarnated True Spirit, but the person with the most opportunities! Otherwise, how could Kobo Dashi, a Japanese man, be the most lineal person, or a certain reincarnated True Spirit? He was just lucky! Meiduo is the same!¡±

    ¡°Ah!¡± Zhou Qin said anxiously. ¡°So, will Meiduo really be Banda Lam in the future?¡±

    Li Yundong nodded slightly. ¡°Yes, the people in Tibet, the Living Buddha, and even the Mountain Spirit have admitted that Meiduo is the heir of Banda Lam, so she has inherited that power. Even if you, the reincarnated True Spirit, wanted to go back and be Banda Lam in the future, it would be impossible.¡±

    Zhou Qin shook her head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t want those powers. What¡¯s so good about being trapped like that? But what about Meiduo? Will she be stuck like this?¡±

    ¡°Everyone has their own fate. It¡¯s her choice. There¡¯s nothing we can do...¡± Li Yundong said sadly.

    Zhou Qin remained silent. Suddenly, she felt a wave of guilt sweep through her heart. She felt inward that Meiduo wouldn¡¯t be like this if not for her own selfishness, but what else could she have done?

    Feeling that the atmosphere had grown a little heavy, Zi Yuan said with a smile, ¡°Don¡¯t overthink it. Didn¡¯t Tsangyang Gyatso, who was chosen as the sixth Di Lama, also flee on a snowy night? Maybe one day, when Meiduo doesn¡¯t want to be this Banda Lam anymore, she will do as her predecessor did.¡±

    Hearing her reassuring words, Li Yundong immediately felt a little better, and a silent smile spread over his face.

    Su Chan, who was standing just next to him, was being very well-behaved. She quickly changed the topic and said, ¡°Yundong, you said so much just now. Do you mean to say that the power of Taoistses from the constant transfer of their own powers, but the transfer of this power is based on how they have cultivated the Yang Spirit, while the power of Buddhistses from inheriting power from generation to generation, but this foundation must be established by how they are recognized by the Living Buddha and themon people?¡±

    Li Yundong nced at Su Chan and temporarily stifled his concern. He nodded and said, ¡°Yes, I feel that the power of Banda Lam seems to be stored on Kari Holy Mountain. Since ancient times, the power of the people¡¯s worship has been concentrated on that Holy Mountain. When the Living Buddha and themon people admitted that Meiduo was Banda Lam, she became qualified to go to the Holy Mountain to inherit this power. Fortunately, she inherited the power right at that time, otherwise, I would not have been able to defeat Xu Ling...¡±

    Zhou Qin had been cultivating for the shortest time, so she knew the least about cultivation sects. She frowned, asking, ¡°Who on earth are those two guys?¡±

    Li Yundong said, ¡°They said they were from Zhenkongism...¡±

    ¡°Zhenkongism?¡± Ruan Hongling and Zi Yuan eximed at the same time.

    Li Yundong looked at them strangely. ¡°What? Do you know anything about Zhenkongism?¡±

    Zi Yuan nodded and said, ¡°Yeah. Before I met you, I had some dealings with people from Zhenkongism.¡±

    Li Yundong asked in surprise, ¡°Zhenkongism has declined in China now, with only a few believers remaining in Fujian Province, right? ¡±

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, ¡°Zhenkongism is not recognized by the current government now, but during the period of the national government, they were indeed recognized. At that time, it was unusually active. In the 37th year of the Republic of China, Liao Yipu, grand-nephew of the founder of Zhenkongism Liao Di, established the Zhenkong Charity in Nanjing and registered it with the Ministry of Social Affairs of the National Government. A group of military and political personnel from the government took up the positions of director and supervisor. Up to the 38th year of the Republic of China ¨C that is, the year of 1949 ¨C Zhenkongjism established 205 Taoist temples around 12 provinces and in one city of China. It could be said that this sect was second to none in the eyes of Chinese Taoists during the Republic of China! As the saying goes, a centipede dies but doesn¡¯t stop. It was so glorious at that time, no wonder some incense was left here.¡±

    With that, Zi Yuan continued with some emotion, ¡°Unfortunately, after the founding of the People¡¯s Republic of China, the sect gradually declined. It slowly transferred its power to Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, and other ces around Southeast Asia. Especially after the Reform and Opening-up Revolution, other Taoist sects started slowly recovering, but the power of Zhenkongism has been difficult to regain in the Chinese maind. There are only some inconspicuous believers residing in Fujian Province. I thought that after this sect was transferred to Southeast Asia, it would not be able to survive. I didn¡¯t expect that there would be a jinshen master from Zhenkongism appearing out of thin air!¡±

    She then said solemnly to Li Yundong, ¡°Li Yundong, you must not be careless! Jinshen Masters can change the bnce of power between sects. They can be encountered but not sought after. A sect only needs one jinshen master to be able to immediately show off in the cultivation world! Now that you have made enemies with him, Zhenkongism may support him. If they do, it will be hard to say how things will unfold!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s manner was grave. ¡°You¡¯re right! Even if he doesn¡¯te to make trouble for me, I¡¯ll make trouble for him!¡±

    Su Chan also said with a smile, ¡°That¡¯s right. Now that we have the 1,000-year-old snow lotus, we have already got half of the Diyuan Jindan. I believe that before long, Yun Dong, you will be a jinshen master!¡±

    Hearing Su Chan¡¯s innocent words, Li Yundong immediatelyughed. He pinched the adorable girl¡¯s nose and said, ¡°What were you doing when I came in just now? Why was the atmosphere so grave?¡±

    At that moment, Su Chan suddenly seemed to recall something. She ran over to the tea-table quickly, picked up a few pieces of paper and handed them to Li Yundong, saying, ¡°I would havepletely forgotten if you hadn¡¯t mentioned it. Yundong, look!¡±

    He took the proffered paper and looked at it, suddenly stunned. He saw three characters written with murderous intent on the sheet in his hand: The Challenge Letter!

 Chapter 563 Sleeper Cell

    <h4>Chapter 563 Sleeper Cell</h4>

    The moment Li Yundong saw the three gauntlets in front of him, he was struck dumb. Then, he quietly took one and opened the first gauntlet. His face froze and he frowned, saying nothing.

    To his surprise, there was no sign that this gauntlet was from a sect, and the signature on it was totally unfamiliar. The words were full of bitter sarcasm and cunning, which infinitely provoked Li Yundong in every way. He noted down the venue and time, and then, having nced at the gauntlet, he grew contemptuous of it, and just threw it aside.

    Then Li Yundong turned to the second gauntlet, only to find a few words written in ink on it clearly: The murderer was doomed to death. The signature on it was Zhang Huashui¡¯s.

    Li Yundong was very surprised as if he had witnessed something incredible happening. He had no notion of why he would receive such a gauntlet without an address or time on it. Moreover, he had not offended Zhang Huashui at all!

    Shaking his head, Li Yundong opened the third gauntlet, only to find that it was an exquisite invitation. It was a piece of paper sprinkled with gold dust and emitting a faint fragrance. The moment the invitation opened, a row of neat, small, regr script traditional Chinese came into sight. The handwriting was delicate and gave off an elegant aura, as if written by a woman.

    Before Li Yundong read it, he wondered in bewilderment, ¡°Have I offended some female cultivators in the Cultivation World? Why did a woman issue me a challenge?¡±

    However, he looked down and saw that there were a few lines written on it: ¡°Although I live in Okunoin of Mount K¨­ya, and have ignored the outside world for a long time, I still heard of the invincible reputation of Zhenren. Moreover, I was informed that Zhenren defeated my beloved disciple, Tachibana Wakako, and was shocked! Since ancient times, there have been strong interactions in the Cultivation World between Japan and China. Suddenly hearing that there was another redoubtable cultivator in our East Asia, I started looking forward to encountering Zhenren due to his prestige. I hoped Zhenren would give me a chance to meet him in Mount K¨­ya, and I would ughter a fatted calf for you and we could enjoy the blossoms under the moonlight. Ah, what a wonderful life! At that time, if we had apetition under the cherry blossoms, it would be a great story told through the ages!¡±

    Even though these words seemed to be polite, Li Yundong felt like there was hidden danger lurking between the lines. He immediately raised his eyebrows and sneered. Then raising his head, he looked at Zi Yuan et al and said, ¡°Have you seen these invitations?¡±

    Zi Yuan, Su Chan, and Zhou Qin all nodded simultaneously, Li Yundong pondered for a while before asking again, ¡°Who on earth send them?¡±

    Su Chan rushed to exin, ¡°The first gauntlet was suddenly thrown into our living room. It seemed like it came through a crack in the door, tossed by an invisible man, and it slowly floated to the table in front of us.¡±

    Zhou Qin said with some disdain, ¡°It is ridiculous to show off when sending this kind of thing. Humph, she is still wet behind the ears!¡±

    Li Yundong nodded and questioned closely, ¡°What about the second one? There¡¯s no bad blood between Zhang Huashui of the Qingcheng Sect and me. Is it because Zhang Cunyi was seriously injured by Shinsyu and died when he went back? But that¡¯s none of my business.¡±

    Zi Yuan was also confused, ¡°The second gauntlet was sent by a Taoist priest from the Qingcheng Sect two days ago. I have no idea why he showed such great hostility to us at that time.¡±

    By this time, the little foxes were all shouting, each of them sharing a bitter hatred. ¡°Leader, the people of the Qingcheng Sect are too heartless. You are returning good for evil, but they are returning evil for good instead. How can this be! You must teach them a good lesson!¡±

    Meanwhile, Su Chan was blinking her eyes hesitantly. She gazed at Li Yundong and the excited little foxes, her heart full of struggle and hesitation.

    The girl couldn¡¯t understand why her master wouldn¡¯t allow her to exin what had happened in Mount Qingcheng to Li Yundong. Just as she was struggling with her anxiety, Li Yundong asked again, ¡°Is the third gauntlet from Japan Zhenyan Tantrism? When did it get here? And who send it?¡±

    After he finished asking, Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin looked at each other. Zhou Qin was ashamed as she said, ¡°Sorry, master, we were unaware that... This gauntlet suddenly appeared at the table and there was no time for us to react at all.¡±

    Li Yundong was astonished. ¡°Zi Yuan, don¡¯t you know?¡±

    Zi Yuan shook her head reluctantly and replied, ¡°I am unaware. But it must be a trick by the Japanese Zhenyan Tantrists, done to show off.¡±

    Li Yundong trembled with fear as he knew that Zi Yuan was also a top master of the Yangshen phase. Although she could not win if they went head to head, their cultivation was almost at the same level. Furthermore, what she practiced was Qi refinement of Xuanmen Sect, so she could easily detect anyone whose cultivation quotient was lower than hers or slightly higher than hers as long as they were within ten meters of her.

    However, the fact was that the opponent had been able to sneak into his home, put down the invitation, and leave safely. Even Zi Yuan had been unaware of it. It was a provocation!

    His own home had been encroached upon freely by the opponent!

    It could be inferred from this that the opposite was a jinshen master above the Yangshen phase. Moreover, Zhenyan Tantrism was one of the most important sects in Japan, and its status was equivalent to that of the Zhengyi School in China. As a witch descended from Zhenyan Tantrism, Tachibana Wakako¡¯s master was surely a person of consequence, and it would have been impossible for her to take the risk of sending the gauntlet in person. It had to have been her subordinate!

    To think that a follower of Zhenyan Tantrism could reach the jinshen phase. How terrifying! One could not imagine how powerful the master of Tachibana Wakako was. Was she a master of the lightning retribution phase?

    All of a sudden, Li Yundong was conscious that the forces he possessed were still a little weak. Compared with the sects prevailing in the cultivation world, there was still a long way for him to go!

    Thinking of this, he muttered to himself for a while and frowned, as if he was contemting something. After a little while, he asked Su Chan, ¡°Where is your master?¡±

    Shaking her head, she replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I haven¡¯t seen her over the past two days. I¡¯m also looking for her.¡±

    Pursing his lips tightly, Li Yundong pondered for a while. Then, he looked around, only to see that Su Chan, Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, Ruan Hongling, and all the foxes of Fox Zen School were staring at him eagerly, expecting him to make up his mind. He made a prompt decision and said tly, ¡°Although we be famous through the Taoist Assembly, in fact, we haven¡¯t taken advantage of it at all. We just stole the limelight, which has made us able to be threatened by other sects. As the saying goes, the outstanding usually bear the brunt of the attack. Now that we are in the spotlight, we¡¯ll have to watch out and be more powerful constantly!¡±

    Zi Yuan abruptly cut in, ¡°Li Yundong, are you going to meet Wan Zhenyuan?¡±

    He replied with unwavering determination, ¡°A master of Zhenyan Tantrism was able to enter our home. What does this indicate? It shows that the defense of our home is useless. Today, he brought a gauntlet, and tomorrow he can burn, kill, or pige us with powerful magical weapons! I will never permit such a thing, so even if Wan Zhenyuan hasid a trap, I will meet with him!¡±

    Zi Yuan nodded and whispered to him, ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about this. The refining process of the Diyuan Jindan is not as lengthy as you think. Provided that you select somewhere good, it will only take you two days at most. When you give him the thousand-year-old Snow Lotus, you can sit to the side and watch until the elixir of life is ready.¡±

    Li Yundong smiled faintly. ¡°I know, but...¡± Just then, he was interrupted by a knock at the door, and a crisp female voice sounded from the door. ¡°Is Zhenren Li at home?¡±

    Astonished by this voice, everyone looked at the door. Su Chan walked over quickly and opened the door, where she caught a glimpse of a in-looking girl with a graceful figure standing at the door with a haughty expression. It was Lin Xueqing, who had shown off her spectacr talent of ¡°a phoenix nodding its head three times¡± at the art of teapetition in Dongwu City.

    Su Chan was stunned and couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°It¡¯s you? What are you doing here?¡±

    Lin Xueqing nced at her as if she disdained to talk with her. ¡°Do you own the ce? Am I banned?¡± she said with a snort.

    In response to her rudeness, Su Chan retorted, ¡°Everyone is allowed in, including cats and dogs, but not you!¡±

    Lin Xueqing raised her eyebrows, and there was a spark of rage in her eyes, but she restrained herself a momentter. Her eyes swept over Su Chan¡¯s shoulder and focused on Li Yundong, who was in the living room. She shouted with discontent, ¡°Zhenren Li, is this how you treat your guests?¡±

    At this time, Li Yundong recognized her voice. He walked over to the door and gazed at her in surprise. ¡°Oh, It¡¯s you. What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    When Su Chan saw Li Yundonging over, she pulled a face at Lin Xueqing and then got out of the way.

    Lin Xueqing was eager to challenge him when she saw Li Yundonging over, especially as he was in the limelight now. There was no one like him in the whole world, and all cultivators had heard of his title of ¡®Invincible Li¡¯.

    ¡°Even if I can¡¯t defeat him, as long as I have him suffer a loss, it will make me world-renowned in the future!¡±

    While Lin Xueqing looked Li Yundong up and down, she realized that he had undergone a great change since she hadst met him.

    In the past, he had been high-spirited and vigorous. Although he shone brilliantly, after Lin Xueqing had been defeated in the art of tea, she had thought things through over and over and concluded that he was not invincible. Therefore, she had returned to cultivating hard, and her cultivation had increased greatly. When she was prepared to take revenge, she had suddenly found that his previous aggression had vanished without a trace.

    It was like a vast sea. Even if it was not as turbulent as before, the sea, calm and smooth, was daunting. It was hard to figure out how powerful he really was!

    Li Yundong¡¯s impressive appearance gave Lin Xueqing a shock for a moment. She nkly looked at him as if she couldn¡¯t believe that he had advanced by such leaps and bounds in just a short while!

    ¡°No wonder the cultivators in the cultivation world who participated in the Taoist assembly called him Invincible Li!¡± Lin Xueqing muttered to herself in amazement. ¡°Such is the case.¡±

    Her eyes were full of hostility at first, but those feelings soon dissipated. Li Yundong asked curiously, ¡°Zhenren Lin, what can I do for you?¡±

    Although she was frightened by his cultivation quotient, she was still aggressive as she said, ¡°Am I bothering you?¡±

    A scornful smile emerged on Li Yundong¡¯s face. ¡°As the saying goes, one doesn¡¯t go to a temple for no reason. I have been out of touch with your master, so you can get to the point, can¡¯t you?¡±

    Previously, as soon as Lin Xueqing had irritated Li Yundong, he had immediately refuted her words, but now, he was calm, as if he felt no rage at all. She couldn¡¯t help but marvel in her heart.

    It seemed that she was seeing a brand new Li Yundong. She looked him up and down and sighed, ¡°Well, I¡¯m here just to deliver a message.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the message?¡± he asked.

    Lin Xueqing took a doubtful glimpse at Su Chan, who was next to Li Yundong, and Zi Yuan and the others behind him. Then, she just pursed her mouth tightly, saying nothing.

    Li Yundong knew what she was thinking, and said with augh, ¡°We are on the same side here, you can speak freely.¡±

    As Lin Xueqing, still suspicious, nced at Su Chan et al, she saw Li Yundong giving her a determined look. She snorted and said, ¡°Master Wan is making me tell you that if you find the thousand-year-old Snow Lotus, you can look for him in the Pine Valley Cottage of Mount Huangshan.¡±

    Li Yundong was in a state of shock. ¡°Master Wan? He sent you here? How would he know that I had the lotus?¡±

    Lin Xueqing burst intoughter, then turned and walked away. She said over her shoulder, ¡°Are you eager to know? You¡¯ll figure it out when you go to the Pine Valley Cottage of Mount Huangshan!¡±

 Chapter 564 Sneaking Along!

    <h4>Chapter 564 Sneaking Along!</h4>

    Li Yundong watched Lin Xueqing leave in a hurry, which was very in line with her character. Before he could ask her any questions, she had already disappeared from sight.

    He shook his head and then lowered his chin and thought about what had just happened.

    After thinking for a while, he lifted his head and saw everyone holding their breath and staring at him attentively. They didn¡¯t even dare to take a deep breath for fear that they would disturb his train of thought.

    Standing to one side, Zi Yuan asked with concern, ¡°What¡¯s on your mind?¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head with a frown and said, ¡°It¡¯s strange. How did Wan Zhenyuan know that I had the thousand-year-old snow lotus? You know, I didn¡¯t even sit down after getting back home, but he already knew that I had it and that I hade back! It is really weird!¡±

    Zi Yuan thought for a moment before saying, ¡°Actually, you don¡¯t have to worry so much. The power of the External Elixir Sect is far beyond what we can even imagine. Before the ten years of turmoil began, the leader of the External Elixir Sect, who was also the master of the Gezao Sect, Tang Buzhou, had already begun to n to transfer his assets to the western part of Xinjiang and the southeastern coastal provinces. At that time, Mount Gezao of the Sect had almost been deserted, especially after their leader moved to Tianshan of Sichuan. After that, he received a disciple called Xiri Ahong and passed all of his achievement methods onto him.¡±

    Hearing that, something hit Li Yundong mentally. Suddenly, he asked, ¡°Is he the...¡±

    Zi Yuan nodded and said, ¡°Yes, he is Wan Zhenyuan! After that, Wan Zhenyuan was greatly influenced by his master, and was greatly influenced by the Han. He has always regarded himself as a Han man rather than a Xinjiang man. He has always been thinking about how to recover the reputation of the Gezao Sect and External Alchemy. He has been nning it for more than a decade, and even decentralized his own power from his original sect. He developed his power throughout the whole country in the frame ofpanies. Therefore, he has built up power all over the country, even in Tibet. As such, it¡¯s not surprising that he knew of your whereabouts!¡±

    Li Yundong gasped deeply. He shook his head and said, ¡°I know Wan Zhenyuan is a rare ambitious hero, but I hadn¡¯t expected him to make a n like this and scheme for such a long time! Terrifying, so terrifying! But why did he send Lin Xueqing here? Is the Pine Valley Cottage part of External Alchemy?¡±

    At this point, Ruan Hongling rushed to say, ¡°Of course, the Pine Valley Cottage specializes in the tea business. The deals of Lin Xueqing and Zhong Qingsong make up most of the tea business in Mount Huang. In this world, not only the tea and herb trades, but also when ites to the cultivation sects, at least eighty percent are controlled by External Alchemy, and ny percent of those resources and business channels are controlled by the Gezao Sect alone!¡±

    Li Yundong said with a grave expression, ¡°I see! I underestimated the power of External Alchemy and the Gezao Sect! I didn¡¯t see any masters from there during the assembly, so I just looked down on them a little. I didn¡¯t know that their economic strength was so overwhelming.¡±

    Zi Yuan smiled. ¡°They don¡¯t have masters. This has always been the pain in their hearts. Therefore, Wan Zhenyuan desperately wanted to refine the Diyuan Jindan. Even one Jindan in their hands would give them a jinshen Master in the sect. Just one Jinshen Master would help them to overturn the whole cultivation world immediately considering their economic strength, which is pretty much unrivaled.¡±

    Li Yundong sighed. ¡°Cultivation methods, money, partners, ces, and cultivation implements are all indispensable for our cultivation. It seems that money is not only important for cultivation, but also for stayingpetitive as a sect in the cultivation world!¡±

    Su Chan took Li Yundong¡¯s arm and interrupted, saying, ¡°Hey, we¡¯re rich now! We¡¯re not poor!¡±

    Her innocent words made Li Yundongugh. He stroked her head dotingly and smiled, ¡°Little fool, our money is but a drop in the bucketpared to their oceans of wealth.¡±

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, ¡°You needn¡¯t belittle yourself. The snow lotus is now in our hands. It¡¯s rare and priceless. So many people have been looking for it. Once you sell it, you¡¯ll immediately be a billionaire!¡±

    Li Yundongughed and said, ¡°Are you kidding me? How could I sell such a treasure?¡±

    Zi Yuan smiled knowingly. ¡°Indeed! However, Wan Zhenyuan sent his men at this critical moment, meaning that he was afraid that you wouldn¡¯t cooperate with him after getting the snow lotus. He sent his men to tell you to go to Mount Huang. I think it is a warning rather than a conspiracy, more likely than not. Wan Zhenyuan and the Gezao Sect are more eager for the Diyuan Jindan than to meet you!¡±

    Li Yundong nodded. ¡°I agree with you. However, Wan Zhenyuan is really narrow-minded. He has no idea of what a princely man aspires to. Was he afraid that I would run away? Apart from him, who else can refine the Diyuan Jindan in this world?¡±

    At this time, Zhou Qin, who had been silent for a while, suddenly piped up. ¡°Master, have you decided to go to Mount Huang?¡±

    Li Yundong nodded. ¡°Yes! And actually, it can¡¯t be dyed. I¡¯ll go now!¡±

    ¡°Master, I want to go with you!¡± Zhou Qin immediately cried.

    As soon as she finished saying this, Su Chan, who was next to her, also shouted, ¡°I want to go, too!¡±

    Hearing this, the little foxes joined in. ¡°Leader, we also want to go to the Yellow Mountain to have a look!¡±

    ¡°I agree, Mount Huang is the most fantastic mountain in the world! We have never been there before!¡±

    ¡°Leader, take us to have a look!¡±

    Suddenly, the group of women in the living room all started moring. Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. He pretended to be angry and red at Zhou Qin and Su Chan as he shouted, ¡°Do you think I am going sight-seeing? Do you know how many people are eyeing us covetously like hungry tigers right now?¡±

    Zhou Qin and Su Chan looked at each other and, eachining in their hearts, ¡°I am not going to y this game. The little foxes want to, but not me. What does it have to do with me?¡±

    But they also knew that Li Yundong was trying to warn others by punishing them, so they both lowered their heads and didn¡¯t say a word.

    When the foxes saw that both Zhou Qin and Su Chan had been scolded, they immediately shrank back and stopped making any noise.

    Seeing that he had finally ¡®crushed¡¯ these little foxes, Li Yundong turned his head to Zi Yuan and said, ¡°I¡¯m going to Mount Huang now. I¡¯ll leave the family in your care.¡±

    Zi Yuan was a little worried and asked, ¡°Are you going alone? Aren¡¯t you going to rest for a while? It¡¯s barely been ten minutes since you got here!¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head and said, ¡°I am not in the mood. I can¡¯t rx my heart with such a precious treasure on me. In order to avoid more trouble, I¡¯d better go as soon as possible. You don¡¯t have toe with me. It¡¯s more convenient for me to go alone.¡±

    Seeing his determination, Zi Yuan didn¡¯t ask to apany him. She said softly, ¡°Get back early and be careful.¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and nodded at her.

    Ruan Hongling, who was standing to one side, knew that Zi Yuan¡¯s words were rarely gentle or concerned. However, when she spoke to Li Yundong, it was as if he was a husband who was about to leave home and leaving his wife at home. The wife was also concerned about her husband who was about to go far away. The atmosphere between the two of them was a little strange, but they didn¡¯t notice at all!

    Ruan Honglingughed in her heart. She wanted to get them together, so she began to devise a scheme for it.

    But while she was thinking about it, she saw Li Yundong leave, and then she heard someone shouting from outside, ¡°Master, Master!¡±

    Ruan Hongling came to the door with Su Chan and the others and looked out curiously, only to find that John, Kris, and Alba were standing outside. As soon as the three foreigners saw Li Yunyang, they knelt to the ground in a row and shouted.

    When Li Yundong saw that these three nuisances hade, he felt a headache and said with a wry smile, ¡°What are you doing here? How do you know where I live?¡±

    John rushed to say, ¡°Master, we sincerely want to be apprenticed, so we found out where are you living from others!¡±

    Suddenly something hit him in the heart, and then he immediately looked at Zhou Qin. She smiled awkwardly and said, ¡°Feng Na asked me yesterday. It would have been inappropriate for me not to tell her...¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head, then bent down and helped them up. ¡°No, I can¡¯t take you as my disciples now.¡±

    Although John was bigger than Li Yundong in size, he stood up uncontrobly when Li Yundong extended his hand. He couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°Master, why won¡¯t you ept us? Are we not sincere enough?¡±

    Kris also said seriously, ¡°We have already done what you asked us to do. Why are you still not willing to take us as your disciples? Just because we are foreigners? Is race really so important to you?¡±

    Although Alba couldn¡¯t understand what they were talking about, she also knew that herpanions were begging from their expressions, so she kept nodding and then pointing at herself and shouting her new Chinese name in her poor Chinese, ¡°Zhao Jing, me, Zhao Jing!¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. He couldn¡¯t tell them directly that he was about to hurry to Mount Huang, so he didn¡¯t have time for them. Moreover, he hadn¡¯t thought clearly about whether or not to receive them.

    Li Yundong thought for a moment before saying vaguely, ¡°Not now. It¡¯s not the right time!¡±

    Kris quickly pressed on. ¡°Then when will the right timee?¡±

    Li Yundong hesitated for a moment. ¡°It¡¯s the right time when I say it is!¡± Then, he smiled apologetically at Kris and the other two. ¡°Sorry, I have something urgent to do. I¡¯ll go now.¡±

    Then, he left quickly. John and the other two chased him for a few steps, but after getting just a few meters, Li Yundong turned a corner and disappeared immediately.

    Kris, John, and Alba¡¯s faces were instantly filled with disappointment.

    Albained, ¡°Damn! He is such a chauvinist pig! Who has a gun? I¡¯m gonna put a bullet in ¡®im!¡±

    John was shocked. ¡°What did you just say?¡±

    Kris also shook her head and said, ¡°Alba, you can¡¯t say such a thing. In the eyes of the Chinese, that¡¯s terribly disrespectful!¡±

    Alba shrugged her shoulders. ¡°I was just joking. I thought he was going too far, that¡¯s all.¡±

    The three foreigners looked at each other and sighed simultaneously, then frowned and thought in their hearts, ¡°What can I do to seed in being apprenticed?¡±

 Chapter 565 A Secret Accompanying!

    <h4>Chapter 565 A Secret Apanying!</h4>

    Not far away, Ruan Hongling could see that Li Yundong was refusing to ept Kris and the others as his disciples. She gloated and watched them from the side, but soon she found that Zhou Qin was looking at Kris with sympathy. Ruan Hongling suddenly realized something and found that Zi Yuan was absent, so she walked over to Zhou Qin and whispered, "Zhou Qin, are you okay with letting Li Yundong go to Mount Huangshan alone?"

    Unsuspecting of other motives, Zhou Qin sighed and said, "I also want to go, but... Master won¡¯t allow me, so what can I do?"

    Ruan Hongling winked at Zhou Qin, nced at Kris not far away, and then blinked.

    Zhou Qin has a sharp mind and she immediately caught on. "You mean..."

    Ruan Hongling swiftly made a gesture of silence, then winked.

    Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes brightened and she cast a grateful look at Ruan Hongling. She hesitated for a moment after taking several rapid steps forward, then turned back to whisper to Ruan Hongling, "No, if Master finds out, he will definitely me me."

    Ruan Honglingughed and secretly pointed at Su Chan. "Will Li Yundong me you if you take her with you?"

    Zhou Qin was stunned, then immediately felt a wave of joy. She smiled and nodded to Ruan Hongling, then she walked over to Su Chan and said softly, "Su Chan, do you want to go to Mount Huangshan with me?"

    Su Chan was looking in the direction in which Li Yundong was leaving with a helpless face. She had a hard time watching his back, especially as he was leaving after being around for less than ten minutes. It really made the girl feel deeply aggrieved!

    Hearing Zhou Qin¡¯s words, the girl¡¯s eyes suddenly brightened. "I want to go, sister Zhou Qin, what about you?" But soon the little girl¡¯s expression changed, and she said, "But if Yundong finds out that I¡¯ve been disobedient, he will scold me!"

    Zhou Qin pointed at Kris and the others and said in a low voice, "We¡¯ll just say that these foreigners insisted on looking for him, and that it was useless to dissuade them. We were afraid that something would happen to them, so we had to go with them. What do you think?"

    Su Chan was thrilled by these ruse and quickly nodded. But she immediately frowned and asked, "But how would they know where Master is going?"

    Zhou Qin hesitated for a moment, but soon she pointed to Ruan Hongling next to her and said, "We could say that she spilled the beans!"

    Su Chan was shocked. "Eh? We can¡¯t do that, can we?"

    Ruan Hongling said with shock, "Why me?"

    Zhou Qin turned her head, looked at Ruan Hongling with a faint smile, and said, "It was your idea. What¡¯s wrong with you taking one for the team?"

    Seeing that there was something being indirectly implied in Zhou Qin¡¯s words, Ruan Hongling shed a guilty smile, then braced herself and said, "Okay, let¡¯s just say I let it slip! But you must never tell anyone that this was all my idea, or I won¡¯t admit that I let it slip!"

    Zhou Qin was delighted. "Deal!"

    But Su Chan asked suspiciously, "What are you talking about?"

    Zhou Qin always had the resolute spirit of a fabled heroine. She said to Su Chan, "There¡¯s no time to worry about that. Master is flying so fast with his Yang Spirit that we won¡¯t be able to catch up if we dy. Are we going or not? Just say the word."

    Su Chan hesitated for a long time. She really missed Li Yundong very much and was worried about the safety of her beloved, so in the end, she made up her mind and gritted her teeth, saying, "Fine, let¡¯s go!"

    Zhou Qin felt a spark of joy rush through her, and she quickly walked over to Kris and said in English, "Kris, my master is actually testing you as to whether you¡¯re able to worship a master in China. You¡¯ll have to go through lots of tests. If you really want to be apprenticed, you should follow my master. You should go wherever he goes!"

    Kris looked pleased and hurriedly asked, "Really? So where did he go?"

    Zhou Qin suddenly smiled, feeling satisfied that she had seeded in her deceptive scheme. "He¡¯s gone to Mount Huangshan, but I think if you guys want to go, you won¡¯t be able to find him alone. Su Chan and I will take you there!"

    John and Kris were delighted, but Alba muttered a few words in a low voice, too quiet for anyone to hear.

    After Zhou Qin, Su Chan and Kris had finished their discussion, Ruan Hongling quickly began chasing after Li Yundong. When she saw that everyone was far away and that they had been going for a long time, sheughed proudly and said, "Even if one of you is a fox spirit and the other is a witty Miss Qianjin, you still fall into my trap. Hah, gotcha!"

    At this time, Zi Yuan heard herughter echoing from inside the room. She came out curiously and asked, "What are youughing at?"

    Ruan Hongling proudly told her of the n and then said, "Sister Zi Yuan, I¡¯ve seen you around flirting with Li Yundong, and you obviously like him very much, but you refuse to confess to him. If I hadn¡¯t helped you like this, when would you have ever been able to show your true feelings?"

    However, Zi Yuan hadn¡¯t been expecting this. She was shocked and angry, saying, "You think you¡¯re helping me?"

    Ruan Hongling said in wonder, "Aren¡¯t I? Do you dare to pretend that you don¡¯t like him? Humph, he ispletely devoted to Su Chan. Last time she caused such a big mess, and Li Yundong didn¡¯t even me her. Hum, this time, with Su Chan¡¯s personality, she¡¯ll definitely cause more trouble again, and Li Yundong will finally get tired of her. When that timees, Sister Zi Yuan, you can..."

    Before she could finish her words, Zi Yuan suddenly felt an explosion of rage. "Asshole!" She screeched, unable to stop herself from raising her hand to p Ruan Hongling. However, just as her hand was about to p Ruan Hongling¡¯s face, she stopped abruptly.

    Zi Yuan quickly nced into the room and closed the door, scolding her with great anger, "Are you helping me? How could you do such a thing? Haven¡¯t you heard that ¡¯it¡¯s better to destroy ten temples than one marriage¡¯? Hong Ling, you disappoint me so much!"

    After that, Zi Yuan stomped off and rushed outside.

    Ruan Hongling was frightened by Zi Yuan¡¯s anger and she covered her face subconsciously. When she saw Zi Yuan leaving, she asked, "Shijie, where are you off to?"

    Zi Yuan turned her head and said angrily, "Do you know how many people are watching us now? I¡¯ll get them back!" Then, she pointed at Ruan Hongling and red at her with hatred in her eyes. "If anything happens to them, I will never forgive you!"

    Ruan Hongling stared nkly at Zi Yuan leaving, feeling both aggrieved and sad, and she couldn¡¯t help but shed a few tears. "If it weren¡¯t for you, I wouldn¡¯t be a wicked person. You know you like him so much that you call his name in your dreams at night, but you just won¡¯t admit to it! I¡¯ll be the wicked one, it¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t acknowledge my kindness, but you shouldn¡¯t scold me like this!" she cried.

    The more Ruan Hongling thought about it, the harder it became for her to figure it out. She turned her head and rushed over to the opposite room, sobbing and crying.

    In Zi Yuan¡¯s view, Su Chan and Zhou Qin wouldn¡¯t be able to get far with three foreigners who didn¡¯t have any cultivation skills. After she had rushed out of themunity, she immediately chose an empty spot and flew over to the roof of the high-rise building to survey the surroundings.

    Zi Yuan looked around for a while, and indeed saw the figures of Su Chan, Zhou Qin, and Kris sh by the corner of the street. She immediately shouted their names, then chased after them at once.

    Su Chan, who had sharp ears, heard Zi Yuan¡¯s yell. It made her heart tighten and she promptly said to Zhou Qin, "Oh no, it must be sister Zi Yuaning to bring us back!"

    "Zi Yuan is too mature to tolerate this. She definitely won¡¯t agree to let us go. What should we do?" said Zhou Qin, frowning.

    When Su Chan saw Zhou Qin looking towards her, she immediately decided to take the opportunity to look at Kris and John.

    Kris was quite calcting. She didn¡¯t know what was going on and said nothing. Meanwhile, Alba couldn¡¯t understand what they were talking about and just kept silent. Only John said carelessly, "Of course we should avoid her, or how will we find Master?"

    Zhou Qin and Su Chan were delighted. "You said it!" they eximed, grinning cheekily.

    They then made their way around the corner, and Su Chan quickly released the Goddess Nayan Mudras to hide their figures.

    As soon as Zi Yuan arrived at the spot which they had appeared at, she found that they had vanished without a trace. She was shocked and hurriedly looked around. However, her remarkable and stunning appearance attracted the attention of all the passers-by on the street. Some of the drivers even saw Zi Yuan at a nce and were shocked by her amazing beauty. In a sh, there were numerous car idents and cases of tailgating on the road.

    When Zi Yuan saw that such a thing actually happened, she couldn¡¯t help but became headachy and grow even more anxious. Last time, Zhenyan Tantrism had secretly sent a challenge letter right under her nose, which had made her feel quite ashamed. Now, Li Yundong had entrusted these people to her, and if something happened to Zhou Qin and Su Chan, how would she exin it to him?

    Zi Yuan didn¡¯t want to make a scene on the street either. She quickly evaluated the situation in her mind and wondered to herself, "Are they hiding from me?"

    Zi Yuan deliberately stomped on the street in anger and soon disappeared, hiding in a corner and surreptitiously looking around.

    Seeing Zi Yuan leave, Kris said, "She¡¯s gone. Can we go out now?"

    However, Su Chan raised a finger and gestured for her to be silent. "Shh, sister Zi Yuan is smart enough that she is probably waiting for us somewhere. Don¡¯t be hasty! Anyway, we know that Yundong has gone to Mount Huangshan. If we go thereter, we can find him in Pine Valley Cottage."

    Hearing her words, Kris fell silent. They waited for a long time until Alba started whining and John was on the cusp of losing his patience, at which point Zi Yuan shed out of the corner in disappointment. Taking advantage of the empty street, she instantly turned into a beam of green light and flew into the air, heading for Mount Huangshan.

    Only then did Su Chan breathe a sigh of relief and say triumphantly, "Alright, we can go now. Follow Sister Zi Yuan!"

    Zhou Qin, however, sighed. "After such a long dy, I don¡¯t know if we¡¯ll still be able to make it! Forget it, let¡¯s go! The high-speed train is pretty fast. It¡¯ll probably arrive at Mount Huangshan in Anhui in a few hours."

    After this brief discussion, they hailed a cab and headed to Mount Huangshan together in tandem with Li Yundong, Zi Yuan, and others.

    But what they didn¡¯t know was that Ruan Hongling¡¯s whim had created the famous "Disanxian" in the Cultivation World, known as ¡¯Heavenly Immortal, Human Immortal, Fox Immortal¡¯.

    Simrly, the fates of Kris, John, and Alba, these three foreigners with different purposes, wanting to be apprenticed, would be dramatically different from that day on, and they would all end up going their separate ways.

 Chapter 566 I Will Be the Peak of the Highest Mountain

    <h4>Chapter 566 I Will Be the Peak of the Highest Mountain</h4>

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t have to fly for long before he saw Lin Xueqing waiting for him in the air, looking around proudly, as if she had known that Li Yundong would definitely follow her.

    Seeing him approaching, Lin Xueqing was about to start bragging smugly, but Li Yundong flew past her without stopping, which made her swallow some of the words she had been about to say. She could only angrily follow him and fly over to Mount Huangshan.

    After flying for a while, they finally arrived near Mount Huangshan. When Li Yundongnded, he found himself in the middle of a majestic mountain made up of thousands of peaks and valleys and generously sprinkled with rare pines. Towering rocks jutted toward the sky, and fluffy clouds gathered into a vast sea.

    At first nce, Li Yundong felt like he was utterly surrounded by pine trees. These trees were rooted in the cracks of the rocks. Looking from afar, he could see that the trees were lush and dense, with curved trunks and gnarled branches, all in various poses. Some of them relied on the shore to be tall and straight, some stood at the top of the peaks, some hung upside down from the precipices, some were t like lids, and some were sharp like swords. Some were standing along the cliffs and valleys and some were extending past the rocks; some prated the cracks of the stones and some broke through to see the sun. As for directions, some were upside down, some were growing horizontally, and some were sleeping on the ground and some had just awoken. They really were everywhere, even in the stones! What¡¯s more, every pine tree was unique and bizarre!

    Li Yundong felt as if he was in a paradise, a wondend of the human world, with the surrounding air filled with an unusually dense spirit of Heaven and Earth, making him feel rxed.

    ¡°It¡¯s true that the five great mountains in China are superior to any other mountains, while Mount Huangshan even makes the five great mountains seem unnoteworthy!¡± Looking at the beautiful scenery around him, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but sigh from the bottom of his heart.

    At this time, Lin Xueqing alsonded beside him. Hearing his words, she said proudly, ¡°Of course! Don¡¯t you see where you are! This is the highest peak of Mount Huangshan, Tiandu Peak! Haven¡¯t you heard the saying ¡®The returning guests of the five great mountains are also awed by seeing Tiandu Peak¡¯?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled slightly. It seemed that he had forgotten about Diyuan Jindan for a while. He looked around with intense admiration in his eyes and thought to himself, ¡°If I could live here with Chan¡¯er in the future, I would cultivate with her and travel around the mountains and rivers with her, making even immortals envy us!¡±

    While Li Yundong was busy expressing his amazement, Lin Xueqing ran quickly toward Tiandu Peak. Moving with the agility of a monkey, she leaped and ran through the woods so fast that she got halfway up the mountain in the blink of an eye.

    Li Yundong hurriedly shouted after her, ¡°Hey, where are you going?¡±

    His voice spread throughout the whole valley, causing echoes. Lin Xueqing stopped and turned back to shout at him, ¡°To see Master Wan!¡±

    He asked curiously, ¡°Doesn¡¯t he live in Pine Valley Cottage?¡±

    Lin Xueqingughed and said, ¡°Who told you that? He lives at Tiandu Peak! Come with me!¡±

    Li Yundong was filled with doubt, but he quickly followed as asked.

    He leaped and quickly climbed up the hillside. When he reached the top of Tiandu Peak, he looked around and saw that he seemed to be floating upon a vast sea of clouds, which was integrated with mountains, and that the rivers had gathered together. Overlooking the mountains surrounding him, he found that there were thousands of beautiful and high peaks around. However, only Tiandu Peak on which he stood was high enough to touch the sky and show disdain for the rest of the mountains. It was the most splendid and majestic mountain peak of all!

    In particr, when Li Yundong looked down, he could see that the ropeway of the mountain was winding continuously like a gray snake circling around the mountain in a great coil. When the mountain wind blew, the ropeway would shake and rattle in a rather exciting fashion.

    Seeing that Li Yundong¡¯s eyes were glowing with admiration and appreciation, Lin Xueqing was satisfied and came up with an idea. She suddenly suggested, ¡°Well, let me give you a topic to test you. You need to make a couplet with this scene in front of you, which should contain the four words sea, sky, mountain, and peak. What do you think?¡±

    Although he didn¡¯t know why she suddenly wanted to test him, when he looked around at the magnificent scenery, he felt a heroic feeling in his chest that wasparable with the vast sky. He started to believe that although the world was big, it would never be conquered!

    This was the biggest difference between Taoism and Buddhism!

    Buddhists emphasized that people should be aware of their mortal lives, and that there was no way for people to triumph over heaven. As for Taoists, they proposed going against heaven, and humans were bound to surpass it!

    There seemed to be an intense stream of Yuanyang Qi surging through Li Yundong¡¯s chest. He felt that it was like a powerful torrent, making him want to express his deep feelings. He immediately answered, ¡°At the end of the boundless ocean, the sky will be the shore; at the top of the highest mountain, I will be the peak!¡±

    Reciting this couplet, he used a loud and clear voice and took a long breath, resembling the sound of countless bells in the mountains ringing in unison. It was like rolling, magnificent waves, which piled upyer byyer and were transmitted far away. The words echoed forcefully in the valley and through the sea of clouds, strong enough to make anyone who heard it feel the seething blood and Qi and be broad-minded.

    As a woman, Lin Xueqing knew that Li Yundong had borrowed Lin Zexu, a famous Chinese historical figure¡¯s couplet to answer her question, but she was shocked by his impassioned feelings after hearing the sentence. ¡°He is broad-minded and courageous! No wonder he has been given the nickname of ¡®Invincible Li¡¯ after only half a year of cultivation! It seems that I have underestimated him in the past. Judging by the spirit of his words, I¡¯m sure that he will be a master in the future, a true Zhenren!¡± she thought with surprise.

    While Lin Xueqing was still secretly shocked by Li Yundong, she heard a burst ofughtering from not far away. ¡°What a good verse!¡±

    Li Yundong and Lin Xueqing turned their heads in unison, only to see Wan Zhenyuan wearing a robe and holding a dust whisk,ughing as he walked towards them.

    Seeing that Wan Zhenyuan was here, Li Yundong turned around, bowed to him, and said with a smile, ¡°So, it¡¯s Master Wan!¡±

    Lin Xueqing bowed to Wan Zhenyuan and said casually, ¡°Uncle Wan, I¡¯ve brought him to you. Is there anything else I can do for you?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan stroked his beard and said to Lin Xueqing with a smile, ¡°No, that¡¯s all, Xueqing. Go and find your master. I¡¯ll have a word with Zhenren Li now!¡±

    Lin Xueqing responded with a sigh and left quickly. After taking a few steps, she looked back at Li Yundong with a strange look in her eyes. She quickly nced at Wan Zhenyuan, as if she wanted to say something, but stopped herself on second thought.

    Wan Zhenyuan smiled at her and said, ¡°Xueqing, is there anything else?¡±

    She hesitated for a moment, shook her head, and said, ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I¡¯m leaving now, Uncle Wan!¡± Then, she left with spritely steps.

    After watching her walk away, Li Yundong smiled and said to Wan Zhenyuan, ¡°How have you been, Master Wan?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan chuckled and said, ¡°You¡¯re too polite, Zhenren Li. I¡¯ve been busy refining the Diyuan Jindan recently, so I haven¡¯t been able to take time out of my busy schedule. I could only ask Xueqing to invite you toe here for a chat. She has been spoiled by her master since she was a child. If she did anything rude, I¡¯ll apologize to you for it now.¡±

    Li Yundong waved his hand and said, ¡°It¡¯s nothing. What I¡¯m curious about is, why are you here, Zhenren Wan? Why aren¡¯t you at Mount Gezao?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuanughed and said, ¡°Mount Gezao? I¡¯ve been robbed twice there. If I foolishly went to practice alchemy there again, wouldn¡¯t I be asking for trouble?¡±

    Li Yundong asked curiously, ¡°Oh? Is there a problem with Mount Huangshan?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan smiled and said, ¡°Mount Huangshan has been the sacrednd of Taoism since ancient times. In modern times, our sect has been operating here for a long time. Our forces are deep-rooted, and outsiders can¡¯t get in. Moreover, Tiandu Peak is currently in a state of lockdown, making it a ce free of tourists. Therefore, there is no need for us to worry about being disturbed by others when we practice alchemy here, and no one will know that I am refining Diyuan Jindan.¡±

    ¡°Master Wan is really thoughtful. I¡¯m impressed!¡± Li Yundong said, looking at him with a smile and nodding slightly.

    Wan Zhenyuanughed and said, ¡°You are the one with great skills. Since you brought back the millennial snow lotus so quickly, now there is a good chance for us to refine the Diyuan Jindan!¡±

    At first, Li Yundong wanted to ask Wan Zhenyuan why he had been spying on him, but after giving it a bit of thought, he refrained from posing the question. Instead, he asked, ¡°Master Wan, how can I be sure that I¡¯ll be the one to refine the Diyuan Jindan in the future?¡±

    Seeing that Li Yundong wasn¡¯t mentioning that he had spied on him, Wan Zhenyuan breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. He couldn¡¯t help but admire that Li Yundong was so young yet so experienced. He smiled and said, ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about it, Zhenren Li. You can watch and apany me right up until the Diyuan Jindan is refined. I believe that with your ability, you won¡¯t be worried that I¡¯ll swallow the Diyuan Jindan in front of you, will you?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and said, ¡°You must be joking, Master Wan.¡± As he said this, he carefully handed over the millennial snow lotus, then put away the white handkerchief it had been wrapped in.

    At first sight of the millennial snow lotus, Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s eyes lit up. He stretched out his trembling hands and held it out in front of himself, then said in a trembling voice, ¡°Is this really the millennial snow lotus? The one and only? Oh, My God...¡±

    With tears in his eyes, Wan Zhenyuan knelt down in the direction of the Tianshan mountains to the west and said in a choked voice, ¡°Master, I haven¡¯t let you down. I have finally earned a chance to refine the Diyuan Jindan in my lifetime!¡±

    Li Yundong could see that Wan Zhenyuan, a middle-aged man of 40 or 50 years old, who was normally shrewd and sophisticated, was getting so excited that he was losing hisposure. He remembered some of Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s life stories which Zi Yuan had told him before, and he couldn¡¯t help but feel a little sad and sorrowful. ¡°Master Wan, your teacher will definitely bless you if he receives your message from heaven!¡± he saidfortingly.

    Wan Zhenyuan raised the millennial snow lotus with both hands and kowtowed three times respectfully, then got up and wiped away his tears with his sleeves. After that, he smiled and said, ¡°Zhenren Li, please excuse my behavior! I began to learn the Tao from my master when I was ten years old. Although my master¡¯s cultivation is extraordinary, he has always regretted that he was unable to see the fantastic appearance of Diyuan Jindan during his life, and that he couldn¡¯t refine the lost Diyuan Jindan with his own hands. Now, I am able to realize the final wish of my master. Thank you for your help!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and said, ¡°I¡¯d like to see Master Wan refine the Diyuan Jindan!¡±

    Wan Zhenyuanughed and carefully put the snow lotus away. He pointed to a covert cave not far away and said with a smile, ¡°Look, that is the door of the cave guarded by the immortals. I have already arranged everything inside. Please follow me.¡±

    Just as Li Yundong and Wan Zhenyuan were heading for the Alchemy Cave, Lin Xueqing returned to the Pine Valley Cottage in the north of Mount Huangshan. However, unbeknownst to her, there were two uninvited guests in the Pine Valley Cottage.

    One of them, an old man with silvery-white hair and a ruddyplexion, was chatting warmly with his master Zhong Qingsong, a kind smile on his face. Beside him stood a tall, sexy, and fashionably dressed woman.

    These two were none other than Zheng Yuan and his disciple, Ding Nan!

 Chapter 567 The Old B*stard Peeping at the Secret!

    <h4>Chapter 567 The Old B*stard Peeping at the Secret!</h4>

    When Zhong Qingsong saw Lin Xueqing, he stood up with a smile and said enthusiastically to her, ¡°Qing¡¯er,e here and let me introduce some famous cultivators to you. This is Zheng Yuan, the leader of the Yin Yang Sect based in Mount Wuhua, and this is his beloved disciple, Lu Fengping.¡±

    Lin Xueqing and her master rarely traveled, except for thest tea artpetition, so generally speaking, she barely interacted with outsiders. That was why she had developed a lonely, rebellious, proud and arrogant temperament. Even though she rarely went out of the secr world, she still knew a little about Zheng Yuan. She nced at him and suddenly asked, ¡°You are Zheng Yuan?¡±

    Hearing how impolite Lin Xueqing¡¯s words were, Zhong Qingsong¡¯s face changed, and he shouted, ¡°Insolent brat, how did you talk like this?¡±

    Zheng Yuan smiled, stroking his white beard, and said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, young people are always like this!¡± He then withdrew a jade ring from his pocket and handed it to her with a smile. ¡°I came in a hurry and didn¡¯t bring any decent gifts for you. I¡¯m your master¡¯s best friend, so this little gift is not worthy of mentioning. Haha, it is still suitable for a little girl like you to wear for fun though!¡±

    Lin Xueqing saw that the jade ring was emerald green and wless, obviously a rare treasure. She felt strange in her heart, and she didn¡¯t ept the ring. Instead, she said directly, ¡°Zheng Zhenren, I have heard that you don¡¯t have a good reputation.¡±

    Hearing her words, Zheng Yuan and Zhong Qingsong¡¯s faces transformed at the same time. Zhong Qingsong shouted angrily, ¡°Qing¡¯er, how dare you! Zheng Zhenren is my savior. How can you speak to him like this!¡±

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s face drained of color, and then a look of resentment shed in his eyes, but soon his face became filled with kindness and generosity once again. He stroked his beard and said with a serene smile: ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. It¡¯s normal for some people in this world to misunderstand me.¡±

    Ding Nan, who was next to him, also seized the opportunity and said with an obsequious smile, ¡°Most of the rumors are not credible. It¡¯s human nature to be jealous of those with great talent.¡±

    Zhong Qingsong also hurriedly said, ¡°That¡¯s right. Zheng Zhenren is a man of great skill, so other people will naturally tend towards jealousy over him.¡±

    When Lin Xueqing heard this, she couldn¡¯t help but think of some rumors that were circting about Li Yundong, and she inwardly agreed with them, so she didn¡¯t say anything. Still, she didn¡¯t take the jade ring and just said, ¡°Forget it. Let¡¯s forget this. It¡¯s true that not all the rumors in the world are credible. However, I can¡¯t take this jade ring. There¡¯s amon saying which says there are no gains without pains. If I take your things, and then you have some requests for me, I might not be able to fulfill them. As the saying goes, gifts blind the eyes.¡±

    Lin Xueqing really had a sharp tongue, and her words made Zheng Yuan¡¯s face turn from green to red. Zhong Qingsong was so angry that he pulled her to his side and scolded her in a low voice, ¡°Qing¡¯er, what¡¯s with you today? Get up on the wrong side of the bed? Huh? Is this how I taught you how to deal with others?¡±

    Zheng Yuan suppressed his anger. He smiled and waved his hand, saying, ¡°Brother Zhong, you don¡¯t have to be so harsh with her. Your disciple is frank and direct. Well, I like that kind of attitude! What your disciple said is right. I¡¯m not here for no reason, I want to ask for your help!¡±

    Zhong Qingsong red at Lin Xueqing, as if he was going to settle things with herter, then turned his head and said to Zheng Yuan with a smile, ¡°Zheng Zhenren, if you need anything, just tell me. I will do what I can!¡±

    Zheng Yuan smiled and said, ¡°I have always heard that you are a master of alchemy and that your skills are second only to Wan Zhenyuan, the master of the Gezao Sect. You also control the production channels of arge number of medicinal materials. My beloved disciple has just finished the Zhuji phase recently and has consumed all of the elixirs of life we had in store, so I want to ask you to supplement them this time.¡±

    Hearing this, a look of embarrassment immediately appeared on Zhong Qingsong¡¯s face. He hesitated for a moment, causing Zheng Yuan to ask, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Brother Zhong, is there a problem? If there is, feel free to tell me. I will definitely not trouble you.¡±

    Zhong Qingsong quickly smiled and said, ¡°To tell you the truth, Zheng Zhenren, recently, all the medicinal materials I had were sold out, and now there is no stock at all, so no medicinal pills have been refined. However, I still have a bottle of Shenxiao Powder left. I don¡¯t know whether you¡¯ll want it.¡±

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s expression was one of shock. ¡°All of them have been sold? Brother Zhong, are you kidding me? As far as I know, all the medicinal materials sales near Mount Huang are under your control, but you have no stock at all? Which pharmaceutical factory has such high demands that it has swallowed up all your stock in one fell swoop?¡±

    Zhong Qingsong shook his head and said, ¡°Zheng Zhenren, I really have no stock. As for who bought everything, I can¡¯t say! But please, believe me, if I had anything, I would present it to you with both hands!¡±

    Zheng Yuan was greatly disappointed and shocked.

    Zhong Qingsong¡¯s heart was filled with guilt. He said tentatively, ¡°Zheng Zhenren, would you like to take my Shenxiao Powder in case of emergency? In a while, I¡¯ll definitely bring the refined pills with me for a visit to Mount Wuyue.¡±

    Zheng Yuan thought to himself, ¡°Hum, what¡¯s the use of a body-strengthening pill like Shenxiao Powder? Zhong Qingsong must be hiding something from me!¡±

    Sensing Zhong Qingsong¡¯s determination and reluctance to say anything, Zheng Yuan decided to do his best to be a good person to the end. He waved his hand, smiled generously, and said, ¡°Forget it, you keep it. I¡¯lle back another day.¡±

    Zhong Qingsong said to him with a face written with shame, ¡°I¡¯m really sorry to have made youe here in vain.¡±

    Zheng Yuan chuckled and was about to speak when he heard a clear voice from a womaning from outside Pine Valley Cottage. ¡°Master Zhong, is Master Wan here?¡±

    The four people in the room were stunned. When they looked outside, they saw a beautiful woman in a white dress standing there. She was elegant and ethereal like a fairy. It was none other than Zi Yuan!

    ¡°What is she doing here?¡± This thought shed through all of their minds at the same time.

    Lin Xueqing had held a grudge against Zi Yuan before. She nced at Zi Yuan, frowned deeply, then walked up and asked loudly, ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    In the face of Lin Xueqing¡¯s rude question, Zi Yuan nced around quickly, as if she were looking for Su Chan and the others. She said with reserved politeness, ¡°Lin Zhenren, I want to ask you something.¡±

    Lin Xueqing¡¯s eyebrows drew together and she asked, ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Did Li Yundonge to Mount Huangshan with you?¡±

    Lin Xueqing opened her mouth and blurted out, ¡°Yes, what about it?¡±

    Standing to one side, Zhong Qingsong frowned suddenly and red at Lin Xueqing, but Lin Xueqing acted as if she couldn¡¯t see him.

    Zi Yuan asked again, ¡°Where is Li Yundong now? Is he with Master Wan? Did anyone elsee to find him?¡±

    Lin Xueqing began saying directly, ¡°No, they...¡±

    Zhong Qingsong abruptly interrupted, ¡°They¡¯re not here. Master Wan lives in Mount Gezao. How could he be in Mount Huangshan? I think you must have made a mistake.¡±

    Lin Xueqing was stunned but soon understood that her master didn¡¯t want to reveal Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s whereabouts. She quickly became nervous and said, ¡°That¡¯s right, they¡¯re not here!¡±

    Seeing the master and apprentice answer so vaguely and evasively, Zi Yuan was suspicious and could tell that they were hiding something, so she nced at Zheng Yuan and Ding Nan again.

    She saw that although Zheng Yuan was looking at her with a smile, his eyes were shining with alertness, and his hand moved to touch his cuff involuntarily as if he would take the initiative to fight back as soon as sheunched an attack.

    Zi Yuan was shocked. She quickly turned around and addressed Ding Nan, ¡°Ding Nan, I haven¡¯t seen you for a few days. I hadn¡¯t expected you to have reached the Zhuji phase already. Congrattions!¡±

    Ding Nan looked at her strangely and said in a cold voice, ¡°Thank you!¡±

    Zi Yuan asked again, ¡°So, have you seen Li Yundong?¡±

    Hearing Li Yundong¡¯s name, Ding Nan¡¯s heart trembled slightly. She shook her head and said firmly, ¡°No.¡±

    Seeing that Ding Nan didn¡¯t look like she was lying, Zi Yuan suddenly felt a lot of doubts start to swirl in her heart. She asked once more, ¡°Have you seen Su Chan and Zhou Qin?¡±

    As soon as Ding Nan heard Zhou Qin¡¯s name, she immediately sneered, gritting her teeth, and said, ¡°Zhou Qin? No. If you see her, you must tell me where she is. I need a little private time with her!¡±

    Zi Yuan frowned slightly and thought to herself: ¡°This is bizarre. Where have they gone? Lin Xueqing clearly told Li Yundong to go to Pine Valley Cottage to find Wan Zhenyuan!¡±

    Seeing that Zi Yuan was keeping silent, Zhong Qingsong said, ¡°Zi Yuan Zhenren, if there¡¯s nothing else, please forgive me for not entertaining you.¡±

    Realizing that he had asked her to leave, Zi Yuan had no choice but to say, ¡°Please tell me where they are when you see Li Yundong or Su Chan.¡±

    Zhong Qingsong smiled slightly and replied, ¡°Okay!¡±

    Zi Yuan gave him a small bow, looked around, and soon turned into a blue light and reluctantly flew away.

    Zheng Yuan saw both Zhong Qingsong and Lin Xueqing heave a sigh of relief at the same time upon seeing Zi Yuan leave. He suddenly felt suspicious, but he acted with his ustomed shrewdness, not showing any unusual expression on his face. He said goodbye to Zhong Qingsong with a smile and then took Ding Nan down the mountain.

    As they descended the mountain, Ding Nan was unwilling to give up and said to Zheng Yuan, ¡°Master, did we run for nothing all this way? We¡¯ve really returning empty-handed?¡±

    Zheng Yuan lowered his head and considered the situation. He raised his hand and motioned for Ding Nan not to speak.

    Standing on the mountain road, Zheng Yuan bowed his head and pondered for a while. Suddenly, he raised his head and looked up at the sky. Although it was rtive, it was dotted with clouds, especially in the direction of Tiandu Peak which was densely surrounded by colorful clouds. These rosy clouds looked like lingering steam in the shape of a dragon or a tiger, forming a colorful sight on the top of Tiandu Peak.

    Zheng Yuan was inspired as if he had thought of something. His eyes lighting up, he pped his thigh and eximed loudly, ¡°I¡¯ve got it!¡±

    Ding Nan was stunned by Zheng Yuan¡¯s shout and hurriedly asked, ¡°Master, what is it?¡±

    Zheng Yuanughed and pointed in the direction of Tiandu Peak. He extolled proudly, ¡°Brother Zhong, I¡¯ve treated you with sincerity, but you¡¯ve fooled me like this! Do you think you¡¯re hiding it from me and I can¡¯t figure it out?¡±

    Ding Nan¡¯s curiosity was aroused by Zheng Yuan¡¯s words and she asked, ¡°Master, what¡¯s going on?¡±

    He pointed at Tiandu Peak with a broad smile and said, ¡°My dear disciple, look! Since ancient times, if alchemists wanted to refine the elixir of life, they had to find a magnificent peak with a superior geomantic omen. No matter where he refined the elixir, there had to be an unusual scene! Back then, when Zhang Daoling, the founder of the Zhengyi School, refined elixirs on Mount Longhu, the sky was full of colorful clouds, and the clouds were in the shape of fighting dragons and tigers! Look, is this scene in front of you not very simr to that of Zhang Tiansh¨© when he refined elixirs?¡±

    Ding Nan nced over and nodded her head. However, as she had been cultivating for a few days and had reached the Zhuji phase, she was no longer a green hand who knew nothing about cultivation like before. She said curiously, ¡°But when cultivators refine pills and build the Zhuji phase, there is also this kind of phenomenon.¡±

    Zheng Yuan pped his hands and said, ¡°You¡¯re right! But think about what Zhong Qingsong, Lin Xueqing, and Zi Yuan said before! People like Zhong Qingsong usually hoard a lot of medicinal materials all for themselves so that it¡¯s convenient for them to refine medicinal pills. But why was it suddenly swept away? Humph, someone must be trying to refine a peerless elixir of life that requires a huge amount of medicinal materials, so all of his stock was wiped out!¡±

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s eyes shed with a sharp, prating look, and he continued, ¡°Besides, Lin Xueqing and Zhong Qingsong¡¯s words were vague before. Obviously, they were hiding something. They must have met Li Yundong and Wan Zhenyuan, but they said they hadn¡¯t! This means that they are hiding the whereabouts of these two people! But why would they cover for them? What can¡¯t be told to others?¡±

    A crafty smile spread over Zheng Yuan¡¯s face. He pointed at Tiandu Peak and said with certainty, ¡°These two people must be refining the peerless elixir of life there! If my guess is correct, it must be the Diyuan Jindan!¡±

    Ding Nan was shocked. ¡°The Diyuan Jindan?¡±

    Zheng Yuan burst outughing. ¡°Yes, it must be this elixir!¡±

    Ding Nan¡¯s eyes glittered with a strong sense of greed. She thought about how after Zhou Qin took the Renyuan Jindan, she had be so strong that she did not dare to look directly at her anymore. ¡°If I could take a Diyuan Jindan, what would happen?¡±

    Ding Nan said urgingly, ¡°Master, shall we...¡±

    Zheng Yuan didn¡¯t wait for her to finish words, he snorted andughed. ¡°Of course, we are going to steal it! How could we let such a peerless elixir of life slip away from before our very eyes?¡±

    Ding Nan was overjoyed, but she quickly frowned and said, ¡°But, just the two of us...¡±

    Zheng Yuan sneered and said arrogantly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. When I spread this news, all the cultivators in the world will swarm here. At that time... Tiandu Peak will be far from quiet!¡±

    ¡°Then we¡¯ll benefit from stirring up trouble?¡± Ding Nan¡¯s eyes lit up as she said this.

    Zheng Yuan and Ding Nan looked each other over andughed together sinisterly.

 Chapter 568 The Frightening Venture in Mount Huangshan

    <h4>Chapter 568 The Frightening Venture in Mount Huangshan</h4>

    With the incapable-of-flying trio, Kris, John, and Alba, weighing them down like anchors, Su Chan and Zhou Qin didn¡¯t arrive at Mount Huangshan until dusk.

    Fortunately, with the help of Su Chan and Zhou Qin, the three newbies sessfully slipped into the closed tourist attraction.

    It was the first time that Kris, John, and Alba had ever been to Mount Huangshan, which was known as the greatest mountain in the whole world. Although it was getting dark, the magnificent mountain seemed to be covered with ayer of red gauze by virtue of the blood-red sunset, disying a different kind of charm and boldness.

    Kris and the others were so full of praise that they almost forgot their reasons for traveling. They all widened their eyes, holding up their cameras to take photos everywhere.

    However, Zhou Qin and Su Chan did not feel at ease about the journey, especially Su Chan. She looked around and asked Zhou Qin, "Sister Zhou Qin, where is Pine Valley Cottage?"

    Zhou Qin looked up and saw a scenic map sign not far away. Walking quickly over, she nced at it and said, "We are now in the Yuping Scenic Spot, while the Pine Valley Cottage is in the Songgu Scenic Spot, which is quite far away from here. Let¡¯s hurry up while there¡¯s still a little daylight. Once it¡¯s dark, it¡¯ll be hard to press on."

    Su Chan nodded. "Yes, good point. Let¡¯s go now!"

    Zhou Qin turned her head and said to Kris, "We¡¯ll hurry toward the Pine Valley Cottage. You¡¯re going to have to speed up to follow us. Can you do that?"

    Before Kris could say anything, John promised loudly, "No problem, I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll be able to match your pace!"

    Zhou Qin smiled patronizingly and said, "We¡¯ll see."

    Saying this, she nodded at Su Chan. Immediately, the two girls hopped up and reappeared a few meters away.

    John, Alban, and Kris were stunned. Alba said with amazement, "Good God, are they spirit monkeys?"

    John widened his eyes and said, "No, they are superwomen!"

    Kris was shocked, but then suddenly an iparable excitement arose in her mind. A firm gleam shone in her eyes as she said, "They are challenging us. Let¡¯s go, we¡¯ll catch up, we can¡¯t give up!"

    Immediately, John let out an excited yelp and rushed out. Kris and Alba followed.

    Both Zhou Qin and Su Chan moved extremely fast. Zhou Qin usually ran crazily, like a cheetah on the stone steps of the mountain, while Su Chan had a lithe figure and would jump and climb from time to time. Su Chan enjoyed jumping the shortest distance between two points, looking just like a nimble fox.

    At first, Kris and the others could just about keep up, but before long, all they could do was sigh at the sight of Su Chan and Zhou Qin¡¯s backs getting further away. Alba in particr, as the school cheerleader in Pennsylvania, was still a delicate girl. After running a few miles, she was out of breath and feeling as if her lungs were on the edge of copse. In the end, she couldn¡¯t catch up with Su Chan and Zhou Qin at all.

    Alba gasped intensely and sighed in pain. "God, they are not even human. How can we catch up with them?"

    Kris was also out of breath, but she still turned her head to cheer Alba up. "Come on, girl! Hold on for a while. We¡¯re nearly there!"

    Alba only replied forlornly, "I can¡¯t run anymore, really!"

    Seeing that Alba was almost about to fall to the ground, Kris had no choice but to turn towards Zhou Qin in the distance and shout, "Zhou Qin, wait a minute!"

    Kris¡¯ clear voice traveled far away, sounding especially ear-piercing in the quiet valley at night.

    Zhou Qin stopped and ran back quickly. Although she was running at full pelt, she still kept her breath steady and her face normal. "What¡¯s wrong?" she asked.

    Kris shed a bitter smile. "Alba can¡¯t run anymore. Would you mind slowing down a bit?"

    However, Zhou Qin said seriously, "If you really want to learn cultivation, you must remember that cultivation affects every part of your life and living! If you can¡¯t hold on for such a small thing, how will you be able to cultivate? Ask Alba, does she really want to cultivate? If she says no, then it¡¯s not toote to go back. If yes, she¡¯ll have to follow us. No matter what difficult things are waiting ahead of you, you must grit your teeth and ovee them!"

    Kelisa showed a conflicted expression, and said, "But..."

    However, before she could finish speaking, Zhou Qin turned around and ran off without saying another word.

    Kris and John looked at each other helplessly. Shrugging his shoulders, John helped Alba up and said, "Forget it, I¡¯ll take her. Hopefully, they¡¯ll slow down a little so that we can catch up."

    Kris sighed and nced at the Mount Huangshan, watching it be gradually shrouded in darkness. Suddenly, she felt as if she had entered apletely strange world. She muttered in a low voice, "I hope I¡¯m doing the right thing..."

    A momentter, she reluctantly cheered herself up and said, "Let¡¯s go. We can¡¯t have them looking down on us!"

    Under John¡¯s encouragement, Alba managed to grit her teeth and follow.

    Seeing how slowly the three were moving, Zhou Qin and Su Chan had to slow down. Even so, John and Kris were almost exhausted by the two leaders¡¯ speeds. Stumbling all the way, Alba almost cried out in pain, making her way at a snail¡¯s pace.

    The five of them walked for a while, and gradually, it becamepletely dark. Alba couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. She sat down on the cold stone steps and cried, "Jesus, who wille to save me? I really can¡¯t move! Just kill me!"

    John and Kris were also drenched in sweat, as if they had just mbered out of a swimming pool. Even John with his strong figure was so exhausted that he was gasping for breath, expecting toy on the ground forever.

    At this moment, Su Chan used some fire magic and found herself a torch to light up, while Zhou Qin walked up to them and said to Kris, who was panting wildly, "Can you carry on?"

    Kris didn¡¯t put on any show of strength. She declined Zhou Qin¡¯s quest with a wave of her hand and wanted to say something, but found herself so thirsty that she couldn¡¯t even utter a word.

    Zhou Qin frowned and said, "is this all you¡¯re capable of?"

    John said with a sad face, "Is this the way you cultivate? This, this is too intense, isn¡¯t it?"

    At this time, Su Chan came over with a torch and said, "Is this painful? Do you know what kind of suffering Sister Zhou Qin underwent during her cultivation? She almost lost her life several times! But hasn¡¯t she done well? Cultivation requires constant challenges so you can push past your limits. You can¡¯t ovee it even with such a few difficulties, and you still want to be disciples of my Yundong? Dream on!"

    John and Kris looked at each other in dismay, and John said in a low voice, "Kris, can you go on? Or should I help?"

    Kris shook her head stubbornly. "No, I¡¯ll walk on my own. You can support Alba."

    Alba cried out, "No, no, I will never take a single step again!" She simplyid herself on the cold ground, as if she had determined that she would stay there.

    Su Chan saw this and said to Zhou Qin in a low voice, "Sister Zhou Qin, we can¡¯t waste too much time. If it were only the two of us, we would have arrived already! I¡¯m worried that by the time we get to the Pine Valley Cottage, Yundong will already be gone!"

    Zhou Qin pondered for a while before saying, "Let them wait for us here. We¡¯ll leave a mark ande back to find themter."

    When Kris and John heard this, they were immediately shocked and hurriedly said, "No, we have to go together! It¡¯s already sote. Won¡¯t you be afraid for our safety if we stay here?"

    Zhou Qin looked at Alba and said, "What about her? The one who refuses to leave?"

    Kris smiled bitterly and said, "I¡¯ll persuade her." Then, she turned her head back and softly spoke to Alba. However, no matter how Kris cajoled, Alba simply covered her ears and frantically shook her head, refusing to stand back up.

    Seeing this, Kris could only grit her teeth and say to John, "John, let¡¯s go. Leave her be."

    John yelled, "Ah? You want to leave Alba alone here?"

    Kris sneered, "Who told her toe with us? This is due to her own choices! She won¡¯t walk around here. We¡¯lle to find herter."

    John was angry and about to argue, but he saw Kris winking at him. He took the hint and shut his mouth, then turned to Alba. "Alba, wait for us here. We¡¯ll find youter", He left some luggage and dry rations for her, then headed off into the night with Zhou Qin, Su Chan, and Kris.

    At first, Alba couldn¡¯t believe that the two of them would leave her alone, but after a while, it got so dark that she couldn¡¯t even see her hands, and the chirping of birds and insects in the forest filled her ears. It seemed like some hiding beasts were secretly staring at her from the darkness, making her thoroughly creeped out.

    Alba couldn¡¯t help but think of John and Kris¡¯s joke on the ne. She was shocked and thought, "Are they really going to leave me behind like this?"

    As social animals, human beings are most afraid of loneliness, especially in the dark. Alba held on only for a short while before almost breaking down. She couldn¡¯t help screaming, crying, and had to stumble to follow them.

    It was not long before she saw Su Chan, Zhou Qin, Kris, and John looking at her with faint smiles ying around their lips. Although Alba knew that she had been fooled, she still cried from her fear and continued to climb the mountains with them. After that, she didn¡¯t dare toin anymore.

    They walked for a while. Just as they were about to reach the Songgu Scenic Spot, Kris violently gasped. She watched as a few blue lights shed across the sky, pointing to them excitedly and crying, "Look, meteors!"

    John and Alba looked up, panting. Before they could evenugh, they heard Su Chan say in surprise, "Cultivators?"

    Zhou Qin then said seriously, "Yes, but I can¡¯t figure out which sect they belong to."

    Kris and John looked at each other. They didn¡¯t know what they were talking about so they just listened with confusion.

    Su Chan released a sigh. "How far are we from Pine Valley Cottage? Why does it look so close but is actually far away?"

    Zhou Qin also sighed slightly. "Should take just a few minutes to arrive, but I think what should worry us more is the issue of who came here just now?"

    After thinking for a moment, Su Chan asked, "Could it be Sister Zi Yuan?"

    Zhou Qin subconsciously shook her head and said, "I don¡¯t think so. If it were her, she would either have already arrived or would not havee at all. She wouldn¡¯t have arrived at a time like this."

    As soon as she finished her words, she heard a snorting from the dark forest not far away.

    Kris and John immediately looked nervously in the direction of the voice and shouted with hostility, "Who¡¯s there?"

    But Zhou Qin and Su Chan were extremely familiar with this voice. "Zi Yuan?" they eximed in unison.

    Then, a woman in a white dress slowly walked out of the moonlight, faintly discernable as Zi Yuan¡¯s figure. The cold moonlight shone over her face, making her countenance look very cold,pletely different from her usual gentle and peaceful appearance.

    Su Chan and Zhou Qin looked at each other. Like two kids who had done something wrong and been discovered by their parents, they smiled embarrassedly.

    "Sister Zi Yuan, why are you here?" Su Chan smiled awkwardly.

    Zi Yuan red at her angrily, then quickly looked at Zhou Qin. She scolded in a low voice, "Why am I here? I should be asking you that! Didn¡¯t Li Yundong tell you not to follow him? Why haven¡¯t you obeyed him?"

    With a sh of inspiration, Zhou Qinmented shamelessly, "Well, aren¡¯t you here too?"

    Zi Yuan said angrily, "Only to get you back!"

    Zhou Qin braced herself and said, "The result is the same as. Anyway, you¡¯re here."

    Zi Yuan scolded, "You..."

    Seeing that the conversation was not going well, Su Chan quickly came to the rescue and said, "Sister Zi Yuan, don¡¯t be angry. We know we¡¯re in the wrong, but ites to this. Let¡¯s leave the topic alone. By the way, have you found Yundong yet?"

    Zi Yuan snorted, turned her head, and said, "No!"

    When Zhou Qin saw Zi Yuan no longer reproaching her, she breathed a sigh of relief. Then, she followed the trend and took the opportunity to change the topic. "Just now, were there a few cultivators flying in the sky?"

    Although Zi Yuan was unhappy, she didn¡¯t want to have a bad rtionship with Zhou Qin, so she said, "Maybe. I think these cultivators are heading in the direction of the Pine Valley Cottage. I¡¯ve been to the Pine Valley Cottage and met Lin Xueqing, the disciple of the master of the cottage, but he said that Li Yundong and Wan Zhenyuan were not there."

    "What?" Su Chan and Zhou Qin eximed.

    Zi Yuan frowned slightly. "I also think it¡¯s strange. I¡¯ve always felt that they are trying to hide something."

    Su Chan gave it some thought and said, "Why don¡¯t we go to the cottage again? Perhaps that was Yundong and Sect Master Wan flying by just now?"

    Zi Yuan thought about it and said, "Well, I agree. Anyway, this ce is not far from the Pine Valley Cottage." She then looked at Kris and the others and said with a kind smile, "It¡¯ll be difficult for you to get there. Can you continue?"

    John, Kris, and Alba looked at each other. Kris clenched her teeth and said, "No problem!"

    Zi Yuan nodded, then took the lead to continue walking forward.

    They walked for about half an hour before finallying to a ce near Pine Valley Cottage. Kris and the others felt worn out, copsing to the ground like a pile of mud.

    When Zi Yuan, Su Chan, and Zhou Qin were about to help them up, some voices suddenly rang out from the Pine Valley Cottage.

    The three of them were shocked. All of them looked at each other and jumped to the side of the building to watch from under the cover of the dense forest and the cold moonlight.

    At the gate, Zhong Qingsong looked at Zheng Yuan who went back and asked in surprise, "Zhenren Zheng, why have you returned?"

    Zheng Yuan chuckled. "Brother Zhong, you are too dishonest!"

    Zhong Qing asked strangely, "Zhenren Zheng, what are you talking about? I¡¯m too dishonest?"

    Zheng Yuan looked at Zhong Qingsong with a faint smile. "Master Wan is refining alchemy on Tiandu Peak. But you wouldn¡¯t tell me about it. You are a liar!"

    Zhong Qingsong instantly eximed, "Zhenren Zheng, what did you say? How could Master Wan be there?"

    Zheng Yuan roared withughter. "Why are you still refusing to tell me? Humph, I¡¯ve been so foolish to trust you!"

    After that, he suddenly took out a Ruyi Jade from his long sleeves and shouted, "Zhong Qingsong!"

    As soon as he finished speaking, several ferocious Ghosts flew out of the Ruyi Jade and pounced on Zhong Qingsong with thunderous roars!

    Zhong Qingsong was in great shock. Just as he was about to turn and flee, he found Lin Xueqing looking at him in horror from behind.

    Zhong Qingsong only had time to shout "Run!" at Lu Xueqing, and then his three transcendentponents and seven materialponents were dragged out of his body by Zheng Yuan¡¯s Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade.

    All of a sudden, Zhong Qingsong¡¯s soul was absorbed by Zheng Yuan. Looking ferociously at Lin Xueqing, who was petrified, Zheng Yuan was about to chant a murderous spell again, but suddenly he could see Lin Xueqing ecstatically looking behind him, as if he had found a trace of hope in this desperate situation.

    Zheng Yuan was inspired. He turned his head and saw three beautiful women with terrifying faces hiding in the forest. Naturally, it was Zi Yuan, Su Chan, and Zhou Qin.

    At the sight of the three of them, he was shocked. He knew that these three women followed Li Yundong everywhere, so since they had appeared, Li Yundong also had to be nearby!

    Among the three women, Su Chan and Zhou Qin had the closest rtionship with Li Yundong. He could use them to threaten Li Yundong. As the strongest, Zi Yuan was here. As long as he defeated her in one fell swoop, he could capture the remaining two with ease!

    Thinking of this, Zheng Yuan sneered and ignored Lin Xueqing, then yelled Zi Yuan¡¯s name.

    Then, the ghosts from the Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade all roared and rushed toward Zi Yuan!

 Chapter 569 Meeting An Unexpected Visitor on a Narrow Path

    <h4>Chapter 569 Meeting An Unexpected Visitor on a Narrow Path</h4>

    Upon hearing Zheng Yuan¡¯s loud shout, Su Chan and Zhou Qin were almost scared out of their wits, and Zi Yuan¡¯s face turned pale and her whole body began to tremble, even though she was usually able to stay calm. Zi Yuan flew far away when she saw the Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade pouncing toward her.

    Hoping to catch the key figure, Zheng Yuan was set on getting Zi Yuan first and then Zhou Qin and Su Chan. Therefore, he immediately chased after Zi Yuan.

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade was an extremely vicious magical weapon. No one could resist it if they got caught off guard. Zi Yuan had happened to witness its power just now, so she had taken precautions against it. Moreover, as one of the few cultivators who were very knowledgeable about magic and magical weapons, she well understood the strengths and weaknesses of the Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade.

    Zi Yuan had flown far away from Su Chan and Zhou Qin. Dodging Zheng Yuan¡¯s attack, Zi Yuan quickly sent a transmission to Su Chan. ¡°Su Chan, run with Zhou Qin and Kris! The Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade can only capture one person¡¯s soul at a time, and it can only lock onto a target within a range of 50 feet. I¡¯m keeping Zheng Yuan distracted right now. You guys should run!¡±

    Su Chan was stunned. She quickly ryed to Zhou Qin what Zi Yuan had said. Zhou Qin was still in shock at this time, but she, who had lived through so much, took a deep breath and tried to calm down. She thought for a moment before saying, ¡°No, Zi Yuan can¡¯t resist Zheng Yuan by herself! Since she said that his magical weapon can only deal with one person at a time, why don¡¯t you and I attack him and help her out?¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes lit up, and she shouted back, ¡°Good idea! But, Zhou Qin ji¨§jie, your Yang Spirit can¡¯t fly proficiently. You won¡¯t be able to do it. It would be a disaster if Zheng Yuan attacked you! It¡¯s better for me to assist her alone. I can fly very fast, and he can¡¯t catch me!¡±

    Zhou Qin knew that this was not the right time to argue. She said decisively, ¡°Fine! But be careful! I will get out of here with Kris and the others so as not to get in your way!¡±

    Su Chan nodded and quickly flew off, rushing towards Zheng Yuan.

    Although Zheng Yuan was more experienced, his cultivation was not much higher than Zi Yuan¡¯s. Therefore, he could not catch up with her at all, and always kept a distance away from her. His Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade could not catch her soul like this.

    Losing patience, he suddenly felt a st of winding over him. He turned back to look and saw Su Chan looking like a ghost and holding a hairpin to stab toward his waist.

    Zheng Yuan hadn¡¯t been expecting that a three-tailed fox spirit would dare to offend him. He was so enraged that he stopped caring about anything else and just mobilized the Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade towards Su Chan as he yelled her name.

    At that time, Su Chan began trembling with deep fear. Without a second thought, she turned tail to flee, and disappeared in the blink of an eye before the Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade could reach her.

    In terms of their ability to escape, if fox spirits humbly imed that they ranked second, no one would dare to boast that they could be first.

    Su Chan, on the other hand, was a fox spirit amongst fox spirits. As long as she wanted to escape, she could disappear without a trace at an even higher speed than Zi Yuan.

    Zheng Yuan hadn¡¯t expected Su Chan to be that fast, and she was stunned to see the Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade pass him to chase Su Chan.

    At this time, Zi Yuan came to her senses in the distance. Once the Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade was far away, she immediately began attacking Zheng Yuan with her Ninth Heaven Zi Yuan Silk.

    After realizing that the two were applying guerri tactics along the lines of ¡°retreat when the enemy advances and advance when they retreat¡±, Zheng Yuan flew into a rage out of shame, and immediately fought back against Zi Yuan¡¯s weapon with his Enchanting Jade.

    The three of them were fighting furiously in mid-air. Zi Yuan was attacking Zheng Yuan in the distance, but when she saw the Enchanting Jade pouncing toward her, she immediately turned to get away from it. At this moment, Su Chan shot over to attack Zheng Yuan fiercely.

    Although her cultivation level was not very high, Su Chan was still in the Zhuji phase, and she was attacking Zheng Yuan¡¯s vital parts. If he got hit, Zheng Yuan would definitely get fatally injured.

    Zheng Yuan didn¡¯t have enough magical weapons to fight both of them at once. If he concentrated on attacking one of them, he would be at risk of being assaulted by the other. Especially after Lin Xueqing had recovered from the sorrow of losing her master, she joined in the fight and crazily lunged at him, filled with rage and seeking revenge for her master.

    For a moment, the four of them were heavily involved in their spat, savagely attacking back and forth in the air.

    At this time, Zhou Qin hurried back over to Kris, John, and Alba, and said to them, ¡°Go! Go!¡±

    Kris and the others had no idea of what was going on. John said nkly, ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±

    Zhou Qin urged them anxiously and seriously. ¡°Don¡¯t ask now. If you want to live, just go!¡±

    Kris raised her head and looked at the four who were fighting in the air under the moonlight. She was stunned, and for a moment, her feet seemed to be rooted to the ground as she remained motionless.

    Alba also asked nkly, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    As soon as she had said this, a thunderous roar rang through the air. It was Zheng Yuan shouting the name of Lin Xueqing when he saw her growing deranged with anger and lust for revenge. The Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade instantly locked Lin Xueqing and rushed into her body to pull out her three transcendentponents and seven materialponents.

    As soon as she lost herponents, Lin Xueqing¡¯s body fell straight to the ground. With a heavy thud, she fell in front of Alba with her body was eviscerated into a bloody mess!

    Alba stood stock-still out of fear, then touched her face with her trembling hands, only to find a few drops of hot blood on her cheek, scarlet and hideous!

    She uncontrobly let out a scream, then turned to ran as if her life depended on it.

    Kris was also shivering with fear at the sight of the scene before her eyes, but she still managed to keep calm, and shouted instantly. ¡°Alba, don¡¯t run!¡±

    Alba, however, was too frightened to keep herposure. She ran all the way in extreme fear and tripped over a few times. After falling down, she got up in a flurry only to fall down yet again.

    Stamping her foot with anxiety, Kris immediately ran after her as John¡¯s cried from behind her, ¡°Kris!¡±

    ¡°Although they¡¯re running in terror, they¡¯re at least leaving,¡± Zhou Qin thought. She then shouted at John, ¡°Stop yelling and go after them!¡±

    Brought back to his senses by Zhou Qin¡¯s yell, he hurried after them.

    Alba fled desperately before the four of them, Kris and John hurried to catch up with her. Zhou Qin ran after them and at the same time kept alert to their surroundings.

    In the face of death, people could always unleash their infinite potential. Alba, who had originally been exhausted, was now running tirelessly. She ran wherever there was a path for her to go down. She even madly ran to the Huangshan Cableway.

    By the time, Kris and John came to their senses. They shot into the Huangshan Cableway after Alba. The iron chain of the cableway was nging in the strong wind. They seemed to be stepping on waves, about to tumble off the cableway at any time.

    Kris and John instantly grabbed the iron chains in horror and shouted at Alba. ¡°Stop, Alba! Do you want to die? Look around you!¡±

    Running had almost exhausted Alba. Hearing Kris and John¡¯s shouts, she stopped and looked around, only to realize that she was on a high cableway beside a steep cliff and hanging over a tremendous abyss.

    With a horrified gasp, Alba poked her head out of the cableway to take a look. The sight of the yawning abyss below made her feel that she would be swallowed by the darkness within at any moment!

    Just then, a gust of wind blew over, causing the cableway to shake wildly. It was as if a huge wave was threatening to throw Alba off her feet.

    She was so frightened that her legs turned to jelly, her body involuntarily tilted, and she fell down the cliff.

    Kris and John let out a cry of fright at the sight, but their bodies went limp and they too fell onto the cableway.

    Behind them, Zhou Qin clenched her teeth and rushed over to grab Alba.

    By this point, Alba had already fallen off the cableway. Without any hesitation, Zhou Qin immediately jumped out, her hands grabbing Alba¡¯s arm and her feet hooking around the iron chains to secure herself.

    Zhou Qin just managed to grab Alba by hanging upside down from the chains. She exerted herself to drag Alba up to the cableway with a yell of ¡°Go up!¡±

    Alba was thrown onto the cableway like a rag doll. Kris and John reached out their hands at the same time and caught Alba in a fluster.

    After escaping the jaws of hell, Alba was already scared to death. Her whole body was shaking, and she couldn¡¯t even stand up.

    Zhou Qin, however, still hanging upside down on the rope, suddenly bent over like a bird and jumped up from under the cableway in a mighty leap.

    Kris and John, still badly shaken, couldn¡¯t help but give out a gasp of admiration and surprise, awe shing in their eyes. Most Americans worship heroic figures, you know.

    Before they could say anything, they heard some ps echoing from the end of the cableway from which they hade.

    Out of curiosity, Kris and John looked around to see a well-dressed, sexy woman sneering at them. pping her hands, she walked toward them.

    The woman stared at Zhou Qin. Her pping was slow but hard, sounding like Death¡¯s approaching steps. ¡°Excellent!¡± she sneered. ¡°It¡¯s you that jumped from high buildings several times!¡± As she said this, she poked her head out of the cableway for a look and smiled coldly. ¡°The buildings are so high, but you¡¯re not afraid at all!¡±

    Catching sight of the woman, Zhou Qin frowned and asked in a low voice, ¡°Ding Nan... why are you here?¡±

    This woman was none other than Ding Nan. She sneered at Zhou Qin and said harshly, ¡°Since you¡¯re here, why can¡¯t I be?¡±

    Feeling Ding Nan¡¯s hostility and murderous intent, Zhou Qin asked warily, ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    Ding Nanughed. ¡°What am I doing here?¡±

    Then her face suddenly became extremely sinister, and she shouted harshly, ¡°What am I doing here? Coming to kill you!¡±

 Chapter 570 A Fierce Battle

    <h4>Chapter 570 A Fierce Battle</h4>

    Ding Nan¡¯s appearance filled the Huangshan Cableway with a murderous aura. Zhou Qin sternly stared at her and said in a low voice, "Ding Nan, is there any ill will between us? Do we have to resolve things right here?"

    Ding Nan sneered, then looked around and said, "What¡¯s wrong with doing it here? Now is the best time for us to battle!"

    As Ding Nan moved toward her, Zhou Qin quickly winked at Alba, who was lying on the drawbridge, and whispered, "Go!"

    However, Alba was so frightened that she could barely move. She couldn¡¯t even stand up as she narrowly had escaped death¡¯s clutches just a minute ago. At this moment, she was clinging onto the iron chain tightly and refusing to release it. How could she be willing to budge?

    Zhou Qin frowned and yelled at Kris and John, "Get her out of here!"

    Kris and John gave Ding Nan a nk look, then nced at Zhou Qin. It seemed that they could not understand why such intimate friends, who had once been inseparable from each other, had suddenly be enemies.

    When Zhou Qin saw them staring at her in a daze, she immediately shouted and roared, "Are you deaf? Hurry up! Do you want to die?"

    Kris and John were shocked by her behavior. They unthinkingly attempted to help Alba stand up, but Ding Nanughed and said, "You want to leave? Have you asked my permission?"

    Saying this, a golden radiance shed in her hands, and it suddenly shot towards Kris.

    Zhou Qin¡¯s pupils suddenly contracted, and her hand quickly reached for her waist. With a swoosh, the Vulcan¡¯s Whip was thrown toward the golden radiance like a viper darting out of its cave.

    The Vulcan¡¯s Whip urately collided with the golden radiance in the air with a snap, sounding like bamboo snapping. As the golden radiance had been hit, it swayed a few times and flew to Ding Nan, then steadily stopped beside her. It turned out that it was a gold hairpin - Mo Ahshi¡¯s Threaded Hairpin of Soul Traversal.

    Zhou Qin stared warily at the Threaded Hairpin of Soul Traversal next to Ding Nan, asking in surprise, "You¡¯ve reached the Zhuji phase? Is this your powerful magical weapon?"

    Ding Nan burst into wildughter and said proudly, "Did you think that I would always follow you like your pathetic shadow and be cowed by your achievements? Hum, let me tell you, I will surpass you sooner orter. I will defeat you and insult you, so that you can have a taste of the humiliation I have been suffering for so long!"

    Zhou Qin looked at her former ssmate and friend with aplicated feeling. Suddenly, she was conscious of the vicissitudes of life. It seemed that those days back on the campus when she and Ding Nan had always been together shing through her mind, vivid and clear, as if she could reach out and touch the memories.

    The Ding Nan in front of her now looked so familiar, yet so strange!

    Zhou Qin had always known that they would eventually be enemies one day. However, she had never expected that this day woulde so quickly and suddenly!

    She shook her head slightly and sighed softly. "Why do you have to do this?" As she said this, she took a deep breath, and her eyes turned cold as she said, "Let them go. Don¡¯t get them involved in the grudge between us."

    Ding Nan shed an ugly sneer. "Have you ever thought about whether the grudge between you and Zhao Yujian got me involved?" As she said this, she suddenly opened her eyes widely and pointed threateningly at Kris and the others. The Threaded Hairpin of Soul Traveral next to her suddenly transformed into countless golden radiances and rushed over to Kris, John, and Alba in torrential rain.

    At this moment, Kris and the others watched the countless golden hairpins suddenly appear in the air and lunge towards them. They realized that just one of the hairpins alone could tear a bloody hole through them.

    These three foreigners from overseas had not expected such a horrible thing to happen to them on their cultivation journey, which they had naively thought would go smoothly. Just when they thought that they were about to die, they suddenly heard wind rushing in their ears. Then, a red snake quickly flew in front of them and formed an imprable barrier, firmly blocking the Threaded Hairpin of Soul Traversal.

    However, after the Threaded Hairpin of Soul Traversal was blocked and started shooting off in all directions, it quickly turned back and quickly jumped up along Vulcan¡¯s Whip in Zhou Qin¡¯s hand, like a small snake scrambling along vines, quickly attacking Zhou Qin¡¯s wrist.

    Zhou Qin frowned and immediately shook her wrist. With a swoosh, the long whip in her hand flicked out so straightly that it was like a long spear. The whip was instantly carried out with a strong vital Qi of Core Yin, shaking the Threaded Hairpin of Soul Traversal to pieces.

    Zhou Qin and Ding Nan fought with each other, and with the snap of a finger, Kris, John, and Alba saw that the golden radiances and red radiances in front of them had be a mass. The scene was even more thrilling than something from a Hollywood blockbuster, but in the blink of an eye, they saw that the surroundings were returned to a state of peace, as if it had all just been an illusion.

    John was stunned and stammered, "Oh my God, are Chinese people even human?"

    Kris also widened her eyes. Her gaze was fixed on Zhou Qin, and her eyes were filled with fanaticism and excitement.

    Only Alba¡¯s eyes were full of remorse. She hated that she had been curious enough toe to this horrible country and encounter such a horrible thing. Then she burst into tears for a moment. Her cries echoed through the silent Huangshan Cableway.

    It seemed that Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t hear her crying, and all her attention was trained on Ding Nan as she said lightly, "Ding Nan, you¡¯d better give up. Go back and cultivate for a while before you return. You are no match for me. With my Vulcan¡¯s Whip in hand, you cannotpare. When I bring out the Chiyue, you will definitely die!"

    Ding Nan sneered and said, "Who says I want to fight with you? Do you take me as a fool?"

    She just sneered coldly. The Threaded Hairpin of Soul Traversal, which was right next to her, suddenly shed and instantly flew to a ce more than ten meters behind Zhou Qin. The golden radiance shed a few times, and then came a tinkling sound of iron being cut in the distance.

    Zhou Qin was shocked and yelled hysterically, "You are too vicious!"

    Ding Nanughed and said, "Oh really? Have you ever thought that you were being vicious when you pushed me downstairs?"

    At this point, Zhou Qin had no time to exin her behavior. The joints of the rope, more than ten meters behind her, had been cut off by the Threaded Hairpin of Soul Traversal. Even if she used the Vulcan¡¯s Whip, it would be toote for her to stop the hairpin. The space between the whip and the cableway was too vast!

    Just as the Threaded Hairpin of Soul Traversal sawed through thest iron nail behind Zhou Qin, she suddenly felt her body sinking down!

    Zhou Qin immediately realized that she was not proficient at flying and Ding Nan was still advancing towards her. Therefore, she immediately shook her wrist, and the whip flew back to the rocks behind her. At the same time, she shouted at Kris and the others, "Hurry up!"

    As soon as she finished speaking, the cable suddenly fell down, and Kris, John, and Alba, screamed at the same time, falling into the deep abyss like meteorites.

    Zhou Qin¡¯s reaction was impossibly fast. With a snap, she grabbed Kris, and Kris also seized the opportunity to grab John. Seeing someone falling down next to him, John also subconsciously grabbed at Alba¡¯s clothes. The four of them hung in the air like a precarious chain. For a moment, they swayed back and forth on the cliff wall.

    Although Zhou Qin¡¯s body had been affected by the Jindan Fati and her strength was beyond an ordinary person, she could not withstand supporting the weight of three adults with one hand. Furthermore, her hands were now tied up in front of the enemy, which meant that she had no way to fight back.

    She suddenly gritted her teeth and immediately used the strength of the four of them to shake back and forth, then swung her hand and shouted, "Go up!"

    Kris, John, and Alba were thrown into the air like sandbags. Alba fell on the cableway behind Ding Nan, and it hurt so much that her limbs felt like they were going to fall apart. Winded, shey on the cableway and whimpered for a while.

    Kris¡¯s body was flung into the air, but she found that there was a pine jutting out from a crack in the rock in front of her. She immediately grabbed the trunk with her arms, stopping her in mid air.

    As soon as she had a firm grip, she saw John swaying past her. She immediately reached out her hand and grabbed him.

    But Johns was tall and strong. The pine on the cliff strained under the weight of the two and immediately made a creaking sound. It was so horrible that it made Kris and John go white as sheets.

    At this moment, both of them could only watch helplessly as the pine slowly split open bit by bit. Their eyes were fixed on the roots that were being pulled out of the cracks by their weight. They could all see death beckoning them!

    John suddenly turned his head, and his voice turned extremely calm. "Kris... promise me one thing."

    An ominous thought shed through her mind. She immediately screeched in horror, "No, John, what are you trying to do?"

    John stared at Kris very seriously and said, "You are the smartest and the best girl I have ever met. Master will definitely ept you as his disciple... If you go to heaven in the future, you must tell me when you have the chance... how cultivation feels..."

    As he spoke, John shed a slight smile to Kris and suddenly released both of his hands!

    Kris instantly let out a heart-wrenching scream. "No!!" She reached out, trying to grab him, but his sleeve tore off in her hand. John continued to fall, and in the blink of an eye, he was swallowed up by the deep abyss!

    In that instant, the valley¡¯s night wind was howling, and Kris¡¯s cries were carried through the air. At this point, Alba was so frightened that she forgot to even cry. She stared nkly into the endless abyss, as if she had been frozen into a statue.

    Meanwhile, Zhou Qin wanted to save John, but she had no chance. All she could do was to watch him falling into the valley.

    Zhou Qin suddenly became furious and yelled passionately, "Ding Nan, you deserve to die!!!"

    Zhou Qin¡¯s wrist shook, and her body rose violently. From between her feet came a shocking force. Her whole body was almost perpendicr to the rock surface. She stepped onto the steep cliff and rushed to Ding Nan like a madwoman!

 Chapter 571 The Elixir of Life in One Thought

    <h4>Chapter 571 The Elixir of Life in One Thought</h4>

    Ding Nan had always had an innate fear and feeling of self-abasement toward Zhou Qin. This fear and self-abasement were rooted in the depths of her heart, and even she herself was not willing to admit to it.

    At first, this fear and inferiority had stemmed from Zhou Qin¡¯s powerful family background. However, as their fates had changed gradually, they had both be cultivators. Even so, Ding Nan was extremely unwilling to admit that in terms of cultivation, Zhou Qin was still superior to her!

    Especially after the Taoist assembly, Zhou Qin¡¯s fierce and desperate style greatly shocked her, making her subconsciously believe that she could not defeat Zhou Qin, so she had to use despicable means to have even a ghost of a chance of winning.

    For the sake of this chance of victory, she would not mind killing a few people, even if these people had once been her ssmates.

    Therefore, when she saw Zhou Qin suddenly going all out, she was so scared that she immediately took a few steps back. She did not dare to confront her head-on and wanted to escape subconsciously.

    However, she had only taken a few steps back when she saw Alba, who was not far away, staring nkly into the dark abyss of the valley. Suddenly, she had thought. She shed over, and her five hook-like fingers wrapped around Alba¡¯s throat.

    She shouted, ¡°How dare you try to kill me? I¡¯ll kill her right away!¡±

    At this time, Zhou Qin just rushed over to her, and the Vulcan¡¯s Whip in her hand almost tore the air apart as she cracked it at Ding Nan¡¯s face.

    Seeing that Ding Nan had taken Alba hostage, Zhou Qin immediately shook her wrist. The Vulcan¡¯s Whip narrowly grazed Ding Nan¡¯s cheek and Alba¡¯s body. With a bang, it snapped against the cliff wall. The hard rocks were smashed to pieces, and countless bits of rubble flew in all directions.

    Zhou Qin was so angry that she was trembling all over. She approached Ding Nan step by step on the rope, saying angrily, ¡°Ding Nan, are you crazy? Have you lost your humanity?¡±

    Ding Nanughed angrily, grabbing Alba, and moving back step by step. ¡°Lost my humanity? When you pushed me downstairs, did you have humanity, huh?¡±

    Zhou Qin was furious. ¡°When did I ever push you? It was you who lost your footing!¡±

    Ding Nan angrily yelled, ¡°What¡¯s the difference between that and a push?¡± She was riled up and squeezing Alba¡¯s neck with her five fingers hard. Instantly, Alba¡¯s face turned purple and she desperately tried to struggle, but the stranglehold on her throat was like steel, making it impossible for her to break free.

    Zhou Qin slowed down her pace immediately. She took a deep breath and said in a cold voice, ¡°Ding Nan, in that case, even if I jump down on my own, do you think Zhao Yujian will let you go? Even if he does let you go, do you think my family will let you off? If I die, you and your family will perish. If I live, your family will be able to live! Life and death are decided by such simple choices. Tell me, if you were me, what would you choose?¡±

    Ding Nan trembled all over, and she screeched hysterically, ¡°But why should poor people like me die, while rich people like you survive? Why? Who can tell me why?¡±

    Zhou Qin said angrily, ¡°Is poverty the reason you¡¯ve gone crazy? Li Yundong is much poorer than you. Have you ever seen him behave like this? Ding Nan, put down the butcher¡¯s knife and be a Buddha! Hurry up and turn back! It¡¯s not toote! Don¡¯t let your hands be stained with blood when it¡¯s toote to turn back!¡±

    Ding Nan¡¯s eyes were full of tears, but she giggled and her voice turned hysterical and creepy. ¡°It¡¯s toote! Since you became Li Yundong¡¯s disciple and I became Zheng Yuan¡¯s disciple, everything has be futile! Can you reverse the flow of time and start again from the beginning? No, no matter how powerful you are!¡±

    As she spoke, she continued dragging Alba and stepped back step by step. Her eyes gradually became cold. She warned Zhou Qin, ¡°If you get any closer, I¡¯ll kill her! But you have to remember, you¡¯re the cause of her death!¡±

    Zhou Qin knew that if she went forward to stop her, Alba would definitely die. Although she was sometimes harsh, she was not a naturally cold-blooded animal. Otherwise, she would not have been soft-hearted enough to let Ding Nan go when she betrayed her.

    Zhou Qin gritted his teeth and watched was Alba was dragged further into the deep night by Ding Nan.

    Right now, Kris, who had been trapped in the tree, released a cry that sounded like she was on the verge of despair. ¡°No! Let her go!¡±

    However, as soon as Kris¡¯ voice sounded, a streak of golden light shed through the heavy darkness like lightning, stabbing towards her.

    Zhou Qin immediately shook her wrist and intercepted the golden light.

    However, this golden light seemed to have been expecting her to do this. In an instant, it turned and bypassed the Vulcan¡¯s Whip. With a swoosh, it went straight through the green pine that Kris was holding.

    This pine tree had been dragged by John and Kris, and it would break at any time. At this time, it had been prated, so it broke with a crack right away.

    Kris let out a scream, and her body fell to the ground in an instant.

    Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes were sharp and her hands were swift. With a shake, the whip wrapped itself around Kris¡¯ waist. She nced at a protruding boulder not far away and said to Kris, ¡°Hold onto that rock!¡±

    Kris felt her body be light, and then she flew over to the giant rock. She immediately hugged it with both hands, then finally tumbled away from the Gates of Hell, narrowly surviving.

    After Zhou Qin saved Kris, she roared angrily, ¡°Ding Nan, are you not willing to let these innocent people go?¡±

    Ding Nanughed and said, ¡°Only if you surrender and let me kill you!¡±

    Zhou Qin sneered through gritted teeth, ¡°Dream on!¡±

    Ding Nan snorted and said, ¡°Then don¡¯t me me for being rude!¡± As she said this, she sank into the dark night and manipted the Threaded Hairpin of Soul Traversal, attacking Zhou Qin fiercely.

    Because Zhou Qin hade out in a hurry, she hadn¡¯t brought a powerful magical weapon like the Chiyue, which was obviously a controlled saber. She didn¡¯t have the Seven-Treasure Tips like Li Yundong, so she only carried the Vulcan¡¯s Whip with her. At this time, when dealing with the attack of the Threaded Hairpin of Soul Traversal, although she was able to protect herself, Ding Nan shamelessly attacked Kris, who was still clinging to the giant stone, from time to time when she found that she was at a disadvantage.

    This way, Zhou Qin had no strength to fight back. The longer she fought, the harder it was for her to attack and the angrier she became.

    Although Zhou Qin was enraged, she was thinking quickly about possible countermeasures. As she was considering her tactics, she suddenly heard a loud bang ring out from the Capital Heaven Peak not far away. It was as if countless dragons and tigers were roaring in unison. A colorful light rose up and rushed to the sky, piercing through the clouds!

    This strange situation immediately made both of them look at the light. They had never seen such a magical scene before, so they were stunned for a moment.

    For a moment, Kris also forgot her dangerous situation and the tragedy that had befallen John and Alba. She raised her head and looked up at the colorful, dazzling light columning from Tiandu Peak that was piercing through the sky.

    In Kris¡¯s mind, a voice was continuously resounding. ¡°Was this what you wanted? Was this the power you wanted? What exactly could it bring you? How much were you going to pay for it? Everything?¡±

    Just as Kris looked at the colorful light column in a daze, Ding Nan, who had hidden in the night, suddenly felt a powerful Aura rushing over to her in the blink of an eye. She was shocked and wanted to fight back subconsciously, but then she heard a familiar voice shouting, ¡°How dare you! Don¡¯t you even know me?¡±

    Ding Nan turned her head and saw Zheng Yuan standing next to her and looking in the direction of Tiandu Peak with her eyes shining.

    She immediately stopped, smiled awkwardly, and loosened her grip on Alba¡¯s throat. ¡°Master, where are Zi Yuan and the others?¡±

    His face darkened and he said in a cold voice, ¡°Those two little b*tches are ying guerri warfare with me! Humph, just ignore them! They won¡¯t dare to get close to me!¡±

    As he said this, he nced at Alba, who was already scared out of her wits, and asked coldly, ¡°Who is she?¡±

    Ding Nan snorted and said, ¡°Some exchange students from Tiannan University. She¡¯s Li Yundong¡¯s ssmate.¡±

    ¡°ssmate?¡± he narrowed his eyes and said in a sinister smile, ¡°In that case, let¡¯s take her as a hostage!¡±

    She hesitated for a moment before saying, ¡°But, Master, she seems to have almost nothing to do with him.¡±

    At this time, he had other things on his mind. He said impatiently without thinking, ¡°That¡¯s because you can¡¯t get any more valuable hostages! It¡¯s better to have someone than no one at all! What¡¯s more, even if there are no hostages, do you still fear that I won¡¯t be able to get the Diyuan Jindan with the Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade on my side?¡±

    Hearing his unkind tone, she sneered in her heart. ¡°Old fool, you can¡¯t catch Zi Yuan and Su Chan, so you¡¯re taking your anger out on me?¡±

    Although she thought this in the heart, she didn¡¯t dare to openlyin, so she changed the subject. ¡°Master, what happened to the colorful light column just now?¡±

    His eyes shone brightly as he looked at Tiandu Peak. His voice was filled with uncontroble fanaticism and excitement as he said, ¡°Diyuan Jindan, the Diyuan Jindan has appeared!¡±

    She was shocked. ¡°So fast?¡±

    He stared at the colorful light column and said, ¡°Did you think it would take dozens of days? Humph, let¡¯s go!¡±

    As soon as he finished speaking, countless green lights shed in the sky. It was as if countless cultivators had appeared in the blink of an eye and rushed madly to Tiandu Peak!

    Heughed and said, ¡°They¡¯re all here! My dear disciple, we can¡¯tg behind! Let¡¯s go!¡± As he said this, he pulled Ding Nan over, and Ding Nan grabbed Alba. The three of them shed and disappeared on the spot.

    At this time, when Su Chan and Zi Yuan saw Zheng Yuan leave, they found the courage to show themselves and approach Zhou Qin.

    When Zhou Qin saw the two of them, she immediately eximed, ¡°Are you all right? What was that light just now?¡±

    Zi Yuan said with a stern look, ¡°The Diyuan Jindan has appeared! I didn¡¯t expect it toe so fast!¡±

    Su Chan saw the constantly shing green light around her as cultivators flew towards Tiandu Peak one after another. She said anxiously, ¡°Let¡¯s hurry up. What are we waiting for?¡±

    Zhou Qin pointed at Kris, who was trapped on the rock, and said, ¡°What about her? Do you want to take her with you?¡±

    Zi Yuan immediately frowned and said decisively, ¡°No, there will definitely be a fight on Tiandu Peakter. It will be extremely fierce. For someone like her, who doesn¡¯t have the slightest self-protection ability, it will definitely spell trouble! Why don¡¯t we have her stay on the rope for now? At least it will be safe here. Let¡¯se back and find herter. How about that?¡±

    Zhou Qin thought for a moment, then quickly shed over to the front of Kris, hugged her, and jumped onto the section of rope that had not been cut off by Ding Nan. ¡°Kris, we are going to Capital Heaven Peak to help Li Yundong. Don¡¯t move, stay here, and we¡¯lle back to youter. Okay?¡± she said.

    Kris seemed to be dumbfounded this moment. She stared straight at Zhou Qin, not saying a word.

    Zhou Qin was burning with anxiety. Seeing that Kris wasn¡¯t saying anything, she thought that she had agreed. Then, with the help of the other two, they flew together to Tiandu Peak.

    Kris saw the three of them fly away. The Huangshan Cableway, which had been full of murderous intent just now, became extremely quiet. The night wind blew over, the cliff wall was dense, and the dam was cold. The surrounding air gave off a frigid chill.

    Kris¡¯ eyes stared fixedly at the seven-colored beam of light shining from Tiandu Peak. The sentence John had said to her suddenly echoed in her mind: ¡°Kris, if there is a chance, you must tell me... how cultivation feels?¡±

    These words continuously echoed through her mind, and her eyes gradually began to glitter with a stubborn and persistent gaze.

    Suddenly, she jumped up and began crazily running in the direction of Tiandu Peak!

 Chapter 572 Bring the Disaster to Enemy

    <h4>Chapter 572 Bring the Disaster to Enemy</h4>

    The alchemy room Wan Zhenyuan chose had the best Feng Shui, was full of treasures, and had the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth. There were arrays and runes arranged around therge rock cave, which was mainly for preventing outsiders from intruding with Yin or Yang Spirits. On top of that, there was a huge Eight Trigrams Array of Yin and Yang in the center of the stone room which was empty at the core, looking like a huge abyss.

    The mes flickering in the medicine pool, above which floated a Medicine King Tripod that was in fact the magic tool of Sun Simiao, the famous medicine king of the Tang Dynasty. The top of the medicine tripod was aimed at a cave skylight that had been hollowed out in ordance with the meaning of the nine heavens above and the nine earths below.

    This Medicine King Tripod was about half a meter in diameter and waspletely ck with ancient characters and totems engraved on it. Underneath ity the medicine pool, from which floated up various kinds of faint mist that went into the bottom of the tripod, slowly gathering inside. The colorful mist rolled and twisted within, like colorful pearls shining in all directions.

    Wan Zhenyuan seized the opportunity and threw the 1,000-year-old snow lotus into the medicine pond. Then, he quickly pinched a few fingers to cast a few spells. With a loud shout, he pointed at the medicine pond!

    Immediately, a monstrous me suddenly rose from the medicinal pool, apanied by a rumbling sound. A green-white color gathered together with the six-colored light in the tripod immediately and turned into a seven-colored light in the raging fire around the tripod. This light lingered and twisted as it repeatedly changed shape.

    After an unknown amount of time, a dragon roar and tiger roar suddenly erupted from the medicinal pond, shaking Tiandu Peak until it trembled. The seven-colored glow, which had originally been emitting a brilliant glow from the stone chamber, rose into the sky and transformed into a powerful light pir. Following the appearance of this light pir, a strange medicinal fragrance immediately permeated the interior of the stone room. It was unusually beautiful, enough to make one¡¯s mind intoxicated.

    Li Yundong saw the light rush up along the skylight at the top of the rock cave, as if it could prate the nine dens. He was shocked and asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan said with a fanatical look in her eyes, ¡°It¡¯s done. I¡¯ve refined the Diyuan Jindan!¡±

    Li Yunyang hadn¡¯t expected the refining speed of Diyuan Jindan to be so fast or the noise to be so loud. He asked in surprise, ¡°So fast?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuanughed ecstatically and said, ¡°Of course! I have been collecting medicinal materials for more than ten years all for this moment! Everything had already been prepared except the 1,000-year-old snow lotus! After getting the lotus, naturally, the Diyuan Jindan would be refined immediately!¡±

    Li Yundong opened his eyes wide and looked at the colorful light, only to see four colorful pills the size of thumbs floating in the air gradually appear in the seven-colored light.

    These three medicinal pills were crystal clear. They emitted waves of gentle seven-colored light that lit up the walls of the stone room, looking unusually bright.

    Wan Zhenyuan grew ever more ecstatic and said, ¡°One furnace produces four pills, hahaha! Master, do you see this? I¡¯ve refined legendary four pills with one furnace! Even the King of Medicine, Sun Simiao, could only refine five pills in one furnace!¡±

    As soon as he finished his words, someone suddenly jumped in from a round hole that was smaller than a football at the top of the alchemy room.

    At first, his shadow was stretched to be extremely long, like a rolling pin, but the moment he got into the stone room, the shadow immediately swelled and quickly turned into a masked man in ck.

    The man in ck appeared in the blink of an eye and reached out to grab the four Diyuan Jindans floating in the air!

    Li Yundong and Wan Zhen Yuan had never thought that someone would intrude in this ce. They were shocked and shouted in unison, ¡°Stop! You¡¯re courting death!!¡±

    Li Yundong recited a spell in his mind without moving. A sh of lightning rushed toward the man in ck. It was the lightning strike of the Liuhe Sword!

    Obviously, the man in ck had such a high cultivation that he was brave enough to try stealing the Diyuan Jindan under such a dangerous condition, like snatching food from a tiger¡¯s mouth. Without looking back, he reached out and firmly mped down on the Liuhe Sword with only two fingers.

    However, the Liuhe Sword was a powerful magical weapon. As soon as it was pinched, it began to struggle violently, like a monster trapped in a cage.

    The man in ck was holding the Liuhe Sword with one hand and grabbing the Diyuan Jindan with the other. However, at this time, Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s powerful magical weapon of Qu Chi also flew out and rushed toward the intruder.

    The man gritted his teeth when he felt the weapon strike his chest. He still reached his hand out to grab the Diyuan Jindans and finally grabbed them firmly with his five fingers.

    When the ck-clothed man had just grabbed this Diyuan Jindan, the seven-colored light that had been soaring to the sky from the stone chamber instantly disappeared. Immediately, the originally brilliant stone chamber turned unusually dim.

    Although the man had snatched the Diyuan Jindans, he had been hit by the magical weapon. Suddenly, the Qu Chi mmed into his chest. He spat out a mouthful of blood, and his Yang Spirit body with three souls and six spirits was blown out of his body!

    Once a person¡¯s soul left their body, their physical body would no longer have an owner. Not to mention activating their Zhenqi and spiritual energy, they would not be able to exert as much strength as an ordinary person.

    The Liuhe Sword, which had been intercepted by him just now, suddenly came to life like a tiger out of its cage. The de of the sword rotated, and his fingers were instantly cut off with a ng. Then, another sh of lightning shone, and his hand, which was holding the Diyuan Jindans, was cut off at the wrist. The Liuhe Sword did not stop but shed again and pierced his heart!

    As soon as the man¡¯s hand fell, his five fingers involuntarily loosened. The four Diyuan Jindans floated in the air, and the stone room was once again filled with colorful brilliance.

    The body of the man had been irreparably crippled. His Yang Spirit roared and was about to pounce on the Diyuan Jindans again, but he hadn¡¯t been expecting to hear a mantra be recited: ¡°Vajra-jnana! Ah!¡±

    In an instant, a shiny golden Vajra buddha-seal hit his Yang Spirit firmly. The man did not even make a sound. Instantly, his Yang Spirit was smashed to pieces and turned into countless tiny cyan lights.

    The light did not dare to stay any longer and flew quickly to the skylight exit of the Alchemy Room.

    Wan Zhenyuan sneered and said, ¡°Do you think you cane and go as you please? Humph!¡± A stream of purple Qi spurted out from his nostrils. He quickly pinched the incantation and pointed to the medicine pool. Suddenly, a colorful me rose from the medicine pool and rushed toward the light.

    At the same time, Li Yundong took out a Liaoran thumb pot. He flicked his finger, and with a clink, the bowl began to emit ripples, pulling the fleeing divine Yang Spirits back one after another.

    Li Yundong and Wan Zhenyuan attacked together, leaving no chance for the Yang Master to escape. In the blink of an eye, he had been swallowed up by the me in the medicine pool. More than half of his Spiritual Qi and Zhenqi had been absorbed by Li Yundong¡¯s burning thumb pot, and his body and soul had beenpletely destroyed.

    Although Li Yundong and Wan Zhenyuan had killed the cultivator who dared to snatch their treasure from right in front of them, they did not feel happy about fighting side by side. Instead, they looked at each other with hostility.

    Wan Zhenyuan said angrily, ¡°Zhenren Li, I will definitely give it to you. Why do you have to do this?¡±

    Li Yundong spat back, ¡°You¡¯re actually shifting the me to me? Didn¡¯t you say that this ce is very safe and hidden? How could someone suddenly intrude and take the pills?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan saw that Li Yunyang was full of indignation and didn¡¯t seem to be lying. He was stunned and muttered in a low voice, ¡°Zhenren Li, if I wanted to y tricks, would I really use such a low-level method?¡±

    Li Yundong stared at Wan Zhenyuan angrily. After a while, he said slowly, ¡°Weren¡¯t you the one who leaked the news?¡±

    Wan Zhen Yuanughed angrily and said, ¡°And here I was thinking that it was you! I have worked hard for more than ten years all for this day. Do you think that I would be stupid and get deliberately robbed?¡±

    Li Yunyang frowned. ¡°What¡¯s going on then?¡±

    Just as Wan Zhenyuan opened his mouth and was about to speak, a man suddenly flew in from the skylight. Li Yundong and Wan Zhenyuan were instantly infuriated, and their magical weapons suddenly rushed toward the man.

    The cultivation of this man was obviously not as high as that of the previous man. In the blink of an eye, he was killed by their weapons. He fell to the ground without saying a word. His Yang Spirit was also felled by Li Yundong and Wan Zhenyuan in the same way.

    After annihting his Yang Spirit, Li Yundong¡¯s face changed and he said, ¡°One could have just gotten lucky, but two?¡±

    As soon as he finished speaking, another figure popped in from the skylight, appearing in a sh.

    Li Yundong was furious. With a mind spell, the Liuhe Sword shed like lightning and lunged at the neer.

    The man at the skylight had no time to dodge and fell to the ground with a helpless yell. His scream of pain was clearly transmitted around the alchemy room and heard outside. ¡°It¡¯s inside! The Diyuan Jindan is inside!¡±

    As soon as the man shouted, the alchemy room immediately rumbled as if countless magic treasures were rushing toward it.

    Li Yundong felt as if the stone room had been violently struck by a forceful cannon. Countless shells began pelting down, shaking heaven and earth, and the gravel and dust in the stone room kept being shaken loose.

    Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s face was ashen. He gnashed his teeth and said, ¡°What the hell is going on? Why are there so many people here? Zhong Qingsong, have you betrayed me?¡±

    Li Yundong¡®s face turned dark. He quickly looked around, as if he wanted to judge how long the stone room couldst under the bombardment of magic tools and spells.

    Wan Zhenyuan noticed him doing this, he snorted and said proudly, ¡°Zhenren Li, there¡¯s no need to worry. They can¡¯t get in! I¡¯ve set up more than a dozen magic circles here. Unless a master of Lightning Retribution phasees to attack us, they won¡¯t be able to break in in a short time.¡± As he said this, Wan Zhenyuan raised his head with a cold look, stared at the skylight, and said coldly, ¡°I already sealed the entrance when I came in. If they want to intrude, they can onlye from there...¡±

    Li Yundong snorted and said, ¡°One man against ten thousand enemies! They¡¯ll all have to die down here if theye no matter how many of them there are!¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan sneered and said, ¡°You¡¯re right, but how many can we really kill? What if they just overwhelm us with their numbers? Won¡¯t we be here for the rest of our lives? Besides, there¡¯s no fortress in the world that can¡¯t be broken into!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s face darkened. ¡°Then what do you think we should do?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan looked Li Yundong up and down, then suddenly smiled and said, ¡°Zhenren Li, I have a way...¡±

    Li Yundong asked in reply, ¡°What way?¡±

    Wan Zhenyuan smiled and said, ¡°That is, the Cicada takes off its shell!¡± As he said this, he suddenly lifted the fly-whisk in his hand. The tail of the whisk wrapped around the floating Diyuan Jindans in the air. Then, his body quickly turned into a green light and he fled toward the skylight.

    As soon as Wan Zhenyuan started getting away, Li Yundong immediately went out of his body with his Yang Spirit and chased him closely out of the skylight.

    As soon as Wan Zhenyuan got into the air, he gnashed his teeth and shouted at Li Yundong with bitter hatred, ¡°Li Yundong, there are still three Diyuan Jindans below. Do you still think it¡¯s not enough? Why won¡¯t you let me go?¡±

    After that, he instantly turned into a beam of cyan light and fled toward the horizon.

    Li Yundong was instantly angry and shocked. He knew that Wan Zhenyuan was trying to shirk off the difficulties and get away. However, he couldn¡¯t chase after Wan Zhenyuan because there were indeed three Diyuan Jindan still in the alchemy room below them. If he were to chase after Wan Zhenyuan, he would lose everything. Even the colorful splendor emitted by the Diyuan Jindans were still shining brightly. The other cultivators who came to snatch the pills would be ecstatic about the bounty.

    ¡°This Wanzhen Yuan is cunning! What courage! Four pills, but he only took one of them!¡± Li Yundong¡¯s heart was surging with rage and shock.

    If Wan Zhenyuan had taken all of the Diyuan Jindan away, he would definitely risk his life to chase him to the ends of the earth.

    If he were to snatch three pills, the light in the stone chamber would definitely be reduced greatly. The other cultivators would naturally pursue the person with the most pills!

    However, he had only taken one! He hadn¡¯t even taken two! It seemed that he was afraid that he would fail to escape Li Yundong and the others if he took more.

    ¡°This man is ruthless. He is an enemy, not a friend. We can¡¯t let him go!¡± Li Yundong was extremely angry. Just as he was about to use his burning thumb pot, countless magic weapons starting flying at him from all directions. These weapons of all kinds formed a turbulent wave,ing as a huge torrent and smashing toward him!

 Chapter 573 Buddhasâ€™ Power and Magical Weapons Intimidate the Enemy!

    <h4>Chapter 573 Buddhas¡¯ Power and Magical Weapons Intimidate the Enemy!</h4>

    Li Yundong could see that most of the cultivators around were hiding in the night after taking a quick look. They had just attacked the surroundings with their powerful magical weapons, obviously not wanting to reveal their true identities in case they really grabbed the Diyuan Jindan and drew the prying eyes of others.

    Under the night sky, the Tiandu Peak of Mount Huangshan became bustlingly busy in the blink of an eye. For a while, there were all kinds of powerful magical weapons in the sky in numbers that rivaled that of the stars and raindrops. Even though Li Yundong was strong and awe-inspiring, he couldn¡¯t stop so many weapons from rushing toward him.

    His quick moves made the powerful magical weapons around him hit nothing but air. Just as his Yang Spirit was taken back, he suddenly heard a familiar voice shouting from outside, ¡°Yundong, be careful!¡±

    Li Yundong was shocked. ¡°Chan¡¯er? Why is she here? This is insane!¡±

    Soon, Su Chan cried out loudly, ¡°Ouch, don¡¯t hit me!¡± Her voice seems to have traveled from far away, as if she had instantly fled.

    Some cultivators shouted, ¡°If we catch her, Li Yundong will hand over the Diyuan Jindan!¡±

    Li Yundong was furious. Immediately, his Yang Spirit shot out of his body again and he turned into Wisdom King¡¯s Fashen with superhuman powers and made a Mahamudra in the direction of their shouts!

    There was a loud boom, and the cultivators who had said that they were going to grab Su Chan let out blood-curdling screams, no longer making any further movements.

    At this time, Zhou Qin reached the top of the alchemy room by taking a few quick jumps, and came to stand next to Li Yundong¡¯s Yang Spirit, asking nervously, ¡°Master, are you alright?¡±

    Li Yundong red at her angrily. ¡°What are you guys doing here? Didn¡¯t I tell you to stay at home?¡±

    Zhou Qin was stunned upon hearing his words and was about to say something when Zi Yuan flew over to them and said quickly, ¡°Now¡¯s not the time to bicker. It¡¯s my fault, too! Hurry up and find a way to deal with the current situation!¡±

    While they were busy talking, there were many more cultivators around manipting their powerful magical weapons and magic and rushing towards Li Yundong.

    Li Yundong no longer tried to dodge. His hands pinched the Reincarnation Nine Prints and his six arms moved in a flurry, as if he was a Thousand-Hand Buddha. He made countless Mahamudras in front of himself in an instant, blocking the rounds of attacks from the surrounding powerful magical weapons and spells one after another.

    A cultivator hidden in the darkness shouted, ¡°Li Yundong, hand over the Diyuan Jindans quickly. If you don¡¯t, we¡¯ll overwhelm you with our numbers!¡±

    Li Yundong snorted angrily, ¡°Trying to bully me by outnumbering me? Okay, bring it!¡± After that, he pped another palm towards him.

    However, it was obvious that this person had learned his lesson and he immediately shifted his position after speaking. Thus, there was no reaction after Li Yundong attacked him with his golden Mahamudra, which was as effective as a stone sinking into the sea.

    Soon, the powerful magical weapons and magic returned in a fearsome stormy wave. In the dark night, the wind was raging, fireballs were flying everywhere, and the flying swordsing from each sect were unstoppable, shing like lightning and moving wildly. For a time, all kinds of fascinating lights were glowing over Tiandu Peak, shining brightly around.

    Facing the siege of the crowd, Li Yundong remained calm andposed. He made the Mahamudra with two of his hands, and the other four hands quickly held the Reincarnation Nine Prints to resist the tide-like attacks. After he had finished reciting the Mantra, he shouted and suddenly pped forward with an Eight-wind motionless Fixed Samayah Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ with the Diamond Element. With a bang, a dazzling row of Vajra Arhat appeared in front of him.

    These Vajra Arhats were shining with golden radiance. Some were sitting cross-legged, and some were standing with their hands folded. They chanted Sanskrit scriptures, as if they were a dazzling golden wall, firmly wrapping Li Yundong and the others within.

    The surrounding magical items and powerful magical weapons hit the golden wall impotently, causing waves of gleaming ripples, but they still could not breakthrough.

    Watching from afar, one could see the various colored meteors mming into the golden ball of light over Tiandu Peak. All of a sudden, the sky and the earth both began shaking, and rumbling sounds could be heard in quick session.

    Zhou Qin stared at the scene before her as she said in shock, ¡°Master, what kind of magic is this?¡±

    The experienced and knowledgeable Zi Yuan quickly replied, ¡°Is this a Mahamudra? No way. How could it be so powerful?¡±

    Li Yundong rumbled in a deep voice, ¡°This is the real Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡. Listen, there¡¯s no time to talk about this now. Take the Diyuan Jindans and leave quickly. I¡¯ll wear them out to buy you some time.¡±

    Zi Yuan immediately rejected the idea. ¡°No way! Once we take the Diyuan Jindans with us, they will just shift and start chasing after us. Besides, haven¡¯t you noticed that none of these cultivators have dared to expose their identities? How do you know there aren¡¯t some still hiding in the darkness and waiting to make a move?¡±

    Li Yundong gritted his teeth and roared, ¡°Then what should we do?¡±

    Zi Yuan pondered for a moment. ¡°How much of the Diyuan Jindans are left?¡±

    Li Yundong said as he applied his Mahamudra, ¡°Wan Zhenyuan made four elixirs of life in one furnace, he took one himself, so there¡¯s still three left!¡±

    Zi Yuan was shocked. ¡°Four elixirs in one furnace? Wan Zhenyuan is awesome!¡±

    Li Yundong gritted his teeth and said, ¡°More than that! He won¡¯t give up until I¡¯m dead. Therefore, he gave me three Diyuan Jindan, hoping I¡¯d be hunted down by the enemy. Hmph, what a sneak!¡±

    Zhou Qin replied in an annoyed tone, ¡°How treacherous and vicious that guy is. By leaving them pursuers to you at this time, isn¡¯t it dangerous? Master, what should we do? Shall we leave this problem to someone else?¡±

    Zi Yuan was astonished and immediately yelled, ¡°No way!¡±

    Li Yundong alsoughed angrily and said, ¡°Stop it! Since he¡¯s dared to leave this to me, I¡¯ll dare to take it! I¡¯d like to see who can take the elixirs from me!¡±

    Zhou Qin said nervously, ¡°Master! The enemy cloaks himself in shadows while we are out in the open. We can neither advance nor retreat. We don¡¯t know how many enemies there are. What should we do?¡±

    As she spoke, the powerful magical weapons around them, like a storm, continued constantly bombarding the golden wall formed by the Vajra arhats. The original Vajra arhats with golden radiance began to go dim, and some parts of them were even smashed to pieces.

    Some cultivators were spurred on by the sight and shouted, ¡°He won¡¯t be able to hold on much longer. Let¡¯s work harder!¡±

    Li Yundong gritted his teeth and gave a loud shout. Once he had finished the Fixed Fundamental Palm, he quickly made another Atuo Print with his hands and spoke a new Mantra.

    The roar suddenly shook the sky, and a shining golden Buddha appeared above Li Yundong¡¯s head in an instant. The Buddha was sitting on a fire Lotus Throne and surrounded by seven colorful circles of light. He crossed his hands and stretched out his two thumbs fingers to touch. The middle part of his index finger was straight, and his two fingers were holding his thumbs. From his palm, a soft light seeped out. As soon as the surrounding Vajra Arhats, who were showing signs of being defeated, came into contact with the light, they immediately shot out a golden radiance. Then, the shaking golden wall became as solid as iron at once, growing even more stable than it had been before.

    For a moment, the chanting of the Vajra Arhats became louder, as if all the Buddhas had gathered together. The chanting voices filled Tiandu Peak was even louder than the exploding sounds of magic and powerful magical weapons.

    After Li Yundong had steadied himself with this one move, he looked around at the powerful magical weapons that were constantly shooting toward him. Heughed furiously and said, ¡°Do you think I don¡¯t have any powerful magical weapons like yours? Let me show you what the Liuhe sword can do!¡±

    As soon as he had finished speaking, the Liuhe shed from behind him and flew into the air. In the blink of an eye, it turned into a glimmer of starlight, and after a moment, this starlight split into two or three points, and even countless more points of starlight. When they fell, it was like an overwhelming rain of swords!

    The Liuhe instantly split into countless sharp swords in the air and attacked the cultivators hidden in the surrounding darkness.

    Originally, Yan Fang had relied on the Liuhe to fight against many enemies alone on Mount Gezao. Finally, she had beaten them all until they could no longer fight back. Now, in the hands of Li Yundong, whose cultivation was even higher, the Liuhe was significantly more powerful than before!

    When the cultivators around saw the Liuhe was so earth-shatteringly strong, they were all shocked. None of them had expected that Li Yundong would fight back in the face of so many people¡¯s besiegement of him!

    All of a sudden, everyone was caught off guard and got knocked down!

    Ding Nan was stunned and stuttered, ¡°Master, wh... what kind of magic is this? Li... Li Yundong is too powerful, isn¡¯t he?¡±

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s eyes brightened. He looked at Li Yundong with extreme vignce and said, ¡°This is the Atuo Print of the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡. Look, the handprint made by Peace in the Tao is very simr to a lotus and it might can increase the power of Buddhahood! Damn it, this guy has grown even stronger again! If he really gets these three Diyuan Jindan, humph, with the Liuhe in his hand as well, he will be invincible in the Cultivation World! No, I must stop him!¡±

    Ding Nan just stared straight at the majestic Li Yundong. She muttered unthinkingly, ¡°How can we stop him?¡±

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s eyes flickered for a moment, then he nced at Alba. Laughing maliciously, he said to Ding Nan, ¡°Grab her. We¡¯ll trade her for a Diyuan Jindan. Let¡¯s see how Li Yundong will react.¡±

    Ding Nan was startled. ¡°Me? Bring her out here?¡±

    ¡°Come on, are you deaf?¡± Zheng Yuan stared at Li Yundong as if he wanted to identify the ws in his every action and expression. Although Li Yundong was being besieged at this time, he was not in a disadvantageous position while he was relying on his powerful Zhenqi and Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡.

    Ding Nan was not stupid. Of course, she knew that whoever stood out at this time would definitely be one of Li Yundong¡¯s most hated targets. Even if Li Yundong surrendered and gave her the Diyuan Jindan, she would immediately be the new target for all of the cultivators in the whole world.

    This posed quite a dilemma for her.

    Ding Nan cursed him in her heart, but she said with a pleading face, ¡°Master, we can¡¯t do that now. What if...¡±

    However, before she could finish her words, Zheng Yuan suddenly turned his head and stared at her with his terrifying, stormy eyes. He spat in a cold voice, ¡°Do you want to die? Didn¡¯t you hear what I said?¡±

    Ding Nan was frightened by Zheng Yuan¡¯s expression at this moment. She suddenly realized that in the face of the great temptation of the Diyuan Jindan, Zheng Yuan could no longer maintain his arrogance and state of calm. At this time, this cold, cruel, and ferocious man was showing his true colors!

    Ding Nan¡¯s heart hardened. She resisted the raging anger and shock in her heart, forced a smile at Zheng Yuan, and then dragged Alba onto the field.

    Standing at the door of the Immortal¡¯s cave, Ding Nan looked up at the imposing Li Yundong above her in the alchemy room, and at Zhou Qin who was intimately beside him. She cried in her heart, ¡°Why me? Why is this kind of thing always happening to me? Why does she always get to stand tall in style? Why?¡±

    Seeing Ding Nan standing not far away and staring at Li Yundong in a daze, Zheng Yuan impatiently snarled at her, ¡°Why are you doing?¡±

    Ding Nan was startled. She gritted her teeth and raised her head to shout at Li Yundong, ¡°Li Yundong! Stop what you¡¯re doing or this girl will not live to see another sunrise!¡±

 Chapter 574 You Dare to Bury the Lion in His Den! You are Courting Death!

    <h4>Chapter 574 You Dare to Bury the Lion in His Den! You are Courting Death!</h4>

    Li Yundong looked down and saw a familiar figure standing below. Dressed in fashionable and sexy clothes, the person seemed incongruent with the scene in front of him. When he saw this person¡¯s appearance, he was shocked. ¡°Ding Nan? Howe you¡¯re here? Have you reached the Zhuji phase?¡±

    But soon, Li Yundong saw a woman with brown hair and blue eyes with Ding Nan. It was none other than Alba, who had been moring with Kris and the others to be his apprentice!

    ¡°Why is she here? Ding Nan, are you crazy? Let her go!¡±

    Ding Shaking all over, Ding Nan was most afraid of Li Yundong feeling disgusted and disdain for her. In front of her, Li Yundong¡¯s angry eyes were like a sharp knife, cutting her heart piece by piece.

    Ding Nan gritted her teeth and said in a trembling voice, ¡°If you don¡¯t want her to die, hand over the Diyuan Jindan!¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing and said in surprise, ¡°You! Have you lost your humanity after apanying Zheng Yuan for so long? How can you take an innocent person hostage? Are you still the girl that I once knew?¡±

    Suddenly feeling like a sharp edge had been inserted into her chest, Ding Nan couldn¡¯t help but tremble violently. As she cried, she giggled and said, ¡°Yes, I am no longer the one you knew! Hurry up and make a choice. Whether this person lives or not is up to you!¡±

    Although Alba couldn¡¯t understand Chinese, she was no fool. Seeing this situation, she could suss what was happening. Feeling rmed, she shouted at Li Yundong in English, ¡°Help, Master, help me!¡±

    Alba was a rare beauty. She was tall and sexy, with a strong South American charm. At this time, she was crying and begging, making the people around her tenderhearted. Many cultivators turned their faces away and could not bear to watch.

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes revealed a hint of sympathy. He secretly shook his head and said coldly to Ding Nan, ¡°Ding Nan, you are walking the devil¡¯s path! Moreover, if I give you the pills, they will definitely fall into Zheng Yuan¡¯s hands! Zheng Yuan is a man with a human face but a beast¡¯s heart. Hemits all kinds of evil. If they fall into his hands, he will definitely cause more innocent deaths. As the saying goes, doing some small good will lead to great evil. In order to save Alba, I will have made more innocent people die by Zheng Yuan¡¯s hand. It would be a great evil in the human world!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes gradually turned cold. He said in a cold voice, ¡°However, I want to tell you that if you dare to kill her, from now on, you will no longer be my friend or ssmate, but my enemy! When I see you again, I will not be soft-hearted and will enforce justice on behalf of god! Anyone who dares to harm the people around me will be hunted to the ends of the earth. No matter how vast the sky is or how broad thend is, there will be no ce for you to hide!¡±

    His words were resolute and full of murderous intent, creeping everyone out. For a moment, Tiandu Peakpletely quieted down. Some people watched Ding Nan and Li Yundong, observing the changes in the situation. Others were shocked by his words, beginning to retreat.

    Ding Nan was also frightened by his amazing momentum. She subconsciously took a step back and loosened her grip on Alba¡¯s throat.

    As soon as she loosened her grip, Alba immediately noticed and began struggling madly. Ding Nan had been absent-minded and inadvertently let her escape, but Alba only got two steps forward.

    Zheng Yuan, who was hiding in the dark, saw that Ding Nan was not responding at all. He was furious and waved the fly-whisk in his hand. Instantly, it was thrown out like a whip, and it grabbed Alba, bringing her back.

    Only then did Ding Nan react. She quickly rushed back to Zheng Yuan and forced a smile. ¡°Master, Li Yundong won¡¯t ept it. What should we do?¡±

    ¡°Just kill her. It¡¯ll be good to disturb his Taoist heart!¡± Zheng Yuan said cruelly.

    As his voice died away, he raised his hand and was about to strike Alba¡¯s skull.

    Hearing Alba let out a scream of horror, Ding Nan trembled all over. She hurriedly stopped Zheng Yuan and said, ¡°Master, no!¡±

    Zheng Yuan turned his cold eyes and looked at Ding Nan suspiciously. He said word by word in a cold voice, ¡°Are you the Ping¡¯er that I know?¡±

    Ding Nan¡¯s heart tightened. She forced a smile and said, ¡°Master, what are you talking about? If I were not Ping¡¯er, who else could I be?¡±

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s eyes were like lightning, raking over her face as if he wanted to see through her heart at a nce. ¡°The Ping Er I know is not such a babbling baby! A nobody like her can be killed easily, not to mention that she¡¯s a foreigner. How dare you speak for her?¡±

    Ding Nan broke out in a cold sweat. She thought swiftly and said quickly, ¡°Master, you have been teaching me that one should think of a way before entering the gate. What if Li Yundong doesn¡¯t want to let us go after we take the Diyuan Jindan? Or, what if we fail to get it and fall into an extremely unfavorable situation? Then he wille to make trouble for us again. At that time, using her as a shield would be better, right?¡±

    Zheng Yuan stared at her so long that she almost couldn¡¯t stand it. Eventually, he snorted, took back his half, and said icily, ¡°Then we¡¯ll let the foreigner live a little longer!¡±

    After that, he stood with his hands sped behind his back and looked at Li Yundong with gloomy eyes. He whispered, ¡°This guy, relying on his high cultivation to defend this ce, is really tricky! This Alchemy room has not been conquered even now. What if the noise grows too loud and attracts the attention of themon people?¡±

    While he was talking, Li Yunyang was also secretly worried above the alchemy room. Although he had frightened Ding Nan with his extremely tough momentum just now, all of the cultivators around had stopped at once, and Tiandu Peak had fallen into a short silence.

    Li Yundong looked around and saw a few figures shing in the gathering darkness. Most of them were hiding in the shadows as if they were waiting for the best time to strike.

    However, Li Yundong, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin were standing above the alchemy room, surrounded by the colorful light. They were so morous that they looked like stars under the light of a stage, every part of their body illuminated!

    This made Li Yundong extremely ufortable!

    Zhou Qin saw his frown and thought that he was worried that Alba was being held hostage. She felt regret in her heart, knowing that if she hadn¡¯t been willful, such a tragedy wouldn¡¯t have happened. ¡°Master, I want to apologize to you...¡±

    Li Yundong was stunned. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    She hesitated for a moment, bit her lip, and was about to speak softly. However, Li Yundong raised his hand and stopped her. ¡°Let¡¯s talk when we get back. Right now, we should think about how to get out of this damn ce. We have been trapped by Wan Zhenyuan, that f*cking b*stard!¡±

    Zi Yuan smiled bitterly, ¡°Three Diyuan Jindans! He¡¯s really willing to pay a great price for it! I don¡¯t even dare to think about it! It¡¯s the first time that I¡¯ve heard of such a great thing. He¡¯d better be careful!¡±

    ¡°If one wants to take something in advance, he must give it away first! One Diyuan Jindan is enough for a cultivator to break through their bottleneck. Why does he want so much? Unless he wants to mass-produce Jinxian Masters!¡± Li Yundong surmised coldly.

    Seeing that he wasn¡¯t caring about her mistakes for the time being, Zhou Qin felt a little relieved andforted him with a smile, ¡°Master, how about we simply take these three Diyuan Jindans now and let these guys stare in despair?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s four of us,¡± Li Yundong said wryly, ¡°how are we going to divide the pills up?¡±

    Zhou Qin was momentarily stumped, but then she quickly replied, ¡°Naturally, it¡¯s you, Zi Yuan, and Su Chan who should take them.¡±

    ¡°What about you? You don¡¯t want it?¡± Li Yundong was stunned.

    ¡°I just took the Renyuan Jindan, how could I take a Diyuan Jindan? No matter how blessed a person is, they can¡¯t take two elixirs of life in a row.¡± Zhou Qin smiled, shaking her head.

    Li Yundong took a deep look at her and nodded in his heart. He diverged from the subject and suddenly asked, ¡°By the way, where is Chan¡¯er? I heard her voice just now. Why isn¡¯t she here?¡±

    Zi Yuan said with a wry smile, ¡°Su Chan rmed the other cultivators when she opened her mouth just now. As a result, she attracted their powerful magical weapons. In a panic, she immediately ran away without a trace. I don¡¯t know where she is anymore.¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. He shook his head and said, ¡°This girl... Although Chan¡¯er¡¯s spiritual energy is not strong, her self-protection skills are quite good. She must have gotten rid of her opponents and started hiding in the shadows like these cultivators, waiting for an opportunity to help me. Otherwise, if those enemies had caught her, I¡¯m afraid they would have used her as leverage against me.¡±

    Zi Yuan nodded in agreement. ¡°But... If this continues, I¡¯m afraid...¡± she said, trailing off awkwardly.

    Li Yundong immediately answered emphatically, ¡°Hold on, just hold on! It¡¯s best to dy until dawn! I believe that these guys don¡¯t want others to know their sects and identities, and they all want to take the Diyuan Jindan alone. Once dawnes, humph, we¡¯ll see how they hide!¡±

    As soon as his voice fell, a hoarse sound came from the darkness. ¡°Zhenren Li, you have a good appetite. Do you intend to take the three Diyuan Jindans yourself?¡±

    ¡°Who are you? Do you dare to tell me your sect and name?¡± Li Yundong sneered.

    Soon, the man stopped talking, but then another middle-aged man¡¯s voice sounded in the night. ¡°Spiritual Master Li, do you really think that you can swallow all three? Aren¡¯t you afraid of getting too full?¡±

    Soon after, another voice said angrily, ¡°That¡¯s right. You greedy kid. Aren¡¯t you afraid of being damned if you do such a thing?¡±

    Li Yundongughed out loud and said, ¡°Wasn¡¯t it because I brought Wan Zhenyuan the thousand-year Snow Lotus that he was able to produce the Diyuan Jindans? Since he wants only one of them, the remaining three naturally belong to me! They are supposed to be mine. Why do you want to take them from me?¡±

    For a moment, everyone was choked by his words and couldn¡¯t say anything. Those who were unconvinced stretched out their necks and said, ¡°This kind of elixir of life is naturally avable to whoever sees it and is more capable. Why should you, a little kid, have three Diyuan Jindans all to yourself?¡±

    Zheng Yuan was also unwilling to be silent. He came forward and said loudly, ¡°Zhenren Li, why don¡¯t you take out two of them to be shared with us? It¡¯ll be better than hurting our friendship. How about that?¡±

    As soon as Li Yundong saw Zheng Yuan, he gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Zheng Yuan, you have the face to say something like that? Let me tell you, I would rather give the Diyuan Jindan to dogs than you!¡±

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s expression changed greatly. He became extremely ferocious at once. ¡°Then don¡¯t me me for my actions! Li Yundong, don¡¯t regret it!¡±

    ¡°Come and get it if you have the ability!¡± Li Yundong yelled,ughing wildly.

    Although he was holding the Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade in the hand, Zhen Yuan was quite terrified of Li Yundong¡¯s magic power, which reduced his confidence in winning. ¡°It¡¯s not toote for a gentleman to take revenge in ten years¡¯ time! This little bastard is arrogant for now. When I get the Diyuan Jindan, Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade will be even more powerful. At that time, I will torture you to the point that you¡¯ll be begging for death!¡± Zhen Yuan thought.

    As Zheng Yuan cursed Li Yundong viciously in his heart, he slowly retreated back into the darkness once again.

    Tiandu Peak went quiet for a moment. Everyone seemed to be afraid of something, and they didn¡¯t even dare whisper to each other. The atmosphere was unusually quiet.

    Li Yundong felt strange. He frowned slightly and said, ¡°They... Do they want to stall for time too? No way!¡±

    Zi Yuan tilted her head slightly and said in surprise, ¡°There¡¯s some strange sound...¡±

    Li Yundong immediately asked, ¡°What is it?¡±

    She frowned and said, ¡°Listen, there seems to be a rustling noise.¡±

    He listened for a moment and was slightly perplexed. ¡°It seems that there really is... Where¡¯s iting from?¡±

    Zhou Qin also listened carefully. She hesitated for a moment before saying, ¡°It seems that the sound is from... Beneath our feet?¡±

    As soon as her words fell, the colorful light within the alchemy room beneath their feet disappeared!

    Li Yundong looked down, only to see a figure shing in the alchemy room and grabbing the remaining three Diyan Jindans with one hand, then quickly jumping into the medicine pool!

    Li Yundong was furious. ¡°How dare you snatch meat from the lion¡¯s mouth! You¡¯re courting death!¡± After saying that, he instantly turned into a green light and chased after the thief.

 Chapter 575 Committing Murder with a Borrowed Knife!

    <h4>Chapter 575 Committing Murder with a Borrowed Knife!</h4>

    Li Yundong knew that Wan Zhenyuan¡¯s alchemy room contained arge number of magic circles, which could resist the siege of external magic and magical items for a long time. However, external alchemy needed to guide Earth Qi and be led straight to the nine heavens. Therefore, the alchemy room would no doubt be connected to the nine earths and the nine heavens, which were the two worst-defended ces.

    Those who could get in from the skylight had to be top masters of the Yang Spirit, and those who could get in from the medicine pool had to be masters of earth-style magic.

    In the whole cultivation world, only the Jinshan Sect was strongly proficient in earth-style magic. Therefore, as soon as Li Yundong entered the alchemy room, he shouted tentatively, ¡°You dirty thief from the Jinshan Sect, where are you going to run to?¡±

    Sure enough, the person who had stolen the Diyuan Jindan suddenly trembled, and his speed of escape slowed down a little. In the blink of an eye, he was caught up to by Li Yundong.

    With a sneer, Li Yundong pped the man¡¯s back.

    But the man could clearly feel the gust of fierce wind as the palm rushed toward him, as if someone was wielding a big hammer at his back, the momentum of which was frightening. He shrugged slightly and spread his limbs, turning his whole body into the Tuo shape, like he was a giant, tail-less crocodile.

    Almost every cultivator who had attained the Tao was a martial arts master. Although the Jinshan Sect¡¯s master who had stolen the Diyuan Jindan did not use the above-board methods, this move in the Tuo shape allowed him to gain the essence of the Will-Shaping Fist!

    ¡°Huh? The Tuo shape of the Will-Shaping Fist?¡± Tao, the Yangtze alligator, used the back as its toughest part, which could not be cut by a knife or get burnt. Li Yundong was shocked at first sight. He knew that even though the man looked defenseless, his Gang-strength was surging over his back. On the one hand, the man could detect his opponent¡¯s strength, and on the other hand, when Li Yundong hit him in the back, his strength would immediately dissipate and he would run away, even hitting back in an instant!

    Li Yundong thought about the situation quickly. He sneered and thought to himself, ¡°I¡¯d like to see how good your Tuo shape is!¡±

    After that, not only did he not stop, he even pped his opponent¡¯s back harder than before.

    His palm was as fast as lightning and as fierce as thunder. With a muffled bang, it collided with the man¡¯s back.

    With a shake of his whole body, the man let out a cracking sound from his spine. It was obvious that the bones couldn¡¯t endure under Li Yundong¡¯s horrible attack. For a moment, his muscles and bones subconsciously tried to transmit scattered strength to the limbs to avoid the spine being smashed by Li Yundong.

    After being hit by that fearsome palm, the man¡¯s body plummeted, unceremoniously falling into the thick pile of pill dregs in the medicine pool.

    He wanted to continue burrowing away, but Li Yundong had pped him so hard that his bones had almost been shattered and his body was so paralyzed that he couldn¡¯t move.

    In the blink of an eye, Li Yundong rushed over to him again. He mmed his knee into the man¡¯s body and firmly pressed against the Lingtai acupoint on his back.

    The man felt like his back was heavy and his heart had gone cold. He knew that something bad was going to happen. ¡°I am in mortal peril!¡±

    He reacted quickly and shoved the Diyuan Jindan into his mouth. Obviously, he would rather swallow it than give it to Li Yundong.

    Li Yundong was furious!

    After taking the Renyuan Jindan, he had gone into aa for a long time to work on epting the Jindan Fati. If he took the Diyuan Jindan, he would definitely have to sit in meditation for an even longer time. At this time, taking the Diyuan Jindan was no different from taking a suicide pill!

    However, this person would rathermit suicide than let the Jindan fall into others¡¯ hands. If he couldn¡¯t have it, no one could.

    Li Yundong was so angry that he immediately reached out his hand and pinched the man¡¯s cheeks. With the force of his fingers, he dislocated the enemy¡¯s chin with a crack. Then, he grabbed the man¡¯s arm that was holding the pill with one hand and twisted it back violently!

    The man knew that his arm would be broken by Li Yundong. When his arm was grabbed, he struggled with his five fingers and flicked the three Diyuan Jindan over the medicine pool!

    Immediately, the Diyuan Jindan returned to its original state. The alchemy room was once again filled with colorful divine light.

    Li Yundong looked up and saw another person quickly slipping into the alchemy room. This new intruder stared at the Diyuan Jindan with amazement and greed, then rushed toward it.

    Li Yundong grunted and flicked his hand downwards, plunging his fingers toward the man¡¯s spine, while the lightning shed around him and the Liuhe Sword instantly flew out, stabbing towards the man who was diving for the treasure.

    The man who had broken into the alchemy room saw that it was empty and that the Diyuan Jindan was close at hand. In his ecstasy, how could he have imagined that there was actually a terrifying enemy hidden in this medicinal pool?

    The Liuhe Sword shed, and he felt a chill at his waist followed by a sharp pain. With a scream, he fell involuntarily, his finger less than an inch away from the Diyuan Jindan.

    But the man had just been physically wounded. Soon, the Yang Spirit shot out of his body, and his hand suddenly extended an inch, and at once he fished the Diyuan Jindan into his palm again.

    This person had snatched the Diyuan Jindan. Writhing with a wild joy, his Yang Spirit quickly escaped from the skylight. However, his Yang Spirit was not very dense. It was unable to hide the dazzling light of the Diyuan Jindan. In an instant, this colorful divine light passed through his palm and immediately attracted everyone¡¯s attention.

    ¡°The Diyuan Jindan! It¡¯s with him!¡± some cultivators cried in rm.

    Before the man could enjoy his victory, he saw the other cultivators hurling their powerful magical weapons at him.

    After Li Yundong had rushed into the alchemy room, Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin had immediately left by the top of the room. This was because once he moved, the Fixed Fundamental Palm around them would disappear immediately. If they had still been standing there, they would have been targeted by the public and would have immediately be sitting ducks.

    Unfortunately, this cultivator who had just won the Diyuan Jindan had just gotten out of the alchemy room before being hit by the countless magic weapons and magic arts.

    Unlike Li Yundong, a top master with strong cultivation, he could only manage to dodge a few times before he was smashed by the countless magic treasures and spells.

    Zhou Qin and Zi Yuan saw that even though the man was blown to pieces, the Diyuan Jindan was still floating intact, blown upwards by the strong wind.

    For a time, all the cultivators around stared at the colorful Diyuan Jindan with crazy greed shing in their eyes. Suddenly, they fell into a terrible silence.

    It was like the calm before the storm, or a moment of peace before the sh floods, the moment of stillness before a volcano erupts!

    All of them seemed to be frozen like ice sculptures. Only the three Diyuan Jindan were rolling through the air, and the colorful lights they shone with were dazzling. Almost everyone¡¯s eyes were dazzled and their hearts were in disorder!

    Suddenly, almost everyone began fiercely rushing towards the Diyuan Jindan in unison!

    For a time, the figures on Tiandu Peak were in chaos and a storm of powerful magical weapons were flying about!

    Zhou Qin and Zi Yuan just wanted to grab it, but they had already seen that the brilliance of the Diyuan Lingdan was obscured by the thick crowd, and only small traces of colorful light were struggling out of the gaps in the crowd that filled the sky.

    They were dumbstruck to see these cultivators fighting for the Diyuan Jindan: The first to grab the Diyuan Jindan was killed mercilessly by those who came after him. The second to get the Diyuan Jindan was much smarter, grabbing it and shoving it into his mouth!

    As soon as he put it in, he was ready to swallow it down, but suddenly a sharp de passed through his chest, tearing his whole upper body into two pieces from bottom to top and splitting his head into two parts. The Diyuan Jindan in his mouth also jumped out of his skull, stained with blood, glowing with a ferocious light.

    Zhou Qin was dumbfounded, and she was utterly frightened by the horrific scene of carnage before her. Although she had thought that sometimes she could be ruthless, it was the first time she¡¯d seen the horrible massacre motivated by the chance for a Jindan. She was now feeling the cruelty and indifference of the cultivation world!

    Nobody knew who the masked cultivators were or what kind of rtionships they had with each other. However, no one had to worry about it too much at that moment.

    Due to the sudden development, many people who had received the news had no time to prepare or even contact their own friends. They were just afraid that they would not be able to catch up with the detection of the Diyuan Jindan from the physical world.

    But what even fewer people had expected was that Tiandu Peak, where the Diyuan Jindan was, would be their final resting ce!

    ¡°Oh my god...¡± Zhou Qin shuddered in horror. ¡°Are they crazy?¡±

    Zi Yuan was also extremely shocked by the scene before her and she suddenly muttered in a low, chilling voice, ¡°I finally know what the hell Wan Zhenyuan is up to!¡±

    Zhou Qin widened his eyes, turned her head and asked sharply, ¡°What?¡±

    A rare expression of intense anger flitted over Zi Yuan¡¯s face. She gritted her teeth and said word by word, ¡°To murder a person with a borrowed knife! Use the three elixirs to kill the group¡¯s greed!¡±

    Zhou Qin was trembling. She was no fool, so she quickly figured out the key point and could barely speak from the shock. ¡°Could it be that... Wan Zhenyuan wants these sects to fight against each other and start a blood feud? So he can profit from the chaos?¡±

    Zi Yuan said angrily, ¡°It won¡¯t be easy for the cultivation world to rise again. Some people don¡¯t care about the overall situation, consumed by their own selfish interests! After this battle, it¡¯s very likely that our Chinese cultivation world will decline for the next ten years!¡±

    ¡°Something¡¯s wrong...¡± As soon as her voice fell, a figure shed over to their sides. It was Li Yundong, who had alreadye out of the alchemy room with his eyes flickering, looking at the cultivators who were fighting.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Zi Yuan frowned.

    He shook his head slightly. ¡°Although Wan Zhenyuan has led me into a dangerous situation, I think he wasn¡¯t the person who spread the news of the Diyuan Jindan. It must have been someone else...¡±

    Zi Yuan was stunned. She suddenly seemed to recall something and her eyes quickly searched for someone among the crowd. When she fixed her eyes on Zheng Yuan, her heart suddenly trembled and her face turned pale. She said in a trembling voice, ¡°I know! It was Zheng Yuan. No, I identally allowed him to guess the news! Damn it, it¡¯s all my fault!¡±

    Zhou Qin also quickly figured out what was going on. She said with a paleplexion, ¡°No, it was me. If I weren¡¯t here, then...¡±

    Li Yundong looked gloomy as he immediately snapped, ¡°Stop it, this isn¡¯t the time to point fingers. No one can be free from fault!It¡¯s really hateful for Zheng Yuan to have used another¡¯s hand to kill people! However, the immediate issue putting an end to this turmoil!¡±

    ¡°What do you have in mind?¡± Zi Yuan asked, calming down.

    Just as Li Yundong was about to speak, he suddenly heard a familiar sound ringing through the air. It was a high voice eximing, ¡°Yundong, I got it! I got it!¡±

    Li Yundong was greatly shocked. He looked up and saw Su Chan suddenly appearing from within the crowd. Relying on her own dexterity, she had grabbed three Diyuan Jindans!

    The moment she snatched them, the cultivators around her immediately began to lunge toward her. Like countless wild animals, they would tear her into pieces if they got their hands on her!

    At this time, Kris, who had been chasing the colorful light, finally set foot on Tiandu Peak.

 Chapter 576 Double Whammy

    <h4>Chapter 576 Double Whammy</h4>

    Li Yundong saw Su Chan actually grab the Diyuan Jindan from amongst the crowd. However, he was not happy at all; on the contrary, he felt utterly terrified. He could not imagine what he¡¯d do if something happened to his girl.

    Li Yundong was frightened and shouted in a hurry, ¡°Idiot, throw it away!¡±

    Su Chan was stunned for a moment, but she quickly reacted to his urging. When the girl saw the overwhelming powerful magical weaponsing at her, she was so scared to death that she ran spontaneously, crying out, ¡°Ah, don¡¯t attack me, don¡¯t attack me, I don¡¯t want it!¡± Saying this, she chucked away the Diyuan Jindan, and the three elixirs of life immediately flew out of her hands.

    The three Diyuan Jindan spun in the air andnded in the hands of a cultivator like a bouquet. Before the cultivator could celebrate, the flying powerful magical weapons tore him apart instantly.

    After the man¡¯s body was destroyed, his Yang Spirit emerged, jumping up in the air and screaming abuse, but no one had time to pay attention to him. They all stared at the three Diyuan Jindan floating in the air with red, greed-filled eyes.

    None of those present were fools. They soon came to their senses. They knew that the person who took the Diyuan Jindan would be the target of everyone there and would be surrounded and beaten. However, they didn¡¯t have Li Yundong¡¯s ability to ensured their own safety when under siege. For a moment, they didn¡¯t dare to move again. Tiandu Peak once again became deserted, leaving nothing but blood on the ground, and the air was filled with a pungent smell of death.

    At this time, Su Chan¡¯s face was filled with fear and she hurried back to Li Yundong¡¯s side for safety. She patted her chest and said in shock, ¡°Fortunately, I threw it fast. I was scared to death!¡±

    Li Yundong red at her fiercely. ¡°What were you thinking just now? Are you nuts?¡±

    Su Chan, frightened by Li Yunyang¡¯s roaring, simply stuttered. ¡°I... I just wanted to do you a favor...¡±

    ¡°A favor?¡± Li Yundong spat. ¡°Didn¡¯t you see how the people who took the Diyuan Jindan were? If anything should happen to you, what would I do?¡±

    Although Su Chan was being yelled at by Li Yundong in front of everyone, her heart was bursting with joy. She pretended to be upset, pulled Li Yundong¡¯s sleeve, and whispered, ¡°Well, I understand. Don¡¯t yell at me in front of so many people... I¡¯m fine, ain¡¯t I? I promise I won¡¯t do this again next time!¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t stand her soft words. Even though his heart had been palpitating with anger, it had dissipated a lot at this time. He snorted and pretended to still be enraged. ¡°Next time?¡±

    Zi Yuan, who was standing to one side, saw that Li Yundong was all bark and no bite, so she knew he was no longer angry. She quickly came to the rescue and said, ¡°Su Chan, how did you get the Diyuan Jindan just now?¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s face lit up, and she said with a smile, ¡°It was a piece of cake. Think about how I got the Renyuan Jindanst time.¡±

    Li Yundong saw that Su Chan had been having qualms of conscience just now, but now she was wagging her tail and showing off triumphantly. He red at her with anger and amusement. ¡°Did you get it? Howe I seem to remember that it was your master who got it?¡±

    Su Chan pouted and said, ¡°You¡¯re a pain in the ass. What¡¯s the difference?¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but scold with a smile. ¡°You are so thick-skinned!¡±

    When Su Chan saw Li Yundong finally crack a smile, she immediately pulled on his arm with a grin and said shyly, ¡°Yundong, aren¡¯t you angry with me?¡±

    Li Yundong immediately red at her again. ¡°Can¡®t I? Why are you here? Tell me the truth!¡±

    Su Chan immediately wiped the grin off her face and muttered, ¡± Sister Zi Yuan and Sister Zhou Qin are not going to be held ountable. Why are you pursuing this matter with me?¡±

    Zhou Qin saw the two flirting with each other and acting as if there was no one else around. She coughed awkwardly and whispered, ¡°Master, what should we do now?¡±

    Li Yundong stared at Su Chan and whispered, ¡°I¡¯ll get even with youter!¡± As he said this, he nced at Kris, who was standing in the distance, and frowned. ¡°Why is she here? Who else is here? Where¡¯s John? He must be here as well, right?¡±

    Zhou Qin looked a little gloomy and recounted the events that had urred on the ropeway to him, eventually whispering, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, master. It¡¯s... it¡¯s all my fault.¡±

    Hearing this, Li Yundong fell silent for a long time. He took a deep breath and said slowly, ¡°That was his destiny, which we¡¯re powerless to change. We¡¯ll talk about these thingster, and then think about some proper solutions. ¡±

    Su Chan nced at Kris and said with guilt and sympathy, ¡°Yundong, how about asking her toe over here. She¡¯ll be safer that way, right?¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Li Yundong immediately shook his head and rejected the request. ¡°If shees over, it¡¯ll be a disaster, not a blessing, to her now. It is very likely that she will be killed. The three of you have the ability to protect yourselves, but she is a girl whocks the strength to even bind a chicken. What do you want her to do? She is not a cultivator, so I believe that these cultivators will have some scruples if they want to kill her. Don¡¯t look at her, pretend that you don¡¯t even know her, in case someone has ulterior motives and gets the idea to use her to do something mean and dirty.¡±

    Only then did Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin turn around. They quickly nced about, only to find that the night had resumed its tranquility. There were only three Diyuan Jindan floating in the air, and no one was within ten meters of them.

    Looking at the colorful light, Zi Yuan frowned inwardly and said, ¡°This colorful light will attract people¡¯s attention sooner orter. Li Yundong, why didn¡¯t you want to wrap up the Diyuan Jindan just now?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly and said, ¡°You think I had time for that? As soon as the Diyuan Jindan pills were refined, someone took them. Once I rush out, someone greeted me with his powerful magical weapon. The moment I hid myself, I heard your shouts. How could I have had the time to care about the Diyuan Jindans? I haven¡¯t even had the time to touch them yet!¡±

    Zhou Qin said with lingering fear, ¡°Fortunately, no masters with jinshen came this time. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable!¡±

    Su Chan also asked curiously, ¡°Yeah, why are there so many cultivators here, but no jinshen experts?¡±

    Li Yundong was just as perplexed. He couldn¡¯t help pondering, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s very abnormal, even a little bizarre!¡± He turned his head and looked at Zi Yuan. ¡°What do you think?¡±

    She thought for a moment before saying, ¡°If the news was spread by Zheng Yuan, judging from his nature, he definitely won¡¯t have informed the cultivators who have higher cultivation levels than him. Otherwise, he¡¯d be cutting off his nose to spite his face. But it¡¯s impossible for him to have gotten the message out in a few hours without a leak. However, although the jinshen masters of the various sects are powerful, they keep each other in check and form a delicate bnce. It¡¯s also possible that they are in the vicinity now, but staying hidden and not taking action.

    ¡°Furthermore, even though this Diyuan Jindan is important to a Yang Spirit master like us, it¡¯s not so important to a jinshen master. Maybe... they¡¯re not interested in making a move?¡±

    Speaking of this, Zi Yuan also felt that her spection was very unreasonable. She shook her head with a smile and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. However, it is fortunate that there are no jinshen masters, otherwise...¡±

    As soon as she finished speaking, she heard an ear-piercing, arrogant voice ring out.

    ¡°Haha, Shidee, it¡¯s really the birth of the elixir of life! Your eyes have a chance to be cured. Haha, God bless me. Today, when I made a calction with my fingers, I saw that the colorful light in the sky kept shing, and so I knew that there must be something unusual going on. I came here to have a look, it turned out to be just as I expected, hahaha!¡±

    As soon as Li Yundong heard the voice, his expression suddenly changed and he looked in the direction of the noise.

    Two Taoists quickly appeared around the Diyuan Jindan. Their Taoist robes looked sloppy and tattered. The tall, thin Taoist had covered his eyes with a ck cloth. Obviously, he was blind. The other was short and fat, with a surly and arrogant face. Who else could it be other than Xu Kong and Xu Ling, who had once fought with Li Yunyang in Kari Holy Mountain?

    Li Yundong was shocked. Su Chan, who was standing next to him, asked curiously, ¡°Who are these two scruffy weirdoes?¡±

    Zhou Qin frowned and looked at the neers, asking, ¡°Where did these two dirty guyse from?¡±

    Li Yundong looked at Xu Ling with vignce and said slowly, ¡°Say, if there were a jinshen master who had a grudge against youing to steal your Diyuan Jindan, what would you do?¡±

    Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin were transfixed at the same time. They quickly did a double-take, their expressions odd, then said in unison, ¡°The Ling and Kong Daoists of Zhenkongism?¡±

    As soon as they finished saying this, Xu Ling immediately looked in the direction of their voices and said, ¡°Strange, there are girls here who know us?¡±

    Xu Ling took in the appearances of Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin with a nce, and his eyes lit up immediately. He tugged his beard with one hand and said in surprise, ¡°Who knew there were such beautiful women in the world? And three at the same time? And one of them is a Fox Spirit?!¡±

    But then he noticed Li Yundong next to them, and Xu Ling felt angry as sinful thoughts rolled in the bottom of his heart. Heughed and said, ¡°It¡¯s really a coincidence. Shidee, guess who I¡¯m looking at again!¡±

    Xu Kong put his head to his ear and whispered a few words, and Xu Ling snorted a few times, staring at Li Yundong with hatred. ¡°Why care about them? The Diyuan Jindan can¡¯t run away. Is there anyone who took it away in front of me? Humph, if anyone dares to take what I want, I¡¯ll kill them!¡±

    His arrogant words immediately aroused the onlookers¡¯ anger. One of the cultivators said angrily, ¡°Hey, who do you think you are, you big-mouthed fool? How arrogant you are! Which sect are you from? Tell me your name quickly!¡±

    Xu Ling did not even look at him, simply flicking his finger at the man who was speaking, and a strong gust of wind appeared in the air like a bullet. It shot over and hit the man, causing him to fall back a long way. After a few rolls, he fell silent.

    Xu Ling said with a grim smile, ¡°What¡¯s my name? Have you said the word ¡®please¡¯?¡±

    The truth woulde out once an expert made a move. His attacks made the cultivators hiding in the shadows shocked and their faces turned pale with fright. Some of them even shouted, ¡°Let¡¯s work together! Kill this guy first!¡±

    Everyone shared the same hatred, and their magical weapons and magic arts once again rushed toward Xu Ling like a stormy wave.

    Xu Ling did not dodge, nor did he use any magic. He stood with his hands on his waist, facing these magic and magical weapons without moving, allowing them to hit him.

    Everyone saw that every time he was hit by a magic treasure, a golden light ripple would appear faintly on his body, undting inyers. However, he remained unscathed, as if he was covered in invisible armor.

    At this time, there were some experienced and knowledgeable cultivators who finally understood. They cried out in horror, ¡°He¡¯s a jinshen master!¡±

    Ding Nan, who had been staring at the scene, also looked at Xu Ling in horror. Even if she didn¡¯t know how fearsome a jinshen master was, after seeing so many magic weapons and magic arts rushing toward him while he remained unscathed, she knew this was a big deal.

    She said in a trembling voice, ¡°Master, I, what should we do?¡±

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s face was ashen as he looked at Xu Ling. He had calcted and calcted countless times, but he had never thought that this jinshen expert would appear out of thin air and ruin everything!

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s expression was vtile, and his eyes were cold as he surveyed the field. Like everyone else there, he quickly thought: ¡°What should I do if a jinshen master wants to pilfer the Diyuan Jindan?

 Chapter 577 Driving the Enemy to Fight a Jinshen Master!

    <h4>Chapter 577 Driving the Enemy to Fight a Jinshen Master!</h4>

    All of a sudden, Xu Ling had appeared like a fierce monster from the jungle. The fears held towards jinshen masters drove the cultivators of each sect to lose the will to fight in an instant.

    ¡°Even ten Yang Deities can¡¯t defeat a single jinshen master.¡± This was almost an unbreakable truth in the cultivation world. Regardless of which sect it was, the older cultivators would preach this to the younger cultivators.

    Xu Ling¡¯s aggression made everyone despair, but there were still a few people there who were unwilling to give up and started quickly thinking about countermeasures.

    Li Yundong stared at Xu Ling without saying a word, thinking about how to deal with it.

    Zhou Qin, standing to one side, knew that a jinshen master was powerful, but her tough and strong character showed a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity. She whispered to Li Yundong, ¡°Master, what should we do? Is there any way to defeat him?¡±

    Li Yundong was silent. In a low voice, Zi Yuan said, ¡°Jinshen masters can make their own bodies immune to almost all spells and most magic tools. Apart from the powerful magic formation and a few magic weapons that can hurt their Yang spirit, there is almost no way to break their Yang Body. The Vast Universe Six Harmonies Sword can break him, but I believe that he will not stupidly use his jinshen to block it...¡±

    Su Chan also said with a sad face, ¡°If I had known this would happen, I would have asked my master for the Bahuang.¡±

    Zi Yuan shook her head. ¡°The Bahuang and the Liuhe were a partnership. Now they have been separated, and it won¡¯t be easy tobine them again. So, It¡¯s useless to borrow them.¡±

    Su Chan became even more disappointed. ¡°Ah? What should we do then? Yundong,e up with a solution! Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re going to just sit and watch this guy steal all three Diyuan Jindans?¡±

    Only then did Li Yundong slowly say, ¡°When I was in Kari Holy Mountain, I used the m of Peace in the Tao to hurt this guy, but he soon recovered. I believe that it can only slow him down for a while, but it can¡¯t hurt his foundation.¡±

    Zhou Qin and Su Chan didn¡¯t think any further, but Zi Yuan did. She eximed, ¡°Can you actually injure a jinshen master? It... it¡¯s unbelievable! This is the first time I¡¯ve heard that a Yang Spirit master can injure a jinshen mastert!¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head. ¡°Never mind. I used Buddhist Language Mudras to recite mantras, which takes so long that you could travel around the world eighty times while I¡¯m doing it! Such a long time of reciting still only causes a flesh wound. It is not worth showing off with.¡±

    Zhou Qin gritted her teeth and said, ¡°Master, why don¡¯t we help you hold him back first? Then you can cast Palm of Peace in the Tao.¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s expression became serious, and he said tly, ¡°No! In order to hold him backst time, three guardian sentinels died by his hand, and Dorjee Tenzin almost lost his life! Moreover, if it weren¡¯t for Meiduo, I wouldn¡¯t have had time to make this big handprint. If you wanted to hold him back, you would be courting death. I can¡¯t let you take that risk.¡±

    Zhou Qin said anxiously, ¡°But Master, nothing ventured, nothing gained! Someone has to do it!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes widened and he said angrily, ¡°No, you must obey me. Even if someone takes a risk, it must not be you!¡±

    Su Chan didn¡¯t interrupt, but she looked around and suddenly whispered, ¡°Yundong, if we don¡¯t take Diyuan Jindan away, we¡¯ll still have the Medicine King Tripod. Where there is life, there is hope!¡±

    Li Yundong suddenly looked around the alchemy room quickly. He thought of something and whispered with great joy, ¡°I have an idea!¡±

    Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin were instantly delighted. They asked in unison, ¡°What is it?¡±

    Li Yundongughed. His eyes quickly swept across the cultivators hiding in the shadows before he said with a sneer, ¡°Wan Zhenyuan will bring disaster. Let¡¯s bait him into attacking someone else.¡±

    As he spoke, he raised his voice. ¡°Chan¡¯er, you¡¯ll go first with the Medicine King Tripod. Don¡¯t worry about us!¡±

    Li Yundong controlled his voice very subtly. He seemed to be whispering, but his words were just loud enough for Xu Ling to hear.

    Xu Ling was taken aback as he looked around in shock and wild joy. He hastily said, ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. Since the Diyuan Jindans appeared here, there must still be a Medicine King Tripod! Haha, where is it? I want it too!¡±

    Now everyone felt angry!

    ¡°Not only does this guy n to take the Diyuan Jindan, but he¡¯s also even daring to take the Medicine King Tripod?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s really unbearable. How can it be tolerated?¡±

    Su Chan didn¡¯t grasp Li Yundong¡¯s word at first, but she quickly understood. She nodded cleverly and flew straight to the alchemy room.

    Xu Ling immediately appeared in front of Su Chan andughed wildly. ¡°It¡¯s here! Little fox, stand aside. If you¡¯re obedient, I¡¯ll let you go! Otherwise, I¡¯ll kill you where you stand!¡±

    Su Chan thought that while he was short and chubby, he still seemed to be a horrible monster as he stood in front of her. Her heart was beating so wildly that she did not dare to stay still. She turned her head and flew back to Li Yundong¡¯s side, yelling with indignation, ¡°You are so unreasonable. A totally greedy ghoul!¡±

    Xu Lingughed. ¡°Have you only just realized that? This is the privilege of having great strength! Great strength beats everything, haha!¡±

    As he spoke, he turned his head, ignoring every cultivator. He turned his back, revealing a huge w to the crowd. He pressed his hands against the wall of the alchemy room, and Zhenqi surged out of his body. For a moment, Xu Ling¡¯s bones were crackling, as if firecrackers had been set off inside him. Then, huge stones in the alchemy room began to tremble, and cracks appeared on them one after another.

    When Zi Yuan saw this, she immediately took a deep breath and whispered, ¡°Master once said that jinshen masters could be top cultivators who broke the rules. At that time, I couldn¡¯t understand it. Now it feels like I know what he meant! Xu Ling can use his Zhenqi to shake the inside array through the hard rocks, further breaking the array here! His power... is really incredible!¡±

    Zhou Qin grumbled unhappily, ¡°Zi Yuan, how can you still have the time to praise your enemy at this dangerous time?¡± She looked at Li Yundong anxiously and asked, ¡°Master, it¡¯s time to do it, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Li Yundong nodded, then immediately shook his head. He said calmly, ¡°Don¡¯t rush! All of the cultivators here are angry but dare not act. Their furious minds are like bombs that might explode at any time!. They only need a trigger to get things going. When I trigger the bomb, follow my lead! However, you are only allowed to use powerful magical weapons and are not allowed to approach our enemy. If you find that he is facing you, you must run away immediately! Is that clear?¡±

    Both Zhou Qin and Zi Yuan nodded, but Su Chan asked suspiciously, ¡°What about me?¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head. ¡°You don¡¯t have any powerful magical weapons, so you can¡¯te. Take care of Kris from a distance.¡±

    Su Chan pouted unhappily.

    While the few of them were busy discussing their next move, Xu Ling had already forcefully opened a gap big enough for a person to pass through in the alchemy room. He saw the Medicine King Tripod inside and immediatelyughed. With a wave of his hand, it flew over to his hand. Then, the three Diyuan Jindan were taken into his other hand by a second wave.

    Li Yundong suddenly shouted in a low voice, ¡°Do it now!¡±

    Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin immediately released their magic weapons. The Liuhe, the Vulcan¡¯s Whip, and the Ninth Heaven Zi Yuan Silk all flew out at the same time and rushed toward Xu Ling aggressively.

    Li Yundong¡¯s Liuhe was not very powerful in a one-on-one fight, but it was fast and hard to fend off. Zhou Qin¡¯s whip was not a top-level magic weapon, so it could not cause any damage to Xu Ling. However, she deliberately used it on his face.

    Even if Xu Ling was protected by his jinshen, he was furious about being whipped in the face. Even though it does not hurt or itch, it was enough to get his blood boiling. When people were angry, their emotions would be unstable and their weaknesses would appear!

    Among these three magic weapons, the one with the strongest battle prowess was Zi Yuan¡¯s Ninth Heaven Zi Yuan Silk.

    When this weapon was used, its whole body would twist together, like a purple diamond drill, spinning and stabbing toward Xu Ling.

    Its speed was so fast that there were obvious ripples in the air around it. It was so fierce that even a jinshen master like Xu Ling could not help but shiver and frown!

    Xu Ling even felt that if this silk went into his body and he left it alone, it would dig a hole right through him!

    Although jinshen masters were powerful, it did not mean that they were absolutely invincible and invulnerable. As the saying goes, ¡°constant dripping can wear away a stone.¡±

    Xu Ling frowned. He raised his hand and flicked a finger, sending the Liuhe flying. Then, he raised another hand and threw the Medicine King Tripod to his Shidee, Xu Kong, and this empty hand firmly grabbed Zhou Qin¡¯s Vulcan¡¯s Whip.

    The me on the whip was burning Xu Ling¡¯s fingers, but he seemed unaware of it. The tip of the whip then turned into a ming poisonous snake, hissing and spitting at Xu Kong.

    For a moment, Xu Ling did not have the strength to move forward and catch the Ninth Heaven Zi Yuan Silk, and he immediately took a deep breath!

    Xu Ling sucked in a gust of wind on Tiandu Peak, as if he was the center of a whirlpool, and the air around him quickly surged and was absorbed by him!

    At the meanwhile, his body expanded sharply, and he looked like an inted bullfrog!

    Then he blew at the Ninth Heaven Zi Yuan Silk fiercely. The Qi was condensed into a straight line and urately blew at the silk. The purple drill that kept spinning toward him suddenly stopped in front of him, as if it had been caught by an invisible giant, making it too difficult to advance even half a step further!

    The cultivators on the battlefield were all knowledgeable people. They all looked at Xu Ling in horror. It seemed that they couldn¡¯t believe that this person was able to block such a powerful magic treasure with just a breath!

    Instead of being shocked, Li Yundong was happy. He immediately pushed two big handprints toward Xu Ling and Xu Kong at the same time!

    Xu Ling intended to show off his magic and Cultivation Quotient, but did not notice the golden Mahamudraing at him. All of a sudden, he held his breath, causing his ability to resist the Ninth Heaven Zi Yuan Silk to be somewhat weakened. Instantly, Zi Yuan used all her strength to activate the silk and fiercely thrust forward!

    The Ninth Heaven Zi Yuan Silk firmly collided with Xu Ling¡¯s shoulder!

    However, Xu Ling had the jinshen to protect himself with. The silk was trying its best to drill through his body, but it still couldn¡¯t get in.

    Although Xu Kong was blind, his cultivation was still good. Just from listening, he knew that a strong Qi was rushing toward him. He immediately dodged to the side, but soon Zhou Qin pulled back her Vulcan¡¯s Whip and fiercely mmed it at him.

    For a moment, Xu Kong was being beaten too fiercely to control the situation. In a fit of anger, he rushed out of his body using the Yang Spirit, diving to Zhou Qin with a roar.

    However, as soon as he moved, Zhou Qin shook her wrist, and then the tip of the whip wrapped around the foot of the Medicine King Tripod. Withdrawing the tip, the Medicine King Tripod was immediately thrown out of the enemy¡¯s hand and into the air.

    Seeing this, Li Yundong immediatelyughed and said, ¡°Never fear! It¡¯s just a fat guy and a blind fool. Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, let¡¯s go up and take the Furnace Tripod and Diyuan Jindan back together!¡±

    At this time, Zheng Yuan, who had been watching the fight from one side, suddenly got a brilliant idea. He whispered to Ding Nan, ¡°Ping¡¯er, let¡¯s fight now!¡±

    Ding Nan had wanted to help Li Yundong for a long time, but she was afraid that her kindness would arouse Zheng Yuan¡¯s suspicion, so she pretended to be hesitant and asked, ¡°Master, isn¡¯t this the proper time to just watch them fight? Why should we help him?¡±

    Zheng Yuan sneered proudly. ¡°Humph, Li Yundong is just putting on a show. He can¡¯t defeat this guy and wants us to help him fight, so he¡¯s deliberately using this method to goad us!¡±

    Ding Nan asked in confusion, ¡°Then, shouldn¡¯t we just stand aside?¡±

    Zheng Yuan snorted. ¡°Are you kidding me? Apart from me, Li Yundong is the only one here who can fight with this jinshen master. If we don¡¯t help him fight, then this master will really take all Diyuan Jindans away. At that time, even if we want to watch, it won¡¯t be possible! So, we¡¯d better handle this damn jinshen master first!¡±

    After that, he immediately stepped forward and said to Xu Ling loudly, ¡°Zhenren, do you dare to tell me your name?¡±

    Xu Ling was so angry that he had been caught off guard by Li Yundong. Just as he was about to fight back, he suddenly heard Zheng Yuan shouting. He yelled impatiently, ¡°My name is Xu Ling. What are you going to do?¡±

    Zheng Yuan was overjoyed. He quickly took out the Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade and shouted Xu Ling¡¯s name.

    Xu Ling hadn¡¯t known that Zheng Yuan had such a vicious magic weapon. He suddenly felt his body go stiff, and an extremely cold aura prated his Jinshen and quickly pierced several key acupoints all over his body. Although it couldn¡¯t hurt him at all, it froze him so that the Essence, Qi, and blood in his body started flowing slowly for a while.

    Cultivators¡¯ spiritual energy was all derived from the function of their Qi and blood. Even jinshen masters were no exception.

    With the Qi and blood in Xu Ling¡¯s body slowing down at this moment, his Jinshen was immediately weakened. The silk that had been spinning suddenly drilled into his shoulder!

    At this moment, everyone¡¯s eyes widened. They all realized that the Jinshen of this master known as Xu Ling had been broken!

 Chapter 578 A Jinshen Master Gone Ballistic

    <h4>Chapter 578 A Jinshen Master Gone Ballistic</h4>

    Looking at his injured shoulder, Xu Ling was shocked to see that his indestructible jinshen had been broken by someone!

    With mixed feelings of surprise, shock, and rage, he reached out in a subconscious attempt to pull the Ninth Heaven Zi Yuan Silk out of his body.

    However, the instant he grabbed the Silk, it immediately changed into a sharp knife from a constantly rotating drill. The edge of the knife was filled with many small des which instantly scratched his hands.

    Xu Ling¡¯s hands were cut up into a bloody mess. He roared with pain, but still grabbed the Silk tightly and crazily tried to pull it out.

    Zheng Yuan knew that if he pulled the Silk out, then he would have an unpunctured body, and would once again recover jinshen. If that happened, they would be in big trouble!

    Thus, he immediately shouted, ¡°Xu Ling!¡±

    Almost at the same time, Li Yunyang¡¯s palm and Zhou Qin¡¯s whip both struck toward Xu Ling.

    Xu Kong immediately protected Xu Ling in front of him. Although he could resist the Mahamudra and the Vulcan¡¯s Whip, he couldn¡¯t withstand Zheng Yuan¡¯s insidious Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade.

    Upon hearing Zheng Yuan¡¯s call again, Xu Ling felt a quiver, although he did not lower his guard at all. The Ninth Heaven Zi Yuan Silk had been about to be pulled out of his shoulder, but at this time it sank even deeper!

    Anger simmered inside him. Instead of pulling it out, he mmed the bottom of the Silk, letting it pass through his body!

    At the sight of Xu Ling¡¯s reactions, Zi Yuan was shocked, thinking, ¡°Oh no! How ruthless he is!¡± She immediately made the Ninth Heaven Zi Yuan Silk turn into countless tiny purple threads, jabbing toward his wound.

    The Ninth Heaven Zi Yuan Silk seemed to be silk, but in fact, it was a magical item transformed from the Ninth Heaven Rosy Clouds, and it could change ording to its master¡¯s wishes. Now it had turned into countless threads. Once these threads entered Xu Ling¡¯s body again through his wounds, they would immediately travel rapidly through his blood vessels all over his body and control all his meridians and organs. At that time, Xu Ling would be unable to save himself!

    However, how could a jinshen master be defeated so easily?

    After getting the Ninth Heaven Zi Yuan Silk out, Xu Ling quickly touched his index fingers together. Suddenly, his jinshen appeared, shining with a golden radiance, as if he was covered with a thickyer of visible golden armor.

    As soon as the Ninth Heaven Zi Yuan Silk hit the golden armor, it hardly advanced further, and was even shaken enough to bounce a few meters away.

    Just as Zheng Yuan was about to call his name again, he saw Xu Ling ring at him with a terrifying and ferocious look, and he heard his ferocious roar, ¡°You¡¯re courting death!¡±

    After that, Xu Ling raised his hands to strike Zheng Yuan!

    Although his strike was not as powerful as Li Yunyang¡¯s Mahamudra, Xu Ling, after all, was a jinshen master who could give great power in this strike. The soft-pedaling palm immediately made everyone on the Tiandu Peak feel as if the air had been sucked away. Although they were not the targets, they all were suffocated by his momentum!

    The others were still in such a state, let alone the object of the attack, Zheng Yuan. He trembled with fear, and quickly took out a prepared talisman in the Immortal Pen, shouting, ¡°Earth!¡±

    With a loud bang, a solid stone wall rose before him in an instant.

    The stone wall was made of hard rocks, all up to a meter thick. However, under the strike of Xu Ling, it was instantly smashed to pieces. Besides, the momentum of his strike was not weakened, and he mmed fiercely toward Zheng Yuan!

    Zheng Yuan hadn¡¯t expected that the stone wall wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand Xu Ling¡¯s strike at all. With nowhere to hide, he could only resist the strike with his hands.

    With a loud bang, Zheng Yuan was hit, and his whole body shook violently as he vomited a mouthful of blood and knelt down on the ground, unable to move for a while.

    Ding Nan, who was standing to one side, quickly stooped down, asking in shock, ¡°Master, how are you?¡±

    At this time, the blood in Zheng Yuan¡¯s chest was boiling, and all his meridians were in a mess. He stared at Xu Ling with fear, muttering, ¡°Get... get off. If... if not, we can... cannot!¡±

    After saying this, he vomited another mouthful of dark red blood.

    Ding Nan had been cultivating for some time. At the sight of Zheng Yuan¡¯s dark red blood, she knew that his internal organs had been injured seriously. She was about to flee with Zheng Yuan, but Xu Ling sneered, ¡°Go? After hurting me? It¡¯s not so easy!¡±

    Just as Xu Ling was about to kill both of them, the magical weapons of Li Yundong¡¯s, Zhou Qin¡¯s, and Zi Yuan¡¯s rushed over. Meanwhile, other cultivators came back to their senses and also directed their weapons to attack Xu Ling.

    Xu Ling resisted the weapons around him, roaring, ¡°Good, none of you will live today! Even if I have to go through lightning retribution, I will kill you all! Shidee, cast a protective spell on me!¡±

    Hearing this, Xu Kong swiftly took out two talismans from his pocket and muttered some words while making his index finger touch. The two talismans between his fingers suddenly began to burn.

    One of the talismans was burning with a yellow me, and the other with a green one.

    Soon, the mes were zing fiercely and turned into two divine statues in the air. As soon as these statues appeared, they formed two barriers, enveloping Xu Ling and Xu Kong.

    ¡°What is this!?¡± Zhou Qin was shocked at the sight of the two divine statues.

    Zi Yuan was also stunned, crying out involuntarily, ¡°Are they Taoist Thirty-two Emperors?¡±

    Zhou Qin asked in surprise, ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±

    Li Yundong said gravely, ¡°The yellow one is the Emperor Huangzengtian, one of the eight Eastern Heaven Emperors. He is also known as Yujian Yuming, taking charge of the list of immortals in Ziwei Pce. The color of Yuanyang yellow is his typical color, and that¡¯s why his body is surrounded by a yellow me.¡±

    ¡°The other one is the Emperor of Mingyuwan, who is known as Xu¡¯e Natian, responsible for releasing souls from purgatory. He lives in Zipang Pce. The color of Shangyang green is typical for him, so he is surrounded by a green me.¡±

    ¡°Damn it, this guy¡¯s wound is healing with the blessing of the Emperor Huangzengtian, while he can guard against the Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade by the Emperor Mingyuwan!¡± Zi Yuan was gnashing her teeth, ¡°If Zheng Yuan calls his name again, Emperor Mingyuwan will instantly release all the ghosts in the Jade!¡±

    Zhou Qin took a deep breath, the panic in her eyes obvious. Under the blessing of these two Taoist Emperors, Xu Ling¡¯s injured shoulder was rapidly healing. He gave a furious roar, the golden radiance around him shook violently, and his Yang Spirit went from his body into the air, turning into an extremely mighty Tower God.

    With the protection of two Taoist Emperors, Xu Ling boldly went out of his body using his Yang Spirit. His Yang Spirit, high in the sky, towered over those people on the Tiandu Peak as it sneered and roared, ¡°Go to hell! Go to hell!!¡±

    Then he opened both of his hands, and his whole body was like a dazzling sun, shining more and more brightly.

    Li Yundong¡¯s face immediately turned pale. He turned to Zi Yuan and said, ¡°Go and get Kris!¡±

    Hearing this, Zi Yuan instantly ran to Kris and pulled the stunned girl to her.

    At this time, Xu Ling had gone ballistic. He turned his jinshen into countless arrow-sharp golden threads and crazily shot them in all directions.

    Some of the cultivators hiding nearby were shot by Xu Ling¡¯s Yang Spirit. Some were so scared that they fleed, but they were still killed mercilessly after being caught up to by the avatar of Xu Ling.

    Zheng Yuan had already been seriously injured, and he almost fell into despair at the sight of the scene. But he still took out three golden needles from his pocket to insert into his Baihui acupoint on his head!

    The Baihui acupoint was a vital point of the human body, and the irritation to it could almost mobilize the potential and vitality of his body. This choice was actually quenching thirst with poison, although he soon felt refreshed and looked ruddy after a rush of blood and Qi stirring in his body. He took out two talismans after taking a deep breath and recited some incantations at the same time. In an instant, there was subsidence under his feet, and Ding Nan, Alba, and he all fell into a pit, hiding in the Ninth Earth.

    As for Li Yundong, he quickly made his index finger touch to make a Fixed Fundamental Palm. Thus, he remained in the posture of the immobile Buddha but kept the lethal things of Xu Ling three meters away from him.

    Su Chan and the others saw that many cultivators had died in the shower of golden arrows and that those who had barely avoided catastrophe quickly fled from the horrible Tiandu Peak, leaving a session of screams and groans behind.

    Zhou Qin looked at Xu Ling, who had gone ballistic, in terror. She asked in a trembling voice, ¡°Master, what should we do? What should we do?¡±

    Li Yundong also looked at Xu Ling with shock and involuntarily said, ¡°Wasn¡¯t he using his full strengthst time?¡±

    Su Chan stared at Xu Ling in horror as well, a tremble in her voice as she said, ¡°Yundong, I don¡¯t want Diyuan Jindan anymore. Let¡¯s go. Xu Ling is awfully mighty! We have no way to defeat him!¡±

    Li Yundong answered gravely in a low voice, ¡°Maybe there¡¯s a way...¡±

    Su Chan and Zhou Qin were so surprised to hear this. They hadn¡¯t expected that Li Yunyang would have a solution to deal with such a powerful guy.

    ¡°Really? What¡¯s the solution?¡± they asked in unison.

    Li Yundong nodded and pointed to the sky. ¡°Let the Heavenly Thunder strike him!¡±

 Chapter 579 What a Close Call!

    <h4>Chapter 579 What a Close Call!</h4>

    Li Yundong¡¯s words led Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin to involuntarily look up at the sky. They saw that the bright moon, which should have been hanging high in the sky, had disappeared. They hadn¡¯t noticed when a thickyer of ck clouds had gathered in the sky.

    Lightning shed in the clouds, as if they were being pulled by the powerful jinshen power of the Xu Ling, and horrible Heavenly Thunder was brewing.

    Cultivators were gigantic energy bodies. Usually, they carefully hid their energy in their meridians, five Zangs, three dantians, and Neidan, afraid of attracting the attention of Heavenly Thunder.

    But at this time, Xu Ling¡¯s jinshen power was beingpletely released, as if a super heinous criminal was swaggering in front of the police station. It would have been impossible for him not to attract the thunder.

    However, it often took quite a bit of time for Heavenly Thunder to strike. It was as if the Heavens were looking at the world coldly, as if he wanted to see if he really could challenge the heavenly might. If this person had the intention of repenting, then the heavenly lightning would slowly fade away.

    This was the so-called God¡¯s virtue.

    But Li Yundong didn¡¯t want the thunder to dissipate. He wanted to draw the thunder down with his own power and fight against Xu Ling with the power of the thunder.

    However, Zi Yuan knew that the Heavenly Thunder was extremely dangerous. If he was careless, he would be reduced to ashes by it!

    Zi Yuan said in shock, ¡°Are you sure you can do it? It¡¯s not a joke to draw thunder. If you miss it, what will you do? If you can¡¯t control it, what will you do when the thunder hits you? You should know that it¡¯s not thunder caused by your power. It¡¯s thunder drawn by jinshen. It¡¯s much more powerful than the thunder you drew before! Can you control it?¡±

    Li Yundong gritted his teeth and said, ¡°If I don¡¯t try, I will die!¡±

    Zhou Qin suddenly said, ¡°Master, why don¡¯t you hamper him? I¡¯ll take the Medicine King Tripod while he¡¯s not paying attention, and then we¡¯ll leave. What do you think?¡±

    Li Yundong immediately shook his head and said, ¡°Don¡¯t joke around! Xu Ling came here after hearing the news, but what about those jinshen masters who got the news? Just now, I was lucky that they hadn¡¯te, but now, humph, I absolutely can¡¯t believe that they are not eyeing us! Once you take action, I guarantee that they will catch up with you within a few kilometers. At that time, nobody will be able to save you!¡±

    Zhou Qin was shocked and looked around in horror. ¡°What should we do? If there are other jinshen masters, why don¡¯t they take action?¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s face was as deep as water. ¡°I don¡¯t know! Now we can only take one step at a time! Let¡¯s deal with Xu Ling first. You protect me. I want to attract the thunder!¡±

    As he said this, Li Yundong immediately pinched his fingers and recited in a low voice, ¡°The powerful thunder, the bnce of heaven and earth, and the vast world are under mymand!¡±

    As soon as his voice fell, there was a muffled sound that came from the lower dantian of his lower abdomen, as if there was a thunderbolt bursting out of his body. Then, in a breath, the sky suddenly boomed with a cracking sound, as if it was resonating with him!

    Kris was shocked as she looked at him. Although she didn¡¯t know why there would be thunder at this time, she vaguely felt that an extremely terrible power wasing toward them. It seemed that this force was going to tear the sky and destroy the earth!

    At this time, Li Yundong was surrounded by a stream of white smoke. He seemed to be surrounded by wind and clouds as he breathed in and out, and there was an inexplicable force around him!

    This was the concept in the ssics: This kind of Qi, Heaven and earth has all kinds of changes, and people can form the spirits heading all things, feel heaven and earth, move the gods and spirits, breathe the wind, rain, and thunder, and everything.

    At this time, Xu Ling also felt a terrible powering. He looked down and saw that Li Yundong was using the Five Thunder Jade Method!

    Although he was a jinshen master, he could not help but be shocked in his heart. ¡°Who is this little b*stard¡¯s master? How could he be so proficient in Buddhism¡¯s Emblematic and Taoist thunder magic?¡±

    His expression changed and he said sternly, ¡°You want to draw thunder to kill me? Are you dreaming?¡± After that, he beckoned the Medicine King Tripod and prepared to escape with it and the Earthly Spirit Pill.

    Heavenly Lightning was the bane of all cultivators, even for a terrifying jinshen master like Xu Ling.

    But at this time, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t wait. He suddenly pointed at Xu Ling and shouted. All his Zhenqi rushed out. The Baihui acupoint on his head opened, and a stream of white Qi rushed to the sky!

    Suddenly, there was a loud rumble in the sky. The Heavenly Thunder was pulled by him, and it suddenly poured out like a flood!

    He felt like he was controlling a horrible monster. Although he was holding the reins, he was being pulled out of control by this huge force!

    However, the fortunate thing was that before the jinshen of Xu Ling returned to his body, such a powerful energy body acted like a huge iron-sucking stone, and the Heavenly Thunder couldn¡¯t help but sh toward him.

    Xu Ling¡¯s face turned pale with horror, and his body was drowned by the thunder in an instant!

    Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin were overjoyed when they saw the thunder strike Xu Ling¡¯s Yang Spirit. But before they could cheer, they were shocked to find that Xu Ling¡¯s golden radiance had only dimmed a lot, but it was still standing steadily like a mountain!

    Xu Ling hadn¡¯t expected that this bolt of heavenly thunder would be not so horrible. For a moment, he felt as ecstatic as if he had survived a disaster. He couldn¡¯t helpughing wildly and saying, ¡°Heavenly thunder is just so-so! It can¡¯t kill me! Hahaha, if you have the ability, let¡¯s do another bolt of it!¡±

    At this time, Su Chan and the others looked at Xu Ling with fear and despair. The girl said in a trembling voice, ¡°Can¡¯t the thunder kill him?¡±

    After Li Yundong had summoned a bolt of thunder, even though his breath was strong, he couldn¡¯t help gasping. He gnashed his teeth and said, ¡°D*mn it, I was too impatient! The power of the thunder was far from its maximum when it came down!¡±

    Zhou Qin said with horror in her eyes, ¡°Can you do it again?¡±

    Zi Yuan epted the situation and shook her head. She sighed in a low voice and said in despair, ¡°It¡¯s useless. Heavenly Thunder... It¡¯s not something that can be summoned easily... jinshen masters... They¡¯re so powerful that even Heavenly Thunder can¡¯t kill them!¡±

    ¡°Li Yundong is almost hopeless now. Although he hasn¡¯t used the Fan of Seven Treasures, he can¡¯t deal with this jinshen master. The most powerful spells of the two sects have been used up, but they still can¡¯t do anything to Xu Ling at all.

    ¡°I don¡¯t believe it!¡± Li Yundong was getting desperate, but he refused to ept his fate. He gritted his teeth, pinched his fingers, and prepared to bring the thunder again.

    But at this time, Xu Ling stopped him from drawing the thunder down. He pointed at Li Yundong and said with a ferociousugh, ¡°Little b*stard, do you still want to draw thunder? Be careful, I will fly over your head and draw the thunder to hack you apart!¡±

    His sentence shocked him. He was casting a spell when he suddenly froze. He thought, ¡°Even if I am not afraid of the thunder, what about Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin?¡±

    Xu Ling saw him hesitating for a while and seemed to be frightened by his words. He immediatelyughed wildly and said, ¡°Are you afraid? Little b*stard, you are not bad. At such a young age, you are not only a double cultivator of Buddhism and Taoism, but also so powerful! Amazing, even Wu Shouyang and Liu Huayang of the Immortal and Buddhist Sects in the past were not as powerful as you! Boy, I will give you another chance. You take me as your master, and I will give you a Diyuan Jindan. What do you think?¡±

    Li Yundong spat and said angrily, ¡°Kneel down to me and call me master. I¡¯ll give you a mud pellet. What do you think? Even if you¡¯re willing to kneel, I won¡¯t ept you! You¡¯re a homicidal maniac. It¡¯s really shameful for the Taoist to have such scum like you! Be careful of God when you¡¯re taken to the west!¡±

    Seeing that Li Yundong was still unwilling to admit defeat in such a desperate situation, Xu Ling suddenly became furious and said with a grim smile, ¡°Does God have eyes? Even thunder can¡¯t kill me. Do you still expect God to open his eyes?¡±

    As soon as his voice fell, there was a loud crack in the air, and a terrible thunder sound was heard.

    This p of thunder almost deafened everyone!

    Kris was so shaken that she almost fainted. Her ears almost lost their ability to hear. She could see an iparablyrge streak of lightning striking down from the sky, once again engulfing Xu Ling!

    ¡°Boom!¡±

    The power of this thunderbolt was far greater than it had been before. Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin could only see Xu Ling¡¯s jinshen Yang Spirit being smashed to pieces in an instant, turning into countless tiny golden dots of light floating in the air.

    After the thunder and lightning had disappeared, the pieces slowly gathered together again and returned to the shape of a jinshen Yang Spirit.

    But this time, the golden light emitted by Xu Ling¡¯s Yang Spirit was so weak that it couldn¡¯t be seen clearly. It quickly returned to his body.

    As soon as his Yang Spirit returned to his body, he immediately spat out a mouthful of blood. He could not help but loosen his grip on the Diyuan Jindan. The Medicine King Tripod and the Diyuan Jindan rose into the air and continued to float without control.

    When Xu Kong nearby heard Xu Ling¡¯s miserable scream, he hurriedly rushed over to him and anxiously transmitted his Zhenqi to him. Because of his movements, the two original protectors Divine Emperors also disappeared.

    Xu Kong whispered a few words to Xu Ling, and his Yang Spirit looked at the Diyuan Jindan and the Medicine King Tripod unwillingly, as if he wanted to grab them again. But at this time, Xu Ling grabbed his hand and coughed up blood while struggling to say in a low voice, ¡°There are thunder, Lightning Retribution phase masters... Hurry up, run!¡±

    With that said, he didn¡¯t even look at the Diyuan Jindan and the Medicine King Tripod. He pulled Xu Kong and turned into two beams of cyan light, leaving quickly.

    At this time, Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin were dumbfounded. They looked at Xu Ling and Xu Kong, who were running away in a panic, and couldn¡¯t help turning their heads to look at Li Yundong, who was full of confusion.

    Su Chan said, ¡°Yundong... You, you are so powerful that you really beat away a jinshen master!¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head like a rattle drum and said, ¡°It wasn¡¯t me. I didn¡¯t draw the thunder at all!¡±

    Zi Yuan was experienced and knowledgeable. She couldn¡¯t help but think of something even more horrible. She looked around with a pale face and didn¡¯t say anything for a while.

    Zhou Qin hadn¡¯t noticed the key thing. She was surprised and couldn¡¯t helpughing, ¡°No matter what, Master, this horrible enemy has finally been driven away!

    He looked around only to find that Tiandu Peak, which had just been in disarray, was now so quiet that it looked like a huge cemetery!

    For a moment, the sky above Tiandu Peak was dark, and only the sound of the wind could be heard. It seemed that there was no one around.

    However, he faintly felt that there seemed to be some kind of terrible power hidden in the dark night, which was more powerful than Xu Ling, spying on him.

    After looking around warily, he waved to the Diyuan Jindan and the Medicine King Tripod floating in the air. The three pills were scrambled several times and changed owners repeatedly. Suddenly, they flew to Li Yundong lightly, and the Medicine King Tripod also followed.

    But just as the three Diyuan Jindans were about to fly to him, a hole suddenly appeared in the ground not far in front of him. Three figures quickly jumped out of it. One of themughed wildly and reached out to grab the Diyuan Jindan!

    Li Yundong was furious at once. Without looking at it, he immediately poured out all his Zhenqi like a bomb and mmed it toward the man like a rolling mountain!

 Chapter 580 A Favourable Turn Bringing the Possessions

    <h4>Chapter 580 A Favourable Turn Bringing the Possessions</h4>

    After Li Yundong pped, he found that the person in front of him was Zheng Yuan, who had sneaked into the ground before. At this time, Zheng Yuan was not as decadent and miserable as he had been before. Instead, his face was glowing with health, and his spiritual energy was much stronger than before.

    Seeing his palming at him, Zheng Yuan immediately grabbed Alba, who was next to him, with a backhand. He used her as a shield to block this fierce palm.

    Li Yundong was both shocked and angry. If his palm hit Alba, she would immediately turn into a pile of meat paste, and he would suffer divine punishment!

    Li Yundong immediately withdrew his attack and forcibly withdrew the palm strength. However, It was easy to climb up a hill but hard to climb down it. Just as he withdrew his strength, Zheng Yuan immediately took out the Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade and shouted, "Li Yundong!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s body suddenly shook. In an instant, his Essence, Qi, and Blood seemed to be frozen, and he almost fell down.

    Apetition between masters could be settled in a moment. Although Li Yundong¡¯s stiffnesssted less than a second, Zheng Yuan immediately recovered and took the initiative again. With a grim smile, he threw Alba behind him, reached for the Diyuan Jindan with one hand, and the Medicine King Tripod with the other.

    Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin, who were next to Li Yundong, reacted quickly at this point. Zi Yuan shouted loudly, and the Ninth Heaven Zi Yuan Silk turned into a sharp de and quickly cut Zheng Yuan¡¯s wrist. Zhou Qin shook the Vulcan¡¯s Whip, and the tip of it hit the bottom of the Medicine King Tripod, hitting it high.

    Just as Zheng Yuan grabbed the Diyuan Jindan in his hand, he saw that the Ninth Heaven Zi Yuan Silk had cut his wrist, and the sharp rotating de made his hair stand on end.

    While Li Yundong also came to his senses, he turned his hand and punched out with the help of Zi Yuan. The gang wind with his palm hit Zheng Yuan in the blink of an eye.

    At this time, Zheng Yuan was no longer on guard. With a wild roar, his body was immediately blown back like a straw, and his wrist was heavily chopped by the Ninth Heaven Zi Yuan Silk. The pain made him involuntarily loosen his fingers as he flew backward, and the three Diyuan Jindan fell out again,nding less than two meters in front of Li Yundong.

    Zheng Yuan was knocked five meters away by his palm. He spat out a mouthful of blood and looked at him with hatred. He was extremely unwilling to give up and said, "It seems that I can¡¯t get it today. Now that I can¡¯t get it, you can¡¯t either!"

    Thinking of this, a ferocious look shed across Zheng Yuan¡¯s eyes. He pushed forward with both of his hands, almost using all his strength tounch an extremely fierce palm wind.

    As the saying goes, trapped beasts will fight each other. As the head of the Yin Yang Sect based in Mount Wuhua, Zheng Yuan¡¯s decades-old Cultivation Quotient was not something to be trifled with. At this time, the strength of his desperate strike was really amazing.

    When he saw Zheng Yuan¡¯s palming for him, he snorted and made a Mahamudra, punching at him.

    However, as soon as he threw out his Mahamudra, he saw Zheng Yuan¡¯s palm wind rushing over with three Diyuan Jindan. He was shocked and thought to himself, "Oh no!"

    However, his Mahamudra had already been sent out, and it was hard for him to withdraw it. He watched his Mahamudra and Zheng Yuan¡¯s palm collide. With a boom, the Diyuan Jindan was the first to be hit. Under the pressure of their palm strength, it suddenly broke and was smashed into a cloud of dust!

    The pink mist was surrounded by colorful light, enveloping Li Yundong, Su Chan, Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, Kris, Ding Nan, and even Alba.

    Seeing that the Diyuan Jindan had been destroyed, Li Yundong was about to lose his temper when he heard Zi Yuan suddenly shout in a low voice, "Li Yundong, take a deep breath! This is the divine aura of elixir, be quick!"

    Li Yundong was stunned and subconsciously took a deep breath. Immediately, he sucked in a lot of the seven-colored powder fog, and the cloud even shrank a little.

    At this point, Zi Yuan, Su Chan, and Zhou Qin reacted very quickly. All of them took a deep breath and sucked in two-thirds of the pink fog. The mist that had enveloped them was now extremely faint.

    Ding Nan was not a fool. She immediately followed them and took a deep breath. However, her cultivation quotient was the lowest out of everyone¡¯s, so she inhaled the least. Kris could understand Chinese. Although she did not know why she needed to take a deep breath, at this time, she hadpletely lost her own subjective consciousness. She subconsciously had the psychology of the public and also took a few breaths. Alba did not understand Chinese at all. She just breathed normally and absorbed thest few wisps of the divine aura of elixir.

    Zheng Yuan didn¡¯t know that his palm had turned the three Diyuan Jindan into a ball of divine aura of elixir in an instant. Li Yundong and others had actually "upied" it more or less! He believed that he had destroyed the Diyuan Jindan. Although he hadn¡¯t gotten them, he hadn¡¯t let Li Yundong take advantage of them either. Heughed wildly and jumped to grab the Medicine King Tripod in the air.

    But after taking a breath of divine aura, Li Yundong quickly pinched several Mahamudras with his hands and mmed them hard at Zheng Yuan.

    At this time, Zheng Yuan¡¯s strength was greatly reduced, and he forcibly grabbed the Medicine King Tripod. He saw these palmsing toward him, almost sealing all his angles. There was no way to avoid them. He was full of hatred and anger, so he pped at the Medicine King Tripod and sent it flying in an instant. Watching it disappear into the night in the blink of an eye, he was hit by Li Yundong¡¯s palms firmly. With a scream, he fell to the ground.

    "Zheng Yuan, this day will be yourst!" Li Yundong saw that Zheng Yuan was so sinister and vicious that he wanted to kill Zheng Yuan. However, Ding Nan grabbed Alba and shouted, "Li Yundong, if you dare to kill him, I will kill Alba!"

    Li Yundong was furious. He suddenly turned his head, and his Zhenqi was like boilingva. He said angrily, "Ding Nan, do you want to die?"

    Ding Nan was so frightened by his roar that she trembled all over. She grabbed Alba and kept stepping back shakily, saying in a voice trembling out of fear, "You, don¡¯t push me!"

    "I¡¯m not trying to. You are getting farther and deeper down the road to hell all by yourself!" Li Yundong roared angrily, "If I let him go today, there will be more people dying because of him in the future. Don¡¯t you know?"

    Of course, Ding Nan knew this, but she knew even more clearly that once she lost Zheng Yuan¡¯s protection, she would never surpass Zhou Qin in her life.

    Ding Nan felt a sharp pain in his heart, as if she had been bitten by a poisonous snake. She smiled bitterly and said, "I don¡¯t know anything. I only know that if you take one more step, she will die!"

    Li Yundong was extremely angry. He took a step forward and was about to shout, but he suddenly felt that his aura was overwhelming and running around like a tsunami. His meridians were in a mess, as if they were rebelling.

    He was shocked as he knew that he had absorbed the divine aura of the elixir of the Diyuan Jindan, and now it had taken effect!

    The cultivation quotient of Li Yundong was the highest there. After absorbing the curative power, he mobilized his Zhenqi violently, so the effect of the curative power took effect the fastest. He felt that his whole body was hot and his head was dizzy as his vision gradually became blurred.

    He was shocked inwardly. He was afraid that once he fell down, it would lead to Zheng Yuan¡¯s ferocious counterattack. Once Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin fought back, the curative power would immediately take effect, just like what was happening to him!

    His body was turbulent, but his face was like a calmke, with no expression at all. He gritted his teeth and forced his voice to sound normal as he said, "Go... go away, don¡¯t let me see you again!"

    Ding Nan couldn¡¯t believe that Li Yundong was really letting her go. While dragging Alba, she looked at Li Yundong in horror and walked toward Zheng Yuan step by step.

    Zheng Yuan was seriously injured, but still alive. He struggled to stand up. After looking at Li Yundong with fear and hatred, he quickly took out a talisman and grabbed Ding Nan. He shouted in a low voice, "Go!" Soon, a yellow light shed, and they immediately disappeared.

    Seeing Ding Nan running away with Alba, Zhou Qin asked in shock and anger, "Master, why did you let her get away? Why didn¡¯t you take Alba back?"

    However, as soon as she finished her words, she saw Li Yundong fall to the ground with a thud. The skin all over his body seemed to be on fire, turning a terrible blood-red color. The breath from his nostrils was extremely hot, as if it could burn the air.

    Zhou Qin was shocked. She squatted beside Li Yundong in a hurry and asked in a panic, "Master, what¡¯s wrong with you?"

    At this time, Zi Yuan also felt that something was wrong. She felt a chill all over her body, as if she had fallen into an ice cave. The aura in her body was uncontroble. She said in a trembling voice, "Oh no, the effect of the Diyuan Jindan has begun... Hurry up, hurry up... otherwise... once someonees we will be in danger as we won¡¯t have anyone to protect us."

    Zhou Qin was shocked. She soon noticed that something was wrong in her body. Su Chan also eximed, "Ah, it¡¯s so cold. Why is it so cold?"

    At this time, Zi Yuan¡¯s face was contorted in unbearable pain. She said in a trembling voice, "This is the Yuanyin Qi stimted by the curative power, and the Diyuan Jindan is refining our Yuanqi... We must sit in meditation immediately, otherwise... we will die!"

    As soon as she finished her words, she swayed a few times and fell to the ground.

    Although the cultivation quotients of Zhou Qin and Su Chan were weaker than those of Li Yundong and Zi Yuan, and they had been triggered a littleter, the effect of the curative power was even faster. They helped Li Yundong and Zi Yuan up. After a few steps, they also fell to the ground with a thud.

    Su Chan fell to the cold rocky ground. In a daze, she saw a few golden lights sh in the sky. Several Taoists appeared in front of them. One of them shouted in a rough voice, "Head Shishiong, we¡¯rete! The Diyuan Jindan has been taken!"

    Su Chan nced at the man, only to find that the Taoist was rough-looking, with tiger-like eyes and a lion-like nose. Beside him stood a middle-aged man with a very dignified appearance, and Zhang Cunyi of the Qingcheng Sect was standing next to the two people!

    Su Chan¡¯s heart skipped a beat. "Damn it, they¡¯re from the Qingcheng Sect! Why are they here now? This is terrible!" she thought.

    Just as this thought shed across Su Chan¡¯s mind, a ck shadow shed and a familiar voice rang out: "Hurry up and leave!"

    Su Chan was overjoyed. She knew that the owner of this voice was her master, Ao Wushuang!

    Ao Wushuang quickly pinched her fingers, and the talisman in her hand instantly burst into mes. Then, the Taoist priests of the Qingcheng Sect shouted angrily, "Demon Witch, where are you going?" As he said this, the powerful magical weapons and magic in their hands came at Su Chan in an instant.

    When Su Chan saw that these powerful magical weapons were about to hit them, she suddenly felt light all over her body. A dazzling yellow light shed around her, and she, Li Yundong, and the others instantly appeared in another ce.

    Su Chan felt that her eyelids were heavy. She reluctantly opened her eyes and looked around, trying to find Ao Wushuang¡¯s figure. But when she saw her, she saw another tall ck shadow standing beside her.

    The man was standing in the moonlight, against the light, and his face could not be seen clearly. He stared at Li Yundong with a pair of bright eyes and remained silent.

    "Who is this person?" After this thought shed across Su Chan¡¯s mind, she fell into a deepa.

 Chapter 581 Stir Behind the Storm

    <h4>Chapter 581 Stir Behind the Storm</h4>

    When Ao Wushuang showed up again with Su Chan and the others, she was at home, located on Shantang Street in Dongwu City. She stared at Su Chan, who was in aa, with her face full of pity for a moment. She bent down gently and fiddled with the messy hair on Su Chan¡¯s forehead, aplicated look in her eyes.

    At this time, the man behind her stepped forward slightly and observed Li Yundong interestedly. Half of his face was exposed by the moonlight. It was Liu Ye, the former head of the Fox Zen School. He said, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Chan¡¯er finally has a chance to break through to being a Six-Tailed Fox Spirit. Aren¡¯t you happy for her?¡±

    Ao Wushuang tilted his face slightly and said in a cold voice, ¡°What¡¯s there to be happy about? I¡¯d rather she be safe and sound for the rest of her life!¡±

    Liu Ye snorted and said, ¡°Safety... How can it be so easy! It¡¯s an extravagant hope for us to be safe when we live in this world. Only by constantly getting stronger can we ensure true peace!¡±

    Ao Wushuang said coldly, ¡°Are you satisfied now? Li Yundong has finally got the Diyuan Jindan. Your n can finally be implemented!¡±

    Liu Ye didn¡¯tment or reply, just stared at Li Yundong for a long time. Then, he sighed softly and said, ¡°Sometimes I envy this guy... He is young, smart, talented, and lucky to have all kinds of great opportunities! He has everything that a cultivator wants. You see, he has only cultivated for less than half a year, and he is about to break through to the Jinshen phase! s, such a speed of cultivation is really unprecedented!¡±

    Ao Wushuang snorted and said, ¡°Wang Chongyang of the Quanzhen Sect began the art of Cultivation at 48 years old, and he became a major cultivator in a year. What about him?¡±

    Liu Ye said disapprovingly, ¡°That¡¯s because Lu Dongbin and Han Zhongli transformed him. It¡¯s different.¡±

    Ao Wushuang also looked at Li Yundong with some feelings showing in her eyes. More than half a year ago, this boy had been as weak as an ant in front of her, but now he was about to break through the most important bottleneck of a cultivator, the Jinshen phase!

    Once Li Yundong broke through to the Jinshen phase, he would no longer be a match for him. His Mahamudra and various magic items would beat him in every way.

    Ao Wushuang stared at Li Yundong, and a thought suddenly came to his mind. ¡°Fortunately, this guy is not my enemy, nor the enemy of Fox Zen School. Otherwise, it would be a big problem for us!¡±

    After looking at Li Yundong for a while, Ao Wushuang suddenly said, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you take action earlier? Aren¡¯t you afraid that he won¡¯t get the Diyuan Jindan? When that jinshen master appeared, I thought you had given up and didn¡¯t intend to take action.¡±

    Liu Yeughed and said, ¡°The monks from Xiyuan Temple and Jinshan Temple are stalking at me every day. Once I show up, they appear nearby. As long as I make a move, they will also definitely make a move! Besides... do you think that Xu Ling is the only jinshen master in the vicinity? I feel that there are no less than five jinshen masters near Tiandu Peak! However, these guys are all proud of themselves. They think that they are the only people who have made great achievements in the world. On the one hand, they disdain to steal, and on the other hand, they are afraid that they will be seized by others as soon as they make a move.¡±

    Ao Wushuang sneered and said, ¡°They are a group of hypocrites! If you want to rob them, you can do so directly! There is no need to worry about it! Li Yundong has done a good job in this respect, unlike these hypocrites who want to be whores while building a chastity memorial arch!¡±

    Liu Ye snorted and said, ¡°If he was really decisive, he would have taken the Diyuan Jindan and run away as soon as possible, so that I wouldn¡¯t have to waste so much effortter!¡±

    Ao Wushuang said coldly, ¡°What if Chan¡¯eres after him once he leaves? You think she will do the same as you? Can she leave the people around her alone at any time?¡±

    In the face of Ao Wushuang¡¯s usation, Liu Ye was not angry. Instead, he raised his brows and said, ¡°How can a real man act so indecisively! However... this guy looks like a loyal and kind person, but he hasn¡¯t put away the Diyuan Jindan deliberately. This is a sinister and vicious method, which has caused the cultivators of each sect to fight andpletely mess up the situation. Huh, not bad!¡±

    Ao Wushuang snorted and said, ¡°Sh*t, you¡¯re always scheming. Do you think that everyone in the whole world is plotting against others like you?¡±

    Liu Ye snorted and said, ¡°If I don¡¯t plot against others, they will plot against me!¡±

    Ao Wushuang sneered and said, ¡°So you even scheme against your own people! Aren¡¯t you afraid that something will go wrong? Why don¡¯t you make a move sooner? What if Li Yundong is killed by Xu Ling?¡±

    Liu Ye said disapprovingly, ¡°The reincarnation of Wisdom King is not so easy to kill!¡±

    When Ao Wushuang heard the words ¡®reincarnation of Wisdom King¡¯, she suddenly frowned and looked at Li Yundong with aplicated expression. After a long time, she suddenly asked, ¡°When did you break through to Eight-tailed Cultivation? Eight-tailed Cultivation is equivalent to the primary Lightning Retribution phase. Why didn¡¯t you directly take the Diyuan Jindan by yourself just now? Why did you waste so much effort?¡±

    Liu Ye smiled and said meaningfully, ¡°Do you think there was only me, a Lightning Retribution phase master, there?¡±

    Ao Wushuang was shocked. ¡°Were there other Lightning Retribution phase masters?¡±

    Liu Ye sneered and said, ¡°I noticed that there were at least three nearby!¡±

    Ao Wushuang was shocked. ¡°What? Three Lightning Retribution phase masters? Did three of theme? Why didn¡¯t they make a move? Did they think too highly of themselves?¡±

    Liu Yeughed and said, ¡°It¡¯s a disaster to fight with Lightning Retribution phase masters! What¡¯s more, they are so afraid of each other that they didn¡¯te with their real bodies. They were just peeping around with their apparitions.¡±

    Ao Wushuang asked, ¡°Do you know which three it was?¡±

    Liu Ye thought for a moment and said seriously, ¡°One of them is from the Quanzhen Sect. I can¡¯t tell which sect he belongs to or which branch, but it seems that it¡¯s not Quanzhen Dragon Sect. I feel that the aura of this Lightning Retribution phase master is very strange and unique. It must be a very remote sect, and the other two... seem to be from Zhengyi School.¡±

    Ao Wushuang turned pale with fright. ¡°Two of them belong to Zhengyi School? Since when did Zhengyi School have two Lightning Retribution phase masters?¡±

    Liu Ye nodded, and there was vignce in his eyes. ¡°One of them seems to have the aura of Zhang Tiansh¨©. No one can disguise such powerful Qi of Xuanmen Sect, and I can¡¯t distinguish the other one!¡±

    Ao Wushuang became more and more surprised. ¡°Isn¡¯t the head of Zhengyi School in the Jinshen phase? When did he break through to the Lightning Retribution phase?¡±

    Liu Ye said disapprovingly, ¡°Ever since Wang Yuanshan betrayed Zhengyi School, Zhang Tiansh¨© has been in seclusion. When he began, he was already at the highest level of the Jinshen phase, the Imperishable Jinshen phase! It has been almost ten years. Is it rare for him to break through from the Imperishable Jinshen phase to the Lightning Retribution phase?¡±

    Ao Wushuang thought for a moment and suddenly felt relieved. She thought to herself, ¡°The old fox Liu Ye could have broken through from Seven-Tailed Fox to Eight-Tailed Earth Fox in the past nine years, let alone the head of Zhengyi School.¡±

    At this time, Ao Wushuang sighed with emotion and said, ¡°When Renyuan Jindan came out, I felt that the cultivation world had been turned into a bloody mess by this Renyuan Jindan. All the sects seemed to have woken up from hibernation in an instant. Now it seems that the real storm is still behind us! How many people will die this time...¡±

    Liu Ye sneered and said, ¡°How am I going to implement my n if they don¡¯t die?¡±

    Ao Wushuang was silent for a long time. She thought of Su Chan again and said in a cold voice, ¡°I¡¯ll say it again for thest time. I¡¯ll do what you ask me to do. But if you dare to drag Chan¡¯er in, you¡¯ll die with me!¡±

    Liu Yeughed and said, ¡°As long as you do as I say, I promise that she will be fine! Humph, when the Sacred Fox appears, we¡¯ll see how powerful those sects will be!¡±

    As he said this, he smiled proudly and said, ¡°Li Yundong got a blessing because of his misfortune. I didn¡¯t expect that they would get the hook so easily with three Diyuan Jindan. Even I hadn¡¯t expected that the Diyuan Jindan could be taken like this! How wonderful it is! Now, as long as he is given some time, the strength of the Fox Zen School will be greatly increased, and my n will be further improved, haha!¡±

    At this moment, Ao Wushuang¡¯s gazended on the unconscious Kris. She suddenly said, ¡°What about this foreigner? She seems to have also absorbed some divine aura of elixir!¡±

    Liu Ye¡¯s eyes shed and he said with a smile, ¡°This foreigner is really lucky to have been able to absorb divine aura of elixir! Haha, it¡¯s really fortuitous!¡±

    Ao Wushuang had also heard Su Chan talk about how Kris had chased after Li Yundong and wanted to be his disciple. She asked, ¡°Do you think Li Yundong will ept her as his disciple?¡±

    Liu Ye snorted and sneered scornfully, ¡°Does she deserve it? When they were still gestating, our ancestors had already begun to cultivate! When they were still learning to read, Fu Xi had already created the Book of Changes! The things written five thousand years ago have not been understood by these foreigners even now. Do you expect them to understand cultivation? Are you kidding? Can they understand Canon of the Yellow Thearch? Can they understand the Qi and Blood Meridian?¡±

    However, Ao Wushuang shook her head and said, ¡°That¡¯s not the case. Su Chan once talked to me that there seemed to be a part of the girl¡¯s bloodline that¡¯s Chinese, and she¡¯s very eager to learn Chinese culture.¡±

    Liu Ye sneered and said, ¡°If I were Li Yundong, I wouldn¡¯t ept this foreigner as my disciple. In the five thousand years in the Chinese cultivation world, no one has broken this rule!¡±

    However, Ao Wushuang sneered and said, ¡°Really? I heard that many sects developed their own believers abroad, and there is even a saying that masters are abroad in the cultivation world?¡±

    Liu Ye said disapprovingly, ¡°Humph, the blessed ce of culture is in the Central ins Continent. If there are no masters there, where can masters be? In those remote ces, what masters can be there?¡±

    As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly frowned and looked out of the window. He said in a deep voice, ¡°The monks from Xiyuan Temple and Jinshan Temple have caught up again. I¡¯m leaving now. You can cast a protective spell on themter. This is a downtown area. I believe these cultivators won¡¯t dare to act recklessly.¡±

    After that, he shed and disappeared in an instant.

    At this time, on Mount Wuhua in the distance, Zheng Yuan and Ding Nan had returned to their cave residences. The captured Alba also appeared next to them.

    Alba looked around in horror and despair. The leader of the cheerleading team from the University of Pennsylvania didn¡¯t know what kind of fate would be waiting for her at all.

    Even Ding Nan herself did not know what kind of change she would face after the battle at Tiandu Peak.

 Chapter 582 Unction

    <h4>Chapter 582 Unction</h4>

    As soon as Zheng Yuan returned to the cave residence in Mount Wuhua, he suddenly knelt on the ground as if he had lost all his strength. He vomited a mouthful of blood wildly, and his face went frighteningly pale. He trembled all over and took out a medicine bottle from his arms, swallowing almost all of the pills inside the bottle in one gulp.

    This was his elixir of life, Heavenly Jindan, that he had treasured for many years. Anyone who still had breath in their lungs would be able to live a little longer after taking this pill.

    After taking the pill, he immediately sat in meditation on the spot. Before the meditation, he said to Ding Nan beside him, ¡°Ping¡¯er, I¡¯ll sit in meditation to heal my injuries. You cast a protective spell on me and stop anyone from disturbing me!¡±

    At this time, the Diyuan Jindan began to take effect slowly. Ding Nan felt that her whole body was extremely cold, her head was heavy while her feet were light, and she was dizzy. She subconsciously responded, but soon after Zheng Yuan sat in meditation, she staggered and leaned against the wall.

    Alba, who had been kidnapped and taken with them, looked around in horror. She saw herself in a stone room with several cabs on the walls, on which were all kinds of rare antiques or exquisite medicine bottles. In the middle of the stone room was a prayer mat on a sitting altar, which was against the wall. On the left and right sides of the prayer mat were two censers, in which sandalwood was burning. Over the prayer mat hung a picture of Eight Trigrams. Every corner of the room was filled with a mysterious and entric oriental atmosphere.

    Alba felt like she was in a nightmare. After looking around stiffly, she pinched her thigh hard, as if after a sharp pain, she would wake up from her nightmare and go back to the greenwn of the University of Pennsylvania to enjoy the happy andfortable sunshine.

    The reality, however, was incredibly cruel, and all Alba felt was a sharp pain in her thigh. She was still in this demon-like ce.

    Alba thought of what had happened since she had decided toe to Mount Huangshan with Kris and John. That was when her nightmare had begun. Especially when John had fallen into a bottomless abyss and no one knew if he was alive or dead. Moreover, she herself had be a hostage and could not understand thenguage here, and her cell phone had been lost in the panic. How could she escape and regain her freedom from this ce?

    Alba was filled with grief for a moment, and she regretted her choices so much that she almost burst into tears.

    At this time, Diyuan Jindan had already taken effect. Ding Nan suddenly fell to the ground with a crash. Alba was shocked. Looking back, she was in shock and delighted to find that Zheng Yuan and Ding Nan were both inas.

    Alba almost couldn¡¯t believe her eyes. She stood up and bowed watchfully and reverently, like a frightened deer trying to test whether the beast had fallen asleep or not. After carefully observing them for a while, she finally confirmed that they had passed out.

    At this moment, Alba couldn¡¯t help but be overjoyed and her heart beat faster and faster. She was unable to stop herself from running out of the cave. As she ran, she was afraid that Zheng Yuan and Ding Nan would suddenly wake up. After being caught, she would inevitably be tortured. Therefore, she turned around in horror while running in ecstasy.

    The reason why traditional Chinese medicine believed that ¡°Panic damages the kidneys; Anger damages the liver; Joy damages the heart; Over-thinking damages the spleen; Grief damages the lungs.¡± was that when people were most afraid, blood would flow slowly over the human body, making people weak, cold, and even cause trembling. The human body wanted to maintain homeostasis, so the kidney would mobilize arge amount of essence.

    Sometimes, if one¡¯s essence was mobilized too much, one would be scared to death.

    Simrly, when people were ecstatic, the blood would flow too fast in an instant and their blood vessels would open, resulting in their hearts suddenly bearing a heavy burden and the pressure of huge blood transport. If arge amount of blood was suddenly transported out at a time, it would also cause the loss of arge amount of Qi in the middle Dantian of the human body, hence the saying: ¡°great joy leads to sadness¡±.

    Alba was both happy and afraid, so her heart and kidney were suddenly suffering a great loss. Although she didn¡¯t have any cultivation foundation, this stimtion immediately stimted the effect of the Divine Aura of Elixir. When she ran to the entrance of the cave, she suddenly fell to the ground without saying a word.

    After a long time, Alba woke up from her unconscious state. She looked around in a daze at first, but soon after, she jumped up in fear.

    With this jump, Alba felt that her entire body was full of power. She didn¡¯t know that she had already absorbed the divine aura of the Diyuan Jindan. Although it was only a little bit, it was enough to cause her entire body to undergo earth-shattering changes. Her Essence, Qi and Blood were far more abundant than that of an ordinary person.

    Once a person¡¯s Essence, Qi and Blood became vigorous, their courage would also increase. Alba took a look behind her and saw that Ding Nan was surrounded by colorful lights, mysterious and entric. Above Zheng Yuan¡¯s head was constantly white air, as if he was a Shenxian.

    Alba was stunned, and she muttered to herself, both frightened and curious, ¡°Why are these Chinese so strange? For God¡¯s sake, they¡¯re so strong but why did they get beaten up so badly over a hundred years ago? Who can tell me why? If all the Chinese are so powerful, why haven¡¯t they unified the world?¡±

    However, Alba didn¡¯t have time to think about it. She just turned around and ran out.

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s cave residence was in the depths of Mount Wuhua, and he usually would not allow other disciples toe to his house. In addition, he was suspicious, so he had only epted two disciples in his life. Therefore, no one in the cave residence at the back of the mountain stopped Alba, allowing her to rush all the way out of the cave.

    Just as Alba was running away, Ding Nan slowly woke up from her meditation. After her Zhenqi had been transformed by the Divine Aura of Elixir, the density of the Neidan in her body had be several times what it was before. She took a long breath, and this breath condensed like a sharp arrow and sprayed over the wall, and it didn¡¯t disappear at all. Instead, with a bang, it was like a hammer hitting the wall.

    Ding Nan was so shocked that she opened her eyes, but as soon as she did so, she found that Alba was nowhere to be found in the stone cave. In a fit of anger, she immediately chased after her and flew into the air to look for Alba¡¯s figure.

    Alba didn¡¯t get far before Ding Nan found her.

    Ding Nan sneered and immediately chased after her. In the blink of an eye, she appeared by Alba¡¯s side and said with a grimace, ¡°Where do you want to go?¡±

    When Alba saw Ding Nan suddenly appear, she trembled with fear. The courage she had gathered just now suddenly copsed and disappeared. She begged loudly, ¡°Please, for God¡¯s sake, let me go! I¡¯ll give... I¡¯ll give you all the money you want!¡±

    Ding Nan had once been in the upper ss with Zhou Qin, so she had specially learned how to speak English fluently. As soon as Alba spoke, she frowned and replied in English, ¡°I don¡¯t want your money.¡±

    Seeing that Ding Nan could speak English so fluently, she was overjoyed and hurriedly begged again, ¡°Oh my god, your English is really good! You¡¯re really a beautifuldy. Could you please be merciful and let me go? My parents and family will be very worried about me!¡±

    Ding Nan¡¯s heart was moved withmiseration as she couldn¡¯t help but think of her own parents.

    When Alba saw the hesitation in Ding Nan¡¯s eyes, she knew that she was a little soft-hearted. Alba said, ¡°If you let me go, I won¡¯t tell anyone what I saw, including John¡¯s death and everything. I will keep quiet, definitely!¡±

    Her words immediately put Ding Nan on high alert!

    She suddenly remembered that John had arguably died by her hands!

    Ding Nan had been cultivating for a period of time, and she understood the rules of the Cultivation World. ¡°Everything that happens in the Cultivation World must be solved in the Cultivation World. Therefore, Zhou Qin would never call the police about these things and she would definitelye to make trouble for me.

    ¡°However, once Alba reveals this matter to the police, I will be a criminal!

    ¡°At that time, if I¡¯m wanted all over the world, how can I practice? I¡¯m not going to hurt an ordinary person!¡±

    Realizing this, Ding Nan suddenly had evil thoughts, and the eyes she looked at Alba with slowly became cold.

    Seeing that Ding Nan¡¯s eyes were getting colder and colder, Alba felt fear in her heart. She subconsciously wanted to turn around and run away, but Ding Nan sneered and reached out to grab her neck. She picked her up like she was picking up a chicken and said, ¡°Be good and go back with me!¡±

    Although Alba was struggling desperately, she couldn¡¯t get out of Ding Nan¡¯s grasp.

    The poor cheerleader was dragged back by Ding Nan like livestock. When she saw that she had returned to this dark, cold stone room, she suddenly burst into tears in despair.

    Ding Nan did not intend to let her go, but seeing her crying, she couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°Don¡¯t cry. I won¡¯t hurt you as long as you¡¯re obedient.¡±

    Alba still wailed. ¡°What have I done? Why can¡¯t you let me go? What have I done wrong?¡±

    At first, Ding Nan listened quietly, but when she heard Alba repeat these words again and again, she finally couldn¡¯t help roaring, ¡°You¡¯re asking me? Then who should I ask? What did I do wrong at that time? Why did I have to end up like this and have my beloved man hate me so much that he wants to kill me? Answer me, why?¡±

    Alba was astonished by Ding Nan¡¯s roar. For a moment, with tears still on her face, she looked at Ding Nan dumbly, unable to speak.

    At this time, Zheng Yuan seemed to have been startled by Ding Nan¡¯s roar and woke up from his meditation.

    Although his face was still pale, he looked much better than when he was dying. After taking a breath, he said in a hoarse, tired voice, ¡°Ping¡¯er, what happened? What were you shouting for?¡±

    Ding Nan forced a smile and said, ¡°Master, are you awake? It¡¯s nothing. I was quarreling with this foreign girl. She wanted to go back.¡±

    ¡°Go back?¡± Zheng Yuan snorted. He swept a contemptuous nce at Alba and said with a sneer, ¡°You still want to leave now you¡¯re here? Impossible!¡±

    Then Zheng Yuan looked at Ding Nan, but he found that her eyes were full of vigor, and there was an extremely strong Yuanyin Qiing out of her body. He was surprised and couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°Ping¡¯er, your... your Cultivation Quotient has greatly improved!¡±

    Ding Nan naturally knew that it was because she had absorbed the Lingqi of the elixir of life. She said with a ttering smile, ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to you, my master!¡±

    ¡°Thanks to me?¡± Zheng Yuan was not stupid. Previously, he hadn¡¯t been able to detect that the abnormality of the Diyuan Jindan had been pped into the form of immortal mist, but now, Ding Nan¡¯s Cultivation Quotient had suddenly increased greatly, and she was about to reach the top level of Cultivation of Yang Spirit. Such a strange cultivation speed. If he hadn¡¯t noticed it yet, it would be in vain for him to cultivate even for a lifetime.

    Zheng Yuan was shocked and angry. ¡°That cloud of smoke is the Lingqi of the elixir of life? You took it? Li Yundong and the others also all took it?¡±

    Seeing the shock, anger, and jealousy in Zheng Yuan¡¯s eyes, Ding Nan¡¯s heart thumped. She quickly knelt down and said in a trembling voice, ¡°Master, I... I didn¡¯t do it on purpose... At that time, I just...¡±

    Zheng Yuan looked at Ding Nan with a gloomy face. His jealousy and hatred almost dripped out of his heart. He just wanted to drain Ding Nan¡¯s blood in an instant, and then dig out all the Lingqi in her body to enjoy!

    However, the speed of the Diyuan Jindan¡¯s efficacy was very fast, and Ding Nan was also an unusually good Furnace tripod, so she soon reduced the efficacypletely. It was toote for him to do anything.

    Now that everything was over, Zheng Yuan had no choice but to suppress the wild jealousy in his heart. He forced a smile and said, ¡°Good Ping¡¯er, this is your good fortune. As your master... even I am not as good as you!¡±

    Ding Nan was extremely good at observing people¡¯s expressions. Just now, she had noticed Zheng Yuan¡¯s eyes shing with a murderous aura. She was shocked and wanted to resist, but Zheng Yuan had umted his power for a long time and had an extremely domineering powerful magical weapon. Although she had the Threaded Hairpin of Soul Traversal, she didn¡¯t know much magic. If she really fought with him, she would be in great danger.

    At this critical moment, Ding Nan thought quickly, and immediately said with a charming smile, ¡°Master, You¡¯re good if I¡¯m good.¡±

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s heart skipped a beat when he saw that Ding Nan, who was as beautiful as a flower, was pleasing him with such an enchanting smile. He thought in his heart, ¡°Yes, as the leader of the Yin Yang Sect, am I not good at sexual practice inbination with the Yin-Yang Principle?¡±

    Zheng Yuanughed heartily and said, ¡°Dear Ping¡¯er, you¡¯re right! If you¡¯re good, I¡¯m good. I¡¯d like to have a try with thebination of Yin-Yang Principle with you, so I can experience the Shentong of the elixir of life!¡±

    Hearing his words, Ding Nan wanted to p herself. Her face suddenly stiffened, and her hands unconsciously reached for the Threaded Hairpin of Soul Traversal, which was hidden behind her. She gritted her teeth and thought. ¡°Old pervert, can¡¯t you bear it anymore? If you dare to touch me, I¡¯ll kill the both of us!¡±

 Chapter 583 Deceiving Master and Annihilating Ancestors

    <h4>Chapter 583 Deceiving Master and Annihting Ancestors</h4>

    Zheng Yuan was a sophisticated man. As soon as she heard that he was going to practice the sexual techniques of thebination of Yin-Yang Principle with her, Ding Nan paled, and her eyes shed with intense resistance and hostility.

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s mind was suddenly filled with doubts when he saw her expression!

    In the past, Lyu Fengping had always been a woman with a coquettish personality. She had always been very proactive when it came to studying the art of love-making. However, ever since she had started upying her current body, her temperament had changed greatly!

    ¡°Is she... Ping¡¯er?¡±

    He gazed at her in surprise and confusion. His eyes narrowing more and more, a strong killing intent gradually grew within him.

    Seeing Zheng Yuan¡¯s reaction, Ding Nan¡¯s heart suddenly trembled. She knew that she was no match for him. Even though he was seriously injured at this time, who knew if he had any other tricks up his sleeve.

    She came up with an idea and immediately said with an ingratiating smile, ¡°Master, do you want to practice sexual techniques with Ping¡¯er? That¡¯d be great! But...¡±

    ¡°But what?¡± Zheng Yuan stared at her coldly.

    Ding Nan leaned against Zheng Yuan seductively and said charmingly, ¡°Master, you haven¡¯t recovered yet. Aren¡¯t you afraid I¡¯ll suck you dry?¡±

    He stared at her and after a long time before bursting out into a peal ofughter. ¡°Do you take me for some old man?¡±

    Ding Nan said with an enchanting grin, ¡°Of course not. Master is so energetic! It¡¯s just that Ping¡¯er is still worried about you!¡±

    As the saying goes, dangerous beauty brings bad luck to the people. When Ding Nan acted like a spoiled child, Zheng Yuan¡¯s suspicion dissipated significantly. He chuckled and said, ¡°What you¡¯re saying is reasonable...¡± He looked to Alba. Although she was a western woman, her hips were wide and she was at the perfect age. Obviously, she was a maiden. What was even more rare was that her eyes were full of Essence, Qi and Blood. In addition, with herck of knowledge of cultivation, she would be the best Furnace tripod.

    Zheng Yuan was thrilled by Alba and he leered at her unsettlingly. ¡°Well, I won¡¯t practice sexual techniques with you today! I¡¯m going to have a taste of this foreign girl today!¡± As he said this, he got up and walked over to Alba step by step.

    Although Ding Nan had sessfully stifled his doubts, she had not been expecting him t change his target and start aiming for Alba!

    Shocked, she cried out, ¡°Master...¡±

    Zheng Yuan tilted his face slightly and said meaningfully, ¡°Do you think... I can¡¯t handle a girl who hasn¡¯t even reached Zhuji phase yet?¡±

    Hearing this, Ding Nan was stunned and suddenly swallowed the words that hade to her lips. She forced a smile and said, ¡°Master, what are you talking about? I mean, that western woman is very powerful. Please be careful!¡±

    Zheng Yuan raised his head andughed heartily. He walked over to Alba¡¯s side, grabbed her chin roughly with one hand, and said with a sickening smile, ¡°Kid, take good care of me. Maybe I¡¯ll take you on as my disciple if you make me happy!¡± After that, he pulled her along and was about to take her into the inner room.

    Alba was no fool. Although she did not understand the conversation between Ding Nan and Zheng Yuan, she could see from the man¡¯s eyes that he was a lecherous beast. She immediately struggled violently and shouted at Ding Nan in horror, ¡°Help, help me!¡±

    Ding Nan watched helplessly as Alba was carried over Zheng Yuan¡¯s shoulder and taken into the inner room. She gritted her teeth and turned her face away, not wanting to see the scene.

    But Alba¡¯s cries were constantly ringing out of the inner room, cutting at Ding Nan¡¯s eardrums and prating her heart like sharp knives.

    ¡°Help! Oh my god, is there no oneing to save me? Don¡¯t you have a heart? If one day you see someone you love being insulted like this, will you just stand by and watch?

    ¡°You promised me that you wouldn¡¯t hurt me. You lied, you liar!

    ¡°You just said that you have a beloved man! Do you know why he hates you? Because you have done such a thing without any humanity or conscience. If he knew what you did, how would you face him in the future?¡±

    Alba¡¯s screams almost tore Ding Nan apart, reminding her of the scene where she had schemed to frame Zhou Qin, but had been framed by her instead, leading to her crying in despair in her room.

    Ding Nan suddenly seemed to understand why Zhou Qin had turned around and saved her from He Shao¡¯s evil clutches at that time.

    ¡°Is it... is it because I once cried and said something simr to ¡®How will you face him in the future¡¯?¡±

    Ding Nan¡¯s heart suddenly trembled. In her mind, there seemed to be a crazy voice shouting, ¡°If he finds out what you have done in the future, will you still expect him to look at you? It¡¯s useless. Even if you be a Golden Immortal, it¡¯ll be no use at all! Li Yundong won¡¯t take a second look at you!¡±

    At this moment, Alba suddenly let out a miserable scream, Ding Nan¡¯s whole body suddenly shook. She gritted her teeth fiercely, took out the Threaded Hairpin of Soul Travelsal, and rushed into the stone room.

    When Ding Nan came to the door, however, she abruptly stopped.

    She took a deep breath and quickly calmed down. She even unbuttoned two buttons of her top, revealing a white, pink, and dedicate chest, along with some plunging cleavage.

    After tidying herself up, Ding Nan walked into the stone room to assess the situation. She saw Zheng Yuan panting heavily while dealing with the struggling Alba.

    If it had been in the past, Alba would have been exhausted. However, her Qi and Essence had just been transformed by the Diyuan Jindan, and her strength was far more than that of an ordinary person. In addition, Zheng Yuan had been seriously injured before, and he was unwilling to waste his essence on restraining Alba with magic anymore. As a result, he forced himself upon Alba, making him feel rather ashamed.

    Zheng Yuan sensed someone approaching from behind. He turned his head warily and saw Ding Nan standing behind him seductively. He was immediately stunned and asked, ¡°Ping¡¯er, what are you doing here?¡±

    She deliberately covered her mouth and said with a smile, ¡°I heard all the ruckus ande to help you, Master!¡±

    Zheng Yuan smiled quite awkwardly. ¡°This foreign girl is really strong! You¡¯re just in time, hold her down!¡±

    Seeing that Alba¡¯s clothes were in disarray and that she was staring at her as if her eyes were about to burst into mes, Ding Nan ignored her and walked over to Zheng Yuan with an enchanting smile. She put one hand gently on his shoulder and the other on Alba¡¯s wrist, ¡°Master, I¡¯ll stand here and watch you work,¡± she said.

    Seeing that Ding Nan was really willing to help him, Zheng Yuan was overjoyed and his suspicion vanished. He said delightedly, ¡°My good disciple, when I recover my strength, I will naturally let you be my partner next time, haha!¡±

    With her help, Zheng Yuan was about to get really into it when he suddenly felt numbness on his waist. He couldn¡¯t help but look at Ding Nan and touch his back!

    With this touch, Zheng Yuan came into contact with an ice-cold metallic object.

    He definitely knew that this was the Threaded Hairpin of Soul Traversal, which specialized in absorbing the soul, essence and blood of a person!

    Zheng Yuan was trembling and looked at Ding Nan with his mouth wide open, saying in shock and rage, ¡°Are... Are you crazy?¡±

    Even though his waist had been pierced by the Threaded Hairpin of Soul Traversal, not only did he not fall down, but his essence and blood were also not drained. Ding Nan was greatly frightened and immediately pped a palm towards him.

    In such a life-and-death moment, there was no time for him to retain his Zhenqi and spiritual energy. He immediately pped back at Ding Nan.

    When their palms collided, both of them were sent flying back more than two meters away.

    Although Zheng Yuan¡¯s cultivation had not reached the Jinshen phase for decades, his vigorous, solidified body was much stronger than that of an ordinary cultivator. His unpunctured body had been pierced by the threaded Hairpin of Soul Traversal, but he had prevented his essence and blood from being absorbed with his deep and perennial foundation.

    He looked at Ding Nan in disbelief and asked in a trembling voice, ¡°Ping¡¯er, what are you doing?¡±

    Ding Nan gritted her teeth and sneered, ¡°Bah, I¡¯m not your Ping¡¯er.¡±

    Zheng Yuan¡¯s face changed dramatically. He seemed to have figured out what was truly going on, and his face suddenly became extremely ferocious. ¡°I see, I see! It turns out that I was right before! Little brat, you¡¯re so scheming and cunning!¡±

    She snorted, saying nothing but staring at him with vignce and nervousness.

    Zheng Yuan said with a hideous grimace, ¡°Do you think that the Threaded Hairpin of Soul Traversal is enough to deal with me? Hum! You deceitful b*tch! Stop dreaming!¡± Saying this, he prepared to jump out of the cave.

    Just as he was about to move, Alba, moving like some sort of frenzied beast, suddenly pounced on him and crashed into his body.

    At this time, Zheng Yuan¡¯s entire energy was focused on resisting the powerful suction of the Threaded Hairpin of Soul Traversal, and his attention was solely on Ding Nan. How could he pay attention to Alba?

    Normally, with a wave of Zheng Yuan¡¯s sleeve, he would have been able to send Alba flying more than ten meters away. But at this time, he felt a tremor all over his body. Alba¡¯s shoulder had hit right the Threaded Hairpin of Soul Traversal on his waist!

    At this point, Zheng Yuan could no longer control himself. The blood and essence in his body were quickly absorbed by the Threaded Hairpin of Soul Traversal!

    He immediately let out an earth-shattering howl, and his skin withered and turned yellow!

    Alba was also scared to death by the sight of Zheng Yuan and she cried out, crawling away on her hands and knees.

    Zheng Yuan looked at Ding Nan in pain and shouted unwillingly, ¡°You deceitful b*tch! You¡¯ll never escape me!¡±

    Ding Nan gritted her teeth and replied with a mocking sneer, ¡°I¡¯m not your disciple. You think I¡¯ve been deceiving my master and annihting my ancestors?¡±

    Zheng Yuan, however, onlyughed wildly and said, ¡°I¡¯ve been keeping you by my side all this time. Everyone knows that you¡¯re my disciple. If they find out that you¡¯ve betrayed your master, I¡¯m afraid that there¡¯ll be nowhere for you to go! The first fixedw in the Cultivation World is that you can¡¯t use magic or powerful magical weapons on mortals, but do you know what the second fixedw is? You can¡¯t deceive your master or insults your ancestors! You¡¯ll suffer divine punishment!¡±

    As Zheng Yuan shouted wildly, all the essence and blood throughout his whole body was being constantly absorbed by the Threaded Hairpin of Soul Traversal. His originally smooth and delicate skin had already be wrinkled like the withered bark of an old tree. He looked like a rotting skeleton!

    However, the most terrifying thing was that at the moment of Zheng Yuan¡¯s death, he was still viciously cursing and shouting, ¡°I¡¯m waiting for you. You will suffer divine punishment! The Cultivation World will never let such a deceitful b*tch get away!¡±

    With this final roar, his Yang Spirit, Essence, Qi, and Blood werepletely sucked out. Finally, he turned into a dried corpse and fell to the ground with a musty ¡°puff¡±.

    Having seen a living person just get sucked into a dried corpse in the blink of an eye, Ding Nan was frightened and anxious. More importantly, Zheng Yuan¡¯s ferocious curse before his death was enough to terrify her!

    It had been a long time since her entry into the Cultivation World, so she naturally knew what it would mean when others found out that she had betrayed her master!

    Alba stared at Ding Nan, who was standing nkly, and said in a choked voice, ¡°I knew you were good really. Thank you for saving me! Thank you so much. God will bless you! I will never tell anyone what has happened today, I promise!¡±

    But no matter how she spoke, Ding Nan remained as motionless as a block of wood.

    Receiving no response from Ding Nan, Alba asked tentatively, ¡°May I go?¡± After asking this, she saw that Ding Nan still wasn¡¯t responding, so she finally got up and began heading out.

    As soon as she reached the door, she heard Ding Nan say in a cold voice, ¡°Where do you want to go?¡±

    Alba¡¯s body trembled, and she said in a quivering voice, ¡°I... I want to go home...¡±

    Ding Nan slowly turned her head, and there was a strange and ferocious look on her beautiful face. ¡°You watched me kill John, and then watched me kill my own master... You still think you can leave?¡±

    Alba was greatly shocked. She knelt down with a heavy thud, begging bitterly, ¡°Spare me, I definitely won¡¯t tell on you. I definitely won¡¯t tell anyone! Please don¡¯t kill me!¡±

    Ding Nan walked slowly over to Alba, lifting her chin with one finger and saying coldly, ¡°From today onward, I¡¯m the leader of the Yin Yang Sect based in Mount Wuhua, and you¡¯re my new disciple! If one day I find out that you want to escape, I¡¯ll chop off whichever leg steps out first! If you step out with both legs, I¡¯ll leave you unable to stand up! Do you understand?¡±

    As the saying goes, hell hath no fury as a woman scorned!

    Alba was scared silly at this point and was stunned for a moment just looking at Ding Nan, feeling that the beautiful woman in front of her was vicious and even more malicious than Zheng Yuan. It seemed that she¡¯d jumped from the frying pan directly into the fire!

    Alba had never imagined that her cultivation career would begin in such an unpleasant way, but what she was still unaware of was what she would achieve in the future. Her master, Ding Nan, would be a terrible cultivator.

 Chapter 584 Primary State of Jinshen

    <h4>Chapter 584 Primary State of Jinshen</h4>

    When Ding Nan killed Zheng Yuan herself, Li Yundong was struggling to reach the most important level of cultivation.

    At this point, Li Yundong had fallen into the deepest possible state of meditation. He was surrounded by dazzling and colorful divine light, which was sometimes hidden and sometimes visible, sometimes strong or weak.

    Ao Wushuang was standing to one side and looking at him with bright eyes and a nervous expression.

    She knew that the Zhuji phase was the threshold between ordinary people and cultivators, Shentong was the threshold between ordinary cultivators and master cultivators, and Jinshen was the threshold between master cultivators and truly great cultivators.

    Since ancient times, there had been many cultivators in the Chinese cultivation world, but those who had truly cultivated jinshen were few and far between.

    Throughout the dynasties, all the cultivators who had reached the jinshen phase had been recognized by the cultivation world as great cultivators, and even the emperors held them in high esteem.

    In the Song, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties, the leaders of the Zhengyi School and Quanzhen Sect were honored as ¡°the great zhenren¡± by the emperors!

    Chinese people like to add the word ¡°great¡± to almost everything. However, in the cultivation world, they usually called each other ¡°zhenren¡± and ¡°cultivator¡±, and few people were worthy of getting the word ¡°great¡± in front of their title.

    There was a saying that the Chinese word ¡°one¡± and the word ¡°great¡± together formed a new word for ¡°heaven¡±. That is to say, when a cultivator attained the position of being a great cultivator, he would have the power to fight against heaven.

    Zhuji phase referred to the cultivation of Neidan from the human body, so as toplete the transformation from an ordinary person to a cultivator; Shentong was to give the cultivators the power to practice magic; Yang Spirit was to give the cultivators the ability to escape death, and jinshen meant that the cultivators could begin to stand up to heaven and have the strength to challenge it.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe... a guy who has only been cultivating for half a year is about to break through the jinshen phase!¡± Ao Wushuang looked at Li Yundong with intense emotion and stared at him for a while before turning to gaze at Su Chan.

    At this time, Su Chan had already transformed into her fox body and was quietly lying in a small corner with her body curled up into a ball. The fox had almostpletely hidden under her giant scarlet tail, the end of which was growing slowly, splitting from three to four and to five tails.

    Ao Wushuang knew that although fox cultivators were the same as human beings, which had nine dens, due to the special physique of the fox spirit, the tail number of a fox was not consistent like a human¡¯s cultivation.

    For foxes, the hardest two phases were being three-tailed and being eight-tailed. For those, the fox evolved from being a two-tailed fox essence to a three-tailed fox spirit, which meant that the fox could change into human form and start further cultivation with the human body.

    If any species wanted to cultivate a higher level, it had to first cultivate the human form from the original form. All creatures were born from the heavens, and human beings were the wisest amongst them. It was twice as effective to cultivate in human form.

    A fox breaking through to the three-tailed realm was equivalent to the Shentong and could use various kinds of magic or sorcery. Reaching four tails meant breaking through to the primary Yin Spirit, five tails was equivalent to the top-level Yin Spirit, six tails was equivalent to the primary Yang Spirit, and seven tails was equivalent to the top-level Yang Spirit.

    The biggest difference from cultivators was that a fox¡¯s cultivation speed became slower and slower as it progressed through theter stages. From the seven-tailed to the eight-tailed, the fox would greatly increase her strength and directly skip the Jinshen phase, breaking through to the primary cultivation of the lightning retribution phase.

    For foxes, the gap between being seven-tailed and being eight-tailed was just like the huge gap between the Yang Spirit and the jinshen master, but for the jinshen and the lightning retribution phase, it was not as huge as the gap for the fox spirits.

    At this time, when Su Chan slowly grew her seventh tail, Ao Wushuang became nervous. Her eyes were fixed on Su Chan, trying to see if there was any sign of her continuing to grow the eighth tail. She waited for a while but saw Su Chan¡¯s scarlet fur began to fade slowly, and her body gradually turned back to its human form.

    Ao Wushuang sighed in her heart, shaking her head.

    After a while, Su Chan groaned and woke up from her sleep.

    As soon as Su Chan opened her eyes and looked around, she found herself in the house on Shantang Street in Dongwu City, and she saw that Ao Wushuang was standing not far away with a smile on her face.

    ¡°Master?¡± Su Chan said with surprise and joy, ¡°It¡¯s really you! I thought I was dreaming! Did you save us? ¡±

    Ao Wushuang shook her head and said with a wry smile, ¡°No, it was the former head Shibo who saved you.¡±

    Su Chan was stunned. ¡°Grandmaster? Liu Ye?¡± The girl couldn¡¯t help but recall thest bolt of lightning. She said in surprise, ¡°So he didn¡¯t die? Is he a master of thunder tribtion? No way!¡±

    ¡°Is it strange? Many years ago, he was a seven-tailed fox. After more than a decade, he became an eight-tailed fox. What¡¯s strange about that?¡± Ao Wushuang smiled faintly.

    Su Chan widened her eyes and said in disbelief, ¡°But... Since he is a thunder tribtion master, why did he just watch so many of my Shijie and Shimei die when we were being besieged at the Fox Zen School?¡±

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s smile faded. She took a deep breath and said slowly, ¡°Chan¡¯er, there are some things you¡¯re better off not knowing...¡±

    Su Chan looked anxious. She walked quickly over to Ao Wushuang and said argumentatively, ¡°Master, I don¡¯t know for sure, but Yundong seems to already be involved! It was because the grandmaster pretended to be dead that he inherited the leadership of the Fox Zen School. Do you know how much he has sacrificed to be the leader of the school? Do you know how much effort he has to put in for the sake of the Fox Zen Sect every day?¡±

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s eyes fixed on her and she suddenly smiled. ¡°It is true that girls are outgoing. Don¡¯t you care about your own fellow disciples? You only care about Li Yundong?¡±

    Su Chan said unhappily, ¡°I haven¡¯t stayed in the Fox Zen School since I was a child. I don¡¯t care whether I am a member at all. I only care about Yundong! Where is the grandmaster? I want to see him. Why is he pretending to be dead? Harming him is equivalent to harming many Shijie and Shimei of the same sect! How many times has Yundong been scolded for being the leader of Fox Zen School? If he were not the leader of the Fox Zen School, he would be respected by many people!¡±

    Ao Wushuang sighed lightly and said, ¡°Silly girl, don¡¯t be like that! Even if he weren¡¯t the leader, he would be criticized as long as he was with you. Do you think the people who stay with us fox spirits have ever been able to enjoy a happy ending?¡±

    Su Chan said grimly, ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m going to ask the grandmaster. Even if he won¡¯t give the Fox Zen School an exnation, he has to give Yundong one.¡± As she said this, she hurried to go out.

    Ao Wushuang red at her unhappily, muttering in a low voice, ¡°Where are you going? Where are you going to find him? Do you even know?¡±

    ¡°I... I don¡¯t know!¡± Su Chan opened her mouth and was about to say something more, but she swallowed back her words helplessly. However, she soon became happy again and said, ¡°Master, you must know, right?¡±

    Ao Wushuang shook her head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. Now he is being monitored by a bunch of chatans from Xiyuan Temple and Jinshan Temple every day. I won¡¯t be able to find him unless he contacts me.¡±

    ¡°Xiyuan Temple and Jinshan Temple? What are they monitoring the grandmaster for?¡± Su Chan was stunned.

    ¡°Hum! Eight-tailed fox, do they not dare to watch? There were Mystical Silver Foxes in the past, did they dare to be careless? What if Liu Ye cultivates to the phase of Mystical Silver Fox?¡± Ao Wushuang sneered.

    Su Chan asked in confusion, ¡°But... I¡¯ve seen the head of Xiyuan Temple. Master Puren is an eminent monk. Shouldn¡¯t he be the kind of person who doesn¡¯t distinguish between good and evil? Is... Did the grandmaster do anything wrong?¡±

    Ao Wushuang immediately shook her head and said, ¡°Chan¡¯er, don¡¯t ask any more questions. The grandmaster pretended to be dead because he had his own difficulties and had no other choice. Besides, even if you don¡¯t trust him, you should trust your master, right? Don¡¯t worry, he won¡¯t harm you. You don¡¯t need to ask too much. All you need to know is that the grandmaster is still alive and he saved you.¡±

    Su Chan lowered her head. After hesitating for a long time, she suddenly looked up and asked, ¡°Master, can I tell Yundong about this?¡±

    Ao Wushuang replied tly, ¡°No!¡±

    Su Chan suddenly jumped up and wheedled, ¡°Why not! Last time, what happened in Mount Qingcheng was directed at Yundong, but you didn¡¯t let me tell him. Why can¡¯t you let me tell him this time?¡±

    Ao Wushuang shook her head like a rattle and said, ¡°Chan¡¯er, you have to believe me. I won¡¯t hurt you. He is your lover, and I won¡¯t hurt him either. If he finds out, it will be a disaster for him. Nothing good wille of it.¡±

    Su Chan said angrily, ¡°But if we keep it from him, what if something really happens? How will he be able to deal with it?¡±

    ¡°He has now broken through the biggest gap between cultivators and reached the Jinshen phase. Although he is only at the primary level, he has the Fashen of Wisdom King, the mantra mah¨¡mudr¨¡, and other powerful magic treasures. Therefore, his jinshen will double in power. Even if he meets the ¡°immortal¡± top-level master, he will also have the ability to fight. When he reaches the intermediate level of jinshen, he will even be able to fight a Lightning Tribtion Master. You know, since ancient times, the Yang Spirit hasn¡¯t been able to defeat a jinshen master. This is an ironw. But there has never been a saying that a jinshen master can¡¯t defeat a Lightning Tribtion Master.¡±

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s face gradually softened, and she said softly to Su Chan, ¡°So, don¡¯t worry, Yundong will be fine. I¡¯m doing this for your own good.¡±

    Su Chan looked at Ao Wushuang in a daze. Confused, she asked, ¡°But Master... if it¡¯s for my own good, why don¡¯t you tell Yundong all these things?¡±

    ¡°You will know in the future, but it¡¯s better if you¡¯re in the dark about it for now. The only thing you need know is: I will never hurt you.¡± Ao Wushuang gently stroked Su Chan¡¯s hair and smiled slightly.

    Su Chan looked at Ao Wushuang steadily and saw that her eyes were full of pity and love. After all, she had been brought up by Ao Wushuang since she was a child. The trust and dependence she felt toward her were almost instinctive. Although she was full of suspicion in her heart, she still nodded slowly, saying, ¡°Master, you must not harm Yundong!¡±

    Ao Wushuang chuckled and was about to speak when she saw Li Yundong exhale and wake up leisurely. The colorful light around him gradually condensed into a ball of golden light, enveloping him and making him look as though he were zed in gold.

    ¡°Your lover has woken up.¡± Ao Wushuang smiled.

    Seeing Li Yundong wake up, Su Chan immediately put all the questions out of her head for the time being. ¡°Yundong, you¡¯re awake!¡± She rushed over with a cheer and beamed at him.

    Li Yundong saw the smiling Su Chan rushing toward him like a swallow flying into the forest. He caught the girl and looked around in surprise. Then, he said to the nearby Ao Wushuang in surprise, ¡°Senior Ao Wushuang? Why are you here? I... why am I here? Did you save us?¡±

    Ao Wushuang smiled and said nomittally, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that you would get a blessing in disguise and smash three Diyuan Jindan pills. You shared the pills with the others. Although their potency decreased a little, several jinshen experts were created at the same time. Truly exceptional!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said with a sigh, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect it to be like this. Fate makes fools of people!¡±

    After that, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help asking something more. ¡°Qianbei, did you use the Heavenly Thunder to drive Xu Ling off?¡±

    Ao Wushuang smiled and was about to speak, but she saw that Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin next to her were also rousing.

    Su Chan was overjoyed and cried, ¡°Ah, both Sister Zi Yuan and Sister Zhou Qin are awake! Have they reached the jinshen phase?¡±

    As she spoke, Kris who was on the side also let out a soft snore, and ayer of white mist hovered over her head, steaming from the Baihui acupoint.

    Seeing them awakening one after another, Li Yundong put his problem aside for a while. He looked at Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin with concern and then turned his eyes to Kris.

    In the face of this blond-haired, blue-eyed foreign girl who had sworn to always worship him, Li Yundong suddenly felt at a loss.

    The Kris in front of him now had obviously also inhaled the Divine Aura of Elixir. Although it wasn¡¯t much, it had thoroughly changed her physique. It was the same as back then when she had been being cleansed by the Renyuan Jindan.

    If she could cultivate, her speed would increase by leaps and bounds. She would be able to break through the Zhuji phase, the Yang Spirit, and even reach the Jinshen phase!

    ¡°She¡¯s such a promising little seedling, and so eager for cultivation... Should I ept her as my disciple?¡±

    For a moment, Li Yundong was in a state of hesitation.

 Chapter 585 An In-name Disciple

    <h4>Chapter 585 An In-name Disciple</h4>

    After Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin woke up, they looked around in astonishment. They didn¡¯t understand how they had arrived at such a ce.

    But after a moment¡¯s looking, they saw Ao Wushuang and had a rough idea of what had happened and how things had developed.

    Zi Yuan felt the changes of the Core Yin Zhenqi in her body and said with emotion, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that we would get the Divine Aura of Elixir by ident and break through the Jinshen phase. We¡¯ve been seriously lucky!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and said, ¡°Good people deserve good things. Look at Zheng Yuan and Spirit and Sky, they tried their best to steal the Diyuan Jindan, but they were destined to lose it.¡±

    Thinking of Zheng Yuan doing things harmful to others without even gaining any benefit for himself, Zi Yuan shook her head and said with a rueful smile, ¡°If Zheng Yuan knows that what he has done has been good for us, I¡¯m afraid he will die of anger.¡±

    Li Yundong snorted and said, ¡°Next time I see that old guy, I will deal with him on behalf of heaven!¡±

    Zhou Qin suddenly said, ¡°Wait, I don¡¯t know how Alba is doing!¡±

    Speaking of Alba, the eyes of everyone in the room fell on Kris. At this moment, she slowly woke up and gently let out a long breath. This breath didn¡¯t dissipate and it was like a sharp hail of arrows being sprayed at the wall.

    Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin looked at each other, and a thought came to their minds. ¡°Kris has also absorbed some of the Divine Aura of Elixir. What about Alba? And Li Yundong? How will he deal with it?¡±

    After waking up, Kris slowly opened her eyes and looked around nkly. But what she saw was no longer the scene of a terrible, bloody battle on Tiandu Peak. She was in a traditional Chinese-style room filled with ornate antique furniture. If it weren¡¯t for her finding that Li Yundong and others were standing just beside her, she would have thought that she had been in her grandmother¡¯s room all along and that the trip to China was nothing but a thrilling dream.

    However, the reality was different and irreversible. Kris opened her mouth as if she had a thousand words waiting to tumble out, but in the end, she only said nkly, ¡°Am I still alive?¡±

    Zhou Qin, who had always been sympathetic toward her, said softly, ¡°Kris, you¡¯re still alive. Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯re safe now.¡±

    ncing at Zhou Qin, Kris¡¯s eyes involuntarily fell to the Vulcan¡¯s Whip that was wrapped around her waist. Then her eyes turned to Li Yundong and Zi Yuan. She remembered the horrible fighting she had seen in the Huangshan Cableway at Tiandu Peak. This blond-haired, blue-eyed, high-level student suddenly had a wild delusion. ¡°Who, who are you? Are you aliens?¡±

    Zhou Qin smiled slightly and said, ¡°Kris, we¡¯re just like you. We¡¯re all ordinary people, but we also just so happen to be cultivators.¡±

    In fact, Kris knew this already. But in her opinion, cultivators should only have a few special abilities. Even if she had just seen the scene on Huangshan Cableway, she would have been able to ept it. However, the earth-shattering fighting on Tiandu Peak had far exceeded the limits of her imagination. In her opinion, people like Li Yundong had almost inconceivable power. He was a superman, or even more than a superman!

    ¡°Is there really such a person on this earth?¡±

    Kris looked at Zhou Qin in a daze. After a while, she couldn¡¯t help but look at Li Yundong.

    Li Yundong sighed softly and said, ¡°Kris, do you now understand why I can¡¯t ept you as my disciple so easily?¡±

    Kris opened her mouth, as if she wanted to argue about something. However, she had a sharp mind, and she quickly understood what was going on. If this type of magic was passed on to an outsider like her, and she passed it over to her own people, what kind of result would it bring?

    Kris was extremely unwilling to ept it, but she also bowed her head and murmured in English, ¡°John, I¡¯m sorry... I¡¯ve failed to fulfill yourst wish! Li Yundong... he won¡¯t teach me. Although I have Chinese blood, I¡¯m not a proper Chinese person with ck hair and yellow skin. Li Yundong is right. This kind of cultivation method is the national weapon of China. He won¡¯t teach a foreigner like me.

    ¡°In the past, when I was studying Chinese history, I never understood why the same great ancient civilizations like in ancient India, ancient Egypt, and even ancient Babylon, which created the Resplendent Sky Garden, all declined, their societies fading from the world. Only China¡¯s bloodline has never been cut off over its five thousand years of history. Now, I think... I understand! My grandma was right. There are hidden dragons and crouching tigers everywhere in China, and there are hidden masters everywhere. They don¡¯t usually show up, but when you know more about them, you will understand the profoundness and greatness of this nation!¡±

    Kris whispered gently, as if in a dream. At the end of her words, she couldn¡¯t help but think of the high-spirited bickering she had taken part in on the way to China with John and Alba. But now, she was the only one who was safe and sound. John had fallen into the abyss, and she didn¡¯t know whether Alba was alive or not after being kidnapped!

    All of this was like a terrible nightmare! Not only had she failed to cultivate, but she had also failed to fulfill John¡¯sst wish!

    Thinking of this, Kris couldn¡¯t help but feel sad and hot, heavy tears rolled down her cheeks. Between sobs, she choked out, ¡°Li Yundong, can you promise me one thing?¡±

    Li Yundong had been born with a tender heart for women. Seeing Kris crying so sadly, he couldn¡¯t help but feel tender and said, ¡°Tell me, what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°John fell off the cliff. It¡¯s very likely that he¡¯s dead. Alba came to China with us. If anything happens to her, I really won¡¯t be able to exin it to her family. Can you promise me that you will find her and bring her back safely?¡±

    Li Yundong nodded slowly and firmly. ¡°I promise you! But you also have to promise me one thing.¡±

    Kris wiped her tears and said with bleary eyes, ¡°What is it?¡±

    Li Yundong said, ¡°You mustn¡¯t call the police! And you can¡¯t tell Alba¡¯s family anything about her or us.¡±

    Kris stared nkly for a moment, and then hurriedly asked, ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Zheng Yuan is cruel and ruthless,¡± Li Yundong said seriously, ¡°and Ding Nan is not easy to deal with. Since they kidnapped Kris, it means that they must have some ulterior motive. If you call the police, they will intervene. At that time, in order to protect themselves, Zheng Yuan and Ding Nan will definitely find a way to kill Alba and silence her! If we don¡¯t call the police, we can find a way to get her back through our own strength. Do you understand? The more you force them, the more danger Alba will be in. The more you rx, the safer she will be!¡±

    Kris thought for a bit before saying helplessly and sadly, ¡°Alright, I think I understand.¡±

    With this, she wiped the tears from her face, smiled bitterly, and said, ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll leave first.¡±

    Seeing she was about to leave, Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Kris, won¡¯t youe with us?¡±

    Kris looked at Li Yundong, Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and the cold and arrogant Ao Wushuang next to them. She clearly felt that she was out of ce amongst them. She shook her head in disappointment and said in a lonely voice, ¡°No, I have to go to Mount Huangshan again. Maybe I¡¯ll find John¡¯s body there. I have to take it back.¡±

    Her words made the atmosphere in the room solemn and sad. Even Su Chan, who had rejected Kris, felt softhearted for a moment and could not bear to watch her leave.

    When Li Yundong saw her turn around and walk to the door, he suddenly asked, ¡°Kris, can you tell me why you want to cultivate?¡±

    Kris stopped immediately, and only after staring nkly for a long time did she turn back around. With a bitter smile, she said, ¡°At first, my only driver was intense curiosity, especially because of my grandmother, who told me that in the distant and mysterious China, there was a mysterious type of person who possessed immortality. At that time, I was extremely curious; was there really immortality in this world? With such doubts in my mind, I came to thisnd, but everything that happened afterward changed my mind. I no longer wanted to cultivate for the sake of immortality. I was just curious, wondering where exactly this type of power came from. How could a person be so powerful?¡±

    Kris said softly, ¡°The one who wants to cultivate the most is John. His desire for power is extremely strong, and he is even more eager than me to know what the mysteries of all of this are. However, now that he is no longer here, and his wish has fallen to my shoulders, I bear the responsibility and obligation to help him figure out what cultivation is. This is for myself, but even more so for him!¡±

    Everyone in the room fell silent and had different expressions on their faces after hearing her words. Zi Yuan, Su Chan, and Ao Wushuang were born cultivators. They had been born into the cultivation world, so they took everything around them for granted.

    However, Li Yundong and Zhou Qin felt a deep resonance with the words of Kris. In the past, they had also been like her, full of strong curiosity about the power of cultivation. In order to understand it, they had disregarded everything!

    Li Yundong fixed his eyes on Kris. He nodded slowly and said, ¡°Since that¡¯s the case... then you can stay with me. I will exin to you what cultivation is over time. It can be regarded as a littlepensation for John.¡±

    Kris was stunned for a moment, and then her eyes widened, as if she had been snatched from the jaws of death. In her despair, she suddenly saw a glimmer of hope again. She said in a trembling voice, ¡°You, you¡¯re agreeing to ept me as your disciple?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and shook his head. ¡°No, I just promise you that I will slowly teach you about what¡¯s going on with cultivation. But I can¡¯t ept you as my disciple for the time being. You can be registered with my sect first, and you can be regarded as a titr disciple, not an official one.¡±

    Kris was a China-watcher. She knew that there was only a small gap between titr disciples and entry-level ones. Since Li Yundong was willing to relent today, she thought that as long as she worked hard to cultivate with him in the future, there would be a day when she could realize her wish!

    Kris was overjoyed. She was about to kneel down and kowtow, but Li Yundong quickly blocked her with his hands in mid-air and supported her body from a few meters away.

    He said with a smile, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If you are destined to be my disciple, then this kowtow can be done in the future.¡±

    Seeing Li Yundong stopping her from kneeling, she felt both awe and admiration for him in her heart. She lowered her head and said, ¡°Okay, master.¡±

    Li Yundong waved his hand and said with a smile, ¡°Don¡¯t call me master. Li Yundong is fine.¡±

    Kris thought for a moment before saying reverently, ¡°Then can I¡¯ll call you Master Li?¡±

    Li Yundong saw that she was stubborn, but also willing topromise. He smiled and nodded. Just as he was about to continue talking, he saw Su Chan gently tug the corner of his clothes and wink at him.

    Li Yundong knew that Su Chan had something private to say to him, so he went to another room with her. As soon as he got through the door, Su Chan said anxiously in a low voice, ¡°Yundong, how can you ept an outsider as your disciple? Aren¡¯t you afraid that the cultivation skills will be taught to others?¡±

    Li Yundongughed and said, ¡°Silly girl, didn¡¯t you see that Kris has already absorbed the Divine Aura of Elixir? If I don¡¯t ept her as my disciple today, and the people of other sects see it in the future, they will take her as their disciple and use her against us. What should we do?¡±

    Su Chan was stunned for a moment, but then snorted again. ¡°Are we really afraid of a non-Han barbarian?¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head andughed. ¡°That¡¯s not true! Our Fox Zen School has enemies from all sides. If our enemy sect sees her exceptional talent and takes her as a disciple, not only will it bring a risk of the secret methods of cultivation being leaked, but it will also set up a strong future enemy for us. Although her strength is weak now, western people are born with sufficient Qi and blood, which are good embryos for cultivation. With the transformation of the Divine Aura of Elixir, her cultivation speed will no doubt be very amazing.¡±

    ¡°But...¡± Su Chan was still a little unconvinced, but she had to admit that what Li Yundong was saying was reasonable. She wanted to object, but she couldn¡¯t find a good enough reason at that moment.

    Li Yundong said with a smile, ¡°Don¡¯t say ¡®but¡¯. Instead of letting others grasp her fate, why don¡¯t we control this uncertain factor ourselves?¡±

    Only then did Su Chan stop talking. She smiled and said, ¡°Alright, what you¡¯ve said makes sense!¡±

    Li Yundong and Su Chan smiled at each other and walked out hand-in-hand. What the little girl didn¡¯t know was that Li Yundong had another hidden, evil idea which he hadn¡¯t told her.

    For nearly two thousand years, all the outsiders who had integrated into China had been assimted without exception. Almost all the other countries in East Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia were also affected by the spread of Chinese civilization.

    But in modern times, the western culture had been dominated by the United States, was spreading everywhere, and had even eroded and affected oriental culture.

    In Li Yundong¡¯s view, if Wan Zhenyuan could be transformed into aplete ¡°Han man¡± by his master, couldn¡¯t he change an American girl like Kris into aplete ¡°Han woman¡±?

 Chapter 586 Dancing with Wolves and Walking beside Tigers

    <h4>Chapter 586 Dancing with Wolves and Walking beside Tigers</h4>

    It was the next morning when Li Yundong brought Chris and the others home to Tiannan City. The little foxes who had just woken up didn¡¯t know at all what had happenedst night in the cultivation world, but they knew it was enough to change its whole structure.

    When they saw Li Yundonging back with the foreign girl Kris, they looked at her curiously and whispered for a moment.

    Following Li Yundong¡¯s instructions, Kris returned to the arranged room. Zi Yuan, however, shot Li Yundong a meaningful look.

    Then they returned to their room and Zi Yuan whispered, ¡°Have you noticed anything wrong?¡±

    Li Yundong grinned, ¡°What?¡±

    Zi Yuan said, ¡°Who the hell shot that thunderbolt? It wasn¡¯t you or I, could it have been Ao Wushuang? Only a Lighting Retribution master could have done it, but what about Ao Wushuang as an Eight-Tailed Earth Fox?¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s face darkened slightly. He said, ¡°I thought of that, but she avoided the subject when I asked her. I feel that she is hiding something from me.¡±

    Zi Yuan frowned slightly. ¡°Why? Since she wants to help us, why is she sneaking around?¡±

    Li Yundong meditated a moment, then suddenly raised his head and whispered, ¡°Could it be... Liu Ye?¡±

    A thought struck Zi Yuan. Her gaze sharpened and she said softly, ¡°Perhaps!¡± But soon, she frowned again and said, ¡°Why is he refusing to show up? Is he nning something?¡±

    Li Yundong thought it over and said, ¡°Yeah, whatever. All conspiracies are based on real things in this world. As long as we are strong enough, no matter how many conspiracies and tricks wee up against, they won¡¯t work. Is Yan Fang¡¯s force powerful enough? So why did she fail again and again? It¡¯s all because of herck of strength! Now we have got the Divine Aura of Elixir and broken through the Jinshen phase. Why don¡¯t we make further breakthroughs in cultivation while the iron is hot? Then, after a few days, it will usher in the ceremony of session for the head of the Linggong Sect. We¡¯ll be the trigger that defines the best time to go through the lighting retribution phase!¡±

    When Zi Yuan saw that Li Yundong still remembered the affairs of her sect, she was touched and smiled, ¡°Our matters don¡¯t count. Right now, What¡¯s most important is that you be on your guard against provocation and challenges from other sects at all times. I believe that it won¡¯t be long before all of them will know that the Diyuan Jindan is in our hands. At that time, more than a few cultivators will be stewing in envy and hate, although they might note to us instantly.¡±

    Li Yundongughed, ¡°In their dreams! The Divine Aura of Elixir has been melted into the bloodline, and they won¡¯t be able to get it even if they want to. But I worry about the whereabouts of the Medicine King Tripod. Who¡¯s got it?¡±

    Zi Yuan nodded. ¡°The Medicine King Tripod, a supremely powerful magical weapon, is used for refining pills. Even if he fails to refine the Renyuan Jindan or the Diyuan Jindan, it¡¯ll still be a really good cauldron when used for other pills. The rate of sess and productivity will be many times higher than that for ordinary Danding. It would be nice if we could find the Medicine King Tripod first!¡±

    Li Yundong pondered for a moment before remarking, ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. The second thing is to immediately mediatiate in seclusion. I want to maximize the curative power of the elixir, but I¡¯m afraid that John and Alba¡¯s families will get us into a lot of trouble if theye to China. As such, I¡¯ve been struggling with whether or not to go to Mount Wuyue to get Alba back and kill the fiend Zheng Yuan, or just meditate in seclusion to dissolve the elixir first.¡±

    Zi Yuan considered his words. ¡°The Diyuan Jindan only shows up once every five hundred years. It¡¯s once in a blue moon. You¡¯d better meditate in seclusion first and hand your affairs over to others for now.¡±

    Li Yundong replied with some embarrassment, ¡°Kris is going to Mount Huangshan to get John. She can¡¯t do that alone! Will you apany her? You have inhaled Divine Aura of Elixir as well. Would it be a waste not to mediatate in seclusion?¡±

    Zi Yuan frowned awkwardly. She thought for a while before smiling again and saying, ¡°I have an idea. Go find your ssmate Feng Na and get her to apany Kris. With a secr person by her side, they will still fear her even if cultivators want to strike her. Tell her that she¡¯d better get more people. The more people there are, the safer Kris will be.¡±

    Li Yundongughed and said, ¡°Not a bad idea! I will!¡±

    He set out before long and called Feng Na. After the call connected, Feng Na shouted in surprise, ¡°Oh my god, this is the first time you¡¯ve called me! Did the sun rise from the west today? Spirit Dragon Knight, what can I do for you?¡±

    Li Yundong broke outughing. ¡°Can¡¯t I call you if I have nothing to do?¡±

    Feng Na smiled and said, ¡°Come on. You didn¡¯t call for no reason. Tell me.¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and exined about Kris briefly, then asked, ¡°If you¡¯re avable, could you apany Kris to Mount Huangshan to look for John?¡±

    Feng Na was shocked by the fact that John had fallen off the cliff. ¡°What? He fell off the cliff? Come on, what¡¯s wrong with him?¡±

    Li Yundong exined embarrassedly, ¡°If you can help, Kris¡¯ll tell you the details when you see her. I¡¯ll pay your fare. If you¡¯re not interested, then forget it, it¡¯s fine.¡±

    Feng Na sighed, ¡°Don¡¯t say that. Kris is my sister as well. It¡¯s natural that I should help. Forget the fare. Do I look like someone without money?¡± Here, something struck Feng Na and she continued, ¡°If you really want to thank me, why don¡¯t you invite me to your store to work? Could it also be considered a solution to my future employment?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled. ¡°Your re-employment? You lost your job?¡±

    Feng Na said with a wry grin, ¡°I¡¯ll graduate soon. Doesn¡¯t that mean I¡¯ll have lost my upation?¡±

    Li Yundong pondered, ¡°Feng Na is passionate, kind, and scrupulous. She¡¯s born to be a manager. I can entrust my store to Chan¡¯er, and make her the one in charge of the money. Feng Na can serve as manager, and handle specific things. She¡¯s definitely talented. It¡¯s not a bad idea.¡±

    Here Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Well, I happen to be in need of a manager. I can think of no one better.¡±

    Feng Na immediately cheered up and she quickly asked, ¡°Can I bring an assistant over?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly. ¡°It¡¯s Cheng Cheng, isn¡¯t it? Okay, okay, bring her here! But that¡¯s it. I don¡¯t have redundant positions for anyone else.¡±

    Feng Na giggled and nodded, ¡°Yes, yes. From now on, you are my boss! My dear boss, you can¡¯t bully your loyal employees!¡±

    Feng Na smiled at Li Yundong and then hung up. She had just put the phone down when Cheng Cheng leaned over and said with an ambiguous expression, ¡°Oh, that¡¯s very nice. You¡¯ve finally got yourself a moneybag?¡±

    Feng Na nudged her soft waist with her elbow and said, ¡°How is it? Aren¡¯t I a good friend? I didn¡¯t forget to take you with me!¡±

    Cheng Chengughed loudly. ¡°You did a good job, Nana! So what on earth is Li Yundong looking for you for? I¡¯ve known him for a while, but I¡¯ve never seen him call anyone!¡±

    The smile suddenly vanished from Feng Na¡¯s face. She sighed, ¡°An ident urred when Kris, John, and Alba went to climb Mount Huangshan. John fell off the cliff. We need to apany Kris in searching for him.¡±

    Cheng Cheng was astonished suddenly and covered her mouth. ¡°No way! Why didn¡¯t they call the police? Get the police and locals to help!¡±

    Feng Na also felt puzzled. ¡°I don¡¯t get it either. Li Yundong asked us not to call the police. Maybe... he¡¯s afraid of making trouble.¡±

    Cheng Cheng thought for a moment and said, ¡°Well, when shall we go then?¡±

    Feng Na stood up to put away the desk and said, ¡°Yep!¡±

    Cheng Cheng was stunned. ¡°Now? You have to host the student union meeting this afternoon, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Feng Na sneered and shouted, ¡°Screw the student union. There¡¯s no reason to stay here now that we have jobs!¡± She stretched out her hand, frivolously lifted Cheng Cheng¡¯s chin and giggled. ¡°Hey, girl, follow me and enjoy your life from now on!¡±

    No sooner had she said it than she burst outughing with Cheng Cheng.

    The two of themughed and yed around in the ssroom for a while. Seeing that everyone was looking at them like they were weird, she adjusted her expression and said, ¡°Seriously, although we got some good news just now, John falling off the cliff isn¡¯t a good thing. We areughing like this. If Li Yundong could see us, he would think that we are cold-blooded and inattentive!¡±

    Cheng Cheng rolled her eyes at Feng Na. ¡°You did that, didn¡¯t you? I think you¡¯re so coquettish that you can¡¯t control yourself!¡±

    Feng Na was just about to retort when she suddenly saw Yan Hua walking down the corridor. A sudden thought shed in her mind, ¡°I won¡¯t be able to host the student meeting this afternoon. What about Yan Hua? He might be a little petty, but he is still talented.¡±

    Feng Na rushed to the corridor and shouted, ¡°Yan Hua!¡±

    But at this time, Yan Hua was no longer the same Yan Hua he had once been. He bent his head down all the way, as if he might walk into the shadows at any time. Yan Fang was not fully adapted to this new identity. After all, it was totally different to take a nephew¡¯s physical body than that of a stranger. Moreover, the Yuanyang Qi in Yan Hua¡¯s body had always been unable to integrate with her own Yuanyin Qi in ways that meant she had to fight against this Qi almost all the time.

    Therefore, Yan Fang turned a deaf ear to Feng Na¡¯s shouts.

    Seeing Yan Hua walk away with his bowed head, Feng Na couldn¡¯t help shouting, ¡°Hey, Yan Hua, I¡¯m talking to you!¡±

    It was only at this moment that Yan Hua suddenly came to a realization. ¡°He¡± turned around and looked at Feng Na with a strange expression, asking, ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

    Feng Na was angry with his lofty expression and thought, ¡°You¡¯re putting on airs with me? Hmph, I won¡¯t let you off so easily!¡±

    Feng Na also pulled a long face and said, ¡°Nothing, just saying hello.¡±

    All of a sudden, Yan Fang woke up and realized that her attitude was very bad. ¡°He¡± smiled enthusiastically and exined, ¡°Sorry. I was just thinking about something just now. What¡¯s the matter with Senior?¡±

    As the saying goes, you can¡¯t be angry with a smiling face. When Feng Na saw her grin, her anger immediately dissipated, and she smiled back and answered, ¡°Can you help me host this afternoon¡¯s meeting?¡±

    Yan Fang was startled. ¡°The afternoon¡¯s meeting? What meeting?¡±

    Feng Na smiled and said, ¡°Yep, Li Yundong asked me to do him a favor, so I can¡¯t attend it. Please help me host it.¡±

    As soon as Yan Fang heard the name ¡®Li Yundong¡¯, She immediately became vignt. The hair all over her body stood up like needles. ¡°Li Yundong? What did he want you for?¡± she asked.

    Feng Na sighed. ¡°Sooner orter, you¡¯ll understand. Do you still remember Kris, John, and Alba who joined our student union a few days ago? They went on a trip to Mount Huangshan yesterday and John, unfortunately, fell off the cliff. Kris wanted to search for him, but Li Yundong was too busy. He wants me to apany her.¡±

    Yan Fang maintained a calm expression, but her heart was being flooded by turmoil.

    The battle on Tiandu Peak and Mount Huangshan had spread throughout the cultivation world overnight!

    Although Yan Fang had been hiding, ¡°he¡± was not blocked. Of course, he wanted to know about this news. Especially when ¡°he¡± heard that Li Yundong had asked Feng Na to go with Kris, ¡°he¡± immediately felt a jolt and smiled, ¡°You guys are gonna apany Kris to Mount Huangshan? Can I go with you?¡±

    Feng Na was taken aback. ¡°You? You want to go with us? What about the meeting this afternoon?¡±

    Yan Fangughed and said, ¡°We have other deputy chairmen. Let them do it.¡±

    Feng Na knew that Yan Hua had an unusual rtionship with Li Yundong. Now he was taking the initiative and she couldn¡¯t help wondering about it in her mind.

    When Yan Fang saw this, she immediately smiled. ¡°Senior, John is an exchange student at our school. If he really has had an ident, shouldn¡¯t I help him? What¡¯s more, you¡¯re all women. What if there is a safety problem or a bad guy? Anyway, I am a man and I can protect you. Even if there is no bad guy, I will ask the locals for help. If you have something you need help with, I can do it. What do you think?¡±

    Feng Na hesitated over Yan Fang¡¯s words. She thought a moment before replying, ¡°You¡¯re indeed a talented persuader. What you said makes sense. Alright, let¡¯s go together!¡±

    Yan Fang was on cloud nine and said, ¡°When shall we go?¡±

    Feng Na replied, ¡°Now. I¡¯ll go back and pack up. See you at the school gate!¡±

    Yan Fang watched Feng Na enter the ssroom and then walk to the student¡¯s dormitory with Cheng Cheng. ¡°His¡± smile gradually became gloomy, and another meaningful smile lurked around the corner of his mouth instead...

 Chapter 587 All Is in Destiny

    <h4>Chapter 587 All Is in Destiny</h4>

    After the fierce battle at Tiandu Peak, although the divine punishment caused by Xu Ling had not urred, it began to rain the next day, leading Mount Huangshan to be shrouded in bean-sized raindrops. It was so dark that it seemed to be covered by a lid, with shes of lightning showing in the thick dark clouds from time to time, as if they were alerting the world of something.

    On the path to Mount Huangshan, Zhang Ling, a member of the Zhengyi Sect, raised her head up to the lighting-filled sky with reverent eyes. She was being closely followed by her disciple, Zou Ping, who asked, ¡°Master, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Zhang Ling sighed with deep feeling, ¡°Spring ising, and it¡¯s time to go through Lightning Retribution again...¡±

    Zou Ping held a bamboo-framed paper umbre and asked in confusion, ¡°Master, why are you suddenly so emotional?¡±

    Zhang Ling shook her head slightly. ¡°The battle at Tiandu Peak happened so suddenly that we didn¡¯t receive any word of it. Unexpectedly, after this battle, Li Yundong, Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, and the little fox demoness got to enjoy three Diyuan Jindan. What luck! The Jinshen Phase is the most difficult bottleneck for cultivators. Thus, as long as they can break through this bottleneck, the Lightning Retribution phase will be only a matter of time. After passing that, they can directly cultivate themselves to the Ninth Heaven...¡±

    Zhang Ling let out a long sigh for a while, then said in a lonely and bitter tone, ¡°I have been cultivating for decades, but I still can¡¯t break through to the Jinshen Phase. However, Li Yundong has only cultivated for half a year, yet he sessfully reached the Jinshen Phase... It seems that the most favorable time to go through Lightning Retribution is in spring. When it happens, many people will want to take the challenge. Will Li Yundong be amongst them?¡±

    Although she held a grudge against Li Yundong, Zou Ping was in awe of his rapid progress with cultivation. ¡°Master, even if he has cultivated to the jinshen stage, he will not be able to survive the Lightning Retribution so easily! It took nearly ten years for Sect Master to go through the stage!¡±

    Zhang Ling shook her head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t think so. This guy is so lucky and amazing.¡± As she said this, Zhang Ling turned around and looked at Zou Ping with bright, shining eyes, and continued in a deep voice, ¡°Do you know why I brought you here?¡±

    Zou Ping shook her head. ¡°No. I¡¯m just wondering why you¡¯re still here after the fight.¡±

    Zhang Ling said with a smile, ¡°I¡¯m not the only one. In fact, many sects have sent people here in private. They are searching everywhere.¡±

    Zou Ping was taken aback for a moment, but she quickly came to a realization. ¡°Everyone wants the Medicine King Tripod?¡±

    Zhang Ling nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right! When Wan Zhenyuan left, he only took one Diyuan Jindan, but he left the Medicine King Tripod behind. There¡¯s been no news about that after the battle at Tiandu Peak, so I guess it must be in the vicinity of Mount Huangshan, and we may find it if we¡¯re lucky and it¡¯s not already been taken away by someone.¡±

    Zou Ping was happy at first, but then she said with a little frustration, ¡°So what if we find it? Can I refine more Diyuan Jindan with it?¡±

    Zhang Ling sneered and said, ¡°You durd! It doesn¡¯t matter whether we can refine with it or not. What¡¯s important is making sure that no one else can use it, understand?¡±

    Zou Ping suddenly understood and said, ¡°So that¡¯s how it is. Master, you are still the best, with insightful vision and a sophisticated mind.¡±

    Zhang Ling snorted and said, ¡°Don¡¯t tter me! Besides, if Wan Zhenyuan can refine the Diyuan elixir, why can¡¯t we? We can¡¯t do what the Gezao Sect can do? Although the Gezao Sect is the secondrgest sect in External Alchemy, there are many masters in our sect who are also good at refining elixirs! Like Zhang Kongyun, my junior fellow apprentice. He¡¯s one of them!¡±

    Thinking of Zhang Kongyun¡¯s sloppy appearance of a farmer, she couldn¡¯t help but frown. ¡°Him? A master in alchemy?¡±

    Zhang Ling saidughingly, ¡°Can¡¯t believe it? I¡¯ve told you many times that you shouldn¡¯t judge a book by its cover! He has many skills!¡±

    The two of them chatted along the way, always looking around with sharp eyes. Suddenly, Zou Ping¡¯s gaze swept across the area and she saw a vague figure on a cliff.

    Zou Ping pointed at it and eximed, ¡°Master, look, there¡¯s someone there!¡±

    Zhang Ling looked over and saw a figure hanging from a green pine on the cliff. Turning to Zou Ping, she said, ¡°Let¡¯s go and see what¡¯s going on.¡±

    Zou Ping nodded and her Yang Spirit instantly went out of her body and circled the man. Then, she quickly returned to her physical body and said, ¡°Master, it¡¯s a foreigner who seems to have fallen off the cliff and is unconscious. Will you save him?¡±

    Zhang Ling was stunned. ¡°A foreigner? Maybe it¡¯s a foreign tourist who has lost his footing. Save him. See if he¡¯s still alive.¡±

    Zou Ping agreed and her Yang Spirit flew out again. After a while, a man with blond hair and blue eyes on was brought over Zou Ping¡¯s Yang Spirit¡¯s back. It was John, who had fallen off the cliff.

    Zhang Ling bent down and felt his pulse on his neck, saying with a smile, ¡°He¡¯s still alive! How lucky!¡±

    Zou Ping¡¯s Yang Spirit returned to her physical body and she also checked John¡¯s pulse with a frown. ¡°But Master, he¡¯s almost dead, what should we do? Save him with Qi Control?¡±

    Zhang Ling thought for a moment, sighed slightly, and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need to use Qi Control to save him. Mount Huangshan is not Mount Longhu, and we are not in the territory of our sect. The Buddhists and other Taoist sects here are very powerful, so we can¡¯t waste our Zhenjiang. We¡¯d better save him with a Rehabilitation Pill.¡±

    Zou Ping was slightly shocked. ¡°Master, saving a foreigner with a Rehabilitation Pill? This... is too wasteful, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Zhang Ling shook her head, bowed with one hand to the sky, and said, ¡°That¡¯s not true. As the saying goes, the heavens have good virtues. It¡¯s unusual for him to have fallen off the cliff and not died. This is the mandate of Kismet that cannot be vited. You¡¯re also a cultivator, have you done your daily homework for nothing?¡±

    Although a little reluctant, she took out a small purple-green porcin bottle from her arms and poured out a golden, thumb-sized pill. She pinched John¡¯s cheeks and stuffed the pill into his mouth, muttering, ¡°You lucky guy. It is a life-saving elixir that is hard to buy even with a mass of gold. You can eat one. Hum! I have never tasted one!¡±

    Zhang Ling couldn¡¯t helpughing. ¡°Do you want to try it? It¡¯s easy. If you jump from the mountain, you can try one.¡±

    Zou Ping stood up and said with a smile, ¡°Master, I¡¯m just joking. I just feel that it¡¯s a pity that such a good elixir has been used to save a foreigner.¡±

    Zhang Ling didn¡¯tment. She stared at John with her bright eyes, only to see that his pale face was gradually turning a little redder. She suddenly had an idea. She felt that John¡¯s face was a little familiar, so she said to Zou Ping, ¡°Push his hair away and have a look.¡±

    At this time, it was raining heavily. His hair was very messy, even covering most of his forehead and eyes. After Zou Ping pushed his hair away, she was surprised and eximed, ¡°Master, he looks so familiar!¡±

    Zou Ping suddenly understood and said, ¡°Ah, I remember seeing him at the Taoist Assembly! This guy has been chasing after Li Yundong, hoping to be his apprentice, right?¡±

    Zhang Ling suddenly sneered and said, ¡°Li Yundong again! Humph! If I had known earlier, I wouldn¡¯t have saved him!¡±

    Zou Ping immediately said, ¡°Master, why don¡¯t I push him off again?¡±

    Zhang Ling suddenly red at her and said, ¡°Are you crazy? How can you say such things? Let¡¯s go. It¡¯s his life to look after now! I just hope that he won¡¯t go against us with Li Yundong in the future!¡± After that, she waved her sleeves unhappily and left.

    Seeing that she was leaving, Zou Ping looked back at John and shouted, ¡°Master, wait for me!¡± With that, she chased after her.

    As they walked along the path towards the ropeway, a few people came toward them. The leading woman had blond hair and blue eyes and was a tall and beautiful westerner. She was followed by a round-faced beauty and a busty beauty, behind which stood a handsome boy.

    They were none other than Kris, Feng Na, Cheng Cheng, and Yan Fang. Behind them, a few locals were continuously gesticting.

    Holding a tiny umbre and looking around carefully. Feng Na saw Zhang Ling and Zou Ping at first nceing from the opposite side of the ropeway and she called to them loudly, ¡°Hello! Have you seen a foreigner with blonde hair and blue eyes around here?¡± As she spoke, she handed over a pre-prepared photo of John to them.

    As Zhang Ling had identally saved John, who was rted to Li Yundong, she was rather unhappy to see that the person in the photo in Feng Na¡¯s hand was John. She sneered and said angrily, ¡°I haven¡¯t seen him before!¡± As she said that, she took Zou Ping and rushed away.

    Feng Na was tongue-tied as she looked at their backs. For a moment, she was at a loss for words, but then she muttered in a low voice, ¡°They¡¯ve never seen him before. Why are they so angry?¡±

    Cheng Cheng, who was standing to one side, whispered, ¡°Well, Nana, don¡¯t argue with them over it. Let¡¯s look around. It should be this area, right? Kris?¡±

    Kris was looking around anxiously after hearing Cheng Cheng¡¯s words, and she nodded, ¡°John fell somewhere nearby, but we were looking for him at the foot of the mountain and didn¡¯t see him. I don¡¯t know if he is dead or alive. I¡¯m so anxious!¡±

    Feng Naforted, ¡°Kris, the residents nearby also said that there are a lot of trees here so it¡¯s possible he got stuck on one. John is blessed by the heavens, he should be fine.¡±

    While she was talking, she saw that Yan Fang was turning her head and staring at Zou Ping and Zhang Ling, who were leaving, with a faint sneer at the corner of her mouth.

    Feng Na asked her, ¡°Yan Hua, what are you looking at?¡±

    Yan Fang turned her face to cover up her gaffe. ¡°He¡± said with a smile, ¡°Nothing. I just feel that they are a little strange. Why did theye to the Mount Huangshan on such a rainy day?¡±

    Feng Na smiled and said, ¡°What¡¯s so strange about that? Why did youe to Mount Huangshan, hm? Don¡¯t stare anymore. Look carefully.¡±

    Yan Fang smiled and stopped talking. ¡°He¡± finally nced in the direction of Zhang Ling¡¯s departure and thought to himself, ¡°Hum, they are indeed looking for the Medicine King Tripod! Have they found it?¡±

    Cross and the others searched along the road but found nothing. Feng Na stood on the path halfway up the mountain in a somewhat lost manner and said, ¡°This isn¡¯t a good idea. Perhaps we should spread out and look around? We should also call for him. Perhaps John will hear us if he wakes up.¡±

    Krisughed bitterly and said, ¡°That¡¯s the only way. I¡¯ll look east. You guys can look in other directions.¡±

    Feng Na nodded. She turned to Yan Fang and said, ¡°Yan Fang, where will you go?¡±

    Yan Fang had no intention of looking for someone with them. The reason why she hade to Mount Huangshan with Feng Na and the others was that she wanted to spy on the situation after the battle of Tiandu Peak and find the whereabouts of the Medicine King Tripod. Secondly, Yan Fang knew through her own sources that Kris had also obtained the Divine Aura of Elixir, so she wanted to find an opportunity to transform.

    Ever since Yan Fang had taken over her nephew¡¯s body, her strength had decreased even though she had changed from a body with five punctures to a desirable male body. Especially when she was cultivating, there would always be a strong sense of sin lingering in her heart. What was worse was that the Yuanyang Qi in Yan Hua¡¯s body would always cause a violent conflict with her own Yuanyin Qi, leading to a setback in cultivation!

    Yan Fang smiled and said to Feng Na, ¡°Kris is new here and I¡¯m afraid that she¡¯ll be in danger, so I¡¯d better stay with her.¡±

    Thinking for a moment, Feng Na said with a smile, ¡°Well, let¡¯s split up for now and meet back here in an hour?¡±

    After discussing it for a while, they dispersed in all directions.

    Kris did not know that she was being stared at by Yan Fang. On the contrary, she smiled at Yan Fang gratefully and said, ¡°Thank you very much. You are really a gentleman.¡±

    Yan Fang put on a fake smile and said meaningfully, ¡°You don¡¯t have to thank me. I¡¯m not a gentleman.¡±

    Kris knew that Chinese people were modest, so she thought it was Yan Fang being humble. She smiled politely at ¡°him¡± and said, ¡°Where should we start looking for them?¡±

    Yan Fang deliberately wanted to lead her to a ce where there was hardly anyone around. ¡°He¡± casually pointed and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go over there.¡±

    Seeing that Yan Fang was pointing at a mountain path, she hesitated for a moment, but soon nodded and said, ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go.¡± With that, she walked forward by herself.

    Walking behind her, Yan Fang stared at her as if she was a hunter watching his prey walk into a trap, a faint sneer at the corner of her mouth.

    After walking for a while, Yan Fang saw that the trees were green and dense, and there was no trace of other people around. It was obviously a good ce to kill and silence someone. She sneered in his heart, but just as she was about to go forward to attack, she suddenly heard a cry of surprise. Kris ran forward like crazy and shouted, ¡°John, is that you? John!¡±

 Chapter 588 Unable to Be Helped in the Slightes

    <h4>Chapter 588 Unable to Be Helped in the Slightes</h4>

    Kris couldn¡¯t believe that just as she was on the verge of despair, she had found John again!

    She ran forward joyously, not knowing that she had just brushed with death.

    Yan Fang frowned slightly and withdrew her hand. With a touch of surprise on her face, she trotted forward. "He" wanted to confirm whether John was still alive or not. "He" couldn¡¯t allow another uncontroble factor to emerge nearby while exchanging souls with others.

    At the sight of John lying on the path in the mountains with scratches and bruises all over his body, Kris hastily squatted down to check his breath.

    As soon as she stretched out her fingers, she felt waves of heat radiating over to her fingertips. She was ovee by exaltation and eximed, "Thank God, he¡¯s still alive!" As she said this, she unexpectedly stood up in the rapture and hugged Yan Fang, who had, unbeknownst to her, tried to kill her just now.

    Yan Fang also hugged her back, smiling. But her eyes passed over Kris¡¯s shoulder to look at John with panic and suspicion. She asked tentatively, "Are you sure that he¡¯s all right?"

    Kris was so wild with joy that tears gushed from her eyes. Sheughed and said, "Let¡¯s hurry up and take him to the hospital. He¡¯ll not be all right If we keep him here a moment longer!"

    While she was talking, John suddenly uttered a groan and whispered, "Water..."

    Kris quickly searched her pockets, only to disappointedly cry, "Damn it, Feng Na¡¯s got the water!" She hurriedly said to Yan Fang, "You stay here and watch him. I¡¯ll call Feng Na!"

    She took out her cellphone and dialed Fong Na¡¯s number, but failed to connect due to the poor signal in the mountainous area. Helplessly, she shot a nce at Yan Fang. Seeming to know what she wanted to say, Yan Fang rushed to say, "I¡¯ll look after him. You go find Feng Na and tell her the good news."

    Kris didn¡¯t doubt him at all. She beamed and nodded forcefully, and then set off.

    Watching the diminishing figure of Kris, the smile on Yan Fang¡¯s face gradually vanished. "He" looked at John with great animosity, cursing in a low voice, "Damn it! Why did she have to find you at this moment? Damn it, why are you still alive?"

    Yan Fang looked at John with hatred in her eyes. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. "He" slightly bent down and whispered, "There is still the smell of the Rehabilitation Pill on your body! Who saved you? Was it Zhang Ling? Hum, that guy is so meddlesome. Why didn¡¯t he let you die directly! Do you know how difficult it is for me to find a good body? Do you know how Li Yundong has forced my hand?"

    Yan Fang was so incensed that her face was distorted, and she was cursing at everything like a devil. "Look at me now. Neither a man, nor a woman. Neither a human, nor a ghost! Even my cultivation has regressed so much! Damn, why are you foreigners so lucky, even escaping death when you fall down a cliff? Why is Kris so fortunate that she can even have ess to the Divine Aura of Elixir? Damn it! Li Yundong, the b*stard, helps the wicked. Why does God favor him? Why?"

    Yan Fang¡¯s low growl echoed through the jungle like the roar of a devil. Her eyes, shining with ferocity, suddenly fell on John, whose eyelids were trembling slightly. The golden-haired, blue-eyed foreigner opened his eyes with difficulty and struggled to refute, "My master, he, he is a good person..."

    These words of the sentence were in, yet it was like a bolt of lightning out of the blue striking at Yan Fang!

    She suddenly stood up in shock, taking two steps back and looking at John in stupefaction, stammering, "You, you¡¯re awake? What did you hear? You, you heard it?"

    John made a great effort to keep his eyes open and said in stops and starts, "I heard what you said. You misunderstood my master. He..."

    Yan Fang didn¡¯t hear a word of what John said afterward. Her mind buzzed and her soul was overwhelmed by fear and panic!

    She had never thought that her cultivation would be reduced to such a degree that she could not even detect whether the person in front of her was awake or not!

    But what was even more frightening was that John had actually heard what she had said!!

    This meant that her identity had been exposed!

    "Although I can change to yet another body, it certainly won¡¯t be easy. Whose body shall I cling to? Kris? What if shees back and John tells her what I said just now? Change to John¡¯s body? This foreigner¡¯s Yang Qi is even more powerful than Yan Hua¡¯s!"

    Moreover, even if she was in John¡¯s body, what about Yan Hua¡¯s body? Where could it be hidden? How could she tell others about where he was? Could she adapt to thenguage and habits of a foreigner? She was acquainted with Yan Hua, at least, but as for this foreigner...

    For a moment, the expression on Yan Fang¡¯s face kept changing, showing firstly panic, and then difort, then dread, indignance, and finally bloodlust.

    Why had Li Yundong¡¯s cultivation umted so swiftly and gotten increasingly stronger? Why did she always run away like a stray dog, her cultivation bing weaker and weaker? Why?

    The more Yan Fang thought about it, the more evil thoughts grew in her heart. She stared at John viciously and thought to herself, "It would be wonderful if this guy perished!"

    Though seriously injured at present, his instinct for survival was still strong, and the innate sense of threat and his sense of impending doom still existed. Observing the growing murderous look in Yan Fang¡¯s eyes, he was suddenly shocked and, subconsciously, wanted to turn around and run away.

    But at this time, Yan Fang, grinning hideously, quickly stepped forward and pped him around the head!

    John was a veteran practitioner of martial arts. Though seriously injured, at this critical moment between life and death, all his potential power was invigorated. He subconsciously tilted his body and thus avoided the deadly p, but his shoulder was hit squarely and heavily. He was thrown out like a lost kite and in no time rolled down the steep hillside.

    Gazing at John rolling down from the mountain, Yan Fang sneered and said with a grim smile, "Hit by this very p, all your bones will be broken and you will definitely kick the bucket within two hours, not to mention that you roll down this high mountain again! It would be unnatural and abhorrent if you still didn¡¯t snuff it this time around!"

    Again with a vicious look, Yan Fang stared in the direction in which John had fallen off the cliff for a long time. Eventually, "he" turned back and re-arranged the area, contriving a scene that made it seem like John had fallen identally, while "he" himself had dodged to the side, quietly awaiting the return of Kris, Feng Na, and the others.

    Unbeknownst to Yan Fang, however, was that John had been lucky enough to have his head free from hitting the rocks and he had rolled down to the foot of the mountain, where a girl shouted clearly: "Oh, someone has fallen, master!"

    Hearing the voice, John could do naught but utter a cry for help with thest bit of strength he had before immediately passing out.

    At this time, a pretty girl came over to hisatose body. She was none other than the youngest junior sister of Zhengyi School, Zhang Liufang, who had attended the Taoist Assembly with Zou Ping before.

    Zhang Liufang walked over to John curiously, only to see that his face was so badly swollen and bruised that it waspletely unrecognizable. She squatted down to check John¡¯s pulse and became like a wizened old man, saying, "Master, he is a foreigner! It seems that he still has breath in his lungs! Hey... there is a smell of Rehabilitation Pill of our Zhengyi School on him. How strange. Who gave it to him?"

    Zhang Kongyun walked over unhurriedly with a crutch in his hand. He squinted and shot a nce at John, clicking his tongue and sighing, "If I¡¯m not mistaken, it was Senior Sister Apprentice Zhang Ling who saved him."

    "Was Great Master also there?" Zhang Liufang opened her eyes wide and asked inquisitively.

    Zhang Kongyun stroked his beard and said with a chuckle, "Nonsense! If even I¡¯m looking for the Medicine King Tripod, how could she not be?"

    Zhang Liufang blinked and pointed to John lying beside her feet, asking, "Master, shall we save him?"

    Shaking his head, Zhang Kongyun heaved a sigh, "s, First Senior Sister even gave him the Rehabilitation Pill. Obviously, he had been seriously injured before he fell off the cliff. Now, he is even more wounded... Eh, he seems to have been hit with a p? Let me have a look!"

    Zhang Kongyun bent down to check John¡¯s pulse, then suddenly frowned and said, "This aura... it seems to be the Qi of Taoism of our sect! No way! Was it Senior Sister?"

    bbergasted, Zhang Liufang stuttered, "Could it be that Great Master identally hurt him and then gave him the Rehabilitation Pill?"

    Zhang Kongyun shook his head and retorted, "It¡¯s impossible! First Senior Sister is proud and conceited. Though short-tempered, obdurate, and tending to hide her shorings and faults, she is still a good person at heart. She wouldn¡¯t do such an immoral thing."

    Zhang Liufang looked at John sympathetically and said, "This man is really unlucky. He fell off the cliff twice! And he¡¯s escaped death by the skin of his teeth twice! Master, can you save him?"

    Zhang Kongyun scratched his beard in embarrassment, saying with his brows knitted, "This person has taken the Rehabilitation Pill before. Obviously, he had been injured before, and now he has been severely hurt again from both human force and falling off the cliff, going from bad to worse! It¡¯s difficult for even an immortal to salvage him!"

    Quite disappointed, Zhang Liufang said, "Ah? Master, even you are unable to save him?"

    Zhang Kongyun thought for a while before replying, "I can only give it a try, but the results will depend on his own luck."

    Zhang Liufang saidughingly, "Master, just give it a try! After all, no one will know it if you fail to rescue him."

    Zhang Kongyun red at her and pretended to be angry, "Ugh, doomsayer!" As he said this, he rolled up his sleeves, pulled out a golden needle, and then quickly inserted it into the Baihui acupoint on John¡¯s head.

    Zhang Kongyun¡¯s technique was fast and steady. As he rubbed his fingers, all of the three-inch-long golden needles was inserted into the acupoint, leaving only the tip.

    Zhang Liufang watched wide-eyed and looked at Zhang Kongyun nervously, who, after slightly nudging the golden needle with his fingers, promptly pulled it out.

    Shortly afterward, John¡¯s eyelids trembled slightly and he slowly opened his eyes.

 Chapter 589 Visitors from Japan

    <h4>Chapter 589 Visitors from Japan</h4>

    When Zhang Liufang saw John waking up, she pped her hands and said with a smile, "You woke up, you woke up. Master, you are really amazing!"

    Zhang Kongyun proudly put away the golden needle, stroked his beard, and said with a smile, "Of course!"

    Zhang Liufang squatted down and shouted to John, "Hey, big nose! How did you get hurt? Who hurt you?"

    But John just looked at her with a confused expression. After a while, he suddenlyughed and stammered, "Master, Master..."

    Zhang Liufang was shocked. She patted the foreigner¡¯s face and said, "Hey, wake up. I¡¯m not your master!"

    John smiled at her foolishly and said, "Master, Master, Master is good, a good person..."

    Zhang Liufang turned her head and looked at Zhang Kongyun helplessly. "Master... will he be regarded as an idiot by you?"

    Zhang Kongyun¡¯s face was full of embarrassment. He red at Zhang Liufang angrily and said, "Nonsense! How could my needle have turned him into an idiot! I¡¯m not some acupuncture novice, you know!"

    Zhang Liufang said suspiciously, "Oh? Then why is he like this?"

    Seeing that his disciple was doubting his authority, Zhang Kongyun was so angry that he red at her and said, "It must be that this guy¡¯s breath is disordered, which has caused chaos in his upper dantian for a short time. That¡¯s why he lost his mind and became stupid!"

    Zhang Liufang looked helplessly at John, who kept grinning inanely. She sighed and said, "Master, what should we do? Leave him here?"

    Zhang Kongyun sighed and said, "Forget it. Take him back. I¡¯ll go and get some medicine for him. Let¡¯s see if we can cure him."

    Zhang Liufang blinked slowly and said with a smile, "Okay, okay, someone can y with me. Although this guy is a little stupid, he¡¯s better than some old guy who grows vegetables all day long!"

    Zhang Kongyun rolled his eyes, flicked his sleeves, and said, "Then you¡¯ll be responsible for carrying him. I don¡¯t care!" Then he left on his own.

    Zhang Liufang quickly shouted after him a few times, but Zhang Kongyun didn¡¯t look back and just walked far away in the blink of an eye. She stamped her feet in anger and said in frustration, "You¡¯re so annoying. You¡¯re making such a little girl carry such a big man on her back. Bah, you stink!"

    Zhang Liufang heaved the grinning foreigner onto her back and quickly chased after Zhang Kongyun.

    The two of them quickly walked out of the scenic spot. Just as he was about to leave the area, Zhang Kongyun suddenly saw a group of vigers at the foot of the mountain gathering in front of a high-spirited viger. They were discussing something loudly. In the middle, the high-spirited viger, who was surrounded by a bit of a crowd, was holding a purple-gold object high in his hand.

    Zhang Kongyun took a closer look and was shocked. He thought to himself, "Is that the Medicine King Tripod?"

    He immediately stepped forward and looked over the crowd. Sure enough, he saw that everyone was looking at the purple tripod in the viger¡¯s hand with awe-filled sighs. The tripod gave off a strange fragrance and was exquisitely carved. What was even more amazing was that there was ayer of white mist around it, as if it was an immortal¡¯s possession.

    What else could it be if it wasn¡¯t the Medicine King Tripod?

    Zhang Kongyun was shocked and immediately squeezed through the vigers. He quickly said, "Good people, your Medicine... Ah, are you selling this tripod?"

    The farmer holding it immediately looked him up and down warily and snorted, "Of course I¡¯ll sell it. Why not?"

    Zhang Kongyun was overjoyed and said, "How much do you want for it? I¡¯ll buy it!"

    The vigerughed and said, "Well, Wang Er next door just taught me a trick and said that he wanted me to sell this at auction. Whoever offers the highest price will get it!"

    Zhang Kongyun was shocked. "Ah? You want to sell this... uh, this cauldron?"

    The viger said proudly, "Of course! You can tell at a nce that this thing is a treasure. It will definitely be sold for a good price!"

    Zhang Kongyun asked tentatively, "How about I give you 200,000 yuan for the thing in your hand right here, right now. Do you want to sell it or not?"

    The viger snorted and clutched the medicine king¡¯s tripod tightly. He sneered and said, "Just now, someone offered me 500,000 yuan, but I didn¡¯t sell it. Do you still want to offer 200,000 yuan?"

    Zhang Kongyun frowned and thought, "Has someone already started the bidding?"

    He quickly raised two fingers and said, "Okay, then I¡¯ll pay two million yuan to buy it now. Do you want to sell it to me or not?"

    As soon as he finished his words, the crowd burst into an uproar!

    Two million yuan was no paltry sum!

    The viger was stunned. "Two million?" His eyes suddenly gleamed with a strong interest, but he soon gritted his teeth and said, "No!"

    Zhang Kongyun immediately said, "How about three million!?" The crowd burst into exmations once again.

    At this time, the farmerughed and said, "It seems that it¡¯s really a treasure! I won¡¯t sell it here, but you can buy it at the auction!"

    Zhang Kongyun stared at the viger for a long time and gritted his teeth spitefully. In the end, he just shook his head helplessly and stepped out of the crowd.

    Zhang Liufang snorted and said, "It¡¯s better to just pilfer it! He won¡¯t even sell it for three million yuan. Doesn¡¯t he care about money at all?"

    Zhang Kongyun shook his head. "Nonsense, there are so many mortals here. Do you want to rob them all? How will you deal with the consequences? Don¡¯t say that you won¡¯t draw the ire of the government. If other sects find out about this, aren¡¯t you afraid of having to suffer their wrath? We¡¯re from the Zhengyi School!"

    Zhang Liufang carried John on her back and looked at the vigers, who were still showing off in the field, with disappointment. "What should we do?"

    Zhang Kongyun sighed and said, "Well, since he wants to auction it, he won¡¯t be able to run off anywhere. Later, when we get back, find someone to keep an eye on him. If someone wants to rob him, let¡¯s wait until they¡¯ve done so, and then we can rob the thief. If no one wants to rob him, we¡¯ll just see who is richer at the auction."

    Zhang Liufang¡¯s anxiety turned to joy. "That¡¯s right. Are we still short of money?"

    Zhang Kongyun shook his head and said, "Not necessarily. If the cultivators in the world find out that the Medicine King Tripod is being auctioned, it will definitely turn society upside down. At that time, there will be another storm!" Then, he sighed and said, "Let¡¯s go. This trip has not been in vain. We finally know the whereabouts of the tripod."

    Just as Zhang Kongyun was about to return to Longhu Mountain with Zhang Liufang and John, who was in a daze, Kris, Feng Na, and Cheng Cheng were pleasantly surprised to hear of John¡¯s survival and were rushing over to his original location.

    But when they reached the spot, they found that John had already disappeared. Kris immediately became anxious and shouted like an ant on a hot pot, "John! John!!"

    Feng Na looked around and asked sympathetically, "Is this the ce?"

    Kris stamped her feet and said anxiously, "It¡¯s definitely here. I remember it clearly! By the way, Yan Hua said that he would help look after John. Where is he?"

    Feng Naforted softly, "Kris, don¡¯t worry. Maybe it was Yan Hua who took John to another ce."

    However, Kris replied anxiously, "John Doe is so badly injured. How could he move at will?"

    Cheng Cheng, who was standing to one side, had sharp eyes. When she saw that a person hade out of the forest, she knew it was Yan Fang. She hurriedly pointed and said, "Ah, here he is!"

    Kris immediately rushed in front of Yan Fang and asked anxiously, "Yan Hua, where did you go?"

    Yan Fang looked as if nothing had happened. He smiled and said, "I had to go and relieve myself. What¡¯s wrong? What happened?"

    Kris looked terrified, and an ominous thought suddenly shed across her mind. She said in a trembling voice, "What? You went to answer nature¡¯s cal? He... John isn¡¯t with you?"

    The smile on Yan Fang¡¯s face gradually froze. He pretended to be surprised and said, "What¡¯s wrong with John? What happened?"

    Kris heart sank bit by bit. She felt that her hands and feet were numb. "Damn it, John shouldn¡¯t..." As she said this, she immediately rushed to the edge of the cliff and looked down with her eyes wide.

    But the slope of Mount Huang was steep. Although they were halfway up the mountain, the woods at the foot of the mountain were dense. Even if there was an army hiding there, they might not be able to spot it, let alone a single person.

    The more she looked, the colder her heart became. The more she thought about it, the more flustered she became. Cheng Cheng suddenly pointed at her feet and said, "Hey, look!"

    Kris and the others looked in the direction that Cheng Cheng was pointing, only to see a few footprints that were difficult to identify. The weeds beside them were also inplete disarray. Kris¡¯ heart suddenly trembled, and she said in fear, "Could it be..."

    Yan Fang saw that everyone wasing to the realizations she had intended them to reach. She was overjoyed in her heart, but she said with fear and uneasiness on her face, "Did John somehow roll away?"

    This sentence made everyone¡¯s hearts jump. Kris knelt down beside the cliff. She remembered that John had fallen off the cliff to save her in the first ce, and it was so easy to find him. Even though she had found that he wasn¡¯t dead, he still hadn¡¯t been able to escape from the death god¡¯s ws. She suddenly felt intense grief and burst into tears.

    Yan Fang¡¯s face was also filled with grief and self-me. "He" said repeatedly, "It¡¯s all my fault. I, I should have watched him. I shouldn¡¯t have left!"

    Seeing that Yan Fang kept ming herself, Feng Na also sighed and said, "It¡¯s not certain yet. Yan Hua, you don¡¯t have to me yourself too much. Let¡¯s go down the mountain and look for him."

    After she finished speaking, Kris immediately stood up and frantically ran down the mountain.

    The group of people arrived at the foot of the mountain. Even with the help of the locals, they found no trace of John¡¯s whereabouts. The only local who had seen John lived on the other side of the mountain and could not meet with Kris and the others.

    After searching for a long time and seeing that it was almost nighttime, everyone finally gave up. After leaving their contact information with the locals, they set off on their long journey back to Tiannan City.

    Along the way, Kris was preupied and her heart was heavy. After saying goodbye to Feng Na, she returned to Li Yundong¡¯s residence.

    However, just as she entered the building, she saw Ling Yue arguing loudly with two men in suits by one of the doors in the corridor.

    The men in suits were kneeling at the door with straight backs, tightly blocking the door. One of them had put his hands on his knees and was saying loudly, "Miss, I am Changsheng from the Western Garden Temple, the secret sect of Zhen Yan. I have been ordered by Masako Tachibana to meet with Li Yundong. Please introduce me!

 Chapter 590 The Devilâ€™s Morals!

    <h4>Chapter 590 The Devil¡¯s Morals!</h4>

    It was obviously not the first time that Ling Yue of the Fox Zen School Sect had dealt with this man. She said angrily, ¡°I¡¯ve told you, our leader is meditating in seclusion. Can¡¯t you lower your voice?¡±

    Saionji Tsunekatsu opened his eyes wide and said, ¡°Seclusion? In such a ce? Do you think we are all fools?¡±

    Ling Yue said angrily, ¡°It¡¯s none of your business where our leader goes to meditate. Even if he is in seclusion here, what does it have to do with you?¡±

    There was a sh of anger in Xiyuan Temple¡¯s eyes, but he suppressed his anger and said, ¡°If I don¡¯t see Li Yundong, I will never leave!¡±

    A man next to him also said in a high voice, ¡°We want to meet the leader, Li Yundong. Please introduce us to him!¡±

    The little foxes behind Ling Yue sauntered over one after another and said, ¡°You two are so annoying. We¡¯ve said that the head is in seclusion. What are you talking about? What¡¯s so urgent? Can¡¯t it wait for a few days?¡±

    Saionji Tsunekatsu said, ¡°Masako Tachibana sent me with a letter challenging him to a fight, but Li Yundong still hasn¡¯t given us a reply!¡±

    Ling Yue was shocked and looked Saionji Tsunekatsu up and down. She asked in surprise, ¡°Did you give it to me?¡±

    At this time, Cao Yi and Liu Yuehong of the Fox Zen School heard the noise and came out one after another. Seeing the two Japanese men blocking the door, Cao Yi couldn¡¯t help frowning and saying, ¡°I can bring our leader to reply to you. He has received the letter. I¡¯m not sure whether he wille or not.¡±

    Saionji Tsunekatsu couldn¡¯t help but say angrily, ¡°How can we do that? Leader Li Yundong must go!¡±

    Cao Yi frowned and said with slight anger, ¡°Why? Are you going to kidnap our leader if he doesn¡¯t want to go?¡±

    Saionji Tsunekatsu said in a high voice, ¡°A true cultivator shouldn¡¯t retreat in the face of a challenge. He is nothing but a coward!¡±

    Hearing this, Ao Wushuang, who was in the room, couldn¡¯t help bute out and say coldly, ¡°Since you are a cultivator of Zhenyan Tantrism, are you a warrior or a monk? Why are you so murderous? What I know about Zhenyan Tantrism is that they do not normally rule with such murderous intent.¡±

    Saionji Tsunekatsu could see that Ao Wushuang was as beautiful as a peach blossom and as cold as a frost. Although she was extremely beautiful, she was exuding a strong aura that could not be vited. He suddenly froze and said politely, ¡°The way we believe is different from the way you believe! You Han people believe in harmony, and we believe in martial arts! Therefore, in our opinion, martial arts are our Taoism! It is shameful to avoid fighting like Leader Li Yundong does. He should be ashamed of himself!¡±

    Ao Wushuang sneered and said, ¡°When I went to Kongobu-ji Temple more than ten years ago, you were not like this. Why are you like this now? Humph, before Li Yundong left, he asked me to temporarily hold the position of leader. I can make the decision for him. Let me tell you, although our leader is also a cultivator who is valued for his harmonious nature and broad mind, he is not someone who lets just anyone take him for a ride. Go back and tell your Masako Tachibana that when hees out of seclusion, he will definitelye to visit her and let her know what real strength is!¡±

    However, Saionji Tsunekatsu looked directly at Ao Wushuang and said stubbornly, ¡°No, I must wait for him here. Logically speaking, he should have left as soon as he received the letter! He has been dyed by two days. This is greatly disrespectful to Lord Masako Tachibana, and it also brings shame on us!¡±

    Ao Wushuang looked at him coldly and shook her head. ¡°You Japanese copy everything from others, but you don¡¯t truly learn anything from them. When our civilization was at its peak, your master Kobo Daishi traveled to China to learn Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. But unfortunately, even after more than a thousand years, you still haven¡¯t learned the essence of our civilization. Don¡¯t you know what it means to not do what you don¡¯t want to do? Are you happy to ept someone forcing you to do this?¡±

    Saionji Tsunekatsu sneered and said, ¡°Us Yamato only know that a winner is a winner! If Leader Li Yundong won¡¯t dare toe, just tell us. Why talk so much nonsense? Don¡¯t you feel ashamed to have to cover for him with the excuse of him being in istion?¡±

    These words made all the people in the Fox Zen School furious at the same time. Ling Yue and the little foxes shouted angrily, ¡°What did you say? Say it again if you have the guts! You think our leader would be afraid of you?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Our leader scared your Tachibana Wakako to tears with one p. How dare you bring this up?¡±

    When Saionji Tsunekatsu heard their words, he ground his teeth in anger. He knew very well that if Masako Tachibana hadn¡¯t lost so badly back then, she wouldn¡¯t have lost her temper so badly and ordered him to make sure that Li Yundong came to Japan no matter what!

    In fact, like Zhenyan Tantrism and the Zhenyi Sect in China, there were many sects below a higher sect, such as the Quanzhen Sect, Quanzhen Dragon Sect, the Quanzhen Yuxian Sect, Quanzhen Nanwu Sect, and different schools below the sect.

    Compared with the Chinese cultivation world, which had suffered many disasters, Zhenyan Tantrism was located in Kongobu-ji Temple. For thousands of years, the incense has not stopped burning. It was not like Mount Hiei in Japan, which had been the site of a massacre by Oda Nobunaga, and had suffered a great cmity and setback.

    After more than 1,200 years of development, Zhenyan Tantrism had been divided into the Ono sect and the Hirosawa sect. The Ono sect and the Hirosawa sect had each produced six different schools of thought, which together were called the Nozawa Twelve. As time went by, these twelve schools of thought gradually transformed into 36 and 70 different schools of thought.

    Most of these Zhenyan Tantrism sects could be ssified into schools of ancient meaning and schools of new meaning. They were also the two most intense sects, such as the Neidan Sect and External Alchemy in the Chinese cultivation world.

    In the era of Jiangfu in Japan, the ancient meaning school had upied Mount K¨­ya, the ancestral court of the Zhenyan Sect. The schools of new meaning had been pushed out of Mount K¨­ya by the schools of ancient meaning. It upied Mount Zhi and Mountain Feng. After a long period of both open and secret strife, the schools of ancient meaning and the schools of new meaning had fought with each other until they were scarred. The two groups of cultivators, unable to bear it any longer, reached an agreement under the five-year management of the Celestial Emperor of Japan. They had initially set up Mount K¨­ya as the general base of the ancient meaning school, and Mount Zhi became the general base of the schools of new meaning. The monks of these sects and the three mountains took turns to serve as the chief directors of the Zhenyan Sect,manding all temples under the Zhenyan Sect.

    However, due to the fact that both factions wanted to hold the position of Head Director of the Zhenyan Sect for a long period of time, the two sides once again began engaging in open and secret struggles. With the awakening of the schools of ancient meaning from Masako Tachibana¡¯s family bloodline, the schools of ancient meaning gradually gained the upper hand in the battle between the two factions. In the ten consecutive years of fighting, the schools of ancient meaning also ended upughing proudly throughout the entire Japanese cultivation world.

    However, it seemed that the four-year-long contest to be the general manager was about to begin. In order topete for this position, the two factions were trying hard to build up momentum amongst the ordinary people. At this critical moment, there was a scandal that Tachibana Wakako, the daughter of Masako Tachibana, had been scared to tears because of a p from a Chinese cultivator!

    As such, it could be said that he had thrown a heavy atomic bomb into the Japanese cultivation world!

    The new sect, which had originally been hostile to them, immediately gloated and spread the news. Some of the other members of the schools of ancient meaning had also angrily made trouble for Masako Tachibana and questioned her.

    Saionji Tsunekatsu still remembered clearly that when Masako Tachibana had been in the lobby of Okunoin Academy, she had been besieged and questioned by many masters of the Ancient Yi Sect, and her weak body had almost copsed under the pressure!

    Although these schools belonged to the ways of ancient thought, the fact that she had upied a high position on her own for so long had caused the other sects to be extremely envious of her. Therefore, the schools of ancient meaning were surging with internal strife and undercurrents.

    Under the discussion of the Divine Lady of the temple, Masako Tachibana, along with the 413 monks of the Kongobu-ji Temple, Ge Xiyi, all agreed that since Li Yundong had brought shame and disaster to them, they had to defeat him in front of the entire cultivation world of Japan! Only in this way could they escape the current crisis!

    However, as the youngest, most promising monk of Kongobu-ji Temple, Saionji Tsunekatsu, who was sometimes referred to as ¡°Chang Sheng Vajra¡±, hade to Tiannan City with a heavy responsibility entrusted to him by Masako Tachibana. However, the challenge letter he brought by him was like a y ox sinking into the sea, garnering no response!

    However, when he saw that the four-year-longpetition of the Director of the Secret Sect of Japan was about to begin, he couldn¡¯t even see Li Yundong¡¯s people. How could he not be anxious?

    In the face of the attack from the Linghuchan Gate, Saionji Tsunekatsu was both anxious and angry. The fierce light in his eyes was gradually revealed, and his back was slightly raised, like he was a fierce beast that could devour a person at any time.

    He thought to himself, ¡°Li Yundong is such a coward. He didn¡¯t even dare to show his face, asking a group of women to be his shield instead! Damn it!¡±

    Saionji Tsunekatsu clenched his fists and trembled with anger. He gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Tachibana Wakako is just a child at a little over ten years old. What¡¯s there for you to be proud of if you defeat her? If you have the ability to defeat Lord Masako Tachibana, then you¡¯ll be the best!¡±

    Seeing that he was so stubborn that they could barely evenmunicate with one another, she still wanted to speak. Ling Yue, who was beside her, said impatiently, ¡°Shishoo, don¡¯t tell him. It¡¯s useless to talk with a brainless chicken! I have told him many times that Leader is in seclusion, but he won¡¯t listen to me! If he wants to kneel, let him kneel!¡±

    At this time, Kris, who had been watching from the side for a long time, finally couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. She stepped forward and said to Saionji Tsunekatsu, ¡°Li Yundong is indeed in seclusion. It¡¯s useless for you to try and force him out.¡±

    Saionji Tsunekatsu turned his head and saw a foreign woman with blond hair and blue eyes speaking to him in fluent Chinese. He was stunned and replied in English, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Kris replied in English, ¡°I¡¯m Kris.¡±

    He then asked, ¡°I mean, how can you be so sure that Li Yundong is in seclusion?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m his registered disciple,¡± said Kris. ¡°Before I left, I watched him enter seclusion.¡±

    Saionji Tsunekatsu was shocked and immediately looked at Kris more seriously. He recognized from her ent that she was an American, but this American had just said that she was Li Yundong¡¯s disciple!

    Saionji Tsunekatsu asked in surprise, ¡°You are his disciple?¡±

    However, Kris shook her head and said, ¡°Well, not quite. I¡¯m just a titr disciple, not an official one.¡±

    For a moment, Saionji Tsunekatsu stared at her in a daze, unable to say anything for a long time.

    In the eyes of many Japanese people, the country they were most afraid of and considered most worthy of looking at was the United States, but what they despised the most was the fact that they had nothing to do with them, and that China was the source of their culture!

    But in the end, this American had be a Chinese disciple? It seemed that an American had asked to be apprenticed. How could Li Yundong only have given her titr discipleship?

    What was going on?

    Seeing that Saionji Tsunekatsu was not speaking, she walked over to Ling Yue and the others and said to him, ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me, you can just sit and wait for a long time, but please be quiet!¡±

    Americans had been the hidden emperors of the Japanese since World War II. The ethnic inferiority had been deeply engraved in the marrow of Japanese people, which made them feel that they were a little less than the American people, even if they were cultivators!

    Saionji Tsunekatsu opened his eyes wide and watched as Kris and the others went through the doorway. Then, the door closed coldly and heartlessly. For a moment, he couldn¡¯te back to his senses or even utter a word.

    A young man at the side couldn¡¯t help but ask anxiously, ¡°Lord Saionji Tsunekatsu, what should we do now?¡±

    Saionji Tsunekatsu calmed down, and he soon came to his senses. He gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Hum, I don¡¯t believe that he is not in there! I clearly saw him go in but note back out again!¡± As he said this, he quickly pinched a few fingers and snorted, ¡°Looks like I¡¯ll have to force him!¡±

 Chapter 591 An Eye for an Eye

    <h4>Chapter 591 An Eye for an Eye</h4>

    Saionji Tsunekatsu quickly made a seal with his hands. His ring finger and little finger curled up, and his thumb, index finger, and middle finger stretched out straight. The tips of his fingers faced each other and pressed down on the ground. Zhenqi flowed all through his body, and soon a red dot of cinnabar appeared between his eyebrows. The red dot cast a red light, which just happened to shine into the center of his fingers.

    In an instant, a white mist appeared within the frame of Saionji Tsunekatsu¡¯s fingers. In the white mist, the scene of Kris, Ling Yue, and the others talking in the room clearly appeared.

    Saionji Tsunekatsu snorted coldly. As he thought about it, the white mist quickly changed again, transforming to show the scene of the room in which Li Yundong and the others were.

    However, after searching around, Saionji Tsunekatsu still couldn¡¯t find Li Yundong. He was startled for a while until he found another room. However, even after looking through almost all the rooms in the building, he still couldn¡¯t find Li Yundong.

    Saionji Tsunekatsu was shocked. He stayed where he was and looked at the man next to him, who was also stunned. He couldn¡¯t help saying, "Tobaku, what should we do? Where is Li Yundong?"

    Tobaku was also stunned and said, "Chang Sheng, haven¡¯t we been keeping an eye on the door and not seen hime out? Does he know how to be invisible?"

    Saionji Tsunekatsu said angrily, "If you live in the downtown area, why do you use this kind of shady magic?"

    Tobaku said with a frightened face, "Chang Sheng, if we can¡¯tplete the task, what should we do? Masako Tachibana has put the burden of responsibility on us... so..."

    Saionji Tsunekatsu looked gloomy and gritted his teeth. Tobaku suddenly asked tentatively, "Chang Sheng, why don¡¯t we... kidnap one of Li Yundong¡¯s subordinates and force him to go with us?"

    Saionji Tsunekatsu immediately turned his head and scolded, "Fool! What the hell are you thinking! Didn¡¯t you see that that woman was very powerful just now? Although I am sure that I can defeat her and send a challenge letter to their home without anyone knowing, I am not sure that I can take a living person away right before her eyes without anyone noticing! If there is a conflict and the local government is made aware, how will it end?"

    The monks of Zhenyan Tantrism were divided into 16 levels. Among them, the monks were the highest-ranking, and their divine power and mastery of the Buddhist doctrines were extremely powerful and abnormal. Saionji Tsunekatsu had received the title of the 12th-level young monk at a young age. Not only was he allowed to wear a purple-gold cassock, but his status and strength were far above those of the ninth-level monk, Tobaku. As soon as he scolded him, Tobaku¡¯s face immediately turned red. He didn¡¯t dare to refute and repeatedly admitted his mistake.

    After Saionji Tsunekatsu reprimanded him, his eyes flickered, and he was thinking about how to deal with the situation unwillingly. However, the voiceing from the frame of his fingers suddenly attracted his attention.

    After entering the Fox Zen School with Kris, Ling Yue curiously looked her up and down and asked, "Has Sect Leader epted you as his disciple?"

    Kris shook her head. "No, I am just a titr disciple."

    Ling Yue, like Su Chan, thought that Li Yundong shouldn¡¯t have epted a foreign student as a disciple, but she couldn¡¯t question Li Yundong¡¯s decision, so she hid her qualms.

    At this time, Kris was still thinking about the two Japanese people at the door, so she asked, "Why have these two Japanese guys been guarding the door all this time?"

    Ling Yue pursed her lips and said, "Leader made that Tachibana Wakako girl cry and beat her up, annoying her followers. Her mother was unhappy, so she wrote a challenge letter to ask the leader of the sect for a one-on-one fight. But Leader has been meditating in seclusion, so how can anyone see him? Let alone have him go to Japan."

    She asked curiously, "Meditating in seclusion?" Since she had witnessed all kinds of magical deeds from Li Yundongst time, she had slowly be interested in the mysterious magical powers of the East. After returning home, she had also read a lot of books about it, so she also knew what meditating in seclusion meant.

    Kris became more and more curious as she looked around the room. With a perplexed expression, she said, "Seclusion here? Are you kidding? Isn¡¯t secluding yourself about finding a quiet ce where no one can disturb you?"

    Ling Yue nced at Kris in surprise and thought to herself, "This foreigner¡¯s Chinese is decent, and on top of that she actually knows the meaning of meditating in seclusion?"

    Ling Yue was surprised. She couldn¡¯t help but smile and say, "Of course I couldn¡¯t do it here. This ce is part of the secr world and is pretty noisy. How could it be suitable for that purpose?"

    Kris asked in confusion, "Then where did Li Yundong go? I heard from the Japanese people outside that he hasn¡¯te out."

    Ling Yueughed and said, "I can¡¯t tell you that, it¡¯s a secret. It would be bad if people knew that he was in seclusion and went to disturb him. Moreover, these two Japanese are so stupid that they only know how to stand outside the main door like a pair of lemons. Don¡¯t they know that we never use the main door?"

    Kris opened her mouth wide and asked in surprise, "You don¡¯t use the main door? Then what do you use?"

    Ling Yue pointed to the balcony andughed. "Don¡¯t you know that Chinese people like to use back doors?" Her words were double-edged and humorous. Everyone in the Fox Zen Schoolughed.

    However, Kris didn¡¯t find it funny at all. Her gaze was strange as she walked to the balcony. After looking left and right, she inwardly shook her head.

    At this time, the little fox who had returned to the sofa shouted to Ling Yue, "Hey, Ling Yue Shijie, I¡¯m trying to watch TV here! Get out of the way!"

    Ling Yue and the little foxes had been watching TV all this time. They had been harassed by Saionji Tsunekatsu to the point that they could no longer bear it, so they had left it all behind for a while. At this time, she was reminded by her fellow disciples from the same sect, so she immediately sat to one side with great enthusiasm and asked, "Which episode is it? Hey? Why are you watching the news? Who changed the channel? I don¡¯t want to watch this garbage. Change it quickly, change the channel quickly!"

    The little foxes were about to change their seats when they heard Kris suddenly shout in rm, "Don¡¯t change, wait! Look, look, what¡¯s this?"

    The little foxes first shot strange looks at Kris, only to see her rushing to the TV with a face lit up with excitement, pointing at the TV and shouting.

    Kris¡¯s unusual behavior caused everyone to look at her. Even the usually cold and indifferent Ao Wushuang couldn¡¯t help but turn her head to stare. However, when Ao Wushuang looked at her, she was so shocked that her entire body trembled and her eyes went wide.

    On the TV screen that Kris was frantically pointing at, a reporter was interviewing a man dressed as a viger. The man was holding a purple-gold furnace tripod about three feet long in his arms. The tripod was surrounded by a white mist. At first nce, one could tell that it was no ordinary object. If it was not the medicine king tripod, what else could it be?

    Even though Ao Wushuang was used to unexpected turns of events, she couldn¡¯t help but exim, "The Medicine King Tripod?"

    Hearing the words "Medicine King Tripod", all the people in the Fox Zen School were shocked. Cao Yi and Liu Yuehong stared at the TV with their eyes wide. The little foxes were even more shocked and said, "No way, such a supreme pill-refining magic treasure like the Medicine King Tripod is on the news!? What, what the hell is going on? How could such an important powerful magical weapon have been picked up by this guy?"

    After the battle at Tiandu Peak, Kris¡¯s impression of the Diyuan Jindan and Medicine King Tripod was extremely deep. In her opinion, it was precisely because of these two mysterious eastern treasures that a terrifying battle had broken out in the first ce, and her fate had changedpletely from that moment on.

    Ling Yue stared at the Medicine King Tripod with her eyes wide open and said in surprise, "Is that the legendary powerful magical weapon used by the medicine king Sun Simiao? Is this really happening?"

    The little foxes also came up to the TV one after another. They couldn¡¯t wait to set their eyes on the screen and carefully look at the legendary powerful magical weapon up close. After a moment, they sighed and said, "Oh, the Medicine King Tripod is so beautiful!"

    "Yes, this guy is holding the Medicine King Tripod. Isn¡¯t he afraid ofnding himself in trouble?"

    "Tsk, you¡¯re so stupid. Can¡¯t you see that he¡¯s found all these reporters? Now that this has been broadcast, everyone in the world knows that he has the Medicine King Tripod. Now, even cultivators who want to kill him will be wary of him."

    "That¡¯s right, Shijie. You¡¯re so smart!"

    The little foxes chattered. At this time, the cameras turned to an old expert. The old expert had silver hair and was seriously expounding upon his opinion and theories regarding the cultural relic that the viger had picked up.

    When Ao Wushuang heard the expert deduce the origin of this antique relic with a vague sentence, she couldn¡¯t help frowning and whispering, "What are you doing, making such a big fuss?"

    She was full of doubts, but soon the picture changed again and returned to the presenter, who said, "The vigers in Mount Huangshan¡¯s scenic area are iming that this treasure is his family heirloom. On the first day of its discovery, someone offered three million yuan to buy it from him, but this bid was turned down. Now the vigers say that they want to auction the treasure. Only the highest bidder will be able to get their hands on it..."

    Hearing this, the people in the room suddenly burst into an uproar!

    Ling Yue was shocked and said, "What? This person is actually auctioning the Medicine King Tripod? Isn¡¯t that ridiculous? How much will it cost to buy it?"

    Cao Yi stamped her feet repeatedly and said, "Damn it, Leader is meditating in seclusion, and we have no way to tell him the news. What should we do?"

    At this time, almost everyone looked at Ao Wushuang, viewing her as the decision-maker of the hour.

    Ao Wushuang pondered for a while before announcing in a low voice, "Don¡¯t panic. Such a treasure can¡¯t be auctioned in a short time. Even if they want to sell it, they¡¯ll have to prepare for it for a while. I hope Leader wille out of seclusion before everything is settled!"

    But Ling Yue said with a sad face, "Oh, it¡¯s not easy for the Leader toe out of seclusion! We don¡¯tck anything now except money! Where are we going to raise the money to win at this auction? Are we going to sell the Disanxian?"

    The other little foxes immediately shook their heads like rattle drums. "No, no, no. If you sell that, we won¡¯t have any pocket money to spend!"

    Cao Yi also shook her head and said, "Selling the shop wouldn¡¯t bring in enough cash anyway. This Medicine King Tripod will definitely sell for a tremendous price. I¡¯m afraid... we can¡¯t afford it!"

    Next to them all, Kris was absorbed in listening. She suddenly said in a probing tone, "If you¡¯re short of money... I can lend you a bit."

    "You?" Everyone¡¯s gaze shifted towards Kris in unison.

    Kris hesitated for a moment, then bit her lips and firmly nodded. "Mm, there¡¯s still a few million left!"

    Everyone gasped. "A few million! That¡¯s not a small amount! How could the Leader of the sect have chosen a rich woman as his disciple?"

    However, Ao Wushuang shook her head and said, "A few million yuan is not enough! If a powerful magical weapon like the Medicine King Tripod got sold for only a few million yuan, you¡¯d really look down on us Chinese cultivators. Let¡¯s not talk about other sects, such as the Zhengyi School, Quanzhen Dragon Sect, External Alchemy, and even the Jinshan Sect. Their financial resources are beyond our imagination!"

    Kris said in a troubled manner, "But I only have this much. What should I do?"

    Ao Wushuang thought for a moment before saying, "Let¡¯s raise money before Leaderes out of his seclusion. I¡¯ll think of a way to raise as much as I can. We can only take it one step at a time. The rest is up to fate."

    At this time, when Saionji Tsunekatsu, who was outside the door, heard this, he suddenly stood up. Tobaku, who was next to him, also jumped up and cursed, "Damn it, we have been guarding the front, but Li Yundong actually ran away from behind! Is he just a cowardly rodent?"

    However, Saionji Tsunekatsu¡¯s eyes flickered and he did not answer. After a long time, he suddenly turned his head and said to Tobaku, "Tobaku, immediately report to Masako Tachibana. Tell her that the supreme pill-refining powerful magical weapon of the Chinese cultivation world, the Medicine King Tripod, has appeared! She will definitely be interested when she finds out about this news! With the financial resources of our Zhenyan Tantrism sect, if theye to participate in the auction, they will definitely be captured! At that time, whether they take this powerful magical weapon as their own or lure Li Yundong to Mount K¨­ya, no doubt he will not be able to escape!"

    Hearing these words, Tobaku was overjoyed. "Chang Sheng, this is a good idea! Two birds with one stone! You truly deserve to be the youngest, most promising monk!"

    Saionji Tsunekatsu snorted and said, "Let¡¯s go. I¡¯d like to see the look on Li Yundong¡¯s face when he sees that the supreme powerful magical weapon of the Chinese cultivation world has fallen into our hands!"

    After that, he sneered and left with a swish of his sleeves.

    At this time, on Mount Tianlong, which was thousands of miles away from Tiannan City, Li Yundong, Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin had all just entered into the deepest state of seclusion.

 Chapter 592 Meditating in Seclusion for Cultivation

    <h4>Chapter 592 Meditating in Seclusion for Cultivation</h4>

    Li Yundong took Su Chan, Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin and the others out of their home in Tiannan City and into the secret room of the Fox Zen School on Mount Tianlong. However, because he had sealed the stone cave before, he had to use the Psychic Fan of Seven Treasures to enter through the back door of Mount Tianlong.

    After entering the stone room of Mount Tianlong, although the surrounding area was closed and the Yin Qi in the mountain was pervasive, the most important thing was that it was quiet and no one would disturb them. Therefore, Li Yunyang, Su Chan, and the others soon began to sit in meditation for cultivation.

    Unlikest time, when he had been in aa because of the divine aura, this time Li Yundong could take the initiative to mobilize the Zhenqi in his body and begin to refine his Yang Spirit and Neidan ording to Taoist cultivation methods.

    Li Yundong sat cross-legged with a prayer mat under his feet in the middle of the stone room where the Heavenly Jindan Technique had been left by the Mystical Silver Fox. With his body t, his tongue against his upper jaw, and his mind empty, he soon went out of his body using the Yang Spirit.

    Li Yundong¡¯s Yang Spirit and body were still the same as his physical self at first, but with his Zhenqi flowing, Li Yundong¡¯s Yang Spirit grew stronger and stronger, and soon it became the image of a Wisdom King, possessing superhuman powers.

    In his Spirit Space, Li Yundong looked at his own Fashen and pondered the problem of cultivation.

    In particr, as his cultivation realm was getting higher and higher, many things that Li Yundong had been unable to figure out in the past had integrated into one as soon as his cultivation realm reached a higher level!

    How could he cultivate his Yang Spirit?

    It was exactly what Mr. Maru, Chen Pu, had mentioned in the eighth phase of the ¡¯Heavenly Jindan Technique¡¯ book: ¡¯when your Eight Turns Resurrection Zone is down and Zhou Xing begins to raise a baby, sometimes you will have a fever in the hole of your dan and go deep into the cold spring to y with a red tortoise!¡¯

    Simply speaking, it was thebination of the Yin Qi of the left side of the kidney and the Yang Qi of the right side of the kidney!

    How to cultivate Jinshen? Li Yundong kept thinking about the books he had read in the Spirit Space of the burning thumb pot, but he still couldn¡¯t think of how to cultivate the Tao of jinshen for a while.

    He had asked Zi Yuan, but she had told him with a wry smile that even she didn¡¯t know it. After reaching such a level of cultivation, a cultivator could only slowly explore new heights by himself.

    Li Yundong thought for a while and couldn¡¯t help thinking of the words engraved on the wall by the Mystical Silver Fox in the stone room. He quickly recited the form of Heavenly Jindan Technique in his mind, especially some notes that had been at the end of it.

    These notes said that ordinary people could improve their constitutions and preventmon diseases by practicing the First Round, Second Round, Third Round and Fourth Round. The Fifth Round, Sixth Round, Seventh Round and Eighth Round were very difficult, so only cultivators who were free of earthly affairs and fully focused on cultivation could reach them. As for the Ninth Round, it was the toughest of all,pletely beyond an ordinary person¡¯s reach. Only a few cultivators could achieve it, and they needed to be a special man to reach this zenith. Only then could they cultivate to reach the Ninth Round.

    But how was he supposed to practice the Ninth Round?

    Compared with the detailed cultivation methods of the First Round to the Eighth Round, it seemed that Mr. Maru, Chen Pu, had neglected the most critical final moment. He hadn¡¯t even mentioned how to cultivate at all, leaing just a poem, which said that when you reached the Ninth Round of Xiaoyao Tao, you were an immortal Shenxian with thousands of merits. The golden book and the jade from God in heaven would be sent to you, and then you coulde to heaven by auspicious clouds.

    This poem waspletely different from the previous eight-turn one. There was not a single word mentioning the method of cultivation. It only mentioned the results after the Ninth Round of cultivation.

    This made Li Yundong very depressed. He even had some malicious thoughts in his mind and wondered: "Could it be that Mr. Maru himself hadn¡¯t practiced to the Ninth Round, so he didn¡¯t write about it? In fact, the Ninth Round was just a figment of his imagination?"

    Thinking of this, he couldn¡¯t helpughing in the Spirit Space. He quickly swept this idea out of his mind and began searching through the numerous books he had read in the Spirit Space of the burning thumb pot.

    Although he had reached the primary level of Jinshen phase by now, after his encounter with Xu Ling, he had clearly felt the enormous power and fatal w of the primary level of the Jinshen phase.

    Although it was almost impossible for a cultivator below the Yangshen or Yang Spirit phase to defeat a masters of the Jinshen phase, it did not mean that the Jinshen phase was really invincible. The "Unbreaking Jinshen phase" of the primary stage of Jinshen was not really invincible.

    Otherwise, it would have been impossible for the body-protection jinshen of Xu Ling to get destroyed by the three top Yang Spirit Masters, Li Yundong, Zheng Yuan, and Zi Yuan. Although Xu Ling had lost his temper after the incident and beaten the three of them until they could only defend themselves, Li Yundong had realized for certain that even though the Jinshen phase was fierce, it was not invincible. Moreover, the unbreakable jinshen only seemed to have strong force, not soft!

    In other words, the Zhenqi of the Jinshen phase only had Yang Qi but wascking in Yin Qi!

    As the old saying goes, settling a score is like arraying troops, and military strategies dictate that ¡¯Combing the appropriate allocation of an army with flexible military strategy can bring final victory.¡¯

    In terms of settling a score or fighting, it meant that once could overwhelm the opponent with strength and skill.

    In Li Yundong¡¯s view, it was not absolute for a man with enormous strength to be able to beat ten men with artful skills. Even if Xu Ling had the strength to lift ten thousand pounds, his own power together with Zheng Yuan¡¯s Hell Wuzhang Enchanting Jade and the Ninth Heaven Zi Yuan Silk, the total strength of the three forces, even if it was only three thousand kilograms, could stillpete with the opponent through ingenious moves and fighting techniques. The reason was that they had the flexibility and an artful manner whereas the opponent¡¯s strength was all he relied upon.

    The reason why the Yang Spirit was stronger than the Yin Spirit was that the Yang Spirit¡¯s energy concentration was much stronger than the Yin Spirit¡¯s. It could absorb objects and fight like a real body. However, the Yin Spirit was just a weak energy entity, which could only prate things but could not pick anything up.

    The reason why the Jinshen was stronger than the Yang Spirit was that the condensed degree of the Jinshen was several times that of the Yang Spirit. Not only could it pick things up, but it could also cover the body like armor and form a hard protective shell.

    When a cultivator¡¯s Zhenqi became condensed to a certain degree, their spirit would undergo a qualitative change. The density of Zhenqi would constantly increase, changing from Yin Spirit to Yang Spirit and from Yang Spirit to Jinshen. When they condensed to the peak of the realm, they would be able to challenge the might of heaven!

    Li Yundong looked puzzled. ¡¯Why was Xu Ling¡¯s Jinshen so rigid? He only knew how to protect his body, but he could not change to be as flexible as the Yang Spirit?¡¯

    ording to Li Yunyang¡¯s spection, if the Jinshen could change freely like the Yang Spirit and be transformed into a sharp de, wouldn¡¯t it be invincible? Or if it could change into a shield, wouldn¡¯t it be impossible for any magic treasure to prate it?

    The Jinshen had originally been an extremely condensed Zhenqi Yang Spirit. However, if it could change again and getpressed into a smaller object, wouldn¡¯t the density of the Yang Spirit be even more terrifying?

    But when Li Yundong reached the primary level of Jinshen, he realized that it was not that Xu Ling hadn¡¯t wanted to change, but that he couldn¡¯t!

    At this time, Li Yundong felt like his whole body was shrouded in a ball of mes, brimming with strong Yuanyang Qi. He felt as if he was on a mountain of fire. Although his whole body was coursing with strength, this force was full of masculinity, and there was no Yin Qi at all.

    The Primary Stage of Jinshen was like hard steel. No matter how hard the opponent hit, he could not break it. Therefore, it was known as the unbreaking Jinshen.

    When settling a score, if one¡¯s Zhenqi was solid butcked softness, it would be easy tock momentum. Only one third of his real power had been released. If one was soft butcked solidity, it would be difficult to beat the opponent effectively and win.

    Li Yundong checked the condition of his Zhenqi at this time, and he couldn¡¯t help thinking, "The human body was originally a self-sufficient little universe, and there¡¯s both Yin and Yang Qi in my body. Although the Yin Qi in my body is different from the Qi in Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin¡¯s bodies, it must still be useful."

    When he thought of this, he suddenly remembered that when he had borrowed a book from the school library, he had read some poems in Zhang Boduan¡¯s Wuzhen Book. One of them said, "Dragon-shaking mercury came from the hometown and was born in Kanfang. The two things are always born because of their children, and the five elements are all going into the center. It¡¯s only half dawn on the moon, and there are already roars of dragons and tigers. It¡¯s good to work hard to cultivate two or eight hours toplete the internal core elixir. The tiger roar of Hua Yue was powerful, and the dragon roar of Fu Sang at the bottom of the sea. The old woman Huang arranged for a husband and wife to be in love with each other.

    Li Yundong thought, "The meaning of these lines hint at the cultivation methods of the Yin-Yang Principle and Eight trigrams. There¡¯s nothing special about that, but what did thest sentence mean? Does it mean that if cultivators want to go up to a higher level, they have to be a couple?"

    Li Yundong knew that Zhang Boduan¡¯s words had originally meant that the Yin and Yang Qi in his body was in line with the Tao of heaven and earth. But it was this sentence that tugged a string in Li Yundong¡¯s heart.

    When heaven and earth met, all things would be born. Men and women would be in harmony. Only then would there be babies, and the human body Yin-Yang Principle would be in harmony, and then there would be Neidan!

    If the masculine Jinshen and feminine Yin Qi became tightly intermingled, then what would happen?

    Just as he was thinking about this, he suddenly heard an extremely soft voiceing from a distance, seemingly calling his name.

    Li Yundong looked in the direction of the voice with his Yang Spirit body, only to see the beautiful Su Chan looking at him in a corner of the cave with a gorgeous smile on her face.

    Li Yundong suddenlyughed, he walked over, and whispered with a grin, "Weren¡¯t you meditating in the next room? Why have you run out?"

    Su Chan stuck out her tongue and said shyly in a low voice, "I don¡¯t know how to practice after reaching the Seven-tailed Phase... So, I¡¯m here to ask you if you know anything about it."

    Li Yundong saw that Su Chan was avoiding meeting his faze, and her face was growing redder. It looked as if there was a trace of water hidden in the corners of her eyes, and there was a unique shyness of a maid about her. He thought of something and seemed to guess the answer, then he said with a smile, "But I don¡¯t know either. What should we do?"

    A trace of disappointment shed across Su Chan¡¯s face. "Ah? You don¡¯t understand either? Then... what should we do?"

    Li Yundong said with a sad face, "Yes, what are we supposed to do?"

    Su Chan looked at him eagerly, as if she wanted to say something but stopped on second thought. After a long time, she said hesitantly, "I heard from my master that... the best way to cultivate in the Jinshen phase is..."

    Li Yundongughed in his heart and thought, "That¡¯s my girl. Her thoughts are the same as mine! It turns out that she came to find me for the same purpose."

    But Li Yundong deliberately pretended that he did not understand and said with a mischievous grin, "What is it? Tell me quickly!"

    The look in Su Chan¡¯s eyes turned ever more bashful, and her cheeks became increasingly ruddy. The porcin skin on her neck turned so red that it seemed like she might burst into mes, and she lowered her head and bit her cherry lips with her china-white teeth. After a long time, she seemed to have made up her mind. She suddenly raised her head and wanted to say something embarrassing.

    But as soon as his girl raised her head, she saw Li Yundong looking at her with a faint smile, and his eyes were twinkling mischievously.

    Su Chan¡¯s mind was as clear as a mirror. She realized that her master already understood everything and was just trying to tease her!

 Chapter 593 Jinshen Divine Hand

    <h4>Chapter 593 Jinshen Divine Hand</h4>

    Faced with Li Yundong¡¯s mischievous eyes, Su Chan was so shy that she could only throw herself at his chest. She buried her head in his arms and kept punching his chest with her fists as she moaned, ¡°You¡¯re so annoying. You actually want to tease me! Is it fun for you to do that?¡±

    Li Yundong quickly grabbed her fist and said with a smile, ¡°Don¡¯t make a fuss. This is not your physical body. You have Yang Spirit, and you are only one step away from Jinshen. We shouldn¡¯t be punching, or something bad will happen. What¡¯s more, what if you get to draw the attention of Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin?¡±

    Su Chan was shocked. She looked behind herself like a frightened bunny. When she turned back around, she blinked her eyes and said cautiously, ¡°Yundong, shall we talk somewhere else?¡±

    Li Yundong thought for a moment before saying, ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    The two of them looked at each other and smiled. Soon, they turned from Yang Spirits into Yin Spirits and flew out of Mount Tianlong.

    After they had blown out of the cave in the mountains, the two of them turned into Yang Spirits again. They were no different from ordinary people, walking hand in hand along Mount Tianlong.

    Su Chan inhaled the fresh air of Mount Tianlong and they went to the Taoist temple where the Huchan Sect used to be. She looked around and saw that although the temple was empty, it was still open to the local fishing bureau. At this time, there were many tourists visiting and taking photos.

    These people saw Li Yundong and Su Chan walking over hand-in-hand. The man was handsome and tall, and his bearing was extraordinary, while the woman next to him was really attractive. They were a lovely couple. Everyone was stunned for a moment. When Li Yundong and Su Chan had gotten far away, they finally came to their senses. They wanted to take out their cellphones and take photos again, but they couldn¡¯t see anyone to ask for help.

    The tourists whispered to each other about Li Yundong and Su Chan. They all guessed at their identities and backgrounds, but none of them knew that the pair were going out on a trip just with their Yang Spirits, and that they hadn¡¯t actually seen real people.

    When Su Chan took Li Yundong¡¯s hand and led him to the front of the Yin-Yang Taoist Rite of the Linghuchan Sect, she looked around with a sigh and said, ¡°Yundong, you defeated the masters of the six sects here, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    Li Yundong also looked around and saw that the ce that had been destroyed was now repaired, especially the two big copper cauldrons, which he had thrown back and forth. The incense and dust inside were thick again. He sighed and said, ¡°I used to think that these cultivators were masters, but now it seems that they are nothing special.¡±

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong with admiration and said softly, ¡°What a pity that I didn¡¯t see you drive away the six sects with your divine power back then...¡±

    He gently tapped the girl¡¯s hair with his hand and said with a smile, ¡°Does it matter?¡±

    Su Chan shook her head and said, ¡°Well, at least I could have helped you by your side back then. Since you established your foundation, I have never offered my help to you. I have always felt very sad and guilty about that.¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and hugged her slender waist, saying, ¡°Don¡¯t be silly. Being by my side is the biggest help you could give me!¡±

    Su Chan raised her head and said with a bold but shy look, ¡°Yundong, in fact, you know how to improve your jinshen, don¡¯t you?¡±

    He said with a smile, ¡°You know too, right?¡±

    Her face was flushed red, like a ripe apple. She said shyly in a low voice, ¡°I¡¯m just guessing, I don¡¯t know for sure. But my master seemed to have said that after reaching the Jinshen Realm, the best way to make rapid progress in cultivation is through Karmamudra, sexual yoga.¡±

    Li Yundong held the little girl and said with a smile, ¡°You haven¡¯t reached the Yang Spirit realm yet. Aren¡¯t you afraid of me seducing you?¡±

    Su Chan shook her head forcefully and said, ¡°No! It¡¯s not been easy for me to wait until you reach the Jinshen Realm. It¡¯s good that you haven¡¯t suffered losses. I¡¯m fine! Besides, I¡¯m now a Seven-Tailed Fox. Don¡¯t underestimate me!¡±

    Li Yundongughed and said, ¡°How could I look down on you, Lord Fox Immortal? It¡¯s just, well, Lord Fox Immortal, how do you think we should do Karmamudra together?¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s cheeks turned red as she lowered her head. Unable to contain her embarrassment, she said, ¡°I hate you. Haven¡¯t you read the ssics of cultivation? Why are you asking me that?¡±

    He spread his hands and said, ¡°How could a gentleman like me read such things?¡±

    Su Chan burst outughing, scratched her cheek with her fingers and said with a smile, ¡°Shame on you, you¡¯re so bold!¡±

    Li Yundong pinched Su Chan¡¯s fingers and said with a smile, ¡°Well, tell me, didn¡¯t you teach me how to cultivate Karmamudrast time? Why don¡¯t we start cultivating now while we¡¯re young?¡±

    Su Chan rolled her eyes and said with a sweet smile, ¡°Oh, fine. Anyway, we are now in Yang Spirit bodies. It¡¯s not convenient for us to go back.¡±

    Li Yunyang smiled and said, ¡°Well, let¡¯s try Karmamudra first!¡± As he said this, he lowered his head and kissed Su Chan¡¯s ruddy lips.

    She closed her eyes, parted her red lips slightly, and raised her head towards him.

    At this time, Li Yundong and Su Chan were out of their minds. One was the purest Yuanyang Qi, the other was the purest Yuanyin Qi, and their mouths were also one of the seven apertures of a human being. Faced with each other like this, the Yang Qi and Yin Qi of the two people could not help but leak out from their mouths due to their deep love.

    As soon as the Yin and Yang Qi collided, there was an earth-shattering explosion. Li Yundong and Su Chan¡¯s Yang Spirits were instantly blown to pieces and turned into countless tiny golden light spots, floating in the air.

    The nearby tourists were shocked and followed the sound to discover what was going on. But when they found the area, they saw that there was no one there. They were puzzled but just left one after another.

    Once everyone was gone, Li Yundong and Su Chan reappeared in an isted corner.

    Su Chan was still in shock and said, ¡°Yundong, what happened just now? Why do I feel like I was blown away as soon as your strength surged over?¡±

    Li Yundong was also frightened. He whispered, ¡°I don¡¯t know, but fortunately, we weren¡¯t using our physical bodies. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable!¡±

    Su Chan shook her head like a rattle drum. ¡°There¡¯s no reason for this! Even if we were in our physical bodies, the two of us might have exploded! It was really scared to death just now!¡±

    Li Yundong frowned. He thought for a while before saying, ¡°Indeed... if a kiss could cause an explosion, then the human race would have been wiped out long ago!¡±

    Thinking of this, Li Yundong felt that the phenomenon was absurd. Su Chan also frowned and thought for a moment, then said, ¡°Is it because both of us are in Yang Spirit bodies? But, there is still no reason for us to explode when we kiss each other, right?¡±

    A thought came to Li Yundong¡¯s mind, and he couldn¡¯t help murmuring some lines from a poem: ¡°Baihui in the West Mountain is rampant, and the Azure Dragon in the East Sea can¡¯t be defeated. He captured it with both hands and turned it into a piece of purple-gold frost. Firstly, you should observe the five rebels of Tianming, and secondly, you must observe the people. People in An Kingdom seek to fight, and only when the battle is over can one see the sages. When you use the generals, you must divide the army to the left and right, and have him spare me as a captive. I advise you not to underestimate the enemy in the face of battle, afraid that you will lose our priceless treasure.¡±

    When Su Chan heard Li Yundong reciting these poems, she couldn¡¯t help but ask curiously, ¡°Isn¡¯t this poem from Zhang Boshang¡¯s Wuzhen Book?¡±

    Li Yundong nodded. His face was still thoughtful, but his eyes were getting brighter, as if he had thought of something. He said, ¡°Chan¡¯er, have you noticed that these poems might as well be talking about us?¡±

    Su Chan thought about the lines carefully and said, ¡°The first sentence is about Baihui in West Mountain... Is that referring to me? The Azure Dragon in the East Sea refers to you?¡±

    Li Yundong nodded and said, ¡°Yes, the first line refers to the Yin Qi of a cultivator, and the second line refers to the Yang Qi of a cultivator. If the two kinds of auras are extremely vigorous, once they arebined, they can turn into Purple Gold Frost. The Purple Gold Frost refers to the Purple Gold Core, which is Neidan that has reached the Jinshen phase! But if you want to cultivate such a Neidan, you have to go through a struggle of Yin and Yang Qi...¡±

    Su Chan blinked rapidly and said, ¡°I know that! But why did it explode?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, look downward! First, observe Tianming¡¯s five rebels, and then observe how to pacify the people. People in the An Kingdom seek to fight, and only when the battle is over can they see the sages. Do you know what these words mean?¡±

    Su Chan knew that Li Yundong was testing her, and she was not stupid. After thinking for a while, she said, ¡°Is this a way for us to deal with the situation of our own bodies and train ourselves?¡±

    Li Yundong nodded and praised, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what I mean! ording to the Yin Fu Scripture, there are five thieves in the sky, and those who see them will prosper. Zhang Guo, the Great Cultivator of the Tang Dynasty, once wrote that the five thieves are fate, material, time, effort, and spirit! It means that only when we train them to the best they can be can they fight against each other. Only in this way can we see the ¡®Sage¡¯. Otherwise, we will have to ¡®to persuade the emperor not to underestimate the enemy and be afraid of losing our priceless treasures¡¯!¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s face immediately fell. With a face full of resentment, she said, ¡°Are you kidding me? Will there be a problem with the Karmamudra? Do you even want me to live?¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head and said, ¡°The higher one¡¯s cultivation is, the easier it is to get into trouble. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that our two Yang Spirits have already reached the top realm, I¡¯m afraid that the two of us would have lost everything!¡±

    Su Chan pouted unhappily. For a moment, she couldn¡¯t say anything.

    Seeing her sad face, Li Yunyang couldn¡¯t helpughing and saying, ¡°Don¡¯t be like that. In fact, I have a solution.¡±

    Hearing that, Su Chan beamed with joy and said, ¡°What is it?¡±

    Li Yundong said with a smile, ¡°It¡¯s very simple. Consider me your enemy, and then there will be no problem with us kissing each other!¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes widened in shock. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Li Yundongughed and said, ¡°It¡¯s very simple! The reason why the explosion happened just now was that the two of us are in love, so the Yin and Yang Qi became extremely vigorous. When the Yin and Yang Qi suddenly collided violently, of course, it caused an explosion, just like the beginning of chaos. But the emotional movement caused the blood in our bodies to elerate, so as to speed up the flow of True Energy. As the speed of True Energy flowed faster, the Yang Spirits also became stronger with the aura.¡±

    Su Chan suddenly understood and said, ¡°Yes! When my master took me away, he said, ¡®When love moves, desire will move. If desire moves, it means that cultivation will end!''¡±

    Li Yundong blinked at Su Chan and said with a grin, ¡°So... if you treat me as your enemy, you won¡¯t be moved. If you aren¡¯t moved, there will be no problem!¡±

    Su Chan was both curious and excited. She giggled and said, ¡°Well, It seems that I understand. Shall we try again?¡±

    As the saying goes, if you have a tolerant attitude, you will have a tolerant spirit. If you have no desires, you will be strong!

    Li Yundong closed his eyes slightly and cleared his mood and mind. When he opened his eyes again, they were clear, free of emotions or desire. Su Chan also calmed down and controlled herself, bing just like still water.

    At this time, Li Yundong lowered his head and kissed her. Their lips gently touched. At this time, there was no violent explosion. Su Chan felt a strong sense of masculinity enveloping her. She could barely maintain a state of no desire when right in front of her was her lover, kissing her. It was extremely difficult for her not to be moved and not to move. It was more difficult than ascending to heaven!

    However, foxes were passionate, so it was easy for them to fall in love with each other. Once they did so, their feelings would be stronger than steel. The girl was being kissed by Li Yundong, so she couldn¡¯t control herself. For a moment, her Yin Qi suddenly became stronger.

    But However, Li Yundong maintained his calmness. At this time, his Yang Qi was being overwhelmed by Su Chan¡¯s Yin Qi. In an instant, her Yin Qi produced a very strong suction force, fiercely sucking Li Yundong¡¯s Yang Qi into her own body!

 Chapter 594 Another Visit to Mount Longhu

    <h4>Chapter 594 Another Visit to Mount Longhu</h4>

    Li Yundong suddenly felt that Su Chan¡¯s Yin Qi had be very strong, as if a huge whirlpool had drawn all of his own Yang Qi into her body.

    He was shocked and subconsciously controlled his Qi in an effort to resist. But as soon as he tried, the two kinds of Yin and Yang Qi intertwined together.

    As soon as the Yin and Yang Qi came into contact with one another, Li Yundong clearly felt that the unstable power was rapidly expanding between him and Su Chan, like a constantly growing fireball, ready to explode at any time.

    Something urred to Li Yundong. He remembered the poem from the Wuzhen Book written by Zhang Boduan. It went, ¡°Fire is born in a wooden book and can¡¯t be studied by force. Trouble always hurts oneself. You have to subdue Mr. Jin. Mr. Jin was the boss of the family. He was sent to live in the western neighborhood. He knew you and brought you here to raise you. He¡¯s a good match for the daughter of the general.¡±

    What was described in this poem was that his own Yang Qi was hidden in his Yin Qi. If he did not know how to practice and tried to do it by force, he would get himself into trouble and hurt himself. If he wanted to solve this problem, he had to uncover the secret of practicing Jinshen. The secret was that the girl in the western neighborhood had the Yang Qi that hecked, and he had the Yin Qi that the girl in the western neighborhoodcked. When they got married, they could take what they needed.

    Although Li Yundong had figured out the connections, he still couldn¡¯t understand it. If his Yuanyang Qi collided with Su Chan¡¯s Yuanyin Qi, how could he solve the problem of the explosion once a conflict broke out?

    He was a little worried, but he suddenly heard a few tourists walking on the other side of the wall of the ashram,ughing gaily. One said, ¡°Oh, you invited me out to have fun, so you needn¡¯t be so polite. Besides, I should give you a gift. What¡¯s mine is yours. We¡¯re all family here, don¡¯t stand on ceremony.¡±

    Although Li Yundong was trying to practice the Sexual Yoga of Jinshen with Su Chan at this time, he was calm and listened carefully in all directions. He could clearly hear the words of the people wandering on the other side of the wall and his heart suddenly thumped as he remembered a poem in Zhang Boduan¡¯s ¡°Wuzhen Book¡±, which said that ¡°in war there are two generals on the left and right, although he is the host and I am the guest¡±.

    Even though he and Su Chan¡¯s auras were separated by the Yin-Yang principle, it was just like the difference between the right hand and a left one. There was no need for a division between guests. If she wanted to suck it up, just let her do it.

    Thinking of this, Li Yundong smiled secretly and relinquished his control. His powerful and mighty Yuanyang Qi suddenly rushed toward Su Chan.

    As soon as he stopped holding back, their Yin and Yang Qi were no longer entangled, and his Yuanyang Qi flowed naturally into Su Chan¡¯s body.

    Su Chan had the body of a Yang Spirit, but a strong stream of Yuanyang Qi was now gushing out of her, making her shiver all over.

    The intersection of Yin and Yang was supposed to be the happiest thing in the world. Although Li Yundong and Su Chan were only jinshen, when the two pure Yin and Yang Qis merged together without any resistance, it was as if a boy and a girl who had just fallen in love were snuggling up to each other and inhaling each other¡¯s aura. Although they were not really happy, they were secretly immersed in each other¡¯s spirit.

    For a moment, Su Chan felt a sense of gloom in her head. She was so blissful that she almost couldn¡¯t speak. Like a child waiting to be fed, she absorbed the strong Yuanyang Qi with all her might.

    But after a while, she suddenly woke up. She eximed in her heart, ¡°Oh no, how did I absorb Yundong¡¯s Yuanyang Qi? Damn it!¡±

    At the thought of this, she became very anxious. She wanted to immediately return Li Yundong¡¯s Yuanyang Qi to him, but as soon as this desire struck her, Li Yundong seemed to guess what she was thinking. He said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Follow the aura of Da Zhoutian and let my aura circle around your body. It wille back naturally after circling around.¡±

    At this time, she was still french kissing him, but she still clearly heard his voice echoing in her mind. She was suddenly shocked and thought with her eyes wide open, ¡°Is this the kung fu of sound transmission?¡±

    However, Li Yundong said with a smile, ¡°Fool, we are exchanging our Yang Spirit and Qi, so of course we can sense each other¡¯s thoughts.¡±

    At this time, Su Chan opened her eyes and nced at Li Yundong, only to see him kissing her back and looking at her with a smile at the corners of his eyes. She suddenly felt happy and blinked her eyes at him.

    Thebined force of Yin and Yang Qi was extremely dangerous, and if they were not careful, both of them would Zouhuo Rumo. Otherwise, Zhang Boduan would not have advised theter generations of cultivators in the poem to persuade the emperor not to underestimate the enemy in battle. He was afraid that they would lose their lives.

    But when they kissed and looked into each other¡¯s eyes, they didn¡¯t feel any danger at all. They only felt that what they were doing was naughty and funny. ying around like this, they were secretly enjoying themselves.

    They didn¡¯t know that it was all in line with a cultivator¡¯s state of mind of cultivation. For a moment, the auras of the two people quickly swam through Su Chan¡¯s body of Yang Spirit, meeting with no resistance.

    When the aura returned, Li Yundong clearly felt that there was a stream of Yuanyin Qi of Mystic Yin in his aura. Su Chan also felt that there was a faint stream of Yuanyang Qi in her body, like a few sticks of smoldering kindling in a cavern of ice, while Li Yunyang was like a clear spring in an arid, scorching desert.

    After an unknown period of time, Li Yundong and Su Chan reluctantly split apart. After their lips parted, they looked at each other and Su Chan suddenly burst outughing.

    Li Yundong grinned at her and asked, ¡°What are youughing at?¡±

    Su Chan said with a smile, ¡°Just now, you kissed me and then you gaped at me with your eyes wide open. You¡¯re so silly!¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing. ¡°Really? Fortune favours fools. If that weren¡¯t true, I¡¯m afraid that the two of us would have gotten blown up again!¡±

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong with admiration and said, ¡°Yundong, you¡¯re amazing. You got to this point through self-study! You can learn without anyone teaching you!¡±

    Li Yundongughed, winked at Su Chan mischievously, and said, ¡°Do the rtions between men and women need to be taught?¡±

    Su Chan giggled and said, ¡°Oh, you naughty boy! This is the spiritualbination of Sexual Yoga in cultivation. Do you think just anyone can do it?¡±

    Li Yundong looked at Su Chan, his eyes crinkling. At this time, her beautiful face was a little flushed. It was obvious that she had obtained his Yuanyang Qi, and she was growing ever more enchanting and mature.

    He couldn¡¯t help thinking of the time when he had just met this young girl. He sighed in his heart and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what she will look like when she reaches the Cultivation of Mystical Silver Fox in the future. What kind of world-toppling beauty will she be?¡±

    But as soon as he thought of this, he couldn¡¯t help recalling Yan Fang¡¯s doubts and questions in front of everyone at the Taoist assembly: Every time the Mystical Silver fox appeared, the world would fall into chaos!

    But if Su Chan practiced to the point of bing the Mystical Silver Fox, would there still be chaos?

    He was startled by the thought, muttering to himself, ¡°Is this a prophecy or a curse? Or is it thew of the Cultivation world? Couldn¡¯t the girl cultivate to the level of the Mystical Silver Fox in her lifetime? No, my girl is very obedient. How can there be any trouble if she stays by my side? Even if she practices to the level of the Mystical Silver Fox, it will be fine.¡±

    Su Chan saw that Li Yundong was suddenly lost in thought and had gone quiet. She couldn¡¯t help but inquire, ¡°Yundong, what are you thinking about?¡±

    He came to his senses and said with a warm smile, ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I remember that when we were together in the past, you said that when we seeded in our cultivation, we would go to visit rivers and mountains all over the country. Now we have been sort of sessful in our cultivation, do you want to travel around?¡±

    Su Chan was overjoyed, but she hesitated for a moment and said, ¡°But... what about Sister Zhou Qin and Sister Zi Yuan? Do you intend to leave them alone?¡±

    ¡°Our Yang Spirit bodies are just going out for a stroll. We will be back soon. It won¡¯t take long,¡± he replied soothingly.

    Su Chan thought for a moment and nodded with a smile. She took her lover¡¯s hand and the two disappeared in an instant.

    The pair soared up high, and Su Chan leaned close to Li Yundong and said with a sweet smile, ¡°Yundong, where are we going?¡±

    He thought for a moment before saying, ¡°We¡¯ll go wherever you want, okay?¡±

    Su Chan blinked her eyes, pulled a face at Li Yundong, and said with a smile, ¡°You robbed me of my line! That was what I wanted to say!¡±

    ¡°Let me think... where are we going to y?¡± Li Yundong teased. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the mountain where you used to cultivate before, okay?¡±

    Su Chan immediately shook her head like a rattle. ¡°No, I lived there for too long when I was a child. Even with my eyes closed, I can navigate my way around every flower and de of grass. It¡¯s so boring! Let¡¯s go somewhere else, shall we?¡±

    He thought for a moment before saying again, ¡°Then let¡¯s go to Mount Heng? Is that also a ce full of outstanding people?¡±

    Su Chan rolled her eyesughingly. ¡°You have no wish to visit any other mountains after viewing the Five Mountains, you do not even wish to visit them after youe back from a trip to Mount Huangshan. Yundong, haven¡¯t we just been to Mount Huangshan?¡±

    Li Yundongughed and scolded, ¡°You¡¯ve impossible! Thest time we went to Mount Huangshan, we didn¡¯t go for sightseeing! Why don¡¯t we try going there again?¡±

    Su Chan hurriedly shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t want to go there. That ce is the pits. As soon as I go there, I remember Xu Ling and all those cultivators who died on Tiandu Peak.¡±

    Li Yundong spread his hands helplessly and said, ¡°Nothing is good enough for you. So where do you want to go?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯d better go somewhere fun and exciting, okay?¡± she replied.

    Li Yundong could see that although Su Chan was already a Seven-Tailed Fox Spirit and Jinshen had made her more mature, in the end, she was still a young girl. Heughed and said, ¡°Is there a fun and exciting ce that¡¯ll satisfy you?¡±

    Su Chan said through a broad grin, ¡°Yes, for example, the amusement park?¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether to start crying orughing at this point. ¡°Ah? The two of us are now considered to be good cultivators. How can we go to the amusement park to y? Isn¡¯t there something wrong with that? Isn¡¯t it a little too childish?¡±

    Su Chan pouted unhappily. ¡°It¡¯s not childish at all...¡±

    Li Yundong pretended to be serious and thought for a while. Eventually, he suddenly said, ¡°Ah, I¡¯ve thought of it!¡±

    Su Chan was delighted and could not help asking, ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°You want fun and exciting? Then there¡¯s only one ce!¡±

    Su Chan grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s hand and shook it eagerly. ¡°Say it, quickly!¡±

    ¡°Mount Longhu!¡± he replied gravely.

    Su Chan was so surprised that she almost copsed. She was stunned and said, ¡°Mount Longhu of Zhengyi School Zu Ting? How, how can that be fun?¡±

    Li Yundong replied, ¡°In the past, we were bullied too severely by Zhengyi School. Now we¡¯ll go to find some entertainment and y hide-and-seek. Isn¡¯t it a good idea? Isn¡¯t it exciting? Thest time I split Mount Longhu with thunder, it was so exciting!¡±

    The girl stared at her lover with wide eyes, which gradually filled with excitement. She pped her hands and said with augh, ¡°Okay, if you¡¯re not afraid, then I¡¯m not either! Let¡¯s go to Mount Longhu right now!¡±

    Li Yundongughed and waved his hand. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Let¡¯s go to Mount Longhu!¡±

 Chapter 595 Try Peaceful Means before Resorting to Using Force

    <h4>Chapter 595 Try Peaceful Means before Resorting to Using Force</h4>

    The Yang Spirit¡¯s flying speed was extremely fast. Even covering a thousand miles took only a few seconds. Li Yundong and Su Chan only flew for a little while before arriving at the distant Mount Longhu in Jiangxi.

    Thest time Su Chan stepped on Mount Gezao, one of the sacrednds of the Daoists, she had still felt fear and trepidation. This time, when she looked at the magnificent scenery under her feet, she was filled with excitement.

    Although it waste winter, Mount Longhu was covered in lush green vegetation, and the top of the mountain was swathed in clouds and fog, making it look like and of Shenxian, an otherworldly sort of ce.

    Su Chan took a deep breath and sighed deeply. ¡°It deserves to be the first Zu Ting of the Taoists. I just took a breath here and I feel more rejuvenated than if I¡¯d cultivated for a month!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and said, ¡°The Lingqi of Mount Longhu is so sufficient and it is one of the best in the world. Cultivating here yields twice the results for half the effort.¡±

    In an avaricious tone, Su Chan said, ¡°I¡¯m really envious that there is such good Zu Ting in the Zhengyi School. If only our Fox Zen School had such good stuff.¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Don¡¯t be silly. Isn¡¯t Mount Tianlong a good ce? As the saying goes, home is home, no matter how humble.¡±

    Su Chan grinned. She looped her arms around Li Yundong¡¯s arm and said obediently, ¡°Anywhere you go, I¡¯ll be by your side. I don¡¯t care about Mount Ling.¡±

    Li Yundongughed, tweaked hispanion¡¯s nose, and said, ¡°Well aren¡¯t you sweet. Let¡¯s go down.¡±

    Su Chan descended with Li Yundong and found herself standing at the door of a Taoist temple which was covered in dense jungle and sprawling ancient trees. She couldn¡¯t help but ask in surprise, ¡°Yundong, what Taoist temple is this?¡±

    He grinned and said, ¡°This is the Linggong Sect¡¯s Taoist temple of Zi Yuan. You haven¡¯t been here before, have you?¡±

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°Sister Zi Yuan¡¯s Taoist temple? I have to take a good look at it!¡±

    Li Yundongughed warmly. ¡°I knew you hadn¡¯t seen it before, so I thought I¡¯d bring you here today.¡±

    ¡°Have you been here before, Yundong?¡±

    He nodded at her, still smiling. ¡°Yes, do you remember thest time we went to Mount Gezao, you encountered Zi Yuan and me just in time when you flew out of the house?¡±

    ¡°Ah, I remember it now. You told me that you came here with Sister Zi Yuan that night, right?¡±

    Li Yundong nodded and sighed with emotion. ¡°Zi Yuan taught me Five Thunders Spell here that night. At that time, I had only just reached the Yangshen phase. I never imagined that in a sh that I would reach the Jinshen phase.¡±

    Su Chan also sighed emotionally. ¡°Yes, Sister Zi Yuan is very kind! When she chased me, I thought she was a bad guy.¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and pointed at the end of her nose. ¡°She used to think that you were a naughty little Fox Spirit who hadmitted all manners of crimes!¡±

    Su Chan giggled mischievously. ¡°Fortunately, the sunes after the rain. Otherwise, conflicts would arise between people on one¡¯s own side, and the family would not recognize family.¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but think of something when he heard this. He thought, ¡°Family... What does Zi Yuan mean to me? Is she a friend? A confidante? A cultivation partner? A teacher? A benefactor who has guided me to the Tao?¡±

    Li Yundong knew very well that even though Su Chan had led him into the world of cultivation, the one who had truly turned him into a cultivator was Zi Yuan!

    It was this gentle, noble, and virtuous woman who had helped him quietly along the way, pushing him to new heights along the road of cultivation.

    ¡°What does such a person mean to me?¡±

    Li Yundong was lost in thought when Su Chan suddenly interjected, ¡°Yundong, it will be the grand ceremony for Sister Zi Yuan taking over the Linggong Sect soon. At that time, we have to help her. She has helped us a lot!¡±

    Gathering his wits, Li Yundong smiled and touched Su Chan¡¯s cheek, saying softly, ¡°That¡¯s one of the reasons why I came to Mount Longhu.¡±

    Su Chan was startled and asked curiously, ¡°Are you here for Sister Zi Yuan¡¯s inauguration ceremony of the Linggong Sect? But, there¡¯s still a month left until then!¡±

    ¡°Zhengyi School is the biggest factor affecting whether Zi Yuan can take up the position of leader of the Linggong Sect. If they want to stop it, there will be endless twists and turns. But the main people in Zhengyi School who have always been against us are Zhang Ling and the others. I have never known what the Leader of Zhengyi School is thinking, so I came here to see him. Consider it as me throwing a stone to clear the road and trying peaceful means before resorting to force.¡±

    Su Chan said in wonderment, ¡°But, I heard from my master that the Leader of Zhengyi School meditated in seclusion ten years ago! Is he out of seclusion now?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°When I was chatting with Ao Wushuang privately, she mentioned that several Masters of the Lightning Retribution phase appeared near Tiandu Peak during the battle. Two of them were from Zhengyi School, and one of them was the leader. Since his Yang Spirit hase out, it means that he may havee out of seclusion.¡±

    Su Chan was shocked. She opened her mouth wide and said, ¡°Two masters of the Lightning Retribution phase? Two of the five Lightning Retribution phase masters are members of the Zhengyi School?¡±

    Li Yundong saidughingly, ¡°How else would Zhengyi School be known as the world¡¯s most powerful Taoist sect?¡±

    Su Chan suddenly became a little scared. She looked around in a panic and whispered, ¡°Yundong, Masters of the Lightning Retribution phase are not to be trifled with. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and caressed Su Chan¡¯s cheek. ¡°You¡¯re a seven-tailed fox spirit. What are you so scared about? You were full of confidence just a moment ago, weren¡¯t you?¡±

    Su Chan was a little embarrassed and said bashfully, ¡°It hasn¡¯t been long since I became a seven-tailed fox spirit... To be honest... I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m going to drag you down!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not here to pick a fight,¡± Li Yundong grinned. ¡°If we can¡¯t defeat him, we can always just run away!¡±

    Su Chan immediately becamecent, and said, ¡°That¡¯s enough. When ites to escaping, I¡¯m unbeatable!¡±

    ¡°You are not ashamed, you¡¯re actually proud of it! Your master is so powerful. How dare you say such a thing? Aren¡¯t you afraid of disgracing her?¡± he replied teasingly.

    Su Chan pulled a face at Li Yundong and said with a smile, ¡°I¡¯m not afraid. Master was not as powerful as me in the past! She only became powerful after meeting Wang Yuanshan!¡±

    Li Yundong took Su Chan¡¯s hand. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Let¡¯s pay a visit to the Leader of Zhengyi School and see if the matter can be resolved. Even if it can¡¯t be settled, we can at least explore the background of the Zhengyi School, so that we can make preparations ahead of time.¡±

    Su Chan saw that Li Yundong was very rxed, but she knew very well that what he was doing was no different from breaking into a dangerous ce. If Zhengyi School really had evil intentions, it was very likely that the two of them were walking into the lion¡¯s den, and it was more than possible that they would note back out again.

    However, Li Yundong was still calm andposed, and went with great presence of mind. Such confidence was founded on the basis of his strong fighting strength and talent.

    Yundong had already been so powerful when he was in the Yangshen phase. Now that he was in the jinshen phase, how powerful could he be? Could he beat a Master of the Lightning Retribution phase?

    When Su Chan thought of this, she couldn¡¯t help but be curious. Her fear faded and she actually became a little excited. On the way, she kept talking to Li Yundong.

    Along the way, they passed through the 99 peaks and 24 rocks of Mount Longhu, went past the divine wells, pools, and waterfalls, which were bright, beautiful, graceful, and elegant, nked by steep peaks, various shaped rocks, and a lush green bamboo stand. Everything they saw made them feel like they were traveling through a fairynd, and the scenery they saw was as beautiful as a painting.

    Su Chan was amazed by thendscape. Li Yundong also feltpletely rxed and happy in such an environment. Before they knew it, they had already arrived in front of the mansion of a Taoist master of Zu Ting in Zhengyi School.

    At first nce, Li Yundong saw the south-facing mansion of a Taoist master and the Shangqing River, with its back to North Mount Huashan, with Shangqing Temple in the east and the main peak of Mount Longhu in the west. It was surrounded by clusters of solemn, mysterious camphor trees and ancient trees towering into the sky and casting thick shade on the ground, .

    In front of the gate of the mansion of a Taoist master, there was a pce-style building with an overhanging gable roof. It was tall and majestic, facing a stream. A que which read: ¡°Sihan Mansion of a Taoist master¡± was hanging on it, and a couplet was engraved on a huge stone pir. Li Yundong looked at it and read it: ¡°Shenxian Guests in the Kylin Temple! The Prime Minister¡¯s Home in Mount Longhu!¡±

    These words in the couplets were magnificent and majestic. There was a sense of deep history and pride embedded in every line, and the imposing manner of the world¡¯s most powerful Taoist could be felt in an instant!

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but sigh. ¡°He is a Shenxian in heaven and a prime minister on earth! He deserves to be the only great religion in China that can bepared with the Confucian school! It deserves to be number one in the South!¡±

    At this time, in front of the double eaves, red columns, walls, and door leaf of the magnificent and splendid mansion, Su Chan was awe-struck. She didn¡¯t dare tough loudly, just opened her eyes wide and looked curiously at the core Zu Ting of the Zhengyi School.

    Although it was winter, the Zu Ting of Zhengyi School was full of worshippers, and it was swarming with tourists. Li Yundong and Su Chan followed the tourists into the mansion. When they arrived at the second door, they saw the ck Altar Temple, Law Record Office, Supervisorate, Zanjiao Hall, and other splendid halls on both sides of the corridor.

    Theyout of these two doors was the same as that of the front doors. They were slightly smaller in size and lower in level than the first door. On them was a que which read: ¡°The Sovereign Command of the Buddha¡±. There were three pairs of gates and six majestic-looking, lifelike gate gods. In the middle of the gate were couplets on the two pirs, which read: ¡°Profound Tao makes even dragons and tigers submit, virtue makes devils and spirits awe-struck.¡±

    Su Chan was entranced by what she saw. She noticed the surrounding tourists heading towards Jade Emperor Pce through the third door to burn joss sticks and worship the gods at the altar.

    Su Chan looked around and only felt that the doors, windows, girders, pirs and eaves of the surrounding buildings were utterly magnificent. The atmosphere was quiet and elegant, showing the style of rich and powerful families everywhere. It could be called the deep sea gate. As soon as they got through the gate, they felt as if they had entered an aquatic world. It was unfathomable!

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t help but lean against Li Yundong tightly, as if she was afraid that he might disappear in the next second. She took Li Yundong¡¯s arm and asked nervously in a low voice, ¡°Yundong, do you know where the leader of the Zhengyi School is?¡±

    Li Yundong said with a smile, ¡°I don¡¯t know either.¡±

    Su Chan was stunned. ¡°Ah? You don¡¯t know? So what are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if I don¡¯t know. I can ask!¡±

    As he spoke, he saw a Taoist priest dressed in Daopao not far away with his back to him. He pulled Su Chan forward and asked, ¡°Brother of the Tao, may I ask where your leader is? Can you introduce him to me?¡±

    The Taoist priest turned around and saw Li Yundong and Su Chan standing there. He was shocked and cried out, ¡°It¡¯s you?¡±

 Chapter 596 Yu Jiaos Double Sword Souls

    <h4>Chapter 596 Yu Jiao¡°s Double Sword Souls</h4>

    This Taoist was a Taoist nun. Although she was wearing a Taoist robe and a Taoist crown, her graceful figure and beautiful face were not covered. Many tourists were taking photos with her.

    When she heard someone addressing her from behind, she was startled, and then she sneered in heart, "Is it possible for Leader to be seen as people wish?"

    But a momentter, the Taoist nun turned around and saw a tall, handsome man standing in front of her. Beside him was a beautiful girl with a charming smile. She was astonished and blurted out, "It¡¯s you?"

    Li Yundong took a closer look, only to find that the nun was none other than Zou Ping, who had never been able to get along with him.

    She looked at him in shock, and then turned to Su Chan. She couldn¡¯t help but say in surprise and anger, "How dare you twoe here? Are you taking advantage of no one being in our Zhengyi School? Asshole!"

    After that, she subconsciously stretched her hand into the sleeve of her Daopao.

    Li Yundong immediately moved, grabbed Zou Ping¡¯s wrist, and said with a faint smile, "You want to fight here? Take a look around!"

    Zou Ping realized that they were surrounded by people. Some of them were even taking pictures of them with cellphones and cameras.

    Zou Ping was extremely angry. She gritted her teeth and said, "Since you know, why are you still here? How dare you break in without figuring out what you really are?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "This is a tourist attraction, and I am merely a tourist. Why shouldn¡¯t I be here?"

    Zou Ping nced down at Li Yundong¡¯s fingers, which wereced around her wrist. She struggled hard for a moment, but his five fingers were like iron hooks. No matter how hard she tried to struggle with Zhenqi, she couldn¡¯t shake them off at all!

    She spat venomously, "You just do whatever you want with your high cultivation, huh? Let go of me!"

    Li Yundong let go of her hand and said with a faint smile, "Of course not. I just want to see your leader."

    Zou Ping rubbed her wrist and red at Li Yundong bitterly. "Our leader is meditating in seclusion. He won¡¯t see you!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "During the battle of Tiandu Peak, your Zhengyi School sent two Lightning Retribution masters to watch. One of them was the leader of your sect. If you say that he is still in seclusion, I won¡¯t believe you."

    Zou Ping¡¯s eyes widened and she couldn¡¯t help but shout angrily, "Nonsense! If Leader hade out of seclusion, how could my master be unaware? If my master knew about it, I definitely would as well! You¡¯re lying! What would our master have been doing at Tiandu Peak? With his Cultivation Quotient, would there still be a need for him to snatch the Diyuan Jindan?"

    Li Yundongughed. "I wasn¡¯t implying he did. I want to talk to your leader about some private matters. It¡¯s nothing to do with the Diyuan Jindan. If you can help me contact him, I will be very grateful."

    Zou Ping sneered and said, "I¡¯ve told you, our leader is meditating in seclusion! Even if he weren¡¯t, he wouldn¡¯t see someone like you who helps a tyrant to victimize his subjects and is on the same side as demons!" As she spoke, she nced at Su Chan with contempt and disdain in her eyes.

    Su Chan didn¡¯t want to show weakness, so she pulled a face at her.

    Li Yundong saw that Zou Ping¡¯s attitude was insolent, but he didn¡¯t get angry. He simply smiled and said, "I don¡¯t believe that your leader is meditating in seclusion because you don¡¯t even want to report it. Obviously, you are seeking revenge! If you don¡¯t want to help, I will call your master over here!"

    Saying this, Li Yundong took a deep breath and got ready to yell.

    Zou Ping was so scared that her face turned pale immediately. She knew that Li Yundong¡¯s Aura was not only majestic but also longsting. When the Disanxian Tea House had opened, Li Yundong¡¯s move of "Divine Dragon Water" had shocked her deeply!

    "If this guy starts yelling, I¡¯m afraid a video of Mount Longhu will be widely spreading on the Inte in China by tomorrow!"

    Although Zhengyi School was powerful, it still kept a low profile in the mortal world, fearing that it would attract more attention from the government. If Li Yundong made a scene, the consequences would be unimaginable!

    Zou Ping was so angry that she grabbed Li Yundong, gritted her teeth and said, "Okay! You win, I¡¯ll inform our leader!"

    As she said this, she stomped her feet and turned back. After taking several steps, she turned around and said angrily, "But don¡¯t go ying tricks on me!"

    Just as she said this, she saw two Taoistsing over. One smiled and said, "Elder Sister, what are you talking about? What tricks?"

    Zou Ping looked at Li Yundong and said to the Taoists, "You two came at the right time. Help me keep an eye on these two. Don¡¯t let them go wandering around! I¡¯lle back in a few minutes!"

    After saying that, she turned around and left.

    The two Taoists were about twenty years old. They were very youthful and had thick eyebrows and big, bright eyes. Their faces were alert, showing their excellent cultivation foundation.

    Li Yundong nodded secretly and thought, "No wonder it is the number one Taoist sect, such talented cultivators can appear at random!"

    However, the two young Taoists misunderstood Zou Ping¡¯s meaning. They thought that Li Yundong and Su Chan were there to make trouble. When they saw Su Chan¡¯s thick Fox Spirit aura, they were shocked and looked at each other apprehensively.

    One of the young Taoists stepped forward and red at Su Chan. He muttered in a low voice, "How dare you, a little Fox Spirit, be so impudent in Mount Longhu? Do you want to taste our wrath?"

    Su Chan was shocked andpletely forgot that she was already a seven-tailed fox spirit. She subconsciously hid behind Li Yundong and looked at the two Taoist priests timidly.

    The Taoist priest was getting ready to take Su Chan down as he spoke, but he saw Li Yundong take one stop ahead of him. He was like a towering mountain with an insurmountable peak, looking down at him from above.

    The Taoist priest was shocked by Li Yundong¡¯s momentum. For a moment, he couldn¡¯t help but take a step back. He cast a wary look at Li Yundong and asked, "Who are you?"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and said, "I¡¯m Li Yundong, the leader of Fox Zen School."

    The Taoist was shocked. "You are Super L... Li Yundong?" He almost called out Li Yundong¡¯s nickname subconsciously, but before he could finish his words, he realized that Li Yundong¡¯s arrogance would be raised if he did so, so he suddenly changed his words.

    He nced at Li Yundong, turned to look at the Taoist priest next to him, and whispered, "Elder brother, what should we do?"

    His Shishiong frowned inwardly and whispered, "What are you afraid of? Would he dare to be presumptuous in Mount Longhu? Besides, if he is called Super Li, do you really think he is invincible? Let¡¯s see if he is unbeatable!"

    The Taoist nodded slightly. With the support of his Shishiong and the fact that he knew they were on his own sect¡¯s territory, he became more courageous. He said to Li Yundong, "Since you are the leader of the Fox Zen School, we should see if you are worthy of the title!" After that, he flicked his sleeves and made a gesture with his fingers under the cover of his Daopao. With his index fingers touching in the sleeve, he hid a talisman in his palm and pointed at Li Yundong¡¯s chest like lightning.

    Just as Li Yundong was entangled with the two Taoists, Zou Ping rushed into the inner mansion in a spitting rage.

    At this time, there were no tourists in the inner mansion. Zou Ping looked around and shouted, "Is anyone here!? Come out, no matter who you are!"

    As soon as she finished speaking, a beautiful woman in a yellow shirt came out of the courtyard. She had a sword on her back and an enchanting visage. She wore a yellow hairpin on her head and her eyes were bright and lively, expressive enough for her to forgo words. Soon, another woman came out from behind her. She looked exactly like the yellow-shirted woman, and she also carried a sword on her back. The difference was that she was wearing light blue clothes and had a blue hairpin on her head. Her eyes were quiet, filled with restraint and shyness.

    Who else could it be but Deng Yu and Deng Jiao?

    Zou Ping was stunned and asked in surprise, "Why are you here? Where are the others?"

    Deng Yu said with a smile, "Elder sister, they have all gone to do their practice. We are on duty today!"

    Zou Ping snorted and said, "Those guys, how could they leave two new recruits on duty? Besides, you are the sword souls of the great Sanjue Formation. How could you handle such a thing? Hum, it must be them who bullied you into it, right?"

    Deng Yu smiled and said, "No, we asked for it of our own volition! You saved our lives, it¡¯s not a big deal for us to help out!"

    Only then did a gentle smile finally appear on Zou Ping¡¯s face. She shook her head and said, "Hey, you two girls are really kind. They took advantage of you like this, but you¡¯re even speaking up for them. Hey, I really don¡¯t know if it¡¯s a good thing or a bad thing for the great Sanjue Formation to have chosen you, two soft-hearted girls, as sword souls!"

    At this time, Deng Jiao also came forward and said softly, "Elder sister, it¡¯s true that Shishiong and the sisters are too busy with their practice, so we offered to go on duty. We have been eating and drinking here all this time without paying for anything, and we feel bad about it. So, if we didn¡¯t do anything, we wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep well."

    Zou Ping grinned and said, "Well, you can do me a favor. Go to the West Mountain Peak to find Shishoo Zhang Kongyun. Tell him that someone from the mansion of a Taoist master is looking for trouble. Ask him toe and help quickly!"

    When Deng Yu and Deng Jiao heard this, they were shocked. Since they had woken up in the mansion of a Taoist master, they had regarded the people of the Zhengyi School as their saviors. Recently, they had learned some things about the Zhengyi School and they also knew what kind of status it held amongst the Chinese Taoists.

    Deng Yu said in surprise, "Who dares to be so presumptuous at the mansion of a Taoist master? Is he tired of living? Elder Sister, where is this man? Allow us to deal with him for you!"

    Zou Pingughed and said, "You guys? Forget it. You two are only powerful in the great Sanjue Formation. Without it, I could deal with you with just my pinky finger! And this guy can deal with me in the same way. So, you feel confident enough to challenge him, hm?"

    Deng Yu and Deng Jiao looked at each other and Deng Jiao covered her mouth and eximed, "He¡¯s really so powerful?"

    Zou Ping snorted and said, "No matter how powerful he is, so what? This is Mount Longhu! Hey, stop talking. Go and call Shishoo Zhang Kongyun over here. My master is not here now. Only he can deal with this guy. Let¡¯s not waste time. I have to keep an eye on Song Wei and Zhou Yuan. Those two usually like topete in their daily lives. I hope they won¡¯t make any trouble at this time!"

    After that, Zou Ping turned around and was about to leave, but as soon as she turned back, she thought of something and said, "By the way, if Shishoo doesn¡¯t want toe, just remind thatst time he said that as long as this guy takes the initiative toe to us, he will take action! Now it¡¯s time for him to fulfill that vow!"

    Deng Yu asked curiously, "Elder sister, who is the guy you are talking about?"

    Zou Ping looked a little anxious. She said impatiently, "Why are you asking so many questions? Just hurry up. If you dy for even a minute longer, it will only get more dangerous! Do you think this is a joke?"

    Deng Yu and Deng Jiao didn¡¯t dare to say anything more and nodded in unison. They quickly walked out of the door and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

 Chapter 597 He Is My Classmate!

    <h4>Chapter 597 He Is My ssmate!</h4>

    Deng Yu and Deng Jiao flew all the way to a Taoist temple on the side peak. They saw that the temple in front of them was much more shabby than the Taoist master¡¯s mansion. Evenpared with the Linggong Sect Taoist temple in the Zi Yuan, it was much worse.

    Deng Yu stood in front of the stumpy, shabby Taoist temple cob wall and patted the rusty iron ring on the wooden door. She called out in a clear voice, "Shibo Zhang, Shibo Zhang, are you there?"

    Before long, a girl¡¯s voice rang from inside, and a few momentster, the wooden door was opened with a squeak. A young, lovely girl came out and curiously looked at Deng Yu and Deng Jiao.

    This girl was none other than Zhang Liufang. She asked curiously, "Who are you? Why are you looking for my master?"

    Deng Yu craned her neck and peered through the crack of the door. She smiled and said, "I¡¯m Deng Yu, and this is my sister, Deng Jiao. We came here under Shijie Zou Ping¡¯s orders to find Shibo Zhang Kongyun."

    Zhang Liufang¡¯s eyes lit up, and she opened the door, which let out another squeak. She said happily, "Are you the sword souls of the San Jue Zhen? You are so beautiful. And... are you twins?"

    Deng Jiao¡¯s cheeks turned a little red upon hearing this praise, but Deng Yu smiled and epted thepliments. Deng Yu smiled and said, "Yes, we are twins! Is Shibo Zhang here? We want to ask him for help."

    Zhang Liufang stepped out of their way and enthusiastically went forward to hold Deng Yu and Deng Jiao. While curiously observing their differences, she pulled them inside and said with a smile, "My master is inside. What do you need him for?"

    Deng Yu smiled and said, "It¡¯s not us who are looking for him, but rather Shijie Zou Ping."

    Zhang Liufang asked with a smile, "Shijie Zou Ping? Isn¡¯t she on duty today? Why does she want to find my master? Haha, isn¡¯t she afraid that master will be too stinky and make her feel sick?"

    Both Deng Yu and Deng Jiao asked curiously, "Is your master stinky?"

    Smiling, Zhang Liufang pointed to a small red wall not far away and said, "Yes, my master is nting vegetables and he¡¯s using dung as fertilizer. It¡¯s so smelly. If you don¡¯t mind, you can go and find him. After all, I don¡¯t especially want to go there myself." As she said this, she seemed to recall the bad smell and quickly covered her nose with her hands.

    Deng Yu and Deng Jiao looked at each other. As girls who liked the cleanliness, they seemed to suddenly feel that a foul scent had permeated the air when they heard this kind of thing. They were hesitant for a moment.

    But at this time, a loud shout came from behind the wall of the Taoist temple. "Hey, you, big nose! Let me go! Let me go!"

    Zhang Liufang suddenly burst intoughter, then she covered her mouth and said. "Haha, that foreigner is troubling my master again!"

    Just as Deng Yu and Deng Jiao were feeling puzzled, they saw Zhang Kongyun fly out of a corner of the wall angrily. He was holding a wooden dipper in his hand, and a tall man with blond hair and blue eyes was gripping his thigh tightly. He kept shouting, "Master, master, let me be your disciple!"

    This foreigner was John. Zhang Kongyun had the power of jinshen, but he didn¡¯t dare to use it on John. He was afraid that if his Zhenqi surged, it would stimte John¡¯s injury and cause it to worsen.

    Zhang Kongyun dragged John a few steps, only to see that John was like a hemp bag, clutching at his thigh tightly with both hands. He was being dragged all the way, but he was still not willing to let Zhang Kongyun go.

    Zhang Kongyun was so angry that he couldn¡¯t helpughing. He raised the wooden dipper in his hand and threatened loudly, "Hey, if you don¡¯t let me go, I¡¯ll pour dung on you!"

    However, on John¡¯s face was a deep smirk. He cocked his head and opened his mouth, looking like he was waiting to be fed!

    Zhang Liufang, who was standing to one side, was so disgusted that she almost retched. She looked at John incredulously and said loudly, "Hey, you can¡¯t eat that! Why are you opening your mouth? Aren¡¯t you afraid that master will really pour it in? He¡¯ll do it, you know!"

    However, John seemed to be turning a deaf ear to her. He opened his mouth wildly and shouted, as if what Zhang Kongyun was holding in his hand was the most delicious food in the world, and he was full of expectation!

    Zhang Kongyun¡¯s eyes were so wide that his eyeballs were about to fall out of their sockets. He stared at John angrily for a long time before he put down the wooden dipper in his hand and said, "Well, I¡¯ve lost to you. I wouldn¡¯t dare to pour dung on you. Is that okay? Let go of me! Let me go!"

    Deng Yu and Deng Jiao had been in Mount Longhu for a long time, so they well knew that Zhang Kongyun was a low-key but extremely powerful cultivator of the Zhengyi School. When they saw that a powerful cultivator like Zhang Kongyun was being so thoroughly embarrassed by a blond-haired, blue-eyed foreigner, they burst intoughter.

    Zhang Liufang also guffawed. She giggled and said to Deng Yu and Deng Jiao, "This foreigner is a little out of his mind. I brought him here. He¡¯s really fun and has troubled master a lot these days!"

    John saw Zhang Kongyun talking to him, so he suddenly grinned and said, "Master, let me be your disciple!"

    Ever since Zhang Kongyun had brought John back, his life had been a mess. This big-nosed man seemed to be full of energy and pestered him day and night, constantly asking him to be his master. However, at this time, John¡¯s Qi was in a mess, so he didn¡¯t dare to do anything to him for fear that his injury would be aggravated.

    Zhang Kongyun looked at John, feeling a headacheing on. He couldn¡¯t helpining to Zhang Liufang, "Hey, damn girl, are you just watching the fun? This big-nosed man was normal just now, why is he crazy again now? Come over and help me get rid of him!"

    Zhang Liufangughed and pulled a face at Zhang Kongyun, saying, "Master, I can¡¯t help you either! He¡¯s hugging your thigh so tightly that I can¡¯t pull him away. He is very tough!"

    Zhang Kongyun said angrily, "I don¡¯t care. You can use any means at your disposal! Just help me get rid of him as soon as possible. This is not proper!"

    Zhang Liufang giggled and said, "Master, since he wants to be your disciple so much, you ought to just ept him!"

    Zhang Kongyun¡¯s eyes widened. "Nonsense, how could I possibly ept a foreigner as my disciple?"

    Zhang Liufang said with a smile, "It doesn¡¯t matter. Anyway, it¡¯d be a good method for you to deal with him. Maybe if you ept him as your disciple, he won¡¯t bother you anymore."

    Zhang Kongyun thought for a moment but still shook his head. "No, no. How could I mess around with epting someone as a disciple? It¡¯s not a joke!"

    Zhang Liufang shrugged at him and said, "Then I can¡¯t help you." As she said this, she turned to Deng Yu and Deng Jiao and said, "You see? Master can¡¯t go out now. Otherwise, as a jinshen master of Zhengyi School, he¡¯ll beughed at as his thigh is being hugged by a foreigner who refuses to let go."

    At this time, Deng Yu and Deng Jiao looked like they wanted tough but didn¡¯t dare to. They held back their amusement and their shoulders trembled a little. Deng Yu said, "Shibo Zhang, Shijie Zou Ping is really in a hurry. Why don¡¯t you go and have a look first?"

    Zhang Kongyun rolled his eyes. "How could I do that? Can you show me a way?"

    Deng Yu immediately bit her lip in embarrassment, and Deng Jiao beside her suddenly said softly, "Shibo Zhang, Zou Ping said that you promised Shibo Zhang Ling that if that person really came to Mount Longhu, you would take action."

    Zhang Kongyun was stunned for a moment. "I promised Shijie Zhang Ling? What did I promise her?" As he said this, he turned his face and looked at Zhang Liufang in confusion. "What did I promise her? What do you mean?"

    Zhang Liufang thought for a moment before asking tentatively, "Was she talking about Super Li?"

    Zhang Kongyun suddenly thought of something, and his eyes lit up. "Super Li? That guy is so bold that he would dare toe to Mount Longhu? Hey, girl, is Zou Ping talking about that guy?"

    Deng Yu said in a clear voice, "I¡¯ve no idea. Could it be him? Shijie Zou Ping seems to be very afraid of him."

    Zhang Kongyun chuckled and said, "Zou Ping is a girl who has always thought highly of herself, but she only thinks highly of Zhang Tianhe. No other guy is taken seriously by her. It must be this guy who had got her so afraid! Well, I¡¯d like to meet him. Since he dares to deliver himself to my home, I¡¯ll go and have a look!"

    He had just begun to move when he felt his feet sink. He saw John raising his head and looking at him with a silly smile on his face, shouting, "Master, Master!"

    Oh yeah, there was such a burden by his side. He had almost forgotten!

    Zhang Kongyun was disturbed, and he spat angrily, "I¡¯m not your master! Let me go!"

    Hearing these words, John¡¯s face was full of horror, he put even more strength into his arms and shouted, "Master, don¡¯t leave me behind!"

    Zhang Liufang couldn¡¯t helpughing and said, "Master, just ept him. It¡¯d be augh for me to have a foreigner as a Shidee!"

    Zhang Kongyun¡¯s expression was contorted in pain. He tentatively said to John, "Hey, how about I temporarily ept you as my disciple for a month? After a month... you won¡¯t be my disciple anymore. Is that okay?"

    Zhang Liufang was so angry that sheughed aloud. "Master, you¡¯re lying to yourself! How could he understand your words? How can you bully a fool?"

    But John¡¯s expression was suddenly full of joy. He quickly nodded and said, "Okay, okay, Master, Master!" After that, he immediately released Zhang Kongyun¡¯s thigh and kowtowed on the ground before him.

    Seeing that he had finally let go, Zhang Kongyun suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. He pointed at John and said, "In the future, you are not allowed to stand behind me and then suddenlytch onto my thigh! That¡¯s the first rule, understand?"

    John nodded, his head bobbing like that of a chicken pecking at the rice. "Yes, yes, I understand, Master!"

    Zhang Kongyun nodded with satisfaction and said, "In that case, I¡¯m going out now. Stay here and guard the house, understand?"

    John was shocked and immediately hugged Zhang Kongyun¡¯s thigh again, shouting, "Master, take me with you!"

    But this time, Zhang Kongyun was prepared, so how could he let John catch him? He quickly moved and appeared outside the Taoist temple in an instant. He shouted to Deng Yu and Deng Jiao, "Why don¡¯t you go now?"

    Deng Yu and Deng Jiao came to their senses as if they had just awoken from a dream. They followed Zhang Kongyun and ran out in a daze.

    Zhang Liufang also ran out with a grin as she looked back at John. She saw him run a few steps after Zhang Kongyun, then fall to the ground and burst into tears like a child.

    Zhang Liufang burst intoughter and shook her head. She waved to John and said with a smile, "Hey, big-nose, guard the temple carefully, we¡¯ll be back soon!"

    Because there were a lot of tourists on Mount Longhu at this time, Zhang Kongyun and the others did not dare to risk flying, so they just shuttled along the mountain path.

    Deng Yu ran while asking Zhang Liufang, "Shijie Zhang Liufang, who is Super Li? Is he very powerful?"

    "Haha, finally someone calls me Shijie. I¡¯m so happy! Now you¡¯re here, I¡¯m no longer the youngest disciple of the Zhengyi School!" Zhang Liufang giggled, but when she thought of Li Yundong, her face suddenly showed admiration. She nodded and said, "Of course that guy is powerful! It¡¯s a pity that you didn¡¯t participate in the Taoist assembly! Super Li defeated the masters of all the sects of the Taoist assembly alone, and finally, he defeated Tachibana Wakako, who is the goddess of Zhenyan Tantrism. He saved face for our Chinese cultivation world through the easily-won battle without much effort. How could he not be powerful? Think about it. If he wasn¡¯t powerful, why would the cultivation world have given him the nickname of Super Li at that time!"

    Deng Yu asked curiously, "I know that Shijie Zou Ping seems to hate that guy, but Shijie Zhang Liufang, why don¡¯t you hate him too?"

    Zhang Liufang sighed and said, "Because Shijie Zou Ping loves Shishiong Zhang Tianhe. She has been secretly in love with him for a long time, but Shishiong Zhang Tianhe has secretly fallen in love with Zhenren Zi Yuan. However, Zhenren Zi Yuan has been hanging out with Super Li all day long, which makes it seem like they have a good rtionship! Ah, what aplicated mess! It seems that Shijie Zou Ping is destined to be unable to be happy!"

    Deng Yu asked again, "What about you, Shijie Liufang? Do you love him?"

    Zhang Liufang said without hesitation, "Of course! It¡¯s enviable enough that Super Li is good at fighting, but the most rare thing is that he is a man of affection and righteousness. As the saying goes, it¡¯s easy to find priceless treasures, but it¡¯s hard to find a loving man! If I ever had such a boy who loved me, I would be very happy!"

    Deng Yu and Deng Jiao looked at each other, and they became ever more curious about Super Li. Deng Yu tentatively said to Zhang Liufang, "Well... Shijie Zhang Liufang, could you take us to see himter?"

    Zhang Liufang giggled and said, "Don¡¯t call me Shijie Zhang Liufang anymore. It¡¯s weird. Just call me Liufang. I was very happy to hear you call me Shijie just now."

    Deng Yu also smiled and nodded. "Fine, Shijie... Liufang, I wille with you to have a lookter, is that okay? I remember that Shibo Zhang Ling wouldn¡¯t allow us to wander around. If she finds out that we are going to the main courtyard of the mansion, I¡¯m afraid she will be angry."

    Zhang Liufang was in a good mood. She giggled and said, "Don¡¯t be afraid. I¡¯m here. It¡¯s okay!"

    The three girls chatted and followed Zhang Kongyun quickly all the way. Before long, they came to the front of Mount Longhu¡¯s Taoist master¡¯s mansion. At this time, the front of the mansion was full of tourists, and a group of people was pointing at the roof curiously.

    Zhang Liufang looked over and immediately took a deep breath!

    There was one Taoist each on both sides of the cornice of the building. These two Taoists were hanging in the air like clothes and not moving at all.

    Zhang Liufang was struck dumb and asked, "What¡¯s going on?"

    At this time, Deng Yu and Deng Jiao also eximed, "Who did this? It¡¯s an outrage!"

    Zhang Liufang said in a daze, "Could it have been Super Li? I¡¯m afraid that he is the only one who would have the guts and ability to do such a thing."

    Zhang Kongyun was also slightly angry at this time. He snorted and looked at a boy in the field.

    Zhang Liufang saw a handsome boy standing with an extremely beautiful girl. They were surrounded by the Taoists of the Zhengyi School, but these two of them talked andughed as if there was no one around them. Those Taoists red at them, but didn¡¯t dare to make a move.

    Zhang Liufang immediately pulled Deng Yu, pointing and eximing, "Look, that¡¯s Super Li!"

    Deng Yu and Deng Jiao looked in the direction she was indicating and suddenly shivered. Deng Yu blurted out, "Isn¡¯t that Li Yundong? He, he is Super Li?"

    Zhang Liufang said strangely, "Yes, Li Yundong is Super Li! Do you know him?"

    Deng Jiao was also shocked. She said in a light tone, "He is my ssmate!"

 Chapter 598 The Initial Battle of Jinshen

    <h4>Chapter 598 The Initial Battle of Jinshen</h4>

    Hearing Deng Jiao¡¯s words, Zhang Liufang was so surprised that she couldn¡¯t close her mouth. She was stunned and said, ¡°Wha...what? Li Yundong is your ssmate? You, you used to...¡±

    Deng Yu said straightforwardly, ¡°Yep, I used to be a freshman at Tiannan University. Li Yundong was my senior.¡±

    Zhang Liufang¡¯s face was full of shock. She thought to herself, ¡°The two Sword Souls that Uncle Master Zhang Ling chose still have the memories of their previous lives? No way! By rights, the Sword Souls of the great Sanjue Formation should have removed their memories of the previous life! How could this be?¡±

    Although Deng Jiao was introverted, she was sensitive. She soon noticed Zhang Liufang¡¯s strange behavior and could not help bing a little alert.

    Deng Yu didn¡¯t notice anything at all. She looked at Li Yundong in a daze and said with emotion, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect... he is a cultivator, and he is so powerful!¡± As she said this, Deng Jiao was about to rush up to Li Yundong and shout.

    However, as soon as Deng Yu moved, she felt someone pulling at him gently. Deng Yu turned her head and saw her sister looking at him, Deng Jiao, who shook her head slightly.

    Although Deng Yu was confused, she still shut her mouth automatically because she knew and trusted her sister.

    She quickly rolled her eyes and said to Zhang Liufang, ¡°Senior Sister Liufang, what should we do now?¡±

    Although Zhang Liufang was filled with doubt, she still temporarily suppressed her thoughts. She shook her head and said honestly, ¡°I don¡¯t know. Let¡¯s wait and see. It¡±ll be okay with Master here.¡±

    At this time, Zhang Kongyun also walked onto the field. When the surrounding Taoist priests saw himing, they immediately breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, ¡°Well, Martial Uncle Zhang is here!¡±

    Zhang Kongyun frowned and walked up to Zou Ping. He looked around and asked in a deep voice, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    Zou Ping gritted her teeth and looked at Li Yundong, saying indignantly, ¡°How should I know? As soon as I got back here, I saw these two guys hanging on! Damn, Li Yundong is too arrogant!¡±

    Zhang Kongyun usually behaved like a naughty overgrown child, but at this time, his face was full of anger, and he shouted in a low, dignified voice, ¡°Nonsense! Why haven¡¯t you let them down yet? Don¡¯t you want to let others watch the fun? Have you no shame?¡±

    Zou Ping said with an ugly face, ¡°How can I help them? There are so many people watching already and they¡¯re several meters up! You want me to fly up in front of everyone?¡±

    Zhang Kongyun said angrily, ¡°How did Li Yundong even get them up there?¡±

    Zou Ping¡¯s be more and more embarrassed under Zhang Kongyun¡¯s scolding. ¡°How should I know? I saw those two guys like that when I got here!¡±

    Zhang Kongyun snorted and said to Zou Ping, ¡°Have two people go to the side and prepare to get them down.¡±

    Zou Ping didn¡¯t know what Zhang Kongyun was going to do, but she knew that her Youngest Uncle possessed amazing magic and great power, so he would naturally have a way to get rid of these two people. She quickly turned her head and whispered a few words into the ears of the two Taoist priests beside her.

    The two Taoists nodded and ran quickly to either side, staring at the Taoist priests above who looked like corpses.

    Zhang Kongyun didn¡¯t seem to be very lucky. He red at Li Yundong and stamped his foot slightly. His stomp seemed inconspicuous, but with that one small motion, the mountain suddenly began shaking violently!

    The tourists around them immediately shouted in a panic, ¡°It¡¯s an earthquake! An earthquake!¡±

    The two Taoists hanging on the cornice were shaken and fell down immediately. The other two Taoists waiting below caught them steadily.

    They checked the pulses of these two people and immediately felt relieved, then nodded to Zou Ping.

    Zou Ping also breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to Zhang Kongyun and said, ¡°Younger Shishoo, you¡¯re amazing!¡±

    Zhang Kongyun snorted nomittally. ¡°Are they all right?¡±

    Zou Ping sneered and said, ¡°Even if you gave Li Yundong ten times the courage, he wouldn¡¯t dare to do anything to the people of our sect!¡±

    Zhang Kongyun smiled disdainfully and said, ¡°Do you have a screw loose? How dare they hang out with the people of our sect in front of the world!¡±

    After that, he ignored Zou Ping, whose face was turning a blotchy blue and white, and walked up to Li Yundong. He looked him up and down and asked, ¡°Are you Li Yundong, also known as Super Li?¡±

    Ever since Zhang Kongyun had appeared, Li Yundong¡¯s attention had been focused on him. With a smile on his face, he cupped his hands and said, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dare to call myself Super! I am Li Yundong. I haven¡¯t asked your name, senior.¡±

    Zhang Kongyun saw that Li Yunyang¡¯s smile was gentle and his tone was modest. He didn¡¯t look like the kind of ruthless person who could humiliate a major sect in front of so many people.

    Zhang Kongyun frowned and asked, ¡°Who am I? It doesn¡¯t matter. What¡¯s important is... how dare you be so presumptuous here? Do you know where you are?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Of course I do. This is the sacred ce of Taoism. It is the Zut Ting of a sect. It is known as the center of the world¡¯s Taoism. It is equivalent to the Jerusalem of Christianity, Ma of Im, or the Mount Wutai of the central ins of Buddhism!¡±

    Zhang Kongyun said with a face full of anger, ¡°Since you know, how dare you be so arrogant? Insulting our sect in front of mortals? Do you really think that you are invincible in this world and can just bully us as you please?¡±

    In the face of Zhang Kongyun¡¯s stern questioning, Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°Qianbei, if it were you who came to Mount Longhu sincerely and wanted to see the leader of the sect, but you were rejected maliciously and provoked by the Taoist priests, who would even go so far as to take the initiative to attack, what would you do?¡±

    Zhang Kongyun was stunned. ¡°Could that even happen?¡±

    At this time, Su Chan, who had been snuggling up to Li Yundong, cut in, ¡°Yes, I can testify that the tall Taoist guy is a baddie. He sneak-attacked my Yundong!¡±

    Zhang Kongyun immediately pulled a long face when he saw her. He snorted in his heart, ¡°Humph, seductive spirit, how can I trust your words? Wang Yuanshan was bewitched by a spirit like you, and that¡¯s how he ended up how he did!¡±

    Zhang Kongyun¡¯s face was gloomy. He didn¡¯t even look at Su Chan and said in a low voice, ¡°Zhenren Li, even if the people of our sect started the fight first, are you going to humiliate us like this? Don¡¯t you have a leader¡¯s temperament?¡±

    Li Yundong said with a smile, ¡°I wanted to talk to them, and I tried to give in again and again. In the end, they went too far. Therefore, I had no choice but to put them up high, so as to let them really see how high the sky is and how high the earth is. They forced my hand.¡±

    He suddenly changed the topic and continued, ¡°Besides, I came here with sincerity to resolve the previous conflict with the Zhengyi School. I wanted to see the leader of the Zhengyi School, but I didn¡¯t expect that the Zhengyi School would treat their guest like this. Is it the way of this sect to treat guests so rudely? I saw a pair of hanging couplets at the foot of the mountain, which said, ¡®Pray thousands of times, and everything is sincere.¡¯ May I ask, why did Ie here so sincerely?¡±

    Leader Zhang Kongyun could tell that although Li Yundong¡¯s words were superficially easy to deal with, there were needles hidden in them, and he was not good at arguing. Zhang Kongyun frowned and said, ¡°Our Sect Leader is indeed meditating in seclusion. I can guarantee you this! Moreover, once our Sect Leaderes out of closed-door meditation, there will be Dragon-Tiger Qiing out. It is impossible that no one in the whole sect would notice it!¡±

    Li Yundong saw that Zhang Kongyun was serious, and he couldn¡¯t help but doubt in his heart. ¡°Is the Leader of the Zhengyi School really in seclusion? Thenst time, the master of Lightning Retribution phase...was it just a Yang Spirit body of the head of the Zhengyi Sect who was in seclusion? No way. If it was only the Yang Spirit but it had the power of the Lightning Retribution phase, then... wouldn¡¯t that be too horrible? What¡¯s worse, who was the other master of the Lightning Retribution phase of the Zhengyi Sect?¡±

    Li Yundong thought for a moment, sighed slightly, and said, ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll be rude. If the head of the Zhengyi Schooles out of seclusion someday, I¡¯lle to visit him again.¡±

    Seeing that Li Yundong and Su Chan wanted to leave, Zhang Kongyun took a step forward and blocked their way. He said in a low voice, ¡°What? You want to leave?¡±

    Li Yundong raised his eyebrows and said in a challenging tone, ¡°Oh? You want to keep me here?¡±

    Zhang Kongyun said in a deep voice, ¡°Zhenren Li, you humiliated our sect in front of so many people. If I don¡¯t get back at you, how will the other cultivators of this world treat us?¡±

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t hold her indignance in any longer and shouted, ¡°It¡¯s you who provoked us first!¡±

    Zhang Kongyun red at Su Chan and shouted in a low voice, ¡°You little fox demon, how dare you be so impudent on Mount Longhu! Shut up!¡±

    Zhang Kongyun¡¯s angry roar contained the jinshen Yuanqi of the Xuanmen Sect. The thick, pure Yuanqi in his body rushed out and shook the air around him.

    The Demonic Qi in Su Chan¡¯s body was shaken by Zhang Kongyun¡¯s Zhenqi of the Xuanmen Sect. She was so shocked that she almost revealed her true body in front of so many people.

    Fortunately, when she had been cultivating with Li Yundong, she had already had a glimmer of Yuanyang Qi in her body. When the Yin Qi in her body almost came out, the Yuanyang Qi immediately grabbed the Yuanyin Qi steadily like a tree root, pulling it down little by little.

    A few faint fox skin patterns appeared on Su Chan¡¯s body in an instant and the corners of her eyes shed!

    Su Chan hadn¡¯t expected that Zhang Kongyun would shout at her in a low voice and almost force her to reveal her true body. She was shocked and immediately hid behind Li Yundong in horror, saying in a trembling voice, ¡°Yundong, this guy is so powerful!¡±

    When Zhang Kongyun saw that Su Chan had only made a slight appearance, she immediately returned to her original state. He was secretly shocked and sneered, ¡°So it¡¯s the Seven-tailed fox spirit! No wonder you dared toe to Mount Longhu! How courageous you are! Apart from the Mystical Silver Fox and Ao Wushuang, you are the third fox spirit who has dared to step onto Mount Longhu. Humph, you can¡¯t leave today!¡±

    Zhang Kongyun had once had a close rtionship with Wang Yuanshan, and they had been best friends, but because of the appearance of Ao Wushuang, the friendship between them had begun to fracture. Zhang Kongyun had tried very hard to persuade Wang Yuanshan to return, so that he would give up Ao Wushuang, the fox spirit, ande back to the Xuanmen Sect. However, Wang Yuanshan had resolutely betrayed the sect and left, so the friendship between them hade to an abrupt end.

    When Wang Yuanshan had been lured back to Mount Longhu by Yan Fang, it was Zhang Kongyun who had used him as bait to trick Wang Yuanshan. Even Wang Yuanshan had been caught by Zhang Kongyun himself!

    Zhang Kongyun still remembered clearly the scene when his best friend had cut off his robe with him, so he subconsciously had a strong hatred and rejected the fox spirit!

    In Zhang Kongyun¡¯s eyes, if Ao Wushuang hadn¡¯t appeared, Wang Yuanshan would have be the best cultivator in the world! Wang Yuanshan¡¯s future could be said to have been buried at the hands of Ao Wushuang, the fox spirit!

    Zhang Kongyun didn¡¯t know that Su Chan was Ao Wushuang¡¯s disciple, but he hated Su Chan as well and attacked Su Chan regardless of her identity.

    However, just as Zhang Kongyun moved, Li Yundong stepped in front of Su Chan. He sneered and said, ¡°Senior, it¡¯s not appropriate for you, a powerful cultivator, to attack a young girl, is it?¡±

    When Zhang Kongyun saw Li Yundong blocking him, he suddenly sneered and said, ¡°Well, I also want to see how strong you, Super Li, are! Since you just hanged a disciple from our sect, I¡¯ll let you have a taste of the feeling of being hanged too!¡±

    As he said this, he took a deep breath, and suddenly there was a cracking sound of joints all over his body. He stamped his foot, and two clear footprints appeared on the ck bricks under his feet like they were made of cheese. The footprints went straight to his ankles. Mount Longhu seemed to be being trampled by a giant. It shook violently, and the pces and pavilions on it shook rmingly.

    A terrible force gushed out of Zhang Kongyun¡¯s skinny body and rushed toward Li Yundong. He sneered and said, ¡°Get up!¡±

 Chapter 599 A Real Fight!

    <h4>Chapter 599 A Real Fight!</h4>

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t expect that there was a monster-like power in Zhang Kongyun¡¯s skinny body. He only felt as if he was being pinched by a giant and pulled up from the bottom by a huge force.

    Li Yundong was shocked and immediately moved his Qi to his Shenting. The True Energy in his body burst out in an instant, and the hair all over his body stood up with a swoosh. A faintyer of golden shell quickly appeared around his body, but it was in broad daylight now, the faint golden light under the sun was almost invisible.

    His QI sank, and he suddenly went down like a ten-thousand-pound boulder!

    A martial arts master who practices footwall often cannot be moved by ten oxen, but the power of cultivators was far beyond that of ordinary martial arts practitioners, especially when Li Yundong¡¯s aura was strong and condensed, he was like a Key Stand and firmly stuck in the same ce.

    Zhang Kongyun just wanted to throw Li Yundong up so that he could make a fool of himself. But he didn¡¯t expect that Li Yundong was so difficult to deal with. He didn¡¯t throw Li Yundong away at all. The young boy in front of him was motionless like Mount Tai!

    A sh of light shed across Zhang Kongyun¡¯s eyes. Unresignedly, he activated his Zhenqi again, with his bones all over his body rattling like beans being stir-fried. His skinny body swelled little by little, and his thin muscles began to swell slowly. The dried-up blood vessels under his skin bulged rapidly like balloons, like small snakes, twisting crazily!

    Li Yundong knew that many older cultivators in the Taoist section resist thews of nature rules, in order to try their best to ensure that their bodies were not damaged, they would choose to keep the most essential parts of their bodies: essence, Qi, and blood. These three parts were all hidden in the human¡¯s two kidneys, two livers, and two hearts. If a little more it could be consumed, they would save it.

    In this way, although they all looked like an old man, once their essence, qi and blood that had been stored in their kidney, liver, and heart suddenly burst out, their bodies would have a huge change, and it would have the effect of renewing their youth.

    At this time, all the muscles in Zhang Kongyun¡¯s body bulged and his body also became bigger. Li Yundong¡¯s heart immediately trembled. He knew that he must have used all his strength!

    Zhang Kongyun took a deep breath and pressed his thumb against Li Yundong¡¯s Hukou.

    Li Yundong suddenly had an illusion that his whole body seemed to be shorter under the pressure of his finger. He couldn¡¯t help but feel weak under his feet and wanted to fall down! Even if a fierce tiger or a giant elephant, if pressed by his fingers, would be pressed to the ground!

    Jinshen and Zhenqi originally condensed and vigorous, which were hard and powerful. The Ling Xu level was only at the initial level of Jinshen. With the help of the jinshen phase, it was almost immune to all magic arts and powerful magical weapons. It could be seen how terrible the density of Zhenqi under the jinshen¡¯s protection was!

    However, Zhang Kongyun once againpressed his Zhenqi which was inrge density into the size of a thumb!

    What did this mean?!

    ¡°Awesome!¡± Li Yundong was shocked. He condensed all the Zhenqi in his body into a point in an instant and gathered it on his thumb. At this time, even if he pressed the steel te, he could make a hole like pressing cheese, let alone pressing his Hukou!

    This press was both exquisite with martial arts and terrifying with the power of cultivation.

    If Li Yundong was pressed by Zhang Kongyun¡¯s normal power of Jinshen, Li Yundong would not be able to bear it, not to mention whether he hadpressed the power of Jinshen and Zhenqi into a small point.

    Hukou was also called the Hegu acupoint, and Hegu, as its name implied, he meant gathering and gu meant the gap between the two mountains.

    Hegu meant that the Qi and Blood ofrge intestinal meridian are gathering here. This acupuncture point belonged to his spleen and stomach, and the spleen was also a hematopoietic organ. Once Zhang Kongyun pinched Li Yundong¡¯s Hukou, with Zhang Kongyun¡¯s powerful Zhenqi, he could instantly control the direction of Li Yundong¡¯s Qi and blood, and even block his spleen¡¯s temporary hematopoietic!

    Cultivators often cultivated their internal organs, so their internal organs were incredibly powerful beyond imagination

    When Li Yunyang oncepeted with Zhao Yougen in drinking, he swallowed several bottles of white wine in one go, relying on his strong liver to detoxify the wine. In the Disanxian, he used the Divine Dragon Water-sucking Skill, relying on his own strong lung pressure.

    Most of the time, Li Yundong could burst out a monster-like power in an instant because the blood of his liver function was far more than that of ordinary people, and his spleen could create dozens of times more blood than that of ordinary people in an instant.

    The cultivators¡¯ power of Zhenqi originates from the flow of Qi and blood. Its explosive strengthpletely depended on the speed and capacity of the flow of Qi and blood as well as the capacity of the flow.

    But if the operation and creation of his blood and Qi were controlled, it would be like being caught by the source. No matter how powerful Li Yunyang was, he would be captured! What¡¯s more, Zhang Kongyun¡¯s press also contained horrible jinshen divine power!

    This simple press immediately made Li Yunyang feel Zhang Kongyun¡¯s powerful and exquisite fighting strength. His moves might not be extraordinary, but pointed directly to the vital part, and the pressure was so strong that it was suffocating!

    ¡°This Zhang Kongyun is at least at the medium level of the jinshen. He is at the level of the Immortal jinshen!¡± Li Yundong immediately became respectful. He did not dare to be careless. With a flip of his wrist, he raised his index finger and stabbed toward Zhang Kongyun¡¯s palm.

    The two of them moved very fast, as if Li Yunyang had raised a finger like a nail and was waiting for Zhang Kongyun to pat him.

    Although Li Yundong couldn¡¯t condense all of his jinshen and Zhenqi in his thumb like Zhang Kongyun, his Zhenqi came from the journey in Tibet and it was much more dense and condensed than ordinary cultivators¡¯. At this time, he was also in the Jinshen Realm, so its power couldn¡¯t be underestimated.

    In particr, Li Yundong¡¯s finger was pointing precisely at the Laogong acupoint in Zhang Kongyun¡¯s palm!

    The Laogong acupoint was also called the Guilu acupoint. In traditional Chinese medicine, Gui was opposite to the sky and meant the road. And Lu was the meaning of the road. The meaning of the Guilu was that the Qi and blood in the acupuncture points came from the earth part and corresponded with the Yongquan acupoint. In traditional Chinese medicine, there was a regimen to rub Laogong and pressYongquan, its meaning was to connect the Qi of the earth and achieve the purpose of promoting the flow of the human body¡¯s Qi and blood.

    The Laogong acupoint was the same as the Hukou acupoint, which also belonged to the spleen. Moreover, it belonged to the Jueyin Pericardium Channel of Hand, where the blood flow of the human body often needed to pass.

    Many people would sweat on their palms when they were nervous, and the ce where the sweat was on the Guilu, which was the Laogong!

    If Li Yundong¡¯s poke was right, Zhang Kongyun would not only be unable to press Li Yundong¡¯s Hukou acupoint, but also have a big problem with his own Qi and blood cirction. Although he had jinshen to protect himself, Li Yundong also had jinshen. Although it was only the primary level, as long as he hit the right ce, he could break the surface with a point, and it would be normal for the primary level of jinshen to break the high level of jinshen to protect himself.

    Zhang Kongyun saw that Li Yundong¡¯s reaction was shockingly fast. In the blink of an eye, Li Yundong not only dodged his attack, but also immediately returned it to Zhang Kongyun in the same way. In return, he immediately hit Zhang Kongyun with a ¡®face-breaking point¡¯!

    Zhang Kongyun secretly praised him and thought, ¡°You really deserve your reputation! Li Wudi¡¯s nickname is not for nothing! But... if you think that it was all I have, then you are wrong!¡±

    Zhang thought quickly and turned his wrist and grabbed Li¡¯s wrist. With the help of Li¡¯s wrist turning, another force was sent out and pulled him up.

    Li Yundong used all his strength to deal with Zhang¡¯s press. He couldn¡¯t help but feel a little weak under his feet, and his foundation was not as solid as before. At this time, he was suddenly pulled by Zhang Kongyun, and his feet immediately loosened and he was about to fly up again!

    Li Yunyang immediately made a Mahamudra with his other hand and shouted a Mantra in a low voice. Then, a Mahamudra mmed toward Zhang Kongyun¡¯s face.

    Zhang Kongyun saw a shining golden palm hit him in the blink of an eye. He was shocked and did not dare to dodge. He was afraid that if he dodged, Li Yundong¡¯s palm would hit the building behind him, which would make a big noise!

    Zhang Kongyun immediately retreated quickly. He swung the sleeve of his Daopao and put the Mahamudra into it.

    Li Yunyang¡¯s powerful Mahamudra suddenly sank like a y ox sinking into the sea, and there was no more movement.

    It only took two or three seconds for Zhang Kongyun and Li Yunyang to fight again and again. Before the tourists around them could react, they separated from each other before they could even look at them, as if nothing had happened. Because of the slight concealment of their fighting movements, the tourists did not notice that they had fought back and forth for several rounds!

    Zhang Kongyun looked at Li Yundong with anger in his eyes and said in a low voice, ¡°Zhenren Li, you have such high cultivation at such a young age. You are not simple. You should be self-respecting!¡±

    Li Yundong saw that the tourists around him had noticed him and Zhang Kongyun at this time, so he didn¡¯t want to continue to argue with Zhang Kongyun. He said neither servile nor overbearingly, ¡°Thank you for your advice, Qianbei. But I have my own ways to do what I do, so I don¡¯t need you to teach me. I came here this time to intercede for Zi Yuan. I hope you don¡¯t target her anymore in the future. If there is anything wrong, juste to me. If your leader really doesn¡¯te out of closed-door training, when hees out, please tell him what I mean.¡±

    Zhang Kongyun narrowed his eyes slightly. He had just figured out Li Yunyang¡¯s phase. If the two of them really fight, they would not be able to determine the result unless making a big ssh. In this situation, it was better not to entangle them anymore, or no one can win.

    Zhang Kongyun nodded slightly. He nced at Su Chan coldly and shouted in a low voice, ¡°There is still more than a month before the Master ceremony of the session of the Linggong Sect. I am looking forward to fighting with you! However, Zhenren Li, don¡¯t think that you are a master of the Golden Body after you have reached the Gold Body Cultivation! When the ceremony of session, I will tell you what the real Golden Body Fighting Method is! Finally, I advise you... Don¡¯t associate with this kind of Demoness! Otherwise... you will regret it! Humph!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled faintly. He took Su Chan¡¯s hand and said with a smile, ¡°The most unregretful thing in my life is that I fell in love with her!¡± Then he stopped talking and turned to take Su Chan¡¯s hand and walked down the mountain.

    At this time, Zhang Kongyun stared at Su Chan¡¯s figure for a long time, and then he turned around and left, ignoring the other Taoist priests¡¯ greetings, he quickly went to the backyard of the mansion. When he arrived at a no one¡¯s ce, he made lifting to rush to a mountain peak of Mount Longhu.

    When he ran all the way to the peak of the mountain and came to a huge rock that was as smooth as a mirror with several seal talismans on it, Zhang Kongyun slowly stopped. He reached out his hand and gently touched the three words engraved deeply on the rock: Obelisk of Fengchen!

    Zhang Kongyun gently stroked the surface of the rock, and his expression suddenly became very lonely. He slowly sat down beside the Wind Dust Stone and said to himself, ¡°Old friend... guess who I saw today? Hey, it¡¯s the Seven-Tailed Fox Spirit! Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s not your Ao Wushuang, but it¡¯s very simr to her at that time! It should be her disciple! You¡¯ve stayed here for a long time, so you must miss her very much, right? s, why can¡¯t you see through even with such a high-level cultivation talent? Since ancient times, which person has a good end with a fox demon?¡±

    Zhang Kongyun sighed for a while. There was only the sound of wind on the surrounding mountains responding to him. Zhang Kongyun shook his head and said, ¡°You still don¡¯t want to see me? Forget it, I won¡¯t force you. However, I met another cultivator whose cultivation talent is not lower than yours today. He is also obsessed with a Seven-Tailed Fox Spirit like you... Hey, I think you will soon have apanion. At that time, you will not be lonely! By the way, in a month¡¯s time, your disciple, Zi Yuan, will take over as the head of the Longgong Sect. Aren¡¯t you worried? Don¡¯t worry, I will help her. However, it doesn¡¯t count as a matter of the Zhengyi School. Now that I think about it, Si Shishiong and Qi Shishiong wille out of seclusion soon. I don¡¯t know how their cultivation is going.¡±

    With saying, Zhang Kongyun stood up, patted the dust on his butt, and said, ¡°I came in a hurry today, so I didn¡¯t bring you any wine! I¡¯ll bring you another day. I¡¯ll go first!¡±

    After Zhang Kongyun finished speaking, he shed and disappeared in an instant.

    After he left for a long time, a tall and slender man with long ck hair and Daopao suddenly appeared in his previous position. The man had his back to the Obelisk of Fengchen, and his eyes were dreamy as he stared at the secr world at the foot of the mountain like an immortal. He was silent for a long time, and a thoughtful smile slowly appeared at the corners of his mouth.

 Chapter 600 Do You Want It or Not?

    <h4>Chapter 600 Do You Want It or Not?</h4>

    Li Yundong and Su Chan went all the way down the mountain. When they left Mount Longhu¡¯s sphere of influence, Su Chan breathed a sigh of relief. She patted her chest and said in shock, ¡°It was all in vain! I was almost scared to death. I thought I was going to be caught!¡±

    Li Yundongughed before saying, ¡°You have me! Who would dare to get you? No way!¡±

    However, Su Chan said worriedly, ¡°But I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll get you into trouble!¡±

    Li Yundong pinched the tip of Su Chan¡¯s nose with a doting expression and said with a caring smile, ¡°Fool, you have to be confident in yourself. You are a Seven-Tailed Fox!¡±

    Su Chan grimaced. ¡°I¡¯ve been a burden for too long. I¡¯ll never get used to it!¡±

    Li Yundongughed, patted the girl¡¯s firm butt, and said with a smile, ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous. Come on, let¡¯s go back. How about this trip? It¡¯s been so fun and exciting, hasn¡¯t it? ¡±

    ¡°Ah!¡± Su Chan covered her butt and pouted, saying, ¡°It has been quite exciting, but not exactly fun. Also, we came all this way for nothing!¡±

    Li Yundong smiled slightly before saying, ¡°All in vain? I¡¯m not sure. At least I know that there is such a powerful jinshen master!¡± He thought for a moment before saying in a deep voice, ¡°But... what did that guy mean by the real jinshen battle method?¡±

    Su Chan said disapprovingly, ¡°He must have been ying tricks. Just tune him out.¡±

    However, Li Yundong shook his head and said, ¡°No, there must be something wrong with it. Maybe after a cultivator reaches the jinshen realm, their method of fighting will change, but I can¡¯t guess what changes will happen in a short time. It¡¯s better to figure it out in advance, otherwise, the fight will end in a big loss.¡±

    Su Chan thought for a moment before saying, ¡°Let¡¯s go back and ask my master. She should get it.¡±

    Li Yundong nodded. ¡°Alright, sounds good.¡±

    After they left Mount Longhu, they flew all the way to Mount Tianlong. It only took them one afternoon to get there and back. By the time they arrived at the secret chamber of the Linghuchan Sect, the sky had just darkened.

    When Li Yundong and Su Chan¡¯s spirit bodies returned to the practice room, they found that Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin had already woken up from meditation.

    Zi Yuan looked at Li Yundong and Su Chan curiously. She vaguely felt that Li Yundong¡¯s strong Yuanyang Qi had a little more Yuanyin Qi. For a moment, she couldn¡¯t help but think of something that was not safe for work. She couldn¡¯t help blushing and ended up forgetting to ask where Li Yundong was.

    Zhou Qin had only been cultivating for a short time, so she couldn¡¯t detect Li Yundong¡¯s change. She asked curiously, ¡°Master, where did you go with Su Chan?¡±

    Li Yundong told them about everything that had happened on Mount Longhu with a smile, but he omitted to mention his intention of going to Mount Longhu to get justice for Zi Yuan. After that, he asked Zi Yuan, ¡°Ziyuan, do you know the real jinshen Fighting Method?¡±

    Zi Yuan seemed not to have heard what he said and just stared nkly. Her mind seemed to drift away to nowhere. It was not until Li Yundong called her twice that Zi Yuan blushed and said as if she had just woken up from a dream, ¡°Ah? What did you say?¡±

    He looked at her strangely and wondered in his heart, ¡°What was this girl doing? Why does she look like she has lost her mind?¡±

    He had no choice but to repeat what he had just said.

    Zi Yuanposed herself. She shook her head and said, ¡°A true Jinshen fighting method? I don¡¯t know. I have never seen two Jinshen experts fight each other. It¡¯s already very impressive for cultivators to cultivate to the Yangshen phase. Jinshen is just too rare. When cultivators reach this realm, they all look after themselves and will not fight with others easily. It¡¯s really unusual to see two Jinshen Realm experts fighting each other. Not only have I not seen it, but my master has also never mentioned such a thing to me. Therefore...¡±

    She looked at Li Yundong apologetically and said, ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, I don¡¯t know.¡±

    Li Yundong chuckled and said, ¡°So there¡¯s something you don¡¯t know? Haha, it¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll ask Ao Wushuang when we go back. Let¡¯s see if she knows.¡±

    Zi Yuan nodded with a smile and said, ¡°Ao Wushuang is sophisticated and knowledgeable. She should know about it.¡±

    Li Yundong thought for a moment before saying, ¡°Although this is not the time to end the meditation, I still want to know what the real Jinshen Fighting Method is now. If I can¡¯t figure it out, I won¡¯t be able to concentrate on meditation. Why don¡¯t I go back and ask? And you can continue to meditate in seclusion here.¡±

    Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin nodded smilingly. Although Su Chan really wanted to go back with Li Yundong, when she saw that both Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin were staying, she was too embarrassed to carry on being by Li Yunyang¡¯s side. She grabbed Li Yunyang¡¯s arm before saying pitifully, ¡°You have to go back quickly!¡±

    Li Yundongughed at her behavior. ¡°You¡¯re acting like I won¡¯t return. Idiot! If it¡¯s smooth, I¡¯ll be back in two or three hours.¡±

    Only then did the girl¡¯s expression change from one of worry to joy, and she giggled.

    After bidding farewell to Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin, Li Yundong returned to Tiannan City with his Yang Spirit body. He flew very fast along the way and soon returned to his home in Tiannan City.

    It was rare that Li Yundong didn¡¯t enter from the back door, but this time he was choosing the front door. When he got to the door and wanted to get the key out, he realized that he hade out with his Yang Spirit body. Not only did he have no money, but also he hadn¡¯t brought his key.

    He couldn¡¯t help but smile bitterly before saying, ¡°It seems that I¡¯ll still have to go in by the back door in the future.¡±

    Li Yundong raised his hand and knocked on the door. After knocking twice, the door suddenly opened and a girl shouted, ¡°Hey, you little devil, are you done...¡±

    In the middle of the scolding, the girl immediately stopped. She stared at Li Yundong with her eyes wide open before saying in surprise, ¡°Leader? Ah, Leader is back!¡±

    This girl was Ling Yue. As soon as she shouted, all the people from the Fox Zen School rushed out. Kris also ran out of the room and looked at Li Yundong in surprise. It seemed that she didn¡¯t understand why he was suddenly back.

    Ao Wushuang also came out of her room and looked at Li Yundong strangely. She instinctively felt that something was wrong and asked, ¡°Leader, what¡¯s happened?¡±

    Li Yundong looked at the crowd curiously, then turned his eyes to Ling Yue. He said strangely, ¡°I should be the one asking you this question, right? What happened to you? Ling Yue, who were you scolding just now?¡±

    Ling Yue smiled at Li Yundong and said, ¡°Leader, I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to scold you. There were two Japanese who were blocking our doorway and saying that they wanted to see you. But weren¡¯t you in cultivation? It was impossible for you to see them, right? I told them the truth, but they didn¡¯t believe me and kept shouting in front of the door that they wanted to see you! I was annoyed by them, so...¡±

    Saying this, she curiously poked her head out of the door and muttered, ¡°It¡¯s strange, why haven¡¯t we seen those two? They finally figured it out and left?¡±

    Li Yundong was getting more and more confused. ¡°They were looking for me? Why?¡±

    At this time, Ao Wushuang continued, ¡°Didn¡¯t you receive a challenge letter from Zhenyan Tantrism before?¡±

    Li Yundong nodded. ¡°Yes, I did. Does it have anything to do with this?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Ao Wushuang said. ¡°One of them is called Saionji Tsunekatsu. He insisted that you go to Mount Koya with him immediately.¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing. ¡°It¡¯s my own business whether I go or not. Don¡¯t tell me that if I don¡¯t want to go he will tie me up?¡±

    Ling Yue quickly nodded and said, ¡°Yes, yes, that¡¯s exactly what they mean!¡±

    Li Yunyong¡¯s face darkened, and he said with some displeasure, ¡°Really?¡±

    At this time, the little foxes also began crying one after another, ¡°Yes, Leader, these two Japanese people¡¯s words were really offensive! We were about to explode when we heard them!¡±

    Li Yundong frowned secretly before saying lightly, ¡°Humph, I hit the little one. The big one was angry. If she wants to take revenge, let here to me herself. I won¡¯t go to her!¡±

    Ao Wushuang also said with a smile, ¡°I feel simrly. But there¡¯s another important thing, Sect Leader. We wanted to tell you immediately, but we were afraid that it would affect your meditation.¡±

    Li Yundong asked curiously, ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

    Ao Wushuang said seriously, ¡°The king medicine tripod was found by a local viger of the Mount Huangshan. Now he¡¯s sent it to an auction house and is ready to auction it.¡±

    Li Yundong was shocked. ¡°Ah? The Medicine King tripod? Being auctioned? No way! What about the other sects? Do they know?¡±

    Ao Wushuang shook her head and smiled helplessly. ¡°We saw this news on TV. Do you think they know nothing about it?¡±

    Li Yundong suddenly stood stock still with his eyes wide open. He couldn¡¯te back to his senses for a while. After a long time, he sighed bitterly and said, ¡°It¡¯s about money again, right?¡±

    At this time, everyone nodded in unison. ¡°Yes, yes!¡±

    As soon as Li Yundong thought of their finances, he felt a headacheing on. He had thought that he could finally be self-sufficient after opening the Dishanxian Shop, but he hadn¡¯t expected that there would be more and more ces to spend money, and it would get scarier and scarier!

    When he went down the Himyas from the Zhuji Realm, he had met Wu Hao and Lyu Fengping, who had wanted to grab the Fan of Seven Treasures. At first, Wu Hao had even offered 20 million yuan to buy it. Clearly, magical treasures were frighteningly expensive.

    Although the fan was also a powerful magic weapon, there were tens of thousands of magic treasures used for fighting in the cultivation world, including hundreds of high-ranking magic treasures of the first grade.

    The Medicine King Tripod was the only top-notch magic treasure that could be used for refining pills!

    Whoever possessed the Medicine King Tripod would have the potential to refine the Renyuan Jindan, Diyuan Jindan, and even the Tianyuan Jindan!

    It could even be said that the Medicine King Tripod was a powerful magic treasure that could change the structure of power in the cultivation world!

    Who wouldn¡¯t be jealous of such a magic treasure? Who wouldn¡¯t want it for themselves?

    If all the sects and schools heard this news, they would definitely flock over. On the day of the auction, there would be a fierce financial skirmish!

    At that time... Li Yundong didn¡¯t even dare to think about the sky-high price the medicine king tripod might go for!

    ¡°The Five Elements of Cultivation Taoism, ah, money, money...¡± Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help sighing in his heart. ¡°Why am I so poor?¡±

    Sure enough, it was like the saying: ¡°Those who don¡¯t know Tao worry about the Way, those who know Tao worry about money!¡±

    Li Yundong was extremely depressed and thought, ¡°Am I going to give up on the Medicine King Tripod? Shall I shrink back from these difficulties? But watching the Medicine King Tripod being taken away by others makes me feel so ufortable.

    ¡°The Medicine King Tripod, go after it or not? This is a matter worth considering.

 Chapter 601 Only the True Self Has Cultivation

    <h4>Chapter 601 Only the True Self Has Cultivation</h4>

    Li Yundong was worried about the Medicine King tripod. Kris suddenly said to him in a low voice, ¡°Ma... Li Yundong, I still have some money. If you need it, I can give it to you first.¡±

    He turned his head and looked at his honorary disciple with golden-hair and green eyes. He shook his head with a smile before saying, ¡°Thank you for your kindness. I¡¯m afraid that you wouldn¡¯t have enough. You saw so many cultivators fighting for a powerful magical weapon in Tiandu Peak a while ago. That kind of miserable situation was really shocking. You can imagine how important the Medicine King Tripod is. Only the rich can afford it. People from small sects like us...¡±

    Speaking of this, Li Yundong shook his head with a wry smile and said finally, ¡°Just forget it!¡±

    The rest of the people of the Fox Zen School shouted in surprise, ¡°Leader, will we give up on the Medicine King Tripod like that?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled and said, ¡°We have already got three Diyuan Jindan. As for the batch of four pills, it is already very profitable for us to have attained three... A person should not be consumed by greed! If we get the Medicine King Tripod, I¡¯m afraid that God would not be able to bear it any longer. Besides, we have also used the 1,000-year-old snow lotus. How could it be so easy for us to find another one as a guiding drug? Even if we got the Medicine King Tripod, the other cultivation sects could only refine Renyuan Jindan at most, but Diyuan Jindan would be absolutely impossible.¡±

    The little foxes of the Fox Zen School suddenly understood and said, ¡°The leader is right. We don¡¯t want this King Medicine Tripod, lest we get jealous again!¡±

    However, Ling Yue muttered in a low voice, ¡°Sounds like sour grapes to me.¡±

    Li Yundong feigned anger and red at Ling Yue. ¡°Would you die if you don¡¯t groan about me?¡±

    The whole Fox Zen School burst outughing for a while.

    Li Yundong smiled. He turned to Ao Wushuang and said, ¡°Senior Ao Wushuang, I have something to ask you privately.¡±

    ¡°If you have something to say, just say it. You don¡¯t have to be so polite.¡±

    Li Yundong pointed to his room and said warmly, ¡°Let¡¯s talk in my room.¡±

    Ao Wushuang was kind of confused. After following Li Yundong into the room, she asked in surprise, ¡°Why are you being so mysterious?¡±

    Li Yundong told her about his fight with Zhang Kongyun on Mount Longhu. ¡°Senior Ao Wushuang, is there any difference among jinshen masters? Why did Zhang Kongyun say that he would show me what a real one is like? Is he acting mysterious, or is it true?¡±

    Ao Wushuang listened to Li Yundong¡¯s words with a smile at first, but when he mentioned Zhang Kongyun, the smile on her face suddenly fell. It seemed that there was ayer of frost on her features and she said coldly, ¡°Zhang Kongyun... Hey, Zhang Kongyun!¡±

    Li Yundong saw that Ao Wushuang was gnashing her teeth. He couldn¡¯t help but think of Zhang Kongyun¡¯s words before, so he asked curiously, ¡°Senior Ao Wushuang, do you... know Zhang Kongyun?¡±

    Ao Wushuang sneered before saying, ¡°Of course I know him! It was him and the head of the Zhengyi School who caught Wang Yuanshan. Of course, I know him! Humph, I¡¯d know him even if he turned to ashes!¡±

    Li Yundong saw that the bad blood between the two was rted to Wang Yuanshan, a cultivator from thest generation. Ao Wushuang¡¯ss eyes were full of anger as if she wanted to tear Zhang Kongyun to pieces immediately. Li Yundong didn¡¯t want to dredge up painful memories, so he changed the subject and said, ¡°Senior Ao Wushuang, have you seen a fight between Jinshen Masters?¡±

    Ao Wushuang sneered. ¡°Of course! Wang Yuanshan, Zhang Kongyun, and Celestial Master Zhang of the Zhengyi Sect were all jinshen masters back then! Moreover, Wang Yuanshan was at the top level, and so was Celestial Master Zhang. Even Zhang Kongyun was at the middle level! That battle... Ah, how could I forget it?¡±

    Ao Wushuang looked into the distance as she spoke. It was as if she had suddenly shed back to ten years ago. She muttered in a low voice, ¡°I made up my mind to cultivate hard after experiencing that battle!¡±

    Li Yundong asked with concern, ¡°Senior Ao Wushuang, could you tell me what the difference between a Jinshen Battle and a Yang Spirit Battle is?¡±

    Ao Wushuang¡¯ss eyes were closed as if she was recalling memories of the past. After a long while, she opened her eyes and said, ¡°The difference? Come with me to the sky. I¡¯ll show you.¡±

    Li Yundong had been using a Yang Spirit body. When he saw that Ao Wushuang had disappeared from the room in a sh, he immediately chased after her and flew into the air.

    It was already night. As there were a lot of dense clouds in the sky, no trace of the two flying in the air could be seen at all.

    Ao Wushuang stopped in mid-air and said to Li Yundong, ¡°You¡¯ve reached the Jinshen Phase, yet your level is still at the Yang Spirit Phase. Most importantly, having not seen a real Jinshen Battle, you can¡¯t imagine what it will be like. So you¡¯re very worried that you¡¯ll lose in a battle against an expert of the Jinshen Phase, right?¡±

    Li Yundong nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    Ao Wushuang smiled and said with a faint smile, ¡°Jinshen masters have different fighting methods. Although I am not one of them, I have seen fights between Jinshen masters. I can imitate the scene as a reference for you.¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s face lit up with joy. ¡°Then I¡¯ll have to trouble you, Senior Ao Wushuang.¡±

    Ao Wushuang smiled slightly before saying, ¡°You don¡¯t have to call me senior. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s a bit much in light of my age?¡± Suddenly, a bolt of lightning flew out from her side and rushed to Li Yundong in the blink of an eye.

    Admittedly, this attack was simr to a sneak attack, Li Yundong was an expert of the Jinshen Phase, after all. Moreover, his cultivation was higher than Ao Wushuang¡¯s. Under the flow of the Zhenqi all over his body, the body-protection Jinshen suddenly blocked the sneak attack.

    With a noisy ¡°ng¡±, a one-meter-long Qingfeng Sword suddenly appeared in front of Li Yundong. The sharp de kept rotating and cutting at a fast speed, as a saw chain, cutting recklessly at Li Yundong¡¯s body.

    This sword was none other than the Bahuang Sword. As soon as it was blocked, it turned into a rolling iron lotus flower, crushing toward him like an iron-blood meat grinder.

    He felt like a terrible force was constantly pressing down on his jinshen, shaking his whole body with Qi. His jinshen seemed to be about to be shaken out of his body.

    His expression became serious and he immediately wanted to take out the Fan of Seven Treasures to use against his enemy. But no sooner did the thought ur than he saw that Ao Wushuang¡¯s five elements spell had almost hit his face. Besides, her subordinates had also appeared behind him in an instant. With a sharp shout, her five fingers became like knives, stabbing at the Lingtai acupoint on his back.

    This series of attacks was really like a storm, as fast as lightning. If Li Yundong had not been in the jinshen phase, he might have been defeated instantly.

    However, thanks to his jinshen, he was able to withstand even the most powerful attack of the Bahuang Sword. Soon, he recovered his strength and used the atha Print in front of him, destroying Ao Wushuang¡¯s spell promptly. Even Ao Wushuang¡¯s subordinates were sent flying more than a dozen meters away by the powerful Buddhist power.

    Ao Wushuang didn¡¯t stop until she had flown far away. With a wave of her hand, the Bahuang Sword returned to its original form and returned to her back right away. She flew back to Li Yundong and asked, ¡°How did it go? What did you feel?¡±

    Li Yundong fell into deep thought for a moment before replying, ¡°Senior Ao Wushuang, I simply feel that the speed of your moves are much faster than those of ordinary Yang Spirit masters. Youunched a few moves almost at the same time, but other than that, I don¡¯t think there was anything special about it.¡±

    She smiled slightly before replying, ¡°Because I¡¯m not a master of jinshen, I can only barely imitate their characteristics. I can¡¯t truly attack you with several doppelgangers simultaneously.¡±

    Ao Wushuang then flew in front of Li Yundong and stretched out her hand. With two fingers standing as straight as a sword and slowly pointing at his chest, she said, ¡°If this is my Bahuang Sword, I will use my Jinshen body to make an avatar and activate the power of jinshen to strike at your chest. For all your unbreaking jinshen¡¯s ability to block with magic treasures, it can¡¯t resist the power of my jinshen. What are you going to do?¡±

    Li Yundong immediately replied without thinking, ¡°I¡¯m going to make the most of the Seven Treasures Psychic Fan, which also has the power of jinshen, to resist it!¡±

    Ao Wushuang smiled slightly and stretched out another finger nomittally to point at Li Yundong¡¯s shoulder, saying, ¡°If I use the power of jinshen to attack your wings, what will you do?¡±

    Li Yundong said without hesitation, ¡°Shut the Mahamudra out by virtue of the power of jinshen!¡±

    Ao Wushuang chuckled and instantly split into two figures. One appeared behind Li Yundong, pointing at his back and saying, ¡°And if I use another powerful magical treasure to attack your back?¡±

    With a puzzled frown, Li Yundong thought for a moment before saying, ¡°I¡¯ll resort to Wisdom King¡¯s superman powers.¡±

    Ao Wushuang smiled and suddenly appeared above Li Yundong¡¯s head. She pointed at the top of Li Yundong¡¯s head with her hand, saying, ¡°If I attack you with a magic treasure from a high position at this time?¡±

    Li Yundong was stunned. ¡°How could you possess so many powerful magic treasures?¡±

    Ao Wushuangughed aloud. ¡°How many powerful magical weapons do you possess? You own so many of them, why can¡¯t anyone else have them? Besides, a Jinshen Master is a top cultivator. Without four or five weapons, a cultivator at such a phase would be embarrassed to meet others!¡±

    Li Yundong hesitated for a moment. He thought about possible countermeasures for a while before saying, ¡°In that case, I have to fight against the enemy with the Liuhe.¡±

    Ao Wushuang snorted and said with a faint smile, ¡°Having engaged in idle theorizing for such a long time, you might as well give it a try and show me what you just described. Imagine that someone is attacking you from all directions at the same time, can you handle it?¡±

    Li Yundong thought for a while and tried to mobilize his Zhenqi to control several magic treasure weapons simultaneously, making a big handprint to divide the power of jinshen into more parts and focusing more on it. However, as soon as he tried, he felt that his Zhenqi was in disarray, and the magic treasures seemed to have no chance to react, which did not match what he¡¯d seen in his imagination at all!

    He looked awkward suddenly. ¡°What¡¯s going on? It doesn¡¯t make sense that the Zhenqi in my body would be in chaos... After all, I have to divide the power of jinshen into several doppelgangers to defend, resulting in inevitable problems. But why is the powerful magic treasure not sensitive?¡±

    The powerful magic treasure could once have beenunched by Li Yundong in an instant, controlled with just a thought. He could defeat the enemy and retreat to ensure that he could escape unscathed. But now, there were slow dys one after another!

    Less than a second, even if it was only 0.1 second, could be enough to determine the winner and the loser¡¯s life and death!

    Ao Wushuang grinned and said, ¡°Do you know how powerful jinshen is? Although your strength has reached the Jinshen Phase, your level of fighting has not yet caught up with it. You can¡¯t make several Jinshen avatars attack from all directions, and you can¡¯t control several powerful magic treasures to attack! Because your inner cultivation hasn¡¯t caught up yet, you can¡¯t multitask!¡±

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Then how should I improve my cultivation in this respect?¡±

    Ao Wushuang shook her head, ¡°I¡¯m afraid I am not in a position to help you, but I remember that I also asked Wang Yuanshan a simr question. He told me something at that time.¡±

    Li Yundong quickly asked, ¡°What was it?¡±

    Ao Wushuang looked quite solemn, saying in an extremely serious tone, ¡°That only the true self has cultivation.¡±

 Chapter 602 A Shocking Conspiracy

    <h4>Chapter 602 A Shocking Conspiracy</h4>

    "You can¡¯t keep it around your body?" Li Yundong was stunned and asked curiously, "What do you mean by that?"

    Li Yundong knew that there was no way to keep this body around him. There was a famous saying of Zhang Jixian, the 30th Celestial Master of the Zhengyi School. To put it simply, it went: "Allws will end in Taoism."

    The meaning of "Allws will end in Taoism" was that no matter who a person was, what sect they hailed from, or what magic someone cultivated, the first thing they should do was cultivate the heart, umte Tao, condense their Spirit and Qi, and act in ordance with magic, so as to achieve the purpose of saving people and oneself.

    What should I one do to condense Spirit and Qi and act in ordance with magic?

    It was easier said than done.

    Ao Wushuangughed. She seemed to have expected that Li Yundong would ask such a question. "I also asked Wang Yuanshan. Do you know how he answered me?"

    Li Yundong asked curiously, "What did he say?"

    Ao Wushuang shed a small smile and said, "He said, ¡¯One is the child of the Tao. After onees two, after twoes three, and after threee to all things. Everything has both a bright side and a dark side, co-existing in harmony. For I am abstracted from the world, the world from nature, nature from the way, and the way from what is beneath abstraction.¡¯"

    Li Yundong was stunned. He had heard this sentence before when he was at the Taoist assembly. He had said to Zhou Qin, "This sentence is about the meaning of cultivation."

    However, while he understood what this sentence meant when he looked at it in istion, he didn¡¯t know how tobine the meaning of this sentence with the current situation. How did it work with the cultivation of jinshen for fighting?

    Although Li Yundong had broken through to the Jinshen phase and he possessed the power of the jinshen, it did not mean that he could perfectly exert this power. Ao Wushuang¡¯s previous words made him fall into deep thought. Although he had a profound knowledge of magic cultivation and powerful fighting talent, he felt that there was always a thinyer of fog in front of him. It seemed like he could enter a brand new world with just a slight poke.

    But Li Yundong found that he was always stuck outside the door to this world. He paced back and forth and was never allowed to enter.

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s words struck like a bolt of lightning in his mind, instantly illuminating the surroundings of the darkness of chaos, allowing him to see this strange world clearly.

    But it was only for a moment. Li Yundong rapidly fell into an endless trap of darkness. What he had touched just now seemed to have be unreachable.

    He had been on the precipice of understanding something, but it now seemed that he did not understand it at all.

    Ao Wushuang looked at Li Yundong, who was in a daze. She smiled faintly and said, "Think about it slowly. I¡¯m a little tired. I¡¯m going back to my room to rest."

    At this time, Li Yundong was constantly thinking over Ao Wushuang¡¯s words. He nodded to her in a daze and fell into deep thought alone.

    Ao Wushuang did not disturb him. Instead, she flew home alone.

    But just as she was about to arrive home, a white light suddenly shed in front of her. She grabbed at it with both hands, and immediately caught a paper crane that was pping its wings. There were a few words on the wings of the paper crane.

    She frowned and nced down at the wings, then quickly looked around. After making sure that nothing was wrong, she turned back and flew in another direction.

    She flew all the way to the old house in Tiannan City. When she opened the door and entered, she saw Liu Ye sitting leisurely at the square table in the front yard, drinking tea alone.

    Ao Wushuang frowned and stood at the door, refusing toe in. She said coldly, "What can I do for you?"

    Liu Ye didn¡¯t even look at her. He just pointed to some empty tea bowls and a stool opposite him and said, "You¡¯re here? Sit down!"

    Ao Wushuang hesitated for a moment beforeing in, but she still didn¡¯t sit down. "Let¡¯s get this straight," she said. "I¡¯m very busy, I don¡¯t have much time."

    Liu Ye snorted and said, "You¡¯re busy watching soap operas with the little foxes at home every day? Hey, Wushuang, you¡¯re so busy!"

    Ao Wushuang sneered. "It¡¯s better than some people who are busy scheming all day long!"

    Liu Ye smiled and asked, "Do you know why I¡¯ve been looking for you today?"

    "Don¡¯t beat around the bush. Just tell me!"

    Liu Ye didn¡¯t care about her attitude. He dipped a finger into his tea and wrote a few words on the table with a hint of enthusiasm in his eyes.

    Ao Wushuang saw that he was writing: "The second day of February!"

    She was stunned. "The second day of February? What do you mean?"

    There seemed to be a me burning in Liu Ye¡¯s eyes, and his whole body was coursing with uncontroble excitement. "The second day of the second lunar month will be the day of the resurrection of the Mystical Silver Fox!"

    "What? So soon?" Ao Wushuang was shocked. She immediately sat down and asked in a surprised voice, "Why is it happening then?"

    Liu Ye couldn¡¯t helpughing. "On the second day of February, the dragon raises its head! Are you very surprised? Yes, a bunch of chatans wouldn¡¯t have expected this either! Hehe, thank you so much! These days, I¡¯ve been thinking about how to release the sealed soul of the Mystical Silver Fox. Now, hahaha, I finally have a way!"

    Ao Wushuang narrowed her eyes. "You have spies around Li Yundong? Who? Cao Yi? Liu Yuehong? Or someone else?"

    Liu Ye stroked his beard and said proudly, "Oh, don¡¯t you worry about that. I need you to do something for me."

    Ao Wushuang said with a darkened face, "What is it? If you want me to go against Li Yundong, I won¡¯t do it!"

    Liu Ye frowned and said unhappily, "Do you really think of him as your leader?"

    Ao Wushuang spat angrily, "Oh, please. Given Chan¡¯er¡¯s character, do you think she will still recognize me as her master if she finds out that I¡¯ve been trapped by Li Yundong? I can tolerate living alone for the rest of my life, but I can¡¯t watch Chan¡¯er follow in my footsteps! So, if someone wants to do something harmful to them, they¡¯ll have to get permission from me first!"

    Her words were sonorous and powerful, and there was a sense of dignity in her tone that could not be breached. Liu Ye narrowed his eyes slightly. After a long while, he slowly smiled and said, "Well, well... you haven¡¯t changed at all. However, this matter is beneficial to Li Yundong. So, are you relieved?"

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s face softened slightly, and she asked in a deep voice, "Look, what do you want?"

    Liu Ye stroked his beard and said with a smile, "It¡¯s very simple. I don¡¯t care what method you use, but you must ensure that Li Yundong will go to Mount K¨­ya and have a fight with the goddess of Zhenyan Tantrism, Masako Tachibana!"

    Ao Wushuang asked suspiciously, "Why? And why are you asking me in particr to do this? Li Yundong seems to be easy-going, but he is a man of his own mind. He can¡¯t be easily influenced by others. What¡¯s more... why do you want him to go to Mount K¨­ya? I¡¯ve seen Masako Tachibana of Zhenyan Tantrism. She is not easy to deal with. Her Cultivation Quotient and kung fu are very powerful. You asked Li Yundong to fight with her, how could you say that it¡¯s beneficial and harmless? Are you out of your mind? I think it¡¯s harmful!"

    Liu Yeughed and said, "If Li Yundong wins, he will be the best cultivator in the Chinese cultivation world of thest fifty years! No one has ever been able to defeat Japan¡¯s top practitioners! If he manages it, he will gain both fame and wealth!"

    Ao Wushuang sneered and said, "What can such an empty reputation do? The taller trees in the woods are the ones that get their tops blown off. Even if you don¡¯t understand this, do you think he¡¯ll be ignorant as well?"

    No matter how well-educated Liu Ye was, he couldn¡¯t stand her provoking him again and again. He snapped angrily, "Enough! Li Yundong must go to Mount K¨­ya! As long as he goes there, Masako Tachibana will definitely hold a grand cultivation gathering. At that time, almost all the cultivation sects in Japan will attend, and all famous cultivators will go, even the members of the Abe family home. At that time... Humph!

    Ao Wushuang frowned. "What¡¯s wrong? You want to wipe out the entire cultivation world of Japan?"

    Liu Ye sneered and said, "Do you take me for a madman? Even the Mystical Silver Fox couldn¡¯t do such a thing. How could I hope to? I only need an opportunity to attract the attention of everyone in the Japanese cultivation world... As long as I have this opportunity, I can enter and release the seal of the remaining soul of the Mystical Silver Fox!"

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s heart skipped a beat. All of a sudden, she opened her eyes wide and said in a low voice, "You mean..."

    Liu Yeughed and said, "You get it now? Isn¡¯t it a good opportunity? Think about it! Even if it¡¯s for your disciple, Su Chan, you¡¯ll have to do it! Otherwise... Hmph!"

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s eyes were fixed on Liu Ye, but her expression changed. After a long while, she asked with some uncertainty and reluctance, "But how can you guarantee that Li Yundong will win and get away?"

    Liu Ye said disapprovingly, "How could the reincarnation of Wisdom King lose? ording to the rtionship between Gods and Buddhas, Li Yundong is the ancestor of Japanese cultivators! Those b*stards should be kowtowing to him!"

    Ao Wushuangughed angrily. "Do you really think of the reincarnation of Wisdom King as a panacea that can cure all diseases? Do you know how many reincarnated Buddhas in history have died of unnatural causes? You should know that Li Yundong is only a reincarnated body now, not the Dharma King¡¯s true body! Do you want to be invincible in this world? Let¡¯s talk about it after he¡¯s gone through Lightning Retribution, be a Jinxian, and acquired a true god¡¯s power!"

    "What do you want me to do?" Liu Ye retorted. "Do you know how long I¡¯ve been nning for this day? I¡¯ve even given him the Renyuan Jindan and Diyuan Jindan. What else do you want me to do? Do you think that I¡¯m less dangerous than him? Do you know who I¡¯m going to face? It¡¯s Abe, one of the most fearsome existences in the Japanese cultivation world, at the Abe family home!"

    When Ao Wushuang heard the name ¡¯Abe¡¯, she was also shocked and said with a gasp, "That¡¯s exactly what you thought! How dare you say that! Don¡¯t you know that the Abe family has been guarding the soul of the Mystical Silver Fox for 900 years?!"

    Liu Ye sneered and said, "Of course I know, but it¡¯s exactly because of that that I can seed!"

    Ao Wushuang looked very grave and did not speak for a long time. After a while, she stood up and neither agreed to nor rejected the proposal. She just walked outside. At the door, Liu Ye suddenly shouted after her and said, "Wushuang, if you are worried about Li Yundong, you might as well give him your Bahuang. Maybe thebination of the two swords will make him more likely to win."

    Ao Wushuang sneered. "So, you know that he has a low chance of winning? Thebination of two swords... Humph, do you think it¡¯s as simple as eating and cooking?"

    After that, she sauntered out of the door without hesitation.

    Her mind was swirling with thoughts and worries. However, she did not want to fly back immediately, so she walked slowly along Shantang Street.

    Although it was past nine o¡¯clock in the evening, Shantang Street was still brightly lit. There were all kinds of colorful lights hanging high on the ancient and elegant cornices, giving the pce the feel of an elegant young woman with a ssical aura.

    Ao Wushuang stopped in a deste ce. She suddenly looked back at the secr mortals ying on the street, and her eyes were full of confusion. She did not know what kind of changes her decision would bring to Li Yundong, Su Chan, the people around her, and even the rest of the cultivation worlds in China and Japan.

    Would these changes be good or bad?

    Could the Mystical Silver Fox reallye back to life on February 2nd£¿

    What would happen if she was resurrected?

    Ao Wushuang gradually hid her figure in the shadows. She casually slid the Bahuang out from behind her, pulling the longsword from its sheath. It was engraved with exquisite patterns and vibrated slightly in her palm, like a loyal servant who had seen its master and could not help but let out a joyful cry.

    Ao Wushuang looked at the weapon in her hand with aplicated expression and muttered in a low voice, "Head Shibo is right. Only thebination of the two swords will be a real powerful magical weapon. Only together... they are the most powerful swords in the whole world! Even if there is a problemter, with two swords in-hand, Li Yundong will be able to escape even if he can¡¯t beat Masako Tachibana. Yuanshan... The sword you left me is ready for a new owner."

 Chapter 603 Letâ€™s All Chip In

    <h4>Chapter 603 Let¡¯s All Chip In</h4>

    By the time Li Yundong returned to Mount Tianlong, it was already the morning of the next day. In the secret room of Fox Zen School, Li Yundong was thinking about what Ao Wushuang had said.

    ¡°There is no way out of this body. ¡®Dao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, three gives birth to all things; For I am abstracted from the world, the world from nature, nature from the way, and the way from what is beneath abstraction.¡¯ What kind of meaning do these things have in the cultivation of fighting with jinshen? What do they refer to?¡±

    Li Yundong thought hard about it, but he still couldn¡¯t figure out the meaning of these words. When Zi Yuan, Su Chan, and Zhou Qin woke up from their meditation, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but pose these questions to Zi Yuan.

    However, she was also puzzled, and she soon fell into deep thought. Even so, Su Chan and Zhou Qin starred at each other. One of them was a young fox who had little to offer in the way of skills, and the other was a rich girl who had only been cultivating for a few months. It was even more difficult for them to say something useful in a short period of time than for Pushkin to write a seven-character quatrain in Chinese!

    Looking at Ziyuan, who was thinking deeply, Zhou Qin with her straight eyes, and the little girl scratching her ears and cheeks, Li Yundong knew that this problem would have to be solved by him alone.

    The old days, when there had been people assisting him with cultivation, were gone and would never return!

    Seeing Li Yundong¡¯s frowning brows, Ziyuan couldn¡¯t help but try to persuade him: ¡°You shouldn¡¯t always be struggling with this problem, you have to know how to let go of some things before you can understand it. Cultivation is also a principle. If you cling on like this, be careful that you don¡¯t fall into Zouhuo Rumo.¡±

    Li Yundong thought for a moment before saying with a relieved smile, ¡°What you said makes sense, but what I¡¯m most worried about now is not this matter, but the Medicine King Tripod.¡±

    Su Chan asked curiously, ¡°Have you found the Medicine King Tripod?¡±

    Li Yundong shook his head and smiled, as if he was very emotional about the fickleness of the world. He said with a smile, ¡°Yes, but actually it was found by a viger in Mount Huangshan. Now it¡¯s been sent to the auction house, and it will be sold in two days.¡±

    Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin were all goggling and eximed in unison, ¡°What? The Medicine King Tripod is going to be auctioned off?¡±

    Seeing that the three of them looked as if they had seen a ghost, or as if aliens were about to attack the earth in the next second, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing. ¡°It¡¯s very strange, isn¡¯t it? When I heard it, I had the same reaction as you guys. It¡¯s incredible, but it¡¯s the truth! Moreover, this news was spread via TV. I¡¯m afraid that the cultivation world is in an uproar now.¡±

    Zi Yuan said with a worried face, ¡°If such a powerful magical weapon were to fall into the hands of a viin, the consequences... would be unimaginable!¡±

    Compared to Ziyuan¡¯s great benevolence and mercy, Zhou Qin was obviously more practical and utilitarian. She frowned and said, ¡°The most important thing is that we can¡¯t let it fall into the hands of enemy sects, otherwise...¡±

    Zhou Qin was not only the person who had benefited from the Renyuan Jingdan, she had also benefited from the Diyuan Jindan. Naturally, she knew the value of the Medicine King Tripod. Just one Renyuan Jindan was enough to make her, a new practitioner, able to fight to the death with Yangshen masters who had been cultivating for many years. Once an enemy sect obtained the Renyuan Jindan, even if it hasn¡¯t been produced in great quantities, just three or four, it would still pose a great threat to them.

    Su Chan, on the other hand, was much more innocent. For the little girl, the importance of the Medicine King Tripod depended entirely on Li Yundong¡¯s opinion. If he wanted it, then this powerful magical weapon could not fall into the hands of others. If he didn¡¯t want it, then she couldn¡¯t give a fig for its whereabouts. Anyway, she didn¡¯t care about asking as long as she could apany Li Yundong

    The little girl blinked her eyes, turned her face to her lover, and said, ¡°Yundong, are we going to bid?¡±

    Li Yundong smiled bitterly. ¡°And where would we get the money to bid?¡±

    Zhou Qin opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but she soon realized that her money was not at all sufficient!

    Zhou Qin thought for a while before saying tentatively: ¡°Or, let¡¯s all pool out resources to see how much money we can make?¡±

    Zi Yuan pondered for a while, and then suddenly asked, ¡°By the way, I found a lot of destroyed antique calligraphy and paintings in a secret room before, Li Yundong, do you know what happened to it? If that art had been better preserved, you wouldn¡¯t have to worry about money now.¡±

    When Li Yundong heard this, he immediatelyined in his heart, ¡°Well, a girl who is so energetic in her daily life. Why isn¡¯t she mentioning it now?¡±

    Before he had time to speak, he felt Su Chan gently tugging on his sleeves. Without needing to turn his head, he knew that the girl was hiding behind him and making faces. He said with feigned regret: ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know which darn wretch burned all these antique relics. I¡¯m livid about it!¡±

    Su Chan stuck out her tongue behind Li Yundong and pretended to be heartbroken. She shook her head and sighed, ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t know who crushed all these antique relics... I¡¯m so angry at them!¡±

    Zi Yuan asked with a puzzled face, ¡°It¡¯s strange... How did you know that these cultural relics were burned? And how did you know that they were broken?¡±

    Li Yundong and Su Chan stiffened and couldn¡¯t help but look at each other in embarrassment. Li Yundong reacted very quickly by pressing on. ¡°What¡¯s so strange about that? I saw it in that stone room, okay?¡±

    Zi Yuan still looked confused. ¡°But... how did you know that it was broken?¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s smile suddenly froze, and hisughter stopped abruptly, looking like a strangled duck. His expression was stiff for a while, and he suddenly turned his face and stared at Su Chan. ¡°Yes, you! How did you know it was crushed!¡±

    Seeing that Li Yundong was making trouble for her, she pulled a face at him, and her mischievous eyes seemed to be saying, ¡°You can¡¯t scare me!¡±

    Su Chan said with a smile, ¡°Of course I¡¯d know. I saw it with my own eyes! Sister Zi Yuan, I¡¯ll tell you...¡±

    Seeing that the situation was worsening, Li Yundong quickly said in a righteous tone, ¡°Do not talk about this useless affair now. Let¡¯s continue to cultivate! What¡¯s the use of saying these things? Can the antiques and paintings be restored?¡±

    Seeing that the situation was not good, Li Yundong quickly said with a righteous tone, ¡°Do not talk about this useless thing now. Let¡¯s continue to cultivate! What¡¯s the use of saying these things? Can these antiques and paintings be restored?¡±

    After that, Li Yundong sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes before Zi Yuan could ask anything.

    Zi Yuan felt more and more strange, but she was keenly aware of Li Yundong¡¯s own bizarre behavior. Especially when she saw that Su Chan wanted tough but wasn¡¯t daring to. She couldn¡¯t help butugh, which made her more puzzled.

    Zi Yuan gave Su Chan and Zhou Qin a look. Then three women quietly stood up and walked into another stone room.

    Seeing that they had left, and Zi Yuan had finally stopped asking, Li Yundong suddenly breathed a sigh of relief and thought to himself, ¡°It¡¯s so embarrassing. I almost became the biggest sinner in the antique world! If Zi Yuan finds out the truth, won¡¯t my reputation be ruined?¡±

    After entering the stone room, Zi Yuan said to Su Chan in a soft voice, ¡°Su Chan, is there something Li Yundong is hiding from us? Did he break the antique in that stone room?¡±

    Su Chanughed with her head shaking, and said mysteriously, ¡°Sister Zi Yuan, I won¡¯t tell you!¡±

    But Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin were not fools. They looked at each other and guessed almost everything. Seeing that neither of them was willing to speak out, and as things had alreadye to this point, it was meaningless to mention it again. So they changed the topic and said, ¡°In my opinion, Li Yundong still wants this Medicine King Tripod, but he just doesn¡¯t have enough money.¡±

    Zhou Qin hesitated for a moment and said softly, ¡°Well, I do have some money...¡±

    Zi Yuan thought for a beat before asking, ¡°How much?¡±

    ¡°500,000 in cash that can be used at any time, and another 2 million that can be transferred within two days...¡±

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t help but open her mouth wide and gape at Zhou Qin in amazement. ¡°Sister Zhou Qin, you are so rich!¡±

    The girl turned her face to Zi Yuan, and asked curiously, ¡°Sister Zi Yuan, how much money do you have?¡±

    Zi Yuan thought for a moment before saying, ¡°Zhengyi School froze the assets of our Linggong Sect. I don¡¯t know if they¡¯ve thawed yet. If it¡¯s usable, it should be about six million yuan.¡±

    Then Su Chan said in a loud voice, ¡°Yes, I forgot what you saidst time!¡±

    Su Chan looked at Zhou Qin and then at Ziyuan with envy and admiration on her face, but she was very sad in her heart. ¡°Sister Zhou Qin and Sister Zi Yuan are so rich, they can help Yundong, but I am too poor to do anything!¡±

    At this time, Zhou Qin was focused on raising money. She did not notice the thoughts of the girl Su Chan at this time and justmented, ¡°Although I can only transfer about two million yuan myself, I know a few reliable businessmen. I can ask them to transfer the money. I should be able to gather ten million in total.¡±

    ¡°Ten million...¡± Zi Yuan thought for a while and asked, ¡°So do you mean we¡¯ll make a total of 10 million together, or you alone can make a total of 10 million?¡±

    Zhou Qin smiled and said, ¡°I can get ten million yuan alone. Actually, I can get even more than that. With my father¡¯s background, it would be ridiculous to say that I could only get ten million yuan. But... if I get the money in a short period of time, it will cause a lot of trouble and bring a lot of inconvenience to my father. Besides, these other men who can borrow money from me are all male...¡± As she said this, Zhou Qin looked in the direction of Li Yundong next door and whispered with a smile, ¡°I am afraid that he will be unhappy if he finds out about this, so I don¡¯t want to go to them.¡±

    Zi Yuan also smiled slightly and said, ¡°Ten million is nothing to sneeze at. In this way, we can raise sixteen million... It may not be enough, but if we can make up sixteen million... we can find one or two sects to bid together with. When the elixirs of life are refined, it can be divided ording to the proportion of funds provided by each sect.¡±

    Zhou Qin frowned and hesitated for a moment. ¡°So, when the timees, we¡¯ll have to give the elixirs that we¡¯ve worked so hard to refine to someone else?¡±

    Zi Yuanughed and said, ¡°It¡¯s inevitable for the Medicine King Tripod to go for an amazing price. The best oue we can hope for is to ensure that it won¡¯t fall into the hands of the bad guys.¡±

    Zhou Qin nodded and said, ¡°You¡¯re right. Let¡¯s make sure we can get it before we talk about anything else.¡±

    Zi Yuan thought for a moment and said, ¡°Why don¡¯t we go back now and make some preparations first?¡±

    By this time, Zhou Qin was no longer in the mood to cultivate. She nodded and said, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go back with you.¡±

    Seeing that both of them were about to leave, Su Chan also yelled, ¡°I¡¯ll go back too. I... I also have money!¡±

    Zhou Qin and Zi Yuan both turned their heads curiously and said in surprised unison, ¡°You?¡±

    Feeling their gazes on her, Su Chan immediately felt ashamed and said in a low voice, ¡°Of course, I, I also have some money. Don¡¯t look down on me!¡±

    Zhou Qin and Ziyuan had spent considerable time with Su Chan, and they knew that this girl was an out-and-out pauper. They believed that she could suddenly use some powerful magic, but for her to suddenly be rich... they would never believe it.

    Zhou Qin and Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t helpughing. Zhou Qin said with a smile, ¡°Su Chan, you¡¯d better keep the money for yourself. It won¡¯t be enough at all.¡±

    Zi Yuan also smiled and said, ¡°Su Chan, Li Yundong will know of your kindness, but your money really won¡¯t help.¡±

    Su Chan was agitated by their words. She was indignant and said, ¡°Don¡¯t you believe me? I¡¯ll go back and show it to you! I can guarantee I have plenty of !In the past, my teacher... ah, no, I was just saved back then!¡±

    Zi Yuan saw that Su Chan seemed to have spilled the beans, so she spoke of it further. She just smiled and said, ¡°Well, let¡¯s go back first.¡±

    Su Chan had blurted a few words, but when she flew back, she couldn¡¯t help regretting it. ¡°I really don¡¯t have money, but... Master does! When Master was going to marry Wang Yuanshan, he prepared arge sum of money for her dowry! I¡¯ve seen the money before. If I go back, I can be shameless and ask Master for it!¡±

    However... would Master hand over the entire dowry?

    Su Chan felt uneasy, but she had already said it. She couldn¡¯t rescind her words in front of Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin.

    When the girl saw that she was about to arrive back home at Tiannan City, she suddenly remembered what Ao Wushuang had said to her: ¡°They won¡¯t give it to me? Won¡¯t we go and get it ourselves? This is the tradition of our Fox Zen School!¡±

    The girl¡¯s eyes lit up like crescent moons, and she became excited immediately. ¡°Yes, I can steal it... Bah, I¡¯m going to get it! Master, I¡¯m sorry again this time!

 Chapter 604 Love Is as Solid as Gold

    <h4>Chapter 604 Love Is as Solid as Gold</h4>

    Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin returned home, which aroused the curiosity of all the people in the Fox Zen School. After understanding why they had returned, the little foxes all goggled at Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin with awe.

    It turned out that Zhou Qin and Zi Yuan, who had been living with the foxes all the time, were a pair of wealthydies!

    Kris asked Zi Yuan tentatively, ¡°I have some money, too... But, I¡¯m afraid that Master... that Li Yundong won¡¯t ept my money. Do you need it?¡±

    Zhou Qin had always felt sympathy for Kris and had a good impression of her, so she intended to help and asked, ¡°How much do you have?¡±

    Kris thought for a moment, then uttered, ¡°About three or four million.¡±

    Although Zhou Qin vaguely knew that Kirs was from a decent family, she didn¡¯t know that she had been raised in thep of luxury. She said in surprise, ¡°Kris, it seems that you are so rich! You can easily take out three to four million yuan at a time?¡±

    Kris waved her hand anxiously and said, ¡°Well, it¡¯s in US dors rather than pound sterling. Don¡¯t hold high expectations that it¡¯s a lot of wealth.¡±

    Well, it turned out that Kris herself thought it was such a small amount of money that it didn¡¯t even deserve being mentioned!

    Zhou Qin cracked a wry smile immediately. She turned to Zi Yuan and said, ¡°Well,pared with her, we are but peasants! She can take out more than 20 million yuan alone!¡±

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly in response and said, ¡°It¡¯s true that there¡¯s always someone richer than you. But... Kris is right. I believe it won¡¯t be difficult for her to take out such an amount of money. The difficulty lies in persuading Li Yundong to ept it and make him feel that Kris is not trying to please him.¡±

    Kris replied with an awkward smile, ¡°I was afraid that Li Yundong would misunderstand, so I didn¡¯t dare to tell him. But, I still really want to give a hand.¡±

    Zi Yuan thought for a moment before saying, ¡°We might as well take your money. We can¡¯t care about trifles at this critical juncture. Taking her money into an ount, we¡¯ll probably have about 40 million yuan. It¡¯s not a small sum. Even if we cooperate with other schools, we can still hold on to a rtivelyrge share and won¡¯t suffer a loss.¡±

    Cao Yi and Liu Yuehong of the Fox Zen School were listening attentively. Liu Yuehong quietly drew Cao Yi aside and whispered, ¡°Hey, should we also take out some money?¡±

    Cao Yi suddenly smiled bitterly and said, ¡°We? Everyone knows that all the people in our Fox Zen School, from its leader to its new recruits, are impoverished people. Where could we get the money from?¡±

    Liu Yuehong said in a hurry, ¡°Don¡¯t you remember Leader distributing the operating profits of Disanxian to us?¡±

    Cao Yi said with a wry smile, ¡°Sure, but it¡¯s too little.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not about money, it¡¯s about our attitude.¡±

    Cao Yi thought about it seriously and nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right!¡±

    So Cao Yi went out and called all the little foxes into her room, saying, ¡°You all heard just now. Even Zi Yuan, who is not a member of Fox Zen School, is willing to help us. As members of the Fox Zen School, shouldn¡¯t we do something?¡±

    The little foxes were all clever and mischievous. When they heard this, they immediately realized the meaning of her words. They subconsciously covered their pockets and said in horror, ¡°Aunt Cao Yi? You don¡¯t mean it, do you? You even want us to take our pocket money? It¡¯s peanuts!¡±

    Cao Yi said angrily, ¡°It¡¯s not about money, it¡¯s about attitude!¡±

    The little foxes looked sad andined, ¡°Cao Yi, please show mercy. We¡¯ve already spent all our pocket money!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I only have a few coins in my pocket. Do you really want to take them away from me?¡±

    ¡°My money¡¯s all stuck in a bank somewhere and cannot be withdrawn until the due time! Cao Yi, I can¡¯t take it out willy-nilly!¡±

    Cao Yiughed angrily: ¡°Run out of the money? All you eat and use are paid for by Leader of the school. Where you spend the money? How do you spend the money? Only coins! Coins are also needed! Give them to me! In deposit? Bastard, you are an unregistered citizen, you don¡¯t even have an ID card. How can you deposit damn money? Where is your deposit book? Take it out and let me have a look?¡±

    Looking at Cao Yi¡¯s ¡°impartial and incorruptible face¡±, the little foxes all adopted bitter expressions and handed over their funds one after another. Just as thest little fox handed over thest coin in her pocket with tears glittering in her eyes, they suddenly noticed something. ¡°Hey, why hasn¡¯t Su Chan handed anything over?¡±

    In an instant, almost all the little foxes looked at Su Chan in unison.

    Seeing that everyone was looking at her, the girl rolled her eyes and said quickly, ¡°I¡¯m going to get the money right now!¡±

    After rushing out of Cao Yi¡¯s room, Su Chan quickly headed into Ao Wushuang¡¯s room and began to rummage through the boxes and cabs.

    But after thoroughly rummaging through the room, she still couldn¡¯t find Ao Wushuang¡¯s private stash.

    Disappointed, Su Chan immediately squatted beside the edge of the bed, holding her cheeks with both hands, and said with a forlorn expression, ¡°How strange... where could it be?¡±

    Feeling aggrieved, she suddenly heard a voiceing from outside. It was Ling Yue. ¡°How odd. Where did Su Chan go?¡±

    The other little foxes were also moring and twittering, ¡°Could it be that she ran away?¡±

    ¡°No way! We¡¯ve already handed over our money. Why hasn¡¯t she given hers?¡±

    ¡°s, after all, she is Leader¡¯s favorite girl...¡±

    Hearing this, Su Chan was so angry that her lips twitched and her face was full of displeasure. As she was about to go out and argue with them, she heard Ling Yue say in surprise, ¡°Aunt, you¡¯re back?¡±

    Su Chan was shocked. ¡°Ah? Master is back?¡±

    Although she hadn¡¯t stolen anything, she still had a guilty conscience, so she subconsciously used the Goddess Nayan Mudras to hide herself.

    At this time, since Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, and Kris were all busy counting the funds after returning to their own rooms, Ao Wushuang did not run into them. She just nodded to the foxes outside and went into her own room.

    Su Chan looked confused after she saw Ao Wushuang entering the room. Su Chan sat on the bed alone, lost in thought.

    Just as she was about to slip away quietly, she suddenly saw that Ao Wushuang was dangling a bag of Seven-Treasure Tips. Su Chan¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up, and she thought, ¡°Oh right, Master keeps almost all her treasures in the bag, so she must also be keeping her private money in the bag!¡±

    But... the bag of Seven-Treasure Tips was being held onto by her master. No matter how skillful she was at thievery, she would not be able to steal anything from her master!

    The girl suddenly pulled a long face and frowned. She bit her red lips tightly with her teeth and darted her eyes around, trying to figure out a solution quickly.

    No one knew how long it had been. As the girl was thinking through a method for the umpteenth time, Ao Wushuang sighed softly, then stood up graciously and went to the bathroom adjacent to the bedroom, turning on the taps to run a hot bath.

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. She said happily, ¡°Ah, master is going to take a bath. What a good opportunity!¡±

    Su Chan saw Ao Wushuang walking into the bathroom after removing her clothes one by one. After a while, steam had filled the bathroom. The curvy, perfect figure of Ao Wushuang could be seen on the ground ss.

    Su Chan quietly walked to the door and listened carefully. After confirming that Ao Wushuang was taking a shower, she quickly jumped onto the bed and rummaged for her master¡¯s Seven-Treasure Tips.

    She got them and was extremely delighted, but just as she was about to turn around and leave, she suddenly saw Ao Wushuang standing in front of her with a cold face. Ao Wushuang sneered and said, ¡°I caught you this time, didn¡¯t I? Humph, fight with me? I noticed you as soon as I entered the room! Tell me, what do you want to do with my Seven-Treasure Tips?¡±

    Su Chan widened her eyes and turned to look at the bathroom, only to find that the bathroom door was still closed but there was no one inside. She immediately muttered to herself, ¡°I was too careless, too careless!¡±

    Su Chan gave a forced smile and darted her eyes around. She tried desperately toe up with excuses and reasons in her heart.

    Ao Wushuang sneered and said, ¡°Again, you¡¯re making up lies again! You¡¯ve been like this since you were a child. When you¡¯re trying to lie, you evade with your eyes! Let¡¯s see what kind of reason you cane up with this time!¡±

    Since Su Chan couldn¡¯t get out of it, she lowered her head helplessly and told Ao Wushuang everything. Once she had finished speaking, she sadly took Ao Wushuang¡¯s hand and begged, ¡°Master, please help Yundong! Sister Zi Yuan, Sister Zhou Qin, and even Kris can help him, but I can¡¯t. I¡¯m sad!¡±

    Su Chan uttered these words pitifully, but Ao Wushuang was trembling with anger. She pointed at Su Chan and said in a shaking voice, ¡°You viin, do you still care about me at all? If you hade to ask me directly, wouldn¡¯t I have helped you? I have already nned to give him the money. When you want to get married to him in the future, I would have given you the money! I and Wang Yuanshan have already been separated by death. What¡¯s the use in me keeping the money forever? Should I use it for buying a coffin?

    Ao Wushuang was palpitating with rage and said, ¡°But you didn¡¯t discuss it with me in advance. You even dared to make decisions on your own to steal my things! Did I teach you to do things like this? If I don¡¯t offer it to you, you¡¯ll steal my things? I worked so hard to bring you up, teach you cultivation, teach you magic, and teach you how to interact with others. Is this how you repay me?¡±

    Scolded by Ao Wushuang, Su Chan was extremely ashamed. She burst into tears and knelt down in front of her. She held her master¡¯s knees with both hands and cried, ¡°Master, I¡¯m sorry. I was wrong! Please don¡¯t be angry. Please forgive me!¡±

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s indignant face calmed a little, and she said dejectedly, ¡°Chan¡¯er, I know you¡¯re sad. Li Yundong has Zi Yuan, a perfect partner, and Zhou Qin, an intelligent, brave and rich girl with a powerful background. You must be under unimaginable pressure. But have you ever thought about what you really need to care about when you love a person? What does he value in you? If Li Yundong didn¡¯t like you because you¡¯re poor, would still love him? You should cast off such a man!¡±

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s words were like a morning bell, beating heavily through Su Chan¡¯s heart and shocking her.

    The girl wiped her tears and stood up, saying with a serious expression, ¡°Master, I know. I know what to do!¡±

    Just as Su Chan was saying these words, it happened that Ling Yue was outside the door, and she cheered in surprise. ¡°Leader, you¡¯re back too?¡±

    When Su Chan heard the voice, she immediately wiped her tears from her face. Without saying a word, she rushed out of Ao Wushuang¡¯s room and into her own room.

    Seeing Su Chan zooming out of Ao Wushuang¡¯s room without even greeting him and going into her own room again, Li Yundong was curious, but he didn¡¯t think too much about it. He said to Ling Yue with a smile, ¡°Yes, I¡¯m always thinking about the Medicine King Tripod. I have too many distracting thoughts, so I can¡¯t meditate in seclusion. Later, I found that Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin were all gone. I guess they¡¯re in the same situation as me. They must havee back to worry about raising the money. s, as the Head of the school, how can I ever be free? Anyway, I¡¯m not in the mood to cultivate, so I thought I might as welle back!¡±

    At that moment, the little foxes all rushed over andined, ¡°Leader, that¡¯s right, we have given all our money to raise funds!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Leader, I don¡¯t even have a penny now!¡±

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether to start crying orughing at this point. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly saw Su Chan rush out with a pink Hello Kitty money can and smash it on the ground without saying a word.

    He was startled and cried out involuntarily, ¡°What are you doing, Chan¡¯er?¡±

    She didn¡¯t answer. She looked nkly at the shards of the money can and the cash scattered over the ground. She squatted down and picked up the money piece by piece, nodding carefully and seriously. Then, she looked up at Li Yundong and said, ¡°Yundong... This is all my money... I hope you won¡¯t think it¡¯s too little.¡±

    He was stunned. He stared nkly at Su Chan, only to see the girl in front of him looking at him with tears glistening in her eyes. She seemed to be about to start wailing at the next second.

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help looking at the broken money can on the ground. There were two silvery keys on the floor. He suddenly remembered the time he had first met Su Chan!

    He clearly recalled the situation before. He had bought her a money can. The girl had held the money can and smiled innocently and said, ¡°Well, I can¡¯t open the money can. What if you take the money while I¡¯m not around?¡±

    ¡°This silly girl put all the keys into her money can. She can¡¯t even get the money herself, but she¡¯s afraid that I will take it!¡±

    However, was she really afraid that he would take her money?

    Li Yundong suddenly remembered how when Su Chan had been injured by Lin Youfa, he had held her in his arms to take a taxi. The girl hadn¡¯t even forgotten to bring the money can when they were escaping. What had she said at that time?

    Ah, yes, she¡¯d said: ¡°Money, you will have no money to spend...¡±

    Just as he had been about to smash the money can pay the fare, the little had taken out another 50 yuan, which was all the money she had in the world.

    What had he said at that time? ¡°Didn¡¯t you put all of your money in there?¡±

    And she¡¯d replied, ¡°I am afraid that one day you will take away the money can and abandon me. If that happens, I can use this money to look for you...¡±

    These scenes flooded through his mind like a tide, making Li Yundong¡¯s heart full of sorrow. His eyes became blurry, sad and wet in an instant.

    He forced a smile, held back his tears, and said, ¡°Fool, you even smashed your money can. Aren¡¯t you afraid that you will have no money to look for me if I start disliking you in the future?¡±

    The grievance and difort that had been umting in Su Chan¡¯s heart for a long time exploded out in an instant. She burst into tears, threw herself into Li Yundong¡¯s arms and cried, ¡°Yundong, I¡¯m indeed very poor. I don¡¯t have money. I¡¯m naughty and I always get you into trouble. And I can¡¯t help you. But please don¡¯t dislike me!¡±

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes were full of tears. He forced a smile and said, ¡°Fool, I used to be much poorer than you, but you never looked down on me for it!¡±

    Saying that, he gently took the sparse smattering of money from the little girl¡¯s hand and said softly, ¡°Although you don¡¯t have much, you have already given me everything you have. In my eyes, this money is more valuable than all the rest of the money in the world added together! Do you understand?¡±

    Su Chan nodded with tears in her eyes. She looked at Li Yundong nkly with sorrow in her heart and thought happily to herself, ¡°Yundong won¡¯t dislike me. He will never dislike me!¡±

    He held her tightly in his arms and kissed her red lips deeply.

    At that moment, everyone in the room was fascinated. Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, and Kris all came out of the room. They all stared nkly at the couple acting as if there was no one else around them. Looking at the couple who had gone through such difficulties, no one could utter a word for a while.

    At this time, the same thought shed in everyone¡¯s mind: ¡°It¡¯s easy to get priceless treasures, but rare to have a faithful lover!

 Chapter 605 Words Spoke Carelessly Can be Taken to Heart

    <h4>Chapter 605 Words Spoke Carelessly Can be Taken to Heart</h4>

    It was yet another sunny day.

    As it was a southern city, although spring had not begun approaching yet, the temperature in Tiannan City had begun to rise. Especially when the sun came out, the sky would be clear and the sun bright. There were girls in short skirts and stockings everywhere on the street, which made people feel as if a warm spring and hot summer had alreadye.

    The scene was even more vivid on the pedestrian street of Tiannan City, which was full of people rubbing shoulders. Ling Yue and Xiao Hui were led by Su Chan to the Disanxian.

    Due to a lot of trivial things before, Li Yundong had not paid attention to the Disanxian for a long time. Especially over the past two days, Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin and the others had been busy raising money, and they had been even more helpless.

    However, after all, as the Disanxian was being rented in a golden area, they would be losing money every day if they didn¡¯t open it. At Li Yundong¡¯ss request, Su Chan took the little foxes to the store, ready to start the business of dealing tea again.

    Beforeing, Su Chan hadn¡¯t wanted to care about these things anymore, especially because she was really scared after what had happenedst time. She was afraid that she would get into trouble again and cause another big problem for Li Yundong.

    But Li Yundong just smiled mysteriously and told the girl that he had found a good partner for her who could help her manage the premises.

    The tea shop was not like a restaurant, a hotel, or even a coffee shop. In addition, it had been closed for a few days, which had made the customer traffic unstable. Some officials and nobles who had wanted toe to support them had lost their patience. They had shown up three times, only to find that the shop was always shut. How could they do that? They cared about their own reputations too!

    Especially for guests who were nning to try high-grade teas, when they saw that the door was closed every now and then, they had to go to the Tea Shop of Zao next-door.

    As a result, the business of the Disanxian was growing bleaker and bleaker andnguished. The little foxes were like a group of free little girls, sitting in a semi-circle or scattered around the tea tables in the hall, doing their own business in boredom.

    ¡°Who could it be?¡± Su Chan held her chin and sat at the tea table in the hall. Bored as she was, she scanned the crowd outside.

    ¡°Who is it, hm?¡± Ling Yue, who was standing to one side, leaning over curiously and asked.

    Su Chan yed with her braid with one hand and sighed, ¡°A helper for me found by Yundong.¡±

    Ling Yue became more and more inquisitive and said, ¡°Su Chan, don¡¯t you have a good rtionship with Leader? Why is he still finding someone to serve you? What you two said yesterday moved me to tears.¡±

    Su Chan rolled her eyes at Ling Yue and snorted coyly, ¡°You know nothing! Just because we have a good rtionship, he decided to find a helper for me. Otherwise, am I supposed to count on you guys to give me a hand? You are even more troublesome than me! I¡¯m afraid that if I rely on you, the Disanxian will close its doors permanently sooner orter!¡±

    The little foxes also came over one after another and said, ¡°Senior Sister Su Chan, we don¡¯t agree with you. What¡¯s wrong with us? How do we get into trouble?¡±

    ¡°Right, every time, it was you who took the lead!¡±

    Su Chan pped the table and stood up. She red at them and said angrily, ¡°What does that sound like? If a guestes and sees us in such a mor, they¡¯ll nevere again!¡±

    As soon as she finished speaking, she saw two well-dressed young girls walking in from outside the door.

    Ling Yue immediately pped her hands andughed, ¡°We have guests!¡±

    Before Su Chan could even turn her head, she urged the little foxes, ¡°Hurry up and greet the guests. Don¡¯t just sit there, you useless lumps.¡±

    But as soon as she finished speaking, a little fox suddenly pointed at one of the girls and said strangely, ¡°You look so familiar!¡±

    Su Chan turned her head and saw that although the two girls standing in front of her were wearing cartoon-stamped sweaters, they could not hide their magnificent breasts. One girl had a slim figure and a round face and looked quite sweet. Who else could it be but Cheng Cheng and Feng Na?

    A look of surprise appeared on Su Chan¡¯s face. ¡°It¡¯s you guys! What are you doing here? Come in and sit down! Please! Are you here for tea?¡±

    Feng Naughed and said, ¡°Didn¡¯t Li Yundong tell you? He called me this morning and asked us toe to the store.¡±

    ¡°Ah!¡± Su Chan suddenly understood and said, ¡°So it¡¯s you!¡±

    The girl giggled and continued, ¡°I was wondering why he was keeping it a secret. It turns out that he¡¯s invited an acquaintance to help me!¡±

    Cheng Cheng waved his hand at Su Chan, who seemed to be holding a kind of resentment and was feeling neglected. She said angrily, ¡°I¡¯m still here, you know!¡±

    Su Chan walked over with a smile and took their hands. ¡°I¡¯m relieved that you¡¯re here!¡±

    Cheng Cheng asked curiously, ¡°Su Chan, aren¡¯t you afraid that the two of us will cause trouble for you?¡±

    Su Chan looked at Ling Yue and the little foxes. She giggled and said, ¡°Well, you can¡¯t be worse than us. Heehee!¡± The girl then turned her face and said to Feng Na with a smile, ¡°Sister Feng Na, since you¡¯re here, I will teach you how to manage things in the store. Anyway, I myself know nothing about managing a store like this. Just do what you want.¡±

    Feng Na smiled and said very politely, ¡°Su Chan, you¡¯re too polite. I¡¯m just a lowly little worker while you¡¯re the owner¡¯s wife. Tell me what to do and I¡¯ll do it.¡±

    Su Chan shook her head and said, ¡°No, no, I don¡¯t understand many things. In the past, I pretended to know everything, but in the end, I caused a lot of trouble and got Yundong into a pickle. I don¡¯t want to stir up trouble anymore, so... Sister Feng Na, just do me a favor!¡± As she said this, she took Feng Na¡¯s hand and shook it gently.

    Feng Na felt sorry for Su Chan when she heard her sincere and polite words, especially her delicate and pitiful appearance. No one had the heart to refuse her. Even if Feng Na secretly liked Li Yundong, she couldn¡¯t hate Su Chan when she was faced with such a rival in love as her.

    Feng Na sighed to herself. She smiled weakly and said, ¡°Alright then. I¡¯ll take care of it.¡±

    Although Feng Na hadn¡¯t majored in management, she had her own unique understanding of operation and management. Soon, she produced a well-prepared marketing n from her carry-on bag, which listed all of the variables of the teahouse, the division system, the sry distribution for every employee, the management system, and the scope of work clearly and neatly.

    After a short discussion, the little foxes finally understood that they were about to be free of the past chaotic situation. In the past, when there had been a guest, they had all ganged up, causing the guest to be scared away. Without a guest, they would just idly bum around. It seemed that their busy days with lots of guests would nevere back.

    Su Chan saw that Feng Na was taking charge of all this in an orderly manner. She wondered in her heart, ¡°Yundong is really awesome. He really has the best talent and makes the best use of things. Everyone around him is amazing too!¡±

    While the little girl was sighing with emotion, she suddenly heard an old man¡¯s heartyughter from the door. ¡°Oh, so the shop has finally opened. How incredible!¡±

    Su Chan, Feng Na, and the others turned their heads and saw Shen Wancai standing at the door, wearing a gray Tang suit and looking at them with a broad grin.

    Su Chan surely knew Shen Wancai. She stood up with curiosity and surprise and said with a smile, ¡°Shen, why are you here?¡±

    Shen Wancai chuckled and walked in. ¡°I¡¯ve been eager toe for a long time, but why has it been shut so much since the opening ceremony?¡±

    Su Chan smiled embarrassedly and said, ¡°Well... it opened sometimes, but it¡¯s just that it¡¯s been closed intermittently in the middle.¡±

    Shen Wancai looked around the shop with a smile and said casually, ¡°Is that so? Every time Ie here, I have to eat a big bowl of shut-in soup. In my opinion, you should change the Disanxian into a porridge shop!¡±

    Feng Na had seen Shen Wancai at the opening ceremony. Knowing that this man¡¯s background was quite powerful, she didn¡¯t dare to behave sloppily. She stepped forward and said with a smile, ¡°Mr. Shen, you¡¯re a sharp wit. Please sit down. If you want to have some tea, I¡¯ll make it for you right away!¡±

    It seemed that Shen Wancai hade here for other purposes. He looked around and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Are Young Master Li and Zi Yuan not here?¡±

    Su Chan smiled and said, ¡°They are busy! They don¡¯t have time toe to the store.¡±

    Shen Wancai asked curiously, ¡°What are they busy with?¡±

    Su Chan thought for a moment before responding, ¡°Nothing, just some small errands.¡±

    Shen Wancai saw that she was unwilling to speak directly, so he only uttered a resigned, ¡°Oh.¡± He was very sensible and did not continue to press her.

    Shen Wancai had always wanted to take Li Yundong as his master and learn the skills of good health cultivation. Even if he couldn¡¯t live forever, it would not be bad for him to live another hundred years.

    Especially after seeing Li Yundong¡¯s divine skillsst time, he hade to regard him as an omnipotent Celestial Being in his heart.

    However, Li Yundong refused to ept him as his apprentice. He had always hinted that he would be willing to give up all his family wealth and his wife in order to be his apprentice. However, as a member of such a big family and an owner of such a huge property, could he abandon all of it so easily?

    Shen Wancai had been working hard in the business world for many years and had tempered his character to the extreme. Naturally, he was not the kind of person who would give up easily. Seeing that Li Yundong did not seem like a greedy man, he began to think about a way to save the country.

    In the beginning, he had aimed for the Disanxian. He had thought that since Li Yundong had opened the Disanxian so ostentatiously, he must be chasing money. Even if he didn¡¯t want money, he hoped that his business could be prosperous.

    After all, no one wanted to open a tea shop in this expensive area where every inch ofnd was worth an inch of gold just to lose money every day, right?

    No matter how rich he was, he wouldn¡¯t do such a thing!

    As long as he wanted the business of the store to be good, he could promote it! At that time, Li Yundong would have to ept his favor!

    However, for the past few days, Shen Wancai had been quite difited every time he hade, as the door had been firmly closed!

    This had caused Shen Wancai¡¯s judgment to waver. He thought to himself, ¡°Could it be that he¡¯s just opening this tea shop for fun? He doesn¡¯t care about business at all?¡±

    But today, Shen Wancai immediately knew that his spection was right: Li Yundong surely cared a lot about the business. Otherwise, there was no way he would have sent his most beloved girlfriend to the store.

    Although Shen Wancai couldn¡¯t see Li Yundong and Zi Yuan, whom he wanted to see the most, he sat down calmly. After ordering, he leisurely sipped the tea that Su Chan had made for him.

    At first, the little foxes took care of him carefully, but gradually, they became a little bored. They began to whisper beside him.

    As for Shen Wancai, he was really strong-willed. He sat there for a full two hours.

    In other people¡¯s eyes, this kind of behavior was simply inexplicable, but from Shen Wancai¡¯s point of view, it was a matter of course. When he had been handling business in the past, he had relied precisely on this strong determination and perseverance to secure a plenitude of opportunities.

    The reason he was refusing to leave was that he wanted to have more contact with them and talk with them more. He wanted to find something out from them.

    Moreover, with his understanding of women, especially of young girls, when they gathered together, it would be a waste of their talent not to gossip about work.

    As long as they started chatting, Shen Wancai couldn¡¯t believe that their topic would never change to what he wanted it to be.

    Sure enough, the little foxes couldn¡¯t stand it anymore and began to gossip about all sorts of trivial things.

    In the beginning, Shen Wancai had been sleepy listening to the little foxes chattering about entertainment news and soap operas on TV, but he quickly became sober and the sleepiness utterly disappeared when he heard a certain sentence. He listened carefully and attentively.

 Chapter 606 I am Ready

    <h4>Chapter 606 I am Ready</h4>

    Shen Wancai listened carefully, he heard Ling Yue and the little foxes talking in low voices about Li Yundong and the others raising money.

    "Hey, do you think Leader will be able to bid for the Medicine King Tripod?"

    "I don''t know. I''m very curious about which sect will cooperate with him."

    "Yes, it seems that all sects are hostile in the cultivation world. Which sect would be willing to cooperate with us?"

    "Isn''t the Quanzhen Dragon Sect on good terms with us?"

    "Bah, that''s just an act! Look at what happened in the Taoist assemblyst time, didn''t Du Fei hide somewhere far off?"

    "That''s not the case. They are from a big sect, so they naturally have more concerns. Do you think this is a game?"

    "Tut-tut, even if we work together, we may not be able to get our hands on it How many sects covet the Medicine King Tripod? Even I want a Renyuan Jindan!"

    "Yes, it would be great if Leader could get the Medicine King Tripod. I don''t hope for the Diyuan Jindan, but a Renyuan Jindan can be distributed to each of us, hee hee!"

    The little fox who had spoken this final sentence made everyone burst intoughter. However, they quickly noticed that Shen Wancai was looking at them with a glint in his eyes. Ling Yue''s expression immediately turned serious. She lowered her voice and said, "Stop it. Don''t let outsiders hear these things. Be careful of causing trouble again."

    The little foxes stuck out their tongues and scattered.

    Shen Wancai was eavesdropping to one side. Although he didn''t hear all the words, he heard a lot of things intermittently.

    He thought to himself, "It''s strange. Who is the leader they are talking about? Judging from the situationst time, it must be Young Master Li. Hey, what era is this? Why are they still calling him their leader?"

    Shen Wancai couldn''t helpughing in his heart. Suddenly, he saw that as Feng Na was busy cleaning the table, she identally knocked down a te. The teacup and teapot on the te fell to the ground with a tter.

    Su Chan only took a nce out of the corner of her eye and acquitted herself of her duties efficiently, immediately bending down into a beautiful arch. With a gentle reach of her slender hand, she picked up both the teacup and teapot.

    Su Chan''s move was beautiful and elegant, which inadvertently showed her amazing reaction speed, which was different from that of a mortal''s.

    Shen Wancai suddenly felt a chill in his heart. He remembered that when he had participated in the opening ceremony of the Disanxian Tea Shop, the little foxes had shown amazing skills. Moreover, Li Yundong''s divine skills were amazing, so it was really impossible to judge him on a secr person''s level.

    Shen Wancai thought to himself, "Could it be that not only is Young Master Li himself an immortal, he is also the leader of a sect like Wu Dang and Shaolin?"

    He was confused and wanted to find out the truth. However, he was an experienced and knowledgeable man after all, so he did not dare to take the initiative to ask Su Chan and the others. He was afraid that he would break their taboo and make them unhappy, thus cutting off his way to immortality.

    "It seems that there won''t be any results if I stay here any longer. I heard from them that Young Master Li seems to be going to a bidding party to bid for a Medicine King Tripod or something... I don''t know what that is... But if I can get it and give it to Young Master Li, I''m sure he''ll feel he owes me a favor, right?"

    A moment''s thought gave Shen Wancai this idea. He stood up, addressed Su Chan, Feng Na, and the others with a smile, and then went about his business.

    After returning home, Shen Wancai pressed a button on his desk and called in his personal secretary.

    His secretary was an ordinary-looking man named Xu Weikang. He wore a pair of gold-rimmed sses and looked very refined.

    When Xu Weikang walked into Shen Wancai''s room, He bowed slightly in a respectful manner and said, "Mr. Shen, what can I do for you?"

    Shen Wancai crossed his arms over his chest. After thinking for a while, he said, "Go and check whether or not the auction house has sent me a letter recently."

    Before everyrge-scale auction, major auction houses would try their best to create hype and attract attention to the event. In this way, the auctioned items could be sold at a higher price, and they could earn more profits.

    However, for amercial giant like Shen Wancai, who was interested in antiques, calligraphy, and painting, he didn''t need to pay attention to this news at all. People like him were the top VIPs of major auction houses. Whenever there was an important auction, there would be a VIP letter sent directly to him, inviting him to participate in it in advance.

    After hearing Shen Wancai''s words, Xu Weikang immediatelyughed. "There''s no need to check it, Mr. Shen. I just saw it this morning. There are two invitations from the auction house. One is from the Jia De Auction House of China, and the other is... Well, it''s an invitation from the auction house of the Tian''ai Auction House of Jiangsu."

    Shen Wancai nodded and ordered, "Show me both."

    Xu Weikang bowed and respectfully left. After a while, he came back carrying a folder in his hand, took out two delicate invitations, and handed them to Shen Wancai with both hands.

    Shen Wancai took them and looked at them. He nced at Jia De''s letter and threw it aside. When he looked at the other one, his eyes suddenly narrowed and heughed.

    There was graphic information on all kinds of antiques that were about to be auctioned. Among them was a three-legged purple-golden furnace tripod, which was the most conspicuous. A row of big words was clearly marked on the picture: "The antique world was shocked to find the Liandan Dingdan used by Sun Simiao, the king of medicine of the Tang Dynasty!

    Shen Wancai said mockingly, "The Liandan Dingdan of Sun Simiao, the king of medicine of the Tang Dynasty? Are you kidding me? If that''s real, it must be a national treasure. How could it be auctioned off?"

    Xu Weikang said in a low voice, "It is said that it was discovered by a local viger in Mount Huangshan and has been in the news for a while."

    Shen Wancai nced at him and didn''tment. He carefully read through the materials of the Medicine King Tripod and became lost in thought for a while. "This auction will be held in two days'' time. I wonder if Young Master Li has applied for it."

    Thinking of this, he turned his head and said to Xu Weikang, "Go to Tian''ai Auction House to find out who the buyers are."

    Xu Weikang hesitated for a moment before saying, "This... must be a trade secret, they won''t disclose it, will they?"

    Shen Wancai mocked him disdainfully, "Call them and tell them I''m asking. Ask them to send me a document. We''ll see if they will give it to me or not."

    Xu Weikang nodded and went out. About ten minutester, he came in with a few documents and a broad smile. "Mr. Shen, they have released all the information about the buyers, however, this is the information of the previous applications of qualified buyers. There may not be much information on applications after only two days."

    Shen Wancai took the documents and scanned through them. Sure enough, he saw the name of Li Yundong and Zi Yuan. However, this time, he saw the name of Zi Yuan, and he also the name of the Zhengyi School of Linggong Sect. Li Yundong''s name was behind Zi Yuan''s. Furthermore, there was also the name of Zhou Qin behind Li Yundong.

    Shen Wancai''s expression suddenly froze. He thought to himself, "The eldest daughter of the Zhou family is also participating in the bidding? With her family''s strength, it''ll be impossible for them not to buy it!"

    However, Shen Wancai came to his senses and thought to himself, "Right, Zhou Qin must not want to make any trouble for Zhou Keqiang, so she didn''t use the Zhou family''s connections and strength. Hey, this is a good opportunity! If Young Master Li doesn''t win, I will. I will give this Medicine King Tripod to Young Master Li, and that''ll be killing two birds with one stone! I''ll both win Young Master Li''s favor and ingratiate myself to the daughter of the Zhou family!

    "Ha, this is a deal. I''ll definitely do it!"

    Since ancient times, there had been nothing in China that could make people rich more than the collusion of officials and businessmen.

    "If I can connect with the Zhou family and learn Young Master Li''s magical skills, it''ll be a very lucrative deal!"

    Shen Wancaiughed proudly. Xu Weikang, who was next to him, inquired, "Mr. Shen, what are youughing at?"

    Shen Wancai chuckled and did not answer him. He just handed over the documents in his hand and said, "Go and check on the backgrounds of these people. Find out thepanies or consortia behind them! Have I made myself clear?"

    Xu Weikang felt a chill in his heart. He knew that Old Master Shen had always been a very meticulous man. His words were always true, and he would never make a fool of himself!

    It was obvious that Old Master Shen was going to make a move on this auction!

    Xu Weikang took the order and went away. About two hourster, he came in with a stack of sheets as thick as his little finger. "Mr. Shen, they are all here, but..."

    Shen Wancai put on his sses and carefully looked through the materials. He asked casually, "But what?"

    Xu Weikang smiled and said, "But the strange thing is... there are many religious organizations and financial groups, including several famous domestic pharmaceutical groups and traditional Chinese medicine chain organizations, and even a few Taoist temples and sects."

    Shen Wancai raised his head in surprise. "What? Are you sure that''s correct? Religious organizations? Who are these religious people?"

    Xu Weikang said with a smile, "Most of them are followers of Taoism and Buddhism. Two-thirds of the buyers are Buddhist or Taoist."

    Shen Wancai was in a state of shock and uncertainty. When he lowered his head to read the information, he clearly saw the name "Quanzhen Dragon Gate Company". He immediately chuckled and said, "So Zhenren Du is also going to join! Ah, it seems that... there is something up with this Medicine King Tripod!"

    There was an intrigued smile on Shen Wancai''s face. He didn''t take these opponents seriously. With his understanding of these financial groups and the strength of thepanies, they could not pose a threat or be a stumbling block to him.

    But when Shen Wancai suddenly saw the next page of information, he was startled and blurted out, "Why are there Japanese names here too? Why is there so little information about them?"

    Xu Weikang nced at the information and said, "Yes, Mr. Shen! This Ju''s financial group, and it doesn''t seem to have a big background, so..."

    Shen Wancai immediately mmed the documents down on the table and said angrily, "*sshole, only when you know yourself and your enemy can you win a hundred battles! Hurry up and check it out! In addition, try every means to find out the market information of thepany and the working capital that can be used at any time in private! The more detailed it is, the better!"

    Xu Weikang bowed shamefully and went out.

    Shen Wancai was left in the room alone, looking through the messy materials on the table. Almost all the information on every page of information was rted to the hiddenpanies and financial groups behind the current cultivation sects. Although Shen Wancai didn''t know much about the cultivation world, and he didn''t even know that there was a cultivation world around him, he suddenly felt that he seemed to have identally touched a huge, secret world with the special sharp sense of a businessman!

    Shen Wancai''s gaze slowly shifted away from the documents andnded on the image of the Medicine King Tripod that had been included in the invitation. He couldn''t help but murmur, "So many people... Could it be that they''re all after this thing? What exactly is it?"

    What Shen Wancai didn''t know was that the cultivation world of China, and even the cultivation world of Japan, were about to start a terrible, earth-shattering battle all because of this very item...

 Chapter 607 The War of the Capital

    <h4>Chapter 607 The War of the Capital</h4>

    The auction of the Medicine King Tripod soon began. It was outside Li Yundong¡¯s expectations that even though the Medicine King Tripod was an antique cultural relic found on Mouth Huashan, the auction was being held in Dongwu City.

    Auction House gave up their usualpany¡¯s auction house and set up the site of the auction at a five-star hotel in Dongwu City for the grand event. Li Yundong went to Dongwu City again with Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin.

    Women were the best calling cards for men. Most of the time, to judge whether a man was sessful or not at some particr asion, one could just look at what kind of woman he walked with.

    In the current China where the luxury goods market was constantly rising, an auction held by the auction house would not only be a grand event for auction lovers, but also a ce where rich people and bigshots could spend a lot of money to disy their wealth andpare the taste.

    In this kind of ce, naturally, there was nock of beautiful women.

    As soon as he arrived at the gate of the hotel, Li Yundong saw various branded luxury cars appearing in an endless stream in the gate of the hotel. One after another, luxurious and rich businessmen stepped out of them, beauties in dresses clinging on their arms.

    These beautiful women had pearl nes around their necks and huge gem earring dangling from their ears. They were rich and enchanting, attracting many people¡¯s attention.

    But when Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin arrived, everyone¡¯s focus was immediately stolen by them.

    Su Chan, in a fiery red ssical dress with a skirt which piled up on the ground like a cloud, looked ravishing. When the girl moved her feet, it seemed as if a cloud was following her. A fur shawl on her shoulders made her look enchanting and beautiful.

    Zi Yuan was still just wearing an ordinary white dress, but despite wearing such a in dress, it still made people feel as if she was wearing an incredible heavenly dress. Every inch of her clothes seemed to have been sewn from the clouds in the sky. She was like a fairy falling into the mortal world,cking even a trace of human nature.

    Zhou Qin was wearing a purple Qipao. Her character was calm and generous, and she came from arge family, making her behavior give her a unique aura like she was a superior person. Her beautiful eyes were filled with cold arrogance, superior enough to look down on all living creatures. Only when she saw Li Yundong did her eyes be iparably soft and full of admiration.

    When Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin arrived, almost of all the beauties at the hotel were immediately overshadowed by them. At this time, everyone was looking at them and they couldn¡¯t believe that there were three such stunning beauties in the world. Moreover, Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin were all beautiful and had different temperaments. They were all excellent in their own ways.

    These men looked at them with greed and envy. These men couldn¡¯t help but sigh and wonder, "What kind of man is worthy of such a woman?"

    While they were thinking this, Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin were approached by a young man, who was wearing a hand-made dark red Tang suit and a pair of ck cloth shoes. His eyes were soft and there was a smile around the corners of his mouth. He looked around with an indifferent expression as if he had seen all the vicissitudes of life. He was young but experienced. It was so marvelous.

    This young man was Li Yundong. He looked at Su Chan with a smile and said, "Chan¡¯er, do you still remember the first time we came here?"

    Su Chan turned back to look at him and said with a smile, "Yes, I was so nervous that I didn¡¯t even know where to put my hands."

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "Yes, I feel that so many years have passed! But in reality, it¡¯s not even been six months."

    Su Chan quietly pulled Li Yundong¡¯s hand. She yfully hooked her fingers around Li Yundong¡¯s palm and gave him a sweet smile.

    Although Zhou Qin often took part in various events with the upper sses, it was also the first time she had attended such a special auction. She looked around curiously and sighed, "There are so many people who are all here to participate in the auction?"

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly and said, "Indeed, there are many acquaintances."

    Li Yundong saw that there were many cultivators from the cultivation sects he had seen at the Taoist assembly. These people included Zhang Kongyun, Zhang Liufang, Zhang Ling, Zou Ping, and others from the Zhengyi School.

    However, they were not wearing Taoist robes this time. Instead, they were dressed in suits that were neat and straight, or silk cheongsams that shone with tassels.

    Even Zhang Kongyun, who didn¡¯t care about his image, was wearing a gray Tang suit, ying with a folding ink fan with one hand, and looking at the ink decoration on the fan off by himself.

    Zou Ping and Zhang Ling also saw Li Yundong. The two of them snorted and quickly turned their faces away, showing great hostility.

    At this time, Su Chan whispered to Li Yundong, "Yundong, where is Zhenren Du? Hasn¡¯t hee yet?"

    Li Yundong looked around and could not see anyone from the Quanzhen Dragon Sect. Instead, he found that several cultivators of the Qingcheng Sect were ring at him, as if they would tear him into pieces in the next second.

    "These guys... Why do they seem to have such a deep hatred for me?" Li Yundong felt strange in his heart, but he didn¡¯t take it too seriously.

    Just as he was looking back and forth, another exmation came from behind him.

    He looked back and saw a woman in a red dress, her ck hair floating in the wind, and a girl with blond hair and blue eyes both walking into the hotel hall informal clothing.

    They were none other than Ao Wushuang and Kris. Even though Kris was wearing the same long red dress as Su Chan, the dress she was wearing was a mature and beautiful one, not like Su Chan¡¯s style that gave off a unique youngdy¡¯s pure and lovely aura. Meanwhile, the suit of Kris perfectly outlined her sexy figure and her shockingly exquisite curves.

    When Li Jiandong saw them, he immediatelyughed. "You¡¯re here too?"

    Because Ao Wushuang and Kris were also taking part in the bidding, Li Yundong had specially invited them toe with him. However, Kris couldn¡¯t fly so she had flown over separately with Ao Wushuang. Li Yundong hade with Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin before them.

    It was obvious that Kris wasn¡¯t used to this kind of high altitude flight. Her already extremely white skin seemed even paler at this moment. Her legs were trembling as she forced a smile at Li Yundong and said, "Can we take a ne next time?"

    Su Chan burst intoughter. "Do you still want to learn cultivation? It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve heard of someone who can fly but chooses to take a ne..."

    Kris bit her lips and didn¡¯t say anything.

    Li Yundong helped her out of her predicament with a smile. "Let¡¯s go into the auction house."

    Under everyone¡¯s gazes, the group of people went to the auction house on the 19th floor. When they got inside, Li Yundong found that there were already many people sitting there, including many disciples of the Buddhist sect.

    Compared with some cultivators from the Taoist sects, these monks were much more generous. Most of them were wearing yellow frocks, and their bare heads were particrly eye-catching in the crowd.

    Zhou Qin took a careful look at the scene and suddenly whispered to Li Yundong, "Master, there are some people from Shaolin Temple here."

    Li Yundong was surprised and said, "People from Shaolin Temple also came? They are also interested in the medicine king tripod? No way!"

    Zhou Qin shook her head and said, "I don¡¯t know if they have reallye for the Medicine King Tripod."

    "Shaolin Temple? Is Shaolin Temple also a cultivation sect? Isn¡¯t it ce a ce for martial arts?" asked Kris, who was quite familiar with it.

    Zhou Qinughed and said, "It¡¯s hard for me to exin this, but my master knows, so let him tell you."

    Li Yundong also looked around. As he did so, he said, "Shaolin Temple is the same as Wudang Mountain. They are both martial arts sects and cultivation sects. Although in martial arts, one belongs to an external sect and the other belongs to an internal sect, in the cultivation world, their cultivation directions are very simr. They both belong to the Danwu Sect."

    "The Danwu Sect?" Kris asked, her head filled with confusion.

    Li Yundong exined with a smile, "Well, it¡¯s a sect that uses elixir to enter the Tao and martial arts. They have less dependence on powerful magical weapons. They mainly settle a score withbat moves supported by the Zhenqi Neidan."

    Hearing this, Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help but ask curiously, "Master, they don¡¯t want to use magic treasures, but they still want to fight with people? Isn¡¯t it a big disadvantage in a fight?"

    Li Yundong shook his head with a smile. "Not necessarily. Zhang Sanfeng was a Great Master of the Danwu Sect in the past. Have you ever heard of his failure in a fight? The Danwu Sect¡¯s fighting methods are fierce, flexible, and changeable. Moreover, they have a unique secret method that can resist magic arts and magic treasures. You can¡¯t look down on them. If you look to do, you will be at a disadvantage!"

    Zhou Qin said with a worried look, "Then, won¡¯t they be another strong opponent for our bidding this time? Shaolin Temple is very rich!"

    At this time, Zi Yuanughed and said, "Well, not necessarily. They may not be here to take the King Medicine Tripod."

    Ao Wushuang, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said, "In fact, we don¡¯t have to grab the Medicine King Tripod ourselves as long as we can ensure that the Medicine King Tripod is not taken by an enemy. If it doesn¡¯t work, we can cooperate with Du Fei of the Quanzhen Dragon Sect to disturb the buyer¡¯s state of mind and judgment, then let Du Fei make a move."

    Li Yundong nodded and said with a smile, "What Senior Ao Wushuang said is right."

    They were sitting in a corner of the auction house, whispering. At this time, there were more people filing into the auction house, and many people were finding their seats one after another.

    Li Yundong and Zi Yuan were staring at the buyers all the time and thinking about which cultivation sects were present. Finally, when the 13th cultivation sect appeared, Du Fei from the True Dragon Sect appeared in the field with Wei Qing.

    Du Fei looked around at the door. After meeting Li Yundong¡¯s eyes, he quickly showed an imperceptible smile, then sat quietly in another corner with Wei Qing, far away from Li Yundong.

    When Li Yundong and the others saw Du Fei, they all breathed sighs of relief in their hearts. Su Chan patted her chest and said very coyly, "Fortunately, Zhenren Du didn¡¯t stand us up!"

    Li Yundong smiled and was about to speak, but when he inadvertently nced at the door, he was surprised to see that Shen Wancai had also appeared!

    Li Yundong asked in surprise, "Shen Wancai is here too?"

    His exmation aroused the curiosity of Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, Su Chan, Ao Wushuang, and Kris. They all looked at Shen Wancai curiously.

    Ao Wushuang took a quick nce at him but didn¡¯t take the rich man seriously at all. However, Kris didn¡¯t know where this old man hade from and just nced at him nkly before looking away.

    However, Zi Yuan and Su Chan were confused, as if they didn¡¯t understand why Shen Wancai would be involved in this matter.

    Only Zhou Qinughed and said, "Master, Shen Wan is a very cultured man. Why wouldn¡¯t he participate in this kind of antique auction when he was able to participate in the teapetitionst time? He is very rich and is the VIP guest of most major auction houses."

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "I get it."

    Su Chan looked at Shen Wancai and suddenly said with some excitement, "Yundong, if Mr. Shen could help us buy the Medicine King Tripod, it would be great!"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯tment, but justughed.

    Seeing that Li Yundong didn¡¯t speak, Su Chan was eager to persuade him again. But as soon as she opened her mouth, she saw two more peopleing in from the door.

    When Ao Wushuang saw these two people, she immediately shrank back. Her whole body seemed to emit a bone-chilling aura and she asked in a cold voice, "Why are they also here?"

    Li Yundong looked at them and asked curiously, "Who are they?"

    Ao Wushuang sneered and said, "They are Saionji Tsunekatsu and Tobaku of Zhenyan Tantrism. They are the Japanese I mentioned to you before."

    Li Yundong immediately frowned and looked at the two Japanese shifty-eyed. He saw that they had sharp eyes and were looking down at the people on the scene with proud expressions. He muttered in a low voice, "They are not friendly..."

 Chapter 608 Playing Tricks and Trying to Fish in Troubled Waters

    <h4>Chapter 608 ying Tricks and Trying to Fish in Troubled Waters</h4>

    Although the arrival of Saionji Tsunekatsu didn¡¯t rm the other buyers at all, Li Yundong subconsciously had a bad feeling about it.

    He seemed to have sensed something, but these things were quite vague in the depths of his mind. He couldn¡¯t tell what the problem was exactly.

    "These two fellows... are they here for the Medicine King Tripod?" Li Yundong knit his brows and asked in a deep voice.

    Ao Wushuang sneered and said, "Would there be anything else that could have attracted them here?"

    Su Chan asked, "How did they find out about it though?"

    Zi Yuan looked warily at Saionji Tsunekatsu and Tobaku, saying softly, "Maybe it¡¯s from the news. The Medicine King Tripod is a famous powerful magical weapon in the Cultivation World. It¡¯s normal for Japanese cultivators to also want to take possession of them."

    Zhou Qin and Su Chan said angrily at the same time, "Damn it!"

    Zhou Qin said angrily, "Can¡¯t these wretches do anything good?"

    Su Chan also spat angrily, "How can our national treasures be owned by those from beyond the East Sea? Yundong, you must..."

    As the girl was talking, she suddenly saw a hand reaching out from behind, followed by a surprised voice saying, "Hello, Miss Su, nice to see you again!"

    Su Chan nked for a moment. She looked at the hand beside her and couldn¡¯t help but look back to see a middle-aged man smiling at her in surprise.

    Su Chan thought the person was very familiar. She seemed to have seen him somewhere before but couldn¡¯t clearly recall where.

    At this time, Li Yundong also turned his head and looked at the middle-aged man in front of him. Wasn¡¯t the middle-aged man Rong Guofa, who had tried to bribe Su Chan with money at the entrance of the amusement park?

    Su Chan didn¡¯t remember him at all, but Li Yundong remembered him clearly in his heart.

    He was stunned for a moment. At this time, Rong Guofa was also looking at him. Both of them couldn¡¯t help but inadvertently blurt out, "It¡¯s you?"

    If it had been in the past, maybe Li Yundong would have taken the initiative to humiliate Rong Guofa, but now Li Yundong was no longer the kid he had once been. He just smiled, nodded to Rong Shi, and said meaningfully, "Small world, huh?"

    As soon as Rong Guofa saw Li Yundong, he remembered what Su Chan had once said to him: "You must remember his name. His name is Li Yundong, and he is my partner. Although he is a nobody now, I assure you that his name will be known throughout the world in less than two years¡¯ time! When that happens, he¡¯ll do what you can with no effort, but you¡¯ll never be able to do what he can!"

    "This man named Li Yundong? Has he be famous now?"

    Rong Guofa looked Li Yundong up and down. There was nothing special about his clothes, but the women around him were really beautiful. Each of them was extremely enchanting, and their temperaments were different. For a time, Rong Guofa was dazzled by them.

    Seeing that Li Yundong had greeted him politely, Rong Guofa nodded to him in a reserved manner. He smiled, but in his heart, he thought, "This poor boy is really lucky! What on earth is he capable of? Humph!"

    Rong Guofa hadn¡¯t expected to meet Su Chan again. He didn¡¯t even care that he had a femalepanion with him and had taken the initiative to say to Su Chan, "Miss Su, I wasn¡¯t expecting to see you here. It¡¯s really an unusual chance for us to meet in this life!"

    At this time, Su Chan had also remembered who Rong Guofa was. She looked at him with disgust in her eyes, snorted, and said, "Yes, this world is so small!"

    Rong Guofa was delighted and said with a slimy grin, "Yes, it¡¯s really fate!"

    Seeing that this guy wasn¡¯t quitting, Su Chan continued to argue with him. She pulled a face at him and said, "If you go anywhere next time, you must warn me in advance!"

    When Rong Guofa heard this, he was so happy that his body became a few pounds lighter. He said in an ecstatic tone of voice, "Okay, okay, next time I want to go out, I will inform you first!" As he said this, he nced at Li Yundong, provocation andcency filling his eyes.

    Su Chan said with a serious face, "Yes, if I know where you are, I¡¯ll know to avoid the area!"

    The smile on Rong Guofa¡¯s face froze. Next to them, Kris and Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help but burst intoughter.

    Li Yundong patted Su Chan on her shoulder and said with a smile, "Okay, don¡¯t make trouble. Sit down. The auction is about to begin."

    Rong Guofa¡¯s girlfriend, who was next to him, couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. She secretly pinched his arm and whispered, "Am I invisible to you?"

    Rong Guofa smiled awkwardly at her. He finally sat back down and stopped pestering Su Chan, but his eyes kept rolling back and forth between her and Li Yundong, as if he was calcting something in his heart.

    Li Yundong, Su Chan, and the others continued chatting in low voices. About ten minutester, the auction, which had almost shocked the whole Cultivation World, finally officially began.

    Li Yundong and Zi Yuan secretly counted that there were as many as twenty-three cultivation sects present at the auction. The scale of the auction was muchrger even than that of the Taoist assembly!

    Once the host had enthusiastically introduced the rules of the bidding and the items on offer, the first antique was disyed on the stage.

    Li Yundong took a look and saw that it was a refined ivory carving with an Arhat¡¯s mansion-guarding pagoda. Although he was inspecting it from a distance, he could still see that there was a crystal-clear, round luster on the pagoda. Obviously, it was no ordinary object.

    Soon, the host invited any bidders who wanted to identify it and take a closer look at the item to step up to the stage. Li Yundong saw that many people, including some cultivators, had left their seats and were going up to have a careful look.

    Although Li Yundong had read all the ssics in the Spirit Space, it was the first time he had participated in such an auction. He asked Zhou Qin curiously, "What are they doing?"

    Zhou Qin exined to him in a low voice, "Before every item is auctioned, ording to the rules, bidders maye forward and have a look to make sure whether it¡¯s real and in good condition."

    Li Yundong suddenly understood, but he looked strangely at Du Fei, who was taking Wei Qing up to observe. He asked, "Does Zhenren Du also want to buy this ivory pagoda? Why is he going up for a look?"

    Zhou Qin shook her head, "I don¡¯t know. Maybe he collects this kind of thing?"

    Beside him, Su Chan asked curiously in a low voice, "Isn¡¯t he afraid that he won¡¯t have enough money to bid for the Medicine King Tripod?"

    Li Yundong thought for a moment and shook his head. "I don¡¯t know. Maybe he has plenty of funds, or maybe he has other ns."

    Li Yundong saw that Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes were fixed on the cultivators of the various sects who were watching the bidding, and she seemed to be lost in thought, as if she was thinking about something. He asked, "Zi Yuan, what are you thinking about?"

    When Zi Yuan came to her senses, she hesitated for a moment and said, "In general, the information about these items should have been sent to every bidder long ago, and we also have it. Moreover, if they are really interested in the items, most of them will havee to the auction house and checked the goods in private. Therefore, the procedure at this time is actually just a farce for those who have no intention of bidding. Many people have gone through it. Even if they have seen it before, they¡¯ll go up to see it now and confirm that the item is real... Although it is impossible for the auction house to behave this way because of their reputation."

    Li Yundong asked in surprise, "What are you trying to say?"

    Zi Yuan thought for a moment and said, "Since most of us are here for the Medicine King Tripod, we won¡¯t waste our money on these items, so we don¡¯t need to see them, and we certainly won¡¯t buy them. But... why do these cultivators want to see them?"

    Li Yundong thought for a moment and shook his head. "I don¡¯t know. By the way, do they want to take some other cultural relics back too?"

    Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t helpughing and shook her head. She whispered, "Li Yundong, think about it. If a third party suddenly appeared when you and another sect were in full swing in the auction, what would you do?"

    Li Yundong was taken aback. "You mean... there might also be cultivation sects secretly uniting together?"

    Zi Yuan nodded. "Generally speaking, a buyer will have two psychological bottom lines. The first one is their psychological bottom line, which is decided by the working capital in their hands. When the bidding price exceeds the upper limit of the working capital that someone can gather in a short time, they will waver greatly. The buyer will start to think about whether or not they should continue to bid."

    Zi Yuan looked at the auctioneer on the stage and said in a low voice, "ording to the Scottish auction rules, once the auctioneer knocks the auction hammer three times, but the bidder hasn¡¯te to a decision, no matter how rich they are, they will not be able to buy the goods! At that time, it will be toote for regret!"

    Zhou Qin also listened carefully. At this time, she interrupted, "Yes, so the auction is not only aboutpeting for wealth. Most of the time, it is also a contest of courage and intelligence. Sometimes, the bidders are determined to get it. They may even ce some people in the auction house to cooperate with their own bidding."

    Li Yundong asked curiously, "How do they cooperate?"

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "Didn¡¯t I just say that before? A carefully calcted buyer usually has two bottom lines in his heart. The first one is the upper limit of the working capital in his hand. Once this bottom line has been exceeded, it may bring a difficulty to his business andpany¡¯s working capital. Therefore, he will hesitate for a moment when that happens.

    "However, due to the sess of the auction, a lot of money will be paid in installments, so the first psychological bottom line is rtively light. As long as they quickly calcte the distribution of their current funds and the proportion of the payment, they will be able to quickly make a decision: pursue at a high price, or give up!"

    Li Yundong was lost in thought and asked again, "What about the second bottom line?"

    Zi Yuan continued to say with confidence, "The bottom line of the second psychological limit is vague, but generally speaking, if the value of the item is far less than the auction price, the bottom line of the second psychological limit will be broken. In addition, if the auction price is far beyond the limit that the buyer can afford, then the bottom line will also be broken. The limit that can be afforded is different from person to person. Some businessmen are very powerful, and even if they buy items priced sky-high, they can still make aeback by paying in installments."

    Li Yundong was a little confused and asked, "But does the second psychological bottom line you mentioned have anything to do with the union of the sects and collusion of people?"

    At this time, Zhou Qinughed. She smiled softly and said, "Master, you don¡¯t know about this. Sometimes, the bidding can be decided in only an instant, so there is not much time for people to think. Think about it. If I arranged for someone to secretly attack you, you¡¯d bid a price, and he would immediately bid following you and instantly shout out the price of your first bottom line. What would you think at that time?"

    Li Yundong was stunned for a moment. "Then I would definitely be stunned subconsciously, and then I would turn to see who the bidder was."

    Zhou Qinughed and said, "That¡¯s right. If I bid again in-person at that time and the bid was the price of the second bottom line in your heart at that moment, what would you think?"

    Li Yundong suddenly understood and said, "I see! Ordinary people can¡¯t ept such a huge price right away, so they end up greatly shocked. And they will be afraid of fighting, so they choose to give up."

    Zhou Qin looked at Li Yundong with appreciation. "That¡¯s right! What¡¯s more, this kind of bidding method is very secretive. It¡¯s not easy to offend people with, because the one who gives up usually won¡¯t hate the one who will ce the final bid, but the one who disrupted the bidding from the beginning!"

    She sighed. "It is. In fact, simr to the tactics used in long-distance running. In the beginning, in order to deal with the strongest person on the opposite side, one arranges an opponent to drag someone and keep consuming their physical strength. The other contestant will just follow unhurriedly until the target has almost been exhausted by hispanion. Then, he¡¯ll suddenly exert his strength, surpassing you, and running away."

    Li Yundong looked at the cultivators from the other sects with a strange expression. He whispered, "Could it be that they have also ced a spy?"

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "We can join forces with Quanzhen Dragon Sect? Why can¡¯t they join forces with each other? The most important thing is... we all hope to exhaust the enemy, but no one is willing to make the first move because this bidding is like beating drums and spreading flowers. Everyone wants the flower to fall into the hands of others at the beginning and have their funds consumed. But the problem is... because they are not sure who the person secretly bidding is, they certainly don¡¯t dare to make a move easily. Otherwise, if they bid but no one else bidster, they will be forced to buy it, and a round of money will be consumed. That will be a big loss. Or maybe they¡¯ll bid a few rounds, and finally, the items will be bought by those who really want to buy them. That will also be meaningless."

    Li Yundong nodded. He thought for a while before saying, "If we can mess up the situation enough to make these guys consume each other¡¯s energy, that¡¯d be great..."

    Zhou Qin smiled and said, "Easier said than done. They¡¯re not fools! If they¡¯re not sure about the identities, they won¡¯t make a move."

    Su Chan, who had been listening to the conversation between Li Yundong, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin, suddenly had an idea. She quickly nced at Rong Guofa, who was behind her, as if she had struck on something good. Her eyes suddenly darted around, and she whispered a few words to Zhou Qin.

    Zhou Qin was stunned. At first, her face was full of suspicion, but the more she listened, the brighter her eyes became. She couldn¡¯t help but nce at Rong Guofa behind her. After Hearing Su Chan¡¯s whole speech, she gave her a thumbs-up in admiration and nodded slightly.

    Being recognized by Zhou Qin, Su Chanughed and her eyes narrowed into little slits. She shook her head and said proudly in her heart, "Humph, I came up with a brilliant idea. I¡¯ll muddy up this auction so that we can fish in troubled waters!"

 Chapter 609 Growing Ever More Chaotic

    <h4>Chapter 609 Growing Ever More Chaotic</h4>

    Soon, the buyers who had gone on stage to inspect the item finished looking and returned to their seats.

    Li Yundong saw these peopleing and going,ing and going. They didn¡¯t necessarily want to buy what was up on stage, they were just taking a look.

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing in his heart and he whispered to Zi Yuan, "I don¡¯t know what will happenter."

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "We¡¯ll know soon."

    At this moment, Su Chan came over and looked at the ivory Arhat¡¯s mansion-guarding pagoda with envy. She said to Li Yundong in a low voice, "Yundong, this ivory tower is so beautiful! If it was ced in our house, it would look simply perfect!"

    Although Su Chan¡¯s voice was very low, it was just loud enough to be heard by Rong Guofa.

    Hearing this, he was delighted and thought to himself, "Hum, Miss Su Chan likes this ivory tower. I¡¯ll buy it for herter. It can win the favor of a beauty and destroy this guy¡¯s arrogance, I might as well kill two birds with one stone."

    Rong Guofa had always believed one sentence: "Men don¡¯t care about loyalty, loyalty is because betrayal is too low. Women don¡¯t care about loyalty, and loyalty is because they are not lured enough."

    As long as he showed enough sincerity and temptation, he believed that he would eventually be able to have a beauty in his arms!

    "Can¡¯t I defeat a young boy? Even if this guy is outstanding now, will he be able to surpass me in half a year?" Rong Guofa thought with disdain in his heart.

    Li Yundong had no idea of these thoughts. He looked at Su Chan curiously and seemed to be confused. Based on his understanding of the girl, she had never liked luxury. Although she had a crazy preference for delicious food and clothes, she had never shown the slightest interest in antiques.

    Just as he was about to ask her, she caught her winking at him.

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He knew that the girl was definitely going to do something, but he couldn¡¯t figure it out for the time being, so he nodded very cooperatively and said with a smile, "Do you like it? Well, I¡¯ll buy it for youter?"

    Hearing this, Rong Guofa, who was behind him, sneered. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back, looking like a praying mantis poised to catch a cicada or a canary.

    Li Yundong paid attention to the base price of the ivory Arhat¡¯s mansion-guarding pagoda and the lowest bid each time. He said in surprise, "One hundred thousand? It doesn¡¯t seem to be very expensive."

    However, Su Chan stuck out her tongue and said exaggeratedly, "One hundred thousand yuan is not expensive? We used to have a sad face when we had to spend just ten thousand yuan!"

    Li Yundongughed. With the help of Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, Cross, and Au Wushuang, he had already umted nearly 50 million yuan. The amount was neither too much nor too little. For Li Yundong, it was the first time in his life that he had had such arge amount of money under his control. This kind of upstart-like feeling made him feel that the kind of money he usually had was nothing but chump change.

    Li Yundong pinched the girl¡¯s cheek and said with a smile, "Times have changed!"

    Su Chan held Li Yundong¡¯s arm and shed him a grin. At the same time, she inadvertently nced at Rong Guofa, who was behind her.

    This nce perfectly demonstrated the unique charm of the girl Su Chan and the unique charm of a fox. Like an invisible hand, she grabbed Rong Guofa¡¯s heart, which made his pulse race violently. He couldn¡¯t help wondering, "Why is she looking at me like this? Is she looking down on me?"

    The look in her eyes was full of provocation for Rong Guofa, but Su Chan¡¯s angry yet happy face made people feel as if there was a hint of mockery hidden in her eyes. Rong Guofa felt both ashamed and angry, but subconsciously, there was some expectation in his eyes too.

    He calmed down and made up his mind, thinking with a sneer, "I¡¯ll let you see what a real rich family is really like. Do you think you can be proud of yourself in front of me just because you have some money?"

    After the auctioneer announced the price, someone quickly bid. To Li Yundong¡¯s surprise, the person who had raised the price for the first time was from Shaolin Temple!

    A bald monk in a monk robe raised his paddle in the auction house. It was really an unusual sight. For a moment, everyone present looked at the monk.

    The monk¡¯s mouth was wide and his nose was t. After raising his paddle, he looked at his nose and then down at his heart, as if he was ignoring the world around him. He looked like an old monk who had entered a meditative state.

    Li Yundong was surprised and said, "No way. Why is Shaolin Temple getting involved? Do they want to buy this ivory Arhat Tower?"

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "It must be a trick. The base price is really too low. If no one bids again, it will be a big deal."

    Li Yundongughed and said, "The auction house won¡¯t let people buy it at such a low price, will they?"

    Zi Yuan nodded and said, "Yes, the auction house will also ce its own buyers to bid below. When they think that the bidding price of the goods is too low, the nted attendees will bid to either raise the price or buy it themselves when they see no good buyer, so as not to lose money."

    While they were talking in low voices, another person on the other side of the room raised his paddle. It was Du Fei from the True Dragon Sect.

    The auctioneer shouted loudly on the stage, "One hundred and forty thousand yuan, is there anyone who will go higher than this price? One hundred and forty thousand yuan!"

    Soon, someone raised the bid again. It was the monk of Wutai Mountain!

    Li Yundong became more and more surprised. "Ah? Why are all the people who bid earlier from cultivation sects? No way! What are they doing? This... this doesn¡¯t seem right!"

    Zi Yuan was also confused and said, "I don¡¯t know... logically speaking, it shouldn¡¯t be... Could it be that they are trying to outbid each other?"

    Li Yundong said, "Aren¡¯t they afraid that they themselves will end up consumed if they win in the end?"

    But just as they were wondering, they saw that the atmosphere on the stage had instantly heated up. The cultivators who had been on the stage before raised the price continuously. In only a short while, the price increased to 200,000.

    When the auctioneer on the stage saw that the first item was going so smoothly, the atmosphere suddenly became heated. He became excited, and he couldn¡¯t help shouting, "Two hundred thousand, is there any higher price than this!? Two hundred thousand once, ah, one hundred and twenty thousand, someone raised the price by one hundred and twenty thousand! Is there any higher price than two hundred and twenty thousand!"

    Li Yundong, Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, and Su Chan were all dumbfounded. They looked at each other as if they didn¡¯t understand what these cultivation sects were up to.

    Li Yundong said with a strange expression, "Are they all crazy? What¡¯s the point of winning this thing?"

    Zi Yuan frowned and stared at the Ivory Arhat Tower. She didn¡¯t say a word, as if she was busy thinking about something.

    Zhou Qin pondered for a while before saying in a low voice, "Master, do we need to raise our cards?"

    Su Chan took Li Yundong¡¯s arm excitedly and said, "Okay, okay, I¡¯ll raise it!"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. "Why are you so excited?"

    She pulled a face at him and said, "It¡¯s fun! So many people havee together to raise their cards and bid. It¡¯s lively!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Then you can y, but be careful not to get caught in the fire."

    Su Chan¡¯s eyes narrowed into a line, and she was as proud as a fox who had done something bad. She stealthily approached Li Yundong¡¯s ear and whispered with a smile, "Don¡¯t worry, I promise that I will only set fire to you, and I won¡¯t draw it to myself!"

    After that, she jumped up, quickly picked up a brand, and shouted, "One million!"

    All of a sudden, there was an uproar, and the auctioneer became excited!

    Some ordinary merchants who had wanted to buy such items were stunned by Su Chan¡¯s behavior. Many of them had sincerely wanted to buy this Ivory Arhat Tower, but they were confused by the previous price hikes. They didn¡¯t know whether the others really wanted to buy the item or were purely raising the price.

    But at this time, Su Chan¡¯s shout raised the bidding directly from 210 thousand to 1 million! The surrounding merchants immediately lost it.

    There was no way to bid like this!

    "Do you know how to bid? Have you ever done it before?"

    These businessmen were so angry that they almost wanted to m the tables, but when they turned their heads, they saw a very beautiful girl standing there with a sweet smile, and the anger in their hearts suddenly dissipated a lot.

    Li Yundong was also shocked by Su Chan¡¯s bid. He quickly pulled her down, stared at her, and said in a low voice, "Hey, are you crazy? You¡¯re buying such a thing for one million yuan? What will you do if no one bids after you?"

    Su Chan smiled and said in a low voice, "Don¡¯t worry. Someone will definitely raise the price!"

    As soon as Su Chan finished her words, the monk of Shaolin Temple raised his paddle again. The host immediately shouted, "One million and two thousand. Is there any bid higher than one million? One million and two thousand going once!"

    At this time, Li Yundong was really stunned. He turned his head to look at Su Chan and asked in surprise, "How did you know that these big monks would raise their paddles and bid?"

    Su Chan just stammered with a nk face, "I don¡¯t know. I..."

    Before she could finish her words, a new round of bidding rose in the field. To Li Yundong¡¯s great surprise, it was still the group of cultivators who were raising the price!

    "What are these guys doing?" Li Yundong was stunned, as if he couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. "Why doesn¡¯t a real businessman raise the price? Instead, it¡¯s a group of drunken cultivators just increasing the price casually?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s expression changed at this time, and she said with a stern look, "Li Yundong, you are proficient with all Buddhist magical items. You can use your Zhenqi to test this Ivory Arhat Tower in private, to see if there is any reaction."

    Li Yundong was stunned for a moment, but soon he controlled his Zhenqi to stretch toward the ivory Arhat Tower along the ground like an invisible tentacle.

    His Zhenqi was invisible. When Li Yundong controlled it over to the Ivory tower, in an instant, the whole body of the Ivory Arhat tower began emitting a dazzling golden radiance!

    Many people on the scene suddenly eximed and stood up in horror.

    Li Yundong also widened his eyes and looked at Zi Yuan in disbelief. He asked in surprise, "What¡¯s going on?"

    Her face was as dark as water as she muttered in a low voice, "If I¡¯m not wrong... this is a powerful Buddhist magical weapon, Arhat Pagoda!"

    "What?" "What?" Zhou Qin, Su Chan, and Ao Wushuang were all shocked. "The Demon-subduing Arhat Tower? How, how is that possible? How could there be another powerful magical weapon at this auction?"

 Chapter 610 An Intrigue Against EaChapter Other, a Big Battle for Capital

    <h4>Chapter 610 An Intrigue Against EaChapter Other, a Big Battle for Capital</h4>

    At that moment, Zhou Qin and the others couldn¡¯t understand why another magic treasure would appear in this auction, which should solely be apetition for the Medicine King Tripod.

    The Demon-subduing Arhat Tower had appeared out of nowhere like a diamond in the rough. It immediately disturbed the situation in the field. Everyone began to talk about it. At that moment, the scene was like a cacophonous melting pot.

    Zi Yuan sneered with an indifferent attitude. She kept looking around as if she was looking for something in particr, then said in a low voice, "Because someone wants to mess up the situation more than us!"

    Zhou Qin was a very smart person. She quickly came to her senses, gazed at them all and said, "Is there anyone who would want to deliberately exhaust his opponents, so he deliberately put a real magic treasure up here?"

    Zi Yuan nodded slightly. She turned her face and said to Zhou Qin with an ambiguous smile, "There is only one Medicine King tripod. That is to say, only one sect or at most two sectsbined can get this supreme Taoist magic treasure used for refining pills. The monks here are very few. But think about it, those sects with weak strength can¡¯t grab the tripod. If they have realized that they won¡¯t be able to get it, perhaps they think it¡¯ll be good to turn around and grab another magic treasure. At least they wouldn¡¯t be going back empty-handed."

    At this time, Ao Wushuang also sneered and said, "Good schemes, good ideas! This n can not only shake the determination of many weaker cultivation sects, but also consume their funds. Hey, who is behind this? It¡¯s almost as good as the two peaches and three schrs of Wan Zhenyuan."

    Li Yundongughed faintly. "However, if they kill ten thousand enemies, they will lose three thousand soldiers. Aren¡¯t they afraid of losing and ending up harvesting nothing at all?"

    Kris, who had been silent for a long time, turned to look at Li Yundong and then at Su Chan and the others. It seemed she didn¡¯t understand the situation as this was the first time she had seen an auction with such a wild atmosphere.

    Not only Kris, but also Saionji Tsunekatsu and Tobaku of Zhenyan Tantrism were staring at each other with their mouths agape. Dong Mu said, "Chang Sheng, what, what¡¯s going on here?"

    Saionji Tsunekatsu sneered, "Chinese people are crazy! These Chinese only know how to fight amongst themselves! Humph, they actually used this kind of method! No matter what, as long as we want the king medicine tripod, these are just tricks, and they are only useful for those whock resolve!"

    However, Dong Mu said in a hurry, "Changsheng, this is the Demon-subduing Arhat Tower! This is a top-grade Buddhist magical treasure! If you hadn¡¯t found it, you could have forgotten about it, but now that it has appeared at the auction in front of you, how can you not want it?"

    In the West Garden Temple, Chang Sheng¡¯s face was changing all the time. His eyes were fixed on the Demon-subduing Arhat Tower, which was shining with golden light on the auction tform. He knew that the magic treasure of the Demon-subduing Pagoda originated from the Wei, Jin, and Northern periods in the history of China. At that time, Emperor Liang, the emperor of the Southern Dynasty, had believed in Buddhism and regarded the Taoist sects, such as Shushan, as demons and evil spirits, as well as countless eminent monks and mages as evil for refining this Demon-subduing Arhat Tower.

    It was said that the outside of the Demon-subduing Pagoda looked ordinary, but there were 999 arhats inside. Once the Demon-subduing Pagoda was controlled by a "demon or ghost", the 999 arhats would chant scriptures together and trap the monster, leaving him unable to move.

    If such a magic treasure could not be said to be appealing, it would definitely be a lie. Saionji Tsunekatsu gritted his teeth and hesitated for a while before turning to Dong Mu and muttering in a low voice, "B*stard, I¡¯m the young monk Zheng. I¡¯m the master, not you. Don¡¯t pay attention to this magic treasure! We¡¯re only after the king medicine tripod!"

    Lord Dongmu looked depressed and confused. He lowered his head helplessly and said, "Yes, Lord Dongmu!"

    At the same time, the auctioneer on the stage also shouted excitedly, "Look, this is the Ivory Arhat Tower. Now it has shown up! Let¡¯s start the bidding at one million and two hundred thousand yuan! What are you hesitating about? One million and two hundred thousand yuan, one million... Ah, there is someone shouting a higher price, one million, one million, one million one hundred thousand! Any higher price!"

    At this time, the ns of various cultivation sects had beenpletely disrupted by the Arhat¡¯s Demon-subduing Pagoda. As Ziyuan has expected, many weaker cultivation sects also began to waver. They all hesitated for a moment. They didn¡¯t know if they should go for the magic treasure in front of them, or save their money to take the Medicine King Tripod.

    Some powerful cultivation sects also intended to mess up the situation. They raised the price one after another, creating a chaotic scene of bid-yelling, which made the weaker cultivation sects more and more uncertain.

    At this time, Shen Wancai¡¯s face was also full of doubt. From time to time, he looked in the direction of Li Jiandong. Shen You and Shen Qian, who hade with him to participate in the auction, and said persuasively, "Dad, don¡¯t you like this kind of evil trickery most? Or do you want to buy it?"

    Chen Wancai saw that Li Yundong, Su Chan, and the others had been whispering to each other. He couldn¡¯t figure out what was on Li Yundong¡¯s mind for a while, so he stopped spectating and said lightly, "Don¡¯t worry. Let¡¯s wait and see."

    By this time, the price on the stage had risen to five million yuan in an instant, but five million yuan was still an unimaginably low price for such an incredible Demon-subduing Arhat Tower.

    Li Yundong, who had been quietly watching things unfold, beganughing. He snorted and whispered, "Then I know why so many people from the cultivation sects went up to see such a bid just now. It turns out that they have already felt something wrong. Hey, we were too careless. If we had seen this magic treasure earlier, we could have prepared more."

    Zi Yuan smiled andforted him in a low voice, "It¡¯s useless. They want to do something. What I¡¯m sure of is that no one from the other cultivation sects will look at these items privately, because they are alling for the king medicine tripod. They, like us, have never even considered buying other items."

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "It¡¯s the darkness under the light! But since someone wants to mess up the situation, then... let¡¯s cooperate!"

    He quickly raised his paddle, and the auctioneer suddenly became breathless. He shouted, "10 million, the No. 43 buyer has offered a price of 10 million. Is there any higher price than this? 10 million once! 10 million twice!"

    Everyone in the field looked at Li Yundong for a moment. Zou Ping, who was sitting in the front row, looked back at him too, then frowned and said to Zhang Ling, "Master, is it Li Yundong who has been ying tricks?"

    Zhang Ling sneered and said, "I don¡¯t know. It doesn¡¯t matter. What matters is that now that things have reached this point, we have to find a way to exhaust the opponent¡¯s funds as much as possible, so..." Before she could finish her words, she also raised her own paddle.

    The auctioneer took a deep breath and eximed, "20 million, someone has offered a price of 20 million!"

    He had seen arge number of bidders and been present at all kinds of fierce auctions, but it was the first time he had seen an auction with such a highly priced item, which was several times higher than any previous one!

    This, this was too exaggerated!

    The ordinary businessmen and buyers all looked at Zhang Ling in shock and anger. They wanted to see who on earth the person that didn¡¯t y bymon sense was.

    "Why did you do that? You can¡¯t raise the price in this way!"

    Rong Dong, who had originally wanted to buy this item, was also stunned. The development of the situation waspletely beyond his expectations. Although 20 million was not a big number for him, spending 20 million to buy an Ivory Arhat Tower just to please a beauty? That was really a bit over the top.

    Rong Dong was mentally hesitating. At this time, Li Yundong once again joined the chaos by raising the price, and he did so by ten million yuan!

    At this time, the auctioneer was being driven wild. This auction item hadpletely exceeded their expectations. It had actually reached such a high price. He shouted, "Thirty million, is there any higher price than this!?"

    Rong Shian was alsopletely shocked. He gazed at Li Yundong with a stunned look and said in his heart, "This guy... he is so rich? Is he shouting for fun? Or... is this a high price bureau?"

    Sometimes, there would be a huge profit at the auction, and many people would arrange for the buyers to raise the prices of the avable auction items, which would create an illusion that the atmosphere was heating up, which would then stimte the enthusiasm of some neers. At a high price, they would buy a collection that was not worth that much money at all. This move was called the "Sky Price Bureau".

    But when Mr. Rong looked over, he saw that there were all kinds of people from all walks of life in thispetition. The strangest thing was that after Li Yundong shouted the price, the people from Shaolin Temple raised their paddles again. Moreover, the monks continued to add another 2,000 yuan at a leisurely pace. It seemed that no matter how high the price was, he would add another 2,000 yuan, as if it was nothing.

    "If this is going to go for a sky-high price, then... this method is too clever, isn¡¯t it?" Mr. Rong murmured in a low voice.

    But soon, Li Yundong raised his paddle again, increasing the price to 40 million!

    At this time, Zhou Qin was also a little nervous and said to Li Yundong in a low voice, "Master, be careful. Be careful, or the game of beating drums and spreading flowers will eventually stop in your hands. That would be a big loss!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "No, don¡¯t worry! It wouldn¡¯t even be a loss to buy such a magic treasure for 40 million! The other Taoist sects may not be able to use Buddhist magic treasures, but for me, there is no such worry all."

    Zhou Qin said with a wry smile, "You¡¯re right. But what about the medicine king tripod?"

    "I mean, just in case... We¡¯ll still have to fight for the medicine king tripod," Li Yundong replied.

    At this time, the atmosphere in the room was like smoke. Rong Jian¡¯s girlfriend saw that everyone was talking about it, but Rong Guofa, who had been bragging to her, was shrinking back like a hesitant, frightened quail.

    She couldn¡¯t help but pull her boyfriend¡¯s hand and whisper, "Hey, why don¡¯t you ce a bid?"

    He responded in a low voice, "Are you crazy? 40 million to buy such an Ivory Arhat Tower?"

    However, the girlfriend said, "Do you think everyone here is crazy? Why are they fighting so hard for it? Besides, didn¡¯t you see how unusual the item is earlier? It shines! It¡¯s definitely not an ordinary one!"

    Rong Guofaughed angrily. "I¡¯ve seen this kind of thing many times. It must have been set up by the auction house, trying to show off!"

    After he finished speaking, he saw Su Chan, who was in front of him, turn her head with a smile. She looked at him contemptuously and snorted, then turned her head away and whispered a few words into Li Yundong¡¯s ear before picking up the sign in his hand and raising it again.

    Rong Guofa felt that the blood all over his body was rushing up with a buzz and going straight to his head!

    Was there anything in this world more infuriating and irrational than being humiliated by others in front of a stunning beauty whom one had fallen in love with?

    The answer was: Yes! He was being humiliated by this stunning beauty in front of other men!

    Su Chan didn¡¯t say a word, but Rong Guofa felt as if countless sharp des had pierced through him in an instant, shredding his skin. He suddenly remembered what he had done to show off his wealth in front of Li Yundong before.

    But the unknown young man was now the one riding on his own head!

    "What¡¯s so great about this upstart?

    "He¡¯s strong on the outside but weak inside. He¡¯s definitely bluffing!

    "Dammit, I¡¯m going to expose this fake! How dare he be so arrogant in front of me!

    "I¡¯ve seen this kind of price-raising many times, so I¡¯ll show you how to really raise the price!"

    Rong Dong was so irritated by Su Chan¡¯s nce that he trembled all over and instantly lost his mind. He gritted his teeth and stood up, shouting, "80 million!"

    All of a sudden, it was as if a bomb had gone off amongst the crowd!

 Chapter 611 Conspiracy with EaChapter Other, Fighting for Jin Yuan

    <h4>Chapter 611 Conspiracy with EaChapter Other, Fighting for Jin Yuan</h4>

    The auctioneer was stunned, as if he couldn¡¯t believe what he¡¯d just heard. An item with a base price of 100,000 yuan was being sold for 80 million yuan!

    Was there something wrong with his ears, or had the world gone crazy?

    The cultivators from the other sects were also astonished. They looked at Rong Guofa with wide eyes. It was the first time that they had seen someone raise the price from 40 million to 80 million in a single bid!

    This... this was too extreme!

    Rong Guofa¡¯s girlfriend was also shocked by his behavior. She looked at him in a daze and was rendered speechless for a while. She just gently pulled his sleeve.

    Once Rong Guofa stood up and roared, he immediately regretted it. It was said that being impulsive was a sinful tendency. Sometimes, when people were in a mood, they just could not control themselves.

    At this time, Zhang Ling turned her face and looked at Rong Guofa coldly. She sneered at Zou Ping in a low voice and said, "Hey, just now I saw him making eye contact with Li Yundong and the others... Now it seems that he is very likely to be one of Li Yundong¡¯s aplices!"

    Zou Ping also sneered and said, "They want to raise the price to force us out? They could do it slowly. Why go doubling the price?"

    Zhang Ling chuckled darkly. "80 million... It¡¯s not a small amount! Now all the cultivation sects have to make a choice: choose to let people take away this Arhat-subduing Demon Tower to preserve their strength, or choose to continue to follow with the bidding and snatch the Arhat-subduing Demon Tower for themselves, so as not to return empty-handed in the future."

    Zou Ping continued in a low voice, "Most importantly, this Li Yundong is a Daoist cultivator who can use Buddhist Dharma treasures. If this Dharma treasure falls into his hands, it will be like a bonus for him! Hopefully, we can ensure that this Dharma treasure will not be obtained by him!"

    Zhang Ling looked at Rong Guofa with unfriendly eyes, especially when she saw the hidden proud smile exchanged between Su Chan and Zhou Qin. She became more and more sure in her heart and said, "Hum, it¡¯s hard to say! However, it¡¯s better for them to use up their money!"

    At this time, she turned her head and looked elsewhere, gently nodding to a middle-aged man with a in appearance.

    This man immediately raised the paddle in his hand, and the auctioneer shouted, "Someone has offered a higher price! 80 million and 2 thousand! Is there any higher offer than this!?"

    However, Rong Guofa did not raise the price again. At this time, he seemed to have used up all his strength and he slowly sank back into his seat. His whole body was covered with sweat, as if he had just been soaking in a water bath.

    "80 million! I almost lost everything! Impulsivity will be the death of me!"

    Rong Guofa¡¯s heart was beating fast, and he couldn¡¯t help but feel scared. He kept wiping at the sweat on his forehead with a towel. As the saying goes, there will first be a burst of energy, then a decline, and then a plummet into exhaustion. For a time, he didn¡¯t want to spend any more time with Li Yundong. He still had something that he wanted for himself!

    At this moment, Li Yundong and Zi Yuan looked at each other. Zi Yuan nodded slightly and said softly, "It¡¯s the bottom line. Don¡¯t raise the price anymore. At this time, the game of beating drums and spreading flowers has reached its limit. If you shout again, it is very likely that it will end badly for you."

    Li Yundong nodded andughed. "That¡¯s what I mean. Although the Demon-subduing Arhat Tower is a powerful magic treasure of Buddhism, it only has a single seal function. Its actual function of Fighting Methods is far inferior to the Psychic Fan of the Seven Treasures. Therefore, I will only buy this magic treasure when it is 80 million yuan."

    At this time, all the cultivators in the field seemed to have the same idea and tacitly no longer raised their cards. The real businessmen and buyers were scared by this kind of bravado and madness. For a time, they became spectators, and no one dared to raise their cards again.

    At this time, only the auctioneer was left making noise in the lively auction house. He shouted loudly on the stage, "80 million and 2 thousand once! 80 million and 2 thousand twice!"

    At this moment, Zou Ping asked anxiously, "Master, why isn¡¯t anyone bidding for it?"

    Zhang Ling smiled and replied, "Don¡¯t worry. There will definitely be someone else bidding soon."

    As soon as she finished her words, she saw the auctioneer smash down with his hammer. "Sold for 80 million and 2 thousand! It¡¯s a deal!"

    Zhang Ling and Zou Ping were stunned. They looked at each other and flew into a huge rage.

    Zou Ping was both shocked and furious as she muttered in a low voice, "Master, we¡¯ve fallen into a trap! We¡¯ve been fooled by others!"

    Zhang Ling hadn¡¯t meant to take this magic treasure. From beginning to end, she had just wanted to snatch the medicine king tripod. But she thought that she had found Li Yundong¡¯s right-hand man, so she had deliberately raised the price again. She had wanted to use up a little more of Li Yundong¡¯s funds.

    But she had never thought that this guy would be so timid! She had even ended up buying this Demon-subduing Arhat Tower! Although this magic treasure was powerful, it couldn¡¯t be used by her even though she had But bought it!

    B*stard, 80 million!!!

    Zhang Kongyun, who had been watching from one side, sighed and whispered to his disciple, Zhang Liufang, with a slight smile, "That¡¯s it. They are ying with fire and burning themselves!"

    Zhang Liufang¡¯s face was full of worry. "Master, will our money be enough to buy the king medicine tripod?"

    Zhang Ling heard their words clearly, and her face showed how embarrassed and resentful she was. She was so angry that she shouted at Zhang Liufang in a low voice, "Is our Zhengyi School short of even this little money?"

    Hearing Zhang Ling¡¯s words, Zhang Liufang was so scared that he stuck out his tongue and lowered his head, not daring to speak at all.

    Zhang Kongyun said unhappily, "Eldest Senior Sister, why are you shouting at the younger generation? If you really have the ability, you should be shouting at the one who raised the price!"

    Zhang Ling was trembling all over. She turned her head angrily and red at Rong Guofa as if she wanted to engrave this man¡¯s disgusting appearance in her mind. She ground her teeth in anger and sneered in her heart, "Hum, well done. I¡¯ll remember this slight!"

    Li Yundong saw the expressions of Zhang Ling and the others. He couldn¡¯t helpughing and said, "Very well. The Zhengyi School has already been knocked out. Now they¡¯ve suffered a lot."

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "Don¡¯t get careless. The Zheng Yi Sect is affluent and wealthy!"

    Li Yundong suddenly thought of something. He looked around curiously and said in a low voice, "By the way, why haven¡¯t we seen the people of the Gezao Sect of External Alchemy? Logically speaking, they should be the wealthiest guys around. Why hasn¡¯t Wan Zhenyuane? Doesn¡¯t he want his magic treasure?"

    Zhou Qin sneered and said, "Master, he could take only one Diyuan Jindan and escape. Hasn¡¯t he thought that leaving this Medicine King Tripod behind would provoke our sects to kill each other and be enemies?"

    Li Yundong frowned and said, "It¡¯s not impossible, but..." though he wanted to continue, he felt Su Chan pulling his arm hard and smiling at him, looking smug.

    Li Yundong asked curiously, "What¡¯s going on? What are youughing at?"

    Su Chanughed so hard that her eyes seemed to be swallowed up by her cheeks. She whispered a few words in Li Yundong¡¯s ear, and he couldn¡¯t helpughing. He quickly nced at Rong Guofa, who was behind him, then reached out and scratched the tip of Su Chan¡¯s nose, whispering with a smile, "It turns out that you had such a wicked idea. I was wondering why he suddenly went nuts. You really did a good job this time! I¡¯ll reward you after going back home!"

    Li Yundong¡¯sst sentence was extremely ambiguous, which made the little girl giggle. She remembered the ecstasy of their kiss and couldn¡¯t help but feel an itch in her heart. She couldn¡¯t wait to do it again with Li Yundong.

    Li Yundong, Su Chan, and the others were all chatting andughing together happily. The rxing and joyful scene was driving Zhang Ling so mad that her heart was bleeding, and she kept sneering.

    After the incident with the Ivory Arhat Tower, the previous madness of the auction had dissipated. After seeing that no one was going to raise the price again, some ordinary businessmen and buyers tentatively offered a few rounds of bids and then came to a quick decision.

    After the big battle, all the sects and schools seemed to be resting, restoring their energy and waiting for the real climax.

    Soon, all the items at the auction had been sessfully won. When thest item was taken, everyone on the scene sat up straight. They were looking at the three-legged tripod with their eyes bright and shining!

    The Medicine King Tripod!

    The auctioneer excitedly introduced the background of the Medicine King Tripod and spoke of its history on stage, then invited the auction attendees to inspect it.

    However, none of the cultivators from various sects went up to look. Instead, some ordinary businessmen and buyers came forward. When they saw the Medicine King Tripod with white mist rolling around it mysteriously, they couldn¡¯t help sighing and nodding their heads with praise.

    Rong Guofa, who had been looking at it up on stage, returned to his seat and said excitedly to his girlfriend, "It is really a divine treasure, a rare gem! This is what I want!"

    His girlfriend also ttered him and said with a pearly smile, "That¡¯s right. Your taste is perfect!"

    At this time, Su Chan turned around and said with a malicious smile, "Give up. You won¡¯t be able to take it away from me!"

    The smile on Rong Guofa¡¯s face froze. "What do you mean?"

    Su Chan giggled and said, "Nothing! You failed to buy that ivory tower, and you¡¯ll lose this too!" Then she turned her face back.

    Rong Guofa was so angry that he shouted in his heart, "I never really wanted to buy it anyway! Moreover, I bought an item with a base price of 100,000 yuan for 80 million yuan! Am I crazy? This is what I really want now. Let¡¯s see if I can get itter!"

    Rong Guofa was so angry that his face turned red, and his veins seemed to be popping under his skin. Seeing this, his girlfriend whispered, "Mr. Rong, take no notice of such a little girl..."

    Before she could get all her words out, Rong Guofa turned his head and roared at her in a low voice, "Shut up!"

    The woman was shocked into silence and did not dare to speak again.

    Rong Yan¡¯s eyes were red as he stared at the Medicine King Tripod, as if he desired to swallow it up right then and there.

    Not long after, the auctioneer announced the beginning of the auction of the Medicine King Tripod. The starting price was five million yuan, and the minimum adding price was ten thousand yuan every time. Rong Guofa raised the paddle in his hand at once and shouted, "10 million yuan!"

    The first bid had doubled the price!

    The auctioneer was shocked. He excitedly pointed in the direction of Rong Guofa with his hammer and said loudly, "Someone has already offered a price of 10 million yuan. Is there anyone willing to go higher than this?"

    Zhang Ling turned her head and looked at Rong Guofa, then sneered and raised the te in her hand. "Twenty million yuan!"

    Wow, the second bid had doubled the price again!

    The ordinary businessmen and buyers were struck dumb. They had never seen such an auction before!

    Li Yundong and Su Chan looked at each other, and there were no longer rxed smiles on their faces. Zi Yuan said in a low voice, "The real fight with Jin Yuan has begun!"

    Although Kris came from a rich family in the United States and often went to various high-ss ces, it was the first time she had seen an auction like this where the price was doubled every time. "The situation is so aggressive..." she whispered.

    Although Shen Wancai didn¡¯t know what the Tripod meant to cultivators, he was keenly aware of the strange atmosphere. He frowned and quickly did some calctions in his mind, still looking in the direction of Li Yundong.

    Chang Sheng, who was sitting not far from him, saw Rong Guofa once again raising the price of the Medicine King Tripod up to 50 million. He sneered and said to Tobaku, "The magic treasure used by Sun Simiao, the King of Medicine, is being bid for at such a low price. It¡¯s ridiculous! Tobaku, now we can shout our own bids!"

    Tobaku nodded, raised the te in his hand, and shouted loudly in ented Chinese, "Fifty-one million!"

    As soon as he finished his cry, Saionji Tsunekatsu scolded him angrily in Japanese, "B*stard, don¡¯t you think it¡¯s shameful for us to bid like this?"

    After that, he grabbed the te in Tobaku¡¯s hand, raised it high, and shouted, "100 million!"

 Chapter 612 Meeting on a Narrow Road, Seeing Blood on a Bayone

    <h4>Chapter 612 Meeting on a Narrow Road, Seeing Blood on a Bayone</h4>

    The price offered by Saionji Tsunekatsu almost knocked Rong Guofa right out. He looked at Saionji Tsunekatsu in astonishment and said, "What is this Japanese guy doing? Is he crazy? How can someone bid like that? No matter how valuable this thing is, it¡¯s not worth 100 million yuan!"

    Shen You and Shen Qian, who had followed Shen Wan here to watch the show, were also shocked by Saionji Tsunekatsu¡¯s overbearing bid. Shen Qian said to his father in a low voice, "Father, this Japanese guy is so fierce! Is this item really worth so much money?"

    Shen Wancai narrowed his eyes and stared at Saionji Tsunekatsu. He said in a low voice, "I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s worth that much, but..."

    "But what?" Shen Qian asked curiously.

    Shen Wancai nced at Li Yundong quickly and said calmly, "Well,ter, I will know whether this thing is really worth so much money or not."

    Shen Wancai hadn¡¯t been expecting the Medicine King Tripod to soar to such a high price so quickly. The increase was so huge that it was even more exaggerated than real estate prices!

    But for an experienced and calcting businessman like him, the most important thing now was just to confirm the general value of this Medicine King Tripod in Li Yundong¡¯s heart, and then figure out whether he should take action or not.

    In the face of Saionji Tsunekatsu¡¯s reckless bidding, the auction room instantly fell into a dead silence. Obviously, Saionji Tsunekatsu¡¯s bid was like a heavy punch at the hearts of almost all the people on the scene, running right through their psychological bottom line.

    Su Chan tugged at Li Yundong¡¯s sleeve and said with a pale face, "Yundong, should we raise the price?"

    Li Yundong looked at Saionji Tsunekatsu as if he was facing a formidable enemy. He said with a sullen face, "I don¡¯t know, but I have a bad feeling about this!"

    After all, Zhou Qin was a well-informed and knowledgeable person. As soon as she saw Tsunekatsu¡¯s posture, she whispered, "Oh no, it seems like this guy is pretty determined to get it! Master, what should we do?"

    Li Yundong quickly did some calctions in his mind. At this point, they had collected together 50 million yuan. Du Fei from the Quanzhen Dragon Sect could mobilize about 90 million yuan to be used in the auction. Even if they factored in the ability to pay back the debt, the maximum amount of money on both sides should be no more than 300 million yuan. Otherwise, their n would hit a major obstacle.

    However, in just a few bids, the price had already surpassed 100 million. If it continued to increase at this speed, would he be able to win against this Japanese?

    Even if he could bid for the medicine king tripod now, if the bidding price went too expensive and caused him to get into debt, how could he cultivate? Even if he could use the medicine king tripod to refine pills, the refining cycle would take a long time, and everyone in the Fox Zen School would be wasting their cultivation time on making money to pay off the debt!

    This was like going to war and killing ten thousand enemies but losing twenty thousand people! The losses outweighed the gains!

    What if the Japanese opponent had such an idea? What could they do? Even if he wasn¡¯t thinking this himself, the other sects would be happy to see it happen!

    There was a saying that it was better to break one finger than injure all ten. Instead of fighting a bloody battle, it was better to give up decisively so as not to get stuck in the mud.

    But was the king medicine tripod going to be lost just like that?

    Seeing that Li Yundong was hesitating, Zi Yuan coaxed him in a low voice, "Li Yundong, you haven¡¯t reached our bottom line yet. Let¡¯s first test how determined this Japanese is."

    Li Yundong had been hesitating between persisting and giving up. At the words of the Zi Yuan, he suddenly had an idea. He nodded to her and quickly raised his paddle.

    The auctioneer had already been expecting the king medicine tripod to reach an amazing price, and there were many of the auctioneers in the room. However, what he hadn¡¯t expected was that as soon as the item began to be auctioned, the atmosphere would turn white-hot.

    He was so excited that his voice was a little strained. He said loudly, "One hundred million yuan going once, is there any higher price than this!? One hundred million yuan going twice! One hundred and thirty... Ah, someone has offered a price of one hundred and forty million yuan! Is there any higher offer than this?"

    Hearing this price, the ordinary merchants who had originally wanted to bid for the item burst into an uproar.

    It was already insane that the price had jumped from 50 million yuan to 100 million yuan. They had not expected that there would be someone who wanted to raise the price again. Moreover, the price had gone from 140 million yuan to 150 million yuan!

    It was too fierce! Too bloody!

    When Du Fei heard Li Yundong¡¯s bid, he couldn¡¯t help looking at him. When their eyes met, he nodded slightly to him, and there was a hint of appreciation in his gaze.

    Du Fei was not only a cultivator but also an experienced businessman. Of course, he knew that Li Yundong¡¯s sudden price-increase was the best tactic in gaining victory against Saionji Tsunekatsu.

    The auction was like a narrow path that was only broad enough for one person to walk down. As the saying goes, when you meet the hero, you win. Saionji Tsunekatsu kept raising the price fiercely. On the one hand, it showed his wealth. On the other hand, it shocked everyone who wanted to bid and showed his determination to win.

    And Li Yundong expressed a very tough attitude with the same astonishing amount of money to Saionji Tsunekatsu. This attitude very likely made the other party think, "My opponent is also very rich, and this guy is bound to be my enemy!"

    At this time, the other party would either be frightened by his opponent¡¯s momentum, as if they were ying with a shuttlecock, or they would meet each other on a narrow road.

    But at this time, what would this Saionji Tsunekatsu do?

    He nced at Li Yundong and frowned slightly. He stared at Li Yundong like a sh of lightning, as if he wanted to see through his heart in an instant and catch sight of his trump card to see how much he could support himself.

    Li Yundong also looked at Saionji Tsunekatsu without showing any sign of weakness. When their eyes met, it seemed that sparks were about to burst out in the air.

    Although there was nothing unusual on Su Chan¡¯s face, her nervous hand grasped at Li Yundong¡¯s big palm tightly, and her body trembled slightly. She kept saying in her heart, "Don¡¯t raise the price, don¡¯t raise the price!"

    As if he had heard Su Chan¡¯s prayer, Saionji Tsunekatsu remained silent for quite a while.

    At this time, the auctioneer on the stage also shouted, "One hundred and forty million yuan going once! Is there any higher offer than this? One hundred and forty million yuan! Going twice!"

    At this time, not only Su Chan, but also Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin, who had weathered many storms, couldn¡¯t help but feel a little nervous. Their eyes were fixed on the wooden gavel in the hands of the auctioneer, and their ears were pricked up high to hear whether there was anyone around continuing to raise the price.

    Just as the auctioneer shouted for the third time, suddenly, a hand was raised high in the front row, and a cold voice called out, "200 million yuan!"

    There was another burst of exmation in the field!

    Li Yundong and the others immediately looked at the source in unison!

    "Zhang Ling!!" Li Yundong gritted his teeth and murmured angrily. "Damn it! Is she going to use her strength now?"

    Zhang Ling¡¯s bid had shocked everyone on the scene. When reaching their limit, a runner would often be in pain and wonder, "Should I persist?"

    But if they held on and broke through this limit, they could often continue to run smoothly.

    Zhang Ling¡¯s bid had made everyone instantly realize: "The king medicine tripod will definitely go for a bloody price. If you don¡¯t have the strength and mental fortitude to win, you¡¯d better give up as soon as possible!"

    In an instant, many cultivation sects and ordinary merchants who had been intending to bid chose to give up. They changed from participants to spectators.

    But the price of 200 million yuan had blown past the first psychological bottom line of Li Yundong and others. Li Yundong and Du Fei of the True Dragon Sect couldn¡¯t help looking at each other from a distance. Both of them saw a little fear lingering in each other¡¯s eyes.

    Du Fei¡¯s eyes were full of hesitation and panic, and Li Yundong¡¯s were also full of unwillingness and hesitation.

    The situation in the field was getting out of control, but they could do nothing about it!

    At this time, the auctioneer was so excited that his whole body was shaking, and his eyes were a little red. He knew that with the conclusion of this auction, no matter what the result was, it would be record-breaking.

    Although there were very few cases of auction pieces that were worth more than 100 million, people in the industry had once boldly predicted that the era of auction works worth more than 100 million would soon dawn.

    But the auctioneer hadn¡¯t expected that it would happen so fast and with him at the forefront!

    At this time, the vigers who were watching the auction backstage were so excited that they were about to faint. They hadn¡¯t expected that this thing that they had casually found would go for such a terrible sky-high price!

    The auctioneer shouted in a hoarse voice, "200 million yuan, is there any higher price than this! 200 million yuan going once!"

    At this time, there were very few people in the hall bidding again. Saionji Tsunekatsu and the others fell into hesitation. Although he had received the approval and support of Masako Tachibana before, if the price he paid was too high, he would not be able to bear the consequences!

    But... was he going to give up just like that?

    Saionji Tsunekatsu clenched his fists tightly, gritted his teeth, and shouted, "300 million!!!"

    "Wow!" Almost everyone on the scene was rmed by his madness!

    For a moment, even the auctioneer¡¯s heart began beating so fast that he nearly fainted on the spot!

    Throughout the world¡¯s auction history, no one had ever increased the price so much in a single bid!

    Wasn¡¯t this Saionji Tsunekatsu crazy? Or did he truly need to get this king medicine tripod?!

    At this time, Li Yundong and Zhang Ling were both frightened by his behavior. Although the Zhengyi School was the biggest sect in the cultivation world, almost no giant enterprise belonged to them. Most of their money came through incense. It could also be said that this was consuming the savings of the Zhengyi School and its roots.

    If they fought too fiercely now, they would only be hurting themselves!

    Cultivation was the most costly thing in the world. How could one cultivate without money? Not to mention support such a big sect?

    Zhang Ling looked at Saionji Tsunekatsu in horror. She knew that if she reallypeted with Zhenyan Tantrism in terms of money, the Zhengyi School would not win.

    In the cultivation world of China, the only one who could spar with them was probably the External Alchemy¡¯s Gezao Sect.

    After all, Zhenyan Tantrism had been saving for thousands of years. In particr, Japan¡¯s control over the cultivation world was rtively loose. It could even be said that the Japanese cultivation world had prated deeply into this country.

    The political circles of this country could be infiltrated and controlled by underworld forces, let alone the cultivation world.

    And once the power of the cultivation world wasbined with the power of the country, the huge force produced would be beyond ordinary people¡¯s imagination!

    "Saionji Tsunekatsu... Did he reallye to snatch the medicine king tripod on behalf of the Zhenyan Tantrism?" Zhang Ling stared at him and thought quickly. "Isn¡¯t he afraid that the cultivation world of China and Japan will be enemies with each other? Or, is he just trying to scare me?"

    Zou Ping gritted her teeth and said to Zhang Ling, "Master, why don¡¯t we fight to the death with them?"

    Zhang Ling¡¯s expression was extremely ugly. She couldn¡¯t decide for a moment, but the auctioneer on the stage wouldn¡¯t wait for her. He hysterically shouted three times on stage that he was about to make a final decision. Zhang Kongyun suddenly raised the paddle in his hand and shouted, "350 million yuan!"

    The crowd was again horrified. At this time, most of the people there had given up. They just looked at the bustling scene with curiosity. "What kind of tremendous, sky-high price can this king medicine tripod go for?"

    When Zhang Ling heard Zhang Kongyun¡¯s bid, she suddenly turned her head, stared at him, and said in a low voice, "Shidee, this is all the money we have!"

    Zhang Kongxiaoughed and said calmly, "I know. Anyway, there are all of our trump cards. Why don¡¯t we just show them all?"

    With a look of reluctance on her face, Zhang Ling turned her head and red at Rong Guofa. She thought bitterly in her heart, "If this b*stard hadn¡¯t consumed 80 million yuan in advance... Hum!"

    Most of the time, bidding was like riding a fierce tiger. The further one went, the more dangerous it would be, and the harder it would be to get off the tiger. No one was willing to admit defeat easily. Usually, the bidder would just be gambling to win some face!

    As the saying goes, people should fight for one breath, and the Buddha should fight for an incense stick of time!

    But no matter what, in the face of the amazing price of 350 million yuan, Saionji Tsunekatsu couldn¡¯t calm down. The body of Rigoino, Chang Sheng Vajra, trembled slightly. Beside him, Dong Mu¡¯s face grew even paler, and he kept swallowing his saliva.

    Dong Mu whispered to Saionji Tsunekatsu, "Chang Shengjun, you can¡¯t go any higher. Besides, Masako Tachibana will be angry!"

    Saionji Tsunekatsu gritted his teeth and responded in a low voice, "If I can¡¯tplete her task, she won¡¯t just be angry!"

    He then made up his mind and shouted resolutely, "400 million!"

    All of a sudden, it was as if a bomb had gone off!

    Saionji Tsunekatsu had offered a total of three bids: one hundred million yuan, three hundred million yuan, and four hundred million yuan! Such an astonishing increase in price was unprecedented and frightening.

    In an instant, Zhang Ling became overwhelmed by the determination of Saionji Tsunekatsu, as if someone had pierced her heart with a sword. Her face was pale, and she was dumbstruck and couldn¡¯t even speak. Zhang Kongyun couldn¡¯t help shaking his head and sighing, a helpless look on his face.

    Su Chan pinched Li Yundong¡¯s hand in horror and said in a low voice, "Yundong, it¡¯s already at 400 million yuan... What, what should we do?"

    Li Yundong sighed deeply, looking pained. "Don¡¯t think about it. This ispletely beyond our expectations! This is not a price we can afford. We... are out!"

    Although they had expected such a situation on some level, the faces of Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, and the others were all depressed and sullen.

    Ao Wushuang sighed and shook his head. "This is the will of heaven. There¡¯s nothing we can do about it!"

    Su Chan asked in surprise, "Does it mean that the king medicine tripod will be taken away by the Japanese?"

    Li Yundong looked at the auctioneer on the stage repeating the price again and again, and his eyes were fixed on the gavel in the auctioneer¡¯s hand falling down little by little...

    But just as the hammer was about to make its final thud, someone suddenly raised their hand.

    The auctioneer¡¯s hammer instantly stopped in mid-air, and the auctioneer shouted in a frenzied and excited voice, "Someone has bid, someone has offered a higher price!! Four hundred million yuan, is there any higher offer than this!?"

    Everyone on the scene had originally thought that 400 million yuan would be the final price of the bet. They hadn¡¯t anticipated that someone would raise the price again at this time!

    "Who is this person? How could he be as crazy as Saionji Tsunekatsu?"

    At this moment, this auction had turned into a hand-to-hand fight between the two madmen. The battle between gold had reached its climax, and the air was filled with a terrible smell of blood.

    For a moment, everyone¡¯s eyes were fixed on this person!

 Chapter 613 A Deadly Blow and a Close Call

    <h4>Chapter 613 A Deadly Blow and a Close Call</h4>

    Everyone looked at the person who was raising the paddle, only to find a 60-year-old man with a in appearance wearing a bright yellow gown underneath a hand-sewn fur vest. Compared with the businessmen who were in suits and ties from famous brands, he was really unimpressive.

    During the previous bids, the old man had never raised his card from beginning to end. No one had expected that the person who followed Saionji Tsunekatsu¡¯s crazy bid would be this old man who had never raised his card before at the auction!

    Li Yundong suddenly looked at the old man and was stunned. He couldn¡¯t believe his eyes and asked in surprise, "Why did Mr. Shen raise the paddle?"

    Zhou Qin said in surprise and excitement, "That¡¯s great. Mr. Shen raised it! I was scared to death thinking that the Medicine King Tripod would be bought by the Japanese!"

    Su Chan stared at Shen Wancai with her eyes wide open, stunned. She asked Li Yundong in a low voice, "Yundong, how rich is Mr. Shen!? It¡¯s four hundred million, not forty thousand!"

    Before Li Yundong could get a word out, Zhou Qinughed and said, "Su Chan, don¡¯t look down on Shen Wancai. He is a real billionaire. Just because he keeps a low profile, he is unknown. You see, when he met the mayor at the opening ceremony of the Disanxian, he didn¡¯t even disdain to cotton up with him. He just greeted the Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee. Just from this, you can guess at how powerful he is!"

    Su Chan stuck out her tongue. "He¡¯s so influential? I underestimated him. I thought he was just an ordinary rich guy."

    Zhou Qin chuckled. "There are many rich people in China now, and hidden rich families are countless. Shen Wancai is one of them. My father oncemented on him, saying that he is a decisive and shrewd man. He has never fought an unprepared battle. If he takes action, he will be well-prepared."

    Zi Yuan looked at Shen Wancai. She stared at him for a while and then looked at Li Yundong. Her deep, dark eyes seemed to be able to see through their hearts and emotions in an instant. She dimly touched upon something and a faint smile appeared at the corners of her mouth, but she did not speak.

    At this time, all of Li Yundong¡¯s attention was on Shen Wancai and Saionji Tsunekatsu. Although he had be a spectator like most people there, it was better to watch the Medicine King Tripod, Sun Simiao¡¯s Taoists powerful magical weapon, fall into Shen Wancai¡¯s hands than the hands of the Japanese!

    Saionji Tsunekatsu hadn¡¯t expected that after pushing out Zhang Ling, there would turn out to be another bad old man!

    It was like a bloody warrior breaking through the encirclement. Just when he thought that he would be the final winner, suddenly fresh troops had appeared, striking a huge psychological blow to Saionji Tsunekatsu.

    Saionji Tsunekatsu red at Shen Wancai fiercely, as if he wanted to swallow up the old man who had appeared so suddenly!

    Tobaku said in a trembling voice, "Tsunekatsu, what can we do? Just give it up!"

    Saionji Tsunekatsu was shaking. He stared at Shen Wancai unwillingly. His eagle eyes were like a sharp knife, as if he wanted to cut Shen Wancai in half and read his true thoughts.

    Shen Wancai was indeed someone who had been through all kinds of dramas. He did not even nce at Saionji Tsunekatsu. Instead, he looked straight ahead with an indifferent smile on his face, looking like he was above it all.

    Shen You and Shen Hui, who were beside him, were also shocked by Shen Wancai¡¯s sudden act. After a long time, Shen Hui stuttered, "Grandfather, are... are you okay? 400 million! You¡¯re going to spend 400 million just to buy such a thing?"

    Shen You was also shocked. "Dad, are you crazy?"

    Shen Wancai red at them unhappily and growled in a low voice, "Shut up! What do you know?"

    Seeing that Shen You and Shen Hui were both questioning Shen Wancai, Saionji Tsunekatsu came up with an idea. He thought, "Is this old guy bluffing? Has he actually reached his limit?"

    Saionji Tsunekatsu quickly thought in his heart, "Although Masako Tachibana didn¡¯t set a bottom line for me, ording to my understanding, the maximum should be about 500 million yuan, but even if it¡¯s over just 400 million yuan, she will be angry. Now the price is 410 million yuan, which will already make Masako Tachibana very angry, but... if I spend 500 million yuan toplete the task, it should also be eptable."

    Saionji Tsunekatsu¡¯s hesitation made almost everyone on the scene realize what was going on. Zhou Qin whispered in Li Yundong¡¯s ear, "This Japanese is a little timid. The current price should be close to the limit that he can bear, so he can no longer raise the price unscrupulously. Let¡¯s see what price he will offer now and guess at his bottom line."

    Saionji Tsunekatsu thought for a while. When he saw that the hammer in the auctioneer¡¯s hand was about to fall, he suddenly showed a grim smile, raised his paddle again, and shouted, "500 million!"

    "No way!" Almost half of the people on the scene jumped up instantly and stared at Saionji Tsunekatsu, stunned.

    Tobaku was so frightened by Saionji Tsunekatsu¡¯s behavior that he almost fell off his chair. He looked at Saionji Tsunekatsu with a pale face and his lips trembled slightly. He shouted in his heart, "He¡¯s crazy, he must be crazy! When we go back, we will be locked in the Ghost Prison by Lord Masako Tachibana! No, I must stop him!"

    Just as Tobaku was about to speak, he saw that although Saionji Tsunekatsu had a ferocious smile on his face, his hands, which were hidden behind his back, were trembling slightly.

    Seeing this, the words died on his lips.

    Zhou Qin was also stunned. He was shocked and couldn¡¯t speak for a long time. Li Yundong chuckled at this time and whispered, "It¡¯s said that settling a score is like using an array of soldiers, and that business is like a battlefield! This Japanese is using some good psychological warfare! I know what you said just now, but if even I know this, how could he not? So, he¡¯s directly showing his sword and fighting courageously at bay-point range against you with all his might!"

    At this time, everyone¡¯s preconceptions had been seriously shaken. "Does this Japanese have no limit at all? Or is he bluffing now?"

    At this time, Li Yundong hadpletely cast aside his desire topete for the Medicine King Tripod and jumped out of the ring to watch this fierce battle from the perspective of a third party. Thinking of the previous situation wherein various people had raised the prices at the auction, he seemed to realize something and couldn¡¯t help whispering, "The art of war says that the virtual one is the real one and the real one is the virtual one. In my opinion, this Japanese is at his wits¡¯ end!"

    Su Chan asked in confusion, "Yundong, what do you mean? Why do I feel that the Japanese still have a lot of money? Look, he raised the price by nearly 100 million once again! It¡¯s terrifying!"

    Li Yundong said with a smile, "The reason why Saionji Tsunekatsu raised the price several times was to scare off hispetitors, especially as his opponents¡¯ bid increments are also considerable. But Shen Wancai is different from them. He suddenly appeared, and the increase is much smaller than what we saw in the previous rounds. If Saionji Tsunekatsu really had the confidence, he would add 10 million yuan with Shen Wancai, and then grind down his opponent all the way to see who¡¯ll give up first.

    "But Saionji Tsunekatsu knows well that cutting flesh with a blunt knife is the most painful way, so he decided to cut his wrist. He would rather severe one finger than hurt all ten! Therefore, he¡¯s raised the price greatly the fourth time because he¡¯s aiming topletely defeat his opponent with a momentum that could cover ten thousand miles."

    Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help ncing at Li Yundong with appreciation and smiling. "Master, you are right. If you go to do business, you will definitely be sessful. For a neer, it is very likely that Saionji Tsunekatsu¡¯s move will have an effect, but Shen Wancai is different. He is an experienced businessman who has been working in the industry for a lifetime. How could he fall into such a trap?"

    It seemed that in order to fulfill Zhou Qin¡¯s words, Shen Wancai¡¯s expression did not change. He slowly raised the paddle in his hand, and only increased the price by 10 million once again, making the price of the Medicine King Tripod reach 510 million!

    At this time, Saionji Tsunekatsu¡¯s expression changed dramatically, and he suddenly came to his senses. He knew that his opponent was a very cunning old fox. Not only was he cunning, but he was also experienced. This move was useless to him!

    But Saionji Tsunekatsu had already bid the highest price he could afford. What could he do?

    He could not help trembling slightly and grinding his teeth. When the auctioneer repeated the price again and again, he suddenly roared, "Five hundred and twenty million!"

    At this time, there was a burst of exmation again amongst the crowd.

    What was different from the previous exmation was that, at this time, everyone could tell that the Japanese were on the verge of copse.

    Everyone¡¯s eyes turned to Shen Wancai involuntarily. They thought, "Is this old man also on the verge of copse? But he¡¯s just not showing it?"

    Although both of them had lowered the price increases, the atmosphere on the scene had be tenser and tenser. Su Chan gripped Li Yundong¡¯s hand tightly and nervously murmured, "Yundong, this Japanese has also raised the price on a small scale. Is he going to have a war of attrition with Mr. Shen?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "That should be the case. However, I don¡¯t know what Mr. Shen¡¯s bottom line is, so I don¡¯t know who will win if the two of them fight it out. But in terms of momentum and psychological advantage, Mr. Shen already has it."

    As soon as Li Yundong finished his words, Shen Wancai slowly raised his paddle and raised the price again by 10 million.

    Saionji Tsunekatsu was like a red-eyed gambler who had lost a lot of money. He immediately roared, "Five hundred and forty million yuan!"

    However, Shen Wancai was not in a hurry to raise the price immediately. He waited until the auctioneer shouted a third time, and then he slowly raised the paddle again. "Five hundred and fifty million yuan!"

    Saionji Tsunekatsu immediately yelled in response, "Five hundred and sixty million!"

    After a while, Shen Wancai raised his paddle. "Five hundred and seventy million!"

    The two raised the price back and forth as if they were volleying. Although it was not as wild as before, the atmosphere was still intense. The price was about to reach 600 million yuan.

    A price of 600 million yuan would make it a world-shocking price, let alone how the country itself would react.

    At this time, everyone was holding their breath and didn¡¯t dare to move.

    Tobaku, who was standing beside Saionji Tsunekatsu, grabbed his arm, trembling. He couldn¡¯t help but say loudly in Japanese, "Chang Sheng, you can¡¯t increase it anymore. You really can¡¯t!"

    Saionji Tsunekatsu turned his head and roared in Japanese with a ferocious look on his face, "Asshole, shut up!" After that, he screeched with a face twisted like a devil¡¯s, "Six hundred million!"

    Everyone on the scene took a deep breath and looked at Shen Wancai in unison.

    Li Yundong¡¯s face was also a little serious. He whispered, "This should be his final move!"

    However, Zi Yuan shook her head and said, "Not necessarily! Japanese people are famous for their tenacity. Their ability to handle pressure and endure can be said to be the best in the world. If Shen Wancai is still willing to raise the price as he did before, maybe they will continue to fight!"

    Li Yundong nodded. "You¡¯re right. Let¡¯s see how Mr. Shen bids."

    However, this was the first time that Shen Wancai had turned his head. His eyes were bright as he sized up his opponent, who had been fighting a bloody battle with him on the battlefield of Jin Yuan. His brows were tightly furrowed and he muttered to himself, then for a moment, he did not speak.

    The auctioneer on the stage saw that Shen Wancai had not spoken for a long time. After ceaselessly repeating the price, he also thought that 600 million should be the end point. After quickly repeating it a third time, he breathed a sigh of relief and raised the gavel in his hand up high.

    At this time, Saionji Tsunekatsu seemed about to copse. He showed a smile which represented that he had won in this desperate fight,ughing hysterically.

    "Ah? Mr. Shen is giving up?" Seeing the gavel fall little by little, Su Chan cried.

    But at this critical moment, Shen Wan suddenly smiled. He raised the paddle in his hand and said slowly, "Seven hundred million!"

 Chapter 614 Concealed Intentions and Evil Tricks

    <h4>Chapter 614 Concealed Intentions and Evil Tricks</h4>

    Just when Saionji Tsunekatsu thought that he had already won, Shen Wancai suddenly hit the deadliest blow.

    At this moment, Li Yundong suddenly remembered the Pacific War between the United States and Japan from Pearl Ind to Midway Ind during World War II. However, at first, everyone knew that Japan was bound to be defeated, but since the battle of the midway ind where Japan had been retreating. But all the way negative corner resistance, the trapped beast still fight,unched the bloody fight.

    Even the Mikado -- the emperor of Japan and the crazy army headquarters were ready to mobilize the whole country to fight against thending Americans, all jade broken. But at that time, the American knew that they would suffer heavy losses if theynded in Japan, so gave the Japanese the most terrible blow: atomic bombing!

    Although bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed far fewer men than the Japanese had ever killed in front of them, when the Japanese prepared for bloody melee to fight the other side of the final attrition, Americans suddenly gave them the most unimaginable blow.

    As the saying goes, fightingw such as soldiers, Shen Wancai had been fighting with Chang Sheng of the West Garden Temple in close quarters. but at thest minute, in Saionji Tsunekatsu thought he had won, suddenly threw out the atomic bomb!

    This sudden huge increase in price finally defeated the will of Saionji Tsunekatsu andpletely destroyed his idea of victory.

    700 million!!! This was an auction price that shocked the world!!

    "Wow!" Almost everyone on the court was screaming!

    Theughter of Saionji Tsunekatsu suddenly stopped. as if he had been hollowed out of his chest, his body shook, his face turned pale, and he stayed in ce as if he had lost his three transcendentponents and Qi-Soul.

    The auctioneer was also stimted by this price and almost had a heart attack again. He roared hoarsely, " 700 million!! Is there a higher price than this? 700 million once!! 700 million twice!!! 700 million third!!!"

    "Deal!"

    The gavel finally knocked down heavily . Everyone took a deep breath, involuntarily shook his head, and sighed.

    Oh my god, 700 million!! What concept is this? Are almost refreshing the world auction price!!

    The auctioneer¡¯s face was red and his heart was pounding. He knew that no matter what the result was, their Tianai auction house would be famous all over the world!

    Shen Qian and Shen you sat beside Shen Wancai, staring at their father, without the joy of victory, but looking at Shen Wancai with an inexplicable nk look, as if they didn¡¯t know this man at all.

    Saionji Tsunekatsu like a dead person standing in the same ce, the side of Dongmu such as mourning mother, he smiled at Saionji Tsunekatsu said, " Changsheng Jun, we failed, forget it, go back !"

    Saionji Tsunekatsu if not heard, his eyes fixed on Shen Wancai, in his eyes Shen Wancai auction sess, but not a victory of pleasure and joy, but slightly frowned, as if there is something unhappy.

    Saionji Tsunekatsu couldn¡¯t help but think, "Is he also close to his limit? Or, if you insist again, the other side will give up?"

    Thinking of this, Saionji Tsunekatsu couldn¡¯t help but a bite, towards Shen Wancai.

    The side of Dongmu saw the situation, hurriedly pulled him, in a Japanese low voice, "Chang Shengjun, calm down! What are you going to do?"

    Saionji Tsunekatsu did not look at him, a push him away, he went straight to Shen Wancai, eyes gloomy and horrible staring at him.

    Seeing this, Shen You stood up and shouted, "What do you want ?"

    Chang Sheng of the West Garden Temple turned his head and red at him. Shen you felt like a knife in his heart.

    At this time, Shen Qian stood up and said angrily, "lost want to hit people ?"

    At this time, Li Yundong and the others also came over. Li Yundong smiled slightly, "Li Yundong, see where you stand under your feet, this is China! Not Japan !"

    After he finished speaking, Du Fei from the Quanzhen Dragon Gate Sect also stood up with a smile. Soon, Wei Qing beside him also stood up and stared at him with unkind eyes.

    Then, all the spiritual practitioners on the court stood up for a time, stared at him with hostility.

    The fierce look on Saionji Tsunekatsu¡¯s face suddenly dissipated a lot. He took a deep breath, respectfully bowed to Shen Wancai, said, " I would like to ask your name !"

    Shen Wancai nodded gratefully to Li Yundong and others nodded. He smiled slightly and said, "Shen Wancai!"

    A respectful expression appeared on Saionji Tsunekatsu¡¯s face as he said, "Shen Jun! Why do you have to rob me of this medicine ?"

    Shen Wancai smiled and said, "Because everyone can take this medicine king Ding, only you Japanese can not !"

    This sentence immediately caused the crowd to cheer loudly, for a while on the field apuse such as thunder, color bursts.

    At this time, there was a sh of ferocity in Saionji Tsunekatsu¡¯s eyes when he was bending over. But when he raises the body, it was a face of humility, he said, " so it is! Then congrattions on getting this medicine king Ding!"

    Li Yundong also whispered to Su cicada at this time: "I haven¡¯t realized that Mr. Shen is quite patriotic! How dare you."

    Su Chan chuckled, "He¡¯s not young !"

    Li Yundong giggled and said, "Have a young heart, all be regarded as a young person."

    The side of Ziyuan listened to the two of them, smiled, meaningful look at Shen Wancai, smile but not speak.

    However, Rong Guofa wasughing at other¡¯s troubles. Although he didn¡¯t bid for this Medicine King Tripod, what made him happy was that neither did Li Yundong!

    "It doesn¡¯t matter if I don¡¯t have a good life, but if I see you, I¡¯ll be happy!"

    Rong Guofa at this time is this mentality!

    Rong Guofa hugged his girlfriend, he smiled, "See? Mr. Shen is the real rich man! What is momentum? What is overbearing? He is different from some young upstarts!"

    Hearing his words, Su Chan turned her face unhappily and asked, "What do you say?"

    Rong Guofa looked up and hit a haha. "I didn¡¯t say anything. But before I heard some people praise the sea mouth, but now empty-handed return ."

    Su Chan was furious and she was about to quarrel with him, but Li Yundong pulled,ughing at her and said, " Cicada son, do not tell him, meaningless ."

    Seeing Li Yundong give in, Rong Guofa thought that he was afraid to fight, so he immediately had a kind of exuberant pleasure. He sneered at them and said, "Young man, learn more, you are still tender !"

    Li Yundong smiled and did not speak.

    Seeing Li Yundong flinch again, Rong Guofa wanted to continue to ridicule him unforgivingly, but also wanted to continue to speak ridicule, but saw Shen Wancai at this time straight over, he immediately smiled to meet up, stretched out his hands, " Lao Shen, you can fight for us Chinese today ah !"

    Shen Wancai saw him at a nce and shook hands with him with a humble smile. He smiled nomittally and said, "Never mind. It¡¯s just a child¡¯s game."

    Rong Guofa ttered him beaming with a smile all over his face. "Mr. Shen total overbearing, 700 million sky price is actually regarded by you as a child¡¯s game! Great! Worthy of being a bully in the south !"

    As he spoke, he turned his head and looked at Li Yundong intentionally or unintentionally, smiling sarcastically.

    Seeing this, Su Chan was so angry that her cheeks were bulging. Just as she was about to lose her temper, she saw Shen Wancai nodding at her with a smile. "Miss Su, meet again!"

    Su Chan had no choice but to swallow the words that rushed to her lips. she generously extended her hand and Shen Wancai shook, said," Shen, congrattions ah !"

    Shen Wancai smiled slightly. He turned his face to Li Yundong, said, " Mr. Li, I have an unkind request, but also ask you to agree ."

    Before Li Yundong could speak, Rong Guofa, who was beside him, was stunned. Some unbelievable looking at Li Yundong, the heart of the dark way: this guy in the end what? Why is Shen so polite to him?

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Mr. Shen, you say, just to you that sentence, I will..." Before Li Yundong could finish his words, he heard Zi Yuan secretly transmitting a voice message to him. "Li Yundong, don¡¯t hurry to promise him!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s heart skipped a beat. he words to the mouth and change the way and said, "... ording to what you just said, I will also think about it carefully."

    Shen Wancai didn¡¯t doubt him andughed. He turned around and walked to the auction tform£¬and said two words in private with the auctioneer, the auctioneer suddenly looked shocked, unbelievably carefully asked Shen Wancai a few times, until Shen Wancai some impatience, he picked up the microphone, dry cough, to everyone on the court said, "Ladies and gentlemen, now I¡¯d like to announce a piece of shocking news! Mr. Shen Wancai, who just won the Medicine King Tripod at a sky-high price of 700 million yuan, has decided to give such a high-priced treasure to Mr. Li Yundong! Let¡¯s witness all this!"

    As soon as the auctioneer finished speaking, there was an uproar on the court.

    Almost everyone in the cultivation sects was stunned!

    "What?!" Zhang Ling could hardly believe his ears!

    "Seven Hundred Million yuan! Give it to him at will?" Zou Ping was tongue-tied and stunned.

    Li Yundong was also shocked, but he quickly reacted and looked at Ziyuan.

    Li Jiandong immediately chuckled and thought to himself, Chen Wancai really has a good trick! I told him to spend all money so as to cultivation, now he actually did it! I have no choice but to take him as my disciple! Hey, what a good trick!

    Su Chan and Zhou Qin were not fools£¬ they soon also reacted, looking at Li Yundong, eyes hidden worry.

    They were all very clear about Li Jiandong¡¯s character. He was eating soft and not hard, talking and doing things frankly and forthright, like to go straight, do not like winding around. Although Shen Wancai had put in a lot of effort, it happened to vite Li Jiandong¡¯s taboo.

    If he wanted to use this matter as a reward for wanting to acknowledge Shen Wancai as his master, then Shen Wancai can make the wrong idea!

    Where did Rong Guofa know the winding, he seemed to see aliens staring at Li Yundong, stammered, " you, who are you ?"

    Hearing his words, Su Chan turned her head and said in an extremely serious tone said, "you do not remember what I said to you? You remember, his name is Li Yundong! I once said, in less than two years, he will certainly be a famous figure in the world! And you can neverpare with him !"

    After saying that, Su Chan hum a turn face, full face exuberant.

    At this time, Dong Mu, who was not far away, whispered to Saionji Tsunekatsu, " Changsheng Jun, what should we do now? This medicine king tripod falls into this Li Yundong¡¯s hand !"

    Saionji Tsunekatsu turned his face and stared coldly at Shen Wancai, who was holding the Medicine King Cauldron with two hands in front of the cameras of various media on the auction tform. He sneered and said, "since the auction can not, then it seems that this matter is really not good, can only use strong! Dongmu Jun, you prepare, I want to Chinese practitioners under the nose of the medicine Wang Ding stolen!"

 Chapter 615 Make a feint to the east but attack in the wes

    <h4>Chapter 615 Make a feint to the east but attack in the wes</h4>

    When Tobaku heard Saionji Tsunekatsu¡¯s words, he was astonished. He imed, "Tsunekatsu! Are you crazy? There are several jinshen masters here!"

    Saionji Tsunekatsuughed grimly and said, "When the enemy thinks that they have won, it is the beginning of their failure! Do you think I don¡¯t know that there are jinshen masters here? Hum,ter you use the shikigamito make a little noise in the vicinity,. As long as there is chaos, the auction house will certainly immediately put away all these bids! And the practitioners here should not be allowed to follow in. As long as this Medicine King Tripod can get out of the sight of these cultivators, I will have a way to get it away!"

    Tobaku was surprised for a moment, and then he said worriedly, "But Tsunekatsu, if you do this... will it cause hatred and conflict between the cultivators in the Chinese and Japanese cultivation world?"

    Saionji Tsunekatsu turned his face, with a ferocious looking, ring at him, suppressing his anger, and growled, "Tobaku,e on!"

    Tobaku was so frightened by Saionji Tsunekatsu¡¯s appearance that he took a step back. However, he quickly lowered his head and said, "Yes, Tsunekatsu!"

    Saionji Tsunekatsu came to a bathroom with Tobaku. After he confirmed that there is no one in this, he turned around abruptly. one hand holding a Vajra, the other hand holding the index fingers were touching of Mantra to Dongmu in front of a fierce push!

    Tobaku was about 1.75 meters tall, and he was not weak. However, he was suddenly pushed into the air by Saionji Tsunekatsu, even he wasn¡¯t touched, his whole body heavily hit the wall behind£¬denting the tiled wall, for a moment, the white tile tter down.

    Saionji Tsunekatsu growled angrily, "You are such an idiot! From now on Li Yundong defeated Ms. Masako Tachibana, the two sides have be enemies! Now Masako Tachibana has been between two fires by the new meaning school and the ancient meaning school. She must defeat Li Yundong in public to save her face. Otherwise... We¡¯ll crawl down on our knees in the hands of those morons who change their teachings! Can¡¯t you afford to lose the chief executive position! "

    It was as if Tobaku was pressing against the wall by an invisible hand. He was so tearing that he almost couldn¡¯t speak. He could only say on and off, "I, I understand. Tsunekatsu, let me go, go down! I¡¯ll do what you say!"

    Only then did Tsunekatsu withdrew his hand slightly. his face slightly less angry, cold humming way, "If you know, go and do it quickly! Get out there and make some noise !"

    As soon as he finished his words, he frowned. Pinched his fingers of index fingers were touching, the door of the bathroom mmed shut automatically.

    By ident, a man was about to rush to the bathroom, but he couldn¡¯t open the door.

    Tsunekatsu¡¯s eyes gloomy staring at the door for a while. When he saw that the man who tried to enter in had left and no longer tried to open the door, he turned his face, staring at Tobaku.

    Tobaku rubbed his chest and did not dare to neglect. He quickly took out a few talismans from his pocket. One hand holding the tips, the other hand with the index finger and middle finger with the talisman, cing them in front of his chest and reciting spells in a low voice.

    As soon as he recited the incantation, the two talismans burst into mes. ck smoke rose from the talismans and went out through the gap between the door.

    Just as they were hiding in the bathroom and plotting tricks, Shen You surrounded Shen Wancai like a fly , chattering, "Dad, thepany doesn¡¯t have much working capital now! Where are these 700 million yuan?"

    "Dad, Seven hundred million to buy such a thing, you can buy it yourself! Why did you give it to this..To an outsider?"

    "Dad, I¡¯m talking to you. Please, I¡¯m your son, your only son. Would you look at me? I have a share of this family¡¯s property, too. Can¡¯t you mess with it like this ?"

    Shen You¡¯sst sentence stimted Shen Wancai. He reluctantly came around to congratte him. The people whoplimented him smiled, then turned around and pulled Shen you to a deserted corner as usual. He suddenly changed his face ." you know! Everything in this family is my Shen Wancai alone fight out! Without me, there would never be you in this world! Without me, you would never have the extravagant life you have now! Don¡¯t think that you¡¯re a big deal just because you¡¯ve done deals of a few million!"

    "Well, I tell you, without me, you wouldn¡¯t even be worth a fart! If it wasn¡¯t for my sake, and for the sake of the achievements that I¡¯ve made, would they cooperate with you, a good-for-nothing?"

    He mercilessly scolded his son who hated iron and steel. He ground one¡¯s teeth in anger and said: "Do you think you¡¯re strong now? How dare you talk to me like this? I¡¯m telling you, even if one day all my property is gone, I will not leave you a penny! When you start from scratch,y down such arge area of Jiangshan base industry, and then say to me, ¡¯this family property you have a share¡¯ this kind of words! !"

    Shen You was face-breaking scolding silly, he stayed in ce for a time. For a moment, he was stunned and could note to his senses.

    In his mind, it was iprehensible: why his father would rather spend 700 million to buy an inexplicable Medicine King Tripod than leaving himself a penny? Why did his father rather give what is worth 700 million yuan to an outsider than give more money to his son? Wasn¡¯t he his own son?

    He trembled all over and unbelievably looking at his father, as if he were looking at a stranger. He couldn¡¯t help but take a few steps back. All of a suddenly, he turned around and looked at Li Yundong ferociously.

    Seeing this, Shen Wancai immediately shouted, "If you dare to mess around, I will cut off my father-son rtionship with you immediately!"

    Shen You¡¯s body shook violently. His eyes desperated to look back at Shen Wancai, the corner of his mouth twitched, he revealed a sad smile, he ha-haugh, turned and smiled, while rushed out of the auction hall.

    Shen Wancai¡¯s eyes were fixed on Shen You¡¯s figure, trembling slightly. At this time, Shen Hui also came over and said be watchful and reverent, "Old man, don¡¯t be angry with brother, he..."

    He said in a tired and low voice, "Don¡¯t mention him, if you still have a little filial piety ."

    Shen Hui obediently shut his mouth and did not speak.

    He seemed to have aged dozens of years in an instant, and his face was full of haggard and wrinkles. He covered his chest with his hands, face pain, a little back.

    Seeing the situation, Shen Hui immediately held him up and shouted, "Come on,e on, help, help!"

    As soon as She finished speaking, he saw a steady and maic voice ringing next to her, " Do n¡¯ t worry, I¡¯ll see ."

    She turned her head and saw that Li Yundong was holding Shen Wancai¡¯s hand and talking calmly to herself. She knew that Li Yundong was a strange man with a divine skill, and that he had saved Shen Wancai¡¯s life. Therefore, he dare not y in front of Li Yundong big sister temper.

    She asked with an anxious face, "How is he?"

    As Li Yundong slowly transferred his Zhenqi into Shen Wancai¡¯s body, he whispered, "Mr. Shen is fine. He just angry attack heart, the body qi and blood are not enough ."

    Shen Hui asked puzzled, "But, after you saved the old manst time, he is not very good? I think he was as young as a teenager. Why would he suddenly do that ?"

    Li Yundong sighed gently and said, "Mr. Shen is now a dead body, all parts of the body and organs have been rtively weak, and then go down, is the stage of death. At this stage, people can rely on elixirs of life to keep them alive for a while, but it is unlikely that a single medicine can make him youth, let alone a drug topletely change his physique ."

    She looked at him with half understanding. She remembered the magic of this boy, and at the same time, she remembered her father did not hesitate to spend his blood to buy the medicine Wang Ding. She suddenly had an idea, as if to understand something, and the eyes were a little more enlightened.

    His Zhenqi was pure and rich. After a while, Chen Wancai looked better, he took a deep breath quite grateful to Li Yundong smiled, said, " Mr. Li, you saved my life again, I really do not know how to thank you !"

    Li smiled slightly. "It¡¯s no easy work, it¡¯s my pleasure. What¡¯s more, Shen from the hands of the Japanese back to the medicine Wang Ding, I should thank you!"

    Shen Wancai¡¯s hands tightly holding Li Yundong, a face nervously asked, "Mr. Li, you haven¡¯t answered my presumptuous request yet!"

    Li Yundong pondered for a while, sighed lightly, and said, "Mr. Shen, your present is too expensive, I can not receive it."

    Shen Wancai had experienced vicissitudes of life and experience. He saw Li Yundong¡¯s hesitation and immediately understood it. He sighed and said bitterly ." Mr. Li, you saw it just now. I was such a son. I expected him to be a talent. Inherit my family business in the future. Didn¡¯t think... Oh, I can¡¯t help you !"

    At this time, he seemed to put aside the heart of the knot, regardless of the presence of Shen Vera, very sincere to Li Yundong said, " Mr. Li, I know that you must not be a mortal. I also know that you will certainly be unhappy in the heart. But I really have no choice! My only son is so useless. How can I rest assured if the family business is handed over to him in the future? I am already half dead. The only thing I expected in the past is that my son can be a talent, but now I only hope... Even if you can teach me the art of immortals, I can not live forever, but also can live a few more years! Is such a request too much ?"

    Shen Wancai said, could not help but tears, the side of Shen Hui also looked sadly, weeping and whispering words of relief to him.

    Li felt ufortable, but at this time, it dissipated a lot. He sighed, smiled and said, " I see. Can I think about it for two days? Two dayster, I will give you an answer ."

    A hopeful look appeared in Shen Wancai¡¯s eyes. his body slightly straight, trembling way, " Mr. Li, I wait for your news !"

    Li Yundong smiled. When he was about to speak, but heard a loud bang not far away, followed by a sharp cry, " kill, kill !"

    Some of the cultivators in the Auction House, who had not left yet, looked in the direction of the voice in surprise. Su Chan curiously approached Li Yundong and whispered, "which guy is impatient and making trouble here ?" Said, the little girl looked up to blink his eyes, " cloud east ah, do you want to see what is going on ?"

    Li Yundong smiled lightly and said, "Okay..." He was about to continue talking, only to see the auction house nervous, around the security guard to the medicine Wang Ding to the backstage, and they shouted to Shen Wancai to let him go.

    Shen Wancai said to Li Yundong, "Mr. Li, why don¡¯t youe with me?"

    Li Yundong looked around and saw that the cultivators of various sects were looking at him intentionally or unintentionally. He knew that he was at the top of the storm at this time, so he did not want to be so ostentatious ." No, if you¡¯re worried about insecurity, Let Ziyuan and Zhou Qin apany you. They¡¯re there. It¡¯s okay ."

    Ao Wushuang, who was standing aside, also said, "Leader, you go, I help will be fine ."

    Li Yundong originally wanted Ao Wushuang to stay as well. at this time to see her volunteer, immediately happy way, "That¡¯s great! I can rest assured with Ao Wushuang-qi¨¢nb¨¨i¡¯s help!"

 Chapter 616 Sent the Tiger Away from the Mountain

    <h4>Chapter 616 Sent the Tiger Away from the Mountain</h4>

    Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, and Ao Wushuang apanied Shen Wancai to the inner hall of the auction. When they were about to enter the door, the head of security of the auction stopped Zi Yuan and others. He looked up and down at Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, and Ao Wushuang, and then his eyes shed with matchless amazement. He turned to Shen Wancai and asked, "Excuse me, who are they? Mr. Shen, you are the only one who can go in with us."

    Shen Wancai didn¡¯t know who Ao Wushuang was, nor did he know what skills Zhou Qin, the daughter of a rich family. But he knew the ability of Zi Yuan. Moreover, Li Yundong valued Ao Wushuang so much that he had to defend her out of consideration for her. He chuckled and said, "They are the ones who protect me. Let theme in with us."

    The person sneered in his heart and thought to himself, "Do you think you are Gaddafi? Do you have arge group of beautiful bodyguards? I think they are your kept women, right?"

    He shook his head and said, "No, Mr. Shen, you can only go in alone."

    Shen Wancai frowned secretly and looked a little unhappy. When he was about to speak, Zhou Qin asked, "The King Medicine Tripod is such an important thing. If it was lost or robbed, can you bear the responsibility?"

    The person in charge sneered and said, "Do you know what we used to do? If we can¡¯t control it, can you just do it?"

    Zhou Qin raised his eyebrows. When he was about to lose his temper, he suddenly heard a huge banging from the inner hall, followed by several screams.

    The head of security¡¯s face suddenly changed. Lgnoring Zhou Qin and others, he turned around and rushed to the inner hall behind him.

    Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin looked at each other and quickly followed in.

    As soon as the two of them rushed into the inner hall, they found that several uniformed security guards had copsed in the corner. It was unknown whether they were alive or dead. There was an obvious dent in the wall behind them. It was apparently thrown like an Earthbag and smashed against the wall.

    At this time, the King Medicine Tripod was stored in a stand. It was covered with a thick bulletproof ss cover. It was safe and sound.

    Just as the head of security was about to let out a sigh of relief, he suddenly heard a loud crash. The hard and thick ss cover was instantly shattered, as if an invisible hand had mmed on it.

    As soon as the ss cover was smashed, the Medicine King Tripod floated up in the air. The head of security was shocked when he saw this and pulled out the pistol at his waist and was about to shoot.

    But his eyes were empty, and the King Medicine Tripod was also floating in the air. Where was the person?

    While he was hesitating, he suddenly felt a strong wind, as if he was pushed by a giant hand. Then his whole body flew out horizontally and hit the wall heavily. He fell to the ground softly with a mighty bang.

    Zhou Qin immediately widened his eyes and shouted in a low voice, "What about the Goddess Nayan Mudras?" She quickly pulled out the Vulcan¡¯s Whip that was wrapped around her waist and flicked her wrist. With a swoosh sound, the long whip pierced through the air and struck in the direction of the Medicine King Tripod.

    With a crack, the Vulcan¡¯s Whip suddenly hit something. The tip of the whip instantly reflected a faint crease, so that Zhou Qin and others could vaguely recognize that it was an invisible person who was about two meters tall.

    But as soon as Zhou Qin hit him, the invisible man disappeared instantly and rushed toward the window with a howl.

    "Not good, he wants to steal the Medicine King Tripod!" Zi Yuan immediately shouted, "Stop him!"

    A purple light shed beside Zi Yuan instantly, and the silk of the Ninth Heaven Purple Garden instantly appeared in front of the invisible person like a big.

    "Puff!" With a muffled sound, the Ninth Heaven Zi Yuan silk seemed to be hit heavily by a huge palm. In an instant, it formed a terrible w print.

    Zi Yuan only saw that this hand was tightly wrapped by the Ninth Heaven Purple Garden silk, so it showed its trace. The fingers of this hand were thick and long, and the nails were as sharp as a bay. The muscles on the arms were also full of knot, like a sack filled with potatoes and did not look like a human arm at all.

    With a stir of his mind, Zi Yuan quickly controlled the Ninth Heaven Purple Garden silk to quickly stretch out and wrap itself around the invisible human-shaped monster.

    With a ¡¯swoosh¡¯ sound, the Vulcan¡¯s Whip in Zhou Qin¡¯s hand was also thrown out. It immediately wrapped around his ankle. As soon as her Vulcan¡¯s Divine Whip wrapped around it, with a ¡¯boom¡¯ sound, it started to burn a raging fire on top of the Vulcan¡¯s Whip¡¯s head. It continued to burn towards the invisible monster.

    The monster seemed to know that he was doomed. He took a deep breath and roared in the direction of the ss window!

    "Howl!!!"

    The invisible monster suddenly released a st wave from its mouth. This huge roar immediately shook the whole building violently!

    Shen Wancai was knocked unconscious without saying a word. The first to be affected ss window was made of hard tempered ss, but it was still shattered by the strong st wave with a crash.

    The invisible monster held the Medicine King Tripod with the other hand and threw it out.

    The moment he threw it out, his upper body was wrapped by the Ninth Heaven Zi Yuan Silk, and the ankle of his lower body began to burn with a raging fire.

    For a moment, the monster let out a horrific howl. In the blink of an eye, it turned into ck smoke and disappeared.

    Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin¡¯s faces changed greatly, and they said in unison, "Oh no, the King Medicine tripod!"

    At the moment when Medicine King Tripod was thrown out, a figure beside them shed, and Ao Wushuang chased after them like lightning.

    Ao Wushuang rushed into the Medicine King Tripod in the blink of an eye. When she was about to take it, a terrible forceing from behind her. This force was not only fierce, but it was also full of powerful Buddhist power pressure, which happened to restrain her demon power. She was shocked and quickly dodged.

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s figure shed, and a golden light immediately shed in her original position. This golden light kept moving, passing through the Medicine King Tripod in an instant and pulling Medicine King Tripod to fly to the sky.

    Ao Wushuang was furious. She gritted her teeth and was about to chase after her, but she suddenly had an idea, as if she had thought of something. She hesitated for a moment.

    When expertspeted, it only happened in an instant!

    After Ao Wushuang¡¯s hesitation, the King of Medicine tripod and the golden light disappeared in an instant. At this time, it was toote to chase after them.

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s eyes flickered as he looked in the direction of that the Medicine King tripod disappears. With a cold snort, she shed back to the inner hall in an instant.

    Seeing that Ao Wushuang had returned in the blink of an eye and his hands were empty, Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin¡¯s hearts suddenly thumped. At the same time, an ominous thought shed across their minds.

    Zhou Qin was shocked and asked, "Senior Ao Wushuang... Where¡¯s the medicine king tripod?"

    Ao Wushuang shook his head and sighed. "I didn¡¯t catch up with her!"

    Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help but be moved. "Even you didn¡¯t catch up with him? Who is he?"

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s expression was a little unnatural. She was about to speak when she saw many people rushing into the room. Some of them were cultivators from various sects, including Shen Wancai¡¯s daughter, Shen Hui, Li Yundong, and Su Chan.

    "What happened?" Li Yundong looked at the mess in the room in shock.

    Su Chan nced around and asked in surprise, "Have you been robbed?"

    When Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin saw that Su Chan¡¯s subconscious words had hit the nail on the head, they looked at each other and smiled bitterly.

    Ao Wushuang walked up to Li Yundong and said with shame, "Master, I failed to live up to your trust and let someone steal the Medicine King tripod in front of me!"

    "What? The Medicine King tripod has been stolen?" Hearing this, the others in the room almost jumped up and shouted in astonishment.

    Some cultivators from cultivation sects pointed at Ao Wushuang and took the chance to attack him. They said, "What are you doing? The medicine king tripod is so important but you can¡¯t protect it!"

    "Ao Wushuang, say it! Do you want to take it all by yourself?"

    "Ao Wushuang, are you under Li Yundong¡¯s instigation?"

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s face was as cold as frost, and the anger showed between his eyebrows was getting stronger and stronger. She was about to lose her temper, but Li Yundong suddenly turned his head and shouted angrily, "Shut up!"

    Although Li Yundong¡¯s voice was not loud, it contained the power of the Buddhist club. Everyone only felt a buzz in their ears, as if tens of millions of bells were ringing at the same time, shaking their Essence, Qi, Blood in their chests.

    The people who had been noisy earlier were shocked and shut their mouths.

    Zhou Qin, who was standing to the side, also said angrily, "You fools. Just now, Mr. Shen sent my master the Medicine King tripod, but my master didn¡¯t immediately agree. What reason does he have to snatch it?"

    This question made everyone speechless for a moment. Some of the people who wanted to find fault deliberately with him also groaned and did not speak.

    Li Yundong was as calm as water. He took a deep breath and asked Zi Yuan what had happened in a low voice. After thinking for a while, he said angrily, "Damn it, we fell into the trap of diversion tactic!"

    Zi Yuan asked in a low voice, "Did someone deliberately make it on your side just now?"

    Li Yundong nodded. "Themotion there just now attracted the attention of almost all the cultivators. When we went over to take a look, we saw an invisible monster wreaking havoc. After we subdued it, we heard movement from your side. Then, we lost the medicine king tripod!"

    As Li Yundong spoke, he gritted his teeth and said, "There are so many cultivators here, but they can steal things under our noses! Good means, good means! How bold you are! Who is so bold?"

    At this time, Ao Wushuang also came over and whispered, "I know who it is."

    Li Yundong immediately looked up and asked in a deep voice, "Who is it?"

    Ao Wushuang shook his head. "Let¡¯s talk about it when we get back. It¡¯s not convenient to stay here."

    Li Yundong nodded. He walked to Shen Hui and whispered a few words to her, asked her to take good care of Shen Wancai. Then he took Su Chan and the others out.

    At this time, when Zou Ping saw this, she couldn¡¯t help whispering to Zhang Ling, "Master, let them go? This is very strange!"

    Zhang Ling raised her hand and said in a low voice, "Let them go! They didn¡¯t do this!"

    Zou Ping was taken aback. "Why?"

    Zhang Ling stared at Li Yundong with bright eyes and said with a sneer, "With Li Yundong¡¯s current strength and the situation just now, there is no need for him to put on such a show."

    When Li Yundong heard Zhang Ling¡¯s words, he turned his face to look at Zhang Ling, nodded, and then turned to leave.

    Zhengyi School was not only powerful in the world¡¯s Taoist cultivation world, but also had a great influence in the Buddhist cultivation world. As soon as Zhang Ling spoke, the cultivators of all sects and schools in the field no longer stopped them and made way for them.

    When Li Yundong and his men came out one by one and were about to leave, the police who were arranged around the auction house rushed over. A leading policeman shouted at Li Yundong, "Hey, you can¡¯t go. You are all suspects. You have to stay and make a statement!"

 Chapter 617 Forge a Provocation Letter

    <h4>Chapter 617 Forge a Provocation Letter</h4>

    Li Yundong frowned and turned back to have a look. This look was prestigious without anger, which made the policeman¡¯s heart beat disorderly for no reason. He swallowed all the following words at once.

    Medicine King TripodZhou Qin was entrusted by Li Yundong to take care of Shen Wancai, however, Shen Wancai was knocked out under her eyes, Medicine King Tripod wrested. She had no way to vent her anger. At this time, when she saw someoneing to make trouble for her, she immediately turned her head and shouted at the policeman, "If you have the ability, you can try to make us stay here! Call your director, and see if he dares to say such a thing to me!"

    The policeman was shocked by Zhou Qin¡¯s tone, but he soon became furious. He was paid a lot of money to be responsible for the public security of the auction, but a problem that happened was unexpected. At present, he was looking for someone to undertake the me, and he didn¡¯t expect that someone woulde to and offend him.

    He was about to lose his temper, but a policeman immediately came over and whispered in his ear, "Hey, Captain Sun, she seems to be the daughter of Governor Zhou! Don¡¯t provoke her!"

    Captain Sun was startled and asked in a low voice, "She is the daughter of Governor Zhou, Zhou Keqiang?"

    In China, if one wanted to be a qualified public servant, in other words, if one wanted to get promoted sessfully, he must have a clear understanding of the names, positions, and the situation of some of their immediate families.

    They could have all kinds of misunderstandings and conflicts with themon people countless times, but they couldn¡¯t have any misunderstandings or conflicts with their leaders.

    Because if he offended themon people, no matter how serious the consequences were, he would at most be transferred to another position. When the situation calmed down, he could be promoted and transferred back secretly.

    But if they offended the leader, they would never be able to be promoted again for the rest of their lives.

    Captain Sun looked at Zhou Qin carefully, only to find that the girl in front of him was full of heroic spirit, and her eyes were tough and overbearing. Obviously, she had been raised the demeanor of a master in a high position for a long time. No matter how good an actor was, he couldn¡¯t show this kind of temperament.

    Captain Sun¡¯s anger disappeared. He smiled apologetically and said, "Oh you¡¯re the daughter of Governor Zhou. I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m so sorry that I¡¯ve rushed to the Dragon King Temple!"

    Seeing that he had admitted defeat, Zhou Qin no longer wanted to pester him, snorted and turned around to leave.

    However£¬ at this moment, Zhang Ling and Zou Ping also came out. Zou Ping sneered and said, "How imposing! If you were half as powerful as you are now, how could the Medicine King Tripod be taken away by others?"

    Zhou Qin¡¯s face immediately flushed. She was furious in her heart and wanted to refute, but on second thought, she realized that was indeed the case!

    The arrogantdy was so angry that she couldn¡¯t speak for a while. She stood rooted to the ground and arrogant, and her eyes were full of unwillingness and anger.

    Li Yundong took a deep look at Zou Ping, and then turned to Zhou Qin and said softly, "It¡¯s my fault! It¡¯s none of your business that I didn¡¯t arrange it properly! Since this person could steal the Medicine King Tripod under the eyes of you and Senior Ao Wushuang, it means that this person must not be an ordinary person! Moreover, anyone who dares to steal the Medicine King Tripod in such a situation must have a very deep background!"

    As Li Yundong spoke, he nced at Zou Ping intentionally.

    Zou Ping immediately jumped up like a rabbit whose tail had been stepped on and shouted, "What are you looking at! What is your meaning?"

    Zhang Ling reached out to stop Zou Ping. She snorted and said, "Perfected Immortal Li, there is no need to say such words. Yes, in terms of strength and background, the most suspicious person here is indeed our sect, but we are upright and have a clear conscience! This King Medicine Tripod is a supreme magic treasure of our Taoist sect, and it is also a treasure left by our ancestors. As juniors, we didn¡¯t cherish it very much, and we lost it. This seems to be a little bad, isn¡¯t it? In my opinion, every cultivation sect should find it back. What do you think?"

    Li Yundong saw that Zhang Ling¡¯s words were high-sounding, but none of them mentioned whether or not it would belong to the original owner after he got it back. What she said was, "Now that the King Medicine Tripod has be an owner, then whoever gets it will naturally belong to whom!"

    There was a trap in this sentence. If Li Yundong followed Zhang Ling¡¯s words, he would immediately fall into the trap and suffer a great loss. But with a thought, Li Yundong understood the key points. He smiled slightly and said in a high-sounding tone, "Perfected Immortal Zhenren Zhang, you are right! The King Medicine Tripod is the supreme magic treasure of our Taoist sect, and everyone has the responsibility to find it back. But since the King Medicine Tripod was lost under our noses, our sect should find it. What do you think?"

    Zhang Ling saw that Li Yundong had resolved his trap and a deep pit in an instant easily. At the same time, he kicked a rubber ball over. There was a hidden meaning in his words, which was very difficult to deal with.

    Zhang Ling stared at Li Yundong for a long time. Suddenly, she put on a fake smile and said, "Perfected Immortal Zhenren Li, you¡¯d better conduct yourself well!"

    Li Yundong also smiled and cupped his hands. "Perfected Immortal Zhang, see you again." After that, he turned around and left with Su Chan, Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, Ao Wushuang, and Kris.

    Zhang Ling stared at Li Yundong¡¯s back. After a long while, she sighed secretly, shook her head, and said, "Amazing, really amazing!"

    Zou Ping also looked in the direction that Li Yundong and the others had left in and said with a sneer, "The Medicine King Tripod could be stolen. What¡¯s so amazing about it?"

    Zhang Ling shook her head and said, "No, the other side is also a master! When masters fight, they must seize the opportunity! Whoever gets the first chance will win! So it is not the fault of the battle! If it were us, we would also be hit!"

    Zou Ping asked delusively, "Master, what do you think he¡¯s capable of?"

    Zhang Ling looked at Li Yundong¡¯s departing figure and sighed. "This Li Yundong came out of nowhere half a year ago. He was very young when he first stepped out of the sect. When he talked to me just now, he already had the demeanor of a real sect master! Hey, it¡¯s not strange that he has such a high cultivation quotient such a young age, but it¡¯s strange that he reacted so fast just now. He could perceive my intention so quickly and fight back! For a young man of his age, it¡¯s incredible that he can talk and act so wlessly. It¡¯s inconceivable!"

    Zou Ping pursed her lips in disapproval and said, "So what? Isn¡¯t he just a leader of a group of a monster sect? Thousands of yearster, the world will only know how our Zhengyi School is, and no one will know how Li Yundong is."

    Zhang Ling made augh and said meaningfully, "You fool! He is still the head of the Fox Zen School. You should be happy!"

    Zou Ping was tongue-tied. "Master, what do you mean by this?"

    Zhang Ling said, "No matter how powerful he is, Li Yundong can¡¯t turn the Fox Zen School into a cultivation sect that can be on the same level as us! Because the Hu Chan Sect has a bad reputation for thousands of years. It¡¯s not something that can be reversed by personal strength! But if this Li Yundong created his own sect... Hey, I¡¯m sure that he will be a Grand Master and a great enemy of ours!"

    Although Zou Ping had also heard Zhang Ling¡¯s somement on Li Yundong, this was the first time she had heard her master speak so highly about this cultivator who had a deep grudge with her sect.

    Zou Ping opened her mouth wide and wanted to refute, but she didn¡¯t know what to say. After a while, she snorted and said, "Just wait and see!"

    After Li Yundong and the others returned to their home in Tiannan City, as soon as they entered the door, Li Yundong¡¯s face was immediately pulled down. Someone dared to steal the King Medicine Tripod under his nose! This really made him feel ashamed!

    When the little foxes at home saw Li Yundong and othersing back, they also gathered around curiously.

    Just as they were about to chatting and ask about the situation of the auctions, they saw that Li Yundong¡¯s face was so ugly that it looked like dark clouds were about to burst out at any time.

    All of a sudden, none of them dared to speak and all hide aside in a low voice.

    Zhou Qin, who was watching from the side, immediately bent his knees, being about to kneel down to admit his mistake.

    Li Yundong immediately stopped her and said in a deep voice, "Zhou Qin, I¡¯ve said that it¡¯s not your fault. It¡¯s my fault!" With this, Li Yundong turned his face and said to Ao Wushuang, "Senior Ao Wushuang, do you know who stole the Medicine King Tripod? "

    Ao Wushuang hesitated for a moment and said, "I¡¯m not sure, but based on my deduction, it¡¯s very likely to be someone from the Zhenyan Esoteric Sect!"

    "People from Shingon?" Li Yundong was stunned. He soon clenched his fists and said angrily, "Yes, it must be them! I think it¡¯s Saionji Tsunekatsu! They robbed the Medicine King¡¯ Tripod. Do they want to lure me to Japan?"

    Zi Yuan also nodded slightly and said, "It¡¯s very likely! From a logical point of view, it makes sense! Moreover, before and after the incident, Sanonji Tsunekatsu and Tobaku were nowhere to be seen."

    Zhou Qin was full of anger before. At this time, she couldn¡¯t help but shout angrily, "Master, let¡¯s go to burn this Gaoye Mountain!"

    Zi Yuan burst intoughter and shook her head repeatedly. "No, no! Zhou Qin, don¡¯t be impulsive! Mount Koya is not a ce for fun. In Japan, the status of Mountain Gaoye in the Japanese cultivation world is equivalent to that of the Taoist sect in Mount Longhu. As for the Buddhist sect in Mountain Wutai, you can¡¯t act recklessly. Otherwise, you will be in danger!"

    Zhou Qin said angrily, "Then can you just swallow it?" As she said this, she turned her head and said to Kris on the side, "Kris, you judge it. If it were you, could you swallow it?"

    Seeing that the group of people was excited, Kris felt that she was an outsider, so she didn¡¯t dare to say anything. She just forced a smile and didn¡¯t say anything.

    Zhou Qin saw that she couldn¡¯t get any help from her, so he turned to Su Chan and said, "Su Chan, what is your meaning?"

    Su Chan blinked her eyes and looked at Li Yundong. Her eyes seemed to say, "I¡¯ll listen to Yun Dong. If he says so, then what I will do."

    At this time, everyone¡¯s eyes were on Li Yundong. Li Yundong¡¯s face was gloomy. When he was about to speak, he suddenly saw a letter floating in from outside the balcony slowly.

    "Hey, there¡¯s a letter!" Su Chan soon discovered it and cried out curiously.

    The letter slowly floated onto the table in the living room as if it had been held by someone. When everyone looked at it, they saw that the letter was exactly the same as the challenge letter sent by Saionji Tsunekatsu. The paper was full of cherry blossoms.

    Zhou Qin quickly walked to the table and picked up the envelope. She sneered and handed it to Li Yundong. "Master, I bet that it is another challenge letter!"

    Li Yundong calmly took out the letter. Only after reading a few lines, he felt an explosion of rage. He crumpled the letter into a ball and shouted angrily, "Little Japanese has gone too far!! How dare you use such despicable means! Do you really think I¡¯m weak and easy to bully?!"

    Seeing this, Zi Yuan squatted down and picked up the paper ball. As soon as she spread out the letter, Su Chan, Zhou Qin, Ao Wushuang, and the little foxes also came over curiously. They saw that the handwriting on the letter was domineering, and the lines were full of pride.

    The letter read, "Li Yundong Sir, I¡¯ve long heard of your great Perfected Immortal name. Unfortunately, I haven¡¯t seen you for a long time. I had no choice but to take the risk ande out of such a bad strategy to see the true face of Perfected Immortal Li! However, I didn¡¯t expect that none of the Chinese cultivators present could stop me. On top of being shocked, I was really disappointed. I didn¡¯t dare to imagine that the cultivation world of the nation, which came from all directions, was so ipetent? Although I¡¯m a young monk of Li Ye, I¡¯m deeply ashamed of the cultivation world of your country!"

    "Is this the reason why I failed to get Spiritual Master Li¡¯s help?" If Spiritual Master Li thought that there was no hope of winning, he could say it bluntly. A fake title was an external matter, so why should he care? If Spiritual Master Li still had a little courage, you could go to Mount Koya seven dayster to retrieve the Medicine King Tripod in the cultivation world of your country. No matter who won or lost, I would return the Medicine King Tripod to Spiritual Master Li! But if Spiritual Master Li was timid and did not dare toe, then the Medicine King Tripod would be my greatest magic treasure and divine weapon from then on!

    As soon as the crowd saw it, anger rose in their hearts, and evil grew in their hearts!

    It wasn¡¯t a challenge, it was clearly provocation!!

 Chapter 618 If You Want to Fight, Then Fight!

    <h4>Chapter 618 If You Want to Fight, Then Fight!</h4>

    Before Su Chan and Zhou Qin finished reading, they were so angry that they screamed. Su Chan said angrily, "The Japanese guy is so arrogant! Yun Dong, you must teach them a lesson!"

    Zhou Qin was so angry that her two willow-shaped eyebrows stood up straight. "Asshole! You¡¯re so hateful. How dare you look down on me like this!"

    Although Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes were full of anger, she quickly calmed down and said to Li Yundong, "Li Yundong, this is a provocation to prod you into action!"

    Li Yundongughed angrily and said, "Don¡¯t I know that this little devil is goading me? Hey, he wants me to go. Well, I will do as he wishes!" With this, Li Yundong turned to Su Chan and shouted, "Take the paper and pen!"

    Su Chan immediately responded with a sigh, turned her head, and rushed into the room. After a while, she took out the four treasures of calligraphy, ink, paper, writing brush, and inkstone, and ran out quickly.

    Li Yundong turned to Zi Yuan and said, "Ziyuan, you write it! Since they have issued a challenge letter to me, well, let us write a challenge letter and give it back to them!"

    Seeing this, Su Chan immediately ran to the side and said, "Sister Zi Yuan, I¡¯ll help you grind the ink!"

    Zi Yuan saw that Li Yundong was angry at this time. She sighed softly and did not try to persuade him anymore. She walked up gracefully, grabbing her sleeves with one hand and holding a brush with the other. She turned to look at Li Yundong and asked, "What do you want to write?"

    Li Yundong said angrily, "You decide it! If you want me to write it, it must be a curse!"

    Zi Yuan was unable to stifle augh. She shook her head, picked up the pen and wanted to write, but when the pen fell on the white paper, she hesitated again.

    This kind of challenge letter between sects couldn¡¯t be written randomly. It was very particr about words. And when it was sent to the other side, it would definitely be kept in the records. Maybe it would be a historical record after thousands of years. If one didn¡¯t pay attention to his words, it would causeter generations to gossip about it.

    Zi Yuan was a thoughtful person. When she habitually hesitated, Li Yundong, who was on the other side, was a little impatient. The calm andposed Wisdom King, who could not move at all, was indeed irritated again and again by the constant aggressiveness of the Shingon.

    Seeing that Zi Yuan was holding a brush for a long time, Li Yundong walked over and took the brush from Zi Yuan¡¯s hand without hesitation. He wrote some big words: "If you want to fight, then let¡¯s fight!"

    After Li Yundong finished writing, he didn¡¯t even look at it. He turned his head and said to Zi Yuan, "Why are you thinking so much? The other party is polite, so we should naturally reply politely! If the other party is arrogant and rude, do we still have to be kind? Sometimes, you are so kind that without limitation! Pack up this letter with the simplest envelope and send it to us!"

    Zi Yuan saw that these words written by Li Yundong were crooked, and it was really apliment to describe them with the words "Ghost Drawing and Peach Talisman". She didn¡¯t know whether to start crying orughing and said, "I¡¯m not polite to them. I¡¯m just worried that if I can¡¯t write them well, it will lose your face. Besides, you take a simple envelope. Aren¡¯t you afraid of beingughed at by other sects?"

    Li Yundongughed angrily and said, "It¡¯s polite that I didn¡¯t write it with toilet paper! If I were provocated some day, I¡¯ll write it down and send it to them one day! They are proper with it!"

    Su Chan and Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help but burst intoughing. Ao Wushuang also shook his head and said with a smile, "What a child¡¯s temper! What a joke! What a farce!"

    Zi Yuan looked like she wanted tough, but she was shy. She looked at Li Yundong¡¯s crooked characters and said, "Well, since you are willing, let¡¯s do it like this. But... are you sure you want to send such characters to them?"

    At this time, Su Chan and Zhou Qin also curiously came over to have a look. Both of them were women with excellent calligraphy, so they were naturally very particr about calligraphy. They only saw that Li Yundong¡¯s words were crooked, but the most important thing was that the first few words were long and thin, and thest word was wide and fat. It was written by Li Yundong like two words . It looked really strange, and it was really unsightly.

    Su Chan couldn¡¯t help but burst intoughing, but soon she covered her mouth and looked at Li Yundong in horror and nervousness, for fear that Li Yundong would me her and spank her.

    The corner of Zhou Qin¡¯s mouth was also raised, as if she couldn¡¯t helpughing. But she soon held it back, with a bitter look on her face.

    Li Yundong knew what his character was like. He was angry just now, so he didn¡¯t care so much. He didn¡¯t expect to be embarrassed on the spot. His face turned red and he red at Zhou Qin. "What kind of expression is that?"

    Zhou Qin pulled a long face and said, "Master, your handwriting... is so good! Ites from the bottom of your heart... I feel a sense of anger when I see it."

    Li Yundong was so angry that heughed. "Damn it! Are you praising me or scolding me?"

    At this time, Su Chan, who had been holding back herughter, finally couldn¡¯t helpughing out loud. Li Yundong immediately red at her and said, "Your calligraphy is beautiful. You write it!"

    Su Chan shook her hands hard and said, "No, no, my words are not suitable for such an angry style."

    Li Yundongughed angrily and said, "I¡¯m still roaring!" As he said this, he turned his head and red at Zhou Qin. "Well, don¡¯t put on an act. Write it! Your handwriting is the most suitable. Just write these six words!"

    Zhou Qin tried hard to hold back herughter. She walked to the dining table, grabbing her sleeves with one hand and picking up the brush with the other. She took a deep breath and calmed down, as if she wanted to cultivate her emotions.

    Zhou Qin raised her head, closed her eyes, and read the provocative letter in his heart. When she opened eyes again, her eyes were full of anger. She quickly wrote some murderous words: "If you want to fight, then fight!"

    Everyone saw that these six words were full of killing intent. It was really like a spear or a sword, and the momentum between the words was majestic! They immediately apuseed. Even a person like Kris who could not read cursive script could not help but feel a sharp and fierce murderous auraing at them, which was bloodcurdling!

    Li Yundong looked at the words, nodded repeatedly, and said with great satisfaction, "Okay, okay, just send it!"

    Su Chan asked curiously, "Yundong, why don¡¯t you just go there directly? Why do you have to send someone there?"

    At this time, Zi Yuan said with a smile, "That can¡¯t be done! This is the rule between the sect and the sect. Although they are rude, this kind of etiquette rule can¡¯t be abolished."

    Li Yundongughed and said, "I don¡¯t care about these bullshit rules. I just want to return the favor! If they dare to provoke me, I will do it a hundred times more!"

    Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes lit up when she heard that. She asked, "Master, let me leave it!"

    Li Yundong nced at him and asked, "Are you going to give it?"

    Zhou Qin smiled and said, "Zi Yuan is the future head of Linggong Sect . The other party did not send the head of the sect toe. Therefore, ording to the rules of etiquette, Zi Yuan is not allowed to go, otherwise, it will be a favor for them."

    Su Chan asked curiously, "What about me?"

    Before Zhou Qin could speak, Li Yundong shook his head. "You? You can¡¯t do that! I don¡¯t trust you!"

    Su Chan pouted her lips and looked unhappy.

    Li Yundong had to exin, "It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t trust you. I just feel that your character and strength are not suitable for this matter. I am for the matter, do you understand?"

    Su Chan replied with an "oh". She pouted her mouth and did not say anything else.

    Zhou Qin looked at Ao Wushuang again. Ao Wushuang was such a smart person. When she saw Zhou Qin¡¯s expression, she knew that he wanted to go, so she took the initiative to say with a smile, "I¡¯m not suitable to go. The Japanese cultivation world is one of our deadly enemies. I¡¯m a Fox Spirit. More than a decade ago, I had some conflicts with the Japanese cultivators of various schools in Japan. If I go there, I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to return."

    Li Yundong said, "Where do these worldse from? Howe the Japanese cultivation world has be one of the deadly enemies of the Fox Zen Sect?"

    Ao Wushuang smiled slightly and said with some emotion, "When the Mystical Silver Fox was practicing the ninth transformation of the Heavenly Jindan Technique£¬she provoked a divine punishment. At this time, the cultivation world took the opportunity to besiege her and three transcendentponents and the sev."

    "In order to protect herself, the Mystical Silver Fox threw the soul of the Heaven-Soul, the Earth-Soul and Zhongshu£¬Tianchong Soul£¬Linghui of Qi-Soul into the Six Paths of samsara. At the same time, she transformed the Earthly Soul, the Soul Spirit, and the Soul Power into an ordinary fox and fled into the deep mountains and forests. In addition, her remaining spiritual energy were integrated into the remaining Heaven Soul, and the Soul Spirit. She fled all the way to the east."

    "After escaping to Japan, the Mystical Silver Fox lurked beside the ruler of Japan, the Mikado -- the emperor of Japan, in an attempt to recuperate and make aeback. But what she didn¡¯t expect was that a very powerful cultivator beside the Mikado -- the emperor of Japan had discovered her true form."

    Li Yundong was in a daze when he heard that. He couldn¡¯t help asking, "Wait! Did the Mystical Silver Fox with the Luck of heaven hide in Japan at that time?"

    Ao Wushuang nodded. "That¡¯s right!"

    Li Yundong asked in surprise, "Was the Mystical Silver Fox named Yu Zaoqian at that time?"

    Ao Wushuang nodded slowly. "Yes!"

    Yu Zaoqian was a famous Nine-tailed celestial fox in the Japanese cultivation world and even in mythical stories. As for her origin, the Japanese cultivation world all agreed that she was a Chinese Fox Spirit and then fled from China to Japan. However, some people said that she came from India, but no one knew where she came from.

    Although Zhou Qin didn¡¯t have much time to cultivate and didn¡¯t know much about the cultivation world, she was still very clear about such a famous legend like Yu Zaoqian.

    Zhou Qin was shocked and asked, "That¡¯s not right. I know that Yu Zaoqian was the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox, but didn¡¯t she sneak into the boat that sent the Tang envoy to Japan in the Tang Dynasty and return to Japan?"

    Ao Wushuang mocked and said, "Just like the excuses found by the Zhengyi School and the Jinshan Sect, they were just fake. At that time, there were many masters of the Mikado -- the emperor of Japan, but they identally let a fox demon sneak in and lurk around the emperor. What a shame! If the emperor hadn¡¯t been seriously ill at that time and made him suspicious, they wouldn¡¯t have been able to find the location of the Mystical Silver Fox in another hundred years!"

    Zhou Qin said surprisingly, "But, that¡¯s not right! Isn¡¯t it shameful for the Mystical Silver Fox to follow the auspicious n to sneak into the imperial pce?"

    Ao Wushuang smiled and said, "At that time, the Tang Empire was a very respected person. Whether it was the auspicious preparations or the famous Abeno Nakamaro. They would be greatly respected after returning to the country. They would have special treatment of not kneeling to the emperor and meeting the feudal princes. At that time, the Japanese¡¯s desire for the culture of the Tang Empire was crazy and unreasonable. The Japanese once thought that as long as something came from the Tang Empire, it would be good! Therefore, the people around the Tang Empire would not be investigated. Besides, at that time, the Tang Empire sent back many cultivation spells from various sects in the cultivation world in the Tang Dynasty. Even if the Japanese cultivators at that time saw them, they would not be suspicious of them. Therefore, it would be easy for the Mystical Silver Fox to sneak into the pce with them."

    As Ao Wushuang spoke, he sneered and said, "It¡¯s a pity that their excuse is so convincing, but it¡¯s full of loopholes for the discerning people in the cultivation world! The good preparations were prepared during the period of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, but Fox Zen School was not established in the period of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang! Duke Guan fought against Qin Qiong. Humph, it¡¯s really ridiculous!"

    Only then did Zhou Qine to a sudden realization. "So that¡¯s how it is! So the one who discovered the Mystical Silver Fox... was she rted to Abe Taiqing?"

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s face suddenly darkened. "That¡¯s right! the Abe family home is our sworn enemy! It was Yin-Yang Master, Abe, who sealed one soul and two spirits of the Heavenly Mystery Dark Fox in a huge stone."

    With this, Ao Wushuang turned his face to Li Yundong and said very seriously, "Leader, if you really want to go to Mount Koya, you must pay attention to the Yin and Yang masters of the Abe family home! They are one of the oldest cultivation families in the Japanese cultivation world. They are extremely powerful. You must pay attention to them!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Yin-Yang masters? Their Yin-Yang skills have been passed down from the Hundred Schoools of Thought of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States! If there is a chance, I would like to meet them!"

    As Li Yundong spoke, he turned to Zhou Qin and said, "It seems that it¡¯s best for you to go! But you have to be careful. Try not to mention our Fox Zen School as much as possible. Of course, you¡¯d better put down the letter and leave. Don¡¯t talk nonsense with them. It¡¯s useless to talk nonsense with these people. They think you¡¯re afraid. The best way to deal with them, I think it¡¯s still the same word: Fight!"

    When Zhou Qin saw that Li Yundong had agreed to go to Mount Koya, she was overjoyed. She nodded heavily and said, "Master, don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t let you down!"

    After that, she sneered in her heart and said, "Guys, just wait and see. My master is so magnanimous that he won¡¯t let me scold you. Humph, I don¡¯t have such a good temper. I won¡¯t curse at full st. I¡¯ll call you by your surname!"

 Chapter 619 Distinguish between true and false at the foot of the Mount KÅya

    <h4>Chapter 619 Distinguish between true and false at the foot of the Mount K¨­ya</h4>

    In the early morning of the next day, Zhou Qin went out early. Since she went into the dangerous ce and the new world of cultivation, Zhou Qin had prepared all her preparations that night. For her safety, Li Yundong handed the colorful brocade pouch and the Liuhe to Zhou Qin and together with her.

    In order to emphasize her official background, Zhou Qin did not fly to Mount K¨­ya with Yang Spirit body. Instead, she chose to take the bullet train to Shanghai first, and then transferred to Osaka with non-stop flight.

    Mount K¨­ya was located in Gaoye Town, Yidu County, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. After arriving at Osaka, Zhou Qin took a train to Mount K¨­ya, and finally took the cable car up the mountain.

    Because it was the transition time ofte winter and early spring, there was heavy snow in Yidu County. Mount K¨­ya nketed by the clean snow. In addition, the altitude of the mountain was so high that the temperature of the mountain was more than ten degrees lower than that of the t ground, which makes you feel particrly frigid.

    The Mount K¨­ya was closed down by heavy snow. As a result, there were very few people on the huge Mountain when Zhou Qin went up, only a few monks in brown frocks and yellow bamboo hats were walked slowly at the foot of the Gaoye Mountain.

    At a nce, Zhou Qin saw these people holding heavy Devil-subduing Vajra. Although the weather was cold, they were all walking barefoot with straw sandals in the snow.

    The Vajra in the hands of these monks was shockingly long, about 1.6 meters high. A copper ring hung on one of the Vajra. Every time the monks took a step, the copper rang and gave out a definite crisp sound. This sound echoed in the empty and gloomy mountains, making it particrly ethereal and mysterious.

    These monks were like patrolling the mountain. When they saw Zhou Qin at first sight, they walked straight over. The leading one formed a palm with one hand and said a few words in Japanese to salute.

    Zhou Qin¡¯s English is excellent, but she can¡¯t understand Japanese. Her expression was polite and said in Chinese with a hint of sarcasm, "I have something to ask for your master Masako Tachibana."

    The leading monk was stunned for a moment, as if he did not imagine that the woman in front of him was not Japanese. He turned his head and nced at a monk behind him. Then, a monk looked at Zhou Qin with a strange look and stepped forward, holding the Vajra in one hand and making a salute with the other. He said in standard Chinese, "Amitabha, I think you have made a mistake. On one hand, there is no Masako Tachibana. On the other hand, everyone is equal in front of Buddha, so there is no master or a viin."

    Buddhism originated in China and was deeply influenced by it. Most of the scriptures collected in Japanese temples were original Chinese works, also, some of them had Chinese-Japanese bilingual trantion versions. In the past, if a Japanese wanted to be a real eminent monk, one must understand Chinese. In addition, Mount K¨­ya was a famous tourist spot, arge number of Chinese tourists woulde to appreciate it every year. Therefore, many monks in the temple learned Chinese well. Zhou Qin even felt that the Japanese monk¡¯s Chinese was more fluent than many Chinese.

    But he denied the existence of Masako Tachibana. Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help but stunned and asked, "Aren¡¯t you monks from Kongobu-ji Temple?"

    The monk smiled slightly and answered, "This is Kongobu-ji Temple, and we are all monks here, but Mount K¨­ya has been closed for the heavy snow today. If you want to enjoy it, I¡¯m afraid that you will be disappointed today."

    Only then did Zhou Qin realize that she came here all the way hidden her Aura. The other party regarded her as a mortal so they asked her to leave.

    With a faint smile, Zhou Qin nced at the Vajra in the monk¡¯s hand and said, "How long is the Vajra in your hand? Sixteen fingers? Twenty fingers? It¡¯s one end is in the shape of a circr drum, and the other is in the shape of a triangr with a sharp point. There are three Buddha statues in the middle of the Vajra. One is in the shape of a smile, one an angry eye, and the other a scolding. Hey, if guess correctly, this should be the Vajra for defending evils and protecting Tao, right?"

    With an astonished expression, the monk sized up Zhou Qin carefully and asked in confusion, "How do you know this?"

    Zhou Qinughed and touched her waist with her hand, then a silver light shed quickly in front of her. The Chiyue instantly appeared and floated in the air.

    The spinning chakram was particrly stunning under the snow-white light, emitted a dazzling silver light, and the exquisite engravings on it glowed with waves of silver ripples. How extremely beautiful it is!

    Zhou Qin said with a smile, "Because I also have such a treasure!"

    Only then did the monke to his senses," she was also a cultivator!"

    He asked in a deep voice with the facial expression alteration, "Who the hell are you?"

    The other monks dispersed with vignce slowly and quietly surrounded Zhou Qin in the middle, eyeing up.

    Zhou Qin knew that she was single-handed, so she definitely couldn¡¯t fight with them. After all, this was the General Base of Zhenyan Tantrism not a ce for fun. If she fought with them, she would not only humiliate herself but get Li Yundong into trouble to save her at that time. That¡¯s too embarrassing.

    With a faint smile, Zhou Qin waved her hand, then the Chiyue instantly flew into the colorful brocade pouch of her waist. At this moment, she said, "My name is Zhou Qin. I would like to see your master, Masako Tachibana!"

    With a cool expression, the monk said, "Do you think you can see our master if you want?"

    Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t helpughing. "Just now, you said that everyone is equal in front of Buddha, but now you have changed! Since everyone is equal, why can¡¯t I see her?"

    The monk¡¯s expression changed. He paused the Vajra in the snow, and shouted coldly, "What a sharp-tongued woman! Are you here to make trouble in the Mount K¨­ya?"

    The surrounding monks also paused their Vajra in their hands. The bronze rings at the top of the pestle collided with each other, making an ear-piercing sound so that the surrounding air vibrated, revealing a fierce murderous intent.

    Zhou Qin nced at them and sneered, "I think you made a mistake. It¡¯s your master, Masako Tachibana, who begged to see me... It¡¯s not that I want to see her!"

    As the head of the Masako family, Masako Tachibana is the great offering to sacrifice Buddhas, although she is not a member of the Zhenyan Tantrism. Besides, the branch of the Masako family had a very close rtionship with the Monks of each generation. Strictly speaking, the Masako family are not cultivators of the Zhenyan Tantrism, rather, they are women hold great power and are highly respected by the Zhenyan Tantrism.

    In Japan, the upper and lower sses were extremely strict, men are superior and women are inferior. It is rare that the Masako family has great power among Japanese women. Even after the Masako family had been united with monks of the Mount K¨­ya for several generations, the cultivators of the Zhenyan Tantrism had respected and worshipped the members of the Masako family as the patron saints them.

    "How dare you! You are quite rude to master, Masako Tachibana!" the monk became furious and shouted after Zhou Qin¡¯s words, he raised the Vajra and pointed to the foot of the mountain, shouted, "Please leave immediately, or don¡¯t me us for being rude to you!"

    Zhou Qin was not angry, but smiled. She nced at the monk and sneered, "You want me to leave? Well, do not regret itter!"

    She turned her head and left as she spoke.

    Seeing her leaving, the other monks did not intend to stop her but stared at her back with vignce.

    When the monk who understood Chinese saw that, he was stunned and quickly turned around and whispered a few words to the leading monk in Japanese with a foxy look on his face.

    The leading monk pondered for a moment and whispered something to him. Soon, the monk shouted at Zhou Qin in Chinese, "Please wait a minute!"

    Zhou Qin turned around with a sneer at her mouth. "What¡¯s wrong?"

    The monk walked to the front of Zhou Qin and bowed to her, saying, "If you are really a guest of Masako Tachibana, please give your name!"

    Zhou Qin smiled and turned around. "You tell Masako Tachibana that Li Yundong ising."

    The monk looked more confused, but he did not dare to be careless. After saying a few words to the leading monk in a low voice, he rushed to the Kongobu-ji Temple.

    Zhou Qinying stood in the snow fairly. About ten minutester, the monk ran all the way here and made a palm with one hand, bowed respectfully, and said, "Zhenren Li. Pleasee in, please!"

    Zhou Qin knew that they regarded herself as Li Yundong, but she didn¡¯t say anything and walked inside with a smile.

    After a few steps Zhou Qin arrived at the entrance of the Kongobu-ji Temple and saw yellow shrineS on both sides of the gate, in which there was a wooden barrel filled with water.

    Zhou Qin walked up along the stone steps at the entrance. She saw old trees on both sides of the road. The shade of the trees was dense. "It is just like entered another world." What surprised her most was that wherever she went, there would be a white light on both sides of the stone steps, as if there were countless white papernterns hanging in the forest.

    Although it is daytime, Zhou Qin still felt a bright light enveloping her, which made her have an inexplicable feeling that she was stepping into the fairnd of the temple.

    Zhou Qin was about to take a step when she suddenly saw Li Yundong standing not far away, looking at her with a smile, as if he had been waiting for her for a long time.

    Zhou Qin was surprised and blurted out subconsciously, "Master? Why are you here? When did youe? You..."

    Li Yundong walked to Zhou Qin with a gentle smile and said softly, "I was worried about you, so I followed."

    Zhou Qin felt warm in her heart and said with a smile, "I¡¯m fine. They don¡¯t dare to do anything to me for my official background. But Master, aren¡¯t you afraid that they will arrest you?"

    Li Yundong walked up to Zhou Qin and held her hand mildly, said, "I am more concerned about your safetypared with myself."

    Zhou Qin¡¯s heart went pitter-patter. She couldn¡¯t imagine that Li Yundong would say such words to her.

    Li Yundong had been mild to her before, but that was mostly for special circumstances. Zhou Qin was keenly aware that Li Yundong had a vague fondness for her, however, he always stuck to the certain line and treated her with courtesy.

    Zhou Qin had repeatedly dreamed of that scene one night after another but could not get. Li Yundong¡¯s came was so unexpected and surprise!

    Zhou Qin looked at Li Yundong in a daze with so happy heart. Her whole body was trembling uncontrobly.

    In front of her, Li Yundong seemed to know what Zhou Qin was thinking. He reached out to hold her slender waist and took her into his arms. Then he lowered his head and wanted to kiss her soft lips.

    Zhou Qin felt that her whole body became soft and hot. She reached out her hands to block Li Yundong¡¯s lip subconsciously and asked him a sentence hidden in her subconscious mind "What about Su Chan?".

    Li Yundong, who was standing in front of her, smiled mildly and said, "In fact, you are the one I love most!"

    Zhou Qin was suddenly shocked!

    Zhou Qin¡¯s trembling body calmed down gradually, and the ecstasy in her eyes settled. She pushed Li Yundong away, and said slowly with a cold voice, "The Li Yundong I know is the most affectionate and righteous man in the world. He will never say such a thing! Who the hell are you?"

 Chapter 620 Zhou Qin Lose Her Temper

    <h4>Chapter 620 Zhou Qin Lose Her Temper</h4>

    Standing in front of Zhou Qin, Li Yundong looked at Zhou Qin in surprise. He took a step forward and stretched out his hand, wanted to hold Zhou Qin¡¯s, said, "I am your master! Don¡¯t you know me?"

    Zhou Qin took a step back immediately. Her voice was cold covered with grief and indignation. She shouted, "No, you are not Li Yundong!! Who are you?"

    Li Yundong, who was in front of Zhou Qin, looked more surprised, she said, "Are you crazy? You don¡¯t even know me?"

    Zhou Qin had deep-set and ck eyes. However, they were full of tears with a sense of deep sadness at that time. She smiled bitterly and said, "No, you are not Li Yundong! The real Li Yundong will not talk to me like this! He is a gentleman, and he will never go beyond the line! You are not him. No matter how much you pretend to be him, it is not him!"

    Li Yundong sighed and said, "But isn¡¯t this what you dream of? Isn¡¯t my gently hug what you want?"

    Zhou Qin immediately shouted with great angry, "Shut up! Who wants to be hugged by you! You are not Li Yundong! But just an illusion, an illusion of mine! I was just controlled by Illusion Spell!"

    Li Yundong heaved a long sigh and said, "Whether it¡¯s an illusion or reality, the most important thing is that you¡¯re happy, isn¡¯t it? Why don¡¯t people want to live in a happy illusory world, but in a painful real world instead?"

    Zhou Qin raised his hand, and the Chiyue instantly appeared on her palm. She smiled bitterly and said, "You don¡¯t understand why am I willing to live in a painful and disappointing reality?"

    While she was talking, the spinning chakram began to spin rapidly, surrounded by a silver light. The light was bing brighter and brighter and the speed faster and faster with ear-piercing sounds.

    Zhou Qin pointed at Li Yundong with her slender hand, smiled sadly and said, "Because... my master is still waiting for me to go back! I don¡¯t want him to worry about me!"

    In an instant, the Chiyue rushed out like lightning and tore Li Yundong into pieces.

    Zhou Qin watched the scene with a sharp pain in his heart, almost piercing his heart. There was nothing crueler than that in the world.

    Then the world around Zhou Qin suddenly shook violently. After a while, she found that she suddenly returned to the snownd where she had gone up the mountain before with the echoing bell of the Vajra.

    And the monks in front of her were still standing in front of her, keeping the posture of holding the Vajrain in their hands. The copper rings still colliding with each other.

    Only then did Zhou Qin understand that when the monk in front of her shouted "How dare you! You are quite rude to Masako Tachibana!", he paused the Vajra. At that time, monks behind him also paused. It is the moment they released their Illusion Spell and made her fall into a trap.

    The Vajra itself had the Buddhist spiritual energy of "killing the inner devil of the wishful thinking". In addition, Zhou Qin had never thought it at all what made her controlled.

    The monk who could speak Chinese, standing in front of Zhou Qin in the course of dissipating anger. He shouted, " You are just a guy who is trapped in the sea of love, how dare youe to Mount K¨­ya to ask for trouble! Leave here! The master of Masako Tachibana will never see someone like you!"

    Zhou Qin lowered her head with her slightly trembling body without any word. After a long while, she slowly touched the colorful brocade pouch that was pouched on her waist.

    Zhou Qin opened the colorful brocade pouch slowly and took out the Vulcan¡¯s Whip, the Chiyue, and the Liuhe one by one. She held the Vulcan¡¯s Whip in one hand, and the Chiyue protected her left side like a crescent, while the Liuhe protected her right side with the ringing sound. It was divided into two parts, and soon into seven, which were exactly the same as the number of these monks.

    Seeing Zhou Qin¡¯s posture, the monks suddenly shocked as if he couldn¡¯t believe his eyes, said, "Are you crazy? How dare you show off your powerful magical weapons on Mount K¨­ya?"

    Zhou Qin seemed to hear nothing with tears in her eyes and said slowly, "I¡¯ve only loved one person when I lived now. Although he is my master and doesn¡¯t love me, I still love and respect him. He is my god and master. I will sacrifice my life without regret if he needs it!"

    The Vulcan¡¯s Whip in Zhou Qin¡¯s hand began to burn fiercely from the edge of the whip and spread constantly to the tip. She choked and said, "But you... you forced me to kill the person I beloved! Although it was just an illusion. You forced me to smash the best thing in my heart! You... are going to! Death!!!!"

    Suddenly, Zhou Qin raised her head full of madness and anger eyes. Her voice became extremely angry and fierce. The Vulcan¡¯s Whip was thrown out and mmed heavily on the monk in front of him!

    The monk saw that the Vulcan¡¯s Whip had arrived in front of him. It was so fierce that seemed to tear the space and time apart, producing a strong suction force that almost made him unable to move.

    He took a deep breath and made a horizontal gesture with the Vajra. Just as he was about to protect himself, but a silver light suddenly shed in front of him. The Vajra was instantly cut into three pieces by the Chiyue. The two ends fell into the snow with a dull thud.

    The monk was subconsciously stepped back with great shock. However, Zhou Qin¡¯s Vulcan¡¯s Whip shook and wrapped around his ankle. He threw him into the air like a sandbag by Zhou Qin¡¯s wrist!

    Zhou Qin was so angry, her eyes just like the burning fire. She shouted, "I¡¯ll let you use Illusion Spell!" As she said this, the Vulcan¡¯s Whip in her hand immediately whipped at the monk who was thrown in the air like a storm.

    Almost at the same time, when the monk¡¯spanions saw this, they immediately shouted and rushed up together. However, as soon as they moved, the Liuhe arrived in an instant and turned into a ball of silver light, enveloping all of them.

    Without aid, the monk, who was thrown into the air by Zhou Qin, was instantly burned by the Vulcan¡¯s Whip like a burning fireball.

    After fiercely pping the monk, Zhou Qin threw him to the ground like a shabby cloth bag, and then went to make trouble with others.

    The other monks saw there was no well skin on theirpanion¡¯s body after being pped by Zhou Qin. Although falling into the snow, he was surrounded by grey smoke and could not move at all. No one knew whether he was alive.

    This monk¡¯s Cultivation Quotient was outstanding among them, but just a few moments, he was pped by Zhou Qin without vitality. They were so frightened and retreated. The leading monk shouted in Japanese in a panic, "Someone is breaking into the mountain. Come on, someone is breaking into the mountain!!"

    Seeing that they were shouting and melting away, Zhou Qin didn¡¯t know which one she should catch. So she whipped the monk on the ground again and spat fiercely. "Let you use Illusion Spell!!"

    It seemed to make the monk came back to life again. He suddenly let out a shrill howl, which echoed in the mountains for a while, stirred up a flock of mountain birds.

    Then, a loud bell sound came from Mount K¨­ya. A monk in a bright yellow frock and a bamboo hat stood at the entrance of the Mountain. He shouted in Japanese, "Who dares to offend the Mount K¨­ya! Tell me your name!"

    As soon as his words finished, Zhou Qin rushed to him like a bolt of lightning and shouted angrily, "Great barkers are no biters. Get out of the way!" After that, the Vulcan¡¯s Whip smashed the air and came in front of his door.

    The monk was shocked and shrank his head subconsciously. His bamboo hat was immediately blown away by the Vulcan¡¯s Whip, burned in the air and instantly turned into ashes.

    Zhou Qin flew up and kicked the monk away. She didn¡¯t stop to rush up along the stone steps and quickly rush to Mount Koya.

    Zhou Qin ran up the mountain all the way. However, before she could run more than two hundred meters, many monks in frocks rushing out on the mountain. Among them, some monks were holding six-finger-long Vajra with index fingers of chanting scriptures, blocking her way like a tight city wall.

    Zhou Qin looked around quickly and sneered, "A group of fools, do I have to climb the stairs?" She swung the long whip and threw it on the trunk of an ancient fir tree. As she pulled hard, her whole body flew up easily and plunged into the jungle in a moment.

    After Zhou Qin got out of the stone steps on the mountain road, she became faster. She jumped up and down like a monkey for times and rushed to a very high Buddha Tower in the Kongobu-ji Temple.

    Zhou Qin looked over and saw that this reddish tower was 48 meters high, surrounded by 16 pirs. Each of the pirs was painted with a statue of Bodhisattva, which symbolized the Gods¡¯ soul of the Esoteric Sect Manluo world.

    She knew that this was the main tower of the Kongobu-ji Temple as one of the core and important ces of Mount K¨­ya. She had already gone deep into the interior of Mount K¨­ya.

    As soon as Zhou Qinnded on the ground, crowds of monks were surging around her.

    They roared angrily at Zhou Qin, like a raging torrent.

    Although Zhou Qin had already entered the primary level of the Jinshen, she didn¡¯t dare to be entangled with so many people. What¡¯s more, she didn¡¯t know who was in the Yang Spirit body and the Jinshen Body.

    Zhou Qin waved the Vulcan¡¯s Whip in her hand and tied a corner of the tower. She pulled herself to the roof of the tower and looked at the monksmandingly.

    Although these monks could fly, they didn¡¯t dare to be as disrespectful as Zhou Qin. Therefore, they all pointed at Zhou Qin and scolded her in anger, or quickly recited incantations for magic.

    At this time, a monk in a purple cassock walked out of the tower slowly, whose face was full of wrinkles. He red at Zhou Qin angrily and recited a few extremely short incantations as his fingers¡¯ gesture.

    In an instant, Zhou Qin saw that the Bodhisattva statue painted on the base tower hade back to life and pounced on her with ferocious eyes together!

 Chapter 621 Going Deep into the Tigers Cave

    <h4>Chapter 621 Going Deep into the Tiger¡°s Cave</h4>

    Zhou Qin watched as one Bodhisattva after another appeared quickly on the huge tower "GenBen". These statues of the Bodhisattva were surrounded by golden Buddhist power. Each of them looked like a god, mighty and unstoppable. Under the tower, there was a sea of people, all of them are Monk Gaoye Shan. He was so shocked that he didn¡¯t even have the thought of confronting them head-on. A thought shed through hIS mind quickly, "It¡¯s like poking a ho¡¯s nest!"

    At the bottom of the tower, a monk in a purple cassock, with two grey and white eyebrows, shouted at Zhou Qin in Chinese, "How dare you, Kuangtu! You should surrender at now!"

    However, Zhou Qin was tough and stubborn, so he was not willing to admit defeat.

    Zhou Qin gritted his teeth, and the spinning chakram next to him madly chopped at a statue in front of him. At the same time, the Liuhe Sword around he began to split wildly, and in the blink of an eye, it was divided into countless Liuhe Sword.

    The Bahuang and Liuhe Sword was an extremely powerful Taoist Dharma treasure and divine sword. The Bahuang Sword was best at one-on-onebat. It was almost invincible under the spinning and churning of the Lotus Throne. As for the mother sword, the Liuhe Sword, it was best at one-to-manybat. The more people there were, the more powerful it would be.

    Yan Fang had once held the Liuhe Sword in her hand, and there was more than one pair on the Mount Gezao, which made the crowd fall into chaos. That was because she was only at the top level of the supreme Yang Spirit.

    And now, the Liuhe Sword was already Li Yundong¡¯s personal magic weapon. Li Yundong had also entered the Jingshen phase, so the power of his personal magic weapon naturally rose as well. Therefore, although he borrowed it from Zhou Qin, the Liuhe Sword was really a little horrible in front of the vast sea of people.

    Although this Gaoye Koya was the General Mount of Shingon, with arge number of cultivators and a deep foundation, not every cultivator was a master. There were even many monks who had not even reached the level of Zhuji phase.

    However, these monks, who had not reached the Zhuji phase, had to face the Liuhe Sword, which was equivalent to the Jingshen phase. When this flying sword fell down, they were immediately killed crying heart out.

    Zhou Qin saw that the Liuhe Sword was split apart, and the field was immediately engaged in a fierce battle. It seemed that the Genben tower had turned into a sea of swords in an instant. Almost every monk was fighting with the Liuhe Sword.

    Among them, there were some monks who were extremely powerful. In a one-on-one fight, they could definitely win against the Liuhe Sword. However, because many monks were not strong enough, they had to spare no effort to protect them. Therefore, there was a deadlock between the two sides. For a time, the field was in a mess.

    When the monk in the purple cassock saw this scene, he was so angry. He shouted in Japanese, "Form the formation!"

    When these monks with lower cultivation heard his shout, they quickly gathered together, sitting or standing. With index fingers were touching, they chanted the scriptures loudly.

    In an instant, a shining golden radiance magic circle appeared around them. The surroundings of the magic circle were full of shining golden radiance Sanskrit characters. The chanting of the monks shook heaven and earth, bringing with it a huge pressure, like a tsunami.

    Every one of these monks is weak, but when they gather together, it was as if countless small drops of water had gathered into a sea of mountains and rivers, forming an extremely powerful force. Even the Liuhe Sword did not dare to move forward.

    In the cultivation world, no matter which sect or sect they were from, they basically had amon understanding. That was, magic arts were easy to learn, magic weapon were hard to find; magic weapon were easy to find, and magic circle was rare.

    All kinds of magic arts from different sects represented the most basic power of the Cultivation World, which was the most fundamental manifestation of different cultivators and ordinary people. A cultivator who didn¡¯t know magic was too embarrassed to say that he was a cultivator. Otherwise, what was the difference between him and an ordinary person?

    Above the magic arts, there were magic weapons. These magic weapons were all refined from the essence of heaven and earth by many cultivators. Compared with the magic arts, magic weapons had the ability to fight alone, so they were ranked above the magic arts in the Cultivation World.

    Because of this, magic weapons were what every cultivator dreamed of the most. There was even a powerful magic weapon, which could make an ordinary cultivator be a famous figure in the world.

    However, magic weapons were not omnipotent. When there was a big sect in the Cultivation World, this sect would collect and monopolize arge number of magic weapons. In order to fight against the condition, some smaller sects would turn to study the development of the magic circle.

    The most powerful thing about the magic circle was that it could gather everyone¡¯s strength and exert more than two times the power of one plus one. Even Jinxian masters did not dare to take risks in the face of some exquisite and powerful magic circles.

    At this time, Zhou Qin was entangled with the Genben tower-like Arhat Bodhisattva with the Vn¡¯s Whip and the Chiyue. At the same time, he kept observing the situation on the spot.

    When she saw that these monks had formed a magic circle, Liuhe sword only dared to do some small-scale testing around her, no longer dared tounch arge-scale attack.

    At this time, those powerful monks also freed up their hands andunched a fierce counterattack against the Liuhe Sword in front of them. The monk in purple even grabbed the lithe Sword with one hand. He quickly bit his wrist and spat out a mouthful of blood toward the Liuhe Sword.

    The Liuhe Sword had been broken by Li Yundong with the Tongzi Yuanyang blood twice in a row. It was originally a psychic magic weapon. How could it hit the third time at this time?

    In the blink of an eye, the flying Liuhe Sword disappeared in an instant. It turned into a sword and quickly returned to Zhou Qin¡¯s side. It floated in the air and made a humming sound, as if it was frightened by an old monk in a purple cassock. For a moment, it did not dare to attack again.

    Seeing this, Zhou Qin became more and more frightened. She didn¡¯t dare to pester him anymore. At the moment when Chiyue split the statue of the Bodhisattva in front of her, she shook her wrist and threw the Vulcan¡¯s Whip at the nearest ancient tree trunk. With a kick of her feet, she quickly fled into the depths of the forest.

    When the monks under the tower saw that Zhou Qin had escaped, they all shouted and chased after him.

    Unexpectedly, at this time, the Liuhe Sword suddenly returned to its original position. In an instant, it was divided into countless Liuhe Swords. They stared at the monks with eager eyes.

    When these monks saw this condition, they were shocked and stopped immediately. They quickly formed a formation and began to recite the scriptures again.

    However, the Liuhe Sword made a gesture of attacking. After scaring these monks, it immediately turned into a sword and chased after Zhou Qin like lightning into the deep mountains.

    The monk in purple kasaya was furious and shouted, "The monks below the Great Monk Capital, stay in the same ce to protect themselves. The others, follow me!"

    The monks of the Zhenyan Tantrism were divided into 16 levels. They were the teachers¡¯ trial, thewyer, thewyer, thewyer, the leader, the young monk, the young monk, the young monk, the middle monk, the great monk, the young monk, the middle monk, the young monk, the middle monk, the middle monk, the great monk, and the senior monk.

    There was more than one great monk in the Zhenyan Tantrism, so there was a supreme level above the great monk, which was the Taoist Seal!

    If a monk had always wanted to take over the position of Shingon, he had to have heaven-shaking spiritual energy and supreme virtue in order to be qualified to inherit it.

    Among them, the teachers were tested to be at the lowest level, which was equivalent to the primary level of the first level of the nine dens in the Chinese cultivation world. The monks in purple cassock said that the monks were at the top level of the highest phase of Yang Spirit in the Nine dens in the cultivation world of China.

    After these monks, who were below the highest phase of Yang Spirit, stayed in the same ce to protect themselves, although the number of people chasing them had been reduced by more than half, the fighting capacity of these monks had increased by more than one level.

    Zhou Qin saw that these monks were not willing to give up. Almost everyone was holding an eight-finger-long Vajra Pestle in their hands. Each of them was strong and powerful. Their eyes were like knives and swords. Just by looking at their faces, one could tell that they were not easy to deal with.

    For a moment, she gritted her teeth in her heart. When there was no way out, she saw a darker path in front of her. At the entrance of the path were two stone shrines full of Japanese ssical characteristics. On both sides of the shrine hung a ck banner with white characters. Zhou Qin had no time to look at it, so he rushed in.

    When the monks behind her saw her rushing in, they immediately stopped and turned their heads to look at the monk in the purple cassock.

    When the monk in purple cassock saw Zhou Qin rush into Okunoin of Mount K¨­ya, he immediately sneered. "You reckless guy! We¡¯ll wait for her here. If shees out, we¡¯ll catch her! If she goes inside, humph... she¡¯s already a dead person!"

    Zhou Qin was in a panic and rushed into the core courtyard of the hintend in the deepest part of Mount K¨­ya. At first, she didn¡¯t pay attention to it, but as she went further and further, she found that the light around her was getting dimmer and dimmer. Looking around, she found that there were towering trees everywhere. Almost every single one of them was a thousand-year-old ancient grass that could only be held by several people.

    These ancient mountains covered up this ce, which was called "Rigoino" by the Japanese cultivation world. The deeper they went, the less light they could cast in, as if this ce had be an isted world.

    These ancient mountains that covered the sky and the sun had already made this ce feel very cold. However, what made Zhou Qin even more horrified was that there were all kinds of tombstones on both sides of the stone steps. Each tombstone was engraved with a person¡¯s name. Almost all of them were Chinese and traditional Chinese characters. At a nce, Zhou Qin saw some famous big shots among them: Oda Nobunaga, Takeda Shingen, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and so on.

    When Zhou Qin saw it, he immediatelyined in his heart, "Damn it, how did I get here?"

    Because he had seen the magic skills of Tachibana Wakako, Zhou Qin went back and read a lot of information, so he had a certain understanding of Zhenyan Tantrism. When she saw this scene, she knew that she was in a panic and did not know what to do, so she sneaked into Rigoino ce.

    It could be said that Mount Koya was particrly high and Rigoino. Gaoye was an ordinary monk. Basically, the one with the highest cultivation was a young monk, who was qualified to wear a purple cassock.

    However, Rigoino was a ce where eminent monks cultivated. Only the most powerful monks were qualified to enter.

    At this time, Zhou Qin could only see the gloomy air around him, and the light was so dim that he couldn¡¯t even see her fingers. There were many tombstones on both sides of the stone steps, as if she had entered a world of death, and the air was extremely cold.

    Although there was no one here, Zhou Qin felt that there was a pair of eyes staring at him on every densely packed tombstone, which made her feel a chill in her heart.

    At this time, if it was anyone else, they might immediately turn their heads and leave this horrible and gloomy ce: Rigoino had a hundred thousand tombstones here to worship him for thousands of years. How could he be joking?!

    However, Zhou Qin was a stubborn person. He would never turn back until he hit the wall. She made up her mind and went inside, gritting her teeth.

    Along the way, the more Zhou Qin walked inside, the more spacious and gloomy it became. After walking hundreds of meters along with the stone steps, Zhou Qin found that his eyes suddenly lit up. On a rtively emptynd, there was a Japanese-style hut. This hut was entirely ck, and the eaves were arched in the shape of cornices. The roof was covered with ck tiles. In front of the hut were two stone shrines, where two gods were worshiped. They were Immovable Wisdom King and the Earth Treasure King Bodhisattva.

    There was an old well not far from the door of this hut. A woman in a kimono and with a wooden basket on her feet was standing in front of the old well, sipping the water slowly.

    When Zhou Qin saw the woman, he was startled. "Who is she? Why is she here? Is she an Masako Tachibana?"

 Chapter 622 The Past of Years

    <h4>Chapter 622 The Past of Years</h4>

    Zhou Qin looked at the woman with great vignce in his heart. He saw that she was shaking a wooden stake. The wooden stake creaked and rotated. With the rotation of the stake, a wooden barrel was pulled up bit by bit.

    However, what surprised Zhou Qin was that there was no rope on the wooden stake!

    But every time the woman turned the wooden stake, the wooden barrel in the ancient well rose a little bit, as if there was an invisible rope hanging it.

    After carrying a bucket of water, the woman turned around and walked to the room behind her. But there were five loopholes in the barrel she carried, and almost all the water along the way was leaked out. When she came to a huge water tank on the side of the hut, the water in the barrel was almostpletely leaked. She stood on tiptoe, raised the barrel, and poured it into the huge water tank, but only a few drops of water were poured in.

    But the woman didn¡¯t notice it at all. After pouring the water, she immediately carried the bucket back to the side of the ancient well, and then slowly began to fetch water.

    But what surprised Zhou Qin most is that the soil under the water tank is wet. Obviously, the water tank itself is also leaking!

    Seeing her repeating this gesture mechanically, Zhou Qin felt strange in his heart. He couldn¡¯t help but think in his heart, "This water tank is as big as a person, so thick that only a few adult men can hold it, but this woman can only give me a few drops of water one time at most! Besides, this water tank itself is leaking. Even if a whole bucket of water is poured in, it will be emptied. If I get water like this, I am afraid that outlet even the heavens and the earth won¡¯t be able to get enough water!"

    Zhou Qin watched her quietly for a long time. The woman kept repeating this action as if she didn¡¯t notice her existence.

    When Zhou Qin saw the woman repeating this action 50th times, he couldn¡¯t help but ask, "Why didn¡¯t you fix the water tank and the five-bumped wooden barrel before drawing water?"

    When the woman heard Zhou Qin¡¯s words, she smiled slightly, turned her face, and looked at Zhou Qin with interest. She asked in extremely standard Chinese, "Why don¡¯t you get rid of all your hostility and talk to me again?"

    Zhou Qin saw that the woman looked to be only in her thirties, and her skin was smooth and snow-white. She frowned secretly. "How can I have the hostility all over my body?"

    The woman smiled slightly and said, "My wooden barrel is also intact." As she spoke, she slowly picked up another bucket of water. The barrel was still leaking water seriously. Along the way, it was left empty.

    Zhou Qin pointed at the water stain under her feet and said, "Look, did you leak it?"

    The woman also pointed in the direction of Zhou Qin and said with a smile, "Look, are you full of hostility?"

    Zhou Qin said unhappily, "I¡¯m kind to remind you that you are guessing me. Do you think I don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re saying? If the monks at the foot of the mountain didn¡¯t offend me first, how could I be full of hostility?"

    The woman smiled and said, "You are right. There is cause and effect in everything. But have you ever wondered why I kept drawing water here?"

    Zhou Qin frowned and said, "Did you make a mistake and get punished?"

    The woman smiled and said, "Yes, I made a big mistake, so I was punished to use this barrel to draw water until the water tank was full."

    Zhou Qin said with some sympathy, "Ah, I thought you were Masako Tachibana. I didn¡¯t expect you weren¡¯t. Have you been punished by Masako Tachibana to draw water here?"

    The woman chuckled. "That¡¯s right. You¡¯re so smart. You guessed it right."

    Zhou Qin saw that the other kind and polite. Although she was not very beautiful, her face was gentle, and there was a special kind of tranquility in her every move. The resentment in her heart gradually dissipated a lot. Zhou Qin said, "You are also very smart. At first nce, you can tell that I was caught up with by someone. Why don¡¯t you arrest me?"

    The woman shook her head slightly with a smile. "I¡¯m not interested in your affairs, but your hostility is obvious. Look, the souls here are all looking at you." With that, she pointed all around.

    Zhou Qin looked around and saw that the tombstones, which were as dense as the forest, were standing in silence. There was no ghost shadow at all. But it was just like this. In this silent silence, there was an iparably huge pressure, which made her be bloodcurdling.

    Zhou Qin shivered secretly. She asked, "I was forced to... Forget it. I want to ask you. Do you know where Masako Tachibana is? I want to see her."

    The woman stopped drawing water and carefully looked at Zhou Qin with interest. She asked, "What do you want to see her for?"

    Zhou Qin said, "She sent a letter to my master a while ago. I¡¯m sending it back now."

    The womanughed and said, "I see. " She pointed to a deep and secret path behind her and said, "If you walk from here to another two hundred meters inside, you will see a wooden house. It¡¯s right there. Masako Tachibana is there."

    Zhou Qin formed a palm with one hand and expressed his gratitude to her with Taoists etiquette. Then, he walked all the way inside.

    Not long after she left, a little girl came out of the room. She was about 13 or 14 years old, with red lips and white teeth. She was quite beautiful. She was the Tachibana Wakako who had participated in the Taoist assembly and cried because of Li Yundong¡¯s p.

    Tachibana Wakako stepped on the clogs and ran to the woman in small steps. "Grandma, why didn¡¯t you show her the wrong way? Why did you tell her where her mother lives?" she asked curiously.

    Tachibana Wakako¡¯s grandmother lowered her head and smiled. "Honey, she has already gone the wrong way, but how can we let her go the wrong way again?"

    Tachibana Wakako blinked her eyes as if she didn¡¯t understand. "But she¡¯s our enemy!"

    The grandmother of Tachibana Wakako chuckled. "There are no eternal enemies, no eternal friends. You have to remember this sentence!"

    The young girl Tachibana Wakako pouted unhappily and said, "Don¡¯t make friends with them! They made my mother scolded badly by many people, and I was scolded badly by my mother. I hate them so much!"

    The grandmother shook her head helplessly and said, "More than ten years ago, I was very good friends with the masters of these people. s, I didn¡¯t expect that it would be like this now. I really didn¡¯t expect that!"

    Tachibana Wakako opened her eyes wide and said in surprise, "Is that so, grandma? I¡¯ve never heard you say that! Who are these people you¡¯re talking about? Do you mean that hateful Li Yundong?"

    The grandmother of Tachibana Wakako stopped and looked up, as if she was recalling something. She said slowly, "I¡¯m talking about Li Yundong¡¯s friend... The little girl named Zi Yuan has a very amazing master named Wang Yuanshan..."

    Hearing this, Tachibana Wakako was interested. She put her hands on the edge of the well and sat down. Her legs, which were white with horizontal cotton stockings, were kicking. She asked with a smile, "Grandma, is this Wang Yuanshan your lover?"

    The grandmother of Tachibana Wakako couldn¡¯t helpughing. She looked at Tachibana Wakako with me and said, "You are not allowed to be disrespectful to him!" She didn¡¯t continue to the topic of Tachibana Wakako. Instead, she let out a long sigh and said, "When I went to Hanshan Temple in Dong Wu City to worship the statue of Kobo Daishi, I met him by ident. At that time..."

    As she spoke, as if she recalled the scene back then, she could not help but reveal a gentle expression on her face. She said softly, "...At that time, he followed me all the way out of the Xiyuan Temple and followed me very far. At that time, I thought that he was a pervert and wanted to drive him away. Unexpectedly, he suddenly told me that although the magic power of my whole body looked powerful, it was actually vulnerable. At that time, I was proud and arrogant, so I was unwilling to believe him. So I asked him to fight in a private ce. Let¡¯s have a fight."

    "Ah!" Tachibana Wakako covered her mouth and eximed, "Grandma, did you lose?"

    Tachibana Wakako¡¯s grandmotherughed and said, "Yes, I lost miserably! I really can¡¯t recall a memory of it!"

    Tachibana Wakako remembered that before she fought with Li Yundong, she was really powerful and invincible. But when she fought with Li Yundong, she was shocked by his palm and lost her reaction. She burst into tears.

    Tachibana Wakako suddenly became unhappy. "Yes, I also lost badly when I fought with that Li Yundongst time. I even cried! It¡¯s a shame to think about it!"

    Tachibana Wakako¡¯s grandmother giggled. She stroked her ck hair and said with a smile, "In fact, when the time is slowly passing, when everything is settled down, you will find that these things are actually nothing. They will all be your precious wealth."

    But Tachibana Wakako didn¡¯t take it seriously. "But I feel that I can¡¯t wait that all this has never happened! I don¡¯t even dare to see my mother now. I¡¯m hiding from her everywhere!"

    Tachibana Wakako¡¯s grandmother smiled and said, "So that¡¯s how it is. I was wondering why you hide here all day long to apany me!"

    Tachibana Wakako giggled. She rolled her eyes, took her grandma¡¯s hand, and quickly changed the topic. "Nonsense, my grandma is not an old woman. She is young and beautiful. By the way, Grandma, what happened after you lost to Wang Yuanshan? Did you fall in love with him at first sight?"

    The look in the eyes of Tachibana Wakako¡¯s grandmother suddenly became extremely soft. She didn¡¯tment and said softly, "After I lost, I sincerely wanted to worship him as my master, but he insisted on refusing. When I asked him why I lost and he refused to tell me. So I kept pestering him and followed him for more than two months..."

    As she spoke, she sank into that memory period. The smile on her face became gentler and sweeter. After a while, she said, "Unfortunately... he refused to ept me, maybe because I was Rigoino¡¯s goddess. But when I left, he handed me a wooden barrel and said to me, "When you fill up a huge and sunken water tank with this wooden barrel, you will understand why you lost to me."

    "Ah!" Tachibana Wakako suddenly understood and said, "So that¡¯s how it is! I¡¯m wondering why you have been drawing water here for more than ten years! But this bucket and the vat are both leaked, so it can¡¯t be full!"

    Tachibana Wakako¡¯s grandmother sighed and said, "Yes, for more than a decade, I have been using this bucket to fetch water, but I can¡¯t fill the water tank. Not to mention fill it, I can¡¯t even fill half of it... s!"

    She pouted and said, "Grandma, I think it¡¯s Wang Yuanshan who is teasing you! It¡¯s impossible!" As she said this, she jumped down from the edge of the well, picked up the barrel in her hand, raised it in front of her, and said, "Grandma, look, it¡¯s not the older sister who talked about it. I haven¡¯t noticed that there are so many holes in this barrel, one, two, three, and a half. Wow, there are five holes in total! There are other holes on the side, and the most important thing is that there are two holes in the bottom! Of course, you can¡¯t get water from this barrel!"

    Tachibana Wakako said with a serious face, "Although I don¡¯t like the sister just now, she is right. Why don¡¯t you fix the five missing buckets and the water tanks? This sentence makes sense!"

    Tachibana Wakako¡¯s grandmother smiled and asked, "What¡¯s the reason?"

 Chapter 623 With a word, you can understand the Tao day and nigh

    <h4>Chapter 623 With a word, you can understand the Tao day and nigh</h4>

    Tachibana Wakako said innocently, "The bucket and the water tank fill, you can fill it up soon, and then you can go out! Don¡¯t you feel ufortable staying here all day? You¡¯ve been here for more than ten years!"

    Tachibana Wakako¡¯s grandmotherughed and said with a smile, "It has been more than ten years. Do you still care about this? Lord Yuanshan asked me to fetch water, which must be testing my willpower and endurance. He must think that my endurance and willpower in cultivation are not enough, so I will lose to him."

    Tachibana Wakako said angrily, "Nonsense! He must be ying a trick on you. How can he test your willpower and endurance like this! There are five loopholes in a wooden barrel. No matter how powerful you are, you can¡¯t fill a water tank!"

    The grandmother of Tachibana Wakako was once an extremely high-level goddess of high cultivation in the Truth Sect. Her status was extremely high and highly respected. But since she was defeated by Wang Yuanshan in private more than a decade ago, She returned to the deep mountains where Li Gaoye lived with a bucket full of water. Because of her awe, others didn¡¯t dare to ask her, so they didn¡¯t dare to say anything.

    As the saying goes, the onlookers see clearly, and the fans are in charge. Tachibana Wakako ¡¯s grandmother has been trapped in the mystery Wang Yuanshan gave her for more than ten years, and has never jumped out to see the problem.

    At this time, Zhou Qin and Tachibana Wakako repeated this question repeatedly at the same time. She had subconsciously repeated the word "bucket of five leaks" with Zhou Qin¡¯s words before, but she didn¡¯t pay attention at that time. At this time, she was stunned and murmured: "five leaks? Why not more, but five loopholes? "

    She took the wooden barrel from the Tachibana Wakako and looked at it carefully. The more she looked at it, the more lightes out in her eyes. Her voice gets excited and says in a low voice: "yes, the Buddha said: men have seven treasures, women have five leaks! Do the five holes in the barrel refer to my own five holes? "

    Tachibana Wakako¡¯s grandmother was also a great practitioner. Although she is the goddess of the true word Tantric school, she has read all kinds of practice ssics since she was a child. She is very knowledgeable. She just got into the dead end and couldn¡¯t turn around. At this time, she was inadvertently pushed aside to see the bright moon.

    The practice of Buddhism is quite different from that of Taoism. In the beginning, Taoism, just like Buddhism, only talks about the cultivation of "nature", that is, the cultivation of one¡¯s own spiritual world, and does not pay attention to the cultivation of "life", that is, the cultivation of one¡¯s own body. However, since Zhang Boduan advocated "double cultivation of life and soul" in the Northern Song Dynasty, almost all Taoist schools epted his view and began to cultivate both spirit and body.

    In the beginning, Zhang Boduan and a monk made an appointment to travel in Yangzhou in the way of Yang God. When they came back, the monks talked about the blooming scene of Qionghua in Yangzhou, but Zhang did not speak with a smile and took out a Qionghua from his sleeve.

    The monk was shocked. His Yang God couldn¡¯t touch things, but Zhang Boduan¡¯s Yang God could. So he broke a Qionghua and came back. When the monk asked him why, Zhang Boduan said: you don¡¯t cultivate your life, but I only cultivate my life.

    Because of this, more and more Buddhist schools began to practice the same way after the Northern Song Dynasty, but the methods and concepts of practice were different.

    The magic and practice idea of Zhenyan Tantric school originated from the tantric School of Tang Dynasty, so they also pay attention to the cultivation of "nature" rather than "life". Moreover, for thousands of years, the ancient righteousness School of Zhenyan Tantric school has been upying gaoyeshan and constantly fighting with the new righteousness school. Although it is powerful, in order to emphasize the difference between the practice idea of Zhenyan Tantric school and the new righteousness school, they have always been self-confident. In addition, Japan is a country with an obvious hierarchy The rtionship between subordinates is very strict, and all kinds of rules and regtions are as strong as steel and concrete blockhouses, and almost no one can shake them.

    This situation has led to the steady development, deep foundation and huge influence of the Japanese spiritual circle, but it also makes them unable to be like the Chinese spiritual circle: amazing talents emerge endlessly, and thend of China is full of dragons and tigers.

    Tachibana Wakako¡¯s grandmother unintentionally understood the forbidden area of suspicion that no one had tried to touch for thousands of years. She was ecstatic and said to herself, "yes! It must be! In the world, only the Taoist School of practice pays attention to repairing the five leaks. He must have seen that I didn¡¯t repair the five leaks, so he used this to warn me! This bucket refers to my five leaky body, and this big water tank refers to my aplishments! Although the water tank is very big, because of the five leaks¡¯ own defects, it can¡¯t be filled with water all the time. No matter how much water is pumped up, it will leak clean! Yes, yuanshanjun must mean that! s, when I first met this girl, she was very angry. I wanted to enlighten her ording to her wishes, but she turned her around. It¡¯s ridiculous

    The grandmother of the finally couldn¡¯Tachibana Wakakot help but raise her head andugh out loud. "I understand, Yuanshan, so that¡¯s what you mean. "

    She burst outughing. Her voice prated through the dark region and soared into the sky, which made the mountains resound with her smile. The mountains vibrated and thousands of birds came out of the forest.

    Zhou Qin didn¡¯t know that she identally realized a hidden practice goddess of the true word Tantra from the difficult mystery, and she didn¡¯t know what would happen after she realized the grandmother of Tachibana Wakako.

    Zhou Qin followed Tachibana Wakako grandmother¡¯s instructions all the way inside. After walking for two hundred meters, She saw a ck and white wall in front of her eyes. Inside the wall was a maple tree. Although it was in the cold season of spring and winter, the maple tree grew red leaves. Although it was beautiful, it was strangepared with the withering scene around.

    Zhou Qin took a look at the maple tree and walked along the stone road to the gate of the yard. After pushing the door, he saw arge wooden house full of Japanese architectural style. There was no tombstone beside the wooden house. There were red maple leaves scattered on the ground, showing a sense of tranquility.

    Zhou Qin knew that she had entered the heart of Li Gao Ye Ao¡¯s courtyard, where the goddess Masako Tachibana lived. Although she had always been brave and calm, she could not help beating violently in her heart.

    At this moment, a woman¡¯s voice came from the cabin, which was also in standard Chinese: "just now I was so bold, but now I¡¯m as timid as a mouse."

    Zhou Qin took a deep breath and quickly adjusted her mind. After calming down, she walked to the inside.

    When she came to the door, she saw a woman in a white witch¡¯s dress and a red belt on her waist kneeling on a tatami, making tea gracefully. Next to her sat an old monk in a red and white cassock. The old monk had a solemn face and a string of rosary beads in his hands. He was looking at his nose and his heart and reciting scriptures in a low voice, It¡¯s like turning a deaf ear.

    Before Zhou Qin¡¯s tatami, as soon as he was about to step forward, Masako Tachibana, who was wearing a White Witch Dress, did not lift her head, and said slowly, "please take off your shoes ande in again."

    Zhou Qin saw that Masako Tachibana was almost the same as orange. When she was making tea, she was worthy of the word "Ya". Her whole body was full of elegant and artistic atmosphere. At this moment, she seemed to be more like an elegant and beautiful tea mother than a famous goddess.

    Beauty and beauty meet each other, always spark, dark waves, especially the two beauties stand against each other.

    Zhou Qin saw that although Masako Tachibana was elegant and dignified, But the tone of her voice revealed a condescending atmosphere, which made her feel very ufortable, and her heart was full of knots.

    Zhou Qin frowned secretly. She didn¡¯t want to follow what Masako Tachibana said, soHe stood at the door and said, "I¡¯ll send a letter, and there¡¯s no need to go in."

    At this time, Masako Tachibana raised her head and looked at Zhou Qin leisurely, he said with a smile, "Oh? Show me the letter? "

    Zhou Qin also smiles and raises his hand and threw the letter in his hand to Masako Tachibana.

    This letter is flying in the air under her control, flying quickly toward the face of Masako Tachibana.

    As soon as she raised her hand, the castrated letter stopped in front of her. She said with a smile, "is that how you send letters? Is that your etiquette? "

    Zhou Qin also smiled and said, "That¡¯s how you sent the letter, so I¡¯ll give it back to you. ."

    Masako Tachibana frowned slightly and did not continue to be entangled with Zhou Qin. When she picked up the envelope, she saw that it was the simplest ordinary letter envelope. There was not a word on it, not even a seal on it. It was very solemn, and her brow wrinkled deeper.

    When she opened the letter paper inside and looked at it, she saw six murderous cursive books springing out.

    These six characters contain murderous, aggressive, as if ready to bow, as if at any time out of the sheath of the sword.

    Even the red robed monk on one side could not help but slightly open his eyes and look at the letter, but he only nced at it and soon closed his eyes again.

    Masako Tachibana looked at the reply in front of her meaningfully andughed. There was anger in herughter. "Good, good word, good momentum! You are indeed an expert who defeated Masako Tachibana! I really want to meet this Li Yundong at once! " Then she looked up and said to Zhou Qin, "who are you?"

    Zhou Qin said, "I am his apprentice."

    Masako Tachibana nodded and said, "Understood!" She then continued to make tea leisurely and leisurely, and put Zhou Qin aside.

    When Zhou Qin saw that she didn¡¯t respond, she wanted to have an attack, but there was no ce for the attack. She couldn¡¯t breathe out, so she said displeased: "since there is nothing else, I¡¯ll go back first!"

    At this time, Masako Tachibana raised her head. Looking at Zhou Qin in surprise, he said, "are you going to leave?"

    At this time, Zhou Qin had already turned to leave. Hearing this, she also turned back and asked, "why don¡¯t you stay?"

    As if she was looking at an idiot, Masako Tachibana stared at Zhou Qin and said in surprise, "You hurt our monks in Mount Koya, make a big noise in Mount Koya, and break into the Okunoin without authorization! You want to go? What do you think of Mount Koya? "

    Zhou Qin¡¯s heart was tight, and his voice became cold. He said in a deep voice, "do you want to detain me?"

    "You have to give us an exnation. Otherwise, if the news gets out, how will others think of our Gaoye Mountain?" the girl said.

    Zhou Qin said, "It¡¯s you who are disrespectful!"

    Masako Tachibana also said coldly, "Then can you do such a cruel thing to me?"

    Zhou Qin raised his eyebrows and was angry in his heart. "What do you think about the illusion that forced me to kill my master?"

    But at this time, Zhou Qin had calmed down. She knew it was useless to say such words, so she swallowed them back. She sneered, "if you want to detain me, it depends on whether you have the ability."

    Hearing her words, Masako Tachibana suddenly burst intoughter. The voice was full of disdain and irony, as if mocking Zhou Qin¡¯s overconfidence.

    Zhou Qin¡¯s heart was so proud that she could not bear such ridicule. Her two willow eyebrows were standing higher and higher, and her hands slowly touched the whip of fire god around her waist.

    However, as if she didn¡¯t notice what she was doing, she stillughed out loud and opened the empty door in an unscrupulous manner.

    When Zhou Qin saw that she was so big, she was even angrier. After holding the handle of Vulcan¡¯s Whip, she was about to exert her strength, but suddenly she heard a cry from behind her, "Stop, don¡¯t fight!"

 Chapter 624 Letting the Tiger Go Back to the Mountain

    <h4>Chapter 624 Letting the Tiger Go Back to the Mountain</h4>

    Zhou Qin and Masako Tachibana heard this voice and turned toward it involuntarily. They saw a woman running in a cherry blossom kimono. It was the woman whom Zhou Qin had met before.

    Masako Tachibana recognized her at a nce and was startled, asking in surprise, "Mother?"

    The red-robed monk, who had been reciting scriptures in a low voice, also raised his head at this moment. He opened his eyes in surprise and looked at the woman, then suddenly stood up and asked in surprise, "Tsuruko Tachibana, why have youe?"

    He saw that the gloomy look that had been on Tsuruko Tachibana¡¯s face had been swept away. Although he looked a little anxious, there was a deep sense of enlightenment in his eyes. "If you find the truth in the morning, it will be worth it if you die during the night."

    The red-robed monk suddenly widened his eyes and asked, "Tsuruko Tachibana, do you understand?"

    After quickly walking to the little room, Tsuruko Tachibana put her hands in front of herself and ced her palms t on the insides of her thighs. She bowed slightly to the red-robed monk and said respectfully, "Great Master Kaisai Hikariuni, we meet again! We haven¡¯t seen each other for a long time!"

    The 413th Great Monk of the Zhenyan Tantrism, Kaisai Hikariuni, put his palms together and said with a look of surprise and admiration, "Amitabha, Tsuruko Tachibana, I didn¡¯t expect that you would really understand! Congrattions!"

    At this time, behind Tsuruko Tachibana, the young girl also trotted over. She ran to the door, looked at Zhou Qin, and then looked at her mother, Masako Tachibana.

    When Masako Tachibana saw her, she frowned and red at her sharply as if to say, "How could you disturb my mother?"

    Tachibana Wakako secretly stuck out her tongue and didn¡¯t dare to speak. She immediately hid behind Tsuruko Tachibana and pulled a face at her mother. The sly look in her eyes said, "It¡¯s not me. It¡¯s grandma who wants toe!"

    Masako Tachibana stood up and bowed respectfully to her. She said, "Mother, congrattions on your meditation! But, why are you here?"

    Tsuruko Tachibana also bowed to her daughter politely and said, "I came here to ask you for a favor."

    Masako Tachibana took a quick look at Zhou Qin. She frowned and said with slight displeasure in her heart, "Mother, do you intend to plead her case?"

    Tsuruko Tachibana smiled slightly and said, "Yes, please agree."

    The rules of the country were strict. Although Tsuruko Tachibana was the mother of the former patriarch and the former Goddess, she was also the current Minister of Offerings. Although she was the mother of the former patriarch and the former Goddess, she was humble and respectful when she spoke.

    Masako Tachibana said with slight anger, "Mother, don¡¯t you know that she hurt the mountain-protecting monk, offended the fundamental tower, and offended the Okunoin? Did shemit a lot of unforgivable crimes? If I let her go like this, how can I exin it to others? Can you imagine how, if she does this, the people of other sects will spite us behind our backs?"

    Tsuruko Tachibana sighed softly. She took off her wooden gourd and walked up to the couch with small steps. Then, she knelt down and said softly, "Masako Tachibana, I know what she has done. But for my sake, please let her go."

    "Why?" asked Masako Tachibana angrily.

    Tsuruko Tachibana took a look at Zhou Qin and said, "Because she asked me toprehend the Tao!"

    Masako Tachibana¡¯s face was immediately filled with shock. She looked at Zhou Qin in disbelief. "Her? She¡¯s a cultivator who has only just stepped into the Jinshen phase. How could she have given you pointers? Mother, are you confused?"

    Tsuruko Tachibana sighed softly and said, "Masako Tachibana, it¡¯s you who are confused! Don¡¯t you know that Saint Confucius was once instructed by children? Have you not read the story of the two children¡¯s debate? The Great Tao is invisible and its voice is loud. It doesn¡¯t mean that just anyone with a high Cultivation Quotient will master the Great Tao. Sometimes, something can be right beside us, but we won¡¯t pay attention to it. If Zhou Qin hadn¡¯t identally given me a message when she broke in, I¡¯m afraid I would still be trapped in the mystery."

    Masako Tachibana red at Zhou Qin, unwilling to give up. She said, "But she just said something she didn¡¯t want to say!"

    Tsuruko Tachibana smiled and said, "That¡¯s right! There was a saying in the first chapter of ¡¯Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio¡¯ written by Pu Songlin. On the day of your 10th birthday, I told you about it. Do you still remember ?"

    Masako Tachibana said without hesitation, "I remember. You said at that time that one should do good for the sake of being good, although goodness is not rewarded. One should not do evil, although evil is not punished! But what does it have to do with the matter of Zhou Qin?"

    Tsuruko Tachibana smiled and said, "A kind heart is good, but a good heart is not rewarded. Shouldn¡¯t you reward a kind heart? Although I didn¡¯t leave my house, I know what happened at the foot of the mountain just now. The monks who protected the mountain also made a mistake. If they hadn¡¯t used an Illusion Spell to explore Zhou Qin¡¯s background and offend her, such a thing wouldn¡¯t have happened. It should be regarded as an unintentional act. Moreover, considering she¡¯s only a messenger, Masako Tachibana, you... had better let her go!"

    Masako Tachibana looked at her mother incredulously, her head down. She said in surprise, "Mother, how could you plead for an outsider like her? She whipped the monks of our Mount K¨­ya and defiled the foundation of the tower. Isn¡¯t she doing this on purpose?"

    Tsuruko Tachibana said, "When the strong are on the hunt, the weak seek to protect themselves. How can they care so much? If you me the elk for killing a frog in a panic because of the lions and tigers chasing it, I think there is a big problem with your cultivation!"

    Over the past ten years, Masako Tachibana had been invincible. Not only had she received very high prestige in Zhenyan Tantrism, but she had also gained high prestige in the whole Japanese Cultivation World. By this point, she was at the peak of her Qi of heart. How could she listen to such words?

    She looked at her mother in shock and anger and shouted, "My Lady Mother! How dare you doubt my way of cultivation?"

    Seeing that her daughter was so angry that her face had changed, she sighed in her heart. She prostrated herself on the ground with her upper body and said, "Masako Tachibana, if my words offend you, please forgive me! But... I believe that after a few years have passed, you will understand what I am saying now!"

    Masako Tachibana couldn¡¯t helpughing aloud. Zhou Qin, who was standing to one side, heard them talking quickly in Japanese. Although he didn¡¯t understand what they were talking about, he could roughly figure it out by observing their words and expressions.

    Zhou Qin turned to Tsuruko Tachibana, who was pressed to the ground, and said, "Are you begging for mercy on my behalf? If so, thank you very much, but you don¡¯t have to! If she really has the ability to keep me here, then let her try!"

    Hearing her words, Masako Tachibana immediately turned her head, stared at her with sharp eyes, and shouted, "Who do you think you are? How dare you talk to me like this again and again!"

    As soon as she started shouting, the air around her seemed to shatter like ss. The power was really fierce and horrible. Zhou Qin¡¯s skin tightened, and then all the hair on her body seemed about to explode. All 36,000 hairs on her body stood up in an instant!

    For a moment, Zhou Qin was overwhelmed by her imposing manner. She couldn¡¯t help but be stunned, but she soon came to her senses. She frowned and was about to make a move, but Tachibana Wakako suddenly pulled on her sleeves secretly and whispered in Chinese, "Stupid sister, don¡¯t quarrel with my mother. She¡¯s so fierce. Do you really want to stay here?"

    Zhou Qin knew very well that she was definitely no match for Masako Tachibana. It was just that he couldn¡¯t get off the stage for a while. At this moment, when she heard the words of Tachibana Wakako, she suddenly felt a chill in her heart and thought to herself, "Yes, if I get left behind, what if Li Yundong loses because of my rtionship in the fight with this girl? What should I do?"

    Thinking of this, Zhou Qin¡¯s arrogance suddenly disappeared. She no longer spoke, but lowered her eyes and nose, as if she had be a dociledy in an instant.

    Tsuruko Tachibana sighed softly and said, "Masako Tachibana, I know what you¡¯re thinking. You want to take her down so that she¡¯ll be distracted and then we can take advantage of her when she settles a score with Li Yundong. When did our Mount K¨­ya be so useless?"

    After hearing about Li Yundong from Tsuruko Tachibana several times, she finally couldn¡¯t help losing her temper. She turned her head and shouted at Tachibana Wakako, "Was it you who told her these things?"

    Tachibana Wakako quickly waved her hands and said, "No, no, I just told grandma what I saw and heard when I went down the mountain!"

    Tsuruko Tachibana sighed softly and said, "It¡¯s not her who said it. Don¡¯t think that I haven¡¯t left that ce for more than ten years and don¡¯t know anything. Masako Tachibana, I¡¯m not old enough to have lost my wits!"

    Masako Tachibana said angrily, "Will I take advantage of this Li Yundong? Mother, you look down on me and I can only tolerate so much! Do you think it¡¯s been easy for me to support the ancient meaning school for more than a decade? If there¡¯s no exnation for this matter, do you know how much trouble I¡¯ll get into?"

    Tsuruko Tachibana looked at her daughter with sympathy and said, "I have figured out how to make up for the mystery of heaven with the biggest w in our goddess lineage. As long as you let her go, I will tell you this secret. If you don¡¯t let her go, then... you will lose on the day of the fight!"

    Masako Tachibana was furious. "Will I lose? Mother, you said I would lose?"

    At this time, Tsuruko Tachibana raised her head and looked at his daughter without moving an inch. She said word by word seriously, "Yes, with your current state of mind, you will lose!"

    Masako Tachibana was so enraged that sheughed angrily and said, "Okay! For your sake, I will let her go back! In a few days, I will fight her in front of everyone in the Japanese Cultivation World, and let you know whether I lose or not! As for your so-called secret, I don¡¯t want to know and simply don¡¯t care about it! I have been invincible for the past ten years thanks to having more than ten years¡¯ training in kung fu!"

    She sighed in her heart. She didn¡¯t want to argue further, so she leaned over again and said to her daughter in a respectful tone, "In that case, thank you very much. I wish you a great victory."

    Hearing her words, Masako Tachibana felt that every syble was ear-piercing and heart-wrenching. She pointed to the door and said angrily, "Get out! All of you get out!"

    At this time, Tachibana Wakako tugged on the corner of Zhou Qin¡¯s clothes in horror, indicating that she should follow her quickly. Zhou Qin also knew that this was not the time to be a hero. In addition, the angry roar of Masako Tachibana just now had made her feel a little scared. Without saying anything, she turned around and left.

    Kaisai Hikariuni, who had been silent and reciting scriptures in a low voice, opened the curtain and nced at the back of Zhou Qin. He sighed softly and said in a low voice, "It is easier to release the tiger to the mountain than to escape the dragon into the sea! Amitabha!"

    When Masako Tachibana heard this, a fierce light shed in her eyes.

    Zhou Qin quickly left the Okunoin. Because they saw that Tachibana Wakako was apanying her, the monks who were going to arrest her stopped for a moment and just red at her angrily.

    After leaving Mount K¨­ya, Tachibana Wakako patted her chest and said in shock, "I¡¯ll leave you here. You can go back by yourself. Don¡¯t make my mother so angry next time. She¡¯s difficult to deal with! Go quickly, in case she regrets letting you leave."

    Because of what had happened at the Taoist assembly, Zhou Qin had always had a bad impression of Tachibana Wakako, but now that she had left the tiger¡¯s mouth, she had reduced Li Yundong¡¯s worries and was secretly grateful.

    Zhou Qin smiled and was about to speak, but at that moment, she suddenly saw a huge statue of a goddess appear on Mount K¨­ya.

    The statue of the Goddess was made up of clouds in the sky. The woman was holding a sharp sword in her hand, and it was vaguely recognizable as Masako Tachibana. She raised the long sword in her hand and suddenly swung it down!

    Tachibana Wakako let out a loud scream, "Oh no, Mom¡¯s mad. Run! Come on!"

 Chapter 625 Getting away from Masako Tachibanas Hands

    <h4>Chapter 625 Getting away from Masako Tachibana¡°s Hands</h4>

    Masako Tachibana gathered the clouds into a Fashen and wanted to kill Zhou Qin. But at this time, Tsuruko Tachibana stood at her feet and shouted, "Masako, don¡¯t! You can¡¯t be a goddess who went back on her word! Is the victory really so important to you?"

    When she heard what he said, she was shocked. This was her mother¡¯s nickname when she was a child. She hesitated for a moment, but when she thought of what Grand Buddhist Chief (a state-designated monk responsible for the whole Buddhist clergy) had said, she quickly gritted her teeth and chopped down with her sword.

    This sword covered heaven and earth. It was as if an indomitable giant was brandishing an iparably massive sword, about to tear apart the sky and cut apart the ground!

    At this time, the young girl looked at the earth-shattering sword and couldn¡¯t help eximing, "Vajra and Wisdom Sword? Mom! Don¡¯t!"

    Her mother and daughter pleaded for mercy at the same time. No matter how hard-hearted she was, she couldn¡¯t help shaking again. She let out an unwilling roar, and the long sword in her hand didn¡¯t slow down. Instead, it sped up and chopped down.

    Zhou Qin saw that the sword was so aggressive that the pressure was so powerful that he almost couldn¡¯t move. Even if he wanted to break through this kind of imprisonment by Qi control, it would be toote. She gritted her teeth and used the power of Jinshen to protect her whole body. She stood still in the same ce and red at the sword that wasing at her face.

    With a loud bang, the sword cut Mount K¨­ya as if there was a terrible earthquake. With a crack, a crack appeared on the ground, extending from the top of the mountain all the way to Zhou Qin¡¯s feet.

    Masako Tachibana¡¯s Fashen red at Zhou Qin in mid-air, and his voice shook the sky. He shouted, "You have guts! If you wanted to escape just now, you were already a dead person! Go back and tell Li Yundong that I am waiting for him here and see how he can defeat me!"

    After that, she beckoned a finger, and the sharp sword formed by clouds suddenly disappeared. After a short time, the cracks on the ground also cracked and slowly gathered together, as if a scar had quickly healed and returned to its original state in the blink of an eye.

    This magical skill only shocked Zhou Qin in his heart. It was not difficult to make a crack in Mount K¨­ya, but it was really a fantastic major spell to make up for it quickly after making a crack. Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t figure out how the other party did it for a while!

    "Master... Is he really the opponent of Masako Tachibana?" For the first time, Zhou Qin had a strong desire to shake Li Yundong. The strength of the enemy in front of him was obviously beyond her imagination.

    Seeing that her mother stopped at a critical moment, the young girl patted her chest with fear on her face after the event and kept urging Zhou Qin, "Hurry up, or my mother will regret it!"

    Just as Wakako Tachibana kept urging him, Tsuruko Tachibana came down from the mountain and ran to Zhou Qin in small steps. She bowed apologetically and said, "I¡¯m really sorry. Don¡¯t worry, I will do what I say." With this, she said to the young girl beside her, "Wakako Tachibana, you go back first. I¡¯ll send her off."

    Wakako Tachibana nodded obediently. "I know. Grandma, you should go early ande back early by yourself!"

    With a slight smile, Tsuruko Tachibana turned to Zhou Qin and said in Chinese, "Miss Zhou Qin, do you mind talking to me for a while?"

    Zhou Qin knew that she had escaped the disaster because of the woman in front of her. Moreover, the other party was gentle and polite. She also said politely and reservedly, "Of course I don¡¯t mind."

    Tsuruko Tachibana smiled softly. She took very small steps and walked forward. She kept her head down, as if she had something stuck in her chest and could not say. After a long while, she suddenly asked in a low voice, "Do you know Wang Yuanshan?"

    "Wang Yuanshan?" Although Zhou Qin didn¡¯t cultivate for a long time, it was really a name that had long resounded in her ears. She nodded and said, "Yes, do you also know him?"

    Tsuruko Tachibana told her about his acquaintance with a smile, and then asked with concern and hope, "Do you know where he is now?"

    Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes flickered as he looked at Tsuruko Tachibana in front of him. Although the other party was a grandma, her appearance was no different from that of a 30-year-old woman. She was not very beautiful, but her whole body exuded the unique gentleness and tenderness of Japanese women. Especially, the other party was obviously like him, deeply in love with a man who was out of reach. This made Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help like feels like. She sighed softly and said, "Wang Yuanshan... He has already be an immortal."

    "What?"Tsuruko Tachibana trembled slightly and cried out in disbelief, "Is he dead?"

    Zhou Qin shook her head. "No, he just started another life in the immortal world."

    Tsuruko Tachibana¡¯s face was full of sadness and sadness. She said in a low voice, "Yes, he must be doing very well in the Immortal Realm... very well." As she spoke, she raised her head and looked at the vast sky. Her expression seemed to be smiling, but the corners of her eyes were full of undisguised sadness. She said, "I really want to know what the Immortal Realm looks like!"

    Zhou Qin said casually, "When you get together with loved ones, you are in the immortal world."

    Tsuruko Tachibana suddenly turned his head and looked at Zhou Qin in surprise, as if he couldn¡¯t believe that a young and impulsive girl like her would say such words. After a while, she smiled and said, "You are right! I believe you will be happy in the future!"

    Zhou Qin smiled bitterly. She didn¡¯t want to proceed further in such a sensitive topic with a stranger, so she changed the topic and asked, "Why did you save me?"

    Tsuruko Tachibana smiled slightly and said, "Because you inadvertently melted me. If it weren¡¯t for you, I might have been puzzled." Then she told her the whole story and sighed with emotion, "I really didn¡¯t expect that the simplest answer in the world had been in front of me for more than ten years, but I never saw it!"

    Zhou Qin seemed to have realized something as well. She thought to herself, "What a close call! I¡¯m so ashamed! If I hadn¡¯t said that casually, things would not have been easy for me today! It¡¯s not a big deal for me to be arrested. If I get my master into trouble, it¡¯ll be a big deal! It seems that I¡¯d better not be impulsive in the future."

    However, on second thought, Zhou Qin thought, "However, Tsuruko Tachibana hasprehended this Great Tao at this critical moment. It can be said that the only defect of the Goddess will be made up by her. The cultivation method of Masako Tachibana is higher than that of my master. If Masako Tachibana also knew it, my master will definitely lose. In this case, will I hurt him more?"

    Thinking of this, Zhou Qin was dumbfounded for a while and couldn¡¯t speak for a good while.

    Tsuruko Tachibana seemed to know what she was thinking. Tsuruko Tachibana smiled and said, "Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t tell Masako."

    Zhou Qin asked suspiciously, "Why? Don¡¯t you hope your daughter to win?"

    Tsuruko Tachibana sighed softly and said, "Lao Tzu once said, ¡¯It¡¯s a blessing in disguise. It¡¯s a blessing in disguise! Masako has been too smooth in the past ten years. She looks very glorious, but in fact, she is like falling into an abyss. If she can survive a failure, it¡¯s not a bad thing for her to be like me!¡¯"

    Zhou Qin saw that the Japanese woman in front of him was not only well-educated, but also well-educated and reasonable. Even if the sects were hostile to each other and disliked each other, she couldn¡¯t help but show some respect to Tsuruko Tachibana. "If Mount Koya thinks like you entirely, it will be good!"

    Tsuruko Tachibana smiled slightly and said helplessly, "I have already jumped out of the three realms and am no longer in the mortal society. I am far away from fame and fortune, so I can naturally be detached from the outside world. But Masako Tachibana can¡¯t do it. She has too many things on her shoulder, and she... is forced to do so!"

    Zhou Qin snorted and said, "Even so, can you use despicable means to steal our Medicine King Tripod and threaten my master?"

    Tsuruko Tachibana was stunned. "What¡¯s going on?"

    Zhou Qin told her what had happened. Tsuruko Tachibana was stunned and frowned slightly. She whispered in a low voice, "How did Mount Koya be like this over the past ten years? It shouldn¡¯t be like this!"

    Tsuruko Tachibana said to Zhou Qin, "Anyway, I¡¯d like to ask your master, Li Yundong, to tell him that if he wins in the future, please show him mercy. Masako Tachibana¡¯s just in aplicated human world and had to adapt herself to the changing circumstances!"

    Zhou Qin sighed and said, "Then go back and ask your daughter. If my master loses, will she show mercy?"

    This question stunned Tsuruko Tachibana, who knew his daughter very well. She said with a wry smile, "I see. Miss Zhou Qin, I¡¯ll send you here... I hope that you won¡¯t make such a big fuss again the next time we meet."

    Zhou Qin nodded. After thanking Tsuruko Tachibana again, he turned around and left Mount K¨­ya.

    When Zhou Qin left, she did not choose to take any more transportation means. Instead, she chose to fly back to his home in Tiannan City.

    As soon as they got home, Zhou Qin saw that the little foxes in the room were surrounding each other and watching TV. Su Chan saw Zhou Qin at a nce and immediatelyughed. "Zhou Qin ji¨§jie, you¡¯re back? How¡¯s it going? Have you sent the letter?"

    Zhou Qin thought of her trip to Mount Koya, and what had happened made her feel very emotional. She sighed softly and said, "It¡¯s hard to say what you want to say!"

    Su Chan blinked her eyes in confusion. "A word is not clear. Just two or three sentences?"

    It seemed that Zhou Qin didn¡¯t want to talk about these things too much. She changed the subject and asked, "Where¡¯s Master?"

    Su Chan immediately showed a bitter look on her face. "He¡¯s meditated in seclusion again. This time, even I¡¯m not allowed to go with him!"

    Before the war, it was always better to fight than to fight. Zhou Qin nodded, and she asked again, "What about Zi Yuan?"

    Su Chan pointed to the next door and said, "She¡¯s in her own room. Go and find her."

    Zhou Qin knew that Wang Yuanshan was the master of Zi Yuan. Since she knew something about Wang Yuanshan, she should tell Zi Yuan.

    She didn¡¯t go through the front door. She jumped from the balcony of the back door to the balcony of Zi Yuan and entered the room. As soon as she entered the room, Zhou Qin saw Ruan Hongling, who had not been seen for many days, sitting on the sofa in a daze, with tears in the corners of her eyes.

    Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help startling. She asked, "Ruan Hongling? What¡¯s wrong with you?"

 Chapter 626 Among the Stronger There Is Always a Stronger

    <h4>Chapter 626 Among the Stronger There Is Always a Stronger</h4>

    When Ruan Hongling heard Zhou Qin¡¯s voice, she immediately stood up. She quickly turned her back and wiped her eyes. When she turned around, her face was already full of smiles. "Zhou Qin, you¡¯re back? Have you seen my Shijie?"

    Zhou Qin¡¯s heart was fraught with questions, but when she saw that Ruan Hongling was not willing to answer her question, it wasn¡¯t appropriate for her to pursue the matter any further. She said, "No, I was just about to look for her. Where have you been these days?"

    Ruan Hongling said with an unnatural smile, "I¡¯m going back to the Linggong Sect."

    Zhou Qin asked curiously, "What are you doing back there?"

    Ruan Hongling hesitated for a moment before she faltered and said, "No matter. Just go back and find something."

    Zhou Qin stopped asking and said sensibly, "Well, I see. Wait for theing back of Zi Yuan to tell me that I have something to tell her."

    But Ruan Hongling heard the sound of a keying from the door when she smiled and was about to speak. Zi Yuan pushed open the door and entered.

    Ruan Hongling¡¯s gaze sharpened. She said with a smile, "Shijie, you¡¯vee just at the right time. We were talking about you!"

    When Zi Yuan saw Ruan Hongling, she was also stunned. Although Ruan Hongling had used a trick to make Su Chan and Zhou Qin go to Mount Huangshan, and she had been furious at that time, but several days had passed. Even if she was angry, Zi Yuan¡¯s heart had dissipated a lot. She asked in surprise, "Hongling? You¡¯re back? Where have you been these days? Why didn¡¯t you say hello to me?"

    Ruan Hongling smiled and did not respond to her. Instead, she pointed to Zhou Qin and said, "Zhou Qin has something to tell you. Shoot, I¡¯ll go back to my room first."

    Zi Yuan looked at Ruan Hongling with a puzzled expression as she quickly walked into her own room. She was in a state of panic with her ponytail swaying behind her head, as if she was trying to avoid her.

    She shook her head secretly and muttered to herself, "What is this girl doing?"

    Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t figure it out. After thinking for a while, she stopped thinking about it. She said to Zhou Qin with a smile, "Zhou Qin, did you send the letter back? How was it along the way? Did they make things difficult for you?"

    Zhou Qin sighed softly and said, "Many things have happened, and I don¡¯t know where to begin talking about."

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly and said, "It¡¯s okay. Take your time."

    Zhou Qin sorted out her thoughts and told him everything that had happened in Mount K¨­ya. She only concealed the content of the Spirit Space that the monk of Mount K¨­ya had used her illusion technique to test herself.

    Zi Yuan was fascinated by his words, especially when Zhou Qin said that Masako Tachibana gathered the fashen True God with clouds and cut down the power of the earth with a sword. Even though she was experienced and knowledgeable, she couldn¡¯t help but be moved. Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help but exim, "How could this Masako Tachibana be so powerful? Using the weather to break the earth¡¯s Qi, she must be at least in the realm of the Lightning Retribution phase !"

    Zhou Qin nodded with fear and said, "She is indeed very powerful. In front of her, I feel like my hands and feet are tied. Even if I want to fight, my strength will be greatly reduced."

    Zi Yuan pondered for a while and said, "You went there with great value. At least you know that Aoyuan Goddess is born with huge ws. Otherwise, Tsuruko Tachibana wouldn¡¯t thank you so much."

    Zhou Qin asked curiously, "Did your master Wang Yuanshan tell you about him and Tsuruko Tachibana?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head and said, "I haven¡¯t heard master mention it before. If you hadn¡¯t mentioned it today, I wouldn¡¯t have known that these things had happened. However, I can roughly guess how you enlightened an orange crane. If I haven¡¯t guessed wrong, your casual words must have identally woken her up and let her understand that it was the wooden barrel that was left everywhere. If you practiced magic power with your body of five punctures, the more you learned the more you lost naturally."

    Zi Yuan said with a slight smile, "The reason why the Goddess is so powerful is that they can use their special constitution and bloodline to be the same as the gods¡¯ soul. They can also use the power of the gods¡¯ soul to defeat their opponents. But theyck the cultivation of their bodies. How can they do it without cultivation? It¡¯s like a person has one leg long and one leg short."

    Zhou Qin¡¯s face lit up with joy. "You¡¯re right. I¡¯ve thought about it before as well. Now I¡¯m more relieved to hear that. So, master should have a good chance of winning? Even Tsuruko Tachibana said master could win!"

    However, Zi Yuan shook her head. "Not necessarily!"

    Zhou Qin was very anxious and hurriedly asked, "Why is that?"

    Zi Yuan sighed softly and said, "Even if you know her weakness, it doesn¡¯t mean that you can definitely defeat her. It¡¯s like you know where the weakness of a giant is, but he is mighty in martial arts. You can¡¯t get close to him, and you can¡¯t hit his weakness. What¡¯s the use of that?"

    Zhou Qin was greatly disappointed: "what should we do? How did your Master Wang Yuanshan defeat Tsuruko Tachibana? "

    Zi Yuan thought about it and shook her head helplessly. "I don¡¯t know..."

    Zhou Qin bit his lip and said firmly, "No, I have to tell my master about this immediately."

    Zi Yuan immediately said, "No! You can¡¯t say it!"

    Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes widened. "Why not?"

    Zi Yuan said with a serious face, "Now Li Yundong is in closed-door cultivation. If you disturb him and tell him about this matter. Superficially, it seems to be beneficial to Li Yundong and let him know the shorings and ws of Masako Tachibana, in fact, he still hasn¡¯t given the answer to how to attack this defect and w. Li Yundong will certainly have his mind shaken, and he can¡¯t concentrate on cultivating bravely when he is in closed-door cultivation. On the contrary, he will spend his time thinking about how to find the ws of Masako Tachibana."

    Zhou Qin said hurriedly, "But the most important thing at the moment is to defeat Masako Tachibana. Is there anything wrong with studying your opponent?"

    However, Zi Yuanughed and said, "Zhou Qin, you are wrong. The only opponent of each of us will always be ourselves! The most important thing is to make yourself stronger, and studying your opponents will only make you fall into a dead end in Japan! Don¡¯t think that Masako Tachibana is the most terrible enemy in the world. The enemies will never end, and there will always be opponents stronger than you. Do you think that Mount K¨­ya is the strongest religion in Japan? You are wrong!"

    Zhou Qin was shocked. "Could it be that there is another force that is more powerful than Zhenyan Tantrism?"

    Zi Yuan nodded and said with a smile, "Yes, in terms of Buddhism forces, Zhenyan Tantrism is only ranked second in Japan. The number one in Japanese Buddhism forces is Pure Land School!"

    Zhou Qin was tongue-tied. "Pure Land School? Isn¡¯t this a branch of our Chinese Buddhism?"

    Zi Yuan nodded slightly and said, "Yes, Pure Land School is simr to Zhenyan Tantrism. They were formed after Buddhism was passed down to Japan in the Central ins. What¡¯s different from Zhenyan Tantrism is that Pure Land School mainly has a history of Japan. Even during the period of the Tang and Warring States Period, the base camp of the Pure Land Sect, the Wish Temple, even privately trained arge number of Monk soldiers. At that time, in order to draw Pure Land School over to their side, they had carried out various political transactions and even arranged marriage with them."

    Zhou Qin was stunned: "A monk also marry?"

    Zi Yuan said with a smile, "Yes, some monks of Pure Land School can get married and have children."

    Zhou Qin was unable to stifle augh. "Some of these fickle monks also believe in them?"

    However, Zi Yuan said, "Don¡¯t look down on them. The Monk soldier of Pure Land School was well-known all over the world. It¡¯smon for them to recite Buddhist scriptures and kill people with knives. Even Takeda Shingen, such a famous figure, has to fawn on them. Over the past thousands of years, the power of Pure Land School has already prated into every corner of Japan."

    Zhou Qin sighed and said, "When I met those monks on Mount K¨­ya, I already felt that some of them were strong enough to be abnormal. But I didn¡¯t expect that there were cultivators who were even more abnormal than them in Japan!"

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly and said, "There are too many schools of Zhenyan Tantrism and too many of them are tooplicated. Ancient meaning school and new meaning school are constantly fighting with each other, so the sects and organizations are rtively loose. As for, Pure Land School is much more strict. Moreover, this sect has been secretly training a very secret Monk soldier army in my Wishing Temple. This Monk soldier has been kept since the Warring States Period. No sect in the cultivation world has such a disciplined and aggressive cultivation army."

    Zhou Qin sighed and said, "I¡¯ve learned a lot... Fortunately, the ce where I sent the letter this time is not from the Wishing Temple of Pure Land School."

    Zi Yuanughed and said, "However, if you think that Pure Land School is the biggest cultivation sect in Japan, then you are wrong again!"

    Zhou Qin was horrified. "Could there be a cultivation sect stronger than Pure Land School?"

    Zi Yuan said, "Yes! The number one power in the Japanese cultivation world is neither Zhenyan Tantrism nor Pure Land School. It¡¯s the Japanese national religion, the religion of Shintoism! In Japan, almost all Japanese people believe in Shintoism. ording to tradition, a few days after a Japanese child is born, he will be taken to the shrine by his parents to worship the gods. In Japan, there are thousands of temples. These temples are all ces of Shintoism. And in Japan, there are 96 million people who believe in Buddhism. The number of people who believe in Shintoism is one. Although the difference is not big, because many people believe in Buddhism and religion at the same time, in fact, the number of believers of Shintoism is far more than that!"

    "What¡¯s more, even Masako Tachibana and Tsuruko Tachibana you met before, as well as Tachibana Wakako who took part in the Taoist assembly. In fact, they used to be the goddess of Shintoism. However, because of the faction¡¯s rejection and struggle, they eventually chose to cooperate with Zhenyan Tantrism."

    Hearing this, Zhou Qin¡¯s hair all over her body stood up. She asked subconsciously, "Will they also go on the day of the battle?", "Will these believers of Pure Land School and Shintoism go there on the day of the fight?"

    Zi Yuan nodded slowly. "That¡¯s right! That day, it¡¯s the day when all the major schools of Zhenyan Tantrism will be elected as the chief executive. It¡¯s not only a big day in the Japanese cultivation world, but also a day that the people of Japan will pay attention to. On that day, not only Pure Land School, Zhenyan Tantrism, Shintoism, and the other cultivation sects, but also the other sects in Japan, such as Fahua Sect, Tiantai Sect, Faxiang Sect, Onmyodo etc... will all go there!"

    Hearing this, Zhou Qin was speechless. She originally thought that Zhenyan Tantrism was already a top sect in the Japanese cultivation world. However, she did not expect that the strong would be attacked by the strong. Zhenyan Tantrism was just the tip of the iceberg in the Japanese cultivation world!

    How could such a small country be like this? What about China with a long history?

    Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help looking out of the window. For a moment, worry climbed up her eyebrows. "How many cultivation sects are hidden in the Divine Land? And how many masters are hidden? Master... Can he cope with them?"

 Chapter 627 Harmony Between Man and Nature

    <h4>Chapter 627 Harmony Between Man and Nature</h4>

    Just when Zhou Qin and Zi Yuan were secretly worried about Li Yundong, Li Yundong was still finally meditate in seclusion of cultivation in Mount Tianlong.

    What was the jinshen of settling a score?

    What was the characteristics of the jinshen of settling a score?

    "Why can¡¯t I always understand the knack of the jinshen of settling a score?"

    These questions had always lingered in Li Yundong¡¯s mind. Even though he was meditating in the secret room of the Fox Zen School, he still could not figure out the real answer.

    Li Yundong woke up from his deeply sit in meditation. He took a long breath, and a stream of white air sprayed on the wall in front of him like a sharp arrow, and then spread out in all directions.

    Li Yundong sighed lightly, and there was a hint of depression between his eyebrows. Today was the sixth day of his meditation, but he couldn¡¯t figure out what was the jinshen of settling a score?

    "You can¡¯t use this body at all? What do you mean by saying this in the jinshen of settling a score?" Li Yundong stood up and looked at the white Qi that was lingering on the wall in front of him. The characters carved by Mystical Silver Fox with his fingers looked particrly mysterious and deep under the mist of the Qi.

    Li Yundong stared fixedly at the "Heavenly Jindan Technique" and stared at the contents of the ninth phase. He said with a wry smile, "Mystical Silver Fox, oh, Mystical Silver Fox. Qianbei, if you know what was a real jinshen of settling a score? Why don¡¯t you tell me?"

    Li Yundong said to the wall with some self-mockery. He had cultivated for more than half a year. It could be said that no matter in cultivation or settling a score, he had never failed. He had never been stuck in this crucial point and was blocked by an invisible film. He had obviously reached the Jinshen phase, but he had never been able to master the fighting skills matching with it. For Li Yundong, it was somewhat uneptable.

    However, when it came to cultivation, fool¡¯s haste is no speed. The more urgent Li Yundong was, the further he found that he seemed to be far away from the answer. Even when he was cultivating in meditation, his cultivation was falling back.

    It was also because of this reason that Li Yundong didn¡¯t dare to force himself to practice cultivation. He temporarily put aside the problem he was thinking about and looked at the characters carved by the Mystical Silver Fox. He also reached out his hand with some curiosity and touched the hard granite wall. He thought to himself, "I really don¡¯t know how the Mystical Silver Fox used to carve the characters on such a hard wall."

    Thinking of this, Li Yundong pressed his finger on a rtively t stone surface. With a little force, he put his index and middle fingers together and scratched down!

    At this time, Li Yundong had already entered the Jinshen phase. As soon as he exerted his strength, his fingers immediately scratched the stone like steel knives, making the stone ng. However, Li Yundong saw that his fingers only scratched the white marks on the stone, but he couldn¡¯t carve any words on them. So he increased his strength and exerted force with his fingers!

    At this time, a medium-sized granite was dug off from the stone.

    The granite stone was as hard as steel. Li Yundong forcibly dug a stone off a cracked stone with the strength of his bare hand. This kind of fierce power was really scary, but Li Yundong looked at the stone in his hand and frowned.

    He knew that he was going to dig out a rock from the smooth granite. Even though it looked earth-shattering, it was nothingpared to Mystical Silver Fox writing on the rock surface.

    Li Yundong was using his bare hands to dig out stones. This was only the most powerful kung fu. However, the Mystical Silver Fox was using her bare hands to write on the stone. This was a kung fu that was abination of hardness and softness. How could she control her own strength and prevent the hard stones from being shattered by force? This required an extremely soft and feminine strength.

    Solitary Yin is not long, solitary Yang is not born. Of course, Li Yundong knew that. But after Karmamudra with Su Chan, he had some Yin Qi in his body.

    "Do I have to use Yin Qi to write on the stone?" Li Yundong¡¯s heart skipped a beat, and he started to mobilize the Yin Qi in his body to engrave words on the stone.

    But this time, Li Yundong found that he couldn¡¯t even dig up a stone. He knew that because he paid too much attention to Yin Qi, he didn¡¯t have enough Yang Qi. There was only softness but no toughness.

    Li Yundong suddenly smiled bitterly and shook his head. "It¡¯s easier said than done. It¡¯s abination of hardness and softness, Yin and Yang. It¡¯s really not easy!"

    Li Yundong raised his head and looked at the engraved words on the wall. He was a little depressed in his heart. He had no choice but to turn around and leave the stone room. He simply came to the Taoist temple where the Fox Zen School used to be. He breathed in the fresh air in the mountain while rxing.

    At this time, there were quite a lot of tourists in Mount Tianlong. Li Yundong was wandering in the crowd, following the tourists to look around. It seemed like he was just walking around, but in fact he was always thinking about engraving on the wall.

    The reason why Mystical Silver Fox could do that was that she was a great cultivator. In theory, even if Mystical Silver Fox was a master in the Jinxian phase, there was no reason for her to be so inferior to Mystical Silver Fox in the Jinshen phase.

    "Is there any other secret?"

    Li Yundong was lost in thought all the way. Unconsciously, he had walked to the ce where Liu Ye used to live.

    Li Yundong pushed the door into the room, only to see that the decoration in the room was the same as before, but the table was covered with a film of faint dust.

    Li Yundong looked around the room casually. He sat down at the desk in the room andy on the wooden chair. He raised his head, closed his eyes, and pondered over the doubts in his heart.

    But after thinking about it for a while, Li Yundong still couldn¡¯t figure it out. When he opened his eyes, he found that all kinds of Taoist and Buddhist ssics were piled up on the bookshelf next to him. Li Yundong was bored, so he picked up a "Sutra" and read quickly.

    Almost all the stories in this Buddhist scriptures were stories full of wisdom. They were short and fierce, making people think deeply. At first, Li Yundong felt dispirited, but when he looked at them, he was a little fascinated. Especially when he saw one of the stories, he suddenly had an idea.

    The story was, "Once, Zen Master Yinfeng of Mount Wutai pushed a carriage to carry things, and happened to meet Zen Master Mazu, who was sitting on his feet and resting. Zen Master Yinfeng asked Zen Master Mazu to pull back his feet and make way for him, but he said stiffly, "I only stretch but not shrink."

    Zen Master Yinfeng was unwilling to give in, "Then, I will only go in and not retreat."

    Neither of them would give in for the other. In the end, Zen Master Yinfeng didn¡¯t care about anything and pushed the cart forward. As a result, he injured Zen Master Mazu¡¯s foot.

    When Zen Master Mazu returned to the temple, he immediately went to the court to exin with an axe in his hand. He said to the crowd in the temple, "Who hurt my foot just now? Come out!"

    Zen Master Yinfeng walked quickly to Mazu and stretched out his neck fearlessly. However, Zen Master Mazu put down his ax and said gently, "You have no hesitation in your future. You can go anywhere in the whole wide world."

    Zen Master Yinfeng retracted his neck and knelt down in front of Zen Master Mazu. Then, he bowed and retreated. Zen Master Mazu praised him again, "It¡¯s a real magic treasure that can move forward but can also retreat."

    Thest sentence of the story made Li Yundong suddenly sit up straight. He closed the book, and his eyes were shining, as if he had gained something.

    "This story is about a person who is good at bending, stretching, advancing and retreating. He is really a great person. But what does it mean in cultivation? Isn¡¯t his current cultivation able to go forward but can¡¯t retreat? Can he be strong but can¡¯t be soft? Can he be yang but can¡¯t be yin?"

    Li Yundong put down the book in his hand and began to pace back and forth in the room. He muttered to himself like a crazy demon, "Then, what can I do to ¡¯some can be hard and some can be soft, some can be Yin and some can go Yang, and some can go forward and some can retreat¡¯?"

    Li Yundong stood firm, looked down at his hands and said in a low voice: "Tao begets one, two begets three, three begets all things; man follows the earth, the earth follows the heaven, the heaven follows the Tao, and the magic follows the nature! What¡¯s the connection between the two? "

    "Tao begets one, one begets two, two begets three, and three begets all things. This is about the origin and development of the universe. Man follows the earth, the earth follows heaven, the heaven follows the Tao, and the magic follows nature. This is about the process of cultivator nature and life. It is about cultivator¡¯s Zhuji phase, opening up the 12 standard meridians,pleting the cultivation of their own small universe, following the example of the earth, and strengthening their own self-healing function."

    "The Law of Earth and Heaven refers to the realm of cultivation in which cultivators cultivating their own magic. The Law of Heaven refers to the realm in which cultivators breakthrough Yangshen phase and jump out of the mortal world of the mortal society, get rid of the restrictions of life, aging, illness, and death, and begin to reach the peak of Karmamudra."

    Li Yundong talked to himself quickly in the room like a madman. The more he spoke, the more excited he became, and the brighter his eyes became. Although what he said was no different from what he had repeated countless times before, this time, Li Yundong clearly felt like he was running on the right road and rushing forward.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know what kind of feeling it was, but he had a feeling that "I seem to understand, I seem to be very close to the answer!"

    This kind of feeling was exactly in line with the idea of "the natural magic" of Taoists and "the true self" of Buddhism.

    What was the magic of Nature? Since ancient times, the great cultivators of various sects had written a book to exin this point. But no matter how hard they tried, they found that "the magic of Nature" was actually a superficial exnation, but they could not exin the true meaning of the realm. Once anyone reached this realm, they would understand that this was the magic of Nature!

    But no matter how hard they tried to exin it to their disciples, they couldn¡¯t make it clear, what¡¯s more, they can¡¯t let them understand what kind of realm it was.

    As far as Li Yundong knew, the "magic of nature" that he understood was that since there was a difference between men and women in nature and the difference between Yin and Yang, men and women had the magic of nature. Tao gave birth to all things, and all things had the magic of being separated by nature. Tao gave birth to five elements, and the five elements had the magic of separating nature from nature. The moon had the light of nature, and the sun had the light of nature. The fate of all things in the world was in ordance with thews of nature. All of them were the origins of nature, and all of them were the roots of nature.

    This was the "magic of nature".

    Li Yundong suddenly stopped and looked down at his hands, his eyes full of passion. "I¡¯m so stupid! Why do I always try to carve characters with the power of Jinshen? I always thought that the power of Jinshen was invincible, and it was my strongest power, so I naturally should try it with the strongest power! But I neglected one thing: no matter how hard the granite is, it is also a matter of the earth! It is also a natural thing that can¡¯t jump out of the five elements! Since people are the spirits of all things, and cultivators are superior to people, since they have the ability to manipte the five elements, why are they so stupid to confront the hard granite head-on?"

    "What about the ¡¯Eight Great Freedom Ones¡¯ Iprehended in the Spirit Space? I can be big or small, far or near, more or less, light or heavy, and can change all kinds of means."

    "Why can I do these things in Spirit Space, but not in the whole wide world?"

    When Li Yundong thought of this, he suddenly felt that a window had been opened in front of him, and a new world had finally opened to him.

    "Because the Spirit Space is created by itself, and everything in the world can be mobilized by itself! And the whole wide world is not created by themselves, so the whole wide world can¡¯t!" Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help being ecstatic and said quickly.

    "It¡¯s precisely because cultivators discover that they can¡¯t freely use magic spells in the whole wide world like they do in Spirit Space, that they wish to the magic of nature. They wish to ensure that they can cultivate their own small universe in ordance with the big universe of the outside world."

    "What is the magic of nature? It is naturally the great liberation and Ishvara! This is the same as the eight great self-established by the Buddhists! The reason why Buddhism and Taoism are able to cultivate together is because of this! The human body is its own small universe, and the world is the great universe of the outside world. As long as theybine and form a bond, they will be able to achieve the great liberation and Ishvara in the whole wide world!"

    Li Yundong looked up andughed out loud. There was a kind of pleasure in hisughter. "I see! What is Jinshen of settling a score? It is the harmony between man and nature. Everything in the world and the five elements of thunder and lightning are all used by me!"

    What Li Yundong didn¡¯t know was that as soon as heprehended the Tao, he finallyprehended the realm of Jinshen of settling a score. Since then, there was finally a "Super Li" who was invincible in the Chinese cultivation world!

 Chapter 628 The Appearance of the Silver Fox

    <h4>Chapter 628 The Appearance of the Silver Fox</h4>

    Li Yundong¡¯sughter was so loud that it shook the sky. The tourists in the Tianlong Taoist temple all looked in his direction curiously.

    At this time, Li Yundong was full of excitement aboutprehending the Cultivation. He did not care about whether his behavior is shocking. His figure shed, and rushed out of the Taoist temple instantly like a wild horse. He jumped over the wall in a few leaps and rushed toward the secret room of the Fox Zen School, leaving the stunned tourists staring at his back in a daze.

    After returning to the cave, Li Yundong rushed to the wall engraved with the "Heavenly Jindan Technique". He stretched out his hands, pressed his fingers of one hand against the wall, took a deep breath, and thought to himself, "The earth element of the five elements corresponded to the spleen of the five Zangs in human body. If I am right, the Qi of the spleen in human body¡¯s small universe can mobilize the earth element of the world¡¯s big universe!¡±

    Thinking of this, Li Yundong closed his eyes and tried his best to activate the Qi of the spleen in his five Zangs. Because the Qi of the spleen is yellow, So Li Yundong¡¯s face became sallow in an instant, and the tips of his fingers quickly condensed into a mass of flowing yellow light.

    Why did cultivators have spiritual energy? Why could they use magic?

    Because they have trained their internal organs, Three Dantians, and their Yuanqi and Spirit through special methods, so that the five Qis could be used in the morning, and the three kinds of Qis could gather at the top.

    Human beings are the intelligent part of the universe. Only people could sense the universe of heaven and earth by their own small universe. In China, almost everyone who believed in Buddhism, Confucianists, or Taoists attaches importance to the harmony between man and nature. They could reach the supreme Cultivation of the Great Cultivator bybining their small universe with the universe of heaven and earth.

    This was the reason that for thousands of years, even if legendary creatures wanted to learn the art of Cultivation, they had to first cultivate into a human body in order to reach the best Cultivation.

    Although the granite was hard, it is just a stone with a very tight structure. All the stones in the world belong to the earth system, and Qi in human spleen corresponds to the five elements of Qi in earth. In addition, Li Yundong had reached the Jinshen phase at that time, so the Qi in five Zangs was incredibly strong. He prated into the granite with the earth Qi of his small universe, which stirred up the earth system inside the granite, almost breaking into pieces in an instant.

    Li Yundong only felt as if he was pressing on a soft sponge. The hard granite under his palm was flowing like running water, even with waves.

    As soon as Li Yundong moved his hand away from the rock, the waves on the surface disappeared instantly. But when he pressed it again, the wave-like patterns were reappeared on the surface of the rock.

    Li Yundong smiled slightly. He exerted a little strength with his fingers, and the surface of the rock turned into a pile of fine powder and fell as if what Li Yundong dug out was not hard granite, but just dry bread.

    Li Yundong had figured out the art of settle a score, and his heart was filled with delight beyond words. He thought for a moment and a smile appeared on his face. He wrote a few crooked and big words on the side of the wall, which read, "Li Yundong has visited here!"

    After finishing writing, Li Yundong stood back and saw that the characters of Mystical Silver Fox were lively and beautiful. They were vigorous and powerful, with each stroke was majestic, showing a profound foundation of calligraphy. While his own characters were crooked and twisted, like chicken ws. It would be alright to look at it alone. But when it was put together with the characters of Mystical Silver Fox, it was really unsightly to the extreme.

    Li Yundongughed in a self-mocking way. He reached out his hand and wiped the words on the wall as if he was wiping a ckboard. There was almost no trace of it, only a faint touch of his palm.

    Li Yundongughed and said to himself, "Mystical Silver Fox Qianbei, I won¡¯t leave a word beside your characters to show off! This wall is owned by you alone!"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and was about to leave. But when he was about to enter the tunnel, he suddenly stood still, turned his head back and opened his eyes wide. He suspiciously looked at the wall that his hand had wiped, with a voice buzzed in his mind.

    "Although I have practiced the ¡¯Heavenly Jindan Technique¡¯ to the ninth stage, I havemitted a divine punishment because of it. I¡¯m afraid that I will undergo the catastrophe soon. If fails£¬my soul will fall apart! Therefore, the ¡¯Heavenly Jindan Technique¡¯ will be left here. I hope that in the future, the heirs of my Fox Zen School will seed, and save my soul which scattered between heaven and earth, so that I could reappear in the world!"

    In the Taoist assembly, Yan Fang had vowed to say such a few words, saying that Mystical Silver Fox had left them in the stone cave. But at that time, Li Yundong did not witness these words, so he only thought that what Yan Fang said was nder.

    But just now, Li Yundong wiped away the words on the stone casually. It suddenly urred to him that Could what Yan Fang has said be true? Did Mystical Silver Fox really has left such a message? Or in other words, She did really has left such a message, and was someone deliberately erased her words?

    Thinking of this, Li Yundong was suddenly moved. He couldn¡¯t help walking quickly to the wall and looked carefully at every corner of the wall.

    Because there were so many characters carved on this huge wall before, almost everyone who saw this wall would be attracted by these big characters, the scriptures recorded on the wall, and Mystical Silver Fox who has inscribed these characters. How could anyone pay attention to anything else?

    At this time, Li Yundong searched carefully. His hands went back and forth on the wall and touched it carefully. Sure enough, he found traces of wiping by a palm on the lower left side of therge text.

    Li Yundong¡¯s face changed and he thought to himself, "In the past, people wrote words from right to left, from top to bottom. The Mystical Silver Fox must have written them in the bottom left corner at the end and it had been wiped away. No wonder I didn¡¯t see it!"

    But, who is the person that erased the words?

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help recalling that he had seen a tall and strong mysterious man in the cave. He thought to himself, "Is it him?"

    But Li Yundong soon denied this idea. He thought to himself, "No, I didn¡¯t see this piece of text when I first entered the cave, which means that someone had already erased it before he came in! Who is he now? Is it... Liu Ye?"

    Li Yundong suddenly seemed to understand something. He was frightened and couldn¡¯t help but take a step back. He opened his eyes wide and looked at the domineering words on the wall. He murmured, "Mystical Silver Fox Qianbei... Do you really want to resurrect? Or is there someone really wanting to resurrect you?"

    "Is everything that Yan Fang has said right? Is Liu Ye controlling all this in secret? Yes, it must be so. In this way, everything makes sense! Why did the golden snake I buried at that time be stolen? Why did Mei Niang appear in Mount Gezao? I see! Liu Ye, Liu Ye, do you really want to resurrect the Mystical Silver Fox? No wonder Master Puren of the Xiyuan Temple and monastery chair Xin Chen of the Jinshan Temple once asked me, ¡¯If you have a close friend who is an evil spirit who wants to destroy the cultivation world, what will you do?¡¯"

    Li Yundong¡¯s admiration for the Mystical Silver Fox suddenly dissipated a lot. He said with a sullen face, "Mystical Silver Fox Qianbei, although you have caused a lot of disasters in this world, I respect you as a legendary woman. For thousands of years, no Fox Spirit has done so many earth-shattering things like you. Whether it¡¯s good or bad. It¡¯s amazing. If you want to resurrect, I don¡¯t care about it for the time being. But if your resurrection will get my friends and rtives involved..."

    Li Yundong¡¯s face changed. He red at the wall engraved with the characters of the Mystical Silver Fox and shouted, "As long as you dare to get them in trouble... Even if you are the invincible Nine-tailed celestial fox, even if you climb out from the bottom of the 18th floor of hell ande back to life in the human world, I will beat you back to the hell with my own hands!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s words were sonorous and powerful, and each word was full of a murderous aura. After he shouted, his voice echoed in the stone room.

    Li Jiandong nced at the wall, which was full of handwriting, for thest time. He said coldly, "Keep your handwriting for the moment. If you really get my friends and rtives into trouble, I will not only send you back to hell, but will also wipe out thest trace of you in this world with my own hands!"

    With these words, Li Yundong walked away quickly without looking back.

    When Li Yundong returned to the balcony of Tiannan City, it was already evening. Li Yundong stood on the balcony and looked inside through the gap of the gauze window. He saw the little foxes at home gathered on the sofa, watching cartoons. Su Chan was sitting on the carpet in the living room, leaning against the sofa and resting her head on Ling Yue¡¯s thigh. She was eating snacks while watching cartoons for kids and giggled with the other little foxes.

    And in the living room, Zhou Qin was carrying hot dishes with an apron around her waist. She brought out the cooked food from the kitchen.

    Although Li Yundong was standing outside, he also smelled a pungent aromaing from all directions. He couldn¡¯t help butugh. "You don¡¯t have to ask. It must be Zi Yuan who is cooking! Only the food she cooked could have such a smell. It¡¯s full of elegance and quietness."

    At this time, Ruan Hongling was sitting at the dining table and shouting excitedly to the kitchen, as if urging the Zi Yuan to cook quickly.

    Cao Yi and Liu Yuehong of the Fox Zen School leanedzily against the railing of the second floor. The two beautiful women were looking at everything in front of them with a smile, and their eyes were full of gentleness and satisfaction.

    How warm and pleasant the scene is!

    In an instant, Li Yundong found that his home was so warm and moving. He had never noticed it before! How could he allow someone to destroy such a beautiful and happy life?

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and reached out to open the French windows on the balcony. He secretly made up his mind. "Even the king can¡¯t destroy the life in front of him. No one can hurt them!"

    At this time, far away at Kyoto airport in Japan, Liu Ye who disguised himself as an ordinary person, slowly walked down from the ne. He looked around and saw crowds of people flowing in all directions.

    Liu Ye stood in the airport building with a soft voice and sighed. He said, "It¡¯s been more than ten years, and I didn¡¯t expect to set foot on thisnd again! You Japanese, your nightmare ising! On another day, you will be panic and sleepless because of the appearance of the Mystical Silver Fox! When she recovers all her cultivation, you will regret sealing the Nine-tailed celestial fox on thisnd! The anger of her will devour you... Of course, not only you, but also those cultivation sects who once chased after her and the Fox Zen School, causing us to never live in peace!"

 Chapter 629 Its Hard to Combine Two Separating Swords

    <h4>Chapter 629 It¡°s Hard to Combine Two Separating Swords</h4>

    Li Yundong opened the French window and went home. The little foxes who were watching TV looked at him in surprise. Su Chan was overjoyed to look at Li Yundong. "Yundong, are you out of seclusion? How is it?"

    "Master is back?" Zhou Qin turned her head and shouted with surprise and joys, "Are you out of seclusion?"

    At this time, Zi Yuan also heard the noise. She took off her apron and walked out of the kitchen. Different from others, she did not ask, but just looked at him carefully.

    Zi Yuan saw Li Yundong standing in front of everyone with a smile on his face. Although his appearance did not change much, there was a kind of thorough understanding in Li Yundong¡¯s eyes that could find out the rules of the people in the universe and the operation of all things.

    This kind of gaze had only been seen in one person by Zi Yuan. It was her master¡ªWang Yuanshan.

    Zi Yuan smiled slightly and said softly, "It seems that you have understood what a jinshen fight is?"

    Li Yundong smiled and nodded at her. "Yes£¬I¡¯ve already figured it out!"

    Hearing this, Su Chan and Zhou Qin were overjoyed. Su Chan took Li Yundong¡¯s arm happily and giggled. "I have known Yun Dong is the smartest. Thest effort helps a bit!"

    Zhou Qin asked curiously, "Master, what¡¯s the real jinshen fighting method? Could you teach us?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "There are only four words in the jinshen fighting: man and nature harmony!"

    Zhou Qin and Su Chan were startled at the same time, and they began to think with confusion. Zi Yuan, on the other hand, began to ponder slightly as if deep in thought and the little foxes were confused.

    Ruan Hongling, who sitting at the dining table, thought for a while, but she couldn¡¯t figure it out. So she gave up thinking and urged, "Oh, don¡¯t think about it. One shouldprehend his Tao on his own. If Tao can be understood in such a short time, then everyone in the world will be masters of the jinshen fighting! Let¡¯s eat first!"

    Zi Yuan and others thought that Ruan Hongling¡¯s words made sense, so they all smiled and sat down at the table. At this time, Ao Wushuang also came out of the room. Standing on the second floor, she said to Li Yundong with a serious face, "Leader, would you pleasee upstairs? I have something to tell you."

    Li Yundong looked up and nodded to Ao Wushuang with a smile. Then he told Su Chan a few words, and followed Ao Wushuang into her room.

    As soon as he entered the room, Li Yundong saw that the Bahuang Sword was floating in the middle of the room, shining with a soft light. He was slightly startled, but soon he seemed to understand something and turned to look at Ao Wushuang.

    The beautiful woman with a vermilion beauty mole between her eyebrows was looking at the Bahuang Sword in front of her reluctantly, as if she was looking at a child who was about to depart, as well as her lover who was about to leave. She said softly, "Leader, you are going to Japan soon. Now I¡¯ll give you the Bahuang Sword, which has followed me for more than ten years..."

    Hearing this, Li Yundong immediately shook his head and said, "No, no, Ao Wushuang Qianbei, this is your personal magic treasure, and it¡¯s a love token that Wang Yuanshan gave you. How can you give it to me?"

    "A love token?" Ao Wushuang couldn¡¯t helpughing. "Leader, do you know why I asked Chan¡¯er toe back to you after taking her away?"

    Li Yundong asked in surprise, "Why?"

    Ao Wushuang looked at Li Yundong with a flicker in her eyes and said with emotion, "Because I knew that you are a man with affection and righteousness, and you have real feelings for Chan¡¯er, so I let here back! Everything in the world is easy to get. No matter if it¡¯s magic arts, magic treasures, or even more powerful magic formations, as long as you work hard to learn and pursue them, you will get them one day. But only the one who has affection and righteousness is hard to get around the world! Li Yundong, although I am your leader, if you call me Qianbei, I will say something to you as a Qianbei."

    Li Yundong said respectfully, "Please say as much as you like!"

    Ao Wushuang smiled slightly and said, "If there is love between the two of us, why should we care about the token? The weakest thing in the world is love, but it is also the most determined! Although Wang Yuanshan and I are separated from each other by different roads of demon and immortal. But I always have him in my heart and I believe that there is always me in his heart. Why should I cling to the love token?"

    Ao Wushuang handed the Bahuang Sword to Li Yundong and said, "Li Yundong, our love cares about heaven and earth, but it just doesn¡¯t care about this sword. It used to be a powerful magical weapon of the Linggong Sect. Later, Wang Yuanshan gave it to me, so it followed me for ten years. But what I regret most in my life is to take this sword..."

    As she said this, Ao Wushuang stroked the sword gently, which was covered with exquisite patterns, with one hand. She sighed and said, "If Wang Yuanshan hadn¡¯t given me this sword, how could he have been caught by others? s, that is his fate! Li Yundong, you are going to go into a dangerous ce, and you can¡¯t make the mistake that Wang Yuanshan has made again! You must take this sword! Even if you don¡¯t need it in the future, you can return it to Zi Yuan and give it to the Linggong Sect, which can be regarded as a method to lift the load from my mind!"

    When Li Yundong heard this, he couldn¡¯t help but sigh. He reached out and took the Bahuang Sword. He sighed and said, "In this case, I have no choice but to ept respectfully."

    Ao Wushuang was delighted to see that Li Yundong had epted it. When she had let Changsheng go of Saionji Tsunekatsu, her heart was filled with grudge and guilty. At this time, when she saw Li Yundong take the Bahuang Sword with a smile, she felt less guilty and less worried. She smiled and said, "Leader, the Bahuang Sword and the Liuhe Sword were chain attackers. Only when the two swords arebined can the greatest power of this sword be exerted."

    An idea suddenly shed in Li Yundong¡¯s mind. He smiled at Ao Wushuang and said, "Ao Wushuang Qianbei, wait for me." As he said this, he went out of the door, stood in the corridor on the second floor, and shouted at the restaurant on the first floor, "Zhou Qin, give me the Liuhe Sword!"

    Zhou Qin responded and opened the colorful brocade pouch. In an instant, the Liuhe Sword turned into a streak of lightning and appeared in front of Li Yundong.

    Reaching out to hold it, Li Yundong turned back to the room, and made the two swords stand side by side. He saw that the whole body of the Bahuang sword was shining with cyan light, and the silver light of the Liuhe sword. The two swords floated in the air, with a force of estrangement in the middle. Neither of them wanted to get close to each other, they rejected respectively.

    Li Yundong asked in confusion, "What¡¯s going on? How can the two swords bebined?"

    Ao Wushuang said with a smile, "I don¡¯t know how tobine them either. When Wang Yuanshan gave me the Bahuang Sword, he didn¡¯t say it, and I didn¡¯t ask. Later, when I wanted to ask... it was toote." Speaking of this, Ao Wushuang looked a little sad, but soon she forced a smile and said, "Leader, you are amazing, and your talent is even above Wang Yuanshan¡¯s. I believe you can figure it out."

    Li Yundong looked at the Bahuang Sword and hold its hilt. He secretly activated his Zhenqi in an attempt to subdue this divine sword.

    At first, the Bahuang Sword was still trembling, struggling madly with a humming sound.

    But when Li Yundong was still in the Yangshen phase, his Zhenqi was incredibly powerful. At this time, he has already been a master in jinshen, so the strength and concentration of Zhenqi in his whole body was fantastic. Besides, the sword¡¯s high level of power came directly from its holder, Ao Wushuang.

    Although Ao Wushuang was powerful, her strength was in the strong physicalbat capability that the fox spirit had shown its true body and the various magic arts that she was proficient in. It did not depend on how strong her magic power and Zhenqi were.

    Wherever Li Yundong¡¯s Zhenqi went, the sword¡¯s spiritual energy and Zhenqi were shattered. Like a hot knife cutting through butter.

    The Bahuang Sword only resisted for a while before it dered that its owner had changed. Without more struggled, it like a tamed horse, lying docilely in the palm of Li Yundong¡¯s hand.

    With a stir of his mind, Li Yundong heard that the Bahuang sword made a cracking sound. The body of the sword was split into tiny iron des, which assembled into the shape of an iron lotus throne. They rotated quickly, making creepy nging sounds.

    In the past, Li Yundong had more than once saw this kind of throne. At this time, when he observed it from such a close distance, he felt that the opening and closing of its teeth were really as horrible as a meat grinder. Even if the hardest metal in the world fell in, it would be instantly twisted into powder.

    Ao Wushuang watched as her powerful magical weapon, close to her for more than ten years, finally became someone else¡¯s treasure. For a moment, she felt a little lost, but she quickly adjusted her mentality and said with a smile, "Leader, the Bahuang Sword is best at fighting one-on-one. Even if it meets an opponent whose cultivation is higher than its own, it has the ability to deal with it. It can even defeat the stronger one with the weaker one. Among the five major divine swords of the Taoists, except for the Xuanyuan Sword that can win thebination of Bahuang and Liuhe swards,while the others may not necessarily be its opponent."

    Li Yundong chuckled and held the Liuhe Sword in his other hand. He wanted tobine the two swords into one through his own Zhenqi.

    But as soon as Li Yundong connected the auras of the two swords, he suddenly felt that the two swords were struggling madly and painfully, as if they were enduring a kind of torture.

    Seeing this, Ao Wushuang hurriedly said, "Don¡¯t do that, we can¡¯t merge them together like this! These two swords were originally like a huge ma. When they arebined together, there is nothing unusual about them. But one day, someone suddenly split them into two pieces, and then the fracture surface produced a strong repelling force. I can¡¯t figure out why and how to eliminate them. Leader, don¡¯t try hard, or you will hurt them."

    Seeing that there was a faint crack on the bodies of the two swords, Li Yundong immediately felt a chill in his heart. He did not dare to try again and withdrew his Zhenqi. Soon, the cracks also slowly disappeared.

    Li Yundong shook his head and said, "It¡¯s really weird!

    Ao Wushuang smiled slightly. "Leader, you can think about it in the future. Rome wasn¡¯t built in a day. I haven¡¯t figured out the tricks and reasons for it for a long time in the past ten years. Although the two swords can¡¯t bebined, you still have great power with the Bahuang Sword and the Liuhe Sword at the same time. It also will be safer for you to go to Japan."

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Thank you so much, Ao Wushuang Qianbei!"

    Ao Wushuang felt ashamed in her heart. She quickly asked, "Then... Leader, when are you going to set off? Do you want to take others with you?"

    Just as Li Yundong was about to speak, he heard a few voicesing from the door. They said in unison, "Take me there!"

 Chapter 630 Beginning of the Grand Gathering

    <h4>Chapter 630 Beginning of the Grand Gathering</h4>

    When Li Yundong heard the voice and looked back, he saw Zhou Qin and Su Chan peeking at the door.

    Li Yundong pretended to be angry and shouted, "Are you two eavesdropping?"

    Su Chan stuck out her tongue at him and said cautiously, "You¡¯ve been talking for too long. The dishes are getting cold!"

    Zhou Qin said with concern, "Master, the people of the Shingon are very arrogant. It¡¯s not enough for you to go alone. At least, one more person, one more helper!"

    Su Chan nodded her head like a chick pecking rice and said. "Yes, yes, yes!"

    Li Yundong pulled a long face and shouted, "What are you saying! Is it useful to have you two there? Don¡¯t you know your capabilities?

    Su Chan pouted and muttered unhappily, "I just want to help you,honey!"

    Li Yundong smiled helplessly. He nodded to Ao Wushuang and said, "Senior Ao Wushuang, let¡¯s go downstairs for dinner." He walked to his girl, tapped the tip of her nose, and said with a smile, "You¡¯re helping me waiting for me at home!"

    When Zhou Qin saw that even Su Chan had been rejected by Li Yundong, she sighed in her heart. Just as she was about to give up, she suddenly saw that Zi Yuan was also looking at Li Yundong with a face full of concern. She had an idea in her mind.

    After the group of people finished their dinner, Zhou Qin went to the room of Zi Yuan quietly.

    At this time, Zi Yuan was sitting cross-legged on a cattail hassock on the floor of the room. she smiled without opening her eyes and said, "What are you thinking about again?"

    Zhou Qin smiled with some embarrassment, "How do you know?"

    Zi Yuan smiled and said with her eyes closed, "I already knew when you looked at me just now. You want to go to Japan with Li Yundong secretly?"

    Zhou Qin saw that Zi Yuan was straightforward, so she no longer hid. She walked to the front of Zi Yuan quickly, sat down cross-legged, and said very seriously, "Yes!"

    At this time, Zi Yuan opened her eyes and said seriously, "Although it was my Shimei who encouraged you to go to Mount Huangshanst time. But I know very well that you have added fuel to the fire! Zhou Qin, not every time we will be as lucky asst time!"

    Zhou Qin saw that Zi Yuan had pointed her out, so she simply bit the bullet and said, "Ziyuan, let me exin. I don¡¯t go for causing trouble for Master. I¡¯m just thinking... Master always fights alone and we can¡¯t help him. Although my cultivation speed is very fast,pared with Master, I feel that he is running faster and faster ahead, and I can¡¯t catch up with him at all! Aren¡¯t you afraid that we will be a burden in the future?"

    However, Zi Yuan asked, "But what does this have to do with you going to Japan?"

    Zhou Qin asked in reply, "Don¡¯t you want to know what is real settle a score of jinshen?"

    Zi Yuanughed. "Li Yundong has already said that is about harmony between man and nature. As long as we follow this train of thought to cultivate in the future, I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll be able toprehend it one day!"

    Zhou Qin shook her head and said, "No, it¡¯s not as good as witnessing a real battle! As long as we see what a real battle of jinshen is like, we canprehend it faster, doesn¡¯t it?"

    Zhou Qin¡¯s words moved Zi Yuan immediately. She lowered her head and began to think.

    Just like what Zhou Qin had said, as for cultivation, there was a big difference between being enlightened and not being enlightened. A Master like Tsuruko Tachibana had been trapped in an extremely simple predicament for more than ten years. If it weren¡¯t for Zhou Qin¡¯s idental prompt, he would have continued to be trapped.

    The election campaign of the Chief Curator between the ancient meaning school of the Mount Koya and the new meaning school had nothing to do with other cultivation sects, but the cultivators of other sects were also willing toe and watch. Their purpose was to witness the fierce and exciting fight among the cultivators.

    Sometimes, witnessing a high level battle would be far better than cultivating by themselves for a year, or even longer!

    Zi Yuan thought about it seriously and said, "If... I mean if Li Yundong loses, what will you do?"

    Zhou Qin was stunned, "Since Master has alreadyprehended the knack of the fight, with his previous experience of defeating the strong with the weak, he will definitely not lose!"

    However, Zi Yuan asked insistently, "If he loses, what will you do?"

    After thinking for a while, Zhou Qin gritted her teeth and said, "I¡¯ll try my best to save him!"

    Zi Yuan sighed and said, "This is what I¡¯m most worried about! I¡¯m afraid that you can¡¯t save him, but put yourself in danger instead! The overall strength of the Japanese cultivation world is not inferior to that of our Chinese cultivation world. Moreover, there must be so many masters on Mount Koya that day. We will be prisoners even if we go together, not to mention go by yourself! If Li Yundong is alone there, even if he can¡¯t escape, the Yang Spirit can escape. It will be difficult for others to keep him. Besides, if Li Yundong loses, he will be safe instead! The arrogant Japanese cultivation world will definitely release him to humiliate our Chinese cultivation world."

    Zhou Qin snorted angrily. "They¡¯re dreaming! Master won¡¯t lose!"

    Zi Yuan said, "But if he wins, I¡¯m afraid that the Japanese Cultivation World will be ashamed into anger and detain him."

    Zhou Qin stood up suddenly and said angrily, "Then we can¡¯t let them seed!"

    Zi Yuan smiled and said, "Don¡¯t worry, I have an idea!"

    Zhou Qin curiously sat down on the ground again and asked, "How?"

    Zi Yuan hesitated for a moment and whispered a few words in Zhou Qin¡¯s ear. Zhou Qin was startled and asked suspiciously, "Is that okay?"

    ...

    It was a sunny day in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan the next day. All the major media in Japan had sent a special group to Mount Koya early in the morning, ready to broadcast this grand event in the Japanese Cultivation World.

    As Japan was a religious country, almost half of the people believe in Buddhism, and there are tens of millions of people who believe in the Shingon. Therefore, the big event that the election campaign of the Chief Curator between the ancient meaning school of the Shingon and the new meaning school could also be said to be a grand event for the people of Japan.

    ording to the Japanese media, there would be at least twenty million audiences watching this day¡¯s live broadcast!

    On this day, many believers had a fast and took a bath early and waited reverently at the foot of Mount Koya.

    Not long after, the door of the temple on Mount Koya opened. The monks in cassocks on the mountain flowed out in an orderly manner like the tide.

    The leading one was an old monk in a red cassock. He was Kaisai Hikariuni. Behind him were two old monks in purple cassocks. The left one held one scripture in his hand. That was the treasured scripture passed down to the eighth generation ancestor Hongfa by the seventh generation ancestor of Tang Mi, Master Huiguo. The one on the right was holding an extremely exquisite and luxurious Vajra. This Vajra was made of pure gold and was iid with gems. It was gorgeous and dazzling.

    Behind the two old monks were two rows of middle-aged monks in purple cassocks. They were all cultivators of the second grade and beyond. Only the monks of the second grade and beyond were qualified to wear purple cassocks. These monks held wooden fish in one hand and kept knocking on them with the other, reciting incantations softly.

    Behind them were monks under Grand Buddhist Chief. Some of them were holding cymbals, some were holding alms bowls, or huge Vajras, and some were holding long swords in their hands. All kinds of different things representing the differences of different schools in the ancient meaning school.

    When the major Japanese TV stations, newspapers, and online media, who had been surrounding the foot of the mountain, saw these monksing out, they immediately squeezed into a crowd. Among them, one Mitsubishi Van with the words " NHK" was the most conspicuous. They grabbed the front position. Several strong men jumped out of the car, as well as an extremely capable female announcer, which can be seen from her appearance. They quickly rushed to the front of the crowd and upied the favorable terrain for the live broadcast.

    The other reporters saw that their big brother had taken the lead, not to be outdone, they swarmed over and both sides of the avenue are tightly blocked.

    Beside the avenue, there was a young man carrying a camera with words "WTV" on his shoulder and a beautiful hostess in a ck uniform. No matter how hard they tried, they could not squeeze in and could only turn around in a hurry.

    The young man said bitterly, "Qianbei Xiangtian, what should we do? We will be scolded by the section chief if we can¡¯t get a shot!"

    The hostess named Xiangtian also stamped her feet and said anxiously, "Stupid man, don¡¯t I know? Hey, you are a man at least! Can¡¯t you force yourself in if you can¡¯t squeeze in?"

    The young man looked at the imprable human wall in front of him and took a deep breath. With a shout, he rushed inside gritted his teeth.

    But as soon as he rushed in, he was picked up by a rough man. The man looked at the three words "WTV" on his camera and sneered. "Wakayama TV Station? An anonymous junior dare to be so presumptuous? Get away! Go back!" After that, he threw the young man behind him, and the young man was thrown out like a straw.

    The man fell to the ground and climbed up awkwardly. Xiangtian beside him caught up with him and said in horror, "Is the machine okay?"

    The man was also nervously holding the camera beside him in his arms. After checking it again and again, he heaved a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Fortunately, the camera is fine!"

    When Xiangtian saw his silly look, she was so angry that she kicked him in the calf. She said angrily, "Idiot, you¡¯re really useless! I¡¯m so angry. The team is almost over. If we can¡¯t capture anything, how can we go back? Do you want to resign?"

    The man got up with a frightened look on his face. "Sorry, it¡¯s all my fault!"

    Xiangtian red at him and looked around unwillingly. When her eyes suddenly saw the maple trees on both sides of the road, her eyes were lit up. She picked up her skirt and ran toward the big tree. After a while, she climbed up the tree in an extremely indecent posture.

    The young man looked at her with a stunning look and stammered, "Qianbei Xiangtian, what, what are you doing?"

    Xiangtian shouted angrily, "Idiot, give me the machine! Then climb up on your own. What are you waiting for?"

    The young man as if awakening from a dream. He quickly climbed up the tree and began to shoot towering over them.

    Many media reporters on the road were unable to squeeze their way to the best position. Especially the powerful TV stations, which upied almost all the best positions. They didn¡¯t even leave any space for their peers.

    When these people saw the reporters and the hostess of the Wakayama TV Station climbing up the tree like monkeys and doing live streaming, their eyes were suddenly lit up. They all shouted and did the same thing.

    For a moment, in the trees and under the trees on the avenue were full of people. Many hosts were introducing the live broadcast scene to the TV screen. It was as lively as a pot of boiled porridge at the foot of Mount Koya.

    After the monks of the ancient meaning school of Mount Koya wandering around the mountain for a circuit, the monks of the new meaning school also joined in. After a circuit, they walked into Kongobu-ji Temple slowly.

    At this time, the reporters of the major media rushed to Kongobu-ji Temple crazily. With the previous experience, Xiangtian and the young man quickly climbed up a big tree with the best angle and concentrated on their own report.

    What the ancient meaning school and the new meaning school showed in front of the people was not a spectacr fighting scene, but a debate of Buddhism. In front of the world, the chief executive of the Zhenyan Tantrism was elected ording to a debate of Buddhism between the two schools. This debate is judged by the media audiences and judges from the major schools.

    This debate was long andplicated. The dignitaries of the two schools took turns. Their saliva flew in the air, and their bald heads are all the same. After a few hours, the reporters¡¯ interests had dropped significantly.

    The young man stuck the machine in the tree branch, aligned the lens and focus, and then looked around. After looking for a while, he suddenly found that below them were a man and a woman from NHK TV station. They were whispering to each other.

    The young man tugged at Xiangtian beside him and pointed at below silently. His expression seemed to be saying, "Look, NHK is also here!"

    NHK was the best TV station in Japan and a world-ss TV station that was on the same level as BBC and CNN. It was also the TV Ma almost all the Japanese TV practitioners were eager to enter.

    Xiangtian gave them a withering look and red at the young man in front of her. She lowered her voice and said, "It¡¯s not a big deal, it¡¯s just NHK."

    The young man tilted his head with interest and listened to the conversation of the two people below. His absent-mindedness irritated the dedicated hostess. Xiangtian punched the young man in the shoulder and said in a low voice with anger, "What are you doing?"

    However, the young man seemed to have found a big treasure. He made a gesture to Xiangtian to silence her, indicating that she should listen to what the two people below said.

    At first, Xiangtian was still full of anger and didn¡¯t want to do so, but soon the words of these two people attracted her attention.

    "Hey, Liu Meizi, what are the highlights of such a boring debate? Why did the section chief send us to take these pictures? He can just send a rookie here!"

    "Tsk, you really don¡¯t understand! Hey, I¡¯ll tell you in a low voice. The section chief has received an internal message that this is just a pretense to deceive the world. What really decides the oue is an internal battle!"

    "Battle? What battle? Between ancient meaning school and new meaning school? Ha, great, that¡¯s interesting!"

    "No, no! It¡¯s not like that!"

    "So what¡¯s that? Tell me, Liu Meizi!"

    "Hee hee, I¡¯ll tell you if you beg me!"

    "Nice, you little jerk, I¡¯ll deal with you tonight!"

    "Hee hee, knock it off. Be careful to be seen!"

    "Then tell me about it. Spit it out!"

    "Well, don¡¯t tell anyone about it. Just follow me secretly to take photoster! It is said that the battleter is between goddess Masako Tachibana of Shingon and a chink!"

    Hearing this, Xiangtian and the young man in the tree both raised their heads and looked at each other in confusion. "Chink? Chinese? What does the election of the chief director of Shingon to do with Chinese?"

 Chapter 631 The Heroes Meeting

    <h4>Chapter631 The Heroes¡° Meeting</h4>

    The young man heard a man and a woman whispering under them. After the two people left, he raised his head and whispered to Xiangtian, "Qianbei Xiangtian, what¡¯s going on? Is there really any other inside story behind the post of the chief executive of Zhenyan Tantrism?"

    Xiangtian said with bright eyes, "Maybe it¡¯s true! The NHK Group has its own way of getting internal information. There¡¯s nothing strange about that!"

    The young man asked in confusion, "But... why did they settle a score with a Chinese?"

    Xiangtian gave him an angry stare and said, "Who knows that? Hurry up and keep an eye on these two guys. At that time, we can follow them secretly."

    The two of them discussed it for a while. It was not until the end of the debate of Buddhist doctrine that they slipped down from the tree and quietly followed the group of people from the NHK TV station.

    After the national Buddhist doctrine debate ended, the staff of the major TV stations were busy packing up the machines and then got in the cars to leave. However, Xiangtian and the young man found that many TV stations had left some of their stuff behind.

    These staff members looked like they were going sightseeing, but in fact, there was a pinhole recording machine in their bags and chests. Obviously, they had received some inside information.

    Seeing this, Xiangtian and the young man became more and more excited. The two of them also hid the machine, quickly found a miniature camera from their cars and carried it with them. They pretended to be travelers and followed these reporters of the TV station, looking around.

    They passed through the golden hall of Mount Gaoye, passed through the Yuying Hall, and then entered the Okunion in the hintend of Mount Gaoye. After entering the Okunoin, they passed through a small bridge and arrived in front of thentern hall. They saw a group of people gathered at the gate of a distant courtyard and shouted something.

    Xiangtian and the young man quickly walked over and took a closer look. They saw that the two leading reporters were from the NHK TV station. They were the man and the woman who had whispered to each other under them and they had a super friendship. There were about a dozen men and women next to them and all of whom were reporters from other TV stations.

    The leading NHK reporter pointed at the courtyard angrily and shouted, "We are reporters and have the right to do business. Why can¡¯t we go in for an interview?"

    Since the Meiji Restoration, Japan announced that it would leave Asia and enter Europe. It has been learning from westerners everywhere. It has always boasted that it is a free capitalist country with freedom of the press and everything.

    But in fact, Japan was the only country in the world to legalize gangster society. This country was controlled from top to bottom byrge wealthy families, political families, and the gangster. ck money politics was everywhere. The so-called freedom of the press is just a whitewash.

    After the earthquake in Japan, there was a nuclear leak incident. The United States sent a messenger to the prime minister¡¯s mansion to give orders. This was tantamount to sending a retired emperor into the core domain of the Japanese political circle. It was a great shame for a single country. However, the Japanese country was submissive, and no one had ever reported anything about it. It could be seen that the so-called press freedom in Japan was just a joke for the privileged ss.

    It was also because of this that the monk guarding at the entrance of the courtyard seemed a little arrogant. He pointed to a sign at the door which said "authorized personnel only" and said, "Did you not see this sign?"

    Obviously, the female reporter didn¡¯t expect to be stopped outside. She shuddered at the thought of the annoyance of the section chief when she could not finish her task. She shivered and couldn¡¯t help saying angrily, "What¡¯s wrong with this brand? We also have a brand!" Then she raised her reporters¡¯ card.

    The reporters of other TV stations also imitated. For a time, the gate of the courtyard was full of people, and everyone was holding up the reporters¡¯ certificates in their hands.

    The monk at the door was a little impatient. He said angrily, "This is the royal forbidden area specially guarded by His Majesty the Mikado. No one else is allowed to enter!"

    Although the power of the Milkado is not as high as it was before World War II, it can lead to the death of countless Japanese nationals in one word, but since the Mikado was not pulled down from the altar, the Mikado still had a very high prestige.

    In a word, the journalists, who had been in a state of excitement, all stopped talking and looked at each other face to face.

    Only the leading female reporter straightened her neck unwillingly and said, "I¡¯ve even interviewed His Majesty the Mikado. I¡¯ve also entered His Majesty¡¯s resting pce. Why can¡¯t I go in here?"

    The monk was already very annoyed. He simply closed his eyes, put his palms together, and stood in front of the door like the door god. No matter what people said, he didn¡¯t open his eyes or make way for them.

    The female reporter wanted to say something more, but was stopped by her malepanion. He shook his head and said, "Liu Miko, don¡¯t be impulsive. Let¡¯s think of another way!"

    Reporters from other TV stations saw that NHK was failed, and they were all dejected and stopped shouting. However, they were all gathered at the door and refused to leave. Some smart reporters simply started to take photos of the Exterior to see who would enter this closed courtyard from here.

    The young man from the He Ge Mountain TV station looked at his Qianbei helplessly, "Qianbei Xiangtian, what should we do now?"

    Xiangtian had been dreaming of digging out a big piece of news in her mind and getting a raise and promotion after going back, but the cruel facts at the moment made her dream disappear in an instant. She red at the young man angrily and said, "How would I know? Didn¡¯t you see that even NHK can¡¯t help it? "

    The young man muttered with some grievance, "Didn¡¯t you just say that the NHK Group is nothing special?" After he said that, his eyes suddenly lit up and he said, "By the way, Qianbei Xiangtian, why don¡¯t we climb over the wall and go in secretly?"

    The young man pointed at the white wall which is not high in the courtyard and said excitedly.

    Xiangtian red at him as if he was looking at an idiot. "Are you crazy? It¡¯s a felony to offend His Majesty the Mikado!"

    The boy looked disappointed. Just as he was about to speak, he saw a monk wearing a bamboo hat and holding a Buddhist cane in one hand and an alms bowl in the other.

    Xiangtian suddenly became excited. She quickly patted the young man on the shoulder and said, "Look, look, this is monks of the Pure Land School! It seems that the rumor is true. Even the monks of the Pure Land Sect are here!"

    The young man quickly adjusted the angle of the miniature camera hidden on the needles on his chest and took photos of these monks. He saw that the bamboo hats on the heads of these monks were so low that he could hardly see their faces clearly. However, he found that thest monk was slender, with a small chin, and his skin was as smooth as silk. He did not seem to be a man.

    The man couldn¡¯t help but ask, "Qianbei Xiangtian, that seems to be a woman?"

    Xiangtian looked very knowledgeable and said, "What¡¯s so strange about that? Some monks in the Pure Land School have a family!" But she soon said angrily, "Damn it, they can bring a family member in. Why can¡¯t we?"

    While she wasining, the peers next to her eximed, "Ah, the head of the monastery of the Fa Hua Sect is also here!"

    "That¡¯s right. I¡¯ve heard that he is an eminent monk before. Now I see that he is really dignified!"

    The monks of the Fa Hua Sect were much more generous than those of the Pure Land School. Their abbot was leading the way. He was dressed in a gold-rimmed red cassock, with one hand in his palm as he chanted Buddhist scriptures. When he reached the door, he bowed to the monks at the door, and then slowly walked from the way of giving way.

    "Fahua Sect is also here. Is there any other sects?" Xiangtian couldn¡¯t help but get excited. As soon as she finished speaking, she saw two peopleing slowly from a distance.

    The two men walked side by side. The leader was wearing a ck high hat and a white long-sleeved robe. On the right side of the two stood a man of about 40 years old. He was dignified and handsome. He bowed his hands and arched in front of him, walking step by step. Beside him stood a young boy of about 15 or 16 years old. He was also wearing a high hat and a long robe. Because he was short, although he followed his father¡¯s example, his wide sleeves hung on the ground and dragged forward.

    Xiangtian and the young man widened their eyes instantly. The young man said in surprise, "Am I seeing it wrong? Is it Yin-Yang Master?"

    Xiangtian¡¯s face was full of fanatical worship. She said excitedly, "Oh my god, it¡¯s Abe Right, the head of Abe family home. He¡¯s too handsome. It¡¯s better to meet him than to be heard of! The young patriarch is also very handsome. He¡¯s my cup of tea!"

    Although the Abe family home changed its surname to Tuoyumen in the Shiyamachi era of Japan, it has been used to this day, but the Japanese folk and spiritual circles still habitually call the Tuyumen family the Abe family home, in order to express their respect for the Abe family home, which has made great contributions to the Japanese Cultivation World and even to the whole country of Japan.

    After the patriarch and the young patriarch of the Abe family home entered the courtyard, they soon disappeared in the sight of the public.

    Some reporters from the Japanese TV station were like the Star Chasing n, their eyes chasing after the Yin and Yang masters of the Abe family home. They couldn¡¯t help but sigh with the young man from the HeGeshan TV station. "It turns out that the Abe family home has always been there. I thought it was made up in TV series!"

    Xiangtian sneered: "you guy who broke you head in university. Listen to me! After the Abe family changed its name to tuyumen, under the protection of the Tokugawa shogunate in the Edo era, it established the "tuyumen Shinto" and has always held the real power of the Yin Yang division group. However, after the Meiji Restoration, the new government deprived the tuyumen family of the monopoly right to make calendars, and even abolished Yin and Yang.

    "Fortunately, there were many other branches of yin and Yang at that time, led by the tuyumen family, and secretly formed the" tuyumen Shinto Tongmenhui." In 1952, ording to the draft constitution on freedom of religious belief drafted by General MacArthur, tuyumen Shinto became a formal religious legal person and continued to inherit the unique knowledge of Abe family under the name of "family learning."

    When the young man heard this, he was stunned. When he was about to speak, he saw some men in the clothes of the master Yin-Yang walking over slowly. He couldn¡¯t help but ask in surprise, "Are they also from the Abe family home?"

    Xiangtian took a look at them and shook her head. "No, they¡¯re the Yin-Yang Masters of the Hemao Family. They¡¯re the mortal enemies of the Abe family home."

    The boy looked at these Yin-Yang masters slowly passing through the road with awe. He sighed and said, "It¡¯s really an eye-opener. I didn¡¯t expect that the contents in the TV were all true!"

    Xiangtian looked at him helplessly. "Shut your mouth. You really make me lose face! Open your eyes and watch carefully. This is a grand gathering in the Japanese cultivation world, which can beparable to the Heroes¡¯ meeting in the Three Kingdoms period!"

    It seemed that in order to prove Xiangtian¡¯s words, not long after, the Shintoism in Japan, the ck God Sect, the Taoist sect, the Taoist sect, the Chuyun Sect, the Japanese Sect, the religion of God Sect, the religion of God Sect, the religion of God Sect, the religion of Golden Light, the religion of Great Completion, and other sects, as well as the Goddess of the Magus Sect, came one after another. Seeing this, the reporters around the gate of the courtyard were all stunned, eximing and sighing.

    When thest cultivator entered, Xiangtian could not help but stand on tiptoe. She looked inside and sighed softly. "I really hope I can take a look inside!"

    The young man couldn¡¯t help sighing. "Yes, I really want to know what the Chinese who fights against the Shingon secretly looks like. Isn¡¯t he afraid of fighting with others alone in front of the whole Japanese cultivation world?"

    As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a young boy walking slowly in front of him. The boy was dressed in a Tang suit, and his ears were full of earplugs. He asked with a smile, "Excuse me, why would he afraid?"

 Chapter 632 Single sword meeting, a Show of Strength!

    <h4>Chapter 632 Single sword meeting, a Show of Strength!</h4>

    Hearing this voice, the young man from the Hegeshan TV station couldn¡¯t understand what the voice was saying. He turned his head and saw a dignified boy standing in front of him. This boy seemed to be a few years younger than him, but his deep ck pupils revealed a sense of insight that even an old man couldn¡¯t understand, as if there was a very mature and experienced soul in this young man¡¯s body.

    This boy was not only handsome, but also dignified. Compared with the cultivators from various sects and schools who had entered the Japanese cultivation world before, he was not inferior at all. He was even more elegant and unrestrained than them.

    The young man has a sense of inferiority. He turned to Xiangtian and said, "Qianbei Xiangtian, what is he talking about? It seems to be Chinese."

    Xiangtian happened to learn Chinese in college. She nced at the handsome boy in front of her curiously. As soon as she saw him, she suddenly felt a sense of masculinity blowing on her face. Her heart beat wildly, and her tongue was dry. She said, "He¡¯s so handsome. He¡¯s even more handsome than the young patriarch of the Abe family home !"

    The young man smiled bitterly and said, "Qianbei Xiangtian, wake up. Don¡¯t fall in love with him!"

    Xiangtian came to her senses as if awakening from a dream. She couldn¡¯t suppress the excitement on her face. She stepped forward and said in not very standard Chinese, "Hello, are you Chinese?"

    The young boy smiled slightly and nodded. "Yes, can you help me ask him why this Chinese who came to settle a score must be afraid?"

    Xiangtian had some doubts in her heart. She looked at the boy in front of her carefully and muttered with some curiosity, "I heard that the person who came to settle a score is a Chinese... Is it him? Impossible, absolutely impossible. He is too young, too young!"

    Although Xiangtian was confused, she didn¡¯t say it out loud. She turned to the young man next to her and said, "Hey, he asked you why this Chinese who came to settle a score must be afraid."

    The young man was shocked by the handsome boy¡¯s qi and felt so ashamed that he couldn¡¯t speak.

    On the other hand, some male reporters who were attracted by the conversation also looked at the bright boy in front of them with jealousy in their hearts. They mocked with some interest and said, "You don¡¯t need to ask! He came alone, he was scared to death by so many of us!"

    Since ancient times, members of the same sex repel one another while members of the opposite sexes attract other. It was okay for this young boy to be handsome, but the key was that he exuded a mature aura that did not match his age at all. With these two temperamentsbined, how could he not make the eyes of the women present shine?

    After hearing his words, the young boy smiled after a while and said, "I heard that all of you like the Romance of the Three Kingdoms very much. Do you know the ¡¯One-des Meeting¡¯?"

    As soon as he finished speaking, half of the Japanese reporters on the scene couldn¡¯t understand Chinese, so they all asked the people who knew Chinese next to them. When they understood, they allughed and said, "This idiot who doesn¡¯t know his limits dares to take him topare with Guan Yunchang!"

    "Hey, little guy, are you the Chinese to settle a score? If not, you¡¯d better get back to your hometown. If so, you can read books for a few more years beforeing out. Do you think you canpete with Guan Yunchang?"

    This young boy was not angry. He calmly waited for everyone to finish their words, and then he looked at them with disdain.

    At this nce, everyone present couldn¡¯t help but have an idea: It was as if a young male lion was standing in front of them. He was to tower over at the barking hyenas around him, and his eyes were full of disdain and pity, as if he were a high-level creature looking down on low-level creatures.

    This was a gaze that only the real strong could have! Xiangtian quickly made a judgment in her heart. She curiously asked the young boy in Chinese that she was not familiar with for half of her life, "Excuse me, who are you?"

    The young boy smiled slightly and said, "I am the Chinese you are talking about!"

    Sure enough!

    The eyes of everyone present immediately revealed an ¡¯as expected¡¯. An excitement shed across Xiang Tian¡¯s eyes as she asked, "Then what is your name?"

    The boy smiled and said word by word, "My name is Li Yundong!"

    The male reporters on this scene all kept silent, and their eyes were full of hostility as they looked at Li Yundong. They whispered to each other, and their expressions were full of schadenfreude, as if they were eager to see Li Yundong suffer a bad defeat in the next second.

    A few of them said in a low voice, "Heh, this chink really is too arrogant, too self-righteous. Who does he think he is? He actually dares topare to Guan Yunchang?"

    "I really hope I can teach him a lessonter!"

    "Are you going?"

    "Nonsense! I¡¯m not a cultivator! Of course, the cultivators in the Japanese cultivation world will give him a head-on blow to give this man a lesson!"

    When Li Yundong came to Japan this time, Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin, who were considerate, had specially prepared a portable medium Japanese trantor for him. Li Yundong could understand what these Japanese were talking about no matter where he went.

    Li Yundong heard the words of these people clearly, but his face remained calm, and the corners of his eyes narrowed slightly.

    Hearing Li Yundong¡¯s self-introduction, the monk, who had been keeping his eyes closed at the gate of the courtyard, suddenly opened his eyes. He walked to Li Yundong and looked at him seriously and carefully and said in Chinese, "Are you Li Yundong?"

    Li Yundong nodded slightly. "That¡¯s right!"

    The monk also nodded slightly and said with aplicated expression, "You¡¯re really here! Good nerve! Pleasee in. Masako Tachibana had been waiting for you for a long time!"

    However, Li Yundong put his hands behind his back and said lightly, "You can let me in, but you have to ask Saionji Tsunekatsu to apologize to me first, and then let Masako Tachibanae out to wee me in person! Otherwise... Humph, go and tell her that she will know what will happen if she doesn¡¯t do as I say."

    The monk¡¯s face was full of anger. He shouted, "How dare you! Saionji Tsunekatsu is a young sengzheng. How can you call him around?"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly. "You don¡¯t want to go?"

    The monk said angrily, "Bastard, such a rude request, of course I can¡¯t..."

    Before he could finish his words, he saw Li Yundong¡¯s palming at his forehead. The speed of this palm was not fast. It could be said that it was slow in everyone¡¯s eyes. However, the monk seemed to have been hit by the immobilizing Skill. He couldn¡¯t move at all. He could only watch the palm getting closer and closer, and it wasing at his head from all directions.

    The crowd saw that Li Yundong¡¯s palm didn¡¯t seem to have much strength and speed, but they had a feeling in their hearts that this palm would break the hard boulder into pieces! This monk was dead!

    In an instant, the monk¡¯s face turned from yellow to white, from white to red, and then to green. When he saw that the palm was about to knock down his forehead, he couldn¡¯t help but scream in fear.

    Li Yundong¡¯s palm suddenly hovered in front of his forehead. He asked with a smile, "Are you going or not?"

    The monk trembled all over and sweat profusely. He swallowed hard and was about to speak when he saw that everyone was in full view of him. He couldn¡¯t help but bite the bullet and said in Japanese, "No!"

    As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding reporters burst into cheers. "Good job!"

    "This is the true cultivator!"

    "Don¡¯t be afraid of this chink. This is in Japan!!"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing. His five fingers curled up in front of the monk¡¯s forehead, and then he flicked his middle finger gently on the monk¡¯s forehead!

    In other people¡¯s eyes, this shot was like a child ying with his head. However, this monk was hit by Li Yundong¡¯s finger, and his whole person seemed to be hit by a high-speed train. His body suddenly flew out, and lost within sight.

    The voices of the people around them who were still cheering were suddenly stuck in their throats. Everyone looked at Li Yundong as if they had seen a monster. They were frightened and shocked. They did not dare to say anything more.

    Li Yundong looked around and said, "Are there no other reception monks in Shingon?"

    At this time, everyone was frightened by Li Yundong. In addition, they were ordinary people, so no one dared to speak. For a moment, they all looked away and didn¡¯t dare to look at Li Yundong.

    Xiangtian, who was standing to the side, boldly said, "It seems that he¡¯s the only one here. Do you need someone to report? I can help you!"

    Li Yundong nced at her and nodded slightly, saying, "Well, you can go and pass on what I just said to Masako Tachibana."

    Xiangtian was overjoyed. She jumped up in the excitement and shouted, "yes"

    This was a ce where even the best reporters of the NHK Group were not allowed to enter. I actually went in! If I can get first-hand information and go back to upgrade my sry, isn¡¯t it irond?

    Seeing Xiangtian rushing in a hurry, Li Yundong is unable to stifle augh and shaking his head. He stood with his hands sped behind his back, like a pine tree standing upright in front of everyone¡¯s eyes. It seemed that he didn¡¯t care about anyone and closed his eyes to rest.

    The surrounding Japanese reporters were so angry that their teeth were itching. However, some female reporters secretly took photos of Li Yundong and secretly sighed in their hearts, "Anyway, he dares toe here alone. He is really an amazing person!"

    After Xiangtian rushed into the courtyard, she quickly looked around and saw that it was extremely wide. She turned a few corners and met two patrolling monks. She quickly went up to them and told them what had happened at the door.

    When the two monks heard this, they were furious. One of them was about to rush to the door, but was quickly pulled back by hispanion and whispered something in his ear. When the monk heard this, he immediately turned his head and walked inside with him.

    Xiangtian see the two people leave quickly, even ignore her. Her eyes turn around, simply also follow secretly continue to go deep into the inside.

    Li Yundong, who was waiting at the door, was calm and rxed. However, the surrounding Japanese reporters were a little impatient and began to whisper to each other. Just as they were talking, they suddenly heard an angry voiceing from the courtyard. "Li Yundong, how dare you! How dare you hurt the people of our Mount Koya here!"

    When the crowd heard this, they immediately looked in the direction of the voice and saw a young monk wearing a purple cassock and carrying two monks holding Vajra Pestle rushing over angrily.

    "Oh, the youngest and most promising monk-Saionji Tsunekatsu in Shingon!" A knowledgeable reporter couldn¡¯t help eximing in a low voice.

    Some reporters deliberately shouted loudly, " Saionji Tsunekatsu, give this guy a lesson. He is really..."

    Before they could finish their words, Li Jiandong suddenly opened his eyes, and a sharp light shed in his eyes. He stopped and flew out like a cannonball. In an instant, he appeared less than three inches in front of the Saionji Tsunekatsu!

    When Li Jiandong stood quietly in the previous ce, everyone only felt that he was as quiet as a statue or a high mountain. But at this time, this Chinese suddenly burst out. His momentum was like a raging wind and a raging fire, and his movements were like thunder falling from the sky!

    Saionji Tsunekatsu had never expected that not only did Li Yundong dare to hurt people in the core area of Mount Koya but he also dared to hurt him!

    This was simply outrageous!

    But it just so happened that Li Yundong made his move in a ce and time that no one could have imagined!!

    There was only an inch of a fight between masters!

    Li Jiandong¡¯s cultivation was above that of Saionji Tsunekatsu. At this time, after he hadprehended the realm, he was even more powerful. His movement was as fast as lightning. Saionji Tsunekatsu sees Li Yundong as if moving instantaneously. Li Yundong appeared in front of him and took his palm on the top of his head!

    This palm seemed to have sucked in all the surrounding air in an instant, forming a vacuum vortex. The power was so strong that it moved so fast that the surrounding air was distorted.

    Saionji Tsunekatsu was shocked. With a shout, he lifted his hands up!

    And the two monks next to him also reacted very quickly. They threw the Vajra Pestle in their hands to Li Yundong.

    "If you dare to rob us of our treasures on the ground of our country, why wouldn¡¯t I dare to beat you damn!" Li Yundong shouted and didn¡¯t dodge at all. His palm forcibly met with the palm of the West Garden Temple. Suddenly, there was a loud bang. The ce where their palms were about to touch suddenly released a powerful airflow, instantly blowing the two monks beside him to the side.

    Li Yundong¡¯s blood was surging all over his body, and his Zhenqi was pouring out like a flood. His palm, like Mount Tai, was slowly pressing toward the forehead of Saionji Tsunekatsu.

    The bones of all over Saionji Tsunekatsu¡¯s body cracked, as if there was a huge force pressing down on his head, making his legs tremble and his arms bend little by little. His handsome face became distorted.

    "Kneel down and apologize to me!" Li Yundong red at him and once again increased his strength with his palm. He shouted angrily, "In addition, hand over the Medicine King Tripod! Otherwise, I will smash you into meat paste!"

    After he shouted with a loud voice, he was full of power, and suddenly pressed Saionji Tsunekatsu to his knees, and there was a crackling bone breaking sound, and then Chang Sheng knelt down in front of Li Yundong with a pop.

    At this time, everyone on the scene was scared stiff. They couldn¡¯t believe their eyes!

    The young sengzheng of the Shingon was knocked down to his knees in the blink of an eye!

 Chapter 633 Beat People Powerfully, Scold People Even More!

    <h4>Chapter 633 Beat People Powerfully, Scold People Even More!</h4>

    Everyone watched helplessly when "Changsheng Vajra" of Zhenyan Tantrism was pped to the ground by Li Yundong. Although he was still struggling, even a blind man could have seen that if Li Yundong wanted to, he could p this so-called "Changsheng Vajra" into meat paste with one palm!

    Saionji Tsunekatsu was one of the best among the young and strong sects in Mount Koya. He won the trusted ally of Masako Tachibana and Kaisai Hikariuni because he was smart, capable, bold, and courageous. But neither Masako Tachibana nor Kaisai Hikariuni had expected that the most trusted young and strong sect would provoke a terrible devil. What was even more unexpected was that their Chang Sheng Vajra had been made to kneel on the ground in front of the public!

    What a great embarrassment!

    All the reporters present were shocked and angry, roaring one after another. Some female reporters also showed an expression of pity on their faces and said, "Stop fighting. Stop!"

    The male reporters all roared, "Asshole, are you looking for death?"

    "Stop! He¡¯s dying!"

    Li Yundong looked at the handsome face of Saionji Tsunekatsu in front of him, which had be horribly twisted. He bent down slightly, stared at him with gloomy eyes, and asked in a cold voice, "When you fought for the treasure on the ground of our country, did you ever imagine today?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s voice was not loud, but it was clearly heard by everyone. Although many Japanese present didn¡¯t understand what he had said, they could feel a murderous aura from his tone!

    Saionji Tsunekatsu¡¯s face turned purple, and he didn¡¯t dare to speak. He was afraid that as soon as he said something, he would lose all his strength. Once he lost his resistance, he would definitely be smashed to minced meat by the madman in front of him!

    It was not a big deal for him to die. For a monk who believed in Samsara, death was just the beginning of another kind of life. However, as a young monk of Mount Koya, he would be smashed into meat paste by a man at the gate of the royal courtyard. The shame was something that he would not be able to get rid of even if he died 10,000 times.

    It was also because of this thought that although the bones of Saionji Tsunekatsu¡¯s calves and knees were almostpletely broken, he was still struggling to hold on. His entire being was in a state of vague consciousness. Only the conviction that he couldn¡¯t admit defeat was struggling to support his subconscious and physical body.

    Although Li Yundong hated that Saionji Tsunekatsu was surly and arrogant, and that he had stolen the Medicine King Tripod under his nose, when he saw Saionji Tsunekatsu still struggling to hold on when he was about to copse, he could not help but secretly sigh at his willpower.

    When Li Yundong saw that Saionji Tsunekatsu was unwilling to agree, he had to sneer and said, "Unwilling to say? Then I¡¯m sorry!"

    After that, he pressed his palm down hard again!

    "Crack, crack, crack, crack!" Saionji Tsunekatsu¡¯s bones sounded like firecrackers. The crowd felt as if someone had ced him in a cage as his bones cracked under the pressure. Although they did not see so much as a drop of blood, the sound was more terrifying and bloodcurdling than seeing a whole red sea of it!

    Everyone covered their faces and didn¡¯t dare to look at him anymore. Saionji Tsunekatsu also let out an extremely pained roar. After that, his whole being fell to the ground softly, like an animal without any bones.

    As soon as Saionji Tsunekatsu fell, a group of monks in purple cassocks hurried to the gate of the courtyard. The leading one had wrinkles on his face and looked quite old. It was the monk who had dealt with Zhou Qin under the main tower. When he saw Saionji Tsunekatsu, he immediately widened his eyes and eximed, "Chang Sheng!"

    The eyes of the old monk seemed to be spitting mes. He roared at Li Yundong, "What did you do!?"

    When the other monks saw this scene, they were furious. They drew their powerful magical weapons and surrounded Li Yundong one by one. If the old monk gave the order, they would rush forward and chop the audacious murderer into pieces!

    Li Yundong nced around unsympathetically and sneered. "Do you want to fight now? Okay!"

    With a stir of his mind, the Fan of Seven Treasures and the Liuhe Sword instantly jumped out of the colorful brocade pouch on his waist. The Liuhe Sword split apart in an instant, looking as fierce as a tiger.

    Seeing this, the reporters on the scene were full of a murderous aura. They were shocked, and the innate instinct in their bodies suddenly ignited. Many reporters began to shoot their cameras at the scene in front of them crazily. Some even started toment.

    The old monk frowned and yelled at the reporters, "Assholes, what are you doing?"

    How could ordinary people calmly watch such a scene? Even if they lived a few lifetimes, they might not be able to see such a thing again!

    The reporters¡¯ eyes were shining at this time. Even if the Mikado - the emperor of Japan - came, they may not have stopped filming immediately. Why should they listen to him?

    The old monk was furious. He poured all his rage out at Li Yundong. He pointed at Li Yundong and shouted angrily, "Catch the murderer!"

    "Yes!" The monks surrounded shouted in unison.

    Just as they were about to step forward, they heard a loudughing from not far away. "Oh, it turns out that there is a good show going on here! I almost missed it!"

    Hearing the voice, the crowd looked to the man subconsciously, but they only saw someoneing from not far away. He was about forty years old, wearing a rather sloppy barbarian suit. He folded his hands in front of him and came over with a casual look, talking with a cheeky smile on his face.

    Behind the man stood a long-haired woman dressed in a white goddess uniform and a long red dress. Her lips were painted with red lipstick and her face was daubed with white powder. Although her appearance was a little strange with the makeup, from her facial features it could be vaguely seen that she was a very beautiful girl. However, her expression was indifferent and her eyes were cold. She looked at the scene in front of her like a superior God looking down at themon people.

    A well-informed reporter saw a family rune on the sleeve of the goddess¡¯s clothing. He couldn¡¯t help but exim, "It¡¯s the Ise Shinto¡¯s goddess!"

    They eximed and only heard a faint voiceing from the courtyard. "What¡¯s going on? Why is it so noisy?"

    The crowd looked back and saw a woman wearing a white wide-sleeved shirt and a long, red, pleated dress. She was walking slowly with a wooden staff.

    Judging from the woman¡¯s appearance, she was about 30 years old. She was quite beautiful, and her eyebrows were full of majesty and tranquility. Every step she took, the air around her seemed to shudder and tremble.

    This woman was none other than Masako Tachibana, who was invincible in the Japanese Cultivation World!

    Wherever Masako Tachibana went, everyone around would subconsciously avoid her, as if there was an invisible force around her pushing them away.

    However, when Masako Tachibana came near Li Yundong, he was like a solid rock, standing firmly in the same ce, looking at her with indifferent eyes.

    Masako Tachibana¡¯s eyes quickly swept over Saionji Tsunekatsu. She frowned inwardly, but there was no change in her expression. She quickly looked at the woman in the same goddess costume in front of her, and a smile appeared on her face. "It¡¯s Miss Chuyun. Come in please!"

    Chuyun nced at Masako Tachibana coldly, a trace of hostility in her eyes. Her face seemed to be frozen, and she didn¡¯t show any expression. Then, she quickly shifted her eyes to Li Yundong, as if she was saying, "Another guest is here!"

    The Ise Shinto was one of the most powerful sects of Japanese Shintoism. It was precisely because of the strong suppression of Ise Shintoism that the Ju family had been forced to cooperate with the monks of Zhenyan Tantrism. With the help of the power of the Gods¡¯ soul worshipped by the Secret Sect of Truth, they had risen powerfully.

    After the rise of the branch of the Ju family, the first thing they did was suppress Ise Shintoism. The power of it came from the gods of Shintoism. Although there were more believers of the gods of Shintoism in Japan than in those of Buddhism, the strongest god of Shintoism, Amaterasu Omikami, was the god of Japan. Apart from the Japanese, there was no one else to worship him. The god that was worshipped by Zhenyan Tantrism was the Wisdom King. These gods were not only worshipped by the Japanese, but also the Chinese, the Indians, and even other nationalities.

    As the saying goes, a man should fight for breath, and a Buddha should fight for an incense stick. The reason why people were alive was to fight for breath. In this way, they could prove that they were stronger than others! The same went for the Buddha. This Buddha had one incense stick more than other Buddhas, which meant that the Buddha¡¯s power of Zhenyan Tantrism was stronger and his rank of godliness was higher!

    It was said that Buddha was merciful and was not angry at all. However, the truth was that the cultivators of Buddhism were morepetitive than anyone else in private. Otherwise, why would the Buddhist sect in the Chinese cultivation circles hold a "meeting"? Why would the ancient meaning school and the new meaning school of Zhenyan Tantrism run for the "General Manager"?

    It was also because of this. On the one hand, it was the Amaterasu Omikami. On the other hand, it was the Wisdom King. Comparing them, the difference between the two was clear!

    This was also the reason why after so many years of fighting in Japan, Masako Tachibana was now invincible. Furthermore, because of this, all the Great Divine Priests and Divine Ladies regarded the Ju family as traitors and viewed them with deep hostility.

    Masako Tachibana naturally knew this, so she turned her eyes to Li Yundong and said coldly, "Zhenren Li, I invited you here with good intentions. Is this how you treat us? You Chinese call yourselves people of etiquette. Humph,st time your disciple injured our monks under the mountain gate, and this time you hurt our young monk under the feet of the emperor. Is this your etiquette? Have you forgotten what Saint Confucius taught? It¡¯s said that Chinese people have long forgotten their roots, and now it seems that it¡¯s true! If you don¡¯t give us an exnation today, do you think you can leave?"

    In thete Qing Dynasty and the early republic of China, after experiencing the May 4th Movement, the long-year war, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, the essence of Confucianism was almostpletely lost. But just like Tang Mi, when Chinese culture was lost in China, the Japanese respected Chinese culture for thousands of years and slowly absorbed it into their own traditional culture.

    There were three major beliefs in Japan. The first was Shintoism, the second was Buddhism, and the third was the religion of Confucianism. Even the Kobo Daishi once rushed to the capital city to learn Confucianism. It could be said that mainstream culture in Japan wasposed of these three.

    Hearing the words of Masako Tachibana, Li Yundongughed and said, "You¡¯re right! Our country does think that we are the country of etiquette. As early as two thousand years ago, our country was promoting etiquette to govern the country and rule the world! It¡¯s also because of this that we have such prosperity! But don¡¯t forget that there is another saying of confucius on the society of etiquette!"

    "He said that ¡¯One day, to repay good for evil¡¯. What¡¯s the meaning of this?¡¯ ¡¯How can one repay goodness? By repaying evil directly and repaying good with good!¡¯"

    Li Yundong showed a sarcastic smile and spoke with confidence,posure and a disdainful expression. He said, "Do you know what this means? If someone bullies us and holds a grudge against us, should we still have to use morality to influence them? Humph, Saint Confucius said, "If they bully us, why should we still use morality to report to them and persuade them? Are you crazy? They have a grudge against us, so we are going to take revenge! If they treat us in a moral way, it won¡¯t be toote for us to respond in the same way!"

    As Li Yundong spoke, he suddenly changed his tone and shouted in a sharp voice, "Saionji Tsunekatsu used despicable means to hurt the innocent people of our country and steal our most precious treasure in order to force me toe to Mount Koya! Is this your so-called etiquette? Well, I¡¯ll tell you!"

    Li Yundong pointed at Saionji Tsunekatsu, who had turned into a pile of mud, and shouted angrily, "Blood for blood and a tooth for a tooth! This is our Chinese etiquette!"

 Chapter 634 Threes Company

    <h4>Chapter 634 Three¡°s Company</h4>

    Li Yundong¡¯s words were sonorous and powerful, which mercilessly said that Masako Tachibana wanted to use the power of defeating Li Yundong to frighten the other cultivation sects. Moreover, there was no dirty word in Li Yundong¡¯s words, but every word was like a throwing dagger, and every sentence was like a knife, so sharp that no one could resist it.

    Even people like Masako Tachibana, who had been used to suffering the big wind and big waves, turned pale for a while!

    She secretly gritted her teeth and red at Chang Sheng, who was from the West Garden Temple. In her heart, she could not wait to grind this guy¡¯s bones to dust. "Why didn¡¯t he tell me about this?"

    In Chengya Zi¡¯s view, since LiJiandongg was able to beat up ChangShengg of the West Garden Temple so easily, who obviously an extremely powerful opponent. However, if the opponent was only good at martial arts and his mouth was not strong, then she could make use of the strong advantage of the home court to exert strong psychological pressure on the opponent in terms of words and urge him to make mistakes in the following fight.

    Although Masako Tachibana was arrogant and conceited, she was not easy to defeat. She knew very well that she could not lose this battle. Otherwise, the Ying Family might be doomed eternally!

    But Li Yundong¡¯s sharp words made Masako Tachibana give up the idea of bickering with him in an instant.

    Masako Tachibana said with hatred in her heart, "Li Yundong¡¯s disciple was also a sharp-tongued person before. I didn¡¯t expect that his master was also a sharp-tongued person! Da*n it! If you lose the battleter, you will lose all your teeth!"

    Although many Japanese in the surrounding, who couldn¡¯t understand Li Yundong¡¯s Chinese. but, they saw that one of them was self-righteous and the other was angry. They couldn¡¯t help but be full of doubts and whispered.

    "What happened between them?"

    "Could it be that MasterTangerine Masako has really done something shameful?"

    "B*st*rd, does MasterTangerine Masako need to do such a thing?"

    "Then... why it would be this?"

    "I...How would I know ?"

    Standing next to the Ise Divine Lady, the middle-aged man took advantage of the situation and said with a chuckle, "It turns out that you are so generous, Tangerine Masako. Amazing, really amazing! You are worthy of being a traitor. An apostate is capable of anything!"

    Masako Tachibana was in a towering passion. She red at the middle-aged man fiercely. A sharp light also shed in the middle-aged man¡¯s eyes. Suddenly, there was a "boom" in front of them, as if a bomb had exploded out of thin air. A wave of air spread out in all directions, causing the surrounding reporters to take a few steps back in horror.

    At this time, Masako Tachibana was in an awkward position, but she heard a kind and solemn voiceing from behind. "Amitabha! It¡¯s time to seek revenge for each other. It¡¯s better not to make enemies!"

    The crowd looked in the direction of the voice and saw an old monk wearing a gold-rimmed red robe walking out slowly. He was Kaisai Hikariuni, the great monk of Zhenyan Tantrism Sect, who was at the 413rd position.

    Kaisai Hikariuni kept a low profile and had high prestige in Japan. As soon as he came out, the reporters around him saluted him one after another to show their respect. Even the Goddess and the middle-aged man, who were in the Ise Divine Sect, bowed slightly to him.

    Kaisai Hikariuni returned the greeting to them one by one. He put his palms together and said in Chinese, "Zhenren Li, even if there is a grudge, why don¡¯t you solve it in the next fight? As the saying goes, one will repay the other. Chang Sheng has already been beaten like this by you. Even if there is a great sin, it should be offset by each other."

    Li Yundong sneered and said, "Where¡¯s the Medicine King Tripod? Give it back first!"

    Kaisai Hikariuni hesitated for a moment and did not speak. Li Yundong seemed to know what he was thinking. He sneered and said, "Don¡¯t worry. Since I¡¯m here, I must keep my promise and fight with you to let you know if there are masters in the Chinese cultivation world! However, before that, you have to return the Medicine King Tripod to me first! Because it should be a magic treasure of our country!"

    Kaisai Hikariuni nodded slightly and turned to a monk beside him and said, "Let¡¯s go to Chang Sheng¡¯s room to have a look."

    When the monk saw that Kaisai Hikariuni had listened to Li Yundong¡¯s words, he couldn¡¯t help but be anxious. He said, "Great monk! How can you let a..."

    Before he could finish his words, Kaisai Hikariuni nced at him. Although his eyes were not sharp, the monk did not dare to say anything more. He red at Li Yundong with hatred and turned to leave.

    Not long after, the monk came with a purple-golden furnace tripod.

    Kaisai Hikariuni took it from his hand. With a smile, he held the king medicine tripod in front of Li Yundong and said, "I¡¯ll give it to you. Please rest assured, Zhenren Li!"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t stand on ceremony. He took the medicine king tripod and stuffed it into the colorful sachet on his waist. The medicine king tripod, which was as big as a human head, immediately disappeared. The surrounding Japanese reporters widened their eyes and eximed. They stared at Li Yundong¡¯s waist as if they wanted to see what was there.

    Ge Xiguang saw Li Yundong ept it. He made a gesture and said, "Zhenren Li, pleasee in!"

    Seeing that the other party was polite, Li Yundong also politely made a gesture and said, "Great monk, please!"

    A moment of false civility between the two. If the people around had not seen what had happened between the two sides before, they would have thought that they were a pair of good friends who had not seen each other for a long time!

    Kaisai Hikariuni led Li Yundong into the courtyard. At this time, the reporters behind him were all buzzing at this point."We want to go in, too!"

    "Yes, let¡¯se in together!"

    "Why can Chinese people enter our country? However, why can¡¯t we go to our own country?"

    Kaisai Hikariuni frowned slightly. As he led Li Yundong into the courtyard, he said to the monk next to him, "Go and seal the door. Don¡¯t let them in."

    The monk nodded. Soon, two of the monks followed him to the door. After the other two entered the courtyard, the three monks stood in front of the door like city walls. They put their hands together and closed their eyes. No matter what the reporters said, they did not move or listen.

    After Li Jiandong entered the royal courtyard, he saw some tall trees were nted around him. Some courtyards were delicately designed into andscape architecture style scene. Small bridges, flowing rivers, rockery, and strange stones could be seen everywhere. There were stone stools and stone tables with Japanese vor, as well as shrine statues.

    Li Yundong followed Kaisai Hikariuni. After a few turns, he suddenly saw a bright light in front of him and found that he hade to a Japanese building with a back shape.

    This building had only two floors, with cornices and eaves, ck tiles and red pirs. The upstairs was carved with jade and hollow flower windows. The downstairs was the corridor and the hall where the door was opened. At a nce, many people were sitting on the tatami in each room.

    Some of them were dressed in frocks, while others were dressed in Shintoism robes and Goddess robes. There were not less than two or three hundred men and women, old and young.

    These people were originally chatting with each other. At this time, when they saw Li Jiandong, they immediately stopped talking and looked at him in unison.

    Almost all the elite experts in the cultivation world of Japan were there. When they looked at in union, their pressure was as powerful as Mount Tai. It could be imagined!

    However, Li Jiandong didn¡¯t notice it at all. With a smile on his face, he looked around in neither a humble nor arrogant way. He saw that there was a half-opened window on the east and second floors. Howevwe, the other windows upstairs were all open, and some people upstairs were looking down through the windows.

    Li Yundong pointed at the window and asked Kaisai Hikariuni, "Who¡¯s on it?"

    Kaisai Hikariuni smiled faintly and said, "the Mikado and his wife!"

    Li Yundong was a little surprised and asked, "Did the Mikado of Japan alsoe?"

    Kaisai Hikariuni smiled and said, "What¡¯s so strange about it?"

    At this time, Masako Tachibana, who had been following them, said, "Will you feel any pressure when fighting in front of the Mikado of Japan?"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t helpughing. "He¡¯s your Mikado, not mine! If there¡¯s any pressure, it¡¯s all yours. What does it have to do with me? But you... Aren¡¯t you afraid of being defeated in front of the Mikado, and made in an awkward position? "

    Masako Tachibana looked up andughed out loud. "That¡¯s impossible!" After that, she raised her head and walked slowly into the field.

    At this time, the middle-aged man of Ise Shinto, who was walking behind them, also said sympathetically in Chinese, "Young man, I appreciate your courage, but you..." As he said this, he pointed to his head and sneered, "I don¡¯t appreciate your wisdom!"

    Li Yundong asked with great interest, "Oh? Why?"

    At this time, the Ise Divine n Goddess, who had been as cold as ice, said coldly, "Because smart people will not choose to fight against Masako Tachibana in the main sect of Truth! You are stupid enough to die!"

    When Li Jiandong saw the Goddess at first nce, he felt that she was unusually cold. Although she looked young, her behavior and words were like an old woman¡¯s, so calm that she was a little coquettish.

    Li Yundong asked with a smile, "Why do you say that? Isn¡¯t Masako Tachibana very powerful here?"

    The middle-aged manughed and said, "Are you kidding? No one has ever been able to defeat Masako Tachibana in this ce! Here, the power of gods that Gaoye Mountain has been worshiped for thousands of years will be her power. Do you think you can fight against the power of faith umted over thousands of years? Don¡¯t talk nonsense!"

    With this, the middle-aged man looked at Masako Tachibana with aplicated look and said with mixed feelings, "This is the home field of Masako Tachibana! Chinese people, it¡¯s better to keep a low profile in the away field! I give you a suggestion: you should start the fightter and admit defeat as soon as possible! The sooner you admit defeat, the more likely you will survive! Once you make Masako Tachibana angry and go crazy, your doomsday wille!"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "You said that no one has ever won against Masako Tachibana here?"

    The Ise Divine Goddess coldly added, "Never! No Masako Tachibana has ever fought with anyone except for the mountains!"

    "It turns out to be a ninja tortoise!" Li Yundongughed and said, "Well, today I¡¯m going to be the first one to defeat Masako Tachibana in her home field!"

    Seeing that Li Yundong didn¡¯t listen to him, the middle-aged man shook his head and muttered in Japanese, "You¡¯re really a stubborn fool! You are beyond remedy!"

    After that, he no longer paid attention to Li Yundong. He turned to the Goddess beside him and said in Japanese, "Chuyun, let¡¯s go. This guy is already a dead man!! Get off his back!"

    At this time, at the gate of the royal courtyard, the reporters of the major Japanese TV stations made a scene for a while, and then they gradually stopped. Some experienced reporters simply started a live broadcast at the door, and introduced what had just happened in a verbal way.

    Just as they were talking to the camera, several hosts who were appearing on camera were stunned at the same time and looked in one direction.

    The reporter who was taking photos also turned to look curiously, only to see three monks wearing bamboo hats, canes, and cloth shoesing slowly from behind them.

    "I wonder why anyone is here?" Although these reporters were puzzled, they reacted quickly and rushed to the front of the three monks. They asked loudly, "Excuse me, are you here to attend the Grand Meeting? Which sect are you from? Can you bring us in?"

    But no matter what they said, the three monks kept their heads down and kept their bamboo hats low, without any word.

    The sharp-eyed reporters were keenly aware that there was a faint fragranceing from the three people, and their necks, which were exposed with their heads down, were as delicate as porcin.

    They couldn¡¯t help but be startled. "Hmm? It seems to be a woman! Is she a member of the Pure Land School? But, I¡¯ve heard that the Pure Land Schooling with their female families here! I¡¯ve never heard of three women dressed like monksing together!"

    "Who the hell are these three guys?"

 Chapter 635 Three Light-skinned Craftsmen

    <h4>Chapter 635 Three Light-skinned Craftsmen</h4>

    These three people were none other than Su Chan, Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin!

    ording to the n of Zi Yuan, the three of them secretly followed Li Yundong to the Mount Koya, and then disguised themselves as sadhus of the Pure Land School.

    Ascetic monks had to travel all the way around to beg for alms on foot, so they all wore bamboo hats which can protect them from the wind and rain, and hold Zen sticks which can help them to surrender demons and ambush demons all the way. At the same time, in order to sharpen themselves, all ascetic monks wore straw sandals on their feet, and no one wore cloth shoes like the three of them.

    With the meticulousness of Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin¡¯s shrewdness, they naturally thought of this. But when the three of them put on their straw shoes, they found that the six feet in the straw shoes were delicate and white, as white as jade. They didn¡¯t look like the feet of sadhus at all!

    In particr, Su Chan¡¯s fingernails took on a charming pink color. Even though she wore simple straw shoes, the fingernails still looked like ten small pink petals.

    The three peerless women looked at each other¡¯s feet and had no choice but to find three pairs of cloth shoes with a wry smile!

    Other people could not see these details, but how could the monks guarding at the gate of the courtyard not see these details? The sadhus of the Pure Land School can¡¯t wear cloth shoes.

    The three monks stared at the cloth shoes on the three men¡¯s feet with suspicious eyes and fixed their eyes on them for a moment.

    Su Chan, who was walking in the middle, stood up with cold hair all over by the people around her, and could not help whispering: "Sister Zi Yuan, we seem to have been discovered, and we can¡¯t get in. What should we do?"

    Zhou Qin, who was behind her, immediately poked her gently under the cover of his body and whispered, "Don¡¯t talk!"

    Zi Yuan also sent a transmission, "Don¡¯t talk! Follow me!"

    Zi Yuan walked at the front, still with its head down and the hat pressed low. suddenly, it took a turn in the sight of the people, and went to another stone road, walking toward the other direction of the royal courtyard.

    Su Chan was about to breathe a sigh of relief when she saw a Japanese reporter pounced on him and yell at him.

    Su Chan was dumbfounded. She didn¡¯t understand Japanese, so how could she know what the other party was talking about? Li Yundong could take the trantor with him and put the headset into his ear, but they couldn¡¯t!

    Where did the sadhu from the Pure Land School of Japan put his headset in his ears?

    Not only Su Chan, but also Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin also didn¡¯t understand Japanese. Their bodies suddenly froze and they became highly alert.

    Zhou Qin subconsciously touched the Vulcan¡¯s Whip that was hidden at his waist. His whole body was covered with Zhenqi, and it was about to burst out at any time.

    At this time, the attention of the three monks at the gate of the royal courtyard was focused on the three of them. As soon as Zhou Qin mobilized his Zhenqi, they also felt an inexplicable danger spreading in all directions, and they couldn¡¯t help but get nervous.

    Seeing that the situation in front of her was on the verge of breaking out, Su Chan suddenly had brainwave. She pointed to herself with an affectation. Then she shook it again, turned around, and urged in a very light voice that could only be heard by Zi Yuan, "Sister Zi Yuan, leave now!"

    Zi Yuan didn¡¯t dare to stay and continued to move forward.

    The Japanese reporter watched as they left, but he didn¡¯t stop them anymore. Instead, he showed a look of sudden understanding.

    At this time, a female reporter beside him came over and asked curiously, "Aoki-kun, why don¡¯t these monks speak?"

    Aoki smiled proudly and said, "I asked them which sect of monks they were. The monk in the middle pointed his finger at his mouth and then shook it. Do you know what that means?"

    The female reporter asked, "You mean, she is dumb?"

    Aokiughed and said, "No! She means that she is a person who practices Silent zen!"

    The female reporter said with admiration, "So it is. Aoki-kun, you really know a lot!"

    Aoki said with a smile, "No! What I¡¯m curious about is that... people who practice Silent zen usually prepare a small wooden tablet with the words ¡¯No Words¡¯ and ¡¯No Words¡¯ written on it. Once someone talks to them, he will take out the wooden tablet. But... why haven¡¯t these people?"

    The female reporterughed. "Maybe are they neers?"

    Aoki looked at the background of the three Su Chan, shook his head and sighed, "maybe they are. Three female monks travel ascetically."... It must be very hard! " After that, he turned away and stopped looking at Su Chan and others.

    Even when the three monks of Zhenyan Tantrism at the gate of the courtyard saw Su Chan¡¯s movements, they dismissed their doubts, turned their heads and stopped looking at them.

    Su Chan didn¡¯t know that her original intention was to pretend to be mute, but she identally made the other side think that she was a sadhu who practiced the Silent zen. And among all the Buddhism schools in the whole world, the Silent Zen of the Pure Land School was the most famous.

    Great Master Lotus Chi of the Pure Land Sect, an eminent monk in the ancient times, said in the "The still of the bamboo window with a brush", "As the ancients said, if you haven¡¯t spoken for 20 years, you can¡¯t help it even if you don¡¯t speak to the Buddha behind."

    Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin walked far away and came to a remote ce where there was no person. Su Chan patted her chest and said, "I was scared to death. I thought Yundong hadn¡¯t started yet, and we were going to be trapped!"

    Zi Yuan couldn¡¯t help but praise, "Su Chan, you did a good job just now. Even I didn¡¯t expect to avoid the other party¡¯s conversation and inquiry in the way of Silent Zen. This is also my mistake. Thanks to your quick response! "

    Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help but tease her with a smile, "Su Chan, you¡¯re great! Usually silly do not show the mountain without dew, the critical moment can be relied on ah!"

    Su Chan had her nose in the air as listened to the praise of Zi Yuan. But after listening to the first half of Zhou Qin¡¯s words, his face immediately copsed, and his eyes immediatelyughed into a crescent moon when he heard thetter half of her words.

    Su Chan said with a smile, "Actually, I want to say that I¡¯m dumb and can¡¯t speak!"

    Zi Yuan was startled: "Didn¡¯t you think of hiding in the past by keeping your mouth shut?"

    Su Chan was also surprised and said, "I don¡¯t have a small wooden card with me. How can I pretend to be silent?"

    Zhou Qin was unable to stifle augh: "Originally I wanted to boast that your response was quick and keen to see the opportunity, but I didn¡¯t expect you to be a blind cat and run into a dead mouse!"

    After Zhou Qin finished his words, Zi Yuan also couldn¡¯t helpughing. "What good luck. If those monkse to question us, we will be in trouble! We should be careful next time. It¡¯s impossible for our luck to be so good all the time! This is the General Mount of Zhenyan Tantrism. If we are careless, we will be doomed eternally!"

    Su Chan has no consciousness of going deep into the tiger¡¯s den at all. Her eyes were full of excitement, and she said with a cheeky smile, "It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay. Yun Dong said that I¡¯m stupid and blessed!"

    Zhou Qin pointed at Su Chan and said with augh, "You finally admit that you are stupid?"

    Su Chan stamped her feet and said angrily, "You¡¯re so annoying!" The little girl didn¡¯t want to be entangled with Zhou Qin on this topic, so she changed the topic and turned to Zi Yuan and asked, "Sister Zi Yuan, what should we do now? It seems that things are not part of the n now."

    Zi Yuan thought for a moment and said, "Now it¡¯s also part of the n. I was just testing it to see the attitude and vignce of the monks at the door. Now it seems that their vignce is very high, so we¡¯ll wait here. I don¡¯t believe that the score will start to strengthen in a while. Their vignce is still so high! "

    Zhou Qin also nodded in agreement. "That¡¯s right. Who doesn¡¯t want to watch the duel between the two top masters? All the masters in the Cultivation World in Japan havee, let alone them?"

    Su Chan was also a little excited and said, "We¡¯ll take action after settling a score!"

    Zhou Qinughed and said, "Su Chan, did not expect toe before you said ¡¯three cobblers top Zhuge Liang¡¯, this is really true! "

    Su Chan made a face at Zhou Qin and said, "They are three light-skinned craftsmen!"

    Zhou Qinughed. Zi Yuan smiled and said in a low voice, "Stopughing, keep a low profile, and don¡¯t attract other people¡¯s attention. There are still a lot of monks patrolling the mountains here."

    Before she could finish her words, two monks came from not far away. The two monks saw the three of them at a nce and saluted from a distance. Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin also bowed back. Then they kept their hats low and soon hid their bodies in the thick fir woods.

    At this time, an uninvited guest came to the Qing Ming Spirt Club in Shang Jing District of Kyoto, the capital city of Japan.

    Liu Ye slowly got off the Japanese bus and arrived at his destination, the "Evil Bridge" bus station. At a nce, he saw that the famous "Evil Bridge" was an extremely ordinary highway bridge. The water under the bridge had dried up, and only the railing at the head of the bridge is written in Chinese characters.

    Liu Ye couldn¡¯t help sighing in a low voice. "The well-known residence of Abe Fair in the past has be this now! I don¡¯t know if there are any Shikigami hidden by Yin-Yang Master under this violent bridge."

    After the death of the famous Yin-Yang Master, Abe Fair, he moved to the ce, which was the intersection between the Imperial Pce of Peace County and the West Cave Road at that time.

    Liu Ye looked around and found that it was the "Zhen" position in the northeast of the inner part of the city, which was alsomonly known as the "Ghost Gate". As a professional Yin-Yang Master, he moved here to cooperate with the "Yao" temple in the northeast of the whole Kyoto, which was located in the Rui Mountain, to prevent the invasion of demons and to suppress the threat of demons breaking through the seal.

    Liu Ye had a chuckle. "Good trick, good trick! I was wondering why you hid the soul of the Mystical Silver Fox here. I see! I see! Abe Fair, although you didn¡¯t seal the Mystical Silver Fox, you... you¡¯re really a far-sighted person! Have you predicted that there would be such a disaster in Japan in a century, so you moved your residence here?"

    Liu Ye seemed to be full of pride that he was about to make a great contribution. He whispered to himself, and the Japanese passing by saw him whispering to himself. They thought that he was a neurologic patient. After giving him a strange look, they avoided him as far as they could.

    Liu Ye didn¡¯t mind. As he looked at the scenery around him, he walked slowly to the Qing Ming Divine Club.

    In Liu Ye¡¯s view,pared with many of the Japanese divine society, the Abe Fair divine society was extremely small. Next to the divine society was even an ordinary residential residence. There was only a stone tablet and a stone archway at the entrance of the divine society. On it were written four Chinese characters: "Qing Ming divine society".

    After entering the Qing Ming Shen Club, he saw a very small stone bridge in the courtyard. It was called a cruel bridge, but it was just a miniature bridge outside. Beside the small bridge, there was even a white folding screen for tourists to take photos. The screen was painted with the scene of Qing Ming driving ghosts. The round hollow part of the face was deliberately made. Some tourists were gathering behind the folding screen to show their faces, pretending to be Qing Ming or Imp, to take photos and have fun.

    Compared with some ancient divine society, this divine society, which had existed for nearly a thousand years, looked brand new and clean everywhere because it had been modified. It did not have the slightest sense of historical antiquity. On the other hand, some Japanese and ssical snack shops added a special charm to the divine society.

    Liu Ye walked to the Qing Ming Shen Club and came to a stone tablet, which was neither too big nor too small, in a corner. This stone tablet was ordinary, but there was a deep and bright five-dimensional pattern engraved on it. This was also the unique pattern of Yin-Yang Master, which was used to subdue demons and monsters!

    Liu Ye looked at the bright red pattern of the Five-horned Star on the big stone tablet and said with a chuckle, "Who can imagine that... in such an inconspicuous ce, nine-tailed celestial fox has been sealed for thousands of years?"

    At this time, behind Liu Ye, some tourists from other countries and other ces were still happily taking photos of various small groups of the Qing Ming Divine Club. They were gesticting at the surrounding scenery. Some snack shops enthusiastically invited guests toe and go. The fragrance from the shops wafted out, lingering around the Japanesenterns at the door, revealing a kind of peaceful and festive atmosphere.

    But none of them knew that soon there would be a demon in front of them, no matter in China or in Japan, who had stirred up huge waves and was about toe back to life!

    A foul wind and a rain of blood wasing from the China-Japan¡¯s Cultivation World!

 Chapter 636 The War Begins!

    <h4>Chapter 636 The War Begins!</h4>

    Just as Liu Ye arrived at the Qing Ming Shen Club, in the royal courtyard of Mount Koya, which was located in the Zhenyan Tantrism, a score that had rmed the entire Japanese Cultivation World was about to begin.

    Because it took a long time for settling a score, and all the famous figures from various sects were gathered together, even the Mikado -- the emperor of Japan and his wife were also watching the score in the tall buildings. Therefore, it was impossible for them to stand up and fight like gangsters on the street, nor could they fight with each other immediately without saying a word like ordinary cultivators.

    Before settling a score, Zhenyan Tantrism and the Ju family were going to hold a long andplicated ritual-rted affair.

    After a group of monks of the Zhenyan Tantrism in the field finished reciting Buddhist Scripture for a while, Masako Tachibana held the bell in one hand and a gold and silver fan in the other. She slowly got on the stage of Shintoism and show divine music dance in the field, which was unique to the Taoist priests.

    Her daughter, Tachibana Wakako, was also dancing with Masako Tachibana. Both of them were wearing goddess clothes, white clothes and red skirts. They had the same ck long hair. Because they needed to dance, they did not wear wooden swayed. Their feet were covered with white cotton socks. Since Tachibana Wakako was quite mature, although her age was not big, she was tall. Like her mother, her long ck hair was like a waterfall. Therefore, when they stood together, they looked no different from sisters.

    Although Li Yundong was in a tiger¡¯s acupoint, he was not afraid at all. He saw the monks around him were holding sticks with both hands and beating the rhythm of the drum in a clear rhythm. And Masako Tachibana and Tachibana Wakako were dancing in the beat of the drum. Even Li Yundong, who was hostile to them, had to admit that the dance the mother and daughter jumped out of the drum was beautiful and pleasing to the eye.

    The cultivators of various sects and schools around saw Li Yundong standing in the field and watching for a while, so they simply sat down with their legs crossed. They looked at the divine music dance of Masako Tachibana and Tachibana Wakako with great interest. They pped andughed with great interest. They praised him loudly as if they were at home and did not feel like they were in a tiger¡¯s acupoint at all.

    Although these cultivators had different opinions about Li Yundong¡¯s way of hurting people at Mount Koya, they saw that Li Yundong was still soposure in such a situation, as if there was no one else. His temperament, calmness, and courage were really beyond the reach of ordinary people. They couldn¡¯t help but praise him in their hearts.

    The middle-aged man of Ise Shinto sighed softly and said, "This person must be the best in the Chinese cultivation world! He is really amazing. He has the courage to rush to the Solitary Machete Club alone. He is a real hero!"

    Chu Yun, who had always been cold, also nodded slightly and said, "If he is not as crazy as a steel pipe, he must be a fool!"

    The middle-aged man sighed, "We have to find a way to save himter! Such a hero, we can¡¯t let him die here!"

    While they were talking, Masako Tachibana and Tachibana Wakako had already finished dancing. They saluted and stepped down gracefully. Although there were many hostile cultivators from the surrounding sects, they still apuded politely and praised loudly.

    Before stepping down from the stage, Tachibana Wakako quietly stole a nce at Li Yundong, only to find that Li Yundong was nodding at her with a smile, and his eyes were full of praise, as if there had never been a grudge between them.

    Tachibana Wakako¡¯s face turned slightly red, and she couldn¡¯t help but take two steps forward. After she and Masako Tachibana walked to the backyard of the stage, she turned back and whispered to Masako Tachibana, "Mom... Can you..."

    When the words were about toe out of Tachibana Wakako¡¯s mouth, she could not help but hesitate. She bit her lips lightly, as if she did not know how to say the following words.

    Masako Tachibana said coldly, "Do you want to plead for mercy for him?"

    Tachibana Wakako looked at her mother and asked, "Can¡¯t I?"

    Masako Tachibana snorted coldly and said, "Childish!" After that, she walked into the backyard room without looking back. As if pushed by a pair of invisible hands, the door mmed shut automatically.

    Tachibana Wakako looked disappointed. She turned her head to look at Li Yundong on the scene and sighed secretly. At this time, a soft voice came from beside her. "What¡¯s the matter? Does Tachibana Wakako still insist on doing it?"

    Tachibana Wakako turned her head and saw that Tsuruko Tachibana was talking to her in a low voice with a worried face.

    Tachibana Wakako shook her head and said, "Mom has been blinded by anger and can¡¯t persuade her anymore!"

    "s! She always thinks that we are angry with an outsider, but what she doesn¡¯t understand is that we are helping her! Have you told her that Li Yundong was Wisdom King who had the reincarnation ?"

    Tachibana Wakako nodded and said, "Yes, I did!"

    "So didn¡¯t she have any reaction at all?" asked Tsuruko Tachibana with a surprising look.

    "She doesn¡¯t believe me at all. What can I do? She thinks I¡¯m trying to find an excuse!" Tachibana Wakako said with nervous expression.

    Tsuruko Tachibana let out a long sigh, shook his head and stopped talking.

    About ten minutester, Li Yundong saw Kaisai Hikariuni came up with a scroll in his hand and said in a low voice for a while. Before long, Masako Tachibana slowly came to the center of the field and stood about ten meters away from Li Yundong.

    After Kaisai Hikariuni, Li Yundong, and Masako Tachibana bowed to each other, Kaisai Hikariuni slowly retreated. The cultivators who were whispering in the surrounding sects and schools also quieted down. They knew that an amazing score was about to begin.

    Li Yundong saw that the courtyard was suddenly so quiet that he could hear a pin drop. Masako Tachibana stood quietly opposite him, with her hands sped in her sleeves and her eyes drooped, as if she didn¡¯t take Li Yundong seriously at all.

    It was extremely quiet in the courtyard. Only a gust of wind blew in, and a scarlet maple tree in the middle of the courtyard made a strange rustling sound of leaves.

    Around Li Yundong, a faint golden radiance that could be seen with the naked eye was slowly released. This golden radiance shrouded Li Yundong¡¯s whole body, making him look like a shining golden Buddha.

    A stream of strange white radiance slowly flowed out of the long sleeves of Masako Tachibana. This white light covered her like smoke, and her figure was looming.

    Both of them were very cautious at such an important moment, because they were both great cultivators with extremely high cultivation quotient. Even if there was no one around to watch them, once they made a mistake, they would be doomed eternally. What¡¯s more, this score was a battle that Li Yundong and Masako Tachibana couldn¡¯t afford to lose. They could only win, they couldn¡¯t lose!

    It was also because of this that the two of them were locked in a stalemate in the field. They were ten meters away from each other and were motionless. Only their zhenqi continued to flow out of their bodies and slowly extended toward each other.

    Their zhenqi, like their tentacles, slowly extended to each other¡¯s domain. They tried to probe each other bit by bit, looking extremely cautious.

    The Japanese cultivators from various sects and schools did not feel bored. Instead, they widened their eyes and watched the white aura and a golden radiance slowly approach each other. They knew that once these two auras came into contact with each other, they would immediately be in great waves, and the sky would be filled with wind and clouds!

    Li Yundong¡¯s golden radiance and Masako Tachibana¡¯s white radiance were like two snakes of different colors, swaning. When they were about to climb to the maple tree in the middle of the courtyard, Masako Tachibana¡¯s white radiance suddenly moved. She suddenly shrank back, just like a viper about to attack. She tilted her head back, and then shot out like a sharp arrow!

    When Li Yundong saw that Masako Tachibana¡¯s aura was shrinking back, he immediately understood the intention of his opponent, and suddenly rushed forward fiercely without warning!

    Masako Tachibana¡¯s cultivation quotient was higher than Li Yundong¡¯s, and the fight between masters was just a hair¡¯s breadth. Although she shrank back, the sudden burst of speed still gave her the first chance. Her aure immediately passed through the maple tree and rushed toward Li Yundong like raging tide.

    As soon as her aura passed through the maple tree, the scarlet maple tree suddenly became withered yellow, the maple leaves withered, and even the trunk began to wither, making creaking sounds, as if the torture of this aura is unbearable.

    Due to the loss of the opportunity, Li Yundong¡¯s golden zhenqi was surged by the raging aura of Masako Tachibana. Immediately, he retreated one step at a time, as fast as retreating tide.

    Although he was taken advantage of by his opponent, Li Yundong did not panic at all. When he saw the white aura approaching quickly, especially when he was two meters away, the white aura suddenly surged up like a huge wave and rushed toward Li Yundong like tsunami!

    The crowd could vaguely saw numerous ghostly faces roaring in the tsunami. Countless dead souls instantly let out earth-shattering roar, shaking heaven and earth!

    The cultivators¡¯ strength from various sects who were familiar with Masako Tachibana¡¯s strength immediately changed their expressions. They said sternly, "It seems Masako Tachibana really wants to win this battle! She actually used her ultimate move from the very beginning!"

    Ever since the Ju family had established an alliance with the Zhenyan Tantrism, they had been able to summon ghosts and gods with the help of their own possess supernatural powers. And in the entire Japan, there was no more ce concentrated than the Zhenyan Tantrism. Moreover, the hundred thousand ghost that had umted over the past thousands of years were so terrifying!!

    Each and every one of their faces were the ghost that had been worshipped in this Mount Koya for thousands of years. Any side of their bodies would be turned into dregs, and they would be devoured until there was not a single speck of ash left!

    It was unknown how many experts of the cultivation world had been defeated by this skill of Masako Tachibana!

    When the crowd saw this move, they couldn¡¯t help but look at Li Yundong. Many people had already regarded him as a corpse because they didn¡¯t believe that a Chinese cultivator like Li Yundong could survive under such a horrible move!

    Li Yundong saw the tsunami-like dead souls pouncing in front of him. Although there was no threat from his left, right, and back directions, he could dodge this extremely fierce attack with a slight sh. But Li Yundong knew that this was a trick of Masako Tachibana!

    Competing with each other, the masters could lose their advantages, but they couldn¡¯t lose their momentum!

    Even if he lost the first opportunity, he could still winter!

    But once he lost his momentum, he would be doomed eternally!

    As the saying goes, three armies can win the general¡¯s position, but an ordinary man can¡¯t win his ambition. That¡¯s the reason!

    You¡¯re ruthless! I¡¯m even more ruthless! You¡¯re fierce! I¡¯m even fiercer!!

    Li Yundong¡¯s eyes suddenly widened, and he put his palms together humbly. The nails of the second ring finger and the second little finger were put into his palms. The second index finger was attached to the back of the second middle finger, and the thumb was held up, forming the shape of the three eyes. In an instant, they formed into the big Buddha¡¯s mahamudra, which symbolized the light of the Buddha, which could see through the darkness of all living things, break through all obstacles, and drive away the ghost that were difficult to hide!

    Li Yundong red angrily at the sea of ghost in front of him. He recited the mantra and shouted, "Momo! I didn¡¯t carry you on your back for more than three days! Mingling! The Emperor¡¯s Confucianism! The Emperor¡¯s Manor! The Emperor¡¯s Manor! The Buddha¡¯s Manor! The Emperor¡¯s Manor¡¯s Manor¡¯s Manor! The Emperor¡¯s Manor¡¯s Manor¡¯s Manor¡¯s Manor is full of people!"

    The mantra came out of his mouth at a high speed, and each word spewed out an extremely powerful Buddhist doctrine. As soon as Li Yundong¡¯s Light Gathering Buddha¡¯s mahamudra was cast, a sh of golden radiance shot out from the top of his head. The golden radiance rushed straight to the sky, and then quickly shot from the sky to the ground, instantly enveloping Li Yundong and the sea of ghost in front of him.

    When these hundred thousand ghosts were illuminated by the golden radiance that had descended from the sky, they immediately howled in pain. In an instant, they turned into countless ck smoke and fled in all directions.

    Seeing that Li Yundong easily dissolved Masako Tachibana¡¯s unique skill of defeating countless masters with a loud shout, they couldn¡¯t help but burst into an uproar and eximed, "Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡? Who is this person?"

    But as soon as they finished their words, they saw that the golden radiance on the ground quickly turned into a real golden palm and mmed toward Masako Tachibana!

    This palm seemed to be a huge meteorite falling from the sky. It moved so fast that mes appeared on the edge of the palm!

    The Japanese cultivators present saw that Li Yundong¡¯s palm strike was terrifying extremely. It was so powerful that it made them feel suffocated. It was as though this palm strike would turn the courtyard into ashes!

    They immediately stood up in shock. Although many people had a grudge against Masako Tachibana, this score was not only a fight between the Zhenyan Tantrism and the Chinese cultivators, but also a score between the Japanese Cultivation World and the Chinese Cultivation World. If they were knocked down by this Chinese person, it would be a great shame for the whole Japanese Cultivation World!

    When they saw that Li Yundong¡¯s palm fell from the sky in the blink of an eye and swallowed up Masako Tachibana in an instant, they couldn¡¯t help but be shocked. "Masako Tachibana couldn¡¯t have been defeated like this, could he? How could this Chinese be so powerful?"

 Chapter 637 Vajra Wisdom Sword

    <h4>Chapter 637 Vajra Wisdom Sword</h4>

    Everyone saw that Masako Tachibana¡¯s figure was instantly swallowed up by Li Yundong¡¯s Light Gathering Buddha¡¯s Top Mahamudra. Then there was a loud bang on the ground. The ground of the royal courtyard was like a carpet that had been shaken by someone, causing a sudden wave.

    With this shock, even the tourists at the foot of the mountain felt a tremor, as if an earthquake had urred.

    At the gate of the royal courtyard of Mount Koya, the Japanese reporters looked at the strange scene in the golden radiance in the sky in shock and exined loudly to the camera.

    The three monks guarding the gate also turned their heads at the same time and looked at the golden radiance falling from the sky in surprise. They whispered to each other about the origin of the golden radiance, and their eyes were full of strong yearning.

    Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin, who were hiding in the dense forest of Mount Koya, also felt that the two powerful auras had reached out to each other. Su Chan raised her head and said nervously, "I don¡¯t know how Yun Dong is doing. Sister Zi Yuan, hurry up and practice Magic!"

    Zi Yuan quickly took out a colored ze mirror covered with cracks from her sleeve. It was the jade mirror that she had used to help Li Yundong ward off the divine punishment.

    Although the jade mirror was smashed by the power of the divine punishment and almost lost all its spiritual energy, it still had some special abilities, such as peeping at the nearby scene with the help of people who practiced Magic.

    Zi Yuan wiped her hands on the mirror, and waves of white mist immediately surged out of the jade mirror. In the white mist, a blurred scene gradually appeared. It was the scene of Li Yundong and Masako Tachibana settling a score.

    Zhou Qin¡¯s eyes widened and said, "That¡¯s Master! Where¡¯s Masako Tachibana? Why doesn¡¯t she show up?"

    Su Chan said in surprise, "Could it be that Yun Dong has already won? The Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡ was amazing just now!"

    However, Zi Yuan shook her head and said, "If we can defeat Masako Tachibana in this way, then the Cultivation World in Japan will be a big joke!"

    As soon as the voice of Zi Yuan disappeared, she saw that in a roar of smoke, the figure of Masako Tachibana gradually appeared. Her whole body was surrounded by boiling white air, and her long ck hair was like a upside-down waterfall rising to the sky. Her originally dark eyes had also be iparably red.

    Obviously, Masako Tachibana was irritated by Li Yundong¡¯s attack. Her angry voice shook the sky. "You wanna die!"

    Masako Tachibana¡¯s voice sounded as if countless people were shouting at the same time. The whole Mount Koya suddenly trembled. Then, colorful clouds in the sky and hidden Yin Qi in the mountains and forests quickly rushed toward Masako Tachibana, as if she had be a huge whirlpool, sucking the surrounding aura into her body.

    Soon, one vapor after another was slowly gathered in the front of Masako Tachibana. From top to bottom, it surrounded Li Yundong densely.

    Mount Koya was one of the two great divine mountains in Japan. It was full of the spirit of heaven and earth. After being influenced by the incense of the Zhenyan Tantrism for thousands of years, it was even more spiritual. At this time, Masako Tachibana mobilized the Spiritual Qi of Mount Koya and Mother Nature¡¯s Qi of the sky. The two auras gathered together, and each of her doppelgangers looked majestic. An aggressive pressure came over her face and could not be stopped.

    These Masako Tachibanas were holding all kinds of weapons. Some of them were holding Vajra, some were holding canes, some were holding alms bowls, and some were holding banners, the Yin-Yang Principle Fan, and other powerful magical weapons of Shintoism. In an instant, they rushed toward Li Yundong from all directions!

    Li Yundong only saw the clones of Masako Tachibana in all directions, and the power of each avatar was no less than that of her true body!

    He immediately shivered inwardly. He knew that this was precisely one of the great characteristics of the jinshen score!

    The jinshen masters had alreadyprehended the truth of cultivation and reached the cultivation of harmony between man and nature, so they had broken through the limits of nature in settling a score. They were able to borrow the power of the five elements of heaven and earth and even thunder and lightning in an instant. In the blink of an eye, they formed a situation of fewer and fewer, and killed their opponents with the power of thunder and lightning in an instant!

    If the opponent was not a master of the jinshen, or had notprehended the mystery of the jinshen Battle, they would instantly fall into an extremely passive situation. Even if they had the Yang Spirit body with superhuman powers, they would not be able to resist such a violent attack. Even if the Yang Spirit Master wanted to fight desperately and directly attack the opponent¡¯s true body, because the opponent had the protection of the jinshen, his magic spells and powerful magical weapon might not necessarily be able to cause a fatal blow to the opponent. Therefore, "it can¡¯t be broken and can¡¯t be defended". This was why "even ten Yang Spirits can¡¯t defeat a jinshen".

    At this moment, Li Yundong had already understand the secret of the jinshen Battle. His zhenqi surged without a hurry, and the Yang God instantly broke out. In an instant, countless Yang Spirit clones were formed, and he pinched Fixed Fundamental Palm with his hands. Every Yang Spirit was shining with golden radiance. Li Yundong seemed to be surrounded by a golden city wall in an instant, which firmly protected Li Yundong¡¯s true body. His body was as solid as golden soup, dripping water from the south, east, north and west!

    Masako Tachibana¡¯s clone of anger generally collided with Li Yundong¡¯s clone of eyes, and the white aura and golden aura suddenly squeezed into a ball.

    Countless avatars of Masako Tachibana were crowded together at this time, and they couldn¡¯t tell their specific figures at all. Even their facial features and limbs were blurred, as if they had merged into a huge white air mass, madly shrinking and squeezing toward Li Yundong!

    Li Yundong only felt that this extremely powerful force was pressing towards him, as if it was about to crush him into meat sauce. His true body immediately tied his hands to the outside and his two middle fingers were raised to support each other. His thumb was crossed like a lotus leaf, and he pinched out the most powerful "the Anmitayus Buddha Seal" in the Mantra Mah¨¡mudr¨¡!

    The mantra of the Anmitayus Buddha Sealsted for a long time, but every time Li Yundong recited it, the golden radiance that was surrounded by the white aura became stronger and stronger. The cultivators around felt that although the golden radiance was bound by the white aura, it was like a volcano that was about to erupt with energy at any time. Its power was constantly increasing, and the white aura around was forced to expand in all directions and can¡¯t shrink any more.

    When Li Yundong finished reciting thest word of the Mantra, he suddenly banged in front of him as if a huge bomb exploded, and a strong shock wave quickly spread around.

    The maple tree, which was originally withered in the middle of the courtyard, was immediately uprooted by this force. In the blink of an eye, it flew into the sky. But when it was still flying in the air, it was quickly caught up by a shock wave from behind. The two shock waves were stacked together and instantly tore the maple tree into pieces.

    The cultivators of various sects around the courtyard mobilized their zhenqi one after another. They set up a barrier in front of the house in front of them, blocking the terrible aura in front of them.

    Masako Tachibana¡¯s white aura was also blown apart. But when it scattered in the air, it quickly changed into the shape of an avatar of Masako Tachibana. He red at Li Yundong with ferocious eyes, as if he had not been damaged at all.

    After Li Yundong used the Anmitayus Buddha Seal to break through the attack of Masako Tachibana again, a white radiance shed on his waist, and the Liuhe Sword instantly came out of its sheath, splitting into countless Liuhe Swords in the air. Li Yundong¡¯s Yang Spirit suddenly jumped into the air and also turned into countless Yang Spirit clones. Holding a Liuhe Sword in one hand, Li Yundong fought against the incarnation of Masako Tachibana.

    For a moment, the sky above the royal courtyard was in a mess. Everyone felt as if a war had broken out in front of them. Countless people were entangled in the fight.

    After Li Yundong trapped the opponent¡¯s vast avatar with the same technique, he pointed his hand, and the Bahuang Sword suddenly turned into an indestructible rotating iron lotus throne, and nkly rushed towards Masako Tachibana!

    At the same time, he also made three mahamudras at the same time, fiercely blocking all the directions and corners that Masako Tachibana could dodge!

    For a moment, all the cultivators stood up in shock. They had never expected that in addition to gaining a little advantage at the beginning, Masako Tachibana had been suppressed by Li Yundong all the time. At present, she was even at a disadvantage!

    Not only was this Chinese cultivator¡¯s ability to settle a score superb, but his moves were also fierce and violent. His every move was like a thunderbolt or a mountain, which made people have no time to breathe. The onlookers felt suffocated, let alone what¡¯s the feeling of Tachibana Masako on the court!

    The middle-aged man of Ise Shinto was stunned and looked at the field. He couldn¡¯t help but said, "How... how is this possible? Who is this Chinese on earth?"

    Chuyun suddenly straightened her back, and a strange light shed in her eyes. She stared at Li Yundong¡¯s figure and said with slightly excited expression, "He is much... stronger than we imagined!"

    There was also a group of stunned spectators outside the royal courtyard. Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin were watching the fight on the field with the help of the jade mirror. At first, when they saw the fight between the two sides of the jinshen, they were so nervous that they didn¡¯t even dare to breathe. When Li Yundong gained the upper hand, they couldn¡¯t help but feel happy one by one. Su Chan couldn¡¯t help but said happily, "Okay, we¡¯re going to win!"

    Zhou Qin clenched his fists and said nervously, "Master, beat her down quickly!"

    However, there was a hint of worry between Zi Yuan¡¯s eyebrows. She whispered in a low voice, "Something¡¯s wrong!"

    Su Chan asked in confusion, "Sister Zi Yuan, what¡¯s wrong?"

    Zi Yuan hesitated for a moment and said, "Although Li Yundong seems to have been attacking fiercely, I always feel that he has no effect?"

    Zhou Qin was shocked. "Ah? Master, you won¡¯t really show mercy, will you? No! It¡¯s like cherishing a snake in your bosom!"

    Su Chan widened her eyes. "What is Yundong thinking? There¡¯s no need to be so polite with this foreigner. Beat her quickly!"

    Zi Yuan pondered for a moment and said, "No, Li Yundong seems to have used all his strength, but Masako Tachibana doesn¡¯t seem to use all her strength. Although she is beaten by Li Yundong at this time, she is not in a mess. It seems that she is looking for the real bottom line of Li Yundong¡¯s strength."

    It¡¯s not long after Zi Yuan¡¯s voice, she saw that after Li Yundong¡¯s fierce attack, Masako Tachibana suddenly stopped. Her two eyebrows stood up, and her eyes were full of murderous aura. She said with a ferocious face, "Have you yed enough? If you only have this little ability, today will be your doomsday!"

    After that, countless doppelgangers around her gathered together, forming a huge cloud. Then, the countless Buddha statues of the Bodhisattva on Mount Koya began to vibrate. Rays of golden radiance rose into the sky and gathered in a constant rolling cloudyer in the sky. Then, they all fell on Masako Tachibana.

    In an instant, Masako Tachibana, an upright cloud was shining with golden radiance, and her whole body seemed to be surrounded by mes. She held a huge golden long sword, raised it high, and then smashed it down towards Li Yundong¡¯s head!

    When Zhou Qin saw this sword, he couldn¡¯t help but exim, "Master, quickly dodge!"

    Zi Yuan and Su Chan also lost their voices at the same time, "Vajra Wisdom Sword?"

 Chapter 638 When the Ghost Li Meets Li Ji

    <h4>Chapter 638 When the Ghost Li Meets Li Ji</h4>

    Faith is a kind of power!

    When the believers of Tibetan Buddhism faced the Randeng Buddha, they burned their little fingers with sincerity, burning them as offerings to the Buddha, and forcibly burned their little fingers! During this process, they endured the pain that ordinary people could not bear, but their faces were brimming with happiness!

    He destroyed himself and abused himself only for the sake of worshipping God! This is the power of faith!

    In the extremely poor people¡¯s homes, the situation was precarious, and even the next meal was about to starve to death. However, the devout believers still served in front of Buddha respectfully as life-saving rations, even if they starved to death, they had to worship Buddha!

    To sacrifice one¡¯s life just for Buddha! This is the power of faith!

    For thousands of years, the gods and Buddhas of the Shingon had been enjoying such devout beliefs and offerings. The spiritual forces condensed by countless believers were entangled on this divine mountain, forming a huge and amazing power of gods and Buddhas.

    That was exactly the reason why Masako Tachibana was so powerful!

    At this time, she chopped down with the Vajra Wisdom Sword in her hand. The long sword was filled with the powerful and horrible faith power of the thousand-year-old Mount K¨­ya!

    This power almost tore apart the sky. In an instant, Mount K¨­ya became covered in dark clouds, as shrouded in the people¡¯s head, the dark sky was about to copse at any time!

    This dark cloud almost covered the whole sky, so that more than half of the towering cloud Dharmakaya of Masako Tachibana was covered. At the gate of the royal courtyard, the Japanese reporters, who had been reporting on the scene, saw dark clouds rolling over their heads. However, the dark clouds was quickly torn apart by a dazzling golden radiance.

    Although they didn¡¯t know what had happened, they knew that it must have been caused by settling a score in the courtyard. They were stunned and stared at the scene in front of them in a daze, a word couldn¡¯t say.

    When Zi Yuan and Su Chan saw that Masako Tachibana¡¯s sword wasing down, they were so scared that their hearts were hanging in their throats. When Zhou Qin heard their shouts, he couldn¡¯t help but exim, "Vajra Wisdom Sword? Is this the magical sword of the Immovable Wisdom King?"

    Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes were fixed on the colored ze mirror, and her face was nervous. She unconsciously clenched her fingers, and her knuckles were so hard that they were a little pale, but she didn¡¯t know it at all. She said, "Masako Tachibana is serious. She has already used the faith power of the Shingon! This power is the power of the Sovereign of Mount K¨­ya, the Immovable Wisdom King¡¯s power!"

    Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help but ask curiously, "But... wasn¡¯t Master the incarnation of the Immovable Wisdom King?"

    Su Chan and Zi Yuan were stunned by his words. They raised their heads at the same time, one full of surprise and the other seemingly lost in thought.

    Su Chan burst into wildughter and said, "That¡¯s right. How did I forget about this? It¡¯s okay that Masako Tachibana didn¡¯t use the power of the Immovable Wisdom King! But she used the power of faith of the Immovable Wisdom King to deal with the reincarnated Wisdom King. Isn¡¯t she asking for trouble? Haha, there¡¯s going to be a good show!"

    The more the little girl spoke, the more excited she became. The worry between her eyebrows was gone. Her two sses were narrowed into a line, and her face was full of satisfaction.

    Although Zi Yuan¡¯s eyes were full of undisguised joy, she still said cautiously, "Don¡¯t be careless. Don¡¯t be careless; see what happens!"

    When the cultivators of the various sects, who were watching the battle with their own eyes, saw the Vajra Wisdom Swording out, they immediately looked serious and hid their fear. Many of them were defeated by the Vajra Wisdom Sword of Masako Tachibana!

    But Masako Tachibana¡¯s sword was aimed at Li Yundong. Although there was a loud bang, the tip of the sword was still three inches away from Li Yundong¡¯s top of the skull, so it couldn¡¯t fall again.

    Masako Tachibana was startled in her heart, but then she became furious. She raised the giant sword in her hand again and chopped it down with force!

    The power of this sword was even stronger than before. The long sword almost cut through the air. When the edge of the sword made contact with the air, there was a thunderous roar, which was horrible and suffocating.

    But this sword still fell on three inches above Li Yundong¡¯s head again. No matter how angry and forceful Masako Tachibana was, the bat in front of Li Yundong was like an invisible wall, blocking the terrible Vajra Wisdom Sword in front of him.

    Masako Tachibana was both shocked and angry. "That¡¯s impossible!"

    The wisdom sword in the Immovable Wisdom King¡¯s hand could cut off everything in the world. Even if it was a flowing river, when it went down, the river would flow in reverse and the waves of anger would freeze! Even if it was the most righteous love in the world, the wisdom sword could cut off all love and hatred with it!

    For more than ten years in Japan, there had never been anything under the wisdom sword that could not be cut. How could it not cut off the head of this youngd?

    Masako Tachibana was so angry that she shouted loudly. In an instant, all the pces, statues, Buddhas, and evennterns, which were painted with the image of the Immovable Wisdom King, began to dance as if they were alive. Wisps of white light gathered toward her.

    Masako Tachibana¡¯s Cloud Fashen gradually gathered together and turned into a raging me Vajra that was surrounded by mes. This Vajra stared at everything in front of him with angry eyes. As the incarnation of the Buddha, as soon as he appeared in the world, he made people feel a horrible sense of anger.

    The blue mes burning behind the Immovable Wisdom King were like a sea of fire in hell. They swore that they would burn everything in this world!

    A blue sea of fire was boiling in the sky. In the eyes of the people, half of the sky on the Mount Koya mountain had be a strange dark blue, and the surrounding air had be scorching hot. The leaves on the Mount Koya mountain withered and withered quickly, as if they were being burned by the terrible high temperature and were rapidly losing moisture.

    This blue me quickly spread in all directions, and soon the whole sky turned into a blue sea of fire, with only a ck Immovable Wisdom King standing in the sea of fire. The two sides of King Ming¡¯s mouth showed ferocious teeth, and his face was twisted with anger. He was bare-chested, his shirt was tilted, and he was wearing a skirt. He was holding the Vajra Wiadom Sword in his hand, which had been held by Masako Tachibana. He was lifting the sword in his hand little by little, as if he was going to cut it down in the next second, andpletely destroy the world!

    Some of the lessposed cultivators in the royalpound were so frightened that they stood up. They wished that they could immediately flee far away.

    Some of the cultivators who had suffered a defeat in the hands of Masako Tachibana were even paler, and their eyes showed the fear that they could not look back.

    The middle-aged man in the Ise Shinto looked at the Immovable Wisdom King that was summoned by Masako Tachibana in horror. He said in a hoarse voice, "The Immovable Wisdom King, the king of all Wisdom Kings, the leader of all Wisdom Kings! I haven¡¯t seen him for a long time!"

    Chuyun, who had been expressionless, also looked at the Immovable Wisdom King, who was powerful enough to destroy the world, in horror. She whispered in a low voice, "Is this the power of the Immovable Wisdom King? It¡¯s really powerful! Uncle, no wonder you told me that Masako Tachibana was invincible in Mount K¨­ya since I was a child! It¡¯s really like this!"

    At this time, Masako Tachibana summoned the Immovable Wisdom King. The rolling dark clouds in the sky were also scattered by the blue mes of the Immovable Wisdom King. The people of Mount K¨­ya looked up with their mouths wide open. Looking at the furious Wisdom King in the sky, they didn¡¯t move at all, as if they had been scared out of their wits.

    Especially when the intelligent sword in the Immovable Wisdom King¡¯s hand was raised to the highest point above his head, time seemed to have stopped moving and the air seemed to have frozen!

    Immediately after, the Wisdom King¡¯s Vajra Wisdom Sword in the Immovable Wisdom King¡¯s hand fiercely chopped down!

    He didn¡¯t need any tricks, or magic powerful magical weapon. As the embodiment of Buddha¡¯s power of anger, the Immovable Wisdom King¡¯s power had already surpassed everything else. He didn¡¯t need these fancy things to disy his iparable power anymore!

    This ordinary sword strike had already surpassed all the dangerous fighting methods before!

    When the people on Mount K¨­ya saw the sword falling, an idea suddenly came to their minds: "It¡¯s over. The world is going to be destroyed by Buddha!"

    No one knew who was the first to make a heart-wrenching shout. Suddenly, almost all the people in the world screamed and fled wildly in all directions, like small animals who fled in all directions before the disaster came.

    At this time, Masako Tachibana hadpletely lost her senses. For the victory in front of her, she had forgotten everything. In her mind, there was only one thought: "I can¡¯t lose, I can¡¯t lose! Immovable Wisdom King, help me destroy the guy in front of me who is blocking my way!"

    Looking at the horrible sword falling toward Li Yundong, Masako Tachibana¡¯s figure was instantly swallowed up by the huge sword. At this moment, she was so happy that she raised her head andughed out loud.

    This burst ofughter was full of arrogance. In addition, Li Yundong¡¯s position had been instantly swallowed by a blue me, which made him look superior and proud.

    Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin looked at the scene in the mirror and were stunned. The three of them were speechless for a while. After a long time, Zhou Qin suddenly became furious and said, "That¡¯s impossible!"

    The little girl was also shocked. Somehow, she couldn¡¯t help but shed tears. She said in a daze, "Impossible, Yundong, he, he can¡¯t be like this..." At the end of the little girl¡¯s words, the two ominous words were about toe out of her mouth, but she couldn¡¯t say it.

    Zi Yuan buttoned her lip. Her snow-white teeth bit her lips tightly, and her whole body was trembling. This fairy, who was usually very calm, seemed to be pulled out of her back in an instant. Her whole person became light and she couldn¡¯t stand still!

    Although there were some cultivators from various sects in the cultivation world who admired and respected Li Yundong, this battle involved the cultivation world of the Middle Sun. The Japanese cultivation world could not afford to lose. Therefore, when they saw Li Yundong being swallowed by the mes, many people couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh of relief. Some sects that were very close to the Shingon even cheered.

    The three monks who had been guarding at the gate of the royal courtyard could also tell the oue from the changes in the scenery in the sky and the Aura in the courtyard. They could not help but cheer.

    Those Japanese reporters, who had always disliked Li Yundong¡¯s high-profile behavior, saw them cheering and pping their hands to celebrate.

    But just as the Japanese were celebrating, a soft sneer suddenly came from the boiling blue me.

    Although the voice was soft, it clearly reached the ears of everyone in the Royal Family¡¯s courtyard for settling a score.

    They only heard the voice full of sarcasm saying, "You Chinese like to read the ¡¯Romance of the Three Kingdoms¡¯, but haven¡¯t you read the ¡¯Water Margin¡¯?"

    While speaking, within this blue me, a male slowly walked out, with an impressive presence, but unscathed!

    It was none other than Li Yundong!!

 Chapter 639 Give Me a Reason Not to Kill Her!

    <h4>Chapter 639 Give Me a Reason Not to Kill Her!</h4>

    The blue mes burning around the Immovable Wisdom King were the manifestation of the Buddha¡¯s angry power. This power was extremely terrible, which wasparable to the True mes of Samadhi, which could burn everything in the Taoist sect.

    When Masako Tachibana saw this ball of blue fire swallow Li Yundong, she couldn¡¯t helpughing wildly. This troublesome and hateful opponent finally disappeared in front of her!

    But to her surprise, in less than half a minute, Li Yundong came out of the horrible me unscathed. Not only was he unscathed, but his hand-made silk Tang suit did not even show any sign of being cut off, as if the me was just a decoration background around him.

    Masako Tachibana was stunned by the scene in front of her. With a buzz in her mind, she shouted in an extremely out-of-control voice, "It¡¯s impossible! It¡¯s absolutely impossible! Who the hell are you?!"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t answer. He just looked coldly at the patriarch of the orange family in front of him. His eyes were full of mockery, as if he had seen a fake fool fooling others in his name.

    Li Yundong raised one of his hands. With a wave of his hand, the blue mes around him rushed to his palm as fast as rivers returning to the sea.

    The blue fire that was boiling in the sky and the mes around him quickly gathered in his palm and rotated quickly. Every time it rotated, it would bepressed. Soon, the sky was as clear as before, and all the blue mes werepressed into a fist-sized blue fireball by Li Yundong.

    Thepressed strength of the fireball was incredibly high. It looked like a burning blue ss ball, and it could be clearly seen that the ripples of the me were flowing and boiling inside.

    He was able to control the mes in the sky with ease. Although it was very shocking, what did it mean that he couldpress the Wisdom King¡¯ s me into such a small ball?

    But for this point, very few people on the scene thought about it for a while. They had a more serious and more terrible problem to worry about!

    The cultivators from all school in Japan looked at the blue me in Li Yundong¡¯s palm in horror. They knew that this me seemed to have be less, but its power was far more terrible than that of the sea of fire just now!

    It turned out that the mes could only burn everything it came into contact with, but at this time, the fireball waspressed by the sea of fire all over the sky and had an extremely horrible explosive power.

    It could even be said that the power of this blue fireball was equivalent to ten nuclear bombs. If it was detonated by Li Yundong, Mount Koya would be razed to the ground, and there would be a huge pit in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan! In fact, ording to the special geographical structure of Japan, once this blue fireball exploded, not only Wakayama Prefecture would be destroyed, but it would also cause an even more terrible earthquake and tsunami in Japan!

    This would be the end of the Japanese nation!

    All the cultivators from various schools and schools in Japan stared nervously at the blue fireball in Li Yundong¡¯s hand. They didn¡¯t even dare to breathe heavily. Even the middle-aged Ise Shinto and Chuyun, who appreciated LiYundong¡¯s¡¯ Ise Shinto again, were so nervous that they stood up at this time. They were surrounded by Zhenqi and took out their magic treasures. Their eyes seemed to spit out sharp knives. They stared at Li Yundong. As long as he showed any intention of igniting the blue fireball, they would do anything!

    They were powerful cultivators who could use all sorts of means to escape from such a terrifying explosion. However, neither the Mikado nor the wife of the Mikado could do it! There were countless ordinary Japanese people here, but they couldn¡¯t do it!

    At this time, no matter how arrogant and tough the Japanese cultivators were, they did not dare to scold Li Yundong. They red at Li Yundong angrily, and they wanted to kill him in an instant. But they did not dare to say anything, for fear that this guy would be provoked£¬ ignore them and ignite the fireball, and then Japan would disappear from the world!

    For a moment, the ce was extremely quiet. Cultivators of all schools in Japan were sweating, like stone statues, motionless.

    But fortunately, Li Yundong did not intend to destroy Japan. The blue fireball in his hand became smaller and smaller, and finally became small and invisible. Then, with a buzz in the air, a blue ripple burst out and continued to spread in all directions, like a blue light. It was very beautiful.

    Li Yundong also knew that if he detonated this blue fireball, it would not benefit him at all. This fireball was enough to kill millions of ordinary people. Although he did not like the country of Japan and hated the nature of wolves in this country, what was the sin of these ordinary people? To say the least, if a cultivator killed an ordinarymon person, it would bring about a divine punishment. How terrible would it be for him to kill a million ordinary people? Not to mention he is the reincarnation of Wisdom King, even if the real Buddha appeared, he would be taken away by God, wouldn¡¯t he?

    Moreover, among the cultivators of various schools in this battle, there was definitely nock of top masters. Among them, many of their Cultivation Quotient was far above that of Masako Tachibana. It was only because she could use strong faith power that she could defeat them. It was easy for these people to escape from the range of the bomb. If they destroyed Japan, wouldn¡¯t they go back to revenge?

    This result was not what Li Yundong wanted to see. If it really happened, it would be a terrible battle in the Cultivation World of China-Japan. It would even lead to theplete copse of the Cultivation World of China-Japan.

    After the blue fireball in Li Yundong¡¯s hand disappeared, the cultivators of all the schools around him also breathed a sigh of relief. As a gust of wind blew, some people felt that they were wet all over, as if they had just been fished out of the water!

    The middle-aged Ise Shinto couldn¡¯t help but wipe the sweat from his forehead. With a look of relief and fear on his face, he said, "What a close call!"

    Chuyun also loosened his clenched fist slightly and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. "Fortunately, he is not a madman!"

    However, it seemed that Masako Tachibana did not feel the danger just now at all. She still looked at Li Yundong in disbelief and shouted as if she had lost her mind, "Who the hell are you?"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and raised his other hand. At this time, the azure-ck Wisdom King in the sky instantly turned into countless tiny white lights and instantly broke down. Wisps of white light flowed into Li Yundong¡¯s body one after another.

    As soon as the power entered Li Yundong¡¯s body, a dazzling white light burst out from his whole body, and there was a crack between his eyebrows. The cut slowly stretched, and a dignified and cold vertical pupil appeared. Then, Li Yundong¡¯s bones cracked, and two heads and four arms quickly grew from his shoulders and back. His whole person became a two-meter-tall, superhuman powers Wisdom King of wrath!!

    At this moment, even Su Chan, Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, and the others, who had seen this scene through the jade mirror, could not tell whether Li Yundong¡¯s physical body had directly transformed into the Wisdom King¡¯s Fashen, or if his Yang Spirit body had changed so much that it covered his physical body.

    When the crowd saw Li Yundong¡¯s appearance at this time, they all cried out in shock, "This is the Wisdom King!"

    "Immovable Wisdom King!"

    "That¡¯s impossible!"

    Masako Tachibana¡¯s head was buzzing. She suddenly remembered what her daughter had once said to her very seriously, "Mom, this Li Yundong is the reincarnation of Wisdom King. You must not use the power of Immovable Wisdom King to fight with him!"

    At that time, Masako Tachibana was contemptuous of this statement and didn¡¯t believe it at all!

    This was like a person squandering an ownerless treasure for more than ten years. Subconsciously, he had regarded this treasure as his exclusive treasure. But one day, someone suddenly came over and told her that this treasure belonged to another person!

    How could she believe it? Even if she believed it, how could she be willing to admit it?

    Masako Tachibana was dripping with sweat, and beads of sweat as big as beans rolled down her forehead. She murmured subconsciously, "Impossible, this is absolutely impossible!" However, her body trembled under the pressure of Immovable Wisdom King. She trembled and stepped back step by step, as if she wanted to escape from this terrible ce.

    At this time, Masako Tachibana was extremely regretful in her heart. If she didn¡¯t use the power of Immovable Wisdom King, she might not be able to defeat Li Yundong!

    However, he was too eager to achieve quick sess and gain instant benefits. He wanted to defeat his opponent in one stroke and intimidate the hostile sect around him. That was why he had mobilized the power of Immovable Wisdom King!

    The power of the Immovable Wisdom King was sealed in various statues and Buddhist sayings in Mount Koya in the form of a seal. Without the call of the special bloodline power of Masako Tachibana, they would never wake up and would never be used by outsiders!

    Even if Li Yundong was the reincarnation of Immovable Wisdom King, it was impossible for him to mobilize this power in Mount Koya!

    It didn¡¯t matter if he didn¡¯t use this power, but it was equivalent to giving a big gift to the other party!

    Li Yundong¡¯s strength multiplied, and the power of his Fashen increased to a level that no one dared to look directly at!

    Li Yundong slowly raised the Vajra Precious Sword in his hand. Although this sword was much smaller than the huge sword in the hand of Masako Tachibana before, its condensed sharpness seemed to be real, and its power was greater!

    When the intelligent sword in Li Yundong¡¯s hand was raised to the highest point, he suddenly shouted and chopped at MasakooTachibanaa.

    At this moment, Masako Tachibana only felt that the sky above her head suddenly darkened, and an extremely terrible force pounced on her. She couldn¡¯t move at all, and she couldn¡¯t even move her little finger!

    The only thing she could do was to watch the sword cut down on her head, and then let out a heart-wrenching scream!

    Just as the intelligent sword in Li Yundong¡¯s hand was about to hit on the head of MasakooTachibanaa, a figure suddenly rushed out of the field and shouted, "Don¡¯t kill her!"

    Li Yundong took a closer look and saw that the slim body of Tachibana Wakako was standing in front of her mother. Her body trembled slightly, and her trembling hands betrayed her heart full of fear. However, she bit her lips tightly, and there was a firm light in her eyes.

    The long sword in Li Yundong¡¯s hand suddenly stopped on the top of the head of Tachibanaa Wakakoo. He said in a cold voice, "Give me a reason not to kill her!"

    The young and immature face of Tachibana Wakako was full of stubbornness. Her voice trembled slightly, but she still said in a sonorous and powerful voice, "Heaven¡¯s care for every living thing! No one is free from mistakes all his life!"

    This sentence shocked almost all the cultivators present. Even Kaisai Hikariuni couldn¡¯t help but sigh deeply. "Amitabha!" As for whether he was sighing about the failure of the Zhenyan Tantrism or was sighing about the good foundation of Tachibana Wakako, no one knew.

    Li Yundong was silent for a long time. The long sword in his hand slowly disappeared, and his figure slowly changed back to the original appearance of a man in a Tang suit. He suddenly smiled and said to Masako Tachibana, "Your daughter knows much better than you! You have lived for more than ten years in vain!"

    When she heard Li Yundong¡¯s words, her voice kept echoing in her mind. There was a nk but indignant voice in her heart, "Am I wrong for more than ten years? What was wrong with me? What was wrong with me?!"

    At the thought of her boasting in front of everyone, she carefully arranged n, and the miserable situation in front of everyone, she couldn¡¯t help but feel ashamed and angry. A stream of hot air rushed up from her Dantian. She was so angry that her Qi, Blood was in disorder. She spat out a mouthful of blood and fell down on her back!

    An exmation came from Masako Tachibana. She turned around and hugged Masako Tachibana who was lying on the ground.

    The middle-aged man Ise Shinto looked at Masako Tachibana and shook his head. "The era that belongs to her has passed! The Japanese Cultivation World will usher in the era of heroes again!"

    Chuyun looked at Li Yundong with aplicated look in her eyes. It was hard to tell whether her eyes were full of admiration or fear. She whispered, "What about him?"

    The middle-aged man looked at Li Yundong, only to see that Li Yundong did not even look at Tachibana Wakako and other people. He turned around, flicked the dust off his body, and was about to leave. He could not help but whisper, "This Chinese has defeated Masako Tachibana... If word of this gets out!"

    Previously, he thought that Li Yundong was a weak hero, so he took pity on him. But at this moment, he was so shocked that he defeated Masako Tachibana! The nature of the whole thing had changed!

    He wasn¡¯t the only one who had thought of this. The cultivators from other Japanese cultivation sects had also thought of it!

    A few loud shouts came from behind Li Yundong at the same time. "You can¡¯t go!"

    "Stop right there, that guy!"

    "Do you want to leave after injuring someone?"

    When Li Yundong heard the voice, he turned around. His expression didn¡¯t change at all, but his eyes were full of disdain and disdain.

    At this time, Zi Yuan, who was hiding in the woods outside the royal courtyard of Mount Koya, raised her head and quickly wiped her hands on the jade mirror. She hid the magic treasure on her body and said, "It¡¯s our turn to fight!"

    At this time, there was a fierce demon-sealing war taking ce in Jingdu City of Japan.

 Chapter 640 No one can stop me!

    <h4>Chapter 640 No one can stop me!</h4>

    Liu Ye was standing in front of an inconspicuous little stone table in the Qing Ming Divine Club of Shang Jing District in Kyoto, Japan. He reached out and stroked the bright red star runes on the stone table.

    Just as he gently stroked it for a while, he heard an old voice behind him in Japanese, "I¡¯m sorry, the runes can¡¯t be touched like this!"

    Without looking back, Liu Ye said in Japanese, which had a strong Guandong ent, "Is that so? Are you afraid that I will release the monster sealed in this stone?"

    As he spoke, Liu Ye turned around with a slight smile on his face. The smile on his face was so kind that it seemed harmless.

    Standing in front of Liu Ye was a short old man. The old man was about 1.6 meters tall, wearing the most ordinary brown man¡¯s kimono. His eyebrows were long and white, and the skin on his face was as old as a ravine. He looked like he was in his 100s. He was slightly hunched over, leaning on a cane, with one hand behind his back. He was also looking at Liu Ye with a smile.

    After the old man took a serious look at Liu Ye, heughed and said, "You came from Guandong, didn¡¯t you? From your ent, it seems that you came from that ce! There are no legendary creatures sealed on this stone. You may have heard some strange stories there, right?"

    Liu Yeughed and said, "Is that so? But why did I hear that Yu Zaoqian was sealed here?"

    A fierce light shed in the old man¡¯s yellowish eyes, but it onlysted for a moment. He soonughed and said, "You¡¯re wrong! Yu Zaoqian was sealed in the Stone of Killing, and he was cut into two pieces by Monk Xuan Weng when he was in the era of the Human Room. Although the stone was still there, the soul of Yu Zaoqian had long been smashed into ashes by Monk Xuan Weng! Haha, this story knew by all children!¡±

    Liu Ye alsoughed together with the old man. He said with a smile, "Is that so? But I didn¡¯t find any trace of lightning strike on the Murderous Stone when I was in Na Xu County, Guandong Wood County!"

    The old manughed and said, "It has been nearly a thousand years. How can we find these traces?"

    Liu Ye shook his head and said with a smile, "That¡¯s not certain. To destroy the soul of the Mystical Silver Fox, it¡¯s useless to use ordinary Heavenly Thunder. Only the most powerful Heavenly Night Thunder can destroy her soul! Once the Heavenly Night Thunder falls, even mountains and seas can be turned into ashes, let alone stones. How can there be any Killing Stone?"

    The old man¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly, and the smile on his face remained unchanged, but his voice slowly became cold. He said word by word, "Who are you?"

    Liu Ye sighed softly and leaned over. He stretched out his hand and gently stroked the star runes on the stone tform. He sighed and said, "I also thought that the soul of the Mystical Silver Fox was locked in the stone, so I secretly visited Guandong for a long time. However, I found that the stone was just an ordinary stone, but there was a looming Fox Spirit Qi around the stone. So I understood it at that time. The Mystical Silver Fox was indeed sealed there, but because the Mystical Silver Fox was still very powerful when she was sealed, any creature near her would be absorbed by her to regain her spiritual energy."

    Liu Ye continued with a slight smile, "It¡¯s also because of this that the Japanese Cultivation World knows that they can¡¯t ignore the killing stone like this. In this way, sooner orter, the Mystical Silver Fox will absorb enough life and regain its strength to break out of the stone. Therefore, you¡¯ve thought of a way to rece the peach zombie of the Li n. You asked Monk Xuan Weng toe forward and split a stone without the soul of the Mystical Silver Fox with the trick of Heavenly Thunder. Then you reced the stone with the stone that originally sealed the Mystical Silver Fox¡¯s soul... that¡¯s the stone in front of me!"

    With this, Liu Ye turned his head to look at the old man behind him. "Am I right? Mr. Abe Su Qian of the Earthly Imperial Family? Or should I call you Mr. Abe Su Qian?"

    Su Abe Qian¡¯s face was extremely serious. He stared at Liu Ye like lightning and said slowly, "Which schools are you from? Why did youe here to say such words? Since you know this, you should know that this stone is ominous. You should leave as soon as possible!"

    Liu Yeughed and said, "Is it really an ominous thing?"

    Abe Su Qian saw that Liu Ye spoke frankly in Guandong ent, and his expression and words were no different from Japanese people¡¯s. The Guandong School in the Japanese Cultivation World was a very famous force. In the battle against the Mystical Silver Fox in the Luck of heaven, the Guandong School was the first cultivator to rush to the front.

    Although Liu Ye¡¯s words were a little weird and he even knew the origin of Yu Zaoqian¡¯s true body, it could be seen that he should be a very powerful cultivator. Therefore, Abe Suqian first regarde Liu Ye as a cultivator from Guandong, Japan.

    Everyone in Japan knew about Yu Zaoqian. Yu Zaoqian was a well-known name in the Japanese cultivation world, but very few cultivators knew that Yu Zaoqian was the Mystical Silver Fox with the Luck of heaven. Only those Japanese cultivation school who had participated in the encirclement and suppression knew about this extremely secret.

    In the era of the Bird Mikado, the Mystery Silver Fox disguised herself as Yu Zaoqian and hid beside the Mikado. Later, she was discovered by Abe Taiqin. In a fit of anger, the Heavenly Mystery Mikado sent out his subordinates to kill the Mystery Silver Fox. They sent their favorite generals, Sanpu Yiming and the General Manager of GuangChang, as well as the strongest Yin-Yang Master in Japan at that time. In addition, they organized an army of 80,000 soldiers to besiege and kill the Mystery Silver Fox.

    This big battle was recorded in the history of Japan, which was unprecedented and unprecedented. Even if there wererge-scale battles in Japan, there were very few battles with nearly 100,000 people. However, the 80,000 elite soldiers were used to kill a Mystical Silver Fox with one soul and two souls left!

    It could be said that in all the history of Japan, there had never been a demon who could enjoy such "special" treatment!

    It was also because of this battle that Yu Zaoqian¡¯s name was well-known in the world of Japan. Since then, the name of the Mystery Silver Fox had been talked about in the cultivation school of Japan.

    In the eyes of Abe Su Qian, since Liu Ye knew about this and said it so fluently in Japanese, he must be a descendant of a major cultivation face in Japan. After learning about the whereabouts of the Mystical Silver Fox, he curiously came forward to take a look. This was not the first time such a thing had happened.

    However, Abe Suqian didn¡¯t know that Liu Ye himself was the junior of the Mystery Silver Fox, and that he was a horrible Eight-tailed Fox!

    After practicing to the Eight-tailed Fox, Liu Ye¡¯s demonic aura had beenpletely restrained. He was no different from an ordinary person. Therefore, even Abe Su Qian, who had high cultivation, could not tell Liu Ye¡¯s real identity.

    Abe Su Qian said with a serious face, "Why isn¡¯t it an ominous thing? When we sealed the Mystery Silver Fox in this stone, any creature near her would be sucked to death by her! Later, it was the Abe family who sacrificed our lives to create this demon-sealing rune, which was why wepletely sealed her here! The ancestors of our Abe family have been here for more than 30 generations! I advise you to stay away from it!"

    Liu Ye looked at the stone in front of him with pity in his eyes. The Zhenqi in his body began to flow silently. He pressed his finger on the runes of the Five-horned Star and suddenly said in surprise, "Ah, there¡¯s a crack here!"

    Abe Su Qian was taken aback. He could not help but chide, "Nonsense! This runic mark has an extremely powerful demon-sealing power. How could there be a crack?"

    Liu Ye, on the other hand, said, "You don¡¯t believe me? Thene and have a look yourself!" Then, he stepped aside.

    Abe Su Qian looked at Liu Ye carefully and took a few steps forward doubtfully. He took a look at the stone tform and found that it was intact. How could there be any cracks?

    As soon as Abe Su Qian was stunned, he felt a strong winding from behind him. The pores on his back suddenly exploded, and a creepy feeling of bloodcurdling quickly came over him!

    Abe Su Qian subconsciously dodged to the side, but he didn¡¯t expect that he had escaped this attack. Soon, the other side¡¯s shadow-like attack came at him.

    Abe Su Qian saw that there was a vast expanse of white in front of him. An iparably huge white object was sweeping towards him, and his body was immediately sent flying.

    As an elder of the Abe family, Abe Su Qian himself was not a Yin-Yang Master and not very good at fighting. Two of the strongest people in the family were currently in the south of the country, while the other two were in Mount Koya. Abe Su Qian was the weakest one who stayed behind to guard the city.

    Although he knew the importance of this stone tform, no matter how important it was, after guarding it for nearly a thousand years, his vignce would be reduced. Besides, who dared to be presumptuous in the vicinity of the Ruishen Mountain? Who dared to be presumptuous in the Qing Ming Divine Club?

    The Abe family, which had guarded this sealed stone for nearly a thousand years, did not expect that someone would take advantage of this time to sneak in. In addition, Liu Ye was carefully prepared to imitate thenguage and behavior of the Guandong people so that Abe Su Qian had the idea of taking the lead. There was no reason for Liu Ye to suddenlyunch a sneak attack.

    Abe Su Qian¡¯s body was suddenly thrown out, and his thin and weak body fell into a custom-style snack shop. His body, like a cannonball, stirred up the curtains of the door, and there was a ring and a loud shout in the room.

    But very quickly, Abe Su Qian rushed back from the inside, surrounded by a ck aura. Blood oozed from the corner of his mouth. He red at Liu Ye in front of him and shouted angrily, "Who the hell are you?"

    There was a low and deepugh in Liu Ye¡¯s throat. Heughed, and one snow-white and huge tail after another quickly grew behind him. These white tails were smooth, reflecting a strange and enchanting beauty in the light.

    The pupils in Abe Su Qian¡¯s eyes constricted. "Nine-tailed Fox Spirit!!"

    The Nine-tailed Fox Spirit was so famous in the Japanese cultivation world that when Abe Su Qian saw the fox tail behind Liu Ye, this was the first thought that came to his mind.

    But he soon found that the Fox Spirit only had eight tails behind her!

    "Fortunately, it¡¯s not the Nine-tailed Demon Fox!" Abe Su Qian¡¯s heart calmed down a little. He quickly looked around, only to find that the tourists near the Qing Ming Divine Club, as well as the bosses and employees in the restaurant, were all stunned by the scene in front of them. They seemed to be scared out of their wits and couldn¡¯te to their senses for a long time.

    Abe Su Qian shouted, "Run, what are you waiting for!"

    As soon as he finished speaking, the tail behind Liu Ye suddenly swept away, and once again knocked away the distracted Abe Su Qian. This time, he hit heavily against the wall, leaving a big hole in it.

    Liu Ye nced at Abe Su Qian with disdain and snorted. "Watch this moment!"

    With this, he turned around, turned over his hand, and mmed his palm toward the stone table engraved with the red star runes!

    "Stop!" Just as Liu Ye¡¯s palm was about to hit him, Abe Su Qian struggled with the pain and stood up in the ruins. He quickly threw a rune at Liu Ye.

    The rune quickly turned into a ferocious shikigami in the air. It had a single horn on its head, and its mouth was showing its fangs. It pounced on Liu Ye with a ferocious face.

    Liu Ye looked back at this "shikigami". His eyes were condescending, full of sarcasm and mockery. "You want to stop me with this?" After that, white fox fur grew all over his body quickly, revealing his real fox body in an instant.

    Liu Ye¡¯s real body was more than three meters tall. Like a giant beast, he red at the shikigami in front of him. He opened his mouth, revealing a blood basin and roared. With a roar, the spirit was shattered into pieces by the sound waves alone. Even Abe Su Qian¡¯s body was shaken and flew out again.

    At this time, no one could stop Liu Ye. He turned around and stepped heavily on the stone tform, leaving a crack on the stone tform!

    With a cracking sound, the symbols of the Five-horned Star quickly revealed a trace of vague golden aura. Soon, this trace of golden aura became more and more abundant and gradually turned into a huge mist-like gas floating in the air.

    One scene after another shed in the golden clouds. Tens of thousands of soldiers shouted and rushed to the top of the mountain like a tide; Sanpujieyi, who was dressed in a Japanese warrior¡¯s suit, held a longbow in his hand and shot arrows; General Manager Jie, who was dressed in armor, was calm andmanded the army in the rear; Countless Japanese cultivators rushed to a delicate figure one after another; The famous Yin-Yang Master and Abe Taiqin were quickly reciting spells and depicting the runes of the five-pointed stars.

    These pictures shed as fast as a horse-ridingmp, and finally, they were fixed into a picture.

    In the picture, a woman with golden light all over her body stood in a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. The woman had her back to the picture. Behind her were nine extremely long golden fox tails, each of which was soaked in a sea of blood. Countless dead Japanese warriors, holding a Samurai Sword full of runes, stabbed her fox tail and nailed her to the ground.

    This woman was entangled by numerous sharp arrows, and her figure was entangled by the numerous dead Japanese warriors. Facing the tide-like enemies and the Japanese Cultivation World one after another, she still let out an unyielding, earth-shattering roar. "I am the Mystical Silver Fox of heaven, who can stop me!"

    With a loud bang, the scene was instantly shattered, and the golden powder scattered, leaving only a clear shout resounding in the air above the capital city of Japan: "I am the Mystical Silver Fox with the Luck of heaven, who can stop me!!!"

    At this moment, many foreigners in Jingdu heard this voice, but the pronunciation of this voice was in Chinese, so they naturally couldn¡¯t understand it. Even if there were people who could understand Chinese, they were also like the pedestrians around them. They looked up at the sky nkly and didn¡¯t know what had happened.

    Abe Su Qian¡¯s entire body could not help but tremble. His face was filled with terror and despair as he said in a trembling voice, "Oh my god... the Heavenly Mystery Silver Fox has been resurrected!"

 Chapter 641 The Demon Sealing War

    <h4>Chapter 641 The Demon Sealing War</h4>

    The voice of Mystical Silver Fox shook the sky, and the whole capital city was shocked. Many citizens looked up at the sky, and the pedestrians stopped walking. The drivers chased after them one after another, and the busy cross streets were blocked for a while.

    Abe Su Qian trembled from head to toe as he looked at the countless shattered pieces of gold powder falling to the ground. They slowly piled up, and then a person slowly stood up from within.

    The person¡¯s body was blurry, as if he was abination of countless tiny golden light spots. Her whole body was a little distorted, but it could be vaguely seen that she was a woman with a slim figure. Her appearance was a little blurred. At first, she didn¡¯t even have any facial features, but in the twisted golden halo, she became clearer little by little, and her nose and eyes slowly appeared.

    Just as her appearance was about to take a shape, Abe Su Qian suddenly let out a scream of despair. His entire body emitted a blinding ck and white light. With a furious shout, he turned into a cannonball and charged at the Mystery Silver Fox.

    After releasing the Mystery Silver Fox, Liu Ye slowly returned to his human form. He watched as Abe Su Qian rushed over, but he didn¡¯t stop him at all. Instead, there was a hint of mockery on his face.

    Abe Su Qian was burning his own life at this time. He rushed toward the Mystery Silver Fox with the spiritual energy, trying to destroy her when she showed up.

    But as soon as he rushed to the front, the Mystical Silver Fox suddenly stretched out her hand and hovered in front of Abe Su Qian. Abe Su Qian¡¯s fierce momentum, like a cannonball, suddenly stopped, and the rolling ck and white Qi around him also solidified in an instant.

    Liu Ye sneered and said, "Stupid guy!"

    Just as Liu Ye ced a bet on Abe Su Qian¡¯s foot, the Mysstical Silver Fox suddenly clenched her fists. In an instant, the ck and white Qi all over Abe Su Qian¡¯s body exploded in all directions. The ghostly Qi from the Yin and Yang worlds met the nine-tailed celestial fox. It was like a fierce beast meeting an even more ferocious monster. Subconsciously, it fled in all directions.

    However, when the Ghostly Qi dissipated, it tore Abe Su Qian¡¯s old body into countless pieces. In an instant, the old man in the Onmyodo turned into a cloud of blood fog, which shocked the people around him and made them scream in horror.

    Some of the ordinary people near the Qingming Shrine were so scared that they scrambled away. Some were so scared that they hid behind obstacles and shivered. Some were hiding in the corner and secretly took out their mobile phones to take photos of what was happening in front of them.

    When Abe Su Qian was seckilled, an angry roar came from the roof next to the Qingming Shrine. "Demon Witch, quickly kill him!"

    When Liu Ye heard the voice, he turned his head and saw two monks with buddha bead on their necks and canes in their hands standing on the roof. The two monks were wearing yellow cassocks and half of their arms were exposed. Their muscles were so developed that they were like steel bars and iron bars that wrapped around their bodies, like an iron tower Vajra.

    Liu Ye frowned slightly. He knew that they were stronger than the guardian Vajra of Mang Mountain. He was good at fighting, and everyone¡¯s strength was close to the Golden Body Realm. He began to worry. "He¡¯s faster than a bunch of chatans of Mang Mountain!"

    As soon as he finished speaking, he saw countless figures jumping from the roof of the house in the direction of Mount Hiei, rushing toward them.

    Liu Ye¡¯s heart trembled and he looked anxiously at the Mystical Silver Fox. However, he did not dare to urge the Mystical Silver Fox. He knew that it was time for the Mystical Silver Fox¡¯s soul to be reconstructed, her memory to recover, and her strength to awaken. If he disturbed it, it would cause great damage to the Mystical Silver Fox.

    At this moment, the monk on the roof next to him shouted loudly. He swung his monk staff at the top of the Mystical Silver Fox¡¯s head like a meteor falling from the sky.

    It seemed that the Mystical Silver Fox had not seen it. But when the cane was about to hit her head, she suddenly raised her head and screamed.

    Veins stood out the Mystical Silver Fox¡¯s neck, and her mouth was wide open. A fierce sound that seemed to pierce through the sky and tear the earth bursts out from her chest!

    This roar caused the surrounding air to shrink suddenly. Following which, a buzzing sound rang out as if the air had shrunk and then started to surge rapidly. It spread in all directions. This shocking wave caused the ground to crack and crack. Countless cracks spread out in all directions from the feet of the Mystical Silver Fox. The ss of the surrounding houses was instantly shattered into pieces. Many wooden houses even copsed from the shock and fell to the ground with a loud thud.

    Some ordinary people who were close to him immediately bled from their seven apertures and fell to the ground without saying a word. No one knew whether they were alive or dead. The two powerful monks who were the first to bear the brunt of the attack seemed to have been hit by the Immobilizing Skill, and their bodies froze on the spot. After a while, blood slowly seeped out of their skin and pores, and the whole man slowly turned into a bloody man. Their bodies were soft and fell to the ground.

    Liu Ye knew that the Mystial Silver Fox¡¯s roar had caused the Qi and Blood in their bodies to lose control. They fled in all directions, and all of their blood vessels exploded and they died!

    Although the two monks were not difficult to deal with, Liu Ye had been worried about whether the Mystical Silver Fox would be able to revive after being sealed for nearly a thousand years.

    However, the Mystical Silver Fox merely let out a fierce roar and killed the two mountain-protecting Guardian Deities. Its might was no weaker than it had been in the past!

    "I¡¯m the Mystical Silver Fox, who can stop me!" Even if the Mystical Silver Fox only had one soul and two souls left, even if she had been sealed in a five-star talisman formation for nearly a thousand years, once she showed up again, her sharpness was still not something an ordinary person could resist!

    In a trance, Liu Ye seemed to see the majestic figure of the Mystical Silver Fox in the battle with Xu Ye.

    At this moment, Liu Ye¡¯s whole body was burning with blood. He had nned for decades and finally seeded. The Fox Zen School could finally regain its majestic spirit!

    However, not long after he was happy, he heard an angry roar that shook the sky. "Get into formation! Demon-subduing!!"

    Liu Ye looked up and saw that the roof of the surrounding houses was full of monks, and there were no less than five or six hundred people. These monks quickly stood with their hands sped together, or sat cross-legged with Buddha beads in their hands, reciting scriptures in unison.

    These chanting sounds shook the heaven and earth, revealing an extremely powerful Buddhist power, which made the Mystical Silver Fox scream in pain. Her body, which had be clearer and clearer, became distorted and blurred again.

    Among these monks, the leading monk was wearing a red cassock, and his whole body was shining with amazing golden light. Looking from a distance, he was an old monk in his 70s. Liu Ye was shocked and said in a low voice, "The head of the Tiantai Sect was Imagawa Kouun!"

    The Tiantai Sect was an extremely powerful force of Buddhism in Japan. Although it was not as powerful as the Warring States period, and it had suffered from disasters three times, falling from the clouds to the bottom, its hundreds-legged insects were still alive. So far, there was still an amazing number of martial monks in the Yanli Temple of Mount Hiei.

    When these monks quickly formed the demon-subduing formation, the power of the formation was so powerful that it immediately attracted dark clouds in the sky. The thunder clouds were rolling, showing signs of the end of the world. With Liu Ye¡¯s abnormal strength, the eight-tailed Fox even felt a sense of fear that she didn¡¯t want to take another look at him.

    Looking at the rolling thunder and lightning above his head, Liu Ye ground his teeth in anger and said, "The Extermination Array of Fa Hua!"

    In the battle against the Mystical Silver Fox, it was the cultivators of the Tiantai Sect who sacrificed their lives to use this formation to attract the Divine Punishment. The Mystical Silver Fox was busy dealing with the Heavenly Thunder, so she was nailed to the ground by many Japanese warriors who flocked to her with the tactic of " ants biting the giant elephant".

    Obviously, the master of the Tiantai Sect realized what had happened in the first ce, so he made an amazing decision in an instant: tounch the Fa Hua Extermination Formation again and seal this terrible demon again!

    These monks obviously knew that once the array was activated, most of them would be sacrificial offerings tounch the divine punishment, and then they would die. However, none of these monks were timid. Their faces were full of the expression of death, and their voices which were reciting the scriptures and incantations were not trembling at all.

    Soon, the rolling divine thunder in the sky became more and more fierce, and the roaring thunder and lightning around were so bloodcurdling.

    Liu Ye secretly gritted his teeth. He quickly took out a talisman from his bosom and recited the incantation at the same time.

    Just as he was reciting the incantation, there was a loud rumble, and the rolling thunder and lightning around him fell in an instant. It seemed that countless divine thunders gathered together, forming a shocking torrent of heavenly thunder, rushing toward the Mystical Silver Fox.

    The Mystical Silver Fox¡¯s and Liu Ye¡¯s figures were instantly engulfed by the blinding white light. For a moment, the sky was bright, and their eyes were as wide as a blind eye.

    After a while, the surrounding light slowly returned to normal. The master of the Tiantai Sect, Imagawa Kouun, spat out a mouthful of blood. Many monks around him also fell to the ground. One of the monks leaned over and immediately struggled to grab hold of him. He gasped and said, "Master Xingyun, we made it!"

    Imagawa Kouun took a look at the field, only to find that the original Qingming Shrine had almost disappeared. There was a huge deep pit on the ground, and the houses around the shrine had be ruins. It turned out that there was no trace of Liu Ye and the Mystical Silver Fox. There was not even a trace of ashes.

    Imagawa Kouun brows were tightly furrowed. After he took a deep breath, he let out a long sigh and said, "No, we failed!"

    The monk next to him eximed, "How could it be? Didn¡¯t the Heavenly Thunder hit her?"

    Imagawa Kouun said bitterly, "At the moment when the Heavenly Thunder fell, they ran away!"

    The monk was bloodcurdling. "Run away? What, this Mystical Silver Fox actually ran away? Buddha, such a terrifying demon actually escaped in front of us!! Who was the one that let him go?!"

    After all, Imagawa Kouun was the Sect Master of the Tiantai Sect. He quickly expelled his dejected mood of failing to seal the demon. He slowly stood up and said in a dense tone, "Find out, immediately find out who let the Mystical Silver Fox go! Find out where the Mystical Silver Fox has escaped to! Even if we have to go to the ends of the earth, we will still kill her!"

    The monk next to him whispered, "But... Master Xingyun, who can bear the responsibility of hunting down the Mystical Silver Fox?"

    Imagawa Kouun said coldly, "When the soul of the Mystical Silver Fox was reorganized, we interrupted that. Now she must have scattered her soul and gone to find other souls. Therefore, she is not a big threat now, but we must find her and kill her before she finds the other souls! Otherwise..."

    He didn¡¯t finish the rest of the sentence, but the monk next to him could guess what he was going to say. "Otherwise, once the Mystical Silver Fox recovers all its power, it will be an unprecedented catastrophe in the cultivation world of Japan!"

 Chapter 642 Hurry up and get out of here!

    <h4>Chapter 642 Hurry up and get out of here!</h4>

    Just as the mystical silver fox was released, Zi Yuan, Su Chan, and Zhou Qin were about to start their great n. However, as soon as they moved, Su Chan¡¯s figure suddenly froze on the spot. She looked in the direction of Jingdu with a nk and surprised look.

    Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin both stopped and looked back at her in confusion. Zi Yuan asked carefully, "Su Chan, what¡¯s wrong? What¡¯s wrong with you?"

    Su Chan only felt that her heart was beating violently. There seemed to be a very familiar aura in the distance. This aura might be very strange to ordinary people, but for Su Chan, it was extremely familiar, because this was exactly the unique aura of a fox spirit!

    "Where did the fox spiritse from? Their aura is so strong. Why is it so strong?" Su Chan looked over and saw that there seemed to be a very faint dark cloud in the distant sky. Obviously, this strong fox spirit aura had attracted the heavenly thunder. The little girl looked at the distant sky in surprise and thought to herself, "Is it my master? No, even my master doesn¡¯t have such a strong aura! How strong can the fox spirit aura pass to me?"

    The little girl¡¯s eyes were fixed on the distance, and she was lost in her thoughts for a while. Suddenly, four words suddenly popped up in her mind: Mystical Silver Fox!!

    By the way, it must be the Mystical Silver Fox!! Only the aura of the Mystical Silver Fox was so strong!

    This thought scared Su Chan. Her face was pale, and she immediately took a few steps back subconsciously. She cried out, "No, it¡¯s impossible!"

    Although the little girl was sometimes stupid, at the critical moment of life and death, she was often very clever. Especially after the taoist assembly, the little girl naturally knew what it meant for the Fox Zen School to resurrect the mystical silver fox, and what it meant for Li Yundong!

    "One point, then one point!"

    An extremely terrifying thought suddenly shed through Su Chan¡¯s mind. She immediately jumped up and said to Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin in horror, "Oh no, let¡¯s go quickly. Yun Dong is in danger!"

    As she spoke, she took the lead and rushed forward.

    Zi Yuan and Zhou Qin were at a loss. They looked at Su Chan suspiciously. Zhou Qin couldn¡¯t help but caught up with her and asked, "Su Chan, what¡¯s wrong? What happened?"

    Su Chan was very anxious. She didn¡¯t dare to say her guess out, so she had to say, "Don¡¯t ask so much now. Hurry up and carry out our n. Let Li Yundong get out of here as soon as possible. Otherwise, it will be toote!"

    Zhou Qin became more and more confused. She wanted to ask again, but when she saw Zi Yuan, she said firmly, "Don¡¯t ask. Listen to Su Chan first. Let¡¯s go!"

    Seeing this, Zhou Qin didn¡¯t say anything more. He nodded and followed quickly.

    The three of them rushed to the royal courtyard, only to see that the Japanese reporters who were guarding at the door had already been excited. Having witnessed the previous strange fighting, they thought that Masako Tachibana had won thest victory. They were so excited that they wished they could rush inside and take a picture.

    For the reporters, these monks of the Zhenyan tantrism kept them outside, which was really a great torture to their curiosity!

    Zi Yuan saw that the three monks at the door were also looking in the direction of the courtyard curiously. She lowered her voice and said quickly, "I¡¯m in charge of the one in the middle. Su Chan, you¡¯re in charge of the one on the left. Zhou Qin, you¡¯re in charge of the one on the right. Do you have any objections?"

    Zhou Qin and Su Chan nodded at the same time, and Zi Yuan also nodded. She raised her hand and quickly threw small earth magic behind these Japanese reporters.

    With a rumble, the Japanese reporters were so scared that they immediately fell to the ground with the machines in their arms.

    Zi Yuan gritted her teeth and immediately said, "Go!" After that, with a sh of purple light around her, the Ninth Heaven Zi Yuan Silk flew out quickly, and her figure disappeared in an instant.

    The Ninth Heaven Zi Yuan Silk was like a huge, covering all the monks in an instant. Although the monk struggled desperately and roared loudly, his voice was firmly trapped in the Ninth Heaven Zi Yuan Silk. The whole body was wrapped like a mummy, and his body fell straight down.

    The two monks next to him were attracted by the magic of Zi Yuan. They looked at the direction of the sound with vignce. The one in the middle was hit and fell backward, but they seemed to be unaware of it.

    At this time, Zhou Qin¡¯s whip broke through the air. The head of the whip was like a viper sticking out its tongue, urately hitting the Danzhong of the chest of the monk on the right, making his Qi and Blood boil. He couldn¡¯t even shout for help, and his body couldn¡¯t help bending.

    Then, Vulcan¡¯s Whip in Zhou Qin¡¯s hand quickly wrapped around the monk¡¯s body. Zhou Qin shook his wrist and pulled him to his front as if he was pulling prey. She stretched out her hand and poked the monk¡¯s body with her fingers quickly. The monk did not say a word and fainted without saying a word.

    Although Zhou Qin didn¡¯t let the monk make a sound this time, the sound of Zhou Qin¡¯s whip breaking through the air and pulling people attracted the monks on the left to look at them.

    As soon as the monk turned his head and saw the scene in front of him, he was about to cry out in surprise. But as soon as he opened his mouth, a beautiful girl appeared in front of him in an instant. The girl held ck hair in her hand and touched the monk¡¯s neck. He immediately felt that his whole body was stiff, and his voice disappeared when it reached his throat. He lost control of his whole body and tilted to the side.

    At this time, Zi Yuan also appeared in front of the fallen monk in the middle and caught him before he fell to the ground. Zi Yuan and Su Chan looked at each other and nodded quickly. Then they dragged the two monks to enter the jungle quickly.

    Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, and Su Chan stirred up trouble three times, as fast as lightning. Before the reporters at the door found anything unusual, they hadpleted everything.

    When these reporters stood up in shock again, they were surprised to find that the three monks at the door disappeared!

    For a moment, these reporters nkly looked at the open door and looked at each other. They couldn¡¯t wait to rush in immediately, but thew and discipline of the Japanese had been deeply rooted in their bones and blood. Although there was no one guarding the door, no one rushed in for a while.

    But at this moment, they saw the three sadhus of the Pure Land School walking slowly toward the royal courtyard.

    As they saw the three monks entering the courtyard, their minds suddenly became lively. They looked at each other. At this time, a journalist¡¯s sense of curiosity and responsibility finally defeated everything. With a shout, they rushed into the courtyard like bees.

    Both Masako Tachibana and Kaisai Hikariuni knew that the Mikado--the emperor of Japan was also in the courtyard, but there were many masters from various sects and schools in the cultivation world of Japan, so naturally, no one could reach the Mikado--the emperor of Japan. Therefore, most of the monks of the Zhenyan Tantrism were ced outside the periphery of the Gaoye Mountain and the royal courtyard to prevent outsiders from attacking.

    The monks who were arranged in the courtyard were all paying attention to the situation in the field. How could they notice the situation around them?

    When these reporters rushed into the field like a tide, it was toote for them to stop them.

    Just as the Japanese cultivators in the cultivation world were making trouble for Li Yundong, the Japanese reporters rushed in, and afraid that the world would be in chaos. For a time, the cameras and vidicons were flying, and the cameras were shing the same color.

    Li Yundong was going to fight with these Japanese cultivators, but when he saw this situation, he was also stunned. Just as he was in a daze, a voice came into his ears and said quickly and anxiously, "Li Yundong, let¡¯s go!"

    This voice was clearly heard by Li Yundong. It was the voice transmitted by Zi Yuan to him.

    "Why is she here?" Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help stunning.

    Li Yundong was not a reckless person. He knew that even if Guan Yunchang who went to the meeting alone finally escaped, he had to hold Lu Su hostage, let alone himself.

    If he didn¡¯t take advantage of the chaos at this time, when would he do it?

    While the army was in chaos, Li Yundong took advantage of everyone¡¯s distraction and disappeared in an instant.

    In the courtyard, these reporters rushed in. They were so excited that they looked like sharks who had smelled blood. They asked in a loud voice, "Mr. Earth Immortal, why did youe to Mount Koya this time?"

    "Master Kaisai Hikariuni, I heard that there is a real settle a score here. Is that true?"

    "Miss Chuyun, what happened in the sky just now? Can you exin it to us?"

    Although the Japanese cultivators in this battle had seen a lot of ups and downs, they could not help but be dumbfounded when they saw this situation.

    Some cultivators fly into a rage out of shame and shouted at these reporters, "Who are you? Who let you in?"

    "Throw them out!"

    "Shut up! Don¡¯t you see that they are taking photos? Do you want to be taken?"

    The monks of Zhenyan Tantrism looked at these reporters helplessly. Although they were strong cultivators, they didn¡¯t know how to deal with the situation in front of them in the face of the cameras of satellite live streaming and these ordinary mortals.

    Kaisai Hikariuni was very unhappy, but he still said to these reporters with a kind face, "Amitabha, everyone, please behave yourself. The Mikado--the emperor of Japan is upstairs!"

    The Mikado¡¯s power was extraordinary. The reporters on the scene immediately quieted down and stood solemnly, no longer making any noise.

    At this time, a figure stood up from the half-covered window upstairs. The figure shed by the window and slowly went downstairs.

    The faces of the cultivators from all sects and schools on the scene were very bad. In front of the emperor, the Japanese cultivation world had been pped in public!

    Some of them quickly came to their senses and looked around for Li Yundong. They were searching around when they heard a loudugh in the air. Li Yundong stood in the clouds and said with a smile, "The Great River has gone to sea waves, leading these dozens of people to ride a small boat and a leaf. It¡¯s not like the Nine-Heavens Pce, but it¡¯s a ten-thousand-foot-long tiger¡¯s den. A man¡¯s heart is apart. I¡¯m looking forward to seeing this one-handed knife like a mountain vige club. What a good sect!"

    After that, Li Yundongughed three times and disappeared into the sky.

    The Japanese cultivators were furious. Almost all the Japanese men read Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and these cultivators were extremely knowledgeable. They naturally knew that Li Yundong was singing Guan Hanqing¡¯s One-des Society, which satirized them like clowns in the River East.

    A few cultivators bellowed angrily, "Damn it, let that person escape!"

    "Bastard, how dare an ignorant juniorugh at us!"

    "Damn it, go and catch him back!"

    Although they shouted fiercely, they didn¡¯t take any action. On the one hand, there were reporters on the scene, and on the other hand, the previous fighting had really shocked them. This young man was actually the reincarnation of King Ming. It was really terrible!

    The most admirable thing in Japan was the Immovable Wisdom King!

    Just as these cultivators were arguing, suddenly, a monk almost scrambled to the front of Kaisai Hikariuni and whispered a few words.

    Kaisai Hikariuni¡¯s originally calm and peaceful face suddenly changed. He said with a twisted face, "What did you say?"

    The monk whispered again. This time, Kaisai Hikariuni¡¯s whole body trembled.

    The reporters around looked at Kaisai Hikariuni curiously. They didn¡¯t understand why this big monk, who didn¡¯t change his expression when Mount Tai copsed in front of them, was so frightened with his paled face.

    Although they didn¡¯t hear what he said, the cultivators of the various sects and schools heard the sentence with their super strength: "Mystical Silver Fox, reappear in the human world!"

    In an instant, all the Japanese cultivators in the royal courtyard of the Mount Gaoye fell silent, then a terrible and solemn atmosphere shrouded the field.

 Chapter 643 The Beginning of the War

    <h4>Chapter 643 The Beginning of the War</h4>

    The news of the resurrection of the Mystical Silver Fox made all the cultivators in Japan feel as if they were soaked in an ice cer with a chill runing down their spines.

    Although nearly a thousand years had passed since the demon-sealing battle, the horrible memories of the Japanese cultivators were still there. They dared not imagine what kind of disaster would be brought to the Japanese and Japanese Cultivation World after such a big devil was released.

    Kaisai Hikariuni was the first to recover from this terrible news. He opened his eyes widely to the reporters around him and said with curiosity, "Amitabha, please go to the front hall to have a rest. After a while, the Zhenyan Tantrism will hold a press conference. If you have any questions, please don¡¯t hesitate to ask us on the conference. Please leave now."

    These reporters looked at each other and had to leave under the guidance of the other monks.

    After the reporters left, the other cultivators immediately shouted, "Kaisai Hikariuni, what happened? The Mystical Silver Fox was sealed in Kyoto. With the Yin-Yang Master of the Yin-Yang Sect and the monks of the Tiantai Sect in charge, why did they escape?"

    The master of Yin and Yang of the He Family, who had been hostile to each other for a long time, also said coldly, "Abe Right, isn¡¯t your family responsible for guarding the soul of the mysterious fox with the Luck of heaven? Why is there such a mistake?"

    Abe Right is a middle-aged man who looked very dignified just from his appearance. He said in a low voice, "Someone must have taken advantage of the opportunity to enter! We have two members of our tribe. I and Qing Sen came to the Mount K¨­ya, so the Qing Ming Shen Club is empty!"

    The Master Yin-Yang of the He Family sneered and said, "Why don¡¯t you be fully prepared? Don¡¯t you know the terrible consequences of letting the Mystical Silver Fox have the Luck of heaven escape?"

    "This must be a conspiracy. He transferred us to this ce, and then took advantage of the opportunity to sneak in and let go of the Mystical Silver Fox with the Luck of heaven! He Maochang, our family has been guarding the Mystical Silver Fox for nearly a thousand years. The price you paid is well-known in the world. It¡¯s not up to you to talk nonsense!"

    He Maochang sneered and didn¡¯t say anything else.

    At this time, an eminent monk of the Pure Land School said slowly, "Amitabha, please calm down. There¡¯s no way to me her now. Let¡¯s figure out the whole story first! By right, it¡¯s impossible for the Mystical Silver Fox to escape with her own strength. There are not only guards of the Abe family home, but also people of the Yanli Temple on the rooftop. Even if she can escape, she will be quickly sealed back. But since she has escaped now, it¡¯s very likely that someone is secretly waiting for her, or maybe someone is plotting to release her!"

    The monk¡¯s words made everyone nod in agreement. Kaisai Hikariuni turned to the messenger and said, "Did you make it clear who let go of the Mystical Silver Fox with the Luck of heaven on the rooftop?"

    The monk shook his head quickly. "No!"

    Kaisai Hikariuni pondered for a while, then suddenly raised his head and said to the crowd with a glint in his eyes, "Everyone... I think we may have fallen into a trap!"

    Everyone was shocked and asked , "What trap?"

    Kaisai Hikariuni said slowly, "This Li Yundong, who came to settle a score, is very likely to be a pretense to attract our attention!"

    The crowd was shocked again. They looked at each other in dismay, but soon nodded and said, "Yes, it¡¯s possible!"

    "That must be the case! Seize this chink and force him to ask about the whereabouts of the Mystical Silver Fox!"

    Immortal Ise Shinto¡¯s Goddess Chuyun frowned slightly. Suddenly, she said softly, "This is just a deduction. There is no evidence."

    Although her voice was soft, it carried a lot of weight. It could be said that Masako Tachibana had lost her reputation in this battle. It could be imagined that the Ying family would fall into a decline because of this, and Ise Shinto would definitely rise again. The Goddess would be an important role in her career. Therefore, as soon as she spoke, all the cultivators around her looked at her. Although some people did not take it seriously, they did not refute it due to the influence of the Ise Divine Sect and the face of God Lady Chuyun.

    Kaisai Hikariuni said, "There is indeed no evidence, but let¡¯s think about it. Why did the Mystical Silver Fox not run away earlier orter, but run away at this time? When Li Yundong was about to leave, these reporters who were originally blocked outside rushed in? One thing is a coincidence, two, three? What¡¯s more, the current situation is rted to the life and death of our Japanese Cultivation World. If we follow the rules to pursue evidence, it will be a terrible disaster! How to save this terrible situation is the justice!"

    Kaisai Hikariuni¡¯s words were forceful and his tone was heavy, which was moving. The goddess was stunned when she came out of the clouds. She was a real cold and silent woman, and she was not good at debate. Kaisai Hikariuni, a great monk, was often arguing with people about Buddhist doctrine, so his speech was incredible. If it was a fight, even a hundred out of the clouds couldn¡¯t beat this old monk.

    The middle-aged man next to her knew that Kaisai Hikariuni¡¯s words obviously upied themanding height of morality and righteousness, but Kaisai Hikariuni took this opportunity to divert everyone¡¯s attention and spearhead, so that he could quickly get rid of Shingonfrom the failure in the settle a score just now, so as not to avoid being investigated by others.

    After all, it was a great shame to be defeated by a Chinese in front of the the Mikado -- the emperor of Japan!

    But the most important thing at the moment was to hunt down the Mystical Silver Fox with the Luck of heaven!

    The middle-aged man said at this time, "What Master Kaisai Hikariuni said makes sense. We should immediately hunt down the Mystical Silver Foxwhile she has not fully recovered!"

    Kaisai Hikariuni looked at the middle-aged man with some surprise, as if he didn¡¯t understand why the Ise Shinto would help him. However, when he saw that the other side handed him an olive branch, Kaisai Hikariuni quickly caught it. He said, "Amitabha, Lord Shenguang is right! This is the moment for us to unite and defeat the disaster!"

    Divine Light smiled slightly and said, "What Master Kaisai Hikariuni said is right. However, who will take the responsibility of hunting down the Mystical Silver Fox?"

    Kaisai Hikariuni was stunned. He nced at the divine light, only to find that the divine light¡¯s smile was full of meaning. He was furious. He thought that the other party had given him an olive branch, but who knew that it was a straw!

    Kaisai Hikariuni cursed in his heart, "What a cunning guy! How dare he try to take over the leadership of the Japanese cultivation world at this time!"

    Where there were people, there was Jianghu. Where there was Jianghu, there were fights.

    Even if the united foreign countries were to fight for power in the face of fame and wealth, they would still not be able to get out of this cage. Now that Masako Tachibanahad fallen, who wouldn¡¯t covet the throne of the Heavenly King Mountain?

    Kaisai Hikariuni knew that whoever took the responsibility to hunt down the Mystical Silver Fox would be able to take over the dominant position, and whoever took the dominant position would be able to stand at themanding heights of the Japanese cultivation world, just like what the Shingon had done before, to "take the emperor hostage to order the feudal princes".

    Kaisai Hikariuni wanted to oppose it, but he racked his brains but could not refute the words of the Divine Light, because the other party also stood from the point of view of righteousness. Moreover, it was even more impossible for him to rmend the Shingon to stand at the top of this storm. Who would believe a sect that had just been defeated in the fight?

    However, Kaisai Hikariuni was not an ordinary person. He quickly thought about it and said, "The Mystical Silver Fox is a powerful demon that has been seen for thousands of years. If we want to catch her, one or two sects can¡¯t seed. We should unite and do it together."

    Sacred Light secretly cursed in his heart, "a bunch of chatans, knowing that I can¡¯t oppose my words, he simply proposed to let all the major sects share the leadership. Damn it!"

    Divine Light smiled slightly and said, "Although what Master Kaisai Hikariuni said is right, if we don¡¯t have a leader, we will fall into a situation without a leader. Maybe we will be defeated one by one by the Mystical Silver Fox with the Luck of heaven!"

    Some sects who were closer to the Ise Shinto responded one after another. The other sects were naturally not stupid. Some were opposed to it, some were reprimanded loudly, and some were thinking with their heads down.

    Tachibana Wakako walked to the backyard holding Masako Tachibana and carefully wiped the blood from the corners of her mother¡¯s mouth. She raised her head and looked at the cultivators who were arguing in the courtyard. She said with confusion, "Are they all crazy? Why are they still quarreling at this time? Why can¡¯t they be more united?"

    Tsuruko Tachibana knelt on the couch, took the blood-stained towel from her hand and washed it in the wooden barrel beside her. She sighed softly and said, "Child, when you grow older, you will understand!"

    Tachibana Wakako shook her head and said, "If I have to understand these things when I grow up and be the same as them, then I would rather not grow up!"

    Tsuruko Tachibana smiled and caressed Tachibana Wakako¡¯s long ck hair. "I hope you will remember your words in the future, baby! Don¡¯t waste your life on fame and profit, and don¡¯t do the same thing to me again!"

    Tachibana Wakako seemed to have grown a lot in an instant. She looked up at her grandma and nodded hard. "Okay!"

    Tsuruko Tachibana smiled with relief. She looked up and worriedly looked at the cultivators in the field, who were making noise, without saying a word.

    Tachibana Wakako followed her gaze and said worriedly, "How long do they want to quarrel? Grandma, how do you think they will deal with it? Have they been arguing all the time, waiting for the Mystical Silver Fox to regain all her strength?"

    Tsuruko Tachibana shook his head and said, "No, they will definitelye up with a solution. And this method is feasible!"

    Tachibana Wakako asked in confusion, "What¡¯s the solution?"

    Tsuruko Tachibana frowned and said, "First, whoever finds the Mystical Silver Fox first wins the dominant position..."

    "But the world is so big. Where can we find the Mystical Silver Fox? It doesn¡¯t matter if we send fewer people to look for it. If we send arge number of people to look for it, will our hometown be empty and we will be taken advantage of by the mysterious fox?"

    Tsuruko Tachibana looked at Tachibana Wakako with admiration. "You¡¯re right, so the best way is the second one!"

    "What¡¯s the second method?" asked Tachibana Wakako.

    Tsuruko Tachibana said with a serious look, "Whoever can defeat Li Yundong can win the dominant position!"

    Tachibana Wakako was shocked. "Why is that?" As soon as she blurted out these words, she immediately reacted. "It can be said that everything in front of me has an inseparable rtionship with Li Yundong. Even in the eyes of almost all the cultivators present, Li Yundong must be one of the participants who released the Mystical Silver Fox with the Luck of heaven. They have the reason and "righteous" to suppress Li Yundong. In addition, Li Yundong defeated OrangeMasako Tachibana in front of the emperor, which humiliated the cultivation world in Japan. If anyone could defeat Li Yundong again, the reputation and reputation he brought would be self-evident!"

    Tachibana Wakako was not a fool. She quickly figured it out, but she couldn¡¯t believe it. "They won¡¯t leave the mysterious fox in the Luck of heaven alone and go to find trouble with Li Yundong first, will they?"

    As soon as the words left her mouth, Tachibana Wakako heard a cultivator in the field say loudly, "In my opinion, it¡¯s all because of that chink. If it weren¡¯t for him, the Mystical Silver Fox wouldn¡¯t have escaped! If it weren¡¯t for him, we wouldn¡¯t have lost so much face in front of the the Mikado -- the emperor of Japan! In my opinion, whoever can defeat chink, we will rmend who will be the leader of the Mystical Silver Fox!"

    This sentence stunned Tachibana Wakako. She could not believe that there was really someone who did not care about the danger of the Mystical Silver Fox and went to find trouble with Li Yundong first!

    "Are these guys idiots? Can¡¯t they even tell what¡¯s important?"

    However, when the cultivators of the other sects heard this, they all fell silent for a moment, and then nodded in unison.

    Ise Shinto¡¯s face was filled with a mocking smile as he said: "This is truly a good idea! Go and find trouble with the reincarnated Wisdom King? Who will go?"

    Everyone looked at each other. "That¡¯s right. The chink is Immovable Wisdom King. He has absorbed so much power of Masako Tachibana. If I go and find trouble with him, wouldn¡¯t I be courting death?"

    Kaisai Hikariuni said at this time, "Don¡¯t worry. The Wisdom King¡¯s power used by Masako Tachibana can¡¯t be used by Li Yundong. This power belongs to our Mount K¨­ya. He can use it, but he can¡¯t take it away!"

    All of a sudden, everyone was relieved. Many cultivators noised, "Go and kill this chink who humiliated us!"

    "He must be one of the spies who released the Mystical Silver Fox. He must also know where the Mystical Silver Fox is hiding. Go catch him and force him to find out the whereabouts of the Mystical Silver Fox!"

    "Yes, yes! We must take revenge!"

    "But if wee to our door, will it cause a rebound in the Cultivation World of China?"

    "Humph, if that chink is protecting this guy, then let¡¯s dere war! That chink humiliated us in front of the Mikado -- the emperor of Japan, and then took advantage of the opportunity to let go of the Mystical Silver Fox with the Luck of heaven. This is already the biggest provocation to us!"

    "Yes! If there is any sect protecting him, let¡¯s start a war with them!"

    The vast majority of the cultivation sects responded loudly in anger. The emotions on the scene were so intense that it was as if a zing prairie was on fire.

    The divine light of the Ise Shinto and Chuyun looked at the crowd in shock. Both of them wanted to say a few words, but at this time, all the sects and schools in the Japanese cultivation world were excited. The general trend had been formed. If they didn¡¯t follow the trend, even the Ise Shinto would be abandoned. Not only would it not gain any benefit, but it would also be regarded as a traitor and an alien in the Japanese cultivation world.

    Looking at the crowd from a distance in the backyard, the young girl, Tachibana Wakako, was extremely shocked and said, "Are they all crazy? This will cause a war in the cultivation world of the two countries, the Sun Empire and the Middle Country!"

    Tsuruko Tachibana shook his head andmented, "Child... The war has begun! You and I can¡¯t stop it!"

 Chapter 644 Looking for the Mystical Silver Fox

    <h4>Chapter 644 Looking for the Mystical Silver Fox</h4>

    While the Japanese Cultivation World were in a state of excitement, a dazzling yellow light suddenly appeared in a remote, uninhabited mountain area in the south of the country.

    After this burst of yellow light, two figures appeared in the dense jungle. One of them was burly, and it was Liu Ye. The other figure was shining with golden light, and his figure was twisted. After a while, there was a loud bang, and he turned into countless golden lights and scattered in all directions.

    Liu Ye shouted in shock and anger, "No! Mystical Silver Fox, I¡¯m a disciple of the Fox Zen School. Don¡¯t go! I¡¯m the one who let you go. Don¡¯t run away!"

    However, the Mystical Silver Fox seemed to have turned a deaf ear to it. Her divine yang clone hadpletely vanished in an instant. Even if Liu Ye wanted to chase after her, he didn¡¯t know how to chase after her.

    Liu Ye stood there in a daze. After a long while, a person slowly walked out from behind him. This person had a graceful figure and a beautiful mole between his eyebrows. It was none other than Ao Wushuang.

    Ao Wushuang was also surprised and asked, "Did you release the Mystical Silver Fox? Why did she run away?"

    "Asshole!" Liu Ye didn¡¯t want to give up and punched a big tree next to him. His fist pierced through the tree like a hot knife cutting through cheese, which could only be held by two people.

    Liu Ye gritted her teeth and said: "The Mysterious Fox of Tianji has been sealed for too long. When it was released, the soul reorganization was interrupted by the people of the Tiantai Sect, so she now has no memory, and has not recovered all the strength, plus because of her soul. Iplete, so she does not even have the most basic thinking and judgment. At this time, the IQ and reaction of the mysterious fox are no different from the most primitive beasts. She cannot distinguish the enemy from the friend, and can only be based on the most primitive animal nature. Determine which option is best for you."

    Ao Wushuang was stunned and asked, "How did it be like this? What is the best choice for her now?"

    Liu Ye looked at Ao Wushuang with a cold face. "If it were you, what would you do if you lost something?"

    Ao Wushuang said quickly, "Go and get it back!"

    Liu Ye nodded slightly. "That¡¯s right!"

    Ao Wushuang was also a very smart woman. She soon realized what Liu Ye was angry about. "Don¡¯t you know where the remaining souls of the Mystical Silver Fox are?"

    Liu Ye sneered and said, "Of course I know. Do you think my decades of nning is in vain?"

    Ao Wushuang asked in confusion, "Then why are you so angry? Since you know, why don¡¯t you wait for me?"

    Liu Ye said angrily, "Do you know which soul the mysterious fox is looking for? Besides, if I know, don¡¯t others know? If I go to wait for the hare, the monks of the Xiyuan Temple and the Jinshan Temple will know! Most importantly, how can the Mystical Silver Fox be so easy to show up? Her suspicion is rare in the world. I suspect that even if she finds her own remnant soul, she will not take it back immediately. Because when she takes back her soul, she will definitely lose her self-defense ability for a period of time, so she will definitely wait for the best time to take action!"

    Ao Wushuang was even more confused. "But isn¡¯t this better? It saves you a lot of trouble!"

    Liu Ye was an experienced and astute old fox. He was known for his shrewdness. Even if he encountered something big, he would remain calm. However, he was extremely anxious and his state was extremely abnormal. He said, "Good! Do you know how much time we have left? The Mystical Silver Fox has been sealed for a thousand years. Although she is eager for revenge, her patience and suspicious character are enough for her to lurk for a long time! Moreover, the news of the return of the Mystical Silver Fox will soon spread throughout the middle-aged cultivation world. At that time, all the cultivators from various sects will go crazy to look for the Heavenly Mystery Fox. Do you think she will show up with the character of the Mystical Silver Fox?"

    Ao Wushuang fell silent and buttoned his lip mouth shut. As Liu Ye had said, he would have waited for a few months or even a few years if he were the Mystical Silver Fox secrets! As far as the mysterious fox of heaven was concerned, her time index must have been calcted in a hundred or even a thousand years! It had been sealed for nearly a thousand years. Would she care to wait a little longer?

    Liu Ye paced back and forth anxiously with his hands sped behind his back. His face was as dark as water, and there was a cold look in his eyes, as if he was quickly thinking of a solution.

    Ao Wushuang was silent for a long time before he said slowly, "In fact, I don¡¯t understand why you must resurrect the Mystical Silver Fox. Isn¡¯t it good for us to be like this now? Do you have to revive the Fox Zen School? Don¡¯t you know that this may lead to the demise of our Fox Zen School?"

    Liu Ye suddenly stopped. He turned his head and said with a grim look, "You¡¯re so naive! When others look at us as demons and ghosts, they want to get rid of us as soon as possible. But you don¡¯t regard yourself as an outsider!"

    Ao Wushuang also argued, "But didn¡¯t you see that the Fox Zen School is now in Li Yundong¡¯s hands? He has a ce in the cultivation world now. If you hadn¡¯t framed him, how could there be so many hostile sects to attack the Fox Zen School?"

    Liu Yeughed angrily. "Did you forget that the Great Six besieged the Fox Zen School before he appeared?"

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s face darkened and he said, "This is caused by the resentment between me and Yan Fang!"

    Liu Ye sneered and said, "An innocent man gets into trouble because of his wealth. It¡¯s a crime to have money! You shouldn¡¯t be such a naive and childish person! Wu Shuang, I think you¡¯ve been with Li Yundong for too long and your heart has softened!"

    Ao Wushuang said with a cold face, "I¡¯m worried that Chan¡¯er will be involved in it!"

    Liu Ye said, "There¡¯s no perfect egg under the nest! Let me tell you, if the Mystical Silver Fox doesn¡¯t show up yet, then your precious disciple and that Li Yundong will have to face all the difficulties and difficulties in the cultivation world. At that time... Hmph!"

    Ao Wushuang¡¯s face became extremely ugly. "Why is it like this? Didn¡¯t we agree not to get Chan¡¯er involved?"

    Liu Ye smiled coldly. "Do you think I want to? What can I do if something like this happens?"

    Ao Wushuang couldn¡¯t help being furious. "You... asshole! You broke your promise! I¡¯ll go and find the Leader!" After that, he turned into a blue light and left quickly.

    Looking at the figure of Ao Wushuang leaving, Liu Ye said loudly, "You¡¯d better find theMystical Silver Fox first!" After he shouted, Ao Wushuang had disappeared. Liu Ye sneered for a while. After a long time, he turned around and went into the dense forest.

    At this moment, Li Yundong was flying with Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin to Tiannan City.

    Li Yundong flew in the air and looked at Zi Yuan in confusion. "Why are you here?"

    Su Chan was afraid that Li Yundong would me Zi Yuan, so she rushed to say, "Sister Zi Yuan was afraid that you would be detained by the Japanese, so she discussed a way with us and secretly came to help you."

    Li Yundong thought for a moment and suddenly understood. "Did you put those reporters in?"

    Zi Yuan nodded with a smile and said, "Yes, but it was Zhou Qin who called."

    Although Li Yundong saw that the three of them did not listen to him and acted on their own, he still felt a little grateful in his heart. He nced at Zhou Qin, only to see his beautiful disciple say, "It¡¯s the n of the Violet Garden. I¡¯m just an errand runner."

    Su Chan also nodded quickly and said, "Yes, yes, Sister Zi Yuan¡¯s idea is too good. If it weren¡¯t for this, Yun Dong, you would be in great danger!"

    Li Yundong smiled helplessly and said, "You three guys... I don¡¯t want anyone to listen to me in the future."

    Zi Yuan smiled apologetically and said, "I¡¯m really sorry. I didn¡¯t listen to you and made things difficult for you."

    In the face of such a soft apology in such a beautiful voice, Li Jiandong couldn¡¯t vent his anger. He shook his head and said, "Forget it. I¡¯m too conceited. I think these foreigners should still care about their faces and wouldn¡¯t do such shameless things. But I didn¡¯t expect... I thought highly of them."

    Zi Yuan said softly, "Li Yundong, don¡¯t me yourself. No sect or country will allow you to go out alive in such a situation. For cultivation sects, reputation and face are too important. Otherwise, if such a scandal is spread out, who will join your sect? Who will believe in your Gods¡¯ soul? In this way, the cornerstone and faith of cultivation will be shaken, and it will be a matter of life and death!"

    Li Yundong sighed softly and said, "In terms of this matter, I¡¯m innocent! Thank you for saving me. Otherwise... even if I can get out of here, I will pay a heavy price."

    Su Chan suddenly interrupted, "In fact, you don¡¯t have to think too much about Yundong. I think even if the three of us don¡¯t take action, the chances of you escaping are still very high!"

    Li Yundong smiled and pinched the tip of the little girl¡¯s nose. "You don¡¯t have tofort me. I¡¯m already reflecting. In the past, I was always afraid that something would happen to you, so I didn¡¯t take you with me. Now it seems that you¡¯ve grown up very fast. It seems that you can take care of yourself. I¡¯ll take you wherever I go in the future, okay?"

    Su Chan was overjoyed and said with joy, "Okay, okay. No matter where you go, you have to take me with you!"

    Li Yundong said with a smile, "Can I take you with me when I take a shower?"

    Su Chan¡¯s ears turned red, and she said angrily, "You¡¯re so annoying. You¡¯re a hooligan!"

    Zhou Qin and Zi Yuan smiled. Zhou Qin asked, "By the way, Su Chan, you seemed to be very surprised and flustered before. You said that if you wentte, you wouldn¡¯t be able to save our master. What¡¯s going on?"

    The smile on Su Chan¡¯s face suddenly disappeared. She looked at Li Yundong, as if she wanted to say something but stopped on second thought.

    Li Yundong asked in surprise, "What is it that you can¡¯t tell me?"

    Su Chan hesitated for a moment and said, "Just now, I seemed to have felt a very strong Fox Spiritfox demon aura appearing in a very far ce."

    Li Yundong¡¯s flying figure suddenly paused. He said in a daze, "An extremely strong Fox Spirit? Where is it?"

    Su Chan pointed in the direction of Kyoto and said, "It¡¯s over there. It¡¯s far away now."

    Li Yundong asked, "Are you familiar with this aura? Could it be your master?"

    Su Chan shook her head. "No, Master¡¯s aura isn¡¯t that strong."

    Zi Yuan suddenly asked, "Su Chan, how strong is this aurapared to your master¡¯s?"

    Su Chan thought for a moment and said hesitantly, "Master is a seven-tailed fox spirit. I feel that this aura is at least several times stronger than Master¡¯s. It feels like... like a Mystical Silver Fox."

    "What?" The figures of Li Yundong and the others suddenly stopped and stopped in the air. They astonished at the same time, "Nine-tailed celestial fox?"

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong timidly and said weakly, "I¡¯m not sure, but... I just felt that it should be the aura of the Nine-tailed celestial fox. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t be so strong."

    Li Yundong suddenly remembered what he had thought in the secret chamber of the Fox Zen School. His heart skipped a beat and he murmured, "Could it be the Mystical Silver Fox with the Luck of heaven?"

    Fear shed across Su Chan¡¯s eyes. She said, "It shouldn¡¯t be. Why would the Mystical Silver Fox be in Japan?"

    Li Yundong stared at Su Chan with his bright eyes and said slowly, "Chan¡¯er, in fact, you also believe that this is the Mystical Silver Fox with the Luck of heaven, don¡¯t you?"

    Su Chan opened her mouth and swallowed back her words. Finally, she nodded helplessly. The little girl looked at Li Yundong timidly and said, "Yundong, if the Mystical Silver Fox with the Luck of heaven is really resurrected, then... what should we do?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s face was surprisingly serious and solemn. He looked at Ziyuan and Zhou Qin, but saw that his left and right arms were also shocked. Li Yundong said solemnly: "If it is really a mysterious fox... then it was too dangerous just now! Once these Japanese practitioners know that the mysterious mysterious fox has escaped in Japan, they will definitely push them all over me! At that time... I really can¡¯t dispute it, and I will definitely die!"

    Zi Yuan took a deep breath and recovered from her shock. Sheposed herself and said, "We should immediately find the whereabouts of the Mystical Silver Fox!"

    Zhou Qin asked in a deep voice, "But where will the Mystical Silver Fox be?"

    Zi Yuan and Su Chan said at the same time, "I know where she is!"

    Li Yundong and Zhou Qin were stunned at the same time. They looked at the two of them and wondered in their hearts, "Why do the two of them know the whereabouts of the Mystical Silver Fox with the Luck of heaven?"

 Chapter 645 Into Two groups

    <h4>Chapter 645 Into Two groups</h4>

    Li Yundong looked at Zi Yuan and Su Chan in confusion and asked, "How do you two know where the Mystical Silver Fox is?"

    Zi Yuan and Su Chan looked at each other, and Su Chan said, "Sister Zi Yuan,e on." Unexpectedly, Zi Yuan said at the same time, "Su Chan, tell me."

    As soon as the two of them finished speaking, they looked at each other and smiled. Li Yundong said helplessly, "You two don¡¯t have to be modest at this time. Su Chan, you go first."

    Su Chan nodded and said, "Yundong, do you still remember Mr. Cao?"

    Li Yundong was stunned for a moment. ¡°President Cao? Cao Kefei?"

    Su Chan said, "Yes! When I saw President Cao for the first time, I felt that she had a very familiar aura. Not only me, but also other people of the Fox Zen School also felt that her aura was very familiar when they saw her, just like seeing a fellow from the same sect of the Fox Zen School. Yundong, don¡¯t you think it¡¯s strange?"

    At this time, Zi Yuan said, "And when I saw her for the first time, she only had one soul and two souls. Logically speaking, a person should have three transcendentponents and the seven materialponents of the human, but her soul was iplete..."

    Li Jiandong was frightened and said subconsciously, "Is it really her?"

    Zhou Qin was tongue-tied, as if he couldn¡¯t believe Su Chan and Zi Yuan¡¯s words. Cao Kefei was a celebrity in Tiannan City, a famous strong woman in the business world. She also had a private rtionship with Zhou Qin. But how could she imagine that such a beautiful strong woman was actually the reincarnation of the Mystical Silver Fox?

    Zhou Qin said, "Master, do you know President Cao is Mystical Silver Fox?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s face was very ugly, his brows frowned: "Thest time Yan Fang wanted to kill Cao Kefei in a sneak attack, I had already thought about this question. Why would Yan Fang prefer not to use Liuhe Sword and kill Cao Kefei? And, there are 10,000 ways to kill Cao Kefei. Why did you choose to expel her soul? I had guessed a little at the time, but I couldn¡¯t believe this fact."

    With this, Li Yundong took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "It seems that Cao Kefei should be the soul of the doppelganger of the Mystical Silver Foxx!"

    Su Chan looked at Li Yundong worriedly and said, "Yundong, what should we do now?"

    For some reason, Li Jiandong suddenly felt irritated and his mind was in a mess. "I don¡¯t know what to do either!"

    If Cao Kefei was really the Dark Fox of Heavenly Secrets, what should he do? Kill the Dark Fox of Heavenly Secrets? Or watch the Dark Fox of Heavenly Secrets merge with Cao Kefei¡¯s soul? If so, wouldn¡¯t Cao Kefei die?

    Li Yundong knew that Cao Kefei had a good impression of him, so he had been avoiding her. But deep in Li Yundong¡¯s heart, he remembered Cao Kefei¡¯s kindness in his heart.

    "As the saying goes, a drop of water should be returned with a spring. I haven¡¯t repaid Cao Kefei yet. Why do I have to watch her die?"

    How could this be?

    However, if Cao Kefei was really the remnant soul of theMystical Silver Fox, she would definitely be the target of the cultivation world. Everyone had to get rid of her as soon as possible. Even if the Mystical Silver Fox did note to retrieve her soul, the other cultivation sects would not let her live.

    It could be said that Cao Kefei was already a person who would die without a doubt!

    But if he wanted to save Cao Kefei, he would be the enemy of the entire cultivation world. It could even be said that he would be the enemy of the Heavenly Mystery Fox and all the cultivation sects in the world at the same time!

    Even if he obtained all the powers of the Immovable Wisdom King, he would not be able to challenge all the cultivators in the world and the Mystical Silver Fox at the same time!

    However, did he have to watch Cao Kefei die without doing anything?

    Li Jiandong¡¯s face turned blue, and he clenched his fists. He couldn¡¯t speak for a long time.

    Zi Yuan was very clear about Li Yundong¡¯s worries. She thought for a moment and persuaded him softly, "Li Yundong, don¡¯t worry. In my opinion, you have a good rtionship with Cao Kefei anyway. You can contact her privately as a friend, and then act ording to circumstances. What do you think?"

    Li Yundong sighed and said, "What you said makes sense, but this is just a temporary solution, not a long-term solution. If Cao Kefei¡¯s identity is really exposed and others find out, she will die. Even I can¡¯t protect her from death!"

    Zhou Qin said, "Since the Mystical Silver Fox escaped from Japan, in my opinion, she is very likely to be the former Yu Caiqian. If it is really Yu Caiqian, then it will be too much trouble. The Japanese cultivation world will definitely kill many countries to find the whereabouts of the Mystical Silver Fox. If it is true, then... the pressure will be greater!"

    Li Yundong¡¯s face became more gloomy, and he frowned. After a long while, he said, "Let¡¯s do what you said in Zi Yuan first. I¡¯ll go to find Cao Kefei and President Cao..."

    Su Chan asked in a hurry, "What about us?"

    Li Yundong looked at Su Chan and forced a smile. He took out the medicine king tripod from his arms and said, "The three of you have been together for a long time. No one will dare to provoke you. So you are responsible for returning this medicine king tripod to Mr. Shen Wancai and Mr. Shen."

    When Su Chan saw that Li Yundong refused to take her with him, she was disappointed and said with grievance, "Ah? You want me to return the medicine king tripod? Sister Zi Yuan and Sister Zhou Qin can go there! Didn¡¯t you just say that you would take me wherever you go? Why didn¡¯t you fulfill your promise so soon?"

    Li Yundong sighed softly and gently patted Su Chan¡¯s head. "Silly girl, if you follow me, you will attract too much attention. At that time, it will attract other people¡¯s attention. If there is only me, it will be a little better. The chance of being discovered will be much lower."

    Su Chan blinked her eyes, gently pulled Li Yundong¡¯s sleeve, and said understandingly, "I know. You are right. I am willful! Then I will go with Sister Zi Yuan and Sister Zhou Qin to Mr. Shen¡¯s ce. Last time, someone took away the medicine king tripod in front of me. It¡¯s so embarrassing. This time, we must not let anyone take away this medicine king tripod again!"

    Zi Yuan also smiled slightly and said, "Li Yundong, don¡¯t worry. This time, we will never let the king medicine tripod be taken away again."

    Zhou Qin said with concern, "Master, you... you must be careful when you are alone. If you really meet the Mystical Silver Fox, don¡¯t pretend yourself! Even if the Mystical Silver Fox takes President Cao body, we may still have a chance to save Mr. Cao!"

    Li Yundong smiled gratefully at the three of them and said, "I see. You three should also be careful."

    After the four of them finished their discussion, they flew back to Tiannan City. After flying to the top of Tiannan City, Li Yundong bid farewell to Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin, and then flew to the building where Cao Kefei was.

    Until Li Yundong found a rtively remote ce tond, he took out his mobile phone and dialed Cao Kefei¡¯s number. However, he called a few times, but Cao Kefei did not answer the phone.

    An ominous idea shed through Li Jiandong¡¯s mind. He ran quickly toward the Dongsheng Building.

    After entering the Dongsheng Building, Li Yundong went straight to the ninth floor. When he went up to the ninth floor, he rushed inside in a hurry. The receptionist quickly stopped him and asked, "Sir, do you have an appointment?"

    Li Yundong kept walking and said quickly, "I¡¯m looking for Cao Kefei. Is she there?"

    Seeing that she couldn¡¯t stop him, the receptionist quickly stamped her feet and said, "Hey, you can¡¯t go in. Security guard,e on!"

    While speaking, several security guards rushed out of the office of the inner room. They held the cane in their hands and stared at Li Yundong covetously, eager to have a try.

    Due to the previous case of Wang Yong asking for debt from Cao Kefei¡¯spany, Cao Kefei fired all the security guards of thepany and reced a batch of them. This time, the new batch of people was no longer useless people who were forced into thepany by their connections, but soldiers who had been carefully selected by Cao Kefei to retire from the army.

    These security guards were all as strong as bulls and tigers. Each of them was almost half a head taller than Li Yundong, and the tallest one was even 1.9 meters.

    Since there was a warm central air-conditioning in the building, these security guards were all wearing camouge short-sleeved sleeves and tactical vests. The back belt of the vest was hung with a walkie-talkie and an electric baton. They were well equipped. There was an armed belt around their waist and a pair of leather climbing boots under their feet. This kind of boots was hard and thick. When one of them chopped down, it was no difference that an ax hit a person.

    These security guards were soldiers who had retired from the army. Their masculinity was so strong that they had nowhere to vent. Aftering to this mediapany, which was full of beautiful women, their hearts were itching. They had long wanted to try their skills and show themselves in front of many beautiful women.

    But how could there be so many troubles in the world? After Li Yundong dealt with Wang Yongst time, everyone in Tiannan City knew that Cao Kefei knew a Master named Li Yundong. And this Li Yundong showed up with Zhou Qin on the day when the Three Immortals of Earth opened their business in a high-profile way. Who didn¡¯t know that he had an excellent rtionship with Zhou Qin?

    As for Zhou Qin, who was he? What a joke! Who in the whole Tiannan City didn¡¯t know who Zhou Qin was?

    In the outside world, people could not know who their parents were, but they must know who those high officials and their children were. Otherwise, if they got used to being arrogant, they wouldn¡¯t even know how they would die!

    It was also because of this level of rtionship that no gangster in Tiannan City dared to make trouble for Cao Kefei.

    These days were quiet and peaceful. The security guards had been bored for a long time. At this time, when they saw the movement at the door, they were so excited that they rushed out one by one. They wished they could immediately show their great power.

    But they were not fools. For their own livelihood, they didn¡¯t act immediately. The leading security guard pointed at Li Yundong¡¯s nose with a stick and shouted, "Hey, stop!"

    Li Jiandong frowned slightly and took a look at the cane in front of his nose. He didn¡¯t want to cause conflict with these secr people, so he took a step back.

    When the security guard saw Li Yundong retreat, he immediately turned his head proudly and said to the receptionist, "What happened?"

    When the receptionist saw theming, she was a little relieved and quickly said, "he wanted to find Mr. Cao as soon as he came in. He rushed inside so hard that I couldn¡¯t stop him."

    The security guard looked Li Yundong up and down. Before he could speak, he suddenly saw a white-cor woman passing by turn her head and carefully look at Li Yundong. She said in surprise, "You are... Li Yundong?"

    Li Yundong was stunned. He nced at the woman and saw that she was dressed in professional women¡¯s clothes. Her long curly hair made her look fashionable and sexy. She looked a little familiar. He thought for a moment and suddenly understood. "I remember! You are Xia Yu!"

    The woman in front of him was none other than the beautiful white-cor worker, Xia Yu, who had secretly stuffed a note for him after Li Yundong saved Cao Kefei.

    After Li Jiandong¡¯s refusal, the two brushed past each other. They thought that they would never meet again, but they didn¡¯t expect to meet again today.

    Seeing that Li Yundong still remembered her, Xia Yu was overjoyed. She reached out her hand and said with a smile, "I didn¡¯t expect that you still remember me. I thought that the noble would forget things!" After that, she pursed her lips and smiled.

    Li Yundongughed and said, "Aren¡¯t you an employee of Mr. Yin on the 19th floor? Why are you here? Where is Mr. Cao?"

 Chapter 646 There Are More People to Do Something Mischief

    <h4>Chapter 646 There Are More People to Do Something Mischief</h4>

    Xia Yu chuckled and said, "President Cao went on a business trip and took a lot of people with him. There is not enough manpower here. I was entrusted by President Yin toe here to help."

    Li Yundong also knew the rtionship between Yin Mengfan and Cao Kefei. He smiled and said, "You twopanies are really we. By the way, where is President Cao? Why didn¡¯t she pick up my phone? Where did she go on a business trip?"

    Xia Yu said with a smile, "She seems to have gone on a business trip to Hainan in China. If she didn¡¯t answer the phone, she might have been filming in the crew at that time. You could call herter and then it will get through."

    Li Yundong frowned and asked, "Does she have any other contact ways of mobile phone?"

    Xia Yu shook her head. "No, are you in a hurry?"

    Li Yundong nodded. "Of course£¬I¡¯m in a hurry!"

    Xia Yu thought for a moment and said, "Then you can go to Haina to find her. I¡¯ll tell you her address." After that, she took out her mobile phone and said with a smile, "What is your mobile phone number?"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and told her his phone number. When Xia Yu had asked for Li Yundong¡¯s phone number, she was overjoyed and quickly sent it to him through a text message.

    After looking at the address, Li Yundong thanked her. When he was about to turn around and leave, he heard Xia Yu shouting£º"Hey, are you going now?"

    Li Yundong nodded. "That¡¯s right. Let¡¯s go now!"

    Xia Yu thought for a moment and said tentatively, "Then I¡¯ll take you to the airport!"

    Li Yundong was stunned and thought to himself, "I¡¯m going to fly there, but I don¡¯t intend to fly there by ne! How slow it is!"

    But when he said that, Li Yundong didn¡¯t know how to refuse for a while. Xia Yu was afraid that Li Yundong would refuse, so she said, "That¡¯s settled then. I¡¯ll get the car key. You can wait for me in the underground parking lot!" After that, she turned around and ran to her office. After a few steps, she turned back and said with a proud smile, "Don¡¯t run secretly! It¡¯s not easy to find the ce where Mr. Cao¡¯s crew lives. Without me, you may not be able to find it!"

    Li Yundong shook his head and helplessly watched her run away. He also went to the underground parking lot.

    At this time, several security guards looked at Li Yundong unkindly. The eyes of the leading security guards were particrly gloomy. Seeing that Li Yundong they had known, they no longer stayed on the spot. After they walked to the corridor, they lit a cigarette. A security guard said, "Hey, Gangzi, Xia Yu seems to be interested in this guy! You didn¡¯t see the way she looked at this guy just now. It seems that she can¡¯t wait to throw herself at him immediately! F*ck, who is this guy!"

    The security guard named Gangzi had a gloomy look on his face. He took a puff of a cigarette and spat on the ground. "Damn it, b*tch, you always pretend to be noble before me! You are just a gigolo. What¡¯s so great about you?"

    Suddenly, a security guard whispered, "Hey, Gangzi, do you want to take the opportunity to give him a lessonter?"

    Another security guard immediately said, "Are you crazy? Aren¡¯t you afraid of being known? There are spies everywhere! Where can you find such a good job if you lose it?"

    But the security guard, who had spoken before, sneered and said, "Are you stupid? There is no camera at the entrance of the stairwell to the parking lot. Besides, don¡¯t you wear a counter-terrorism head?"

    And another security guard also echoed, "That¡¯s right. If you beat such a gigolo boy, he won¡¯t dare to say anything! What are you afraid of?"

    These words made the several security guards look at each other. They were all soldiers who were used to fighting in the local army. Fighting and brawling were quitemon like meals and drinks for them. Before they came to Cao Kefei¡¯spany, they had been in the underworld for a period of time. They took people¡¯s money to eliminate disasters every day. They were brave and fierce. After a few days of leisure, they were a little bored and worried that they had no ce to grind their fists.

    A sharp light shed in Gangzi¡¯s eyes. He snorted, threw the cigarette in his hand to the ground, stepped heavily on it, and crushed it into powder. He spat out a burst of anger in his eyes. "Humph, brothers, let¡¯s go!"

    Others were immediately overjoyed, and they were afraid that the world desire to see the world plunged into chaos. They said, "Let¡¯s go. I hate this kind of gigolo boy the most!"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know that he had provoked several security guards with evil intentions for no reason. When he walked to the underground parking lot and looked at the cars of various colours, he couldn¡¯t help but smile bitterly. "Which car is Xia Yu¡¯s?"

    He took out his phone and sent a text message to Xia Yu, saying, "Xia Yu, which car is yours? Are youing in time? How about I go there by myself? I don¡¯t want to bother you anymore."

    But soon, Xia Yu immediately called and said, "Hey, don¡¯t go. We agreed to go together. I am also going to report to President Cao. You are not allowed to act alone! I will be there soon. Wait for me!" After that, she hung up the phone without saying anything.

    Li Yundong gave a wry smile and thought to himself, "This woman is so stubborn!"

    Li Yundong shook his head. He wanted to leave by himself, but he was afraid that he would not be able to find Cao Kefei¡¯s residence as Xia Yu had said. He sighed helplessly. As soon as he put down his phone, he felt a strong winding from behind him. A hard thing hit the back of his head fiercely.

    At this time, Li Jiandong was already a Master in the Golden Body. He had countless fighting methods and rich actualbat experience. How could he be attacked by such a small fry?

    Without batting an eyelid, he slid to the side like a ghost, and a rubber rod immediately brushed past him.

    Li Jiandong looked back angrily and wanted to see which guy was going against him and dared tounch a sneak attack on him.

    Taking a look, he saw four burly men wearing anti-inmmatory masks pouncing on him with rubber sticks in their hands. Judging from their figures, they were obviously those security guards.

    Li Jiandong was furious immediately. "asshole, I have no grudge against you. Why did you sneak up on me?"

    Without saying a word, Li Yundong raised his hand and quietly released the fire magic spell. These security guards suddenly felt a burst of heat on their heads, followed by a burst of pungent smoke. They looked at each other, pointed at each other¡¯s hood in horror, and shouted, "Oh my god, you, your hood is on fire!"

    These four guys who are quite arrogant was quickly lifted off their heads, and then rushed to the stairwell like crazy.

    But as soon as they moved, they saw that Li Yundong, who was behind them, was already standing at the door, blocking their way like a mountain.

    Li Yundong said with a cold face, "Why did youunch a sneak attack on me?"

    Although Gangzi, the leading security guard, was taller than Li Yundong and held a weapon in his hand, the sneak attack on Li Yundong just now was subtle. Obviously, he was also a master of kung fu. Especially when he raised his hand, his head was on fire!

    This was too weird and horrible! Who on earth was this guy? Was he a monster?

    Gangzi felt that he was wrong, but he also felt that the guy in front of him was a little unusual. He gritted his teeth, lowered his head and rushed in another direction. He shouted to hispanions in a low voice, "Let¡¯s go!"

    But as soon as he moved, he saw Li Yundong standing in front of them from behind. He said coldly, "Answer my question first!"

    Gangzi was so scared that his hair stood on end. He immediately turned his head and looked at the door. Sure enough, he saw another Li Yundong standing at the door!

    The four security guards were scared out of their wits. Even though they were usually bold, when they saw the scene in front of them, they were almost scared out of their wits.

    Gangzi said in horror, "Are you a human or a ghost?"

    Li Yundong red at them and shouted, "Why did you sneak attack me? Answer my question first!"

    His re was as sharp as a sword, which pointed directly at people¡¯s hearts. Gangzi¡¯s heart trembled, and he said subconsciously, "What¡¯s the rtionship between you and Xia Yu?"

    "Xia Yu?" Li Yundong was stunned as if he couldn¡¯t believe his ears. "You won¡¯t make trouble for me just because you¡¯re jealous, will you?"

    At this time, the other security guards also gathered up their courage and shouted loudly, "Xia Yu is our Gangzi¡¯s girlfriend. If you know what¡¯s good for you, stay away from her!"

    "Hey, don¡¯t you understand the principle of ¡¯firste first served?"

    Li Jiandong couldn¡¯tugh or cry. He couldn¡¯t believe it. The Mystical Silver Fox had appeared, and the whole middle-aged cultivation world was about to face a terrible bloody storm. These guys were actually against him for a woman!

    But Li Yundong also knew very well that these guys didn¡¯t know what had happened before.

    The stupid and ignorant people were always busy with trivial things. Although in their eyes, these trivial things were no different from their whole lives, they did not know that for some people in the world, such things were as ridiculous as children¡¯s y.

    After staring at these guys for a long time, Li Yundong helplessly waved his hand and said, "Let¡¯s go. I have nothing to do with her. Don¡¯t be so stupid and fight blindly in the future. Aren¡¯t you afraid of being killed? Next time, if I see you do it indiscriminately, I won¡¯t be so kind to talk with you again."

    After he finished speaking, Xia Yu suddenly came out of the elevator next to him. She looked at Li Yundong curiously and then looked at the four security guards next to her in confusion. She asked with a puzzled face, "What happened?"

    The security guard named Gangzi suddenly became nervous. Li Yundong smiled and said, "It¡¯s ok. It¡¯s just a misunderstanding. Let¡¯s go. I¡¯m in a hurry."

    Xia Yu¡¯s eyes swept over the hood that was still burning on the floor, as if she understood something. She red at Gangzi and the other security guards with great displeasure, and then got into a Porsche.

    After she skillfully started the car, she drove the car to Li Yundong. She opened the door and said with a smile, "Get in the car!" After Li Yundong got in the car, Xia Yu stepped on the gas pedal, and the rear of the car spewed out a burst of exhaust gas. Then she drove away, leaving Gangzi and the other four security guards standing where they were with a gloomy face.

    Xia Yu drove the car and looked at the scene behind through the mirror. When she saw the four security guards leave with unfriendly eyes, she said to Li Yundong, "Did they do anything to you just now?"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and said, "No, don¡¯t think too much."

    Xia Yu sighed slightly and said, "These guys are quite strong, but they feel like bandits. They¡¯re too brave and fierce. It¡¯s really trouble. If you don¡¯t think it¡¯s good, I¡¯ll talk to Mr. Caoter and ask her to expel these guys."

    Li Yundongughed and said, "You don¡¯t have to do that."

    Xia Yu quickly nced at Li Yundong. She was used to intriguing against people in the office. Subconsciously, she thought, "Does he think I¡¯m too meddlesome? With his rtionship with Mr. Cao, it¡¯s not up to me to talk nonsense."

    Xia Yu smiled and said, "That¡¯s right. You have such a good rtionship with Mr. Cao. It¡¯s more useful than what I said."

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and didn¡¯t say anything more.

    Although Xia Yu wanted to have a conversation with Li Yundong, she saw that Li Yundong¡¯s eyes were full of worry looking worried. She tried to talk with Li Yundong several times. After Li Yundong¡¯s reaction was cold, she no longer did anything but pity herself on the side. "s, why can¡¯t I meet such a good man? Why was he taken away by a rich woman like Mr. Cao in the end?"

    Along the way, Xia Yu struggled to think about this problem. However, how could Li Yundong notice a woman like her? What he feared the most now was that something bad to Cao Kefei. That would be troublesome.

    Fortunately, Xia Yu had booked a flight ticket in the name of thepany before she went there. After arriving at the airport, they flew quickly to Hainan bay.

    After arriving at Haikou, Hainan, Xia Yu took Li Yundong into a yellow taxi, and then they went straight to the holiday beach of the city.

    After a while, Xia Yu and Li Yundong arrived at Xinguo State Hotel near the beach. After getting out of the taxi, Xia Yu blocked the sun with her hands and said with a bitter smile, "It¡¯s so hot. Why is it so hot here?"

    Li Yundong looked around and saw that there were tourists in shirts and shorts everywhere around the five-star hotel next to the holiday beach. The sun was high in the sky, and the air was hot, as if it was summer. At the gate of the Xinguo Hotel, Li Yundong noticed a familiar figure holding a bunch of flowers in his hand. He was looking up, as if he was looking forward to the arrival of someone.

    There were a lot of flowers in this person¡¯s hands, almost covering his whole face. But when he looked around, Li Yundong still clearly saw the appearance of this person.

    This person was none other than Zhao Youmu, who had once pursued Cao Kefei and had a lot of conflicts with Li Yundong!

    Li Yundong suddenly was full of bitterness as if he had seen a fly, "Why is this guy here?"

 Chapter 647 Getting into Trouble with the Fox

    <h4>Chapter 647 Getting into Trouble with the Fox</h4>

    Ever since Zhao Yougen failed to be arrogant when the Three Immortals opened their businessst time and was humiliated by Li Yundong, he had be much more low-key. He was afraid that Li Yundong woulde back to find trouble with him.

    With Li Yundong''s background, it was as easy as crushing an ant to get Zhao Yougen into trouble. However, after the opening of the Three Immortals of Earth, Li Yundong was stopped by some things in the cultivation world. He didn''t even have time to deal with the business of the Three Immortals of Earth, not to mention causing trouble for Zhao Yougen.

    Zhao Yougen waited in fear for a few days, but he didn''t wait for Li Yundong''s revenge, especially Li Yundong, who seemed to have evaporated in the secr world. This made Zhao Yougen''s courage grow again.

    Zhao Yougen had been coveting Cao Kefei, such a beautiful and stunning beauty. He didn''t dare to find trouble with Li Yundong anymore, but when he went back to pursue Cao Kefei, he still dared to do so. Moreover, he had inquired about her carefully. It seemed that Li Yundong didn''t like this beautifuldy boss very much, and they didn''t seem to have much to do with each other. Therefore, Zhao Yougen once again yed his tricks and began to pester Cao Kefei.

    Zhao Yougen held arge bouquet of flowers in his arms. There were 99 flowers in total, each of which had just been plucked from the flower garden. The petals were stained with rain and dew, crystal clear and fragrant.

    Although Zhao Yougen didn''t look very good, he was dressed in famous brand clothes. The suit was very straight, the shoes of Fendi were shiny, and the watch of the Werewolf was golden. In addition, he was holding a bunch of flowers in his arms, which attracted a lot of women''s attention.

    Under the gaze of these women, Zhao Yougen couldn''t help but feel a little light-hearted. His back was straighter and straighter, and his chin was raised high, like a soldier waiting for inspection.

    He waited for a few minutes, and suddenly a Toyotamercial van came in from the entrance of the hotel. With a crash, a girl jumped out of the car.

    The girl wore a pair of huge sunsses on her face, almost covering half of her face. But from her red, pink, and tender lips, as well as her snow-white and delicate skin, it could be seen that she was an extremely beautiful woman.

    This woman wore a bright yellow silk dress, a milky-white straw hat on her head, and a pair of white high-heeled sandals under her feet. Her long ck hair fell on her shoulders like a waterfall, making her look pure and beautiful.

    Zhao Yougen''s eyes lit up when he saw the girl. He greedily nced at her and then quickly walked up to her. He reached out his hand with a big smile and said, "Hello, Miss Liu Fei''er!"

    This girl was none other than Liu Fei''er, the big star who had skipped work with Cao Kefei to attend the opening ceremony of the Three Immortals.

    She saw Zhao Yougen at a nce, and there was a trace of disgust in her eyes hidden behind her sunsses. But she still politely reached out and gently shook hands with him. "Hello, Mr. Zhao. I see you again."

    Liu Fei''er''s "see you again" hid a hint of sarcasm. In the past few days, this man had been circling around their crew like a fly. A while ago, he had been waiting for the crew to finish shooting to present flowers to Cao Kefei. Cao Kefei had no choice but to hide around Zhao Yougen.

    However, this guy didn''t give up and simply stopped them in the ce where theyy.

    "It is true that you will never die until you reach the Yellow River."

    Liu Fei''er cursed in her heart. She looked back at Cao Kefei in the car and thought to herself, "Sister Cao, please be lucky. I''ve helped you several times. I can''t help you this time!"

    Liu Fei''er quickly pulled out her little hand from Zhao Yougen''s hand, and then quickly moved to the side. She quietly rubbed her hand behind her back, as if she wanted to wipe away Zhao Yougen''s breath.

    Zhao Yougen greedily nced at Liu Fei''er and reluctantly withdrew his eyes. He knew that this girl was not someone he could pursue.

    Although most of the girls who stepped into the film and television circle wanted to pursue the glory and vanity of sh lights, Liu Fei''er was a girl purely because she liked acting and stepping into this circle.

    Liu Fei''er was born in a well-known family. She had no worries about food and clothing, and her background was quite strong. If she had a film, she would shoot it. If she didn''t have a film, she would be idle. No matter how capable other directors and nobles were, no matter how hard they tried, they wouldn''t be able to cheat her.

    Any hidden rule in the world was that Zhou Yu beat Huang Gai. One would like to fight, and the other would like to suffer. Wasn''t it said that flies didn''t hug seamless eggs?

    Because of this, Liu Fei''er seemed to be very independent in the turbid film and television circle. Zhao Yougen knew that this little girl didn''t like him at all, so he didn''t waste his efforts on Liu Fei''er.

    However, Cao Kefei was different. She was the boss of a film and televisionpany. She had hundreds of employees who were waiting to be fed. In addition, she had worked hard all these years to achieve such a result. How could she give up so easily?

    A woman was fighting in the business world, like a sheep entering a wolf pack. A beautiful woman was fighting in the business world, which was like a fragrant, white, tender little sheep standing in the forest surrounded by wolves, looking at them covetously.

    It was not a big deal for this woman to have a powerful background, but if she didn''t have a powerful background, it was easy to imagine how hard it would be to live.

    Cao Kefei saw Zhao Yougen andined in her heart. She couldn''t help ring at the director with hatred. Seeing her staring at him, the director next to her smiled awkwardly and said, "Xiao Cao, don''t be like this. Everyone met frequently. You should be proud of yourself!"

    Cao Kefei said in a low voice, "If it weren''t for the fact that you didn''t make it clear who paid you back then, would you have tortured me into hiding here and there today? It''s like fighting a war. It''s so annoying!"

    After Cao Kefei and Liu Fei''er participated in the Three Immortals Competition, Cao Kefei stayed in Tiannan City for a long time. Later, she wanted to test Li Yundong''s attitude. However, at this time, this little boy started to y with her and disappeared from the world!

    Cao Kefei was furious, but there was no better way. She could only put endless troubles and troubles into endless work.

    But soon, Cao Kefei found that the shooting team encountered something terrible... Because of the slow progress of the shooting, their funds exceeded the budget. The original investors were unwilling to invest any more money, and they had no money to use!

    Cao Kefei had no choice but to negotiate with the investor. She didn''t expect that the other party wanted to take the opportunity to cheat on her. Cao Kefei was unwilling to agree, so she had to ask for help everywhere.

    Just as she was at a loss of what to do, the director patted her chest and said that she could get the sponsor. Cao Kefei, who was at the end of her rope, was overjoyed and hurriedly asked who the investor was. However, the director was mysterious and refused to tell her. He only said that he was a reliable friend.

    Cao Kefei had been friends with the director for many years, so she didn''t think much about it and agreed. But when the money came in, Cao Kefei found that it was Zhao Yougen who had invested in it!

    This time, it was really like luring a wolf into the house.

    Cao Kefei was well aware of Zhao Yougen''s intention, but at this time, the shooting was in a stagnant stage. If the whole film was not over, it would cause great trouble to thepany. Although Zhao Yougen''s money was not a lot in ordinary times, it was really a life-saving money at this time.

    However, it wouldn''t make sense if they tried to hide from him like before because they were short-handed and ate people''s mouths.

    Cao Kefeiined to the director. The director said with a smile, "Oh, for the sake of the crew, you should sacrifice me and help me to make it bigger!"

    In the film crew, the director was the boss. In the TV crew, the producer was the boss. No matter what the crew was, the investors were the boss of the boss.

    Cao Kefei was very reluctant, but she could only pretend to be weak. She sighed helplessly, got out of the car, and said to Zhao Yougen with a smile as if she was wearing a mask, "Mr. Zhao, why are you here?"

    Zhao Yougen''s smile was extremely bright. He held the flowers in his hand in front of Cao Kefei and said, "Mr. Cao, this is for you!"

    Cao Kefei couldn''t wait to burn the flower, but she still had to hold her nose and take it. She forced a smile and said, "Sorry to trouble you again, Mr. Zhao." As she said this, she kept walking and said quickly, "I''m too tired from shooting today. Let''s go back and have a good rest. Mr. Zhao, excuse me!"

    Zhao Yougen quickly followed him and said with a smile, "Mr. Cao, shall we have dinner together tonight?"

    Cao Kefei sighed softly and looked at Liu Fei''er, who was not far away, helplessly. "I have an appointment with someone else today."

    Zhao Yougen''s face was full of disappointment, but he soon smiled and said, "Tomorrow?"

    Cao Kefei forced a smile and said, "Tomorrow? No, I have an appointment with someone tomorrow."

    Seeing Cao Kefei''s all kinds of excuses, Zhao Yougen was angry in his heart, but he also had the spirit of being defeated and fighting again and again. He asked stubbornly, "What about the day after tomorrow? The day after tomorrow is always free, isn''t it?"

    The smile on Cao Kefei''s face froze, and she cursed in her heart, "Is this guy a sticky candy?"

    Cao Kefei looked embarrassed and said sadly, "Mr. Zhao, the crew is really busy these days, so..."

    Zhao Youcai''s smile gradually disappeared. He sighed softly and said with an unkind look, "Well... In fact, I want to talk to you about the investment. You know, I invested in the investment, so..."

    Cao Kefei cursed in her heart, "This son of a b*tch, Zhao Youcai, actually threatened me!"

    After all, Cao Kefei had been working in the business world for many years, so she was good at reacting and dancing. She immediately smiled and said, "Mr. Zhao, you misunderstood. I want to say that although the crew is really busy these days, we still have time to have a meal. After all, Mr. Zhao, you are our investor. Don''t look at the face of the monk and look at the face of the Buddha, right?"

    Cao Kefei''s words were full of hidden meaning. She secretly mocked Zhao Yougen for forcing her to be a weak woman with money, but Zhao Yougen didn''t care so much. Nowadays, if you were rich, you would be the boss. Who cared what means you used?

    Zhao Yougen smiled proudly and said, "Mr. Cao, you misunderstood me. I mean, although the money was invested in the investment bank, you can totally trust me. I have always been a man of my word. I won''t go back on my word."

    Cao Kefeiughed. Of course, she didn''t believe Zhao Yougen''s words, but she said, "Of course. Who doesn''t know Mr. Zhao''s integrity?"

    Zhao Yougen followed suit and said, "That''s settled then. The night after tomorrow? At the Xinguo State Hotel?"

    Cao Kefei forced a smile and said, "Okay, see you the night after tomorrow!"

    After the two hypocritically greeted each other, they left with smiles. After Cao Kefei watched Zhao Yougen leave, the smile on her face immediately disappeared, and she walked into the hotel with a cold face.

    At this time, Li Jiandong, who was watching Cao Kefei not far away, suddenly hesitated. "Do I have to go in and meet Cao Kefei? Or do I have to observe her for a while?"

    Li Yundong hesitated for a moment. Suddenly, he felt a hint of faintly discernible coldness appearing nearby. He followed Cao Kefei into the hotel. This aura was extremely faint and weak. If it weren''t for Li Yundong''s extremely strong and pure Primordial Yang Qi, he wouldn''t have felt this strange aura at all.

    Although it was only for a moment, Li Jiandong still felt the power of this aura, as if it was the tip of the iceberg that appeared slightly under the calm sea!

    Li Yundong knew that the mysterious fox had already arrived near Cao Kefei!

 Chapter 648 The Little Fox Turning into a Foreign Fox

    <h4>Chapter 648 The Little Fox Turning into a Foreign Fox</h4>

    After Li Yundong felt the aura of the mysterious fox, he immediately stopped walking. He was not sure how to deal with this matter for the time being, and he didn¡¯t know who was watching Cao Kefei in the dark, so he decided to hide in the dark, so that it would be much easier to protect Cao Kefei.

    Xia Yu, who was standing to the side, looked at Li Yundong in surprise. "Don¡¯t you want to go up and say hello to Mr. Cao? Don¡¯t you have something urgent to discuss with her?"

    Li Yundong¡¯s mind was like lightning. He quickly thought of an excuse and said to Xia Yu with a mysterious and serious face, "In fact, I have one thing that I haven¡¯t told you."

    Xia Yu asked in confusion, "What is it?"

    Li Jiandong said very seriously, "I heard that someone was going to hurt Mr. Cao, so I came here in a hurry. Now that she is fine, I am relieved for the time being. But I don¡¯t know that no one will hurt Mr. Cao in the future, so I want to secretly observe and protect Mr. Cao for a period of time. I don¡¯t want to appear around Mr. Cao, so as not to alert him."

    Xia Yu immediately became excited. "Wow, it¡¯s so exciting! Is someone trying to assassinate Mr. Cao? Is it love? Hatred? Or some kind of spy case? Wow, is Mr. Cao a big spy? You can¡¯t be a spy, can you? Yes, I think you must be a spy. Otherwise, how did I see you so powerfulst time? It¡¯s almost like an act! You must be a trump card agent, right?"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. He held back hisughter and said to Xia Yu with a straight face, "Comrade Xia Yu, I have something to tell you. Please keep it in mind!"

    Xia Yu was so excited that she couldn¡¯t stop herself from saying, "Say it quickly. My memory is the best and my mouth is the most tight. I promise I¡¯ll remember it in a hundred years. I promise I won¡¯t tell anyone else!"

    Li Yundong said with a serious face, "That¡¯s to say, don¡¯t watch more Hollywood movies in the future! You can almost be a screenwriter!"

    Xia Yu¡¯s face suddenly fell, and she muttered, "Isn¡¯t that the case? What¡¯s the reason?"

    Li Yundong shook his head and ignored her. He still looked at Cao Kefei.

    At this time, Cao Kefei didn¡¯t know about these things. She was now struggling with all kinds of problems in the secr world. When she walked into the hotel, Liu Fei¡¯er, who was not far from the door, quickly followed her and whispered, "Sister Cao, Sister Cao! Did that annoying guy leave?"

    Cao Kefei sighed in her heart and rubbed her temples with a painful face. "Yes, unfortunately, he will appear in two days. Fortunately, we have two peaceful days!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er also sighed and said sympathetically, "Sister Cao, you should have told me earlier. If I had known that you were so short of money, I could have helped you!"

    Cao Kefei shook her head and said, "Forget it. You¡¯re an actress. Don¡¯t get involved in this kind of business rtionship. It¡¯s so messy. Besides, it¡¯s not easy for you to make money."

    Liu Fei¡¯er asked again, "What about Mr. Yin? Isn¡¯t she your good friend?"

    Cao Kefei sighed and said, "Her? Don¡¯t you know about the recent financial situation? The government¡¯s suppression of the house price has never been harsh, and it¡¯s not the harshest, only the economic situation. Her current real estatepany has lost its capital chain a long time ago. If it weren¡¯t for her uncle, Shen Wancai, who was helping her, I¡¯m afraid she wouldn¡¯t have been able to hold on any longer."

    Liu Fei¡¯er was from a well-off family, so she didn¡¯t care about the people¡¯s livelihood. She blinked her eyes and said, "Is that so? Didn¡¯t you go to find Zhou Qin?"

    Cao Kefei smiled bitterly and said, "Her? Ever since she became the disciple of that little enemy, she has be the same as her master. She is very mysterious. Thest time I went to the courtyard to look for Zhou Qin, the other side said that she had not returned home for more than a month, as if she had gotten married!"

    When Li Yundong was mentioned, Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. After she and Cao Kefei entered the elevator, she said with excitement and gossip, "By the way, where is your little enemy, Immortal Li? Why hasn¡¯t there been any news about him recently?"

    Since attending the opening ceremony of the Earth Three Immortalsst time, Liu Fei¡¯er had given Li Yundong the title of an immortal in the world. She had worshipped him so much that she had shouted more than once that she wanted to learn from him.

    However, after Cao Kefei went to the Three Immortals on several asions but didn¡¯t find any trace of Li Yundong, there was no news of Immortal Li for a long time. Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s passion to worship him gradually cooled down.

    Seeing her mention Li Yundong, Cao Kefei¡¯s face suddenly fell and she said with resentment, "How would I know? This guy is so hateful. Last time, there was news of him. I thought that after opening a shop, even a monk can¡¯t run away from the temple. I didn¡¯t expect that this guy was so cruel that he didn¡¯t even manage a new shop and went missing all day! Damn it! I¡¯m so angry!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er covered her mouth and said with a smile, "I think it¡¯s you who can¡¯t stand it. You¡¯re alone, and your heart is moving, isn¡¯t it?"

    Cao Kefei¡¯s face turned red. She red at her and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? Aren¡¯t you afraid that reporters will eavesdrop on you? Will there be gossip news another day?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er giggled and said, "Well, it¡¯s a good opportunity to hype up. Maybe you will be famous, Sister Cao. You might as well change your career and be an actor. You are so beautiful, and you will definitely be famous when you be an actor!"

    They were talking with a smile. Unconsciously, the elevator had arrived at the fourth floor. When the elevator door opened, the two men at the door saw Liu Fei¡¯er in sunsses and the beautiful Cao Kefei. They couldn¡¯t help but be stunned, especially when their eyes fell on Cao Kefei. It was as if iron had met a ma, and they couldn¡¯t move their eyes away. The two men stood at the door in a daze and couldn¡¯t walk. It wasn¡¯t until Cao Kefei and Liu Fei¡¯er walked past the door with their heads down that they could no longer see each other. Only then did theye to their senses.

    But when they turned around, they found that the elevator had been closed. They woke up as if they had just woken up from a dream and pressed the button of the elevator in a hurry.

    After Cao Kefei and Liu Fei¡¯er entered the room, Liu Fei¡¯er suddenly burst intoughter. "Sister Cao, look at how charming you are! Those two guys can¡¯t move at all! You can act. You are bound to be the first sister of the Chinese film and television circle. Even if it¡¯s Li Bingbing or Fan Bingbing, you have to give in!"

    Cao Kefei said with a wry smile, "Don¡¯t say that! It¡¯s hard enough for me to be a producer. If I be an actor, won¡¯t I be abused to death? Do you think I¡¯m like you? I can do whatever I want. Even if I don¡¯t want to do anything, no one can do anything to you."

    Liu Fei¡¯er stuck out her tongue and said with a smile, "No! Sister Cao, you can¡¯t be an actor if you don¡¯t want to. I just think that your life is too hard for you!"

    Cao Kefei fell headfirst onto her big bed. Her jade pillow was pressed against her forehead as she moaned, "That¡¯s right. I¡¯ve been dreaming for the past two days!"

    Hearing this, Liu Fei¡¯er cheered up. With her eyes shining, she sat down next to Cao Kefei, shook her arm, and urged, "Hey, Sister Cao, what did you dream of? Did you dream of a dream that is not suitable for children?"

    Cao Kefei angrily put down her arm and reached out to pinch Liu Fei¡¯er. She said angrily, "You d*mned girl. It was you who fell in love with me, but you put the me on me!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er giggled and dodged Cao Kefei¡¯s hand. "Say it, what¡¯s there to be embarrassed about?"

    After ying with her for a while, Cao Kefei seemed to be very tired. She continued to lie on the soft bed and said faintly, "s, I¡¯ve been dreaming that I¡¯m a carefree little fox in the forest these days. I don¡¯t have to deal with any random people. If I¡¯m thirsty, I¡¯ll drink spring water in the mountain stream. If I¡¯m hungry, I¡¯ll eat fruit falling from a tree. I don¡¯t need to worry about food and clothing. I have nothing to ask for! s, how good is this kind of life? Where is it like now? For a little money all day, I beg grandpa to tell grandma. Any man wants to take advantage of you!"

    Liu Fei¡¯ery prone on the bed, holding her chin with her hands. Her two slender calves were raised high and swaying. She listened attentively and said slowly, "When you are thirsty, you can drink the clear spring of the mountain stream. When you are hungry, you can eat the fruit falling from the tree... Oh, life is so good, just like a paradise! Hey, Mr. Cao, if you go to live in seclusion in the forest, take me with you!"

    With this, she thought for a while and said, "By the way, Sister Cao, I don¡¯t think you¡¯re a little fox. You¡¯re a big fox and have be a demon! Otherwise, why are you so beautiful?"

    Cao Kefei couldn¡¯t helpughing. She pped Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s butt and said, "Don¡¯t tter me. I don¡¯t give you any pay to tter me!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er giggled and said, "No, I don¡¯t. Sister Cao, don¡¯t you think that you have be more and more beautiful these days? You look like apletely different person. Your skin is getting better and better, your face is glowing, and you are extremely beautiful!"

    Cao Kefeiughed and scolded, "No way! I¡¯m about to be an old woman! Don¡¯t mess with me here. Go do what you should do!"

    However, Liu Fei¡¯er rolled on the bed and said with a smile, "No, I¡¯ll stay here tonight. It¡¯s so boring for me to live in such a big room alone. I¡¯ll talk to you in private tonight!"

    Cao Kefei had a very close rtionship with Liu Fei¡¯er. Otherwise, she would not have taken Liu Fei¡¯er with her when she went to the opening ceremony of the Three Immortals. When she saw that Liu Fei¡¯er insisted on staying, she smiled helplessly and said, "It¡¯s up to you. I¡¯m going to take a shower. I don¡¯t care about you anymore. I¡¯m so tired after taking a day¡¯s sea scene today. I smell like the sea!"

    Seeing Cao Kefei talking while walking, Liu Fei¡¯er put her curly long hair on her head. She raised her upper body and said loudly, "Hey, don¡¯t close the hot water, and don¡¯t close the door. I¡¯ll wash itter!"

    Cao Kefeiughed and scolded, "You little girl, don¡¯t push your luck! Do you want to take advantage of this when you are taking a bath?" After that, she mmed the door. As if she was deliberately angering Liu Fei¡¯er, she deliberately mmed the door lock and said proudly, "Humph, now you can¡¯t get in, can you?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er pretended to be angry and said, "Well, Sister Cao, you are too much! You don¡¯t believe me! Be careful that I will secretly take pictures of you with my mobile phone when I sleep at night, and then send the photos to the Inte!"

    Cao Kefeiughed and said, "Let¡¯s take photos. You can also take photos of people! Do you think you¡¯re the only one who has a mobile phone?" After that, she turned on the tap and was ready to take a shower.

    Cao Kefei stood in the spacious bathroom, taking off her clothes while looking at herself in the mirror on the dressing table. She saw that the beauty in the mirror was really charming. Her oval face was small and exquisite, especially her bright and moist lips and neat white teeth. Her lips were really red and her teeth were white. She smiled and looked very charming.

    Cao Kefei looked at it dazedly for a while. Her fingers reached in front of the mirror and gently touched herself in it. She sighed faintly and said, "You don¡¯t look worse than others. Why do you like me? I don¡¯t like you. I don¡¯t like you. I don¡¯t like you."

    Cao Kefei sighed softly, bit her red lips lightly, andined with a resentful face like a resentful woman, "You¡¯re so annoying. Where did this little enemy go? He didn¡¯t even greet me. He has no conscience at all, causing me to be bullied all the time!"

    Cao Kefei felt sorry for herself for a while. She walked to the tap and took a shower with hot water. She sighed to herself, "s, it¡¯s so boring to be a human being! It¡¯s better to be a free little fox!"

    As soon as she finished her words, she suddenly heard a gloomy voice beside her. "Is what you said true? Do you really want to be a free little fox?"

    Cao Kefei was shocked when she heard the voice. She hastily wiped her face with her hands, trying to wipe away the water on her face.

    After she wiped her face, she reluctantly opened her eyes and saw a vague figure standing in front of her, slowly reaching out to her.

    This scare was not a small matter. Cao Kefei was so scared that she screamed. She only felt a gust of bone-chilling cold airing at her. Her eyes went ck and she fainted without saying a word.

 Chapter 649 I Dont Know Who You Are

    <h4>Chapter 649 I Don¡°t Know Who You Are</h4>

    Liu Fei¡¯er, who was outside the door, heard a cry of surprise from the bathroom. She suddenly shivered and hurriedly jumped down from the bed. She shouted to Cao Kefei, "Miss Cao, Miss Cao! What¡¯s wrong with you?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er shouted nervously outside the door, but nothing was stirring in the bathroom, which scared Liu Fei¡¯er. There had been many idents with Cao Kefei before. With such an affair, Liu Fei¡¯er did not dare to be careless. She immediately rushed to the door and pped hard on the door of bathroom, shouting, "Miss Cao, can you speak?"

    She shouted and found that there was still no response inside, so she put her ear to the door and listened carefully. But she only heard the sound of watering from inside, and there was no more.

    Liu Fei¡¯er gritted her teeth and quickly rushed to the bedside to pick up a nket to wrap her body and head. Then she took two steps backward, shouted, and quickly mmed into the bathroom door.

    However, the bathroom door was extremely firm, and Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s figure was thin and slim. With a bang, the door didn¡¯t move. But she stumbled and took two steps back. She sat down on the ground, feeling as if her whole body had fallen apart.

    The sharp pain only made Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s tears swirl in her eyes, but she quickly gnashes her teeth in anger and stood up. She pretended to be righteous and tried to kill him. Then, she screamed and mmed toward the door.

    "Dong!" This time, Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s body was stuck on the door, but the damn door still didn¡¯t move!

    Liu Fei¡¯er leaned against the door and sat softly on the ground. She covered her soft and drooping arms and the very painful shoulders with her hands. Looking at the door that seemed to be about to be divided into the Yin-Yang Principle, her tears fell down. She sobbed and said, "Help! Who will help us?"

    She failed to hit the door twice and her arm was unlocated. She was anxious and scared. She couldn¡¯t help but cry out loud. After crying for a while, she suddenly remembered that she had to call the police!

    Liu Fei¡¯er seemed to have forgotten the pain all of a sudden. She quickly stood up and threw herself to the bedside. The remaining arm that could move quickly grabbed the phone and dialed the number in a flurry.

    But her hands were shaking so hard that she couldn¡¯t press the button of her mobile phone. The more nervous Liu Fei¡¯er was, the more scared she became. Now she didn¡¯t know how Cao Kefei was. She was in a state of fear almost copse.

    After she pressed the button for a while, even the most simple 110 could not press out. So she gave up the button, rushed to the gate, opened the door, and shouted, "Help!Help!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er was a professional actor originally, and her basic skills were very solid. Her shout was so loud that almost the whole building heard it. Everyone in the left and right rooms who heard the voice poked their heads out. Two waiters quickly ran over and asked nervously, "What happened?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er pointed to the bathroom and said with tears in her eyes, "Miss Cao is inside. She didn¡¯t reply when I called her. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong with her. Please open the door quickly. I¡¯m afraid that something bad will happen to her. She has a heart attack!"

    When two waiters heard this, their faces turned pale. Hotels were most afraid of such things. Moreover, who lived in such a hotel and in such a luxurious suite? Which one of them was easy to deal with? If there was something wrong with them, it would be a big problem!

    A waiter quickly picked up his walking device and talked to the receptionist, asking her to call the police immediately. The other waiter rushed to the door quickly and tried to lock it with his hand, but found that it did not move at all. He immediately hit the door with his shoulder and found that it was not like a door, but a wall or a mountain!

    The waiter covered his shoulder and grimaced in pain. He shook his head at the other waiter.

    At this time, a lot of people were attracted to the corridor to watch the fun. Some men saw Liu Fei¡¯er crying and wanted to be kind to her. They couldn¡¯t help but want to show some. They took the initiative to ask, "I¡¯ll do it, I¡¯ll do it!"

    They rushed to the door of the bathroom like soldiers, but all of them were hit so hard that their heads were heavy and their feet were light. It was as if they were stepping on cotton. They couldn¡¯t even stand steadily and staggered as if they were drunk.

    Seeing this scene, Liu Fei¡¯er cried in despair. At this moment, she suddenly heard a familiar voice. "What¡¯s wrong?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er was startled. She raised her head and saw a boy with dark eyebrows and bright eyes standing in front of her,and he was looking at her with concern and nervousness.

    "Isn¡¯t, isn¡¯t this Li Yundong? Why is he here?" Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s mind was ringing sound and she thought subconsciously.

    But soon, Liu Fei¡¯er came to her senses. She couldn¡¯t help but feel her heart beating wildly. She didn¡¯t know where the strength came from. She stood up and unconsciously grabbed at Li Yundong. "Why are you here? That¡¯s great. Please save Miss Cao. She, she..."

    As Liu Fei ¡¯er spoke, her words had said not to go down, but her tears kept falling.

    Li Yundong nodded and said to her in a deep voice, "Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m here!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er nodded and wiped her tears. She didn¡¯t know the reason that as if the boy in front of her said "I¡¯m here", she felt extremely safe and secure, and her panic gradually disappeared.

    The man who had knocked on the door and injured himself tilted his head and looked at Li Yundong disapprovingly. He thought to himself, "There are so many of us, and some of us are stronger or taller than you. If we can¡¯t hit the door, can you find a way?"

    Li Yundong walked to the door and reached out to lock the door. As soon as his hand touched the handle of the door, he felt a piercingly cold evil aura. He immediately retracted his hand and frowned secretly. He thought to himself, "Oh no, has the Mystical Silver Fox already taken back her soul?"

    Li Yundong took a deep breath and exerted a little strength. He tried to use his pure and vigorous Yuanyang Zhenqi to test the Yinqi. As soon as he tried to test it, there was a loud bang, and Li Yundong was forced to take three steps back.

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t expect that the rebound force would be so strong. Although he didn¡¯t use all his strength, he was shocked that he was forced to take three steps back.

    As soon as Li Yundong lowered his head, he saw that his palm which was holding the handle, was covered with ayer of frost. Obviously, he had been frozen like this by the cold air just now. He thought to himself, "This Mystical Silver Fox is really smart. When others are strong, she is strong and when others weak, she is weak. When ordinary people went to open the door before, she used ordinary forces to block the door. Now I was the one who opened the door, and she was blocked by the cold air! Humph, she does have some skills, but can she stop me ?"

    Some of the men around saw that Li Yundong also suffered a loss on the door. They immediately sneered andughed at other¡¯s troubles. But as soon as theyughed out loud, they saw Li Yundong taking a deep breath and walking to the door again. But this time, Li Yundong didn¡¯t push the door, but push the wall next to the bathroom door.

    Everyone was shocked and frightened. They thought to themselves, "Is this guy crazy? Does he think he¡¯s the Terminator Schwarzenegger ?"

    But as soon as this idea shed through their minds, they saw that when Li Yundong¡¯s palms touched the wall, the wall suddenly rumbled. The wall was like a piece of tofu made of flour, and there was a big hole with a crash.

    Everyone was struck dumb. They couldn¡¯t speak for a long time. They watched as Li Yundong quickly opened a door on the wall next to him with his bare hands. Then, he rushed into the bathroom.

    As soon as Li Yundong rushed into the bathroom, he saw that Cao Kefei¡¯s eyes were closed and nobody know if she was dead or alive. She leaned against the ss wall of the bathroom and was naked. Her body was curled up into a ball. Although her hands and feet covered her vital parts, her pink body was as delicate as a piece of porcin, which was extremely attractive and made people want to vomit blood.

    Li Yundong quickly moved his eyes away and cautiously searched around the bathroom. After quickly confirming that there was no aura of the Mystical Silver Fox, he took off his upper clothes and gently picked her up.

    When the two of them were on a blind date, Li Yundong used the aura in his body to test Cao Kefei¡¯s blood vessels, only to find that Cao Kefei¡¯s body was no different from an ordinary person¡¯s. However, the condition of the loss of Essence in her body had improved greatly, which made Li Yundong stunned.

    Logically speaking, Cao Kefei was a woman with ack of soul. She only had soul, Tianchong Soul, Linghui and Zhongshu , which are the one transcendentponent and the human soul. As a result, she was congenitally iplete, which led to herck of Qi and Blood. It was absolutely impossible to make up for it.

    This was the same as a woman having five punctures . If one didn¡¯t improve all of them to cultivate, then they definitely wouldn¡¯t seed.

    However, at this time, Cao Kefei¡¯s whole body was full of Blood and Qi, as if her soul had been restored. However, if the Mystical Silver Fox had already entered Cao Kefei¡¯s body, she should have been full Zhenqi at this time. It was impossible for her to be like now, without Zhenqi at all!

    Li Yundong frowned and thought to himself, "This is really strange! It doesn¡¯t make sense!"

    He took Cao Kefei out of the bathroom and was thinking about something when he saw Liu Fei¡¯er hurriedly wiping her tears anding up to him. She asked nervously, "How is it? Are you all right, Miss Cao?"

    Li Yundong nodded and said with a strange look on his face, "It seems that nothing will happen, but..."

    Liu Fei¡¯er hurriedly asked nervously, "But what?"

    Li Yundong looked down at Cao Kefei and saw that the beauty in his arms was sleeping with her eyes closed. Although her body was covered by her clothes, others still stared at the ce covered by her clothes, as if they wished that they could have a pair of eyes that could see through her and see what kind of amazing beauty was hidden under the clothes.

    Li Yundong put Cao Kefei on the bed and covered the bed sheet. He stared at Cao Kefei¡¯s beautiful and quiet face and fell into deep thought. He thought to himself, "But I don¡¯t know whether she is now Cao Kefei, President Cao, or the Mystical Silver Fox !"

 Chapter 650 Fallen into the Crews Cast?

    <h4>Chapter 650 Fallen into the Crew¡°s Cast?</h4>

    The ident that happened in the hotel really made the staff break out in a cold sweat. The manager on duty quickly rushed to the scene of the incident and apologized to Liu Fei¡¯er and the others. He didn¡¯t even investigate the damage of the house. He just hoped that the other party wouldn¡¯t take advantage of the issue and put them in court instead.

    However, Liu Fei¡¯er was not a bully. She was relieved when she heard Li Yundong say that Cao Kefei was fine. She pointed at the door and said to the manager who was on duty with an apologetic smile, "It¡¯s okay as long as she¡¯s fine. Miss Cao needs a rest now. Tell them to leave quickly."

    The manager on duty saw that the corridor was full of people with curious eyes everywhere. Many people looked back and forth at Cao Kefei, but more people looked at the big hole in the wall, which was so marvellous. They whispered into each other¡¯s ears, "Isn¡¯t this too exaggerated? Is this wall made of flour? Why is it pushed away with one palm?"

    "That¡¯s right. It makes me think I¡¯m reading ¡¯Terminator ¡¯!"

    "Tut-tut, maybe the other side is the human-shaped Terminator?"

    "F*ck, I¡¯m Ultraman!"

    "Lunatic, do you think you¡¯re in the Kingdom of Light?"

    "Stop arguing. In my opinion, it must be a piece of jerry-built project. Otherwise, it¡¯s impossible to push down the wall with one palm!"

    "That¡¯s right. It¡¯s not safe to live in this hotel!"

    The manager on duty was a little flustered when he heard the crowd¡¯s nagging. He knew that if the news of the "Xin Guo Hotel" was jerry-built project spread out, it would be a big deal. He would definitely not be able to keep his job.

    He hurriedly said, "Don¡¯t worry, everyone. Our Xin Guo Hotel is a five-star hotel, and its quality is absolutely top-notch in the country. Don¡¯t worry, everyone. If you don¡¯t believe me, you can go to the edge of the wall to have a look. If it¡¯s a jerry-built project, we will immediately check out for you and pay you double the money!"

    When the crowd heard this, they all looked at the wall curiously. They saw that the walls were all solid brick structure. Some people wiped the broken edge of the wall with their hands. With a little force, they felt that the bricks were stiff. Not to mention pushing with their hands, even if they were hit by a hammer, they might not be able to make a pit.

    The crowd was shocked and looked at Li Yundong in unison. They couldn¡¯t understand why Li Yundong¡¯s body, which was not very strong, hid such a terrible power. They took a deep breath and thought to themselves, "He is really Terminator!"

    At this time, Xia Yu, who came with Li Yundong, had her nose in the air. She showed off and said, "Hey, that¡¯s my friend! I came with him! Do you want to know who he is?"

    Someone asked curiously, "Who is he?"

    Xia Yu looked proud. "Heh heh, it¡¯s a secret. I can¡¯t tell you!"

    Seeing the mysterious look of Xia Yu, these people looked like they understood. "Oh, I got it!" Some people even took out their mobile phones and secretly took photos of Li Yundong, so that they could post them on the Inte to show off their negotiation materials.

    Li Yundong red at Xia Yu angrily and then said to Liu Fei¡¯er, "It¡¯s too noisy here. It¡¯s not good for President Cao to rest. Can we go somewhere else?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er immediately said to the manager on duty, "Did you hear that? Hurry up and change a room for us!"

    The manager on duty immediately said, "Okay, I¡¯ll arrange it right away!" After that, he was watchful and reverent looking at Cao Kefei and tentatively said, "Are you sure she didn¡¯t need to be sent to the hospital? If anything goes wrong..."

    If something went wrong, we wouldn¡¯t be able to bear the responsibility, and the hotel wouldn¡¯t be able to shoulder the responsibility either!

    Liu Fei¡¯er naturally understood the hidden meaning of the manager on duty. She looked at Li Yundong andpletely regarded this boy, who was younger than her, as her backbone.

    Although Li Yundong was guessing Cao Kefei¡¯s current identity, he didn¡¯t show any worry. He knew that if he panicked, he didn¡¯t know how flustered the girl would be. He calmly smiled at Liu Fei¡¯er and said, "No, I¡¯m here. We don¡¯t have to go to the hospital."

    Liu Fei¡¯er immediately breathed a sigh of relief and said to the manager on duty, "No need to do so. Just arrange another room for us."

    The manager on duty looked at Li Yundong with embarrassment. "But, he..."

    The words of the manager on duty were very obvious: "Who is the boy? Does he mean what he said? If something goes wrong, who will he look for?"

    Li Yundong knew what he was thinking. He nodded to him and said with a smile, "Don¡¯t worry. If I say it¡¯s okay, then it¡¯s okay. You can go. There are so many people here to testify."

    Li Yundong had been practicing cultivation for a long time. Gradually, his master¡¯s temperament became more and more obvious. In the face of danger and chaos, he remained calm. Mount Tai copsed in front of him, but his expression did not change. Even when he was surrounded by a group of masters in the Japanese Cultivation World in Mount K¨­ya , his heart beat was still as usual, and he strolled leisurely. His smile seemed to have an inexplicable power, which made the uneasy lobby manager calm down, and he suddenly had an inexplicable sense of trust.

    The lobby manager smiled and said, "Since you said so, I won¡¯t force you. I¡¯ll arrange a new room for you now."

    He walked to the door and said loudly, "Please go back, everyone. It¡¯s all right. Let the patient have a good rest!"

    The crowd left, whispering into each other¡¯s ears. The lobby manager looked back at Li Yundong and remembered Li Yundong¡¯s tone and expression when he spoke just now. He couldn¡¯t help but think to himself, "This boy is young, but his aura is really not small. Is he really some great mysterious person?"

    He didn¡¯t dare to neglect it. He quickly reced Cao Kefei¡¯s original luxuriousmercial room with a luxurious sea view room, and imed that the hotel still used the original rent charge to express the meaning ofpensation for the Xinguo Hotel.

    After Li Yundong and others changed their rooms, they found that the original room of 48 square meters being a big room of 62 square meters. Moreover, as soon as the curtains were pulled open, they could see the beautiful sea view of the beach.

    Liu Fei¡¯er was used to this kind of view, so she didn¡¯t think so. Standing by the window, Li Yundong looked at the blue sky and clean sea. His mind suddenly became much wider, as if the breath he exhaled was much smoother, and the aura in his body became stronger. He couldn¡¯t help but think, "This is really a treasurend of Shenxians. I don¡¯t know what great cultivation sects there are in Hainan. If I build a cultivation sect here and take it as the base camp, absorb the Ocean-Heaven Qi every day, my cultivation quotient will be no worse than that of the Taoist priests of Mount Longhu!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er saw Li Yundong standing at the window with his back to her. Although she couldn¡¯t see the boy¡¯s expression, the boy¡¯s straight back, broad shoulders, and his unmoving figure made her have an illusion in an instant: Standing in front of her was an old man who was dozens of years old. His imposing manner made her feel that she had never seen many senior officials and martial arts masters.

    Liu Fei¡¯er held her head and looked at Li Yundong curiously. She was guessing Li Yundong¡¯s true identity in her mind. The more she guessed, the more she felt that this young and mature boy was too mysterious. He could even be described as unfathomable. He was like a ck hole. Anyone who got close to him would have strong curiosity about him and be sucked in by him.

    Liu Fei¡¯er guessed for a while and couldn¡¯t help ncing at Cao Kefei. She sighed in her heart and thought, "Good men are always attractive in these days. s, even Miss Cao, such a beautiful woman, is ignored by this boy. I have no hope! Last time when the Disanian opened, I saw a group of beautiful women around this guy. He doesn¡¯t seem to be a spoony guy. Why doesn¡¯t he like Miss Cao?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er was a little girl¡¯s making blind and disorderly conjectures. While she was lost in thought, she heard a weak voiceing from the side. "Excuse me... is there anything I can do for you?"

    When Liu Fei¡¯er heard this voice, she came back to her senses. Only then did she notice that Xia Yu was still standing beside her. She asked in confusion, "Who are you?"

    Xia Yu smiled a little embarrassedly and said, "I¡¯m Miss Cao¡¯s employee. I¡¯m here to report to her, and I brought Li Yundong here by the way. He said he had something urgent to discuss with Miss Cao."

    Liu Fei¡¯er quickly stood up and said enthusiastically, "I see. If it weren¡¯t for you, I¡¯m afraid that Miss Cao would be in danger today. Sit down, sit down! please."

    Xia Yu was also very sensible. Seeing this scene, she quickly waved her hand and said with a smile, "Forget it, I¡¯ll get a room for myself first. When Miss Cao wakes up and reports work to her, I¡¯ll go back first."

    Liu Fei¡¯er didn¡¯t stop her and said with a smile, "Well,e here more often when you¡¯re free."

    Seeing that a big star like Liu Fei¡¯er was so approachable, Xia Yu also smiled and said, "Okay, I¡¯ll ask you for your signatureter."

    Liu Fei¡¯er pursed her lips and said with a smile, "No problem. I¡¯ll sign a double share for you!"

    Xia Yu chuckled and walked to the door. As soon as she opened the door and was about to go out, she saw a person rushing over out of breath and shouting loudly, "Miss Cao, where is she? Is she all right?"

    Xia Yu took a closer look and frowned secretly. "Who else could it be but Zhao Yougen?"

    Xia Yu knew that a white-cor worker at her level couldn¡¯t afford to offend an old boss like Zhao Yougen. She thought to herself, "It¡¯s better to let them see the king. Otherwise, if the Shenxians fight with each other, I, a white-cor worker, will suffer!"

    Xia Yu¡¯s face was full of smiles. She pretended to be surprised and said, "Mr. Zhao, why are you here?"

    Hearing Xia Yu¡¯s exmation, Liu Fei¡¯er looked at the door and immediately frowned, thinking, "This annoying guy has a sharp nose. How could he know that Miss Cao is in trouble? Is there someone in the crew? Yes, it must be so. I wondered why he could block us in the past few days! Humph, go back and let me know who is... to teach him a lesson!"

    But whatever, no matter how much she hated this person in her heart, she still had to live a good life. After all, the other was an investor, wasn¡¯t he?

    Liu Fei¡¯er stood up with a warm face and said with a smile, "President Zhao, you¡¯re here? Please sit down,e in and have a ss of water."

    Zhao Yougen looked worried. He wiped the sweat on his forehead and said with a smile, "I heard that something happened to President Cao, so I came here in a hurry. It scared me. How is it? Is Predisent Cao all right?"

    While he was talking, his eyes were searching for Cao Kefei¡¯s figure in the room, but he soon saw Cao Kefei lying quietly on the bed, covered with a quilt, and her long eyshes quietly covered her eyes, as if she had fallen asleep.

    Zhao Yougen was about to approach when he suddenly saw a familiar figure standing beside the French window. The person turned around and said to him with a fake smile, "President Zhao, we meet again!"

    This, this!!

    Isn¡¯t this Li Jiandong?!

    Zhao Yougen was so scared that his legs began to tremble. He almost copsed to the ground, as if he had seen through all his dirty thoughts in his belly. His face turned pale. He couldn¡¯t help stepping back and said, "Ah, it¡¯s Young Master Li. Fortunately, nice to meet you! Come on, thest time the Disanxian opened, we parted at the opening ceremony. Young Master Li, you are still as elegant as before!"

    Zhao Yougen was afraid that Li Yundong would think of the past, so he was so scared that he couldn¡¯t speak clearly. After stammering, he looked around and quickly said to Liu Fei¡¯er, "Since Young Master Li is here, that¡¯s good. I, I still have something to do. I¡¯ll go first!"

    After that, he left here as if he was running for his life.

    Seeing that he had admitted defeat, Li Jiandong stopped being aggressive. He just smiled and turned around.

    Liu Fei¡¯er was overjoyed to see that Li Yundong had scared this guy away with just a few words. She grabbed Li Yundong¡¯s arm and said, "Oh, you¡¯re amazing. You drove this annoying guy away with just one sentence! This guy has made us so annoyed these days that we can¡¯t get rid of him no matter how hard we try! You should catch up with the door god! By the way, Immortal Li, why don¡¯t youe to our crew to take care of President Cao? On the one hand, you should take care of her. On the other hand, you should help us to block these monsters?"

 Chapter 651 Ones Heart Is Bent on Evils

    <h4>Chapter 651 One¡°s Heart Is Bent on Evils</h4>

    Hearing Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s words, Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but have an idea. He thought, "She¡¯s right. Anyway, I¡¯ve already been exposed. Why not stay with Cao Kefei with this name and stay for the ride, so that it¡¯s convenient for me to deal with it."

    Thinking of this, Li Jiandong nodded with a wee smile. "Well, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll disturb you."

    Liu Fei¡¯er was overjoyed and subconsciously wanted to raise her hands to cheer, but as soon as she raised her hands, she felt a studden sharp stab of pain in her arm. She snorted in pain, covering her arm, and almost sat down. Only then did she remember that her arm was still dislocated. She was so nervous and scared that she had forgotten about it just now!

    Li Yundong held her quickly and checked her arm. Then he gently pinched her shoulder and asked, "Does it hurt?"

    At this time, Liu Fei¡¯er was all relieved. There was no more worry and fear in her heart. For a moment, she felt that this kind of pain was simply irresistible. Cold sweat rolled down her forehead and she nodded with difficulty.

    Li Yundong said softly, "Don¡¯t be afraid. I¡¯ll help you locate your arm."

    Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s face was pale and said, "Will it hurt?"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "No, you just need to cooperate with me." As he said this, he slowly lifted Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s dislocated arm.

    Although Haikou waste winter, the temperature of the weather was still very hot. At this time, Liu Fei¡¯er was wearing a long skirt with sleeveless which is made of silk, and it was clean under the armpit. Although this was not a private part of a person, Liu Fei¡¯er still felt inexplicably shy. Her cheeks were red and her heart was beating wildly. She didn¡¯t know what the boy was going to do.

    Li Yundong seemed to know what Liu Fei¡¯er was thinking. He smiled slightly and said, "Don¡¯t be nervous." As the same time, he raised Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s dislocated arm, and the other hand flicked gently on the hot spring acupoint under Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s skin.

    Liu Fei¡¯er just had her bones been dislocated, however, her meridians and Qi and blood had not been removed. Therefore, Li Yundong¡¯s shot immediately made her shiver. It was as if she had been struck by lightning. Her body almost lost consciousness in an instant. She felt numb all the way from the acupoint of Jiquan of her body to the Chongquan point of her feet.

    After Li Yundong flicked, he immediately grabbed Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s shoulder and put her arm into the joint. With a click, he sent Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s arm in the right ce..

    Hearing this terrible voice, Liu Fei¡¯er was about to shout when she saw Li Yundong say to her with a light smile, "How is it? Does it hurt?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er was surprised to find that her arm had recovered. She waved her arm and said exaggeratedly, "It doesn¡¯t hurt. You are so good! How did you do it just now? You seemed to press me, and then I can¡¯t feel anything. Is this the immobilizing skill of the immortal skill? Or the paralysis skill of the magic?"

    Li Yundong was unable to stifle augh. "You¡¯ve watched too many movies. Don¡¯t guess optionally. This is a traditional Chinese medicine method. Any Chinese medicine practitioner can exin it to you."

    The acupoint of Jiquan was one of the major acupoint of the human body. It was located at the top of the armpit.There were the ulnar nerve,the median nerve and arge number of nerve veins of the internal nerve nerve of the forearm around the acupoint of Jiquan.It could be said that this was the central channel that connected the human body and arms and it was an extremely developed and sensitive ce. If an ordinary person touched it slightly, there would be a sour and numb feeling. If he hit it hard, it would lead to a person¡¯s shock and death.

    At this time, Li Yundong could already be a great cultivator of the cultivation. He used his powerful and condensed Zhenqi to touch Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s Jiquan acupoint. It was as if he had used a golden needle to prick her acupoint. As the saying went, a slight move in one part may affect the situation as a whole. As soon as Li Yundong pricked her, the Zhenqi immediately flowed to all parts of her body, controlling her nerves, making her instantly feel numb and painless.

    Liu Fei¡¯er widened her eyes as if she didn¡¯t believe Li Yundong¡¯s exnation, but she couldn¡¯t find a better way to exin it. What did she only to do is to sigh in her heart.

    Zhao Yougen, who wanted to leave as soon as possible, clearly heard Liu Fei¡¯er say the criticism of him after he went out. He stopped for a moment and listened. It was okay if he didn¡¯t listen, but when he heard it, he was ashamed and angry. He was so angry that his face alternated between green and white, and he wished that there was a crack on the ground to let him get in.

    There was nothing more to fly into a rage out of shame than "a beautiful woman hitting himself in front of a man" in the world.

    Zhao Yougen¡¯s original fear turned into anger. He rushed out of the hotel gate and felt as if there was a raging fire in his chest. He wished he could find someone to vent his anger on.

    "why do Li Yundong have to go wherever I go? Why does he have to make things difficult for me?"

    Zhao Yougen was humiliated, so he subconsciously transferred this anger to Li Yundong. However, he couldn¡¯t defeat this boy. Last time, the painful lesson of the Disanxian was still fresh in his memory. Who dared to touch a person who could talk to the top leader of the country? Was he tired of living?

    While he was in a state of agitation, he suddenly heard a surprised voice from the side. It was a woman with a strong London ent. She said in English, "Ah, Mr. Zhao, how are you? I can¡¯t expect to see you here!"

    Zhao Yougen turned his head and saw a sexy woman about 1.7 meters tall, with brown hair, blue eyes, deep eyes, and a high nose. She was looking at him with a smile, and her eyes were full of seduction and ambiguity.

    Zhao Yougen knew that this woman was called Kesting and she came from London in Ennd and graduated from a second-rate university in Ennd. Although Kesting came from a poor family, she had a hot Hollywood dream since she was a child. At the age of 16, she went to the UK to pursue her dream of a movie.

    However, Hollywood didn¡¯tck beautiful Gold buyers and Dream pursuers. During Kesting¡¯s ten-year wandering in Hollywood, she had yed a lot of small characters, but she still couldn¡¯t get a chance to get the upper hand.

    Women from the western countries would mature early and age quickly. Even though a twenty-six year old woman was at her peak, the nosie of vanity fair made her look a bit tired, and as a result, a strange type of fear and fear rose in her heart.

    Just as she was feeling anxious, she heard her friend talk about the distant red country in the east. She couldn¡¯t help but think of an idea:although the starting point of this red country waste, it had developed rapidly over the years. Its annual film box office was already ranked fifth in the world, and its development was extremely rapid. It would definitely surpass Japan in less than two years, and it would be the secondrgest filmpany in the world.

    In this case, why don¡¯t I go to this distant country first and try my luck? All over the world said that Chinese people are rich all over the world. Many of my friends who once went to China to look for gold have also sent me text messages, saying, "Silly people, rich people,e quickly!"

    Kesting was a woman who would do whatever she wanted. She immediately packed up her luggage and came to this country that she knew almost nothing about.

    When she arrived, she found that she almost didn¡¯t know anything. Originally, she was going to put on a big show, but her dream of making a fortune was suddenly out of reach. Even after being deceived several times by the entertainment business in the film and television circle, her three meals became a problem.

    In this case, she identally received a TV series project that Cao Kefei was operating. Although many actors had always despised filming TV series, and many Hollywood actors were unwilling to turn back to the TV series after they became famous in the movie. Although Kesting was not a big star, she had a movie as a decoration in her resume. Although it was a small role and a supporting role, no matter how small the supporting role was, it was still a supporting role! Don¡¯t think a supemumerario is not a star!

    But reality was cruel. Her heart was higher than the sky, but her life was weaker than paper. Being forced by the current situation, she obediently restrained her arrogance and began to shoot TV.

    But even so, there were still so-called big shots of her in the crew from time to time. It seemed that the third-rate actors from Hollywood were also a little higher than the first-rate actors in this country.

    Because of this, many people in the crew didn¡¯t like this foreign girl. But because she was from Hollywood and her good acting skills, they all pinched their noses and endured it.

    After acting for a while, Kesting found that the one who could really speak in this crew was a woman who was so beautiful that she could make one¡¯s blood boil. The men¡¯s martial arts that she had learned in the Hollywood vanity fair were useless here!

    ording to the script prepared by herself, it would be: she would bear with the fact that she would shoot one or two TV series first, and then seduce one or two rich and powerful Chinese wealthy people, so that they would be willing to invest in her to shoot a movie. Maybe she would be famous because of her appearance and strength.

    But if the person she seduced was a woman who was much more beautiful than her, what should she do?

    A lesbian? A lily? Or ace?

    Her normal sexual orientation made her both depressed and angry. The boss of the crew was a woman who was even more beautiful than herself. This was really intolerable!

    But fortunately, the crew soon became short of funds, and the plot that Kesting dreamed of finally appeared: A rich man finally arrived!

    Since the appearance of Zhao Yougen, she had been approaching him unintentionally. It was true that Kesting¡¯s heart towards Zhao Yougen, but his hot blood poured toward Cao Kefei. Unfortunately!

    Even so, Kesting still did not give up. With the spirit of international mistress spirits, "As long as the hoe is properly waved, there is no wall that can¡¯t be dug out", she showed love to Zhao Youmu one after another.

    Of course, Zhao Yougen also knew the idea. At this time, he was full of anger. When he saw the tall woman who kept showing off to him, he couldn¡¯t bear. He thought, "Cao Kefei, the delicious beauty, can¡¯t get her. It seems that it¡¯s not bad to satisfy his appetite with this tall woman."

    Thinking of this, Zhao Yougen couldn¡¯t help but smile and replied in English, "So it¡¯s Miss Kesting. What¡¯s wrong? Have you just finished shooting?"

    Although Zhao Yougen¡¯s honesty was not very good, he used to be an overseas returnee with an MBA. Although he spoke in English with heavy Chinese ent, it was still not a problem for him tomunicate with other people.

    When Kesting saw Zhao Yougen look at her, he was a little different from usual. There was something unique to men in his eyes. As a woman who had been in the vanity fair for a long time, she naturally knew what he was thinking. She was delighted, and her eyes became more and more charming. She said, "Yes, it¡¯s really hot. Mr. Zhao, why are you here? Do you want to have dinner with me?"

    Zhao Yougen said with a smile, "Okay? I also want to have a romantic dinner with you."

    When she saw that Zhao Yougen emphasized the word romantic, Kesting immediately knew that the big fish was going to bite the hook. She was overjoyed and said with a face full of surprise, "Oh my god, it is really the best news I¡¯ve heard after I came here! It¡¯s really an honor for me to have dinner with such an elegant man like you!"

    After listening to thispliment, Zhao Yougen suddenly felt proud. The anger he suffered from Li Yundong, Cao Kefei and Liu Fei¡¯er seemed to disappear in an instant. He had his nose in the air pretended to be modest and said, "Don¡¯t say that. It¡¯s also my honor to have dinner with such a beautiful and sensibledy like you!"

    After two people with different ideas and hypocritical politeness, a pair of concubines rushed to a nearby French restaurant.

    After Kesting sat down, after a short while, she opened her mouth to speak. She keptining about her miserable experience in China and her rough fate. She kept crying as she said that, which made herself look pitiful.

    Zhao Yougen listened patiently and pretended tofort her. But when he heard the words from Kesting, he immediately pricked up his ears and hurriedly asked, "What did you say just now?"

    Kesting used a silk handkerchief to wipe away the tears at the corners of her eyes. She raised her head in a somewhat vacant manner. "Which sentence?"

    Zhao Yougen leaned forward slightly and said with a serious face, "You said you don¡¯t want to work anymore?"

    Kesting immediatelyined. "That¡¯s right, anyway,I am a Hollywood actor, so how could I act in such a low-ss TV series in such a ce? Even though I am the main character, there are so few scenes! This production team is just too trash. From the producer to the director, my god, for the sake of God, even if I say they are trash, that is a type of praise. They are simply useless! If it wasn¡¯t for your timely appearance like a savior, this production team would have even fallen apart!"

    Zhao Yougen¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He slowly leaned back on the chair with a malicious smile on his face. He couldn¡¯t help but turn his head and look in the direction of the Xinguo Hotel. He sneered and said, "Hum, Cao Kefei, Liu Fei¡¯er... and Li Yundong. If you don¡¯t let me go, I won¡¯t let you go either!"

 Chapter 652 Farinelli

    <h4>Chapter 652 Farinelli</h4>

    As Zhao Yougen was about to y a dirty trick, Cao Kefei had already woken up.

    The beautiful woman groaned, and her eyshes trembled slightly. Cao Kefei opened her eyes and asked, "Where am I?"

    "Cao, are you awake?" Liu Fei¡¯er was overjoyed. She quickly rushed to the bed and looked at Cao Kefei with her eyes wide open.

    Cao Kefei looked at Liu Fei¡¯er and tried to support herself to sit up with her hands. She forced a little smile on her face. "It¡¯s you. What¡¯s wrong with me?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er quickly helped her up and said quickly, "Oh, Cao, you fainted when you were taking a shower. It¡¯s so dangerous. I thought you had a heart attack at that time."

    Cao Kefei said nkly, "Ah? I have a heart attack again? It is impossible, I have medicine today."

    While she was talking, Cao Kefei heard a familiar boy¡¯s voice beside her. "You didn¡¯t faint because of a heart attack..."

    Cao Kefei turned her head and saw that Li Yundong, whom she had been missing day and night, was standing not far from the edge of the bed and staring at her. Cao Kefei was surprised but delighted, and said, "Why are you here?"

    Before Li Yundong could speak, Liu Fei¡¯er said with a smile, "Cao, if it weren¡¯t Li Yundong, you would be in danger again! He saved you again! Hey, Cao, you didn¡¯t see Li Yundong almost tear down this building in order to save you! The manager of the hotel came to apologize to us and change the room with us. Haha, it¡¯s so funny! Hey, Cao, I¡¯m talking to you, Cao!"

    Cao Kefei was still listening to Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s words, at first, but gradually her attention was focused on the boy in front of her. She suddenly had a feeling that as long as she encountered difficulties and dangers, the boy would appear. He was like a cloud floating in the distant sky. From the beginning, she could still touch him, but slowly, he floated higher and higher and became more and more untouchable.

    Cao Kefei saw that there were concern and worry in Li Yundong¡¯s eyes, and there was even a trace of hidden vignce. Especially when she saw Li Yundong standing two steps away from the bed and did not approach. Although she did not know why Li Yundong was wary of her, Cao Kefei, who was good at observing people¡¯s expressions, felt sad. So the joy of seeing Li Yundong eased a lot. She forced a smile to Li Yundong and said, "Sorry to have caused you trouble again. I¡¯m really sorry."

    Li Yundong shook his head and said with a slight smile, "Don¡¯t say that!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er raised her head and suddenly asked curiously, "By the way, Li Yundong, I haven¡¯t asked you yet. Why are you here?"

    Li Yundongughed and said, "I can predict the future. I felt that something bad might happen to Mr. Cao, so I came here."

    Liu Fei¡¯er covered her mouth and eximed, "Is it so exaggerated? Are you really a Demigod?"

    Cao Kefei looked at Li Yundong with aplicated look in her eyes and said faintly, "He is not a Demigod. He is obviously an immortal, an immortal who has transcended the supermundane world. When he is in a good mood, he will descend to the human world to meet us mortals. When he is in a bad mood, he will go to a free and easy ce."

    Liu Fei¡¯er heard the strong resentment in Cao Kefei¡¯s tone. She stuck out Cao Kefei¡¯s tongue secretly and didn¡¯t dare to answer. Instead, she looked at Li Yundong andugh at his troubles and wanted to see how he would deal with it.

    Li Yundong was in a wry smile. He did not answer Cao Kefei¡¯s question. Instead, he changed the topic and asked, "How are you feeling now? Is there anything wrong with you?"

    Seeing that Li Yundong didn¡¯t answer her, Cao Kefei felt even more bitter. She couldn¡¯t help butin, "I¡¯m fine. Go back to your world of immortals. It¡¯s very dangerous in the human world. It¡¯s not safe for you to stay here!"

    Li Yundong said with a smile, "How do you know that the immortal world is more safer than the human world?"

    Cao Kefei red at Li Yundong. "If that wasn¡¯t the case, why would you be so far away from me? Could I eat you?"

    From the moment Cao Kefei woke up, Li Yundong had been carefully observing her. He wanted to see if she was really Cao Kefei or the Mystical Silver Fox. But after observing for a long time, he found that Cao Kefei¡¯s words and behavior were the same as before. Her voice and smile were no different from before, and she didn¡¯t seem to have lost her soul at all.

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help but wonder. He knew that if Mystical Silver Fox had already entered Cao Kefei¡¯s body and robbed her soul, then the one who spoke at this time should be the one who pretended to be the Mystical Silver Fox. But no matter how simr a person was to her, it was impossible for her tone and expression to be exactly the same. Besides, the Mystical Silver Fox had been sealed for nearly a thousand years. How could it be able to pretend to be a modern person as soon as she came out?

    Could it be that the Mystical Silver Fox did not possess Mr. Cao¡¯s body?

    Li Yundong thought privately. He took a step forward with a smile and said to Cao Kefei, "Mr. Cao, you¡¯re so funny. I¡¯ve booked a room near your room. If you feel ufortable or have something to do, call me. I¡¯lle with you." As he said this, he fled from here as if he were running away.

    Watching Li Yundong run away in a panic, Cao Kefei was so angry that she picked up the pillow by the bed and threw it at the door. "Don¡¯te anymore. Go ahead with your work! You¡¯re so annoying!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er looked at Cao Kefei with a strange expression and said with a smile, "I used to look forward to him, but now I want to drive him away. Cao, if he really leaves soon, where you are going to cry!"

    Cao Kefei reached out to pinch Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s waist and said angrily, "It¡¯s none of my business where he will go and do. Who is he to me? Why should I worry about him? There are so many women around him, and it¡¯s not up to me to worry about him!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er was pinched by Cao Kefei and begged for mercy. She giggled and said, "My sister, stop it. It¡¯s so itchy! Yes, you can¡¯t worry about it, but it¡¯s not that you don¡¯t want to worry about it, it¡¯s that you can¡¯t!"

    Cao Kefei was furious. "You damn girl. If you don¡¯t fight for three days, you¡¯ll have to go to the upper room to remove the tiles, won¡¯t you?" After saying that, she pounced on Liu Fei¡¯er.

    Liu Fei¡¯er was shocked. She quickly raised her hands and said with a smile, "Cao, you have just recovered from a serious illness. Be careful of your body. Don¡¯t make a scene!"

    Cao Kefei stopped and red at Liu Fei¡¯er. "What do you mean that I¡¯ve just recovered from a serious illness? I don¡¯t think I¡¯m sick. On the contrary, I think I¡¯m in good health. And I¡¯ve never been in such a good condition before!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er knew that Cao Kefei¡¯s Nine Yin White Bone w was very powerful, and she knew that she couldn¡¯t do any violent exercise, nor could she be emotional, Liu Fei¡¯erdidn¡¯t dare to provoke Cao Kefei anymore. She said cautiously,"Cao, don¡¯t force yourself. If you really feel ufortable, just say it. When your fairy and enemy is still there, or he will really disappear after our crew has finished filming."

    Cao Kefei said casually, "Humph, who cares? He has no conscience, treating me like..." But soon Cao Kefei came to her senses, and her eyes widened. "What? What do you mean by saying that when our crew finished filming, and did he disappear again?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er asked for credit and said, "Hey, Cao, don¡¯t you know that when you were in aa, Zhao Yougen came again. As a result, when this guy saw Li Yundong, he was immediately scared away! I saw that your little enemy was more useful than the Door-God, so I asked him toe to our crew to help us to block this kind of monster. Haha, am I very smart?"

    Hearing this, Cao Kefei couldn¡¯t help feeling happy. But as soon as she raised her eyebrows, her face immediately fell again. She said yes and mean no, "Hum, what¡¯s there to stop? You are ying these useless tricks. Who will pay for them? You or me? The crew is so short of money now. Where can I find the money?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er saw that Cao Kefei¡¯s eyes were full of uncontroble joy, but her words were very tough. Liu Fei¡¯erughed and said, "Do you still have to pay for ordering your little enemy? It¡¯s okay. Just order him and I promise he¡¯ll be fine. In the future, if the crew has any physical work to do, give him everything!"

    Cao Kefei¡¯s brows immediately furrowed. "Have you taken the wrong medicine? Why do you think you¡¯re using him as a tool?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er immediately fell onto the bed with a giggle. "The fox¡¯s tail is exposed, yet you¡¯re still so stubborn! I think you¡¯re more nervous about her than anyone else!"

    After saying that, Liu Fei¡¯er jumped up and hid aside, for fear that Cao Kefei woulde to torture herter. However, although Cao Kefei pretended to be angry, her first reaction was to touch her back, as if she wanted to see if her fox tail was exposed.

    Liu Fei¡¯er immediatelyughed and said, "Don¡¯t worry, I was just having fun. You didn¡¯t expose your fox tail!"

    Cao Kefei was startled and rushed over with both embarrassment and anger. "You wicked girl, if I don¡¯t teach you a lesson today, you won¡¯t know who I am!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er screamed and ran away in a hurry, and then she yed hide-and- Previously with Cao Kefei in the room.

    After the two of themughed andughed, and soon the previous disturbance calmed down. The next day, Liu Fei¡¯er woke up in a daze and looked at the time. She suddenly jumped up from the bed and shouted, "Oh, it¡¯s over. I¡¯m going to bete. And the director is going to scold me again!"

    She was about to wake Cao Kefei up when she saw that Cao Kefei¡¯s bed was empty. Then she rushed to the bathroom and saw that Cao Kefei had already put on her clothes and was drawing makeup in front of the mirror.

    Liu Fei¡¯er looked over and saw that Cao Kefei¡¯s eyes were painted with eye lines, which particrly outlined the charming lines at the corners of her eyes, making her look extremely charming. Particrly, her small and red lips were covered with ayer of crystal-clear lip color, which made her lips look like a ripe cherry. Even a woman like her wanted to take a bite of it.

    Cao Kefei was a naturally and exceptionally beautiful woman. It could be said that she was born with beauty. Usually, she almost never put on makeup, but today, she unexpectedly began to draw makeup.

    This gorgeous beauty keeps improving one make-up, the effect really has the extremely strong lethality, is Liu Fei¡¯er such big beauty all saw stupidly.

    She saw that Cao Kefei¡¯s skin was white with red, and there was a healthy red color in her delicate snow-white skin. It waspletely different from the sickly white in the past. This kind of red made Cao Kefei look particrly full of vitality. She was so charming and made people unable to look straight at her.

    Liu Fei¡¯er couldn¡¯t help eximing, "Cao, you¡¯re beautiful enough. You don¡¯t need to make up anymore. If you do makeup again, won¡¯t you let us live?"

    Cao Kefei turned around and smiled sweetly. "Am I very beautiful?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er nodded quickly like a chick pecking rice. "You¡¯re so beautiful that every like you! Don¡¯t put on makeup, or the king of the mountain will take a fancy to you and take you away to be the hostess of the vige. You¡¯ll be crying all day!"

    Cao Kefei rolled her at Liu Fer¡¯er and said, "Nonsense. Have you lost your consciousness after taking a picture? Don¡¯t you know what era you are in?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er hurriedly urged, "Stop talking. You¡¯re going to bete. Cao, don¡¯t make up any more. You¡¯re already very beautiful. Our driver, Wang, is a pervert. Do you want him to peek at you and get into a car ident when he¡¯s driving?"

    Cao Kefei raised her eyebrows. "If he doesn¡¯t want to lose his job, he would better behave himself."

    Liu Fei¡¯er pulled her out of the bathroom and said, "Okay, you¡¯re showing off your power and beauty. Okay? Get out of the way. I¡¯m going to wash up!"

    After the two of them struggled for a while, they hurried downstairs. As soon as they arrived downstairs, Cao Kefei suddenly thought of something and said, "Oh, I¡¯m afraid that Li Yundong doesn¡¯t know when we will go out? I have to go back and tell him."

    Liu Fei¡¯er was well aware of this. She giggled and said, "Didn¡¯t you want to drive him away yesterday? He leftst night. As you wish!"

    Cao Kefei¡¯s face turned pale. "What?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er saw Cao Kefei¡¯s face change dramatically. She was afraid that Cao Kefei would have a heart attack again, so she quickly pointed to the door of the hotel and said, "I lied to you. He has been there for a long time!"

    Cao Kefei looked over and saw Li Yundong and Xia Yu who are in herpony standing at the door and whispering something. Cao Kefei¡¯s heart finally fell back to her stomach. She red at Liu Fei¡¯er angrily and said, "You wicked girl, I remember it!"

    Cao Kefei walked out of the elevator. Her amazing beauty immediately attracted the attention of almost everyone in the hall. When they saw her, everyone¡¯s eyes were tightly attracted by her like a ma. There was only one thought in their minds: Is there such a beauty in the world?

    Everyone was so attracted by Cao Kefei¡¯s beauty that they couldn¡¯t speak. For a moment, the hall became silent. Li Yundong, who was standing at the door, saw that the hall behind him was suddenly so quiet that he could hear a pin drop. He turned his head in surprise, but he was also stunned.

    Even though Li Yundong was used to seeing Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin, he was still shocked by Cao Kefei¡¯s breathtaking beauty. He was stunned and looked at Cao Kefeiing out of the hotel. The reincarnated Wisdom King, who had beaten the most powerful Japanese expert to vomit blood and be in aa, was shocked by a beautiful woman with no strength to tie up a chicken. He lost his ability to think in an instant.

    When Cao Kefei walked up to him and smiled sweetly at him, Li Yundong¡¯s soul returned to its original position. He looked Cao Kefei up in surprise. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Cao Kefei snort at him like a child. Then she raised her chin, like the general who had won a victory and returned to the court, and then she got into the van that had been waiting for him at the door for a long time.

    Li Yundong looked at Liu Fei¡¯er in confusion. And then he pointed at Cao Kefei and asked, "What¡¯s wrong with her?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er chuckled and said, "Are you going to ask Cao Kefei yourself?" As she spoke, she also got into the car.

    Li Yundong looked at Xia Yu strangely, and said, "What happened to her?"

    Xia Yu also shrugged his shoulders with a strange expression. "I don¡¯t know!"

    Li Yundong couldn¡¯t help it. He shook his head and followed her into the van.

    Fortunately, the carriage was quite spacious, so it was not crowded when four people got in. On the way, Cao Kefei deliberately didn¡¯t look at Li Yundong and pretended to be a gentledy and smiled but revealed her teeth, and she didn¡¯t speak loudly, which made Li Yundong more surprised.

    But when they were about to reach their destination, Cao Kefei suddenly received a phone call. At first, she could still answer the phone calmly, but after a few words, her tone suddenly raised, and she said with shock and anger, "What? Say it again!"

    Li Yundong looked at Cao Kefei curiously, only to find that she had an uncertain look on her face after hanging up the phone. She was so angry that her eyebrows were knitted together. He asked, "What happened?"

    Cao Kefei couldn¡¯t hold her anger and scolded, "Damn it, our second female lead has been canceled!!"

 Chapter 653 Volunteering

    <h4>Chapter 653 Volunteering</h4>

    "The second female leading role has stopped?" Li Yundong asked in confusion.

    Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s face was also filled with shock. "Is that a fact? Is Justin crazy? She doesn¡¯t have any money to begin with, and yet she¡¯s still walking off the job? Isn¡¯t she afraid of us paying for it?"

    Cao Kefei said angrily, "How would I know? The director said that today, Justin didn¡¯t cooperate with the work very much. She also chose here and there. After the director med her a few words, and she said she would not do it."

    Liu Fei¡¯er widened her eyes and said, "Where did she get the courage to say that? Doesn¡¯t she want to stay in the Chinese film and television circle? It¡¯s a big taboo to break the contract halfway! Who will dare to y with her in the future?"

    Cao Kefei gave a cold snort. "Who knows what¡¯s wrong with her?"

    Li Yundong, who was standing by the side, asked curiously, "Don¡¯t you have backup actors?"

    Cao Kefei, with tearless eyes. "Do you think it¡¯s a football game? It¡¯s possible to find backup actors when shooting a movie, but this is a TV series, and it¡¯s all on shooting. Where are the backup actors? Although Justin¡¯s temper is a little bad, her requirements are still very in line with the requirements of the TV series. Besides, her appearance and temperament are also in line, and her acting skills are also good. For a moment, even if we want to find an actor again, there is no ce to find an actor!"

    Liu Fei¡¯erforted her, "Ms. Cao, don¡¯t worry. Call her quickly. Maybe there¡¯s still room for negotiation."

    Cao Kefei didn¡¯t say much. She picked up her phone and dialed Justin¡¯s number. But as soon as she dialed, there was a prompt from the other side, "I¡¯m sorry, the phone you dialed has been turned off." Cao Kefei was furious. "It seems that she has really made up her mind!"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t know much about the whole thing, but when he saw that Cao Kefei was quick to angry, he tried to persuade her. "It hurts your liver. President Cao, take care of yourself. Don¡¯t worry. Do you think a living person can suffocate herself to death?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er also said, "Yes, Ms. Cao, pay attention to your image!"

    Then Cao Kefei realized that she was a little bit anxious. She forced a smile at Li Yundong, then turned her face and looked out of the window. Her eyes were full of gloom and worry.

    At this moment, Xia Yu, who was standing to one side, whispered to Li Yundong, "President Cao is in deep trouble this time..."

    Li Yundong asked, "What do you mean?"

    Xia Yu said softly, "President Cao, not only has thepany¡¯s capital chain been broken, but the operations of the crew has also fallen into a deadlock in the early stage. Although President Cao has relied on President Zhao¡¯s investment to rece the crew, President Zhao is very cunning. He always gives money little by little, as if he wants to control President Cao. The crew will fall into a standstill at any time. I think it is under such circumstances that Justin wants to threaten President Cao with a strike to raise her sry."

    Li Yundong asked again, "Can¡¯t President Cao get more sry?"

    Xia Yu shook her head and said, "Not to mention more sry, even the current one might not be able to pay it. Every time she made a movie, she would always ask many people for help. It would be fine if she made money, but if she lost the movie, she would be in trouble. This time, Justin¡¯s resignation will definitely prolong the filming cycle. The filming cycle will also affect the filming time and effect of the film, and it will also increase the cost. The other investors will definitely be even more unhappy. At that time, the internal affairs will be entangled..."

    As she spoke, Xia Yu shook her head with an expression that she didn¡¯t dare to imagine.

    Li Yundong pondered for a while, then turned to Cao Kefei and asked, "What are the requirements for the second female leading role in your movie?"

    Cao Kefei turned her face and said without hesitation, "This TV series talks about a foreign love affair. The second female leading role is a foreign woman. She is beautiful and has an outstanding temperament. It¡¯s best for her to have the feeling of the daughter of an eminent family, reserved and bright. In fact, the acting skill of this role is secondary, but temperament and feeling are very important. We have tried many foreign actresses, but they don¡¯t have this kind of feeling. Although Justin¡¯s character is very bad, her acting skills are very solid. She can act like anything, so we chose her at the beginning."

    After hearing this, Li Yundong thought for a moment and nodded. "I see. I¡¯ll meet this Justinter."

    Cao Kefei looked at Li Yundong and asked tentatively, "Do you have a way?"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and said, "Let¡¯s give it a try. Maybe it will work."

    Cao Kefei¡¯s heart skipped a beat. She had seen all kinds of inconceivable abilities of this boy, but she didn¡¯t dare imagine that Li Yundong could also help her settle such a trivial thing.

    Seeing Cao Kefei¡¯s happy face, Li Yundong said with a smile, "Don¡¯t be happy too early. I¡¯m just giving it a try. It may not seed."

    The smile on Cao Kefei¡¯s face was much more sincere and peaceful. She smiled and said, "I am very happy that you are willing to help me. It doesn¡¯t matter whether you seed or not. You are right. There must be a way to get to the front of the mountain. There must be a way."

    Liu Fei¡¯er also turned her face and said to Li Yundong with a smile, "If you can settle this matter, I will let you be my idol! What do you think?"

    Li Yundongughed, cupped his hands, and said, "I don¡¯t dare. Your fans didn¡¯t kill me?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er giggled and said, "It¡¯s not easy to be my idol. Think about it yourself."

    Li Yundong smiled and didn¡¯t answer her again.

    After driving for about a few minutes, they came to the seaside photography studio. As soon as they entered the scene, Li Yundong saw a short man talking earnestly to a woman with brown hair and blue eyes.

    When the man saw Cao Kefei, he immediately came up and said bitterly, "President Cao, you¡¯re finally here? You can go and tell her about it yourself. I can¡¯tmunicate with her."

    Cao Kefei nced at Justin, who was smoking seductively not far away. She nodded and said, "Director Song, I¡¯ll try to persuade her. Let¡¯s see what she wants to do."

    After saying that, she went up to her. Director Song looked at her figure and was stunned for a moment. He looked at Li Yundong, who was next to her, and was slightly stunned. He asked Liu Fei¡¯er, "Who is this?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er smiled and said, "This is President Cao¡¯s friend."

    Director Song said with an unhappy face, "Unaffiliated personnel is not allowed to enter the studio. Don¡¯t you know the rules?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er said disapprovingly, "He¡¯s not an irrelevant person. He¡¯s very powerful. He¡¯s here to help us."

    Director Song was obviously full of anger these days. He sneered at the wrong time and said, "Well, I¡¯d like to see how he can help us."

    Li Yundong listened to these words, but he was not angry. He just nced at Director Song faintly, and then his eyes fell on Cao Kefei. He only saw Cao Kefei talking to Justin in a low and humble voice, as if a young wife had seen evil parents. She almost poured tea to apologize, which made people think that she was the boss of the crew, not Cao Kefei.

    In the beginning, she talked to Cao Kefei. In the end, Cao Kefei said with a livid face, "It¡¯s absolutely impossible! Who ordered you to do this!"

    Justin didn¡¯t answer her. She just sneered, took a deep breath, blew a cigarette on Cao Kefei¡¯s face, andughed proudly.

    Cao Kefei frowned and subconsciously took a step back. Beside her, Liu Fei¡¯er was furious. She rushed up and said loudly in English, "Watch your attitude!"

    Justin gave her a look of contempt, and then she also replied in a tit for tat manner, "Watch your words! Little girl!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er was furious and was about to argue with her when she saw Li Yundonging up. He reached out to stop her and said with a smile, "Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll talk to her."

    When Liu Fei¡¯er saw him walk up, her face lit up with joy and she obediently retreated to the side.

    Li Yundong looked at Justin, turned his head and said to Cao Kefei, "The talk broke down?"

    Cao Kefei suppressed her anger and said in a low voice, "Her conditions are too harsh."

    Li Yundong asked, "What is it?"

    Cao Kefei said, "She wants to increase the role of the second female leading role by more than the first female leading role. To put it simply, she wants to rece Liu Fei¡¯er as the first female leading role."

    Li Yundong frowned and didn¡¯t say anything. At this time, Liu Fei¡¯er suddenly whispered, "Ms. Cao, I don¡¯t have any opinion. If things can be settled."

    Cao Kefei shook her head. "It¡¯s not that simple. She wants to double her current sry."

    This time, Liu Fei¡¯er didn¡¯t say anything. Justin¡¯s sry wasn¡¯t low to begin with. If it doubled now, then the production costs of the television series would soar. Moreover, if it doubled, what about the others? Once this happened, the consequences would be unimaginable.

    Li Yundong asked in a deep voice, "Is that all?"

    Cao Kefei sneered and said, "Not only that, she wants a lot. She also wants 30% of the profit from the sale of TV series in the future!"

    Liu Fei¡¯er said in shock, "She¡¯s crazy! No one with a little IQ would make such a request! She got more money than investors! Who does she think she is? The winner of the Oscar movie?"

    Cao Kefei sneered and said nothing.

    Li Yundongughed. "I understand. President Cao, if you trust me, you can leave it to me. Is that okay?"

    Cao Kefei hesitated for a moment and was about to say something. At this moment, Director Song, who was next to her, came to Li Yundong andined, "Hey, who are you? You want to guide us as soon as youe here? Don¡¯t you see that we are already very troublesome here? Please look at yourself in the mirror and don¡¯t make trouble for them, okay?"

    Li Yundong did not look at him. He looked straight at Cao Kefei and said in a deep voice, "President Cao, make your own decision!"

    Cao Kefei¡¯s eyes were fixed on Li Yundong, and her mind was in a whirl. She remembered that when she first met Li Yundong, the boy in front of her was so young that he was shy. But at this time, he had grown into a strong man, and his broad shoulders could shelter him.

    Cao Kefei looked at Li Yundong¡¯s gentle gaze. For some reason, her heart gradually calmed down. It was as if as long as this boy took action, he would be able to settle anything.

    Cao Kefei nodded slightly and said softly, "I¡¯ll leave it to you."

    Director Song had always been very fond of Cao Kefei. When he saw Cao Kefei looking at Li Yundong with ambiguous eyes, he became more and more unhappy. In addition, the matter in front of him has even rted to the life and death of the crew and Cao Kefei¡¯spany. He couldn¡¯t help but be anxious. "President Cao, you can¡¯t be like this? Can¡¯t you rushed to the doctor?"

    Cao Kefei turned her head and shouted in a low voice, "I¡¯m responsible for my decision! Shut up!"

    Today, Cao Kefei was morous. After being shouted at by her, Director Song suddenly felt a murderous momentuming at him. What he wanted to say was forced to be swallowed back.

    Li Yundong got Cao Kefei¡¯s approval. He turned to Liu Fei¡¯er and said with a smile, "You help me as a trantor."

    Before Liu Fei¡¯er could say anything, Director Song mocked and wanted to watch the fun. He sneered in his heart, "Humph, this kept man doesn¡¯t even know English. What¡¯s the use of it?"

    While he was sneering, the other staff in the studio noticed the situation here. They all gathered around to see how this young boy would deal with the crisis in front of them.

 Chapter 654 Youve Been Fired!

    <h4>Chapter 654 You¡°ve Been Fired!</h4>

    Li Yundong¡¯s words made Liu Fei¡¯er very surprised. She didn¡¯t seem to dare to imagine that this immortal-level handsome man, who was omnipotent in her mind, couldn¡¯t speak English!

    Liu Fei¡¯er looked at Li Yundong curiously. "You don¡¯t speak English?"

    Li Yundong also asked curiously, "Why do Chinese have to speak English?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er was a little speechless by his question. Although she didn¡¯t take it seriously in her heart, she still obediently followed Li Yundong to Justin.

    When Justin saw Li Yundong at first nce, her eyes lit up subconsciously and she praised him in her heart: What a handsome guy!

    But for a woman of her age, money was what she valued the most. In her eyes, Li Yundong was just a useless silver-like wax tip. He was not worth wasting her energy at all.

    Even so, she was not against talking to such a handsome boy.

    Justin took the initiative to reach out her hand to Li Yundong and asked in English with a smile, "Hey! What¡¯s your name?"

    Li Yundong also shook hands with her politely, but replied in Chinese, "My name is Li Yundong."

    After Liu Fei¡¯er tranted, Justin frowned slightly and said to Liu Fei¡¯er, "Tell him that he should learn English and then talk to me. This is a courtesy that a gentleman should have!"

    After listening to Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s trantion, Li Yundong smiled slightly and said, "Then tell her that this is China. She should learn to talk in Chinese. This is also what a woman who knows etiquette should do!"

    When Liu Fei¡¯er heard this, she inwardly vented her anger. With a lively expression, she tranted the words to Justin. The expression on the Justin¡¯s face changed, and she said in a rather unfriendly tone, "I believe you probably made a mistake. Right now, the one who has the right to speak in this ce should be me, not a little boy from who doesn¡¯t know where he came from! I believe that you might turn around and return to your original school to learn English a bit better. At the same time, you should learn a bit more social etiquette beforeing back to talk to me."

    There was no dirty word in her words, but every word was full of sarcasm and mockery. Liu Fei¡¯er was angry and worried when she heard it, for fear that Li Yundong would fly into a rage after she tranted.

    In Liu Fei¡¯er¡¯s opinion, boys of Li Yundong¡¯s age hated most is that they are young boys.

    Li Yundong saw that Liu Fei¡¯er was looking at him anxiously. She wanted to say something but stopped. He seemed to know what the beautiful star was worried about. He smiled gently and said, "It¡¯s okay. You should trante ording to the original words. You should have a set of methods! Even if she scolded, you can trante."

    After hearing his words, Liu Fei¡¯er tranted them truthfully. Li Yundong was not angry at all. Instead, he smiled and said to Liu Fei¡¯er, "Tell her that there are two choices in front of her now. Firstly, you should continue to shoot honestly and take back her so-called big style and unreasonable requirements. Secondly, pack up and get out of here immediately!"

    When Li Yundong finished his words, the people around him immediately burst into an uproar. Director Song snorted and said, "It¡¯s so easy to say that! You asked her to leave, but you did it? Liu Fei¡¯er, don¡¯t listen to him. This person is just making trouble! Justin is just taking the opportunity to ask for money. She is also asking for money. I think we can talk about it! Now we really can¡¯t afford to drag it on!"

    Li Yundong nced at the short director and did not speak. He looked at Cao Kefei as if he was asking, "Are you still going to let me make the decision?"

    Cao Kefei had always been a girl who liked to take a gentle approach to deal with this kind of difficulties. Over the years, she was used to getting along well with others. Suddenly, her attitude was so tough. She hesitated for a moment, but soon she narrowed her eyes, gritted her teeth and nodded.

    Li Yundong smiled and nodded to her. Then, he said to Liu Fei¡¯er, "It¡¯s okay. You can trante what I said."

    Liu Fei¡¯er was also a person who desired to see the world plunged into chaos. She turned her face and had a very imposing manner. She arrogantly tranted Li Yundong¡¯s words.

    Justin immediately flew into a rage. She red fiercely at Liu Fei¡¯er and then red hatefully at Li Yundong. She said angrily, "I will see where you can find another actor!"

    After that, she picked up her small bag and was about to leave.

    The staff of the crew suddenly panicked. Director Song quickly shouted, "Hey, Mr. Zhang, Mr. Liu, what are you waiting for? Stop her! Don¡¯t let her go!"

    As Director Song spoke, he rushed to Li Yundong angrily and roared, "Don¡¯t make trouble if you don¡¯t understand. Who do you think you are? To guide Jiang Shan here? To fire her, and you act? Do you know how long it took us to pick such an actor?"

    Li Yundong looked at the roaring man in front of him with a smile. Heughed and asked, "Are you willing to be ckmailed by her like this? If she is satisfied, what will others do? It¡¯s hard to fill in the mess. How much money can you pay for it? How many scenes did she shoot before? Just destroy it and re-shoot it. At most, I¡¯ll help you fill in the money."

    Director Song¡¯s voice suddenly dropped as soon as he heard that Li Yundong was willing to send money in. He was stunned, but he was still angry and said, "Do you think I don¡¯t know? It¡¯s not like I can¡¯t get rid of the previous part of her shooting. Where can I find another foreign actor with a good appearance and temperament in such a short time?"

    Li Yundong smiled slightly and said, "You want to find an actor? I have a ready-made one!"

    Director Song was both shocked and suspicious. "Where is her? Don¡¯t lie to me!"

    Li Yundong said with a smile, "It¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll find her right now." With that, he walked out of the studio.

    Seeing this, Liu Fei¡¯er hurriedly said, "I¡¯ll go with you!"

    Without looking back, Li Yundong waved his hand and said, "No. I¡¯ll be back soon. Wait for me for a while."

    Liu Fei¡¯er didn¡¯t obey him. She chased after Li Yundong and went out of the studio. But as soon as she chased him out, Li Yundong¡¯s figure disappeared. She was stunned and looked around, only to find that there was no ce to hide him, as if he had evaporated into air.

    Liu Fei¡¯er was stunned for a long time before she turned around and went back to the studio. With a nk face, she whispered, "Is it really an immortal?"

    When she returned to the studio, she saw that the rest of the crew was taking a soft approach to appease Justin, and the British girl seemed to want to see Li Yundong find an actor to rece her. She was smoking and watching all this with a sneer on her face.

    At first, there was still a glimmer of hope in Director Song¡¯s heart, but as time went by, he couldn¡¯t sit still anymore. He kept asking Cao Kefei about Li Yundong¡¯s identity and background.

    Cao Kefei was unwilling to let Li Yundong get involved in too much, and she was even more unwilling to let Li Yundong worry too much about her. She kept dodging Director Song¡¯s words in a vague manner and said in a sh, "He¡¯s not a simple person. He will do whatever he says. It¡¯s enough that you know this. Don¡¯t worry."

    Liu Fei¡¯er, who was standing by the side, also chimed in inattentively, "That¡¯s right, Director Song, you¡¯re thinking too much. The person I invited back with Ms. Cao is a big shot!"

    Director Song was slightly relieved, but he muttered, "Big shot... Where did so many big shotse from now? Is there anyone who is bigger than me?"

    Liu Fei¡¯er burst intoughter and ignored him. She turned her face and began tough and talk with Cao Kefei.

    A group of people was waiting idly in the studio. They had been waiting for two hours. At first, Cao Kefei and Liu Fei¡¯er were full of confidence, thinking that Li Yundong woulde back soon, but they were waiting. As time went by, they were also a little flustered and didn¡¯t say anything. They looked at each other. Director Song walked around anxiously, like ants on a hotte.

    As she waited like this, another half an hour passed, and then Justin finally couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. She sneered and threw the cigarette in her hand to the ground. She stepped on the tip of her high-heeled shoes and said in a sarcastic tone, "It seems that the savior didn¡¯t show up. You can continue to wait. I¡¯ll go first."

    As she said this, she was about to go out. Director Song¡¯s face changed and he shouted, "Hey, don¡¯t go. Let¡¯s talk about it!"

    As soon as he finished speaking, a voice came from outside the studio. "Let her go!"

    As soon as the crowd heard the voice, they were overjoyed and cheered for no reason. They saw Li Yundonge in with a blonde girl.

    This girl was wearing a sky-blue uniform. Her figure was graceful. Although her clothes were very ordinary, her appearance was beautiful. Her delicate facial features were exquisite and beautiful, which was very in line with the aesthetic taste of the oriental people. Especially this girl¡¯s face was a little pale, and her eyes were full of fear, as if she had been frightened by something just now. She looked delicate and pitiful, which made people have an impulse to hug andfort her.

    This girl was Kris.

    It was so boring for her to stay in Li Yundong¡¯s house before, so she went back to school on her own. But halfway through the ss, Li Yundong rushed in and took her away from the ssroom like a robber. Without saying a word, he took her to the sky and flew from Tiannan City to Haikou City.

    Poor Kris had never suffered such torment before. She only felt as if she was sitting on a rocket in outer space. All the bones in her body were about to fall apart. In a daze, she went from one city to another. The worst part was that she didn¡¯t know why she came here!

    Everyone¡¯s eyes lit up when they saw her. Director Song¡¯s mouth was wide open. He widened his eyes and walked in front of her. He looked her up and down carefully. The more he looked at her, the more he praised her. "Not bad! Beautiful girl!"

    With this, he said to her, "Will you turn around and let me have a look?"

    Kris was born in a well-known family. She had an excellent upbringing and a good family background. She used to be popr and loved everywhere she went. But since she came to China, she had been a little unpopr. Especially now, she was confused and brought to this ce by Li Yundong. It was like human trafficking. No matter how good her temper was, she could not bear it.

    She red angrily at Li Yundong and said in a low voice, "Master... Li Yundong, what¡¯s happen?"

    Li Yundong didn¡¯t speak, Director Song was surprised and said, "Can you speak Chinese? Mandarin is good!"

    Kris forced a smile at the man next to her, who was half a head shorter than her. "Thank you for your praise. My grandma is Chinese."

    Director Song pped his hands and said loudly, "That¡¯s great! You¡¯re a mixed-blood! Your temperament and appearance meet our requirements. It¡¯s you!" After that, he turned his head and said to the stunned Justin with an impartial and unkind face, "You, have been fired!"

    Director Song¡¯s words were domineering, as if he hadpletely vented the resentment in his heart. But after he finished speaking, he saw Li Yundong looking at him with smile. He quickly apologized to Li Yundong, stretched out his hands, and said with a smile, "Sorry, I didn¡¯t recognize you. You helped us solve a big problem!"

    Justin didn¡¯t think that there would be such a girl at this time. This was especially the case when she saw that there was a natural noble aura around her body, and from the way she spoke and acted, it was clear that she came from a well-known family. Moreover, she was young and beautiful, andpared to herself, they were like heaven and earth. She was shocked and furious as she said, "You can¡¯t fire me! You don¡¯t have the qualifications and power to do so!"

    At this time, Cao Kefei sneered and said, "Do I have the right and power to do so?"

    Justin looked at her angrily and said, "What right do you have to drive me out of the shooting group?"

    Cao Kefei sneered and said, "No reason. I¡¯m the producer! You can go back first, or you can make an appointment with your agent andwyer to wait for us at home. We¡¯ll contact you in a few days!"

    After that, she turned her head and no longer looked at Justin. Her face was full of pride.

    The staff in the studio also couldn¡¯t stand her way of doing things. They allughed loudly and mocked her.

    In the midst of the mocking sound, Justin¡¯s pretty face alternated between red and white. She clenched her teeth, turned around, and rushed out.

    Director Songughed and said to Cao Kefei, "That¡¯s great! It¡¯s really satisfying! I don¡¯t like this bitch for a long time!"

    Cao Kefei smiled and turned to Li Yundong, saying, "Thank you so much!"

    Li Yundong smiled and said, "It¡¯s just easy work. You don¡¯t have to thank me."

    For a moment, everyone in the studio burst intoughter. Everyone was celebrating, and only Kris was shocked and angry. She grabbed Li Yundong and shouted, "What on earth are you doing? I don¡¯t know how to act!"

    Li Yundong winked at her and whispered, "You don¡¯t know how to act? You can learn it!"

    "Ah? I¡¯m here to learn cultivation, not to shoot! Why don¡¯t I go to Hollywood? God, who can tell me what¡¯s going on? It¡¯s just easy work. You don¡¯t have to thank me."

    For a moment, everyone in the studio burst intoughter. Everyone was celebrating, and only Kris was shocked and angry. She grabbed Li Yundong and shouted, "What on earth are you doing? I don¡¯t know how to act!"

    Li Yundong winked at her and whispered, "You don¡¯t know how to act? You can learn it!"

    Kris wanted to cry but had no tears: Ah? I came to China to learn cultivation, not to learn how to shoot! If I wanted to learn how to shoot, why didn¡¯t I go to Hollywood? God! Who could tell me, what¡¯s happening?

 Chapter 655 The Medicine King Cauldrons Storm

    <h4>Chapter 655 The Medicine King Cauldron¡°s Storm</h4>

    Just as Li Yundong was involved in a small disturbance in the crew, Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin got involved in a bigger storm in the Shen family in Tiannan City.

    After they gave the medicine king cauldron back to Shen Wancai, who had knocked out by the shock and then was frightened to lie on the bed by the bad news, immediately jumping up from the bed as if he hade back to his senses.

    Shen Wancai looked at the lost Medicine King Cauldron. For a moment, he burst into tears, but what was more excited than him was the Tian¡¯ai Auction House. The manager of the auction almost worshipped Su Chan, Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, and others, and even crazed that he could give them a Life-prolonging Ancestral Temple.

    If Su Chan, Zi Yuan, and Zhou Qin hadn¡¯t brought the medicine king cauldron back, Tian¡¯ai Auction House wouldn¡¯t have been able to imagine what kind of blow this would bring to them. Then who would dare to bid for their things in the future?

    Because the news of the Medicine King cauldron¡¯s amazing price had spread all over the country in the first ce, the news that the Medicine King cauldron had been magically taken away after the auction was faster than this one.

    Robbing of a piece of art that was worth 700 million in public, no matter where it was, it was a big deal. This matter even rmed the public security department and the public security department. Even Li Kebo and Zhou Keqiang were rmed, especially when Zhou Keqiang knew that this matter was rted to Li Yundong and his daughter. He even asked Li Kebo for help and mobilized the deputy director of the Public Security Department of the provincial public security department, Director Zhong, who led the team to set up the "Medicine King Ding¡¯s Big Robbery" and personally asked about it.

    Therefore, when the Medicine King Ding returned to the Shen Wancai, it suddenly caused a sensation in Tiannan City. For a time, countless reporters swarmed in. Not only did the reporters from the major TV stations in the province and the province arrive, but even the CCTV media had also sent people to take photos. For a time, the Shen family¡¯s vi was very lively.

    "Miss Zhou, may I ask who stole the king medicine cauldron? How did you get it back?"

    "Miss Zhou, I heard that when the king medicine cauldron was robbed at that time, you were also there. Can you describe the scene for us?"

    "Miss Zhou, Miss Zhou, where did you find the medicine king cauldron? How did you get the medicine king cauldron from the robbers? Is there any rtionship between you and the robbers?"

    All kinds of questions rushed to Zhou Qin like tides. The reporters stretched out their arms and almost stuffed the microphone into Zhou Qin¡¯s mouth. Standing on the second floor of the vi and watching all this, Su Chan patted her chest with lingering fear, said "It¡¯s so dangerous. Fortunately, I didn¡¯t deal with these reporters downstairs. Otherwise, I would have been swallowed alive by them!"

    Zi Yuan stood next to Su Chan and said with a slight smile, "I know you and I can¡¯t handle it, so I let Zhou Qin go."

    Zi Yuan was very careful. Before returning to the medicine king cauldron, she had expected such a situation to happen. Therefore, she and Zhou Qin had been prepared to deal with it. There was no better candidate than Zhou Qin for this scene.

    The socialite of the Zhou family seemed to be born for such a big scene.

    At this time, Zhou Qin, who was downstairs, had fully disyed the temperament of the daughter of a famous family. She had dealt with every question perfectly, especially when she heard a reporter¡¯s malicious question. She turned her head to look at the reporter and said, "Miss, you can ask the police who are involved in the investigation about your previous questions. I have told them everything I know. As for yourst question, I can¡¯t help asking you, why do you think we are rted to the robbers?"

    The reporter, a woman in her thirties, was the top reporter of the provincial TV station. She was known for her sharp and aggressive way of asking questions. She said rudely, "With all due respect, when the robbers robbed the medicine king cauldron, the three of you were there. And when the robber returned the medicine king cauldron, the three of you were there again! This makes people¡¯s imagination go wild!"

    Zhou Qin raised his eyebrows, which were full of heroic spirit. She said in a diplomatic tone, "You are the reporter Wang on the first scene of the provincial TV station, aren¡¯t you? I know you. You are very famous!"

    The reporter smiled and said, "Thank you for yourpliment, but please don¡¯t bypass my question."

    Zhou Qin smiled slightly and retorted sharply, "I didn¡¯t bypass your problem. I just feel that your reputation doesn¡¯t match your ability. It¡¯s a typical disgrace! Because I think it¡¯s better for you to be a detective novel or a film screenwriter, because you have a rich imagination! If we have something to do with the robbers, why should we return the drug king cauldron intactly?"

    Their peers were enemies. When the reporters around saw that the top reporter of the provincial capital was defeated, they immediately burst outughing in a low voice.

    Mr. Wang was a little angry, but she quickly said, "Isn¡¯t that the case? The whole thing looks like a drama directed and acted by yourself. Or, is this just hype?"

    As soon as these words were said, the surrounding reporters whispered to each other and nodded secretly. It was also what they guessed, but not everyone dared to make things clear so directly like this reporter Wang.

    It was absolutely impossible for a qualified reporter to be a qualified reporter in China without the excellent intelligence for politics and character. Almost every reporter present knew Zhou Qin¡¯s identity, and they also understood that the daughter of the Zhou family in front of them was not easy to deal with. There was no one who dared to touch the tiger¡¯s whiskers like Mr. Wang.

    For a moment, everyone looked at Zhou Qin in unison. They wanted to see how the distinguished daughter of the Zhou family would deal with such a sharp and fierce problem.

    Zhou Qin was not as angry as everyone thought, nor was he ambiguous. She just smiled slightly and asked, "Take a piece of art that is worth 700 million yuan to hype up? The Medicine King cauldron has a sky-high price of 700 million yuan. This is a huge hype itself. Do you need to hype up with a robbery case that is directed and acted by yourself? What if something goes wrong? Is it worth taking such a big risk? Do you have to do that? Mr. Wang, your imagination is very rich, but your IQ is really a little wrong!"

    Obviously, Mr. Wang had already had an iron face. She acted as if she didn¡¯t hear Zhou Qin¡¯s words. She asked quickly, "Miss Zhou, can you give us a detailed description of how to get back the drug king cauldron?"

    Zhou Qin put on a civil smile again and said, "You should ask the public security staff in charge of this case. I have nothing to say."

    The reporter was unwilling to give up and asked questions like a bomb. The other reporters were also unwilling to be lonely. Once again, they threw all kinds of questions at Zhou Qin like a storm.

    While Zhou Qin was dealing with them one by one, suddenly several young men squeezed in from the crowd. The leading young man grabbed Zhou Qin and walked out without saying anything.

    Su Chan quickly grabbed Zi Yuan¡¯s arm and asked, "Sister Zi Yuan, Sister Zhou Qin has been taken away? Do we want to save her?"

    Zi Yuan shook her head and said, "Don¡¯t be silly. With Zhou Qin¡¯s current strength, if she doesn¡¯t want to leave, who can take her away? It must be an acquaintance of Zhou Qin."

    Only then did Su Chan rx. She smiled and said, "That¡¯s right. Sister Zi Yuan, you¡¯re so smart!"

    The surrounding reporters rarely met Zhou Qin, who was so beautiful and had sharp words. They were unwilling to let her go easily. They followed her out and rushed like the tide. The young man turned his head and pointed at Zi Yuan and Su Chan on the second floor. He said, "Go and interview them and they also know."

    These reporters turned their heads in unison and saw Su Chan and Zi Yuan looking at them in the corridor on the second floor. As soon as their eyes lit up, and many reporters immediately turned to them.

    Su Chan was startled. She quickly turned her head and hid in the room that Shen Wancai had prepared for them. The temperament of the Zi Yuan was noble and pure, and she didn¡¯t like to have too much contact with ordinary people. She had always been able to hide from such a scene, so she naturally followed Su Chan and moved very fast.

    Seeing that these two people hid like frightened rabbits, these reporters had no choice but to turn back to look for Zhou Qin. But when they saw that Zhou Qin jumped into an Audi A6 and drove away, they could only watch the car and sigh.

    The person that took Zhou Qin to the car was none other than Secretary Liu, who had privately traded with Li Yundong before. After he sent Zhou Qin to the car, he got into the driver¡¯s seat and started driving.

    As soon as Zhou Qin got in the car, he saw a middle-aged man with a square face and a dignified appearance sitting behind the car. He was her father, Zhou Keqiang.

    Since the opening ceremony of the Disanxian, although the rtionship between Zhou Qin and her father was still a little stiff, they were finally not like the life-and-death enemies of the past when the moment they met, there would be sparks in the sky.

    Zhou Qin nodded slightly and greeted him in neither warm nor cold manner. "Dad."

    Zhou Keqiang habitually took out a cigarette from his pocket and rubbed it with his hand. Before he could speak, Zhou Qin frowned and said, "Why can¡¯t you change your old habits?"

    Zhou Keqiang grinned. "Can¡¯t I even smell it if I don¡¯t smoke?"

    Zhou Qin didn¡¯tment and said lightly, "Why do you have time toe to me today?"

    Zhou Keqiang, putting the cigarette in his nose to take a deep breath, said with a sigh, "You made such a big noise. How can I note to find you? Hey, 700 million! It¡¯s not 7 million, nor 70 million!! Humph, you are really capable. If you don¡¯t y for a long time, you will create an air bomb for me! Do you know how uncredible the impact of this matter is? The center has been shaken. Do you know?"

    Zhou Qin frowned secretly. "Is it necessary? 700 million yuan isn¡¯t enough to disturb the central government, is it? You, officials, spend more than the money on eating, drinking, drinking, gambling, corruption, and wasting every day, isn¡¯t it?"

    Zhou Ke was furious. He raised his eyebrows and said angrily, "You! What are you talking about? Can you talk nonsense like that?"

    Zhou Qin sneered and turned his head away, as if he disdained to say a few more words to his father as an official.

    Zhou Keqiang took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and said, "Yes, I know that you have embarked on a road that ispletely different from mine. You are very clean and arrogant now! But don¡¯t forget that no matter how lofty you are, you will still have to live in this turbid world! No matter how powerful you are in the cultivation world, you can¡¯t jump out of the Five Elements and the Three Realms! No matter how capable you are and great you are, you still can¡¯t jump out of the Confinement of the Three Realms! I am still your father!"

    Although Zhou Qin¡¯s face was still cold, she felt a chill in his heart. She grew up in the system, so she naturally knew how correct Zhou Keqiang¡¯s words were.

    On this piece ofnd, China, although many people did not like to talk about politics, the inheritance of the government and the thoughts of officials over the past 2,000 years caused the official culture to be everywhere. The official circles and forces were everywhere. Although cultivators were powerful and heaven-defying, if they offended the government, they would only have a few ways to wait for them. They would be surrounded by the power of the government. They would either be exiled abroad, hide in the forest, or be killed. Or they would directly ascend to the immortal realm and jump out of the Confinement.

    Other than that, there was no other way.

    On this point, whether it was Buddhist or Taoist cultivation sects, they had been tested countless times in the long river of feudal history of China in the past 2,000 years.

    During Wei, Jin, Northern, and Southern Dynasty, Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty and Emperor Wuzong of the Tang Dynasty onceunched arge-scale Buddha-killing activity. At that time, the Buddhist cultivation sects had an absolute advantage in the world¡¯s cultivation world. But as soon as the imperial court ordered, Buddhism has immediately swept away, and all the major sects withered like fallen leaves inte autumn, which was terrible.

    When Zhou Qin was studying the history of the cultivation world, he clearly remembered that in the period of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Wu Emperor of the North Zhou Dynasty had done something even more outrageous. He had destroyed the Buddha and the Dao twice! And the reason why he had exterminated the Dao was simply incredible!

    During the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, although the Wu Emperor of the Northern Zhou Dynasty himself was a barbarian, he imed that he was a rtive of the Han Dynasty. As for Buddhism, it was a foreign religion that belonged to the Hu Tribe. In order to prove that he was a rtive of the Han Dynasty, the Wu Emperor of the Northern Zhou Dynasty imed that he was a devout believer of the Taoist sect and wanted to suppress Buddhism.

    However, it was impossible to suppress Buddhism by force. Therefore, the Wu Emperor of the North Zhou Dynasty organized arge-scale debate and settled a private score. However, because the cultivation sects of Buddhism had an absolute advantage in the cultivation world at that time, the cultivators of the Taoist sect were defeated in both debate and settling a score.

    The Wu Emperor of the North Zhou Dynasty, who believed in Taoism, was furious. He hated not only the Buddhist sect¡¯s rampant influence, but also the Taoist cultivation sect¡¯s inability to help him, which made him lose face. Therefore, he was so angry that he directly turned hostile and announced to the government that he would kill both the Buddhist sect and the Taoist sect!

    As a result, the Buddhist and Taoist cultivators, who had fought to the death, were beaten andpletely defeated by the imperial court. It was a terrible sight to behold.

    Even in the ancient era of cold weapons, it was still like this, let alone in this era of thermal weapons. If a cultivator was careless, an ordinary person would still be able to kill him!

    Since ancient times, people did not fight against officials, and the religious forces did not fight against the royal power forces. This was a mocking remark concluded by blood and tears.

    If the government really kept an eye on him and decided to suppress him, the consequences would be unbearable and unimaginable!

    Zhou Qin was secretly frightened. She turned her head and said to Zhou Keqiang with a serious face, "Is there anything wrong with it?"

    Zhou Keqiang snorted. "You also know that you are afraid? Aren¡¯t you the most fearless one?"

    Zhou Qin snorted. "I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll get him into trouble!"

    Zhou Keqiang said, "Hey, you should worry about yourself first! Don¡¯t move for something for a while. The leaders have noticed you. Don¡¯t be registered. Don¡¯t do anything out of line that can¡¯t be made up for. Otherwise... prepare to go abroad!"

    Zhou Qin stopped talking. Her face was cold, and she kept her mouth shut for a long time.

    Secretary Liu, who was driving, took Zhou Qin and Zhou Keqiang around and then back near the Shen family¡¯s vi. After Zhou Qin got out of the car, Zhou Keqiang said at the moment when she was about to close the door, "Remember what I said. Keep a low profile, otherwise... otherwise, you will know the consequences!"

    Zhou Qin didn¡¯t say anything. She got out of the car with a sullen face. After getting out of the car, she nced around and suddenly saw Zou Ping and Zhang Ling, who were teaching in the Zhengyi School, not far away.

    Zou Ping saw that Zhou Qin nced at them and then went into the vi. She turned her head and said to Zhang Ling, "Master, what should we do with the king medicine cauldron? Do we still have to fight for it?"

    Zhang Ling¡¯s eyes were fixed on the car number of Zhou Keqiang¡¯s car. She obviously recognized who the owner of this car was. This great master of the Zhengyi School was not only very high in cultivation, but also had a sharp sense of politics. Her face was very ugly. After a long time, she said, "Don¡¯t think about it. The Medicine King Tripod made a big noise. It¡¯s not suitable for us to intervene."

    Zou Ping¡¯s eyes widened. "Then are we going to let the cauldron fall into Li Yundong¡¯s hands?"

    Zhang Ling snorted coldly and said, "It doesn¡¯t matter. In a while, it will be the session ceremony of the head of the Linggong Sect. At that time, we will get all these back!" After that, she sneered, turned around, and shouted coldly, "Let¡¯s wait and see!"

 Chapter 656 Out of the Mouth Comes Evil

    <h4>Chapter 656 Out of the Mouth Comes Evil</h4>

    When Zhou Qin returned to the Shen family¡¯s vi, most of the reporters had already dispersed, and only a few reporters were still waiting. However, Shen Wan was worried about the rest of Su Chan, Zi Yuan, Zhou Qin, and others. He had announced that the Shen family¡¯s vi was no longer open to the public and drove all the reporters out of the vi. Therefore, Zhou Qin was at leisure again.

    After Zhou Qin returned to the room and told Su Chan, Zi Yuan about the warning he received from Zhou Keqiang, Zi Yuan and Su Chan all fell into silence.

    Although Su Chan was simple, she was also a person who was proficient in history, so she naturally knew how terrible this kind of warning was. She raised her head worriedly and said, "Sister Zi Yuan, why don¡¯t we persuade Yun Dong not to take this king medicine tripod? I now feel that this king medicine tripod is really a terrible hot potato. Whoever holds it is just like holding a time bomb!"

    Zi Yuan also frowned slightly. She pondered for a while and shook her head. "Now it¡¯s not the problem of whether to take this king medicine tripod, but... we should indeed keep a low profile. Li Yundong made such a big noise in Japan this time. In order to let him get away, we even rmed all the famous TV stations in Japan. Even if the Japanese cultivation world controls media through its own strength, it will leak some information. I believe that the higher-ups must know something about it."

    Zhou Qin also sighed and said, "If it¡¯s only in his own country, it¡¯s okay. But if you toss about any international problems, it¡¯s going to be in great trouble."

    The three gorgeous women looked at each other and gave a wry smile at the same time.

    The three of them were supposed to be the most carefree little girls at this age, but because they were involved in all kinds of waves in the cultivation world, they inadvertently stood on the top of the waves. However, it was easy to go up, it was difficult to go down.

    Even a woman as intelligent as Zi Yuan couldn¡¯te up with a good way to deal with the current predicament at the moment.

    Butpared with them, the others of the Shen family seemed to be more overwhelmed.

    In Shen Wancai¡¯s bedroom, his second wife, third wife, fourth wife Li Xiaoxian, Shen Qian, and Shen You all gathered together and surrounded Shen Wancai like an imperial pce.

    This time, it was rare for the whole Shen family to work together to talk about the same thing. Ms. Zheng, the third wife, wiped her tears and said to Shen Wancai, "Old Master, even if you don¡¯t think for us, you have to think for Xiaohui and Xiaoyou! No matter how naughty they are, they are still your blood! You can¡¯t destroy this family!"

    Li Xiaoxian, the usually ipatible fourth wife, also cried and said, " Mr. Shen, I know you are angry with me, but you can¡¯t act stupid. 700 million yuan is not a small number! This money can be regarded as the life of our Shen family!"

    Shen Wancai sat in front of the desk and said impatiently, "Am I so poor that I can¡¯t afford 700 million?"

    Indeed, for Shen Wancai, who started from scratch and had developed for decades, 700 million yuan was just a small part of his assets. However, it was not easy for arge family to take out 700 million yuan in one go. Moreover, although the Shen family had tens of billions of yuan, most of them were real estate, and the floating funds were only about 700 or 700 million yuan. 700 million yuan could be said to have emptied the Shen family¡¯s pocket.

    But for Shen Wancai¡¯s wives and his children, Shen Wancai¡¯s action showed a strong signal: If he could spend 700 million for a king medicine tripod today, what about tomorrow? One billion? Two billion in the day after tomorrow? If that was the case, even Bill Gates would not be able to withstand such torment!

    The most important thing was that Chen Wancai spent 700 million to buy this king medicine tripod. It was neither a collection nor a charity. Instead, he wanted to give it to Li Jiandong!!

    This was too much!!! There was no such thing as a close and distant family! It could be tolerated, so how could it not be tolerated?!

    Shen Wancai¡¯s third wife and fourth wife were furious. "When did Shen Wancai treat me so well? He didn¡¯t hesitate to spend 700 million to please me?"

    As a result, Third wife and Fourth wife, who were usually on bad terms with each other, immediately joined hands. They were determined to persuade Shen Wancai to give up the medicine king tripod. In order to persuade Shen Wancai, they even invited Second Aunt, who had never had much of an idea, and their children. The whole family went to the battlefield together.

    Hearing Shen Wancai¡¯s words, Ms. Zheng, the third oldest, said, "Old Master, our family is very rich, but 700 million yuan is really not a small sum. If we take out the money, our working capital will be empty! Even if it¡¯s arge amount of money, we can¡¯t afford it! If we encounter any difficulties during this period of time, the consequences will be unimaginable! Old Master, don¡¯t you want to destroy the country that you have personally built?"

    Ms. Zheng¡¯s words were so sincere that Shen Wancai fell silent.

    For Chen Wancai, he had suspected this more than once. "Is it worth it to spend 700 million to be an apprentice? Moreover, Li Yundong doesn¡¯t look like a master who spent 700 million to be an apprentice! Did I do something wrong or something?"

    This was especially the case during the period when the cauldron was lost. Shen Wancai¡¯s heart was constantly in a state of chaos.

    But now, he had regained the king medicine tripod. Although he was excited, he had to face this problem that he had been thinking about over and over again.

    When Li Xiaoxian saw that Shen Wancai was silent and seemed to want to move, she also tried to persuade him, "Shen, let¡¯s not talk about anything else. Just talk about our current situation, you know it well! It¡¯s easy to conquer the country, but difficult to defend it! How many people are looking at us now? Do you want to take advantage of our weakness to bite us? Shen, think about it. Which one of us doesn¡¯t know the news that we bought the king medicine tripod? Our enemies have been looking forward to us really buying this king medicine tripod, so that they can take the opportunity to attack us when we are in our midst! How much ourpany¡¯s stock price has been suppressed in the past two days? Don¡¯t you know that?"

    Shen Wancai narrowed his eyes, raised his head, and snorted, "If they want to suppress me in this aspect, they are too naive."

    Ms. Zheng advised again, "Old Master, you can¡¯t look down on your opponents. Who knows if they have any huge money hidden behind them?"

    As she spoke, she tugged at Shen Qian¡¯s hand without batting an eyelid, indicating for her to try to persuade him as well.

    Mr. Shen was clever and was very good at observing people¡¯s expressions. She thought for a moment and said, "Old man, are you afraid that someone will say that you bid for the item and then go back on your word? By then, your reputation will be ruined?"

    This sentence surprised Shen Wancai very much. He looked at Mr. Shen in surprise. His favorite apple in his daily life really knows his mind best. What she said hit one of Shen Wancai¡¯s concerns, and these concerns were the words that could be said and the most high-sounding one.

    Shen Qian¡¯s words instantly lit up the people in the room. Li Xiaoxian, the fourth oldest, said in a hurry, "Yes, he¡¯s right! Mr. Shen, if you¡¯re worried about this, you can rest assured. You¡¯re not the first one to break the contract! What are you afraid of?"

    Ms. Zheng, the third oldest, also said, "That¡¯s right. The king medicine tripod was not taken away by us. It was taken away by the auctioneer of the auction house! Who knows if the goods were transferred or not? We are not breaking the contract. This is self-righteous. It¡¯s a matter of course. It¡¯s not our fault! Old Master, don¡¯t you think so?"

    Li Xiaoxian saw that Shen Wancai was silent, as if he was hesitating. She saw that Shen Qian¡¯s words were very popr, so she also secretly stepped on Shen You¡¯s foot and whispered, "You should also say a few words. Don¡¯t poke here like a piece of wood!"

    Shen You seemed to have just woken from a dream. He coughed drily and said, "Dad, in fact, I don¡¯t care if you buy this king medicine tripod. After all, it¡¯s your money. You can buy whatever you want, right? But I just can¡¯t figure out why you gave it to someone who is not good. Why did you give it to this Li Yundong? What on earth did he do to deserve such a big gift? Even if he saved your life, he wouldn¡¯t do that."

    Hearing Shen You¡¯s words, his third wife and the fourth wife expressions changed at the same time. The fourth wife immediately stepped on Shen You¡¯s foot, signaling him not to continue. The third wife heart flew into a rage. "F*ck, he¡¯s really a good-for-nothing! Even now, he doesn¡¯t know what kind of character the old man has!"

    Although Shen Wancai was self-willed, he was an ambitious and decisive man. As for such an important thing in front of him, he had his own decision. As his family member, the only thing he could do was to take advantage of the pros and cons and to deal with them with emotion. With Chen Wancai¡¯s character, he would naturally make his own choice.

    But if someone pointed out what he had done and questioned him, he would definitely be the most powerful rebound!

    Sure enough, Shen Wancai raised his head, but he didn¡¯t look angrily. Instead, he smiled gently and said, "Then tell me, why can¡¯t I spend 700 million to buy the king medicine tripod for Li Yundong?"

    The third wife, Ms. Zheng, and the fourth wife, Li Xiaoxian, both had a bad feeling in their hearts. They kept winking at Shen You, but Shen You acted as if he hadn¡¯t seen it. He said confidently, "Do you need to say that? His surname is Li, and he is an outsider! Dad, you can¡¯t spend 700 million to please an outsider, can you? When did you spend so much money on me?"

    Shen You¡¯s words made everyone in the room look pale except himself and Shen Wancai. The others looked at Shen Wancai in horror.

    The fourth wife quickly grabbed Shen You and said in a trembling voice, "Mr. Shen, You¡¯er is not sensible enough to talk nonsense. Don¡¯t take it to heart."

    Shen Wancai still stood up with a smile on his face. He patted Shen You on the shoulder and said to Li Xiaoxian in a gentle voice, "It¡¯s okay. You¡¯er will grow up in the end. It¡¯s rare for him to have his own ideas. Let him say it."

    Shen You was encouraged by Shen Wancai and became bolder. He said, "Dad, you¡¯re right. I¡¯m not young anymore. When can you make me happy? When can you make me addicted to more than 700 million yuan?"

    Shen Wancai couldn¡¯t help but raise his head andugh out loudly. His abnormal behavior made Ms. Zheng and Li Xiaoxian be more and more afraid, while Shen Qian stayed a little away from Shen Youyuan.

    Shen Wancai patted Shen You on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Have you ever also thought about this addiction? Good, good! You have ambition and you have an ideal! But... You¡¯er, do you remember what yourst name is?"

    Shen You followed his father andughed. "Dad, are you stupid? Of course, my surname is Shen!"

    As soon as he finished speaking, he saw that Shen Wancai suddenly became furious. He suddenly turned his face upside down, pped himself heavily on the face, and knocked him to the ground with a snap!

    Shen Wancai was as angry as an old lion whose territory had been invaded. He roared angrily, "Do you still remember your surname, Shen!!! I thought you had forgotten it! However, you had remembered your surname, remembered it clearly! I am your father. What are you doing? It¡¯s not up to you to tell me what should I do! Do you want to take over my work? Let¡¯s talk about it when I die!"

    His roar was so loud that everyone in the vi could hear it clearly. The others in the bedroom were scared stiff.

    Li Xiaoxian boldly reached out to grab Shen Wancai¡¯s hand. She forced a smile and said, "Old Shen, don¡¯t be angry. It¡¯s not good to be angry with your health."

    Shen Wancai suddenly shook her hand off and roared, "You just want me to die earlier, don¡¯t you? Get away, get out of here!"

    The third wife red at Shen You and winked at Shen Hui. The mother and daughter quickly walked out of the door. The second wife, Mrs. Ma, also sighed, whispered a few lines of Buddhist scriptures, and followed them out of the door.

    The Fourth wife Li Xiaoxian wiped her tears and walked out. When she reached the door, she turned to Shen You, who had been stunned, and said, "You¡¯er, let¡¯s go. Don¡¯t make your father unhappy."

    Shen You covered her face and looked at her father as if he were a stranger. He suddenly got up and rushed out of the door like crazy.

    As soon as he rushed out of the door, he saw Su Chan, who came out from not far away, looking at him curiously.

    As soon as she saw it, Shen You felt that the ce where she had been pped became hotter and more painful.

    He instantly thought of the scene when he pursued Su Chan in the Seven Li Mountain Tang in Dong Wu City. At that time, he was a rich young master. Wasn¡¯t it a piece of cake for him to pursue such a little girl?

    But now, his father actually spent 700 million to please this little girl¡¯s boyfriend! And his father even pped him in the face when there was an outsider and scolded him loudly because of Li Yundong!

    Was there anything more shameful than this thing in the world?

    In an instant, Shen You felt that Su Chan¡¯s eyes were full of sarcasm and ridicule. Feeling ashamed and angry, he shouted and rushed out like an injured beast. No matter how loudly Li Xiaoxian shouted his name from behind him, he still didn¡¯t look back.

    Shen You drove her car like crazy and rushed to the bar where he used to hang out on weekdays Because of his famous brand clothes and the demeanor of a rich young man, he immediately attracted the attention of beautiful women.

    However, as soon as the beautiful woman sat down and tried to get close to him, Shen You roared at her, "Get away. Who asked you to sit down?"

    The beauty was scared by him and immediately ran away. But as soon as she left, another person sat down in him seat, again.

    Shen You turned her head and was about to curse, While he saw a man wearing a camouge vest smiling at him. "Young Master Shen! What¡¯s the matter with you?"

    While he was talking, three people came over and sat down separately. One of themughed and said, "Do you need to ask? It must be a woman!"

    This man was the security guard Gangzi, who once had a conflict with Li Yundong in the Dongsheng Building, and several of his aplices. They were half ck and half white, and they were rted to both the ck underworld and the white underworld. They could also be regarded as figures in Tiannan City. Shen You often got along with some people who were neither good nor evil, so they had some friendship with each other.

    Seeing Gangzi at a nce, Shen You did not say any more bad words, but just drank the wine silently. A security guard on the side knew that Shen You was indeed a big blockhead. He paid for it with great effort. Heughed and said, "Master Shen, if you are in a bad mood, just say it. Which guy has offended you? Let¡¯s help you vent your anger!"

    Shen You turned his head and looked at him. He suddenly thought of Li Jiandong¡¯s background and Li Jiandong¡¯s extraordinary ability and strength. His face became more gloomy and he didn¡¯t speak. He drank more and more. Next, he became more fierce.

    He was not good at drinking. After drinking a few sses of wine, he immediately smelled the alcohol and dared to shout something which he didn¡¯t dare to say as usual.

    Shen You shouted drunkenly, "Su Chan, you b*tch, little b*tch, what¡¯s wrong with me? What¡¯s not good enough for you? Why do you take a fancy to him and look down on me?"

    When several security guards on the side heard this, they looked at each other. The security guards who had spoken beforeughed and said, "It is indeed a woman. Young Master Shen, don¡¯t worry. Isn¡¯t a woman like that? Gangzi has been in a mood because of a woman a few days ago!"

    Shen You shouted, "She, she¡¯s different! I can¡¯t live without her!"

    Gangzi red at him, turned his head and said to Shen You with malicious intent, "Master Shen, now that you like her so much... Then, shall we help you find a way to get her? What do you think?"

    Hearing this, Shen You¡¯s eyes immediately turned red. It was said that wine makes a coward. Gangzi¡¯s words immediately made him bolder and bolder. Shen You gritted her teeth, and a few words came out of her teeth. "Good! I want the Overlord to bow hard!"

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